GLEEK

Yes, I am still recovering from my week in San Antonio... (it was tough, ok?) so I'm dragging through my day at work. Thankfully I have a few things to keep me focused through the rest of the day.

1. I have meetings this afternoon-- I'll get to talk with people face to face, which usually makes it more difficult to fall asleep. :)

2. GLEE IS BACK ON TONIGHT!!!!!!!

Now this may not make some people very excited, but I have been waiting for months for the rest of this season. Yes, don't judge, but I am a self-admitted GLEEK.

Maybe its because I was a dedicated Spring Singer at Harding for 3 years straight.

Maybe its because I was in choir since I was 10.

Maybe its because I was a dancer.

Maybe its because I love musicals.

Or maybe its because I have a new fascination with the Journey song "Don't Stop Believing."

But really, I think it's because deep down in my heart, I wish I was this girl.

With the "Loser" sign and all, I wish this was me. Don't get me wrong, I L.O.V.E my life, but COME. ON. Just think how awesome your life would be if you could just randomly bust on in song and dance when a tramatic or difficult situation arises..... ya, that's what I thought.

Plus, this girl has some serious sing-age abilities. I'm officially jealous!

So tonight around 8:28 ish, don't bother calling, texting, or yelling my name (Tyler) because I won't answer. I will be endulging in some GLEE!!!!!

Hello blog, have you missed me??

So I basically have been very busy for work lately... so my apologies to all my blogger friends out there!!!!!!!

Here's the DL with work--- my job is event planning. This past week was our Annual National Conference. Enough said.

We had 750 attendees, 5 days of conference, and a TON of hard work. It was definitely a success, but now I am deliriously tired and haven't seemed to find time to blog (much less, tie my shoes!!!)

BUT, today I made it a point to catch up on all my favorite blogs and I was DELIGHTED.... and SOOOO EXCITED to be honored with my very first blog award!!! YAY! (Is it kind of silly that I've really wanted one for a long time now??? Well, I have. So I'm THRILLED!!!)




Anyway, because of this award, I have a few things to talk about:

A. Thank the person who gave me the award.
THANKS JESSICA!!!! I seriously LOVE your blog. Between the Sonic drinks, your love of shopping, and your lack of shame when it comes to all things Harry Potter and Twilight, I feel like you are my twin!!! ha!

B. Name 10 things that make me happy.
1. Tyler.... duh!
2. My new bible study friends and their husbands! I love getting to see those girls every week and love when we all get together!
3. Dr. Pepper
4. SLEEP (which right now, I am seriously lacking)
5. James Morrison (especially in the summer, windows down, and his music blaring)
6. Big sunglasses--- if they're not covering at least 50% of my face, I don't want them! ha!
7. Getting to hang out with my besties! (which has become quite the special treat now that we are all grown ups!)
8. OPI's "Cajun Shrimp" in the summer
9. My gorgeous nieces and nephew that I don't get to see NEARLY as much as I would like! Oh I love them so much, I just can't even stand it!
10. A great hairday! You may consider this shallow, but I don't care!!! When I know my hair looks good, I feel on top of the world! :)

C. Last but not least, pass the award along and contact the winners!
Here are girls that seriously make me happy! Every day I get excited to see what they are writing about next.
1. Cortney--- This girl gave me my first job! After hiring me at JB Hunt, we ended up working together and became great, great friends. She definitely brings the inner OCD in me! ha! And she is one, fast chicka! She's a runner and a girl that never, EVER stops!
2. Whitney--- One of my bestest friends since we were kids. We even went through the aweful, ugly duckling phase together... thank goodness we turned out half-way normal looking!!! ha!! Her blog is hilarious. She is so blunt, so honest. Some people may not appreciate it, but I love her for it! (She's the girl that you take shopping with you to tell you if it looks terrible or not! :))
3. Whitney V--- My very bestest friend in the whole wide world. Best friends since birth, and now I get to watch her be an amazing mother!! Her daughter Eden is just stinkin adorable, and now she has #2 on the way!!
4. Ginger Snap--- I love her blog! Now, I like my share of clothes, but this girl puts me to shame! If shopping were a sport she would be Michael Phelps... she's that good. :) Plus, I just think she's hilarious! And I always get good ideas from her for work-appropriate clothing. (And did I mention she's a redhead??? That might have something to do with it too! ha!)

