Jordyn's Birthday

Jordyn turned 4 years old on Saturday. I cannot believe that little pumpkin is already 4. Here she is in her previous birthday pics: 

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And here is her video from her 4th birthday. She is working on mastering the hula hoop. 

It was so cold that I didn't even take the time to get a picture of her. Terrible aunt fail! Last year she had an outdoor party and everyone was in their swimsuits..this year we were bundled up in coats and gloves!
We had a great time watching the kids run around while we stood close to the charcoal grills to stay warm.

In other exciting news, I just read that Justin Timberlake is coming to Tulsa in November. You better believe me and my girlfriends will be there screaming like 12 year olds.

I am headed to Kentucky with work next week. Skyy (as in the vodka) is taking us. It will be my first work trip so I am excited to see what it is all about. All I know so far is to only order drinks that are in the Skyy portfolio and to just "go with the flow".

Easter Fun & Home Improvements

Kyle's parents came to visit us for Easter. This time around our schedules were completely flip flopped. Last time, Kyle could spend almost all day at home with them working around the house while I was sitting at my desk job. This time he was up and out of the house early and I got to hang with them in the morning before I left for my day. Carl and Mary Lou are such work horses! I have no idea where they find their energy.

We had my parents over for Easter dinner and used my wedding china for the first time. We had ham, potatoes, rolls, brocolli salad and green beans. And champagne. Champagne is always a good idea.

We completed several home improvement projects including: new faucet in my bathroom, wedding pictures framed and hung, new large piece of art hung, painting of the entry hall and stairwell, painted the outside of the house and painted the front doors. I have always wanted to paint our front doors a fun, bright color and I have just never had the guts to do it. Red used to be the popular color but I wanted to do a different color. Mary Lou and I decided to go with green.

I love them so much!

And here are the adorable girls on Easter

Kyle and I were in our friends, Austin and Christy, wedding last weekend. It was at the Tulsa Historical Society and we had the most beautiful weather.

It was kinda weird to be on the other side of a wedding again. It was exactly 6 months since we were married and I still can relive that day in great detail. The one thing I will tell you: it made me even more grateful for the wonderful girls that said yes to being my bridesmaids. You all are the best.

A Terrible Excuse

Let me give you my terrible excuse for not blogging more: when I want to write a post, I have to sign out of gmail and then sign in to blogger with my old yahoo email address. And then I have to sign back into gmail when I am finished. And it annoys me and I am too lazy to do it.

Also, majority of time I am on my computer for work. And then I realize I want to blog something but I really have to finish what I am doing and then I shower and leave the house, never to return to my blog idea.

Here is what we have been up to lately:

Feb 23rd: We attended the wedding of Casie and Doug in Breckenridge, CO. Before the wedding, we got to eat at this cool restaurant (where I had a cocktail called the Deconstructed Grapefruit and it was the best cocktail I have ever had). We also hit the slopes for half a day in Beaver Creek with his friend Adam Shay. He was one of Kyle's groomsmen and has been a friend since high school. I hadn't been skiing in 15 years but it all came back to me the minute I put those skis on. The only problem was when I decided to go off some jumps and I didn't know there was a rail on the other side and I hit that icy bar and all of my limbs immediately went in different directions. It was hilarious.

The wedding was held at The Lodge and Spa in Breckenridge and it was the epitome of a gorgeous, snowy Colorado wedding. Casie wore a cream colored sweater over her dress and it was snowing and I got to drink hot chocolate during the ceremony.

We woke up Sunday morning to a blizzard that buried our rental car. Our bright green rental car.

 It should have taken us 1.5 hours to get to the airport in Denver, but it took 4. The roads were terrible and we were just spinning our tires to get up the mountain at one point. We made it to the airport and our flight was delayed (along with thousands of other people) and the only place we could eat was Taco Bell. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Nachos Bell Grande but I hate eating at food courts.

