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.

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

Back To School!

Well, we survived the first week of school!

I am loving having Sophia in Kindergarten, because she's so excited to take her lunch every day!

Here's a recap of the first week's lunches! Wednesday of last week we had to leave earlier than usual, and I didn't get a pic of that day's meal... so there are only 4.

1st campout of 2016!

Oh, hellloooooo there.

I have meant to update all week but things have been busy. Otherwise prioritized. That's ok though! 

Last weekend was super fun! We had our first camp out of the year! It has been a LONG time (like, since Sophia was 11 months old!!) since we went camping. The last time we went, it was October, and the days were warm but the nights were way too cold for me. I woke Andy up at like, 2am and had him start the car so the kids & I could sit in and get warm while he packed up our campsite to take us home! It was awful and I still hear about it. 

Naturally. haha.

So Saturday morning we lounged around and had coffee, then loaded up our gear and headed out to Mount Magazine. There's a lake trail that starts at the lake (also called the bluff trail, I hear) and its about ten miles from the lake to the bluffs at the top of the mountain. We obviously knew we wouldn't do ten miles with our kiddos, so we just planned to hike at least two and see how they were doing. We made it 2.3 miles before they just couldn't hack any more. It was super warm! We were sweating and wearing tank tops. IN FEBRUARY! I'm loving this winter (although it actually IS cold outside right now, dang). 

Super cool tree- I see an elephant when I look at it. I love elephants, and collect them. :) 

We let Olivia choose the spot to put our tent and we were settled nicely between the trail and a spring fed creek. This was excellent because I grossly underestimated how much water we would need! Andy & I refilled our water bottles from the spring, and we of course had plenty of tap water in other bottles for the kids. I wouldn't want the kids to drink unfiltered water from the earth. I was most praying that Andy & I didn't get sick. We didn't. WHEW!

For our first  camp out, we brought canned Chef Boyardee products. It was super easy (although not healthy) and the kids had a blast cooking the cans on the hot rocks. We also brought along KIND bars, banana chips, apples, and clementines for healthier options. Oh, and PopTarts for breakfast (they're not allowed at our house because of.. well, I'll write about that silly story another time).

The low Saturday night was 57, so the weather was actually spectacular. It did rain on us, but barely. The sprinkles began around 8:30, but we had the rain cover on the tent so no worries. We did go to bed about 8:45, and it was way too early. We didn't have sleeping pads for under our sleeping bags so we were basically just on the ground. It was SO uncomfortable. Once the kids got to sleep they stayed asleep though. My old bones tossed and turned all night, I think I woke up every single hour! I just kept thinking to myself, this is like the Lambchop song.. "the song that never ends," only its the night that never ends! ha! 

We all woke up to the sound of an owl HOO-HOOing and that was super cool. I don't think I've ever heard an owl before. I mean, maybe, but this is the first time I remember. We pretty much packed up and hiked back to the car as soon as we were all awake. It was a super fun trip but the kids are definitely sick of hiking and camping, so we are taking this weekend off. That's ok with me though, Andy is taking me to to driving range and I'm going to try my hand at golf. We will see how that goes. :) 

Tuesday morning after we dropped Sophia off at school, we went to Pack Rat in Fayetteville to check out some hiking boots and new packs. I'm really hoping that we can spend some time this summer doing long hikes/camping trips without the kids. It would be such a fun experience for Andy & me to have together. 

Here are a couple of the things I found that I love::

These things were pretty light on the foot, but seriously they're HUGE. I felt like I had on weighted clown shoes in every single pair of hiking boots I tried on! 

Something for Sophia- a camelbak! Its cute and small, so she can carry her own water. I think that getting the kids their own cute hiking gear will get them excited to spend more time outdoors. 

This Osprey KOBY pack doesn't come with its own water pouch but it does have the space for it and the elastics for the water straw. This is Olivia's size and both kids will probably get one of these for Olivia's birthday.

I tried on a lot of packs, I fell in LOVE with an Osprey that didn't have customizable hip/torso pieces and it hurt my feelings. haha. This pack was pretty good but obviously not in this color. Still shopping. The sales woman at PackRat was SO kind and helpful, I'll definitely be going back there when I make the purchase. 

