NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TCBY!

As construction continues to quickly move forward on the Northwest Arkansas TCBY store in Rogers, we are very excited to begin the process of bringing together the special team of people who will bring The Country's Best Yogurt back to the customers of Northwest Arkansas!!! If the weather continues to be favorable we anticipate opening our store in February 2011.

We plan to hire 2 Sales Managers for the Rogers location and we want to begin interviewing for these positions in the next few weeks. Once we select our Sales Mangers, we will begin interviewing candidates for our Sales Associate positions. The Sales Associate interviews will probably occur in January. We plan to hire around 10 Sales Associates to begin with and we hope to grow from there based upon the needs of the business.

Take a few moments to visit http://www.nwatcby.com/ and click on employment opportunities for more details.

our life... right now

I made it to 6 1/2 months pregnant. We had a doctors apt this week and everything is looking good. He said that I was measuring three weeks ahead and that he has never seen a more active baby. He kicks constantly, I don't think he ever sleeps :)

I feel great most of the time.

Things that are making me feel great: the weeks going by fast and getting closer to meeting our little one, getting things checked off my to-do list, waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A, good doctor apts, making progress on our other adventures.

Things that make me feel less than great: heartburn, dressing myself, the overwhelming amount of projects going on in our lives, and not being able to sleep.

That pretty much sums it up right now.

Here are some pics of our 'projects'

TCBY is making significant progress. They are building away. We can't wait to have our store open. This keeps us (Jared) really busy.

We broke ground on our house this week!! YAY! We aren't sure how long it will take to get it built... this also is keeping us busy. If you've ever built a house, you know that there are a lot of decisions to be made. Ironically, the last time we built a house we were planning our wedding, and here we are building again, and having a baby. To that point, this is an example of how most of our conversations go these days:

Jared: Do you like this tile for the shower and this color hardwood?

Sarah: It all looks great. Do you like this mobile for the baby's room and these baby bottles?

Jared: Sure, looks great.

Ha! Luckily, we are both very easy going and we don't get too wrapped up in the details. We haven't disagreed yet and we try to just make good, quick decisions to keep things moving.

I finished our baby bedding. It was a project!!!!
As you can see, his name is Bennett. His full name is
Bennett William Greer
We will call him Bennett, and hope that it sticks, but if it is shortened to Ben, that is really cute too :) We had about three names that we had decided on for him and we kept going back and forth. I looked up the meaning/origin of the names that were left on the table and that made the decision for us. His name is English and means "Little Blessed One." I love it and I think it will be a great name at all ages.

Here he is in the last ultrasound pic that we had.

what an angel.

Our nephew, Charlie, is the other little man in our lives that is growing up too fast. Jess and I took him shopping yesterday and I can't believe how old he looks in this pic. Not only are we looking forward to meeting our little one, we can't wait to welcome Charlie's little brother, Oliver, into the world (maybe even on the same day!!) We will have to do a fun guessing game as to who will deliver first! I think Jess will go first... I am sure Bennett will be stubborn and hold out :)

I hope that everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

slg

It's a BOY

Last Thursday, we found out that our sweet baby is a BOY! I never had a really strong feeling as to if it was a boy or a girl, I always went back and forth. It does feel weird to know!!! All of the sudden things are so different than they were when we didn't know what the baby was. Now when I internet shop, I can click on "baby boy" :) and I can picture myself down the road having a son and it feels wonderful. We couldn't be happier with what God has given us. I hope he is exactly 50% like his momma and 50% like his daddy.

We also had a doctors apt since my last post and everything is going great. I am feeling awesome and doing really good. The only thing that is hard to deal with is heartburn, but nothing that a couple Tums won't cure :)

I feel him kicking me a lot these days. I started feeling him move at 16 or 17 weeks, and now he is pretty active. I love it.

Here is a pic of the most beautiful face I have ever seen :)
I will write more soon!

