Memories in the Mountains

Hey y'all,

I'm a water person. I've always been someone who spends her summers and breaks either on the lake or at the beach. In the past month, I've spent 2 weekends in the mountains and I'm absolutely in love. Is it possible to be a beach and mountain person at the same time? I don't want the snow and freezing weather of the mountains, but the morning chill and falling leaves is the good stuff.

This weekend I stayed with some of my favorite friends in Hiawassee, GA for a set of my BFF's birthday weekend!

It seems like it would be a long drive there, but its rather quick. Warning: driving up the mountain is a  doozy, be prepared for serious queasiness 

The days were filled with love and excitement for my gals, Caroline and Kara, as we celebrated the start of their 15th year. The night and start of early morning filled with laughter as the boys smashed us with shaving cream and the moms and I dominated 2.5 hours of CatchPhrase. 

The pictures speak for themselves from a beauty aspect. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, I can't wait to make the drive again sometime soon to check out the changing leaves. Talk about good pictures. 

The rest of the pictures are from the nights events. We found the railroad tracks and the Coca Cola sign on the way into the restaurant. If you're ever in Blue Ridge, I would encourage you to check out The Whistle Stop. We had dinner here on Saturday night, not only did we celebrate birthdays, but also got to watch the rest of Saturday football. Such a cool place for the photos, the girls absolutely loved it. We ended up not even sticking around at the drive-in, but the stop for pictures and to check it out was enough for me. I will definitely be going back! 

My hope is that you all get a chance to escape the city and the craziness that comes with that and breath in some fresh air, it feels real good to escape just for a weekend and relax.

 I hope you all have a fabulous week! 

xo 

Reasons to Love The Ridge on a Friday Night

Welcome back yall,

I love Friday nights at KR, they rock. Although our team is small, the students choose to stand and cheer on our Tigers everyday Friday night in the fall. I wanted to share some of my favorites and tips for high school football season with you! 

1. Fave: Pregame Tailgating 

Since all my friends (well most of them atleast) are football players and cheerleaders, I tailgate with the parents. Lame I get it, but trust me, they have some real good food. You'd be surprised!

2. Tip: Take lots of pics! FNL is the most reoccurring event in high school. You don't want to regret not taking pictures of what you might love most looking back! 

3. Tip: Themed Games:

Themed games rock, it gets fans pumped but also the team. If you don't want to go all out then don't be lame and do nothing. Always try to play along to the them. KR Kids- You don't wanna be the one guy not camoflauged tonight, lame!! 

4. Fave: The team running through the sign. Without a doubt one of my factors parts of the game. I get there early for 2 reasons; eat the tailgate food & the sign run through 

5. Tip: Win or loose, cheer on your team. Your cheerleaders work hard, they cheer on the sidelines for 4 quarters, the least you could do is cheer along with them. Get involved when they do the interactive cheers! Have fun cheering on your team. The football players love to have the fans involved in cheering.

I wanted to shout out Remy- literally the blogs biggest fan, wanted to tell him good luck and Go Tigers!! 

xo

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Happy first day of fall!

I'm so pumped you're back for probably one of my favorite posts so far. I know I've told you a million times, but I'm ecstatic about fall, I love the weather and how it cools down at night. I can't wait for fall fashion. Everything about October and November excites me.

What did one autumn leaf say to the other?…. I'm falling for you. 

I wanted to share some of my Fall favorites with y'all. 

Ladies Fashion: Have fun with Fall fashion, wear outfits that are stylish. You should be excited about your outfits.

1. Pick a pattern for this Fall: plaid, camo, fur, leopard, etc. Whatever you choose, stick with it for the season. Thats not to say you can't go in between a few patterns, but typically shopping trips are easier if you have a general idea of your fall fashion

2. I also find that gold jewelry is extremely popular in the fall. 

3. Scarves, these are a classic, they never go out of style and have dual purpose. Not only do they keep you warm, but they're extremely stylish. 

4. Layers!! (For those people who aren't catching onto the seasons thing, that means the weather gets colder.) Although it is still too warm to layer, in a couple weeks layering will be your best friend. Start with something simple like a button up, add a thin sweater, and finalize with some jewelry and a puffer vest. 
5. Also, extremely popular as the weather begins to cool down. Puffer vests! JCrew has some awesome options if you're willing to splurge. If you aren't ready to spend $120 on a vest, check out a dupe here! 

