Category: Blogger of the Month

Rebekah Hearn: Larger Than Life

Hey y’all, it’s Rebekah again! I am excited to share my thoughts on this month’s theme, “Larger Than Life”. *cue the Backstreet Boys song*

I can remember probably around 2000 when I went of my first mission trip to Honduras with my church. That is probably when I first fell in love with international travel. I have seen several places that I would consider to be “Larger Than Life”, so I wanted to share those with you today.

Swiss Alps: Switzerland is hands down my favorite country I’ve ever visited. I highly recommend going on a cable car ride through the Alps. I promise, it’s the purest air that I have ever breathed. It was just something about being able to relax in Switzerland that gave me a calming thought as I visited a couple of summers ago. I cannot wait to go back! The views are breathtaking!

The Vatican: WOW is one word that comes to mind. The Vatican is MASSIVE. I grew up in a small town and a small church. Don’t get me wrong; I love my hometown and my home church. However, it was truly impressive to see such a sprawling church and location in Rome. The architecture and design was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was speechless as I walked through the doors into this place. I learned so much about Italian culture and why so many people visit the Vatican every year.

Shanghai, China

The Bund is an awesome waterfront walkway and area in the heart of Shanghai. When I visited a couple of Christmases ago, it was easy to see why people love this city. The lights shine bright and the scenes are beautiful. Be sure to take lots of pictures of Pearl Tower. If you know me at all, you know I love shopping. You can find just about anything you’re looking for in Shanghai. It’s so awesome to be able to see other cultures and how they go about their daily lives.

You see, the world truly is “larger than life,” and I can’t wait to take more trips and explore. See you next week for a day in the life of Rebekah 😉

Rebekah Hearn – Miss April 2017

Happy April, y’all! I’m Rebekah & I’m stoked to be your Miss April here on ARWB. I love me some April, because April showers bring May flowers 😉 More like, April is the time of thunderstorms in Arkansas, and I’m a wannabe storm chaser! But really, I thought I would introduce myself and let you get to know me a little bit.

I’m from Northwest Arkansas, and graduated from pharmacy school last year. I’m a nerd, and I love school. That’s probably why I chose to get an MBA as well. I joke that if I could, I would go back to school and study meteorology. You never know! I’m always working! I work in two adorable community pharmacies, and I feel that is where God knew I needed to work when I graduated. I have been blessed to move back to my hometown where I grew up and lived my entire life.

When I’m not working, I try to travel and see as much of the world as possible. I have visited Europe and Asia with my family. I have also traveled to Central & South America on mission trips with my church. While there are several places I want to visit in the US, I love getting to see other cultures in the world. I absolutely loved Germany when I visited. Since my ancestors were from Germany, I felt a tie to that country. It is always so interesting to watch other people and see how they live their everyday lives. I hope to visit all of the 7 continents one day; although, I think Antarctica might be a little difficult 😉

Why did I start blogging? I really don’t have an amazing story like many bloggers, but I knew that I wanted a place to share my life, travels, and obsession with beauty products. I wanted it to be a place where I could keep track of my favorite places I’d been and favorite products I’d been using. I would have never dreamed that I would meet one of my best friends, Ricci, through blogging. We joke all the time, because the second time we ever even saw each other, we were taking a cross-country road trip to see another one of our blogging friends who we had never even met in person. I think God works in mysterious ways. He knew that I would meet some of my best friends through blogging, and I talk to these girls every single day. We have taken several trips with our friend Jenn since then. We have been to Charlotte, Las Vegas, Memphis, and Nashville. And we aren’t done yet! We have several other trips in the works.

I’m super excited to be your Miss April around here 😉 I can’t wait to show you more about my life and how I balance a full-time job and blogging. Since I finally don’t have to study for hard tests anymore, I can’t wait to jump back into blogging more and more. I can’t wait to document my travels and share products from the beauty world that work for me.

As the month progresses, be sure to check back for more posts from me. In the mean time, be sure to follow me on social: Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. I’m really trying to get into the Insta-story game, so be sure to watch those! For more trip reviews/recaps and beauty advice, head over to Rebekah Elizabeth. I’m also on BlogLovin’, so be sure to follow me there as well. Buckle up & enjoy the ride with me!

The Best of Jodi

Hey guys! This is my final post as March Blogger of the Month. Thank you so much for allowing me to share with you. If you blog, or are interesting in blogging and are not a member of Arkansas Women Bloggers, I encourage you to check us out. The conferences are a blast and I always come home with a wealth of information.

