That Friday Blog Hop {Link-Up}

This blog hop is meant for anyone and everyone to join in and find other great blogs to read. 

You are welcome to link up anything from your blog, any & all social media {and everything in-between}

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Also, take a moment to check out this week's co-host as well.

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If you are interested in being a co-host for an upcoming week, please let one of us know.

Our co-host this week is Erin from Harris Heart-to-Hearts.
Stop by her blog and say hello.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Wishing my lover a very Happy Birthday today!!  I’m taking it way back with some old school pictures – including one from Halloween J We were so young!

Can’t wait to celebrate many more years with you!

I know I’ve been a slacker with this blog recently! I promise I’ll get back into a routine next week and then hopefully within the next couple of weeks I can spill what we've been working on! Stay tuned!

So, you want a new pair of shoes? {Giveaway}

Happy Fall, y'all! The brisk Autumn weather is the perfect excuse for new fall footwear! Mal, 11 other ladies, and I are giving away a $125 Zappos gift card to one lucky winner so she can buy a new pair of boots, flats, or other shoes.

Giveaways are a great way to discover new bloggers, make friends, and possibly win a prize! Be sure to stop by and check out these pretty ladies who helped make this giveaway possible!

Mal// Mackenzie// Hannah

Stephanie// Tamara// Jane// Ashley

Erin// Samantha// Raewyn// Kaylin

Stephanie// Danae

The giveaway will run Monday, October 21st, 2013 through Monday, October 28th, 2013.

To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter giveaway tool below. The winning entry will be verified so please be honest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Home Office {Reveal}

I’m finally getting to post the final reveal of Daniel’s office! He works in there every day and it definitely keeps him motivated to get his work and school work finished. To top it off, we both love how it turned out.  Double success!  We still have one side of the wall area to finish – we are actively looking for a leather over-sized chair/love-seat to put over there.  We haven’t found one we love, so the search continues.

We still need to find a few things to hang on the wall, but I didn't want to drag this out even longer!
To look back on how we got to the chevron wall - check out our how-to here

Furniture: Home Decorators Collection

Rug: We had from our 1^st house from Home Depot

Bookshelf decorations: A mixture of Target, Hobby Lobby, and a Local Antique Store

VA Safari Park

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I took the girls to VA Safari Park.  It’s a drive-through zoo about 2 hours away from us.  We thought it would be fun for the girls, and something different we haven’t done in the past.

When we got there, both girls were in the front with us.  Daniel was driving with Hayden in his lap, and Hadleigh was on my lap in the passenger seat. We had the windows rolled down ready to get up close and personal with some animals!  First up, the llamas.  They were fearless, and not shy to poke their head right on up in your business to try and get some food.  You could buy buckets of feed at the gate, but we opted out.  I think Hadleigh stayed in my lap for a few llamas, and then one stuck his (or her?) head in and got a little too close for her comfort.  She started saying “no, mama, no!” “I wanna go back in my seat!” So she hopped in the back, put herself back in her seat, and strapped herself in. She stayed there until close to the end.  Hayden enjoyed being in the front for the most part.   She didn't like when the llamas would stick their heads in the car either. 

They had all sorts of animals like llamas, deer, zebras, camel, bison, pigs, and ostrich.  After the drive-through part, we parked the car, and walked through the other part of the zoo.  This was the section of animals that needed to be caged.  They had kangaroos, tigers, monkeys, birds, and turtles.  The girls both enjoyed seeing all the animals at a safe distance J

It was a really hot day, so after seeing all the animals we were ready to get into some AC with cold drinks and some lunch.  We ended up at a small restaurant in Lexington, which ended up being really good.  Before heading home, we walked around town a little bit since we had never been.

 I love that we can do these fun adventures with the girls! Until next time…

It's been 4 years...

4 wonderful years!

We aren't perfect, but perfect for each other.  I adore my hubby and these past 4 years have flown by.  We've been together almost 12 years and married for 4.  We've bought our first house, got a second dog, got pregnant, had a baby, got pregnant again, sold our house, bought our second house, had a second baby, and TONS in between all of that!  I couldn't have chosen a better person to stand next to and build a life with. 

