Monday, August 10, 2009
how times have changed ... and then some never do.
i was looking over our blog today and decided to read through our 100 things about us post. i was cracking up! i remember writing this post at travis's aunt sue's house. it was interesting to see the things that have changed. for starters, we no longer live in tulsa. we have been camping {just a few weekends ago}. we now have our maltese puppy named connor. and we're engaged. it was a lot of fun to read through the list and see how we've changed, and be reminded of experiences we've already had together. maybe i will create a new 100 things about us. and maybe i won't. this original list is pretty sweet.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
lazy sunday afternoon? not for us!
yesterday we didn't accomplish as much as we set out to do. instead of mowing lawns, we spent the afternoon with travis's family. travis wanted to wait until the evening when it was a little cooler to mow, but after the day passed, he decided he wanted a shower and a nap, so we headed to my parents'. after a shower, travis {mr. indecisive! yesterday} decided that he no longer wanted a shower, but instead wanted to go to the pool hall for a bit. we haven't spent much time up there at all the past two weeks or so. he, sierra, and i jumped in the car and headed there. we were there until closing. i spent most of the time reading harry potter while travis wasted no time getting his pool fix. i'm halfway through the fourth one {the goblet of fire}. i had forgotten how much i love them. we went straight to bed when we got home last night. i think we were both pretty worn out.
this morning we woke up, loaded up connor, and headed back to the lears'. we put connor and tedo in the backyard. i walked around and picked up all of the pinecones and sticks so that travis could get right to mowing. he took off his shirts and his flipflops! i couldn't believe that he mowed all day barefoot! i went inside to find some sunscreen since the last time he worked in his parents' yard he got a terrible burn {and now has so many freckles on his back, it no longer looks like his own!}
after i picked up the yard, there was nothing else travis wanted me to do, so i went inside to read harry potter a little more. he worked on the yard most of the day {his parents have a very large lot}.
after we were finished we headed back to my parents' house. travis again thought he wanted a nap, but this time after his shower, he decided to watch harry potter and the half blood prince. we were just lazy and cooled down for a bit.
i thought we would get to work on my parents' yard, but after the movie, travis wanted to get out of the house, so we headed to hastings for a bit. we caught up on the latest gossip, checked out a few books that we would like to read in the future ... and lost travis's wallet. he didn't realize it until we were walking out to the car. my mom had called us home for dinner. we quickly walked back inside to the aisle he had been perusing and hit up the magazine stand, but it wasn't there. i caught up with one of the managers, and luckily {thank you for small miracles!} the wallet had been handed in to the office.
we got home and had dinner with my parents. it was just the four of us as sierra had gone to her godmother's just today. she's getting in one last summer visit before the fall semester {of her sophomore year!} begins.
lindsay stopped by just as we were fixing our plates to pick up some pain meds for justin. he seems to be doing well, but is in a bit of pain right now. mom and dad had gone over earlier in the day to help bleed the brakes of his truck, since he isn't able to do anything like that right now.
the sun has set ... and the lawn here still isn't mowed and the mower {one different than we would use to mow the lawn} still is not intact. i suppose tomorrow is a new day ... with new excuses, like league! hopefully we'll get it taken care of by tuesday.
for now, i am going to head back to my book while travis and my mom pick out the pictures they are going to submit for the contest they are trying to win in billiards digest -- the chance to be featured as one of the top game rooms in the country.
hope that your week starts out wonderfully well! safe travels to jenny and tim {who should be making the long flight home from mongolia at this time}.
this morning we woke up, loaded up connor, and headed back to the lears'. we put connor and tedo in the backyard. i walked around and picked up all of the pinecones and sticks so that travis could get right to mowing. he took off his shirts and his flipflops! i couldn't believe that he mowed all day barefoot! i went inside to find some sunscreen since the last time he worked in his parents' yard he got a terrible burn {and now has so many freckles on his back, it no longer looks like his own!}
after i picked up the yard, there was nothing else travis wanted me to do, so i went inside to read harry potter a little more. he worked on the yard most of the day {his parents have a very large lot}.
after we were finished we headed back to my parents' house. travis again thought he wanted a nap, but this time after his shower, he decided to watch harry potter and the half blood prince. we were just lazy and cooled down for a bit.
