Road Trip!

New Orleans...here we come!

I'll be joining my church's youth group as a sponsor down to the Cajun world.  We're attending a national conference called Challenge with 6,000 other students from across the country. We board the bus at 5am Friday and return the following Friday.  Yes...a bus trip.  Trying to psyche myself up.  Look forward to pictures and stories! 

Yeehaw!

I recently attended my fourth wedding since May...tis the season.  If you read Jana's blog, and you should, then you've already heard a great rendition of our cousin, Nathan's wedding.  Feel no pressure to read because it's likely to be similar pics, but it never hurts to hear my version. Right?



Nathan and Brooke threw a western rehearsal shin-dig where we busted out the boots and hats.



Howdy folks!







Cader didn't get his nap & had his pouty face mastered.

 The wedding was later Saturday evening, leaving us the day to make our way around the highlights of Tulsa...like the carousel at the mall.  Cade was very excited for this and then once we'd committed, meaning we were on the moving ride, he put up a bit of a fight.



Not looking good for our ride

Thanks to my great nurturing skills, we quickly got it turned around and he realized it was fun!

The wedding was beautiful and we definitely owned the dance floor at the reception.



Cousins picture



Sisters pic...minus Florida Barbie



After all the wedding festivities I stayed an extra night with my grandparents for some extra hangout time with them and my aunt and uncle's family who were in from North Carolina.  And yes...we did this...



Went to the casino

My aunt and I ended up walking out with $5 bucks each...can't complain. Hope you all are enjoying your summer! 

 

Happy Father's Day!

Yes, I realize this post is a few days overdue, but it's never too late to honor your dad.  And I was actually getting to spend Father's Day with my dad, so we're good with the tardiness of the post.  Now on with it....

Here's to the greatest Dad ever! (Really)

He's been a loving husband for 32 years and an awesome dad for 28!  He's a man of deep integrity, great character, and has the ability to befriend just about any one in no time at all.  Just ask Frank and his posse of 7 other Chinese college students studying at OSU.  My parents sat at a table with them at a banquet for MaKenzie, struck up conversation, and next thing we know 8 Chinese students are staying at our house in GB on their way out to Colorado.  Makes friends with everyone. 

The quality I admire the most in my dad is his walk with God.  The word of God flows so naturally out of his mouth that you can tell he daily spends time reading it, getting quality time with God. He gives great, biblical advice and always has our best in mind.  He and I have been having daily phone calls for a while now where I'll call him in the mornings on the way to work and we chat briefly about our day ahead and pray for each other.  That's something  I've really missed this summer.  He can definitely be a goofy one and lose track of time pretty easily, but he's the best guy in the world.  Love you, dad.

Wichita's Wonder!

It's a summer goal of mine to get out and do fun things and try new shops, restaurants, etc. in and around the area and then feature them on here as often as I can (of course).  Just maybe this will catch momentum and I'd be asked to write some sort of column or get paid for my blog.  You could just call me Andie Anderson, the "How To" columnist.....come on, Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, anyone?  So millions  hundreds of readers out there, you might one day see my name posted in a famous newspaper or magazine or just right here on my own corner of fame...the blog. 

Anyway, this first feature is what I'd like to call Wichita's Wonder... Dustee's Fashion Accessories.  This super cute asseccory store is located on the west side of Wichita in New Market Square next to Best Buy.  I'd heard quite a bit about it from different teachers at school, but checked it out for the first time with my mom a few weekends ago. 

I really liked loved it because it was very organized and good quality stuff!  It's a very decent sized store full of the cutest necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches, purses, luggage, shoes (awesome wedges & sandals), some blouses & tops, a few skirts, belts, and much much more.  It can be a bit overwhelming unless you're a jewelry goo-roo or an accessory queen like my mom.  My all-time favorite store right now...hands down.  If you're on the west side (or even if you're not, totally worth the trip over) check it out!!

Here are some pics of my precious loot from the day. 

I'd say it was a successful trip and I've had to display a decent amount of self-discipline to not go back in and drop tons of money.  Things are also very reasonably priced, I would just buy multiple things.  A set of earrings & a necklace for $10.99, earrings $3.99, watches $16.99 and up just to give you an idea.

