What's That Noise?

What is loud, dusty, and pretty darn redneck?





The answer: A Demolition Derby!

Greg and I attended our first Demolition Derby at the Prowers County Fair in Lamar two weeks ago. It was so much fun that we decided to attend the Rocky Ford Fair this past Friday to watch their Demolition Derby as well! I will admit: this is a pretty redneck sport. Which means I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I officially love demolition derby's!

What's That Smell?

It's me! And I smell GREAT!

OK, sorry for that brief moment of vanity, but let me explain! My husband bought me perfume for my birthday! I know what you're thinking: big deal. But to me, it honestly is. I know I've mentioned before that I'm a tight-wad. And I know some of you are thinking, "yeah right". To prove it, let me share my perfume saga with you.

Growing up, I didn't have an allowance. Therefore, my parents only bought me what I "needed". I grew up wearing your typical cheap body sprays or perfumes from Avon. Don't get me wrong, I love Sweet Honesty, but I was always so jealous when the girls at school were walking by me with scents of the newest "it", trendy perfume trailing behind them.

Then, when I got older and began working and making my own money, I never had extra money laying around to treat myself to designer perfume. Bath and Body Works was as good as I ever smelt! And again, don't get me wrong, I love some of their scents, but I never had the pretty bottle on my vanity like most of my female friends do.

During and after college I began working at a retail store called Harolds (sadly they went Bankrupt a year ago) and I feel in love with a perfume that one of my co-workers wore. It was the original Burberry perfume. And I was in love with it! Apparently I raved about the scent so much that when I quit my job at Harolds to begin my career in real estate, my co-workers all chipped in and bought me a gift set of Burberry. It was my first real designer perfume and I not only loved it, I was so proud to wear it. The one downfall: my husband hated it.

Once my precious Burberry was depleted, I was back to square one with my trusty Bath and Body Works body sprays. Then, on Valentines Day four years ago, Greg bought me two trial size bottles of perfume. And since they were so little, I used them sparingly. In fact, I still have half of one left!

At the beginning of the year Greg began complaining about my body sprays saying he thought they just smelt cheap and like rubbing alcohol! Well, me being me, I couldn't just throw them away, so I made him a deal. We would shop around and find a perfume that we both liked and he could buy it for me for my birthday. That way I would have time to use up the rest of my stash!

I'm probably the only person in the world who can turn perfume shopping into an art form. In March we spent almost a good hour in Dillards smelling and spraying perfume on me that we both agreed on. By the time I left I had a head ache and couldn't remember which perfume I had sprayed where. Luckily I had a list of the ten (yes, ten) perfumes that we both liked. From that point on, every time I went near a store that happened to have one of the perfumes I liked I would spray myself with it so I could see how well I liked that particular perfume after wearing it all day.

In the end, I narrowed my list down to four perfumes that I loved and that Greg approved of. I gave him my list a few weeks ago and told him to pick one for my birthday and surprise me! Well, he did even better! He bought two!!! So, here are my two new scents!



The lovely Burberry Summer and Calvin Klein Euphoria Spring Temptation! Sadly, they are both limited edition perfumes. But, I'm sure they will last me for awhile! And, if I run out, I have a feeling my other two faves will still be around. They are: Burberry The Beat (apparently I'm a Burberry girl) and Dior Miss Dior Cherie. The next time you are near a perfume counter, please take time to smell any or all of these tantalizing perfumes. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Have Passport, Will Travel

Greg and I got our passports in the mail on Monday!!! I am so excited! Most of you know that this is one of my 2009 goals. And while we had full intentions of applying for our passports this year, nothing quite lit the fire under our rears than when our good friends Randy and Shannon said they were going to Cancun for a destination wedding, and we were invited!! What better way to kick off the freedom and endless possibilities that come with having a passport than to go to an all inclusive tropical resort with seven other couples? Unfortunately, I still have 68 days to wait until we leave!

Since I'm mentioning my goals, it's only fair to tell everyone how far I've come with those goals!

* Harry Potter. I finally finished the 6th Harry Potter book just in time to watch it on the big screen (which I had never done before)! And with my birthday right around the corner, I'm hoping someone will buy me the 7th book in hardback! *hint, hint*

* Sophie Kinsella. As you know, I had read all of Sophie Kinsella's books, but busy author that she is, her latest book recently became available a few days ago. But have no fear! I ordered it from the library and am reading it right now!