6. Personal fall necessity: Army Green Jacket, if you don't own one of these, now is the perfect time to invest! 
7. Boots, my favorite are from Frye. It is an expensive investment, but after this season I will have had mine for 3 seasons and they still look pretty good! 

Boys Fashion: You don't have to complicate this, make it simple. Pick outfits that you like and are comfortable in

1. I love the fall for mens fashion. By far my favorite season for guys! 

2. Pick a theme! Just like the girls did, choose a pattern. 

Camo cargoes do not count!! 

3. Plaids, boys they rock! The best is a collard plaid shirt with a sweater. So stylish! 

4.Watches are hot boys! Rock a watch this fall. 

5. Cords, trade in your old Levi jeans for a pair of cords. They'd match perfectly with the plaid and sweater.

6. If you have to stick with jeans for the fall, at least buy some straight leg jeans. "Not too slouchy, but not cutting off your circulation, you gotta get on the straight… without being on the narrow." Trust me everyone knows that a skinny jean is too far. 

7. MacAlister boots- hit up JCrew for a pair of these stylin' shoes. You can save 25% now if you use the code SHOPFORFALL. There is only a few guys I know who rock these. Jordan Price, if you're reading this- you rock the boots! 

Beauty: You change your fashion sense for the fall, don't forget to change beauty. Nothings more awkward than a fall wardrobe and summer makeup look. Bright lips and burgundy, not your perfect color combo. 

1. Another fall favorite is changing over nail polishes from summer pinks and pastels to darker hues. The color change makes me so excited for the fall.

2. Hunter Green, Oxblood, and Grey are really in during the fall. Check out Essie's fall line. Always my favorite! 

3. Start your cold weather beauty routine soon, it won't be long before winter has rolled around and your skin is extremely dry! Start soon and you won't have that issue. 

4. Trade out your bright summer lips for a darker muted color. 

5. Switch from creamy shadows to something more matte. 

6. Instead of a beached bronze, try a contour. 

Remember that as the seasons change your fall fashion sense does too!

I hope you enjoyed this post and are excited for fall!

xo 

Friday Faves

Hey it's Friday Yall, that's something to smile about!! 

1. Favorite moment: This week a posted about King's Ridge. I was absolutely overwhelmed by y'alls support and love for my blog. I appreciate the support a lot, I really did feel on top of the world receiving nice texts and tweets of all kind telling me how great it was. Love y'all! 

2. Favorite song: Sam Hunt's Ex2C album. If you haven't downloaded this album preview then please do it. The songs are so catchy and great to jam in while you're driving. My favorite is House Party! 

3. The weather: I am so so excited for the weather change. I love the way the cold air feels in the morning, it makes me so excited for fall. If you are excited too, check out my Pinterest board here

4. Favorite clothing item: Lululemon Pace Setter Skirt. Check it out here. I love this skirt, not only is it perfect for tennis (which I'm also obsessed with), but also just to wear around. This skirt is perfect because if you decided to wear a less athletic top with an athletic bottom than it would still look cute. It is super comfy too! 

5. Friend favorite: I wanted to shout out my BFF, Mal. She moved to South Florida this summer and I miss her dearly. We talk so much I sometimes feel like she's still here living my junior year with me. She always knows what to say and how to make me smile. I can't wait until she comes to visit in October! Georgia lookout, she's coming.

Happy weekend guys! I can't wait to do some fall posts as the weather begins to cool down. 

I hope you enjoy your weekend and it is full of fun & football, go dawgs! 

xo 

10 Things KR Kids Learn to Love about Their School

Welcome back to withasunnyside! 

If you're a new reader, welcome, I am so excited you're here!!
I've been attending King's Ridge since 3rd grade (I am now a junior). I've stuck around through the building changes and high school construction and over time have began to love so many things about where I go everyday. 

10. Having to wait half of my lunch period in the lunch line. I definitely couldn't do it if the food wasn't good! Well worth the wait. 

9.  Late arrival- Who doesn't love to sleep in? 8am on Wednesday mornings feels way better than 6:30am every other day. 

8. Wearing a Uni- As stupid as it sounds wearing a uniform rocks. I don't know what I would do if I had to pick out a different outfit everyday. It would be torture! I wouldn't have enough clothes!!

