August 2010

Marty's actual birthday was two weeks after his suprise party. Another reason, he said he didn't suspect that I was up to something. We ended up having a small group of his close guy friends from "up here" out to my parents' ranch for the weekend. We shot skeet, fished, rode horses and enjoyed the country.

The Boys.
After the boys locked him in one of the skeet towers (behind him).

Beautiful Texas Panhandle Afternoon.

The boys decided to "chap" (beat him with a pair of chaps, typically worn when riding horseback) Marty 30 times instead of birthday spankings. We "lured" him in by telling him I wanted a group shot in front of the water tower. It took all of them to take him down.

He was so unsuspecting...

The banner made multiple appearances.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves! Hopefully, the birthday boy even though he suffered a little abuse over the weekend.

I'll get caught up one of these days...

Kicking it Off...

I had my car detailed yesterday...it had been FOREVER since my little Edge had a good bath. But, of course, it sprinkled yesterday and there are chances of rain through the weekend! So, I took a few pictures of it this morning to document it's shiny-ness before it's gone!

This will be the first cool to mild 4th of July I can remember. It's usually blazing hot! I even got a bit cold last night wearing a dress!

I LOVE the 4th of July and all of the festivities that our small town offers! We kicked off the weekend last night and celebrated our friend, John's, 24th birthday with about 40 people. I'm pretty sure a great time was had by all!

Here are a few pictures...

My cousin, Cory, and me before leaving the house. He LOVES pictures!

Jocelyn and Me-Take One.

Me and Jocelyn again. Love this girl!

Me and Josh, cousin of the birthday boy.

My sexy hubs and me at the end of the night.

I hope you all have a safe, Happy 4th of July holiday! I'd like to thank all the troops and their families for the sacrifices they make for us and our country! Let Freedom Ring and God Bless!!!

A Birthday to Remember...and Quotable Friday

This past Saturday I celebrated my 25th birthday with a few of my closest friends.

I had a bit of celebrating prior to that. Tuesday evening after work I ran to Amarillo to get my hair done before the weekend. Marty teased me unmercifully and asked if I thought I was some kind of rockstar since I was driving two hours one way for a hair appointment. Granted, my hair hadn't been cut or colored in about three months, so it was in desperate need of some attention. Kristen met me at Chick-fil-a after. I could eat there EVERY DAY! We hadn't seen each other in awhile and crammed about three weeks worth of conversation into an hour and a half!

The next day I received a sweet package from my dear friend, Kristin. It was a gift card for a Road ID of my choosing and some precious stationary cards with my monogram on them. When I went to visit her several months ago we went on a run and she asked me if I had one and I told her no. It took me FOREVER to decide, but I chose the Ankle ID because I already wear a watch and a Garmin on my wrists. I got an e-mail saying it shipped today and I can't wait to get it in the mail! They also sent me the following coupon for any of you to use who might be interested.

Coupon Number: ThanksCassi772125
This coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order. It can be used up to 20 times in the next 30 days. Feel free to send this coupon via email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, town crier, or good ole fashion smoke signal.

Thursday night I went out to Kinsey's and we watched The Real Housewives of New York Reunion special and had a lovely spread that she had made earlier that day. I stuffed my face royally!

Friday I picked Mom up and we headed to OKC. We met Becky at BJ's Brewhouse for a yummy meal and then went back to Becky's for the evening.

Saturday started with a trip to Celeste Day Spa for some pampering. I don't know that mine was as much "pampering", but more maintenance. I was really nervous, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. We went to a few stores and little boutiques where I snagged this handbag (that matched my shoes for the evening) at White House Black Market at almost half off!

Then met up with Tamara and Tara at Put a Cork in It Winery down in Bricktown for a little wine tasting. It was SO much fun! Red Dirt Road and Sweet Crude were our favorites. Some us used numbering systems to rank the wine, others used stars or check marks and Tara who had never done a wine tasting before wrote things like, "alright at first, then leaves a soapy aftertaste," "if I liked beer, this would be ok," "yuck". HaHaHa

We finished there and went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. I ran across the street to the Renaissance to have my hair and make-up done and Mom followed shortly after. I was impressed. The stylist washed, blow-dried and curled my hair and did my make-up in one hour.

My favorite cousin, T.C.D. and me.

My beautiful mom and me before leaving the room. She's the one responsible for planning this amazing weekend and I can't thank her enough. It was absolutely wonderful! I am one very lucky girl!