4 months

I promised myself I would document our pregnancy. In the beginning I wrote in a journal almost everyday... I just looked at it and the last entry was July 8 :( So, I figured I would document some things here on this blog.
I am a bit over 16 weeks pregnant. I feel great compared to the first 13 weeks. I can hardly fit into any clothes. I finally broke down and went to get some "maternity clothes" last week with my mom. Nothing fit me and NOTHING looked remotely cute. I decided that I will just buy normal clothes in a bigger size and that will work for the time being.
We went to the doctor last week and baby Greer was doing great. I always get a tad nervous going in... and then I feel happy and relieved when we hear the heartbeat. As soon as he put the doppler on my belly we heard that little heart ticking away at 155. This little one has always had a high heartbeat, meaning either: girl or high strung like it's momma and daddy.
We go back this Thursday for an ultrasound. I've had some cramping and pressure throughout the entire pregnancy, sometimes more than others and he wants to check my cervix to make sure everything is how its supposed to be. If it is, then we carry on, literally. If not, there is a procedure that they can do that would allow it to remain closed until the end of the pregnancy. I have a feeling that everything is A-OK, but I am so thankful that we will double check. ALSO, we will take a peek to see if this little one is a baby girl or boy. I have gone back and forth on this.. some weeks I feel like it's for sure a boy, then a girl, then boy, and so on. It's like the doctor said... its a 50.4% chance its a boy and 49.6% chance its a girl. Now where's the fun in that?! All this time I thought the Drano test, Chinese gender chart, and ring test were the real deal ;)
Everyone always asks if we want a boy or a girl and of course the correct answer is "we dont care, as long as its healthy" and I have found that its not just the politically correct answer, its how you really feel at this point. Would I love a little mini-me that is a prissy, curly blond haired, mess like I was? Of course. But, I would also love a little blue eyed, blond haired, smocked wearing, mini jared just as much. We will be forever blessed and thankful for this baby, regardless of if its a little jar or sar :)
I will keep everyone posted on what we find out this week and I will post pics soon of this growing belly.
Hope you all have a great Labor Day!
slg

exciting news :)

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

Jared and I are having our first little one :)

We are beyond excited and so very blessed. We decided a few months ago to "see what happened" and as I laid the positive test on Jared's counter he promptly said "I thought you said it would take longer." I guess he thought there was more time for just the two of us..... wrong.

Of course I called the doctor 4 minutes later expecting them to be sooooo surprised, shocked, excited... then I came to my senses and realized that they probably get a zillion calls/day with the same news. Jared kept saying that we needed to confirm it and go in to the doctor... 6 tests later, I think he was convinced.

We went in at 6 weeks for an ultrasound and then back at 9 weeks for an ultrasound... I was having cramping and he wanted to give me peace of mind that everything was fine. The first time we saw the little baby on the screen was amazing. I didn't believe it until then, and Jared definitely didn't. Since then, we went in to hear the heartbeat and it was nice and strong... it was high.... hoping that means it's a girl :) We will be happy with either, as long as it's healthy.

We are also selling our home.... we close in a few weeks if all goes well. We are going to be leasing a home while we build.. so that will be where we are living when the little angel arrives.... in February. At first this freaked me out, because it wasn't how I pictured it, but ultimately, its exciting to be building our dream home for this growing family. The house we are leasing is great... bigger than ours now, so there wont be any roughing it :) I don't think I will make a nursery in that home... we will only be there for a couple months after the baby gets here and I am sure the baby will just need a bassinet in our room until we move.

And..... in February we will be close to opening our TCBY.

All that said... February will obviously be an eventful month around here.

ALSO--- My sister is due the day before me with her second little one! We are so excited and so fortunate to have each other... going through the exact same thing at the exact same time. We cant wait to meet the babies. My mom is resting up!! Two will be a handful for her, but she wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would we ;)

I will keep you posted on everything now that the secret is out!!

