Day 360

Two cool (or very very cold) chicks - me and my sister-in-law Michele!

Quote of the Day: "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." -- Sydney J. Harris

Day 347

What a big surprise this little envelope held today!

In more important news, please be praying for my father-in-law. He's in the hospital and still waiting to see a specialist to get a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Quote of the Day: "Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted." -- Paul Pearshall

Day 331

Near the end of a long day of football-watching and errand-running, both dogs and people just wanted to crash on the couch...

Today's Quote: "If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow." -- Rachel Carson

Day 330

Taking a break from browsing at Best Buy to try out the display of super-expensive noise-canceling headphones...

Today's Quote: "Gravity is not responsible for people falling in love." -- Einstein

Day 329

Thanksgiving Day! We had food,

dessert,


and good times with family.


What more could you ask for? We are thankful for so much this and every year.

Quote of the Day: "In the essentials: Unity. In the non-essentials: Liberty. In all things: Love." -- Augustine

Day 327

A couple of sweet pictures of the Marsh family's "Sadie-bug":

Quote of the Day: "Those who deserve love the least need it the most." -- as seen on a sign at a Fort Smith business many many years ago

Day 322

Relaxing on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory. :)

Quote of the Day: Heard the J. J. Heller song "Your Hands" on the radio this morning, and it just seemed to fit my mood. So, I am quoting the lyrics instead of simply someone's words tonight in hopes that it speaks to one of my blog readers, too.


I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn’t there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still

Day 318

We had to run by Walmart after church today, and Patrick went in to pick up what he needed while I stayed in the car. When he returned, he brought me these:

So sweet! Plus, I love the bright fall colors!

Quote of the Day: "Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is what counts." -- Winston Churchill

Day 310

Patrick started P90X this week, so today he got himself a new "toy" (pull-up bar). I keep wanting to swing from it. Is that so bad?

Quote of the Day:
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
--Reinhold Niebuhr--

Day 302

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, Patrick! Here are the remnants of his birthday celebration - the cookies I made last night and a cup from our trip to Whataburger for dinner tonight!

Day 276

Patrick has had this blue fleece pullover as long as I can remember. Sometimes, when I get cold around the house, I put it on. It smells like him. :)

Day 262

My husband is awesome - he drove us back from Arkansas today, he helped with some of the housework, he took me to dinner (and dessert), and he agreed to be tonight's blog picture!

Yeah, we were totally talking when the flash went off. Oh well. :)

Day 261

Yay for my mom! She's going to work on fixing my purple top for me! Thanks, Mom!

Day 250

Tonight began fall softball for Patrick. Instead of playing church league, he's playing in an open league with some of his friends and colleagues from the National Weather Center. On my way to the first game, I caught this beautiful sunset:



Then, I forgot to get a shot of Patrick playing because I was organizing the T-shirt box. (More about the T-shirts later.) So, I caught him stretching his shoulder between games instead:

Day 237

Sometime last week, Patrick got a new Mac at work. Once he got it to run Windows (and his Windows-based software) as well, I think his exact words were something like, "I think I've died and gone to heaven." In homage to NSSL, who funded the purchase, here is Patrick's new technology item proudly displaying the NSSL website:

Day 229

I went up to the National Weather Center with Patrick tonight to check his various mailboxes. Here's a sneak peek at one of them after he emptied the goodies out of it:

Day 227

First up tonight, a bit more about yesterday's baby shower. Yesterday, you saw the guest of honor, Mieke, and our wonderful hostess, Stephanie. Here are the rest of the baby shower guests:


Left to right, Amber, me, and Sarah. You met Sarah earlier this summer when she stopped by Norman for a visit. Amber was awesome enough to let me invade her home last night so I didn't have to make the long trip home. Thanks, ladies! Here's the entire baby shower group (complete with Stephanie's daughter!):


Today, after a yummy brunch and great church service with Amber, I headed back. This was our evening this evening (just insert me between the two dogs for a full effect):

Day 225

My brother and Patrick looked all Shaft-like to me today, but only my brother was willing to be photographed after I made that comment. :)

Also, Happy Birthday to my Daddy! :)

Day 213

Yesterday, Patrick and I went to Houston for my cousin Laura's wedding. On the way, we stopped at Buc-ee's convenience store (as suggested by Dr. Kloesel). The "mascot", if you will, for Buc-ee's is a beaver - he's even on their high-rise scrolling text sign:


This place is massive. It has all your normal convenience store stuff, plus a deli, homemade fudge, Dippin' Dots, a separate "outdoors" store... you get the idea. When we stopped here yesterday, I had just woken up from a nap, and the whole thing was pretty overwhelming in my groggy state!

The wedding was held outside at a fancy hotel in downtown Houston. Fortunately, the reception was inside. Unfortunately for my curled hair, the ceremony lasted just long enough for the Houston humidity to eat my hairstyle. Here's a picture of Patrick and me at the reception so you can see how my hair had deflated:


The photographer got a picture of me with my cousin, but unfortunately I don't have a copy yet. So, I took a picture of her bridal portrait so I could brag about what a beautiful gal I am related to!


(Sorry for the flash... but isn't she gorgeous???) Today, on the way back to Norman, we took a detour through Fort Worth to eat at Uno's Pizzeria. I've eaten at this chain in Washington, D.C., and this is the closest location to Norman. I was glad it was Sunday, because otherwise downtown Fort Worth would have been MUCH more stressful. Anyway, the pizza was amazing -- so amazing that I forgot to take a picture until I was almost finished. Hopefully this isn't too gross for the blog:


Congratulations to Laura and Francisco, and many thanks to Patrick for driving to Houston and back in the span of 36 hours!

Day 202

Happy Birthday to Me! I had a great day today thanks to many of my friends and family members. After teaching this morning, I went to meet Candace and her daughter for lunch at Freebird's. (We both had free burritos coming from their rewards program!) Michelle surprised me by coming, too! We had a great lunch together. Here's one side of the table...

... and the other!


Freebird's has a tradition of letting people have foil to save leftover food. Along the way, people have created foil "sculptures" that are displayed throughout the restaurant. Candace and her daughter grabbed some foil and made me a fabulous birthday cake complete with candles!


Isn't that amazing? I was so impressed that I took it home instead of leaving it at Freebird's! :) After lunch, we walked the 1/2 block or so down to Passionberri for dessert. Normally, I try to be "good" and put fruit in my yogurt, but today it was all about indulgence.



Passionberri has a big whiteboard near the stools where you can sit and eat, and Candace left me a little note:


After dessert, I went home, watched a couple of episodes of House, made a Walmart run, did a bit of work, etc. Then, when Patrick got home, we decided to try a local Mexican place, Tarahumara's, for dinner. I was fascinated by the fact that they separated my two flavors of enchilada on the plate so that the sauces didn't run together.



Genius! They also had bendy straws, which earned them major points in my book. A huge THANKS to all those who helped make my day special - either in person, online, or on the phone! You guys are the best!