WILW

"Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary simply by doing them with the right people." ~ Nicholas Sparks

I'm in Europe.  Loving every minute.  And every good dessert. And old church.  And lots of amazing food.  You get it.  Here are some other things I am loving today!

1.  Baby Chocolate Brown.  I finally got to meet her last weekend and she is precious and beautiful and perfect.  The Chocolate Brown family honestly is so good looking, I'm almost intimidated being in their house.  Except that they're so darn nice and I forget about it.

2.  Speaking of adorable children, I can't leave out SoulMate Friend's boys.  I had a blast spending a couple of days with Little Linebacker and Little Fullback.  I think I had two favorite parts of the weekend--first the fact that Little Linebacker can now clearly say "Aunt Tiff" and second when he played his dad's tuba.  It was amazing.

Me and the newest addition to Aunt Tiff's football team

3.  This list of 100 things you should tell your daughter.  My favorite?  "A strong man is never threatened by a strong woman."  Amen to that!

4.  This blog about the Boston Marathon attacks.  And how horrible it was to bomb the people who watch marathons because of what they mean to the runners.

5.  ND Friend's blog all about her 30th birthday gift.  The picture of the St. Therese quote....the one that is written in handwriting that might belong to a third grader....that was from me. :)  You might remember my blog about my small part in this project here.  It was an amazing and perfect way to ring in her 30th year!

6.  Mrs. F.'s response to my text that I finished my half marathon.  What did she say, you ask?  "You know that you can stop doing things just to prove that you can do them if you want to."  She's a smart lady, that Mrs. F.  I'm pretty good at doing things just to prove that I can.  Half marathons included!

7.  This song called Messin' Around.  Adorable.



8.  This video of Vince Gill and Patty Loveless singing Go Rest High On That Mountain at George Jones' funeral.  Beautiful.

9.  This article written by a daddy to his little girl about her future husband.  The idea?  All of the articles we read as women about how to be sexy and fun and whatever to keep a guy interested are crap.  The guy should be interested because we are interesting, period.  Love it.

WILW (Part I)

“If we counted our blessings instead of our money, we would all be rich.”  ~ Linda Poindexter

Haven't done this link up in a while, so I had a LONG list of things that I'm loving this week.  In order to help everyone from getting completely bored by a super long post, I've split this baby into a two parter.  So...things I'm loving Part I....

NUMBER ONE:  This song by Chad Sullins called Only Girl.  Seriously, LOVE it.

NUMBER TWO:  The fact that Kiddo is a rock star and opens for Chad Sullins.  No, seriously.  Like playing gigs out on the strip two nights in a row last week.  Look how cute he is.

I'm already trying to chase away the little college girls who are after any boy with a guitar who are clearly not good enough for my favorite kid.

To celebrate the first gig, I may have sent him balloons.  Which he took with him to the bar.  Classic.

NUMBER THREE:  Speaking of rock stars, Little Linebacker got drums for his 3rd birthday.  Like a full set of real drums.  How stinkin cute is this kid??

Apparently he is constantly asking his daddy to bring his guitar and come play with him in the garage (to where the drums have been banished).  Seriously, a 3 year old and his daddy having a jam session in the garage.  I know that my dream is for him to play college football, but this might be better.  I'm only saying that once.

NUMBER FOUR: Speaking of Little Linebacker, he is now officially a big brother.  That's right friends, meet the newest of Aunt Tiff's brood of nephews....Little Fullback. 

He came last week in dramatic fashion when he was delivered by paramedics at home because he was apparently ready to make his entrance NOW.  I'm sure his uber organized mama was a little concerned.  As was his daddy, who was getting instructions on how to deliver a baby with a shoe lace and safety pin from the 911 operator  (still not sure what the pin was for?).  To see their interview on the news, click here. Anyway, Little Fullback arrived safe and sound, and he's adorable!

NUMBER FIVE:  My sweet cousin Mim texts me all excited about this article last week.  What does it say?  Oh, ya know, just that my future home has been deemed one of the top 5 universities in the country to find a husband.  Haha....this move is looking better and better all the time!

NUMBER SIX:  OSU brough the rowdy back to Gallagher-Iba Arena!  See, when I was in school, every single game sold out, you stood in line for hours to get good seats, and that place was crazy.  The last couple of years had been bad for the OSU basketball program and the attendance dwindles.  But this year, FINALLY, we have a team that is ranked in the Top 25, tied for first in the Big 12, and a sold out Gallagher-Iba Arena for the Bedlam game against OU.  Good job, kids!  And good job, Pokes, on the overtime win!

 

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part II....

Thankful Thursday

“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.”  ~Henry Ironside

My dear sweet friend College Roomie did this little link up last week, so I'm excited to join in this week!

