3 Step Program for Valentine's Day

"We might not have Prince Charming kneeling in front of us with a glass slipper, but we can afford to buy our own sassy stilettos and escort ourselves to the ball." ~The Single Woman

It's Valentine's Day, folks. Which means that on this blog, we'll continue with a couple of annual traditions.

Step 1: We'll all go read my blog about my favorite Valentine's Day and my dear friend, First Valentine. (You'll also want to read about how he kept me from failing Home Ec several years later and a blog about our favorite First Valentine stories.) Bottom line....In my mind, I won't write a Valentine's Day post better than that one, so I'm not going to try. Today I always think of him...love that I get to share my memories with you guys.

Step 2: I'll reveal my new Valentine's Day shoes! Curious? See, because I'm single and let's be real, this day can be hard sometimes for a single girl, several years ago I started buying myself a pair of Valentine's Day shoes. I make sure they are super fun and I wear them on Valentine's Day. Best tradition ever if you ask me! Two years ago, I did zebra stilletos. Last year, red 4 inch pumps with gold zippers. This year I went a little more practical with open toed snake-skin patterned nude heels. Happy Valentine's Day to me! Step 3: since Step 1 involved you reading about my best Valentine's Day story, I figured I'd share my worst. (I'm linking up with Miss Cait today....she asked about worst Valentine's Day gifts, and although mine is a date, I think it counts!)

I was a senior in college and one of the guy friends (who shall remain nameless for his own safety) told me he was taking me out for Valentine's Day. Now, we were just friends, but because I'm a girl...I (of course) read too much into this and set my expectations far too high. He picked me up for dinner and took me to.....Blue Cow Burger. Never heard of it? Don't worry. Picture a generic McDonalds but crappier. In his defense, he did pay for dinner---a burger and a milkshake (I don't like fries) that cost him $4.02. Yes, I remember the amount to the cent to this day. Don't judge me.

After dinner, we head to, where else, our bar...The Copper Penny. Quite a few of our friends were at the bar that night (probably does not say a whole lot for the crowd I ran with.....especially since it was a Tuesday night....) and I was having a great time. One of the Animal House Boys (who shall also remain nameless) proposed that night and to celebrate brought his new fiance to the Penny. Where else would you go to celebrate something like that? Anyway, there we are, hanging at the bar, having a great time, and my "date" comes up and whispers to see if I'm ready to go. I looked at him funny..this guy NEVER left the bar until the lights came on at 2am. I thought he was sick. Finally he explained that some other girl who he had a crush on had texted him and said that she was coming to the bar and asked if he wanted to meet up.

No need to re-read that last sentence....you got it right the first time. Here I was, being taken home early from my bar so that my Valentine's Day "date" could meet up with another girl. AFTER he had bought me a $4.02 dinner. Yea. This happened. Only in my life.

Am I still bitter? No. (Okay...maybe just a little.) Did it all work out for the best? Absolutely. He ended up married and I ended up with a great story. Did he marry the girl who he met up with that night? Turns out...she was being a total tease and didn't show. Valentine's Day Karma via Cupid? I think so.

Worth Waiting For

"But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having." ~Anon.

When my Aunt Midge and I were at the hospital last week with Aunt Elaine and Uncle Larry, I saw it. The kind of love that I'm looking for. The glimmer of hope that makes me think that holding out and being picky is the right thing to do. Even if it means no flowers on Valentine's Day this year.

After not seeing each other since being air lifted into the trauma rooms the day before, we convinced the nurses to wheel Uncle Larry's gurney into Aunt Elaine's room just for a couple of seconds. When they did, he looked over at her--her head halfway shaved, face covered in stitches, arm in a cast, hospital gown attire--and he said, "Hello, Beautiful." And he meant it. In his eyes, she is beautiful, period. Circumstances don't matter.

