Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

About a week and a half ago Kyle and I were getting really frustrated by the long winter nights. Both of our schedules had slowed and once we got home from work, the only thing on the agenda was changing into our sweats and watching TV. Now that's fine every now and then but after a few weeks it gets really depressing. We had to do something to get out of our rut, so here are a few new things we've been up to. 1. Game nights with friends. In the past couple of weeks we've had two game nights and they have been so much fun. One in Stillwater at the house and the other in Ponca at Mark and Karin's house (They will soon be moving and we also got to a tour of their new house. Very exciting stuff!). Both included a few cocktails and a little friendly competition, which made for good times. 2. Exercise. That's right, you didn't misread that, we are now exercising in the evenings. We do it together and it's so much easier than me getting up in the morning by myself...

So it appears my blog has turned into a place for confessions, but after yesterday, I couldn’t help but post another. When I was in middle/high school my best friend Kimberly and I were obsessed with O-Town. If you're a little rusty on your boy band trivia, that's the one that formed from the TV show Making the Band (the original, without P. Diddy) and had profound hits like " Liquid Dreams " and " All or Nothing. " So you can imagine my excitement when I found out yesterday that the band is reuniting! I have been listening to O-Town songs all day reminiscing about all the memories. Including the time that we almost met them in Georgia during a Frontliners mission trip. But that's another story (sorry for those of you that were DYING to hear it). I was thrilled to hear this news for many reasons, but mainly because it seems their lives have taken a turn for the worse since breaking up. I think there is no sadder reality show than There and Back , whic...

When people ask me if I watch the Biggest Loser, I used to say that I watch an episode here and there, but I’m coming out of the closet. The truth is that I watch the finale and absolutely nothing else. I feel a little guilty admitting it because it’s kind of like skipping dinner and eating dessert, but that’s the way I roll. At the Foundation, we started our second Biggest Loser competition among the staff this week. I didn’t participate in the last round because I typically have no interest in these types of things, but this round, I need a little motivation so I thought I might as well enter. The prize is a whopping $240! In other news, Asher can finally say my name! I called home one day last week and Zach told me that Asher said my name 2 seconds before I called (yeah, I think he’s psychic). So on Saturday, I just had to go to Hennessey to hear it for myself. He used to barely talk at all, but now he jabbers all day long. It's so adorable! Messy boy! Enjoying a book with...

Kyle and I rang in the new year in the parking lot of the Carmike Cinema with Ashlea and Nehemiah. It was a great evening. We went to dinner and then watched The Fighter, which wasn't bad, but not really my cup of tea. It was a lot of family bickering, cuss words and people getting beat up. Kyle enjoyed it. Now that 2011 is here, I started thinking about the past year and had several revelations: 1. My husband spends a lot of his time in the doctor's office. Between getting his wisdom teeth out in March, visiting the ER in June and having surgery in July, he's pretty much an expert at racking up medical bills. Throw in a couple of sinus infections, and I think he's had his fair share of illnesses for a while. Let's hope 2011 is healthy and accident free! 2. Our families are multiplying like rabbits. Three of my cousins welcomed new additions to their families, we gained a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law, and we found out that Kyle's sister will soon be having...

According to the other blogs I follow, I'm a little late posting after the holidays. Thanks for showing me up ladies! Kyle and I had great Christmas Eve/Christmas/post Christmas celebrations. It all started on Friday afternoon when Kyle got off work. (Have I mentioned lately how happy I am that he has his new job! He usually has to work the entire day on Christmas Eve, so I was really excited when he got off at noon.) At about 1:30, we headed to Mulvane, KS, after our quick Walmart trip turned into a 30 min. ordeal. Never go there on Christmas Eve. There are simply too many last minute shoppers! Kyle's brother and sister-in-law live in Mulvane and we were so glad to see them. It's been a while since we've made the trip to their house. That night, we had Christmas Eve dinner with a few of their friends. I had never met them before, but they were so kind and hospitable. They really made us feel at home and fed us WELL! It was a very yummy dinner and I tried mint tea for t...

I came to the realization this week that the college student version of me would be very disappointed if she knew she was going to turn into the present day version of me. It seems that after graduating, I have lost the ability to organize my life outside of work. When I was in college I was always on the go, classes every day and activities every evening. Now, I'm a boring old person who works Monday through Friday, cooks dinner in the evening and cleans on the weekend. By and large, I have less commitments now, which has made me a little lazy. One area that I've been particularly lax in is photography. For the first time, I let my camera's memory card fill up. I know that's no big deal, but it had never happened to me before and I fear it's like my car's gas light. I went years without knowing it had one and then once I pushed it to the limit once, it happened again about every other time I filled up. My camera holds over 500 pictures and I have photos on it f...

It's my first lunchtime blog! I know, you are looking at the time stamp and wondering, "who eats lunch at 2 p.m.?" The answer is me, the wife of a car salesman. I wait and wait only to have him cancel on me for another appointment. I can't complain, though, because at least I get a little break at lunch unlike my wonderful, hard working husband. In the past few weeks, Kyle and I have had more fun together than we have in a long time. Since getting married, we haven't done a very good job of taking time to focus on us. Sure, we spend a lot of time together, but we are always distracted by life and rarely go out unless another couple invites us or there is a special occasion. We are trying to be better about this, though, and so last weekend Kyle took me on a date. We went to Kingfisher to eat at El Charro and see Kingfisher in Lights, something that my family always did together growing up. Sure, it's a longer drive from Stillwater than it was from Hennessey, b...