We're Home!

So we are officially home and on Christmas break! Mitch finished December 11th and we made our way home that day! It feels so good to be home for a little while and not worry about turning around and making that drive back. We are here until the last week of January, and I am soaking up every bit of being home. I can't grasp that for the next two years, we wont be able to come home for any holidays, or really come home much at all for that matter. Oh the joys of working in the medical field! But seriously, I am so proud of Mitch and his accomplishments this first semester. I love being able to watch him work towards something he really loves and has a passion for.

We have been super busy since we got in, but it is the good busy! I love love love this time of year and all the wonderful things that come with it. We spent a few days in AR before coming to OK but we are spending our time before christmas here in Tulsa and the headed back to Bentonville for the week after Christmas. I love that we have this break so we get to spend long periods of time with both sides of that family!

I was able to make into Tulsa the night some of my sweet girls I taught had their gymnastics showcase and so I was able to go watch them! They are the sweetest and I love that I still get to be a part of their lives. I love my time home where I get to see and spoil them so much. Their families are just too wonderful to me and I couldn't be more thankful for them.

We also were able to make it to our sunday school Christmas party. Even though we can't make it back much, I am so so so so so (I think you get it) thankful for the 2 years we had with them prior to moving. We developed so many wonderful friendships throughout this class. We have always been told the friends you make in sunday school will be there for you forever and I can honestly say this could not be more true. I know we are in TN now and yes we will make new friends there, but nothing will compare to these people! They are the real deal and Mitch and I talk everyday about how thankful we are to have met them. Its funny to look back and think about how random our move to Tulsa was and how random it was we went to First Baptist Tulsa the day they formed a brand new newly married class. Looking back it was such a God thing and even though we moved these are the friends that have helped me most with this move. I talk with them daily and have never met more encouraging and selfless people. Its always good when you find friends that strive to make you be better! So needless to say we love and miss them so much and so are happy we are not going to loose touch just because we will be gone for a few years. It just makes us so excited to get back!!

If you can't tell, I am loving being home and the time is already flying by too fast. We have several things planned for this weekend, including the Christmas Train tonight! Also, on a different note, I did something crazy, okay well not crazy, but  kind of crazy for me. I have been dying for a change with my hair lately and Mitch will not let me cut it- I know I will thank him later for that. But I decided to change the color, which is so not me. I have always been blonde, like always as in my whole life. I know no different! Now I didn't want to get rid of my blonde, I just wanted to add some warm tones to it and make my underneath dark. Well she went a shade darker (she didn't tell me this until after) because she said it would fade a lot and she added some of the dark from underneath and put it throughout my hair to blend and I think that was little much. It is definitely different. It has some of the caramel warm tones I wanted, especially on top, but the darker on the underneath and throughout is a little much for me. I do like it and I am glad I took a chance and went for a change, but I am hoping it lightens up in the next week or so- as she promised it would. I am not unhappy at all, but if it doesn't lighten up any, I may go back in and have her lighten it up some. Here are some pics, I tried to get in good lighting, but I still feel like it looks darker in person than in these pics. Mitch says I'm crazy and it looks the same.

So that has been our week. I am so ready for Christmas week and I am finally done shopping and wrapping all the presents! Some people hate it, but I am one of those people that LOVE Christmas shopping and wrapping!! I always put in a Christmas movie and wrap all night!

I always do a post on the highlights of our year, so stay tuned it is coming soon!! Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving, Nashville, and ER visits....

Well as you can tell from the title of this post, we have had a lot going on! It has been a busy past few weeks and I am happy we are almost to Christmas break! We are on the countdown and leave in 4 days to be home for a month and a half!!!!! I. CAN'T. WAIT.
So I'll fill y'all in on what we have been doing, and I'll start with Thanksgiving.

This year has been so nice and we were able to be home for a week and a half. I am not use to having Thanksgiving actually on Thanksgiving day because Mitch has ALWYAS worked Thanksgiving day. This year it was nice to feel normal and celebrate on Thanksgiving day!We spend our time in Tulsa and since we had not really been back, we were able to use that week and a half to see and catch up with lots of friends. It was so nice to spend the week with family and just relax and not have to worry about making that long drive back so soon.

We were able to spend some of the time in Arkansas too. We went to Fayetteville for the lighting of the square and were able to spend some time with Mitch's family.

When we got back to Tennessee, we had one day to unpack, do laundry and pack up again. Mitch has a class called Professional Aspects and for this class he had to spend a day in Nashville in court watching Nurses that are on trial for getting their nursing license suspended. So we decided to make a little trip out of it and spend a few days there. I love that we live so close that we don't have make a long trip out of it anymore. It was a quick few days but so much fun! We spent the first day just walking around Nashville, shopping, doing lots of eating and of course checking out Opryland hotel since they had all their Christmas lights up. Another couple from Mitch's class went with us and they had never been to Nashville before so we did a lot of the touristy stuff for them. The nest day Mitch had to be in court for a few hours, so me and the other wife decided to hit the mall! Nashville has some great malls, but my favorite and the one I go to every time I am there is the Mall at Green Hills. Well the boys left the hotel early and we slept in and decided to leave for the mall around 10. Well long story short, we got to the car and had a flat! Ah!