Today I am going to take you back in time. My posts are somewhat dated, but that reminds me why I started blogging in the first place. There may be moments you hope to forget, but there are so many more that you want to capture and hold on to. Writing the words that go with life’s pictures is one of the best ways of doing that. My babies are growing right before my eyes. I’ve really enjoyed looking back and reading these older posts and I hope you will too. Taking a moment to read these stories was all it took to get me back in the moment. It’s fun to see the “then” and compare it to the “now”.

Sometimes You Gotta Dance 

Evenings at home with littles can be hectic. This particular evening turned out to be one of those.

 

 

Silent Night, Holy…SMOKES 

A night and smell we will never forget.

 

 

Outstanding in the Field 

I have learned so much since this experience. This dinner may have sparked my love for farm-to-table and truly caring about knowing where my food comes from. I absolutely adored this event and hope to go again someday.

 

 

When Life Gives You Pimientos 

I may or may not still feel the same about pre-shredded cheese, but it’s good stuff either way.

 

 

Overwhelmed with Awesome 

Oh goodness, how things have changed in the social media world since my very first AWB conference! But so many things are tried and true and relationships have grown. For me, it took going out on a limb to go to this conference. And guess what? The limb didn’t break.

 

Although we are several years down the road, our family experiences similar adventures and hair-pulling moments. As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr said, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. (Yes, I had to Google who said that. How did we survive before Google?)

Have a happy HEALTHY day!

A Day in the Life of Jodi

 

“Mom, I need socks!”

“Can you braid my hair?”

“Watch where you step, there’s doodle in the hallway.”

“Will someone let Lucy out?”

“Will someone let Pepper in? Wait! She’s covered in grass!”

“What can I eat?”

“Who made God?”

“Eeeeew! Somebody forgot to flush!”

When hanging out at the Coffee house, you may hear any of these statements once or multiple times throughout the day.

While being a stay-at-home mom, my schedule changes day to day. I have made myself move to a paper planned life, otherwise, I believe myself and my children would miss out on several activities. It’s hard for me to describe a day in the life at this stage. Each day is different. When not working a regularly scheduled job, life is somewhat on the fly. Of course, I do schedule and plan activities, but I do feel like many days I’m “flying by the seat of my pants”.

Some days I get my workout done before I wake my crew, and some days I workout after getting the kiddos to school. Whatever the case, I take pride in making sure everyone starts his or her day by eating breakfast. I wish I could insert “healthy” before the word breakfast, but some days that is not the case. Nourishment. Calories. Energy. That’s what I’m hoping…

I mentioned before that being a stay-at-home mom was not something I planned on doing. It has been a blessing in so many ways. I appreciate the days that I pick up the girls and hear about what is going on at school. Count me in for field trips and school parties! The many hours I spend working on the farmers’ market effort wouldn’t be a possibility if I were working outside the home. My husband’s office is in town and we are able to go to lunch together once or twice a week. These are all things I try my best not to take for granted.

I also work to maintain my professional licensure. This may or may not consist of doing my required hours of continuing education right before the deadline.

One of my main focuses this past year was training for an Ironman race – Ironman Arizona. Initially, the training distances were not long, and if I was able to get the workout in early, it didn’t really impact the day. The swim workouts required an hour round-trip each time, and I would typically do two swim workouts weekly. Closer to race day, the bike training would require anywhere from 6-8 hours. This was often on the weekend. I had a lot of mommy-guilt, but I will hand it to my crew – they were troopers. There were times I would take the girls to the pool with me and bribe them with snacks and activities and threaten them not to kill each other while I was in the water. There were times that I would have to join them later instead of going all together to this and that. There were many times I would have to go sans makeup and hair pulled back when I would normally dry my hair and put on make-up. And they loved me through it.

Yes, day-to-day life is fast and furious. I’m hanging on with all my might to take each day as it comes and holding on to precious memories.

Besides, sleep is overrated, right?

 

I Want It That Way

by Jodi Coffee, Miss March 2016

I have come to accept that I have a type-A personality living in a type-B world. Maybe it’s selective type A-ism. I don’t know. I thought I would share five things that I want MY way. This is not an end-all be-all list, and tomorrow’s list may be different (I reserve that right), but here you go.

Number one: toilet paper

This is an issue we have all seen and know well.

The paper rolling under is unacceptable and must be corrected immediately.

Number two: cooking in the kitchen

This is a matter I have had to work on since welcoming the littles into the kitchen for hands-on experience. It’s almost as if I need to do these together-activities with my hands behind my back. It is so challenging for me to let go of certain steps. But when I hear myself directing them out-loud, it does seem micro-managing and ridiculous. I’m working on this, folks.

