land in bartlesville.

well, it looks like it's happening.  it looks like we'll be making the move to bartlesville.  we've been going back and forth negotiating on a piece of property just north of town; it's about ten minutes from the office.  we're finally moving forward on a contract {we were actually in the middle of negotiations when we left on vacation}.

travis and i went and walked the property during the week a while back.  then a few weekends ago we brought haley out and had her walk it with us, too.  today we took travis's parents out to check it out with us.

while i don't fall down with excitement over the idea of moving to bartlesville, i really do like this property.  it reminds me a lot of the land my brother and i grew up on.
 

oli stayed at grandma dee and grandpa steve's house today.  we wanted him to have time to run around and play at stretch his legs.  their yard is much larger than ours and their neighbors care much less about oli barking, so we try to take him there when we can.  conor came with us, though, and had a great time exploring.

we finished up our walk just in time for a big rain drop to splatter on the windshield.  conor was excited to cuddle up next to his grandma for a little nap.

steve and travis both decided they weren't feeling well and wanted to get home quickly.  dee and i were really hungry, though.  there was no where to stop on the way out of town except for mcdonald's {disgusting} but we knew it would be quick.  the girl in the drive-through asked for our order, travis gave the full order and then the girl said, "ok, can you tell me your order again?"  the rain was coming down like crazy and blowing all over his arm, face, and the side of his body.  i really couldn't believe it.  it was pretty funny.  we ended up with food that we didn't order, but we were just glad to have food in our bellies and be back on the road.  we were afraid oli was going to be a muddy mess by the time we got to muskogee, but it turned out it wasn't really storming there {thank goodness}.

here's a picture of my sweet boy sleeping on the way home.  isn't he precious? 

staging consult.

we're selling our house.  have i mentioned that? we have it listed and will hopefully be able to move to bartlesville before haley starts school.  i know that's a little bit of wishful thinking on our part because it can take quite a while to sell a house, go through closing, close on land, and build a new house.  even if we decide to purchase an existing home, the process can still take some time. so keep your fingers crossed for us. 

in the meantime, a woman named amy came to the house on friday for a staging consult.  we have the house listed, but the photographer hasn't come to take pictures just yet.  we were waiting for amy to come by and tell us what to do.

everyone warned us not to take anything she said personally - that she's a pro at telling people what to do so their house appeals to a lot of people.  i gave myself a pep talk and braced myself for the worse ... but surpringly enough, it was painless.  i thought she would have lots to say about our house, but everything was positive. 

she mainly just wanted us to open the shower curtain up part of the way for pictures, remove anything that might normally be hidden by the shower curtain, and put away a few things from our kitchen counter tops and our nightstands.  everything else was good to go. 

whew.  hopefully this means everyone will love our house and it will sell quickly.  here's hoping.

listing our home.

travis has scheduled an appointment with our realtor to come to our house tomorrow and give us an idea of what we need to do to sell it.  over the past few months we've been looking at land in owasso, sperry, and bartlesville.  

travis is really tired of the commute to work.  neither of us loves our neighborhood {though i really love our location in broken arrow}, and we are trying to figure out the best solution for haley as far as school goes next year.

we've come to the conclusion that a move closer to bartlesville is what will make the most sense.  it's not an easy decision for me.  i love living one street over from nick and kate, have quick access to main street in broken arrow, and close proximity to target and marshall's.  these are all things bartlesville doesn't have. 

the schools are great, though, and it will be good to have more time at home with the boys.  i hate how much time they spend alone right now.  haley getting home from school earlier than we get home from work has been kind of nice just because i know the three of them have each other and aren't sitting all alone.  

i would be lying if i said i didn't feel a little overwhelmed.  we have to sell our house; find a piece of land; choose a floor plan {and the million other decisions that come along with building a home}; actually build said home; and move to a whole new town.  i know we're blessed to be in a position to be able to build a home, but this year has involved a lot of change, a lot of loss, and a lot of new challenges in a very short period of time. 

hopefully we'll be able to find a new place that we all love.  but first, we need to sell our home.

this one is for mothers {& their daughters}.

the other day i came across this story on facebook {i'll get to it in a minute}.  it took me a while to make it through the post since my eyes welled up with tears right from the start.  these are the kinds of things i think about when travis and i talk about having children, and i would be lying if i said it's not overwhelming. i know the kind of parents my parents are and how much love they have for their children.  i also see how much unconditional, ever-growing love i have for travis and even for conor and oliver.  thinking of how i will feel about a child is scary. 

travis and i have been trying to decide what is best for our family.  we've known for a while the neighborhood we're in isn't ideal for us.  we aren't pleased with the HOA and we've discovered that many of our neighbors are unkind.  neither of us really want to be involved with our neighbors, but it's been tough living around people who seem so rude.  we also haven't been impressed with haley's school and want to make sure we're doing the right things for her.

