puppy love.

i was cleaning the office last night when i ran across this sketch travis had done of connor about a year ago. my silly boys. i love them so.

leartec solutions.

the picture is grainy & blurry, definitely not the best i've ever taken, but you get the idea ...

travis has talked about owning his own business for quite some time now. he really enjoys computers, and that's the field he is currently in, so it's likely that's the kind of business he will open when the time is right.

a while back i designed some collateral for him, but we never did anything with it. he has started doing computer repair work on the side this past year and we're crossing our fingers that this business will begin to grow gradually as well. if we had the means, he would be ready to leave his job and do the same kind of work for himself today. for now he will continue to spread the word and build his business on the side.

ten year reunion{s}

i kind of feel like i'm in the twilight zone right now ... and i'm not talking vampires. a week or two ago tracie contacted me about helping her with the class of 2000's 10-year reunion. {i'm class of '01} a lot of my close friends graduated in 2000 so it's a little hard to swallow. i know time passes quickly, but i still can't belive it has been a decade!

yesterday i emailed tracie proofs of the reunion tickets. while we were talking, we also thought a blog would be a great idea to keep in touch with the class, especially those who aren't on facebook. the picture above is the header i quickly threw together just so they could get the site up. today i got everything roughly set up. it's a least there if anyone drops by.

and believe it or not, just as i was replying to an email from tracie yesterday, i got an email from sara, kalan, and kay lynn regarding our 10-year reunion. where's my paper bag? i think i need to breathe!

yes, our reunion is a little more than a year away, and {clearly} i still can't believe it's even that close, but i'm really excited, too. and i'm so thankful that they're getting started on it now. tracie and julie only just started. both are in their third trimester of their pregnancies ... and neither one of them even served as a class officer in high school. they have their careers, their babies, and their families to take care of, on top of organizing a huge event like this. i'm thrilled that i've been able to help and am trying to do as much as i can for them ... while at the same time gearing up for my own.

so. weird. so weird.

ready for a change.

i am soooo ready to be in a home {apartment, house, whatever!} of my {our} own. i love my family, and i am so grateful for the opportunity to be here with them and the time i've gotten to spend with them. and i'm so appreciative that they were willing to let us move in here as well.


but there are certainly days when i can feel the pinch of a nearly 27-year old still living at home with mom and dad. especially one who had never lived with them since moving away to college at 18.


{insert heavy sigh}.

and on that note i'll bid you adieu.

google reader.

i mentioned google reader in my last post. i said that i use it, but that's really not true. you see, i have 59 subscriptions, and it gets a little out of control trying to keep up with that many subscriptions. so yesterday and today i set out to edit a few of these subscriptions. which blogs do i really, really want to keep up with? which blogs really inspire me?

i just finished cropping my list ... i now have 38. {and that's not even counting the blogs of the four girls' i mentioned yesterday. you know, the ones i stalk repeatedly}. that's not great, but still pretty good compared to where i started. and ... i added a couple of new gems that i found in my weeding out process.

i am going to make an effort to cut back this list further. i will try to check out my reader on a daily basis so i can see which blogs i truly love and which ones i can live without.

i know i've done this before, but what are some of the top blogs you're following right now? maybe i need to check them out ... ;)

hello. my name is rhiannon. and i'm an addict.

oh. my. goodness. i officially have a problem. do you have any idea how much time i spend going to four particular blogs {talesofthetrees.com; thecollierfam; tangled dreams; justjenny} waiting to see if each of the authors have updated? oh a million or so. sure, you think that's an exageration, but at this point, i wouldn't say that it's much of a stretch.

get google reader you say. it tells you when your favorite blogs are updated. i have it, but the impulse is too great. i have to check over and over and over. it's even the last thing i do after turning out the light each night. i do one last check from my phone before closing my eyes. as if any of you are updating at that hour!

