Fun times in T-Town

NOTE: Pictures are not necessarily in the order in which I uploaded them... maybe some of my "high-tech" friends in Tulsa can help me with this problem of mine when I go home... (hint hint Annie...)

So we had a lot of fun baking goodies the night before Thanksgiving. Here is a picture of Syrina helping to clean out the pan that the fudge was in... she somewhat looks guilty!

McKenzie was the official fudgemaker and boy did she do a GREAT job!!!! She measured and poured the ingredients into the pan, and even managed to stir the concoction from the start until there was only 4 minutes left to boil! Then after that, she wanted to stir it all together with the chocolate chips and marshmallows... she had some difficulties stirring on the countertop so we moved the bowl to the floor as seen here...

Here McKenzie is riding a horse for her very first time! I offered to ride double with her, but she did not want any part of that idea!!! She is definitely a cowgirl! Now if only we could convince her papa that she REALLY NEEDS a horse out at his house!!!!

AnaRae and Kenzie Ann FINALLY got to play together after asking to play for the last two months!!! These two girls are like two peas in a pod! It is so funny to watch them together- Kenzie is usually quiet and reserved and Ana is often a little bossy... but Kenzie will stand up to Ana and tell her NO and Ana will (most of the time) compromise!

Finally, Syrina and Kenzie eating the little remanents of fudge that were left in the pan.

Just remember... I'll be home for Christmas... You can count on me... I can't wait to see my girls (all of them!!!!) and even the random boys in my life that are in T-Town... I just hope that I can manage to find the time to see all the cousins- there is a new baby in the family that I haven't met yet!!!

Holiday season

Well I survived the Thanksgiving break at home with my parents, barely... we had a good week until my uncle decided to be a big meanie and not let me have the scrapbook I made of my grandma for her birthday last year... long story...

Anyway... was incredibly busy all week so I didn't get to do any of the fun things that I wanted to do like drive out to SS to see the M parents... and possibly their kids! I did get to see my nieces for the entire week and have a lot of quality time with them!

My princess Kenzie lost her THIRD tooth on Tuesday before Thanksgiving... she already has two teeth growing back!!! Then we went out to Claremore to ride horses with "my other mom". This was the first time for either of my nieces to ride a horse! I will upload pictures later.

I wanted to remind everyone how blessed I feel to have each of you in my life in some shape or form. I know that we may not always be together, but when we are, it seems like we have never been apart! You are the greatest friends I could have ever asked for!!!!

Well I am off to dinner! Woohoo!!!! I miss you all and hope to see all my BTW buddies in December!

Wanna know a cure for a broken heart?

I understand that ice cream can cure a broken heart... at least that is the impression that I got from TPD's HOTTEST this weekend when I saw him for dinner... (yeah, I finally managed to rope him down long enough to actually eat dinner with me and NOT stand me up... don't be jealous R,Q, & B's M&D) so... back to my story... this incredibly funny (and hot) TPD officer/friend of mine has a deep crush on my littlest niece... what's not to love? She is precious, has gorgeous, long blonde hair, the deepest blue eyes and an adorable toothless smile!!!! So this week, said TPD officer/friend wanted to see my little princess...so I mention to my princess that the TPD officer/friend wanted to talk to her on the phone, and asked her if he called if she would talk to him. Being that she was in a chipper mood, she agreed that she would talk to him and not play bashful... then I asked her if he met her and Papa somewhere if she would talk to him and take a picture with him... the response of my totally smart 5 1/2 year old niece... "Well he's gotta show up first..." -- All I can say is "WOW!" I take it that this TPD officer has stood her up on a few dates as well!!!! (Love ya IDA...) So the plans were made for my princess to meet up with the hot TPD officer on Sunday for ice cream. Boy was Mr. Officer excited about the date!!!! (I will have to publish the pictures...) Poor thing, worked all night (probably talked to his real girlfriend on the phone when he wasn't working) then set his alarm just so he could get up to meet my princess when she decided that she didn't want to go meet him. (can anyone say, "touche")... But she agreed to have breakfast with him the next morning...

Fast forward now to this morning... I am sure that the thought of getting to see my princess is what kept Mr. Officer going all night long... (wink wink) He gets to Braum's to meet my dad and my princess this morning and what does she do??? She plays shy and bashful... I think it is because he was in uniform, but what do I know about my niece? Apparently she did flirt with him a little and flash a few irresistable smiles his way while he ate breakfast. Once dad put my girl in her car seat in the truck she looks over and says to my dad, "Papa... look there's a cop in Braum's..." My dad in turn says, "No princess that is your friend... who happens to be a cop..." And my princess says back, "No Papa, he isn't a cop, that is a cop..." (pointing at his car...)

So basically... poor TPD officer/friend (aka Mr. Officer since we are operating on anynominity here) is no longer a police officer in her eyes... especially since he hasn't been on COPS... you gotta be on COPS to be a REAL police officer...

