My favorite thing right now...

Right now my favorite thing is hunting down cute odds and ends for the house. I've found a few things but haven't actually found places for them yet. Here's a sneak peek!

I ordered this off the internet a few weeks ago (from Modcloth) and its still not hung. I haven't found the perfect place for it in our room yet but I am so in love with it!

It's a jewelry holder (necklaces hang off the hooks) with little clips for pictures. Love it!

I'm also way excited about these little antler hooks, I got two of them from Anthro. They even got Brandon's seal of approval!

Fortune Cookie

Got this little fortune the other day, thought it was cute and so true!

This is neat.

My aunt put this on facebook the other day....

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch and washes all the dirt off of you. He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

The Hugs Project

Yesterday, I decided to take some time off from studying. Because apparently I can't handle more than one day of studying anymore. I'm such a bad PA student. Even worse, I'm perfectly content with that.

One of the things I did while I wasn't studying was go to The Hugs Project with my Mom. My Mom has been going to Hugs once or twice a week for several years now, in addition to volunteering with the Red Cross once a week to sew stuffed animals for sick kids, doing free taxes for the elderly during tax season, going camping with Girl Scouts, and all the other little things she does (like go one 4 kayaking trips for example). Pretty amazing, huh? 

It was my first time at Hugs. They are currently taking up two large rooms at Crossroads mall to get all the Christmas boxes out to the Soldiers. (sidenote - Crossroads is not scary at all at 11am with all the 70 year old mall walkers on the loose)

To sum it up - these people work so hard, they are incredible! I was amazed at all the boxes of food, candy, presents for children overseas, notes of support, reading materials, dvds, pillows and hygiene items that they are getting to soldiers. Since these are the Christmas boxes, there were also stockings stuffed with wrapped goodies and candy canes!

one of the assembly areas

There is another room packed with sewing machines and material that people were using to make the pillows for the soldiers and small stuffed animals for them to give to kids.

sewing room

My job was on the assembly line, I just went down the rows of table putting items into boxes.

it was a loooong line!

And this one of the boxes I packed up! It's so hard to fit everything I wanted to into the boxes to get to these guys. They just weren't big enough!

One of the cool Christmas items were these little Christmas trees! Someone got the idea of recycling old prescription bottles and putting little trees into them. I thought it was neat!

Overall, it was a great experience, these people put a lot of hard work into making our soldiers overseas feel loved and appreciated. I'm glad I got to be a part of it for a day!

My Mom - the volunteering superhero!

Oktoberfest & More

Our first whole weekend together of the month was filled with so many fun things! Friday night we went to Oktoberfest of Tulsa with some friends. It was my first Oktoberfest ever and quite the experience!

Just a few things I learned/observed:

- Chicken hats. Everyone was wearing them, maybe it has something to do with - 

- The Chicken Dance Song. I don't know for sure, but I think this must be the song of Oktoberfest. It plays every five minutes and if you don't stand up on your table when it plays and do the Chicken Dance, you are not cool.

- Throwing pennies. The object of the game is to toss your pennies into other peoples' pitchers or cups. Why? I could never get a clear answer.

- Polk Meisters. A band that was flown in from Germany. They are a big deal. They all wear the aforementioned chicken hats and have the traditional costumes. In addition to Polka, the can play the YMCA. Yeah.

- Apple Streudel. Yum. Turkey leg. Yum.

bad iphone pic at Oktoberfest

On Saturday, to continue Oktoberfest weekend, we ate lunch at Siegi's. Old Siegi started out with some kind of deer processing company and now he has a full Austrian restaurant. I only know this because Brandon's family takes their deer meat to him and he makes some delish summer sausage out of it.

This one was all Brandon's idea, I wanted to go to a bagel place. It turned out to be quite the experience!

I wasn't sure if I was going to like my "sandwich" (you'll get the need for the "" in a minute) so I wanted to order an appetizer as a back up to make sure I wouldn't go hungry. I chose the giant pretzel. By "giant" what they really meant was "size of a small planet." 

so good!

Now, for my "sandwich." The Siegi's Holzfeller. Shaved ham and swiss cheese between two.... potato pancakes... with honey drizzled on top. Weird? Yes. Good? Yes. It was hard to get my brain wrapped around it, it tasted like a sandwich, but it was definitely not the right texture for a sandwich. But overall, it was pretty good!

potato pancake sandwich, anyone?

