Cabo vacation

Last week, we took a vacation with some friends to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for some fun in the sun and some relaxation. 

 We went to Cabo with John and Kristi.  Doug has been good friends with them since college.

 This was our walk down to the beach each morning.  Not too shabby!

 The weather was hot (just how I like it) and we had plenty of sun.  Although with my fair skin, I stayed most of the time in the cabana which was fine by me.  I read a good book, people watched and still managed to get a pretty decent tan.

 The waves in front of our beach were pretty intense at times, but we walked a little ways down the beach and found the perfect spot for swimming.

 We saw lots of people posing provocatively for photos so as a joke, Doug stretched out on the sand to pose for a picture.  Just as I snapped this one, a huge wave came up and he got soaked!

Now it's back to real life, but it was fun while it lasted!

Golf Tourney and Cancelled Flaming Lips...

(Karpy, Smo, Pate, Douglas)
Well the Golf Tourney went off without a hitch and was a great time for everyone despite the 115 degree heat that day. I stayed for the first half and took a bunch of pictures of everyone then I had to head home to ice down the beer and get the food ready.

(Chip, JT, Sherb & Royboy)

(Darrell, Frank, Defreese, Rice)

(Neil Shindler, Smokebelly, John Feary, Greg Cross, Humble's Boy, Adam)
Afterwards the guys came back to the house to eat and shower to get ready for the Brady District Block Party with the Flaming Lips. We have had these unbelievable temperatures and no rain for over 35 days now but on Saturday night we got a freak storm that passed through and collapsed the stage just prior to the show. According to the Flaming Lips camp, they had a ton of damage and their electronic light wall was destroyed. This is the electronic wall at last year's Flaming Lips New Years Eve Party:

Luckily no one was hurt but they lost almost a million dollars of equipment. We don't know yet if the concert will be rescheduled and the guys were so bummed out to miss the show but at least they had a great golf tournament.

2010 in Review

(Warning: LONG POST!)
What a year this has been! I knew it had been busy and crazy at times, but when I actually sat down and took an inventory of what happened this year even I'm surprised! Of course, I can't include everything but here is some of what went on in our world this year:
(Remember, you can click on the highlighted links to take you to the posts I've previously done or click on the pictures to make them larger)
Brave Girls:

What an experience this was. Something my soul so desperately needed - time to be still, time to think, and time to meet a group of amazing, like-minded women. I came back from Idaho with a new perspective and new friends.
At Brave Girls I met Rachel - and what a great year we've had! We signed up and traveled to multiple crafty venues this year. Looking forward to more in 2011!

Mary Englebreit Conference:

I traveled to St. Louis where I met up with Rachel and met her sweet friend Kara. We had such a fun time together on this trip! Creating, eating, sharing stories. It was great!

Craft Room Organization (Almost):

In 2010 I wanted to get my craft room in shape. At one point early in the year I literally couldn't walk around in there. I hired a personal organizer to come help me because yes, I was *that* overwhelmed with what I was facing. The organizer came and we worked for several days sorting, purging, planning - and things were coming along pretty well. However, I think I totally overwhelmed her because she had a minor accident on her bike and needed to take a break until she healed. I've tried to contact her and haven't heard another word. Guess I'm on my own to finish. I'm GOING TO COMPLETE this project in 2011. When I do, I will post before pictures (they will remind you of Hoarders) and afters. It's going to be good!
I left my consulting gig. Yep ~ unemployed. I had been feeling that it was time to move on but that is always a scary proposition especially when you don't know what is next. I took a leap of faith and decided I would take a month off and figure out what I would do after our trip. Well - a month has now turned into 7 months and I'm praying for work in the new year. No regrets though as to leaving - it was definitely time.

Our trip of a lifetime to Rome:

What a time we had!

I loved that Doug enjoyed himself so much on that trip. I did too but it made it even better for me that he loved Rome!

We ate and drank and totally absorbed the Italian culture. The food ruined us for food back home. Everything in Rome is so fresh and so flavorful and simple! We got home to tasteless garbage. What a bummer!
We took a trip back East that got cut short. While in NYC, before we could see my family in Connecticut, we got word that Doug's mom was very sick and we needed to get home right away. It wasn't good.
In September, we lost Doug's Mom. We miss you Carol...

