Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year from the Nations!  May 2011 bring you joy, happiness, and laughter!!

Keep Calm and....

I made a post yesterday for our big Bowl Game and I happened to stumble across the history of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters.  Basically, the posters were created by the British government to "raise the morale of the British public under the threat of impending invasion" at the beginning of World War II.  But it wasn't used and was re-discovered in 2000 and now I see them EVERYWHERE (especially on blogs). 

I was really surprised by the reaction of the poster I made yesterday.  One true domestic diva, suggested I create free downloads of the posters for others to print.  I made some edits to my original poster, and I feel the ones below are more true to the original "Keep Calm" poster. 

I tried to create some that were just white letters so you could print them on colored paper, but that didn't work.  So I apologize in advance for all of the ink you may use up. 

Cowboys:

Sooners:  (because I'm such a good friend)

Razorbacks:

How to print them out: Click on the image once and it will take you to another screen where the image is by itself. Click on it again to get it at full resolution. Right-click and save it to your computer. It is an 8 x 10 document that you can print at home or through your favorite photo-printing website.

Hope you enjoy!!

And if you have have an idea of another sign, please let me know and I will do my best to create it for you!  That's just how we roll at "A State of a Nation." 

Keep Calm and Cowboy On

Our Cowboys have a big Bowl game this evening...  So it got me thinking about my Alma mater.  What I love most about Oklahoma State is our fans.  We are not fair-weather or band-wagon.  Cowboys are in it for the long-haul.  Loyal and true to the very end.  Do we lose?  Sure.  Do we still booze?  You bet!

Go Pokes!! 

Random Wednesday

It's another Wednesday, gentle readers!  Time for Random Wednesday...

1. I don't have patience for anything.  I often read the last pages of books and go to movie spoiler websites.  I just don't want to wait and find out.

2. The thing I have the least patience for would have to be food.  Mr. Nation says I become a different person when I'm hungry.  I can only imagine it's something like this to an outsider:



3. I am constantly craving Chili's queso.  When I was in high school, I was convinced they put something in it to make you crave it.  I'm now convinced that "something" is crack.  I can't imagine wanting something more.

4.  I'm just kidding.  Crack is whack.  But I'm not kidding about the queso.  It's so darn good!  (ps Chili's is NOT paying me to make these comments.  They are from the heart and stomach).

5. I have a weird thing with odd numbers.  I like to eat things in do numbers, do things in odd numbers, etc.  For instance, it's still bothering me that last week's Random Wednesday only had 4 items.  I had a 5th, but inserting the video messed it up.  I'm still learning this blog stuff...

That's all for this Wednesday!  Have a great rest of your day!!

Yes, No, Please, Thank You

Reading Miss Holliday's blog, I got to thinking today about manners.  Manners are more than just saying "yes," "no," "please," and "thank you."  It's being a nail tech and not asking your client "when she has baby?"  It makes that client feel fat for not being "with child" at the present time and old for some reason.  It's walking out of an office building and not letting the door slam in the person behind you's face.  ("behind you's face" -- is that even correct grammar??  I can't think of another way to say it, so we're leaving it as is)

Because everyone's had hurt feelings...


Hurt Feelings from Brian Kessler on Vimeo.

That was a silly song, but everyone has felt that way at one time or another.  Manners are more than just words.  It's being a considerate person.  Realizing that you are not the only one on this planet.  So just think next time, because it's always important to "be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle."

Or you can just stop being a jerk.  That works too.

Ask Mrs. Nation

Happy Monday, gentle readers!  I hope each of you had a wonderful Holiday weekend!  The Nations sure did!  Although we agreed not to do gifts this year, Mr. Nation surprised me with this:

You know you're getting older when a Kitchen Aid mixer is your Christmas-gift-come-true. 

On to the purpose of the post...  I've been getting a lot of questions on the Blog, so I figured since it was the end of the month it would be a good time for a segment I like to call "Ask Mrs. Nation."  Some of these questions are about me, and since I have a Master's in Counseling, some of my readers have asked questions for themselves. 

Dear Mrs. Nation:
Christmas was this weekend, and my boyfriend got me a gift I did NOT want.  What he got me is very nice, but just not what I asked for.  What should I do? 
Scarlett in Sacramento

Dearest Scarlett:
My advice to you would be to be happy with your gift and ask for what you really wanted again the next Holiday.  As I always like to say "it could always be worse."  Your boyfriend could have gotten you something very ugly that you would have been forced to wear every time you see your boyfriend.  Better luck next Holiday, Scarlett.
Yours Sincerely, Mrs. Nation
 
Dear Mrs. Nation,
What is the most difficult part about being married?
Mammy in Miami

Dearest Mammy:
While it is not a movie I would normally reference, "The Break Up" says it quite nicely:

The Break-Up - Argument About Doing Dishes | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Expectations.  That is the hardest part in any relationship.
Yours Sincerely, Mrs. Nation

That is all for this segment of "Ask Mrs. Nation." Start submitting your questions for next month's. 

