puppy love.

i was cleaning the office last night when i ran across this sketch travis had done of connor about a year ago. my silly boys. i love them so.

leartec solutions.

the picture is grainy & blurry, definitely not the best i've ever taken, but you get the idea ...

travis has talked about owning his own business for quite some time now. he really enjoys computers, and that's the field he is currently in, so it's likely that's the kind of business he will open when the time is right.

a while back i designed some collateral for him, but we never did anything with it. he has started doing computer repair work on the side this past year and we're crossing our fingers that this business will begin to grow gradually as well. if we had the means, he would be ready to leave his job and do the same kind of work for himself today. for now he will continue to spread the word and build his business on the side.

ten year reunion{s}

i kind of feel like i'm in the twilight zone right now ... and i'm not talking vampires. a week or two ago tracie contacted me about helping her with the class of 2000's 10-year reunion. {i'm class of '01} a lot of my close friends graduated in 2000 so it's a little hard to swallow. i know time passes quickly, but i still can't belive it has been a decade!

yesterday i emailed tracie proofs of the reunion tickets. while we were talking, we also thought a blog would be a great idea to keep in touch with the class, especially those who aren't on facebook. the picture above is the header i quickly threw together just so they could get the site up. today i got everything roughly set up. it's a least there if anyone drops by.

and believe it or not, just as i was replying to an email from tracie yesterday, i got an email from sara, kalan, and kay lynn regarding our 10-year reunion. where's my paper bag? i think i need to breathe!

yes, our reunion is a little more than a year away, and {clearly} i still can't believe it's even that close, but i'm really excited, too. and i'm so thankful that they're getting started on it now. tracie and julie only just started. both are in their third trimester of their pregnancies ... and neither one of them even served as a class officer in high school. they have their careers, their babies, and their families to take care of, on top of organizing a huge event like this. i'm thrilled that i've been able to help and am trying to do as much as i can for them ... while at the same time gearing up for my own.

so. weird. so weird.

ready for a change.

i am soooo ready to be in a home {apartment, house, whatever!} of my {our} own. i love my family, and i am so grateful for the opportunity to be here with them and the time i've gotten to spend with them. and i'm so appreciative that they were willing to let us move in here as well.


but there are certainly days when i can feel the pinch of a nearly 27-year old still living at home with mom and dad. especially one who had never lived with them since moving away to college at 18.


{insert heavy sigh}.

and on that note i'll bid you adieu.

google reader.

i mentioned google reader in my last post. i said that i use it, but that's really not true. you see, i have 59 subscriptions, and it gets a little out of control trying to keep up with that many subscriptions. so yesterday and today i set out to edit a few of these subscriptions. which blogs do i really, really want to keep up with? which blogs really inspire me?

i just finished cropping my list ... i now have 38. {and that's not even counting the blogs of the four girls' i mentioned yesterday. you know, the ones i stalk repeatedly}. that's not great, but still pretty good compared to where i started. and ... i added a couple of new gems that i found in my weeding out process.

i am going to make an effort to cut back this list further. i will try to check out my reader on a daily basis so i can see which blogs i truly love and which ones i can live without.

i know i've done this before, but what are some of the top blogs you're following right now? maybe i need to check them out ... ;)

hello. my name is rhiannon. and i'm an addict.

oh. my. goodness. i officially have a problem. do you have any idea how much time i spend going to four particular blogs {talesofthetrees.com; thecollierfam; tangled dreams; justjenny} waiting to see if each of the authors have updated? oh a million or so. sure, you think that's an exageration, but at this point, i wouldn't say that it's much of a stretch.

get google reader you say. it tells you when your favorite blogs are updated. i have it, but the impulse is too great. i have to check over and over and over. it's even the last thing i do after turning out the light each night. i do one last check from my phone before closing my eyes. as if any of you are updating at that hour!

so, i have to apologize to each of my readers {all ten of you, ha!} for my blogging hiatus. if you're anything like me, it's torture! {though i can't imagine that my not posting really has that much of an impact in anyone's life. i don't ever write of anything really significant}.

whew. it feels good to get that off my chest.

is there a program i can join?

new year resolutions.

i'm not usually one to make resolutions at the new year. this year however, i committed to keeping my closet organized. the room i am in right now has the teeny-tiniest of closets and while i have four shelves in the bottom to store my shoes on, last year my shoes ended up in a big jumbled up pile in the floor. i decided that i would keep the closet neat and organized since i hated even opening it last year.

