In case you have been living in a cave for the last week and a half- the Sooners lost in quite an embarrassing ball game.

I guess that’s one of the risks you take when you fly all the way to another state to watch a football game- your team might lose! I felt bad for the people behind us. They went to the game last year in which the Sooners lost too. They went on and on about the whole thing.

Because I realize the majority of my audience could care less about football and terrible offense and idiotic play calling (ie: the onside kick- what the crap was that anyway!?!) I will digress. The trip was still nice. Phoenix winter weather reminds me of Kuwait winter weather. It was very enjoyable.

So the title of this post has a tiny bit to do with being a bit bowled over with the Fiesta Bowl, but a lot more to do with simply just being bowled over in frustration and annoyances with events that have recently taken place back at the home base.

A few days ago I was preparing to write a post about how great my MIL is. Oh, and while we’re on that subject- I’ve decided to refer to her simply as “Pat” in future posts. Pat- as in Pat Macdougle (sp!?) from Everybody Loves Raymond. It’s like they’re sisters, guys.

Anyway, I had prepared to write a really nice post about her and a conversation we had, and how although she drives Will crazy at times, she really means well and blah blah blah. That, however, was until I had a conversation with my FIL that placed the entire post in a big disgusting clogged toilet.

^ Oh and speaking of toliets- so far so good with the no toilet situations this trip. Well, sort of. It’s a long story that I ought not to open up right now as I have a feeling this post will be quite long. Let’s just say the toilet flushes really funny now- but the victory is the fact that it still flushes. Right? Okay, back to the matter at hand.

Oh- and before I begin- I need a disclaimer. I realize Will’s parents have our interests in mind and all that crap, but I’m not really writing with that in mind. I’m pretty much just writing in anger and the sheer need to blow off steam. After I post this and get it off my mind I’ll go back to being fine and knowing they care for us, they’re great, and all that other stuff.

Where do I even start?…

I haven’t told Will any of what I’m about to share. Mainly because I don’t want him to feel as though I went to his mom behind his back (it wasn’t like that at all), and secondly because he and his dad are very close.I’m not even really sure how things got started, but I think it best not to vent to him about the whole thing. So, that means YOU are the lucky friends that I’m confiding in. Yes, the entire internet.

Okay so the other day Will went to see an old friend and run a few errands. Pat asked if I wanted to go along to Wal-Mart with her to do some shopping. As a person living in Kuwait where Wal-Mart does not exist, I’m not one to pass up such an offer, so I opted to tag along.

Mistake number one.

The trip was just fine. Nothing overly exciting, simply walking up and down aisles and talking about food- so thrilling, right? Anyhow, on the way home we got into a real serious conversation about some things that have been on my heart about Will, the future, and a few more other personal things. You can probably understand why I want to keep this matter sort of ambiguous, but to sum it up it was about God’s plan for me and Will and if perhaps God is still tugging him to return to full time ministry and how Will might not be listening. Another issue was about finances and spending money on what seems to me as unnecessary things. I had never revealed a lot of these thoughts to anyone. It seemed odd that I would release such personal insights to Will’s mom, considering a lot of the conversation circled around him, however, at the same time it felt good to let go.

Mistake number two.

Why!? Why Brittny!?! Do you guys realize what an idiot I am!? I know you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, “Brittny is a freaking idiot MORON!” Yes, I know. You don’t have to remind me. I fully realize I violated EVERY

SINGLE

MIL-DIL RELATIONAL RULE.

It’s like cardinal rule number one: Do not EVER under ANY circumstance share absolutely anything personal with your mother-in-law regarding her son.

Ugh, I’m cringing just thinking about the fact that I actually shared such information with Pat. I feel dirty- like 34 showers in a 2 hour time span would still leave me feeling all grimy for the whole thing. Cardinal rule number one guys! What was I thinking!?!

Anyway, we talked the whole way home about these things and God’s plan and things we out to pray for, etc. It was just a nice conversation. I could tell she knew exactly what I was saying, and I could understand the thoughts she was sharing as well because I often felt the same things. As we turned onto her street, I teared up and told her how thankful I was that we were able to talk and share such thoughts about Will and God’s plan, etc.

The whole family had a wonderful evening and had cherry pie with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream and all sat out on the porch holding hands and singing “Michael Row the Boat Ashore.”

The end.

Ha.

So, truthfully, I really did think that was the end of the conversation- “E.O.D” as my parents like to say (End Of Discussion).

Only, I forgot I married into Will’s side of the family in which nothing is ever really
“E.O.D.”

Again- yelling “Idiot” at myself- I should have known all this stuff by now!

See, in Will’s family things are done differently. For the sake of time I will sum it up by saying issues are usually brought up to one person of the family, and then another person, primarily Will’s dad, will bring the issue to light in generally a more private setting in hopes of clearing the air, etc. The whole thing annoys me, but hey- it’s better than what my family does which is simply suppress everything and never talk about issues and be perfectly fine with never ever doing so to keep happiness and peace among all (which isn’t always the best decision either- uh reference all Summer of 2005 posts).

Do you see where I’m going with this thing?

Yeah… I think you do…

So the day after my deep and meaningful conversation with dear old “mom,” I decided to go for a walk to get some exercise. As I was heading towards my desired walking trail, Will’s dad caught me outside.

