Final Farewell

Well, the beginning to the end (of our run in Arkansas) has commenced.

On Friday, we signed over our house to the new owners.

I was running back and forth between our apartment and the house since last Monday and it's been crazy! And sad. And confusing.

Poor Reece just bawled walking through the house after they had packed it all up and loaded it. Room to room he went and his sobs just got louder. Trying to explain to him that he would see his bikes and bed again were not helping.

I can tell you all this. I never thought in a million years that I would live in Arkansas.

Arkansas is the state I made fun of (because doesn't everyone make fun of the state of Arkansas, even if you haven't been there?), but never thought I would inhabit it! But somehow, we got here. And though there are a few things I won't miss (land of Wal-Mart, not being able to turn left -ever-, and living amongst SEC folks), there are plenty of things that I will miss (neighborhood, people, Slim Chickens to name a few).

Before we moved in! 

I can tell you that I never thought I would get to experience living in the same town as my childhood/adult best friend because who gets to do that? That's not real life.

But I did! Once a week, I got to spend an evening with my best friend and her brood, eating dinner and chatting and laughing and yelling at kids and cleaning up and ... just got to be. I will never, ever, ever forget being able to come and meet baby Anna in the hospital. Or Max always asking where Matt was when we'd show up to his house without him. Or Josh telling me to be a soccer coach (HA!). Or Jenna showing up with a large McDonald's coke.

Baby Anna, a baby no more! 

The chances of us living in the same town again are slim. But God, am I blessed to have had these two years.

I can tell you that I did not expect to have three children all born in states other than Kansas! But alas, sweet Tess made her debut into our family in Arkansas. I have zero Kansas-born babies. The plus side to this is that they will never have to be called a Jayhawker (because that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard).

I can tell you that you can never be certain on where life will lead you. Or how you will meet the people you meet. Or the footprints that they will leave on your path.

Thought we still have two months left in Arkansas (or one month and 23 days -- and yes I am counting down the days until we leave this apartment!), I'm starting my goodbyes now.

Thank you 202 NW Highland Road for being our Arkansas home. You were large, your floors killed me (and I picked them out), the weather got us a few times, but you stood tall. Thanks for being our "big house" as the kids called it -- our Minnesota house was our "little house" -- and thank you for keeping us safe for two years! You will be greatly missed!


XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

We made it to Friday! Everyone pat yourselves on the back!!! :)

Ladies, I cannot begin to tell you how long this bag has been on my Amazon Wish List. What I can tell you is that it has been on there long enough for cool version of the Amazon Wish List (that you could add any item from any site on the World Wide Web) to not exist anymore!

I love this Sole Society 'Mason' Weekender Bag! I don't know if it's the cool factor, the "Hey, look at me! I'm trying to be Jennifer Aniston with my cool bag and my aviator sunglasses!"or if that the price point is legit (less than $80). But I love it. And I am telling you this bag will be mine!

Before Amazon Wish List totally disappears!

I literally just saw this Sigma Brush Cleaning Mat on Facebook earlier and watched the video, which was strange (not gonna lie) so I dismissed it and moved on.

Then I found it on Nordstrom and it immediately moved back up to the 'Worth Listing' category. Nordstrom has that strange effect on me.

This mat is only $25, has suction cups on the bottom to stay in place and has only great reviews for easy makeup brush cleaning! It has seven different textures for all of your different types of brushes.

Yes, please!

I have mentioned these flats by JCrew Factory before and I'm going to do it again!

These Anya Ballet Flats are my very, very, very favorite ballet flats! They are beyond comfy and the color selection is great! I own the tan and bright pink. In fact, I wore the bright pink to Chicago when Lauren and I went to market for Two Dots and was stopped by a very flamboyant gentleman who asked me if my shop sold my shoes. I wish, flamboyant gentleman. I wish.

But now they are selling them in metallic! OOOOOH yes... yes they are! And I can't pass up on metallic. It's a great pop if you are wearing a simple outfit.

So please do me a favor and try these flats out!

Gals, I just bought this sweater at Gap for my weekend trip to Chicago and wearing it as we speak. It's SO soft and comfortable and comes in five other colors! Great transition sweater for winter to spring! Check it out!

Speaking of bags (see my first favorite), I need to give a shout out to Thirty-One Bags. My mom started buying them for me probably six or seven years ago and since then, I have accumulated quite the collection. It also helps that my best friend Jenna sells it so I get bags from her as well.

They are so fantastic though! There are so many options from backpacks to coolers to large utility totes, which are my personal favorites. I love the large tote and the deluxe utility tote, which has pockets on the sides!

I take these with me when we travel - throw coats, hats, mittens in some, pillows and kids blankets and stuffed animals in another, diapers and wipes and anything baby-related in another, baby bottles and snacks in a cooler, etc.

