Whirlwind of Bullets

Whew! This past month (has it been that long?!) has really flown by. To catch you up as quickly as possible, here is what we have been up to:

*Kennady & I traveled to Texas to see my family for 2 weeks. We had a challenging trip seeing as how it all started out on the wrong day. I was 100% convinced by my own memory that our plane was to take off on a Thursday. Upon delivering myself, a 52-pound suitcase, an overactive 18-month old baby, an overflowing & 10-pound baby bag & a mini-backpack of toys & snacks, we arrived at the airport...on a Thursday. Upon attempting to check-in at the kiosk, the computer nicely informed me that I could not check-in more than 24 hours before my flight & that I should 'see an attendant'. I almost threw up. It was hot, I was sweaty, Kennady wanted to be anywhere but with me, & all I could think was...there's NO WAY I did this to myself. Could I really have been this blonde?! UGH. After we figured out that my flight really was on Friday, K & I loaded up again & stomped out of the airport, called the hubs, & were taken for $2 for our 'temporary' parking. Why don't you just add a little salt to my wound, haha. JK, but seriously. It was a rough & frustrating morning.

*Friday morning rolled around & our flight out of Little Rock was delayed by an hour. SERIOUSLY?! Wouldn't be all that bad of a thing except that our layover in Dallas was only 40 minutes. There goes the uneventful day of flight I had hoped for. Now, I had to decide if I wanted to accept a 7-hour layover in Dallas before the last flight went out, or if having my mom drive 4 hours to get us would be better. I chose the latter. My mom came to pick us up in Dallas & annoyingly enough, we got home only 30 minutes earlier than the airplane would have, mostly because of a baggage issue. Needless to say, I was exhausted when we finally arrived to SA, but we were there and that was all that mattered.

*That Saturday, one of my best friends growing up, Julie, got married to one of my brother's good friends from high school, Dustin. It was a beautiful ranch wedding at sunset & she looked stunning. It was a huge party and I got to see several people that I haven't seen since high school. After a night of eating Outback, dancing, socializing, & enjoying the band, we finally wished them well & headed home. It was a great night. Thank you to all of you who offered up your advice on which dress I should wear. I finally decided on the nude colored one & finally bought myself a pair of precious cowgirl boots to go with it. I think it turned out pretty cute, even though my tan was lacking. :) I had a blast in the dress so I guess that's really all that matters. hehe. Sorry it's sideways, I couldn't fix it. :)

*A couple of Wednesdays ago, we got Kennady's 18-month pictures done with our friends Slade & Laura at Cozart Photography. She was in such a great mood & was such a trooper through the 3 outfit changes that mommy made her do & they captured so many amazing pictures. I don't know how they do it, but they always seem to get her at her best (believe me, being at her best is a challenge these days). To see her sneak peek, go here. Thank ya'll so much for being so great!

*The Friday after our photo shoot, I was doing my Insanity workout in my parent's living room. I had been pretty tired from the increase of intensity in the workouts for the week & decided to take it easy for the day by doing the ab workout. It's still pretty intense, but I thought it would be good to ease off a little bit to allow my body to recover some. One of the exercises was to jump up with your knees tucked & to come down and repeat for as many as you could do. After a couple of my jumps, I came down and landed by accidentally hitting one foot before the other. I felt a sharp pain in my lower back & immediately knew it was bad. I have a history of back problems, so when something like that happens again, you just know it's going to be bad. I tried to stretch it out to no avail. Because it was almost 5 o'clock on a Friday & most chiropractors don't work weekends, I had a pain-filled weekend to work through. By Sunday, I was walking crooked, heating & icing as much as possible, & having a lot of trouble sitting comfortably. I was lucky enough to get an emergency chiropractic appointment Monday morning & walked out of his office straight & feeling so much relief. That following Wednesday, I got a massage that really

brought me back to normal. It is so miserable to have a hurt back & I'm still treating it with care,

in fear that I may hurt it again if I make a wrong move.

