Catching up

2 weeks, 3 days = zero posts. Sorry.

We have a lot to catch up on, so I'll get started.  

We left off just before Christmas and I was getting ready to go see my nephew in his very first band concert. When I mentioned it to the Mister, he wanted to go - but was convinced that the 5th grade band didn't have much of a chance at a grammy winning performance.  He was wrong!  These kids were awesome, especially considering their age.  The high school had a jazz performance that was really good too.  All of the Christmas music made me oh so happy!

Our little musician!

He did so well that James and I wanted to treat him to ice cream!

James, Duncan, Sarah (niece)

In other random news...Chinese food is a weakness of mine and I always look forward to my fortune at the end of the meal.  This one made me smile :)

Check out this hot air balloon! This picture was taken as I left my office a couple of weeks ago.  I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon - it's on my bucket list.

Check out the Oklahoma sky :)

Look for more updates soon!

How Great Thou Art

Today is Wednesday.

I'm over the hump and on my merry way to an extra long weekend.  I think it is time for another music break.

There are a lot of reasons I love this song:

First and foremost, I love Jesus and this is a beautiful song of praise. Second, I'm from Oklahoma and so is Carrie Underwood, which practically makes us best friends, right?

I remember watching this live a long time ago and every once in a while, I look it up to watch it again.  It will take a minute to load, but I promise it will be worth it. Watch through the end - goosebumps.

For your listening pleasure:

Day of Silence

I am sure you all share my sadness over the events that took place in Connecticut last Friday.  The blogging world is taking today as a day of silence to remember the victims.  If you'd like to send your support financially, click on the button below.

Festival of Lights

So, after the hair incident was resolved, a couple of my girlfriends and I met up.  Each December we meet for dinner and a trip to Chickasha, OK to look at Christmas lights.  This year was our fifth year of our annual tradition!  The three of us met in grade school and have been friends ever since.  I truly cherish my friendship with these two.

Elizabeth and Ashley at Texas Roadhouse

Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant and we are so excited!  She was craving steak, so we were happy to oblige.  Texas Roadhouse never disappoints!  We called ahead to reserve our time slot and didn't have to wait at all once we got there :)  Another perk of Elizabeth being pregnant is that she is our designated driver, so Ashley and I tried out the strawberry Long Island Iced Tea. Verdict is: Awesome! We will be having that one again.

After a delicious dinner, we headed to Chickasha for the Festival of Lights. The line just to get into the park had to be 2 miles long! It took us about an hour to get to the entrance of the lights! It's a good thing we had great company and hilarious conversation.

Another part of our tradition is that we take a horse drawn carriage ride. We've done this, even when it is literally less than 20 degrees outside.  Luckily, this weekend we had great weather. 

We are on the light bridge in this picture.  After about 20 tries of taking our own picture, we finally broke down and asked someone to take it for us. 

My iPhone really doesn't do well with these lights - but isn't this cool?!

One of the things that sets this show apart from the other light setups is the water. The reflection is beautiful. 

What a wonderful night! I hope we can continue this tradition for a long, long time.

Haircut Disaster

On Saturday morning I planned to wake up early and be one of the first people at the mall.  I had several gifts I needed to pick up and the mall I needed to go to is notorious for running out of places to park. 

I have also needed a hair trim for weeks and failed to make an appointment sooner.  I thought I could quickly get a trim and it would already be styled to go out with the girls on Saturday night - so I swung into a hair salon in the mall.  I never do this. Ever.  I have a hairdresser that I love (Jo), so I thought I'd just get a trim and make an appointment for a color soon with Jo. 

Big mistake.

  

I knew that I was unhappy the moment I stepped foot outside of the salon. When I got home, James said it didn't look as bad as I'd portrayed over the phone. I almost felt better - but then.....as I turned to walk to the bathroom to try to fix it, James stopped me and said, "Wow, that really is uneven in the back. Is it supposed to look like you have a tail?"  What?  OMG - did he just ask if I had a tail?!!!!   

I immediately panicked and this is the message I sent to my real hairdresser 30 seconds after this conversation with James.

I packed up my stuff and was out the door in seconds..  I made the walk of shame into her salon to explain why I "cheated" on her with another hairdresser.  She finished up with her current client, sat me down and evaluated the damage.  We've been working on growing my hair out - that is down the drain now.  She straightened out what she could and I left a happy camper.

Before - note the 'tail', maybe mullet is appropriate too..

After

Thank goodness of Jo making herself available to fix my disaster.  I seriously considered canceling my plans with the girls to avoid public.  Since Jo worked her magic on me, I actually got compliments on the new haircut.  Whew - catastrophe averted! and....

Lesson Learned.

12.12.12

Today is 12/12/12.

It was another crazy day at work so I am glad to be home.  Today's post is pretty random.

Last night I went to a play with a friend from work. Her 10 year old daughter was in the cutest musical.  Santa's elves ran into a group of pirates - the elves taught the pirates the lesson of how good it feels to give instead of always taking.  I loved it!

 On my way home, I tried to take a picture of the lights on our house. This is from across the road, so the patches of black are the trees blocking the view.  I have got to start using my real camera instead of my phone... ignore the crazy bush lights - I need to add a couple more sets.

James and I went to Raising Cains today for lunch.  I've decided I need one of these in my kitchen!

The Christmas cards have been pouring in - I've got to get mine out soon! The envelopes are getting fancier every year - and I love it!  In fact, I picked my Christmas cards this year because I love the envelope.   I removed the addresses to protect the innocent ;)

I read an interesting article today - I've never thought of this, but I'll definitely be paying closer attention to the number twelve.

It is generally thought that it takes twelve people, accomplishments, things or conditions to make one perfectly created item, for instance;

• Twelve months completes a full year
• Twelve apostles
• Twelve signs of the zodiac
• Twelve hours twice completes one full day
• Twelve people sat on the UFO panel, the Majestic 12
• Twelve divinities in Greek mythology
• Twelve cranial nerves are in the human body
• Twelve principle Gods in Greek religion
• Twelve Days of Christmas
• Twelve people on a jury
• Twelve (roses, donuts, eggs, etc) 
• Twelve people have walked on the moon
• Twelve people sat at King Arthur's round-table
• Twelve inches to a foot
• Twelve steps in alcoholic anonymous
• Twelve Tribes of Israel
• Twelve constellations

If you want to read more, click here. 

Hope everyone is having a great week - the weekend is approaching!!

Christmas Party and Big Win!

After the kiddos arrived sugared up safely at their house - I went home to prepare for my company's Christmas dinner at Remington Park.

I was a picture taking failure on Saturday night - I meant to take a picture of the horses for y'all!

James and I hadn't been out in a while, so it was a nice treat.  Most of our time was spent eating the awesome food and there may have been a drink or five two involved.

Here's the only decent picture we took all night.

We sat with my boss, Cheryl and her husband, Don.  They were a ton of fun - we even did some horse race betting.  And... we WON!

Drum role please....

$13.20! Can you believe it?!  Okay, maybe not that exciting for you, but it was super exciting for me.  Nevermind the fact that we spent $16 to win $13.20.  That's okay though - it was really fun!

We'd planned to meet up with Gary and Ashley afterward, but we were all exhausted. So, we took a rain check and plan to meet up later this week.

Well, I've had 3 posts and we haven't even discussed Sunday yet!  Busy, busy, busy.  Have you done anything exciting for Christmas yet?