Bolz Blips

Preparation...

2011-04-22T16:19:00.007-05:00

There are a lot of things to do before you have a baby. You gotta pick the dr and make an appointment first of all. That sounds pretty easy, but it really isn't that simple. My dr was an older man and came with good recommendations. Well......he had a stroke half way through my pregnancy and I had to find a different dr. All of his patients were frantically trying to find a new dr in town. The options were limited. I wanted a dr who would deliver at a certain hospital in town so my nurse friend could be there when I delivered. I chose a family dr who would also be Grayson's pediatrician.

We had to really think about what we would need or want for the baby so we could register. Holy cow there is a lot of baby stuff! We registered online and it worked out well for us. It was hard to decide what would be best. There are so many options. Infant car seat? Convertible car seat? Travel system? Pretty much just close your eyes and pick ...you might get a good one. I'm kidding, but really, there are a ton of options.

We had 2 showers. One at the church and one that my friends threw me. We got a lot of good stuff.

Mike put together all of our gear. I helped, mostly by taking pictures. :)

Tucker wanted to help too!

The nursery. Its such a big part of the preparation. I started coming up with decorating ideas soon after finding out I was pregnant. Of course all of my ideas were for a girl. I was convinced I was having a girl. I was wrong. So I had to start fresh on the decorating ideas. I didn't really want a theme. I just wanted it to be cute. And I really really wanted the bumper from pottery barn. It is just so darn cute!

This artwork took us a little while to complete, but it turned out awesome!

Grayson's aunt Jenny made these for his room. She's so creative!

Pregnancy...

2011-04-21T17:09:00.006-05:00

Let's start at the beginning. We found out I was pregnant in June. We freaked out a little at first because it happened so quickly after we started trying. I had all day sickness (instead of just morning sickness) for 3-4 weeks. After that I just felt tired a lot.

I loved the way I looked during pregnancy. I was huge and it didn't matter! Except for when I started to swell... I had cankles.

I got to experience the "big" part of pregnancy during the winter, which I LOVED. I got to wear sweaters all the time (Really just the same ones over and over. I was cheap and didn't buy many maternity clothes.)

My belly was pretty pointy there for a while...

I craved sweets. Any and all sweets. The dr. said I needed to watch my sugar intake and by that she meant no sugar. Ever. Milk and water to drink only. No cookies. No ice cream. It broke my heart.

I didn't go through a nesting phase. I was really hoping I would because the house could have really used a scrub down, but I never really got around to it.... :)

This is one of the last pics of me before I had Grayson. Me in all my hugeness!

We're Back!!!

2011-04-21T16:38:00.002-05:00

Well we went MIA in 2010, but we are back! And we have a baby! Once I started working I didn't seem to have time to keep up with the blog. But now I'm looking for a good way to record all of our baby happenings. I'm not into scrapbooking, so this is what I came up with! Get used to hearing all about our little baby boy!

Grayson Newborn

2011-03-07T19:06:00.001-06:00

He's Here Birth Announcement

Turn your favorite photo into a birth announcement.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-06T09:52:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!!
I am really looking forward to seeing what this year has in store for us. Some of the things we hope to accomplish:
I am running a half-marathon!!
We expect to be out of debt (except our mortgage).
Mike will be getting his raise.
We will be celebrating our second anniversary.
We are expecting a new neice/nephew from these guys.
We are also expecting a new little cousin!
There will be many things in this new year that we have no idea about and that excites me! Wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy new year!! :)

Watch Please :)

2009-12-16T13:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

Happy Day!!!

2009-12-10T21:08:00.004-06:00

We got a letter from Clara today!!! Clara is a sweet little girl in Indonesia that we sponsor through Compassion. She wrote it all by herself! This is what she had to say:

"Dearest Papa Mike Bolz,

Greetings! Papa and Mama Bolz, how are you there? Are you fine there? My family and I are fine here, always. The weather is not very nice here. I got fever. That's why I did not go anywhere in this vacation. But I am promoted to the next grade. I am so happy cause I am promoted to grade 1. I hope I can get good marks. From here, I always pray for Papa and Mama Bolz. I hope your family is blessed and has the peace and joy from Lord Jesus. What can I pray for Papa and Mama Bolz? Please pray so I can study well at school. That's all the letter from me for now. God bless."

