As of late

When it’s winter and spring, I can hardly stand to wait for the summer. During the winter I just sit back and daydream about summer, thinking “The summer needs to hurry up and get here, it will be nothing but barbeques, lake time, tan skin, late nights, float trips, etc,” but when summer rolls around, it seems to be more like bed by 8:30pm, a different wedding every weekend, a baby shower every Sunday, and complete and utter exhaustion.

Nonetheless, I still get thrilled when my computer screen reads 4pm on a Friday. This weekend, it’s time for some lake fun! We have dedicated this weekend as “family weekend” at Lake Ouachita. My cousin and his new girlfriend are joining us, and will be coming in from Shreveport, LA to meet us for a weekend of fun in the sun. Also, since my sister and my mom are in Florida (white the rest of us non-teachers slave away at work this summer), my dad is coming to the lake with us for the first time. I don’t think people get how pleasant Lake Ouachita is until they actually get to experience it in all of its glory (trust me, it NEVER disappoints!)  Here below is a picture of Ouachita, so you can see why I love it so much:

Myself and our Min Pin, Cholla (such a lake dog!)

 

Since I’ve self-diagnosed myself with mild OCD and over-planning disorder (ok..so that probably isn’t a real thing, but if it was, I would have it HANDS DOWN), I like to do as much food prep as I can before we get to the lake (because honestly, who wants to spend their time at the lake chopping veggies and cleaning the kitchen, especially after a long, exhausting day in the sun?) In preparation for this weekend, I chopped up a red and a green bell pepper, as well as a white onion. We like to use these on pizzas (Friday night is typically pizza night at the lake, we like easy dishes because we are all tired from working all day) as well as some people (ahem..me) like them in their eggs or hash browns  for breakfast. I also like to make sausage balls ahead of time because they are easily freezable and easily cooked for simple breakfasts, and who doesn’t love a good sausage ball?

When thinking of snacking for a lake weekend, we usually go with a roasted red pepper hummus (the Marketfresh one from Wal-Mart is our favorite) and bagel crisps. We can’t get enough of that combination! I also really like to snack on fresh cherries! So delish on a summer day. Now I’m sitting at work, still have 3 hours to go before I get to go to the lake, and my mouth is watering. Maybe blogging about food on a slow day at work isn’t the best idea.

In other news, I got the pictures back from the Couple’s Shower. The theme for this shower, as previously mentioned in another post, was Casino Night (chosen by a highly excited Charles.) The wedding party did a SPECTACULAR job on this shower, y’all. I really do have THE best friends and family. I won’t torture you with a ton of pictures, but here are a few just so you can see a hint of what the shower was like:

The hostesses created these CUTE card decks as favors with our names on the back.

"A" cookies for my new last name (Alley)

I made this by getting an old picture frame, glittering the sides with spray adhesive and glitter, and using chalkboard paint on the glass! Totally DIY!
 

Close up of the cards

Some of the food, all with Cards that had the item description on them!

Lovin on my wabes

The wonderful Hostesses and nyself!



Well, all, I better get back to work! Maybe if I do, the afternoon will go by faster and it will be lake time (wink wink!) Hope to see you all back here real soon for a weekend re-cap!

Until next time, xoxo
Michele

 

 

Something old, Something New

It seems that I have started all of my posts saying “WOW, what a long time it has been since I have last posted,” but it’s incredibly accurate. It has been too long since I have updated on my life, whereabouts, and the good old South. I had a wordpress site, where I used to post everything to, however I can never get wordpress to function properly, so I am switching over to blogspot! My other blog, The Babbling Bride, is up here as well. I have been updating that one with my perspective on the whole engagement on my blog in a bad way! If you want to follow Katie, she can be found here: http://gloriouslyreallifexo.blogspot.com/. I’m not going to delay your suspense any longer, so here is what I have been up to lately!

I’M ENGAGED! Charles proposed in November (shortly after my last blog post). I am beyond thrilled to be Mrs. Charles Alley in just 71 short days! As you can probably imagine, I have been absolutely worn out planning for the wedding. I found the perfect dress, picked out flowers and decorations, gotten our engagement photos taken (check out the website of our awesome photographers here: www.beatyphotography.com), sent out save the dates, picked out the cake, and so on and so forth.

My wedding party threw Charles and I a Couples Shower (casino night themed) at the glass pavilion here in Fort Smith. It was absolutely everything we could have imagined, complete with cards, dice, food, friends, and family (and even a little old school Frank Sinatra playing in the background!) It seems to me as if Couples Showers are becoming increasingly popular with engaged couples. This way the groom gets to participate and it is more of a celebration than just a shower. It was great to see some out of town family and friends we hadn’t seen in a while and might not get a chance to visit with much at the wedding. At the end of this month I will be having what I like to refer to as the “formal” bridal shower (and I can’t wait!) This is the shower my mom’s friends are throwing for me, girls only! Then in one month, the bachelorette party in Tulsa! This entire process has been amazing. I am sad to see it ending, but I am excited to finally get to the end result: being married to my “wabers.”

Other than wedding related activities, I have been spending my time cleaning, a never ending process; trying new recipes, which is one of my favorite things to do, so if you have any good recipes, please share; spending time with girlfriends (I have the best group of gals that gets together for girls nights where we drink wine, eat fondue, and have great conversations); and going to the lake! Going to beautiful Lake Ouachita is the perfect cure for every day stresses. Since there is no beach close by, the lake is our weekend escape. We spend the mornings sipping on coffee and reading on the patio, the days on the lake boating and baking in the sun, and our evenings resting and cooking a nice dinner, maybe watching a movie or roasting s ’mores (if we are feeling the need to indulge in a sweet treat!)

Even though I have been increasingly busy lately (the wedding planning takes more of my time than I realized it would), I have been struggling to find positive things to do to pass time by before bed. If you don’t take time in your day to spend by yourself where you are not working, cleaning, cooking, etc. then I highly recommend finding 30 minutes a day to take a breather and indulge in something good for the soul. For me, I (attempt to) spend 30 minutes a day find a positive, encouraging story or a devotional. I cannot wait until I am married and can start my new devotional, The Power of a Positive Wife. Reading a devotional or a positive story each day is a good way to restore your faith in humanity or just escape to a place of no stress or anxiety. I’m always on the hunt for a good-for-the-soul read, so if you can think of any good ones, let me know! I’m almost positive my next read will be Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, however it is always good to have backups for us fast readers!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the proposal and our engagement photos (be sure to check out www.beatyphotography.com.)

Until next time! xoxo

Michele