Creative Connection:
Another *amazing* event! Rachel and I signed up for this one and could barely wait to attend! We can't wait for the announcement of the dates for 2011 because we are all over it!

What a surprise for us when we ran into our fellow Brave Girls Melody and Margie.

I went to Las Vegas for Inspiration Unlimited. It was my first trip ever to Vegas and I didn't really even get to see anything! I went straight to the hotel and attended the scrappy conference. I met some really nice ladies there and clicked with Collette (not pictured). I enjoyed the projects although, like usual I didn't get to finish them. Overall though, honestly, I didn't enjoy the event itself. The people were "different" - no where near as friendly as the women I've met at Mary Englebreit, Creative Connection and Silver Bella.

Silver Bella - This was my first year to attend and definitely NOT my last. I drove to Omaha and roomed with Rachel. Met some new friends, saw some "old" friends and took a handful of fun classes. Again - didn't get much completed but had such fun. That is what matters, right?

Just back from Omaha, Doug and I made the trip to Connecticut to meet my sweet new nephew Joao (pictured below). During our whirlwind trip we took a day trip to New York with Bobby & Jess.

We also had a baby shower for my sister January during that visit. It was a quick trip but so great to finally see my family - especially since the trip in August didn't quite work out.
We got to meet Baby Joao. I love my sweet nephew!

The day after Christmas Baby Garrett was born to my sister January. Can't wait to get to meet him!

Looking forward to a great 2011 - Happy New Year Everyone!

Sweet Christmas Banner & Weekend Happenings

Remember when I said I won the cutest banner from Elizabeth over at Bluebird Papercrafts! This picture doesn't even do it justice as to how cute it is in real life! Click on the picture if you want to make it larger and get a closer look.



If you haven't seen her blog, you really MUST check it out.


I didn't take a picture of the backs of the panels but trust me, they are equally as cute! I have the banner hanging in my office right now so I can look up at my bulletin board and enjoy it. Once Christmas is over, it is going up to my craft room where it will be proudly displayed all year long!


It was a busy weekend ~ Thursday night I met Kathy and her Mom Wanda at South Tulsa Baptist Church for their Christmas Dinner Theater.

The church members served us a delicious meal and then we watched the program. Although Tulsa is a city with around 850,000 people in the metro and surrounding areas, it really is a small town.
We sat at a table with some of Kathy's other friends and who should join us for dinner was the Emergency Room Vet that took care of Niles! Turns out she is good friends with Kathy's friend Linda. I thanked her over and over for the wonderful care she took of him while we were out of town. I guess you just never know where you will meet people again!
Speaking of Niles - he is doing much better. We took down the "critical care unit" - the special playpen where we were keeping him separated from the rest of the dogs and he has been released back into the "general population" ;) Doug has successfully managed to get not only Niles but Nestle, Phoebe and Teddy hooked on "Chicken Dinner". When Niles first came home he wouldn't eat or drink anything so to entice him we mixed canned chicken with rice and heated it in the microwave. We gradually moved him to dog food with chicken. Well, now *everybody* is getting "Chicken Dinner" - and expecting it too! So, twice a day now the assembly line is set up to mix up "Chicken Dinner". We'd better wean them off that pretty quick because at $2.00 a can, that little meal is going to cost us a fortune!
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Niles. Looks like our little patient is going to make a full recovery.
Friday I got a much needed haircut and Doug and I went to Los Cabos for dinner. I wish someone would tell them to stop putting so much garlic in their salsa. It was almost inedible! I ordered the ribs which were pretty good.
Saturday was a day of craft fairs! The Tulsa Herb Society works all year crafting for this big event called Carols & Crumpets held at the beautiful Tulsa Garden Center. Not the biggest of shows but what wonderful crafts! A few vendors had herbal soaps, lotions and other natural products that are always nice to be able to sample.
From there I headed south to the Darnaby craft fair at Union School. This show was huge! It was bigger and actually better than I thought it would be. There was a mix of handmade crafts and vendors with "retail" product which made for a good mix.
Earlier in the week I saw a promotion on TV about an Antique Toy and Craft show being held in Claremore. I was so excited and Doug offered to drive me and attend that event with me. What a disappointment it turned out to be. There were probably a total of 7 tables there - two were jewelry vendors (and not handmade jewelry) and the only "Antique" Toys were a bunch of junk that it looked like the lady had dug out of her garage and thrown on a table. We laughed about it and walked around the gun museum (the venue probably should have given me a clue as to the show!) The museum itself was actually neat, the show was the disappointment.

