Way Back Wednesday- College Volleyball Days!

I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane to my college volleyball days. During my freshman and sophomore years of college I played volleyball at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. It was one of the best decisions of my life to move to Fort Smith, Arkansas and attend college there....I absolutely loved it! The first two years of college I was a member of the volleyball team and the last two years I was a member of the pom squad. I miss them both a lot! I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to play a collegiate sport. Although it was very hard at times, it was also a lot of fun and I met so many awesome friends. I wouldn't trade those times for anything. We used to report to Arkansas a month before school started for "three-a-days." That was typically the worst two weeks of my life....I dreaded waking up everyday. During season we would practice every morning from 6:00-8:00, go straight to class, and then workout (lift or condition) after lunch. Needless to say, I learned a lot about responsibility, determination, and motivation throughout those two years. It was a huge challenge to balance volleyball and school at the same time. We were always traveling so there would be times when we would only be in class 2-3 days out of the week. It was very hard to stay caught up in class. Van rides were always bittersweet. They were long, stinky, and jam packed, but we always managed to have a good time singing, dancing, and telling interesting stories. I will always cherish the memories and friendships I made with my teammates and I hope one day we can all have a reunion :)) Love and miss you girls! Sophomore year at the National Tournament.Pool party before three-a-days (sophomore year)This picture cracks me up. This was at the Howdy dance freshman year. Freshman year athletic banquetGetting pumped before a game. It was a tradition for everyone to scream and yell down the hall then jump up and hit the arch of the door before running on the court.Sophomore night.Freshman team pic. Those were the tightest, ugliest uniforms I've ever seen.

I couldn't even breathe, much less lift my arms up. I always played horrible in those jerseys, but we wore them all the time.First home game (freshman year)Short girls on the left....giants on the right.Oh how I sometimes miss the good ole days.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas......

I'm proud to say that on my day off today I put up the Christmas tree and did some Christmas shopping. I'm so close to being completely done...I only have six more gifts to get (this makes me very happy and stress free). It looks a little bare around the tree, but I'm planning on buying a skirt to go around the bottom of it and once we get some presents under it I think it will look just fine.

Ashley (Trevor's gf) brought over her little tree and put it up last night. The random little wall that sticks out in the kitchen entry area is the perfect place for it! I'm loving my chalkboard...it's fun to switch up what it says. I had give thanks written on it for Thanksgiving and I woke up one morning and to my surprise the give thanks had been removed and it read "do your chores." Yes, that's right...I live with boys, but Trevor is very tidy and doesn't hesitate to remind us to keep the house clean. I guess that's what you get when you live with your landlord!I'm just waiting for the day when I come home and the dogs have destroyed the tree...I was so surprised that neither of them messed with it today. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Expressionary..I want one!

I keep seeing these fun Expressionary stamps everywhere and I really want one! They are so cute and they would be great gifts for newlyweds, a friend who just recently bought a house, your mom, etc. When I get married, I will definitely add one of these to my wish list. These are two of my favorite designs. Check out their website at http://www.expressionary.com/. They've got all kinds of cute stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving with lots of food, fellowship, and friends/family time! I will be leaving shortly to make my way to this place....

Where I'll be seeing lots of this....

And doing a lot of this....

And bringing along these two, which will make things a lot more interesting!

Something tells me that regardless of the weather, this is going to be a FUN filled trip! Don't forget to remember what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful for: my amazing family, my friends, food, shelter, good health, my dog Samson, my awesome boyfriend Aaron, a job that I love, the beauty of nature, God's miracles, and so so so much more.

I attended a fun Thanksgiving dinner in Tahlequah on Monday night with Aaron and some of his friends. The meal was fantastic, complete with stuffing, turkey, ham, salad, rolls, corn, broccoli cheddar casserole, cookies, and pecan pie. I'm proud to say that it was my first time ever to try WILD TURKEY and it was AWESOME! Aaron called me a few days prior to the dinner to tell me they got the turkey. I assumed he meant they went and bought it at the store...oh no of course not. What are hunters supposed to do??? Kill their own meat. Aaron didn't kill the turkey, but some other hunters shot it and left it so Aaron's friends picked it up. Don't worry it didn't sit on the side of the road like road kill. I told Aaron there was no way I was going to eat that turkey, but he said they picked it up right after it was killed and prepared it to be frozen. They fried the wild turkey and I got brave enough to try it. WOW, it was sooo good! I don't know that I've ever had fried turkey before, but it was so much juicer and had tons of flavor!

