Tag Archives: Ryan

Planning the big day!

Wedding planning is a ton of FUN!  I’m sure I’m driving Ryan completely crazy, but he’s hanging in there.  Our wedding is just around the corner, so our evenings are spent either house hunting (yes, we’re trying to move too!), picking music/catering/cakes/etc.  There is so much that goes into making a wedding personal.  I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve as well!  We have secured the venue (The historic Lancaster Theater in Grapevine, TX), bought the dress, picked the ceremony playlist, and determined a “run of show” for the big day!  There are so many resources available online to help plan your perfect wedding.  One of my favorites was recommended to me by my friend Ashley (she’s the one who introduced me and Ryan two years ago).  Here’s the link and my “inspiration” for our vintage ranch – chic wedding.  We are also hand making each invitation (now everyone will have their own “boyfriend art”), I should have a pic to post soon!  Happy Wedding!

We’re Engaged!

Last night I came home from work, pulled into the garage and hanging from the ceiling was a huge diamond ring (Ryan installs exterior signs for a living – he probably snagged this from a Helzberg, Bailey Banks in Biddle, or something…).  I thought for sure he was pranking me.  Nope.  I walk in the house and there are dozens of flowers and candles all over the place.  He had music playing and a glass of wine ready for me.  I was speechless.  I could tell he was super nervous and excited!  On the kitchen table was a pile of about 50 ring boxes.  Each box had a small piece of paper that said something he loved about me and our relationship, and each box made me cry (tears of happiness of course!):

Then, I opened up a box with a real sparkly diamond ring!  He took it out of my hands, got down on one knee, I accidentally gave him my right hand, we both laughed.  Then, the popped the question! Obviously I said yes.

We went to celebrate at the Farinas Winery in Grapevine!  Such a wonderfully romantic evening!  Now the planning begins!

My Bed vs. Hotel Bed

Today, I made a quick trip to Kansas City.  Left Dallas at 8:10 am, and am now leaving KC at 3:10…that gets me HOME by 4:30.  These days trips are the way to go.  Here’s why:

My Bed:

Has my funny cat, my FULL sized beauty products, a reasonably priced bottle of wine, my DVR, a boyfriend, and of course my blankie.

A Hotel Bed:

Has none of the above.

The choice is simple.  If I can do my outta town biz in one quick trip, I do.  It saves money and sanity!

P.s. Kansas City, and the people here were fantastic!  Thanks for having me : )  Enjoy happy hour tonight!

What’s Ahead in August

Yay!  August is here (my least favorite month)!  A few exciting things on the horizon…

I will be giving a Social Media presentation to the National Agri-Marketing Association Bootcamp on Aug. 19.  I’m excited for many reasons. 1.) I love sharing what I know about Social Media and online communications 2.) I love farmers/ranchers…also known as Ryan (creator of Boyfriend Art and owner of the Longhorn featured at the top of my blog).

Toward the end of August I will be speaking at the Gravity Summit at Harvard. Again, excited about the topic and people involved.  Hopefully I’ll get a pic with MC Hammer and get to take a Boston Ghost Tour!

I’ll be sure to do a complete wrap-up of the experiences here on the blog.   See ya laters gators!

They Call It Work For a Reason

I love my job.  It requires a lot of time and passion.  Sometimes I complain about working long hours, the people I work with, or the meetings I have to sit through.  Then, the second I get home and see Ryan covered in sweat, face red, hands cut up, and so exhausted he can hardly speak…I realize, what in the world am I complaining about?  You see, where I work, I am thanked NONSTOP for the hours I put in.  My bosses reward me with gift cards, half days off, and lunches out at cool Dallas restaurants.  My team understands one another and actually WANTS to hang out after work (today we went to Lee Harvey’s).

Ryan’s job requires a ton of manual labor, outside, seven days a week!  They aren’t giving him a special parking spot for being a “star”, his bosses surely aren’t giving him any credit for the company’s recent success, and he still goes to work every morning with a decent attitude.

I guess the point of this post, as I sit here listening to him working on our sprinklers  (yes, it’s almost 10pm), is that “working too much” is in the eye of the beholder.  What to me seems like a miserable job, to him…it’s a dream not to have to work in a cube, or bring work home.  He sees me checking in after hours, and he is thrilled that all he has to do is show up, do the work, and get paid.

His hard work is paying off though…more on that later : )  For now, I am tired, Jack Bauer woke me up last night at 4:30am because there was a bug in his food bowl (I don’t blame him, I’d be upset too)!

Signing off with one of the best quotes I heard today “If everything is important, nothing is.”

Making Art

So we set up shop at the Vineyards on Sunday.  Today I got word that the two pieces of “Original Boyfriend Art” had sold!  Woohoo!  That’s great!  So Ryan is hard at work, being artistic tonight….creating more art!  I snuck out to the garage and shot a few pics of him in action!

Ryan Mixing PaintRyan Painting