(Mainly) Wordless Wednesdays-My Favorite Things to Make

Crash Hot Potatoes

Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Bread

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

French Onion Soup

Back in OKC!

I have been MIA the last two weeks it seems. I was called to duty to work in our Oklahoma City office for two weeks. Last week I was busy, busy! Our Oklahoma City store is much busier than our other locations to put it mildly. Being back in OKC, I have come to realize a few things.

First, I really miss all the people I work with in the OKC store. I worked here with pretty much everyone that is here now for 3-1/2 years. I work from 7am-5pm and when you work with people that much they basically become your family. I am lucky that I have co-workers who make it fun coming to work. It's crazy for me to think about that I actually spend more time with co-workers than I do my own husband! Luckily, I get to work with him so I get to see him a few extra hours some days.

Second, my in-laws are great! They have been kind enough to let me, and the pup, stay with them the past two weeks. They are always so generous and hospitable. I am so lucky that I have in-laws that I truly enjoy being around day in and out.

Finally, although I am technically "home," home isn't home without Mitch being here. I really miss coming home from work, having dinner and just sitting around enjoying my evening with my husband. In the last 2 weeks, we have been together, 4 days. I'm not a fan of it AT ALL. I think the song, Home by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros says it best, "Home is wherever I'm with you."  I have considered "home," to be OKC for about 10 years now and I know I will consider it home for the rest of my life, but I have come to realize being away from him so much lately that my home is wherever I am with Mitch. I have lived with him in Shreveport and now in Perryton and although it isn't close to family or friends, my home is wherever I am with my husband, and Max of course! You can't forget him!

Girl's Weekend!

This past weekend I flew to Dallas to surprise one of my best friends.  A few weeks ago, another friend, Callie, and I were talking and the idea came up about flying to Dallas and surprising one of our friends.  We threw the idea out to a few of our other girlfriends and they wanted to be in on the surprise as well. 

Now, let me start off by saying, these are 5 of my best friends in the world.  We all met in college through our sorority, Chi Omega!  We were all pledge sisters together at the University of Oklahoma.  Once we graduated college, everyone went their seperate ways.  4 out of the 5 of us had to fly in for the special surprise.  The funny part is that we all had to fly from seperate locations. 

First, we checked with the necessary parties to make sure it was an available weekend and luckily no one had plans for the weekend of August 20th!  PERFECT!!!  So we went to booking our flights and planning accordingly.  I didn't think the weekend was ever going to get here.  I had a countdown and I am pretty sure I messaged or called someone just about every single day from when we booked the flights until we all landed in Dallas.  And I was so worried I would be the one to ruin the surprise.  I have a desk job as well as Peel, the friend we were surprising, and so there are many days where we chit chat throughout the day at various times through G-chat.  Luckily, I kept the secret safe and she was completely surprised!!! 

Here's a little recap of the weekend.  Friday, we all flew in and planned on meeting at Blue Fish in Greenville.  If you have never been there, I highly recommend it.  They have GREAT sushi!  Once we all got to the restaurant we ordered a few drinks and waited on the lady of the hour.  She finally arrived and walked around the corner to see all of us sitting together at a table.  Que waterworks!  It was a great surprise and we had a great time catching up at dinner.  After dinner, we decided instead of going out to the bars that we would just head home and drink some wine and hang out.  Saturday, we all got up and tried to plan our day.  We are all pretty decisive people usually, but this particular day, we couldn't make a decision to save our lives!!!!!!!!!  Finally, we planned out the day, go to the mall, get mani/pedi's, come home and relax a bit, head over to one of the girl's husband's birthday party and go out to dinner at this great hole in the wall Italian restaurant.  Sunday morning we all got up and around and headed off to the airport to go home.  Sunday afternoon I am pretty sure I was the laziest person in the world.  I was still tired from the weekend on Wednesday!!!

All in all it was a great weekend!  I am blessed to have such great friends.  Although we don't live close to each other and only see each other every now and then, when we get together, I can count on having a great time! 

I thought you grew out of being scared of the dark?

I have never been a fan of being home by myself.  Simply put, I hate it.  I swear when I am there all alone I can freak myself out!  I hear the weirdest noises, see moving shadows and am always thinking I see something moving in a different room.  Well, last night I was home by myself and still as scared as if I was 8 and just finished watching Stephen King's It.  I still blame my cousin, Paul, for making us watch that scary movie! 

