Saturday, January 30, 2010

Just Give Me That Polka...

Ok, so it's kinda late here, but Phil and I are still awake. Well, we started reminiscing about songs from the late 90's since that's when I first learned about the radio, 1997 in particular. So anyways, we start looking up old songs and we're having fun. Phil suddens says he has a video to show me on youtube. Oh.my. It had me ROLLING with laughter!!! I love love love it and I think everyone should watch it XD



Peace to you,


"Polka Power" by Weird Al Yankovic

Friday, January 29, 2010

525,000 Seasons Of Love...

First and foremost, I'd like to introduce you to our new kitty Salem! She's so precious! We've recently discovered she LOVES to chew anything she can get ahold of. That's ok, we still love her :)

Phil and I have been stuck inside the past 2 days due to the ice/snow storm in Oklahoma. The ice wasn't too bad, but it snowed from dawn to dusk! We think we got about 6" or so. We don't know for sure, but it was definitely a lot. We did walk a little bit to get some Whataburger for lunch. The walk wasn't too bad and it was good to get out of the apartment for awhile. We have a wedding to go to in Tulsa tomorrow evening so we're hoping the turnpike will be mostly clear by tomorrow afternoon. I hope y'all are having a warm and safe week :) Sometimes I forget today is Friday since I've been chillin' at home for days. Ah well, it's been good spending time with Phil! Here are some pictures from today!

Checking out the snow this morning!

One of our cats, Petey, walking around trying to figure out what all this white stuff is...


Phil sweeping the snow off our walkway for the 3rd time. He's so attentive ;)


The pool right outside our door. I doubt anyone will be using that anytime soon


The main road that runs next to our apartment complex. There were quite a few drivers out, but most of them were very careful.
Peace to you,

"I'll Cover You (Reprise)" by RENT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Sunday, January 24, 2010

And It Makes My Heart Want To Sing...

Today was a good day :)
Church was pretty good today, but I had to leave as soon as service was over. I made a mini-road trip up to Stillwater because a girl I went to junior high and high school with was giving a recital. She and I always got along really went and ended up in all-state together. People used to say we looked alike, especially when we both had braces ;) Anyways, I've only seen her a handful of times since I graduated in 2004 and I really wanted to be there for her senior recital. So I get there, have some Sonic for lunch, then run to buy some flowers for her. I go and she did a fantastic job! I'm so very proud of her :D Then I stuck around to give her the flowers and take a chocolate-covered strawberry. Well, turns out my high school choir director had also attended so I went up to say hello. We ended up talking for about an hour and then we went our separate ways, mostly because we both live about an hour away from Stillwater.

Can I just say that talking to him really brightened my day and made my heart smile? Too late, I already did :) I have always gotten along better with older people than anyone my own age. It was never a surprise to me when I would connect to my teachers, advisors, professors, etc. When I talk to some of my peers from high school, I feel like I'm being sized up. As if they are comparing me to them and deciding if I've lived an acceptable life since we last saw each other, according to their personal standards. To be fair, not everyone does this, but enough do that I feel weird running into people from high school. Anyways, it was so refreshing to have someone who I considered a wonderful individual to be genuinely interested in what I've done, what I'm doing and what I'm hoping to do in the future. It wasn't just, "well I know so and so has done this, this and this, so what have you done?". It made me feel like I mattered to someone and that I'm still worth the effort to talk to and catch up with. Somedays, especially after leaving TU, I've really wondered if it was all worth it. If going to TU, leaving, continuing with my education, etc. was worth it if no one felt that I was worthy to keep in touch with. I mean, why spend so much time and energy on relationships when no one really cares once you're gone? I felt relieved this winter when I ran into my old TU advisor, Susan, and this meeting this afternoon made me feel even better. I feel like I'm memerable again and that makes me feel so good deep down. It's helped a hurt I've almost forgotten that I have.

I'm sure the girl who gave the recital could have done the same thing, but she was understandably busy enjoying the praise of her audience, which she very much deserved :) Like I said earlier, this was a wonderful day and definitely worth the trip!

I hope y'all had a great Sunday.

Peace to you,


"How Can I Keep From Singing" by Chris Tomlin

Saturday, January 23, 2010

How Can You Stop When Your Feet Say "Go"...

