BOOMER!!!! SOONER!!!!

I have been anxiously awaiting the beginning of football season!!!! Sadly though, my husband, told me last night he had decided there were other tasks, hobbies, whatever that he wanted to spend his time on this year!! WHAT!!!! THIS CANNOT BE!!!! DO WE NEED COUNSELING!!!! DOES HE HAVE A FEVER!!!! I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. We went to every home game last year at THE University of Oklahoma and up until this year we've gone to the first home game since we've lived in the Moore/Norman area. I thought it had become a deep family tradition!!! He told me last night during this kick-in-the-stomach conversation that he felt the football game took up too much of his Saturday and he would rather spend his money elsewhere! Of course it does but that is just part of the time of year we are in!! I'm crushed! I know he has deer season on his mind and he just bought a new bow for hunting but come on. WHAT IS HAPPENING???!!! Before you know it, he may forbid all Fall decor in our house!!! :) He will be an OU alum in April 09 so how can he be having these crazy thoughts!!!!

Due to family commitments and trying to squeeze in as much time with my cousin before he lives for Kuwait, we will be in Ada on Saturday. But Bryan's parents are getting the OU game on Pay Per View. I'm so very thankful. But it just won't be the same. Oh, I'll so miss the football nachos. I have a tradition that I cannot have nachoes until OU scores a touchdown and depending on the opponent, they have to be 2 touchdowns ahead!!!!

I think I am now a football loner in my own family!!! Please think of me every Saturday morning as I sit on my love seat (there won't be much love; ha ha) watching ESPN Game Day and college football all by my lonesome.

I did prepare Bryan that he will have to face the fact, I will go to games without him and I'll be okay. After all, he is going to sit in the deer stand by himself!! And I think my OU gear will look a lot prettier than stinky old camo!!!

p.s. I LOVE YOU BRYAN!!!

A Weekend for All Ages

I had a great weekend! It truly was a weekend for all ages and I was blessed beyond measure!!

I had the wonderful honor, privilege, and responsibility to help in the Youth Girls Retreat at our church on Friday night. Our really great friends, Jeron and Kristine, are the Youth Ministers at our church. Kristine did an outstanding job putting this retreat together. The theme was sexual purity and the retreat was titled "i promise." Through a video series several topics were covered from std's, virginity, as well as emotional, physical, and spiritual applications of purity.Kristine had asked if I would lead a small group discussion after the girls watched some videos. I was going to have some of the 8th grade girls. I was so nervous and prayed for a week over the retreat, my words, and my group. Some of these questions were deep and made me a little nervous to discuss with the girls. But I understood the need for purity to be addressed to our young people. So although I was nervous, I welcomed the opportunity to be stretched and serve these young girls. I want to do it again!!!! They split up the 8th grade and I had 5 girls.These girls were precious, a little quiet in the first session but they opened up in the second session together. It was freezing cold in our room so we cuddled with blankets!!! Thankfully one of the girls was the daughter of a couple in our Sunday School class so that gave us some familiarity.

For the past 2 years now, Jeron's mom goes with me to the retreat. I love Carla. She could be my mom. She has often played the role of a mom and friend both!! Last year I left her house at 7:00 am the next morning. We had talked the night away literally. We never went to bed until 7:30 when I drove back to my house. So this year we were determined we would get in bed earlier this year!!! I took Carla home around 1:00 am and we talked until 3:00 am. When I went to start the car, my car wouldn't start!!!!!! I had to call Bryan at 3:30 to come get me and move our car. After we moved the car, Carla fell hard into some mud and hit her head and face and had mud all over her!! She was inches away from a concrete sidewalk when she came down on her head. We are so thankful she was not hurt terribly bad. But afterwards all 3 of us laughed so hard at the event. I was rolling!!!! Carla said she went to bed shaking because she couldn't stop laughing!!! I told her I so had to blog about this and post these pictures!!!My car is fixed. Luckily it was only my battery. It just went out....just like that. I had saved my receipt from the old battery so we saved us $50 bucks!!!!

Then, on Sunday Bryan and I had extended session duty at church. It was so much fun. Here is a picture of my little boy trying to figure out the battery operated touch drum.

We had a small group of kidos yesterday. They were outstanding!!! All of them played so well and laughed, laughed, and laughed some more.The little boy in the striped shirt gave me such a fragrant gift via his diaper!!!! But who cares!! He was cute and all of them let me love on them. No one cried one time!! Luckily I had planned ahead and wore pants and Bryan wore jeans so we just crawled around the floor and rolled around with them. We were blessed!!!!

