I'd like to wear these all day & just do nothing but lounge, enjoy the sunshine, & listen to sweet nothings...

I'd like to wear these all day & just do nothing but lounge, enjoy the sunshine, & listen to sweet nothings...

{dislike}

being in a freezing office while it is beautiful outside, mullets, allergies, traffic, stress, people who text while driving, pulling weeds, gas prices, mopping.

{trying to like}
mornings, gardening, that i am going to be 30 this month [yikes!], all of my new responsibilities that have been piled on this past month, trying to eat more uncommon veggies, being an adult.

{like}

my girlfriends, it stays lighter much later, decorating our home, sunshine, flowers, looking through old pictures, being inspired, text messages, upcoming weddings &; all the festivities that go along with them, being tan, giving back, that it is spring.

Snip Snip!!!

I have been wanting to cut my hair so bad although Jody really likes it long, its been hard to convince him. I got a great idea that I have always wanted to do and I talked to him and he thought it would be cool. Today I am donating my hair to locks of love!

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

The children who receive these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a loss of self. Many children have been teased by classmates and/or embarrassed by the attention they receive because of their hair loss. They often will withdraw from normal childhood activities such as swimming, going to the mall or even playing with their friends. While wearing a hairpiece is certainly not a cure for these children, it can help restore some of the normalcy to their everyday lives that most of us take for granted.

If you are interested in donating your hair, please visit their web site for their guidelines for donations. http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

Before


After:

April 25, 2009

Here are a few photos from our wedding, April 25, 2009 I wanted to share with some of you who may not have got the chance to see.


The 2 Groomsmen, Husband, Brother, and the Best Man
Riley, Marty, Jody, Jeff, and Tom (Left to Right)


Courtney, Me, Misty, Elizabeth, and Hannah


Teagen waving hi to me right before the ceremony....Ahhh :)


Hannah helping Teagen down the isle (they are so cute)


Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd We did it!


My Mom and I, (I hope I age as well as she has!)


My 2 Aunts Dorrie and Carolyn


Jody's uncle Jim witnessing us sign the marriage certificate


Jody and his Mom after the cermony


Look out Lauren, you just might be next!!! :)
Jody and Cru


Teagen is relaxed and worn out!

We are very excited about our honeymoon! We left this morning from Dallas airport at 6:00AM and will arrive in Antigua and Barbuda at 2:00pm (1:00 Central Time) Will be back in Oklahoma City sometime on Monday, May 4th. We would like to thank everyone who came to our wedding, it was wonderful to see you and we feel truly blessed to have so many family members and friends there with us to celebrate our new life together as husband and wife. We will post lots of pictures once we return. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel.

There are 306,252,250 people in the U.S. How many have your name?

I got this e-mail from a friend and it is interesting to see how many people share your name.

There are 108 people in the U.S. named April Reid.
There are 235,814 people in the U.S. with the first name April.
There are 140,876 people in the U.S. with the last name Reid.

There are 20 people in the U.S. named Jody Shepherd.
There are 94,938 people in the U.S. with the first name Jody.
There are 64,313 people in the U.S. with the last name Shepherd.

There are 50 people in the U.S. named April Shepherd.

See how popular your name is....
howmanyofme.com

Xi Eta Gamma Shower

I have been asked to post a few pictures from my shower hosted by my sorority, so here they are! We had a Mexican theme part with Mexican food (my favorite) and drinks, it was fun, thanks girls for all the great food and nice gifts. Unfortunately the only pictures I have are of me opening gifts....

Counting down the days...

Sorry I have not been a very good blogger lately, guess its cause were planning a wedding and that is what we have been spending most of our time doing. Plans are coming along and we are both getting excited that it's nearly a month away. We would like to share our wedding web site with you if you're interested in checking it out, visit jodyandapril.com

Enjoy!

I was tagged by my sister Steph :)

Q. five names you go by:

April. Ape. Apes. BK. April Showers

Q. three things you are wearing right now:

Jeans, Warm fuzzy sox, and a nice shiny ring :)

Q. two things you want very badly at the moment:

To see Jody and Less wedding decisions

Q. two things you did last night:

Went to the gym and Watched Ellen

Q. two things you ate today:

An apple and chicken noodle soup

Q. two people you last talked to on the phone:

Jody and Traci

Q. two things you are going to do tomorrow:

Go to dinner with a friend and Wedding stuff

Q. two longest car rides:

Guymon to Houston and Houston to Guymon!

