My Bachelorette Bash

Two days.  One lake.  Three boats.  Two jet skis.  Two houses.  Eight of my favorite girls. Three of my favorite boys.  Six of my favorite aunts and uncles.  One death defying leap off of the roof of a houseboat.  One of my favorite families.  One wicked hail storm.  One broken bikini top.  An undisclosed number of cute gifts at the lingerie shower. Two early morning runs by the lake.  Three phenomenal meals thanks to Aunt Evil Kineval and Queso.  All that adds up to the best Bachelorette Bash ever.

College Roomie taking it all in.

I love him.

These girls!

Jet ski time.

I got carsick after about 5 minutes.

Wouldn't have been a party without these two.

The bride had to do a little skiing.



This dude fell out of the boat.

LOKG rocking the cheerleader moves.

Go Pokes!

"The lake people."



My cheerleader attempt.

LOKG's leap.

They finally convinced me to go.  Please notice Mrs. Hepburn's face.

The jump.

Our amazing digs for the weekend.

I analyzed it all, held my nose, jumped like crazy and hoped not to die.  TBFT dove head first.

 


Relaxing in Big Bertha.

Group jump.

Our trusty pontoon boat Capitan.

Yes, there are boys there.  The groom included.  I've had several comments from people about how this is not right and it's not normal and it's not a bachelorette party.  Screw that.  Here's the deal, kids, I wanted to celebrate with the people who I love the most.  That includes the groom.  That includes BFF and his crazy brother.  That includes my uncles and the Hepburn men.  Ergo, they came to my party and I promise you a few Y chromosomes didn't ruin the fun.  And that's the beauty of life.....I get to make my choices and you can make yours.  Phew, let me step down off my soapbox now.

There are really no words for how loved I felt and how much fun I had at this little bash.  I had friends travel in from all across three states to be there.  We had not one, but two amazing lake houses offered to us for free.  We had multiple people come along just to drive boats and help organize skiing and tubing and swimming fun.  Also, turns out several of my friends are not "lake people" as BFF put it, but they loaded up, cinched their life jackets up and spent the day on the water because it was what I wanted to do.  Friendship at its finest.

And even BFF getting completely lost trying to find the dock, a huge hail storm we barely missed, The Boy from Texas' lost sunglasses, our failure to get a photo jumping off the roof holding hands for the wedding that said, "Taking the Plunge" and the subsequent rough morning taking engagement pictures didn't damper the fun. 

It was the best bachelorette party I could have imagined.  Thank you is not enough for all of you who helped make it so, but it's a start.

Funny Conversations with the Boys in My Life (Part IV)

Today some of the heat is going to be taken off of The Boy from Texas as I share a few quotes with two of the other boys in my life as well:  Little Cowboy and BFF.  I really don't know what I'd do without the wisdom from these three in my life.

BFF:  "I'm going to need you to post a few blogs better suited for those readers who do not have ovaries.  Not hating, I dig it.  This member of your readership is probably going to read it regardless, but maybe i'll get a few gender neutral posts.  Hell, I'll even brainstorm ideas and forward."

Little Cowboy (to me and The Boy from Texas):  How come you two don't sleep in the same bed?
Me:  Because he won't stinkin' marry me!
Little Cowboy:  *shakes his head*
The Boy from Texas:  Yet!  Yet!  Don't say it like that and make him mad!

Little Cowboy (at the sheep sale after he told people the lambs were all $1,000, cash only.):  Um, Tiff, this price thing we have going just isn't going over that well.

Little Cowboy:  Tiff, see that kid over there in the red shirt?
Me:  Yea, I see him.
Little Cowboy:  That's the kid who picks on me and my best friend at school.  You know, the one that put me in a headlock.
Me:  You want me to go tell him how it is and that he better not do that crap anymore?
Little Cowboy:  Um.....no.  I mean, yea, kinda.  But you probably better not.  Unless you want to.  But don't.

The Boy from Texas:  It's possible that I'm going to have to be the patient on in this relationship for the rest of our lives.
Me:  There is no doubt you are going to have to do that.  Have fun.

