These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Folks, it is SOCLOSE (see, no separation between the words, that is HOW close we are talking...) to April. The weather is still acting a bit iffy but it is definitely getting warmer. In honor of this great season of Spring, I've decided to discuss a few of my "favorite things" at the moment.

I'm not a huge Hall & Oates person, but for the past 10 years (or so) I have LOVED this song. The video is pretty hilarious, but I thought it would be fun for you to listen to the song while you are reading my favorite things. If you finish this post and don't have some semblance of a smile on your face, you might want to get your head checked.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h_mKHvkSbn4

(In no particular order):



1. My grey converse shoes. I had a pair of converse shoes when I was much younger but they were hot pink (one of my only hot pink items to date) and were the high-top version. I told Michael a few months ago that I was wanting to buy a pair but couldn't think of a reason. Then! I planned a trip to Boston and was in dire need of walking shoes. Bingo! I picked them up and wore them the entire time I was in Beantown. Not only did they keep my feet warm, but they also kept a smile on my face.


2. Lemonade. I have one rule about lemonade: I won't drink it in the winter. However, it is my life-force in the spring and summer. I can't get enough of the stuff! I picked up a pack of this Countrytime Lite lemonade last week--there are 40 servings per container and I'm already about out. Only has 35 calories, half the sugar, AND it's 99% water! It doesn't get any better than that!


3. Workers at Taco Bell/Blockbuster in Jenks. Ok, we all know that I adore Taco Bell. It is right up there with Michael and my family (small, unfunny joke). Anywho, I've noticed when I go to the Taco Bell in Jenks (Main Street), they are SO NICE to you. They ask you how your day has been and genuinely sound interested in your response. And, when I return the greeting and ask how THEIR day is, they always say something positive. Who does that? Good management, I say. The same is true with Blockbuster. Everytime Michael or I walk in the door they always greet us. And yes, I know it is a requirement at Blockbuster for employees to say hello but the one we used to go to in Tulsa was more of a grunt. This one actually makes you feel like you're wanted in their store. It's a small store, very cozy, and I like it... a lot.


4. LOST. What were Michael and I thinking by waiting so long to discover the greatness that is LOST? We're almost done with season 1 and have a goal of watching season 2 and 3 before LOST starts up again end of April. Can we do it? Most people would think, "Of course not, that is a ridiculous amount of episodes (approx 55) to watch in such a short time." But we... we are different. We are losers. And we love a challenge, even if said challenge gives the narrator of this blog severe nightmares (if I have one more dream of being deserted on an island with ridiculously good-looking people, I'm not sure what I'll do).


5. Banana Republic tank tops. I love tank top season. Tank tops with jeans, tank tops with shorts... I'm not particular, as long as it involves a tank top. I favor the BR tank tops because they are extra long and don't lose their shape after you've worn them a few hours. If you're a savvy shopper, which I happen to be about 45% of the time, you can get them uber cheap. And since I'm being honest, I've decided my new 'do looks much better in summer clothes than winter clothes (cue eye roll from Justonian).

So there you have it. The song should be ending soon (you ARE listening to it, correct?) so I'll end this post as well. Hooray for spring time and favorite things. Here comes the sun (do do dodo)!

I'm Married to Popeye

You know the song that came out a long time ago (and wasn't good), "Where have all the cowboys gone?" Change the word "cowboys" to "weekends" and you have the question I keep asking myself.

We were blessed with a 3-day weekend so Michael and I decided we'd spend Friday in our pajamas cleaning the house and being lazy. Michael called his parents to find out when they'd be arriving on Saturday and was surprised with the news that they were already on the road driving to Tulsa. He quickly got off the phone and the laidback day of cleaning turned into a frantic rush to get everything ready (including ourselves) before they arrived. We were able to clean up before they arrived and even had a few minutes to spare. After hanging around the house, the 4 of us went to dinner at Gina and Guiseppe's and had a nice time catching up.

Can we talk about March Madness for a second? And how Michael and I both filled out a bracket? And how I am beating him at the moment? Ok, the moment has passed...

