Our little lake girl // How to connect now that Google Reader is leaving us

There is just something about the lake that just makes me the happiest girl in the entire universe.

There is just nothing like it to me. Especially when you are with your husband and family. It's pretty hard to beat it. All we are missing is a few important people.

Another person who is pretty obsessed with the lake is Miss Piper. She loves it just about as much as we do. If that is possible. 

I try to take her out to the restroom and all she does is choke herself until I sprint down to the water with her and take her on the dock. 

I took a few pictures of our lake rat in action. I am so happy that my other half also gets a few days to spend at the lake with us. Now bring on the 4th and all the fireworks!

And a huge CONGRATS to my parents for their new purchase of a sweet boat. Love it! Not too bad of an anniversary present :)

p to the s....as we all know, google reader is leaving us all. (sad, I know) But if you want to follow this little blog of mine there are a few ways to do so. 

Bloglovin

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram (my go to)

RSS

I promise some day I will be back to my ol' bloggin' self. For NOW, I am just enjoying every little second of life. 

Happy 4th of July WEEK!

cheers to thirty-one years

Today is a special day for this two love birds.

Thirty-one years ago on this very day, these two got married in a little brick church in my hometown. They were each other's first love and have been together since. High school sweethearts they were.

I have envied  and looked up to their love and marriage ever since I can remember. I never thought much about marriage growing up, but I always knew I wanted and dreamed of what my parents had. They make it look easy. And especially fun.  I could not be more proud to be their daughter.

So happy anniversary to two of the most special people in my life. I love you guys more than life!

dollar night at the ballpark

Obviously I need to be more productive around here as I haven't had much to talk about with all the "projects" I had plan on my summer to do list.

Hopefully I will get some motivation soon, but for today I am laying low after all of our baseball fun from last night. I definitely can't handle it like I use to. 

We ventured back to the ballpark last night with some friends for some dolla dolla tickets and concession stand. Can't beat that! I am pretty sure Jeff would go there every night if he could. Heck tonight is even free!

Plus I scored a foul ball which I had to race about 10 kids for. I got mean mugged by a few parents for that one. Little did they know I was giving it to the little girl we were with. That's what a few beers and a straw-ber-ita will do. Shoes with wings.

We all had a blast and instead of fireworks to end the game we got the most insane lightning storm I'd ever seen.

Now hopefully I get motivated, but this little furry girl next to me is making it quite hard.

Piper and the beaver

Yes, I am about to write an entire post and my dog and a beaver. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I have no idea why I felt like I should write this post but I guess it's one of those things where it just makes you smile inside so heck....why not?!

Piper has one of the biggest personalities I have seen in a dog. She is freaking human I tell ya. Or maybe just really, really spoiled. Probably the later. 

Last year our wedding photographer sent us the sweetest package when we got Piper. It had some treats and this log with two beavers in it. I am cracking up at how entirely silly this sounds.

Anyway, she has been obsessed with this beaver ever since. It's like her little child she will not let out of her sight. And this beaver is about the size of my pinky. So tiny, yet for some reason she loves it so much.

Every day she gets her beaver and sets it on my foot so I can throw it 500 times and she can chase it and bring it back. If I don't pick up the beaver you can bet she tells me all about what she thinks about that. Uh no girlfriend, not happening. 

So yesterday I was laughing watching her with that dang beaver and thought I'd take some pictures. This is most likely only funny to me because well, yeah...no need to explain.

Talk to the ear, the face ain't listening.

And there we have it, I just wrote a post about a freaking beaver. I have officially gone bonkers. Maybe I do need to go back to work.

Baseball kind of night

I wonder if anyone is like me and opens the screen to write a post you "thought" you had in your head and then have a staring contest with the screen for a good long minute. Yaaaa, maybe it's just me.

And I can't help but sit here and think how insanely nuts it is that it is JUNE 20th!

I think I am way better not working than working. I am pretty sure there was a years worth of laundry in our laundry room that I finally got caught up on, if caught up can even go with the word laundry. Our house is always clean and the dishes are always done. And I actually can work out every single day and not feel like a zombie. Amen to that.