Isn't she sweet? Go to Compassion and learn how you can sponsor a sweetie like Clara!

Operation Christmas Child

2009-10-19T14:14:00.002-05:00

Please watch!!!
For more info:
samaritanspurse.org/occ

Hello Fall, Goodbye Summer...

2009-09-22T18:18:00.008-05:00

I'm so excited about this time of year. Its time to start buying Christmas presents and putting together lists. Its time to put out the cider scented candles and put up the decorations. I love it!

I'll leave you with some pics from this summer.

Outside of our hotel in London.

Waiting in the Barcelona airport.

The hotel we stayed in.

The Mediterranean Sea.

This was the subway map, all in Spanish. A tad confusing...

Mike in front of Casa Mia.

On the day full of walking.

On the subway after the U2 concert.

We took a trip to Branson, Missouri over Labor Day weekend with Mike's family.

With the sisters-in-law in a cave at Silver Dollar City. We climbed down about 50 stories of stairs thinking we would get on a train and ride back up. Since there was a storm we didn't get to ride the train. The walk up wasn't as fun as the walk down...

Us girls at SDC.

My nephews came for a visit.
My brother with the boys.

A few pics from the fence building project.
Mike's mom and grandma and I cooking dinner.

Some of the boys working on the fence.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Little update...

2009-07-14T07:57:00.004-05:00

As I sit here having my breakfast of plain yogurt with frozen raspberries and a granola bar (trying to be healthy these days and lose some of the weight marriage has put on me), I am going to try and tell you about our last month and a half before work.

Let's start at the beginning of June... Mike was in the pandhandle (4 hours away) for 2 straight weeks working. He then came home for our anniversary weekend. Then we both parted ways, him back to the panhandle and I to lake Tenkiller for a mission trip with the church. When we returned I started a new job at an abstract company here in Enid. We worked 2 days then made our way to Barcelona, Spain. We had a lot of fun and a lot of new experiences. It was a challenging vacation and I think our next one will be a bit more relaxing. While we were there we saw U2. Great concert! Sooo Sooo Sooo many people. Maybe one of these days I can get some pics on here to show you all.

We came home and worked for a week, tried to play catch up on all the things that got behind. We went to Dallas this past weekend in pursuit of a specific car. I fell in love, it was super nice. Great price, great mileage, great features. Turns out that it had been wrecked 2 different times, and the salesman didn't mention that (found it on the carfax). The report wasn't very specific so we decided to wait on the next great one.

That brings us to this week. Mike is a sponsor at Falls Creek (youth church camp), so he will be gone all week.

To say the least we have had a very busy summer and it doesn't look like it is slowing down yet. We have a family reunion at the end of July. Mike's little sister is also supposed to move in around the end of July. We are still trying to get Tucker healthy, he has a staff infection on his skin and the vet told us its hard to get rid of. We have all the supplies to build a privacy fence, just no time to build it.

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!!

soon and very soon...

2009-07-08T20:29:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, I know...

We are horrible bloggers.

A new post is coming very soon. And it will be jam-packed with lots of goodies. Details on my new job, pics and stories from Barcelona, house update, info on our busy summer so far.

Stay tuned!

New Design!!!

2009-05-19T20:30:00.002-05:00

We have a new design!

Comment if you like it. :)

If there are no comments we will know that A) it is ugly or B) we have no readers.

Neither are good. So comment!

Peace!

Lots to tell...

2009-04-27T13:13:00.004-05:00

Things around this Bolz house have been a little hectic the past few weeks. The biggest thing being we closed on the house. It is officially ours! We have already begun working on it. We took down the wallpaper in the kitchen to reveal the guacamole colored walls underneath. Not to mention all of the small nail holes. So we have patched the holes and painted it. I have a few touch ups to do, but the kitchen should be finished this week.

