where the sidewalk ends...

...not really...but did I get your attention?

Happy middle of November all! I hope you're all fighting the cold to stay warm and looking forward to the holidays as much as I am. Now, I must get straight to the point because I've got hours of essays staring at me menacingly from my school bag, and the night is certainly not getting any longer.

So, I've decided to try something new. Let's face it, the life I lived last year beautifully accommodated brand new sidewalk. I had plenty of time to post, and my lonely days holding down the fort at home with Henry lent me hours during which I could maintain my blog. Aside from Olive and Henry, neither of which had an affinity for discussing fashion, health food, or just daily life, brand new sidewalk served as an outlet for my thoughts, aspirations, ideas, and even complaints.

My life has changed now...dramatically. I leaped across the spectrum from having a plethora of free time to drowning in tasks and making valiant attempts to stay afloat. I'm fairly certain that this has been the most excruciating life change I've ever experienced, even rivaling our move to Thailand two years ago. In an effort to be completely straightforward, I have to say that this new onslaught of challenges gives a spark to my eye in moments when I contemplate everything I have accomplished and the rewarding challenges that lie ahead. I love learning, and the fact that learning is a key component of my new career is definitely something I celebrate. I ramble on with all of this to say that this change in life style demands a change in blog style. And with that I now unveil to you...

liveloverun.tumbler.com

At least for the time being, you can find me there as I steal random moments each day to press on in documenting our life...just in smaller doses. I assure you, my lovely followers, that I still hop on brand-new-sidewalk if for no other reason than to check up on you guys; I do hope that you'll stick with me as I try to merge blogging with my current life. I love making daily notes on the triumphs and struggles that Jon and I face, and I love being a part of your lives as well. Thanks for understanding, and I hope to stay in touch as I live, love and attempt to make time to run in this new crazy life I'm trying to keep up with.

I'm alive!

i'm still alive!
just thought I'd say
i miss you all
in the worst way

i've been a teacher for six weeks
and do what I may
the work pile only grows
no matter how much I toil away

i'm up to my ears in planning
just trying to survive
this job has taken over my life
it's definitely no nine to five

though it seems i've disappeared
i want all 42 of you to know
i miss you all so dearly
it fills me with such sorrow

if (when) things ever slow down
if (when) I'm ever able to breathe
i promise I'll be back
until then, please don't leave!

"Show us your life"

Well, since I posted my wedding dress for Kelly's "show us your life" series a week late, I am now still a week behind. So, I figure I'll just go ahead and post my wedding party, flowers and ceremony (which was supposed to be last week) as well as our reception and honeymoon this week! Don't worry, I'll try to keep this one short!

I absolutely loved our wedding! Everything went exactly as we hoped it would, and while it wasn't the fanciest wedding ever it fit us perfectly and all of the people we love the most in the world were there! And of course the fact that we were finally getting married set us up to love the day no matter what happened.

Jon and his groomsmen as they prayed over him - with our little ring bearer peeking:)

Our ceremony and reception were at the church that I grew up in. A relative of mine did our flowers; she gave us a great deal, and I absolutely loved them! My bouquet was green mini hydrangeas and white tulips, daisies and roses. My bridesmaids carried green mini hydrangeas with assorted pink flowers mixed in.

I had four bridesmaids: my sister, Jayma (my best friend from childhood), my new sister-in-law, and my college roommate. I also had three honorary bridesmaids one of which sang...and the other two read scripture. They were my three best friends from college. I still think I had the most beautiful bridesmaids ever! Jon's groomsmen included his brother and 3 of his college friends.

lighting the unity candle!

praying together after lighting the unity candle

Our reception was tons of fun, but it went by in a total blur. It was so fast, and all I remember is trying to get around to talk to everyone before it was over! We loved it though...it was just long enough to get to see everyone and thank them for celebrating with us, but we were super excited when it was time to leave and start our honeymoon too!

Entering the reception!

Our cake - a lady that goes to Jon's church made our cake, and it couldn't have turned out more beautiful! Each layer was a different pattern and our monogram was in the middle.

our first dance as husband and wife:)



Leaving our reception! I love this picture because if you look closely you can see I'm holding my grandma's hand.

Jon's hugging my mom while I'm jumping in the car as fast as possible...ha!

