#EveryDayWithShae: The one where I make a huge announcement. Or two.

Goooooooood Friday morning, friends! I'm looking forward to listening to the Sports Animal this afternoon and hearing the "be happy Friday" song because it TOTALLY is! :) Full disclosure: I'm writing this post on Thursday night and today has just been the BEST week.

First, a huge announcement:

I've decided to take a leap of faith and chase a dream: I'm selling the shirts I design!!

For years, I've designed shirts (among other things) for teams, organizations, events and my day-job. I've wanted to sell my own designs, that I design because I think they're awesome, not because someone asks me to, but have let my own fears hold me back. Finally, last Friday, I knew I couldn't let my fears be bigger than my faith any longer, and designed my first ever, for-sale-because-I-love-it shirt! Without further ado, I present to you....

Love Never Fails

 

The final design printed on the shirts won't be watermarked, I promise :) I am so thankful for the support and orders I've received from friends and family and even people I don't know already on Facebook & Instagram! I'm taking preorders for these shirts through Sunday and they will be in before Valentine's Day, so if you are interested in snagging one of your own, let me know - email shaeken(at)okstatealumni.org. The prices are: v-neck $22 | dolman $25 | baseball $22 | crew neck $18 (that's clockwise from the top right in the picture above, bee-tee-dub). 

Moving on! Since this is an #EveryDayWithShae post, I thought I would go ahead and give a brief update of what else I talked about this week, too. Sorry it's a day late - you'll forgive me when you see the other announcement at the end of this post! 

On Thursday night, #BabyTate came over. Don't you love how I've turned your child's name into a hashtag, Lori? Tate and Thabo had endless fun playing with pom pom balls in the laundry basket! 

Dad and I both took off work on Friday to surprise Momma at school for her birthday! And surprise her, we did! We even sent a selfie from the cafeteria asking when she was going to come to lunch, and she thought we were just at lunch together in the city and being "annoying!" I think her cake was too perfect - a basketball court with deflated basketballs, her jersey number, a pile of chipped golf balls, and, to represent her current coaching job, shiny new pom poms! :) The home score was 50, in honor of her birthday, and it was on the Tigers side, while the visitors, the Panthers, had a score of 0. She may currently be a Panther, but she was a Tiger first (and at heart!) and said the score is accurate: "we always beat them!!" We continued the celebrating on Sunday at lunch with the family then celebrated Dad's birthday on Tuesday night at dinner!

On Saturday, we finally took down our Christmas tree/decorations. Enough said?

The weather was finally pretty enough this weekend to take a run!! So, on Sunday, after lunch and before cheer practice, Thabo and I did just that! I think chasing him all over the sidewalk was as much of a workout as the run was.

On Monday night, K played in the first round of the Grady County Tournament. We didn't get to go, but they're streaming it online, so we got to watch!! They won and K played so well. Thank you, Kool 105.5, for streaming the games so that those of us who can't make it can still watch! My uncle in Washington got to watch, too.

On Tuesday, I spent all day - literally, all day...didn't stop for lunch - working on a website :)

That continued on Wednesday. After work on Wednesday, Matt and I had the New Members class at our church...so dinner was popcorn. I was so tired!

But that didn't stop me from waking up today to have an AWESOME day! I found my makeup compact that I was SURE was gone forever. My mom sent me a picture showing our HS girls had hit their new stunt. Then, my boss brought breakfast to celebrate....(ready for announcement #2?)...the launch of our new WEBSITE!!! 

Finally, after MONTHS of work, it's here!! I'm SO excited with the newly redesigned www.regionalfoodbank.org. It is so colorful and full of HOPE. Check it out, follow me on Instagram to keep up with all this fun every day and have a great weekend! 

PS - don't forget to preorder your shirt before Sunday if you want one!  

#EveryDayWithShae: Week 2

I'm really enjoying 2015 so far! I mean, I haven't stopped writing 2014 on everything yet (I'll get there!), but so far I would have to say the year is a success.