When we were looking at the house we were under the impression that the refrigerator was included. We were under that impression because we asked the realtor if it was included and she said yes. Come to find out, it didn't make it into the contract in the counter-offer. So, we bought a fridge this past weekend. Best Buy was having a sale on the kind I wanted (freezer on bottom). So I called to get some info about it before we took a trip down there. It was going to be back orderd so we decided to head over to Lowe's to check out what they had going on. The had the same one that was on sale in OKC but not in stock, they were going to have to back order it also and it was more expensive. I asked if they could do a price match, and they did! So same fridge, same price, bought locally, and free delivery. I checked today to see how much it was now and would you believe me if I told you Best Buy dropped the sale and it was about $15o more now? And Lowe's still had the same price of about $200 more than we paid. Gotta love a bargain!

Priced here at GE's website for $999, way more than we paid! :)

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SPECPAGE&SKU=GBSC0HCXWW&SITEID=GEA

Another new thing going on around here - I have a new job. Sort of. I am watching my cousins new baby a few days a week. He is absolutely precious.

I also had a job offer about a week ago. I didn't even apply. I used to work at a bank about five years ago and they have an open position. They offered it to me before they started accepting applications. I appreciate them thinking of me but I'm not sure it's what I want to be doing.

I got first place in a triathlon about a week ago. Ok so there were 3 of us on the team, Jenny swam, I biked, and Kim ran. We got first place out of our category. (There were only 2 teams in our category, and we were one of them.) The details aren't that important. :)

And now for the biggest announcement....

We are going to Barcelona!! We booked the trip last night. Mike and I have been thinking about what we wanted to do for our first anniversary. We decided we wanted to fly to a "cool" city and go to a concert of one of our favorite bands. Mike started looking up Snow Patrol's tour schedule and found they would be playing with U2 in Europe. So he found a tour date close to our anniversary and Barcelona it is. I'd say that's a pretty cool city.

Miss USA...

2009-04-20T21:36:00.007-05:00

Watch this video, if you haven't seen it already.

This is going around the internet right now. Everyone is talking about how she blew her chances of winning and that she got booed. I watched it a few times and I never heard any booing. I heard clapping and whistling. What did you hear?

I know this is a lot more controversial than we usually get on this blog, but I need to vent. I'm so tired of this non-sense about being so politically correct that you can't speak your mind when asked to. Who wants a pageant winner that can't even stand up for what she believes in?

What I'm really tired of is the "silent" majority sitting back while the comparatively "loud" minority takes over as if they are the majority. I can't complain too much because I am definitely a silent part of the majority. What I really want is for the minority to realize that there is a reason that when the public votes they choose to keep marriage between a man and a woman. And as far as I'm aware, the only time same-sex marriage is legalized is when a judge or committee of some sort enacts it. Most people do not want this, welcome to democracy! Majority Rules (or, at least, it's supposed to)...

Hope this makes sense, it was just a rant. I'm done.

Another Update...

2009-04-11T13:41:00.002-05:00

Another update, because we don't post very often anymore.

Kasey and I are getting over being sick. We feel mostly "normal" now, but we were feeling pretty puny there for a while. Kasey was sick for about a week and a half, and I managed to resist until she was getting better. Luckily, I was only sick for a few days.

We got a message from our realtor the other day, we are scheduled to close on Thursday morning. We're really excited about finally getting to start moving and painting and all. Kasey is very excited about decorating.

Well, that's a fairly good little update. Check in with you later!

House update...

2009-03-31T10:10:00.002-05:00

Inspections are finished, along with the appraisal. We are now waiting on the seller to put on a new roof and make a few small repairs the inspector found. He has plenty of time since we are not set to close until the end of April...but I was kind of hoping it would be sooner. :)

I am now spending my time trying to come up with really cute decorating ideas. It's harder than I thought it would be!

We are buying a house!!!

2009-03-23T11:30:00.002-05:00

We are in the process of buying a house! :) We made an offer on a cute little 3 bed/ 1.5 bath house in Valley View (here in Enid). The seller counter-offered and we accepted! (the deal included a new roof!) So here we are filling out and sending off paperwork, scheduling inspections and waiting on an appraisal. If everything goes according to plan we should close at the end of April. We plan on moving throughout the month of May and be totally moved in and settled by June. Just in time for our one year anniversary!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!!

2009-03-10T11:41:00.003-05:00

Just a short little post to wish my wonderful husband a very happy 26th birthday! You are a great husband and I am so happy that I get to grow old with you. :)

To buy or not to buy...

