Day 30

Love Actually Soundtrack

Today I am posting a link to the Love Actually Theme song for a couple of reasons. First, tonight TJ and I were watching a rerun of How I Met Your Mother and the episode had the characters at movie and in the background TJ said hey isn't that the music from Love Actually? LOL! I guess I have made him watch the movie too many times. It is my favorite movie and don't tell anyone but I think TJ really likes it.

My thoughts are we will have the bridesmaids walk to one of the three versions of this song. Now here is the crazy part! You can't buy the soundtrack with the three Craig Armstrong songs in the US. Apparently they only sell that version in the United Kingdom. Then thanks to a review they directed me to amazon.com/uk and guess what I bought the CD with the songs I wanted and it was less than what I would have paid at the US Amazon site including shipping! YAY!

This is going to be a fun mail week for me! With all my ebay purchases and now this I should be getting all kinds of fun mail over the next two weeks! :) I love mail!

Day 29

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding, Wedding! That is all I have talked about for the past few days! Sunday, I finally got TJ up on on the details. I am not sure if he cared but I filled him in! I have been adding things to the calendar left and right including centerpiece put together day, address the invitations day, mail the invitations day, take our photos day, bridesmaids dresses day etc. I need to have it all on a calendar and it makes me feel better when it is!! I need help...

Day 28

Kim's Bridal Shower was today! It was fun and she got some really cute things! Leave it to me however to bring the x-rated gifts! LOL! And the best card in the world! These things however are not made for children so I won't post those pics!  1 week from today she finally gets married and gets to get her life started as a wife!! Time goes way to fast, before you know it its over and done! I can't imagine the nerves that she is feeling this week! I am pretty sure I will be freaking out the week before my wedding! I have already told my dad who is coming into town early to stay out of my way because this is going to be wedding central and he doesn't want to get in my way! Hehe! I'm not going to lie, I am getting more excited but I am also realizing I have several more things to check off my list! YIKES!

Bahahahaha! X-Rated Gift Bag=Awesome! :)

Days 22-27

 This is the video I made for my Mema. It's a little long but you will read about it below in Days 22-23. Enjoy!

Day 27-

Sneak Peak of Centerpieces! This was just a quickly thrown together example!

Today we finally met with our wedding venue! I am so excited now! I have been very concerned because I have felt there were so many unanswered questions. Now I have a visual and I think its going to be amazing. I just need to make sure my goofy fiance behaves! My mom took some pictures today so as soon as she emails them to me I will post them!

Day 26-

On Thursday I took TJ to see our venue. I figured he needed to see it before we got married there and all. Well we look around and he sees everything then I go show him where everyone is staying the night before the wedding and where we will have our rehearsal dinner. This jackrabbit that he saw was the most excited he got all night! Awesome!

Day 24-25

Mom, Kaytie, and I headed to Lake Tenkiller  for a day and a half. It was a nice girls trip away even though we were all exhausted after my mema's funeral on Monday. We left late Monday night and headed back on Wednesday. It was nice to get to relax and chat with each other about life.

Day 22-23

On Sunday TJ and I headed to Durant to be with my dad while he prepared for my mema's funeral. When I arrived I was told I needed to do the video since my aunt Robin was not handling things very well. We went to the viewing then I headed to the church to sort through pictures and put them in some kind of order. Sadly, this is the 3rd video I have had to make for a grandparent. I kind of enjoy it however. It seems like it gives me some colusre. It's one of the last ways I can connect with my grandparents before I have to say goodbye. About 3:30 am we finally finished the video. Needless to say I was exhausted the next day for the funeral. All in all it was a nice service and I think the video turned out well. Now my attention moves to my Papa Leon and hoping he can cope without my mema.

Day 21

So this weekend my hubby to be had an archery shoot in Kansas. This is what he does for a living. He shoots on the US Paralympic Archery team. It's fun and I like to go places with him. He has gone all over the country to shoot and if I can get off work I get to go with him. In 2008 I got to go to Beijing, China for the Paralympic Games to watch him shoot. Let me tell you, there is nothing like watching the person you love compete for not only a medal but for the USA! WOW! I think I nearly had a heart attack every time he shot! China was really the only super exciting archery shoot,  its otherwise a really boring sport! Today I sat in the shade and read my kindle and visited with the people around me. I did enjoy that, it was very relaxing and so many of the same people go to each shoot so you get to know them pretty well. We are pretty much exhausted now from the quick trip. Tomorrow we head to Durant to be with my family before my Mema's funeral on Monday. So we have a few more long days ahead.

Day 20

My Mema passed away today. :( She has been in and out of the hospital for years now. There have been many times when we thought she was going to pass and didn't and would still be around to be her crazy old self. While I am sad for my family and for the fact she is not with us any more, I know in my heart she is so much happier now. Her best friend in the whole world Helen passed away a few years ago and poor Mema missed her everyday and now they can hang out again.

In my family, we are family. We would spend a few weeks in the summer with Mema and Papa and she would make us go to vacation bible school and go pick up aluminum cans along side the road! LOL! She would even serve us coffee with sugar and milk in rocket ship cups! She wrapped our Christmas presents in Wal-Mart sacks and would buy us school supplies from Dollar General every year. You have to understand my Mema loved a deal and loved Wal-Mart and Dollar General! Her and Helen would go to Wal-Mart EVERYDAY! My Mema also let us drive her pick up truck at an age that was definitely not the legal driving age! She was crazy and we were okay with that!

As she got older she sometimes didn't remember who we were or forgot things etc. However, she would still be her old self just a self that thought we were still little. When I went to visit her over Christmas in the hospital I was telling her that I got engaged. She had only met TJ a few times and she wasn't remembering things too well. She looked over at me and said "Are you marrying that TJ?" She liked him and thought he was a good guy! Needless to say we were all surprised that she remembered who he was or that she'd ever met him.

On a side note when I visited my Grandma Norma in the hospital before she passed away I was showing her pictures of me and TJ and she looked at one of the two of us and said "I think its true love." It's nice to know that even though neither of my Grandma's will be at the wedding they both approved.

I will miss my Mema. I hope my Dad and Aunt Robin will be able to cope and be assured she is in a better happier place. I hope that my brother and sister and I will have a moment to mourn. Since Jan. 6th 2009 we have now lost 3 grandparents. Our hearts are heavy and we have barely learned what life is like without one grandparent then we lose another. Our Grandparents loved us and would call us often to check in. We would also visit on a fairly regular basis. So there has been an adjustment to living daily without someone that cared about you checking in on you anymore.

Life goes on, but tomorrow is not guaranteed, so live it to the fullest and tell the people you love that you love them as much as possible.

Day 19

Welcome to my new office space! This is my new desk at work! I am so excited for many reasons! 1. I love to redecorate anytime. 2. I organized EVERYTHING! In fact there is a wall of filing cabinets you can't see that I organized so well I want to show people when they come in the office! 3. It means I'm moving up (if only by inches!) I will share this office with the next person who comes to work in our department. There is another corner where there is another desk where I was before. The only thing left to do is hang my degrees on the wall, but I will do that when I come back from vacation! Yup! You heard me I am off all next week! I can't wait! I haven't had a week off since Christmas break last year! Woo Hoo! I don't know what I am going to do with myself! Read a few books I am sure and work on wedding stuff. Other than that my mom, sister and brother and I are going to Lake Tenkiller for a few days. It's gonna be a great week! :)

Day 18

So its official! I have contacts now! While my eyesight is not that bad, I have awful, awful astigmatism! Its nice being able to see all around without the outline of my glasses. There is only one minor problem...I can't get them OUT! Right now I have fake finger nails on so I may have to go get them off in order to get my contacts out. It is frustrating because my eyes start to itch and get red. Oh well. My theory is that if I can learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle, I will learn how to get these blasted contacts out! Wish me luck!

Day 16

This evening Kimberlee Sue showed up and gave me this cute little gift! It's a P for Pemberton! I love it! It is the first thing I have with my new (almost) last name initial! What is even greater is that my new kitchen, when we move wherever we move after we are married, is going to be black and red and some of the things I have picked out have this damask pattern! YAY YAY YAY! So you can guess where its going. :)

It was a happy surprise! Thanks Kim! :)

Day 15

Okay so I didn't take this picture, I stole it off the internet. This is the book I am currently reading. It was suggested to me and sparked my interest. The story follows two men. One is a 20th century slave, meaning a  sharecropper in the 1950's and an international art dealer. Eventually the lives of these two men collide and its been an a story of inspiration and sadness.  I am about half way through it and I can't put it down.

