shirt party!

Happy Friday!

I wanted to give a quick reminder to get your #HelpOK shirts to help with relief efforts here. They're $13, shipping included. Proceeds benefit the Regional Food Bank's disaster relief efforts.

On another note, Twinniekins and I are ordering 4th of July shirts! They come in youth and adult sizes and are going to be on a white tank - it's a loose version of a yoga tank, is the best way I can describe it. We are turning in the order Monday so get your orders in before then! The blue will be sparkly (it doesn't wash/flake off, don't worry!). These tanks are fantastic and you definitely should order one for your 4th festivities! :) If you live out of town, I can mail to you. To order these, email me at shaeken@okstatealumni.org. 

#HelpOK

I've not been reading any blogs lately (and clearly I haven't been blogging, either). Mostly, because I've been entirely too busy at work (love working somewhere that responds immediately to disasters and sticks around for the long haul, btw), but also because disasters involving tornadoes just hit really, really hard. I may talk more about it all later, to get my thoughts out of my head, but right now, I just want to ask you to pray for Oklahoma. I know most of you already have been. Continue, please. I love Oklahoma so much, and I know what those who lost homes are going through. It really stinks. Pray especially for those who are also dealing with the loss of a loved one. And if you know of someone who has been affected by this storm, please visit regionalfoodbank.org/helpok for some helpful resources.

Long after the media attention leaves, Oklahomans who have lost everything are going to be putting their lives back together. You see the nasty mess left behind by the tornado's destructiveness. But after that mess has a big dent put in it, people are still buying the basic things we all take for granted, finding a car, hoping their workplace will open soon, picking out house plans and planning to rebuild.

If you want to help with relief efforts, the Regional Food Bank is providing food and other necessities. You can text TORNADO to 32333 to give a $10 donation to disaster efforts with the Food Bank. The $10 will be applied to your phone bill. Give what you can, volunteer if you can, but pray without ceasing.

Another option to #HelpOK is to match me! We designed these t-shirts for staff to wear, and after many requests, we decided to sell them too. Get your shirt at http://bit.ly/HelpOKshirts. Orders will be taken through June 5 (Wednesday).

You can find out more about the Food Bank's disaster relief efforts and other ways to help at regionalfoodbank.org/helpok, twitter.com/rfbo and facebook.com/regionalfoodbank.

#PrayForOK #HelpOK

So I turned 24...

...and apparently forgot I had a blog. Really, I didn't, but since that magical day of #Shaes24th, I've been a really busy girl and my dear little blog got a little neglected. #sorrynotsorry though...

The night before I turned 24, I spent the evening with my favorite 8 year old - painting our nails, watching TV and having a super fun girls' night.

I had to work on my birthday, but never fear, I wore my fancy pants shoes so I could celebrate all.day.long.

When I got back from meetings that day, I had a huge delivery on my desk - Matt had sent me flowers! 

It's now been almost two weeks and I think they're still getting prettier and definitely still blooming. Good job, Matt. Gold stars. That evening, Matt and I celebrated my birthday with a BARBIE CAKE.

I was clearly very excited about all the birthday fun and how he much surprised me with such a great day, as evidenced by my excited face in the pictures we took that night. 

Every birthday princess knows that a birthday party isn't complete without a slumber party, so clearly I had one that night! Julie and Kiera were ready to celebrate when I got home from my celebration with Matt, and celebrate we did, until I was so tired that my eyes wouldn't stay open. Then the next day, we continued celebrating, by fixing our hair and makeup like princesses do, of course! 

Ready for our slumber party!

Have you ever met more beautiful fairy princesses?

My girls. The only thing that could have made the slumber party better is if Mag could have joined us for a cousin night! :)

On Friday Matt and I celebrated again, but I didn't get any pictures. #bloggerbirthdayfail. On Saturday, I met Twin Lori and Baby Tate for a birthday lunch! I'm telling you, I celebrate my birthday right! :)

Saturday night, my family came over to celebrate. I'd told momma I wanted a sparkly pink cake, but she outdid herself with this delicious made-from-scratch, glittering, pink, pearl Shae-cake.

After eating cake, Tate had to try pickle juice. He liked it, I promise. 

On Sunday, we had the Pikey Family Reunion because my great-great-great grandpa Benson Pikey was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame on Tuesday! I enjoyed the event so much - there's always so much Chickasaw history and I find it very interesting to learn more about the people who have given so much to my tribe.

Great-great Aunt Marie - Ben Pikey's granddaughter - had to hit the casino floor for a bit after the Hall of Fame! She will be 102 this summer and is still just as rotten as they come :) 

On Wednesday morning (I think - my days are running together - eep!), my baby brother Kale was on TV! AmPo was chosen as OKC FOX's Cool School and Kale and the Elementary Choir got to perform! It was too cool. I asked him for his autograph and he told me I wasn't a "real person" so I didn't get it. Ouch!

Matt and Thabo came over last Wednesday night for dinner - I made pizza from almost-scratch (lies. It was totally from a box). Molly and Thabo weren't quite sure what to think of each other - my sassy little pug doesn't like to share, but tries to be as lazy as possible while defending her territory. At one point, she was sitting on Matt and staring down Thabo as he played. They haven't seen each other since Thabo was a tiny baby puppy, but by the end of the night I think they'd decided to be friends. 

On Friday, Magan, Kiera and I ran around the countryside taking pictures, and I got to see a beautiful sunset after taking pictures in the middle of the road. I'll be sure to share some pictures from their photo shoot soon :) 

On Saturday, I got up bright and early (for the weekend) to go to Letter Carriers' Food Drive! My job was to go to various sites and take pictures, and Matt's job was to drive me. I had such a fun day and really appreciated Matt going along with me to work! After the food drive, we went to dinner, watched the Thunder and even shopped a little! Such a solid Saturday :) 

Almost done with our day of work! 

Sunday it was time to celebrate MOM! My brothers and I are blessed with a truly incredible woman to call momma. We had a day at the ponds with our whole family, complete with fishing, homemade fried chicken, hot dog roasts, smores and sunburns! I can't wait for more days like this all summer long. 

Daddy said the rule is if you're driving the truck, the windows are down. I agree. 

I did an activity called "princess fishing" at the pond - I threw the line(?), reeled in the fish, but daddy took it off and held for the pictures. I don't touch gross things like that!

Such a busy, fun couple of weeks! God has put some truly wonderful people in my life and I am so, so very blessed! In conclusion: I'm seriously liking 24 so far.