Thursday, December 31, 2009

Blah

Blah. I have been fighting sickness all week and yesterday it had me down. I called in sick to work. The 2nd time in 1 year and 3 months. I stayed home and relaxed all day, with no make up on...that is one of the greatest feelings, to be clean and makeup free.

Anyway, I am still sick today but I am pushing through it. I have too much to do this weekend to be sick.
On the agenda:

Tonight: NYE in OKC with Kent. Yay for champage toasts and kisses. And yes, I still plan on getting a kiss even through the snot I am creating.

Tomorrow: Driving to Dallas with Kent, and Tanner and Julie. I love road trips! And then once I get to Dallas, I get to have Christmas with my extended family. Wait, why call them extended...they are my family. No extended needed.

Sat: Cotton Bowl with Kent and about a million other people! My parents and brother and sis in law also scored tickets and will be attending as well. We have tons of friends that will be at the Cotton Bowl and I am sure it will be a ridiculous good time. Go Pokes!

For the coming year, I am have been thinking. I should have a resolution but I really don't. I mean, I go to the gym almost everyday. I eat pretty well. I don't smoke. Maybe my resolution should be..... I'll take your suggestions!

See you suckas in 2010!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

It Just Wasn't the Same


Well, thanks to Blizzard 2009, Christmas just wasn't the same this year. On Wednesday night, my roomies and a couples of friends went to dinner & had our Christmas book exchange. It is our 2nd year to do this and we really enjoy it. The next morning at 7 am (keep in mind I was really looking forward to sleeping in), my mom called and told me to get up and get to my brother's house because OKC was already getting freezing rain. So I jumped out of bed, packed, loaded my car with presents, coats, bags and my dog and headed to Edmond. I made it to my brothers before the roads got too bad and stayed in and watched the blizzard begin all while knowing my parents were going to be stuck at home and weren't going to be able to come Christmas day. So I went to bed with Lauren & Allison and prayed that a miracle would happen and my parents could make it. We woke up Christmas morning to the news of all the highways and interstates being closed. The girls were so excited to see what Santa brought. Santa brought them a pink balance beam and pink and purple mats. They loved them! They also got a Snoopy sno cone maker that I entertained myself for a significant part of the day.
Kent and I had plans to attend a Christmas dance/party in El Reno that evening. Since the roads were bad, he came to Edmond from El Reno to get me. My parents and grandma had began the trek to Edmond but it took them so long that I was already gone to El Reno by the time they got there.
Kent and I had a really good time with his family at the party and I was really glad it didn't get cancelled because I was really looking forward to it and I got to wear a pretty dress :)
I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I am looking forward to a fun New Year and Kent and I are going to the Cotton Bowl and then I am also having Christmas with the rest of my family in Dallas this coming weekend.





Thursday, December 17, 2009

Feeling the Holiday Spirit

Just wanted everyone to know I am feeling the holiday spirit!


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Griswald Family Trip to Branson

Hello blog world! It has been awhile and I have plenty to update you with!
Work has been super busy this week and last week and I have been working some overtime. Hate the hours but love the money! Last night it dawned on me that I can work til 5:45 and then go home, change and head to the gym, talk on the phone in my driveway for 45 min, heat up a microwave dinner, do two loads of laundry, iron 3 pairs of pants, oh and wrap one present and still get to sleep before 11 pm.
Two weekends ago, Kent asked me to come to OKC and participate in an OKC Snuggie Pub Crawl. Now I know you are thinking, why in the world would you want to hang out in a bar in a Snuggie… well because it is funny…that’s why.
This past weekend, the Griswald family (aka Heathcock family) had plans to go to Branson and see the Christmas life at Silver Dollar City. We loaded up 8 people in a 8 person vehicle and made the trek starting at 7:15 am. 3 kids, Grammy, Pappy, Bryan, Heather and Erin. Good thing we like each other.
We got to Branson and it was raining and about 38 degrees. Not the weather we had planned on at all. By the end of the day, we were cold, wet, tired, hungry, grouchy, and filled with the holiday spirit all at the same time. At one point, Lauren was crying, Allison was asleep, Jordyn was eating baby food while standing in line, Grammy was talking to strangers and I had mentally shut down. I literally didn’t speak a word for close to an hour. Thank goodness for the warm, delicious apple cider that got me out of my coma.
I have made progress on my Christmas shopping. I have 8 presents wrapped and under the tree. I am such an efficient shopper (patting myself on the back).

