"To Everything There Is A Season..."

Bad bad weekend for sports.

OU....how could you let us down like that? Horrible defense and not much better of an offense. You were #1 in the nation and you choked. Lame.

Yankees. Seriously? You let the Rangers go the the World Series. And quite easily I should add. Lame.

Mike finished up his first competition this week. This one was the Moot Court competition, the same type of competition he competed in last year. As always, he did great. His team made it into the top 8 and he personally won 4th place for the speaker award. Amazing. As always.

Saturday means another craft down. Yesterday we decided to use up some of the wood that we had leftover from last week's craft and create a Thanksgiving decoration. Andrea and I went our own route and both ideas turned out so adorable. Our friend Karen joined in the festivities yesterday and made the Christmas Countdown craft that we did last week. Hers turned out great! We had a lot of fun and, as always, I am looking forward to next Saturday!

 

I heard some awful news on Friday about one of my best friends back in Utah. She is pregnant with twins and on Wednesday afternoon she went into pre-term labor at 22 weeks. Things are not looking good for the babies. When I got the chance to talk to her on Friday night, she sounded exhausted but amazingly, she seemed very calm. Please pray for my sweet friend, she could absolutely use all the prayers she can get. She is such a strong person and I know she'll make it through this. Just another of our Heavenly Father's crazy ways of teaching us a little bit more about ourselves.

Michael's has started putting out there Christmas merchandise again. So I started scouting the place out at least a couple times a week waiting for my candle to appear. And on Saturday...it did! And I even had a 40% off coupon on hand. So yes, if you were to walk into my house, right now for instance, it already smells like Christmas. I seriously wait all year for this candle to come out. For all who are interested, the scent is "Holly Berry" and the brand is Ashland. I am pretty sure this candle is sold exclusively at Michael's but it is worth tracking down. And the best part about it....regular price its only $5.99 for the largest size! And thats if you ever pay full price. Usually they are on some sort of sale or you can at least find a coupon for it. Get one. I totally recommend it.

4

4 years ago today was our first date. It was Friday the 13th....but it seemed to work out pretty well for us. For all who are interested, we went to dinner and then to a corn maze.

4 years ago tomorrow (so I don't have to do a separate post tomorrow) we had what some would call a "DTR" (define the relationship) and became an official couple.

Yep, this may sound retarded to some that I remember these dates. I actually quizzed Mike last night on these dates along with what I was wearing on each day between Oct. 10-14, but he couldn't remember. I still haven't quite figured out why I can remember. But anyway, these days are special to me.

And for all who are curious, our first kiss was on Oct. 26th.

I love my Michael. And I am so grateful for the month of October in 2006. He changed my life completely. I knew it the moment I told him to be Peter Pan that Halloween, and he did. Tights and all.

Love you babe.

Us

 Look at these super cute Halloween Candy Corn Wreath's that we made! My friend Andrea and I glued and glued for over 2 hours to get these wreaths done but I am so happy with the final product. I hung it on my front door, and it looks great, but the picture that you get to see is flipped because that is what happened when I uploaded it. I, once again, couldn't get it to flip right. If anyone else has figured out how to get this fixed, please let me know. Its only the pictures that have no people in them, so I am betting its some facial recognition thing. Anyway, super fun wreath to make. The link for how to do it is right here.

Today I created a new tradition. Well first off, happy 4 year anniversary to Mike today who got home from his mission on October 10, 2006! (Also today is our 4 year anniversary for holding hands for the first time. Yes, Mike held my hand the day he got home from his mission, for the first time ever. It scared the heck out of me. That's a different story for a different day.) Anyway, two of Mike's favorite foods from the mission were Patacones, which are friend plantains, and what he calls "immigration hot dogs" because the vendor that sold these hot dogs was outside the immigration building in Panama. When we visited Panama in 2008, I had the pleasure of trying both and both were just as delicious as he described. So today, guess what we had for dinner? Yep, patacones and immigration hot dogs. The hot dogs are actually a kind of hot dog that is popular in Colombia, and it has pineapple sauce, coleslaw, and crushed potato chips on it, along with the typical hot dog toppings. And I think dinner was a success! Mike seemed to enjoy it anyway. After dinner he said, "You realize what you have done right?" I actually had no idea what I had done. He said, "You have created a tradition. Now every year on October 10th this is what we have to have for dinner. Even when we have kids." Yay, I love new traditions! Here are the links for the Patacones and Colombian Hot Dogs.