In addition to reading my book this weekend, TJ and I finished registering today! That was fun, but I am glad its over! Let me ask you all...did you take your husbands to be to register or did you do it yourself? I felt a bit guilty about dragging him all across town today, but at the same time I thought we should do this together! LOL!

After that we spent the evening watching our two favorite TV shows. Yes, I said OUR! True Blood and Top Shot! TJ likes True Blood, but I don't think he will admit it in public!

Tomorrow starts another work week, but the last work week before I am off for vacation!! Woo Hoo! :)

Day 14

Edmond has this great Farmers Market and I have never taken advantage of it until today! We went this  morning and bought some strawberries, peaches, cantaloupes, and corn. I love this place and will frequent it often now that I am hooked. I love that I am buying fresh produce from Oklahoma farmers. It's a good deal for everyone involved!

Later today I met up with Kim. She is getting married 3 weeks from today so I went with her to pick out jewelry and get her final fitting. When she put everything on she looked stunning! I can't wait to see her on her wedding day with her hair done and all! After we picked out everything, we went to a local Mexican restaurant to have a margarita. Let's just say we aren't as young as we used to be! We couldn't finish them! Oh well! I think in my next job I want to plan weddings! I just love them! They are so wonderful and represent such happy times. "Sigh"

Bride to Be Kim and Bride to be later Me!

Day 13

circa 2008

Tonight I met up with my friend Kim from Grad School! It was so nice to finally get together! It seems like it has been hit and miss the past few times. The picture up above is our MBA group at our 2008 graduation! I am so proud of that moment in time. I know for a fact we all worked our butts off for those pieces of paper!

I told Kim tonight I kind of missed being in school. I like to learn and feel like I am feeding my mind. I know I can do this outside of a classroom but I enjoy the input of others. It is amazing how much you can learn from other people if you are willing.

Kim is doing well and we had many good laughs tonight! I love being able to pick up where you left off regardless of how long it has been. Plus, when you go through a graduate program (at least for me) you and your classmates become allies in the battle to graduation! We all shared this same crazy experience for that moment in time and only that small group of people will ever understand the time and effort it took to get through.

Although I miss school every now and then, thinking about it now suddenly makes me sleepy. Hmm...I guess I don't miss it enough to shoot for my Doctorate! LOL! :)

Day 12

In honor of Day 8 of temperatures 100 or above, I treated myself to a frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf! This is a self serve frozen yogurt shop where you can go in and pick from various flavors and toppings! Tonight I had chocolate, strawberry, and white chocolate frozen yogurts with fresh strawberries, white chocolate and chocolate chips and granola! SOOO yummy! It was a nice way to end the day! :)

Day 11

Tonight TJ and I did something kind of silly! We made him an audition video for Top Shot on the History Channel! It took us all evening of filming him answering the audition questions then I took it and put it into a movie maker program with music, pictures, and all!

I personally think the video is way cute seeing how we just finished! Top Shot for those that don't know is a competition where the top 13 from all over come and compete in various marksmanship competitions. We have been watching it all season and when we saw the casting call well you know, we couldn't let it just slip by! So we send the video off tomorrow along with the application! Wish him luck! It would be too awesome if he makes it to the interview process! :)

Day 10-Blast from the Past

circa 2007

Tonight I had dinner with my friend Kimberlee Sue. She will be getting married in just a few weeks and we found it rather fascinating how far we have come in the last few years. We met each other in college and have remained friends for all of these years. We survived our crazy phase of going out all night and being typical 20 somethings and now here we are both getting married this year.

Kim and James just bought a house and I got to see it tonight. It was so very cute and you could tell it was a home right away! I know those two will have a very happy life in that house.

It got me to thinking how funny it is that we go through life and one moment we are at the bar being crazy and throwing caution to the wind and the next moment we are grounded in our careers and making life choices. A part of  me misses those days simply because they were fun and carefree, but the other part of me screams "LEIGHA DENE'E DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN IN TO! YOU'RE GROUNDED"

I am excited to start these next moments in my life. The one's that will include being a wife, a career woman, a mom (someday), a homeowner etc. This time rather than having only my friends to be my partners in crime I will have TJ to be my partner in life. I look at where I have been the good and bad and know that it has all shaped me to be who I am today and helped me on the road to where I am going. 

