Ouch

I fell down the icy steps this morning in Bartlesville on my way to the car. It was fun...except not. I have about six inches of skin missing from my shin bone. I hope it grows back. Don't worry, it wasn't too serious. It just hurts!

Oh Happy Day!

Power is back on!

We had a power party last night. Clayton and Stephen stayed with us because both of their places are still out. Other Stephen is coming tonight. We kept the tent up for our guests so they could experience the joyful experience of camping in the King's living room.

Work is freezing today. I have not removed my coat all day. Brrrrrrrrrr.......

Here is another picture from camping. Kody is roasting by the fire.

No Power - Day 3

The past few days have been quite an adventure. We have been without power since Sunday night/early Monday morning. Our house is freezing. We spent Monday evening chopping down frozen tree limbs so they wouldn't break over our drive way and fall on our garage. Kody made me wear ski gloves, a hockey helmet, and ski goggles while we were working. I looked awesome!

We were really lucky. We have a huge tree in our front yard that you can't see in that picture, but it stayed strong! Unfortunately, we are having some roof issues despite nothing falling on the roof. We think it is what is called "ice damming". When ice accumulates on the roof it holds water and allows it to get through. We have four big water spots in our master bed room. Luckily, nothing is dripping and the ceilings haven't busted. We are on the waiting list for three roofers to make sure everything is OK. I think it will be awhile before they get out there. There are a lot of roofs that are in much worse shape than ours. We are blessed!

Last night we decided to have a camp out in the living room. We started a fire, put up the tent, and put the air mattress inside. Bailey was so excited. She slept in the tent with us and kept us warm.

Ice Ice Baby

We survived the ice storm. Here is the view from my office of a tree I witnessed crash into the powerline. Scary stuff!

Kody and I left for work/school at 6:15 this morning. The roads were fine, but trees are down everywhere. They said it will be at least next Tuesday before all the power is back on. Ours went out about 2 AM. Bye bye food in the fridge! Luckily, some friends do have power so if when we return home it is still out we will have a place to go. Kody has finals this week so he can't get any studying done at home because we have no light and no computer. What a mess! Thankfull everyone is ok, it's just going to be a little bit of a pain to deal with having no power.

Here is another view from my office. Look at all th pretty ice!

Family Fun

Happy December! I can't believe it is already the last month of the year. It has flown by. Our Christmas festivities have already started! Robin was home this weekend to take the LSAT. She can't come home for Christmas, so we celebrated early. It was a lot of fun to see her even though it was only for a day. Friday night we went to Cheesecake factory with Kody's parents for an early birthday celebration. (his birthday is on the 6th). We only had to wait 15 minutes. Amazing! The Jenks/Union game was going on so we figured everyone was there and that is why we had the short wait. We drove to Edmond Saturay afternoon and went to Chili's with my family and then to Braum's had Robin's Christmas and then ate junk the rest of the day watching football.

The highlight of the weekend had to be Braums. Kody loves Cake Batter ice cream. I have to agree, it is pretty amazing. It is really hard to find and they never sell it where you get the scoops; it is only sold as a half gallon. Kody decided he was going to buy the half gallon and have them scoop it for him so he could eat it there. I was mortified. I don't really know why, but I was. The ladies working there thought it was hilarious. They gave Kody the ice cream scoop and he started scooping away at the counter. Then he scooped samples for the workers to try! Robin got a big waffle cone and after she worked her way down she asked for them to put another scoop on her cone. It was hilarious. I sat in the corner eating my pumpkin ice cream.

Kody's finals start on Friday. He is almost a 3/8 doctor. YAY! Work is still keeping me busy. I have a lot of first quarter buying to get done this week. We close down on the 22nd and open back up on January 2nd for the holidays. It's like Christmas break only I'm not in school. I can't wait.

P.S. I refuse to leave my building during lunch because it is freezing. I'm a wuss.

Go Gators!

The past five days (before Monday) were so wonderful. Wednesday night we headed to Bartlesville for Thanksgiving with Kody's family. We got to see Kasey which was great since we hardly ever see him anymore, plus we ate a lot of food on Thanksgiving. I love holidays that encourage lots of eating, especially holidays where you celebrate multiple times with lots of eating. My parents were going to come as well, but the ended up having to stay home to take care of the Dori dog. I love her, but she requires lots of love and attention. :) I was sad they weren't there, but it was a lot of fun to be with Kody's family and EAT!

Friday we flew out to Florida. We had no problems flying which was fantastic. We rented a car in Orlando and drove to Gainesville. We saw the Disney Magical Express when we got to the airport and it made us miss Disney. I need to go back. Anyway, Florida is gorgeous so I always love driving there; lots of palm trees and greenness. My family was waiting for us at the hotel and we all headed over the The Swamp (not the field, but a sports bar) and watched the basketball game and ate. It was a lot of fun, but we were exhausted from traveling. They did have some of the most amazing spinach dip I have ever had. I think I ate the whole thing on my own.

Saturday was game day. YAY! I woke up and got in a good run (nerd) and then the whole crew headed to McAlister's for lunch. We walked all around campus, went the bookstore and bought shirts. Kody got some gator scrubs. Very cool. The tailgate started at 2 pm. My aunt and uncle had it catered and it was amazing. There were so many people and the weather was awesome. Kody and I got to see the Gator Walk. The whole team came walking into the stadium dressed in suits. We were right at the front so we had a great view. I was about 10 feet from Urban, Percy, Bubba, and Tim! Tim Tebow looked so embarrassed walking in to all the cheers. He seems very humble. I like that about him. :)

The game started at 5pm and we had great seats on the 40 yard line 19 rows up. As you can tell, we had a pretty great view of the action. The game was great. There is nothing like a game at The Swamp. I'm not just saying that because I am a Gator fan, but it's the truth. It is beyond loud and huge and full of energy. It's a very exciting environment. I couldn't have been happier to be there and see my family and see the game. I have more to write, but I don't want this to get too long, so I'll leave a few fun stories for tomorrow!

