Goodbye, Old Friend

Today I say goodbye to an old friend. A friend who served me well and got me through good times and bad. She saw so many chapters of my life and helped shape who I am today. Since I was 17, she has given me an invaluable gift: Freedom.

Who is this friend, you may ask? A 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 in Stellar Blue Pearl with a gold package, which I lovingly refer to as The Runner. 

Here are a few photos of The Runner over the years....

Oklahoma snow during my Freshman year of College

Hanging out with my cousins, Donovan and Drew, Summer 2002

I did it! I graduated! Now to add an OU Alumni tag holder to The Runner!

The Runner has done a LOT of traveling. She's seen the Las Vegas Strip, the Colorado Rockies, Bourbon Street in New Orleans and everywhere in between. I sometimes wonder if she couldn't navigate I-35 on her own and I could just take a nap in the backseat....

One of many road trips. This pic was taken in Austin after driving down from Norman.

Winter weather: not The Runner's favorite, but she' performs well in it.

My inability to sit upright in my wedding dress meant I got the backseat to myself!

There's been some impostors over the years...

A purple "Surf" in Japan

Spotted in Baton Rouge before an LSU game. A very appropriate vehicle for an LSU fan.
(You know it's not mine because it doesn't have the silver tire flares!)

It's transported us to countless races. This is Sarah, Ellie and I before the Mission 10K, April 2011.

The Runner was broken into back in May of 2011. They stole my GPS and all my CDs. The joke was on them as half the CDs were one's I'd burned (no value) and the other half were from 2003 or earlier. 

In 2012 she sported an OU Texas plate! Oh, the irony!

So today, after over 12 years and 162,000 miles together, she'll be traded in for a new vehicle (more to come on that!). Who knows what will come of her. I do hope that she winds up with another adventurous girl so that The Runner can give her the same gift she gave me.

Freedom.

Boomer Sooner Homecoming!

Way back in the spring, it was looking like we weren't going to be in Texas past Summer of 2013. Not knowing where we might land, I figured 2012 was really my last chance to go to an OU football game from within driving distance. (Turns out I was right!) So I told Mike I would be planning an OU football weekend. If he wanted to plan a trip to see the LSU Tigers play, I'd be on board completely, but I wanted to see the Sooners play on Owen Field this year!

Shortly after making this declaration, a friend mentioned on Facebook that he was selling two tickets to EVERY HOME GAME this season. I was ecstatic. I went to the OU Football schedule and strategically chose the OU/KU game on October 20th. It was Homecoming, 3 days after my birthday and since I'm from Kansas I have a special place in my heart for KU (even when OU is crushing them!). It was the obvious choice. So I mailed a check and a few days later, these bad boys were in our mailbox!

Hello, Beautiful!

We got in on the Friday night before the game on Saturday. Mike and I love a little pasta shop on Campus Corner called Victoria's. They have homemade pasta and their food is amazing. It's exactly what you'd expect from a small pasta shop in a college town: limited seating on a Friday night, grungy hipster servers, and amazing food!

We sat above the kitchen so we could watch them prepare our meals!

I decided there should be a birthday celebration at The Mont, a local establishment specializing in Swirls (frozen mix of margarita and sangria) and awarding drunk co-eds with t-shirts on their birthday! My t-shirts were a little worse for the wear (one survived the Warrior Dash and the other had holes in it) so I figured it was time for a new one. I was so happy to see so many friends including folks from my sorority, my meteorology class and work!

This year's shirts were kind of cute!

On Saturday, Mike and I got up and did a circuit workout at the hotel. We stayed at the National Center for Employee Development (NCED) where they train postal workers. It's really nice and has a lot of amenities since federal employees go there for weeks at a time for training. Mike and I also took in some ping pong and a game of horse in the gym!

LSU was playing Texas A&M that day so Mike and I caught the last part of the game at Louie's. It was an exciting game that ended up in a creative last effort by the Aggies, but the Tigers won in the end so Mike was happy.

Mike was really into the game!

