Six Years

Six years ago today, I was greeted at my parent's front door by the most handsome, biggest hearted, dark headed, brown eyed boy who was picking me up for our FIRST DATE ever.  I had never really been on a "real" first date before, and I didn't even know his last name! Thankfully, I learned it--especially since he decided to give it to me several years later.  I'm so thankful that boy took a chance on me! My life has been forever changed and forever blessed by his love. 

Us girls are always in a rush to grow up and marry our prince charming. Now that I'm a 'ol married woman, I can tenderly look back on those dating years and realize they were some of the best years of my life!  Our blossoming innocent love was so precious to me, and it's my desire to always pursue my husband like I did during those times. 

Happy SIX Years of Us, Sweet Husband!

August 2005

 December 2005

 January 2006

 February 2006

 March 2006

June 2007

 August 2007

 August 2007

 September 2007

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm fist pumping today, because it's my Friday at work. :) With Thursday comes this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Head on over to Aly's or B's to join the f-u-n!

The Good: I have a sweet work schedule. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (and every other Friday) from 6am-6pm. Do the math-that's 36 hours one week and 48 hours the following week.

The Bad: I'm usually exhausted by the end of my work week.

The Ugly: I get up at 4am with this schedule and roll into work every morning makeup-less ;)

The Good: I'm so happy we've figured out our fertility problems, and couldn't be MORE blessed to have found our wonderful physician.

The Bad: For the first time in my life, I've actually had to use my insurance and meet my deductible.

The Ugly:  Our coverage SUCKS, as my pocketbook has learned the hard way.

The Good: During a commercial break on Idol last night, Alan and I discussed what sort of "professions" I'd be good at based on my spiritual gifts.

The Bad: Alan answered, "A mommy and a dog walker."

The Ugly: Without winning the lottery, this is absolutely impossible.

The Good:  I've been very diligent about my workouts at the gym and my calorie intake this week.

The Bad: ....tomorrow night is girls craft night at my house: Valentines edition.

The Ugly: One friend has already confirmed that she's bringing a Rum Cake, yum!  (I suppose this could be the "ugly" or the "good" depending on how you look at it)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Morning, ladies! I'll be linking up at Jamie's for the first time ever to participate in What I'm Loving Wednesday. So many blogs that I follow participate in this, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and play along. Go check it out!

.

I'm LOVING that Friday night is girls craft night at my house.

I'm LOVING that Saturday evening I'll be attending the Jason Aldean and Eric Church concert with my ravishingly handsome husband and  friends!

I'm LOVING that Sunday I'll be hosting my Gram's 80th Birthday Party at our house.

I'm LOVING the fact that I'll be Caribbean bound in approximately exactly 17 days.

I'm LOVING the idea that I'm one step closer to having my girly system up and working. Alan and I went to our infertility specialist on Monday, and he said things are looking great post-Lupron treatment. I started BCP (to introduce estrogen back to my body) and Metformin (for PCOS).  Lord willing, several months of these, and I'll be one baby making machine! ;)  My sweet friends, Rachel and Tricia, gave me a precious, tiny little pair of pink John Deere boots. I've kept them in my night stand, and I have been pulling them out to pray over them--that one day we will be blessed with a sweet child rock pink camo!

Last, but not least, I'm LOVING the man that I call "husband." Friday will be the 6th Anniversary of our first date ;) It makes me feel all mushy-gushy inside to know the past six years of my life have been blessed by him and his love! 

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday, huh?!  I'm ready for this week to be over, I'm just needing a little time for an attitude adjustment this weekend.  I have made a conscious attempt to not whine, complain, or dwell on the side effects from my Lupron treatment. I failed miserably this week. I've only complained to y'all, but I haven't felt like my normal, bubbly self all week. Tiredness has taken over my body--in some ways, I suppose this treatment is getting my body ready for the sleepless nights of an infant (at least, that's what I'm hoping!)  I'm just ashamed that my tolerance level has been so low this week with those around me. :(

With all that gloominess being said, I have high hopes for this weekend!