We spent our honeymoon in New England. We basically just rented a car and traveled up the coast, staying at bed and breakfasts along the way. I still swear that it was the best week of my life. I loved every minute of getting to be on vacation...just me and Jon. It was the first trip we'd ever taken just the two of us, so it seemed extra special. We didn't really plan anything ahead, just relaxed and explored lots of things together. We did get to ride horses and go to the beaches, as well as visit Boston, Maine and New Hampshire. I would love to do the exact same vacation again someday.

At Hampton Beach

York Beach, Maine - we drove around the coast for hours seaching for this lighthouse, and we finally found it. At least we had lots of fun adventures during the search:)

The Glynnhouse Inn, Ashland, New Hampshire - this was the first b&b we stayed in. It was incredible and so romantic!

*Unfortunately, I wasn't able to post a pic of my bridal party. Our photography was crazy (literally) and the CD that he put our pictures on freaks our computer out every time we put it in. So, I was only able to quickly get a few pictures off before it quit on me. grrrr. Hopefully I can post my beautiful bridesmaids sometime soon when I get the whole thing figure out!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Jon is taking me to Tulsa to celebrate my birthday all day tomorrow...AND since we didn't get to see Wicked in NYC afterall, he's taking me tomorrow! Cupcakes, the dog park with Olive, Wicked, and my favorite person in the entire world...it can't get any sweeter!

finally...NYC Day 1

Warning: this post is ultra long, but I just wanted J and I to always be able to look back and remember all the details of our trip!

On Monday night we flew into NYC, arriving at about 11pm or so. We had quite the delay trying to get out of the airport in Washington DC, so our arrival was later than expected. We hopped in a cab and headed straight to our hotel, so we could drop our luggage before heading out to explore for a bit. We only hit up Times Square and Starbucks that night and headed home at about 1am so we could get some sleep and be ready to see the sights on Monday! Yea!

Just before leaving OKC - vacation begins now!!

In Times Square the night we arrived...the fun is just beginning!

On Tuesday, our first full day in NYC, we slept in until about 9am because we didn’t get in until late the night before. After getting ready, we headed to Whole Foods so I could get a juice, then we were going to find a bagel shop for breakfast. After walking around for about a half hour and not finding anything, we decided we better hop on the subway and head down toward Battery Park so we could figure out where we needed to be for the tour. After picking up our tickets at Battery Park, we had about an hour and a half to kill so we decided to head toward ground zero and also try to find something to eat because it was lunch time by then. We found this cute little café called Pret a Manger. I loved this place! They used organic, whole ingredients in all their foods. I had a sandwich with avocado, greens, pine nuts and a couple other awesome ingredients that I can’t quite remember now!

loved this place!

Our time at ground zero was short and sweet on the first day. We didn’t have much time before we were supposed to go to the Statue of Liberty, so we basically just looked around at the construction and decided to come back later in the week to see the museum. The Statue of Liberty was really cool. On July 4th they reopened the crown so that people could go up in it. It had been closed since Sept. 11th. So, J called in a got us tickets ahead of time. It was really funny because they treated us like royalty – let us go to the front of the line etc – and we actually only paid $3 more than the people who were not going up to the crown. It was obviously totally worth the $3, even just to not have to stand in line! Going up into the crown was crazy. It was about 360 steps to the top, but once you got about halfway up the stairs turned into this tiny spiral staircase. It was a little scary because it was so steep and narrow...and it was somewhat dark in there! Once we got to the top, we found ourselves in this tiny little "room" with windows looking out. It was a lot different than I expected! Did you know that the "skin" of the statue is only two pennies thick??

the statue


climbing, climbing, climbing...


finally in the crown!