Just as we were leaving Louie's to meet up with a friend for some tailgating, we came across the homecoming parade! We got to see the Sooner Schooner, the cheerleaders and the Pride of Oklahoma!

From there we met up with my friend, Chris, with whom I used to work at Weathernews. He and his friends shared with us some of their fajitas, beer and cookies! We were very grateful! We even met a nice couple from Kansas. He was a grad student at OU so he wore an OU shirt. She wore a KU shirt! Soon, it was time to go to our seats and get ready for the pre-game entertainment!

Chris and I

Our seats were in the south end zone. It was a gorgeous day for football in Oklahoma!!

IIIIIIIT'S FOOTBALL TIME in OKLAHOMA!!!

What a good LSU guy to wear an OU shirt for his wifey!

During halftime, I was able to meet up with my college roommate and her husband. They just had twins this year, so it was great to catch up and see what's going on in their lives. They live in Tulsa and we hadn't seen them since our wedding! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. :(

The game was a bit of a blowout, as expected. The final score was 52-7, OU, but Mike and I left at the beginning of the 4th quarter to walk back to the car.

On our way back to Texas on Sunday, we made arrangements to meet Mike's Aunt Marcia, Uncle Earl and grandmother in Gainesville, TX for lunch. We had a great time catching up with them and were very glad we could stop and see them. Even though we live in the same state, we're still almost 6 hours away!

We had such a great weekend! Mike even asked if we could go to all the games! Ha! 15 hours of driving round trip probably isn't something either of us is up to, but I'd like to make this an annual thing for sure, perhaps switching between LSU and OU games so the Tigers get some Holtz Love, too!

17 Days Under the Heat Dome

An opportunity came up for me to spend 2.5 weeks in July in Oklahoma teaching some material for a workshop being held at the National Weather Center. Ten Korea Meteorological Agency forecasters were coming to Oklahoma for 2 weeks to learn about precipitation forecasting, nowcasting, and tropical cyclones.

So the day after the 4th of July (sometimes referred to as the 5th of July) I loaded up the Runner and I was northbound 35! I got in about 6pm and checked into my 2-bedroom, student-housing apartment. I picked that location because it had a pool and offered access to the OU pool and OU gym. 

The first weekend I went up to Wichita (I was so close, why not?!) to see family. On the way I saw this:

A dust devil!

While in Wichita I saw my dad (of course) as well as my Uncle Greg, Aunt Margaret, cousins Donovan and Drew, my Grandma Farney, and "Uncle" Terry. I also got to catch up with my friend LeighAnn and her boyfriend, Mike, who's recently back from a 4-month deployment. (She found herself an "Air Force Mike" too!) Wichita was experiencing some record heat so much of my time there was spent indoors.

The workshop went really well. The Koreans asked excellent questions and were able to see how things work in the US National Weather Service. Only a couple of them spoke English well, so all our lectures were translated by two Korean OU Meteorology students. Those girls were GOOD! I was amazed at how hard they worked and what a great job they did!

10 KMA meteorologists (all men), 2 translators (OU shirt, center, and pink shirt, 2nd from the right), Dr. Snow and Andrew (center) and Miss Lee, the HR manager (center).

I never thought that I would be excited to get back to San Antonio to escape the heat, but that's exactly what happened while I was in Oklahoma. I saw temperatures like 106 and 107 daily while I was there. San Antonio was a good 10 degrees cooler. Unbelievable.

When I got home I was very excited to be with Mike again and meet the newest additions to our family.....

....to be continued!

Who says you can't go home?

I just got back from a 10-day, 1200-mile trip up I-35. I saw plenty friends, family and co-workers along the way!

It all started several months ago when I decided I wanted to go to the National Severe Storms Workshop (NSWW) that's held annually in Norman. It's a really fun event with interesting talks, great networking opportunities and delicious food! Since it's in Norman (and my employer was paying for my attendance to the workshop) I decided to arrive the Sunday before and spend a few days in the office. Since my dad's birthday always falls on or near the dates of the workshop, I decided I could pop up to Wichita (since I was going to be close) and spend the weekend with him as his birthday gift. Then I realized that the Cowtown Run in Fort Worth was the weekend before the conference and Mike would be running the half-marathon. So, for those of you keeping track at home, that's Fort Worth on Saturday, Norman on Sunday, Wichita the following Saturday and all the way back to San Antonio Sunday. Whew!

