My 2011 Recap!!

Overall 2011 has been a great year. I look back on the year and are thankful for MANY things: My family, friends, job, and my health. 2011 started out with many unknowns- We were moving from South Carolina to Oklahoma!! We did not know a single person already living here so it was a bit scary, but we made the move and are really enjoying Oklahoma. 2011 had a lot of unknowns like; will we like Oklahoma, will Casey find a job, will we make friends, will I like my new job, will we find a house, will we get a lot of tornadoes. The answer to all of the unknowns was YES! Well except for the tornadoes; thankfully we didn't get any this year. However we did get an earthquake!!! Oklahoma is feeling more and more like home to us every day and we are looking forward to what 2012 will have in store.

January:

We moved from South Carolina to Oklahoma for my job. It was a bit scary but we knew we would be just fine, and we have been! Both locations have their ups and downs and we are just making the best of everything. Oh and did i mention i turned 30 in January!!!

February:

SNOW SNOW and more SNOW!!! My second day on the job we were hit with 24 inches of snow and stranded in our new home for a week. It was fun for the first few days, however towards the end we were all starting to get stir crazy! Oklahoma does not normally get this much snow. We hit a record for the most amount of snow this February!

March:

We took a few day trips to explore Oklahoma and surrounding states. We visited Tallgrass Prairie Preserve to see the Bison. We saw 100's of bison on this clear weekend day. We also got not one, but two flat tires on this trip :(

We have not made the 2 hour drive since then, in fear of another flat tire.

We also took a weekend trip to Springfield, MO. We visited the Springfield Zoo where Colton had his first train ride. We took a ride through Fantastic Caverns and we visited the Granddaddy of all Bass Pro Shop! We had a nice family vacation in MO!

April:

We were under our first Tornado watch in Oklahoma. The locals say it's nothing to worry about; however I was a mess and getting ready to drive to a storm shelter!!

I got a new car!! A 2011 Kia Forte!! I love her!

Colton got a turtle. When we asked what he wanted to name his turtle he said "Duck". So we are now the proud owner of a turtle named Duck!

May:

We went to our first Tulsa Driller's Game to watch our neighbor sing the National Anthem! Shayna did such a great job! The driller stadium is very nice, new, and overlooks downtown Tulsa. Looking forward to taking Colton back once he is a bit older and can enjoy the game!

I went on a road trip to Dallas to visit my College friends! I had such a blast visiting Ashley and Jen! I wish the miles were closer for all of us.

We met up with my parents for our first camping trip of the year. We met "half way" between Tulsa and Memphis at Village Creek State Park- Arkansas.

June:

I attended Tulsa's Chef for the Cure. It was for a great cause with great co-workers!

We took a day trip to see the sights on Route 66 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We stopped at the Round Barn, Blue Whale and Pops!

Little buddy Colton had his first trip to the ER. He stepped on blender blade; 9 stitches later the only thing that could make him happy was a red popsicle!!!

July:

 We went on a day trip to National Falls State Park on the boarder of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Parts of "Where the Red Fern Grows" was filled at this waterfall. It was very pretty, and very HOT that day. After visiting the falls I read "Where the Red Fern Grows" for the first time. It was so sad!

I spent 2 weeks away from my family in Louisville KY. It was a great work experience and I learned a lot, but I was happy to come home and see my family again! I also got to cross an item off of my Bucket List. I got my first pair of Birkenstocks!

August:

We stayed local this month. We had a picnic at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Visited the RiverWalk in Jenks, OK. I also made my first batch of Hummus and submitted my first recpie to recipe.com ( it has not been published yet :( )

September:

We spent a week in Colorado. We visited my friend's Shanna and Tyler. We had a blast and had perfect weather. We saw the sites in Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Estes Park, and Rocky Mountain National State Park. I can wait to go back September 2012 for their wedding!

