5 on Friday | 1.24.20

Hello and Happy Friday!

I love 5 on Friday!

Here it goes:

1. Poor sweet Sophie got the flu and we were stuck at home Monday thru Wednesday. Luckily, it snowed (about a quarter inch) on Wednesday morning and it was a "snow day," so we were both only absent from work and school on Tuesday!

2. Before Soph got sick, were were able to go eat dinner at our friends' (like family) new diner! It is so cute and delicious. I love the decor and the old fashioned ice cream counter! My niece was our waitress and she did such a great job.

3. My mom took us to see Wicked for our Christmas gift. It was so fun! Mom and I had already seen it a few years ago, but the kids hadn't. Both of them loved it! 

4. I have the sweetest friends. Literally, my friend who goes by Sweetie, is the sweetest (go figure). I was teaching last week and there was a knock on my classroom door. It was one of our amazing front office girls, and she handed me a box. Y'all. I cried. Of course I did! I always cry. HAHA. 

5. Speaking of the Sweetest friend, she owns a boutique and I finally got to make a purchase! I've been eyeballing these pants since she opened! I got the shirt, too. My friend is a master seamstress, so she's going to hem the bottom of the pants for me before I wear them. I'll be the cutest teacher on the block in this outfit! :) *image from the dressing room 

Femme Fetale Boutique

Well friends, there you have it. First 5 on Friday of 2020. Let's see how this year goes.

5 on Friday | The First of 2019

One of my favorite "regular" posts I used to keep up with is the 5 on Friday! I'd like to continue that into the new age of blogging that I'm looking at! :)

1. I still love to bake, and even though I quit for so many years (life, kids, over committing to too many activities, committees, boards, leagues, etc), since we sold our house and moved into a rental with the world's tiniest kitchen-- I have found myself baking again!

50th birthday tarte I made, double layer, with sugar cookies, snickers, cookies & creme bars, meringue candies, sprinkles, strawberry wafers, and fresh flowers. I had so much fun making this!!

My first batch of macarons! They're just vanilla flavored, don't let the bright purple color fool you!

strawberry cheesecake macarons! 

My first attempt at meringue candies/cookies

I mastered the French macaron (my favorite!), and I'm getting better at the art part of royal icing. I can make it each time, but my hand is NOT steady while decorating! I spend a lot of time watching cookie and cake icing videos on instagram (they're so soothing to watch while I fall asleep, haha!)

2. This summer, I started the process of becoming a non-traditionally licensed elementary teacher! This just means that I have a bachelors degree, but not in education. So, I had a month of summer classes and I'm eligible to teach as the teacher of record with a provisional license until I complete the program next year! School starts next week and I'm still job hunting, which is disheartening to be totally truthful, but I'm trying to stay positive that I'll end up in a position where the kids truly need someone like me, where I can serve them and teach them and be exactly what they need during this time in their lives.

On my way to orientation for the APPEL program :) 

I never in my life thought that this would be the career path I chose to pursue. I mean, I did major in education for a hot minute but when I had to do observations, I ended up in an 8th grade classroom and I didn't enjoy that one single bit. However, when Sophia was in 1st grade, I got to spend a lot of time in her classroom and I enjoyed it so much. It was like a light bulb went off, or maybe, I finally woke up to my calling. Either way. I am ready to land a job and start making an impact.

It might be silly, but I'm super proud of this little piece of feel-good paper!

3. In 2018 I finally got my personal training certification through NASM, something that had been on my "goal list" since 2011. It isn't any kind of secret that from 2014-2018 I just let myself goooooo. I let my emotions and fear around our life transitions take hold of me, and I guess I felt like drowning my emotions in food was the answer. Anyway, in December of last year I finally got my life together and got myself back. I have taken the last few weeks not off entirely, but I have been off my routine, which I think I needed! I hit the gym yesterday for only the 2nd time this week and today I am on FIRE. I did back and shoulders and ran a mile (the worst 12 minutes of my life, I hate running! SO WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR A 5K TOMORROW?!). My favorite on back/shoulder day: military press and parallel grip cable rows.

2017 | 2019 - Although I didn't lose a pound until December 2018.

At the beginning of summer I decided I wanted to do 2 leg days per week, Mondays and Thursdays, so I combined back and shoulders. All summer I've been in a 5 day split, but when I get a job (soon, hopefully!) I'll move to a 4 day split. Although some weeks it will still be 5 because you know sometimes... those extra long Saturday workouts are much needed. There isn't anything better than a nice, loooooong Saturday lifting session with my husband or bestie Michelle!

4. Since it has been sooooo long since I've actually posted anything, I decided that today I would share one super fun thing we did this summer. But then.... there were so many super fun things we did! Last week my niece came to stay with us and we did a tour of Arkansas Alpacas, which was SO MUCH FUN and SO SPECIAL (seriously, all caps kinda great). Sophia is obsessed with alpacas and llamas so her entire life was perfect in that instant! She got to feed and pet so many alpacas!

It was raining the entire time we were visiting, which is lucky since that meant cooler temperatures (mid 70s)... Sophia was very adamant about wearing her alpaca jacket to visit the alpacas!

Other big milestones this summer: Olivia got her drivers license (she can't drive without an adult in the car until she's 16 next June, so I guess it is still a permit but its the official hard plastic license so)! Sophia decided that this would be the summer she lost all her fear about the water and she put her whole head under water in the pool, opened her eyes, jumped off the side of the pool one billion times until she perfected her cannonball, and then she took on the diving board in the 11 feet deep water! SO PROUD of both my girls! Time is just flying by and I'm so proud of these kids but I'm also so sad about them not really needing me so much anymore.

