Arkalalah: Day 2

I already shared a few pics from the first day of Arkalalah on the Midweek Randoms post I did last week. For those of you who aren't from her and have no idea what the heck Arkalalah is - it's basically our home town's fall festival. It was started back in the depression as a way to boost morale and lift spirits. There's a carnival, lots of parades, band competitions, concerts, a Queen Alalalah, street games, and all the streets downtown are lined with food booths.

Now, for day two!

This just so happened to be Wii Night, which, like I've mentioned before includes very little Wii playing and lots more eating and hanging out with friends. So anyway, we ventured downtown with Val, Cori, Steve, and Charli for a night of "eat 'til you're sick". =)

Here's Cori at her first stop!

My first (and supposed to be last) stop. Oh yeah.


Dac with his bowl of chili.

Val patiently waiting on all of us to get our 15 things so she can move on to what she wants!

Charli goin' to town.



Like I mentioned, I went with the intention of JUST getting the loaded tater. Instead, I ate every last bite of that, then had part of Steve's onion blossom, part of Cori's potato twisty thing, and what was left of Steve's funnel cake. I totally blame Steve for the stomach ache I had at the end of the night. Totally. I also ate this and at least 1/4th of Dac's cheesecake-on-a-stick. Oy.


After we got drinks and took a break at Grinder Man, we took Charli to the carnival for a bit. It was fun watching her ride rides so I'm glad they let us join them!

Dac even accompanied her through this fun house. It was a sight. These two are such friends.

Cori got this on video but Charli got a little overwhelmed trying to get out of the fun house. Dac pushed her through all the while she's yelling "I don't know how". Pretty dang funny... but kind of sad too.

After the carnival, we trekked back through the food booths to get that last snack... Charli had won a prize at the carnival... a big blow up baseball bat (which she lovingly beat Steve with) and this pretty pretty princess crown. She was kind enough to let Steve wear it as we walked down Summit Street... she even serenaded him. "Daddy is a princess, Daddy is a princess..." all the way back. =) It was hysterical.
Pretty dang good Day 2 if I do say so myself! =) These guys are so much fun.

Midweek Randoms x 2

• So I didn't blog last week because I was on the road to a school PR conference in Kansas City. As much as I hate to be away during busy times, I always enjoy this conference. You see, I am the only person in the district who does what I do... everyone else does different stuff, thinks in a different way, etc... so it's nice for me to be surrounded with people who just get it. They're cool people so it was fun to hang out... and I got some great ideas.

• The other good part about the conference is that Cori rode along with me. She didn't have to work and she has family around KC so she and Charli just rode along and played during the day while I was at the conference. Then, when I got done, we met her family for dinner. Oh my word, they are so super sweet! We ate at Cheeseburger Paradise one night, Famous Dave's the next, and that second night we did a little shopping at The Legends. It was fun and I'm glad I had the company! =) PS - totally disappointed with myself that I didn't get pictures. Sigh.

• Speaking of Cori, I think I forgot to mention that she's PREGNANT! So excited for them. I know Charli is going to make a great big sister and I just can't wait to meet him/her. We love this family to pieces and I'm looking forward to having another little one to play with and spoil. =) Eeeek!

• Back-tracking a bit... the week before last was kind of a rough week... wasn't feeling so hot and we had a wedding that weekend so we missed out on date night that week. FAIL. BUT... the wedding was fun and pretty and we got to go on a couple "dates" this week to make up for it.

• Saturday we went to Wichita just for fun... just for us... no agenda. =) We ate at The Wichita Brewing Co. and had the Hopperoni Pizza, the Mac-n-Cheese Pizza, and the S'more Dessert Pizza. All of it was pretty tasty. Dac tried a couple new beers and I had the homemade rootbeer... also good. Then we took a leisurely trip to Target and Old Navy (where I got two pairs of pants that are waaaaay too small...ugh).

• Then followed everything up with a trip to The Donut Whole. We each ate a donut there and then took a box home with us. Like we needed that! Ha! On the way home we stopped at my parents' house and had a good visit. We don't get the chance to hang out with them much due to lots of busy schedules but it's always fun when we do. =) They shared the donuts with us!

• Sunday, I had a sister day with Val. We went to lunch together, caught up on lots of chatting, and went out to Austin's while he was working on a couple projects. We also made a happy hour run before I had to go home for a photo session. It was a fun one - our photog buddy Laura McPherson of Elephant Juice Photography and her family!! Always a blast!

• Tuesday, we went back to Wichita to photograph a sweet family and then we ate pumpkin pancakes at IHOP for date #2. =) It wasn't a real date per se, but it was nice to go in, sit down, and be together for a little bit.

