Lies

The weatherman lied.

My computer tells me that right now the temperature is 79 degrees outside.
I thought the high was only supposed to be 71?
By far, the best lie that I have ever heard!

Only 50 more minutes and I can leave work and enjoy it!

Past

When I was in Kindergarten, I rode the bus to school. There was a special bus specifically for Kindergartners. I hated the bus driver. We could not make any noise, including talking, while on the bus. There was a kid on the bus that I didn’t like. I remember he had warts all over his hands, and as a kindergartner, I remember thinking he was really gross. One day, he sat in the seat behind me and my best friend, Sara. He reached over the seat and was trying to touch me. I tried to get down on the floor so that he wouldn’t be able to reach me, but he kept getting closer. I screamed. The bus driver stopped the bus. He asked who screamed, and of course, I pretended like I didn’t know who did. But another little kid told on me. The rule on the bus was if you made a noise, you had to go sit at the front of the bus, while everyone on the bus sang Rock-a-bye Baby. As I got up to make my way to the front of the bus in tears, Sara leaned over to me and said, “I promise I won’t sing.”

In 7th grade, in between classes, I made my way to my locker, like any normal middle school aged child. I really didn’t like the people that had lockers around me. As a 7th grader, they just scared me. But I really didn’t like the kid who had a locker right next to mine, another 7th grader (yes, I still remember who it was, and yes, we continued to go to school together until graduating high school). When I got to my locker, he was at his, and so I had to move his locker door a little bit so that I could get to mine. He didn’t like that. He slammed his door back open and smashed my hand. I leave, in tears, without actually ever getting into my locker.

I don’t know why I remember these experiences. I know they really affected me at the time. Maybe these two experiences altered my entire self-image. Maybe I am weaker because of them. Maybe I am stronger because of them. I have no idea why these two small incidents are on my mind today. Except for maybe we should all consider that our bad day could completely change somebody. Or maybe it won’t. But they may remember it forever. And how awful to be remembered because of something that you did because you were probably just having a bad day.

Organized

So it drives me crazy that Mike doesn't have his clothes hung up in an organized manner. All the slacks should be together. All the t-shirts should be together. All the collared shirts should be together. And so on. At least thats how I try to keep it. But then Mike gets involved in putting things away and it gets a little crazy. So the other day we were putting away some laundry and I expressed my frustration about how is clothes are not "organized". And Mike says, "What are you talking about? They are very organized. See....shirts....pants....shirts....pants.....shirts." Oh my heck I could have died laughing. Yes, I guess according to his terms, it is very organized. If you can call random organized. Either way, he made my entire day. I love that he makes me laugh.

Freedom

Sunday was kind of a bummer. I had to stay home from church because I was ill. But Saturday was a fantastic day! Since Mike started his new job and school this week, I figured we had better enjoy our last day of freedom together. And we did. After our morning chores, we made our way up to Penn Square mall for a little shopping. Amazingly, we didn't actually buy a thing while we were there but we had a ton of fun. Then we made our way to the Oklahoma City National Memorial where the bombing took place. We have lived here for a year and a half so we decided it was about time we go see what it's all about, plus it was a beautiful, warm day so we wanted to take advantage of it and do something outside. We had a great time walking around and learning more about the Oklahoma City bombing.

Straight from the memorial guide that they gave us: "Each of the 168 chairs symbolize a life lost, with smaller chairs representing the 19 children killed. Arranged in nine rows, one for each of the nine floors of the building, they are placed according to the floor on which those killed were working or visiting. Each bronze and stone chair rests on a glass base etched with the name of a victim. By day, the chairs seem to above their translucent bases. By night, the glass bases illuminate the beacons of hope."

Beautiful. 

Then we decided to head up to Edmond, OK, since Mike starts work this week and I have never been there. We went and ate at Flat Tire Burgers, which was pretty good and then Mike took me to see where he will be working. (This is a picture of his new office.) We got distracted by a new little community right across the street from the law firm. We were driving through looking at the new homes when a lady pulled up next to us. She was the real estate agent in charge of the area and she invited us over to the model home. We figured it had been such a spontaneous day anyway, and we had time so we followed her over. I fell in love with the model home. It had nothing to do with the furnishings. Just the home itself was beautiful! I wanted it. All the homes in the area that were up for sale were unlocked so she told us to go and walk through them at our leisure. So we did. We had so much fun. I love the idea of some day moving into something that has never been lived in by someone else! Anyway, obviously we aren't buying a home right now, but it was fun to pretend anyway. 

