No More Tears Formula...Could Johnson and Johnson create an anti-depressant?

So I can't even begin to give a recap of all that's gone on in the past few weeks. Vacation, Fourth of July, emotional and nervous breakdowns....It's really just the usual.

My mom will be rolling on the floor laughing after I make this oh-so-subtle statement, but here it is: I don't like to make decisions. This must be true, because my Grandma even said so and you know Grandma's only notice the good in you. However, it's true...whether it's where to eat dinner or what cat food to buy or what I should do with my life. I have rarely ventured over to the dark side (i.e. anxiety attacks) at the prospect of major decision making as some of my friends have. But nonetheless, I don't like to be put in that position. Which I was...just this past weekend. And it all broke loose yesterday with a ridicously anti-climactic emotional breakdown in front of my boss on a day that was supposed to be "fun day" in Dallas.

And to top it off....my iPod has malfunctioned and has completely erased itself. I have lost the thousands of songs I spent hours downloading and organizing into darn good playlists.

I won't bore you with the details, plus it's not really that important anymore. The final decision has been made and there's no going back and I don't want to go back. I'm so very happy with my place in life right now. The confidence that my company has in me and the trust they have put in me is amazing. My family is wonderful. My husband is amazing. My cats are cuddly, my friends are generous, my home is cozy, my car is awesome, and there seems to be plenty of chocolate to satisfy my constant cravings. Why I would want to mess with that I don't know. Sum it up to say I have officially been "announced" at work in my new position, and I've been assured of my long-term status in the company. It's going to be great.

Just don't ask me to make any major decisions in the next little bit. I might be reduced to tears if I have to decide between TGI Friday's and Freddy's Frozen Custard (2nd street in Edmond--go there...cheap tasty food and awesome custard).

Also--I didn't ever say much about our anniversary that happened on June 21st. It's been 3 years since we married. Funny...that was a really big day of decisions and I had an emotional breakdown the whole drive to our honeymoon. John should have just stopped at the Red River line and kicked me out of the car....I cannot be worth it!

Anyway, it's been three years and such a learning experience. But it doesn't matter how mad I get or how big the pile of laundry next to the hamper or how many times he doesn't take the trash out. In the wise words of John Michael Montgomery...

You are my best friend
You are where my heart is
And I know at the day's end
I get to come home to you

There are few things in life that make me feel as elated as that drive home at night, knowing John's there.

Only 47 more years until people buy us cool stuff for our golden anniversary! Can we still register at Target in 2053?

Trying a little black and white photography...the view from our hotel room!

Busch Stadium....Final score--Cardinals Lost!

Me and Mom














Me and my sister, Julia...not a great picture but here it is anyway!

Chihuly Exhibit at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens

Me and Julia

Me and Julia

Quick Recap

Well, for a brief moment in time I am sitting at my desk. I've been away from the office since last Monday. I had over 200 e-mails come in while I was gone. You can imagine my stress level as I tried to answer them all today! I finally just decided it's going to take a while and I gave myself a few days to accomplish that. To top it off, I'll be in Dallas all day tomorrow so, alas, no time to answer any more e-mails until Monday! :)

I had a great vacation! I took pictures with my regular, fabulous 35-mm camera instead of digital, so it will be a few days until I have those on CD's to post pictures of. But I'll get there. Guess I should start from the beginning...some awesome things have happened!

I will share more when I am allowed to (still hush-hush at this point) but I have been given an awesome opportunity with my job. I wasn't even expecting it, but it's big. And with that comes a lot of awesome benefits as far as experience, responsibilities, exposure, and even salary. I can't wait to tell more....for now just know that I'm pretty excited about my job, and thankful for all the frustrations I've put up with at work because it's paid off big time!

I am just a regional jet setter lately. Last week I went to Dallas, Austin, Springfield and St. Louis! I don't know how I kept track of where all I was, but it was fun. I spent Friday through yesterday (Wednesday) with my mom, aunt and sister on vacation. Part of the time we visited with my grandparents in Springfield, then we headed up to St. Louis for a few days. In addition to the ample amounts of shopping we did (haven't checked my account for how much damage I really did...good thing I haven't taken Financial Peace University yet!!!!), we experienced a lot of St. Louis culture.

In St Louis, they have this beautiful park in the middle of the city that has a science center, art museum, planetarium, and a giant amitheatre they call "The Muny". We have seen several shows at the Muny over the years, and they are fantastic. This year we saw "Aida", which is a beautiful musical by Elton John and Tim Rice. And the weather was perfect--jacket weather on a June evening, can you believe it?!

We also got to visit the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. They are having a special exhbit there of Chihuly pieces. If you've seen the huge yellow glass chandelier/art sculpture at the Oklahoma City Art Museum--that is by Chihuly. There were these beautiful brightly-colored glass sculptures all over the gardens, and it was so much fun to visit.

And, of course, we went to a Cardinals game. First one I've been to in person where the Cardinals lost. It was neat to go this year, because it is the inaugural season in their new Busch Stadium. It's an awesome stadium, and I'm still a Cardinals fan even though that was their 8th loss in a row!

Like I said, we did a lot of shopping, and a lot of eating. It was nice to get away with the family (though I really missed John!) and to forget about the real world for a while. I'll post pictures soon!

The Love of My Late Night TV Life

I love Stephen Colbert. It's true. If you don't know who he is, check out Comedy Central (ch. 56 in OKC) on weeknights at 10:30 p.m. for his TV show, "The Colbert Report". You must appreciate satire, appreciate sarcasm, and appreciate politics to really understand it. Sometimes I have to ask, "is he really conservative, right-winged, or is he making fun of them?"

The answer is--both. Just as John Stewart does as a left-wing, liberal in "The Daily Show" right before Colbert at 10:00 p.m. I love that show, too.

Stephen Colbert recently gave the commencement speech at Knox College. My favorite quote from the speech:

"I have two last pieces of advice. First, being pre-approved for a credit card does not mean you have to apply for it. And lastly, the best career advice I can give you is to get your own TV show. It pays well, the hours are good, and you are famous. And eventually some very nice people will give you a doctorate in fine arts for doing jack squat."

If you'd like to read the whole speech (which might not make a lot of sense unless you've seen Stephen, know his voice, and his mannerisms), check it out at:

http://www.knox.edu/x12547.xml

And P.S.--I don't know how they do it, but the staff over at "The Daily Show" find the absolute funniest clips of President Bush. I'm not saying I agree with the way they spin them, but it's laugh-out-loud funny most of the time!

If you can't stand the heat...

I had such a fun day yesterday. We went to Tulsa to assist with a client manager rally. The client was providing the afternoon snack (go figure!) for all 500 managers, and we ended up getting to help prepare the food! We went to pick it up for delivery, the store was running behind, so we stepped in and helped prepare.

Now, I know this doesn't make a lot of sense to people. But I love it when we get to work in the kitchen. I'm sure if I had to do it everyday I would get tired of it, just like with any job. But it is a lot of fun to be back there preparing the food. There are so many things going on, and everything is so fast paced. This was only the fourth time I've actually prepared food, and every time I love it! I've made burritos, quarter-pounders, fries, and double cheeseburgers. Actually, I'm really terrible at the fry station. It's very hot and you have to be very fast....it's a good training ground for eye-hand coordination!

I guess I should have prefaced all of this with reminding people about what I do. I work for an advertising agency, and we handle a major restaurant franchise in Oklahoma. So, I'm working daily with around 175 restaurants. Getting into the store, meeting the managers, learning how all the items are prepared--it's so fun. After all, I wouldn't have a job if this restaurant didn't sell hamburgers, so it's a good thing for me to learn about! Back to basics, I guess.

Is anyone else having issues with allergies and sinuses? I've had a HORRIBLE sinus headache for the last two days. I felt terrible last night.

I have a new gym buddy. Robin has been taking several classes with me, and meeting me to work out for a few weeks now. I tortured her with the Circuit class, and she has now repaid the favor. We have been taking spinning (cycling) classes. OMG--I feel like my legs are on fire. I don't know how those people do it. They stand, climb, simulate jumps, and they don't stop pedaling for 45 minutes straight! Seriously, what is wrong with them?

We're going again tonight....we'll see how long I last. My record is 20 minutes!

This Saturday, I got sucked into having a Pampered Chef party at my house. Although, I did pick some fun, tasty and easy items that she's going to make so at least the food will be good! If you'd like to come, it's Saturday at 3:00. Kids welcome because there will be ice cream!

It may be a while between posts for the next few weeks. Starting tomorrow, I'm pretty much out of the office until July 3rd. Lots of exciting things--vacation to St. Louis, business trips to Dallas (twice) and Austin, and then a little thing in the middle of that called our anniversary! I'll blog more about that as it gets closer. Have a great week.

Jason Knapp, DDS

We went to Norman this weekend to see our friend, Jason, graduate from dental school. Jason and Kristen are great friends, but more importantly he has been John's dentist for the past year. John's kind of been his guinea pig and he's done a lot of things to make John's smile perfect. And now, all that work is legitimate! He's Dr. Knapp now. And if I could spell all the awards he received this weekend, I would list them. He received 8 awards for his awesome work. There were only about 35 people in his class, so those awards were big deals! Anyway, we are proud of him and happy for Kristen to have her husband back.

