Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving! We did! =) Having missed Dac's family's meal and having been sick and on a soup diet for a couple days, I. Was. Pumped for Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's. It didn't disappoint. I've always kind of enjoyed this holiday. Used to be - I'd spend the day before Thanksgiving helping my mom, aunt, and grandma start preparing for the big meal. When I was little, I was in charge of "washing" the turkey. This meant the turkey was thawing in the sink and I had to give it a bath. I won't reveal how old I was when I realized there was no such thing as giving the turkey a bath. =| Here I was thinking I ha

d this big important job... and really... they were just trying to keep me busy and out of their hair. ha! Later on, I was in charge of helping Grandma with the pies (I know everyone says this, but seriously, my Grandma makes THE best pies you'll ever taste. AND they're always pretty too. Amazing.) and the cleaning (the house, not the turkey). It was fun girl time.

Then, Thanksgiving morning I'd watch the parade with my dad before heading out to Grandma's early to help some more. Getting there early is the best part. It was always lots of fun. We'd stuff ourselves, watch football, and that's that. Later, my parents and I would watch Home Alone or another fun Christmas movie. When Dac and I were dating, we'd sometimes go see a movie Thanksgiving afternoon too. It's just a fun holiday... getting together for reasons other than gifts, etc... That's what it's all about. I was telling Dac how we don't really do any of that fun stuff anymore. I think we should make a change for next year!

My grandma Millie, Aunt Deb, and my mom.

The spread. =)

My contribution. Usually, I make a mashed sweet potato casserole with a cinnamon sugar pecan crusting on top... this year, I was lazy and just used Schwans sweet potato chunks and dressed them up with butter, brown sugar, pecans and marshmallows. Still pretty good.

Later that day, some of Dac's family came over for a casual "Drinksgiving". We sat around in our sweats, ate appetizers, drank cocktails, and watched Bridesmaids. Real family-friendly movie. =) I wanted to get pictures that night, but nobody was cooperating. Huh-hmm! Thankfully Peety and Tater felt like posing. =)

My Peety man!

Cousin Tater!

All-in-all it was a great day.

Midweek Randoms

• Let's play catch-up from last week, shall we?

• I had a meeting in Salina Friday so I spent the day in the car. That evening we went to Wichita for a dinner/christmas shopping date. We ate at Old Chicago and picked up a few gifts. I wasn't able to get as many as I'd have hoped... but it's a start! Since I'm having surgery soon and since we'll be out of town some for the holidays, I really don't have many shopping days left. It'll all come together though... and if not, there's always gift cards, right!? =)

• That brings me to my next topic. Saturday. Saturday was clean out the house day. We had hoped to take some scrap metal to recycle and get most if not all our stuff taken to Salvation Army, etc... that needed to go. Welllllll... no such luck. We got our normal recyclable stuff dropped off, I cleaned out our bedroom.... took everything out of our closet (please understand, since our spare room/bathroom is under construction... most of that stuff has taken up residency in our bedroom closet.)I threw stuff away, got stuff ready to donate, and cleaned and organized. The room looks grand. Bare and totally undecorated with non-matching sheets, mind you, but grand. =) We deep cleaned the floors, blinds, etc... and Dac even hanged new curtain rods. I got thecurtains washed but they're not hemmed yet. Half the stuff from the closet is now in the hallway. ha! And while we got a bunch of stuff from the garage taken to Salvation Army, the stuff inside the house I was so desperately hoping to get rid of, is still there. In piles in about every room in our house. Maybe tomorrow?

• I think part of the slowness was due to my not feeling well. All day longI felt kind of queazy. I just knew I was getting sick. Well, I was. I spent all night throwing up (it's not pretty people, I'm such a violent puker... you're welcome for sharing that tidbit) and feeling like death was upon me. I slept out on the couch and couldn't get comfortable and couldn't seem to regulate my temperature. It donned on me Sunday morning that maybe I had a fever. Well, I did. It was like 100.5 and I imagine it was well over that during the night when I was at my worst. I spent the rest of the day on the couch either sleeping or watching old Grey's Anatomy episodes on Netflix. I even missed Thanksgiving dinner with Dac's family. =( Didn't even get to eat a take-home plate. Double =(.

