Bear Hunting

I had a feeling it was going to be a good weekend. After getting to hang out with stop by a food drive Desmond Mason was signing autographs at last week, I was just feeling the orange power :)

My Cowboys were overcoming the Corso Curse bear hunting playing Baylor on Saturday, so we headed to Stillwater to watch in the appropriately cold temps! I had FIVE layers of shirts/jackets on, two layers of pants, ski socks, boots, gloves, a scarf, somewhat working hand warmers, two layers of head wraps and I was STILL COLD. Oklahoma turned into Antartica on Friday evening and it just kept getting colder, I think. I did have two blankets, and we sat on one...but since we started out the game on a good note and I wasn't wrapped in blanket #2, I couldn't use it. It's only weird if it doesn't work, and obviously, it worked, because my Pokes WON! Such a great game and worth every second of shivering.

College Gameday was in town so of course we had to get a picture!

We LOVE seeing you in ORANGE, Collin!! :) 

This is about the time I decided I need a warmer jacket before we go skiing!

Yesterday was a snow/ice day so my family spent it playing Phase 10 and online shopping. I'm always a little amazed when there is no blood shed over a game of Phase 10 - my family is competitive and intense. After most of the afternoon and evening, the game was settled and Kaden won. The most satisfying part? Mom lost! :)

#ThankfulThursday

Happy anniversary, Daddy and Momma!

Just check out that hair!

Today, a few things I'm thankful for about my parents:

• They meant "until death do us part" - and haven't even had to force that to happen :) They've been an incredible example of the marriage I hope to one day have - filled with love for one another.
• They raised my brothers and me in church and don't just leave Jesus for Sunday mornings. Our home is filled with Him.
• They lead by example when it comes to giving, loving and serving. 

#ThankfulThursday

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This week, I'm thankful for...

• High tech communication. I still remember my mom telling me how cool my Great Grandma Sparks thought it was to Skype with my dad when he was in Singapore. I don't get to see Caylee or Lori or my Littles every day, but I still talk to them regularly thanks to texting (and of course picture messaging... what would I do if I couldn't send my #OOTD off for approval?) ;) While I do appreciate writing a real note and sticking it in the mail, I love being able to communicate with people all the time. 
• Seat warmers. You guys, it's cold in Oklahoma and I'm a baby. I am so thankful I got the upgraded Jeep with the bun warmers. 
• A job that allows me to serve people
• Matt. He doesn't just "put up with" my princess-y tendencies, he understands that's what makes me who I am...but is sure to let me know when the sparkle dust is going a little overboard :) 
• NyQuil and Vicks Vapor Rub. From October to April, I can't sleep without the duo. 
• Cheerleading practice, because it gets me out of bed early enough to see a beautiful sunrise twice a week and gives me the perfect excuse to play Get Your Sparkle On. 
• Molly, because I can always count on my princess diva dog to demand I wait on her hand and foot... then give me eleventy zillion snuggles in return. 

These aren't spirit fingers....

...THESE are spirit fingers!!

My weekend started out DARK and early on Saturday morning - I say dark rather than bright because at 5:45 a.m. it's still dark outside! The AmPo cheerleaders had a clinic/competition in Stillwater so we had to leave super early to get there on time. They did SO GOOD learning new cheers, practicing stunts and performing their competition cheer. And no...they don't do spirit fingers like that above...

After the clinic, we all walked over to OSU's beautiful Student Union for lunch, stopping for pictures along the way, of course. Just before we got to the Union, we ran into President & Mrs. Hargis, OSU's President and First Lady on their orange golf cart. After we took the picture below, Mrs. Hargis asked to get a picture of all the girls in their matching "Spirit Squad" t-shirts. 

Matt met up with us at the Union and we headed to the game. You guys, I've been extraordinarily forgetful when it comes to our football tickets this season for some reason. One game they were left in the car all the way across campus so we walked back for them, one day I just flat out left them at home, and one day I left them at home but since my parents hadn't left yet they were able to bring them up when they came. Well, this week I was DETERMINED to remember the tickets. I put them in my backpack with all my Saturday things the night before. Matt shot me a text in the morning before he left making sure I had the tickets. I laughed then replied that of course I had them. 

After the clinic was over, we all ran to the car to get ready. At that time, I tore the tickets out of their booklet, then packed the booklets back into the envelope and stuck it in my bag. Apparently, I also put the tickets in the envelope and just thought I had put them in my purse, because as we were sitting at the Union, about to go to the game, I went to take them out of my purse to show Matt I hadn't forgotten them...and they weren't there. I may be losing my brains. I was not about to walk all the way back across campus for the tickets. Thankfully(?), we knew the drill - show my ID at Will Call and they'll just reprint the tickets. In case anyone was wondering, the envelope with the tickets now is residing with Matt and he is responsible for them now. 