*Even though I was in pain, I was coaxed into joining my brothers, niece, nephew, hubs, & father for our

annual Father's Day Golf game in Eden. Every year we head out there, spend 7 or 8 hours playing one

drawn-out game of 18 holes, & really enjoy playing. I obviously didn't swing any clubs that day,but

I did make a couple of good putts on the green. I was merely there for the socializing, cart driving,

& heckling skills. It was a good time even with the stints of occasional back pain. P.S. Happy late Father's

Day to all of my favorite men. :)

*Monday morning while I was at the doctor, Chad & Kennady were on the way to her 18-month

check-up. She now weighs 23 pounds (you would think it was more by the look of those rubberband

hands & thighs :)), is 31 1/2 inches long, & growing perfectly. We are way beyond the expectations for

cognition & definitely in performance points, which always makes mommy happy. hehe.

That evening, we got to spend a bit of time with our sweet neighbors & their 3-year-old that is missing the heck out of her Baby Kennady. We had a blast catching up with them & swimming in the pool. After that, our friends the Schmidts came over to see us. We chatted & caught up with them for a couple of hours & really enjoyed seeing them and being in our own house again. It was awesome, but really made us miss home even more. :)

*We spent our days in San Angelo swimming at my parent's community pool, playing Joker with the fam, eating out, getting ice cream & shopping. Last Thursday through Sunday, the annual Robertson Rendezvous family reunion came around. We went to Lake LBJ and rented a beautiful house right on the Llano River. There were 26 of us all under one roof. It's always a little bit of crazy, but so much fun to spend some real time with each other. There was great fishing, cool & clean water, an awesome dock, a kiddie pool, a river float & some of the best family dinners we've ever had. With this bunch, there are always LATE nights (early mornings) of singing, hanging out, jumping off docks, & alcohol consumption. Some of those most likely shouldn't be mixed, but it makes for some fun and unforgettable memories. This is the third year for this reunion & none of us wanted to leave & we already can't wait for next year. It was that good. :)

*Now, we are back in Arkansas, looking forward to a couple more weeks of fun before Chad's cousin Travis gets married in Georgia next weekend. We are really looking forward to seeing and celebrating with the Sellers clan.

Well, that's all I have time for for now. Hope you feel a little caught up. :)

Insane in the Membrane...

That's what I am these days...INSANE (with Sean T.). I am going to take this next couple of seconds to brag on myself for the first time in a long while. For as long as I can remember in my adult life, I have started and stopped several workout regimens, never really seeing any results and always quitting because of either laziness, pregnancy (which should not be an excuse), or inconvenience. I know I am not alone in this & that this happens to a lot of people. This time around, I wanted to be serious & actually see if results would come after actually sticking with it like the trainers want you to.

I started the Insanity workout regimen (Google it if you're curious) soon after we got to Arkansas. It's a 9-week program of really insanely intense workouts for 45-minutes a day. I am halfway through week 5 & haven't missed a day yet (other than the 'off' Sundays that are scheduled). It hasn't been easy, that's for sure. Most of the time I have to force myself to get my butt off of the couch during Kennady's naps because it's the only time I have to myself...which is also why it's a challenge to do it then. I don't get a whole lot of time to myself to surf the web, craft, nap, be lazy, bake, etc. without a little monkey being at my feet, so sometimes I want nothing more than to not have to workout. I've decided that results never came from inactivity & because I really feel that my body is getting stronger & what was flabby before has tightened up a bit, I have been really focused on fitting the workouts in. A couple of times she has woken up prematurely & I have had to bounce around my little lady. She always laughs at me when I sprint in place & do mountain climbers. For some reason, she thinks they're hilarious...maybe it's just that I look hilarious attempting them...either way, she makes me happy. :)

I haven't seemed to lose any weight thus far, but that's probably a result of my diet not changing. If I could find the strength to do both the workouts & eat right (whatever that means these days), I would probably see some weight loss, but I'm happy with tightening up. After all, I've been this weight for 4 years now, so I might as well be happy at it. I am actually planning on sporting the bikini again this year & I can see the beginning of a six pack again, so I'm a happy girl. If only I could figure out a way to get rid of the last bit of baby flub on my belly, then I'd be good to go! Well, I could stand to shrink my love handles too, but I'm hoping the second half of this video challenge will have me working on that. Anywho, that's the end of me tooting my own 'finally kept with it' workout horn. My 'before' pictures are so extremely gross & embarrassing that I don't think I'd ever be comfortable posting them...unless I just look like a total beast when I'm done...then the 'before' pics wouldn't matter anymore. We'll see how this thing pans out & I'll keep ya posted. :)

By the way, if you've been struggling to get going with a workout regimen of your own, these three words come across the screen before every workout and I finally thought about them yesterday. DECIDE. COMMIT. SUCCEED. That's all you have to do. Once you decide to make a change and commit yourself to it, you're very likely to see results & succeed in whatever endeavor you choose. Good luck in whatever it is that presents itself to you! :)

Memorial Weekend

This might be a boring post, but I've been told that something is better than nothing, so here goes nothing.

