Boy and T.J. taking a Sunday afternoon nap
On a happy note :) Andy is here! Andy is our college friend and one of T.J.'s best friends for sure. That was another positive thing about coming home- we had a friend coming! I will put some pictures up of Andy and T.J.'s duck hunting expeditions. It was Andys first time duck hunting and besides the FREEZING weather, they had a great time. It was also nice to have Andy here when my SUV slammed into the curb.. whoops! Having 2 boys instead of just T.J. replace the tire was a lot easier I think. I'll also post a picture of the tire... the rim literally busted open. We just learned we also have to replace the tie rod and a ball joint??? or SOMETHING like that so this will not be a fun week :( BUT I'm just thanking God my car is not broken forever and that everyone is okay.
T.J. and Andy with their ducks
Literally ripped the aluminum apart! Eeck.. 
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy New Year's Day! I could go on and on and ON about our trip home. I can't start to tell you how nice it was to see all of our family and friends. The time went by way too fast of course but we ALMOST saw everyone we wanted to.. I really wish I could've seen Emily and Cody of course though and Donna Walker from my old work, & Megan-Joy! :( Next time for sure!! Going home reminded T.J. that he does want to work in OK if possible when he graduates Cornell so that was a very good thing! :) One thing I appreciated the most about being home was the overwhelming sense of love and support around us. I don't take that for granted! Coming home I was MORE homesick then before because it was like I was ripped out of that again :( Oklahoma had an INSANE blizzard which was a LIIIIITTLE annoying considering we have crazy snow and freezing temperatures here in NY, BUT mostly it was just fun because it was so exciting and unexpected. 14 inches in 5-6 hours I think! 3 days before that though we had a day when it was SIXTY DEGREES OUTSIDE! Can you imagine how happy I was?! No jacket or anything! My mom was laughing at me because she said when I left the house I just had a HUGE grin on my face like a little girl! :) Of course I miss my mommy the most! Girls just aren't supposed to be far away from their moms I think.
ON A DIFFERENT NOTE- I get insecure sometimes about my blogs, I want them to be fun and interesting to read but I've realized that all your blogs can't be like that! SO- I'm going to STOP worrying about that right now and just tell you everything that I'm thinking :) Sorry. I just waited to long to blog so I have a lot of things to say!
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is Christmas Eve at T.J.'s grandparents house. We eat chili, read the Christmas story from the Bible, sing carols (HA! I will try and upload a video of this), open presents, have birthday cake for Jesus, and then open "Christmas letters". Christmas letters are just letters we right one another (if you choose to) telling that person whatever you want to tell them! :) How much they mean to you, why you are thankful for them, etc. Oh! I almost forgot! T.J.'s grandpa (Bob Ross) spent the past 6 months writing a book about his history- his dad and grandpa and from then on- I admit I haven't got to start reading it yet because its being shipping from OK to here but I am SO excited to read it. I truly feel like I have 3 sets of grandparents now and I love that feeling. My papa and gran, grandpa and grandma ross and papa and grannie! :) I love gaining more family!
Christmas day was great of course too! T.J.'s papa and grannie are always there which is AMAZING- it WOULDN'T be the same without them there all the way from Stigler. I can't even list out the generous gifts I was given BUT I will share with you the Uggs T.J.'s parents helped me get! Click HERE. LOVE THEM- I got them in chocolate brown. T.J. got a lot of camping gear he was wanting and I got him a bear hunting DVD b/c that is his goal next year- to get a bear. Yeah I'm not sure how I feel about that!!!
We got our Mexican fix while we were home too! :) We had a homecoming dinner at Teds which was DEEEELICIOUS. We also got our Johnnies and Braums fix :) and yes my mom had Braums eggnog waiting for us :) and Debbie even made some homemade! They know us well. Alright this is when I have to stop talking about food... me and T.J.'s resolution for the new year is to live a healthier lifestyle... maybe I should go eat another carrot stick (blah) for my growling stomach, doesn't that sound scrumptious? :) SO if you have any healthy yummy recipes will you please send them my way? Thanks!
We went to a Thunder game our last night in OKC and here is a short video I took of T.J. and Troy :) Mostly I'm just posting this b/c they will be annoyed that I did it (hehe) I will have to start off by telling you that I was trying to make them make the "ugliest face" they could make... might I say I think my husband has it DOWN?! :) lol
Well tomorrow our routine starts back up again. I start watching the twins again, MWF from 8-12. I will be busy with that and watching the other 2 kids and cooking. On a side note I did apply for a position at the hospital here in NY... just praying for God's perfect plan. I almost always have 1 or 2 applications in at Cornell and Ithaca College, the competition here is fierce! Ideally I'd like to start a "real job" in the fall- it would be nice to still have the flexibility I have now throughout the summer.
