Although it’s easy to think that the fashion capitals of the world are the center of the style universe, it’s important to remember that style exists everywhere. One such unexpected place is the ESSE Purse Museum in the SOMA neighborhood in Little Rock, Arkansas. ESSE is only one of three handbag museums in the world, the only one in North America, and the only independently owned museum.
The collection, focusing on the 20th century, is divided into vignettes by decade. Each decade not only includes popular handbag silhouettes and designers of the time, but also the contents that might have been included in handbags during that period.
READ MORE to find out more about the ESSE Purse Museum.
Wild River Country in North Little Rock is Arkansas’s largest waterpark and has been a mecca of summer fun since 1985. The 26-acre park offers a sun-filled day of non-stop fun with thirteen attractions, party decks, three pavilions and a volleyball court.
Disclaimer: This post contains links to posts that were written by bloggers who selected due to their connection with Arkansas Women Bloggers. Each blogger was compensated for their opinion.
Recently, several of our Arkansas Women Bloggers had the opportunity to check out the park with their families. We’ve rounded up a collection of some of their posts. If you’ve always wondered what Wild River Country was like, these ladies have all the nitty-gritty details and advice for getting the most out of your day.
My family and I recently took the short drive to Wild River Country on a weekday afternoon for some family fun and we had a blast. We stayed at the park for about two and a half hours, which wasn’t nearly enough time to get to do all of the things that we wanted to do. READ MORE…
Keeping kids happy when it’s hot outside can be difficult.
With the age ranges in my kids- early twenties to pre-school age- it’s almost impossible!We were very happy to participate in a blogging event by Wild River Country as a family to see what they had to offer. READ MORE…
Parents of special needs children, unite! I have an activity that ALL your kids can do together. If your kids are anything like mine, then you know how stressful choosing a summer activity can be, especially when you have to factor in a wheelchair. One kid wants to do something, while the others say no. It’s hard to get them all to agree on one thing. Well, stress no more. I have the perfect activity to add to your summer repertoire. READ MORE…
As a new teacher, I’ve relished in my first summer break since I was in college (long, long ago). My kids and I have just been hanging out, having playdates, visiting family, and enjoying lots of pool time. So for my last week of freedom (my school starts mid-July), we decided to go to Wild River Country again. Quinn, Maya, Lucy (Maya’s friend) and I hurried out the door, and we were the first in line to get in when the gates opened at 10 a.m. READ MORE…
I had hopes of summer being filled with fun days with a slower pace of eating popsicles on the porch and laying by the pool in the afternoons. But, that is not the case with our family. Our life has actually sped up this summer while trying to balance some extra responsibilities on our plates in addition to just “normal life crazy”, so we are dropping the ball in some areas, letting people down, and just trying to survive and do the best we can with the 24 hours we have each day.I know that this is not unique to us and that all of you have those same seasons as well during the year, so you know what I’m talking about. Those times stink, but you are always a little better on the other end.
But the point is, There is no leisurely summer happening over here. We only get about 18 summers with our kids at home and that number just doesn’t seem like enough to me.
Even though we are super busy this summer I wanted to prioritize and get some time alone with each of my kids doing something fun. So I decided that I am going to take each one to Wild River Country alone! READ MORE…
Summer is one of the dreaded seasons in our house. My daughter is an only child and summer makes her miss her friends and seeing other people besides us and family. Vacations are limited because of the nature of Hubby’s job. Instead, we hit up places right here in Arkansas.
Wild River Country water park is one of our go to places. I remember going to this way back when I was in high school with our church group (Y’all, this was way back in the day). Now that Glitter is older she enjoys hanging around other people. This works out for me since it also means I get to hang with other moms. READ MORE…
Crystal Bridges is situated on 120 acres and boasts over 3.5 miles of trails that include natural and landscaped environments, clear running creeks that are easily accessed for a quick dip of the paw, outdoor sculptures, and artist James Turrell’s Skyspace structure, The Way of Color.
From time to time, there are also featured exhibits and acitivies in the outdoor space- installations such as The Four Seasons by American artist and filmmaker, Phillip Haas, and family events like Artosphere– that allow well-behaved art-lovin’ canines.
It’s a wonderful way to exercise your pup, as well as, all of your senses.
READ MORE for some tips on taking your dog and getting to enjoy all that Crystal Bridges has to offer.
