Summer Fun!

Well summer is in full swing around here and so far its been great.  I have always enjoyed summer for several reasons, including:


1) Pool time (magazine and book required)
2) Baseball (Go Rangers!)
3) 4th of July and Fireworks
4) My Birthday
5) Annual trips to Florida
6) Full concert schedule


And lucky me it is mid-July and I have accomplished all of the above items on my summer to-dos.  


1)  I have been enjoying great pool time on Sunday afternoon's after church.  Very relaxing and good time to get caught up on my reading (hello People and Real Simple).


2)  I have gotten to go to a few games already this summer, most recently Mom, Dad, Amy, Chris, and I went for a Friday/Saturday weekend in Arlington.  We watched the Rangers beat Oakland, it was a good time.

Me, Dad, and Amy (Dad really liked his shirt, it says Feel the Grip...haha)

The whole fam (love that we finally have another boy)

The girls.

The original Byrd clan (we got dad the hat for Christmas, he finally got to wear it).

Sisterly love.

 Since the game was on a Friday night we got to stay and watch the fireworks.  They did a TV theme and it lasted over 30 minutes.  Very good.

 Another firework shot.

Finally, the weeping willows, I love those.

3) (See above for the Fireworks).  The 4th of July was great.  I spent the weekend at the lake with some work friends and watch fireworks with my friends Nicole and Ashley in Highland Park.  (I didn't get any pics though, but the ones at the Ranger game were much better).

4) My birthday was super fun this year.  Thanks to an awesome roomie (Love you C), I got to celebrate with lots of friends from Dallas, OU, and work (we also had a party with the fam at home, complete with homemade ice cream, thanks Grandmommy!  I didn't get any pictures from that party though).  For the Dallas party, we went to a great Mexican place called Monica's where you get to dance on the stage if it's your birthday and they do a Conga line complete with a tequila shot at the end.  Yes Please!

 Me, Casey, and Audrea at dinner (my necklace was a gift from Sarah for my bday, I LOVED it).

 Having fun with Casey.

 Haylee and I at dinner.

 Getting to dance on stage with my tambourine.  The orange shoes were a gift from Heidi for the bday (I really liked my bday presents this year).

Me and my strawberry cupcakes Casey made for the party.  They were really good!

After dinner we went a Piano bar and got to sing some good songs, including a Disney song from The Little Mermaid and "Thong Song"....let's just say that the piano player was really well rounded.

All in all it was a great birthday and I have a good feeling about 26 (as Holly always says, she likes even numbers, so I have kind of started to lean that way too....26 is very well rounded number, don't you think?)

5)  Each year Heidi is nice enough to invite me to come and stay at her and Dr. Chapman's condo in Destin.  I have gone every year since 2003, except for last year when I was too busy with work to get away.  So this year, I wanted to make sure to get it back in the rotation again.  And what was super special about this year was that both my mom and dad got to go as well.  Now my dad hadn't been to Florida since 2003 so this trip was extra special for him.


Every year it varies on who all goes to Florida with us.  I have been with Jackson (Heidi's son and the brother I never had) and friends, work friends, Holly, and twice I have gone just me, Heidi, and Chapman.  No matter who goes we always have a good time.  This year the lineup was Mom, Dad, Heidi, Chapman, and Paula and Bert.  Mom, Heidi, and Paula have all three known each other since kindergarden and Dad, Bert, and Chapman put up with lots of old stories.  I was the youngest person on the trip by about 25 years, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.


We normally split the trip down there into 2 days, spending one night in New Orleans on the way.  I had a wedding in Oklahoma and actually ended up flying to Florida to meet the gang, but they got to drive through New Orleans and go to Cafe du Monde and the whole she-bang.  I was really sad to miss the drive because it really is one of the most fun parts.  I know most of you don't believe me, but we have a really good time driving across the country.  Particularly because we play the license plate game along the way.  In case you don't know what that is it is a game where you try to find all 50 license plates from the start to finish of your trip.  We play every year and we have only gotten all 50 once or twice.  Normally it comes down to some hard states like Vermont or Delaware (extremely hard to find).  Anyway, it makes the trip super fun.  Heidi and I are really good at it, and we keep each other in check (the hard states have to get double confirmed by two people, unless it is coming from a reliable source....which in Heidi's mind she is the only reliable source although I have kind of proven myself over the years).  The trait comes in handy, I can spot random license plates from a mile away.  I digress....more about the trip....