I was just rewarded so much this weekend from non-material things! It was so neat to look back on the weekend and realize I had spent time and was blessed by someone from infancy, to youth, to a mother!!

What is Fashion?

Update on jean fiasco: After I blogged today, look what was on the MSN home page:
If this had been on there yesterday, I wouldn't have had the trauma!!!!! Love you gals!!


As I mentioned, yesterday was Kayla's 15th birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Kayla!! She had requested the movie Jumanji and I couldn't find it in stores so we ordered it from Amazon. I printed off the order to give to her but I also wanted her to have something to open. When I last checked one of her favorite stores is Aeropostale. So I left work a little early, changed clothes, and hit the mall. To my delight, their t-shirts (might I add thin to the description) were on sale. I picked one out for Kayla remembering her saying 1 1/2 years ago that as long as it had the emblem, you were cool!!!! Is she a teenager or what!! I made sure I got a size larger than what she normally wears so the t-shirt wouldn't be too tight!!!! The shirts looked tinsy tiny!!! Then I noticed their jeans were $20 off. So, I picked her up a pair. I spent way more than I intended but I loved getting her an entire outfit and the movie from Amazon was dirt cheap. She's a sweet girl and I love giving to my nieces and nephews. The next picture is Kayla and her "friend" Cody!! He is a sweet and polite boy.

I HATE BUYING JEANS for myself!!! It is usually a long ordeal. I like my jeans to fit just right, not too tight in the buttocks and not too tight on the thighs, and not too much of a flare but not too skinny on the ankles because that just enhances my lymphedema leg!!!! If I find a jean that fits my behind, then they gap in the waist. If they fit the waist, they are skin tight and go places jeans don't need to go!!! Crazy, I know!!! I had been thinking about getting another pair of jeans. I only have one pair that I wear the majority of time and I thought another pair would be handy during football season and winter. Plus, I'm leading a small group discussion at the youth girls retreat this Friday and I wanted to look cool!!! Soooooo, I proceeded to try on jeans at Aeropostale. Bad, bad, bad decision!!!! I wasn't sure if I should be mad, depressed, frustrated, or just sit down and laugh. I tried on 3 different styles in 3 different sizes!!! I thought one pair was okay but then I proceeded to walk through the store with them on and realized the waist was hitting me in the middle of my behind as I walked. My shirt covered it but I could feel a draft!!!!!!! I just bought Kayla's jeans and shirt and left and told the clerk maybe some other time, NOT!!!! I just can't get use to some of the newer fashions and some of them are so uncomfortable!!!

My jeans I wear now are from the Gap and they are the Long and Lean. After my experience yesterday in the teeny bopper store I don't feel so lean!!!!!! But thankfully my Gaps fit me fine.

I usually buy jeans every 3-4 years. Had I purchased jeans yesterday, it would have been an exception. Because I rarely buys jeans, I don't mind a little expense as long as they are known to last.

WHAT JEANS TO DO WEAR? WHERE DO YOU GET THEM?

I'm From the Country

Had a great weekend! I love the country!!! But I do love living in Moore. Isn't there a country song that goes something like...We're (I'm) from the country!! ?? We love to go visit the country!

My new camera I bought in June broke on Friday. Brooklyn and I were trying out the zoom at the office because she was looking into getting a different camera and the lense on mine stuck. I took it back and got credit because the store didn't have my exact camera. This weekend I ended up getting a completely different brand and I think I'm going to like it. I hated being without a camera for 24 hours. And wouldn't you know it....driving to my in-laws, we saw 10 deer crossing the road and a little fawn just standing in the road! It would have made a perfect picture but I didn't have the new camera yet!!! Bummer!!!!

We had great food in Ada!! We ate at Hamburger King, a marvelous hamburger joint that has been in Ada for over 70 years. My granny even tried to work there but her mom wouldn't give her permission!!! The hamburger was great! Especially since I had been doing SlimFast for breakfast and Lean Cuisines for lunch all last week!!!
One of Bryan's favorite stores in the whole world is Rhynes Surplus. It is just full of all kinds of "stuff" Shovels, boots, farm equipment, tools, etc etc etc. I get sensory overload if I go in. But in honor of my husband, I took a picture for him....The rest of Saturday was spent putting up a deer feeder. I even got to help and I carried a 50 pound sack of corn for Bryan!!! Call me Super Woman!!!!

Have a great Monday!! I'm going to my sister's house for my nieces 15th birthday dinner! I haven't even bought the gift yet!! Yikes!!!!

