Suggestions?

I need a new book to read. Any suggestions?

The last book I read was Les Miserables which was over 1400 pages. Needless to say, my brain is a little mushy after that one...so maybe just a fun read.

If anyone has read anything good lately let me know! I always love reading what other people have recommended.

Let the Countdown Begin

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's been a while since I updated this thing! Things got busy all of the sudden. Holidays came up, I got a JOB!! And sadly my little blog fell to the wayside. But, hopefully I will start to update regularly again...that's my goal anyway.

John and I went to pick out our Christmas tree this weekend. We got a real tree which was very exciting to me because I have never had a real tree before. It's beautiful! I love it! We went to this cute lot we saw on the side of the road and picked one out.

This is a pretty terrible picture...but it was really cold and we couldn't get a good one, so we settled.

I stayed warm by the outdoor fireplace. I want one of these when I get a house!

The finished product. I strung popcorn and everything! It's kind of a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Here is our 2009 Christmas ornament. It's a little tent to symbolize our camping trip we took in October. It's a constant reminder to me that I don't ever want to go camping again.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. And now I love it even more that John and I can start traditions together. My next goal is to throw a Christmas party. I have to show off my tree before I have to throw it away!

Missing Home

Today I am really missing home. And by home I mean Tulsa. I have been trying to get used to Texas, but I guess I just don't like change. Of course I love being close to my sister's and all my nieces and nephew. That part is pretty awesome...even the babysitting:) But I can't help feeling like I still want to go home. Or maybe I just want to go back to the familiar.

I miss my church, my friends, my parents. I miss my best friend who lives on the other side of the planet! I miss familiar streets, not needing a GPS, not sitting in traffic.

John and I went to a OSU football game this past weekend in Stillwater. I just had to laugh at my friends complaining about the game day traffic. I sit in that just to get to wal-mart!

I know things are going to get much better once John and I can actually find a church we like and get involved there. And a job would be nice too. It may give me a sense of purpose for leaving the house each day:) But until then I just wait and try to get adjusted. It's been five months...how much longer can it take?

Oops I Did It Again

Last October John and I decided to go on a little adventure and go camping. It was our first time to go together, and my first time to ever go camping. We packed up all the stuff we would need for a a night and drove out to Keystone Lake. We roasted hot dogs, toasted marshmallows and relaxed by the campfire. Then we went to bed. This is where the story turns unpleasant. The temperature dropped into the 30's. I had on six layers of clothing and still my teeth were chattering. I tossed and turned most of the night, while watching my husband sleep peacefully next to me...jerk. I woke up at 6 a.m. to a frosty 32 degree morning. I quickly jumped in the car, cranked on the heater, and watched my sweet husband pack up all the camping gear so we could get out of there!
Somehow, over the course of a year, I blocked out the memories of the cold weather, sleepless night and miserable morning. John and I went camping again this weekend. I will never forget again.

Oops I Did It Again (or I Kissed Camping Goodbye)

12:00 Pack up the car and head for Eisenhower State Park in Denison, TX.

2:00 After stopping at a local Wal-Mart after discovering we forgot a pillow, lighter, firewood and lighter fluid, we finally arrived at the park. The leaves are just starting to change color and the campgrounds were beautiful.

2:30 Setup camp. This tent is approximately 7' X 4'. John barely fit lengthwise.

4:00 After switching campsites, we finally got all of our stuff unloaded and decided to take a hike on the trail.

The scenery was beautiful, but it had just rained a ton the day before so the trails were really muddy. I'm not really sure it this is the proper use of a walking stick, but it helped keep my feet clean...sort of.

We hiked down to a little swimming beach. It was really cold down there!

6:00 Football Practice. Got to keep a leg up on the competition. Team Schaffner is looking pretty good!

7:00 Started up the fire and roasted some hotdogs with chips and coke for dinner, toasted marshmallows for smores, and even heated up some water over the fire for some hot chocololate.

John was really roughing it. He checked football scores every 30 minutes.

11:00 Our fire died out and it was time to go to bed. And then the real fun began.

12:00 Finally start drifting to sleep after realizing there is no comfortable way to sleep in a 7 X 4 tent.

12:15 I pay for the 2 hotdogs, chips, coke, smores and hot chocolate with a terrible stomach ache.

1:00 My illness subsides and I finally drift into a half sleep.

3:00 Wake up to the sound of rain on the roof of the tent. Softly sob into pillow.

4:00 Hear coyotes howling in the background.

4:15 Hear something rummaging outside tent. Assume it is coyote and become paralyzed with fear.

5:00 Remember that John has the internet on his phone. I'm such a wilderness girl. Find out it is in the upper 40's and the sun won't rise for another 2 hours.

6:30 Wake John up and tell him about the horrible sleepless night I have had. Convince him to get out of the tent even though it is still sprinkling so we can go home.

7:00 Say goodbye to Eisenhower State Park and head to the nearest McDonald's.

I write this all down for one reason. I can't forget...I must remember why I hate camping...why I can never go back. Maybe with a bigger tent and an air mattress and a little better weather it wouldn't be so bad. But I'm not sure I am willing to test that theory. For now I will stay indoor where I belong. Warm, dry and oh so happy.