i'm proud to report that it has been six and a half weeks and the closet is still in order! i was tempted to just throw some shoes in and close the door yesterday, but then i remembered that i had planned to write this post, and it made me re-think, and place the shoes on the rack where they belong.

i'm not sure why this has been an issue for me. i love organization, so it's a little surprising that this has been a problem ... but i've also had a hard time keeping my room straightened, too. i think it's indicative of my life. haha. plus since i pretty much only have that one room for al of my things that i don't have in storage, it doesn't take much for it to look cluttered. again, you think that would encourage me to keep everything in it's place. hmm, i'm not sure what has gotten into me.

whiplash & muscle relaxers.

yesterday i had a follow up appointment from my er visit. the doctor had asked that i see another doctor at the beginning of the week, so my parents took me to the recommended doctor's office. i'm not going to lie. i felt a little silly being 26 years old and having to have both of my parents take me to the doctor. the truck is parked at travis's parents' right now, though, and travis and lindsay had the rodeo in tulsa.

the visit didn't take too terribly long, and i was grateful. there's nothing like sitting in a waiting room for hours on end. the doctor came in and examined me. i mentioned before that my left side was giving me trouble right after the accident, but since then my right hip and my neck had started to give me a little pain and soreness.

my xrays had come back normal, but the doctor said i definitely had whiplash and wanted me to take muscle relaxers. she also gave me two and a half pages of stretches she wants me to do. i'm to work into them slowly this next week and then come back for another thirty minute visit next tuesday to see how i'm healing. she said she may do a little manipulation then, but it is too close to the injury at this time to be moving anything around. this worried my mom, but i think everything is going to be fine.

i spend a lot of time with the heating pad and she suggested that i start alternating the heat with ice, so i may give that a shot today. i'm not looking forward to the stretches, but will let you know how everything goes.

be mine.

valentine's day was sunday, but since we were so busy with my mom's birthday, we decided to do our valentine's day on monday. actually, i didn't think we were really going to celebrate valentine's day this year, but on the way to work monday travis surprised me saying we should do it that night. i wish i would have known in advance because i didn't just love what i was wearing, but i did get a haircut and blowout later that morning, so it worked out well.

i looked forward to our date all day. we didn't do anything super over-the-top, but an actual date with just the two of us sounded incredible. even before dave ramsey, we had cut out movies at the theater and going out to eat almost completely.

travis asked me where i would like to go for dinner and surprisingly enough i picked italian. {i am never the one to pick italian}. the pasta carrabba had been on my mind the past couple of days, and so i asked if we could go to carrabba's.

oh. my. goodness. it was so delicious. i changed the chicken in my pasta to shrimp and travis ordered the salmon and spaghetti. what a treat!

after dinner we headed to target to kill a little time. we had tickets to see valentine's day at 7:35, but there was about an hour until our show started. we walked around for a bit and then picked up a couple of boxes of candy and headed to starworld. i felt silly for being so excited, but i was.

we got to the theater with plenty of time, grabbed the best seats in the house, and settled in with our popcorn and candy. i seriously think i put on ten pounds that night!

i thought the movie was wonderful. i've heard bad reviews of it, but i loved it! i think it's one i will definitely add to the collection when it hits dvd. i was sad to see the night come to an end, but was grateful to get to have a special date night. {i'm still beating myself up over not getting any pictures!!!! someone help me, please!}

birthday bash. literally.

this past weekend was a little crazy for everyone. as i mentioned in my last post february is a pretty busy month for us with lindsay's mom and my mom celebrating their birthdays, plus valentine's day. since patti's birthday was on a thursday, justin and lindsay decided to celebrate with her and their family on saturday. lindsay cleaned house, baked a cake, cooked dinner, and had her family to their house for the special occasion.

we were having a surprise tea party for my mom on sunday afternoon, so midmorning saturday i headed to the grocery store to purchase everything i would need to prepare the lunch. i had been working since the end of january on her pom decorations, banner, invitations, recipe cards, cupcake toppers and favor bags, and saturday was going to be my day to knock out the rest of the preparations.