Have a wonderful rest of your Monday, gentle readers!

Random Wednesday

1. I'm jealous of couples with the same first name initials. (ex: Anna and Andrew)
2. I like it when people name their children Duggar-style. (Jamie, Jimmy, Johnny, JoAnn, etc.).
3. Bonus points if the parents also have that first name initial.
4. I often "talk" for our dogs and I know think others might find it odd.

My impression of Cooper sounds something like Mr. Narwhal:

That's all for now!  Have a wonderfully Random Wednesday!

Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk

... and I have.  Literally.  Not only am I overly sensitive.  I'm a huge worrier.  I feel like I've been worrying a lot more lately.  Big things, small things, and everything in between.  Maybe it's just a sign of getting older.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Thanks, Uncle Ben!

Real Housewives of OKC

I really enjoy the Real Housewives on Bravo.  The only one I didn't watch was New York (which I hear is everyone's favorite).  I just couldn't get into it.  I only watched 1/2 of an episode but I never found a RH I could really relate to.  I digress...  I am really getting into the most recent RH, the women of Beverly Hills.

Taylor, on the left is from the Tulsa-area.  Believe it or not, most women from Oklahoma do not look like this:

Our eyebrows are much more well-groomed.  Just kidding.  But really, thousands of dollars in plastic surgery and you won't get your eyebrows trimmed before a big premier?  She was probably spending too much time picking out her "rancher" husband's shirts.  I say "rancher" because though that's what Taylor claims him to be, her husband looks as much of a rancher as I am a shoe-in for a RH of Atlanta.  But Taylor really did show Oklahoma at it's best when she told Kim she would "take her out back and pull some Oklahoma on your ass."  I'm not really sure what that means, but it sounds about right coming from an Oklahoman on television.

My best friend and I were talking this week about what it would be like if there were a Real Housewives of Oklahoma.  (We realize this is not possible because we are still waiting on the Real World Dallas that never happened, but it's still fun to dream).  Instead of trips to Vegas and Cabo, the women of OKC would be filmed going to OU/Texas.

We do have many things that some of the other seasons have filmed: an NBA team, fancy boutiques, fashion shows for the fancy boutiques, country clubs, cocktail parties, cocktail parties at the country club, and more.

I think the main reason the RH will never come to Oklahoma isn't because we don't have enough wealthily, pretty housewives who have their own charities.  It'd be because we really are as nice as we seem.  There won't be near enough drama for any one to want to tune in.  And we really want to keep up our image for when the next tornado comes through and the toothless Oklahomans get on the National news.  We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea.

Sunshine Cleaning

I like to remember a time before I was married, when I was really domestic.  A single home-owning girl living on her own.  Cleaning house weekly and taking names.  Somehow after a year of marriage, the upkeep of our home has completely gone by the waste side.  I blame Mr. Nation 80%.  20% of the blame goes to our black lab:

Yes, you, Cooper.  I don't know how you have any fur left because it's all on my wood floor.  

Mr. Griffin gets no blame because 1) he is just so darn cute.  2) his fur is white and only shows up on the black yoga pants I wear when I want to look like I just worked out 

 

This lack of cleaning by the Nations leads to a dramatic breakdown by Mrs. Nation at the slightest chance of company.  It goes something like this:

Mrs. Nation: When are you coming home?

Mr. Nation: Soon, I'm in the middle of something.

Mrs.: Me too.  Cleaning our house.  It won't clean itself and I can't do it on my own.  I'm really starting to freak out.  I can't live like a frat boy anymore.  This has to change....

I know at this point Mr. Nation is really looking forward to coming home.

I always feel better after the house is cleaned and things are in their "place."  I then usually make some sort of comment about how much better it looks and it shouldn't be this hard to make it stay this way.  And it does stay that way.  For about another day or two.  Then it slips back to Nu Alpha Tau Iota Omega Nu.  

2 dogs + one man boy + 1200 sq ft = no space to hide our crap.  This is reason number one why the Nations should move into a bigger house.  And then I will hire a house cleaner.  The American Dream.  

And away we go...

I've been a frequent "blog stalker" for quite some time now, so I thought I'd take the time to create my own.  I'm not sure how interesting my life will be to anyone else, but I'll give it a shot.  So, away we go...