Saturday morning my parents joined the festivities and the 6 of us tried a hole-in-the-wall bbq place for lunch. It was fantastic! I can't even remember how the bbq tasted but the fried okra was delicious! It is good to know I have an okra fix less than 5 miles from my house. The girls split up for a bit and went to Utica to pick out a baby gift for Leah's shower and then joined the boys for an afternoon of, you guessed it, basketball. Michael and I wanted to prove to our parents that we do actually use the wedding gifts we were given so we made dinner for the parents. It was a mexican fiesta with tacos, refried beans, cheese and guacamole dip, etc. We had a nice time cooking it and then Michael ran off to a surprise birthday party.

Sunday morning (Hoppy Easter!) we went to the 9:30a service and enjoyed a great sermon. Afterwards we had a nice brunch at Red Rock Canyon. My parents are like us and enjoy having Sunday afternoon to relax before the week begins so they left pretty early (around 1p). Michael's parents watched the Texas game and then took off as well. And then Michael and I watched 4 (yes, 4) episodes of Lost from season 1. What a great show! We have several friends who bring up events from the show so we finally decided it was time to join the rest of the world and find out what we'd been missing. I really like the show, Michael LOVES the show. It is a great conversation piece--we have brought it up amongst ourselves several times and have had some great discussions.

Before I forget, Dad took our annual outdoor Easter pictures. I do believe mom, Michael, and I have the 3 most sensitive sets of eyes this side of the Atlantic ocean (ha) so the pictures turned out, once again, dreadful. Mom's and my eyes were non-existent but Michael's face was classic. Please see below (I realize it is not him, nor was he punching the camera, but the eyes are identical):



And that is all I have for today. Should be a pretty laidback week and then I have a leadership retreat all weekend. I know it will be good for me to attend but I can't say I'm too excited about it now. Actually my excitement level is at a 1 (on a scale from 1 to 93). At least I have a positive attitude, right? HA!

It's SPRING!

I know it's early but...

HOPPY Easter!! (I've said it for 25 years and I'm not about to stop now!)

I dedicate the following picture to Michael Justin Besancon, the only (other) person in the world who knows the huge significance of finding the giant purple egg. Mom and Dad may think they have a clue, but they have no idea...

:) It's mine, sucka!!! :)



Disclaimer: The picture is a little creepy--I found it online and did not actually do a photo shoot with a giant purple egg... in a bowl of rocks.

I'm Like the Godfather with My Days of the Week

When I was young and still had 3 glorious months of summer vacation, I would lose track of the date (or the day for that matter). I thought it was a Tuesday when indeed it was a Friday. I used to consider losing track a success, proof that I really was on vacation without a care in the world. I am back to confusing dates, yet I don't consider it a success. In fact, I think it is full-force delirium from being in 3 different states in 2 weeks and also being sick twice. Not only do I not know what day it is, I have a hard time remembering if it is March or April, or God forbid, we're back in February. I need a true vacation--one that does not involve long plane/car rides or late nights. I need a beach during the day and I need my pajamas by 8:00 at night. And if I'm really being honest, I need my vacation to last approximately 55+ years so I can retire afterwards.

Enough complaining. I have checked my calendar and it is March 19, 2008. A Wednesday. Wednesdays are typically good days for me--I am enough of an optimist that I consider the workweek "half over" and I'm already looking forward to my 4th favorite day of the week--Thursday! I'm especially excited about this week since Michael and I both have Good Friday off. 3 day weekends--the next best thing to 55 year vacations!!

In reference to my last post, Michael and I drove to StL on Friday and had a great time. We arrived at dinnertime and Michael Brannan put together a fabulous meal of salmon with crab stuffing, shrimp pasta, and a salad (obviously my least favorite of the bunch but still delicious). We drank some wine and caught up with the new parents. We were able to meet Maddilyn but she was pretty tired and preferred sleep to entertaining 2 strangers (can't say I blame her). We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday and then had lunch with Emily and Jake. It was fun to see them and the 6 of us had a nice time catching up. We had dinner with Melissa's family for her mom's birthday and then we left pretty early Sunday morning so we could make it back in time for our Dave Ramsey class. We made it back in plenty of time.