I can even do things like go to a baseball game during the week. Jeff's all time favorite sport is baseball. If he could marry a sport, I'm pretty sure he would marry baseball. Maybe a second marriage with football, but baseball is his "thang".

Last night we went to a Wingnuts game, which is a minor league team here in town. We got up to the ticket window and found out tickets were half price, 50% off six whole dollars. How awesome is six dollar entertainment?!

And since we were at a baseball game it is pretty much mandatory to get a beer, hotdog, and peanuts. I did snag a straw-ber-ita because why not pay the same price for twice as much alcohol?

So for $3 dollars each right behind home plate with a full stomach, we had a blast and are already planning on going back next week for $1 night. Now all I need is a "Go Nuts" shirt and we will be golden!

And some more good news....tomorrow is FRIDAY!

healthy is hard

On June 3rd I made a leap that I have made a million times before. I made a commitment to myself that I would change my bad habits and work on transitioning them into good habits.

If you have followed me since I started this blog, you would know I have said this about three or four times. I have stated that I was "over" feeling tired all of the time and was ready to get in shape and feel better.

And over and over and over again I have started it, only to fail a week or so later. Only to realize how lazy I was and that I could not do it. My heart never really wanted it bad enough I guess.

So on June 3rd I convinced myself once again that I needed to seriously make some changes. I had no more excuses of being tired from work and the daily stresses I had before.

I wasn't going to force myself to eat 100% clean. I wasn't going to make myself work out every day for an hour. I wasn't going to set my goals clear out of sight just to let myself fail once again.

I made a goal to myself to start with thirty days of some transitions. I knew I wasn't going to be perfect and I didn't even put that kind of pressure on myself. I just wanted to change my way of thinking about health. So I started with drinking boat loads of water and eating as clean as I knew how.

The weekends were just free for all. I tried to do something fun on the weekends for exercise and not think too hard about it. I just wanted to feel good. Good in all aspects. Feel good on the outside, inside, between sides, all over just....good.

It has taken me a concsious effort to keep myself going. I have wanted to just lay on the couch so many freaking times and skip "one day". But I KNOW "one day" leads in one week, one month, one year. I know how that goes.

So as I am going into the third week, I feel good about the small little mind changes I have made. Even though I do pee about 500 times a day, I am proud of knowing I have made some small accomplishment. But I will also say it's been really hard for me. But for once....I am overcoming hard.

I set up a facebook page for when I reach 30 days of my "transition" I will post. I have been writing on it every since I started. This is what has me going now. Knowing that I will feel like I reached some type of goal I actually worked my buns off for.

And hopefully my buns will actually have some proof to them. :)

Cheers to that. Whoopity whoop whoop!

No Shoes Nation + Dad's Day

What can get better than a weekend with not only the best family in the universe, but also Eli Young Band, Eric Church, and Kenny Chesney?!

We were cross country travelers this weekend and drove a total of nine hours to go to back home on Friday, a wedding Saturday, concert Saturday night, back to our hometown Sunday afternoon, and back to our casa Sunday night. Whew.

It was well worth the miles. 

After the wedding on Saturday, Jeff, my little brother, and I all trucked on to Kansas City to meet some friends and watch Kenny C and his crew play at Arrowhead Stadium. And by trucked I mean drove two and a half hours in the pouring down rain.

Is it just me or will you go to any and all lengths to make sure your hours of doing your hair did not go to absolute waste? 

Yeah, well this buckle bag on my head helped me a.) not look like a nasty wet dog and b.) saved (kind of) my straight hair. If water would have touched those brown locks, it would have been a hot afro mess going on. 

Thankfully we had seats that were covered so while half of the stadium was getting soaked, we were enjoying our nice cold drinks.

It's always crazy to me how many walks of life come to concerts. All shapes and sizes, that is for sure. 

We obviously had to end the night with some extra fried and greasy food. I am pretty sure a good night "out" is not complete without it. Or so I thought...until I woke up. 

