Finally on the inside

I'm a stadium running kind of girl. I love running stadiums. It all started during my good ol' high school years. And for the most part, wherever I go, I tried to find stairs to run. After seven months of living in Oklahoma, I finally found my stairs. And conveniently enough, they're just a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, why did it take me seven months to discover them? Well, truth be told, they were discovered the day we discovered our house. It just took seven months to figure out how we were going to get inside the gate to actually use them.

Every day we drive past the middle school, I imagine what running those stairs would be like. And let me tell you, we drive past that middle school on a daily basis. Almost. But with a gate securely fastened around the entire stadium, the thought of ever getting inside seemed highly unlikely. 

Thanks to last weeks awesome weather, and the walk John and I took the other night, we decided to finally scope out the area and find a way in. So that's just what we did. Maybe it requires "breaking in" but hey, that's never stopped me before. Oh, and for the record, we never saw any "no trespassing" signs, so I think it's A-okay.

Yesterday I begged John to come with me to run the stadium. He opted for sitting in the stand and studying instead. So, he studied and I got my sweat on. We make a great team. And for the record, I didn't feel so bad "breaking in" when we discovered someone else in there, too. Yes, other people's actions help to justify my own on occasion. I'm ok with that. 

So, here they are, in all their glory, the stairs that have left me nearly paralyzed from soreness. No joke. My legs have never felt as immobile as they do right now. They may not look like much, but trust me when I tell you they're steep, and they're going to leave my behind, calves, and quads looking pretty ding, dang, dong, amazing.

I give you my new love, Taft Middle School, in all her ghetto glory:

Do you see how steep those stairs are?

Never in all my years of running stadiums have I ever felt quite this sore. In fact, I don't think any work out has ever left me feeling the way I do right now. And that's saying something. Probably that I'm incredibly out of shape, but I like to think it means these stairs are just that good. Awesome.

Spring is in the air

This past week Oklahoma experienced some crazy-talk weather. From last week to this week, we had a day off of school/work due to snow, and the temperature in some cities got as low as -37. Now, here we are, having basked in 70 degree weather almost all week. Yesterday, it was 81! That's over a 100 degree difference in temperature.  Say what?! Sheesh.

The other night I suggested we go on a run. It was a perfect spring evening for just the thing. Truth is, I knew neither of us really wanted to go running, and therefore wouldn't go, but I felt the need to ask the question anyway. We opted for a walk instead and ended up at this hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant for some tasty gyros. They were heaven. And we'll be back. If nothing more than to support the adorable little Greek man whose business seemed to be struggling. But really, they were heaven. And a local business will always get my support.

We try to pretend we don't live in the ghetto. But we both know otherwise. There was no denying that fact on our walk that night. Oh, bless thee Oklahoma!

I'm in love with this spring air that's making it's way through this funny place in the middle of February. If only I wasn't trapped inside all day long so I could actually enjoy it, that would be nice. Thank goodness it's going to be nice, sunny, and in the mid-70's the rest of the weekend. Maybe it's time to get the hammock out? Oh spring, keep on coming.

And just for good measure here's one of my favorite pictures of John and I (thanks sister), the day after we got engaged, on a gorgeous spring morning last April. I love springtime. I live for weekends. TGIF!

The big 3.0.!

I was going to write this great big post of why I think Valentines Day is kind of a lame holiday, and why there's only one thing (or 30, at least today) that makes me love February 14th. BUT, I'm at work, and sometimes work gets kind of crazy. Today, would be one of those days. 

Yes, it's true, I think the idea around Valentines Day is totally lame; however, there's one thing about today that I do love, and that's these two girls having a birthday.

Oh, how I love my sisters!

Today's just no birthday though, today's their 30th birthday.
Holy smokes my family is getting older.
Not old!

Happy 30th Birthday, sisters. 

My life would be completely boring without you two. 

And that's an understatement. 

He's pretty fly for a white guy

Either husband of mine is more in love with me than I ever realized, 

he's trying to prove his manliness, 

he's just really sick of dealing with the nastiness in the sink, and my complaining of the matter,

or he figured he was in the middle of fixing the dishwasher, might as well add a garbage disposal too.