* Saving Money. Unfortunately, I got back into my same way of thinking when it comes to saving money. There were weeks when literally we couldn't set aside a hundred bucks or so and I forgot that $25 a week can really add up by the end of the year. I've re-focused now though...so I'm back on track!

* My book. Ugh. Well, shortly after I wrote the first five pages, I was blog surfing, and somehow stumbled upon a post titled "Top 10 Signs That You're Addicted to Blogging". One of the reasons was that one suddenly thinks he or she can write a book. That totally discouraged me. Especially when I read all the comments from fellow bloggers who all thought the same thing. Luckily, I have a great friend who is getting her masters in library science. She reads all the time, especially for her classes and she said that she would edit the book for me whenever I get it written. I really need to focus on the fact that I have people rooting for me, but sometimes it's not that easy.....

* Cleaning. Well....let's just say that some weeks I "forget" to dust. Other than that, I've stayed on top of it!

* Pay off Gordons Account. You can mark that one off the list! Now I'm focusing on sending additional principal payments to the Harley! Everyone should do this on their debt....even $10 makes a difference!

* Pictures. I am slowly making progress on this. In fact, earlier this week I went though my computer and have the remaining pictures that need to be printed all in one folder! Once those are ordered and shipped back to me, I can begin placing them in albums!!!

* Losing 25 lbs. Well, let's just say I love food! I'm still doing WW. If you can call it that. I think I've only stayed within my points 2 weeks. Ugh. Summer kind of got me down. I figured once I was already in a bikini, as long as I was maintaining or loosing I shouldn't complain. I'm still trying to stay active though and I try to eat healthy, but sometimes the popcorn at the movie theatre just calls my name!

Stay Tuned! The year isn't over yet!!

Lake Texoma

One of my favorite places is Lake Texoma. I mentioned in the post below that my father in law lives at Lake Texoma. We recently had a chance to spend a few days at his house, which I love because it is just so darn relaxing! Of course, he always tends to put my hubby to work and this time was no different. The chore: cleaning and organizing a huge shop. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures! I helped when I could but most of the time I just felt like I was in the way. I was pretty content to simply pass the time on the front porch with a Danielle Steel novel!

The cool thing about where Carl, my father in law, lives, is that it's a short three-minute drive on the golf cart to the sandy beach! And yes, you read that right! Everyone at the lake drives golf carts! It's quite comical! Now, for some reason whenever we go down to visit, it seems that we never go to the beach until the evening. However, this time I was determined to spend a full day on the beach and get some sun! I invited my sister and her two munchkins down for the occasion!





After they left, I moseyed back to the beach with the before mentioned novel, along with my dog, and together we enjoyed the sun and the relaxing sound of the waves.

That same evening Carl organized a small cook-out on the beach. On the way to our "spot" we passed this cute little sand turtle creation!



Apparently Carl wasn't as impressed as I was since he ran over it's foot on the golf cart! Here's a few more random shots from that evening. And, just fyi, this isn't even what I consider the "pretty" part of the beach!











Oh, Lake Texoma, how I wish you weren't eleven hours away....

Biker Tales

Last week the hubby and I ventured "home" to Oklahoma for a little over a week. For the hubs, it was a much needed break. If you're a faithful reader, then you know we've been enjoying life as bikers for a couple months now. Weeks after we bought our Harley, two of Greg's guy friends back in OK bought Harleys as well. He has been dying for a chance to go home and ride with the guys. So the Thursday before last, we did just that! Funny thing is, apparently we are not "real bikers". Why do I say this? Because instead of taking the bike on a long ride to our destination, we pull it behind the car on a bike trailer! I cannot tell you the flack we get when we happen to stop at a gas station or a fast food restaurant and a fellow biker sees it on the trailer! I think it's kind of funny!

We didn't get to Norman until 2:00 A.M. on Friday so we slept in. Later that afternoon while I met some great friends of mine at one of my favorite places, The Warren Theatre, to take in the newest Harry Potter movie, Greg went off to meet our friends Dave and Kevin for some riding in OKC. I joined them later and we had a blast cruising through Bricktown, Midwest City, and then back to Norman.


