The Rest of Our Summer

It seems like we were just setting out for our trip to Colorado after school was finished. Now, here we are, and school is right around the corner. Believe it or not, I've had plans of talking about our summer adventures for a solid month or so now, but time has escaped me as I was trying to soak up every last bit of summer. Now, I return for inservice next week, have a long list of to-dos that I should be doing, and I'm sitting down to write instead of focusing on any of those...go figure!

Upon our return from Colorado, we had about a day or so to unwind and unpack before we spent the following week at Steve and Diana's house dog/housesitting while they spent a week in Colorado. It was weird not staying at our apartment for about half the month of June. Nonetheless, it was also nice to be at their house, since it's just like home. As we settled into being back in town, I also picked up tutoring again. As easy as it was to do my tutoring work, it was also a little demoralizing to keep teaching after I had been on vacation for a week. I think the girls were also antsy to finish so they could get on with their summer also. When Steve, Diana, and Elizabeth returned from their trip later that week, we all regaled our travel stories to one another. It was nice to have everyone back together again.

Zoe is doing well, in case you were wondering.
She and I have bonded some after all these years!

Somewhere in there, Thomas and I made a quick overnight trip out to Quitman to check on everything out there and retreat from the city. Also, Thomas was antsy to see the tractor Steve bought to maintain the property. Thomas accompanied Steve when he bought it, but we were in Amarillo (at the start of our trip) when it was delivered. I have to admit that it's nice having a little piece of farm living out at Quitman. I've said it before, but it's still true: having Quitman makes me a little less homesick on the weekends we can't get up to Oklahoma. It's no replacement, but it's still nice. I'm also happy that our future children will get to experience those places (my parents' farm and Quitman) as they grow up, so they can have a better understanding/appreciation of the world and nature. I'm happy they'll be able to learn about raising wheat, cattle, and (soon) bees!

View from the great room at Quitman.
I never tire of this view!

Let's see, what else did we do?

We attended a Chris Stapleton and Eagles concert. That was pretty awesome, even if we had nosebleed tickets, I had horrendous blisters on my feet due to poor footwear choices (and a long walk to the stadium from our parking lot), and a loud drunken woman behind us who constantly professed her undying love for Don Henley! It was interesting at the concert, as Don Henley initially started off by inviting everyone to shut off their phones and enjoy the evening. I'm sure this was so they could ford off people recording it for copyright reasons, but it led me to make an interesting realization about society. You wouldn't believe the number of people surrounding us who spent the better part of the concert buried in their phones and/or on social media. It was a little frustrating to try to watch the concert in the dark arena while we saw the glow of cell phones surrounding us. Nonetheless, Thomas and I had an amazing night soaking in all of their amazing music. (Disclaimer: All the pictures I took at the concert were at the very beginning or the very end.)

Chris Stapleton--what talent!

What a great performance from the Eagles!

A few days after the concert, we were able to have our good friends Alex and Haley over for dinner. It's funny how life works. Haley and I first met back in the spring of 2014. I got in touch with her via a contact card she filled out after Ash Wednesday Mass at St. John's, stating that she'd be interested in joining a lenten bible study. It so happened that she was also an education major and one of the kindest people I'd met. She was one of the most faithful attendees of my bible study. Now, she and her (now) husband live about 20 minutes away from Thomas and me! What are the odds? I'm so grateful for friendships like these, especially since Thomas and Alex get along so well. It makes getting together such a treat, even if we don't get to do it very often. Haley and Alex got married a few weeks ago, but their wedding was in Missouri and the same weekend as another wedding we were invited to, so we decided that if we couldn't be at their wedding, we'd have them over for dinner! It was such a lovely evening full of laughs, great food, and lots of wine!

The following weekend was the annual women's group retreat with my church group. One of our group members, Eleanor, was gracious enough to offer up her family's ranch near Paris, TX, for the weekend. It was the perfect accommodation for all of us. The ranch was fairly extensive, I believe almost 1500 acres, and had lots of cattle and horses. We drove out that Friday evening and began our Saturday with a walk through the pasture. Thankfully we set out early, as it grew to be increasingly hot and humid from there. We had a few reflections (including one that I gave) before we spent some time in recreation. During our rec time, we drove around on their fleet of 4-wheelers, which was a lot more terrifying to me since my wreck. I remember having a 4-wheeler as a child and not being scared of it, but for whatever reason, I just wasn't feeling it that weekend. It was a really good thing that they also had a larger ATV (like my parents' Kubota RTV) that I could also ride on, as we planned on 4-wheeling out to the edge of their property that was along the Red River, where we swam. All of my farm kid instincts kicked in as we drove through the winding pastures to get to the river, as it entailed opening/closing a variety of gates. (I also had to explain gate code to my city-slicker friends...i.e. the passenger is always the one to open the gate, NEVER the driver.) We ended the retreat with attending Mass in nearby Paris, where the parishioners were baffled by the sudden influx of women! I think they all thought we were in some sort of a religious order, which would've been plausible had we not had two women in our group who were visibly pregnant! All in all, it was a great weekend of fellowship.

