October Life Update

I have felt so much more energy in the month of October. Had we been good planners Matt and I may have taken a trip out of state during an away game but it's hard to predict when I am going to feel good so it's hard to make big financial commitments to travel. We decided to "get away" the weekend of the TCU game. We went down to Matt's parent's boat down on Lake Texoma and made some stops on the way. 

We had lunch at "2 Frogs" because I had always been curious. I had seen the billboards so many times. It was good but not something I would be overly excited to return to. 

And we drove down to Hillsboro, TX for the "Peanut Festival" which surprisingly had fewer peanuts than you would think. I kept wondering how many Epi pens they had on stock for this festival.  We had a really good time because Matt and I are just into these sorts of things. There was a discussion of flea markets in our marriage vows. I kid you not.

Pistol was good and ready to pick a fight with every big dog that walked by... as long as mom and dad were there to "hold him back." 

 We also went to check out the house that Matt's parents are building on Texoma. It is Pistol approved.

I don't know if you know this about me, but I don't camp. Like, at all. My only experiences have been miserable failures. MISERABLE. The boat has a cabin where the table turns into a bed and there's a little bathroom so most people wouldn't really call it "roughing it". This was my limit. It was actually not bad overall.I liked that the boat rocked and it was nice and cool and we opened the windows so I slept pretty well overall.

 Getting ready in the morning was a little different... close quarters.

 Pistol turned 4! My little baby is getting so grown up. We gave him some wet dog food for his birthday. He was incredibly excited even if he made a mess all over my floor with it.

 We went to Walkarounds for the World's Greatest Homecoming at OSU. It was such a good year for it. Last year was INSANELY cold but it was so nice this year. This is my brother Joe in the dunk tank at the Delt Carnival which raises money for Coaches vs. Cancer. I'd like to say for the record that I hit that target twice and the silly thing just wouldn't dunk the kid!!

And I can't help but be nostalgic during homecoming because Adeepi and Delt being paired for homecoming in 2007 is the reason that Matt and I met. And well, the rest is history.

And shortly after this picture my PEQUENA GOT ENGAGED!!!!! Anna is my little in the sorority, but more importantly she is one of my best friends. She has been dating David for the same amount of time that Matt and I have been together. David and Matt grew up together and have been close friends since before high school. I was telling Matt how great of an engagement story it would be if they got engaged during the homecoming events because that is how they met too. They were both homecoming directors for our respective houses. I am so excited for them I can't even take it. 

Instead of going to the homecoming game this year, the timing for a conference took me to Portland to present some of the material for my dissertation. I have a partnership with Keep America Beautiful where they give me their data and I provide them with some reports they can use to help schools become more efficient in their operations in a competition (RecycleMania).

My dad went with me this year in case anything happened and I would need to get to a hospital (it didn't) and it was also a great opportunity for my dad to finally watch me speak at a professional event. My dad is basically the entire reason I am an environmentalist so it was really cool to have him there. 

My dad and I. Isn't he handsome?

And that night we snuck into the Keystone Speaker's address for the conference. I refused to pay $250/person for the conference and I have been enough times that I thought we had sufficient ninja like skills to make it work. Otherwise I would have totally pulled the pregnancy card and rubbed my stomach telling security I left our badges at the hotel and couldn't walk back that far. No shame.

The reason I wanted to watch the speaker was because a woman, Annie Leonard was speaking. I had already read her book (see former blog post) "The Story of Stuff" and I show her YouTube videos (The Story of Stuff )when I guest lecture on environmental issues. She is just great. I really admire her so this was an awesome experience for the environmental nerd in me.

AND I MET HER!

And she signed my book which I was super proud that it was a used copy and I had brought my own to the conference. I bet she is sipping her coffee right now thinking about how impressed she was with that girl from Oklahoma at the conference.

On Monday my dad and I rented a car and drove out to the Pacific Coast. We saw all kinds of beautiful landscapes and stopped at this lookout. This was supposed to be my first official "bump" photo which is why I was getting my arm out of the way. It doesn't look like  I have a bump at all but I didn't think my dad would have the patience to take the picture over and over.

And on the way we went to the Tilamook Cheese Factory. When you can't stop at the wineries, this is what you do as an alternative. It was like a real life "How It's Made." It was actually pretty cool.

Now I am home safe and sound. I am taking a couple days off to get organized with the rest of my life. Matt and I had date night last night. We had a nice dinner at home and then we saw Fury. It was a good movie and I recommend going to see it. We have decided we are going to see as many movies as we can before March. Many reviews to come!

Posted in: