new year's eve is today??

i have thought all along that new year's eve was on saturday -- tomorrow! i don't know why i thought this since christmas eve was last friday, but i absolutely did. kate and i decided last weekend to have an impromptu new year's eve party ... i had no idea just how impromptu it would be. i work all day today and then have to get everything ready for a party? what was i thinking?

goodbye tree.

travis and i took down our christmas tree today. the plan had originally been to leave it up through new year's day ... but unfortunately our lil guy got a little too dried out and droopy. neither of us can understand why it dried out so quickly because we never let it run out of water. i was sad to see the tree go, but the house looks a little nicer now. the needles were starting to fall all over the place, ornaments kept falling off the drooping branches, and the large, plastic storage bins had been brought in from the storage building yesterday and were just stacked up in the middle of the floor. it was all beginning to get to me. the house was a wreck! we still have our garland & lights up and our wreath on the door, and our living room feels really large right now because we still haven't moved the oversized chair back in here. it was moved to the guest bedroom/office to make room for the christmas tree. we'll bring it back out in a few days, but for now, i'm enjoying the cozy glow of the garland and our freshly vacuumed carpets.

a perfectly wrapped present.

do your presents ever turn out looking as crisp as the photo above? i always try, but i don't think mine ever look so nice. while it's a little late, i decided to go ahead and post the link to the mother huddle's instructions for wrapping presents like a pro. i figure it's a great "skill" to learn for upcoming birthday parties, showers, weddings, and christmases to come. and if any presents i give you don't look so nice, please, no judgement.

we wish you a merry christmas.

merry christmsas ...

... from our family to yours.

xoxo, the leach lear household 2010

christmas decorations.

i don't like how a single picture turned out; that's why i've been reluctant to post pictures. the room doesn't glow in the pictures the way it does in real life. i tried taking pictures with the flash, without the flash, with the overhead lights on, with them off ... you can get the idea. everyone continues to request pictures though, so here we go ...

random thoughts.

01. i really don't know how i let so much time pass in between my posts.

02. for the first time in as long as i can remember, i finally know what people mean when they say they don't want to sit in front of a computer when they get home from work. i love being online, but lately when i get home from work, it's not that i don't want to ... i'm just so exhausted. i have an hour drive home from work, and i rarely get home before 7:00. then it's time for dinner, a show with my boys, and time to prepare for the next day.

03. i LOVE this time of year, but i really do feel like it is passing all too quickly. i've waited and waited for the christmas season and now it's at the end of this week!

04. holiday vacations were so much better when you were a kid (or a school teacher)

05. i love. love. love. seeing the apartment all decorated for christmas.

06. i bought a tree at the owasso christmas tree farm all by myself last week. travis and i had decided we weren't going to have a tree, but on the drive home i just couldn't bear the thought of that, so i stopped off at the tree farm, picked a beautiful tree, had the guys load it up on my car, and headed home. travis was in class and i didn't want it to get stolen off my car, so i drove around looking at all of the beautiful christmas lights. travis was surprised to find me at home with a tree, but he got it unloaded. while he was setting it up i went to target to get a stand for the tree. when i got home we got it placed into the stand ... and it.was.humongous. i actually don't think it's that big now, but when we first brought it in, travis kept making fun of me saying i would never be able to pick out a tree by myself again. haha. it made sure it was the right height when i purchased it, but i never thought about the width of it.

07. i never want to take our beautiful tree down.

08. the apartment is so warm and cozy and feels like a home now. we have all of the rooms fully furnished and set up. the office has a desk and bed (and an oversized leather chair for now, while the tree is in the living room). i even have pictures and artwork hung. we still need something for the walls in the dining room and a few finishing touches here and there, but all in all, i'm pretty happy with the way things look. if we have to be in an apartment right now, i'm glad it feels like home.

09. i've been in the mood to bake, but not to gain weight. i've put on another ten pounds since starting conocophillips. something i am not dealing with well. i'm afraid a diet and trainer are in order.

10. travis and i are addicted to smallville. travis started watching season one and somehow we were sucked in. we had never watched it before, so the beginning seemed like the perfect place. last night we started season eight! we've blown through the seasons so quickly ... well, travis has especially. i've watched most of the episodes, but he stays up at night after i'm in bed and watches them and he also watches them during the day on tuesdays and thursdays since he doesn't have any client visits those days.

