H5 happenings lately

Thanksgiving day I'm in my room making the bed and I her Mauri and Rhett all excited and in amazement saying... Can I shoot him up? Daddy I want to give him a shot with that needle can I? I had to come to the kitchen to see what was going on and walked in to this

Mauri shooting up the turkey with guidance from her Daddy

 

 

 Rhett had a turn also

these two were in amazement of this process

 



Smoked turkey coming off the Traeger



 

Daddy and his girls

this picture warms my heart and talk about thankful

 

Mauri and I being silly

 

I took this little boy hunting and oh my he cant be still to save his life,

quality time I tell ya

 

Mauri is finally old enough to play pee wee basketball and she loves it,

Her first game was Saturday and she is already asking when the next one is

Shooting her 2 free throws from drawing in a shooting foul

 

She was focused and determined it was so much fun watching her play.

Even though she doesn't have size it doesn't stop her hustle

 

 When she wasn't on the wing she was point guard

Her smiling from ear to ear while on the court melted my heart

 

When you live an hour away from town its a must that you take full advantage in your trip

so Starbucks salted caramel frap it was. Hair day and coffee = a good day.



How I do it: Girls Trip

Last October I took a girls trip with 3 other girls. We had an amazing time and the process of planning and making decisions was so easy and pleasure.
During and after getting back I have had a lot of questions, comments and stories on girls trips. A lot wanted to know how it went or how we all got to do everything wanted  to do while we were there. Since this girls trip went off without a hitch and easy breezy planning I thought I would share how it went and we did it.

1. First things First:
VERY Important- when getting a girls trip together make sure everyone gets along really well. You don't want to have to worry if someone is going to get into a tizzy or get their feelings hurt or have someone who is uncomfortable with another person on the trip.
Myself, SIL Christi who is my husbands brothers wife, AnnaBrooke who I will refer to as AB is the husbands first cousin, and Tiffany is the married to my husbands first cousin. Her husband and my husband were born on the same day just hours apart. Their moms are sisters and both went into labor the same day CRAZY I know. We all get along really well and like most of the same things and can just hang out and have a good time.

this photo was taken 3 years ago on my 30th birthday 



2. Location
Pick a place everyone all wants to go. For me I knew that my husband never wanted to go to New York and I knew that if I didn't go on a girls trip it probably wouldn't ever happen. Also look at what's going to be going on in that location the dates you are thinking of going. They have a big marathon in NYC end of September so we knew we didn't want to be caught up in all of that or busier and crowded.



3. Dates:
 After having a location your next step is to get with everyone and see when the best time for them to go is.
Myself and SIL knew that either September or October were good months for us being that our husbands would be in the field harvesting 12-15 hour days. They way our husbands work we hate to be gone when they are home or their down time because its rare. The other 2 girls were fine with those months and talking back and forth looking at dates and what's going on in everyone's family schedules we came to the dates October 1-5. We went around work schedules, kids, husbands and that makes it easier and in the long room your trip more relaxing because you know everything is in order not back home. Now if we had been gone on one of the busiest weeks in our schedules we would have been stressed the whole time and the trip wouldn't be as much fun. So make sure the dates you choose are the best for everyone going or your trip will not be as fun as you were expecting. Who wants to be on a fun trip with one girl stressed, tiffed, or anxious because things are all kinds of crazy back home.
Also discuss the day you leave and come back: for instance can everyone all leave in the morning or do we need to wait until afternoon and the same when coming back into town.

4. Budget:
Discuss on budget for the trip. Everyone wants the cheaper the better but make sure you know what you can't do and voice that. I have a family of 5 so I knew I knew that staying at the Plaza and fly first class wasn't going to work. I played around on Expedia and a few more online booking agencies with flights and hotels to get an idea of how much it would cost and once I got an realistic idea of how much it would be. That helped us because with a round about price we could all decided if that was something that would fit our budget or we needed to look at other dates or another location.

5. Planning:
What worked best for us was to meet for lunch because all of our kids would be in school and on the days any of is had to work we could always meet during lunch. We would have lunch and then break out our planners, notebook, iPads, phones and any information we had. Make a Pinterst board and invite everyone to pin on that board. That way while pinning places, things, restaurants, tips you all are involved and can see what is going on and if you really like something you can research more and find more tips that you didn't know.



Our first meeting:
we discussed what area we would want out hotel to be in. We all wanted to stay on Times Square so the next step was to go through different booking places and see what was going to be our best deal. We joked and said that would be our homework. A few days later I came across a really good deal and texted and emailed all the information to everyone so they could check out the hotel and make sure the flight times were going to be ok. After everyone agreeing it was a go I booked the trip through Expedia. I have always had really good luck with them and they have always been cheaper than my travel agent. You can email everyone the link and they can get online book the trip through their card. Or you can all meet and book everything while you are all together whatever is the easiest.
We said we would do some research and come to the meeting with 3 things that was on the top of our list. We also brought any information, tips, or anything helpful for planning the trip. We also discussed each of our top 3 things on the list. There were a few things that more than one of us wanted to do so that makes it less things. We wrote it all down and decided that the next lunch date we would pick restaurants. We also went to Social Media or anyone who has been there before for tips, recommendation, dos and don'ts or anything they would suggest. One of the girls in out group had already been there but it was a while ago so she kind of knew some things.
Next Meeting:
I found this map on Pinterest and printed off 4 of these for us to have at the meetings.