Brandon got the Triple Decker, which had corned beef and I think salami, which was also a hit.

Overall, Siegi's was a winner!

After Siegi's, we visited a little secondhand furniture store we had heard about, it had lots of cool vintage things, and some crazy things. Like this...

The full version of the leg lamp from Christmas Story?

And it was rainy that day, so please ignore my frizzy, out of control hair.

And then.. studying and football for the rest of the weekend!

:)

I looooove Fall!

Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. Most of those reasons involve sweaters and boots. But I also love the cooler weather, pretty leaves and the coming of the Holidays. To celebrate this amazing Fall weekend (3 1/2 day weekend for me, and Brandon actually has a full weekend off - first time this month!). I decided to show my first seasonal tablescape! I also want to show off our beautiful new grown up dining room table, quite the step up from my previous Walmart dining room table. We love this thing, it's mid pub height with leather padded chairs and rustic detailing.

We got this really awsome bowl from Pottery Barn as a wedding present. I thought it was too pretty to put away in a cabinet. Also, it is very large, and does not fit in any of our cabinets.

I went to Target (where else?) and bought a box of Fall items - pumpkins, pine cones, some kind of pod things. I got two additional pumpkins at Hobby Lobby. And ta-da!

If it wasn't for spending a year living with two certain people who have an intense love of seasonal decor, this would never have happened. Just thinking about decorating the house for the holidays makes me miss living with them :)

One Year Ago...

Exactly once year ago today I was eating brunch in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. I remember I had chicken stuffed with local cheese and some wonderful tiramisu for dessert. I enjoyed the 360 degree view of Seattle and the bay. I was sitting there thinking that it was just, you know, one of those ordinary, run-of-the-mill days.

And then I saw our waiter coming to our table with a silver tray carrying... smoke? huh?

surprise!

yippeee!!

Brandon's favorite pic from the trip

my favorite!

so sparkly!

It was such a wonderful trip and even more wonderful moment. And things just keep getting better :)



PS. It was also exactly one year ago today that Sam Bradford had the season ending shoulder injury at the 2009 Cotton Bowl, thus ending his football career at OU. After you dance around and shout with joy over our engagement-iversary, I would like you all to take a moment of silence for Sammie and our 2009 season. Thanks.

My favorite thing right now..

Look at my super cute new return address stamp! I got it off Etsy, where all the cool things are. Even though we are only renting our house for a short while, I couldn't resist getting this!

I just received it in the mail yesterday and it was the perfect thing to make my sick day brighter. I love the damask border :)

Check out the Etsy shop I got it from here.

Surprise Day Off!

So this Wednesday I got an unexpected day off from my rotation. Yay! I decided to not waste the day away by just sleeping and watching TV, which is what an almost overwhelming part of me actually wanted to do.

I actually got some things done! Not really things as in "cross of my to-do list" necessarily, but more like real life, keep your sanity types of things that tend to get pushed aside.

I went to lunch with a long lost friend. I love catching up with my friends that I don't get to see very often!

I also had a successful Day Two of working out again! Day One consisted of going running AND biking. I am really hoping these waves of motivation to go work out keep on coming!

And one to cross off my to do list - I got my new drivers license with my official new name!

I feel like this week is basically over (I barely count "jeans Friday" as a real workday), and I am already looking forward to the weekend! Opening hockey game for the new OKC team with some of my all time favorite people, Race for the Cure alongside approx. 12,000 other people wearing pink, and Sunday Kayaking on the Oklahoma River with Momma!


PS. its day 12 in a row of not seeing Brandon :( and 8 days until I get to see him again!

OU/TX

I think my shirt today says it all.....

Thank you, Coach Switzer

Also, take a look at these cute little brownie bites I made for the watch party. They have a mini Reeses cups inside of them! Chocolate and peanut butter - the perfect combo. I got the recipe from, where else, the Pioneer Woman. Find it here.

However, if you make these - be warned - don't fill the cups to full! Or they will look like this -

And you will have to eat the weird tall ones yourself because they are not pretty enough to bring out in public.

I also made my Mom's classic bar cookies, always a safe bet.

