Good morning!!!!

The temps have started to drop and in Oklahoma, black powder opens this weekend.

We have been bow hunting hard and haven't got anything yet, which is strange. I hope I have a gorgeous deer to show you this weekend!

On a side note, I am selling Scentsy now. It is a wickless candle that is safe for kids, pets and even clumsy adults! Check out my website! http://alishabrodrick.scentsy.us just an FYI, if you are ordering $150, please email or call me!!!! I can get you some free and half-price goodies.

Hope I hear about some of you having nice deer down!!!!

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Fitness

I am going to start getting on shape and losing weight again. Is anyone else doing the same?

Oklahoma weather has been horrible. 100 degree days that are excruciating and miserable.

I will be back. Have exciting job news to announce!!!!

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Snow!!!

This is what I woke up to. I love it when we actually have seasons around here!


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A/C issues part Deux

This is what we would be doing if we were home today. Our motor for our air conditioner fan is burning up. Not totally burnt up but burning up. So it is warm at our house. The girls have fans and will be sleeping all day anyway so they won't be upset. We will just have to replace the motor this evening. The good thing is that Mister has already found us one and it is half of what we thought it would be. These sure are the dog days of summer!

Writer's Workshop - Emergency

Directions From Mama Kat's Blog
You can learn more about Writer’s Workshop here….it’s never to late to jump in!! Here is what you must do:

Choose a prompt that inspires you most.

Write.

Come back this Thursday and paste the URL to your actual post (do this by clicking the title of your post after you hit publish, an extended URL will come up in the address bar. That’s the URL you want to use) into the Mister Linky that will be up…this way anyone can click on your name and head over to your place to see what you wrote.
Feel free to write on more than one prompt if you so desire. I do it all the time, but it’s my game…and I don’t know how to shut-up…so it should be expected. And remember the more comment love you give, the more comment love you get so comment comment away.

The Prompts:
Which one will YOU choose??

1.) A song you can’t escape.(inspired by Stefanie from I’m not much into health food, I am into champagne)

2.) Explain a time there was an emergency. What “mode” did you go into? Freaking out, calm and collected, etc.(inspired by Jennifer from Momma Made It Look Easy)

3.) Write an open later to a cartoon character.

4.) Write a poem about a moment you would like to relive.(inspired by Mama B. from Peanut Butter in my Hair)

5.) List 10 things you never knew until you were mom. Mine?(inspired by Christy from Life With Triplets)

If you have a chance, try to stop by and say hi to the person who inspired the prompt you’ll be writing on this week.

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On May 10, 2008 we were pumped to go to the Monster Trucks that were coming to our hometown and on that night we got around and started getting ready. When we got into the truck the neighbors cows were right up behind the house. And by right behind I am talking that all 100 head were pushing into the corner of the pasture and you could see the strain that was being put on the barbed wire. We took mental note, talked about how that meant that bad weather was normally coming and went on with our plans for the night. That bit of information was tucked into my mind for later use - little did I know.

We have quite a few friends who drive tuff trucks and one who drives a monster truck so we wanted to get there early and see everyone before the action got started. We get there and pull into the pit and park the truck and get out and like any true redneck, find the beer tent. We were over shooting the breeze with some of the people we know and look around in the sky and west was jet black and the other directions it was bright and shining. We mentioned it and never really thought about it. We live in Oklahoma where the weather changes every five minutes. Then all of a sudden the wind picked up and started blowing things over. The beer tent was grabbed by about 10 of us and it took all that we had to hold it down. The port-a-potties fell over one by one like domino's. Dirt and hats were flying everywhere and as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. This odd still comes over everything and then you start hearing the radios go off. To the west they were watching a tornado and we kept hearing them call out its every move. It missed up but it had moved on to Picher.

We had friend who lived near there and kept trying to call them but were unable to get through. I felt so helpless and although I finally got a hold of our friends I still felt like I should be able to do something else. I know simple first aid and CPR but realized quickly that this was going to take more than that. I was told that by staying put and not clogging up the road I would be doing more good, emergency personnel needed to get in immediately. I sat in the truck, listening to the radio coverage and wondering about everyone who was there. There were lots of prayers going up for those who were affected by this tragedy.

In all of the chaos there were so many different numbers going around about how many had lost their lives but the number ended up being significantly lower. But there were whole town and counties devastated by the damage that was done. Seven lost their lives that tragic day. New stations were flocking to cover the damage but News On 6 did a good job of covering the whole event. Click on the link to read more.

