Where in the World Is Shelly Frantz

Okay, so I know what you’re thinking “This girl is the worst blogger EVER!” Well, I may have missed a few entries, but I’ve been darn busy. Let me show you what’s held me up since February.

This is where I work, and from February to May every year, it is where I eat, sleep, and breathe my 10-12 hour work days. When people ask what I do, it’s hard for me to sum it up with just a job title. Executive Assistant doesn’t really tell you much. I’m not a glorified secretary. I don’t really assist anyone specifically and I have plenty of responsibilities all my own. I can’t claim to be the “bookkeeper” because that’s not the only thing I do. Most of the time, I feel like a jack-of-all-trades; but then again, welcome to association management. So here’s the rundown: besides bookkeeping, I am the staff liaison for the committees that oversee governance (that just means the people who set policy and make sure the others follow it) and the budget, the building and grounds committee, the Board of Trustees and House of Delegates, and I have some pretty big responsibilities at our annual meeting each the spring; I am in charge of logistics for the awards ceremony and the banquet. It’s pretty cool because big dawgs like Jari Askins and Mary Fallin come to these events every year. This year’s banquet was a casual sports theme which was more fun to organize than some of the others which are formal galas.

“A Stage Divided”

That’s me on stage, sporting my Edmond Bulldogs gear, helping the president during rehearsal.

Oh, and…I’m assistant to the Executive Director (whatever that means). I guess Executive Assistant is the title they give you when you don’t really fall into one category. And that, my friends, is what I do.

The Dog Days of Winter

We thought we were past the puppy training stages, but last night Daisy regressed. She walked right over in front of Travis and peed on the rug. I can’t help but think we never really got her trained to begin with. We just assumed she had picked up the habits from the other dogs. So where do we go from here? I know they respond to the authoritative tones of our voices, but I’m not sure they understand what the words “What the hell were you thinking?” mean. I think we have to take responsibility and recognize that she may have never been trained and that maybe we need to spend more time with her. I don’t believe she did it out of spite, so why get angry at her? She needs to be shown what she did and taught that we do not accept it. That is not proper festing behavior. Dogs are very receptive to being trained, but humans can’t assume they are always successful in training. I hope the Frantz's are having more luck with Bella. Don’t worry, Little Dog, we will work with you, but by George, please don’t let it happen again!

Smoke Free - One Year and Counting

It's been one year since I quit smoking. After fifteen years, I finally kicked it for good. It was not an easy feat. I was particularly concerned about my powers of self control while festing with adult beverages. It took several tries and some much needed help from prescription medication, but it was well worth the bizaar dreams and excessive dry mouth and gum chewing. I really never thought I would make it this long.

Nicotene addiction is a very scary, very powerful and evil thing. I pity any person who takes his/her first sample of the dreadful substance. And why would you want to? I am one hundred percent liberated and it feels fantastic. I'm no longer chained to something stronger than me. So cheers to all my fellow triumphant winners! I'm proud of us! Here's to the next year of being smoke free!

While in Mexico on my honeymoon, I saw a pack of cigs with this picture on it. If that aint a wake up call, I don't know what is!

Addicted to Vampires

I must be living in a hole, because I hadn't heard about the Twilight Saga until the movie for the first book came out in November. There are already four books in the series. After that, I started hearing more and more about the books and learned that several people I know were or had already read them. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about, but then again, I don't usually read that type of book and I didn't get into the whole Harry Potter craze either. But the more I heard about it, the more my interest was peaked and one day Travis' Aunt Katy loaned me the first two books in the series. I must admit: I am hooked. Sucked in right down to the very last page. I can't put them down. I highly recommend, although I'm not so sure the story line would interest guys. It's high romantic drama although at times I would question whether it is suitable for teens. It is classified as teen/young adult. There is no foul language, excessive festing, or explicit sex scenes (so far, I'm only half way through the second book), but it has a very steamy plot. I guess the sixteen year old girl isn't technically doing anything wrong by having her 300+ year old vampire boyfriend sleep over in her room every night. He does sleep on top of the covers mind you. At any rate, its a good series. I'm absorbed and I highly recommend it.

Home Owners

2008 was a huge year for us. Not only did we become Mr. and Mrs., but we also became first-time home owners. We bought the house we live in from my parents in November. Who would have thought that when I moved into the house in 2000 I would still be here almost a decade later?! By the end of the year, we had given several rooms a face lift with a fresh coat of paint, minor wood work, new fixtures, hardwood floors and a 50 inch flat screen. It feels like a whole new place. We LOVE it!