2009-03-09T19:03:00.002-05:00

We're considering buying a house. Well, that may not be entirely accurate. We've been considering it for quite some time. Now we're ready. I think...

I never have gotten very excited over the idea of home ownership. I suppose I focus a little too much on the negatives. I really don't want to be the one responsible for the upkeep on a house. I don't want to be the one that has to deal with the little catastrophes that can happen around the house. It really wasn't until recently that I finally embraced some of the positive aspects of owning a house. I can see that it really is a better use of money than renting is, but it takes a whole lot of money to buy a house!

Anyway, there's not really a point to this post, other than to let people know what we're up to. So, if you happen to think about it, pray for us, that we'll be able to keep our senses about us and make good choices when it comes to buying a house.

And we're always open to advice!

Is this a joke???

2009-02-27T06:26:00.006-06:00

I am kind of freaking out. It is 6am. Mike and Tucker are still in bed.
My left eye is swollen. I have a very important interview today.
I am kind of freaking out.
Those are my thoughts…

Last night my eye felt funny. I went and checked things out and this is what I saw:

I have been having some problems with my eyes/contacts lately. I ordered a new kind of contacts to see if it would help but it surely did not. I called my friend that has had an eye infection before to see if this was part of the process. Nope. This never happened to him. So he put his wife on the phone. My very good friend is in nursing school and she didn’t really know what was going on either. We agreed that it would probably go away by the morning. Mike insisted on me taking some antibiotics before bed just to help it along.

This is what I found this morning:

It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t itch. It isn’t really red. It isn’t tearing up. There is no mucus.

So should I call the doc? Should I go to the interview looking like a drunk (professional appearance is required)? Should I reschedule the interview? Should I take more antibiotics? I am kind of freaking out.

On another note here are some pics I took of Tucker last night while I was taking all the pics of my eye.

Cute questionnaire...

2009-02-13T18:08:00.007-06:00

This has been going around the blog world and I thought it was pretty cute. I know it's long, but don't worry I've posted some pictures throughout to keep you entertained. :)

What are your middle names? Michael Kent and Kasey Renee

How long have you been together? Our first date was on Valentine’s Day 2006.

How long did you know each other before you started dating? It’s hard to say. We went to the same elementary and high school but didn’t become good friends until Mike graduated from high school.

Who asked who out? We don’t really remember…

How old were each of you when you met? I don’t really know for sure, sometime in high school.

How old are each of you now? I’ll be 23 tomorrow and Mike is 25 (but will be 26 in March!)

How tall are each of you? I am 5'2" and Mike is 5'8".

Whose siblings do you see the most? For sure Mike’s.

Do you have any children together? Nope

What about pets? We have a sweet little dog named Tucker. (Read more about him here.)

Did you go to the same school? We went to high school together. Mike went to NOC Tonkawa and then OSU and I went to UCO.

Are you from the same hometown? Yes.

Who is the smartest? For sure Mike. J

Who is the most sensitive? I would have to say me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? Nowhere in particular, but we do have some favorites.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Montana to get married! J

Who does the cooking? Me.

Who is more social? It’s a toss up.

Who is the neat-freak? That would be me.

Who hogs the bed? Me again. J

Who wakes up earlier? Mike does, but only because he has to go to work.

Who has the bigger family? Mike

How do you spend the holidays? We split time between each of our families.

Who is more jealous? Probably me.

Do you have little pet names for each other? Mike AKA Muffin, Kasey AKA Sunshine J

How long did it take to get serious? Not long at all, our first date was in February and we were discussing wedding plans and looking at rings by that summer.

Who eats more? Mike

Who sings better? Definitely Mike

Who’s older? Mike by about 3 years.

Who does the dishes? Mike rinses them after dinner and I load and unload the dishwasher.

Who snores? That would be Tucker.

Who’s better with the computer? Mike is way smart at the computer.

Who drives when you are together? 99% of the time it’s Mike.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Mike.

Who kissed who first? I’m going to say Mike. :)

Who eats more sweets? I love candy and ice cream and Mike can’t get enough cookies.

Dreamy Discussion...

