Recapping Life Since My Last Post

Happy Friday! 
I'm so glad it is the weekend!

I was thinking about it recently and realized that I didn't post one single post during the month of May, nor have I posted this month until now. I also have a few unfinished NOLA posts from our trip there back in March.  It seems that life got super busy mid-April and has stayed that way.  I'm hoping now that summer is here things will slow down a bit. 

I have a few DIY posts in the works, I just simply have not had time to write up the blog post and upload photos.  So this post is simply a little recap of the past couple months or so, and a shout out that we're still alive!


In April the Canadian Geese had some adorable little goslings!

Their fuzzy tails are simply too adorable.

My good friend left our area for the summer for an internship!

I went to a craft show in Jones, OK called the Vintage Chicken Farm Barn Sale with my mom, grandmother, and my mom's friend. 

I found this interesting item to help organize and display some of our rocks and knick knacks.  I've been on the hunt for a galvanized type decorative thing, and when I saw this I waited 15 minutes for the vendor to come back from getting food to ask her the price.  She only asked $12, which for a craft sale I though was quite cheap.  I'm thinking about perhaps finding a wooden "S" (for Smith) to layer with other objects in the larger compartment at the bottom.

I haven't finalized what I'll put in it, because I don't think our quartz pieces show up as well as I'd like.  I also would eventually like to hang this on the wall, but it is quite heavy so I've considered waiting while we live in an apartment so we won't have to repair a huge hole from the anchors we'll need to use.

Tyler isn't used to the "rustic/vintage" style, so when I brought it home he really wasn't too sure about it.  I don't think he's entirely warmed up to it, but it is displaying his puzzles and rocks so he should.  ;)

A Love Coffee Darling drawer jewelry organizer commissioned by a friend.

My mom and I are hoping to be vendors at the Chicken Farm Barn Sale this year, if we get accepted.  We'll see, if so I'll be busy busy this summer making decorations to sell!  If you'd like to keep tabs on things I sell, just follow Love Coffee Darling on Facebook and search #lovecoffeedarling on Instagram!

Tyler while we sold scout cards as the fundraising event for new supplies.

Tyler has also been very busy this month and last month with boy scouts.  He is currently the scoutmaster for a new troop in OKC that is targeting an inner-city area.  We currently have six boys, two of which went with Tyler and the assistant scoutmaster to summer camp this month.  Tyler is also an Eagle Scout, and is loving his new role guiding a new generation of scouts.

On May 18th, we had our second wedding anniversary.  

We celebrated at a local Brazilian restaurant called Cafe do Brasil, which was very tasty!

 This time of year is also typical for severe storms, and there happened to be a storm that was predicted to be highly unstable the evening we made reservations, but luckily we enjoyed our meal, made it home before the rain, and nothing bad came of it.

 Speaking of storms, they gave me the chance to play with my camera and try to get some interesting weather shots.  I still have a lot to learn, but I thought some of them were worth sharing.

The sky turned orange at sunset during the middle of a severe storm. 

Lightning from my parent's back yard.

Wheat fields in rural Oklahoma and thunderstorms.

We visited my parents on Mother's Day weekend, and took a family photo!

The same weekend, we were in Norman once again to meet some other friends leaving for an internship, and took a stroll on our old campus.

He was talking to his mommy for Mother's Day!

Ladybug, ladybug.

Sunset from the stadium parking garage.

This little cat likes to watch the birds at our neighbor's feeder.  I threatened Tyler that I would feed it so it would hang out on our porch.  I later found out she already has an owner anyway, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind some extra attention???

I've also been attempting to declutter lately.  Tyler and I are both notorious sentimental collectors, so keeping our home decluttered is a challenge.  I've attempted to keep clutter off the entertainment system (which happens to be the first surface inside the door).  I put some boxwood greenery under the television in lieu of the doily, which I think looks less old lady and more clean and fresh, and chose specific sentimental items to display.  You might remember the vase on the left from our honeymoon. 

