Dana Marie

Where I've been is where I'm going?

2012-02-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Long time no post I know.

The past year has kind of been.... well it's been.

I spent a lot of time at home, alone.

I helped with John Paul's aging grandparents for a time, then grandpa's time was over. I treasure that time I spent with him. I feel like I knew his grandpa more than I knew my own. I wasn't scared of him. He told me stories of the way things were. He told me that he cared about me. I never had that from a grandpa before.

I spent time cleaning for a friend. It was nice to have a "job."

John Paul appreciates the house being clean, bills being paid, and cupboards and fridge being full.

I find joy in taking care of the house. Being a housewife is an important role. I had a job for a few weeks, and it was hard to spend time with John Paul because the time we would have spent together I had to do all the things I would have done during the day.

John Paul transferred with work, so we are living in Broken Arrow, just outside Tulsa. I'm excited for the change, but he started back to work this week, and I'm feeling blue.

Do I find a "real" job to make money? Do I stay at home and be lonely and, not going to deny it, bored? Do I volunteer and be socially and mentally stimulated but make no money?

God has a plan for my life. He has a reason for my being alive. I'm seeking His face, but I have no idea. I want it to be clear and man, how many more days do I have to sit in this new house crying waiting to hear from Him?

I'm so blessed that I don't have to have a job today. There aren't a stack of bills waiting to be paid. I'm blessed that John Paul can cover our responsibilities. I feel a little bad for being so upset about not knowing what I "should" do with with my life.

Snow Day!!

2011-02-01T17:11:00.001-08:00

Houston is forcast to get .25 inches of snow. There's a drift in front of the house that's got to be close to 2 feet deep now. O the joys of home! John Paul and I've been home all day and loved every minute!

We moved!

2011-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, December was a very exciting month, and it feels like life might be back to a normal speed.

John Paul started a new position in OKC as a field engineer. So he's been doing training and I think he's enjoying it. It's not being trapped in a cubicle!

I got to pack the house while he went to OK to start working. With help from our wonderful Houston friends helped in the packing up.

I did a reconnaissance mission to find a place to live in OKC, and then JP, our dads, and I went and got the house packed up. We moved stuff in the weekend before Christmas. I had a few days to unpack, then we went home for awhile for Christmas. John Paul figured out that 4 vacation days gave him almost 2 weeks off with the days they were given off to make up for the holiday being on the weekend. It was so nice to spend time at home!

We came back and worked really hard unpacking and cleaning, and had "The Group" over for New Years. We really missed them while we were gone.

I've been looking for a job and keeping things sparkly around here, hoping to find something interesting soon!

I'm planning on posting pictures of the house soon, but I don't know where the time went today. I've got a few things to do before JP gets home from work!

packing up, headed out

2010-12-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't posted in a long time. It's been a pretty stressful time around here. Long complicated story mad uber short: John Paul got transferred to a job in OKC. He found out a week before he was supposed to be there, so he packed for a week, and I'm packing this week.

This is a blessing we've been praying for for a while. We thought we were city people, but we aren't there's no where you can go to get away from people, without driving for hours, and we miss friends at home. Though, we have made some friends here!

So, I guess my 10 minute break from boxes has ended (I was reading stuff first) So packing here I come.

Knitting fun!

2010-10-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've been doing lately. I'd been working on knitting the quilt since about March, and told myself I needed to get it finished before Christmas knitting. I'm making the sock monkey for my niece. This is one outfit, and I've started a dress. I have the patterns for a set of pants, another shirt and dress, and 2 cardigans. So, we will see how much wardrobe there is actually finished by December! I'm also knitting some koozies for friends, and a set of cool desk accessories that will make her cube feel like a tropical isle! If I have time, I also got some knittable market bags, but those are on the bottom of the list since I'm not sure who I'd give them to.

Pistol Pete

2010-09-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

I miss him. I've never been one for school spirit, but man college was awesome. I miss the oceans of orange and seeing this scruffy guy on everyone's tee shirt.

I've actually been following football! I never went to a game while at school, because I thought it was just a buncha guys wearing big shoulder pads and tight pants. Now I realize what I missed out on. To be a part of a group cheering for the same end. I did go to a basketball game though.

Sorry Jen, I know you'd probably rather see that silly schooner, but I've been jonesing for some Pistol Pete. So I had to share his cute mug!

This Month

2010-09-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

So, I've made 2 cakes lately. One for a going away party for a co-worker and the other (which I didn't post a picture of) for a bachelorette party. That cake turned out awesome, but I didn't think it was quite appropriate to post lol. I've been to 2 bachelorette parties, and one wedding for those pretty ladies. I'm not so good at taking pictures, so only one bachelorette is pictured, and I didn't think of the camera at the wedding. So, of our Houston friends, 2 sets got married on consecutive weekends. We only went to one wedding as the other was in Colorado. Love is so wonderful isn't it?

Love makes us do things like the front hair poof, which I'm trying to hide in the picture with John Paul. He saw some girl with the hairdo and asked me to try it. I did, and felt ridiculous. O well, the picture was taken at an Astros Baseball game. We had really awesome seats just behind home plate right below the press boxes. A foul ball hit on the stairs 2 rows below us and ricocheted down below. It was fun, but that was the most notable adventure of the evening.

The pictures below are from the Forbidden Garden, which is a replica of the tomb where the terra cotta warriors were discovered, and a replica of the forbidden city. It was an interesting day. Lots of Chinese history done up really small :)

Other noteworthy things, well highlights really on the trip to the wedding we ate at Braum's twice and I'm working on loosing weight. Over the last 3 weeks I've lost 8 pounds. I weighed the most I've ever weighed and decided I wanted my close to actually fit me again. So here's to keep trying!

Visit home

2010-09-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, last week I had the opportunity to have several days off, and I took it! I went home to visit. John Paul didn't have the time off, so he hung out here. He told me it was nice to be alone, but he was glad when I came back. He's pretty sweet when he wants to be.

The trip home was great (no I didn't take pictures, I don't know why). I got to eat at Braum's. No one makes milkshakes, french fries, or burgers like Braum's!! I visited lots of lovely family and friends. I got to listen to good radio, drive on 2 lane highways, randomly bump into people I knew, have a conversation while blocking both lanes of a dirt road, and be encouraged by lots of people that love me!

It was so good to meet up with everyone I'd been missing so long. It's funny, I think talking about being happy with what's going on in the here and now came up with everybody. Going home was nice, and I didn't want to come back to Houston, but I feel so much better about being here in Houston. I may not run into someone who knows my name while I'm out and about, or get hugs from anyone but John Paul, but I can live here and be ok. Which is such a blessing, because for such a long time I thought I would scream if we couldn't move somewhere nicer, smaller, closer to people we know and 100 other things that Houston isn't. We have lovely friends here, which I'm so thankful for. That helps most of all with being ok.

I had such awesome ideas of how I was going to convey the awesome mental refreshing that I had visiting OK, but somehow it was so much more awesome in my head on the long drive home. O well.

clearing out the camera

2010-08-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I always take a buncha pictures, and rarely put them on the computer. But, I emptied the camera out and am sharing a few!

We've went to several pool parties at a friend's house, so I got a poolside shot of JP.

We went down to the Battleship Texas with my parents, so there's a few shots of that. John Paul was trying to decide how to get that big shell home with no one noticing... don't worry, it's still there ;)

John Paul's employer has a group for new people to the company called Endeavor. They get together for social networking and this year celebrated the 3rd birthday of the group, so that meant a party! We had a blast at Dave and Busters!! I thought John Paul looked like he was having fun blowing that stupid favor in my face!

Gentle nudge

2010-08-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

So, I was told I haven't been blogging. Which I realized was true when I looked and my last post was about my kidney stone. I've sat down many times to put my thoughts out there, but they always seem too radical, too whiney, too personal too boring or any other number of things, not to mention would people even care? Since I've gotten a couple of comments, I'll see what I can do about catching you up. (This might be long, but I'm going with you asked for it? lol)

So, since June, I've recovered from my stone completely, but have had a few apts with the urologist. I'm going to say I got really lucky with finding a great doc. He listens, and he doesn't want me to have any more stones! They did a few tests, and I got the results last week. I'm watching what I eat to prevent stones. We will do another test in a few months to see if changing my diet is enough, or if I need medicines to prevent stones. I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the things I can't eat. I'm supposed to cut back on sodium, calcium, and fat, Yet I'm supposed to not eat a lot of veggies because they contain a lot of Oxalate, which is a component of my stones. I'm drinking at least 3 liters of water, and working in fresh lemonade.

We have had quite a few visitors. John Paul's parents came down around Father's day. I was pretty sick at the time, but it was nice to see them. It was nice to spend a little time with my father-in-law before he got deployed to Afghanistan. Then John Paul's little brother came by with a few friends. They had went to Mississippi to pick up a new car, and Houston is way on the way back to OK so they stopped by :). They were only here a little over 24 hours, but it was nice to have people in the house. My parents came down as well. We did a Texas history weekend, visiting 2 state parks that were focused on the founding of Texas. It was great to have people in the house, even though the house seems a lot more hollow after people leave, and there's a little bit of homesickness that flares up when they leave too.

I helped plan a trip to AZ, which I posted pictures of here on Facebook. I've sat down, and wrote several posts about this trip, but didn't post. So, here I'm just going to say that I support AZ's new immigration law because if our federal govt doesn't enforce laws which makes citizens unsafe, I think a state has a right to protect it's citizens. The trip was a hoot, and I really enjoyed meeting lots of other conservatives and seeing AZ from top to bottom! A group from AZ posted a movie they made about our trip here. The video is like 9 minutes long, so no pressure to watch.