So congrats ladies! Can't wait to see what makes you happy!!!

These are TWO of my favorite things....

I've seen some girls post their Top Two Things that they simply can not live without! Well... I'd say mine are pretty obvious (well, at least one of them is!)

Item number ONE:



Do I really even have to explain this one???? I think not.


Item Number TWO:



My tempurpedic pillow!!!! Tyler parents got this for me for my birthday last year and I. Am. In. Love!!!! For me, it is the perfect amount of hardness / squishiness.

Maybe some people think that spending that much money on a pillow is absolutely ludicrous. And it is! But this girl loves her sleep (just ask Tyler, haha!). I literally get excited about going to sleep every night. Yes, I am serious! And every morning is a serious struggle...and this fancy shmancy pillow sure doesn't help with that!

I'm telling you... if I had the absolute WORST day of my LIFE and I could only pick two things (objects, no people included) to make me feel better, it would be these two things.

My mom always told me that when she died, she knew that God would have a HUGE Snickers bar waiting for her. Well for me, I think He will have my pillow and Dr. Pepper. :)

STL Here we come!

Tomorrow after work, I am heading to ST. LOUIS with one of my besties Ashley! We are meeting April and Rachel, two of our closest friends! Ummmmm I can not even put into WORDS how excited I am!!!

April, Ashley and I were in the same club at Harding and lived together our last year of school. We seriously have been through SOOOO much together, and even though we are all busy, living our own lives, we make time for each other and are still as close as ever!

Rachel grew up with April in Illinois. I had never met her until our last year of school! The four of us spent practically EVER. SINGLE. NIGHT. that year staying up til 3-4 am talking, laughing, and just being ridiculous. If you can even imagine, when these three ladies get together, they make me look boring!!! :)

They seriously are some of the funniest people I know and just being around them is like drinking 7 Redbulls!

So what are we going to do in STL, you may ask???

Well, we have already made our appointment to go up in this........





Hopefully I'll come home with a few of these......

And I KNOW we will all be doing a WHOOOOOLLLLLEE lotta THIS!!!!!

Oh I simply cannot wait! We have been counting down the days for months now. My fb wall has been blowing up with comments about how excited everyone is!

I mean, I always look forward to a Friday afternoon, but I haven't this excited in a really long time!!!

Happy Birthday Husband!

This is the first year that I can make that statement.... and I absolutely LOVE IT!!! :)

Today is Tyler's birthday and he is turning the Big 2-4! Old man, I know.... ;)

So here is a list of some of my absolute favorite things about Tyler. In no particular order. Just as random as they pop into my head!

• His laugh... his real laugh... like when he makes no noise except when he sucks in air. It kind of sounds like a honk. ha!
• The way he will always clean up after me, without saying a word, or complaining.
• His confidence.
• When we ride in the TT and he drives all crazy, just because he knows it bothers me.
• How he always wants to cuddle.... way more than I do :)
• His sincerity
• How gently he is with me ( I think he knows that although I'm not a sensitive person, I am with him)
• The fact that he had his first experience with outgrowing a pair of pants. (He was absolutely MORTIFIED that he had a "roll" if you could even call it that)
• Even though he loves to play video games, he ALWAYS makes me the priority. He has never chosen to play over spend time with me.
• His passion!
• I don't think anyone can deny the fact that I married an opinionated man. But I love it!
• His integrity. His word is his bond. He never manipulates situations for his own benifit.
• He is a hard worker.
• He wants to travel just as much as I do!!!!
• Holding his hand. (when he drives the TT and we are holding hands, I always try and keep holding on, even when he has to shift gears.... just to freak him out! ha!)
• The way he always always always makes songs his own version. He will add in random notes and words just to be funny.... and it always is. :)
• The way he holds me accountable.
• He has prettier eyelashes than me, even with mascara on. (No fair!)
• He makes me a better person. He makes me think about what I say before I say it (a new concept for me), mean what I say, and pushes me to be a better Christian.
• The fact that I trust him COMPLETELY. I will never have to doubt him or his intentions.
• He is way better at laundry than I am.... there is a fine art to it, that I have apparently yet to learn.
• Two Words: Manchester United :)
• When teaching me new things... he is SOOOOOO incrediably patient with me. And that takes a special person!
• He wants to make our relationship a priority.... and he does.
• He means what he says and he says what he means.
• His scruffy little beard
• I have an excuse to always wear flats! haha!
• He makes me feel like the absolute most beautiful person always.
• His dedication to "The Dave Ramsey Plan" because let's face it... without him I would be BROKE!
• Another two words: Haribo Peaches
• He collects root beer bottles from different places. And every time he gets to try a new one, he acts like the world's no. 1 root beer connoisseur. Its pretty stinking funny
• He won't just let me win games, even though he knows I love to win. I love it because I don't want to win if its not fair--- that way I can rub it in people's faces when I do win fair and square. ha!

