Halloween

We had a party to go to for Halloween this year.  I'm not one to spend a lot of money on a costume from the store or online.  I'd much rather think of something that I can throw together at my house or that I can DIY super quickly and for not much money.

After much deliberation, we came  up with this costume.  We were a "To Do List".

It took us the afternoon of the party to make it and cost $20.  My mom graciously sewed the silver and pink fabric to my shirt to make it look like an authentic pencil.  We used a party hat for the top of the pencil and covered it with brown paper and painted the tip of it.  Stephen's costume was just some cardboard for the backing and posterboard.  He drew lines on it to make it look like notebook paper and embellished it with a pipe cleaner for the spiral bound look.  We secured the whole thing with ribbon and velcro so he could wear it.  It was quite the hit at the party!

My mom borrowed the pencil costume for work, too.

My office also dressed up for Halloween and it was my idea that we all dress as Mall Walkers.  It actually kinda ironic because our agency is inside an old mall and there really are mall walkers at the mall who walk it at all times of the day and during lunch. We took the costume contest a step further and decorated our unit like a Mall.

I painted the big signs at my house.  The four corners of our unit were labled Sears, Dillards, Macy's and JCP.  We were having a luncheon that day as well so we had to label that area the Food Court.  My coworker Glenda made all the shop signs on the computer and we reinforced them with dowel rods so they could be seen above our cubes.  It was a huge it with people that walked by, but we didn't win the contest.  Another unit dressed up as the 101 Dalamations, complete with Cruella and her two sidekicks.  It was adorable.

More Soccer games and famly time

After the USA soccer game, everyone headed to the Reddings to stay the night.  It's a good thing they have a big house because there were 7 kids and 9 adults staying the night.

The next morning we spent at the local soccer fields watching Mary Ann and Rose in their soccer games.  Both teams were quite good.

This is Mary Ann's team.

In between games we all had hot chocolate

 All the kids wrestled with Stephen.  Shortly after I took this picture I went and saved him.

  Brian and Molly had a good time chasing eachother and passing the soccer ball.  I caught this candid photo of them and I absolutly love it.

After the games, we had some time to clean up at the house and watch some baseball on tv.  Then we went to church and afterwards we all ate at Oklahoma Joes, a bbq place.  It was pretty good.  And no, there is no Oklahoma Joes in the state of Oklahoma.  Ironic.

Brian, Stephen and I hung out for a while with family after dinner and then we headed to Kansas City to check into our hotel.  Once to our room I immediatly could smell that we had been given a smoking room even though my online reservation clearly said non-smoking.  We all went back downstairs and asked if we could be moved.  Unfortunely, because of the home NFL game that same weekend, the hotel was completely booked.  So we had to just deal with it for the night.  I don't know about Brian, but Stephen and I both woke up with headaches and feeling nauseous and despite keeping out luggage closed, it all smelled of smoke.  On the bright side though, we did get moved to a non-smoking room later that day and we had the night comped for us and we got extra tickets for managers special (drinks and snacks every night from 5:30-7, one of the best perks to Embassey Suites!!)

After taking Brian to the airport that morning, Stephen and I spent the afternoon having lunch and walking around shopping in the Country Club Plaza.  It's a pretty cool place, but a lot of it was way too nice and places I'd never buy anything in.  I did get a nice shirt at H&M and Stephen bought himself some shaving stuff, like the oil, foam and the brush.  It's pretty manly.  We also bought some Christmas gifts so I can't talk about that.

 I did step foot in this store and immediatly felt out of place becuase no one acknowledged me, nothing had a price tag and I wasn't wearing high heals, black, or fur, nor did I have long, fake blond hair or work done.  Anyway, I can at least say I've been to one of his stores, lol.

On Monday, we definitely took of advantage of being on vacation and not having anything planned for that day.  It was cold and rainy too, so it was perfect to sleep in and watch a tv movie.  We did leave the hotel and venture to the power and light district, but it's lame on a Monday afternoon, and it was a federal holiday.  I think the place is probably pretty happening on the weekends though.  They had some great little outdoor venues.   

However, we did find a bowling alley and it was $3 for a game!!!  So we played a few games and ate a bit of food.  Of course, we made it back in time for Managers Special at the hotel becuase that can't be missed.  We ate some dinner at a nice Italian place in the Plaza and walked around the corner and saw Gravity at the plaza theater.

 Our weekend vacation was pretty great.  I know about a year ago we had wanted to go someone tropical, but KC was pretty fun for the weekend and some time away from home.

USA vs Jamaica

The day after Stephen finished school we headed off to Kansas City to watch the US Men's national team play Jamaica.  It was a World Cup qualifier, except that we had already qualifed for the World Cup.

Buying tickets for this game as an event all on its own! We were coordinating on the phone between three different states!  It was crazy, but we ended up with really good seats and we had 8 all together, so it worked out.