i had travis's truck for the day because he had taken my rodeo to tom's garage to work on the damages from our accident in arkansas. while driving up 11th street in muskogee, i heard a crash behind me. i thought, "was i just hit again??" i then realized that i hadn't felt anything and that the crashing sound had not been in my car. just as i went to look in the rearview mirror for the sound of the crash, i was thrown forward. that time the sound was definitely in my car. and i definitely felt it. i said a choice word that i won't repeat here and then shouted, "are you kidding me??" i had just been rear-ended again. this time in travis's truck.

i seemed to be fine, but my adrenaline was rushing, and i was visibly shaking. i could hardly operate my phone. the car that hit me was a maroon honda and the driver was an elderly woman. the car that hit her was a tan malibu and the driver was a twenty-something girl named sally. sally stepped out of her car and immediately began asking if everyone was okay. the driver in the middle car wasn't very nice, and sally kept saying, "i'm so sorry ma'am. it was all my fault. i'm so sorry." i felt bad for her because the other lady kept yelling at her. the woman in the middle car tried to call the police, but like me couldn't operate her phone. she asked me to call 911 so i pulled it together and after a few shots got my phone to actually dial. each of the cars were pretty beat up. sally's car hood was all crunched up and fluids and steam were going everywhere. it took the police a few minutes to get there and in the meantime i called travis. since he was working on the car, however, he didn't hear any of my calls or my text message letting him know i had been in another wreck. i reached him on tom's phone and at first he thought i was playing a really cruel joke, but knew by the sound of my voice that wasn't the case. i hung up with travis and called my dad. he came to the scene and offered moral support while i got sally's contact and insurance information.

the ambulance arrived and asked if everyone was okay. sally was complaining of arm pain, and the woman in the middle car just kept saying she was really shook up. i told them my lower back was beginning to hurt but that i would be fine. the paramedics asked me if i was sure and told me they would be happy to take me in. i decided that since it was hurting it would be best to go in ... until they completely immobilized me, strapped me down on the stretcher, and placed my neck in a halo. i just felt silly since i wasn't bleeding or knocked unconscious.

they placed me in the ambulance and my dad decided to go get my mom and meet me at the hospital. i asked for my phone out of my bag, but he wasn't able to find it. he handed me his instead. once in the ambulance i received a couple of phone calls, but could never hear the caller. apparently my dad's earpiece is broken and only works on speaker phone. seriously? i had no way to call travis and i tried to text him, but that was impossible since i was unable to move my neck or raise my arms past my chest. so i just had to wait. it's really ridiculous how helpless and cut off i felt not having a phone for the ten minute drive to the hospital.

they got me to the er and a the nurse got all of my information. the next thing i knew dee was standing by my bed. i had no idea how she knew i was there but was grateful to see her. it took quite a bit later but finally my mom arrived. by this time the doctor had at least checked me out and take me off of the stretcher. my left side lower back was really hurting and that leg kept going numb.

my mom gave me my phone and said that it had been in my bag. my dad had told her he couldn't find it and she pulled it right out. he had no idea it was a phone. he was looking for something more like his flip phone.

i was at the er for several hours before they took me up for xrays. they drew blood. ugh. i. hate. needles. and i thought i was going to pass out while she was drawing it, even though i couldn't see anything. then a little later they came and gave me a shot for pain. that hurt, too! by that time travis had arrived and was upset i hadn't let him know i was going to the hospital. when i talked to him on tom's phone i had told him everything was okay. then he talked to sierra {she accidently dialed him when they were trying to use my phone} and found out i was at the hospital. at the time i talked to him i didn't know i was going to the er. when i found out he was on his way i told him not to come, but he was already on his way down.

travis's dad even came to the hospital while i was there. i couldn't believe it. steve never leaves the house except to go to work. i felt pretty special.

the xrays didn't seem to show anything broken and the doctor released me saying that the radiologist would follow up with me if they found something on the xray that the doctor hadn't seen.

i was discharged and we all headed to the lears. dee gave us our valentine gifts {and even had one for connor}. my mom stayed for a few minutes and then went back to the pool hall. travis and i didn't stay long either. i was pretty tired and knew i still had all of the cooking and baking to do for my mom's party, plus the trip to the grocery store that had been interrupted. lindsay and justin had offered to help, but i knew they were still busy with lindsay's mom's birthday dinner, so i had declined. they said they would help with the cake balls and brownie balls, so i was grateful for that.