I have learned that a plan is only good the day you make it, because without fail something is going to change the next day and your plan will have to be altered. I suppose that is what makes life all the more interesting! Believe me if I could map my life on an excel spreadsheet I would, but that would mean I would have to know all the surprises beforehand and that my friends does not sound fun at all!

Day 9

Breakfast for Dinner! Tonight TJ and I made dinner together, sort of! While he fixed the bacon and eggs, I cut the cantaloupe, put the biscuits in the oven and put the waffles in the toaster! LOL! Hey that is home cooking for us! It was fun and it was out of our normal routine to try and fix a meal together, even if it was simple!

Other than that it was pretty much a very normal day. Work, Wal-Mart, then home! I did talk to the candy buffet lady and I am really excited about this part of our wedding! It is going to be so beautiful and fun!  You should check her out Sweet 223! The colors of the candy will be pearl white/blue to give it that wintery feel with a splash of red! AHHH! So excited! :) I am loving this whole wedding planning business!

Day 8

Today was another lazy Sunday! It was too hot to play outside, so we just stayed around the house and took it easy! Not that I complained too much! On Saturday TJ and I started to register and the first and only place we have gone thus far is Dillard's. Needless to say it was an exhausting experience! While fun, it just took awhile and we were expected to make all these decisions! I know what I like now...but will I like it in two years? LOL! Commitment issues I guess! :)

The guy at Dillard's told us it would be Sunday before he had our registry up, so I waited all day to check it! When I did...check out the screen...it says Penberton! LOL um, you spell his last name Pemberton! It made me chuckle! So I sent an email to the Registry people asking them to fix it. If anything it just proves that nothing is going to be perfect and it's best just to laugh and go on! I hope I can keep this calm nonchalant attitude as the wedding gets closer...

Day 7

Today the whole family took a quick trip to Medicine Park just north of Lawton. We used to frequent this place pretty often when my grandparents were alive. My Grandma Norma liked to feed the fish and Papa like to eat the catfish at these little restaurants there in the park! Its a very nice place and while today was very pretty IT WAS TOO HOT to be outside unless you were swimming! Seriously!

We ate at different restaurant today called Old Plantation. It was pretty cute and had lots of charm. We met my Uncle Keith and Aunt Sally, my Uncle Tim, Derice, and Brooklyn and my Aunt Becky and Uncle Kenny. It was nice. We used to get together often to celebrate birthday's and anniversaries. My grandma loved any reason to celebrate something! We have tried to keep up with getting together. We just don't do it as often as we used to.

We fed the local wild life for a bit then TJ and I left to go meet up with his friend Tommy who is the manager at the Lawton Dillard's. All in all in was a fun day! :)

Feeding the fish!

Told you it was pretty. I only wish I were swimming instead of standing around being hot!

Day 6

Today was a fun day! I met my mom and my aunt Becky to go over the proofs for my wedding invitations! YAY! After that we had a nice lunch. I hadn't seen Becky in awhile since she is a nurse at Mercy. She has been working crazy hours, so this was an exceptionally fun day since I got to see her!

After lunch mom and I went to get pedicures and our nails done. The rest of the evening should prove to be relaxing. Other than going to wash my car I'm just hanging out with TJ. We are going to register this weekend so that should prove to be exciting! I need to keep this guy away from the camping sections of these stores!

Day 5

"Everybody's workin for the weekend..." Today is my Friday! Woo Hoo! So I thought I would celebrate by popping open a bottle of wine. Now why is this wine photo worthy you ask? This is from a vineyard here in Oklahoma called Tres Suenos. TJ and I went there are a date last year and it was so much fun! As a result we discovered some terrific wines that we both enjoy! This one is one of my favorites because it is very sweet. I will take a sweet white any day over the dry Merlot. Surprise, I like sweet things!

I love fun dates. We went to a Drive-In movie in June. I need to think of something else for us to do! Maybe a visit to Oklahoma City Art Museum and then to their roof top bar...Whatever we do you can bet there will be a post about it on here! :)

Day 4

Four months from today I am going to marry this goofy guy! I must say I am pretty excited about this! We met 4 years ago and have been together ever since. We are exact opposites. He likes to hunt, fish, and be outdoors and I like shoes, shopping, and air conditioning. I work in an office and he shoots archery. I have to have a plan at all times and he is a fly by the seat of your pants kinda person. For some unknown reason we are crazy about each other. We drive each other nuts for sure but that is part of the fun.