New Job

Mike interviewed for a legal internship at a law firm up in Edmond, OK and he got it!! We are really excited about this job that could create some great experiences and opportunities for our family. He starts on January 17 and he will be working 20 hours a week. So between this new job, the hour long commute, 14 credit hours, and studying, I would say that our time together will become very minimal. But its all for the greater good. I am really excited about it. I told him I would just spend more time at the gym, and become super buff, but we all know that I won't. I feel like I already spend plenty of time there. Anyway, hooray for prayers being answered.

Beaches

So I know that Josh is back to being my current obsession. But then I heard this song. And then I saw the music video for it. And I became literally obsessed. Such a happy song. And an even happier music video. Makes me want to move to California and become a beach bum. I even asked Mike last night if we could. He said we could. But then I said, "How do people afford a beach bum lifestyle?". And then I answered my own question by saying, "By making accountant and lawyer wages." So I guess in order to be beach bums, we must continue to do what we are doing and take an occassional vacation to the beach. Lame, but it will have to do. Anyway, enjoy the video. (Annika, this video makes me think of you. We should go to the beach.)
 
Video from Yahoo!Music

Late

So apparently Josh's new CD came out in November. So I am a little behind. But you better believe I will own it before the week is up. Amazing.

Josh

Josh Groban!! He finally has another song out. Oh I feel like I have been waiting for this day for so so long. And of course, its amazing!

Video from Yahoo!Music

Dresser

Mike has had quite a bit of time on his hands the past week since we have been home from Utah. He still has his two jobs, but he only works them part time so every day he has a chunk of time that I am at work and he has nothing to do. And when he has nothing to do but he wants to get out of the house, he finds himself shopping, anywhere from Home Depot to Walmart to the Goodwill. And while at the Goodwill, he found us this little beauty:

I am so excited about it! I have been wanting to find a cheap dresser that has a lot of character and that is short and long that I can paint and he found one for us for $50! It is beautiful and is in great condition! So when it warms up, we are going to spray paint it green. Yep, green. The actual paint is called "Ivy Leaf". Then we will glaze it and it will be the new addition to our master bedroom. Now if it would just warm up to at least 50 degrees (which isn't asking too much considering the day that we brought this beauty home, it was 70 degrees outside), we could do it. I am so anxious to see the final product.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

I know its been a while since my last post but we were home for Christmas and since we have been back, I have simply been taking time away from blogging because Mike hasn't been studying and I have to take advantage of the time that I have to spend with him. So don't expect much in the next 2 weeks. I forget how much I truly love hanging out with Mike. I love him. Anyway, our holiday was fabulous. We were able to be in Utah for 11 days and enjoyed tons of relaxed, family fun! Here are some pictures to show some of what we did.

This is a picture of us at home in front of our own Christmas tree having our own little Christmas the night before we left!

Mike loved his new power tools!

I loved my new clothes....modeling the new blazer and new boots with an old pair of pajama pants. Classy huh? And I can't get the stupid picture to turn the right way. Dumb.

From here on, the pics are of us in Utah. We went to two movies while in Utah. We finally saw the new Harry Potter and we also saw the new Narnia movie. Both fabulous!! And no, the mugs were not all for me.

And yes, you do see a little blond in my hair. I got a little crazy in Utah, and dyed my hair dark and then bleached a small section. Most days, I love it.

Mike is really excited to eat his steak at his parents house on Christmas Eve/Dad's birthday. Since its Mike's dad's birthday on Christmas Eve, we always have what he wants for dinner, which is always steak and crab. Once again, can't turn the picture.

Me and my little bro on Christmas Eve. Except he's not so little anymore. The kid is 13, pushing 5'7", and has his man voice. Its actually a little depressing. I love him, but he was such a cute 4 year old. Why do they have to grow up?

Christmas Eve at my parents house in front of all the gifts. All the siblings and there kids sleep over and bring all their gifts from home, so before Santa even gets there, it looks like he's already come.

Gotta love the sleepy Christmas morning pics. Once again, couldn't turn it.

My bro got the Kinect for Christmas. I have to say, it is really cool. And some of them are quite the workout. I did work up a sweat on a few of the games.

And this is my precious nephew, Kyle. I love love love him, and all our nieces and nephews that we were able to play with while in Utah.

My adorable family on Christmas day. I miss them like crazy already.

While we were there, we also had some family pictures with Mike's family, but I haven't seen any of the photos yet. As soon as I get some, I will put them up on the blog. We also enjoyed having the opportunity to see some dear friends of ours, but I realized later that I didn't get a picture with a single one.

We hope that every one's holiday was just as special and laid back as ours was.