We tried and weren't strong enough, so we asked around and we couldn't find anyone to help. The hotel said they can't change tires because of liability. So the boys had to leave court and come help us. They had a long lunch break so we all went to lunch and then they headed back and we went to the mall. It was so fun shopping and just seeing more of Nashville. I LOVE that city!

We also made a trip to Loveless Cafe before we went home. We didn't want to eat all the day because you will eat your weight in the best food ever at Loveless. Mitch and I have been before but the couple that was with us and never been. We went on the early side that day because it gets super crowded and last time we had to wait over 2 hours. This time we got their early enough and didn't have to wait at all!

We had a great time and it was especially fun since we had another couple to do stuff with. Nashville is a about 1 hour and 45 min away but really not a bad drive at all. We always compare it to going to Oklahoma City when we lived in Tulsa. It's an easy day trip if you want it to be, but also so fun to spend a few days there. Our town that we live in doesn't have a lot going for it, buy I just love that we are right in the middle of two super fun cities! We love going to Memphis and Nashville any chance we get!

Well, when we got home things got a little more interesting. I had had something in my eye while we were in Nashville and it was awful! Well I finally got it out on our way home and it felt so much better. But they night when we got home and I was taking my eye makeup off, it started to hurt again. I gave it a day and it just got worse. I was trying to make it to the morning, but I just couldn't, so we ended up in the ER at 11pm at night. The doctor told me I had a pretty bad scratch on my cornea and gave me some numbing drops and pain pills-let me tell you how BAD this hurt. He gave me some other antibiotics as well and told me to see an eye doc the next day to double check it since it was so bad. Well I went to see the eye doc and come to find out I also have an ulcer on my cornea. Great!

So he gave me more pain pills and more antibiotics, and no contacts and very little makeup for the next several days. I am thankful it wasn't worse than it was, but man I feel for those who have experienced this before. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! I am feeling a lot better today and hopefully will be fully recovered in the next few days.

So needless to say, our week has flown by. We spent half in Nashville and the other half in the ER. Ha! Mitch is so close to being done with his first semester, he has one more final Wednesday and he's done!! I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has put into his studies. I knew this program wasn't like your typical graduate programs, but I really had no idea how intense it was going to be. I am thankful that he got into this doctoral program and for the friends that are helping him through, but that was the easy semester. I am not quite sure what to think about these upcoming semesters :)

On a new note with me, I have been subbing a lot! I knew once I got into a school just once I would be called back and thats exactly what happened. I know from working in a school before and having to find subs before that you use who you like and don't really ask new people. So I knew once I got in once and they saw I knew what I was doing, I wold get more calls. And I am so thankful I got into a private school, Jackson Christian, and I LOVE IT!!! I mean its not Jenks, but I like learning about how private schools work and I am really enjoying it!

Our First Visitors!!

Happy Tuesday! It is getting ready to get cold here and I am so not ready. Like literally the temps are dropping as I type this. I need more time for fall- winter is definitely not my season. I love the fall, cool, crisp air and I need more than a month of it. Winter, please stay away for just a little longer! I love 60's and even can do 50 degrees, but when it drops into the 40's that winter to me and I am not a fan. I have heard the area we are in will have a pretty bad winter so lets pray and hope that's wrong!

This is a picture of a tree on our street and it is so wonderful. I purposely drive down it everyday to see it. The colors are just beautiful here and I am not ready for that to end. The leaves are already slowly falling off and it makes me so sad.

On a different note- we had our first house guests this past weekend and it was oh so wonderful!! Being far from family and friends is the hardest thing, especially since we have established such wonderful ties in Tulsa. So the fact that we have friends that will make the long drive for the weekend to visit means a lot to us. My good friend Katie and her husband Tommy came in on Thursday and stayed the weekend with us. I know I have said it before, but it was so wonderful. We had familiar faces to spend the weekend with and all without having to make that horrible drive back at the end of the weekend. I loved getting to show them our "home" now and it was kinda eye opening that this is our home. We now are Tennesseans... or however you say it?? I know we have been here for 3 1/2 months now, but it still feels temporary and it definitely made it feel real. This is only a season of our life, and we both are ready to be back in Tulsa, but we are trying to always remember to make this a fun time because we will probably... hopefully.. never move this far away again. We are trying to make the best of it and we are thankful to be in beautiful Tennessee with lots of fun cities that we love so close by.

We spent Thursday evening hanging out at the house and Friday we took them and showed them around Jackson. We took them thought the University and all around town. We grabbed lunch then went up to the school for the boys to play basketball and Katie and I walked Bella around campus. For dinner we took them to the famous Country Store. It is apart of the famous Casey Jones Village and it's down home country cookin' as you can get.

It's one of those places you can only eat at like once a month-if that! So we save it for our guests! 

