The End of a Tradition?

This weekend, as we have almost every year since Sam and I started dating, we made the journey to College Station, TX to watch OSU play Texas A&M (for what might be the last time since A&M is leaving the Big XII).  We love going to this game because Sam's older brother graduated from A&M and Sam and his younger brother are both OSU alums.  We took a few pictures while we were there, so I thought I would share some on this 'ol blog. 

 

My view on the drive to the game.

We met up with my mom and her friend, Shirley, at the OSU pre-game party.

The brothers (Sam, Ben, & Ty) and honorary brother (Aaron). 

The tailgate we crashed had beeritas (beer margaritas).  I definitely need that recipe!

Hanging out with my love at the tailgate.

Our crew walking to the game.

 This A&M fan did not like OSU fans!

If you've never seen the A&M band, you should.  They are great!

Our drive home on what might be our last trip to college station.

Fertility Funnies

The other night I was on Facebook when I noticed (thanks to the little sidebar) that one year previous to that date my status said, ""The clinic" is currently renovating their waiting area.  I wonder if they will update "the room" too?"  I laughed a little laugh at the comments my friends left regarding this status and thought, "maybe I should share some of our other fertility funnies on my blog."  Since, as some of you know, I don't always have a filter, here we go.

At one of our first consultations, our doctor was explaining the different procedure options to us.  When he got to IUI, he pulled a tube out of the drawer and began talking about it.  I said, "I know it's different, but I grew up on a farm, my husband grew up on a ranch, and both of our dad's are certified to AI cattle."  He cut me off with a chuckle and, while putting the tube away, said, "You know more detail than I was going to give you."

The day of our first ever IUI treatment, we discovered that the specimen collection cups they give you are not spill proof.  We noticed this when we began walking into the building and the brown paper lunch bag they give you to carry it in was a little damp.  When we got to the lab, we realized what had happened and tried to salvage as much as possible.  Lesson learned - keep the cup upright!

When it is time for the actual IUI procedure, as the doctor and nurse enter the room, the nurse flashes a little vial at you.  The first time this happened, we both smiled and nodded, not knowing what she was showing us.  As the doctor started the procedure, he asked the nurse if she verified the specimen.  That's when we realized he was referring to the name written on the vial (that we didn't notice at first).   We had a brief moment of panic, but everything worked out. 

There is a room at the clinic where out of town men can collect their specimens.  It's one of those things where everyone knows what happens in that room, but nobody says anything.  I was talking with a couple of nurses about it one day and how I always clean it like crazy before Sam goes in and one of them told me that they refer to men leaving the room as "the walk of shame" because they are all embarrassed and walking with their heads down avoiding eye contact. 

In "the room," they have material for the guys to look at.  Can you believe that people not only steal the magazines, but also the DVD's!  I was shocked when one of the nurses told me that!  Then I asked her who has the job of going to the store to replenish the room (thinking that would be really awkward) and she said nobody wants to do it, that's why it's getting so low. 

One time, they forgot to give me a sheet to cover up with after undressing from the waist down.  Since I visit there 6+ times a month and I was wearing a longish T-shirt, I just plopped myself down on the exam table and waited on them.  I was afraid that if I started looking for one they would come in and see my bare bum (which seems silly when you think about why I was there).  Upon entering the room, they quickly remedied the situation. 

 As for "the room," they did update it...

Before:

After:

There is normally a skirt around the sink.

Yes, I took our camera in "the room" to take pictures.  Yes, my husband was embarrassed. 

IIIIIIII Love a Parade! (and Other Weekend Festivities)

This weekend, Sam took me to Perry (the town where he works) to watch their parade.  To say I like parades would be an understatement!  I love everything about them from the floats to the joy on spectators' (specifically children's) faces.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the parade:

No small town parade is complete without the local high school band.

The clown on the left is one of our awesome neighbors.  The clown on the right is his son (Brock and Boone's dad for all you HP people).  I think I'll print this one out and give it to them. 

This picture makes me laugh.  These guys were the beginning of MANY Shriners. 

Some of the clown car Shriners (I don't know what they are really called, but they do drive clown cars :). 

Check out these three wheeler Shriners popping wheelies.

Personally, I thought they were a little old to be riding like that.  I was afraid they were going to fall and break a bone or two. 

 Here come the Ditch Witch machines.  Ditch Witch is the company that my husband works for. 

This is the Super Witch.  Basically, it's a souped-up trencher that is super loud.  

Oh yeah, it does wheelies too.  

She had to be tired of riding like that by the time the parade was over.  

How cute is this little mini-me rodeo clown.  

What a great way to end the parade!