11. i need to get back to work so i should cut this short. have a very merry christmas if i don't make it back on here before then.

I feel like blogging ...

... but i don't really have anything to say ... so maybe just a "random thoughts" kind of post.


01. the christmas season is rushing by far, far too quickly. this is my favorite time of year. i wish it lasted several months instead of just a few weeks.


02. i'm watching bothers and sisters: a christmas story and loving it. i would love to be like nora walker someday (minus all the children) but with the beautiful house and the fun parties and the never-ending supply of great wine.


03. i love glowing garland, christmas trees, and our lamps.

04. i wish my house was large enough to host family here. i don't think i would ever leave our place if that was the case.

05. i am loving working from home.

06. ... i'm sensing a pattern here: christmas decorations and being at home. a lot.

07. i don't really have time to finish this but will post again soon ...

orange-peel chicken & broccoli.

i've gotten pretty good at throwing a meal together in under twenty minutes or less. granted, tonight was easy, but oh so yummy. i saw this meal in the target supermarket a few weeks ago when travis and i were doing a but of browsing.

you can find it in the frozen food section, and the package says it's enough to feed two. {we actually had leftovers.} travis and i both love p.f. chang's so i thought it would be fun to give this a shot.

on my way home from work, i had to stop off for milk and soda. travis had said he wasn't really hungry when i talked to him on the phone, but my lunch at work today was horrible and i. was. starving.

i remembered seeing the meal before, so i popped by the frozen food section, grabbed this little bad boy, and away i went.

i already had a package of steamfresh broccoli in the freezer that was the perfect compliment to the tangy chicken.

i poured the contents of the p.f. chang's bag into a non-stick skillet, turned the heat to medium-high, and covered the skillet with a lid. it only took twelve minutes to cook. halfway through, i turned on the steamfresh broccoli in the microwave and in six little minutes, i had a delicious meal ready to serve.

i added a bit of garlic salt to the broccoli, put some cottage cheese in a bowl, and served up the delicious orange peel chicken.

it wasn't exactly like the restaurant, but it was pretty good. travis thought the orange was a little too strong, but i thought it was delicious. i'll definitely keep it in mind for the future when i need dinner in a hurry.

baked salmon & mixed veggies.

last night travis and i were ready for dinner, but decided it would be better for our budget if we could make ourselves stay in and eat what we had at home. i pulled a couple of salmon filets from the freezer, a package of steamfresh mixed veggies {broccoli, cauliflower, carrots}, and the carton of cottage cheese.

i didn't really have any lemons or lemon-pepper seasoning, so i wasn't sure what to do with the salmon. i melted a half-stick of butter {i believe that's 1/4 cup} in the microwave. i poured half of it into a small, square baking dish. across the top of the butter i sprinkled garlic salt and sea salt.

i thawed the salmon filets and then added them to the pan. i poured the remaining butter over the top of both filets, added a little more garlic salt, and then black pepper. i put them in the over to bake for about 7 minutes at 375.

while the salmon was baking, i started the steamfresh veggies in the microwave. the food was all ready around the same time. i added a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese to the veggies and mixed them all well.

i wish i would have taken a picture. the pink salmon, the colorful veggies, and the cottage cheese in clear ramekins looked so festive and tasted absolutely yummy.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.

on saturday night travis decided to go to o'gannins hangout again {did i ever mention that my parents sold their business. it recently re-opened under the name o'gannins by travis's aquaintance, wes}. a couple of travis's friends were there, so he headed to muskogee while i stayed home to start decorating the house.

here's what i have so far ...

it's not perfect, but it makes me smile every time i look at it.

we don't have our christmas tree yet, but soon. i can't wait. i've been dying to decorate the house for weeks!

baked peanut butter oatmeal.

travis and i have had several really great weekends lately. we've spent time getting the apartment in order after making several trips to the storage building. travis's business bought us a desk for the office, and we brought a bed for the guest room from storage. in the midst of all my cleaning, organizing, and decorating, i got the sudden urge to bake something.

