Ryder Vance Cooley

On June 22, Ryder Vance Cooley decided to finally make his appearance in the world!  Mackenzie was spending the weekend with me when I got some text messages from Emilee letting me know that I would be loading up in the car as soon as MPH woke up and heading to Fort Smith to see the family!  If you know me, you know how much I love my sleep, MPH and Penelope seem to take after me in that aspect! (:

While waiting at the hospital, Dean and Mackenzie made sure to keep everyone entertained! I mean, how could you not be with these two kiddos? (:

This is one of my favorite pictures that we took while at the hospital! Dean LOVES his cousin and this was such a sweet moment!

FINALLY we were able to go back to Emilee's room and I got to meet my sweet, newest nephew, Ryder Vance Cooley! What a sweetheart!

Nan & Mal Visit Europe: Days 11-14

My mom and I ended our European adventure with some relaxing at Buckingham Palace - one of my favorite places in London.  Luckily for us, it was a gorgeous evening and it wasn't very crowded so we were able to sit in St. James' Park. 

It was nice to have a bit of a break at the end of our trip!  I loved getting to show my mom around Europe and we have already begun planning our next adventure!

Xo

I Did It!

 What an exciting weekend it has been!  I finally graduated from the University of Tulsa with my Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology.  It has been such a long journey and I can not believe that it is all over with!

As a graduation gift from my mom, I got a brick with my name and graduation year on it!

One thing that I am going to miss the most about TU is the GORGEOUS view of the McFarlin Library.  This building was the final point of persuasion when I was trying to decide where to go to school.  It is so gorgeous and I love looking at it!

Sarah and I went to the Final Bell Ringing in the middle of campus.  The ringing of the bell is one of the oldest traditions at TU (you can see the bell behind me).  Once you take your last final and are about to graduate, you go ring the bell as a way to show that you have finished.

We did it!! We finished!!! This is Sarah and I at graduation!  We were so proud of ourselves for making it through and getting to wear our hoods!

These two people are the reason that I am where I am today and who I am today.  I am so thankful for my parents.  They do so much for me and have been through so much with me.  I am more thankful for them than I could begin to describe! 

 Now I can say that I am a University of Tulsa alumni!  Go Canes!

New Adjustments

On April 29, I got a new man in my life, and he sure is something!  Sweet Turner graced us all with his presence after teasing us with his arrival for about 2-3 weeks!  I am so glad that he is finally here!  He is so sweet and Mackenzie is so proud of her baby brother!  It's so adorable!

The first weekend in May was a big one for my parents and me.  We moved all of my stuff out of my apartment in Tulsa and into my new home in Russellville.  I am so excited about my new place!  I love everything about it!  I even have my own office! (:  Penelope has been with my parents for the past few weeks while I have been in the moving process (it has been a long one) and she gets here tomorrow.  I can't wait for her to check out our new home!  There will be so many windows for her to look out of and birds to chatter at.  I love visitors so anyone and everyone are ALWAYS welcome to pop in to say hello!!

Last night we had a party with all of the girls in my program to celebrate the end of our graduate school experience.  It was so much fun!  One of the girls is from Tulsa so her parents graciously welcomed all 19 crazies in to their home to eat, drink, play croquet and badminton, and talk about all of the fun times we have had over the past two years.

One person that I am beyond blessed to have met in graduate school is my best friend, Sarah.  I honestly don't know how I would have survived graduate school without this amazing friend.  We spent so many hours studying, preparing, planning, and it is all over with!  I can't wait to see the next chapter!

Brittany was the first friend that I made in my program and I am so thankful for her!  We both would not have made it through our first semester without each other!

I can't believe that graduate school is already over!  The past two years have been a busy, stressful, and crazy two years but I wouldn't change any of it.  Well, other than maybe studying a little bit more and procrastinating a little bit less! (:

Xx

Exciting News!

I have some very exciting news!  Starting in May, I will be living in Russellville and working in the Russellville/Clarksville area as a contract CF speech pathologist.  I am so excited to have the opportunity to be doing what I love and with the population that I love.

This past weekend, I bought my very first vehicle!  My parents and I went to look at possible cars since I would be needing a good, reliable one come this summer.  One thing led to another and I ended up signing the papers before leaving the dealership.  I bought a 2014 Toyota 4Runner and I cannot even put in to words how much I love it!  I find myself just staring out the window at my car - I'm not even kidding...I found myself doing that today at work during a meeting! Haha!  But seriously, the car is AMAZING and I am so happy with it! I definitely could have purchased a more gas-friendly vehicle but I fell in love with it!

