Feel Good Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

what I've been up to...

I’m sure most of you are aware that I took last week off from posting on the blog to enjoy my family’s vacation, so here’s a little recap!

We left bright & early on Sunday morning & started the drive to New Mexico. We stopped at Clayton Lake State Park for a walking break!

This state park is known for its dinosaur tracks! This was surprisingly very cool (even though we all made fun of my mom for scheduling it lol).

About an hour after we left the state park, our Tahoe (that my parent’s had bought 12 days prior to our vacation) started making strange noises & shifting really weird & multiple lights were flashing on the dash. We pulled off at a gas station where my dad popped the hood & found that there was definitely something wrong with the transmission. Luckily, the cashier inside had a buddy who is a mechanic so he called him to come take a look. He verified what my dad thought & told us we should try to make it to our cabin since it was a Sunday & most places would be closed. So we loaded back up & * slowly * finished our road trip into New Mexico. Little did we know what lied ahead of us…

Also, yes, my dad did contact the dealership that they bought the car from. Unfortunately, they were rather rude & basically told us that since they own the car now, it’s their problem. It’s been almost two weeks since our first call to them & not one time have they checked in on us. Disappointed would be an understatement.

The next morning, we went to leave our cabin to take my siblings + Dad to their zip-lining reservation (my mom & I are chickens so we didn’t sign up lol). We reversed out of the driveway & when my dad put the car in drive & pressed the gas, nothing happened. Our car wouldn’t move. So we were stuck on the side of a dirt road in the mountains near our cabin. Luckily, my brother had driven separately (but there wasn’t room for the whole fam in his car), so my siblings + Dad piled in his little car while my mom & I walked back to the cabin to start figuring out what we needed to do.

After two hours & a whole lot of stress, we finally got a tow truck & talked to the claims department. After the rest of our family got back to the cabin, my parents spent the rest of the day (from 10am-11pm) riding in tow trucks & being shuttled around to various dealerships trying to find a dealership that was willing to look at our car + a rental vehicle that would fit our family. My siblings & I just stayed at the cabin all day watching shark week. Not really how we wanted to spend our first full day in NM. My sister & I cheered ourselves up by doing a self-timer photo shoot on the deck in our skorts!

On our second day, we got to do one of our favorite vacation traditions — go kayaking (or paddle-boarding if you’re Avery)!!

We also did a scenic chairlift ride to the top of a mountain where we hiked around for just a little bit because there was a storm brewing. (There were storms every afternoon / evening & it reminded us so much of Colorado)!

We got dinner + drinks at Red River Brewing Company!

My mom & I split one of their beer flights!

There were tons of trails around our cabin, so we explored those the next morning!

After a quick hike, we went to Bobcat Pass Wilderness Adventures for guided UTV tours! Avery & I got our dog fix in while waiting — there were SO MANY GOOD BOYS!!

Ethan & Avery got a two-seater because they’re brave. Bethany & I (the chickens) stuck with our mom & dad lol.

We had to end the tour early because it rained on us, but it was still such a cool experience!

Probably one of the main highlights of the trip was this deer that kept coming to our cabin. My brother like majorly bonded with it! He named her Daisy & she came by every day to get a snack from him. We joked that he is a real life Disney princess since Daisy just came right to him one morning during breakfast! After that, Daisy was smitten (& it was very much mutual lol).

This picture makes me giggle every time I see it! It looks like she’s sitting right at the table with us!

We also went into Taos & Santa Fe to do some shopping & check out the local areas. Santa Fe was my favorite of the two!

I had the most delicious fish tacos I’ve ever had in my life!!!

Rice sibs!

We got to check out the Royal Gorge Bridge on our way through!

We also stopped at Buffalo Thunder Casino. I (& my sisters) had never been to one before! I went in with $20 & left with $24.96 which is better than my mom, dad, or brother can say, but not quite as good as either of my sisters!

Every vacation, my mom has us do a blind taste test. This year’s theme was gatorade / powerade.

She puts them in a cup so we can’t see the color. We each take a sip & try to guess what the flavor is.

I did not do very well lol.

Bethany won, Ethan got second, & my Dad & Avery & I tied for last. This was the same line up as last year!!

The next morning we went hiking at Clear Creek Trail in Santa Fe State Park.

There were lots of waterfalls which was beautiful!

We saw this track on the path & my sisters & I were immediately convinced it was from a bear! Fun fact: the black bear is New Mexico’s state animal!

The running water from the creek was the best water we’d ever tasted after our hike! My mom was certain we were all going to get a tummy bug.