Off to watch my Sooners!

Blue Dome Diner

Something that I think most people know about me is that I frequently choose restaurants based on Urbanspoon's rating. It started as a way to help my indecisiveness in choosing places to eat but now I love to stay up to date on all of the new and popular restaurants in OKC and Tulsa. One of the "districts" in Tulsa that I had seen during my browsings was called the Blue Dome District but I never knew where/what it was. So yesterday when we decided to go out to eat for breakfast and Brandon mentioned how people are always talking about this Blue Dome Diner place, I got really excited. Trying new local places is one of my favorite things!

The Blue Dome District is located near downtown Tulsa, which I assumed would be a shady area but it actually reminded me a lot of downtown OKC with all the cool lofts and old churches all over the place.

After MUCH deliberation, I decided to go with the 2 scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon and pancakes. It was a ton of food. Seriously, what we got could have fed like 7 people. However, I managed to eat almost all of the pancakes because they were some of the best ones I have ever had in my entire life!

You'll have to excuse the bad photos, I only had my iphone and it was really bright in the restaurant. 

So. Much. Food.

Best. Pancakes. Ever.

oh my gosh.

This place has a very casual diner feel. I swear there is some secret ingredient in the pancakes that makes them so good. However, when you go here, you will smell like a diner for the rest of the day. But, it's so worth it.

Our Stories

After we chose a venue and set the date for the wedding, Brandon and I set up our wedding website. I probably wouldn't have done it, but Brandon had read "his" and "hers" relationship stories on a friend's wedding website and he really wanted to get "his" side of the story out there. Apparently I had been trying to leave parts of it out or something. Or maybe I wasn't highlighting the correct parts. I don't know, but after we wrote everything and made the website, it basically just sat there. I forgot to put it on facebook, didn't really think to tell anyone about it, and neglected it. Since we both actually worked on these stories, I thought I would actually give you all a chance to read them :)

At Chateau Ste. Michelle, right after the proposal

Brandon's Version

DISCLAIMER: Jenny will disagree with the parts where she initially ignored me.

After completing my first year of Medical School, I decided to get a summer job in a Pediatric Rheumatology Lab on campus. Business as usual was the story until a couple weeks into the summer when I was introduced to the new undergraduate assistant, Jenny Stacey. Obviously she is beautiful, but at that time I never knew what was in store. We worked together the first half of the summer and my attraction grew daily. Unfortunately it seemed that no matter what I did, I hit a brick wall. Then the day came when I decided to start texting Jenny from under the table during a lab meeting. When started as normal conversation eventually grew into flirtexting. As the summer drew closer to an end, I finally got the courage to ask Jenny out. It was July 4th 2007. The reason I remember that date so well is because my friends and I had figured out how to sneak on top of the Presbyterian Foundation building to watch the downtown OKC fireworks. I just knew that I could win her over with this devilish task. I picked up my phone, made the call, and proceeded to get shutdown... again. Luckily giving up has never been a quality of mine. Shortly before having to leave the lab and head back to class, I made one last “Hail Mary” effort. If I would have known this whole time that it would only take a round of putt-putt golf at Celebration Station to steal her heart, I may have used that card sooner. If I recall we were somewhere on the back nine, between the clown and the windmill, when I bet her for a kiss. It was one of those win-win, “I make it you kiss me, you make it I kiss you” deals. She went for it and I don’t remember who make the shot but I for sure won the bet. We finished the night in true high roller style, which is with Grape Slushies from Sonic. From then on the best words I can use to describe our relationship is a “beautiful mess”. Jenny stood by me when I was grouchy studying for boards, grouchy from sleep deprivation on General Surgery, grouchy trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, and just plain grouchy. Unconditional love is what she gave me and I will always try my best to give it in return. At the beginning of 4th year, we are required to do away rotations to get a feel for other hospitals than our own. I decided to spend my month in Corpus Christi, TX. It was a good experience. I learned a lot about medicine, but the most import thing I learned that month was that I could not imagine spending another day of my life apart from Jenny. After 30 days in South Texas, I was making the 11-hour drive home when I called Jenny’s best friend PJ to tell her that I was ready to make the most important purchase of my life, her engagement ring. Next thing I knew, PJ was crying in the middle of Target. The ring search was initially meant to begin slowly from August until December when I planned on proposing during Christmas. But the more I thought about Marrying Jenny, the more excited I got and I had a ring in my possession by the end of August. I sat on the ring for a few months while trying to figure out the perfect proposal idea. After having a talk with Jenny about how much she wanted to visit the North West, I knew where I would do it. On top of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. On October 17th 2009, with Sam Bradford on the bench injured and OU getting beat by Texas, from the top of the Space Needle cafe, I told Jenny exactly how I felt and asked if she would spend the rest of her life with me. She does not remember any of this happening, but she did say yes. I love Jenny with all my heart. To me she is so beautiful that she makes flowers jealous and sunsets insecure. I am happy to start this new chapter with her and I am happy to share it will all my friends and family.

