Doggie Date

We are in the process of heading to Kansas City to celebrate Joe's grandma's birthday! We had to make a pit stop as we left town for Joe to go to a quick meeting at the hospital. So Boomer and I had a date at Sonic while we waited. We do this a lot!! (yeah, I should probably try to make more human friends. Ha!)

No worries. It's only ice water! But I'd like to think he appreciates Sonic ice like his mama! :-)

Happy Friday!

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Winner!! Come On Down!!!

I enlisted Boomer to help me randomly draw our winners for the Summer 'O Fun giveaway. After all, he is completely un-biased because he couldn't read the slips as he drew each name. That's because he can't read English.

Only Spanish.

So let's get down to it!!

For the turquoise ring, the winner is...

Kendra @ Kendra Diaries!

 

For the Waverly kitchen towels and Kitchen Aid ice cream scoop, the winner is...

 Mrs. Dawker @ Champagne & Bon Bons!

For the Gold Canyon candle in Sugar Cookie, the winner is...

 Carie @ Life of Carie!

Congrats girls! :)

Please email me your address so I can send you your goodies!

(Y'all, trying to get these pictures was "paw-thetic". It took two humans, two pockets of treats and many re-takes. I don't even know how people take pictures of their children. Ha!)

Things You Should Know About

I decided to put a list together of all the internet sites I wish I would have known about sooner. Sites that I found, or was told about, that are awesome and I wanted to kick myself for not finding it sooner. But really, you found my site and nothing can top that. ;-)

Polyvore
The web's largest fashion community. Mix and match items from any shopping website and create collages or outfit inspirations.

Picnik
The best online photo editing site. For those of us who don't have PhotoShop. It's like the poor man's PhotoShop. But probably not as good. But still really good.

Pandora
The best online radio site where you can create unique music stations. And it's free. Absolutely free. Take that, iTunes!

Photobucket
Online photo hosting site. It's awesome for photo organization.

Okay, up until now, all the sites started with 'P' and the OCD part of me panicked a little when I had to list something starting with another letter. Hold me, I am ill.

TripAdvisor
The best site for researching vacations, with info on activities, hotels, food and more. You can plan out and save the details for an entire trip and the reviews on everything are spot on.

SeatGuru
You shouldn't book a seat on a flight without referring to this site. It's a guide to the best and worst seats on any plane.

Shop It To Me
You add your shopping preferences (size, brands, department, etc) and it scours the internet for items that match them and puts them in one spot. I used to think I was too lazy to shop in the mall because it required walking from store to store, so I shopped online. Now I guess I'm too lazy to click through multiple websites. Ha!

ING Direct
Joe and I have our savings here - ING has about the best interest rate and also allows you to divide up your savings into several separate funds, like we have a "vacation" fund and so on.

That's all I got for now. However, YOU probably know of some websites that I never have. And they're probably really cool. So, go on, tell me all about your favorite websites!!

P.S. Don't forget tomorrow is the last day of the Summer 'O Fun Giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment to win one of three prizes!

Summer 'O Fun GIVEAWAY

I'm so excited to be doing a giveaway today! I LOVE Summer so I thought I'd do a mid-summer giveaway to celebrate! Plus, Christmas is five months from yesterday - let the season of giving begin!! Ha!

Instead of doing one big pot of goodies, we here at Living Life Abundantly, LLC decided to pick three separate prizes so you have a bigger chance of winning. Sounds good, no?

The first winner will receive a gold and turquoise cocktail ring. I thought this was so cute and it's my favorite color and perfect for summer! It's size 7 and I think it would like great on any of your fingers. Except maybe your thumb... ;-)

The second winner will receive a beautiful Waverly kitchen towel set and a new matching Kitchen Aid ice cream scoop. For some reason I'm loving this lime green for summer!

The third winner will receive a 5oz Gold Canyon candle in the Sugar Cookie scent. These are my ULTIMATE-ULTIMATE favorite candles. I order them from Jacki - they burn so clean and they are more affordable than other candles on the market. I just spent 40 something dollars and brought home two sacks of candle goodies! I was burning the Pool Towel candle in my living room last week and Joe kept going on and on about how good our house smelled!

So here's how you enter!

First, make sure you're a follower!

You get 1 entry for a comment under this post.

You get 3 entries for posting about this giveaway anywhere on your blog.

I'm drawing names on Thursday, July 29 so you don't have much time! :)

Happy Monday - I hope you win!!!

My Yesterday

My yesterday was a day of complete random! 

I got up first thing in the morning and loaded up some old clothes into my car and took them to Goodwill. Somehow Joe's old ratty flannel pajama pants and 1980s-esque Chiefs Football sweatshirt made it into the bag and I accidentally gave them away (sorry babe!) ;-)

Then, I ran over to Borders to buy Eat, Pray, Love. Have y'all read this book?? It's good so far! I promised my BFF I'd read it before the movie came out (nothing like waiting until the last minute!)

