FIRE!

My fave lil' man, Sean, is getting got a new fire themed canvas for Christmas.

His mom asked if I would paint one for him, and I was more than happy to oblige.  

I found a picture similar to this on the internet as my inspiration, and rolled with it. 

I think it turned out so cute! 

The little bitty firemen and little bitty people in the windows make me giggle.

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Speaking of Sean and Christmas, on Christmas Eve, he was a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

He had a short shift at the Hobby Lobby store in Broken Arrow.

I HAD to go see him in action.

Seriously, cutest bell ringer ever!

Sean and his Momma, Kris.

After bell ringing, Sean and Kris were off to deliver Chex Mix treats to all the fire stations in Broken Arrow. 

He is definitely a boy on the go and full of Christmas cheer!

"Pin" - O - Rama!

I was reading my blog list today and read on of Maegan's posts. 

It's about Pinterest and the newest "pin" inspired website called Pinspire. 

Another Pinterest you ask?!  

It pretty much looks like the same thing to me. 

Only difference I can see is you can just sign up. 

On Pinterest, you have to receive an invite.   

And according to this post, there are several other "pin" type websites. 

Have I been under a rock or something??  How have I missed these other sites??

I've never heard of Craftgawker, but I have heard of We Heart It. 

I simply found it interesting that there are several more "pin" websites now that Pinterest is a worldwide phenomenon aka addiction!

So, there are a few more links for you to surf randomly and waste even more time on the internet!  :)

You're welcome.

Follow me on Pinterest! 

Whatever Wednesday....Christmas Canvas

So, I got all excited and did a Christmas canvas for my house. 

Where am I going to hang it? 

I.have.no.idea.

But here is the finished product, and I love it!  :)

My tree is black and white with some peace signs (love) and of course, snowmen!

I heart snowmen.

Only a few days left til Santa comes!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Concert Dream

You know when you have a dream, no matter how crazy it is, you seriously feel like it happened?!?

Well I had one of those last night!

Holy crap, it was a crazy dream.  You can't make this stuff up, people.

It started off as me and my brother, Justin, going to a Toby Keith concert at the BOK Center.

The opening acts were Sara Bareilles (who I love), Matchbox 20, and Beyonce.  Random much??

(source)

Sara came on stage, played the piano and sang and it was an amazing show.

Matchbox 20 was next.  I think I went to drink a beer during their performance because I don't remember if they were or weren't good, ha!

Then it was time for Beyonce and I was beyond pumped, stoked, excited. 

(source)

Beyonce comes out to perform and there's all these amazing dancers, in awesome costumes, all kinds of stage props, smoke and lighting, and it's not even BEYONCE!  It's some stupid impersonator person singing and doing her dances to her songs.  RUDE!

How in the world Beyonce's impersonator and Toby Keith got on the same concert ticket is beyond me. 

(source)

Next it was time for the main man, headliner, Toby Keith. 

It's weird that I dream about him.  He is an Okie and an avid Sooner fan, which I love.  

But I have heard from reliable sources, that have been closely involved with stadium shows, during his sound checks and such, that he is a bit of a diva. 

Not cool Toby, chill out.

Anyway, he comes on stage, but the stage is not a stage.  It is a boat dock and a lake, LOL!  

He sings one song from the boat dock and the crowd goes bananas.  

He then launches off into the water, goes under water and shoots back out, landing in his boat. 

(Seriously, I'm cracking myself up right now typing this) 

Toby proceeds to do a few things on his boat, grab his guitar, and keeps singing.  For REAL.

It only gets better from here.  

The place where we were sitting had up close and personal access to Toby's boat.  How, I don't know.

But my brother and I proceed to get called on to the stage (boat) for some special something. 

 Those details are fuzzy.

Justin and I end up in some little fun skit with Toby that's going to be on YouTube.

Our prizes for being in this skit are some beer and a fancy pants t-shirt from some athletic store. 

(Thanks Toby.  You have more money than God and all I get is a t-shirt?)

That's all I remember about Toby and his show.

Now, it is still interesting.  