Joke from my string cheese wrapper:
Q:What do you call a sleeping bull?
A: A bull dozer.

Let the Fun Begin...

I ran for the first time with my short hair this morning. It was so exciting. It barely all got up and I had to wear pre-warp to keep it from getting in my face. I love wearing pre-wrap in my hair again. I feel like an athlete again. Silly, I know, but pre-wrap used to play a very large role in my life. I wore it daily for years. I miss it. I have pretty pink pre-wrap now. I think I want to get some purple and green. Anyway, my hair all stayed up and I didn't feel any of it on my neck. It was so exciting! It was also my first run since the half marathon. I felt really good. Not sore at all...probably because I only ran 4 miles and very slow. Good times.

We are heading up to Bville this afternoon. I actually get to leave work in 9 minutes. We are shutting down early today. Obviously I have pretty much wrapped everything up since I am writing on here. The past week and a half has been nuts. I have decided that the end of the year in advertising is insane, but a good insane. I like it. It keeps me on my toes and busy and that is what I like. Boredom is not my friend, unless I am on the couch in my sweats and eating popcorn. I like that kind of boredom.

Look for me on TV at the Florida/Florida State game. It is on 4PM central time on CBS. I'll be the crazy one. :) I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stories to tell when I get back...hopefully one about how Tim Tebow and I are BFF's. It will happen...

Bye Bye Hair

I chopped my hair off today. It's shorter than my shoulder. I love it.

Turkey Time

Saturday we had Thanksgiving at our house and I successfully cooked my first turkey. I feel quite accomplished, although I felt slightly dumb when I started to make it. I had to find the bag that had the giblets and the bag that had the neck and pull them out. The neck bag was in the body cavity of the turkey and it was so hard to find. I felt like I was operating. Luckily, I found both bags and cooked a very moist and delicious turkey! We had way too much food. My plan semi back fired on me. I ran the Route 66 half marathon on Sunday (which I will get to in a moment), so I figured if we had Thanksgiving the day before it would control my eating. Wrong. Apparently I forgot I was running the next day and proceeded to eat far too much. It was all so good, I couldn't just leave perfectly good food sitting there untouched! My mom and Kody's mom were a great help. They both made side dishes and Kody's mom did the majority of the dishes and when I say majority I actually mean all of them. :) I think we have enough food to feed us for the next three days until we go to Bartlesville for Thanksgiving part 2. YAY!

Sunday was the big race. Luckily the overeating didn't effect me very much. It was amazing running weather. 60 degrees, overcast, no wind...perfect! My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. Robin told Kody and my mom that I would finish in 1:53:00. I laughed at them. She must know something I don't though because I ran a 1:53:12. I was shocked in a really good way. I told myself I would not look at the overall time throughout the race. I wanted to focus on my pace time. I was averaging between 8:30 and 8:42 minute miles. I felt great the whole race. The last three miles were all hills, which I rocked. :) I like hills at the end of a race because everyone slows down and I pass them. I love passing people, it makes me feel awesome.

Kody played in his first roller hockey game on Sunday. He scored a goal and had an assist. It was fun to watch him. There weren't any benches which was annoying because I had just finished my race. I had to stand the entire game so I could see what was going on, but it was worth it to see him play. One of his professors was playing in the game before his. It was kind of funny. She played in college...yes she. I was impressed.

Three days of work and then four days of play. Gainesville here we come!! I hope I get to meet Tim and Percy....

Ouch

I have a problem. I just went through a pack of Orbit Raspberry Mint gum in exactly 21 hours. I bought it last night at 6PM at Wal-Mart and today at 3PM all 14 pieces are missing. By missing I actually mean "all pieces have been chewed by me". I just couldn't stop. This morning when I got to work I just kept popping them in my mouth. I wasn't even thinking. I hope I have no permanent damage to my jaw.

In other news, it's only 4 more days until the half marathon. I'm getting very excited. It is supposed to be slightly overcast with a high of 68 on Sunday. Perfect running weather! I'm also officially going to Dallas to run in the WhiteRock half marathon. I'm actually going to cheer Kinsey on because she is running her first full, but I figure while I'm there I might as well run too. I'm such a nerd. It will be a fun excuse to get to see Kinz and Aimee. I love girl weekends.

I'm currently craving a whole grain bagel from panera and a diet root beer....plus twizzlers.

Day four of P90X round two....so far so good. I am looking forward to today's workout because it is yoga. I miss yoga. I really fell in love with it last time. I did get up and run this morning. I'm starting to taper for the run. It is a very strange feeling when running five miles feels like nothing. Amazing.

Kody's last test of the six week stretch is tomorrow. YAY! I got some sweet action tickets from work for the OSU v Kansas game on Saturday. I gave them to Kody so he would have something exciting to do this weekend since I'm having my girls weekend. YAY! Less than 27 hours until the fun begins.

Robin turns 24 tomorrow. I can't believe she is that old now! I almost said 22, which also seemed too old. I realized today that I will be 26 on my next birthday. It's not like I had some big realization and finally figured out how old I am, because I have always known....I promise. I just don't think about it that often. Age has never been a big deal to me...except for 16. Kody's dad's birthday is tomorrow as well. He is not turning 24. :)

Happy Thursday!