Yes- his dad.

I thought he was going to tag along to show me the path to walk along. I wasn’t really thinking anything else.

As we started to walk he began with a booming introduction- one no doubt he might have practiced before deciding to escort me into the woods- WHERE THERE WOULD BE NO WITNESSES when he kicked the living crap out of every ounce of my freaking pride.

Okay- sorry- where were we? Ah- the introduction.

So, he started out with this introduction about Will’s grandpa that farmed, and how he always seemed to have an issue with his full-grown son-also a farmer- buying a new truck for himself all the time when it probably wasn’t the wisest decision. He went on a little longer but summed it up saying that Will’s grandpa came to the conclusion that sometimes that shiny new truck was all his son was working for to get him through long days and tough times.

“Oh crap,” I thought to myself, “I know exactly where this is going.”

“Pat!” I cursed to myself in my best Seinfeld “Neuman-esque” manner. “That Pat had sold me down the river!”

Will’s dad went on to talk about how Will is working hard right now and how sometimes buying things that don’t make sense to some make sense to him because that’s what help him get through the day while we’re in Kuwait. Blah blah blah- we went about 2 laps around the path having this conversation that is best summed up in the above sentence. Actually- it was more him talking, and me providing flabbergasted, “Uh-huhs.”

I know this whole thing doesn’t seem bad when you read it. Heck, I re-read it and it doesn’t seem that bad to me either, but at that instant I felt extremely put on the spot and really angry about the whole thing. Granted, a lot of it was my fault for opening my big fat mouth and thinking I could let my MIL in the circle of trust (HA!), but still- it’s a freaking circle of trust, dang it- keep it a freaking circle, not a horseshoe!

Alright- I also know that when you share something with someone, it’s generally a given that person tells their spouse. That’s like an unspoken rule I think we all know. However, it ends there! It goes in the vault never to be brought up again! Unless you’re freaking breaking the law or hurting someone- keep that crap in the freaking vault! Right!?

Okay- so back to the conversation-

I was so shocked that he would approach me in such a manner and defend a situation in which he didn’t know all the facts. How dare he come to me and say “such and such is the reason why Will buys things sometimes and it should be okay since that’s the reason” when I didn’t solicit such input!? Plus- don’t justify someone else’s behavior. I didn’t ask for the analysis!

First of all- the whole issue isn’t a big deal at all. We rarely spend money over there and it seemed to me that Pat had blown the whole thing out of proportion. I had no idea my comment would be taken in such a way. Secondly- mind your own business! I know exactly why my husband does the things he does and I don’t need a freaking analogy to drive it home! I already knew all that crap- and he’s right! His hobby DOES help him get through tough days in Kuwait- you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know! That wasn’t even the issue that Pat and I really discussed, it was more about ministry- so why in the world did she choose to focus on something that wasn’t really the main issue of our discussion?

I was so shocked that Will’s dad felt the need to get me- the perceived unsupportive wifezilla- alone to have a semi-intervention on a subject that didn’t need to be addressed. I didn’t really know what to say. As I mentioned before- I come from a family that first of all gets along fine, and second of all isn’t really into confronting situations in such a way- so instead of flying off the handle and taking out his bad knee, I just stayed silent and provided a lot of, cold, “Uh-huhs.”

I’m not sure if he could sense my stiff, closed posture or not, but I really don’t care. I was simply flabbergasted by the entire chain of events. I felt like going straight to Pat and letting her have it- rotating head, flying pea soup spewing out of my mouth and all. 

“The real truth is, PAT, I don’t even think I want children! I’ve just been being nice when you’ve dropped all your ‘sly’ hints!” I felt like yelling. Only, I have way more control than that and have no ability to truly be mean to someone (ha- I bet you have a hard time believing that after reading this post though, huh?).

I hate that I’m too nice. It’s truly one of my faults most of the time. Instead of telling Will’s dad what I really thought, I gave him control of the conversation and didn’t say what I was really thinking and now am kicking myself over the whole thing. I often remind myself of Meg Ryan’s character in You’ve Got Mail- never able to say what I want in the moment, but always full of great material 5 minutes after the fact.

I guess that’s why I blog. It probably saves my sanity and relationships- especially when living with family during the holidays.

So I feel better now and I’ve let the whole odd conversation go (though I’m sure you have a hard time believing me. What gave it away? The vowing to never give them grandchildren part??)

Trust me, the whole thing felt worse than it reads right now. It just all rubbed me the wrong way. I know it probably doesn’t seem so bad, and looking back a few days later it really wasn’t (uh- I guess…). It just upset me and seemed a bit inappropriate and unnecessary. Trust me, I’ve definitely learned my lesson- never break the cardinal rule!

A couple nights ago I was extremely ruthless and killed everyone in Monopoly, so I felt a lot better after that. We had a lot of fun playing and it once again reminded me that although the above conversation made me want to launch a brick through the window, I really like Will’s family. I guess I need to focus on the Monopoly days and not the awkward walks in the woods days, huh?

Last night Pat and I watched TV together, and she let me watch whatever mindless show I desired, so that was nice. We ended up watching Jon & Kate Plus Eight (super duper cute!) last night and just had a good time. I know you’re going to have a hard time believing me after my big vent, but I really do like Will’s family and am blessed to have such a good set of in-laws (ha ha, most of the time). I seriously needed to blow off some steam, though.

