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.



Simply

I have no idea why of all the law schools that Mike applied to, and got accepted to, we ended up in Oklahoma. Some times I love it here, sometimes I hate it here, other times it doesn't really matter, because its just another place just like everywhere else. Sometimes I wonder why we didn't go to Pepperdine. I could be living in Malibu, enjoying the beach, the warmth and the sun....and the visitors! Oh how it would be to actually have people want to come and see us. Sometimes I wonder why we didn't go to Connecticut. Be completely surrounded by history. We would be two hours from NYC and two and a half hours from Boston. For some reason, out of the 9 or so schools that Mike got accepted to, including the University of Utah, it seemed so easy to just cross most off the list. The Lord wanted us in Oklahoma.

We have made a good life here. We have some amazing friends. We have a beautiful home. I have a good job. And most importantly, Mike is happy with his decision. If we could make the decision all over again, who knows if we would still pick Oklahoma. But for now, we are doing just fine. We make a decent living, in a safe area, while Mike continues to receive his education. And when he graduates in May of 2012, we have absolutely no idea what the Lord will have in store for us. Maybe we'll go back to Utah, maybe we'll stay here, maybe Mike will continue his education and we'll move somewhere else completely. In the long run, we do know what we want out of life, and where we want to be, but this in between time seems to be the most unpredictable. We are simply doing the best that we can with what we have been given. Shouldn't that be the phrase that we all live by? Simply doing the best that we can with what we have been given.

Finals really are awful, my boss really is strange, and sometimes, life really is hard. But we have things like a weekly episode of Modern Family, or fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, that remind us that amidst all the crappy things, there are still really good things too. Not too mention, we have each other. Isn't that just the best one of all?

This blog really makes me sound like I am having a bad day, but I'm not. Just a day of reflection. Always wondering why life is the way that it is. Why we are guided to certain areas in life, or why we are dragged through certain trials. Simply put, because God is trying to teach us something.

I said to Mike the other day, 2010 has been the best year of my life. And it has been. I also told him that there were only a few days left in the year so he better not screw it up. But its true. I have learned a lot about myself this year. I have learned a lot about Mike this year. And together as a couple we have matured and grown.

Now off to make myself a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies....

Tree

I gave in. The decorations are on!

Merry Christmas!

Forward

20 days until Christmas....but really more like 11 days for us! I don't even care about the holiday, its the getting to go home part that I care about. The anticipation is nearly killing me. Other things that I look forward to in 11 days: Mike being done with school for an entire month and not having to go to work for a week and a half.

Friday night we went to dinner with some friends at a Mexican restaurant called "Cha Cha's". While we were there I saw across the room, Steve, the COO of the company  that I work for. I didn't think that he saw us, but I proceeded to tell Mike and our friends how nice of a guy he was. For somebody who is considered very important in a company, you don't expect to get much attention. But I remember the first time I met him, he knew my name before I even had to introduce myself, and I thought that was very cool of him. Well as we were finishing our meal, our waiter came and told us that the check had been taken care of by the guy sitting at the end of the bar. It was Steve. I was absolutely amazed. I walked over and said thank you, what felt like a million times, because I just felt so much love for this man. He mentioned he was impressed there wasn't a bunch of alcohol on our tab. For two days now, I have just been amazed by this act of kindness by him. Someone who you just wouldn't think even recognizes you on a daily basis, picks up our check at a restaurant for not only us, but also our two friends, for no reason other than because he wanted to. There really are still some good, kind people in the world. And us not getting a bunch of alcohol may have made an impression on him, but he has no idea the impression that he made on me.

Yay Sooners! Big 12 Champs!

My sister mentioned to me that she wanted me to post a picture of my Christmas tree now that I have it up. Only thing is, I didn't decorate it. I know, totally lame, but because this year we have a much taller tree, I don't have enough ornaments to decorate it, and I haven't bought anymore because I can't make a decision on what I want it to look like. And now I am getting to the point of it really is getting to be too late to decorate since we leave in a week and a half. So for now, my tree sits undecorated. It is pre-lit so we do enjoy having the lights on all day. If there are two things that I require when I am home, it is that the tree lights are on and the my wonderful smelling "Holly Berry" candle is lit. But if I do get around to decorating the tree, I promise to take a picture and post it.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous weekend of eating shopping and hanging out with two adorable children.