Here is a little video of us climbing up and then looking out. It's not the most exciting video, but if you're interested it kind of shows what its like inside...although most of you have probably been to the statue already anyway:)

After our time at the Statue, we just started walking back up toward Central Park, which was actually several miles up the island. We seriously walked so much, just meandering around seeing the sights. I just love exploring new places with J…it’s one of my favorite things. As we walked, we stumbled upon several things like China Town, Little Italy (where I got chocolate and hazlenut gelato that was to die for), Union Square, American Apparel, Forever 21, Dean and Deluca, Tribeca District, the Flatiron Building, 5th avenue, the Empire State Building, Strand Bookstore, H&M, and tons of juice bars.

two of my favorite places - Whole Foods and F21. What to do??

me, J and the Empire State Building

I was so excited to go to American Apparel, H&M and Dean and Deluca because I’ve heard of them so much, but I’ve never been because we don’t have them in good ole’ Oklahoma. I bought a skirt and shirt at AA, which I love! H&M was honestly a little disappointing to me. Maybe my expectations were just too high…or maybe it’s one of those “hit and miss” kind of places. I just didn’t see much that I liked. I also had never been to Dean and Deluca, and I love grocery stores. I loved going in there, and I bought my first ever macaroon! I also really loved the Flatiron Building. I wasn’t really super excited to see it, but once we got there I was just in awe. The architecture is just so cool.

Flatiron Building...in all its glory!

So, after walking a total of about 7 miles and almost the entire length of Manhattan, we finally made it back to Time Square, and we were starving! We decided on Planet Hollywood because I had never been there and there wasn’t a wait. Our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from Times Square, but before heading back we made a stop at m&m world so J could get some of his favorite candy! We were so ashamed to leave there having spent $12 on m&ms, but it was cool because we got an assortment of mini, dark chocolate and peanut butter (my favorite!).
That pretty much wrapped up Day 1! My feet were seriously hurting so bad by the time we got back to the hotel. My foot pain due to walking so much will always be one of the more vivid memories I have from our trip. Don’t get me wrong, it was totally worth it! But it was painful! Here are some pictures from day 1!

Ready for some Planet Hollywood

And M&M World:) That's what we got for $12...shame, shame

Stay tuned for NYC Day 2 - our anniversary day!

my wedding dress

Last week on "Show us your life" at Kelly's Korner was wedding dresses. I know it's already almost Friday again, but honestly I have just been so buried in preparing for school that I haven't had time to write this post until now. O'well...better late than never right?

I actually picked out my dress a week to the day after J and I got engaged. It was so fast, but I found it, loved it, and I could afford it :) so I decided to jump on it! I have never regretted it. I loved the basic style and the vintage style beading down the front. If I could go back, I'd pick the same dress all over again! As I've mentioned before, my photographer was a bit disappointing so I don't have very good pictures of my dress from our actual wedding day. I included a couple from our wedding, but also a few from my bridal portraits. So, without further ado....

Me with my flower girls

Right after the ceremony!



The jewelry I wore in my bridals was not the same that I wore for our wedding. Unfortunately, it took me wearing it in my bridals for me to realize that I didn't love it. I loved what I wore in our wedding though!

I know I've kinda dropped off the face of the blog world, and trust me...I hate that. I am just so overwhelmed with school stuff - planning lessons and getting my room ready - that I just haven't let myself take any time off. I really hope to be able to balance things better as time goes on. My blog is really important to me because I love being able to document our life, and be a part of all of your lives!

Coming up in the next week I plan on posting several posts about our week in NY, as well as an anniversary post because J and I celebrated three years while we were on vacation!

Amazing Grass Giveaway

If you guys haven't visited Angela's blog yet, you must go asap!! She's doing an Amazing Grass giveaway...and if you don't know what that is you can check it out on her blog. I've been putting Amazing Grass in my green monsters for about a week now, and I've never felt better. And my nails are growing uncontrollably!!! I'll do a better review of the product soon, but for now I have to go...NYC here we come! Go check out Angela's blog - you won't regret it!

distracted....

i'm so happy it's Friday
feeling totally energized by my 2nd green monster
trying to focus on planning for my classes
really tempted to go back for a 2nd pilates class today
dreaming about next week: me+hubby+NY = the most romantic exciting fun week ever!
any suggestions on must see/eat/shop places?

Thailand Tuesday

How appropriate that today is Tuesday because in the midst of everything I should be doing right now...I just keep thinking about Thailand. At this time last year we had been back in the States for less than two days. It really is amazing the way this past year seems like a blur. The days and months run together, and it doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed.

I'm feeling especially nostalgic today because my dear Thai friend, P'Dew, is visiting the U.S. right now. This is her first time to come here, and she'll be attending the yearly conference that Campus Crusade holds in Colorado. It's just so hard for me to know that she is so close, yet far enough away that it's just not possible for me to see her.