Weekend Update

I had a very eventful and fulfilling weekend in good ole Edmond. I got to spend time with Angela and Lauren Friday night following a fabulous meal at my favorite, Fish City, with my parents. Saturday I met Cassie, Aimee, and Gabriele at City Bites (another hometown fav) for lunch. My mom and I went to visit Tyler, Darin, and Ryan that afternoon. She was so adorable. I held her while she was sleeping...precious. Later that night I realized my shoulders were very sore. Who knew holding a baby would be such a work out! It was great though. She is just too cute.

Saturday night I ate dinner with the fam at another great one, Old Chicago's. OC's is family favorite from Colorado Springs and now Edmond has one. Tulsa needs to follow the lead. Yum yum. I met Cassie and Aimee at Coach's later to watch some of the OU game. We ended up actually getting into the LSU/Alabama game. Of course, LSU got lucky and pulled it out. I unfortunately did not get to see Florida's game because it was on Gameplan. Boo. I wish I could have seen Mr. Tebow break the SEC single season rushing touchdown record, but I did not. I get to see him in person in three weeks though. Technically it is 19 days, but who is counting? I had a great time with the girls. It was so fun to see so many friends and spend time with my parents.

Kody stayed here and went to Kellen's last game of the season. He didn't have too much studying to do so he got to relax, which was nice for him. Our battery in one of the cars is dead so he was semi stranded. Luckily his parents were doing some shopping in Tulsa on Saturday so he got to pal around with them. Angela and Lauren are coming up to Tulsa this weekend for a girls weekend. I can't wait! We are going to hit up Melting Pot...bring it on. Good times are awaiting us.

In other news, Kody and I started P90X round 2 today. I can't wait to see how ripped we are going to get. :) The half marathon is less than two weeks away. I am ready to go!

I Heart Chocolate

The Tulsa Run was a success. I finished under my gaol time, which was 1:20:00. I ran a 1:19:26 which is right around 8:30 pace. I was on pace to run about a 1:15:00, but I semi died. The first third of the run was uphill. I was not prepared! Needless to say, I am going to do a little more hill work before the Route 66 half marathon on Nov 18. I already checked the elevation map for the course and it doesn't head uphill until the last few miles. I can handle hills at the end because I am pumped to finish. Hills at the beginning, however, just make me too tired too fast. I feel positive that I am going to have a good experience in the half marathon. I'm getting excited!

I went to the gym this morning to get my run in before work. Two girls probably around 30 were running next to me. I overheard one of them talking about how she has been nauseous during her pregnancy (she wasn't showing so I'm sure she is only a few months along). Then I heard her say she was going to run ten to twelve miles that morning. Somehow being pregnant and running twelve miles doesn't really go well together in my head, although I'm quite envious! I'm not sure the baby feels the same way.

Last night was Halloween and this year we had a much more successful trick or treating turnout at our house. Bailey dressed up like a skeleton. She looked precious. She greeted all the kids at the door. They all loved her...of course! Unfortunately I haven't been able to stop eating Halloween candy today. I thought I was smart by giving all of our leftovers to Kody to take to school, but people at work did not do the same thing. They all brought it HERE! Seriously, you expect me to resist free chocolate when it is sitting in front of me all day? It doesn't matter how much will power I think I have. When chocolate is involved all bets are off.

Crislyn is staying with us tonight. I'm so excited to have a house guest! It's always fun when friends come to visit. More of you should do it!

Fun stat for the day: Women spend 205 million minutes per month on People.com, more than any other celebrity site. Thank you Media Week magazine.

Time to Run

Tomorrow I am running in the Tulsa Run. I really am quite excited. It will be great to see how I do pace wise since the Route 66 half marathon is coming up three weeks later. The weather is supposed to nice, maybe a little chilly, but no rain. I picked up my packet during lunch today at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Tulsa. It was mass chaos. Downtown is a mess. Every road has been chopped up. I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with it before because it has been like that since we moved here. I have no concept of direction downtown. I always get stuck trying to go the wrong way on a one way street, which I did successfully once! Anyway, I'm looking forward to the run tomorrow. It's a 15K so that is 9.3 miles. It shouldn't be much a problem since I have had four training runs over 10 miles so far.

I can definitely tell it's Friday. Some of the guys are playing ping pong in the diner, people are decorating their offices with spider webs for Halloween, and I keep looking at my clock thinking it is going to say 4:59. Unfortunately it is only 2:33. Boo.

Kody has been a busy boy the past few weeks. October is a busy month for 2nd years. He has had three or so tests a week the last three weeks and will until after the first week of November. He's working hard. I'm so proud of him! I get really excited when I start think about him on rotations next year and figuring out what he wants to do. It will be quite an adventure. I've been researching residencies for him even though I know it's a few years off. It will be here before we know it though. There is no telling where we will end up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for somewhere in Florida. :)

My Ranch Covered Foot

I just went to the diner in our office to get my afternoon snack out of the fridge. I brought a lovely batch of sweet red grapes. I had been looking forward to them all day. I opened the fridge and all the sudden I heard a big splat and felt something cold on my right foot. I looked down and a container of ranch dressing from Mazzio's had fallen out and landed right on my foot. It was covered from about mid foot to my toes....plus all over the floor and bottom of the fridge. Disgusting. I now hate ranch dressing. I never liked it much to begin with, but now I have a deep hatred. There is ranch dressing stuck in the crevasses of my cute little black shoes. I also think my foot smells like ranch dressing. It's a great way to end hump day.

Lesson learned: Beware of falling food.

Home at last!

