Long time, no talk...

My apologies for the lack of posting... Christmas was hectic and since then, I've been traveling with the women's basketball team so my blog has been put on the backburner for awhile.

As I type, I am sitting in a hotel room in Bossier City, Louisiana. We have a basketball game at 3 p.m. today in Shreveport at Centenary. I like to call this "The Beginning of the End", meaning that we start conference play today and cruise right on through until the beginning of March, wrap up the regular season with the conference tournament in Tulsa and if we win that sucker, we go to the NCAA Tournament. The month of January is going to be a bit insane with us being on the road three out of the four weeks, but in February we are home three out of the four, which I like. It's been pretty enjoyable so far -- I'm a fan of the three-day trips rather than the five. I don't enjoy the 'living out of a suitcase' that I've got going on, but again, that will come to an end in February. The girls are really fun to be around - I've got one Kansan to bond with (she actually played basketball with Jessen Tucker a few summers ago so we have that connection!)!

Wedding planning is going amazingly well... Matt and I just wish the day was here already! We're really enjoying it all though, he's been a huge help! We have alot done, now its really just buying the odds and ends that we need for the reception, meeting with the planner at the country club to decide on a menu, registering (fun!), and designing our wedding and groom's cake. That is the fun stuff! The stressful part is the other side to getting married - you know, the "life" part! We're trying to figure out where we want to be after we get married - Wichita, Tulsa or somewhere else? It's scary because alot of the pressure that comes with that decision is on my shoulders. Matt just keeps saying that it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together. I completely agree... but still stress about figuring it all out. I'm a planner. I want to know where we're going to be in seven months. Sue me.

Christmas was great. Matt spent his first Christmas with our family in Sedan -- he thoroughly enjoyed himself and now understand why I always go overboard when it comes to anything related with giving of gifts! My mom goes a bit nutso at Christmas time... but its always fun and we're all very appreciative. It would be different if we were brats about it! So next year means I might be in Illinois for Christmas -- such a scary and sad thought that I will stop talking about it!

My New Years was pretty brutal. I spent it in Edinburg, Texas aka Mexico with the basketball team. I talked to Matt on the phone until about 12:05 am when I told him Happy New Year and then went to bed. What a way to bring in 2008, huh?!

Other than that, I'm just.... working. Alot. Which is OK since I have nothing else to do in Tulsa. I'm excited for Jan. 19 because Matt will come visit for the first time in two months!

Anywho, hope everyone is well. And a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

UPDATE...

And it looks like the girls will take the lead... again!

Cousin Meg found out she is having a baby girl today!!! Can I just say... the more, the merrier, right girls?! :)

It's so exciting! I am so happy that my wedding will be filled with babies galore - Seth and Michelle's, Nate and Meg's, Jenny and Shawn's, Paul and Megan's... anyone else???!!!

Babies Galore...

After some quick calculations, I found out that on the Barnes' cousins side of my family, there are exactly eight girls and eight guys (that are relatives by blood). When you add baby Annie in to the mix, the girls take the lead (YES!). But after the news tonight, it looks like we'll be even again...

Seth called me around 5ish today. I was waiting at the drive-thru at Burger King (I've given up on the grocery store this week since I'll be gone all next week, so I've been eating out... alot!). He called and said that he was at the store buying steak for dinner because he had something to celebrate. I screamed because I knew that today was the day him and Michelle were to find out the sex of their baby. After some bullshi**ing with me for awhile, he finally announced that him and Michelle are.........having a baby boy!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, another boy is added to the mix to even it all up again. We'll find out in January what Meg and Nate are having, so that will throw things off for awhile until someone else in our family decides to have a child.

And after saying that, I will not be having a child anytime soon, so please don't think that I will be the one to even out the family just yet!!! :)

Anywho, great news in our family for 2008: Two new babies and a wedding... not too shabby!

Buried in Oklahoma...

And I am one of them!
But don't worry -- they aren't going to cancel the women's basketball game tonight...

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071210_1__Aweek30513

Wedding Planning for the Anal Retentive: Chapter 1

Now, I know that many of you dedicated bloggers believe that I have had my wedding planned for years now. For obvious reasons, I understand that way of thinking. But I must tell you, I have not had one thing planned. It is true, I have had ideas in my head of what I would love since watching Father of the Bride for the first time 15 some years ago, but I did not have one thing actually planned.

So when I started discussing what I needed to get done ASAP, the advice I was given from many was to nail down the church and the reception site and then just enjoy the Holidays and come January, hit the ground running. I think that that is great advice... for those that are not anal retentive like myself! I realized that once I booked the church, that why not book the videographer, a small string quartet, order bridesmaid dresses and my wedding gown! I know it sounds crazy... (and I don't really have all of those booked yet, but they are in the works!), but I am the type of person that likes to get everything done at once so I don't have to worry about it later!

It has been fun so far though! Matt is into it... he is all about helping me out and taking care of the signing of the contracts and dishing out deposit money since he is in Wichita and I am not. So that is a MAJOR help! His mom is also great... giving me ideas and running Wichita errands for me, but not being intrusive, which she was worried about being! :)

So far, so good...

We meet with the priest on Dec. 12 and hopefully he will just look at Matt and I and say, "Well ofcourse we will marry you here... Let's just knock off the fee of the church while we're at it!" We are planning on a Aug. 16, 2008 wedding...

Did I mention that I can't wait?! :)

PS. Thanks to Aunt Sherron, Meg, Michelle and their spouses for my wedding planner... now my mom and I can BOTH have one! :)

One of Those Days You Won't Forget...

