Friday, July 29, 2011

Boogie Fever

I really like to dance at weddings.....

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

One For The Books

Boy was today a doozy. It all began when I woke up at 7:30 am, made Scott breakfast, showered, threw on my swimsuit and headed off to Little Rock. Everyone was waiting on me to get there as quickly as possible so we could go to the lake.


We hop in the car and make the nearly hour long journey to Lake DeGray. We get to the dock, put our stuff in the boat, start getting excited when Kyle says "umm, did anyone grab the boat keys?" Hmmm....we somehow managed to leave that one important item behind. So Kyle called a friend to see if he would go to my parents house and get the boat key then meet Kyle halfway which he kindly obliged (true friend right there).
While Kyle did that Mom, Grammy, Landon and I had our own kittle redneck yacht club party and hopped in the water and floated in the marina. What? Other people do it. Seriously I've seen it.


An hour later Kyle made it back and we were finally able to take on the lake. We thoroughly enjoy ourself, do our normal thing, stay out until 6:00 and decide it's time to head in.


So we pull the boat in, grab our stuff, begin heading out and Kyle hands his car keys to my Grammy when whoopsie!! She drops them in the lake and straight down they go. Kyle jumped in after them thinking he could swim 25 feet down in murky water and find them--he did not.
I couldn't help but burst out laughing and the fact that Landon immediately said "oh no! We're going to have to get a new car now" sent me over the edge. Seriously? This really just happened?
My Dad was the one to save us this time but it was going to take him two hours before he could get there. So we hitched a random ride to Cracker Barrell so we could at least wait there.


This day was one for the books that's for sure but I think we learned two important lessons. Don't forget the boat key--and make sure you always bring the spare car key. Because you just never know what may happen!


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Birth Defects

We accidentally started this thing with Landon--birth defects. You see, it all started when Landon was being silly and playful in the car while we were all headed to Sarasota. He was punching and rough housing with Scott. The norm with Landon...he's definitely your typical boy. Scott can pull his eyelids back (it's so freaky) and while Landon wasn't looking Scott did it then claimed that Landon's roughness messed his eyes up. The look on Landon's face was priceless. We were all joking to Landon 'what did you do to Scott!!!!???' Landon go SO upset and was horrified that he ruined Scott's eyes. We finally told him it wasn't his fault and after many questions of why that happened (you know kids and their non-stop questions) the only thing my Mom could come up with was it's Scott's 'birth defect.' That brought on a whole new load of questions but we all just decided to go with it. Now Landon strives to find "birth defects" because he thinks they're cool. He can pop out a weird bone in his back and he's so proud that he's discovered his birth defect.


What can I say? Life with a 6 year old is interesting. Landon LOVES a birth defect. It's highly likely if you come to our house he'll ask to see yours because, as far as he's concerned, everyone has one and they're totally awesome.


Yesterday and today have been pure perfection. I went to my father-in-laws yesterday and lounged by his pool. Then Scott and I had date night at Bonefish. Today I went to the mall and did a little shopping. Ahh! So nice. Every day should be like yesterday and today.


Holly and I are headed to Little Rock tomorrow to spend time with Landon. Scott is (of course) busy with work and suggested I spend a long weekend in Little Rock so he doesn't have to feel bad about working so much. I'm waking up early and getting to LR as quickly as possible because we're going on the lake tomorrow!
I need to pack and get ready for bed. See you back here tomorrow!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