So I got a call from my mom on Sunday telling me that we were actually not able to stay at Heidi and Chapman's condo because it had been inadvertently rented out.  So we were being placed in another condo managed by the same rental company.  They thought it was going to be a disaster.  However, the replacement condo was great and we all liked it.  It was a good alternative since there was nothing we could do about it and they had already driven all the way to Florida.


I met the gang early on Monday morning after flying out from Oklahoma after the wedding.  I actually got a really good picture on the plane:

Once I landed I got a taxi (no one wanted to pick me up because they were all at the beach) and drove to the condo.  Once I arrived I was so excited to see our view from the new place:

I didn't take great notes on each day of the trip like I normally do, but our routine each day was about the same:  Breakfast on the patio followed by beach time for several hours.  This was normally followed up with lunch and adult beverages (we also checked in on the Casey Anthony case each day as it was airing while we were down there).  We then had more beach time followed by showers and afternoon shopping.  We normally returned in time for happy hour and appetizers at the condo and then would go to a late dinner and then off to bed to start the whole process over the next day.  Now that is my kind of vacation.  Very low key, but very fun, full of good food, good laughs, good shopping, lots of drinking (during the day and night....somehow the six of us went through 2 48 packs of beer and several bottles of wine during the week....as my dad said "I am on vacation and going to enjoy myself"), and good beach time.  


There were lots of funny moments and quotes from the trip that I wrote down, but somehow I could not find when I was trying to write this blog entry.  So, pictures will have to do.


Here are some fun pictures from the trip:

Dad, me, and mom at dinner one night.  We went to a good seafood place with the best hush puppies ever....so good!  This place also had the Voice on TV, which was another obsession of ours during the trip. 

 Bert and Paula

 Mom and I in our matching coverups purchased at Target.  Heidi got one too but wasn't around for the picture.

 Picture night on the balcony.  Normally we would do it on the beach but we were up on the 10th floor and decided to just take pics from the patio.  My dress and headband were trip purchases.  Dad has a great smile in this pic.

The whole gang (besides me because I was taking the picture).  

Now I have to explain this picture.  This was my riding companion on the drive home.  It is a Chinese New Year dragon costume.  Now I have been on a million trips with Heidi where she has found things for the store that ultimately have to get home somehow.  So we either have to make room for the said item(s) or get them shipped to Ardmore somehow.  These have consisted of a wedding cake pinata, a ceramic frog, a gigantic ice cream cone (this had to be delivered in a semi), pieces of a Carousel, and a 6 foot wrought iron chicken, among several other items.  She already had this piece picked out before I got there.  We walked into the antique store and she said "Can you see what I want in here?"  I spotted it immediately.

That pretty much defines our trip in a nutshell.  I always enjoy our Florida trips and I am glad my dad got to go this year, it made it extra special.

6)  Concerts:  Please see my last entry for the most awesome concert ever....(NKOTBSB!!!)

Audrea and I have tickets to see Keith Urban at the end of August, and I think Casey and I are going to see a cover band at the Dallas Arboretum.  I am really looking forward to that.

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am enjoying mine!

Until next time, Ciao for now!

Things Getting Me Through Busy Season

Well I am in the middle of busy season and that means getting up early, working into the night, and barely having time to get my laundry done, oh the life of an accountant.  It took me two weeks to watch the Golden Globes!  And if you know me, I normally have it watched and my best dressed list out the next day.  All that being said I haven't had the time to blog.  Until I have time to actually blog about something interesting I thought I would share with you all some things in my life that are currently making me a happy person during this time.