we've talked about moving to owasso for a while and lately we've even looked at skiatook and sperry.  even more recently we've tossed around the idea of bartlesville.  i still cringe a little bit at the idea because i don't love the town.  it would be better to have haley in school there though because we're there so much.  if she were sick or had meetings with teachers or anything like that, we would be much, much closer to her.  i've also heard good things about bartlesville schools.

the other night we were lying in bed talking about all of this, and travis said, "we just need to find a place in bartlesville, move, get settled in, and then we can start having babies."  my heart did a little pitter-pat {surprisingly enough -- though i have slowly been thinking about babies more frequently lately}.  i told him i wanted to share a story with him and this is what i read ...  

(For all the mother's (including pregnant ones) in the world, this one is for you! - Author Unknown)

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.

"I know," s...he says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.

I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.

That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her
baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming
children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.

That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks.

I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.

I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.

I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time.

I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

after i finished reading this to him he said, "so now you're saying you don't want to have babies?"  i had to laugh and then said that's not what i meant.  these are just the kinds of things that i find "scary" when thinking about becoming parents.  for the rest of our lives.

i read the story to kate a few days later {warning her that tears would be abundant}.  like me, i was barely into the first few lines of the story, and she had begun to cry.  i told her about my interaction with travis, and she agreed, and then said, "but it also confirms just how worth-it it all is."

i just wanted to capture the story because i think it's beautiful.  it could have been my own mother telling it.  and it reminds me how much i love the women in my life.  i'm so grateful and so blessed that my mom loved me with this kind of love.  i know not everyone has been so fortunate.  i feel blessed beyond measure because not only have i seen this kind of love from my mom, but i've seen it from other women in my life, who have accepted me and loved me as their own. 

i love you, mom.  i love you, all. 

travis's surgery.

my poor guy.  about a week ago travis had surgery to have his wisdom teeth removed.  he had been in pain for weeks.  he had a regular cleaning the last week of february that just seemed to make everything so much worse.  he was supposed to go in on the 4th to have one particular tooth worked on {the walls of the tooth are really thin, and they were going to cap it -- or something like that}.  when he went in on the 4th, though, the dentist said there was too much trauma in travis's mouth already, and they would need to wait until after his wisdom teeth were removed and his mouth had healed a little better.  they also told him he needed to get in for surgery as soon as possible.

travis agreed, but the earliest the surgeon had been able to schedule him for surgery was march 19th.  at the time of the dentist appointment, that was still three weeks away.  the denist started calling around, and was able to get travis in with a surgeon in tulsa for the next week on the 7th. 

we made it through the week with travis's mouth still hurting every day.  the dentist prescribed lortab to help with the discomfort, but it didn't seem to help much.  i spent tuesday and wednesday {on an exhausting trip} in houston and then took the day off on thursday for travis's surgery.

until then, travis had never had any kind of surgery and had never been "put under."  he's my strong, tough guy, so he didn't act nervous about it {but i think he might have been because he brought it up a lot}.  i told him i couldn't wait to get funny videos of him.  one of my friends from stillwater recently had his wisdom teeth removed, and his wife posted the funniest videos of him to facebook. 

we woke up early and got to the surgeon about 30 minutes early.  we waited in the car for 15 and talked about trip ideas for my birthday. then we headed into the office.  we checked in, paid, and they immediately took travis back.  he later mentioned that he thought we would have time to sit.  i don't think he was quite ready to go back when he did.  i stayed up front in the waiting room and emailed on my phone, then spent the rest of the time on facebook and pinterest.

when they called me back to get him, i wasn't quite prepared myself.  i got to the recovery room and he was sitting on a table with his back against the wall.  his face was so swollen and his eyes looked a little black and blue.  his eyes tend to be a little squinty anyway, but they were even smaller and swollen.  he was wearing a baseball cap and they had a "sock" with ice packs in it wrapped around his head -- it reminded me of a little rascals or norman rockwell picture.

the doctor walked passed the room and travis through his hands up in the air awkwardly giving the man two thumbs up.  other than the clunky movements, he seemed to have his wits about it.  he hates being out of control of his brain so i think he was working extra hard to be aware.

we walked to the car and he told me he needed the pharmacy.  pronto.  we got him settled in to the car, and i thought he might pass out right there.

the office said our first stop was for something sugary and cold -- either an ice cream, frosty, or soda.  wendy's was just 1/2 block away so i pulled in and grabbed him two large frosty's and a large doctor pepper.  what can i say?  i wanted to make sure i had plenty on hand to get him through the day.

