Two weeks ago, my sister Molly and her 6 month old daughter Saige came to Tulsa for a week. We. had. a. BLAST!!! I was so excited because we hardly ever get visitors (subtle hint to family members) and Molly was my first sibling to come to visit since we moved here (much less subtle hint). We had so much fun and the week went by insanely fast.
We managed to eat Josh's sno-cones (I picked peach cobbler. mmm), eat at Steak n' Shake, eat all you can eat ribs at the Rib Crib, and all you can eat ice cream at the Taste of Summer festival (Yes, it's true. Eating is the best part of Oklahoma.) Saige got to taste her first bite of ice cream and popsicle.
MMMM.....high fructose corn syrup....
We did more than just consume calories. We went to a Drillers game (our minor league baseball team) and watched them get creamed. "In this heat it is important to stay hydrated" ~Dr. Baby
"Higher, Uncle Jordan. I still can't see the outfield!"
We visited the Philbrook Art museum and walked around the beautiful grounds
We went swimming in our apartment pool
We also went to the dog park, human park, and Hobby Lobby. Molly and I knocked out a bunch of crafts to the tune of 30 Rock episodes.
Saige seemed to love Oklahoma so much, she could hardly contain her excitement. Oh, did I type excitement. I meant PUKE! She was able to throw up on at least 4 different pairs of my pants. sigh.
Saige was a trooper, despite her bulimia flare ups. She soaked in the culture so much that by the end of the week, she was able to line dance better than ever! I tried to up load the video of it on here, but of course there was an error. I successfully uploaded it to facebook if you want to see it.
It was so much fun. We can't wait until the rest of the family decides they love us enough to come to.(just kidding..kinda)
We just got back from a fantastic weekend trip with Jordan's parents. Since we didn't get enough of Missouri a few weeks ago when we went to Kansas City, we decided to return and hit up Branson! And we had a blast!
We left on Friday evening right after work. We didn't do anything exciting that night since we did not get into town until 9:00. We hit up a frozen custard stand that was delicious and rich and returned back to our hotel to watch reruns of Whose Line is it Anyway (and in my head I was mourning my last day of non-football season for the next four months).
Saturday was our day full of fun. My in-laws had to sit through a travel group presentation to get free tickets to Yakov Smirnoff's show, so Jordan and I explored solo. So...what should two adults who are new to a city do first on their vacation? If you said ride over priced go-karts, you are correct. (Sad fact: I was two. inches. taller than the minimum height requirement for the go-karts. And they weren't fooling around about it either. I had to fully extend my arms to reach the steering wheel and fully extend my legs to push the brakes/gas. Sad? Yes.) Some how, we didn't get a picture of our go-kart experience, but it looked like a little something like this: I have no idea how Jordan smuggled a green turtle shell onto the track...or how he grew a mustache so quickly.
After that, Jordan and I got ice cream. What- it's vacation.
We left to pick up my in-laws from their presentation and headed out for more excitement. Jordan saw that there was an Elvis Impersonator show called "The Elvis Experience".
My in-laws graciously took us to the show and it was AMAZING! There was no photography of any kind allowed, but THIS picture I found captures how I looked during the performance: The impersonator was named Tony Roi. He has been impersonating Elvis for 13 years (or something) and has won numerous awards for his show. He did NOT disappoint! He sounded JUST like Elvis, looked a lot like him, and captured his mannerisms perfectly too. You could tell that alot of work has been put into his performance. I found Tony Roi on youtube. If you care, check out the video of him at the end of the entry. During intermission, he let people take pictures with him for free (and keep the picture for $20- gah!). I happily took the picture so that I could twll him how fantastic his show was. When I came up he said in a very Elvisy voice "Hey, Gorgeous!" (Which I think he also said to the old fat lady in line in front me) but I couldn't stop giggling. I said I loved his show and he told me he loved me- which lead to more nervous giggling. We took a picture and I let him kiss me on the cheek before I left. It's amazing- any other 40+ year old man complimenting me, saying he loves me and trying to kiss me would get mace in his eyes. However, if he's wearing a blue suede jump suit, he has my heart.
