Hey y’all!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

It’s been a little while since I’ve checked in on life happenings, so here’s what I’ve been up to lately!

As always, Colby and I have been spending a lot of time with the Littles. They are wild and crazy, but so sweet!

Friday night, I went to hang out, and during a movie, Little Girl reached over and held my hand. She’s usually all over the place and rarely slows down, so when she does, it’s SO SWEET!

Y’all know how much I love Gussy Sews, right? A few months ago, I joined The Gussy Club! For three months, I get a fun new Gussy product! 

This one came in June! So stinkin’ cute, right?

Oh, the kitty cat…I’ve been working a lot lately, so when I’m home, he’s so excited that he can’t leave me alone! It’s not enough to just lay beside me. He has to lay ON me!

I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle Smith and being a community leader in her session at Blissdom, and I was so excited when I found out she was writing a book on social media engagement. The book just recently came out, and I was so excited to find it!

On Saturday, I got a surprise visit at TVP from some of my cousins that I haven’t seen in years! They were in town for a family reunion on the other side of their family, but they stopped in to say hi. It was just wonderful! I briefly saw them at church Sunday morning, and then when Colby and I went to lunch after church, they were in the same restaurant, so we got to eat together! It was so nice to be able to catch up.

It’s been a crazy, busy, exhausting few weeks, but I’m looking forward to some fun with friends, a trip back home, and a VACATION (I mean, I’m just going home, but still!)!

What have YOU been up to lately?

Hey y’all!

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about things I’m loving, so here are a few of my current obsessions!

My new dress from Hazel & Olive…

My new bag from Gussy Sews…

My ring from The Vintage Pearl…

and, this new song from Cassadee Pope…

What are YOU currently obsessed with?

Hey y’all!

I thought after a week of blogging nearly every day that I was over my blog funk. Turns out, maaaaaaybe I wasn’t so over it :) Sorry for the silence around here.

Sunday was Father’s Day!

Hey y’all!

I know it’s been a week and a half, but I just realized that I never blogged about my Memorial Day weekend!

I had a great day off! The kitty cat and I slept until 9:45 (hallelujer!). I made plans on Sunday night to spend the day with Joyce and the Littles. I expected to spend the day hanging out at their house playing outside with the kiddos, but Joyce had bigger plans.

We went to the zoo!

I hadn’t been to the zoo in years! I think I was waaaaay more excited than a 27 year old should be about the zoo :)

We fed the kids a quick lunch, and then loaded up the monster van and headed to the zoo. It was the perfect day for a zoo trip. It was sunny but breezy and not too hot. We couldn’t have picked a better day. We decided on a game plan when we went in for what we wanted to see: giraffes, monkeys, and elephants. Anything else in between was a plus!

The elephants are kind of adorable :)

The kids had so much fun! They loved getting to see the animals and run around for awhile. I was super nervous when we let the kids out of the stroller, but for the most part, they stayed close to us and didn’t try to run away.

Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking that this is another story about a perfect day with perfect kids and how people make their lives look like perfect little storybooks. Well, let me tell you the rest of the story.

Like I said before, the kids did much better than I thought they would, until the end.

As we were finishing up seeing the elephants, the girls decided they needed to potty. Joyce took them while I stayed outside with Little Man. After a few minutes, Little Miss and Little Bit ran out of the bathroom. Little Miss ran past me and under a rope into an area marked ‘employees only’! I yelled for her but she kept going. Little Bit followed. I yelled for Joyce and scooped up Little Bit. I ran back to the bathroom as Little Bit screamed and bit my arm. I dropped her at the door, pushed Little Man and the stroller to the door, and ran for Little Miss.

I went under the rope and around a corner. No Little Miss. Of course, my paranoid mind assumed the worst, knowing for sure she was about to be trampled by elephants. I turned another corner, and she looked up at me saying, “I’m looking at the water.” I picked her up and ran back to Joyce, fussing at her all the way back.

We pulled everyone into the bathroom and locked the door. As Joyce finished changing Little Man, I tried to keep Little Bit from sticking her hands in the toilet, Little Girl from turning the sink on and off, C from turning the dryer on and off, AND Little Miss from unlocking the door and running away AGAIN!

We decided to strap Little Bit in the stroller because she was being a pain and Little Miss as punishment for running away from me. Little Bit was having none of that. She started throwing a huge fit, and let me tell you, she throws fits like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Little Miss was standing on the back of the stroller and Little Girl wanted up there so they were screaming and pushing each other. I tried to help Joyce strap in Little Bit and break up the fight all while carrying Little Man on my hip. Finally, Joyce said we needed to get back outside before someone thought we were beating the children! We got out and started back to the entrance to the zoo.

Little Bit screamed. The whole. Way. Back.

