Midweek Randoms

• I believe last week we left off with my trip down to Stillwater with three of my uber fabulous photographer friends. We attended a little workshop with Lauren Clark. Lauren is one of the first photographers I started following when we were beginning our own business. I've followed her blog for years and feel like I know her pretty well (isn't blog land the weirdest thing? Weird but awesome!) It was sort of like meeting an old friend and at the same time meeting a celebrity. Anyway, we basically just sat around her adorably decorated home and talked shop, we ate lunch at new hole-in-the-wall taco place on The Strip called "Mucha Lucha". It was good even though lunch was a bit hurried. After that we photographed a couple, then talked more shop, took some head shots, and went on our way... but not before stopping for some frozen yogurt. =) The time with these girls was pretty stinking priceless. I feel honored to call them colleagues but I'm even more pumped that I can call them friends. I kind of laugh when people talk about "the competition". I don't know - I guess I just don't see it that way. Everyone's professional, we share referrals, loan each other things, and since we each have a different style, etc... I just don't see it as a problem. It's a very supportive group. I'd hate to work in a cut-throat market. This is much more fun. =) It was a blast and I can't wait to hang out again. 

• Here's a couple pictures from the day. The first is my head shot Lauren took. The second is of our group. From left to right, it's: Sara, Laura, and Jennifer. If you don't already, you should go like them on Facebook. They're cool. 

• I'm still hacking and snorting with the best of them thanks to some of the worst allergies I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I've managed to keep it from going to a full-fledged sinus infection though, so I'm going to chalk that up as a success.

• Friday, I ran some errands with Val and then we met her and Austin down at the Casino for supper. 

• Saturday, we went to a little "sprinkle" for Cori. Her sister Beni's been in town and wanted to surprise her with a shower. We met several members of Cori's family at Il Vicino's in Wichta, ate pizza, and she got to open lots of fun girly twinsie gifts. =)

• Sunday, we went to church, then went on a little brunch date to Brick's. I had my usual jumbo pancake and egg and Dac had biscuits and gravy. We sort of felt like old people knowing so many people around town. Haha! (Before you know it we'll be saying "oh you know... ol' {insert last name only} that lives out yonder...") It was nice though. I think we should do that more often! We've been horrible about making time for dates again. 

• The contractors have been over working away on our spare room. It should be finished today (all except refinishing the floor, which Dac has to work on this weekend). The paint color I picked is looking a little "holy aqua" instead of the nice robin egg blue I had envisioned. Oh well, we'll live with it for a while and can re-paint later if we need to (which I'm pretty sure we will). Also, our new lights are on order. Maybe, JUST maybe, the room will be move in ready before family comes for the reunion in less than two weeks. Yikes!!

• Speaking of robins... did I mention we have a nest on our porch? Robins happen to be my favorite birds (they're orange... duh, and nice of course) so I'm pumped. We had one out in the tree last year but this is even more up close and personal. There's three blue eggs in there! Can't wait to see the little babies. =)

• I got a new shirt while at Target yesterday. It's a super soft, ruffly, sleeveless shirt with a bright and funky print. I wore it today and am kind of loving it.

• I also bought two new pans to replace my awful ones I had to throw out. Kind of excited about those too. What? It's the little things...

• My drink of choice today is vanilla coke. Not sure why, but I'm especially digging it.

• I feel like going out for a walk. The problem is, by the time I go home today, I'll no doubt be too tired to want to still. And it'll likely be hot. AND there's the whole allergy thing. Sigh. My work day gets in the way of a lot of things. =) 

• I guess that's about it. Stay tuned for pictures of the guest room! Holla!

