New shoes, but standing on an old floor.

These tiles are not new. They have seen many footprints and paw prints. The daily lives my family passing through & sharing stories over coffee, quiet mornings and long evenings. And today, they’re seeing mine… headed toward #RootsTech.

There’s something poetic about it.
New shoes for the journey, old floors that remind me why I’m going.

#Genealogy is a lot like this moment:
one foot in the present, one foot standing firmly on the past.

Next stop: Salt Lake City and a few thousand people who are just as excited about ancestors, records, and stories as I am. 🌳📜

Let the family history adventure begin. Stop by the #WikiTree booth and say hi! I would love to meet you.

#FamilyHistory #AncestryRoads #RootsTech #Rootstech2026

First Snow at the Bungalow ❄️🍂🐾

The mountains gave us a little magic overnight with our first snow of the season. Ok, maybe not a full snowstorm and more like a dusting of the yard while fall still held tight to her colors. 🍁 The pear trees are glowing in orange and crimson, the burning bushes are blushing pink along the fence line, and tiny snowflakes danced between them like sparkles from another world.

The Yorkies were beside themselves with their noses to the ground, chasing every flake like it was a mystery from the sky. 🐶💨 Their little paw prints dotted the frosty grass in their little puppy backyard. But, alas, the sun peeked over the ridge and melted it all away.

There’s nothing quite like an Appalachian morning when autumn and winter shake hands. It was a magical moment watching it in the silence around Tiger Mountain. I am truly blessed this morning. 🌄🍂❄️

#AppalachianLife #BlueRidgeMountains #FirstSnow #FallLeaves #AppalachianMountainBungalow #YorkiePorchPatrol #AncestryRoads #Appalachia

The first frost, of the season, will roll over, in over the mountains tonight. I am so excited for my first Fall and Winter as a homeowner in Southern #Appalachia. The dew on the grass turns shades of silver. The crisp cool air that has me reaching for my handmade crochet shawl. And, that unmistakable hush, just before holiday shopping mania, that means winter’s just around the corner. ❄️✨

Seems only right to toast the season with a little Georgia Bourbon Snow Cream from Moonrise Distillery. Reminds me of a big silver bowl of snow with vanilla and cream all stirred together. Creamy, cozy, and made right here in Rabun County, #Georgia. It tastes like a Southern snow day in a glass. 🥃🤍

#AppalachianNights #FirstFrost #SnowCream #MoonriseDistillery #RabunCounty #AppalachianMountainBungalow #GeorgiaMountains #FrontPorchSips #AncestryRoads

✨⚡️ Old wood, new bathroom.
This week’s project: moving the electrical so we can build out the new bathroom but trying really hard to save this 100+ year old wood plank wall. I just can't remove it and throw the boards in the dump to be destroyed. The thought kills me. Every board tells a story of those that built this home, cut the wood boards, and installed them. We are carefully threading wires and planning outlets without losing the history that’s literally holding this house together. This is not an easy task because we have to update for modern times but maintain something of the history.

It’s slow and dusty work. My dust allergies are killing me but it's worth it to keep the original character alive while making the space functional for our family and, hopefully, for the next century. 🪚🧡

This is what it looked like three months ago when it was still on the outside porch. https://pixelfed.social/p/Appalachian/866754760791770854

#AppalachianMountainBungalow #OldHouseLove #RenovationLife #Renovations #PreserveHistory #MountainHomeRenovation #BathroomBuild #BlueRidgeMountains #AppalachiaRenovates #AncestryRoads

🏡✨ Our little bungalow in Appalachia has a secret problem: swampy flood zone.

The back of our property has a small creek across it. During #Helene, the back yard flooded but no serious damage. Our yard is not perfect. It squishes when you walk and boots are a must but everything grows beautifully here.

Appalachians know that soil matters but "dirt" is our history. It's in our souls and bloodlines. I desperately tried to buy my grandparents farm but the owners prefer to leave it abandoned and unused. So, it is time to make my own history with new soil.

....and add several French drains.
🌱💦


Here’s to building a life where the land is ready for planting, the porch is waiting, and the mud is just part of the welcome. 🌳❤️

This song says it all: Buy Dirt
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AKec3LTILRU

#Appalachia
#AppalachianMountainHome #MountainRoots #MudBoots #AncestryRoads #BuyDirt #BlueRidgeLife

✨🏔️ Appalachian Date Night

Sippin’ a little apple pie moonshine on the bungalow's front porch as the sun sets behind the Blue Ridge. Two glasses, a sofa, big fluffy pillows, and the cool mountain air rolling in. Out here, the fireflies sparkle brighter, the night sounds hum a little sweeter (who knew birds sing late at night?!?), and time slows down just enough to feel like a scene from an old love song such as this one:

When a man loves a woman: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pygPmfGQvU

Here’s to late-night porch talks, the soft glow of a streetlight, and finding romance right where the mountains meet the mist in the holler. 🌙❤️🥃

#AncestryRoads #Appalachia #AppalachianMountainBungalow #DateNight #Moonshine #FrontPorchSippin #BlueRidgeEvenings

🪵✨ In Georgia, everybody knows what “Love Shack” means because of the song, but, oh, it's more than just a song, it’s a whole mood. Around here, it’s about porch sittin’, #moonshine sipping, heart-to-hearts, and turning a place into somewhere that love feels at home.

This 105 year old #Appalachian mountain bungalow is slowly becoming our Love Shack. I think it's time to start focusing on the future and make our family's stamp on the place. History still lives here under the roof but so does our own dreams and serenity. From uneven floors to comfy sofas to a place filled with #Yorkies, laughter, and family. Every corner is being filled with our stories.

BTW, you are welcome for the #earworm. May the song sit with you all day long. Get up and dance because life is short. 💛

#LoveShack #Appalachia #BlueRidgeMountains #PorchLife #MountainLife #AncestryRoads #AppalachianMountainBungalow #b52s

✨ From old to roots to 'roads✨

This old wardrobe has found its new home in my Appalachian office. Once part of a matched suite in someone’s bedroom nearly a century ago, now it will hold #genealogy #books and decades of my research of my Appalachian family and history. It is ready to take it's place and store my little treasures of Ancestry Roads.

With its cabriole legs, deep wood tones, and quiet history, it feels right at home here in the mountain but I am convinced this was built in the Midwest. I bought it over a decade ago during an auction of from Detroit. It used to store my sons Skylanders and video games.

I think the Queen Anne legs and veneered front panels place this in the Depression era to post-war period.


#Appalachian #Antiques #AncestryRoads #Appalachia #AppalachiaMountainBungalow #MountainLife #OldMeetsNew

✨🌙 Nothing says Appalachia quite like a mason jar full of moonshine and memories.

Yes, moonshine is a common discussion in Appalachia even today. It is a part of our history and culture. Just this week, I was shown a grave marker with "Moonshiner" chiseled on it. These jars were once used for passing around a taste of homemade moonshine, tonight it’s glowing with fairy lights that remind me of fireflies dancing in the mountain dark. As a kid, running in a field of fireflies was amazing and magical. As an adult, out here in the Blue Ridge, the air hums with cicadas (just now hatching), and the hollers cradle old stories. I am planning a One Place Study of this little moonshine town, nicknamed Fruit Jar City, where every street and old building and every mason jar has its own tale. But, for now, fairy lights in old mason jars will provide a light for those summer nights filled with new family stories. 🏔️✨

#Appalachia #Moonshine #OldHouse #Renovations #FireflyNights #BlueRidgeMountains #AncestryRoads #MountainLife #appalachianmountainbungalow #genealogy