16 Years and Then Some...

Once upon a time, in a faraway land (to many, known as Kansas), in a teeny tiny town, lived two young kids.

These two kids were very good friends. One friend had a girlfriend and the other friend probably was never able to take any sort of hint that she wasn't wanted around all the time, so she was around. All the time. She hung out with the friend and girlfriend all the time.

The third-wheel friend also had a boyfriend who told her nonchalantly and in a joking manner that she was probably in love with her friend.

The friend did not like hearing such things because he was just her friend. And would never be anything more. He was Matt, for Gods sake.

Sixteen years later, those two friends have been married for eight years, have three children, a dog, a trampoline and don't remember much from 16 years ago because... well, because life at the moment is madness... but I can tell you that in January of 2001, none of this had ever entered my mind.

Our love story is funny because never during that time when I was the third-wheel friend (yes, that was me!) was I imagining my life with Matt. Because he was my friend. He was nothing more.

Yes, he had an outrageous smile that made your stomach do flips and his hair always seemed wet because he probably managed to let him take gym class four times a day.

Matt was charming in that he could get just about anyone to do what he wanted, just by smiling. Why do you think he sat next to the odd Spanish teacher's desk his junior year? That gal was blushing all class long.

How on earth did we end up together?

Great question.

Here's what I can tell you.

I had a New Year's Eve party with my friends (who Matt still makes fun of - listen, we may not have been as "cool" as Matt and his buddies back in the day, but my friends were good friends and we made our fun... all legal fun) and somehow Matt ended up there (he is a year older than me so why he was at a high school party must show you the deep-down love he had for me - ha). I was trusted to have a sleepover... because seriously, none of my friends and I had any of those lovey dovey feelings for each other, but somehow, my relationship with Matt took a turn that night. And it was from nothing, except flirting, and being mature and throwing carrots at each other (high school, people).

Since he was in college and his break was a little longer, he was around - he was at a basketball game where I hurt my knee (I DID hurt it... I just probably pushed my recovery time a little longer than needed!) and we sat together.

A few weeks later, we are at a movie together - "Save the Last Dance".

And that was it. The full-on love fest began with hand-holding. And then a conversation in the car, with his brother Michael in the backseat asleep, about what was going on, should we be doing this, is Michael going to hate us.

Side note: I love Michael to death and I have since 7th grade. Matt has joked that he thinks I might have married the wrong Clark boy because for all the things Matt doesn't do (or doesn't remember to do), Michael usually does do. My love for that kid though is full-on brother mode and I'm taking applications for for a sweet sister-in-law for myself (or more for Michael... whatever).

Despite it all, we decided we'd give our relationship a shot. And the rest is history.

They let us get a dog.

They let me teach him to ski (that was fun...NOT)!

They actually let us get married.

We have had our bumps along the way... how can you not in 16 years?! I wanted to kill him most days (said by every woman on the planet at some point in their life about a man). He probably wanted me to be less needy (says every man in the universe).

I watched many Newman Jet basketball games in my lifetime!

We tried time apart at the end of college because I was trying to prove a point with him.

I sucked at that and our time apart lasted maybe a week.

Babies.

In the end, I couldn't do life without this person. He came in to my life as a friend 18 years ago, he became my boyfriend two years later and now here we are, 16 years down the road, and I don't think we ever thought this would be our life.

I don't think we ever thought the third-wheel and the kid with the great smile would end up happily ever after.

But that's the fun of living your own story, your own fairy-tale. You get to write it all.


XXOO,
Allyson

Etsy Finds of the Week

Welcome to Thursday friends and another edition of Etsy Finds of the Week!

Pack of Proud Pooches Tea Towel
By: Mary Kilvert
$15.47

I have explained before my love of tea towels and how I am seasonal with them. I am also picky about the colors IN the tea towels -- they need to be bright when the seasons are brighter (spring, summer) and toned down when it's a more neutral season (fall, winter).

Then I found this shop and kind of threw all of my rules out!

This gal's stuff is adorable! And all would be great as house warming gifts, or small birthday gifts.

Mugs, aprons, tea towels, notebooks... and lots of just cute, fun prints!

She is English so none of this is surprising that I love it all!

Check it out!

 Doormat

By: Shop Josie B
$44

There are no words.

Because these doormats say it all for you!

I am obsessed with all of them!

Seriously, I have no words. Go look for yourself!!!

 Personalized Name Necklace
By: Caitlyn Minimalist

$29

I know I have talked about fun necklaces to purchase for Sloane that would be fun for her to wear around - the girl loves jewelry! And i feel like we have moved past the plastic jewelry, we are now on to real metals.

