Merry Belated Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I had planned on writing this post a few days ago, but my couch has some very strong pulls these days. My bad.

This year for Christmas I am at home in Orlando spending some restful time with family, and loving every second of it. It has been great for eating too much chocolate, stitching, knitting, gym time, and spending time with this family of mine. Ever since my brother got married, our Christmas traditions have changed a little, but I know next year things are going to change again with a new addition to the Hardaway and Goodman clans, and so I'm trying to really be present in this time playing games with my family at night, watching TV with my dad in the afternoons, snuggling with my cat. It's good. It's real good.

2014 is going to be an amazing year. The other night I was working on our save the dates with my sister in law and I just got so excited typing out our wedding date! Eeee! There is so much to be done still, but I feel so wonderful going into 2014 and the last six months of our engagement with a date, a venue, a caterer, and a dress (!!!!!!)! That will be a funny story to share on this blog someday for sure.

I'm also thinking a lot about new year's resolutions and the projects (besides the wedding projects) that I want to be taking on in 2014. So far I've considered a chronological bible reading plan, a weekly crochet plan, and a year-long knitting goal (this year, I'm taking on socks).

I'd love to hear about y'alls new years resolutions, and if you have any recommendations based on goals you've taken on!

Lots of love from sunny FL for a few more days,

Abby

DC Magic

This weekend was full of DC magic. My sister flew up from Tallahassee on Friday night, I drove up from CH, and we spent the weekend with my brother, who lives up there.

It was an awesome time. The last time I was in DC was over a year ago for fall break, and it had been at least four years for Carrie. She majorly geeked out at the Lincoln Memorial and we spent all day in cold and dreary weather hiking around to the monuments and the Smithsonians. It was a real adventure and we loved every minute of it.

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely seeing Julia Child's kitchen at the American History Museum. Before her death, Julia donated nearly all of the pieces of her kitchen from her Cambridge home to the museum, which is a near exact replica of what her kitchen would have looked like, including her raised countertops (Julia was 6' 2", after all). It was wonderful to finally get to see it, as last fall when I visited the exhibit was under construction, to my extreme disappointment. It did not disappoint, and I took more pictures on my phone (since my camera died the moment we got to the exhibit, of course) than I would care to admit. It was awesome.

On Sunday, we walked around and got brunch in Georgetown, including a trip to Georgetown Cupcake, by far still the best cupcake I've ever had, and then I drove back home. It's always hard to say goodbye to family, especially when it was such a wonderful weekend, but I am excited to see everyone again in just a few short days going home for Christmas!

In denial about all the presents I still have to make and loving every minute of it,

Abby :)

pretty pictures and a little life update

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Brandon and I have had a whirlwind of a couple of weeks, he finishing up a brutal test block, me moving forward with work and wedding things. We drove down on Wednesday after hosting a wonderful Friendsgiving Tuesday night with our loves in Chapel Hill, and spent the rest of the week through this evening in Orlando with my fam.

Yesterday, we had the BIGGEST blessing through Lori of Shutter Life Productions, who spent the afternoon with us shooting engagement photos. This is one of those God-really-came-through-at-the-last-second scenarios and seriously we were so overwhelmed with gratitude! We were even more blessed getting a text from her at 11:30 at night saying she had already finished editing our photos! What an amazing team!!

Needless to say, we are completely in love with their work. Below you can see a few of our favorite shots, and be sure to check out their blog post on us here.

I seriously want to get to a point in my life where I can capture life's moments as beautifully as they do. Wow, you guys. Just wow.

We are headed back to "real life" in NC tomorrow morning bright and early, and would love, in the most general way possible, for prayers as we enter this holiday season. Me, for some big changes professionally, and for Brandon to make it through the last push before a well-deserved break. We know God is in control, and we are trusting him through what has the potential to be a stressful December.

Anyone out there have any good Advent devotionals they'd recommend? I'm in the market for one!

Lots of love from sunny Florida,

Abby

that time my parents came to chapel hill.

This weekend my parents and my sister came to visit! My sister is moving back up to school in Tallahassee and my parents thought, "Hey, it's only 8 hours out of the way...". Man. They are awesome. 

It was a really great (and short) weekend that started late Friday night and ended early Sunday morning, with a really fun Saturday in between filled with Indian food, downtown Durham and classic Franklin street walkin' around. They also got to spend some sweet time with the friends that I have made here, and I am so blessed that they got to see a little slice of my life! 

Family time seems sweeter now than ever, and I'm trying to savor it more now that it looks like I'll be sticking around Chapel Hill for at least a few years. It's crazy to really start to realize that this place is my home now. I'll get way less time during the holidays off because of work and so it really is "See you at Thanksgiving" for all my family that lives in Orlando still. This makes me sad sometimes, but it's ok because it also makes me grateful to have a family that I can miss that much. 

Also, this girl's the best. It's probably a good thing that we don't live too close because then both of us would just be so weird, all the time. :)

Big ole blessings,

Abby

TWO AMAZING WEEKENDS: PART 1

We're getting into that crazy, fast-paced, squeeze-everything-you-can-into-the-last-month of school territory, folks. I keep finding myself saying YES to more things, not wanting to miss out on a single moment and live up what I'm sure I'll look back on as one of the greatest and most confusing times of my life.

So two weekends ago, I took some time away and went home. April has been a hard month for many different reasons, and I wasn't sure, with the way my life is going, when I was going to be home again. So I went, and although it meant missing a Nashville weekend (that are eminently numbered), it was totally worth it.

My mom and I spent Friday having a girl's day doing all of my favorite home-y things: IKEA, Rifle Paper Co, going to the Y, and of course, large quantities of Starbucks. She does such a great job of making me feel so special.

And on Saturday, I got to see my sister! It was her birthday on Friday and she spent it up at school, but Saturday we got together with my brother and sister-in-law and had an amazing family dinner at home. We made steaks and mashed potatoes, in the typical Hardaway tradition, and had just about the best cake ever from our favorite: Publix.

I have a pretty great family, if I do say so myself.

Taking a step back from campus and learning how to deal with all the stuff that was going on in my life was pretty vital, and I had so much fun hanging out with my brother and sisters. Can't wait to see them again soon for graduation!

9/52

9/52

A shot from my weekend at home the past few days. 

After almost four years of living in Nashville and falling in love with the city, it's funny how I can sometimes forget that I am first a Florida girl at heart. As much as I hate the humidity and the tourism, I will always associate home with the magnolia and palm trees in my neighborhood and Tijuana Flats. This weekend was a great reminder of that.

Happy Sunday,

Abby

CHRISTMAS WITH THE HARDAWAYS

Card games, wonderful gifts and time with family. Although I am bummed that I missed a white Christmas in Nashville, I wouldn't trade this time for anything. During this last few days of break I plan to do a little shopping, a lot of thinking and planning, and of course, family Nerts tournaments whenever possible. (My cat is also being quite cuddly these days!)

Love and peace during this holiday season!

The Past Week in Photos

My dad enjoying the weather on our back porch

Sweet gifts from the rehearsal dinner

The smell of wedding bouquets

Finally meeting this munchkin!

Exploring Rifle Paper Co with my mom

Creating my first Christmas wreath

Love the little moments from this week at home and diving into the holidays.