I hope that everyone is having an amazing Spring so far! The weather has been amazing here in Tulsa and I am so happy about it! Penelope and I love the winter, but boy are we enjoying the sunshine!

Xx

Outside of the Bubble

I apologize for my lack of blog posts.  Life has been ridiculously out of control.  But I am going to try and make up for it.  (Please forgive me for my pictures being scrambled)

On August 10, my parents and I woke up early (for me) and we hit the road for Tulsa, Oklahoma.  We got all of my stuff loaded in to a Uhaul and we hit the road!

 I already miss seeing this every morning when I leave.

 Yes, I know I shouldn't have been doing this while I was driving but I couldn't help but take a picture.

 Here is my new home!  I am really excited about where I am living for the next two years.  My apartment complex is so so nice and it is in excellent shape and the best part, as you all know how I lack in being on time for things, I live exactly one block from the speech pathology building.

 Here is my living room! (:  Doesn't it look cozy?

 The view of downtown Tulsa from the library in the middle of campus!

 Such a gorgeous walk.

 Here is my bathroom.  I normally wouldn't put a picture of it up but I am proud of my work.  I actually redid the little cabinet/table things and I am so in love with the picture of the Arkansas State Capital that was taken by my friend John Morgan.

 The other part of my living room.  I also have to say something about the GORGEOUS painting on the wall that my cousin, Anja, painted for me.  It is probably my favorite thing in my apartment!

 My bedroom (which is still not finished).

 The other part of my living room.

Well, there is the tour of where I will be living for the next two years.  I don't have much else to update on except that I started classes today.  I am anxious about the semester even though I already know that it is going to seriously kick my butt.  Well, it is time for school age language disorders so that's all for now! (:

Graduation

On Saturday,  May 12, at 9:30 a.m. OBU's 125th graduation ceremony and my first graduation ceremony!  This was such an exciting weekend!! Unfortunately, I am going to miss all of my friends so much!!

These first pictures are ones of my friends and I.  The top left is me and my friend Zac.  Zac and I have been friends since freshman year.  The top right one is my friend Brock and I.  I am seriously going to miss him.  The bottom left is Whitley and I.  We have been friends since kindergarten.  We also dropped out of high school together and we both graduated college together! (: We overcame the drop out statistics and we got higher education!  Woo Hoo!!  The bottom right is my cousin Clinton and I. 

 This group of pictures is of my family.  I am so blessed to have the family that I do and I am so thankful for all that they do for me and it meant so much to me that they were there for my graduation.  The top left picture is of my parents and I.  My parents have done more for me than I could ever tell you.  They are amazing.  That's really all there is to say about it!  The top right picture is of my sweet precious niece.  This was my favorite part of my day.  As I walked off of the stage, she ran to congratulate me!  It was so cute! (:  The bottom picture is of me with all of my family that were able to attend my graduation!  If you can't tell, I had a lot of family present and it meant so much to me! (:

 Here are some more pictures from graduation.  The top left photo is of my immediate family and I.  My dad, brother, mom and brother-in-law are on the back row.  Then it's my brother-in-law, sister, me, my niece, sister and my nephew.  I love them all so much!  The top right photo is of my niece and I.  If you can't tell, Mackenzie loved holding my diploma!  Ha ha  The bottom left photo is of my cousin Molly Anne, me, my grandmother and my cousin Laura Leigh.  I love all three of them and I am so happy that they were ab;e to be there.  The bottom right photo is my friend Kurt and I.  I am going to miss him a lot!

 These photo's are my graduation gifts that I received from my family!  From my grandmother, I got a Michael Kors watch.  It's Rose Gold and absolutely gorgeous.  I have to get it fixed (it's too big), but I can't wait to wear it!! (:  The top right photo is the necklace that my sisters and brother-in-laws got me.  I have actually been wanting a necklace like this since last summer.  They got the lady who made it to put the heart over where Arkadelphia is in the state.  I absolutely love it.  The bottom right photo is a picture of one of the gifts that my mother got me.  If you know me at all, you know that I am in love with Taylor Swift.  So, she got me her new perfume, Wonderstruck.

I have such a wonderful family and I am so blessed that so many of them were able to be a part of my special weekend!  I love each and every one of them!