The other exciting thing going on is FRIENDS! It's been really cruddy moving here not really knowing anyone. But one of John Paul's co-workers has had people over to his house several of times over the past year (yea, we've been here a year, crazy) And we've recently been really hanging out with several of his co-workers. There's 2 couples getting married in Sept, so we are kind of in the same stage of life, and it's so great to have some people to spend time with. We did a bowling league for 6 weeks. I stank mostly, but got better. I increased my avg, and bowled over 100 once! One co-worker hosted my birthday party, and that was the first time that I really felt like we were finally getting friends. I've went wedding dress shopping, and we are planning a bachelorette party too!

I've been making cakes for, well years, but I've been making several lately. I've got a couple of orders too. I'm really excited about it! Who knows where it will lead!

So, Houston isn't as bad as it was a few months ago. We still haven't found a church home, we're just going to church. It's pretty hard to not have a church family, but God has a plan for that.
I'm still working at Staples as a cashier, but I've been looking for something else, but there's just not a lot. We are praying for God's leading in that area, and are waiting to hear from Him on the issue.

My Kidneys

2010-06-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

So, last week I had surgery to have my big honkin stone broken up. That was Tuesday. I asked, and they said I could go back to work after the anesthesia fully wore off, which was 24 hours. So, next day I was still in just as much pain as before, got meds, took them and was ok. I just laid around the house. I didn't have to take the meds unless I was being pretty active, getting out or something.

So, I went back to work today. I almost died. I had been taking the pain meds right when the pain started to escalate, but I couldn't at work since I'd have to drive home. Needless to say, I'm very interested in what the doctor will have to say at the 1 week follow-up. Last year when I had the same procedure I didn't hurt this long or this bad. *deep breaths* one day at time I guess.

Life's like that

2010-06-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

So, John Paul and I had been having big adventures and enjoying life here a little. I've lost several pounds, and as a treat we went to Galveston to Moody Gardens. There's 3 big pyramids there, an aquarium, planetarium, and a rain forest! I'd been to the aquarium when my friend Ellen was down, so we did the Rain Forest tour. It was so awesome. All the pretty plants and there were even a few animals. John Paul was so patient as I rattled off all the names, and stood as I got in close and examined all the plants. I was intrigued with the way they used annuals just shoved into cracks of rocks in moss. It was really neat. We explored the island a little bit, and headed home.

We had a big Memorial Day weekend. Saturday morning we took a drive out of town to explore a little town we had driven through on the visits home. Calvert, TX. we explored all sorts of shops in their downtown. One guy had made a movie theater into a shop. It was really neat to see the stage, and how he filled it to the brim with all sorts of antiques. We made the trip home an adventure too. We took the business loops instead of the highway to see the downtowns of Bryan, College Station, and Navasota. Found some neat gun shops, and then a neat state park. We ended up at a museum about the founding of Texas as a country. That state park was so neat we ended up making the over an hour drive again on Monday to explore the rest of it. Toured a neato farm with reinactors. we had a nice chat with a lady about her spinning wheel. I think it would be neat to spin my own yarn.

That weekend we also bought blackberries on the side of the road and made homemade ice cream with them. Awesome! I gave John Paul my first at home haircut. It's not perfect, but considering I've never even really seen his hair being cut before, it's pretty darn good. Next time I'll do better around his ears.

The latest development was last Thursday I was working away, and had a pain in my side. I often get a little pain, and I freak out about it being a kidney stone. Most of the time I get busy and forget about it, but as the day wore on the pain got worse. I left early, and was able to drive my truck to John Paul's job, and he drove me on to the ER. Indeed, it was a kidney stone. 6mm. That may not sound very big, but trust me, it is. That's the probably too big to pass size, so Friday I went to see a urologist and everyone agreed I should have the booger broken up. The first day they were doing surgeries is tomorrow, so I'll be at the hospital bright and early.

New hair

2010-05-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

So, this is my hair before and after. I've been wanting to do something different for AGES! But, I just haven't went and did anything. I was driving by the hair place today, and just pulled in. I knew I wanted real short, John Paul didn't want it cut at all, so this is what I ended up with. It's the same hair cut I've had many times in the past, but this time instead of feeling cool and chic, I feel like I look a lot older. O well.

I've been feeling really really blue lately, lots of reasons I'm trying not to dwell on. But, I think I was thinking a big change might make things better, but they just made things worse. John Paul's trying to be nice about it, but he's sad I got it cut. I'm trying to be happy about it but it just doesn't feel like I wanted. I wanted the fun crazy Dana back. I used to be so cool, and now I'm just blah. I used to have fun style, now I'm wearing blah clothes. I used to have such a flair for life, and lately I feel like I'm just checking off day by day. I'm just present, not changing. Why cry today, because I can't stop myself.

Swine Flu

2010-04-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

So, when we left to go home John Paul was sick enough I had to drive. This is a big deal, in our relationship he's the driver I'm the navigator, and it's just better that way. We are both gifted at those jobs, and it tends to be not as pleasant if we try to switch.

He coughed the whole time we were home, and couldn't really breath to sleep, so he didn't much. On the trip home(which he felt better enough to drive )I realized my throat hurt, and it turned out his mom got sick too. His dad was sick for like a day but was soon better.

After a week of being home together, not talking because it would make us cough, his dad calls and says we have the swine flu. A lot of people in Chickasha are coming to his office with it. It's been a bummer to cough a lot, but we haven't really had much of a fever. We've went on walks and enjoyed time together. It's really the best sick ever, minus we can't talk or we will cough.

So, we are a part of the pandemic oh no!

Visit home

2010-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last week John Paul and I took a trip home to see a friend get married. It was great to see our high school friends again, and had a fun time at her reception.

I also had fun shooting with John Paul and a friend of his. I did awesome at shooting whatever we could find, which ended up being beer cans and plaster from the falling down house on the property. Well, let me tell you, that plaster had no chance lol!

I spent time shopping with mom. We had a lot of fun looking at crazy expensive jewelery and buying the wedding gift at William Sonoma.

I also got to visit with some friends from church who are pretty much like family. I went over and visited their twins who will be turning 4 soon, and their little sister just turned 2. Super cute sweet family. Mr. Clift, who taught math a the high school, in case you had his class... Any way, that was fun.

We also went to MEERS and had great burgers and BBQ.

John Paul was sick the whole time, and on the way home I started feeling crappy too. I've not went to work this week, because I'm afraid it's contagious, and I can barely talk from the coughing. His parents got it too. We all love him, but right now are bummed he got us sick!!

Knitted Handbags

2010-04-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

So, Facebook has targeted advertisements as you know. Sometimes they think they target me, and they don't. Any way, I was going along and the were advertising KNITTED FRUIT AND VEGGIE HANDBAGS!! How could I say no to this??? So, I've made the kiwi, pea pod, and lettuce so far. Working on the beet currently. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. (yes, that's how awful Houston is)

Beach!

2010-04-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I'm sick at home so I though I'd catch you up, if you cared.

The end of March, a dear friend from college came down to visit on her spring break. We headed down to Galveston, hoping to miss the rain, but the front followed us down the highway. She didn't come all the way from New York to not go to the beach. So we splashed around collecting shells in the rain. We also ate great food, went to a huge aquarium and had a little sun on the beach the next morning. She's great, and I really miss her! Oh, and she got pooped on by a sea gull. Really, the picture in the hat was just hilarious because she had really gotten pooped on already! Also, she ate 2 lbs of crawfish.

Rodeo!

2010-03-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

So the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show is a BIG deal around here. We are talking a whole month of rodeo every night, huge livestock show, big name concerts and a big midway which means fair food!!

I went to see the first show of the last tour of Brooks and Dunn. A great friend from high school and her mom took me. We had a blast. We didn't get there in time to see much of the rodeo. We got stopped in the midway for dinner. Goo, did we do dinner.

First to be clear 3 people shared all of this, a lot of these things I just had a few bites! We had these items, all battered and fried: moon pie, oreos, snickers, nutter butters, avacado (with great herbs in the crust) chicken fried bacon (It was so bad for us, but tasted great) and topped it off with chili cheese fries and a corn dog. I will say the moon pie and avacado were my faves!

We got seated right as the mutton busting was done, an event where parents enter their 3-8 year old children up to cling on the back of a sheep. It's like bull riding, except there is no hardware to upset the sheep. It was pretty cute.

The concert was great. They sang a song called Only In America. They had soldiers who marched out and stood at attention for the song. almost all the crowd got to their feet and cheered for those brave guys. There was a big blow out of streamers, and it was great to see the guys walk out of the arena, dragging long streamers behind them. What a great country!

what's up?

2010-03-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

So, not a lot has been going on here lately. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Battle Ship Texas. That was interesting, but I forgot my camera, so there are no fun pictures of John Paul manning the welded up guns on deck. We've been taking walks around the neighborhood because it's been so nice lately.

I have a friend from college visiting on her spring break next week. I'm really excited about that. We are going to go down to Galveston and check out the beach.

I've been eating a few sweets, but I've not been getting boxes of them and hiding them from John Paul, so Lent has been a very good thing for me. I've lost 2 lbs. I'm kinda sad about that. I figured cutting all those crazy little debbies from my diet would really help me loose weight.

Taking each day one at a time.

Lent

2010-02-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

So, living so near to Louisiana I've heard more about Mardi Gras than ever before, and so that got me thinking about Lent.