Number three: laundry

Not a fan of this gift that keeps on giving. Of course, it must be done.

I line-dry all dry-fit/high tech materials, delicates and the girls’ school uniform shirts. I turn things inside out and button when needed. Nothing too complicated, but I cannot accept my hub’s offer to dump all of the clothes from the washer to the dryer. Just cannot do it.

Number four: washing dishes

I hand wash a lot of our dishes. Cooking is one of my specialties, so I have found it faster to wash them quickly and have them ready to go versus waiting for a full load of dishes to run the washer. Oh, the dishwasher gets used, but certain items never go in. I always hand wash my pots and pans, wooden spoons, knives, Tervis tumblers, measuring utensils…okay, so my list is too long. See. You just gotta let me do it. Thankfully, the hubs is my dish drying partner. Love that guy.

Number five: mug matters

In regards to drinking coffee and tea, the mug matters.

Coffee at home:

Coffee on the go:

Tea (green tea + honey = heaven):

 

Please don’t think I’m crazy. Remember? Type A-isms. My life is far from perfect and although I have preferences, I try and embrace the crazy. The spills, the eggshells, the towels folded in a ball. Yes, I may re-fold it later, but in the moment, I love it. I hold in disbelief daily that three little girls want to be just like me. And yes, I accept coffee in any shape or form.  

Miss March 2017 – Jodi Coffee

Hey y’all! I’m so excited to be Arkansas Women Blogger’s (AWB) blogger of the month for March! I want to share a few things about myself, and I hope it will give you a good idea of what Jodi Baker Coffee is all about. I’m full-blooded Arkansan. Born and bred. I grew up in Arkadelphia and was there until I left for graduate school. I attended the University of Central Arkansas for physical therapy school and was in the first graduating class of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2003. That same summer I married my hubs, Trevor. We started our lives in his hometown, Hope, and have been here ever since.

We have three beautiful daughters, ages 5, 7, and 9, and two female dogs, Lucy and Pepper. So, yes, my husband is very out-numbered. Our house is a lively buzz of girls laughing, squealing, screaming, singing and crying; dogs barking, snoring, scratching on doors and begging. I am quite accustom to these sounds, but will not deny when everyone is fed and out the door, I’m known to have a cup of coffee and cook a fine breakfast – just for me.

I began my blog years ago as a way to document and journal days and adventures with our first-born. I was at home after spending many years in school and working hard toward building my career. I had no plans of being a stay-at-home mom and quite frankly would give a bit of attitude when the subject matter came about. I didn’t know how to spend those hours “alone” at home. Blogging was a great outlet and I love to look back and enjoy those memories. I returned to work in-between my first and second girls, but stayed at home after our second daughter was born and have been “at home” ever since. Well, as many of you know, once folks know you are at home, they find plenty for you to do.

I was invited to a Hometown Health Coalition meeting one day and within the next several years of involvement, Hope Farmers’ Market was born. I consider it my fourth child and have been at home raising children and working as the farmers market manager ever since.

Also, during my at-home time I would venture to Old Washington Farmers Market. It is there that I met our avid leader, Stephanie Buckley. I remember when she first told me of AWB and the rest is history! I’m so thankful I became involved with AWB. I now know some amazing and talented women (AND men) throughout my participation with this crew. I have so much to learn, but am glad that no matter my skill level in the blogging and writing world, that I’m accepted for who I am. AWB is a diverse group with like-minded goals. We all have something to say, and I love that we have a tribe to help share our voice with others. AWB has strengthened my love and appreciation for our great state of Arkansas, and I truly value the opportunities I’ve had to meet many of our local farmers and makers.

Currently, the majority of my social media outlets are Facebook and Instagram, but I hold on to the hopes of returning to my blog and continuing documenting the stories of our lives. I’m looking forward to sharing more with you all throughout the month of March. Please stop by and say HI!

The Best of Ricci

My month as Miss February is coming to an end. I am sad and happy all at the same time. I am sad because it’s over but I’m happy because it was fun writing all of these posts and sharing a little bit of my life with you!

Today I am going to share with you some of my favorite posts from my blog. These are in no particular order…

  1. Mom. This is post all about my Mom, duh. I don’t share too much about her on my blog or even in my personal life unless I know you very well. This was a tough post to write.

  1. Maroon 5 in Vegas. This was a once in a lifetime kind of trip and worth every penny. Plus I got to ring in the New Year with two of my besties!!