So Mr. Officer/friend, my question to you is this: did the ice cream help to cure your broken heart after being stood up by the 5 year old???

I hope that everyone knows that I love Mr. Officer/friend very much and I am very proud to know that he is doing an awesome job of keeping Tulsa's streets safe! (Even if he is lucky that there isn't a height and weight limit to be on the job and sometimes he might resemble Barney Fife in full uniform...) And make sure that if you are ever in a gunfight with said TPD officer to surrender if he has his pistol out, you don't have a chance... but if he grabs his shotgun... ah... don't worry... :) (love you my dear!!!!!)

Memories of Grandma

As you can see, my grandma was a big supporter of my education. She was just as proud of me on my (last) graduation day as my parents!

Yesterday I decided that I was going to make chicken noodle soup... so while at the store, I thought do I have everything I need... automatically, I picked up my phone and started to choose MaAlan out of my phone book to call... wait, can't do that... so I called my momma instead, who was at MaAlan's house. So today, I am making homemade chicken noodle soup using the same recipe that my grandma taught me and praying that it turns out as good as her soup! There are a lot of things that my grandma had left to teach me. One of those things was how to fry chicken. My grandma made the BEST fried chicken around! As a child, we woul dhave fried chicken and mashed potatoes with her special green beans for dinner every Saturday night. Boy was that good! I have tried to fry chicken, once... I think during the cooking process I called my grandma at least 4 times to make sure I was doing everything correctly!

Something else that I didn't get to fully learn from my grandma: how to get stains out of clothing. That woman could get ANY stain out of clothes, regardless if it had set in or been washed/dried already! She was a pro at getting the stains out and before we were allowed to pick up the item, she woudl wash it and have it ironed and hanging in the dining room waiting for us.

I have a lot left to learn, and I was counting on my grandma to teach me a lot of stuff. I guess I am on my own now to figure out the perfect recipe for fried chicken, and how to make real gravy (from scratch)... at least I learned how to make her scotcharoos!!!!

In memory of Grandma Alan

I wanted to take a moment to remember my precious and dear Grandma Alan. She was a very wonderful and special lady in my life. I valued all of the time that I was blessed to have with her. She not only was my grandma, she was my friend, a confident, my ally, and my partner in crime... we could spend the afternoon out shopping or at home sewing and have a good time. She passed away peacefully in her sleep the night of Oct. 5, 2006 and was found Friday Oct. 6. I rushed home to be with my family that evening after getting the news.

This week was definitely a long week for me and my family, but we muddled through each day with a smile on our faces. I know that my grandma is in heaven looking down on me and smiling each day of my life. I am sad that she is no longer here with me to talk to in the evenings, go shopping with when I am home, to discuss the newest Nora Roberts books, to help me finish my quilts... but she is in heaven with her other family and friends and I am sure that she is busy sewing, and ironing and babysitting already!

Please continue to keep my family in your prayers. Thanks so much.

I will SURVIVE...

No wait... that isn't the appropriate song for me... hmmm... For all of you that are wondering if I am being honest about how I have been affected by the breakup of mine and Trevor's relationship, please know that I am being as honest as I can be when I say that I am fine. We have been having some issues for a while now and unfortunately it had to come to this. I saw what was happening thanks to the wonderful counseling by one of Tulsa's hottest and finest police officers, as well as some other close friends. It was just a matter of time before Trevor realized and actually admitted to himself what was going on. Once that happened, we had a wonderful conversation, and have moved on. We are still roomates, getting along as roomates should. We sorta date, as we still go out with some of our mutual friends that are couples and we hang out with some of the same people. (Kinda hard not to hang out with the same people when we have been together for 4 years...)

On a different note... I am branching out... trying out the dating scene... have met some interesting people... not interested in falling in love or anything serious by any means... just hanging out, having fun, and being friends. So I am sorta dating a (soon to be former) Marine who is a little younger than me, but is really nice and really sweet. Please note the SORTA... we are mainly hanging out, having fun and being friends... just going out on dates in between all that!

As far as other potential suitors are involved... if any of you know of a specific Pi Kappa Alpha alumni member from TU that still lives in Tulsa... is something like 6'6" with an athletic body to go with the height... and drop dead gorgeous BLUE eyes that will make your knees buckle... who works for what used to be Hope Lumber, but was bought out... let him know that I would love to go on that date that we never got to go on 5 years ago...

Interesting Month...

September has been a very interesting month... indeed... interesting is a good adjective...

The month starts with my lunch with Bryan and Audra (whom I adore) and their beautiful daughter Hope (pictured on my blog...) in which after our lunch I am asked the very direct question of, "How long are you going to go on like this..." or something to that effect, referring to the limbo that my relationship with Trevor... I answered them with I wanted to talk to him and blah blah blah... they were starting to sound like my dear friend, the hot TPD officer... hmmm... think that there might be a chance that they had talked with him...