We took a day trip to Oklahoma City. Our plan was to visit the Botanical Garden; it was under construction. We also planned to visit the Oklahoma City Zoo; it was WAY too busy. So instead we spent the entire day at the Childern's Science Museum! We had a blast and had the place to our self, since everyone was at the zoo.

October:

We were invited to our first OU Football Party! I volunteered for a breast cancer awareness event; Treasure your Chest! We saw the famous Luchadoors in Downtown Tulsa!

Casey's parents came to visit! They were here for Halloween and Colton's 4th birthday! So great to see them. It had been almost a year since we saw them last!!

November:

Colton Turns 4 Years Old! Time sure does fly!

I ran my first race! 4 miles and 3 pints of Guinness for Tulsa's Pub Run!

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Olive Branch, MS. It was so good to spend the holiday with my parents and my sister's family! The boys had a blast playing together. It makes me wish the miles were closer :(

December:

We took Colton ice skating for the first time, visited the center of the universe, I GAVE BLOOD, and my parents came to visit for Christmas!!!!

2011 was a great year with lots of adventures!

 We are looking forward to what comes our way in 2012!! Happy New Year to all!

Who Knew?

Who knew Oklahoma had such pretty sunsets?
I took this picture on my way home from work today. My new phone takes great pictures!!
Today was a beautiful day with a beautiful and colorful sunset to end the day.

No Pictures this Christmas :(

C3 had a wonderful Christmas. We must have all been on Santa's nice list. Let me just say that Siri is my new best friend and I'm loving reading books on my Kindle Fire!

My parents came into to town Friday afternoon, however because of my work schedule I really didn't get to spend time with them until Saturday afternoon.

One of the joys of working for a shipping company during the holidays!

So after working LATE nights all week, and working Saturday all I wanted to do was relax Sunday and Monday. Because of the relaxed atmosphere here, we didn't take ANY pictures on Christmas :( I did not feel very photogenic.

On Monday night we finally left the house (and showered) and went to PF Changs for dinner.

We took a few pictures after dinner.

Tulsa's Utica Square was still decked out in Christmas lights. It was pretty.

It's always great to see my parents! We had such a nice weekend with them.

 Mom: thank you for bringing the Ham and planning the meals while I was a work! I'm pretty sure if you guys were not here, we would have had Chinese food for dinner on Christmas :) Honey Baked Ham was much better, and the left overs were just as good!

Dad and Casey: I'm very sorry about the domino's slaughtering (3 nights in a row) by mom and me. I hope this does not scare you away from playing domino's with us again.

Overall we had such a great Christmas here in Tulsa.

 Santa, family, and friends were very generous this year! Thank you!

Less than a week away!

In less than one week I will be running in Tulsa's Polar Bear Plunge! Currently the weather is expected to be in the 50's-60's. My fingers are crossed that it stays that warm!!
I feel ready for the run and think I will be able to run the entire time. I'm just not sure how my body will react jumping into 3 pools!!!
I picked up my running packet today and got my shirt and number!! I'm committed now! Gulp!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas to all!!

Santa will be getting milk and candy canes from our home tonight (since i didn't have time to make cookies this week). Colton was so excited to set these by our back door by the tree.

Earlier today Colton said to me (with sad face)

 "mommy we don't have a fire place, how does Santa get in"

Quickly I responded "Oh, well i called the North Pole earlier today and told Santa to just come to our back door by the tree, i wanted to make it easy for him"

That seemed to calm Colton down and ease his worries.

Tomorrow is going to a fun and exciting day. I'm so happy to spend the Holidays with my parents here in Oklahoma. Wish we could be with all family members, you will all be in our thoughts tomorrow .

Merry Christmas to all !

Salvation Army Children's Christmas Concert!

So when I think of The Salvation Army, I think of bell ringers at Christmas time.

My parents actually volunteered to ring a bell in Mississippi this year. See picture above.

The Salvation Army is much more than bell ringers, it is a Church.
I had no idea of this until meeting my neighbors Shayna and Tarey.

