{Texas Tuesday - Helping our Neighbors}

Hey y'all!! Happy Texas Tuesday!!

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What is Texas Tuesday? A chance for you to show off the awesomeness that is TEXAS!! You can blog about anything; restaurants, vacation spots, venues, concerts, your hometown, shops, fashion, sports, etc. The linkup is not limited to Texans, we just ask that the post is about Texas. 


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Changing things up a bit this week. Oklahoma is too heavy on my heart to talk about Texas today. Instead, I want to talk about how we can help our neighbors in Oklahoma. I cannot fathom the hurt and devastation this small community is facing right now. My heart and my prayers are with OK. 

A large part of my heart is actually in Oklahoma right now. My Daddy. His company is working on the casinos there. He did see tornadoes and rotating clouds above him, but thankfully none touched down where he was.

{via }

Ways we can help...

United Way of Oklahoma - The United Way of Oklahoma is accepting funds that will then be redistributed to the organizations working directly on the ground for this tragedy. You can go here to donate.

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief Fund - The Southern Baptist Convention has a disaster relief fund set up to benefit any disasters in Oklahoma. Any funds you give currently will go towards relief of this current disaster. Click here to donate to the Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief Fund.

Feed The Children Disaster Relief - Feed the Children is vowing to help bring people the everyday goods that they need to survive after many of them lost everything. You can help them provide these goods by donating here.

Team Rubicon – Team Rubicon consists of military veterans that still want to use the skills they were trained in during their time in the military to help people recover after a disaster. They are already on the ground in Oklahoma helping in the search and recovery efforts. You can donate to them here.

If you don't want to donate online you can always donate via text. (I did this during the West, Texas explosion several times and it simply just came on my next cell phone bill. Some go to general funds like the Red Cross, but they are there and helping, so to me that is still donating to Oklahoma and helping even though you're not giving to a fund set directly for Oklahoma.

Text STORM to 80888 to donate $10 to The Salvation Army.

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross.

Text FOOD to 32333 to donate $10 to the Regional Food Bank.

Thank you for partnering with the Texas Bloggers to help our neighbors in Oklahoma rebuild. 

Link up your posts to help Oklahoma or your Texas Tuesday posts below!  

 

{Day 21...my favorite posts}

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

Well, these Blog Every Day in May posts have been some of my favorites so far. 

And of course, Mason's Birth Story.

And my Keepin' It Real posts.

{Day 20...stumblin' and strugglin'}

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

As superficial as it sounds, my weight. That's what I am struggling with the most right now. Ten or so years ago I did the no/low carb diet and lost 55ish pounds. I kept it off for several years. Got married, moved out to the country {ya know, where the eatin' is good} and probably gained 10 pounds of that back. Then, I got pregnant. I gained 40 pounds with my pregnancy and have had a hard time getting rid of it. Nursing didn't even help me lose any of the weight. And it feels like I could just look at a pizza and gain 5 pounds. Seriously!   

Anyhow...

I've been dieting for 3 or 4 weeks now. Eating really healthy and exercising more and the weight is coming off sooooo slow. I've lost a few inches, but I'm not as happy with the results so far. As drastic as I changed my eating habits I feel like I should have lost more by now!

Grr! Such is life. 

{Day 19...5 favorite blogs}

Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them


Narrowing this to only 5 blogs is going to be difficult for me...I have a lot of favorite blogs!


1.) Corner with Love - Ashley and I have become pretty good friends over the last few weeks. She's so sweet and we have so much in common. Her blog is a daily read for me. She is so raw, so real. Ashley is also doing the Blog Every Day in May challenge. Also, she sells some pretty awesome camera straps here. You should probably just stop reading this post and head on over there!! 

 2.) Princess of the Panhandle - Amanda, of course!! She's my bloggy bff, turned real life friend. We hit it off quickly and our friendship grows by the minute. We also have a ton in common and I love her to pieces. I hate that there are so many hours between us!! We try to get together every chance we can. Amanda has the sweetest little girl named Teale {I know, right! Cutest name ever} and is married to a real Cowboy!  We host a linkup together every Tuesday called Texas Tuesday. Come link up with us some time!

  

3.) Enjoying the Journey - Lauren is another one of my favorites!! She's a complete doll. A Texas gal to the very core. We are trying to arrange a meetup soon. I just love her to pieces. On her blog you can find loads of traveling and the live of an Interior Designer.

 4.) Life Chasers - Kaylee - I have been reading her blog for as long as I can remember. Definitely one of the first 5 blogs I started following. She shares the sweetest things about her two precious girls and has the prettiest photos! She also shares a lot of yummy recipes.

 6.) Casey Leigh - Casey is one of those bloggers that pours out her heart and feelings through her blog. Like a real personal journal that she shares with the world. And she's one of those that says everything that your heart feels. At least for me she does! She has the most precious babies. Casey owns an art studio and her hubby has started his own film company. He's about to embark on a new journey called American Blogger where he will travel the world talking to different bloggers. I can't wait to follow along. Oh, and he's traveling with an Airstream trailer. LOVE!

{Day 17...favorite photo}

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

Right now these are my favorite photos...

 

Almost every afternoon after school we hang out on the front porch and just talk and play and take a million pictures. It's my favorite time of the day. And in the two pictures above I actually see similarities in our looks! He usually only ever looks like his Daddy. 

 

{Day 16...My lot in life}

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

When I first started the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge I remember looking at the list and thinking, hmm, I'll probably skip #16 {along with a few others}. But, I took on this challenge head on and do not want to skip any of the days. 