Well it's still snowing up here. There's about 8 inches out in the back. The roads aren't very good at all (obviously considering my car basically did a cartwheel off a curb). It's cold.. very cold- in the negatives with the windchill almost every day. I wear long johns almost every day under my clothes. :) Oh! I also about broke my leg while sledding :) You can watch the video HERE of me, T.J. and Andys sledding adventure. It's not very exciting unless you want to see Andy fall a lot so you can just fast forward to the end to watch me fall. :) I will post a picture of my bruise later- it's about as big as my hand opened wide and black :) YUP. The guys apologized to me for thinking I was a baby after they saw my leg. AWW the guys also bought be flowers (Lilies one of my favorite!) and Andy treated me and T.J. to a movie (Nine) that was all fun... except the movie wasn't a total winner.
My bruise- this was pretty much a little after it happened. Now its all black. Worse unfortunately.
Are you asleep yet? :) Sorry. My life just isn't the most interesting! The boys are out with the dogs and I'm here to fend for myself. I think I'm going to go read a bit. T.J. got me a couple books for Christmas and right now I'm on the THE LINEAGE OF GRACE which is UUUGHHMAZING- seriously... amazing. I've learned so much about women in the Bible and I think everyone should read it b/c you can't put it down! I totally can hear Jesus speaking to me through it!
Love to you all!
P.S. I love reading- duh. If you ever want some good suggestions I would love to point you to some great reads!
P.P.S. I really wish someone was here to rub my back or play with my hair. Not fair.
P.P.P.S. My stomach is growling and instead of carrot sticks I REALLY just want to get the tub of icing out of the fridge and eat that.
P.P.P.P.S. But I won't- at least not today.
P.P.P.P.P.S.- I'm sorry for all the PS's. I'm just bored, hungry and jamming out to pandora.com :) Love me some Whitney Houston! (Anyone remember the Preacher's Wife Soundtrack.. Caitlin???) :)
Okay, so just FYI-- I love your posts! I can't always comment bc my computer is kind of a freak, but I love your thoughts! I'm down with the randomness, if you can't tell by what I write! Preacher's Wife? HECK YES! I was just talking to someone a few days ago about how I loved that movie and they were like "What are you talking about?". I was basically devastated. I really want to read the Lineage of Grace now. I have so many books on my list! I'm glad you guys had time to get all of the Oklahoma yumminess and spend time with family and friends. I can't imagine being away from everything I know and love here. Stay strong girl! Ok, going to look at your new UGGs now :)
ReplyDeleteKelly! I love reading your blog and I love your animal stories so please keep sharing them! I am so sorry about your car and leg! Ouch on both of those but so glad you weren't hurt worse either time. miss you and praying for you!
ReplyDeleteLove ya!
misty
I'm so glad you wrote all of that because i READ all of that! :) It's a fun way to keep up. And yes, please send me some reading suggestions because one of my new year's resolutions to read 12 books this year (which is easily doable I think) requires good suggestions! I don't want to waste my book picks!! Anyway, I am sorry that it snowed here too, but I'm sure your family didn't mind you being snowed in with them. Kelly, okay if you're trying to eat healthier, you should get one of the Biggest Loser cookbooks! I love that show and always though, eh, they can't be that good. NOT TRUE! They are! I'm obsessed. I cook from it every night and they have KILLER GOOD spinach dip that's like 21 calories a serving or something. There's tons of different kinds of books like some for families and some for quick or whatever you want, but you should check it out. :) Lastly, I love you! Have a wonderful January and you're gonna be back in Oklahoma before you know it! (hopefully!) and if not, you're going to be where God wants you and that's even better!
ReplyDeletehaha I do remember that! Also, what's that song we made a "dance" to? I can't think of the name of the top of my head, but everytime I hear it I always smile and remember us dancing in your old bedroom.
ReplyDeleteI love your blogs! It's like I'm reading your diary and I feel less far away from you! We're at moms right now, missing you!
ReplyDeleteHeather and Brynn
Heather when you're at moms CALL ME SO WE CAN SKYPE :)
ReplyDeleteAnd YES Caitlin! I think it was like a Celine Dion song or something!?
And also Michelle I bought the biggest loser family cookbook and am really excited about getting it! :)