I think that a part of me will always remain in Thailand. If not even for the beautiful mountains, the mai pen rai (anything goes) attitude, the colorful culture and the delicious pineapple...then most definitely for the wonderful people. I miss our friends so much, and I hope for the day that I get to return to Thailand and see them again.

I'll never forget the last time I saw P'Dew. We had a "good-bye Americans" party in our neighborhood that night. Not only were we leaving the next morning, but P'Dew and several other of our friends were heading out of town directly after the party. J and I walked down to her townhouse to say good-bye. I hate those moments that come periodically in life in which you know you have to leave someone, but you could stand around forever just putting it off in hopes that the moment would never come. But it did come. We had our last hugs, then there was confusion...people all around....and then I looked up and she was gone. It's really so hard to love someone and know there is a possibility you may never see them again. Such was this night. Not only with P'Dew, but with every friendship we shared throughout the year.

Here I sit one year later...feeling so thankful for America, but also missing the only other country that has ever been my home. One thing that I keep reminding myself of is that really no place is my home here. This is only temporary...and one day when I arrive in my forever home in Heaven, P'Dew will not only be there, but we'll dance and sing and praise the Lord side by side for all of eternity. I'm so thankful that I have that to look forward to and to give me hope every day.

Now for a visual walk down memory lane...

P'Ru, J, P'Waz, P'Dew and me - at our house for dinner!

P'Dew singing her heart out for Jesus

P'Nong, P'Dew and me ready to shoot fireworks to celebrate Loy Kratong festival

my sister, P'Dew, me and P'Nong

P'Dew and I after I participated in a tradition Thai dance...outfit and all!

My Korean friend, Khem and I - we'd meet to practice her English. I love this girl:)

July 4th weekend recap

Well, unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post of this weekend because I cannot find the camera anywhere! I'll add them later if I find it. Either way, here's a little recap of our fourth of July weekend.

I absolutely loved every single day of our long weekend. Friday we slept in, went to the gym, did some antique shopping, laid around the house, went out to eat for date night, and topped the day off by going to Hastings and looking through NYC trip guide books. We leave for vacation a week from today, and I am so stoked!

Saturday we slept in yet again. After we got up we ate some lunch, then went to Panera to plan some more for our trip! This will seriously be the most planned for trip we've ever taken. lol. We just have so much we want to do and see while we're there, and we want to make the most of our time. Saturday night we watched the movie Defiance (which is really sad but I still highly recommend it) and then headed down to the park/lake to watch the fireworks display that the city puts on every year. When we got in the car we realized that a storm was blowing in, so we ended up having to sit in the car through the storm and wait until it was over before they started the show. It was so fun to just sit out on a blanket at the lake with my favorite person and my favorite puppy and watch the fireworks. It really was a great show and so fun and romantic. Pictures to come later:)

Sunday we went to church, then decided to head to the city to do some shopping. It was so fun getting to shop together. We both found some really great deals on stuff we really loved. I love shopping with my hubby when we are both trying (and buying:). It's so much more fun than when I'm the only one and he's just waiting and watching. We got some great clothes for vacation, and I'm especially excited because I can wear most of mine to work when school starts also!

So, that about sums up our weekend. I can't really put into words how much I enjoyed getting to spend three full days with J...just relaxing and having fun together. I just love life with him. I can't even imagine how great it's going to be to spend a whole week in New York just the two of us. We finally decided that for our anniversary night celebration we're going to go see Wicked. I've never been to a broadway show so I am so excited. I've heard it's a great one to go to also. I'll have to do a review when we get back.

I hate that I have been posting so little the past few weeks. I have just been feeling like there is not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. It seems that blogging is one of the first things that gets bumped. I still read all of my favorite blogs, but by the time I get done reading I don't have time to write. I know things are just going to get more crazy once school starts, but I'm going to do my best to bump it up on the priority list. I love posting, and I love being able to look back at posts in the past so I really dont want it to go by the wayside!