Ladies Night Out = Lights Out

Thursday was our second Ladies' Night Out. Erin hosts it at her home on the 2nd Thursday of the month. I really enjoy it. I love to sit back and listen to every one talk. Occasionally I can be quiet and listen!!! Every lady there is a mom and they are all stay at home moms. So I'm the odd ball out both ways. But it is fascinating to me to listen to each of them discuss their questions and concerns. I learn a lot from them!!

I had the sweet pleasure of riding over to Erin's with a new friend, Amber. We attend the same church but I "met" her for the first time at the last LNO. She lives relatively close to me. I didn't realize it until we got to Erin's that it was Amber's birthday!!! Brooklyn had made a cake.We had some stormy weather during LNO and lost electricity. That did not stop us though!! We continued to talk in the dark using a candle light and flash light. It was fun. It felt almost like a girls slumber party. All of these pictures where taken without electricity but my flash lit up the room!! Which was kind of funny in itself. When I clicked the camera the flash blinded everyone!!!

Look closely and you can see the flash light!! Erin lives in a somewhat rural subdivision so there was no outside light/reflections. It was dark!!Kara was telling a story and I had no idea what she looked like or how her arms where when I took this because it was so dark. It's as if she is telling a ghost story!!! Hilarious!!!!

Erin, Candi, Vicki, Jennifer

We are driving to Ada tonight after work and coming home . Bryan has to set up his deer stands for this Fall. I'm looking forward to relaxing and reading!!

Have a great weekend!!!

A Baby Closet and Other Things...

I'm almost certain I remember my friend Kelly writing about her baby closet or it might have been her mom, I just can't remember and I didn't take the time to go back and re-read. Nonetheless I think I'm taking this idea from them......

Last week I was at a store to buy a plant and card for a lady who's husband passed away. While I was there, I saw an OU camouflage onesie. My very first thought as usual was "I wish I was carrying a baby in my arms wearing that." Then my next thought was "I guess I could buy that for Eric's baby." Then my next thought was "Why can't I buy that now for my own baby I will adopt some day?" Then (a lot of Then's sorry) I remembered Kelly/her mom writing about a baby closet and I contemplated buying the outfit and starting my own "Baby Closet." I debated and then left without it. I thought about it for days and if I should do something like that. I thought about it over the weekend and kept coming back to the idea that I think it would help me to know I could buy things for our child instead of always feeling the pain of buying for others. I like to buy for others and give but sometimes I just want it for myself. It would make the fact that we will have a child someday more real and more believable. I didn't even tell Bryan about it. I did tell my mother-in-law and I think she was on board. I'm not going to go crazy and buy something every week and maybe not every month. But when I see something I would cherish, then I may just buy it. So, yesterday I left work quickly and bought this.....

I LOVE it!!! My first item in my baby closet!!! I couldn't decide what size to buy 6 months, 12 months, or 18 months. I really really really x 100 want an infant but if we go through the state of OK we may have to expand to 10-12 months. 12 months would be the oldest I would want to adopt. So, I settled for 18 months to be safe. I wanted to make sure I can use it. I know it is camo but I also had visions of a sweet little baby girl wearing a lace head band with a camo bow and jeans on!!!! Call me crazy. But I just think it would look cute!!

A couple weeks ago I took a few dollars from my "play savings account" and did a little shopping at Crackle Barrel. I saw this when we took my Uncle and his family there after the baby shower. So I went back a week later and bought it.

I'm having a hard time finding a candle to go in it. There is a little lump in the center that causes the one candle I had at home to tilt. I don't think I want to melt the wax because at Christmas time I want to put decorative balls in it.

After I bought the onesie, I went here.....

My new friend sent me a Starbucks coupon that had been in the newspaper. It's for a $2 cold drink after 2 p.m. We had discussed it at our scrapbook night and a few weeks ago she mailed me the one that was in her paper!!! Thank you Guyla!!!! I finally got to use it for the first time yesterday and got my favorite drink......

Green Tea Frap. The neat thing....I get to use the card numerous times until September and save $$$$ !!!!!

Anyway, just some randomness. But I was excited about my "Baby Closet" I hope Kelly you don't mind me taking the idea.

iTune Ideas

UPDATE: THE MARJORITY OF THE MUSIC I LISTEN TO IS CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/ PRAISE & WORSHIP. Hi Friends!!!! I've been healed and my cold is just about gone!!! Yippee!! Hallelujah!! Praises to God!! I'm resting too!!! Last night we came home from church and had nothing to do!! It was kind of weird!!

I have downloaded a lot of my cd's onto my iPod but I'm also looking for some new music. I'd love for you to give me some ideas and some suggestions!!! Pretty Please!!!! What would you put on your iPod?

