Dear Mr. Right: Letter #7

"We're all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness - and call it love - true love." ~Robert Fulghum, True Love

Dear Mr. Right,

Let's talk weddings. Everyone else in my life seems to be.

You know those girls that have everything planned out and have kept a book since they were 7? You're not getting one of those when you get me. I could care less about most of that stuff. I just want you to wear square toed boots. And for there to be lots of dancing. To a live band that I may have already picked out.

And I'm planning on smearing cake all over your face. Because I think that's a tradition that should not go by the wayside. But there will be no bouquet tossing, because I've been the single girl having to stand out in the middle of the floor and be gawked at too many times.

It won't be too fancy, because I'm a believer in focusing more on the marriage than the wedding. Oh yea, and please do not spend too much money on a ring or I'll honestly be mad.

Seriously, I'm a catch.

Waiting for that day,


Me

What I'm Loving Wednesday #12

Well today I thought I'd link up with Jamie for another edition of What I'm Loving Wednesday, but I realized that I hadn't done my photos of the week yet. So we're doing a combination of both today. We've got a lot to cover!

Today I'm Loving....

1. This guy's idea. During the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, he posted a facebook status that said, "I'd rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a Victoria's Secret model." I think that it's so easy for us to get caught up in the world--in things like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show--and to lose sight of what really matters. I appreciated the reminder. And he's from Baylor, which is Cousin Swiss Mister's alma mater. (Obviously Cousin Swiss Mister may have missed that day in class where he was supposed to learn this....)

2. Volunteering for Make-a-Wish. Last Saturday morning when I had to roll out of my nice warm comfy bed after getting in late from watching rock star friend JoSeth play at the bar, I was not loving my volunteer gig. But about 2 minutes into doing the wish granting interview for a 3 year old with a brain tumor who wants to meet Mickey Mouse, my whole attitude changed. I love being part of an organization that grants such amazing gifts to children who are so deserving. I hope that you'll take time to find a charity or an organization that you are passionate about and to give. Be it time, money, prayers, whatever you can do.

3. My Christmas tree! This weekend I had a free Saturday afternoon at home (shocking these days!), so I decided that it was prime Christmas tree time. For those of you who weren't around my blog 2 years ago, click here to read about why I put up my own tree and send out my own cards each year.
Each year I try and find oranments to commemorate some fun event (particularly travel related stuff) from the past year. I figure that will be pretty cool 20 years from now. This year's big addition is an OSU football helmet with the Bedlam score and date written on it.
I really wanted to find a half marathon ornament for this year, but haven't had any luck. Runners--any ideas?

4. Watching the Ironman World Championships. I tell you what, these athletes are just amazing. I just stumbled upon the World Championships on Saturday afternoon and had to watch. I cried at their stories of inspiration---80 year old men who kept going. A war veteran who lost both legs. The former 300 pound Biggest Loser contestant. The 78 year old woman who was the oldest finisher ever. The man who bet $1 million of food for hungry kids on the race with rapper 50 Cent. It was awesome. And it made me hungry, so I also ate a baked potato. Whatev.

5. Angel Trees. I really hate how commericalized Christmas has become. I think that our society has managed to get totally away from the whole point of the holiday. This year I participated in the one angel tree church and the one for nursing home patients at Wal-Mart. I just can't stand the though of someone not having a gift at Christmas. Blonde Oklahoma Girl wrote the sweetest post about being on the phone while I was frantically shopping for sweat suits, sheets and bathrobes for gifts! If you see an angel tree in your own community, I encourage you to participate. Giving gifts to those who cannot repay us....like that gift born in a manger.....that's what Christmas is all about.

6. Being Fiesta Bowl Bound! For those of you football fans out there, you know that my Cowboys are playing Stanford in this year's Fiesta Bowl.

