Discovering – Page 2

Must-Read Relationship Advice Books $13 and Under

Published on January 27, 2019February 6, 2019 by Bniconann1 Comment

Hello!

This post is about some great books that Jacob and I have read in the last couple of months.

Jacob is an active reader (which I am trying to be like) and I’m jealous! If you read my New Years post then you know that I am trying to be better with my reading!

We decided that we needed to read some books that’ll help us in our journey with God and with our marriage. Obviously there are plenty of books that you can read but these are some that have touched my heart. (They are in no particular order) Click the title of the book so you can order one on Amazon!

Book 1: Love That Lasts

This book is awesome! It’s written by Jefferson and Alyssa Bethke. They’re a sweet couple that is extremely relatable and makes relationships easy to understand. They alternate chapters, one will be Jefferson and the next will be Alyssa, which is refreshing to hear both of them speak in a clear way. They titled each chapter a popular love song title, for example “Where is the Love” and “Fake Love”. What I liked most about this book was that they were real with the struggles they faced being Christian and in a relationship. Lets face it, there are things that are acceptable for couples to do in our society that are not acceptable in the eyes of God. Trying to navigate through those struggles can be difficult and stressful. I highly recommend this book to those in a relationship and possibly looking to become engaged and take the next step. Also, this book is only 12$ on Amazon and 9.99$ for kindle!

Book 2: Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

Again, another great book. It goes through each season of our lives, single, dating, engaged and married and helps you to navigate in each! What I love most about this book is Stuart starts first with the most important relationship that we have, the one with God.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. – 1 John 4:7

Singleness should be all about devotion. Dating is about evaluation. Engaged is about unification and married life is all about the mission. This is definitely a must read and it’s nice to know that Jacob and I are not the only ones trying to navigate life with God being in the center. Also, this book is only $12!

Book 3: Things that I wish I’d known Before I Got Married

The infamous Gary Chapman ladies and gentlemen. His book The 5 Love Languages is awesome and this one is as well. Gary has really helped myself and Jacob find out what our love languages are. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Jacob’s love language is different from mine and it’s nice to know that we both realize that. My love language is quality time, I love nothing more than wearing sweats, drinking tea or wine and just watching movies. Other love languages are physical touch and receiving gifts. This book not only talks about real issues such as apologizing to your partner even when you don’t want to or solving disagreements without arguing, it also has questions after every chapter for you to reflect on. I think it is important to have an honest conversation with your partner about how you want to be treated or loved. This book is also 12$ on Amazon!

I know there are plenty of relationship advice books that you and I can read, but these are some that I absolutely loved. Click the titles and order them!

If you read them let me know, I would love to talk about it. If you have any other books that has really touched your heart I would love to hear about those also!

Love,

How to have an epic Christmas party!

Published on December 9, 2018February 12, 2019 by BniconannLeave a comment

I have ALWAYS wanted to be apart of all types of parties, such as costume parties, Christmas parties, New Years parties and everything in between. Well this year I decided that my family will host their first annual Christmas party and I am so excited! Our party of course was centered around having a lot of food. I created a list of things that you have to have to make your party epic! It’s not that hard, it’s definitely fun but it does take a little effort.

Invitations
- We ordered our invites from zazzle.com, Zazzle is always doing some kind of discount on their invitations and they come out so nice! I did some research with other invitation websites but for me this was the best one. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Food
- On our invites we wrote “bring your favorite dish”. This, for us, was a MUST! Of course we love cooking and we would do it happily but it relieved a lot of stress on us to have our guests bring dishes also. We definitely made some cookies which I have posted the recipes on here and a few appetizers. We actually ended up cooking A LOT of food, way too much for a traditional potluck but I’m not complaining, I ate all of it.
- Chocolate covered oreos (my favorite!)
- Dulce de leche bars
- Coconut and white chocolate cookies

Shrimp Ceviche

Decorations
- Our house is always decked out for Christmas so this aspect wasn’t too hard. We did go to Home Goods, Michael’s and Hobby Lobby to get anything new.
- We bought decorated Christmas plates (paper) and napkins from Marshalls.
- We created our hot chocolate bar from items from Hobby Lobby.

