I'm Thankful! And Soon, You'll Be Thankful Too

Back in August I attended the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference. Myself and 70+ women joined together for a weekend of fun, laughter, learning and boots!!

When I was planning to attended the conference I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was going to be 3 hours from home with 70+ women, most of which I had never met, and we were staying in a state park.

Sounds fun right? (It was a freaking blast!)

I went in fearing the unknown but, I didn't go alone. I manged to drag my girl Heather along for the ride and together we dragged another Shannon along with us.

Our road trip there was awesome!

We sang, we talked about how Okies drive 90+ mph till we hit a curve then drop to 25 mph, and we debated the oxford comma.


We also had some really nasty McDonald's because we waited to long to stop and eat and ran out of choices.

Even the register at McDonald's was taunting us.

The AWB hosted several "twitter parties' to give each of us attending a way to connect with each other prior to packing up and heading down.

During one of the twitter parties Country Outfitter joined us.

That was a dang good twitter party!

By the end of it, I had a sponsor paying my way, an invitation to pick out any pair of boots I wanted, up to $150 value), and a gift for you!

Now, I know you're all distracted by the whole "gift for you" and don't worry I'll get to that.

First though, let me tell you about these BOOTS! Hey it is my blog ;) I should get to brag a little.

Look at these beauties!

 

 



I LOVE THEM!

I took roughly 2 weeks deciding which pair of boots I wanted. And I couldn't be more pleased!

I picked a pair by Justin. The Justin Women's Burnished Tan Boot to be exact!

They have survived hospital stays, mid terms, and divorce court. (Not mine! I'm a legal secretary, remember.)

Last week my giveaway was suppose to "go live". It didn't.

It didn't because last week I was in the hospital with my baby girl.

She was at her dad's for the weekend and while there she suffered a seizure like episode. We met up at the ER and after 5 hours of worry filled testing we were admitted.

Here is where the thankful part comes in.

While I was waiting with my daughter in the hospital some of the lovely women I've met through AWB were calling, texting, emailing etc. They were asking what they could do to make things easier.

They were sending positive vibes, and lots of prayers. They offered me dinner, or laundry, entertainment, or a shoulder to cry on. They just wanted us to know we weren't alone.

They cared!

Today as I type this I want to say I am thankful for my daughter's recovery.

I am thankful for my sweet Daniel's support.

I am thankful for Heather, Jasmine, Stephanie, Logan(who isn't a woman, but is a great Arkansas blogger), Kim, and so many others.

I am also thankful for good boots! They make the days easier sometimes.

Last but not least, I am thankful for you!

And, thanks to Country Outfitter you can be thankful for good boots too! (Yep, here's where that gift for you comes in.)

Country Outfitter would like to give one of my readers the gift of good boots (up to $150 value).

And, we've made it pretty simple for you.

1. Click HERE and submit your email address. (You may receive additional emails or offers from Country Outfitter it's totally worth it though! )

2. Leave a comment here on the blog telling me what you're thankful for and that you've submitted your email address.

A random winner will be selected in two weeks, November 29, 2012, after 9 p.m.

(DISCLOSURE: Country Outfitter, a retailer of Justin's Women's Boots gave me these Justin Women's Burnished Tan Boot to review, and as you can tell, I love them!)

 

 

Who Wouldn't Like FREE Boots

Hello lovelies!

Hope everyone is enjoying the approaching Fall weather.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you about meeting the Oprah of boots at the AWBU conference?

Well... Now it's your turn to meet her.

Kind of.

Ok, maybe you won't really meet her but, I can offer you some extra chances to WIN FREE BOOTS from Country Outfitter!!

It's not quite time for my giveaway :( It's coming I promise.

Lucky for you though, I know some wonderful women, fellow Arkansas Women Bloggers, that are partnering with Country Outfitter and giving a way FREE BOOTS!

Go check them out, enter away, and maybe just maybe we can rock new boots together!

Check out Debbie Arnold and sign up for her giveaway.

Check out Angie and sign up for her giveaway.

Check out Paige and sign up for her giveaway. (This one closes on the 20th.)

Check out Lela and sign up for her giveaway.

There you go, 4 more chances to win. Go. Quick quick.

And, if you win, I should totally have some impute on which boots you pick!

I Met Oprah! Well... I Met The Oprah Of Boots!

Well... I met the Oprah of boots!

Actually, I already knew her I just didn't know of her Oprah-ish qualities.

The weekend before last I had the honor of attending the Arkansas Women Bloggers' Unplugged Conference. Much thanks to Country Outfitter for sponsoring me.

Myself and 70+ other bloggers from all over Arkansas gathered at the Ozark Folk Center for a full weekend of fun, learning, and bonding.

Too explain how things happened, or why, or even to sum up the weekend is IMPOSSIBLE! It was great. It was amazing!

It was just AWBU; a once in a lifetime experience really.

So... back to meeting Oprah.

Saturday we all gathered together in preparation of a cookout, a little fiddle playing, some jig dancing, and that AHH Moment only  Oprah (or someone LIKE Oprah) could give!

Meet Stephanie, aka the Oprah of boots.

Saturday afternoon she came to the conference stage and said "You get boots, you get boots, YOU GET BOOTS!' (now you see why we call her the Oprah of boots, huh?)

Stephanie works for Acumen Brands, the parent company of Country Outfitter and thanks to them we were all gifted with a pair of boots of our choice (up to $150)!

We were all given a pair of boots to try out, and review.

I picked these lovelies!

 

 

 

Stay tuned, my review and a GIVEAWAY for you is coming soon!

Do You See What I See

Well... do you?

 
Heather and I kidnapped the third Shannon and headed off to Mountain View Arkansas for AWBU conference. (More on that whole kidnapping thing later) And, on our way we stopped at Mickey D's for a late dinner. Kidnapping isn't as easy as it seems so it took a little longer. (Again, more on that later)

While standing in what seemed like the longest MD line EVER, a shaggy looking barely 16 year old boy stepped up to the other register. 'Here," I whispered to Heather and Shannon, "he's going to open this line."

Nope.

He just stood there. Staring at all of us.

After a few minutes I noticed the screen on the register.

Yeah it was saying just what we all were thinking.

That POS was closed!

Road Trip to AWBU (Part 1)

This is how my Friday started.

After I got the majority of the kids off to school I dropped The Dad off at work, and headed to Bentonville to pick up my paycheck.

You see, AWBU conference was starting today and I was trying to streamline my preparation. I took The Dad to work because I was carpooling with my BFF Heather in what was planned to be karaoke fest 2012, and we didn't want to leave one of our vehicles parked away from home all weekend.

So anyways, I took the Dad to work and hit I-540 towards Bentonville. It's 9 am and my phone starts ringing. It's my other BFF Shawna. Shawna NEVER calls me in the morning, she has kids and a job, it just doesn't happen, so I of course thought something was wrong. Nothing was wrong, she just wanted to chat. So we did.

I don't know how often you talk to your girlfriends, but when Shawna and I get the chance to speak to each other not text, it's usually a whole lot of OMG and laughing.

We were chatting about nothing really, and Boy 2, the baby, was just singing to himself from the backseat, so I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings. I told Shawna I was headed to BV to get my check, and then home to pack for AWBU and the next thing I know I'm on the turnpike to Missouri.

MISSOURI!! In case you missed that!

Now that I was lost, I did what all good drivers do, I said "Shawna, hold on I'm lost" and then I turned the radio down.

I did manage to find my way out of Missouri and back into Arkansas. I also managed to remember to pick up my paycheck, eventually. (That's a whole other story)