 

6. Itinerary:

We knew we didn't want to set be on a minute to minute schedule. We wanted to go at our own pace but didn't want to get there and be like ok what are we doing today and not have a game plan. We didn't want to waste any time going back and forth from location to location. 

From this map we marked all the things that were on our list to do and restaurants to see what all areas we would be in. This is how we made our rough draft itinerary. We listed the areas and then under them wrote what all was in that area to give us an idea of time we would be spending in that area. On the areas we didn't have a lot we would see what was close and grab and choose that area also.
We took a notebook jotted down the days we were going to be there and underneath them we wrote the things we wanted to do.
Day 1: Fly to NYC
Day 2: Kelly & Michael
Day 3: 9\11
Day 3: Soho, China Town, & Little Italy
Day 4: Our Last Day Brooklyn Bridge, Boss Lady


That's how it went down with ease. I cant wait to get started on another one.

Weekends be like

Weekends lately have been so lazy and nice.

Except for the stomach virus hitting the girls the 2 weekends ago and Rhett this weekend.

Usually we have some kind of ball game but these last few have been free and I am taking them all in. Starting with staying in my pajamas all day.



 



My little man taking me to check on the cows and as you can I am still in my pjs

 

 

Enjoy the cooler weather by a fire and a Toddy

 The Farmer grilling us these steaks



 

Couldn't have a fire without smores

Nick designer a fire pit that will double as a grill its being made as we speak and I cant wait til we get it back.





 

I have spent many moments looking for this Tarte palette

It was a limited product and I want this so badly that I have been searching high and low. If any of you know were I can purchase this please let me know.

The blush in this palette is called insight and the eye shadow on the top right is called highlight of my day the one down from that is cream of the crop





Trick, I think your forgot the Treat

On Wednesday night Mauri came down with the stomach virus and it all went downhill from there. After trickling down to everyone except Rhett and spending the whole weekend spraying Lysol non-stop and changing sheets, getting rags, changing trash bags and cleaning toilets I was praying for some relief. Needless to say we stayed in Halloween. I even had to take Maci to the doctor this morning due to the virus continuing on her for 4 days now keeping down nothing and even had her first migraine on Saturday which I hope she never gets again. I was her age when I started having them-thanks dad. LoL

Here is what we have been up to prior to the hurricane that hit our house:

 

Maci has been having basketball practice 3 nights a week for an hour and half to 2 hours and we live to far to go back home so we made the best of it and found movies to watch in the car. Bring a blanket and a pillow and you have a deal. The kids have never seen the Little Giants so that what we watched. I also took this time to catch up on my magazine reading.

 

 

Rhett had a field trip and an Pumpkin scavenger hunt.

The weather was perfect that day so it turned out to be great for it.

Rhett looking for clues to mark off

 

They thought they found them but it was balloons with another clue inside

 

and finally they found them

Maci got her braces off  after having them on for 18 months

My niece Piper came and stayed the night with us and we love having her because you never know what you will get out of her. She is so funny and tells it like it is. Sassy pants. She reminds me of Maci when she was that age

 

We also have been keeping my nephew Spence a lot lately and he is so much fun.

He even started crawling at our house going after Rhett. He had been taking a few little crawls but he decided he wanted to keep up with Rhett so he just took off. They couldn't believe it when they came to pick him up. He is so much fun and I love cuddling him up its like having my babies again

Uncle Demas teaching him about the important things and Spence is taking it all in. 



 

 

After church Rhett needed some new boots so we went to Cavendars and to eat at Longhorns.

While waiting for our food these two had a stairing contest which was mighty intense to say the least 

 

all 3 of the little Punks having a staring contest  

and that's a wrap folks

New hair with a Flare

As most of you know I have had some major issues with my hair I once had long thick goldy locks and all of a sudden it started breaking off and drying out I thought it was my hormones since they were out of whack and once I got my hormones fixed it still did nothing for my hair so there I was in the same place.
Now I have discovered that my hair is Protein Sensitive. I know how to treat it and can only go from here. I had to make changes to the products I use and throw out all with protein and keratin. I can already see a huge difference in the way my hair feels.
How to tell if you are protein sensitive:

Hair that is straighter than normal and feels waxy/straw-like.

Hair can be very difficult to detangle. Breaks off easily when trying to detangle.

The very ends can feel dry and rough.

Extremely dry hair.

