Arkanscott.
Meet Us.
Jennifer.
Mama. I have a problem with shopping. Night crier. Home decorating. Nacho cheese takes everything up a notch. Not afraid to love Britney Spears. Trying to own all the paper products in the world.
Nathan.
Wild man. Runs on tip toes. Into choo choos and trash trucks. Might miss something when he's asleep. Thomas is everything. Enjoys long walks. Are fruit snacks in the food pyramid? There is no one cuter.
Brian.
Daddy. Cleans his cleaning products. Works for the red roof. Should be in a rock band. Solves all family problems. Drinks way more creamer than coffee. Will be playing Xbox when he's 80.
Archives.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 9:07 PM
I was informed this weekend that the famous Dugger Family LIVES IN MY TOWN. I am freaking out big time and will make it my mission to grab a fan photo or accidentally get invited over for Wednesday night bible study and pizza.
I hope you really enjoy this post, because it took me a literal 3-hours to upload 15 measly photos on a computer that requires me to wind a crank in order to generate upload speed. Arkansas is still treating us well after the big two-week anniversary of our arrival. Brian and I celebrated by attempting to eat the 17 bags of Halloween candy that I purchased. We had a wild Friday night that involved some new friends, our kiddos, and me proposing marriage to a shrimp, basil and blue-cheese pizza. Saturday it was our mission to hit a pumpkin patch. We were directed to Farmland Adventures.
The website was maybe a little BOLD in it's description of this place, but by God, we were going to have a fall experience.
Nathan and I started out on a pony ride where Nathan immediately realized his fear of horses and I immediately remembered by severe allergy to horses. Just picture me literally running beside Nathan's pony, while he death-gripped me and I insured his safety.
Then we moved on and saw things like this:
And this sweet goat pyramid:
After we successfully dragged Nathan away from the large dried corn pit where him and his closest Arkansas friends swam in kernals of yellow corn, we were able to get this fine family picture. After this though, right back to the corn pit.
Later, we boarded what we thought was a nice hay ride out to a picturesque field full of our dream pumpkins. Nope. Turns out each passanger was handed 42 full-sized tortillas and told to toss them like frisbees at the cows. I didn't really get it until our little innocent hay ride turned into an episode of RUNNING WITH THE BULLS.
These things were out for blood and we're lucky we got out alive.
The hunt for the great pumpkin was on.
Those above photos should be saved and placed in the motherhood hall of fame.
Check out those thick stems. Woah there, Arkansas. There's children around.
We closed off the day with a long wagon ride back to the car. The following photo makes me want to have 45 more children.
It was a great time with perfect crisp fall weather. Speaking of crisp, Brian treated us all to Dickey's BBQ afterwards.
It was like a party in my mouth.
Very good brisket sammy with a combo of coleslaw and macaroni. Wash it down with some crispy fries and a large Dr. Pepper and it turns out I'm 30 pounds heavier. But you get my stamp of approval, Dickey's.
Wow that was a lot of pictures, a lot of time and a lot of heat coming from the laptop onto my nether regions.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013, 8:35 PM
Well, things are pumping right along in the natural state.
After having our fill of Chilli's, Olive Garden and Subway, we decided to venture out last weekend and try a new place that we've never ever heard of. That place would be, The Flying Burrito. Our town does not have a Chipotle (gasp) so we decided to go with the next best thing.
Turns out, this was NOT the next best thing. When we were in line for our burritos, I, appearing over-eager to inform people we're new, told the guy that looked like The Situation, that I had never been here before! What should I order?! Tell me how to do it?! He did not share my enthusiasm, as he looked like he was going to die from a drug overdose and fall into the refried beans. He asked me if I had ever been to Subway and we moved on.
I went with the beef burrito, added the white queso and then made a huge mistake. I thought I added diced green peppers and it turns out they were jalapenos. Millions of them. Going down my esophagus. Honestly, it seems like what it would be if I made a burrito, only more cold. The queso was good, but then again, if you mess up white queso, we need to talk.
I took this picture because I was going to reference her feeling of release as her jalapeno filled burrito hit the toilet, but let's not.
I still have no photos to show you of the house because nothing is up on the walls and I have large piles of everything everywhere. It's the stuff you didn't know you had but always wanted to hide. Bobby pins, soap, business cards, my fourth grade memory box. Where does it all go.
Last night I screamed for Brian to come to our front door. We opened it up and heard 5,000 bobcats (Brian said they were coyotes) crying. I just imagined them all in a pile, wiggling all over each other. They sounded awful and like they were all in my front yard. It was the weirdest thing and then it all just stopped. Probably because they found a way into my house.
I am obsessed with the weather here. It requires us to wear coats. And it froze last night. The heats on. It all just fits. You KNOW Jenny doesn't like to be sweaty.
Friday, October 18, 2013, 9:43 PM
Hey guys. Reporting from Arkansas where I've fallen in love with my central vacuum cleaner and the feature on my dishwasher that counts down how many minutes are left in the cycle.
I can't tell you how happy I am. On the day I moved out of Texas, I was wearing the least amount of clothing legally, in public, and my entire back was sweating. Now, in Arkansas, it's a low of 39 degrees tonight and coats are required! It even rained for two days in a row! Miraculous, as I've forgotten the joys of having four seasons and wanting to cook a chicken pot pie every hour.