Hope you are all doing fabulous!

SLG

we won :)

jared and i won THE GREAT TCBY STORE GIVEAWAY! last Wednesday they announced it live on the air.

the first link below is when we were on the news asking the public to vote for us and explaining how the contest worked. the second link is them announcing it live on the 6am channel 5 news :)

http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-news-nwa-tcby-jared-greer-sarah-contest,0,1090431.story

http://www.kfsm.com/videobeta/?watchId=65c50e7d-31df-468c-8ac0-5f3b6ed14087

tcby told us they were going to be doing an interview to ask some final questions... but they tricked us and announced it live on air. SOOOOOO FUN! i was out of town for work when all of this happened. i was bummed to have missed it, but my job is very important and it was just unfortunate timing. plus, i was able to have my mom and dad hold the phone up to the tv while it was going on. all i remember hearing is "we have been tricking you and tcby is here to announce the winner"..... then mom and dad, spears, and i were all screaming. and then i heard jared say "i would be remiss if i didn't thank my wife who couldn't be here today, im very proud of her and i love her a lot." i was so happy i cried for a good 30 minutes. mainly because we worked really hard for this, but also because jared has always wanted to own his own business and tcby made this a reality. he is the most determined, smart, respectful, admirable man i have ever known. so proud of him!!!

we cannot wait to open our store! we hope to open this Fall but there are a lot of decisions to make between now and then... right now we are working on determining the perfect location for our first store. we hope to own several in the future, so the location of the first one is key. we want to thank everyone again for voting for us!! we couldn't have done it without our friends and family!!!

we will keep everyone posted on our progress!!!

have a fabulous weekend!

slg

we made it to the finals :)

Thanks to all of our friends, family, the media, and this wonderful town that we live in (and to all of the hard work that we did), we made it to the final 5 for the Great TCBY Store Giveaway!!! That means that we received enough votes to make it to the finals. At this point, we have some work to do with TCBY headquarters and then they will decide the winner on May 25th.

We are so excited and if we have learned one thing from this great opportunity, its that people are there for you when you need them. WE ARE SO BLESSED and forever grateful!!

We will keep you posted!

TCBY

For those of you that don't know the story, here it is :)
Jared and I have wanted to own a franchise for a long time..... We both love TCBY. He worked there in High School and I went there a zillion times as a kid (before the one here closed down).
One night last Fall, we heard of THE GREAT TCBY STORE GIVEAWAY. The prize is a valued at $312,000 and includes everything we would need for our franchise... and then some. We decided to go for it and make a two minute video and enter the contest. We recently found out that we are top 10 semi-finalists. This is a nation wide competition. The public will vote from today-May 10 and narrow the semi-finalists to 5, and then TCBY will pick the winner. We need YOUR VOTE!!! Please follow the directions below! We would really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The voting is now open!

Step 1: Vote Here: http://tcby.com/giveaway/videos/ar

Step 2: Forward This Info to All Your Friends

Step 3: Post This Message on Your BLOG/Facebook Wall/Twitter Account

Step 4: Print the Coupon Above to Receive Free TCBY Yogurt When We Win

Thank you so much for helping us!

We won’t be able to accomplish this without you!

Jared and Sarah

http://www.nwatcby.com/

wear to work. favorite boys. weddings.

here are some lovely looks that are great for workin in the winter. i spend a lot of time getting in and out of the car in my job... most days i put on my trench coat over my clothes and keep it on all day. i figure i could just wear that and probably no one would notice :) just kidding. i love those wrap dresses, very flattering and versatile.

on another note, here are a couple pics of my favorite little boy and my favorite big boy. when we got a ton of snow, uncle and i built a snowman with charlie, mark and jess. when i bent over to kiss charlie, he said "missed you auntie". his little voice is heart warming. every time i see him i tell him i have missed him that day or the last couple days, so i think he was telling me back that he had missed me too ;)
my other favorite boy is also pictured below. we had so much fun 'snowed in' together. we are together almost all of the time anyway, but it was still fun to be at the house together for a couple days straight. i love that boy and thank God for him everyday.
(my daddy would be my other favorite boy, cant leave him out!!)