Most of the first goslings are rowdy and gawky looking "teens" now, but one set of geese had another young group.  

These little guys are just adorable sleeping under their mom in the shade.

 I found a new place to take some sky photos at the top of a nearby parking garage.  I've gone there a couple times this month to take some pictures in the morning and evenings.

OKC Downtown at sunrise from my new spot.

The stairwell of the parking garage looks kind of cool.

So outside of work, this has been our lives lately.  What's new with you?



P.S. Some of you bloggers have probably not had comments from me in quite a while.  I'm having issues with Google Chrome that has signed me out of the blogger comment box, and when I attempt to sign in it is not working, so anytime I have commented in the past 6 months has been only if I have switched browsers specifically to comment!  (I have no idea what is going on!)  I read your posts more often than I've commented lately, my apologies if you haven't felt the love!

Spring Bucket List OKC Style

In honor of Spring, it is finally time to get out of the house and do things in the community!


I always love when Susannah over at Simple Moments Stick posts her seasonal bucket lists.  Hers are usually much more extensive than this, but considering we're already one month into Spring and our schedules really only allows us to do fun things on the weekends, a list of five is probably the only attainable goal.  

1.  Visit the OSU-OKC Farmer's Market.
Since we've lived in OKC, I still have not been to the Farmer's Market.  I've always heard good things, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some fresh eggs.  Plus it just sounds fun!

2.  Dig for rose rocks near Lake Thunderbird.

We've hunted rose rocks before, but the location we chose last time just had small ones that were not developed well.  I'd like to try another area where the larger rocks form.

3.  Feed the turtles at Martin Park.
I always enjoy Martin Park, a wildlife refuge tucked away in north OKC.  It is especially fun in the Spring and Summer because you can take your shoes off and walk through the rocky stream.  In the warmer months are also when all the turtles are out, and if you bring cat or dog food you can feed them.

4.  Visit H&8th (stands for Hudson & 8th street) and get food from food trucks.
This one is just a Spring/Summer thing to do.  Once a month they block off the roads near Hudson and 8th Street and open it up for pedestrians, a band, and all the city's food trucks.  The local shops in that area stay open late, and you can walk around with a beer and try all kinds of interesting truck cuisine.  You're pretty much a hermit if you live around here and don't go at least once.

5.  Play mini-golf with friends.
We've been meaning to play mini-golf with my old roomie and her hubby, and we really need to make it happen soon!  Plus, mini-golf is just fun!

What's on your Spring bucket list?

Birthday Party Extravoganza

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen some of our pictures from New Orleans last weekend.  Keep your eye out for posts on our trip there soon.

While Tyler and I have wanted to visit NOLA together for a while, the drive is really just too far to take for just a couple days of vacation and then to come back.  But we also had another reason for making a trip to Louisiana, and when we found out about it we knew we could turn two trips into one.

For years, various parties have been hosted for various reasons in Shreveport (where my Uncle Bob and Aunt Chris are from).  A couple years ago we just went down for my Uncle Bob's 80th birthday, and this year it was Aunt Chris' 80th, my grandma's 70th, and various other birthdays in the family that were celebrated at one event.

My grandma with a picture of my mom and dad.

Aunt Chris on her 80th

My cousin made all 5 cakes for each birthday!  She's pretty talented, and all the cakes were really unique.

My grandma's cake.

Aunt Chris' cake.

 This side of my family is really big, so Tyler always gets to meet someone new to talk to.  This time he talked to some of my cousins that he hasn't met yet, and revisited with some other family.

My parents at the party.  The party was held in the conference room of a casino/hotel in Bossier City, and lunch was catered in the conference room across the hall.  

Anyone notice how similar my dad's and Tyler's shirts are?  We thought it was funny that they were unintentionally twinkies.

 Aunt Chris' "80" balloons, and Grandma's bouquet of flowers for the table.  Each birthday person got their own set of flowers to take home that were unique from the other bouquets.