View from the back porch!

Obsessed with this beautiful wrap-around porch!

The "Eiffel Tower"

Meanwhile, Thomas was not having as much of a relaxing weekend. He made a quick trip up to OK to accomplish a few tasks. My parents just had a couple of steers from our herd slaughtered for our annual beef supply. Now that Thomas and I are married, they entitled us to half of one steer. They also gifted us with a belated wedding present of a deep freezer. Thomas also wanted to have the hide of one of the steers tanned. All of this together spelled out one big debacle for Thomas. After lots of planning and trying to find the most efficient route of accomplishing this, we settled on the following plan: Thomas would go to Oklahoma, leave his car there, borrow one of my parents' pickups for the week, and bring back the freezer, our beef, and the hide, which we would later take to a nearby tannery. To help him accomplish this feat, we opted to also borrow Cody. In a story that I'll likely hear about from the two men involved for the rest of my life, apparently it took them about 2 hours to get everything unloaded and up the 3 flights of stairs. All in the sweltering Texas heat and humidity we all know and love. They were not thrilled, but were sweet enough to take care of all of that. Now we have a deep freezer (which I love!) and a plethora of beef! Woohoo!

The upside to this was that Cody would end up spending a good deal of time with us until we could get back up to Oklahoma! I was so happy to see him, as I hadn't seen any of my family since early May. Cody had grown even more than the last time I saw him. Now, he's easily the same size and build as Thomas! I miss my little guy, but I'm so proud of the young man he's growing up to be. Cody and I went on lots of adventures together during the week, including a couple of trips to Sam's, where we befriended a sample guy named Al. He (and Thomas) also was called in for extra help moving some things for Thomas' aunt Jean. In exciting news, his visit coincided with the 4th of July, so we got to celebrate the day together! It was great having him here and getting to hang out with just him. I know that his life is only going to become more busy as the years go on, so I'm glad I got to snag him this summer! During Cody's week here, I also FINALLY finished my tutoring gig. It was bittersweet to finish up, but I was happy to get my summer back.

Cody, basking in the enjoyment of some fried alligator.

We snagged a picture with the lobster tank Cody was eyeing during supper!
(See what I mean by how much he's grown!!!)

He's not one much for smiling in pictures, but he'll still take pictures with
Aunt Amanda, so I'll take it! :)

Who's who? Thomas or Cody? See what I mean by my confusion!
(Cody on left, Thomas on right)

Cody and I baked some PB/banana blondies! Yum!
(He plated this dish...how awesome is that!)

So excited to visit Cabela's
(If he had facial hair, he could almost be Thomas' twin!)

Nothing like a boy browsing through fishing lures!

4th of July selfie!
Love my crew!

On our way to a 4th of July pool party!

Cody LOVED the pool!

It's a good thing I was able to finish up tutoring, as the last part of the great freezer move hinged upon that. You see, the tail end of the plan was for me to take Cody home the following Thursday. The next day (Friday) was the rehearsal for our friends John and Amanda. Thomas was a lector in their wedding, so we were asked to attend the rehearsal, which was in Edmond. Thomas drove up to Edmond (in my parents' pickup) Friday afternoon. I, in turn, met him at the church in Edmond and we came back to my parents' house that night. We had both of our cars up in Oklahoma, which led to me being able to have an extended stay with my family after the wedding festivities were done. Whew! Lots of moving pieces, but we made it work! It was great to be reunited with my family after a couple months away. I missed all of them so incredibly much.  We spent lots of time enjoying the shed room with lots of girl talk among my sisters, mom, and me. I loved not having to worry about making every last second of an already short weekend count. It was nice to just "be" with everyone with no big agenda.

I'm a little out of order, but I'm tossing in my OK pictures also!

Cole and Andy
(and obligatory bunny ears!) 

Jakub, happy getting to love on Uncle Thomas and steal his hat!

Wyatt's awesome garden!
Proud of the initiative he took in getting it started!

Goofy little boy smiles like this one melt this aunt's heart!

Photographic evidence that Wyatt and Jakub are basically twins!
(All the funnier, considering how much Gina and I resemble one another!)

Jakub swiped Wyatt's glasses, and further proved my theory that they're twins!

Me with Cole! Love this sweet smile!

All of my favorite women in one picture!
Loved our time together, and miss them every day!