And you know, that was a moment I'll never forget. Because what I saw? Well it was love. In its purest, truest, most unconditional form. And if it exists in a hospital room in El Paso now for Aunt Elaine, it just might exist for me somewhere someday too. And that, my friends, is something worth waiting for.

Blog Star: Hi, I'm Tiffany!

Hey y'all!

My name is Tiffany and I'm a 20-something, single, farm girl turned lawyer. I'm a proud Oklahoma State alum (GO POKES!!) and I am the biggest college football fan you'll ever meet. I love reading, running, two-stepping, traveling, and livestock shows. I have the best friends and family in the world, and you'll hear about them a lot on my blog.

What do I blog about? You name it pretty much. I write letters to Mr. Right (who has yet to appear). I update you on my bucket list adventures....like going to Europe or rushing a football field or running a half marathon. I write about faith. And about current events. I introduce you to the important people in my life. And on Fridays, I usually write about something farm related.

Most recently I did a three part series on a trip to Oklahoma where I ran Remember The Ten 10 K, watched the OSU Spring football game, and then experienced an emergency landing on the flight home!

If you want to check me out, here's a post I did of my best blogs in 2011 and in 2010.

So....thanks for stopping by! Feel free to follow me...if you leave a comment, I'll return the favor! Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Looking forward to reading your blogs!

Family Farm Friday #68: Thank You FFA Speeches!

"A speech is like a woman's skirt: it needs to be long enough to cover the subject matter but short enough to hold the audience's attention."~Author Unknown

I realized that I talk alot on this blog about the benefits of FFA and 4-H in the form of showing and judging. Recently, I had an experience that made me thankful for another part of 4-H and FFA that I sometimes overlook....public speaking.

I was in court and a judge stopped me during my argument and said, "I wish you could give lessons to some of the other lawyers in my courtroom about how to speak up and ennunciate." I wasn't sure if he was meaning this as a compliment or if he was telling me to tone it down (no lie, I have had a judge literally turn down my microphone before....), but the judge assured me that he meant it as a compliment. All I could think was, "Thank you FFA speeches!"

Both Little Brother and I started giving speeches as soon as we turned 9 years old in 4-H. That means that for about 9 years, we were giving at least one (if not two or three) speeches in contests every year. We would memorize our speeches--no notecards for us!--and practice them COUNTLESS times to my parents. We had a fireplace in the trailerhouse that I grew up in, that we would always stand in front of for speech practice. I guarantee you if walls could talk, that fireplace could rock a speech contest.
(Sidenote: Apparently while I was learning to speak in public, I was NOT learning about fashion....seriously???)

Mr. Franklin didn't really like speeches. He'd listen to us a handful of times before a contest and always come up with some off-the-wall question to make us feel stupid, and he'd get choked up if results were good and smile big in pictures. But mostly, he left this one up to our parents, both of whom were obsessed with speech contests. My mom was the queen of proofreading and bibliographies. You couldn't touch her. And my dad was in charge of presentation. You know--voice inflection, hand movements, you name it.
Our hard work paid off. When we were kids, Little Brother and I won the District public speaking contest like 8 years in a row or something crazy. When we got older, we were both State Champions in public speaking. He won the FFA prepared contest his senior year, and I won the 4-H extemporaneous contest my senior year. We're a family of talkers.

We talked about everything you can think of. My winning extemp speech was about drinking and driving. Little Brother's winning speech was about the beef check-off program. I was second at State FFA my junior year (to ND Friend) with a speech about marketing our products. You've read my first speech here, and Little Brother's was something having to do with the phrase, "Make my day" by Clint Eastwood. In the middle there were speeches about game plans and cattle breeds and cowboy hats and water conservation...you can pretty much name it and we talked about it.

What did we learn from this? I'd say confidence and a lack of fear mostly. I have read about people who have a horrible fear of public speaking. I feel fortunate to have had such a great experience in 4-H and FFA growing up that I have honestly never had that experience. Sure, I get a little nervous before a speech, but nothing like the fear that some people describe.

