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.



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!