This necklace would be so cute with her name -- or what a great gift for a mom, girlfriend, best friend!

So simple and can be worn with other necklaces layering it!

Currently 40 percent off this necklace so get it while it's hot!


Everyone have a great day and we will see you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

XXOO,
Allyson

What's Up Wednesday

Happy Hump Day, friends! I just realized that a) it's the last Wednesday of the month (woah January, hello February) and b) I haven't done one of these in awhile!

So let's get to it!

What We're Eating This Week...
It was our week to host the Stacey's so I attempt to make them something that they haven't already had at our house. The last time they came over, I made them the Mississippi Roast in the crockpot and mashed potatoes in the pressure cooker and it was SO good! 

This time, I made taco salad - a recipe from my aunt Sherron's cookbook (one that she put together with recipes from her, my grandma, my aunts and many of her friends - they are classics that I love and it's my go-to cookbook) and as always, it was yummy! It's SO easy to make.

I also have a few recipes tagged from Shay Shull's cookbook 'Mix-n-Match Mama Eats'.




 
What I'm Reminiscing About...

I blogged about this yesterday, but Matt's granddad Jim passed away last Thursday night so I've definitely spent some time thinking about him, his life and his legacy he will leave behind. My husband grew up on a farm, half a mile from his grandparents house. Memories of growing up there will be treasured and that place will always hold a special place in his heart and so much of it traces back to his granddad and gramma. 


What I'm Loving...

You know I couldn't get away from this... but I'm loving my LipSense! Yet again, I blogged about this new opportunity that I decided to partake in this month. I became a LipSense distributor and vowed to not bug everyone about it 24/7 because I just can't be that person! I feel like bugging you about Two Dots is completely different. How, I don't know, but I'm OK with that!

Here's what I will tell you about LipSense.

It is lipstick that doesn't come off. 

It. Doesn't. Come. Off. 

I LOVE my Mac lipsticks and my Clinique Chubby Sticks but I put them on and five minutes later, they have come off because I have eaten or drank or just walked around. LipSense does not come off - yes, you need to use the gloss throughout the day to help it not come off, but I just was discussing with Jenna that I almost never put the gloss on throughout the day (because let's be real, I forget to bring it with me and I just forget about it), but what's amazing is that I can get to the end of the day and STILL have lipstick on. 

Me in Honey Rose and Glossy Gloss (yes, that's the name... 😐)

The color options are gorgeous... and endless. If you want to try, just let me know! I have a growing list of people that want to try it and I have only personally contacted a few of them (because they are lipstick lovers and all lipstick lovers need this in their possession)! If you haven't joined my Facebook page to see all the colors and what I'll have in stock, just click here. 




 
What We've Been Up To...

 Oh... you know... just searching for a house in Chicago for us to live in that is not an hour commute for Matt and won't take him 20 minutes to walk from our house to the train station (though he blows it off like it won't be a big deal -- ask me how he's feeling after his fifth day of walking in negative temperatures with blowing snow in his face -- which I said to him), meeting with realtors to get our house on the market, going room to room to decide what needs to be hidden when people walk through our house, etc. 

This will be our life until the summer I believe!
 
What I'm Dreading...

See above! I'm dreading all of it! Talk to me in the summer when it's over!


What I'm Working On...

My life kind of revolves around my kids (making sure they have been fed, bathed, get them where they need to go, etc.), trying to have dinner for a hungry husband, house-hunting, Two Dots, blogging and now LipSense. There literally are not enough hours in the day! Realistically one of those should probably go away, but I can't pick which one it should be, so instead, I will just go crazy and try and get it all done! :) 
 
What I'm Excited About...

Well... I was very excited about a trip to Chicago next weekend to go look at houses and be kid-less for two days. But that trip is now postponed so... I'm looking forward to a Two Dots trunk show in Sedan instead! I love doing shows there because I get to see people I don't see very often anymore and I might get to go eat at Bucks BBQ. And hopefully go to church and see my St. Roberts peeps.


What I'm Watching/Reading...

I'm not sure if this tells you much about me.

But my favorite show of the moment is Ladies of London on Bravo TV.

And my book of the moment is 'Superficial' by Andy Cohen, the brains behind Bravo TV.

 If you think that I'm wishing to be a crazy, materialistic, rich witch... you might be right.


What I'm Listening To...

Matt got the Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas from my sister and we use it alot to play music while in the kitchen.

The kids ask only for Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and anything by the Chipmunks.