BLUE: Dresses, Walls and Hydrangeas

Last week Scott came home from work and wasn't in the mood to eat at home. That worked for me because 1/2 the time I don't want to eat at home. I just love a good meal out!! Plus, it makes your evening feel special and eventful. We decided to go back to Tusk and Trotter. We really enjoyed it last weekend and it's so close to our house so I think it's potentially our new hang out spot. I was in my yoga gear and Scott told me to just throw something on so this is what I chose. So simple--not even a stitch of jewelry--but comfy and breezy (a must in the summer) and easy to just grab off the hanger and wear as is. I didn't even have the chance to fix my tresses. This is my 'air dry' look. I wasn't planning on taking photos but this bright blue wall on the square in Bentonville was too pretty to ignore. This look isn't special but this dress is a good one to always keep around and this is what I typically look like on a regular day-to-day basis (minus the bad hair). I'm very minimal in the summertime. I cannot bring myself to put on 7 layers when it's 107 degrees outside. Sorry fashion world for committing such a large sin. I'll layer up for you in the fall and winter.
Can I brag for a minute and say that I'm developing quite the green thumb? Because I am. I'm impressed by how much my gardening skills have grown this summer. My flowers are crazy gorgeous and my outdoor patio makes me happy. You definitely have to love gardening because it is very time consuming. Since the weather was nice today I tended to my flowers a bit. I'm so proud of my hydrangeas because they're so beautiful and have grown so much. They're my favorite. I still haven't had any friends over to see my space!! I've got to take care of that soon.
Okay it's time for me to focus all of my attention to The Bachelorette then Gulianna and Bill. See you all back here tomorrow!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cliff Diving

Our weekend in Little Rock was a blast! Like I predicted, Landon spent the night with us every night. He's such a little cutie pie! He's obsessed with Home Alone so we had to watch that before bed every night.

I love this pic of Landon. He told me to take a picture of him diving then midway through decided he couldn't commit. Hahaha!
We had a jolly good time on Lake DeGray yesterday. The majority of the time was spent jumping off the cliffs. I did not participate. That terrifies me. I would manage to find the one rock that decided to suddenly grow as I was climbing the cliff.
Other than Landon (accidentally) nailing me in the face (which I totally didn't see coming) with a football it was a great day. I have a huge whelp on the left side of my face but luckily no black eye. And my Marc Jacobs sunglasses didn't break. That was the first thing that came to mind....and apparently Scott's too. I pulled them off my head immediately and gave them a one-over. Sad huh?
Those are the times you're grateful you're a few drinks in. Otherwise I know I would have cried like a baby. If this were twitter I would hashtag #whendrinkingisagoodthing.
I'm not sure if anything has ever hurt me that bad. I'm lucky that I've never been into any kind of accident (knock on wood) because I am crazy sore from just a football to the face.
That's about it. I managed to leave my camera, drivers license, credit card, AND (so tragic) my laptop at my parents house. I'm usually so much more responsible than that. I am big time annoyed with myself. I'm grateful to have an iPad but I'm not quite sure how I can live without the actual computer. It will for sure be a challenge especially when it comes to blogging. Scott's going to have to give up working for just a little bit at night to allow me to update Kara's Stories. Wish me luck with that!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Sunny Toes

I am so bad at painting my fingernails. So bad!! I tried to be cheap and attempted to do it myself today and it looked horrendous. I washed it off immediately and headed to my favorite nail salon. So worth the money!! I love getting my nails done. It's my Friday ritual. I get really tickled looking at everyone holding their hands up to the mini fan while they attempt to get their nails dry. I'm positive it's where Lady Gaga got her 'paw' inspiration.
Scott and I are in Little Rock for the weekend to see this cute little fella. I overheard him telling my Mom while I was talking to her on the phone 'I wanna see Kara' and that did me in. I told Scott we HAD to go to Little Rock this weekend--non-negotiable. He's spending the night with us tonight. Landon has a hidden talent. Youchie doesn't this look like it hurts??!! He can literally walk all over the house on top of his toes. He looks just like Rose from Titanic. It's painful to watch yet totally mesmerizing.
We're going to the lake tomorrow. Fun times are sure to be had. Enjoy your weekend!!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Crow

Boy did I get in trouble last night from Holly!!! Background info on Hol. She does not like to be picked, piddled, or played with. She loves to get rubbed on--it's the key to her heart. That and treats. Just don't mess with her. Don't touch her feet. Don't touch her tail. Don't look in her ears. Don't examine her belly. Don't look in her mouth. She does not like it nor does she appreciate it one little bit.
Last night she had something on her little chin. So I tried to get it off and she growled at me!!!! 'Holly stop it' I said to her, then tried again. Bigger growl this time. 'Holly. No!' I enforce...then attempt to wipe at it again. Then I got a very aggressive growl. That just made me mad. 'No Holly. BE SWEET.' I sternly said then gave her a light spanking. Well that just plain pissed her off. She ran away from me pouting then started faking sick.

