Yard Work

On one of the hottest days this summer (I'm talking like 115 degrees), we decided to get some top soil dumped on our driveway. The things we do for our grass.

Jack using the Medina shovel, which has been involved in 30 years of yard work.

big pile of dirt.

I helped Jack where I could, which mainly involved getting fresh watermelon and tons of bottled water outside. Duncan.... did not help.

He snoozed. But he does like the grass is greener and softer than it used to be.

We already noticed a difference in the grass. It may be the greenest on our street. Let's hope it stays green and nourished throughout this drought!

And, let's also hope the pile of dirt isn't a yearly event.
-Jack and Kayla

Jack Graduates!

It's been a few months now, but Jack is done with school! He graduated with his Masters in April. The graduation ceremony included undergraduates and graduates - for the entire college! I'm so proud of Jack for completing! No more late night (or early morning) studying!

Walking in.

Hooded!

Congratulations, Jack, MBA.
-Jack and Kayla

The Jack's

Jack ("My Jack") has a best friend named Jack (Jack R). Jack R was my Jack's best man in our wedding. They lived together at the SigEp house and at the Sycamore house. Jack R will be in Israel for the next year playing football (American football). We are going to miss Jack R! I got a picture of the two before Jack R leaves the country.

The Jack's.

We will miss you Jack R!

-Jack and Kayla

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings

Similar to last summer, we are so lucky to have so many friends getting married this summer. We love attending each wedding to see our friends become man and wife. What a fun, special time their lives - we are so blessed to be celebrating with them!

Our friends Kevin and Katelin kicked off our wedding season with a fantastic wedding in Tulsa. Kevin and Jack lived together in their college house (referred to as The Sycamore House). Jack was one of Kevin's groomsmen, so he headed up to Tulsa for the rehearsal dinner. I met him up there the next day. 

Us.

The Geurkink's and The Boyd's.

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Harper's. We got a few rounds of hide and go seek (Maggie and me versus Henry and Jack) in before we had to make our way back home.

We are so excited Kevin and Katelin are married! We can't wait to see what the future holds for you two!

-Jack and Kayla

Jazz

Jack got me a Kindle for my birthday and I have grown to love Words with Friends. I'm horrible at it. Jack beats me all the time.

Except one time, when I had the best word in the best placement...

Sideways.

JAZZ on a triple letter and triple word. 123 points.

I won that game.

And have lost seven times since.

-Jack and Kayla

Spoons

An Orange Leaf just opened minutes away from our house. We love it. We love that we went several times during their "buy 1 get 1 free" weekend. We love their spoons.

You should love them too.

At least frozen yogurt is a healthy...

When you don't load up on brownies and cookie dough. 

-Jack and Kayla

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's is a tricky holiday for Jack and I. Since our anniversary is the week before, we rather celebrate that than Valentines Day. On actual Valentines, we stayed home (it's a recurring theme) and made pizza! Delicious.

On Wednesday, our small group decided to not meet and have the night as a date night. It worked out great - Jack took me to Rococo's for the first time. It was awesome. I'd imagine the place was packed the night before, but the day after Valentines, not crowded at all. Our meal was delicious and we cannot wait to go back and try more.

We learned Wednesdays are Ladies Night at Rococo's. About half way through our meal, I got a raffle ticket. About five minutes later the raffle began and my ticket was drawn for a prize!  We are the proud owners of a serenity water fountain.

There were four gifts and this one might have been the less useful of them all.

What's hilarious about this serene water fountain is Jack purchased one in college on a spur of the moment trip to Walmart (I know this because I might have encouraged him to get it). His was cool, but somewhere during the packing and unpacking during our move must have done something. We ended up throwing it away about 4 months ago. Luckily, this cordless wonder is now residing in our guest bath.

We must be destined to always have serenity fountains.

It is kind of peaceful.

But, I would have used the Keep it Local OKC card a lot. No fear, I will purchase one soon because they are awesome.

Happy Valentines Day, and every day.
-Jack and Kayla

Second Anniversary

I cannot believe Jack and I have been married for TWO whole years. It's been the best two years ever.

For our anniversary, Jack told his professor he would not be attending class and I am so grateful he skipped class for the occasion. We stayed home and he made the most wonderful meal and we had the most wonderful night.

As I walked into the house after a somewhat long day at work, I heard our favorite songs being played. All the songs reminded me of times in college while we were dating.

Below are some pictures, but they hardly capture the nights' perfection.

First up, Champagne.

The prep station: Steak, Bread and Cheese.

We had cheese fondue for our appetizer.

Jack's Filet with a compound butter mixture on top. Jack is so talented.

My steak (butterflied) cooked to perfection.

Dessert - cookie cake. Perfect.

Jack surprised me with this ring holder! I love it!

We had such a wonderful meal. It was so awesome to spend our anniversary at home - everything we used was a wedding gift from someone and it meant that much more to us. After dinner, we watched some of our wedding video and just had a blast reliving that day. What a special anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Jack.

Duncan Dog was crated most of the night, but he knew something special was going on. 

 To many, many more anniversaries.
-Jack and Kayla

Family Photo

I would like this picture to be on the top of the blog, but I can't seem to figure out how to change pictures. I managed to delete the old picture, but now I can't add a new one. I'll figure it out.

-Jack and Kayla (and Duncan Dog!)

Long Day

I had a pretty hectic work week, which included driving to Waynoka for onsite training. It was a long day to say the least, but I came home to Duncan (Jack had class) and we decided to lay on the couch and rest. 

Little did I know, Jack thought the same thing.

A strategically placed blanket, pillows, and remotes for an evening of relaxing.

