Thirty Days Until Thirty

Sixteen Candles

Oh, sixteen. When I was little I always thought 16 was so old and that's where life was really going to take a turn and be awesome! Eh, not so much. I didn't really care too much about getting my license. I hated driving and I had my brother and sister to take me places if I needed to go. I pretty much drove to work and around town sometimes with my friends. Okay, let me be honest, I would drive to Warehouse Market and walk around the store just so I could see the store manager because I had a huge crush on him. I was such a nerd! I think I worked up the nerve to talk to him once or twice. He was a year older than me and went to a different school so I thought I stood a chance. (Thanks Lindsey for always going with me.) Those were good times. Just rolling around in my red Ford Topaz. :)

I didn't have a sweet 16 birthday party or anything. I remember sitting on my front porch waiting on Lindsey who snuck out of her house to come see me. Now THAT's a good friend :) I started working at the nursing home and spent my free time going to the movies. A LOT! It was a big deal to go to Old Navy and then a good midnight movie in Tulsa. We thought we were big time going to the "big city" by ourselves.

Yay! I can drive now.  Funny part is that I didn't even go get my license until August.

When You're Fifteen

My mom owned a restaurant when I was fifteen. We spent a lot of time there. It was just a little diner in downtown Claremore. I kind of hated it. I spent a lot of time stirring pie filling and rolling silver wear. It had it's fun points but it was a lot of work. I can't imagine the stress my parents were under with owning a business. At fifteen I was finishing up my first year of high school and feeling like a veteran as a sophomore. Can I say again that I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore. But let me tell you, I would do it so differently now. But I would rather be a no one back then and a somebody now. Cause this is just the beginning for me. I have a feeling big things are coming my way. Bring it!!! :)

At my sister's graduation.  Was it popular to wear old lady looking skirts in 1996?

Probably not.

At our first official Halloween party.  I'm supposed to look like I'm from the 80's.

Who would've thought that 10 years later I would meet  my husband at our 2006 Halloween party.

The only Halloween with the Poochy Party Palace.

:)

I'm almost ready to wrap up my teenage years and take you to my childhood. Get ready!!

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Today, let me take you back to my teenage years. They weren't bad years but they weren't the best years of my life like some people like to believe. Thank God! I'm not trying to be full of myself but I have for sure improved since "the best years of my life." :)

Eighteen, Now I can vote!

It's so funny to me to see 18 year olds acting like they are big time stuff. I was once that way I'm sure. Boy, do they have no idea what's still ahead. Shoot, I still have no idea what's still ahead. I'm sure I will look back when I'm 40 and be embarrassed of things I do now. Oh, well! According to Alanis Morissette, You Live You Learn.

Eighteen was the last of my public school years and the beginning of the rest of my life. Like I said before, I went to College and survived one year. I had a job at a daycare and it's without a doubt the worst job I've ever had. I only worked there for about 5 months and then got a job on campus at the Literacy Center. I basically made sure people signed the book when they came in and that was it. No stress!

My niece Aubrey Caroline Patty was born when I was eighteen. She pretty much changed all of our lives. We couldn't get enough of her and she brought a new kind of love to my life that I had never experienced before. She wasn't even my child but from the moment she came into the world I knew I would do anything for that girl. And I still stick to that :)

18 year old baby

Me and one of my dearest dearest friends Lindsey.

"I am 17 going on 18."

My sister got married when I was 17. It was the single biggest event of my life at that time. I looked forward to her reception for months. I wanted to dance! She was only 20 and looking back now, she was just a baby. Her marriage is still going strong and I love my brother-in-law. He's one of a kind.

Seventeen was pretty boring. I worked at a nursing home serving the residents their meals and then doing the dishes. It was probably the perfect job for me. I wasn't in the public eye and I didn't have to deal with money. I worked after school and on the weekends and it was the best thing to make my own money. After I got my job when I was 16 I don't recall ever asking my parents for money. "All the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me!"

I went to prom for the first time at 17. Okay, so I couldn't get a date so my mom had to set me up with one, but at least I didn't have to go by myself or not go at all. All my friends had dates so I had to have one. My mom worked with his dad and he agreed to go with me and I'm very thankful to him for that. We had a fun time!