Now, I have to go back to work and spend about 3 more hours on the phone with Sprint so I can get the techs their new cell phones. Sounds fun, huh?



Kent and I in our Snuggies

Pappy and the girls walking to the shuttle

My sweet Lauren

Beautiful tree in Silver Dollar City

Allison all bundled up

All laughs during one of the shows

Friday, December 4, 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Feelin the Cheer

I love the holidays. A lot. Like times a million as my roomie Elaina would say. Everyone seems so cheery and festive. Well, almost everyone. I love buying presents for people. It makes me really happy to give something that I know they will like/use/see/hang on the wall/show other people/whatever they do with it.
Now, there are a few people that are hard to buy for. Like take my cousin Zach for example. He’s a neat fella. Very creative and artsy and techy. Which makes him hard to buy for because a) electronics/tech gifts are way expensive to get a cool one b) He is very tall so buying shirts long enough for his monkey arms is hard. But every year I try, and I hope I succeed.

Now, my sister in law is about the easiest person ever to buy for. She always ends up having several things at the end of a shopping trip that my mom and I venture out on. And my nieces seriously rake in the presents this time of year. I have to limit myself to one toy/present each or I will get out of hand. But I secretly and not-so-secretly give them presents all throughout the year so I make up for it.

Now, on to decorations. I love them. The more, the better. However, I do not feel that the color blue has any place in Christmas decorating. It’s just weird looking. But I love my Christmas tree. It’s modeled after my momma’s and it is red and silver. That’s it. No other color. Just simple and classy. Kinda like me (haha!)

So since I am feeling the holiday cheer, I encourage everyone to grab a mug of something warm (and you can spike it if you would like) and cozy up with something (dog, boy, girl, blanket, book, you get the point).

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving

I just finished a massive amount of food. It was so good. And yeah everyone says, "Oh my family has the best food." But really, I swear that my family practically created Thanksgiving and the delicious food traditions that come with it.
Turkey, dressing, green been casserole, corn, cranberry sauce. That's only to name a few. And to top it all off... the best most delicious wonderful tasty cheesecake in the whole world, thanks to my momma. Well my aunt made it this year but she followed the recipe diligently.
I love my family. I miss Katie and wish she was here. I love my Dallas Cowboys jersey. I love when my niece Jordyn sleeps on me.
Wishing everyone has a much love in their life today as I do.
Cheers!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Give Thanks

Things I am Thankful for:

1. My family. I know everyone says that but when you have a family like mine, you really are thankful.
2. Food. There are lots of people that don’t get to enjoy the deliciousness that I will be cramming in my face over the next few days.
3. My nieces. I can’t just lump them into the family category because they are something totally unique and different. I love them more than they can imagine and sometimes at work I just look at their pictures for a few minutes and it makes me happy.
4. I am thankful for a brother that loves me and has a relationship with me.
5. I am thankful he married a girl just like me who is my friend and takes an active interest in my life.
6. My car. I love it. A lot.
7. Sophie dog. She is my pal. And keeps me warm at night.
8. A great job and great people I work with. It really makes going to work bearable. Sometimes even enjoyable.
9. Friends. And I mean really good friends that love me and care about me and want me to succeed in life. You know who you are.
10. Pretty dresses. They are so much fun and make you feel so jazzy.
11. Working out. I like it and it makes me feel good and keeps me healthy. I hope I always want to do it.
12. High heels. And I mean, high heels. Not the kitten ones, or the 2 in ones. I mean the 3-4 in ones that hurt your feet but make your legs look so good.
13. Butterflies in your stomach.
14. OSU- Truly the best alma mater
15. Stuffing (or dressing)- the best addition to a thanksgiving meal
16. Having a beer on a patio. Such a luxury in life.
17. Paris, France
18. Not waking up to an alarm on weekends.
19. Answered and unanswered prayers
20. My Christmas tree….it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without one.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The 6 am alarm came early this morning after going to the last home OSU football game last night. We barely pulled out a win against the Colorado Buffalos but we did and I am proud of the team for pulling together and playing without our star QB. Next week against OU should be an interesting one.

