Of my most sixteen most recent Instagram photos, here are twelve of them.
Do you see what all of these pictures have in common? 
SO CUTE! My husband thinks I’m a little crazy about taking pictures of our sweet animals but come on…how can you NOT take a picture of these sweet faces?
Are you on Instagram? Do you take an obnoxious amount of pictures of your pets? Follow me! My Instagram name is kindoann!
The husband and I just celebrated our three year anniversary a couple of weeks ago! Three years…where has the time gone? And what’s in going to feel like when a few decades pass? Will time always speed by?
Anyhow, to celebrate our anniversary this year, we went to the mountains for a couple of days. We are fortunate to live within driving distance of some very cool mountain getaway places. We have some family that live in Blowing Rock, NC and for Christmas this past year, they gave us a two-night stay in a cabin in Blowing Rock. Well, it worked out perfectly to use that weekend for our anniversary!
This is what the cabin looked like from the outside. Amazing. Tucked away right off a long, winding, steep dirt road that led down to another cabin. No kidding, this dirt road was so steep we were in the lowest gear going down and let’s just say I’m glad we have a Jeep. No joke. Steep.
When you walked out on the balcony (there was another door on the side of the cabin around the right side in the above picture) to the left was this view:
Then in front was this view:
And to the right:
I know, right? Peaceful…private…beautiful view…perfect for a relaxing weekend!
One afternoon, we drove into the town of Blowing Rock which is a cute little tourist town. Even though it is a little touristy, it definitely has a small town feel. I love it! We walked all over and went in and out of so many cute shops but my favorite was this one:
Really?! How cute is this shop?! It’s called Take Heart and it’s on Main Street in Blowing Rock.
And it was hot that day so the owner had out fresh, cold lemonade. See it over there on the right?
Then the inside – oh. my. goodness. Once I saw the inside I asked the owner if I could take pictures. I couldn’t leave without pictures. Look at those lavender walls! And that fairy garden! (I wish I had gotten a closer picture of that…so cute!)
This girl definitely has a gift for styling.
I loved everything in this store! I could have stayed in there all day. And then gone back the next and spent the whole day. But I was supposed to be celebrating my anniversary and it’s not exactly the store my husband would like to spend the whole day in…
They have a little bit of everything – clothes, perfume, home decor, subway art signs, lavender sachets…I could have brought it all home with me if the husband would have allowed. :) So if you ever go near Blowing Rock, go to Take Heart! Amazing!
This was a weekend that could have lasted forever for us. It was very nice to be able to get away for a couple of days and just recharge as a couple!
… on my husband! He owns his own freelance web and graphic design business and he’s awesome. He’s done this for years and I’m always impressed with his work. He has an amazing eye for this stuff but what he has done over the last few weeks has really blown me away.
Are you ever really so impressed by your spouse that you are left speechless? Because that’s where I am right now. I can’t fully express how I feel about his latest project but I really want to share it with you all.
My husband has been working with our church for the last couple of years on a contract basis and he manages the website and some communication stuff. My brain doesn’t even really comprehend all that he does. Also, on a volunteer basis, he leads a few teams, including the visual team for our contemporary service. He has one of the biggest hearts for the local church that I’ve ever encountered in my life. He and his team make stuff like this happen on Sunday mornings:
Christmas Environmental Projection
Environmental Projection
It’s called environmental projection (projecting images onto the walls) and it’s so cool!
I’m bragging about his heart today because his heart has led him to make this.
It’s our new church website.
Screenshot of awesome new website
A church website may not seem all that exciting to the layman, but when you’ve seen what goes in to making it not only functional, but efficient, informative, and just plain cool…well, it’s so much more exciting! I really love to just observe him as he’s building stuff like this. He’s so passionate! Go visit the site and click around to see all the cool stuff!
We are in the middle of a huge transitional phase in the life of our church. We have just changed our name, we are growing, and we are building a new campus. We are changing systems in almost every ministry to be more efficient and to better reach and serve our community. God has really blessed us with some incredible leadership that have followed divine leading and made decisions that could only be from above. Here’s more of our story.
Back to the website – for years, our church has used a website template that someone else (a third party) built and that the church manages. Then, a couple of years ago, my husband built and launched a new part of the website to be more interactive and informative. Well, with the new name change and branding, obviously there was a need for one cohesive, user friendly website and of course my husband could build exactly what we need.
And, oh boy…he has done an amazing job.
Today our new site had launched and WOW! is all I can really say!
I am absolutely in awe of the work (blood, sweat, and tears) he has put into this website to make it what it is. When he does something, he really does it all the way. (Read more about his passion and heart beat here.)
And it’s even more meaningful when he does it for our church.
Our brand-spanking new website officially launches today. Go check it out!