phi lamb

Long, long ago (okay, only a couple of years), I was a student at Oklahoma State University. Life was wonderful, and people were wonderful, and I made a decision that would be one of the best ever.

I went to Willard Hall on a Monday night to learn about this group called Sigma Phi Lambda, and a few days later, I made the decision to join this awesome group of girls who were so completely in love with Jesus.

My life has never been the same.

Phi Lamb was more than just a group of friends I would meet with every week to worship our Savior, and it was more than "the Christian sorority" to me, although those aspects are important. Through Phi Lamb activities, I met some of the most important people in my life. I was given more opportunities than I could have ever imagined, I grew spiritually, I was challenged and I felt as though my phamily was a place I truly belonged.

I could go on for ages about all the great impacts Phi Lamb had. Ladies, if you are at OSU (or know someone who is) - I encourage you to check them out this week - especially if you are looking for a place you belong. This is a group of ladies waiting with open arms to love you and experience life with you.

    

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Shaeken Em Up

I am pretty sure all of you have gathered by now that I seriously love Oklahoma State football. If you have known me for long, you'll know my understanding of football has only come in recent years (like during my college days) and if you know me really well, you'll know fantasy football nearly drove me nuts last year. So me with a fantasy team seemed highly unlikely. Pinterest was more than enough.



However, when little brother creates a fantasy football league, who am I to say no? Especially when some of my favorite players ever are now in the NFL (#Weeden2Blackmon). So I joined his league and team Shaeken Em Up was born.



Now, my first thought was "Oh I will just draft all the OSU players and have an alumni team!" I soon realized that wouldn't work, due to the other OSU fans and first time fantasy people in the league.



{also, see this.}

My next thought was to draft by level of attractiveness. This idea was quickly nixed when I remembered that I haven't seen the faces of most NFL players. Drafting players with the coolest name was also an idea, but that just didn't seem very logical (yes my logic took awhile to kick in).

So, naturally, I did some studying (especially since I miss school and studying so much...) and tried to determine who the best players would be. This still wasn't working out well for me, because there are too many opinions on the Internet about who to draft and why...I just wanted a clear cut answer.

Well, yesterday was finally draft day, meaning it was time to fill my team. I ranked the players I wanted, 1-25, as suggested in one of the articles I read. Then I realized, about 20 minutes before the draft started, that other people could pick those players, because putting them in the order I wanted didn't ensure they would be mine! This caused a little panic when I realized I would likely have to pick players on the fly during the draft and I couldn't remember a word I had heard on the Sports Animal recently. Thankfully I had a friend who was more than willing to answer more than a few questions. And although I might have drafted one too many wide receivers, I have decided that my team is nonetheless awesome. It doesn't hurt that a few Cowboy alumni grace the roster as well.

So, in case any of you were wondering about the important details, our team colors are orange and glitter. Because yes, glitter is in fact a color in my world.

Oh, you wanted to know who my players are? K.

In my fantasy dream team, Weeden and Blackmon would never be separated. What's that? This is a fantasy team? Well good news... I picked Mr. Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon! Hey Gundy, want to be my assistant?



Another former Cowboy, Brandon Pettigrew, will be playing on my team too!



Thanks to my dear mom and brother, Dan Bailey, Dez Bryant, Josh Cooper and Kendall Hunter were snatched (see above, where I thought I could claim all the players I wanted). However, the rest of my team is looking pretty good, and once I learn more about all of them, I will do my best to give a proper introduction.

Guys, I am really excited about football season. Mostly Cowboy football (FIVE DAYS), but this fantasy football thing will let the excitement last all week long. I hope you all remember to wear orange every day this week! I'll be wearing the shoes from this post!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09k5Xo5cvAA?rel=0]

happy friday, guys.

In my return to blogging (you know, from that week and a half leave absence I took), I thought I'd share some current favorites and things I'm looking forward to.

This beautiful weather we're having has me thinking of fall... hot chocolate, late nights enjoying the outside and football! Fall's clothes are super cute, all warm and layer-y. This is probably my favorite fall outfit on Pinterest so far (BONUS: I have everything needed to recreate this outfit hanging in my closet. Boom!).

Source: pin4fun5885.blogspot.com via Shae on Pinterest

Favorite realization of the week: I will be back in Stillwater in 7 days. Goodness, I love that town, and all the people who come with it. Why will I be in Stillwater? Oh, well, only the thing I've been counting down for since the Fiesta Bowl ended earlier this year. It's happening in EIGHT DAYS.



