Bald Head Island Photo Diary:

October 7, 2019October 7, 20194 Comments

Chris and I went to Bald Head Island for our Honeymoon. It’s an island I’ve really grown to love over the years. I went first as a child when, at the time, a family friend had a house there. I then went again for a photography course in college. We went then in the middle of the winter. It still held my heart. So when we were looking at places to go on our honeymoon I couldn’t help but suggest it.

It’s a beautiful island off the coast of North Carolina. It makes me love my home state even more than I already did. Something about having the mountains in one direction and the beach in the other is truly beautiful.

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Where to Donate to Hurricane Florence Recovery:

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018Leave a comment

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Hurricane Florence is currently devouring the coast of my beloved home state, but it’s not done yet, it will be here for days, visiting both us and our neighbors to the south. This is the biggest storm to hit us in decades, as you can see from the image above, the storm is quite literally bigger than us.

I’m fairly inland in North Carolina, so our biggest concern is flooding from the rains later on. I’ll be fine. It’s the eastern half of our state and South Carolina that will not come out on top. Please, if you have any means to consider donating to help rebuild and recover. I’m publishing this post before the storm ends because I know that storms like these slip out of national news quickly, even though it take the region years to recover.

To donate to the people hit by Florence:

To donate to the animals hit by Florence:

6-4-17: A Late Afternoon Photo Diary

June 5, 2017June 5, 20178 Comments

I realized late afternoon yesterday that I need to start carrying my giant DSLR around with me again. I’ve gotten really lazy about it because my phone has a camera like everyone else (even though it really needs an upgrade, even if just for the camera). I forget how much that giant camera makes me want to take pictures and I forget just how much there really is to take pictures of.

I’m a strong believer that we shouldn’t be recording every second of our lives, but I forget how beautiful some of those moments are. For example, yesterday afternoon after a flash storm. My yard was overcast and it seemed to be calling me out to come take pictures of it. Continue reading →

Ya’ll’d’ve Done it Different: How I Define the South

April 1, 2017April 1, 20174 Comments

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I saw a post recently on Tumblr that stated only in the south would a monstrosity like ya’ll’d’ve be both used normally and considered grammatically ‘correct’. Another one I really like? All ya’ll, because ya’ll isn’t plural enough. This is a side note, which might not be the best way to start a post, but I enjoyed the humor.

I’ve been meaning to write a post on how I define the south, since it is after all part of my URL. Anna Down South was not chosen just because I love the south, but because the south is a big part of my identity. This blog was never meant to be a travel blog where I post all the southern hot spots or a place where I only talked about southern topics, it was supposed to be a lifestyle blog, and I just happened to feel like my lifestyle was southern enough for the name.

So how does one define the south?

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The Flowers before the Frost:

March 13, 20171 Comment

I’m kind of upset, they’re calling for snow and ice all week and we already have half our yard blooming, which means they’ll be going, going, gone.

It also means I’m going to be a little colder than planned in Atlanta, a trip I leave for tomorrow with one of my best friends. I’ll do a blog post on here to share the fun, but it’s more a visiting girls trip then it is a sight seeing trip. If you’d like to follow along, I’m sure I’ll be putting some up in real time on my instagram account and story. I’m excited to get out of GSO for a bit, having been sick for a year I haven’t gotten to do much. Continue reading →

Late November in North Carolina

November 26, 20162 Comments

There is snow all over the northern US, but as the blog title suggest I am not up north and there is definitely not snow. Instead we are getting near the end of falls colors. This beautiful Japanese Maple in my back yard has always been one of my favorites. It’s not all red yet, but it will be in a few days or a week. Continue reading →

Fall at Reynolda

November 2, 20162 Comments

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In the middle of last spring I ended up going to Reynolda Gardens in Winston Salem (NC) for the first time. Given the season everything was beautiful and in bloom. You can see all those photos here.

Now that it’s fall it’s a little different. They’ve still got a few things in bloom, some letting off some serious colors like the one below, but for the most part it’s a lot subtler. Still, the green house proves to be beautiful any time of year and I’m excited that my doctors office is right down the road. It means I get to pop in every now and then and explore. Continue reading →

Feeling Alive on Lake Fontana:

August 23, 2016August 23, 20162 Comments

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My amazing neighbor opens his house and boat to us almost every summer on the beautiful mountain lake Fontana. It’s another place that has captured my heart over the years. (Like I needed another reason to love North Carolina so dearly.)

Actually scratch that- I always need more reasons to love North Carolina. It’s my favorite place in the world, it’s the place that will always be my home… and it’s great because though I’m very settled in my little region of North Carolina- if I need something even slightly different, NC has it all. Mountains, lakes, pastures, islands, beaches, country sides, amazing cities. If there is a place for anything and everything, it is here, in my home state.

But more on that after a few more gorgeous lake views. Continue reading →