Back from California!

I'm home!! I can't remember the last time I took that long of a vacation! We saw SO much. It was a whirlwind. I want to blog properly about it but for now, our vacation in instagrams! See the feed with comments/descriptions here!

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Headed to California!!!

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Five years ago, my mom and I had a grand plan of flying to California and driving the Pacific Coast Highway. Unfortunately, we didn't have the resources, so the trip got shelved. 

Earlier this summer, our dear blog friend Stephanie invited us out to her house outside of San Diego. We were thrilled to receive the invitation and so thankful for her generosity!

I have only been to CA on quick work trips and I've never able to explore, while my mom has never seen the Pacific Ocean. I am so excited that we get to go do this! Since we had wanted to drive the PCH years ago, we decided to fly into San Francisco and take a quick drive to see the sights as we make our way to Stephanie's house. 

I am so excited and so grateful for this opportunity!! I fly out seriously early tomorrow (7am) and meet my mom in San Francisco.

I can't wait to see the Golden Gate Bridge in person and actually go to the Santa Monica pier instead of just see it from a distance! And it's going to be SO fun to meet Stephanie and pal around San Diego with her! 

Do you have favorite stops along the PCH or any must-see recommendations in San Diego? Our trip down the coast is seriously short/quick - we will do the drive in about a day and a half so we won't have time to go off the road or spend tons of time anywhere, but I'd love to hear recommendations!

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The Red Carpet

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Andy and I both have red carpets in our future tonight - just in very different ways!

In about an hour I am driving down to Atlanta to cover the 43rd Annual Dove Awards for HearItFirst.com. We will be backstage and on the red carpet for a total of about 10 hours doing interviews with winners, presenters, and performers. It's going to be a little crazy. This coming Tuesday, you'll be able to watch the Dove Awards pre-show and our backstage interviews on live.hearitfirst.com. (If you've ever wondered I do "in real life" - this is it!)

And Andy will actually be ON the red carpet at the premiere of the Nashville Film Festival tonight. He is in the new documentary Hell or High Water: The Story of the Nashville Rollergirls and will be there to support the film and our friends. The rollergirls will be skating down the red carpet, how cool is that? Then, later, Andy and his friend Eric who were interviewed together in the doc will walk down the red carpet and see if anyone wants to talk to them, but probably not since the girls are the star of the film. :)

I hope you have a great day and we'll be back next week with a really great Joey's Mom post!

If you're new to Owl Really, welcome! Please check out my favorite posts and consider subscribing! :)

Fall Fun: Honeysuckle Hill Farm

This weekend, we went to Honeysuckle Hill Farm with our friends Bryan and Anna. I went years ago with girl friends and the farm has grown and changed so much since then! The main attraction is the corn maze but they have so much for kids - like a corn box (a giant sandbox filled with corn instead of sand), a "corn popper" trampoline, a petting zoo, pedal cart races, and tons more.

It was such a fun adventure! Do you have corn mazes where you live? What's your favorite fall fun activity??


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The Minister's House: World's Largest Treehouse

Yesterday I mentioned that we made an extra stop on our way home from the Smoky Mountains... can you believe your eyes?? It's the world's largest treehouse in Crossville, TN. Apparently, in 1993 a minister named Horace started building a treehouse because he received a vision from God. Today, it's eight to ten thousand square feet and in the center is a beautiful chapel. Since we were there on a Sunday, we actually got to hear him preach. He seemed very down to earth and genuine, from what I could tell by overhearing his sermon while we explored the multi-story structure.

It was really an adventure! Certain boards are pretty creaky, the stairs rarely have hand rails, and some are outrageously steep. Children run through at their own risk while all the adults we ran into were amazed by the maze of paths and stairs and dead-ends and hidden passageways.

Notice the tree swing? A lawn chair attached to ropes that are duct taped together. We didn't take a ride on it, but it looks like everyone was having a blast!

All throughout the treehouse are surprises - a beautiful stained glass window, random furniture (that I would have LOVED to take home with me!), wooden statues, a guy playing a flute, and so much more.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I was inspired by Horace and his dream and what he has done. He felt called to do something and he didn't just slap something together (well, I mean, in a way, he did... some of it feels haphazard!) but he went ALL OUT. He could have built a normal-size treehouse but instead he built an enormous one and opens it to the public and shares his dream and vision and faith with those who visit. I am inspired by him!

See all the photos (including large size versions) on flickr.

I'm going to Disneyworld!

As you read this, I'm on my way to Disneyworld! I'm going on a work trip (best job ever, right?) to Disney for Night Of Joy and because Andy couldn't go (prior commitment!), my mom is going with me! We haven't been to Disney together in about 17 or 18 years - this is going to be great! We went when I was 2, 6, and 11 or 12...and I have been fortunate enough to go 4 times as an adult and it's always a blast.

Take a walk down memory lane with me and check out some of these snapshots from Disney trips past!





Have a great weekend and I'll be back to blogging on Saturday with a link to my guestblog over on Lenore's blog!