The show must be over and it's time to leave.  

Apparently our seats were pretty high up in the stadium (but close to the boat, ha!), because we had to walk, and walk, and walk, to get out of the arena.

While walking, I lose my brother, I guess he left and went home. 

And my friend, Dee, from the gym, shows up and walks with me.  

Somehow, Dee and I, end up walking in the VIP/Box Seat area of the BOK Center.

If you've ever been there, it's pretty nazi to get into this area, so it's funny we just "end up" there.

While roaming the VIP area trying to find the exit, we are beyond lost.

We find some nice man to help direct us to the exit.  He gives us directions, gets on the walkie talkie and tells his co-worker that Dee and I are on our way to him and he is to show us the way out.

Cool, thanks dude. 

Dee and I proceed to the the co-worker's location. 

But to get to said location is a TOTAL adventure. 

We proceed around the corner and end up in this amazing, green, beautiful, Mother Nature's playground, "area".  Greenery, beautiful palm trees, birds chirping, and calm waters were all around. 

I don't even know how to describe this area, as it was beyond beautiful.  

I felt like I should have been in Hawaii or some exotic location. 

The air got humid and foggy, but the scenery around me was breathtaking. 

We end up in this shallow water, there are tiny fish that nip at your feet and peacocks in all of the trees.  

Yes, peacocks in trees!  Big peacocks, baby peacocks, just tons and tons of peacocks, everywhere!  

I am in heaven and snapping away with my camera!!! 

I want to take a baby peacock home for my pet at this point.  

Finally, remember the co-worker that was expecting us? 

He spots us walking through the shallow water. 

We are soaked to the bone at this point and he instructs us to come to the dry area where he is. 

We make it to "dry land" and we end up showering off in this big open area. 

I guess this happens all the time to concert goers. ;) 

Finally, after our shower, we visit with the BOK employees.  They are super nice and friendly. 

By this time, it's like 3am and we are exhausted. 

We finally make our way to the main doors of the arena and leave to head home. 

That's all I remember.  :) 

Whatever Wednesday...Turn Tulsa Pink!

Let's travel back in time a few months, shall we?

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

An initiative here in Tulsa turned this place PINK for the entire month! 

There pink themed events throughout the month.  

Concerts, fashion shows, car/motorcycle shows, and even roller derby, ha!

You can view the Turn Tulsa Pink website here. 

They are doing many great things to raise breast cancer awareness in northeast Oklahoma! 

My absolute favorite pink thing around town was the Golden Driller's boots. 

He got in on the pink-ness and sported some pink boots.

Golden Driller is totally secure in his manhood. ;) 

Love it!!

Blog-birth-iversary!

The White House Blog is a year old today! 

I whipped out the very first post a year ago, and can't believe I'm still a blogger!  :)

Thank you to all of my loyal followers and readers! 

The White House Blog is looking forward to another great year!

Whatever Wednesday...Dear Martha Stewart...

......I am loving your new line of craft paint at Michael's. 

You have provided a vast selection of GLITTER, METALLIC, SATIN, and HIGH GLOSS colors. 

More than any other brand of paint I have found in any of the craft stores. 

However, you seem to be very proud of your new line of paint.

I know the economy is not the greatest at the moment..... 

But you seem to have increased your GLITTER paint cost significantly. 

For holiday painting and creating, glitter is essential. 

You obviously know this, therefore you have increased the glitter paint price.

I have only purchased a few of the two ounce tubes at $2.99 (regular price). 

Now, $2.99 doesn't sound like a lot but, when you want to purchase the whole stinkin' rack of paint,

it can get a tad bit expensive. 

I'll just learn to pace myself on buying the ever so awesome glitter paint.

Don't worry Mar-Mar, I will continue to support you as you are a very talented an ex-convict. 

Signed,
Angie, Thrifty Crafter :)

What else I've been up to...

Thanks go good ol' Pinterest (again), I got this clever idea. 

Of course, I heart leopard and just had to paint these. 

I changed it up a little from the Pinterest picture and added the "swirly" pattern. 

