John's collection! It's a fun way to look back on all the places we've been together. And, no, we did not get one in Kansas City. It wouldn't have been worth it.... 

Our first guest in the guest room....wait, who are we kidding? Max owns the place! He's been sleeping here lately, if we kick him off our bed! 

Great Weekend!

John and I had a pretty great weekend....unfortunately, we were apart for most of it! But, on Saturday my old college roomie and the smartest girl at OU Med School came to visit me and catch up. Isn't it crazy--I haven't seen Laura since a mutual friend's wedding back in May! And she only lives in Norman. Tells me we are much too busy if we can't even play catch up with friends 30 minutes down the road.

Anyway, it was great to see her and get caught up. When she called the other day I said "What are you doing?" and she said "I'm at the hospital." And I immediately freaked out and was asking what happened, what was going on. She calmly (as she always does with me) stated "I'm on rounds for school." Oh yeah--she's a third-year medical student!

John got to golf, OF COURSE, on Saturday. What weekend does he NOT golf? And he shot really well (although I won't say what he shot, because he thinks it jinxes him). And I went to a scrapbooking party on Saturday.

Over Memorial Day weekend I had gone with my mom and grandparents to my grandpa's childhood home in Arkansas. His dad just died a couple of years ago, and they are getting ready to sell his home and land. So, I took lots of pictures and lots of notes of his stories from when he was young. My grandma just lived down the road as well, so I got a lot of pictures from her childhood as well. Anyway, I took those pictures and put them into a scrapbook this weekend--and I got it all done! I just have a few pages left to write on, but the pictures are all in! I'm hoping that he will like it, since he's selling the house and everything, maybe this will be a way he can go back and visit, even when he's not there. And one day I'll be able to show my kids where their great-grandpa grew up.

I got the office officially unpacked!! It is clean, although not looking much like an OU room yet. But we have big plans....the most important thing right now is getting in and out of the room. What an accomplishment.

I'm ready for work to slow down....we'll see if it ever happens! Have a great week!

Sharing the Blog

Well, I'm in Dallas for a few days for a "training and brainstorming" session with various people from other agency offices in Texas. It's been fun--a lot of good ideas.

We talked about blogging today, and everyone was so surprised I had a blog! So I was excited to link up and show them...I also showed them quite a few of my friend's sites, so thank to all you loyal bloggers. For those of you that don't know, blogging is becoming the future of marketing. Apparently we're all dependent on word-of-mouth marketing more than commercials, and major corporations are trying to get in on this whole blogging phenomenon. Very interesting.

In the spirit of sharing things on the blog, I've decided to share a few of my favorite things. Top Ten, anyway. And most of these are local, Edmond institutions but similar things can be found everywhere, I'm sure. Feel free to try any of these!!

1) Moe's Southwestern Grill: People have mixed reviews--but it is one of my favorite places to eat. My answer to the lack of a Chipotle around here. Big burritos and great queso--can't go wrong. It is at 33rd and Broadway in Edmond, and I believe there is one in Norman on Campus Corner as well.

2) Studio 750: This hair salon is owned and operated by Stevie Fly-Magee, with whom I grew up with. Please don't use my current unfortunate hair situation as any indication of how great she is--it's been a few months and I'm seeing her on Saturday! Anyway, Stevie, Sally, Brooklyn, and crew do a GREAT job on hair for a fabulous price. Don't pay $75 for a haircut!!! They do a great job and it won't make you have to pay your cable bill late! They are at Danforth and Kelly in Edmond--if you go, tell them I sent you! I've sent a lot of people Stevie's way, and I have yet to hear any complaints.

3) Cloud 9: I've only been there once, but I am all about small business making it! Cloud 9 is a salon right next to Studio 750 and they do everything BUT hair (leaving it to the neighbors, I guess). I got a great pedicure the other day, and they are new and building up their clientele.

4) Randy's M&M's: Ok, this is not ONLY because we have the hook up and get $1 movie rentals all the time. Randy's is really a great place--locally owned and operated in Edmond. And instead of paying the ridiculous late fees that Blockbuster charges (because NONE of you ever turn in movies on time, let's be honest) go to Randy's and when you turn in your movies late, it's only like $1 a day, or 25-cents for old movies. Plus, they have specials every night, like Mondays is two new releases for $4.99, and there are some other specials too. Not to mention they sell CD's, too, and have a GREAT selection of local bands and artists. Who knows, maybe your neighbor has a CD out--it's probably at Randy's! Randy's is located at Santa Fe & 2nd Street, Danforth next to Ted's, and 33rd and Broadway. Go to Santa Fe store--ask for Julia. She's my sister!

