Winter Retreat

I am sitting in a hotel room at the beautiful lodge on Mt. Magazine. Bran is unfortunately is another room watching some MMA fights, but he should be back shortly. Since he’s gone, I thought I would post a few pictures I took today.

Here is the back of the lodge. Our room is waaaay to the right hand side of the picture.

Here is the amazing view. I’m so lucky to live in such a beautiful state. We are at Mt. Magazine because Brandon is participating in his mixed martial arts winter camp. He has gone to several different classes today and has basically been in training all day long. He is having a lot of fun. I, on the other hand, have been in my room doing homework and cat-napping. It has been very nice to get away for a little bit.


We got all gussied-up tonight for his banquet. I must say that all the guys clean up nicely! Bran will be in classes until late tomorrow afternoon, so I will be checking out of our room and heading back home. I have to go up to school to get some work done. It’s been a nice weekend away though!

Christmas Vacation!

It was so nice today not going up to school to get ready for this upcoming week. Instead, I was able to take a nice Sunday afternoon nap after church. It would’ve been better if Bran could’ve joined me, but of course he went to train. He might be fighting again in February. He’s still not home… He had to do a little bit of work today too. That boy is always so busy.
Fortunately, he made some time for me yesterday! We spent the entire day in Little Rock. First, we finished up our Christmas shopping at the mall. I do NOT like Little Rock. The traffic was horrible and the people were weird. Thank goodness for our GPS or we would’ve been so lost. I found some fantastic pictures on clearance from Kirklands. Even though I wasn’t supposed to be buying for me, I couldn’t resist.

That’s right! Only $4.97! I bought two: one for each bathroom! Now I just have to go and pick some nails up so I can hang them. We also bought some curtains for our bedroom from JC Pennys. We have talked about getting some, and I think waiting two years for curtains is long enough! Bran is just happy it’s not bright in our room in the mornings.
After shopping, we went to the Tran Siberian Orchestra concert at the Verizon Arena. They played all of the traditional Christmas carols with a rock-and-roll twist. It was awesome. I wish I had some pictures to post, but cameras were strictly prohibited.
We ate dinner at Carinos. I had a Chicken Parmesan Panini. It was yummy. However, the french fries they served with it were to die for. I actually ate the mound of french fries and took the panini home. haha! We had a great time together. It was nice to have all of my husbands attention. However, he really is not a good shopping partner.
One thing on my to-do list for my two weeks off is to get my new doors painted. I only have 2.5 done so far. They take FOREVER to paint.

Here is one that is finished. The door knob and hinges have an oil rubbed bronze finish. All the other finishes in my house are satin nickel… The new knobs were free though, so they will work for now!
 
Here is our door that still needs paint!

And I just thought I would throw this picture in from Bran’s fight last week!

2-0

My husband’s MMA record is now 2-0. Here is the video from last nights fight. He did a great job!

First Days of Summer

Ahhhhh.... Summer is here! My first days of vacation have been glorious! This weekend we went up to Springdale. Bran had his first MMA fight at a Maxtap show. He won in the third round with a triangle choke! He did such a great job. However, I'm ready for him to be done with all of this fighting stuff. He makes me nervous.

Yesterday I got to hang out with the girls. It was so much fun. They went swimming... I just watched and talked. I have to get a bathing suit!! I only have my old suit from high school. I can't believe it still fits! But it's old and worn out. My mission today is to find a new one. It's not in the budget though. ha! I'm going to have to be creative. Anyways, after swimming, Meg made a wonderful dinner, and then we watched Glee.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning!! I think I am insane. I met up with a couple of friends, and we walked around our neighborhood. It was a nice way to start the day. Hopefully I will keep it up! It was some great exercise. I need to start the 30 Day Shred again. Jillian knows how to get it done!

I've been thinking about starting graduate school. It would be nice to start early and enjoy the pay increase. I just filled out my FAFSA. If I can't get any financial help, I will just have to wait. One class costs about $700. That would cut way too much money out of our debt snowball. So if I don't get any help, I'll just have to wait until we are debt free. I refuse to take out any more school loans!! I hate those things!! Say a prayer that it will all work out!