Anyway, the game was practically over the second it started when Justin Gilbert returned the kickoff for a touchdown. I did enjoy OSU's salute to veterans during their halftime show, and of course, recognizing Heisman winner Barry Sanders was neat, too. Anyway, it was a day in Stillwater with my favorite guy, so really can I complain about a boring win? 

Also, I've discovered every single picture we take looks almost exactly the same. We'll work on that. 

After the game, we headed to Lucille's, a yummy restaurant in a little town outside of Stillwater. We thought the group of mom + cheerleaders + Ratcliff family was right behind us...WRONG. I've never got so many angry "you reserved a table of 15 and your party still isn't here" looks in my life. Thankfully the restaurant wasn't overly busy so I didn't feel too bad. 

Sunday at church, my brothers sang in the youth choir to start the service and I sang during the service. We then enjoyed a delicious lunch at my Grandma & Granddad's house...then I went home and put on the warmest clothes I could find and enjoyed the rest of a relaxing day snuggling with my Molly Bug! So thankful for such a blessed weekend! 

linking up with Sami!

Get Your Sparkle On

Happy Friday!!

Is it just me, or has this week seriously lasted forever? I'm just glad OSU plays tomorrow, I get to be in Stillwater (and that OU lost last night...#SorryImNotSorry).

Anyway, a few of my favorite things from the last week (ahem, or month).

1. I've got a new jam, ya'll. Thanks to a coworker's 4 year old daughter loving Barbie music, I was introduced to Get Your Sparkle On. Since then, I've made Matt listen to it several times (sorry about that...) and of course I play it every morning before cheer practice! It's positive and clean and talks about sparkles, so what's not to love?
   
    
   
   
2. My mom, ladies and gentlemen, made some DELICIOUS dinner last night. I had a bit of popcorn at the JH game but that was NOT about to cut it, so when I got home I heated up "some chicken thing mom had cooking in the crockpot all day," as my dad put it. It ended up being the Hawaiian Chicken I put together for her Freezer Club Meal Swap two weeks ago! She does this super cool swap with 3 other ladies and we get 4 delicious meals in our freezer to heat up through the week. When you want to eat a meal, you follow their instructions for cooking, but it's all already put together so there's practically no work for you other than turning on the crock pot or oven. These ladies are geniuses, I'm telling you.
   Here's what you need to make this delicious creation:
   1/2 bag frozen chicken tenders (like the big bags you get from the grocery store...sorry this isn't exactly precise)
   1 15oz. can of crushed pineapple (don't drain it!)
   1/2t ground ginger
   1T minced garlic
   1/4c soy sauce
   Put all of that into a crock pot liner and stick it in your crockpot on low heat all day. Serve over brown rice and with some steamed veggies. I didn't have the rice or veggies last night (I wasn't going to eat a whole meal after the game!), but the chicken and pineapple with those other flavors were so delicious.
3. Herbalife Pumpkin Spice Latte. Um, hello. I ordered some last night (finally, yes I know Wacey) and I can't wait to get it in. Twice this week I stopped by New U Nutrition because I was running late in the morning and too lazy to make my shakes the night before. Kim made me the most delicious shakes and I was SOLD on the special limited edition flavor. Now if it'll just hurry and get here!
   
   
   
   
4. Doing Herbalife with my family. It's so much easier to make & drink shakes twice a day when I'm not the only one in the house doing it. Dad is getting creative and making up recipes. Mom is doing shakes. I'm thankful to my family for making the commitment to getting healthy with me. So THANKS FAMIlY! :) 
5. Red River Ski Area pictures. They have snow and it makes me insanely happy! We're going there in December and I'm counting down! Now, I just need to get new ski pants and find everything else I need for the week, so I'm not actually totally ready, but I just can't wait. And looking at pictures of beautiful snow on that fun mountain just makes me want to leave tomorrow (even though skiing doesn't start for 19 more days. Countdown, much?).
   
   

Have a happy weekend, ya'll! Now go get your sparkle on! :)

Linking up with Whitney @ I Wore Yoga Pants

#ThankfulThursday

In November, everyone and their puppy does the "daily thanks" posts on Facebook, and I just LOVE seeing all the thankfulness for a week. Although, when you make a status update about how thankful you are for this or that, does it count if two hours later you have updated three more times with rants and whines? I digress.

