Right Where We Left Off

You know those friends in your life that you can go months or even years without seeing, and then you get together, and it seems like you pick up right where you left off like you were never separated. Well, we got the pleasure to spend time with some of those friends on Sunday.

We met Brooke and Corey back in 2005 in our Sunday school class. Matt and I had recently gotten engaged and began attending a young couple's Sunday school class at our church. Just a couple of weeks after we started, Brooke and Corey visited the class. We were so excited because they were engaged too, and we felt less awkward not being the only couple in the class that wasn't married. We caught them in the foyer after the service and introduced ourselves. As we were talking, we discovered that we were both getting married on the same day. It was fun getting together those next few months and discussing wedding plans. I remember lots of conversations after church in the parking lot about showers, bridesmaid dresses, and honeymoon plans. After we got married, Brooke and Corey moved into an apartment complex just across a field from our duplex. We had so much fun walking over to their apartment to play board games and hang out. They are just the greatest couple. They are so fun to be around. They moved to the Houston area at the end of the summer in 2007, and we were incredibly sad they were leaving. I remember going over to their apartment the night before they left because Matt was helping them load the trailer, and we just sat on the steps and talked about how much we would miss them. We've gotten the chance to visit them in Houston a couple of times, and went on a cruise together for our 2 year anniversary in the summer of 2008, but we hadn't seen them since then. We were way overdue for a visit, so when they called a couple of months ago and told us they were planning a trip to Oklahoma, we were ecstatic!

Corey and Brooke are one of our favorite couples to spend time with. They are so easy going, positive, and comfortable to be around. Whenever we see them, I leave refreshed and encouraged just by spending time with them. They came over to our house on Sunday afternoon, and it was fun for them to see our house and meet Rhapsody. One of our other favorite couples also drove over from Stillwater to see Corey and Brooke and hang out with us. Matt and Amie lived in the same apartment complex as Corey and Brooke and we used to all six get together for game nights when we all lived in Stillwater. I was glad everything worked out that we could all six be together in the same room for a few hours. Matt and Amie are another one of those couples that just being with them is encouraging, and Amie is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. We're glad that they still live in Oklahoma (for a few more months at least), and we try and see them at least once every few months. We all spent the afternoon visiting and eating. I was thinking back to what we did, and it just seemed like we moved around our house and wherever we were, we ended up on the floor chatting. We started in the living room and spent time catching up on our lives, work, church, families, and future plans. Then we moved into the kitchen and snacked while we continued to visit. After a brief break to tour Matt's work, we came back and sat around the kitchen table eating burgers and visiting. After dinner Matt and Amie had to head back to Stillwater, and the rest of us went back to the living room and sat on the floor looking through photo albums. Then we moved to the office and Corey and Brooke showed us some recent pictures of their new house and some projects they've done. We ended the night sitting on the floor in the office visiting some more. We threw around some ideas of taking a vacation to an all inclusive resort together for our 5 year anniversary. That would be amazing. We had the best time with them on our cruise in 2008.

I got really sad after Brooke and Corey left. I didn't realize just how much I missed them until I got to spend time in person with them again. It's funny that it always seems like we're in the same stage of life as they are. We got engaged about the same time, got married on the same day, graduated college about the same time (only Matt and I went back to school), bought a house within a few months of each other, and got dogs about the same time. They're a couple that we always feel we can relate to and we have a lot in common with them. They have some tentative plans to move back to Oklahoma in a few years, and I told them I was going to pray really hard that it worked out. Until then, we'll have to settle for visits and vacations together.

We have been blessed to call some incredible people our friends. I admire those two couples in so many ways.

A Couple of Funnies

If you've spent any time at all with our dog, Rhapsody, you know that she just has a way of creating laughter in our house. I know that I laugh at something she's done every single day. Well, lately she has done a couple of extra cute things that I thought would be fun to remember.

A couple of weeks ago, when we had gotten home from church, Matt was greeting Rhapsody. We were in the hallway and she had several tennis balls at the end of the hall. Matt told her to "get her ball" so they could play. We assumed she would run and get one of the three balls that were in plain sight just a few feet away from her. Instead she went to our bedroom door and looked up at Matt pleading him to open the door. He opened it for her and she raced inside and straight under the bed. A few seconds later, she came army crawling out with a tennis ball in her mouth and ran straight back to Matt ready to play. I'm afraid how many balls I would find if I looked under our bed. Clearly she views it as her toy box.