Thank you for you kind words and more importantly your prayers for Bryan and I. Thank you for letting me be who I am. Thank you for understanding. Your comments were so uplifting to me this morning when I read them.

In all the busyness I nearly forgot to write that Bryan, Alyssa, and I went to the movies at 10:15 Friday night!!!!!! I am way to old to go that late!!! It takes me days to recover. Especially when we watched this...

Batman: The Dark Knight

It isn't my normal kind of movie but I have to admit, it was a good movie. I did turn my head a few times just because I was afraid the Joker was going to slash someone. The acting was great and it was kind of like a thriller for me. It kept me guessing. But I don't recommend watching it late at night. I was so keyed up after watching something intense that I didn't sleep until 2:00 am.!!!!

Has anyone else seen The Dark Knight? What did you think?

I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat and on Monday and today I feel like this....

Except my mouth is currently hanging open because I can't breathe through my nose!!!! Our former Sunday School teacher and his wife are coming over for dinner tonight and then I am hitting the bed. I may not get out of it for days!!!!

You are each so very special to me!!!! Be blessed today!!!!

Shower and a Siesta

On Saturday I co-hosted a shower for my cousin's wife, Whitney. She is due to have her baby on September 4th. I provided the cake, punch, napkins, cups, plates. I just bought the items I thought I would have wanted if I were having a shower. As you can tell from the pictures, she is having a boy and I thought "Sweet Prince" was so cute! My friend Brooklyn helped me save a ton of money and made and decorated the cake. She did a fabulous job and the cake tasted delicious.

I went shopping for the baby gift on Thursday and I had the hardest time. I am very happy for my cousin and his family but at the same time my heart hurts and yearns for the experience myself. I loved looking at the outfits and baby items but at one point I had to walk out of the baby section and come back. I thought I was going to cry right in the middle of Wal-Mart!! How crazy is that?! It is a very hard, frustrating feeling to have. You are happy for others but hurt for yourself at the same time!! Right when you think you have adjusted to your life's path something happens that throws you back! I so wanted Bryan to come to the shower with me. I knew it would be hard. But I didn't even dare ask him. My mother-in-law sent a gift but didn't come. When Whitney opened the gift Donna made I got tears in my eyes and had to keep my head down so no one would see me cry! I was physically and emotionally worn out by Saturday night! I nearly called a dear blogging friend to ask her to pray but I thought she would think I was crazy, psycho friend so I didn't. But God was there and I made it through. I do covet your prayers. I think because I have been so busy, I'm tired. And when I'm tired, my emotions are fragile! Can anyone relate?

Overall though I enjoyed the weekend. I saw my aunt and uncle and their family and I got to spend some sweet time with my 18 year old cousin Alyssa. We are trying to persuade her to come to OK for college (she lives in TX). We do try to step back and encourage her to pray about it and tell her it is only a decision that she can make with God. She has such a sweet soft spirit. And her younger brother, Shane, is just a great kid as well. They rode with us to eat Saturday night and Bryan and I loved to listen to him talk. He is such an even mix of his older brothers.

Here are some pictures of the shower weekend! Enjoy everyone!

These are the 2 onesies and bottle drying rack I bought for little Jesse. The camo onesie reads "Major Cute". Eric is in the Army and I thought that was appropriate.

We had a girls night out on Friday night. Whitney (Jesse's mom), her mother-in-law/my aunt, Alyssa my cousin, and my mom all went out to eat at Johnny Carino's the night before the shower. It was fun. Yes, Alyssa and I do have on the same shirts!!! Is that too immature? I loved it!! Bryan thought I was crazy!

Here is the set up at the shower. I used the wonderful Kelly Stamps punch recipe. Everyone loved it!!! I was so proud!!! Thank you Kelly for the recipe you posted!! The punch bowl was Bryan's grandmother's. I felt honored to get to use it.

Whitney with her shower hostesses

This is the little sweater Bryan's mom made for them. I thought it was absolutely adorable and the blanket to match is on Whitney's lap. I yearn for the day when Donna can make something for her own grandchild.

My aunt made this baby quilt. I thought it was absolutely adorable and she has told me she would make me one when we get our child and I know what nursery theme I am doing.

Alyssa and I after the shower! We wanted to re-create a pose we took 3 years ago.

My boy cousins and I at Cracker Barrel Saturday night. They are so sweet to us.

I had to put this picture in as it reflects how I felt once Saturday was over and I knew I only had 3 more commitments left for Sunday and Monday night!! Rest is just around the corner!!