jared and i are heading to little rock tomorrow for a dinner in honor of anna and drew. their wedding is quickly approaching, 2 months!! steph and jimbo's is less than 3 months!! if you need me for a weekend, call me after may 1 and i'll be available.... every weekend til then is booked :) i am busy keeping up with my extra curricular activities and my bestie's wedding festivities.... and loving every second of it!

oh, and we are going to mexico in a couple weeks! between the bikini-in-february issue and my matron of honor dress not fitting... i am also not available to eat until may 1. just kidding! i have actually been very disciplined and exercised a ton lately... feelin good!

have a lovely weekend!

slg

splish splash.

these cutie swimsuits are from j. crew and old navy. i purchased the first black ruffly one and it is cute.. but small!! if you order it from old navy (they don't have it in the store), order a size above what you normally wear.

as i just typed that... i wondered, sh**, maybe it's just that i am a size bigger than i was last year and the suit it true to size. hmmm.

speaking of. i have 37 days to get that swimsuit to go from not enough coverage to full coverage and since the swimsuit isn't going to grow... i need to shrink!

jared and i booked a getaway to mexico in february and i can hardly wait!

hope everyone has a lovely week. i am off for MLK day tomorrow for the first time ever! love this company!

SLG

sewing.

one of my ultra lovely christmas gifts this year from mom and daddy was a sewing machine. my mom and dad kept saying that they were so excited because daddy had come up with a fabulous gift for me. this is really funny because dad is not the most creative in the gift department. even though he has lived with all women for years, he typically left the gift buying up to mom.

anyway, he did good this year and i love my machine. i haven't taken lessons yet, i just went to a quick overview to learn how to use my machine.

all i know is that sewing is something that i always thought was super hard and intimidating, and even though i don't consider myself an expert.... i must say my panels and shams turned out just as i wanted them to.

i told jess that a monkey could sew if they had the right machine :)

point is... if you think you need a new hobby and are interested in sewing, go get a machine, a quick lesson, some fabric and thread and you'll be amazed at what you can do!

hope everyone has a fabulous week!

slg

date night.

these lovely items are from shopbop.com

i really put this one on here because of this woman's arms. these arms alone have become a new years goal for me. the next few are from banana republic. i love that green dress!

this black dress is by blaquelabel. you can get their line at karmaloop.com

love this dress from urban outfitters. i picked it up when i was in kc and it fits

really well.

scarletclothing.com

::resolution::

solution: a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem

(or) a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner

the latter of the two is what i plan to do this year. i didnt have any problems last year that need resolved this year, instead, i want to decide to change different behaviors. i think that is what most of us mean by ::resolution::
one thing i want to start doing more this year is having a date night with jared. sure, in the past, we have had tons of date nights and we have even had a day declared as that each week from time to time. this year, i want to try out new places and new things. if you know jared and i at all, you know we are by definition, creatures of habit, and maybe we are missing out on things we don't even know about. this is probably a stretch, but you get the point. i'll keep you posted on our new adventures :)

hope all is well.

2010

its a weird thing that my last post was 10.25.09 and now its 01-03-10. i dont know how many days that is, but its quite a few :)

i would like to say that i have been doing something out of the ordinary, like traveling the world, and that is what has kept me away. not. the. case.

i have been doing all of the normal stuff, other than blogging.

so. here is the deal with the blog for 2010 and the reason i started to dislike this whole thing last year.

i found myself pressured to write on this old thing and upload every last picture of every last thing that i had been up to. not sure why, but this was the deal nevertheless.

this year my blog will be: different. written on whenever i get around to it. happy. uplifting. positive. stylish.

cheers to 2010. may it be the best yet.