i thought we would get to work on my parents' yard, but after the movie, travis wanted to get out of the house, so we headed to hastings for a bit. we caught up on the latest gossip, checked out a few books that we would like to read in the future ... and lost travis's wallet. he didn't realize it until we were walking out to the car. my mom had called us home for dinner. we quickly walked back inside to the aisle he had been perusing and hit up the magazine stand, but it wasn't there. i caught up with one of the managers, and luckily {thank you for small miracles!} the wallet had been handed in to the office.
we got home and had dinner with my parents. it was just the four of us as sierra had gone to her godmother's just today. she's getting in one last summer visit before the fall semester {of her sophomore year!} begins.
lindsay stopped by just as we were fixing our plates to pick up some pain meds for justin. he seems to be doing well, but is in a bit of pain right now. mom and dad had gone over earlier in the day to help bleed the brakes of his truck, since he isn't able to do anything like that right now.
the sun has set ... and the lawn here still isn't mowed and the mower {one different than we would use to mow the lawn} still is not intact. i suppose tomorrow is a new day ... with new excuses, like league! hopefully we'll get it taken care of by tuesday.
for now, i am going to head back to my book while travis and my mom pick out the pictures they are going to submit for the contest they are trying to win in billiards digest -- the chance to be featured as one of the top game rooms in the country.
hope that your week starts out wonderfully well! safe travels to jenny and tim {who should be making the long flight home from mongolia at this time}.
obsession: the godfather.
i. am. obsessed! with the godfather. i absolutely love it. i've been meaning to post this for some time now. a few years ago amelia or i got travis the boxed set of godfather movies. since the purchase, i have never sat down and watched them with him. he mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to watch it, but i always objected. i kept saying that i didn't like the movies. {turns out i was thinking of scarface, casino, and goodfellas}. in fact, i had never even seen the godfather. about a month or two ago, travis insisted that we watch them {even though at the time i thought i had seen them and hated them}. we put them in and i was immediately obsessed! for weeks all i could talk about was the godfather. i love that it's all about "the family." family has always been very important in our world, so i could definitely relate. i wish that we could be the head of a "family" and be able to give and receive "favors." a legitimate family, of course. if that's even possible. michael corleone was never able to accomplish it. the actors are incredible! marlon brando, of course. and then several other favorites of mine: diane lane, james caan, and even al pacino {whom i did not even recognize when we first started watching the movies}. i have a feeling this is an obsession i will not quickly get over.Saturday, August 8, 2009
just the two of us.
connor and i were home by ourselves and bored ... so we decided to take some pictures. most of them are of us together, but there are a few at the end that i was snapping trying to get a new profile pic. i wasn't a fan of any of those, but i did have a lot of fun with my smallest boy. 
the real pictures update.
these first two are pictures that we took after my cousin's wedding. we were at my aunt brenda's.
the next three pictures are of our camping trip last weekend. i wish that i would have gotten pictures of our campfire and more pictures of all of us together. i didn't have my memory card, though, and the internal memory of my camera was used up.
pictures update ... and apparently a whole lot more
finally! all of the stars have aligned ... or something like that. i have my pictures' memory card + i have my laptop + i have time! this morning has started out crazy. for starters, we were supposed to go to okc. we were going to spend time with travis's family and get some much needed time with my dear andy. plans changed, however, when travis's dad was in the hospital longer, and everyone ended up coming to muskogee, instead. everyone except for andrea, and i was so looking forward to our time together! it actually works out {whether i want to admit it or not} because our funds were running low yet again, and it probably wouldn't have been the smartest idea to go out of town anyway.
we woke up this morning with quite an agenda: help my parents' get the electronic bracket set up at the pool hall for their 9-ball tournament today; mow travis's parents' lawn; mow my parent's lawn; put a mower back together for my dad; take sierra to drop off her required summer assignments for her sophomore ap english class this fall; visit travis's dad in the hospital; i'm sure there are other things i'm forgetting, but that's a start.