I recently asked for it to play Harry Connick, Jr., while I made dinner. And let me tell you, it made dinner-making much more delightful! I recommend a little Harry the next time you are prepping/cooking/baking.


What I'm Wearing...

Right now, our weather is spring like. Which annoys the crap out of me. Give me winter. Then give me spring. Not two weeks of winter, five months of spring, six months of summer, two weeks of fall.

So my attire is all up in the air. But a constant are my JCrew Factory Jeans.

They are so comfortable because they have a decent amount of stretch in them. Plus they come in a good variety of colors! AND they are less than $50 always!

What I'm Doing This Weekend...

This weekend, we will be back at the farm for Matt's granddad's funeral service. He was well-known across the area so I expect it to be a large crowd. Lots of talking. Totally my thing. 


What I'm Looking Forward to This Next Month...



I just looked at my February calendar today and it's filling up!

We've got things almost every weekend, birthday parties for friends, and then a big birthday party for Ms. Tess who turns one year old on February 24! That same weekend we are going to Wichita to Matt's alma mater to watch his college basketball coach coach his last home game as he is retiring after this season. 

In between all of that, Matt and I are suppose to go see Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Walton Arts Center on February 21. Who wants to babysit?!




What Else is New...
I literally can't think of anything else going on in my life except that our sweet nephew/cousin Anderson is growing and will be a month old on February 8 - where did that month go?!


Everyone have a

Until We Meet Again...

Losing a loved one is never easy. You can never be fully prepared for it.  Even if you know that it's coming.

Matt lost his granddad Jim last week and though he had not been doing well for a few months, he really hit the downhill slide after Christmas. They moved him to the nursing home and eventually hospice care came in. 

Matt's dad had sent a picture to Matt a week or so ago of the bulletin board in granddad's room in the nursing home and it had a drawing that Sloane had drawn up on it.

But that was not what I saw, what I saw were two things:

• A frail man who resembled nothing like the man I had known my entire life -- let alone the man I had seen just a few weeks before -- his belly was as thin as I had ever seen on him.

• And next to him, lay his wife, Donna, by his side, like always.

I used to tease Matt about his grandparents relationship and why we couldn't be more like them. It was literally something I was hoping we could aspire to be.

They were inseparable! And WANTED to be inseparable! They were the busiest old couple I have ever known: pinochle club, dances on the weekends, Blue Devil sports all during the week, constant food preparation and cooking, which led to Jim's constant washing of dishes and loading the dishwasher.

They just loved to be together. It's hard in this day and age with so many things pulling our attention away from what is most important. Just last night, I told Matt that we could be on our phones for five minutes to look at houses (because I think this is ALL we do right now - look at houses in Chicago!) and then we were putting them away and we were going to watch a TV show together. And who followed those directions? He did. I didn't (house hunting really pulls you in).

But Donna has always been by his side. I remember them from elementary school when Jim was the principal (and terrified me!) and Donna worked as a Title 1 teacher. I remember them always being at ballgames together to cheer on Matt and Michael. Donna even had special shirts she wore to the games, most notably is the "Gramma's Stars" with the boys basketball numbers stitched on stars on her shirt.

Somehow, years later, I sat at their dinner table as a member of the family, with my kids by my side and still semi-terrified of Jim, but helped clean up the kitchen and get the dishes in the dishwasher - almost like my right of passage. 

My hope for Jim is that he is up in Heaven, watching over all of us and finally getting to eat the bad food that he had to cut back on a few years ago for health reasons. I hope he is enjoying all of the pie and lemon jello cake his belly can take! And my hope for Donna is that she can still continue to do some of those things that they used to do together and maybe come visit us before we leave and make many apple pies for me! :)

I haven't seen eye-to-eye with this side of the family much this last year. And it's been hard for me to push aside my differences even when we are around them. But this Saturday, I will not be focusing on that, but will be focusing on the life Jim led and the relationship that he and Donna had and remember that Matt and I might not have yet reached that level that they were on, but that we can sure hope to get there one day!


XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

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Etsy Finds of the Week

Happy Thursday friends! We are counting down the days until the weekend at the Clark household so we can FINALLY go meet our sweet nephew/cousin Anderson in Kansas City! We were suppose to go last weekend, but then the ice storm of the century was to happen in Kansas City so we cancelled (and then the ice storm of the century was a semi-bust because OF COURSE it would be). But we are ready for the weekend for sure!

 

Bentonville Print

By: Paper Finch Design

$12 

One day, far far away, when we are in our forever home, I have a goal to get framed prints up on an office wall of all the places we have lived. 