Well, Trevor's birthday rolls around... we have dinner when he got home from work... we go to bed and we are laughing and talking (kinda a shock since we haven't had that much fun in a while) when he brings up that we needed to talk but that he doesn't want to ruin my night... hmmm... wonder what the topic is... so we talk, have a NICE, LONG, open, and honest talk about our relationship... we mutually decide that it isn't working and that there were things that we should have done a long time ago to repair a lot of different things, but didn't do and that we were better off taking a break... ruin my night, I don't think so! I was very much relieved!!!! I am currently still living in the house with Trevor, as roomates, and we are enjoying being friends and hanging out. I couldn't ask for a better situation!

For those of you who are questioning my decision to stay in the house... have a little faith in me and my decisions. I know that it isn't something that you would probably do... however, this is what I THINK is best for MY LIFE right now and when I FEEL like it is time to move out on my own I WILL do so... Right now is just not the time...

On other notes... I have started teaching after school for this program called 21st Century... boy is it not easy dealing with 14 Kndg-2nd graders!!!! THANK GOD I only have them for 2 hours a week!!!! I have been told that I am about as strict as a drill seargent in the military, but with these kids, you gotta be strict! I am enjoying myself getting to actually teach and not just work on speech sounds!

Some happy things in my life... My best friend Valerie became an aunt again the other day when her precious nephew, Matthew Kristopher was born in Tulsa... and my favorite adopted family grew by one when Maggie Rae Sutton was born! I bet that Hallie and Lauren are proud big sisters!!!!

Did I mention that the other night I went to a party with Trevor and ended up giving out my phone number to a guy... and going on a pseudo date with him last night???? hahahahahahah! Well, believe it... I did!!!!

We will NEVER forget... how could we?

How could we forget what happened that horrible day in NYC 5 years ago when all last week was on TV was a buildup of today's memorial... and all that has been on TV today and probably the rest of the week is more documentary styled reports on the reports and etc!

The terrorist attack on the Twin Towers was a horrible, horrible thing. But at some point, we have got to move on from this terrible day and start our lives over. I feel so bad for the families that lost loved ones in those buildings and airplanes this time of the year. I know I get sad whenever the anniversary of the passing of my grandfather comes around, and it isn't televised on the news for 14 days!!!!

This morning hit me though... might have been that I went to bed at 11 pm, woke up at 2:45 unable to breath out of my nose... 3:15 finds me wandering through my house in search of Tylenol for the sinus headache I had acquired while attempting to sleep, 3:30ish finds me rummaging through my "medicine bag" under my sink looking for something, anything that would help my nose... 4:15 finally finds me sorta sleeping again... until 5:40 when the alarm went off. SNOOZE... 11 minutes later, alarm is telling me to get out of bed... I get up, find my way into my bathroom, shut the door, turn on the light, look at myself, turn the light back off, walk back to my bed and reset the alarm for 6:20... I looked about how I felt today... which was fine with me!

So my feeling horrible might have helped with my really sad feelings that I had as I left my house to drive to Jonathan and Amanda's to go to work. The last thing I saw on the news was the fireman's memorial. That got me... my first thought was, that could be my dad... knowing that in the months that followed 09/11 my father endured many an hour of intense search and rescue in high-rise buildings in downtown Tulsa, my father who at the time was on the hazardous materials squad responded to multiple anthrax reports, my dad who is currently finishing FEMA training for heavy search and rescue... that hits me everytime.

But then I think... what about 04/19... does anyone remember what happened on 04/19/1995???? (If you are trying to think of what happened that day, then the answer is NO!) We will never forget those lives that were lost on OKC on that day, just like we will never forget the lives that were lost in NYC on 09/11, or the lives that have been lost in the days following over in Iraq and Afghanistan in the war... but somehow, we have to put the pieces of our broken hearts together the best we can and move on. To remember those people, to honor them in all that we do, and to not dwell on our losses. It seems to me, that by our dwelling on the losses of that day, we are giving the terrorists the attention that they were craving 5 years ago...

Amanda wrote in her blog about how she remembered her day 5 years ago. I remember that morning all to well... and the remainder of that week. I had my first "real" car accident on 09/09 with my best friend/roomate... we spent that night in the ER and got home in the wee hours of the morning. After sleeping off painkillers we both woke up on 09/11 to news reports of airplanes flying into a building. I was still groggy and wasn't putting two and two together... I stumbled into my bathroom thinking that I was seeing things. Then I went off to class, to find that class had been cancelled and most of our campus was shut down. Ok, fine with me, more sleep... then on 09/13 I get a frantic phone call from one of my closet friends telling me that he loved me and how much our friendship meant to him. He was calling me cause he was on 24 hour notice to ship out. I was devastated. Much to my relief he was not shipped out until Feb 13, 2003. But that week was very odd for me. One, we didn't have any airplanes flying overhead so the skies were eerily quiet... except for the occassional blast of a F-16 from the airport... Two, I was a GA/Graduate teacher of our ESL class, mainly filled with students from the middle east. We were very uncomfortable with how things were going to be in that class for the remainder of the year, here people were accusing anyone that wasn't an "american" of being a part of the terrorism plot...

