Category / friends

by Bethe

Wedding Weekend

Oh how I wish every weekend included self-tanner, air-brush makeup applied by a professional, a hair stylist and two new fancy dresses to twirl around in.

But alas, if that was my everyday then it wouldn’t be so special. And this weekend was definitely special, as I helped marry off one of my closest friends, had a blast playing dress up, got to hang out with some of my favorite people, and I ate… and ate… and ate.
Congrats Katie & Sean!
PS–Upon looking at these pictures, let me assure you that I looked much tanner in person. For me. Which is really still quite pale. But more of an off-white-pale.
by Bethe

Fourth of July

On this beautiful 4th of July day, I am thankful to my soldier friends who have taught me just how costly and wonderful my freedom is. Thank you for your sacrifice, for your bravery, for your sense of humor, and for your willingness to put everything on the line so that silly girls like me can live a life free of oppression.
Here’s to fireworks and ice cream and hot summer days in the pool with good friends and family. God bless America.
by Bethe

Out of hiding

I decided to play hooky over the weekend. Instead of hanging out with my friends, or doing homework, or really doing anything I was “supposed” to do, I hid out for 24 hours and had a “Bethe Day” all to myself. It was glorious. Not necessarily exciting… I did all of those things I never do… I vacuumed underneath my bed, cleaned floorboards, organized my closet, hooked up a printer (okay, friend Kevin stopped by to do that), went to the grocery store, and I even finally bought the hardware to hang the curtains that I bought back on January 1. From Friday night (when I watched Twilight… while eating Parisian chocolates… my perfect evening) until Saturday night, I did my best to regain control of my out-of-control life. I de-stressed, recharged my batteries, and it was fantastic. Today, I was ready to face the world once again, with a new energy, a revitalized spirit, and a positive attitude.

And thanks to everyone who checked in on me to make sure I was okay. I’m absolutely fine. I love to live a life filled with adrenaline and projects and “stuff,” and it only takes me a day or so to recharge my batteries for quite awhile. Oh yeah, and I’m getting a massage tomorrow night, which means I’m good for another month or two.

Today I played flag football with my friends from church and enjoyed an absolutely beautiful afternoon at the park. Have I mentioned how fantastic my church is? Really… it’s pretty darn special.  


I also wanted to post a photo from my neighborhood supper club, which met last Thursday at Sister Sarah’s house. At the moment I feel like my life is one long episode of Friends (except my life is G-rated)… there are a few moments in life that I wish I could bottle, or take a photo of, and freeze forever. My current group of friends are one of those… I have been inundated with cool people to hang out with, and I realize that it’s an absolute blessing. Just last year I was praying fervently for God to bring me a few close friends, and instead he decided to open up the floodgates. I am so blessed. Here’s a photo of just a few of the folks who came to our monthly neighborhood dinner last week.

Okay, enough rambling for one night. I’m off to tackle a 300 page book that I need to read by Thursday (does anybody know if there’s a Cliffs Notes for The Razor’s Edge? Because that book is B-O-R-I-N-G). Time to dust off those rusty speed reading skills.
by Bethe

Soon

My friends, I promise to do better on my posts this week. I should have some spare time since I’ll be spending most of my week in a hotel in MIAMI! I’ve been to Florida several times, but never to Miami, and you know how much I love to travel. I’ll be presenting my research paper at the International Public Relations Research Conference, and in my spare time I’ll probably sit in the back of the conference and stalk people on Facebook with my new iPhone while doing my best to look like I’m listening. Oh how I love traveling! And oh how I especially love FREE trips!

In the meantime, here’s a few photos from a fantastic bachelorette party this weekend. We sat on the rooftop of my favorite restaurant in the whole world and enjoyed one of the most beautiful evenings of the year.

by Bethe

Nachos & Benedryl

Oh, my faithful friends, have I had a doozie of a week! It’s a shame I have a self-imposed gag-order on the subject of boys (most of the time) because that area would provide for some quite interesting and unexpected posts! But alas, we’ll have to discuss it in person. Or maybe I’ll change the names to protect the innocent or something. We’ll see.