Congratulations, Jason!

Hydrangea

Isn't it beautiful! I can't believe I kept a plant alive for a whole year!

Redhawks Game

We haven't posted a picture on this blog in a long time. This is not exactly the picture I'd hoped for! I look very white....I am very white, but I look even paler in this picture. Argh! Plus, my arm looks a little squishy--I'm much buffer than I look. Especially since I joined the gym.

Anyway--John and I went to a Redhawks game last night. It was packed--about 12,000 people. And not kidding, we knew almost everyone in the park. Everytime we turned around we ran into people we knew! Then, Easton and Mason and I went to the park at the stadium and they taught me how to throw a baseball. Ok, it was a soft-sided extra large ball, but I did put a glove on for the first time. They had fun watching me try to catch the ball with the glove....

It's been a crazy week. We helped my friend Melissa move most of this week. I introduced Robin to the gym--and about got us both killed in one of the classes on Tuesday! This weekend we have a graduation to attend, then I don't plan on doing much of anything else.

Long Weekend...

I can't believe how fast the weekend went by! I'm on a roll--I've now seen TWO movies that are out in theatres. But now I remember why I don't go to the movies very often--it's likely to break my bank!

I saw X-Men 3 on Saturday with Easton. I knew no one else would want to see it with me, and Easton and I had a great time when we saw Harry Potter so I asked him to go with me. I was not disappointed. I love the X-Men movies. They are a lot like Spiderman--not so cartoony and cheesy, but have a real story behind them. Anyway, it's quite action-packed.

We also did a lot of swimming this weekend. My mom's neighborhood has a pool, so we went there on Friday and now Arni and Nina have a pool in their backyard as well! It's one of those 4-foot deep inflatable pools. Just big enough for the family. So, I have no excuse to not be a waterbug this summer for sure!

John and I went with Matt and Robin on Sunday to see "The DaVinci Code". I'm not sure if that makes me a terrible Christian or not. There's a lot of controversy behind it! To top it off, I never saw "The Passion of the Christ", which was apparently the Christian must-see movie. Anyway, "DaVinci" was very good. I'm such a sucker for history and mystery and movies that make you think. My brain hurt at the end of the movie there is so much in it. I'm ready to go see it again, and I'm wanting to read the book now.

I do not think it's going to cause people to leave their faith or believe something sinister about Jesus' life. I do not think it drags down the church. I do think it portrays some of the Christian fanatics in an unflattering light--but I don't think it does it on a sneaky level. We all know there are certain aspects of different faiths that we don't understand, beliefs we don't quite comprehend, behaviors we don't agree with. But this movie didn't make me think they were all murderers or extremists. In fact, it made me more interested in trying to understand some of those beliefs, to get the real story.

At the end of the day--it's just a story. After much discussion with John (there's another good thing the movie does--furthers intelligent discussion with your spouse!), I finally decided that faith is your own. Only you can decide what you believe in. A fictional movie is not going to make me want to change my faith, change my belief, or become an atheist.

Also--I made a scrumptious dessert, straight off the Food Network this weekend! It's called an Eclair Cake and it's a Paula Deen recipe. I love that lady. Anyway, it's like a chocolate eclair in a cake form....very easy to make and quite tasty if I do say so myself. You can find it at Food Network website...called Eclair Cake by Paula Deen. I'd post the link, but then it would mess up the layout of my blog...

A Farewell

One of the best and one of the worst things I deal with in my job are the restaurant owners. It's interesting because outside restaurant world, most of you see the restaurants and think of a big, pie-in-the-sky corporation. Since I began working at the agency, each restaurant now has a face to it. An owner, or a franchisee as some people call it. These men and women are small business owners, more often than not very ingrained into their communities. They work in those towns, live in those towns, go to church in those towns, pay taxes, pay bills, send their kids to public schools, etc. etc. etc. So, just like Joe Bob of Joe Bob's Cafe is considered a small business owner, so are these franchisees. They just happen to have a powerful name on their door.

As I'm sure you can imagine, these men and women provide me much humor and much frustration. They are ultimately my bosses. They hire my company, which hires me. I report to each and every one of them, whether they own one store or 20 stores. More often than not, they make me smile. I have great relationships with them, many of them think of me as their daughter even.

One of the first owners I met when I started at the agency was Charlie Altom, who owns all 7 stores in Norman. Because of my love for all things Norman and OU, Charlie and I developed a special bond and he has been one of my favorites for a long time. After 21 years in Norman, and 35 total years with the restaurant Charlie and his wife Monte are retiring tomorrow, selling their stores so they can go fishing with their granddaughters. So, I will miss Charlie A LOT. He was never bogged down by the corporate mindset, and always gave you an honest piece of mind. The Norman Transcript wrote a very nice article about this lovely couple. You should read it if you get a chance. Luckily, these are the kind of people I get to work with every day!

http://www.normantranscript.com/commerce/local_story_148010437?keyword=topstory

Best Buddies

Best buddies, right?! Notice he has his paw around her. It's so nice when they're getting along!

Best Jobs

I just realized something....as a PR Specialist, according to Money Magazine, I should be making over $84,000. That would be a higher salaray than the engineer listed, the physican's assistant listed, and the veterinarian. Hhhmmm...

On another interesting note I did get a raise today! How convenient is that?!

I Should be Wallpapering my Bedroom in Money

Ha!!

Money Magazine rated the Top 50 Best Jobs, and Public Relations Specialist was listed as #20. Funny, it also said the average salary is over $84,000.

I checked my paycheck stub again, and apparently I'm missing that boat. I guess I should look at the bright side--there is still a LOT of room to move up if I'm going to be making that $84,000 one day!

I should not complain--I have a lot of fun and the agency invests a lot in me. It's a great company to work for, seriously!

Random Thoughts of the Day

My debit card was stolen today. I found out before it was used again, but still a very scary few moments. Have you seen that commercial for the company that says you'll always get a live person to answer your phone calls, not a recording? I kept thinking about that as I was punching numbers and praying for a live person after I found out it was gone. It took way too long to get to a live voice.

However, once I did they immediately canceled the card. They were also very friendly and caring, kept asking if I was ok since the card was gone. I continue to love Bank of America. I've been with them since 1998! They really are great, and have a great program called "Keep the Change which helps you watch pennies grow into savings. Good stuff.

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Ok--who watched "Grey's Anatomy" on Monday night? How good is that show? Monday night was SOOOO great. If you have not watched this show, you MUST get into it. I have the first season on DVD so just let me know if you'd like to borrow it.

Bad news--they are moving "Grey's" to Thursday nights, opposite "CSI". Luckily, my trusty DVR will record two things at once. But I'm going to have to figure out how to get "The Office" recorded as well. Amazing--all three networks will have great shows on at the same time next season.

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We are loving the gym. Well, I am at least. I think John is. I've been going to Pilates on Thursdays and Sundays and it's great! Last night I went up there and ran into several friends from church. Apparently I'm going to have to start going to the Circuit class on Tuesdays because that is the happening place. It's on my calendar for next week girls!

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This morning I had radio interviews. While I was there, many of the stations had guys from Tiger Safari on, and they had a 3-week old white tiger in the studios! I went in to pet him and ended up holding him and feeding him....he was sooooo cute. Whenever you took the bottle away he would do this little growl that sounded like Simba the lion cub on "The Lion King". It was so, so cute.

He actually only weighed about 4 pounds--that would be 17 pounds less than my cat.

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John and I are going to be eating at home for a while. We added up how much money we'd spent on eating out last month alone and it was quite disturbing. Luckily, pinto beans, hamburger helper, and rice don't cost that much. We'll be eating cheap for a while to see how much money we can save this month! We'll see how long it lasts...

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That's about it for now. Just a few random thoughts...

Are you ready to get your Styx on?

Yes, this was an actual question asked at the concert last Friday. I'm talking major cheese the whole night and I loved it! Styx wore tight leather 80s pants and I don't think they have cut their hair since their stint in the 80s. The best part about their show? The keyboard player had a spinning keyboard. I think he spent more time spinning the keyboard than actually playing it! Biggest disappointment with Styx: they only played the chorus one time of Mr. Roboto. Seriously--that was a song that should have been played in it's entirety.

REO Speedwagon was good....but I was a little annoyed with the constant talking and blatant political agenda. He gave quite a speech about how the war in Iraq is basically a new Vietnam. I don't necessarily agree or disagree--the point is that I didn't go to the Zoo Ampitheatre to talk about issues that bog me down day after day. I went to hear "I Can't Fight this Feeling Anymore" and "Time for Me to Fly". And I certainly don't want to entertain the political musings of a strung out 80s band lead singer!

Which brings me to my next annoyance with REO--they played more "new" stuff than old stuff. Apparently they have a new album coming out in 2008 and decided to play it for the audience. But, they played new stuff practically the whole time. I'm sorry, but we're not there to hear new songs coming out in 2 years from a band who hasn't had new stuff in 10+ years. Obviously, we're there to hear the golden oldies.

