3 day weekend is all I needed

Buddy and Bodee relaxing

We all had a wonderful lake weekend for Labor Day....

All I needed was a break and now I'm back in full force. 

Early morning boat ride.

We finished painting the kitchen, laundry room and living room!!

I'm already loving how things are coming together and can't wait to spend the rest of the fall/winter to get the lake house all ready for next summer!!

Painted laundry room, still have to decorate and make the clothes line cute : )

End tables we painted and found these shadow boxes to go on top.

Our friend, Jenny gave us this B and we found the sword in the house and painted it. I love this!

Zac's momma gave us this, how cute!!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Labor Day weekend as much as we did!!!

the lake house

Still a little bit in shock... but, drum roll please, I bought a lake house.


RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED!!


I got a great deal on it, it's a trailer at lake in Oklahoma. It's right next door to some of our best family friends. I'm going to post pictures but please, don't judge. It is definitely a fixer upper (hence the great deal) and we are pumped to do the work ourselves.




The main things that we are changing first: outside paint color, new carpet in the living room and hallway, paint in the whole dang place, getting rid of the bazillion sheets, towels, etc... that this family left. We spent the majority of the last weekend working on it so I have a lot of before pictures (I'm not showing you all of them until I get more work done) and some "in the process" pictures. Enjoy!

Guest Bathroom before....

Guest Bathroom during the painting process...

HORRIBLE living room before. I know, I know.

Living Room in the process. It's not near as dark as it looks, it's very much a sand color.  We're also putting up bead board, which I love. Don't worry, the carpet is going too. Laminate wood will be there in 3 weeks!

Outside... needs a really good power washing, new paint (tan), shutters (black), new larger deck (Z will enjoy this project).

p.s.
if you have any decorating tips, at all... send them my way!

tequila!

BF and I are taking our very first trip together in October... 44 days to be exact. I'm excited/anxious/nervous! We're going to Mexico and I speak absolutely no Spanish, and he actually speaks a little bit but only enough to get us beer, food, tequila, bathrooms and to a library.... just in case.

I'm so ready for this vacation because I haven't taken a real vacation since March of 2010, before I started my job. So I am in desperate need of some time away from work with no phone (well, that's what I'm telling work), no internet access (again....) and no alarm clock (but seriously). 

I've already been buying things up for this trip, like oh, two months ago. 

New swimsuit from Target, also the cutest fedora from there. I never thought I could pull off the whole fedora thing but apparently I can and you will all see when I get back from Mexico and post pics.

We are staying at the Dreams Resort, which looks absolutely beautiful... here are some pictures that I borrowed from their website.

Hotel

One of the dining rooms

Room... in love with these tubs!

We got an awesome deal on it through Priceline, so keep your fingers crossed that it all works out well.

P.S.

I also have some big news at the end of the week so stayed tuned. And no- not engaged, not preggo.  : )

Thank you for trying to make me fat.

What is this... Mean Girls?

I have a company that we use on a regular basis for our printing needs and the rep who is such a suck up (I usually enjoy this because it comes in the form of flowers) but today it came in the form of 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies!

Really? Like what I am supposed to do with that? I handed some out to people I work with and I still have 6 boxes! He's trying to make me fat. Damn you and your Thin Mints!

Yep, 6 boxes going home with me. Lovely.

Am I Pinteresting?

I have finally joined the pinterest world y'all!

Now cut me some slack because 1. I just rejoined the blogging world and 2. I'm still learning about the whole thing!

I would also love to see what all of you lovely ladies pin!


Follow Me : )

suck it up

When I got my sweet baby Bodee, he didn't shed at all. Now, 6 months later the dog is like a walking ball of hair. And it's everywhere. The vacuum that we had was my mom's old vacuum because I didn't really want to spend $200 on a pet hair vacuum. BUT my mom got a coupon for Kohl's in the mail for 20% and the vacuums were on sale so I got this for $60 off!!

Can't tell you how much I love it!

Super pumped about it! I know it seems trivial, but it's a big deal for me for two reasons: 1. my roomie is a tad allergic to dog hair and 2. I hate dog hair on my clothes. But who doesn't?!?!