I've thought and thought and thought some more about this topic and I have nothing. Absolutely nothing. My little "lot in life" may not be perfect, but it's perfect for me. Cliche I know. But true none the less.
 
I am humbled by this simple sweet little life that the Lord gave me. 

 

{Groovebook}

Groovebook

A week or so ago I saw a post on a friend's blog about Groovebook and immediately downloaded the app. I am so glad I did.

What's Groovebook?

{from their site here}

Groovebook is a FREE app that lets you choose up to 100 photos from your camera roll into a beautiful 4.5" x 6.5" photobook for FREE and mails it to you monthly.

Your photos are printed on glossy photo paper and perforated for easy removal. That means you can share, frame, decorate, scrapbook and more. All this for FREE and just $2.99 each month for shipping and processing!
 
I got my first book just a few short days after I downloaded the app and I might have squealed!! I love that the pages are perforated. 

This is not a sponsored post...but they gave me this coupon to share with as many friends as I wanted, so I thought it was worthy of a post.

Use the code in the picture above for a free book!

{Day 15...A day in my life}

Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like

Many of you already saw this on my What I do Post...but here's what a day in my life usually looks like {during the week}.

• Wake up, get myself ready. Make lunches. Take all of our bags out to the car and start it. Wake up Mason. Take him to potty. Sometimes he goes in the bathroom and sometimes he wants to pee off the porch {we live in the country}. Then I get him ready for school. 
• Load him up in the car and drive him 15 minutes down the road to his school. 
• Put all his stuff in his cubby and say my goodbyes. Sometimes it goes really well and he tells me to "leave Mama" and sometimes he cries for me. It's a tug-o-war with the heart, either way.
• Drive another 35-40 minutes {depending on traffic} to my office in Dallas. 
• Work 8-4 - answer phones and emails, place orders, invoice clients, etc.
• Head back to Mason's school to pick him up {highlight of my day}.
• Drive home.
• Unload car and our bags. Start dinner {sometimes}, a load of laundry and pick up things that need to be put away. Then Mason and I will usually play outside until Daddy gets home. He plays in his sandbox, or rides his Jeep or his bike. Or we go visit Jake. I take a lot of pictures and blow up everyone's Instagram feed!! :)
• 6:00pm Daddy gets home. Mason runs to greet him every time. Then we either finish dinner, or decide on dinner. Eat. Hangout. Bathe. And go to bed.
• Start over again.

On Tuesday evenings we have Blast Ball practice.

Wednesday nights Nate has softball games.

I love this crazy, busy beautiful life. 

What does a day in your life look like?? 

 

{Texas Tuesday - Rockett Cafe & Club}

Hey y'all!! Happy Texas Tuesday!!

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What is Texas Tuesday? A chance for you to show off the awesomeness that is TEXAS!! You can blog about anything; restaurants, vacation spots, venues, concerts, your hometown, shops, fashion, sports, etc. The linkup is not limited to Texans, we just ask that the post is about Texas. 

We don't make following any of the hosts a requirement, but we do ask that you include our button and at least post about a Texas related topic. Any links that are not related to the link up will be deleted. (button code is in grab box below the image above)

We've invited Texas bloggers to co host with us weekly. So far we have gotten a great response and have co hosts scheduled through the end of March. If you're interested in being a co host for our link up please email Amanda at princessofthepanhandle(at)gmail(dot)com and she will get you on the calendar. 

This weeks co-host is one of my really great bloggy friends, Lauren, who blogs at Enjoying the Journey.  Lauren is a good ol' Texas gal who is as sweet as they come. Make sure you stop by and visit her blog.


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Today I want to share a little gem that just happens to be in my neck of the woods! The Rockett Cafe and Club.  I remember when I first met Nathan and his family they would always talk about this place and their chicken fried steaks!! A year or so later I went with them to the Rockett Cafe and it seemed like it took us forever to get there! It was far! Little did I know that many years later we'd live like a mile from it. Doesn't seem all that far away now! ha!

Rockett Cafe got new owners since we've lived near it, but the menu didn't change. Mostly everything stayed the same except the bar! They've done complete renovations and additions to the bar area. It's become a pretty popular place, too. 

The cafe and bar are only open Wed-Sunday. During the weekdays they host karaoke at the bar and Saturday nights they host a Texas Country Band. They've hosted some pretty big named ones, too! I'm just waiting for Aaron Watson to play there. Just sayin! And on Sunday they have the Ranch Roadhouse...free and welcome to the family. 

When Nathan and I worked with 106.9 The Ranch we worked many events at Rockett. It's a pretty awesome venue!

Food pictures all via the Rockett Cafe website here

My pictures...

{Day 14...my list of Happy}

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

When I saw this prompt I got so excited!! One of my favorites, Ashley, writes a "List of Happy" on her blog every week and I adore it. It's so uplifting and well, it just makes me happy. And now I get the chance to do the same!

1. Jesus
2. Mason and Nathan
3. Blogging
4. The friendships I have made from blogging
5. Family time
6. Ranger games
7. Taking pictures
8. Dance parties with Mason
9. Farms and barns
10. This video...{there is no picture, just Mason telling what makes his heart happy. I ask him this all the time}

What makes you happy?

{Day 13...Sorry I'm not Sorry}

First off - Congratulations to Stephany for winning our Mother's Day giveaway! Steph, please get in touch with Emily to get your goodies!!

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.

Dear Mason,

I'm sorry that I'm not sorry for taking 1,000 too many photos of you a day. I know you sigh and trying to run like the wind every time I get my camera out. But, sweet boy, I promise you {or your future wife} will thank me one day. 

 

So yeah....sorry I'm not sorry!

I love you sweet boy!
Mama