  1. Lion King. My very first solo trip. Also the same day I got Invisalign!

  1. Girl’s Game Night In! Perhaps the most fun I have ever had writing a sponsored blog post.

  1. Megaphone Summit 2016. My very first The Women’s Blogger Conference!!
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A Day in the Life of Ricci

by Ricci Ellis, Miss February 2017

I just did a “day in the life” post about a day I have off work on The Women Blogger’s Instagram account so today I thought I would take you through a day of my work life!

I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist and I work at two of Little Rock’s best hospitals! I work at UAMS full-time (3 days/week) and I am as needed at St Vincent. I work 12-hour shifts, hence the 3 days per week as full time. As much as I hate getting up at 430am on the days I work I appreciate only having to work 3 days a week.

So let’s get to it…

4:00 am. Alarm goes off and I hit snooze. A lot. I know I shouldn’t but I am one of those people who hits snooze without even realizing it so I hit it for at least 30 minutes, HA! I don’t call myself the Queen of Procrastination for nothing…

4:30 am: Actually get out of bed, take a shower and get ready for work. At this point in the morning, I have to make Sophie puppy get out of bed and go outside. She’s very huffy in the morning and does her business as fast as she can so she can get back in my bed and go back to sleep. Oh to live the life of a lap dog…

5:45 am. Leave the house! Most days I am running late so I usually eat breakfast in the car on the way. If I don’t grab a banana and a Spark for the road then I will most likely stop at McDonald’s and grab a Caramel Frappe. Frappes are my weakness. I love love love those things!! #Addicted

6:20 am. Get to work and clock in. At this point, I get a report, gather the equipment I need and then get to work seeing patients. I am able to work everywhere in the hospital so I never know where I will be when I go in to work each day. My favorite place to work is the NICU but I also enjoy the adult ICU and the floors.

Most people aren’t really sure what a Respiratory Therapist is or what we do until they need us so I will give you a quick description of my job! Respiratory Therapists work in all areas of the hospital. We work in all adult areas of the hospital giving breathing treatments, drawing arterial blood gasses, assisting doctors during intubation (inserting breathing tubes) and bronchoscopy procedures, setting up and maintaining ventilators (machine that breathes for you), suctioning patients, helping with trachs, assessing and educating patients and working in traumas and in code situations.

In the Neonatal ICU (my fave) we do all of the things we do for adults except we also go on high-risk deliveries and help with newborn resuscitations. Working with the neonates is really my favorite and so incredibly rewarding.

As a Registered Respiratory Therapist, I went to school for 4 years getting all my pre-requisites (I changed my major a few times…LOL) and then I transferred to UAMS where I went to school for another 3 years and finally obtained my bachelor’s degree in Cardio-Respiratory Care. I then had to sit for three board exams to get my Registered status. I have to do continuing education every year so that I maintain my Registered status, my state and national license.

11 am. Lunch time aka my favorite part of the day!!

12 pm. See more patients.

2 pm. Snack/coffee time!! I always need more caffeine in the afternoons and luckily for me, both hospitals I work in have fabulous coffee shops!

4 pm. See more patients!

6:53 pm. Clock out and go home!! Hallelujah and praise Jesus!!

6:55 pm. Sit in car and ponder what to do. Should I go to the gym? Not if I have to work again the next day. Grab something to go on the way home or wait to get home and eat? Depends on how hungry I am.

7:30 pm. Get home. Obviously, I have ignored the gym completely and decided to just grab something at home to eat. On the days I work I do not want to come home and make anything to eat so it’s either leftovers or cereal. As soon as I get home I let Sophie outside and take a quick shower before changing into comfy clothes/pj’s.

8 pm. Plant myself on the couch and eat dinner, check email and social media, attempt to watch tv.

9:30 pm. Crawl into bed and pass out because I have to get up at 4:30 the next day and do it all over again.

And that is a day of my work life. You can see I really don’t do much in the way of blogging or blog related on the days I work because I don’t have time! I usually set aside a whole day once a week and write all my blog posts, take pics for the blog, and schedule everything out on social media.

There was a time that I tried writing every night but I just wasn’t any good. I was super stressed all the time and that just makes for really bad writing and really dark photos. So after a few years of trial and error, I have found that this just works for me right now.

Hope you had fun following along on one of my work days!!

Friend Love

by Ricci Ellis, Miss February 2017

Love. As a single lady this is sometimes an awkward topic to talk about. I don’t have a boyfriend and I’m completely happy with my life right now. A lot of people don’t understand that and think that you have to be in a relationship to be happy but I don’t think so. I think that you make your own happiness. So instead of talking loving a significant other, today I am going to talk about friend love!

