Day 364

Patrick and I finally made it back to Norman tonight around dinnertime. While we enjoyed our trip and our time with family, we were SO ready to be home! We stopped at Sonic to grab dinner on the way in. I ordered the wonderfully balanced meal of mozzarella sticks and their newest "Blast" dessert (displayed here by my fantastic husband):


I love the slogan: "Happy Stomach, Meet Happy Wallet." Trust me, after all that junk, I had neither! I also got red ice cream drips on my jeans and cream-colored jacket. :( BUT, the night started looking up when we got home. Patrick found out he was selected to beta test a new technology product, and I found out that the company that was repairing my watch did more than I asked them to do -- for no extra charge! Hooray!

Quote of the Day: "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." -- Ernestine Ulmer

Day 345

I was a busy domestic bee today - 6 loads of laundry, 4 batches of cookies (including some in the freezer to bake later), pancakes, waffles (also to freeze), final gift wrapping, other miscellaneous cleaning / housework, and these babies:


Mmmm, pepperoni pinwheels! Crescent rolls, pepperoni, cheese, and dipped in pizza sauce - yum! All in all, a busy--but very productive--day!

Quote of the Day: "There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will."--Robert Frost

Day 344

When I got home from Zumba today, I wasn't in the mood to eat anything in the house, and I was in the mood to get out. Fortunately, Patrick was game. :) We trekked up to the nearest Steak'n'Shake for a fun date-night dinner.


Quote of the Day: "Christmas - it's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving." -- Garfield (borrowed from a friend's facebook status)

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 325

So, I finally caved and made Page's Peanut Butter Fudge recipe today. It was surprisingly easy, so I'm wondering if I screwed something up. :) Guess I'll find out tomorrow when I have taste-testers! Does it look right?

Quote of the Day: Lyrics to "For Those Who Wait" by Fireflight

This is for those who wait

Another day another waiting game
A little different but it’s still the same
I am here but wheres the One I’m longing for
I’m having troubles feeling all alone
When my heart find a home
I want to hope but sometimes I just don’t know
I know I’m not the only one

(Chorus)
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set Your heart on fire
Let it set You free
When you’re fighting to believe in a love that you can’t see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait

I want to open up my eyes
I know that I’m in need is time
I’m growing stronger every single day
God, I’m gonna lead them to You now
Letting go all of my fear and doubt
I can’t do this on my own so I’ll give You control
I know I’m not the only one

(Chorus)
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set Your heart on fire
Let it set You free
When you’re fighting to believe in a love that you can’t see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait

The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
And the difference makes it worth it

(Chorus)
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set Your heart on fire
Let it set You free
When you’re fighting to believe in a love that you can’t see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait

Set your heart on fire
This is for those who wait

Day 323

Before Patrick started P90X, he had me hide his last stash of peanut butter M&Ms. Tonight, we got them out for date night. :) Also, you can see how chapped this weather is making my hands. :(


Quote of the Day: "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day 321

Had a great dinner at Freebird's tonight with Candace... and totally forgot to take a picture. :( Fortunately, I had saved part of my brownie that I could use for evidence:


Just for the record, the name comes from the way the brownie is made, not its contents. :)

Quote of the Day: "To be mature means to face, and not evade, every fresh crisis that comes." -- Fritz Kunkel

Day 316

Thanks to soon-to-expire Monopoly coupons, I had a free Egg McMuffin courtesy of McDonald's this morning:

I don't typically like to eat breakfast out, and I don't think I'll pick up the habit anytime soon (hey - I love my cereal in my pj's). But, it was kind of a nice change of pace for today.

I also wanted to give a quick glimpse into a common occurrence during football season around here. Technically, people aren't allowed to set up tents (etc.) for tailgating until noon on Friday. However, to save their spots, they come "camp out" on Friday mornings - EARLY. They do this on the street that runs beside the stadium, which also happens to be a main thoroughfare through campus, so I drive by them on my way in each Friday. Today, I tried to get some cell phone camera shots as I drove (so I apologize for the quality).

Tents sitting out on the grass, waiting to be constructed at noon.


They even bring out port-a-potties for the tailgaters!

What I can't figure out, though, is how these people have jobs that allow them to take off a half (or full) day on Friday so many times during football season! And, where can I get one? ;)

Quote of the Day: "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." -- Colin Powell

Day 315

Couldn't bring myself to work tonight, so I baked instead. :) Pumpkin bread!