We had a great, and challenging, 4-day Memorial Day weekend. It started with a wonderful Friday where we slept in, went out and shopped a bit, babysat another sweet 18-month-old Lauren, played in the Wigglin' Waterpillar sprinkler with the little ladies, bathed up & cuddled on the couch while we watched the So You Think You Can Dance premier. It was a great night with two really sweet little girls. It gave me a taste of what having twins would be like...CRAZY. ha.

Then, Saturday morning rolled around. It was supposed to be a fun morning where the three of us ran a 5K together for the Rock-N-Stroll run as part of the Little Rock Riverfest weekend. But instead- dun, dun, dun...the THROW UP BUG bit us. Well, to be more specific, bit my little Kennady. She threw up in the carseat just as we rounded the first corner after leaving the house. This led to a quick bath, change of clothes, & a reattempt to stick with our initial plan. As we got about a mile from the house, round two of chunking came along. At that point, we cut our losses and decided our day wasn't going to be anything like we had planned. With an immediate turn-around, we got her changed up again & decided to cuddle it out. We spent the whole day catering to our sad little tummy girl. We also had to cancel our date night to see Pat Green, Charlie Daniels Band, & a couple of others at the Riverfest. Turns out that might have been a God-send seeing as someone was shot there that night. Freaky, much?! I believe so. I can look at things like her being sick and see that it was probably a blessing in disguise. Sometimes you just can't know when or how the crazies are going to come out in these bigger cities (not to say that the small ones are much better). Either way, we had an alright Saturday when all was said and done...at least we did as soon as I got that nasty curdled milk smell out of the house & off all things that just happened to get in her way.

Sunday rolled around & we woke ourselves up with a great breakfast at IHOP. It was yummy & Kennady LOVED the whipped cream they put on her smiley-face pancake. We have been struggling to get her to eat this last couple of days, but haven't been too pushy since she was getting over the bug. We packed up our house in about an hour and a half & moved over to the Residence Inn where we were much closer to civilization & all things shopping. :) I'm a happier camper now. I think Kennady has been struggling a bit with the transition though. She's been whinier & fussier than ever before...at least I'm hoping it ends & it's a symptom of the transition. We saw some live music at the Riverfest in the afternoon, walked about 2 miles, dipped our own Krispie Kreme doughnut in chocolate & sprinkles, had frozen lemonade, let Kennady play & run through the water-spray park & finally headed home. It was a good time & I was happy we got to get at least a little bit of enjoyment out of our $60 investment in tickets...& that no one shot at us of course.

Monday was uneventful. Chad gave me a baby break & I went & got my toes made purdy. I got an awesome color which I now wish I would have taken note of. It's like an electric coral color & super-summery. It was really nice to sit in a massage chair (for an hour and a half because I was there FOREVER) relaxing while reading up on artsy blogs on Chad's iPad. We found a couple of good sales at the mall & perused several of the craft stores (thanks for going hubby). I bought a couple of things & began work on my precious barley wreath (Tatertots & Jello) knock-off. I think it turned out super-cute & I will definitely make some more in the future.

Happy Memorial Day to all of our troops, both past & present. And may we all remember that freedom doesn't come free.

Well, that's all we've been up to. Just in case you fell asleep, here is your alarm...AAGGHH!!AAGGHH!!AAGGHH!!

Crafty Thoughts...

Lately, I have come across several fun and super-cute crafts that I really want to find the time to make sometime in the near future. Being in LR has really provided me with some time to myself, seeing as how I don't have my own home to clean closets out, mow the yard, organize the attic, etc. So, I'm taking advantage & Google searching, finding fun sites, & thrifty but adorable crafts for the home & for gifts. Here are just a few that I have found that get me a little giddy inside:

This is one of the most creative 'upcycle' projects I've ever seen. I wish things & ideas like this popped into my head randomly. This is a vintage suitcase turned cozy-chair. This girl at See Kate Sew got the suitcase for $3 at a thrift store...talk about a steal! I would love to try something like this someday, but I don't know if I need another chair right now. Plus it's kind of a 'bigger' project. It's so stinkin' cute though.

