Orange Is...

I saw this posted on the OSU Alumni Association's facebook page and thought it was worth sharing with my OSU family. It brought tears to my eyes because it rang so true and I know every O-State alum who reads this will feel the same way.
A big thanks to Cody Stites, who I don't know, but after reading what he wrote with such passion for OSU, I know I'd like.

Orange is that day that you moved into the dorms as a freshman with lines for the elevator. It’s meeting those friends that would stick with you for life. It’s remembering those dorm buildings, even though they may not be there anymore.
It’s wearing orange the Friday before the first game & every Friday after that. It’s KURT BUDKE, MIRANDA SERNA, Barry Sanders, John Smith, Garth Brooks, Mike Gundy, Eddie Sutton… it’s you and me. Orange is putting your arm around the shoulder of the stranger next to you to sing the Alma Mater. It’s making the switch to saying “Power” instead of “Orange.” It’s remembering Lewis Field & admiring Boone Pickens Stadium. It’s knowing that it’s left hand up to make an “S.” Orange is when it’s good for a Cowboy First Down and Ten. Orange is Pistols Firing – Touchdown Oklahoma State. It’s “...O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma STATE” no matter where you are when the state song is played.
It’s the big smile on your face when you walk past the orange fountain. It’s going back to the place you worked in college & remembering it as the best job you ever had even though it paid the least. It’s a cabinet full of Joe’s cups. Orange is knowing that it’s time to go home when you hear “New York, New York” or “Shoulda Been a Cowboy.” Orange is the one you tried to let down easy & the one you’ll never forget. Orange is wanting to get out of Stillwater for four years & spending the rest of your life wanting to go back.


Proud and Immortal,
Bright shines your name.
Oklahoma State,
We herald your fame.
Ever you’ll find us,
Loyal and true.
To our Alma Mater
O – S – U

Hearing the words "OSU" and "plane crash" in the same sentence, again - for the second time in my life, completely breaks my heart. It wasn't fair 10 years ago when it happened, and it's not fair now. I didn't know either of the coaches or the couple flying the plane, but I do know that anyone who made such an impact on such an incredible university must have been pretty special. My heart aches for their families. I know that the whole OSU family is sending thoughts, prayers and lots of love their way.
I know we will never forget and I know we will get through this. We always do. Because we're Cowboys. Because we are Orange.

Thankful Thursdays (third time's a charm)

On this day, Thursday, November 17th, I am thankful for modern luxuries that I am incredibly lucky to have and that I take advantage of on a daily basis. This would include, but is not limited to:

-good tv
Some old favorites include Friends, Seinfeld (by the way, I typed "sei" and my super smart iPad automatically typed Seinfeld for me. brilliant), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Sex and the City. New favorites include New Girl (have you watched this? it's television genius), The Big Bang Theory (I know, I'm kind of late to the game), Little Einsteins and Olivia. (I'm thankful for those last two because they got Paisley out of her Mickey Mouse obsession).

-my electric blanket
It was 63 degrees in my house this morning. That is unacceptable! I guess if I have to put up with another Oklahoma winter, at least my bed will be warm.

-Pinterest
If I need to explain this to you, you obviously aren't on pinterest. I don't know if I should feel bad for you because of what you're missing, or if I should be a little jealous of you because you don't waste hours of your life away looking at delicious food, awesome houses, clever solutions to every day problems, easy DIY ideas and funny pictures of kitty cats. Seriously, get on pinterest and find me. I pin some great stuff.

-My iPad
Because, how else would I be able to feed my pinterest addiction? Except... on the iPad, you can't have a "pin it!" button, so if I want to pin something I'm limited to pinterest only. Is there away to fix this? Can I have both my iPad AND my "pin it!" button?

-Coffee
I realize that coffee is not a "modern luxury," but I'm still thankful for it. I *think* I've mentioned Starbucks in my last two posts?

-My phone
So I can text and send pictures to Nate all day while he is trying to work. He, however, is probably not thankful for that.

-Donuts and the library
Each Tuesday morning, Miss P and I meet April and Andy for donuts at the best little donut shop in Edmond (like I'd tell you which one. we don't want it to become crowded!), which is owned by the nicest Asain ladies who love to see the kids. They even give us a few extra donut holes each time! After that, we head to the library for "lap sit." I'm not sure of what the term "lap sit" means... But we go to it. And it's fun.

-My warm bed, a full pantry and fridge, a nice car, so much laundry that I'm never caught up, fun toys for Paisley, hot baths, blankets and socks and hoodies (I hate winter), a good job, Nathan's great job that allows me to stay home with Paisley, my wonderful family, great friends, the most perfect husband and the most incredibly precious baby girl. I am extremely lucky and very thankful for all the little things that make my life easy.

Thankful Thursdays (part deux)

In the second installment of Thankful Thursdays, I am thankful for a few random things. No theme this week, just a few things that make me smile every day (which I suppose would make my theme "things that make me smile every day...")

