Coming to a year...

I can't believe it! In just a few days T.J. and I will be celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary! This is insane to me- INSANE. It really does feel like just the other day we got married. I didn't think there was any way to feel closer to T.J. after dating him for over 6 years but lo and behold I do! There is just something that happens when you get married... you really understand what people mean when they say "you become one person", marriage brings you closer then you ever thought possible.

T.J. knows I'm a worry wart- I'm almost paranoid that something is going to happen to him... he doesn't ever ease my feelings either. For instance, yesterday on Father's Day we were at T.J.'s parents pool and I'm watching T.J. about to dive off the board, but as he jumps up he slips and SLAMS- I mean SLAAAAMS the diving board with his face. Please tell me you would go hysterical right?! So I JUMP UP and start screaming "T.J.!!!!!!!!!!!!" and he pops up out of the water laughing... everyone's laughing... it was a joke- apparently he slapped the board with his hand and wanted to look like he died when really he was fine. So of course I start crying- even after I knew he was okay- I WAS SO MAD. Nooooot funny. Boys.

I've realized that I got REALLY lucky- T.J. is clean! I literally couldn't live with someone that didn't clean up after themselves, were dirty, etc- seriously... I can't imagine. THANK YOU T.J.

Anyways- I don't really feel like I have loads of special advice I could tell anyone after being married a year, I'm still learning every day. We've just learned to try and not sweat the small stuff, it's going to be FINE. We've also learned we fight differently... I want to talk it out- get it over with. T.J. wants to just not talk about it for a day or 2- thus putting me in torture for those 1-2 days b/c we aren't talking about it :) Thankfully we rarely argue!

I literally couldn't imagine my life without T.J. and I only get more excited thinking about where we will be on our 2nd wedding anniversary- Stillwater? OKC? NY? (We are in the waiting game in regards to T.J. going to graduate school) I can't wait.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a sweet and loving husband!

What friends are for...

So this morning I'm driving to work- 10 minutes late already :) This is what happens when T.J and I don't carpool- I'm late, I don't know WHAT I do different but somehow this happens. So as I'm on my way to work I start craving an iced coffee- which I really NEVER get but since I had the craving I decided to go for it- and the mcdonalds kind- which was way too sweet btw! So after the annoying 15 minute line I get back on the highway only to spill my drink all over my work shirt :) AWESOME. So as I point the ac vents towards my shirt, praying it won't dry black I decide I'm either making a stop at Wal-Mart or calling my good friend Alicia from work to see if she can bring me one of her shirts :)

Alicia is a lifesaver! :) She brought me a shirt and now I am coffee free. This is what friends are for. So after I talked to Alicia I just started thinking about how thankful I am for all my friends and that I can call multiple friends and ask for a shirt to wear, a dress to borrow, have them burn me a cd I like, etc etc etc!

So I started looking for some of my favorite quotes for "friends"-

“The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation that you ever had.”

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked”

Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families.” - this is so messed up! haha I thought it was funny but not true.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.”

“A friend is a hand that is always holding yours, no matter how close or far apart you may be. A friend is someone who is always there and will always, always care. A friend is a feeling of forever in the heart.”

Downtown Dash

Another day, another race! One thing I have realized is that I need to schedule races for myself or I lose my motivation to run! :) So I signed up for the 10k downtown dash with some family and friends. Race day arrives and T.J.'s dad, Mike has the BRIGHT idea to eat IHOP before the race- Hey, I was hungry- why not?! So after eating my "Senior Rise N' Shine" I think to myself "man I might have ate a little too much...." by this time I'm convincing myself I REALLY should just run the 5k b/c that's what everyone else is doing! Debbie and I deserve a nice "relaxing & fun" run, right? Somehow I convince Debbie this is the plan :) hehehe

The race rolls around and then my stomach starts rolling as well about a quarter mile into it! :) So needless to say DON'T get food- LET ALONE IHOP an hour before you run :) I've never felt that pain/sick to my stomachness before!!

So I did it :) I was REALLY happy we got to just run the 5k - I CAN'T IMAGINE if I ran the 10k!! BARF!!

Pictured from left to right (above)

Logan, T.J.'s cousin won 2nd place in her division! Cheryl her mom did GREAT as she THOUGHT she was going to walk it but she ran most of it! Kandie is to the next to me- basically my sister in law and she did AWESOME for only training a week, her mom Cindy is to the right of me (she did great too) and then Debbie my mother in law is on the far right and she's just a machine and beats me every time! :) T.J.'s dad, uncle and family friend ran it as well but they aren't pictured. (T.J. is still recovering from IT band problems or he would've smoked everyone) ;)

I had never ran a night run and it was cool!! (and still really hot) Thanks everyone for a fun night!!

Debbie reminded me to "put my hand on my hip" and it would make me look smaller :) Great tip!

As I am adding pictures I thought I'd add this one too (below) This is from the 10k in Guthrie "See Spot Run" This was a great run!!!

Left to Right: William Kralik, Cindy Kralik, me, Debbie & Mike Ross (below)

Welcome home Ace

Ace is our new black (Bombay I think) kitty!! Yesterday T.J. called me and asked what I thought about checking out the kittens at the animal shelter (those of you that know, River- my cat I've had since October ran away...) So with some hesitation I decided.. LET'S GO LOOK- but I told T.J. there were 3 conditions- it had to be a girl, it couldn't be black, and it had to be REALLY REALLY sweet and calm :) Basically I wanted the opposite of River b/c I missed River so much...

Well.. we got Ace who is black, a male and the most onery of them all!! He wouldn't leave T.J. alone the minute we walked in the "kitty room" at the shelter. It was just impossible to resist his fun yet sweet nature! Anyways, he's been running around the house like CRAZY- jumping onto counters River never even fathomed and yet he slept in a little ball next to me and T.J. and was SO GREAT- besides waking T.J. up to biting him in the face :)

I'm sure we'll have many stories about Ace but for now- he's been perfect!!! He's not even 2 lbs and 11 weeks old- a stud!

Kendi's Day

I wanted to post some of the pictures I took during Kendi’s wedding. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the Reception or where the ceremony took place, b/c it was GORGEOUS!!!I am so happy that I know have a BEST FRIEND that is married like me! I can’t wait to share all of our funny stories together and relate to each other through marriage.

Marriage is the best gift! Don’t get me wrong, it can be hard at times- you have A LOT more responsibilities then you did when you were dating, however what is better then coming home to your one and only every day?! :) God really blessed me with T.J. and I don’t know what I’d do w/o him!Back to Kendi’s wedding!

I’ve never been treated so amazing as a bridesmaid! We didn’t have to pay for A THING! They really took care of us and it was AN HONOR to be up on stage by Kendi when she was getting married. I also realized I am A LOT more emotional now that I’m married?! I started crying like 3 or 4 times throughout the ceremony. :) Kendi looked absolutely gorgeous! I’m not sure if you can tell but her dress was actually a “blush pink”! One of a kind!

I couldn't help but start thinking about my wedding and looking back at some pictures :) I loved my wedding day! I also added some pictures of us girls at Kendi's showers as well!I can’t wait to be there with my other friends when they marry the one God has for them!!!