And last but certainly not least:

• He understands and accepts my addiction to Dr. Pepper

So Happy Birthday Husband! You are truly my perfect match!!!!!

March Showers bring May Weddings!

Tonight I spent the evening with my wonderful SIL and her awesome friends! Rachel is getting married in May, so we celebrated with Rachel and had fun bridal shower for her!

For those of you who don't know her, Rachel is most definitely the most sincere, thoughtful, gentle-hearted human being I have ever met. You can seriously SEE Christ beaming out of her! She is such an encouragement to everyone around her. And her fiance is the same way! He is going to be a minister after finishing school. Can you tell how much I love them? :)

Anyway, her shower was so fun. I got to see some of Rachel's bestest friends and they seriously are some of the funniest people I've ever been around.

I'm not about to post all the pics I took at the shower, because that certainly isn't fair to Rachel, so I thought I would just show some of the funny faces Rachel made during the night! haha!!!











Aren't these faces just PRICELESS????? :)

After all the presents were opened, Josh did the sweetest thing. He gave Rachel a dozen roses and wrapped a long piece of paper around one of the stems. The paper was a list of all the reasons he loved Rachel. Some were cute, some spiritual, and some just plain funny. But it was a great way to end the celebration!!!




Rachel and her bridesmaids!


Sisters!


Both sisters!


It was such a fun night! I'm so glad I was able to be there and share in the fun! Now, we just need May to hurry up and get here!!! :)

Mental Breakdown

I should probably start by sharing that Tyler has been out of town for work this week. Awesome.

Today was just like any other day. Wake up. Drag my sorry butt out of bed. Work. Flat tire. Go home. Eat dinner.....

Wait... what??? Yes, you read right. FLAT TIRE.



Now a flat tire by itself is definitely not the end of the world. I am level-headed enough and not that much of a drama queen to allow that to give me a nervous breakdown... I hope you realize this by now! :)

What did almost give me a mental breakdown was the fact that it took about 45 minutes to get my wheel off the car.

Thank goodness one of my co-workers knew what he was doing and was more than willing to help a girl out. But watching him try and take the doo-hicky off of the watchyamacallit for 45 minutes can stress a girl out!

All I could think about was what I was going to do if he was unsuccessful. I have no family here, the only friends close by are working crazy-busy hours and wouldn't be available, and my HUSBAND was out of town. Again, awesome.

Maybe this doesn't seem that dramatic to other people, but I was having a pitty party. And I'm not ashamed to admit that! :)

During the 45 minutes I stood by helplessly watching, I decided to spend my time the only useful way I knew how--- I prayed. But unfortunately, my prayer only consisted of "Dear God, please..." "Dear God, please..." "Dear God, please..." ha! I simply could not get anything else out. I was completely speechless. But I'm sure He knew exactly what I was thinking. ;)

After we got the spare tire on, I took it straight to the tire store to get it replaced. While I waited, I walked to a close restaurant and ate dinner by myself. Sad? Maybe. But Chinese food was calling my name...

All in all it really wasn't that big of a deal.... but I think the hardest part of the whole evening was realizing that I was completely and utterly helpless. And that small little fact was a tad... um, overwhelming... for this little lady.

Was it completely coincidence that Casting Crowns' "Praise you in this storm" song was playing on my way home? Probably not... :)

So that was one small little storm that I just had to conclude by thanking God that my car still ran (loud screeching noises and all) and I had a wonderful loving family (whether 2 or 2000 miles away).



Oh ya.... did I mention that Tyler is staying at a beach-front condo in Florida for the week??????? Awesome. :)