After the Elvis show, we hustled to go the Yakov Smirnoff Moscow Circus Show- and we sat in the second row! It was a circus based on a children's book that Yakov wrote. A clown falls in love with a ballerina and promises to take her away from oppressive Russia into the wonderful land of America, and he "will propose to her with the Statue of Liberty as his witness". Sounds lame? It ain't. It was an AWESOME show! Between the story line, there was alot of circus performances. Unicycle tricks, acrobats, fire twirling, and my personal favorite- dog tricks! SO CUTE! In the middle of the show, the audience was given a Russian dinner of meatballs, potatoes, a Russian veggie soup, and a pudding dessert.They left the black lights on during dinner so our dinner boxes and utensils glowed in the dark. It's hard to see, but here is my psychedelic meal. This lady had a glow in the dark and sang "Be Our Guest" as our dinners were passed out to us. During intermission, they brought out this cannon that out candy to the audience. It was a little freaky being shot at in the second row, but we survived. Jordan and I got one picture together: picking Yakov's giant nose. We are terribly mature. After the show, we decided that getting ice cream two times just wasn't enough. We went to the Orange Leaf and grabbed some tasty frozen yogurt. Then we went back to the hotel and watched...football (It begiiiiiiins).
On Sunday we packed up, visited a few more areas of town, and drove back to Tulsa. It was a fast trip but it was really fun. This was the first vacation that I have ever been on with my in-laws. Thank you, Richard and Elaine for the great time!!!
(Here's the link to the video in case it doesn't work here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPxRPizVadw&feature=related)
Lucky for us, my brilliant brother Troy created an app for itouches and iphones called "My Fairy Princess". For $1.99 you get to pick out a princesses hair, crown, shoes, dress, wings, and ethnicity. The princesses can dance and pose.
"But you don't have to take MY word for it."
(I forgot Lavar's name for a second and ended up having to google "black guy off of reading rainbow"...is that bad?)
Mom and Dad, Thank you for getting married 34 years ago. Thank you for choosing a celestial marriage so we can be together forever. Thank you for being such awesome parents. I'm so lucky to have parents who have stuck together and have raised such an incredible family.
Although I certainly do not have a favorite sibling, I DO have an all time favorite sister....
...and it's Molly!
And it's her birthday today, and like all my other family member's birthdays (except Nancee's) I am 1000's of miles away. So instead I shall give a post.
With Molly being my only sister and the closest sibling to me, Molly and I were pretty much forced to be best friends.
We have gone on several sister vacations (Washington DC, California (twice), Utah (many many times))
We roomed together in college
We even had a list of boys that we both went on at least one date with. It was never a goal of ours, it just worked out that way.
We were each other's maid/matron of honor
And we practiced our Helen Hunt impressions together. Molly and I also have several movies that we have watched countess times together and have memorized. We have alot of songs that we've made up, "dances" that we have choreographed, and about 1,000,000 inside jokes. (Like, Molly- remember "No. No. No. No.", our child, "WAAAAYNE! What are you doing October 24th....")
Molly is great because she is very funny. She is very nice to others and talented. She served a challenging mission. She's a science smarty pants. And she and her husband Brad are going to grant me yet another niece for me to love like crazy!
But most importantly, I love Molly because she hates all the same actresses as I do.
I just returned from a great week vacation in Tucson where I visited my brother and his family. It was the first time that I saw my new niece, Sadie. The week went by quickly and was way fun. It was also quite educational. I came back to Tulsa with a wider knowledge of various things.
During my time in Arizona, I learned...
1) Tuscon heat seems waaaay more manageable after living in Tulsa humidity
2) there is never a wrong time to eat an otter pop...or 12 otter pops
3) any dreams I ever had of professional wake boarder were unrealistic
4) the entire musical score the Barbie Island Princess movie
5) I will never get past level Evil on Snood
6) it is NOT a good idea to feed a baby a bottle and then hold her up over your head...this results in a shower of puke (luckily, I learned this lesson from observation - poor Troy)
7) even with bumpers, I still suck at bowling
8) slip 'n slides are still crazy fun at age 24
9) you can measure the cuteness of an infant by the number of her chins
10) Jordan and I turn into pathetic lovesick teenagers when separated
Then there were the lessons I specifically learned from my niece, Erica.
She taught me...
1) the proper pronunciation of Princess Aurora is A-whoa-wa (I can't believe I've been saying it wrong this whole time!)
2) it is socially appropriate to break out into song mid-sentence
3) alternative lyrics to Disney songs
4) anytime I go to the bathroom I should be given an award (c'MON, Jordan...hand it over!)
5) when the toilet is too far away, the kiddie pool that your aunt is swimming in will suffice as a place to relieve yourself (shudder)
6) you are entitled to eat anything that anyone else is eating as long as you kindly ask, "Can I share with you?" or you can just skip the small talk and open your mouth really wide while staring at the person's treat
7) the trick to bowling is to tap dance and roll on the floor in between your turns.
8) there's never a bad time to wear a tutu
9) the word MOM is really spelled E-R-R-O-N-E-B....
10) swimming lessons are apparently a form of torture in Arizona
The main take home lesson I learned in Arizona was.....