travis and i got to the house, and both decided to take a nap. i slept for a couple of hours and then slowly got up and headed to the store. i couldn't feel a lot since they had given me the shot for pain, so i figured it was the perfect time to go. it took me several hours to get everything i needed since i had to move pretty slow, and i didn't get to justin and lindsay's until after nine. when i got there, lindsay and i got straight to work making the cupcakes, cake balls, brownie balls, and mixing up the toppings and salads for the sandwiches. she cut the bread into cut shapes using the cookie cutters i had found at walmart and i cut vegetables for salads and other dishes we would put together in the morning. we worked until almost two. we were both about to fall asleep so we cleaned up the kitchen, organized everything for the next morning and i headed home.

i still had to finish up the cupcake toppers and a few things on the banner ... so i didn't find myself in bed until almost 4:00 in the morning. i cranked the heating pad to high and went right to sleep. at 8:00 that morning i was up again. i threw on my sweats and a hoodie and headed out into the {beautiful} snowfall. i had to stop at homeland to grab a few items that we had ran out of the night before and then got to justin & lindsay's. the house was completely dark when i got there and i didn't want to wake them if i didn't have to. i made sure the dogs were in the backyard, and then headed in through the garage door. i got right to work. about a half hour later lindsay joined me. i was afraid i had woken her, but she said it was no problem. she jumped in the shower then set off to help me. justin came in not too long after and the three of us worked like busy little bees. there were still a few things to be done at 11:54, but i knew her church service would be letting out soon and i was still in my sweats. i also had to pick travis up and grab the dishes from the house that i was planning to use. i had tried to grab them that morning but my mom woke up earlier than usual, so i just had to leave the house.

travis began gathering several of the items i needed. i ran in the house, rinsed my hair at the bathtub, rushed to dry it and throw on some clothes that looked halfway presentable and then helped him finish grabbing everything we needed. sierra began texting to let me know they were out of church and i asked her to stall as much as possible. we got back to the house at about 12:15 and all of the guests had arrived. we quickly unloaded my basket, lindsay arranged the tulips, and then the birthday girl pulled into the driveway. whew. we finished everything just in the nick of time. i would have liked for it to be completely finished before the guests arrived, but it was the few finishing touches {pouring the tea & lemonade into tea pots and pitchers, etc} so it was pretty much all ready before they got there.

my mom was actually surprised {yay!} and everyone loved the food. i was so nervous since some of the tea sandwiches sound a little weird. the event actually took up most of the afternoon and it wasn't until almost 5:30 that we found ourselves all packed up and back at home.

it was such a fun time, in spite of all the craziness, and i'm glad we got to celebrate the wonderful woman i am lucky enough to call Mom.

back to back.

february seems to kick off the celebration season for us. {well technically amanda's birthday, travis's sister, kicks us off at the beginning of january, but it's so close to christmas and new year's it feels like part of the holidays}. but from now until september we are nonstop with celebrations and birthdays. we get a short break and then thanksgiving and christmas begin. this "tradition" continued even with my brother's and my significant others. lindsay's mom's birthday is two days before my mom's and travis's dad's birthday is two days after my dad's. weird. here's how our calendar looks:
feb 11: lindsay's mom's birthday
feb 14: my mom's birthday valentine's day
mar 07: lindsay's birthday
mar 27: travis's birthday
apr 01: justin's birthday
apr 02: amelia's birthday
may 09: my dad's birthday
may 11: travis's dad's birthday
may: mother's day
jun 01: my birthday andys birthday
jun: father's day
jul: jen's birthday
aug: connor's birthday
sept: sierra's birthday
oct: nothing but halloween =)
nov: thanksgiving
dec: dee's birthday kicks off the month
dec: christmas eve
dec: christmas
dec: new years eve

it certainly keeps us busy.

catching up in february.

after our cruise, january was pretty low key. amelia made a visit to town & we enjoyed dinner with her and a rare night out on the town. the insurance company settled on my rodeo, and travis began making purchases of the parts we needed to repair the damages. aside from that, the rest of january was pretty calm.



february has proved to be a busy month already, however. the month started out with the denim and diamonds event benefiting the junior league of tulsa. i've talked about it a couple of times on the notably noted blog because nn donated a wedding and/or party package. i showcased the black and white damask wedding package i've featured on the blog and facebook. the really fun part, though, was the night out with two of my favorite girls. kate and i talked about attending the event in january and i had really been looking forward to some quality time with her. the day before the event amelia made a change to her work schedule and surprised me with the news that she would be coming too!! i just love both of these girls and was thrilled they could make it.