Anyway--the old stuff they did play was great. Even greater: the people watching phenomenon. I swear, I should attach a camera at my hip so that it's always with me. There were some unprecedented photo opportunities when you combine giant cans of Miller beer and the fresh smell of weed wafting through the air.

Next opportunities: Chicago and Huey Lewis are coming together in June, followed by Cinderella and Poison later this summer. As Renee said yesterday--the day Whitesnake comes to OKC--we're there!

Happy Mother's Day!

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, I’d like to talk a little about what I love about my mom.

1) She never brings up my past mistakes. Ever. Seems like she totally forgets the crazy stuff I did in high school or the classes I almost failed in college, or even the old boyfriends! She never teases me about them or complains to people about it, or even says “I told you so”. She just forgets.

2) She always sees the good in people.

3) Anytime I make a hard decision, she always supports me. Even if she’d spent months giving me advice to which I totally ignored, once the decision has been made she never questions me. She always figures out a way to support it.

4) When I was younger, never once did she miss a performance for choir or band. Never once did she forget to get copies of the monthly school newspaper to send my articles to the family. She was always there to pick me up from camps and mission trips and never had me ride with anyone else. She volunteered at my events, got me registered for the ACT, and threw the biggest and best birthday parties.

5) She remembers my doctor’s appointments, even to this day and always remembers to ask me about them.

6) She is the reason I am with my husband today. She knew from the beginning that he was the one for me, even when I didn’t know it. She kept up with him during the years we were broken up, taking an interest to him and spending time with him. Then she would tell me about it and it drove me CRAZY! I thought she loved him more than me and we weren’t even together. But in the end, she’s the glue that kept us both a little interested in each other. The night we got back together, I could feel her beaming from across the phone.

7) The night before my wedding I spent the night at her house. When I woke up on the big day, she was already up and had given me a framed poem about a mother’s pride on her daughter’s wedding day. I started to cry because I was so scared and so happy and so nervous and so excited. But she just gave me a hug and said “don’t cry—this is what I raised you for!”

8) She has always shown an interest in my life and the people I choose to spend my time with. I never feared bringing friends to my house to meet her or spend time. She opened the doors and made sure everyone was comfortable and happy. There was always food in the fridge and toilet paper in the bathroom—and that’s pretty much all it takes to become the hangout for teenagers and college kids!

9) She’s always been open and honest with me. She’s never tried to cover anything up or explain it away. She just tells me everything: good, bad, and ugly. That has been very important as everything from my family to my looks to my living situation was changing. It continues on today—and accounts for the great amount of respect I have for her.

10) She has never, ever, ever made me feel bad about my appearance. Never once has she said my hair looks bad or I’m too thin or gaining weight or too pale. She always comments on what looks right, but never what looks wrong. She may hate the way I look but I would never know. As a teenage girl, to have your mom accept you for the way you look is a huge thing that I don’t take for granted.

11) I never wanted for anything growing up. She found a way to make sure I had everything I needed and most everything I wanted. I now can’t think of a single thing that I didn’t have.

12) She instilled in me a work ethic. These days I know a lot of people who want the easy way out, and who jump from job-to-job when it gets hard. Not my mom. She worked and worked when I was growing up hardly ever missing a day of work or calling in sick. Never did she call in for a “mental health day”. I like to think I have a good work ethic. That I work hard and don’t make excuses and I don’t quit when the job gets hard. That’s entirely thanks to her example.

13) She just loves me all the time, no matter what.

I say all of this because many of my friends have young children and are just starting on this parenting journey. Know that you don’t have to do fancy things or buy fancy things or make every single outing perfect. I don’t remember a lot from when I was little, but I do remember that I was happy, healthy, and my mom was always there. Loving your kids and doing your best is all that matters. What I remember and cherish most is that, at least in her eyes, I’m perfect.

I love you, Mom! Happy Mother’s Day!

I really need to get some pictures on here. It's been a while! We just haven't taken the camera many places lately, and there are only so many pictures you want to see of our cats. I'm starting to feel like the crazy cat lady!

Speaking of cats (indulge me), we took our little one, Faith, to the vet today to get her front paws declawed. I know, I know it's apparently very cruel. But even more cruel than that (in my opinion) are the people who don't have their cats declawed and then dump them or put them in the pound because they tore up a couch or scratched their kid or something. Isn't it better to encourage people to do what it takes to keep their animals forever in a healthy, happy home? I guess I ask because I was really torn on whether to get her declawed. Max is declawed, but it took him a long time to recover. Anyway, I'm still waiting on word from the vet that she's ok and if I don't hear soon I'm calling. She's going to be so mad at me when we pick her up on Saturday!

Next week is my last week to teach the 2-year-old class at church on Wednesday nights. It's been an interesting experience, but a lot of fun. I am just amazed at what kids can do at such an early age. It's so fun to watch them put puzzles together, and to recognize more and more of the songs each week! There seriously isn't a better sound than listening to 10 2-year-olds sing "The B-I-B-L-E" in unison. I've really enjoyed the experience.

John and I are both off work tomorrow. We'd planned on trying to take a vacation, but we didn't get anything together so we're just going to bum around. I'm trying to convince him to go see "MI:3" but he's not big on Tom Cruise anymore.

I've been reading on MSNBC about the Top 1000 High Schools in the U.S. Pretty interesting stuff...Classen in OKC was ranked 17th in the nation! I think it's fascinating to look at the success stories in American education, because it seems like all we talk about is how horrible American teenagers are. There are some really great kids out there. I know it sounds cheesy, but the client is a sponsor of Oklahoma FFA this year so I've been working with this group for a while. I have been so impressed with the kids that are involved in that group, and it really helps restore your faith in teenagers. Not that I'm that far removed!

My point is to tell you all not to write off all teenagers or expect the worse--this list I was reading about is proof positive that their are great programs out there full of great kids. This is good news!

Anyway, another random comment. Most often the interesting things are happening outside of my little world!

Is it obsession, or good hygiene?

Would it be considered obsession that my spring cleaning this weekend including scrubbing the shower curtain hooks by hand? Probably....cleaning is my obsession and I'll probably have sloppy kids that remember their mom as a clean freak one day.

I've been talking about spring cleaning since John and I moved in last summer. I'm so pathetic. I have all kinds of things I want to do for spring cleaning....and I decided this weekend I can't do them all at once. I have to take one room at a time. And, the master bath was the winner Sunday. Hey--the shower hooks were getting rusty and tarnished. If you don't clean them, they only get worse!

Anyway, that is boring talk. We're not very exciting. This weekend was a big weekend in Anderson family world. Renee's graduate recital was Friday night and she did a great job. Loved it when she sang "Out Tonight" from Rent. Also, if you know Renee at all you could appreciate the song she sang called "All the Good Men are Gay". Ha! Then Saturday night we went to a fundraising auction for Easton's school, Oakdale. We didn't buy anything but watched a lot of other people spend LOTS of money! The first grade class project (2 paintings that each of the kids contributed to) went for $10,000!!!

I've been a movie-watching mood lately. I haven't been for a long time, because I'm usually so behind on DVR I don't have time to watch movies. Spent Saturday morning watching "The Notebook" and cried and cried. I didn't think I would cry again because I knew what happened. But I did. Then when I was trying to tell John about the movie at lunch (he's never seen it) I started crying again. Right there in Texas Roadhouse, surrounded by peanut shells and Toby Keith songs I started crying about this movie!

Of the movies I've rented lately: I would highly suggest "Derailed" because for once I didn't predict the turn of events. I liked it, though it's a little slow at times. I would not suggest "Match Point", because it's another one of those British movies that make little sense to me and really just frustrate me because they drink tea and talk about "manors" and "crumpets". However, I do really like Scarlett Johanssen. I also watched "Crash" because I heard it's very intense and very moving. I definitely think my expectations were too high. It was an excellent movie, but I wasn't shocked or awed and wasn't blown away. I guess if you're in the mood for a drama, it would work. I guess keep an open mind and don't expect too much.

'Tis the season for season finales. It's about that time for all my TV shows. I'm only officially losing one show this season--The West Wing is headed for syndication in 2 episodes. NBC really did this show a disservice by moving it around so much. It is fantastic, and I'm sorry to see it go. CSI: finale is supposedly a life-changer for one of the CSI's. Which cracks me up because last year the season finale was one of the CSI's (Nick) getting buried alive. Must be a very dangerous job!

Recap

The reason I haven't updated the blog is because my arms have been too sore to type. I'm just kidding....but I am pretty sore from the 3 times I've gone to the gym. I guess that happens when you've never worked out before. You get sore very easily!

We had a great weekend. Friday we helped my friend Brooke celebrate her new job by going out to dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Nothing like mini cheeseburgers to celebrate any occasion. Then we went to her house and played the BEST game....called Karaoke Revolution. It's a Playstation game that's like Dance, Dance Revolution except it's Karaoke! It is so much fun, and they have very recent songs (for example--I sang an Ashlee Simpson song. And it was much better than her SNL performance!). Our friend Nate was so bad that when he sang, the crowd booed him off the stage, the game cut off in the middle of the song, and he got zero points! John keeps saying it was not fun, but he's just trying to be cool. He was great at it, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Saturday was a very busy day. We had a picnic with friends from church at Mitch Park. It was a gorgeous day, and I think John found a new calling in the game of croquet. Then we headed off to Matt and Robin's to try out a borrowed chocolate fountain. Many dips later, John had to roll me out to the car!

