mmm girl those shoes are fine

Mom visit = 5 new shoes magically in my closet that lead to "mmm girl those shoes are fine" at work.

Oreo Pops

Every week I make something to bring to work for my training class to enjoy.  This has by far been the easiest and most favorite.
Take a bag of Oreos and an 8 oz. package of cream cheese and blend together in a food processor.  Roll into balls and put in fridge for 30 minutes.  Melt "candy coating"(thats what they call almond bark down here) dip them, and put back in fridge until they harden! 
I can't even describe how tasty these are, you will just have to see for yourself! 

Whoooo doggy

For the last 2 weeks I have been setting my alarm an hour early in order to run in the morning before work and before the hot heat arrives.  For the past 2 weeks I have been hitting my snooze button in order to stay in my sheets an extra hour. For the past week I run after work-no matter what time of the evening, and it is 91 degrees.  I will no longer be bragging about the hot weather down here.  We do not get the cool evening effect that y'all get up north.  The one motivation to keep running while I am out there is that if I stop my soaked skin will be a magnet for all of the bugs flying around.  I could hush all of my complaining and run in the clubhouse on the treadmill....but....hey I might just have to start doing that.  I wreak.

Want to relax? Listen here

**Be sure to turn your sound up and try to match his notes. It is sure to be a good time. 
:)


p.s. I love my job and the people that come with it.  
p.s.Tornado Alley sure wants people to know here he got his name.

Spa City- Hot Springs, AR

Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs, AR

Cooling room

Needle point shower to clean you off before your hot/cold towel wrap.

 Steam box that you can only sit in for 3 minutes before you feel like you are going to melt away.

These were their exercise machines!

We had AMAZING bruschetta and porteblla mushroom pasta with basil pesto sauce.  I will be going back here to Angels.  

We decided to suck it up and have a Bathhouse "experience" and went to the Buckstaff bathhouse. Read about it on the website HERE  it is really interesting.  We were put threw all the steps that were shown in the above pictures, the mineral bath, the steam box, the needle point shower, and the soak box.  It was then followed by a 20 minute swedish massage.  Here are a few pictures of our sheets roman attire. I am so ready for a TOGA PARTY NOW!! I know a few styles to wear.  

Leave it to me to have the most awkward stance.  

We did have a lot of fun in the dressing room. Thank God we were put in one by ourselves.

We had never felt so refreshed in our entire lives. It was definitely an experience. I highly recommend it and would be happy to take any visitors.


You can take a stroll behind Bathhouse Row and see several hot springs.  I wish you could see the steam coming from this one! 

Bad Day? Lookey here!

http://photosofarkansas.com/



I stumbled upon this amazing photographer's site today. The cool this is that I have been to most of these places and now I want to go back and see if I can take better pictures...
Click on the tabs on the upper right corner by region to see his pictures.

Pinnacle Mountain

On Saturday I decided to stop by Pinnacle Mountain State Park. It is one of the closest state parks to me and I have driven past it I don't know how many times.  Pinnacle Mtn. is the middle hump in the picture below.  It ended up being a really neat park with horse back riding ($25/hr), paddle boats, hiking trails, and a really neat climb.  All of the other state parks I have been to have a road all the way to the top of the mtn., but this one you actually had to climb to.  I will definitely be going here again since it is so close and is a great work out.  I talked to my neighbors today and they told me about a trail on the mtn. that leads you to a big waterfall as well!!

awesome pic online

My pic

It may be hard to tell who is helping who.

Pinnacle is only 1,000 feet but it was neat to see how quickly you were rising. My ears actually popped at this point. 

Lake Maumelle is on the right and those two humps are called Maumelles Pinnacles. I am now looking forward to climbing them.

There is a west summit trail and an east summit trail but people were climbing up from literally every angle. I have no idea how this person was free climbing. 

There is Lake Maumelle again. It is part of the Arkansas River.

I was about to take a picture off in the distance and this guy popped up on top of those rocks. So I waited until he went away but I still got him in the picture when he was coming around!

Have you seen my party barge?

When I was out and about on Saturday I crossed the Arkansas River and saw a bunch of stuff (for lack of a better word) in the water. I pulled over for a closer look only to find there was also a marina floating down the river. You can barely see the rest of it to the left.

When I zoomed in with my camera...aaah...there were two boats still in their slips. It won't get very far as there is a dam about a mile down. From the Tornado and now the flooding, there are tragedies everywhere around here. Don't worry I did my civil duty and asked around to see who should be notified about this, but the fishermen had it under control. (The river is under "no boating" restrictions yet there were about 30 rigs in the boat launch I stopped at.)

Back to my own bed!

The last 4 nights I have been on a mini-vacaaaay.  I have been sleeping in my other room. Can you say dork? That is how much I love change I guess.  I haven't had to make my bed either.  It doesn't take much to make me happy people. 

Brr.

It did not take long for me to become a freeze baby down here. I tried to have my Sunday coffee outside and upload some pictures, but the sun just wasn't warm enough for the 64 degree weather. Uh oh. Pathetic. 

I'm here I'm here

I know I have some major time to recap but it is on my list of things to do this weekend! You have no idea what I have seen or been up to these last few weeks. I know. I know. In the meantime here is my official work picture.  Getting rid of my lovely roots is also on my things to do this weekend. Do I look old to you? I feel like I finally may not look 13 years old anymore. Maybe now I am up to 15 years old.  The heat is not letting up here. It is 80 when I go to work in the morning and 80 + when I go to bed.

We got chemistry

Can you see what's wrong with this picture?

I was browsing around the Clinique counter at Belk last week and sprayed a little bit of this fragrance on me and immediately couldn't stop smelling my wrist.  The lady behind the counter was helping someone else and I didn't need anything so I kept walking (and smelling my wrist).  I went on with my day and realized when I went to bed that I still loved the smell of this stuff.  I went back again a few days later to find out what exactly it was that I loved.  


It turns out I loved a men's cologne.  I asked the lady behind the counter if women ever wear this and for her to reassure me that fragrances smell different on different people. She confirmed both and I left (after spraying more on myself).  Today I went back again, and the same lady sold me a bottle of this.  I am hoping I can get through my first day of work tomorrow and not look like this the entire time.  


I am going to be that woman who wears men's cologne.  As my Mom said, "I'm a tough chick."

IMPOSSIBLE shot

You might be a redneck if....this was at Toad Suck Daze

The rest of the pictures are from Petit Jean. Ariel, that is the top of the waterfall we hiked down too!

Umm this is a Ford Raptor. I would like one.

My Dad and I were interviewed by Chuck and Chuck for a public broadcasting show that will take place on July 4th.  

Nat we may be sleeping in a tepee one night you are here.

The Arkansas River is causing MAJOR flooding right now. Major.

Truck at the Toad Suck Daze car show. Can you picture me picking you up in this? Just hop on in!