5) Milano's: This is practically an institution in Edmond. I don't know how long they've been around but they have awesome prices and a great atmosphere. Our nephews love it because they can play all the video games and pool at the pool table. Plus, if you don't want their famous pizza, try the burgers--AWESOME! Located by UCO on University in Edmond.

6) Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market: I know, I know--Wal-Mart's taking over the world. But their neighborhood market is like an answer to prayers! It's the great Wal-Mart prices, without the Supercenter crowd! 2nd and Bryant or 15th and Western in Edmond.

7) Steve's Rib: Hands down the best barbecue in town. John and I even went to Kansas City a few weeks ago and ate at what is supposedly the best barbecue in the nation, and I still didn't like it as much as Steve's! It started out as just a little stand in the parking lot of Homeland when I was a little girl. They now have their own sit-down restaurant! Located on 2nd between Santa Fe and Kelly. Yummy--go there.

8) Mr. Clean Magic Eraser--random product endorsement. There is a lot of buzz among the desperate housewives out there right now, and I have been in love with this household cleaning tool since it took SCRATCHES OFF MY CAR. And you thought crayon off the wall was tough--Magic Eraser removes EVERYTHING!

9) Coca-Cola Zero: Ok, most people think this has a flat taste and don't like it. So, it' probably going the way of Coca-Cola C2 (which was gross) but I like it! It tastes like real coke, and doesn't have that Nutrasweet aftertaste. And something just bothers me about diet Coke with Splenda. Too sweet for Diet. If I wanted that sweet, I would drink real Coke. Or Coca-Cola zero, which I am now doing.

10) Reno 911: The funniest show on TV. Comedy Central, Tuesdays, 9:00. It is a spoof of "Cops", focusing on a the fictional sheriff's department in Reno. Not as vulgar as Southpark, but be prepared anyway. Hate to recommend vulgarity in any form or fashion, but this is some seriously funny stuff.

Ok--lots of random thoughts, but I love sharing good things!! Back to work--I'm stuck here in Dallas for a few days. Give John a call if you want--he has a really sore throat and can't talk!! Hee-hee....no, really honey--feel better soon!!

Our porch and part of our flower bed. This is one of my favorite parts of the house!  

Living room 

Kitchen....I'm trying to display some of my massive Fiestaware collection!! 

Dining room 

Here's out master bedroom. Nothing too special, just loving the bed! Still nothing on the walls. It's amazing....you think and dream about making a house your own then you move in and you just don't do everything you imagined! One of these days.... 

Here is teh office. This is our project room, as evidenced by the shelves, boxes, and lack of a theme other than red! But soon it will be covered in Sooner paraphenelia! 

Here is the guest room....kind of hodge podge but cozy nonetheless. 

Pictures are back!

Thanks to Dad for the new camera and John for getting the internet fixed....we're back in the blogging pictures business!

As soon as work calms down (I've worked late every night for a while...) I'll take pictures of the house for all out out-of-town friends and family, so you can finally see what all the construction was building towards! It's really coming soon this time...

Like I said, work has been crazy for me. But I guess it's good--I'd rather be stressed and busy than bored. John is working with his dad on a set-building project, so I'll be alone at night for a while. He did, however, get our new computer desk put together and one of these days I might actually move it into the office and finally unpack the 9 boxes still in there! I have to get it fixed up by next Friday, when my book club comes to my house for our August meeting. I'm nerdy, I know....I'm in a book club. But it's a lot of fun for a girl like me, who doesn't get to socialize outside of work very much!

Anyway, things are good here...just going through the motions. Despite the disaster that was Kansas City trip, it was a great weekend. One of those adventures that makes you love your spouse even more!

More pictures to come soon!!!!

On a happier note, look at my beautiful hydrangea in my garden!!!! 

Wally World is closed....too ironic. Our trip came full circle when we saw this movie on TV!! 

Notice the TV NOT working and the pouring rain outside....and notice how close we were to the baseball (and football) stadium. Drove all that way for nothing....what are you supposed to do? We just laughed and laughed....

This was our destiny in Kansas City--storm after storm...