Photo credit

One year later we were all thinking of those who went through this and there was a local news crew who was covering the year anniversary. The wind picked up and the sky was green. I started worrying when the wind picked up and was blowing branches and other objects against the side of the house. Matt was heading into town and as it picked up he was going over an interstate bridge. It picked his truck up and floated him to the other side of the road. It blew over with no damage in our town but in a local town the tower for the TV station had been blown over. It was the news station that was covering the anniversary. They had gone off the air 8 minutes before and luckily there was no one inside the building. The tower crashed onto the new station and a house next door. Luckily no one was injured. The news station was off the air for a few months repairing the tower and the building. But just like every other situation, we bounced back and are going strong.

But one has to wonder what May 2010 might bring for us.... Lets hope that it is nothing like the previous two years...

I am getting deep into school and it is stressing me. But I will persevere. I will make it through. I have been doing homework and watching the weather in Oklahoma. It is snowing one day, sunny the next, ice and freezing rain the next and then sun again for a couple of days. Tomorrow is one of the days that we are supposed to get rain and snow. It is making us one muddy mess. My car looks like it has been off-roading, when all I have been doing is driving down a dirt road!

I got my hubby's valentines day gift. I found 4 plastic (but BPA free) bottles that held 32 ounces for $19. So I got a set for myself too! They have straws and not screw-off lids so we will see which I like better.

Taxes are done and school helped us out quite a bit this year. I am still not understanding how they felt the "stimulus" that they gave us through not taking out as much federal tax is going to help us. We withheld extra, knowing what was coming and I am so glad that we did. Talking to the CPA yesterday we discussed the very upset people that found out they owed instead of getting money back like they normally do. I guess it stimulated their pocket for a little bit but now they are back in the same place they started out - having no money. But the government will gladly take the interest and penalties that they have caused the public....

Okay, I am off my soap box now! Hope that you have a great day and that all is well with your family!!!

Snow storm January 2010

Living here in Oklahoma we know that the weather can change every five minutes. And we are used to it changing every five minutes. But waiting on the weather is something that we aren't used to at all. So when it said that we were going to get sleet, snow and ice in large proportions we were ready. We had already gone and stocked up on all the essentials (toilet paper, water, candles, birth control, bread, little propane bottles, matches, and anything else that we need or think that we might need) and then we waited, waited, waited and waited..... When I finally went to bed at 10 it was just starting. We were stick in a little keyhole area and didn't get anything when we should have. I tweeted and read blogs to know what was going on in Tulsa with Tasha and in southern Oklahoma with Elizabeth and then tweeted with Kristen who has known me forever. I heard the first two talking about what they were getting and Kristen talking about what her sister was getting but still sat just waiting.... so at 10 last night it started!!!

This morning there was a little bit of sleet that was sticking and then it started snowing and it hasn't stopped snowing since! It is so beautiful but people aren't realizing that it is a wet snow and are sliding all over. Luckily I am inside and able to watch all the crazy people out driving but we will be out in them before long. Thankfully I am not the one who will be driving, I have little patience. I will work tomorrow and then bundle up and get ready to stay inside doing homework and just spending some time at home. As long as we doing lose power I will be fine. I really would like to have the TV on and be able to be on the Internet. But it we do lose power I will gas up the generator and make the hard decision - TV or Internet.... I am sure the TV and the dvr will win!

Vet time again & Potato Soup in a Jar

My in-laws have that cute schnauzer, Lilly, and it is time for her to get fixed, get her rabies shot and all that good stuff. She has an appointment on January 18th (since I am off work and can watch her). I am so worried about another rabies incident like what Sasha had. It has just made me a bit more cautious about how they react and what we give them.

My poor dogs probably think that they are being abused by all the fresh stuff we give them. They don't even get treats anymore. We give them fresh carrots, avocados, apples, frozen green beans. They will eat just about anything that we give them and it is much healthier for them. They don't get onions or grapes since it is bad for their system. Roxy was weighing almost 85 pounds. We were having issues with ear infections and she was going to the vet every two and a half weeks. I think that we have them under control now (with extra meds at home in case!) but now we started hitting it hard with the weight loss. We cut her food back to one rounded measuring cup in the morning and one at night with carrots and all that yummy stuff in between. She is losing the weight!

It is hard to look at the amounts but when we take into consideration that Roxy is much less active than Sasha she does need less food but it is still hard when you measure it out. Sasha gets a total of two-thirds of a cup a day at 11 pounds and Roxy gets 2 1/4 cups a day and she is now weighing 78 pounds. She has lost 7 pounds so far and it is showing. She is looking good! She goes into the vet for her normal check up in March and they will do her rabies shot then. My goal is to have her down to the 75 pounds that the vet is recommending!