Here are a couple before pictures of the living room. Misty is jamming Guitar Hero in front of onlooking Festers.

I Heart NY!

Travis' Aunt Maxine took her two sisters, Debbie and Katy, and her daughter-in-law, Audrey (Chris and Audrey got married this year too), and Yours Truly on a girls trip to New York during the first week in December. It was awesome! If you haven't ever been, put it on your bucket list. Besides the shopping and bazillions of people, there is so much to see and do. I highly recommend going during the holiday season, but beware of the heat. Not outside, but inside the buildings. I do not understand why New Yorkers cannot grasp the concept of climate control, but don't get me started.

Christmas time is a magical, festive time in New York. Everything is sprinkled with twinkling lights, the stores decorate their windows with elaborate scenes, and of course, there's The Radio City Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular. The show was my favorite part of the trip.

We did a lot of shopping, a lot of walking, and I had my first taste of roasted chestnuts (not exactly 'roasting on an open fire').

This is the one and only picture with all of us in it (that wasn't superimposed over a scene of the city). We are outside Macy's at Broadway and 34th Street.

Times Square is a lot like Vegas. Giant scrolling and flashing bursts of color adorn the buildings from top to bottom. There is always something to see and it is very busy. It is the hub of the broadcasting and theatre districts. This is outside the ABC studios. Just seconds after this shot was taken, the scrolling marquee reported that the Sooners' would play for the Big Twelve Championship.

I took this picture of Central Park from the 'Top of the Rock' at Rockefeller Center. It was an amazing view and, from the opposite direction, you can see the Empire State Building.

The Statue of Liberty was a powerful sight, although, much smaller than I had anticipated. It was closed, so we were not able to go inside, but we were able to walk around Liberty Island (which is tiny).

We had a great time, laughed a lot and made memories that will stay with us forever.

Thank you, Maxine!

The Story of Us...So Far

It's kind of old news, but it can't possibly go without mention. On August 2, 2008, I became Mrs. Travis Frantz. How we got here: Travis and I met and became friends our senior year in high school. We remained friends after graduation, but soon drifted our separate ways. In 2002, we reunited and the sparks stated to fly. After five years, we decided to tie the knot. We were engaged a little over a year...and what an exciting year that was. Wedding planning: My friends tried to get me to start blogging during wedding planning, but I was resistant. Now I wish I had. Looking back, it was such a funny time. My goal during the entire process was to keep my cool. Not become Bridezilla. Not lose sight of the real purpose of that special day. Ha! Yeah right. Travis and I met in the middle on most of the decisions and our closest friends and family helped fill in the rest. I must say, it was a lot of fun. There weren't too many hitches and the ball kept rolling. All this fuss over us?: Many of our friends threw us showers and parties throughout the year and we are so grateful. We have a great support system and we appreciate all of you. Travis’ bachelor party was in Dallas and my bachelorette party was in OKC. The guys did typical guy things (that are boring and shouldn’t be put into writing J). The girls dressed me up, pampered me with a pedicure, took me shopping, forced me to play embarrassing games (much like truth or dare, without the truth), and took me dancing. It was so much fun!

The big day: The ceremony was beautiful. The room was filled with twinkle lights dripping from the ceiling and Edgar Cruz played guitar. It was perfect. One minor little detail was the heat. OMG it was so freaking hot. Interestingly, the facility owner wanted to charge us more to run the A/C in the room we used, since it was a different room from where the reception was held. That may have been a valid point if it actually cooled the place down. Everyone was melting. Sorry about that, folks. We tried to keep it brief.

Festing: Of course, the wedding ceremony was about us, but Travis and I wanted the reception to be about EVERYONE. We brought in a band from Houston, laid out an enormous spread of food, and served up a drink menu customized for the occasion. Almost three hundred of our friends and family members came to Guthrie. The band told us they play a lot of weddings and there are never as many people on the dance floor as there was at ours. Thanks to everyone who travelled the distance, endured the heat, stayed to see Travis Bon Jovi take over the mic, and helped make it the time of our lives.

Incidentally: We have 150 CDs of music we love for anyone who passed them up thinking they were DVDs of the photo slideshow. We know we’re cute, but we don’t expect all our guests to want to pop in a DVD of our entire lives and watch it when they get bored. Geez, people! Let us know if you want one. :)

The after party: The reception closed down at 11:00 p.m. but the festivities didn’t end there. The band, with the help of the groomsmen and ushers, hauled all their equipment down the street and set up at the local bar to play an encore. The celebration went on into the wee hours of the morning and fun was had by all.