Catching Up. Sort of.

Alright. I know it's been ages since I've posted. Since the powers that be changed the extended deadlines for ALL tax returns EXCEPT individuals to be September 15, I've been a little busy, working some evenings, weekends, etc. to get it all done. So my "free time" has been spent with my family rather than blogging.  I do hope you'll forgive me.  This post probably won't be super long, unless I get a second wind and the motivation to load all the pictures I need to post.  We'll see where this goes.


First, for all of my praying friends (which I do hope is all of you), I have a couple of very specific requests for the next couple of days.  We have had our house on the market since May. We have had BOATLOADS of people come through here at (seemingly) all hours of the day and night, had people ask all kinds of questions and ask us to jump through some ridiculous hoops...but not a single offer.  We have a plan for if the house doesn't sell this time around, HOWEVER, it would be REALLY nice if it would.  Milo has started a mother's day out program that is quite far from the house, closer to the area we want to live in when we move. What this means is that I am in the car for no less than two hours each Tues/Thurs driving him to school, myself to work, back to get him, back home. And that's the days I DON'T have an inconveniently scheduled appointment RIGHT BY HIS SCHOOL but RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of the four hours I get to be at the office (this happened yesterday...I may or may not still be bitter about my lack of planning).  To say I'm already weary of it (after nearly two whole weeks) sounds pathetic, but it's true.  I feel like that's wasted time that we could be doing other things.  I will gladly continue to do this if that's what we need to do because we feel like he is in the right place.  BUT, the point of this whole (lengthy) paragraph is this. I am praying very specifically for the next 48 hours that we get an offer (a good one) on this house. We have two showings tomorrow and one of them is a second showing (we've had several of these already also, and even some THIRD showings). 


The second item on the prayer list is our sweet little man.  He has started the MDO program and seems to really enjoy it, and I feel REALLY good about his two teachers.  But it appears we are having quite an adjustment period. He has been extra clingy, tired, etc. the last 5 days or so and we think may have had a little virus with some tummy trouble...plus he's got four molars in various stages of coming in. He's just not himself and we don't like it! Mind you, I am soaking up all the extra snuggles I get, but I will certainly be happy to see my little busy body back again! 

First day of school - the look of irritation on his face is because his teeth were REALLY bothering him this morning.

So, the two things I'm asking you to pray are that (1) We get an offer on our house this week and (even more importantly) (2) that Milo adjusts quickly and thrives in this new stage and that that's really all this is...an adjustment period.


Moving right along. We went to Ikea last weekend to get a few things for the house (and by a few things I mean we MAY have filled the trunk up to the point that our luggage MIGHT have had to ride shotgun all the way back home...maybe).  Milo seemed to enjoy looking around at all the fun things. We also got him a couple of Christmas presents. I can't wait for Christmas! I think he's going to be so excited...he climbed all over the box for one of them so he will probably be more excited about the box than what's in it but I think it's super cute. :)

Some of the spoils of our trip...I am IN LOVE with that ottoman.  Seriously. I'm trying to dream up other ways to use them in other rooms so I can get another one.

Let's see.  What else has been happening. Oh, there was a zeppelin in the city for a couple of days this week. For just $350 you could take a half hour ride or for $750 they'd fly you over downtown.  We did not indulge but it flew nearly right over our house so I snapped some pics w/my phone (I did not actually know what was going on, I was just outside waiting for N to get home when we spotted it).

The little man has learned the sign for "more". I had showed him maybe a handful of times but was never consistent.  His sitter WAS consistent however, and we noticed him doing it over the weekend.  I thought it was a fluke but then he kept doing it so I texted her to ask if she had showed him that and she had!  I love it that he knows how to tell us at least one or two things (he's quite good with the head nod also).  He's also apparently got the Daddy's OCD gene:

Cleaning the recliner (had had already cleaned the side table, the floor around it, and his face). 

I took this because he had lined his waffles up on his tray. The look I captured was just a bonus.  By the look of things, he also got the Daddy's ornery gene.