Fort Worth
Mike did really well in his half-marathon. He finished in 2 hours and 17 minutes which was really great. He ran with Ryan (the brother of my bridesmaid, Ashley) and our friend Grant (Ashley's husband). It was Ryan's first half-marathon and he finished in just over 2 hours! Way to go! I was proud of all 3 of the boys as their personal chauffeur for the event! Mike and Grant reconfirmed their friendship when they discovered they used the same type of toothbrush!

Norman
I had a great 3 days in the office. It was nice to talk to everyone in person. We had an in-residence course going on so I got to help out in the lab. It's nice to have folks to eat lunch with everyday!

The conference was great. I made a few connections and learned a lot about severe weather. (Did you know the US averages 1300 tornadoes each year? And almost every state gets them!)

That Friday, one of my co-workers hosted a bratwurst party at his home. Another co-worker of mine lives in Wisconsin and brought back lots of brats for us to enjoy! It was really great to have one last hurrah with the office before coming home, especially since several of my co-workers have been fortunate enough to take on new opportunities that will further add to their success.

Wichita
I got to Wichita just before lunch. Dad and I ate at Schlotzsky's which isn't unique to Wichita, but there isn't one close to us in San Antonio and I just really wanted a good sandwich. After lunch we dropped my car off for an oil change and went to visit my Grandma. I enjoyed some one-on-one conversation with her before her big 100th birthday bash that will take place May 1. With over 200 people in attendance and family coming in from all over, I likely won't get to talk to her much.

Dad and I went to the Wichita Garden Show where were learned about rain barrels and other fun gardening ideas. Dad even got to hold a snake. (I watched from a safe distance.) After that we met up with my aunt, uncle and cousins as well as Dad's friend, Terry, who is like an uncle to me, for Il Vicino. Il Vicino is a wood-oven pizza place in Wichita that I pretty much HAVE to go to every time I go to Wichita. It's where I went the day after our wedding and I even considered having the welcome dinner there. It's just really good.

Sunday morning I had birthday breakfast with Dad and Terry before gassing up the 4Runner and heading south. It was a long lonely drive but I had the Audiobook of Three Cups of Tea to ward off boredom.

When I arrived home my wonderful husband had cleaned the house and was just getting home from purchasing groceries (including pretty flowers). I had a great time but it's good to be back!

Oklahoma Vacation

Mike's boss from Tinker AFB retired from the Air Force last Friday and we went up to wish him well. We drove up Thursday night for a Harley-Davidson/Fishing themed dinner before the retirement ceremony on Friday afternoon. On the way up we stopped at the first Harley-Davidson store of six between SA and OKC and got some shirts so we wouldn't stick out at the dinner. I got a pink tank top and Mike got a black T-shirt with two busty women and a giant Texas flag, of course.

We were able to catch up with the Pierdominicos (who are moving to Germany next week), the Diehls (who are moving to St. Louis soon) and the Hobbses (who live in DC and are expecting Miss Addie Leigh in October). We were all good friends when we were in Oklahoma and it was fun to spend one last weekend all together. They all laughed at Mike's jokes. I didn't only because they are the same jokes I hear all the time at home. I'm glad he had a fresh audience. :)

While in OK, we stayed at the Colcord Hotel downtown. It was VERY NICE! :) We've walked past it a million times and always wondered what it would be like to stay there. We took the opportunity to be tourists in OKC. Lunch on Friday was at Louie's on the Lake. One of our favorite restaurants. The weather was muggy but we sat outside anyway. We had dinner with our friends at Coaches at the ballpark, then found some "FroYo" (frozen yogurt) and ended the evening on the bar boat on the canal. We also took a regular canal boat and we learned a lot of interesting facts about downtown OKC. When I-40 gets moved south, Bricktown is going to be a really fun place to hang out (as if it wasn't already)!