so, i have to apologize to each of my readers {all ten of you, ha!} for my blogging hiatus. if you're anything like me, it's torture! {though i can't imagine that my not posting really has that much of an impact in anyone's life. i don't ever write of anything really significant}.

whew. it feels good to get that off my chest.

is there a program i can join?

new year resolutions.

i'm not usually one to make resolutions at the new year. this year however, i committed to keeping my closet organized. the room i am in right now has the teeny-tiniest of closets and while i have four shelves in the bottom to store my shoes on, last year my shoes ended up in a big jumbled up pile in the floor. i decided that i would keep the closet neat and organized since i hated even opening it last year.

i'm proud to report that it has been six and a half weeks and the closet is still in order! i was tempted to just throw some shoes in and close the door yesterday, but then i remembered that i had planned to write this post, and it made me re-think, and place the shoes on the rack where they belong.

i'm not sure why this has been an issue for me. i love organization, so it's a little surprising that this has been a problem ... but i've also had a hard time keeping my room straightened, too. i think it's indicative of my life. haha. plus since i pretty much only have that one room for al of my things that i don't have in storage, it doesn't take much for it to look cluttered. again, you think that would encourage me to keep everything in it's place. hmm, i'm not sure what has gotten into me.

whiplash & muscle relaxers.

yesterday i had a follow up appointment from my er visit. the doctor had asked that i see another doctor at the beginning of the week, so my parents took me to the recommended doctor's office. i'm not going to lie. i felt a little silly being 26 years old and having to have both of my parents take me to the doctor. the truck is parked at travis's parents' right now, though, and travis and lindsay had the rodeo in tulsa.

the visit didn't take too terribly long, and i was grateful. there's nothing like sitting in a waiting room for hours on end. the doctor came in and examined me. i mentioned before that my left side was giving me trouble right after the accident, but since then my right hip and my neck had started to give me a little pain and soreness.

my xrays had come back normal, but the doctor said i definitely had whiplash and wanted me to take muscle relaxers. she also gave me two and a half pages of stretches she wants me to do. i'm to work into them slowly this next week and then come back for another thirty minute visit next tuesday to see how i'm healing. she said she may do a little manipulation then, but it is too close to the injury at this time to be moving anything around. this worried my mom, but i think everything is going to be fine.

i spend a lot of time with the heating pad and she suggested that i start alternating the heat with ice, so i may give that a shot today. i'm not looking forward to the stretches, but will let you know how everything goes.

be mine.

valentine's day was sunday, but since we were so busy with my mom's birthday, we decided to do our valentine's day on monday. actually, i didn't think we were really going to celebrate valentine's day this year, but on the way to work monday travis surprised me saying we should do it that night. i wish i would have known in advance because i didn't just love what i was wearing, but i did get a haircut and blowout later that morning, so it worked out well.

i looked forward to our date all day. we didn't do anything super over-the-top, but an actual date with just the two of us sounded incredible. even before dave ramsey, we had cut out movies at the theater and going out to eat almost completely.

travis asked me where i would like to go for dinner and surprisingly enough i picked italian. {i am never the one to pick italian}. the pasta carrabba had been on my mind the past couple of days, and so i asked if we could go to carrabba's.

oh. my. goodness. it was so delicious. i changed the chicken in my pasta to shrimp and travis ordered the salmon and spaghetti. what a treat!

after dinner we headed to target to kill a little time. we had tickets to see valentine's day at 7:35, but there was about an hour until our show started. we walked around for a bit and then picked up a couple of boxes of candy and headed to starworld. i felt silly for being so excited, but i was.

we got to the theater with plenty of time, grabbed the best seats in the house, and settled in with our popcorn and candy. i seriously think i put on ten pounds that night!

i thought the movie was wonderful. i've heard bad reviews of it, but i loved it! i think it's one i will definitely add to the collection when it hits dvd. i was sad to see the night come to an end, but was grateful to get to have a special date night. {i'm still beating myself up over not getting any pictures!!!! someone help me, please!}

birthday bash. literally.