The paint technique that I used is the same that I used on my pumpkins. 

Ta-Da!

The finished product :)

Giveaway-o-rama!

Christmas is upon us and the blogger's are in giveaway mode! 

I'm not usually a giveaway person, and don't blog about them regularly. 

But since it is the holiday season, I thought why not!?!

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY!

Megan at In This Wonderful Life is hosting this giveaway. 

The prize is this Christmas platter from Rosie Posie Designs.

This is the prize in the giveaway.  It is very cute!!! 

There's also a phenomenal giveaway going on at According to Nina.

Nina is hosting an Oprah-esque, My Favorite Things giveaway. 

Here is the link to the Favorite Things giveaway. 

 Hop on over to their blogs and enter to win! 

Twin Canvases!

My dear, sweet friend asked me to do some custom canvases for her twin grand babies.

Kinsley and Kullyn were born in May. 

Their nursery is primary colors with dalmatians. 

I thought they turned out super cute. 

It was SO fun to paint the dalmatians! 

These are going to be their parent's Christmas gift, so if you know their mommy & daddy, SHHHH!  :) 

Next up, Sean's momma has asked me to do a canvas for him for Christmas.

It's almost done, I am hoping he is going to love it!

I can't wait to share it.....I'll post it when it's finished! 

"There is no Arizona"

Don't worry, Arizona is still where it has always been.

That's just a song that I really like.  And it was appropriate, hehe.

I went to Tucson for work in late October and again in early November. 

Both of these trips were really quick, so not a lot of time was spent on sight seeing.

The one thing I did learn about Arizona, is that it is brown.

Very brown. 

But along with the very brown-ness comes some beautiful scenery and mountains. 

This was the view from my hotel room on the first trip.

This is a typical "yard" in Arizona.  Rocks.  Not grass, just rocks.

And more mountains. 

I didn't get a chance to take many pics as I was there for such a short time, and I was working,

....but you get the idea. 

Don't let the desert fool you though, it got cold there!

The second time I was there, it was 34 degrees in the morning. 

Granted it warmed up and was sunny, but I thought it was balmy, sunny and gorgeous all the time.  

Conclusion:

Arizona is brown, but beautiful. 

Cool, but not cold. 

In-N-Out Burger is readily available in Arizona.

Amen :)   

Whatever Wednesday.....Baby Boys, Piglets & Halloween

Two posts in two days!

Yes, I know it's a little late for Halloween stuff, but like I said, I've been busy!  ;)

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Sista came to town for a visit on Halloween weekend. 

Of course, she brought with her, two of the cutest, blond haired, blue eyed little boys!  :)

Yummmm, popsicles! 

Randomly, we went to the Sand Springs FFA barn to see a whole mess of baby pigs. 

My dad contacted his friends and they arranged for us all to go see them. 

The boys were excited.....Harris more than Walker, but Walker still enjoyed it, I think.  

Harris loved getting up close and personal with the piglets. 

He kept trying to feed them the wood chip "stuff" on the bottom of the pen.

I think he thought it was their food.....it was so cute!

That's my paw attempting to be nice to this baby pig.

Just in case you wondered, after they sniff your hand,

 they will start to chomp on your fingers!

Walker and his Mommy.  Love this pic!

Tulsa has a big to-do for Halloween on Brookside every year called Boo Ha Ha. 

There is trick or treating and a parade.  

All of the stores set up on the sidewalk and hand out candy.  

Some of the merchants were dressed up in costumes as well. 

It really was a neat event for the kiddos! 

We took our little goblins down to Brookside for trick or treating.

Harris was Spiderman....aka "Piderman".

Walker was a little dragon.

This train, bouncy thing was so cute and BIG!

Neither of the boys wanted to go through the train, slide, bouncy thingy.

There was a "regular" bouncy castle, bounce house, whatever you call it.

Walker was all over it.

Not the best pic, but how cute is he inside the bouncy castle??

Now that I have posted about Halloween, we can talk about Christmas, ha!

I....Am....Alive!

I know you were worried! 

Sorry to be MIA!  I've missed all my blog peeps!