Have you ever gone to the store to get something and you end up with something entire different and unexpected? I'm sure I'm not the only one that happens to. However, I do believe there are not many people that have done what Phil and I did last night...

We tried to run to Petsmart the day before to get some treats for Petey. However, they were closing in 20 minutes so we decided to go the next day. So Friday is a fairly quiet day and I actually had a bad headache. We almost didn't go to the store, but decided to anyways. Well, we go and of course there are cats up for adoption. We always look at the cats and look around for awhile before we get what we came for. When we get to the cat area, most of the cats are asleep... except for one black cat. This cat, named Kahlua, takes one look at us and starts silently meowing, since the plexi-glass "cage" makes it hard to hear them. We think it's cute and I press my hand to the glass. She rubs against it and continues to silently meow. She looks at Phil, apparently right through to his soul, then proceeds to paw at him like she wants him to hold her. Now keep in mind, I want to adopt every animal known to man because I'll love them all. Well, this continues for several minutes and long story short, (too late), we go home with Kahlua, now named Salem :) Yep... we went in for cat treats and left with a whole new cat! HAHA It was very much a surprise and yes, now we have 3 cats. However, we will not have ANY more pets until we have a house! She's so love-y and calm and cute :) I just love her! I'll post pictures as soon as I can get her to look at the camera! She's a bit shy. She has a good bill of health, updated shots, is spayed and declawed. Salem is also 5 years old so she's not a kitten. Like I said, she's very calm and love-y and we definitely like having her around! Of course, now we have the looooooooong process of getting the cats aquainted. It'll be rough, but I'm hopeful of the outcome.

Today was a big day too! I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and I've lost 25.6 pounds since August!! I'm so happy and very much proud of myself for not giving up :D After that, I ran to Target with Jess to get some gifts for a birthday party. Laci's little girl, Andey Jo, is turns 1 tomorrow so they threw her a party at Mazzio's! I apparently will have to stay away from Target when we have kids because I went a little over budget for my gift. All the little girl outfits were so precious!! I just wanted them all :) After that I drove Jess home, which is across town, then relaxed with Phil for about an hour. We took my youth group to LaserQuest laser tag, then to Braum's for some ice cream. Now we're home and completely exhausted!

Oklahoma Girl Confession #3
I would like to own a pair of cowboy boots, but I'd LOVE a pair in black, brown, pink and light tan just so it can go with any outfit I choose :)

I hope y'all had a good day today and that your weekend is going well.

Peace to you,


"Honky Cat" by Elton John

Thursday, January 21, 2010

It's A Big Enough Umbrella...

As of this morning, I am officially a registered Chickasaw Indian :) With all the issues I had for one reason or another, I was in the office for about 45 minutes and I left with my CDIB card AND my citizenship card! The best part is, I got to spend 4 hours hanging out with Hubby :D

I don't have much else to report since today is a pretty quiet day. So I'm going to participate in Thankful Thursday!

I am thankful... for my husband. He's a wonderful man and I love spending time with him!
I am thankful... for having a great job that works with my schedule
I am thankful... for the sun! With all the fog and clouds lately, it's nice to see it again :)
I am thankful... for my parents. I always enjoy talking to them and they always make me smile!
I am thankful... for all that I have since there are many who don't
I am thankful... for sleep. Let's face it, I'd be really grumpy without it ;)

Peace to you,

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Feel The Wind Brushing Slowly By...

I'm still around I promise! This past week was really touch and go in terms of my sanity. School started up again on the 11th and there was quite the shuffling of classes and schedules until I finally got it right :)

So long story short, I now have 12 credit hours. 8 am Business Communications, 10 am Minorities in American Society, 1 pm Intro to Public Administration and 2 pm (MW and NOT F ;D) History of Film II. Overall, I think my semester is going to go really really well! I have quite a few one page papers here and there and of course a handful of tests. However, I only have 1 research paper, (that isn't very long), and 1 oral presentations to do (both in April). I'm confident I'll continue to make good grades this semester and I'm DETERMINED to stay organized in terms of knowing when things are due, when tests/quizzes are, etc. Wish me luck!