Saturday, we stayed in and watched the OU game and we brought it bbq for our new favorite place to get bbq. I have mentioned it on here before, Exit 87 BBQ and just hung out at home.

That afternoon we went bowling and then to play miniature golf. By the time we finished, it was dinner time so we went back to the house and grilled out and played board games all night. They left Sunday when we went to church and it was hard to say bye. I loved having my friends close and it made me so ready for Thanksgiving break! We get to be back home for a week and a half and I CAN NOT WAIT! 

Speaking of Thanksgiving break- we leave mid next week and it couldn't come sooner. I feel like every time we go home it is so quick and so busy, I feel like I haven't even really seen my parents. Our one time we had a longer break, fall break, we spent the whole time in Arkansas, which was great, but I am excited to spend some time in Tulsa. This is our only thanksgiving we get off so we are taking advantage of it and going home! These next two thanksgivings, Mitch will most likely be in clinical on thanksgiving day or on call which means he can only be 20 min away. So we will not get to go anywhere for Thanksgiving these next two years. Or Christmas either- so this year we are going to soak up being able to go home for a while!

On a completely different note I started a new workout program this week and it is kicking my butt. I have heard SO many people talk about Piyo and never really looked into it because I always ran. Especially with training for the Tulsa Run- I had no extra time. But since the race is over and my knees aren't doing well, I was looking for something I could do in-between this training ( I am running the Nashville half marathon in April) to give me strength, be low impact (esp. on my knees since running is so bad for your body) and most important, something to do inside ha! I am the biggest wimp and I HATE cold weather!!

So for the next two months I am doing Piyo and after only two workouts I know I am going to love it. They are short, but intense workouts that we just perfect for what I need! I wanted to keep running though these months, since I felt like I was pretty much trained and ready for a half. I didn't want to loose all my training I did. I officially start my training in January, but Mitch talked me into taking those months off running, especially since I just got done with and intense 10 week training program  and I will start another one in Jan. He kept telling me I need to let my body rest and recover. So I agreed- even though I will most likely run along side of doing Piyo. I will just keep my runs short to no more than 4 miles and only twice a week. That was our compromise ha! Running is my thing and a big stress relief for me so I cannot just give it up completely.

That's about all thats going on here. Mitch has a crazy busy week before we leave for break, so hopefully it goes by quick!! Have a great week and try and stay warm!!

Halloween '14

Happy (late) Halloween! We had a great halloween here in Tennessee. Mitch had last week off... okay well not really off, but his week after he tests are usually really low key and he takes advantage of that. He puts so many hours into studying for these tests, that then week after he literally does nothing ha! So it really does feel like he has the week off. So here's what we did last week.

We had our halloween costumes all planned out and then last minute we decided to change. So we spent that week before halloween trying to gather stuff for our costume. We had some trouble finding some of the things we needed for our original costume, so we decided to go with something simple- Robbers! We basically had everything we needed and so it was super easy. Since we have been dressing up for several years, we are starting to accumulate costume stuff, which made robbers easy for us. We did go to the halloween store yesterday and everything was 70% off!! So yes we got our costumes for next year and I am super excited!! I know you're super curious- but you will just have to wait for next year ha! :)

On halloween night we stayed in, had some friends over and passed out candy. We had several trick-or-treaters and it was so fun. I love dressing up and going to halloween parties, but I also love to just stay in, watch Hocus Pocus and pass out candy. I love seeing all the little kids in their costumes. So this year worked out perfect for us- we had a halloween party but it was the day after halloween. So friday night we made a big pot of white chicken chili-if you have not made this, do it- and passed out candy! My friend Alex gave me this recipe a few years ago and omg it is hands down one of our favorite meals! Here is the recipe.

Sorry for the picture of the recipe, but it was easier than typing it out. It makes a lot, but when we make it for more than 5 people, we double it and usually have lots of left overs. Saturday morning, we took Bella on the trials here and went hiking. It is one of our favorite things to do here and the weather is perfect, actually it was a little cold! Saturday night was our halloween party and it was a lot of fun!

I am very thankful for the sweet friends we have made here in Tennessee! So overall we had a great halloween and now I am officially in the holiday spirit!! I know, I'll admit its a little early, but I can't help it! I am so excited for all the fun holiday activities coming up, and not to mention our long break in Oklahoma!! This week we have some of our friends coming up to visit and I could not be more excited. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends that will come all the way to see us for the weekend! I am so excited to show then our new home!

OSU Homecoming and Tulsa Run '14

Our weekend back home was so quick, but wonderful. I needed time back home so bad and it was so refreshing. I am already counting down the days until we are back in Oklahoma for thanksgiving break! This trip was too fast and I am ready to actually rest and spend time back home with family.  Not only was our weekend trip super quick, but it was so busy! I don't know that I have been that tired in a long time. Here is a little recap of our weekend...