Retiring a Holiday

For several glorious years of my life, the last weekend of April/first weekend of May was a major holiday.  The incomparable Calf Fry in Stillwater, Oklahoma.   Live Red Dirt music.  Dancing.  Drinking.  Laughing.  Pancakes at IHOP at 3 in the morning.  Our favorite security guard, Wally.  Forgetting about upcoming finals.  Friends.  Fun.  A house full of people sleeping it off.  The great outdoors.  Usually mud was involved.  It was everything good.

 

First Calf Fry - 2004

Funniest night of my life - Calf Fry 2006

Three of my best friends from high school - Calf Fry 2005

Talk about looking young....BFF and me....2004

He was very excited - 2006

The New Mexicans - 2006 (night 1)

Happy couple - 2006

Meeting Alex Weeden

2006...the girls who stayed in our 2 bedroom apt (plus the guy taking the picture)

2009-ish?

Trailerpark Bryan made friends with the afro - 2006

We all got the white memo.

Calf Fry 2006 pre-party

Calf Fry 2004 - The NM crew

And now, 10 years to the day after my very first Calf Fry, I think that it is time I finally retire the holiday.  I'll do so with memories I will never forget.  The funniest night of my life, hands down, happened there.  While in college, we blew off finals, snuck out of a relay for life, and pulled vehicles out of mud to get there.

Some of my favorite quotes and inside jokes happened on these weekends.  "You saw nothing!"  "If you throw pickles at him, he'll stop playing."  "But the Australians liked us on the real world!"  "I don't know the guy on the couch, but make him leave before you do and don't let him steal the silver wear." 

There was great music.  Chris LeDoux.  Miranda Lambert.  Daryl Worley (who was equally cool in Ihop when Cole announced him to the restaurant).  Cross Canadian Ragweed about 100 times.  Jason Bowlin.  Eli Young Band.  Randy Rogers Band.  Everything good.



So, you crazy college kids, I'm giving her to you.  You've got big shoes to fill.  Lots of fun to live up to.  Great memories to make.  Don't waste the opportunity.  Do us proud.


Old Friends

This week, I got to catch up with two of my oldest friends.

 

 

They immediately laugh when we talk about broken noses, because they remember mine.  They know why it is ironic that I am really good with directions now (the teacher literally posted the directions on the wall when I was in 5th grade because I could NOT get it).  They can get through half a sentence, nod, and not finish,  yet I know exactly what they are thinking.  We reminisce about the time she chased her twin brother with a butcher knife and the time that I caught his ex girlfriend going through his drawers and kicked her out.  Truth be told, these two probably know me better than I know myself.

I suppose that 20 years of friendship does that to people. 

So find your people---the ones who make you think and make you laugh and protect you and remember the little details---and then hang on like crazy.

Remember the Alamo (Dome)

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.”   ~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

This past weekend The Boy from Texas and I headed to San Antonio to watch my OSU Cowboys play UTSA at the Alamo Dome! 

Y'all.  Watching a game in the Alamo Dome may well have ruined me for college football.  It was hot, muggy and humid outside.  But in the Dome?  A perfect 70 degrees.  I almost wished I had brought a sweater.  It was awesome!

We spent the first half of the game with Fellow Cowboy in Aggieland and her friends and met up with BFF and Mrs. BFF for the second half.

Kickoff

Three of my favorite people.

UTSA's mascot is a roadrunner.  Lots of people had these shirts that say
"Respect the Pecker."  Hilarious.

The Pokes looked good and won big.  Still have a few lingering concerns about our defense, but we'll see how that shakes out down the line. 

So if you're keeping track, we have an OSU win, an air conditioned stadium, and a day spent with three of my favorite people in the world.  I'm a lucky girl.

After the game we headed to the River Walk.  I had never been, so I wanted to go in order to get myself a Bucket List checkmark.  We also got to deal with BFF in rare form--skipping down the street, almost shoving his wife into the river whilst totally scaring fellow River Walk walkers.  I think he was enjoying letting off a little steam after being so serious last week while he finished out his PhD!  That's right, kids.  BFF is officially a doctor.