We ended the trip with a little brunch on the plaza and a little shopping. Thankfully after a year of begging, pleading, asking, hinting, and wishing I got the MacBook I had been wanting. It is making itself very comfy in our home. You can't go wrong with anything Mac.

Last but not least by any means, we spent the rest of Sunday hanging out with my Dad and family for Father's Day. 

He definitely deserves not only a day, but weeks, months, or years to honor him being the best dad in the world. Not a day goes by I don't thank my lucky stars for him.

I hope you all had a good Father's Day weekend as well!

just relax

Good morning and happy, happy, HAPPY Friday.

I use to be the biggest fan of Friday's. Every Friday I felt like I was free again and would have two whole days to do whatever my little heart desired.

Now Friday just means that we are weeks closer to school starting back up again and these glorious days of sleeping in and relaxing will be over.

Don't get me wrong, I really like my job. But get me right, it is mentally and physically exhausting. I used to think it was hard to take care of myself, until I had thirty-six kids who I had to take care of.

So as much as I will love when the school year starts fresh, I am thoroughly enjoying these months of relaxation and getting everything done I was too tired to do during the year.

None of this really has anything to do with my post today though. All I really wanted to post today was a picture that most of you have probably already seen if you follow me on instagram or facebook.

This picture had me cracking up for hours. Literally. Ask my husband. We would be in the car going to dinner and I would just start dying laughing all over again.

So for all you who are nearing those two glorious days off. YAHOO! It's FRIDAY! And don't forgot to relax. Piper said so.

little things

Sometimes (most times) it's the smallest of small things that fire me up and make me happy.

It is summer time so obviously school is out, which means I get a couple of months to breath.

I have had a lot of time on my hands and I finally have a few minutes to really take everything in instead going one hundred billion miles per hour every single day. It's quite heavenly. I'm pretty sure I've already noted that though.

So today I just wanted to sit back, kick up my feet (well, not really, it would be quite hard to type with my feet on my desk), and talk about the things that just tickle my fancy on a day to day basis at this moment in time.

I could go on for days on things that make me smile but here are a few that may be a little out of the ordinary.

Yellow Flowers + Turquoise Pot

I love the fact that now that I am all sorts of grown up, or something like that, that I can finally plant flowers of my own at my own house. It's a beautiful thing that clearly I am not very good at.

However, my mom and I found these flowers and I just love the yellow vs. turquoise. And if you know me, I am in all sorts of lust with turquoise right now.

I would have posted the hanging basket my dad got me for my birthday, but the wind storm decided to knock it over while we were out of town and now it is no longer with us. Sorry dad. I still have it on our deck hoping for a miracle.

I did love it though and most of all loved that you got it for me. Hey, our crazy flower addicted neighbors even complimented it. That just....doesn't happen.

Our Freshly Mowed Green Lawn

Jeff and our lawn have a thing going on. He takes some pretty great pride in our lawn because when we first moved in it was entirely dead. And now, well, you can see that it is pretty perdy.

For some very odd reason I love watching him mow that lawn and make our house look a million times better. Something about a freshly mowed lawn just makes me smile. Or maybe it's because he looks so good doing it? Who knows.

Morning Coffee

During the school year I was never able to drink coffee and actually enjoy it. 

I was always running late so I always had my coffee on the go. And chugging coffee before you get to school isn't exactly my idea of relaxing. It was mostly survival.

Now that I can wake up whenever in the world I want, it is pretty much the best thing ever to get to enjoy my coffee in peace and take my time doing so.

 If I want a whole pot? Sure, why not, I have all the time in the world. Okay I would probably die, but two cups sitting on the couch watching TV with the coolest dog in the world... Not bad. Not bad at all.

TV vs. Alarm Clock

Speaking of mornings, I am pretty much a big fan of morning TV now. That makes me sound old, but well, what can ya do? And sorry if you are not a feet fan, but this is part of why I love the mornings. I can literally put my feet up and wake up the right way, not the alarm clock way.

Kelly and Michael are the best way ever to start your day. Is it just me or is Kelly the coolest person you have never met? I freaking love her.

