90

We celebrated my nanny Hazel's 90th birthday this weekend, her birthday is actually Monday, Nov. 23. All her nieces & nephews came, plus her little friends from church. It was a great day & so nice to get everyone together for a happy occasion.

She was born in 1919 in Porter, OK. She is my last grandparent I have left and the healthiest of them all at this age. She is the epitomy of a grandmother and my sister & I have been lucky enough to grow up close to her. She is small but fiesty with a sweet, sweet attitude. Her brothers named her Hazel, and she never liked her name. But, I think it fits her & I don't know any others! Her brothers were her best friends and she has outlived them all.

They were a very musical family, with Hazel singing, uncle Glenn & Guy on the fiddle, and uncle Don on the guitar. None of them could read music, they tought themselves & played/sang by ear from what they heard on the radio & at church. Guy & Glenn could play the fiddle better than anyone!!

She has read through the Bible multiple times & loves & lives for Jesus with all her heart. She is the perfect example of how a lady should act. She has had her share of heartache & disappointments...but was so strong through all of it. She ended up marrying the love of her life later after being single & divorced for a long time. She & Tommy were two peas in a pod and they were married 24 years. He passed away in 2007 & she so wanted him at her 90th party.

She believes in hard work, vitamins, not worrying, praying about everything--no matter how small, and always be a lady! She is a fantastic cook & gardener, and always loved the latest fashions. She would still wear high heels if she could, and her nail polish & lipstick always matched.

We love her to pieces and are so, so grateful the God has blessed us with her for so long. Not to mention her good health! We can't wait to celebrate #95 now! :)

Nanny at 17

Nanny (bottom left) with her brothers on

their parents 50 wedding anniversary

Nanny & Tommy

The cake--featuring her senior h.s. picture

Birthday buffett

Nanny & Jerry

Nanny with her daughter, neice, & nephews

Mom & Nanny

Nanny & I

All of us!

Pioneer Woman Cooks--I love it!!!

If you don't already own this, go get it now! And get some copies for your friends too! I already loved her blog, so I was very excited about this cookbook. Pictures from the book signing in Tulsa are in the post below, but I just had to do a special post for this :) She is lovely in person, and Malboro Man is lovely as well, if I say so myself, ha! I always love a cowboy though, so that is part of it I suppose. I love all things country & hope to live out away from it all again someday. This is why I adore her stories & recipes, I just live vicariously through her! Growing up on a ranch I can relate to a lot of her stories, although they have a lot more ranch than we did! Her recipes are great for people like me and she makes all things I love.

So go get this book for some great food, photos, & stories that will make you & your taste buds smile! :)

October!!

Ok, so I've been MIA for like a month basically. Well, we just had a crazy busy October, and I've been staying at my sister's for 3 weeks with limited computer access :) Eric has been gone for a month, so we are glad to have him home!

October consisted of me getting another year older (aka turning 25 for the 7th time, ha), Dave Matthews, OSU Homecoming, meeting my favorite blogger Pioneer Woman, U2, and Halloween. What a great month! Here are some pics from all the fun :)

Stillwater Fun

At the last minute my dad was able to get 4 passes for the new west suites at OSU for the Grambling game on Sept. 26. How exciting! Eric gave up his normal season ticket seat to sit with us & check out the suites. We got to town early because I wanted a new tshirt. Well after a lovely walk around campus wishing college hadn't ended, I didn't have much luck finding a shirt. Lots of cute ones, but either too see through or not in my size. So frustrating. I got one that was ok, and it did the job for the day. So we met up with dad & made our way up to the suite. We got off the elevator & the main area was so nice, we knew we were in for a treat. We were the 1st ones in the suite and it was just lovely.

We we starving so we went to check out the very free all-you-can eat buffett's. Eric was in heaven, to say the least :) Prime rib, beef ribs that were HUGE, chicken stuffed with cream cheese & jalapeno & wrapped in bacon, veggies, potato salad, pretzels, cookies, Marble Slab creamery, etc etc. So we loaded up & enjoyed ourselves since this won't be happening again anytime soon :) The suite had a full kitchen, flat screens, granite counters, leather comfy chairs, and a glass window looking onto the field that went up or down with the flip of a switch, whatever your choice depending on the weather, etc.

Besides the food, the highlight of the day was on the way out, we passed Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood leaving. I recognized them immediately & proceeded to stop & ask for a picture. They were very nice & friendly & obliged! :) I'm sure I made an idiot of myself, oh well! Ha!

We had a great time, OSU won the game, but I will say Grambling won halftime! :) Here are some pics from the day!