After the walk, we grabbed steaks for lunch and enjoyed the cool air.  Then The Boy from Texas and I went to visit one of his best friends and spent a relaxing night chilling in his yard.  Then we made the 3 hour drive home.  Which probably would have sucked, except for the fact that it meant we got to hang out together for 3 hours, and we could stop for roasted pecans at Buckees!

The End.

My Advice to All the Freshmen

"You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out late. Go out with your friends on a Tuesday when you have a paper due on Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does...”  ~Tom Petty

Well it's that time of year again.  When college towns are flooded with students back for the semester.  And a lot of those students are wide-eyed, scared-to-death, map-carrying freshmen.  I sort of just want to grab all of them by the shoulders and be sure they understand--really understand--what a great chapter of their lives they are embarking on.  The house parties and football games and club meetings and nights at the Penny and the chance to meet so many great people......seriously, college was awesome.

And, so, in honor of the new school year, I have come up with a little advice to all of the freshmen.  Take it for what it's worth, but please do understand that I graduated at the top of my class with the best friends in the world and memories that are better than I can even put into words.  I'm just saying that I might know a bit about how to approach these next 4 years.

1.  Go to class.  Let me say it again.  GO TO CLASS.  Even if you are tired.  Or hung over.  Or still drunk.  I don't care if you don't have time to fix your hair, have to wear your pajamas, or lost your book a month ago.  Go.  to.  class.   Professors notice.  And in all likelihood you are going to pick up some sort of information that will be useful for the exam just by being in the room.  It is honestly hard to fail out if you will sit your butt in the seat.

2.  Buy the season football tickets.  I know that you're broke.  I get it.  I remember.  But I'm telling you, buy the football tickets.  You can pretty much find a free lunch every day of the week if  you pay attention to the different club meetings, so use that extra lunch money to buy them.  Find yourself some nice girls with a house who like to cook and they will feed you dinner at least once a week.  Maybe more.  More money to add to the football game pot.  You can make this happen.

3.  Find your people.   I'll preface this with saying I had some great friends in high school.  Really great ones.  But when you get to college, you have the chance to find your people.  You're don't just find your friends because you all live in the same zip code.  In college you have the chance to go out and find friends who are your people--the ones who share your interests and your beliefs and your values.  Or maybe ones who have completely different interests or beliefs or values, but who laugh at your jokes.  You'll know it when you find them because your life will become better.  You'll feel more like you--the real you--then you did before.  These are the people who will stand up next to you on your wedding day and whose kid's birthday parties you will travel three states to be at and with whom you'll lament turning 30 one day.  Choose wisely.

4.  And your place.  Every college kid has to find their place.  The one that makes them feel at home and happy and safe.  Maybe it's a coffee shop or a bar or a church or a study room in the library. Or house full of boys at 44th and Western that was probably never cleaned in the 2 years that they lived there, but that just felt right.  Wherever it is, find yours and go back there when things get stressful, or bad news comes, or you accidentally almost blow you house up, or you just need a chance to re-charge.  Find it.  And enjoy it.

Our couch named Snuggles

Church

The Penny

5.  Have fun.  I know that college can seem stressful and busy and crazy.  Yea...wait until the real world hits, kids.  This is the time of your life.  You don't want to come out of it with regrets.  Don't get me wrong, you have responsibilities--you have to go to class (remember Rule #1), you have to study, you have to go to work--but you also need to make time to have fun.  It's okay to close down the bar one night and go to teach little kid Sunday School the next morning (College Roomie and I were pros at that!)  Go out to dinner.  Put down the books on Thursday and go dancing.  Frequent IHOP at 2 in the morning.  The best things happen then and you don't want to miss them.

And so, little freshmen of the Class of 2017, welcome to the next chapter in your life.  When you're about to turn 30, you'll love looking back on the memories you are about to make.  So they better be good ones.  Live it up.