that saturday i drove to tulsa and kate and i set out to find tops suitable for the occasion. we hit up j spencer jewelry followed by lazy dayz and a trip to forever21. after that we were pushing it pretty close to get back to kate's in time to get ready. a few hours later, amelia met us at the gate and jumped in the car with us. at the summit club we had so. much. fun. looking back on it we isn't really do anything spectacular but have girl talk. it was perfect. {except none of us got any pictures, yet again!!!} the event ended at midnight, and we headed out to meet grant and kalan at a fun little bar tucked away downtown. we were all pretty tired by the end of the night and grateful to nick and kate for a place to sleep.

as promised.

before i started fourteen days of love i promised you a post about new years eve 2009, our caribbean cruise, and the latest and greatest happenings with these two american kids ...

so here goes ...

12.27.2009: happy anniversary leach family!

on december 27, 2009, justin & lindsay celebrated their one year anniversary! yay! i know this year has meant a lot of changing and adjusting for both of them, but i think if you were to ask them, they would say it had been a great first year.

congratulations you two! we love you both very much!

we actually spent the day in arkansas at the home of our family friends nanc and wes gibson. {you may remember our summer time visit to their house}. we had just arrived in fort smith when we were rear-ended/side-swiped by a minivan. the beautiful christmas snow that i mentioned before had also brought about a bit of ice and the van was unable to stop. justin & lindsay were in a separate car, so it was travis, my mom, sierra, and myself in the rodeo. everyone walked away unhurt ... everyone but the rodeo. my sweet rodeo was hurt pretty badly, {but it definitely could have been worse}. my sister has pictures of the car on her camera, but i've not gotten them from her yet. i was a little bummed the rest of the afternoon, but enjoyed the time eating good food, drinking yummy drinks, visiting with friends, and shopping at the mall.

12.21.2009: new year's eve

we rang in the new year with the lears again. dee and i met up in the afternoon to make a run to the store for new years spirits and a few goodies at the grocery store. she and steve had purchased a new years eve celebration package with hats, beads, noise makers and more, and the house was decorated for the special occasion. amanda's boyfriend zach joined us this year, and the six of us (+ connor) spent a low-key evening at home watching movies, listening to music, and watching the ball drop. again, i didn't have a camera {what has happened to me?} and will try to get pictures from travis's mom.

12.03.2010: caribbean here we come!

after ringing in the new year, we began preparing for our long anticipated caribbean cruise. we were joining long-time family friends for a week in mexico. instead of driving down the weekend before, we decided to save a little money and just drive down in time to catch the cruise monday morning. we loaded up the car at about 10:00 on sunday night and prepared for the long trek to galveston. one good thing did come from the wreck in fort smith ... i was given a ford flex rental, with third row seating. there were enough seats and seat belts for our entire crew, something we were concerned about before the accident. we made the very. very. long drive to galveston, driving through the night and arriving at about 8:00 monday morning. my dad and i immediately crashed in the car while everyone else went inside the hotel to freshen up and meet up with the rest of our party. we made a quick run to wal-mart to get extra jackets and blankets since galveston was having record lows at the time. around noon we were able to board the ship and i was so grateful for the ski vest my dad had picked up for me. i was freezing until i put it on! the week was filled with comedy, yummy food, windy skies, choppy water, beautiful cozumel beaches, and evenings of dressing up and karaoke. i would have loved for the weather to be warmer, but the vacation away was well worth it. we definitely needed the time away from reality.

fourteen days of love. 14.

14. entertaining

this past sunday was my mom's 46th birthday & we surprised her with an afternoon tea at lindsay and justin's house. i absolutely love to entertain and i miss having a house of my own. {it's been almost three years now! agh!}

since my mom is always planning something special for other people, we decided this year we would do something more elaborate than the traditional lunch-after-church-with-immediate-family-only. she collects tea pots and tea cups so i thought an afternoon tea would be great for her.

the tea was held sunday morning after church. sierra did a great job detaining my mom while the rest of the guests arrived at the leaches'. everyone arrived between 12 and 12:30 with the birthday girl and sierra arriving last. travis helped out all afternoon by doing dishes as people finished up.

because it has been almost three years since i was in my own house, a lot of my serving pieces are locked away in storage. luckily lindsay and gail came to the rescue with some fabulous pieces.

i was only able to snap pictures with my iphone, so they are less than great, but it was so much fun preparing all of the food with lindsay & justin saturday night and sunday morning, making the invitations and the coordinating pieces, finding the right linens and recipes, and most of all surprising the birthday girl.

fourteen days of love. 13.