{via}

In anticipation of football season {meaning #OrangeFriday at the office}, I ordered some new shoes, which will be in just in time to wear next week!



Today, my baby youngest brother goes back to the doctor to find out what's going on with his shoulder. He's a trooper, for all the pain he's going through. Say a special prayer for him.

Okay, that's all I've got. Uninspired, but it's a post. I'll get back to it soon, for real, with awesome posts and millions of great things to say. In the meantime, you should all blog so I can just read your stuff and think about how awesome you are. Cool?

Remember me?

Dear blog friends,
Sorry I abandoned you for the last week and a half. My excuses, while weak, would sound something like "I got really, really busy" - but isn't that everyone's excuse? I'll get back to business this week. Deal? Cool. Meanwhile, here are some of the high notes:


My dear twin Lori Jo had her baby! Tate is one incredible baby and I am so excited for Lori. She is already showing off her Awesome Mommy skills with that kid. Clearly, I am a proud "Auntie" :)


Last weekend, I went to Tulsa to the PBR with Caylee, Maureen & Kim! There's just something about those long eight seconds that get me every time...it is so exciting.


I got to spend time with Pailynn & her parents, Katie & Jared! We went to dinner & shopping. You should understand that if a child wants something and I have the power to spoil them give it to them, they will get it. Pailynn wanted a sock monkey, so clearly, she got a sock monkey. :)



Apparently I am becoming a professional air traveler. Except maybe not. At any rate, I made a trip to Austin last week for work. I only took one Texas-y picture the entire time I was down there, while standing in the airport security line on the way home (#bloggerfail). Kiera asked me if I was excited for my first business trip - I think she expected mine to be as exciting as her parents' or my dad's...Singapore, Vegas, etc. While Austin might not be the exotic destination she had in mind, it was, overall, a good trip, and I learned a lot. And, in case you all aren't aware, I really love my new job.


Yes, that picture is purposely a lot bigger than anything else on the page. I just love Stillwater that much. This weekend, I headed north to Stillwater for a quick visit. In just 11 days, I will be back up, and in 12 days, cheering on my Cowboys again. I seriously cannot wait. Football season has become my favorite, not just because of all the orange and excitement, but because it means I get to go to my favorite town almost every weekend for a few months. There's nowhere quite like the place you make your best friends and memories.

Mom, this is your fault. #princessproblems

You, Kimberly Jo Kennedy, created this monster princess known as your daughter, Shae Suzanne Kennedy.

It started out innocently, a cute little girl in a hot pink dress, dazzling the crowd with her adorableness and impressing the judges. That weekend (actually, this about weekend almost two decades ago - ah!), she won a princess crown and a lion. I was never told I wasn't a princess...in fact, quite the opposite.




When I was in FFA, it somehow turned into me putting on a poofy dress and representing the chapter on stage. This was fun, especially the whole singing on stage part. I guess my true colors showed when the ag barn flooded and I just gathered up the poof to walk around - barefoot of course.




So yesterday at work, when I was handed a mini tiara by a coworker (from a cookie, not just because I'm that awesome...thought that would have been a good reason), it should come as no surprise to you that I wore the thing.



All I have to say is this, all of it, every inch of who I am, good or bad rotten, is your fault.

Thanks for making such an awesome daughter ;)

ESP...N?

Thanks to year ago tweets being delivered to my inbox, I have decided that @pistolsguy (of this blog) is officially the most accurate predictorof all things OSU sports. A year ago yesterday, he tweeted:

Tired of the media saying #okstate is going to be disappointing. I want to run the score up on some sportswriters this fall.

In case you forgot, this happened:



(via)

#big12champs

23 days. I am so excited.

Bull Riding and Barrel Racing

As you may know, the Tuttle Rodeo was this weekend. If you didn't go Thursday and Friday night, you missed out on good music. If you didn't go Saturday night, you missed the best entertainment I've had all weekend, and I'm talking about a weekend that included a tour of the Minco Metro.

Barrel racing has always been intriguing to me - I think it is so cool, but I could never ride a horse so fast around barrels. I would be terrified it would get dizzy and fall over! The junior barrels were cute as could be - tiny humans on big horses racing around, and you could tell they were all having a blast. I thought when the little boy on his mini horse raced that my "awe-o-meter" would just about break from overuse, but I clearly had no idea what was coming next: bull riding. I'm not talking about the eight second ride kind. No, I'm talking about the kind where a tiny human sits on a bull and prances him around the arena to run around barrels:


I couldn't stop laughing! This little girl and her bull were without a doubt the cutest things to step foot in the arena all weekend. They knew exactly what to do, and made the trip around all three barrels seamlessly. Also, those bull riders should take notes from her, because with a 78 second time, she definitely had the longest ride of the night!