Alright. I think that'll do for one evening.  I have things to post to Craigslist and I need sleep. Hope you enjoy the pics of our little monkey, and thanks in advance for the prayers!!!

A Few Random Shots

Here are a few random photos I took while we were away.

1. A shot of the sunset out at Nathan's parents' place...that big metal frame you see is a GIANT (in the neighborhood of 30 feet tall) lit snowman that you can see quite easily from the highway (which is a quarter mile away). I realize this is not the greatest picture but it was the best I could do on short notice, with my phone.

2-3. Ainsley and then Abbey holding their cousin Milo - those girls LOOOOOOVE Baby Milo. All three of them (including Alivia who would have no part of sitting still for a picture) have baby dolls named...Baby Milo of course.

4. In case you wondered what it takes to get two adults, a 5 month old who wears cloth diapers, and a chihuahua-dacshund mix out of town for four nights...here it is (yes it does go all the way down the hallway on both sides, no this isn't actually everything, and yes we did a load of diapers and a load of whites in the wash while we were there - this is no small production folks):

Did I mention it was nice to get home?

30 Days of Thanks: Day 8

I am thankful for the opportunities I've had. Specifically, my education and the things that were a part of it. I am so blessed to have parents who thought it was important that I get a good education and that, if I chose to attend a Christian university, they were willing to pay for that education. I don't know that I've ever told them thank you for that, so since they read this...THANK YOU! Thank you for allowing me to get my education and not have that student loan debt following me for years and years. I know a lot of people don't have that blessing and the older I get, the more I realize what a big deal that is.

As part of my education, I was lucky enough to be able to spend an entire semester living in Vienna, Austria and traveling in Europe. I did learn a few things from books on that trip but much more importantly I learned many life lessons and acquired a love for travel. I learned to be more independent, I learned how to step outside my comfort zone, to appreciate other cultures, and that if you brave it and go somewhere without your closest friends, you just might expand your circle of closest friends! The relationships I made and lessons I learned that semester have served me well in the 13 years (holy smokes that was a long time ago!) since I've been back.

I've had a gazillion other opportunities I'm thankful for but those are probably the two that have been the most important as far as how my adult life has turned out. So again, thanks to Greg and Pam for giving me those opportunities!

Beaver's Bend

This past weekend we went and met my family at Beavers Bend for the weekend. It was a LOOOONG drive for us, but worth the trip. We had a campfire, went for a little walk in the woods, walked in some REALLY cold water, the girls got to ride paddle boats, and Scott and Steph (more frequently known as "Sock" and "Tess") cooked some really tasty meals for us! We had a great time!

These girls were so excited to see their cousin! (Please excuse the crazy eyes on Alivia and Milo.....)

Milo rockin' the Baby Banz.

Getting ready for the train ride.

Skinny rear - pants won't stay up!

Nathan, Milo and I had a little mini-photo shoot with my sister:

Caught Milo in mid-sneeze here...

A few more of the group:

Sweet girls!

Uncle "Sock" and Aunt "Tess"

Big smiles!

Going on a little hike.


It rained Saturday night but these girls were determined to have a campfire (in spite of the 90 degree temps). Bring on the trash bag ponchos!

Livie really liked the marshmallows!

We had a good time but we were glad to get back to our own beds last night. And we get to go get Mr. Kona this afternoon and then we start getting ready for the the Clarks coming to visit next week!

Anniversary Trip and Hail Storm

Hang on to your hats folks - this is a long one.

I mentioned a couple of posts ago how it was our third anniversary. Usually we take a trip of some sort. For our first we went to San Antonio. Our second we went to Bartlesville/Tulsa and did some fun local stuff. This year, not wanting to get too far from home (and with me not being able to sit in the car for extended periods of time) we decided to just go to do Tulsa again.