- Visits from dear friends:  over the past month I have had some visits from two of my best friends.  Holly came down for her birthday at the beginning of the month and Sarah came down last weekend to help us celebrate Casey's birthday.  I miss these two friends so much and love when I get to see them.


-Phone calls from dear friends:  I had a great phone call with my big sis in Kappa tonight.  She lives in Denver and it was so great to hear her voice.  I also had a great phone call with my friend Sarah from Ardmore where we are planning a trip to see Backstreet boys and New Kids on the Block....don't be jealous, we are REAL excited.


-My parents:  A couple of weeks ago was my dad's birthday.  I love my dad, he is such a simple man.  Our birthday celebration included my mom driving my dad and I to dinner with us having some Bud Light Roadies....it was perfect.  Mom's birthday is in a few weeks and I am sure we will do something equivalent for hers.


-My coworkers:  Luckily, even though I work long hours I work with great people.  We joke all day long and it makes the work that much more enjoyable.


-Awards season:  Oscar season is in full swing, and I have really enjoyed all the movies this year!  I have a couple more weeks to see as many of the films as possible and I still have a few left (it used to be so much easier when there were only 5 movies, now there are 10 so I have twice as many to try and see).


-The Bachelor (aka Brad Womack Round 2): I mean, what is there not to love....I have to say that Brad is a major tool who talks about his therapist a lot.  But I still love the show and will always watch my favorite Chris Harrison say "Ladies, this is the final rose of the evening...."  It doesn't get old to me.


-My Marathon Training Group:  I have signed up to do the OKC Memorial Marathon May 1.  That being said, I decided to join a running group to keep me motivated.  The group meets on Saturday mornings and has been a lifesaver for me.  Nevermind the fact that I am the youngest person in the group by at least 10 years, and also the only person in the group to never have run a marathon...... minor details!  It is great to get to know people while you run.  I have really enjoyed it.


-Snow Days:  I had a snow day yesterday from work.  It was glorious!  However, it was different than a real snow day.  I have never hated the invention of a laptop more.  So instead of going into the office, I worked from home.  But, it was quite glorious to stay in my pajamas all day and not have to get out in the ice!  That made working 11+ hours much better.


Well guys, that is all I have for now.  Have a great week and hopefully you will see me sometime in the near future!
  

A Crazy Few Weeks....

Hey friends!  Whew it has been a crazy month.  Let's just say I am so incredibly glad that I got to go to Hawaii right before a busy month at work.  I have put in an average of 50-60 hours at the office for the last 4 weeks, hence the reason for my lack of blog posts.  Lucky for me, we completed our big deadline at work, all while having a good time.  I have to say that I love my coworkers; we have such a great time together and get along very well.  Which is great considering that as auditors we work in conference rooms two feet away from each other.  We spend so much time together that by the end of the audit we are like a big family.  We have nicknames for each other, eat most of our meals together, and hear each other's funny stories and personal phone calls (I once had to explain to my mother what "poking" was with the guys I work with snickering two feet next to me).  So although we might work a ton, it is a pretty enjoyable experience.

Since I had been working so late, I had to cave on my Halloween costume and go with my backup costume, which is a Dorothy outfit I have had since high school.  It has come in handy at least 3 times since I was 16.  Casey and her boyfriend John were supercute as the Spartan Cheerleaders.  I went to a bar with some friends where I saw several other Dorothy's, and let's just say that I was the most tasteful out of the group.  The most creative Halloween costume I have seen in a while is below.  This is my cousin Jenny who went as an awkward yearbook photo.  Love it!