My parents rolled into town about 4 hours after Ernesto and the big truck came to unload. Ernesto had pep in his step and bragged about the protein shakes he'd drink after a day of moving. Ernesto Jr. was his son and had a large head tattoo. Of course I asked him about it. It didn't hurt and it was a Dallas Cowboy's star. Hate to break it to you, but it looked more like a letter F. He also did share with me the ornate and large cross necklace he weaved out of a stretched plastic moving bag. He even worked in his name with blue foil from a wintergreen gum rapper. It's a good thing I'm married.
That team worked fast and pretty soon, my things were in my house. After giving my parents the tour, Dad manned the garage and Mom and I tackled the kitchen and the sad realization that I have an unhealthy amount of glassware. Nathan has been exploring, already knows where the yum-yums are and also just goes around the house screaming.
Can I just say it's nice to know that proper cursive isn't dead:
I can't believe this is where I live. I gained 8,000 pounds off of Mom's chocolate chip banana bread, Nathan started eating out of bowls without trying to frisbee the bowl across planet Earth and we ate from every chain restaurant known to man. Sidenote: I recommend the chicken bacon sandwich on a pretzel roll from Chili's. It changed my life.
This was my backyard one morning:
That's one heck of a welcome.
Anyway, the week was full of breaking down boxes and smoothing out large pieces of paper. And trying to convince Dad that we got the 3rd car garage to store things. And not to keep asking if he can bring my 4th-grade papers or my coconut purse into the house. We met a few neighborhood people. Not going to brag, but I got invited to my first party. We discovered that we can walk down our street and see cows in the pasture, which really gets Nathan's juices going. Our backyard is life-changing and the movers didn't touch my underwear drawer.
I love my parents. It was a fast and wonderful week.
We got a lot accomplished and I am on the path to feeling like this is the best place I've ever lived. Try to not mind the fact that in this picture I have not showered in about 27 days. Since this picture was taken, I did shower, and it is confirmed, my shower is like a full size recording studio booth with room for a full-sized choir.
Sunday, October 13, 2013, 7:17 PM
Here we are on the plane. I'm sleep deprived, Brian's worried about our garage's organizational patterns and Nathan's getting Lasik eye surgery from the sun through the airplane window.
I live in Arkansas now.
We arrived at 11 this morning and Brian promptly ripped open half of his middle finger on the baby stroller. $165 and a tetanus shot later and we're finally ready to start the party. We ate lunch at Einstein Bagels and a nice lady told me I would get "fatter" by living here. But then she told me a bunch of cool things like you can take a 4-minute helicopter ride over our city and to not go to Starbucks because there are some really great coffee houses in Rogers. I think she's my first best friend here.
This evening we went to our new house. Totally trespassed. I can't even describe to you how in love I am. I want to go on dates with it. It has turned out perfect. Everything has come together and it's like a light shines down and angles play horns whenever I open the front door. We had the entire thing painted and it has made me so happy, you might compare my happiness feeling to eating a candy bar every 10 minutes. I just can't believe it's my house. I'm ready to sign my name on the papers tomorrow and go streaking.
It's like Nathan's drank 42 Red Bulls and we're attempting to all go to sleep, in the same bed, because we're delusional. I can't wait for you all to visit, to tell you more and for my next five levels to load in Candy Crush.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 9:41 PM
Did you hear me scream from the mountain tops that I got to pick out all of the light fixtures, faucets and carpet in our new house?
While Brian had to work, during one of our last days of the house-hunting trip, I had the pleasure of taking my no-napping over-energetic hungry maniac man to the builder's designer warehouse. Ever heard that expression, "bull in a china shop"? Well I took my bull to the china shop. As our realtor watched Nathan pull out handfuls of brochures and whisper to me, "I think his diaper's wet", I quickly chose the things that would make me most happy. I've always wanted to do this. Drum roll please..
All bedroom bathrooms, guest rooms and downstairs powder room will have this faucet. Gosh, can you just smell the oil rubbed bronze?
Here is the kitchen faucet. Decided to go with silver, as to not clash with the dark counter tops. Really love that sprayer.
Entry way light fixtures. There are going to be two of the larger size. These were already hanging up in silver and I slightly begged for them to be swapped out to the oil rubbed bronze. They obliged.
Fans. Kind of a snooze-fest, but they will all be uniform and have lights in them. That was Brian's sole wish. For the fans to have lights in them.
These lights will be in bedroom bathrooms and the single version will light the way up the stairs in a few places.
And here she is. The light fixture for over the kitchen table. It has six lights and if you don't like it, then just never tell me until I'm living in a retirement home.
Lastly, here's the carpet. Pretty standard looking, however we upgraded for softness and a better pad.
Also, those are not my feet.
I'm just so thrilled with getting to choose everything. I also had some time to check out the local Home Goods and it's a good thing I flew to Arkansas, otherwise these would be in the cart:
Mark my words, those babies will in my house soon. They were practically GIVING them away.
More to come soon. I'm way excited for this new home. I have a much better attitude about the move than I did when we went to Dallas. Plus, I have an insane amount of fun spending money from my hard work as an online garage sale seller. Hooray!