this past weekend was a little crazy for everyone. as i mentioned in my last post february is a pretty busy month for us with lindsay's mom and my mom celebrating their birthdays, plus valentine's day. since patti's birthday was on a thursday, justin and lindsay decided to celebrate with her and their family on saturday. lindsay cleaned house, baked a cake, cooked dinner, and had her family to their house for the special occasion.

we were having a surprise tea party for my mom on sunday afternoon, so midmorning saturday i headed to the grocery store to purchase everything i would need to prepare the lunch. i had been working since the end of january on her pom decorations, banner, invitations, recipe cards, cupcake toppers and favor bags, and saturday was going to be my day to knock out the rest of the preparations.

i had travis's truck for the day because he had taken my rodeo to tom's garage to work on the damages from our accident in arkansas. while driving up 11th street in muskogee, i heard a crash behind me. i thought, "was i just hit again??" i then realized that i hadn't felt anything and that the crashing sound had not been in my car. just as i went to look in the rearview mirror for the sound of the crash, i was thrown forward. that time the sound was definitely in my car. and i definitely felt it. i said a choice word that i won't repeat here and then shouted, "are you kidding me??" i had just been rear-ended again. this time in travis's truck.

i seemed to be fine, but my adrenaline was rushing, and i was visibly shaking. i could hardly operate my phone. the car that hit me was a maroon honda and the driver was an elderly woman. the car that hit her was a tan malibu and the driver was a twenty-something girl named sally. sally stepped out of her car and immediately began asking if everyone was okay. the driver in the middle car wasn't very nice, and sally kept saying, "i'm so sorry ma'am. it was all my fault. i'm so sorry." i felt bad for her because the other lady kept yelling at her. the woman in the middle car tried to call the police, but like me couldn't operate her phone. she asked me to call 911 so i pulled it together and after a few shots got my phone to actually dial. each of the cars were pretty beat up. sally's car hood was all crunched up and fluids and steam were going everywhere. it took the police a few minutes to get there and in the meantime i called travis. since he was working on the car, however, he didn't hear any of my calls or my text message letting him know i had been in another wreck. i reached him on tom's phone and at first he thought i was playing a really cruel joke, but knew by the sound of my voice that wasn't the case. i hung up with travis and called my dad. he came to the scene and offered moral support while i got sally's contact and insurance information.

the ambulance arrived and asked if everyone was okay. sally was complaining of arm pain, and the woman in the middle car just kept saying she was really shook up. i told them my lower back was beginning to hurt but that i would be fine. the paramedics asked me if i was sure and told me they would be happy to take me in. i decided that since it was hurting it would be best to go in ... until they completely immobilized me, strapped me down on the stretcher, and placed my neck in a halo. i just felt silly since i wasn't bleeding or knocked unconscious.

they placed me in the ambulance and my dad decided to go get my mom and meet me at the hospital. i asked for my phone out of my bag, but he wasn't able to find it. he handed me his instead. once in the ambulance i received a couple of phone calls, but could never hear the caller. apparently my dad's earpiece is broken and only works on speaker phone. seriously? i had no way to call travis and i tried to text him, but that was impossible since i was unable to move my neck or raise my arms past my chest. so i just had to wait. it's really ridiculous how helpless and cut off i felt not having a phone for the ten minute drive to the hospital.

they got me to the er and a the nurse got all of my information. the next thing i knew dee was standing by my bed. i had no idea how she knew i was there but was grateful to see her. it took quite a bit later but finally my mom arrived. by this time the doctor had at least checked me out and take me off of the stretcher. my left side lower back was really hurting and that leg kept going numb.

my mom gave me my phone and said that it had been in my bag. my dad had told her he couldn't find it and she pulled it right out. he had no idea it was a phone. he was looking for something more like his flip phone.