The Tahlequah gang....love them!!

Way Back Wednesday- Quincee and The Stafford's!

Meet the Stafford family! My family and the Stafford family go way back....and I mean WAY BACK! My parents and their dad went to school together way back when. They lost touch after they graduated high school, but they ran into each other in Norman, OK on the golf course after they were both married. They reconnected and have been great friends ever since. The Stafford's have a daughter Jessie who is the same age as my brother, a daughter Laura who is my age, and a son Will who is still in high school. Trevor and Jessie went to preschool together and we have tons of pictures of them kissing when they were little. Whenever our families get together, we always have such a great time. There is NEVER a dull moment. I don't think the giggling ever stops. I'm so thankful to have such sweet, special family friends. The Stafford's live in Houston so we try to get together at least once a year. Occasionally we will spend the holidays together. We've spent New Year's and the 4th of July in Houston. We've also been on a family cruise together during Thanksgiving break when I was in high school. Two years ago we spent Thanksgiving with the Stafford's at Green Leaf in Tahlequah. We had two cabins, one for the kids and one for the adults. We went fishing, hiking, and spent a lot of time eating and sitting by the campfire. It was such a relaxing and fun Thanksgiving. We decided that this year we are going to do the same thing, except we will be staying in a different location. I'm so excited to spend Thanksgiving with them!At an amusement park in Houston when I went to visit for the summer. I remember I saved up all my money and did a ton of chores so I could earn money to fly to Houston and stay with them. It was my first time to fly and I went alone.

The whole gang in Houston.

Thanksgiving 2008 at Green Leaf.

Sitting around the campfire. Thanksgiving 2008.

Girls weekend trip to Houston this past summer.
Girls Weekend....so much fun!

Me, Jessica, Beverly (their mom), Lori (my mom), and Laura

All three kids are extremely talented and smart. Jessica is currently in Optometry school. Laura is an interior design student at Baylor, and Will is an awesome baseball player! Both Jessica and Laura have unbelievably angelic voices. They definitely have a God given talent that will give you goosebumps. They will both be singing in my wedding one day :)

Can't wait to see you all soon!!!

Parker and Zac- Sneak Peek!

I took pictures today for Stephanie's boys, Parker and Zac! I know Steph is probably anxiously awaiting to see them so I thought I'd post a few that I had already finished editing. Hope you enjoy!

Aren't they sweet? I must admit, it's not easy to get these boys to look at the camera and smile at the same time....it's quite a task!

I thought they looked really cute in this one, might be one of my favorites!

Precious Zac!

Handsome Parker....doesn't he look like a model here?

And here are a few from previous years....

Thanks Steph for letting me take pictures of the boys. You guys are great Guinea pigs!

Rascal Flatts!

The new Rascal Flatts album comes out Nov. 16th....YAY! I'm a HUGE Rascal Flatts fan and always have been. I have every one of their albums and I know pretty much every word to every song. I always buy the album right when it comes out and it takes me 2 days to learn all the words....and believe me I sing them loud and proud. I can't wait for the new one to come out. I'm in love with one of the songs on the album called I Won't Let Go. Here's the song if you'd like to listen!

Chalkboard- finished product!

Here's the chalkboard before:

and here's the finished product:

it's been so long since I've written on a chalkboard....I forgot how hard it was so please don't laugh at my awful handwriting!

Running Progress!