I'd never given anything up for Lent, cause it never really made sense to me. This year, I'm finding I'm eating LARGE amounts of things I shouldn't, in secret. Whole boxes of Little Debbies, frozen cookie dough among other things.

So, I'm giving up crazy processed sweetness for Lent. My thought is every time I pine for some fudge rounds, I'll just think about Jesus' sacrifice for me. That's the point right? And I need the serious time to pray about this problem. John Paul doesn't get it, nor does he really know just how much food I hide around. I think all my stashes are gone, save one bag of brownies I have frozen. Those are going to work.

So, today I'm kindof suprised how much I already want to just pretend I didn't decide to do this. But, posting it where someone else will (may) read it I'm hoping will add another layer to I NEED to make this change in my life. I know it will help me feel better, and I'm thinking about Jesus more that I have recently, and that's been an awesome needed change too!

Valentines

2010-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't get my hopes up. I love my husband, but he's not one to go big on gifts. I was delightfully surprised when I got home from work Friday night that he got me not only a card, but a heart shaped tin full of LINDT truffles AND a big Toblerone that looked like it had long stem roses on it.

Beyond that there wasn't a lot of excitement for Valentines day around here. I was sooooooo happy to have the whole weekend off. We just spent time together, and it was awesome. We enjoyed the nice weather and took a walk, played some very competitive wii, and enjoyed my take on Armadillo eggs.

Last weekend we did have a big busy weekend. Hit up a gun show, Texas independence battle monument, and had the most wonderful creation ever, Armadillo Eggs down by the ocean. At the restaurant they stuffed Jalepenos with chopped bbq brisket battered them, and fried them up.

For Valentines I made John Paul sort of the same thing. Jalapenos stuffed with chopped brisket, but I wrapped them in cresent rolls and baked them. The grease soaked the areas where I didn't get a good seal on the rolls, but man they were awesome. I'm not a big jalapeno fan, so I made a few just bbq pockets, which were AMAZING as well!

Other than that Valentines was spent at church (sitting with people I knew and who asked to do lunch this week!!!!!!) washing the truck, and enjoying the sunshine. I sat in my awesome zero gravity lounge chair, soaked up the sun and read. The weekend was full of bliss, but not much to report lol!

Hope you feel loved this week!

Getting better

2010-02-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

I spent some girl time with a friend from high school and her college friends. She went to college on Galveston Island, so we went down there for sushi and socializing. It was so much fun! Her friends were nerds (which was a positive) and really friendly.

Monday, I went out to lunch with a lady from the Nazarene church which was great. I discovered there are Fazoli's in Houston. In college, I ate there all the time, but they closed the one in Stillwater before I graduated. I was so excited for the bread sticks, I think I would have been embarrassed lol!

I talked to the manager at work, and let them know I needed weekends off to be with John Paul. I think that change will be a big help. It is always so hard to leave him all alone on Sundays when I know we could be spending time together doing something, even if it's just sitting around talking.

So, I'm still a little blue, but maybe that's because it's been raining, and will continue to do so for days they say. At least our electricity was only out several hours because of the rain.

thinking...

2010-01-25T08:29:00.001-08:00

I was thinking about what it means to be loved, how people show love, and what an impact it made on people.

In my extreme loneliness, I reached out to the big world out there, and found that there were more than a few people who cared for me. I really am blessed by that fact, and grateful.

I know I'd rather be near all those great people, but I suppose I'll make it knowing that they are sending their love in whatever way they can. It's a comfort to know that I'd have a lot of hugs if I just didn't live so far away.

So, I may be far away, but thanks for not forgetting about me and caring about me.

Oh, and I'm really glad John Paul is here to actually give me a hug. He's been so sweet in my crazy I just want to move away from Houston moments. Neither of us is crazy about this town, but at least we have each other!

love you! *hugs*

feeling sorry for myself

2010-01-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

So the last 2 weeks John Paul's been at a training meeting for his company. They put him up in a hotel about 30-45 minutes away so he would be near the meeting center. I've got to see him a little when it worked out with my work schedule.

When I've not been up there or at work I've been lonely. Like pain in my chest just want to be near another person who cares about me hurts so bad sometimes its tough to breath. I feel like a total loser. I know I'm not all alone in the world. I know there are people who care about me, and I'm blessed by that fact. Right now I'm crying because none of those people are even close, and I don't know when I'll get to see most of them again will be. I know we will go home sometime, but not sure when.

I'm glad I have a job, and am helping pay bills, but a little part of me wishes I hadnt' found one yet so I could just go home, and get hugged every day (not that JP doesn't hug me, but I'm going on a big shortage here) I wanna laugh with friends, I wanna have a braums ice cream and share my heart, I want to go to church and visit my church family.

I'm still strugging with not finding a church home here. We've been going, but really haven't connected with anyone, and am finding it hard to figure out how to get plugged in. I don't need to know all 400 people, knowing one and developing a friendship would do my mental health a lot of good. there are nice ladies at the Nazarene church, but that's not where JP wants to go, and I've been working most Sundays anyway. Work is really awesome, and I get saturdays off so I can go to church.

Sorry, you had to hear my pity party. I know it will get better. I'm just in a valley. Gotta have the vally to know the mt top right? It still hurts, but we serve a great God right. I'm sure there's something better just up the hillside. Just gotta make it to the hillside to start climbing!

So good, I had to share

2010-01-06T16:31:00.001-08:00

For Christmas, mom got me a pan, that could make little bowls. So, I fired up the oven and made some cornbread bowls, filled them (or overfilled) with taco meat, ranch beans, corn, cheese and salsa. It was so pretty, I couldn't help but take a picture to post. It tasted pretty good too! I'm thinking that little cakes that hold a scoop of ice cream sound too good to resist! I'm going to have cornbread and milk for breakfast. Makes me miss Ganny just thinking of all the times we'd pull warm cornbread from the oven, and pour cold milk over it. Hope they microwave ok!!

Home again....

2010-01-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

We had a a great week (sortof) celebrating Christmas!

It started out a little rough with braving a snowstorm, closed roads, and all sorts of winter hindrances to our trip home. Christmas day it took 9 hours to get from South of Ft. Worth to Chickasha. Putting that into perspective it took 8ish hours to get from Chickasha to HOUSTON yesterday.

Exhausted from our trip, we spent time with family opening packages before crashing and burning. Christmas with my family was good, it just seemed to happen with one person at a time. A friend said we were having a Christmas to remember, but it was so sad that it was not family oriented like it used to.

We went skiing for a week with John Paul's family. It was so fun. I ended up only skiing 2 out of 5 days, but really enjoyed the trip. I skied a lot better than last year, and look forward to going next year.

We made it back to Chickasha, minus my bag which was lost at the airport, did a little more Christmas, and slept, just to wake up and head out. It was so hard only being in town for about 36 hours. Mom and dad drove me home from the airport just to spend an hour with me. They were awesome and took me to Braums, because I'd been 6 months without a Braum's Milkshake. Too long, if you were wondering.

We drove the whole way home yesterday, and when we arrived at our house in Houston. When I opened the door I just wanted to cry. It was big, cold and empty. There wasn't a warm hug or hello, and it just felt so empty. We both are a little sad to be back at "home" I hope this gets easier.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

I made a cake for our store Christmas party. It was a lot of fun to make, and everyone seemed to like it as well!

Working hard to get everything done to be able to hit the road on Christmas Eve. Seems like there's so much laundry to wash before I can start packing.

Can't wait to get home and see loved ones!

Miracles

2009-12-04T12:04:00.001-08:00

I'm going to start out by saying How Awesome Is Our God!!! I've been so overwhelmed with His amazingness in the last week with how abundantly He's been blessing Pete and Jen. It's also been amazing how praying for them has brought me closer to some of the ladies in the bible study I've been going to. Having them text for updates on how Pete was and calling and praying with them, then hearing how prayers were ANSWERED really lifted my spirits.

Moving had been hard, and I'd been feeling really alone, but I'm reminded that God's really there and He listens!

On other to other miracles, snow in Houston. Not just flurries, but sticking covering the ground snow! Pictures are so you could believe me. Seeing the palm trees in the neighborhood covered in snow is just WEIRD! I'm hoping they make it, there are so many tropical plants here. The forecast is for 1-3 inches. I thought they were crazy until I saw it with my own eyes!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

These are the yummy dishes I took to the neighbor's Thanksgiving gathering. Apples cooked in the red hots and Mexican Cheesecake. People really liked what I brought. It was nice to hear the mummer about what is it, it's good ect. When it came time to leave, they wouldn't let me bring home any of the cheese cake (that super easy recipe using cresent rolls and cream cheese and sugar) and we got a few apples lol!

It was a beautiful day, and we at out in the back yard. They have an awesome patio with a fire pit. It was amazing. I ate my first fried turkey. It was AMAZING! It was neat to see the regional differences. There were grits, which was fun and yummy! They made dressing, but just a little bit but had a HUGE bowl of mashed potatoes.

We took a plate of leftovers home, and couldn't eat them for dinner we were still so full. It was nice, but we missed being at home.

Black Friday wasn't so bad, considering I got to close instead of open. I was the only cashier, but that meant that I was busy. It was hard to be nice to the people who were upset that we didn't have the 299 computers at 6 pm! O the joys of holidays lol!

That was easy!

2009-11-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

I wish I would have taken a picture of Tony, the guy who's birthday it was. He was so excited that a) the cake was awesome b) i took the time to make it for him and c) he got a promotion yesterday, so he really loves staples.