Well, Mitch was out of town.  He has a "man date," with a customer today so he ended up leaving me yesterday afternoon.  And he went ahead and took the pup to save me the trouble.  Now that we moved to Perryton, Mitch doesn't have to be gone overnight for work anymore so, I have gotten used to him always being there.  And usually if he is gone, at least I have my guard dog, who couldn't hurt a fly, there with me for "protection." 

Wednesday night we had a friend over for dinner.  It was a great time, but when it was time to do dishes, I told Mitch to just leave everything so I would have something to pass the time Thursday night.  I planned out my night perfectly.  Get home at 5:15, catch up on some DVR until 7, clean up the kitchen and pack until 8:20, watch my Thursday night shows and go to bed at 10.  When I sat down to watch my shows around 8:30 being scared of the dark kicked in.  I spent the next two hours telling myself that the boogie man wasn't trying to break in my door.  I think I got up to check and make sure the door was locked at least 3 different times.  Finally, I gave up and took a sleeping pill around 10. 

Moral of the story: Just because I am now a year older doesn't mean being home alone doesn't still freak the crap out of me. 

Happy Friday everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

What I Love Wednesdays!

Here are a few of my favorite things that make my already happy life, just a little bit better!

• Kat von D Tattoo Eyeliner-I seriously can't get enough of this stuff!  It is awesome, goes on so easily and it doesn't smudge by touching it.  I wear it in shade Trooper.  Go to Sephora and get some!

• Pinterest- If you aren't on Pinterest, you should be ashamed of yourself!  I think I could spend a whole day on Pinterest and never get tired of it.  What is Pinterest you ask?  Here is their definition, "Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes."  It is wonderful and so fun!  I have found all kinds of ideas for my dream house.  My dad always tells me that pictures are much easier than telling him what I want.  I have also made several recipes I have found on there. And they have all turned out delicious I might add.  I have even found a few clothing items on there I couldn't live without.  Plus, I have found all of the craft ideas to make. 

• The Help-I am reading this book right now and it is great!  I have just about a third of the book left so, hopefully I will finish it this weekend! 

• Wine-I am a WINO!  I will admit it.  I love wine and I could probably drink a bottle or two everyday if I knew people wouldn't talk about me.  I was married in wine country and it definitely didn't do anything for the addiction.  Now I just can drink it more because I know a little more about it, that is what I tell myself at least.  Here are a few pics of my favorite wine vineyards we visited. 

This is Sterling Vineyard in Calistoga, CA.  It sits on top of a hill that you have to take a tram to get to.  It is the most beautiful view from the back patio of the winery. 

Silver Oak Cellars in Oakville, CA.  This was our favorite wine tasting of the trip.  The tour seemed much more modern and the winery itself was remodeled due to a fire a few years ago. 

And last but not least, V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, CA.  Now this is probably my favorite for the simple fact that we were married here.  It will always be dear to my heart, but it also has some FAB wine!

• Caprese Salads- I could literally eat one a day.  And if you think I am kidding, call up Darron, our butler on our honeymoon in Jamaica.  I am pretty sure I sat a record with how many Caprese salads one room as ordered on a stay there.  I averaged a good 2 a day.  That is not exaggerating even in the slightest.  It got to a point that Darron would just show up in the middle of the day with one.  I was in heaven!  I think this take on the Caprese salad would be great for a shower or appetizer.

• My Husband- Simply put, I love this man!  Sorry for those of you that aren't reading to hear all about how lovey dovey I can be, but if you love someone, you should tell them.  (Or at least write about it in case he stumbles across your blog one day. Haha!)  He makes me smile and laugh more than I ever knew possible.  He believes in me and is one of the most loyal people I know.  It is always weird to me when people break up because "they were just really good friends."  Really?  Because he is my best friend and the one person I would rather be around than anyone else on any given day.  I honestly can't imagine my life without him!

Isn't he handsome?  I am one lucky lady!

Happy Hump Day people!!

We Have Visitors!

Mitch and I have lived in our new small town, Perryton, Texas, for 5 1/2 months.  Since we have lived here we have been here a total of maybe a handful of times.  Crazy right???  How can you live in a place and only be there 5 times in a span of half of a year?  First, when we moved here all of our wedding festivities were about to start.  So, we spent basically every weekend in March through April at a bridal shower, couple's shower, bachelor or bachelorette party.  Then, May came and we had Mother's Day and the following weekend we left for Napa for the wedding.  We came home from the honeymoon and went right into June activities which inlcuding wedding showers for my sister, Father's day, a bachelor party in Vegas and baby showers for my best friend.  Here's come July!!!  July was filled with a wedding for good friends of ours, bachelorette party for the sister in Austin, the arrival of our best friends's first child, Mitch's birthday that we celebrated working at a golf tournament, my sister's wedding, a family trip with the Day's to Taos and a weekend of birthday parties in OKC.  Whewwww, deep breath!  We may be two of the busiest people I know! 

