HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Randomly Lately

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write a lengthy blog post, so here’s what we’ve all been up to lately:

ME:
● We’re about halfway through the summer and I’m already so antsy for another vacation. The only downfall in taking our beach vacation in May is that ours was over way too quick and instead of looking forward to the beach all summer, I now get to watch the rest of the world play in the ocean via Instagram. Todd and I are starting to plan a few weekend road trips here and there, so hopefully that will get me by until next year. In the next couple of months we’re headed to Branson, St. Louis, and Kansas City. Man… We must REALLY love Missouri. I also have a few work trips scheduled, like Detroit, here in a couple weeks. I’ve never been, but am excited to visit a new city for the first time. I just realized how close it is to Windsor, so I’m going to try to hop over over to visit Canada for the first time too.
● I was recently super excited to find out that I won second place in the Homeaway Postcards from the Past contest! I submitted this blog post as my entry and, what do ya know, I ended up winning a $500 Visa gift card! Perfect timing, as that will come in handy for one of our weekend getaways.
● As of this month, I’ve been back at my job for two years! Other than an internship, it was my first real job out of college. I tried to leave once and ended up coming back. As cheesy as it is, I’m so grateful to have a job that I look forward to every day.

FAMILY:
● This summer Iris gets to participate in different camps every week at her Montessori school. Yoga camp, farm camp, gross motor skills camp, art camp, camping camp (my favorite just because I like saying it), etc. So far her favorite new skills are husking corn and kicking a soccer ball. Maybe I’ll see if she can do both at the same time. Iris is also still going to gymnastics once a week and loving it. And I’m loving that I finally found leotards that aren’t the tackiest things I’ve ever seen.
● It’s been over a year since Todd and friends started a new business, Flyer Homes Real Estate Company. It’s been exciting to watch it do so well in just the first year. Between owning two companies, brewing beer, being a dad, building us a swing and porch, playing in a band, Todd is staying pretty busy. And obviously very awesome.
● My mom just moved to a cute little house within walking distance of the Fayetteville town square.
My dad is two-thirds of the way through his chemo. Go, dad. Go!

LOCALLY:
● I’m loving the new Cardamon & Curry restaurant. We got a sneak peek before the official opening and it’s already one of our new favorites. I’m also still obsessed with one of the owners’ other restaurants, Woodstone Craft Pizza. I love the T.H.I.S.S.S pizza to eat and the Cucumber Cooler cocktail to drink. I only wish they served it in BUCKETS.
● I just signed on as a blog sponsor of The Jones Center and am excited to explore the facilities with Iris. Where else can you swim in the winter and ice skate in the summer around here?
● We went to our third Firefly Fling at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. I’ll post the magical photos soon.
● It’s been so extremely hot lately. We’ve been staying cool by finding fun things to do indoors. Bowling? Check. Day drinking? Check. Movie theater? Check. I’ve always been a summer-lover, but I am definitely ready for fall.

That’s it for now folks!

Frozen Day at The Jones Center

{This post is sponsored by The Jones Center}.

So how excited do you think Iris was when I told her that she was going
ICE SKATING with ELSA AND ANNA?

You guessed it…

THIS excited:

Frozen

If you are local to the NW Arkansas area, here’s where you can join the Frozen ice skating fun:

WHEN: Saturday, July 25 from 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
WHERE: Jones Center / 922 E. Emma, Springdale, AR
WHAT: Dress up in your best Frozen gear and join the characters from Once Upon a Party in Northwest Arkansas on The Jones Center’s Ice Arena for just $3 per skater.

For more info you can also follow along on event updates via the Jones Center Facebook invite. You better believe that Iris will be there with bells on… err ice skates!

Frozen

Frozen

Frozen

Frozen

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

Thank goodness for a three-day weekend. That’s the only way we could have squeezed all of the wonderfulness into this year’s holiday. Here’s our Fourth in photos:

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Our best friends – and neighbors – had a baby girl! Meet Evelyn Faye.
These folks just about killed me because they didn’t find out if she was a boy or girl until she was born. I cried (like a baby) when I found out that Iris would have new little girl-friend living just a short walk out our back gate.

4th of July Weekend

My friend Bev and her family came to town for the holiday weekend. We walked down to visit our other new BFF who is a whopping three weeks old. Meet sweet Alice.

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

Iris kept busy playing outside all weekend.

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

And Todd even built Iris a tree swing!
I went to the grocery store and when I came back, it was magically there so I didn’t get to witness how the heck he got it hung way up there.

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

On the Fourth we went over to Bev and Aaron’s family’s house for dinner and a swim. This is something we’ve done for the past four or five years, so now it’s like a sweet little tradition.
4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

4th of July

4th of July Weekend

Nat, Will, and Iris were all lucky to receive some Mini Souls goodies, so we did a little impromptu photoshoot with their matching Go Outside shirts.

4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

Sunday we spent around the house cleaning, lounging, cooking, and preparing for a busy week back to school at work.

Summer, can you last all year?

4th of July

Silver Dollar City

This past weekend Todd and I made a last minute decision to take Iris to Silver Dollar City. It was her first theme park experience and rain was in the forecast, so I wasn’t totally sure how it would go. I have to say it was the perfect time to bring her. She was old (and tall) enough to enjoy a lot of rides, yet young enough to get in for free! Plus the one rain shower kept the crowds away and kept us cool. Here’s our visit in photos. Can’t wait to go back, spend the night in some funny motel, and hit up White Water too.

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Postcards From The Past

Old photos / me & the fam van

When I was around four-years-old my family took a trip to Wildwood, Georgia during one of those infamous hot, southern summers. That was a long drive from our hometown of Memphis, and it probably felt even further in our old Volkswagon van that didn’t have a working air-conditioner. I don’t quite remember the drive. In fact, since I was so young, I don’t remember much about the trip at all except that we stayed in an old white house in the country up on top of a hill. There is, however, one part of our vacation in Wildwood that I have always held on to.

It was almost bedtime. The summer sun had set and the first stars were just starting to peek through the darkening sky. My mom had gone out for the evening, but before she left she instructed my older siblings to help me read something that she had posted to the refrigerator door. Hanging by a magnet was a white paper plate with the following words etched out in her handwriting:

Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight
.

My brother helped me read the bedtime rhyme and at the end I was told that I could make a wish. So what does every little girl in the mid-1980s wish for? A Care Bear, of course.

I remember falling asleep that night, stretched out on an old couch since I was the smallest and there weren’t quite enough beds for us all, but not as well as I remember waking up the next morning. Before I even opened my eyes I felt my little arms wrapped around a soft something. I jumped up to find myself hugging my very own, green clover Care Bear! I was stunned. My wish had come true! Our vacation house was in the middle of nowhere, so I knew that without a doubt that the twinkling star and my mighty wishing powers were what made this happen.

Even though I’m now grown, and I know that my mom just had a really good “mom moment”, I still always hold this sparkle of hope and wonder in my heart. A feeling that anything is possible and that happiness is always just a star away. Now I have a little girl of my own who is the same age that I was on that trip. As I try my best to make each vacation special with Iris, I know that she might not remember each little detail, especially at her young age. It’s crazy how much we forget as we grow, but even the things that we don’t remember still help shape us into who we become. So I will never quit trying to make magical moments for her, just as my family did for me. You never know which memories will inspire us many years later. All it takes is a night sky and a white paper plate.

This post was inspired by the HomeAway® “Postcards from the Past” contest. Wish me luck!