a long, way overdue post-trip update

hi my friends!  i have been meaning to write this post for some time now, and i have no other excuse except that  my mind has been elsewhere.  i have most definitely had the time since oklahoma (and much of the country) has been dominated by snow!



our trip to crested butte.  AMAZING!  even without the engagement, it was a perfect trip.  if you have never been there, i highly recommend.  even if you aren't a snow person.  something about that town just makes you happy.

to begin our trip, we drove.  which we swore we would NEVER do again.  but, sometimes plans just don't work out.  so we left OKC at about 3:30-4ish and headed west on I-40.   we didn't even make it out of the metro area when we saw our first "road trip sighting"  and it was a good one.  in the median of I-40 were two horses, cowboys on back, looking over a rather large, black mound.  we get closer and see that the cowboys (seriously...real life cowboys) have ropes in hand and have roped a big cow!  now....i don't really do rodeos, at least not the roping part.  it makes me sad.  BUT, this appeared to be a happy roping experience.  from what we could tell, this cow had escaped from somewhere, was cruising I-40, which is NOT a place for a cow, and these lovely cowboys stepped in and helped!  joe assured me that the cow was okay, that the roping wouldn't hurt him.  it was quite a sight and one of those moments when you remember that people ARE good.

we continue on our way....west to the Oklahoma/Texas border, and then start to veer northwest.  the fun thing about our road trip was that blake, gena, carrie, brendan and james were about an hour or so behind us, so we were non-stop communicating via text with updates on our trip and what they could expect, so it was kind of like we were all together.  somewhere in the middle of the texas panhandle, we see flashing lights in the rearview mirror.  awesome.  seriously....this was a prime example of a bored cop.  there was nothing around but fields of who knows what!  (it was dark at this point).  but, he was nice and gave us a warning and sent us on our way.  6 miles after that, stopped in a town for water and restrooms, got back on the road, and i am not kidding you, within 2 minutes we saw flashing lights again!  we were not speeding this time....for real!  this fellow was a highway patrol and really just wanted to warn us of the weather we were getting ready to encounter.  we told him we had just had a lovely visit with another law enforcement gentleman and he was actually irritated that someone else was on his turf!  HA!

cut to somewhere in the middle of New Mexico.  WHITEOUT conditions.  the blowing snow at this point was unbelievable and i don't know how joe did it because i almost had a heart attack every few minutes.  it would be okay....and then nothing but white.  to add to this lovely experience it was a 2 lane highway with construction!  awful.

we finally made it to our pit stop in canon city....at about 2:30 am...local time.  we were exhausted.
the next morning we were up and at em and ready to make the significantly shorter drive on to crested butte.  PLUS, it was scenic so it was so much better.....

leaving canon city

loved these guys

so bizarre...there were houses and little towns in the middle of these mountains, close to nothing

Monarch's Pass....gorge!

after a few hours, we made it to crested butte....

one of the shuttles.  no need for a car here

the town is just littered with cuteness

our hotel (or lodge)
LOVE

i am not so much a winter weather vacation girl, but i was instantly in love with this place.  

 we went and met the bride and groom at a place within the lodge complex called Butte 66 (which us okies kept referring to as Route 66).  we ate, had a drink and then headed into town to celebrate the kickoff of the wedding festivities.

this bride danced her bootie off!

i hated seeing this moose on the wall, but had to show him some love and let him know i would never do such a thing to him

 the rest of the weekend was spent shopping, drinking, eating and enjoying the company and surroundings.  it was perfect.

the wedding was wonderful as well.  the couple looked like they stepped out of a magazine and were so happy!  i wish i had more pictures of that night, but i was busy celebrating the occasion!  a side note here....in crested butte, no one gets dolled up.  which was awesome!  but the night of the wedding we all looked a fool in our dresses and heels, suits and ties!  but it was cool, we like to stand out and make a statement!