We should take a moment to remember those lives and those brave people that responded to the call of duty on that fateful day, we should pause and remember those soldiers who risk their lives every morning when they wake up in another country on the other side of the world, all to protect us from the "bad guys"...

Say a little prayer... remember those people... but don't dwell on the past... move forward... That's my advice

169, 100300, 55, 368...

Well this week has somehow managed to fly by in what feels like a blur!!!

As of today, Wednesday Aug 30, 2006, there are officially 169 days left of school... or at least to the end of my school year contract... hey, the kids get Christmas... I get summer vacation!!!

But other number related news in my world:
My car now has 100300 miles on it... all of which I have put on my car minus 45985 miles... yeah... I haven't even had my car two years yet... I guess that is what happens when you drive 90 miles round trip to/from work each day!

I have 55 students now... and that number is growing... rapidly!!!! Luckily most of my kiddos are only 30 minutes a week...

And even bigger news in my world... my brother's divorce is FINALLY over!!!! There is a GOD out there and he is finally looking over my family! The girls are happy now, for the most part... their other grandmother is telling them that now that the divorce is over we are no longer their family and that they don't have to call any of us by our family names (papa, grammy, daddy) since we are no longer their "family." Continue to pray for us...

Well gotta go get ready for bed so that I can face the day tomorrow with a smile... open house from 6:00 - 7:30... woohoo!

Party til the ANTS move in...

This weekend was a fun weekend... or at least it started out to be... Saturday I spent a better part of my day relaxing and working on a scrapbook that I am making for a friend to document her mother's life... then on Sunday our friends, Jenny and Scott, invited us to join them on the lake.

So we decide that we both need a break from work and need to have some fun. So off we go to Grapevine Lake (Lake Grapevine where I am from...) to play on the boat, swim, wake board and just hang out in the sun and enjoy a beautiful day! We had a lot of fun, these pictures prove it!
This is a picture of me and my friend Jenny. We took the picture ourselves while the guys were working hard at getting Trevor's size 11 feet into the size 9 bindings on the wake board. Who knew that soap was needed to get those bootie things on!!!! Apparently dish soap is good "lube." As you can see we were having a good time on the boat!

Here Jen thought it would be fun to take a picture of me just "lounging" at the front of the boat. Most people know that pictures of me in a bikini are very rare... as in so rare that one of my closest friends that has known me for most of my life has yet to see me in a swimsuit without some sort of a coverup on! Earlier on our trip from the loading ramp to the cove, Jen and I were both laying up here at the front of the boat just chillin. The guys said that they didn't mind the view!

Here Trevor is out and up on the wake board. This was his first time to ever wake board! He is sooo good at water sport things! I was going to try the wakeboard experience, but the life jacket was too big for me and the other life jackets were the orange safety jackets... maybe next time... hahahahahaha! I couldn't even get up on the knee board or the water skis... I doubt that I could get up out of the water on a wakeboard! :)

Here is a good picture of Trevor with the sunsetting behind him. I personally like this shot! :)

Now that the sun is setting, it is time for Tracey and Trevor to head home... well, after we pick up our pizza and eat at Jenny's house... that is when we realize that the ants had moved in...

Cue the kiddie tape with the song "The ANTS go marching two by two hurrah..."

I come home first and get out of the shower and am brushing my teeth when I feel this tickling sensation on my foot... I look down only to see about 15 little red ants crawling around on my foot and up my leg! I screamed like any normal female would, then looked toward my closet where as the old phrase goes I couldn't see the forest for all of the trees... well I couldn't see my closet floor for all of the ants! Calling Trevor to tell him to come home... NOW!!!! He comes in and proceeds to tell me (or remind me) that it is really all my fault cause I had somehow managed to leave food out... (in my closet????) Apparently this is the cure all solution to ants being in a house... I left food out SOMEWHERE... explained the ants in the kitchen two weeks ago... (that was true, I did forget to cover the scotcheroos before leaving for work) and the ants in the living room (dunno when I had eaten next to the baseboard on the OTHER SIDE of the room from the couch...)... but come on... the closet... So to avoid having poison sprayed inside our house (heaven forbid that!) Trevor put paper out in my closet and sprinkled the wonderful ant killer bait otherwise known as AMDRO ANT KILLER... which apparently fed the ants all night, then they got a second helping the next morning, and a third helping that next night...

Wanna know why the ants came into the house??? I'll tell you... my wonderful boyfriend was doing yardwork Sunday afternoon before we went to the lake... while mowing on the side of the house he noticed a nice trail of ants going up the brick side of our house. So what does this intelligent young man do? He goes and gets the bug spray poison stuff and sprays down the grass and the brick wall and anywhere else the ants might have been or have access to during their journey... so apparently they were trying to escape the poison and decided to make their pilgrimage to my closet for revenge! I ended up with 7 bites on my left foot and one on my left thigh! And who would have thought that I would be allergic to these bites, just like I am to mosquitos!!! Who'da thunk that one!!!!

