Weekend Recap!

This weekend was the Tie-Dye-Triathlon. The triathlon consisted of a 500 meter swim, a twelve mile bike ride, and a 5K run. My mom, brother, and I managed to complete it, HOORAY!!! It was my brothers third time to do the triathlon, my second time to do it, and my moms first time. I'm so proud of them for training so hard and doing such a great job. It's really nice to have an active/athletic family who enjoys working out because it's always fun to train for races together. I finished the race in an hour and thirty-six minutes, which put me in 9th place out of 18 in my age group. My brother finished in an hour and twenty-five minutes, which put him in 11th place out of 19 in his age group. My mom finished in an hour and forty-nine minutes, which put her in 3rd place out of 4 in her age group. Here are some pictures of us crossing the finish line.

After the triathlon, I went to work and then headed to Fort Smith, Arkansas to see my college friend Laura and her new baby boy Sawyer. He is just a few days old in these pictures. He was a healthy 9lb baby. He is absolutely perfect, he didn't cry at all while we were there and he pretty much slept the whole time. He has the most precious cheeks and lips I've ever seen. Laura is going to be such a wonderful mommy and I'm so happy for her and her husband!

Proud Mama Laura and Sawyer

Caitlin and me with baby Sawyer.

It was so great to go back to Fort Smith and see everyone again. I'm so glad I got to see all of my favorite people. Even though it was a short visit, we all picked up right where we left off and they filled me in on everything I've missed out on. Can't wait until we all get together again!

My Favorite You Tube Video!

You have to watch this video called Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. It might be old news to everyone, but I just stumbled upon it the other day and I LOVE IT! I think it's sooo precious and the voice is too cute. If I watched this every time I was in a bad mood, I'd never stay in a bad mood. It literally makes my day!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, or if you're like others, you may feel twice as dumb for watching it..haha.

Way Back Wednesday- Aaron and Quincee

FRESHMAN YEAR

This is the first picture ever of Aaron and I.

On a date celebrating one year together.

My 19th birthday!

Before the athletic banquet.

SOPHOMORE YEAR

JUNIOR YEAR

Going to the Brad Paisley concert

Before the UAFS basketball game

Valentine's Day

SENIOR YEAR

Fall 2009

February 2010

The day of my college graduation, May 2010

Summer 2010


I apologize for such a picture heavy post, but I couldn't resist putting up a few pictures from each year that we've been together. Tomorrow is Aaron's 23rd birthday and it's also exactly four years since we started dating. I might as well go ahead and tell the story of how we met for those of you who don't know. We were both freshman in college at UAFS. Aaron came to UAFS to play baseball on a scholarship and I came to play volleyball. I had to report to school at the first of Aug for three-a-days, so the vball girls were pretty much the only people on campus for a while. Shortly after we arrived, the baseball boys arrived. Needless to say, all the volleyball girls were very excited to see other human beings at the Commons (on-campus apartments), especially cute boys. One of my fellow teammates was kind of talking to a baseball boy and he was at their apartment hanging out while we were all having a Laguna Beach watch party. Seems like that was forever ago since Laguna Beach was still on TV. Apparently word got out to all the other baseball boys that we were having a watch party. We received a knock on the door and it was Aaron and his friend coming over to see if they could join. Of course we said yes and Aaron came and sat in a chair next to where I was sitting. I remember thinking he was SOO cute!! After the boys left, I told them that I thought Aaron was adorable and that I wanted to get to know him. Word got out to Aaron and he asked for my number and the rest is history (cheesy I know!) A few weeks after we started "talking" I called my mom and my best friend Allison and told them that I met this boy and I thought there was something really special about him.

Aaron, if you read this (which more than likely you won't), I hope you have the best birthday ever! I can't believe I met such a cool person four years ago! I'm so thankful for you and so very blessed to have you in my life. I love you!!

Way Back Wednesday- Sabrina and Quincee

Since it's Sabrina's birthday week I thought it would be appropriate to feature her on this weeks Way Back Wednesday post. I know she is going to kill me for it, but how could I possible resist with all the great blackmail pictures I have on her? Sabrina will be turning 23 soon and I'm not sure exactly how long i've known her, but I think we were about 4 years old or younger when we met at church. I remember she used to have hair half way down her back and I always wanted to play with it, but she would get sooooo mad when I did. We were in choir, bell choir, sunday school, and youth together at McFarlin. Although we never went to school together, we have remained friends throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. She will always remain a lifelong friend. Sabrina, I hope you have a fabulous birthday!! Thanks for always being such a great friend. Enjoy the awesome pictures, haha!


We used to dress up in my clothes and I would do our hair and make-up and then we would take our so-called "glamour shots" in the front yard....oh my word, I crack up everytime I see these pictures. I'm sure we thought we looked soo pretty too!!!
I'm loving the clunky heels with the dress and the sweater strategically placed over her shoulder. I'm sure I posed her this way and i'm sure she really didn't want to do this at all!


This was taken at Sabrina's sister's wedding.



This was on a choir tour trip to Canada our freshman year of high school. Check out my awesome hair. I used to braid it when it was wet and then take it out....WOW!


This pic was taken in Krakow, Poland on another choir tour during our Sophomore year of high school.


And here we are on Sabrina's 21st birthday our Junior year of college.



Dear Sabrina, please don't kill me for this....you know you love it! Dear other friends, brace yourself because your blackmail post will come sooner or later. I have tons of pictures remaining. I'm so glad that I took all these pictures and that I found them because i'm having way too much fun with this ;)

Loving Fall!