Q. two of your favorite beverages:

H20 and Diet coke

Q. the people you’d like tag for their very own

Whoever has not been tagged....

Red Box Girl

I am so glad to say I am all the way unpacked!!!
I hate moving and unpacking the most. Its finally all starting to come together! Hate to say, but this could be part of the delay in posting for a while.

I have made so many trips this month to Goodwill, that they know me as the "red box girl"... Last year I reorganized all the shoes in my closet and bought a big bundle of red boxes to place all my pairs of shoes in. (See blog from Nov 07) I took a photo to place on the outside to display which pair was in each box. Since moving I have a smaller closet so I have had to do a lot of purging. Every time I end up getting rid of several pairs of my shoes that i have placed in these red boxes. When I go to Goodwill they laugh and say - the red box girl, your back! I think to myself, how in the world did I end up with so many clothes and shoes :)

Oklahoma State Fair

We really like to go to the fair for all the good food! We ate everything from an extra long corn dog to homemade cinnamon rolls, which we stood in line for 40 mins. They were quite tasty.

We got to hear Hanson play their infamous song "MMMBOP", saw all the new makes of the new out coming cars, and Jody won me another stuffed animal playing one of the carny games!


I'm excited to eat my Indian Taco!

Jody being silly with his Pizza on a stick!

Last Friday Jody and I went to look at a cute wedding chapel in Edmond, which we really like. This week we decided that's where were going to get married!

Jody's Mom, My Mom, Jody's Grandma

We invited both of our mothers so they could see the chapel and also meet. After our tour we went to dinner and I think they had a pretty good time, as you can see in the picture. We had a great night and want to thank you for going, it meant a lot to Jody
and I. Love you all!

The perfect setting...

Friday night August 22, Jody took me to Huntington Beach. After parking we strolled down the pier to watch the sunset over the ocean. Jody found a quite little hidden spot with a bench where we could sit and see the tide and watch the surfers. It was so neat, I had never seen surfers ride the tide in the ocean.

The sunset was so amazing that I asked Jody if we could take our picture. Let me just say it was breathtaking; don't know if I have ever seen such a beautiful sunset.


Jody leaves to get someone to take our photo and returns with 2 ladies who acted as if they had never used a camera before. They asked and re-asked, now how do I zoom and which button is it again....I just thought they were nuts! Little did I know Jody had asked if they would mind taking our picture and when they agreed he said oh yeah and by the way, I'm about to propose. The lady's were ecstatic and so excited for him.

The next thing I know, I am trying to wrap my arm around Jody for a picture and he takes my arm kisses me and is now facing me. At first I was very confused because he was telling me that he loved me and here I just want to get this picture thing over with because it’s feeling a bit awkward for him to be saying all this mush stuff when strangers are supposed to be taking our picture. The next thing I know he is down on one knee and then I about lost it...I didn't cry, but I sure did tear up a bit. I was shocked and very happy to say YES! He picked the perfect place and setting it was quite romantic. Thank you and I love you Jody Dale!!!






After watching the sunset and calling our mothers to tell them the exciting news, the excited silly ladies who took our pics returned. They told us that they just couldn't stand it and that we needed more pictures. They explained that they have children our age and how special it was for them to be a part of such a defining time in our lives. They were too cute; Jody couldn't have picked better people to capture such a wonderful moment.

Time Flies

A good friend of mine, Sonya- stopped through Oklahoma City this past weekend on her way to her home town in Belleville, KS. Sonya and I went to OPSU together. (Can't believe we have been out for 4yrs.) We took almost all the same classes our last 2 years there, since we both majored in CIS.

Sonya now lives in Atlanta and I have not seen her in almost 2 years. It was really good to catch up and meet her boyfriend who is traveling with her "to meet the parents". We all met up at a BBQ at one of her friend’s house who also lives here in Okc, then went out down town for a bit. While Sonya was here she finally gave me some photos we took a while back, so I thought it would be fun to post some old pics.

Sonya & I - June 2008 (OKC)

Sonya & I - Dec 2006 (ATL)


Sonya, Karen, & I- New Years 2007 (Downtown Atlanta)


Karen & I - Dec 2006 (ATL Ballpark)


Sonya & Karen - April 2006 (St. Louis -Top of the Arch)


Sonya & I - April 2004 (New Mexico- Sr. Lake Trip)


The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

TAG...I'm It.