Midweek Randoms

• Last Wednesday, Steve came over to help Dac and his dad with our spare room. SO - I ordered pizza and Cori, Charli, and I hung out while the boys did all the work. Then, I went over to Kayla's to watch Criminal Minds. It'd been quite a while since I'd seen her so it was good to catch up.
• Thursday was Wii Night. Cori made yummy enchiladas!
• Friday night, Dac and I went to Taco Bell to grab some supper. That turned out to be quite the adventure. I felt like I was at a WTP (white trash party). I couldn't possibly do this story justice with words but I'm pretty sure some counterfeit money was involved, as were the police, and lots of ridiculousness... but we got a good laugh out of it. It was like "dinner and a show!" and we got our meal for 10% off... which means we saved like 75 cents maybe? =)
• Saturday was "dun duh duh duh!!!" Matt and Krystle's wedding. It was beautiful. Krystle was beautiful, Val was a beautiful bridesmaid, and the reception was one heck of a good time. It was straight out of Southern Weddings Magazine and if anyone can have a party... Krystle can have a party! We got home that night and stayed up watching the weather coverage. We feel so fortunate to have missed all the destruction. My heart breaks for those in Wichita who lost homes and especially for those in Woodward who lost friends and family too. What was it, like 119 tornados or something? Just awful. Tornadoes fascinate me, but I hate all the loss and pain they can cause.
• Sunday, I was lazy lazy lazy. Slept in a little, ate, watched more Jericho, went and got a small lunch and some drinks for Dac and David. Then, Terese came over and spent the afternoon before we got pizza for everyone. Val came over a while later, I ended the night with more Jericho, and that was that. Couldn't have been much less productive.
• Last night I took Sky along for some errands. I hadn't seen here in well over a month so that was good. She's really a lot of fun! Ran her mouth the whole time! =) Did I mention we've been matched for over 5 years now? It was 5 years in March. If you would have told me 5 years ago that she'd be as chatty as she is now, I wouldn't have believed you. She's almost like a whole new person... only still her too.
• This week I've been struggling with this sore throat/cough/drainage thing. YUCK. I feel like absolute pug breath. =( In case you don't have a pug... that's no bueno. I go to the doctor this afternoon. Hoping he can help!
• Let's see... our spare room is now insulated again, the paint is pretty well off the wood floors, and the sheetrock should be up this week. I can NOT explain how ready I am for this to be done. RED-EEE.
• I finally used my new orange toe polish. LOVE.
• I have a new found love for cocoa almonds. YUM. Almonds dusted in a dark chocolate coating. It was made to be. My aunt had some up at the hospital one day and I was hooked. You try... you like.
• Tomorrow, I'm taking a vacation day to head to Stillwater with 3 other photographer friends. We're participating in a workshop and making a girl day out of it. I'm hoping I feel better by then because I'm really looking forward to it. Hope to learn a lot and get to know these great girls even better.

Midweek Randoms

• I believe last time we left off with Criminal Minds. I made some steak tacos and Heather joined me to eat, do some major catching up, and solve a crime. =)

• Thursday, Dac and I met my parents for Mexican. Then later that night I went to Braum's with Kayla. Good night of catching up with a few of my favorite people.

• We had Friday off for Good Friday. We did lots of stuff around the house, I finished watching The Event, and we went down to the casino for lunch with Terese, Val, Cori, and Steve. Got a delicious cheeseburger on jalepeno cheese bread and cheese fries! =) That evening we went to Good Friday service at our church (Call me morbid, but Good Friday has always been one of my favorite services. I like it.) then went to see Mirror, Mirror with Val, Steve, Cori, and Charli. Then Braum's. Yep. We're bad.

• Saturday we got up early for a session in Wichita. Problem is, it started storming cats and dogs on our way there, so the session got cancelled. We didn't let that stop us from getting Panera bagels and hitting up Target and Lowe's though. Kind of made a date out of it.

• I started watching Jericho that evening. I'm loving it and can already tell I'll be sad it's only two seasons.

• Sunday, I wasn't feeling so hot when I woke up. SO - for like the first time ever, we skipped sunrise service but got around for regular church. We watched the little kids hunt eggs afterwards and went out for lunch.

• That afternoon, Dac worked on sanding the wood floors in our spare room (you know, the room we've been working on for two years now...) we're getting SO much closer to having it done once and for all. Steve, Cori, and Charli came over to help and even brought food. They're totally confused about how that works but we were super thankful!! =)

• I got the orange nail polish I was wanting. Haven't used it yet but I'm sure it'll be fab.

• Work is the last place I want to be this week.

• I like fruit salad.

• I've been helping take care of my aunt's dogs this week. A boxer and a basset hound. Ridiculous but kinda cute. =) Like my dog... he's so pugly he's cute. =)

• Criminal Minds again tonight. Woop!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Today marks two years since I got that message. It marks two years of missing you... two years of questions... Two years of moving forward but not forgetting.

It also marks two years since you became cancer free... you were healed! Today will be a little less hard because of that.

We may have lost - but you came out a winner. To that I say, KABOOM.

Love and miss you Ryan Rufus.

Midweek Randoms

Better late than never. I realize I never posted these last week, so I've just added to the list. =)

• Well last week was spring break. I don't work in a school so I didn't get the week off BUT I got two days off... which is two more than a lot of people so no complaints here!

