Oklahoma, We Meet Again...

Now that the time has almost come to go back to snowy, freezing Connecticut, I decided I would share some of this crazy week with you!

Mom and I ate at this really great Mexican restaurant in the Baltimore Airport called Zona Cocina. If you ever pass through there, I definitely recommend it if you have a little time to kill.

Mom slept through most of the flight! I don't know how she does it, I can't sleep on planes even if I try.

I snuggled this munchkin as much as humanly possible. I love this kid, he's awesome.

Also, bath mohawks are still super fun. He's kind of got the Flock of Seafulls thing going for him.

This restaurant was amazing. Their food is delicious, and incredibly cheap. The walls are also lined with more kinds of soda than I ever could have imagined. It's so neat, and there's a huge soda bottle with a straw statue in the front of it that lights up at night.

Small section of a soda wall.

Someone enjoyed sharing Grandma's milkshake!

Little Bubby turned one!!! I can't believe it's been a whole year already. It's been so crazy this last year with so many ups and downs and I'm so incredibly proud of this little guy and my sister and brother in law for making such a great little human. To many more birthdays, Little Man. I love you so much.

And even though I miss this guy like crazy and we've Skyped all week, it's a little bitter sweet to leave. I didn't get a chance to see anyone I know from when I lived here last year, and I'm going to miss these guys until they visit in May, but I'm pretty ready to go back to work and get some much needed snuggle time in.

So, thanks, Oklahoma. Although I can pretty honestly say I'll never live here on any sort of permanent basis, it's been real. I don't know if I'll ever be back, but I've enjoyed what I could while I could and that's good enough for me.

Instalife #6 & #7

Obviously, I've been neglecting to post here for about two weeks, and if you saw my previous post, you'll know I've been pretty busy in that time.  Here are my 365 day challenge photos (plus some extras) for the last two weeks!

Day 33: Shadow - I always get raccoon eyes when I wash my face...

Day 34: Mail - I regret contacting anyone from a college.

Day 35: Cozy - Slept in!

Day 36: Stairs 

Day 37: Memories - I've always done this with the last piece... I don't know why.

Day 38: Routine - My morning routine was all messed up because I packed everything to come with me on the plane to Connecticut.

Day 39: Travel

Day 40: Shopping - All the snacks!

Day 41: Birthday - Kaeley is the best. Black forest cake, from scratch.

Day 42: Makeup - Playing with some color.

Day 43: Lips - I need to make one of these and frame it.

Day 44: Baking - I skipped this! AH! =(

Day 45: Lights - O'Hare Airport

Day 46: Candy - Tracy and I are adults and got 4 spins worth of candy from the machine at work.  Worth it.

AAAAAND EXTRAS!

Casino with some of the best people I know.

Giant margarita thing.  Delicious, and dangerous.

Walking Dead penny slots!  I actually won on this one =)

Travel day, out of the snow and back to OKC.

My nephew, Tyler, was born this week!!!

Snuggle time with the munchkin <3

Look for another Instalife update in just two days!!  Almost caught up!

Things I've Learned From Hannah

My sister Hannah's birthday was the 15th, and I'm obviously getting to this post a little bit late.  Randomly recently, I remembered a time when we were a lot younger and my older sister, Courtney, and I made Hannah eat maple leaves from the trees because we would play Land Before Time and they were the tree stars.  I wonder if they remember that =P  Happy birthday, Hannah!

Things I've Learned from Hannah:

• Sometimes, the only thing you need to clean your room is $10 and OCD sister.
• Pie nights and Gal-entine's Day hold special meaning and should be done as often as possible.
• Pipe dreams and plans of owning a bakery are a great distraction from not-so-fun current jobs.
• Discount, post-holiday candy and zombie movies make for great nights and paranoid survival packing.
• Walking Dead episodes are way more intense if someone is sitting next to you screaming and/or almost crying.
• You always need a sidekick who will follow along for long drives or 1:00 AM Walmart trips.

Welcome to your 20's, little sis.  Love you!

Things I've Learned From My Brother

As some of you may already know, I come from a fairly large family (3 sisters and a brother) which rarely leaves room for dull moments.






My brother, Brandon, is turning 18 tomorrow!  I am so proud of him for sticking it through high school and getting everything into place so he can graduate in a month and he's become such a great guy because of all of the work he's done.  Congratulations, little brother, on everything you've accomplished and I couldn't be happier for you.  I know this is a big year for you and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Things I've Learned from Brandon:

• Music is sometimes the only way to explain how you feel and can often explain it better than you can.
• Being a peacemaker is hard, so when in doubt, make them laugh.
• There's a lot to be said about the value of hard work.  There's also something to be said about sleeping until 5 PM.
• Don't be afraid to be goofy.  You can be your own best joke. But don't worry, people will still take you seriously.
• Homemade costumes can be just as great as store-bought.  However, homemade costumes are easier to fit over casts due to over-confidence in your Spidey Senses.
• Be interesting. Be amazing. Be a super hero.

Things I've Learned from Kaeley

Kaeley has become one of the nearest and dearest friends I've come to know over the past three years now, and now we're moving in together!  She's been my backbone and my other half of crazy for the last few months and I can't thank her enough.  From Kaeley, I've learned that...

• ...if you have three days off, it's kind of okay to spend all of that time on Pinterest
• ...putting a ton of things into online shopping carts with no intentions to actually buy them all right now is perfectly acceptable (and keeps your wallet happy)
• ...booze and baking, so long as mishaps are avoided, go hand-in-hand because everything is more delicious.
• ...being the boss doesn't mean you will have all the answers, and you shouldn't always have all the answers anyways because then you look like a snob.
• ...decorating and organizing is really exciting and fun, especially if both people have the same ideas/tastes.
• ...boyfriends can be left on the sidelines for a while and be perfectly okay while you go out and do things with your lady-friends.  They have video games and other things to do, too.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to move in with Kaeley.  We've been in the processing and packing and planning stages of the move so far and (hopefully) within the next week I'll be in the house!  I hope (and sort of know) she's as excited as I am.  Happy birthday, Kae (on Friday)!