Well now it is time for this little girl to get to bed and hopefully sleep softly, minus the dreams about the ants crawling on the walls and covering the floor and the bed... GOOD NIGHT!

Oh what a week...

To borrow a line from Roomba Mom... oh what a week that was...

Last week was a CRAZY week for me! We had inservice all week long for work, with lots of times where I was wishing I was anywhere but in the really incredibly cold room that we were placed, I had to work on getting my room to resemble a classroom (hahahaha!), and then to top it off I made a trip home to Tulsa...

To start off, the Blakemore family lost a wonderful woman whom they loved very much on Tuesday, August 8, 2006. Memaw Jody lost her battle with cancer and was taken to heaven to live with God for eternity. We gathered together to remember her wonderful life on Monday, August. 14 in Tulsa. A good time was had by all with such wonderful memories! I had the chance to spend some time with Ana Rae this past weekend as well as with my own nieces. When Blake texted me the news I was ready to come home that instant, but he insisted that I stay in Texas and at work (how mature was that!) and to wait until the weekend to come home.

Last week, as I said was a crazy week! I did not get access to my classroom out in the portable until Thursday before we started inservice, and that was when my principal sweetly asked (informed...) me to have my room ready for parents on the 10th... uh huh... like that was gonna happen! It almost did! I loaded my car down to the hilt with stuff from my house and took it to the school where my worst nightmare was in motion! The concrete guys were there pouring concrete for the sidewalk and ramp to the portable!!!! But... this turned out to be good for me as the guys helped me to unload my car... yea... sweet!!!! Then I headed BACK to my old middle school (I liked that place by the way) to get the REST of my supplies that were not at my house all summer... Saturday Trevor sweetly loaded that stuff in his truck and went with me to school to put everything in my room only to find that no one was at school... grrr! Which meant that Monday after inservice would I not only have to work on my room, I was gonna have to find a helpful (and strong) male teacher to help me unload my car... (thanks Jonathan!!!) So, most of the week after 8 hours of training I went to my school to work on my classroom for 2 more hours... I made it home each night about 8:30... roughly 13 hours after I left...

Friday I drove home to be with my family and my adopted family (the Marf's) for the weekend. On Saturday my parents and I took my nieces to a Pow-Wow at the Expo center which was pretty cool! Then Sunday Ana and I took my grandma Alan to dinner! That was pretty hilarious! During a conversation about a girl I know having a baby Ana Rae asks...

Ana: MeMe are you pregnant?
Me: Not that I know of...
(uh oh... not what you say to a 5 yr old... I saw the wheels turning in her head... quickly back pedalled for fear this would be repeated to the family...)
Me: No Ana, there is no way I could be pregnant...
Ana: (sigh) good... cause if you were THAT kind of girl... I dunno if I should hang out with you anymore...

After a few minutes of laughing, I finally was able to compose myself! THAT kind of girl... exactly WHAT kind of girl was SHE referring to with that comment????? A few minutes later...

Ana: My Memaw died...
Me: I know baby girl... I'm sorry about that...
Ana: It's okay, sometimes people just don't make it to that really big number...
Me (innocently): What big number would that be Ana Rae? (thinking it would be 100 or something like that...)
Ana: You know... a big number... like 30...

Once again I had to compose myself... I guess my days are numbered... I have less than 3.5 years...

Monday was the memorial service for Memaw. Ana did very well during the service, I was very proud of her! To learn more about this wonderful lady check out the blog that her daughters have created: www.jodyblakemore.blogspot.com

Now to this week... I have already been told of 3 new referrals... and 2 new transfers... and I still can't find 5 of my 55 kids that I already knew about... not to mention the parents of 3 and 4 yr olds that are calling wanting to know when I am going to start therapy with their kids! I am soooo tired!!! Did I mention that I have to wear heels and walk around that blessed (refraining from using bloody) building all day long! I promise I probably walked more than 2 miles just today!!!!

I hope everyone else has a wonderful week!!! Keep me posted! I will hopefully have a more fun and optimistic post the next time... :)

Prayers Needed

I have a favor to ask of my closest friends. I know that I can come to you all for anything, and through high school you all proved that I could come to you for prayer and a shoulder to cry on at any time... Most of you have heard me talk about my "lil brother" you know, the kid that is the closest thing that I will ever have to a little brother... well I am asking for prayer for his family.

When I came home the last time three weeks ago, Blake's Memaw had gone into surgery to remove cancerous tissue from her body. She has been in the hospital in and out of ICU ever since. Things are not looking so great for her right now. The last I heard the doctors were saying that she had pancreatic cancer and that it was in the late stages of development. I know that some new tests have been completed and she has undergone more surgery... but tonight my lil brother said that she wasn't doing so well.

