Two Years!

Wow, I have been awful at keeping up with the blog! :( There just hasn't been anything overly exciting going on.... work & living life joyously... that's about it! :) School has kept me extremely busy so I am greatly anticipating Spring Break! I will be going on a cruise to the Bahamas... without my husband :( Unfortunately this also means that we will not be together on our actual SECOND wedding anniversary! Can you believe it?? 2 years! Two very wonderful years being married to my favorite person in the world! He is truly my soul mate, my best friend, and the person I want to spend the most time with. This time last year, we celebrated our 1st anniversary in Gatlinburg. We had such a wonderful time together then that we are planning on going back at the end of May once school gets out. The whole reason we chose to go there last year was because we really wanted to bike around Cade's Cove. We drove alllll the way down the winding road to get to the entrance of Cade's Cove only to find it CLOSED :( So we are anxious to return so we can actually do some biking! I hate that I won't be with Jordan on our actual anniversary date, but we'll celebrate early aanndd... I'm rreeeeaaaallllyyyy ready to soak in the sunshine with a book in hand! :) Well, Kindle in hand haha.
All this to say, Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing me with the most amazing husband. You are so mighty & you have the most perfect plan, always! I'm amazed that He brought me to the man who was made completely for me :)
And I pray that we live "Happily Ever After" :)
Much blessings,
Mr. & Mrs. Stancel (2 years!)

Thanksgiving Preparations

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it will be a busy one for Jordan and me. I am so thankful that I have the whole week off from school... I don't think I could get everything ready in time if I didn't have all week to plan! Jordan and I have been trying to pick through all the desserts & sides I need to prepare for all our meals. Thankfully I love baking and cooking! We are having a Thanksgiving meal with Jordan's mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law on Wednesday because (un-thankfully) Jordan has to work on Thanksgiving day. I can't complain... that's just how the schedule has to work for firefighters and it's been a couple years since he's had to work Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eventhough he's working Thursday, his station is still having a meal with their families. That will be our Thanksgiving Day meal together! Thanksgiving morning I will eat breakfast with my family and late dinner with them again. So, in preparing for all these meals... here's a look at the kitchen table:

This doesn't even include all the cold ingredients! For the Stancel dinner I'm preparing dessert...think I'm going with a chocolate cookies and creme filling cake! For the station meal, I'm making side dishes of sweet potatoes and mac & cheese (with home made recipes thanks to my Auntie Susie!). For my parent's breakfast, I'm making my breakfast casserole and for my family's dinner, Grandma Lucy's delicious dressing AND dessert... blueberry pie & possibly a double layered cream cheese & pumpkin pie (which was going to go to the station but someone is already baking pumpkin pie). PHEW! I'm just glad I'm ahead of the game... I already did my grocery shopping and have everything layed out with the appropriate baking dishes. Tomorrow I will make my list of what I need to do first and make sure I have all my recipes layed out. Can't wait!! There is so much I am thankful for this year... Jordan and I have been blessed with wonderful memories with family & friends as well as the financial support of me being paid full-time! I, personally, am so thankful for my husband. He's the one who makes my life complete. He makes me so happy and always tries, usually successfully, to cheer me up when I am down. I don't know what I'd do without his love and his silly humor. Thank you Lord for blessing me with him, and thank you for all our family! Can't wait to update again after Thanksgiving to share how everything went! Let's pray for NO cooking catastrophies! :)

Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I dressed up as a football player & Jordan made his whole Freddy Krueger costume on his own! He painted and burned/tore the shirt, tore the pants, decorated his face with paint & liquid latex... he did a great job!
We started the night off at Jason & Loni's and then ended at a bonfire with more friends in our neigborhood.

Cabin Trip

Last weekend was our annual Fall weekend trip to the King family cabin! For the past two years we've spent the weekend at the cabin just outside of Dahlonega with all of our friends. We went up Friday night and on Saturday, after cooking breakfast, we spent the morning/afternoon playing board games & shooting in the woods. The later part of the afternoon, Katie & JK took some of us to the river and the waterfall, it was so pretty!







Later that night, the whole group went to a Corn Maze!



The next morning, Jordan, I, Katie, JK, Brittany & Brian went hiking up to Desoto Falls. It was a nice hike in the cool fall weather!

Our New Toy

My wonderful husband loves to spoil & surprise me!



4 Door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - LOVE IT!
No more leaky AC, no more trunk that doesn't want to stay open, no more doors that refuse locking - Ha! I love the Jeep!

Last Summer Adventures

The end of summer is quickly approaching! For me, it brings a sad end but an exciting start to a new school year! For Jordan, he's just glad I'm going back to work... like I'm spoiled or something! Haha!
Or last trip of the summer was with Jordan's family to Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island in Florida. We went with his parents and his sister. The condo was beautiful and the beach was stunning! Crystal clear water & white sand beach! We spend the days on the beach, me sunbathing & reading, Jordan either playing in the water, building sandcastles or hiding from the sun :) Here's a few pictures from the trip...





Just this past Friday, we had the joy of seeing our good friends Miles & Casey get married! Jordan was Miles' best man, as was Miles Jordan's best man. They've been friends since they were just little tikes! The wedding was held at the Thompson House & Gardens in Bogart, Ga. & everything was beautiful! We are soo happy for our dear friends!!

I haven't had this blog for very long & I've already gotten behind on my posts... oops! The biggest thing we've done so far this summer has definitely been our trip to Colorado, so I'll share about that! Me, Jordan, My mom & dad, my sister & my brother-in-law went on the trip for my half Aunt, Kirsten's wedding. We began in Beaver Creek Colorado. We stayed at the Pines Lodge & our stay there was fantastic! We had a great view from our room & only a 5 minute walk into the little town for breakfast, lunch or whatever else we needed.







While we were there, we did plenty of hiking and biking. We rode the chair lift up to the top of the mountain and hiked some of the trails one day, and another day we biked down the mountain twice.






The wedding was BEAUTIFUL! It was held outside at Beano's Cabin; what a memorable event!




My aunt, Kirsten & her dad, my grandpa.







The day after the wedding, we headed to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed in a cabin & did lots of hiking in the National Park. Here are some of the stunning views we saw...










Me, Jordan, my sister & brother-in-law hiked up Estes Cone, about 11,000 feet. It was a really challenging hike which ended with us climbing up rocks hand over hand, but the views were BREATHTAKING!







This was definitely a very, very memorable trip!!!

Remembering our Wedding Day

I made these scrapbook designs on Smilebox, check them out :) There's one of me getting ready, Jordan pre-wedding, the ceremony & reception. Take a peek into the most wonderful & beautiful day of our lives :)

The Bride Pre-Wedding

This free scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

The Groom Pre Wedding (now this isn't my favorite design, but I had a hard time with this one)

Make your own photo album

Ceremony

Customize your own scrapbooking design

Reception

Create a free scrapbooking design