It's been a long couple of weeks. Last Saturday, September 29, I headed to San Diego for the annual AOA convention. I went as a student delegate from OSU. I went with another girl whose husband is a third year at OSU. We had a great time. We met some really fun SAA members from other schools. It was great to hear about their experiences as medical student spouses and what their lives were like. San Diego is just gorgeous. I already told Kody I'm going to find all the residencies there and he has to want to do one of those. :) He just laughed as he usually does when I say things like that, but in all honesty I wouldn't be too disappointed if I had to spend four or five years out there! We went to visit The Midway. It is a decommissioned Naval aircraft carrier that is now a museum. It was amazing. You don't realize how big those things are until you really get to walk around in it. We spent our days at lecutres and meetings and then our evenings we either had planned activities or we went out ourselves. It was a grand time and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. I learned a lot and met a lot of great people. Next year it is in Vegas. I can't wait.

I got back on Wednesday so I had a short work week, which I was very thankful for. The two hour time change got to me. This weekend I went to Edmond Friday night to mess with some prescription mix ups. I got to see my parents before they left for their cruise. They are going to Boston and cruising along New England and into Canada for ten days. I'm so jealous. I know that part of the country is just gorgeous in the fall. Saturday Bailey and I drove to Bartlesville because Kasey was in town this weekend for Columbus Day. We ate a lot and watched the OU/Texas and Florida/LSU games. I guess I can't be too disappointed with the outcomes of the games. OU of course won. YAY! Florida lost in the last two minutes. They were up the whole game. It tore my heart out. They played a great game, probably one of the best ones I've seen all season considering how great LSU is. I think they will finish the season strong. They are so young...the next few years are going to be exciting. The other exciting thing is Florida State is doing a little better so the FLA/FSU game we are going to at the end of November will be really exciting. I can't wait. We leave in seven weeks. YAY! I can't wait to be there and see my family. Go Gators!

Tyler had Ryan on Friday night! She was 8lbs 4oz. I didn't get to visit because I was heading home and I didn't want to invade so early in Ryan's life....although I'm sure she would have loved me! Kody and I are so excited to meet her though! It's so strange when your friends you have known forever start to have children. It's so exciting and I am so happy for Tyler and Darin!

Kody and I are going to take Bailey to help us pick out our Halloween pumpky this week. I'm so excited to start decorating for all the holidays. YAY!

Breaking the Addiction

After talking a lot with Kody about a month ago I made a monumental decision in my life....I was going to quit drinking diet coke. I know, I know, how can this be? I'm the girl who finished three off before they can even serve me free chips and salsa at Ted's! Since I started training again I decided this was the perfect time. I drink water like crazy now. I hardly even miss the DC. Every now and then I crave it and I will indulge, but I have maybe one a week. ONE A WEEK. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, plus I save a lot of money. My skin glows more (ha!), I don't feel like I want to snack as much, and it will keep my teeth more white. Plus, all that carbonation made me feel icky. Icky is such a grown up word, don't you think? I will keep you updated on my progress, but it has been a successful month so far.

H2O...drink it up!

Angela's Wedding

In all my updating last post, I stupidly forgot to inform everyone about the wonderful wedding of Angela Sawyer and Brian Kopy. So here it goes...

I got up to the Scott Chapel Friday afternoon to help decorate with Lauren, Amy, and Crislyn. Angela did some really cute things. She hung black ribbon around the aisles with white flowers pinned on them. Very classy. She had a gazebo type thing (I don't know the proper word so I'm sorry) wrapped in white lights. It was beautiful. Friday night after rehearsal we all went to the hotel for the dinner catered by Carraba's. Yum yum yum. The dessert was one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. I could have eaten the whole tray, but I resisted. Saturday morning my mom and I hosted a bridal brunch at our house. We had a very eclectic assortment of food. Bagels, quiche, fruit, cup cakes, chex mix, mini chicken biscuits from Chick-fil-A, and mini cheeseburgers from Cheeseburgers in Paradise for Angela's own "mini OU tailgate". We watched the OU game and just hung out and ate. We were all stuffed.

After stuffing ourselves we all went to get ready. Amy did my hair, bless her heart, but fortunately it didn't take as long as usual. She's amazing. Angela's hair looked fantastic. She had gorgeous big curls. She has perfect hair for stuff like that. It holds so well. We had a mini dance party while we were getting ready and waiting for pictures. It was some good ole fashioned girl time. Anyway, we had our "photo shoot" outside. The pictures turned out great. We were told to "vogue" which I was not very good at, but it was still fun. Angela and Brian saw each other before the wedding (which I recommend to everyone if you are OK with it...it gets out the jitters!) They took their pictures together. They looked so happy. It made me smile.

The ceremony was beautiful. They picked really pretty music. The flowers were gorgeous. Brian had a great big smile when she came down the aisle. YAY! I had to hold her massive bouquet which turned out to be a little bit of a workout! Angela's dress was gorgeous. It was full lace and had a semi long train. Beautiful! After the ceremony we headed over to the reception. Since most of the pictures were done before the wedding, they were over there pretty quickly and cut the cake. Yum! Brian had a big Nebraska cake, but Angela was sneaky and put in a small OU cake next to it. I love chocolate cake, so those were my favorite. She had a really cute candy buffet with little bags to take your candy home in. I ate all of mine there...shocking. There was shrimp, chicken, fruit, cheese...pretty much everything I like. When it was time to go we all showered them with bubbles. It was really pretty. It was so great to be a part of her wedding. I've never seen her so happy and that made me happy. It was a long time coming. :)

PS. Amy did not put in proper effort when it came to the bouquet toss. That was the only disappointment of the evening. Shame on her!