{SIDENOTE} At some point I will make one LONG blog and detail everything that happened starting in May until this blog was started.  I really just want to be able to look back from when we were married on.  That first year is one of the most important ones!

A few months ago my mom had asked when she was going to get a chance to come to Perryton and check out our new house.  I laughed and said, well, I think we are free sometime in August!  Little did I know that August would actually be the earliest time we were going to be in Perryton with zero plans.  And lately, I have been a little homesick.  Living in a place where you basically have zero friends, other than the people you work with and customers that come in to the shop, can really wear on a person.  After chit chatting with my mom we decided we both may have a free weekend coming up in August. 

Well, this past weekend we were blessed with a visit from my parents and sister and brother-in-law.  I will say that we gave them the fair warning, there is not much, if anything, to do in Perryton.  They arrived on Friday night a little after 7pm.  We spent Friday night making dinner, having a few drinks and just enjoying each other's company.  Saturday morning we all slept in, besides Mitch, who had a golf tournament he was in the first half of the day.  Saturday was much like Friday night with more hanging out and cooking.  I took my mom to one of the gift shops we have here and showed her around town.  Saturday night we had such an amazing dinner.  Mitch and I pride ourselves on serving the best dinner in Perryton.  Yes, seriously, that is no joke.  We had steaks, Crash Hot Potatoes,  roasted asparagus and Grilled Corn with Chipotle Lime Butter.  I think we all gained about 5 lbs. with that meal!!  Sunday, we all woke up and started making a huge breakfast.  After breakfast, they packed and loaded up the car to head home.  I, for once, got to be the one not spending their afternoon in a car driving home.  So, me and the pup spent a good portion of the afternoon on the couch relaxing and being lazy.  It was a perfect ending to the weekend!

We may not have had a fancy weekend with a ton of things going on, but I had such a great time!  Sometimes all you need is a good, relaxing weekend with people you care more than anything about.  I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family who cares so much about me. 

Until next time,

Liz

That Infamous First Post

I have had this blog for around a month or so now.  I have been trying to think of ideas of what I should write about in my first post and what I want the blog to be about in general.  On my Iphone "Notebad," I literally have 20 different ideas about what I should write about.  Here are a few ideas I have tossed around, Our First Year of Marriage, Cooking Through Our First Year, The Highs and Lows of a Small Town and the list goes on and on.  So, here is what I have decided, why not document all of them?!?!  In all honesty, the reason I really want to have a blog is so I can look back and remember exactly what was going on here and there throughout the year and hopefully for years to come.  I have tried out the blogging world before, but didn't keep up with it like I wanted.  I have decided to start over fresh and I have promised myself that this time I around I will do much better!  So, here we go!

Here's a little bit about me. I just got married! The Hubster and I were married on May 19, 2011 at V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, CA. It was such a gorgeous place!

Now let me back up a little bit....  Mitch and I started dating in the fall of 2008.  At the time, we both lived in Oklahoma City and worked for Mitch's parent's company, Opeco, Inc..  I know you are probably thinking "They worked together and they dated?  That's a recipe for disaster."  We do work for the same company, but Mitch does outside sales and I do inside sales.  So we actually only see each other during the work day for maybe an hour or two tops.  In February 2010, Mitch and I were moved to Shreveport, Louisiana to open a new location for Opeco.  We were in Shreveport for about a year and loved every minute of it.  In February of 2011 we were moved yet again to open a new location.  This time we moved to Perryton, Texas.  And I will be honest, the loving every minute of it isn't happening.  I am sure I will go into more details about Perryton and our lives here as time goes on. 

Mitch and I are the proud parents of a 2 year old, he will be 3 next month, English Bulldog named Max.  I was never a dog person before Max came into my life, but now I see why people go so crazy over their pets.  They really do have so much personality.  And it helps that Max comes to work with me everyday to keep me company, which has in turn made him the biggest Mama's Boy ever!  Needless to say, he is an important part of our family and I can't imagine our lives without him!

Well, I think that is all for now.  You know the first post wasn't really that bad.  :)

Until next time,

Liz