Let's Talk: The Man in My Life

Happy Monday friends! I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea for Let's Talk, a little monthly chit chat! And today, we're talking about the man in our lives, and well, I only have one in my life because I'm a #girlmom, but let me tell you the man in my life is a pretty special person!

DJ and I first met through mutual friends. I was in a relationship at the time, and I really didn't remember meeting him- oops! Fast forward a few months later and my relationship had ended, and I had began dating some one else. It turned out that someone and DJ were pretty good friends, but as fate would have it, DJ and I feel hard and fast. 

Within three months of dating, we had purchased engagement and wedding rings, and a month later he finally popped the question. Fast forward a year, and we were walking down the aisle and saying "I do".

When DJ and I first started dating he told me that he would be gone a lot. I didn't quite realize how often that a lot would be, but I was up for it. I was also up for moving around the country while he chased his career dreams. 

Four states and ten years later, we've settled in Tulsa and for now it's our home. We hope that it will be our forever home, but in his profession, you never know. 

So, DJ works as a collegiate football video coordinator. We happily cheer him on from the sidelines! I've talked about our football life in my "Football Wife Life" posts. I really think that our marriage is as strong as it is because of his career. We've had to rely on each other and only each other since we don't live near family. We are all about team work, and then picking up the slack when needed. When he's busy in the fall and spring, I pick up the slack, when he's home, he equally gets involved and does everything he can to help. 

He totally completes me. 

Date nights are the best nights!

He's a heck of a father too. 

Addy Pearl has him wrapped around her finger. 

I love all of the giggles that he shares with the girls. He's the best at tucking them in, reading them stories, and giving them baths. He totally picks up when I need a break. 

There's a special bond between a girl and her dad. 

And this guy has three of them!

I'm so thankful that he's doing life with me. 

I wouldn't want anyone else by my side. 

And for next months topic.........

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday Friends! I'm not sure about you but I could use a weekend!

I'm linking up today with Narci, Andrea, and Erika for Friday Favorites! I'm sharing some of my favorite moments from the week!

On our way home from Arkansas, Gretchen announced that she had lost another tooth! She's had two wiggly teeth for a few months, and lost one of them at the beginning of last week and then I guess she decided to wiggle her other tooth on the trip home, because there's nothing better to do on a 4 hour road trip. She has been raising money for the American Heart Association, so before she went to bed she wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy asking her to leave her money in her fundraising envelope rather than in her tooth fairy pillow. The Tooth Fairy was more than happy to oblige!

So, random, but our Bailey loves to sleep behind our bed. We didn't move the bed all the way up against the wall when we moved in, because we didn't want it to scratch the wall, so Bailey is often sleeping behind our bed rather than on her bed. Meggie and Addy also love to play back there too, but it's Bailey's favorite spot!

Gretchen had her follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon on Tuesday. Her surgery went great and she had zero stitches and she's free to do whatever activity she likes! We're so thankful for everyone's prayers and well wishes while she had surgery last week. 

Tuesday night we went on a family walk. It was a little cool, so the little girls were bundled up in the jogging stroller. 

And Gretchen rode her scooter for two miles!!!

Squeezing in some family time this week was my favorite!

Thursday morning, DJ had to be at football work outs crazy early. Which meant that I had to leave an hour earlier than usual to get everyone dropped off and at my staff meeting by 8! We had mismatched shoes, crazy hair, and the girls ate applesauce and a bag of cereal in the car. 

So, Addy has discovered that her sister's don't always finish their lunch at school. She sneaks in to their lunch boxes and snack on whatever she can find. Last night, it was popcorn! 

Megan's school had a book fair this week. She picked out three books with her favorite characters! Bubble Guppies, Doc, and Pinkalicious (not pictured) for the win! I also found an American Girl doll cookbook that I'm going to put in Gretchen's Easter basket!

Today we have a pot luck at school, so I made brownies with a few drops of peppermint oil to take! Peppermint Brownies are my favorite! 

Yesterday, I did a guest post over at Kimm's Korner! You can head over to her post and leave a comment for your chance to win 3 free oils!!! And, y'all, February is almost over, which means that the 10% off on the Premium Starter Kits from Young Living is almost over! And guess what?!?!?! Today, I'm offering $25.00 cash back to you!!! That makes the kit only $119.00 for you! To sign up, leave your email address below and I'll send you sign up instructions! 

So, that's it for this week's Favorites!!!! So glad you stopped by today!

Guest Blogging & a Giveaway....