i had seen a recipe for baked oatmeal. it's supposed to be a breakfast food, but it sounded absolutely delicious. i found it on tidy mom and realized i had all of the ingredients in our pantry already. it was super easy to whip up and made the house smell yummy.



to make this yummy breakfast or evening snack, you'll need the following:

• 1 1/2 cups of cooking oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar {i used splenda}
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup skippy peanut butter

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. grease a 9x13 pan {i wanted to use a pan that had more of a harvest appeal than just a clear 9x13, so i improvised}. mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well. spread into pan and bake 20-25 minutes {my oven took exactly 20 minutes}, or until edges are golden brown.

tidy mom calls for you to serve with warm milk poured over the top. that's how i ate mine, but travis ate his plain. it was a little too peanut buttery for him, so next time, i might scale back a little. i thought it was yummy.

after trying a couple of bites, travis decided that it tastes a lot like the clif bars he likes to eat when he's climbing or working out.

the recipe doesn't call for it, but i added raisins to our before putting it in the oven. i didn't measure them, i just sprinkled enough to cover the top of the mixture in my bowl and folded them in.

this wasn't as sweet as i thought it would be {which makes it a really good breakfast}. if i decided to make it for a snack again, i think i might cheat and add a little more sugar.

i really don't know what has gotten into me lately. i seem to be nesting ... or turning into a housewife. i think i could handle that if it meant i never had to work again ... and could go play and shop whenever i wanted!

i can dream can't i?

sleeping baby boy.

after a week of thanksgiving festivities, our boy is worn out. i love when he cuddles up next to us on the couch.

a night in at kate's.

travis headed to muskogee tonight to play at the pool hall. he suggested i decorate the apartment since i've been asking to since september. once he left, though, i wasn't really up for decorating. kate was getting ready to host thanksgiving for nick's family so she invited me over to see her new placemats, dishes, platters, and fall decor.

once i got there i was sucked in. it was comedy wednesday on abc, so we all settled in with our vino, pizza from uncle vinny's, and enjoyed a lot of laughs with the middle, better with you, modern family, and cougar town.

once we wrapped up our shows, we all headed out into the downpour of rain and over to the apartment. kate and nick borrowed our card table to have plenty of seating for all of nick's family and i had fun showing them the new guest bedroom/office, before they headed back home. they weren't able to stay long since it was already late, and nick's sister was waiting in the car to carry them and the table back home.

such a great night. low-key and absolutely perfect.

bring your mom to work day.

conocophillips is closed for the thanksgiving holiday on thursday and friday. i decided to use my 19/30 day for november {if we work an extra thirty minutes a day, we get an extra day off each month} on wednesday. my boss, darlene, is also great to let us work remotely from time-to-time. since most of the hiring managers and recruiting team was going to be out of the office, i decided to work remotely on tuesday. conor kept snuggling up on my lap, but it was making me too hot and was too much of a distraction while in the office. i loved having him close, so i brought his bed in and put it right at my feet. he cuddled right up and napped while i spent the rest of the afternoon working.

i love being home with my boy.

pumpkin cupcakes.

last week at work i got a pumpkin cupcake in the cafeteria. i posted about it on facebook and travis replied wondering where his cupcake was. i decided i would make some for us at the house and called my mom on the way home from work. she didn't have a recipe, and i was too exhausted to look up a recipe on my iPhone.

i kept thinking about those cupcakes, so finally i headed to the grocery store with a martha stewart recipe in hand.

i forgot to take a picture, so martha's version will have to do.

here's the yummy recipe:

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 /4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1 c packed light-brown sugar
• 1 c granulated sugar {i used splenda}
• 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

preheat oven to 350 degrees. line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

in a large bowl, whish together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. whisk in pumpkin puree.

divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

this recipe makes 18 cupcakes. i didn't ice them the night i made them. i let them sit and cool for quite some time. travis and i each ate one before bed, but neither of us had icing. they were still really yummy.

the next night we both added cream cheese icing to our own cupcakes ... travis made have had two.

i packed up the rest to take as my contribution to thanksgiving dinner. i ended up icing all of them with the cream cheese icing at my mom's ... and did a pretty good job, if i do say so myself. i usually hate the way my cupcakes look when i ice them with just a butter knife, but this time i liked the result. too bad i missed my photo opp.

