APRIL 2022!

 QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"I'll never reach my destination if I never try,

So I will sail my vessel till the river runs dry...

So don't you sit up on the shoreline

And say you're satisfied.

Choose to chance the rapids, and dare to dance the tide!"

~The River, Garth Brooks

*I've been on a big Garth kick lately, and I was beyond excited to learn yesterday that State Farm's 100th Anniversary trip is this coming summer... in Las Vegas... with a free Garth concert!  Yussss, please!!

APRIL MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• Prioritizing daily time with God, and feeling my need for Him more deeply in this season!
• Staging my home with Mom's help, and trying everything we possibly could to remove the glue from the photo wall (with no success)!
• Lunch with reporters from several different counties at the court reporting seminar... and learning I'd have to either shred or take my old exhibits with me
• Celebrating the birthdays of Triston (15) and Carter (14)
• Looking at homes with Mom and Dad, making an offer way over asking price that was rejected
• Getting to see Jeff and Kelly's beautiful new home in Jenks on their closing/moving day, getting several moving boxes from them, and being neighbors for nine days! ;-)
• Listing my home, having photos taken, accepting an amazing offer that was quickly withdrawn (lamesauce), going back to accept the first offer I got (but those people already bought another home), and finally accepting a full price offer from someone who saw it on the last day I had showings
• Clearing old exhibits, cleaning out my office, and getting some great pictures on my last day at the Creek County Courthouse
• One last Mexican food lunch with Sarah and Kate
• Being chosen to be on the field test team for a new Peloton product, then having to ship some things back to them because this is just not the right season for a big time-consuming project in my life... but being allowed to keep a lovely workout mat
• Celebrating my two year Peloton anniversary!
• Discovering Taber homes and buying a lot to build with them!
• Working with Mom to choose a few home upgrades (which my parents generously paid for)
• Designing my new business cards on Canva
• Setting up my new office (super nice, and very grateful for Mom's help in getting it all ready)
• Helping Rach update her resume
• An amazing party going away party with my closest Tulsa friends!!
• An Easter weekend Cheesecake Factory brunch with the fam and JoBug
• Two good visits with Babah (one at The Veraden, and one at Ted's with Bill and Donna joining us)
• Feeling very popular with my niece and nephews, who are always excited to see me and tell me a million things when I get home from work =)
• Walking and talking, golf cart rides, our first colder-than-expected summer swim, and family dinners with the niece and nephews!
• An unusually noisy dinner at Hidalgo's with Kristin W.
• Strongly considering making an offer on a 4-year-old Taber home in Norman... but deciding against it in the end and feeling total peace about that decision!
• Miss Parker Elizabeth's 1st birthday party!
• Selecting all my future home colors etc. at the Design Center appointment with Taber Homes!
• Joining Planet Fitness on my 3rd day of work and going several times during my lunch hour!
• Bringing lunch a few times and having lunch with Cheryl (the bailiff there)
• Melissa introducing me to everyone and taking the time to really explain how things work and make me feel welcomed - very kind and helpful!
• Getting through my first Jury Trial with no glitches, and being very pleased with the way they handle bench conferences
• Finally getting the route down and really enjoying my 30-minute drive to and from work (yay podcasts and audiobooks)
• Having to wire $ for the first time in order to "lock in" a 5.5% interest rate on my future home -- yikes!  I'll be very ready to embrace a refinance whenever the rates calm down.
• Filing a claim with State Farm to see if they'll replace my roof after the house inspections said it had storm damage
• Learning about a church friend whose daughter died, a close friend facing difficult family news, an old friend facing a brain tumor diagnosis, and another close friend dealing with a lot of physical pain... praying for all of the above!
• Building lots of boxes last night to get ready for a fun-filled packing extravaganza weekend. lol
• LIFE-GIVING:  Deciding (and sticking with my decision) to build a home!  Extra time with my family -- I feel really grateful for building new routines and having more company in my daily life, while also having people who respect my space and need for a little introvert time every day!  Meeting new people and learning new things at my new job!  It's also been life-giving to see how all this change that seems so daunting when you look at it as a whole is really very doable when you break it down into small steps and take one thing at a time!
• LIFE-DRAINING:  A few moments of overthinking things and feeling overwhelmed.  