I have a great picture that I took of the Keeper of the Plains in Wichita. I have an awesome print of all the neighborhoods in Minneapolis. Now, I just need this. 

This store has good style and you can get all sorts of things from pillows to prints to coffee mugs... 

Check it out! 

Planner Inserts
By: To Insanity and Back
$3

We all know my love for a good planner! Last year, I had the Happy Planner and LOVED it -- it's only $20 for gloriousness! This year I am testing out the Erin Condren. We are 19 days in and I kind of miss my Happy Planner (how RIDICULOUS does that sound)!

Anywho, my mom bought the Happy Planner this year and bought some inserts from an Etsy seller specifically for her planner. She had a meal planning insert, a budget insert, etc. So cool! So did some searching and found a few for my planner which is what I'm showing you. An insert for meal planning is SO great!!

This particular seller has so many options of inserts for your planner -- things you didn't even realize you needed! :) 

Toddler Fox Ear Warmer
By: The Endless Stitch

$20

Welp. You got me at fox. 

Sloane had a hat VERY similar to this and it was THE cutest thing ever. It was also funny because she got it when that ridiculous "What's A Fox Say?" YouTube video came out. 

So my Tess has to have this! 

There are some other cute things in the store, but this is my favorite! 

See you tomorrow for some great Friday Favorites! 

XXOO,
Allyson

What Have I Done?!

And today is the day I've lost my mind.

I'm certain I've said that many times before, but I'm pretty sure today is THE actual day.

Because...

I've decided to start doing direct sales. 😳

WHAT, you say? DIRECT SALES, you say? Those are not real and I can't believe someone convinced you to do it!

I KNOW! I KNOW!

Believe me when I say I talked myself out of this a few times. Or talked myself into waiting just a little while before jumping in.

And then my husband said "Have you signed up yet?"

So I jumped.

Well what am I selling, you ask?

I am selling lipstick. LipSense lipstick to be precise.

Listen to me when I tell you that I was the last person to jump on the LipSense bandwagon. I hem-hawed around it. I kept hearing about how legit it was and that I needed to try it. But I'm one of those that just likes to wait until the last second to try something (most of the time) OR I'm the last one to find out about it (almost ALL of the time).

The sweet gal that did our makeup for my friend Abby's wedding mentioned how great LipSense was and I said "Oh, yeah, I've heard of that!" And that was it.

And then a month later, my best friend and I stood in the back of a store at the launch party for the Northwest Arkansas Moms Blog group I write for, browsing lip color choices and what she should get. I was totally into it.

But I still didn't budge.

And then one night, I was on Facebook and saw that one of my distant cousins (who may or may not be one of the cutest people you will ever see -- besides my cute cousin Megan) had posted pictures in her LipSense and how she had decided to take the plunge and sell it and how she NEVER thought she'd do direct sales, but she had truly loved this stuff for awhile so why not?

See, what did I tell you?!

So then I had to try it. I messaged her, I browsed the really great examples of colors (they show you six different "normal" people in one LipSense color to give you a good representation of what it might look like on you) and bit the bullet. 

And now here I am. A few weeks later. I feel EXACTLY as Melissa did, but this stuff is the real deal.

Let me explain my number one reason as to why it's great and why I'm happy to sell it to everyone: it doesn't come off.

I repeat, the lipstick does not come off!

You can put it on in the morning, put on the gloss you purchase with it, and maybe carry the gloss with you if you want, but the lipstick will last up to 18 hours! I put it on, eat 10 meals, go check the mirror two hours later and it is still there!

I think back to Abby's wedding and how one person carried around one tube of the gorgeous Vitality lipstick and we all had to share it AT LEAST 60 times that day. If we would have had one tube of LipSense, we wouldn't have had to share it more than ONCE! And I LOVE the color of Vitality lipstick we used -- I went and spent $25 on it at Ulta!  ....  And I could have just spent $25 on the same LipSense color!

Also...

I started a separate Facebook page for this new adventure for a few reasons:

1. I wanted a separate space to show you all of the color options.
2. I wanted a space to show you what I have in stock.
3. And that is all. 

I am not going to bug you to join my team (but the one plug I will give is that you get a good discount on this stuff if you DO join my team -- THAT'S IT, I'M DONE!). I'm not going to share every single post on my personal Facebook page. I just wanted a separate space to show you the colors and how to buy it.

Because you all need some of it in your life, I can promise you that! And if you do have any questions, you know how to find me - comment below,  e-mail me at allyson.hills@gmail.com or hop on any of my five million Facebook pages. :)

Now for the next question you have...

