Catching up on 2014

I really have no other reason for this post, other than to share some photos of our year so far.  Although much less exciting compared to this time last year (wedding planning, anyone?) we've stayed entertained!

First up, the Super Bowl.  My Denver-raised husband loves him some Broncos, so obviously we couldn't pass up a chance to host a party at the Denver Bronco Headquarters of Lubbock.  

Here's a look at the spread. I used this party as an excuse to join Costco... #worthit

I made two pots of chili (one w/beans, one without.) And had some hot dogs for the extra hungry!

Bear loves hosting parties. He stood by the door, waiting for our guests to arrive!

If you're a Jimmy Kimmel Live fan, you'll know he was in Austin this last week for SXSW.  So in February, his people invited Texas ABC affiliates down for interviews ahead of the trip, and my station sent me. ("Eeek!" moment!)

Me and the funnyman post interview.

Interviewing Jimmy (I think he thinks I'm funny?)

Shooting promos... I'm looking a little longingly at him here, but I promise -- totally professional. Ha!

That's the Lubbock crew: my news director, our photographer and Jimmy. (How adorable is it that they are matching?!)

Here's a link to the story I put together, if you're interested.

Enough about me... I have to brag on Evan some, too. He recently did a story about two Lubbock twins who rocked the basketball court in an inspiring way.  CBS picked it up, and it didn't take long to blow up the internet.  Such an awesome story, and even more awesome that Evan got to tell it.

Had to document the "most shared" section.  It's been shared now, more than 3k times!

You can watch that story, too! Click here.

Moving on to Valentine's Day, I hope all of you had a wonderful time with your loved ones!  I'm not a huge fan of this "holiday" -- I think girls often expect ridiculous things to happen/be given and it's just obnoxious. However, I will say that I do see value in the day as one that allows you to set aside time to show your significant other / kids how much they mean to you. 

Okay, off my soapbox.

Regardless, I had to share the card my darling husband brought home.

I didn't marry him for his attention to detail. (Notice anything about that card?)

(He says he didn't realize it either, until he brought it home.)

Here's my other Valentine.  So photogenic.

Even Bear got spoiled this Valentine's Day! I got him a "pupcake" from a local bakery.

 And now, to round out this post, some pics from the Make A Wish Gala. Allison was a "celebrity" dancer so we all got to go and support her as she transformed into a "Barbie Girl" for a good cause!  So much fun, and even better when it's for such an amazing organization.  Love those Wish Kids!

Pre-gala champagne selfie for our star dancer!

My date cleans up reallll nice.

Up next: a month full of travel and celebrations. Can't wait!

A lesson in Christmas snooping.

I mentioned previously that I wanted to discuss Evan's Christmas present in a separate post. So, here we are.

To make a long story short... I ordered Evan an Xbox One. This should've been an enormous surprise, considering we'd discussed before how it would not be a purchase in the immediate future for our household.

But then, Best Buy delivered the darn thing amazingly fast... and it just so happened to be on a Friday in which he had the day off. He saw the box.  And then the texts to his COD buddies began.

My husband suddenly turned into an 8-year-old child, texting pictures and creating gifs of his new "box" that he just KNEW contained his heart's biggest desire.  I refused to let him be right.

So Plan B lead me back to Best Buy, where I shopped the store for the last thing Evan could possibly want... that was also the same size as an Xbox One so I could swap it out in the box.  I came home with a bluetooth, neon-lighted karaoke machine. It was perfect.  Here he is opening his awesome gift:

He's smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside.

To his credit, Evan truly did put up a good front... thanking me, smiling, even taking it out of the box to set it up and play with it.  I couldn't look him in the eye because I would've started laughing... and at the same time I was annoyed he set it up because I needed to take that thing back!

I let this go for a good 30 minutes, before I couldn't take it any longer.  I just knew he was miserable, and I couldn't contain my laughter anymore.  So, may I present you: the big reveal.  (And I apologize for my super annoying voice in the video... I was near tears myself, because this was the greatest gig of acting I've ever done in my life.)

Evan sees his Xbox One for the first time:

And that, my friends, is my very favorite Christmas memory thus far in our relationship.  The lesson here -- don't snoop on your presents.  You might end up with a karaoke machine.

PS -- The yellow pants seem to be a highlight for many in this video. Evan liked them online, I liked them in theory, but alas... they shared the same fate as the karaoke machine and went back to the store. 

Merry, Thankful Holidays 2013

It's well into the new year, but never too late to rehash another wonderful holiday season with both of our families.  It was busy, exhausting, and crazy -- but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Here are some  highlights:

Thanksgiving in Lubbock

My family came to Lubbock for Thanksgiving, with dogs in tow. This was the first holiday Evan and I had ever hosted, so we weren't sure what to expect. No turkeys caught fire and no children were lost, so I guess we did okay.

We took P & M to the Science Spectrum, and picked up another cutie for the ride (Evie).  They loved the "news station" set-up... I think we have some future newscasters on our hands. Although sharing the mic wasn't really an option.

After the kids newscast, Evan and I went to work on our newscast.  Pretty much the same show, really.

I love this picture. Like aunt, like niece.

Parker's face is made for... radio.

This is Parker "hiding" under the desk for Evan's newscast. Hilarious.