this morning we got around {i didn't get to take a shower, but decided that it would be okay since we were working in the yard all day; i could take one after we finished}. we headed to the gameroom to get the bracket set up and help my parents through registration {they are a little electronically/technologically challenged}. when we got there, travis gave my mom a crash course in the tournament software {again} and then they began calling all over town looking for an lcd television to display the bracket {since their big screen was damaged in the flood}. travis helped them talk to the service guys to ensure they were getting the tv with the appropriate input jack for the laptop. my parents headed to the store to get it. i waited and waited to hear from my sister. her work was due by noon. finally at 11:30 i called her. she said she had just put the finishing touch on her paper and would be ready to go when i got to the house. i picked her up ... and then we took the wrong way to her school since we were both talking. we got to the school about 10-15 minutes before noon, but the parking lot was empty and the offices were dark. she may have missed the deadline ... by a week! i took her back to the house, helped her draft and send an email to her teacher, and then she informed me she had to work at the pool hall but needed a shower. 40 minutes later {when i told her she only had 20} we headed toward the door. just as we got there my parents walked in. there weren't enough people to hold the tournament, so they came home, and sierra and diana were to run the business as if it were a normal saturday. they had left travis at the pool hall, because i had left my phone in the car, missing their calls, and they weren't sure where i was.
i got to the pool hall to pick up travis {an hour after i left} and then he told me that we were going to tulsa. his cell phone died last night and has decided that it will no longer charge. at all. on any charger. so since we aren't in a situation to purchase new phones, he headed to tulsa to get a cell phone from his office {with his boss's permission of course}.
when we got to his parents' house to pick up eric {who was going to ride with us}, steve was home from the hosptial. he was glad to be home, but i could see his hands and arms visibly shaking, and he was talking kind of weakly. he told us they had discovered that he has crohnes disease ... not colitis like they originally thought. there is no cure for this disease, but it is treatable. it wasn't great news, but i suppose it could have been much, much worse. for now, he is resting and enjoying being back at home.
travis and eric decided to make the trip to tulsa a "guys-only" event ... so here i am. still with no shower. with my laptop. with my memory card. and with the time to post pictures.
we woke up this morning with quite an agenda: help my parents' get the electronic bracket set up at the pool hall for their 9-ball tournament today; mow travis's parents' lawn; mow my parent's lawn; put a mower back together for my dad; take sierra to drop off her required summer assignments for her sophomore ap english class this fall; visit travis's dad in the hospital; i'm sure there are other things i'm forgetting, but that's a start.
this morning we got around {i didn't get to take a shower, but decided that it would be okay since we were working in the yard all day; i could take one after we finished}. we headed to the gameroom to get the bracket set up and help my parents through registration {they are a little electronically/technologically challenged}. when we got there, travis gave my mom a crash course in the tournament software {again} and then they began calling all over town looking for an lcd television to display the bracket {since their big screen was damaged in the flood}. travis helped them talk to the service guys to ensure they were getting the tv with the appropriate input jack for the laptop. my parents headed to the store to get it. i waited and waited to hear from my sister. her work was due by noon. finally at 11:30 i called her. she said she had just put the finishing touch on her paper and would be ready to go when i got to the house. i picked her up ... and then we took the wrong way to her school since we were both talking. we got to the school about 10-15 minutes before noon, but the parking lot was empty and the offices were dark. she may have missed the deadline ... by a week! i took her back to the house, helped her draft and send an email to her teacher, and then she informed me she had to work at the pool hall but needed a shower. 40 minutes later {when i told her she only had 20} we headed toward the door. just as we got there my parents walked in. there weren't enough people to hold the tournament, so they came home, and sierra and diana were to run the business as if it were a normal saturday. they had left travis at the pool hall, because i had left my phone in the car, missing their calls, and they weren't sure where i was.
i got to the pool hall to pick up travis {an hour after i left} and then he told me that we were going to tulsa. his cell phone died last night and has decided that it will no longer charge. at all. on any charger. so since we aren't in a situation to purchase new phones, he headed to tulsa to get a cell phone from his office {with his boss's permission of course}.
when we got to his parents' house to pick up eric {who was going to ride with us}, steve was home from the hosptial. he was glad to be home, but i could see his hands and arms visibly shaking, and he was talking kind of weakly. he told us they had discovered that he has crohnes disease ... not colitis like they originally thought. there is no cure for this disease, but it is treatable. it wasn't great news, but i suppose it could have been much, much worse. for now, he is resting and enjoying being back at home.
travis and eric decided to make the trip to tulsa a "guys-only" event ... so here i am. still with no shower. with my laptop. with my memory card. and with the time to post pictures.
so without further ado ...
actually, on second thought ... now that i have typed all of my paragraphs, if i try to post pictures in blogger, it will mess with the layout of the update. while i have plenty of time, i do not have the wherewithall to mess with the layout for an hour after i upload the pictures. let's move to a new post.