• This week is OSU's homecoming. "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration." That always gets me feeling a little nostalgic and makes me want to be in Stillwater big time. We (college buddies) were all going to try to go but we ended up not getting tickets... so maybe next year. Instead, we'll stick around for Arkalalah and a couple more photo sessions this weekend.

• Did I mention that week is Arkalalah!?!?! HOLLA! I hadn't seen Sky in several weeks so Dac and I took her downtown to eat. She also talked me into paying $5 for one ride on the Kamakaze. Sucker. Anyway, I had the usual Jeffy Pup and Pickle O's that I can't seem to live without. (I was Jeffy Pup in elementary school!) Dac got a Gyro. Sky got... wait for it... a slice of pizza. Ha! She's worse than I am.

It's hard to get cooler than this ya'll.

(I must have seen a squirrel... ha)
These two = trouble. AND they're always scheming up "Alisha pranks". Sigh. At least they have fun.
Dinner.

• Speaking of Sky... I love that kid. She's a total mess and it's that crazy teen time when she's not a kid but not an adult or full blown teenager either. Nuts. Makes me glad babies don't pop out as teenagers. Can you imagine?! Ugh. Anyway, she is just so much fun!!
  

• After I took Sky home, I went home for a bit then walked back downtown to see miss Charli ride on her school float in the night parade. The parade itself was sadly pitiful... but this face... totally worth it. =) She so sweetly invited me to her parade... how could I resist? Exactly... I couldn't. So I donned my ear muffs (don't hate... appreciate) and joined in the spirit! (Photo stolen from Cori's facebook page. Thanks Cori.)
  

• Like I said, it's Arkalalah, so I might actually have more pictures for once! =)
  

Midweek Randoms

• Here we are again! =) I hate to just talk about what I've done since last week - but since this is a scrapbook of sorts, I guess I kind of need to do that. I hope become a better blogger someday.

• This weekend was Dac's cousin Courtney's wedding. We took a half day on Friday to head up for that. It was fun and Courtney was simply gorgeous! We haven't even began editing those yet but when we do, I'll share them over on the photo blog and maybe even share a couple here too. Thanks to Val, there's at least one or two of us dancing. =) We RARELY go to a wedding where we get to dance so that was fun. On the way up, we rode with David and Terese and on the way back we rode with Val... and ate Quick Trip at 12:30 a.m. Mmm.

• Saturday, I went with Val and Terese to Wichita. I went to get stuff to make a birthday gift for Journey but, no surprise here, that didn't get done. Also, I've been on the lookout for the perfect comfy pants to replace the ones I lost. I mean seriously, how. hard. can. it. be. to. find. a. comfy pair of comfy pants!? I've bought two recently from Target that I've had to take back. I've pinned some from Old Navy that I think might be the golden ticket but we'll see. BUT - the trip wasn't a total loss because we ate at Olive Garden. I got this: it's basically fried lasagna (hello beautiful) laying on a bed of alfredo sauce and topped with marinara. Seriously yum.
  

• It has donned on me that maybe if I didn't eat so much (see above) I wouldn't be quite so addicted to comfy pants. There's some food for thought (haha) for ya.
  

• Sunday, we had a photo session with a 1-year old little Sophie Lou. If you follow the photo blog, you've met her here, and probably several other places too.
  

• After that, we met David, Terese, and Charli for pizza at Gambino's. David came here to help with the house afterwards while Charli, Terese, and I ran some errands, got a coke, and headed to Journey's party.
  

(Birthday Girl!)

• The party was adorable and the kids went on a fun treasure hunt. =) Mark and Kayla did such a great job.

• While I was there, I got to quickly catch up with Erika and her sweet girls.
  

• So far this week it's just been work, work, and more work. It has me mega-cranky. MEGA cranky. Thankfully there's Criminal Minds tonight. Whew.
  

• I did stop and get me some new work pants (FINALLY) and a cute sweater. Saw this on the way home.
  

Midweek Randoms

Again - sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll get better. Promise. At least temporarily. It's just been hectic. I know you can understand that!! We're all busy.

• Let's see. I realize I forgot to share our date night from two weeks ago. So we'll start with that. On Friday the 23rd, the same weekend we went to OKC, Dac and I ate at home (philly cheese steak sandwiches I believe) and then went to see Moneyball. It was really good. We went to the earlier movie and spent the evening with several members of the senior crowd. =) They laughed and talked through the whole thing so we spend lots of time just laughing them. Silly old people. =) The movie was great too though. I'm not a huge Brad Pitt fan but he did a good job as did the supporting actor and the story was a ''feel good'' one. After the movie we swung through McDonalds for a treat and headed home. We stayed up late finishing season three of 24 and decided that we needed to take a break before we started the next one because we just have so much photography stuff going on and Dac and David (FIL) are working hard on our bathroom/spare room project.