• It was kind of a hectic week. I mentioned my grandpa had to go in for an emergency bypass that Monday night. Tuesday, I took off early and went up to the hospital. He was doing pretty good considering. They needed to do a triple bypass but were only able to complete a double. He was fairly alert, knew who I was, etc... it was good.

• Wednesday, I came back to work and then that night we went out to eat with Val, Cori, and Steve to Montana Mike's and then went and saw 21 Jump Street. It's one of those dumb comedies but I probably haven't laughed that hard since Bridesmaids. =) Hilarious. Then we got Braum's. Always a happy ending! Anyway, when I listened to my messages I learned that Grandpa had to be sedated and put back on ventilation. =( His breathing was real shallow, his kidney levels were elevated, he had fluid in his lungs (lots of it, too), and his heartbeat was irregular. I think he was pretty well sedated and on the tube until Friday if I'm remembering right.

• I spent the day up there Thursday then on Friday, Dac and I went up to the heart hospital for Grandma Jo's heart cath. It went really well!! No blockages and she got to home that day. Then, we headed over to see my Grandpa again. He was still sedated most of the time but they brought him out of it every now and then to ween him off. That was hard to watch. He was restless, a little confused, probably in pain... who wouldn't be?

• That night we met up with Val, Steve, Cori, and Charli again for supper at Texas Roadhouse. We were all pretty quiet - exhausted I think.

• On Saturday, I did some stuff around the house while Dac mowed our yard and the church's. Poor guy spent all day doing that stuff. My Dad and Aunt Diana came over for a visit and then we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. It was good to get to visit with both of them! That night is when we went to see Hunger Games. I liked it. I, of course, haven't read the books so I don't have those to compare it to. It was hard to watch at times but I thought it was really good otherwise. Braums after that too. =)

• Sunday, I rode up to the hospital with my parents. Stayed the majority of the day then came home. Grandpa wasn't doing real awful hot that day either.

• That brings us to Monday. I spent the day completely exhausted and barely functioning then had an eye appt. that afternoon... perfect peepers!! I probably won't need glasses until I'm in my 40's. Holla. Then Dac and I went on a walk to enjoy the weather.

• Tuesday was a work day from Hell. It was just one of those days where nothing seems to go right. We went on a walk that night which seemed to help.

• Wednesday I took off and went to Wichita with Val and Cori. I had to get some blood work ran... part of the monitoring process and Cori had a twinsies appt. =) Got to see those sweet girls again so that was fun. We ate lunch at Panera, shopped at Babies-R-Us, and got treats at Sugar Sisters Bakery downtown. We also stopped by to see my Grandpa that day. He had taken a major turn for the better and was in a regular room!! This was nothing short of miraculous. A complete 180. Awesome!

• Thursday we had Wii Night. We grilled hamburgers and I made some no bake cookies. I forgot how much I liked them. =) Just what I needed... a reminder. ha! We had fun. I think everyone was tired again though. We chatted about taxes and stuff like real grown ups but we ended the night watching Caillou with Charli. So it evened out. Also, Grandpa got to go home last night! =)

• We have our first session in months tomorrow! Kind of excited kind of nervous! =) It's been a great break but it'll be good to shoot again.

• I need new nail polish... something orange... I have my eye on this.

• Friday, I picked Charli up after work. After Dac got home we walked to the park for a while. On the way home, Charli bit it and ended up with scraped, bloody knees. =( Made me so sad. She was screaming bloody murder on the sidewalk a few blocks from our house. I kept telling her she was super tough and that seemed to help. We made it and she requested my Strawberry Shortcake bandaids. One knee needed a bigger bandaid so we just put Strawberry Shortcake on top of it. =) She wanted to rest after that so we just watched a movie and ate mac-n-cheese. I also painted her finger nails and took her home a few hours later. Fall aside, it was a fun play date!

• After that, Dac and I got ice cream and tried watching The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. What I saw of it, I liked (minus the graphic scenes) but of course I fell asleep. =( Fail. I'll have to watch it again before the 2nd one comes out.

• We didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. Stuff around the house mostly... then we had our first session of the year that evening. It went well. I felt rusty but got the hang of it. We got ice cream after that too. =) In case you had a doubt.

• We went to church Sunday morning then I went with Cori and Charli to the zoo that afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Call me 5 - but I love the zoo. =) It was a little toasty and I was still tired for some reason but I still loved it! Glad I invited myself to crash their party! haha.

• Monday, I stayed home sick from work. Had a really bad headache Sunday night that carried over with an upset stomach Monday. I ate lots of crackers and watched The Event on Netflix.