home from glamour paws.

i love our smiling pup. he's home from groomer and smiling as happy as can be. i love it when travis sends me these photos in the middle of the day. it warms my heart.

homemade meatballs & spaghetti.

don't mind my pan, but i was quite proud of these meatballs i made, so i had to share. i wanted to make something special for travis, but the budget was a little tight, so i had to make-do with what we had around the house. we almost always have the ingredients for spaghetti {though i'm really not a fan}, so i decided to make meatballs. i made the most ecclectic meatballs tonight improvising with sutff i had in my house.


here's what i came up with ...

• approximately two handfuls of texas toast garlic and cheese croutons
• approximately 1 lb of ground beef
• approximately 2 little handfuls of shredded cheese
• 1 egg

i didn't have any italian breadcrumbs, so i used the croutons i had. i placed them in a large bowl, doused them with ecoo, added garlic salt, and onion powder and put them in the fridge to get soggy and marinade.

i put the hamburger meat in the microwave to thaw. after thawing for just a bit, i added approximately two teaspoons of french red wine {that tom brought back to us when he took his trip home to poland} and put it back in to thaw.

after the meat was completely thawed, i added a beaten egg, the marinaded croutons {that were now more like breadcrumbs}, cheese, 1 tsp garlic powder, onion salt, 2 tablespoons of garlic salt, and began squishing it all together with my hands.

i then shaped the meat into 1 1/2 inch balls, put them on a cookie sheet, and baked them at 425 for about twelve minutes.

i was surprised at how well they turned out. once they were finished baking, i added them to the spaghetti sauce, and voila, dinner is served.

happy halloween!

conor meets his cousin.

mr. conor meets miss zoey

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our little boy is becoming quite the social pup. earlier in the month he met tyson, and now he's meeting his sweet cousin zoey. i love the picture above. so. cute.

at first they weren't sure what to think about each other.

zoey was really unsure. it was her first week with her new mommy and daddy, so she was still pretty shy.
conor wasn't sure what to think when zoey hid behind her mommy.


she even took to uncle travis pretty quickly.

conor seemed to really like her and didn't even really bark or growl at her ... until people started picking her up. when amanda first put zoey on her lap, conor started jumping around and pawing at amanda's leg. he couldn't believe he wasn't the center of attention. any other pups he's ever been around have been too big to be held. he really wasn't sure what to think.
by the end of the afternoon, he had somewhat adjusted, and i think he will grow to love his new cousin.

welcome to the family, zoey.

meet the newest member of the family, our sweet niece zoey.

zoey is a boxer adopted by amanda and zach.
we love her already.

conor meets tyson.

conor and travis came to visit me one last time before time for me to leave edmond. tabitha and the boys brought their corgy tyson over to meet conor. the pictures are a little fuzzy as they were taken with a camera phone and texted to me while travis and i were at the grocery store. they became fast friends. i love how conor is smiling in both of the pictures.

wrapping up my last week.

i'm wrapping up my last week at pier 1 and will soon be saying goodbye to edmond. i talked to brad ... but i didn't tell him i was leaving for a new job. if you post on my facebook wall or twitter, could you please not mention it? i understand it was the coward's way out ... but i had already left him once before for a "better opportunity" and i just couldn't do it again.

i'll be back at the end of this week ... the next few days promise to be pretty jam-packed with work as i try to get everything in order before i leave.

mommy's coming home.

since i've been staying in edmond, i don't get to see my boys very often. it's usually almost a full week before i head back to broken arrow for a few days.

i was driving home last week when i received this heartwarming text from travis and conor. travis had told conor "mommy's coming home" and the following scene unfolded. melted.my.heart.