Last week, the creative & talented Brenna posted on Instagram a picture wearing a blanket scarf and tagged it #DIY. Say what? Yes, this friend of mine made her own version of the blanket scarf I've been drooling over for months. Immediately I asked her to share how she did it and made a trip to Hancock's to make my own. 

Friday night Matt and I stayed in - he did some homework, we watched Criminal Minds (duh) and I spent some time crafting....I promise to reveal this as SOON as it's done because it's going to be SO AWESOME. 

Saturday morning I got to go watch my oldest favorite Panther (I have two!) play basketball - FINALLY! K broke his ankle during the first game of the year (which I had to miss) and was out for the first half of the season. He got to start playing again after Christmas break, and Saturday was the first HS game I've been able to make it to this semester (they've only had a few!). I love watching K and Kale play basketball and show their steers...well really I just love everything about being their sister! 

On Sunday my parents made my dreams come true....we saw GARTH!!! You see, my mom introduced me to great music even before I was born by "taking me" to a Sawyer Brown concert. My childhood soundtrack was full of songs like Thank God for You, I Cross My Heart and The Thunder Rolls. I'm a little hurt that they decided to make the George Strait concert they went to a date night and left me at home...but all was forgiven with this show. With every song Garth played on Sunday I would turn to my mom and say "THIS IS MY FAVORITE!!!!" My parents bought the tickets for themselves, me & Matt, and my brothers for Christmas. Mom has the video of the 4 of us "kids" opening our stockings and I'm afraid my screaming might have broken her phone speakers :) So, again....Momma and Daddy - THANK YOU!!!!!

 

On Monday night, after I helped my Grandma Nett set up her new iPad, I went home and worked a little more on the craft project from above...Yes, it has a name! I have one step left, and I think I'll be able to get it done this weekend then I'll share what it is. :)

On Tuesday, I shared a real picture wearing my scarf. I love it so much and thought the outfit was so cute that I totally used Photo Booth to take a picture before having coworker take one for Brenna's blog! Since I know everyone wants one, go over to the Frilly Farm Girl blog to see how to make your own (PS the flannel was half off at Hancock's last week when I went, so maybe you'll luck out and only pay $6 for this incredible scarf, too!!). This is literally a 3-minute project, not including drive time. 

 

Yesterday was going to be a busy day, and Thabo just knew he was going to need extra sleep to tackle it. When Matt leaves for work in the morning, he tosses the puppies on the bed with me and I get to snuggle with two adorable little faces for a few minutes until my alarm goes off. Then, they lay on the bed patiently while I get ready. When I turned on the lamp and got out of bed on this day, Thabo gave me this "Please, just a few more minutes of sleep!" look. Yesterday's busy day involved a full day of designing, designing, designing at work (I'm really glad I'm not having some sort of weird creative black right now!) followed by the New Members Class at the church we are joining (yay for fellowship and new friends!), then Arby's for dinner (double yay for not having to cook one night, haha). 

Today is yet another busy, full day at work ("busy season" is in full swing right now...though it never truly stops around here!) and tonight we might finally get our tree down. I had a dream last night that we did, so it's a good sign, right? :) Don't forget, you can follow #EveryDayWithShae on Instagram and see what else I'm up to!

#EveryDayWithShae: Week 1

I don't need to point out that it's been a hot minute since I've blogged... October, but who's keeping track, right?  I almost forgot what it feels like to come to this little corner of the web and fill a blank box with words, stories and memories. To be creative. Don't get me wrong - the creativity is flowing - it has to every day at work when I'm challenged to design something new, create something better, engage a diverse audience. It just hasn't been flowing in this direction.