I had a blast making it, and it was so fun to see how excited all my co-workers were about it. One guy let me know the cake was good, and he didn't even like cake! Victory!

Weekend fun

2009-11-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

Most weekends are spent laying around watching tv, asking each other "what do you want to do? I don't know, what do you want to do?" we rarely have any ideas, but this morning was different. I was checking my e-mail, and saw an ad for a civil war re-enactment. We decided to go, and headed out.

I would post pics of how awesome it was, except bright me looked in my purse and saw my camera case, but didn't check to see if the camera was inside.. oops, it's sitting right here next to the computer where I left it after posting pics of halloween lol!

Yes, life is so boring I don't need my camera for months on end!

The re-enactment was neat. Lots of cool costumes, billowing smoke from cannons, and PERFECT WEATHER! Yesterday it was rainy, today it was 70 and clear. It was held at an old plantation about an hour out of town. It was so amazing. There were big oak trees that had limbs that hung almost to the ground. They were covered in ferns and moss! It was soooooooo awesome. The house was all decorated with period furnishings, and there were ladies with big hoop skirts all around telling about each room. Fun!

I'm making a cake for a guy at work's birthday. I'd been wanting to make a staples easy button for a long time, and didn't ever find the time or the need. I thought it would be a good way to fit in at the store, and I love to bake!

Sad the weekend is over!

why I haven't blogged in awhile.

2009-11-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't blogged a lot since we moved because it will just end up with me feeling sorry for myself. I'm really lonely. I've made a few acquaintances at the Nazarene Church, but that's weird because we've been just going to the Adventist church, where I haven't found a place to meet people.

There's a woman's bible study at the Naz church, which I go to when I'm not working. The Adventist church doesn't ever have any women's group things in the bulletin. I'm struggling with the fact that JP is a big go and sit on the pew and leave kinda guy. It's about the only place I can meet people and make friends, and it's hard when we just go to worship service. I'm trying to go to Sabbath school, but I will admit to liking the sleeping in as well.

The church thing has been and will be a big thing for me. It's something that I knew would be a big deal for a long time.

So, not much is going on. We don't really do much exciting. lol!

We did go to the shooting range yesterday. I did soooo much better. Last time 1/2 of them weren't even on the paper, this time I got a bullseye and only 2 were off the paper. I was consistantly hitting in an area, not the bullseye sadly. But way better!

Soo.... since my last blog...

2009-11-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

I realized there's a big hole here in what's really been going on in my life lol!

Just a brief story. The bakery was fun the first oh, 3-4 days I'd say. they started scheduling me alone with out to do lists, and the managers expected me to know how to do everything, and couldn't really help when I had questions. This on top of the fact that I had to drive 25 miles to this job made me seek a transfer. I put in the paperwork, and the next day, or maybe the day after a girl came up to the counter and said she was there to interview! I put in my app back at Staples when I got home. I'd been in there earlier in the week and they needed help.

The next day I came in and found that they had hired her. I knew they didn't have enough hours for both of us, and luckily Staples called. I'm working as a cashier there, and am happy. It's less than 10 miles, the people are nice, and it doesn't matter that they didn't train me cause I already knew what was going on. The super downside is we can't go home for Thanksgiving, because I gotta be there for Black Friday. I'm nervous about being a cashier, last year I just gave out the high priced things to people with receipts, and that was scary enough!

The upside to the Thanksgiving thing is, this past weekend there was a big craft fair at our community center (around the block from us) and so a lot of the neighbors had garage sales. I walked up and down the street chatting with people. I'd been a bad neighbor and think I'd talked to someone on the street like 3x in the whole 3-4 months we'd been here. Anyway, made cookies and took them next door and invited them over for dinner. They couldn't make it but asked if we got to go home for Thanksgiving. when we said no, they invited us over to their house. Seems like a lot of people on our street are transplants from other places, and won't be going home either. I'm SUPER excited to meet the neighbors, even if we may be in different stages of life. It will be good to be a part of a group eating a big meal. I was a little depressed thinking of what I was going to make for the day, knowing how well JP and I eat leftovers. Yay for community!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T15:24:00.001-08:00

We went to a fun party as a deer and a hunter. I took along a mummy cake. It was a hit! Hope you had fun too!

Bakery

2009-10-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

So, today was day #2 of work. I got to decorate some cakes, and put out all the fresh baked bread. I'm doing good about not lusting after the sugary yummy things we sell. I was worried about that actually, as sugar is my weakness. Today, I had no problem working with the icing, and had a GREAT time! I did on the other hand really really want to bring home a loaf of bread, but we don't really eat a lot bread so I left it at the store.

I'm nervous about the next time I go in. The full time people have all moved on, (today was the last one's last day) So, now the bakery is staffed with people doing part time. Even the manager of the dept, is a temporary rotating baker. we will see how it turns out.

Tomorrow I'm going to the quilt show with my mum-in-law. She came down, cause it's the biggest show in the country I think. It's international. I'm excited! Maybe I'll remember/ be allowed to take pictures!

I got a job!

2009-10-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

I got a call today letting me know I got a position as a bakery clerk at a grocery store. I'm pretty excited that I will get to do a little cake decorating!

I'm a little bummed that the store is 25 miles away, and it's evenings and weekends, but it's a job! Hopefully I'll be able to go to church one day. I did a little training today, and I'm going back tomorrow to do some more. yay!

So.. lately

2009-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was our 1 year anniversary. We went to a FANCY steakhouse, and had the best steaks of our lives, and spent the nite in a great deal on a hotel (love name your own price) Saved about $80 bucks! Then we went to a gun show, and saw the toy story double feature. We had a lot of fun, and it was great to think back on the last year. A friend from church said that it would be our worst, and let's hope so! It was hard, but we both survived!

Since then I've had an informal interview, and a real interview. No idea really what they thought of me. Hoping to get a call, but still sending out my resume like it's water. Really, I send it out at a minimum of 3x a day. I've been looking since the middle of august, I've applied to A TON of jobs. Not crying, but would really like a job.

My mother-in-law will be down sometime next week to go to a HUGE quilt show. Maybe I will get to go with her if I'm still unemployed. I want to spend time with her, but I really want a job too. Wow, that's next week. Time's creeping along fast.

I've been having a GREAT time going to bible study with the ladies at the Nazarene church. Wed. mornings we meet to do a Beth Moore bible study about the Patriarchs (watch a video and discuss) but the most exciting thing the last 2 weeks is a small group of us have been going to filmings of Beth Moore's new study on Revelations. It's so awesome for lots of reasons. 1. more time with Godly women is never bad. 2. there are about 3200 women at the study on Tuesdays Wow! 3. Nothing like worshiping with that many people. 4. I'm spending time out of the house with others 5. Growing closer to God is always so exciting!

So, I'm busy mostly, but can't wait to have my mother-in-law visit for company!

You should visit me too!

So full, yet so dry

2009-09-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

God's really been teaching me a lot lately. I'm going to Bible study and learning so much, yet still feel so alone. I know God's supposed to be that friend, but I'm finding it hard not getting hugs. I don't know why, driving home from study I started crying because I've not gotten a hug in such a long time, well other than John Paul, not to discount his hugs. I guess, I'm missing that from other people. I don't know why I'm sitting here crying.

God is so good. He's really been helping me grow in so many ways lately. Stupid Satan, when things are going good with God he gets jealous. Why is it this happens all the time, and I never think of it immediately?

Royal Icing Class

2009-09-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

I went to a class to learn how to make royal icing flowers. I think it went pretty well. Made some pretty ones, and some not so pretty ones, but it was all in all a fun day. Now I just have to have reason to make a cake with flowers all over it! If only I could learn to post my pictures in a way that I could make the text work in the blog. O technology

I've been busy

2009-09-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

I've been going to work out almost every day. I have 4 personal training sessions, and I've been doing water aerobics 2x a week. I started a women's Bible study at the Nazarene church, and I just signed up for a cake decorating class for this weekend.

I've had 2 interviews that didn't go so well, but I have another one on Monday.

So, I'm seeing people, not making so many friends, but I can have conversations!

Ups and downs

2009-09-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

So I've been really up and down emotionally lately. The staying at home ALONE all day is getting to me, the applying for a zillion jobs and never hearing anything, or discovering they are a scam is getting to me and did I mention I'm lonely?

I've been making decisions to change that. I contacted the community life pastor at the Nazarene church near our home, and am going to get involved with a woman's group and participate in a class for people new to their church. I'm pretty pumped about that.

I went to the extension office and talked to a 4-H educator about volunteering so tonight I'm going to go to a county wide event and see where I fit in helping, and I've volunteered to help judge at the county fair next month. Something I'm ok at and have experience with!

I'm going to the Bally's nearby and do a gym tour. There's so many things I could say about that but I'm not. They do have an indoor pool there so that's neat. I'm bummed our neighborhood pool is closed for the season now.

The major up yesterday was I got an e-mail, written by a person, about a job I was really excited about. A place (maybe a monastery) dedicated to prayer needed an office assistant, so I eagerly applied. I felt like my unique background might help me with that. I got an e-mail back asking if I knew it was a part time job. MWF all day. I think it's perfect, I could still keep the house in order ect. So I e-mailed that I was still interested. Holding my breath on that.

Haven't heard from the caterer office job yet, and the other job I'm excited about is a luxury car dealership receptionist. All of those are things I'm pretty interested/ have some experience with. Who knows.

The best up was this morning. I'm waiting on the final confirmation, but ITT Tech sent me an e-mail to schedule an interview tommorow! It's kinda far from my house, but having an interview boosted my spirits.