he started to eat the frosty with gauze in his mouth.  it hadn't been 30 minutes and our instructions were for him to take the gauze out every 30 minutes.  i assured him that the dr.'s office had given permission to remove it while eating, but he didn't believe me until i called the dr.'s office back {and the receptionist kindly said, "you don't want him to choke, do you?" to which i laughed and said, "of course not; i just couldn't convince him without a call to you."}.  we got a little bit of the frosty down him, then repacked his mouth, and he slept for the rest of the ride.

he woke up when we pulled into the pharmacy drive-thru window.  the pharmacy tech looked inside, laughed, and said "you've had a fun morning so far."  they said they would get it filled in 30 minutes or less.  since the pharmacy is just up the street for our house, i took travis home, got him settled into bed, and then headed back to cvs.  the prescription was ready so i paid for it and headed back home.

travis was ready for the meds when i got there.  he laid in the room for a bit with ice packs on his face and a heat pack on his head for an ongoing headache he developed.  poor guy.  he has just had such a rough go of it over the past few weeks.

he settled into bed, but he didn't fully rest for most of the morning/early afternoon.  he kept getting up to come see what i was doing in the living room and to kind of pace the house.  he did a funny little dance and said he wanted to make sure he didn't disappoint since he knew i was looking forward to him acting crazy.  then he said, "i'm sorry i'm not acting nuts. i'm just too STRONG!"  i love him.

later in the afternoon, he passed out.  and slept for hours.  i woke him up a couple of times to take his medicine because i was terrified to let him sleep through his med time and then wake up later from intense pain.  {he told his surgeon about this yesterday at his one week check-up, and the two of them came to the conclusion that i just wanted him drugged up.  nice, guys}.

friday i had to go to work but made sure he had all of his meds and water close by.  my mom was coming up that day, and i knew she would be around to help take care of him.  when i got home that night he was going crazy because she had talked his ear off.  my dad always said she would talk to a telephone pole if she thought it would listen, so i really wasn't surprised.  she loves travis so much, though.  i know she just wanted to make sure he was alright.

yesterday was his check-up/stitch removal.  the doctor said everything was healing fine, and they would want to check him again in six months.  i guess i should have mentioned they were able to pull the top two teeth {but with how impacted everything was they were concerned that his sinus cavity would be punctured or partially collapse -- thankfully neither scenario took place}, and then they could only cut out part of the two lower teeth.  they pretty much cut them in half horizontally.  they were both lying over a nerve and they couldn't be certain just how they were lying on the nerve.  they couldn't guarantee safe removal without nerve damage {and permanent paralysis} so they had to cut out what they could and leave the rest.  we'll have to keep close watch that those don't get infected, otherwise they'll have to take them anyway, and of course all the risks remain.

for now, he's feeling better ... but this morning is concerned that he has strep throat.  and his tongue has been hurting because several of his tastebuds have swelled up. his poor mouth!  i just don't know what has happened in the past month, but it has been one thing after another for him.

keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  he's a tough one, but i know this has not been a fun time for him.

i love saturdays.

today was such a good day.  it was an incredibly long day, but a good one nonetheless.

we started out with a workout at kettlebells with laura.  it was travis's first time back in a few weeks.  i almost backed out, but we made it in time for class.  it was intense.  i came the closest i have ever come to blacking out.  it was toward the end of class, and i was spent.  my back was pulling weird, so i stopped to ask laura if i was doing something wrong.  as she was explaining the technique to me, i could no longer hear her.  i immediately sat down on the ground, closed my eyes, and focused on breathing.  slowly, sound started coming back.  she and travis got me some water, but my hands were shaking pretty badly and i really didn't feel like drinking.  my ears still felt weird, but i was able to get up and around.  class was pretty much over at that point, so travis had me walk around outside in the cool air for a bit.

we've been looking at land {have i mentioned we hate our HOA}, and there were three different listings travis had found.  the first one was pretty close to where we were in broken arrow.  the idea is for us to get closer to bartlesville, but the price of the land was such a good deal, we considered purchasing it anyway ... until we drove by it.  it was at the back of a little bit older, run down neighborhood, and while most of it was wooded, it had been trashed out pretty badly.  it also had huge electrical line towers running through it.  it just wasn't pretty.

next up was a piece of land in collinsville with about 12 acres.  our ideal location would be owasso/collinsville because it would cut our commute in half, get us out of town, but keep us in a location convenient to the amenities a local town offers.  it would also keep us close to tulsa and give us easy access to highways back to our families.

unfortunately the 12 acres in collinsville were also not pretty.  it was a very narrow lot and was sandwiched between two dilapidated properties.

our last stop was the land in sperry my aunt and uncle texted me about a week and a half ago.  travis had driven by it on his way home from work over the christmas break while i was out of the office, and he thought it was really pretty.  he pulled it up on google earth to show me that night, and i fell in love with it, too.   it was gorgeous!  ... but we suspect it's much larger than 19 acres so we have to find out where it actually divides.