* Speaking of College Roomie, I'm thankful that she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding!  And even more thankful that she's letting me pick out any black dress that I want.  Love those kind of brides.  Love, love, love.  Feel free to send along any dress ideas you come across.

Me and CR at Bay to Breakers 2010

*  I'm thankful for the opportunity to volunteer with Make-a-Wish.  This weekend we will be granting the most amazing wish for the sweetest boy and his family.  I cannot put into words what it is like to be involved with something like that.

*  I'm thankful that I get to see BFF and Mrs. BFF this weekend.  These two are just my favorites.

*  I'm thankful for the "stress relief" aroma therapy bubble bath from Bath and Body Works.  Is it over priced?  Sure.  Does it relieve stress?  Probably not.  But dang it, it makes me smell good.  Good enough for this girl.

*  I'm thankful for LOKG who I will be running a half marathon with in exactly 93 days.  93 days!!  She's totally kept me going with my goal of eating healthy and getting back into the running game.  Bring it on, Oklahoma City Half Marathon.  You bring it on.

*  I'm thankful for all the babies in my life that are having birthdays this month.  I may have spent entirely too much money on gifts for the birthday kiddos (and their siblings...you can't leave them out!) and shipping them last weekend.  It's probably a good thing I don't have my own children, because I'd be broke as a joke at this rate.

On that note, check out this video of Little Linebacker (who turns 3 in two weeks!) singing "My God's Not Dead" and playing the drums--tree stumps, whatever--in the back yard.  Is this not the most precious thing you have ever seen in your life?  I just love that kid to death, and his parents are clearly doing something right!

* I'm thankful for ND Friend, who has to be the kindest person I know.  Right now she's praying multiple Novenas at the same time for other people and I'm still unsuccessfully avoiding the amazing homemade Nutella that she gave me for Christmas.  She's a Saint.  And a Betty Crocker.  Good combo.

*  Basically, I'm just thankful for my life and for all of the people in it.  I am blessed beyond belief.

I Thank God...

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” ~Meister Eckhart

Is there anything more perfect than the faith of a child?  Little Linebacker learned a Thanksgiving song at school and sang it for me last weekend.

I thank God for the rustling leaves

For the tiny birds and the bumble bees

I thank God for the sky so blue

And I thank God for you.

I thank God I can play baseball

For the sunny days and the cold snow falls

I thank God for the kangaroo

And I thank God for you.

Could there be a more perfect prayer this Thanksgiving?  I don't think so. With that, I'll just say, Amen.  And Happy Thanksgiving!

Jam Sessions, Tailgates, Touchdowns, Fried Pickles and a Marathon Relay

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."  ~Anon.

Oh what a glorious weekend it was.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

So after what I can only describe as an insane day at work on Friday, I hopped a plane and headed for the Happiest Place on Earth.  That's right, kids.....I was off to Stillwater for game day weekend!

I do like it when I'm in Stillwater and the Pokes are in the end zone!

SATURDAY

Loud Oklahoma Girl and I kicked off the day on Saturday by headeing to SoulMate Friend's house.  This may have been my favorite part of the day, thanks to the adorable Little Linebacker.  First off, he was decorating the Christmas tree with "jingles" which is what he calls ornaments, so he was all wound up and excited. 

This kid totally has me figured out.  First off, when SoulMate Friend told him that Aunt Tiff was coming to town, he said, "Aunt Tiff go to the football game."  That is how I'm known to this child.  My heart is full.  Secondly, as soon as we walked in he said, "Little Linebacker wants a cookie."  His mama said no.  He then came over to me and said, "Tiff, Little Linebacker wants a cookie."  When mama says no, go to Aunt Tiff.  He's a smart one!

Up next came a tour of the house.  Complete with things like, "This is the bathroom.  That is the bath tub" and the like.  When we got to his room, we somehow ended up in a jam session.  Picture it, Loud Oklahoma Girl on the marracas, me on the little kid guitar, and Little Linebacker on the toy drums.  We rocked out to some We Wish You A Merry Christmas, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Ba Ba Black Sheep (which turns out Aunt Tiff did NOT know the words to).  We ended the day with Little Linebacker singing us the cutest Thanksgiving song....which I have on video....but you'll have to stick around until Thursday to check that out.

She's having a baby in 2 monhs...could she be any cuter??

So after the wild jam session, we headed off to do a little tailgating and have a drink or two at Eskimo Joe's to pre-game.  That's where we met up with my dear Kiddo.  Bless his sweet 21 year old heart, he hung out with the old ladies and I think even had a good time?  He's a wild one that kid....I made it through three years with the Animal House Boys and never had a run in with the OSU police.  I was there for an hour with Kiddo and said run in may have occurred.  No worries, didn't have to pull the lawyer card.  Phew!