I began blogging to chronicle my daily adventures - the exciting ones, the mundane ones, the sad ones. I started blogging five years ago, wanting to celebrate the every day sprinkles and glitter of life. Over time, blogging began to feel like a chore or competition (strangely, because those don't usually go together in my mind), and that's when I knew I needed to unapologetically take a break and allow myself to find my creativity in my own time. I had to come to a place where I didn't feel like I had to force myself to blog about the expected topics every weekday - I want to desire to come to www.shaeken.com and write about my life - what's happening, what does it look like today? What's exciting? What's not? What do I want to write about today? Do I want to write about the awesome TV show we watched last night (Criminal Minds and Gilmore Girls have my full attention right now)? Do I want to write about the newborn calves out on the Kennedy Farm (FLUFFY COWS!!! Sorry, Dad)? Do I want to write about the totally failed dinner I made - or the amazingly awesome one (I've finally mastered a grilled cheese!)? Do I want to write about how Matt and I have an office/craft room/bedroom for our dogs that I'm still trying to figure out how to make work for all 3 uses? Or maybe I just want to write about the pretty sunrise I rarely get up in time to see, the way God spoke to me today, or wish a loved one happy birthday.

All of that to say, I'm going to start writing what I feel like writing, and not feel like I have to fit some "lifestyle blogger" mold. I'm going to celebrate the sprinkles & glitter. I'm going to use this space on the web to again fuel my creativity, challenge myself, and to share with family and friends what I've been up to - you all know I have the tendency to get long-winded in my storytelling.

With that, I decided to start my first challenge of the year on January 1: #EveryDayWithShae. I'm going to be Instagramming some part of my day, every day, then I'll come here and share it. And on that note, I give you week one.

On January 1, we celebrated KoKeMo Christmas! KoKeMo is an easier way of saying Koger-Kennedy-Mortimer :) The 3 of us pictured, Christy, mom and me, were supposed to run a 5K on this freezing morning with Christy's brother, sister-in-law and one of her nieces. Thankfully, the people organizing the race postponed it because of the glaze of ice coating parts of Oklahoma. Instead, we had yummy breakfast food and enjoyed time with friends family. Although, come January 17, supposedly we're running the rescheduled race. I really need to lace up my tennis shoes... 

On January 2, my OSU Cowboys took on my Uncle's Washington Huskies in the Cactus Bowl. I don't think I've ever been more excited watching a game that started after 9:00 (I really like an early bedtime)! I only slept during a little bit of the game and saw all the important parts... like everything James Castleman did. I mean, really, is there anything the guy can't do? For more on the game, check out Pistols Firing's 10 Thoughts - he sums it up well. 

On January 3, I promised Instagram I would blog soon...while drinking my hot chocolate. Here, I'm making good on that promise. For more thoughts on this, see the top of the post. 

I told you Gilmore Girls is totally my jam right now! After church, lunch, cheer practice, grocery shopping and a shower, I decided to end my weekend with Luke and Lorelai's engagement! Apparently I'm not the only one of my friends who's taking advantage of Netflix's offerings - anyone want to get together to binge watch season 6? :) 

On Monday nights when Matt has class and I don't go to a basketball game, I like to make a delicious meal for dinner, then have what's left over for lunch for a few days. I made Paula Deen's Baked Potato Soup in the crockpot this week. Oh, goodness. The house smelled heavenly when I walked in from work...cozy, inviting, and like I needed to sit by the fire with a good book while I enjoyed my mug of soup. So I did.

Hashtag is the sweet pup we adopted in August, and she loves snuggles. Probably more than I do. She prefers to snuggle as close to your face as possible. For reference, my phone was on my nose for this picture.

We have a chalkboard in our kitchen that I enjoy decorating every week. Sometimes I put verses on there, sometimes I put quotes, often times it's something about OSU, and this week, it had to do with the cloudy skies outside when I got home from work. It's approximately negative eighty degrees in Oklahoma (just kidding, but it has been at or below freezing most of the last week). If those gray skies would just bring some snow I wouldn't mind!

And this is just a bonus picture! On New Years Eve, I took Hashtag to the groomer while I was at lunch and picked her up after work. She's wearing a hot pink jacket and we picked up these adorable leg warmers on our way out of PetsMart. With her bow and fresh haircut, I think she just looks too sweet! This was right as I put her in the car - after I bucked up, I looked over at her in the passenger's seat and saw she'd already made herself comfortable by snuggling into the blanket I keep in my car during the winter!