The quality is fantastic - I've had ZERO issues with any of mine since I started receiving them!

Designs change from season to season and you can get bags monogrammed. They are great gifts to give and great gifts to receive! If you are interested in them, comment below and I can send you Jenna's e-mail and she can help you out!

This week's color of the week is Caramel Apple! I tried it for the first time last weekend and it's so pretty! It's not too bright, but just enough color to notice. Everyone that tried it on, loved it and wanted it! I finally was able to get my hands on some and will be shipping them out as soon they arrive on my doorstep!


Everyone have a wonderful weekend! Matt and I will be in Chicago house-hunting slash enjoying time away slash not giving baths to children. Best of luck to my parents who WILL be doing that. :)

XXOO,
Allyson

Life as a Planner

I've mentioned before how my mom always got a new planner from Gooseberry Patch every Christmas and she had the whole year planned out with meals and events ... she kept her life and our life in order.

I seriously praise the Lord that that organization/planning gene was passed down to me because without it, I have no idea how my family would function.

In college, I made lists. And I felt incredibly satisfied if everything on the list was checked off!

On a side note, my sister made lists as well in college. Lauren's lists included showering and buying Dr. Pepper.

My lists included finishing a paper, washing laundry and going to the grocery store.

If this is any indication as to how she and I differ ... :)

K-State started selling planners when I was in school and I loved them! They were spiral-bound, not too large, had game days already printed on their respective dates as well as other important dates students needed to know.

I used the HECK out of those planners. If I went and looked through those planners today, half of the pages would be filled with notes sent back and forth during class or during chapter meetings at Kappa (oops).

My parents eventually bought me a 'grown-up' planner: a leather bound Franklin Covey. I used it a bit while at Wichita State working on my master's, but I'm almost certain I went back and bought a student planner at K-State to keep using.

Franklin Covey be too fancy for me!

Since those times, I found some good options at Target that I liked. I can't be one to spend much money on a planner, even though it is something I use every single day of the year!

I used one identical to this last year that I really liked. It was longer than normal, so it took up more space on the counter (yes, this thing is left wide-open all year long or I'd miss something), but it did the job - plus it was spiral-bound, a must for me!

This year, my brother-in-law who is the king of gift-giving because he goes on my Amazon list and buys from there, got me a new planner ... that was NOT on the list ... but it was amazing! It's called 'The Happy Planner' because WHY NOT! It has been an awesome planner this year!

I'm also a fan of Emily Ley only because of my best friend sharing the love of her. Her planners are perfection! I bought her Home Base Binder when we moved here, but ended up never using it because it was just too big. I would have bought her Simplified Planner, but they sell out SO fast! They are a great quality and will hold up through a long year!

Another planner I have heard rave reviews about, mainly through Mix-and-Match Mama, is Erin Condren's planners. She, like Emily Ley, has TONS of different things to purchase on her site, but her planners are the best-sellers. I love the options of covers -- this one is adorable because you can add pictures of whatever you want on the front!

They all vary in price. They all vary in what is included in the planner - meal planning, notes and quotes, vertical, horizontal or hourly layout ... I mean, the options are endless!

If you find that you are not on the planning bandwagon, but have really been wanting to hop on, I suggest doing it! Life is stressful enough without having to remember everything without writing it down (and I fact checked that writing things down helps you to remember things better than just putting them in your phone - this discussion happened when I forced my husband to take a monthly calendar to work with all 'family' related stuff in it)!

Happy planner shopping -- and please tell me what you get! :)


XXOO,
Allyson

A Weekend for the Books

As I told you all last week, I was spending my third-consecutive weekend in Manhattan, Kan., for my sorority chapter's 100th anniversary. I was lucky enough to pledge the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma in August of 2001 and I'm so glad that I made the correct decision 15 years ago!

My best friend, Jenna, who I grew up with in Sedan, also randomly lives in Bentonville and ALSO pledged Kappa at K-State, so we made the trek to Sedan on Friday to drop off her kids with her parents and then drove on to Manhattan. I think it's the longest we've spent talking since we were in college. And it was wonderful. This girl knows me probably better than anyone (yes, even better than my husband -- I still hear myself telling Jenna "Can you believe he did that? Does he not know me after 16 years? YOU would know that!"). So it was great to have that time to just talk without the interruption of our beautiful children. :)

Our first weekend event was a a group gathering of our pledge class in Aggieville - a six square block area filled with bars and restaurants and shops and a very popular spot in Manhattan! There were about 18 of us and we spent three hours eating, drinking, laughing and YELLING at each other from across the table because when you are in Aggieville, that's what you do - there are SO many people, and the music is so loud that you have to scream to talk!

That statement ages me because yes, it was annoying! 

But it was the best time catching up with everyone - lots of hugging, lots of sharing of life stories (sometimes too much sharing, but for my friends, that is how we roll), lots of picture taking!