I've seen quite the number of movies this year. Part of that was due to my mini-depressed mode when my parents went home and I watched about 5 movies in a 48 hours period. This weekend, Phil and I went to a wedding in Tulsa. We got there on Friday night and had dinner with the in-laws. After that, I went to see "The Lovely Bones" with my BFF Annette! I read the book back in high school and had her read it before the movie came out. If you've read the book, I hope you'll agree with me that there are a few things in the story that you'd rather not watch in a movie. Luckily, it was a very creative adaptation and with it being PG-13, you don't have to endure any of it. It is implied, but nothing more. We enjoyed the movie, (minus ALL the teenagers in there! Ugh, that was annoying :-/), and enjoyed discussing the book afterwards. Plus, we had a fun time catching up in general :D

As far as the wedding, I knew the bride and Phil knew the groom. She is a sorority sister of mine and he roomed with Hubby for a year and they were part of a Halo club. Yea, they totally were ;) Anyways, it was a beautiful wedding and they both looked so very happy! I will never forget the love I saw in their eyes and their smiles :) It was a little awkward for me and another friend of mine due to some social misconceptions, but we got through it together! I didn't really take pictures, but I have many mental pictures to last a lifetime! We are actually going back up to Tulsa in two weeks for another wedding! We have 6 weddings in total to attend this year, (two of which I'm a bridesmaid and one where Phil is his brother's best man!), so it'll be quite the year for us! We're excited to see so many of our friends finding love and happiness :) Cheesy, yes... but I do mean it!

It looks as though Phil and I will have to make a trip down to Ada again to settle all of my CDIB stuff. I faxed over everything and they're saying I don't have the proper birth certificate. Ugh. I'm unable to go today, but we should probably have a chance to go on Thursday. Hopefully I can get this all figured out before the scholarship stuff is due February 1st!!

Other than that, just trying to settle into my new routine. That's one thing I'll LOVE about FINALLY be done with school: having the same routine after the holidays that I had before. I'm sure some don't like that part, but I look forward to it!

Since I missed Saturday, here is...
Oklahoma Girl Confession #2:
I'd rather drive the back roads with my music turned up and the window down than take the highway any day of the week. I don't care if it takes longer, it's better for my soul :)

Hope y'all have a great day!

Peace to you,

"Penny and Me" by Hanson (don't judge me =P)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

I Say "Hey Y'all" And "Yee Haw"...

I was doing so well with updating for awhile. I just got in a weird funk where I was just so tired I didn't even bother to bore you guys with my life. Plus, I've been in a very nostalgic mood lately which causes me to be a big Debbie Downer if you know what I mean. Despite having kind of a weird weekend, (that I will fill you in on), I'm starting to feel much better :)

At work, my boss is using my computer to download some old family videos from his tape recorder. When it's slow around the office, he uses that time to do some personal projects. I don't mind at all because I feel like I earn my paycheck ;) Anyways, one of these tapes had an interview of my mom. (I feel like I need to give you some back ground. My mom and dad are both ordained Presbyterian ministers. However, they've always had their own churches that they serve individually. Well, my mom's last church in Oklahoma is the church I now attend on Sunday mornings and sing in the choir for. In this choir, is my boss. Yes, my boss is a member at my church. He has a family owned business and asked if I was interested in working for him in his office. I was happy to and have loved my job ever since. I love working with someone who knows me and sees the job as a learning tool. He gets frustrated from time to time, but its never AT me and he uses it as a learning opportunity). At one point, I was in the office alone and looked for that interview. I've been missing my parents a lot since they left to go home after Christmas and I really wanted to just hear her voice. Have you ever seen an interview or just recording of your parents before? It was a new thing for me. When I watched my mom, it made me see her in a different light. She mentioned a few things in the interview about her family and her past that I never knew about. It was almost as if I was seeing her as an individual and not a mom or pastor or friend. I saw who she really is. Again, this was new for me, but it made me love and appreciate her more. I'm so thankful that God blessed me with the family he did and I hope my mom knows how much I love her. Ya hear that ma?! lol :) I just thought it was an interesting and fun experience that I really wanted to share with you.