Sunday we ended up having a cookout with our neighbors. We have a lot of fun with them. Their girls, Jordan and Jesika LOVE John. They are always coming over to play.

Anyway--it was an awesome weekend of friends, fellowship, and fun. Doesn't get much better than that!

Let's Get Physical....

Well, John and I joined a gym. We'd been talking about it for a while, and on Monday we finally did it. As many of you know, I turned 25 on Monday and suddenly feel very aware that my metabolism won't last forever. And, literally, it's all "downhill" from here if I don't make an effort. So, in an effort to put off aging (humor me) for a little longer I'm going to try working out.

I have never belonged to a gym. Never really participated in sports (I was a choir/drama/newspaper nerd). So, I am extremely confused, intimidated, overwhelmed at the new gym. It's called Transformation Fitness and I know there are lots of locals who are members there. If any of you would like to "take on" an intimidated non-exerciser and show her the way I would appreciate it! I'd like to join a class (pilates, etc.) but do you know how scary that thought is? All those people already know what they're doing! How does a beginner begin a class like that? Sigh....I have my first of two complimentary sessions with a personal trainer tonight so maybe he can give me tips on what I should be doing and how. John met with him last night and is "good sore" today!

In other news...well, there isn't much other news! We've had a very successful (if crazy) month of promotions in Tulsa with work. They are doing some really cool things with the restaurants up there and we've had a great time talking about it and developing a huge ad campaign to talk about it. However, we're worn out at the office! But we should have some good "catch up" time at the office the next couple of weeks.

My great friend and former college roomie (which makes her an even better friend because she lived with me for 2 years) has recently announced she is pregnant. She went to the doctor today and is sending pictures from her first ultrasound. So funny--she called it her peanut! I am so excited for her. My little world of expectant friends changes every day!

Well, off to get a little real work done before I call it a weekend. Wish me luck at the gym, and please let me know if you can help me get acclimated!

Having my cake and eating it too

Well, we're literally swimming in birthday cake at our house. John got my favorite cake (Ribbon cake from Raspberries n Creme!) and we had that last night; then our neighbor made me a cake, so we have that; and my sister made me cupcakes!! If you're craving cake, just stop by our house...

We had a great weekend. LTC was a lot of fun and I think we both agreed we wanted to be a little more involved next year. We were just observers this time around.

We also went to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks with Robin and the boys. It was really a lot of fun. Kind of pricey ($15 per adult, $10 per child) and certainly not the Baltimore Aquarium or anything! But, there were a lot of cool fish and a huge shark tank you could walk around in, as well as a "touch tank" where Mason got to touch stingrays and starfish and mini-sharks.

Yesterday we had lunch at Ingrid's for Easter, which was a great idea since we had no wait and more than enough food. Then last night we did family birthday dinner at (where else?) Friday's with Mom, Bill and Julia.

Not much else to report. John got me an FM transmitter for the iPod so I'm pretty excited about that. I also got iTunes gift cards and more from mom and dad and cash from lots of people.

There are perks to having a birthday! Even though I'm a little depressed about turning 25. From now on I will officially be closer to 30 than 20, but I guess we just have to keep moving forward, right? Sigh....I'll eat lots of cake to make up for the small bout of depression!

The Golden Ticket

My friends at Citadel radio are so good to me...our account rep, Diana, gave me a bithday present today--two tickets to the REO Speedwagon and Styx concert! So, it's official--we're going to the concert! I'm a dork, I know.

I'm off work tomorrow. I had great intentions to make an appointment for my first summer pedicure, maybe a massage and get my horrible hair cut (don't worry--I'm well aware how bad it looks right now!) But, alas, I didn't make any appointments. So, I will stay at home....sleep...catch up on DVR. It will be wonderful!

John and I are headed to Tulsa this weekend. I have to work there on Saturday for a bit, and he's going to check out the LTC Puppets group. Easton is one of the puppets in the 3-6 grade group, and John and Robin wrote the script. So, he's pretty pumped. We're going to Tulsa tomorrow night.

Then, after work/Puppets performance we're going to head over to Jenks and check out the Oklahoma Aquarium! I think it will be a lot of fun, as I've never been there. Maybe I can convince John to let me do a little shopping in Utica Square, too...

Happy Easter!

I Love the 80s

My favorite song of all time (don't judge me) is "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" by REO Speedwagon. I can't explain it, it just is my favorite song. I never get tired of it.

Because of this, I feel that REO Speedwagon is one of the greatest bands ever. Doesn't matter what you think--they just are!

And, I found out that REO Speedwagon is coming to OKC in a month! What?! I didn't even know they were still a band. See, I think they're great but all I really listen to is their Greatest Hits CD... And guess who is coming with them to concert?

Styx, which according to Adam Sandler, is the greatest band ever.

REO Speedwagon and Styx--together. One night.

What a great concert that will be. Add to it thousands crammed into a field at the OKC zoo with summer temperatures, lots of second-hand marijuana smoke and women who still have 80s big hair and bad dye jobs and we have ourselves a PARTY.

In all seriousness....we're going to the concert. I can't miss this one. Let me know if you'd like to go with us! It's May 12th at 7:30 p.m. at the zoo ampitheatre.

I love the 80s...

Well, it has officially been a very busy week since Wednesday!

So excited--I finally got to go to a Hornet's game Wednesday night. I'd been wanting to go all season, but it just never happened. No, not entirely John's fault despite what I said on-air on the Sports Animal. But, he was truly convinced it would be boring and he wouldn't have any fun. Boy was he wrong! John had a great time! We went with Matt and Easton, and at the last minute got two more free tickets and Jason and Kristen went with us too. Matt and Easton had been before, but I think they had a lot of fun telling the four of us "newbies" about the game and events. Easton cheered louder than anyone in the arena, I think!

Then I began my trek to Tulsa. Thursday, Friday and Saturday I drove there and back. Boy the iPod and Julia's FM transmitter came in handy! Lots of exciting things going on in Tulsa with work, so I'm glad we're going up there quite a bit.

Friday night John and I took dinner to our friend's, the Dacus'. They finally got to bring their little girl, Haley, home from the hospital after she came a little early. She's now 4 pounds, 8 ounces and about the tiniest thing I've ever seen. The only baby I've ever seen any smaller was Chloe Winton! Anyway, Haley was so cute and so tiny...we're so glad their family is complete and at home.

Saturday, after heading to Tulsa and back I began my two-day countdown to book club and began cramming in all the reading. I'd read a little less than half so Saturday afternoon was a good catch-up day. Then, we headed to the Ford Center once again that evening, this time for an OKC Yard Dawgs game! It was very interesting....it's arena football so there was that feel of football, but not the same as an OU game obviously.

In fact between the Yard Dawgs game and watching the Red-White game on ESPN I am ready for football! Guess what--only 152 days until kickoff in Norman!

Sunday I had more reading to do. I finished the book at 4:42 p.m., and Liz picked me up at 5:30! I cut it close, but finished the book and had a great night with the girls. The book we read was called "Drowning Ruth". I'm not sure how I felt about it. Everyone seemed to like it, but I wasn't all that impressed. Guess I'm still processing.

John and I are going to grill out tonight! It's that time of year...we're not in a burn ban are we?

Also--I tried out Wal-Mart's online picture center, where you can download your digital photos, order them, and pay for them online, then pick them up printed at the store. So easy! I should have been doing this all along....I have sooooo many digital photos I need to print out.

Easton and Mason came over last night to school me in Dance Dance Revolution, which wasn't hard. I've had this stupid game for 6 months now and it's too hard....and it makes me very tired...and sweaty....which probably means I should do it more often! It would be a great workout. In the meantime, Easton is really good at it (and Mason not half bad!) so maybe they can just come over and use it.

It looks better in this picture. Still not sure on the exact placement of the chair, but we think it's going to work there in the corner! I went home for a few minutes this morning and Max was sitting in the recliner. Guess he already thinks it's his throne!

Here is the red recliner....it looks a lot better in person. This is not a very good picture....but it's quite comfortable!

More gardening...

Part of my gardening frenzy on Sunday....

An early birthday present from my grandparents--Fiestaware makes kitchen canisters now! Aren't they beautiful?

It's hard to have a bad day when you're wearing hot pink pants

Yes, I am wearing my new hot pink-and-black workout pants from the Nike outlet store. So there are two good things in this situation: 1) pink pants and 2) wearing pink workout pants to work. See...benefits at the office can range beyond 401K, health insurance and that all-important salary.

Every single bone in my body aches. I mean, even my hair and nails hurt. I spent all day yesterday gardening. I woke up thinking about it, thought about it all through church (sorry, but I did), and by the time lunch rolled around I could hardly eat I was so ready. Partly because it was a beautiful day outside. No clouds, 80 degrees, it had rained the night before. It was perfect. Now I have a very colorful flower bed out front. But, as a testament to the sad shape my body is in--the beauty came at a price. My arms and legs hurt from all the shoveling and mulching and watering. I'm also pretty sure I have a nasty bruise on my elbow because it hurts like that, but I cannot manipulate my arm to check. I will post pictures, I promise.

