friday night football

last friday matt and i went to my younger brother's football game and man, i love high school football. don't get me wrong, college football is fun, a lot of fun, but high school football is honest in a way college ball never will be. the game was played on a field that lacked real goal posts, had a tiny score board, and bleachers that were only three feet high in the pouring rain. a man even brought out his drumset to give the impression of a band. it was a small crowd but the fans that stayed were devoted to the team and even though the game didn't end the way we wanted it to, it was still a great night. 

                             

destin

we loved you.

thanks for making our last few days of summer absolutely wonderful.

personalized peach pie

i think i was cursed given sweet teeth rather than a sweet tooth. seriously. i would eat dessert after every meal if i could. when matt asked where i wanted to go for my birthday dinner, i knew where i wanted to go to for dessert before i knew where i wanted to go to dinner. so, when i found this dessert online somewhere, i knew i needed to try it. it's pretty much the perfect summer dessert: easy, fruity, and light, meaning you can eat this five nights in a row and not feel bad about it! :)

you need:
1 ripe nectarine {you could use a peach, plum, apricot.....}
1 crescent roll
about 1 tsp of honey
brown sugar {optional}

simply cut the pit out of the nectarine and replace with honey. 

next, wrap the nectarine in the crescent roll. if you like, 

put a little brown sugar at the top of the roll to make it just a tiny bit sweeter. 

then bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes until the crescent is golden. serve hot. 

for maximum deliciousness serve with vanilla ice cream :)

the bridge of pine

more than once i'vs mentioned that starkville isn't exactly my favorite place in the world. it's a little boring in the sense that they aren't many things to do in town, or even out of the town. however, there are some "landmarks" (ok, most won't see them as landmarks) that make it special, one of them being this bridge. it's small, has a fairly uninteresting view, and i don' think it has a name. what makes it so delightful though is it's smell. seriously. the best time to experience it right after it rains because it's like stepping into a forest, as cliche as that sounds. your nostrils will be filled with the scent of pine and it is just so rich, so earthy that you'll have to inhale deeply. you simply won't be able to help yourself.

the big red barn

when i took this photo, i couldn't help but think of that lovely book by margaret wise brown.

as a child, i read it over and over.

stop + look

it was weird driving out there by myself. usually, i would be in his truck, with the windows down, my hair in my face, music blaring, him holding my hand. loving it. but not last night. last night i went out there by myself. it was a little weird and a little scary. i didn't let myself think about that for too long though. i couldn't. the reason i was going out there was to take photographs.  the whole drive i saw things that might look good in a photo, but then i wondered if it was something that i thought i should take a photo of or, if it was something that i needed to take a photo of. regardless though, i didn't pull over. again, i was too scared too, too scared of not being able to get the right photo, looking like a freak. (i care way too much about what people think of me.but, then again, i was on the side of the road, with a camera, at dusk....creeper!) i finally arrived and got out the car. focus. breathe.
  
first click. not right. adjust - everything manual. shutter speed. f-stop. click. blurry. zoom. focus. click click. new subject. click. not there yet. different white balance. click. wait a second. stop. look. new angle. click got it.