Seventeen

and to think this is how I rolled up in McDonalds to see the boy I was crushing on. No wonder he didn't ask me out. ;)

Thank God I'm not a teenager any more,

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Oops! I did it again. (Go Britney!) The weekend kind of stole me away and I wasn't able to get to the computer.  But here I am ready to wrap up my 20's for you.  I'll try to make it short and to the point.

22 - That was a fun time. I pretty much did all my clubbing at this time in my life.  Almost every Friday and definitely every Saturday you could find me downtown be-bopping from club to club.  It used to be a cool set up downtown. You would pay for one club but could actually go to 5 different clubs. Three were all connected and across the street were the other 2.  It was a fun time and gave me an excuse to buy a new shirt every week. :)

21 - Ah, the good ol' drinking age.  Funny thing is, on my 21st birthday I was the designated driver.  I'm not too big on drinking. Mostly because the next day is pretty much a waste.  I enjoy getting up early and taking advantage of the day. 

20 - My nephew Connor Steven Patty came into the world when I was 20.  I saw it all with my own eyes and let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to see a real child birth, I'm not talking on t.v., I mean a real live you are right there watching it all happen, you should do it. It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen. It's amazing what your body is built to do.

19 - Nineteen was a pretty depressing time for me. I didn't quite find myself in my first year of college.  I tried to make friends and I tried to break out of my shell and be more outgoing.  I found out that the immaturity of high school still seeps over into college.  I really was expecting a huge change and maybe there wouldn't be any cliques and I could just be me and be noticed.  That wasn't the case so I moved home and lived with my parents again.  Something I really wanted to do at the time but looking back now I wish I would have sucked it up and stayed and got a degree.  Instead, I got a job at St. John Medical Center and I have been there ever since.  I will be there 11 years in June.  When I passed my 2 year anniversary I was so proud of myself and felt like I had done something really grown up.  

Nineteen was a really lonely time for me.  I didn't have a lot of friends.  I spent a lot of time with my parents and at nineteen that's not what I wanted to do.  No offense to my parents but I wanted to go out. I wanted a boyfriend, I wanted a social life.  As you know, life got better :)

Hope everyone has a great week ahead!  I spent my afternoon watching The Karate Kid to get geared up for Dancing With The Stars tomorrow night.  Go Ralph!!!

Gonna have a Crane kicking week,

April

Love him!

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Day 23 coming at ya!

I feel like I keep getting younger by the day :) This project of going back in my past and trying to remember what happened is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I forgot to put on day 25 that that was the year I got my first tattoo. As a matter of fact I got the first one on my actual birthday and then went roller skating. Good memories.

At twenty three I moved out on my own. It was a scary deal. I never thought I would live by myself. Let me tell ya, it was the best thing I ever did. There were some nights were I stood by the door with a hammer because I thought my drunk neighbors were going to bust in. I knew they weren't going to but to be completely on your own for the first time you just get a little bit paranoid.

At the time I worked an odd shift. I worked in Tulsa and lived in Claremore which is about a 30-45 minute drive. My shift was from 5:00 in the evening until 1:30 in the morning which put me home around 2ish. My apartment was not the hip happening place in Claremore. Let's be honest, Claremore isn't a hip happening place to begin with. Not for a 23 year old. You would think since I had my own place and a lot of my friends lived there that I would have people over all the time. False. I think my friends came over a total of 2 times. I guess with an odd schedule you don't really have time to hang out. My sister lived in Claremore at the time too so if I wasn't home I was probably at her house. My complex was old and occupied with mostly old people.

One night I came home from work and watched a movie like I always did. My living room had a huge window. Almost took up the whole wall. If anyone was up at night you could always tell because their window would be lit up like Christmas. My neighbors decided to get in a huge fight one night right outside my window. Of course I muted the t.v. and listened in curiosity and fear that someone might come flying through the window. (I lived on the first floor.) While this couple is going at it I thought about turning my t.v. off but it would be way to obvious. So I sat there on my little wicker couch right in front of the window, hoping my head wasn't casting a shadow on the curtains. Sheer curtains. I was doomed.