After I went to Home Depot/Lowe's/Wal-Mart to get flowers/soil/mulch and I gardened for 3 hours, I then went to Wal-Mart and bought groceries. After that, I unloaded groceries, reorganized our pantry, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the whole house, cleaned both bathrooms, finished the laundry, picked up the bedroom, and finally crashed in time for Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. I don't think the cats got fed last night....I couldn't move. I must say--I had a very productive day yesterday.

Know what John did yesterday? He golfed. Ok, ok he washed my car, too. :)

So, I dragged myself to work (late) today, but it's all ok because of my pants.

In other weekend news--we were very social. Caught up with several friends--fun! And the amazing thing--all that gardening and outside time, all that friend time, and I still managed to catch up on my DVR time! I have one show from last week left. I'll just say this--if they kill off Hurley on "Lost" I'm boycotting TV from now on. Ok, well at least until the next week. Gosh, that show is great!

Project for this week: explore weekend trips to Dallas. I've got the girls in class at church geared up and ready to head IKEA and outlet-shopping this summer, so I've got to do a little research.

I also realized I haven't talked much about John lately in the blog world. He's doing great, just adjusting to the new position at work. He's also mowing the lawn and golfing a lot. OH! I can't believe I forgot this weekend news....John had Farmer's bonus day last Friday and got a very nice bonus for all of his hard work. How does he choose to spend it? He's so good--he chose to spend it on his cute little wife by buying a big, cushy, RED recliner for the living room! It arrives on Tuesday, so we'll see how it actually looks in the house. But I applaud him for taking that leap and agreeing to a RED piece of furniture. I promise not to wear my pink pants while sitting in it, as it might clash....

Here I am with my dad at the Minneapolis airport before I headed home. I look a little nervous because I'd actually been assigned a seat on the 13th row and at this point I'd realized it. You all know my aversion to flying!

Alas, a very nice man requested I switch with him so he could sit with his wife so I flew safely home on the 11th row!

Here is one of the few pictures we took while in Minneapolis....this was after the Triple Espresso show Dad and I went to....very funny show! Check out their website atwww.tripleespresso.com

She looks like a bunny rabbit....with elf ears...

A pic from a few weeks ago of the rulers of our house...look how big Faith is getting!

Weather or not?

Maybe I'm just really tired because I drove to Tulsa this morning at 5:30 a.m.

Maybe I've just been cooped up in this office for too long.

After all, I'm no meteorlogist.

But, I'm not seeing these horrific storms with golf-ball sized hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding that we've been hearing about for 48 hours. And the wind--eh, I'd say average wind at best.

Norman Public Schools just released a statement saying they would keep the children in a secured area of the school until parents came to pick them up, and encouraged parents not to drive in severe weather if they weren't comforable.

Ummm...the sun is shining.

Weathermen drive me crazy....

Triple Espresso

Well, I'm having a very nice, relaxing time in Minnesota so far. We've done a lot of shopping and I've escaped fairly unscathed. Yesterday we went outlet mall shopping before heading into downtown to a show called "Triple Espresso". It was really really funny. Good clean family fun. It really was enjoyable and I'd love to see it again sometime to get more of the jokes.

Today we went to IKEA and the Mall of America. WOW--IKEA is amazing. Can't wait to go down to Dallas in the Magnum and bring back some good stuff! All I bought were some fun boxes for the office. But I found a lot of stuff! At the Mall of American the only thing I bought was a jar of white chocolate creamy peanut butter from the peanut butter store. I was so tempted to have them make me a PBJ....it was such a cool store!

Tomorrow is even more relaxation day. Going to the gym to soak in the hot tub....my joints are inflamed and sore from all the activity today! Then maybe a movie, maybe dinner....who knows. I love bumming around on Saturdays, so I'm up for whatever.

I did go to two cool shops today. One was "Relax the Back" store, and I finally found a pillow/wedge designed by an orthopedist to put between my knees at night for support of my hips and knees. Paid a little money for it, but it will definitely make a difference. Then I went to "Storables". It was a giant store full of organization tools! What a dream job that would be--running a store and designing a clean, orderly house for people. I loved that shop!

I'm getting pretty tired now....off to bed. But I wanted to check in. Pics to come...hopefully!

Bracketology 101

Apparently I need to take a course in bracketology because it is ridiculous how bad it has become.

I lost 13 total teams in the FIRST round.
Which means after the second round I had 17 teams out.
I've already lost 6 teams in the Sweet Sixteen and the stupid round hasn't even started.
I've lost 2 teams in the Elite Eight already.
BUT--my Final Four is still intact. If UConn, Villanova, UCLA, and Texas survive to the Final Four then maybe I won't look as dumb.

March madness is making me MAD...

Plus....I hate Texas. I'm a little angry at myself for moving them on into the Final Four, but what can you do? I will not root for them, I promise. They are not in my final 2.

Go UConn.

I'm Fine!

Ok....to all my friends and family who called yesterday and today about my blog yesterday--I'm fine! The response has convinced me that I don't talk about God enough in my life because when I did everyone thought something was wrong!

No--I was very worried about a situation at work yesterday. As I tend to do in many situatins, I got myself all worked up and overreacted. In the meantime, I just asked God to help me see clearly and make good decisions. By 1:00 yesterday almost everything had fallen into place, and by 5:00 details I hadn't even worried about yet were all worked out! I was just saying thanks in a public way because I don't thank God often enough for taking things over and taking care of me.

This event for work takes place on Monday, so I still have a lot of prayers to say. But at least for the planning portion--God just swooped in and made it happen. I'm fine, we're fine, and I now vow to talk more about God and thank him more often. I don't want to be one of those people who only go to God in crisis mode--he's pretty great to answer prayers even when, in the grand scheme of things, the request doesn't matter.

I will actually have pictures to post next week....exciting I know. It's been a while! I am headed to Minneapolis tomorrow morning (very early) to visit my dad for the weekend. I haven't been there in a couple of years, and I'm excited because it's still cold and snowy up there. I'm not ready to hang all my cute sweaters up just yet!

No big plans--a show, shopping (Hello my first trip to IKEA!), movie-watching, and eating (my favorite pasttime).

By the way, Girl's Night at Sara's was a huge success. How fun was it to look at everyone's wedding albums? It was so neat to see that, since I have known most of those girls since they've been married. Also, we shared childhood pictures of our husbands. I need to find a scanner and post some of the ones Nina found for me of John. He was so blonde! Lisa Hardin is convinced John curled his bangs as a child....what can I say, he had two older sisters who I'm sure tortured him with hair products!

All right, I'm signing off. I'll let you know how the trip goes (returning Sunday) and how the event on Monday pans out. Not too worried about it anymore!

Heavenly Sunlight

I just have to say--God came through for me in a big way today, and I totally didn't deserve it.

I don't know why I'm so surprised--he always comes through for me. It remains to be seen if it keeps going well, but I have a good feeling!

It's nice to see the sunlight even on a cloudy day like today....

At this rate, I won't have any teams in the Sweet Sixteen!

That's it. I'm officially screwed. This is, by far, the worst year EVER for my brackets for March Madness. We're not even through the first round and I've already lost 9 teams.

I officially hate March Madness.

Shoe Addiction and My lack of it

I have to tell you--I am not a shoe person. I'm just not. Do I like shoes? Yes. Do I think there are a lot of cute shoes out there? Yes. But do I enjoy matching shoes to my outfit and do I go crazy over buying cute shoes? No.

I would be happy to wear flip flops every day. You can get them in various colors, match them to your outift, they look cute with skirts and jeans, etc. But when it's not appropriate to wear them (i.e. winter, business meetings, etc.) I'm not a cute shoe person. Now, that's not to say I don't have a lot of shoes--I do. But I do not update my shoe shelf very often. In fact, I went out on a limb a few months ago and got a pair of pink shoes and a cute pair of plaid shoes with that "kissable" heel. I have worn both pairs one time each. I just stick with my ugly, reliable shoes day in and day out. Don't worry--I know they are ugly shoes so you don't have to feel bad for me! Sometimes I get concerned that I'm not a normal girl because I don't enjoy shoe shopping or wearing cute shoes. Then I see my purse and handbag collection, and I feel a little normal. I love purses--weird shaped, off colors, prints....I love purses.

I also love jeans. I could shop for jeans every day. Luckily, my job is very laid back and unless we have client meetings or media events, we're in jeans or sweatpants every day.

This weekend our little office world is marrying off Jeanna Bond. She's worked with us for a little over a year and she's the last in out office to bite the bullet. So I'm excited to attend my second wedding for the year! Geez....I thought wedding season was over for me! But, alas, no worries--there's another baby shower next weekend as well which makes more baby showers than weddings. Also, Saturday night is Girl's Night for our class at church. It's at Sara's house and there are only three requirements: wear PJ's, bring pictures of our husbands when they were younger so we can all laugh, and eat junk food.