I'm going to try to write about a couple things from the past couple of weeks such as my best friend's birthday (at which I got to meet up with my blogging buddy Megan), and my new gym membership that I am absolutely loving! We'll see if I can get those out before we leave! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and a great start to the week!

the end of an era

Today marks the end of another phase of life for me. It's my last day of being a nanny to this little guy

I'm sad to not be able to see him everyday anymore, but I'm also excited about what's ahead. My life has been so weird thus far because every year I've done something different. The first year J and I were married I was finishing my last year of school and student teaching. The following year we were in Thailand. This past year I was a nanny. Now I'll start teaching. No worries, I plan on sticking with that for awhile.

I stepped out of the shower this morning to find this on the bathroom counter


J made me a green monster and a sweet little card to commemorate my last day of work. How amazing is he? I'm the luckiest girl in the world. At least I think so.

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

learning a lesson

This is me in my dream car.

Any guesses on what this baby is?

I've never really cared a lot about cars. I've always driven a semi old car. My first was an '83 Honda Prelude with over 200,000 miles. Faded red paint, no a/c, but with a cute little spoiler and quick as lightening. ha! There were 3 girls in my grade with the same name as me, all three had red Prelude's. Mine was an '83, theirs 2001s. It never really bothered me, though. I loved that car.

Then came my second car - the Neon. Sure, they aren't the sportiest or coolest cars on the road, but it did have a/c and a stereo. That was all I needed.

Next comes my current car. My husband so sweetly and selflessly traded me his '01 Grand Am for my neon because my a/c had stopped working, and he didn't want me to be hot. What a catch, huh? I've appreciated having a nice car that is so comfortable to drive around in. We are so blessed to have two cars that run well, and I'm so thankful!

So, my sister was here to visit us for the past two days. She is looking to buy a new car, so one night we got the bright idea to go test drive one of the kind of cars she's looking at. This car happens to be the same car I've admired and loved from afar for months, but never even considered thinking about getting to have one myself. So, we get to the car lot, step out of our Explorer, walk over to said car, open the door, and slide in. And oh my gosh it was perfect. It was so cute from the outside and it just felt right inside! Let me tell you, though...never go test drive a car that you love if you don't plan on getting one. Take it from me, it is a bad bad idea. It was a standard, which I love to drive, it was so small and cute. I totally fell in love. Now I've got the bug (no, that's not a clue:).

Well, you won't see this girl getting a new ride anytime soon, but maybe someday. Let's just say I'm working on contentment this week. I think it's a hard lesson to learn, but so important because it doesn't matter how many new cars etc I get...I know that I won't ever be content until I learn to be content as I am. Pray for me:)

a tribute...

to the two dad's in my life....

Happy Father's Day!!

This is my dad and I at J and I's wedding. Through the ups and downs of life my dad and I have had our good moments and our bad. I've learned that people (including myself of course) and circumstances aren't always perfect, but loving each other despite those things is what will get you through. I'm so thankful that my dad is in my life, and that he loves me. I can call him anytime I need him, and I know that he is there for me. One of the best things about my dad is that he can always fix or make just about anything! Love you dad, and thanks for being there.


This is my father-in-law and I (with the water spots:) during our family's trip to Israel. I am so thankful for the role that he has played in my life and in my sweet husband's life. I love my father-in-law for raising my husband to be like him: lover of God, trustworthy, passionate, hilarious, loving etc etc. I also love him for the way he has taken me into their family and treats me as if I'm his own daughter. He has done so much for me and has been such a great example. Thanks Brad, for all the laughs, love, support and starburst jelly beans!

weekend recap

The busyness has not slowed down AT ALL! I haven't been able to catch up on reading my blogs since the middle of last week. Today, I had to make the decision to either blog or read blogs. I decided that since I've neglected writing so much in the past few weeks...I should probably go with the former.

J and I had the best weekend, but let me tell ya...I am not cut out for late nights any more! As soon as we got off work on Friday, we headed to Dallas. Some friends of ours had their baby a couple of weeks ago, and we had not been able to make it down there yet. My sister also lives there, so we were able to hang out with her as well! I love taking trips to Dallas because there is so much to do there that we don't have here.

Silly Olive. This is how she loves to ride in the car. She rests her head inside the steering wheel. Don't worry...I warn her before I turn!

