last workout of the year.

i did it.  i went back to kettlebell360.  laura held a special class for the last day of 2013.  travis was at work, but i still made myself go.

it was just me and two other girls, and the workout laura had created was definitely a challenge.  it wasn't until i was in round three of my workout that i realized she wanted us to go 15 rounds.  15 rounds!!!!!!  i think i must have sounded nuts when i asked her if i was reading it correctly.  she let me drop to 10 rounds ... and then my ab work out.  wowza. 

i do like going, though.  it's tough, but it feels good to be doing it.  and laura pushes me, but without being overbearing and mean.

kate called me while i was in the middle of training.  when i stopped for a water break, i sent her a quick message.

sunday funday.

today was another great day.  i don't have any pictures to show for it, but it was great nonetheless. 

travis and i started the day having breakfast together.  we slept in {something we very rarely do these days  -- even the boys slept in.  i think they were tuckered out from their day at grandma & grandpa's yesterday}.
we hit up iHop and then headed over to the cinemark by our house to see jack reacher.   i'm not a tom cruise fan {and it annoyed me when he started flirting with his co-worker}, but all-in-all, the movie was pretty good.

there have been several tragic shootings this year {that i didn't capture in the blog} including the aurora, colorado movie theater shooting, the connecticut elementary school shooting, and another shooting at a mall.  while we were in the theater watching this movie about a sniper, i couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling.  i think it was likely magnified by the nagging feeling travis had in the pit of his stomach to get his pistol from the car.  i reminded him that movie theaters are gun-free zones, and he couldn't bring it in.  he said, "i just don't want to be the guy who says, 'i had my gun with me, but it was in the car.'"  i'm so sad that we now live in a society where we have to be so concerned about these types of issues. 

... but i digress.  i'm supposed to be talking about all the fun things we did together ...

we were supposed to meet up with amanda and zach to eat, but our movie had gone long, and they were just getting an appetizer at texas roadhouse when we wrapped up.  we were going to go shoot my new pistol as part of the day's activities, so we headed over to chili's at 51st and harvard, where we shared appetizers and a cup of soup, and then headed over to the range.  when we got there, they were closed for the day {to take some time off for the holiday}. 

amanda and zach were running errands and none of us were hungry, so we headed over to the mall.  we didn't end up finding anything, but had fun walking around.  after the mall we headed to the bookstore.  i grabbed a chai latte while travis browsed through books.  i was reminded that janet evanovich's new stephanie plum novel is out {i read the first eighteen this summer ... it became a bit of an addiction and i had to refrain for a bit. 

several hours passed us by and amanda and zach were ready to meet up at main street tavern {another favorite of ours this year}.  i was still so full, but we wanted to hang out with them, so we headed over to the tavern.

we started out with drinks {i was sticking to water}, but the guys ordered wings about thirty minutes into our visit.  i was sitting by a window {and i live in a perpetual state of cold in the winter}, so i went out on a limb to see if they had hot chocolate that i could add peppermint schnapps to.  i was in luck -- they did!

everyone started getting a little tired and amanda and zach still had to drive home {it was really only about 6:30, but we'd had a full weekend}.  they headed to muskogee and we headed home.

my mom and dad were at our house just to visit for a bit.  they rented a movie on directv while i uploaded pictures to facebook and browsed pottery barn online since we have some gift cards to spend.  travis was starting to get sick, so he went and laid down for a bit.

i was too tired to finish the movie with mom and dad, so i came and crawled into bed with travis.  he was watching premium rush, and we ended up watching it together.  it was a lot funnier than i expected it to be.


i have loved, loved, loved this christmas break away from work.  in the past few years things have still been so busy at work, even during all the holidays, that i haven't really had this kind of time off.  i have quickly become spoiled by it.

game night at the lears'.

after parker's birthday party this afternoon, we headed over to travis's parents' for dinner.  neither of us had really eaten anything other than chips & queso and a few twizzlers, so i was really looking forward to tacos.  {plus it's one of my favorite meals that dee makes because she makes homemade chips -- yum!}.  this year i've worked hard to get back to a manageable weight, with which i feel comfortable, and i don't eat a lot of fried foods ... so i ate probably 1/8 of the amount of chips i usually do.  still, i was so happy to have yummy food in my belly.

after dinner, we broke out guesstures.  dee had gotten us board games for christmas -- guesstures for amanda and zach and pictionary for travis and me.  none of them had played guesstures before {and i hadn't played since high school} so we broke out the game and fought hard for the coveted "best performance" trophy.

travis and i may have stomped amanda and zach ...

what can i say? we make a great team.

it's been such a fun day filled with family and laughing.  i wish more days could be like this.

parker's curious george birthday party.

parker's birthday was earlier this week, but his party wasn't until this weekend.  as the title suggests, lindsay & justin threw him a curious george birthday party.  everything turned out so cute!  the fabulous seana hooked us up with yet another fantabulous cake.  {one layer was vanilla and the other was a delicious banana - yum}.

i arrived a little early to help lindsay set up.  justin was in tulsa picking up the cake, and lindsay wanted me to capture a few shots of the setup before everyone arrived.

{recognize these cookies?}

lindsay made this cute door hanger out of felt {super cute, isn't it?}.  i couldn't get the wind to stop blowing {obviously!} so it was hard to capture an image of all the letters facing the same direction.

at the beginning of the party, the only thing lil man wanted to do was play with the ice chest that justin brought in.

he is already a ladies man ... any time girls came in, he wanted to be right by their sides.

this is joey's daughter, cameron -- she acted like a cat the entire party {and attached herself to my leg from the moment she walked in the door.  did i mention i had never met her before?}

he's already quite the musician and loved this keyboard he received.

look at that tongue!  this little guy made noises when you squeezed him.

um ... excuse me, mom ...

... could you please stop rubbing that tissue paper in my face?

vit and i gifted him with this pleasant journey track for trucks.  we found it a the fair and just had to have it for him.  i can't wait to see him playing with it once it's all set up.