This isn't the first time Holly has faked sick. When we lived in El Dorado she had a standing appointment with her groomer, Mrs Charlene, every Thursday. (If you say to her 'do you want to go see Mrs Charlene?' she runs and hides. Haha) Well eventually she became 'sick' every Thursday for no apparent reason. We totally fell for it for a few weeks until we realized--this dog is faking us out!!! Smart little booger.
Last night Holly sat by Scott on the sofa while she cut her eyes at me the entire time saying 'I do not like you right now.' She didn't decide to forgive me until this morning!!

So I'm officially very into Yoga. I love it!! It feels so good and it's helped me not be so tight in my neck and shoulders.
I don't know what is wrong with me when it comes to working out but I have to be the best at it. Have to. If I'm running next to someone on a treadmill I have a little race with them--even though they aren't aware that we're racing. If I'm running in my neighborhood and I'm about to die but someone can see me running--I keep running until they can't see me. I will be the best person in my pilates/cycle/physique/and now yoga classes. Will be. Even my instructors call me out on it. One day my pilates instructor said 'okay on a scale of 1-10 how hard do we want today to be? And Kara I know you want a 10 so you can't vote.'
So there was this one yoga pose that I just couldn't get. It's called The Crow and it's been bugging me so bad that I couldn't do it but I did it today and I was so, so happy. I made Scott take a picture of me doing it.I really thought it would take me a lot longer to get it down which is why I'm overly excited about being able to do it now. You have to hold it for 20 seconds. I'm very proud of myself :)
Lastly, my neighbor FINALLY had his yard mowed. You have no idea how happy that makes me. It was irritating me SOOOOO BAD. The poor mow guy had to rake up the grass because there was so much of it. I can't express enough how bad it was. Holly and I looked out of the window and watched with glee as the mowing process was taking place.

See you back here tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

For Real

---Do you ever play that game in your house 'let's see who will do it first?' We have a suitcase sitting in our garage....wonder who's going to finally put it in the attack. There's a wine glass that's been waiting to get hand washed for a few days. Let's be honest, I'm the one who always gets it done but I like to just wait and see if maybe Scott will do it. But he never does so I don't know why I play this game especially since he's totally unaware that I'm playing it.
---Do you ever think of something that will make you LOL no matter what? My friend, Wade, knew someone in high school who was from Africa or something. His name was Sha'theed. Except it was spelled Shithead. I'm sorry I can't help but laugh every time I think about that.
---Could someone please tell me why it's so annoying to change the toilet paper roll? I play that game with Scott too.
---You know how I told you about a week ago that I wished my neighbor would mow his yard? He still hasn't mowed it and I've decided I'm going to have to make a call to our POA. It's unacceptable.
---Yesterday on GMA they made this huge ordeal about these very young girls who are competitive dancers. They practice many hours a week and when they compete they (gasp!!) wear make-up and (bigger gasp!!!) their costumes show their bellies. I'm pretty sure a 7 year old girl who wears make-up occasionally will turn out just fine. And what do you want them to dance in? A Shirley Temple dress? Jeans? They think their mothers are bad parents because they have to practice so much. Why can't they appreciate that these girls are phenomenal dancers and probably want to practice that much because they love dancing and it's their hobby!!! They will probably be big time dancers one day--appreciate their talent. It's no different than these US women soccer players. They're intense. Not only do they practice soccer every day--all day, I'm sure they also run many miles and eat a super strict diet. And you know what? Sometimes they only wear sports bras. How come we aren't raising cane about that? Am I the only person that this irritates?
---Why is everyone so shocked by the JLo/Marc split? I always thought they were an odd couple.
---You know how they say dogs resemble their owners? I find that to be true in so many cases!!
---I only eat Boars Head deli meat. Everything else is gross to me. The reason this is interesting is because my husband is pretty much the head of the deli department at Walmart for Sara Lee.
---Have you ever had a pregnant bell pepper? You know, where a baby bell pepper is inside. So cute.
---Gulianna and Bill is back on TV and I'm so happy. They're so stinkin adorable. Now we need Rachel Zoe and Entourage and my summer TV watching will get way better.
......Until tomorrow......