Well BFF, Cousin Swiss Mister, Mr. Animal House and I all have tickets and we're headed to Arizona come January 2! I can't wait to watch the game with some of my favorite boys and cheer on the Pokes! Oh, and to rock out the new OSU shirt that I bought.....I don't want to ruin the surprise so you'll have to wait until I post pictures on January 3, but I'll just say that it's awesome. :)

Photos of the Week

Theme: Vanishing Points

I had to google this theme to figure out what it was talking about. Ha! It's defined as a photo involving parallel lines that are not parallel to the photo. Um....too much geometry for this girl. Thank goodness for google images--it's where you have a photo that one point in the distance the two lines look to merge together. I took this shot last month in Austin. It's one of my favorites.

Theme: Show Off Your Shot (And Then She Snapped)

I love Christmas tree decorations. I played with some lighting and really liked this shot. Check out all of the other entries here!

Theme: Mahogany (Project 64)

Funny enough, this picture is also from my trip to Austin. I thought that the longhorn on the right was pretty close to the Mahogany color for this week's theme. Check out the other entries at Project 64.

Called Christians

"The point of your life is to point to Him." ~Francis Chan, Crazy Love

I just finished reading a really interesting book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love." (Sidenote: To see all the books I've read, am reading or plan to read, check out my Good Reads page. And if you have your own, add me!)

It's all about evaluating whether you are actually living your life in response to the "crazy love" that God has shown you. My favorite part of the book came in the forward written by Chris Tomlin.

He quoted a simple passage from the Bible, Acts 11:26. "The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch." But the way he went on to explain this passage was really striking to me.

The first disciples were called Christians. They did not call themselves that. They did not come up with the name. Other people--outsiders--looking at them called them Christians. How did they do that? By looking at their lives. So, obviously, this begs the question...today, if people were to look at your life, would they know that you were a Christian? Um....wow.

The book goes on to ask the following series of questions.

Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live?

Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life?

Are you choking that evidence out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on the things of this world?

Would your life look different if you suddenly stopped believing in God?

Jesus calls us to live our lives in a manner different from the world. And if we do it correctly, the difference should be obvious to non-believers. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm not sure that I'm succeeding at this. But fortunately, today is a new day. And I can try again. I can try to do better. I can try and live my life in a way that would make strangers call me a Christian.

I Know It's the 21st Century, But...

"Dating is pressure and tension. What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night?" ~Jerry Seinfeld

Okay, today I'm delving off into a topic that I know nothing about. But apparently being a single girl in my twenties in the year 2011 means that it's something that I've got to address all.the.time. Online dating.

Now, online dating is seriously something that I'd say comes up in my life on average once a week. At least. People are constantly asking me why I don't try it. I don't see anything wrong with it--when other people do it, I'm intrigued and I hope it works for them. But I think that this old fashioned, country girl just wants to believe that I'll meet my husband at a football game or a livestock show instead of online. I know it's the 21st century, but I don't care.

But somehow this topic has been everywhere lately. Maybe because it's the holidays? Seriously, in the last week, people have sent me a ton of different links to check out. My boss' wife (no lie!) had seen this website called Subway Crush on tv and thought it was funny. ND Friend stumbled across this website called How About We... and thought it was cute. (FYI, I did a search to see if anyone's date idea involved the word "cattle" or "livestock." Answer: No. Sigh.) The waiter at our work Christmas party (who was cute and who we harassed about his personal life the whole night) mentioned this thing for professional singles called It's Just Lunch. My head is spinning.

So I basically write all of this with no point....EXCEPT that I'm curious about everyone's opinion on this topic. Have you done it? Know people who have? Think that it's crazy insane? Because after reading this blog by someone I know in real life, I'm traumatized. (Read it for real. You'll laugh so hard you'll cry!) Seriously---comment below. I want to hear from you!
Oh, and if you happen to know a nice young man who you'd like to introduce me to, feel free. I'm not against blog dating suggestions. ;)

I'm Not Going Anywhere

"You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of it? " ~Hannah Whitall Smith

So a little while back I was having a conversation with a super nice, very intelligent father of one of my friends. We were talking about how eventually I would like to end up back home in a small town on the farm. When I said this, he looked at me sort of dumb-founded and said, "Well then you need to move. You should be living somewhere with country people like Amarillo or Lubbock or somwhere where you can meet someone that wants to live on a ranch." And he said it in this way that seemed very matter-of-fact, like this was the most obvious thing in the world, common sense really.

