Kris E.

Sometimes, you make friends quickly and they never leave your life. That is the case with Kris E. We met on freshman move in day long ago at OSU. My family had to drop me off a day early, because my cousin was getting married. Kris saw me sitting alone in my dorm room and was sweet enough to ask me to lunch with her family. The rest is history. There were only two other people from my high school at OSU that semester (both guys), but I quickly felt surrounded by a great group of friends including Kris.

Many years have gone by and we don't get to see each other or talk near as often as we would like, but it is always quick and easy to pick right up where we left off.

Last December Kris got engaged, and on October 22nd she had a beautiful wedding. We would not have missed it for the world! She was was married at a fun guest ranch between OKC and Tulsa. There are cute little cabins right on sight, and we were fortunate enough to be able to stay in one. My other wonderful, college friend, Marinn, stayed with us too. We had a fabulous time, it was a beautiful wedding, and I was able to see many friends I haven't seen in a long time!



There was a little playground, and nick really wanted his picture taken.


Big, scary seven plus story tower. Definitely built with questionable craftsmanship. I may have had an anxiety attack on the way up to the top.



Cute boy chillin' at the cabin before the ceremony. The ceremony was only ten steps away!


Nick's self-photo just before the ceremony. Those rainclouds thankfully held off until just after the reception began. Whew!


Me with Marinn and Mandi. The three of us and Kris went on a girls trip to the Dominican a few years ago.



Me with the beautiful bride.


Marinn and Mary Beth. I haven't seen Mary Beth in so long, and it was great to catch up!



Love these girls!



This says so much.....


A little dollar dance action!

We had a great time, and can't wait to hang out with the Corbetts soon!

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Midnight madness

Tonight brought mixed feelings to our home. Nick is ecstatic. I, however, am feeling a bit of dread. Basketball season is upon us. As I type this I am sitting in a gym. After midnight. Listening to balls bounce, shoes squeak, N's playlist over the speakers, and the boys and girls teams excited to start the season. Tonight is "midnight madness". This is the kick off to the season. Nick knows exactly how many days away this event is from the day the last season ends. N loves what he does, he is passionate about learning all of the ins and outs of the sport, and his commitment has paid off with a successful girls' basketball program.
The downside (for me at least) is the time involved. Guess what... Basketball games are played at night. Sometimes in other towns (how dare they!). Nick says I always remember last season as much more dramatic than what it is. I say I just like him a little, and I miss him being around. I also miss having dinner before 10 pm, but whatever...
Right now the smile on his face is worth it all. I know he will have ten stories to tell me (at 2 am when this is all over) about what girls said or did tonight. It is a great feeling to be around someone doing what they love. It makes me proud to be his wife, even if I have to give him up for lots of nights several months a year.
I like to go to a handful of special events like tonight and as many games as possible throughout the season. Sometimes that is easier said than done though.


Here he is tonight in his gym. Doing what he loves!


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OSU vs TAMU Roadtrip!

I have several friends who are Aggies. I really do appreciate all of their traditions (although they are totally crazy), I have been to College Station for one previous game, I have been to two midnight yells, and I like most Aggies I meet. However, I am an OSU Cowboy, and my Aggie friends know where my loyalty lies. Ashley was able to get tickets to the OSU vs. A&M game this year. What better reason for a road trip than a little college rivalry?




We have never stopped at the Czech Stop before, but this time it was the closest gas station when it was time for gas. Yummy kolaches.



Sweet Bailey was my fellow cowboy at school last year. It was so great to see her since she has gotten married and moved back to Stillwater.



"pizza from a stranger. God wanted to bless us.". Bailey asked a guy where he got his pizza, and he offered it up. I knew those Aggies were nice!



My last year at OSU was the first year for spirit walk, and I had never been before. We headed to Kyle Field early for it this time.



Pete!




With two of the Aggie friends.



We finally made it to our seats. They were WAY up high, and it was WAY hot!



Go pokes!



Different Aggie friend combination. Shayla and Ashley.

It was a great weekend in "Aggieland", especially with an O-State win!

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Celebrate!

My normal Saturday routine involves heading to my sister's to hang with the family, however this weekend they went to a dance convention. This left the day wide open for possibilities. I wound up getting dates and times from my students who are involved in sports. I spent the morning with my friend and fellow teacher, Shayla, going from volleyball, to baseball, to football. We had a great time, and the kids seemed so excited to see us! After a quick lunch we headed to the house for naps and college football.

Once we were all rested up we got ready to go to our little town's annual celebration. It's a typical small town festival with vendors, activities for kids, live music, etc. We try to make our way to it for at least a little while each year. Last year and this year our favorite band has been the headlining act. So fun to get to go to a show close to home, see my kids from school, neighbors, and celebrate our community! It is always extra fun to get ready with Shayla over! It makes me feel like I'm back in college. Plus, her make up and hair are always so cute, and I get some tips!

Yes, we live in Texas...



Nb had to find a way to entertain himself while waiting on us. He was jammin' while wearing Shay's shades.



We are finally here!



The band... A little blurry



Sad. Sad. Sad. I know we need the rain, but it was bad timing. About two songs in it really picked up, and the band called it quits soon after.



We headed to a local Mexican food restaurant to watch the Rangers and A&M vs. Texas Tech game.

We found this ballon, and lovingly named him big "pop"pa. At least we think our jokes are funny!


A great and busy Saturday!

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Labor Day!

This was a great weekend! That extra day allows me to feel so much more on top of things, and still leaves time for lots of fun! Friday night I had a quick happy hour with friends, a haircut, and dinner with N.

Saturday I spent time with the fam, had a minor key debacle that involved going through a restaurant's trash (eww) before finding my keys, and a night of college football watching at home.