First time I used it, it was a miracle worker. Oh how I love getting a good product at a discount... it really is the little things! I have a picture of what all it picked up in my bedroom... mind you, it's pretty gross. I swear I vacuum weekly so that shows you just how good this vacuum is!! It's a Bissel Pet Hair vacuum so for anyone who is looking, this one is an A++!!

Gross, I know. But at least I know it works!

now playing

I know that some of these aren't like brand new songs but these are what I've been keeping on repeat:


Crazy Girl



God Gave Me You (Blake Shelton or the original by Dave Barnes)



Country Girl (Shake it for me)



Remind Me



Backroad



Ferris Wheel (it wouldn't let me embed this one but check it out... he's super cute too!)
http://youtu.be/GMnXXPeBQEw


Rain is a Good Thing



Apparently I've been in a real country mood lately! What have you guys been listening to??

no one likes change.

They say that no one likes change, but I would have to disagree. I think people fear the unknown but I also think they love the excitement of change. That's all my life has been doing lately.

I know that I have been SUPER MIA... so here's a little life update, just the big things.

-My roomie Mal is moving out soon to move in with two of our other friends closer to where they all work. As much as I am sad to see her (and the rest of them) go, I understand that it's the best thing for them. My big hope is that the distance, even if it is just 30 minutes, doesn't change anything about our friendships. 


-BF and I have been discussing where our future is going and all of that and we have come to the conclusion that when his lease is up, we are planning on living together. 

BF and I at my nephew's t-ball game

*BTW- I never posted pictures after I began the decorating process, and now I've been the house almost a year and I'm still working on it. But here is the complete living room and dining room.

obsessed with this chair. it matched my throw pillows perfectly!

sorry about the blurry iphone pic

my tiny little dining room, but i rarely use it anyway : )

-I got a new boss at work, which was definitely needed. For the past year, we haven't had a GM at our club and all of the other department heads and I have been kind of running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to make it work, doing our own jobs and then running the club as well. So it's been a huge weight off of my shoulders and he's just been here for over a month and we've accomplished so much it's not even funny! It's nice to finally be working as a whole team and things really do go much much smoother.


-Went to Dallas for our annual group trip with my college friends and had an absolute blast. Forgot how much I miss seeing them on a daily basis.

Let's just say this is how the weekend began...

And this is how it ended...

-One of my best friends, Katie just got engaged and I'm super excited to be a part of her big day.

Is her ring not the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?!?

Some of these things have made the last few months happy, sad, excited, nervous and stressed but I am ready and welcoming the change of it all! I have the most wonderful people in my life and sometimes I just need to sit back and enjoy it. So that's what I'll be doing. And blogging.

make it so

Good humor

"Good humor makes all things tolerable." 


-Henry Ward Beecher

This is my perfect quote for today.

Cinco de Drinko? Drinko de Mayo?

Cinco de Mayo??

Either which way, you HAVE to try this:

Jose Cuervo LIGHT Margarita Mix.

I've tried Skinnygirl Margarita and I liked it but I loooved this! 

BF and I both had frozen margaritas with it last night and my new Margaritaville machine. It was heaven for under 100 calories, which really is what heaven is like, don't you think???

Enjoy your holiday, you best believe I will be!

Wedding weekend in AZ

This past weekend we celebrated Laura's wedding in Arizona. Haley, Mallory and I went there for it, and I can't even begin to tell you how great the whole weekend was and how much I absolutely adored the wedding... but I'll try.

Renaissance Hotel Glendale, AZ

We arrived at the Phoenix airport at about 9:00 p.m. AZ time, quickly checked into our hotel and went to grab a late dinner and drinks with one of our sorority sisters, McKenna, who is actually leaving for Germany for a year next week! It was great to see her and get to really catch up before all of the wedding day craziness!