And I choked on my drink. I tried to laugh it off, but it really got to me....."Shoot," I thought, "Am I screwing up my life by living where I am? Have I made all these wrong decisions? Have I managed to get completely lost from the plan? There don't seem to be many single country guys around here, sure not that I'm meeting. Oh wow....maybe I need to move!"

And then I got really confused....because on the other hand, I really like my job. I'm doing well there, I'm learning a lot, and I feel like I'm in a good place. I like my house and my friends and having the financial ability to go and do pretty much what I want on the weekends. I don't want to leave that.

So at this piont I was thoroughly confused. And, in the midst of freaking out and wondering if I'm screwing up my whole life, I did what I always do. I said a prayer about it, and I picked up the phone and turned to some of my friends who calm me down the best. In this situation, those that got the call were BFF, ND Friend, and Georgia Boy. (I try to mix it up so that none of them have to deal with every freak out, lest they think I'm crazy!) And, like always, they knew just what to say to get me calmed down.
And I came to this conclusion.....I'm not going anywhere!

Here's the deal. There are so many things that have to work out in order to find the right person, that my attempt to control one of them (geographic location) is not going to be enough to line everything up. First off, there are country guys everywhere (just listen to Miranda...she knows!), so how would I enve know where to move to? What if I picked the wrong place? Would I move again? And again? And even if I move to a place where more country guys are going to be, that doesn't mean I'll meet the right guy or that the timing will be right or that he'll be single at this point....you get the idea. This just sounds horribly stressful.

And so, the bottom line is this: This is something I can't control. This is where the rubber meets the road in some ways when I talk about having faith. It's putting the phrase, "Let go and let God" into action. And I choose to believe that if I live my life doing my best to follow the plan that He has called me to, well then I'll meet Mr. Right whether he lives here or in Lubbock or in Georgia (hint, hint...southern accent!) or in freakin' Germany. It sure seems more refreshing to me to believe that God is in control of this and will line everything up than thinking that I've got to figure it all out.

And, in conclusion, I'd like to thank my lovely friends for talking me off the cliff. Again. And to announce that I'm chosing to trust. To have faith. And to wait. And that I'm not going anywhere!

Photos of the Week: Weeks 47 and 48

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments on my Letter to Me post yesterday! I always love your feedback. :)

I'm so behind on my photo posts that it's not even funny. We're playing some major catch up today! Here are my shots for the past two weeks. As always, I love your comments and your thoughts on which photo is your favorite!

Theme: Black (Project 64)

I had a hard time with finding a black subject, but while we were working cows I snapped this shot of our dog, Dollar. I love the bright blue sky! Check out the other entries at Project 64!

Theme: Show Off Your Shot

You know that any time I make a trip to Stillwater, you'll be seeing pictures of campus. Remember this and this? Well this time is no different. I loved this shot of the library all decorated for Christmas. To see the other entries this week, click here!

Theme: Gathering

I haven't had a chance to blog about our Thanksgiving yet (it's coming next week, I promise!) but I thought that I'd use a photo from our family gathering for this theme. As redneck as it sounds, our whole family arrived and headed to the field behind our house for some target practice. Turns out, everyone totes guns around....shotguns, pistols, bb guns, you name it, we shot it. I liked this shot of the spent shells with the family in the background.

Theme: Decay

I saw this theme coming up and had no clue what I would actually shoot for it. Then when I was in Austin speaking at a conference (remember these pictures), I came across this old tree on the river bank and thought it was a pretty good fit.

Theme: Beyond Reach

I decided to use a picture from the Bedlam game for this one. When I was in school, our football team was good. Josh Fields, Rashaun Woods, Cotton Bowl kind of good. My senior year, we were bad. Didn't make a bowl kind of bad. It seemed like a Big XII Championship and a BCS Bowl Game (got robbed from playing in the National Championship...) was beyond reach. Well that all changed last Saturday night. Here is one of my favorite shots from the game.