A few days ago, I was playing fetch with Rhapsody in the backyard. We had been playing for awhile and I was impressed at how long she was lasting. Usually when it's hot outside, she'll run get the ball and then lay down in the nearest shade she can find and look at me wanting me to come to her to get the ball. Anyway, one time after I had thrown her ball for her, she fetched it, and ran straight past me and dropped her ball on the front porch step. I assumed this was her way of telling me she was done playing and she was going to head inside into the air conditioning. I looked over, and I found her lapping up some standing water that was on top of her crate that we keep on the porch. She was very intentional in her action. As soon as she finished drinking, she picked up her ball and ran right back to me ready to play. I guess she found a new drinking bowl. It was evident that she had drank from it before. I guess it was too much effort for her to come inside to get a drink when she was thirsty.

Who would have thought there would be so much personality in such a little dog!

Keeping Busy

Matt has been in Florida for work since last Monday, so Rhapsody and I have been on our own for over a week. This is the longest amount of time we've spent apart since we've been married. I am so ready to have him home. I've never been a fan of Matt being gone. Life is just so much better when he is home, but I will admit I've learned how to cope better with his absence over the years. I remember one summer I was at OSU and Matt was gone somewhere for the weekend. It was summer and the dorms were quiet and my friends were gone, and I kid you not I spent two whole days doing nothing but crocheting pot holders and watching movies on the Lifetime network. It was a miserable weekend. After that experience, I've learned to fill up my time as much as possible when Matt is gone to avoid any more weekends like that.

The timing actually worked out well for Matt's trip because I had several things this past week and weekend planned, and I purposely tried to make plans on the few evenings I had free. Here's a recap of ways I've been keeping busy without my husband.

Matt left last Monday, and it was one of the few evenings where I had nothing planned. Thankfully I had a lot to do at home to keep me busy. I had put off a lot of house chores over the weekend, so I could spend as much time with Matt as I could before he left, so I spent last Monday evening doing laundry, dishes, and straightening the house. On Tuesday of last week I worked late in Owasso which is normal for a Tuesday evening. On Wednesday I headed over to my friend Ivory's house for dinner since her husband was also out of town for the week. Erica and Lindsey joined us for dinner too. It was a fun night eating and chatting. I remember talking to Matt when I got home that night and he asked what we did. I told him we ate dinner and then just spent the evening visiting. He said, "Really, that's all you did." Men just don't understand :). On Thursday, Judy hosted a prayer shower for Lindsey who is getting married next month. She prepared dinner for us before we prayed. There is a small group of us that have been getting together monthly to pray together, and we dedicated that night to praying for Lindsey's upcoming marriage. It was such a precious time for Lindsey and for everyone else too.

My parents came up on Friday to spend the weekend with me. The weekend had been planned for a while since we had tickets to our last show at the Performing Arts Center, and it worked out well that they could entertain me for the weekend. They were disappointed Matt couldn't be there, but we still managed to have a good time. I think I lost count of how many times Barry mentioned that he missed Matt. On Friday night I cooked dinner for us and then my mom, Erica, and I headed to see the Wizard of Oz while Barry mowed my yard (Thanks again, Barry!). Saturday we went out to breakfast and then headed to a hair appointment. I got a cut and my mom got her hair colored. I think it's pretty strategic planning on her part to use a hairdresser in Tulsa so she has to come visit every six weeks :). After our hair appointments we spent the afternoon shopping. Mom and Barry are redoing their bathroom so we shopped for rugs, towels and light fixtures. I took them to Cherry Berry that evening for frozen yogurt.

My parents left on Sunday morning and after church I spent the afternoon napping (and I did watch a Lifetime movie, but it was just one, I promise). That evening Matt and Erica and Jason and Andrea came over and we played Settlers. Last night, I drove to Stillwater and had dinner with a good friend from graduate school. I hadn't seen her in way too long, and it was nice to catch up. After dinner we drove around town and she pointed out all the changes that have happened lately. I can't get over how much Stillwater and the campus has changed since I moved there seven years ago. They are redoing the Student Union and building so many new things. It's really amazing. Tonight I was in Owasso again, and tomorrow is my last night alone since Matt gets home on Thursday.