Here is all the boys showing their USA pride.  Of course mine has to look the goofest.

 We all had little American flags to wave around, but across most of the stadium much larger American flags were randomly placed about.  It was really cool to see them all waving.

                                      

 Here is Sporting Park. 

This is the team doing their victory lap.

My favorite part of the whole game was when we chanted "I believe that we will win!" And we did, the score was 2-0.

9 things we're excited about once Stephen is done with school.

1. I'll stop being worried that there is not enough time in the dayfor him to get his homework done

2. Stephen will be quite happy that I'll stop worrying and nagging (in my most nicest and politely loving way possible)

3. I'll let Stephen do some of the chores.  Okay, he might not be that exctied about that.

4. We can catch up on some Netflix shows.

5. We can dedicate the weekends to our kitchen remodel!

6. We can do whatever we want on whatever night of the week we want.

7. We can have dinner together more often.

8. We can go on walks.

9.  Stephen won't have to study or write anymore papers.

Our Anniversary Weekend...Day 2

As you should always do when you are staying in a hotel and you have no real concrete plans, you should sleep in and order room service!

We shared the Flint Breakfast and had some complimentary coffee which they bring to you on a tray in it's own fancy pitcher with creamer on the side.  I felt like I was living the life.  It was such a nice cool morning and early afternoon so it was perfect for walking around dowtown. We ventured to check out some little shops that I drive by all the time, but never go to becuase I'm either just in downtown to go to a Thunder game, or I'm leaving downtown after a day of work.  It's really sad, but sometimes I just can't be bothered to drive all the way to OKC on any other Saturday just to see what these shops are.  So being that our weekend getaway was in OKC, it was the perfect opportunity to do just that.

We checked out the Bow & Arrow Boutique which actually had some cute tops and stuff for affordable prices, but still too much that I'd like to pay.  Then we went to Retrofit (I think that was the name).  She takes vintage furniture and gives it a new life with a paint job and hip modern fabric.  Her daughter does ...interesting art.  They both have their own little studio spaces in the back which I found to be pretty cool.  Next we went to the three shops on 9th street.  Two of them were just little clothing stores with handmade things and cool trinkets.  The third store, Perchd which has always caught my eye since it first appeared, was super cute and sold ikea like, swedish modernish, trickets of sorts. Please watch this video to see what it looks like and you'll see what I mean.  

Next, we went to lunch at The Mule in the Plaza District.  They serve gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.  What could be better than that!  I had the caprese and Stephen had the macaroni pony.  That's bbq pork with mac cheese together on a sandwich.  It's a lot of food.

After lunch we had the afternoon to kill so we went to an antique shop (Verdigris Antiques) I drive by alot to see what treasures were inside there.  And it was way cool!!!  We were really temped to buy this big bookshelf with wrought iron designs on the side to use as a make shift china cabinet/buffet.  But decided it was not quite right for what we need and too impulsey.  It's only $995 and it's really pretty!  I should still get it just because and hope to use it in some other house years from now!  

This store had all kinds of things!  Glass baby bottles, gas station numbers, old corbals, glove molds, books, stamps, baseball gloves, you name it, they had it!  The shop was pretty big so it took us a while to walk through and afterward we needed a nap!  We went back to the hotel to watch football, nap and veg before our night out.

I love Groupon.  It totally made our anniversary dinner at Boulevard Steakhouse taste a little sweeter.  Dinner was absolutely delicious like always. I say that like I've been there tons.  Haha, this was my second time.  It's a restaurant that you save for the upmost of special occasions.  And when it's your anniversary you get free dessert!  Also, as a side note, we must have been told "Happy Anniversary" at least 12 times, it was a little ridiculous, but sweet.

We drove back to downtown with full bellies and walked to the Civic Center to see Wicked!!!!!!  I'd also like to note that I had the forethought to bring my flips flops to walk in and then put my heels on when we got the the Civic Center.  I'm so smart.

These are our "I'm so excited and the show is about the start" faces.   Wicked was really good and funny.  I really like going to the Civic Center, getting dressed up and watching musicals, etc.  I feell so culturized.

The second best thing about your tickets are that you get a coupon on the back!  This one was for Flint, the restauant at our hotel.  How convienent for us!  So on Sunday (our actual anniversary), we checked out of the hotel and had a lovely breakfast on their patio.   Please don't judge, we just couldn't resist trying more than one thing on the menu.  It was all super good and we didn't eat again until dinner.

Even though our weekend in the city was for a special occasion, I would highly suggest that wherever you are, if you just need some time away from the every day ins and outs of work, chores, to do lists, etc, consider spending part of your weekend exploring your city.  I think you'll really enjoy yourself.