On Saturday, there was a luncheon, tours of the newly-renovated Kappa house and of the football stadium, then a break before drinks and appetizers at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

When Jenna and I arrived at the luncheon, we walked in and probably almost turned around out of sheer terror. There. Were. So. Many. Women. We had been told that were more than 700 Gamma Alpha's coming to this event. 700 is a big number. It's even bigger when you walk into a small hotel area that is trying to register all 700 women, sell 700 women Kappa gear, and keep 700 women out of the ballroom that has breathable air and space, but that hadn't been fully setup for the luncheon.

Once we finally made it into the luncheon and everything got going (definitely later than planned), the program got started and they eventually got to this amazing video they had created for the 100th with women from each decade speaking in it. The first view is of the Kappa house -- 517 Fairchild Terrace -- and this is where my crying began.

I'm a crier.

It sucks.

But I'm such a mental reminiscer - I am flooded with memories as the pictures of the chapter house appear and am just so thankful for it all.

We made it through the luncheon, sang songs, gave a good cheer for our sister, Amelia, who gave an amazing speech and then promptly broke the rules as we all hopped in a car - not the designated tour bus we were suppose to get on - to drive to the Kappa house for a tour.

We pull up to the house and these poor, adorable Actives were standing on the brick wall singing Kappa songs as we all walked in. I mean, I just wanted to hug them all and say "You are precious, thank you for doing this, but stop -- go buy a pop and take a load off!"

I remember attending events like this when I was an Active and how BORING it was and how I didn't understand why these old women were ruining my Saturday. I now am one of those old women and I can tell you I'm way more appreciative now! 

The house was recently renovated and even though I got to take a tour last year, it was 10 million more times to go through it with a large group of us - so much laughter, and reminiscing, and trying to remember who the heck I lived with in this one room. We were probably the most annoying group because we stopped many, many times to take pictures, but it was so worth it!

My pledge class with the room that we all pitched in and "bought" when the house was being renovated!

We all parted ways post-house and met back up again for dinner, followed by drinks and just more chatting at the Flint Hills Discovery Center, where the 85 degree day was halted by a nice cold front that swept through to make it feel more like the end of October. Though we were all dressed for June since it had been so warm!

Jenna and I all cleaned up!

I know I have blogged about these women before. And you probably won't hear my babble about this crew together again for awhile (hopefully not 'five years awhile'), but can I just say... God knew what he was doing when he had me walk through those Kappa doors in mid-August on Pref Night.

It had been a rough evening for me as I had a nice little car wreck in the middle of Pref Night so I missed half of my mom's sorority (Alpha Xi - they were beyond kind to me and if I had not went to Kappa after them, I probably would have went that direction - so sorry, mom!). But my last house of the day was Kappa.

And I don't think it's a coincidence.

When I walked in those doors, it felt like home. And 15 years later, nothing has changed! The house has been updated, the furniture is new, the composite pictures have moved... but nothing has really changed.

The feeling I get when I walk through is exactly the same!

The laughter I hear, which I heard ALL the time, is still the same!

It even smells the same, if you can believe that!

I'm just incredibly grateful and though I might have been annoyed with those 'old women' when I had to sit through these very long luncheons as an active, I now have a better understanding of why they all came back for events like this.

To celebrate something that we all have in common and will have in common for all of our lives. 

 

XXOO, 

Allyson

Two Moms and Its Zoo at the Zoo

What do you do when it's Fall Break, your original plans of being on a beach fall through and your husband is out of town, your best friend works with kids every day, but has two days off AND you have a van?

You beg her to to take her kids to the zoo ... an hour and a half away!

AND she agrees!

You can just say that this picture signifies us livin' the dream.


That was before we pulled the car out of the garage and we actually LEFT for our destination.

If I remember correctly, eight seconds after this was taken, two kids started crying and two other kids were mad about someone touching the iPad.

But an hour and a half flew by, thanks to good conversation with my road pal, and Sloane's excellent bottle-feeding skills and ability to cheer up any baby/toddler.

Our first stop was lunch. We unloaded five kids at Dairy Queen, somehow everyone got food (and no ice cream because that wouldn't have been a disaster waiting to happen before the zoo), and we didn't leave anyone behind (though I contemplated leaving Reece).

We made it to the zoo, the zoo that is only an hour and a half from where I grew up in southeast Kansas, but the zoo that I had NEVER been to. Apparently when I came to Tulsa, I came to either fly out/in or shop.

But our first task, once getting paid and through the gate, was an attempt to get both Stacey children to stay fully clothed (I just HAD to snap a pic)! :)

Then we checked to see who was most-monkey like. My kids won that.

So proud. 

And since we came to the zoo to see the cool animals, the first thing we had to do was ...