We left Thursday to head back home and we thought we were going to get a semi early start, but that plan went downhill quick. On Thursdays Mitch has class from 1-5 for the first part of the semester and then the second half it moves to 9-12. So we were hoping it switched to the 9-12 so we could get on the road quicker. Well we found out he had his last 1-5 class that day, but he was done with the lab part so we figured it would get out pretty early. So I was ready to go by 2 and well he didn't get out until 4:00. So I picked him up and we were on the road right at 4. Well not only is the drive exhausting, but that put us arriving in OK at 1am!

Friday morning, we had to get up early to go get my race packet because I had several other things going on that day and that was my only time. So we were up by 8 and on our way to start our day- with lots of coffee!! After we got my packet I went home, cleaned up and I was surprising one of my students with lunch. I had this girl my first year when she was in kindergarten and we have just stayed super close. I love all my students, but some you just really connect with- Hadley is one of those. She has been writing my letters every week since I have moved so I was so excited about surprising her at school. I have been planning it out with her mom and it has been so fun trying to keep all of this from Hadley. I knew she loves Chick-fil-a, so Mitch and I went and had a quick lunch there and then I got hers to-go and went up to the school.

I stood outside her classroom when they left for lunch and she was so surprised. I wish I had it on video! I loved every minute of getting to see her and it went by too quick. After she left for recess, I went and saw some other teachers and ended up staying another 2 hours ha. I was able to go around and see all my kinds from the past years and it was so wonderful! It made me wish I was there so bad.

When I was done up at the school, we went straight to Stillwater for OSU Homecoming. We spent the afternoon shopping and walking around campus and then went back to my mom's best friends house to clean up and get ready for the walk around. My mom's friend, Kay lives in Stillwater and her house is my dream house. It is incredible! I also got to see another one of my sweet students at school that day and in Stillwater. I have become friends with her mom and actually her dad works with my dad. They are the sweetest family ever! I was so happy to hang out with them in Stillwater! I just love all the friends I have made through teaching at Jenks and miss them so much. I work with the best kids and parents ever! Anyways, we ordered in Hideaway since it literally takes forever to eat there on days like this. We picked up our pizza at 4:30 and the line was out the door and the wait was hours long!! We love our Hideaway- there is something about the original one in Stillwater, it is so much better!

After dinner, we went back up to campus and met my brother for the walk around. We started at the ATO house since that is Evans house. It was awesome. We walked around for several hours and got to see so many of our friends. We had Evan take us all around and give us the inside scoop. Its so interesting all the things you don't know.

Evan's house deck

Normally as a freshman you have to do so many pomping hours and do overnight pomp. It is crazy exhausting, but these decks are incredible when they are done. They start them as the beginning of the semester when school starts. Well the only exception to get out of pomping so many hours is if you are in Freshman Follies. And it is try out after try out and really hard to make it. Well not only was Evan one of the freshman that made it, he even had a singing solo. So he only had to pomp 30 min ha!! That is unheard of. He also found out 2 weeks ago he has mono. So he has been feeling awful and just trying to make it. He has had to miss out on lots of homecoming activities and he didn't get to do freshman follies. He was really bummed, and he is still feeling bad. He hasn't been able to go to some classes and he is just trying to make it through the semester. I can't imagine having mono at all, but at this time in the year it would be awful. It is the busiest time for him. He has hard classes, follies, homecoming, and he is still a pledge for another week or so he has to do so many pledge activities. We are praying he makes it through this semester.

After the walk around, my parents stayed in Stillwater, but Mitch and I had to go back since I was running the Tulsa Run in the morning. I knew we would be out late that night, but I thought we would leave Stillwater around 8:30 or so to get back home since I had to be up so early. Well we met up with some friends and lost track of time and we didn't leave until 10! I was so tired and super nervous about the run. But it all went great and I beat my time from last year by 12 minutes!! I had been training lots, so I knew I would probably beat it, but when I got out on the new course, I was second guessing myself. This course was brutal!!!! So many hills and it was down right hot that day! I made it through feeling fine and didn't have to stop any, but it was def more challenging. Yes the hills were bad, but honestly I think it was the heat that made it so miserable. It took me an hour and 47 min and I was proud of my time. The only thing I wasn't happy about was the water they were passing out on the course was hot, not luke warm, but hot. I could barely drink it. And then when I got done they had ran out of water bottles for the finishers!!! Who runs out of water at the end of a race!! I was not happy camper. They passed out small little snacks to the finishers, but that was kind of depressing too. They use to have so much stuff to eat and drink after the run and it has gone downhill. It makes me sad because it is my all-time favorite race and I love to do it every year.

When I was done I went to starbucks, got a coffee and we were back on the road to Stillwater. We had great time but I was exhausted and Mitch was trying to study for his test he had Monday. So we ended up leaving around 5 and coming back to Tulsa. We had to be up at 4:45 sunday morning to make the drive back to TN. I hate leaving that early, but with it being such a long drive it is nice to get home before dark and if you have ever been on I-40 you understand the frustration we have with the traffic. If you dont get up the early, you hit traffic between little rock and memphis and it is awful. Like stuck for hours awful. We always joke that all the places for him to go to school, we picked a place where we have to drive through the WORST traffic. It is seriously so awful. But we made it home by 3, took a nap and mitch continued to study-well he of course stopped to watch the Green Bay game, which we wont talk about.