HAPPY LISTS

I Listened To:

• The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakeable Performance by Dr. Nate Zinsser
• The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
• The usual favorite podcasts, Garth Brooks Greatest Hits on Amazon Music, Zac Brown Band Essentials on Apple Music

I Watched:  

• The West Wing season two on HBO Max
• Some old favorite shows and movies

I'm Celebrating:  

• Finishing well in Creek County - (leaving on good terms with everyone there and feeling peace about it)!
• Buying a lot to build a home in Moore!
• Setting up my new office and starting my new job!
• My first home in Jenks being under contract!
• Mom and Dad's pool being open!
• A possible Vegas trip and Garth concert coming soon! =)

April has felt more like a year than a month - very busy! lol  It's been a month characterized by transition... what I'm saying to myself repeatedly is "one step at a time," and it's all coming along little by little!  In spite of feeling overwhelmed here and there and having one particularly rough day that included me sitting in a Walmart parking lot crying on the phone with Mom, overall, I'm feeling very good about the way things are changing and about my future direction!  There were several big milestone events and lots of good ordinary memories made this month!!  And today, Mom is joining me in Jenks to begin the packing process - wish us luck! =)

Wishing you love and peace as we move into May! ❤

Thankful Thursday #143

"And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?

My only hope is in You."

~Psalm 39:7

Today, I'm thankful for...

1. Getting to tour several model homes in the Parade of Homes on Sunday with Mom... then having a successful/productive appointment with the Taber Homes Design Center this morning!!  I have chosen my future home's colors, flooring, backsplash, countertops, pendant lights, upgrades, and more... and there's no going back now, which is actually a comfort to me!  It's done, so now we move forward, which started with a celebratory lunch at Bravo with Mom!  Side note - how much do I love navy blue!?  It just pops and delights my soul.  These cabinets in one of the model homes made me very happy, and I'm sure my future navy mudbench and laundry room cabinets will, as well! ❤

2.  Bill and Donna coming to visit (they live in Colorado).  We met them and Babah for dinner at Ted's last night, and it was good to catch up with them, and to hear that Ava (their granddaughter with some heart problems) is doing well and continuing to improve!  We forgot to get a group photo, but I texted Rach to take one as they were standing at her car talking with Babah, so yay for this! ❤

3.  My wonderful Dad, and the fact that he’s learning to take pictures and document and share fun things here and there! :)

4.  Our near daily walk-and-talks and family dinners after I get off work!  It's been good for me in multiple ways to have more daily company and human interaction, and hopefully this season will be good and fun for them, as well! ❤  Also, how fun is Bop-It!? lol

5.  This precious bookmark from the Mini Miss K!  She also carefully showed me how to make them, so I need to return the favor someday soon!

6.  Hearing what's on their hearts and being able to be part of their daily lives - Jace has invited me on a class field trip, Triston invited me to a class chapel and he and I have a Marvel movie night planned next week, and this morning, we got up bright and early to help Kyndal Faith get dressed for "Colonial Day" at CHA (it used to be Noah Webster day, and I'm not entirely certain why that got cancelled).  The picture of her objecting to the bonnet = the funniest thing I've seen in a while! lol  So much sass, but also so much sweetness!!

7.  And last but not least, I'm thankful that this work week has gone well and I'm starting to feel much better about it all!  I've taken my first Jury Trial record, and it went pretty smoothly.  I've updated everything I need to for the fresh start here.  I had two transcript orders come in from Creek County (both easy and short, so yay).  I'm covering for another reporter here tomorrow, and I think that'll be good.  And in the slightly absurd department, the maintenance crew came and mounted a TV in my office... so today has been watching the end of Bride Wars and now You've Got Mail! =)  I'm likely to have a bit more to do and a bit less time off than I did in Creek County, but I can get used to this! ;-)

That's all for now.  My parents opened their pool yesterday, and the heater has been on warming it up through the day today, so I'm very much looking forward to jumping in with the kids when I get home today (even if it means the ending of You've Got Mail will have to wait)! lol  A lovely relaxing treat before a weekend filled with packing and moving work!!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend ahead, friends! ❤

MM ~ Parker's Party!

Little Miss Parker Elizabeth turned one on Saturday!!  

How cute and happy is she in this picture Melissa took of her!?

I got her a pink baby piano (because cuteness!) and Tate was a big fan! ❤

Tate hum-singing the Star Wars theme song!

And a duet with Dad on the big piano... I look forward to hearing some Christmas carols after Chet has had a few more lessons this winter! =)

❤

A post smash cake selfie with the birthday girl!

YAY!!  (Rosette cake by Karli... along with a fun banner, paper flowers, streamers, cupcakes, and Hawaiian roll sliders - impressive!)