{i think pics 1 and 2 should actually be swapped, but blogger is not cooperating with me right now.}

pedicures with andy.

last friday {wow, i can't believe that was already almost a week ago!} i was miserable after working at the store. my feet hurt all the way up to my knees and my lower back was killing me. i talked to travis and he suggested i take a long hot bath. i took his advice and laid in the tub for about an hour. that usually helps, but this time i felt no better than i had when i got in. i had been wanting a pedicure for sometime and felt that a spa pedicure could actually help me feel a lot better.

i decided i was going to get a pedicure and thought that a night of girl time would do me well, too.

since being in edmond, i really haven't gotten to see any of my friends who live here. andy has been working at the upper crust most nights, shannon seems really busy with school and her new job, and miss kasi and i can never seem to connect.

i took a chance that andy wasn't working that night {but felt it was a slim chance since it was a friday night}. i sent her a message on twitter and not long after received a text from her. she was in edmond! it was meant to be. she met up with megan to pick up a scentsy order {which is funny because i had just picked up a scentsy order from her a few days before}. then we met up at spring creek for a massage chairs and spa pedicures at avalon. it.was.divine.

i loved catching up with her and hearing the latest news in her life, while bouncing thoughts off of her regarding my resignation at pier 1 and my upcoming new position. i could have fallen asleep in the chair as the guy doing my pedicure did an excellent job massaging my feet and legs.

andy had to get ready for a trip to dallas for jenny and tim's housewarming party, so we couldn't spend the entire evening together, but we decided a little spicy pickle {a local sandwich shop} was in order. i was sad for the evening to come to an end but really excited that i actually got to see my friend -- i'm pretty sure it was the first time since our trip to hawaii!!

conoco phillips.

about a week and a half ago i received a call from conoco phillips. i had applied as a recruiting recoordinator with the company before accepting the job at pier 1. my close friend kate is a recruiter at the company, and she didn't take the news of me moving to san francisco or even edmond very well. we practically live across the street from one another, and she's probably my closest friend in tulsa. we were both really sad to think we might get to see one another on such a regular basis. kate set the ball in motion for external candidates to be considered for an upcoming position in the HR department. ambra, another former co-worker from the addison group, also put in a good word for me. kate and i first started discssing this little plan back in august when i left magnolia gardens. corporate sometimes moves a little slower, so it took a little while for the interview process to start. after a somewhat lengthy wait, i received the call, officially accepted the position and will start on november 1st in bartlesville.

it will be fun to carpool with kate and get to see her on a regular basis again. for a time we were seeing each other several times a week, but since i've "moved" to edmond and have such a non-traditional schedule, we haven't seen each other in quite sometime.

i'm sad to tell brad goodbye, he's a great boss and pushed me through the hiring process with pier 1 very quickly just to get me back onboard. i'll make the most of the next two weeks and then update more as i start yet another new chapter.

someone remind me how this became my life ...

"where have you been?" -- edmond

san francisco and stillwater brings us almost to october. i started in edmond the last week of september and temporarily moved in with travis's aunt sue and uncle jim. it's been really nice.
sue and jim have been so kind and living with them has been a little bit like being on vacation. there's not a lot of chaos around the house. we can sit and watch television together at the end of the night and unwind, or i can catch up on my shows online in my room if i just want to veg out and be alone.

the store has been doing well. we are up almost 50% above target since i started at the store and each week we are congratulated for our conversion. it's been a lot of fun to see the store improve and grow while i've been there.

on october 10th and october 17th all of the employees turned into christmas elves as we worked together until 3:30 in the morning to transform the store into a winter wonderland.

i've been spending about 90% of my time in edmond, and since my schedule has required me to work every weekend, the boys have been coming to see me. travis has been loading up the truck and he and conor have spent lots of time visiting with me, hanging out with tabitha and her boys, and relaxing with sue, jim, tabby, and ashley.

it's so funny because we really don't talk about it, but travis and i both get house fever more when we're in edmond together. and we both consider it as a place to call home. it's the only place in oklahoma outside of tulsa that we've ever considered as home. it's really funny that we feel that way. i think it's because we both feel like it's a vacation. it's laid back and comfortable.

my time there will be ending soon {more on that in my next post} and i'll be sad to see it come to a close.

