July is my favorite month!

I've had so much to say lately and haven't had two seconds to write about it. So much has happened in the past few weeks!


My 27th Bday!
My birthday has been a little weird for me since moving away from Oklahoma. I am REALLY BIG into Holiday Traditions and since my bday falls on a holiday (July 4th), it is extra hard to be in Utah. This year was the first year I have thoroughly enjoyed my entire birthday weekend in Utah!

My traditional Oklahoma Birthday goes like this:
Wake up SUPER early. Pick up donuts. Pick up Sonic drinks. Meet my entire fam at the parade (my mom goes at like 5am and saves seats for everyone). Go to our house or a relative's house for a cookout. Open Presents. Meet up with friends to watch fireworks. That was the routine for as long as I can remember! We NEVER missed the parade! Growing up, a large group of my parents friends would always meet us at the parade too. It always ended up being like 30 people and it was great!



My Utah Birthday weekend went like this:


FRIDAY-
Broke City show at Liquid Joe's with Royal Bliss. Joel gave me a birthday shout out from stage so people started buying me shots. I felt like it was my 21st bday all over again. The night was awesome! Some of my favorite females came to hang out so it was a great night overall.








SATURDAY-
Joel woke up early and left the house because he had a "surprise" for me. He got my windshield replaced! I was SO ecstatic! Since I drive for a living, my car is my office. I had a HUGE crack across my windshield that annoyed me everyday so I was so excited to have it replaced! We ate lunch at the Independence Weekend street fair in Sugar House. I love any type of fair or festival so I was super excited! That evening, we went to the hibachi place called BeniHana.



It is WONDERFUL and our little birthday tradition. After, we went to a martini bar and had some drinks. We drove to the studio where Joel does the mixing for his job. Sugar House park was WAY to crazy and the studio was on a hill so we sat outside it and could see the fireworks perfectly! It was wonderful! OH... and I opened presents this day too!



Joel got me the Amazon Kindle that I have been wanting and so far I give it two thumbs up! The books literally transfer to my kindle in about two seconds. He also got me a Flip so I can start videoing stuff. I haven't had a chance to get it out and use it yet, but I can't wait to start editing video! He also got me the "Roping the Wind" cd from good old Garth! Better believe it has been on repeat in my car for two weeks!







SUNDAY-
My actual birthday! Joel surprised me with a doughnut breakfast in honor of my family's tradition. We spent the whole day cleaning and preparing the food for my bday cookout.















When it was all over, we had about 50 people in and out through the night. It was a great Bday BBQ and since I hate cake, Joel even made me Bday Brownies! I was exhausted from cleaning all day though so I went to bed by 2am.



MONDAY-
We drove down to Utah County and met his family at his parents house for their family BBQ.



It was good to see everyone since it had been a while. After the BBQ, we went down to Provo's Freedom Festival and walked around. There were mainly religious or LDS oriented booths but we found a few good jewelry places.

Overall, it was a spectacular Bday Weekend! Thanks to all my friends/fam/husband for making it SO special! Love you guys!



Last weekend was my friend Hannah's wedding. It was great to be back home and share in her big day! I enjoyed getting to see everyone and just wish I would have had more free time while we were there. Joel and I literally started our days at 9am and didn't get a free (unplanned) moment until 1130pm EVERY DAY! Not much of a vacation, but WONDERFUL nevertheless. One of my long time friends, AJ, had her baby while I was in town so I was SO happy that we got to see her cute little Emma. (I'll post a pic when I get them uploaded).

Absolutely LOVING July so far :)




PS> Please ignore all of the "overalls" and "!" ... I'm too tired to care :)

Lucky Lady

Joel and I have had QUITE the crazy past week! A lot of big moments and decisions were made and it just reminded me how blessed I am to have my little family. So since I haven't been in the mood to write anything... I just wanted to post a new favorite picture. I may have already posted it, but what the heck... I LOVE IT :)

My Fam:




Just another random moment at home....

Best Western Boredom

I'm on one of my many overnight stays that I have for my job. Since we only use our TV at home for DVDs, I tend to look forward to having the TV to keep me company in the hotel room.

I'm a nerd, so I spend most of my time flipping back and forth between CNN and the History Channel. And of course, whenever there is nothing on those channels, I try to find a movie. I honestly forget how weird it is to go back to watching TV all the time. I find it freeing that the only news I get is through the internet, my morning radio show, or through CNN updates on twitter.

I've been trying to keep up on the Joran Moron case as best as possible. The guy is an utter creep. On Nancy Grace tonight, they interviewed a friend who spent a couple months with him earlier this year in Aruba. His friend said the only time the Natalee Holloway case came up is when they were watching the movie. Joran was telling his friend what parts were true and which parts were false.