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Speaking of losing weight the holidays always get to me and I seem to gain. I love the food and atmosphere of Christmas. Loving this causes me to eat more, which causes me to gain weight. Now I am back to my watching my portions again and cutting some carbs out. I am refusing to cut all carbs out just because I love them. We are just going to start eating healthier. My biggest obstacle will be having two nights a week that I will leave the day job, get on the turnpike and drive, start class at 7:20 and then hit the road some time after 10, thus not getting home until almost midnight. I ate at the cafe on campus some last semester but it got me BAD.... I would go in thinking that I was only going to get a burger, then I would see some fries, or I would see the personal pizzas that were actually more the size of a small pizza and I would lose it and over eat. I am trying to start planning now what I can take. I am a huge potato soup fan and found a recipe that is convenient and tastes good.

Potato Soup Mix in a Jar
1 3/4 cups instant mashed potatoes
1 1/2 cups dried milk
2 tablespoons instant chicken bouillon
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix well. Put ingredients in a 1-quart jar. Mix 1/2 cup of mix with 1 cup boiling water and stir until smooth.

This is one of those things that I can keep in the car and mix up a small amount to eat before class or even during class. Any other ideas that could help me with easy to make meals that can be taken to school????

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We have had over 14 inches on snow since Christmas Eve and I am enjoying it, I just hope it doesn't snow like this when I am having to drive my hour and a half to and from school. This has been the first year in a long time that I have just really enjoyed the snow and what it looks like around us.

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AJ went for a two week check up and she weighs 7 pounds 2 ounces now and is 20.75 inches long. She is growing so much!!! I have been taking care of the hubby who has been sick so I haven't gotten to see her since Christmas!!! I am going through withdrawal. I can't wait until Matt is feeling better so that I can go hold her.

new banner

My new picture for the top of the post was taken Christmas morning by my wonderful father-in-law! We woke up to about 10 inches of snow and drifts from the 10 inches to 5 foot in places. We had fun driving around, going to the places that were on our list. We saw many cars who were in the ditches. Luckily no one was hurt. L and B loved the fact that we woke up to know on Christmas. We played in it yesterday and had so much fun! Once again, thanks to my father-in-law!!!!

Christmas Blizzard 2009

The beautiful front yard!!
Pure, untouched snow.

Sasha trying to decide if she is liking it.

Roxy getting ready to take off running.

Last night being Christmas eve we were back and forth between family and the snow didn’t stop us!!! We were at my in-laws and L comes up to me and says “Ya Ya, I need your help.” She takes me by the hand and leads me back to the play room. She said “Ya Ya, I need you to get two cots for you and Matt to sleep on.” I cracked up laughing and tried to explain to her that we were sleeping on the blowup mattress and that we would get it out in a little bit. We needed to run home to let our dogs out so we were getting ready to leave and I crouched down and told her that we were running to our house and we would be back but she needed to go ahead and go to bed so that Santa could come. She grabbed onto my hands and said “But Ya Ya!!!! You and Matt have to sleep here so I can come and get you up!” I told her that we would be back and explained that Roxy and Sasha needed to get out and go potty. She understood that then and let us run home so we ventured out into the blizzard.

Blizzard was an understatement. We live 3 ¼ miles from one set of in-laws. It took us a full 10 minutes to get home and getting back was worse. Matt couldn’t see the road so we were “team driving” I could see where the snow was blowing and gathering at the side so I was telling him how close he was to the edge and that is how we got back. We were glad that we were somewhere to stay so we broke open the hard apple cider that I had bought at the liquor store and got started putting stuff together. L got a doll house, dolls and B got a trike, a talking Thomas the train and a table that was a road to drive cars on.

L left a note for Santa : Reindeer love carrots and Santa loves cookies and milk. She left cookies, milk, a bowl of carrots and a bowl of water. (She said that the reindeer needed something to drink.) Santa replied: L, thank you so much for the cookies and milk. The reindeer liked the carrots and needed a drink. Santa.

We spent the night there and at 5 o’clock this morning our bedroom door was flung open and we heard “Matt, Ya Ya, Santa was here!!!!” So we got up and went to look and see what Santa brought (speaking of, my fingers are still hurting from pushing all those brads in!!! ) and then got down to the business of opening gifts. B opened one gift that was an Old Navy zip up hoodie and when his mom asked him if he liked it he was quick to answer no, shaking his head. Matt’s dad made the most wonderful French toast and then we plowed our way home. As soon as the girls got outside Roxy ran around loving the snow and Sasha wanted to run right back inside. They did play a little and enjoyed the snow and now we are sitting in the warm house, enjoying the time to rest. I just made rolls (they rose last night) and am getting ready to start stitching for a little bit! Merry Christmas everyone!