I am thankful for...

Sonic (vanilla diet coke, in case you ever want to surprise me)
Starbucks (but I covered that last week)
My animals
Warm, fuzzy blankets
Slippers
Country music
The great state of Oklahoma and everything in it (well, almost everything...)
Footie jammies (on Paisley, not me. they are so darn cute on her)
Cookies, chocolate cake and leftover Halloween candy
Glazed donuts
TOMS shoes
Pinterest
My job at baby gap
The clothes at baby gap
Seinfeld
OPI nail polish
My favorite pair of gap jeans
A good hug from Miss P
Kitties curled up on me while I sleep
My Kindle (bonus points for a good book and a full battery)
.....

I'm bored just writing this. Jeez, I'm sorry if you've made it this far. (Why are you still reading? You must be a really good friend. I'm very thankful for you.)
Apparently my thankfulness and creative writing juices peaked last week.
Bummer. I'm sorry. I will think hard for the next 7 days and make up for it next week.

Thankful Thursday (part 1)

It seems like my Facebook news feed has been full of happy, thankful people lately. I have enjoyed reading everyone's, and as much as I'd like to do a daily Facebook "thankful update," I'm just not a daily Facebook-status-updater. So, instead of stealing that idea from all of those people, I stole this Thankful Thursdays idea from Brittany, the star of The Johnson Family Circus (sorry, can't link to it on my iPad) and super mom of 3 under 3. So, thanks Brittany!

I am a very thankful and grateful person, even if some of you only hear me complain about stuff (sorry April, Lindsay and Autumn...).

Today, I am thankful for my wonderful parents. As I write this, I am at Starbucks (look at me, blogging at Starbucks on my iPad. I'm very trendy.), currently hiding out from my 15 month old daughter. Don't get me wrong, I love her more than life itself.... But she has recently started an evening wild streak, where she is literally running in circles and jumping from the ottoman to the chair and chasing the dogs and squealing with glee anytime someone says anything remotely close to "no!" (including, but not limited to, "paisley, stop" "paisley, please sit on your bottom" "don't eat that" "please don't touch the tv" and "don't touch Lucy, she bites!").
So, thanks to my dear parents (who (whom?) she charms time and time again), I have enjoyed a nice hot caramel apple cider at Starbucks. Amazing how much an hour away and one hot drink can totally turn your day around! This one hour has *almost* convinced me that if I moved back to Owasso, I could do this regularly! So could Nate, but I think he was convinced that we needed the help about 14 and a half months ago.
Also, I'm very thankful for Starbucks. I don't feel like I need to go into detail here.
Also, I'm very thankful to have wonderful in-laws. Seriously, I hear some horror stories and I can't imagine having anyone better.
That leads me to the rest of my extended family -all of Nate's siblings and their families. I love that in my family, it's just Nate and me, D and Autumn and my parents. I also love leaving the quiet house to the big family with kids running around, the boys playing ping-pong and basketball and the girls sitting around chatting it up. I seriously have the best of both worlds.
Since I touched on everyone else, I guess I should say that I'm thankful for my wonderful brother. He really is pretty great. He's fun. He's cool. He's got a great house and great cats. He is a great dresser, a good writer and has good taste in drinks. And I love his girlfriend, Autumn, who (whom? I need to learn when to use that. Remind me to ask D) I am very thankful for... Okay seriously, I'll stop. But each time I think of someone, I have to go one person further (from Autumn, I'm thankful for her sister, April, who keeps me sane some days. From her, I'm thankful for Lindsay, who is a great new friend. Speaking of new friends, I better mention old friends, too. I'm very thankful for the Schnorrenbergs(all three of them!).)

So, let's sum it up here. I'm thankful for my parents, Nathan's parents, his siblings and their families, my brother, his girlfriend, Autumn, her sister, April, her friend, Lindsay, and Zach and Staci (and baby Harper!). Oh, and Starbucks.

But most importantly, Starbucks.

A Word of Advice

Sometimes it really IS better to pick your battles. 

In other news, this is the book she picked out of that whole pile to chew on! At least she has good taste in books (ha! get it?).

(For those of you reading on a teeny tiny phone, it's To Kill a Mockingbird)

A Birthday Post!

Paisley is 1 !

Okay, Paisley is 1 plus 1 month. So sue me.