The Most Epic Road Trip

Hey there! Its been a while! This has been a pretty crazy 3 weeks, and I'm so excited to share about it. I turned 31, I got to go to Santa Claus Indiana, spend time with Andy while he was away for work, hang out at the lake with my mom and kids, and then do a cross country road trip with the love of my life!

So Santa Claus was pretty much the coolest place I've ever been. Christmas all year 'round? Sign me up!

I seriously love their Chamber's approach to social media, and the Chamber Selfie Stick. While I was there, I bumped into someone that worked at the chamber and she offered to take my picture. So sweet!

On the way home from Indiana, I stopped off at the St. Louis galleria and did some shopping.. can't complain!

Once I made it home, it was time for birthday celebrations. My bff Nikki & I ran a birthday 5k (she has a June bday too!) and then we threw ourselves a joint birthday party. It was perfect aside from the fact that Andy had to stay behind in Indiana for work… its not the first time he's missed my birthday though and I'm sure it won't be the last, either. Such is life!

its amazing how different we look pre-and-post 5k haha

So the 5k committee didn't put up the proper markers for the course, and they let a LOT of us run an extra mile before telling us we went the wrong way. It was hilarious, and I'm so proud of us!

Nikki made me the most ADORABLE harry potter mug!! 

It was so much fun! The next morning I headed to central Arkansas to pick up my kids from my parents' house. They stayed there for the week so I could have some time to myself, bless them!

Reunited and it felt so good!

We spent a couple of days at the lake. While I was there, we found out Andy's dad had a stroke, so we made plans for my parents and grandparents to keep the kids for another 9 days while we drove out to Portland to see him. Of course it was a sad circumstance but we did make the best of the drive there and back. We also got to meet a lot of Andy's family that he hadn't seen since he was like 4 years old. Last week was only the 3rd time I've ever met my father in law, and I'm so glad we got to spend that time with him.

Andy's Uncle Jon and Aunt Janelle opened their home to us and they are the most kind, lovely people! We ate like kings the whole time, Jon is a wonderful cook. I even discovered I like salmon and ribs, but probably only because he's a master chef. We are so thankful for them and I look forward to spending more time with his family.

We stopped at every state sign between here and there, except Arkansas and Oklahoma. It was so much fun. I'm going print them with PostalPix and make a map of the United States to hang them on. It was Andy's idea, he's so creative!

We made a pitstop in Colorado to meet up with my friend Dan and his wife Teresa. It was AWESOME to meet them in real life after so many years of being friends from brightkite to Geoclique.

Andy took me to the bridge of the Gods, which was beyond amazing. It is the trailhead for the Pacific Coast Trail and that is on my bucket list!! Not to go to the bridge but to hike the entire PCT. I would love to take time off from life the year Sophia goes to college (a long ways away!) and hike it with Andy. It would be such an amazing life experience for us!

So one of the days we were out there, two of my favorite people from the land of interwebs drove down to Portland from Seattle to meet up with us. This was a super cool experience and it really made the whole trip for me.

I finally got to go to Voodoo Donuts at the end of our week there. It was amazing. I had the captain my captain crunch donut. HEAVEN for this cereal lover! It was a fun experience, and even though we were all tired, my sweet husband and my sisters in law were good sports about us going. 

Because who doesn't love super trendy donuts!?

On our way out of Oregon we stopped and had brunch with Andy's Uncle Chuck, cousin Josie, and her kids. It was super fun, and I love Uncle Chuck! Actually, I love Andy's whole family out there on the West Coast. They were all so kind and hospitable. 

Our first stop along the coast.. I could have sat on the beach and listened to the waves for hours. West Coast Best Coast, y'all. I miss California so much.

 Just me and my soulmate. :)

 The Redwood Forest was majestic. I can't even think of a better word. I'll live there. No problem.

Might be my favorite picture from the entire trip. :) 

The drive home was beautiful, and if you read all this you're probably ready to go on your own road trip. I'm going to leave you with a few landscape shots.. you won't be disappointed!

Windmill farm in Kansas

Coming out of Wyoming into Utah 

California coast.. I'll love you forever

Sunset from the California Arizona state line over the Colorado River

Petrified Forest