2009-02-06T18:45:00.001-06:00

Sometime in the middle of the night last night, I was tossing and turning and Kasey said, "Just go to sleep". Because she's not too patient when it comes to things interrupting her sleep. Anyway, here's the rest of the dialog:

Me: I can't.
Kasey: Stop thinking so much.
Me: I can't, my mind is racing.
Kasey: Stop thinking about work.
Me: I'm not even thinking about that, I'm thinking about houses
Kasey: Me too!

Keep in mind we were half asleep (I think that makes it funnier :) ). This would qualify as another one of those little things that make marraige amusing.

25 things about kasey bolz...

2009-02-02T19:04:00.003-06:00

i was tagged to do this on facebook. i thought it might be a good post too!

1. i want to travel ALL over the world.

2. i am a dreamer.

3. i have really small toes.

4. i lived next door to two of my closest friends and it was one of my favorite times of my life.

5. i used to have my belly button peirced.

6. we got married in montana and it was as perfect as perfect could be. seriously.

7. i wanted to date mike more than he wanted to date me, but once we did he fell in love first. :)

8. i can still do the splits.

9. i have never broken a bone or have had any serious type of illness. ever.

10. i love fast food. i lived off of it for a year or two in college.

11. one of my absolute favorite places to be is at the dinner table at my parents house.

12. i want to open a coffee shop.

13. i dont like coffee.

14. our dog tucker sheds more than any other animal on earth but i still love him.

15. i have a friend that actually gave me the shirt off of his back one time when i was in need.

16. i love running.

17. my skin does not tan.

18. i dont really like mainstream music. most of the time i would rather listen to npr.

19. i still dont know if i want kids.

20. i would love to go sky diving someday.

21. i would rather eat "healthy" cereals over "sugar" cereals, excluding captain crunch berries.

22. my birthday is on valentines day.

23. i really like saving money.

24. one of my very best friends and i started kindergarden together and graduated from college together with the same degree.

25. i wish i still had my 1993 mitsubishi eclipse.

What's new???

2009-01-28T13:50:00.007-06:00

There hasn’t been a lot going on in the Bolz house lately. I’ve been to a couple of baby showers in the past few weeks. One of them had a couple of cute kids there. Since I know we all like to look at pictures more than read, I’ve posted some of the cuteness. :)

It’s been pretty icy here, and because of that my workout buddy has not been around and I’ve been quite the slacker. The ice is melting away as I’m writing this so hopefully we will get back to our regular schedule. (But can we please skip Thursday spin class??)

Upcoming events:
Mike is going to be helping with a project our church is involved with this Saturday. They will be working on a house for a missionary couple. Mike will be filming the event with our new camera. I knew that thing would be put to good use!
My birthday is coming up soon! It's on Valentine's Day so we are in the works of coming up with something fun and unique to do.
My old roommate is getting married soon and her personal shower is the weekend after my birthday. I can't wait to shop for a new outfit!!
Oh and here are some pics from when my nephew Dylan was here. Enjoy!!

Facelift...

2009-01-20T10:14:00.002-06:00

The blog has been the same for too long. I HAVE to have change! There is now music, you can browse the songs at the bottom of the page. Let me know if you have any requests. :) Hope you enjoy!

Christmas Present...

2009-01-13T11:50:00.008-06:00

We decided this Christmas that we would not buy each other any big gifts. Instead, we decided to fill each other's stockings with some small things and get then get a really big gift for both of us. After looking around the internet and taking an assessment of what we thought we might want, we came up with 3 choices. All of them were electronics (maybe I had a little too much of a say in what we got). We finally decided to get a new camcorder. To aid in the process we asked for Best Buy gift cards to cut down on how much we would have to pay in the end.

After a big ordeal trying to get the camera we wanted from the Best Buy in Oklahoma City, we finally ended up with a JVC GZ-HD10U. It records in High Definition and should be all the camcorder we should ever need. I've done a little bit of work on some of the videos that we've taken, but unfortunately my computer is not nearly powerful enough to do very much. Anyway, I've posted a video I put together of some clips we took of Kasey's nephew Dylan. Turn the music off at the bottom of the page! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-03T10:44:00.008-06:00

2009 is here!!! This year we celebrated the new year by going to a friends house. We played some catch phrase and also some rockband. Here are some pictures from the night!!

New Year Kiss :)

Mike and I with our party gear...