Friday, August 7, 2009
let's go fly a kite!
i've been working at sixbyte each day. two days of the week i work on their books (and once i get everything caught up, i'll move back to marketing, sales, etc). the other days, christopher (the owner of the company) let's me use the office for my business.
i really enjoy our drive time together in the car. we've got a bit of a journey from muskogee to tulsa each morning and each afternoon. we also work really well together during the day.
lately on our drives, travis has been telling me stories from his childhood. i've wanted to write them down ... but much to my dismay i've already forgotten a couple of them. yesterday when we were driving home, we looked out the driver's side window. "a kite! a kite! that's what we need. we need a kite," travis exclaimed. "that's one of my really good memories with my dad. he bought me a kite and was helping me fly it. i was afraid it was going to take me away with it. i was probably about 4 or 5 years old ... "
his story reminded me of when i hoped that i could be picked up by a kite, or an umbrella, or a humongous bouquet of balloons and float up, up, and away, just like mary poppins.
i hope we never forget these precious glimpses back into our stories.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
all things rhiannon.
okay, so maybe not all things. i have been tagged to do this before, but i have never done it. i'm supposed to list seven random things that no one knows about me. let's see if i can come up with seven ...
01. hello my name is rhiannon, and i have a problem. any time i come across a new blog that i like, i am forced {okay, so maybe no one is twisting my arm}, to start at the very beginning of the blog, even if the person has been blogging for several years. i just can't stand not starting at the beginning. and most blogs are not very user-friendly for this type of reading.
02. hmmm, i'm only on number two and already i am stumped. i'm trying to think of things that i think no one else {or no one who reads my blog at least} knows. okay, here's something. my hair color is, and always has been my natural color. while i have it professionally cut and styled, i have never had highlights, lowlights, or any kind of color change.
03. i loved watching the andy griffith show with my dad when we were growing up. it actually brings back a lot of good memories of my childhood when i hear the infamous whistle. i also think of tuna fish salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread, ruffles potato chips, a half eaten dill pickle, and pace picante sauce. it was a favorite lunch of my dad's and it seemed like he ate it often while watching the show. he almost always had a mountain dew that he drank out of a mason jar. ... this sounds more like something about my dad than something about me!
04. i like having a unique name, despite the trouble it often causes me ... try answering to the name "RY-uh-non" gracefully. i like it so much in fact that when i dream of being famous {like that's ever going to happen}, i consider using the nickname my mom almost gave me before naming me rhiannon -- Dani. in fact, my etsy shop was almost named dani's designs. {i know other rhiannon's exist out there. i've just never met another}.
05. i love playing games {board games, cards, etc.} but i hate playing any game that really requires me to think {i.e. trivial pursuit, etc}. i consider myself a somewhat intelligent individual, but if i am going to play a game, it's because i absolutely do not want to think any more. or make any decisions. i just want to have a good time. pictionary is my all time favorite. i rarely lose. :)
06. i have been thinking about babies a lot lately ... and surprisingly, i find that i still don't find i'm ready to have a baby {which is good since i'm still not married!}. i was thinking about it because it just seems all of my friends have babies. i'm not saying that i don't ever want to do this, i just find it surprising that i don't have this deep, burning desire that every other woman i know seems to possess. everyone within my age range give or take 3 years {or even more} already have a least one baby, are ready for their next one, may already have two, or if they don't have one, they are anxiously awaiting the day they can announce to everyone that they are pregnant. i think travis and i will {someday} make great parents. and we still have a year until we are married and can even begin to consider thinking about babies. i just find it odd that my "clock" hasn't kicked in and. is there something wrong with me??
