Regional Radio Star {in training}

It's finally Friday - and yes, I mean finally. It's been such a crazy {but fun} week. We had a big event and a HUGE event at work this week, so when I say I'm a little tired, I think it's completely justified. I have a thousand pictures to go through, edit and post before I leave work today, plus all the other normal things non-event related. I was so tired I almost forgot to wear orange today. Don't worry, Pokes, I remembered. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight!

When I left you Monday, I was headed to bed so I'd be rested for 7:30 am meetings. Guys, I'm so not a morning person. But, getting to work that early wasn't all bad...

I got to talk to @lumponwwls to start my day. And how's your morning, friends? #lovethesportsanimal
— Shae Kennedy (@shaeken) March 26, 2013

For those of you who don't know, I listen to the Sports Animal all.the.time. I think the Morning Animals are awesome. People know if I'm in my office or not by if they can hear people talking sports as they walk by my door (I've strategically hidden myself from view thanks to constant interruptions while designing). Anyway, part of my job is social media, so when my dear friends the morning animals were having probs posting to their Facebook page and requested help from listeners, clearly I called to help. Lump was so super nice and said my name several times on air and tweeted me back. I won't lie when I say I felt a little important.

On Wednesday, Jersey Mike's wrapped up their Month of Giving with a huge day of giving - all proceeds from OKC locations benefited the Food Bank. I got to go out and visit a few locations to take pictures, and while I was there, I was asked to be on-air with KOMA! I was interviewed about what Jersey Mike's was doing for the day. Clearly after that interview & my shout outs on the Sports Animal, a twitter bio update was in order:

Yes, that reads "Wannabe Regional Radio Star."

Wednesday evening, Matt & I took Thabo on an adventure to Petsmart. Now that he's all healed from a broken bone & surgery, he's quite rambunctious! He did enjoy sitting in this box and chewing the sides of it. I also bought Molly Jo some treats and decorated chew bones to play with, and I'm not sure she likes either - the treats are healthy for old lady dogs (clearly she's going to be bummed for a healthy treat!) and she just stares at the bones and hasn't done a thing to actually chew on them. And they're even decorated in pink. Weirdo. 

And yesterday, oh man. Let's just say it was 14 long hours of work and fun. I played paparazzi so of course I'll be sharing some pictures over on my work Flickr account, and I already shared some fun on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The event was at the Cowboy & National Western Heritage Museum (for those of us who are old, the Cowboy Hall of Fame). It's such a beautiful venue, and the event was a great success. 

By the time you're reading this, I hope to have edited a few hundred pictures. I'm looking forward to having dinner with my sweet friend Ashley tonight before she takes off on a new, exciting adventure. 

If you're in the area, I'd like to invite you to join me for church on Sunday! If you're unable to physically be there, you can watch online here. I'm so thankful that Jesus did indeed pay it all. I'm so humbled to serve such a wonderful, loving Savior. 

"Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"

Thank Goodness for an Assistant Coach!

Remember that time I talked about my fantasy football draft? And then I gave a mini update saying they weren't doing very good? And then I posted one more update saying I was doing very terrible and never spoke of my team again?

Well, I'm going to update one more time because even though I was in 8th place going into the last night of the season, I somehow managed to save myself and not lose I gained an assistant coach, aka my boyfriend Matt, halfway through the season who saved the day and helped me move up two spots!

While I might not have drafted well, I have no regrets of drafting #Weeden2Blackmon even if they didn't get to stay on my roster long after my Assistant Coach started helping - something about they weren't scoring and keeping them in my starting lineup was causing me to lose.

In the end, my team didn't look much like the one I drafted to start off with, but I did get 125.32 points in the final game...quite a change from the 64.02 I started the season off with. I've already told Matt I plan to do much better next year, especially now that I know about things like the waiver wire (yeah, he taught me about that somewhere around week 9, and my points went up drastically).

Brandon & Justin, you're still my favorite fantasy picks, even if you were a slight mistake. Just be understanding if I don't pick you next year, please. Matt told me it isn't allowed.

PS: Congrats to my Matt on winning your league :) {sorry I cropped your face out.}

Only 221 days until college football, aka my favorite. Go Pokes!

Go AmPo!

Friday evening was the big night - Kaden's first basketball game on the varsity team. I've been counting down for the last couple of weeks because I was so excited about it! He's going to have our family busy this season - two nights of junior high basketball a week and two nights of varsity basketball - plus Kale's team still has a few more games to go. Welcome to the busiest (and best) time of the year.

Before the game, he looked a little nervous, and very ready to just get the show on the road :) It was a little strange to see his name up on the board - when did he get old enough for that?


He played so well, ending up with two rebounds and a foul. Mom was doing the clock and I was keeping stats on the iPad, so thankfully my friend Megan came along to help document with pictures!


