Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

I am always looking forward to Christmas time, but it usually sneaks up on me. This year, though, I was pretty on top of things. Kyle and I did most of our shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving, leaving plenty of time for decorating the tree, wrapping presents, watching Christmas movies and anticipating the big day. One of my first Christmas celebrations was with my Bunco group. Once a month I get together with some crazy, hilarious and fun ladies. We roll dice, drink margaritas and laugh (and eat) until our stomachs hurt. It's a great time. I'm so glad Donna asked me to join the group almost four years ago because I wouldn't know 75% of these women if she hadn't. Next up were my OSUF Christmas parties. The all staff party was at Fuzzy's again this year, which is always a good time. We did dirty Santa gifts as usual but afterward they handed out silly office awards for a fun twist to the festivities. Our department won the Buddy Award for "always pal

We spent yet another weekend hanging around the house because Kyle is getting over his second stomach bug. Between that and sinus infections it's been a rough fall for us. If anything, it has made me so grateful for the health we usually have. I always found it a little strange when people would say they were thankful for their health. Sure that was great and all but on my list of things to be thankful for, it was never near the top. That's because I took it for granted. As I get older I realize what a blessing it truly is and just how many people struggle with illness. So since Kyle is down for the count, I though I would take this opportunity to get you caught up on November. Mom and Dad gave us tickets to a Thunder game on Nov. 23 so we decided to make a weekend of it and do some Christmas shopping while we were in OKC. It worked out great, and I am happy to say that we are 95% done with gift buying and wrapping, which NEVER happens this early. Kyle didn't love the sho

A few months ago, I got an e-mail from Diane Riddle asking me to participate in the Hennessey High School Career Day. I was shocked they wanted me to come back but totally excited to share my experiences with the students. I am all for paying it forward, and, when I think about some of the individuals who helped me find my career, I feel like I'm slacking a bit in the mentor department. There is always more I could do to help others, so why not impart wisdom on the next generation of Eagles? I agreed to come and then realized my session was 20 minutes long. That seemed like a really long time to me. I tried to think back to career day when I was in school, but the only memory I can muster is someone from a news station coming to talk to us about broadcasting. I certainly don't remember much of what he said. So I decided just to do my own thing. I talked about what led me to major in public relations at OSU, some of the areas I could have chosen upon graduation and what I now