This week has been a busy one as usual. Something to do every night of the week. Monday I got to go to Target and buy a new dress for a wedding with Kent this weekend. And I indulged in some new sky high suede Guess heels from DSW with my $20 off coupon! I didn’t tell Kent that less than 24 hours after he asked me to go to his sister’s wedding that I was shopping for a complete new outfit :) You know boys don’t understand how us girls need to look fab at every event we attend! And something like this is definitely new outfit worthy.

Tonight is my friend Harlan’s birthday celebration in Tulsa. We are eating dinner at McNellie’s downtown and then riding the trolley around for the rest of the night.

Next week will be busy I am sure with lots of planning for T-day at my Deeya’s and then maybe some wedding work on Saturday with the auntie, mom, and cousin.

This week has also been a little trying for some important people in our lives. My mom’s best friend (and my second mother) Anne lost her dad to a battle with brain cancer this week. And my mom’s good friend Kathy lost her mom last night. Really makes you cherish every moment you have with your mother, grandmother, father, etc and remember how much our world would be different without them.

Also, a shout out to Natalie. I am listening to an old Rodger Wilko cd at work today and it takes me right back to the old Wormy Dog in Stillwater. Man, I miss those days!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Cat Calling

So apparently I am the new object of every City of Tulsa worker’s affection on my street this month. They are building a new house across the street and they are also working on the water line, so we are blessed with a plethora of grungy, gawking workers every morning. Last week, one of them whistled as I got out of my car. This morning, one of them asked my name as I walked through my front yard. Look friends, you have torn up my driveway, freaked out my dog beyond repair, and make more grunting noises than a hippo giving birth, please leave me alone and finish the job at hand. I’m sure I will see you again soon when you decide to tear up something else on my street.

I went to a Halloween party last Friday night at Remington Race track in OKC. They reserved a suite and had a great little get together. I dressed up as a beer garden girl and Kent was Doogie Howser. They had a bottle of St. Pauli beer and I looked just like the girl on the bottle. We had a great time and luckily, I put a reserve pair of boy shorts in my purse, cause you knew the tights would rip right in the middle of the party!

I don’t want to talk about Saturday’s game against Texas. We played like crap and threw too many interceptions and couldn’t catch the passes that we had thrown right into our hands.
But baby Jordyn got to come to the game and she was dressed up like a bunny and she was a big hit in the stadium. She just stared with her big beautiful eyes and would smile and then lay her head on my chest like she was shy. Sweetest thing ever. I want her to hit 6 months and then stay that age forever.

Sunday I woke up after a 12 hour hibernation to a sore throat, body aches, and chills. Lovely. So I posted up on the couch and fell back asleep.
After plenty of rest, I woke up Monday feeling much better. Thank goodness, I really don’t want to get swine flu



Friday, October 30, 2009

Oktoberfest, Halloweenie, OSU/Texas

Hello all! Hope everyone is ready for the weekend. I have been neglecting my blogging duties. I apologize and hope I still have some readers that are sticking with me.

Last week so jam-packed with activity. I swear I had something to do every single night. I went to the U2 concert with Kent in Norman and sleepily headed home after it was over. I pulled into Tulsa about 2 am and had that moment where you ask yourself, “Did I really just drive that whole way?”. I couldn’t even remember the drive. But the concert was really good and the weather was beautiful. After sitting and freezing my derrière off at the OSU game the night before… it was nice to be outside in just a long sleeved t-shirt.

Monday I took it easy and came home from work and lounged. I figured since I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep, I was entitled to a lazy night. I fell asleep on the couch at 8 pm.