My last post was a little "Debbie Downer", but I feel like it was something I really needed to express. 

I posted the link to my Facebook page and got MANY amazing and sweet comments. 

 I think the people that knew Johnny and I as a couple enjoyed reading the post and seeing the pictures from back in the day. 

I seriously contemplated that post. 

Should I post something like that?  Is it too personal?  Is it anyone else's business?

The truth is yes, it's very personal and no, it's not really anyone else's business.

I usually don't post personal things like that.

  There is so much more to our story, but I will keep that in my heart.  

What I shared pertained to the song and how it made me feel.....and I think that is ok.

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It's been a very busy month and a half for me. 

I have been to Austin, TX, to Arizona (twice), closed the refinance on my house,
had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend, and put up my Christmas tree. 
Yes, there have been workouts sprinkled in between all the madness!

It doesn't sound like much, but it's taken a lot out of me and I'll be back with details later! 

Glad to be back in blog land! :)

'Over You'

As I have posted before, I love music.  LOVE it.  It makes my world go around.  I'm one of those people that has to know what the words are, and figure out what the song is really about.  One of my favorite singers is Miranda Lambert.  Her new album came out on Tuesday, 11/1/11. 
This album is a lot different than her past releases, but I am loving it and have listened to it A LOT already!  

There is one song in particular on Miranda's new album that is so touching to me.  I'm not normally a sappy, love song, cry in your beer type of person, but this song just hit me.  "Over You" was written by her and her husband, singer Blake Shelton.  It's about Blake's brother that passed away.  Some of the references in the song are completely surreal to me as they totally line up with Johnny's passing. 

I digress to share some details......

Johnny is my ex-boyfriend.  I hate the term "ex"......it's so harsh.  There was never anything harsh about Johnny and I.  He was/is truly the love of my life.  Our relationship was so special and strong.  We had the type of relationship, even long after we split up, I could pick up the phone, after not seeing or speaking to him for months, and it was like I had talked to him yesterday.  Still to this day, I have never met anyone with even a smidgen (yes, I said smidgen) of his spirit.  He was the light in many people's eyes and still is.  

We met through a mutual friend, during my senior year in high school.  Johnny was four years older than me and a hot mess.  The cutest, brown-eyed, Wrangler wearin' mess, I had ever seen.  It is safe to say, I was instantly smitten.  He was a cowboy, who loved team roping, riding his horse Skipper, and hanging with his dog Max. Johnny loved working on the land, with the animals, and at his job at the paper company.  The work ethic in that man was beyond remarkable.  We dated through most of  my senior year in high school and freshman year in college.

Me & Johnny in 1991
(aren't you diggin' my large hair?)

One of my fave pics

This was on his birthday, June 18, in 1991.

My high school graduation.

My birthday, July 1991.

His show colt at the fair in 1991 or 1992.

But then, I was in college, he was at work, and basically, we just grew apart.  School, basketball, and my new experiences got in the way of our relationship and we broke up.  Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and knowing what I know now, I would have spent more time working on our relationship. :(

Johnny passed away on Valentine's Day in 1995. 
After the fact, I see how fate and the good Lord intervened and gave us a more proper and pleasant goodbye.  In late December of 1994, my senior year in college, it was the week between Christmas and New Year's.  School was out, all I had to do was sleep and go to basketball practice.  Some of my basketball player buddies and I went out for a night of dancin'.  We went to a country dance hall that's no longer in business.  As we got out of our cars, headed in for some two-steppin', who did we run into in the parking lot?  Johnny and his buddy.

There he was, in his Wranglers, cowboy hat, and that amazing, ornery smile.  Oh, and those killer brown eyes.  I hadn't seen him in quite awhile, not sure how long, but it had been months.  We were so happy to see each other....he was so happy to meet my friends.....we were happy to just get to hang out and enjoy each other's company.  We danced, we talked, we flirted with each other, we laughed and laughed.  It was almost like meeting for the first time, all over again.  That was one of the best nights ever.

