Post Thanksgiving wrap up!

We visited home for Thanksgiving and it was a quick trip, but so great for both our spirits! We flew out on Wednesday evening and despite it being a holiday, everything went smoothly during our flight to Atlanta and from Atlanta to Raleigh. We got in around midnight. I stayed with Colleen and Justin stayed with his parents. Thanksgiving was a great day full of visiting family and friends. The Moore's invited me to their Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious! I got to visit with Justin's parents, grandmother, aunt and our good friend Bugley. My favorite dishes were the bean salad and the brocolli casserole. Everything was yummy though! I tried a new wine that has quickly become a favorite, Cupcake was the label. I didn't get to stay for dessert, but Anita graciously sent some home with me. Justin's grandmother makes the BEST pound cake ever...hands down! I then went to my home forThanksgiving dinner with my family which was very nice as well. The turkey my dad prepared was the BEST he's ever roasted. It was so nice to have both my sisters and my niece and nephew too! We all had a great time. This was the first time I had seen Jennifer, Katie and Ryan since April!
Thursday evening both Justin and Bugley went to the farm and got the Mustang out to check and see if it would be ready to drive us back to NC. It needed a new battery, easy fix.They hung out Thursday night and enjoyed a guys night while I headed back to Colleen's for girl time and a movie.
Friday was busy with lunch with both of my sisters at Bali Hai, then I spent the afternoon with family and then a party at Colleen's Friday night! Justin spent the day with his friends Mark and Jason and other buddies from high school. Justin was very happy to have man cave time, working on cars and house stuff.
Saturday I got to have Sushi and girl time with Heather and Justin was off visiting his Grandfather and decorating for Christmas with his parents, while watching the Maryland/ NCSU game on tv. Then it was time to head back to NC. We drove for about 5 hours on Saturday night, stayed in a hotel, then drove the rest of the way on Sunday for a total of 17.5 hours! I thought the drive seemed to last forever this time. We were so glad to be home around 9:15 on Sunday. It was a quick, whirlwind of a trip, but we were so glad to have the time we did have with our loved ones. We can't wait to head back in a few weeks for Christmas. We are booking our tickets tonight!

Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for!

We have been blessed with so much this year. Back in May I quit my job because after 10 years, it was becoming too much for me to handle both physically and emotionally. I started looking for a job with not much luck and Justin was also looking to get out of his job. He got a dream job offer in August, with one hic-cup...the job was in Tulsa, OK. Neither of us had ever been to OK and he had only been there once, for the interview! After much discussion, Justin and I decided that he couldn't turn down this job and he promptly quit his other one. We quickly packed and moved to Oklahoma together in a span of a few weeks time this past summer. With the help of our dear friends, Heather, Mark, and Jeff we managed to move all of our things across the country in August. We were sad to leave our friends and families and everything we knew, but Justin's job offer at MPW was one he couldn't refuse.

We decided to make this an adventure and see how we would do on our own, forced to make new friends, learn new jobs, and assimililate into a new way of life together in OK. We were blessed with so much support along the way. We could never have done this without the love and support of everyone. We made it safely to OK with no problems in a caravan where Mark and Justin were in the HUGE budget truck hauling the Goozer, with Heather and I driving my jeep, and Jeff was driving Justin's jeep hauling a riding lawnmower. We were a sight to be seen...lol! We made it safely to Broken Arrow without a problem, amazing! We were also blessed with a terrific landlords who went out of their way to make us feel at home and made sure things were good with the house when we moved in. We love the house and feel so happy to have made it a home over the last few months. I came to OK without a job and was blessed within two weeks, with finding a job as an admissions counselor, a job in my field! Everything really fit together.
Of course there have been some problems here and there, but overall the past few months have been good. I am so blessed to have Justin with me on this adventure. He and I have are so happy together and have learned more about each other by moving in together, but most of all he's been the best support ever! We are very happy about our decision to come here together and know that we couldn't be here without each other.


We are headed home today for Thanksgiving! It's been since August that we've both been home and we are desperately homesick! We are flying out today at 5:40 and hoping that we don't run into delays. Flights are overbooked and the airport should be super busy. We might be in for a long night, we'll see...
I am so excited to see my family, especially my niece and nephew, Katie and Ryan, who I haven't seen since April! I can't wait to see how much they have grown!

The past week has been difficult as I've been sick with some type of stomach bug. But I'm sooo grateful that it didn't last to ruin Thanksgiving and I'm even more glad I didn't get Justin sick!

So tentatively we plan to get to Raleigh after midnight. We head back to Tulsa on Saturday around 6pm as we drive the Mustang all the way back here. So it will be a quick trip, but good all the same. Then when we get back we will have a month till we go back home. We plan on going back to NC on Dec 19th and staying for a week.

Tea Off, Sewing, and other assorted ramblings..

I'm starting to feel more settled in our house and in my job. I'm starting to think about going back to school, but I haven't decided if it's worth doing so yet. It would be a lot of time and money, so we shall see. I like my current job, but I really want to have more options in the counseling field and it seems that to make any money in this field, you need an LPC or even better an LCSW. I like school but the thought of writing papers and taking exams again makes me cringe...

The weekend is approaching and we have plans to go to a TU basketball game tonight with Derrick and Jessica. Tomorrow I'm doing something I've been wanting to do for a long time! I'm going to a sewing group that meets at the library in Broken Arrow once a week. I can't wait! I have a sewing machine but have never used it. Vicki my neighbor is going to come too! We are going to make tote bags.

We also are going to a co-worker of Justin's house tomorrow to watch football. They are young and have no kids, so they are good people to get to know. Justin and I really haven't met too many people who are our age and don't have kids yet, not that we mind...it just makes hanging out less frequent and more difficult. I'm looking forward to possibly making some new friends!

Justin and I went to the annual Broken Arrow Tea off last night. It was an event that brings people to the downtown area to support local businesses. Each store had promotions, and snacks. The design and structure of these older buildings is so cool. Justin brought my attention to the detail and beauty in the ceilings. Maybe I can take a picture sometime soon. We also had a chance to tour the new Broken Arrow museum and learn more about the history of Broken Arrow.

Tulsa Museum of Air and Space and the Golden Driller!!

So this weekend we decided to venture out and act like tourists once again. We went to the Tulsa Museum of Air and Space  http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/    to start out our afternoon. There was so much to see! Justin had a great time looking at the engines of the airplanes and we had a blast in the kiddie section pretending we were on tv and feeling the gusts of a tornado! We even got to see a show at the planetarium next door it was so much fun! We had a hard time leaving. For awhile I've wanted to see the Golden Driller, so we headed over to the fairgrounds after the museum to find him. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2190 This link tells the history behind the driller.

Halloween weekend in Broken Arrow

This weekend we spent a lot of time on the house. I found a tv console on craigslist that was really nice and a good price, so we were up early on Sat. morning to go check it out. We loved it so we brought it home. Justin's mom wanted to give us a house warming gift, so she got it for us! Thanks Anita! We have spent a lot of time trying to rearrange the furniture in our living area to feel "homey" and we finally did! We love it now! We hung curtains and arranged the room most of Sunday morning. Finally it's a great place to hang out and watch tv.
We had tickets to a hockey game for Sunday afternoon, but this being Justin's first experience handing out candy to trick or treaters, we decided to stay home. Justin wore his zuit suit and I wasn't prepared for dressing up, so I had to be creative rather quickly. I saw his welding jacket and helmet in his workshop, so I decided to be a welder...lol. It worked out well and we had a great time with the kids. I will post some pictures soon.