Let's get fancy; dogs included.

Hello, fall!

I am going to love every single second of your 50 degree weather.

Bring on the rain & my leather jacket that's calling my name.

Ryan & I got long overdue haircuts & are both lovin' it.

I got sick of always having bangs in my face & opted for 2 inches of length cut off (on my bangs included)!

Somehow I also managed to have perfect eyeliner with the first swipe on each eye.

Ryan found a new barber that he loves & his hair is the shortest it has been in a LONG time.

King's new home meant extra money in the dog budget envelope...

& how exactly were we supposed to pass up Buzz Lightyear & Woody costumes ---

in the perfect size AND on sale?

I may not spend money on my own costumes, 

but my kids deserve the money spent on them whether they like it or not.

& in case you couldn't tell, they definitely don't.

& I'll get around to changing my header again eventually.

Weekly Round-Up: June 3-9

1. We finally made it to lunch @ my favorite spot again: Kitchen 324. 
2. Our Moore Tornado Relief Benefit shirts from Shop Good came in! 
3. First time walking Hank in a public park & it was frustrating. What training?
4. Finally got to replace our kitchen knives with fancy ones & I'm unbelievably happy. 
5. Because now meals like this happen so much easier!
6. Helped my big sis, Cara, move to first apartment on her own & I'm so proud & happy for her.
7. Hank thought he'd be a class clown in obedience school. It's a good thing it was so cute.
8. Week 3 of K9 University taught us that he needs a pinch collar, not just a slip.
9. I totally took a chance & did this to my hair from a box.

Just A Normal Weekend...

...running from tornadoes?

This was one of the weirdest weekends of our lives

& it's one we will probably never forget.

The storms started coming in strong so we made the decision to go south.

Luckily, we made that decision before everyone made that decision,

so we were ahead of the traffic slightly.

Thanks to our dear friends -- The Apple's --

we ended up at OU Norman in the art building basement

in an office with 6 adults, 5 dogs & 2 cats.

& Hank met his new pittie best friend, Oswin.

All of the animals were actually great together.

I guess that was a plus to the stress.

I can't say I've ever been that close to a tornado before.

Growing up, we never had any real threat on our side of town.

I used to be afraid of storms & tornadoes but as I've grown,

I've mellowed in all aspects so I guess that just bled into those fears as well.

Ryan & I did get to storm chase with a friend last year & got to see a tornado form.

Surprisingly, that actually calmed my fears even more.

We had a couple decent scares through the whole ordeal but we remained calm.

Calm is key, people. There is no room for panic in these situations.

For instance:

We didn't know where my step-dad was for several hours because
he went to drive south & forgot his cell phone.
I should also add that he doesn't have a radio in his car
so he had no way of knowing where the storm was either.
We were driving around Lake Draper when we were told that that was a danger area.
We did get stuck in Norman traffic right when the sirens started going off

& we did drive through some pretty legit flooding on the way home.

I am honestly surprised we made it through some of the areas.

We got home around midnight after it taking about 2 hours to get home

to find that we were without power with phones that were almost dead.

We got sick of waiting around for power Saturday

& totally let our hairdresser talk us in to going to Tulsa for the weekend.

We called our favorite hotel & hit the road with all 3 dogs!

"Peace Out OKC."

We are happy to know that they are all great little travelers.

They pretty much just cuddled the entire way...

until Ollie decided she'd rather sleep on the floor & Hank pouted about it.

I can't go on enough about how much I love aloft Hotels.

They accommodated all 3 of our dogs without a single extra charge.

SAY WHAT?!

Yes, you heard correctly. Pets under 40lbs are welcome.. for free.

They also provided dog beds that mine are really missing now that we're home.

We found a little strip of downtown Tulsa that impressed us

with a barbecue joint that also impressed us.

I'm actually ready to go back for another weekend trip & explore a little.

This getaway was exactly what we needed.

I was so in love with my husband, dogs & life during that little trip.

(not that I'm not all of the time anyway)

But times like this, it was just overwhelming.

You couldn't have paid me to wipe the smile off my face.

I'm so thankful for the ability to do these things together

& thankful that my husband has the same child-like, carefree & adventurous spirit I do.

There's nothing better than spur of the moment decisions

& a little open road to make your life better

& I think Ollie & Comet agree.

Weekly Round-Up: May 17-23 aka Tornado Week

THIS is last week in Oklahoma.

Last week was the tornado.

A tornado that ripped apart Ryan's hometown

& the town that I've fallen in love with over the past 7 years.

A town that I literally fell in love in.

It's surreal & my mind can't grasp it.

I didn't have the privilege of growing up in Moore, OK

but I did meet Ryan there.

I did go to Van's with him every Sunday in hopes 

that he'd love me the same way I knew I loved him already.

It feels weird knowing that some of the locations 

of some of the sweetest memories in my life are gone.

I can't handle talking about the lives lost & the mothers in Oklahoma right now.

I am so terribly saddened by everything happening in our state.

With that being said, Instagram was not on my mind last week.

Before the tragedy,

Rachel Apple & I had a joined birthday celebration

& I could just go on & on about how wonderful she is.

I can take no credit for anything that was planned or happened.

She made homemade graham crackers, marshmallows & sweet/sour mix.

I wish I had that hostess bone in my body that made me do those things.

I didn't manage to get a picture of us.

(HOW THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN?!)

But I did get one with my sister:

 No clue how my hair got & stayed that curly.

& the best picture Tommie & I have ever taken in 3 years.

Also, Hank,

just because he makes life better.

Uh-oh.