Atwell Adventures

2013 marine ball

I’m back to the land of the living!

Last Sunday afternoon until Thursday night consisted of a bottle of ibuprofen, hours under a blanket, making friends with a thermometer, making enemies with my makeup bag, and a trip to the doctor. They never figured out what it was but test came back negative for flu and parvovirus – which apparently is also a dog virus {see I told you I was enemies with my makeup bag}.

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Thankfully, the fever went away on Thursday because we had the Marine Ball on Friday night.  While the thought of getting in a formal dress sounded the least bit appealing, I really wanted to be able to go with G, especially since it was his last.  

marine ball 1 | Atwell Adventures

And I’m glad I did – mostly because we got to see these friends!

marine ball 2 | Atwell Adventures

Only a few days left in the military life… crazy!

101 in 1001 · Atwell Adventures

72. take a mountain trip

Last weekend one of my good friends from college got married in western North Carolina, giving me a chance to mark item #72 off of my 101 in 1001 list: take a mountain trip.

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Our decision to make it an overnight trip happened last minute so when we began the search for a place to stay, hotels were either booked or prices were way more than what we like to pay.  After looking for a bit with no luck, we were happy to see a bed and breakfast called Carrier Houses pop up and we gave them a call.  They had one room left for the night and we quickly decided to book

We left Friday morning and made our way west and by 10 o’clock, I was starting to get hungry.  Fortunately, a gem called Biscuitville appeared on Google Maps and we made a stop for breakfast!

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Full of carbs, we continued to make our way towards Ruthefordton and arrived just a few minutes before our check in time.  The bed and breakfast was located on the main street of the downtown so we took a quick walk to explore the shops, restaurants, and an antique shop before checking in.

Once we returned we met our innkeepers {and wonderful hosts}, Dan and Lynn.  For the next few minutes Dan showed us around the house, told us about breakfast the next morning, and gave us some recommendations on local places to try.

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side entrance to the house and our room {at the top of the stairs}

trip to the mountains | Atwell Adventures 9image from the Carrier Houses website

We had talked about visiting Chimney Rock {about a 25-30 minute drive}, but because it was almost 4pm and the park gate closed at 5, I wasn’t sure if it was worth the trip.  But thankfully I married a man who is much more positive and he said we should go anyways.  So we did!  Five points for you, G.

On our little adventure to Chimney Rock, I was reminded also that my husband 1.) is smarter than me because the drive alone was worth the trip 2.) loves me despite my athletic ability {hello huffing and puffing on our walk up to the Chimney}.  But we made it and enjoyed some beautiful views!

trip to the mountains | Atwell Adventures 1

trip to the mountains | Atwell Adventures 2

I took the picture below after I asked G where our mountain home was going to be.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t pointing closer to Lake Lure, but whatever… we’ll hang it in our mountain home one day and look back at the picture and be reminded of our young newlywed days.

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One of my favorite views is Exclamation Point and it was the last stop on our tour-de-Chimney-Rock-in-a-hour.  As always, it was fun to experience a new place with G. Hot-hubs alert below…

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We headed back to Ruthefordton for the night and grabbed dinner and hot chocolate downtown before heading in for the night {I know, I know, we bring the par-tay}.

The next morning we woke up and made our way to the house next door for breakfast with other inn guests. The company was good and our food was even better {egg and spinach crepes with cheese grits, fruit, and muffins}.

Before we left for the wedding, we snapped a few pictures outside. Overall, we were both pleasantly surprised at how much we liked staying at the bed and breakfast {a first for both of us} and we definitely will check into local options more often!

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Since we had time between check-out and the wedding, we made our way to downtown Asheville which is full of shops, restaurants, and interesting people.  Hopefully one day we will head back and spend more time {and maybe even spend some time at the Biltmore}.

Onto the wedding where Marky-Mark got married to Molly!  Just three months ago they were celebrating with us at our wedding, so it was fun to celebrate them on there wedding day.  Not to mention, seeing these familiar faces is always a treat!

trip to the mountains | Atwell Adventures 12ps – if you invite us to your wedding, we promise to be fun.

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101 in 1001 | Atwell Adventures (small)

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Last week when we celebrated our three month anniversary, we were also celebrating something else.

When we got married, we knew that it would be 6-12 months before G finished his time in the United States Marine Corps. So throughout our engagement and these last three months, we’ve been praying for the Lord’s direction and guidance for our next steps. Being able to sharing this time and process with G has been a sweet adventure of learning and growing for both of us, and I’m so thankful I had the chance to support him not just as his girlfriend or his fiance, but as his wife.

Last Monday, God began to show us an answer for those prayers.

After two interviews, G was offered his first post-military job!

So while we celebrated three months, we were also celebrating a job offer {pretty fun timing, right?}.

Two days later, G accepted.

we're moving to Augusta | AtwellAdventures 1We first told our family by sending out this picture… {please excuse the fake smile on the right, I was mad about the headache I had all day, not my boo’s big news!}

we're moving to Augusta | AtwellAdventures 2And if you can’t read the words on that picture, I’ll make it a little bit bigger for you:

we're moving to Augusta | AtwellAdventures 3I’m a little sad to move from the place that we’ve spent our first days together. It’s crazy to think that in less than two months will be in a new city, a new home, and reestablishing ourselves again.

But I’m also excited {and a good overwhelmed} about the new things that lie ahead.

So where will our new home be? Well to give you a hint, I forced politely asked G to pose for a picture with the local newspaper from our new city.

we're moving to Augusta | AtwellAdventures 4Yep!

Atwell Adventures in Augusta, Georgia!