Day 181

A quick peek inside the bag of potatoes I picked up at the National Weather Center's Farmers' Market today. Can't wait to mash these babies up! :)

Day 180

Took a new culinary adventure today... I cooked with raw chicken! I've always used pre-cooked chicken in recipes before because raw chicken is so slimy, and I never knew when it was done. I saw Stacey make this when we were in Dallas, and she was kind enough to send me the recipe so I could attempt to recreate it. It's called "Wild and Cheesy Chicken" - and it was good. :)

Day 179

After multiple re-gluings, this little guy seems to have finally bit the dust. He flung himself off the fridge today and landed in these pieces on the floor, leaving his magnet behind on the freezer door. So long, little friend.

Day 178

Patrick and I have been in Boulder, CO the past few days while he finished up a conference and we saw the sights. One of the best sights was the view of the "flatirons". These shots are from the mall across the street from our hotel. To me, these views feel so surreal - like someone put a backdrop behind the town.




On Friday, some of Patrick's friends from college drove us up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We went on the highest highway in the country - we were up over 12,000 feet by the end of the drive! Here are some pictures from that outing - and of the elk we saw en route!

There was some kind of fire on another mountain.


We were finally up high enough to be higher than some of the mountaintops!


Great views from really high up! :)


Patrick was fascinated by the still-present snow drifts. He got to make a snowball in June! It was nearly 40 degrees cooler up there than it had been in Boulder.


On the way back down, we stopped to look at some elk by the side of the road.

A close-up

And a pose! :)

We had a lot of fun on our trip, but it is so good to be home!

Day 177

Mmmm... chocolate chip pancakes for dinner tonight!

Day 176

Spotted this little guy at lunch today... too bad he was ceramic!


Did some other cool stuff today, too, but I'll have to post that at a later date...

Day 175

Yesterday I had to walk across campus again for a meeting. I figured I should dress up. Unfortunately, I wore "dress" shoes for this walk in the heat and humidity... and ended up with multiple blisters on my poor feet. :( See Exhibit A:


(I figured it was less disgusting to leave the Band-aids on for the picture. You're welcome.) I had to borrow Patrick's socks today since they are thicker than mine and I needed more cushion in my shoes. What did I choose to do today, you might ask? Shop. Yes, wander around for a few hours on my feet, shoes on and off in the dressing room, etc. Not my wisest move ever, but then again, neither were the dress shoes. :)

Day 174

Today's pre-dinner snack... cheesy tater tots!

And then, the beautiful flowers Patrick surprised me with today! :)

Day 173

I had to walk across campus today, so I stopped to take a few quick shots of one of the administration buildings:

Beautiful architecture from a distance


Up a little closer


This last one is sort of interesting. The figures on the building are actually past presidents of the university. Sort of an interesting way to be memorialized, no?

Day 172

Looks like we are getting a new gas meter in addition to our new thermostat. What's up with all the Oklahoma utilities getting all modern on us?

Day 171

The Sooner Baseball team played in their first game of this year's College World Series today. After a combined 6 hours of rain delays, they beat South Carolina 4-3! Patrick and I busted out our OU baseball shirts today in support of the team. Too bad Arkansas didn't make it to Omaha this year!

Day 170

We had some good coupons come in the mail recently, so we went shopping for new pants for Patrick today. All told, we found 5 pairs of pants for him for less than $100!

Day 169

Patrick is finally finished with all of his spring experiments! It was definitely time to crash on the couch and get in some good cuddle time. :)

Day 168

I got industrious in the kitchen again today... chocolate cake! :)

Day 167

Bye, Sarah! I'm so glad we got to hang out for a few days! Feel free to come back anytime! :)

Day 166

We were so busy having fun in the Dallas area that I didn't really have a chance to take pictures. But, here's one that Stacey's mom took of the three of us girls with Stacey's Yorkies and baby:

From left to right, Stacey with Callie, me with Bryce, and Sarah with Baxter. (Clearly, my baby-holding skills are not top-notch -- sorry, Bryce!) We had such a good time visiting Stacey and getting to meet Bryce. He's such a cute, good-natured baby! Thanks for being such a great hostess and helping us find great shopping, Stace! Love you both!