John and Amanda's wedding was an absolutely wonderful celebration. They also met through St. John's, so their wedding was a mini reunion among lots of our friends. One of the best parts for me was getting to see Rebecca, who was one of Amanda's bridesmaids. It turns out that Rebecca will be joining the convent up in Michigan next week, so the wedding was really one of the last opportunities that I had to get to see her for the foreseeable future. I didn't expect this to happen, but we both ended up getting pretty emotional as we said our goodbyes that night. I never really get that emotional with my best friends (shocking, right?) , because we always have an understanding that we'll see each other soon. That, and we always stay in touch pretty well. Not the case this time. Since Rebecca is joining the convent, she'll be giving up a lot of her material possessions, including her cell phone for the foreseeable future. Our main form of communication will be letters, but I have no idea when that'll come. I also don't know her mailing address, so I can't really make that happen yet. And she'll be in Michigan. Ugh. I'm so happy for her finding her life's calling, but I'm also sad that she's gone. It's a good thing God can handle me being frustrated with Him, because I've been all over the board with this situation.

Gorgeous centerpieces! 

Some of our St. John's crew!
Front (L-R): Kevin, me, Thomas
Back (L-R): Fr. Stuart, Rebecca, Maria, Sierra

Love this man!

The happy couple and new St. John's newlyweds!!!
Love these two!

Thank goodness there was shadowing around our faces, that way you couldn't tell
we had been crying our eyes out for five minutes before this! Love her and our friendship.
Praise God for great friends like her and finding our vocations!

When I returned from Oklahoma, Thomas and I were on the verge of our first wedding anniversary! We had a fun weekend! It was kicked off by us getting massages, followed by a lovely fondue dinner. I'd never had fondue before then, so it was a great experience for me, albeit very time-consuming. I'm told it's all part of the experience, so there we go. On our actual anniversary, we went to church. On our way to church, we just so happened to turn on the radio to hear our first dance song playing. Mind you, our first dance song is a somewhat obscure older song ("Swaying to the Music" by Johnny Rivers), so this was quite the surprise! One of the reasons I love having an XM radio! (We heard it on The Bridge--channel 32 for subscribers!) After Mass, we had our priest say an anniversary blessing over us. That night was a nice dinner in, consisting of steaks, a pan sauce that stole the show, and a summer vegetable medley, straight from Wyatt's squash garden and Ada's tomato garden. Of course, we capped it off with our cake topper, which still tasted great! Funny enough, we had spent the better part of the year lamenting how much space it took up in our refrigerator freezer, wishing we could just get it out of there already. When we finally got the space back, it didn't matter, as we now have a deep freezer with tons of space. Go figure...

Our cake!

Since our anniversary, we've been able to spend a good deal of time hanging out with Thomas' parents and sister. We had them over for dinner one night, admittedly to help us eat a roast and our cake, but also to celebrate our anniversary! We're trying our best to make the most of our family time, as Elizabeth will be studying abroad in Madrid this fall. After Christmas, she'll return to STL, where she'll start into more of her advanced physical therapy classes for the spring semester. Next summer, she'll also have to stay in STL to take some required classes, so we won't get to see her as often in the coming year. It's tough to think about, but also exciting for her as she progresses in her studies!

One of the more recent exciting things for us is that our dear friend from St. John's, Bertels, came to visit us. Okay, Bertels is actually his last name, but no one ever calls him by his first name, so there we go. He happened to be in town to attend a Rangers game with another friend of his and decided to come visit for an afternoon while he was here! It was great to see him and catch up. There is such great power in community, especially as you grow older. It's great to remember that no matter where life takes everyone, you'll always have the bonds of friendship to sustain you!

I've also been involved with a couple of professional development seminars. One was an online webinar sponsored by Texas Instruments, in which I learned how to better utilize their graphing calculator technology in my classroom. Another was to learn how to integrate Google Classroom. The Classroom seminar wasn't as informative as I'd hoped, but I still gleaned some good stuff from it. I also had to do some training on dyslexia and learning differences as part of my "new" staff training that I'm a part of. It was very intense, requiring lots of reading and online training modules, but I finally finished that this week. It felt good to check those things off my list, and even better to be better equipped to teach my students who all have these learning differences.

Lastly, Thomas and I have been trying to make it through the heatwave. Having a third floor apartment hasn't been great during this time, but we've made it work. I'm not sure why it took us this long to pursue this avenue, but this week, we FINALLY broke down and invested in some blackout curtains. We have lots of large windows in our apartment that probably aren't the most energy efficient, so we went out on a limb to try this. It turns out that they really have helped to keep our apartment a good 5-10 degrees cooler than before, so we're counting this as a huge win!

I think that just about sums up our summer. Here's to me being optimistic and hoping that I'll update sooner next time. I likely won't, but it's worth a shot. I always come back, so have no fear! Can you believe I've been writing on here for almost 8 years now?! Go me!