Drinks
- Hot chocolate bar
- Wine (multiple bottles)
- Sparkling cider

Entertainment
- As for entertainment, we decided to have the ultimate Christmas album playing the background, Mariah Carey! Along with classics such as Frank Sinatra and Justin Bieber (haha!)
- We also decided to play some Christmas games such as:
  - Christmas Trivia
  - Name that Christmas song
  - Christmas Charades
- We provided gifts for the winners. We had chocolates, a pasta kit, and candles from Home Goods, Pier 1 Imports and TJ Maxx. (Thank God for those stores)

Chocolates, a pasta kit and candles!

Overall, our party was awesome and I’m glad we finally ended up having it.

If you have any tips of how to make a party great please do not hesitate to share!

Have a great day!

Love,

A trip to North Georgia

Published on December 4, 2018 by Bniconann2 Comments

The very first trip that Jacob and I took together was to the mountains of North Georgia, Clayton to be exact. It was absolutely amazing and we have been going back ever since. The mountains are so beautiful and the wine is perfect.

If you’re looking for a relaxing vacation look no further, North Georgia is where you need to go. I have compiled a list of vineyards that we’ve been to and added the ONE place you have to hike.

Vineyards

Oh the vineyards! I was not a wine person before meeting Jacob but after traveling here and trying different wines I have come to love it. Some of the vineyards that have helped with this and that are worth visiting are:

12 spies vineyard

It is so beautiful and everyone that works there is super sweet. They offered us pumpkin bread while we were trying the different wines, which was a plus! They also have the BEST mulled wine, I never knew it could be so good! (Jacob and I have been trying to make mulled wine and we just can’t get the recipe right, if you have any recipes you’d like to share please do!)

Yonah Mountain Vineyards

This place is extremely special for Jacob and I (you guys will find out why in November 2019!). It’s beautiful, relaxing and just an overall oasis. The staff is friendly and the place itself is so nice.

Sweet Acres Farms Winery

We came across this Winery because of Groupon. For Christmas I bought Jacob and I tickets to go ziplining and they came with wine tastings for this amazing winery. It was a relaxing place that had a lot of fruity wines that I have never tried before. Definitely a place to visit if you want unique wine.

Hiking

Hiking has become a love of mine. Jacob actually proposed to me while we were hiking at a waterfall, I know, I know best proposal ever!

The first place we ever hiked together was Tallulah Falls Gorge.

Tallulah should be on the top of your hiking list!

I was honestly scared to hike this. There are so many stairs (not the scary part) and you have to basically hop rocks (the scary part)! They’re slippery and YOU WILL fall into the water. The nice thing about December is that it’s cold, so not only are you getting wet but you’re also now freezing! But the view is absolutely beautiful and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

If you have any questions about North Georgia or any suggestions please let me know!

Have a great day

Love,

Best local spots in Augusta, Ga.

Published on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by Bniconann2 Comments

I have compiled a list of my favorite places in Augusta and the surrounding areas and made a perfect day out list!

I love local restaurants, stores and businesses in general. It’s nice to see hard working people and supporting them makes me feel like I’m helping their lives just a little.

Of course there are plenty of restaurants and stores all around Augusta but this is what my perfect day would consist of.

Breakfast:

Manuel’s Bread Cafe

On Saturdays and Sundays they offer brunch buffet and it is amazing. There are shrimp & grits, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes and tons of pastries.

Lunch:

Pho Bac

Pho Bac offers authentic Vietnamese dishes and I always get their Pho, its amazing.

Mid-day dessert:

Two Mom’s Kitchen

Two Mom’s knows good cookies! Their sugar cookies are made with almond extract which makes it so special.

Date Dinner:

Frog Hollow Tavern

I have yet to take any photos of this amazing restaurant but they have Gouda mac and cheese which is too DIE for!

Drinks:

Craft and Vine

Craft and Vine is owned by the same people that own Frog Hollow and they have unique cocktails and AMAZING pizza!

Shopping:

Final Cut

Final Cut is always a good idea.

Check out my previous post about this store.

I have fell in love with Augusta because of places like these and others that I will post about in the future.

If you have any restaurants or stores that you love I would love to hear about it!

Love,

Local Coffee Shops

Published on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by BniconannLeave a comment

I have recently come to love local coffee shops and thankfully a new one opened near by! Ubora Coffee Roasters is located in downtown Augusta, Georgia and this place is amazing. It is a veteran owned business that is quickly making Augustans fall in love. The vibe of the place is amazing, the workers were sweet and knowledgeable and its an awesome place to just relax.