Tuesday I had dinner with my gal pal Tasha. Our other friend Wendi was going to join but had to cancel. Tasha and I always have a good time together and love to rant and rave and gossip and tell each other little secrets. Plus, she is the one I owe my life to since she invited me to the John Legend concert. I am forever indebted to you!

Wednesday was corporate night at Oktoberfest. Such a wonderful display of drunken CEO’s and wives dancing on tables holding pitchers of beer. Elaina, Billy and I went and ate some polish sausage and a cherry strudel. We took it easy since we were planning on returning on Saturday for some table dancing of our own.

Thursday was a mud-filled game of kickball. I am almost pulled a groin… guess I need to start stretching in my old age. I remember the days when I thought stretching was for old people and I was always thinking, “ can we just play the game already?”

Friday was a relaxing night at home. Dinner at In the Raw and then home to clean for company on Saturday.

We had lots of people coming into town for Oktoberfest on Saturday… Abbey, Russell, and BC and my personal guest Kent. (I know you want to ask, so shoot me a comment or an email and I will tell you about him…maybe J ) We had a great time and drank lots of beer and I ate potato pancakes that were delicious!

This week has been a little more calm. I have been preparing for the Halloween party that Kent and I are going to in OKC tonight. And then OSU/Texas Saturday and changing back into costume for an evening on the town in Stilly.

Oh and of course, here are some pics of my sweeties. Can’t tell me that my brother and Erin don’t create the cutest things ever! Til next time… cheers! And Go Pokes!










Friday, October 16, 2009

Branded for Life

Ahhh… OSU homecoming. What a great event! I look forward to this every year. Tonight is Walkaround with friends and then some time out on the Stillwater strip. And tomorrow is tailgating all day and waiting for the late, late game to start. The weather is supposed to be nice and I think the sun might even decide to shine (gasp).

Friday’s at work are designated donut day thanks to the management meeting. Well this morning I got a special treat from the manager in charge of donuts this week.

In other news, my sweet niece Allison has swine flu. Stupid pigs! She is doing fine and they caught it early so she was put on Tamaflu and sent home. My brother said you couldn’t even tell she was sick the way she was dancing around the living room.
Kickball for the fall season has started up and we are dominating! We played last night and I must say… we are really good.

Also, I am headed to the U2 concert on Sunday night at 7 in (gag me) Norman. I hope I can stomach that disgusting town for a couple of hours! The Black Eyed Peas are opening and I must say, I am more excited about seeing them.

Happy Weekend!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

I Left My Heart in Austin

Austin City Limits. If you have a desire to be in a park with 65,000 people and listen to music and drink and use port-a-potties and people watch and walk for miles and have the time of your life, then ACL is the place for you. I absolutely loved Austin and would go back in a heart beat.

Friday: We got downtown around 3:30 and walked over 2 miles to the park. It wasn’t that hot and the sun was shining and it was just beautiful. I knew the weather would cooperate for my man John Legend to play. We got to the park and got our wristbands. We went to the beer tent and got an ice cold Tecate and started walking…hoping to find some of our friends. Cell phones weren’t working that well so we just started looking and in an instant I see my friend Kent walking in front of us. It must have been karma. So Abbey, Laina, Kent, Jordan and I all sat down in the grass and just enjoyed the weather until John Legend started playing. And then dance party in the park was on! No, John didn’t call me back in stage unfortunately, but I firmly believe he knew I was there and could sense my presence. After Johnny boy, we walked over the Kings of Leon stage and got ready for that concert to start in about 30 min. Once again, Abbey spotted Kent in a huge crowd of people so we posted up and waited. And then our lives changed as KOL rocked the stage. They were unbelievable! Then we hit up a bar called Annie’s and created Dance Party 2009 in a bar that didn’t have a dance floor. You know how I roll.

Saturday: Rain rain go away, come again another day. It rained ALL day Saturday. We trudged along in our ponchos and umbrellas and got soaked but we still had a good time. It quickly turned into a mud bath so we took our shoes off and just walked in the mud. We listened to Citizen Cope, Zac Brown Band and a few others. It got pretty chilly that evening but we put our ponchos on and enjoyed some Dave Matthews Band and after that we headed back to the hotel to shower our feet off and get fancy for another night out. We went to a place called The Ranch, which had an outside bar and guess what…. It rained again!