5. We are big eaters in our house (no surprise there), but we are, as a family, attempting to eat a little healthier since summer is winding down (no more 8 pop-ices a day, sorry kids husband). Right now my favorite meal to eat (and prepare) is a southwest chicken and rice bowl. It is super easy and inexpensive (win/win!).

• Jasmine Rice
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Frozen honey roasted corn and bell peppers
• optional: diced cucumber, salsa, hot sauce, lettuce 

This meal is so so easy and quick! I cook the chicken in a skillet with a smidge of olive oil and cajun seasoning mixed with asada seasoning I picked up at our Super Mercado. I love spicy food so I use a LOT of seasoning! I like to dice the chicken in the pan as it is cooking so every single bite is covered with spicy deliciousness! 

Annnnd that is all for today's 5 on Friday! I go back and forth from really wanting to write and share our lives somewhere besides facebook to feeling like an idiot for thinking about it. So, I'll be back next Friday for sure... maybe. If not before! We will see. :) First day of school is next week so I'll at least come post some lunches!

Five On Friday!!

ahhhh FRIDAY.
All the friYAY snaps, y'all. I love seeing my friends' pretty faces!! :)

This has been a crazy busy, but super fun week! I feel like I say that every week now. AND look at me, blogging multiple times in one week!

Fridays are my days off and I have been loving them. Coffee, catching up on my favorite blog posts.... I'll leave out the part about catching up on homework.

Five On Friday...

//ONE// Junior League has officially started up for the year and I am so so glad that I decided to stay in League! I am on the Project GEM committee and this week we had our first session. I failed so hard at finding someone to come speak but another girl on the committee came through and saved me. Her speaker was fabulous and I'm actually kind of glad I couldn't find someone since the man she brought in was so good. He taught the little girls about self defense and the dangers of abduction, and how to try to run away. SUCH GOOD info! We also had to officers from the FSPD come in and teach about internet safety, which was also SO GOOD. I was so proud to be a part of that even if I didn't get the speaker I intended. The women on my committee are super nice and I'm glad to get to know them better and make friends. Just another reason I love Fort Smith.

//TWO// Bible Journaling kicked off on Monday. At my church, St. John's Episcopal Church, we have "small groups ministries" (I actually think I call the small group something different every time, but there are so many KINDS of groups....). This year my Vino League is going on its 3rd year, and I'm starting a Bible journaling group. The turn out was small (me, Sophia, and one lady from church), but it will grow. I had a blast and so did Sophia and Mariko. It is a fun way to grow our relationships with each other and also grow our connection to Christ.

//THREE// I did really well sticking to "clean" eating and smaller portions. Well, with the exception of last night. I took my lunch every day to work and ate really well for all other meals. Today while the kids are in school I'm going to hit up the local health food store for some ACV and a couple bottles of booch. I'm torn between trying new flavors that I may not like OR going to Squash Blossom because they're the only place that consistently carry my fave... GT's strawberry serenity. If I go to 3 different stores I can get all 3 of my favorite flavors... they're all over town though and I just doubt that will happen!

//FOUR// My 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner came in yesterday!! I am SO excited! I won't elaborate much on this because I added photos to my story on both insta & snap. Just know its pink with flamingos and my name looks adorable and I got the rose gold coil. L O V E

//FIVE// Music on the lawn at the Clayton House was so nice last night! The Sara Lyons Band played and they were so good! My friends from work came out and I saw some other friends around too. I brought the wine and April brought the cheese plate and we had a nice time. The weather was amazing and the Clayton House was, as always, perfect. I credit that to Julie, if you ever go there ask for her! She is such a special lady.

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Five On Friday

ahhhhh, the weekend! I love love love Fridays right now because I'm off on Fridays! It is so awesome to have an extra day in my weekend.. a day where the kids are at school and Andy's at work and I just kind of get to re-charge. Or do homework... which is what I will be doing today after I decide I've had enough coffee!

Linking up for Five on Friday with April & Christina

//ONE// Getting Involved. I've been so busy lately and I love it. Now that both girls are in school all day, and Olivia is old enough to do some babysitting, I've been able to get a little more involved in my community. I love our city, and there are so many incredible things happening here! I want to be a part of everything. I want to show my daughters that you can have it all. Home, career, community involvement, and fun. This stage of life has me floating!

//TWO// This B L O G. So stale. I kind of wish I was at wordpress. I just finished "designing" (I put that in quotes because it is the most basic of basic looking little blogs) a wordpress site for a class I was taking... and I just really like WP more than blogger at this time. I've made that hop before and ended up back here though, so who knows.

//THREE// Earlier this week I went to a ribbon cutting for a friend's new business, and got to spend some time with a few girls I really like but haven't had time to really get to know better. I had so much fun! After the ribbon cutting it was sushi and martinis, a huge group, and some incredibly kind gentleman at the bar paid for all of our food and drinks! Talk about a huge blessing. Every time someone comes here, they say "the people here are so friendly!" -- well, they're right. I LOVE MY CITY!

//FOUR// fall fashion. Oh man. I can't wait to go shopping. I can't wait for the weather to chill out (get it, chill!?)... I'm ready for long sleeves and scarves and boots and pink rosy cheeks. Seriously. Bye, summer! See you next year.

//FIVE// Rose Gold. Its almost time to tame the blonde mane and go for a warmer autumn hue. I can't really remember my natural color (JK, its brown. Brown brown brown). I'm going for a dark blonde with a rose gold ballyage for fall... unless I change my mind before my hair appointment. :) Whatever I end up doing, I know it will be gorgeous because my hair goddess Lisa hasn't failed me.. ever. I love her so much! When I count my blessings here in the Fort, she's in my top 5... she treats me like family and I'm so grateful to her for that.

Link up for Five on Friday HERE