Thankmas/Thanksgiving!

What a busy week it was for Cameron and I! He got back from hunting with his Papa on Tuesday night, and we spent all day running around and getting things for his family's celebration of Thankmas on Thursday.

Thursday morning we headed to Cameron's mom's house...err, cabin (a beautiful one, at that! His step-dad Dave literally built it himself. Impressive!) for Thankmas. They combined Thanksgiving and Christmas into one day due to the fact that Cameron's sister Coty and her family could only make it down for one of the holidays. And it was so much fun! Shelli (Cam's mom) has written mysteries for everyone to complete in order to get their gifts for the last few years. Despite the rain and cold wind, we ventured out to complete these mysteries! Then presents were opened, followed by the Thanksgiving feast and then some down time.Some of the family hanging out before opening presents

A little Christmas decor...The tree with all the gifts!Cameron's brother Colton and his wife, CaseyCameron/we got a microwave!!Cam and Colton talkin' businessCameron's sister Coty and her husband, JaredCoty and myselfCameron's other sister, Candice and I

On Friday, we headed to my sister's for a Thanksgiving celebration! My brother in law tried frying a turkey, and it was a success! It was very tasty, and was gone before the baked turkey. I do believe this will become a tradition! MmMmMm.Bryan about to put the turkey in......it's in the oil...
No explosion!! Success!!

Somehow before our whirlwind of busy-ness started, we got a Christmas tree and put it up at Cameron's house! I'm pretty proud of it, I think it's beautiful :) But then again, I'm biased..
Cameron's ornamentMy ornament

Well, that concludes this post and I hope that everyone's Thanksgiving was as great and fun as mine! :) In the next couple of weeks, we have plans to go see the Festival of Lights and go ice skating, so hopefully I'll snag some pictures and have a new post up of that! Until then...:)

(ps, some of the pictures were taken with a camera and the others with my phone. So I apologize for the different qualities!)

3 Things That Pulled On My Heart Strings....Hard.

With the Thanksgiving holiday being just a couple days away, things that we are thankful for seem to be highlighted during this time a little more than they usually would. Or maybe that's just me, but I know that until this holiday (or rather, this time of the year in general) the things I am thankful for are brought to the forefront of my mind more often. Could that be because we are reunited with the family that we may see a few times, scattered throughout the year until this time? Or because of all the commercials, cards, statuses, etc. reminding us to ponder on what we need to be thankful for? Whatever the reason, I'm going to make more of an effort to reflect on the things that I am thankful for through the entire year, and not just during the holidays. That being said, I'd like to share with you all, dear readers, three things that I witnessed that humbled me greatly, and in fact made me thankful.

Justin Bieber concert:
A few weeks ago, I was asked to take the girl I nanny every week and her friend to a Justin Bieber concert. Who would've thought I would have an experience that made me tear up? Not me. (And no, the tears were not shed because of the excitement of seeing Justin. Luckily, I've never been taken over by "Bieber Fever" ;)) After waiting until just an hour before to head to the concert, plus the traffic and trying to find a parking spot, we were rushing to make it to the show. While frantically trying to find the elevator from the parking garage to the Ford Center, we came across a mom and her daughter who seemed to be in the same boat as we were. So, we started to follow them. And while jogging to catch the open doors of the elevator, I glanced at the little girl and I noticed she had her hand up on top of her head. It wasn't until we were in the elevator that this little girl whose eyes were gleaming with excitement was holding on to her head because of the wig that wasn't securely on. As I looked a little more closely, she in fact had no eyebrows, no hair other than her wig, and seemed very frail.

Kindergarten Class:
This semester I am in a Foundations class and we were required to spend 30 hours observing and working with students. I was assigned to a kindergarten class, and like in my past classes I've spent time in, I get attached to the children very quickly. One Monday I went in, and the teacher told me that one of our students wouldn't be in the class anymore. I had been informed that this student was a foster child, and the teacher had received news that they had not only been adopted, but had been adopted into the family's home that had also adopted their brother by birth.

