2013 in Review

I've officially stunk at blogging this year. I get it. We have had some fun, though! I thought it would be fun to look back at 2013 this evening. We're bound to have a low key NYE.. and I'm OK with that.

January

Ella Kate turned TWO! (how is this possible?!)

February

We took our annual daffodil photos. She is growing too fast!

March

We celebrated Easter!

.. and learned that cake is amazing.

April

We spent quality time with Granny Skeet!

May

We went on a road trip to our friend's gorgeous wedding in the Panhandle.

June

 We had a cookout with our friends and family.

We also ate a lot of watermelon. Thankfully, no seeds were swallowed.

July

We celebrated Independence Day with lots of good friends at the Buffalo River.

EK spent the 4th with my parents.

August

EK had her first day of day school! She is learning so much, and loves her friends and teachers.

I got to go to Chicago to see all of my favorite buds for a girl's weekend!

EK also got her first haircut!

September

My sister made homecoming court. EK and I braved the rain to watch her ceremony!

We went to the fair with our best friends!

October

Ryan and I celebrated our 5th anniversary with a week in Isla Mujeres.

November

I turned 27 and became a brunette!

EK and I had Roman's at least 5 times!

December

We had so much Christmas!  I love December and I'm super sad that the holidays have passed again. We had a wonderful time with both sides of our family. I hosted lunch for the first time ever and it actually wasn't horrible. Go me.

 We also got an adorable Westie puppy. Meet Tex!

I hope that each of you have a wonderful and blessed 2014. We are excited for all of the blessings to come in the next year! (and maybe I will keep up with the blog!)

The Easiest Way to Save During the Holidays

I don't know about you, but Christmas shopping in all the crowds is stressful to this momma. I feel guilty taking time away from EK on the weekends to fight the crowds, and I would much rather just do it from home!

 Last year, I discovered Ebates. This site lets me shop from home (or work.....shhh!) with the added benefit of CASH BACK on my purchases. Last holiday season, I earned over $35 back on my gift shopping. They pay cash back quarterly,  so I had a nice little check in my mailbox in February!

It's really easy to use.

#1. Sign up. (here!)
#2.  Enter your address and information in the "My Ebates" section.
#3.#3. When you get ready to shop, just go to Ebates.com, then type in the store you are wanting to order from in the little search bar on the right hand side of your screen, and select the one that fits your need.  (oh my gosh... look at my account and cash back- it makes me happy, happy, happy!)

 



#4. Click through the link to enter the store website. This is all you have to do- Ebates tracks any purchases made and applies the cash back to your account. Every quarter, you will receive a check with your earned money!


Also, Ebates generally provides a free $10 gift card to new users who are signing up for the first time.  I received a $10 Target card last year when I signed up! You can also find a lot of great coupon codes by searching stores on Ebates.  I highly encourage anyone I know who orders a lot online to use this program- it's free money and awesome savings!

It's Football Time

I'm pretty sure today is my husband's favorite day of the year. Sunday football is back, which means lots of recliner time, good lunches, and Fantasy Football. I think he is in like 3 leagues now, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm forgetting one of them. So maybe he is in 4. I don't know.  I can barely keep up with one.

Every year, Ryan makes EK a team shirt to support his main team, The Mullets. I think it's so funny and cute!

EK in her first Mullets tee- 2011

Today in her 2013 tee :)

What is your favorite football tradition?

What We're Up To ( otherwise known as boring blog title)

I hate coming up with post titles. I'm always afraid they will sound corny (although I like corny sometimes!)

Anyway, we've been up to all the little halfway boring things that make up everyday life and aren't always blog-worthy. EK is still loving school. She also loves Ms. Regan for her brand new 'do! We ended up cutting several inches off and I feel like it makes her look so grown up!

Sunday, we had lunch with Mammaw and Pappaw and my sister and brother in law at Bryce's. It's kind of an old folks' place (cafeteria!) but the food is usually really good and their peach pie is to die for! After that, I went to Hooks where we saw the rest of EK's grandparents and greats.

This time of year is always rough in NETX. It's still super hot, but fall things are going on. Tomorrow, I'll be taking blood pressures at the Hoot N' Holler downtown, and the FAIR is next weekend. I can't wait to take Ella Kate to see the little animals and walk the livestock barns with her (please let her love show cattle. please let her love show cattle... PLEASE!)  We did get a few of the cute little 96cent mums from Walmart a few days ago, and a tiny scarecrow for the porch from the DollarTree. Baby steps. Now that we don't have a dog outside it's nice to be able to decorate a little more!

Here's hoping something exciting happens between now and my next post. 

Things I'm Loving Tuesday

Is it Friday yet.......?  No. I'm so super ready for a long weekend, though!  We have been busy bees, I've been trying to get back to the gym more than once a week, and EK has been playing up a storm. I've not had just a ton of free time, but there are a few things I'm absolutely LOVING right now that I thought I would share.

Have you seen the new fall scents from Yankee Candle? I popped in a store the other day and smelled the Red Velvet cake- it will make your stomach growl!  Also, I had to snap a picture of the Treehouse Memories, Ryan is in the process of tearing down a deck and building a little play tree house for EK. He is such a sweet daddy!

Here's my Treehouse Memory... I remember my daddy building a tree house for me when I was 8 or so. Our bull was like a gigantic dog, and it came and knocked the ladder out from under him and he was stranded in the tree house for a little while... the things we do for our kids!

EK scoping out her spot for her treehouse.

I'm absolutely in love with these adorable/ practical lunch boxes from PlanetBox.  They are stainless steel boxes with sectioned compartments for foods. I hate packing snacks in ziplock bags, and I hate losing my tupper ware even more. I can't wait for EK to take a lunch in hers.

I'm a big fan of getting stuff in the mail. Sometimes I have to rush home from work to get the mail before Ryan does, so he doesn't think I spend my entire paycheck ordering things. You can get such great deals online, though, so it's worth explaining myself over a few packages!  

Anyways, aside from ordering things for EK, I love to get magazines in my mailbox. Yes. PAPER magazines. I feel like people don't really read those so much anymore with Pinterest and the easy access to free ideas online.  

Ryan's Mammaw had a huge stack of old (2003ish) Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Livings that she was going to through away, but I rescued all of the holiday issues and I am just pouring over them. I love using classic ideas, and these are full of beautiful photos and great ideas for holidays foods and decorations. Let the Christmas countdown begin :P

Finally.. I'm so ready for cooler weather. We may not have it until Christmas, but I'm craving it like nobody's business.  I'm ordering these precious little shoes for EK as soon as I decide to pull the trigger. I'm a huge fan of Livie and Luca shoes for her, they are so soft and I never have to worry about her getting blisters or being uncomfortable.  Our Gap just closed down in our nearest mall, so I'm stuck shopping online unless I'm able to sneak away to Tyler or Shreveport on the weekend. This sweatshirt might be my newest comfy weekend staple if I suck it up at buy it :)

So what are the things you're dying over as fall approaches?