Super yummy cinnamon ice cream from Li’l Willie’s Shenanigans.

I didn’t get any pics, but we ended every evening in the hot tub at our cabin which was just as wonderful as it sounds!

Unfortunately when it was time to leave, our car still had not been fixed & it was going to cost well over $3,000 to take our rental car back to Kansas. We booked some plane tickets & loaded up as much as we could afford to leave behind in our car at the dealership. We rented a new car once we arrived in Kansas. As of today, a new transmission has been ordered for our car & once it’s fixed, my dad will fly back & drive it home. What a wild ride it’s been! This is one vacation we’ll never forget!

As nice as the break from reality was, I was happy to get back into my routine & see my cheerleaders for early morning practice! Football & cheer practice + weights & conditioning means school is right around the corner.

Voted with my mama!

outfits of the week…

For the past few months or so I’ve started *trying* to consistently share my OOTD (outfit of the day) just for fun! I’m typically able to link most pieces, but I also just share it to hopefully give a bit of inspiration & show you that you can recreate my outfits by just using pieces from your own closet.

Monday...

Started the new week & month off with a sweaty workout!

& then headed off for day one of enrollment!

Tuesday...

Another sweaty workout! Burning off all of those vacation treats is rough.

& then I worked an event for the sno cone trailer!

Wednesday...

Day two of enrollment! So good to see some of my kiddos!

Thursday...

Spent the day at the school working on schedules! Did my workout during my lunch break since I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning.

in case you missed it...

As you may have seen, I started a new weekly post where I share my Weekly Sale Finds! I’ve been sharing them daily on my Instagram stories & I figured I could compile all of them from the week into one post so that y’all can see them, too! You can click here to read that post.

friday favs...

Beauty brands is still having their annual liter sale! Such a great deal!!

Changed my razor head + exfoliated tonight so I’m feeling like a brand new woman!!! You can use my referral code (TL2F7P) to get $5 off your first order!

Liquid IV sent me some workout goodies + their new flavor — pineapple energy! I gave it a 6/10, but my coworkers LOVE it! As always, you can use my code (SIMPLYSMALLTOWNBLOG) to get 25% off + free shipping!

Ok y’all I’m about to majorly expose myself just for you… I’ve shared about the Mighty Patch’s individual pimple patches before & how I swear by them. Well I saw that they had a nose patch so I decided to try it. This is after sleeping with it on…. I’ve never felt more grossed out by myself in my whole entire life!!!! This little patch sucked all of the sebum + some gunk out of the pores in my nose!! Totally going to be incorporating this into my nighttime routine once a week.

Exposing myself even more by sharing some bathing suits next!

Since our cabin had a hot tub, I had to do the thing every female dreads… swimsuit shopping. I’ve had this top forever & decided to try some new high rise bottoms. They have some intentional bunching fabric on them that disguises your tummy area. I grabbed a medium & they were tiiiight so I’d suggest sizing up.

I’ve seen this one shared by multiple bloggers so I thought what the heck! I loved the color & the back detailing + it fit great. The picture doesn’t really show it (& I’m thankful) but the front is a mesh fabric right in between your girls & while cute, it was just a little bit too much for me considering I’d be hot tubbing with my dad. #modestishottest

I LOVED this one, but the color was just a little too close to my skin tone that I thought I’d look naked lol it’s a super cute ribbed material & is just downright comfy. I loved the back! I got a medium & honestly could’ve sized down.

This was the winner!!! Same one as above, but in a bright blue! LOVE!

Y’all know I’ve been on the skort trend for a hot minute, but I just haven’t been able to convince myself to go for it on a white one, however, I got on on my last Target order before vacation & I’m obsessed!! It’s a teeny tiny bit see through in the front when you walk & the skirt part presses against the built-in white spanks part, but other than that it’s not! It’s super comfy & flowy! It’s shorter than the other ones I own which I was worried about, but it’s totally fine! I wore it on vacation + to enrollment with a school tee & it was great!

I don’t know what it is about floral dresses, but I just can’t. say no!!! Especially to this one that is peplum style! Yes please!! Comes in a bunch of other color & pattern options & fits true to size. Love this simple neutral floral pattern!

Follow me on Instagram for more outfit inspiration including try ons in my stories! // @simplysmalltowncounselor

I’m back working at the school most days now doing scheduling. I’m also working an event tonight & all day tomorrow for the sno cone trailer, so I’m looking forward to a relaxing Sunday!

What are your plans for the weekend? Drop them below in the comments, or feel free to message us on Facebook or Instagram! We’d love to hear what you’re all up to. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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