After the parade, we drove to Tulsa to hang out with Ben and Kim during the OSU-Tulsa football game.  It was delayed for three hours due to rain meaning that kick-off wasn't until about 12:15 a.m. (yes, you read that right)!  We went to a bar to watch it, but left at midnight since it hadn't started yet.  The plan was to go to Kim's house and watch the game (translation - girls sleep while boys watch game), but her electricity was out, so we just went back to Ben's house and crashed.  I felt really bad for those poor college guys that were having to play a game that late.

On Sunday, we had a little fun taking pictures of Kim's newly adopted dog, Scout.  Isn't she a cutie!

Throwback Thursday

I've been thinking about having an occasional throwback Thursday (where I tell a story from my past) for a while now.  We'll see how it goes.  Most of the time they will be funny stories, but today's is a little more serious.  If you think of a story that I just have to share, let me know (no, I'm not planning on telling the deer story). 

For my first ever throwback Thursday, I decided to tell you a story about my great grandma.  Some of you were wondering how she was after she fell and broke her hip last weekend.  Well, I spent most of today helping my grandma and great aunt move my great grandma into a nursing home for rehabilitation since she can't return to the assisted living home in her current state.  Thankfully, she handled it much better than I thought she would.  Before I left she told me, "I'm a tough old bird to kill."  I'm glad she still has her sense of humor.  OK, enough downer talk.  Here's my Grandma Johnnie throwback Thursday.

My Grandma Johnnie has gone on A LOT of trips.  Most of these trips were part of Kincaid bus tours.  That's right, she rode a bus all over the U.S. multiple times (she went to every state at least once).  Every time she went on a trip, she bought a magnet.  This resulted in her having a fridge full of magnets.  As in, every spare inch (including the front, one side and half of the other side) had a magnet on it.  There were so many magnets that when we cleaned out her house a few years ago, they were collaged together, put in shadow boxes, and distributed among family members. 

When my sister and I were little, Grandma Johnnie invited us to go on a "Big Folks, Small Folks" bus trip.  We had always wanted to go on a trip with Grandma and this one seemed perfect since it was designed as a bonding opportunity for people and their grandkids.  I was so young that I don't remember all of the details, but I remember that we toured a stuffed animal plant (where Grandma bought each of us a stuffed animal, mine was a sheep), a space museum (when we arrived at the hotel, we found freeze dried ice cream on our pillows :), and an exotic animal park.  Over all, it was a great trip that I remember fondly to this day. 

This picture was taken a few years ago when my sister and I, along with our great aunt took Grandma Johnnie to Aunt Joyce's condo at Lake of the Ozarks.  Don't be jealous of my awesome haircut. 

Who Said Summer's Over?

Our weekend was filled with impromptu fun!  It all started Friday when Sam texted and said that our neighbor had contacted him about playing cards that night.  I told him that it was fine with me, packed his little ice chest, and sent him on his way.  I planned to watch the latest episode of Project Runway (I had missed it the night before because OSU was playing a Thursday game), but I only made it half way through before Sam called asking me to bring something over to him.  I walked the long walk (three houses down) in the dark and ended up staying down there and talking to the woman of the house until midnight when Sam finally lost out and was ready to head home.

Saturday morning I got a call that my Great Grandma (who is 95!) had fallen and broken her hip.  We decided that whatever we had planned could wait, and drove to Oklahoma City to visit her in the hospital.  We spent a couple of hours with Grandma then decided to catch a movie while we were in OKC.  We saw Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star.  Don't waste your money on this movie!  We thought it would be funny using Dumb and Dumber humor, but it was just ridiculous.  Luckily we had free movie passes from a dirty santa party a while back, so we didn't waste our money on it either.  After the movie, we met up with my sister and her husband, my grandma, and my great aunt for all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster.  The boys were the only ones who participated in the all you can eat challenge.  I think it's safe to say they stood their ground. 

On Sunday, after church and lunch, we were gearing up to get some things finished around the house when Sam's brother, Ben, called to ask if we wanted to go to the lake.  Of course we said yes, so we met them at Keystone Lake for a great afternoon.  I didn't want to take our good camera out on the lake and forgot the point and shoot, so you are stuck with Iphone photos,  sorry 'bout that. 

The boys getting us to our destination.  This is the picture I texted to the third brother so he would know what he was missing (he lives in Dallas, so he couldn't participate in the impromptu lake trip). 

Ben got a little wake boarding in. 

Sam did too. 

Back off ladies, he's all mine.  My husband was worried about the amoebas in the water (even though Ben assured him the water was too cool for them now), so he made a redneck nose plug.  I'm sure I'll be in trouble for both the picture and what I said, but it was too funny not to.

Yup, I was that girl that went to the lake and didn't get her hair wet.  It was a little too cool to just float around in the water and I opted not to wake board since we had a fertility treatment last week.  Instead, I had fun hanging out in the front of the boat with Kim (Ben's girlfriend).