13. dave ramsey

you may wonder why i've not posted a lot of "things" i'm lusting over and ready to purchase. perhaps i should have started my fourteen days of love with this particular post.

for christmas this year, travis and i received dave ramsey's total money makeover from one of his aunts. dave talks a lot about the freedom that comes with being debt free. he's not against having and spending money and even coaches on wealth building, but his biggest lesson is that you don't need credit to do so.

we have made a committment to get rid of any debt we have so that we may experience that freedom. we are utilizing the debt snowball tool to get ahead of the curve on our payments and pay things off much faster than if we continued to only pay the minimum payment.

it's so funny. since getting the book, i have heard several exceedingly "wealthy" people who would like to experience this freedom ... and they weren't part of the dave ramsey program. one person was a very famous country singer who was more exited about getting debt free than he was about his latest single being at the top of the charts. the other was a husband on the real desperate housewives of orange county. (don't judge. i only saw about fifteen minutes of the program while waiting for the deep end). my point is that everyone wants to escape the clutches of debt, regardless of socioeconomical status.

so, while we're working toward this, i try not to spend a lot of time looking at the lovely new things i could add to my life. it just tempts me to buy it. =)

fourteen days of love. 12.

12. big sexy hair root boost


oh. my. gosh. as soon as i fixed my hair today, i knew exactly what my love post for the day would be. big sexy hair root boost. i constantly battle with my hair to not lie flat against my head. while i don't want the big hair of the '80s to return, i also don't want helmet head with my hair flying flat against my scalp.



i've been a big fan of the catwalk root boost for years. and while i would still recommend it, my heart was immediately taken with the results i got from the big sexy hair brand. goodbye flat locks ... hello gorgeous! {hear barbara streisand}

fourteen days of love. 11.

11. time with my girlfriends.

since moving away from tulsa i don't often get to spend time with my girlfriends. this past month, though, i've gotten some great quality girl time. {though i am not loving that there are no pictures to document these times together!}

at the end of january, i made a trip to okc to visit sweet, sweet andy. she is getting maui'ed {married in maui} this summer, and i'm helping with her wedding invitations and collateral. we've had to do most of the planning and designing over the phone and email, but that weekend i headed to the city to sit down with her and make sure we were on track with all of her plans.

i arrived on saturday and we spent the day tweaking designs for her invitation, response card, schedule of events, directions card, wedding monogram for the programs, favors, and more. we accomplished a ton and then set out for a bottle of wine and a couple of movies from redbox. when we got back to the house, ryan had a spaghetti dinner ready and waiting for us. we enjoyed dinner and then popped in cloudy with a chance of meatballs. it was one of the weirdest movies we had ever seen ... but it was also funny. my favorite line, "come on steve. we've got diem to carpe."

after the movie was over we popped in the accidental husband. andrea fell asleep not far into the movie, but i couldn't go to sleep for anything! the movie was cute. i couldn't decide if i liked the ending or not, but for the most part i think i enjoyed it. i finished the movie, then watched the pregnancy pact {so weird because it's based on true events} and an old episode of grey's anatomy. of course i love grey's anatomy, but i had forgotten how great the earlier seasons were.

the next morning we woke up late. sleeping in was wonderful. andrea fixed yummy, healthy pancakes, and she, ryan and i enjoyed breakfast together. i tried on my bridesmaid dress {very pretty!} and then packed up for the long drive home.

i hardly ever get to see andrea, so it was super fun getting to spend a large chunk of my weekend with her. if all goes well, i'll see again next weekend when she makes the trek to muskogee to finish up her wedding paper planning.

as if my visit with andrea wasn't enough fun girl time, i then got the extra pleasure of spending time with kate and amelia last weekend. we headed out to the junior league of tulsa's decadence rocks: diamonds and denim event. we got decked out in our designer jeans, fun night on the town tops, and flashy jewelry. the night was filled with champagne, gossip, and hours and hours of girl talk. so. fun. and exactly what i needed as things have been a little rough lately. the event was at the summit club, which we followed up with drinks at a cute little bar downtown with kalan and grant.

now, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that i'll get to spend much needed time with my darling friend jen this upcoming week. we have tentative lunch plans and after missing hudson's birthday last month due to a stomach bug, i can't wait to see her {and hopefully the little guy, too}.

fourteen days of love. 10.