Mitch had his test yesterday and it went well, as always. We have two other couples that after every test we also go out and eat mexican food. Well we decided to change it up a bit and they all came over to our house and brought something for our dinner. We had chicken spaghetti, salad, brownies and homemade ice cream. We love the friends we have made here and like that we can do things like this, but it just still isn't home. I miss my friends back home and I know Mitch does too. We are def keeping an open mind, but it is so hard not to compare everything to home when you loved a place so much. We seriously love Tulsa and both talk about how we can't wait to be back for good! On a positive note, after searching and trying several churches we finally found one. Its called Englewood and we are already getting involved and excited for our small group. Like I said, this will be great for us here, but nothing compares to fbc tulsa and the friends we made there. But we are excited about it and it is a great church and fits us well!

That was our weekend- and since Mitch's test os over we have a pretty slow week, which we need, and then next week we have our first house guests coming. I am soooooo excited!!!

Fall Break

So this first year, Mitch gets all the normal college breaks- but from then on out, zero, not even one. No Thanksgiving, or even Christmas Day. I guess thats what you get when you go into the medical field. But-we are semi use to this. He rarely got these holidays off anyways, so I am really looking forward to when he is done with school and he only works weeks, and no holidays. That is one perk about this field, mot likely there will not be surgeries scheduled on weekends or holidays, so that means they don't need a CRNA! I cannot wait until we do not have to worry about this anymore. 

So anyways- what I was getting at is... we had a fall break this year and it was lovely!! We went back to Arkansas on Wednesday and were able to stay through Sunday! We had plans to go to Devils Den and hike and spend a lot of time outside.. Arkansas is so beautiful this time of year. Well unfortunately it rained every single day we were there. But we had a good time anyway! We celebrated Mitch's mom and Michelle's birthday! The highlight of our week, was we go to attend the Arkansas/Alabama game!! We have a tradition of going to one or two razorback football games a year and I really thought we weren't going to get to go this year. Well we found out not only were the Hogs playing at home that weekend, but they were playing Alabama! So we went online and found our usual seat- the nose bleed section. I have been to several games and up until this, only had really good seats twice. Well we were getting ready to purchase them and got distracted and went to bed. We found out the next morning a friend had two extra tickets! We were so thankful we had not purchased the other ones! These were not only AMAZING seats, but free! It rained on us, well I should say mist- that awful mist where you feel like its hardly doing anything and before you know it, your soaked! But it stopped at half time and was perfect football weather!! 

We had a wonderful time and cannot wait until our next trip back. 

This thursday, we leave for OKLAHOMA!!! I have not been back home since the beginning of August and I cannot wait!!!! It will be a very short trip, but I have been looking forward to this trip for a while. We planned on going back for the Tulsa Run- I run it every year, and then we found out it was the same weekend as OSU homecoming. Since we were wanting to go back for that as well, it worked out perfect! I have grown up going to Stillwater for not just games, but homecoming is big for my family. My grandparents live and went to OSU, and so did my parents and now my brother- I am the odd duck of the family. Even though I did not go to OSU, growing up there makes it feel like a part of me. We never miss homecoming! This year is going to be especially exciting because my brother is an ATO and so we are super excited to be there and support him!!! 

As excited as I am about homecoming, I am also equally as excited about the Tulsa Run! Like I mentioned before I have stuck to my schedule and it has been going so well. My only detour from my schedule was when we were in Arkansas. I ran twice there, but not any long runs. But other than that, I haven't missed a scheduled run and today was my last long run! Its all downhill from here! I had to run 10 miles today and i'm not going to say I wasn't nervous, but overall it went great! I mean my knees are killing me and I can barley walk, but during the run it was good. I have three short runs this week and then race day!! I am not going to brag on my pace- because as hard as I work, it just isn't improving much, but the fact that I went out and ran 10 miles today in 2 hours was good enough for me! 

Elizabeth and I last year. This will be the first year in forever we haven't run it together. I'm going to miss my running buddy :(

Mitch has been studying a ton, but whats new?! I know I have said it before, but he is doing so well! He made an A in his first class and I couldn't be more proud, he is working so hard!

Thats about all we have going on around here- exciting huh? I do get my new iPhone tomorrow so I am pretty pumped about that! Oh and Mitch would be upset if I didn't mention how well the Packers are doing this season! Our Sundays are completely dedicated to Green Bay football! Go Pack Go! 

Nashville Weekend

One of the good things about moving to Tennessee is we are super close to some really fun cities- one being my favorite city of all time! We are right in-between Memphis and Nashville. We are about 40 minutes to Memphis, maybe a little longer with traffic and about and hour and 45 minutes to Nashville. We have both been to Nashville before, but not since we have been living in Jackson.  The drive there is gorgeous, especially this time of year with all the leaves changing!