Because after months and months of telling him, 

"We REALLY need a garbage disposal"

"A garbage disposal would make me the happiest girl alive,"

"If only we had a garbage disposal, our lives would be so much better"

(mind you, the last few weeks having running water in my house was definitely more of a strong desire, but problem solved, no more camping in my own home)

and making him do the dishes and deal with the aftereffect, 

he came home from school yesterday afternoon with a garbage disposal in hand, ready to get to work.

Oh, bless the man who invented such a priced possession,

and the thousands of people who posted youtube videos on how to install them.

How I've survived the last six months without one is beyond me?

He joked that this is my Valentines Day present, 

and you know what?

1-I could careless for the holiday, and don't need any presents

and

2-if he's going to give me a present, talk about the best Valenties Day present EVER! 

And so he installed one and cleaned up his mess. 

Love him!

And the sound of a garbage disposal.

This looks familiar

Alright, where do I even begin with this? I'm just going to dive right in head first and hope my sister doesn't brutally murder me for this post. Because quite frankly, it's all out of sisterly love.

I'm sure most of you know my sister was on The Mormon Bachelor {TMB}. And yes, she got a second date! Duh. Of course she would, not only is she MY sister, but she's a million times cuter and cooler than I am, so that clearly constitutes her for a second date. Simple as that.

If you're confused and don't know what the heck I'm talking about, you can view their first date here, second date here, and her side of the story here and here. They're totally worth checking out. Promise!

After talking to said sister about her date on Sunday, she mentioned that at the end of the night, she and Rick decided to have a little fun and do a post-date interview, just for kicks. After all, that's just her kind of thing, seeing that she did spend nearly five years as a news reporter for the CBS news affiliate stations in Washington and Florida. Apparently it was pretty entertaining, so of course, seeing that it was edited out was pretty lame.

Well, don't you worry, because tonight, in the middle of making dinner, sister of mine called to inform me that TMB had updated her date post, which included the best part of the evening, a link to their post-date interview.

Since the mister and I usually watch 30 Rock, Arrested Development, or Modern Family during dinner, we decided their interview would provide our dinner time entertainment tonight instead. And yes, all 9 minutes and 39 seconds were well worth it. Just watch and see for yourself.



Afterwords the hubs said, "doesn't that kind of remind you of us?"

And so we compared:

• Both John and Rick are from California.
• Both are dentists (or soon to be at least)
• Andrea and I are sisters
• Both guys flew out to the East Coast to take us on a date
• Both our second dates with these guys revolved around playing tour guide throughout the city
• Neither of us received a kiss that night {bummer}
• They're both tall, (which John thinks is definitely a noteworthy similarity, so it's included for his sake)

Ok, so maybe that's where the similarities end, but hey, similarities and all, we couldn't help but reflect back on our first date in DC and where we've come since that weekend in DC so very not long ago. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how similar our stories truly may be. {wink wink}

Indoor camping

 

After a week of no running water in our house, and being creative with how we use the bathroom, brush our teeth, and do the dishes, life is back to normal. Who knew running water was so essential to living life normally in your own home? Ok, dumb question. But until we went without, it's something I took completely for granted. Our dishwasher may be broken now, but that's merely trivial in the grand scheme of things. So here we are back to normal, or close to, seven days later. Let's just hope during tomorrow's snow storm and the beginning of freezing temperatures all over again, we've learned a lesson or two about freezing pipes.

Bring on our 5th snow day this month! 

Oh, these make me so happy.

Drip drip drop

I'm sure it doesn't take a genius to figure out what will happen to one's pipes when they've been frozen for three plus days. But there's a little part of me that tries to think optimistically in these situations anyway, and I try to believe that "no, our pipes are just frozen, they haven't burst." Forgetting that popping noises have been heard over the last few days.

Well, you can all rest assured knowing we got the water back on...if you consider it trickling out of the pipes "back on." However, because there's always a however, one of the pipes burst. So, I guess the water's really not back on. But there was movement through them for a brief period of time. And that was a blessed sound.

Now, if we can just convince a plumber to come save us from our misery of living with no water, life will be good. I feel like they're on back order. Thank goodness for a home warranty, that's all I have to say. Oh, and this guy for taking care off all of these oh-so-fun projects. I love me a handy man.