Theme: Soft

This is another Thanksgiving picture of my Cousin The Olympian watching the aforementioned family shooting activities. She curled right up on the "soft" hay bales and watched all the chaos.

Letter to the 16 Year Old Me

"When you go through life, so sure of where you’re headin', and you wind up lost and it's the best thing that could have happened..." ~Brad Paisley, Find Yourself

This week instead of writing to Mr. Right, I'm writing to myself. You guys have probably seen this done before. I wrote a letter to my 20 year old self a while back. I recently read a magazine article where famous people wrote back to their 16 year old selves and knew I wanted to play along.

Dear 16 Year Old Tiffany,


You might want to sit down for this first part. You're 28. You don't have kids. You're not married. Heck, you don't even have a boyfriend. That boy you think you love now...he marries someone else. Are you okay? Still breathing? Good. Because your life is better than you even know to imagine.

You will see the sun rise and set on the other side of the world. And from your apartment window overlooking San Francisco Bay. And from a table at Tavern On The Green in Central Park.

You'll watch the gold helmets run onto the field at Notre Dame, the crazy towel waiving at Kyle Field and cheer on your team at Boone Pickens Stadium (which doesn't exist yet.)


One day, you're going to love running. Seriously. And you'll finish a half marathon. Maybe you could stop slacking when running suicides in basketball practice.

You will wake up one day and realize that you've managed to accumulate a group of friends from all different chapters in your life. And they love you unconditionaly. And they make you a better person.

Oh, and those boys...the ones who keep sticking you in the "friend" or "sister" category? That'll still annoy you at 28, but you'll realize that their friendship is so important in your life that you wouldn't trade it for anything, even the "girlfriend" category.

You'll kneel to pray at St. Peter's Bascilica, next to the remains of St. Paul in Rome, at a Grotto in South Bend, in the Washington National Cathedral and in a quiet church in North Beach.

You'll sing karoke in a bar full of people. Snorkel in Mexico. Rush a football field. White water raft. Wear a fancy dress and hat at a steeplechase. See George Strait in concert. And tour the Swiss Alps.

Don't get me wrong, there will be bad times. You'll have to say goodbye far too soon to people who you love more than words can say. You'll have your heart broken. You'll total a vehicle. And wish time would stand still when change comes your way.

But through it all, you somehow find yourself. And you find the person who you want to be. And you manage to really live. That's a gift.

Enjoy the ride,
Tiffany at 28

Priceless (Bedlam 2011)

"And to be able to celebrate with my teammates, my best friends, this is the real deal." ~OSU Quarterback and Big XII Champion Brandon Weeden


I'm not sure there are words to describe how awesome, exciting and wonderful the Bedlam football game was. I mean good friends, great football, Big XII Champs, and two bucket list checkmarks? Doesn't get better, folks.
You might remember from this post that it was my very first Bedlam game. Oklahoma State versus our biggest rival, Oklahoma. 60-some thousand people packed into the stadium. A sea of orange. Turns out, I'm good luck. When they interviewed Brandon Weeden after the game, he said that he had thought about how winning the game would feel and what the celebration would be like afterward and the reality was even better. I feel the same exact way!

Flights to Oklahoma = 15,000 Frequent Flyer Miles (complete with 3 hour delay in Denver)

Game Ticket = $200

Foam Finger = $10

(Which I had to get because of Nomad's girlfriend....here's how it went down. We will call her Emily from Friends because she's British. And I think she looks like her. Anyhow, when they picked me up at the airport she said she had to get a foam finger because that's what Americans do at football games. Nomad told her that only 5 year old Americans did that. I told him to shut up and that I wanted a foam finger too!)

BEDLAM.....

.....Pre-gaming at the Copper Penny (I had never been to the bar at 3:30 in the afternoon before. I did my best to make Mr. Animal House proud.)