I LOVE BEING AN AUNT!!! (Ok, I already knew this, but it was reaffirmed during my trip!)
I have an excuse for being a day late on this post. On Nancee's actual birthday I spent half the day with her, and the other half flying back to Tulsa. Still, Nancee is cool, turned 32, and needs a birthday post!
Nancee joined our family in 2003 when she married my awesome brother Troy.
Nancee is great to have in the family because she has reduced my need for a mirror. We have been told countless times that we look alike. Most people think we are sisters rather than in-laws, and many people have awkwardly mistaken us for one another. For example, I once had a one minute conversation with Troy followed by him holding my hand and asking, "What time is it, Nance?" Haha. Luckily, you can tell Nancee apart from me because she is in better shape.
Nancee is also great to have around because she is a friggin smarty pants. She graduated high school at the age of 16, graduated college at age 20, and finished law school before she was 26! She also passed the California Bar on her first try, and has passed two other state bars. Go Nancee!
Nancee is also athletic. She and my other totally-in-shape sister-in-law (way too many hyphens) and brother finished the Salt Lake marathon. She also wakeboards, snowboards, and chases a 2 year old around.
Lastly, Nancee is great because she and Troy brought two adorable nieces into my life who I can't get enough of. Thanks for the princesses!
Today is my dad's 59th birthday and I wanted to give him a proper (and punctual) shout out!
Basically, I have the best dad ever. My dad has always been super involved in everything that my siblings and I have done. In elementary school he would MC the school talent shows. He often would coach everyone's baseball and softball teams (except for me because I was far more interested in collecting Barbies than playing team sports). In middle school he never missed a single screechy orchestra concert. In high school he was always super involved in different committees. For example, (much to my dismay back then) he and my mom were chaperons on my choir trip. Most of the parental chaperoned were quiet and "behind the scenes" where my dad was out being chummy with all the kids, performing songs that he wrote to my peers (I could have died!) and more. My senior year he was on our graduation party committee. He went to every single cross country meet (except for one- and he was frustrated that he couldn't make it.) He made me lunch all through high school and would decorate my lunch bags on the days I had a XC meet. The lunch bags were known as Spirit Bags and would be read by all of my friends.
My dad has always been very selfless in our family. For example, my high school was one mile away- very walkable. Dad worked in Bellevue, which was a twenty minute drive from our house at LEAST. However, when I got my drivers license my dad would take the bus and bike to work so I could have a car to drive up the street to school. He happily sat through many mall experiences and chauffeured me and my friends around on weekend nights where he would probably rather be at home. When I was a kid I never realized how much more involved my dad was in my life compared to other kids. I just assumed that all dads were like mine. Now I can see how special my dad is and how lucky I am to have him :) My dad is always up for fun and a laugh. Every family vacation is filled with taking gag pictures, such as this one: In my sister's wedding my dad insisted on having a choreographed daddy/daughter dance that included "the Elaine" and most of Napoleon Dynamite's dance moves. Dad loves to make home videos and has a talent for making them entertaining to all. The first catchphrase that comes to my mind when I think of my dad is anytime someone asks,"Hey did you get a haircut? He ALWAYS replies, "No...I got them ALL cut!"
So Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for being the goofy, quirky, hard working lovable guy that you are.
*FYI- my mom has also always been super involved in my life too and did lots of stuff mentioned above. I just focused on dad because it was his birthday. I didn't want to imply that he did it all by himself :D
After graduation my parents took me and Jordan on an incredible church history road trip. Since my camera is gone, I am waiting for my dad to send me some of his pictures of the trip (did I mention I miss my lost camera??) so I am going to wait until I get his photos before I blog about the trip in detail. Stay tuned....
After our vacation with my parents, Jordan and I flew to Seattle to visit more of the fam. We built legos, played Star Wars, built forts, swam in 3 ft of water, limboed, played London Bridges, set up a Snow White puzzle multiple times....oh, and we played with my nieces and nephew too. :P I love being an aunt! Jordan is the cutest uncle too. He loves loves loves our little kiddos; it's so adorable. He's gonna make a great baby daddy someday.
One really cool thing that we did in Seattle was help out with a charity put on by Salvation Army. They organized "One Million Meals for Haiti" and asked for volunteers to help assemble food packages to be sent to the Haitians. My parents, Molly and Brad, Jordan and I all went to help out.
My, what a sexy bunch! They were supposed to give me an apron, but I think I got a dress instead.
Here's a shot of the Convention Center in Seattle full of people assembling food.
Officially the most UNflattering picture of us!
The whole center was packed with energy. You could tell everyone was having a great time. It's easy to forget how fulfilling service can be.