My cousin recommended that I go see a girl that specializes in hair integrity and knows what to do and use to get you hair back in top shape.  I was so nervous because my personal hair stylist is so great and she knows me and knows what I like and what I don't and when I get a wild hair and go in and say I think I want this she replies with girl you know you will be back in here tomorrow and she is so right. After going back and forth about what to do I finally decided what do I have to loose besides more hair that if I don't get it fixed I am going to loose it anyway. I called The Parlor House and made an appointment with Katey Anzalone

The day I went she sat down with me and we talked about everything that has been going in with my hair and what all I've done and the factors that are affecting my hair from hormones to our awful hard water with tons of iron and chlorine in it. After trying to treat my hair with keratin and protein since it was damaged which I read is what you do to correct damaged hair. To much protein is a bad thing to anybody but even the smallest amount is bad to protein sensitive effects it in a huge way and hurts it. My water makes the color of my hair strip off of change to awful brassy. After talking we decided that before we could go the blonde that I wanted to be we had to first get my hair healthy or I would  have the same problem and much worse. We decided to get my hair a normal color with out brass and something that I could wear a dirty root.  I have extremely oily hair that in order to fix and deal with I have to wash it and if I blow dry it then I will have volume and not flat limp hair. But that in turn damages my already damaged hair even more. I have to do what I have been trying to do but chicken out: train my hair to not being washed on a daily basis. Its going to be so hard because I cant stand to see any sign of root and when it is oily my roots show up like a glow in the dark stick at night. Well actually only to me they looks bad so after telling her the reasons I don't wear oily hair. I told her to do whatever she thought would be best but I do not want to look like a BASIC I wanted something edgy and I'm not scared of funky or colors if the funky was done right and I didn't look like a emo teen. She said she was going to do an all over violet color on my hair because to tone down all that sassy brassy violet would be best and the fact that I wouldn't mind if the parts of my really blonde hair would be a light violet that would work best and being that we are only doing one thing to it and it wasn't bleach it would even be healthy on my hair. She did in fact tell me I know you want to be blonde like Barbie but right now in order to get my hair color on point we would need to go a little bit darker than blonde 1. to take all the brass out 2. get all the different hair colors I had going on blended 3. my roots wouldn't look bad and I could go longer in between washing and hair appointments.

My hair length was the same as the picture and I wanted this look but after talking to her I saw it was going in a different direction which I was nervous about because she didn't know me and know how much I love a blonde look. All I could think of  is how much I loved the color and style of this picture. I wasn't sure about this and I was scared and tried to back out  and wished I had went to my regular stylist because I would always get a wild hair and my regular stylist would fix it because she knew me and knew what I liked. Then she showed me what she was talking about. Ok this is What my hair normal looks like as far as blonde and I love love love this color and when my hair gets healthy I want this blonde.  

Pay attention to the roots right now there are no roots but when the roots grow out you will see a very distinguished root line. After her roots are grown out People with hair trained hair can wear this without looking horrible but my hair will not work it will look like I need a hair touch up asap. I go in every 4 weeks and if I could would get them done every 2 weeks because that is how my hair does.

My sister in law and regular hair stylist can wear their hair looking amaze only washing twice a week but for me I am not blessed like that.



As you can see in this picture it is made to look like this kind of an ombre in a non dramatic way.

This is what she said we need to do to m y roots so when they grow out it will not look so dramatic and I could easily hair train my hair to not be washed as much only to look like it is meant to be like that. After seeing what she was talking about I was ok with it and loved the idea. I am a visual person so seeing it makes all the difference. I knew it would be darker and not this blonde but being prepared for it I was ok. 



 

Here is the violet color she put on my hair to take out the brass and make my hair more of an all over color that would blende in with my roots except the really blonde pieces that were in my hair. 



Being that I had damaged hair already we had to cut it off to get new growth and healthy hair. I wasn't sure about this either I kept telling her I love long hair and short hair doesn't work with me.

1. makes me look fat with my round face

2. I don't know how to fix short hair

She described that what she was doing is cutting off the damaged off the best she could and was going to give me a style that wasn't BASIC as I described more on the edgy side and a haircut that in 4 weeks when it has grown out will still look great and not look like I need a haircut.

I don't know why I didn't get a front view I think it was because I was trying to capture the light violet but here you go and I love so far.



 



I need to take more pictures so you can see what the whole thing looks like but right now I am trying to master the messy look exactly like she did but it is so hard doing that with an OCD person. I have only been washing my hair on the 3rd day unless I have somewhere to go. I will continue to do this and let you know how it works. Fingers Crossed!
I am such an impatient person and cant wait for my hair to grow out so its been trying to say the least.

 

As of now the only products I use on my hair are:

Shampoo & Conditioner:

Pureology Hydrate

Paul Mitchel Intense Hydrate

Redkin Diamond Oil

After washing my hair I will let it air dry for about 10 minutes then use Moroccan Oil and comb out with a wide tooth comb. I try and not blow dry it but sometimes I just can help it so I will blow dry it and if I curl it or flat iron it I will use a few drops of redkin diamond oil on it before I out the heat products on it. I read labels and will not use anything that has protein or keratin in it. I only use moisture products instead of strengthening products due to my hair being protein sensitive I will let you know how this goes. I am supposed to be go in 6 weeks so I will know then if my hair is improving or not.