NYC Day 1

Last night I returned from a wonderful time in NYC with my mom, sister, and friend Shannon. Over the next few days I'll be posting about our trip. The pictures aren't all the best quality but you'll get the idea.

Dad and Josh before heading to the airport. Don't pay any attention to the blankets on the couch. They are for Chloe.

Josh and I before heading to the airport. It's about 5am so we're looking tired.

Me, Shannon, Mom, Chloe, Courtney

Shannon and Courtney waiting in the airport for our flight to head out. We were so lucky to be flying direct. I'm a big fan of direct flights and now I'm a little spoiled.

Mom and I

Here's what we received as a snack on the plane. The bagel chips were made in Times Square. They were fabulous!

Our flight was smooth and lasted around 2 hours and 45 minutes. Once we landed we gathered our luggage and got on a shuttle to head to the hotel. Since we were in NYC around 11am it was too early to check in the hotel. We just dropped off our luggage and took a potty break before heading out on the town. The bathrooms at the hotel were way cool. It was a room with individual bathrooms in it.

This was the girl side. I went in Glam and it was indeed Glam!

Here's what the vanity looked.

After we finished up in the cool restrooms we headed out to Central Park. I'm pretty sure Central Park is my FAVORITE part of NYC. On my next trip I just want to eat, shop, watch plays, and hang out in Central Park. It's gorgeous. On my first trip to NYC I really didn't to see much of it so it's something I really wanted to do this time. Once we got into the park our first item of business was lunch. We were starving. We opted to eat at the Boathouse. It was great!!!

Here's the view from our table.

And here's my lunch! It was great!!! Our waiter was from Georgia which I loved. We met sooo many people from the South. It was fabulous! I felt right at home. Our conversations with our waiter consisted of Chick-fil-A, SEC football, and Tim Tebow. Needless to say he got a good tip!

After lunch we explored the park. It's so big and beautiful so there was no way to see it all. We did walk through a big portion of it though.

Belvedere Castle

A view from the top.

Once we were tired from all the walking around Central Park we headed back to the hotel to check in. We first stopped at Magnolia Bakery for a little treat.

Red velvet, chocolate truffle, and vanilla with chocolate. Mmmmm.....

When we got to the hotel we were thrilled to find out that we had two rooms by "accident." We originally thought we could all stay in one since we wouldn't be in the room much. That's how it was the first time I went. Luckily though that didn't happen. We each were able to get a lot of space and our own bed. It was great!

Mine and Shannon's bed

I love this chair and lamp!!

We settled in our room, freshened up, and then headed back to Rockefeller Center. We opted to go to Top of the Rock instead of the Empire State Building. I had already been to the top of the ESB so it was nice to actually get a view of it from some place else. The only problem is that the day we decided to go was the day there were 20+ mph winds. It was still beautiful.

I told you it was windy.

Still windy!

The beautiful Central Park

Empire State Building

We didn't stay at the Top of the Rock too terribly long. We headed down, walked around Rockefeller Center, then headed to Times Square. I decided our first night would be a good night to eat at John's Pizzeria. I ate there on my first trip to NYC several years ago and loved it.

It was just as good as I remember. It's a neat environment so everyone else enjoyed it as well. On our way back to our hotel we walked RIGHT passed Marg Helgenberger from CSI. My sister and I were the only two who saw her. Naturally when we returned to the hotel it was only fitting that I watch her on tv.

I didn't see too much of her because I fell right asleep! We had a big day ahead and we needed our sleep.

To be Continued....

129 Days To Go

No, Josh and I are not expecting! I'm talking about Razorback football. The first game kicks off in 129 days! The excitement is already in the air. Can you feel it? I can. Well one of the things on my "to do" list before heading out of town was to renew our season ticket order. I'm usually last minute but not as last minute as I was this year. I really had a hard time deciding whether or not we should get season tickets this year. They are SOOOO expensive and Josh and I have really been trying to watch our money. We talked about it, I prayed about it, sought some counsel from others (it's a big decision, ok?) and we decided to renew again this year with the expectation that it could be our last. *Tear* Fortunately since we're in Little Rock and won't be able to go to all the games we'll be able to sell them and make some of our money back. And since "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR YEAR" how could I miss out on it?! I just love Razorback football and I love Razorback football games. It helps that I get to cheer on the hogs with my friends Kelly and Scott since their seats are behind ours. And now that we've decided to take the plunge again this year and get tickets I'm really excited! I can smell a BCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here we are at one of the games last year.

