Protect the sick people!

You know your night at the county fair is going to be great when it starts off like this:

Activist with his clipboard in hand on his soap box, "Are you registered Arkansas voters? Will you help us legalize medical marijuana?"
Us, "No."
As we walked away cries of "You must protect the sick people!" followed after us.

As I said, fantastic way to start the evening!I haven't been to a county fair since my "glorious" pig showing days in Nebraska so we decided to check it out on Thursday with Bryson and Alyssa. Even though we ate dinner before we went, something about the disgustingly greasy, overpriced, fair food was tantalizing enough to convince us we had to eat a hand dipped, foot long corn dog and fresh squeezed lemonade that really just consisted of one lemon squeezed into a cup of ice. Not the best eight bucks we've ever spent. However, I was much more pleased with my next purchase: 15 Taste of Home magazines from the 90s! Many of the recipes actually look familiar as I'm sure my mom and grandma have the same magazines. They were five for a dollar and the proceeds benefited the local 4H chapter; who could say no to that? Not Nathan!

Since it was a weeknight, there weren't very many people there. It felt a little eerie walking around what felt like a deserted carnival. (Other than the scary carni people.) I felt like I was walking through a horror movie. But then we walked around the animal pens. Lambs aren't scary, just stinky.

As you can see, there weren't a lot of people there.

The one disappointment from the evening resulted from Nate crushing my lifelong, cliche dream of making out on the ferris wheel! He said it was too expensive! I guess he traded my dream for a piece of processed meat on a stick.

The crowning moment of the evening came as we were about to leave when Nate stepped in a pile of "green mud" wearing only his flip flops. Yuck for him, entertainment for Bryson and I watching him!

On a side note: I woke up with pink eye the next morning. It looks like Mr. Marijuana Activist didn't protect the sick people after all. 

Italian with a Southern Accent

What happens when Little Italy is smack dab in the middle of the South? The Tontitown Grape Festival of course! Tontitown was settled by Italians, but over the years the Southern influence has crept in resulting in an annual feast of homemade spaghetti noodles and sauce served with none other than your traditional Southern fried chicken. Who knew they could pair so well together?

Nate loved the fried chicken while I preferred the spaghetti. What a perfect marriage of flavors and two people!

The festival also featured grapes from the local vineyards. (Hence, the name Grape Festival).

We didn't buy any grapes but we did try the grape flavored ice cream. Normally, I avoid grape flavored things because I'm always reminded of dimetapp......Fortunately, this was yummy ice cream with no resemblance to the syrupy medication.

The Ozark Inn

For those of you who haven't heard, Nathan and I recently purchased The Ozark Inn Bed & Breakfast. The historic Ozark Inn, dating back to 2002, is situated on a lovely .22 acres in the heart of charming Bentonville Arkansas. The Ozark Inn offers luxurious accommodations to it's guests. Our cozy rooms provide comfort and allow our guests to discover a home away from home. Guests have the freedom of choosing from an array of fun, themed rooms. Our most popular rooms are the Dr. Seuss Suite and Dwight Schrute Chamber.

The Dwight Schrute Chamber is painted the exact shade of mustard as the shirt of the character you know and love on the The Office. Fans of the show, will feel they are almost a part of an actual episode!

Or for the young at heart,The Dr. Seuss Suite is hand painted to take guests down the nostalgic, childhood, memory lane. You can't go wrong with any room at the Ozark Inn. We are excited to offer guests not only their choice of rooms, but their choice of beds as well! We'll mix and match beds and rooms to create your ideal experience. Photos of options are included below. 

The Queen Size Eddie Bauer

The double high queen size Coleman

The cozy sleeping bag for one or two!

The soft, yet firm yoga mat

Guests can mingle with one another in our large, bright common room and enjoy reading, watching t.v., or playing the piano.

And as all good bed and breakfasts do, we offer a succulent buffet breakfast each morning to our guests. Not only do we do breakfast, but lunch and dinner are included with your stay as well!