I am asking for prayer for her, for peace and comfort from the pain... for her family as they struggle with this situation... her daughters, ex husband, and oldest grandkids have been staying up at the hospital around work schedules around the clock... but also prayer for little Ana Rae... the youngest grandchild... she is innocent... she does not know what is going on other than Memaw is in the hospital and that she can't go see her. Prayer for acceptance, comfort, peace, understanding...

Thank you all for this. Losing a loved one is not easy, as we all know... it has been almost 4 years since we lost my grandfather... Memaw is as much like a grandmother to me as my own grandparents. I hate that I can't be in Tulsa right now to stay with Ana and to help the family out. It hurts me to know that I won't be able to come home to be there for them anytime real soon unless the inevitable happens...

Lord hear our prayers...

MIA: SSgt JR Crombie

Below are pictures of a member of our United States Air Force... a guy that I have always looked up to since I was a child... someone that I considered to be family... like a big brother... if anyone has had any contact with him in the past 3 months, please let him know that his "little sister" misses and loves him... even though he has had a few months of bad judgement.

Me and my best friend, partner in crime, big brother, protector, confident, sidekick, bike riding buddy, and one of my heros. We have always been close, since childhood... until he chose to let another girl come between our friendship... Since 9/11 we have talked on the phone at least once a week, keeping up with each other and sharing stories... through the 3 months he was stationed at PSAB I received random phone calls (at all times during the day and night) just to let me know that he was doing well... while in Korea... I received phone calls once or twice a week along with emails... even when he was first stationed in Germany... I still received my weekly phone calls... that was until...
I just hope that my bubby knows that I still love him and even though I can act like a brat at times, I will always be here for him and I will even try to not rub in my wisdom by saying "I TOLD YOU SO..." when things don't work out the way that HE thinks they will... I also hope that he knows that I will forgive him for not calling or being in contact with me for going on four months IF he calls and asks to be forgiven... I WILL NOT stand around and be passive about him letting another girl in his life control who he talks to from home... I have been here for him a lot longer than she has been in his life... and will be...

COWGIRL UP!

NOTE: Pictures have been removed from this blog... I finally figured out how to edit the pictures!!!!

Ok... so you have seen this picture once in this blog... I promise that I didn't upload it twice... I guess the computer program just KNEW that I loved this picture A LOT!!!! So as most of you know, I spent most of the month of June out in Nevada with my boyfriend's mom and sister. These are some of the pictures that we took of me being a "cowgirl..." Below (and above) you see a picture of me in my lovely shirt that announces that my boyfriend is out of town! I am holding Ang's horse Jake for her while she gets ready for her ride at the State High School Rodeo. Since Kendra (Trevor's little sis) wasn't riding I didn't have to be in western attire, hence this cute shirt! Have no fear! I bought Trevor a shirt that says that his girlfriend is out of town... he has yet to wear it and I have been gone for most of my summer vacation! Isn't the scenary awesome! Yeah stop laughing... the thought of me sitting on the tailgate of a truck holding the lead rope for a horse in my boots and cowboy hat... yah yah yah...

This next series of pictures is from Gymkhana. It is a riding club where you can participate in the speed riding events or horse shows. Kendra participates in the speed riding events, which is what I did that particular weekend! Don't I look the part of a barrel racer/pole bender???? My dad is still stuck on me NOT wearing a cowboy hat... :) The horse that I am riding is named Paul... he is just about as old as me... he's a good ol' boy!
Notice the look on Paul's face... it is as if he is thinking, "Not the blonde chick again..." We had quite a weekend of riding together! It was the most that Paul had been ridden in a LONG time!!!! I am sure that I confused quite a few people at the Gymkhana with my saddle and my display of extraordinary riding skills! I had the privelage of using Kendra's HIGH POINT girl saddle which she won at a rodeo last summer and I had the chest strap that said Rookie Cowgirl 2005 (or something to that effect). I almost wasn't allowed to ride in the events that day! The registration lady wasn't going to let me ride without having one of my parent's signatures!!! Something about having to have parent signature to ride if you are UNDER 16! She didn't believe that I was older than 16!!! That was funny to say the least!

This is after all the events were over and we were getting ready to trailor up and come home. I didn't really win a ribbon... I was just pretending... they stop awarding ribbons at 6th place and I had two 7th places and two 8th places! Paul looks realy tired!!! No more riding for him for a while!!!! (Which was fine with me cause my buns were REALLY sore from all the riding!!!!)
For more information on my times and the events (and even a video which is on the funny side) contact me...
I was quite proud of myself for completing all five events! And I did them all in UNDER a minute! We won't discuss how my times compared to Kendra's... but hey she has been doing this for a few years!!!!

These next pictures are from the day before the Gymkhana... the MAIN reason that Paul was so tired! We went for a Longhorn Roundup as previously mentioned in another blog...