They went on for about 20 minutes until the manager of the building came and put a stop to it. They froze, I froze, every body froze. The manager said, "I've just got a call saying there was a lot of yelling out here. You need to take it inside."

I don't think I moved from my couch for a good 30 minutes. Maybe they didn't see my light on. (yeah right) Maybe they don't realize I'm home. (Um, okay.) I was so scared! Who else would they think told on them? I just knew they were next door plotting my take down. I left for work the next day thinking my apartment was going to be raided. (They were the maintenance workers for the building. They had a key to my apartment.) When I got home that night there was a big plant dumped over in front of my screen door. Soil everywhere. I guess if that was the worst that happened to me while living alone, then it was a nice experience.

Now, Im happy to have a house that I'm never alone in. Even when Zach is gone I still have the company of my precious Phoebe.

One of my goals for my 30's is to start putting a little money back for my "dream home." Hopefully the only fighting I will hear outside my big living room window is my kids arguing over who loves their mommy more ;)

Planning for the future,

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Day 24

Twenty four. Twenty four. It was an extremely hard year. Not just for me but for my whole family. Twenty four started off great! I was given my first surprise birthday party. It was so unexpected and awesome. Thank you brother and sister. You really do love me :) A couple of weeks after that I took my first trip to Las Vegas with my sister. Now that I think about it, it seems really unsafe for 2 twenty something girls to be walking the streets of Vegas by themselves. Trust me, there were a couple of scary incidents. If anyone ever tells you that it's not a far walk from The Hard Rock to the Strip, they are lying to you. Twice, I thought we were going to meet the end of our lives.

May 26th came around and the incidents of that day and all the days after have completely reshaped our lives. I wont go into much details of the event because trust me, it's a book all on it's own. I'll never forget the call from my sister telling me to get to mom and dads. Dad left mom. I know things could have been a lot worse and I'm thankful that this is the worst thing that's happened to our family. But it's probably the worst day of my life. To see everything you've ever known just crumble around you. To see your parents at their lowest. To be strong so no one sees your in absolute pain. To help your parents make decisions when you're supposed to be the kid. To pack up a house full of your past only to shove it into storage. To love your parents unconditionally but feel like you have to love one more than the other. It's a year that I replay a lot in my mind wondering if there was anything I could have done differently to change the way things are now.

Twenty four was hard. Twenty four changed my life forever.

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

It's day 25 on the countdown.

When I was just a young 25 year old pup is when Zach and I met.  We met through a mutual friend and we've been together ever since.  It's hard to believe that he has been in my life for 4 years now and for 3 of those years we've been married. When it's meant to be it's just meant to be.  I can't picture myself with anyone else.  We have just the right amount of balance in our relationship and as much as he doesn't want to admit that I'm funny, we sure do laugh together a lot.  We've got it good together! 

Here's a few pictures of our "early years" :)

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Day 26

Hello blog followers! Thank you for coming back for Day 26.  It just keeps creeping up on me. I need to get my butt in gear and plan my birthday outing.  Dancing, definitely going dancing!

Aaaawww, twenty six.  I married my best friend at twenty six.  Growing up I don't ever think I thought of the age I would be when I got married.  I think twenty six is the perfect age :)  

Zach and I were married on December 15, 2007.  It happened just at the end of a really bad ice storm.  We were blessed that it had melted off by the time the weekend came but I was really unsure it was going to go away in time.  I've always heard that it means good luck if it rains on your wedding day so I like to think that we got an extra dose of luck because that morning there was a light snow.  After some googling I've come to learn that snow on your wedding day is a sign of fertility and prosperity. It turned out to be a really wonderful day, ice and all.

No longer a Newlywed,

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Whoops! If you've been following along the past couple of days you would know that I skipped day 28 yesterday.  Don't worry, I will give you a double dose today.  I went to a friends house last night and did a little partying until the wee hours of the night.  Okay, let me be honest with you.  I went to a kid friendly Girls Night In, ate some finger foods, met some cool new people, smelled dirty diapers and left by 10:00 and in bed by 10:30.  That was my night out :)

Let's get on to it, the reason why we're here and that's to celebrate the great day that is approaching. 

30!

28 days to go.....

