Happy New Year!!!

Does it feel to anyone else that every year just keeps going by faster and faster?!  I always remember old people saying that and not believing them... guess that's just another sign that I'm old.  Ha.

I can say that 2012 was a wonderful year and one that I've loved reflecting back on- so many changes and challenges that made me a stronger person.  I know that 2013 has even better things in store!!!

I've been thinking about my personal resolutions/goals for the year and here's the 
TOP 10:

1.  Read "Jesus Calling" daily- it's an awesome, short devotional if you're in the market to keep God a part of your daily life.

2.  Workout a minimum of three times a week.  I go through phases of working out and I have finally found something I'm obsessed with- Bar Method- it's so fun and challenging!  It's unfortunately expensive but the good thing is you feel really guilty for paying all that money and not going...

3.  Continue working on Blake's Thanksgiving present (I can only say this because he NEVER reads my blog... I'll share with you more later on what I'm doing for him).

4.  Read one book per month that's not for pleasure (not that I will quit reading the fun stuff!)

5.  Find and attend a bible study... or maybe start one!

6.  Marry my best friend... on September 7th... in Florida... YAY!!!!

7.  Buy our first home together (hence the resolution below)!

8.  Set a budget and follow it  (NO FUN).  We use Mint- it's so easy, safe and free.  It sends you an alert on your phone when you're getting close to going over your budget (whether it's for shopping, groceries, dining out, etc.).  It's awesome and someone I was recently talking to said it saved their marriage- ha!

9.  Tithe a minimum of 10% of our annual income.

10.  Get better about blogging more regularly.  I am going to try really hard to do this!!!  Feel free to call me out if I don't.  : )

Wishing you and your family an amazing 2013!!!

Happy 31st, Blake!

Big Blake had his 31st birthday, so I had to throw a party... especially since he just got me such a great present for my finger!  : )

I knew it was going to be so hard to top last year's pub crawl (thanks for letting me steal your idea, Amy) so I thought we would keep it fun and low key this year.  I asked Blake's friend Grayson if we could borrow his home since it's bigger than my apartment (I am so ready to buy a house!!!) and started the planning.  We went with a beer theme this year and started the party right before the OU/ west virginia game- thank goodness we pulled it out and won at the end or it wouldn't have been a very exciting party!  Here's some decorations from the big day:

The boys played games outside (the weather was WARM for November which was perfect)!

For the food, I made the following:

Chili- I forgot to take a picture, but I just did a crockpot recipe so that I didn't have to stress out about cooking during the game.  I got all the stuff so they could make frito pies if their heart so desired.

Here's a quick picture of the food setup, pre-food:

 Tailgate Dip

Bacon Pops

Blue Moon Cupcakes- I was questioning these a bit, but they were actually AWESOME!

The food went over great and it was a successful party. Thank goodness for the "Mason Luck" (his friends think he always gets lucky so they made him hold the TV- nerds), we even pulled out another Sooner win!

.... and the win was followed by the "Mase Guitar"....

All in all, I would say it was a successful Beerday!  ; )

We're ENGAGED!!!

The weekend of November 9th will go down in history as one our best weekends EVER!

Blake's company headquarters in in Santa Barbara, CA so he gets to travel that way about once a quarter for meetings (tough life, I know).  Anyway, he invited me to meet him up there for the weekend to "celebrate his birthday" which is on November 12th.  Of course I said yes, with the hopes I might be getting a better present than he would... ha!  I might have even called my dad to see if Blake had asked him any certain question lately...

We started the day with an awesome breakfast, then headed out on a wine tour... it was BEAUTIFUL and so much fun!  Here are some fun pics from the day:

After our fun day of tasting wines, we headed back to the hotel where I had a minor case of the hiccups- ha!  Blake was in a hurry to make it back so we could go to the top of the hotel and see the sunset but wanted to get checked into the room first.  So, our room "wasn't quite ready" when we got back which I thought was a bit odd but didn't think too much about it.  We finally got checked in to the amazing SUITE because Blake "wanted to surprise me".  Of course by then, I was getting pretty hopeful that it was going to be a REALLY good weekend.

He wanted to go catch the sunset so we ran upstairs to the rooftop when I realized no one else was outside.  A quick look to my right and I saw the most beautiful sunset view, tons of rose petals, and a bottle of champagne and two flutes.  I knew what was about to happen and he told me he had a question to ask me, to which he got down on one knee, said the sweetest things ever and asked me to be his wife!!!  It truly was perfect... except I didn't bring my purse so I had to run and get it after the excitement to document the big event (excuse the cry face):

We drank champagne, cuddled and just enjoyed the moment for a while before we started making the phone calls to the family and friends.  We then went to an AMAZING dinner to keep the celebration going:

(Notice my hand is posed the exact same in all these pictures... probably will be seeing that from me for a while...)

I can't even begin to explain how happy I am to spend the rest of my life with this man.  He truly makes me the happiest girl in the world and I couldn't be luckier!!!  Loving him is the best feeling in the world.