So in the meantime, as I finish my late-night dinner of nachos and Benedryl, I’ll post a picture of my good friend Tiffany’s new baby. I’ve been waiting to meet this sweet baby girl for awhile now. I figure we have lot’s of adventures ahead of us.
by Bethe

Happy birthday to me

Today is my birthday. The Big 2-8. 

It’s also the one-year anniversary of this blog. Here’s the original, written last year. 
And here’s a throw-back to another birthday post on the old blog. 
I seem to get a bit sentimental on my birthday. But for some reason, not this year. I’m in a pretty good place, one of those transitional spots where I’m on my way somewhere, but not there yet. But as I travel to my next destination, I find myself happy, content, and thankful to be surrounded by some pretty neat people. And surprisingly enough, I don’t feel the least bit introspective. Maybe I’m just too full with chocolate birthday cake to worry about much.
Tonight I had a birthday party… a retro roller-skating party with about 25 friends and family members. It was a real hoot–I promise to post pictures very soon. I felt like a kid again… possibly because I wore a glo-necklace, raced boys on rollerblades, and had my mom there taking pictures. Yep, I may be 28, but that doesn’t mean I have to act like it.
by Bethe

Battle of the Baptists

I absolutely love my softball team. But not because we’re good. We’re half-way through our third season together, and we progressively get worse every week. By the end of the season, we’ll be lucky if we can find the field.

But tonight was different! We actually won! Our Baptist team beat First Baptist Fort Worth, the only team with fewer wins than us (eh hem, that means ZERO).

So Schrute Farms is now 2-5 for the season, with three more games to go. I suggest we quit now while we’re at our peak, because there’s very little chance we’ll get close to tasting victory again. We’re in a tough league.

But even though we lose (okay, we get demoralized) almost every week, it doesn’t matter. Because the main reason we play is so we have an excuse to get together. The highlight is always the dinner before or after the game. And once you get used to losing, it doesn’t sting quite as bad.

Besides, we have the best mascot. Our lucky Dwight bobblehead that’s no longer attached to his body (that’s what happens when you drop it while trying to put it in your purse… oops) that makes an appearance at every game. Or at least, when I remember to bring him.

And, we have the cutest t-shirts. And if you’re going to lose, you might as well look darn good doing it!

by Bethe

Soccer star

Today after church a bunch of us went to the park and played soccer. I’m terrible at soccer. I’ve only played once or twice. Ever. But it was a blast. I can cross working out off my list for the day, and it was a lot more fun than running mindlessly on a treadmill. The weather was beautiful, nobody kicked me in the shin (although I did hurt my big toe… no pedicures for me until it heals!), and my teammates kicked me the ball, even though we ALL knew there was absolutely NO WAY I would ever have a chance of scoring.

I guess it was worth missing my Sunday afternoon nap for. But I still snuck in a 20 minute snooze. Otherwise it just wouldn’t be Sunday.

Then tonight, I did my homework outside on my back patio as I listened to the wind blow in a storm. I am absolutely loving this warm weather.

by Bethe

Mess Hall Cook

I love to throw parties. I just love having people over, whether it’s two people or 75 (like my Christmas party). I love cooking for and getting to hang out with people I like in a comfortable, laid-back setting like my house.

A few weeks ago I got the grand idea to cook dinner for a bunch of my friends and have a game night. At first, I figured it might be 10. Or 15. It ended up being 25. That’s a lot of food!

When I went to Target Friday night around 9:00 and bought FIVE packages of chicken, FIVE bags of chips, FIVE packages of rice, TEN avocados, FIVE bags of salad and a gazillion other groceries (you get the picture)… the people at Target thought I was nuts. And I had a new appreciation for those ladies who have ten kids and have to cook for them every night. I just couldn’t do it. All these years of living on my own, I couldn’t imagine cooking for that many people on a regular basis. Or doing their laundry.

But one night was fun.

I served four big casseroles of my favorite King Ranch Chicken, plus all the sides, home-made guacamole, and dessert. It was so much fun preparing everything Friday night and Saturday morning, and when my friends started showing up (and kept showing up… even more than I had originally planned for) it was so much fun to serve them and then play games with them. My new motto… feed ’em then beat ’em!