Hey friends! Today, I'm blogging over at Kimm's Korner! I hope you'll head over to her blog and check it out!

If you've stopped by here from her blog, then welcome!!!! 

I'm also giving away three free oils just by commenting on today's post and by commenting on Kimm's post! So, make sure you leave me a comment ;)

And, if you want to learn a little more about essential oils, then shoot me an email! I'm hosting an EO101 Friday night on Facebook, and I'd love to have you!

You can also check out #hpagoesoily on Instagram to learn more!

XO!

What's Up Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday Friends!!! I'm linking up today with Scheaffer, Shay, and Mel for What's Up Wednesday!!!

Let's get right to it!

1. What We're Eating This Week..... I rarely take food pictures! Ha! So I don't have any pics to show for it, but on Monday night I made a killer Cheesy Mac Dish!

Cheesy Mac: Brown ground beef with onion (I didn't have an onion, so I used red bell pepper). While beef is browning boil 1 package of Macaroni Noodles. Once beef is finished, drain any grease. Sprinkle about 1/4 c. of flour, and 1 small container of Heavy Cream with 1 can of tomato soup (I didn't have tomato soup, so I used marinara sauce- it's basically the same thing!) Stir soup, cream, and flour together to thicken and bring to a boil. Don't forget to stir your noodles! Add 1 c. cheddar cheese, and 1 c. gouda cheese to the sauce, stir in to melt cheeses. Drain macaroni noodles, add to your beef, sauce, and cheese mixture, and stir. Allow everything to heat and simmer through together. 

Y'all, I saw this dish on facebook and wasn't quite sure about it, but it was supper yummy!!!

Tuesday night we had Chicken Tortilla Soup. I just put everything in the crock pot before I left for work: frozen chicken breast, drained and rinsed can of black beans, 1 can of rotel, 1 package of taco seasoning, 8 oz of heavy cream, and chicken broth. I shredded the chicken once I got home and served it with tortilla chips and shredded cheese!

Last week we had meatball sub sandwiches! These are super easy to throw together! I made meatballs using a quick google search, and then I topped each sandwich with pepperoni, meatballs, sauce, cheese, Italian seasoning, and baked them in the oven. Once they were finished, I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top and served with a salad. We all gobble these up!

I'm not sure what we'll be having for the rest of this week, because I don't plan that far ahead!

2. What I'm Reminiscing About.... 

Summer!!!! I can't wait to spend some of our time at the pool and at the lake! I live for lazy, sunny, summer days!

And honestly, the days where my grandmother was doing better. I've had a lot of pictures come across my Timehop recently, and it just makes me remember how special she is to us. Her health has been declining, and my mother has been a saint taking care of her! But, I miss the days of her being able to keeping up with us (shopping and trips), and keep up with the girls. They love getting to spend time with her. 

3. What I'm Loving!.........

Adding a drop of Tangerine essential oil to help flavor my water!

All things Pink!

Peppermint Brownies!!!! These are seriously the best, and I dare you to eat just one!

And this sale from Young Living!!! And yes, I'm giving you $25.00 cash back as a thank you!!! If you've been interested in essential oils, then now is the time to jump in! Just email me or leave me a comment below!

4. What We've Been Up To........

Last week, Gretchen had surgery. We went to our follow up appointment yesterday and everything is looking well! She recovered super quick and she's good to go!!! We are so thankful for everyone's prayers!

We've been spending our weekends at her basketball practices and games. 

The big girls have been watching a ton of American Girl videos on YouTube!

And we had a little weekend trip to Arkansas. 

5. What I'm Dreading.....

Spring Football!!!!

The team starts practicing next week, and I know the days will be long when DJ's at the office! I'm hoping we can squeeze in a few after school trips or head up to practice on Saturdays, but I'll miss him not being home! We've gotten settled in to a great routine, and spring practice always messes things up again. Tis the life of a football wife. 

6. What I'm Working On... I ordered a few storage cubes from Thirty One, and this weekend I hope we can finally get our upstairs craft closet organized. We also need to finish hanging Gretchen's curtains, a canvas painting, and maybe get a banner up in her room. I also ordered these butterflies from Pottery Barn Kids and we need to hang them in Megan's room along with a canvas above her bed. So, this weekend, I'll be busy getting bedrooms decorated and put together!

7. What I'm Excited About....

We are heading to Silver Dollar City for Spring Break and I'm excited for a few days out of town!