Mitch had a conference in a town right outside of Nashville, so we thought it would be fun if I went and we spent some time in Nashville. Well he found out that his conference was going to take up most of his day, so I invited my friend Elizabeth to come up for the weekend. We had been trying to plan a time to see each other and I thought this would be the perfect weekend. Mitch and I made the drive up Thursday. Well I actually left that morning because I had to check Bella into her new boarding place- Doggies Day Out. She had to be checked in my 2 and Mitch didn't get out of class until 4pm. So after I dropped her off, I checked into our hotel, unpacked, shopped and explored the town! Mitch got in that evening and we went to Chuy's for dinner. We love going to new and unique places we haven't been before, but we LOVE Chuy's, probably our favorite Mexican food. And we don't don't have one in Jackson, so we had to get our Chuy's fix!  Elizabeth flew from Dallas and I had to pick her up at 9am on friday. We spend all friday in Nashville and it was so much fun! We ate at the famous Pancake Pantry for breakfast, shopped at some local stores, found several great malls, went to THE BLUEBIRD CAFE, and of course hung out on Broadway Street. Nashville is my favorite city, I love everything about it and Mitch always tells me, he could see us living there if it weren't for our families being over 10 hours away. Right outside of Nashville are several cities that I would love to live in, my favorite begin Franklin. I love this city so much. It is the perfect southern city and its only 20 min into Nashville. I can dream... right?

Saturday, we went shopping and site seeing some more. Elizabeth had never been to Nashville, so it was fun to taker her around to all my favorite places. We shopped all day and Mitch even let me get a new pair of boots! I loved my ones I had last year, they were tan, no heel, kind of that scrunchy look. Well they were kinda cheap and didn't hold up too well, so Mitch actually made me throw them away when we moved. So while I was in Nashville, he told me to find a new pair! I LOVE boots, y'all! Other than purses, they are my favorite thing to buy. I am extremely picky and have to love them, so it takes me awhile to find the perfect pair. I have to thank Elizabeth for not only helping me find these, but for literally looking all day for them. I ended up getting Arturo Chiang riding boots and I am in love!

You can't see the back, but they are super cute! I kept going back and forth between this pair and another one that was the same style and color, but it didn't have the buttons on the back. I had them both on and I had over 3 people tell me I had to go with these. So I did! They are so comfortable and I love them. If you are looking for new boots and like the riding boot style, check this brand out. For a good quality boot they were very decently priced. Most good quality boots are in the upper $300 range and I just can't bring myself to spend that on boots.  I am hoping to get several years out of them!

Saturday night, Mitch got out of his conference early and we went into Nashville for the evening. We ate at Slider House, such a fun atmosphere, and then walked around on Broadway and made a stop at our all time favorite ice cream place, Mikes!

This was the best weekend I have had in a long time. It was very refreshing and I loved getting to see Elizabeth! We had not seen each other since we went to Dallas in January!!! We both didn't realize it had been that long because we talk daily. But nonetheless, it was way too long and I am so thankful we were able to spend the weekend together! I am not going to post all my pics- you can see them on Facebook or Instagram. We made it back to Jackson Sunday and now we leave tomorrow for fall break in AR!! I cannot wait!!

Top 5

I have been reading a blog and recently they did a post on the top 5 things everyone needs to make life a little easier. So I thought I would share mine. I have done a post on "my favorite things" before, but this one is a little different. These are things that I believe everyone should own.

There are so many things a girl needs.. am I right? Well I have made of a list of the top things I couldn't live without. Okay so maybe thats a little drastic, but I would really miss them. And let me clarify, these are not things I think every girl should have- because in that case I would be writing about a Kate Spade purse, Michael Kors Perfume and a good pair of heels (or boots- to keep with the fall season). So these are things I own that really do make my life easier. I have purchased them personally and will keep purchasing them- well until they some out with something bigger and better, because of course they will.

1. Erin Condren Life Planner
          Okay, yes I have posted about this before, including in my favorite things post, but y'all thats how much I LOVE these planners! And yes, let me clarify... I know I know people are turning to technology for planners and thats is all great and wonderful. But call me old fashion, I still love a good paper planner. I love to write in it, color in it and make it my own! Okay, so I admit, some people would not think of this as a necessity of life, but yes, I do. First off, I am a very type A person. I like organization and I like to plan. This planner lets me do both. It's packed with tons of helpful pages and I use every bit of it. It even comes with stickers for every occasion and they are color coordinated. This may not make some of you as happy as it does me, but for my OCD, this is awesome. I am that person who write things out first on scratch paper, no matter what it is, before I put it on paper for good... yes this includes my grocery list. So if you have never purchased, or even looked at these planners, check them out! They are kids pricey for a planner, but for all that it offers, its worth every penny... to me (and I usually get an 50% off coupon every november). It even lets you customize your cover. This might be my favorite part. I love making things personal and Erin Condren lets you do just that. I have had 4 of these planners and I do not see myself without one anytime soon. I carry it with me everywhere and I mean everywhere.. Wal-mart, vacations, appts... you name it, I have it with me. Even Mitch doubles checks I have it before we leave the house. He knows I will feel lost without it.

