a summer farewell ..

September .. welcome! welcome to the month of the pumpkin debut and of course my birthday! 

It has been a super busy last couple of weeks with the start of school and trying to settle into new routines. It's always hard at the beginning of the school year to find the right balance between all the different responsibilities again!

But I am loving my new school and new coworkers and new kids! They really are superb ... such a different environment and it has been a much better start then any other previous school year. Plus I get to enjoy a beautiful drive out into the country. I pass farm after farm and have literally watched the sunrise every morning. Basically I want to stop every few feet and just take pictures.

Of course there has been a few more summer adventurers left ... and one last farewell camping trip!

Frozen yogurt with the hubby after bowling and glow in the dark put put with friends!

Friday nights at the 5th Quarter at church. Late night for a teacher who gets up at 5am!

And part of Labor Day Weekend at Hanging Rock State Park! We had a fun time camping and hiking. There was so much you can do there- swimming, rock climbing, waterfalls, and some fairly strenuous trails.

farewell summer .. until next year!

dutch oven dump cake

As promised in my post about our camping trip, here is the recipe for the strawberry dump cake we made!

Don't be scared by the name ... it can also just be called cobbler, and who doesn't love a good fruit cobbler in the summer?

Dump cakes really are a staple when it comes to camping or grilling out. And they are super easy to make- hence the name!

We made ours in a dutch oven, but you can also make them in a regular 9x13 baking dish as well.

Fruit Dump Cake

Ingredients:
2 cans of your favorite pie filling- strawberry, peach, apple, blackberry, whatever you like.
1 can of crushed pineapple- drained.
1 box of yellow cake mix
2 sticks of butter

Directions:
1. "Dump" pie filling and pineapple into your pan and mix it all together.
2. Sprinkle the yellow cake mix on top (Do not add the other ingredients for the cake, this is JUST the mix that comes in the box!)
3. Cover the top of the cake mix with small squares of butter.

Now I don't eat nuts but I am told that the apple version is extra tasty with walnuts!

If using a regular baking pan then bake your cake at 350 until the top is golden brown. If using a dutch oven then make sure to line it first with tin foil for easy clean up! Enjoy! :)

weekend retreatin'

Hi ya'll!

Spring Break is officially here and it is off to rainy, rainy start. Hoping for some warm, sunny weather later this week!

My weekends lately have been full and relaxing, each in their own different ways. They have each been a "retreat" of sorts .. whether that was a cozy, retreat at home or a real retreat at a campsite! Check out some photos from the last few weeks:

a cozy weekend with my hubby that involved walks, french toast, and a movie matinee date 

(we recently just discovered the local dollar theater- great find!)

Spring Retreat with my hubby's youth at Indian Springs State Park. It was a great weekend focused on "jumping into your faith" and what it means to live by faith in our everyday lives. We also played a lot of really ridiculous and funny games- frozen t-shirt contest, redneck games (including corn hole- literally throwing corn in a bucket!), pizza box curling, flour war, and many more. It was good to get away, sit by the lake and campfire, and be in good company.

Annndddd this past weekend was spent camping with my in-laws at Amicalola Falls State Park. It was a bit cool and windy but a beautiful location! We hiked to the falls, took a trip to Dahlonega, GA and had some ice cream, and did a lot of dutch oven cooking! Time spent in nature is always good for my soul. 

We had chicken pot pie and strawberry dump cake in the dutch oven .. look for a recipe for the dump cake soon!

I am readying myself for a lot of Spring cleaning and more family visiting this week .. Have a wonderful Monday!