Back Home

We made it back home to Broken Arrow, on Monday afternoon and have spent this week recovering from our Christmases, getting everything back in order, and playing with our Christmas gifts. I was disappointed that Weatherford didn't have more snow on the ground when we made it on Christmas Eve and was hoping the snow in Tulsa would stick around for us to enjoy it when we got back home. Matt took these pictures of our house when we got back on Monday.





We laughed as Rhapsody tried to walk in the snow. We think she's pretty cute :).





Matt has this week off from work and he is absolutely loving it. He has been working on finishing up the project he is making for me and has played a lot of video and computer games. I think he's almost beat one of the games he got for Christmas. I've had to go into the office for a few hours this week to help out, but my schedule has been pretty flexible too. We've been enjoying a relaxing week. In the evenings we've been watching football and playing my new Super Mario Brothers game. I've also been working on taking the Christmas decorations down, and getting the house back in order after coming home with a suitcase of dirty laundry and a car full of Christmas gifts.
I was in the middle of doing laundry and came in the living room to find this sleepy puppy all curled up asleep on a pile of laundry.

Going to Weatherford always wears her out. She's been cuddling in our laps in the evenings when we've been playing wii and has been sleeping late in the mornings.
We have definitely enjoyed having some down time this week to spend together.

Christmas Recap

We had a very memorable Christmas 2009. I think we both agree it's one we won't ever forget. For weeks before Christmas, the weather men were predicting snow for Christmas. I didn't pay too much attention to them, because we all know weather forecasters in Oklahoma are known for overreacting to winter weather especially close to Christmas. As Christmas drew nearer, we started paying a little more attention but still didn't think any of the weather would cause us significant travel problems. We had planned to leave for Weatherford Christmas eve after Matt got off work at noon. On Wednesday (the 23rd) afternoon Matt called me and said the weather was supposed to get bad on Thursday and asked if I wanted to go home on Wednesday night. I said I didn't really want to, because we already had plans with friends that evening that I didn't want to cancel. We looked at the weather again and saw that the temperature was not supposed to drop below freezing until Thursday at noon. We were sure that if we left in the morning we could beat the weather. We. were. wrong. For about 2/3 of the trip to Weatherford, we encountered icy roads/poor visibility. And when I say poor visibility, I mean we couldn't see more than about 3 feet in front of us. Needless to say we had a stressful drive home but made it safely. Later, I commented to Matt that I was surprised he was so adamant that we were going to make the drive in spite of the weather. He said that he knew how upset I would be to miss Christmas with my family. We both agreed that I would be more upset than him about missing Christmas. However, we both also agreed that my mom would be more upset than either of us, and then Matt said that actually Barry might actually have it the worst, when he had to brave the roads to come and get us, because there is NO way my mom would have let us miss Christmas. So for everyone's sake, we are glad we made it home with no major problems!

Once we made it to Weatherford, we needed a few hours to recover from the drive. I took a nap while Matt vegged for awhile. That evening we went to Matt's parents for dinner. They had invited my parents and my grandparents for the evening and we all had a good time visiting and playing dominoes.

After that, Matt and I crashed for the night. This year Matt and I celebrated our 4th Christmas as a married couple and our 8th Christmas together (I feel old typing that). On our first Christmas that we were dating, we started the tradition of opening our gifts from each other on Christmas eve at midnight. Since we weren't married, we usually didn't get to see each other very much on Christmas day, because we were with our families, so we decided that was the best time for us. I am so glad those days are over. We both missed each other a lot on holidays when we didn't get to see each other. Anyway, we've continued the gift exchange tradition for 8 years. There have been a few years when we've gotten each other a joint gift (3 years ago, we got a wii, and last year, we got a storm door). Even on those years, we still got each other a small gift to exchange at midnight. This year, because of the hectic day, we knew neither of us could stay awake until midnight, so we altered our tradition a little by exchanging gifts early Christmas morning. This year our big gift to each other was a laptop, and Matt is also working on a project for me that is another "big" gift, so we just exchanged a few small things on Christmas morning. I got Matt a DVD, a puzzle, and an OSU license plate. He got me a mirror for our entry way and some homemade coupons that I'm in love with. He actually gave me a coupon for a free whole housecleaning (including the bathrooms). I'm so excited. I have been with Matt for almost 8 years, and I have never seen him clean a bathroom! That will be changing soon!

After we exchanged gifts, my mom let us both open a gift from my parents. I got a wii game, and Matt got this laser board game. He got in a quick game with Barry before we headed over to spend time with Matt's family.