Saturday was another riding day for us! We met up with our friends Jason and Christy for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. From there it was off to the amazing Fort Thunder Harley Davidson Dealership in Moore. We cannot make a trip back home without stopping there; even before we owned a Harley! It seems that every time we go there, they are having an event so we hung out there for a few hours looking at the bikes, having some cold drinks, and visiting with friends. From there we cruised to visit two different sets of friends who both live in Moore. I think Greg was pretty proud to be able to show the bike off to them in person!

Sunday morning we hooked the bike up to the trailer again, this time because there was rain in the forecast (which I never saw!) and headed down to my father in laws house. We made a pit stop along the way to say "Hi" to my sister and her family. And, of course, we had to show them our bike! Even one of their neighbors came out of his house to check it out!

The cool thing about hubby's dad is that he has a Harley, too! That evening we took a bike ride into Texas (only about a thirty minute drive) to a restaurant/marina that none of us had ever been too before that overlooked Lake Texoma (post on that coming soon!). The weather was perfect and our day could not have been any better!

On Monday my husband found out he didn't have to be at work again until the following week so we were able to relax at his dad's house until Thursday. Wednesday night we took one last bike ride into Texas, this time our ultimate destination was a biker bar. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home. Opps! And that was just the beginning. We pulled up to the bar, only to discover that it was closed. From the outside it looked really neat. There were tons of outdoor picnic tables and a stage for bands, along with cool old cars and motorcycle sculptures decorating the outside. Undefeated, we went and ate at Cheddars instead!

On Thursday we loaded up to return back to Norman, but made a by-pass through Ada. Ada is my hometown and honestly whenever I visit that city now I get butterflies in my stomach and I'm always so excited to see what the town looks like. I went to college in Ada and the little town has exploded since I moved away. There are so many new franchise restaurants and new stores. Also, the university I attended is building a brand new performance arts theatre. It is still unfinished, but the outside is AMAZING!!! My minor was in theatre and I also danced in a few of the recitals while I attended college and I am so insanely jealous that the massive theatre that is being constructed was not there while I was attending school. After checking the town out, we met my parents at my favorite "local" bbq restaurant; and showed off our bike!

We finally got back to Norman that afternoon where we relaxed briefly before preparing for a night out on the bike! We stopped off at Fort Thunder so I could buy a pair of proper riding boots! We've had to buy "gear" slowly because we all know that if something says "Harley" it's not cheap! Luckily I get great deals on ebay, but I didn't want to buy shoes without trying them on first. From there we met our great friends Randy and Shannon for dinner. Their adorable baby Braxton was with them. He is one of the most even tempered babies I have ever met! Shannon was kind enough to take some pics of us before we headed off to Bike Nite!!! (Like the boots?)




This is the scene that we met when we arrived to Hooters Bike Nite:




Years ago when we had our Honda Shadow, we went to Hooters Bike Nite almost every week. It was nothing like this! Back then, there may have been fifty bikes that showed up. Now, Bike Nite is on a whole other level! Once it got dark, everyone cruised over to The Cross-Eyed Moose and Bike Nite continued there. I made plans for my friend Deidra to meet us there!
She is best friends with Robert, who is the owner of Fort Thunder, and after we told her we couldn't get over how big Bike Nite was now, she told us that Robert has really promoted Bike Nite and has helped it grow to what it has now become. We had a great time checking out the bikes and then listening to Greg sing karaoke.

We took a break from the bike on Friday and on Saturday drove back to Lamar, Colorado, which is where hubby is working once again. Stay tuned! I'm sure there will be more Biker Tales in the future!

It's my Blogiversary!

I can't believe that I have been blogging for a year now! Wow, how the time flies! In honor of this great accomplishment I decided to have a giveaway!!! The winner will receive my "Funky Zebra" necklace.



There are several ways to enter, so feel free to take advantage of the situation! Here's how:

1. Post a link about this giveaway on your blog, then leave me a comment.
1 entry

2. Post a link of your favorite item from my etsy shop on your blog, then leave me a comment. 1 entry

3. Visit my shop, set up an etsy account, and add me as one of your favorite sellers, then leave me a comment. 1 entry

Giveaway ends at 6:00 A.M Monday, July 20, 2009! I'll draw the winner at random and will leave you a comment! Good luck and thanks for reading!

That can't be right...

I love having this indoor outdoor thermometer! However, I don't think the outside temp could possibly be right! And yes, you did read the inside one correctly. It is so hard to keep travel trailers cool.