It's Fall, Y'all!

<blinks and looks around, confused> Hello, everyone! I've emerged from the editing cave and am back for a brief stint between projects. It's nice to be here with you lovely folks, especially since the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster have been my constant companions lately. Y'all are way more interesting. ;)

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So, you know I love summer. I'm a summer girl through and through (give me warm beaches any day). But I do enjoy the beautiful colors and the activities of fall, particularly in October. I have set down my trusty style guides a few times this month to participate in some of the festivities.

First up, Deek and I bought tickets to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul 2 Soul tour over a year ago. We bought them before our 2nd anniversary to celebrate our 3rd anniversary (see how forward thinking we are? LOL!). For those who don't remember our wedding posts, Tim and Faith sing "our" song, and we couldn't pass up the chance to see them sing it in person!! Needless to say, we've held on to these tickets and anticipated the event for a looonnnngg time. And it *finally* came.

At the concert. We were *so* excited!!

Steve Moakler opened for Tim and Faith.

He co-wrote the song "Riser," and he sang it that night. 

We loved it so much and thought it very much went with us and our personalities. 

He sold the song rights to Dierks Bentley. If you haven't heard it, I totally recommend the listen!

Steve asked everyone to light their phones during a ballad. 

The WHOLE stadium lit up in this amazing way. SO beautiful!

Steve said it was the single best moment of his performance career so far.

They sang "our" song.

I may have cried and cheered my little heart out.

I am SO thankful to be married to this wonderful man, and I love celebrating our love!

Our "we saw Tim and Faith" faces...

Deek and I have been able to sneak away from our deadlines and have fun on a few dates too! 

We walked and talked, hand in hand, for about 6 miles.

So nice to get out in nature, clear the mind, and recenter.

Gorgeous scenery.

Who needs a pint of beer when you can have a pint of bacon??

And we went to one of my most favorite events in the world...the State Fair! 

On the bus to the fair!

I'm so freakin' excited!

Deek is Superman.

Shhhhh....

Selfies at a local radio booth!

Clearly, we're not cut out for beekeeping!

Lately, I'm obsessed with the Day of the Dead stuff.

How awesome is this cake?!?

Y'all, I can't tell you how thankful I am that I get to share this life with Deek. He's always excited to participate in all type of event, and we always have the very best time together. Dates and experiences don't have to cost a lot, or anything at all, to be fun. It's all about time spent with the person you love. I adore that Deek understands that and makes the most out of every moment we have together. I love you, my Deek! Now and #always! 

And the festivities keep continuing, so stay tuned!! Next time, I'll talk about parties and festivals! Until then, stay boo-tiful and creep it real! <3

Time For Some R&R

Lately, Deek and I have been going pretty hard with writing and regular life stuff. So, my amazing parents decided to give us a much needed break. They got tickets for all of us to see one of my most favorite country singers ever--Travis Tritt. It's so funny they'd pick Travis because Deek and I have often talked about how much we like his music and how much we'd love to do a little songwriting with him. And to put the icing right on that awesome cake, the concert was in my most favorite beach town! WINNING all around!

BUT before we went and had all that excitement, Deek and I checked out a local arts festival and had a lovely date night! Could this weekend have gotten *any* better?!?

Ready to celebrate art!

We got free Kind bars. #GiveKindATry

Lately I'm obsessed with skulls, particularly of the Dia de los Muertos variety.

Deek's favorite author was represented!

Could this dog be any cuter??

Then, Deek and I had a lovely date evening. Dinner, coffee, and a long walk. Sigh...he knows the way to this simple girl's heart! 

He *always* makes me laugh!

He paparazzied me!

So I paparrazied him right back!

The sky gave us a beautiful show for our walk!

The next day, we headed out for the beach and the concert. We met my parents early and did some adventuring before the main event!

I so love Jon Snow, but...KHAL DROGO!

<swoon>

I'm secretly a mermaid.

I can't adult today...

Almost time for the show! Here's Travis' equipment trailer!

Travis doing a Birth selfie!

Me and my Daddy! <3

Me and bee-utiful Mama!

At the gift store. Isn't she adorbs!?!?

We Tweeted, and Travis responded. SUCH a class act!

We love you, Travis Tritt!!

His gorgeous daughter, Tyler Reese Tritt, opened for him and sang a duet with him later. She's a natural talent and adorable to boot! Loved this sweet daddy/daughter moment!