Let me back up - my baby sister and her husband graduated from optometry school in Tahleqhah a couple of weekends ago. I am so proud of them! So, we packed up and headed for Tahlequah and went to their graduation a couple of Friday nights ago. Our plan was to stay there Friday night, head for Tulsa sometime on Saturday and do some shopping, have dinner, etc., and then stay at Hotel Ambassador Saturday night, and take our time getting home on Sunday. Everything went according to plan for the first part of the weekend. Graduation was great (and not too long!), we got a little shopping done, had dinner in Tulsa, and went to see the Backup Plan. We headed back to the hotel, decided what we wanted to have for our in room breakfast the next morning, and headed for bed.

Then the fun started. (And for those of you that just went "there" - get your mind out of the gutter.) About 4 a.m. I woke up with some cramps. I tried all the things you're supposed to try - drinking lots of water, lying on my left side, etc. Nothing worked. After an about hour, and a lot of trips to the bathroom, I decided it was time to call the dr. I woke Nathan up (sort of) and called the on-call dr. at my doctor's office. She said it was probably nothing serious BUT as sure as she told me to come back home and let them check me out, something would happen on the way and there is NOTHING between here and Tulsa. So, she suggested we head to the ER.

We cleared out of our hotel room at 5:15 a.m. and headed for St. Francis (because that's where my sister had all three of the girls and I knew they'd been pretty pleased with the care they got there). We arrived and of course the ER was BUSY. I thought to myself, "um, we are NOT going to sit in this waiting room with all of these coughing, sick people". We sat down to register and as soon as the girl figured out I was pregnant she sent me (via wheelchair of course) straight on up to L&D. After quite a while (20-30 minutes) they FINALLY got me to a room and hooked up to the monitors and sure enough, I was having contractions (which I hadn't thought I was because my belly wasn't getting tight like it does w/the Braxton Hicks).


Don't I look thrilled to be there? This was AFTER they'd determined that the problem was a bladder infection (turns out not drinking enough = not going to the bathroom enough = bladder infection = contractions) and that they were NOT going to have to take action to stop the contractions because they had stopped on their own. I didn't have to have an IV thank goodness, but they were pushing the fluids...see those cups on the tray? I had 2 more before I left. All the fluids and no food made me feel nauseous and so they brought me that little pink thing sitting on the tray...and let me tell you, they would have been in for an unpleasant surprise if I'd had to use that. When I get sick, I do it like I mean it!

They released me with an antibiotic and instructions to drink a LOT of water. We headed home, took naps, and just as we were getting ready to go pick up Kona from the vet, this happened:



That is hail. Looks like boatloads of Sonic ice raining out of the sky. We got LUCKY. People just a few blocks north of us got hail the size of softballs. People had car windows and even house windows and skylights broken out. Even now, two weeks later, you can still see damage everywhere.

Our Cruise

So, as promised, here are some pics and stories from our cruse. First of all, I should note that we were out in the Gulf at the tail end of Hurricane Ida so if you wonder why our "tropical" vacation doesn't have a lot of sun, that's why. So, without further ado, lets get to the pictures.

Here we are just after getting on the ship - we had to wait in a ridiculously long line because the cruise before us had come into port late (due to the rough water) and as a result we were also quite late in taking off. (How do you like the background? Nice huh?)

Water slides on the ship - these aren't just for kids. I never rode because it was too cold for me. :)

Putt putt course on the ship - it was too windy and rough most days to play but on the plus side, those things would have provided a fabulous excuse for me shooting a 60 at mini-golf. (This did not actually happen, I'm just saying if it had, I'd have had a darn good reason.)

So long Galveston.

This does not even come close to giving you a good idea of the roughness of the seas. This was taken out our cabin window the first morning. We were told later that day that the swells had "gone down" to only 9 feet. At first I thought maybe I was just a wimp but when I saw the staff having a hard time staying on their feet I didn't feel quite so bad.

Just a view of another ship across the water - I don't remember for sure but this may have been when we were coming in to port at Progreso.

Enjoying some fresh air. Shortly after this I was wishing for a blanket. :)

This was just before our "formal night" in the dining room. (You'll notice that most, if not all, of these pictures are taken by one or the other of us. That's just our SOP - they usually turn out better than the ones others take of us. Lucky for us we both have freakishly long arms!)