...We didn't go.

In our defense, we were away all weekend and a 6-hour car trip REALLY takes it out of you. Instead we came home and relaxed the rest of the day, which was so nice. Michael and I decided on the trip home that we want to go on a NICE vacation every other year and then on the off year we can either (a) save up for the following year's vacation or (b) buy something nice for the house. Of course we'll be saving money too but we feel it is very important to treat ourselves to something nice once a year as long as we have the means to do so. We both love to travel and it is a great "hobby" of ours. Not to mention,once the little ones are around vacations change drastically, and we want our share of nice beaches and fruity drinks before we trade them in for bottles and mouse ears. Kapeesh?

I have no pictures to post--my apologies!! Both sets of parents are coming in for Easter this weekend and we're really looking forward to it. I saw mom for a (short) day last week but it's been awhile since I've seen dad. It'll be great to have them here for more than a few hours!

Rain Rhymes With Pain (in my....)

Yikes! I just realized my last post was almost 2 weeks ago! Time flies when you're busy every weekend...

Where to begin...?

Since late last year, Leslie had been planning a trip to Boston for a conference. We'd all talked about me going as well and having a trifecta reunion. And then we bought a house. And then we purchased furniture for the house. And then I lied to Julie and told her I couldn't afford to go. I think I bought my ticket January 1 and was so proud of Leslie and myself for keeping it a secret for over 2 months!! I drove to Shawnee Thursday night and then Leslie and I both drove to OKC Friday morning for our flight to Boston. Had a great time catching up with Leslie and we were both giddy (literally) with excitement over our surprise! Saw Julie at the airport and we all decided the months of silence was well worth it! Julie's best friend Kristen (who apparently is my long-lost twin) joined us throughout the weekend. She is the unfamiliar face in the pictures below!

We had a fabulous time in Boston. Friday night and all day Saturday was easily the ugliest weather I have ever experienced in my 25 years of living. Cold, rainy, miserable. We still had a blast. We ate a light dinner on Friday, had a fantastic martini at this neat martini bar and then went to one of Julie's favorite bars that reminded me a lot of Tulsa bars. Very laidback, very non-pretentious (my favorite). Afterwards, we went back to Julie's apartment and she and I stayed up until 3a or so catching up. It was great and I don't think I moved once when I finally went to sleep.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at a little restaurant in a bookstore and I had a $15 omelet. Can you believe it?! And yes, it was the best omelet I've ever had in my life, although I have a hard time understanding why they felt the need to charge $2.25 for avocado. Last time I checked it was not an endangered fruit. Come on! After breakfast we toured a bit of Boston and then headed to the ICA, which is a modern art museum. It was insane. I was thinking, "Oh modern art, I hope to see some Kandinskys!" No, this was the modern art where you feel like you need to be in a drug-induced state to even understand what's going on (since i'm fairly sure the artists were in that same state when they created this so-called "art"). We had a great time looking at the architecture of the building but were completely hopeless when it came to actually understanding what we were viewing.

After the art museum we went to a seafood place for dinner and then came home and relaxed for a bit. Julie really likes the band, "Kill the Alarm" and they were opening for another band at a nearby bar so we went there Saturday evening. Don't worry, the name of the band does not reflect the music--no death metal, etc. Another fun evening!

Sunday we awoke to something glorious: the sun! It was still windy but it is crazy how you feel invincible when the sun is out. It could have been -45 degrees and I would have been fine! We spent most of Sunday shopping and I found some great things. We also visited the Harvard campus and I felt right at home (riiiight). :) We ate dinner at a cute Italian restaurant that night and then I went to bed relatively early. Monday was spent in the airport or on an airplane. Long delays, long flights, loooong day.






It was so great to see Michael on Monday but I believe I was awake for a grand total of 25 minutes once I got home. Mom came to Tulsa on Tuesday to see the musical "Rent." We had some freetime before the show so we poked around Utica Square and ate at Bourbon Street. It was also Michelle's birthday so I gave her a call to wish her the happiest of days. The show was FABULOUS! I'm not sure mom felt the same way but I adored it. Want to see it again. The music was fantastic, some of the best I've ever heard. All in all--5 stars from this gal.