I was getting really bad cabin fever the past few days. Yes, I understand it's WAY too cold to go out and do things, but just going to work and going home was making me want to cry! Friday I had my yearly woman exam. I'm sure I've explained this before, but I HATE those apointments! I didn't go to my first one until after I started college. Even then I made my mom take me and then treat me to lunch afterwards! Well, she suggested lunch the first time and just made it a tradition until she moved. I didn't *make* her take me to lunch ;) Anyways, I go to my appointment and it went pretty well! When I went to pay my co-pay and leave... I realized I didn't have my checkbook NOR did I have my bank card. I made an online purchase and never put it back in my wallet! *slaps forehead* Luckily the girl was very understanding and said they could just bill us. So I call Phil and tell him what happened and how it went. I told him I was going to treat myself to some Starbucks. Well, I am about to turn into the store and I remembered... I don't have any money. Sweet. Then I realize, I have no way to get lunch since I work all afternoon. Luckily it was payday at work! I go to work, (because that's what I do when I'm on that side of town), and hang out until I get my paycheck. I then go to the bank and take some money out and go to KFC! I work the rest of the day and go home. I really want to do something so I beg Phil to let us see a movie. We decide to see Sherlock Holmes at the theater downtown. We eat dinner then head that way. We don't know what exactly happened, but they were closed when we got there at 7:10pm. We think a heater broke or something. So we call another movie theater in a nearby mall and the last showing of Sherlock Holmes is in 15 minutes! We race overthere, (thank you highways!), and we're sitting at the stoplight by the mall to turn into the parking lot when we get rear ended! The girl that hit us wasn't on her phone, but she was driving a brand new car. I think she may have just not applied her brakes because she's not used to them yet. Anyways, no one was hurt and there's very little damage. She didn't have her new insurance since the car is still new so we exchanged numbers and we went to the movie anyways. Hey, we were already in the parking lot to exchange information! lol We see the movie and it's really great! I loved it :) Then we went home and relaxed before bed.

Then this morning I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and I lost 3.6 pounds this week! That means I have lost 22.4 pounds total! I earned my 10% award today. I'm now 90% of the woman I used to be and I'm just have 5 more pounds before I'm out of the 200's!! I can't wait :D The rest of the day was pretty quiet. I got my large order from Christian Books and I don't know which book to start with! They were having a big sale and I bought about 8 books ;) Speaking of books, I've decided I want to read at least 10 classic books this year. I don't know how I got through high school without reading some pretty classic novels, but I'd like to remedy that this year. If you have any suggestions, I'm totally open!

I've decided that every so often I'm going to include a "Oklahoma Girl Confession", just for something fun. So...

Oklahoma Girl Confession #1:
Whenever I drive over railroad tracks or bumpy road, I raise my right hand in the air and yell "YEE HAW!!" as I bounce around. I do this ever. single. time.

I hope y'all are having a great weekend!

Peace to you,


"Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Glorious Now, Behold Him Arise...

Not much happened today, so I thought I'd share a story/lesson I taught my youth group recently :) I hope you enjoy it!

Epiphany: Or Why My Christmas Decorations Are Still Up

I know not everyone celebrates or observes Epiphany. In fact, Epiphany was a new concept for Phil! So I will explain like I did to my youth kids at our Christmas party.

I'm sure we've all heard the song The 12 Days of Christmas. If not, just click the link and read the lyrics. Have you ever wondered where the concept came from? Do you know when the twelve days of Christmas are?

You see, the twelve days of Christmas actually start on Christmas Day, making it the first day of Christmas. Why twelve days? Well, twelve days after Christmas comes to the date of January 6th. If you look at a calendar, January 6th is known as Epiphany. Epiphany is known in the church, (or at least in the Presbyterian church that I known for sure. I'm not sure what other denominations observe this day), as the day that the wise men finally made it to Bethlehem to give the Christ child their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. This is why Christians who observe/celebrate Epiphany keep their Christmas decorations up until Epiphany. If you want to be bibically correct, (bc as I call it), if you have a nativity scene, you don't place the baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas Day and you don't place the wise men around the scene until Epiphany. However, since you'd only have them out for 1 day, most people just leave the wise men and Jesus in the scene the whole season.