I was trying to get a picture of the sunset and got something else.  Look at these two pictures.  Do you see the small then large black spot on the right side?  I didn't notice them until I put the pictures on the computer this morning.  I'm guessing it was an alligator gar since we saw a couple surface earlier in the day, but I'm not sure. 

Patience

A question that I get often is, "Have you heard anything about the kids?"  I normally answer by telling whoever asked that we are still in the middle of the fertility study and will be represented on September 13th at the state adoption staffing for the first time.  They often respond with something along the lines of, "You are so patient." "Keep me updated." or "I'll pray for you."  Well, I'm here to tell you that I'm not a patient person by nature.  In elementary school, my mom had to take me to the doctor because my stomach was constantly upset.  Turns out, I worry too much.  I stress about things like being late, doing my best, and hurting others. 

When we were doing the first set of fertility treatments (the ones that resulted in Aubrey), I joked that God was teaching me a lesson in patience.  When we finally got pregnant, I thought, "Man, I'm glad that lesson is over."  I wasn't that person who was ready to "just have this baby already,"  I cherished every moment.  Don't get me wrong, I was ready to meet her, I just wanted it to be when she was good and ready.  My husband was telling me just the other night what a trooper I was when I was pregnant (there were times when I would "use" the bathroom at a friend's house or restaurant and he wouldn't even know until we were leaving because I would come out laughing and talking like nothing happened, I even carried a little bottle of mouthwash with me). 

Now I realize that my first lesson in patience was just that, the FIRST lesson.  Anyone who knew me before I had Aubrey knows that I'm a different person now.  I'm much more laid back and don't worry about near as much as I used to.  I still worry about some things, just not little stuff like a perfectly straight and square bulletin board (yeah, I used to stress BIG time about that).  One part of my personality that hasn't changed is my desire to make the best of any situation, I figure you can either laugh or cry so I choose to laugh.  

I'm not sure what God's trying to teach me now, but I'm doing my best to meet his expectations.  Until I know what it is, I'll keep waiting.  Waiting to find out if the latest fertility treatment worked.  Waiting to start the next fertility treatment.  Waiting to get "the call" from DHS.  Waiting to see my first born again in Heaven (I'm in no rush for this one, it's just something I look forward to). 

Tuesday {Ten} Orange Edition

Since we began college football season last week, I decided to do an orange edition of Tuesday Ten.  For those of you who don't know, I went to college at Oklahoma State University.  Our school colors are orange and black which worked out for me because I've always loved orange.  These are just a few of the things I have around the house and I plan on adding more (I'm thinking the kids need an orange dresser in their orange and blue room).  In no particular order, here it goes:

1.}  This little guy's name is Orville.  Although my husband disagrees, I think garden gnomes are cute.  One year Sam surprised me with Orville for Christmas and he's greeted our guests every since.  He's pretty faded, but spending all day every day in the sun can do that to you.  (There is a girl version of Orville, but so far I've been unsuccessful in convincing Sam he needs a girlfriend.)

 2.}  Thanks to her Aunt Moo who ordered it as soon as we found out we were having a girl, Aubrey's first bow was orange.  It's one of the things that resides in her box now.

3.}  When I graduated from high school (10 years ago!), I received an orange blanket as a gift.  I still use that blanket daily.  Rufus loves this blanket because he knows that he's likely to get invited to sit on my lap when I'm using it (I'm a mean dog momma and only let the dogs on the furniture when they're invited up :).

4.}  Orange Tom's, enough said.

5.}  My bestie makes awesome feathered headbands.  She's given me a few, but my favorite is this orange and black one. 

6.}  One day I went to my grandma's house for lunch.  She was serving mashed potatoes in an orange Fiesta bowl (one she's had for a LONG time).  I told her I liked the color of the bowl and that I wished Fiesta still made stuff in that color (their new orange is more of a tangerine color).  When we were leaving she handed me the bowl and told me to enjoy. 

7.}  I conquered my fear of dyeing clothes when I colored these onesies (that I then freezer paper stenciled).

8.}  Last year my sweet husband went with me to a craft show where he bought me an orange scarf (if that's not true love, I don't know what is :).

9.}  Back when we were in college, before we got married, my husband bought me a water bottle.  It was super sweet because he was just walking across campus, saw some people selling them, and decided to buy me one (even though they cost $10 which he thought was a lot).  I love this bottle and still use it.

10.}  In true school spirit fashion, I painted my toenails orange.  I didn't think much about it (I do still live in Stillwater) until I went to the fertility specialist last week.  They are located at the other university in Oklahoma and the doctor who was covering that day's patients made a comment about my toes (my normal doctor got his undergrad at OSU, so he would have approved).  (Please ignore the awesome tan lines I got when we floated the river last weekend :)

For more Tuesday Ten fun, head on over to Under The Table and Dreaming.