I feel as though I have SO much more to talk about- like the fact that Dr. Vet totally made a comment about how much I ate at lunch, the toilet story briefly mentioned above, and my big weekend in Dallas with a couple bloggers (!), but I better go.

Do you realize my trip is coming to a big finale very soon? I’m so bummed. It’s always hard to go back, but this time it will be so much harder. I thank you guys so much (Erin- thanks a million) for your prayers. I’m continuing to pray and trust God that He will take care of things at work as I prepare to go back. I have so much more I want us to talk about, but I better go for now. I truly look forward to catching up soon and getting to read about all the fun you guys have been having. I promise! we’ll catch up very soon. Again, sorry guys for being classified as hands down the worst blog friend EVER. I probably won’t get much computer time until the weekend we get back to Kuwait,and I promise to catch up then. Seriously. If I don’t I won’t have any blog friends to meet next time I come home because I won’t have any left!

Thanks for listening to me vent! More to come…

Hello Friends!

Happy New Year Friends! Are you ready to ring in 2008? I can’t believe 2008 is here. Craziness!

I’m typing from Phoenix! We got here bright and early this morning. As I had hoped, we flew in with a few other Sooners, so that was fun. Don’t worry, we didn’t get out of control. There was no Boomer Sooner chanting from across the plane. We all were very well behaved.

Thus far our first day in Phoenix has been quite an adventure.

You know, when I think of vacation I think of fun, relaxation, excitement-

not pink eye.

Yep, Will has pink eye.

Can I first just say- Ew!?

Yes, Ew. Does that make me a terrible wife? Sorry. But seriously- Ew.

Just think of a puss-caked eye glued shut, juicy, and flaming hot pink. Yeah- you’re feeling me now on the “ew” aren’t you?

Poor guy. It’s like he’s constantly winking at me, only instead of it being all cute and flirty, it’s more like a huge gigantic swollen shut cornflake staring right at you in the winking position.

Agh! Now EVERYONE is saying Ew, right? Sorry- I just wanted you guys to share in all my disgusting “fun.”

Yesterday Will felt it coming on, but we were in Texas with Dr. Vet and weren’t able to get to a pharmacy. Plus, this morning at 4:00 when we were trying to get packed and rush to the airport wasn’t exactly the opportune time either. So- poor Will met the TSA airport guys with a big mushy cake eye.

Ew.

Boomer Sooner.

I guess.

Anyway, so our first few hours were a BLAST! Let me tell you. There’s no better way to learn about the city in which you’re staying like visiting their AM-PM/Emergency Care Clinic.

Loads of fun I tell you- loads of fun.

Those are two hours of our lives we’ll never get back. How sad.

We started off hoping that, as in Kuwait, we’d be able to stop by a pharmacy and get something that would get rid of this crap. We were mistaken. Why? Why would we think America would be about conveniences? There’s only a fast food restaurant on every

single

corner

in this country,

and everything is “quick and easy” on every commercial you see. Was it too much to ask for a simple infection killing eye drop?

Yes.

So, our dreams of a quick trip to Walgreens for aid were dashed.

On to the fun: the Emergency Care Clinic.

Thank God I’ve gotten a hepatitis shot.

That’s really all I can say.

Okay, I’m fibbing. There’s more to say. Guys, it was scary!

And smelly…

Unidentified wet stuff on the floor…

And full of deep, throaty, mucous-y coughs.

ALL OVER ME!

Seriously, if we were healthy before we came, we left there with something.

“We’re going to have to boil our clothes!” I told Will.

Yeah, yeah, I know- hospitals are full of sick people. I guess it was just quite a shock to sit in the AM-PM clinic my first day in Phoenix. Plus the stuff on the floor put me a bit overt the edge. What was it? No one knows.

What an adventure!

So, we sat, and we sat, and we made friends, and we watched terrible daytime TV. We sat there for 2 hours and Will was finally called. He was with the doctor for less than 5 minutes.

Hmm, wait for 2 hours, done in 5 minutes… something seems odd....

To cure us of the pink eye horror and frightening clinic we opted to celebrate our pink eye prescribed drops with a Cheesy Gordita Crunch!

Those may be the one thing that would bring me home for good. Thank goodness they’re only limited time things.

So, it’s been quite a day. I think with all of this afternoon’s fun, we’re going to let that be our fill of excitement for new year’s eve. We ordered a pizza and are going to stay in.

Read: Old Married Boring Couple.

Oh well, that’s us. We’ve accepted it!

I hope you all have a wonderful new years! I look forward to reading about it.

Update on my previous post to come sometime. For now I’m resolved to try my best not to worry about things I can’t control and just trust God.

Thanks for all your sweet comments lately. For the umptheenth time- when my in-laws go back to normal hours in January I look forward to catching up soon.

Happy New Year! More to come.

Boomer Sooner!

Again with the stink bomb timing me (and all that other crap I droned on for 22 minutes about in my last post). I can’t talk long but just felt the need to check in and say hello to all you guys who have been so sweet and reading even though I’ve been a bad friend as of late.

