365 Blog-Day 181

I got CABLE!...and it's FREE! It's the first time I've had cable in 2 years, so it was a fun surprise. Ahh the simple joys.

365 Blog-Day 180

Rachel came to OKC for a physical therapy conference and had the hook-ups with her 2nd cousin who owns a restaurant/brewery. So, we got a free meal and free samples from the brewery. We also got a personal tour of the brewery. I am now informed on how to make ales and lagers. It was so good to catch up with Rachel too.

365 Blog-Day 179

What a great morning. Coffee, blanket, bagel, and a book. Maegan let me borrow "The Help" after she read it. I thought it would take me awhile to get into it, but I didn't even get of bed before reading a few pages. I often fall sleep reading it too. My supervisor got a sneak peak at the movie at a premiere. She said it was a wonderful movie. Hopefully I can read it quickly and be able to watch it while it is still in the theaters. We'll see.

365 Blog-Day 178

My friend Caleb from work invited me out to dinner with his sister tonight. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant and I had rice noodles, chicken, carrots, egg rolls, and cabbage. It was quite entertaining trying to eat noodles with chopsticks. I can't even eat spaghetti with a fork and spoon to swirl! I did a lot of slurping unfortunately. haha I also tried chai tea with coffee jelly cubes in the bottom. It was very different. I wasn't a huge fan of the jelly cubes, but I liked the tea. The empty white bowl in the back was filled with a vinegar sauce that his sister described as smelling like feet. Yum. It was decent, but I wished that I hadn't just poured it over my entire meal. ha! It ended up being quite the adventurous meal. We also went to dinner at Qdoba on Tuesday night with his brother and sister. I am definitely getting to enjoy the local cuisine.

365 Blog-Day 177

So, apparently there is a lake about 15 minutes from my apartment. I was driving a different way home and drove by a state park/public boat ramp sign and my car just turned right in. I enjoyed this view and listening to the baby waves from the wake of a boat that had driven by. I also got the pleasure of watching an older couple go for an afternoon swim together and then sit in their lawn chairs on "the beach'. I might have to come back and bring my swimsuit.

365 Blog-Day 176

Well, if you ever want to know what the drive between Norman and Shawnee, Oklahoma looks like, here it is. It was a very pretty drive this morning from 6:50 to 7:50AM. Once a week we go to the school systems in Shawnee to treat kids. This will be a nice way to break up the week and get to see a different part of the therapy world. It will also be nice to sing at the top of my lungs in my car and get some good God and me time in. He's the only one up at that hour who's willing to listen to my singing and my rambling. I'm learning to trust him in my stress and anxiety from this whole fieldwork experience. It has been a lot harder than I expected. I was thankful to have family time this past weekend so that I can be encouraged to keep going. I feel so blessed by my family and friends who support me even though they are hours away.

365 Blog-Day 175

This is the creative work of my sister-in-law. We were bored and waiting for everyone else to wake up and get ready for the day. So, we went outside and set on the steps as she braided my hair.

This is what it looked like the next day. Pretty cool huh? Maybe I should style my hair like this every day. I've always wanted curly hair. Maybe I could settle for wavy/crimpy.

365 Blog-Day 174

This is kind of a funny picture, because we ended up not even eating at this restaurant. haha The line was too long and the booths were small, so we went next door and ate at Fancy That. It was pricey, but tasty. We were glad just to eat because we slept in and didn't get out to brunch until 12.

Anywho, here's a sibling picture.

Here's a pic of the OK visitors :)

It was so so so wonderful to have them here this weekend. I really needed a family fix and it did the trick! I'm hoping I can somehow make it through the next 4 weeks! I just love these guys and the encouragement that they bring me and the laughs that we share. We were literally laughing the whole weekend-rather that be at my navigation skills or at quotes from Big Bang Theory that Caleb and I kept popping out. I can't wait to see them all again in 2 weeks and then in 2 weeks after that! What a blessing!

365 Blog-Day 173

Katy and James chilling on the couch before we headed out for the day.

Caleb asleep in the chair with his coffee.

A really cute picture of all of us in Bricktown on the riverwalk in OKC. Maegan was just resting her eyes. ;)

There are these murals all around Bricktown.

We just had to check out Bass Pro since we were so close.

We also stopped by the OKC memorial for the bombing of '95. It was such a strange experience to be walking on a sidewalk made of granite from the remains of the building after the bombing. It had two entrances. One said 9:01 (a moment of peace in the town before the bomb) and one said 9:03 (moments after the explosion). It was kind of crazy to think that 168 people's lives and their family's lives were changed in that 2 minute period.

This tree is 90+ years old and survived the explosion. It is known as the survivor tree.

That night, we decided to have an Oklahoman cultural experience and check out Riverwind Casino. None of us won any money, but some of us won back a few dollars of what we had spent, so it still turned out to be an a fun night. I'm pretty sure we had more fun getting lost on the way to the casino though. haha :)

365 Blog-Day 172

I missed my family so much, that I was willing to let Caleb be as brotherly as he liked. haha Here he is right after they got here Friday night at midnight smashing my face with his feet. Gross. haha We stayed up and talked and then hit the sack. I was so excited to see them that I barely slept and kept checking to make sure I wasn't dreaming by looking over at Katy asleep in the other twin bed in my room. Caleb and Maegan got the double bed in the extra room (now that my roommate is gone :(...) and James slept on the couch. So nice to have company. :)

365 Blog-Day 171

I went to dinner with a friend from work and his siblings at GoGo Sushi. It was wonderful! I used to think that I would hate sushi, but these last couple of years it has really grown on me. It's actually pretty good. The red one in the back actually has fish eggs on it and the one in the middle had some sort of crispy, crunchy fish, but it all tasted good to me. Apparently it is tradition to go there and then get froyo afterwards. Interesting mixture of foods, but it was yummy too :)

365 Blog-Day 170

I did laundry tonight and thought this poster was so helpful. It gives suggestions for how to get out all kinds of stains. It has been weird having to walk all of my dirty laundry to a laundry mat and pay with quarters. It definitely makes you plan out your laundry more so than if you have your own and don't have to pay by the quarter. I also don't have a dishwasher, which has forced me to do the dishes immediately since I have so few. Life is really not that much harder without it. In fact, I think it helps keep me on top of things.