Blizzard Warning??????

I just got a text from the weather channel and we are under a blizzard warning. In Oklahoma.... A blizzard warning.... What in the world?????? It is raining pretty heavy here but not snowing or sleeting yet. Hope that you all have a great day and a safe day.

I am sitting here watching Julie & Julia and it is such a great movie. I am loving it so much!!! I love to cook and this is inspiring me. But getting Matt to eat some of this stuff might be hard! But you never know!

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Whew......

Today I went to lunch at 1 and felt this stuff coming out of the sky..... but it was harder than rain. Didn't think much of it and ran to eat Charlie's Chicken for Matt's birthday and when we came out it was crazy... It was actually snowing!

Now in Oklahoma it can be called the first official snow as long as there are more than 10 snowflakes. And we had quite a bit more than that. For a few minutes we had quarter size snow flakes falling and they looked so beautiful.

We are running around to all the area casinos for Matt's birthday. So I am hoping that the rain/snow won't be coming down tonight and we can get this done! We always have fun and he always does good.

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I have finished my two week thematic unit, written a five page book review over a Spanish book, am getting ready to teach a 45 minute lesson tomorrow night and am working on finishing an annotated bibliography with 16 sources... WHEW!!!!!!

I have two and a half weeks left of class and you have no idea how excited I am for that. Next semester is going to be even rougher but I have a wonderful husband who is learning to be patient with me. I over heard him saying to someone "it really has been a stressful semester for her but she is handling it really well." It made me feel good to hear him say that. Although he teases me and calls me a *career student* I know that he supports me in what I am doing.

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I haven't gotten to go hunting since I have been spending all of my time doing the assignments above but Matt has been going. He really hasn't seen much. We have one more weekend of rifle season and this may be the first season that neither him or his grandpa get to shoot something down on that land. They have seen a few but are trying to build up the population so it has been hard to decide what to shoot. We have 3 deer in the freezer so that will be enough for us but it could be close still. I am getting ready to make a bunch of deer chili and freeze it so we have easy access when we are wanting some!

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Matt has been swearing that AJ was going to come on his birthday. but I don't think that she will be coming. It will be close to his birthday so that will have to do!

Hope that we do good tonight!!!

fall in oklahoma

Our first frost of the fall

Such beautiful colors

Deer Hunting

It is a nice drizzly day and it made think that I should update you on our hunts so far. Matt has seen quite a few but I had the stomach junk so I didn't get to go out this last weekend but I am planning on going out this weekend. It is the opening of muzzle loader season so I will have to wear orange to the stand but that is okay. I will have a blast still. We have some friends who have gotten deer. One friend in particular already has 3 so they are moving, we just aren't catching them at the right times yet. But we will! Happy hunting to all!

Hello everyone!

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything much and I will do better. We have been crazy busy around our house. Matt's grandfather was put in a nursing home on one side of the family and his great-grandmother that he/we have taken care of for around 10 years fell about three weeks ago and lay in the floor overnight. It has been a big mess, but long story short she is in a nursing home so we are going to see her quite often so I will ask forgiveness once again! I will do better.

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I planted 5 cucumber seeds this year thinking that I would be lucky to have 2 come up. Guess how many came up????? ALL FIVE!!! I will have tons of cucumbers this year but that is okay! I am excited about having some fresh veggies to eat. I also have corn, sweet peppers, bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and some carrots thrown into the mix. I am thinking that I won't be doing the carrots next year or the lettuce or corn but some squash sure sounds good. I have gotten Matt to try it for the first time last year and now he loves it! So I guess that is something that I will have to plant next year. I am trying to figure out what to plant so any ideas would be wonderful!

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It is hot around here. It is about 100 degrees!!!! This is way earlier than normal for it to get hot. We have been watering the garden constantly. It will pay off in the end.

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I know that you probably get tired of hearing about my girls but Sasha the miniature schnauzer is such a doll. We have been having a mouse problem. The more that I talk to people I realize that it isn't just us, that it is everyone around this area. So a week and a half ago I decided to shampoo the carpets. Sasha had been going crazy over the couch and I soon found out why..... The mice had a trail that they ran and it was right under the couch. I flipped out and finally got Matt to tweak and set the traps that we had bought. We caught two within the first couple of hours and then one a day for the next few days. We are now up to 13 on our war against mice. But we have only caught 8, Sasha has caught the other five. Matt saw one had ran behind the cd case stand. He moved it and she ran in for the kill. Later that night Matt got up and Sasha had left a present for us in the middle of the kitchen floor..... A dead mouse. The last four that we have caught are babies, no longer than a inch and a half. I believe that everything is here for a reason but I don't like mice living in my house..... It is MY HOUSE!!!! I share it with my husband and two dogs, not mice. So we will get this problem taken care of!

