Thunder Up!

Jack and I went one first round playoff game, Thunder vs. Mavericks.  My employer has a lottery that you can put your name into to receive tickets. We were so happy to get to go to a game and we absolutely loved our seats.

"Team is Community" Shirts.

Yup, that's pretty close.

We were (apparently) on TV as they panned they crowd. Also, we made an appearance on the Kiss Cam. Maybe I added that to my bucket list so I could cross it off...

The Thunder swept the Mavs in this series and went on to play in the Finals. Unfortunately, we lost to the Heat, but we (and the entire city) are so proud of the team!!

Thunder Up!
-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

Fun work event!

I work for a pretty awesome company in Oklahoma City. My CEO has connections. Last Friday, work hosted an event for Rob Lowe - yup, the movie star. He was in town for an event with a local hospital. He talked about his book (which I bought and heard it is hilariously funny). He has a pretty awesome story and I learned we share a birthday.

My CEO got him to say Boomer Sooner. and he left with Thunder jersey. and has a 60 foot crew racing boat named for him.

I'm hoping to start his book today, after I get some chores done... and maybe take a sunday napper.
-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

Wedding Season!

It's official! Wedding season is here - Cara and Cole are Mr and Mrs!! Our season started with a bang in Dallas celebrating my friend Cara's last week as a miss!

Sweet Laura came from DC for the weekend. I miss this girl.

The guy making Cara blush.

It was a quick trip to Dallas, but it was lots of fun. The very next weekend, we celebrated her wedding and  marriage! It was so fun seeing kappa friends. As I get older, I appreciate my kappa days more and more. The wedding was perfect; Congrats Cara and Cole!

Simply beautiful.

I love seeing this name.

Such a fun night!

We had loads of fun. We continued the celebration on Campus Corner. As we were leaving, I run into my favorite grandlittle, Melissa. This girls rules and totally makes my day when I see her. She currently lives in LA making her dreams come true.

I must preface, this picture was taken well into the evening. Mel - you look beautiful.

I was spoiled again by seeing her at church the next morning. I love running into friends randomly.

-J&K

Royal Wedding

Along with millions of others, I got up at 4:45am to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton. I am so glad I did. It was so spectacular. I have found myself very intrigued with the history of the monarchy this past month. I can rattle off several facts about various members of the family. I even feel like I was at Prince Charles and Diana's wedding; I have seen footage of their wedding all week and watched some pop-up video like show on their wedding. I wasn't there. Not even close.

I was negative 6 when you two married.

I absolutely loved the Bishop of London's sermon at this royal wedding.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope. 
In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

If you missed the sermon - you can read it here

I feel like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are my friends. Does anyone else feel that way, or is it just me? Probably just me.

I'll mail you two a Christmas card!

All of this has made me want to visit England and buy a fancy hat.

Beautiful day. I'm still partial to mine:

-Jack and Kayla

PS. I am re-watching the coverage again. I love DVR.

Spring Break - for Grown Ups

It's our 100th blog post and I can't imagine a better post to celebrate! Last week was "spring break" (which doesn't have the same meaning in the real world) and my birthday week (which does have the same meaning in the real world)! Here are some pictures from Birthday Week!

I made Green Velvet Cupcakes for St Patricks Day!

Yummy!

Never have I ever had a green cupcake!

Delicious Green Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing!

 On Wednesday, our Small Group theme was Green Food!

Green Angel Food Cake

Green Apples, Broccoli, Shepherd's Pie, Pesto Pasta

And a cookie cake to top of the night!

On Thursday, Jack woke up early and made Green French Toast! He calls it "Swamp Toast".

Definitely odd; Definitely delicious! 

Duncan celebrated by ripping up his bed to find the green stuffing.

No need to fear, I stitched that baby back up.

He didn't want to get pinched on St Patrick's Day!

We took the afternoon off work to celebrate my birthday in Norman. First Stop - O'Connell's!

Green Beer is a must.

My third year to celebrate with a green beer. I missed last year.

And what do you know - they had a shot called "Mexican Leprechaun". Perfect description of myself.

 Second Stop - The Mont! It was the warmest birthday I can remember, so we enjoyed sitting on the patio!

Home of the Original Sooner Swirl. Yummmmm.

We spent some time walking around the duck pond, trying to identify all the birds and ducks. We both hadn't been to the duck pond since about 5th grade.

We met my parents and Jack's parents at Victoria's Pasta Shop for dinner. We love this restaurant! It was great to see our parents and spend time with them.

On our way back home, we stopped at the lighthouse on Lake Hefner.

So Festive for St. Patrick's Day!

It was really windy.

I wish those people weren't sitting there; they are blocking the sunset!

 Once we got home, we enjoyed some Birthday Cookie!

We have way too many sweets in our kitchen.

My co-worker and I ordered a joint birthday cake. Our birthdays are one week a part and we thought we should split an Amy's Cake birthday cake.... so we did.

It turned out super cute! We plan on cutting it in half, each getting our respective side.

Red Velvet.

 The week came to end with the Super Moon; it was a sight to see!

I hope you got a chance to see it in person. It looked awesome.

We wanted Duncan to see it, so we leashed him up. He doesn't even know what the moon is.

I think Birthday Week/Spring Break was the best! We had so much fun with our friends and family over this week. Happy Birthday to me!

Today marks the first day of spring, which I like to call allergy season. I hope you Spring Break and St Patrick's Day was fun. 

Love,

Jack and Kayla

P.S. Now that we are homeowners, we care about our yard. I asked for a weed puller for my birthday. Odd gift? Yes. It rules.

Check out the root on that baby!

Small Group Excitement!

We have some exciting events with our small group!

In addition to us buying a house and moving, we have had two engagements and one baby on the way!!

Lea and Jake & Brittany and Shawn are busy planning a wedding (see the engagement ring?!)

Abby and Micah - parents to be!

I wonder what 2011 will bring us!
-Jack and Kayla