Here's our dinner group. We got luck - I was afraid it'd be all weirdos (because let me tell you there were PLENTY on that ship) but we got all very nice people. From L to R: Kaitlyn and McKenzie (honeymooning), Michael and Jessie (also honeymooning), Nathan and I (not honeymooning even though nearly everyone assumed we were), and Kathy and JoAnne (mother and daughter - they do this every year!). This was one of only three nights the entire time that everyone was actually able to come to dinner. The other nights at least one (and usually 2 or 3) people were sick.

Our first towel animal - a dog. It sat in the corner of our room for three days. Kind of made us feel like Kona was there, only this dog was MUCH quieter than Kona. :)

Finally on land! First stop was Progreso (which, incidentally is NOT a tourist town) so we hopped a bus to Merida and went on a tour of that city and did a little shopping. The trees above are mostly fig trees.

Little park/square area in Merida.

This is a cathedral in Merida - it was built using stones from the Mayan ruins. Very interesting.

This is the outside of the Governor's Palace. If you look closely you can see what looks like a small group of people standing right out in front of it. This will become important later.

Strange picture I know, but I thought this was really neat. This is the walkway out in front of the cathedral. This criss-cross pattern with the stones in the cement is all along the front of the cathedral.

Front of the cathedral.

Governor's palace again.

OK. Here we are in the courtyard of the Governor's palace. This building was so pretty. The pictures don't really do it justice. It's kind of like their city hall I guess - offices and meeting rooms, I didn't actually see evidence of a residence. Now, remember the group of people I mentioned a couple of pictures ago? Turns out they were protesters. Mostly women and children, not a large group (maybe 40-50 at most). We saw them as we went in but didn't pay much attention. HOWEVER, as we were standing here in the courtyard waiting for our group to get back together, we saw the police coming through with their FULL RIOT GEAR. We started paying attention then. They didn't take any action while we were there but I was not sad to leave that place.

Another old building as seen from the square.

The square in Merida. I'm sure that statue is an important person but I don't recall who it is.

Here we are taking off from Progreso - and you can see why it's not a tourist town. First of all, the dock is a good ways out of town. Second, the town is a poor fishing village and a little scary if you ask me. I probably wouldn't go walking around there w/out a local that I trusted. Neat to see though. Also notice the lovely dirt our ship is churning up there as we pull away. Notice the sun though!

Back in our room enjoying one of the movies I'm sure. I guess I should note here that I didn't feel just super the whole time. I wasn't violently ill or anything, just a nagging "I don't feel so good" feeling. So, I did actually spend a fair amount of time at sea just napping.

Here is our escort out of port - we assume it is the Mexican equivalent of the US Coast Guard.

This is a little garden area at dock in Cozumel. Somehow I don't remember this from the last time I was there. It's either new, or I was asleep last time. Very pretty though.

Look - there's the sun again! That ship to the left is not actually the one we were on, it's another Carnival ship, The Liberty (out of FL I believe). Ours is actually behind that one so you can't see it. Ours I believe was the smallest in the fleet and to be honest, that is OK with me. There was still PLENTY to do on our ship and plenty of places to get lost. :) Also, the water here is SO blue.

Back onboard saying goodbye to the sun again.

Nathan took this as we were pulling away from the pier in Cozumel. That's another cruise line's ship in the distance I believe.

Another towel animal - we think it's a frog???

The next few pics are of the sunset on our last day at sea. That day the water was PERFECT. It was like glass. So nice. We got up to the Lido deck just barely in time to catch the sunset so here are the pics (I THINK I got them in order). Oh, and please excuse my lack of makeup - scary!

Finally, our last towel animal - a bunny rabbit. The ship was kind of vibrating so his ears were wiggling which I thought was pretty amusing.

We had a good time, in spite of the weather. The staff were all SUPER friendly and went out of their way to be helpful. Our waiter in the dining room had been doing this I think since 1995 (which just seems crazy to me). So, I'd do it again, although probably a shorter cruise.