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! ❤