R&R Days 8-15

On with the recap of our amazing R&R.....(check out the first 7 days HERE) Bare with me, apparently I'm really chatty tonight and feel like giving lots of detail haha.

Day 8: On Wednesday I decided to go to work.  In the meantime, I sent Ricky on a mission with Shane, his best man, to pick out his tux.  I wanted him to do this so all the other groomsmen and ushers could get theirs fitted and ordered while he was gone, just in case he got home later than expected.  At one point I was having nightmares he wouldn't come home until the end of May and there would be no tuxes! Oh the horror!!! haha So just in case, I had him go ahead and pick out what he wanted.  I won't share just yet, but they will look amazing and Ricky is super excited about them.  That  night we went over to Ricky's aunt and uncles house for dinner and to spend time with family.  The best part is all the little children! There's Ellie Kate (Ricky's sister) who is almost 4, the Jude who is almost 3, and little Presley who is almost 9 months.  The can entertain you all night long!

Ellie Kate riding the horse

Day 9:  Thursday morning we were both bums.  I don't remember what Ricky was doing (watching sports center I'm sure, or checking his fantasy football teams) but I was paying bills and working on my budget.  Fun huh haha.   We were scheduled for our final cake tasting at 1 but no one was there, and no one answered the phone either.  So we just left.  We went straight to the mall, because we had to finish coordinating our engagement pic outfits!! Ricky found his stuff much quicker than I did, but no surprise there.  My best friend, Meredith, came over after we got home to curl my hair.  She's excellent with hair, especially mine since it will not  hold curl at all.  After she finished making me all beautiful, we headed to Camp Loughridge for our pictures! We had an amazing time and Ricky got to meet our wedding photographer finally. If you are now thinking, didn't they already take engagement pics?? Yes we sure did, but this session came with the wedding package I picked out.  Plus, who doesn't love professional pics?  After our pictures, we finally had a date night! I wanted to take Ricky to the restaurant of his choosing to celebrate his belated birthday and every other holiday we're going to miss while he's gone.  His choice? Red Rock Canyon Grill of course haha.  We ate and ate and ate until we couldn't eat anymore.  It was a wonderful date night, with no cell phones or sports lol.

Sneak peak of our engagement pics

My cute hair thanks to Meredith!

Day 10:  Friday was another relaxing day for me :) I got up and went to Bootcamp while Ricky went to run some errands.  He stayed out most of the afternoon so I had some good quality time with my couch haha.  At about 5:00 we headed out to OKTOBERFEST! Ricky loves Oktoberfest and last year was my first time to go.  We had people meeting us but there wouldn't be there till about 6:30, so what do you do to waste time?? Drink beer, what else! Ricky introduced me to a really good German beer that has become a favorite of mine.   We had a great time dancing and singing in the big tent!

Ricky, Jeff, and Shane

tiki taki tiki taki, oye oye oye!!!

Day 11: Saturday was one super busy day.  We got up and ready with the intention of leaving town by 9:30, however that didn't happen and we didn't leave until about 10:30.  We were headed, eventually to Norman, and since we were halfway we called up my parents and they met us in OKC so they could see Ricky for just a couple of hours.  So we got to my aunt's house about 1:00, to eat lunch and watch the rest of the OSU Cowboys football game.  At about 3:00 we headed to Norman to meet his friends at Ricky's favorite eating place in Norman, Rudy's.  It's a BBQ place.  After eating, we headed to campus (where we walked 3 miles trying to find these people) and eventually to the OU football game.  A thunderstorm came through right as the game was about to kick off, so it was postponed for almost 2 hours.  So we sat under the stadium to keep dry until it started.  After the game finally started, it was FREEZING! The game didn't turn out so well for Ricky's team.  But I didn't say one unkind work :) The game didn't finish until about 12:30, we didn't get to our car and out on the highway until 1:30, then we couldn't find a hotel room, so we ended up driving to Pauls Valley and finally bedtime at 3:00 AM.  It was one long night. I somehow didn't take one picture on this day....how did that happen???
Day 12: You might be wondering why we didn't go back to Tulsa after the OU game.....well we had tickets to the DALLAS COWBOYS GAME SUNDAY!! We got up and drove straight to the stadium.  This is our second Dallas Cowboy game and I'm really hoping it will be a continued tradition :) Ricky splurged and got us the club seats and they were sure nice! The club section have their own level with their own bar and food.  And the seats are cushy ;)    The cowboys had a good game (they played the Rams who are terrible this season) but it was nice to see them win.

Our amazing seats!

Ricky's BBQ beef nachos

After the football game, we walked right by the Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers.  They just so happened to be playing game 4 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals!!! Ricky was so close to buying tickets but we didn't and headed to our hotel for dinner to watch it on TV.

Day 13: We spent the whole day in Dallas.  I finally convinced Ricky to go check out Ikea! And he of course fell in love the second he walked in.  Totally going back there once we get our own place together.  To kill some time we stopped at this pub called The Ginger Man to watch the start of Game 5.  Then we met my good friend Kathryn and her husband for dinner at a really good pizza place.

My dream kitchen we found in Ikea

Day 14: On Tuesday we got up and drove to Ada, where Ricky's grandparents live, so he could spend some time with them.  It was nice to see them.  By the time we got back to Tulsa it was about 8:00 and we stopped by his parents for some dessert.  His mom made an amazing apple pie, Ricky's favorite.
Day 15: I had to work one more day, so while I went to work, Ricky went to play one last round of golf.  Once I got off work we went for our last dinner together at Los Cabos, he had to fit in one more mexican meal before he left.  Then we had to take his clothes back to his friends house for storage.  Our last evening was quiet.  Neither of us said much.
Leaving Day:  Goodbye's are always tough and no one ever wants to experience them.  Again, not much was said that morning as we were getting ready and packing up all his stuff.  I was afraid if I opened my mouth I would lose it.  I was trying my hardest to keep it together.  Once we got to the airport, they gave me a pass to go through security so I could go back to the gate with Ricky.  By the time we got to the gate though, his flight was already boarding.  Which was probably a good thing. Not much time to linger.  We gave each other a hug and a kiss and he said he'll see me soon and he loved me.  It wasn't until he turned around and walked toward the gate that I lost it.  The tears were already rolling down my face (as they are now as I'm reliving this).  I didn't stay, I walked back out to his truck and stayed there until I could regain my composure.  The rest of the day for me was a blur.

I snapped this pic right before he got on the plane.

It was a fantastic 15 days, probably the best I've ever had.  As of now, he is scheduled to be home some time in March.  So there are 4 months to go.  And then hopefully I will never have to say goodbye for this length of time again.