I am SOOOOOO excited for Fall I can hardly stand it! Here are a few of the MANY reasons why I love fall so much:

1. The beautiful trees turning colors. One thing I will miss most this fall about living in Arkansas is the beautiful scenery. There is nothing better than driving around in Arkansas when the leaves are turning..it's absolutely beautiful. Although Norman has pretty trees too, they don't compare to the rolling hills covered in trees there.

2. The fabulous scents of fall. I love burning candles and fall scents are probably my favorite. Right now i'm loving Bath and Body works candles in the flavors Leaves, Autumn, and Kitchen Cider. I also love Scentsy's fall melts called Honey Pear Cider, Autumn Sunset, and Go Go Goji.

Lastly, I love Tyler Candle Company's mixer melts in the flavor Pumpkin Spice. YUM!!

3. For some reason when it's fall I feel more inclined to bake. I'm going to try and bake as much as I can this fall. I've already made monkey bread for the first time....it was absolutely amazing. My boyfriend and my brother loved it so I'm sure I will be making a lot more of it. It's also extremely easy to make. You can find the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/monkey-bread/

4. Football Season! I'm not a huge OU fan, but I do cheer for them when they aren't playing OSU. It's kind of hard not to like OU when you live in Norman. I must say, I didn't own one OU t-shirt until just recently. When OU plays at home we can wear jeans and an OU shirt to work on Fri & Sat. Therefore, I now own a few OU shirts so I can wear jeans on the weekend ;)) My college in Fort Smith didn't have a football team so if we ever wanted to go to a football game we had to drive to Fayetteville to watch the Razorbacks. It actually feels nice to live in a college town again and experience all the excitement of football season.

5. The Holidays! I love that fall and winter have so many holidays. I'm so excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I'm not sure yet what i'm going to be for Halloween, but I'm sure my friends and I will come up with something fun. I never like to dress up alone. I think it's more fun to go dressed up as a group. I'm interested to see what I can come up with for this Halloween.

Last year we were the Ninja Turtles. Caitlin, Allison, Courtney, and me.

The year before that we were the Spice Girls. Scary Spice (Christen), Posh Spice (Caitlin), Ginger Spice (me), Sporty Spice (Allison), and Baby Spice (Courtney)

6. Lastly, I love fall weather and fall clothes. My favorite thing to wear is sweat pants and long sleeve t-shirts. I also cannot wait to wear scarves, beanies, and boots. I bought the cutest beanies from Forever21 and I can't wait to wear them!

Candlestick Collection (Cont'd.)

I finished spray painting the candlesticks....so here's the before and after.

Pictured above are the candlesticks when I bought them.
The candlesticks with a coat of spray primer. I almost left them white instead of silver because I liked the look so much.
And here's the finished product. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. Now I just need some candlesticks in them and a place to put them around the house.

Way Back Wednesday- Blondell and Quincee

I've decided that I'm going to start doing a blogpost every Wednesday that will include old school pictures from way back when. When I cleaned out my bedroom at my parents house for our garage sale, I found a hat box in my closet full of old pictures. They are hilarious and I want to share some of them with you. This weeks picture is of me and my cousin Blondell. This picture was taken right before Blondell and her family moved to Alaska. Blondell was and always will be one of my most favorite people ever! If you know Blondell, you know that there is never a dull or boring moment when she's around. We always have so much fun together, no matter what we're doing. I can't imagine what I'd do without her! I was so upset and devastated when they moved to Alaska because I knew I would only get to see her during the summer, if even that often. Can you see that butterfly pin she has on her shirt? I really really wanted that butterfly pin and she ended up giving it to me so that I would remember her when I saw it. I was SOOO excited about it....I honestly remember that day so clearly still. I'm not sure if I actually ever wore the pin, but I remember that I held on to it and cherished it for a long time. Later on in life I misplaced the pin and I had no idea where it went. The best part of this story is that I found the pin inside a little box that I was selling in the garage sale. Needless to say, I freaked out and showed my mom and I couldn't believe I found it! Here is the picture from way back when:

and here we are a few years ago LOVE YOU BLONDELL!!!!

Candlestick Collection

Since today was my day off and it was raining, I thought it would be the perfect day to hit up some antique shops. I was in search of old candlesticks and vases that I could re-finish or polish for decorations. Needless to say, I hit the jackpot. I went to a few different shops in Norman and ended up buying 8 candlesticks and 2 vases for a very good price. Here is the collection.

I also bought some brass and copper polish and tried to clean some of them up. Most of them turned out pretty good with lots of rubbing and elbow grease, but a few of them had some bad spots on them. I've decided that i'm going to spray paint them with primer and then a coat of paint, but I can't decide whether I want to spray paint them white, black, nickel, or a gold finish. I've seen someone do this with black spray paint and it turned out really cute. I'd like to try white, but I don't know how it will turn out. Any suggestions?? I'll post pictures once i'm done with them. I plan on putting them around the house for now and one day i'll probably use them as table decorations for my wedding reception.

Before and After!

The bathroom before.......

The bathroom after a coat of blue paint....

and some rod iron towel hooks that my mom and I found at a flea market in OKC.

and some sea shells in the sink...

and a new shower curtain courtesy of Target. There were so many fun shower curtains at Target, but I was told by my two roommates (both of which are boys) that flowers were not allowed so that left me with this one :)


My bedroom before I moved in......

My bedroom after! Although it's hard to tell, we did repaint the walls, but the color is very similar to what it was before. I decided to keep the same brown and blue bedding and headboard from college, at least for now. We also painted the woodwork white. There's still a lot left to do in my room, which is why I only posted one picture of this side of the room.

I will post pictures of the rest of the house once it's done, which will probably be forever since we still haven't started on the woodwork...oops!