Twenty eight was a good age for me.  I visited Las Vegas for the second time in my life.  We were there on Halloween and let me tell you that ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND HALLOWEEN COSTUMES IN VEGAS.  I saw more than half naked ladies and really extravagant outfits that were unbelievable. It was fun but I think we were still in bed before midnight. Oh, yeah, and we saw someone get arrested. It was cool. 

 I got to take a dream vacation to New York City at Christmas time. It.Is.The.Best.Place.On.Earth.  I want to go back so bad!  Save your money.  Take the trip. 

 Sadly, there was the passing of Michael Jackson. As dumb as it may sound, I took it pretty bad.  I think it's because he's been in my life my whole life and I can listen to almost any song of his and be brought back to that very place in time.  I'm not being dramatic when I tell you when I heard on the radio that he was dead I BAWLED at my desk at work.  It was very embarrassing to have people come to my desk and ask what was wrong and I had to reply with "Michael Jackson's dead."  

In my 30's I definitely want to vacation a few more places I've never been before.  I would love to see Nashville and Austin.  California is on the list.  I really want to see famous people.  I've never been skiing so I think that could be a fun trip.  Skiing may not actually happen but I would just love to be in the atmosphere.

  This summer Zach and I are thinking about taking a trip to St. Louis to check out a Cardinals game.  I've been there before but it's been years.  It would be nice to go back.  It could be the first trip of my 30's.

27 days to go.....

At the ripe young age of twenty-seven Zach and I bought our first house.  I officially felt like an adult while signing the 18 billion papers you have to sign.  It's so exhausting! 

One of my life long dreams came true.  Three times.  New Kids on the Block got back together and while I begged my husband to let me go to Dallas to see them because it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, I got that opportunity 2 more times.  Thanks honeybee! You must really love me :)  Best concert(s) of my life!

Oh, and yes, I am seeing them when they come to Tulsa in July with the Backstreet Boys.  What, what??

I'll be loving the New Kids forever,

April

In Central Park

P.S.  Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Ron!!!! 

Thirty Days Until Thirty

(I have spent the last HOUR trying to download a picture of the #29 and it just isn't happening tonight. What a waste! Just pretend it's there)

Let me start this blog out with saying Happy St. Patrick's Day!!I hope everyone is being safe and responsible today. If you are hitting the town tonight all decked out in your green please please be careful and smart.

Well, it's 29 days until 30! As I do this countdown I'm going to reflect on the age I was along with it.

Twenty nine has been a good year. I went on my first cruise this year. My new niece Brynn Elise came into the world. I felt an earthquake for the first time in my life. Yep, Tulsa, Oklahoma had a little bit of a shakeup last year. It really was the weirdest thing. My cubicle just started shaking at work for a good 5-7 seconds. My hands grasped and shot a gun for the first time. After this experience I have come to the conclusion that I do not like guns. Nothing traumatic happened, I just found no fun in it.

Something I would like to accomplish.....

In my 30's I would love to publish a book. I don't know the first thing about this.  I don't have a clue where to start or what to expect. I've been on Nicholas' Sparks website a few times and he has some good ideas and tips. Read, read, read is one of his big tips so that's what I've been trying to do. Whether it's books, blogs or magazines I'm trying to soak up all kinds of writing to be inspired and expand my creativity. I've loved writing since I was a wee little kid. Most of my writing over my life has been songs. I wrote my first song when I was five. I still remember everything about that moment and exactly where I was. It was created and recored right there on the spot. It saddens me to no end that those tapes have been lost.

I can't give you an exact number of the songs I've created. I'm working on putting a song book together but it takes time to go through all the scraps of paper, napkins, note pads and whatever I have written on. Writing songs is a HUGE part of my life because within my family we have a music organization. It's something that a lot of people don't know about me. They know I sing and record albums but I dont think they know just how deep it goes. I'll talk more on this later. :)

Anyways, I am working on a book at the moment that I have been working on since about 2002. I should of had it done by now but life likes to interrupt and my focus shifted to other things. I'm not getting any younger and if I want to take this chance I need to get my butt busy. It's gonna take up a lot of my time and in the end it might be something that gets written and just lives in the computer but if I don't take the risk then I will never know, right?