My short-term neighbors, JEM and Kelly and Ellie! =)

"Nom nom for us, David!"

Jeffrey singing the Michael Scott harmonies for the Happy Birthday song! lol

Uncle Michael Wilson valiantly battling the dark side! lol  Tate's love of Star Wars makes me very happy right now!

An adorable baby bicycle for an adorable baby!

And I can't end this post without the classic Cricut cutout pic (also thanks to Karli)!! ❤

It was a fun weekend that included stops at two of my favorite Tulsa restaurants, seeing lots of good friends at this party Saturday night, touring several homes with Mom on Sunday to get ideas for our upcoming Design Center appointment, and two days in a row of staying up late to watch TV and then sleeping past noon!  It was the last relaxi-taxi weekend where I'll get to do that for quite a while, and the last one ever back at my first home, and it. was. glorious!! ❤

Photo Friday!

 Happy Friday, friends!  I'm thankful to say I survived my first week of work in Cleveland County... or I can say that officially at 5:00 today! lol

I feel more peace about it and feel more settled in here... I have a long but easy drive to work that I can finally make without using navigation - huzzah! lol  And I have met five of the seven other court reporters here, and it seems like a great team!

Anyway, here are a few happy pics from last night - even though my hair is a hot mess, I love this one!! ❤

My parents' neighborhood is gated and lovely, so I'm going to try to start a daily walk routine.  Me and Triston walked and talked whilst Jace and Kyndal Faith skated, occasionally holding my hand on the rough or hilly spots. =)

Not positive why I took this as he was on the phone, but we had a nice chat through most of the walk!

They were scared to skate down the hill, so they stopped to crawl and roll their way down it... then Jace braved up and held my hand as I jogged alongside him skating down fast, and we repeated that at least 3 or 4 times! lol

I'm happy about summer coming... happy about them opening their pool next week... happy about starting a neighborhood walk routine... and happy about my job and courtroom and the daily janitorial service here (they stopped that altogether in Creek County the last few years, so I've been very impressed by them actually taking out the trash here)!  The only thing I'm unhappy about is the stupid-high interest rates right now, but what can you do?  Hopefully they will calm down someday soon.  

Anyway, have a great weekend ahead!! 

Thankful Thursday #142

"And I will bring praise!  I will bring praise!

No weapon formed against me shall remain.

I will rejoice!  And I will declare:

'God is my victory, and He is HERE!'

All of my life, in every season, You are still God!

I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship!"

~Desert Song, Hillsong*

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  A wonderful and supportive group of close friends!! ❤

2.  A wonderful and supportive family! ❤

3.  Getting to see Carter and celebrate his 14th birthday at Olive Garden! ❤

4.  My lovely and spacious new office with lots of bright and cheery decor that reminds me of the people I love (and who love me)! ❤

5.  This season (while building my new home) where I'll have lots of extra time with the niece and nephews!  They got wheelies skate/shoes and they're super excited about them!

6.  The gorgeous golf course view in my parents' backyard... I looked out yesterday after work to see Dad and Jace driving the golf cart around, looking for sticks for his busywork homework project (which Mom completed). lol

7.  Laughter & self-care!!  Change is hard, even when it's good change, and this is a season with a lot of major changes for me.  I've had a couple moments of feeling really overwhelmed and either crying or being close to tears this week... but I've been careful to get extra sleep and give myself time to wind down every night.  Then there are fun moments with Mom and Dad and the niece and nephews, and little things like this that delight my soul... Kyndal got some Skittles and divided them into individual colors in separate little cups to enjoy slowly, then added sticky notes to each cup to make sure Jace understood they were not for sharing! LOL  I got very cracked up when I saw it! #preshface

Happy Thursday, friends and fam!!  ...This old song was randomly in my head this morning, and the more I thought about the lyrics, it felt like an encouraging gift from God!  Our seasons change, but our God doesn't.  He is always with us and for us, so we have every reason to praise Him and be grateful!

*Song of the Week = Desert Song by Hillsong

Everything Else

This post will be random and sometimes out of order.  A hodge podge of photos and musings, if you will. =)

First up, I realized I forgot this pic in my last post... me with the Wilsons and Fultons (minus Tate, who was busy outside peeking in from the window).  And then a sneezy outtake pic that made me laugh!

