100 Things

Okay, I'm going to cave and do my own "100 Things About Me" list. Here it goes:


1. I was born in Germany.
2. I am the youngest of three kids (1 bro, 1 sis)
3. I had naturally platinum blond hair as a child
4. I lived in Arkansas (twice)
5. I lived in Missouri
6. I lived in Alaska (for 5 years)
7. I lived in South Carolina
8. I lived in Florida
9. I lived in Georgia (for 2 weeks)
10. I lived in Colorado
11. I have lived in Oklahoma longer than anywhere else
12. Todd and I lived in New York City
13. I worked for the #1 Advertising Media Agency in the world
14. I have been skydiving
15. I was the editor of the yearbook in high school
16. I ran track in high school
17. I met Todd through life group at the Outreach Center
18. When Todd asked me to marry him, my reply was "You lied to me!"
19. My brother and I charged kids in Alaska to "teach" them how to play hockey
20. My house and belongings in Florida were destroyed by Hurricane Andrew
21. I've been through many earthquakes (slept through many)
22. I've been through tornados
23. I've been through volcano ruptures
24. My aunt was the editor-in-chief of the LA Times- now Director of Comm. for UCLA
25. My uncle in Alaska was the lead state investigator for Exxon Valdez oil spill
26. Another uncle works for Homeland Security
27. My dad was a Chief Master Seargent of security police in the Air Force
28. My brother is leaving for Baghdad, Iraq with the Reserves in the beginning of May
29. I used to want to be in the FBI
30. I have two awesome little boys
31. I love to go hiking
32. I love camping (yes, in a tent!)
33. I love all water sports
34. I rode in at least 4 bike-a-thons in elementary school (over 20 miles each)
35. I used to want to be an Olympic diver
36. In December, I will have been married for 10 years
37. I was an intern for Channel 5 News straight out of high school
38. I once cracked my ribs when I fell off a tracor my brother was driving
39. I've been to the emergency room more times than I care to admit
40. But I've never completely broken a bone
41. My children are just like me when it comes to injuries
42. I'm a shopaholic
43. I dated a guy who later had a bowling trophy as a hood ornament
44. I saw a guy I dated on the news once, going to jail
45. He was later acquitted
46. I've been in a house while it was being robbed (and no, I didn't have anything to do with it!)
47. My favorite color is blue
48. My favorite food is Chicken with Walnuts (I think Jenny would agree!)
49. My favorite drink is the Wallaby Darned at the Outback
50. Todd and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon
51. I was the captain of my powder puff football team all four years of high school
52. I was voted most likely to win a brawl at the Outreach Center when I was in college
53. I gave up carbonated beverages yesterday (we'll see how long that lasts) Be strong, Jeremy!
54. I like to bowl
55. My favorite candy bar is 100 Grand
56. I am a total minivan-driving soccer mom
57. I love watching Luke's soccer games and I can't wait for Payt to play
58. Luke and I eat at Pei Wei almost every Wednesday for our special lunch together
59. Luke, Payt, and I eat at City Bites for lunch almost every Tuesday and/or Friday
60. I ate at an Indian resturant for the first time last week and liked it
61. I work at a church now doing communications/ graphic design
62. I love the people I work with
63. I wish I could run long distances
64. I like to scrapbook, though I'm WAY behind on the boys' books
65. I went to OU, got my BA in Journalism-Advertising
66. I took Master's courses before I decided to move off to NYC
67. I am fanatic about OU sports
68. I am addicted to Guitar Hero
69. I have more Bon Jovi songs on my iPod than any other artist
70. I know French
71. I love history
72. I am training to walk 60 miles in 3 days for the Breast Cancer walk in San Diego
73. I can't sing
74. My house is messy more often than clean
75. I like to paint (pictures and walls)
76. I ate lunch with Joe Castiglione today
77. I am addicted to powdered donettes
78. I don't like lemonade
79. I don't cry at movies (sorry, Rusty)
80. But Extreme Makeover Home Edition makes me cry
81. So I don't watch it
82. I could not live without dairy products
83. I love homemade salsa
84. I make lists for everything
85. Not closing cabinet doors all the way makes me mad
86. I played the clarinet for a few years- the same one my Dad played when he was a kid
87. I have been hit by a deer (I had the antler scratches to prove it)
88. A bird flew into my face while I was riding my bike on campus
89. I hate birds
90. I've been charged by a moose
91. I've been bitten by a snake
92. I've been stung by a man-o-war
93. I was certified to scuba dive in the Florida Keys
94. I went to see Steel Magnolias on my first date (yikes)
95. I've had frostbite on my face and feet
96. My sister dislocated my shoulder pulling me out of "hot lava" when I was 4 or 5
97. I tricked my brother into believing Ozzie Smith was his uncle when we were younger
98. The Cardinals are my favorite baseball team
99. I like road trips
100. I love God and my family more than anything.

