rewind-press play

after being swept away from blogging to finish senior year, graduate, start my big girl job, move to Tulsa, and start my close-distant relationship i'm returning to my blog- to document some of the most wonderful memories of my life that have happened in the past 6 months and to cherish memories yet to come!

i can't possibly cover everything- so i'll pick highlights from the past and try not to be such a slacker with the future. and i'll try and write cohesively as i'm wonderfully distracted by my dvr'ed interview of George W. by Oprah. He is honest and smart and wonderfully Southern-and I want his book.

i'll list my joys in no particular order.

1. the aforementioned DVR- this stable income has given me some small luxuries that include my ability to never miss a sweet Duggar moment, or a moment when Hugh Laurie is obnoxiously, yet suavely solving a medical mystery, or when my favorite cast members of SNL are mocking every political figure in the country. i, enjoyably, don't get a lot of down time- but my DVR helps me use my TV time wisely- oxymoron still.

2. freedom from homework/joy of being an actual nurse! not only is my free time not cloutted by piles of studying, my time working the PICU is constantly full of useful learning, with awesome coworkers and precious patients. june 25 marked the passing of my nclex-ptl- and a pay raise that i didn't know what to do with! (o, wait, loans anyone?) there are many days at work I feel ridiculously silly-kids are complex!-but i'm always up for an adventure to learn more. i've adjusted to nights-ish. and i'm always blessed by my workplace-even when things get mentally or physically demanding.

enjoying sweet graduation with my fabulous parents

3. my absolutely adorable, precious, sweet house- the opportunity to decorate for reals-and the wonderfully awesome roommates who share this humble abode with me. really, that was 3 joys, but i'll save the numbering and bundle. although our initial weeks in our home brought a bit of a scare with big city living- i/we adore this house. we've all had so much fun putting our unique touches on the house and i've enjoyed brainstorming, planning, and being able to fund little projects that have made me feel like this house is truly ours! but we have the blessing of not having to fix anything and having a wonderful landlord. we love having people over- especially my Bible study girls- and having family out on our deck. please know- if you're reading this-you're welcome at absolutely any time- i'll make you a cup of joe and a brownie and we'll chat the night away! and we have a very plump and very polka-dotted green sofa with your name on it :) not to mention we have very friendly neighbors, a beautiful neighborhood to run/bike in, and i'm just a stone's throw from the bf. i love this house.

My precious house-boyfriend ascended vertically to hang my swing and helped me plant tulip bulbs last week!

cooking my first meal in the fabulous new kitchen-pizza-duh!

one of my sweet roommates and bff-katherine!

My favorite corner of my room-where me and Jesus like to chat

My wonderfully awesome bedroom –love.

Living room

Love-that-sofa

my favorite corner of my big kitchen-because my pretty pink kitchenaid mixer is showcased J

Dining room! diy table settings- fabric scraps make great napkins that match anything!

My homemade wreath that adorns our front door

4. i live close to my boyfriend! he gets his own joy. our time, post me moving from faytown, post him coming back from kaleo has been an interesting and blessed journey. its funny learning how to live close distance- lots less phone time, lots more in person time. there have definitely been pros and cons-example- pros- riding bikes to each other, playing games in between classes, church together, getting to see his face more than 2 times a month! -cons- having a disagreement face to face, realizing my boyfriend doesn't like running with me in my awesome neighborhood, he has homework. lol. really we have had an exciting journey growing together and figuring things out, and i'm so enjoying this sweet time we have together and am excited to see what God has in store. and he's a hunk-he's prettier in person than over the phone :)

Adventures at our Fair date!

Blood cells for Halloween J Luke O. Site and Aretha O. Site (laugh at our science humor)

Hammocking J

5. seeing what God has in store is always greater than what Mary sees. i've been blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful awesome people in tulsa. i've been able to get to know some truly awesome girls at TU, in my Bible study, at church, and at work-i've been abundantly surrounded by God's love through people around me and I'm ecstatic to enjoy some of the wonderful friendships i now have! God has also blessed me with the opportunity to get to know some of the homeless women in Tulsa and plan monthly birthday parties for them with John 3:16 mission (let me know if you want to get involved!)

My dearest sweetest friend, Jordan

Kaleo with Kristen and Corinne!

6. i'm an adopted mom to a precious puppy named Lilly-Katherine's maltese/shitzu mix. i never thought i'd enjoy having a dog jump on me while peeing at the crack of dawn-but just come meet her and you will see what a joy/spaz she is :) she's currenly snuggled next as I type- what a treat :)

Sweet lilly! (who’s probably ticked I woke her up to capture he cuteness)

welcome back friendly readers :)

more on my blessed life in the future-for now i'm unpausing my friend George W :)