Always an adventure

There's only so much you can do in a house with frozen pipes. We have no running water. None! Which means the dishwasher can't run, and dishes are spilling over the dried up sink. The laundry isn't getting done. The toilet doesn't flush. So, we find it essential to get out of the house for a good portion of the day, if you know what I mean. And yes, we haven't showered for three days either.

That was, until we snuck into the school's closed gym this afternoon for a little freshening up. Seeing that the gym is connected to the building I work in, and there are no actual doors leading into that part of the facility, we decided, 'what the hey,' and walked right in and showered. We also may have convinced some people, hoping to work out, to use the gym despite it being closed. We laughed when they each decided to listen to us.

Oh, and we found out school/work is canceled for the fourth day in a row. I may have been doing a few hours of work each day anyway, you know, we kind of have to get out of the house, but tomorrow, that won't be the case. I'm enjoying a full day off. And there's nothing you can do about it.

Streets still aren't plowed. We've come to terms that the neighborhood streets definitely won't be getting plowed. But even some of the main roads are still packed full of snow, and multiple times a day we see people stuck. We've yet to stop and help anyone. So mean!

Last night my boss was one of the physicians at the Thunder game. We got to tag along and enjoy good seats and free food. The best kind.

Those chubby checks of mine are due to the angle of my face, not the fact that I'm actually getting fat...despite what some may think

On the way home we decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up some very non-essential items, popcorn seasoning and tortilla shells. It's a good thing we didn't consider getting anything too practical. Bad weather causes people to think they're going to be famished if they don't stock up.   

 

Thankfully, today, when it finally sunk in that no matter how many hours of blow drying, space heating, and using heated wiring, we tried to use on our frozen pipes, they just weren't going to budge, water was still in stock. Maybe we're the only idiots that let our pipes freeze again, even after previously experiencing this same thing a few weeks ago? Although, I like to believe that the out-of-stock items at Lowes means otherwise.

Hopefully after this weekend, the temperature will rise above freezing, and our pipes will be revived to a living state.  If not, we'll have to get creative. Puxatony Phil better be right, that's all I have to say. Because you know what sucks right about now? It's almost midnight and I really have to go to the bathroom...

Baby it's cold outside

Humph. It's cold, 9 degrees cold. The weatherman says it feels like -11. I believe him. So do our frozen pipes. Before J and I even got into bed last night, we could hear the freezing rain coming down, and the thunder rumbling in the distance. We prevented the pipes from freezing overnight. Apparently when the high is only 9, the can freeze during the day, too. Duh! We learn lessons the hard way.








I was excited to wake up to snow this morning. Not because it meant it was freezing outside, but more so because it meant I got a day of relaxing at home. Which resulted in J getting a nice homemade breakfast of ebelskiver's. Yum!

I'm trying to be better at living in the moment, so cold snowy weather and all, J and I went outside to enjoy it. He at least had legit snow gear. I on the other had, made up my own.

The snow gear went on, AFTER this picture was taken

Making a snow angel, what else?

We had a four foot snow drift blocking our garage, where my car was tucked safely away from danger. To bad I left my snow shovels in D.C., we really could have used them today. Instead, I basked in the glory that is last years purchase, knowing this would be year two it's come in handy. That purchase must have been inspired.

The result of living in a windy city

We decided to be charitable citizens and went on a drive through the neighborhood streets in hopes of crunching down the deep snow that still, at 9 o'clock at night, has yet to be plowed. Maybe the charity was done in vain, but 4 wheel drive in snow is kind of fun. So we did our deed and headed home, and have been sitting inside ever since.

We'll see what tomorrow brings us. For now, we're stay nestled inside, all cozy and warm.

Now that we're into February, I'll "show off" this month's wreath. I'd like to say I think it's cute, but really, I find it rather hideous. But seeing that I spent a few good solid hours on it, hideous as it may be, it will be staying up all month long.
  

 

 

Had I not been in such a rush to get this wreath made last month, I probably would have stuck with something a bit cuter, like this. But patience got the best of me, what's new?