Lots to talk about soon. I got some bad news about things at work and unfortunately I don’t have time to elaborate right now. It’s left me wondering what God’s plan is for me, and what He wants me to do. Remember the verse about “light and momentary troubles?” That’s sort of how I’m feeling. In fact- that might be the title of the forthcoming post. Hopefully I’ll be able to share all of that very soon. Please just say a prayer if the Lord brings me to your mind.

I hope you guys had a great Christmas. Ours was nice, and I’m sad that it’s over. Now we look forward to new years. We will be celebrating in Phoenix this year! Will is very excited about the OU game, and I am too!

I’ve truly been thinking of you often. Is it weird to say that I miss you? Well if it is, I guess I’m weird, because I do. I genuinely feel as though I’ve got this really special secret set of friends that I get to know through each day’s posts. I miss you guys. Funny how being closer in proximity to you guys has made me farther away. Once my in-laws go back to a regular schedule in January, I should have more time to keep up with you guys.

Lots to write soon, but I have to go for now. Have a wonderful weekend! <3

Okay, so let me first begin this post with a big fat I’M SORRY.

I’m sorry.

I really suck.

I will probably not be posting any feedback for the next few weeks. My computer time is beyond “extremely limited” right now. I know, I know, I’m missing the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR in everyone’s lives and all that crap… yeah, yeah, I know. I’m sorry guys. :(

Okay- now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get started.

I seriously feel like I’m typing next to a ticking stink bomb that is going to go off in all its funky glory if I don’t complete my computer time in 24.5 minutes or less. I’d elaborate, but again- we can’t have the stink bomb go off so let’s just get on with the post.

So because of time I thought I’d just combine a few series of short posts into one bigger post. Alas- (seriously, it’s about time, right!?!) my post.

Heh Heh
I’ve got Will totally convinced that the terrible smell filling his car two nights ago was from it sitting in storage for a year and the air vents not being used. Friends, I don’t think I need to tell the truth on this one. I’m sure you already know.

A Night With the Devil’s Kitten
Yeah you read that right. Will and I spent the night with Satan’s cat a couple nights ago.

I’ll come right out and say it (you can trash me later)- Will and I aren’t the biggest cat people. Especially Will. (Exepct for Toby, Ann. I love Toby. I think Will would too<3).

There.

I said it.

Hate me later.

Mine comes from a couple bad cat experiences, Will's?… I'm not so sure.

Anyway, Will's brother Dr. Vet (<- this is where I'm supposed to insert a link so you know what I'm talking about. Instead I'll just do a crash course- Dr. Vet is Will's veternarian brother. Wow- what a creative name) has a cat to keep him company.

Ooh! Cool side story! My friend retired blogger Sarah takes her doggies to the same vet clinic where Dr. Vet works and didn’t even know it! HOW FREAKING AMAZING.

We stayed with Dr. Vet and the devil cat our first night after Minneapolis.

Guys, the thing truly is borderline, “bring into the clinic for observation.” Perhaps that’s why Dr. Vet likes it so much.

Bogey likes to sleep all day and play all night.  Sort of a Jykell (sp!?!) and Hyde sort of thing. Lucky us.

We slept out on the pull out couch that night and boy did old Bogey have a ball with us. We kept hearing it run up and down the back of the couch and pounce.

Run, Run, Run, Fly, Pounce!

That’s sort of how it went. It would sit on the arm of the couch as we were sleeping and just stare at Will and then run over us onto the other side of the couch and then stare at me. Creepy. To be honest, I slept through most of it, but Will was totally annoyed. Apparently at some point during the stare contest Bogey licked Will’s nose (ha ha), and as Will went to grab him, Bogey straight up slapped Will in the face (HA HA) I woke up at some point from Will flailing trying to catch Bogey and asked him what he was doing.

He looked at me like a soldier on a mission and was all, “I’ve been protecting you all night!”

What a dork. He even had a water gun handy to defend my honor.

(I’m totally shaking my head right now)

You Gotta Watch Out For This One
I totally wish I could post this on it’s own. Oh well…

I can’t be sure, but I think my MIL totally let one last night! Not just a little womanly fluff, but a full blown honker of a fart. One that made me think she ought to check her pants!

We were in Tulsa last night with Will’s grandpa. We had just eaten a big meal and were sitting in the living room. All of a sudden my MIL adjusts her seat and lets out a seriously loud sound! At first I thought it was like pants rubbing against the leather chair, but then I realized I was on the leather chair, not her! She had to have let one! She even said excuse me! I was so shocked because I was just certain it was not a bodily noise but instead leather, shoes scraping together- something, anything but that!

Surely not, right? Surely someone as quiet and gentle as my MIL would never do such a thing right? I don’t know… I guess I’m going to have to watch out for this one…

Cheese-Freaking-Cake Factory
Again, I wish I had more time. This is going to sound dumb and probably won’t make any sense at all, but I need to vent. As you remember from the Cheesecake Factory tiff earlier this week, any and all in-law venting must be via blog.

I totally had an uncomfortable moment today with the family. Yet again the Cheesecake Factory has brought trouble upon the WB family!

Will wanted to take me there since it had recently opened in the Tulsa area, plus his parents have never gone so we wanted them to go too.

Well for some reason it sort of turned into, “Well Brittny wants to go,” sort of thing as though everyone was inconvienced. I got the feeling they didn’t want to go. No big deal.