after that, we headed back into tulsa.  we recently got a new television and we need a new entertainment center to hold it.  travis is also getting some speakers from his buddy chris, so we really need something that will house all of it.

we were still in our workout clothes, and may have gotten a few strange looks as we browsed through mathis brothers and rooms today.  nothing turned up, so we headed back home to shop online.  travis really wants a corner console because of how our living room is set up.  this one from ballard design is one of my favorites ... but a little more than we would like to spend if we can help it.  i don't want to buy a lot of furniture tailored to our current home if we're planning to move sooner than later.

where do you go to find fun pieces of furniture for your home?

dinner tonight: honey butter pork tenderloin.

travis and i usually don't go out to eat a lot during the week unless we're meeting up with friends.  we haven't been to the grocery store lately (we did so much entertaining for all the holidays, i just haven't felt like going back).  we did have a pork loin in the freezer, though, that had come with the one i cooked at christmas.  i'm not a big pork person, and while i could appreciate that someone would have liked the rub i used on the pork at christmas, i just wasn't a fan.  i decided to try something a little different for tonight. 

i had pinned a honey butter pork tenderloin recipe on pinterest and decided to give that a whirl.  i didn't follow the recipe exactly, however.

i started out with the 4 tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of honey that the recipe calls for.  i pulled out our dutch oven {one of our wedding gifts that i hadn't gotten to use yet} and began melting the butter and honey together on the stovetop. 

then i put the tenderloin in the pot.  i was supposed to season it before putting it in the pot, but i didn't feel like dirtying another dish or cutting board, so seasoned it after it was in the pot.  i used onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, garlic & herb seasoning {because you can really never have too much garlic}, italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.  i seasoned the first side pretty quickly {making sure to get the ends as well} and then quickly flipped to the other side to season it before it had cooked for very long. 

then i cooked the pork tenderloin on the stove for five minutes on each side {isn't that beautiful?}.  after that, i stuck it in the oven for 20 minutes at 375. 

the house.smelled.amazing!!

when i pulled the tenderloin out of the oven, i covered it with tin foil as momma hen's kitchen's recipe suggested.  i was supposed to be able to make an au jus-esque sauce, but i discovered my drippings had gotten a burned taste to them. 

i decided not to pour the juice over the tenderloin, but it was still so flavorful and moist without it.  i was just working with groceries that we had in the house, so i pulled out some rice to serve with the pork loin.  i put them on the same plate, which allowed the rice to soak up some of the juices.  i hadn't seasoned the rice because i was afraid the seasoning on the meat was going to be really powerful {and i also thought it would have the au jus poured over it}.  if i serve rice with this in the future, i'll make sure to season it a little bit.

travis and i both liked it {even though pork still isn't my favorite}.  we both decided it's something we would eat again in the future ... and it was super easy to do. 

lazy on a sunday afternoon.

when travis and i woke up on sunday, he asked if i wanted to go look at the furniture again at rooms today or if we should head over to mathis brother's again to see if they had anything we liked better. another afternoon out of the apartment sounded wonderful to me. i pulled on one of my new pairs of pants {why is it so wonderful to have new clothes?} and a shirt my sister had gotten me a while back. it has gray in it and matches my new {gray} pants perfectly.

we headed out to the shops once again. we really like the saleslady at mathis brother's. she is great to work with us when we want/need her, but she doesn't hover. she's helpful and kind so we wanted to give her the commission from our living room set if at all possible. after spending quite a bit of time in the store {again} we decided there really was nothing there we liked as much as the furniture we found at rooms today.

away we went. when we got there we had our sales guy check on the bedroom furniture, too. it was such a good deal {basically the two pieces for the cost of most of the other beds in the store} that travis thought we should at least check it out. we decided if it was still available, we would buy the bed and then get the living room furniture later.

the sales guy told us someone had held the furniture on the 27th and were supposed to come back in on monday {as in today} to put 10% down. our sales guy really wanted to sell it to us, but his manager said he wanted to do right by the other customer. i was just shocked they would hold a piece of furniture {especially for that long} with no money down. our sales guy went back and forth several times. he was finally able to talk to the sales person who had originally held it for the customer. in was like a 5 second conversation and that sales person told our sales person we could absolutely have it. we decided it was meant to be.

we had talked about buying the bedroom furniture and then getting the living room furniture later, but we have a payment system with them, so we decided to go ahead and get all of it. the whole reason we started seriously looking for furniture was so travis would have tables to sit lamps on so he would have better lighting to study. the bedroom furniture was too good of a deal to pass up, {and we do need a new bed since our mattresses have just been sitting on the floor} but i just felt like lamps and tables were more important.