scott loved him some champagne

cute family

The next morning joe and i got up and headed to Colorado Springs, where we relaxed, ate, went up pike's peak, went to the Garden of the God's, tasted the spring water in Manitou Springs (ick!) and just enjoyed our new engagement!

that sticker would be two elks humping

frozen lake about 6 miles up Pike's Peak

SCARY!  driving along an icy ledge.  joe kept saying, "if we go over, the trees will stop us"
comforting

13 miles up!  the rest of the way was closed due to weather.  (thank goodness!)

it was a wonderful, perfect trip! i really hope we can repeat it soon!

getting to spend that much time with joe was pretty awesome.  but coming home to reality not so much.  :)

Sorry for the world's longest post EVER!

i know i've been bad.....

but i'll be back on it soon!  another snow day tomorrow...blogging is ON!

who knew?? for sure not me!

hello, hello.  again, it's been awhile.  i am very inconsistent with these posts, but...it's just kind of how i am!  never on time :)

this time i've been out of town on a WONDERFUL trip.  we went to Crested Butte for jacqui & justin's wedding!  that place is absolutely amazing and i will for sure be doing a post on it and the wedding (just think supermodels!)


my news i want to share here though is....I'M GOING TO BE MARRIED!  yep.  it's true.  somewhere pigs are flying and hell is experiencing a cold front!  who would have ever thought?!?  so, for this post i will tell the super fun proposal story.  here you go....


we actually arrived in crested butte on thursday, and this is when everyone else found out.  but not me!  joe talked to jacqui & justin (the wedding couple) and mentioned possibly doing the proposal at the reception.  the reason for this is that joe and i have made a "thing" out of catching the bouquet and garter at the last few many weddings we've been too.  most guys shy away at the garter toss, so joe has always thought it was fun to be super overzealous.  joe's plan was after he caught the garter and i caught the bouquet, he would do it.  joe asked j & j their thoughts and if it would be okay.  obviously, this day was about them, not us.  but, them being the super cool people that they are, were all for it!

cut to the reception.  they've just done the garter toss and joe caught it with ease.  i get out there with instructions from joe that i "better catch it!"  i guess i didn't pick up on his urgency, because i most definitely did not catch it.  oops!

after this i went outside or something and joe was going to take the ring back to the room and save the proposal for colorado springs.  (we went there after crested butte)  jacqui decided no, we're getting this done!

i came back in, and many of us hit the dance floor doing "the dougie".  (side note:  i believe i told everyone this that night as well, but that dance is really "the shiz", which i saw on first 48)  as that song was coming to an end, the dj calls joe up.  STILL...i think nothing.  well, Better Together by Jack Johnson starts playing (which i've told joe i want to dance to at our wedding) and joe comes over to me to dance.  everyone else starts moving to edge of the dance floor as we're dancing and i am asking over and over "what's going on?"  starting to freak a little.  keep asking.  joe keeps saying "we're just dancing"  AAHHH!!!  finally he says, reach into my right pocket (kind of sounds naughty....but he didn't mean it like that!)  i respond with a huge "NO!"  then he pulled out the ring, got on one knee, and asked me to marry him!!!  i was in complete SHOCK!!!  i looked at him, looked at the ring, looked at him....and finally said "ABSOLUTELY YES!"  it was a complete surprise to me, but not for anyone else!  it was so much fun to share it with such wonderful friends.  and i can't thank j & j enough for letting us share in their big day!  

                   

    

thank you blake for filming

i probably would have had less wine had i known!

i didn't forget about you

you two people that might actually read this.  i just haven't had a lot to discuss.  and i still don't, but figured i could throw some rants and raves out into the universe and maybe something good will happen!  probably not, but i'm going to be optimistic.

before i get to that, joe is home!  which i believe i mentioned before, but he's STILL HERE!  holy cow!  (side note...i just used the words holy cow and i am a little weirded out by this)
he is here, but has been in class pretty much non-stop, so not much has changed.  it's just like i have a roommate now.  things are in the wrong place, there's cups and shoes where they shouldn't be, you know...the norm.  but...i am very happy he's here, as are the pups.  they want to be as close to him as possible at all times.  cute. 