REALLY?!?!

How creepy and twisted is that? And this guy just sat there like that wasn't weird and horrible. If his confession is true, which is doubtful, then he went into a rage when the Peru girl saw a facebook message regarding Natalee. So awful!

I hope Natalee's family and Stephany's family get the justice and peace they deserve!

Design / Style / Persona ... whatever

Yes! I need one! ... After spicing up my blog a little, it made me think about style in general. Which, if you know me, you know I have no style. I typically hate trends and just wear whatever I think is cute.

After going brunette in Vegas, I tried to start a whole new style for myself - Vampire Glam. Basically I wanted lots of black, dark reds and deep purples. I found some heels, a scarf, a dress, and two shirts. AND THAT WAS IT! It was a horrible new wardrobe search! I couldn't find ANYTHING.

Since moving back to Utah, I have been in a major old-school pin up girl phase! I'm hoping to get this dress for my birthday from StopStaring! I love their clothes!



Adorable!! Right?!


Anyways, I'm in the need of cute, cheap style ideas. So please feel free to give them.
I figured I would put photos of some of my fave style gals too :)

Kate Beckinsale - She's Fabulous!






Dita Von Teese - I love how she does the old school style but brings an edge to it. I also like how daring she is! And... I'm a sucker for corsets :)







My friend Kelsey took this photo while we were doing a little Pin-up girl shoot.... and I thought it was cute.... Check out her photos! She's awesome!

Remembering what it is to be an Okie

I figured it's about time for a new post! I just really haven't felt very blog happy lately. I also remembered that I started this to document my life for myself... to look back and read when I'm having a bad day or am bored. I think I have tried to write with a public mindset rather than a personal which is silly considering only five people read it :)

So it's official... No more worrying about being PC ... It's me and that is what you will get from now on!


These past few weeks have been crazy busy! I went to MA for a week for training with my entire company. It was a little weird because I spend every day alone in my car. My office is the second bedroom in our house. And the most face-to-face time I get with my boss is when her status updates come up on my Facebook newsfeed. Needless to say, sometimes I forget I have co-workers. I honestly was dreading the week of having all the reps and managers from across the US in the same place at the same time. BUT it was surprisingly fun! I got paired to room with a rep from Delaware whom I had never met. She was amazing! So easy to talk to and down to earth! She definitely made the whole week much more fun. We went to meetings all day, much like school or camp, then went out for drinks every night! It was great to see my bosses loosen up a little and have fun! It was crazy to meet some of my "bosses" who I have been working with almost a year but have never met because their office is in Portland. Regardless, I actually had a fabulous time despite being super busy and tired.

Leaving MA ended up being a headache. I was supposed to fly to Atlanta and then on to OKC for one of my best friend's weddings! When I got to the airport, my flight was delayed so my only option was to sleep in the Atlanta airport and catch a flight to OKC Saturday morning.

Now any of you who know about my last MA trip, knows that I had to spend the night on a cot in an Ohio airport due to bad weather and almost missed my dad's visit to SLC.

I already had missed her rehearsal dinners due to work and the idea of missing her wedding had me in a total panic! Finally I found one seat on a flight through MN that landed in Tulsa just before midnight. I TOOK IT! I called my parents as I boarded to let them know the plan. Joel was flying from SLC and we were supposed to meet in the OKC airport so I also texted him to let him know I'd be landing in Tulsa.

My hero of a daddy drove to Tulsa and was there waiting when I landed! He drove me all the way back to Edmond and let me sleep the drive since it was almost 4am MA time (which is the time zone I was used to). I was SO happy to be home!



Jenny's wedding was absolutely beautiful! Some of Matt's friends and fam came all the way from the UK to be there. She had a beautiful dress with a kind of lace detailing. The ceremony was on the steps of the reception hall which I thought was a fun and wonderful idea! I love outdoor weddings! :) Matt had asked Joel months ago to perform a piano version of "Oklahoma Girl" by Eli Young Band at their reception. He did a WONDERFUL job and even changed some of the words to reflect Jenny and Matt's relationship! The speakers in the facility were pretty crappy but it still turned out great!



Unfortunately, Jenny was feeling sick during her big day so I didn't get much time with her before she left back to England. So... I had a blast with all my other OK friends instead! It was SO good to be back around friends that I have a "history" with! That has been big with me lately. Remembering to value those friends who have seen you through all your awkward years, defining moments, and screw ups.

These are those friends.....



It was also the first time I saw my college roommate since Christmas 2008. She is the same loving, light hearted, passionate person I always respected and adored!