Chalk another one up to 4-H and FFA! (Ironically, tomorrow I'll be judging the Junior High State FFA Speech Contest....my how the tables have turned!)

Letters to Mr. Right: Letter #9

"I like being a strong, independent woman, and to be honest, I was never afraid to be on my own." ~Dido Armstrong

Dear Mr. Right,

While you're off hiding in whatever forest you're lost in, I've learned to take care of myself. I'd like to think I'm a pretty independent gal. But there are some things that really make me wish you would show up already.

Like putting together bookshelves. And always having to worry about finding a wedding date. And changing light bulbs with my little step stool. Ugh...moving furniture. Going to church and watching a girl sit next to a boy with his arm around her shoulders. Or when I have to change my dinner plans because I can't get the stupid spaghetti sauce jar open.

Don't worry, I've got this on my own thing pretty figured out....but it'd be really great if you'd show up soon and take over some of it.

I'll make spaghetti if you open the jar.

Waiting for that day,


Me


*(Photo via)

He Went to Jared....I Went to Oklahoma!

"There is only one happiness in life,to love and be loved." ~ George Sands

I'm just going to get this out there right now---no one went to Jared for me. Sorry to rain on your hopeful parade, but I don't want the snazzy title to give anyone a false impression. Now that we've got that out of the way, you're probably asking, who did go to Jared? That would be Speedy--who is now officially the Loud Oklahoma Girl's fiance. Here's how it went down.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from LOKG's cousin telling me that this proposal was coming and asking if I wanted to come for the surprise engagement party that was being planned for the night of the big question. Um....yea!! You know I love surprise trips to Oklahoma! So I loaded up and set off for the big event.

We had to lie to her. All of us. For weeks. She was told that she was going to Tulsa for her cousin's birthday party. All his friends would be there. And his wife made clear that it was going to be dressy--everyone in cocktail attire. At a steakhouse. And I was spending the weekend reading and working at home. Big, fat lies. Every. Single. One.

Two nights before the big event, the wheels appeared to be falling off the wagon. LOKG dedided she couldn't find any dress that she liked and she decided she didn't even want to go to the stupid birthday party. NOT in the plans, LOKG. Not in the plans. Fortunately she ended up going shopping the day of the big event and finding something. Phew! (Ladies...lesson....if you guy is insisting that you wear a dress, DO IT!)

So I got to spend Saturday with BOKG and her mama. And we were lucky to have this adorable fella grace us with his presence. This would be BFF's baby brother, who we'll just call Kiddo on my blog. Anyway, Kiddo got stuck hanging out with us and driving us around all weekend. He's also a rock star guitarist and Red Dirt Music player, so for literally hours he had to sit in Blonde OK Girl's house and play requests. It was like a live concert in the living room! BOKG officially booked him for her wedding one day.

So we listened to live guitar music while we got all dolled up...and proceedd to take prom-ish pictures. :) Anyhow....as we were getting ready, Speedy took LOKG into a hotel room under the guise of getting ready to go to the fake birthday party and proposed with a beautiful ring. And, of course, she said yes! After that, they headed down to the restaurant for dinner and met up with all of their friends.In the meantime, Kiddo, Blonde OK Girl and I were all hiding out at the bar trying not to be seen until it was time for our surprise. And if you want to fit in at a bar and not look suspicious, you drink. So we did. Flirtini's to be exact. We were hiding out next a couple on their first date which was totally hilarious to listen in on. Ahh...first dates. So painfully awkward.Anyway, so we're hiding and freaking out about being seen and all of a sudden, Kiddo rocks out with this tone of voice that BFF pretty much uses with me all the time that basically says, "Stop your crazy acting like a girl, take a deep breath, clam down and order another drink." It's apparently genetic, that tone.

When they finally seated the group. BOKG went over first to join in the fun.

And then I sauntered up. Cue screaming and jumping up and down and crying and she kept saying, "No wonder you didn't call me back today!" Ha!