This is my Uncle Bob, Aunt Chris' husband and my grandpa's uncle by blood and brother by adoption.  Since my grandpa was adopted by his grandparents, it sometimes makes family relations confusing.  That and, there's just so many of us that we'd probably get confused anyway.

My dad with my little cousin.  Many years ago at Christmas, he gave her the nickname "Evelyn."  She was pretty young, and it hurt her feelings a little bit because Evelyn was not her name.  To make up for it, her mom told her to start calling my dad "George."  About seven years later, the Evelyn/George feud still lives on.

This shindig began about 1:00 in the afternoon, and ended at 7:00.  Since Shreveport is sort of the mini-vegas of the south, all the adults went and wandered all three floors of the casino that is connected to the hotel.  Tyler and I don't really enjoy gambling, because it is a gamble, but I put in $2 to one game so that I could get a free cocktail from the waitress and ended up with $24 back from the same game, so that was the extent of our gambling experience.

After everybody left, we stood out front to take some pictures by the grand fountain in the front of the casino.

While I was changing my camera settings, a guy started talking to Tyler and told him that he lost $1,000 that night gambling....which is why we don't really gamble much.  My personal belief is that if you are going to gamble, you should count the amount you decide to spend as "fun" money.  If you make more, good for you, but if you lose what you had then you stop there and you had your fun for the night.  I'm just glad my "fun" money was only like $5 and not more.

Tyler and I in front of the fountain.  

Birthday parties in our family feel more like family reunions, it is always fun to see family again.  One of my aunts commented on how it is sad that some of us who just live 2-3 hours away have to drive 6 hours every couple years to spend time together.  I guess busy schedules just get in the way too often.

What are birthday parties and reunions like in your family?

The Regional Dilemma

The Oklahoma flag.

I was born, and have lived pretty much my entire life in Oklahoma.  

Sure, I've 'stayed' in other places, but I have never been somewhere without the knowledge that as soon as that period of time was over that I'd be once again home in Oklahoma.

With that being said, it is interesting to me that I've lived in this state for 25 years, but have difficulty determining in which region my home state lies.

The Oklahoma State Capitol.

Some say Midwestern.  Others say Southern.  Some even say Southwestern, which seems to me to be the furthest fetched story of all.

I never really put it together how much of a controversy this topic was until I started trying to describe my state here on this blog over the past couple years, and I could never figure out if my state was technically "southern" or "midwestern."  I don't identify myself at all as "southwestern" so the thought never went through my mind.

With all these U.S. regional maps found on a quick google search, one might easily see why we 'Okies' might be confused.  

Why are there so many differing maps?!  And who's great idea was it to list Oklahoma and Arkansas as part of the "Gulf Coast?"  Do we look like coastal states to you?!?  Um, even our lakes had to be manmade.

So, am I a southern girl?  Or am I a Midwestern girl?  I'm certainly not a Southwestern girl, although it certainly seems a variety of maps seem to think I am.

Everyone appears to have their own opinion about this, and not many people can really agree.  Other southerners are very against the idea that Oklahoma could be considered "southern."  We don't host the capital of country and bluegrass music, we were one of the later states to join the United States, and we just aren't Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, or Louisiana.  In some ways, the easiest conclusion is to say that we're a Midwestern state since we host so much farmland, however, few of us could truly identity  ourselves as a "midwesterner."  If I had to guess for how most people in this state identify themselves, I would say we identify most southerners.

Oklahoma's state rock, the Barite Rose Rock

It is almost as if we are in a crossroads, though.  Perhaps those in the North-Eastern part of the state identify more as midwesterners, and those in the West as southwesterners.  My family is mostly from the Southeast, and I feel we identify as southerners.  
In some of my research, I found THIS ARTICLE one day that really explains well how I feel, plus someone else's personal study about our regional crossroads.  It is an interesting read if you have the time!

Do you strongly identify with a particular region where you're from?



P.S.  Many of my personal photos posted in this blog post are photos I took for the Oklahoma Women Blogger's March instagram scavenger hunt!  Search the hashtag #okwbscavengergram to see more fun pictures from Oklahoma!