Since my work schedule is more flexible during the summer, I've had a few extra hours at home during the day and I've tried really hard to be productive with the extra time I've had. When I've had free time during the day, I've spent the extra moments cleaning out closets, cabinets, drawers, etc. I made a pretty extensive to do list before Matt left, so I wouldn't run out of things to do.

Tomorrow night I'm planning on spending the evening grocery shopping and getting ready for Matt's homecoming. He's put in a request for a homemade dinner, and I want to make it special for him. Not only is Matt coming home on Thursday, but some of our good friends from college are coming to visit this weekend, so I have lots to look forward to!

Our Haven

We recently finished decorating our bedroom, and I wanted to share some pictures. Our master bedroom is probably my favorite room in our home. It's our haven. Our bed is super comfy thanks to an awesome mattress pad and duvet that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. It makes it really hard to get up in the mornings. We spend a lot of time in our bedroom, watching tv and movies, reading, getting ready, relaxing and of course sleeping so I've always wanted it to be a warm and inviting place. When we got married we used hand me down furniture that belonged to my parents for the first 3 years of our marriage. We were thankful that they graciously gave it to us saving us a big expense early in our marriage, but I was very ready to get new furniture for our bedroom. You know furniture that actually has all matching pieces. Thankfully, we were able to buy new furniture last summer and a new tv too (You'll have to ask Matt about that one. I guess he wanted one to match the furniture. I didn't really understand). Since then, we've been enjoying our new furniture, but our walls have remained pretty bare.

(My favorite part of our room is the wall decal that we hung above our bed)

Since we knew when we moved into our house that we were planning to replace our bedroom furniture soon, we held off decorating it much, and even after we replaced the furniture, Matt and I have faced some struggles in decorating it. We usually encounter some bumps in the road when we think about redecorating a room. My husband is not the passive male who just lets me do all the decorating. While I'm glad that he has opinions and cares what our home looks like, we run into trouble because although he likes being involved in the decorating (and has a good eye), he dreads shopping. So that means we can spend approximately 20 minutes at Hobby Lobby or Kirklands before he runs out of patience and we have to leave making it difficult to ever find anything we both agree on.

I was running out of patience when we reached the one year anniversary of replacing our furniture and our walls were still bare aside from a couple of framed pictures and a decal above our bed. I had some free time when Matt had to work late one week, so I spent an evening scouring Hobby Lobby looking for a few things that I thought Matt would agree on that we could hang on the walls. One good thing about Matt's decorating style is that he is much less picky when the price is low, so everything I got was 50% off. I used that in my argument when I showed him the things I had bought. Thankfully, he agreed to my purchases and last week we put the finishing touches on our bedroom decor. I just love the way it turned out. We utilized several souvenirs and photos from our vacations over the years in the decorating, so not only does it look good, but it also brings back memories of special times in our relationship.

(I found the sconces and frame on my shopping trip, and we decided to frame one of our favorite pictures from Disney)

(Matt used to collect these sand castles from trips to Montauk as a kid. Since replacing our furniture, there wasn't a place for them in our room. We decided to hang these shelves above the dresser so he could display them)

(We bought these prints from a street vendor at Central Park in NYC)

(This little stinker frequents our bedroom a lot. She likes to nap under the bed, and hides her toys under there too.)

High upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand

Five years ago today, my sweet husband got down on his knees and asked me to be his wife. That was such a special moment in our relationship, and thinking about that time brings back sweet memories.

During the year that we were engaged, Matt created a wedding website for us, and we shared our story of the proposal with all our family and friends. As I was thinking back on those memories in our life, I pulled up the stories we wrote about that moment from each of our perspectives and thought it would be fun to share them on our blog.