Parker made an appearance during the goodbye. Desk ornament!

A moment of calm on Thanksgiving day... savoring the bloody mary's.

My brother fried two turkeys, one regular and one spicy. Both amazing.

This is our front yard post turkey frying. A little frat house, a little day care center.

Delirious entertainment at night... scaring the dogs through the window.

Since we'd be spending Christmas with Evan's family in Denver this year, we celebrated Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  Any excuse for more presents, #amiright?

My mom got us these awesome matching jammies. You're jealous.

So, maybe a little out of order... but after the Musgraves left, it was time to get our tree up.  The first official "Onstot" tree... rather than Musgrave/Onstot.  We celebrate the little things around here.

I should've taken a better photo, but I was being lazy and then forgot about doing another angle. It's fine.

I love this photo so much.  Evan and I spent a Sunday making Christmas treats... here he is mixing up Peanut Butter cookies -- his favorite. #blackmail

An ornament given to us this year -- it's our wedding invitation cut up and put inside the ball. Love!

And another ornament. You just can't have enough.

So then it was time for our Christmas. It's actually one of my favorite stories, so I'm going to save that for another blog post, all it's own.  Stay tuned. 

Christmas in Denver

We've arrived to our time in Denver, with Evan's family.  Being from Texas, I love this so much -- because the snow and cold makes it feel so... storybook Christmas.

I have to show off Evan's parent's tree. It's amazing. Colin and Christy went out to the (real!) forest and cut this baby down.  Evan's mom describes it as "the tree you can hug, and it will hug back." 

All trees need love.

Continuing a Christmas tradition out at the Denver Botanical Gardens, looking at the lights.

Evan and I posing under the "Love Tree." Duh.

Mary & Gordon, under same said "Love Tree."

Christmas morning started with two of my favorite things: coffee and mimosas. And of course, this hot piece of bacon.

The Onstots, 2013. Our first Christmas to actually say that!

New Year's Eve
Not really too much to report here, but just wanted to share this photo from NYE. Evan and I both worked, so after the 10pm we did a quick change then hustled over to meet up with friends to dance our way into 2014!

Cotton Bowl in Dallas

To round out our busy holiday travels, we headed to Dallas to watch Mizzou in the Cotton Bowl.

Onstot Family Portrait.

We went to a Mizzou alumni bar hop the night before the game.  I was the lone Sooner in a sea of Tigers.

Don't worry, I made sure to show some pride.  I also watched the OU/Alabama game from this event, and IT WAS AWESOME.  Seriously, watching my Big 12 beat the SEC in a room full of SEC was... awesome. Just awesome. Boomer!

And here's a few pics from game day.  

Parking doesn't get more clutch than this.

Our seats were also defined as "clutch."

Post game celebrations.

He was so, so happy.

Saturday night, we met up with my girlfriends for a little Josh Abbott action at Billy Bob's.  And surprise! Pat Green showed up. Um, amazing.

Okay, I'm exhausted just from writing this post.  But hey, it's all documented! Finally.

Until the next time -- Merry, happy 2014!

Flu Season.

Please forgive me if I sound a bit melodramatic, but today I feel as if I'm rising from the ashes.  After three days in bed, and 5 days of feeling like there were needles poking my brain... I think I'm gonna survive.  Survive what, you ask? Not sure, 'cause I never went to the doctor. (Whoops.) But I'm pretty sure it was the flu, considering my symptoms match what WebMD has to say about it. Either flu, or the Black Plague. The internet can sometimes be a bit vague.

Seriously though, everyone I spent any sort of time around recently had the flu, so I'm assuming it was just my turn.  I'm feeling so much better today though. I ate, took a bath, heck -- I even shaved my legs.  Maybe tomorrow I'll brush my teeth before noon. Don't want to push it though.

I'm kind of bummed I got sick, because I was proud of the fact that I had not been stuck-in-bed-can't-eat-can't-think sick since, oh -- 2009? My streak is over. Drats.

Anyway, not sure where to even begin catching up.  I'll guess I'll start in October.

Chicago: Celebrating Nick & Rob

We watched the Mizzou game at an alumni bar. This kid loves his Truman.

After Mizzou, I got to watch OU play on this tiny TV above a door. Beggars can't be choosers! 

We took a mini-tour of the 'hood, which included a walk around Wrigley.

Just two broadcasting buddies.

A few of the Grizzled men, at Nick & Rob's Sunday Funday.

November: The Great 28

I turned 28 on November 15th. I'm still okay divulging my age since I'm still in my twenties... but just know, in two years, these birthdays will turn into anniversaries. 

I like to call this birthday "the great 28" because quite frankly, it was just a great day. It started with a massage, nails with my LBK BFF, and presents.  Then it was all punctuated by my husband cooking dinner and surprising me with Allison and Brian as guests, and getting my boss to let me have the 10pm newscast off. Absolutely spoiled.

The master chef's delicious Boeuf Bourguignon!

Allison & Brian were there, too. Amazing friends!

All in all, 2013 was an amazing year with so many things to celebrate and be thankful for. Speaking of thankful, I should launch into Thanksgiving and Christmas right now but I think I've done all the blogging my attention span can handle for right now. I think I need a nap. 

I need to be not sick like, yesterday. Thanks a lot, flu.