I was invited to Tulsa's Salvation Army Children's Christmas Concert. It was wonderful.
 My neighbor Shayna organized the entire thing.
Not only was it a concert, but they transformed the entire church to a market;
complete with beggars, and vendors.

I even got to see the manger!

The kids were great!! 

And I got to hang out with Baby Lane!! Such a sweet baby!!

The History of The Salvation Army is quite interesting.
If you would like more information on the history of The Salvation Army, please click here. 

Shayna you did a great job putting on this production!

Our perfect Christmas Tree!

This last weekend we got our Christmas Tree. We headed to Owasso Tree & Berry Farm. This last season was not a good year for berries, so i was a bit worried about what the tree selection was going to be like. We had plenty to choose from at many different price points.

I'm not sure if ALL of the trees that were for sale were actually grown here, but I felt better about buying them here, instead of going to Wal-Mart or Home Depot. The prices were not bad at all, we got our tree for $35.00! I'm happy with that price!

  We had so many trees to choose from!!

While Casey looked for the perfect tree; Colton and I took a hay ride around the tree farm and I had some free Hot Apple Cider!!

When we got back Casey got our final approval on the perfect tree. Colton liked it, however it was a bit cold by this point. So I guess this is what cold/happy Colton looks like!

However the highlight of Colton's trip was the free Candy Canes!!

I LOVE the smell of pine trees. It is one of my favorite things about Christmas. I actually light pine scented candles around the house all year long. However they can't compete to the smell of a real tree. I asked Casey if we could keep a tree up all year long. He said we could, if we wanted to be the crazy people in the neighborhood. If i can have the smell of pine trees all year long, I don't care if people think I'm crazy ;)

Here is our perfect Christmas tree!! It is perfect!! I have always had a very colorful tree growing up, so C3 has continued that tradition.

We each have our favorite ornament.

Casey and I's first Christmas together he told me about an ice skating owl he loved growing up and how he always wanted to hang the owl. Well I found one on EBay and surprised him with it that year! This ice skating owl is Casey's favorite ornament.

 

I don't have one favorite ornament. I have 4! My grandmommy makes an ornament each year for Colton. So all 4 years are my favorite. Not only does she make these ornaments for each of the great grand kids, she made ME an ornament each year until I was 18. If you were to see my parents tree, they would have 18 ornaments with my picture and 18 ornaments with my sisters picture. We loved opening them up each year and looking back on all the years. There are a few ornaments from my awkward years (braces) that would be intentionally placed in the back of the tree :) I'm so happy grandmommy has continued to keep the tradition with the great grand kids!

The Center of the Universe and the Artificial Cloud: Downtown Tulsa

This last weekend C3 also checked out The Center of the Universe and the Artificial Cloud in Downtown Tulsa. They were both so neat. I drive by this streed every week and I had no idea this was here! Thanks to Casey's high school friend (Krista) for showing us were it was! 

The Center of the Universe is this brick spot in Downtown Tulsa that is an acoustic anomaly. When you stand in the center and make a noise, the noise is echoed back louder than it was made. I was a bit skeptical, however when you stand in the center the sound and feeling is so strange. It really does echo!! I tried to get it on video, however the sound does not sound like it does in person :(

This is the spot where the acoustic magic happens!

 This spot is directly above train tracks.

While we were there a train drove right under us. It made Colton's day!!

 "Mommy I really love trains"

We spent the day with Casey's high school friend (Krista) and her family. Her and her husband moved to Tulsa 12 years ago.

The Artificial Cloud is a sculpture that was made in 1991 by Native American artist Robert Haozous. The sculpture is seventy-two and one-half feet tall, the work was created on the premise that more people would look at a naturally rusting steel cloud than at a real cloud.

The Center of the Universe and Artificial Cloud were both very neat. This is just one other reason why all of our friends and family should come visit us in Tulsa,OK.

We promise to take you to these sights too :)