I'VE BENN TAGGED BY ALICIA, I AM SLOW TO REPOST, BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

HOW TO PLAY: POST THESE RULES ON YOUR BLOG & COMPLETE. LIST 3 JOYS, 3 FEARS, 3 GOALS, 3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS, & 3 RANDOM OR SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF. TAG 5 PEOPLE AT THE END OF YOUR POST BY LEAVING THEIR NAMES & BY ALL MEANS, HAVE FUN!!

JOYS
1. God
2. My family- esp. my Mom
3. All my great friends who love & support me

FEARS
1. Spiders/ Snakes
2. Car Wrecks
3. Loosing someone I love

GOALS
1. Owning my 1st house- very-very soon :)
2. Working on my Masters
3. Being beyond Happy & Content in every area of my life

OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS
1. The gym- Yes- I am finally going back & on track again
2. I collect pint glasses from anywhere restaurants/bars/souvenir shops...
3. Doing something off my life list or anything new I have never done before!

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MYSELF
1. I am a night owl; I guess I'll never be a morning person, no matter how hard I try or how early I go to bed. :)
2. Edamame is one of my favorite snacks or I can even eat it as a meal.
3. I love quotes! Here is my favorite right now- "Just when you think you have everything figured out, life will always throw you a curve ball- Don't ever throw out your glove." ~Unknown

APRILOLOGY

What is your salad dressing of choice? Balsamic Vinegaret or Ranch
What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
I don't like to eat fast food, but when I do- I like Chick Filet
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Bravo! or Outback
On average how much of a tip do you leave at a restaurant?
Depends on the service...most likely 15 or 20%
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Mexican food
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni or Supreme
What do you like to put on your toast? Cinnamon & Sugar or Grape Jelly

TECHNOLOGY
What is your wallpaper on your computer? A pic of Jody and I
How many televisions are in your house? Two
What kind of cell phone do you have? LG

BIOLOGY
Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? My tonsils
What is the last heavy item you lifted? My purse (ha, ha, ha)
Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
LOL- yes my brother knocked me unconscious when we were young. I believe we were playing catch and I obviously missed and the ball socked me in the stomach.
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No way
If you can change your name to anything what would you change it to?
I don't know, pretty satisfied with my name
What colors look good on you? Red or Yellow, but i like to wear black
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? I don't think so?
Have you ever saved someones life? Not that I know of
Has someone ever saved yours? Many time

DUMBOLOGY
What is in your left pocket? Vitamins i forgot to take this morning
Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
Of course not, but its kinda funny/stupid if your in the right mood
Do you sit or stand in the shower?
Is there options here, because I would love to sit.
Could you live with roommates? Sure- well depends who it is.
How many pairs of flip flops do you own? Way Too Many!!
Last time you had a run-in with the cops? It's been awhile.
What did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher
Last person who called u? Jody
Person you hugged? Courtney

FAVORITOLOGY
Number? 23
Season? Spring
Holiday? Christmas
Day of the week? SATURDAY
Month? May

CURRENTOLOGY
Missing someone? Yes
Listening to? Music from my computer
Watching? Funny E-mails
Worrying about?
You name it...I'll worry about it! I am really trying to work on that :)

RANDOMOLOGY
First place you went this morning? To the shower
Last movie you saw? National Treasure
Do you smile often? Yes
Are you a friendly person? I have my moments:) YES

7 Facts About Me-

I've been tagged by Stephanie, my sister-in-law and new mommy to Teagen!

• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 facts:

1. I have a huge life list that I created last year and keep adding to it. I think there are over 200 items from a hot air balloon ride to eating at Hooters!

2. When I get nervous my feet and/or palms sweat, sometimes even while I'm watching an intense scene in a movie.

3. I love hot Green Tea with Mint (lime green box) I drink a glass almost every night to relax or when i get to work.

4. I created a high/low journal that I write in every day. I started this several years ago, but have not been very consistent till last January. High- What was the best thing that happened today? Low- What was the worst part of your day? Usually a sentence or 2 can sum it up.

5. I’m very uncomfortable with confined spaces and afraid of heights, so you can never talk me into riding the faris wheel at the fair.

6. I attend a bible study every Wed. night called East of Eden. We are doing a Beth Moore study right now called "Living Beyond Yourself", it is amazing!

7. My first purchase this spring will be a bike!

I'm gonna tag...

1. Alicia
2. Ejvis
3. Toby