Cheesy I know, but we love our new carpet. And this is right after we got it in. We love it.

I became an official employee at my job on October 4th. I was supposed to be on contract until November 30th, but they must have decided that they just really love me. But that means that I will get benefits soon! I am so excited!

And look how cute we are!

I love my siblings. Miss you guys.



Joy

Oh and my sister is coming tomorrow! Happy happy joy joy!

Goodnight!

Birthday

Happy birthday to my sweetheart yesterday! He turned 25 years old! Our family birthday rule is that you can do whatever you want on your birthday, money is not an option (within reason), but the rule is that you have to make all the decisions on your own. Since Mike and I are both really bad decision makers, this gets us to make some decisions about what we really want to do without any influence from an outside party. So we got up on Saturday morning and Mike went to his normal 2 hour football game with some men from the ward and other friends. The difference this Saturday was that I went with him and watched. It was fun to sit there in the grass and watch my man sweat a bit. He even scored a touchdown!

Then we came home and I made him breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, bacon and Orange Julius. He then opened his gifts which were basically just things that he desperately needed. I also did give him the first season of "Modern Family" which he just loves. As we were out and about yesterday, he said to me..."All I want to do is sit home and watch 'Modern Family'". Haha.

Then we went and saw the new movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps". It was okay. I don't think either of us were completely thrilled but it was just fun anyway. Then we went to dinner at a restaurant called "BJ's". It was right about the same time that the OU football game was starting and this place is basically a sports bar and grill so we got to watch the game while eating.  

He got a lot of Happy Birthday phone calls from family and friends.

I made him blow out 25 tea-light candles because his cake was an ice cream cake so we didn't put candles in it.

 

Guess where we're going to be next weekend?!

Yep, the OU vs Texas game. And I have no idea why this picture is flipped this way. It would not upload the right way. Trust me, I tried like 10 times to reupload it. I even reuploaded it flipped the wrong way trying to get it to flip the right way but it just wouldn't. Anyway, I guess I shouldn't say we will be at the game, Mike and his brother are going to the game, while the rest of us will do who knows what in Dallas. The Texas State Fair is going on (the game and the fair are always the same weekend) so we will probably be doing that. But either way, we are getting away for a couple days. Ironically enough, we spent last conference weekend with Mike's brothers family. I see a tradition building here. Well for as long as we are living so close anyway. Anyway, Mike had the option to buy tickets because we are season ticket holders. And this game is a really huge deal. All the ticket purchasing for season ticket holders is random. But guess what seats he ended up with?! 4th row on the 40 yard line! We considered selling the tickets and now that we know that they are that good of tickets, we could probably sell them for way more. But Mike and his brother will have an awesome time! And of course, I can't wait to hang out with my sis-in-law and the kids.

And today is the first day that it actually feels like fall. There is a cool breeze in the air and a crispness. No humidity. Oh how I love the fall!

Modern Glee

Best news ever! The landlords replaced the fridge. We now have cold food awaiting any and all hunger or thirst. Can I tell you how wonderful cold water is? It is so wonderful. Especially after an early morning workout. Its been rough, but we persevered. And then we got some more great news. The landlord looked at our carpet and decided to replace it. And not just in the molding room. Yes, the whole house is getting new carpet! Do you know what this means?? 1) I will actually feel clean again. 2) I won't be embarrassed to have people over. 3) My house will smell good. 4) We won't have to move. 5) According to Mike's law school friends, I will be happy again which means that he can be happy. This is fantastic news. So Tuesday they will be out to measure and then we are well on our way to a pretty awesome house. So excited.