One thing I absolutely love is taking road trips with my husband. Love love love it! We eat, talk, listen to music, play with Olive...it's so fun to just have down time together, even if we are on the road. We stopped and ate Which wich on the way. We just found out recently that there is one in Edmond. We tried our first sandwich from there right before we left for Thailand when we were in Dallas, and we absolutely loved it! Now there is one an hour away..yay! Anyway, we arrived in Dallas at about 11pm, and stayed up until about 1:30 am hanging out with my sister. I love staying up late, but I hate the way it makes me feel the next day.

Saturday morning when we woke up, my body felt terrible from lack of sleep. All I could think of was heading to Whole Foods to get a juice. I've wanted to try their juice for ages, but of course we don't have a Whole Foods, so I was super stoked to get to head over there first thing in the morning. I got beet, celery, carrot, and orange in mine. It rocked just as much as I thought it would. Oh Whole Foods, won't you please open a store in OKC...please please please! I totally felt more energized and less achy after that, so J and I ran back to my sis' apartment, cleaned up and headed to our friends' to see the baby.

Kate Elizabeth was the cutest little thing. I seriously couldn't take my eyes or hands away from her all day! She was just so tiny and precious. We also enjoyed getting to hang out with Jason and Em. It had been way too long since we had seen them. I loved catching up on their lives and just spending time hanging out like the old days before they moved to Dallas.

Sweet Kate and mommy:)

Maybe I do want my own right now:)

Saturday night my sis took us to this cute little vegetarian restaurant. It was the first veggie restaurant I've ever been to because of course our little college town has no such thing. I can't tell you how great it was to just peruse the menu and not have to pick out the two or three things that I could actually choose between. We got a black bean burger, veggie tacos, and a veggie "wrap" on nan and split them all. We also got nan and hummus for our appetizer. I was in heaven! It was all so delicious, but I definitely ate way too much! We also made a stop at Ikea on Saturday night, and J and I got a new desk for our office. As soon as we get it all set up, I'll show ya'll the pics!

Cristen and I enjoying our vegetarian eats

Love this place!

Sunday we had to leave pretty early because I wanted to make it back for my little cousin's birthday party. She turned the big 1-4, and I was really happy we could be there to celebrate with her. It was a little hard and tiring to make it back, but missing things like that was one of the biggest drawbacks to living overseas. Now that we're back, I wouldn't miss it for the world! Happy Birthday Addie!!!

Cute Addie with her cake

Grandma, Olive and me

So, we got back last night, and all I could think about was crashing on the couch. Unfortunately, this left all the unpacking for today. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but my school asked me to go to a conference in San Antonio this week. So, I'm leaving Tuesday morning, early, and I won't be back until late Friday night. I'm excited about the possiblity of getting to know my coworkers better and learning things that I can use in the classroom. I'm NOT excited about leaving J for 4 days. This will be the longest we've ever been apart, and I am not a fan of spending nights away from him. I'm just going to try to suck it up and not be sad, but it's not gonna be easy. So, I spent today making sure the house is stocked with food for him, unpacking from our weekend trip, doing laundry, and packing for this week! And I had Henry! Busy day. I still have to run an errand and finish packing in the next half hour before J gets home from work. We are going to go out to eat tonight and just spend all evening together...stocking up on time for the next 4 days. I want to get everything else done before he gets home so we can just focus on each other!

I don't know what my internet access will look like, but I hope it looks good because I miss you all so much! I have to catch up on everything thats going on asap! If you don't hear from me all week, you'll know why, but I'll be back with a recap next weekend for sure. Have a great week everyone!

bedtime dilemma

Ever since J and I got married, we have always gone to bed at the same time each night. Of course there are exception now and again when for some random reason, it just doesn't make sense. For the most part, however, we make it make sense. That's our favorite time of the day...when we get under the covers, curl up and spend some time together before we fall asleep. We talk about the highlights of the day or plans for the next day or just whatever is on our minds. It's so important to us to have that time together.

So, what's the problem you ask? I need sleep. If I don't get a solid 7.5 or 8 hours, then I just feel tired the entire next day. J, however, could probably run on 6 or 7 a night. So, when 9:30 hits, I'm all about getting washed up and ready to hit the hay, and J still has about an hour or so of energy to burn off. It has not gotten to be too big of a problem quite yet, but I'm getting concerned about what it's going to be like when I start teaching. I'll have to get up around 5 in order to workout, get ready for work and drive 45 minutes to get there. This means that I'll be feeling the need to go to bed even earlier.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't love to go to bed so early. I like to have more time in the evening to spend together and just to get things done. But I know that if I'm going to have energy the next day, I have to do it. We don't want to give up going to bed at the same time at night. So, do I give up much needed sleep....or does J have to deal with not being able to fall asleep because he isn't tired yet?