We know you will have a wonderful and relaxing stay when you choose the Ozark Inn. Whether you are planning a vacation, business trip, or a weekend getaway to the Natural State, the Ozark Inn is the place for you. We would love the opportunity to make your stay unforgettable! Rooms book up quickly, so make your reservations soon! For reservations feel free to leave us a message in a comment to this blog.

The Floating Trailer Park

Have you ever heard the song, "Redneck Yacht Club"? I always thought it was a funny song but I never expected to find myself experiencing it. I'm pretty sure we stumbled across the redneck float club this weekend. We decided to go on a float trip down the Elk River. We were expecting a quite, peaceful day on the water, but as you will soon see, we could not have been more wrong!

Saturday morning we packed our cooler, drove up to Missouri, rented a canoe and set off down the river. It wasn't long before we came across what looked like the Jersey Shore rowing crew. A group of rowdy, tattooed coeds in their twenties, drinking beer, smoking, and making out. We laughed to ourselves at how trashy they looked as we quickly paddled past them. We passed several more similar rafts and began to feel that we were in the middle of a spring break-type gathering. We were in for a surprise (and not a pleasant one) as we rounded the next bend and there it was: the floating trailer park! Hundreds of canoes, rafts, kayaks and tubes we're berthed in the widest part of the river, of which 99% of the occupants were intoxicated. We saw all ages of people from teenagers on up to grandpas who could be described as anything but classy. It took us a good fifteen minutes just to maneuver through the mass. I won't go into great detail of what we beheld because this is a family-friendly blog and it wasn't a family-friendly sight! The best description I could come up with is Mardi Gras meets Vegas, meets MTV Spring Break redneck edition. I will say the one positive note was the wonders it did for my body image issues: seeing enough middle-aged women with beer bellies clad in very skimpy bikinis made me look at my body in a whole new light! 

We saw many of these floating beer coolers along the way

Once we got through that area, we hoped we'd passed the worst of it. Unfortunately, it didn't get better from there. We kept paddling faster and faster in search of a white trash-free zone, but somehow never came upon it. I was hoping to find a spot to get out and swim for a while, but was deterred by watching people throw their beer cans and cigarette butts overboard and spit their chewing tobacco in the water. When I saw a father throw up in the river from being so wasted, that was the nail in the coffin. I didn't even want to put my feet in the water after that.

It was a LONG 8 mile journey. I'm sure we were the fastest ones on the river but that wasn't difficult considering many were too inebriated to even find their paddles. In the beginning, all I could think about was all the great material I would have for my next blog post, but the more we saw, the worse I felt. I mean can you imagine if that was your father throwing up in the river or your mother exposing herself for a string of Mardi Gras beads? What kind of message does that send to your kids? It’s no wonder that we are seeing the moral degradation of our society when parents are teaching their children that it is acceptable to exercise no self control as long as you are having “fun.” I am so grateful that I was raised in a home with high moral standards and taught from a young age to reject the “fun” the world has to offer. The world can only offer temporary happiness. And calling it happiness is even a stretch. I can’t imagine drinking yourself silly, giving yourself lung cancer, or contracting an STD can make you very happy.  No thank you for me! I think I’ll pass on those and choose the eternal things that will provide lasting happiness: family, friends, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Herdin' the Sheep

It all started with that dam run! Last summer Nate, Bryson, and I decided to run a race together (the Dam Night Run), and Kaley decided she wanted in on the fun (or rather "fun" as some would say). She told us she was going to get in shape and come run a 5k with us next summer. Well, it's next summer and................we all ran a 5k on Memorial Day!

Brady and Kaley (Nate's brother and sister) came to Arkansas for a whole week. They win the prize for the longest visit. We'd love for someone to try and top that. (hint, hint: come visit us!) The paramount event for the week was the First Annual - or not so annual- Shepherd 5k.