___________________________________________________________

Jenny's Version

So Brandon and I do disagree slightly on the details of how we first began dating. I don’t think there was as much ignoring (on my part) and getting shut down (on his part) as he remembers. He also remembers putt-putt as being our first date but I’m pretty certain it was a drive-in movie in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Oh well, I’ll let him have that one. I think he got the rest of the story pretty accurately. But maybe he wasn’t quite as grouchy as he made himself out to be. I think he also forgot to talk about all of my grouchy days but if he didn’t go into it then neither will I…. I had mentioned several times over the years that I wanted to visit Seattle, Washington. My Mom is from there and I grew up playing Seattlopoly with my cousins at Holidays so I’ve always wanted to visit the major landmarks like Pike Place and the Space Needle that my shoe (or ski?) always seemed to land on during these games. Brandon originally brought up the idea of taking a little trip over one of my rare three day weekend from school. This 3 day weekend just happened to be OU/TX weekend and I thought it was a little strange (well, a lot strange) that he was willingly missing the game but I didn’t think too much of it because I was so freakin excited! As a person who likes to plan things, it took me about two days to have multiple activities and sight seeing adventures planned out for us. The one thing that Brandon insisted on from the very beginning was that we should have lunch at the revolving restaurant on the Space Needle. And who am I to turn down a good view and good food? I thought it was a great idea. When we finally got to the Space Needle on October 17th, I was just really excited about going to such a landmark, even though it was rainy and cloudy and I never did see that darn Mt. Rainier. We had a lovely three-course meal and a lovely time looking out over the beautiful city of Seattle. I remember the dessert being sooo yummy but I was too full to finish it all. After the waiter cleared our plates I saw him carrying something on a platter towards our table. I thought, another dessert? I don’t think I can handle it! But as he came closer, I saw that the silver platter was covered in clouds of… dry ice? Yep. As the smoke started clearing, I got confused/shocked/suddenly overwhelmed. There was a sparkly shiny thing sitting on a pedestal. I turned to Brandon. He said “Jenny……” Okay, so here is another part that Brandon is right about. I really can’t remember what exactly he said when he proposed. But I’m pretty sure he threw in an “I love you” and a “Will you marry me?” in there at some point. I do, however, remember saying YES! Or maybe I skipped that step and went for the agreement kiss. At any rate, I definitely agreed. So here we are! Even though we have had to deal with completely different schedules, different schools, different towns and lots of uncertainty in our career/school choices, we have always supported each other and wanted what was best for the other person. I think that is what makes loving him so easy. There is no question that he just wants what’s best for me and for us. I am excited to continue on with our adventures of marriage, finishing school, starting careers and finding out everything life has in store for us!

My favorite thing right now..

I want a trench coat soooo badly! It's the perfect time of year for one and every fall I say that I have to have one. I think that this might be the year! I love the classic look of the tortoise shell buttons on this one..

First of the Wedding Photos!

I am so beyond excited! We finally got to see our professional wedding pictures. Many thanks to the amazingly wonderful and www.krisboevers.com/blogtalented Kris Boevers! See her highlights of our wedding on her blog :) www.krisboevers.com/blog

This is one of my absolute favorites!

Daily Habit

So on my daily drive to Hinton, the Starbucks in Yukon calls my name almost daily. Screams my name. If I caved and actually bought it everyday then I wouldn't be able to afford the gas it takes drive to Hinton 5 days a week. Speaking of gas, did you know that I have to fill up every 2 days? I'm interested to see how much $$$ I am going to spend on gas over the next two months. What a waste of shopping money. But back to the coffee.. I'm not going to tell you how much I spend on one cup, or in one week for that matter, because I am embarrassed. 