I have all my ideas layed out and I know exactly how I want this book to go but I dont want to give anything away yet. It's a scary thing to put your ideas out there for people to look at and have an opinion on. So, as the story unfolds at my desk I may let you have a sneak peek.

Future novel writer,

April

Thirty Days Until Thirty

The countdown has officially begun. In 30 days from today I will be 30.Years.Old. It's a little unbelievable. Not that I made it until 30 but the fact that it's here. I always thought 30 meant you were old. Maybe it's because I don't have any kids who have "aged" me yet?.?.? Now that this stage of life is headed my way I have to say I am very excited for it. For the next 30 days I am going to be giving you the top 30 reasons I'm thrilled to be turning the big 3-0 and things I would like to accomplish. (and I might throw a few stories in there for ya too.)

Reason #1 - Baby, Baby, Baby

It's a little too late to try to have a baby before I turn 30. My goal now, obviously, is to have one before I turn 40. Zach and I have been married for a little over 3 years now so we've had the time to get closer as a couple and establish a little home for ourselves. In the next few years I'm sure we will be hearing the cries of the new addition to our family. When I really sit and think about bringing a little human into the world I have to admit I get a little freaked out. I'm not scared but I know my life will completely change. I'm constantly taking pictures of my Phoebe so I can only imagine the flashes that will be going off around our child. I will be scrapbook crazy!

Future momma,

April

What Ever Happened To Predictability?

Well, I started on week 4 of the gym today.  Pats on the back for me for sticking to it and going at least 5 times a week.  I'm about to turn 30 in one month and I don't want to start my 30's feeling all dumpy.  My goal 3 weeks ago was to lose 10 pounds before my big birthday outing.  I don't know if that is going to happen.  I've lost 3 pounds but to me that's just the normal up and down weight loss and gain that I have all the time. I want to see some BIG results. Some smaller pant size results.  I'm counting my calories and doing cardio for at least 40 minutes a day so what's up with not seeing ANY results.  I've always heard that you have to wait at least 6 weeks to see any kind of difference so I'm trying to be patient. I'm really trying.  A few weeks ago I saw Candace Cameron Bure on the Today show promoting her new book.  Immediately I told myself I had to have it! I think she's a fantastic role model. Tell me a time when you've seen her in the news for doing something inappropriate or negative.  I mean she's Donna Jo Tanner!! It doesn't get any more wholesome than that! 

The Borders store in my area is going out of business so my brother and I journeyed up there last Sunday and this was the first book on my list.  I searched every book in the Biography/Autobiography section.  Not there.  I searched the entire Self Help/Inspirational section.  Not there.  I asked a salesman if he knew if they had this book.  His reply was "no". "No, you don't have it or no, you don't know if you have it?" I asked him.  With sweat dripping all down his face he told me, "They took our computer system away. So, I don't know."  From his reply it sounded like he was very upset with whoever "they" are.  I finally made my way to the Religion section and started my search, head tilted sideways, reading book spine after book spine until I found it.  The only copy on the shelf and it was about to be all mine. Mine I tell you!!! 

I'm very excited to start this book.  I hope it helps me take a different approach to working out and eating right.  I know it will happen sooner or later but I just have to be strong and stop putting all the yummy goodness out in the world into my mouth.  Just STOP already!!! I'm tired of throwing pity parties for myself when my jeans are too tight or my stomach lops over my pants.  I'm done with it!! If anyone has any good tips or healthy recipes please feel free to leave them as a comment. 

Bring it on Thirty!!! Let's be fabulous together!!!

April

.....and now, the rest of the story.....

Okay, okay. I should of had this story wrapped up last week so here I am today to finish telling you about the cruise. By now you are probably over it and want a little more from me than boring ol' cruise pictures.  Trust me, I want to give you more! I joined a gym and I have been a dedicated little gym goer for the past 3 weeks. When I come home it's straight to the shower, find something to eat and then watch our shows.  Blogging has been put to the side. But, I finally made it to the computer.

Our next stop was Grand Cayman.  It was beyond improvment from Jamaica.  It was clean and rich looking and just all around better.  I did a little snorkeling there for the first time.  It was a big step for me because I don't like to look at sea life or coral reef or any of that business.  I'm a little proud of myself for being a big girl.  Cayman was very relaxing and beautiful!