I picked up an overtime shift at work tomorrow, hoping to make a little extra cash for our cruise. Sunday is church day and FOOTBALL day!  We're planning on watching our Steelers win from the comfort of our living room. I am planning on making typical tailgating football food for our own little party.

And, the last but not least most random thing on my mind....I've talked with my darling husband. He said, "YES," when I asked him about this......

So, even though I'm an Oklahoma girl, looks like I'll be attending the Dallas Blogger Meetup!

PS: I make a pinky promise with all y'all to have a much more positive week next week full of fun, girly things! :) I know you'll hold me accountable.

Epic Fail

The Good: Being at the local mall spending your money

The Bad: Being so oblivious to your surroundings that you fall into the mall water fountain while texting.

The Ugly: Having the video leak onto YouTube and receiving 2 million + hits!

I just saw this video and had to share!

Keeping with the theme of the day, she made my "Good, Bad, and Ugly" list :)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I'm joining up today with Aly and B for "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."  Y'all should join in!

The Good: We go on vacation to the Caribbean in approximately 24 days.

The Bad: I'm still 8 pounds from my "goal" vacation weight.

The Ugly: People are going to have to deal with my white, large body in a bathing suit!

The Good: Local weather reports are calling for 1-3 inches of snow by noon on Thursday.

The Bad: People don't know how to drive in the snow around here.

The Ugly: I live approximately 25 minutes from my work, which will turn into nearly an hour in a snowy commute. Ugh!

The Good: My husband got signed up to play in a men's soccer league.

The Bad: It's a RECREATIONAL, OVER-THIRTY league.

The Ugly: I'm going to have to learn how to be a "soccer wife." I don't get that sport. (Except for Cristiano Ronaldo, for obvious reasons)

The Good: I went to bed early on Tuesday night.

The Bad: It was secondary to a menopausal fit.

The Ugly: The stupid OU/Texas Tech basketball game that disrrupted the Biggest Loser was the reason for my fit. Obviously.

What I'm NOT Loving Wednesday

With great anticipation I was *finally* going to participate in a WILW, but I'm just not feeling it today. Girls, I hate to be a debbie downer.....but, menopause is kicking my butt this week. I can't keep my head off my desk, I'm so freakin' exhaused all. the. time. When I'm suppose to be sleeping at night, I'm laying awake sweating my nutso's off feeling like I need to take a shower every hour or so.

Poor sleep and exhaustion (not to mention nasty HOT flashes) have left me with a less-than-desireable attitude.  For the first time in the past six months (of Lupron treatments), I feel like I'm having to coax myself into positive thinking. Ugh! Sorry I don't have anything better to say today, but I really needed a place to vent. Lucky y'all, huh??! ;)

Let me leave you with this positive note: I only have to endure this FIVE (5) more days! On Monday, I will see our infertility specialist to start on birth control pills--as a way to introduce estrogen back into my body!  I could kiss estrogen, I'll be so happy to see it.

Seriously, I'm ready to say "PEACE OUT" menopause.

We're not friends.

I break up.

For those of you that know me, know that I'm not a negative person at all. That's why it bothers me so much that I cant pull myself out of this funk that I'm finding myself in this week.

PS: I've only cried two tears and had one hot flash during the typing of this.

Dialect Vlog

I've stole this idea from several of the different blogs that I follow, but it's too neat not to share.  It's a dialect vlog! :)  I was probably more critical of myself that I should have been. Nonetheless, I'm going to put this out there for all of you to point and laugh. Go ahead :)

PS, I can't get this video to look right. My mouth and words don't match up. Sorry, I never claimed to be a videography genius.

Read these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:

•What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

•What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

•What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

•What do you call gym shoes?

•What do you say to address a group of people?

•What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

•What do you call your grandparents?

•What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

•What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

•What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

 

SSMT, Verse 2

It's January 15th, ladies, and you all know what that means! :) It's time for VERSE #2 in our year long memory verse journey with Beth Moore and her Siesta Scripture Memory Team.