Little Man became too heavy for me to carry, so we sat him in the stroller next to Little Miss. He started pushing Little Bit’s headrest, which ticked her off even more, and she started screaming louder. Little Miss started patting Little Bit on the head saying, “It’s ok, Sissy.” Little Bit pulled her paci out of her mouth and started swinging it at Little Man while trying to Bit Little Miss. She managed to kick off one shoe and sock. All this time, Little Girl was a walking zombie and couldn’t keep up with us, and C was whining about the animals we didn’t get to see.

I have to say, I was a little bit happy when our zoo adventure was over!

Hey y’all!

Last Wednesday night, Colby and I got to go to Healing in the Heartland, Blake Shelton’s concert to benefit tornado victims here in Oklahoma. The concert sold out in 30 minutes, so we were super lucky to even get tickets!

Ironically, we were in the middle of a major thunderstorm while we were driving to the concert. There was a lot of heavy rain, high winds, and a little bit of hail mixed in. Good times.

The show was broadcast on television, and then after the tv broadcast was over, we were treated to another hour and a half concert from most of the performers! It was truly an incredible thing to experience!

Alrighty, I’m going to give y’all a play-by-play of the show!

It opened with Lance West, one of our local tv reporters. He introduced the group singing the national anthem, Team Blake and Team Usher from The Voice!

Yep, we got to see Danielle Bradbury, Holly Tucker, The Swon Brothers, and Michelle Chamuel! They sang acapella, and it was beautiful! That was cry #1 for me :)

We heard from Governor Mary Fallon, the mayor of Moore, and a representative from the United Way, the group Blake chose to receive the money raised by the concert.

THEN, we were introduced to our host for the evening, Blake Shelton!!!

Blake chatted with us for a bit, and when the show started, he opened with “God Gave Me You”. Ashley tears round two got started right about the time the first notes of that song started playing.

Darius Rucker came next! I love that even though he is not from Oklahoma, he wanted to be a part of the show. It really meant a lot to have the support!

Rascal Flatts!

They asked us to all turn on the flashlights on our cell phones, and the whole arena was lit up! Very cool!

Miranda Lambert! She performed “The House That Built Me” and couldn’t get through it without crying. It was a beautiful moment, and I bet you can’t guess who was crying right along with her!

Ryan Tedder from One Republic

REBA!! I love her. I just…love her. She is flawless and amazing, and I don’t really have the words to describe how much I adore her!

Vince Gill! He is such a legend. It was an honor to get to see him perform live.

Luke Bryan. He was good.

The show ended with Blake and Usher singing “Home”. It was the perfect end to a great show!

The tv broadcast may have ended after a great hour of music, but the show was far from over for us!

Blake and Usher brought their teams from The Voice back out, and they all performed “Play Something Country”, which was played on The Voice last night! They are all soooooo good, y’all! If you’re not watching The Voice, you are missing out!

We were treated to more performances from several of the artists! 

Darius Rucker came back to perform “This” and “Wagon Wheel”.

Miranda rocked out to “Kerosene” and “Baggage Claim”. She’s one of the best artists out there right now, and she killed it!

Sweet moment between Blake and Miranda! Could they be any cuter?! Seriously…

Blake played a great mix of his songs, like “Honey Bee”, “Sure Be Cool If You Did”, “Hillbilly Bone”, “All About Tonight”, “Boys Round Here”, and “Ol’ Red”.

He joined Reba for a duet of her song “Oklahoma Swing”. Pretty much made my life!! I love them so much!

Reba sang “Turn on the Radio”, one of my favorites!

Luke Bryan performed again.

Usher came back and sang Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”! It was gooooooood!

One of the things I love most about Blake Shelton is that no matter how big his career is, he doesn’t forget where he came from. He has chosen to leave the Nashville scene to live in the small town of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, because that’s home. I love how proud his is to be from Oklahoma, and I love how much he loves Oklahoma!

Healing in the Heartland was a fantastic night. It was wonderful to feel such support for the hurting people in my state. It was nice to have a night of fun and good music! Even though I wasn’t personally affected by the storms, it breaks my heart to see the devastation just a few miles down the road, in towns I’ve driven through many many times. I hurt for my fellow Oklahomans, but I know that we will get through this and be stronger than ever.

Never Ever Ever will I…

…give up Dr. Pepper. Or chocolate. I won’t do it!

…enjoy a thunderstorm.

…understand the appeal of Luke Bryan (I just don’t get it!).

…live somewhere with colder weather than Oklahoma.

…stop listening to pop music like *NSYNC, 98*…

Link up your Never Ever Evers with Neely, Stephanie, and Shelley!

Also, go vote for Neely for Dallas A List best local blogger!