Vacation...kinda

Well…Kansas City was an experience! Let me first off tell you that Jessica and I do not have much luck when it comes to us getting away for a while, when it is just us. We have had great trips to places like Washington D.C., St. Louis, Dallas, Huntsville, Minneapolis Etc., but any time it is just Jessica and I, it usually turns into a National Lampoons movie. For the two years that we have been married, Jessica and I have not had the opportunity to take an anniversary trip just the two of us. We decided that we would take a weekend get-a-way to Kansas City, Mo, to catch a ball game and do some shopping…or so we thought.

We left Friday morning and heading north on I-35. All the way to Wichita, everything was fine. Smooth ride, not a lot of traffic, and then we hit Wichita. It decided to rain on us the ENTIRE way from Wichita to Kansas City. (I don’t know if you have driven I-35 north from Wichita to Emporia, but if you have you know there is NOTHING there. No trees, lakes, gas stations…nothing). So by the time we get to Kansas City, the rain had calmed down to a light sprinkle. I told Jessica they would not call the MLB game we were going to see that night unless there was lightening. (We hadn’t seen lightening the whole way there, that is why I was still excited). About 15 minutes after I had told her that, a bolt flashed across the sky and the thunder all but shook our car off the road. By that time I was mad. I love MLB, I had been looking forward to this weekend for the longest time. I had driven all day, wanted to see a game, and have a fun night, and now I can’t.

So we finally arrive in KC, and we check into the Holiday Inn right across the street from Arrowhead and Koffman Stadiums. (Seriously, we were so close; I could tee up a driver and put a golf ball in the outfield of the baseball stadium.) We check into the hotel and go upstairs to plan what we were going to do next, and when we get into the room and turn on the T.V, the satellite has gone out because of the rain. Needless to say we were beginning to get frustrated. About 10 minutes later the T.V finally came on, and on channel 28 was the movie National Lampoons Vacation. One of my favorite movies was on, and it was on at the exact time that they have been driving to Wally World, and when they got there it was closed. I felt like Clark Griswold. I had been driving all day to get to see something that I was not going to get to see. If there were a moose in the lobby of the hotel, I would have punched it in the nose!

We decide to go to Crown Center, and walk around and do some shopping. So we hit CC around 7:30-8:00 and walked around for a few minutes, and then we decide to go eat some famous KC B-B-Q. It had been recommended by Jessica’s dad that we try Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue restaurant in downtown KC. We found it in about 10 minutes, and went in to eat.

We walked in and immediately felt a little under dressed. We told them a table for two, and they proceeded to walk us thru the entire restaurant and sat us at the last table, in the back of the restaurant, right next to the kitchen. At this time, we are a little upset, but we are not people who like to cause a scene, or make a big deal about things, so we made the best of where we were. While eating, I looked out a window and could not see the building next to us, because the rain was coming down so hard. (This was the second storm of 4 that was supposed to hit KC in the next 7 hours.) The food was ok, but we ate slowly to let the storm pass, and when it had passed, we left. As we walked out the door, there was standing water, ankle deep, from the curb to about 15 feet out into the parking lot. The only way to get to our car was for me to take off my shoes and socks and walk thru this water to get to the car. I get to the car and back up to get Jess, and she starts walking thru the water. About half way out, she lost her flip-flop and had to chase after it…I laughed at her! We decided to lick our wounds and call it a night.

We get back to the hotel room, and once again, we do not have satellite signal. So for the next 30 minutes, we had nothing to do, so Jessica started unpacking our bag. About 5 minutes later, I hear “oh crap”, and Jessica telling me she left the bathroom bag at home. Now in the bathroom consisted of our toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, hair gel, brushes, Jess’ medication, Etc. So I had to go to the gas station across the street and get deodorant, and toothbrushes and toothpaste while it was still raining. So with Jess missing her meds, she slept about an hour that night.

The next morning, we got up at around 9, and got ready to go eat some b-fast. This is the only $90 hotel I have stayed at that did not offer a continental b-fast, so we had to go eat at Denny’s! woo-hoo! After Denny’s, we decided to go to Crown Plaza and do some shopping. So we make our way thru the Ghetto and hit Crown Plaza. By the time we Hit Crown Plaza, another storm decided to hit KC, and it began to pour down on us again. So we looked at each other, and said, “lets go home”. So we headed home around 10:30 and drove thru rain the entire way back until the Oklahoma border. After that it was perfect weather.

Throughout all of this entire weekend, Jess and I managed to find the humor in it all, and not one argument came from it! No matter what happens to us, we can always find the humor in situations! Even though the weekend was pretty much a bust, we still accomplished our goal of getting out of town for a while!