Normally, our schedule for Christmas is to spend the morning/early afternoon with Matt's family celebrating Christmas and then we spend the rest of the afternoon/evening with my family. This year was a little different because unfortunately, Matt's sister was unable to make it to Weatherford for Christmas because of the weather. We postponed Christmas with hopes she would be able to make it the next day, and just spent the morning hanging out with Matt's parents.

That afternoon we went back to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with my family.

Rhapsody wanted to show everyone the Christmas gift she got from her grandparents.

We had to get a picture in front of the Christmas tree

My parents' beautiful Christmas tree

My brother and sister-in-law arrived shortly after we made it back to my parents' house, and we got in a quick game of Settlers of Catan before dinner. I think in total, we played 7 games of Settlers during our time in Weatherford. A few weeks ago, we got an expansion for the original game which adds lots of variety to the game, so we never got bored. After our game, we settled in for a delicious Christmas dinner. It was sooooooo good. Barry makes the best ham, and the turkey was moist and delicious. We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, broccoli salad, cherry salad, green bean casserole, corn, and rolls.

After dinner, it was time for presents. My mom gets so excited about Christmas shopping each year. Gifts are definitely her love language. She works so hard and puts a lot of thought into each of our gifts. I really appreciate how hard she works to make Christmas special for us. I also appreciate how much effort she puts in helping Matt and Anna (my sister-in-law) feel like family at Christmas. We laugh at how stressed she gets to make sure all the gifts are equal, which we all agree is unnecessary, but her desire to ensure Christmas is memorable and special to everyone never goes unnoticed. Our "big" gift from my parents this year is actually a gift for Rhapsody. My parents got us a storm door for a back door with a built-in dog door. Some of the other highlights for me were a popcorn popper, a Super Mario Brothers wii game, and an engraved name plate for my office. Matt mentioned one of his favorite gifts was an X-box game. He also got a new air compressor and some tools to use with it.

My mom, Matt and I, and Jeremy and Anna all went in together to get Barry a set of dial weights for Christmas. He was pretty excited when he opened it.

We spent the rest of the evening and most of the next day sailing the open seas, exploring new islands, trading resources, fighting off pirates, conquering pirate fortresses, and settling new lands. Matt dominated almost all of the games, but everyone had a great time playing. I'm glad we have found a board game that everyone in our family enjoys playing. We actually got Jeremy and Anna the game for Christmas, and they gave Matt another expansion game.

If it looks intense, it's because it was.

Saturday evening, my mom hosted both sets of my grandparents and Barry's mom for dinner. This is usually the only time my grandparents get to spend with Jeremy and Anna, and I love catching up and visiting with my grandparents. They are all so special in my life.

The next morning, we said goodbye to Jeremy and Anna, and then headed to church with Matt's parents. After church we spent time with Matt's parents and opened our gifts from them. We were really disappointed his sister didn't get to make it for Christmas. It felt very different without her there. They got us an electric blanket which Matt was excited about mainly because I think he hopes I'll stop stealing the covers :). Madeline also always gets us beautiful Christmas ornaments that I love.

We took a quick picture before heading to church on Sunday

Sunday afternoon, Barry and Matt spent time working on the Christmas project Matt is making for me, while my mom and I watched a movie and ate popcorn. Monday morning, we packed up the car and headed back home to Broken Arrow. It was good to spend quality time with our families as we celebrated the birth of our Savior.
We are thankful the Lord kept us safe on the trip to Weatherford, and that we were able to spend Christmas with our families. Most importantly we are thankful that he left Heaven and came to earth to give His lives for ours. That is the greatest blessing of Christmas.

Christmas Date 2009

Matt and I have a Christmas tradition of having a "Christmas Date" every year. This tradition started accidentally. When we were dating, we always had extra time off around Christmas. That combined with a need to go to OKC to the mall for Christmas shopping led to usually planning a special day to spend together around Christmas. We've spent our date doing various things over the years including ice skating, seeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra, visiting Christmas light displays, going to the movies and eating out. Last year was a busy time with Matt being new at his job and my graduation, so we just went to the Melting Pot for dinner one night. I look forward to our date every year and hope it's a tradition we continue.

This year, I took charge of planning our date, and had everything worked out. But when I had my wreck, our plans changed because we needed to go car shopping the day I had planned our date, so things got moved around and split up a little. Our plan for this year's date, was to go to the Philbrook museum's festival of trees, eat lunch at a new restaurant and make a gingerbread house. The way it worked out best after adding car shopping to the mix was to celebrate Christmas and our new car by going to dinner at our favorite restaurant the day we bought our car. That following day, we went to the Philbrook since that Sunday was the last day for the exhibit. We enjoyed walking around the museum looking at all the decorated trees. They also had a gingerbread house exhibit that various schools and church groups made. We're hoping to visit the Philbrook's festival of trees every year.