In Remembrance and Celebration

Today we said our final goodbye's to Doug's mom Carol. The service was beautiful and she was laid to rest next Kenneth Arms - her husband of 37 years. I can't help but think of the both of them smiling and watching the OU game from above. Go Sooners!
During the service the pastor reflected on some of the stories that we will always remember about her and we laughed and we cried. Though our hearts are heavy right now, we will look back on those memories and smile.


Also on our hearts and in our minds today are the memories of 2001 on that fateful day that changed our nation forever. It was a scary and confusing time and we all remember where we were and what we were doing when those planes hit the towers. My family was in Connecticut and I had just moved to Oklahoma a few months prior. I had an overwhelming sense of needing to be with my family - especially my Mom. Those were difficult days and I pray that the families who suffered tragedies have found some sense of peace in their lives and I have such gratitude for the people who work so hard every day to keep us safe.

In a much lighter note, today is my sister's birthday! Happy Birthday Amanda!!!
I hope you had a wonderful birthday today. :)

Amanda and Lier are expecting a baby boy next month and I can hardly wait to be an auntie to my little nephew!

Goodbye Carol - we will miss you.

Doug's mom passed away this weekend. She fought so very hard but this battle proved to be too much.



I could usually make her smile and laugh with my comments.



And of course there was always the ongoing rivalry of whether she loved Katie or Jen most ;)

Goodbye Carol. We love you.

New York Pictures and an update

Doug's mom remains in ICU and is still critical. It has been a very long week so continued prayers (if you are so inclined) would be appreciated.

Even though our time in New York City was short, we did manage to have some fun and eat our way around the city.
Our first meal in NYC was at Simply Pasta. The food was fabulous - we shared a Caprese Salad, I had Penne ala Vodka and Doug had a pizza. We completely stuffed ourselves.
"Rock of Ages" was playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theater and we had really great seats.

After lunch at Simply Pasta and before the show that evening, we trekked all the way from midtown to Soho so I could go to Kate's Paperie and so Doug could go to Supreme (the skateboard shop that ended up being closed!). Three years ago we took a picture in front of the Ben Sherman store and so we decided to take another one.


While taking a picture of ourselves in Times Square, someone kindly offered to take one of the both of us.



Awesome!


While visiting another blog I read about this fabulous waffle truck and knew I had to find the truck and have a waffle. We tracked it down and the selection of toppings for the waffles was amazing.
Look! they even had a big jar of Nutella - yum!

I opted for butter and real maple syrup with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar - excellent choice!


Yes, I ate the entire thing. It was the best waffle I think I have ever had. It was light and fluffy and slightly crispy on the outside.

We continued to walk and somehow stumbled on Magnolia Bakery - I was stuffed from the waffle but couldn't pass on getting a cupcake!
I decided to save it for later.



Of course by the time we got back to the hotel in the afternoon I couldn't resist any longer.
Chocolate with chocolate frosting and the cutest little sugar flower. Makes me so happy!


Just across the street from Magnolia Bakery was a little hotdog stand where Doug decided to get a hotdog.

He offered me a bite and even though I was so full I had to taste it. Soooo good! He thought so too.

Finally, we made our way to Central Park. We took some fun pictures there and saw the renovation in progress of the old Tavern On The Green.

That afternoon we had to make our way to the airport so that was our short trip to NYC.

Four Dogs, No Doug...

Yep, just me and four furry little friends tonight.

Niles:

Nestle:

Teddy:

Phoebe:


Doug is in Florida for a Stryker meeting. Wish I was there too. It's very quiet around here tonight...We miss you honey!