we got the living room furniture, the bedroom suite, and two beautiful lamps. i'm going to post pictrues of the lamps below, but you can also see them displayed on the dresser from yesterday's post. i was so excited! the only downside? the furniture we really went to get ... it's not in any of the warehouses!! we have to wait four weeks or so to get our coffee table {which apparently is now called a cocktail table} and our end table. they did have our sofa table, and we were able to take it home with us.

we got home and got the car unloaded and travis set to work putting our beautiful piece together.

it's so silly, but just this one piece of furniture and the lamp made such a difference in changing our apartment from a "house to a home." travis and i both thought so. it's hard to describe, but it was such a good feeling to feel like it was a home. i love our piece. i'll try to take better pictures and share. we did a little bit of rearranging, swapping the love seat and the oversized chair and ottoman. the funny thing? we had done that exact same thing a few days ago and hated it. the sofa table really made all the difference. the place just feels comfortable now.

our bedroom furniture will be delivered tomorrow. i'll share more then.

friday frustrations and a new chapter begins.

fridays are travis's half-days at work. he goes in first thing in the morning and leaves by noon. this particular friday, he ended up staying a little later. jackie cooper was having a cookout and travis's friend chris {of chris and monica, the couple with whom we went to dinner at osaka a few weeks ago} asked him to stay and eat with the jci team. instead of lunch with travis, i put on another load of laundry. =/ i've become quite "domestic" lately ... and i don't mind, for the most part. the other day travis told me i was such a good housewife; i told him housewives don't have jobs ... he wasn't thrilled with that idea {not right now anyway}. i didn't ever think i would really like staying at home, but i think i could get on board with the concept quickly. if we were in a position that one salary would support the lifestyle to which we are/would like to be accustomed to, then i would totally be a stay-at-home woman.

i heard from brad first thing friday morning, well i got a voicemail from him ... since i was once again sleeping in. {and i was doing so well when i first started staying at home}. he just said he would like to make me an offer, that he had a pretty full day, but for me to call any time. so i got up, took a shower, and gave him a call. i had to leave a voicemail, too, and then there was nothing to do but wait. i felt like i had been waiting forever already {even though it had only been six days}.

justin and lindsay needed more help moving -- their move turned into a bit of a nightmare! justin's tahoe wouldn't start that morning. we had loaded it up on thursday so he could take a load first thing in the morning when lindsay left for school, pick up a trailer from his friend in stilwell on the way back and take a couple final loads that afternoon. on friday morning it just wouldn't start, though, so he had to get it into the shop. around 1:00 he told me it would be ready "soon."

when travis got home we piddled around the apartment for a bit waiting to hear from justin. it was taking a while so we headed out to get custard at freckles {i know; i may have a problem}. the sweet and salty just sounded so darn good, and i never did have lunch, so i figured i had saved my calories and could splurge a little. we drove around, enjoyed our custard and then headed to muskogee. by this time it was almost 5:00. i had talked to justin again and he said the tahoe should be ready by the end of the day, but that he would call me. either way, he said he was going to need our help, because he would need to borrow our car if the tahoe didn't get finished in time.

when we got to muskogee there was no one at the house ... lindsay wasn't home yet and justin was with my dad picking up the tahoe. the new renter for their home was at the house having "dish network" installed. we didn't want to chat up a stranger, so we drove around waiting to hear from justin. an hour later he and lindsay still weren't home. i called and he and my dad were picking up a trailer. sheesh. we drove around some more, ran in best buy to look at tvs {and wiis, and the new xbox, and playstation 3s}, and then headed to hastings. we looked at magazines for a bit and then travis visited with our friend danny. it had been almost three hours and we found out lindsay was going to the races to watch their friend eddie since it was his last night to race ... so we headed home. my poor brother. what a crappy, crappy day. we had just gotten on the turnpike and were almost to the toll when he called to tell me he was back at the house. he understood if we didn't help that night since we were well on our way home. since it was 8:00 he was just going to move everything over to my parent's pool hall and move it to arkansas in the morning so the renter could be in the house on saturday. as it turned out, the renter backed out at the last minute. even after having been at the house almost the entire time we were in muskogee. poor leach family. i think anything that could have gone wrong with their move, did.

we were supposed to hang out with chris and monica, but had cancelled with them to help justin and lindsay. by the time we got home the evening was pretty well spent. we watched oceans 11 {love that movie} and then headed to bed.

oh! and i finally heard from brad as we were driving to muskogee. he offered me the position and is working to get me a relocation package ... so it looks like i'll be moving to edmond. i'm not sure how i feel about it to be honest. i don't have a start date yet, since he wants to get all of the details worked out. i do know that i'll be training in stillwater {where i first started} before actually going to edmond. i'm sure the next few weeks will be interesting ...

painting queen.

hmmm ... where to begin? so, i'm pretty sure i ended up staying up late with travis on wednesday night, but i honestly don't remember exactly what we were up to.