and as soon as class for him is over on thursday, we are on the road and heading to this....



wedding location of jacqui and justin
pic courtesy of skicb.com

 so next week i should have plenty to discuss and lots of pictures to share!

but for now, a few things that have crossed my mind lately.  meaning they may or may not be of any interest to you and are probably not that important in the big scheme of things.  but, nonetheless.....

sandwich shops & tipping

has anyone else noticed this new trend?  go to a sandwich place, STAND in line to order, STAND in line and wait for order to be made, pay at the counter (not a table) and BAM! there is a tip line on your receipt to sign.  i'm sorry but what?  why do i need to tip?  this person did not seat me, did not come to my table to take a drink order OR a food order, didn't even have to walk my food to me, but rather called my name and i came to them!  so why, please tell me why, these places believe i need to tip them?  i've waited tables and it's hard.  really hard.  so  i'm all for tipping actual servers for their hard work and shitty pay ($2.13/hour when i waited) KNOWING that this is where their pay actually comes from.  but i don't think (i may be wrong) that these places pay that.  i may sound like an old, grumpy lady, but this really bothers me and now i feel better for letting you know!

keratin hair treatment

or, as i like to call it, my sanity.  seriously, this stuff is ahh-mazing!  if you haven't heard of it, the keratin treatment is a process done by a trained professional that basically tames nappy hair!  kidding, but not really.  i have naturally curly hair.  through the magic of flat irons, i have destroyed it and basically continue to do so.  cue keratin!  it doesn't make it perfectly straight, but now instead of tugging on my hair and repeatedly going over it with the flat iron to get those damn cowlicks flat, i simply blow it dry and quickly run the iron over it, causing far less damage than before.  i love, love, love it! 
i did it last spring and it lasts 6 months, meaning i was long overdue for another treatment.  and i'm not going to lie, it's not cheap.  so i had been waiting on finances for me to get back in.  well, for one of my christmas presents, joe sent me to jeff to get my hair did!!!  joe is so good!  if you or anyone you know has unruly hair....let me know and i will get you jeff's info.  it will make you and those who have to live with you so happy!

those jehovah witness ladies  

about a year or so ago, a jehovah witness came by our house.  joe, being joe, talked to her.  BIG mistake.  HUGE!  now she comes back on a regular basis, sometimes bringing her jehovah witness friends.  she will bring us literature, read to us from the scripture, and ask us leading questions like

"you think with all the bad in the world that god has a plan for us and the problems are not his doing but rather evil people's doing and he will punish them but those of us who live christian lifestyles will be welcomed into the afterlife, right?" 

blank stare.  ummm.....well.....yeah.  sure. 

(slight exaggeration, but not much)

so me, tyler, the girl who has opinions about everything and can have a loud mouth CAN'T TELL THEM TO LEAVE AND NOT COME BACK.  i don't know why.  i'm sure if i told them what i do and what my beliefs are and that the guy they think is my husband isn't, he's really my live-in boyfriend (GASP!) they might leave me alone.  maybe.  or worse, they'll come back more!  and let me tell you, these ladies are persistent.  yesterday...they rang the door and i was right there on the couch but didn't move.  just sat super still and told the dogs to hush.  waited.  waited.  they kept standing there.  waited.  OH MY GOD LEAVE!  knock, knock, knock.  you have got to be kidding me!

so....for now, i just nod and smile and take the literature and agree to discuss it when they come back.

p.s.  today that literature is on it's way to the recycle place.  at least i'm green with it!



after too much rambling, i'm going to end with a little bit of (my) happiness....

enjoying the weather



and frustrating mom




clean, warm laundry?  don't mind if i do!




just too cute for words

LATER!

  *if there are any typos, sorry and oh well!

walk on water

i was always taught that birds fly south for the winter.  these guys didn't get that memo.