The next weekend we dedicated to making our gingerbread house. Matt and I enjoy watching the Food Network challenges together, and during the Christmas season, they usually have some gingerbread house competitions which are fun to watch. That gave us the idea to try making one for ourselves. I bought a book with different designs and templates. Matt and I went through it together and decided which one we wanted to make. While he was out of town last week, I did most of the prep work including buying the ingredients, making the dough, rolling out and cutting the pieces, and baking them. By Saturday, we were ready to begin the construction. We were both nervous that it was all going to fall apart and Matt mentioned there might come a time when we would have to break out the graham crackers. We took pictures of our progress because we weren't sure how far we would get before we gave up.
I was thankful Matt took charge of the construction because I saw all the random pieces and had no idea how to put them together.

Sides are up

Now we have a roof!

Roof all decorated for Christmas. This is where we stopped Saturday. Making a gingerbread house is a process that requires lots of patience while waiting for the icing to dry.

I spent some of Sunday and Monday morning finishing it up.

Side view

Other side view with the chimney

And the back

We were both surprised at how well it turned out. It was a fun family project to do together. Rhapsody even joined in on the fun. She stood under the table staring up at Matt the whole time he was trimming the pieces and putting them together, hoping he'd drop some gingerbread for her. I did underestimate the amount of time and preparation required for making a gingerbread house, but it's another tradition I'd like to continue.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

In my last few posts, I've shared about my nativity and our Christmas tree at our house. Those are two of our biggest Christmas decorations, but I haven't had a chance to show the rest of our house all decorated for Christmas. So, welcome to our home in December.


This is a picture of our outside lights. I love having a big window to put our tree in front of. I think it adds a lot to the outside of our house at night.

These are our stockings with a little one for Rhapsody. We hung them on the mantle last year, but I needed to put my nativity up there this year. I usually put my nativity on the cedar chest in the living room, but this year, Rhapsody has free reign of the living room unsupervised during the day, so I thought it would be safer up higher. Therefore, our stockings got bumped to the entertainment center.

And here's a look at our living room. you can see our stockings, nativity, and a Christmas centerpiece on our coffee table

Several years ago, my grandma started this village for me (Can you tell I like Precious Moments figurines?). I think I have 11 buildings in all along with lots of miniature figurines.

We don't have a really great spot in our home to display these so I put some on our cedar chest and the rest on the bar in our kitchen.

Here's a close up of some of the little figurines

My mom got me this snowman one year for Christmas. It has a matching ornament. The little sign says, "Stillwater City Limits." Whenever I look at it, I remember the years we spent living in Stillwater, and my time at OSU.

If someone asked me what my all time favorite Christmas decoration was, hands down it would be this little ice rink music box. When I was little, my dad was gone a lot for work. One year when he got home a few days before Christmas, he brought me this little ice rink and ice skater bear. I need to ask my mom how old I was when I got it, but I always remember playing with it. When you turn the music on, the little bear skates around. It mesmerized me every time I saw it, and I'm sure my mom got tired of listening to it. When I got married she gave it to me to put in my house, and I will always display it at Christmas. There are few things I can think of that I would be really upset about if they broke or got lost ( my wedding ring is the first thing that comes to mind), but this little decoration is one of those things. It holds so many special memories of my dad, and Christmases growing up. I still turn it on and watch the bear skate occasionally. I'm surprised it still works after all the abuse it's taken over the years.

I always look forward to decorating for Christmas, and although I do dread pulling all the boxes back out and packing everything back up after the holidays, I would never think of not doing it every year.

Thanks for visiting our home at Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree

People decorate their Christmas trees in different ways. A lot of people have a theme to decorating their tree. They use similar colors and matching ornaments. The ornaments are placed in exactly the right location and the colors blend perfectly together. I love seeing those trees because they are always so beautiful. Our tree is different though. It doesn't have matching ornaments or garland. It is unique to our family, and I love it that way. Most of the ornaments on our tree represent special memories and milestones in our lives. Every year when we pull the ornaments out of the boxes and put them on the tree, memories come flooding back, and it's always a special time for me and Matt. I view our Christmas tree as a sort of scrapbook of our family. We always try and find a special ornament on each vacation and we have several ornaments on our tree from our childhood. Here's a peek at our Christmas tree scrapbook.