I'll skip all the dinner details, except for the one edamame debacle. Have y'all ever eaten this before? Looks like snap peas to me. So I grab one and eat the sucker. It was pretty chewy and hard to swallow. About this time, someone points out that you don't actually eat the shell, just the beans on the inside and everyone gets a good laugh at my expense. Here's a photo to commemorate that disaster. Note that Kiddo looks terrified in the background. He ate his the same way as me. Ha! (FYI, in order to avoid this, BOKG and Kiddo were instructed that if someone throws me an engagement party, we better be at a steakhouse where I know what/how to eat!)

So after an amazing dinner and surprise party, BOKG, Kiddo and I headed out to do a little dancing. Listen folks, this girl does not pass up a live band playing Red Dirt music and a boy to two step with.

My favorite part of the dancing portion of the evening was when an old guy--seriously must have been 85 at a minimum--came up to Kiddo and asked if he had two dates, and then proceeded to hit on BOKG. She always gets the attention! They danced and then he whipped out a Werther's Original hard candy to give her. Talk about a sly move there, ladies!

And there you have it....one of the Gossip Girls is engaged and we had a great weekend celebrating!

Waitin' on a Baby: 10 Thoughts From An Outsider

"Anyone who thinks women are the weaker sex never experienced childbirth."

As you guys know, my friend, Coach A, had a baby a couple of weeks ago. My Goddaughter, to be exact. We'll call her GBaby on my blog. Now I've had lots of friends have babies in my life, but this was the first time I was called on to help get someone to the hospital while they were in labor....and then sat on the couch in the hospital room waiting (for 33 hours), and then sat in the hallway peeking and listening through the door during delivery.
Now, I'm in no way, shape or form a baby person. It was quite the experience. I got to share it not only with Coach A, but also with her parents, Gbaby's father, Little L, and Frosty...who we've now officially deemed "The Family." And, so, here are 10 thoughts on this whole birthing process thing from an outsider looking in.

First, GBaby has no sense of time. More specifically--of night and day. Because of this, my phone rings at 3:00 am and I'm up and out of the house in about .25 seconds. We couldn't have done this during normal business hours? And not only that, we had to be awake at 3:00 am two nights in a row? By the time she arrived at 9:45 am, we had been up over 30 hours straight (not counting the snooze I tried to get on the couch in the hospital room).

Second, people who know about babies like to talk in numbers. When got the 3 am wake up call from GBaby's grandma, she was spouting off things like, "the contractions are 6 minutes apart" and "they are lasting 35 seconds" and all sorts of stuff. Mind you, GBaby's grandma is a math teacher and it was like flashback to high school for me. My still asleep brain kept thinking, "WHY is she giving me a math problem at 3 in the morning?" It felt like those questions about if Train A leaves the station at 6:00 traveling at 45 miles per hour.... Forget it!

Third, babies don't pop out all that quickly. Ergo, there was apparently no need for me to speed and run every red light between my house and Coach A's house on my way over to pick her up. (Sorry, Mom!) Coach A and Little L kept telling me the same thing on the way to the hospital. I didn't listen--I did not want this baby born in my car. Not on my watch!

As I mentioned, it took 33 hours for GBaby to finally pop out. And from the sounds of things through the door, "pop" is not the correct verb to be used here. The low point of the experience (for probably everyone but Coach A who had to, you know, HAVE the baby and all) was when the doctor came in at 5:30 am when we were all passed out on the couches in the room, woke us up, and we thought it was time to have a baby.....only to then inform us that she was still at a 9, even though three hours had passed. (See? All about numbers.) I about came off that couch, gave that doctor a ruler, and told her to try again!

