Eureka Springs Vol. 2

After our bizarre day in Branson we decided to see some of the sights around Eureka Springs. We knew we wanted to visit a cave or two so we chose the Onyx Cave and the Cosmic Caverns.

We headed to Onyx Cave first... and immediately turned around when we got there! It was completely dead, even though the sign said "open" there wasn't a soul there. The brochure was from the 1970's and it looked like that was the last time anyone had been there. It was so eerie and a little bit scary. Mike said he was pretty sure there had been some hillbilly murders there. LMAO!

We decided to head over to the Cosmic Cavern, and I'm so glad we did! It was very cool, our guide was knowledgeable and we had a really good time. Here are some pics:


the lakes were incredible!

these are probably really boring and repetitive to you guys, but I want to document our trip so I can look back on it later. :-)

a lady & a gentleman

you probably saw this on facebook but I had to blog about it here:

(click to make it larger)

I could not believe that Mike agreed to this, but I actually think he had a lot of fun!

Branson

Day 2 of our vacation was spent in Branson, Missouri. What a weird place! I don't know if it was the time of year or what, but Mike described it best when he said it was like a dying town. Tons of boarded up motels and theaters, lots of cheesy tourist trap shops etc. Mike was dying to eat at a Shoney's (since we don't have any near us) so off to Shoney's we went:

Mike rubbing his belly after the breakfast buffet! Eating here was a bit of a challenge for me since the Shoney's breakfast bar doesn't have the healthiest choices, but I managed!

Oh and did I mention that it was about 30 degrees that day? Miserable! After the restaurant we headed over to the Titanic museum, which was actually pretty interesting. It is one of the few attractions in Branson that doesn't involve Gospel music, hillbillies or the word jamboree, so we enjoyed it. :-)

We did some sightseeing, some outlet shopping and ended our day at a really pretty overlook:

Before heading back to Eureka for the night we ate at Dick Clark's American Bandstand restaurant- cute place and pretty decent food! I really doubt we'll be making a trip back to Branson anytime soon but I'm glad we went.

Eureka Springs Vol. 1

We just got back from our mini-vacation a few hours ago and I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the trip. We actually did a lot in a short amount of time so I'll probably spread these out over a few posts.

Here are some shots of downtown Eureka:



I love the shadow from the fence:


a shot of us in our cabin. :-)

loving this picture today

Wild Things Trailer

can't wait!!

My Girls

Whew, what a trip!! I just got home from Dallas and I am beat! I'll do a longer recap later on, but here are a few teaser pics!

here we are meeting the world's tallest dog!
seriously, he's in the Guinness Book of World Records.
http://www.gibsondog.com/index.php

more pics to come and a recap of the Britney concert!

So Excited!

I'm heading for Dallas Friday morning and I cannot wait! I'm meeting several of my girlfriends for a get together that's been in the works for a few months. These are some of the same girls that I went to New Orleans with in January 2008. I love these girls to pieces and CANNOT wait to see them again!!

Here are a few of my favorite NOLA pics from last year:











and to top it all off, Allison & I are staying a few extra days in Dallas to see BRITNEY!! Woohoo!

lol for the day

ummmm wtf L.Lo? WTF.

3 weeks.

It's been 3 weeks since I've had any caffeine.

3 weeks since I've had any dairy products.

3 weeks since I've had more than 15 grams of sugar in a day.

3 weeks since I've had any red meat.

And I feel phenomenal!! I can't even really pinpoint the motivation for the changes I've made. I just wanted to eat differently and feel differently. Sure I'll lose weight because of it, but that was not the factor behind my decision (ask any of my close friends and they will tell you- confidence is not something I lack. I'm comfortable with not being a skinny girl lol!). I just want to feel energized and good... and so far I do!

So far the lack of dairy has been the most difficult- but I'm supplementing with tons of soy options and taking my calcium supplement. The lack of sugar has taken some getting used to. Most sugar-free products use sugar alcohol to make up for the lack of actual sugar, and sugar alcohol makes me feel like crap! So I've been having tons of fruit to make my sweet tooth happy. (frozen grapes are heavenly) Our grocery bill has went up slightly but shopping is a breeze- I really am staying on the perimeter of the store. We're buying tons of produce, lean meats, dairy for Mike and soy options for me. The only time I go to the interior aisles is for couscous, rice etc

So yeah, that's what I've been up to. I'll keep you guys posted and I'll share some of the recipes I've been making.

I'm on a roll!

Oooh, look at me!! Two blog posts in one day! And looks like this one will be almost as exciting as the post from this morning--- it's about more window coverings! woohooooo

I found these for our guest room and I am thrilled!! Our guest room/ my sewing room is shabby chic- lots of white, pale pink and pale green. I found these drapes:



They're so pretty in person- and they're lined! The best part... $7.50 for the pair!! I absolutely love the Walmart Associate's Store. Now I'm on the lookout for the perfect curtain rods.

My Next Project

Since we purchased our home last July I've been trying to figure out what to do with this set of doors:

as you can see, they are right off of our little dining room and lead to our sun porch aka Jack Bauer's favorite room: (please excuse the very outdated picture!)

At first the plan was to leave the doors uncovered. Well my dear husband has a hatred for uncovered windows, so that was vetoed. I want to do something that would be decorative and functional (and inexpensive!)- and I've settled on this:

photo courtesy of the super talented Layla at http://theletteredcottage.blogspot.com

burlap curtains! cheap? check! functional? check! decorative? well... to me, yes. so check! :-)
I think they'll add some texture and will look great in the space and since I now have a sewing machine and have mastered at least some basic skills these should be do-able. I love that they will still allow some natural light in, I wanted to avoid heavy black-out drapes because I hate feeling like I live in a cave. I also plan on adding the bamboo shades underneath... I'm still hunting for the best price on these.

So that's my next project, I'll be sure to follow up with pictures!

lost my blog mojo

I just can't get back into the blogging mood. I think twitter is to blame actually. It's such an easy simple form of "mini-blogging" that I don't have anything to talk about on here! I guess the most blog worth thing that I haven;t really talked about is the new addition of our kitty Marty McFly.

We found Marty on www.petfinder.com and I fell in love. He's been with us a little over a week and he couldn't be a better cat! He's smart, affectionate and very playful. He and Pinkie are getting along so well, it's wonderful to see her playing with another kitty-- she hasn't been playful since we lost Blackie back in June.

Here's Marty's picture that was on petfinder.com:

back then he was known as Salem. We think Marty McFly fits him much better. :-)

the dogs and the lake

a few days ago we had some gorgeous spring weather- we decided to take a walk with the dogs down to the lake. It was so nice and the pups had a blast. The pics are from my iphone, so they're not the best, but it does show the pretty lake. I feel so lucky to live where we do!

our house is at the top of this street.

Ellie loves to roll around on the grass.

and she's always covered in grass when she's finished!

29 Days!!!

First Look at Britney's 'Circus' Tour