And now, a collage of pictures of my new 4th floor office... I love it!!  It's a great size and a lovely view, and I'm so thankful that Mom (and Tman and Dad for a short time) came to help me set it all up over Easter weekend!  That red oval mirror was in Mom's old court reporting office, only it was brown then, so I added the red + glitter. lol  All the pictures and the painting were part of my Creek County Office, so yay for that... the deskpad is from Dad's State Farm office... and that verse was me practicing a fancy calligraphy style several years back, then I found it in a storage box in Kyndal's closet (now my closet) and decided it would be a good thing to hang up as a reminder to dwell on the good things in life! ❤

My office and exhibit closet are both a bit bigger than what I had before.  There is a nice staff bathroom here, and a private entrance/exit for me that I didn't realize until this past weekend.  We get an hour and a half for lunch and it all seems pretty relaxed and easygoing, so YAY for that!  They have a fancy recording system in the courtroom that captures the audio from each microphone on a separate channel (witness, judge, podium, jury) so that I can isolate it and hear more clearly... no one but me will care much about that, but it's very exciting news for me!  My office also includes a cable outlet, and they're happy to come mount a TV for me, so you know that's happening! lol  (It'll be above the green chairs in the above photo).  And finally, I was happy to find a Planet Fitness 4 minutes from the courthouse yesterday and planning to sign up for a membership today... then Melissa (another CR here) told me that they have a gym right across the street for the employees to use!!  Who knew!?  But yay - so nice!

This was the first thing we hung up in my new office.  I'm a nostalgic person, so it makes me happy to think of this being in Mom's office in her court reporting days!

Tiffany threw in several fun quotes and memes on her card last week - love it!  Especially this one by Ross-topher! lol

My preshface niece invited me over to come see her timeline, and seeing her playing with this paddleball thing made me smile.  

Jace dropped by to arrest me... I should've gone with an upset face here, but that's unnatural when I'm posing for photos. lol

Jace's new wheelie shoes came in this weekend... he was psyched about them!  The wheels are higher than usual... if he twists his ankle in these, it's gonna be bad!

We went to visit Babah on Saturday, and Tman showed her how to use the iPad he's set up for her and order stuff from Amazon! =)

This cute bright and springy flower arrangement Mom made for Babah will be the final thing we add to my office decor this week!  (A replica of it, I should say - that one is staying at Babah's). 

A photo on my lot with my "Sold" sign - we paid for the upgrades on Sunday, so it's really official now!  Before that, we kept looking at other homes for sale.  I'm glad to fully let that go and move forward with this plan and have more peace now!  The timeline is the only minor drawback, but it will be a lovely home in a great location, and I'm excited to see it take shape through the entire building process!!

Before Babah's on Saturday, JoBug met us for an Easter Eve brunch at the Cheesecake Factory!  YUM!!

Diesel asked Kristin to take this pic and send it to me, knowing I'm a fan of photos! lol  I love it so much that he thought of me, and what a cute brothers pic it is!! ❤

And last but not least, I cannot tell you how excited I was to find this picture... I had searched for it online in Google Photos and Shutterfly with no luck, but finally found it in an old frame in a random drawer at my house!  It's one of two photos that I have left from the seven months I spent at The Mansions Apartments in 2007 -- (I destroyed several pics after the infamous letter of 2007).  It's me with Anna and Jessica (some of Josh's ORU friends I was getting to know), eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in my Mary Engelbreit bowls on my burgundy couch.  It shows my old couch, table, lamps, etc. and it's just a fun memory from my early Tulsa days!

Today has been a relief in so many ways.  I slept poorly on Sunday, and for various reasons, yesterday was just emotionally harder than I expected... in spite of so many wonderful friends and family members thinking of me and checking in, which was super encouraging.  It's always a bit of a challenge to be the new person, particularly as an introvert, and this is a lot of life transition happening at warp speed, as Chet put it!  My tendency is to try to blend in and make life easy on everyone else, but I'm fighting that and reminding myself that my presence matters and I can add light and life and joy to the atmosphere when I engage and show up and speak up!  Anyway, I'm giving myself grace for yesterday feeling hard and stressful.  I prayed through it and went to bed around 9:45 last night.  I slept much better without the anxiety of the first day ahead... and today, I've gotten to know a few new people, add the office chairs, learn about the recording system and the free gym, have a tasty lunch at Chick-Fil-A, write this blog, and write a card for my nephew, Carter Lee, whose birthday we'll be celebrating tonight!

"Search for peace, and work to maintain it!" ~Psalm 34:14b

Okay guys, thanks for sticking with me to then end of this one!  

Hope you're having a fantastic week!! Byeee! ❤