I'm really hoping to find a friend soon. Susan is going to go back out to the ocean (she's a marine biologist) and she's the only girl I see regularly around here. That's been the hardest thing about moving. I'm really missing my friends, really really.

Project Day

2009-09-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Susan came over yesterday for a project! We made cupcakes for a pool party that one of John Paul's co-workers had at his home. We had a blast making yellow polka dot bikinis, beach balls, and I experimented with making flowers. It was fun, and delicious.

The party was fun, the binary cupcake (covered with 1s and 0s) got a laugh, and John Paul took the leftovers to work today.

As an aside, I love my apron that my mother-in-law made, and my hair actually looked ok too!

ahhh!! I'm so excited

2009-09-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

So, I've been looking for receptionist/secretary jobs for a couple of weeks. I wanted something that I would work the same time as John Paul so we could spend the most time possible together. I've been checking craigslist and a zillion of those jobsites. I found it. The job I WANT!

Office person for a catering business, where you'd help in the kitchen if they need it. It's the perfect time 7:30-2, weekdays only. It's not quite full time which is better. A few hours to do chores before JP gets home. AND it's close to the house.

I've sent my resume in with what I hope is an awesome cover letter. I'm praying so hard for this job. It sounds perfect, I just hope they call me for an interview!!

I hope my excited blogging about how excited I am about this position doesn't jinx me.

So lately, I've...

2009-08-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

Regular days I get up, do the wii fit, and then check my e-mail hoping to hear about jobs. Never any big news, so then I go about applying. I have promised myself to send out my resume at least 3 times a day. I've done a pretty good job of it, now I'm just waiting to hear back. One of my references today said that they had been contacted, which I took to be a great sign!

After that, I was playing on the internet, and generally wasted the day. The past several weekdays have been different. I've started Christmas knitting. I've finished a few things already, I'd post pics that I'm excited about, but I'm not sure who all looks at this.

Last week I finally got brave and went into a totally unknown salon, and got my hair cut. It turned out to be a great experience. I went into a place in a kinda sketchy strip mall, but they had cool pictures in the windows of hair cuts i wouldn't mind having. I was able to set an appointment for that afternoon. I returned and had a blast talking to Abi about my hair and that I had no idea what I wanted. The picture I posted isn't really fixed pretty, but the idea was she cut off about 3 INCHES and kindof made two layers. It's cute. I just keep thinking about how much I loved the pixie cut, but can't do that because John Paul HATED it. *sighs* someday!

Today, my all day project was biroches! I made bread dough, and filled it with hamburger meat and cabbage. I had one and it turned out great. I made the kitchen a mess, but it wont' take long to clean I'm sure.

I'm thinking tommorow I'm going to make a batch of buttercream icing and do some practice. I'm going to attempt to make icing roses, and practice basketweaving with icing. I'm not going to color it or anything, so that way I can just put it all back in the bowl, and practice the next day!

Depressed

2009-08-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

So, I'm online looking for jobs. It's really depressing. I'm finding that I have NO idea what I want to do and it stinks looking for something that I can't define. Or, I'm looking at things I'm qualified for which sound like no fun. I'm sensing myself freezing up and doing nothing about the situation which is about the worst thing I can do I'm sure.

Windsurfing

2009-08-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend I went windsurfing with my husband and some of his friends from work. You might be saying to yourself you can't believe it. It sounds like something Dana would hate, and well, I did hate it. I'm not saying that I'd never do it again. Just not in the bay by Galveston. The water was so awful I gagged and.. well any way I got out of the water. Technically it was called clear lake, it was NOT clear, and attached to the bay that was attached to the ocean. I'm going to call it bay since it was most definitely salt water... icky!

On the other hand I had a great time sitting in the shade, watching my husband excel at wind surfing and loving every minute. He wants to go back with some of his office mates, and I think that's great. I'm just going to stay home in the salt and who knows what else water.

And the company's gone...

2009-08-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

My in-laws left yesterday. We had a great time while they were here. Did A LOT of shopping, ate LOT of great food, and now they are gone, it's lonely again.

We hung a few pictures, which I was glad. I have no motivation to do it myself. The white walls don't look too bad... ok, it does look better with stuff up.

We spent almost an entire day looking for water shoes. John Paul signed us up to take wind surfing lessons, but since summer is almost over no one had any. We look at least a half dozen places before we got one of the last two pair at Walgreens of all places! The exciting part was that they fit! I had seen a few pair here and there, and they were for giants or kiddos! The best part was they were $2.70!!!

We ate at one of those Japanese places with the grills where they cook in front of you. I'd never done that before, and it was great fun!

Now that I'm 5 pounds (ish) heavier, and alone most of the day. I'm out to find the best job ever. Now, if I had some idea what that was, it would really help.

Looking at inventory jobs, cake decorating jobs, inside horticulture jobs, or receptionist/ secretary jobs. Who knows where I will end up!

My trip to the zoo

2009-08-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

I heard the zoo was hiring a Horticulturist. I wasn't sure if I wanted to apply or not, so I thought a trip to the zoo would be in order. Its funny how fast you can see the zoo if 1. you are alone 2. you are looking at the plants more than the animals 3. if it's 100 degrees!

I did decide to not apply because it's real hot, and I want to not be exhausted so I can still do a good job of taking care of things around the house. The job hunt will begin with force after John Paul's parents finish their visit this week.

I did take a few pictures of animals, cause how could you resist. The giraffes made me think of the cell phone commercials with all the bars, and they are a cute little family. The poor little meerkats were so hot one had burrowed down in the dirt, and the other was just zonked out on his back. So cute!

My Parents Visit!

2009-08-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

Mom and dad came down for a few days because it was Mom's vacation, and she brought dad with her. We had a great time, shopping, eating, sight seeing, and did I mention eating?

We took a little cruise on the bay down. It was so great sitting on the top deck, feeling the ocean (bay) breezes, and watching the jellyfish. We passed a boardwalk that had rides and such, I'm sure at one point in my life I would have begged to go, but that didn't happen. I must be getting old.

We toured the Bluebell Ice Cream factory. That was really neat, watching them squirt ice cream into little tubs. We were really ready for our complimentary scoop by the end. We all tried Nutty chocolate, which was chocolate with many different types of nuts in it, some of which were chocolate covered. It was really good.

In the same town as the factory, we did a bit of antiquing but the best part of the day was stopping in a little soda shop for something cold because it was HOT outside. I got another scoop of ice cream (yes, I ate a lot of ice cream, but it was the birthplace of Bluebell so I thought it fitting) I had the BEST ICE CREAM I'VE EVER EATEN! Southern Blackberry cobbler!!! Vanilla with swirls of blackberry goop and pie crust chunks. OMG!! We looked for it at every grocery store, when I finally found it almost a week later at wal-greens I did a little dance in the aisle, and tried to get everyone in line and the checker to go buy a carton and try it. (did I mention I had to dig through the freezer to find it? It was behind several cartons of cookies and creme lol)

Mostly, after that we did a lot of shopping and hung out at the house. Dad was such a good sport shopping. Wish I'd snapped his picture while sitting outside on the benches with the bags.

I'm sad they are gone. The house is so big and empty during the day, but I guess that will get fixed this afternoon. John Paul's parents will be coming in for a few days too!

Our house!!

2009-07-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

house update

2009-07-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

almost all the boxes are unpacked, but there's still lots of stuff setting around everywhere. Hopefully next week it'll be ready to have pictures taken. the house is huge, and even with ALL our stuff in it it still looks huge. I'm going to have to start garage saleing for furniture!

We got keys!!

2009-07-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

So these are obviously not the best pictures of the house, but my camera decided to eat the good ones. So, we ended up with pics of the garage storage and the entry way, but hey, this is it!!

We will move the lil bit of stuff out of the extended stay tomorrow, and the trailer will come down with the bulk of our stuff next week. I can't wait! It's so exciting to have a PLACE of our own!!!

When we get internet at our new place I'll put up pics! Please be patient, don't know when that will happen.

House!!

2009-07-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

so, today we signed a lease, and paid our deposit on a house!!! hopefully we'll be getting the keys tonight or tomorrow!!

Birthday!!

2009-07-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

This year i got the best birthday present ever! (imagine the price is right as you read the next line, I so hear it in my head that way lol) A new car! Well, not brand new, but really close. 2007! and not a car, but a pickup!

It has all the bells and whistles I wanted, and some I'm just excited about. There's a plug in the bed, so John Paul can plug in power tools. There's all sorts of cubby holes all over it to stash stuff. There's 13 cup/bottle holders. Not that I would ever need that many, but hey, the Porsche didn't have one! It's got the digital thermometer and compass in the roof, and the back seat is HUGE!

Driving down to Houston all my stuff fit in the cab. (not like permanent move, like clothes and stuff) I got 23 mp on the trip down too!!

Belated father's day

2009-07-06T10:19:00.003-07:00

My Dad! First I gotta say sorry, for the delay, but I thought the pictures would add a lot.

Dad taught me a lot about life. Honesty, integrity, hard work ethic, and above all a love for the Lord. He can tell good jokes and stories, and he's distilled his wisdom down into many little sayings. A few of those sayings include: The only things that work are time and consistency. If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward, there's no such thing as standing still.

It's funny. I know he has tons of sayings, but I can only think of those 2. Not that the others aren't good lol.

I admire dad's wisdom. It seems that no matter what situation I find myself in, he can always help out. The amazing thing isn't that he tells me what to do, as much as he helps me think it through, so I come to the answer. That's something lately that I've really noticed. In all the big decisions I've made over the past several years he's never really said do this or that, instead he asks what I'm thinking over, and asks questions that help lead me to an answer.