As I mentioned above, I am a single lady and so some of my most important relationships are those that I have with my friends! These are the ladies I text every single day…the ladies I send all my ugly selfies (sorry guys!!) and dressing room mirror selfies (can’t shop alone!) to, the ladies I vent to on a daily basis, the ladies crazy enough to go on trips with me and the ladies I can have entire conversations using only emojis. That’s true friend love right there folks.

One of my best friends has known me since we were sophomores in college. She has put up with my crazy for over 10 years…bless her heart y’all. We were in the same sorority and survived college together. We have taken many trips together, the latest one being a couple summers ago when we took an east coast road trip. We were stuck in a car with each other for 2.5 weeks and somehow managed not to kill each other! She is coming to stay with me next month to attend another sorority sister’s wedding. Friendship does survive road trips and close living quarters y’all, I promise.

Two of my other best friends I met through blogging. We have known each other for 4+ years and have a trip planned together this month for my birthday! We have been to North Carolina, Vegas, Lubbock and Nashville together! I have made some of my best memories with these ladies and they truly get me. Some people don’t understand the “life of a blogger” (constantly on social media, taking pics of everything…etc) but since they both blog they totally understand! I love that I can bounce ideas off these ladies and talk about anything with them. They are truly forever friends. Friendship can begin online and be a beautiful thing!

So those are my three best friends and the ladies that keep me sane every day. I don’t actually see any of them very often…they live in Ohio, NWA and Nashville…but I do talk them everyday and that makes up for it. I also love to Face Time them and see them on trips that we take together! I love and value my friendships and that’s what it’s all about.

Miss February 2017 – Ricci Ellis

Hey there y’all! My name is Ricci and I am super pumped to be your Miss February because February is also my birthday month! Happy early birthday to me!! I am turning 34 this year and it’s not freaking me out as much as I thought it would…yet. I’m sure the freakout will come but I will try and contain myself. HA!

I am a single lady with one fur child, my dog Sophie. She’s part drama queen and part bossy pants but don’t you dare tell her she’s not human because that would break her poor little doggy heart. I swear I’m not a crazy dog lady.

I am a Respiratory Therapist at two of Little Rock’s best hospitals and I love my job very much. I love taking care of people and being there at some of life’s most crucial moments for people. But as much as I love my job it is also extremely stressful which is part of the reason I decided to start my blog…I needed a creative outlet and my blog has provided that in the best possible ways!

When I started my blog a little over six years ago it was strictly as a creative outlet and diary/journal. I love going back and looking back at old posts and seeing what I was doing on a particular day or seeing what I loved at the moment. I even chronicled the building of my house on my blog!! It’s fun to look back at those old posts even if my photography skills were extremely lacking. Please don’t go look, it’s shameful!! LOL!!

Since those early days I have upped my blogging game little by little over the years by going to blogging conferences, attending online workshops, taking photography classes, etc. My little side hobby/creative outlet has now turned into a fairly successful money making side hustle (as Stephanie would say). Who even knew that would ever happen?? It’s taken a lot of hard work and very late nights but I’m pretty proud of it.

Blogging even inspired me to go back to school and obtain my second bachelor’s degree in E-Commerce. I have always loved learning and felt like it was something I needed to do in order to really become successful and I can say that earning that degree really helped me! I took several computer science classes, web design classes, marketing classes, etc that have all helped me a lot with my blog.

Over the years I have also made some of my very best friends through blogging. When I started my blog I was at a point in my life where most of my “real life” friends were all getting married and having kids and I felt like no one I knew really “got” me and I prayed a lot about finding the friends that I needed at that point in my life and I felt like God really pushed me into branching out and talking to people through my blog and from that I have made some of my very best friends. The women that I “met” then are still the women that are in the same stage of life as I am and we still text and talk to each other on a daily basis. I am so thankful that if nothing else, blogging has brought me the friends I needed when I needed friends the most.

Also- how crazy is it to meet people in real like that you met initially online? I remember meeting my best friend Rebekah in person for the first time and then the next time I saw her in person we were going on a road trip to North Carolina to meet more of our blog friends. This was about four years ago and I vividly remember us all up late talking in our hotel room about how glad we were that no one in the group turned out to be a murderer. We were so trusting back then. Would I do that again today? I’m not sure…HA!

Thank you for letting me introduce myself to you and share my blogging story with you. I am looking forward to sharing more with you as the month progresses! Until then you can find me on my blog, Ricci Alexis, talking about beauty products, traveling, blogging, recipes, and life in general or you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and BlogLovin!