It was an overall fabulous night of reconnecting with some of the people who matter to me most in the world! After the wedding a few of us and are significant others went over to a friends house. It was a fun drunk conversation fest and I adored every minute!

Can't wait to come back in town for another fave friend's wedding in July! Counting down the days...

"We're gonna Rock, we're gonna Roll, we're gonna Bop, we're gonna Bowl"

Yes, that is a reference to Grease 2... deal with it.

So this past weekend was one of the best weekends we've had in a while! Saturday Joel and I met up with Ryan and Jessie so we could finally meet Jessie's little girl. Jaylinne is ADORABLE! She loves Disney Princesses and Beyonce's "Single Ladies"... she was a hoot! We all went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch and I think Joel and I had more fun playing the games then she did. We are kind of both Skeeball fanatics and ended up spending most of the tokens trying to keep our spots at our skeeball games. It was so much fun and a great way to get to know Jessie's daughter!



That night, Joel and I had Charlie and Carly come over for some food and bowling! We had chinese delivered while we prepartied at our house. There is a bowling alley only a couple blocks from our house so our plan was just to walk there.... but it was POURING rain. Our neighbor and some friends were leaving to go to the bar so they luckily drove us to the bowling alley. Usually bowling ends up being pretty expensive between shoe rental and lane rental.... but this alley was only $9 for three games and shoes! We spent the next few hours bowling and enjoying a couple pitchers of beer. Somehow I managed to win all three games... not sure how that happened :)




By the end of the night, it had finally quit raining so we all walked back to our house and hung out for another hour or so. One of the most fun nights we've had in a while :)

On a side note, poor little Cleo hurt her paw. We can't figure out what is wrong with it but think it got hurt when she kicked out the drain stopper during her bath. Poor little thing is just limping around everywhere. She had to miss her puppy school graduation due to the injury... SAD! If she's not better by tomorrow night, we're taking her to the vet.

"The Spirit of this City will not be Defeated"

You can't be Oklahoman without April 19th being dear to your heart. Today marked the 15 anniversary of the bombing at the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building.

It's strange how vivid the memory is of where I was when this tragedy took place. I was sick and home from school that day. I was sad to be sick that day because our 5th grade class was supposed to take a field trip to Oklahoma City to see some sort of concert. I was laying on the living room couch half asleep when I heard a loud bang. I immediately thought someone had kicked in our front door and was getting ready to burglarize our house. I laid completely still and quiet for a good five minutes until I finally had the courage to look over the edge of the couch at the front door. I remember being so surprised that the front door was untouched. My mom immediately got word to me about the bombing and I watched the situation unfold on the TV.



At 9:02 a.m., a Ryder truck with excess of 4,800 pounds of of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel mixture detonated in front of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Timothy McVeigh planned the attack to take place on April 19 to coincide with the anniversary of the Waco Siege.



168 people lost their lives that morning and one third of the building was destroyed. The victims included 19 children under the age of 6 and injured more than 680 people. The explosion created a 30-foot wide crater and over 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius were destroyed or damaged. Secondary explosions from the 86 cars around the site soon followed the initial blast.


Over 12,000 people volunteered and assisted in the relief and rescue operations. The next few days, I remember joining my family at our church which was only a few blocks from the site. I helped pass out food to all of the firefighters, police officers and volunteers. I remember the mood of the room and the kindness of the volunteers. And I remember the sadness in the rescuers' eyes. One of the weird things that has stuck with me the longest was about the canine units. I remember being told that the dogs were getting depressed at how few people were being found alive. They started burying volunteers and letting the dogs find them to raise the dogs' morale. That has always been a touching and sobering example of the days following the bombing. It also has stood in my memory as an example of human perseverance, love, and selflessness.

On May 23 at 7:02 a.m., the Murrah Federal building was finally demolished. The final three bodies of victims were recovered after the demolition. That morning, my family went downtown to watch the building come to its resting place. I sat in the dark street doing homework with a flashlight as we waited for the moment to come. I remember the tears and the silence around me as the last bit of evidence fell to the ground.




Exactly five years after the bombing, the Memorial was officially opened. The memorial contains a reflecting pool settled between two large gates. The first gate says the time 9:01 and the other gate is inscribed with 9:03 The reflecting pool represents 9:02 and the exact moment of the blast. Next to the reflecting pool is a "field of symbolic bronze and stone chairs—one for each person lost, arranged according to what floor of the building they were on. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims' families. The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults lost."




Also at the memorial is a 90-year-old American elm known as the Survival Tree. It now stands on the highest point of the memorial and is surrounded by granite that reads, "The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."




A small part of the building's original foundation was left intact which holds a note from one of the rescue teams: "We search for the truth, we seek justice. We seek justice. The courts require it, the victims cry for it, God demands it!"