 The next weekend we celebrated Allison's 7th birthday. One of my favorite parts of their birthday is writing them sweet messages on the cards and watching them read it. They read them slowly as if they take in every word. I want them to always know how much we love them. We had lunch at Texas Roadhouse and then went to the OSU bball game.

This is my cocktail creation last week. Fresh grapefruit juice, St. Germain, vodka and topped with champagne. If you haven't had St. Germain, go buy some and make some awesome cocktails.

This past Saturday, I ran the St. Patrick's Day 5K. I ran my fastest time ever, 26:56. I literally could not believe I ran it so fast. I am still really proud of myself! Then I did a little shopping with my mom followed by dinner at Charleston's with Kyle. One year ago on March 16th, he took me to dinner at Charleston's and then came home and proposed. It was one of the best nights of my life and I am so lucky to share my life with him. He has truly shown me what unconditional love means.

What I Bought

I could spend hundreds of $ on clothes, shoes and accessories each month. But I learned a long time ago, thanks to my mom, to shop smart and not spend a lot of money on material things. My mom always laughs at me when I say " I got a new ____." Several of my friends are always in awe of the deals I find online, which is quite often. I have noticed that I am branching out with my style over the past few years. I am willing to take a few more risks (nothing too crazy). Here are the items that I purchased last week:

Dillard's- $11.90, Original $34
This is a very interesting shirt. I love the color and the  cape-like sleeves. 

Dillard's- $48.30, Original $138
I have wanted a one shoulder dress for some time now and I just haven't purchased one yet.

Target: $22.99
I got this shirt in an XS and the colors are so pretty. 

Dillard's: $62, Original $175
There are so many things I love about this dress. The 3/4 length sleeves, the v-back, the stripey sequin pattern.
I wore this to a wedding this weekend and got so many compliments. 

Marshall's: $19.99
Maxi dresses can sometimes swallow you and make you look bigger than you actually are.
This dress has a great fit and the stripes are slimming. 

Marshall's: $19.99
I love the classic look of this crochet top.
An adorable top to pair with shorts this summer.

Kohls: $16.20, Original $54
I picked this beauty up online for super cheap! I usually don't like to pay shipping but I bit the bullet this time
and I am glad I did. This skirt is adorable and fits great! I bought a size 2, for reference. 

If you watch The Bachelor, you saw Leslie wear a skirt similar to this on her date with Sean in one of those tropical locations. There is a blog called Possessionista that helps you locate clothes worn on TV shows and Leslie's skirt was so popular that is was sold out. I did my own search and found this gem. The only sizes left are 8,10,12. 

Showering Christy

This past Saturday we hosted a bridal shower for Christy Carter. I have known Christy for a little over 2 years and we have become good friends. She is engaged to Austin, one of Kyle's golfing buddies. Austin and Christy got engaged in June and are getting married on April 6th. They asked Kyle and I to be in their wedding and we were happy to accept. We had the shower at Lilia's house in Sapulpa and it turned out beautifully.

Later that afternoon, we met the family at Andy B's for some bowling and belated birthday celebration.

We followed with dinner at Louie's. All 9 of us crammed into a big booth. I love times like that when you realize how your family really loves each other and can be that close to each other, literally.
We got home and Kyle wanted to have a few people over to celebrate his birthday. He turned 31 on Feb 2 but had to attend his grandma's funeral in Ohio on his birthday. Yesterday we ate breakfast at BBD, took the dogs for a walk, went for a run, Kyle played golf and I worked an event at Southern Hills from 5-7.

