Summer Time

Whew. It has been a busy summer around the Bradley's neck of the woods.
I am attending both summer semesters at Henderson State University. Six is the maximum number of hours the college will allow a student to take in each summer session, and there are two sessions. So I will be twelve hours closer to finishing my BSE degree in August :) 
Summer I ended June 27 and I was so pleased to see that I earned As in both of my classes. Hooray!

Jason had the weekend home recently and surprised me with an impromptu trip out of town. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, just to pack an overnight bag and leave the fur kids extra food. We left on Saturday morning and drove the back highways from Benton to Harrison. The weather was absolutely gorgeous!  We made some fun stops along the way.

We stopped by Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. Since this wasn't our original destination and a last minute decision to stop, we didn't do the tour. We did watch a video about the mission of Heifer International and selected a few items from the gift shop. If you are interested, you can find out more about the organization by going to http://www.heifer.org/ 

We stopped at several little stores and tourist sites along the way. We I wanted to go see an Opera in the Ozarks performance in Eureka Springs but we didn't want to hurry so we decided to wait and go another time. We found a Hampton Inn in Harrison, Arkansas and checked in for the night. After going out to dinner we returned to the room and were in bed before ten. We were both pretty tired.

The next morning we decided to meander back home. We stopped at a couple of places along the Buffalo River to scout out some possible camp sites for an upcoming camping trip we want to take soon.  We had swim suits but had forgotten to bring towels and really didn't want to get wet and then have a long car ride home. I elected to wade in the river in my board shorts and flip flops. There were tiny fish and they tickled as they nibbled at my feet!

 

 

 

Jason is a fan of smoked meats and cheeses. We found two places within a mile of each other on Highway 64 in St. Joe, Arkansas. We stopped at both :)    Coursey's Smoked Meats makes really awesome sliced meat sandwiches so we picked up two along with chips and canned sodas and had a picnic on the Buffalo National River at Tyler Bend. I joked with Jason that the forest ranger was going to kick me out of the park for feeding a bear. My pet name for him is Honey Bear.

We had a really good time and it was just the break I needed between summer sessions. We got home Sunday afternoon and classes started back on Monday morning.

Hopefully we will get to take that camping trip next month and I can share more of our adventures.

Never too old for an Easter basket

My sweet husband is going to be out of town working this weekend and won't be home for Easter. This necessitated rearranging some plans, including giving his Easter basket early. I firmly believe that my good, hard working husband needs to be shown how much I appreciate him. One of the little ways that I do this is by taking the time to make him something special.
So here is Jason's 2013 (early) Easter basket:

 

 

I added some of his favorite things: eclipse chewing gum, Butter finger eggs, beef jerky, cheese dipping snacks, Reese's Eggs, different kinds of snack crackers, bread sticks, Jolly Ranchers, suckers, a new Iphone case, Iphone screen protectors, playing cards, and a little stick anywhere basketball hoop. Oh, and a rubber duck dressed as a super hero. Since he spends so much time on the road, I wanted him to have lots of snacks in his basket so he knows that I support him while he supports our family. It doesn't cost a fortune to make your husband a basket for Easter. Go for it! The big kid in him will appreciate your effort. :)

The Reception Decorations

I can't take much credit for the reception decorations. I made most the the elements, but my awesome friends put it all together that morning. It turned out fantastic!!! I am so thankful for them!

The tables were covered with white table clothes. The centerpieces are more sunflower, mason jar, and burlap. The clear plates were set on top of sunflower yellow doilies.

The head table with these cute signs and yellow linen table clothes draped diagonally.

The guest book table: We put one of our engagement photos in a frame made of weathered barn wood. The Guest Book sign is wooden and made by a friend. The basket contains the bird seed packets that I made.

I stamped plain brown mini bags with sunflower and love bird stamps. I purchased the stamps and bags at Michael's. I used a tiny piece of tape to seal the back of the bag.

The gift table had a cute white basket for cards and had another engagement photo displayed. It also had a larger flower arrangement. This was placed one one side of the front door, opposite the guest book, so that our guest could unload the gifts without having to carry them across the room while greeting family and friends.