Okay- so first of all I never ever said I wanted to go. Will had told me a long time ago (after his September trip back home) he told his parents he wanted us to go while we were in Tulsa. I never up and said, “Hey gang! Let’s go to the Cheesecake Factory!”

I think since they knew it was a place I really liked they sort of turned it into a “Well, Brittny” sort of thing. This morning I told my MIL I didn’t think we ought to go because I knew Will’s grandpa wouldn’t go along because of his health. I said we ought to stay and do something at the house.

Period.

EOD (End of Discussion)… or so I thought.

Anyway, my MIL kept pestering me about it, “Are you sure? I know how much you FREAKING love it and want to make out with everything on the menu!” <- uh, okay, she really didn't say that, but you get my drift.

She just went on and on and then they started calling family saying, "Well, Brittny changed her mind...” blah blah blah. I was so annoyed. It totally became this huge thing, “Are you sure you’ll be okay if we don’t go?

We should go…

Are you sure it’s okay if we don’t?

Maybe we should go…

Well- if we don’t go, what are we going to do?...”

I was going insane! I’m fairly reserved and don’t like to get firm with people most of the time, but finally I was like, “Okay, I’m being really serious- I really don’t want to go. It’s seriously no big deal. We just need to let it go.” Will was annoyed too. I don’t know why things have to become such a big deal sometimes. It was totally solved this morning, but it couldn’t be left alone.

Anyway, we ended up not going (Thank God. I think it would have ruined it for me to have to go after the whole elaborate morning we had about the whole thing).

Okay- so I re-read that whole story, and wow! It makes absolutley no sense at all!

Oh well, I feel better for venting.

So here we are, back home. Finally. We’ve been on the road ever since we left Kuwait. More driving will be coming very soon, but I’ll try to enjoy tomorrow at home. I’m so thankful to be home with my family (despite my venting). I’m so blessed. The Lord has given me so much to be thankful for. I have so much more I want to tell you guys! :( Oh well. I hope you have a great Christmas. I can’t wait to read all about it! Check in with you guys soon!

Hi!

Where do I even start?

You know, it’s amazing what you can cram into 3 days while you’re on vacation. I sit at my desk for days and weeks on end praying I can find some small morsel of information to post about and get nothing, but I go on vacation for 3 days and bam! I’m in overdrive.

Again- where do I start!? I guess we’ll just hit the highlights and won’t get into all the nitty gritty details (applause errupts).

Let me start by saying Business Class is truly all it’s cracked up to be.

Business Class really deserves to be its own post, entitled something like, “Eight Hours of Air Amazement,” however, since we have so much to cover (and such little time) I’ll simply cover the highlights.

When Will and I flew into Amsterdam we decided to treat ourselves and cash in our accrued air miles for an upgrade. We figured since we were getting off of a plane and almost literally going straight to a football game we would need our sleep. I still can’t decide if that was the best decision we’ve ever made as a married couple or the worst.  Best because it was heavenly, worst because coach is seriously going to suck from now on. We’ve seen what’s behind the cloth curtain…

Anyway, those 8 ½ hours were simply wonderful. It’s truly amazing how much nicer Business Class is from Coach. They take your coats, and serve you mixed nuts in these huge bowls, and feed you REAL FOOD. Yes, REAL FOOD that doesn’t feel like you swallowed a grenade as it goes down your esophagus.

And the seats…

Holy Crap. KMT- your husband is a pilot, right? Uh- can I order one of those seats? It’d look great in our living room.

Guys, it was a bed that massaged your back…

Okay- you’re bored.

I can clearly see I’m the only person that’s enjoying this story.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure.

Alright, no more humping the leg of business class- let’s move on.

So we got into Minneapolis, checked into our hotel, got some chips for our cell phones, and were able to rest about 30 minutes before we had to clean up a bit and head to the game AKA THE WORST DESICION EVER.

The game started and we were pumped. It was great. We were cheering on all 3 Sooners on the field- A.D., Tommie Harris, and Mark Bradley. Then I started yawning. The game was full of punting and boringness and I just got sleepier and sleepier.

Guys, I was freaking exhausted. Sure we got to sleep a few hours on the ride here, but we were still about a day behind on sleep.

I LITERALLY FELL ASLEEP AT A DEAFENING, THUNDERING FOOTBALL GAME SURROUNDED BY DRUNK SMELLY MEN BURPING AND CUSSING AND SCRATCHING THEMSELVES.

How much more pathetic can it get?

It was so loud in there guys, but it didn’t stop me. I seriously fell asleep during halftime. I tried so hard to stay awake, but it was a lost cause. No amount of barbaric yelling and Viking horn blowing was going to keep me awake.

As the third quarter was underway I continually dosed in and out of sleep. That night was seriously a blur. Will totally made fun of me too. The conversation went like this,

“I can’t believe you fell asleep at a football game. That’s really bad.”

“I was exhausted! I couldn’t help it. Besides, the game was more your thing. If we had gotten off of the plane and gone to a cello concert I would have been just fine and I’m sure you would have been the one to fall asleep!”

Laughter erupts

“A cello concert? Are you serious? I would have fallen asleep even if I had slept 10 hours right before going!”

He’s not lying.

Anyhow, the game was alright. It was fun (the parts I remember!), but I think getting off a plane and going to a football game probably wasn’t the way to go. Oh well, lesson learned!