It turns out, lo and behold, I am NOT capable of going and going and going without suffering repercussions. I got hit with the sick bug again. I was afraid it was strep but I've diagnosed myself (as of last night) with having a terrible cold. Congestion, sore throat, coughing, runny nose, yech. This is great news considering I'm leaving in about 30 minutes to drive to StL to visit Melissa and a BABY! Anyone have a doctor's mask? :) I've been drinking plenty of water and just took a sudafed. We'll see how it goes.

I realize this is a long post but I still feel like I blew through everything. Should have been twice as long but I don't have the energy and I don't think anyone has the patience. Really looking forward to seeing the Brannans and holding Maddi (I'm also terrified, but excitement overrides nerves).

Happy early St. Patrick's Day! I love any chance to wear green. :)

Am I Invisible?!

Well it finally happened. After several months of avoiding it, I came down with something last week. I started feeling kind of crappy Tuesday afternoon so I layed down on a pew in the sanctuary (now how many people can say they have THAT opportunity at work?). After a few minutes I realized it wasn't going to get any better so I drove home. Won't go into details but it wasn't a pleasant evening. I stayed home Wednesday and Thursday and recovered from whatever bug it was that hit me. As much as I would have loved a 5-day weekend, I decided it was in my best interest to come back to work on Friday and it was then that I discovered something about myself: I'm not the first thing/person that crosses everyone's mind. In fact, I might be dead last, AFTER paying the bills and taking out the trash. NO ONE except my boss even knew I was gone. 2.5 days of sickness! I wasn't expecting a "welcome back" banner or flowers but perhaps a few emails or phone calls of well-wishing. NOTHING!!! What makes this puny attempt at sympathy an absolute tragedy is that I had a few deadlines at work that I assumed had been completed (since apparently I thought they would call an all-staff meeting to make everyone aware of my temporary absence) but no one knew I was gone so nothing was done. I had a ton of phone calls, emails, etc. of desperate people wanting to know where I was and why they hadn't received this or that. The only thing worse than being sick is coming back to work and being bombarded with frustrated church and staff members. It was all I could do to not walk right back out and head home again! Anywho, after 5 minutes of just staring off into space and wondering about my worth (or lack thereof) on God's green earth, I got back to work and completed 3 days of work in 1 day. I was pretty proud of myself and it somewhat made up for the humongous pity party that happened that morning (and has somewhat continued on this post).

That night we went to a tiny Mexican restaurant on Main Street with Kait and Steve. I misunderstood the menu and ended up ordering 1 tiny soft taco--I thought it was "dinner for one" but it actually meant one item. The entire plate had a 5-inch diameter and I left the restaurant with a very hungry stomach. We went to Marble Slab and picked up dessert (the Mexican restaurant closed at 8p and did not have any dessert--what?!) and then came back to our house to play some Guitar Hero and Tiger Woods golf. It was fun catching up with them and we all agreed that we would not be returning to said Mexican restaurant.

Michael and I decided we'd start our other New Year's resolution 2 months (to the day) late. We exercised on Saturday. Both of us left with high hopes and came back with high blood pressure. Who knew we could both get out of shape so fast! I am going to make a workout calendar for us and buy some stickers to put on the days we actually work out. Sounds juvenile but I will run to great lengths for a sticker. Perhaps I'll even go crazy and get scratch n' sniffs.

Saturday after the ridiculous attempt to exercise, Michael and I went to dinner with Garrett and Tara. Michael and Garrett work together and the 4 of us met at Lola's for some delicious food. We had a great time and look forward to doing it again soon! Garrett lived and worked in Dallas after college so we swapped stories of good places to eat and shop. I'm already looking forward to our next trip to Dallas!

That's about it! Michael has yet to get sick and is feeling pretty good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he can avoid what has now been labeled an "epidemic." Yeesh.