Fourth, people at the hospital just don't take this stuff serious enough. We rolled up and I expected a gurney and a team of doctors (preferably one of whom looked like Dr. Ross on ER) to show up and help. Did they? No. We freaking had to hike all around the hospital to find an open door and once we finally did get in, we were in the wrong wing and the lady just pointed us to the elevator down the way. Coach A was quite calm....I was about 2 seconds from screaming, "Walk to the elevator? Are you kidding me? She's having a BABY not coming in for a nose job--get us a gurney in here STAT!"

Things didn't get much better as the time went on. At one point, I remarked that the Brittish midwife was great, but I just wanted to push fast forward on her and get things moving! The one person who did move quite quickly was the b#$%@ nurse who Coach A's mom told, "We're going to take this outside!"...I beelined it for the door to be sure there were no punches flying just in time to hear Coach A's mom say, "And don't you come back in here!" And that nurse was never seen again...smart girl.

Fifth, screw this natural birth, granola, hippie nonsense. Give me a doctor and some drugs. An epidural is your friend. No judgment on those of you who opt for the hippie nonsense option. I just will not be doing so. I may tattoo "I want an epidural now" on my forehead if/when the time comes.
Sixth, there are some screwed up relationships going on at the hospital labor and delivery ward. I was wondering out loud what the doctors and nurses though about "The Family" of six people, only two of whom are related to Coach A. But then I listened to a whole long coversation about one baby daddy who would be getting out of the pen in 3-5 years and saw a pregnant grandma talking to her teenage daughter and that girl's three year old son...meaning that the newborn baby is an instant uncle....and you know, I realzied we were probably boring.

Seventh, after 33 hours, you learn to entertain yourselves. Coach A had some great entertainment with me and Little L before the rest of The Family arrived. My favorite moment was when we had no more than gotten in the room and Coach A got her gown on than Little L turns to me with these huge wide eyes and says, "That's it. I'm adopting!"

Also, turns out, nurses don't think it's so clever when you put on their gloves and act like you are examining the monitor, the nurses like you even more. See Frosty and Exhibit A. FYI, she concluded that you read the contraction meter like a Richter Scale. We also had quite the time with the latex gloves, the peanut (don't even get me started).

Eighth, when you're having a baby, people lie to you. A lot. One hour (which I heard seriously 157 times) really means 10 more hours. 10 more minutes lasts a minimum of 45. When they tell you, "One more push" they mean for that contraction, not ever. When your birthing coach says, "We'll only do this for 15 minutes and if it doesn't work I promise we'll get a doctor in here and do a c-section," he's a liar too. And if they say, "I see the head!" ask what color the hair is. In my experience, they said that as motivation at least three times, which lead Little L to say, "They're lying again!" and me to question, "How many heads does she have?!?"

Ninth, if I ever decide to have a baby myself...I've already got dibs on Coach A's dad as a birthing coach. That guy's a rock star. Even when he was lying as noted above.
Tenth, for all my snarky remarks and tough talk....there was nothing like hearing that baby cry for the first time. Except maybe holding her for the first time.
Or seeking her grandpa crying after it was all over. Or watching Coach A give her the first bottle. Or the look on her daddy's face after he saw her for the first time.
Dang baby already has The Family wrapped around her little finger!

Girls From OSU Week #6: The Conclusion!

Today we're wrapping up the week long series on the Girls from Oklahoma State. I hope you guys have enjoyed the blogs from some of my favorite people in the world. I must say...I may have managed to save the best for last.

Living Proof

As I was going through pictures for my Meet the Cast Monday posts on my Gran, I came across one that really intrigued me. Take a look.

You’ve probably guessed what you’re seeing. It’s Gran, and her three best friends from college. It’s her version of the Girls From Ames…..the Girls From New Mexico State.

Sometimes, I worry about how we, the Girls From Oklahoma State, will manage to maintain our friendship for the next 60 years. Once we start getting married and having kids and pee wee football games and cheerleading camps (please, Lord be BOKG going to those!) and what not…..will we be able to keep our friendships alive? And then I saw Gran's picture—this living proof that it’s not some pipe dream. It can be a reality. These four ladies were best friends for over half a century. These ladies went through it all….jobs, marriage, kids, wars, losing husbands, growing old….and their friendship not only survived….it thrived.