....Screaming until my voice went hoarse and my whole body was sore (No like seriously, my hips and my abs are still sore today!)
.....Watching the two bands to come together to play Amazing Grace in rememberance of Coach Budke, Coach Serna and the Branstetters who died in a plane crash last month (Here's a video I took of part of it.)
.....seeing OU fans being driven to drink (Ha!)
.....Watching my Cowboys dominate OU to win our first Conference Championship (Final score: 44-10. Take that Kirk Herbstreit. You're not only ruining my love life, you're an idiot too!)
.....Rushing the field (This was a bucket list item I was more than excited to check off---yes, it was crazy and sort of scary and I do have a swollen ankle after the 9 foot jump to the field---but that battle scar is totally worth it! To see some awesome videos, click here and here. But please note that I am very sad that several people were seriously injured and hope that they all recover quickly!)
......Touching the goal post (I actually ran over intending to help pull it down, but my 28 year old maturity kicked in and I decided that looked too dangerous and that I might die. I know my mom is so proud that I've grown up. You MUST see the video Nomad took. He's the one saying, "This is so dangerous, this is so dangerous" and I'm the one saying, "Holy crap!" Also please notice the crazy guy at the end running around with the turf in his hand. Hilarious.)
......Doing a snow angel in the end zone (Why? I have no idea. Just seemed like a good idea at the time.)

.....BEING A COWBOY = PRICELESS!

It's Bedlam, Baby!

“Yes, it’s definitely possible to make it all the way this year. Coach Monken always explains to us that we control our own destiny.” ~Tracy Moore, OSU Wide Receiver

Can I just say that I am excited. Like little kid on Christmas Eve excited. Fat kid in a candy store excited. Why you ask? Because It's Bedlam weekend....and I'm going to the game!

For those of you non-Oklahoma folk, Bedlam is the term for any sporting event at which my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, plays our biggest rival, OU. Saturday night is the football showdown of the year. We're currently ranked 3rd. OU is ranked 10th. The winner of this game is guaranteed a BCS bowl game, and if we win, we have a remote shot at the national championship.

Now, I've been to lots of football games. Here is a look back at a few of them in photos...

But for all these games, I've never been to Bedlam. For the last 10 years or so, it was always the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is our family reunion, so I couldn' miss. But glory day, this year that changed and I'll be checking this baby off my Bucket List. Do I care that it's supposed to be 28 degrees? And snowing/raining? Nope. I'm packing my ski clothes and I can still yell for the Cowboys in the cold.

So this weekend I will be in Oklahoma spending some quality time with Soulmate Friend, tailgating with The Governor, Loud Oklahoma Girl, and Nomad, and attending church with my Small Group Friends.

Oh yea, and screaming my little head off at a certain football game. I've already warned Nomad that when (not if...) we win, I will probably cry. And run over anyone in my path to rush that field. Ya hear that, little kids and lukewarm fans? Get out ma' way!

Peace, love and GO POKES!!

Letters to Mr. Right: Letter #9

"Say not in grief: 'He is no more', but live in thankfulness that he was." ~Hebrew Proverb

Dear Mr. Right,

I think that the thing that makes me the most sad about you not being here yet is that you didn't get to meet some really great people.

You won't understand that when people say things like "Hogan's goat" or "Sweet Petunia" they are quoting Mr. Franklin. And you won't know what my cousins and brother mean when we talk about Faye's weenies. Likewise, the phrase "Aunt Jean candies" means nothing to you. You won't get to hear this one laugh that could make a whole room crack up for no reason at all. You won't get to meet First Valentine who got me a passing grade in home ec, and blame him for my inability to be domestic. You'll be confused when I drop everything if Paul Harvey comes on the radio and enjoy watching MASH episodes even when I can quote them line by line. Those are thanks to Gran, by the way. And to you, pink cowboy boots are just pink cowboy boots. rather than what found me my best friends.

But hopefully, if I'm doing anything right, you'll see parts of these people in me.

Beyond that, I guess you'll just have to learn as you go.

Waiting for that day,

Me

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