Give us some ballads, Travis!

So excited my camera is shaking!

We had SUCH a blast!

Before we headed back home, Deek and I spent a little time on the beach. Even when it's cloudy and gray (which is normal for Pacific Northwest beaches, so Deek felt right at home), the beach is my favorite, favorite, favorite place to be. Deek proposed to me on a beach, and one day, we hope to live at the beach permanently (after our vagabond years, of course). 

There's nothing like the beach!

This man makes me RIDONK happy!

This is the face of joy--the pure, unadulterated joy of being with the one who makes your soul sing.

No matter where we go, Deek is my home.

It's good to work hard and be focused. When you're an adult, you have to adult whether you want to or not. But it's always good to take breaks and carve out a little time for R&R. It's refreshing and rejuvenating, and it resets your mind so you can focus better when you get back to work and adulting. Never underestimate the power of R&R!

Until next time, grab some popcorn, your favorite soda, and lie in bed watching Netflix. Or catch a Travis Tritt concert when he heads your way! 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year -- Part I

Season Greetings, friends!! Whew, it's good to be back to blogging. For the past little bit, I've been working on a hard deadline for work, and now it's done! Woot! I shouldn't have any more big projects like that until 2017, so FREEDOM!

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In addition to the cray-zee-ness of the work stuff, I was also planning Deek's birthday party and doing a bunch of Christmas related events. So, I've been a little insane in the membrane. BUT the party was a smashing success and all the Christmas shopping is now done, so I can sit back and enjoy the upcoming holidays. YAY!

The Molly Ringwalds

The day before Deek's birthday, I saw an offer on Facebook for free tickets to the Molly Ringwalds concert. My friend Denise had them and couldn't attend, so I scooped them up. I thought it would be a fun start to Deek's birthday weekend, even though I knew nothing about the band. Well...it was an AWESOME start to Deek's birthday weekend! Wow, wow, wow! We had the best time at that concert!!

Rock out!

Such cool decor!

ROFL!

The Molly Ringwalds!

We're loving every minute of this concert!!

Deek's Birthday

So, for the first part of Deek's birthday, I arranged a scavenger hunt for him to go on. It was related to a story he'd been given on his birthday last year. Of course, he followed the clues like a boss, got his presents, and won the Starbucks date prize for having successfully done the hunt!  

He figured out his birthday lunch location based on the first clue.

He followed my random hunt into crazy stores.

And secured his gift.

And won the Starbucks prize challenge!

Later that night, we had a murder mystery party (is there a better party to have for a thriller author?)!! We had tons of friends over, and we spent the evening solving crime, talking, and laughing. SUCH a fun group of pals to spend such a special day with!!

Deek and my soul sista in character.

He was the villain actor (he loves villains), and she was the starlet!

A few of the "suspects" in the case.

Deek was the villain actor, Kim was the co-star, I was the director, 

and Carolyn was another actor (who loved to photobomb--she rocked that character even though she doesn't like to photobomb in real!)

Friends, I just want to say how incredibly blessed I am to have Deek in my life. He's truly the best person I know, and he enriches my life--and the world--exponentially. I'm so thankful to have gotten to spend this special day with him, celebrating the man whom I adore more than words could ever express. Happy Birthday, baby! Here's to many, many more. You know one lifetime with you just isn't enough for me! <3

PaPa's Birthday

My grandfather (PaPa)'s birthday is the day after Deek's. So, after a fun evening with friends, we packed up the next day and headed east to spend the evening with my family to celebrate PaPa. If you'll remember, he got sick last year around Christmas. Since then, he's been sick off and on until it culminated this summer. The doctor's performed surgery, and he's been recovering since. I'm thankful to be back in the South so I can spend as much time as possible with my grandparents and my family. And I'm uber grateful to have gotten to celebrate PaPa's 84th birthday with him this year! 

84 Years Young!

I've always been my PaPa's BabyDoll, and I've always thought he hung the moon! 

Love him so much!

Smooches!

Three generations--PaPa, my mom, and me

And my dad giving me bunny ears because...that's my dad for ya! LOL!

Dude, this post is already longer than I expected, so I'll stop here. BUT stay tuned because soon I'll be putting up another post about the local Christmas tree lighting, the Christmas parade (which Deek and I marched in), and Deek's work Christmas party!! 

Until then, stay warm! Live and love out loud!! <3