Fortunately, I am an expert in all three of these areas, so I will be set!

Please keep my Grandma DeBusk in your prayers. She took a bad fall on Tuesday and is still in the hospital. In fact, when she fell she hit her head and injured her eye very badly. Currently she can't see out of that eye, so we're praying her vision is restored. She is such a wonderful, caring, special woman and really has my heart--please just say a little prayer that she is released from the hospital, her vision is restored and God continues to keep her healthy for many many more years.

Have a great weekend!

A Shout Out

I promised a shout out to my blog stalker, Jenny, so here it is....What's up Jenny?!

Funny story about how this small little blog world after all. Two of my friends in Norman were talking at a church function one evening. Some how or another they begin talking about me (because who, really, could resist talking about me?). Another friend of theirs overhears and says
"Are you talking about John and Jessica Anderson?"
Pam: "Yes...why?"
Crazy friend who doesn't know me: "John and Jessica Anderson from Edmond? With two cats and a new car and she just built her house?"
Pam (obviously a little weirded out at this point): "Yes....how do you know her?"
Crazy girl: "I read their blog all the time!"
Pam (beginning to realize the irony that this girl knows more about me than she does lately, and she's been my friend for 7 years!): "How did you even find this blog?"

Well, long story short it's because of links from other people's blogs. Which actually makes me feel not so crazy. There are a handful of people I've never met in person, but that I know all about because of their blogs. I don't know....I thought it was so awesome that someone actually reads this thing!

So last night, Pam calls me and asks me to come visit her and have coffee. I haven't seen her in several months so I head down I-35 for a little visit (GREAT time to go to Norman--only like 6 people live there right now since it's Spring Break). And guess who is at this little swarray but Jenny, my official blog stalker. How fun was that to meet her in person?!

Anyway--Hi Jenny!

We had coffee, then went to The Mont....ah, the old stomping grounds. Throw in Prairie Kitchen and a little Target trip and I would have felt like a bonafide student again! I guess the three of us who went to The Mont looked like official college students--they carded all of us (and I won't say how old Jenny is...heehee) and then this drunk guy came and sat at our table to chat. But we must not have been very friendly because he got up and said "wow, you guys aren't very friendly". Guess you had to be there.

Anyway--thanks Pam for inviting me. It was great to catch up with several old friends and meet a new one!

The 4's

Ok....I've seen this on a lot of blogs, and now I'm getting it from friends and family over e-mail. I'm a sucker...so I'm filling it out. Enjoy!

4 jobs you have had in your life:
1. 4-Year-Old Teacher (daycare)
2. Professional Intern
3. Proof Operator
4. PR Account Executive

4 movies you could watch over & over:
1. Zoolander
2. Old School
3. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
4. A Christmas Story

4 places you have lived (well this is boring....only two places!):
1. Edmond, OK
2. Norman, OK
3. Edmond, OK
4. Edmond, OK

4 of your favorite tv shows
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Lost
3. The Office
4. Gilmore Girls
5. Had to add Friends on here--love it anytime, all the time

4 vacation places you have visited:
1. New York City
2. Washington D.C.
3. Chicago
4. St. Louis

4 websites you visit everyday:
1. Yahoo!
2. NewsOK.com
3. MSNBC
4. Various blogs....probably too many

4 of your favorite foods:
1. Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Jack Daniels Burger at TGI Friday's
3. Chips and Queso
4. Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

4 of your favorite beverages:
1. Iced tea
2. Diet Dr. Pepper
3. Diet Coke
4. Starbucks Peppermint Mocha

4 places I would rather be:
1. At home (with my DVR, fluffy cats, and John)
2. New York City (after I won the lottery so I could spend a lot of money!)
3. Anywhere with family--hey, even Hunstville, AL and Branson, MO can be fun with family!
4. TGI Friday's

Ah, the girls of book club. And, of course, all our yummy food. I have to admit--I came up with some great ideas for food this time. We had two different kinds of soup (hearty chicken noddle and minestrone) in Panera bread bowls! It was a hit. But the real favorite of the night was the chocolate fondue I made.

I had these little fun fondue sets I'd received when I got married and never used. So I ran across this recipe on Betty Crocker's website for Chocolate Raspberry Fondue. It was so easy--one can of chocolate frosting, 1/3 cup of raspberry preserves melted together for 20 seconds in the microwave. YUM! As you can see, we had strawberries, bananas, raspberries, rice krispy treats, graham crackers and marshmellows for dipping. It was almost too easy--easy to make like every night!

BTW--our next book is "Drowning Ruth" by Christina Schwarz.

It was a good thing to have this event to prepare for. I kind of had a rough day last Friday. I ended up spending the entire evening eating pizza in bed, watching TV and sleeping. A girl needs that every now and then! John was so great and understanding--just ordered the pizza for me and left me alone to watch crime shows in the dark. I'm not sure I would have had the "umph" to get out of bed over the weekend if I wouldn't have had people to prepare for.

I have discovered through this strange time in my little life a most inspiring song. This is going to sound crazy, but Bon Jovi has provided me with a little peace through the song "Welcome to Wherever You Are". John keeps rolling his eyes at the thought of Bon Jovi providing inspirational lyrics, but this song truly is! Download it to your MP3 player of choice, especially if you're soul searching as I have been lately.

John got the results from his training exam in California today--he finished 2nd in the class! He's already had the director of his office call him to congratulate him. Apparently, the OKC office has never had anyone finish in the top 5 in training, let alone 2nd in the class. John's already been asked to go to a really in-depth class in Illinois for two weeks for additional training, since he's showing so much promise. Only a select few people in the country get to go to that class. So, this is very exciting and something to be proud of.

That is about it in our neck of the woods. Random piece of info--I got an e-mail from a high school friend yesterday. I haven't talked to her in about 4 years, and she was telling me all about her life. She just broke up with her long-time boyfriend, who has now legally changed his name to Brittany and is a "pre-op transexual". WHOA! How random is that?! It makes me thankful my life is relatively normal...

Boring Days...

Reason for no post since last Tuesday? Because absolutely nothing exciting is going on! Pretty good reason, right?

John and I went to Springfield last weekend to visit my grandparents. It was a relaxing weekend, and we even took Monday off work to have a little extra time. My aunt and I shopped at the mall some, but other than that we just chilled at the house and ate good food.

Tonight is clean the house night. I think I mentioned it before, but John really knows how destroy a house. Such a mess! I'm having my book club over tomorrow for our monthly meeting, so I want to make sure they don't have to wade through piles of bill and dirty dishes. I have to say--we had a great book this month to read. "Memoirs of a Geisha" was the book, and it was very vivd and easy to read. I was afraid I would get all the names mixed up since they were Japanese names and sound a lot alike (think "Crime and Punishment", the Russian novel we read in high school). But it was actually very easy, and I have this newly discovered fascination with Japan.

While it's fun to discuss the books, MORE fun is the getting together and pretending to discuss the books. There are 6 of us in our little group and we have so much fun getting together!

John bought some new toys yesterday at Academy. A golf net thing, so he can hit golf balls in the back yard and not break windows, and a new football. Now that the weather has warmed up, the kids from the neighborhood are going to be over all the time trying out John's new toys!

Literally, nothing else new going on. Perhaps things will get more exciting this week...

Other Happenings

John got home on-time and safely last Friday from California. It is nice to have him home, although I've spent more time cleaning in the last two days than I did the entire three weeks he was gone. Guys are amazing--they have absolutely no idea how to pick up after themselves.

We did our Valentine's celebration Friday night at Steak and Ale--our old standby favorite. Then, we rented a movie and couldn't get through it without falling asleep. Guess John was tired from getting up at 5 a.m. and flying all day--he was asleep by 8:30 that night!

Saturday we bummed around, then headed to Norman for Tara and Nathan's housewarming party. All my friends are growing up--buying houses, getting married, having babies. Is it strange that we're all grown ups, yet I know for a fact no one feels like a grown up? Does it change when you have kids?

And I will have ALL of you know that Edmond Church of Christ was one of the only ones in town that had service on Sunday morning. And John and I went. Yes, we braved the icy streets with about 400 other Edmond CofC members. Very proud.

Not much else. Interestingly enough, Faith hasn't stolen a thing since John's been home. Think she was taking advantage of a single caregiver? I think so...

New Neighbors

We're getting new neighbors. Well, technically they are about 5 miles away. In the Village. So, not really neighbors in the next door sense. But we are so excited because Jason and Kristen are moving up north!!! We've been recruiting them and pushing them hard (as we've done with all our Norman friends) and it's official--they're moving!

Jason and Kristen have been a breath of fresh air for us for several years now. I met them during my wonderful college days at OU through the Outreach Center. Jason might be the smartest person I know and he doesn't even have to try. Kristen (also very smart!) is a fellow OU Gaylord Jaymac graduate. She also has entered the desperate, penniless world of advertising, so we get to share horror stories with each other. She's the only one who can laugh at my stories of crazy sales reps and slow creative departments.

Jason is also John's dentist. He is in dental school at OUHSC right now, and John has been his guinea pig.