I'm terrible at updating my Facebook status every day. I mean, yes, I work in social media so I am technically on Facebook part of the day (although not near as much as I used to be since I have a bazillion graphic design projects going on), but I don't spend my time updating my status and creeping - I'm actually working. But I'm thankful, I promise. And not just because this is the month with the holiday that tells to be "giving thanks" - I'm thankful every single day for the incredible life God has blessed me with. So I'll try to turn this into a {sometimes} weekly thing, but since we all know how great I am at updating my blog, and hope others will share some of what they're thankful for too, outside of this month!

Some specific things I'm thankful for this week?

Basketball. It's started at AmPo, and I truly love getting to watch Kaden and Kale play. They both work hard and demonstrate a Christlike attitude on and off the court. They'e both played since they were little, and it's amazing to me how much they've improved and grown through the years. Kale's had 2 games so far this week, and he plays tonight, tomorrow night AND Saturday. It's a busy week for the 7th Grade Panther team. Kaden's games start next week, and I just cannot wait to have this 4-night-a-week thing happening every week! There is just nothing like basketball in a small town, and I am so thankful to get to be a part of the AmPo community.

I'm thankful that Kiera is not just my cousin, but also my sister in Christ! We attended church services at Snow Hill last week for Kiera's baptism. I am so thankful she made the decision to follow Christ. I'm thankful to have been raised in a Christian family. I'm thankful for pastors who bring great messages full of truth and life application - like this one from Todd Littleton on Sunday.

What are you thankful for, friends?

{via}

Fall Update :)

Have I told you lately how much I just LOVE America's Greatest Homecoming? It's definitely one of my top 3 favorite holidays (along with Christmas and my birthday). Well, this weekend was the best of the year - OSU's Homecoming - and I celebrated appropriately - in Stillwater!

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That up there? Yeah, I wrote it two whole weeks ago. #whoops

I really did mean to post about Homecoming weekend...and then I meant to post about pumpkin picking...and then I meant to post a quick update... and then I meant to do all of that last week while I was home sick all week long. But, it just didn't happen. I was either too busy to sit down for a few minutes to post or too sick to hold up a computer long enough to post. But now, friends, you're getting a quick (I mean it, kinda) life update! Including Homecoming and pumpkins, because it's fall and what's fall without ORANGE?

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I LOVE when the campus is just as orange as can be! Matt said this picture of the library looked creepy. I thought it looked spirited :) | New video board in Gallagher Iba Arena - um, awesome! 

I do believe Gallagher Iba Arena was rrrrrrrrockin'!!! 

Yes, that's a "video board" on the FLOOR of GIA. The intro video was projected onto the floor, and it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Now I want to make that happen at the AmPo Gym Grand Opening. #DreamOn | Love those two photo creepers (aka, Kale and Daddy) who joined me and Matt for our picture :) 

Gameday! It was SO cold. But SO fun. And the Pokes won! 

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Next, I meant to blog about going to the pumpkin patch. So, here's that:

This year, instead of carving pumpkins, Matt & I decided to paint them! I was so certain my pumpkin was going to turn out perfect - I mean, I carefully selected the most brilliant pumpkin in the patch and planned to turn it into a beautiful princess. Well, that failed. 

Matt searched for the perfect pumpkin and thought he got it, but really, I totally did. Mine was destined for greatness, until someone let a 24-year-old toddler grab a paintbrush and some glittery tulle. 

Santa Shae hasn't made an appearance on the blog, that I know of, but this (on the left) is Santa Shae 2.0: Scary Shae. Matt, on the other hand, perfectly executed a vampire. 

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After that, I spent a week sick in bed (from being embarrassed over how ugly that pumpkin turned out of course... #not). I got plenty of Molly Snuggles during my sickness though... isn't she the cutest? 

I also helped paint panther paws through the streets of Amber...

Watched Kale's first two 7th grade basketball games (Go #33! And yes, that shot went in!)...

And bought a new MacBook! I'm officially 100% Apple - iPhone, iPad and MacBook. Just a few years ago I would have been saying these were CRAPple products...so I'd say I've come a long way to the good side :) As I was transferring files from my Dell to my Seagate Backup Plus (have you backed up your computer lately? If not, get on it, and get yourself a Seagate product because they're awesome.), my I got the Blue Screen of Death on my Dell...so obviously it was perfect timing. 

Anyway... I'll be back sometime to update you more on life and adventures :)