Fall Catch up....part two

I can't believe that October has come and gone! It was a very eventful month for Tim and I so at the same time I am glad the hectic month has passed. It started with Tim and I closing on our home in Edmond, OK! We are so happy to have found this place and to have the opportunity to settle into a home and unpack some boxes that have been closed up since 2008. We are really looking forward to starting a life here, settling in and calling Edmond home - for a little while at least ;)

here are some pics of our new place...

After closing on our home I jetted off to the NW to get a chance to see a dear friend, Paige, get married. It was wonderful to stand beside her at her wedding to Joe and I had a great time catching up with family and friends too!


some pics of my visit...

While I was gone Tim was stuck in test hell and getting through what seemed like a million midterms. Somewhere in between the caffeine drinks, late study nights and neverending exams he turned 29!


When I got back from WA we packed up our rental and moved into our new home. It was the 5th move in 3 years, so we had it down to a science and thank gosh had a lot of boxes still packed. It feels so great to be planted somewhere and know what the next few years hold. We plan to get all the cardboard out of our lives and enjoy this new chapter.

Fall Catch Up....part one

So, I've been neglecting this for a couple of months...not do to lack of updates or interesting things going on - just sheer chaos for the last couple of months. So here goes, I will have to make a couple posts to catch up now.

Let's start with September...

Tim and I had a couple of great weekends celebrating like true Okies - at what else -College Football games!! First we got to spend some time with our good friends, the Taylor's, who were up from Houston for the OSU vs. WSU Football game. This was a totally new experiance for us, seeing a game in the south where tailgaters bring their satellite TV's, commercial grills and the entire neighborhood to watch the game. I do have to admit that we in the PAC-10 really have no clue about how to successfully throw a tailgate. Sorry Pullman, I hate to admit it.

A couple of weekends later we found ourselves in Norman, OK for the OU vs. FSU game and were even more blown away. Seriously, they take their football very seriously! The stadium, which I think is bigger then the Seahawks in Seattle, was completely sold out with OU fans of every age. They had fireworks, jet airplanes over our heads, a jumbo tron that puts most to shame, and more cheering then I have ever heard! It was a fun thing to see and be apart of! See some pictures below...

At the OSU vs. WSU game with the Taylors


Start of the OU vs. FSU game -- the stadium is HUGE!



The biggest College Football screen I have seen...


Ok. Next up, October. Stay tuned.

hot child in the city

Slowly but surely we are making it through the heat of an Oklahoma City summer. Boy, has it been a long and sweaty process. It has barely made it below 95 degrees in the last couple of weeks, even during the middle of the night, but we hear that things start to cool down come September. For someone who loves heat as much as I do (Bridget), I find myself begging for mercy to the weather gods for a little relief! What northwest babies we are!

Despite the heat I have tried to manage a little pot garden and keep some fresh food around. I have to say last year I won some bragging rights, to my Dad, with my amazing tomato plant (I still rub his face in it) but this year I admittedly give up the throne. I have only had 4 tomatoes so far, with no more in sight. I have to say the weather is perfect for the basil though as I am the second round of fresh pesto with another coming up soon. Here are some pictures of what I have been doing.





Other then the heat and plants occupying our time Tim and I are getting settled in nicely. He is in between classes for a couple of days with his Fall semester starting up next week! I am in the process of finding a more permanent place for us to live, and have my own set of classes starting in a couple of weeks as part of my MBA program. So needless to say the Fall will be a busy one, so we hope to get to spend some fun time together this weekend. Maybe we will find a swimming pool to cool off in!

summer accomplishments

The month of June flew by with Tim in OKC getting ready for school and I mostly in Seattle fixing up the condo for our renter and seeing friends and family. But we managed to squeeze in some great memories as well.

We are starting to settle into our new city, using our free time to drive around and learn all the cool spots (or just to get lost)! We found that the people here are so nice and helpful that it makes it easier to get acclimated. The weather here is definitely something to get used to as well. It seems that everything is extreme! It stays consistently hot and humid which means that I thank my air conditioner everyday for working and keeping us cool. The storms are wild, with lightning and thunder that rocks the house and rain like Seattle has never seen. Tim managed to make it through a flood in my absence that only kept him housebound for a day - thank gosh the world cup was on - haha. So needless to say things are so different for us that each day feels like a bit of an adventure.

While in Washington I managed to get our renter moved in which is a big load off our backs since she seems like a great fit and signed a two year lease! I was able to see most of my friends and visit with Tim and my family. It was a great visit! Another reason for my travels was the opportunity to complete the Seattle half marathon with my sister and my Mom. It was a wonderful experience and we had so much "fun" doing it. None of us got to train for it like we should have so we were quite the group after the race limping around...

Here is the 3 of us (and Erin's friend) after the race



When I returned from Seattle Tim was getting ready for his White Coat Ceremony and the start of school. The ceremony was a wonderful time where Tim was inducted into the School of Dentistry and to commemorate his accomplishment and commitment to the next four years of school. We were lucky to be able to share it with his Mom, Debbie, who flow down a couple of days earlier to get the chance to see OKC and spend some time with us. It was a special and very proud day for us all! The day after the ceremony was the start of school for Tim and he has been very busy ever since!



Tim after receiving his coat



Debbie and Tim

getting settled in okc

Well the drive to OKC is over and time to unpack all the boxes. As some of you may have heard the road to get here was very eventful and made us realize that we never want to move our own stuff again. But the best part is having a funny story to tell for the rest of our lives!

Essentially, our van broke down right outside of Seattle on the climb up Snoqualmie Pass. We exited off right at the summit and took a break to let it cool down and call Penske. After about a half an hour we were told it was ok to get back on the road. We laughed it off not knowing that our detour was only a preamble to the rest of the trip. By Yakima (only about another 1.5 hours away) we had to pull over again due to the violent shaking of the van. This next detour took about 4 hours to resolve while we waited for our truck to be looked at by a mechanic and haggle with Penske about the next steps. We ended up leaving the truck in Yakima and heading to our friend's home in Kennewick for the night. The next morning we were met with our broken truck, a new truck and a moving crew. All of our stuff was moved from one van to the next and we headed off to our next stop and tried to put the chaos behind us.

We made it to Jackpot, NV that night with no troubles and celebrated our changed luck with some beers and slot machines. The next day we made it just past Las Vegas where we stayed for two nights taking a mini-vacation during our stressful week. Relaxtion only lasted for a day though, as when we headed out the next morning our truck broke down again! Seriously. We waited for hours for a mechanic and another couple of hours for him to replace the brakes and made the decision to drop the trailer towing my car. Since it was late Penske put us up in a hotel so we could head out early the next day.

Tim and I drove seperately to our next stop in Albuquerque and then onto OKC the next day. Thankfully the second half of our trip was much less of a fiasco and we arrived safely. We passed through some really cool scenary that we would have never been able to have seen without taking a road trip. We ended up driving through, WA, OR, ID, NV, AZ, NM, TX and OK - seeing something new and beautiful in each state. Below are some pictures we took along the way.

This was taken at our first breakdown



Here we are at the second breakdown taking in the cool view of Yakima Valley



The sunset heading to Jackpot, NV (where we didn't hit a jackpot - but we tried!)



Having some fun at Cabo Wabo in Las Vegas



The view from the third breakdown where we stayed overnight