AmPo came from behind to defeat Calumet 47-45, holding Calumet to only 5 points in the last quarter. The girls team also won 69-27. Thanks to everyone who voted YES for AmPo kids earlier this year, this is planned to be the last season opener in the current gym! What a way to mark it. The Panthers demonstrated excellent teamwork and they all played awesome! I was one proud sister :)


#GoAmPo

Homecoming Weekend

This weekend was my absolute favorite weekend of the whole entire year: Homecoming. In my last post I shared memories of my last homecoming as a student at OSU. This is my second homecoming out of school, and I think they just get better each year. It's weird running into people you had class with (shout out to Blake and Stephanie!), and now you have real grown up jobs, and several people only make it back to town for Homecoming weekend. It made me realize we are actually grown ups and, as far as I can tell, we a doing a pretty good job of it.

Before I get to Homecoming, I'll start with Friday night. Prior to heading to Stillwater, I attended the wedding of my friend, Trent, who married Jamie in a beautiful outdoor wedding. Seriously, they couldn't have ordered a more perfect evening.


After the wedding, we headed to Stillwater. Thankfully, my parents had a hotel room, and although I feel like a terrible alumni admitting this, I didn't make it to Walkaround. I did drive by the Phi Lamb & ATO house deck before heading to the hotel and going straight to sleep, though, so I don't feel too horrible.

Saturday was an 11:00 kick off, and I might have sort of watched the parade from the hotel as I fixed my hair and got ready. My dad made me a waffle (courtesy of the hotel continental breakfast, haha), which was delicious, then we headed over to the stadium to see what all was going on.



When Meg and I got to the game, we decided we should take a picture before it was entirely too hot. Thank goodness we did! Apparently the weather forgot it was October, because I definitely got a sunburn.



Laine came to sit with us in the last part of the game and tried to get the tailgaters to cheer with him as we were leaving the stadium. Note to fans: "orange" is followed by "power" and the when someone starts with an "O" you follow with "S-U, COWBOYS!!!"



After poking around the renovated Union (beautiful, btw), Meg and I decided to be dutiful alumni and take a picture of the library and fountain - you know, things that haven't changed a bit since we were there (okay, maybe neither of us used the library, so it could have changed, but still).




Saturday evening, the Kennedy and Ratcliff families headed to Hideaway for even more fun (at this point it felt like Saturday had lasted several days). There was a lot of laughter - and even more jokes at my expense - and it was such a wonderful time.




Keely and I had to stop at Rhinestone Cowgirl, where I found a cute car candle in the shape of a cowboy. We all also went to Orange Leaf, where Kaden displayed some wonderful dance skills and he and Keely both gave us a taste of the latest teenage fashion.



Today we slept in, ate at Joes, and headed home. Needless to say, I'll be sleeping very well tonight! :)

If you went to Homecoming - and especially Walkaround - share a link to your pictures/ blogs with me!

Forever orange,
shaeken

The sweetest story I've read lately.

My heart melted when I read this story. Also, I recommend reading it with a Kleenex nearby.

Oklahoma State’s Bassett, first-grader Taylor Brandt a perfect match

A pomped up weekend.

I love weekends, but I seriously have a love for weekends with any second spent in Stillwater. This weekend was a Cowboy home game, so of course that meant a whole weekend in my favorite place.

As I arrived in Stillwater, I was informed "brinner" was on the menu. I helped make it and no one was poisoned! Although, my version of French toast apparently could use some work - I didn't realize it wasn't supposed to be squished. But hey, it was eaten, slightly burnt pieces and all. I'm learning!


After dinner I headed to the ATO house to check out the hard work Phi Lamb is putting in this year! I loved getting a sneak peek and getting to relive college days by savoring the sweet smell of pomps and glue!! As much as I love the Toy Story house dec from the year James and I slaved over homecoming almost died from homecoming were the Phi Lamb & Delt directors, this year's dec might be as awesome. I can't wait to see the finished product at Walkaround (although you can bet I will have to pop in to see progress before then!). I love homecoming and every single thing that comes along with it...other than the reminder that I'm old. #wahh.


Saturday's game was an 11:00 kick off, so Caylee, Meg, Brooke and I tablegated at Aspen before the game :) Bagels, friends and football weather made for a perfect morning.




Of course, Wes Lunt's knee and all the other injuries OSU had to overcome made me think we should buy some bubble wrap and just keep the team protected at all times.

Before leaving town on Sunday for Pailynn and Trapaw's birthday parties, I had to stop at the barn for my third barn coke of the weekend. Oops.

Fantasy Football: week 1

I don't have many comments on my fantasy team this week because there isn't much positive to say yet... Other than thankfully, I am used to cheering for a team that is just on the edge of being awesome. You know, a team that has a lot of potential and some fantastic players but nothing seems to go perfect and you just have week after week of not quite enough.

Alright, if you're in my fantasy league, you're laughing. Why? Because I am a far cry from not quite enough... My team stunk this week! It was terrible. One of my players scored less than a point. #notokay

However, we are only one week in so I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet. But, for you fantasy smarties, at what point in the season do I panic and need to make some changes?

Also, does it help to wear team colors to cheer on your fantasy team? If so, I may end up looking like a hot mess.