After that, it was game time.  I think that the word "domination" pretty much sums it up.  Nice work, boys.  Nice work!  Now let's get geared up for Bedlam on Saturday!

As we always do, we hit up the Penny post-game.  Any bar that has an air of cow crap, a bouncer wearing Carhart coveralls, and photos of cattle on the wall is my kind of place.  That's why it became my bar 8 years ago.  It just makes me happy.

Next up was Bad Brad's bbq for dinner.  And we went all out and ordered the fried pickles appetizer.  So.  Good.

We wrapped up Saturday night watching the complete chaos occur in every football game on tv.  I was so happy to see Oregon go down (and that mean that the Irish move up into the top two!!), but honestly was disappointed about K-State.  This is the same weekend that OSU got upset in OT last year, so I feel their pain.  However, as of today, the Fighting Irish are #1 and you know this girl loves it!

I'm this excited.  Again.

SUNDAY

 

Yesterday morning it was time for the big marathon relay event!  At the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon they have a marathon relay event where you get teams of 5 and then each of you runs between 5-5.6 miles, for a total of 26.1.  Now, for those of you thinking, "Wait a minute, she drank all day and ate fried pickles and then ran??"  Yea.  I did.  And I was worried about it.  That is until I started running. 

Me and LOKG at the start of my leg.

 As I usually do, I had three goals for the race:  (1)  Finish.  (2) Run the whole thing.  (3) Run an 11 minute mile pace.  I realize that's not an impressive pace, but my training had not been good and I was honestly worried about running the 5 miles.  Well from somewhere (maybe the fried pickles?) I pulled it out and wound up running....get this...just under 10 minute miles!  It was awesome!  The girl for the next leg was on the phone when I showed up because she didn't expect me for 10 more minutes!  I was pretty proud of myself, and I've got to stop being such a slacker in the training department!



Pre-race team photo

We ended up 24th out of 46 teams---not bad, especially considering we had one team mate doing her very first race ever and LOKG running 5 miles for the first time ever.  It was awesome!  Go Team Slow Pokes!

Team Slow Pokes at the Finish!

College Football Kickoff Weekend Recap

"No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep."

I feel like I got hit by a truck.  I'm pretty sure that science (and by science, I mean me) has proven that once a girl turns 28, she is no longer able to go out and live it up like a college kid for three days in a row.  But I'm no quitter, so I gave it my best shot.

As y'all know, I headed to Stillwater for the kickoff to the college football season.  The weekend involved:

--Dinner and drinks in Bricktown at which time we may or may not have been cut off by the bartender.  We have me and Loud Oklahoma Girl to thank for that one....apparently us after two drinks is as loud as most people who are intoxicated, our bad!

--Some dancing at the Wormy Dog.  Is there anything more fun than some two-stepping to a live band?  I don't think so.

--Me and Loud Oklahoma Girl waking up early to run around Boomer Lake (and therefore annoying all of the lazy folks who didn't want to get up at 5:45 in the morning).

--Breakfast and shopping with my favorite Little Linebacker.  Aunt Tiff bought him an elmo with a drum set and tambourine that was quite the hit. 

--Quality time with SoulMate Friend and Tuba Man at their awesome new house.  This also involved Aunt Tiff spinning Little Linebacker around in circles by his feet until I got dizzy and thought I might be sick.  He was not impressed that I had to stop.

--Lunch with my girl Sis who is a current OSU student in charge of representing for me when I'm not there.

--Tailgating.  Enough said.

--Seeing the bricks that College Roomie and I purchased together so that our names will always be at OSU!

--Limees at the Penny.  Duh.

--The hottest football game ever (where my Pokes rolled 84-0 and played all 99 guys on the roster).

--Penny again, where I found my dear friend Mr. Animal House Boy and met up with Kiddo.  Made my night.  I also earned a battle scar.  While dancing with Mr. Animal House Boy, he twirled me into a dude holding a cigar.  I've now got what I'm self diagnosing as a second degree burn on my harm.  I should have learned my lesson 6 years ago when Mr. Animal House boy twirled me into the juke box and we broke it.  I'm a little slow.

--Church and lunch with some of my favorite people.

--A lovely evening with the Chocolate Browns. 

Phew.  Just writing it makes me tired again.  Here is the photo evidence.

Now y'all be sure to stay tuned tomorrow.....because the most exciting part of the weekend is still to come.  It may or may not involve an engagement.  Trust me, it's a good story. :)

It's Here!!

"Every day should be Saturday, because college football is too important to be left up to the professionals." 

That's right, folks.....it's the most wonderful time of the year.  Hello, college football season.  This girl is crawling on a plane headed to the Happiest Place on Earth (aka Stillwater, Oklahoma) to do it up right.

This was probably made by someone who sat next
to me and Loud Oklahoma Girl last season!