If you're just now catching up with me, you can read about this journey here.
Hope each of you are being faithful in your commitment to memorize your chosen verses!

"Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe" Mark 11:24
 It couldn't be more simple, right?  I fall short of this mark. every. single. time.  For nearly two years the deepest desire of my heart hasn't changed. Every day I go to God with the same request.  No spark, no enthusiasm anymore--just a redundant request.  I read this verse recently on Lindsey's Blog,  Pray Without Ceasing. She has been climbing an uphill emotional battle after losing premature twins. I've followed her blog for several months, and daily I am amazed by her eloquent, inspirational words. I'm copying the following excerpt right from her blog:

You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings.  God gives us His promises in a quiet hour, seals our covenants with great and gracious words, and then steps back, waiting to see how much we believe.  He then allows the Tempter to come, and the ensuing test seems to contradict all that He has spoken.  This is when faith wins its crown.  This is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened sailors declare, "I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me" (Acts 27:25). (Streams in the Desert)

It's time for me to stop letting my thoughts run loosely to God. It's time for me to communicate with my Maker and believe!  Hope y'all have found some encouragment in this today :)

Friday Funday

Greetings, friends! Sorry I've been MIA this week--I've had a busy week at work, and I've not felt like I had too much to say.  I'm pretty much a single woman for the week because the 25th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals are going on in Tulsa. My husband LIVES there for the entire week. Not really, but he makes it home super late every night.  Usually I attend with my own group (since I'm not included in his), but we didn't renew our tickets this year. Boo. At the time it sounded like a great idea to save some money, but I've been wallowing in jealousy all week since I don't have those tickets.  They are extremely hard to come by, and I've been stalking CraigsList all week for something face value. Doesn't exist. I'll be there tomorrow, but I wanted to be there all the nights. Enough pity party!

Since I'm single for the evening, my girlfriend and I decided to go see the late (9:40pm--gulp!) showing of Little Fockers. I'm super excited to go see a movie, we never go.  It feels weird to be getting ready to leave the house this late. Man, I'm getting old. HA!  Two fist pumps for girls night at the movies, though!

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was wonderful--it was full of friends, family, hunting, playing, and cuddling :)

On Friday evening, I met some of my favorite friends for dinner. Then, we proceeded to head to Tricia's (BRIDE-TO-BE) house to stuff envelopes with wedding invitations.  What I thought would take forever only took us ONE hour! We rocked through the invitations.

Saturday morning started off early with the Tulsa Bridal Show. Tricia had invited all of us 'maids to attend the show with her--I'm not going to lie, I was not excited for this event AT ALL. The hustle and bustle of the crowds and bridezillas were not amusing to me in the slightest. I kept telling myself that I was just in it for the free wedding cake samples :) Lo and behold, it was not torturous in the slightest! We ended up having a really good time, and I'm glad us girls got to spend that time together.

Saturday evening we hosted a pre-cruise get together for all the couples going on our cruise next month.  We visited, ate yummy food, and tore up some Wii Bowling.  We played through a double-elimination tournament--winner walked away with a bottle of Malibu Rum in honor of the cruise. As fate would have it, the bride-to-be and her handsome groom came away victorious. Alan and I made it to the finals, but they smoked us. We had an awesome time with our friends!

Sunday morning, Alan woke up bright and early to meet my brother for some duck hunting. They had a perfect overcast, cold day for shootin' some ducks. Despite falling in the water, Alan said he had a great time! :) While the boys were off playing guns, I headed over to hang out with my sis-in-law and niece. Morgan, 11 months, has started walking! :) She is too stinkin' sweet--we had to have a loooong talk about her growing up. I'm pretty sure she promised me that she would slow down so that we can have some more lovey dovey cuddly time with her before she gets too big!

I thought this picture was so cute of Brooke and Paige--Brooke had her flash light out in the garage inspecting all of the dead ducks! It sounds so morbid, but that is something that would've intrigued me as a child too. Hehe!