I'm truely a blessed daughter to have such a good daddy!

2009-07-06T10:19:00.001-07:00

Houston, we've parked

2009-07-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

I would say landed, but that would imply that we have a place. As it is, we are in an extended stay. Not super excited about that, but I am excited to meet with the realtor again tomorrow. Until then I'm planning on catching up on the TONS of blogging I didn't do over our "bumming" month at home. Since I didn't wanna download my camera software on my in-laws computer, I decided to wait to do a lot of my posts until I could put up the appropriate pictures. So, that's where we are. In limbo, desperately wanting to find a home to land in!

No place to call home

2009-06-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

So, we found out yesterday our #1 choice wasn't on the market. The landlord decided to sell instead of lease arg! So the #2 house became #1, and the realtor called today, and said that someone beat us to it, so. Back to square one. The other 10 places we looked at on our trip down there were nos.

That means moving into the extended stay, and my job will be to find us a place to live, while John Paul's job is to actually go to work. Yay limbo! *deep breaths* the perfect house is out there and we didn't see it when we visited last week. Just gotta focus on not freaking out now lol!

Houston...

2009-06-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, this week we flew down to Houston to find a place to live. Tuesday we looked at 12 houses, and were totally bushed. Got up and signed a lease on one and then had a whole day to drive around. So, we checked out the area where we'd be living, and ended up getting to the airport HOURS early, for lack of anything better to do. We were thinking to ourselves what a successful trip it'd been when as we were going through security the realtor called.

The house we wanted to move into at the end of June wouldn't be available until the beginning of August. So we went back and forth and tried to decide if staying in temporary housing for a month would be better than just moving in to another house. After realizing that the next house we liked was 3x farther away from work, we took the top choice and looked for temp housing.

So, be praying for us. We're going to move into an extended stay hotel for a month, before we get to move into our place. Just when I thought we'd be getting our own place, another month of limbo. O well, the house we are moving into will be great!

Bummin it

2009-05-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

I need to put up some vacation pictures I know. It's been an exciting month though. Right after vacation we spent a few days packing boxes, came home for a family reunion/ 80th birthday celebration for John Paul's Grandparents. His family was in town until after Memorial day. We've been staying at his parents house, and spending time with everyone. The last of the fam left Friday. I've been keeping busy visiting, cleaning my old room (weird!), and helping out around the in-law's house.

I finally got in contact with a realtor, and we are planning to go down and find a house in a week or 2. All our stuff is in dad's trailer in Ganny's garage, just waiting to make the move! It'll be awhile. We are planning the last weekend in June, which means my birthday will be spent with a buncha boxes, but it will also bring promise of adventure and hopefully a time of settling. We've been knowing we'd move for a long time. I'm looking forward to a time to just be!!

He did it!!

2009-05-12T08:28:00.001-07:00

Congratulations!

He graduated! His family came up and we had a great weekend hanging out and eating!

Tomorrow we leave for vacation, then moving! Time is just moving so fast!

Vacation

2009-04-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

We finally decided/booked a vacation. Lake Tahoe! Not the gambling part, but the enjoying nature part.

It fits the bill of some place we both haven't been before, it had great deals (since people gamble there, o well), and it's a chill place to be!

I'm so excited!

10 more days of working, then graduation, vacation, packing, moving, and on with real life again!

TEA'd off

2009-04-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today, I went to a TEA party. I've been to a few planning meetings for it, and I helped pass out fliers and clean up afterward. I got so sunburned, but at least it wasn't raining.

What's a TEA party you ask? The TEA party movement is spawned from the idea that we are Taxed Enough Already. Myself and the approximately 3,000 other people at our party are tired of the government spending TRILLIONS of dollars we don't have, not reading bills before signing them, and mainly forgetting they they are there to REPRESENT the people. Not their own agendas or personal interests.

John Paul think's I'm crazy, yet he's upset at how much of his paycheck was TAKEN from him each time he received one. I want to be a part of the movement to remind the people in Washington why they are there. I want to create some "Change" back in the direction that our forefathers had in mind. A country where God was important, where hard work was rewarded, and capitalism was the way to go.

Our country is "arrogant", or so says our president. Our forefathers fought hard for the freedoms we enjoy, and I'm ready to step up and do my part to make sure we get to continue to enjoy the American way of life. If we aren't careful the liberal folks in Washington will try to make us into a Socialist country.

The thing that amazed me today was the number of kids there were at the park. The rally was from 12-1. I heard several parents say they took their kids out of school so they could be at the event, and there were a lot of home school'ers there too.

You may think I'm crazy, but I don't care. If nothing else, enjoy the the pictures of the protest signs. There were some great ones!

Free/ Discounted stuff for tax day

2009-04-14T18:43:00.001-07:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/106922/Deals-That-Offer-Some-Tax-Day-Relief

Free ice cream and cinnamon rolls? I'm there!

Easter

2009-04-13T13:43:00.001-07:00

This Easter season was probably the weirdest in years. I don't think it was really talked about at church, since most of the cool stuff happens on Sunday. I missed the little kids with the palm branches. I missed Easter Sunday getting to church early for a big breakfast, and decorating the cross on the lawn with flowers.

I love John Paul, and as I'm learning I think that the Seventh Day Adventist Church has the right idea in a lot of things. Right now I'm just missing fellowship. I'm missing that feeling like being part of a family.

Each church has different cultures I know. It's just a hard transition. Fellowship was always a favorite part of mine. To go to a denomination that isn't as good at it's hard. O well

I did have a great time talking with my mom on Easter Sunday. She didn't feel well so I went to visit her while dad was at church. It was nice to have some time just the two of us.

Ganny put on a great meal at her house. The kids table is still fun. John Paul, Roger and I have a great time laughing at the "adult" table.

"The Group" had a get together Friday night. It was a great time. It's always fun to get together with them. We played a lot of Guitar Hero (or some similar game) with all the band members. Jay, the host, had created a rock star who looked like Mr. Stephens (the math teacher from high school) It was sooooooo funny everytime we got a glimpse of him!

I think the highlight of the weekend for me might have been Saturday afternoon. John Paul got a new gun at the gun show the weekend before, and was antsy to shoot, so we went out with his dad for some target practice. Not only was my gun easier for me to physically shoot, but I was also a pretty good shot. We had a roughly humanoid size tree trunk, with a lil orange target roughly where the heart was. I didn't hit the orange target, but if it'da been a real guy, he wouldn't be walking out of the house with our TV! (that's the goal)

-Just an aside, I'm not going to do anything exciting with my hair. I figured blah boring might be better than icky mistake!

Changes

2009-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

So, I've been stressing out about moving for months now, and though it's hard, I can't make a plan. Not knowing where we are going, and exactly when we will have to be there makes it hard to make a plan. So, here I am letting go of the worry. (I am starting to collect paper boxes from work though)

With the release of stress about that, I've decided to make some other changes. John Paul requested that I grow my hair out and stop dyeing it, so for the past 2ish years, I've gotten just barely trims and let it revert back to what I used to think was blah brown, but I've come to realize I do have a lil bit of natural highlight. I secretly want to go back to the pixie cut, because I mean, a dot of shampoo, then a dab of gel and you're done... but that's a no go, so...

The other day a real cute gal came in with a big poster board she needed laminated. I sent her over to the copy center. I noticed she was over there a little while later, and that her sign said $10 off perms. That got me thinking about getting a body wave. Something to give my fine thin hair a lil volume. I tried this about 3 years ago, and got the 80's fro perm. I know now they need to use BIG rollers. John Paul thinks it would be nice. When I wanna do something sweet for him I sleep in foam rollers to make my hair curly. He REALLY likes that, so I don't have to worry about him liking it. I'm just worried about if I will like it really.

I know I don't want that look again. Just when I decided to not worry about something else!

I'm thinking about taking these pictures in. What I don't want and what I'm thinking about. What do you think?

All Gone

2009-03-30T18:20:00.001-07:00

The snow's all gone, like there's only piles in parking lot.

Also, I went to my follow up for my stone surgery, and the Doc said that I had no stones on the xray! yay! Stones all gone.

Spring time in OK

2009-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

So, it's been raining for the past day or so. This morning it turned to snow. It's only about 34 degrees outside, but it's still several inches deep. It was probably about 4 inches when I took these pictures, but it's coming down quickly and steadily for another probably 2 hours since I've taken these. It's crazy!! Tomorrow the high is 56, so it will be melting tommorow, but at this point it'll be around for a bit. This is crazy!!!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-03-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm never good at adding pictures, but there are some to make it more interesting!

Last week, I went down to OKC to see my best gal pal married off. I made her a cute cake, or I think so at any rate. The party was the day after St. Patty's so it was almost appropriate...

My old college roommate was the maid of honor, I was the matron of honor (i'm so glad there was no program so no one called me that lol) and Amy's college roommate was the last bridesmaid.

We had a fabulous time hanging out together, and working hard to get everything put together, but it was a beautiful wedding. My fear was moving her 4 foot train around, but that went well too, and they ended up married!

She moved to VA to be with her guy, and I'm sad she's gone, but even far away she's still my best friend, and I'm so lucky that she asked me to be a part of her big day. (It totally affirmed to me that I did the right thing doing the almost no wedding though. I couldn't have done all that stress!)

After the wedding I was able to go home for a few days to see my parents. It's so great to see them. I'm getting a little sad about the move.