The Details:
On June 11, 2005, we drove from Weatherford to the Wichita Wildlife Refuge near Lawton to spend the day hiking. We ate lunch at the world famous Meers restaurant and set out for the top of Elk Mountain. It was a clear and slightly muggy day because it had rained the night before. Fortunately, the sky had cleared, and the rain had cooled the temperature to around 85º making it perfect weather for a hike. We followed the hiking trail at a leisurely pace to the top of the mountain enjoying the natural beauty and each other’s company. We stopped at a few overlooks along the way and took pictures and arrived at the top of Elk Mountain about an hour after we began. Once at the top of the mountain, Matt positioned the camera on a rock, and we posed for a picture. A few seconds later, he took my arms and turned me around to face him. Smiling brightly, he knelt down on his knees, affirmed his love, asked me to marry him, and held up a ring box. I immediately said yes and slipped the ring on my finger. After a few hugs and minutes spent absorbing the moment, Matt informed me that instead of taking a picture, he had actually set his digital camera to video the proposal so we could visually relive the moment and share it with family and friends.. We spent a few more minutes on the mountaintop calling family members and posing for pictures, before quickly descending the mountain to return to Weatherford to share the exciting news.
Matt's side of the story:
I was so excited that day. I had purchased the ring almost a month before in a large two family ordeal that I promptly vowed never to repeat as each person tried to influence me towards what ring they preferred. Since that day I had been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to give it to her, as her persistent questions about when, how, and what it looked like got harder and harder to dismiss. I had spent a long time thinking about how to propose to her and listened to several different people’s ideas. None of them struck me as a really special way to do it, but then I remembered the song she had picked out for our slideshow at the wedding. It has a line in it stating, “High upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand.” I knew it was the perfect way to ask, and the moment had finally come. The hike up the mountain had been pleasant, but kind of rushed. I knew Angela suspected she was going to receive the ring that day, but I was still going to try and surprise her with when. So once we reached the peak I immediately suggested we take a picture, hoping she wouldn’t expect it so soon. I set up the camera and nervously walked over to her. My heart was pounding in my chest as I posed for the picture next to her, waiting to ask the question I had had in mind for three years now. She was insistent on looking at the camera, and I finally had to take her by her shoulders and turn her towards me. She immediately knew what was occurring and started hopping up and down excitedly. She was so thrilled and gave me a very affirmative yes. We stood there kissing and holding each other for several minutes before she went back to admiring the ring. I remember her excitement on the way home as she encouraged me to drive faster because she couldn’t wait to show her mom. That evening she took me on a parade of homes as we went from one relative’s house to the next showing off her hand. I was so happy to be by her side and to know that we were finally going to be married


Angela's Side of the Story:
I do have to admit that the proposal was not a total surprise, although I know that was Matt’s intent. Matt and I had been planning our future together as a couple for about a year and a half before he actually proposed. We knew it was important to wait until after we graduated from college to get married, which made May of 2006 perfect for our wedding. Planning when we wanted to get married also revealed the timeframe of when we would potentially get engaged, and so I had known for several months that he would propose sometime during the summer of 2005. The excitement and suspense made it difficult to keep anything a secret. I kept pushing for hints on when and how it would happen, and Matt, being such a nice guy, always had a way of giving in. He wouldn’t reveal any details on how he would propose, but he hinted at what the ring looked like and when the proposal would happen. I eventually narrowed him down to a three week timespan of when the big day would take place. So when Matt mentioned wanting to go to the Witchita Wildlife Refuge during that timeframe, I had a strong feeling that he would propose that day. I couldn’t wait to get to the top of the mountain. Matt said I hurried up the mountain, and I probably did. All I was thinking was that, on the way down, I could potentially be wearing something new on my finger and holding hands with my fiancé. Once at the top of the mountain, he did surprise me by how quickly he proposed. As soon as we reached the top of the mountain, he asked if I wanted to take a picture. We were posing for the picture, and I never heard it take. Matt kept turning toward me and kissing me, but I wasn’t paying much attention because I was still waiting for the camera to take the picture. But when he took my shoulders and turned me around, I knew it was the moment I had been dreaming about for years. I saw him bend down, and he held my arms with his hands. It was difficult for me to contain the excitement I was feeling, and I loved the look on his face; I could tell by his nervous smile that he was as excited as I was. I couldn’t wait to say yes and wrap my arms around him. The ring was so gorgeous and sparkling in the sunlight. I knew a little about the ring from hints. I knew the store he bought it from, and I had looked at their engagement rings online, but it was so special to be able to see it and know that it was mine, and it represented the love I shared with the man of my dreams. The moment was absolutely perfect. Those first moments after we were engaged when Matt held me, and we reminisced on the proposal were amazing. I was reminded of how lucky I was to be officially engaged to the person God had created especially for me. We raced down the mountain in a hurry to tell everyone our news. It was so nice to officially be engaged and riding home next to my fiancé. During the ride home, sometimes I would glance down at my finger, and it would surprise me to see the ring sparkling on my finger. Telling everyone that night was so much fun. We shared the news with parents, all my grandparents, and lots of friends. It was a very special day that I know I’ll never forget.