My Month in Review

It's been a long time. I've missed posting, so here it goes. The past month has been a whirlwind. Angela got married, I totaled the Acura, Kody started back to school, and I started training for my third half marathon. Don't worry, everyone was fine in the accident. It was a minor fender bender. They "totaled" my car because the parts are so expensive. They don't make Legends anymore and it's a 94 so the value wasn't extremely high anyway. It all worked out thought. We bought the car back from insurance and they gave us more than enough money in the settlement to fix it. We were without the car for a month. I got it back on Wednesday. It was such a happy day. Fortunately, I work right down the street from the medical school so Kody and I carpooled every day. The only bad thing was I had to leave the house at 5:30 AM with him everyday. I would come up to my office and workout because there is a gym in the basement. I'm just thankful I don't have to wake up at 5 AM anymore! Kody sent me some gorgeous roses when we got the car back. I know it sounds silly, but I went through a lot of frustrations trying to get everything handled. He's very thoughtful.

I started training for the Route 66 1/2 marathon that is here in Tulsa the weekend before Thanksgiving. I'm about to wrap up week number 3 with a 10 mile run on Saturday. It has felt so great to start running again. I always work out, but I hadn't been running like I normally do. I'm starting to feel like myself again. I can't wait. I'm planning on running in the Cowtown 1/2 marathon in Fort Worth in Feb. and the Memorial 1/2 in OKC in April. I don't want to just run them anymore, I want to get good at them. I will too, I'm stubborn like that.

As most of you know, I am a football fanatic so I have highly enjoy the past few weeks. We have been to a couple of Kellen's high school games. He's playing great! Last night they played Sand Springs and won their first district game. Kellen had some great runs and tackles on defense. He's probably averaging 8 yards a carry. It's fun to be able to watch him. Also, Kody and I are playing intramural football at the medical school. We are 1-1 although we should be 2-o. I had a touchdown in the first game and last night I scored an extra point and had an interception. I'm pretty much amazing. :) Kody also laid me out. He didn't' see me and plowed me over when we were on defense. My neck is a little sore this morning for taking the hit, but I was tough. Kody's mouth started bleeding a little afterwards. And finally, college football has begun. Last weekend we had a football party at our house which consisted of me, Kody, my mom, Stephen and Clayton. I made a blue cake with orange icing with a big UF on it for Florida. The Gators are 3-0 and looking pretty amazing. I can't wait until we go to Gainesville for the big Florida/Florida St. game. It's going to be fantastic!

Robin is coming home this weekend. We are going to the State Fair on Sunday with the fam. I can't wait! I hope everyone has a great weekend! Go Gators!

I was just reading MSNBC's preseason top 25 poll. The Florida Gators are number 5, which is fine by me. Preseason really means nothing. USC fans know that. Oh that was a low blow, so sorry. Anyway, I got chills. I'm so excited for football season. I wish all of you could truly understood the pure joy I get on Saturday's during the fall.

"The Gators are building the most formidable talent war-chest this side of USC, so watch out. If Florida gets some breaks and finds its way back into the big game again, we might be looking at the start of a Southern dynasty." - A very smart man who wrote for MSNBC, Joey Johnston

More than anything I can't wait to be in Gainesville on November 24th. Only 14 weeks to go!
Kody starts school on Monday. It's been fun having him around so much this summer. I'm also really excited he is starting again because that means in less than one year he will be on rotations and even closer to graduation! In less than three years he will be a real doctor. Amazing.

In other news, I am going to San Diego at the end of September for the AOA convention. Basically it means I'm a big deal. OK, not really, but I'm going to learn a lot about the American Osteopathic Association which will be helpful someday I'm sure.

The Deadliest Cramp

I had a horrible, frightening, near death experience Friday night. I had the most horrible cramp I can ever remember. I don't know how many people have woken up in the middle of the night due to a cramp, but if you have you know that it isn't fun. I usually get them in the middle of my left calve muscle. It's always in the same place. Friday, however, it was different. Normally I can rub and breathe it out. This night I couldn't. I woke up screaming. I almost fell out of bed and I was hunched of the bed pretty much in tears. Kody woke up and thought something terrible had happened (it was terrible...he just likes to make fun of me now). I couldn't do anything. No amount of rubbing or breathing would make this sucker go away. It was stubborn. Finally after a minute, but what seemed like an eternity, it calmed down. All day Saturday my calve hurt. It felt like someone had repeatedly kicked me in the same spot. I have determined the cause of this deadly cramp was dehydration. Being the intelligent person that I am, I worked out in the garage on Friday afternoon in about 95 degree heat. My water consumption was also pretty low that day. I have been carrying around a water bottle with me ever since. I learned my lesson.

Last night we bought The 300 and watched about half of it before bed. I love the movie and have seen it before. Last night I kept having dreams about people getting decapitated. It freaked me out. Just thought everyone would like to know.

I'm going to the PGA tomorrow for work. Maybe I'll meet Tiger. That would be fantastic.

My Stalker

I have a stalker. It is a green xterra. I'm not sure why it is stalking me, but it is. I live in Broken Arrow, but I work in downtown Tulsa and I see it everywhere. In the mornings it is next to me on the highway. This weekend I saw it at the Albertson's I was shopping at in BA. It is a very recognizable xterra. It has two window decals with kids names and sports numbers on the back, so I know it's the same one. I thought I was too old to have a stalker. Well, I guess you are never too old to have a stalker, but I did think I was past that point in my life where it would be a problem. I'm sure the xterra has no plans to harm me, but you never know. I'm going to remain cautious until I learn more.

We are currently remodeling the guest room. I can't tell you how excited I am. The paint job looks amazing. Kody is refinishing some furniture in a gorgeous dark stain. All that HGTV watching is finally paying off.