Jenny and Me

Me and Kari

Me and Ali

Thats me rocking out on guitar :)

Reach for the stars…

2008-12-19T23:59:00.003-06:00

I am a dreamer. I’ve know for quite some time, but it has become more apparent since I have nearly nothing to do these days. I come up with some new adventure, some new idea and it just takes off. It consumes my thoughts for about two weeks or so and then eventually dies off. My lovely husband, (the one who is supposed to tell me I’m going too far) likes it and encourages it. Don’t get me wrong, some of these are very good ideas and I should probably follow through with them. Want to hear some of the ideas that I’ve entertained in the last few years?

1. Let’s build a tiny house!!---I love being minimal. These houses are very minimal. J

2. I want an MBA.---The job offers would surely come rolling in… But 2 more years of school???

3. Let’s join the Peace Corps.---Always a dream of mine. Minimum length of service is 2 years. My mom said no.

4. I want to open a coffee shop.---Sounds fun right? I think this would be a cool job to have.

5. I want to make Tucker’s food.---This one was very short lived. I would still like to, but I know nothing about what Tuck dog needs to stay healthy.

6. Let’s seriously lose some weight.---This one has been around for quite some time. It shouldn’t be a dream, but it’s never really moved into the reality stage.

7. I want to be a world racer.---Check this site out and you’d want to be one too.

8. Let’s move to a different state. ---This one’s been around for a while and it may one day come true. I’m still hoping and dreaming on this one.

I know 8 is weird number to stop on but these are the best of the best. :)

Finished...

2008-12-13T21:44:00.003-06:00

I am officially finished with school! Friday was my last day and Sunday is the party to prove it. It's such a good feeling. :)

A Thief Among Us...

2008-12-08T12:33:00.004-06:00

I just got home for lunch and I found some saran wrap in the middle of the kitchen floor. When I left for work this morning there were some snickerdoodle cookies in some saran wrap on the kitchen counter. After a little investigation I noticed that there were no longer any snickerdoodles on the counter. Kasey was still in bed when I left for work, so I called her to see if she had done anything with the cookies. She admitted she did take a couple for the road, but there were still 3 on the counter when she left. Once I was sure there was actually a theft, I searched the area for clues, or maybe even the culprit. I found some crumbs and hair up were the cookies had been. I haven't quite saved up enough money to buy that DNA tester I've been wanting, so all I had to go on was the length and color of the hair. Now, I do shed a little, and so does Kasey, but our little roommate sheds a lot. There's pretty much a trail everywhere he goes. And it just so happens that the hair found at the crime scene looks a lot like his. So I went looking for him. Sure enough, I found him sitting in the living room with his head hung so low that his nose was almost touching the floor. He always seems to know when he's done something wrong, but I guess he just doesn't think about the consequences when he's doing it. Oh well, I was looking forward to having some cookies for dessert, but I guess I'll just have to go without.

Clara...

2008-12-02T22:16:00.005-06:00

The cutest little 5 year-old girl lives in Indonesia. Her name is Clara and we sponsor her through Compassion International. We have received 3 letters from Clara since we started sponsoring her in April. Here are some of the comments from her letters that make us smile (and sometimes cry).

"How are you Mr. Mike? You must be doing well. Here my family and I are always doing well."

"Thank you for the picture. Mr. Mike looks handsome and your wife is really pretty."

"Are Mr. Mike and your wife happy to sponsor me? I'm happy to have Mr. Mike and your wife as my godparents."

"Have a great new life, Mr. Mike! May you have a cute little baby like me, soon!"

"Mr. Mike please pray for me that I will be the best at my school."

"Our hobby is the same; singing and take care a dog. Later, if I have a dog, it will also be given name Tucker so that I always remember Papa Mike and Mama Kasey."

"If I have grown up later, I also would like to serve God like Papa Mike."

The translation is a little rough on a couple of them, but it's still cute nonetheless. If you've never considered sponsoring a child, maybe this will change your mind. It's totally worth the sacrifice on your part to see the difference you make in the life of the child.

Christmas Time...

2008-12-01T15:17:00.004-06:00

I think it is officially Christmas season! Mike and I hung the out door lights this past weekend and are starting on the indoor decorations this week. That means I need to spruce up the blog too! Enjoy!