When I went we ordered their caramel cookie, which was so good that I’m going to try to recreate it, and two cups of their pour over coffee. I’ve never had a pour over and honestly I was kind of intimidated. Will it be too strong? Will I hate it? I am in no way a coffee aficionado, I just like good coffee. Their pour over coffee was just that, good coffee. We ordered the Ethiopian and Rwanda coffee, seriously amazing!

An awesome thing that Ubora offers is that you can order their coffee online and it is definitely worth it. https://uboracoffee.com/

If you have any local restaurants that you want to share I would love to hear about them!

Love,

Market on the River

Published on October 1, 2018 by BniconannLeave a comment

Happy Monday!

Let me tell you guys, I had a great weekend with my fiance! Saturday morning we went down to the Market on the River and ate a bunch of food.

If you’re ever in Augusta, Georgia and you have nothing to do on a Saturday morning you must go to the Augusta Market on the River…. MUST!

It’s a place filled with vendors from food to soaps and everything in between.

This Saturday we enjoyed arepas, smore’s brownies and tostones, they were great!

Little Colombia is the place to go to!

These are the best arepas that you can get in Augusta! The meat is made perfectly, this is their chicken but their pork (and I do not like pork) is amazing. The kids also enjoyed them.

After our arepas we were like, “We need more food”.

So we made our way to the Puerto Rican booth.

Tostones are always good.

After eating all the savory snacks, we decided to get some sweets!

Jacob chose to get the smore’s brownie and of course he enjoyed that.

Over all we had an amazing Saturday morning, hanging out together and enjoying downtown Augusta.

Love,

Afraid of Flying? You’re Not Alone

Published on March 9, 2017 by BniconannLeave a comment

I recently went on a little vacation to Los Angeles, California and let me tell you guys, I was terrified to get on the plane. This post is just to tell you guys what I did to overcome my fear and most importantly to tell you that you are not alone in your fear.

Now let me give you guys a little back story. I have been flown on a plane at least twice a year since I could remember. Over the summer I would always go visit my dad and his side of the family and those plane rides were at most 2 & 1/2 hours. Guess what!? I survived those rides, I can’t remember ever being afraid. So WHY out of no where has this fear possessed me?! (I still do not know the answer to this)

But here are my tips to survive a plane ride:

Eat Light

Now I don’t know about you guys but when I’m nervous my body tends to shake, I’ll start sweating and I will probably throw up (too much info, I know). But seriously on the plane ride I packed tons of snacks like trail mix, fruit and candied ginger. Don’t eat anything too heavy because if you do end up throwing up you don’t want it to be extremely gross.

Stay Occupied

If my mind starts wandering mid flight I start freaking out. For example, I can’t sleep on a flight because that moment when you’re waking up and starting to realize where you are is absolutely terrifying. I did think about taking a Tylenol PM to knock me out but I was afraid. (Obviously I’m a little baby about everything)

So to stay occupied I bought two magazines.

****REMEMBER buy magazines outside of the airport because WOW those prices are steep***

I had my snacks, crunching on my trail mix and ice kept me occupied and watching the movies on flight helps so much.

Be Friendly

This is the best tip I can give. I’m a friendly person in general but I try to be extra nice to the people I’m sitting next to. On my recent flights I told the people next to me how nervous I was and they reassured me that everything was going to be okay and we engaged in some small talk that really calmed me down.

Talk Yourself Up

You don’t understand how corny I feel by this last tip but I talk to myself to reassure myself that everything is going to be alright. For example I said something along the lines of “You have all these great goals that you want to accomplish and you’re going to let a little fear bring you down?” And also “little kids fly on planes all the time, am I really going to let a kid be braver than me?”

I’m crazy, I know. But it really does help.

Also I pray before the flight starts, this is a must.

Another thing that I think is really important is to realize that this fear isn’t a thing of mine, it’s simply something that happened in the past and it will not dictate what will happen in the future.

The mind is a powerful thing, conquering fear is just a matter of your mind.

And even if flying isnt something you struggle with it’s important to know that with any fear, YOU GOT THIS!

Here are some pictures from my trip!

Have a great Thursday!

❤️