In other news, Bailey the Dog chewed up our hose. That was special.

Transformers....Robots in Disguise

Harry Potter comes out tomorrow! I can hardly wait.

Go see Transformers. Well worth the money and time spent in the theater. It's long, but it doesn't feel like. Shia LeBouf aka Louis Stevens is fabulous. I have to say I was not optimistic about how I would react to the movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. I generally don't like action movies, but this one made me happy.

Six day countdown til my birthday. Half way to fifty! Yikes, I'm getting old.

I feel boring today so that is all I'm writing. Deal with it. :)

Cake and eBay

This weekend kind of marks the end of an era. It's the last weekend this summer that Kody and I are both "required" to be in Edmond. Required is probably the wrong word because we love the reason we have been down there, wedding cake! I do love me some wedding cake. Anyway, today is actually my dad's birthday, so we will also be partaking in birthday cake. My mom and I had planned to take him to a nice dinner at Cattleman's Steakhouse downtown, but he decided he would rather go eat at IHOP and see Transformers. He's funny like that. Saturday is Lindsay and Nate's wedding. It looks like they are going to have some really nice, hot weather. Luckily it is in the evening so sweating shouldn't be too much of a problem. I love seeing my friends gets married. I feel lucky that I have been able to witness so many of my friends marriages. It truly is a privilege.

In other news, I have been researching outdoor ceiling fans. Kody is redoing the back patio and building a covered area for me for my birthday. I'm also currently in a bidding war on eBay to get Mario Kart for Nintendo 64, which we acquired from his brother I believe. It's the only video game I have ever liked that wasn't DDR, Guitar Hero, or Karaoke Revolution. If I get out bid I might flip out. Once I was in a bidding war for a t-shirt that said "Virginia, Virginia, Virginia". It was from the University of Virginia. Since my first name is actually Virginia I thought it would be a great shirt for me to have, plus it was cute. I ended up losing in the last 10 seconds. I emailed the girl that won and offered to pay her more for it, but she just laughed at me. Looking back on it I guess I was pretty silly, but that's the way I roll.

America the Beautiful

Happy 4th of July! Ok sure, it's a day early, but who is really going to take time to sit down and blog on the 4th of July? Maybe that's not such a good questions because there is always a chance that I will, but I'm not so it's ok.

Tonight Kody and I are heading to OKC to see Chicago in concert. I don't feel prepared. I need to know the words to the songs so I can sing along, but other than "Your The Inspiration" I think I'm going to fail miserably. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing evening outside. I just pray that it doesn't rain! I was in Bartlesville last night, where Kody's family is moving, and I have never seen flooding like that before. Pictures don't do it justice when you see it in person. I had to run by Lowe's so I could get a RCA cord for the DVD player so I could work out. Yes, only I would be out in a flood buying a RCA cord so I could workout, but that's not the point. The point is the entire parking lot up to the sixth or seventh row was flooded. Craziness. It blows my mind how that is even possible. Mother nature is very interesting.

In honor of the 4th I thought I would give everyone some fun 4th of July facts:

1. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, but it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941! Tomorrow marks the 4th of July's 66th birthday! Happy Birthday 4th of July.

2. A representative who was passionate about the Declaration of Independence rode horseback 80 miles to break the tie in support of independence.

3. "The Star Spangled Banner" is set to the tune of the English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven".

4. Uncle Sam first became popular during the War of 1812, but he wasn't adopted as a national symbol until 1961.

5. George Washington first held public office at the age of 17.

I'm craving a Cherry Coke Zero and a slice of America's birthday cake.

Spice Up Your Life!

Yes, the rumors are true. The Spice Girls are reuniting for an 11 date reunion tour. I was never a huge Spice Girls fan, but the fact that they are getting back together gets me excited. Robin dressed up as Sporty Spice in high school for Halloween with some of her friends. I would make fun of her for it, but I do things like that all the time and she looked awesome. Anyway, I get really nostalgic about things like that. Bands reuniting makes me happy. Currently The Smashing Pumpkins, my all time favorite band, is also reuniting. Their new album comes out in July and I can hardly wait. One of the first things I found out about Kody was that he shared my love for the pumpkins. The first gift he ever gave me was a DVD he burned with four SP videos. It is probably my favorite gift I have ever received. I'm determined to see them live one day and now that they are back together my time has come. Maybe I can catch the Pumpkins and Spice Girls back to back. Now that would be a fun weekend.

My Green Thumb

I have an open blister on the inside of my left thumb. It's from mowing the yard. Who knew mowing could be so detrimental to your hands! It feels like I spent four hours in the batting cage without gloves. Now that can mess your hands up. It has been raining and raining and raining some more in Tulsa over the past few weeks. It has really limited the number of opportunities we have to work in the yard. Finally on Sunday we had our chance! Even though the weather was good, the grass was still wet, but something had to be done. We weren't sure when we would have clear skies again. Because the grass had gotten so long we decided to bag the grass instead of just letting the mower spread the grass clippings everywhere (much easier). Since I had to mow with the bag on the mower it added what felt like 50 pounds of wet grass. I haven't worked up a sweat like that in a long time...and I work out! My shoulders were pretty spent after pushing that thing around for an hour. I was quite pleased with myself. Don't worry, Kody was working too. I actually enjoy mowing. I think it is because I never was allowed to mow growing up. My parents always thought I was going to run over my foot. Plus, since my dad is a doctor we always heard about the types of patients he saw in his clinic: mowing accidents, car accidents, and the worst of them all...trampoline accidents. The first time I told them I mowed the yard in Tulsa they said to me, "Make sure you wear shoes, Ginny". Really? Am I not going to wear shoes? Silly parents! Anyway, since I never mowed growing up I don't mind mowing now. It makes me feel very capable. I take pride in making our yard look nice. I weeded all the flower beds as well. It looks quite spectacular. Our rose bushes are a beautiful bright pink and the grass is really green, thanks to all the wonderful we weather we have had. I really just wanted to tell everyone I had a painful blister on my thumb. Give me sympathy. I need it!

