Foods I love

It’s no new news that I am a foodie. I love all sorts of foods – included in my hobbies are cooking, entertaining & trying new restaraunts so I thought it time to share some of those favorites…drum roll please. Now Katie’s top fav foods (from restaraunts) in no particular order please.
Salt & lime Chips, Table Mesa, Bentonville
Pork Carnitas with Pineapple Pico, Table Mesa, Bentonville
Bread Pudding, Famous Dave’s, Rogers
Fried Bowtie pasta & Spinach dip, Copeland’s, Rogers
Street Tacos, Yolos, Las Vegas
Spanish Fried w/ Onions & Jalapenos (w/ Ranch) , Ron’s, Bentonville
Tamale Cakes, Cheesecake Factory
Sticky Rice with Coconut Ice Cream & Mangos, Taste of Tai, Bentonville
Mongolian Beef, PF Chang’s
Cotton Candy Ice Cream with Reesies pieces

Things I love

In trying to practice an attitude of more gratitude I have been pondering a lot on the things I love. Here are some of my favorites. Sorta my verion of Oprah's favorite things, except I am not giving any of them away : (

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[caption id="attachment_306" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="The colors Teal & Yellow"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_307" align="aligncenter" width="132" caption="The number 13"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_308" align="aligncenter" width="101" caption="Hair accessories from flowers to feathers."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_309" align="aligncenter" width="127" caption="'nough said"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="116" caption="All things vintage"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="116" caption="Hobo International Wallets, Lauren Style"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="128" caption="Cupcakes!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="116" caption="Coffee with too much Vanilla Creamer"][/caption]

 

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[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="104" caption="Pedicured Toes"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="81" caption="Hollister So Cal scent...yummy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_317" align="aligncenter" width="107" caption="A good book (especially on a plane trip)"][/caption]

Easter

All the Easter fun has come and gone but I would still like to share. A few of the things that made Easter great for me this year.

Decorating...I had so much fun bringing "Spring" into our new house. Literaly there was snow on the ground and I was willing Spring to Spring already with all the bright colors and decor. I couldn't take another flake falling from the sky. Here are some of my favorite Easter decor ideas.

Of course we also colored eggs which is in everyone's Easter traditions I think. We chose a tye die kit since Kaia is almost 9 she can handle something a little more advanced. Well it wasn't a "kit" really just a few baggies to put the eggs in to smear around the color but we still had a great time even though we had egg dye stains on our hands for 2 days afterwards.

We also had perfect weather on Easter Day and it was a great day to be our on the McMullen "farm". Kaia and all her cousins had an egg hunt with more eggs than they could fit into their baskets! Great food, family and fun sums it all up! We even enjoyed a walk down to the creek and saw some of the new critters on the farm.

SNOW!!

I think in Arkansas the historical chance of getting a white Christmas is about 5%...well we must be lucky this year because we got a white Christmas and MORE SNOW already! You may sense the sarcasm about the snow because I really like only 1-2 good snows for the year, just enough to sled for a day, build a snowman and then be able to carry on my everyday life. But this snow made it impossible to get around Christmas day, and is keeping me walled in for the past couple days with more on the way! Ug.

Regardless of my lack of enthusiasm I do realize it is a highlight for kids to have SNOW Days and the excitement in our house with Kaia is no different. We purchased a sled before Christmas to be prepared with all the great sledding hills around our new home. We all ventured out to break in the snow first thing but all the excitement turned to pain...

Kaia went down a few small hills just in front of our house and Jon made fun of the in-adequate hill she had chosen to sled on, recommending instead that they sled straight down on the road. Leave it to Jon to choose the fastest and most extreme sledding path option. Jon prepped Kaia with a speech "bail off if you are going to fast because you will stop" which Kaia ignored on her first trip, rather opting to lay on her belly and drag her legs to slow down her sled as shown here.

[caption id="attachment_251" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="First Trip down the road."][/caption]

Then Jon decides the 2 should go down the hill together in the double tube. Perhaps not considering the increased velocity equal to the increase in weight on the tube...