On that note this is my last post until Monday since I'll be out of town. If you follow me on Twitter you'll be able to check out some NYC action early! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Sprung A Leak

A couple of weeks ago Josh brought my attention to something going on in our apartment. It sounded like there was water turning on and off somewhere behind the walls. We'd hear it turn on for a few seconds and then shut off. It would repeat this pattern every 15 minutes or so. Since it always shut off we didn't pay too much attention. Last week Josh noticed the water was running but was not shutting off. Josh checked our toilet to see if something wasn't working properly but everything seemed fine. At that point he called our apartment manager and someone came over to check it out. They couldn't find anything and so they went on their merry little way.

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from Josh letting me know that while he was getting ready the sprinkler in our closet started leaking water.

He told me he was going to call the apartment manager again to have them come look at it. It was a few minutes later when he called back and said now the sprinkler in our dining area was leaking water as well.

He then proceeded to list ALL the areas in our apartment that were leaking such as the vent and sprinkler in our bathroom...

The ceiling in our living room...

and the ceiling above our bar area....

I was beginning to stress out. All I could envision was the sheet rock bursting and water going everywhere. I made sure Josh took precautions to protect my dining room table and sewing machine. You know, the important things. Fortunately the maintenance staff arrived soon and started taking care of the problem. Apparently it was an issue with our upstairs neighbor. The guys worked hard getting things cleaned up and dried off. I am just so glad Josh was home! He was supposed to have left our place by 8 that morning while the leaking didn't start until around 8:30. I hate to imagine what we would have found if we had arrived home at 5:00 that afternoon. Because of all the water we now have some new accessories in our place.

One in our closet.

And one in our living room.

SLI in ATL

What a FABULOUS weekend I had! Friday I loaded up the car and headed to Branson, Missouri to meet up with some of my favorite friends.

Amanda, Me, Jennifer, Laurie, Kelly

We all met up at the airport to catch a flight to Atlanta to attend Beth Moore's conference on her new book So Long Insecurity. If you haven't been in the Branson airport you should. It is so cute. Like a big log cabin.

Jennifer, Me, Kelly

Our flight was adventurous. All day Arkansas/Missouri had been experiencing some severe weather. We were concerned our flight might get delayed or cancelled but PTL it didn't. After we took off it didn't take the Captain long to let us know of some turbulence we'd be experiencing. We wouldn't be flying through storms but we'd still be able to feel the effects. Yes, indeed we did. The first 15 minutes were a little rough. We were all a little on edge with the bumpy ride but it didn't last long. The rest of the trip was pretty much smooth sailing. We were so excited to arrive in Atlanta to meet Caroline, Faith, and Jenna.

I was super excited to get to meet my "blog" friends. I honestly don't think of them at all as blog friends but as real friends...I happened to have never met. These girls are wonderful! Jenna and Faith drove us around all weekend and for that I am so thankful. After leaving the airport we headed to The Varsity in downtown Atlanta. Apparently it's a pretty famous place with lots of greasy burgers, fries, hot dogs, and onion rings.

This is actually a pic of Kelly's meal but we had the same thing so I took it. :) A bacon cheeseburger and onion rings!

We all look great in hats!

Since we didn't make it to Atlanta until late we didn't get to eat until late. That meant we didn't get back to the hotel until late. We were all exhausted. Laurie, Amanda, and I sat in our little living room and talked. Kelly joined us soon and we ended up staying up WAY too late. I think by the time we went to bed I had been up about 21 straight hours. I was so tired but it was so worth it. The next morning we woke up early to get ready and head to the Beth Moore conference. There a lot of women there. It was such a neat thing to attend.

Laurie, Kelly,Me

I feel this is a good time to insert how happy I was to be with two of my best friends. These girls are great and funny and since I've been in Little Rock I've missed them terribly. I had the best time talking and laughing with them ALL weekend.

Here we are again with our "new" friend Jill. Although I actually met her a week ago. She's WONDERFUL. I just love her!

During our lunch break we headed over to the other side of the campus to meet some other "bloggers". I have "known" Fran through the blog world for a while now and she's great! She captured my heart when I learned she was a Razorback fan living in Tennessee. As she put it "we are bonded through the Hogs and Jesus"...or something like that. It was also great to meet Robyn as well. She's such a neat, funny, person! These are both great ladies.

