I’m not going to make any excuses about my absence this week, because honestly, I have no idea why I took a break. I had things on my calendar, but they could all easily be shifted and I just didn’t feel up to writing. I’ve been in an unexplained funk for several weeks and that translates to rarely eating, shirking workouts, reading too much, and laziness. I’m trying to get myself together over the weekend, so I’ll be back with better content on Monday. In the meantime, why don’t we share a little Five on Friday instead?
UAB Football | I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned this (and you probably wouldn’t care anyway), but Josh and I both went to college at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. I loved the urban setting and the art department was amazing. In true Kristin (in the college years) fashion, I went to exactly one football game my entire college career — Homecoming, my freshman year. It was hot and we got decimated by Virginia Tech and aside from conversations about what the heck a Hokie even was, I remember very little about that game. If you follow college football, live in the state of Alabama or listen to the news ever, you’re probably familiar with the demise of our football program a few years ago. There’s a party line, for sure, but everybody in the state knows the real reason it got the boot. We were all glad to welcome it back this season and Josh & I swore we would take the girls to as many home games as we could swing (I even joined the Alumni society?!). Sophie had a birthday party this past weekend, but we got Ella up bright and early for brunch and football. Because what is better than that?!
Slow Cooker Carnitas | I am working on the biggest recipe post for you guys right now and I can’t wait to share it. If I were being super optimistic, I’d tell you that it will be up next week, but that all depends on how together I am this weekend. While I was working on it, I made these beef carnitas in the slow cooker and they were a huge hit. It’s basically the beef equivalent to those easy slow cooker chicken tacos that everyone makes, so you could probably figure it out without much help. I used a rump roast, Mexican seasoning, lime juice, sliced onions, and canned diced chiles. Just cook it until the roast is tender and can be shredded with a fork, then serve it over anything. I highly suggest piling it on top of home fries!
Obedience Training | This dog is probably going to be the death of me. Maybe she’s twice as energetic as Beemer was at this age, maybe I’ve completely forgotten what it was like to have a dog, or maybe it’s just completely different when you’re fifteen years older. Yeah, it’s probably that last one. Just yesterday, she ventured out into the twenty acre cotton field behind our house and I had to retrieve her before work. Did I mention it was 85* outside and I was wearing a dress? I wish you could have seen me in my Hunter Wellies trying to convince her to come along. She might have been chewing on a rib bone when I got my hands on her. The short story is, she doesn’t come when called, and it’s super frustrating. We’re working with a local dog trainer and will begin obedience training in a few weeks and we CANNOT WAIT. She’s a super sweet girl and well-behaved for the most part, but we are about to whip her into shape. We considered doing a board and train program, but Josh really wanted a hands on experience (men?!), so we’ll be doing private classes over a period of eight weeks. I’m planning to blog about the process, so stay tuned if you’re interested in that!
Decade Day | This week was Homecoming at the girls’ school, so they’ve been dressing up every day. There were some interesting themes this year (tourist day, anyone?), but we’ve been doing our best to comply. On Tuesday, both girls had to bow out because of some leadership responsibilities and on Wednesday, Sophie had a field trip to hear the symphony play and we did not dress up like a character that day. They definitely made up for it yesterday, though! It was decade day and I begged Ella to dress up in something I would have worn in high school — hello, 1990s. I didn’t keep too many pieces of clothing, but I had a few that made her outfit. This vintage Grateful Dead tee was a gift from my aunt after the Birmingham show, which my parents wouldn’t let me attend because: ninth grade. The wooden necklace is one that I bought on a summer trip to London with my grandmother (and still wear) and the silver beads are actually a belly necklace that Josh & I lovingly refer to as “the chinky thingy” because it sounds chinky when you move (yes, we are strange). But really, the show stopper was my backpack from high school. My parents bought me an army green Jansport the summer before ninth grade and I spent the next four years sewing on, removing, and replacing various patches. These are the ones that remain and I am so glad that this still exists. She asked if she could keep wearing and it and I told her no. Because, maybe I want to carry it somewhere myself…
Instagram Links | I can never decide if it’s amazing that Instagram won’t let you add clickable links to your posts or if it’s the most genius move ever. Either way, bloggers have been trying to figure out a way around it for years. If you have 10k or more followers, you can switch to a business account and take advantage of their “swipe up” feature, but that may never actually happen for me. For the last six months or so, I’ve used LinkTree to provide you with a short list of links referenced in Instagram posts and stories. I regularly rearrange them, update things, or add affiliate links when you ask me about a product. And as helpful as it’s been, it’s also kind of a headache to have one more thing to update. I decided on a whim, yesterday morning, to add a new static page on the blog where all of my most frequently requested links could be found and where I can add new links as you ask for things. It’s currently linked in my Instagram profile and I’m planning to try this for a few weeks to see how well it works. It isn’t as necessary for blog readers who don’t follow on Instagram, but will be super helpful for those readers who visit the blog from within the app (plus all pageviews come to be instead of LinkTree). I’d love for you to take a look and let me know if there is anything else you’d like to see in that spot!
That’s it for today! I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend and that you catch up on your rest and relaxation. Josh is out of town for the weekend (but you can’t murder me, because my parents live in our house), so I’m flying solo. Ella is headed to a new small group tonight, we’re planning to catch up on some projects around the house tomorrow and make some delicious potato soup, and we’ll be spending Sunday churching + brunching + watching a dance exposition at a local theater. Sounds fun, right?!