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Trotter, Potter, And Chris


Whew it's hot outside! It makes it kinda miserable to water my flowers. I've managed to rig my water sprinkler to where it basically gets the job done. It isn't very 'green' of me since the sprinkler has to run for a really long time in order to get the flowers really drenched but oh well. Scott and I had a great weekend! We went to the new restaurant in Bentonville, Tusk and Trotter, and I'm happy to report that it was delicious! We will definitely go back. The atmosphere is casual so I was a little disappointed in that but the food was nice and yummy so that works. After dinner we went to Harry Potter!!!! We stood in line for an hour before the movie started so we could get a good seat. Scott was a tad against doing that but he grinned and bared it for me! The wait really didn't seem to last too long and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the teens in line with me about Harry Potter and Twilight.Harry Potter was SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD. It is my favorite movie of the entire series for sure. It ended so perfectly and at one point towards the end I got goosebumps because it was so intense between Harry and Voldemort. I definitely want to see it again before it leaves the theaters.
Saturday afternoon was nice and chill. We slept in late then had lunch at McAlisters. Scott worked all afternoon but later that evening we went to Ruth's Chris for a delicious dinner with his Mom.We went to church the next day which was nice because I can't remember the last time we went to our church since we've been out of town so much. The worship was really great. That's my favorite part about church. I get more out of a really beautiful song with really powerful words than I do the sermon usually. After church with had lunch with Scott's Dad then spent the rest of the day at home.
Scott came home from work at lunch and stayed here to work. Sometimes he can get way more done when he's at home. I love having him here even though we don't speak much. I try to leave him alone but I can't say the same for Holly. She adores Scott and thinks he needs to be paying attention to her.

Okay I guess I need to try and decide what I'm going to cook for dinner tonight.

Until tomorrow....

Monday, July 18, 2011

A Lot Of Protein--Five Times A Day

I hope you all had a great weekend. I did! It was so nice to just be home. I'll share with all of you what we did with our weekend tomorrow. I've got something else to talk about today.
Scott has been wanting to lose a little weight and get back into shape. He has a much harder time working out than I do since he works so much. I could definitely stand to lose the 5 pounds I've slowly gained during the year of 2011 (so depressing). AND, I know I'm about to sound like a major hippie but I really try to listen to what my body is telling me it needs and wants and I think it's been wanting breakfast (which I never eat) and fruit (which I don't get enough of).
Needless to say, I decided my diet needed to be revamped so my body would feel better and have more energy....and lose those pesky 5 pounds. Scott likes to do the high protein, 5 meals a day diet so that's what we're doing. We started yesterday and of course Scott has already lost a pound. I've been getting up and making us a delicious and healthy breakfast. This is what I made this morning! A toasted English muffin with turkey, egg whites, and spinach and just a pinch of melted cheese for a little extra flavor. It was delish if I do say so myself. We had fruit on the side. A perfectly, well-balanced meal.
For lunch, I made tacos. I bought a rotisserie chicken from Walmart, wheat tortillas and decorated it with fresh onion, tomato, spinach and a tablespoon (or 3) of salsa. Because you can't eat a taco without salsa!! Our mid-morning snack was a protein bar with fresh fruit and our mid-afternoon snack will be turkey meat (for me) and leftover chicken tenderloins (for Scott). That's the only part about the 5 meal, high protein diet that I'm not a fan of--the mid afternoon snack. I love turkey but it almost gags me having to eat so much of it without being able to have a Wheat Thin or something crunchy to chew with it (no carbs after lunch). Dinner will be our usual--chicken or fish with vegetables.
So that's my life right now. The 5 meal, high protein diet really is the best way to eat I believe. I've done it off and on since I was 15 (it's the famed pageant diet) and it really does work so great. It's just a very slow weight loss. I think it will be easy to stick to and I can be pretty creative with meals when it comes to 'dieting.'
I went for a run around my neighborhood this morning and had a celebrity sighting. I certainly had no idea that Kelly, from Kelly's Korner lived in my neighborhood! There she was walking out of her house and pushing a stroller with her two little girls. I was like 'OMG KELLY!!!! I love your blog and read it every day.' I think I may have scared her. Anywho, fun fact.
After my 3.5 mile run I showered up, watched Regis & Kelly and The View then went to the gym for pilates/yoga. Today is definitely one of those days where I can tell my body loves me. Again, I realize I sound like a hippie.Whew! I'm worn out now. That was a long one. Holly and I probably need to take a nap now.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Photobucket Play