07. and that reminds me, here's something i bet a lot of you don't know. everyone i meet {okay, everyone is an exaggeration} tells me that i am going to have twins. it happened to me again today! and in the past year and a half, i've even had two completely random strangers tell me the same thing! how odd, right?
so now maybe you know a few more things about me that you didn't know ... and probably a few that you wish you didn't! i know they were weird and random; i was just trying to think of things i hadn't ever really told anyone. i hope that you jump on board a post seven random things about yourself!
01. hello my name is rhiannon, and i have a problem. any time i come across a new blog that i like, i am forced {okay, so maybe no one is twisting my arm}, to start at the very beginning of the blog, even if the person has been blogging for several years. i just can't stand not starting at the beginning. and most blogs are not very user-friendly for this type of reading.
02. hmmm, i'm only on number two and already i am stumped. i'm trying to think of things that i think no one else {or no one who reads my blog at least} knows. okay, here's something. my hair color is, and always has been my natural color. while i have it professionally cut and styled, i have never had highlights, lowlights, or any kind of color change.
03. i loved watching the andy griffith show with my dad when we were growing up. it actually brings back a lot of good memories of my childhood when i hear the infamous whistle. i also think of tuna fish salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread, ruffles potato chips, a half eaten dill pickle, and pace picante sauce. it was a favorite lunch of my dad's and it seemed like he ate it often while watching the show. he almost always had a mountain dew that he drank out of a mason jar. ... this sounds more like something about my dad than something about me!
04. i like having a unique name, despite the trouble it often causes me ... try answering to the name "RY-uh-non" gracefully. i like it so much in fact that when i dream of being famous {like that's ever going to happen}, i consider using the nickname my mom almost gave me before naming me rhiannon -- Dani. in fact, my etsy shop was almost named dani's designs. {i know other rhiannon's exist out there. i've just never met another}.
05. i love playing games {board games, cards, etc.} but i hate playing any game that really requires me to think {i.e. trivial pursuit, etc}. i consider myself a somewhat intelligent individual, but if i am going to play a game, it's because i absolutely do not want to think any more. or make any decisions. i just want to have a good time. pictionary is my all time favorite. i rarely lose. :)
06. i have been thinking about babies a lot lately ... and surprisingly, i find that i still don't find i'm ready to have a baby {which is good since i'm still not married!}. i was thinking about it because it just seems all of my friends have babies. i'm not saying that i don't ever want to do this, i just find it surprising that i don't have this deep, burning desire that every other woman i know seems to possess. everyone within my age range give or take 3 years {or even more} already have a least one baby, are ready for their next one, may already have two, or if they don't have one, they are anxiously awaiting the day they can announce to everyone that they are pregnant. i think travis and i will {someday} make great parents. and we still have a year until we are married and can even begin to consider thinking about babies. i just find it odd that my "clock" hasn't kicked in and. is there something wrong with me??
07. and that reminds me, here's something i bet a lot of you don't know. everyone i meet {okay, everyone is an exaggeration} tells me that i am going to have twins. it happened to me again today! and in the past year and a half, i've even had two completely random strangers tell me the same thing! how odd, right?
so now maybe you know a few more things about me that you didn't know ... and probably a few that you wish you didn't! i know they were weird and random; i was just trying to think of things i hadn't ever really told anyone. i hope that you jump on board a post seven random things about yourself!
... just push it back in and sew it up ...
this morning my brother had surgery. he has been suffering from an umbilical hernia for sometime. it was discovered earlier this summer, but it seemed to take forever for the hospital to schedule a surgery for him.
he had to be at the hospital at 7:00 this morning, but wasn't even called back for his surgery until noon! everything went well. i called my mom to check on him and i quote, "the doctor said everything went fine. he told us he 'just pushed it all back inside and sewed him up.'" lovely. thanks to everyone for their thoughts and their prayers while he was under the knife.
he had to be at the hospital at 7:00 this morning, but wasn't even called back for his surgery until noon! everything went well. i called my mom to check on him and i quote, "the doctor said everything went fine. he told us he 'just pushed it all back inside and sewed him up.'" lovely. thanks to everyone for their thoughts and their prayers while he was under the knife.
mongolia.
no, no. we're not going to mongolia. one of my good friends from high school and her husband are, however. in fact, they are there right now on a missions trip.