Tricky Zippers

I used to get embarrassed pretty easily, I don't as much anymore. Today that is a good thing and I will tell you why. I'm wearing these really cute Capri pants. That's not the embarrassing part, unless of course I think they are cute and they really aren't. Anyway, they button and zip on the side, not the front. I'm sure you can see where this is going. After I go the restroom I always double check the side and make sure they are zipped up all the way. Zippers have a funny way of tricking me so I have to try to out smart them. Today the zipper won. I came out of the restroom and headed to the kitchen at the office to heat up my lunch. I talked to a few people, nothing too exciting and then I made my way back to my desk. I got up to refill my water bottle and noticed my left thigh felt a little cool. I looked down and , yes, my zipper was unzipped. Not a fourth of the way, not half way, but fully and completely unzipped. The zipper runs a good six to seven inches from my hip bone, so if anyone was paying attention they probably got a pretty good show. Lucky them. That is probably as close as I will ever get to a strip tease and I can't say it was too enjoyable. The truth is no one probably even noticed and I'm quite thankful for that. I'm confident that the zipper will not win again. I've experienced defeat once and I'm not a fan.

Tip of the day: Check your zipper. Even if your hot there are better ways to get a cool breeze than having an open airway in your pants.

Waiting for November

It is the middle of June and all I can think about today is Thanksgiving and Christmas. Perhaps that is because I am quite obsessed with the holiday season. It gets me all excited inside like Disney World. This year I have a dream. My dream is simple, yet it still seems unobtainable. This year I want to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner at our house for my family and Kody's. Yes, I want to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner by myself. I'm not sure what sparked my enthusiasm, but whatever it was I love it. Maybe it is that I have been craving the cranberry orange relish that my mom and I make every year or it could be that I've been religiously reading various food websites over the past year. A few of my favorites are:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/
http://kraftfoods.com/kf
http://www.foodandwine.com/
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/

Take a gander, they are all simply fabulous and educational. After researching as much as I have, I feel like I am prepared and ready to take on the challenge of preparing a holiday meal. The only problem will be getting everyone to my house.

Other exciting holiday news is that Kody and I are going to the Florida / Florida State game the Saturday after Thanksgiving at The Swamp. Yes sports fans, we will get to witness the current NCAA Champion Florida Gators on their home turf in one of the greatest in state rivalries in the history of this great nation. We leave in twenty one weeks and three days. The countdown is on.

A Few Fun Side notes:

Yesterday I locked my keys in the trunk at Target and Kody had to come bail me out. Fun.

A girl that I work with just saw Issac Hanson at a coffee shop in Tulsa.

I have already chewed half a pack of Orbit Citrus Mint gum today. My jaw hurts.

Good To Be Home

It feels so nice to be home. It feels like we have been going and going and going. We have been out of town the past five weekends and it is starting to have an effect on me. I need weekends to recover from my weekends. It is a brutal cycle and it must be stopped! Unfortunately it won't until September because wedding season is in full swing. Don't get me wrong, I love weddings and showers, it was just easier when I lived in the same town as all the action and not an hour and a half away. Tonight I fully plan on vegging out and watching some quality television.

I got to see a lot of friends over the past few days. Tiffany's wedding was beautiful and we all had a lot of fun. Angela, Lauren and I went to Lottinville's (yum!) for Angela's birthday lunch. They brought us a seven layer chocolate chip cake with a sparkler. It smelled like the fourth of July and tasted like Heaven. Kody and I invaded Tyler and Darin's and had game night, one of our favorite past times. We played Cranium Pop 5. Tyler and I pretty much got owned by the boys. It's a little tough to take, but I feel like next time is our time to prevail...we get a little competitive. We also cooked dinner for my parents for Father's Day. We grilled steak, roasted corn and veggies, and had a fabulous salad, plus we had Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake. Splendid!

Every time we go back to Edmond I miss it. This weekend was no exception and for one big reason, the Randy's M&M's Tent Sale. If you have never been to the Randy's Tent Sale you must make an effort next time. It happens twice a year and my family usually schedules the day around it. There is just something exciting about a cheap movie! Kody and I purchased four: Fever Pitch, Munich, The Constant Gardener, and Miami Vice. Those should keep us busy over the next few days.

I don't feel entertaining today so I'm sorry if I bored you. Happy Birthday Kinsey! I'm going to go eat an apple now...

The Amazing Almond

Over the past couple of years I have become a lot more health conscious than I used to be. I wouldn't call myself a health freak, but maybe a health enthusiast. I read as much as I can about fitness, food, and nutrition. I find it simply astounding how much the things we eat effect our bodies, minds, and moods. I used to be a very picky eater and I still am, but I am trying to make myself branch out. My newest food obsession is none other than.....the almond.


Almonds scared me for awhile. I have never really liked nuts plus I didn't want to "waste" calories on a few little nuts when I could save them for ice cream! Half a cup of Cherry Garcia or 28 nuts?? Cherry Gracia all the way! Not anymore. I still love my Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, but I have found there is room in there to go a little bit nuts. (Don't you love my play on words?) For those of you who are still resistant, I would like to give you a little background and information about the almond. Here are my top 10 reasons to love almonds:


10. They are high in fat AND good for you. That's because most of the fat is monounsaturated which is the same good for your heart fat that is in olive oil. Yum yum.