I don’t know if y’all believe in postcards from Heaven (I’ve written about these before) but I think Gran sent me one in the form of thss picture. In the form of living proof that my Girls from Oklahoma State aren’t going anywhere.

Look out world…if you think we’re crazy now, just give us 60 years!

The Girls from OSU Week #5: Loud Oklahoma Girl

And we're continuing on in our series this week...if you missed me, College Roomie or the Blonde Oklahoma Girl, check us out. :)

Today, we have the Loud Oklahoma Girl!

What is there to say about the Cashmere Mafia girls from OSU? Well we are fun loving, adventure seeking, godly, driven women who cherish our friendship with each other! It took a couple of years for all of us to come together, but once we did we all knew it would be a lifelong friendship. Now that we have all graduated college and moved onto the working world we live in different cities, however we do not let that hinder our friendship. We will always be the Cashmere Mafia!

We try our best to all meet up at least once a year for a big girls weekend. Last year we were able to cheer Tiff on while she was able to accomplish one of her goals--a half marathon. And in the process Tiff was able to get all of us started on running. I must say that my goal for 2012 is to run a half myself. I would have never dreamed of this if it were not for our San Francisco trip.
Two years ago we were all able to meet up for my birthday and a red dirt concert in our favorite place on earth Stillwater, OK. What a weekend filled with laughter and fun. That’s the thing we know how to have a blast and live up the moment.
No matter where we will end up in life we will always be connected. We are the Sex in the City girls, but living in different cities and experiencing the same issues in life. Thankfully due to technology we are all able to keep up and confide in one another. As Meredith and Christina on Grey’s Anatomy say to each other, "You are my person," well, these ladies are my people. I could not imagine life without them and wish them all the happiness in the world!

Girls From OSU Week #4: Me!

(Here are links just in case you missed Blonde Oklahoma Girl or College Roomie or an explaination of what the heck this week is about!)

And today, you get my blog on this topic. What's Our Story?

When we were on our most recent Girls’ Weekend trip in Napa Valley, California, we asked a woman on the same wine tasting tour to take our picture. She said she would love to, but only if we told her our story afterwards. Turns out, she has her own girls’ weekends with her elementary school friends every year. Apparently, she could sense that we were doing the same.

This got me thinking….what is our story? In some ways, it’s not really remarkable. 4 girls meet at college through a mutual friend. Happens every day.
But in some ways, it’s extraordinary. 4 girls who are so different in so many ways who have found something that is going to last a lifetime.

One of us cusses like a sailor. Another feels the need to fill any silence with anything, not matter how awkward it might be. While one of us would be content sitting in silence for hours. Two of us love Sports Center, one the Barefoot Contessa, and the other Real Housewives. One carries more makeup in her purse than I even own (or have ever owned if you added up all the make up for my entire life). Some of us are country, one wants a tea cup pig. You get the picture.
In my experience, it’s hard to make group friends. You have to have people who each genuinely care about everyone else. If there are personality conflicts between any two of the people in the group, things will fall apart. But somehow, we have managed to do it. Each of us not only has our group friendship, but we each also have an individual friendship with every other person in the group. And each of these friendships are a little different.

I think that what we found in each other---in the group---is ourselves. I feel like these girls are a part of me. Each of them have qualities about them that I don’t possess. College Roomie is quiet and contemplative and has an amazing sense of style. Loud Oklahoma Girl is vivacious and outgoing and just says what she needs to say, no matter what other people might think. Blonde Oklahoma Girl has the biggest heart for people and is unbelievably passionate about things that she believes in.

And each of them brings out different things in me. Things that make me a better person. Things that make me believe in myself. Things that just make my life more fun. What is our story? Our story is one of finding each other, and in doing so, finding ourselves. And drinking a little wine in Napa along the way.