on thursday, i made another trip to the 'gee. i think i've said before that justin and lindsay are moving to arkansas. lindsay took a job in pea ridge, so they're moving to bentonville -- it's very close to pea vine. they have a huge house on 9 acres they will be living in there. anyway, they were supposed to be out of their house in muskogee this weekend so their renter could move in. there was still a lot to be done. justin stayed at his job until the 1st of this month, so everything they've done has been in the evenings or weekend. justin asked if i would come spend the day helping him on thursday. i woke up with a horrible headache that morning and slept longer than i intended {i told you these late nights were no good for me}. i didn't get to the house as early as i hoped. when i got to town, my mom actually needed to borrow my car, so she ran me to justin's and then he and i headed to lunch at gino's. justin invited my dad to meet us there and the three of us had a pretty good lunch.

after lunch we had to get straight down to business. justin pulled off the baseboards in all the front rooms and i set to work painting them. we turned on friends while we worked. i forgot just how much i love that show! i laughed the entire time. justin had installed a new floor in his and lindsay's room and it look wonderful. there was still just so much to do! we got most of the clutter out of the living room. my mom showed up later that evening to help out. lindsay seemed pretty stressed when she got back home from arkansas, but she set to work packing up the kitchen and loading her car with clothes from their closets. i worked until pretty late painting trim and doors throughout the house. when it came time for them to settle in for the night {since lindsay has to wake up around 4:30 or so each morning to make it to arkansas on time} i headed back to tulsa. travis had class, so i had gone down by myself. i was exhausted by the time i got home, so i kissed travis hello and goodnight, brushed my teeth, and fell into bed.

scroll down.

i published a post i had previously written about our upcoming move. i was so excited i couldn't wait to blog about it, but we wanted to make sure everything was official before we told anyone. our move-in is scheduled for june 5!

we're moving!

we've been talking about it quite a bit lately, but yesterday, travis and i decided that we really had to find a new place of our own and move out of my parents' house. we've been here for a year and a month as of this week, and while we've been so grateful for our time here, it really is time to be moving on.

we woke up bright and early this morning {okay, 8:00} and headed to tulsa around 9:00. we had a 10:00 appointment at a complex we had never before visited. we decided to give it a shot because the pictures online looked so cool. when we arrived, however, no one was at the office. we waited for 15 minutes, walked around the complex, headed back to the office, and decided to leave when we found it had yet to be unlocked.

we drove around a few other apartments i had scoped out and waited for calls back on a couple of houses i had found on craigslist. those babies went fast, though. each of the ones that had been posted on friday were already rented by the time i got a call. bummer.

we really wanted to be in a rent house instead of an apartment so connor could have a yard. i have been surprised at how difficult it's been for us to find a home to rent. while at TU i always had a rent house, and both of the ones i had were pretty easy to find. that has not been the case for us.

we stopped into a "brokers" (?) office to pick up a listing of available properties. we would get to the neighborhoods, think they looked clean and cute ... until we got to the area the rental property was in and it went downhill from there. even travis didn't want to live in any of them {and he's always telling me to sacrifice now so we can have what we really want later}.

our last stop out of town was the greens in broken arrow. we really wanted to be in broken arrow so my drive to muskogee for work wouldn't be that bad, but would still put us in the tulsa area and out of the town i hate so much. i was actually really surprised when we walked into the model and saw how large and open everything was. apartments often feel like a box, but this didn't seem to be the case with this model.

we walked around for a bit after leaving the manager back at the office following our tour. we checked out the location of the apartment they had available and decided that it wasn't bad. we went back to the office and put down on application fee, security deposit, and pet deposit for mr. connor.

it felt so good to finally be making progress and moving forward, but i also immediately had a little "buyers' remorse" thinking about the idea of a house ... and how it will be a year at least until we find ourselves in one. i didn't dwell on it for long, though; the idea of moving was too exciting to focus on the not-so-great.

i'm also super excited that we'll be living right across the street from kate and nick's neighborhood. did i mention kate and nick bought a house??? very, very exciting. they were supposed to close yesterday, but the underwriter didn't get everything completed. monday is the day for them.

we'll get to move in on june 5 ... right before i leave for hawaii! aghh! but a huge relief at the same time!

i decided to post a few pictures of the model just so you have an idea of how it looks. i wish the appliances weren't white, but what are you going to do?

daily life and wedding ramblings.

i haven't posted, not because i haven't felt like it or haven't had time to, i just haven't felt like i've had anything to post about. let's see ...

on tuesday, i went to tulsa for travis and my hair appointments with renata. i'm a little disappointed that my hair isn't getting much longer than it currently is. it's healthy and i'm keeping it trimmed, but it seems to have greatly slowed down in growth. i am excited, though, because as soon as my veil comes in, renata wants me to schedule a practice round to try several different options with my hair. i think it will be fun! i just wish that it would be something fun that a bridesmaid or two would enjoy. we are going to try several different styles, though, and i can't imagine that anyone will want to sit for a while watching me get my hair done over and over. ooh, i just got butterflies thinking about playing around and practicing with my veil!

