Keeping things simple with a smidge of Southern charm
Stocking up on our favorite snacks is the name of the game in our household. With two little ones in tow, I try to make as few trips to the grocery store as possible, so making sure I have enough snacks to get us by for a while is always my strategy!
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Who else is getting excited that Fall is right around the corner?! Even though it’s currently 89 degrees outside, I always look forward to this time of year. I can definitely feel a change in the air, and soon the leaves will be shedding their green and transforming the landscape with their beautiful shades of orange and brown!
Have you ever felt stuck in a season of life where it seems like you’re busier than normal.? Time so quickly passes and we get swept away by our own agendas. We get caught in the hustle and bustle of work, parenting, maintaining somewhat of a social life and trying to keep up with the Joneses, all while keeping our eyes glued to a screen in some form or fashion to keep us “entertained.”
For my family, the month of August was a total whirlwind! My husband and I welcomed our second child into the world in late July, and we’ve been having to learn all over again just how hard it is to adjust to a severely disrupted sleep schedule, balancing a toddler’s needs with a newborn’s needs and keeping a grip on our sanity all at the same time. Don’t get me wrong – it’s been a joy! But my husband and I are both ready for a day of rest.
Sometimes, it’s important to disconnect from things so that we can reconnect with things that are important to us. Making time in our busy schedules to breathe and enjoy the beauty of the world around us can do wonders for mental clarity, and that’s why my family is making it a point to get off the grid and get back into nature during National Hunting and Fishing day – taking place on September 22nd this year.
I feel pretty darn lucky to have married into a family of outdoor enthusiasts. During this time of year, my family begins making their annual preparations for deer season to open up, and out come all of the bows, rifles and ammo to be sighted in and tested in anticipation of a bountiful harvest. 
Speaking of bountiful harvest, check out my beautiful mother-in-law and her handsome buck she killed a few seasons back! She has always loved getting outdoors and suiting up in her camouflage to scope out a beautiful buck or doe to bring home to her family. Not only is she handy with a rifle, but she also assists with cleaning the kill – and she cooks a mean venison roast!
My husband and I are counting down the days until National Hunting and Fishing Day, where we plan to fully disconnect from the distractions in life and spend time with our family preparing our gear for opening day coming up very soon. We’ll finish sighting in our rifles, sharpening our broadheads and get in a little target practice. Come opening day, we’ll be diving into the woods and breathing in the fresh air while we scope out a deer – and we couldn’t be more excited!
One tool we simply cannot live without during deer season is our GameSaver® Outdoorsman Vacuum Sealing System and GameSaver® Heat Seal Bags and Rolls to help us preserve the meat that we harvest so that we can enjoy it all year long.
This particular system is perfect for a beginner due to it’s ease of use. The bags are made of a durable, multi-layered material that is puncture resistant and blocks out oxygen and moisture, so any meat or produce that is sealed lasts up to 5x longer compared to ordinary storage methods! The Outdoorsman has an extra wide sealing strip and can power through 40 consecutive seals at a time. It’s been a HUGE helping hand as far as keeping our meat fresh for our family all year long, and helps our family save a ton of money each year by preventing freezer burn on our favorite foods!
Amazon will be running a special promotion on GameSaver® products throughout the month of September. Plus, The Outdoorsman and the GameSaver® 28 gallon bags and GameSaver® 11″ expandable heat rolls (2 pack) will be 20% off from September 9th – September 16th!
Looking for a little adventure? Gamesaver® is offering outdoor fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have their own off-the-grid adventure with a trip to Alaska! (Plus, a super awesome GameSaver® Vacuum Sealing system of their own!) The sweepstakes is currently taking place and runs from August 25th – September 22nd. Entering is super easy to do! Just enter here for your chance to win!
One lucky buck (or doe) can get in on the action now and enter to win an Outsdoorsman of their own! I’m hosting a giveaway for one right now on my Instagram page, so hop on over and get your entries in! Giveaway ends September 20th, 2018 at 11:59pm CST
Will you be going off the grid on September 22nd to celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day? Do you hunt and/or fish for wild game? How could the GameSaver® Outdoorsman enhance your outdoor adventures? Leave a comment below and share the love!
Throughout the entire second and third trimester of my pregnancy, my body constantly craved the juicy goodness of fresh, homegrown tomatoes. Unfortunately, my husband and I were not able to plant a garden like we normally do each year so we could grow our own tomatoes, but we were very fortunate that my mother and several other friends in our community had bountiful crops of tomatoes and other fresh produce that they were more than willing to share with us!
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This summer is already off to a sizzling start with lots of fun activities to keep this little firecracker child of mine entertained. She has heard us talk about her baby sister (due at the end of summer) for several months now, and though she doesn’t quite understand what we’re talking about, she can totally sense that Mommy and Daddy are up to something. That’s why we’re doing all the things over the next few weeks to really celebrate this little girl, because she lights up our lives like the 4th of July!
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Growing up, Easter was always such an incredibly fun time in our household. We’ve always celebrated the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus (the most important time of the year in our opinion,) and my mother would often spare no expense in making sure that all of her children had an Easter Basket that was overflowing with sweet treats, money eggs and the cutest little seasonal gifts to fit our personalities. Running downstairs and finding our baskets before church service was always such a treat, and the annual Easter egg hunt that soon followed was always a memorable experience! I always knew I wanted to keep these fun traditions alive when I had children of my own, and for my little one’s 3rd Easter celebration, we’re going big!
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They say there’s no place like home, and this week that phrase has taken on a whole new meaning for myself and my family.
If you’ve been following for a while, you may know that we’ve been building a brand new home for the past year. My husband took on the role of contracting much of the work out himself, and he and his father spent countless hours and long days after work going over to the construction site and working to the point of near exhaustion. It’s been the busiest and most hectic year of our lives, but it was also a year full of blessings (and a ton of learning, too!)
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Growing up in the South, I’ve learned one quintessential piece of advice that has served me incredibly well over the years for just about any and every situation that has come my way:
Whether you’ve got a potluck event to attend, you’re in need of a sympathy dish to take to a family, or you’ve just got a hankerin’ for something sweet, you’ll never go wrong with making a pound cake.
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The Easter bunny has officially come and gone, and we’re hopping right along through this beautiful spring season! Easter weekend gave me some much needed time to rest, reflect and enjoy this life and everything in it. The past two weeks have been a little tough on me. Seeing horrible happenings in the news, dealing with a string of bad weather that rolled through and juggling multiple different projects has made me feel a little defeated at times, but being able to rest has helped me sort through those feelings and refocus on the most important things in life.
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When my husband and I moved into our current home, we knew that we were going to have far less room in our new house than we were accustomed to. We decided to move back to my husbands hometown and stay in his grandparent’s rental property for a few years to save up enough money to build our dream home. While we’re forever grateful for this humble little abode, it’s had it’s share of challenges. For instance, the house is approximately 1100 sq feet, so coming up with places to put our belongings requires us to get really, really creative sometimes. With just 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and no storage space at all, things got tight fast.
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