Below is the video Matt took when he proposed. You can tell that I keep trying to look at the camera because I hadn't seen the picture take. I kept wondering why Matt wasn't still posing and why it was taking so long to take.


In case you couldn't tell in the video, I was a little excited that he was finally proposing :).

At the beginning of our wedding, we had a slide show of pictures of us growing up and of us together. The song we picked for the slide show was Bebo Norman's A Page is Turned. Matt was able to incorporate the video of the proposal at just the right moment in the slide show to match the line in the song that said, "High upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand." It was just perfect!

We've changed a lot in the past 5 years, and as much as I loved Matt at the moment he proposed, I love him so much more now. I think it's neat to think about the stages our relationship has gone through since we started dating over 8 years ago, and exciting to look ahead about the stages that are still to come.

Disney Anniversary Celebration

In case you hadn't seen enough of our Disney World pictures...

Happy Birthday Matt

We had a great time celebrating Matt's birthday this last weekend. His birthday is often overshadowed because we're usually out of town or traveling on his birthday. In fact, this was the first time in FIVE years that we were actually at home on his birthday.

5 years ago we were at Steve and Laura's wedding.

4 years ago we were in Miami on our honeymoon.

3 years ago we were traveling home from visiting Jeremy and Anna in Iowa.

2 years ago we were on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.
And last year we spent the day on an airplane traveling to New York.

Matt was excited to actually be home on his birthday, and I tried to make it an extra special birthday for him. He got one of his presents early. The day after we got home from Disney World, he went out to the shed to get the lawn mower so he could mow the lawn and found this in the shed:
He was ecstatic to have a new mower since our old one was a hand me down from my parents and not even self-propelled. He walked in after mowing the yard and said his new mower was "amazing." Thanks Mom and Barry. Maybe the yard will get mowed more often now.

When we got home from work on Friday he opened some more gifts. My parents also got him a new Settler's expansion pack along with the mower. Geez, he's really spoiled. I surprised him by getting him Rock Band. I think it was a good surprise. He played it all day on Monday.


Matt's parents came up to help us celebrate and we had a good weekend with them. We ate out a lot, visited the Jenks aquarium, played rock band and watched a movie together. We're glad they could come visit.

They left on Sunday afternoon, and Matt and I went on a date Sunday night to celebrate just the two of us. We saw Shrek Ever After which turned out to be pretty good. I laughed more than I thought I would, and it was definitely better than the last Shrek movie. We had planned to go out to dinner too on Sunday night, but we were getting tired of eating out. We don't eat out much, and I still don't think I've recovered from all the eating out at Disney World. I think I could go six months without even seeing fast food. So, instead of going to dinner after the movie, we stopped by Cherry Berry a new frozen yogurt place that is located just a couple of miles from our house. It was so good. We got burned a few weeks ago when we tried another frozen yogurt place, so my expectations were low, but it was really good and a fun experience. They had probably 10 different flavors of frozen yogurt and so many toppings. The best part was it was totally self serve, so we could get as many different kinds of yogurt as we wanted and as many toppings. I sense a great date night spot in our future this summer. We had a great night together.

We still weren't finished celebrating though. On Monday night, several of our friends came over for dinner to help Matt celebrate. He was very excited to show off his new toys. I was straightening the house on Monday and went to put the Rock Band box away, and he told me not to, that he wanted everyone to see it.
I bet you can guess that the first thing we did when everyone got there was play rock band.
After we rocked out, we had dinner. Matt grilled steaks for everyone, and I made roasted asparagus and potato casserole too. It was a yummy dinner with great company.
Of course it would be a sin if Matt celebrated a birthday without a cheesecake. Not only did Matt share his steaks for dinner, he also shared his cheesecake. He must really like our friends :).
I wasn't going to put candles on his cake but after his comment on my birthday that he had to buy two packages of candles to have enough, I found a place for every single one of those 27 candles :).
After dinner and dessert, we played a round of Settlers. We broke up into two tables and Matt's table played with his new expansion. I was at the other table so I don't know how fun it was, but Matt said he enjoyed it. I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to learn how to play the new scenarios this summer.

I hope you had a great birthday Matt. I'm really glad you were born :).