I began my "pre-training" for the marathon at the beginning of October. That entails running three miles at a time, three times a week. Therefore, up to this point I've run a total of 51 miles. For me, this is huge! I'm not going to lie, I'm totally dreading the actual marathon training that lies ahead. Every time I run I think to myself, "okay, I'm huffing and puffing now, what is my body going to feel like when I run 40 miles in one week....ohhhhhhhhhhh greeeaaatttt." I have a total of six weeks and four days left before I begin my actual 18 week training plan. I plan on continuing to run three miles a day, three times a week until that point. I would also like to begin lifting and cross training on my days off. I must admit, I feel so great when I get done running. I stepped on the scale today and I've lost about 10 pounds since last Christmas. I know that doesn't seem like much since it's over such a large span of time, but I think I lost the majority of it when I moved back to Norman. I'm not doing any kind of dieting (if you know me, you know that I love food and I eat just about anything I want......lots of chips and fried foods.) I attribute the weight loss solely to running and exercise. When I look at myself, I can't really tell I've lost much weight, but I can definitely tell that I've lost inches. My clothes fit so much better and I don't feel like I have to unbutton my pants to breathe (that is the worst feeling ever!) I am excited about the hard core training that is coming up soon, but I'm dreading it at the same time. It will be a huge test to see if I have the will power and determination to do it. I will definitely have to start watching what I eat and drink. I'm so thankful that the weather has been so nice lately because it makes running 10 times easier.

Happy Veteran's Day to all the soldiers who have and still are fighting for our country!! I cannot thank you enough!

Home Sweet Home!

I am super excited because two of my very good friends will be moving back to Norman this month...HOORAY! This calls for some major excitement and celebration. They both moved away after high school and decided to move back to their old stomping ground. I am sure glad they made such a great choice. It will be so much fun to hang out with both of them on a regular basis. We have so much life to catch up on. Four years apart has been WAY TOO LONG!

Rachel has been in Nashville, TN for the last 3-4 years. She is an amazing singer and moved their to pursue a singing career. Although she is moving back to Norman, she will continue to work on her song writing and singing career. So glad to have you back soon, can't wait! Check her out at http://www.rachelleetinney.com/

Jan has been in Illinois attending college for the last 4 years. She got a job with a company in OKC and will be moving back this week! So excited to see you Niecee!!

Way Back Wednesday- Quincee and Stephanie!

I found these fine jewels as I was skimming through my box of old pictures thinking about who was going to be the lucky one featured in this week's way back Wednesday post. I couldn't resist sharing them. Let me introduce you to my cousin Stephanie. Stephanie and I were the only girls on my dad's side of the family for a long time, or until all the boys got married and added some awesome girls to the family. Therefore, I became Stephanie's shadow every time that side of the family got together. Poor Stephanie probably got so sick of me always tagging along with her and her friends. When she started driving she would always take me to get a coke with her. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I felt so privileged to get to hang out with my older "cool" cousin. I'm sure every time she did her hair or makeup I watched her like a hawk. Thanks Steph for always letting me tag along with you, even though it probably wasn't the coolest thing you ever did. I always hoped that I would grow up and be as pretty as you!

Stephanie's wedding day. I was honored to be a candle lighter in her wedding.

With Stephanie's friend and bridesmaid at her wedding.Okay, so I have no idea how I ended up with this picture, but somehow I did...kinda weird. I couldn't help but post it because I think it's hilarious how much the style has changed. Check out that awesome hair and those amazing dresses (loving the sleeves and the garters!)


I also found this picture of Steph's first born son. He is 7 now, which makes me feel old!
Here is another picture of Parker when he was a little bit older.

I would post a recent picture of us now, but I couldn't find one on my newest computer. Guess I've been too busy taken pictures of her sweet boys when I'm with her. I've had the privilege of taking Christmas pictures of the boys for the last two years, and I can't wait to take them again this year. I will be posting those pictures on my blog once they are taken.

Wine Bottle Vase!

This is the easiest project you will ever do. It literally took me 10 minutes to complete and I absolutely love the outcome.

Step 1: Wash the outside and inside of a wine bottle. I just soaked it in hot water for a few minutes and then scrapped the label off with a wire brush (that was the hardest part of it, which was not all that hard.)
Step 2: Spray paint the bottle and let dry.
Step 3: Glue twine around the neck of the bottle. I just glued the twine where I started and then wrapped it and put a dot of glue on the end where it ended.
Step 4: Add flowers!

~Before~

~After~