Saturday, we slept in and then ordered room service. It was a dayummm good breakfast, if I do say so myself. We spent most of the morning exploring the Westgate area right by our hotel and had lunch at Margaritaville... LOVED IT. After lunch, we went shopping at a nearby mall (when I say nearby, I mean that it was 10 miles away and we had to pay like $30 for a cab to go that far... freaking ridic.) Bought some CUTE things at Forever, but this store was huge! It was more like a department store than a forever21. I loved every single minute of it.

Westgate.

The wedding ceremony and reception took place in Buckeye, AZ. The bride & groom had a charter to take everyone who was staying at the hotel to the wedding site which I thought was super thoughtful.

The reception and wedding both took place here. Beautiful, isn't it?

Blurry-but the reception site at night.

The favors were chocolate covered pretzel sticks. Super cute idea!!

The wedding ceremony was the most personal wedding that I have ever seen. They laughed the whole time. They did the ritual of pouring sand into a vase but instead of just doing the usual sand thing, the groom had got dirt from the bride's home state of Oklahoma and sand from his home state of California, and surprised her with that special touch! 

All of the group with the bride.

All of the girls... it was surprisingly windy there that night.

Throwing up the AXO... some things never change.

 We spent the rest of the reception gushing about the couple, catching up with old friends, laughing and dancing under the stars. It was literally my favorite of all the weddings I have been to. I hope you all had a great weekend too!

close to my heart

I haven't been a very good little blogger lately but like I said in my last post, a lot has been going on. A few things that I wasn't ready to share yet, but now I am because I know now that everything is okay.

Before I was born my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy and has been a cancer survivor since. She was 35 when she was diagnosed, 36 when she was cleared, 37 when she got pregnant with me and 38 when I was born. Due to this fact, I have spent a majority of my life having doctors tell me how high my chances are and how I need to start getting mammograms in my mid-20's. 

Recently, I switched to a new doctor who suggested that I get my first mammogram done now so they can have my records and when I begin to get them yearly they will be able to tell more easily if things ever change with my body. So I went to get my first mammogram just about two weeks ago and it came back unusual. This was probably the scariest thing that I've ever even gone through. They scheduled me for an ultrasound and another mammogram which also came back unusual but after my second opinion I am waiting another month for another ultrasound but doctor #2 thinks I am just fine. All the while that I'm dealing with this, my mom finds a spot on her breast. After doing a mammogram and an MRI on her, they found that her implants had ruptured and that's great news because that's fixable and she's still cancer free (although, it still sucks that she has to get those re-done but much better than the alternative)!

We also have been talking to many doctors about the genetic testing process and found out that although it probably isn't smart for me to get the test done (due to insurance policies), it would be okay for my mom to get it done. If she doesn't have the cancer gene (BRCA) then I don't have it either and my chances of getting breast cancer are just like everyone else's. She had the test done last Monday and we found out yesterday that she has no mutations! I can't even tell you how much all of this has been weighing heavy on my mind and heart the last few weeks, and knowing that both her & I are okay and also that I don't have the gene makes me feel unbelievably relieved!  I just continue to thank the Lord every day for blessing both my mom & I so much. I want all of you to know if you don't already how very important it is to check yourself regularly and pay close attention to your body! But that's all the preaching you'll get from me today.

I hope all of you have a WONDERFUL weekend, I will be in Phoenix, AZ for a sorority sister's wedding and don't you worry, I'll post tons of pics when I get back!!

Blessed beyond belief.

Work, friends, family, life... all of it has been crazy busy lately. Which leaves little time for blogging. Or I have entirely too much to say and don't know how to narrow it all down. BUT, my birthday was Wednesday, my birthday party was Friday and it was a wonderful birthday week.

It reminds me how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life.

my mom

They made my office smell SO good. I want flowers every day.

roomie

So cute right??

boyfriend

He knows how much I love getting cards apparently...

work

An OU cake... because I went to OSU and it's our rival. I swear they like me at work.

BF and BFF got me maybe the best present that I've ever gotten. A Margaritaville margarita maker. I have wanted one forever and never asked for it, just because it's so dang expensive but definitely worth it. And yes, we've already used it! 

My mom got me the grill that I've been wanting and my grandmother got me lots of dresses (that I have to return because they look like her, not me).