Quote of the Day (in honor of Veteran's Day): "This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -- Elmer Davis

Thank you to all those who have courageously served to defend our freedoms and protect our nation and its people. We can't say enough about how this country values your commitment and the sacrifices you and your families have made.

Day 311

What's that hanging out in our fridge?

Leftover Cheddar Bay Biscuits from lunch at Red Lobster! Yum! And in case you're curious why they're in a baggie instead of a take-home box... well, they might have left the restaurant wrapped in napkins inside my purse. :)

Quote of the Day: "Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." -- Helen Keller

Day 308

Yesterday, I tried a really good diet / caffeine free soda during a Math Club panel on graduate school. Naturally, I had to grab an extra can on the way out:


It's currently in my office fridge awaiting the day when I REALLY need a boost. :) In other news, I had an interesting view when I got into my car after a trip into Walmart today:


Seriously, pretty much the entire actual truck was above my entire car. How do you even get into a vehicle like that???

Quote of the Day: "To love at all is to be vulnerable." -- C. S. Lewis

Day 296

Mmm... I love the way brownies look when they're all cut up and ready to be eaten! So nice and neat in their little rows and columns!

Day 295

Very cool morning view out my office window this morning, from left to right, as storms headed in:




Also, after dinner tonight, Patrick wanted to stop by the cookie place in the mall. He was very pleased to see they are finally carrying his favorite cookie again - and I saw one I wanted to try, too. Guess which "black sheep" in the cookie bag belongs to me? Always chocolate... ;)

Day 290

My not-so-secret secret stash...

Day 289

Today, Michelle, Candace, Evyn, and I went to lunch to celebrate Candace's birthday. The place we were planning to go was closed, so we ended up at Olive Garden. After some yummy food (and a ridiculous number of breadsticks), we got some gelato at Il Dolce. It looked so good in the display case that I just had to take a picture:


Naturally, I intended to take pictures of the people involved in our outing as well... but I guess I got distracted by eating the gelato. Oops. So, this will have to suffice for today's blog. :)

Day 282

Well, I goofed. In the October 1 post, I promised you more about a special sweet treat... and failed to deliver on that promise. Here, faithful readers, is the aforementioned goodness:


Well, to be more precise, here's what's left of the treat - pumpkin frozen custard. Oh my. I wait all year for October 1, which is when our local frozen custard place replaces strawberry with pumpkin (in addition to vanilla and chocolate). They keep the pumpkin in circulation until the end of November, so we typically keep a quart of it (shown here) during those months. (And, to be completely honest, I stock up on it at the end of November so that it lasts through the holidays - hopefully!) Anyone who visits us in the next few weeks HAS to try this stuff. Mmmmm...

Day 274

Patrick let me pick lunch today... and I picked a place called MeMe's Pizzeria. They have delicious, Chicago-style, deep dish pizza. The best part is that you can order an entire pizza or buy it by the slice. For my birthday last year, I ordered 2 slices for lunch, and it was WAY too much. This time, I only got one, but man, was it good. :) In fact, I was halfway through it before I remembered to take a picture of it! Only having once slice saved me room for a sweet treat later on (more on that tomorrow...)

Day 265

Day 265! Only 100 more days left! To help us celebrate, I give you what was left of the cupcakes Michelle brought me yesterday... that is, before I got into them after dinner tonight. :)


There's a really awesome cupcake carrier that they came in, but since I haven't managed to wash it yet, I figured that wasn't the most appealing picture. :)

Day 264

Today was a crazy day - I submitted my IRB form (yay!), met a key researcher in my field (yay again!), got some awesome cupcakes from my officemate for the 2-month-anniversary of my birthday (super yay!), and administered a business calculus exam. Before the exam, Rachel and I headed over to Campus Corner to eat dinner. We ended up at a place called the T.E.A. Cafe (T.E.A. = The East Asian), where Rachel got a milk tea with tapioca in it. It looked really cool and came with a HUGE straw:


They also let you build your own dish. My pick tonight was chicken, a brown garlic sauce, broccoli, carrots, snowpeas, and brown rice (not pictured). The sauce was Rachel's recommendation, and it was good! Thanks for a great dinner idea, Rachel!

Day 263

YUM - Dirty rice for dinner tonight! Thanks, Zatarain's!