365 Blog-Day 169

That's right. I bought 50 recyclable bags from Target. Mom and her teacher friends are using them to put in their lockers at school, but Abilene is completely sold out. So, I bought them to send back to her when my siblings come visit. I felt so weird buying out almost all of their stock haha

365 Blog-Day 168

I think something is wrong with this squirrel. He was laying spread eagle flat on his belly and wasn't moving. He finally moved when I got closer for a picture, but apparently loves this stairwell. He's fun to have around haha

365 Blog-Day 167

After church and Mazzio's Pizza, we came home and went on a bike ride. Here the girls are airing up their tires.

Here I am trying out Hannah's electric scooter. It's harder than it looks. Sarah didn't want to ride with me because she wasn't convinced that I was a real grown-up haha ;) Love it!

The only helmet left was Leah's Dora helmet. It was a tad too small, but looked amazing!

Hannah trusted her older sister and rode on the back. Very trusting.

Sarah and I went on an adventure around the block and down the alley way. Looks like she finally believed I was an adult.

365 Blog-Day 166

Well, Caleb and Maegan were supposed to come visit this weekend, but Caleb's drilling rig wasn't cooperating, so they are going to try again next weekend. So, I decided to take the opportunity to go visit the Hartman's again! So glad I did! Could these girls be any cuter?

These poor girls don't even have the luxury of paper, so they had to use my legs as a canvas. It was such a masterpiece! I almost couldn't wash it off...no literally. I had to scrub hard haha-it was totally worth it though to have sweet Sarah and Leah hand prints

We even went on a hike at Red Rock Canyon State Park in Hinton, OK. We walked off the wonderful mexican food we ate in Hinton. The state park was really beautiful and it just came out of no where! I might have to go back. P.S. Michelle (my cousin) let me borrow her jeans, shirt and tennis shoes since I didn't plan for this kind of adventure. haha The girls and even Jerry kept thinking I was Michelle when they saw me from the corner of their eye.

Sarah took this picture of me and Shadow (black) and Sunshine (white). I also got my dog fix this weekend. :)

365 Blog-Day 165

A guy that I work with invited me to a minor league game in OKC (The Red Hawks vs. The Colorado Springs Sky Sox). It was so fun to go to a baseball game on a Friday night! We went with his brother and sister and pastor's family. I got a footlong hot dog! Yum! It was such a great night and there was a full moon (you can see it right about the end of the stadium cover on the left). The weather was perfect. We were in the shade and there was a light breeze.

365 Blog-Day 164

My supervisor invited me to a jewelry and home decor party in Edmond, OK. Considering I don't have a home and I don't wear much jewelry, I just snacked and walked around. haha However, it was fun seeing her outside of the work day and to meet her friends. Afterwards, we went to a place called Pop's. It's a convenient store that is also a restaurant and they are known for all of their hundreds of soda pop options. Here is the light-up statue out front. Definitely glad I got this cultural experience.

365 Blog-Day 163

This is what 6:45 AM looks like...I'm finally finding out what the world looks like at this hour.

365 Blog-Day 162

We went to go see Captain America in 3-D

Captain Brianna

Captain Jessi

At the Riverwalk in OKC outside of Balero's Tapas Restaurant.

Jessi, being the professional tapas eater, ordered these lovely appetizers for us. They were very yummy! We had calamari, potatoes, pork, fried cream cheese and goat cheese, and dates covered in bacon.

365 Blog-Day 161

Jessi came up to Norman to visit me! I met her at Sonic since it is so hot these days and we caught up.

Then, she surprised me with a cooler full of home-cooked food including ribs, carrots, mashed potatoes, and rolls from her parent's kitchen! It was so nice to have a home-cooked meal.

Then, we were watching "Romancing the Stone" on my computer when the power went out for the second time this week. ugh...

So, we decided to go get Passionberri frozen yogurt to cool down and walk around campus corner to pass the time. :)

It turned back on after an hour and a half, but we had already finished the movie on her iphone haha.

365 Blog-Day 160

I was riding my bike and happened upon the library entrance. It looks a little different than the ACU library and way different than the library at TWU. I've loved riding my bike around these older areas of the campus. They even have some labyrinth bushes that are fun to ride around in.

365 Blog-Day 159

This guy was running around campus in a head-to-toe red spandex outfit. You couldn't even see his face! We were stopped at a stop light and had our windows down. Apparently we laughed a little too loud, because he stopped and posed for a picture for us. I'm hoping this is some sort of fraternity activity for freshmen who are moving in this week. haha

365 Blog-Day 158

Mary Kay and Larry were in town for a wedding this weekend and made time to take me out for dinner! I felt so special! ;) We ate at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill. It was pretty wonderful, but the best part was visiting with dear friends. The restaurant finally kicked us out after 2 1/2 hours...oops haha...apparently there was a private party and we weren't invited.

We were in an area of Oklahoma City known as Bricktown and it was right on the riverwalk that runs through downtown. So, we kept seeing water taxis drive by. It was also right next to the Bass Pro Shop which is right on the water too. Apparently Toby Keith is from Moore, OK, which is a suburb of OKC.

We got to catch up on each others' lives and exchange fun stories. Just love these two and felt so blessed! What a great way to start my weekend.