• This is also the day I found out about the plane crash that killed two of the OSU Basketball coaches and two others. My heart breaks for their families, players, etc... An article about the crash can be read here.

• Unfortunately this isn't the first tragedy of this nature to affect OSU... visit the Remember the 10 page here. I have such pride about Oklahoma State. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to go there and be part of the great orange-wearing cowboy family.

• Monday, I woke up still feeling pretty bad. I wasn't puke-sick anymore but I still had the awful headache, was super sore, and I could tell I needed more recovery time. I spent another day on the couch... barely getting up... watching more Grey's and eating soup. I missed girls night out too. Triple =(.

• Today I have a hair appt. Praise the Lord.

• This week is full of Thanksgiving festivities and one of my great friends' wedding! Can't wait!

Midweek Randoms

• Seriously? How is it time for this again? This time of year always seems to fly by. Although, I think I say that during every time of the year.

• I had to stay home sick from work again last week. My pain was, I'm almost sure, the worst it's ever been. At this point as much as I dread it, I'm SO ready for the surgery. I just want to feel better. That same day I missed out on a trip to Wichita for Wii Night. =| NOT cool.

• Friday night Dac and I went on a date. I didn't take any pictures b/c still wasn't feeling the best. We went to Ponca, ate BBQ, went to Brace Books and Wal-Mart, stopped for a treat at the gas station then went home. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, but we had fun none-the-less. =)

• Saturday, Dac worked on photos and I worked on cleaning and doing laundry. Then, that afternoon/evening we photographed a friend of ours, Lynnette's wedding. She and Deryk had a beautiful wedding and it was fun to be a part of it! We got to see several people from high school so that was fun!

• Sunday, I woke up and started cleaning the house and doing more laundry. Then, we met David and Terese for lunch and visited with them for a while.

• Sunday happened to be the PanCan Purple Stride in Dallas - it's the 5k for Pancreatic Cancer. I've wanted to walk/run in one for years now and it's never worked out. This year, my cousin Courtney along with my aunt, one of Ryan's best friends, and several others formed a team "KABOOM" (one of Ryan's catch phrases) in memory of him. I hated that I couldn't be a part of it. I. Hated. It. But we had already scheduled a wedding Lynnette's wedding for that weekend. I donated and sported my purple Ryan shirt to show support. I thought a lot about him that day. I know we all were. (PS - if you're new around here, Ryan is my older cousin who died due to Pancreatic Cancer last year. You can read more about him and that situation here, here, here, and here.) Here's a scary picture of me wearing the shirt.

• I love my family and can't wait to spend time with some of them over Christmas! Eeek!

• As crazy and busy and hectic as this next month and a half will be, it's full of lots of excitement and good times too! Lots of friend and family time. Pretty excited about it. =)

• Anyway, Sunday night, David came over to help Dac with the house and Terese came too and brought Tater. Tater and Peety played outside (I wish I'd gotten a picture) and Terese and I chatted and went to Sonic. I got a chili cheese coney. Haven't had one in a long time. It was pretty good. Some of my college buddies and I would get those on OSU game days. =) Fun times.

• Everything else this week has basically been work and photography related. Although, I did get to hang out with Sky for a while last night. That was fun. We didn't have a whole lot of time together so we went and got a snack, listened to music, and created people on her Sims game. haha. It was a real educational and productive time together. =)

• Then, Kayla and I met for dinner to catch up. That was fun! Then we met Heather at Wally World (we have been soooo foodless at our house... yikes!) and then we all hung out, caught up, and watched Criminal Minds. It was fabulous.

Midweek Randoms

• I don't have much to say this time around.

• Dac and I spent Saturday down in Enid, Oklahoma photographing this adorable couple's wedding. Gorgeous no? Inside and out, people. Inside and out. Wow. It was an awesome ceremony.