This is a really sweet & delicate banner that would look so cute on my mantle. As all of you creative minds know, this could say anything you wanted it to. The tutorial for it can be found at My Blessed Life. You probably wouldn't have guessed that you only need 5 materials & that cute paperback is scrapbook pieces, huh?! So easy and cute.

This one, I found today via The Frugal Girl's website. The woman labels this Framed Chalkboard as a wedding gift, but I think it would be cute for anyone, especially high school grads. Super cute, because I LOVE this frame. I probably would have left it a mirror for my home, but the chalkboard is super creative. A little love-note from your hubby left on a chalkboard only makes the morning better, right?! Alright, I know it would most likely be the other way around, seeing as how I am usually the last to get in bed & the more thoughtful note leaver, but hey...a girl can dream, can't she?!

The cutest thing ever might be this Burlap Wreath. I'm a little hesitant to post this one as I'm thinking about making such things as presents for my favorite people. I'm sure you would still be excited/shocked/overwhelmingly happy to receive one as a gift even if you read this, right?! We will have to see how easy/hard they are to make and go from there. A tutorial for this cutie can be found on Tatertots & Jello. C.U.T.E. stuff, lady!!

Another one from the My Blessed Life site is this tiered plate server that can be done for under $5!! Can't beat that! I think I might make one for every season, but then I'd have to find somewhere to store them...oh well, what crafter can actually ever find somewhere to put all of their crafts, anyways?! It doesn't seem to make them stop making stuff, so I guess I'll figure that one out. That's what the attic in the off-season is for, right?! I might even throw a few more parties, just to show them off! ha. Like I need another reason to have friends over for a good time, but whatever. I'll rationalize my crafty-craziness in whatever way I choose. :)

Well, those are just a few of the fun things I've wanted to delve into these days. We'll see how much I can find time for, afford, & get home from this place. If you're bored this summer, maybe you should try a few too! :)

Consider us cultured...

Little Rock has proven to be quite the place to be for festivals & springtime fun. The past two weekends, we have experienced the Jewish Food Festival & a Greek Food Festival. We went to the Jewish Festival with the Webb's after church & it was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining, we were nearby the river at the River Market, & we were hungry which was a GOOD thing. We had beef kebab plates with salad & pita bread with hummus, add on a kosher hot dog for the hubs. It was yummy stuff. For dessert, Chad bought some homemade macaroons & because I don't do coconut, I got myself some homemade chocolate & almond biscotti. Kennady was a huge fan of the cookies too. To see pictures of these events, check out our Facebook page because you all know I'm too lazy to post pics in multiple places by now. :) We hung out after eating & decided to head home for naptime with full bellies. The music was fun to listen to, too!

At the Greek Food Festival yesterday, it was wet & humid from the rain Friday night, but that didn't stop our bellies from filling back up. We ate a Greek Chicken platter with a Greek Salad & new potatoes. It was de-lish. Then, Chad took himself back to his Germany days & HAD TO have a chicken kebab, so that was also consumed. We topped our lunch off with an assortment of Greek cookies which included Baklava, Ginger Snap thingy, a traditional wedding cookie, & a Greek cannoli. It was another successful and yummy festival luncheon. We hung out for a little while and shopped the Greek novelties, but didn't buy anything. The 'shows' started about 30 minutes after we left & we would have stayed, but I wanted to visit the Whole Foods store before we had to head home for K's naptime.

On the way home, we discovered a place called Burns Park that had ALL kinds of stuff. It's a huge 1,700 acre park with 2 18-hole golf courses, 17 soccer fields, a mini theme park called Funland, a BMX course, endless hiking and biking trails, a playground, & a river that runs through it. :) I'm sure I left a couple of things off, but you get the gist. We let the lil bit play on the playground for a little while & finally headed home. It was a beautiful day. I think one day that we are here, we may check out what Funland has to offer us & might even get the jogging stroller out to check out a couple of those trails. The trees and woody areas here are so pretty.