Adventures in Babysitting

First of all, my computer is back! Virus free! We decided it was going to cost too much to have it fixed, so we just wiped out everything on it and started over. I think we saved everything important to flash drives...or at least I hope we did!

Yesterday I got to spend the day with three of my most favorite people. Eli, Beaux and Eden. We had a blast drawing pictures, watching a Eukanuba Dog Show (we wanted Razzle to win) and playing board games. Unfortunately all of that took about an hour and a half. I was then forced to either get creative, or give in to the chaos.

So, we made cookies.

If I mysteriously get sick in the next few days, I don't think it will be hard to trace back the origin.

Then we baked them and decorated them with chocolate frosting. They were delicious, and our only casualty was a white pillowcase that Beaux used as a napkin for her chocolatey face, hands and legs. Yes, there was chocolate on her legs...don't ask me how.

Then we built a fort out of blankets in the living room.


We ate our cookies inside and watched Banana Splits, which is quite possibly the creepiest cartoon I have ever seen. But they loved it.

What an adventure!

Virus

Our computer has been compromised! We have some serious virus issues. I am about to go take it to Best Buy and see if the geek squad can fix it. I will keep my fingers crossed! Hopefully it won't take long.

Waiting...

For the last 4 months I have found myself in an intense period of waiting. In general I am a pretty patient person, but 4 months is a long time to wait, especially when you know other people are watching and waiting too. I've gone between anger and sadness, feeling grateful for my time of waiting and feeling inadequate because of it. But God says to wait. Even when it's been a really long time, Wait. Even when it feels wrong, Wait. Even when everyone else tells you it's been too long, Wait.
His timing is perfect. To rush it would just mess things up.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
-Psalm 27:14

Patience is Overrated

1 trip to Joann's
2 visits to the library
2 hours
3 re-do's
1 mild case of Carpal Tunnel...



All for this! About 8" of a scarf. But I'm not giving up yet. I think with a little more practice I can at least get a little faster. Our local library has a knitting club that meets twice a month. Maybe I can find a nice grandma there to help me.

Yes, I Am Embarrassed

My best friend is heading back to China this week. I am really going to miss her! That is why when I found these pictures I just had to put them up and embarrass her. Yes, they are embarrassing of me too, but there really isn't a picture of me from age 11 to 17 that isn't embarrassing, so I just have to embrace it.

I don't have a scanner so the pictures are acutally pictures of pictures.

I'm going to miss you friend! I hope you're not too embarrassed!

Colorful

Here's a quick look at my newest sewing project.

This is the fabric John gave me for my birthday. I am making a blanket and I am going to attempt to actually quilt it! I'm a little nervous because I don't want to mess it up(and because I haven't had the best experiences with quilting in the past), but I went to the library and checked out a bunch of books on how to quilt, so I am going to give it a shot.

I also checked out a book on knitting and I am going to teach myself how to do that too. I figure if I start on a bunch of projects, right when I get in the middle of them someone will call and offer me a job, forcing me to never work on these projects again. Sadly thats usually the way things work for me, and at this point that would be a good thing, because I really need a job!

On another note, everyone keep John in your prayers. He has another kidney stone! He has had on and off pain for about 2 weeks, so he finally went to the doctor this week and it's official, Kidney stones. Now we are just waiting to find out how big it (they) are where to go from there. Pray for John, the pain is getting worse and he still has to go to work!

One Year Down

John and I had a weekend full of celebrations. We celebrated being together after a 5 day stretch of being apart, we celebrated John's birthday (the big 23!), and we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. This weekend was amazing! Every day I spend with John is amazing, but this weekend was especially wonderful.



I came home Friday exhausted after sitting in the car for 6 hours with 5 children under the age of 5. Lets just say it was a rough car ride. But John came home and suprised me with these beautiful flowers and my day picked up a little. I love anything that's a suprise!

He was so excited to open his birthday gifts Saturday morning. I got him an Oswald Chambers book and a couple of shirts. Doesn't he look handsome?

Going to lunch with John's parents.

Nothing says summer quite like a snow cone.

On our way to my suprise. John NEVER suprises me, so this was a special treat. I was so excited!

Horses!

Thanks to our guide Dave for the awesome picture taking!

Here is a little look at our anniversary gifts to one another. We decided to stick with the traditional one year gift of paper. I went the home made route (of course) and made John a box of memories. Basically I picked a different city in Texas for each month of the next year. I got information on what there was to do, to see and different festivals in that city. I compiled them in this box and the plan is to visit one city a month. Then all the pictures we take can be stored in the box. It is a little weird, but I think it turned out pretty good.

These are the cards inside the box. Some places are close to home, while others are far away, but they should all be close enough to drive to and back in one day.

I also put together an Adventure Book. I started it with a few pictures and left the rest blank to add new adventures over the next 50 + years.

Here is a look at my gift! I love it! I gift card for a one hour massage. It is perfect. I also got a chalkboard but it somehow got lost in the mail so John has been trying to locate it.

It was such a great weekend I am sad that it is over! This has been the best year of my life. I can't wait to see what year 2 has in store!