Oh and their parents are pretty cool too. The holiday season is well under way and I have quite of bit of my Christmas shopping done and I am so glad. My tree is up, my house is decorated, I have watched Elf, I have had several cups of hot cocoa, and the radio is playing Christmas music. Now it just needs to snow, and we will be set. Of course, I don't really know how into the snow idea I am. I think as long as there is snow when I go to Utah for Christmas, it doesn't really need to snow here. I sure hope Mother Nature is reading this.

Oh and we did end up taking the camera back, for all those who were dying to know. The camera didn't have an exposed flash, it was one that had to be lifted up when it needed to be used. It didn't pop up on its own though, and that kinda drove me crazy. Maybe I was just looking for a dumb excuse to take back the camera based off of guilt, but either way, we took it back. And I feel much better about having the computer now.

Now its on to finals for Mike, he has about a week until his first final. Which means lots of quiet and alone time for me here at home. I think I am going to pull all my scrapbook stuff back out and set it all up in the 3rd bedroom so that I have my own little work space. And I haven't really scrapbooked since our summer in Utah, so its about time.

But since Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks, I need to do a quick, cheesy list of what I am thankful for. My dear sweet husband definitely tops the list. He is so busy but he always finds time to make me feel special. I love him dearly and even though Oklahoma isn't quite at the top of the places I wanted to live in my lifetime, I would follow him anywhere. I have a fabulous family and wonderful in-laws that are so supportive and loving. Living 1200 miles from them doesn't change the fact that they are always there for us. Our friends here, and our friends in Utah. They understand that with Mike's busy schedule, we may not always be around, but we are always here for you guys, just like you have been for us. My job, that I whine and complain about, is really a very good job. I enjoy what I do, and I am very grateful to have been able to have the opportunity to have gone to school and graduated and still actually like what I do. Of course, the gospel, and the love of my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. I see Their blessings daily and I am grateful for my testimony. My eternal family! Oh what a joy it is to be with my sweet husband, and our children forever. It makes everything we go through here on earth worth it, right? And all the little things like delicious chocolate cake, the smiling faces of a niece and a nephew, a great deal on a new computer, and the lights on a Christmas tree.

This post may be a direct reflection of our current lives: boring and uneventful. And sometimes when I post, its more for journaling purposes or to let my mom know what is going on. I know most of you don't care about the dumb little things that I write about. But it's okay because we are happy.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend full of tender family moments and good food.

Now on to Christmas.....!

 

Success

Happy Black Friday! And I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving yesterday. We sure did. We ate some delicious food, including a decadent chocolate cake (which I will blog about when I upload the picture). We ate and napped and played. It was just a fabulous day. Mike and I started our shopping early at midnight last night at Walmart. We bought a camera, price matching from Office Max. Then home for about 3 hours of sleep and back to Best Buy. We showed up just in time to walk in the door. They only had 5 of the computers that we were hoping to get, but luckily, one of the gentleman who had been in line since 6 pm the night before, was selling off all of his tickets for $25 each. He still had the computer one so we took full advantage. So after purchasing our ticket and standing in line for 2 hours at the Best Buy checkout, we proudly walked out with the computer that we wanted, and we didn't even have to stand outside and freeze in the line like everyone else. Then back home for a quick shower and back out to the mall with Brock and Alli and the kids. We were also searching a bit for some luggage, because our suitcases have just had it and we are convinced that one of these days at the airport, our suitcase will be ripped apart while in the airport workers hands. That would be not good. We found a couple good deals, but I figured we had spent enough money for the day and just couldn't make the jump for the luggage too. We finally made it home and I am running still at 3:00 in the afternoon on only 3 hours of sleep. Wow, I'm awesome. Anyway, I hope that everyone got some fabulous deals today, and that you won't regret those purchases later....(I am already thinking I am going to be taking the camera back.) And now, time for my nap.