Back To Your Roots

Sandy, Boultinghouse, Farmland, Day On A Farm, Back To My Roots, purple hull peas

Getting Back To Your Roots I can feel my blood pressure dropping as I drive out to my friend’s house in the country. I take the exit and head north on an old highway surrounded by fields of yellow wildflowers and cardboard signs for fresh picked strawberries. Sandy, along with her husband Michael, live in a small house on five acres, and they come as close to anyone I know to living off of the land. They raise chickens, ducks, quail, honeybees, rabbits and their newest project is sheep.  They have been getting their land ready to bring in sheep … Continue reading

Snowcamp in Taos

We’re always sad to drive away from the mountains, but we made so many wonderful memories last week at Snowcamp in Taos! I am posting loads of pictures so I can remember our Spring Break in detail in the years to come! Here’s a rare moment at the top of a lift with Taido.  Sometimes we ride the lift together.  Then we usually ski down different runs.  However, he (like my father before him) loves to ski up fast behind me and cross over the backs of my skis as I am going down the mountain.  I never see it … Continue reading

Friday Faves

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Friday Faves is a feature that my friend Sarabeth does on Fridays. Somehow she finds a collection of funny and sweet and beautiful out there on the interwebs every week.  I don’t have the same gift for finding the treasures that she does, but I am stealing her blog feature for one week so that I can tell you something. My favorite thing on the internet this week was a moving piece that Sarabeth edited, memorized and performed from Sarah Bessey’s beautiful writing. Then Sarah Bessey, a blogger from Canada (love!) that I had never heard of, but now love … Continue reading

The Perfect Tailgate Menu

arkansas state cookie instagram, iced arkansas

  Truth be told, I have never actually tailgated before.  I’m sure this is partly due to the fact that I also don’t watch football. However, when the Arkansas Razorbacks play in Little Rock, tailgating takes up a good part of the town, as well as the local twitter, instagram and facebook feeds. So in honor of the Razorbacks playing this Saturday in Little Rock, Whitney and I have put together The Perfect Tailgate Menu. And if you are not tailgating this weekend, you can adapt this yummy menu to any gathering of friends. You only need one or two … Continue reading

Fancy Hot Dog Party

fancy hot dogs, creative dogs, fun with cookout food

We had a fancy hot dog party on my Mama’s birthday last weekend. My mama is not really a hot dog girl, but we totally won her over with our gourmet toppings and these Petit Jean Polish Sausages. They are just the right amount of spicy. The sweet folks at Petit Jean Meats sent me these Polish Sausages and Jumbo Grillers to try out. Whitney and I had so much fun putting this table together.  She found some vintage linens and I pulled out all of my Mama’s blue bowls. It was amazing to me how having a lot of … Continue reading

Meet Kandace

As soon as Taido met Kandace at church a couple of years ago, he told me that I just had to get to know her.  I know you’ll love her, he said. As usual, he was spot on.  Only a senior in high school, Kandace was already an old soul. You know the type.  The kind of beautiful human being that just doesn’t fit in high school.  Her dreams were too big for the home town stadium. Part artist, part athlete, with a little bit of designer thrown in. Some 18 year-olds know exactly what they want from life, and … Continue reading

Happy Birthday

alison and whitney, sisters, brown and blond

I share a birthday with my sweet sister-in-law Whitney. We love celebrating our birthdays together every year. Especially if we can get away for a fun trip! This year we are staying in town for our birthdays, but we will still have fun for sure! I am 39 today and I will be making a list of 39 things I want to do before I turn 40 next year.  (Yikes!) In the meantime, I will be sharing a little birthday love with you! Today I will be posting three wonderful new recipes AND a Ziploc giveaway! So check back today! … Continue reading

instagram weekend: #AWBU style

This past weekend I went to a blogging conference hosted by Arkansas Women Bloggers. I packed my bag and put on my boots.   I left Taido and the kids some baked pasta that I found on a fellow Arkansas blogger’s website. And I hit the road with my three roomies for the weekend: Whitney, Sarabeth and Michelle. We were eager beaver conference attendees. We arrived for the early add on session, Foodie Friday, where we learned about styling food for pictures and other food blogging secrets. We each got our own aprons with our blog names embroidered on them.  … Continue reading

Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged

  I’ve mentioned once or twice that this past spring I went to an event called Bean 2 Blog out at Moss Mountain Farm in Roland, Arkansas, the home of P. Allen Smith. I still get a little giddy when I think about all I got to do, see, hear and learn that day. A definite highlight was getting to meet a soybean farmer. And then also there was the very fun bit where we all got to choose free boots from Country Outfitters.  Seriously. After I got home, Whitney helped me pick out outfits to go with my new … Continue reading

Oh Be Joyful: Crested Butte, Colorado

Oh Be Joyful

Oh Be Joyful. That’s the name of the valley we camped in near Crested Butte, Colorado. We’ve camped here several times before, so it was all shouts of joy in the van when we decided to return there for the last leg of our summer vacation.   My parents met us there and the kids were very happy to see them. Even though we live in the same town, it is a special treat to go on vacation and have a little uninterrupted time with the grandparents. We also met up with our friend Jermaine, who we’ve known since we … Continue reading