Is it starting to make sense? There are twelve days of gifts, starting on Christmas day, because it took the wise men that long to give their gifts to the King born in a manger. That's why our decorations will be up until Thursday evening. It's still technically the Christmas season in the church and we are happy to let it live on.

Hope that made sense and that I gave you something to think about. If nothing else, I just gave you an excuse to keep your decorations up just a little longer ;)

Peace to you,


"We Three Kings of Orient Are"

Monday, January 4, 2010

Let's Start Back Over At One...

Boy is it cold around here! It was pretty hard getting out of bed this morning to be at work. Since I work across town, I have to leave my house 30-45 minutes before I need to be there. Well, lately, I've been leaving about 20 minutes before and I get there right on time. Don't know how I do it, but I better cut that out! It may not work so well one of these days.

I have a subscription to a game website called Big Fish Games. Turns out its an Oklahoma company! Anyways, they have games for PCs, Macs as well as online versions I can play at work. Well, being a member, I pay $6.99 a month and I can buy games at a lower price as well as I get a game credit about every 4-6 weeks. I've discovered I LOVE their murder mystery hidden-object games. Specifically the Mystery Case Files games. Not only to you have to help solve a mystery, you find hidden objects in different scenes and solve puzzles to unlock rooms and the like. It's really pretty addicting. I noticed I had a game credit so I purchased the new Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove game. Of course I didn't start it until about 8 pm and HAD to finish the game because I was "so close to the end". So what did I do? I stayed up until midnight finishing the game. Then of course, Phil and I had to read the next 4 chapters of Genesis for our goal of reading the Bible in 365 days. Then I was hyper, of course, from the game. What time did I finally go to sleep? Between 1:15 and 1:45 am. What time do I need to leave for work dressed and ready to go? Between 7:15 and 7:30 am. What time did I hop in the car to warm it up? 7:42 am. Yep, way to go me. To be honest though... it was worth it :)

Quick question to my blogger friends. Why do you shorten your husband to "husby" instead of "hubby"? I've always heard "hubby" and that's what my youth kids call Phil. (*sidenote* When I first started helping, they only knew him as Courtney's husband. Then, even after learning his name, they decided it'd be cooler to just call him "hubby" instead) I only heard of the term "husby" about 2 weeks ago when I started looking at other blogs. This isn't a pointed question and I don't want to offend anyone. I'm just curious as to where the term came from!

With all the cold air and snow blowing around most of the country, I'm going to leave you with this thought. I was walking to my car yesterday, on my way to church. The wind was blowing frigid air and I just kept thinking of how nice my warm car would feel once it heated up. As I near the walkway to the parking lot, I noticed something in the corner of my eye. I realized that little flurries of snow where dancing around in the harsh wind, trying to land gently on the ground. I've only had one other moment where I got caught in falling snow. I was at a rehearsal for the school musical and stepped outside for some fresh air. Shortly after stepping out, these huge and fluffy flakes started falling from the sky. It was a beautiful moment and I will never forget the feeling as I danced around with my arms outstretched, looking to the sky of never ending flakes. As I came back to the present, all I could do was smile as I watched the flurries floating around. Despite snow and ice making travel plans impossible and the cold air making it a bitter task to even walk outside, I challenge you to think of a happy memory. Of a time when snow was the greatest gift you could ever receive. The times when you'd play with friends and/or family all day, then you'd come inside with your nose running and sit in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream or a big fat marshmallow floating at the top. When you'd sleep well knowing you'd see the glimmer of the snow on the ground the next morning. Or a time, like mine, where just watching the snow fall brings a sense of joy and peace. Knowing that you will never forget a moment like this for the rest of your life. Winter is a hard time for everyone. You have the holidays to get through, the bills after Christmas to mull over, the next chilly months that make you long for the sun's warming rays and the beauty of flowers blooming near your home. However, enjoying every moment, whether it be a memory or the present, will make the season much more joyous and bearable :)

Peace to you,

"One" by Faith Hill

Saturday, January 2, 2010

If I Only Knew The Days Were Slipping Past...