Sunday evening ended with plenty of cuddle time on my couch with the two most handsome boys I know! They melt my heart.

Today, we got some big, pretty snowflakes. I snapped a few pictures of Bentley playing in the snow.

Hope you all had a wonderful, restful weekend!

Happy Monday, friends!

Whatta Man

It's finally FRIDAY, y'all! :)

We have some fun weekend plans, including a pre-vacation party with our friends!  Oh yeah....that's right....VACATION. We're taking a cruise with 6 other couples in THIRTY FIVE days :)  I ordered a new pair of sparkly flip flops today, and I have intentions of starting my pre-cruise tanning next week.

Anyhow, enough about all that bidness. I wanna tell y'all what my sweet man did for me this week. Honestly, it's probably not that big of a deal, but to my little heart, it was!  Alan is not the best at his "honey do" lists, so I rarely ask him to do things for me on his days off work from the fire station.  I stress myself out sometimes frequently with my responsibilities of working, managing our home, cleaning our home, paying our bills, cooking, cleaning, planning, bathing the dog, laundry, ironing....see how my brain works?! I exhaust myself. Recently I've had this fear of "who will do all these things when I'm big, fat, and pregnant?" or "who will do all these things while I care for a newborn?" (note: I'm not pregnant)  I can lay in bed at night and keep myself awake with this nonsense.  I have expressed these concerns to my darling husband--and even brought myself to *gulp* ask him to vacuum the house. I was working in the kitchen while he vacuumed, and I cringed the whole time. It's really ridiculous what I work myself into sometimes.  I'm determined to break this mold in 2011, though!

Part of my "routine" is my grocery shopping. I keep a running grocery list on the fridge door, and I do our grocery shopping every-other-week on my payday weekend. It's down to an exact science, basically. Well, while I was working away on Thursday, my husband (without being asked) took the grocery list off the fridge and proceed to take himself to The Walmart to pick up the items on the list!! :) This made my heart SO happy!  Baby steps.

Circa 1994.

Hope each of you have a peaceful, blessed weekend!

Blogger Mentor Program

I just signed up for the "Little Sister/Big Sister Blogger Mentor Program" that Krysten from "After I Do" is hosting! :)



You all should check it out--it's a fantastic idea to meet your fellow bloggers, develop a relationship with another similiar blogger, and expand your blogging community.  Seriously, jump in and participate!

Crusty Crust

If y'all haven't seen this video, you probably should :)

 I crack up. every. single. time.
Seriously, I watch this no less than 14.572 times per day.

Happy Tuesday!



On a side note, we were driving somewhere over the weekend and out of no where Alan yells "AW, STAY ON YOUR SIDE."  It scared the living bejeezus out of me, then I laughed hysterically!

I've bout got the whole thing memorized, sad.

Peace and buhhhlessings,

Siesta Scripture Memory Team, Join Me

It's time to get this new year started off right!  I've read of many others participating in Beth Moore's Siesta Scripture Memory Team (SSMT) challenge for 2011, so I've decided to play along. Basically, on the 1st and 15th of every month you will choose a Bible verse to commit to memory--that leaves you memorizing 24 verses during 2011.  Beth points out that 365 days is a looooonnnnng time, enough time for you to stumble into many valleys. Those valleys are inevitable, as are those mountain tops that God has laid out before us to stand upon! :)  Join me in memorizing some of the promises of God, to help carry us through those valleys.

Each month I will post my scripture on the 1st and 15th, please leave me a comment with the scripture you are comitting to learn. Let's encourage each other on this journey!

Please visit Beth Moore's blog here to learn more information on her SSMT.

Without further adieu.....

"Forget about what's happened! Don't keep going over old history.  Be alert! Be present! I'm about to do something brand new.  It's bursting out! Don't you see it?  There it is. I'm making a road in the desert and rivers in the badlands."  Isaiah 43:18-19, The Message

This verse reminds me that the Author of my life hasn't set the pen down yet--He's still writing an AMAZING story. Sometimes we have to be still and look for it, but it's always there.