Thursday February 17, 2011

Day Five

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

2nd formal night

.....almost the end.....

So, here goes!  The last stop we made was in Cozumel, Mexico.  I wasn't sure what to expect there. I've never been and was excited to "make a deal" if I had to.  I've always heard that you never pay full price for anything. Always bargain.  I really enjoyed Cozumel.  We went to Carlos 'N' Charlies which I guess is a popular place because people kept talking about it. I had never heard of it. It was really neat! The waiters would stop and dance and go around and give you shots. Well, let me back this story up, they were giving the little bikini wearing hotties shots.  Here's my theory why - they tilted the girls head back, gave her the shot, put a bandana over her mouth so she would swallow and then took her hands, had the girl grab her own boobs while they were holding on to the girls hands as well.  Basically they got a tiny bit of groping out of it.

Our group of people took a boat out for an hour to do some snorkeling but me and another girl stayed behind. We thought it would be funny to take a picture with the waiters to show the gang when they got back and they would think that we really partied it up when they were gone.  So we took our picture, laughed about it and went back to chilling.  I was perfectly content with sitting in my chair, covered by an umbrella of course, and reading my magazine.  That's until I was yanked up by our waiter to dance around on their patio.  "Okay," I thought, "I'll be a sport and get up there." He did take a picture with us after all.  So I'm dancing around to the "Cha Cha Slide" and some other line dances trying not to be a party pooper but I was SO uncomfortable because all the other girls they got to dance were ALL in little bikinis and tan little bodies and had their boyfriends with them and I'm bee bopping around by myself  in what might as well have been a moo moo.  The waiters were acting as a wall so I kind of couldn't escape back to my seat.  

So the music ends and I'm so grateful but all of a sudden they yell it's time for the Conga.  Guess what fool was first in line?  I for sure didn't plan it that way.  So we go down this little path and the waiter in front of me keeps yelling back, "Don't break the line!" I won't waiter, I won't! We dance a little ways and then I noticed this guy standing on a chair. "Shots!" So I open my mouth for him to give me a shot, which was basically syrup, and move on to the next guy.  The first dude barely squirted anything in my mouth so I thought they were just trying to keep the line moving so when I got to the next shot stop I opened my mouth a little and continued dancing. I guess he wanted to give a little more because as soon as I shut my mouth he kept squirting and I had syrup all down my face, neck and bathing suit.  I got my technique right by the time I got to the 3rd round of shots. We finally made it back to the patio, danced a little more then I was finally free! 

All in all Cozumel was a good time and I recommend it if you're looking for a fun party place.

Now, please enjoy the last of our vacation.

Friday February 18, 2011

Day Six

Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel!!!

My view

I liked this little guy!

But I was a little scared to hold him.....

I had to be convinced.....

still not sure this is what I want to do (isn't his little diaper cute!)

And now it's all good!

our waiter.  I think he looks like the Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  You know, the Johnny Depp one.

yay! 

At the port in Cozumel

I find great joy in objects that are not their original size.

A pretty sunset from our balcony

"Phoebe" and the monkey

Saturday February 19, 2011

Day Seven

Last day on the ship

I had my eye on this from the moment we boarded. Obviously I had to have my picture taken with them. Love it! 

"Phoebe" and the heart

So, the next pictures are of our room in case you are curious of what they look like.  We wanted a balcony room so we could enjoy the water and sunshine. 

See how you can't see anything? It's fog. I was so depressed on Sunday morning when we couldn't port because the port was closed because of the fog. All I wanted was to be home with my mammie.  We were delayed about 5 or 6 hours.  

To sum it all up we had a really good time. It was neat to experience a cruise ship and see the ocean and visit places I've never been but I get home sick real easliy and 7 days is an awfully long time to be away. Also, if you want to take a vacation where you just relax and chill out and are content with seeing water for days and days then this is the trip for you.  I enjoy hitting the pavement and seeing all that I can on vacation and doing stuff, seeing stuff, just going going going all day long. I can only see so much ocean. Don't get me wrong, it was a good time but I think the next time we vacay I would like to go back to New York City.  Now that's a walking town!

Thanks for checking in and "vacationing" with me.

April