a few weeks ago, my friend jenny began blogging. she had been reading andrea's blog and recently my blog. i like to think that we inspired her to get on the blogging bandwagon. :) when we were in college the three of us all used ... well, now i've lost the word ... oh, there it is -- xanga. we all used xanga. an online journal {at the time i had no idea that we were blogging}. it allowed us to write about what was going on in our days and keep up with one another, much like our blogs do now.
it is so funny because i rarely get to see jenny {she lives in texas}, but reading her blog makes me feel like i am still a part of her world. it's the same for my other friends. some of our family members or family friends don't understand why we blog. i wish i could help them understand just how incredibly great i think it is. i will admit, i was a little slow to jump on the bandwagon myself, but i couldn't be more happy that i did. i've become a bit of a blog stalker, too.
but i digress ... this post started out about my friend jenny in mongolia. she and her husband are there on a mission trip. they've only been gone a few days, but you should check out their experience at http://justjennyproffitt.blogspot.com. she has already uploaded a couple of great pictures and is doing wonderful at keeping us all updated while she is half-way around the world. here is a sneak peak of what you will find on her page:
The center is very small, low ceilings, peeling wallpaper, pretty dirty... but it is definitely a place of refuge for the kids that live around that area. Just like the last feeding center we visited, the meal they get there is often the only one they get all day. Most of the kids actually work all day at the dump, sorting trash and recycling - it's so sad how dirty they are. They work all day and earn about $1, all of which they give to their parents who most likely drink it away. It's a terrible cycle, and without getting to go to school to get an education, I don't see how they're going to break it. The little ones are so sweet and precious, but you can tell that the older kids are already getting pretty hard. I guess you would have to be to live the way they do day to day. We met one boy who looked like he was about 10 (at most) and later found out that he was 15, and was so small because he was so malnourished. Unbelievably sad. The little kids ran out to the fence when we left and waved and smiled as we drove away - it was heartbreaking. I wanted to take them with me. We went to the actual dump site after that, and it was pretty bad. People live there and live off of the leftovers that get dumped there.
please be sure to remember jenny and tim and their group while they are in mongolia. pray that the lives of everyone they come in contact with will be impacted and that they, too, will be impacted.
a few weeks ago, my friend jenny began blogging. she had been reading andrea's blog and recently my blog. i like to think that we inspired her to get on the blogging bandwagon. :) when we were in college the three of us all used ... well, now i've lost the word ... oh, there it is -- xanga. we all used xanga. an online journal {at the time i had no idea that we were blogging}. it allowed us to write about what was going on in our days and keep up with one another, much like our blogs do now.
it is so funny because i rarely get to see jenny {she lives in texas}, but reading her blog makes me feel like i am still a part of her world. it's the same for my other friends. some of our family members or family friends don't understand why we blog. i wish i could help them understand just how incredibly great i think it is. i will admit, i was a little slow to jump on the bandwagon myself, but i couldn't be more happy that i did. i've become a bit of a blog stalker, too.
but i digress ... this post started out about my friend jenny in mongolia. she and her husband are there on a mission trip. they've only been gone a few days, but you should check out their experience at http://justjennyproffitt.blogspot.com. she has already uploaded a couple of great pictures and is doing wonderful at keeping us all updated while she is half-way around the world. here is a sneak peak of what you will find on her page:
The center is very small, low ceilings, peeling wallpaper, pretty dirty... but it is definitely a place of refuge for the kids that live around that area. Just like the last feeding center we visited, the meal they get there is often the only one they get all day. Most of the kids actually work all day at the dump, sorting trash and recycling - it's so sad how dirty they are. They work all day and earn about $1, all of which they give to their parents who most likely drink it away. It's a terrible cycle, and without getting to go to school to get an education, I don't see how they're going to break it. The little ones are so sweet and precious, but you can tell that the older kids are already getting pretty hard. I guess you would have to be to live the way they do day to day. We met one boy who looked like he was about 10 (at most) and later found out that he was 15, and was so small because he was so malnourished. Unbelievably sad. The little kids ran out to the fence when we left and waved and smiled as we drove away - it was heartbreaking. I wanted to take them with me. We went to the actual dump site after that, and it was pretty bad. People live there and live off of the leftovers that get dumped there.
please be sure to remember jenny and tim and their group while they are in mongolia. pray that the lives of everyone they come in contact with will be impacted and that they, too, will be impacted.
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