i was talking to amelia earlier this week and she mentioned that she was on her way to eric's sister's wedding. i said, "soon we'll be going to my wedding!" and then it hit me -- our wedding is 5 months away. i knew it was getting close, but the fact that it is less than half a year away had not really occurred to me. five months passes so quickly. i will have just gotten everything settled into my parents' house and it will be time to move again! and we will be married!! part of me is so excited and then another part of me just can't quite comprehend the magnitude.

my room at my parents' is starting to fill up with wedding day items. my dress is still being altered, so it's not here, but one whole side of the room is filling up quickly with glass vases and candles. my veil was supposed to be shipped this weekend, so it should be here soon as well. there is still so much to do between now and the wedding: save the dates, flowers, cake, drinks, lighting, photographer, invitations, programs, linens ... the list goes on really.

on top of all of that, i am working dilligently to get the business started. we should have our business cards by tomorrow (yay!), and we are working to get the finishing touches on our brochure. i'm excited about the look of it. claudine and dan's son josh is just working on a piece of art for the cover. i'm ready for it to be finished! i just feel like some of this has dragged ... which i know is to be expected when starting a new business. there will be unexpected roadblocks and detours along the way.

élever meeting.

last night after the mother's day festivities, travis and i drove to tulsa for another élever meeting. i actually had to drop travis off at sixbyte so that he could do some work and then headed to nordaggio's [our meeting place of choice] to meet with dan & claudine. we laid out a plan of action for the week, listing people in our networks that each of us would contact this week. "safe" people who will listen to our story while we work the rocks out, who will be inclined to help us, and will refer other people our way. we also have to get our business cards printed as well as a "leave behind." i have a one-page sheet filled with copy about our business, but need to transform it to a brochure of some sort. we always have so much momentum and energy about the venture after our team meetings. we also learned of a new company in town that we may have the opportunity to do their launch party. it would be a huge first client for us with great future potential business. and how fun would a launch party be??

05.08.2009: lear | winders, llc

most of the week has been pretty uneventful up until today. i learned that my mom hasn't been exaggerating when she told me that muskogee has no bakeries. i really just thought it was an overstatement, but no, it was indeed not. we were trying to order a cake from wal-mart for my dad's upcoming birthday. mom wanted a speciality cake that looked like a pool table, but said her friend gail had ordered one from wal-mart before and it looked terrible. she opted for an american flag instead. she was on hold with wm bakery for 10 minutes two different times (for a total of 20 mins) and was immediately put on hold two other times when she called. i was outraged and began a diligent search for a bakery in muskogee, only to find, as i said before, that my mother was right, and no bakeries exist here. (andy, we may have found your first place for a bakery). i was ready to throw in the towel on elever to open one myself! i finally drove to the store to place the order ... after i was left waiting at the counter for fifteen minutes. i hate so much that our hands were tied and we had to purchase from them after the horrible customer service we received.

today, was much happier. claudine took the afternoon off work, and she and i headed to oklahoma city to the state building. we had tried to get our llc in tulsa earlier in the week, but found we could only get our tax permit, etc. we had so much fun driving and talking, plotting her exit from the dreaded hell that is addison. when we got to the building, there were few people waiting, but the office filled up quickly. we had to wait about a half-hour, but it was well worth it as we walked away with our articles of incorporation. learwinders llc is officially registered. we will, of course, be doing business as the élever group. i can't wait.

28 april 2009: shampooing disaster.

i borrowed the shampooer from travis's mom today. travis got all of the furniture and last few boxes moved down to the garage last night, so it was just me, the shampooer, and the carpets today. i didn't receive detailed instructions on the operation of the shampooer as i had used one before; dee just showed me where to put the water and solvent. let's just say today was an adventure. at one point the shampooer was making the rugs dirtier than they were when it began spitting out rug "fur balls" and dirt clumps. i panicked, cleaned the mess, and then went back to trying it out again. this time, it decided to explode water, dirt, and soap all over the bedroom walls, mini-blinds, and window. luckily the walls wiped down easily, and i tried my luck a third time. as they say, the third time is the charm, and it seemed the shampooer and i had worked out all of our kinks. i was able to vacuum all of the water and soap back up and shampooed my way to the door. it was a very lengthy process and my back was killing me by the end, but as i looked across the apartment on my way out the door, it was a very satifying experience. now to load it back in the car by myself ...