This coming Memorial Day weekend is going to be a good time. We are going to experience the Little Rock Riverfest, which is a huge party & concert series for families. There are so many people that are going to be playing on 6 different stages, to include Pat Green, Johnny Cooper, REO Speedwagon, Nelly, & many more. To see all of the awesome and crazy events going down at the Riverfest next weekend, check it out here. We are considering doing the Rock-N-Stroll 5K race with Kennady & will definitely be there for some concerts, good food, and fun activities. Hopefully the weather holds out and we get to have a fun-filled and super busy weekend! :) And give proper thanks to all of the current troops & military families for all that they do to protect and serve our wonderful country. And to all of the veterans out there, we wouldn't be here where we are today without you. Thank you.

Hallelujah, the stress is lifted!

I want to be the first to announce and congratulate my intellectual man-of-a-husband, as he has officially completed his Master's program this past weekend & has earned a MBA. HALLELUJAH!!! My sweet hubby has been STRESSED out, my friends. Not for just a couple of weeks, but it's been months. He has had so much on his plate including, but not limited to, Instructor school, 3 Master's classes, being flight commander at the 40AS at Dyess, J-school for the C-130, being out of state & in foreign territory, raising a 1 1/2 year old, & being the supportive & helpful husband he is. That's a lot going on, people!! So much, that a case of stress-induced Alopecia, where your hair falls out in a circular area & takes a while to grow back, has taken hold of his noggin. Poor guy. These courses that he has been in, both professionally & educationally, are all going to pay off for us as promotion boards come up. I am so proud of him for keeping everything together, for powering through, and for setting such an awesome example for Kennady. I know she doesn't realize anything right now, but one day she will understand the amazing character that it takes to have so many things going on & still be able to care for a family as he does. Kennady LOVES her 'daddy' & for good reason. He is like SUPERMAN & this supportive wife is so happy to have ONE LESS THING on his plate.

The biggest of congratulations & the best wishes for hair regrowth go out to the smartest and most good-looking man I know...Captain Donald Chad Douglas Sellers. :) You're my hero.

What to wear, what to wear...

I have a wedding to attend in Texas the weekend of June 11th & because I either haven't seen many of the people that should be in attendance in several years (like maybe 8...when we graduated high school) or I haven't seen them since the magnificent arrival of Kennady, I want to look good. Everybody knows what I'm feeling. We've all sat back and set dates to 'get thin', clear up your face, or get tan by when you know you're going to see people who have no idea what your life has dealt you in the recent past. I want to feel confident, look cute but not overdressed, & be comfortable. Asking too much? Maybe, but that's what I want so that's what I hope to get.

I say I want to be comfortable and not overdressed because it is going to be an outside wedding at a ranch in mid-June in Texas. All of that being said, either way I'm going to be sweating & probably need short heels (for the outside, chasing after a 1.5 year old factor). I assume many girls will probably wear dresses with boots, but I've never thought that I could pull that look off very well. Maybe I need a new pair of boots...yea, that could be it. But, really, I just want to find a cute and mediocrely-priced dress that fits all of the above criteria. My friend Elya got me addicted to following a blog by a fashionable girl named Kendi. I have yet to take on her challenge of the 30 for 30, but one day, I think it would be fun to do. One of her sponsors is the Spotted Moth store & at their site, I found these two cute dresses & I'm asking for your feedback. I realize they are super-similar in style, but I wanted to know which one went over best with you guys. The website is giving an extra 30% off discount on an entire sale ending today, so I was thinking about taking the plunge and just choosing one. No pressure, but please comment soon. :)

This one seems casual enough, but still super-cute. Shoe help though, please?

This one is a bit more dressy, but a better color for my skin tone...unless I luck upon getting ridiculously tan in the next 3 weeks. That's doubtful, but I'm hopeful. :)
Your thoughts, por favor?

Oh yeah, to keep myself accountable (because I plan to keep it going), I wanted to tell ya'll that I have done really well this week with my workouts. Starting last Saturday, I ran & did some sprints on the track & Mon., Tues., Thurs., & today I have been doing Insanity workouts with the very ripped Sean T. My calves are more sore than I can ever remember them being & it's been tough to keep it going, but I'm feeling stronger everyday and that's the whole point, right?! That part feels good. That's all on that note. :)