We all met up downstairs in the lobby of the Sheraton and went to Nonna's for dinner.

This was compliments from the chef. Although, I always appreciate such gestures...really??? Cade was like, "Can we eat that?" It was a piece of celery with a pinapple, bacon, maple spread. Tasty, but tiny!

Here's a shot of the ladies at Nonna's.

Do I have some beautiful women in my life or what?! They are all equally as beautiful on the inside. I feel so very blessed to have these girls in my life. They make me a better person, push me athletically and spiritually and enrich my life. (This is true of a lot of my friends who couldn't make it this past weekend as well!)

The food was delicious, but the atmosphere was a bit stuffy for my taste. I LOVE a nice restaurant, but I want to feel comfortable as well. To Nonna's credit we split dessert which included Avis' Chocolate Cake with almonds, Chocolate Rum Sauce, whipped cream and edible flower and Nonna's A-MAZING Strawberry Shortcake on a heavy cream biscuit with whipped cream-both were unbelievable! We took a cab to Edna's, my favorite little hole in the wall place and got a table on the patio. While we were there, Becky and Whitney went in to order drinks and these three girls were like, "OMG, Cade Davis is out on the patio." HaHa He's kind of local celebrity since he's plays basketball for OU.

My running buddies, Tamara and Tara.

My OSU roomies, Whitney and Becky. I miss you girls, terribly, but always have a great time when we get together!

I don't know what I did to deserve all of these amazing people in my life, but I am everso grateful for each and every one of them. To all of you who sent cards, sweet gifts, texts or posted on my Facebook, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I love you all and hope I make you all feel as special as I did on your next birthday!

Quotable Friday

Q: What is your definition of a rich life?
"A: Kathy - Richness to me, is me being fully present for those experiences in life that being me real joy. If I can truly be in the moment and present for the joy of this adventure - not worrying about financial responsibilities, obligations and a “to-do” list. THAT is my ultimate freedom and that is the richest possible life for me. I don't want to just be on a path, I want to be defining and owning my own journey.
Rich for me, doesn't mean having stuff, it means having the experience. Well OK, some “stuff”, like being able to buy a different flavor of ice cream I've never tried in a country I've never been to. I guess ice cream is “stuff”, but again, its more about the experience!"

Happy Friday Y'all!!!

Birthdays, Babies and Bathing...

I am throwing Marty a 30th suprise party this summer. We are inviting his friends and they're families and I'm wondering, what kind of party favor do you hand out? The theme is SUPER casual, it's going to be in the afternoon. I thought about those edible rocks in cute little pails or maybe little bags of popcorn. I don't know...he has a HUGE sweet tooth so I thought about a candy table, but I want it to be appropriate too, is a candy table ok for a 30th birthday? I'm kind of clueless about those things. Moving on...

We have had SSSOOO many activities lately I feel like I'm running in circles! We had Mandy's Mexican Fiesta a few weeks ago. It was an all girls' celebration. We had yummy food that I think I posted about previously and just a great time in general. I was too busy playing hostess to take pictures, though. Then my we had Keri's baby shower. I guess we're all growing up!

Kristen, Keri's sister and me.

This week we did dinner and movie Tuesday night with couple's for Tamara's birthday. We went and saw The Bounty Hunter. It was REALLY cute!

Tessa and Tamara with her cake.

A group shot. Why I always pose with my hand on my hip...I think I get it from my grandma. Note to self: It looks silly when you're doing it alone!

Ok, I need some more advice/hints/tips/etc. The only grooming I ever do for Tyke is a bath in between his grooming appointments if he's played out in the backyard with Mack, our black lab, or something. But, I got the bright idea to buy him a toothbrush the other day because everything you read says it's important to their health, right??? Well, I read the instructions carefully, and followed them closely...and that was the poorest excuse of teeth brushing I have ever seen. If any of y'all out there in blog land do that for your dogs...could you clue me in? He was thrashing around, getting toothpaste on everything in site. I can imagine what a picture we made. So, from now on, I'm leaving that to the groomer!

Sorry, it's been so long. I feel like there's been too much going on lately. On the work front and otherwise. I'm still training for the marathon relay at the end of the month, but I haven't been getting in the higher mileage that I would like.

This weekend we have turkey hunters coming in so there's not a lot on the agenda other than a little cooking and a long run on Sunday. Hope y'all have a great one!