It's OURS!

Home, Sweet Home! 

We sold our first home and most of our belongings in May 2007 and have been living like poor college students ever since. The dream of owning a home again seemed to be exactly that... a dream.  

It turns out that dreams do come true.  

We purchased our first home TOGETHER today.  The closing was at 4 pm.  Everything went fabulous and we couldn't be more excited.  Thank you for your prayers along the journey.

We won't be moving in for a few weeks because we're having the original hardwood floors refinished.  The company we hired will start on the floors on Tuesday, Sept. 6.  After that, I'm hoping to hire a professional painting company to artistically paint the kitchen and the 2nd bedroom.  I look forward to seeing the finished product.  I'll be sure to post more photos soon.  

Apartment Living

"Luxury" Apartments are overrated.  


10:30 am:
GOOD: A vocal major that practices. BAD: The vocalist is your upstairs neighbor who practices while you're trying to sleep. 
If David weren't sleeping after working a 24+ hour shift, I'll pull out all my instruments and declare an obnoxious musical war. There's a reason I DO NOT practice while living in an apartment. Praying we close on our house on Wednesday at 4 and can get out of this awful place! (more firetrucks here this morning)

8:45 pm:  
Our neighbor just came to our door to inform us that she's a vocalist and will be practicing late tonight because she has auditions tomorrow.  My reply:  Aren't there practice rooms at OCU?  She replies, "It's OKCU and the practice rooms are really dead."  seriously.....  I feel like I'm living in a college dormitory.  

A Teacher's Life

Almost 10 hours later, I've finally completed 2 lessons (1 weeks worth) for the 3-day rotations for grades K-5. That's 12 individualized and very thorough lesson plans. I also completed 5 loads of laundry, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up the bathrooms, went to Office Depot and Target to spend some POs and have had 1 LARGE cup of iced coffee, 1 glass of water, and some cottage cheese. I'm exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry. My poor husband and dog want me to watch TV/Movies and play. I want to cry.  I need 4 more of me AND a housekeeper. 


I did NOT get up for Week 4 Training with the OKC Landrunners.  I'm suffering from exhaustion and sore/tired feet.  Hopefully I'll make it out for a run tomorrow. 

Midnight Streak 5K

On Saturday, Aug. 13 I participated in the Midnight Streak 5K.  I had already been up since 4am and ran 5.4 miles for the training run, shopped at a fabulous estate sale, attended the RPSA (Resident Physician Spouse Alliance) Brunch, and hung out with Dave.  By the time 8pm rolled around, I was already tired.  My normal bedtime for the summer has been between 8:30-9:30, so staying up so late wasn't easy. 

I was dressed and had just put my bib number on when I took a sip of iced coffee.  The little seal was twisted up in the lid and I ended up wearing my coffee.  I quickly changed and went for my bright, happy "Run" shirt.  Anyways, I left home just a few minutes before 10pm.  I met up with my friends for some before race photos.  We're not responsible for our actions past our bedtime as seen in the photos.  Ha!  

Me, Cathy, & Jenny

 Me with my OKC Landrunner buddies

 Me, Holly, Jenny, & Cathy

Ann, Lisa, & Me

After the race, I went to IHOP with Ann, Lisa & her husband, and Evelyn.  It was a great time!  I hadn't laughed so hard in quite awhile.  I'm pretty sure all of our abs were sore the next day due to all the laughter.  Too fun!  

Here's my entry from DailyMile:  

I could come up with excuses, but the "excuses" are more impressive than anything. My day started at 4am with a 5.4 mile run/walk (trying not to overdo it) combo. The day was packed with events and NO time to rest. My bedtime is normally between 8:30-9:30, so it's impressive that I stayed up for the Midnight Streak 5K RACE that started at 11pm. It was late at NIGHT, in the HEAT and had to run up a monster HILL towards the end! It's impressive I finished. Whew! Afterwards, I went to IHOP with some running buddies and didn't get home until 2am and didn't go to bed until 3am.  I slept in until 10am the next morning.

Fall Training - Week 3

The training schedule listed 10 miles for full marathoners and 5 for half marathoners.  I did a run/walk combo with my friend, Laura, who recently had her boot removed.  She hadn't run since the full marathon on May 1 due to 2 fractures.  Laura was a little nervous about her time back out there, but she did awesome.  No pain!  I'm so proud of her for her determination.  

We conquered 5.4 miles together.  

Here is a photo of me with my Landrunner buddies.  Love them!

Go, Landrunners!  