 

I’m pretty smothering on telling him how much I love him all the time, but I probably don’t tell him as often how much I truly appreciate everything he does for the girls and I. We definitely would be lost without him.  Watching him with the girls is right up there with one of the best things to see.  They think he is so funny – we call him our “hero” J

 

I cannot wait to see what many more years of marriage will bring to us! Happy Anniversary babe! I love you!! 

State Fair

The VA State Fair was in town last week, so we took Wednesday evening to head out there.  Hadleigh was really excited to go and told me when I picked her up from school that she, Hayden, and I were all wearing our cowboy boots.  Nene & Baba had bought the girls some pink cowboy boots a few days earlier, and Hadleigh is obsessed.  She then told me daddy needed to wear his, but I said “He doesn’t have any.” Hadleigh replied with “That’s ok. Baba will get him some.” Haha

The girls all got our cowboy boots on and were ready to head to the fair! We first stopped in the tent with all of the animals, so the girls could see pigs, chicks, cows, bunnies, and chickens.  Hadleigh wouldn’t touch anything at first because it was “gross”.  She did end up petting a bunny and a chicken.

Next we headed to the kid area for some rides!  Hadleigh and Daniel rode Dumbo and went through both fun houses.  Hadleigh *loved* the fun houses.  I think her favorite part was the slide at the end.  Unfortunately, Hayden was too short to ride the rides, so she just hung out on the side with me.  Hayden grabbed for fish to win some prizes for her & Hadleigh.  She did the work for Hadleigh because, again, the water was “gross”.  She’s funny.

Then we watched the small circus they had which was really good.  They had camels, a belly dancer, a few other acts, and the motorcycles in the metal ball.  That was insane and so dangerous.  Afterwards, Baba bought the girls light sabers and they were so happy! 

This year the fair was a success again! Can’t wait for next year!

Throwback Thursday! What What!

So, I’ve never participated in the Throwback Thursday – but my dad brought some little gems from the past, so I figured it was a good time. 

Really?! Do you guys remember putting your fingers in the holes and turning to get the film strip things back in its place?  Or continuously “stop, rewind, play” so you could hear your favorite part of the song over and over…and over? Takes me back!

And can we talk about the crazy taste in music that I had?

Just a few of the tapes I found:

Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart

Disney Soundtracks – Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King (I can still totally break out every word on these songs too!)

Dirty Dancing Soundtrack (white cassette tape pictured above)

Wilson Phillips – who doesn't love “Hold On”?!

Jock Jams – holllerrrrr!

CD pictured is Wyclef Jean 

Did you have a cassette collection? Do you still have it?

What’s the funniest/craziest one you owned?

Family Fun at Busch Gardens

This past weekend my parents, Daniel, the girls, and I packed up and headed to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the day.  My parents hadn't been since a couple weekends after their wedding – 35 years go! Daniel and I hadn't been since our senior years in high school, and the girls had never been. So, it was due! The weather was perfect – not too hot, but not too cold either.  When we got there, we went straight to the Forest of Fun – which is a section for little kids.  The girls enjoyed one of the rides and running through a little play area.

 

 

We walked the entire park, a few times.  We stopped for lunch in France and then rode the train, hoping that Hayden would take a nap. It wasn't successful. She went the entire day with no nap! 

Hadleigh rode the teacups with everyone except Hayden and I – she loved it J Daniel and I were even able to sneak away to ride 2 roller coasters – Verbolten & Griffon – both of which were intense! I think Verbolten took the prize between the two.

 

We also saw the animals and even got to see 2 shows they had that day.  The first one was an animal show and it was really cute.  Basically it was just several animals that they had rescued showing off their tricks. We all really enjoyed it.  The second show was not anything what we thought it was going to be.  There was a huge dinosaur on stage and it was called “Dig it up”, so we were expecting a dinosaur show.  It ended up being singing and dancing throughout history – starting at the cavemen.  It was just OK.

 
We ended the day with some pretzels and ice cream before leaving.  Hayden fell right to sleep in the car, but Hadleigh held strong! We might think about getting passes next year J