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I have been cooking with the crock pot quite a bit and I am thinking about taking a deer roast and slow cooking it all day and then pulling it apart and putting barbecue sauce and some liquid smoke, among other things, in it for sandwiches. Anyone else tried this? We try to find different ways to cook everything. Last night Matt made some steaks that he battered and fried but my stomach was in knots the last couple of days and was getting better last night but I didn't want to risk it so I will have them tonight. One of the girls here is talking about potato soup and I know it is summer but it sounds soooo good!

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I just got a phone call from the hospital where my mom was at during her fight with breast cancer and I have found out a few promising things. My dad isn't signing the release of information so I can have the records.... I am very very hurt and irritated but this. It is nothing that will hurt him and something that will only help me. he has had the paperwork for almost 6 weeks and still has done nothing. I am about to scream. He says that I should have it by the end of the week. If this doesn't go through then I will have to sign an affidavit and the records can be sent to the doctors office who is doing the testing but the issue with that is that I will see him one time and one time only. I am just hoping that my dad will send the stuff to me so I don't have to go the other route.

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To end on the upside I am getting off early today so I am going home to start moving things and rearranging how they are in the bedrooms. I may have to try and take some before and after pictures. We don't have closets, but we have shelves and places to hang things so it is interesting! I am betting that in the extra room I will find some little mice who have made a home in there! Hope your day is great!!

April showers bring May flowers.... or showers again??????

May 10th was the one year anniversary of the tornado that hit Picher. Friday (May 8th) we had been watching the coverage on the news and we knew that there was another storm coming in. Matt goes in a little early on Fridays so I get a phone call from him saying that I needed to leave a little earlier than I had planned. The wind was blowing and had picked his truck up and "floated" him to the other lane. I started getting around and the electricity flashed. I didn't think much about it since it came back on and then a couple minutes later the wind picked up something severe!!! It sounded like hail was hitting the house but it was the little bitty pieces of branches that were being blown from the tree line. Later we were told that the wind was blowing between 85-110 MPH. I was getting around when the electricity went out and stayed out so I lit some of the lamps and got ready to leave. The girls weren't happy and were pacing around so I watched them and once they calmed down I put them in their kennels and went on to work. There was tons of water and the wind was still blowing but not as bad. The rain was coming down and the highway was very dangerous. I didn't see what had happened then since I was so focused on the road but there were 5 poles broken, all laying towards the east. We were without electricity from Friday morning until about 9 pm sunday but when we were home we gassed the generator up and plugged in the neccessities - fridge, freezer, TV, satellite, a few lights and a fan! I am just thankful that there wasn't more damage and that we were only out for a short amount of time! This weather in Oklahoma is crazy this time of year!

January 2009 snow

2009 snow and ice...

oklahoma snow storm

So Oklahoma has been under a "winter weather watch". I knew that tonight was going to get bad, I just didn't think it would happen so quick. It started misting around 1:30 and by 3:30 it was icy, icy, icy. The bank closed at 4 so we got to go home an hour early. We are now cooking hamburgers and french fries (I have been craving them for a week) and are going to play Wii. There is ice already and they are calling for 1/2 inch of freezing rain and 3 inches of sleet. Everyone has been saying that we have had a nice winter but when we cut a persimmon seed in half it was a spoon. Which means lots of snow!!!! So now Old Man Winter is just now realizing and trying to catch up on his "snow"!!! So we are going to huddle in for a night of food and fun!!!!

The other nice thing is that I was supposed to have my first Monday night class tonight and I was stressed about driving. My father in law is in law enforcement and normally tells me that it is fine to drive but tonight he was telling my husband that their was no way that I could drive on the turnpike. By 3 today there had already been multiple wrecks on bridges and side roads. I was keeping in touch with my instructor and she told me that if it was too icy not to come. As I was typing my response back she sent and email that NSU canceled classes!!! I don't have to use one of my absences tonight!!! Yay!!!!!

finals week

This week has been finals week as well as the first real snow of the winter. So Monday night my final was cancelled.... I was hoping that the same result would happen on Tuesday. No such luck. I drove to BA and found the campus to be one solid sheet of ice. But I was there and I was going to take my finals!!! So I too, two finals in two hours ( a record time for me!!! ) and headed home. I drove much slower than normal and got home in a decent time. I am glad that I am done with finals for the next 3 1/2 weeks. I am going to read, read, read and stitch, stitch, stitch.... The first book I am going to read is "Twilight". Lets see how it goes.....