Then, when the temperature maxed out to about 400 degrees, Boomer and I took a walk around the neighborhood. He managed sniff every blade of grass in our neighborhood and I managed to sweat through my t-shirt. Ha!

Last night Joe and I sanded and primed my little FIVE DOLLAR twin bed. I think I'm going to paint it ivory but I'm still deciding. What do you think?

And we also booked a vacation for September last night! Well, not really a vacation for Joe, but a convention for work but I get to tag along too (which I think if fair because the last time we were in Las Vegas I was the one working!) We are going to stay in the Planet Hollywood towers. I thought their rooms looked really cool and modern.

I decided to put on a Summer 'O Fun Giveaway on Monday! So don't forget to check back then!

The Details

The devil is in the details. 

I'm not really a detail person myself; I'm usually best able to see the big picture in situations.

But I have an exception. I love details in people's homes. I love to see how people arrange their magazines on their end table. What things they sit out on the bathroom counter. What kind of silverware they have. It's the little details that really describe who we are, right??

So, here are some of the new details at my house today.

Throw blankets in an apple pickin' basket.

Leopard print jewelery organizer I just hung up.

Brownie with german chocolate cake frosting.

My quote of the day.

Nest on the coffee table.

What are some of the details at your house?? :)

Playing Catch-Up

I had so much fun spending the week at my parent's house but I missed Joe like crazy. And my parents don't have wireless internet.

I don't know which is worse.

My email is overflowing and I haven't read any blogs all week! I've never felt so out of the loop!! Ha!

So today I'm going to play catch up on everything. Housework. Laundry. Blogs.

Oh, but I did want to show you something. I found this antique wood twin bed at a garage sale on Friday. For $5! I can't wait to paint it and put it on our office as a day bed. But not today. Housework. Laundry. Blogs.

Don't forget I'm also going to be doing a giveaway this week that I'm super excited about! :)

Happy Monday!!

Sugar and Spice

Last night my friend Shawna and I went to visit another friend, Jacki for dinner. They both have little girls that are about three months apart. All night I kept thinking to myself "sugar and spice and everything nice" because they were both little angels all night and I wanted to take them both home with me! Ha!

Jacki made us a feast of tacos and all the fixins. It's better for the scales that I do live so far away because she is an awesome cook and hostess!

Jacki sells Gold Canyon candles so I got to "shop" a little while I was there! Full Service!


I got an extra candle just special for one of y'all, so I'll do a giveaway here soon so I hope you win! These candles are the best. The food ones smell so good I want to take a spoon to them. Ha!

Happy Wednesday!


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Gypsy

This morning I got up, packed my bags, painted my toes, and headed to Kansas City.

I packed plenty of books and magazines because I plan to log quite a bit of time in my parents pool. I've got lots of sundresses and two pairs of sunglasses.



I'm sure it's going to be about 100 degrees FerenHOT all week!



I'm going to spend time with my friends and family because once grad school starts next month I'll probably have to go on a self induced lock down to keep up with classes. But for now... I'm seizing Summer!!



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It's Getting Hot, Hot, Hot

Despite the fact that it was approximately 458 degrees F on Saturday, Joe and I decided to organize our garage. We sure are gluttons for punishment. We had stacks of boxes that we've just moved from house to house since we've been married and we just never got around to going through it all. Plus, the scraps from several projects, like constructing a headboard and putting in landscaping were still lying around. So we organized, trashed, sorted and sweated the day away. It was glorious. Except not.

I convinced Joe to let me label the areas on his workbench. He wouldn't let me make pretty labels with my label maker so I used the next best thing, a Sharpie and Duct Tape. Ha!

When it was finished we realized we had enough paper towels and Ziploc baggies to last a lifetime.

The good news is that we got it all finished in one day! Hallelujah! Now I won't be embarrased to open our garage door! Ha!

On Saturday night a girlfriend I went to a Girl's Night at a cute little Wine Bar here in town. They had a competition for each girl to come up with her own signature martini using a list of ingredients they provided. It's harder than you might think but the girl who won made such a good one they're adding it to the menu!

On Sunday Joe and I tried a new restaurant in town that had is now my new FAVORITE! Mmmmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it - Lebanese food!

This morning I'm driving to Kansas City to spend the week with my parents and friends. I've got a lot of stuff planned to keep me occupied!

How was your weekend??

Absent

For the last week I've had a hard time remembering what day of the week it is.

I can't keep up with the laundry or dishes.

I haven't been good about emailing or calling my friends (or blogging!).

All because something has been taking my attention.

I avoided the Twilight obsession.

But now I am vampire obsessed.

With True Blood.

Does anyone else watch?? What is it with us and vampires lately?? Haha!!