7. No such thing as free books here- The upside to paying for your books includes the ability to doodle in them without penalty, no fear of losing them at the end of the year, or placing them in the giant pile from previous years in the corner of your room (some call it a bookshelf). Oh and did I mention we get a sweet Amazon Prime membership out of the deal?

6. The  CLA's- Jordan and Callan rock. I feel like I'm hanging out with my friends when I'm with them. It's nice that we have adults around who are almost teenagers and relate and hangout with us. One of the major blessings at the Ridge.

5. Free ice cream- there isn't even an explanation needed for this. Although, whose idea was only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? KR Students need this daily! 

4.  Support from Faculty and Staff- This goes alongside feeling like I'm at home. A learning environment where I feel supported my staff is awesome, it's so encouraging to know the people who teach you are there to support you and help you succeed!

3. Being on student government- Being apart of school student government is one of my favorite things about school. I like being surrounded by people who are willing to work hard to benefit the rest of the high school. It's super fun to plan the events all year long that everyone enjoys.

3b. Did I mention late arrival? It's worth the double mention.

2. Small groups- Although my grade is small, I enjoy spending time a smaller group of girls in my grade.

1. Feeling like I'm at home- I've been at King's Ridge since 3rd grade; coming to school in the morning is home to me. My friends are here- it almost feels like family.

Thanks for reading this post. If you're a high schooler, I promise a time will come where you learn to love your school. 

xo

Car Essentials

Hey guys! 

I'm so glad you're back to read another post. I hope you've enjoyed a weekend full of fun & football. 

I've had a couple requests and one of the best thus far comes from a friend about things you should keep in your car.

 Top 5 Things to Keep in Your Car:

1. Extras: Whether it's an extra outfit, pair of flip flops, or a tshirt. You never know what you might need or what you might spill on yourself at dinner.  

2. A rain jacket and umbrella: I would tell you a pair of rain boots too, but if you had extra flip flops than you could trade your cute shoes for a pair of flip flops. A rain jacket is a nice thing to have because you take your car everywhere and it could rain anywhere. If you have a rain jacket in your car, I bet you'll never get drenched running into the mall again! 

3. Snack foods: Make sure these are food items that won't melt, especially in the heat of the summer. Driving around and buying food whenever you get hungry could lead to an empty wallet, save some money and grab a snack from home! 

4. A phone charger: I feel silly saying this because I'm sure most people already have on in their cars, but if you don't.. What if your phone dies and your lost? Or if you get a flat tire, how would you call for help? Save yourself the trouble and just grab a charger the next time you leave! 

5. Emergency cash: Set aside some extra money to keep in a safe place in your car. You might get in a emergency situation and they might not accept your card or you might not have enough cash. Live on the safe side! 

xo

Friday Faves

Welcome back to withasunnyside!! 

Hey it's Friday, happy Friday friends!! 

So so thankful the weekend is here!

I'm going to start a new series and post every Friday with a sequence of Friday Faves.

I wanted to share my favorite pin, favorite song, favorite laugh, and favorite product for the week.

My favorite pin of the week is: 

 The people that make me laugh are my friends, they never fail to make me laugh.

They rock y'all. 

My favorite song: Shake it Off by Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift is my home girl. I love her. She rocks. I can't wait for her new album to come out in October. 

Favorite laugh: 

Will was definitley the funnyside to withasunnyside. I started off the week on a rough note. Lets be real, everyone has rough Mondays. He came up to me singing Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Definitley a funny moment during the week. 

Finally, my favorite product: Dry Bar Shampoo & Conditioner

This stuff is $$$, well worth your money but it's hard to justify spending $45 on a shampoo.

If you want to check it out, try your closest Sephora! 

Happy Friday guys & for the weekend, Go Dawgs!! ❤️

xo 

Being Pumped about Jesus

Welcome back y'all! 

I can't wait to share my weekend with y'all, but before I do I want to give you a warning that this whole post is about Vertical Reality and insideout. If you've never be to Insideout or a North Point event, I would encourage you to, you will be absolutely blown away. 

I'm looking forward to writing a post about Friday night lights with outfit ideas, tailgate essentials, and game photos. I decided that would be too much in the same post, so lookout for that either this week or the next!

VR rocks, I love being in the mountains with my friends. I have the most rockin small group and small group leaders. 

