Robber's Cave

Camping – it had been awhile since I subjected myself to the outdoors. So before it got unbearably hot, we headed out on a camping trip we were invited on by a few of the girls in my new bible study (Emily and Rachel).
I was so surprised they extended the invitation – they hardly knew me, yet we subjecting themselves to 3 days of no escape from us. I got to meet a bunch of their friends as well – they were all very nice. We loaded up and headed out to Robber’s Cave in Oklahoma - on the ride down, I think I filled my country music quota for the year.

I was excited, because I used to camp there all the time as a little kid, and it had been a while since I had been back. Once there, we pitched our tents right at the edge of the lake (right on that spit of land in the picture) and settled in. It turned out that my ‘little tent’ was actually huge, so David and I traded with someone else for their smaller tent, which was indeed tiny. So, David and I had the marital hut in between the boy’s and girl’s tents.


We had a great time, doing all expected camping activities – lots of hiking, visiting the caves, swimming in the lake, more hiking, campfire games, smores, stargazing, etc.
There were many memorable moments – oddly enough, usually involving a guy named Josh – that’s a picture of him relaxing in his chair with a beer in the lake. I have never seen one guy eat so much – and usually he was eating (and promoting) this bar thing that weighed like 5 pounds – he said it was like ‘a whole compressed loaf of bread.” We heard about that a lot. There were also sling-shooting rocks across the lake, eating out of a modified Ozarka bottle, washing his hair in the lake – Josh is an interesting guy to be around. I had a great time getting to know the girls better, and just making new friends. I think the best bonding moment came out of a game of Farkle. For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a dice gambling game – expect instead of money, before the game starts we all thought of something embarrassing for the loser to do. In this case, Amanda had decided to bring along her cow suit – I’m guessing for this opportunity. Luckily, I did not end up in the cow suit, but I did lose in the 2nd round, so I got to be a farmer. Joy. So, the last day of our trip saw Dave in a hillbilly grocery store, wandering around with a headlamp on, asking unsuspecting shoppers to “Take me to your leader”, after which I get to run in and frantically accost people, asking for my cow’s whereabouts. I had to describe him, using the word “teats” at least once. What was most hilarious were the reactions – everyone was really helpful, seriously pointing out the direction he had gone. Ah, idiocy - at least it makes for a fun memory.

Our First Anniversary

Our First Anniversary! It hardly seems like a year - and what a wonderful year it was. I'm living with a boy! It was a bit of an adjustment, but not much of one - David is an excellent roommate and husband.

I came home from work, and David had cleaned the house, and gone out and bought tons of flowers - there were bouquets everywhere. On the tables, in tiny vases on the wall, my dresser... it was really cute. Then he got me tons of gourmet chocolate (he secretly wants me fat - he brought me tons of chocolates from Belgium one time too.) and some clothes from Banana Republic. The we headed out to the Pyramid Grill downtown - it was fantastic. I strongly recommend going there and trying all their appetizers and desserts. While we were there, David surprised me with another gift... a pair of loose black pearls he had sneaked off to get in Tahiti (they are known for them there) while we were there on our honeymoon. I think I am going to make them into earrings, but I haven't decided yet. It was all very exciting.

We had a nice night, and are looking forward to another great year.

David's Birthday Suprise

David’s birthday this year happened to coincide with his brother John’s graduation from DTS, which was great, because it meant his whole family was in town for the event. Friday night mom and Lew graciously took us out to a great dinner at St. Martin’s – they have this champagne and brie soup that is out of this world. I know it sounds weird, but you should try it. Anyway, they brought his present, of course – however, it was a kayak, so that took a little doing – especially getting through all of the security it take to get to our apartment.



Lew bravely put the car he loves in danger to avoid suspicion. So when David opened the front door, he was surprise to see a sign that said happy birthday strung across the hallway outside out apt, along with balloons, streamers, and a completely wrapped kayak. I could kick myself for not taking a picture. His mom was there as well, and came to dinner with us.
His mom was trying to capture the moment on film in the restaurant, much to her son’s embarrassment. It was wonderful – I think she’s cute, but David had apparently been in the situation quite a few times and it was his mom, and it’s so embarrassing – it made me smile. There are little 13 year olds in all of us – it seems our parents usually bring them out. We had a lovely time, and David had birthday dinner #2 when my dad came up to celebrate with us as well. Thanks to my parents who were so amazingly generous David was actually speechless, which is not something that happens too often.



This picture is of the inaugural kayak use, and Lily was there to supervise, of course. She was none to happy when David suddenly got in this giant banana and took off where she couldn’t follow. I thought she was going to drown trying to reach him. He really enjoyed the quietness of going out on the lake – just one more reason why we love the area we are in.

Bible Study

My old bible study leader and husband-finder, Katrina, called me up one day and invited me to join a bible study she was leading. Glad to have some fellowship again, I started going on Tuesday nights. What a fun group of girls! It felt so good to be in the word again, which had lapsed in absence of a church home. There’s Katrina, who was my first bible study leader, and her co-lead, Alison. Andie has this great energy and is so easy to talk to – just don’t get her started on basketball. She loves it and Long John Silvers equally. Emily is in an eternal good mood, and very encouraging – she also works with Andie at Neiman’s. Rachel actually was in college with David, and she is an accountant at KPMG. She and I have a lot in common, and we started meeting every Sunday evening at Barnes and Noble, usually until they took our chairs away. I really enjoyed our talks – it is fun speaking with someone who can relate to the reasons behind what you do. Alana and Kristin joined our group later – Alana is a dental student, and Kristin just moved up from College Station. Let’s not forget Carsen, our honorary group member, and Katrina’s new baby. On the same vein, Alison's new kitten, Chester, is our mascot. We play a lot of the 'Try to Attack Carsen' game. They’re a great group, who are open and honest with each other, and I am really looking forward to hanging out and growing with them for as long as they’ll have me.