• We ate a lot of McDonalds that day. We're certainly not proud of that, but it was kind of fun none-the-less. =)

• Sunday, we went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch. It's been a while since we'd been out there so it was a nice, welcome change. My Uncle John visiting was the special occasion - not that we really need a special occasion to stuff our faces full of Grandma's amazin' cookin'. Oh my. She even had peach pie. Listen, I know everyone says this, but fo realz, my Grandma's pies are literally THE. BEST. Hands down. I'd bet a fortune on it if I had it to bet. Peach just so happens to be my favorite. =) I was a happy girl that day.

• After lunch, Kayla and I went to Heather's bridal shower. While there, I laughed a lot, ate some delicious cake and chocolate covered strawberries, and hugged my friends I don't get to see nearly enough.

• I promise since Sunday I've been a much healthier eater. =) Speaking of which, I'm trying to cut back on pop again. Oy, I was out of control with it. I was doing real good until yesterday's Grinder man. I can't go to Grinder Man without a pop or cookie. Just. Can't. Do. It. I figure one (and a refill) in a whole week is a major improvement for me.

• Monday we were supposed to have Elizabeth's sister Kimberly's pictures. BUT it was raining cats and dogs (that's an expression people) and so we've rescheduled. I love rain. Love love love it but being a photographer has made me get a little less excited about it. That's kind of a bummer.

• So, instead of a photo session I did a half-hearted ab/leg/butt workout I found onPinterest, did some laundry, and felt the earth mooove under my feet. That's right folks, I felt my very first earthquake tremor. Kind of exciting and kind of disappointing too... you know, after all the hype they'd been getting all weekend. I'm glad I finally know what all the fuss is about. I'm sure many of you have seen these by now, but when I first saw them, I about peed my pants. Hilarious. Personally, I'm glad we've gone more than 30 seconds now without everyone posting facebook updates about the eeaaaaaaarthquake.

• Bahahahaha. Funny, I tell ya.

• Criminal Minds tonight. It's about tornaders. Hellerrr!

More Dates

I realized after last week's randoms that I forgot to mention some recent dates.

After my Dr's appt. last Tuesday, Dac and I went to McAlister's Deli. I love McAlister's but seeing as how we don't have one here (there is one in Stillwater so I was used to having one in town...sigh) I don't eat it that often. I ate there quite a bit when I lived and worked at Dillards in Wichita though. Anyway, don't get there a ton now but I'd been craving it so since it was my traumatic day, I got to pick. =) We both got spuds and sweet teas (to. die. for). I got the cheese spud with extra sour cream - but couldn't finish it. I think my stomach was just upset from nerves. After lunch we did some quick shopping at Old Navy (took back my recently purchased way too tight pants) and Target. It was nice just to have that time together - especially on a week day - where we could just talk and hang out.

Last week was just a total mess all together. Between that and several long days with night meetings, AND pictures, we were both beat and getting a little cranky. (Who me?!). SO - I decided kind of last minute on Friday to invite Dac out on a date. I knew we probably shouldn't take the time... I mean... we're so busy and behind on life right now... but I decided that's exactly why we should take the time. We ate supper at Biederman's, drove around looking at all the pretty trees, and stopped by College Hill for dessert. I actually got pictures this time! =)

Dac with his coffee (with half-n-half...haha... THE way to drink coffee) and cranberry scone.


Me with my skinny vanilla chai tea (best around). I'm wearing what is probably my new favorite sweater. =)

Mmm... spells and tastes just like fall.

And my spiced walnut bread.We had a great night before getting back to work and having a looooooooong day at a wedding the following day. I'm thankful we live in the same house now, instead of hours away like we were for about 4 years. I try to not take that for granted. Being able to go on a spontaneous is definitely something to be excited about! =)

Endweek Randoms

=) I'm not as grumpy today so I think it's an appropriate time to have a randoms post!

• "It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday"... you're welcome.
  

• Lately, Friday's at work have meant BREAKFAST! (Sound all the obnoxious bells, whistles, and lights circa Pee-Wee's Playhouse's secret word of the day) We've had pancakes, breakfast casserole, cinnamon pull apart bread (pure awesome), donuts, biscuits and gravy, etc... you get the idea. It makes work a little more bearable and it fills my hungry, breakfast-lovin' belly. =)

• Going back a bit - Sunday we photographed one of our favorite little guys for his 1-year pictures. Oh my he's so sweet and so adorable. We just love taking his picture. I think Dac and I would both steal him if it wasn't so frowned upon in our society. Ha! =) I kid, I kid... we're not creepers. No but really, he's CUTE.