Ride the carousel and the train.

I told Jenna, since we had already threatened the kids about 87 times already that day, that maybe by letting them on the rides at the beginning would be reverse psychology...

"HEY! If we let you go on these now, you have to be good the rest of the day!" 

And that's the funniest parenting lie you'll ever hear from me!

So on the train we went. The three amigos in the front and the rest of the ya-hoos in the back.

We managed to make it to the Children's Zoo, where my kids felt right at home -- they just had spent the weekend at their grandpa's farm, touching all sorts of smelly creatures so this goat was nothing! 

 Sloane had brought a "bag of stuff" into the zoo and when we got to the giraffe exhibit, she dug around and found her stuffed giraffe, that she had specifically brought to show the real giraffes.

As you can see, they got a kick out of it. ;)

 

One of Reece's many attempts at leading us through the zoo! Jenna tore the map in half at one point to give one half to Anna and the other to Reece and she saw the wrath of Reece come out. Thank God our second copy of the map wasn't too far away! :) 

 

 See this girl on the right? Yeah. This is precious Anna who was voted No. 1 child by the adults this trip! I told her many times that she could have anything she wanted, she just had to ask! Luckily the girl doesn't have many words yet or I probably would have had to buy her the gift shop.

  

After taking the iPad away from the boys, and eventually giving it to Sloane, and Max asking Jenna approximately 12 times when he was going to get the iPad back, everyone but Sloane, Jenna and myself fell asleep just until we pulled back into town.

Three things happened on this trip:

• Parenting kids -- the good and the bad -- is tough, but EVERYONE is dealing with something, so when you think you're alone, you're most definitely not.
  
• We should have left the boys at home.
  
• Memories were made!

It was a long day and another one where I felt like I spent 75 percent of it telling my kids to stop doing something or to start listening - totally normal day for me. But I was so thankful that Jenna and her crew were able to come along!  

Now... what to do today... 

XXOO,

Allyson

Weekend Musings

Goodness... what a fast weekend! We were suppose to be in the Gulf Shores this weekend through Wednesday, but thanks to our luck and unforeseen circumstances, we had to stay put... or atleast not go to the Gulf Shores.

We were seriously sad, but didn't have much of a choice. So... we went to Matt's brother's house at his dad's farm.

The kids were thrilled because we haven't been back in awhile and when they are there, they get to feed the cows, ride horses, play in the barn, build things, be messy, fish... All things that I would love to not do! :)

We took off Friday when Matt got home from work and as you can see above, Reece decided to pack his own bag.

Hair products? Check.

Footie pj's? Check.

10 pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, eight t-shirts, no pants? Check!

I did not tell him that mom repacked after he left for school that day because there are some things better left unsaid. :)

Before we left, I got a very exciting e-mail from the owner of the Northwest Arkansas City Moms Blog network - they are launching an NWA version of this popular mom blog featured across the country over the next few months. I applied to be a contributing writer -- and made the team!

I'm excited about the opportunity and what fun adventures lie ahead with this! If you've never read an article from a city moms blog, check the site or Facebook page out. Cities across the country have a moms blog and you've probably read one of their posts before and shared it with many friends saying, "Did we write this? This is our life!" I know I have!

The next day, the kids spent the day doing all of the above and I was lucky enough to catch this on video... Reece caught a fish. Reece touched the fish. Reece rubbed his hands all over his jacket.

BLEH!

This girl and I spent the day in the house -- mainly me waiting on her to finish napping! Then we went on a little jaunt up to the pond to watch the fishing escapade.

We had a nice lunch with Matt's grandparents - mashed potatoes and chicken and noodles, oh yummmm! Then Tess and I loaded up and drove the short drive to the nearest Sonic, where my aunt Sally and cousin Abby met up with us!

My aunt Sally and I are very much the same person so I feel like I could tell the woman anything and she'd say "been there, done that!" I love her and Abby and I'm so glad I was able to spend an hour and a half, sitting in the truck in a Sonic drive up spot, just chatting! One of my favorite parts of the weekend!

My other favorite part was watching/listening/pacing as my Wildcats beat Texas Tech Saturday night -- as you can see from above, we ALL wear purple on Saturdays! :)

We headed home early Sunday and spent the day unpacking, eating, vegging, and doing laundry ... our week will be another quick one as we head to Manhattan on Friday for one of my sweet friend's weddings (as well as my Sloane's 6th birthday on Saturday - what???)!

Sloane helped feed Tess dinner Sunday evening as you can see ... Tess sure loves that girl, which is a good thing because if she didn't, I think she would have been SCREAMING that the food wasn't being shoveled in fast enough!


Happy Monday everyone -- we are headed to the Tulsa Zoo with my best friend and her two kiddos. Will report on that adventure tomorrow! :)

XXOO,
Allyson