Yo!

I have been informed that I should put something on the blog. Want the regular version, or the short, short version? Good you are going to get the short, short version. The past two weeks have gone by real fast. Jessica is constantly busy with work going back and forth between Dallas, Tulsa and OKC markets. I have been working and trying to keep my grass from turning brown and various other house duties finding time, every now and then, to squeeze in a round of golf.

This weekend Jessica and I are out of town. It is going to be our belated anniversary present to each other. We just need to get away from Oklahoma for a day or two, so we are going to Kansas City. I told Jessica to leave the laptop at home and tell everyone at work not to call her this weekend. She deserves the time away. We leave Friday morning, and are going to a Royals game Friday night. Saturday we are SLEEPING IN!!!!!!!!!! We will get up and check out of the hotel, and then I am going to take her to eat some B-B-Q in the Plaza, then we are going to come home. We finally got Cox back in the house and we really missed it! Our Internet is screwing up so that is my project tonight.

I am not really a good blogger. Jessica told me to get on and say some stuff.
Word!

Back in the Habit!

So we're back. Well, John's been home since last Wednesday. But I've been home since Saturday afternoon. It was such a nice vacation. Not overly exciting, but we had a lot of fun and relaxed a lot. Plus we did a lot of shopping we all have new attire! Yeah!

The highlights were definitely Silver Dollar City and Celebration City. They really are neat places and if you're in Branson, you might as well go! We also ALL (including grandparents) went to a dinner theatre on the Branson Belle, a riverboat and that was a lot of fun. Visit www.funnydog.com to see our show entertainment....Hilarious!

And one of MY biggest highlights was something John and Julia missed out on. On Friday, Mom, Aunt Linda and I went to see Alison Kraus and Union Station in concert. Two words: A MAZING. (Warning: soapbox, in-depth thinking coming). You know, I am just as guilty as the rest of the world in becoming part of this commercialism, pop-crazed music world. I sing loudly in my car to the likes of Kelly Clarkson. But, then when I go to concerts like Alison Krause and Union Station I realize that there is nothing better than pure, true music. I mean, there were no light shows or dance moves or synthesizers or opening acts....they just walked out on stage and started playing. And she sounded every bit as amazing as she does on her records. Her voice is so clear. When they came out for an encore she sang "My Ain True Love" and "Down to the River to Pray" completely acapella for THOUSANDS of people and didn't crack her voice once. Sent goosebumps all over! I think about her and Union Station and their amazing talent, and then about the Josh Groban concert I went to and his amazing talent and I'm blown away. I think I will boycott Kelly Clarkson and friends for at least a week and try to absorb myself in true talent. That unpopular writing your own music. And involves playing your own instruments.

And I will wait one whole week to buy the new Faith Hill album that's coming out tomorrow. That is my vow.

Now on to the other new news...I am sucking it up and admitting I am wrong. Yes, it's true. Cox Communications does not suck....SBC/Dish Network does. Many of you have heard our cries. We have to change the channel in the living room by walking into our bedroom. And they want us to pay $99 to fix it! I don't think so....I've never been charged for a house call for Cox to come fix something. So, we are officially switching this week. So, mark off the new phone number....a new one will come next week. And don't order SBC/Dish network. Cox is not always great, but at least they fix your problems as part of SERVICE. My friend Brooke figured out that we pay like $1600 a year or something to Cox--that's a lot of money! Kind of ridiculous and certainly not necessary....guilty pleasure I suppose.

We saw "Wedding Crashers" this weekend. Oh my gosh--SO FUNNY. If you know us at all, you know John and I have a mature taste in movies--our favorites include "Zoolander", "Old School", "Dodgeball", etc. Anything with a Wilson brother, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller or WILL FERRELL and we're hooked. "Wedding Crashers" like the others is quite crude, but absolutely hilarious in every sophomoric way. Quite a great cameo by Will Ferrell as a funeral crasher. Seriously, if R-ratings and crude humor don't bother you, go see it! And if they do bother you, please don't judge us!

Anyway--back to work. Also, thanks to Dad (even though he was slightly confused about our address. we have great neighbors) sent us a new digital camera since our last one was fabuously broken on the Las Vegas strip last month. So now we can post pictures!!! I'll try to get that done this week. My hydrangea in the flower bed is finally blooming. Very exciting--maybe if I can keep plants alive there is hope for children one day!