We got this dolphin ornament in Jamaica on our honeymoon

This is from our cruise in 2008

These are our newest ornaments on our tree. They are from our NY vacation we took this summer

We have several OSU ornaments. Even our Christmas tree shows our loyalty to our Alma Mater.

This OSU cheerleader's Christmas list says, "Beat Oklahoma." I'm sure Mike Gundy wishes that wish would come true. Gundy's done a lot for the OSU program in his 5 years, but has yet to beat OU or Texas.

We got several wedding themed ornaments the Christmas before we got married

I love our first Christmas together ornaments that represent our first Christmas as a married couple

We got this ornament last year to celebrate Rhapsody's first Christmas

This is definitely in my top 3 favorite Christmas ornaments. It's me and my mom in the picture and I made it at a church Christmas program when I was little. I really can't believe my mom let me have it. I always remember it on my Christmas tree growing up.

And here's a cute one of Matt when he was little

Who knew one little Christmas tree could hold so many precious memories on its branches? I know we will have many more special ornaments to place on our tree in the Christmases to come.

"Let Me Ask You One Thing"

Matt and I spent Saturday car shopping since our Toyota was totaled in my wreck on Tuesday. There are few things Matt and I hate more than car shopping. We’re just not cut out for it. We don’t want to get taken advantage of, but our personalities don’t really accommodate being assertive and pushy to make sure we get the best deal. When Matt was in Florida last week for work, he spent a lot of time in the evenings researching car models and what price we should expect to pay. Based on that research, we had narrowed our search to three models, a Ford Focus, a Mazda 3, and another Toyota Corolla. We visited the Ford dealership on Friday night, spent about two hours at the Mazda dealership Saturday morning and then headed over for a few minutes to the Toyota dealership. We spent a lot of time debating on whether to get a pre-owned Mazda or get a new Ford or Toyota . When we were talking with the Mazda salesperson and negotiating price on a pre-owned Mazda 3, I almost started counting how many times he said, “Let me ask you one thing” Like "Let me ask you one thing, is there a price that we could get you down to that would keep you from having to go to other dealerships", or “Let me ask you one thing, is there anything you didn’t like about the Mazda 3". I almost started laughing at the number of times he said it. And then his manager came over and used the same phrase several times. Don’t get me wrong, we were very pleased with the Mazda dealer. They were very knowledgeable and nice, but on a stressful day, we needed to find something to laugh about. After a full day of car shopping, negotiating, test driving, and a few pushy managers, we headed home again as a 2 car family.

So, are you wondering which car became the newest member of our family????

Yes, we are now a Ford family. They were offering huge rebates that we just couldn’t pass up, and we were able to get a brand new vehicle in our price range. You should have heard Matt yesterday when we were driving. He kept making comments like, “Oh, we’re about to break 50 miles.” We now have two Ford vehicles and they are the same color. We know we are boring, but we’re okay with boring, and that color the only color they had in stock that we both liked.

God used Saturday as another opportunity to remind us of our blessings. Our insurance company was incredible in that we already had the check in hand when we started looking and had the money in savings to offset the cost of buying a new car. And I’m still amazed at God’s protection when I was in my wreck, especially when I went to clean my stuff out of the Corolla.

I’m confident God’s angels were in control when the car hit me because had the slightest change occurred during the wreck, I could have been very seriously injured.

Hopefully our new Ford will be in our family for a long time, and we won't have to go car shopping again for several years!

Thankful

I was in a car accident yesterday afternoon. I left my school and headed up to Youth Services to turn in paperwork. Afterwards, I was on my way to supervision with my LMFT supervisor. I was stopped at an intersection. The light turned green so I entered into the intersection, and literally the next thing I remember is being stopped in the middle of the intersection, with my car turned and the air bag deflated and pieces of my car lying all over the road. A car had run the red light and hit the front corner panel of my car. Of course the driver was uninsured, and I’m pretty sure there was other fishy stuff going on since it took them some time discussing before they decided who was actually driving the car. Anyway, there were multiple things that happened that I could be frustrated and angry about, and I'm not saying I never had any of those feelings, but what amazes me is that it is during these stressful times that God reminds me of all the things he provides to care of me. So, on that note, instead of ranting about all the bad stuff that happened, I want to focus on the things I am thankful for.

God's protection: For the amount of damage done to my car, I'm assuming the driver of the other vehicle was driving 35-40 miles per hour. They hit my front driver's side corner panel. One of the witnesses at the accident mentioned how lucky I was because the slightest delay in the crash could have resulted in their vehicle hitting right into my driver's side door, which could have caused me serious injury at the speed they were driving. God had His hand on my car the entire time. I'm a little stiff and sore today, but have no injuries.