He Did It!

Todd finished his first marathon!!! He participated in the OKC Memorial Marathon today and finished with a time of 3:58:39! He had hoped to finish at around 3:30, but he's diabetic and he got low around mile 18 or so. He drank PowerAde and pushed on... finishing with a darn good time, if you ask me. I'm so proud of you, babe!

My mom , the boys, and I trekked around own in the van to watch him. It was an adventure, to say the least, but worth it to stop at a few points and cheer him on with our big signs!

Well, I just had to brag on my hubby. Love you, Todd!

In a Funk

I know, I know. It's been forever since I posted. Sorry! At first, I just couldn't think of anything to write. Now, I'm just in a funk. Yesterday morning I found out that Hal B. passed away. Hal and his wife, JoAnn, have been huge examples of faith to me at Alameda. I've known them since I first came here in the 9th grade. Hal was big-time into the Scouts program and he was the leader of the Medical Explorer troop I was a part of in high school. Aside from being a really nice, funny man, he was genuinely compassionate and a wonderful person. He will be missed by a lot of people, me included.

Another pillar of our church, Bud D., suffered a massive heart attack last week. As of this morning, he was deemed brain dead. I've been up to the hospital a couple of times visiting with his wife, Ella. I am so torn up with the pain my church family is feeling. On the other hand, I have been overwhelmed by the faith of each of these women. Of course they are hurting, but in their time of grief, they are concerned about other hurting members, and are quick to remind us all what is really important and where true comfort comes from. God bless these amazing ladies and my wonderful church family.

Milestone

It seems like just last weekend we took the training wheels off of Luke's bike and spent 10 minutes of useless instruction on riding without them. Wait, it was last weekend! A week went by without touching the bike again, then Saturday Luke just picked up his bike and off he went all by himself! I think my mouth dropped to the ground when I saw him do it! Matt, Sarah, Ryan & Baby Mason were at the house at the time and got to witness the first bike ride without training wheels. It was so much fun! I am so proud of my baby (big boy). I cannot believe how fast time seems to fly by. He's already asking me how old he has to be to drive a car!

Here's Todd giving Luke instruction last Saturday.

Here's Luke saying, "I don't need your instruction!" (Okay, so that's not verbatim)

Yeah, Luke!

Because It's Funny and I Can...

This is a video I made for the Ray Evans Seminar at our church. We wanted to let people know that it would be a fun time, so Darin came up with this idea for a light-hearted video. I, personally, think it is absolutely hilarious (I'm not biased or anything). I shot the video while Darin & Jeremy did the 'acting' (I use the term loosely), then I put it all together on the computer. I hope you enjoy! And thanks Darin & Jeremy...

What's on your list?

Most of you know I am a total television junkie (can't believe we lost Steve Gutenberg on DWTS tonight!) but after the whole writer strike thing, my viewing has slowed drastically. This diversion led me back to a favorite pastime... reading. I'm not sure I can even count how many books I've read since January, but here's a look at some of what I read: The entire Alex Cross series by James Patterson (13-14 books, I think- I love crime/mystery novels); a Michael Connelly book; "The Kite Runner" (yikes, extremely sad, but hauntingly good); and now I'm about to finish "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (I'm a closet history junkie and these books by Khaled Hosseini seem to be a pretty accurate portrayal of what life in Afghanistan is like). Next I think I will pick up the last Women's Murder Club book by James Patterson.... after that... who knows? Got any good ideas?

This also leads me to a slightly humorous thing that took place at Barnes & Noble Friday night. Todd and I had just checked out and were walking out to leave when a man approaches the counter and asks a cashier to help him find a certain book. All we heard was her say, "Do you know the exact title?" The guy says, "No, but it's a true crime. I know the murderer." SCARY!