Weekend {flashback}

You know those weekends that are completely gorgeous yet you end up hibernating all. weekend. long? Welcome to my weekend, because that is exactly what happened, thanks to a dumb sinus infection.

Friday night I met my parents and brothers for dinner on the way home from work, and I am pretty sure there is a good chance I was in bed by 9pm. Thankfully it was an away game for my beloved Cowboys (more on them later) because missing a game just isn't an option, so I have had all weekend to rest up. Saturday there is a high likelihood I slept until 10am. Okay, I won't lie. I did sleep until 10am. That's 13 hours of sleep that theoretically should have made me feel better, right? No! What kind of joke is this?

I woke up to decent-ish news though, because overnight a deal had been arranged between the PAC12 network and Dish Network to show the OSU game. After a minute of panic over having Directv, I remembered my grandparents do have Dish, and though they were out of town, I decided they were going to be hosting me for the night (thanks Ganddad and Grandma!!).

If you watched the game, you will know why I am completely okay with the fact that I fell asleep before halftime. It was just sad and nothing could go right it seemed. Very, very unfortunate. For more thoughts from someone who actually talks about sports for real, visit PFB. Although it was a sad loss, I stand behind the Cowboys and know they can and will improve as the season goes on. I am proud to wear orange!



Speaking of orange, I have a few former Cowboys on my fantasy team! I'm not entirely sure how well I actually am doing this week, but when my last game is played I will be sure to update. I do know Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon, unfortunately, did not score me many points today.

Of course, there was a little more to my weekend than football and sleeping. I needed to buy presents, so, during all the downtime I had, I turned to my iPad for some online shopping. During my online shopping, I decided to buy a slipcover for my couch so I can use the cute pillows I recently bought and make everything in there match a little more. I realized after picking out the cover that I just needed to spend $8 to get free shipping. Note to self: don't waste time looking for something to save on shipping if you will end up spending more in tax + items than shipping! Of course, I got distracted in my looking and had a little bit of a childhood flashback. Thankfully, modern technology exists & my dear Caylee was able to experience this flashback with me via text. High points included below.


S: "So Target sells scrunchies."
C: "dislike they need to discontinue those"
S: "yeah. Who even buys them?" (I tell Caylee about my $8 problem and continue to get lost in the target website)
C: "lol normally you're pretty good at spending money at target."


S: "also furbys are coming back."
C: "WHAT I hate those things they are freaky."
S: "yeah CREEPY. Target's ad says to brush up on your furbish."
C: "hopefully they won't catch on."

Parents: no matter how much your tiny humans say they want a Furby, don't buy them one. They are creepy and weird and don't serve any kind of purpose whatsoever other than to be annoying and scare people. Just don't do it. Please.

PS thank you mom for making me mashed potatoes every day since I've been sick. You are the best. Even if you did buy me a Furby as a child.

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]

Saturdays in the fall - Polyvore

I can't wait for football season... and I'm already dreaming of what I'll wear.

Saturdays in the fall - Polyvore.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFXCwUPlhXQ?rel=0&w=480&h=360]

High 5 Friday

Somehow I almost forgot it was Friday. But, this week has had some awesome things, so before I forget, let's get sharing!

1. IT RAINED!!!
This is Oklahoma, and it's July. Thank you for rain!


2. I got a million Julie hugs.
I have some seriously awesome cousins. Julie is normally pretty stingy with her hugs to me, but this week, she gave them freely. I just love this girl so much, and nothing was better than walking in the door and being hug attacked by her.


3. I got a pedicure.
If you need a pedicure and you're in the area, I can recommend one highly skilled four year old. She uses half a bottle on each foot too!


4. I still love my job.
I know, if you follow me on Twitter you see a lot of retweets, if we're friends on Facebook, you see a lot of shares, and if we are friends in real life you've probably heard a million times just how much I love my job. But seriously, I love it. It's not every day that you get the opportunity to make a difference while doing what you love. Keep on dreaming, even if it breaks your heart. Dreaming paid off - I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I had a dream, and I chased it.


5. There are only 49 days left until Cowboy Football.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2VG1PHkVuw?rel=0&w=640&h=360]
Enough said.

What are your high five's of the week?

You tell 'em I'm coming...

This is music to my ears.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDIzJag21y4?rel=0&w=640&h=360]

September 1. I can't wait.

Thunder Party

In case you live under a rock weren't aware, last week, the Thunder defeated the Spurs to make it to the NBA Finals.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwM4EIIkqM?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

We got together with Chase, Kim and Tommy to watch the game, and by the look of things, we were celebrating the win before it happened! Kale bought a Thunder-themed cupcake, and our visitors brought us quite a spread! We had a blue & orange Thunder Up cake, finger foods galore (including these sausage cup things that were amazing!) and Velata, Scentsy's chocolate line. Seriously delicious. Go order yourself one or have a party. I'm thinking I need one in orange.



Can't wait until Tuesday - Thunder vs. Heat. Look for FINALS updates here. THUNDER UP!