The incredible people who helped me when the crash occurred and served as witnesses at the scene: The drivers in the other car never came to help or even asked how I was doing, but two very kind people who had seen the crash, immediately called the police, came out to my car and helped me get out, checked to see if I was okay, allowed me to use their phone to call Matt (since that is the one day I forgot my phone at the school when I left for supervision), and waited the 30+ minutes for the police to arrive and give their statements, and the list could go on. Their generosity and sacrifice blew me away. Clearly they had other things to do, but they stopped and took time out of their day to help me out. I really don't know what I would have done without their kindness.

My husband: Matt's job has been very stressful lately. He actually left for Florida this morning for work and had an important meeting scheduled all yesterday afternoon to prepare for the presentation he is giving in Florida for the military project he is working on. I called him to let him know what had happened, and asked if he was able to come. He immediately stopped everything he was doing and came to take care of me. He called the insurance company, talked to the police, drove me back to my school to pick up my cell phone, took me to the doctor and waited with me the entire time to make sure I was okay. At one point while we were waiting at the doctor's office, I mentioned that I was so glad he was able to come and spend the afternoon with me when I knew everything that was going on at his work. He said to me, "Of course I would come, it's just work. You are way more important." Those words meant so much to me. I don't know what I would do without him.

Good Auto Insurance: I'm so thankful that we have good coverage, and although our insurance company shouldn't have to be paying anything, they are taking good care of us. Also, having to pay our deductible isn't a financial burden and we have money in savings to help us purchase a new car. We have the resources available so that we won't be restricted to looking only at vehicles that are within the price range of the money we are receiving from the insurance check.

Our other car: Having two cars is a major blessing. Although we might have a few logistical inconveniences between now and when we are able to purchase another car, We still have one car that is in good condition that meets our needs.

Support from family and friends: Our families and friends have been so supportive. At our Sunday school Christmas party last night, people prayed for us and offered to help with anything we needed. Matt's coworker picked him up this morning and took him to the airport so I didn't have to take him so early. My sweet coworker, Jennifer brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card at work this morning to brighten my day, and my parents offered to drive all the way up to Tulsa this weekend in case we needed to borrow one of their cars.

Although it felt like the other drivers "got off the hook" and only got a ticket for not having insurance and a ticket for running a red light, and then drove off in their damaged but still driveable car, I kept telling Matt how thankful I was that we are in our situation and not theirs. I'm glad we have insurance, and the ability to replace our car without too much stress. Sometimes it takes moments like yesterday to remind us how truly blessed we are.

A Christmas Story

Luke 2
1.In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was the governor of Syria). 3. And everyone went to his own town to register. 4. So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
7. and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger...

...because there was no room for them in the inn.
8. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night

9. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 13. Suddenly a great company of the Heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying
14. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another. "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16.. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child 18. and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them 19. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her hear.20. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

Matthew 2
1. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2. and asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

9. After they had heard the king, they went n their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrh. 12. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

My mom started this Nativity for me when I was in high school and she and my grandma have gradually added to it over the years. I have always loved Precious Moments figurines, and I think this Nativity is precious. I love getting it out and setting it up every year. It's such a reminder of the true reason of the season, and I NEVER get tired of hearing and telling this Christmas story.

Side note- I'm pretty sure elephants weren't present at the birth of Christ, but Matt's favorite animal is the elephant so when my mom and I saw this at the store, we couldn't resist :). I'm also aware that the Magi weren't present at the birth of Christ either, but they still fit the Christmas theme.

And I have some funny (although not at the time) stories about the beatings the Nativity has taken over the years. My parents' cat Prissy got to the Magi when the Nativity was set up at my parents' house. They were set up on my mom's old piano. Apparently, Prissy jumped up but couldn't get her footing and slid off taking the fabric underneath the Nativity with her and knocking the Magi over and breaking them. We glued them back together, and they worked okay for a few years My grandma had bought them for me for my high school graduation, so I asked her for another set for my college graduation. This was the first year I used my new set. Also, there's a hole in the bottom of the inn. A few years ago, the lighting fixture in the inn got messed up, and I asked Matt to fix it. He said he needed a screwdriver to get it out. I lectured him about not breaking it and how worried I was that he was going to break it and how careful he needed to be. As I was lecturing him and holding the screwdriver, I lost my grip and dropped it right on the bottom of the inn. Luckily, there was no visible damage other than the bottom, but he always reminds me that I broke it while I was lecturing him about not breaking. And Yes, then he took the screwdriver and solved the lighting problem with no further damage.