They are moving the the Village next weekend, which will provide John and Jason with much more time to play X-Box into the wee hours of the morning. Congrats to Kristen, also, she's moving AND got a new job with Monarch Media.

Anyway--as you can tell, we're pumped. Norman doesn't seem that far away until you're driving there after a long, tired week at work. Now if we can just get the other Norman stragglers (ahem--Laura) to move North as well....

Be My Valentine (since I didn't have one this year!)

Well, the thief is still on the loose. Obviously I did not lock her up for long enough because she's a repeat offender. She continues to steal things. She stole a memory stick (USB drive for the computer) the other day. Just picked it right up out of my work pile and ran away with it. She also continues to steal the same sweater out of my closet. She is trouble.

So, how many people watch Gray's Anatomy? If you don't--start watching it. It is SO good. I know I say that about Lost. And Gilmore Girls. But seriously--it might be the best hour of television each week. The past two weeks have been SOOO good, although I have a few "realistic" questions for the writers about that bomb squad in the hospital.

Last night was Valentine's Day, and I was husband-less. Not that is matters, since Valentine's isn't that big of a deal. But I did have a "sweetie"--my sister Julia spent the evening with me. We actually went to dinner and Matt, Robin, boys, and Nina. We tried to go to Outback, without reservations. I know, I know stupid idea. At 5:30 there was already an hour and 45 minute wait. So guess where we went--Mackie McNear's (formerly Western Sizzlin). There was no wait and it's all-you-can-eat. I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's! Julia and I then did some shopping and caught up on CSI: from the past few weeks. Thanks, Family, for being my valentine.

Guess what? John comes home on Friday!! I can't wait. I am ready for him to come home. I think we're going to go out to dinner for Valentine's/Welcome Home that night, then John wants to sleep in his own bed all day on Saturday. As I'm sure you can imagine, he's pretty ready to come home as well!

Of all the things in Reagan's museum, you can imagine how excited John got over the golf clubs. I mean, after all, Ronald Reagan liked golf. John likes golf. Draw your own conclusion, but it must mean John's destined to be President, right? So many similarities...

:)

Look at that view! Can you believe John's been able to spend 3 weeks looking at that view? Te Reagan Library and Museum is in Simi Valley, just across the street from John's hotel. I've never been to California, but from what I can see it's beautiful!

He also saw the presidential helicopter. What is that called? Not sure....here it is!

John went to the Reagan Library and Museum on Sunday. He got to see some pretty cool things, including a retired Air Force One plane. Guess who paid for the airplane hanger to hold that plane? Boone Pickens....that man has money everywhere.

Anyway, John was excited about seeing Air Force One.

Raising a Thief

So, yesterday when I was drying my hair, I noticed one of my velcro curlers was missing. I didn't think much of it, I figured it was somewhere in the bathroom so I decided to look for it later.

Then, I woke this morning to find that the foam covers on my iPod headphones were missing. Both of them--gone overnight. It made me a little suspicious, so I began to look around. Guess what I came across--a stockpile of stolen goods under my bed. Faith has been stealing my things.

I found a pile that included my missing curler, bobby pins, the foam covers from my iPod, receipts from my purse, fake flowers from a vase in the kitchen AND a sweater that she pulled off the hanger in the closet!! Now remember, Faith is a cat, and she's only about 5 pounds!

Also, when I took another sweater off today and put it on the couch, I turned around for a split second and she had it in her mouth and was dragging it to the bedroom. I am not even kidding.

To add insult to injury, she woke me up this morning at 6:30 a.m. trying to climb the curtains in the bedroom.

She is a very bad girl, and has spent the day in her room while I'm gone. She was also fighting with Max for no reason. I'm thinking 6 months in cat years must equal the terrible twos.

In any case, she's a thief and obviously nothing is safe from her.

These are the crazies John has been hanging out with, Darin and Shane.

Can you imagine wandering around Malibu Beach in boots, jeans, and a belt buckle the size of a human fist?

They look a little out of place, huh?! Should have gone to the Grammy's...but they're having fun!

Malibu Beach....must be cold since not many people are there!

Malibu

John did not take my advice and go to the Grammy's last night. Sigh...I would have! No matter how bad the traffic was, you could at least say you TRIED.

But, he did not. They went to Malibu Beach and Pacific Coast Highway instead. Here are some great pics he took!

The Weekend

Well, John and I both had pretty successful weekends. As you can see form the barrage of photos, John hit Hollywood pretty hard on Saturday and saw a lot. He walked along the Walk of Fame and saw the Hollywood sign, plus ate at the Hard Rock and people-watched. He watched the Superbowl last night with several Seattle fans, so I think that was a bit of a damper on the mood! But he really is having a good time in California and has a whole list of things he wants to see over the next 2 weeks.

I came back from Phoenix and didn't have much of a chance to slow down. I spent most of Friday with Julia, since she got her wisdom teeth pulled. Also watched a movie over there that has made my top 5 worst movies--Monster-in-Law. Don't even bother watching it, it's horrible. Jane Fonda was great, but Jennifer Lopez and Michael Vartan were so bad that it brought the whole thing down!

Saturday I went to my friend, Jana's wedding. Now most of you have heard my story about the best man speech at the wedding. But, alas, I shall tell it again because it was hilarious. Obviously, the best manhad not put much thought into what he was going to say at the toast. He got up there and rambled about some 8th grade stuff he and the groom had done, and some annoying habits he knew the groom had. Then, he dropped the bomb--literally. With 400 people raising their champagne glasses in the ballroom of the fanciest country club in Oklahoma City, the best man said "Yeah, and Jay really likes to brag about the size of his stools".

Oh yes, he did. He said it. Everyone gasped and tried to laugh....then he goes "Huh, I guess I shouldn't have said that one out loud".

It was great! Like something out of a movie! I'm sure Jana was mortified, but it will serve for lots of laughs to come in the future. And it sure made my day!

Then it was off to Incredible Pizza for Mason's birthday party. Mason is 5 years old today! He got all kinds of cool instruments and Nerf guns. Very cool.

Last night was the Superbowl. I went to a party at the Foster's house from church and it was so much fun. I'm not sure how many people the fit in their house, but it was a lot! It was nice to be among friends again, as I've been so busy with work lately. I had great food, watched great commercials, and visited with a lot of great friends.

So, all-in-all John and I both had great weekends, even apart. We'll see how the week goes!

John is a really great people watcher, so you can imagine his fascination with the things he's seeing on the West Coast. This is what he calls his "Pimp of the Year". I'm sure there will be many pictures like this to come....things he's never seen before!

John met his first celebrity out in California--Mr. Incredible!!

John also went to the Kodak Theatre, where the Oscars are hosted every year. Not too much later and he would have caught the red carpet spread....

John's Weekend in Hollywood

John spent the weekend exploring Hollywood. Look closely through the smog and you can see the Hollywood sign!

Simi Valley

Here is a picture from John's hotel room in California. He's in Simi Valley, which is also the location of the Reagan Library, which you can see the main part on the side of the mountain (the white building on the hillside).

He's still pretty bored, but looking forward to exploring L.A. this weekend. Also going to visit the library later this week.

It looks like a pretty nice place to be stuck for three weeks, huh?!

There IS an Arizona!

Well, unlike the country song, there IS an Arizona, and I am here. It's hot, but it's actually quite beautiful! It's really neat here in Tempe, because everything is new. You know how sometimes you drive through a place like Tulsa where everything was built at the same time (1920s) and you can just imagine how exciting it was back then to have everything fresh and new and "hip"? Well, here in Tempe everything IS fresh and new and hip. It makes me wonder what it will all be like in 50 years when it's old and run-down. But for now, it's one of the most beatiful business areas I've ever seen!

Funny how things work out--John left today for his training in California. 1 day down, 19 to go! He actually had to change planes in Phoenix to get out there, and we ended up on the same flight to Phoenix! So, I got a few more hours with him, plus he was there to keep me calm on the plane. I don't like flying, as I'm sure you all remember. It was nice--he's so excited about traveling and learning new things out there in California, so I am excited for him. Yes, I cried. I cried on the plane as we were descending, and I cried when we parted ways at the airport. But I haven't cried since. It will all be fine, I just really love being with him and don't like to be apart for very long!

We have a busy few days here in Arizona. I'm more excited to be here than I thought I would be. Maybe because I know my kitties are in good hands. My sister is housesitting for us, staying overnight all week so the cats aren't alone. How pathetic am I? I keep thinking about how worried I am about my cats when I'm gone and how much I look forward to seeing them--I ca't imagine how much people must miss their kids when traveling! Anyway, Julia is staying with them, making sure they aren't lonely.

I'll be back late Thursday night. Of course, I didn't remember to bring a digital camera with me, so probably no picutres of Arizona to come. However, John will probably have lots of pics as he makes his way through Hollywood, etc.

Extreme Makeover: Part 2

Here is part of our team with Dan this hottie from Extreme Makeover show. Me, Jana, and Jeanna. You can see the house in the background.

Doesn't he look like Tom Cruise?!

Here is the House being built by Extreme Makeover. Just imagine--the family lived in a trailer before they left on vacation Sunday!