I can't wait to start the next chapter of our lives in December. Life together is going to be an adventure and for once I don't have too much of a plan in place! Regardless of our differences we live, laugh, and love together and support each other no matter what and that is the most important thing! If you want to know how he proposed check out our wedding website!

Day 3

Day 3 was not photo worthy! I went to the dentist and it stressed me out a great deal! My mouth was numb for hours! I promise I will post a much better Day 4! :)

Day 2

It was rather easy to pick what I would photograph today. When I came into work this morning I had a surprise! My boss found this sign and thought it would be perfect for me. Let me explain.

I am the Event Coordinator for UCO Sports and Recreation and in a typical year we host 1 major event and a handful of minor events all pertaining to Olympic/Paralympic type sports.

The UCO Endeavor Games are for athletes with physical disabilities of all ages. This year we broke records in attendance and the Games went off really well. We had athletes from all across the United States and Great Britain and Puerto Rico.  Our opening celebrations were at the Redhawks baseball game and we introduced our 1st ever 20k cycling race! The other sports that we offer at the Endeavor Games are Track and Field, Archery, Sitting Volleyball, Shooting, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball, Powerlifting, and Table Tennis. It's an amazing event and I am so proud to be apart of it!

When I was promoted to my current position in 2008, I knew 2010 would be the most challenging year of my career at least up to that point! We were going to be hosting the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championship. Sitting volleyball for those that don't know is a Paralympic sport that is made up of mostly amputee athletes, but also includes a wide variety of other physical disabilities (Google it).  33 national sitting volleyball teams from 25 countries would be here in Edmond, OK from July 8-19. This event would take place just 3 weeks after the 11th annual UCO Endeavor Games would wrap. In April of 2010 when things were getting crazy in the office and we were all running around like mad people a comment was made that our office was like a circus! Every person was going in a thousand different directions! There were times we didn't know what day or time it was we were just working and doing our best to "keep swimming" to quote Dory from Finding Nemo! At one point in April I changed my ringtone on my phone to be the Circus theme song! It fit perfectly.

USA Men'sTeam

Our office staff pulled together and with a team of over 1000 volunteers UCO managed to pull off the most successful Sitting Volleyball World Championship to date. No that is not an exaggeration. So many times I was just unsure that we could pull off an event of this magnitude.  We had nearly 700 people here from all over the world who didn't necessarily speak English. It was a sight to be seen. There are no words to describe what it was like working this event unless you were there. 20 hour days, sleepless nights, and a crazy amount of dedication made this event come off without any major incident. It was a miracle.

USA Women's Team

The USA women's team won a silver medal and secured their spot to the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

I write all of this simply to tell you that the sign on my desk today is so appropriate for me and especially after the crazy summer I have had. Nothing is impossible, even when you are unsure if you will make it through, when it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel, life goes on and you will get to the other side of what ever challenge you are facing. Thanks Katrina for making my Monday! You Rock!

Day 1

Well today was  a lazy Sunday and a well deserved one. For the last three months I have been running around like a crazy person working insane hours and pulling off two major events (1 on the national level and 1 on the world level). I love my job, but this is only the second weekend in a row that I haven't worked! As I am adjusting back to normal life I have picked up my Kindle once again. Oh how I have missed it! I forgot how much I loved to read! I have been so focused on pulling my events off successfully that I had sacrificed all of my favorite pastimes! Well no more!

I am currently reading Dead in the Family A Sookie Stackhouse book. Don't judge, I am a fan of vampires! :)
I also like to watch True Blood which so happens comes on Sunday nights! I will most likely have this book finished in the next two days so any suggestions for my next read would be appreciated!

Getting Started...

So technically today is the first day of this 365 day challenge! However, I will post twice today. I wanted to give some background before I got started. I have never blogged before. In fact just thinking about posting a photo a day for the next year makes me wonder how boring of a life I may actually lead! LOL! Here is the challenge however, on a typical day I must now find something to do out of the ordinary or get creative and take a picture of it. It may be taking a walk to find something interesting or visiting a new shop in town or taking a picture of the new book I am reading! I am by no means a photographer so bear with me. What is even more exciting about this blogs potential is that this will chronicle these last few months of planning our wedding and the first several months of our marriage. Not to mention all of the crazy curve balls life deems fit to throw at us. Here is to Day 1 of 365!