Do you know what else is super exciting? We got our flights booked to go home for Christmas! Its official. We will be there on December 16 and will be there until December 27! My boss finally gave me the okay, so we hurried and booked our tickets so now there is no going back. I absolutely can't wait for the holidays! I love the good food, the Hollyberry Christmas candle, the Christmas lights, the family traditions, the Christmas tree, the shopping, and the general happiness that the holidays bring. We assume we are spending Thanksgiving in Houston again with Mike's brother and his family. We should probably get the official scoop on that one before we get too certain. But I'm just so excited for holidays and some awesome family fun!

Brag Alert: Mike's just awesome. This year he will be participating in 3 law school competition. He will be doing the same moot court competition that he did so well in last year. He will also be participating in a tax competition because he has taken a liking to tax law lately (I know, kinda weird, but quite awesome at the same time). And finally, he has been chosen as 1 of 4 students to travel to Arkansas to compete in the American Bar Association (ABA) Negotiation Regional Competition. I know, awesome right? So I am a proud wife. Mike never seems to disappoint so I seem to always be a proud wife. We don't know when we will be hearing back from all the internships that he has already applied for for next summer, so we still don't quite know where we will be. Could be Utah. Could be Texas. Could be good, old Oklahoma. Could be somewhere else. As long as we find an internship, we don't really care. Okay, we...meaning I.....care a little bit. But its out of my control.

I feel like painting fingernail polish all over my nasty, old carpet before it gets ripped up. Who wants to come?

Oh! And the new season of Modern Family and Glee start this week! And Mike's turning 25 on Saturday! Gonna be an awesome week!

Football

Well the football season has begun. Its official. We both have season tickets to OU this year (compared to last year only Mike having a season ticket because we didn't perform the spouse "process" correctly....stupid). Yesterday was the season opener. And of all teams to play, we played Utah State! We were excited to have such an easy win because everyone knows Utah State isn't so great. Well, we were nearly disappointed. OU played so so so horribly! OU was always in the lead scoring-wise, but at one point we really did think it was possible that we might lose! Lose to UTAH STATE!!! That just would have been embarrassing. Luckily we pulled through and won the game. Thank goodness or we may have stopped claiming the Sooners. Before the game, we were ranked 6 or 7, and even though we won, based on yesterdays game, we definitely shouldn't have been. So hopefully things turn around. And if anyone wants to come out and go to a game, you are more than welcome to take my ticket...and we even have a room you can stay in. (I know, right after I talk about how bad our football team is....but its not how good or bad the team is....its the Oklahoma football experience). We bought our Texas/OU tickets. If you know nothing about college rivalry, you may not know that this is one of the top in the nation. This game is huge! We got first dibs on tickets because we are season ticket holders. They were $120 a piece. Yes, I know. Super pricey. But we have to go at least once while we are Sooners, and if we decided to sell them, Mike has already gotten at least one offer for $200 a piece. So in the end if we don't go, we profit quite a bit! They always play the game in Dallas and its always the same weekend as the Texas State Fair. So either way, I think we will be going to Dallas that weekend. The Texas State Fair is the fair with the hundreds of different types of fried foods! And I have got to do that while I live here. It just sounds like an absolute blast!

I started my job this week. It seems to be going well. I am just happy to be working and not having to spend every day in this nasty house. The work days are starting out slow but I am sure once I learn more, they will pick up. All I know is I get paid well and my commute is about 15 minutes. So other than that, I don't really care!

Our house is still nasty. I haven't done a thing since we cleaned up the mold. And we still haven't heard from our landlord. If they don't contact us, we will contact them as soon as our rent check gets cashed. That way we know that they are officially home from being out of town. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that they just replace the carpet and the fridge and that we won't have to move out.

Anyway, anticipate bad blogging from me until I can get myself settled. I just feel like I am not having much time lately. And I have been working out every single day (except Sundays)....go me!....so time is even more scarce! But I truly look forward to the day when I have good news to share about this house!