It started off like any normal Thanksgiving Break. Up early because there is only so much kicking you can take when you sleep next to your little sister. Lots of TV watching because there isn't usually anything else to do. But that day, I felt like making a pie. Strange, since I NEVER want to bake! But today was different... So, I went to the store, bought my supplies, went back home and started in on my apple pie. Matt and Wrigley stopped by on their way out to Matt's house. And as usual, Wrigley sprinted in, searching for a cat to chase and some cat food to eat!

We decided to go out to dinner in Bartlesville earlier in the week and were trying to decide on a movie... and eventually just said we'd skip the movie and look for Christmas lights. So Matt said bye and back I went to my apple pie making. Little did I know (though EVERYONE else did know) that that would be our last visit as just boyfriend and girlfriend.

I told Matt I would meet him at his house around 5. I was hanging with the fam and realized at about 5 that I was late... but this is nothing new! I'm always late! I told the fam that I was leaving to go to Matt's and they all started booing me and couldn't believe I was leaving them. I actually felt bad, but said bye and off I went to Matt's. From what I learned later in the evening, as soon as I left, they all started cheering and jumping up and down... they knew something that I did not.

Got out to Matt's and he was looking dapper. We watched a few minutes of the OSU basketball game, which I could have cared less about, put Wrigley in his kennel and were off. All week, Matt had been telling me he wanted to show me some land that him and his brother had been thinking about buying. I said fine, knowing that most likely, he would change his mind about this land again because that is what Matt does. Changes his mind... alot!

Anyway, on to this land we drove (land that has no roads - they were trails), and drove... and drove some more. At one point, when Matt was getting out to go unlock yet another gate, I said outloud to myself, "What the hell are we doing?" I was just finding this a little pointless -- he was wanting to show me a pond that him and his brother fish at and it was getting dark and I was getting annoyed! He eventually starts driving in circles which is when I ask him what he is doing. He says, "Well, I have a surprise for you!" And being my mother's daughter, I exlcaim, "Boulevard Wheat?!" No, was his response, followed by, "Wow, you are your mother's daughter!"

He had me get out of the car and move to the back of the 4-Runner, where he had hot chocolate and a blanket. We hopped in the back and I wrapped up because it was freezing! We sat and chatted for awhile... about nothing really important -- where should we go to eat, why hadn't I brought a coat, the usual. He told me to let him know when I was done with the hot chocolate, but I was taking my time... it was really good hot chocolate!

When I was done, he told me he had one more surprise for me. It was a note slash poem he had written for me, which is when I knew what was happening. The note talked about how excited he had been for this day and how long he knew I had been waiting for it. I started to tear up while reading the letter and when I was done just sat there for a second to grasp what was about to happen. Matt hopped out of the car and got down on his knee and out came the little box and those four words that I really had been waiting to hear for so long... "Will you marry me?" Ofcourse, more tears followed by a Yes!, followed by lots of hugging and remarks of "Holy cow! This is real!" from me. I finally let him get off of his bad knee and we sat there for awhile, letting it all sink in. It was a feeling I have never felt before and I absolutely loved every second of it... as did he.

Next I asked if I could call my mom, which is when he said he thought it would nice if we could wait until Thanksgiving to tell our families. Woah... that would be hard, so he agreed to let me call my sister, but since there is no service anywhere near Matt's house, that would have to wait a bit! So, we continued on our journey to Bartlesville. Matt called the restaurant to get a reservation. They said it would be a 20-30 minute wait, so he thought it would be nice to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Oddly enough, no one had Christmas lights on! That plan didn't work so well, so we headed to the restaurant. We walk in the door and head to our table... I'm looking around at all the empty tables and wondering why there was a 20-30 minute wait and then look up and low and behold, there sat my family and Matt's family. Those dirty people had made me feel bad about leaving them when really, they had known all along what was going on!

The tears came again... I think I was just in so much shock that he had pulled all of this off without me knowing! Everyone was so excited and I was just so happy to have everyone there... and not have to wait to tell them that we were engaged!

So that is the story... I don't think it could have gone any better. I'm just so happy that in nine short months, we will be moving on to the next portion of our lives together, rather than apart! What a great feeling!

Now... we are starting a "Donate to the Wedding" fund ASAP. Let me know if you are interested! :)

On this Turkey Day, I am thankful for...

My very large family, grandparents, Matthew and his family -- the ones that like me, my wonderful friends who still consider me a friend even though I never see them, the pilgrims, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, turkey and mashed potatoes, family and friends having babies, seasons, people that laugh at anything and everything, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' CD, long drives, snow, the annual 4th of July fireworks in Sedan and my dad throwing the punk back in the water which signals that the fireworks show is over, Wrigley, cold weather, home videos, my brother's sense of humor, hot tubs, Boulevard Wheat, Christmas lights, e-mail and facebook, K-State, coworkers that make the work day bearable, Houston, Texas, nicknames, the state of Kansas, Mr. Goodcents, cell phones, Coke, Kappa Kappa Gamma, TiVo, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, The Bachelor, Private Practice, Law and Order, Jon and Kate Plus 8, and Say Yes to the Dress, gas cards (when I had one), my sister who is proving everyone wrong, the Doty's, Pitch, macaroni and cheese, college football, WSU Media Relations, the Muppets and 'A Muppet Family Christmas', memories, feather beds, weddings, ballet flats, Pasta Milano, washers and dryers, and most importantly, the Big Guy up above who has allowed me to have all of these wonderful things in my very blessed life.

Happy Thanksgiving!