Back to work

2009-03-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

After being out for a week, I went back to work today to do a grueling 10 hours. I made my to do list for the week, and then cut it into 3 slices. Gotta get each one done before I can head out each day.

I'm going to only work 3 days because Wed. night I'm heading to OKC to be the Matron of Honor in my best friend Amy's wedding. I'm really excited. I'm making (baking as we speak) a really cute cake for her bachelorette party.

Thursday we will do all the prep work for the wedding, and the big day for her is Friday. She met this fella when interning in PA. She's dated him long distance for 3 years. She finally moved into his zip code this January. I'm so excited and happy for her! ( I just pray that I can make it through the week. I'm pretty tired!)

Stone update

2009-03-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

So, after spending all night in the emergency room Sat night/Sunday Morning, I had enough. The ER doc gave me the phone # to a urologist, and I called promptly at 8 a.m. to be told over and over again I'd have to wait until Wed. My Mother in law had driven up from Chickasha to take me because JP had class this afternoon. With every call to the specialist, I'd beg to be seen today. Finally they said I could come in.

They did an X-Ray that showed the big stone still in the upper part of the trip it would need to take. The ER said it was almost to the bottom, (deep breaths to not be upset)

Any way, I'm scheduled for surgery at 1 pm Tuesday. I'll be under anesthesia and they will use ultra sonic waves to break this thing up so I'll be able to get rid of it.

Please be praying for me. I've felt aweful for days, and I'm not as nice as I should be. JP feels helpless, because nothing he can do will really help. I'm glad his mom came up, she's making sure he won't have to miss class, and she was an RN before he was born. I do miss my mom though. I wish she was here, but since Mary Ann doesn't work, it really made the most sense for her to be the caretaker.

I'm a little nervous, but so excited that I may actually feel better!!

a little funny

2009-03-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

So, pain medications make you sleepy and nauseous if you don't have anything in your tummy. I was sleeping and my alarm went off to take the next pill. So, not thinking that I hadn't eaten anything took the pill, rolled over and went back to sleep. About an hour later, I woke up feeling nauseous. I went to the kitchen to make toast. The bread is stale so it has to be made into toast lol.

So, the funny part. Ding goes the toaster. I grab the toast and immediately take a bite and burn my tongue on the crust.

Moral: eat the toast before you feel sick, so you don't burn your tounge lol!

I'm feeling ok. The pain is under control with said meds, but if I'm even 30 min late taking it, I'm in a world of hurt. So, it's a waiting game until the thing moves on out. What fun!

Kidney Stone

2009-03-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

Since Wednesday, I've been feeling pretty awful. It was kidney stone-esque but not as intense as stones in the past, until this morning. About 9, the hard core pain started, and I barely was able to drive home. John Paul took me to the ER. They just gave me pain meds and told me to drink A LOT of water, but the meds were totally needed.

So, now I'm laying around feeling like someone kicked me in the side.

On the plus side, I have a loving devoted husband who's waiting on me. How lucky am I? Well, not the stone part, just the husband part!

Life, the Universe, and Everything

2009-02-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

So, the title is the 3rd book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy that has 4 books in it. (don't ask, I don't get it either) Silly books if you have time to read. Fun movie if you don't...

That was a random intro to my boring blog. I talked to Ganny to day and she commented on my blog drought, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and vent stresses ect.

Last weekend I had "The Group" over. There were 11 people in our little house. Friends from high school, and a few people they brought with them. John Paul has been friends with these people since being in the same 4th grade class. It was ablast to have everyone over. I wish I'da taken pictures, because there were 6 people spooning in our middle room all night. For some reason they didn't wanna split up to have more room. They left the engaged couple alone, minus the lucky guy who got the couch.

The best part for me was making breakfast for everyone. Homemade (from a whole wheat mix) biscuits, gravy and scrabled eggs. It was good to a: Make breakfast (JP doesn't like much more than cereal, which is sad b: make food that was enjoyed c: I cooked and other girls did the dishes!!

I've been finding a lot of joy in preparing meals. Last night I made chicken fried steak, mashed potatos and gravy. So bad for us, but so yummy!

This weekend I'm heading to OKC for a friends bridal shower. I'm the Matron of Honor, and that been stressing me out a little. I've been working on planning her personal shower, which isn't goign to be that big of a deal, but I always work myself up over wanting it to all be perfect. I'm getting way excited about making her a cake!!

The stress of moving is always in the back of my mind.JP called to see what the relocation department will do to help us move, and they said he had a job, but his exact location hasn't been finalized, so we are 90% sure it will be in Houston. I just wish we had a plan for when we're moving, going on vacation, and when he will start working.

I know who by worrying can add a single minute to his life, but I'm having a hard time embracing that scripture.

God will provide a plan, but it will be in His time. It's just hard that my brain doesn't always work at His pace, which I'm probably glad of.

You think you have him...

2009-02-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

But I do. The most wonderful Husband in the whole world.

It's crazy how much our relationship has changed over just the last four months. Even though we had been dating almost 6 years, getting married was far different than I would have thought.

The first month or so was so stressful. Figuring out how to deal with all our stuff in one little house, and how to spend any time together after classes and during a job search.

After the holidays, and even before John Paul has become such a wonderful husband.

If I need help around the house, I just have to leave him a note and he'll do chores. He may refuse to handwash dishes, but I've only done a few loads of laundry in the past few months. He's taken the time to talk to me, and do things I like to do.

He's picked up a marriage book that someone gave us when we got married, and started reading it without me asking/forcing him to. He's said thank you for all the things I though he was taking for granted, and even for things I didn't know were important to him.

For Valentines, he made plans around things I'd been asking him to do for a long time. We ordered in a heart shaped pizza, and watched a movie that I'd been wanting to watch with him for months. Before dinner, he took me to the flea market. He doesn't enjoy them, but he knows that I do. He didn't complain the whole time, and even bought me some pretty wooden roses.

You may think your hubby is wonderful and perfect, and I hope you do, but I'm still voting that my husband is the best in the world, because he's mine.

bumming weekend

2009-02-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had a zillion things to do, and enjoyed every single one of them. This weekend, I had a friend coming in from Stillwater, and a anti-Super Bowl party at the knitting store. John Paul decided he should take the gun he got last weekend home and test it out. So, it sounded like I would be busy, but I'm finding I have a lot of boring time on my hands lol!

I baked a lot. I made bread for a church fundraiser, and brownies and fudge for the super bowl party. I can't wait to go to that in a few hours. I'm going to get help on a pair of socks I'm knitting, and work on my Leia hat, which I've got almost nothing done on. I lost my pizazz for it quickly!

It's strange being married. This week I spent a lot of time cooped up in the house with John Paul because of the weather. (which turned off to be 60 just a day or two later. crazy Oklahoma) He doesn't do cooped up in the house well. I was having a great time cooking, playing the wii, and surfing the net. He was hating being inside, so we took a walk to Auto Zone. About 5 blocks, which was fun in the sleet! I had spiked things I put on my shoes to not fall.

So, My thought was, we were cooped up together and he was grumpy. When he decided to go to Chickasha for the weekend I was like good riddance for about 5 minutes. I realize that even if he's a little annoying some times when he gets bored, I'd rather have him nagging me about something to do, than not have him around at all. I can't wait for him to get back tonight!!!

Ice Day

2009-01-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

Today I got the day off because everything is coated with ice! One of the ladies said her husband was going to drive her to work, so they gave me the option to not come in. I'm betting they weren't really going to need my help today. It rained and froze yesterday, and has been sleeting pretty heavily all day. John Paul and I have just layed around all day. Played with the wii, watched tv, and surfed the net.

I know I haven't written in a while. It seems i'm too busy, but it's not really exciting enough to report on lol!

Last weekend we went to a gun show, flea market, and the home and garden show. They were all going on at the fairgrounds which is only about a mile away. We got a new rifle, and I got a sparkley bracelet from the flea market. Sunday, we took a day trip to Fayettville to see some of our friends. It was fun, but made for a kinda long day. It's a 2 hour drive, but we are still young and spontaneous right? lol

Moving to Houston is in the back of my head a lot, but there's not really any planning we can do right now so, it's going to just stay in back of my mind.

Hope all is well with you and yours!

Skiing

2009-01-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

So, I survived and thrived while skiing!!

I got WAY better as the week went on. I was looking like a solid intermediate! John Paul's dad was really helpful. He skied with me most days. John Paul wanted to go ski in the woods or on scary stuff. I'm so not ready for that!

His mom decided to not to at the last minute which meant I was alone with boys only all week. His dad and brother are pretty nice guys so it was ok.

I took a day off from skiing, and while the boys skied at Breckinridge I shopped. I went into a hat store, and they totally loved my princess Leia hat there, and were interested in buying them. I'm working on some of the details, hopefully something cool will come of it!

I had to go back to work which was sad, but I'm staying REALLY busy because a weeks worth of stuff piled up for me while I was gone. I'm still liking it a lot, but will be looking forward to a new adventure in Houston in a few months. I'm not sure what that adventure will be yet, but it's going to be exciting!!

Mel- you asked for details about JP's job so here they are:

He's going to be working as a design engineer for an oil tools company. So, he's designing oil tools... that's about all we know right now. but it's a job, and for that we are thankful.

When we move my first job will be setting the house in order, then I'll hopefully find something. what, who knows!!

Christmas was great, all 3 times we celebrated it, but I'm really glad things are settled down again.

stuff

2008-12-31T21:37:00.000-08:00

We finished off Christmas celebrating last weekend with a trip to the Dallas area to have Christmas with the Essex clan at his Aunt's house. It was a fantastic weekend. Even with the hardest bed ever, we had a great time!