...the two went veering off the road creating a trail of "powder" in the air (now  I know for certain why they refer to snow as powder). They headed in a tailspin straight for a forest of trees 50 feet from their original intended path. Then they SLAMMED right into the trunk of an evergreen. The tree poofed in a cloud of it's own white powder as all the snow was violently shaken from the tree. Jon had collided spine to trunk and Kaia was tumbled off the sled.

[caption id="attachment_252" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jon and Kaia spinning in a cloud of powder"][/caption]

Of course my camera read CARD FULL just a few frames before the collision so I missed getting the peak of their trip on film. So I was complaining about that, then in the seconds later Kaia was screaming. The kind of "I am in pain" scream every parent knows. So I am tramping down the hill in all my snow gear to see what's going on, considering what bones may have been broken. Jon didn't get up for several minutes, having taken the direct impact to his tailbone.Kaia was complaining about her back hurting and she wouldn't move from laying flat out on her belly. We finally calm the tears enough to get her to scoot onto the (completely DEFLATED) sled so we can carry her up the hill into the house. Now my crippled husband and myself (trying to keep my camera dry) have to drag the 100lb child up the hill! Ug. Both Jon and Kaia are sore and have taken pain killers but there are no broken bones, just bruises and scratching. No more sledding this year I suppose...snowman building is much more our speed in this condition!

At least someone had only FUn in the snow.

[caption id="attachment_253" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Snow dogs Buddy and Rosco wildly enjoying all the snow."][/caption]

Army Updates

So my husband has been home exactly a year today from his deployment to Iraq.  It's cliché but it's true, time flies! I can't believe it has been a year and I am so thankful as I reflect back over the last year we have had together as a family. I am guilty perhaps of perhaps not appreciating the fact that he was HERE as we live the past year, which is a shame because it was so hard when he wasn't here. I guess it was back to normal for me, but as a military family you have to be even more thankful for those "normal" times you have together because things aren't always that way.

Anyway, this post really isn't intended to reminisce but to provide an update on the status of our Army life.

We actually thought Jon was going to deploying with a small group of soldiers to Afghanistan in January but he was bumped from the mission. He of course is bummed and I am of course relieved...weird huh? So for now he is home but we will see how Obama's stance changes things in the year ahead, it's like we are braced for the orders to come at any time.

Also Jon got PROMOTED! He is now a Sargent in 142nd but he had to transfer to the Springdale Battery to accept the promotion. I guess that makes it bittersweet because he was just settling into his unit, but I know that making Sargent was one of his goals he has had since he enlisted 3 years ago and it means a lot to him to achieve it.

Can you believe he has been in for 3 years?! The 3 year mark also means his initial commitment is up, he would go into reserve status only in February if he didn't re-enlist. However, I am resolving to myself that he is probably in for life! He re-enlisted for 1 year, he would have done more but bonuses right now are pitiful which may change so this leaves him open to snag a better option if it becomes available.

Jon is also considering going to college using some of his military schooling benefits. We will see how it pans out, he hasn't been in school for a long time and he's not sure what he would go for yet. I think he will start slow and see where it goes.

Anyway, that is the udpate on the Military aspect of our life right now...we will let ya know if we get orders!

Christmas all thru the house...

Christmas is of couse my favorite Holiday because I love Jesus! There are also lots of other reasons I love Christmas, a major one being how cozy our home feels during this time of year. So our decorating expidition began with decorating our NEW house...I have to admit it was a bit stressful adding Christmas on top of moving but it was worth it. Jon was actually gung hoe about getting the lights up on the STEEP roof peaks and they look amazing although I am not sure I agree with him risking his life for the beauty of it. I enjoyed decorating the mantle, staircase and big front window. Here are some photos to enjoy, we are sure ready to enjoy the holidays in our new home.

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We are moving!

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Our new home in Bentonville.

So we have riden the roller coaster of trying to sell our home...

Are we going to stay?

Are we going to move?

We have lived in our home for 4 years and done lots of remodeling which was a huge amount of stress and the market is down...on and on...the bottom line is we are ready to move on to a house that better suites our long term needs so we are moving ahead.

We are taking the risk of moving without having sold or leased our exsisting home but we are relying on God that things will work out just how he plans and it will all end well.

We are very excited about our new house in Bentonville on 5 acres. More pics to come as we get settled.