Yesterday was right up my alley- shopping! I don’t do any shopping through out the year, so going to the Mall of America is like taking a starving person to a 24-hour buffet.

I was surprised that I was able to find a some summer clothes too, so that was good- considering I only have a need for sweaters 2 months out of the year.

I mostly bought all work clothes. No fun! Who wants to go shopping to buy clothes for work? Oh well, they were much needed. I did, however use P as an excuse to buy a couple of graphic tees at Delia’s for myself. I’m such a nerd. I have no idea why I felt the need to do so, but I figured that a 24-year-old married working professional was a little out of place perusing the graphic tee section at a teenager’s store. So- thanks to P I now have a cute tee of a carton of milk high fiving a chocolate chip cookie and another one that has crying birthday candles by a cake that say, “It’s not my birthday today!” I’m such a nerd. Will just shook his head. You gotta have weekend wear though, right? Thanks P. These are “our” shirts. <3

I surprisingly hit the entire mall in 5 hours! Speed walker.

Last night I was so excited. We made plans to go to the Acme Comedy Club and catch a show. We decided to go to Don Pablos for dinner first. As the evening waned on, we both got started to slow down. We still hadn’t quite recovered from the long trip and the late night before. We opted to ditch Acme and go back to our hotel and go to sleep. Bummer.

We crashed out at 7:30.

Guys- it’s like we’re 63-years-old. <- That totally deserves to be a post all by itself.

Seriously, we’re not going to have any friends one day because we won’t be able to hang with the big kids. We’ll be invited to afternoon events but will never graduate to evening gatherings. We seriously suck.

Can I blame it on the jet lag?

Anyway, we slept all night. I finally got up around 6:30 and hit the gym (yay for Brittny!). I’m determined to work out at least once a week while we’re on vacation. I know that seems like absolutely nothing, but with all the running around we’re going to be doing, I figured it was a good goal.

Today was good. We went back to the MOA for a few more things, then headed to the post office to ship it back to Kuwait.

Why do people hate the post office so much? Especially around Christmas? Beth- do you have an answer?

I mean, you’d think people would be all jolly and happy because they’re preparing to ship their carefully wrapped gifts to their loved ones across country- but no. It’s all but jolly at the post office. People are grumpy. This guy in front of us in line today was all up in arms about a pack of stamps. He yelled, “Merry Christmas, BI***!” to the poor saleswoman as he stormed out the door.

“And a Happy New Year!” I murmmered. Will didn’t think it was funny.

I just don’t get. If you get bored and read about our Minneapolis trip last year, we had a bad experience at the post office then too.
I think the post office is cursed.

After the post office fun, we went and saw I Am Legend. Sort of weird…

Then it was off to the Cheesecake Factory!

Ah, I wish I could tell you Will and I had a wonderful time, laughing, and flirting, but I would be lying.

Sadly, our trip to the Cheesecake was spoiled by a tiff.

Remind me to never bring up the in-laws when we’re eating at a place I like. I just ruins the whole thing.

My sandwich wasn’t nearly as good as it could have been had I never opened my fat spewing-idiotness lips!

Crap! All I said was that it was a bit inconvenient staying at his parent’s house all month because it’s small (and there’s no tv upstairs, and you have to get fully dressed to go downstairs to iron the clothes you’re really going to wear that day, and there’s a chance of your father-in-law seeing you in my bra-you already read about that one…), and the man got so grumpy.

Sigh, such fun times at the Cheesecake Factory. I didn’t mean it the way he took it- Will rarely sees his family and it’s so important we spend as much time as we can with them while were here. I simply said it’s hard living with others for a month!

Anyhow, we finally got over that whole shenanigan and got our cheesecakes to go.

Note to self: Save any and all in-law complaining for my blog. Period. End of Discussion.

I think the above advice will come in handy the next couple of weeks.

So here I sit, back at the hotel. Tomorrow we’re headed home. Our little getaway was enjoyable. It’s so nice to be home. It’s so different… <- that truly is something I’ll have to post about later…I have so many thoughts on all that.

I was greeted by so many sweet welcome home wishes and I wish I was able to stop by and thank each and every one of you. I think I mentioned it earlier, but my feedback will be few and far between for the next few weeks. I apologize in advance. You can tell me how crappy of a blog friend I am in the feedback comments if you wish.

So to:

Monica- thanks so much for stopping by! I look forward to reading more about the life of the junior swiss miss very soon!

Jess- How’s the baby!? I can’t wait to see more pictures.

Trish- What good things are you cooking for Christmas? How’s baby J?

Maria D- Hope you 3 have a wonderful Christmas!

Beth- I know you’re not with the postal service anymore, but I totally thought about you today. Hope you’re doing well!

Kassie- Yay for no school (for a while at least)!

Jacqueline- Love you bunches. Have a great trip!

Annie- Merry Christmas! I can’t wait to hear all about your Christmas. Take lots of pictures of the girls and Jesse- and your belly!

Jenny S.- I hope you’re doing well. I’m thinking of you often. Whenever I found a bargain at the MOA I thought of you and Mrs. M

Robin- Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Thanks for being so patient with me.

Heather- How have you been?! I look forward to catching up with you very soon. Merry Christmas and take lots of pictures!