2.  Key Chain Pepper Spray
          Okay this one is a must for me, always has been, always will me. I feel like you should always be prepared and aware of your surroundings all the time, especially as ladies. I understand people have pepper spray and things still happen, but in my mind, its better to have it and try to use it. Who knows, it may save your life. I keep mine on my key chain and take it everywhere with me. It even comes in this cute pink case- I got the pink because it matches the stuff on my key chain. I also take it off my keychain and take it with me when I run by myself. Some people may think this is drastic, but 1- you can never be too careful and 2- where we live now, its a must ha!

3. CrockPot Covers
          This one may sound silly, but if you have used them before you completely get me. If you haven't, try them. I LOVE making meals in the crockpot, but I hate the cleanup. I don't know why, but I absolutely cannot stand cleaning up after a dinner in the crockpot. Our crockpot is white, so this helps with those nasty stains that are left behind as well. Funny story- You know when you get married, there is always that one gift you get multiples of... well ours was crockpots. We got FOUR. Now to this day I am still wondering why we decided to keep the one we did. I mean it is a nice crockpot, good size, works great, but its white. I hate having to clean it over and over and over and their are still stains. I am wanting to purchase a new black one, but I haven't convinced Mitch quite yet. Anyways, in the meantime of having this white crockpot, these crockpot covers have been the best thing since sliced bread. I know I may be a little behind on this one, but for the past few months we have been on cloud nine not having a huge mess to cleanup. They are worth it! *Just be careful when you're cutting the meat and don't cut through the bottom of the bag. This may or may not have been a personal experience.

4. Personalized Address Stamp
          Are you sensing a theme with my necessities of life. Most of them help my ocd and this is another one. I like a good clean addressed envelope. It also makes life easier by not taking so much time writing out the return address. I probably need to preface, I love snail mail. Yes I still write letters, send birthday cards, etc.  I have had three of these (one for each place we've lived) and they really do come in handy... especially during Christmas card season! In the past I have gone with the standard rectangle style, but of course cute letters/numbers. For our new house here in TN, I went with a round design and love it. Also, another thing to add about these stamps. My previous ones, I just ordered the stamp, and I had to go buy a ink pad. Not a big deal...right? Wrong! I mean its not the end of the world, but this year I got one that is self inking and it is so nice and quick! You can get there almost anywhere if you just google personalized address stamps. This year I got mine from SimplyStamps.com and it was very decently priced.

5. Mini Steamer
          Last but definitely not least, the mini steamer. This probably should've been number one. It really is one of those items I couldn't live without. You are probably wondering how I discover this. Let me tell you. Well about 2 years ago, I was watching TV... some sort of talk show and this guy was on there talking about necessities for traveling and for some reason out of all the things he said, the mini steamer stuck with me. I still to this day don't know why- but I went out bought one-best decision ever. Probably because I hate ironing- like never ever do it! I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for cheap and it has saved my life. I use it not only when we travel because it is so nice and small to travel with but I use it almost everyday! Its quick, easy and actually works really good. I was skeptical on how well it would work and let me tell you, I am impressed. Another plus- Mitch even uses it, all the time. He never irons, don't know if he knows how- but with this he gets it out and uses it when he feels he needs to. Less work for me :)

So this may of been a little different, but I thought it would give you a break on our exciting life we live here in TN. I also thought it was a fun post for me and I hope you enjoy it and maybe even purchase one of these- you wont be disappointed!

Until next time~

Happy 1st Day of FALL!

HAPPY 1ST DAY OF FALL!!! I had to share a few pics because I still love our engagements so much and it always reminds me of the beginning of fall. I remember trying to plan out when we were going to take these pics and we had to keep pushing them back and back and back. I remember feeling like we were never going to get to take them ha! Our photographer was so wonderful about capturing my vision for these pics and that I wanted it to be in the fall with lots of leaves. I didn't want a lot of green grass- I wanted the ground to be covered in leaves! She told me over and over again, it just hits and its different every year, there is a day when the leaves change colors and the leaves begin to fall and thats the day we will take the pics. We ended up waiting about 3 weeks from when we scheduled them so we could capture the "fall" look! She was so smart and I think they came out wonderful! 

Okay, so I know fall officially started last night at 9:29pm, but today is the first full day and oh it makes me so excited!! I love love love this time of year and I am so excited for all the fun things that some along with this season! 

We had a loooonng week last week. Mitch had another one of his A&P  tests yesterday, so all last week was dedicated to studying..like all of it! But his multiple 10 hour days paid off- he got a 97!! He is working so hard in this program and I love seeing him learn about stuff he loves and succeed. 

Here are some highlights from last week....

One of our good friends made us a homemade pecan pie, and may I add it was Pioneer Woman! We both love pecan pie, but Mitch really loves it. It was so good! I was a little excited to cut into it- I may have cut straight through the pan ha!

