30 by 30 Report: Month 2

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”  ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Just in case anyone missed the 30 by 30 list, click here to check it out.  Two months down and I'd say things are going pretty well!

#1:  Cook 10 new recipes.  (4/10 completed)

First up this month, I made zucchini cakes.  My sweet cousin put a picture of zucchini cakes on facebook.  Now I love me some zucchini, so I knew I had to try them.  Y'ALL.  Seriously, these are amazing.  So easy (no explosions, no fires, no problems), so delicious, and not horribly unhealthy.  Here's a link to the recipe.  Trust me, you must try these.

Second, I made some crock pot turkey meatloaf from a recipe I found on Christin's blog.  Now, I'm a beef girl, so I would normally substitute hamburger for turkey here, but I was trying something new so I went with it.  I don't care for mushrooms, so I substituted green bell pepper instead.  I thought it was pretty good.  Not something I want to eat every week, but a recipe I'll add to my book.

#7:  Read 24 more books.  (4/24 completed)

I knocked two more books off of this list with the two Advent readings I chose this year.  You read earlier about the main lesson I learned in my Advent reflection this year.  Tomorrow, I'll get up a recap of the two books I read.

#8:  Send my friends little gifts once a month (2/12 completed)

I totally got this idea off of pinterest, modified it slightly, and incorporated it into some of my Christmas gifts.  It was really fun, super easy, and people loved it.  The original idea was to get nail polish and make a cute little tag that said "for your mistle-toes."  Well, I'm a fuzzy sock lover--I mean for real--if fuzzy socks don't make it better, you might as well give up.  So I added fuzzy socks to the mix and ended up with this.

I just bought socks, nail polish, string to tie it all together, and these cute little wooden gift tags from Hob Lob that I painted red and green.  I thought it turned out pretty well!

#22:  Send money anonymously to someone at Christmas.

This was one of the items I was the most excited about checking off the list when I wrote it.  I'm a sucker for Christmas.  Those Angel trees where you take a tag and buy the person gifts?  They see me coming.  I took like 5 tags at church last week and I've still got to go by the Wal-Mart that does one for people in the nursing home.  Last year I went on the last day and was so upset thinking that if I didn't take all the remaining tags those people would have no Christmas, that I was in tears in the store and bought them out of sweat suits (apparently that's a popular request at the nursing home!).  Anyway, I digress.  Every year I like to give some money to a family that I know needs it.  I've had my family selected since July and I love knowing that they just got a random gift card in the mail that will help make Christmas a little more fun.

#29:  Bring home a bouquet of flowers once a month (2/12 completed).

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

“Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”   ~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I haven't linked up in a L-O-N-G time, so I've been saving up lots of likes for today!

1.  This article written by a mom about the Sandy Hook tragedy.  I identified right away because I, like her, am just not a crier, but this really got to me.  Her explanation of why is spot on.  I know what six looks like, and because of that, I understand too much what must have happened in that school.  God bless everyone involved.

2.  This video that I found thanks to Miss Ty's blog.  It's called Sh** (Bible Belt mom editing) Southern Women Say.  I was in tears.  And I guarantee you I say at least three of these every single day.  No lie. http://www.arkansassyblog.com/2012/12/does-this-pistol-come-in-pink.html

3.  The new song by Tim McGraw. Even though I'm much more of a Texas Country girl than a mainstream music fan, I love this song!
 

4.  This blogger who volunteered to lay a wreath on every grave at Arlington National Cemetery for Christmas.  What an amazing thing to be part of!

5.  I'm not one of those girls who plans her wedding out in her head.  I've explained that in a Letter to Mr. Right before.  But last week I heard this version of 1000 years and loved it so much that I think it would be the perfect wedding processional....and then right after that, I heard the One Direction song called Little Things that I'm quite certain will have to be played at any future wedding I have.  Perhaps it's a sign of Mr. Right's impending arrival??




6.  This article by The Single Woman.  It's all about how we need to stop overthinking everything in our lives and just do something!  She talks about how she will overanalyze little decisions like whether to go into Target or if she should buy new lipstick....um....completely guilty.  I've done the same thing more times than I can count.  Here is her advice:   "Chances are, sometimes this plan of less thought and more action is going to inevitably lead to mistakes and mishaps and maybe even rejection…but isn’t DOING and KNOWING better than WAITING and WONDERING?" 

7.  This t-shirt I saw online.  Yes, that would be me.  But never fear, I'm back on a running plan (I have a half marathon with Loud Oklahoma Girl in April to train for!) and on the trusty ol' my fitness pal. 

8.  My sweet friend Almost Gypsie Soul has started a blog!  We went to school together at OSU, she was the one who suggested we run Remember the Ten last year, and she's just generally awesome.  Check her out, add her to your blog list.  You'll love her.  Oh, and she's doing a playlist for the blog every month, which I love!