Angela- Enjoy those 10 days of vacation! I look forward to reading about each of them!

BFW- I will text you soon! Happy Anniversary if I don’t talk to you before! Take lots of pictures of Mac!

Kristen- I hope you, Toby, and Jackson have a great Christmas. Take lots of pictures. I wish I would have made it to NO too. :( You’re right, we can dream!

Jenny M- Hope you, Craig, and Chloe have a wonderful Christmas and stay warm! How’s the house situation going? I look forward to catching up soon.

Megan H- Merry Christmas! I hope you and George have a great Christmas. Are you venturing home or staying in Stillwater? Either way, I hope you have a great time! Hey- are you two going to AZ for the OSU bowl game?? If you are let me know!! We’ll be there too (ha ha, not for that game, but we’ll be there before ours starts).

Megan (Platinum Rose)- I hope you and the doggies have a great Christmas! I miss
Boz and Lucy so much! I look forward to hearing about it.

Lyna- Thanks for the email about Tommy. I was sad to read the news. I’m going to go by and see him when we get into town. I hope the 4 of you are doing well. Hopefully I’ll get to see you when we get into town.

Amanda- How are the twinsies?? I hope you guys have a great Christmas and I look forward to reading about it!

Zoe- Your Christmas card was too cute. I could never get those Elf cards to work, but yours did! I’m glad, it was adorable. Have a good Christmas!

Audrey- Take lots of pictures! I know you will. I hope you three have a great Christmas and I look forward to catching up.

Dear Lord tell me I’m done. I can only hope…

I’m sure I forgot so much.

That’s it for now.

Lots of love. More fun to come…

By the time you read this post you’ll never guess where I’ll be-

That’s right, my friends, A-FREAKING-MERICA!

I know you’re shocked, right? It’s not like I’ve been talking about this for the last 3 weeks or anything (ha). I’m typing this from Kuwait, but setting up an auto-post so this shows up tomorrow. So, that means I need to oooh and ahh over how great America is (although I’m technically not there yet).

Guys- the snow in Minnesota is beautiful!

Christmas is everywhere!

I missed Wal-mart!

Does it sound like I’m typing this from America, or that I’m faking that I’m typing from America?

Do you care?

I didn’t think so.

Besides, when this posts I really WILL be there. Home sweet home. I’m so excited! I can’t even contain my jubilation. In fact, let’s all let out a gigantic yell of cheer! Ready?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

Gosh that felt good.

Vacation has finally arrived, and not a moment too soon. This weekend was spent working, packing, and celebrating Christmas with my family.

Actually, it was more like working, working, celebrating Christmas with my family, and doing a little packing.

I don’t know what my problem is, but I really hate packing.

You’d think with how much I went on and on (and on and on and on) about being ready for vacation I would have been more than eager to throw a few things in a suitcase and head home. However, that hasn’t seemed to be the case. I did so much procrastinating last night.

“Will, let’s watch a Prison Break!”

“Hey, I forgot we bought a book about Petra while we were in Jordan. I should read it RIGHT THIS SECOND!”

“Gotta pack clothes… gotta pack clothes.. Okay- I’ll bring these jeans. Hmm, I wonder if they still fit? I wonder if ANY of my clothes fit. Let’s try on every single item I own right this second to find out! Then let’s organize my closet by color! Better yet- by alphabetized brand!”

I’m hopeless when it comes to packing guys.

Not only that, but I bring entirely too much with me.

I’ll be gone for a month? That means I need 30 shirts.

I’m going to church 3 times? That means I need to bring 6 outfits so I can change my mind once each Sunday.

It’s really bad guys, really bad.

I could never be on Survivor or the Amazing Race. Options people! I need options!

I probably failed to mention that I’ll be shopping at Mall of America for a day or two while we’re in Minnesota. SO- not only am I starting out with entirely way too much stuff, but I’m also accumulating MORE stuff to pack. Do I smell a Heavy Baggage Fee in my future??

Will can take it out of my Christmas money- I’m not rummaging through my bag to make it more proportionately sized, darn it! I did that last year and it’s nothing but a big mess.

You start with one heavy bag,

then you start transferring,

then you end up with a lighter bag,

and then the other bag you just added crap to is heavy-

so then you have to dig again and add and take away, add and take away until finally you’re wearing half your suitcase and your purse weighs 30 pounds.

I’m not doing that again! I refuse to wear three sweatshirts at one time again. Not only does it get hot, but I look like the Marshmallow man from Ghostbusters! It just doesn’t work out very well. Bring on the fee.

So that’s all for now my friends. Look for me and Will on Monday Night Football! We’ll be the insane looking hicks with our chests painted “Yo Adrian!” Okay, I’m totally lying. My whiteness would blind you. I’ll just stick to a jersey or something more traditional- like a foam finger… yeah, that should be good.

It’s good to be home! Oh, and FYI, I may stink at feedback for the next couple of weeks. My apologies in advance.

Yay for vacation!

I’m a crazy woman desperate for a vacation. I found out today that my department is going to have to start working six days a week now (BOO!), so that news nearly put me over the edge.

Vacation.

I need to take a vacation!

Everyone around me needs me to take a vacation! 