Sunday: Once again we headed out to ACL in the mud. Sunday was the last day and we were excited to see several bands. Passion Pit, Brett Dennen, Girl Talk, Ben Harper, Pearl Jam. There were tons of people out and I think the park was the busiest that day. We ate some delicious tacos and I had a margarita sno cone and the girls had Amy’s ice cream. We found a patch of grass to sit on during Ben Harper which was nice considering we stood up for almost 9 hours the day before. Pearl Jam closed the evening and they were so good. I am not a huge P Jam fan but they really know how to put on a show. After the festival closed… we took the shuttle back to our car and headed to the hotel to organize our things, shower and hit the hay. We left quite a bit of mud in the hotel and part of our hearts were left in Austin when we drove away.

It was a wonderful trip with great company (Laina, Abbey, Kent, Jordan, Chevy, Ozzie, Billy, Liz, Josh, Alex, Dan, Allison) and I look forward to the next time I can grace Austin with my presence.

Here are some of my favey pics from the weekend





Kent, Heather, Josh, Chevy, Abbey
Singing to John Legend
Waiting on Kings of Leon
Hello John :)
Right as we arrived....let the festivities begin!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Hippie Weekend Ahead

Austin City Limits!!! I am leaving tonight after work with the roomie Laina and we are picking Abbey up in OKC and then headed to Austin.
We have been planning this trip for months and months and we are so excited.
There are several acts that I am really excited to see, including my lover John Legend who will be playing Friday night at 6:30. Some of the others on the list are Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper. If you are not familiar with ACL, go to http://www.aclfestival.com/default.aspx and check it out.
I am off work tomorrow and Monday and these are my first scheduled vacation days since I started working here 1 year ago. We have a cooler packed, all our bags packed, blankets, cd’s, iPods, and pretty much anything else you can think of for our 4 day adventure.

On another note, I ate dinner last with my mom and dad, Bryan and Erin, grandma and the little girls. They are seriously the funniest little girls I know. Allison was making up songs and singing and dancing and Lauren was laughing so hard at her I thought she was gonna shoot lemonade out of her nose. And that baby Jordyn is the sweetest thing ever. When you hold her she grabs your face and squeezes it and snuggles you and it just makes me want to eat her up. Too bad she is a drooling, puking, pooping vile creature (as her mother called her)! But when that smile comes out and drool falls out of her mouth, I don’t mind at all because baby smiles are the sweetest things ever created.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be sure to post pics of ACL when I return… that is if John Legend lets me out of his grasp this time :)

Friday, September 18, 2009

So it has been a long time since I blogged. We are limited on our internet use at work and I am too lazy to do it at home in the evenings. My evenings seem to be packed with all kinds of activity.

Here is a recap of my recent activities:

Sept 5th: OSU vs Georgia game! We won our home opener and moved to numero 5 in the polls. It was a great weekend and we stayed in Stillwater after the game and relived some college days. I also drowned my phone and camera :)
Sept 7th: Labor Day was nice and relaxing. The roomies and I hit up the patio at Los Cabos and enjoyed a few margaritas. Our friend Billy joined us and he always brings a good time. We had a nice dinner of mac and cheese and hit the hay early.
Sept 11th: Headed to Edmond after work and spent some much needed time with the nieces. Baby Jordyn is the sweetest thing I know. She has the chubbiest little cheeks and makes me just want to kiss her all day. Lauren and Allison and I played in the playroom and cooked a dinner and set the table while Lauren played Mommy and Allison and I were the daughters. Allison was Alexia and I was Alex. :)
Sept 12th: Got up early that morning and headed out for some soccer. Lauren played first and scored a goal. It is so cute to see her score and get so exited and run to her Daddy and see the look on his face when he gives her a high five. It warms my heart. Next up was Allison and her game was the most hilarious. Since she plays soccer in the backyard and knows the rules she was really ready to play. They lined the 3 year olds up and blew the whistle… and off she goes. She is the only child who even moved on the field and she kicked the ball all the way to the goal and scored while all the others just stood there and watched. It was hilarious.
She almost made it through the whole game without crying.
Then it was off to Stillwater for Grammy, Pappy, Mommy, Daddy and Aunt Heather. We pulled into town just about game time. We were excited for an easy OSU victory and that is exactly what we did not get. OSU fell to Houston 45-35 and my brother was absolutely livid. Let’s hope for something better this week.
Sept 15th : My roomies and I had dinner and Ti Amo’s in downtown Tulsa and then walked to the Britney Spears concert. It was awesome! That is the only was I can describe it. She def puts on a show and anyone that any interest in seeing her should do so.
Sept 16th: Ghengis Grill=delish
Sept 17th: Kickball kickoff. First 2 games of the season and we dominated. It was muddy and muggy.