Hanging Out with My Baby Girl

While the husband is away, the girls will play. Or if you are a dog, then sleep all day. Oh man what a rhyme. 

This dog is something else. I know I talk about her far too often, but I don't have a kid so Piper is everywhere instead. She sure feels like a kid to me.

Whatever I am doing, wherever I am doing it.....she is there. Right there. Like, two feet away. I cannot even go to the bathroom without her following me in there and laying on the rug.

If I am in my little office doing who knows what, she sits right outside the door sleeping until I am done. If I am working out in the basement she lays right next to the treadmill or on the couch watching and waiting.

I love it and had no idea what the impact of a dog could be like. Well, my own dog that is. It sounds unreal crazy, I realize this, but she just makes us so flipping happy it's silly.

Anyway, there ya have it. 

Now I'm off to actually get something productive done. 

Happy Wednesday to you all!!

More lake love

Why is it that the things you want to slow down, speed up, and the things you want to speed up, slow down? I have never really understood it.

All I know is I am sitting here checking out the date and it is June 10th. What the what?! I thought I just got out of school last week and now it is nearing the middle of June. My to do list has somehow managed to stand still. So much for summer projects getting knocked out left and right.

I wish I could tell you what I have been up to since last Monday, but it seems like such a blur. I swear this summer on straight up ffwd mode and I don't like it one single bit.

I did start a six week workout program last Monday and have actually followed through for an entire week. Shocker!

I even made a facebook page dedicated to it but vowed not to publish it until I hit 30 days of pure awesomeness. FYI: I tried this once and totally failed the first time and deleted every little thing. Crossing my fingers for a different result this time.

Other than that we went camping this weekend with my husbands work crew. This weekend also marked the first time ever sleeping in a tent since girl scouts. Actually I'm pretty sure that tent experience ended up with most of us in my parent's camper because we got scared.

Anyway. It was heavenly. As you probably know, I am in love with the lake. Or any big body of water for that matter. So being at the lake laying out, having some drinks, hanging out with girls, and sitting by the campfire was pretty much amazing.

What happens at the lake, stays at the lake.

The Guys. (Picture was taken by Meg)

Some of the gals. (Edited by Meg, I couldn't find the original one)

And going back to sleeping in our tent, I am pretty sure we about got thrown out of it. The wind was going about 500 mph it felt like and our tent was shimmy shaking all night. I kept thinking someone was going to kidnap us or that we were going to get blown to the Land of Oz. Lucky for us, neither happened.

While we were gone, we had to take Piper to get boarded for the first time ever. I hated every little second of that. I felt like I was abandoning a child, even though I'm sure she could have cared less. Needless to say, I am going to try really hard to not let that happen again. For my sake. I can't take that anxiety.

And your welcome for all of the people who were tired of seeing my lake pictures. I know it gets old after seven days.

HAPPY MONDAY!

first week of summer vaca

I never knew how awesome summers could be until I didn't have to work during them.

It's really quite heavenly. No schedule. No where to be (that's not fun). No stress.

I could really get used to this.

This past week I stayed at the lake with my mom, aunts, and brother. During that week we did a lot of relaxing, went to Eureka Springs, laid out on the dock, and even a little birthday celebration.

One of the bests part about my parent's lake house (other than it being right on the lake and perfectly awesome) is that it is so close to other things we love.

Roaring River, where we go a few times every year to camp, is only twenty minutes away and Branson is about forty minutes away. Yes, I realize that if you are not from Kansas, Missouri, or anywhere from around here then you have no idea what I am talking about. I guess that just means you need to come see for yourself!

 

Going to Roaring River is one of my hands down favorite things to do. This place has been putting up with years, as we have been going since before I was even born. It's not often where you get to spend time at the same place your parents did growing up.

Needless to say, this place rocks.

Another place that I found out kind of rocked was Rogers, AR. Heck, I didn't even know there was anything in Arkansas. 

There was some birthday shopping and I even got to meet my new little cousin who is somehow already about one! Whoa.

Now I'm ready to get back to the lake and actually be able to get in!

Until then, I will enjoy this beautiful thing called summer and finally get some stuff done. We can only hope.