To this day, the 1995 bombing remains the most lethal single act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. It was estimated that a third of Oklahoma's population knew someone who was directly affected by it.



Finally, here are the words inscribed on the gates:

We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.


I borrowed many of these photos from the memorial's website. If you haven't had a chance to visit it yet in person, you should! If not, at least go to their website.





Once again, my thoughts and prayers have gone out today to all of those affected by the Oklahoma City bombing.

Whisper of a Thrill

Here is the video the radio shot the night of Deanna's party... kinda fun right? :)

Video

ALSO... My friend Amanda bought me an OU snuggie for Christmas and I couldn't remember whether I shared it yet or not.



Tonight I am watching Meet Joe Black for about the hundredth time... so I just had to share one of my all time favorite movie quote sequence:


I want you to get swept away out there.

I want you to levitate.
I want you to sing with rapture and dance like a dervish.

Be deliriously happy, or at least leave yourself open to be.

Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.

Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike.


Never settle for less than that :)

Two Years since Tying the Knot

Last weekend we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary! Two Years! Crazy! It flew by! Joel and I have an anniversary tradition where we write down our favorite moments from the year and the memories we have. It's really fun since we both tend to have different moments that stick out to us. It's also entertaining to remember everything we have done over the past year and the places we've been.

I took off work on Friday the 1st and drove to Vegas Thursday with Joel and the rest of the band. When we got into town, we went to our normal place - The Double Down Saloon!




It is a Vegas tradition to always stop there first and get shots of Ass Juice. Ass Juice?! Yes, I know. It is actually quite tasty. Rumor has it that every night at close the bar takes whatever is left over from each of their liquor bottles and dumps it into a huge bin. I personally think that is a load of crock. It tastes like kool-aid with 151 or vodka or both.




We spent Thursday night celebrating Jess' (our friend and old roommate) birthday at one of her favorite Mexican places. The boys had to be in CA early Friday so they dropped me off at my favorite Vegas mall (Town Square) to wait for Jess to pick me up after work. I bought this adorable little top at Guess! It's very old-school pin-up girl so it might be my new favorite shirt!




When Jess and I got to Fullerton, we topped in downtown Fullerton to kill sometime before the boys show. There were SO many fun vintage shops! I could have shopped there ALL day! Lots of stores selling old vintage furniture, clothing and accessories! There was this one store that had all sorts of pin up girl dresses by Stop Staring! You can check them out here.

I was in love with a couple of them but they were too expensive :( Maybe one day!






Friday night we went to Deanna's Dirty Thirty where Broke City was playing!





I was going on only a few hours of sleep but even a couple 5-hour Energy drinks couldn't liven me up. It was a good night and it sucked that I was still exhausted. Deanna had the radio guys from 98.7 there and a photographer!




She definitely knows how to throw a birthday party! She had the cutest cupcakes too! It's too bad I don't like cupcakes because I bet these were tasty!






Deanna and Mark have the sweetest family and always let us crash at Deanna's dads BEAUTIFUL house in Yorba Linda!

Saturday we got up and went to C&O's in Marina Del Rey. It the restaurant Joel and I went to right before he proposed in 2007.




It has the BEST food! We met up with Matt who is one of the guys' friends and recorded their last album.




Ryan's brother's family also joined us! It was great seeing the Sanders clan! They just recently moved to CA from UT. This is little Wil... he is a hoot!




I wasn't able to get very many pics of Elle but she is also adorable.





When we first moved back to UT from Vegas, the Sanders let us live in their basement apartment for free until we saved enough money to buy a house. We are SOOO grateful for them! I don't know what we would do without them in our lives! They are always so kind to Joel and I :) When we lived with them, Elle would always run around in a Spiderman costume and try to be sleuth-like. Adorable!

After lunch, we walked to the pier where Joel proposed to me and took some photos! It was awesome to be back in the same spot. Who would have thought we would have come so far after meeting at a concert in 2006 for three hours. Crazy how life turns out!


2007


2010



After the pier, we drove to the Dodgers stadium to catch the Dodgers/Angels game. The radio guys from the night before were nice enough to give us six free tickets to the game. Unfortunately, by the time we got there it was already the last inning. Oh well.




That night we drove to Huntington Beach where Broke City played a show at Perqs. It was a fun night!




Orange Blossom Special opened for the guys and it was fun to see them after hearing so much about them. Sunday we drove back to Utah... stopping at Panera in Vegas on the way. I go through Panera withdrawl like no other :)

Overall it was a very eventful and fun weekend! I drank six 5-hour Energy drinks over the course of the weekend but was still exhausted the whole time somehow. Can't wait to see how we celebrate next year!