Day 165

A quick look at one of the fun things we did in the Dallas area with Stacey today: Dessert at the Cheesecake Factory! Lemon Raspberry on the left and Peanut Butter something (Reese's, Butterfinger, chocolate cookie crust, some kind of peanut butter stuff on top) on the right. Oh. My. Goodness.

Day 164

Sarah's in town for a visit! We decided we needed to eat outside, so we hit up Louie's on Campus Corner for dinner. Then, a trip to Passionberri for frozen yogurt was definitely in order. While we were eating our yogurt (outside, of course), Sarah pointed out how pretty this sign (an iconic part of Campus Corner) was, so I decided to get a shot of it:

And, here's one of us happy after our yogurt:

Day163

Tonight's pictures are from Rachel and Ty's wedding earlier this evening. They had the ceremony and the reception in a beautiful room in OU's student union. The photographer collected all of Rachel's "study buddies" for a group shot, and fortunately Michelle's husband was willing to jump in and snap a copy with my camera:


Later, after all the yummy cupcakes, Catherine, Candace, and I got a bit silly with the camera:

And then, we took a "good one" (And thanks to Catherine's husband for taking these!):

Day 162

Patrick and I drove up to Steak'n'Shake for dinner tonight. Ever since the first restaurant started advertising mini-burgers, I've been intrigued. I realize they will taste the same as a big burger, but they're just so darn cute. So, I finally ordered them tonight. Cute AND tasty!

At dinner, I told Patrick he would have to be in my blog tonight, so we tried to get a good picture and ended up with this:

Since Patrick was squinting, we decided to take another picture and came out with this:

Still squinting. At this point, I told him we could take one more and then I would just pick the best one because this was getting a bit ridiculous. Here's what we came out with:

What a sweet goober I'm married to! Love you, Patrick! :)

Day 161

One of the finest beverages of summer... pink lemonade!

Day 160

Rachel is getting married Saturday, so tonight we had a pre-wedding girls' night out for her. We ended up getting gelato (yum!) and sitting there and talking for a couple of hours. We tried to take our own picture of the four of us, but it kept turning out like one of those photo booths in the mall where you can never see all the faces completely in the same frame. Fortunately, the girl working at the gelato shop was willing to take the picture you see above. Congrats, Rachel & Ty! We're all looking forward to Saturday!

Day 159

I do SO love it when packages arrive - and today we got two!

Day 158

I present to you Patrick's injury from Thursday's softball game. The thing that amazes me is not the scabby part (which has healed considerably in the past few days) but the enormous blue and purple bruise which has formed around the wound slowly but surely. He also has a knee wound and a sore chest / back to complete the first-injury-of-the-season package. But, he got the guy out... ;)

Day 157

Okay - so here's what I bought at Hobby Lobby the other day, complete with how I decided to use it. I guess 5 years later made it about time to get these pictures framed, huh? :)

Day 156

I know I told you yesterday that I'd let you see what I bought at Hobby Lobby, but I decided to delay that until tomorrow. :) Instead, I want to show you the cakes from Michelle and Parker's "wedding reception" this afternoon. Michelle made these herself. Wow.

This one was AMAZING.

I only tried the strawberry off of this, but it was really good, too. Congratulations, Michelle and Parker! We had a great time at your party today!

Day 155

I had a few free minutes after meeting Patrick and friends for lunch, so I decided to stop in Hobby Lobby to look at a couple of things I'd seen online. Then, I ended up going to the next nearest Hobby Lobby as well (and felt like an idiot because I went to the next town to shop when I live in a town of 100,000+). Fortunately, I think I found something I like and have needed for a few years (details tomorrow if Patrick likes what I bought when he sees it later)!

Day 154

A few pictures from Patrick's church-league softball games tonight:

Getting ready to go up to bat

Getting ready to pitch

Finally captured a pitch in motion!

Like the green socks?