This would be me with the four cowboys that were with us on the ride. Ernie is to the far left and Mike is next to him. I can't remember the other two guys names. I know that the horse to the right of me (with the blaze like Paul) is named Jake... They thought it would be funny to take a picture of me in chaps (or chinks) and a hat and beer with the guys and send it to Trevor... Throughout the entire day the guys called me TEXAS... not quite my name... but ok... we had lots of fun, crossed quite a few muddy bogs... and even saw a few longhorns. I must say that I think that we covered all 1500 acres of the ranch at least twice...

Here Kendra joined me on Jake for a picture! Jake and Paul look a lot alike! Overall I had a great trip in Nevada and I miss getting to ride and hangout with Kendra! She is the best "sis" that someone could ever ask for! Her mom isn't bad either!!!! Thanks for the good times while I was home with you!!!!

Little Twinkle Toes

These are pictures of the most adorable horse you will ever see! Her name is unofficially Little Twinkle Toes! She is a miniature horse and was born March 17, 2006 in Yerington, Nevada.

Here she is inside with the stuffed horse she thinks is a playmate! She is about the same size as this toy horse!!!! Boy is she precious!

Here we see Twinkle Toes eating lunch with her mommy Pumpkin in the yard. The hay bucket is almost bigger than she is!!!

Twinkle Toes is tuckered out from all the pictures!!!!

Going to the chapel and she's...

We are going to the chapel and she's gonna get married... but the she isn't me... sorry to get your hopes up! June 24, 2006 was a very special day for Valerie Reynolds, we went to the chapel and SHE got married! These are a few of the pictures from her big day, or week shall we say! (Note to reader, I haven't mastered the art of uploading pictures on here in the correct order, so pictures are kinda crazy!)

This is me at her parents house before going to the church to get ready. I decided to get dressed a little early so that I could have my picture taken before the fireplace, which is a Reynolds family tradition!

Me and Trevor at the reception... it was almost midnight and the poor baby had been up since about 4:30 in the morning! He had a rough weekend! He spent most of the afternoon Friday checking the radar and weather place to get clearance to fly up to Tulsa in his little Cessna 150... no luck as the weather between Tulsa and Ft. Worth was horrible with storms! So he woke up EARLY Saturday morning to get clearance to fly up to Tulsa before the storms built up and before I had to be at the wedding prep activities!

My mugshot that Dad Reynolds took after my hair (redo) and makeup were finished... for the time being... more makeup was added at the church to "finish" the job... I have worn more makeup in my life... but Trevor has never seen me wearing "real" makeup... which would explain why he thought I looked like I was wearing a mask!

Me and Valerie at the Bridal Attendants luncheon! We were both looking good and were sooo happy!

Someone snapped a picture of me as I was putting my camera away at the Bridal Attendants Luncheon. I like the picture...

We had an action filled week that is for sure! I arrived back in Tulsa on Tuesday evening, spent Wednesday with my mom shopping and getting my last minute stuff for the wedding... then Thursday was the Bridal Luncheon at Green Onion (yummy) and between the luncheon and the bachelorette party I managed to spend a little quality time with my AnaRae. AnaRae didn't quite understand the concept that I was going to a party and needed to look pretty, even though I was going with girls. She kept asking me if I was going to get me a "fancy boyfriend" in Tulsa so that I could come home more often... Thursday evening we met at Val's brother/sister 'n law's house for predinner cocktails and some fun before going to dinner at the Bistro and then to Brookside for some dancing at Suede. Friday, after getting a few hours of sleep we all had stuff to do before meeting for the rehearsal and dinner. Then finally, Saturday, the big day! I had a hair appointment at 8 am then picked Trevor up at the airport and he dropped me off at Val's parents house so that we could get ready! I have no clue as to what he did all day, I think he just crashed at Val's brother's house... then off to the chapel to get her married!!!! I was ready for a few days of sleep after that weekend!

I have pictures from my trip to Nevada that I will post in the next day or so... check back...

Greetings from Nevada!

Greetings from cool and sunny Nevada! I have had a great time here on my "vacation" from the heat and humidity of Oklahoma/Texas!

Since I have been in Nevada, I have had the opportunity to do things that I have never done before... mainly because I am a "cityslicker" and not a bonified "cowgirl"... I have now ridden on a renegade longhorn round up as well as in a speed riding event! I have even become very familiar with the morning and evening chores on the ranch and can do them pretty much on my own!

I will post pictures at another time as I keep getting kicked off line here at the house! But rest assured that we have some funny pictures of me on the horse!

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

Yeah... it's official... SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! And I couldn't be happier!!!

I had a rough last few days of school. I found out on Thursday before school was over on Friday that I was going to be moved back to the school that I started out teaching in my first year in Texas... that meant that I had to pack up my classroom and bring ALL my materials home and also get my folders in some sort of working order for someone else to take over for me in my place... well... the folders weren't such a hassle since I am OCD on organization and making sure that my stuff is in order, but making sure that I had the important stuff written down about the students and the loose ends that needed to be straightened out when school starts is a different story... I called in sick on Friday since I needed to be in Tulsa for Blake's graduation from Cascia Hall, but stupidly I drove into work to drop stuff off at my schools. Which ultimately put me a few hours behind schedule and I made it to Tulsa at about the same time I would have made it into town had I stayed and worked half a day!