Starbucks guy through the microphone: Hi! What can I get for you today?

Me: Yeah Hi, can I have a TripleVenti-nonfat3pumpextrahotpumpkinspicelatte.

Starbucks guy: Ummm, can you repeat that?

Deliciousness. With a smiley face. 

What more could you want?

Triple - because I have an addiction to caffeine and one more shot of expresso makes me happy

Venti - see above

Nonfat - because that's an extra 100 Calories I don't need

3 pump - because 5 is too many

Extra hot - so I can take my time enjoying it. and so it lasts all the way to Hinton

Pumpkin spice - because 'tis the season

I am only one checkbox away from having the most high maintenance Starbucks order possible. Its a good think decaf coffee has no purpose in my life. 

I hope you enjoy your morning coffee as much as I enjoy mine :)

Lovies!

Boomer Sooner!

So proud to be a Sooner after yesterday! We had so much fun at the game. Tailgating with PJ and her crew, sweating our faces off at the game, back to tailgating and then BBQ with the Soonermen and family. 

I'm really hoping we can go to at least one more game this year, hopefully a cold weather one! Also, I'm hoping to graduate from student seats to regular seats but I will take whatever tickets are offered to me :)

YAY football!

BOOMER SOONER!

Tulsa Zoo!

On Labor Day weekend, Brandon and I decided to check out the Tulsa Zoo! Other than the 5 million small children running around with the mothers chasing after them and dragging their strollers along behind it was an awsome time! The Tulsa Zoo is a little smaller than the one in OKC, we managed to look at  all the exhibits in about 2 hours but its still a fun thing to do if you are out and about on a nice day in Tulsa. Even though Brandon had to go in to work that evening and work all night he was still went with me :)

Just got to the Zoo and we're not all hot and sweaty yet!

Bald Eagle up close!

LOVE the zebras!! They are much smaller than you think they should be.

Pretty pink (actually, orange-y) Flamingos!

And the one thing the Tulsa Zoo has but the Oklahoma City Zoo doesn't... PENGUINS!

I loved the penguins, but if I were a penguin I would be very upset about being in the Oklahoma outdoors.. The big cats were hiding so we didn't get to see them but that is nothing new because I don't think I have EVER seen the big cats out and about at any zoo, they are always tucked away in their hidey-holes. So that's one more thing to do in Tulsa that I can cross off my "Things I Want To Do List." It was a great way to spend the last day of my week off in Tulsa!

:)

It's football time in OKLAHOMA!!

Since this is maybe the second home game in three years that I've missed I'm sort of bummed about missing the game today. But I am so unbelievably excited that OU football in finally here! Football season means cooler weather, tailgate parties, good times with friends and cheering on the Sooners!

BOOMER SOONER!

"Honeymoon"

After the wedding, Brandon and I couldn’t go on a “real” honeymoon because of my ridiculous and constantly changing schedule. So we honeymooned in Bricktown OKC and stayed at the Skirvin for three days!

Brandon surprised me by making secret dinner reservations for the two nights after the wedding. The first night was dinner at Cheevers! I've been wanting to eat there for the longest time so I was super excited. The food was delicious and I loved the atmosphere of the place! (sidenote: if you go, get whatever is on special, you won't be disapointed)

Since this was the night after the wedding,my hair  was still in my wedding updo. Safe to say that I had the fanciest hair at Cheevers that night!

Even though we had approx. 5 pounds of wedding cake back at the Skirvin, we still couldn't pass up creme brulee!

Sunday, I spent most of the day studying for my big test while Brandon ran errands, played with guns at H&H etc. Romantic, right?

Tired of studying!

Okay, I actually spent a lot of time staring at my pretty completed ring :)

Sunday night we went to Red Prime. So yummy!!!

We also went to BTT (big truck tacos) for lunch one day.

And finally, for lunch on our last day we went to Flatire Burgers in Edmond. Try their sweet potato fries!

This was me trying to take a pic of both of us but I think by this point he had had enough of the honeymoon pictures :)

So there you go! Not the honeymoon most girls dream of, but we were married and so I loved it!