Way Back Wednesday- Samson

Meet my fur child, Samson. I am obsessed with him. He is absolutely spoiled rotten.....but he deserves it all because he is awesome. I don't know what I'd do without this precious boy. He is so special to me. He was given to me on my 20th birthday by my Aunt Jan. She is the dog angel. She got him for free from a co-worker that was trying to find him a home. He is a full blood Golden Retriever. I have an extremely soft spot in my heart for Golden Retrievers. I have owned three dogs my entire life and all three of them have been Golden Retrievers. They are just so friendly, snuggly, and playful.  I remember the day she brought Samson home to me....he was sooo shy and didn't want to do much besides cuddle and sleep. He was a big fur ball and looked like a little polar bear with HUGE paws. We knew he would eventually be big...and BIG he is. He's pretty close to the size of a miniature horse.

Back when he was just a little guy...sometimes I wish he could have stayed small :(

-how cute is he? Smiling and posing for the camera.

- he was really working the camera in this pic.

-this is probably my most favorite picture of him. You have to look closely and you'll see his eyes glowing. We let him outside to use the bathroom and he found a frog in the garden and made a HUGE mess. See his paw prints on the concrete.

-he loved laying out, legs sprawled on the tile as a baby. Looks like a little polar bear.

-he loves car rides

-enjoying the wind in his face

-his first time to swim.

-he is still my dad's side kick. They love each other A LOT. My dad takes him on a 3-6 mile walk every morning so they have a special bond.

-helping my brother fish

-taking a bath after swimming

-such a cuddle bug

-after he got sprayed by a skunk....such a sad face

-he LOVES going for walks and hanging out at the dog park

- such a happy boy

-occasionally when he's feeling abandoned and needs attention he will jump in my bed while I'm getting ready for bed. It's hard to pass up that sad, sulking face.

-Love him

-pretty boy

-he LOVES to swim and retrieve sticks in the water. He could do it all day long.

-he also loves playing in the snow....he goes nuts!

-snow pup

Most people that know him would agree that he is a "special" dog. He has blonde hair and it definitely shows. He is extremely clumsy and does some funny things. He is my special boy and I can't imagine life without him!

What I'm Loving Thursday....

Oops, I didn't get around to blogging yesterday so I'm doing my own rendition of What I'm Loving Thursday.

#1. I'm loving how amazing the OKC Thunder Basketball team is doing. It's been fun to watch all the playoff games and cheer on a professional team that's VERY close to home. Aaron and I got to go to a game before the playoffs. It was his first game and he loved it. We both wondered why we haven't been to more games this year.
For work, we can wear a Thunder shirt everyday until they WIN the championship...we won't discuss the other option because it's not going to happen. I only own one Thunder shirt so I had to add a few more to my wardrobe so I could wear jeans and a t-shirt to work (I'm all about comfy clothes). All the cute shirts I found were well over $30 and I didn't want to pay that much. Instead, I realized I haven't done many crafts lately so I decided to make my own for way cheaper. They aren't the cutest things ever, but they will definitely work!

 Please excuse my horrible attempt at tie dying..that's supposed to be blue and orange, not blue, orange and brown.


 #2. I'm loving  my latest DIY project. I finally decided to tackle this chair. I bought it my junior year of college at a garage sale for $10. It swivels and rocks and it's pretty comfy. I liked the shape and thought it would be a great chair to reupholster....that is until I found out it would cost $250+ to do. No thanks! I did some research and I found a blog post about painting an upholstered chair. Call me crazy, but I had to try it. My mom thought I was nuts. If it fails, at least it only cost me a bucket of paint and some  textile medium. Supposedly, the chair will be a little bit stiffer than normal, but it won't rub off and it is washable.

 Here is the chair before. It had quite a few stains on it. Don't worry, I cleaned it before I painted.

 This is after two coats of paint. It looks like I painted it white, but it's actually a mint green color.

 This pic shows it a little more true to color, but still doesn't show the exact color. I'm going to do one more coat and then i'll post a tutorial and show the finished product.

This is the actual color swatch. It's Valspar's Belle Grove Aloe

I picked the color to match this fabric. I originally bought this fabric to recover the chair. Now I'm just going to use it to make a pillow and eventually use it for curtains too. I think the color matches the fabric pretty well.

#3. I'm loving that I get to see this gorgeous girl this Sunday to celebrate her 1st birthday! Isn't she a doll? Prettiest baby I've ever seen. Can't wait to have Sunday off and spend it with my cousins that are visiting from Virginia. It's been way too long since I've seen this sweet girl and her parents.

photo source: www.picsby2chicks.com

*Lastly, I need a favor. I would greatly appreciate it if you could all say a prayer for Aaron. He is still in the process of finding a full time job. He had an interview last week for a job that would be ideal for him. Please pray that if it's where God wants him that they will hire him. It would be SO fabulous, thanks!

Have a fun and safe Memorial weekend!

Mother's Day

Thankfully, I had this Sunday off from work so I was able to spend the entire day with my mom. We woke up and had breakfast on the back porch with Pete & Blondell. Then, we met up with Ashley's family at the park for lunch and headed to the zoo. Ashley's family invited us to spend the day with them so that Trevor and Ashley could spend Mother's Day with both of their moms. We had a great time with them!

So blessed to have you as my mom. I love you!

The whole gang

Thought this was funny

The sweet baby elephant

For Mother's Day, I made my mom a photo book from Shutterfly. I put pictures of her with us kids, family pics, and pics of us when we were little. I also wrote "mother" quotes and reasons why we love her. I think she really liked it. Of course, it made her cry, but that's not very hard to do. Here are a few pics of her opening it.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Trevor's Graduation!

On Saturday, my brother graduated with his MBA from the University of Oklahoma. He decided to participate in the commencement ceremony so we watched him walk across the stage and then we had a party at our house with family and friends. It was great to spend time with everyone! Here are some pics from the day.

 The card my grandpa made for Trevor. He sewed on the money to spell out MBA....he is a clever 86 year old.

 My family

 Trevor and his beautiful wife, Ashley

 We love our cousins, Steph & Colby

 Father and son

 Mother and son

 Trevor, Parker, and Zach....they're so cute.

 Trevor, Libby, and Ethan..they're cute too!

 Love me some Libberloulah!

 Just hanging out

 and eating cake

Every time Zach comes over, the first thing he gets is his cowboy hat and guns. He loves them..it's too funny!

 Trevor and Aunt Jan

 Trevor and his best friend, Patrick

Cuties