If I don’t take a vacation soon I just might go crazy! Here are a few things that have made me realize how badly I need to leave:

1.I’ve been trying to find a way to download this as my ringtone

2.I forgot milk for my cereal this morning and was forced to use a Starbucks Frappucino- and loved it. The whole time I ate I was thinking to myself that cereal mixed with coffee will help take the sting out of the day. Uh- by the way- it didn’t work.

3.I’ve already got my Out of Office message ready to post. Is it bad to say, “See Ya Suckers!!!!!!! Ahahahahaha!” in a professional away message? (Theresa, at least I didn’t use one of the ones you sent me!)

4.I’ve seriously considered sending my resume to friends back home to post on bulletin boards, church newsletters, school newspapers, Craigslist, Lost and Found boards, and just about anything else you can imagine.

5.I find myself constantly making a mental list of all the places I’d rather be than at work: the dentist, Wal-mart on payday and/or Christmas Eve, jury duty… the list goes on and on.

6.I have an alarm on my phone that sounds like a baby crying. It goes off at the time I start work each morning.

Guys, I seriously need to get out of here for a while. The worst part of all is that I’ve become such a pessimist lately that I’m already dreading the thought of having to come back in January! <- Tell me I’m utterly ridiculous for being that way.

The countdown continues. If only I could speed up time (and then slow it down while we’re home!).

More to come…

We’re inching closer and closer to vacation.

Sure, I’m counting the days and elated at the thought of being in the states for a month. However, in the back of my mind I’ve already begun to think about the looming “crisis” on my hands. Curious about what I’m talking about? Let me refresh your memory.

I’m going to be living with my in-laws for the next month.

Things never seem to go very well during this time. Something inevitably always goes wrong or there’s something awkward that occurs.

Such as bad mouthing my brother-in-law’s girlfriend in front of the whole family and then having to suffer through sleeping with my MIL the same night.

or plugging up the toilet (again) and having to use my brother-in-law’s silver nail file to salvage the toilet (and my dignity).

or maybe it was last year when my father-in-law saw me in my bra!

Too many things to choose from. All I know is that with my string of bad luck, something awkward and embarrassing is bound to happen living in the small confines of bedroom with four gigantic suitcases, two twenty-somethings set in our ways and out to relax and enjoy vacation, and two fifty-somethings just waiting for their oddball daughter-in-law to screw up.

Ahh, vacation. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

Aside from the fact that I had a crappy week at work,

completey forgot my parent’s 26th wedding anniversary (yes, I suck),

and lost one of the diamond earrings Will got me for Christmas two years ago (yeah- I mentioned I suck, right? That was a sad story, by the way),

I’m feeling better today. Thanks so much for the sweet words. I started to upload the hundreds of pictures I took while in Jordan, but I already reached my monthly uploading limit! How crappy. I uploaded my least favorite pictures first (go figure, what luck), so now I’ve got all my favorites sad and waiting until freaking JANUARY to be displayed on the sidebar.

Bummer.

Poor pictures.

Anyway, I just wanted to post to say thanks for your sweet words. Thank goodness vacation is around the corner, I might go crazy if it weren’t!

Boomer Sooner! Cross your fingers! If we win today Will and I are Arizona bound in January!

Have a good weekend <3

I’ve missed this place! I feel like I haven’t been around my blog for a while. Granted, it was only about a week (sans a 3 line crappy post which doesn’t really count as a real post), but it still feels like ages.

I wanted to wait to post until I had all my pictures loaded and could tell you all about my trip. Sadly, I haven’t done that yet (yeah, I suck), so there won’t be much to share! I had a wonderful time, but it was exhausting. We were gone 4 nights and stayed in 3 different hotels! Craziness I tell you. We were on the road a lot, but guys, it was such a great trip. I only wish I had more time to spend there, there’s so much to see! We visited Amman, Petra (A-freaking-mazing), and the Dead Sea- we were constantly packed in a van.

So do you want the long version or the short version? I mean, I want to write a novel about everything, complete with pictures. You know, do it up good and right, but I don’t have time for that today (and I don’t have the pictures- because, as we already established, I suck). However, then I think if I don’t do a “real” recap about my trip today and then wait until this weekend it’s officially “old news.” Who wants to read old news!? No one!

Well tough! You’ll be reading old news this weekend, because it’s important for me to really capture my trip so I can remember it all 4 years from now. All I keep thinking was, “Wow, that was an exhausting and wonderful trip.” It went so fast I wasn’t really able to fully enjoy it at the time, but now that I’m back to work I’m looking back with many fond memories of last weekend.

I only have one picture on my computer that my mom sent yesterday. It’s probably my favorite one. It was taken at the Dead Sea when we braved it in the cold water. It really just sums up my trip- wonderful. I’m having a difficult time at work right now, and when I look at this picture, I’m reminded of how thankful I am to have such a wonderful husband like Will in my life. Sunday night he played me this Carrie Underwood song that talked about not worrying about the small stuff. It was so thoughtful of him to do that- and he’s right. Work is work, but faith and family is what matters most. I forget that sometimes.

So that’s about if for now. I hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving! I can’t wait to read all about it. I read some of your posts and you already put your Christmas decorations up! It got me really excited to be going home for Christmas (yay!). I can’t wait. Will bought It’s a Wonderful Life last week, so we’ll definitely be watching that this weekend to get us into the Christmas spirit! I love you guys very much and will post (with pictures!) very soon.