i was at the er for several hours before they took me up for xrays. they drew blood. ugh. i. hate. needles. and i thought i was going to pass out while she was drawing it, even though i couldn't see anything. then a little later they came and gave me a shot for pain. that hurt, too! by that time travis had arrived and was upset i hadn't let him know i was going to the hospital. when i talked to him on tom's phone i had told him everything was okay. then he talked to sierra {she accidently dialed him when they were trying to use my phone} and found out i was at the hospital. at the time i talked to him i didn't know i was going to the er. when i found out he was on his way i told him not to come, but he was already on his way down.

travis's dad even came to the hospital while i was there. i couldn't believe it. steve never leaves the house except to go to work. i felt pretty special.

the xrays didn't seem to show anything broken and the doctor released me saying that the radiologist would follow up with me if they found something on the xray that the doctor hadn't seen.

i was discharged and we all headed to the lears. dee gave us our valentine gifts {and even had one for connor}. my mom stayed for a few minutes and then went back to the pool hall. travis and i didn't stay long either. i was pretty tired and knew i still had all of the cooking and baking to do for my mom's party, plus the trip to the grocery store that had been interrupted. lindsay and justin had offered to help, but i knew they were still busy with lindsay's mom's birthday dinner, so i had declined. they said they would help with the cake balls and brownie balls, so i was grateful for that.

travis and i got to the house, and both decided to take a nap. i slept for a couple of hours and then slowly got up and headed to the store. i couldn't feel a lot since they had given me the shot for pain, so i figured it was the perfect time to go. it took me several hours to get everything i needed since i had to move pretty slow, and i didn't get to justin and lindsay's until after nine. when i got there, lindsay and i got straight to work making the cupcakes, cake balls, brownie balls, and mixing up the toppings and salads for the sandwiches. she cut the bread into cut shapes using the cookie cutters i had found at walmart and i cut vegetables for salads and other dishes we would put together in the morning. we worked until almost two. we were both about to fall asleep so we cleaned up the kitchen, organized everything for the next morning and i headed home.

i still had to finish up the cupcake toppers and a few things on the banner ... so i didn't find myself in bed until almost 4:00 in the morning. i cranked the heating pad to high and went right to sleep. at 8:00 that morning i was up again. i threw on my sweats and a hoodie and headed out into the {beautiful} snowfall. i had to stop at homeland to grab a few items that we had ran out of the night before and then got to justin & lindsay's. the house was completely dark when i got there and i didn't want to wake them if i didn't have to. i made sure the dogs were in the backyard, and then headed in through the garage door. i got right to work. about a half hour later lindsay joined me. i was afraid i had woken her, but she said it was no problem. she jumped in the shower then set off to help me. justin came in not too long after and the three of us worked like busy little bees. there were still a few things to be done at 11:54, but i knew her church service would be letting out soon and i was still in my sweats. i also had to pick travis up and grab the dishes from the house that i was planning to use. i had tried to grab them that morning but my mom woke up earlier than usual, so i just had to leave the house.

travis began gathering several of the items i needed. i ran in the house, rinsed my hair at the bathtub, rushed to dry it and throw on some clothes that looked halfway presentable and then helped him finish grabbing everything we needed. sierra began texting to let me know they were out of church and i asked her to stall as much as possible. we got back to the house at about 12:15 and all of the guests had arrived. we quickly unloaded my basket, lindsay arranged the tulips, and then the birthday girl pulled into the driveway. whew. we finished everything just in the nick of time. i would have liked for it to be completely finished before the guests arrived, but it was the few finishing touches {pouring the tea & lemonade into tea pots and pitchers, etc} so it was pretty much all ready before they got there.

my mom was actually surprised {yay!} and everyone loved the food. i was so nervous since some of the tea sandwiches sound a little weird. the event actually took up most of the afternoon and it wasn't until almost 5:30 that we found ourselves all packed up and back at home.

it was such a fun time, in spite of all the craziness, and i'm glad we got to celebrate the wonderful woman i am lucky enough to call Mom.