Another quiet day in central Oklahoma. I had my Weight Watchers meeting today and I ended up gaining from my last official weigh in two weeks ago. The surprising thing is, I wasn't super upset about it like I thought I would be! I figured out, with my leader, what happened and it made me hopeful and confident that the next time this happens, I'll recognize the signs and get back on track! We had some new members today so the meeting was pretty full. That's to be expected at the beginning of the year.

Afterwards I lounged around the apartment since Phil was at work. I got periodical texts from the folks letting me know exactly where they were. They made it home safe and sound! I dyed my hair, watchws a few movies, (again.. I know!), then cooked some spiced pumpkin and shrimp soup! Phil must have been hungry because he finished his really fast! LOL

Like I mentioned before, I don't have any resolutions this year, just goals/to-do list for the year. It's not as much stuff as the 101 in 1001, but there are plenty of things. So without further ado, here is my list:

1) Start working out again
2) Be in good enough shape to keep up with my dad when I visit my folks in July
3) See Carrie and Jon in San Diego over Spring Break
4) Do well enough in school to get approved to graduate in December
5) Do 1 thing a month that I've never done before and document it on Blogger
6) Go on another anniversary trip with Phil to Hot Springs
7) Take youth group on a mission trip (even if it's local)
8) See an allergist to finally find out what I'm allergic to
9) Start saving for our trips in 2011
10) Get my brother-in-law and 2 of my best friends married
11) Lose another 25 pounds by August
12) Take summer courses
13) Go on 1 date a month with Phil
14) Read the Bible in 365 days with Phil
15) Do daily devotional every morning by myself
16) Read a new book every other month
17) Get all my photos into an album and out of the storage tub
18) Take a class on how to decorate cakes
19) Get a second piercing in my ears
20) Grow my hair out

There you have it. My to-do list for the year. Wish me luck and I wish the best of luck to all of you on your lists/resolutions :)

Peace to you,


"Lost" by Michael Buble

Friday, January 1, 2010

From The Past Will Come The Future; What It Holds, A Mystery...

I'm so glad New Year's Day is essentially a day of rest. After the youth lock-in last night, I was more than happy to lounge around in my pjs :) I didn't miss the countdown this year! So very happy about that! Did anyone else notice that texting just stopped for about an hour or so? At least around here, so many people were texting "happy new year" to one another that nothing would send and nothing was received for about an hour. After the countdown, we set up the large tv in the fellowship hall and watched "Up" and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" before we all fell asleep. I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep, which is 5 more hours than I expected to get! I woke up early and picked up so the kids could sleep a little longer. I knew my parents would be headed out of town by about 10 am so I tried to get the parents to come between 8 and 8:30. Thankfully, with Phil being my other adult, even though a few kids were left, Phil stayed with the kids as I ran home to say goodbye. Luckily my parents were not quite ready and I was able to pick Phil up so that we could send them off together. There is never enough time when my parents are visiting, or vice versa, but it was a little easier to say goodbye. I didn't cry, (though I think I was cried out thanks to "Up" lol), but it was sad to see them pull away from the apartment complex. They even offered to buy plane tickets for Phil and I to go up to Minnesota for my birthday weekend! You know it's love if I'm willing to fly! lol My birthday is near Palm Sunday and the weekend before Easter so both my parents are pretty busy. I sure hope all of our schedules will make that possible.

After my parents were off, I changed into my pjs and just lounged around that apartment. I watched "How to Be", "Confessions of a Shopoholic" and "Doubt" on my computer via Netflix. Phil also got me out of the house a little bit by having a Target run! And who can say no to that? ;)

In other news, Phil and I were up for an upgrade and we ended up purchasing the same phone! lol With the mail-in rebate for these phones, it's basically free! We both got a Samsung Flight

So far we both really like them! I have ringtones and wallpapers that will keep us from having the wrong phone ;) It's a touch screen as well as a full keyboard! At first I didn't want a full keyboard, but I'm definitely warming up to it.

Instead of resolutions, I have a to-do list for the year! I haven't completed it just yet, but I will be sharing once I've finished.

Hope y'all had a great first day of the year!

Peace to you,
"In the Bulb There Is a Flower" Hymn

But I Know What It Feels Like

This post is going to be awfully vulnerable and hard for me, but I really want to finally say it out loud. I got permission for my daughter ...