"where have you been?" -- stillwater

i was in san fran about a month ago ... starting september 9th to be exact ... wow, a month and ten days ago. time flies by so incredibly fast. so i brought you up to speed with san fran, but a month and ten days is still a lot of unaccounted time. so where have i been since then?

well the next steps along my journey took me to stillwater. if you remember, i mentioned in my last post that i've been embarrassed and haven't felt like blogging. embarrassed because i didn't get the job everyone was "sure" i was a shoo-in for at mashable. and embarrassed to be working in retail again. a few days before my whirlwind trip to the bay, i accepted a position as the store manager for the pier 1 in edmond. the sunday i returned home from ca, i met brad {my former/current regional manager} at the pier 1 at the farm in tulsa. i got my paperwork, discount card, and schedule. that monday i picked up a rental card and began a two week voyage back and forth between stillwater and broken arrow on a daily basis.

it was funny to start my manager training in stillwater since it was the first store i ever managed. i had a great time meeting shawn, the current manager of that location. she's a hoot!

i ran into girls from high school though who were in town for the osu game. i felt humiliated and tried to avoid anyone i really knew. again, kate keeps reminding me that it's ridiculous to feel this way, but i can't help it.

everything came back quickly during my training -- how systems work; policies enforced; audits required, etc. i was anxious to hear about the mashable job, but grateful at the same time to be doing something that didn't stress me out. the drive wasn't fun, but with the exceptions of just a couple of times, it really wasn't too bad.

i spent two weeks there and then it was time for me to head to edmond.

"where have you been?" -- san francisco

"where have you been?" you ask me. well, as usual, a lot has been going on lately. but not a lot that i really wanted to share. why? i don't really know. mostly because i'm embarrassed i guess. my friend kate tells me i'm being ridiculous {in a sweet and loving way of course}.

i suppose at some point, i'll want to remember this time in my life, thought i can't for the life of me imagine why, so i thought i better get to updating.

when i last left you, i was in san francisco, the city of my heart. and if you remember, it. was. glorious. glorious i tell you. i couldn't have gone on a better week. the weather was perfect. i had a bit of alone time, which is not something i ever want, but i found it relaxing. my interview went spectacularly. had i mentioned that i was there for an interview?

it really was a whirlwind process. i found out about the interview, booked a flight from tulsa to san fran at 5:00 pm, caught the plane at 8:00 pm and made it to SF at about 3:00 in the morning CST. i interviewed that afternoon at a little sidewalk cafe. i was interviewing for a position with mashable. their event director was looking for an assistant and i was the woman for the job. she's an oklahoma girl like myself {a sooner, actually ... i know that would make a few of my readers very proud} and had a sweet little yorkie that she brought to the interview with her {i love that city}. his name was louis and he reminded me so much of my sweet conor. upon meeting me she told me she was very impressed. the girl she had originally interviewed for the position had no corporate event planning experience, had never done any kind of sales or solicitation for sponsorships, had never done any kind of blogging, and would be an assistant in the truest sense of the word. she told me she absolutely wanted to hire me, but i was definitely not junior level as the first girl had been. she was going to rewrite the job description and get with the ceo and coo to see what we could do to make it happen. she told me the process would move very quickly. {at the time, she was gearing up for the social good summit in nyc with the 92nd y and the united nations foundation. very cool event}. needless to say, i was stoked.

i had to wait for the social good summit to wrap up ... it was a massive event ... before the director would be able to meet with the guys. she kept in good contact, though, and i still had a great feeling about the position.

at the end of last week, however, the director contacted me to let me know she would only be able to bring on a junior level assistant. i tried not to be, but i was devestated. if i could afford to take the junior level position, i absolutely would, just for the experience.

so, now i'm looking at the few pictures i snapped while i was there and wishing i was walking down the streets along the bay with a spiced chai tea latte on this beautiful fall day.

a little ahead of myself.

whoops ... the post about mila's daydreams was actually supposed to go on the notably noted blog ... but it's so great, i might as well share it here, too. what a precious, precious idea!

mila's daydreams.

copyright (C) Adele Enersen

oh.my.goodness! have you seen mila's daydreams? a definite must-see, it's an entire blog dedicated to the "daydreams" of mila. while mila naps during the day, her mommy quickly creates a scene around her and snaps a photo {like the one posted above: let's play beauty salon}. i love this idea.

denver, colorado.

