Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Branson Weekend!

Last weekend we headed to Branson to celebrate our 2nd anniversary! We had planned the trip a couple months ago and had really been looking forward to it. I took off Friday and we left early that morning because we had to make a stop in Wichita first to see my friend Andie get married. It was such a great time to talk and catch up with all my friends. I miss those girls so much! And we got to rent a Toyota Camry for the weekend :)


After the wedding we headed to go ole' Miami, OK to stay the night. It was about half way between Wichita and Branson so a nice place to stop. Saturday morning we woke and made our way to Branson. We had plans to play golf that afternoon with Seth and Melody (Taylor's good friend from high school) and to meet their new baby Judah! What a little cutie :)


We had a fun round and played Branson Creek, our favorite course! It was so nice to spend some time with Seth and Melody since we don't see them very much. After the round, Taylor and I went to check-in at our hotel and get ready for dinner. We went to eat at Devil's Pool which is one of my favorite restaurants in Branson. It is at Big Cedar Lodge so the scenery is so pretty and we got to sit outside and overlook the pool.

Sunday we got up and headed to the outlet mall. I hadn't really planned on shopping, but the Memorial Day sales were just too good! Ha. Taylor even picked up some new shorts and shirts which says a lot. After shopping we headed to Payne Stewart Golf Club where we were playing that afternoon. Taylor's parents were in town so they came over and played a round with us. It was a really fun (and hot!) round. After golf, Taylor and I headed back to the hotel and just ordered a pizza and watched the Thunder game. I had to work on an assignment for school, so we just hung out for most of the night. About 11:00 we decided (ok, I decided) that we needed ice cream! So we headed to Andy's on the Branson strip. It took forever to get there but was so worth it :)

Monday we slept in and headed back to CU around 10am. It was so nice to just be 6 hours from home. Compared to our typically 8 and 9.5 hour trips, we were back before we knew it! We had a really fun time and are already looking forward to our next Branson trip. Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Two Years


Two years ago today I married my very best friend! I can hardly believe it has already been two years. We have graduated from college, moved to a brand new state, completed a Masters degree (Taylor) and started another (me), made new friends, traveled to new cities, put thousands of miles on our cars (all for the family's we both love!), started attending a new church together, and just learned how to live with each other!


Taylor is the funniest guy I know. He always makes me laugh and even laughs at my dry (generally not very funny) sense of humor!


He always seeks to direct our choices in how he feels God is leading us and I love and appreciate that about him.


He has such a heart for serving others and he makes me better for it. This is a picture from our trip to Malaysia after freshman year.


I love you Taylor!

Friday, May 18, 2012

A little about my class...

Happy Friday! The course I'm currently taking is about politics in education and how different student groups have been impacted by laws passed throughout history. Our last class discussion focused a lot on how teachers can truly reach students through the many difficulties the public education system faces. I saw this video that Channel 8 in Tulsa did about a teacher from my high school and I thought I would share! Mr. Cooper changed so many students lives in my high school and I feel this story does a great job of highlighting his success.



Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Summer Class


As you know, I had planned to start my Masters in Education program this coming fall. Well, there has been a slight change of plans. The fall travel season is very busy in the admissions office so I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle 2 classes during the fall. I have decided to take a course this summer and then just one in the fall and this will allow me to stay on track to graduate in two years. And guess when my course starts? YESTERDAY! I just found out last week that I would be able to take the summer course so I was stressed all week trying to get re-coded to enter as a summer student instead of fall (which I am still in the process of doing!). It has been quite a headache trying to get the process completed, but I really think it will be worth it to have less stress during the fall.

The class will go May 14th through June 8th, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It is an online course, but I am required to be logged in a certain times each day. Yesterday was a little overwhelming, but I hope I get back into the swing of things soon :) My supervisor is being very nice to work with me because I will have to leave work early each day. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I can hardly believe I am really going back to school!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! We love all the mother's in each of our lives; aunts, grandmas, cousins, but I especially wanted to let these two women know how much they mean to us and how much we love them!



Me, my sister Keeley, and my mom at last year's Tulsa Run!

 
Julia (SIL), Taylor's mom Susan, and me!

Thank you for all the love and support you show to each of us. We love you mom and Susan!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Weekend Update

Last weekend was nice and relaxing. Friday night we spent the evening at home watching season 3 of Friday Night Lights (our new TV obsession that even Taylor loves! ha) after going to get burgers from a local place called Bunny's. Taylor's test was pretty tough earlier that day and  I think he enjoyed doing something mindless that evening.


Saturday we woke up early to clean the house. It had been WAY too long since we had done a deep cleaning and 3 hours later, the house looked great! There is something about  a clean house that just makes you feel better. After cleaning we headed to the golf course. It was almost 90 here on Saturday so the course was pretty open. We have learned that people in CU don't really come out of their houses when it gets over 85 degrees! Ha. Obviously they have never been in OK or AR during the summer :)


Also on Saturday my little sister went to prom for the first time! I had really wanted to be there but it just didn't work out. Situations like that really make me miss living closer, but I know we are here for a reason and it's only a season of life. Doesn't she look beautiful?