Child Psych:
There is an older Chinese man in my Child Psych class. He sits behind me, and has much trouble speaking and understanding the English language. I must admit, that I would find myself annoyed by his constant questions and needing help. It is hard to admit this, as I am so completely and utterly embarrassed by this behavior and my thoughts. And it wasn't until he spoke to the class with his group about secondary languages that I was crushed with a wave of guilt after he shared his personal story. He is 46 years old, came to America a few years ago with his wife and children, and he is bound determined to complete his education at our college, and provide for his family. He shared the struggles they've had with the language barrier, and how it is especially hard for his wife.

All of these experiences humbled me in a different way. How thankful and lucky am I to have never had my body contain an ounce of cancer. Causing me to every hair on my head, a small thing in the big pot of hardships cancer brings on one and their family. I have never been in a foster home, I have had the luxury of consistently having the same roof over my head and a place I could always call home. But how thankful am I that this student is being adopted into a permanent home, not to mention that they will get to be with their brother. How humbled I am after hearing my classmate's story by my inexcusable behavior and I am so thankful and inspired by his ambition.

You'll have to forgive me, this post was a long one. But if you get anything out of it, I pray that you will reexamine the life and actually look for things to be thankful for and to be humbled by them year round.

Phew!! That was kinda heavy. (For me at least) On a lighter note, I am so excited to celebrate Thanksgiving this week! Thursday we'll be headed to Cam's family "Thankmas," then Friday we'll be celebrating with my family! I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving, full of food, fun, and family!! :)

A little over due but...Halloween 2010

Nearing a month later, I am finally posting pictures from Halloween! I apologize for the delay, but here they are!

Cameron and I went to his good friend Joey's house for a little party. As Joey told me, costumes were required or you were not allowed in the house! ;)

Cam's costume was a hit!! I wish I had snagged a picture of the side view- hilarious! Such a clever costume, his legs were actually the monkey's and his upper body came out of the stomach of the monkey! The only downer was he had to crouch down a bit and said the cage was a little heavy after a while. But still, it was an awesome costume!I went as a doll! Made the colorful tutu myself, and just wore things I already had and did my own make up. Not too pricey!Cameron and myself..Joey (dressed up as his own cat, Waylon) and his girlfriend, Kristin (Little Red Riding Hood)

This concludes the Halloween post, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to. But, keep an eye out for my upcoming posts! I will have one over 3 things that have really tugged at my heart strings, and one covering "Thankmas" (Cam's family celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas :) ) Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Patch!

It's Fall break...and I'm enjoying it by spending a few days in Tulsa with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew!

Yesterday I went with Miranda and the kiddos to a pumpkin patch...my first visit to one! And let me tell ya, I never knew there were so many different kinds and colors! Not to mention, HUGE ones! Here are a few photos from the fun trip :) (I had a hey-day with all the picture opportunities! It was fun!)They are just too cute :)

Weird lookin..HudsonGrace
Sportin the Levi overalls..:)Little Farmer Boy!!Family!Pretty tree!Not sure what sort of thing this was attached to, but it sure looks cool!Petting Zoo time!Hud loved it!!Mario and Luigi came out! Haha!Love her. So much.
Him too!!!Pumpkins, Pumpkins, everywhere..LOVED all the corn and different colors.Craziness...

It was a really good time, and I hope making it out to a pumpkin patch will become a yearly thing for me!

The rest of my plans for fall break consist of going to see my best friend in Stillwater for homecoming (particularly Walk Around...my eyes are guaranteed to be hurting the whole time, being surrounded by all that orange...;) ), watching the Sooners play with the fam Saturday night, and on Sunday, church and hopefully seeing an old friend!
Next blog will be after the Halloween party my boyfriend and I are going to...prepare yourself for fun and frightful pictures of a good time and costumes....mwuahahaha!!