The Metro

Surely you've all heard of the Metro. Oh, you're thinking of OKC? No, no. I mean the other metro - the Minco Metro. Though I've been there many times over the years - stock shows, #TwinTime, athletic events - I've never had The Official Minco Tour, and because of the conversations had that evening, Minco will now forever be known as the Metro to me.

Friday night, Lori Jo and I had Grady's for dinner and were watching a Redbox movie when her craving hit (#PreggoProbs). For those of you who don't know, Lori has wanted one thing for her entire pregnancy the last three months - snow cones. So, off we went to get her one.

There were fires all around the state on Friday*, so we went to Moon Tower to look at the smoke making its way across the sky. Mind you, I'd never heard of Moon Tower, so when she told me to drive to it, I had no idea where to go. It was at that instant that she decided to give me a tour of the Minco Metropolitan area.

When we go snow skiing, my family plays this game called "windmill." It's basically slug bug, minus punching and with windmills instead of cars. I don't know why, but our family just loves this game. So, imagine my excitement when we don't just drive by the Minco Metro Wind Farm (I'm not sure of the official name, so here's my vote), but we go smack dab to the middle of it! I could have won the game for sure. We also happened to be there as the sun was setting, which meant it was absolutely beautiful.


On our tour, I learned where Lori's cousin lives...and her other cousin...and her other cousin...and her other cousin...and her other cousin...and so on. I'm pretty sure she is related to literally everyone in Minco. I also learned the grocery store burned down two years ago (I had NO idea and thought for sure it was still standing.) and that Minco has two gas stations.

So, Minconians (is that what you're all called?), what is the one thing in town I need to see? And if you don't live in Minco, when are you giving me a tour of your hometown? You have high standards to meet!



*Speaking of the fires - pray for rain on the dry land, for the firemen battling the flames, and for the families living in the areas near the fires!

a date with my brothers

Last night was the start of the Tuttle Rodeo, and I got to go with both my brothers! They are awesome guys and I was proud to be with them for the evening. We sat behind someone who had never heard of mutton busting, and was wearing very crisp white clothes. Ha.




They wanted to stand by the bulls so they could be closer to the action, of course.

A little too close?



I'm just thankful neither of them wanted to do the Ring of Fear.

If you didn't get to go last night, be there tonight or tomorrow. It's really not that hot. Tonight, Nathan Burris plays at 7 before the rodeo starts. See you there?

Thunderstruck

First order of business - HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kiera Faith!!!! I can't believe you are so grown up. I really thought I took this picture yesterday, but I guess it's been a few years. :) I love you and I am so thankful to be your cousin.


Next up - can I reiterate how much I LOVE the OKC Thunder?


Via their Facebook page:

In this intense heat, firefighters across Oklahoma need your help. Donate water and Gatorade at your local volunteer fire station. Thunder brought a big shipment of Gatorade to Amber FD in rural Grady County today. GM Sam Presti: "It's part of being a community partner, helping when there's a need."

The OKC Thunder visited the tiny town a few miles southwest of me to deliver much needed Gatorade yesterday. How needed? Well, according to some pretty reputable sources, the FD was down to their last bottles of water - for the year. As a volunteer group, they get a certain amount, and when they're out, they're out. Well, the Thunder have long said "Team is ONE" and this is one great example of going out of their way to demonstrate.

Now, onto more funsies. Mr. Wilkerson at Transformation Martial Arts has started this class that I fondly refer to as "HolyCowWhatAFreakingWorkout," better known as Power Toning. A few of my blog friends have truly been a great motivation to get more active, and when I heard about this class from my mom/brother, I thought it sounded like just the thing. I was picturing ballet moves, yoga, pilates, etc. Uhm...I couldn't be more wrong. Try 30 minutes of non-stop ridiculousness, minus the 60-seconds he counts down for us to take a break in the middle. Not that I'm complaining, because good soreness is typically an indicator of something working, but man. I will say I am truly enjoying the class so far and I love that it is a total body workout. If you're around Chickasha I definitely recommend looking into it!

Yeah - I think I'll stick to Mr. Wilkerson's class!!