I am still continuing my tulsa run training. Man, I have to admit, I have never actually 100% trained for a race. I have ran the tulsa run so many times, and even a half marathon, but sticking to a training schedule has been my weak area. I usually skip anything under 4 miles because in my mind- I can already do that and its not hard for me. Well I found a training schedule for the Tulsa run and I actually have 100% stuck to it and oh my gosh.... it amazes me how much better you feel and how much easier it really does make it. I am on week 4 and haven't missed a run, even the shorter ones, and I just can't tell you how much easier it is making my long runs. I'm loving every bit of actually going out to run and looking forward to it because it is feeling so good. My first week, was rough, but I am back into it and sticking to this schedule is wonderful! It has changed my whole view of my runs and what is actually short vs long. Yesterday, I went out and ran 4.7 miles and did it at my fastest pace yet and it seemed like a short little run. I have a 7.5 this weekend but I am actually looking forward to it. I have done 6.3 and since I am keeping with my schedule, the 7.5 doesn't even seem hard to me anymore. Its crazy how much my perspective has changed. So after all that ramble- I am so happy I am sticking too it and I don't think I could ever stray from a schedule again! 

On a similar note to running- another exciting thing that happened this week was I purchased a Fitbit. I have several friends that have them, but honestly haven't really paid much attention to them or what they do because I have the Polar Watch. I have a good friend, that ravs about hers and so I looked into it and immediately wanted one! Literally, got in the car and drove to Target to purchase one of these amazing things (thank goodness for gift cards)! Now like I mentioned I do have the Polar Watch and I love it, but I don't love that you have to have the heart rate monitor band on for it to work. I mean I love love love the watch itself and they way it looks and I have just been using it as only a watch for about 6 months. At first I was really good at it, but then I got lazy and never would put the heart rate band on when I would workout. So I still recommend the watch, its a great "sporty" watch but now I have added a Fitbit to my collection! I wear it with my watch because it doesn't have a watch feature. I could sit here and tell you everything it does and how motivating it is, but you probably already know or if you want to know you can look it up. But I highly recommend it, and let me just say, I LOVE the feature of setting alarms in the morning or reminder alarms throughout the day and it just vibrates on your wrist, no sound or anything. I'm also in love with the teal color! 

Oh and what would a post from me be if I didn't talk about food?! Sunday, we tried a bbq place called Exit 87 BBQ. Mitch found it online about a week ago and hasn't stopped talking about he wants to try it. We thought sunday after church would be a good time. Now that we live in BBQ country, he is always looking for little hole in the wall places, bc if their here, they are probably extremely good! We have good bbq in OK- okay maybe not. We have chains, and yes they are good, but not if you have had real memphis bbq before. Now we always talk about how tulsa has ZERO bbq places and we are going to get spoiled here. Anyways, it is a small little trailer off of exit 87- bet you couldn't of guessed that? It is super cheap and some of the best bbq I have ever had. We ended up having some friends over, so we got the super family pack. It came with 2 1/2 lbs of pulled pork (best ever), 4 sides, buns, and two types of sauces. We all four ate on it (and let me remind you Mitch eats a lot), and then mitch and I ate on it for 2 more days! And let me mention all that food was only $20! They also have picnic tables outside and you can get a pulled pork sandwich and side for $5. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a new sunday lunch spot! 

And thats about all thats going on around here! The month of October is my absolute favorite month and we have so many fun trips and things planned! I hope y'all have a great first day of fall. We are celebrating by spending this beautiful day outside and tonight grilling out! 

Summer Stir Fry

I mentioned I have several recipes we have made and I want to share one of our favorites! It is soooo easy and actually pretty good for you. The only thing that takes anytime at all is cutting up all the fresh veggies! It is a pioneer woman recipe, so you know its good!

Summer Stir Fry

The first thing I do is chop up all the veggies, because you add them at different times, and this way they are all ready when you need them. I will sometimes do it during the afternoon when I have some down time and just put them all in separate containers, so when its time to make dinner-I have already done all the prep and it is a quick healthy dinner! 

The first thing you do is sautee the garlic in some butter- I don't use all the butter it calls for and instead use some olive oil. Makes it a little better for you :)

Next you sautee the shrimp, just until they are brown, they go back in later so they don't have to be all the way cooked. The recipe tells you to leave the tails on, so I leave them on during this first step but then while they are cooling and when I do the next couple steps, I take them off so I don't have to do it later. I know its a presentation thing, but I don't want to worry about it when I am ready to eat. 

After you sautee the garlic and shrimp, you remove them and then add the first veggie-zucchini. Cook for a few min then push it all to the side and add the next veggie.

I used corn next- you can really use any veggies you want. Repeat this process again until you are down with adding all the veggies. I used grape tomatoes next.

Let all that cooke for a few minutes, then add the shrimp back in and warm it all.

Isn't it so pretty and colorful!?! I just love this dish and it is super easy to throw together. We always plan our meals our for the week on either Saturday or Sunday and then buy everything we need to the week. If i know I a going to make this, I will get my veggies from the farmers market. I just love how fresh everything is!

I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as we do!