Now that you are all caught up.. I am headed to my friend Sam and Alanda’s tonight to see their new bundle of joy Lucas. I made them a lasagna and plan on holding that sweet baby as long as I can before they kick me out.
Tomorrow morn is Race for the Cure and I will be starting the 5k at 7:45….yawn. Then a nap, shower, and headed to Stilly for a fun-filled day with the nieces and family.

Til next time!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Blah

I really wish I had an interesting blog post but after my John Legend experience I just can't seem to think of anything worthy of posting.
Here are some things I am annoyed with right now:

1. This idiotic company that I have to deal with at work. Daily.
2. Why grass grows so quickly and doesn't mow itself.
3. Ex boyfriends
4. Shin splints
5. Misplacing one of my most valuable items and not having time to look for it
6. Still not having my car radio... it has been way too long and I want it back

Things I am loving right now:
1. My obsession with John Legend and India Arie music
2. OSU football
3. My nieces
4. Sophie dog
5. Reconnecting with an friend
6. This one is a secret... stay tuned... I may be able to reveal it soon!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Music Video Future

Here's the video... please don't mind my friend Tasha repeatedly screaming my name in the background.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

John Legend

So here is the story....
My friend Tasha invited me to go to the John Legend concert last night (front row seats). I excitedly accepted cause I love love love John Legend and I also have never been front row. So a couple songs in he says "Men, grab your ladies cause we need to dance to some love songs tonight" and he started to sing. He got up from the piano and said "I think I need a girl to dance with". Tasha started pointing at me and he looked down at me and said "Come on up here baby". (AHHHHAHAHA! )that is me being so excited just telling you the story!
So I am helped on stage by his body guard and we start to dance. He is singing and we are grooving and i didn't even have time to get nervous. Looking back at it, I have no idea how I wasn't freaking out. We dance the whole song and as I am about to walk off stage, he says "come over here girl" and gives me a rose and holds the mic to me and tells me to say my name. Then he hugs and kisses me and takes me back to my seat. It was the coolest thing that has ever happened to me! I knew several people that were at the concert and I started getting texts and people were already facebooking me.
Tasha took some pics with her phone and Grant got a video but I haven't seen it yet. I am riding out my 15 min of fame! I was the most popular girl leaving the show Monday night.. and the president of my company was there with his wife and he has been talking to me about it all day. So anyway, if you wanna hear the story in detail you can call me. If not, I'm sure I will tell it every chance I get for the next 25 years.
I swear I could not be more excited to tell people abou this! I don't even care if I get annoying cause seriously people, when does something like this happen to someone (i.e.- me).
I have become slightly more obsessed with John Legend than I already was and have already planned my life if he calls and says "You were the best part of that concert, come away with me". Ok, that probably won't happen but a girl can dream.
If you have never heard John Legend, I recommend you listening to some of his songs. My favorites are "Stay with Me", "Green Light", "Used to Love You" and "Ordinary People".
And last, I have to give a shout out to my girl Natalie for introducing me to John Legend years ago. She burned me his cd and I have loved him ever since. So Nat, this ones for you....Cheers!