i'm sitting in denver now. the weather here is beautiful as well ... but i'm not really getting to experience it from the airport gate. it's a sunny and mild 82 degrees. travis said the weather was in the 90s yesterday in tulsa. i'm really not looking forward to that. the mild weather has been wonderful. i'm definitely not ready for winter, but the cooler temperatures have been refreshing.

i enjoyed my trip to san francisco; i think my interview there went really well. i'm excited to get home to my boys, though. i've been missing them.

my flight to tulsa has been delayed by about thirty minutes. if it was running on time, we would have boarded and flying out in about ten minutes. the layover still isn't really that bad, though.

i'll catch up on a little correspondence and will be boarding in no time.

up on the roof top.

as i explained in an earlier post, my trip out here was very last minute, and surprise, i don't have my camera. you're shocked, i know. so once again, i'm relying on my handy-dandy iphone camera. the pictures aren't as great as if i was using my actual camera, but you can still get the idea. these were taken from the rooftop of the flat. look at that gorgeous blue sky. you can't tell by the pics because the lens pushes everything so far out, but the view of the golden gate bridge is incredible. i took pictures looking several different directions while standing on the roof:

this last picture absolutely does not do justice for the view i had. i was walking along {i had been walking for about 45 minutes}. when i topped this hill, it almost looked as if the world dropped off {because on the other side of that stop sign is a super steep hill}, and slid straight down into the water. it. was. breathtaking. i did the whole inhale-deeply-and-smile thing {and said a quick prayer of thanks that i wouldn't find myself walking down that incredibly steep hill}. i want to take so many pictures ... but i also hate looking like a tourist. ha!

i'm also so thankful for the inventions of technology ... such as google maps for the iphone. i would have had no idea how to find my way around the city during the day while everyone is at work.

i'll leave tomorrow pretty early to head back home. it's a little bittersweet. i am enjoying myself immensely here, but am missing my oklahoma boys as well.

sunny san francisco.

i've been away from the blog for the past few days ... because i'm in san francisco! it's lovely here. the weather is a little nippy {because that's how it is this time of year most everyday} but the sun is still shining, and it's perfect weather to be outside and walk around.

i. love. it.

i didn't bring my camera because my trip here was really rushed and decided at the very last minute; i completely forgot it. i have taken a few pictures with my phone, though, and i'll try to share them with you later.

for now, i'm off to get dressed and do a bit of sightseeing while the rest of san francisco is busy working. i think a quick stop at the corner starbucks is in order. mmmm. i'm looking forward to this day.

home sweet home.

we got our new bedroom furniture today. the delivery guys came and assembled it first thing this morning! i couldn't believe they got here so quickly. we spent the morning reassembling it after the delivery men left {it didn't fit right the way they first had it situated} and then getting the room organized and straightened up again. i love it!

l is for love. or leach. or lear.

so after travis put our sofa table together last night and we had situated the furniture like we wanted, we both sat back, read a little, spent a little time online, and just basked in the glorious rays from our beautiful new lamp.

he had been waiting to hear from justin and lindsay, though, because they were going to need a little extra help. it was well after 11:00 p.m. before he heard from them, but they were going to need his help so early in the morning, he decided to just drive down there last night so he would already be there bright and early.

i didn't realize how late it was when he left. i think i was still riding the new-furniture-high and i didn't feel sleepy at all. when we moved out of our last apartment and back to muskogee, travis had put our furniture in storage. the media stand part of our entertainment center {was cheap and} had bowed in the storage building. since he had given away our flat screen tv anyway, we decided to ditch the console piece, keeping the two piers for the time being. the console had two doors on it, though, that i rescued. i always see such cute wall hangings made from old doors. i told travis i would make something. he was skeptical {i may have a slight tendancy to be a packrat}.

the new comfortable feeling, shopping and looking at home decor for the past two days, and the warm lamp light inspired me to finally start my old door wall decor project. i can't buy fun fall decorations, so i decided i would make my own decoration ... even if it wasn't specifically directed at fall.

this is what i came up with ...

aren't they fun?! i love them! i was a little skeptical myself that i could turn them into something i would really love. travis isn't here to help me attach wire or any necessary hardware to the back, so for now, you get to see a picture of them on my carpet and on the kitchen counter. i'll post a pic once i get them on the wall.