P.S.  When I called my dad he said no and I knew Blake hadn't because my dad is an awful liar.  So, once Blake asked me the question, I thought he didn't ask permission from my dad.  He said he did.  So, I asked him when- pretty sure he waited until I was on the plane heading his way.  He might know me a bit better than I thought....

Let the wedding planning begin!!!!

Red River Domination

Pretty sure OU/ Texas ranks up there with Christmas... well, that is if we win (which has been three years in a row, by the way).  This year actually was even MORE FUN for a few reasons:

1.  My friends made the trip!!

2.  I didn't have to catch a flight or make a 4 hour drive while feeling awful that Sunday.

3.  We met Brian Bosworth (for those who don't know who that is, you're obviously not a Sooner...

Our weekend started with the normal OU/Texas bash.  This year Blake's friends rented out a place called the Candle Room where all door proceeds went to the Reed Academy, which is an autistic school that Blake's niece, Violet, attends in New Jersey.  Just in the time I've known Violet, I can see the impact this school has made on her life- she has progressed so much and her family will be forever grateful for the school.  Here are some fun pics that didn't make good ol' Facebook:

 Ol' Blake was definitely the star of the show... it's okay to act like a freshman in college this weekend, or at least that's what he thinks.  ; )

 As you can see, I wasn't the only one that thought Blake was a weirdo...  

 I think it's obvious by now that I was in a kissing mood...

 And here's the Boz!!!

 ... and I decided to kiss the Boz (which Blake said is completely a pass)

 He hates Texas too...

 We then had people over at my apartment at 8:00 for pre-game... it sounded like a great idea until I didn't wake up until 7:55.  Oops.  Good thing I made everything the night before!  

 This is Blake's sister Lori and her hubby Creede... they're fun!

 I don't think I liked what Aaron was saying...

It was such a fun weekend!  Sooner fan or not, you would be CRAZY not to experience an OU/texas weekend... most fun EVER!!!

It's Been a YEAR?!

Holy Moly.  Today officially marks the day that one year ago, I packed up my life and moved to Dallas, Texas.  If you bet me all the money I had that I would ever move from Tulsa, I would have bet every. single. penny.

In the past year, so much has changed but luckily some things have stayed the same:

1.  I'm still in love with this guy:

2.  I still REALLY miss these girls and my fam:

3.  I MISS Pinterest Parties!!!

4.  I MISS ALL MY FRIENDS.... I still think Tulsa girls are WAY cooler...

Here's to many more happy years in the Big D!

Dad Does Dallas

Well, my dad finally decided to make a trip to the Big D!  It's the first time he's made the trip so I had to make sure he had so much fun that he would want to come back all the time.  He's not a big traveler so it's quite hard to talk him into leaving Tulsa.  

The first night, we headed to the Rangers game with Blake.

 It was a last minute trip so we were happy to find three good seats on the lower level.  Once the sun went down below the stadium (which was only about 30 minutes into the game), it didn't feel that hot at all thank goodness!

Dad and I headed to the JFK museum the next day and did that whole thing- it was actually really interesting and crazy that he got shot so close to where I live.  Later that afternoon, Blake swooped us up and we headed to do a little bowling.

I came out of the gate pretty strong, but my dad ended up beating us both the first 3 games.  I actually beat Blake once and I went to take a picture and he reset it before I had a chance to snap the picture- rude.

The last game was the closest game in the history of close games:

We finished the night at Javier's for some great food and the cigar bar.

Mission Fun with Dad accomplished- he's already planning another trip at the end of September!

A Mexico Wedding

For our final wedding in June, we took off to the Riviera Maya to celebrate Jon and Elizabeth's wedding!  

Jon is one of Blake's fraternity brothers, but I actually became friends with him my freshman year so I consider him one of my friends too.  : )  

We left on Saturday morning as the wedding wasn't until that Monday.  A lot of people went down Friday morning, but with all the weddings we just couldn't justify another day off work.  And let's be honest... we are too old for more than 3 nights of pretending we're back in college.  

We got there and headed straight to the pool where everyone was already having their fun!  We made sure to jump right in...

One of the group members had an underwater camera... how fun is that?  Since I have to hold my nose, we decided it would be more fun if someone did it for me.

The next night was the rehearsal dinner on the beach- it had the most amazing views and the most awesome slideshow.  The couple tried their hardest to find pictures of everyone who made a trip to Mexico and incorporated it in the slideshow- no telling how long that took them but it was very sweet!

The next night was the wedding and it was GORGEOUS.  It was actually the first Jewish wedding I've ever attended- it was awesome.  There are so many rituals they incorporate that it really makes it special.  One of them that I LOVED: before the wedding, the wedding party all watches the bride and groom sign a piece of paper with all their vows.  It is framed and put in their house so their commitment will always be top of mind.  

And of course, the reception was AWESOME.  Once the speeches were over, the special song came on (not sure what it's called) and everyone ran onto the dance floor to start the party, complete with throwing the bride and groom up and down in their chairs.  

Talk about the best party starter ever.  Don't be surprised if I incorporate some of these rituals whenever I get married.  : )