The pretty dock where her group had dinner!

After golf we headed back home to get cleaned up and go watch the Thunder game. As most of you know, we don't have cable. It's just really expensive here and we already watch enough TV with the local channels. So whenever we want to watch sports, we usually have to go somewhere in town that has a TV. We were both pretty tired after golf, so we decided to stay close to the house and ended up going to Red Lobster to watch the game. I just find that really funny. Who knew we'd ever go to Reb Lobster, sit at their bar, order a piece of chocolate cake, a coke, a fruity drink, and watch the Thunder game? Ha.

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the early service at our church. I had been wanting to go see a softball game all season but it had just never worked out. Their last game was Sunday morning at 10:30 so since we went to early service at 9, we were able to make the game! It was really hot again, but I just love watching softball. Taylor doesn't find it quite as entertaining, but he was sweet to go with me.


I finished up some laundry Sunday afternoon and then we called Laine and Andrew to see if they wanted to go play golf that evening. A local course in the area has a $7 rate (with cart, which is crazy cheap for the courses in our area) if you start at 5pm, and since it doesn't get dark until 8 here, you can get in a whole 18 holes! It's pretty awesome. We had a really fun time on the course with them and the weather was just perfect. I think we'll be doing that a lot this summer! Hope y'all had a great weekend.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Finals


Today Taylor takes his one and only final of the semester. That means at the end of the day he will be finished with his second year of graduate school! I can hardly believe it. Any prayers or good thoughts you would like to send out around 1:30 this afternoon would be much appreciated. I hope he channels his inner Einstein this afternoon but I hope he doesn't end up like this! Ha.



Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

OKC Memorial Marathon


This past weekend we headed to AR to meet Taylor's family for the OKC Memorial Marathon. It was such a fun weekend! We had a lot of car time, but that just means we get to spend time talking :) Due to some issues with Taylor's car and my car not getting the best gas mileage, we have starting renting cars for long trips back home. I get to use the University's rental car account as an employee so we get an incredible deal (especially for being under 25)!


This past weekend we ended up with a Toyota Yaris. It was very simply and basic, but perfect for the two of us traveling. We kept track of our mpg for the whole trip and we ended up getting 40 mpg! It was awesome and confirmed to us that renting cars for trips back home really is a great deal. We don't put any wear and tear on our own cars and since the rentals are always brand new (typically they will be current year models with less than 1000 miles) we get incredible gas mileage and end up spending what we would in gas just to take my car! After gas and the rental fee, I think we paid $3 more than we would have in gas alone to take my car. And that doesn't even include the cost of wear and tear, which we have learned is very important to factor in!

 Ready to be in AR!

We passed the Tornado Hunt team from The Weather Channel on our way to AR!

We headed to AR about noon on Friday and arrived around 8:30pm. We were very hungry by the time we got to Taylor's parents house and lucky for us, they had Whole Hog BBQ waiting!


After dinner we stayed up talking for a little bit and then went to bed! Saturday morning we had a great breakfast and then headed to OKC. Saturday was a pretty relaxed day. We picked up our packets at the convention center, stopped by the new outlet mall in OKC, and then went to eat dinner at Victoria's Pasta Shop. Taylor and I love Victoria's. I had not been there since college so we were both very excited to eat there! After dinner we headed to the hotel and watched the first half of the Thunder game before falling asleep.
Can you tell Taylor was excited to be running? :)

4:45am came very early on Sunday for race day! We made our way to the starting line to drop off my brother in-law and father in-law since they were doing the first parts of our relays teams. After they started we spent the rest of the race driving around to cheer each other on and then switching racers at each relay exchange. It was a lot of fun! After the race we went to Mama Rojas to eat (where I ate entirely too much) and then headed back to AR. Once we got back, Taylor, his dad, and brother went to play golf. I'm not sure how they did that! I was tired and had not run nearly as much as them earlier that morning. The girls all stayed at the house enjoying pie and relaxing watching some shows, which was much more fun in my opinion!
It's always so moving to see the Firefighters during the races!

I took off Monday and we had planned on playing golf before we headed back to CU, but sadly it was pouring when we woke up :( Taylor was pretty sad but I promised him we would play golf this week sometime. And it didn't make him feel any better than when we headed back home it was clear blue skies and the perfect temperature! Ha. So instead we spent the morning doing nothing and then went eat lunch before heading out. We got back home about 9:00pm that night and I went straight to bed. I'm the type of person who likes to wait and unpack the next day but Taylor is not. Ha. I was pretty much asleep and he was still unpacking :) Hope you all had a great weekend!