Ten on Tuesday [No.64]

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Okay, the holiday season officially kicked my butt!

I haven't posted a Ten on Tuesday since November and I've just been off of my game with both Instagram and the blog.

I did manage to share a Year in Review last week and have been feeling the itch to write and share in this corner of the internet. I fight the comparison game so much, I want to share I just feel like nothing I have to say is as worthy as what others have to say-but I'm going to fight that feeling, y'all!

ONE

 This holiday season was one of the sweetest, mostly because it was Charlie's first year to actually be able to participate in the festivities-and everything sure was festive!

 From the moment we first put up the tree to Charlie toddling in on Christmas morning to check out his tractor and other gifts, this Christmas season is one that I will never forget.

TWO

Every year, Garden & Gun has their Annual Made in the South Awards and y'all know I'm all about locally made products and supporting small businesses.
I think gifting items like these is such a win too because a lot of these smaller companies really put so much thought into the details of their items...and what a better gift for a Southerner than a Southern made product, right?
I think my two personal favorites are the beautifully hand crafted duck call (do I hunt? nope, but I would display the heck out of that call!) and the stunning custom-made camp knives with map details inlaid in the handles-they are completely beautiful!

THREE

One big change around these parts? Charlie's big boy haircut!
He had gotten a little trim a while back, but this was his first salon visit where he was really trimmed up and it totally changed the way he looked-he looks so grown up and handsome now!

FOUR

I'm a massive sweet potato fan, even more so when those sweet potatoes are in pie form.
I ran across this sweet potato pie recipe from James Beard Foundation medal and Birmingham pastry chef, Dolester Miles and I want to make it ASAP because it sounds so, so yummy and pretty simple too.

FIVE

 This has been the season for charcuterie at our home and I'm not mad about it at all!
We made Christmas cookies & candies one afternoon with my sisters and mom and then of course we had our families Christmas on a separate occasion and so they both called for the finest of spreads.
Some of my personal favorites are homemade pickled okra, boursin herbed cheese, and not pictured-it was on a separate plate-room temp cream cheese with blueberry jalapeño jelly spread on top...the best!

SIX

I've been pouring over house plans and different articles on architecture and trends because I'm getting so excited about potentially starting our journey to building a house soon.
Southern Living is basically my home-bible and I had to check out what they think the top 8 home trends will be this year.
Personally, out of these I'm all-in for leaving the all-white kitchens behind (I can't keep that clean!), I love the look of a wooden range hood, and I definitely want a formal dining area in our future home for entertaining!

SEVEN

 We have been truly blessed with a rather mild Winter so far & I'm crossing my fingers that this holds true throughout the rest of January and into February & March, too!
Charlie has loved spending time outside and checking the cows is at the top of his list.
Also, I just realized he's wearing the same shirt in both of these pictures 😂 He has a closet full of clothes and ends up wearing the exact same thing whenever I take his picture🙈
But to be fair, these simple tees come in a lot of fun colors and prints and are very inexpensive!

We have a great little park close to the shopping center we go to pretty frequently and the weather was so nice that my sister & I took Charlie for the first time the other day. He had so much fun swinging and playing on the slides. I just adore watching this sweet boy have a good time!

EIGHT

I'm not super crazy about the Royals but I have been interested in hearing about Meghan and Harry leaving the fold. Something I didn't consider? Them potentially losing their titles! This article shares more info.

NINE

Last Friday I got a wild hair and decided to do a date-night meal at home for Chris & I to enjoy after Charlie went to bed.

Most nights, we try to eat as a family but I wanted to really get to just sit back and enjoy this meal with Chris so we fed Charlie, bathed him, got him in the bed and finally got to chow down!

I made homemade cheese grits (so, so good y'all!), sautéed mushrooms, red peppers, and onions, diced and cooked Conecuh hickory sausage, and I homemade turnip greens. We topped the greens with some of my homemade pepper sauce and it was amazing!

I'm not going to lie, turnip greens at home have always intimidated me but these were so easy to prepare and I ended up only having to cook them for around an hour for them to be delicious-but I bet they'd be even better if they had simmered all day.

I will definitely be doing this again soon!

TEN

I don't always share who I'm following, but I probably should because if you like me-you might like them too!

In 2019, I started an Instagram account for our farm @RockinUFarm and have had so much fun having a dedicated spot to share our farm photos (because there are SO many taken on a daily basis!) and I've also really enjoyed finding new farm wives and moms (and FarmHers!) to follow along with.

One of my favorites, who's account is pictured above is Taylor from @BarnOfBlooms. She's actually pretty local to me, which I didn't know 🙈 but she's got beautifully curated, but real photos. She has a real farm story and I absolutely have loved watching her journey.

I am so grateful to be able to start another year of blogging and sharing with you all, friends!

Until next time. . .

xoxo,