Fear. It grips us. We can feel it in our bones. Smell it. Sometimes, even, others can smell it on us. It cripples, paralyzes, and robs us. It causes us to miss out, to fall back, to give up.
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We can be talented, cheery, sharp, and brilliant. We really can.
For those who don’t know, Riceland is a farmer-owned cooperative and is the world’s largest miller and marketer of rice! You can literally find Riceland products all over the world. Riceland was founded in 1921 and is still headquartered in Stuttgart Arkansas. Who knew?
Arkansas is the nations leading producer of rice and Riceland is a big part of that.
Check out Ricci’s trip to the Riceland headquarters. READ MORE…
For the last few years, Thom and I have been vacationing separately. For one reason or another it’s just been smarter and more convenient for us to head to Michigan either alone or together but on separate sides of the state; with him visiting his kids over on the east side and myself in western Michigan.
We did that again this year for ten days and while the time away from our normal routines was nice, it was time for us to spend some quality time together away from home and free of everyday stresses.
It wasn’t hard to choose a destination that met both our requirements for a romantic weekend getaway; a one-tank trip; romantic, quiet setting but with plenty of sight-seeing opportunities; affordable lodging; historical significance (yep, I am the nerd who loves to learn-even on vacay); and in the Natural State as there is still SO much to explore here in our adopted home state.
Eureka! Or, Eureka Springs to be more exact.
Click HERE to READ MORE about Thom and Gina’s sponsored getaway weekend in Eureka!
Little girls long for the day when we become grown, have adult bodies, bear children. Then those days arrive and suddenly we are overwhelmed. Suddenly we are unaware of the passage of time. Suddenly we are old and we forget what, if anything, we did with the time.
It doesn’t take long to wish for our youth back, to begin looking for comfort, to catch ourselves faltering, to wonder . . .READ MORE
I just finished Potty Training Boot Camp with my fourth child, this little super toddler. As we were going through the process, I was thinking back to when I potty trained my first child. Wow, we learned a lot during the process so I thought I would share the method we have found to be successful, along with a Free Printable Potty Training Sticker Chart.
I believe half of the learning is overcoming the fear of the unknown and half is learning the functionality of going to the potty. Also, if they go into this thinking it’s going to be fun, you can dissipate some of their fear. We use positive reinforcement and rewards to help instill good potty habits and to celebrate successes as well. As we are getting ready to get started with our 3 days of boot camp, I purchase their favorite things to use as a reward.
For Jennifer’s Potty Training Bootcamp and Printable Sticker Chart, click here.
I was taking out all of my daughter’s too little clothes from her drawers a few months ago. And she had a few pairs of jeans that were too little. At first, I put them in the bag for me to give them to Goodwill. Then I thought it would probably be pretty easy to make some DIY cut-off shorts with her too short jeans. Especially, since they still fit in the waist. I thought I could buy some cute iron-on appliques to jazz them up some. And that this would save me some money since I wouldn’t have to purchase as many spring/summer bottoms.
Wow, it is a fun honor to be invited to serve as the Arkansas Women Blogger of the Month! I’ve loved the ladies I’ve met hanging out here! We can come from so many different places in life, yet have so much in common.
By way of introduction, let me say I’m old.
How old? I might be the oldest in this group, but it’s not a contest, okay? Haha! I have been married to “Gorgeous Guy” for 47 ½ years and our five kiddos are grown, degreed, and gone, and have blessed us with 15 grandchildren, some of them which are now in college. That old.
And I love my man. Still. Yes, we’re “those people” who still hold hands, although we are graying a teensy bit.
Originally, I am a Kansas City girl, and still somehow feel a lot at home when I go there. Nostalgia tugs hard at the heart. But I figured something out: God made Arkansas, too! And I have found the charm here would tug at me, too, and welcomes me back each time I walk in my door.
Charm like our garden. I never tire of looking at its progress. And eating from it. Sometimes I tire of the canning and we’re right in the middle of that, here, too.
But then I return to the garden and discover a lovely full head of dill, and the charm is on, again.
I officially began writing in 1995, when I submitted my first, ever, article to An Encouraging Word Magazine out of Idabel, Oklahoma (but only a short way from my house.) I remember it fondly; my editor was a Catherine. Some of the articles I wrote then are still extant, on my first blog site, which I’ve mostly archived. Same applies to my newspaper days, one article of which won a contest for me at Firepole Marketing (Mirasee) quite a while back.
That was exciting.