Extreme Makeover Adventure

Well, we got in very late last night from our Extreme Makeover Adventure in Bartlesville. I'll get the big question out of the way: Ty was not in town. Apparently, the show films two episodes a week and has different team members assigned to each one. The common denominator, Ty, flys back and forth to the job sites, every other day. Yesterday he was at the Houston job site for yesterday. We were disappointed, but also felt very tired thinking of all the flying Ty has to do!

Alas, we were not diappointed at the experience. One thing we have learned is that when you're bringing food somewhere, people part the seas for you! We were able to pull up right to the house and park next to the hospitality tent for the crew (our client was providing dinner for the crew last night). The house is actually being built in Dewey, Oklahoma about 15 minutes outside of Bartlesville. It's also known as the sticks. You drive through many miles of backwoods before you come upon this massive structure surrounded by HUNDREDS of bright blue shirts.

When we pulled up, the house was being framed. There was no roof when we pulled up and three hours later when we left--it had a roof, windows, and siding was going up. That's how fast they work! The story of the White Family is that they are a family of 10 children, 5 still living in the home. The father was a minister until he died suddenly in April of a heart attack, leaving his wife and children with no income. They lived in a small trailer (and we mean trailer). Can you imagine? At the minimum, they had 6 people sharing this home. At one time they had as many as 12.

Anyway, Extreme Makeover team has come in to build them a brand new, GIANT house! They have 3 shifts of 100 contruction volunteers each working round the clock for 7 days. Incredible.

We did get to meet a couple of the "celebrity" design team members. We met Paige (blonde that wears pink all the time) and took our picture with Dan (who is a total hottie and looks like Tom Cruise!). So, we got our excitement there.

Anyway--it was a really cool experience to see something like that. Especially for me because I watch the show every week. It would be like visiting the set of Lost or CSI: or something for those fans.

We took LOTS of pictures and as soon as they are downloaded to the work computer I will post!

New Cars!

Well, I'm back from Dallas/Houston. It went pretty well, and I worked most nights til 9:00. But, I am pretty proud of myself--I drove from Dallas to Houston and I drove most of the time around the city. I managed to find (with my boss navigating) 4 TV stations, the agency Houston office, and an elementary school. Which is pretty good, considering I am a very nervous drive and freak out easily on highways and in busy traffic. John would be proud...

While I was in Texas, John was doing a lot of research. Research on new cars. I am so proud of him--he was calling every Nissan dealership in town, working the numbers and dealing for a new car. I have long been a fan of the Altima, ever since our friends got one a few years ago. John and I had been thinking a Honda Accord, but with everything being about the same quality-wise on a Nissan, he decided to make that the goal. So by the time I got home Friday night, we had an appointment the next morning and our cars had to be ready to trade. It only took us 3 hours total to buy the car. He really did a great job in working the numbers and getting the car I've been wanting for so long. So, we now have two new cars, see the pictures!

My trip plans have changed a little. I am sooooo happy that I get to be home this whole week. John and I both leave next Monday, him for California and me for Phoenix. So, we'll enjoy this week while we can. One exciting thing is that Tuesday our whole office is taking a trip to Bartlesville. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is there working on an episode, and our client actually volunteered to cook a meal for the cast and crew. It's like 500 people total, so we'll be helping out in the restaurant. I'm crossing my fingers we can be on the delivery team--Hello Ty Pennington! (I love you, John!) Anyway, I'll let you guys know if we actually get to go on the set. My family wants me to lobby for the show to re-do Arni and Nina's house. Maybe I'll rub some elbows while I'm there!

So, lots of exciting stuff going on. More than usual, actually!

We bit the bullet, and got a brand new car!! So, with John's new company car, we now have two brand new, 2006 vehicles! This is our new Nissan Altima. It's "smoke" colored if you can't tell, has beautiful khaki interior. We traded in both of our old cars (the Ranger and Neon) and got a pretty good deal on the Altima. It's not costing us much more a month than John's truck (my car was paid off) and it's much more reliable. It had 35 miles on it when we drove it off the lot! It's very roomy, and we are very excited!

Well, I mentioned in the last post John's new company car....and here it is! As I said, it's a little company-heavy. But, it's a free car and it only costs us $20 a month in insurance. It's brand new, and a pretty sweet ride! 

Big Pimpin'...Farmer's Style

Well, while John didn't have the day off yesterday like I did, he did get a nice surprise. They signed over his company car! We now are pimping in a sweet off-white Dodge Magnum (station wagon on 'roids). You'll know it's us because of the "Farmer's" emblem all over the side! But, hey, it's a brand new car, for free, and will save us tons of money in gas and insurance each year. Yeah! I'll have John post a picture this week.

I am up early and ready to head out for the week to Dallas and Houston. But I will be home on Friday, so I know it won't be too long. I really do not like traveling with work. But, I guess it comes with the territory.

Happy Birthday Easton! He's 10 years old today, January 17th. We had a great time celebrating last night at Shogun's with the whole family. Not long and Mason will be turning 5!

Finally, we had heavy hearts this weekend as we learned the news of Josh and Jen Foster's new baby. Brett Andrew was born early Saturday morning, and lived and was loved for one beautiful hour with his parents. Even though the death was not unexpected, I don't think anyone gave up hope that he would be ok. Please keep Josh, Jen, and Big Brother Ty in your prayers, especially today as they bury their son, and through the next weeks as they heal from such a big loss. We're praying for them, and our hearts are with them.

We went to bed with short sleeves on...and woke up to a winter wonderland! The next day it quickly melted in the 60-degree sun. But for a while, it was beautiful! 

Don't blink--the weather might change...

First of all, in reference to the comment posted to my last blog--I don't think there's a soul out there who thinks I am a Texas fan. I have proven my hatred for Texas for many years. It is tried and true, and I hate Texas as much as I love the Sooners. And that's a lot.

Anyway, on to an update. We've had some craaaaazy weather here, which is not at all unusual for Oklahoma. Although, I don't think it's exactly normal to have a beautiful 75-degree day where we're sitting outside all day, gardening and playing like Sunday, and then wake up to over an inch of snow on Tuesday. That's not normal. Nonetheless, it was nice to have some pretty snow that stuck to the grass!

This weekend my bookclub met for the first time in 2006. We'd read a little dinky book last month (The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing--it wasn't that good) and this month our new book is "Memoirs of a Geisha". I'm pretty far into it and it's really good! Back in October we read "Wicked" and it was VERY difficult to read, so the girls were a little leery of "Memoirs". We'll see how they like it. I know it's cheesy to be in a book club--but it's so much fun. We get together and talk about the book for like 30 minutes and spend the rest of the night eating and drinking and laughing--it's just a small group of girls. We're all (except my sister!) fresh out of college, working in our first jobs, all newly married or engaged. Julia's in it too, for fun and she fits in great. I don't know--it's a great escape.

Maybe part of why I like it, too, is because I only knew one of the girls before we started the book club. So I've gotten to know these girls and it's just fun. Plus I've read several really good books I wouldn't have otherwise read. I reccommend "The Lovely Bones" and "Wicked". Though "Wicked" is very odd, and a little inappropriate at times! And I'm pretty sure I'll be reccommending "Memoirs" as well.

Work is crazy. I started working on the new client projects this week and I'm already overwhelmed. The trip is going to be fine (I get to come home for several days in the middle!!!!). But there's a lot of pressure to really show my stuff, so it's overwhelming.

John and I are not even mentally prepared for our time apart. I guess my philosophy is that I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I leave Tuesday--I guess I'm there! But he's so excited about his trip and proud of me for my opportunity--I know it will be fine.

Easton turns 10 on Monday. We're going to Shogun's for his family party--big time! He's growing his hair long like the other kids in school and it's finally out of that awkward phase and starting to look pretty good. Mason is cute as ever--he'll be five next month!

Not much else--we saw "The Producers" in the theatre the other day. Hilarious!! A little outrageous, and a little gay but very funny.

Also--tried two new restaurants. Well, kind of. We highly reccommend Emerson Bigguns on Memorial Rd. If you go--get a burger. The burgers are AWESOME! Also, we tried to eat at Baker St. Grill the other day (by Red Lobster) and they are strictly 21 and over. It was really smoky and we couldn't take the kids in, so we left. Maybe they have good food, but we won't eat there. Not our kind of place.

Ok--really signing off now. I'll try to post before I leave. I'm off work on Monday, so that's a nice treat!

Sooner Born, Sooner Bred, and still hate Texas

I wore a "Beat Texas" shirt last night. The only reason I didn't also wear a "Beat USC" shirt is because I didn't have one.

There are a few reasons why last night's game turned out better than I thought it would:
1) Everyone can stop worrying about USC breaking OU's win streak (gotta tell you--it was getting annoying)
2) Everyone can stop talking about how USC is the best team of all time....guess not
3) Vince Young will probably go pro now (he'd be stupid not to)
4) It just makes OU look that much better when we kick their butts next year on our road back to dominance

All the BCS games turned out to be GREAT this year. Down-to-the-wire, upset-friendly, and no blowouts. I was pretty pleased with the entire Bowl Season.

Boomer Sooner, Everyone!