Maybe we could go to bed at the same time, spend those precious 10 or 15 minutes together, then J could get up, spend time doing the things he needs to do, then come back to bed when he's ready? Do any of you have this issue? What does you nightly routine look like?

hang with me!

So, it's pretty outrageous how long it's been since my last post. This past couple of weeks has been just plain crazy! J and I have both been sick off and on, and with work and getting the house put together I have had zero time for anything else! I was planning on getting a much better post up today with pics and all...but the day didn't quite go as planned so this will have to do. Please hang with me....I promise brand new sidewalk will get more exciting soon!

I'm working on getting Thailand Tuesdays up and running again soon, as well as pictures of our house. I also need to update on just what's been going on here lately. For now I just wanted to let you all know that I'm missin' everyone, and I WILL be back asap (hopefully meaning tomorrow)! Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the hot weather!

quick update

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say a quick hello and thanks for the well wishes with moving. Everything went great, and we are officially all moved in. We are absolutely loving our house, as well as the whole process of getting things unpacked...and decorating of course! We haven't started painting yet, and we've actually decided that we might not paint quite as much as we first planned. So, right now we're mainly working on everything else.

I won't be posting much, if at all for the next couple of days because our internet is not going to be connected until Wednesday. We decided to take a break from everything at the house and come to J's office to check email and such. I hate being so behind on all my blogs! I miss reading about what's going on with all of you so much. I'll be back to catch up soon, though, and I'll try to get some pics posted of the house! Now we're off to Lowe's to get some paint samples for the rooms we are still going to paint.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Also, congrats to chicrunner for completing her marathon today! Way to go girl!

Busy day

Olive wants to say thanks so much for all of the sweet comments and birthday wishes from everyone yesterday.  She had a fantastic birthday.  J even let her lick some whipped cream off of the milkshake he got at Chick fil a.  It was quite overwhelming for her seeing as how she never gets to eat people food.  It kind of made her a little crazy though:)

The meeting I went to at my school also went very well yesterday.  I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen since my student teaching.  It made me feel very confirmed about my decision to work there.  I don't think I mentioned this, but about a week ago I received an interview offer from a the junior high here in the city we live in.  At first I was really upset because I felt like it was a great opportunity to not have to drive 45 minutes to work.  After thinking about it for awhile though, I decided to stick with my commitment to Edmond North.  I already accepted the job, and I'm really excited about it.  Plus, I would rather teach high school than junior high.  Anyway, I just felt really good about that decision after yesterday.  I also found out that I'm going to be teaching sophomore and junior level English, and I met the other new teacher who I'll be working with.  She is really nice, and I think she'll be a great person to work with.  All in all it was really fun, and it made me feel really excited to start teaching in August!  I also got a lot of my materials, so now I have no excuse to not start planning....that is, after we get all moved into our house this weekend.

I really cannot believe our moving day is finally here!!  I am so happy that tonight is our last night in our apartment.  It seems so surreal.  We close tomorrow morning at 9am, and we'll start moving after that.  Right now I'm about to go crazy because our apt is such a disaster.  Boxes are piled everywhere and nothing is in its place!  I guess I better get used to it, though, because we'll be painting before we unload all of our boxes in the new house so it'll be awhile before we get settled in.  I'll have to post some pics of the house once we get moved! I have to get busy now with finishing everything up.  I have a feeling it's going to take longer than expected, and we have to go do our walk through at 6 o'clock tonight, so we won't have tons of time to pack after that.

As for now, I'll leave you with just a few more pics of Olive on her birthday.  She was so spastic from getting to go to Petco and from the whipped cream, so we didn't get very many good pictures.  Oh well, at least she had a good time! 

I probably won't post until after early next week because we won't have our internet connected until then.  I'll be back as soon as possible though!

About to enjoy her birthday treat!

I snuck a birthday bow in her hair when J wasn't looking:)

J was trying to pack our towels when Olive jumped in and made herself comfy

with her new toy lobster at Petco

Have a great weekend everyone!!