27 april 2009: everything must change.

nothing stays the same. so i said good bye to addison, and was thankful for the time off. it's our last week in the apartment -- we have to be out by the 30th. while we have gotten most of our things out of the apartment and have been staying at mom and dad's for the past week, there was still much to do, including cleaning. mom came to tulsa today and helped me clean for several hours. between the two of us, and the tiny size of the apartment, we were able to get absolutely everything clean in a few hours. all that is left now is the carpets. travis's mom has a shampoo-er that we are going to borrow. the couch is still upstairs. we've had so much rain that we haven't been able to move it. we're giving it to amanda and zach since they are moving into their first apartment and don't have any furniture. we should be able to get everything moved and the carpets finished by tomorrow.

good bye tulsa. hello muskogee?

we made a decision tonight. we are turning in our 30-day notice to vacate, and we are moving to muskogee ... and back in with my parents! i haven't lived at my parents' house since i was 17 years old! in fact they didn't even live in this house when i last lived with them.

by doing this, we will be able to save quite a bit of money and pay off several things. it just means a long commute back and forth every day. luckily, we will be driving together. since travis can get by on a few hours of sleep, he'll be able to drive and i'll be able to rest in the car. i dread to think what it will be like to drive back to muskogee on nights that we have plans with friends after work.

we had just gotten everything situated just so in our apartment. travis is bringing boxes home tomorrow and we will begin packing it all away again. most everything will go in storage as there is not much sense in us taking much more than our clothes. i am sad and a little stressed. i like this idea better than post-poning the wedding, however.

when the idea was first mentioned, i was excited to think of all of the money we will save and the things we could get paid off ... but now that we are actually doing it, i am more than a little sad. and as much as i love my family, i'm not sure that moving in with them will be the greatest idea. oh well; i suppose anyone can do anything for six months.

changes.

agh! i had an entire post written, and it just vanished! so, to begin again ...

a much needed update is in order!

as of today, travis, amelia and i are officially out of our old apartment and into our new places. amelia actually left for stillwater on tuesday night. travis and i were able to get most of our things moved last weekend and the last few items at the beginning of the week. yesterday we finished cleaning and moving the last few odds and ends. we still have much unpacking to do and decorating as well, but it's nice to be moved.

travis asked me our first night here, "so, do you like our new place?" i nodded that i did and then asked if he did. his response, "i feel like i'm home." it does feel nice and it's interesting to have our own place.

we have already had our first overnight guests. justin & lindsay came and spent the beginning of the week with us. unfortunately, we no longer have a guest bedroom, so their nice comfy bed turned into a pallet on the floor. they didn't seem to mind too much, and we all had a good time eating pizza and watching movies.

you are all invited to see our new place ... just give me a little bit of time to get a few more things unpacked and put away.

sorry for the hiatus.

a good home must be made.

monday, travis and i were both in sour moods that we couldn't shake. that's one of the things that i love about us though -- if someone has wronged one of us, the other is just as upset, as if they were wronged as well.

travis was in muskogee on monday for court for a ticket he had received. he spent a litte time at the pool hall and dropped by the lears'. when he got home, we went to the grocery store and also rented a couple of movies. we love the "red box" machines that vend current releases for only $1!! before we could watch the movie, though, we had to watch two videos from our series. then we watched stardust. it was really cute, and after it was over, travis told me that i was his star ... awww.

right after work yesterday we went to see another apartment that's not far from where we live now. unfortunately the traffic getting in and out of the location is terrible. plus, the streets leading around the complex are so narrow it's hard for two cars to drive along. it looks like the search is still on. last night we came home and fixed a tray of rolled lunch meats, cheeses, broccoli, tomatoes, baby carrots, and wheat thins. we've wanted to do that since being at aunt sue's. we fixed quite a bit so that it would last us a couple of days. right after eating travis fell asleep -- and crashed hard! he slept for about 3 hours. i worked on reports and activities for work. when he woke up, we put in another movie -- untraceable

. i didn't get too into it because i was still doing stuff for work and travis ended up going down to the gym to work out. i had just really gotten into the movie (which is a little scary and a little intense) when travis knocked on the door. i almost jumped out of my skin! he was finished working out and hadn't taken his keys. i finished up a few more things for work and then headed to bed. travis was finishing updates for one of his clients for work, so i think he was up a little bit later than i was.

i've been really dizzy every day this week. today was especially bad, and i felt completely exhausted. i'm actually home from work today because i just did not feel well at all. at lunch travis and i went over to see another apartment. it's where amber and eric live. it's further from where we live now, and we would have to travel 169 each morning, so i'm not particularly thrilled with it; i think that travis is set on it though.

there is one other one that i really want -- the one on riverside -- but we may give up on it depending how many people on currently on the wait list.

amelia made some delicious cupcakes earlier in the week. travis can't quit talking about them, so i think i may go to the store in a bit and get the ingredients to make a cake.

keep your fingers crossed that we find a great place to live soon. i feel like time is running out ... we have to give notice at our apartment this week.