9. Women that eat at least one ounce of almonds a week have a twenty five percent fewer chance of developing gallstones.

8. Romans referred to the almond as "The Greek Nut", because the Greek's were the first civilization to cultivate them. I'm part Greek so I have to support my ancestors.

7. You can store almonds frozen for up to a year and in the fridge for months so you don't have to worry about them going bad.

6. Almonds are really the seed from the Almond Tree which is a cousin to the Peach, Cherry, and Apricot tree. What a tasty family! Here is what it looks like....

5. They taste good with dried fruit.


4. They protect your heart against cardiovascular disease and diabetes.


3. The Bible mentions the almond ten times.

2. They don't ever go "out of season" so you can buy them all year, although they are the best during the summer.

And finally......

1. The almond skin has flavonoids. I think that sounds neat.

For those of you who are trying to improve your health or just branch out a little bit when it comes to food, try the almond. Throw some in a salad or chop them up and put them over pasta. Live dangerously, but protect your heart in the process!

Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy the Flight!

I'm not a fan of flying. I never have been and I probably never will be. It is, however, something I have had to deal with because I love to travel. I don't remember when I took my first plane ride because I was so young. I've been flying my entire life. Sometimes I think people have fears because they don't try something until later in life like swimming, onions, or skydiving. Flying is not one of those things. It doesn't matter how "used to it" I am, I will never be comfortable on a plane. Sometimes my family makes fun of me because I have mini panic attacks when we hit turbulence. Sure, I know I have a greater chance of being killed in a car accident, but at least I am semi in control of the car. I have absolutely no control over a plane. Apparently, I have control issues. Sadly, as much as I need to deal with my control issues, they are not the point of this entry. Today I read an article on MSNBC that made me feel much better about my fear of flying. Not better as in, "YAY I can't wait to go fly now!", but better in the "I'm not a lunatic after all" sort of way.

Here is how the article started:
"A pilot told nervous passengers travelling with a low-cost Spanish airline that nearly half the seats on their plane were out of use due to a safety problem but it was nothing to worry about, a Spanish newspaper reported. As passengers took their seats on the Lisbon to Madrid flight operated by Vueling Airlines on Sunday they noticed that all but three of the 32 rows on one side of the plane were taped off. The captain told them on the intercom: "We will not be able to use that part of the plane because we have a safety problem with the door at the front. Don't worry, it's only a safety problem". - MSNBC Website June 11, 2007

The article goes on to explain that the "safety problem" was with the eight emergency exits on the plane so they couldn't serve the normal capacity of passengers. Well that's comforting. At least it wasn't anything serious like they were out of peanuts and coke.

Happy Half Birthday to You

Wednesday was Kody's half birthday. Sadly, throughout my life I have noticed that the majority of the population does not share my enthusiasm for half birthdays. I'm quite puzzled by this. Why not take a time out to celebrate? Everyone needs a day to feel special, and quite frankly one day a year isn't enough for me. Growing up my mom always made a big deal about our half birthdays. I thought it was normal. None of my friends ever knew what I was talking about. "Half birthday, what's that? You're weird!" I get that a lot....the you're weird part. Anyway, something happened this year and it has bothered me since January 16, my half birthday. This was the first half birthday of my life that my mom did not call or send me something. I thought it wasn't going to bother me, but it did. It wasn't that I didn't get a present or a special cupcake, but as I have gotten older maybe the little things that we used to enjoy aren't as important as they used to be. Let me tell you this is a myth! I still love my half birthday and I will cherish it always. Because of this I have vowed that I will always make a big deal about half birthdays when I have children...in about 20 years.

For those of you who are wondering, a half birthday falls exactly six months after your actual birthday. If you can't do the simple math, go to the website below. There is a calculator that will do the thinking for you. Amazing! Also, there are some great cards and party gear made specifically for half birthdays. http://yourhalfbirthday.com/

Happy half to you whenever that may be!

Now I Feel Old

Obviously I titled my blog, "I Don't Think I'm a Grown-up Yet" and I am going to completely negate that statement with my first post. Kody and I have been in Tulsa since August and I am still looking for a job. Yes, this makes me feel somewhat pathetic and ridiculous, but that is ok. I have been substitute teaching since the beginning of the school year and that brings me to my story. Last week I subbed in a high school AP Economics and History class. Sounds like too much fun, I know, so please try to control your jealously through the rest of my post. A senior boy was wearing a track shirt from the previous season which had some sort of motivational quote on the back as they usually do. No big deal. A girl read it and started to make conversation about the quote. Exciting. The boy responds with this statement, "Yeah, this year's shirt has some quote from a Vanilla Ice song...I don't know even know the words". What? You don't know the words? Your are kidding, right? Then a different girl chimes in, "Yeah isn't it like, Ice ice baby, da da da da dada da da? I don't know the rest!" (insert high school female giggles here). Of course I'm sitting behind my big teacher desk pretending to be an authority figure (which we all know I'm not) singing the words to Ice Ice Baby in my head. It takes everything inside of me to not blurt them out. It made me start to ponder what is the last age group that actually knows the words to Ice Ice Baby? I can get up and spit them out at a moments notice for karaoke and I am 24 going on 25. Yikes. Are we the last age group to appreciate the lyrical genius that is Ice Ice Baby? It's scary. The next day a middle school student was talking about Marilyn Manson saying,"Is it a boy or a girl?" Another student says, "Who is Marilyn Manson, I've never heard of it". Good gosh. Now I feel old.