This week is going to be busy, but there is nothing on our agenda this weekend! I have plans to go out to dinner at Red Rock with some friends...you know we can't have a completely free weekend :)

30 Great Moments

On Tuesday I will turn 30 years old. I have been thinking recently about how wonderful my 30 years have been. Here are 30 great moments in my life to date:

1. Being born on January 22nd. Obviously this was the start of something great.
2. Moving to Stillwater. What a fun time that was in my life.
3. My brother getting married.
4. Traveling to Paris with Katie. Best vacation of my life.
5. Graduating college.
6. Living with Sammi and Elaina. We had too much fun.
7. Meeting Kyle in 2006.
8. Lauren arriving on 4-4-04.
9. Allison arriving on 3-3-06.
10. Jordyn arriving 5-4-09.
11. Going to Rome with my Deeya, Mom and Aunt Sheri.
12. Flying alone for the first time ever to see my brother in Florida.
13. Being maid of honor in Katie's wedding.
14. Rekindling with Kyle 4 years after meeting him.
15. Vacationing on the beach with Bryan, Erin and the girls.
16. Seeing the beautiful scenery in Montana.
17. Meeting Henry for the first time.
18. Graduating high school with 103 fever, being put in the hospital 3 days later. Not great but memorable.
19. Black Eyed Peas concert with all the girls.
20. Traveling to Austin for ACL with Elaina and Abbey.
21. Being a bridesmaid when Zach and Kristin turned 10 years of young love into marriage.
22. Dancing on stage with John Legend.
23. Meeting Kyle's family. Lucky to have such great people to share a name with.
24. Kyle proposing.
25. Finding out that Nordstrom has awesome sales and free shipping. Ridiculous but gawd I love it.
26. Landing this awesome new job that allows me so much more freedom.
27. Moving in with Kyle and having access to a garage. I am so serious about this one.
28. My bachelorette party. My friends/family are fun. My bridal shower and luncheon were magical.
29. Our awesome rehearsal dinner.
30. Marrying Kyle. Words are not enough.

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." 

My Year in Review

2012 has been one of the best years of my life. It started out in January with my 29th birthday. My closest girlfriends spent the day with me, followed by dinner with my parents and then a party at Kyle's house. I joked that you know you are getting older when you wear a scarf to your birthday party. In February  we celebrated Kyle's 30th birthday. In March, Kyle proposed! We started planning a wedding immediately. In June, we went to Montana for my first taste of the Montana life. We celebrated Henry's 1st year of life, and enjoyed a leisurely vacation with family. In July, we watched fireworks at The Oaks with my brother, sis-in-law and the girls. August was my lovely bridal shower. Followed by a bridal shower in Sept in Pittsburgh and then a night of hilarious bachelorette fun in Dallas. We peppered in some OSU games, trips to see the nieces, friends birthdays, and me moving in with Kyle. Oh and I had that little trip to urgent care after cutting my finger. Which I ended up losing and growing a new end to my pinky finger. I call it my nubbin.

And in October Kyle and I got hitched. I had taken 7 months of my life to plan that day. Our closest friends and family bundled up (stupid weather) and watched us become husband and wife. We had the most wonderful wedding weekend and I still feel like I am on a high from that. People ask me all the time, "how is married life?" I say wonderful. There is never a dull moment with Kyle and he makes my life more exciting and complete.
On Wednesday after the wedding, I started my new wine sales job. Best career move ever. I love it.

In November we celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house. Katie and Louie and Zach and Kristin stayed at our house and we had so much fun. Tons of food and football and laughter. Our family holidays aren't the kind where we dread spending time together. And for that, I am grateful.

December brought our first Christmas as a married couple. Kyle got to go home to Pittsburgh but I had to stay behind and sell booze to people. Kyle flew home and then we bought his dad's SUV and he drove it home. I said goodbye to my white Honda Accord on Thursday night and I am already getting used to being an SUV driver.
This weekend we went to Dallas and had Christmas with the Webb's/Lauck's. Tomorrow night we will ring in the new year with friends at our country club. We get to be all dressed up and celebrate such a wonderful year. And we will spend the first day of 2013 laying on the couch watching football all day. Just enjoying our life. Our wonderful, fun-filled, relaxing life.

Cheers to you 2012, you treated me well. And here's to you, 2013. I bet you have some fun things in store for the Gatewood's.