Sewing

Remember the sewing machine David gifted me for Christmas 2010?  Here's a photo of my proud moment.....

Sadly, we don't have a table and there's always too much going on in our kitchen to use the counter space, so it stayed safely boxed up for a few months.  By a few months, I mean 8 months.  It was 8 months of me wanting to sew so badly, but not having anywhere to set up this wonderful machine.  
I was recently blessed with a sewing machine table from my Grandma.  The very woman who's taught me so much about being domestic loves to contribute to my Domestic Diva hobbies as much as possible.  The sewing machine table actually has a sewing machine built in, but I haven't had a chance to try it out because I was too anxious to try out mine.  
This past week I learned how to thread the bobbin and thread the needle.  I took some older pillow cases and repurposed them for a cheap project.  I made a giant music staff to hang on my bulletin board at school.  I'm going to see if there's a simple way I can make it interactive for classroom use.  Photos of that will be posted at another time.... hopefully.  Here's a photo of the giant music staff...

My sweet friend, Natalie, let me borrow her pattern for cupcake potholders.  It is my first project with a pattern.  I did as much as I could today, but can't complete the next step until I buy and install the appropriated sized needle.  Here's a couple of photos of my first sewing project.....

I think this turning out to be pretty cute for my first project. My friend, Natalie, was impressed with my straight quilting lines that act as the cupcake liner.  
I obviously have a LOT to learn, but I'm having a good time.  

Obedient Pup

LOVE my dog, Ethan! He's so smart!

Long Hours

My DH left for the hospital a few minutes ago.  He is starting a little later today since he has short call this evening.  That's right, he left home at 6am and won't return until sometime after 8.  I'll be meeting up with a colleague for dinner tonight at 8:15.  This means I probably won't actually see my DH until tomorrow morning since I'll be getting home after he's already in bed asleep.  
He worked a shorter shift on Sunday because it was the weekend.  Somehow, they aren't usually too busy on the weekends and they can knock out the work pretty quickly.  Even with that short day on Sunday he still ended up with over 30 hours at the end of work on Tuesday.  
I'm still not really used to his long hours yet.  I've been able to keep up with the laundry, housecleaning, dishes, shopping, errands, etc. because I've been on summer break.  I think his long hours will really hit me when I go back to work and have a rough time fitting in all of our household chores.  It'll make my days seem shorter and his even longer.  How many more days of this?  I'm just going to have to take it one day at a time.  

Fall Training - Week 2

The week 2 training run schedule was 8 miles for full marathoners and 4 for half marathoners.  You guessed it... I "ran" 4.  I couldn't find my awesome Injinji socks as I was getting dressed the morning of my run, so I just wore another pair of running socks.  Bad Idea.  I could feel blisters forming on the bottoms of my toes as I was about 1 mile from finishing.  The pain became more intense and I ended up walking in the last 1/2 mile.  I drained those bad boys (blisters) when I got home and they seem to be doing better so far.  I'm having a couple of other foot problems, but I won't talk about them in this post.  I'll save it for next time.  It's gross.  

I LOVE the OKC Landrunners!  I've made some wonderful friends through this group.  They are truly inspiring and always encouraging.  

Ann, Lisa, & Me

Me and some of my running buddies enjoying 

a post-run treat at the Nichols Hills Starbucks.

A close group of us running gals within the Landrunners had a farewell dinner at Nunu's for our dear friend, Maura.  Her husband was transferred with his job so they're moving to Washington.  She will be missed!
Do we look a little different without our running gear and 5 gallons of sweat?  

(L to R) Cathy, Maura, Dyani, Jenny, Me, Terra

Fall Training - Week 1

The OKC Landrunners officially started the fall training group runs on July 30.  Full marathoners ran a scheduled 6 mile run that day.  The half marathoners ran 3.  I'm working on the half marathon training schedule again so I only ran 3 miles for our first training run.  Well, I say "ran" very loosely.  I ran 2 and walked 1.  The heat is too much for me.  It makes me miserable!  I need some cooler temps.

There are a couple of half marathons I'd like to do this fall, but it all depends on our crazy schedules and finances with the new house and all.  My plan is to train for the half (13.1 miles) this fall and then bump it up for the full (26.2 miles) this spring.  I sure hope my body and mind can handle it.

Me with my running buddies:

(L to R) Terra, Jenny's Mother, Jenny, Jenny's Sister, Me

Me with some of my Landrunner friends

 at the Nichols Hills Starbucks 

for a post-run treat.