• Last night, we went to see Wrath of the Titans... NOT impressed. I really thought the preview looked kind of cool... at least the graphics, etc... but no. Not so much. Dac and Steve liked it I guess but we girls pretty much hated it.

• Criminal Minds is new tonight and I have a long-overdue date with Heather. Look out!! =)

Shimmy Those Shamrocks

Oh where do I begin? At the beginning I guess! I've known Krystle since middle school... and she is one of my sister-n-law Valerie's good friends so I've gotten to know her a lot better since then.

The day started with Krystle's bridal shower. After that we headed to eat at SUMO's in Wichita. They didn't know what they were getting themselves into there. We took over!

Here I am with the bride-to-be.

Krystle and her cousins doing Saki Bombs.

Val and I looking HAWT for a night at the club. =) LOVE her.

Amanda, Jamie, and Val

After dinner we headed downtown to check in to the hotel, give Krystle some perfectly not-so-tasteful gifts, and hit the bars. We ended up at a club. It wasn't where we really intended to be and it wasn't top notch. BUT - the music was loud and the drinks were cheap so there we were. haha. We danced, I came to the sad realization that I'm too old to be hit on, danced up on by sweaty gross dudes, etc... I mean really, there was tons of scantily dressed 21-year olds in there... meanwhile, they attacked the group of older, t-shirt and many of us ring-wearin' girls. Like they stood a chance? Puh-lease.

Party on party girl.

Anyway, we shut the place down, grabbed some snacks, and went to bed. After some fun of course. Lights out. =)

My guess is K-dawg was feeling it the next day... what do you think? Boop Boop!

Midweek Randoms

• It's Wednesday and oh has it been a whirlwind of a few days.

• Let's see... last Wednesday I found out Mark and Kayla are having another little girl!! Exciting! =) Seems like girls are the trend right now.

• That night she and I got Subway for supper, went to Wal-Mart to get some pink peeps so she could announce it to her class the next day, and then watched Criminal Minds. It was great to hang out for a while! =)

• Thursday was dinner and thirsty thursday at La Fiesta. Cori was visiting family, so we missed her. =| But otherwise it was fun... a little redneck-tacular but fun none-the-less.
• Friday was the epic bike ride.

• Saturday was epic too. I got up that morning and went to take care of my parents' animals because they were out of town. I grabbed some breakfast from McDonalds then jammed out to Adele on the way up there and back. =) DUH-RAMA! Love sining to it.

• Then, I went to our friend Krystle's wedding shower that afternoon. Then it was game on for her bachelorette party! St. Patrick's Day for the record books!! =) Anyone who knows Krystle knows that the party doesn't stop. I'll have a whole other post on this complete with pictures... but here's a sneak peek of me shimmying my shamrocks! haha.

• Sunday was full of laundry, a quick power nap, 24, and then cheese fries and not impressive calzones with Dac, Val, and Steve at the casino.

• Monday morning I got a call saying my grandpa was having severe chest pains in the night and was in the ICU here in town. HOURS later (don't get me started) they transferred him via ambulance to Wichita. He had a heart cath done and they determined he needed a triple bypass the next morning. Well not long after that, he crashed. =( Called the family in and decided he needed an emergency bypass or he'd die of a massive heart attack that night. They also said there was a good chance he might very well die on the table but it was a necessary risk. They were only able to do a double bypass because his veins were too small and he became pretty unstable in the operating room. They hurried to finish it up and he pulled through. So far so good! I spent some time up there yesterday and he knew my name and talked to me as much as he could (which wasn't a whole lot). He even ate a cup of jello. It's still a critical time but he's hanging in there and he told me he would make it. I believe him. He's tough stuff. =)

• I'm off tomorrow so I'll probably spend most the day up there again.

• Monday night I didn't sleep worth a dang. Maybe a couple hours and even that wasn't good sleep. Last night however, I fell asleep watching 24 at probably 8:15-8:30 and slept until 6:10 this morning. Still tired.

• Oh, real quick, I just want to say how stinking blessed our life is. We have some of the best friends and family around. I had several people call/write checking on my grandpa, tons of people praying, and even had a couple people offer to drive me up to see him. It's kind of humbling and I would do the same for any of them without blinking an eye. We are so fortunate.

• I got my hair trimmed and my eyebrows did finally. You're welcome.

• We had a contractor come look at our house today. Kinda excited but we'll see what $ amount is attached to that.

• It's rained all week. I don't mind too awful much... I'm a rainy and overcast lover... not gonna lie. BUT - it is starting to get old and I know several places are getting way too much rain.

• Not much else random to say I don't think. Have a great week!