Sunday we went to church, out to a quick lunch, Costco, and then I went to school to work. My mom joined me and we worked for six hours! That's right, twelve man hours. I feel caught up on lots of things, and ready to tackle the work week. Mom stayed for dinner, then Nick and I ventured to Dallas to The Doublewide for a show by our favorite band, 1100 Springs.



We got there a few minutes after it started and it was jam packed! It was a great show as always, and we had a fantastic time. The event was billed as a "parking lot pool party". They had a food truck and several blow up pools. As you can tell, no one hopped in the pools while we were there. I think that if it wasn't for the cooler weather they might've had some takers!







On Monday we got caught up on things around the house! We also were able to enjoy the cooler temps on a walk with our two favorite puppies!



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Summertime Wreath

Today I am linking up to the Nester's wreath party.

Every year I run into the same seasonal decorating dilemma - summer! I have fall decor I like for inside the house, plus who doesn't love fresh mums and pumpkins! Of course I love to decorate for Christmas. The past few years I have collected/made a few Valentine's decorations, which helps with the post Christmas winter slump I sometimes experience. Spring is my favorite season, and I love to begin to transition the house at the first sign that sunshine and warmth is going to stick around! It's when spring slips into summer (which seems to happen quite quickly in Texas) that I feel a little lost. I am not an overly themey person. I just like little touches here and there that reflect the season.

One thing that I try to switch out frequently is my front door wreath. After spring passed this year my door just sat empty for months. Finally, I spotted the cutest wreath on pinterest! I don't remember where the original link came from though. They just used tissue paper and a pizza box! One night I was working on some other pinterest projects, and I decided that I could whip this one up with things I had on hand. All I did was create varying sizes of tissue paper poms (following Martha Stewart's tutorial). I glued them all over my square "wreath form" as you can see from the back, I reinforced it using a dowel rod (which I adhered with a classy leopard print tape job moments before we had company).






I always hang wreaths with ribbon of some sort stapled or tacked to the top of the front door - no wreath holder to mess with!

I've enjoyed the little summery touch it has added to our home!


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The Cedars Social

On Monday, my brother-in-law, Tucker, began a new journey. He will be a history teacher in Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the UAE. He is excited to begin this adventure. Last week, we had a little bon voyage dinner. Tucker chose the restaurant, and he picked a place called the cedars social. It is in Dallas, and it has a very 1960s retro vibe. They are well know for their crazy cocktail list that includes pre-prohibition, prohibition, and post-prohibition drinks. The food was very fresh, and a lot of it was grown locally.

Tucker and N are pretending not to pose for my picture.


Pork belly with collard greens. Yum!


N studying the menu, and enjoying a manhattan.


A fantastic Mai Tai in honor of the puppy!


Good bye Tucker and good luck! Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

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North Texas State Fair and Rodeo

On Friday night we capped off the first week of school with. A trip to the North Texas State fair and rodeo. Man, is that a classy place. Like I told N-it's home to excess. A little too big of hair, a little too tan, a little loud, a little too much bling, etc. Whew!!

N needed a little power nap and a monster in order to find the energy to face it.


We decided no trip to the fair would be complete without buying some tickets and taking a ride on the ferris wheel.


Friends from work. Ashley and N did go to see the tiny lady. She was really real and really tiny.


We made it through the first week!


We convinced Shayla, and then Ashley, to go on the ferris wheel. Shayla didn't warn us that she had never been on one before. She had a minor panic attack in the sky, although you can't tell in this picture. She's a good faker.


The sweetie and me up in the air. It was so very very sweaty!


By the end of the night I was beat, but so glad I went!
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Baby Showers-SUYL

Today I am linking up to Kelly's Korner show us your life series. This week's topic is baby showers.

I am currently in the season of life where there is always a baby shower going on for a friend or family member. I enjoy throwing parties, and showers are no exception! Here are a few pictures from some showers at my house.

For my sweet nephew, Rylan, we went with zebra print, turquoise, and a melon green. This is my first ever attempt at a diaper cake.


The cake and punch table.


Rylan's name hadn't been finalized yet at the shower.


The food table.


This spring I had the privilege to throw a shower for my best friend and her sweet little miracle who was born at 29 weeks weighing only 1lb 8 ozs! We decided to have her shower before she came home from the hospital, so her momma could get away.

Here's the cake table. We did shades of hot pink, lots of fresh flowers, springy greens, and black. I put out framed pictures of little K all over the house. Another friend created a slideshow of various pictures as well.


Coffee and water area. This is a baby scale I picked up at an antique store I've gotten great use out of it for showers, and I have loaned it to several friends for newborn pictures.


Food table, and yes that's another antique scale. I know I have a problem!


I found a seller on etsy who created the invitations and other items for the shower like these water bottle labels. I just printed them and taped them onto the bottles.


More pictures around the house. I planted wheatgrass about two weeks before the shower and used it to add springy touches. I have several vintage silver baby cups (including my own). These had flowers in them around the house.


These labels also coordinated with the invite.


This Moses basket was salvaged from the trash and spray painted before Rylan's shower. It makes a great (free) shower accessory!


There are a few other things we did to decorate that I don't have any good pictures of...
*decorating with onesies and bibs.I have a shelf with door knobs on it. We hung them on padded baby hangers with coordinating ribbon.
*I covered a "k" with moss to go with the touches of green
*another diaper cake
*chalk plates with baby info, name, etc.

I definitely went a little crazy for sweet K's shower, and I had help! Since she was such miracle I thought it was justified. Also, I had a sip and see at my house a couple of weeks later for my niece Ridglea, unfortunately I don't have any of the pictures from it handy. I was able to keep a lot of the decorations up, or recreate something similar.


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