A weekend packed with some things I love about fall...

The first weekend of October was good to me. I got to do things that I realized all sum up to being some of my most favorite things about the wonderful season of fall along with a couple of new ones! Let us start with Friday, shall we?

Friday my wonderful boyfriend treated us to our very first massages. WOW. If I could afford it, that is something that I would have done every week. My goodness, talk about being relaxed! I haven't felt that good in quite sometime. We had an appointment at IHC, Integrative Health Center, where Sandi and Charissa pampered us for an hour. If you've never had a massage before, it is something I highly recommend. Later that evening we went and saw Cameron's roommate's band play, 86 After, at the Diamond Ballroom!

Saturday...game day with friends and family! OU vs Texas, also known as Red River Rivalry. And who came out on top? The Sooners!! 28-20 my friends. Yes sir. Cameron and I went to a couple of watch parties, one being at one of his best friends, Joey's, house and then the other being at my distant cousin and good family friend's house, Mark's.

Joey's girlfriend, Kristin, and I during one of the time-outs!

My beautiful niece, Grace and myself at Mark'. I was so happy that they came down and that I was able to see the Kellers!The tailgating bus out in front of Mark's place. Notice the flat screen at the bottom of it!Little Hudson has better thins to do than watch the OU game ;)"Pssh Aunt Stayce, I ain't gonna take a picture with you! I've got dirt to play in.."My pretty sister and IMy handsome boyfriend. :)Big sister, little brother love. I am blessed with a seriously cute niece and nephew.My brother-in-law, Bryan and my sister, MirandaThis is above Joey's front porch...legit.
Sunday, Cameron and I went to church and after I tried making my mom's wonderful Cowboy Stew! She's been making it for years, definitely a favorite fall dish for family. Cameron was my guinea pig for my first batch, and I think it turned out well!
Stewing away...mmmhmmm...success! :)
It was a great weekend and I look forward to many more this fall. What are some of your favorite things to do in the fall? Favorite dishes to eat? Please share! I'd love to hear them and try a few out! :)

Big Changes

Okay. I am terrible. My last post was all about how I was feeling so inspired, I need to blog more, etc...And here I am, MONTHS later. SO many months later! *Slaps hand*

Well, lets just say life has taken a few unexpected turns since my last post.

For example, I am now living back in my hometown. Yep, moved from T-Town and back to where it all started for me. It's a very surreal feeling, to say the least. It is a strange thing to move back in the home I lived in previously for many years. The only way I can describe it is the comfortableness of it is still there, but yet it feels so...foreign at the same time. 2 years away changes a lot, even if it doesn't seem that long of a time. There is a quote from the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It says: "It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you" Could not be more true.

Of course, in addition to leaving Tulsa, I had to quit a job that I really loved and find myself missing often. Unfortunately it came to other reasons for me to leave other than my relocation, which really sucks. :( But life is life, and I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. May seem sort of confusing for those who don't know the situation, and for that I apologize. But it is one of the big changes and needed to be mentioned! So, what is my job now? I get to pick up a young girl from school on some days of the week, help her with her homework, then take her to gymnastics! :) So far I've really enjoyed it and getting to know her, and look forward to the rest of the school year!

New school with this relocation, also. Still feeling it out, but I think I'm gonna be happy with being a Bronco :) The only thing that stinks is the drive...

BUT:

My mom is wanting to sell this place I've called my home for 10 years. And move closer to her work. It makes complete sense, and will be an easier commute for me as well. Not to mention, the only thing that was keeping her in this town was me going to school and the activities I was involved in. So why not? I must admit though, I think I'm already having separation anxiety. :/ But, change is good. Change is good, change is good, change is good. :)

So, lets review:
-New location
-New job
-New school
-New future home

Phew! Although these are kind of big things, not one of them is a bad change, and I sincerely hope they aren't coming off as so. They are exciting! And come with many positive things! I do miss somethings though about living in Tulsa, and here are a few:
My family up there. I miss my niece so bad that I'm quite literally looking at the computer with very wet eyes. Also, my little hansom nephew. I got to see his entire first year of life, and I hate missing the growing up that he is continuing to do! Plus my great sister. And her crazy husband, my bro in law. Who would've thought I'd miss being made fun of by him?
I miss the "scene." Brookside, Cain's, Cherry St...but I can always visit all of these things, they are just a drive away :)

Positive things!!