• Last Wednesday I got my hair cut. Finally. It's SO much better. I can actually fix it now. Hallelujer! I don't quite look like Jen Anniston but close. Real close. =)

• Thursday I had my doctor's appt. I'm being sent on to a specialist and really, this subject needs it's own post... so that might be for another day and another time. But my mom went with me and we had fun shopping, eating, shopping... eating. =)
  

• Last Friday, for date night, we went to Ponca. Dac needed to stop by Lowes and we decided to go there since I/we'd been in the Wichita area a lot lately. We ate ribs at Head Country, browsed Brace Books, Dac bought the long-coveted Buckyballs and really payed little attention to me the rest of the weekend... I kid, I kid. Then we went to Cherry Berry. We like treats, ok?! Geez.

• I went to breakfast the next morning with Kayla - she wanted to hear about my appointment and where better to chat than over a pancake and glass of chocolate milk (told you I'd celebrate soon!). We had a nice visit, I ran a couple errands in Winfield, then did some random stuff around the house before a family session.

• SUNDAY. Oh my. We slept in. Like really slept in. 'Til 9:00. That's rare people. We met Dac's mom for lunch at Gambinos, then got to work on photos and house stuff. I spent about 6-8 hours totally cleaning/organizing the kitchen from top to bottom. I pulled everything out, cleaned the inside of the cabinets, put that shelf gripper stuff down, put everything back in an organized fashion, prepared a big box of stuff to take to the Salvation Army, scrubbed the cabinets, WD-40'd the stainless steel appliances (oh my word... thank you pinterest.com for reviving my hope in stainless steel. Who knew!?!?), swept, mopped, yada, yada, yada. It's like a new room. Ok, so it doesn't look that much different but to me... it's brand new. =)

• While in Wichita for another dr's appointment yesterday, I picked up some new comfy pants. Guys, I love comfy pants. I love pajamas. I love soft fabrics that move when you do. Sigh. I want to be wearing comfy pants right now. Clearly this is exciting news. Val went with me. We ate like pigs, walked, and laughed a lot. Win.

• I am SO ready for some of our bigger house projects to be complete. I especially want our disgusting carpet out of the family room/hall. Ugh, it's awful. I keep dreaming of my re-finished wood floors (hopefully) with a giant super soft rug down in there. Glorious. Even if there's not hardwood under that whole area and/of if it's too far gone to refinish - I'd settle for new, clean, soft carpet. =) Again... more first world problems.

• I've been wanting to go to a pumpkin patch recently. I love Fall and everything that comes with it. The last time I went to a real pumpkin patch was right after we got married. Well - actually - it wasn't really much of a real pumpkin patch... it had pumpkins but was mostly a corn maze. But I digress. We went and had a blast. We didn't have much cash on us (plus we were pretty poor anyway) so we couldn't afford much in the way of a pumpkin. Dac, not wanting us to go away empty handed, picked out this little bitty perfect pumpkin and we named it Pumpkin Breath. =)

• Oops - just realized I never posted this yesterday!

• Since I forgot, it's worth mentioning that Steve Jobs has passed away. Co-creater of Apple, Founder of Pixar, visionary, icon, husband, father, friend. It's sad to see him go. Boo Pancreatic Cancer. Boo. I was reminded of this quote from another photo blog:
  

Photo Source

Midweek Randoms

Well what'dya know... it's Wednesday... it snuck up on me... and I really have nothing random prepared. =) I'm sure I'll think of something... hold the phone...

OK, now!

• We have been picture takin' fools this week so there will probably be lots of posts on our photo blog over the next several days. Keep an eye out for those... you'll like them... they're pictures from an actual camera... not a phone. =)

• One of those sessions was an engagement session for my super friend Julie (you met her here) and her fiance´ Jon. Although they've dated for a few years and I've heard lots about him - this was my first time actually meeting him and, thankfully (seeing as how they're getting married in a couple months), I whole-heartedly approve!! He's suuuuuper nice and they are a perfect match. Fo sho. Plus - they're super adorable together. =) They took us out to eat at Hideaway Pizza (OKC just got one downtown) and if Heaven could be baked into a couple slices of pie... that was it. It was sooo good and the company was even better. We got adventurous and tried these:

"Paradise Pie: This isn't Heaven, but it's as close as we could get with a pizza
pie. Hideaway Alfredo sauce covered with a blend of mozzarella and smoked
provolone cheeses, grilled chicken breast strips, smoked bacon, fresh sliced
mushrooms, fresh spinach and diced Roma tomatoes. Yummmmmm."