I haven't had much to do today so I've been busy playing on my computer. I'm sure all of you have heard of photobucket. Anywho, I've spent about an hour messing around on it. I thought I'd share with all of you the fun things you can do with your pictures on photobucket in case you weren't aware!!You can make your picture look like a painting....
.....or an Andy Warhol work of art!
A black and white sketch.....
Or a colored sketch!
A semi-looking cartoon...........Or a full blown cartoon!

Fun huh?!!

Friday, July 15, 2011

All That Glitters

I've been doing more outfit posts lately. I've bumped into people or gotten sweet FB messages from many of you saying you like when I do it so I'm trying to do it more.
People have asked why I don't allow comments on my blog. I've just never wanted to. I know there are some mean, vindictive people out there who leave nasty comments on blogs and I just didn't want to have to deal with that. Especially since this blog is about my personal life. I read comments on other blogs occasionally and it makes me sad to see 'this comment has been removed from the administrator' because I'm like 'awww....someone said something mean' and it plain breaks my heart.
Nothing makes me happier to get on FB and have a message where the opening line reads 'yes I'm random and you don't know me but I read your blog daily.' Seriously, you have no idea--it gives me a warm fuzzy. SOOOOOO, that's why I don't allow comments but that's what facebook messages are for! Okay enough of that. Lets get this started. I went out with my girls last night and we had a great time. The fun thing about my friends is we're all super girly and love an occasion to get all gussied up. I strayed from my usual summer outfit--a breezy dress--and decided to throw on my skinnies because I just bought this little sparkly number and really wanted to wear it. I got her from the Gap. I've had my eye on it all summer but never bought it because it was $150 and since this isn't what I'd consider a staple piece I didn't really want to spend that much money on it. However, last week I was shopping with my Mom and they had it on sale for--ready for it--$10!!! Yes. Ten Dollars. Check.
So I threw it on with a casual white tank, some pretty gold necklaces, and my favorite new pumps, then had a fun night out on the town with my favorite girls! Christina has set her wedding date for next fall. The exact date will be known once the football schedule is released because in the south you could never have your wedding the same day as a home game--duh! Christina asked all of us to be her bridesmaids and I couldn't be more honored. My friends and I have staggered our weddings just perfectly. Mine was 1/09, Jaclyn 10/09, Anna 9/10, Jax 6/11 and now Stina 10/12. One big wedding every year. Haha. I guess Ashley will have to be 6/13. Haha (hint hint Andy).
Tonight my fashion photog (also known as my cute husband) and I are going to have a lovely evening. We're trying out a new restaurant in Bentonville called Tusk and Trotter. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll love it because we really need some restaurants in my neck of the woods. All of the good ones are in Fayetteville and it just gets old driving there every weekend. After dinner we're off to Harry Potter!!! Which reminds me I probably need to pre-order tickets. Enjoy your weekend!!