During retreats we have free time, if any of you have ever been to Sharptop Cove in the Georgia mountains, then you would know that the mountain there is HUGE. Some of our small group hiked the mountain. Let me tell you something, I thought I was going to die on the way up. As you can tell, the view was well worth it when we got up there. Kenna said that in this case the destination is better than the journey, as opposed to caring less about the destination and more about the journey.

             Photo creds: Alexandra

I've included pictures so that you can get an idea of what it's like to be at one of these retreats. It is truley awesome!

The worship team is incredible. It's so encouraging to know you're surrounded by leaders who aren't just pumped about Jesus, but also living out a lifestyle that brands Jesus. 

The theme for the weekend is BrandYou. They talked about how you need to brand Jesus. On Saturday night, the message was the one that was most realistic for me. The pastor said, the gospel is too good for me to keep to myself. On Sunday they gave us a plan of how to follow through with what we learned. The reason for this is that we typically get this thing called a retreat high or at least that is what we call it in our small group. After retreats there is always the energy and the high of being pumped about Jesus. They say that in order for us to keep the high alive we have to share the good news with friends. In order to make a difference, we need to think of one person who needs to hear the good news and pray for them, invest in them, and invite them to Insideout. During all of this, it is important for the prayer to be for God to make us brave because inviting someone or sharing your faith with someone can be really hard, it could be awkward, theres a list so long that are reasons we shouldn't share our faith, but the thing working for us is that the world's best news doesn't need to be kept a secret. What you tell someone about your faith could be the thing that changes their life. 

This weekend recap is really just a reflection of what happened this weekend and how cool it is to be surrounded by people who are just as excited about Jesus as you are. 

If you've never been to North Point or Insideout, my hope is that you go. Insideout takes place on Sunday nights at 4:30. If you wanna have some fun, worship with an awesome team, and hear a great message, we'd love to have you! 

xo

5 Tips for Packing

Hey, welcome back!!

I appreciate everyone coming back and continuing to read my blog. It truly blows me away that there are people who ask when I'm going to blog and what about, your support overwhelms me!

I like to travel, a lot. Whether it's to the mountains for the weekend or the beach for a week. In a family with 4 girls it would be easy to say that packing is a drawn out process, but with the tips below I hope that your packing process gets quicker every time.

My 5 Packing Tips:

1. Watch the weather for your destination at least a week in advance. This seems so silly, but you don't want to arrive in your location and have packed for the complete wrong weather!

2. Put together complete outfits so that you don't forget anything. Lay everything out with its matching top or bottom and shoes. It stinks if you get somewhere and had a perfect outfit in mind and forgot one part of it.

3. Always take some kind of pullover, sweatshirt, sweater, etc. You never know if it might get cold at night! (Thanks mom for always being right about this one!)

4. If you're traveling by plane, make sure you don't overpack your luggage. It would be easier to bring as a carry on so that you don't risk loosing your luggage. If you are flying, make sure you take travel size toiletries!

5. For me, I always encourage packing an extra T-shirt. I'm a T-shirt lover and can never have too many. You might spill something or decide that 2 nights in the same shirt is too many!

6. (PS my mom wanted me to include this one…) Always pack an extra complete outfit, you never know if you will end up staying an extra day!

Remember to be practical about what you're packing, don't just randomly add extra things that you know you won't wear, especially jewelry!

I hope these tips help you to pack for your next adventure. Wherever you may go, I hope you've packed all the right things!

I'm off to Sharptop Cove this weekend for a church retreat, be on the lookout for a weekend recap full of pictures with my rockin' small group! I wanted to include some from VR (the retreat) last year!

Let me know where your next adventure will take you and how you're planning on packing! 

xo

my sunny side

Welcome back to withasunnyside! 

I've been thinking about things that make me smile, even in my weakest, most emotional days, the list below keeps me smiling. All of these things don't happen in the same day, but when they do, I'm always smiling. 

6 Things That Never Fail to Make Me Smile 

1. Cinammon rolls for breakfast- lets be real, who doesn't love a hot roll with icing on it in their mouth 

2. The feeling of crawling in bed after a long day, especially when you crawl in and unmake the bed. That's the best, the coldness feels so good 

3. Freshly shaved legs 

4. The Roswell Mill 

5. Sunsets. There's something about the way the sun sets in the sky. God never fails to leave me speechless with sunsets 

6. Chocolate milk. Enough said 

xo