Fork in the Road...

2008-11-28T12:15:00.002-06:00

It seems as though I have come to a fork in the road on this journey called life. I will be finished with school in a couple of weeks and still have no idea what I am going to do afterwards. I could get a job like everyone else does when they finish school, but then again I’m not usually like everyone else. I’ve been looking for jobs off and on when I get a chance and I haven’t really found anything that has caught my eye.
The fact is I don’t know if I’m ready to join corporate America or if I even want to. Of course me working would help us to save for lots of things we will need in the future and will help us to live more comfortably and not just paycheck-to-paycheck, BUT we could get by without it (we have been now for a year!). I would love to travel and to volunteer or go on a mission trip, or go join an international graduate program, but those things just don’t seem feasible.
I have such a desire to help people that can't help themselves. I have such a desire to do something meaningful with the days I have here. I have such a desire to do something big in my life. I don’t want to look back in 10 years and see: get married, graduate college, and get a job. BLAH!!
Mike and I have been praying for some kind of insight into what God wants us to do with ourselves. There seem to be so many unknowns. If you would have asked me five years ago what I was going to do with my life I would have had it all planned out to the T, but not so much anymore. It’s like the opposite of that now. Am I going to work after college, if so doing what, and where? Am I going to volunteer and serve, if so how and where? Are we going to have children, biologically or adopted? There are so many things that are just so complicated right now! If anyone is actually reading this please pray for us and our fork in the road.

Gone Hunting...

2008-11-22T16:15:00.001-06:00

Right now I'm sitting in a tree south of Covington, waiting for that big buck that I'm nearly certain will never show up. I saw a little five-point buck out here this morning. If I see anything tonight it will probably be him again.

I spend the whole year looking forward to rifle season, the only hunting season I take part in. It lasts for two weeks starting in late November. I wait and wait and build it up on my mind, then get out there at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold and wonder, "what about this was I looking forward to?". Of course, I'm reminded when the sun comes out to warm me up a little and I get to watch a deer step out onto the field I've been watching for two hours. (ok, not really now that I have this fancy phone to keep me preoccupied, I only glance at it every once in a while)

Anyway, I don't think I'll see anything tonight with this woodpecker remodeling his house in the tree next to me and the armadillo rolling around in the leaves behind me. I'll just bet the deer will steer clear of this area, instead of risking being shot by whatever is making all the racket.

History...

2008-11-05T13:39:00.004-06:00

I don't know exactly what to think about Barack Obama being our next president. I think he has some new ideas and I think it will be exciting to see where he takes us. I also think it will be a scary journey. I don't agree with some of the things he says. I choose to put aside the political junk for now and just be happy that I was alive to see a black man elected president. This is a huge thing for America. Not all that long ago blacks weren't able to vote, let alone use the same water fountain as whites. I think it is so exciting to witness history. I will be able to tell my great nieces and nephews (or grand kids) that I remember the night I watched the first black president be elected. So even though I'm not all that thrilled about him leading our country and making decisions on behalf of our country, I am very thrilled to see our country looking past skin color.

Count your blessings...

2008-10-23T13:59:00.006-05:00

I was thinking the other day about how incredibly blessed I am. I know it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but I don’t think it has to be a holiday in order to count your blessings.

I have been going through some different emotions lately and I’m not sure what they are really all about, but I have been kind of down. Mike has been there for me. He is able to joke around and make me laugh and he is able to sit down with me and help me talk some things out. He is truly an awesome husband.

I just had lunch with two of my sisters-in-law the other day and got to thinking, I can’t wait to see what we will be like when we are older. I hope we are those little old ladies that you see walking together in the mall. :) I am really lucky to have those girls in my life.

Once a week I go to my parents after class and stay for a few hours. I think I’m to the age where I can finally appreciate everything my parents have done and I respect them. I love those afternoons where my mom and dad and I can just sit at the kitchen table and catch up on what has been going on. I really couldn’t ask for better parents.

Embarrassment...