12 month Paisley facts:

• She weighed in at 18 pounds, 4 ounces, which puts her in the 5th percentile for her weight. She is up from 17 pounds, 11 ounces at 9 months.
• She is 29.5 inches, which puts her in the 50th percentile. Up from 25.5 inches at 9 months! Way to go P! 
• She is done with bottles and done breastfeeding - I made it one year! WooHoooo!
• She is eating anything and everything we give her... some favorites include PB&Js, grilled cheese, any pasta, peas, green beans, shredded chicken, mashed potatoes, any fruit.... just the usual baby stuff. I am yet to give her something she doesn't like. (Must have gotten that from Nate.)
• She is sleeping through the night and is down to one 2 hour nap each day.
• She is still just rocking her 4 teeth - 2 on bottom and 2 on top, complete with a gap.
• She is walking running.
• Her favorite show is still Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I am trying to get her into a more girly show, which brings me to my next Paisley fact:
• She is somewhat of a tomboy. (and yes, just for the record, that did hurt to type.) 
• She doesn't like headbands (and can't wear bows - damn hair.)
• Her only friends are boys, who have taught her to be very tough. Seriously, the girl hardly cries. 
• Like I said, she isn't really into any kind of girly shows/movies. The only thing she will sit down and pay attention to is Mickey Mouse (and Jimmy Fallon, but who can blame her?). I know you probably think I'm crazy - but it really is kind of a boyish show. 
• She recently learned "touchdown!" - I'll add a picture of that - its pretty cute.
• The only orange I could find on short notice was a cute little jersey. They had a little cheerleader uniform, but it was lame and I couldn't do that to her. The jersey is cuter - I'll make her wear a skirt with it. I just bought her a black tutu - that'll be perfect!
• I have bought her many stuffed animals and many lovies, hoping she would become attached to one. She does have one white rabbit (whose name is white rabbit - creativity for the win!) who she cuddles with, but only in the car and at naptime/bedtime. She is yet to find anything else that will do... except for one thing. She has recently become attached to a leash. Go ahead and read that again. Yes, I said a leash. As in a walk-your-dog leash, except she doesn't walk Lucy. She just carries her leash around all. the. time. I plan on posting about this soon - once I get more pictures. I can't lie, it is pretty cute.
• She loves to talk - her favorite thing (?) to say is "tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik." I realize that if you haven't heard her, you have no idea what sound I am trying to spell out for you. If you have heard it and can think of a better way to write it, please let me know. I need this for her baby book. Sometimes it sounds like "duck-a-duck-a-duck-a-duck" and sometimes like "chick-a-chick-a-chick-a-chick."
• She is slowly winning Lucy over, cheerio by cheerio.
• She is still a very happy and easy baby. She wears me out, but I love (almost?) every minute of it. 

Enough with the boring stuff. Here are some pictures from her birthday and her party.

On her birthday, opening her first present

Oh, did someone say yay!? I should clap. 

New shoes? Yay! I should clap some more!

No time to smile for the camera - I found tissue paper!

 Come. On. Are these the cutest things ever, or what?

From her party...

Frosting credit to my wonderful husband! He got his mom's cake decorating skills, yay!

Her smash cake 

She ate her cake little bite by little bite. No smashing involved.

 This is how I imagine this conversation going:

Hey Paiswey, it's me, Schafer. S-C-H-A-F-E-R. You aren't really doin that right. 

You're sposed to get real messy, so just stick your face in it. 

Whoa, Schafer! You're real good at that! 

Look mom! I showed Paiswey how to eat her cake! 

Wait, what is this?! A bow? When did you put this bow on me?  You tired to distract me with the cake? Well played.

Hello cake. I'm Anderson. No one else is in the room, they're all watching Paisley open presents.  Good thing I'm sneaky. Good thing those grown-ups are fools! 

Happy birthday to the sweetest baby girl in the whole world! 

Summer Catch-Up

   I know I've been a bad blogger this summer... bad, bad, bad. My deepest apologies. In the next week or 2, I am going to try to buckle down and bring the people what they want!
  I know you're all dying to know what we have been up to. I will eventually get to Paisley's 1 year post and her birthday party post, I promise.
  Instead of doing a few little posts about our summer, I bring you this: a super-sized, giant, humongous,  larger than life, could there BE any more pictures? summer update.

We....
 tried to stay cool in our backyard "pool"...

did a little gymnastics...

 celebrated D's 30th birthday...

took a few pictures of Miss P (photo credit to the always fabulous April Murray)...

celebrated the 4th of July at the parade in Edmond (and I got my wisdom teeth out, which explains my chipmunk cheeks)...

 

relaxed at the lake with the Boyles family... 

showed off our super gymnastics skills at Schafer's birthday party...

went to Vegas, where we.... 
had 5 fabulous baby-free days (although we did miss her like crazy!)...

hung out in a bar that was 23 degrees...

played some slots...

played some roulette...

won big on the penny slots...

watched the fountains at the bellagio...

enjoyed the pool at the flamingo...

enjoyed some of the best food we've ever had...

listened to some music from Gordy...

enjoyed some drinks...

 enjoyed "cappuccino"...

found some cute boys...

had a great time going out...

got silly...

And finally, we...

turned ONE!!!

starting walking!...

enjoyed some birthday cake...

And now we're ready for warm days and cool nights, hoodies and warm socks, boots and sweaters, hot chocolate and snuggley blankets, orange fridays and early gamedays, pumpkin spice lattes and the smell of fall...