Why did I get home so late??? Well, I stopped off at the Denton Airport to tell my guy goodbye and all that mushy stuff and when I went out to my car to leave, it wouldn't start. No cranking or attempting to "turn over," no clicking, no nothing... battery was D-E-A-D dead! But of course being the electrical wiz that he is, Trevor had to check the fuses and then the voltage on the battery and also the alternator before determining that yes indeed it was definitely my battery... so off to AutoZone in Denton to get me a new battery before leaving for Tulsa. I was actually making great time on my drive, I left at 2:00 and at 5:05 I was sitting on the Turner turnpike screaming at the idiot who decided that we needed to STILL have construction just past the Hwy 97 exit... it took me over 25 minutes to go from the Kellyville/Sapulpa exit to the hwy 97 exite, which for those of you who know, is only about a mile...

Graduation was great. I can't believe that my "lil' brother" is going away (haha to TU) to college in the fall... then I drove back to Texas on Sunday so I could spend a little time with Trevor before coming back to Tulsa on Tuesday after half a day working...

I will post pictures from Blake's graduation and also from the airshow and all that once I make it back to the "great" state of Texas... but for now, I am getting ready to sign off for bed so that I can get up before the sun to drive to my dad's fire station so he can take me to the airport! I am going to spend some quality time in Nevada with Trevor's mom and sister this summer... That should be interesting... I will be sure to try to post from there as well... I am going to be riding in a rodeo, at least one... being a photographer... a spectator... a big sister... and a rancher... should be fun! There will be pictures to post from this trip as well... maybe before I get back, kinda dependson how busy we are!!!!

More information on my assignment change at a later date as well. Let's just say that at this time I am not going to be checking my work email until July cause I really don't care to know what has been sent to me! :)

Almost Over...

WOOHOO!!! One more school year is almost over!!! Can you tell that I am ONE excited teacher!!!!! We have approximately 7 school days left before we say goodbye to our young'uns and ship them home to their parents for 10 fun filled weeks!!! I have already started to make my plans for the summer! First on my agenda is to fly (very low to the ground) home for Memorial Day weekend, where my "lil brother" is going to be graduating from Cascia Hall on Friday! I can't believe that he is already grown up and getting ready to go to TU!!!! Then I will fly back to Ft Worth so I can go to work (stupidly enough) on Tuesday since it is out "Teacher's Prep Day." What I will be prepping for is beyond me! I will already have all of my paperwork turned in and everything shut down for the summer... but ok! Then back to Tulsa for my nieces t-ball game at 6 (yes on Tuesday...) and then I will be flying (for real this time) to Yerington, NV where I will be spending time with my guy's mom and sister for 2 weeks! I am very excited about going out to Nevada this year! I am going to help out with the 8th grade dance pictures, then I will get to ride in my first RODEO typed event... yeah, I didn't stutter and you didn't misread what was written down... I will be riding in a RODEO event! I am sure that there will be plenty of pictures to share and/or video clips to send in to America's Funniest Home Videos!!!! Then I will be a spectator at the State Rodeo Championship where Kendra will be riding!!! Then back to Tulsa for one of my best friends weddings!!!! WOOHOOO!!! What a crazy month I will have in June!!!!

As soon as I get the pictures from my friend Scott I will have a posting on my exciting adventures last weekend at Taste Addison as well as at the NASJRB Ft. Worth Air Show! We had a lot of fun, got a lot of sun, and drank a little more alcohol than we should have or normally consume... (and if you REALLY know me you know that doesn't take much on the alcohol side!)

And for those of you that are concerned, I am NOT becoming a Texan!!! I will ALWAYS be an Oklahoma girl at heart! I do NOT enjoy driving in/around Dallas, Irving, Addison, Plano, etc... Ft. Worth is about as tolerable as I can get without coming home to lovely T-Town!!!! So have no fears...

Hope Elizabeth...

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Isn't she a cutie!

These are pictures from "Anza's" recent visit to our house out in the "country." (It is the country in perspective of living in the middle of Ft. Worth!)

We had a great time playing with the new toys that I had bought earlier in the day and eating dinner. Hopey likes honeydew and she made Trevor share with her! Fun times were had by all, and we definitely missed Ryanie and his girl who were too busy studying for finals to take a break to drive out!!!! Maybe next time...

By the next time I am sure that lil' Miss Hopey will be running around the house getting into everything, not crawling at a speed in which we can catch her quickly!

Whose the goofiest??? I think Daddy won the contest for the goofiest by getting caught with his tongue sticking out by the camera!!! Hope had been sticking her tongue out at us, honestly...