To conclude,  it was a really great, relaxing weeekend with my sweet husband celebrating our marriage and toasting to many more years.   :-)

Our Anniversay Weekend...Day 1

This weekend Stephen and I celebrated 6 years of marriage.  September 15th was our wedding day.  I'm so glad we got married in the fall...er late summer I guess.

Anyway, we celebrated in style right here in our very own backyard, Oklahoma City.  It was the most gorgeous weekend and I seriously felt like I was on vacation somewhere else.

Looking through my pictures, it looks like all we did was eat!  But we really did do some other cool things that I'll just have to tell you about.  After work on Friday, we came home and packed clothes for the weekend.  We checked into the wonderful historic Colcord hotel and took the elevator to the 11th floor.  We walked in to this:

At first I was sure this was the suite, or we got upgraded or something.  But it wasn't a suite, just a normal room.  Okay, it was the corner room which is not quite a "normal" room.  But whatever, it was REALLY nice.

So after we put our stuff down, we headed back out to Live on the Plaza.  It's this little one block of the Plaza District with little artsy shops and weird hipster people mixed with small little bands and food trucks that culminate "Live on the Plaza" once a month!  We had never been so we thought, why not go!  It really is a family affair which surprised me.  I saw families there, groups of young kids walking around, couples, and of course some serious hipster folk...of all ages.  By now it was 8pm and I was starving so my first mission was to find something to eat.  We wanted to eat at "The Mule", a new gourmet grilled cheese place, but it was way too popular.  So we checked out the food trucks and decided on "Heo's Kitchen".  We got the Koreon and Vietnemese Taco, eggrolls and kabob to split.

This was very tasty, but very spicy!  My lips were so red and I felt like I was breathing fire!  So my next mission was to put the fire out.  And what better way to that but with some dessert from Pie Junkie.  Yes, they serve pie and milk.  Exactly what I needed.  I got the chocolate peanut butter pie and Stephen had the turtle pie and we both had some milk.  Both were declious and I felt so much better. A special note to my sister-in-law Liesel, they offer HappyPi hour, Tuesday through Friday, from 6:00-7:00 p.m. and slices cost only $3.14 during that time.  Isn't that just super awesome!

After dessert we walked around to some of the most interesting shops.  We had a winarita from Urban Wineworks.  I should go back and buy some wine from them.  All the shops are locally owned and have handmade art, clothes, jewelry etc.  But some of the shops collect old vintage stuff and sell it.   I was so tempted to buy some of the dishes from the 50's, or a skirt from the 70's.  There was a shop called Bad Granny's Baazar. It was like a super awesome thiftstore and an absolute haven if you are a hipster.  I just found it cool and amusing.   These pictures are not from Bad Granny's, but some other little vintage furniture shop.

 

After walking around for a while we were tired, went back to the hotel, watched Sportscenter and went to bed.

Stayed tuned for Day 2

Labor Day Weekend

Everyone will soon start posting exciting tales of what they did this weekend so I thought I'd post what we need.

Laid sod.
Watered sod.
Bought mums.
Planted mums.
Mowed Grass.
Had ice cream.
Cooked a roast.
Laundry/Tidy the house
Watched Clueless....classic
Watched View from the Top...terrible movie by the way.

Watched OSU football
Watched the documentary "Tabloid".  It was ... interesting.

Took 3 naps.
Did a little shopping at Target.
Went to church.
Posted the 58 pavers for FREE on craiglist.  They were gone in 20 minutes.
Had a fever of 99.6 all weekend.  Just enough to make you feel a little off your game.  I think Stephen and I either both got a little cold bug or allergy season is upon our household.

Overall, pretty good 3 day weekend in my book.  How long until the next one?

Curb Appeal

Of all the upgrades we have done to our house so far, they have all been because it needed to be done.

Scrape off the popcorn ceiling...need.

Upgrade both bathrooms...defintely a need.

Upgrade lighting in the kitchen....need.

New roof...need.

Tear our shed and re-sod....need.

I would even say getting the solatubes put in was a need becuase it was always so dark in our living area.

But this upgrade we just did was a total and complete impulse.  An impluse that I thought about for a very long time.  I saw other houses with this in their front yard and loved the clean, crisp look of it.  I saw their ad in the little HomeMag magazine we randomly get sometimes.

So I finally decided to get a quote in June.  I guess it's a little pricey at $10 a foot, but we didn't have too much to do so it wasn't going to break the bank.  The company we used was busy this summer and the large amount of rain put him behind, but we finally had a our concrete curb edging put in this week and I am in love.

The only thing that's a bummer about it is that the edging in the front yard is almost a foot away from where the original garden edge was.  I have no idea why or how that happened. So we have some filling in to do.  We also have to extend our little rock paths that we made years ago so they will extend out to the new edge.

So yea...I thought all our outdoors projects would be done, but this makes one more.  But despite the extra work it makes for us, I still love the edging!!!