She's the tall one in blue....dang tall people make me so jealous!

9.  My adorable friend (who I used to babysit.....hello, my name is Tiffany and I'm old!) is in school at OSU.  Well yesterday, our quarterback--Clint Chelf--retweeted her!  Now, once I had her explain to me what exactly re-tweeting meant, I was super excited.  She's basically famous! :)

10.  My dear friends Nomad and Emily from Friends got hitched!  That's right, they got married in what looks to have been a picture-perfect ceremony over the holiday.  Who wants a guest blog wedding report from these two???

Word on the street is that they may have a second wedding in England, to which I'm invited!  Little European adventure in my future??  I think so.  I'll totally channel my inner-Joey!  "It's LONDON, baby!"


Nomad and Emily from Friends:  Please don't un-invite me because of this! :)

Little Cowboy Update

"It's the ropes and the reins and the joy and the pain and they call the thing rodeo."  ~Garth Brooks, Rodeo

I know it's been a while since our last Ask Little Cowboy post.  But he's been way too busy to answer silly blog questions.  He's been getting ready for his first rodeo.  That's right, kids.  Little Cowboy competed in his first bronc riding on New Year's Eve.



Thank goodness I was not there, or I would have totally had a heart attack.  I mean, it's possible I'm a little bit biased, but I think he's got some real talent there!  Hopefully by the time he's riding at the NFR one day, Aunt Tiff can be over her nerves enough to be there in person!

He's now taken to giving people bronc riding advice, so listen up.



I'll see if we can get him to make some time for another edition of Ask Little Cowboy soon, but it's tough being a rodeo star, and a kindergartner!

Let's Go Irish!

"I always made it a point, right after our evening meal, to go down to the Grotto and thank the Good Lord and our marvelous Mary down there for me going to Notre Dame." -Johnny Lujack

Well blogger is being difficult and will not let me upload new pictures from my computer (anyone else having this problem??) so today, I'll just use a couple of old pictures from my most recent trip to Notre Dame and my first trip to Notre Dame and say this:

Let's Go Irish...

These two crazy kids below are in Miami as we speak soaking it all in.  I'm hoping for a guest blog all about it when they get back!

...Onward to Victory!

Now I'm Afraid...

Photo via

What I've Learned This Year

“Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of.”  ~ Markus Zusak, I am the Messenger

I promise this is my last year-in-review type post.  If y'all are half as sick of these as I am, well.....I feel your pain!  I almost didn't write this blog since I already did a "What I've Learned in My Twenties" blog this year.  But since I've done one of these for the last couple years (in case you missed them here are links to 2009 and 2011), I hated to blow the tradition.  And I always enjoy looking back on a year and seeing what I'm taking from it as I enter the next. 

So here's what 2012 taught this girl.

1.  Rejection isn't fun, but it's something I can live through, learn from, and survive.

2.  I'm stronger than I think, and can do things that scare the crap out of me, like jumping off of tarzan swings in a jungle.

3.  When you are standing behind a famous football coach and a Heisman runner up during an interview, you should always jump and wave like a crazy person so people can see you, and not just your camera, on tv.  Lesson learned.

4.  People are more alike than they are different, be it different religions saying goodbye to loved ones, or everyone being Irish for a day in Chicago.

5.  Childbirth is not fast, it's not easy, and it pretty much made me want no boy to ever touch me again.  (But boy was it great holding my goddaughter when she arrived!)

6.  Horrible things happen.  Things that shake us to the core.  But we have the power to decide how we will deal with those things.....be it remembering better times, doing kind things for others, or pulling together with a community.

7.  You should probably pay attention to the "danger lecture" given at the beginning of white water rafting in a foreign country.  There is a chance you might fall out of your raft, the remainder of your party not realize you are missing, and nearly drown.  Never a dull moment on my vacations!

8.  Boys have the hard part while proposing (that crap is stressful as I learned while helping McCain) but the easy part at a wedding (groomsma'am duty was so much less stress than being a bridesmaid!)

9.  My family is full of the most fun people I know.  I'd hang out with them even if we didn't have the same gene pool.

10.  Thank the Lord for young field goal kickers at Stanford.  They made this girl scream like crazy at the Fiesta Bowl in January and again in South Bend last fall.

And, finally, the lesson I think was the most valuable for me this year came from BFF.

This life is mine to live.  I get to decide how to spend my days.  But I don't have to decide all of that today....sometimes it's good to just sit back and breathe.

Fourth Annual Bucket List Year In Review

“You've got this life and while you've got it, you'd better kiss like you only have one moment, try to hold someone's hand like you will never get another chance to, look into people's eyes like they're the last you'll ever see, watch someone sleeping like there's no time left, jump if you feel like jumping, run if you feel like running, play music in your head when there is none, and eat cake like it's the only one left in the world!”  ~C. JoyBell C.

