Celebrate!!

Today started out very average. Wake up, turn on Regis and Kelly....yada yada.
THEN, around 3:00 my phone beeps that I have a new email. I open it up and literally gasp out loud as my brain comprehends what my eyes are reading. Celebrate Magazine wants to give me their special Seal of Approval for my blog, www.LifeInNWA.com! I knew Celebrate gave these out to blogs they like because I am a big fan of Celebrate Magazine. I never imagined they would give me one, especially since I've had this blog for only about a month.
I immediately called Scott with the exciting news! He knew how special that was for me because he's heard me talk about the seal of approval before. I'm seriously beside myself! I'm 1 of only 8! Two of which are amazing photographers here in NWA (Hudson & Benefield) and a blog I'm a big fan of (Blonde Ambition). You can find them all under my favorite blog links.
So yeah....pretty honored!!!! Scott took me out to celebrate the Celebrate tonight! We had a lovely dinner at Bonefish and came back home to pop open a bottle of champagne while we watched Greys and Private Practice!
I'm so excited you guys!!!! What a cool thing. Wooo Hooo!!
If you haven't read www.LifeInNWA.com please do!! Also, 'like' my fan page on Facebook, Life In Northwest Arkansas and if you have a Twitter please follow www.twitter.com/LifeInNWA. It would mean SO much to me!!

Life In NWA

Soooo....what do you guys think about Life In NWA? Are you all reading it?
I'm having a lot of fun with it. Still trying to 'tweek' the look of it....I think it's almost done. I feel bad for anyone trying to look at it while it's under reconstruction. Anywho....
I figured out how to download a track counter onto my site so I can see how many people read it, how long they stay on the site, what state/city they're reading it from, etc. It's pretty hard core. Crazy how smart technology is these days. I set it up earlier this week so yesterday was the first full day of track counting and over 50 people read it yesterday! I was pumped about the 50ish. I figured maybe 20ish.
So you guys have a job to do. I need you to promote www.lifeinnwa.com on your facebook page, follow it on Twitter www.twitter.com/LifeInNWA , and 'like' it on facebook. I created a page, Life In Northwest Arkansas. If you would do that I would greatly appreciate!!!

Landon Soccer Photos

Gotta bore you real quick with more Landon soccer photos!

Poor little guy got hit in the head with the ball so hard it knocked him off his feet! Took it like a champ though. Got right up and started running for the ball! That's my boy.

This is right after he scored! Look at that grin on his face! Priceless.

Vegetable Soup & Cornbread Casserole

I have been very domestic today. It must be the fall weather. It's my favorite season. October is my 2nd favorite month (after May). I went to Walmart today and all of the Halloween goodies got me excited. So I decided to make rice krispy treats and use Halloween cookie cutters to make shapes! It was a touch more difficult than I intended given the stickiness. Plus the palm of my hand feels bruised from pressing down so hard on the metal cookie cutter. Oh well! All worth it. My husband enjoyed. I think I had a bite. I didn't care about eating them I just wanted to do it for fun. I made plenty for Scott and I to take to work tomorrow.
I also made some delicious vegetable soup! Again--it's the weather. I have such a great vegetable soup recipe and it's seriously the easiest vegetable soup recipe in the whole wide world. I'd be will to put money on it. Want the recipe?

2-Big Family sized cans of Campbells tomato soup
1-Can of Rotel
1-Can of Petite Diced tomatoes (drained)
1-Can of Le Sueur Peas (drained)
1 -Can of Le Sueur carrots (drained)
1-Can of corn (drained)
1-Can of french style green beans (drained)
Fill 2 empty cans of soup with water. Mix together. Add a squirt of ketchup. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Bam! Told you it was easy. Sometimes I add a pound of ground beef and some potatoes too if I'm feeling adventurous but that takes longer and creates more dishes for me to have to wash. Seriously....isn't that the easiest vegetable soup recipe ever? And people always rave to me about how good it is. Try it! It's such a delightful comfort meal.
I also made an amazing cornbread casserole dish to go along with it. Again, it's probably the easiest cornbread casserole dish that exists. You believe me now right? Want that recipe?

1-Stick of melted butter (badness I know)
1-Can of Whole Kernal Corn (drained)
1-Can Cream Style Corn
1-Box of Jiffy.
Mix together. Bam! I add some jalapenos because I love that extra flavor. Bake how the jiffy box tells you. It's amazing. Again, I always get compliments on it and now it's become a staple dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas in my household. Such a great meal tonight if I do say so myself. Comforting, easy, and....lots and lots of leftovers!

Back to work tomorrow....BOO!!!!!!

Landon Plays Soccer!

Today was a very big day for the Luttrell's! Landon played in his very first soccer game! Mom, Dad and Kyle flew to Tampa to watch. Scott and I wanted to go but it conflicted with our DR trip. I got updated every few minutes though and Landon talked to me before the game long enough to say 'Hey Kara I can't talk I've gotta go play in my game.' Landon scored the very first goal and he assisted on the other 2 that the team made!! They lost 4-3 but I'm so proud of my boy!!! He's my little athlete. Hopefully Scott and I can make it down for one of his games. I would hate to miss out. Plus he looks just so cute in his little uniform!

Back from DR

Scott and I are back from the Dominican Republic! We arrived at XNA after midnight last night. It was crazy to feel chilly air. We left hotness, went to extra hotness, then came back to cool. Lovely! Fall is my favorite.

So if you're wondering if it rained all day Wednesday the answer is yes. It held off for about an hour. Long enough for Scott and I to get settled with our Miami Vice's, slap on some sunscreen, and soak in the sun. Then bam. Storm. We were sent to our rooms for the rest of the day. WHAT a bummer. We figured though given the season...and our luck but still....not happy 'bout it. I just poured into the amazing book I read (Redeeming Love) on our terrace while looking at the rain pouring into the ocean....and ordered random room service with Scott at 3. Not because we were hungry...because we were bored!! Best way to gain weight for sure. (Which I only gained 1. Yay for me. Record!!!!)
We didn't fly out until 5 yesterday so we had plenty of time to enjoy the beach yesterday which was great!

All in all it was a really fantastic trip. The Dominican Republic is beautiful. It's an up and coming touristy island and I love that we got to experience it before it became too popular. Our resort was gorg!!!! I loved the Spanish feel of it. I also loved that it was way under capacity. Scott and I scored the best seats (same ones all week) every single day. We were always the 2nd couple out by the pool. We made sure to get there by 9 every morning. Most people showed up around 11...Scott welcomed the swim-up bar when it opened at 10 with open arms. Free!! he kept saying all week. We must take advantage! Nerd.

The staff was ridiculously friendly--huge language barrier but that's alright. I understand people trying to speak English WAY better than Scott. He does better trying to figure out Spanish than their English. The food was much, much better than Secrets Maroma. I would rank this my 2nd best trip ever. It was so fantastic to get away and relax for a week! Whew! That was long. Enjoy all these pics now.

Our random room service food we ordered at 3 pm because we were bored. It was so good btw.