2008-10-20T12:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was riding my grandpa's little Honda scooter. I was going around a curve, overly confident in my scooter riding skills. I was going a little to fast to take the curve, so I started to grab the brakes. Like I do regularly, I started squeezing one brake before the other. This was a huge mistake. The brake I used first was the front brake, and it "grabbed" a little quicker than I expected it to. This caused the front wheel to completely stop, lifted up the rear of the scooter, and sent me flying. I skidded a few feet on my knees and the heels of my hands before coming to a stop in the middle of the street. Luckily, I was in Covington and the street wasn't busy. I picked my self up off the pavement, grabbed the scooter, and pushed it to the side of the street to assess the damage. My hands had a few scrapes and I could tell they were going to be sore, the scooter had a few more scratches added to it, but the worst of the damage was my jeans. The skidding across the pavement ripped a hole in one of the knees and stained the other one. The reason I'm calling this the worst of the damage is not because I'm so vain that the condition of my clothes is that important. It's that I knew I was going to have to go tell Kasey what happened. This is where the embarrassment comes into play. I could have brushed my self off, downplayed my wounds and just gone about my business if this little fiasco hadn't ruined my jeans. You see, Kasey is not a fan of the scooter or of me riding it every chance I get. As it turned out she was surprisingly supportive and compassionate regarding the incident. I figured at the very least she would ban me from any scooter riding from here on out. But she just made sure I was ok and told me to remember to wear my helmet.

I wanted to add something about it hurting my pride, being embarrassing, and changing my view about some things. But I can't concentrate because the roofers are making way too much noise. Maybe I'll add something about that stuff later.

Tucker...

2008-10-14T15:54:00.009-05:00

I think it is time to introduce the world to our dog Tucker. He is a 2 year old cocker spaniel. He has crazy hair that we absolutely love. He knows lots of tricks. He can sit, stay, shake, lay, play dead, roll over, and balance a treat on his nose. Tucker has quite the personality. He loves being around people and is usually the center of attention. He has recently learned that he can sit on the back of the couch and chair, and he does so often. Tucker has an under-bite and it makes for some comical pictures. He has an orange ball that he loves, loves, loves. He likes to go everywhere with us and hates being alone. He really likes to hang his head out the window when we drive around town. He likes to hunt flies in the house. That is a funny thing to watch. Tucker hates (and I mean hates) the water hose. Tucker is a great dog and is very well-mannered. We are so glad we got Tucker and can’t imagine our life without him.

Here's a thought...

2008-10-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

On my way home from work yesterday I was thinking about the amount of new cars on the road today. It made me wonder why we categorize things in the way we do. Why don’t we recycle vehicles like we do with other things? I think I would much rather drive a refurbished, rebuilt classic vehicle than a brand new vehicle. Of course, this doesn’t really fit in with the whole push to have more efficient vehicles. Maybe people are just ok with recycling the materials that vehicles are made with instead of recycling the vehicle itself.

Funny little story...

2008-10-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

One of the many reasons I love being married is being able to share in moments that I would otherwise know nothing about. Here is one of those moments. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold. I looked around for the comforter and sheet and found nothing. I looked over at Mike and noticed that he was almost sleeping sitting up. When I looked a little closer I noticed that the queen sized fluffy comforter and the sheet were both stuffed underneath his pillow. Why? I have no idea, but it was definitely funny. Those are the moments I love.

New to the scene...

2008-10-07T22:04:00.001-05:00

Hello all! This is our first blog so we will start by introducing ourselves. I’m Kasey and I’m a student at UCO. I graduate in December and am on the job hunt. Mike is an environmental consultant for a company in Enid. We are newly married. As of right now we are renting a house in Enid OK, but the future is wide open and we are not sure yet where we will end up. We regularly attend the Baptist church in the town we grew up in. Mike is the worship leader for Sunday service and for the youth on Wednesdays. We have a really cool dog named Tucker. He is a 2 year old cocker spaniel. I guess we should share what kind of people we are, not just what we do. Mike is very smart and analyzes everything to death. (Seriously) He has an engineer’s mind and always tries to find the absolute best way to do things. He hates unnecessary things. He is also a joker and loves to make people laugh (especially around close friends and family). I am somewhat of a free spirit. At least I aspire to be. I’m a born traveler, but don’t get to do it nearly as much as I would like to. I’m a self proclaimed dork. I like non-mainstream music and listen to NPR any chance I can get.

We are going to try to post a blog once a week or so just to let people know what is going on with us.