There weren't any races around so we created our own. We had grandiose ideas for making shirts, bibs, a fancy finish line, the works. And while none of those ideas actually emerged into reality, the important thing was the running part of the race did!There was a lot of trash talk beforehand, but when all was said and done, Brady came forth to wear the victor's crown of laurel leaves, or rather just a crown of sweat. Nate insists he would have won had he not been forced to answer the call of Nature along the way! Some of us we're just glad to be able to finish. I've been resting my leg since our half back in April, and let me tell you, seven weeks sedentary makes for seven days soreness for Laurel! Ok, not really seven days, but I sure felt pretty out of shape, and I just liked the alliteration of that sentence.

Kaley deserves a paragraph of recognition. Heck, she could write a whole book about her journey. Kaley is such an inspiration to me of where hard work can take you. Since last summer, she has lost 50 pounds! Not only does she look fantastic, but she is in such great shape too.  I was huffing and puffing keeping up with her during the race! She is amazing so I feel the need to toot her horn for her for all to hear. For those of you who know Kaley, let her know you agree with me that she is awesome, amazing, fantastic, and inspiring. And Kaley, I'm serious about that book thing; Paris Hilton wrote an autobiography and I'm not even sure she can read, yet people read it! I would read yours over hers any day!

Overheard in a Waiting Room

Normally while in a waiting room, I read a magazine or watch t.v. Not today. A better form of entertainment presented itself during my wait: eavesdropping!
A woman on her cell phone, "I'm just sitting here waiting to have my boobs smashed flat."
That woman's friend, also on a cell phone, "I'm at the hospital with ____ for her mammogram....no I couldn't get my tongue pierced today because all the tattoo places are closed on Sunday and Monday."
Apparently, I wasn't the only one listening to the conversation because the old man sitting next to me made a disgusted face upon hearing about the tongue piercing and promptly turned to me, "How are you supposed to eat with one of them things in your tongue? I guess that's why we're all so different. To each his own."
Next, the man's teenage grandson walked into the room asking where his mom was. The old man replied, "She ain't comin. Your appointment is canceled today." The boy asked why no one had told him. The man's response was. "Well, seein as your mom put me in charge, I'd thought I'd let you check out of school early anyway." "Awesome! Thanks, grandpa."
It's always interesting to get a small glimpse into people's lives through eavesdropping. I wonder what people think of me when they hear my conversations?

Daddy-Daughter-Husband Campout

Me+ Nate+ my dad+ camping+ fishing+ hiking+ dutch oven cooking= So much fun!

Good thing there are cows in Arkansas because where cows are, there my dad will be also. He speaks at conferences and goes to meetings about cattle all over the world. This past weekend he got to come here for some meetings! Well, he didn’t quite attend them all; we talked him into playing hooky and fishing instead!

Dad flew into Bentonville on Friday afternoon and then we headed for the hills. We took him camping at the Petit Jean State Park which was conveniently located 20 minutes from the town he had meetings in. On the way, we stopped for some good ole southern barbeque at Penguin Ed’s, compliments of Dad’s business expenses!

Saturday morning we were excited to use our new camp stove and griddle that my parents gave us for Christmas. Unfortunately, we forgot the griddle at home, so we had to turn our Dutch oven lids over and cook on top of them. But the stove worked great and made things so convenient. After breakfast, the men did their fishing while I sat on the bank in my chair reading Twilight. All parties involved were happy with this arrangement. Nate caught the first (and only fish) of the day, and was thrilled at the opportunity to impress my dad!


That afternoon Dad figured he better make an appearance at his meetings, so Nate and I went hiking while he was gone. Petit Jean is a beautiful park with cool rock formations, great trails, and the largest waterfall in Arkansas.

Dinner was awesome! I enjoyed it because I didn’t have to make it and it was delicious. Dad and Nate made Dutch oven potatoes, steak, and peach cobbler. Yum! After dinner we sat around the fire and Nate got to know my dad’s “wild side” as he told stories from his high school and college days.

Sunday morning we packed up and made it home in time to go to church. We even had time to shower which I’m sure our fellow church members appreciated. What a great camping trip!