Last weekend (which was my first weekend to not work), we had a great time.  My sister, her husband Chris, my friends Sarah and Ryan, Casey and I all went to see Lady Antebellum, my absolute favorite group.  We had a blast!  The show was amazing (love their new single "Hello World") and there was some GREAT people watching, which consisted of a small Indian man who was literally having a religious music experience, a country couple in front of us that consisted of a rather large cowboy who was obstructing our view and his wife who was wearing a Bump It, and finally a couple who got into a knock down drag out fight on the way back to their car after the concert.  Apparently he had made her a mix CD with a Lady A song on it and she was pissed that he had been out of town 4 out of the 6 weeks they had known each other.  Hmmm, what is wrong with that situation???  Again I can't make this stuff up.  All in all it was a great night, and we even found someone to take our picture.  

 And our seats were so incredibly good.  They said "obstructed view" for some reason so we originally thought they would be behind a big pole or something.  But they were great!  The only thing that obstructed my view was the tall cowboy who stood right in front of me and Amy.

 Charles, Hilary, and Dave in action.  (Here's a little irony for you:  I am watching their CMA performance on my DVR right now for the second time in 10 minutes as I type this....I am a little obsessed).

The rest of the weekend was also pretty dang eventful.  Casey and I ran in a half marathon at White Rock Lake on Sunday.  It was a blast.  I was so incredibly proud of Casey, it was her first one.  She and her friend Elizabeth ran together with an impressive first time of 2 hours 12 minutes.  This was my third half, and I finished in 1 hour 50 minutes, which I am totally happy with.  Especially since I for some reason decided to run it during a week of working until midnight every night...stupid.  I haven't really gotten to blog about how much I love running.  I will keep it to a minimum here but I would just like to tell you a few things:  

#1 - I am not a natural at it, no one is.  I took up running towards the end of high school when I realized that I would need to start some form of exercise considering my dance days were over.

#2 - Anyone can become a runner.  Seriously, I couldn't run more than 2 miles when I first started.  You have to slowly build up your tolerance, but once you get to a good distance you will be shocked at how much easier each and every run is.

#3 - It is good for you!  I don't care what my mom keeps trying to tell me.  She is so worried about my knees and thinks I won't be able to walk by the time I am 50.  I have one thing to say to that.  I don't care.  If I can have 25 more years of good running I will be satisfied.

#4 - It is a great stress reliever!  I cannot tell you how much I love the hour I get to run (almost) every day.  It is the one hour of my day that I have to myself and listening to great music.  It calms my nerves and gives me a chance to reflect on my day.

#5 - Once you start, you won't want to stop!  

Ok, enough advocating running.  You get the point.  This race was special for me because it was the first race that my mom came and saw me in (although she jokingly said that she was only coming into town to see my aunt Trudy who was in Dallas).  Sarah and Ryan were there too which was great.  I have never been to a race and had people there for me at the finish line.  It was awesome.  My mom was a little over the top.  She had her iphone out and was taking pictures and posting them to facebook every 5 minutes.  She also decided to tag everyone in the picture that she wanted to share the picture with.  I then got an email from our friend Heidi who asked what picture of her I had tagged on facebook.  Oh Nance, I love you and wouldn't change you for anything, but we need to have a chat about your facebook obsession.  The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Lucky for me though, because I have such a great family and friends the day was a great experience.  Here is a picture of Casey, Elizabeth, and I after we finished the 13.1 miles.

Ok I realize this post has been the most random ever, but that is everything that has gone on the past couple of weeks.  Tonight was my first night to not work late since the beginning of October and I spent it getting caught up on my DVR and watching the CMA awards.  I want to go to Nashville for them next year so bad!  Congrats to Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum, and Brad Paisley who all took home big awards!

Have a great weekend everyone!  I will be spending it up in God's country, otherwise known as Norman, Oklahoma.  I am so excited to go to my first OU game of the season.  Yes I do realize that the season is almost over and we lost to Texas A&M last week, but still I will always have a love for OU football.

Until next time, Ciao for now!

Finale of Wedding Season 2010

Hello all!  Wow it has been a busy two weeks.  After Lacie's wedding in OKC I flew to Tulsa for my friend Katie's wedding, then flew back to Dallas to pack and leave for Hawaii the next day!  Whew!  Luckily, I made my flight, Hawaii was a blast (love you Hollus) and now I am back home just catching up on things before I have to go back to work (which thankfully isn't until Tuesday!  That was one of the smartest decisions ever!)  Don't worry, I took lots of good notes about our Hawaii trip and I will be posting them soon (you will need a chair and something to snack on....a LOT went down and most of the details will be very necessary!)