The conference was really good even though I was so tired! The thing that hit me the most was when Beth said "insecurity is self-idolatry." Wow! How true and convicting is that?! Since I only read three chapters of the book before I left (shame) I am excited to get started on it again.

After the conference we inched along in traffic and made our way to Copeland's. Delicious. It was such a fun time. We all were able to talk and laugh and enjoy ourselves.

There are a few people in the picture that I haven't been able to mention yet. Jill also had her sister Joy (black and white stripes), and mom (not in the photo) with her. They rode in the car with Laurie, Amanda, Faith, and myself. They are such great ladies. I was thrilled to have them. Also pictured is on of Jennifer's friends (brown and white top) from OBU who just happens to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And last but not least is Mandi (in the tan shirt). She is so sweet and has the cutest boys. Oh my word! I was so happy to be able to meet her.

The whole time in planning this weekend I imagined after dinner we'd all go back to the hotel and meet up with other blogger friends. Well, it didn't happen like that. When we got back to the hotel Kelly, Laurie, Amanda, and I sat down in our living room and started talking. We kept intending to go hang out with the others but we just kept on talking. Before we knew it everyone else had gone to bed. Sometimes things don't work out like you plan. I hate to have missed out on meeting other bloggers but I loved spending more quality time with my friends.

The next morning we got up early and headed to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye to Caroline, Jenna, and Faith. I would love to have brought them back to Arkansas with us.

Our flight back was a lot better than the one to ATL. We were all anxious to get back so we could enjoy lunch together before heading home. We unanimously decided on Cantina Laredo at Branson Landing. It was so good!

Jennifer and Kelly

Amanda, Me, Laurie

After lunch I had to say goodbye to my friends and my fun weekend and head back to Little Rock. I was sad to leave but excited to get home and see Josh. I will forever be thankful for the fun weekend I had. It's just what I needed. I can't wait until the next time I get to hang out with the girls again.

Now...I need to get all the laundry done and get packed before I leave for NYC early Thursday morning. I can't wait!

Way Behind!

I know...I'm so behind. There's a lot going on these days. The main issue I have with blogging is simply that I don't have the internet at home. That means if I want to blog I have to use my parent's computer. Which is fine except on my lunch breaks I've been trying to work out and after work I'm either running errands, sewing, cooking, or at church. After all of those things are done it's hard to find the time or desire to blog. But here I am today trying to catch up.

My first item of business is to let you know I finished one of my favorite sewing projects to date...my beach hat! Picture lightening isn't all that great so I apologize. This hat was a little tedious in some parts but overall it was fun to make. I told my mom and sister I'd make them one too. I better get busy.

A couple of weekends ago my friend Jenny and I headed to see Katie for the weekend. Such a fun time!

Got to spend some quality time with these ladies...


...some quality time with this little guy....

...and got to meet this little guy.

Since then Josh and I spent the weekend of Easter with my family but I didn't take any pictures. How sad is that?!?! And this past weekend Josh worked all weekend on church and seminary stuff while I shopped and started trying to get things together for my upcoming travels. I'm headed to Atlanta for the Beth Moore simulcast in a couple of weeks.

I'm super excited about the fun girls weekend! Going to be great hanging out with real life friends and blog friends. The best part though will be learning to so SAY SO LONG to those silly insecurities that plague us! Can't wait!

I'm also going to be traveling to The Big Apple in a few weeks for a long girl's weekend with my mom, sister, and friend Shannon. I can't wait for that trip either! I've been to NYC once before but I'm dying to go back. I've been trying to plan our trip and there is just so much to do and so little time. I'm welcoming any suggestions!

So there you have it! That's what's been going on. I'll try to do a better job about posting but as you can see the upcoming weeks are going to be a little busy. Until then...

What a Weekend!

Whew!! What a weekend!! It has been a crazy past couple of days. Friday night Josh and I went to my parents house so we could do our laundry and watch The Biggest Loser from this past Tuesday. Recently, as mentioned earlier on this blog, my parents got a Wii and Wii Fit. My dad was the only one who had even tried it out so the rest of us decided it was time to get set up ourselves. Mom was the first to go for it. Dad had to give her a lesson on how to navigate through it all. She's not a fan of technology.

She's learning.