Mug Shot

After thirteen months of living in the great state of Kansas I finally got my Driver's License. Apparently the deadline is two years. So look at me - I was finally early for something! Did you feel that? The Earth just shifted on its axis! Ha!

Weekend

It was definitely a weekend for the record books - it rained ALL weekend here in Kansas!!
Friday night Joe and I went to a party with the other residents. They were celebrating being "25% done with residency" which tells me (a) they're nerds, and (b) there's no excuse too small to have a party! Ha!
I was full of Independence Day spirit so I dressed in red, white and blue and also made everyone a little baggie of sugar cookies shaped like stars. Yes, I had a Martha moment!

Saturday was our anniversary and my sweet hubby surprised me with breakfast in bed (chocolate chip pancakes!). We lazed around pretty much all morning and then decided to go see a matinee movie. Yes, it's been four years, not sixty, but we have a love of the matinee.We saw Knight and Day and it was awesome! Tom Cruise really repaired himself in my mind. Loved it. Want to own it. I didn't even put a stitch of makeup on. It was that kind of rainy day.

Then, we went to a Deli and stuffed ourselves silly. Nothing like a stomach ache to seal a great anniversary!! Ha!

Then we walked around the mall and picked out anniversary presents for each other. Joe will use any excuse to go into the "golf clinic" at Dick's Sporting Goods. He tested out a new club we ended up getting. It's the one that hits the ball a long ways.

It was so rainy on Sunday I really didn't know if we'd see any fireworks at all. But the clouds parted about 8:30pm and the fireworks started right up. We live at the edge of town and we could sit on our front porch and see about 10 fireworks shows going on at once. That's the benefit of living in a state flatter than a pancake! You can see for miles!

How was your 4th of July??

4 Years

Four years ago tomorrow I woke up among my best friends from a very restful sleep.

My mom had made a home-cooked breakfast and it was a beautiful sunny day.

This was the day I got married.

I remember arriving to the church and thinking to myself "the next time you leave this place you'll be married." And I wondered what Joe was thinking.

Us girls gathered in the bathroom at the church and got ready. There wasn't much mirror space but we made it work!

My sister helped me put on false eyelashes and my best friend Shawna helped me get my lipstick just right.

My mom gave me her diamond earrings as my "something borrowed" and she helped me put them on. I remember I never took them off until after the honeymoon but I was so worried I would lose them!

Getting into the dress was a little challenging! We had never practiced getting into the dress while the veil was on my head!

My mom helped me tie the satin sash.

Joe and I decided to exchange letters to one another at the church. I decided to write mine there, in the moment, but I had forgotten to pack paper. Someone tore out a sheet of paper from their planner for me. Of course, Joe's was written perfectly, and folded delicately inside a wedding gift, a jewelery box he had his best man deliver!

Inside the jewelry box he had put mementos from our relationship: the first ring he ever bought me, pictures from when he would visit me while I lived in Houston, and my engagement ring that I had given him the night before to hold on to. Of course I cried like a big baby! 

I remember my photographer getting some pictures of us before the wedding started. And I felt pure, solid JOY.

My hand was shaking I walked down the aisle. I remember thinking "it's hard to see with this veil on!". Then I locked eyes on Joe and I think I floated the rest of the way. 

The rest of the bridal party came and I felt so surrounded by love.

Our vows are a blur to me! I wish I remembered them better but I don't! I remember looking into Joe's eyes and feeling loved beyond belief.

I think we ran back down the aisle! Pure love - I couldn't believe we were actually married!

We made our grand exit as everyone threw rose petals at us and clapped and laughed.

We jumped into the getaway car, which was a vintage car my parents had fixed up. I remember Joe, after many tries couldn't get it started! So we sat there, with the crowd laughing (with us, not at us!!) until my dad came to our rescue! Ha!

We drove around, out in the country, and just kept saying to ourselves "Oh my gosh! We did it! Oh my gosh!" and laughing.

I loved our reception because it felt so warm.

We sat at our own little table. And we actually ate at our reception! (when we weren't kissing!)

Our first dance was to our song, "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. We still get giddy when we hear that song on the radio!

We danced and laughed and loved.

The cake was one of my favorite parts because our cake lady had designed it to look like my wedding dress - which was a complete surprise to Joe! The thing was almost as big as I was! We had red velvet cake, peanut butter cake, chocolate cake and white cake. 

My mom made Joe's grooms cake of the OU Football stadium. She asked someone to add the goal posts at the reception and whoever that was put them in upside down but no one fixed it! We still laugh about that now! Ha!

I remember our last song was "At Last" by Etta James and we said goodbye to Joe's grandfather who told me to "take care of him". He's now gone so that's a very special memory!

We waved goodbye and drove away.

Happy Anniversary, Joe! I can't wait to see what the next 60 years bring us! I know no one is perfect, but you are darn close! :)