10. panini press

wow! only four more days to go after this. in the beginning i wondered if i would be able to write for fourteen days about things that i love right now, especially since i was also doing it for the notably noted blog, but now i look up and we're ten days in.

when amelia and i lived together, we {read she} had a panini press. we used that puppy every. single. day. okay, maybe not every day for three years ... but enough for it to feel like that.

this past christmas when my mom was trying to decide what to get me, she realized that i didn't actually own a panini press. i had done all this talking about how wonderful they are, how much we used it, yada yada yada, so she couldn't believe i didn't have one of my own.
i took a picture of the one my mother got me, plugged in on the kitchen counter ... but it's on my phone, and i don't have my phone by me. i thought about not posting this tonight, but i want to stay on track with my fourteen days of love ... so the buy.com version is what you get. =)

it took me a few weeks to remember the joy that is the panini press, but this past week i was reminded, and inspired!

one of my favorites that i've made is on earth grains thin wheat buns. i don't like a lot of bread and i rarely eat it, so these are wonderful for me. plus they're whole grain. i've put a layer of fresh sliced mushrooms on the bottom slice of the bun. next comes a slice of swiss cheese. then a slice or two of thinly sliced turkey breast. topped with a slice of fresh tomato and thinly sliced mozzarella. i put it on the press until the bread is nice and warm and the cheese is melted. then i open the sandwich back up, and add freshly smashed avacado.

mmm. delish.

fourteen days of love. 09 ... continued.

these are the pictures i tried to upload earlier. he seems to nap a lot lately ... but don't worry; he still has plenty of energy, too.

fourteen days of love. 09.

09. photos of connor

of course i have always loved our little guy, from the moment he came to us at christmas {2008}. i've mentioned before that i've gotten so terrible about taking pictures. since we got our iPhones, however, i take quick little shots more often. usually still nothing of travis and me or any of the fun activities we're doing ... but it's a start right?

i had planned to upload a few more pictures, but again, they're not working at this time. i'll wait a bit and try again.

super bowl sunday xliv.

yesterday was super bowl sunday and for the first time in years i didn't see one single moment of the game. i didn't catch any of the commercials or the halftime show either! i thought i should still acknowledge this american de facto holiday and mention that the new orleans saints beat the indianapolis colts 31-17. i would have liked to see manning win, but wasn't really a true fan of either team. the past few years especially i have lost touch with a lot of the teams and their players. travis isn't a huge sports fan, so he wasn't cheering for a particular team either.

i did find myself watching the super bowl commericals today online. dorito's had the best by far with a couple of the bud light commercials coming in with a close second. i may have to do this every year. i went to superbowlads.fanhouse.com and was able to watch them all in a matter of minutes. it was great. and, while super bowl ads never seem to live up to the hype anymore, i thought this year's were all funny for a change.

fourteen days of love. 08.

08. snow!

this winter we have seen more snow than we have in many years. there was the wonderful white christmas we had. a couple of weeks ago we had another beautiful snow, and i was able to capture the pictures above.

today, it's snowing again! i couldn't be more thrilled. it's a gorgeous snow, too. the kind with big, fat snowflakes. they're lovely. i have a few pictures that i've taken today with my iphone that i'm trying to post below ... but at this time, they're not cooperating. if they ever come through, i'll post them here as well.

okay, they worked! the first picture below is my favorite. it's my parents' magnolia tree and i think it's gorgeous. certainly not anywhere near what jen could do, but beautiful still. =) in the last three pictures i was trying to capture just how big and fluffy these flakes are ... but i don't think the phone camera did them any kind of justice.

happy winter!!!

fourteen days of love. 07.

07. redbox


travis and i discovered redbox when we were still living in tulsa. muskogee now has these bad boys in several locations. if you've not been introduced to the redbox, you are missing out. redbox is a stand-alone kiosk found in grocery stores, outside of fast food restaurants & phrarmacies, and even gas stations. they offer newly released [and lately even classic] movies. since we've been working so diligently toward having the freedom of being debt-free, this puppies are terrific. it gets pretty difficult to never go do anything and with some movies costing $5.00 a day, we can pat ourselves on the back when getting two movies for only $2.00. sure a savings of $3 doesn't seem like much, but it keeps us on track and still lets us enjoy an at-home date night.

i've heard a few bad reviews of the redbox [you can't ever get the movie you want, etc], but we have rarely had any trouble.

fourteen days of love. 06.

