Project 365: Week 18 "lyon, eureka, and...armadillos?"

Sunday, April 29, 2012

The children are at their grandparents' house all this week. After just chillin' at the house for a bit this afternoon, Paul and I decided to go out for dinner and a movie. We had a MOST excellent meal at the Capital Hotel Bar & Grill. (Seriously, surprisingly good.) 

And then we went to see The Hunger Games.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Guess what I did today. I cleaned out my car. For TWO hours and FIFTEEN minutes. It was baaaaad. I'm talking...there was enough granola in the seat where Atticus usually sits to completely fill a breakfast bowl. And Saylor had a pile of unshelled peanuts in her spot, like a squirrel had kept its stash there. It was pretty funny. And gross. But I did it all without using chemicals, thanks to my Norwex cloths!  ;)

Oh, and from what I hear, this was the #1 choice for activities this week at Mimi and Da's:

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

See????

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The reason the children were out-of-town this week is that I got invited to go along with my hubby for a conference in Eureka Springs. Yay! But first...he had a deposition in Batesville. I was so excited to have some time to visit the campus of our alma mater! I was actually hoping to catch a lecture, but it was stinkin' finals week.  :(

I always loved the Alphin Building. Some of my favorite classes were here.And, looking back, I really don't see how I didn't end up majoring in English. Totally should have.

 

One of my favorite Lyon professors lectures in this room. He was the one I went to see. (Still so sad about that.) Anyway, it occurred to me as I was taking this picture, that this was the very room in which I interviewed for the Brown Scholarship. This was where it all began.

 

Another favorite teacher of mine! Miss you, Andrea!!

 

Boy, does this look like a familiar sight! (I DON'T miss the blue book.)

 

 There were a couple of additions since we left, it seems. Both good ideas, but they seemed completely out of place to me, as I traveled down memory lane. 

(Hey, what's this?? This doesn't belong here!)

The campus is beautiful and boasts a 19th-century log home moved here for academic purposes (and aesthetics, let's be honest): The Grigsby House.

I had to swing a bit. Who wouldn't?

I took these pictures looking into the glass windows of the house. Just playing with reflections.

 

As you can see, there's a spinning wheel inside the house.

 

And then there's Bryan Lake. Great place to relax and unwind.

 Maybe read a little poetry. Fact: I wrote a poem about a wheelbarrow during my senior year. (It was in response to one of my favorites: "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams.) That year was the first year we had a poetry/creative writing/fine arts publication, and they named the publication "The Wheelbarrow," as it included my poem. Pretty cool, huh? 

 These were Paul's stomping grounds. He was here on a tennis scholarship.

 

Freshman Quad

This is one of the oldest buildings on campus, I believe, but it was my first home here. Good ol' Spragins.

 

There's my second-floor freshman room (at the back of the building). I had a blast with the girls in my suite and across the hall. Such great friends!!

 

My sophomore and junior years were spent all the way down this sidewalk to the residence hall in the far center. Tons of fun here. Paul's dorm was the one on the left in this picture. He transferred here our sophomore year. I have lots of memories walking up and down this sidewalk to class, to the theater, and to Edwards Commons.

I lived in these on-campus apartments during my senior year. 

 

This is the Lyon Building, constructed while I was a student.

 

 I was involved in bunches of chapel services here.

 

Brown Chapel: Location for the infamous "Walking the Chapel," not to be confused with "Chapel Walk." (You had to be there.)

 

I had such a serene time just wandering the verrrry quiet campus today. But I kept thinking, somewhat sadly, "The only thing missing is bagpipes." (You see, Lyon has a Scottish heritage. We had a pipe band, dancers, and everything.) But on my way back to the car, I finally heard the sound I was missing! Bagpipes!! Hooray! (He was having exams, too.)

 

Paul and I had lunch down by the river at a restaurant that was built long AFTER we were gone. But it's right beside a favorite freshman hangout from back in the day: the lock.

 

Very peaceful here, especially at night. 

 

After lunch we drove to Eureka, about three hours away. We ate at our favorite Eureka restaurant, and it was fabulous. But I completely forgot to photograph any of it. 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

My activities today while Paul was at his conference in Eureka:

Slept late, ate breakfast, read an entire book, start to finish, in under three hours, played guitar until my fingers were good and sore, went for a nice, long walk, browsed shops, had lunch, played some more guitar, and then piddled on Pinterest, etc. until Paul got done. It was sooooooo nice!

Tonight we tried a new place for dinner. The food was pretty good, but it was the atmosphere that won us over.

Friday, May 4, 2012

I saw this beauty this morning. You know--in between my private swim and then guitar practice in the hotel room. *sigh* (Don't ya just hate me?)

When Paul finished up at the conference, we went BACK to our favorite Eureka restaurant for some lunch. This was the salad we shared. And after that I was so caught up with the deliciousness of it all, I forgot to get any more pictures! I can tell you this much, though. I had a burger at this restaurant two years ago, and I have never forgotten it. We came back for lunch specifically so I could get that burger again!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

This morning Paul and I drove down to pick up the kiddos. My hometown was celebrating its annual festival, Armadillo Day. (Yes, you read that right.) We were here last year for this event, too, if you'll remember!

Atticus was so excited to be able to ride more things this year.

I rode the "Spider" with Noah and Saylor. It was NOT Saylor's favorite ride in the world. (I seriously thought she might faint or cry...or both.)

Nobody wanted to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl but Noah (and some girl he didn't know). :) They both look thrilled, don't they?

 

This lady found an abandoned baby raccoon on the side of the road on the way to the festival. Is that not crazy?! It still had its eyes closed. Poor little baby.

 

Da was a good sport to go on this "obstacle course" with Atticus.

 

A VERY good sport...

 

Gabe wasn't too sure about the clown. Ha!

 

It was funny to me that this tree was just as much an attraction to the boys as the carnival rides.

We were pretty much melted into steaming puddles by this time, so we left to get lunch and cool off. We had had enough. Fun day, though.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed their stay, but they were also very glad to be back home, which was nice to hear. I must say, I'm glad to be home, too. I'm hoping I can catch up on all my blogging. I've managed to get pretty far behind on several posts, and that frustrates me a bit. Oh, well, it's the price I pay for rest and relaxation, right?  ;) Be sure to check out the Project 365 posts over at Sara's.