What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. I'm loving that this is a very short week for me at work. Today and tomorrow are my days off, I'll work Friday, and then I have Saturday off for my brother's graduation and then this Sunday is my Sunday off.

 I'm so proud of my brother! He will be graduating Saturday with his MBA. He has worked super hard for this, balancing school and a full-time job for the last two years. The picture above is from his first college graduation back in 2008. I'm excited to see our family that will be in town for his graduation party! I'm also loving that Sunday is Mother's Day. I can't wait to give my mom her gift. I think she is going to LOVE it. I'll share it on the blog once she gets it.

2. I'm loving the gift my friend, Sabrina gave me for my birthday. She made a set of coasters with pictures on them. They turned out really cute and I was so surprised!

3. I'm loving my latest thrift store find......a bar cart! I've been on the lookout for one of these for so long. I've seen a bunch of different ones, but I couldn't ever find one under $50. I thought that was pretty high for a piece like this. I found this one at a new vintage furniture store in Norman. It was $20. I have plans to paint the gold metal a bright, fun color and add something cute on the trays. Can't wait to use this in a dining room for parties and such.

These Pinterest images made me want a bar cart!

4. I'm loving the beautiful weather we've had this week. Perfect weather for running outside and relaxing in the hammock afterwards. Puts me in a great mood!

Hope you have a fabulous Wednesday!

Valerie & Josh's Engagement Pics!

I had the privilege of taking engagement pictures for this sweet couple. Aaron (my boyfriend) and Josh (the groom) are really good friends. Aaron is a groomsman in the wedding and I'll be taking their wedding pictures. I was really excited when Josh and Valerie asked me to take their engagement and wedding pictures, but super nervous at the same time. You see, Josh is a photographer and that's what he went to school for. I, on the other hand, am just a beginner and have no schooling in photography. Thankfully, I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. Valerie is extremely photogenic and made it easy on me. Josh was also a trooper and stepped in with ideas whenever he had them. It was the perfect day for pictures, minus the heat. We took them at Woodwark Park in Tulsa. I'm still working on editing, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites that I've already edited. Thanks again Josh and Valerie for trusting me to take your pictures. I'm so excited for the wedding!! I'll be getting your disc to you soon!

OKC Half Marathon!

We did it! We finished the OKC Half Marathon in 2:18:28. The weather was PERFECT and we survived without any injuries. A much more pleasant experience than last year. I think I'll stick to half marathons from here on out. My knees and calves are a little sore, but nothing I can't stand. I'm excited to continue working out and running right after the race. Last year I couldn't run another mile for about 3 months. It was pretty depressing. I'm going to stay on top of things this year and stay in shape. Here are a few pictures from the day.

 Before the race.....still half asleep

 After the race

 We ran into my best friend, Alli. Didn't even know she was running it. Apparently she didn't either until last night. She's a beast like that and can do these things on any given day when I have to train for months. Not fair. Way to go, Alli!

Thanks to my mom, dad, Aunt Jan, Mary, and John for coming out and cheering us on!

Half Marathon, Here We Come!

Sunday morning my friend, Sabrina and I will be running in the OKC Memorial Half-Marathon. I'm thankful that this year I'm only doing the half instead of the full. Hopefully, it will be a much more pleasant experience than last year. I'm praying for good weather, but they're predicting rain and possible thunder storms. I'm okay with the rain, just not tornadoes, hail, or sleet. I think it will be a lot of fun this year because I'll be running with a friend. We will have plenty of time to chit chat and take it all in. It's her first time to run in this race so I'm excited to experience it with her. I've really enjoyed training with Sabrina. She has been a great motivator and she pushes me to run faster. There were plenty of early Saturday mornings that I would have slept in, but she made me get out of bed for our long runs. Please pray for nice weather and no injuries. Can't wait!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday's.

1. I'm loving that I can now saw I'm 24 years old. Nothing too exciting about 24, but I'm thankful for another year. I had a wonderful birthday. I got to have dinner with my family the day before my birthday, and dinner and a movie with Aaron on my actual birthday. A big thanks to everyone who made my birthday special with texts, calls, and facebook messages. They made my day.

I had to work on my birthday, but my sweet co-worker had a gift waiting for me on my station and my best friend, Alli had a cookie cake delivered to me! Thanks guys, that was really sweet.