• I had another Dr's appt. Tuesday. Again, this really should have it's own blog post. There's just too much info. for a "randoms" post. But basically I'll have surgery within the next couple months to hopefully improve some on-going pelvic pain problems. I had a real similar surgery 2-3 years ago and quite frankly, I'm not looking forward to having it again. Plus, there's my un-natural, excessive fear of blood clots. But I digress. With our wedding schedule it's going to be interesting trying to find just the right time to have it done but we'll get it figured out and everything will be great! Right? Right. Breathe Alisha.

• Let's see... what else.... OOOOHH... I participated in my photog friend Laura's "Fall Swap" again this year. I racked up and got some great stuff! My swap buddy was very good to me. First here's a picture of the stuff I sent her (note pads for lists... yep, I'm a list maker; Sharpie pens, pumpkin spice Yankee Car Jar; Autumn Vanilla body spray; Chocolate Donut hand sanitizer; Burts Bees original chapstick... fav; orange quick dry toenail polish; Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups; a pumpkin bread recipe, and all of it was put in a fall mixing bowl. I also sent a Real Simple magazine... it just didn't make it in the picture).
  

• She sent me: fall decor, a lens cup, apple cake mix, a fall candle, Reeses peanut butter pumpkins, quick dry nail polish, lip gloss, fall car fresheners, and three flavors of chai tea. She must know me... I love these things!!! =) I was surprised to see how alike our tastes are. I've already painted my toenails, used the lip gloss, decorated, and of course ate the Reeses (hey, I shared with Dac at least) but I still have lots of goodies to enjoy this season. Can't wait to get my hands on that chai!! There's some yummy flavors!! Thanks Melinda!

Arkalalah: Days 3-4

I know it's Wednesday and I should be posting some midweek randoms - but I'm rather grumpy and stressed today - so I figured I'd better focus on fun stuff instead. Maybe I'll do a midweek randoms post another day this week. =)

Friday (Day 3 of Arkalalah) was a picture-less day... sorry. I just flat out forgot to take any pictures. I worked a half day then Dac and I ate at Subway and goofed off for a bit. Then, I met Terese and her friend Melissa downtown to watch the Kiddie Parade. Ok - to be completely honest here - I thought the kiddie parade pretty well sucked. I haven't gone in a couple years and I really only went this year to see Journey and the other kids I knew I wouldn't see all dressed up on Halloween. Well, I couldn't see any kids in the parade... it moved too fast, was a total cluster, and I wasn't able to get pictures of any of my favorite munchkins. =( So sad.

Val took me home after that and Dac and I walked back down town to eat supper. We each got a brisket sandwich and it was divine. =) Then, I went with Erica and Kayla to see Footloose. Good movie! =)

Saturday, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to meet Cori so we could set out chairs. Then, I went back to bed until more like 9:45 haha. We met John and Anna in Winfield to take Ruby's 1-year pictures. Can't believe she's about one. Geez Louise.

She's a cute little thing. And so fun! =)



Then we headed down to the parade (and food!)
Watched Charli make a mad dash for the candy.
Good Daddy.

Good Daccy. =)
Cori and Terese. Our parade buddies.
So glad these guys have been able to join us for several years!!

After the parade (well, we left early) John and Anna tried to con Ruby into a nap. They were unsuccessful. While they did that, Dac and I went to Grandma Jo's for Chili. I didn't eat though b/c we had the late lunch.

Once we got back we went for round two of pictures before Ruby tired out on us. Then, we went to Braums!!

That evening, we were going to hit up my buddy Chris' Halloween shindig but, I kid you not, and I'm kinda ashamed to admit this on the interwebs... we fell asleep. =| Totally missed the party. Yep, really did that.

That pretty well wraps up Arkalalah: Totally 80's. =)