But this blog post will be devoted to the last two weddings I attended during the 2010 wedding season!  They were both a blast and I had so much fun catching up with both high school and college friends.


Wedding #1 - Lacie and Jordan


My friend Lacie and Jordan got married two weeks ago after several years of dating.  I've known Lacie forever, but mainly I worked with her at Cloverleaf for a few years back in college.  Holly and I made the drive up to OKC for her wedding, which was held at the Farmer's Market.  I loved how Lacie did her wedding.  Both the wedding and reception were held at the Farmer's Market.  You walked in and got to get a drink pre-ceremony (brilliant idea!).  You were seated at your table that would be your same table for the reception.  Right after the ceremony the party began!  Loved this idea as it didn't require any transportation from ceremony to reception.  Very unique and different.  Here are a few pics from the night:

 The lovely bride.  After the wedding we all went to the Skirvin for drinks.  Lacie - Holly and I thought it was so awesome that you hung out with everyone after the reception!  So fun!

 It's Official!

 Me, Lacie, Holly, and Taylor after the wedding.  Look at the gorgeous bow on Lacie's dress.  Fabulous!

 Lacie with lifelong buds (and avid blog readers) Austin and Derek.

 The happy couple.

All of the Cloverleaf girls that went to the wedding.  Five cameras trying to take pictures all at once = no one knows where in the world to look!!

Wedding #2 - Katie and Kyle

The last wedding of the season was for my dear friend Katie and her sweet fiance Kyle.  Katie is one of those people that you are just happy you met in life.  No matter what happens, she always has a smile on her face, she is sooooo much fun to be around, and always has a good time.  And Kyle is such a sweetheart.  The wedding was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to!  And we all danced until the very end.  I also ended up in the photo booth with a bunch of Kappas and Katie's granddad, which was hilarious.  And there was only two party fouls....which both included glasses of champagne dropping out of my hands....whoops!  It was such a blast to get to hang out with all of my Kappa friends for the weekend!  Weddings seem to be the only time we can all get together.  So, someone needs to get engaged soon....we only have a few left, and I am definitely not in the lead to win this bet....so let's get going girls with boyfriends.  Here are a few pics from the night (which ended with Aaron taking Nem and I to Taco Bell at 2 in the morning....when that happens you know it was a good night!):

 The beautiful bride.  Kate is getting a hands-on lesson about how to do the bustle!

 Kristen, Sarah, and Laurie.  Such good friends!

 Me and one of my favorite people and Kappa big sis, Annie.  Love the bridesmaid's tank top!

 Andrew came down from Colorado to be Ann Marie's date.  Luckily, he let me tag along as well! 

 You know Kyle loves being surrounded by a bunch of KKG's.  Doing the Kappa circle is always one of the favorite parts of weddings.

 The beautiful reception.  I mean it should be in a magazine.

 Sarah and I.  We were in the house party and although our dresses are very pretty, the zipper was broken on almost all of the dresses.  They each took about 15-30 minutes to zip.  I almost broke a finger getting Sarah's zipped.  But, as you can see, success! 

 Sarah, Carolyn, and I at the ceremony.

 Poor Ryan.  He always gets stuck holding bouquets and purses.  You are such a good sport!

 Me and Annie after the ceremony.

And my date, Emily.  Em lives in Fort Worth and her husband couldn't come, so we flew up together and were each other's dates to the wedding.  It was a blast.  Along the way the guy at Jersey Mike's and the guy at the airport thought we were sisters.  The second time we went along with it and said that our mom liked the name so much she used it twice.  Sadly, I think he believed us.

Okay, that is it for now.  Look for a day-by-day discussion from Hawaii sometime this week.  Until then, Ciao for now!