Here she is doing her balance test.

Josh was doing some work while patiently waiting on his turn. After Josh and my mom got set up I decided to wait until the morning. After all you weigh the least in the mornings. Not to mention, I didn't want an audience around when my BMI and weight popped up on the screen. They are a lot braver than I am.

Here's dad giving us a tutorial on the free run. Looks like we're about to go through the tunnel. Side note: check out my cute socks in the bottom of the picture!!

As you can tell we had a great time hanging with the "rents" Friday night. I went over early Saturday morning and got myself set up for Wii Fit. I'm proud to announce that my Wii Fit age is 28!!!!! This is great because I'm actually 29. And because everyone else was about 20 years older than they really are. I'm not going to get too proud though because it has everything to do with balance. But if I'm gonna have a yucky BMI then at least I can have good balance.

Saturday morning started EARLY! I woke up at 6:30 and headed to my parents then to pick up Panera for breakfast. After that it was on to hurry and get ready and scoot along to a birthday party for one of my favorite two year olds. Benjamin turned two on Friday. We were at the party about 10 minutes before Josh joined in on the fun.

Yes, that's my husband in the tents with the kids.

Here's the birthday boy in his super cute birthday hat his talented mommy made.

He's ready for the cupcake!

Check out the AWESOME cake Ben's Pippi (Jenny's mom) made!! She's so talented. The best part about what she makes is that not only are they cute they are delicious!

Here are the cute favor bags Jenny made to match his hat. Love them. I'm totally copying!

Ben got lots of really neat toys. He wasn't sure which one he liked best.

Terrible picture of me but had to take one with my friend Jenny. She's become my partner in crime these days!

After Ben's party we raced home so I could finish up on a baby shower gift, ran a couple of errands, got lunch, and headed out of town to Lamar to see Josh's family. Josh's cousin and his wife are expecting their second baby in April so I went down to attend her baby shower.

Ronette...soon-to-be mom of two. She's having a little girl, Emerysn Reese.

I made these for her. I also got her some Trumpette socks. Or whatever their called. I have LOVED them on my friends babies and just had to get some for Emersyn.

After the shower we learned that Josh's grandmother had been admitted to the hospital again (had been in one all week and was released earlier that day). We, along with his other cousins, headed over there. At this point she is stable but they are still trying to figure out what's going on. After waiting a while a few of us decided to take a dinner break and headed to South Park. It's a southern truck stop at its finest but it sure is good!

Sorry the picture is blurry.

Amy (also expecting #2 in Sept), Ronette, Nathan (Ronette's husband and Josh's cousin)

Tanner (Amy's husband; Josh's cousin), Josh, Me

After dinner we headed back to the hospital to check on everyone before driving back to Little Rock. I hated the circumstances but it was really nice spending more time with Josh's family. We don't get to see them that often.

After a short night's sleep Josh and I were busy all morning and afternoon at church with a youth luncheon and now it looks like its about time for me to head back up there. Wow! It's been a great weekend but I'm exhausted. And someone STOLE an hour of my sleep. The nerve.

Socks

So this is going to be yet another really random post but I needed to share my latest love with you. A few weeks ago my mom and I went to Forever 21 to look around. As we were checking out my mom spotted some socks and told me to get them. I told her I didn't need any and planned to leave it at that. She assured me that I do because when she folds my socks (yes, there are days she still does our laundry) she notices they aren't in the best condition. So I appeased her and tossed them in with the rest of our goodies. Thanks, mom!

I LOVE my new socks. Seriously I want to wear them all they time. They are so soft and when I look down at my feet and see the cute colored toes I just smile. Every color I put on is my favorite. They look great with my gym shoes too. And although working out is ZERO fun to me, having a cute pair of socks sure does help.

A few days ago I got online to look at the other sock options at Forever 21 and became very excited! I will definitely be purchasing more in the near future. They are priced very well and so it is hard to turn them down.

I really like the polka dots.

These might be my favorite yet.

You really should check them out if you get a chance. I know you won't be disappointed. There is one other item from Forever 21 that I'm excited about too. My first headband...

OK, maybe not my first headband (it's actually two) ever but the first one in a long time. It's not super big or anything but I'm still trying to work up my nerve to wear it. I'm not sure it looks as good since I got my hair cut. I need to play with it some. Once I get comfortable with this one then I'll move on to something a little more Caroline-like.