Mold

I hate this house. I was so happy to be in the same neighborhood, in the same ward, have an easy move to the house next door. All those joys are being completely wiped out by the fact that I hate this house. Mike and I have put so so so much work into this place. I have never worked so hard to make sure that my house was clean and smelled clean. So in addition to all the battles that we face in this house (including the smelly fridge that we STILL haven't used...oh how I miss refrigerated foods), yesterday I was cleaning carpets. Out of the kindness of a friend, we were able to borrow a carpet cleaner which I was so glad because I really want to get this smoke smell gone and the carpets were just really grimy. So yesterday I cleaned the living room...no problems, the office...no problems, and then I went to clean the guest bedroom. OH. MY. GOSH. There was a really big stain on the floor that we don't really remember when we moved in but its big and nasty and brown....we're thinking coffee was spilled. Well it was so big that part of the bed was covering it. Now obviously, the bed was up on a bed frame so its not like the stain was being suffocated. We moved the bed last night so that I could clean the carpet and this is what we found:

Do you see that?? Even if you don't, its because the camera wasn't doing the MOLD justice. Yep, whatever it was that was on the carpet was molding. I wanted to die. It just makes me think what else in this nasty house is molding, besides the fridge anyway. We cleaned it with the carpet cleaner but the stain still doesn't really come up. Plus what we read online was even if you clean the mold, it usually will come back. Sick. So we have had it. So thank goodness I married a lawyer. He wrote a nasty but not so nasty letter to our landlord pretty much telling them that they replace the carpet (or at least get some professionals in here to take care of it) and replace the fridge or we are out. And that we want our full deposit back. Because seriously, I'm paying rent, and I should not have to live like this.

And I can't even bake because I don't have a fridge to put eggs in. Sad.

Trips

Quick Update: We made it to Oklahoma. No car troubles, no driving troubles. Everything was smooth. Until we got home. Our fridge is pretty much rotten (stupid tenants before us left broccoli in the freezer and unplugged it). Mike scrubbed and scrubbed but that smell doesn't go away. The washer decided to overflow and flooded our laundry room and hallway. Luckily, Mike saw it before it completely soaked our living room. Mike's the  best and fixed it though. The printer wouldn't work. Mike fixed that too. It just seemed like nothing was going right. But Friday the 13th is pretty much over. We will lay in our bed and watch a movie and then we will go to New York in the morning. And when I get back, I will update on my last few days in Utah and our trip to New York!

105

I think its time that I make this chocolate cake. Just sayin. Is that not one of the most amazing cakes you have ever seen? Its on the list. Is it bad to make the cake that I want for Mike for his birthday?

One week. One more week in Utah. I know that I mention this every time that I blog but its coming so soon. It just breaks my poor little female heart. This back and forth stuff is tougher than I thought it was going to be. I go to Oklahoma and I feel like I was never in Utah. And then I come to Utah and I feel like I was never in Oklahoma. Its really weird.

 I have already started applying for jobs in Oklahoma. And I actually have my first interview already lined up. We get home the 12th and leave the 14th for New York so I was lucky that I had a day to interview in between. I really hope that this time its just easy. I would really like to just go to this interview, have them just love me and have me just love them, for them to offer me the right amount of money and then to just be hired. Just easy. That would be so nice. Fat chance, I'm sure.

We leave for New York in 11 days! I am so excited. We now have our hotels booked so we can breathe a little bit easier knowing we have somewhere to stay once we get there. I can't wait for our vacation. It makes me giddy just thinking about it.

Mike is already applying for internships for next summer. Apparently he applies earlier in his 2nd year because he has a year of grades behind him so he can. Its crazy to already be planning next summer when we aren't quite finished with this summer yet. He's made a couple of connections here in Utah with some attorney's and applied at a number of firms. He is keeping his options open though, looking in Oklahoma and also in Texas. So who knows where we will be next summer.

I see that in Norman this week its like 105 degrees!! I am so sorry for all my friends having to experience that and the humidity along with it. I am also so glad to be missing it.

There was really no point to this blog...