In keeping with the Year in Review theme I started on Monday, I thought I'd knock out my bucket list year in review.  To check out prior years, just click here:  2011, 2010, 2009.

Y'all.  Had you told me last January that I would check off 11, count them...11, items from my bucket list in 2012, I would have said you were crazy.  But I did it.  And I'm so thankful for all of these experiences! 

1 and 2.  Attend an OSU Bowl Game and Attend a BCS Bowl Game.  (Original blog here.)

Yes, I'm that big of a football fan.  Trust me, I bet that the majority of my list items are somehow football related.  Watching OSU win (in overtime) its first BCS bowl game with some of my favorite boys was absolutely awesome and a great way to kick off 2012!

3.  Go to an NCAA Tournament Game.  (Original blog here.)

Sadly, I did not get to watch OSU play in a Tournament game (but hopefully this year our drought is over!!), but I had a great time watching two of the first round games.  And when I headed down to the floor to take my photo for this blog, the Colorado mascot decided he needed to join in. 

4.  See the river dyed green on St. Patrick's Day in Chicago.  (Original blogs here and here.)

Oh.My.Gosh.  There really are just not words to tell you how much fun I had checking this item off the list with ND Friend.  Not only did we see the river dyed green, but we ate like kings, danced in Irish pubs, saw the St. Patty's Day parade, ran a race, and met my new friend Tiny Dancer (and almost had to fight off other girls with a stick).....it was the best weekend!

5.  Run a 10K.  (Original blog here.)

This one seems a little strange since I had already run a half marathon last year, but for some reason I had never done a 10K before.  Well doing the Remember The Ten run in Stillwater was the perfect place to start.  It was awesome running around my college town, and knowing that I was doing it in memory of 10 lives lost too soon.  Plus, getting to meet Coach Sutton a the end of the race was just icing on the cake!

6.  Go to Vegas.  (Original blogs here.)

This was definately the family event of the year.  Maybe the decade.  Little Brother got married in Vegas and we did it up right.  I had the absolute best time!

7.  Zipline through the jungle.  (Original blog here.)

Costa Rica allowed me to check this baby off the list.  Although I must admit that once I climbed up the first tower and got ready to go, I was pretty tempted to just admit defeat and never cross this one off.  But I'm so glad I did--it was so beautiful and so much fun!

8.  Parasail.  (Original blog here.)

During this little event I may have sworn that I would never do anything again with Cousin Swiss Mister, who kept trying to unhook my clip to the parachute, and who then proved that chivalry is, indeed, dead when he shoved me out of the way to crawl on the boat first once we landed.  Despite his shenanigans, I thought parasailing was amazing and I am SO glad that we did it!

9.  See a waterfall.  (Original blog here.)

I'm not totally sure how I had never done this before, but where better to check it off than Costa Rica?  We hiked down to a beautiful waterfall in Manuel Antonio, in the rain, and then even though it was pouring and freezing, we climbed in to swim and take pictures.  Go big or go home, that was our theme for the trip!

10.  Donate money to Oklahoma State.

Us circa 2003.

I didn't blog about this one, but College Roomie and I both bought bricks in the alumni walk at OSU.  Of course, we asked the they put our bricks together, you know, since we're sticks and all.  And now we're immortal at the happiest place on earth.  Love it.

11.  Do The Color Run.  (Original blog here.)

I knocked this baby off the list in August and it was tons of fun!  I had some friends come into town for the race and we all had a blast getting covered in colored powder.  For the record, it took a week to get some of that stuff off...but well worth it!


 

So there ya have it.  11 checkmarks in 12 months.  Not too bad.  Here's to more fun and more checkmarks in 2013!

Bring It On, 2013!

“Another year is fast approaching. Go be that starving artist you’re afraid to be. Open up that journal and get poetic finally. Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. You were put here to be part of a vast organism to explore and create. Stop putting it off. The world has much more to offer than what’s on 15 televisions at TGI Fridays. Take pictures. Scare people. Shake up the scene. Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~Jason Mraz

I love a new year.  The turning of a page, a blank slate, a time for new routines and habits and plans, and a chance to wear funny hats and party it up.  (I'm a big talker, the truth is I spent NYC on my couch in my sweats and was in bed by 10.)

New Years Eve circa 2009

I hope all of you have a wonderful time celebrating the New Year and a fantastic 2013!

And me?  Well, I've got big plans for 2013.  Plans for half marathons and a trip to Europe and a George Strait concert with my cousin and aunts.  Bachelorette parties to throw and bridesmaid dresses to wear and dancing to do.  Orange clad football games to attend, an uncle to take to Notre Dame for the first time, and hot dogs to eat at Wrigley Field.  I've got babies to meet and cards to send and birthday parties to enjoy.  I'll have 30 candles to blow out and a 30 by 30 list that needs lots of check marks before we get to that cake.

Bring it on, 2013.  I've got a lot of living to do in the next 365 days!