Thanks Jack! You are the best!

-Jack and Kayla

Earthquakes?!

We woke up Saturday morning to learn there was an earthquake in the middle of night that woke some people up.

We slept through it.

I was kind of bummed. I have never felt an earthquake and really wanted to. So, I made sure I placed it on my imaginary bucket list.

I got to cross "Feel an earthquake" shortly after.

Saturday was a normal gameday in Norman. We tailgated, we watched the Sooners win, we drove home. Jack stayed up to watch the LSU/Bama game and the OSU/KState game. I feel asleep on the couch. I woke up a tad bit angry that I had fallen asleep on the couch, so I ran into the bed room to get in bed only to find clean clothes on the bed.

Darn, I knew I should have put those away earlier.

So, still tad bit angry, I started hanging the clothes up in their rightful place in the closet. Jack was getting ready for bed. And it began.

I remember hearing something first. I thought it was in the garage or possibly the dryer. I knew nothing could make that noise in the garage and the dryer had t-shirts, not shoes, in the there. I asked Jack "what is that noise?". As soon as I said that, we could hear the rattling of the house. We saw my hanging clothes and empty hangers sway back and forth. We felt the ground beneath us become not so study. We froze. We didn't take cover in the door frame. My heart might have missed a beat. It was definitely pounding out of my chest.

Hindsight, we have no idea how long it lasted. We think about 10 seconds; I've heard others say 45 seconds. Either way, we felt an earthquake..... then got on facebook to see what our friends were saying about their earthquake experience. True Okie style, right? It did register at a 5.6 - the largest in Oklahoma History.

Those are all the earthquakes the past weekend in this great state. the largest yellow was the one felt by many.

We haven't seen any damage done to the house. No cracks and no shifting of items.

Then, if you look above you'll see the blue box. The second earthquake I felt. This one occurred during a severe weather warning with horrible wind and rain. I thought this earthquake might have been the wind since I didn't feel the ground shake per se; I heard rattling more so in parts of the house. Jack was in class and he felt it too. There was a tornado in the southwest part of the state earlier and I think it's suppose to freeze later this week?

If Oklahoma had a resume, I think it would look like this:
2011 - Coldest Day Ever for Oklahoma
2011 - Biggest Snow Fall Amount Ever
2011 - Largest Hail Ever
2011 - Hottest July Ever
2011 - EF5 Tornadoes
2011- Largest Earthquake for Oklahoma

I'm sure our state has other accomplishments to place on here.
I think Will Rogers quote couldn't have been more true.
-Jack and Kayla

Date Night

With our busy schedules, we try to keep Fridays to ourselves to enjoy some good food, whether that's eating out or cooking ourselves.

Since the burn ban was lifted, Jack bought some firewood and we had ourselves a fire!

First, our great food. 

We tried a new way to make potatoes. Crispy, yet soft.

Mmmm. Steaks.

 Our fire. It was our first fire of Fall and our first time to really utilize our patio furniture.

  Who doesn't love a nice Oklahoma evening, next to a fire with a glass of wine?

Duncan doesn't. He managed to get his toy on the other side of the fence. Jack jumped the fence to rescue the toy.

We hope for many more nights like these.

Fall is fun, unless my allergies say otherwise.
-Jack and Kayla

end of an era

Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Ginny, Fred, George, The Fat Lady, Hedwig, Buckbeak, The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and He-who-must-not-be-named, and slew of others,

Thanks for an amazing 10 years of magic.
Thanks for showing us how to overcome dark forces.
Thanks for showing us the power of love and friendship.
Thanks for making us laugh and cry.

It seems we have all grown up together. Now that the end has come, we don't have to settle on being grown ups. We have books, movies, and soon pottermore.com to continue reliving this journey.

Thanks to the movie theatres for having midnight showings.
Thanks to those who went to midnight showings with me (my mom for Order of the Phoenix, a slew of kappas for Half Blood Prince, and Jack for Deathly Hallows, part 2).
Thanks to Jack, who saw this last one with me, who has been part of this journey.
Thanks to my in laws for letting us kids got to Hogwarts in Orlando to be a part of the magic.

While the books and movies may be over, Harry Potter and his friends will live on (as I am planning on seeing the last movie at least two more times and have a plan to re-read all the books).

"The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

It's the end of era.
-Jack and Kayla

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack turned 24 this month and I had planned a surprise for him! Those that know me best know there's another Jack in both of our lives.

Jack Bauer.

I thought it would be only fitting since Jack turned 24 to make him the star of 24 the show. Those that know us really well knows the importance of 24 in the beginning of our relationship.

24 - Seasons 1-3

24 Season 4 - 6

24 Season 7 - 8

Jack woke up to seeing these work of arts and to some cinnamon rolls.

I had his birthday off, so I started a baking a cake for him. I was nervous the whole time since I wasn't sure it was going to turn out good. But it didn't turn out too horrible.

It looks like an oreo cake,but it's chocolate with chocolate buttercream filling.

With white buttercream all over.

Since I wasn't confident in this cake, I had a back up plan.

Oh, you delicious cookie cake.

Once Jack got off work, we headed to dinner! We definitely got our steak fix in; we were full!

Yup, that is Jack's 22 oz bone in ribeye.

My wonderful, filet. Perfectly cooked. Perfectly seasoned.

Hello, chocolate molten cake.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Make a wish!

He loved celebrating his birthday with his sister, brother in law, parents and grandparents. We had a great time!

The sunset was beautiful that night, even as storms were brewing.

Happy Birthday Jack! I can't wait to see what this year brings you! Duncan and I love you!
-J&K