We got some great stuff. Wonderful luggage to take skiing next week, some fantastic kitchen gadgets for me. John Paul got a quilt that his mom made for him. A nice brown and black argyle. It's really pretty, i'll take a pics at some point.

I'm spending New Years in Tulsa alone. JP went home for a party with "The Group" The people he's been friends with since the 4th grade. I'm bummed I'm not going to be there with him, but he had to take his car to OKC to get it fixed, so it made the most sense.

I've been having a fantastic evening putting all my CDs on my computer to put on the new MP3 player i got with my christmas money, as well as I made a trip to the knitting store. I got some great yarn and I'm hoping to make a scarf for skiing!!

Tommorow I'll be packing up my bag to head to CO. (we leave Sunday) I'm so excited!!! I'm not even going to worry about hurting myself!!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is the most different Christmas I've ever experienced. John Paul is still sleeping soundly in bed. Instead of getting up early and helping Dad make a big breakfast before mom gets home, I just made some biscuits, from a box no less. No eggs, sausage, gravy or the other fixings of Christmas past. No unwrapping of gifts for that matter either.

Last night John Paul took me out to a FANCY steak dinner for Christmas. I've been asking to go out for a meal there for about a year, so it was a thoughtful gift. The steak was great, the appetizer cheese tray was wonderful, but the best part was the lava cake. *drools* They bake it fresh for you. So, you have to order it when you get your food. What a treat!

When John Paul gets up, He'll open his one gift, and we will lay around the rest of the day. We brought home leftovers from the Christmas dinner at my house last weekend, and tomorrow we will head down to Texas to have Christmas with his family at his aunt's house.

Even though there's no breakfast and stacks of presents today, I know it will be a great day. We will play with the Wii my mom gave us last weekend, and spend some no pressure to do anything else time together. What a treat!!!

Merry Christmas, and may your days be filled with peace and love!

the only little kids who like me, and their sister who doesn't

2008-12-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

So, these are the Clift twins. They will be 3 in June. They belong to a couple who I went to church with in Chickasha, as well as the husband was one of my favorite high school teachers. Mr. Clift (he taught math in case you had him)

When I was a senior, his wife Lisa had a miscarriage, and I could see on her face week to week the pain that she was going through. So I began to pray that God would bring a child into their life. 3 years later, He brought the boys, Aaron and Jacob to the Clifts.

They are such a reminder that God does hear our prayers and answers. It may not be in our timing, or exactly how we expected, but He is loving and faithful.

So every time I see the boys it is a really happy time. The Clifts came up to the farm show and they took us out to dinner. They have a baby sister who was born in March. She doesn't really like me, but that's ok. There are 2 little boys who think I'm pretty neat.

They came over to the house before dinner, and we played and wrestled for about 45 minutes. I had a great time, other than they were sooooooo loud! Talking to Lisa after dinner she said I'd be a great mom, and that was just crazy and scary.

Since Friday night I've been having I'm going to be/am a mom nightmares. It's aweful. I'm so glad a lot of wonderful people out there are excited about being a mom, but I'm just not one of those people.

So, I guess the main thought is God is good, it's exciting to be loved, but I'm not ready for little ones yet!

I had a day, and I won $100!

2008-12-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

So Friday was a great day. Things went good at work, John Paul came to visit me while I was there. We accepted a job offer for him, and it was exciting. After work I hung out with my crazy friend Ellen, and had a great time. We met a friend of hers for a drink then went to the City of Tulsa's christmas party for their employees. (Ellen works for the parks dept.) Well, they had a drawing and I won the grand prize $100. It would have been an awesome day anyway, but man the money lifted my spirits!

The next day John Paul and I went to the gun show in town and spent it and more getting me my very own revolver and most everyone we were lacking's Christmas gifts. We had a great time together. I love the weekends when we get to spend more than 5 minutes together!

To cap the weekend off, I went to a women's ministry christmas party. Instead of dirty santa gifts we did a cookie exchange with the same rules. It was so much fun! The men's ministry group served us tacos (good even with fake hamburger) I got a really yummy gooey bar recipe. I thought I'd share since I could lol

Magic Cookie Bars

1 3/4 Stick margarine
2 C Graham cracker crumbs
12 Oz Chocolate chips
2 C Coconut
2 C pecans
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Melt margerine in a 9 X13 pan in oven. Sprinkle grahms into melted butter. Mix well and pat down evenly in bottom of pan. Next layer chocolate, coconut, then pecans. Top with Sweetened condensed milk.

Bake at 350 for 25 mins

Cool or refrigerate before cutting into squares.

yummy gooey goodness!

Christmas time is coming to town...

2008-12-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy the last month or so!

I looked over my camera to see what interesting things I could show for my big lack of blogging lol!

I went to Stillwater for about 24 hours over homecoming weekend. It was a great time with old friends. I left before the game to avoid traffic. Little did I think I would be LEAVING when everyone else was coming. It was soooo good to see seas of people wearing orange. For never having school spirit before in my life, it's strange to miss orange as much as I do. lol!

This is the only picture I have from the reception at home. John Paul's dad took some great pictures. I need to have him make us a copy. If we look tired, it's because we were. My parents did a wonderful job helping set up! I'm so lucky to have them. Hopefully they feel the same about us.

We aren't very decorative around our house. We did get a decoration from John Paul's grandma. It plays music and lights up. Someone suggested we take it out of the box, but it's tree shaped this way. We weren't planning on getting a tree.
Until, I went to wal-greens. These cute little guys were dry as a bone and all squished on a shelf. I had to do a plant rescue mission. It hurts me to know those little guys I left behind would probably wilt away if they didn't have the strong cellulose structures making it rigid.
In other news, Tuesday we celebrated 2 months being married. Well, we said happy two months lol!

We got a sleep number bed about a month ago. It's fabulous!! I really am sleeping better. Mostly it's the bed, and a little bit it's I'm now used to fighting over the covers and rolling over into someone in the night lol

Thanksgiving was fun. We survived 2 meals, and enjoyed spending time with our families. We did have to leave kind of early because I got to work the big day after thanksgiving sale. Luckily I had what I thought was the best job in the store. I got to hand out the high demand items to people after they had purchased them. Not only did I avoid the stress of a register, I was able to make sure that the stock stayed correct!

I am learning my happiness in marriage is directly related to how many piles of stuff there are. The first month was pretty rough, but i got the thank yous sent, and then was able to sort organize and store the abundance of gifts we received. They last boxes went to the shed last week, and it's soooo much better to live in this tiny house. At least it's full of love!

New stuff!!

2008-11-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

So, I love our little house, but I must emphasize that after the outpouring of love through wedding gifts our poor little house wants to explode. I thought about taking pictures, but the stress of piles of stuff isn't something I wanna relive lol!

I did make great strides in organizing all this great stuff because last weekend John Paul's dad came up to go to the gun show with John Paul. I didn't want to be embarassed so I kicked it into high gear. Didn't get it done, but the stress level is way less!!

The exciting news is while he was up here we went shopping. John Paul's parents wanted to buy us a sleep number bed, so we went and ordered one of those, as well as used some gift cards to get bedding too!

The best purchase of the day had to be this!

Quite an upgrade from the 13 inch one from the dorm. It's hard to tell, but it's 32 inch. We feel like the most blessed people in the world. Well, minus that John Paul is stressing about school,but it's the end of the semester and everything just keeps piling up!

it's all over, but the thank yous....

2008-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

so, we survived the reception. it went way better than I had expected, and gladly I'm not having the anxiety issues with the gifts as I had thought.

Instead of freaking out over where to put stuff, John Paul and I are both humbled by the fact that so many people thought enough of us to get us so much NICE stuff!! We are truely blessed!!!

I think I just have o, 50-60 thank yous left to write, not sure how many addresses I need to track down. One person we both didn't know, but knew both of our parents was very sweet and included their address in the card. it was an awesome idea. I'm stealing it!!!

John Paul went to Houston yesterday for a job interview, and he won't be back until Friday night., The house feels big and lonely without him. i can't wait til he gets back. it was so hard to walk away from the security line when I left him at the airport!

Since he's gone, some of my friends are coming over for girls night. Sounds like fun, but I've gotta clean up gifts so there will be enough room for everyone to sit lol! I rented sex in the city and we are ordering pizza. I'm sure it will be a blast, can't wait for them to get here!!!

long time no post

2008-10-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile. Life has been a bit crazy to say the least.

I've been all over doing all sorts of fun stuff, and am just to tired to catch everyone up lol!

Last weekend we made a quick trip home. John Paul's mom wanted him to clean his room, and his little brother was on fall break.

We came back to Tulsa and the next day I went to OSU homecoming. By saying I went to homecoming, don't think I went to the game, just the fun evening before stuff. I stayed my first night away from my new hubby. It was sad, but fun.

John Paul has been busy interviewing for jobs. There was a big career fair before we got married so he's been busy following those leads. He's stressed out by all the things he needs to be doing, but he's doing a great job getting stuff done. I'm proud of him!

This weekend we are going home for the big reception. We are leaving town after JP takes a big test on Saturday. So, it will be a whirlwind trip home.

Sorry it took so long, but maybe life will quiet down a little bit in the coming weeks? With the holidays approaching I'm not to optimistic lol!!

Family!!

2008-10-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

John Paul and I met the cousins down in OKC and
had a great time at Incredible Pizza. Here's the few pictures I took. I must say Roger and Mack do look related!! Had a blast, I'm so glad we could get together!!