I first learned of blogging when one of my magazine articles (you know; glossy paper, ink, comes in the outdoor mailbox…) was pirated, along with evenmy name, on Blogit.com. Of course, I was livid and got my editor to reclaim it for me. (Although I did not get the $23 he/she stole with it.)
I didn’t like bloggers at all, those days. Not one bit. I said I’d never be one.
But Mary DeMuth kept insisting: blogging was the only way to get published and I was working on writing a book, so I dove in, determined to break the mold of wicked bloggers stealing stuff.
I first met Stephanie Buckley when she used to live near me, in a meeting that was totally not related to blogging.Well, it was about writing, but that was not the same at all, in my eyes. One day, when I read in the news (paper, again, friends, and ink, and the other mailbox) that she’d conducted a meeting in Little Rock for bloggers, I was flabbergasted.
She seemed like such a genuine, sweet person and she blogged?
So confusing!
Then came more confusion, as I kept trying to join her group, but not getting through to her on the phone. Since I live in the Arkansas Outback, I just kept trying—Pioneer spirit, etc. Then I learned she’d left us and joined the forces in the northwest.
I was truly disappointed since I’d considered her my source of hope.
That was back when WordPress was just beginning to go really public. (I warned you, this chick is old!) Somehow I was getting emails from them. Then they introduced their 2010 theme, a couple of years later, still one of their most popular, but they had so many. With WordPress.com it’s so fun and easy to become a theme junkie, and I may have experimented with a few.
And yes, I’m a “dotcom” WordPress blogger and spoke at a WordCamp last summer, about why I totally love that. I’m not in blogging for money but for ministry, although I do have a PayPal button option, just in case I ever learn how to create courses.
I’ve changed my two blog sites into “Websites with a blog” and haven’t looked back. Although I may be on a small hiatus while we begin moving house this month (!) I still have time for Arkansas Women Bloggers and this great honor—serving as July Blogger of the Month.
Blogging and reasons for blogging have always changed—improved—and always will. My first site is about everything “homeschooling” and is called Home’s Cool! When my baby turned 18 and graduated from our home, I kind of retired from the education scene and looked to my second site, The Conquering Mom, reaching out as an older woman to younger women, with teaching and counsel on all womanly subjects, helping the discouraged to grasp their true role in life and conquer the impediments all women must face.
This second site is taking a long time to grow up, for, among others, these four reasons:
Gorgeous Guy is also retired. It is hard to be serious about one’s own goals if half of your self thinks “every day is Saturday.” It’s just different, Sisters, is all I can say; I am not my own puppy anymore!
Gorgeous Guy took a retirement job as a preacher and we spend about six hours of my (our) week just traveling, not to mention other obligations.
I know, I said “four reasons” and the fourth reason is that as a blogger, I used to languish under the supposed inability of the reader to concentrate on more than 500 words at a sitting.No kidding, I posted every single day, about 500 words, wishing Internet readers had longer attention spans.
I was born for long form. Who knew?
I’d write a series for the week, many times, so I could put more like 2500 to 3500 words into a thought. I think I was long form, when long form wasn’t cool. But I didn’t know it? Dostoevsky and Dickens are my writer heroes, I suppose. However, unlike them, on my old site, mostly I wrote about my garden, canning, education, and my sweet little hennies, which I love to hand-feed.
I also love telling a good story and made up several for my five children when they were little. In fact, I love stories so much that I have one page just for the story posts.
And on the new site? More and more counseling, mixed with stories and humor and an occasional recipe. And love. Lotsa love. Gotta have it.
Currently, I’m on a short hiatus, to move house closer to Gorgeous Guy’s “retirement” preaching job. And we’re on vacation, as in taking a trip, this week. It’s amazing what comes up when two people are planning activities, unbeknownst to each other.
Moving, while vacationing, while writing for Arkansas Women Bloggers, has to be the ultimate.
But let me leave you with a word of wisdom: You should blog. I’ve learned that much.
Don’t worry too much about what others are doing, though, with their blogs. Being yourself is far more important. Whatever you’ve learned, or heard rumors, about blogging will be obsolete before you know it, the information you paid for and the skills you’ve mastered being much like water flowing over a grist mill wheel¸ necessary for the moment, but then passing on. Do not despair; do not be discouraged. This water flowing by keeps the cogs turning, grinding out the essence of your gift to the world.
We keep meeting new precious sisters, helping new sweet ladies achieve dreams, and we keep desperately needing every new friend we meet, as we go along opening our lives to others.