So...I drafted the above portion right after my first visit....my accessory addict self has since made a return trip. Jessica #1 (yep..I live with two Jessica's and I'm friends with about five million others as of recent) wanted to get some jewelry to match with a few new tops she had so I was more than happy to go along with her.  While I was working so hard to find just the right stuff for her, somehow these adorable, must-have wedges jumped out right in front of me and before I knew it, they were purchased and in my closet :)



Please ignore the dirty mirror...I've since cleaned it, I promise!

I've already worn them once and plan on a second showing of them at my cousin's wedding this weekend. So colorful, they can be worn with all kinds of things!  We'll see if Miss Sauder* gets brave enough to wear them this fall....not so sure I'd make it through a full day.  

*I refuse to refer to myself as Miss Sauder again until approximately August 16th :)

Successful Summer

What makes for a successful summer?  Mornings filled with reading and school work, afternoons soaking up sun at the pool, attending weddings (lots), spending time with good friends, and a decent amount of free time in between.  I've had high attendance of all of the above, so pretty successful so far.  What better way to spend some free time then by making a sign for Beach Barbie for the airport?

Beach Barbie (MaKenzie) is spending the summer in Destin, FL at Student Mobilization's nine week summer project.  StuMo is the campus ministry she's involved in at OSU and now she's getting to spend her summer in the Sunshine State working at the Polo Outlet during the days and growing in her walk with God through Bible study, speakers, and conferences.  This is the same program I nannied for last summer only I was in Gulf Shores, AL. 

Anyway, BB flew back to GB for a wedding she was in and I got to pick her up from the airport.  So what better way to greet a loved one then with a homemade sign....with glitter?!  :)

• Markers....check
• Glue..........check
• Scissors.....check
• Scrapbook paper....check
• Glitter........check
• Sonic Happy Hour...check



The best way to use a measuring cup? To pour glitter for crafts, of course.





She's too nice to say it embarrassed her.....but I'd say it took her by surprise a bit.  Jana's husband, Matt, saw it once we got to GB and simply said, "Looks like you've got plenty of free time."  I'll take that as a compliment.  Very successful summer so far :)

Zoobilee

If you've checked out Jana's blog lately, you'll see that Cader has been a regular at the zoo.  While G-Mom and Papa have him for a few days, entertainment for this little guy has not been cut short.  What's better then a trip to the zoo and a stop at Shepler's Western Wear for Papa to try on cowboy boots?  I can't think of anything.  Oh wait, a Sonic happy hour drink...we did that too.  (I've officially hit full summer mode where I eat ice cream very regularly and my car heads to Sonic happy hour on auto-pilot.)

Sidenote- I have the best job in the world.

Enjoy the pics of our fun-filled day!


A pre-zoo lunch stop for "chicken & fries"



Checking out the giraffes



I've never seen the lions this close before.  Cade was mesmorized.



The Rainforest, where we weren't convinced that animals were even in there.



Cade is really the cutest kid ever! And the smartest, funniest, craziest little boy on the planet.  Aunt Gentry doesn't sound biased at all, right?  Now of course all of that holds true until I have my own kids.  But Cade's really set the bar high for the family...man.

The Simple Life

I traveled back to the Bend this past weekend and as promised, now have fun pics to show for it.  Some disclaimers to begin...I will defend the wonderful town of Great Bend until the day I die.  It is not western Kansas, but central Kansas.  It is not a boring, stinky town, but a great place to grow up.  With that being said, I am posting some scenic farm pictures that are very stereotypical small town shots.  No, I do not live on a farm, but enjoy the beauty of the simple life, nonetheless. 



Jana & Matt made the trip back to Olathe without Cade so he could get some time with G-Mom and Papa while they work basketball camps.  So Cade, Papa, and I headed out on a wagon ride that turned into a tour of the corn fields and dairy farm. (I know, small town farm pics...yep)  Papa's doing his best to introduce good ol' rural living to this Johnson County boy.



Learning life lessons from Papa



Here's a sneak peak of what's to come.  We continued our "cultured" experience with Batman JoCo boy at the Wichita Zoo.  Here we are in the American farm petting zoo area.  This is when we got brave and let him out of the stroller.





Petting the horses.  (This is before Papa saw the "give animals their space, may bite" sign)



A full zoo post with pics to come.  Hope you all are enjoying your summer!