It's time to dawn some orange, drink some limees, waive some wheat, make appearances at some tailgates, scream like crazy people and cheer on the Pokes!!

Dear Wes Lunt:  I know you're only 18, but if you could play similar to the 28 year old quarterback we had last year, I'd appreciate it.  And no pressure or anything, but I talked you up pretty big after the Spring Game, so let's not let me down, mkay?  Awesome.

Me and Wes Lunt after the Spring Game

Dear Oklahoma Girls:  You best be rested up, because we have a lot of fun to be had.  I'm just saying.

Dear Copper Penny:  Not going to lie, I'm concerned about this remodeling rumor I have heard.  If things are different, I may have a nervous breakdown.  No lie.  You can calm me down with a cherry limee.  See your lovely walls on Saturday!

Cow photos on the wall and cow crap on the floor...
..no wonder I love this bar

Dear Little Linebacker:  Aunt Tiff is coming to down.  You know that means football, touchdowns, and Pistol Pete.  It also means we have a date for pancakes on Saturday morning.  Cannot wait to see your sweet face!

Dear College Football Season:  You have no idea how much I've missed you.  You were just about as awesome as you could be last year, but if you'd like to try and top it this year, you just go right ahead.


Big 12 Champs!

Fiesta Bowl Champs!

Happy College Football Season to you all!  And, of course, Go Pokes!

Project 64: Week 17 - Red Violet (and Quotography and a Winner!)

Okay, I'm having to do some housekeeping and catching up on posts....sorry for throwing a lot at you in one random set here.

Project 64

I'm here to tell you guys.....I thought this was going to be the week I failed at this little project! I had fits finding something to photograph. This color was pretty similar to magenta, which I just recently took, so I was fresh out of ideas.

Then, today, I was taking out the trash and I saw this little weed/flower that had the perfect shade in it. Who knew trash would save my Project 64 goals!

With that background, I give you my version of red violet.

As always, go over and check out the awesome photographs taken by the other challenge participants.

Quotography: FUN

As you read about yesterday, I was chosen as top three photo last week! This week the theme for the quote is "fun." I went back in the archives to Little Linebacker's first birthday party to find the picture, but I thought this was perfect for the quote! Be sure to check out the other photos and quotes at My Perspective!

Giveaway Winner!

And finally...the moment you've all been waiting for.....the winner of my April giveaway of a Red Dirt music cd is....Annie (who you know as Coach A from prior blogs!) Even though I select the winners through a random drawing, I have to tell you that she commented with a Red Dirt song I'd never heard....didn't think that was possible, so nice work Coach A! :)

Photos of the Week: Week 9

Here we go with another week of photos! A few of these were actually taken a couple of weeks ago when I was in Stillwater, but my rule is so long as I took them this year (which is when I started the project) it's fair game! I hope you guys enjoy. :)

Theme: Something Disliked

If you have read my blog for a while, you might recognize the subject of this photo. It is the memorial inside Gallagher Iba to the ten members of the OSU basketball family who died in a plane crash just over 10 years ago. (You've read about that on my blog here and here and here). It's such a heartbreaking story, and heartbreaking memorial to see. I dislike that we have to have this memorial, but I am so proud to be part of the OSU family and to Remember the Ten.

Theme: Family

Well....you all probably recognize this adorable kiddo....Little Linebacker! Yes, I am STILL using photos from his birthday party because there were SO many! I just love this--his aunt is helping him practice walking to his grandma and the look on his little face is priceless. I'm not technically part of this family, but I've just butted my way right in and they are fantastic!

Theme: Imbalance

This one may take some explaining. Remember how I am going to physical therapy for my lower back/hip issues? Well on Friday we had a long discussion about how my hips and pelvis are....you guessed it....out of balance! While I was doing my exercises for the night, I decided to take a photo of my mat and exercise ball that I use!

Theme: Children

So there were other children at Little Linebacker's birthday party....they just didn't get the photograph time that my favorite kid did! But I did snap this shot of Little Linebacker's cousin while he was mesmerized with SoulMate Friend's dog, Sampson who was on the other side of the glass door. I played with some editing to do some color focus.....learn something new every week with this little project!

Theme: Vegetables

I'm not a huge vegetable person. I know, I know.....I'm trying to do better. (That's actually part of this month's Happiness Project goal!) But....I do love to go to Sunflower Market and walk around the produce/veggie section. Everything is so colorful and fresh.

Theme: Proverbs 10:12

This photo is my latest artistic attempt for Lindsay's Verse of the Week blog! Strange as this seems, I actually took the picture in a cemetery by the church I go to last Sunday. I had always noticed the beautiful statues there, so I decided to stop in and take a few pictures. I thought this was a great photo of the love that covers over all wrongs! Check out the other people who participated here!