8. What I'm Watching/Reading.....

I've been reading this book since the beginning of the year. I highly recommend it if you have girls! I read one chapter at a time and then try to work on what it talks about, before moving on to the next chapter. So, the first chapter talks about Praiseworthiness, and praising your children. So, I'll work on praising them more throughout the day, and then I move on to the next chapter and work on that topic. Eventually, I'll get through the entire book!

Grey's is back on and I'm so excited!!!!

I'm watching the Bachelor and Criminal Minds, and trying to wait patiently for Nashville to come back on. 

9. What I'm Listening To.... 

At this very moment, I'm listening to DJ telling our middle child to get in the bed! He came home right at bed time and she snuck down to see him!

10. What I'm Wearing...

At this exact moment this is what I'm wearing. It was rainy here in Tulsa on Tuesday!

Hunter Rain Boots

Leggings

Tunic- Mine is out of stock, but this one is Navy and cute!

I wear my Bar necklace every single day. 

And you'll likely find some Stella & Dot bracelets and a Rustic Cuff on my arm. 

11. What I'm Doing this Weekend...

I need to get Gretchen's room finished up, Megan's room finished, I'm having a fun little Facebook event on Friday night, followed up with another one on Saturday! DJ and I have talked about taking the girls to the circus, Gretchen will have basketball, and after church on Sunday, I'll probably need a nap!

12. What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month...

Spring Break!!!!

I found out today that DJ's sister, brother in law, and their two kids are coming to Tulsa at the beginning of our Spring Break and then we're ending the weekend in Branson!

13. What Else is New....

Hmm.... nothing much! I think that all sums up life right now!!!

But, don't forget that if you're interested in learning more about essential oils to leave me a comment or shoot me an email! You can also follow my journey along on Instagram (@ewelte_hpa) or #hpagoesoily

Weekend Wrap Up: Arkansas Edition

This weekend, we loaded up and headed to Arkansas for some family time. But, if you've been around here for some time, you know our weekends really start on Thursdays!

Gretchen took the day off from school on Thursday (since she had surgery Wednesday) and spent her day with DJ at the football office. She also skipped ballet, so after school, Megan and I headed home and I did some quick cleaning before heading off to her gymnastics class. 

After gymnastics, we all met and enjoyed dinner at Pei Wei. 

The girls haven't loved Pei Wei in the past, but it's mine and DJ's favorite. Thankfully, it was much better received this time around! And the fortune cookies were a huge hit! I'm thinking we can finally add Pei Wei back in to our dinner meal routine!

Every day, we get email newsletters from Megan's preschool teacher. She made fruit loop necklaces on Friday, and Megan's picture was included in the email newsletter! I love getting to see little snippets of her day. 

After school on Friday, we came home and finished packing. We left for my mom's house and finally made it around 10. The girls all fell asleep in the car around 8:30, so we just carried them and laid them down. 

Addy's getting almost too big for her pac-n-play, and I'm not quite sure what we're going to do about that!

Sunday morning we woke up at my brother's house and headed to my mom's house for breakfast. 

Addy Pearl wanted to help her Gee cook.

I mean, she was attached to my mom's hip this weekend!

After breakfast, I spent the rest my morning making peppermint brownies, getting ready, and running some errands before heading to a college friend's house for a Young Living Make & Take party!

It's always great to catch up with old friends and it's even better that we now get to work together!

We set up a smelling station, displayed the Premium Starter Kit (which is still 10% off this month!!!)

Peppermint brownies are the best! 

Our guests made bath salts and sniffle rollers! My BFF, Laura came too! It was so good to see her!

While I was off having some girl time, DJ and the girls were doing this:

Exploring Petit Jean mountain with my brother and his family.

The mountain is just beautiful, and the weather was nice too! They climbed to the overlook to see Petit Jean's grave and the Arkansas River.

And then they went to a petting zoo and fed a baby calf. 

I'm not sure about you, but I suddenly want a baby cow. 

And they fed some animals too. 

Addy spent the day with her Gee, and when I was finished with my party, we headed to the mountain too for a fish fry and smores. 

Every picture I took of Adalyn was blurry. 

And Gretchen too!

We got up Sunday morning and had breakfast at my mom's again. We got ready and then we headed to eat pizza with my brother and his family. I saw this meme this week and it made me laugh out loud! We love pizza in this house, and now, I can totally get away with calling it a salad!

The rest of our Sunday was spent driving back home and getting ready to start our work week!

Happy Monday my friends!

Have a great one!