The grass will eventually grow back in.  They cut it way back do you won't have to edge or mow right next to the curbing and potentially damage it.

Laying Sod

So we ordered sod and laid it out yesterday and today.

Please pray that we can keep it alive and that our water bill isn't too too high.

I put it all in my car and I was definitely low riding!  I'm really glad I had a tarp to minimize the dirt mess.  Any volunteers to vacuum out my car, because there is dirt everywhere?

I think it's going to look really nice once it fills in and greens up a bit.  We laid a bit of fescue along the house because it really does stay in the shade the whole time.  The rest of it is bermuda.

We laid bermuda all around the garden too and that looks really nice and clean compared to the washed away dirt and scraggly grass between the stones.

Also, it's finally blistering hot so I have some tomatoes growing!

3 Great Ideas

With the good summer outdoor weather winding down here over the next few weeks, we very impromptly decided to take this past weekend and tackle....er mostly finish the eye sore on one side of our house.  You may rememember, there used to be a shed here that was covered in vines and was completely falling apart.  Some time ago, we took it down, and jackhammmered the 5" thick slab it was on.  Some people suggested we keep the slab and just put a new shed on it.  Honestly, that would have been fantastic, but it was creating some serious blockage for water drainage and we always had huge puddles on both sides of the slab.

Okay so after we took away the majority of the big blocks of concrete, we were left with this.

Yes, that was last year before a bunch of grass grew into it on one side.  This was on the side of the house that we don't use, so natuarally we ignored this for a long time becuase we didn't want to deal with it.  All those rocks had to be sifted out of the dirt, it had to be leveled, etc. So before doing this project we remodeled our bathroom and started on the kitchen, got new furniture, went on vacation.  Basically anything to avoid doing this.  But like I said, the good weather is winding down so I thought " okay seriously this is the last outdoor project we have to tackle, and we have to do it now.  The kitchen can wait a bit longer becuase it's all inside and we can do that when it's 30 degrees out."

A few weeks ago, I started sifting the rocks by myself and got about half done.  It was HARD work.  Then we got a lot of rain and it's really really hard to sift rocks with even semi wet dirt so the project was put on hold.  Now the weatherman have predicted no rain for about 2 weeks.  AWESOME TIMING!!!!

Great idea #1 goes to Stephen for suggesting we put up the canopy while we work so we were always in the shade.

Once our trashcan was too heavy to put any more rocks and dirt into it, Good idea #2 I think goes to myself.  I don't have a picture of this, but we used our tarp to pile the rocks onto and then just dragged it to our back porch.  We will then put the rocks into the trashcan every week until they are gone.

We also had to take out the rest of the fence that you see there and another small post that you can't see. Stephen started digging and discovered the concrete was of massive size.

Great idea #3 goes to the long steel rod that helped to pry these out of the ground.  We will probably use it once more for the fence on the other side of the yard and then it will proably collect dust in the garage for a long time.  Still worth it though.

So after two full days of sifting rocks, moving dirt around and leveling the area we are left with this. Even with no grass it looks AWESOME!!!  I'm loving the openess of no fence, so putting one back in is not on the priority list.  We'll be buying sod this week and laying it this coming weekend.  Then watering the heck out of it so it will establish itself and hopefully NOT die over the winter because that would be a major buzz kill.

 Along with the above project, we also decided to take out the 12x12 concrete stones we had all around the garden as a walking path.  The original plan had been to put them in, then have ground cover planted and it would fill in around the path and it would just be lovely and pretty.  Well I tried twice to plant something and they just died.  Then over time, I gave up on weeding the grass out and just let it grown between the stones. Well on the side by the fence, nothing grew and so the dirt just kept washing away.

The first thought was to take out the stones, then put a decorative border around the garden and fill it in with pebble rocks.  I did the math and it was just going to be too expensive.  So then the next plan was to just take them out, put some sod down where needed and let the grass grow.  I promised Stephen that I would maintain it, edge it and it wouldn't get out of control.

Now I have 58 of these on my back porch.  I plan to list them on craigsist as free and put them on the driveway and pray they are all taken within a week.

Now we really do have a pile of debris to deal with on the back porch between the kitchen demo (drywall, wood), fencing, bricks, 2 huge pieces of concrete, and a pile of rocks and grass.  We had first thought we would get a Bagster.  It's a 3 cubic foot rectanglar bag that would can put all this stuff in and leave it on your driveway and Waste Management will come pick it up for you.  Easy peasy.  Well the bag alone costs $30 and then the pick up fee for our area is $115.  As nice as it would be have it all done and gone I just couldn't jusify paying $145 to throw away trash.  Option 2 is the get a trailer and take it to the dump, or just put this all in our trashcan little by little over the next couple of weeks.  Ugh.