My brother got me the Daisy perfume that I've been wanting and I LOVE it. It smells so so so good. Now my bff wants it too, copycat.

I took the day off on Friday and went with the BF's mom to get massages and whatnot. Her birthday is the day after mine so we decided to have a relaxing day before we went out Friday night. About this time is when I decided that I must marry rich so I can get massages daily and not have to work. Great plan, huh?

Friday night we went to a restaurant/bar called Bricktown Brewery and had dinner with a group of about 50. This included my very best friends, BF's parents & their friends, along with BF's best friend (whose bday was the 23rd) and some of their friends. After that, we went to the Piano Bar which is just my favorite place to go! It's always such a good time.

All and all, this birthday was the best that I've had in years! I got to see so many people that I love and haven't seen in awhile and spend time with so many people who are important to me! It truly reminded me how blessed I am.

dirt road on repeat

Last weekend we went to the lake and it was a fun, relaxing weekend with some of my favorite people. We got some sun, slept a little and ate a lot... it was wonderful. I forgot how nice it was to be normal like everyone else and get away from work for a whole weekend.

I definitely needed that.  

My new obsession is Jason Aldean's song Dirt Road Anthem and I'm just going to be completely honest with you guys (don't tell BF) but I created a playlist with like 20 songs and put this song on it multiple times. He kept asking why that song was playing so much... damn shuffle is messing up I guess. HAH.

It's just SOOOO good, right?

We spent a good deal of time out on the boat because the weather was just so nice! Yet, the only pictures that I have from this weekend are of the dogs. Typical.

Buddy, being his lazy self.

Bodee spending time with his dad.

Sweet babies playing

Last Monday was my dad's birthday, or would have been... however you say it. BF reminded me how to celebrate instead of being sad by sending me cupcakes for my dad's birthday. He has absolutely no idea how sweet this was, and it completely changed the mood of the day. 

They got a little messed up on the way to my office but man, they were delish!

And no- I didn't eat them all. I shared. Promise : )

you say it's your birthday, and it is.

I decided to link up with Michelle at A Little Bit of This & That for an AWESOME if I do say so myself birthday post

First off, my birthday is just around the corner... as in 13 days away.

via

Yep, that's rrrrright, my birthday is 4-20. Which is pretty ironic seeing as how I've never done a drug in my life. 

Anyway, more about my birthday. Well, I will be 23. I'm looking forward to it actually. If you've read some of my earlier posts you would know that this last year was a roller coaster for me and so far 2011 has been nothing but amazing so I'm hoping that this will continue on to my entire 23rd year of life.

Sorry about the language, it just made me laugh.

The birthday I'm looking forward to most is actually 25. Working so high up in my profession is really difficult being so young. People look at me like I haven't had enough life experience to be anyone's boss, when that isn't really the case and I feel like around the time you hit 25 you just automatically are looked at as more of an adult. 

I've never had really really great birthday celebrations, just because it's a busy time of year for most people and my birthday tends to slip by. Except for my 16th birthday, that was a big deal and my mom had a surprise dinner for me. She's so sneakyyyy, love her.

For my birthday this year, in 13 days need I remind you, I have complied a little birthday list that I may or may not have emailed to my mother for her to disperse among the other wonderful people who love me. I'll share with all of you what was on it, just in case you are feeling extra generous...

Perfume. I've been trying to find a new scent and so far I really like Daisy, but I am very open to suggestions. I also like Juicy and Burberry Sheer (that's what I already wear).

A kindle. I also asked for this for Christmas so I feel like it's pretttty doubtful that I'm getting this.

A grill. I asked my grandmother for this and she thought I was crazy. But I love food grilled, and it's almost summer and I want a dang grill. Anyway, now I think I will ask my brother for this.

Ice cream cake from Baskin Robins. duh.

What are you all asking for your birthdays?? I would love more suggestions, I'm sure there are many many many more people who would like to buy me presents than I have a list for!! (enter sarcasm here)

I will leave you with these weird facts about my day of birth:

April 20, 1889 Hilter was born

National Weed Smoking Day (again, doesn't apply to me)

Carmen Electra's Birthday