For example, I am getting to spend quite a bit more time with my boyfriend/best friend. To say getting to see him so much more (when he's home from his job, of course) is great would be an understatement. Lets try maybe wonderful, fantastic, amazing...I could go on and on :) I know there are also gonna be changes in that department (at least, I hope!!) and I'm very excited to say the least!

Okay, okay...time to move on to very recent things going on.

I swam in the ocean last week!! For the first time ever! *Huge grins all around* I had the pleasure and great opportunity to go on vacation with Cameron and his family. Could he have a more awesome family? I'm serious. They are SO fun! And kind, and hilarious, and welcoming...Really, I love them. The plan was to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, stay in this wonderful beach house just a walk away from the ocean, for a full week. Well...a little hurricane named Earl made sure that didn't happen. (I have so much resentment against this little hurricane named Earl, that I'll prob subconsciously dislike any man I meet with the name "Earl." ...Sorry all you "Earls" out there, you've been warned.) So, we left the house on Wednesday and traveled up the east coast. We stopped in a cute little town called Harpers Ferry, spent the next day in Gettysburg (which was so cool, and we got to go to a supposed haunted house called the Jennie Wade House!), and the next at Cameron's sister's house in northern Penn. There we got to see her beautiful town and home and purchase yummy homemade foods made by the Amish locals. Even though the week wasn't anything like what we were expecting, it still turned out to be a wonderful time for everyone. I am so thankful I was invited to come along and it will be a trip I will not forget.

Well, I better wrap this up. I never intend for these posts to be so long, but they always have a way of getting that way ;) I WILL write again soon!

An update that is long overdue...

It has been a while since I last wrote a post on here. It has been on the forefront of my brain the last few weeks, and what inspired to me to update was actually this week's episode of Ugly Betty. Betty also has a blog, and it was mentioned a few times in the show that she had been neglecting it for about a month. This brought my own blog to mind, and I realized it has been over 2 months for me! So, here I am, sharing my random thoughts to those who choose to listen.

My life in the last two months has been awesome. Next week I am enrolling in a new school to finish my bachelors, which couldn't be more exciting. I look forward to being done, and finally being in my very own classroom teaching little ones. :) Its still semi-far in the future, but every day it becomes even closer and easier for me to imagine. I also participated in a photo shoot for a new friend, Sky Cheshure. It was a BLAST!!! I enjoyed every minute of it, and it was so fun doing it with her. I love her attitude and phrases, not to mention she made doing something I have no experience in whatsoever totally comfortable. One not-so-awesome thing that has happened though is my little 5 year old niece has broken her arm. The poor thing was just walking along the side walk, and tripped over her feet! Left her with a fracture above her elbow. Her name is Grace...seems suiting, right? ;) She'll be in a cast for about a month, and I think she's most excited about the fact that she and her friends can write and draw on it.

Also, I have recently moved forward in a relationship of mine. We have been best friends for a long time, and about a month ago it was decided that we would take our friendship to the next level. I could not be any happier. It is a strange thing, dating your best friend...but not strange ina bad way. I am surprised every day by how natural and simply right it feels. He is so great, I am loving every second of it, and I look forward to what the future may hold. :)

Well, I should probably wrap this up. I have homework I should be doing, and should also be going to bed soon- I've got yoga in the morning! (That is another thing I have recently started. I am loving it so far!) For those of you who may read this, I thank you. :) G'night!