The cake table had the same yellow linen that was on the head dining table. We also served after dinner mints and chocolate mints along with the cakes. We displayed another engagement photo here. The toasting glasses were tied with jute and we toasted with sparkling apple cider.

The beautiful cake was so perfect for our wedding. I loved the detail on the cake and then the sunflower and burlap around the center section.  

 

The groom's cake. We are both huge Walking Dead fans so we both liked this. Jason's comment to everyone was, "We are married until one of us turns to dust. Luckily I married a clean freak!" :)

Our menu featured beans and cornbread, mini corn dogs, cheese balls and crackers, veggie platters with dip, and little cocktail wieners. Jason made the beans and they were the best I have ever had. He got many compliments on them.



We made favor bags with tulle and candy corn. I thought that was cute for a fall wedding. These were put into small metal buckets and placed on each table.


 

I am so happy with how beautifully the reception hall turned out. It was a great time to visit with our family and friends and celebrate our marriage. 

Busy, busy October

I can't believe that it has been a month since I updated! It has been super busy around here.

On October 27, 2012 I married my best friend. This is an event that deserves its own post, so I am only mentioning it here. I will post details and pictures once we get the photos back from the photographer.

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. I didn't get to decorate the yard and porch as much as I usually do due to the wedding preperations, but I was able to get a few things set out.  Jason was able to be home that night, but wasn't feeling that well. He observed from the couch. I love handing out candy to all the trick or treaters! We usually get a lot of kids in our neighborhood.  I wish I had a picture of Jason's face when I came in from the store and started preparing the buckets of candy. He thought I was nuts to have that much candy ready. But when the night was over we only had part of one bucket left.

 

 

I am getting really excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will be going to the Bradley's for Thanksgiving and then we are hosting Christmas Day at our house. My sister and brother in law should be in town for Christmas and I am so happy! Now to get the deocrations out of the attic and the lights onto the house.....    :)



He asked! I said yes!

Monday, July 9th was a very memorable day. It started off as just another Monday. Jason had to leave out headed to Indiana so I was going to carry him to the truck yard. I love getting to drop him off at work, although I hate to see him go. We decided to meet his mom and sister for lunch before he had to leave. I called my mom to see if she wanted to eat also. We made plans to meet at Chiles at noon. On the drive to Pine Bluff he was so cheerful and funny. We were singing and dancing to the 90s on 9 XM radio station. (some one remind me when the suspension goes out on the Pretty Prius that we shouldn't dance in the car). He didn't seem nervous or anything.

When we arrived his mom, sister, and niece were already seated on one side of the table. I took the seat nearest the wall, trying to be courteous to my mom and Jason. Jason likes to sit on the outside, so Mom took the middle seat. We ordered and got our drinks. Jason stood up and asked my mom to switch seats so I could sit by him. I thought it was kind of weird, but switched with her.
Then when he kept standing and looked nervous, I knew something was up. He pulled a ring box from his pocket, knelt on one knee, and melted my heart with the sweetest proposal. Of course I said YES! Then Taylor, who is 4, came around the table with a dozen long stem pink roses and asked if I would  be her aunt. I nearly started crying. Even if I could have said no to Jason, there was no way to say no to Taylor! :)

I was so happy that our moms and his sister got to see him propose! My mom was crying! And his mom and sister took pictures. A waiter came by and gave me a high five and people were awwing and smiling at us. A few clapped. It was fun :)

And then I dropped him off to go on a 3 day run to Indiana. The people in his office were laughing that we got engaged and then he left. But it didn't seem strange to me. He works hard for our little family of doggie kids and for our future big family. I feel so blessed to be marrying the sweetest, most thoughtful, doting, loving man in the world.



I was shocked!

The beautiful ring!



The beautiful roses that Taylor picked out



I gave Momma Debbie (Jason's mom), Ashley (Jason's sister), my Momma, and Taylor (Jason's niece) each a flower from my bouqet. Taylor loved playing with hers and used the long stem to pretend it was a magic wand. She is so cute!