Weekend

I felt pretty good this weekend.  We had a date night on Friday night and went to see Lee Daniel's The Butler.  I thought it was fantastic!

I had been planning a little trip on Saturday to go do something that I have wanted to do since I heard about it.  First, though, we made a pit stop in Eureka Springs.

I love Thorncrown Chapel.  I just don't know what is not to love about such a unique architectural chapel in the middle of nature.

It's so peaceful inside.

Next, we hopped down to dowtown Eureka Springs.  Tim and I love Eureka Springs.  We spent our 1st and 7th anniversaries there.  It is so beautiful, historic, artsty, and quirky. 

The kids LOVED seeing all of the antique cars!

Choosing some fudge from a great local fudge shop!

Winding, uphill streets.

After a little walking and browsing shops, we hopped in the car and headed to our destination-

I had read about the Arkansas Hot Air Balloon State Championship in the newspaper after we had first moved to Northwest Arkansas.  I have wanted to go every year, but something has always came up.

This year, I knew we could make it, so I made the plans!

It was so awesome to watch them blow up the balloons and just being there and seeing them in person was so, so cool.

They did have tethered rides, but the line was ridiculously long. Maybe one day ;-)

It was TOTALLY worth the two hour drive! I highly recommend checking it out if you ever get a chance!  Besides the Saturday night balloon rides and balloon glow, they have races that they compete in all weekend.

It was a wonderful day with my family. We made some good memories and it was fun introducing them to some new things.

A day on Beaver Lake

I always like to re-cap the weekends.  It seems that we are able to have fun and relax after Tim has worked all week.

Last week, Tim's sister, niece, great niece and her friend came to stay with us for a couple of days.  It was nice visiting and catching up!

Friday evening we ate dinner out and then came home and watched a movie.  I love evenings like that.

Saturday, we had been invited by friends to spend the day on their boat out on Beaver Lake.

They had this great tube! It was so fun!

Friends :-)

I even got in on the action!

The old tower at Monte Ne

And this boy.
He is so brave.
He had so much fun riding "chariot."
I was torn between being terrified (I'm not very adventurous) and so, so proud.

It was a great day! Thanks Mills family for having us join you guys!

my feelings on the Bobby Petrino scandal

Warning***** If you are not a Razorback fan or college football fan, you may just want to skip this post.


We are die hard Razorback fans in my house.  I wasn't one growing up, but since being married, I have grown to love my Razorbacks very, very much. Tim has been a fan ALL his life.  My kiddos have been calling the Hogs since they were able to, probably a year old. 

Last night, the University of Arkansas let go Coach Bobby Petrino.  


The feelings from fans went from angry/disappointed before the press conference to mostly proud afterward.  
The more I think about it, though, I realize that I don't feel proud about what the university did and I don't think Athletic Director Jeff Long felt proud about it either.
I believe he was heartbroken. 
The Petrino family are like family to him.  
He spoke to the players before the press conference and I can only imagine their grief.
See, I don't totally understand the player/coach relationship, but I do know that it can be deep and life long. I've witnessed it in high school, I witnessed it when I worked in the athletic department at Arkansas Tech University and I've witnessed it with my own husband.
He still has relationships with former players that he coached. They still call him Coach. They still call him up and talk about football plays. 
I believe he was also heartbroken for us, the fans.


I don't feel proud because all I can think about are the multiple families who are greatly suffering right now.  
Did Coach Petrino mess up? 
Why yes, yes he did.  
But you know what? 
We all do. 
I hold no animosity towards him.  


I'm so disappointed that things happened as they did. 
I'm so disappointed that he let so many people down.
But mainly?
I'm so sad and heartbroken for the deep wounds that are gaping in these families.


Sure, I'm sad that we are losing Coach Petrino.  He is an amazing coach. 


I will always remember my children's first season of going to Razorback games and the Hogs running out to the announcement of "Here come Bobby Petrino's Arkansas Razorbacks!!!" over the loudspeaker.

It has been interesting having to explain to our kiddos why our coach is not going to be our coach any longer.  You see, B boy loved Bobby Petrino.  You know why? Because he coached our Arkansas Razorbacks.  That was enough to warrant great love from B boy.
  
So, last night we had to tell them that he wouldn't be coach anymore because he did some things he was not supposed to do and he did not tell the truth about it.  We always express to them that you must always tell the truth and confess up when you are in the wrong.


I remember when I was growing up, hearing from teachers at church that sin will ALWAYS be found out.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point- it will come out. 
And sin ALWAYS holds consequences. Choices and decisions we make ALWAYS have repercussions. 
I'm sure Coach Petrino has even said similar words to his players at times. But it's true, we all mess up at some point.
So, no, I'm not proud about the firing.  I'm just heartbroken.

How to great photos for your blog

I'm over at Arkansas Women Bloggers today talking about How to great photos for your blog.  

I love that we have a great community for bloggers in our state to connect with each other.

They just relaunched their website and it looks amazing!

I'd love for you to hop on over and check it out!