No, this does not mean Two Dots will go away! Lauren and I (oh yes, Lauren is selling LipSense as well) are obviously trying to corner the clothing and makeup market. 😂

Two Dots is still kicking! We actually have a show in Kansas City in just over a week and a half at the Holy Trinity Early Education Center in Olathe for those that want to come browse! There will be a Ladies Night on Friday, January 27 from 6-9 pm. Tickets are $15 for advanced purchase or $20 at the door, which includes a raffle ticket, wine and snacks and a possibly swag bag with coupons and such to use that night!

And blogging will not be going anywhere either! You might just hear about new LipSense colors a little more, especially on Friday Favorites. But Tess and Elm is staying put.

As for the rest of my crazy life, it is literally all over the place with realtors, house hunting in Chicago, and the realization that we continue to accumulate SO MUCH STUFF that I thank God for relocation packages! 

And that's that, folks! To check out the LipSense colors and what I have in stock at the moment (it's selling so quickly that so many colors I want to have in my inventory are not available until February), go to my Facebook page and go to the 'Photos' tab.

Happy Hump Day to all!

XXOO,
Allyson

PS. IF you like what you see on my Facebook page, go ahead and 'like' it and share it with your friends -- just for fun so you can be informed on colors that arrive and new items!

Friday Favorites

Another Friday is here and another week we have survived! Pat yourselves on the back! :)

I'm trying to switch up the style on this week's Friday Favorites - we will see how you like it!

1) Because I'm obviously obsessed with booties (and cannot for the life of me find the exact pair that I must have)... I have found YET another pair to show you! This is the Sole Society 'Ines' Chelsea Boot and it's available at Nordstrom. There are three color options: black, cognac and taupe and they are under $100. Yet another reason I need to get to a Nordstrom ASAP!


2) This is me. Showing off my french braid I did on myself (all the thanks to Emily Cramer for years of staring at her beautiful french braids). Wearing my new Buffalo Check Shirt Jacket that I got on clearance sale at JCrew Factory (boom). And introducing my new favorite lipstick that I didn't want to like!

Welcome to the world of LipSense, friends! It's for real. And it's almost for real that I am considering selling it. They have TONS of colors - a color for everyone - and this stuff does not come off. I repeat. It. Does. Not. Come. Off. I have had this for four days now and for four days, I've stuffed my face with food and it never comes off!

I bought mine from a cousin of mine who just recently started selling it. And is adorable. And can wear ALL the shades and look awesome.

When you buy your first lipstick, I recommend getting the gloss -- you put on your lipcolor, let it dry for a second, then put on the gloss and that's it! Carry the gloss with you if you want to apply throughout the day, but I've worn mine without reapplying the gloss and have been fine! But once you buy the gloss, you don't have to buy it again and just can have fun buying lip colors (for reference, my color is Honey Rose -- I'm excited to get a brighter berry color next time)!

If you have questions, comment below. If I don't know the answer, I can find out for you and I can also direct you to Melissa if you want to try!


3) I can't tell you how I started following this person on Instagram. BUT I am. And as I was scrolling through the other day, I stopped to see what she was holding and what it said.

The bottle reads "Kids Immunity". She says she rolls it on the wrists of her kids before they go to school and it has truly helped to keep her kids from getting sick during "sick season".  Now, I'm not naive enough to believe that just by doing this, no one will get sick. But I'm OK with trying!

The little roller bottle consists of frankincense, lemon and tea tree for immune support, respiratory support and cleansing.

I'm 100 percent NOT an oil expert so I know there are much better brands out there. I just don't want to spend a fortune on them! I did find a pack of eight oils on Amazon that I think would help us through for only $17.


4) Tess and I made a stop at The Loft yesterday before picking Reece up from school. They were having a HUGE sale - 40 percent off everything in the store and an additional 60 percent off clearance items. I made my way around the store and found some cute things, but wanted to point out this Plaid Tab Sleeve Peplum Blouse to you all. It would be cute on so many body types! It's a little baggy, which its meant to be so I would order true to size. It's $54.50 but 40 percent off!


5) And last but not least, I saw this quote on Facebook the other day and made sure to snap a picture of it. Sloane has been having a little harder time in kindergarten - she takes a little longer to process some things, which is fine! We just want to make sure we are able to help her however we can. But I saw this quote and it made me think of her. And Matt and I. And how we kind of look at each other and wonder what have we done to our kids! In the end... I'm just thrilled that they are kind. :)


Everyone have a great weekend! We are hoping the weather allows us to get to KC to meet our nephew/cousin!

XXOO,
Allyson