"The Maui Magic: An all-time favorite for Oklahomans living in Maui... or
wishing they lived in Maui. Hideaway Red Sauce topped with mozzarella,
Canadian bacon, pineapple, and mandarin oranges."

• Actually, I think last time Dac and I were at the one in Stillwater we were adventurous too... remember? Anyway, I digress. After lunch we got to work. But since it's fun, it really didn't feel like work. =)
  

• Speaking of pizza (and pictures) we had dinner date with Mark, Kayla, and Journey. We ate at Gambino's (YUM! Even got the cinnamon streusel pizza I've been dying for...holla!) and then took some family pictures as well as Journey's 3-year pictures. It was fun. Journey was cracking me up - she always looks like she up to something. =) I'd say she comes by it naturally.

• Speaking of Kayla and Journey - have I mentioned that I've been freezing my feet off while sporting sandals at work this week... trying to show off my beautiful OSU-orange toes. Sigh. What we won't do for beauty.
  

• I'm sad friends. I'm disappointed in myself and quite frankly, you should be disappointed in me too. I let both National Pancake Day and National Chocolate Milk Day go by without celebrating either one. Boo. Someday soon I'm going to have to make up for this in a big way!

• I'm getting my hair cut tonight (and my brows did... you're welcome). Can't wait. It's pitiful and next to impossible to fix. Hopefully this helps and I come out looking like a brunette Jen Aniston. Cross your fingers and your toes!

• Tonight is also Criminal Minds!!!! Boop Boop! Last week Heather and Kayla came over and we had taco dip and tried Skinny Girl margaritas. They were ok but kinda nasty all at the same time. I'm not a huge marg fan anyway... unless it's frozen and full of strawberry awesome. Still - it's a lower cal option. Kayla hated it and Heather loved it... so, I guess it's just a figure it out for yourself thing. =) Tonight, I'm making chicken spaghetti. I've just thought that's sounded good for a while now. Here's to a fun, creep-tacular night! =)

• Tomorrow, I've got a Dr's Appt. tomorrow in Wichita. Nothing serious per se - there's just some ongoing issues that I hope to get some solutions to. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. Maybe I can throw in some yummy lunch and a little shopping to make it better? Maybe? Prayers for an easy appt., that tests go well, and that I get some answers would be greatly appreciated.

• Ok, I think you're up to speed!
  

• PS - Sorry for the lack of pictures!
  

Sunday Funday

My Goddaughter is turning 3 in a week! How did this happen? =| Her mom Kayla and I started a tradition a couple years ago for our birthdays (both in June). Instead of doing gifts we spend a day getting our toes did, eat, shop and just enjoy the heck out of girl time

Now that Journey's becoming quite the big girl, Kayla decided we should continue that tradition with her AND I got invited to join in the fun. =D PS - most the pictures below are from Kayla.

We got donuts then shopped and ate lunch at Freddy's...
She's cute no? And smart too. We enjoyed a very intellectual conversation about pickles while her mom was trying on clothes. =) I love when she opens up!

We shopped some more then got pedicures!


Journey's first! She did so good!

Then we came back to my house so Journey could see Peety. She loves that dog. But how could you not? Here she is showing off her toes.

Mine are the orange ones. =) Peety thought he needed to show off his pretty paws too! =)

Journey got pink and black to match her pirate birthday party coming up.

Showing Peety her toes. Peety is so good with kids and most the time is extremely gentle (sometimes he gets real excited but usually, he's low key). Journey and Charli both love him and he loves them!It was a fun day and I'm so glad I got to share in it! =)

Redneck Fest

Like I mentioned a few posts back, Dac's brother had a little shindig. He has welded this jumbo smoker and he smoked/grilled steaks and lots of other goodies. We ate and drank and had a boy-howdy-let's-get-rowdy good time. I enjoy getting my redneck on every now and then. =)


Austin acts like a total tough guy but clearly he's a major softy. He's also taught me a lot. I've learned lots of new phrases and use them somewhat frequently. Some of them, I'm sad to say, aren't necessarily all that family friendly. =| One day I'll write a book. (I have lots of books I'm most definitely going to write in my lifetime.)


A couple of Austin's friends from out of town were here and this was the first time I got to meet them. They seemed cool.


Matt and Krystle - we just so happen to be photographing their wedding next year and. oh. my. word. I. can. not. wait. It's gonna be off the charts.

Told you.
Terese, Val, Krystle, and I. Boop Boop, thaaaat's right, that's right!


Ah, aren't the cute?



We even roasted marshmallows in the fire pit of the smoker. Yeah, it's multi-purpose.


Seester time.



A great time was had!