At the end of the night, he walked me to my car.  We shared an amazing kiss, and hugged like it was our last hug ever.  Unfortunately, it would be.  Again, like a first time meeting, but so comfortable, nice, and familiar.  We talked on the phone a few times after that night.  We never hung out again. 

 That horrible February, I passed him in the car on a Sunday,
in the little west side community where we both grew up. 

We waved to each other like little kids.
That was the last time I saw him alive.
He passed away the following Tuesday, which was Valentine's Day. 

 

Miranda's song references how "mid-February shouldn't be so scary" and that "it was only December I still remember."  Seriously, how relevant are those lyrics?  Then the final reference, that pieces the whole song together about "it really sinks in, you know, when I see it in stone". 

Please read the lyrics and listen to the song. 

It's beautiful and sad at the same time. 

Everyone has a special someone they have loved and lost.  For me, this song is a deeply touching tribute to someone I have loved and will love until I see him again.    

Over You  

by Miranda Lambert  

Weather man said it’s gonna snow
By now I should be used to the cold
Mid-February shouldn’t be so scary
It was only December
I still remember the presents, the tree, you and me

Chorus:
But you went away
How dare you?
I miss you
They say I’ll be ok
But I’m not going to ever get over you

Living alone here in this place
I think of you, and I’m not afraid
Your favorite records make me feel better
Cause you sing along
With every song
I know you didn’t mean to give them to me

Chorus:
But you went away
How dare you?
I miss you
They say I’ll be ok
But I’m not going to ever get over you

    

It’s really sinks in, you know, when I see it in stone
Cause you went away, how dare you?
I miss you
They say I’ll be ok
But I’m not going to ever get over you

             

Zoo Run - Race Recap!

Long overdue, race recap! 

The Tulsa Zoo hosts a 1 mile fun run, 5K and 10K race every year. 

This was my first time to participate.  I've heard it's a smaller, fun race and decided to go for it......since I've turned into such a stealth jogger and all.  haha!

I didn't carry my camera with me during this race, but I did take a few snap shots beforehand and put my camera back in the car. 

The area around the Zoo is called Mohawk Park and is very flat.....which is awesome. 

Race time was at 8:30am, so it wasn't too early, it was cool and crisp out. 

 The weather was absolutely perfect! 

The course takes a "loop" through Mohawk Park, crosses over into the Zoo's back/rear entrance, and you finish in the middle of the Zoo.  It really is pretty fun.  My time was 20 seconds faster than my Race for the Cure time, two weeks prior.  I was hoping for a little better time, but at least it wasn't worse!!     

This run is super family oriented.  When I arrived, the "rally" and warm-up was underway.  Every zoo animal that could be made into a fuzzy costume/mascot type uniform was there.......dancing and jumping to music, getting the crowd moving.  There were kids jumping, dancing, and having a great time.  There was, of course, a location at the starting line for those with stroller participating in the run.    

The family atmosphere continued in the pavilion for the after race refreshments.

Fuzzy mascot animals were everywhere!  There was a kid area with face painting and other activities, several  bouncy castles, music, and they were doing the cupid shuffle!  So cute! 

It was a great, encouraging atmosphere for children. 

My one major complaint is parking.  I did manage to get a great spot, but that's because I left at the butt crack of dawn and got there UBER early.  The entrance to the Zoo and Mohawk Park is in sort of a weird spot.  There's a two lane road that leads to a "T" where you have to turn to enter the zoo.  Well, on race day, holy mother of cars and runners in traffic!  There were police directing, and it was very organized, but if you didn't get there early, you were parking out on the main road and walking a LONG way to the start line. 

My other small, teeny complaint was the smell.  Now, I do not have a big problem with smells.  I can handle stockyards and show barns at the fair with no problem.  But when I'm running, the smell of animal "output" isn't the most wonderful experience.  It wasn't that bad really, it just really stuck out in my mind. :)

I would probably do the Zoo Run again. 

It was very reasonably priced and a nice, flat run.

Next time, I would probably need to borrow someone's child,

 so I could jump with them in the bouncy castle after the race, hehe.  :)