06. pencil skirts

i'm actually a little surprised at myself. while i enjoy pretty dresses and getting dolled up on occasion, i've never just loved wearing skirts for work ... much to my mother's chagrin. every time i put on a suit, she asks why do i always wear pants; why don't i wear skirts more.

lately, however, i've been in such a mood to wear skirts. especially cute pencil skirts like these, and i don't even have an office to go into! unfortunately, due to my lack of ever wanting to wear skirts in a professional environment ... i own only one. i've worn it several times, but it has lost it's appeal and i'm ready for a new one.

oh! and i also don't usually like to wear nylons {again my mother and i go 'round and 'round on this one} but i've really been leaning toward fishnet stockings {with the tiniest holes; those with larger netting are definitely not appropriate} and herringbone stockings.

what do you think, though? are nylons or stockings a must? stacy london and katie couric don't think so, but i never know.

fourteen days of love. day 05.

05. remote control access

okay, as i type today's favorite, i have to laugh just a little bit. it's definitely travis's tech-y side rubbing off on me. i absolutely love remote control access to my desktop from anywhere in the world.

as you know, this past year has been a little crazy for us. on top of notably noted, i also work for sixbyte + i still consult with companies regarding their client appreciation & retention programs. i am back and forth between tulsa a lot, plus with my family owning the pool hall and spending most of their time there, i'm away from my computer in the evenings a lot too.

since my laptop died, i do all of my designing + bookkeeping on the desktop at the house. not very portable. when i had the laptop i could bring it with me to tulsa. to the pool hall. to friends' homes. to trunk shows. just about anywhere i needed to be, i could bring the laptop.

now, i still have to go each of those places (or spend all my days locked up in the upstairs office secluded like rapunzel in her tower).

travis showed me the delightful tool that is mstscn and i able to access my desktop from any other computer. fabulous! it looks as if i am sitting at my own computer when i remote in, but i can be hundreds of miles away. a little geeky that this is one of my favorite things? sure. but it has been a lifesaver.

it's times like this i'm so grateful for technology!

fourteen days of love. day 04.

04. jane austen

so i'm not quite sure how this happened, but i had never read any of jane austen's books. it's really quite surprising, especially with all the reading i used to do.

when we got our iphones, i immediately started checking out all the apps available and came across books. i rarely get to read {i think the last time i read an actual book was when travis and i went on vacation to tennessee last summer and i read the little lady agency books!}; i thought it might be fun to download a book to read whenever i'm sitting around waiting {because that happens so often} instead of incessantly blogstalking waiting for the authors to update {now that really does happen often. pathetic. i know}.

the first book i downloaded was pride & prejudice. i. loved. it. again, surprising that i had never read it before. i had watched the miniseries several years ago and liked it okay. and then more recently i had seen the movie a few times. i loved the movie. in this instance, i'm actually a little glad that i had seen the movie before reading the book {usually i do it the other way around}. i was able to better visualize the story {sometimes the reading is a little different from novels written today}. i was able to keep up with who was speaking. funny enough, however, i did not picture any of the actors as i was reading the book.

i finished pride and prejudice in a few days and have now started on sense and sensibility. i've not had the opportunity to read through this one as quickly, but am still enjoying it.

i think after i read it i will check out the movie that came out a few years ago. i never did see it and am looking forward to it.

fourteen days of love. day 03.

03. magazines

i don't often get to read magazines these days, but when i do, two of my favorites are southern living & real simple.
they inspire me to be suzy-homemaker. i especially love the recipes and meal-planning in southern living. the recipes change with the season {as do most magazines, i suppose}. they remind me of my mom and her southern hospitality and meals she made when we were growing up.

real simple is just all around wonderful. home decor. entertaining. meal planning. organization. fashion. everything a girl could need.

definitely guilty pleasures ... and i love every moment of them.

ha! i just thought of a funny trait about me ... i can't read a magazine out of order. even if there is an article i am particularly interested in. nope. i have to start from the beginning and read from cover to cover. weird, i know.