2. I love "favorite things" parties. I wanted to do something different for my birthday party this year, something I've never done before. I came upon a "favorite things" party pin on Pinterest and decided that would be a fun idea. Here's how it works: each person brings 5 of their favorite item (all the same item). Then, everyone puts their name in a bowl five times. Each person draws five different names out of the bowl (make sure they don't draw their name or the same person twice). Next, you give each person that drew your name your favorite thing. In the end, every girl goes home with five new things. It was a lot of fun and we got some pretty fun things. Apparently, nail polish is a favorite with my friends. We had a small turnout due to nasty weather in the state, but it was a great group of girls and I'm so glad they all made it despite the bad weather. My best friend from college even drove 2 1/2 hours through bad weather to come....thanks Allie!
Very special friends....and my mom and aunt. Love you all!

I thought I'd include pictures of the "favorite things"

-Merlot wine and a cork screw-socks and nail polish-wristlet wallet-nail file and nail polish-panties and bracelets-nail polish, favorite candy bar, and a cute box-wine glass-bath salts and a bracelet-nail polish and Baby Lips tinted lip balm- this is what I brought

Here are a few pics of the storm/tornado that passed through my hometown on Friday the 13th. Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured. There was quite a mess from power lines and trees that fell. It was pretty scary, but our house survived without damage and we're all okay. Thank you, Jesus! Praying for those families affected by the tornado in Woodward, OK the following night. Bad weather, please stay away for good. I'm a wee bit scared for storm season this spring/summer.

Source: Twitter- Anita @redrivergrl

Isn't that an amazing picture? WOW!

Source: KFOR Chopper- website: www.axiomamuse.wordpress.com

source: kpho.com

Scary stuff

3. I'm LOVING the new book I got for my birthday. I'm sure some of you have heard about "Bloom", but if you haven't, please check it out. It is so so so so so good. I have yet to pick it up and read it without crying. It's a book written by a blogger named Kelle Hampton. It's about her life as a mother to a little girl with Down Syndrome. You can check out her blog here: http://www.kellehampton.com/

Here's a trailer for her book..watch it because I promise it won't disappoint.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week. Happy Wednesday!!

Love,
Quincee

Way Back Wednesday- Cousin Style #2

Like I promised last week, here is Way Back Wednesday with my cousins on my mom's side of the family. My mom's side of the family is huge. I have eleven cousins, plus all their spouses and their kids. It makes for a big group when we're all together at once. Just like my dad's side of the family, they are all extremely important to me and I love them all very much. We are all very spread out so it's really hard to get everyone together at once. Therefore, I couldn't find any pictures of all of us together at once. That will be our goal for the next family gathering...a picture of all the cousins together. I'm sure there's one somewhere, but I couldn't find it. There are some major differences between cousins on my mom's side and cousins on my dad's side. That's what makes it so much fun. My dad's side is very athletic and every cousin was an athlete at some point (good athletes) and almost all of them have coached at some point in their life. However, my mom's side of the family is more artistic and creative. When we get together for gatherings, there is always singing involved (good singing). We would never dare sing with the other side of the family. Just like my dad's side, my cousins on my mom's side are very special to me and I don't know what I'd do without them. I also love their spouses and their precious kids. Once again I am biased, but they are the cutest kids ever. I love every minute I get to spend with my cousins and their families. I just wish we lived closer and could get together more often. Can't wait for the next time we're all together. Enjoy the pics!

Me, Blondell, and Chris
Chris, Bo, and Miako

So sweet

The boys

The gang hanging out in my old room.

We look like we're having a blast, huh?

Oh this picture makes me laugh.

The four oldest cousins.

Why so serious?

I'm loving Blondell's overalls. Check out that white hair.

Classic. We are the four youngest cousins.

We love our cousin, Luke

The kids table.

Love this picture. We had some really good times on the trampoline.

Thanks to Kaleigh, I'm not the youngest cousin on this side of the family.

Me and Miako. She is now a Dr. and studied Linguistics. She is amazing at sign language and has interpreted for some pretty famous people...way cool!

Not sure what's on my nose and on the top of my head, but it looks like a unicorn horn or something. Every time I went to Blondell's house I went to her room to play with her massive pom-poms. I loved those things.

I love this picture because there is so much going on....Blondell & Luke loving on Kaleigh and I'm being a turd and sticking my tongue out at Chris.

The boys with their Grandma.
*The little boy on the far left is my cousin, Thad. We lost him in a car wreck when he was 13. I know we all can't wait to be reunited with him in Heaven one day. He is our precious guardian angel. I miss him so much!


Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!