Weekly Round-Up: Sep 2-8

1. It's official. I'm stuck with these glasses from BonLook that I'm really not fond of.

My request for exchanging them wasn't approved which is..whatever.

I let it go but not before telling them exactly how I felt about the quality.

We have bought 9 pairs of BonLook glasses & I don't regret a single one, except these.

2. & 3. Thai dates with the Marshell family might be my new favorite thing.

Max surprises me every week by how fast he's growing up.

I can't wait to hear him say "Aunt Jana".. or at least his version of it.

I feel so blessed to be apart of that kids life.

4. Ryan & his step-mom share the same birthday

& we've always gone to dinner with them every year to celebrate.

This year we went to Musashi's & it was really pretty good!

(I am so grateful that it wasn't Greek House... again. I really hate gyros. Haha.)
More importantly, Kim has been doing MUCH better for those that have been asking.
She's still not 100% & I really hope that changes soon.
They (meaning the doctors) don't really know what happened or what's going on
& I really hope they find some answers soon.
5. Ryan & I went on his birthday date Saturday
& experienced the luxury of reclining seats @ AMC Penn Square.
I was really blown away by the remodel of that theater.
We'd only been once before about 7 years ago & they were pretty crappy.
Considering you have to pay $22 for a reclining seat at our usual go-to theater,
I think we'll be returning to Penn more often than not for our movie theater dates.
6. Comet has a thing for over-sized dog beds.
Any chance he gets, he curls up on Hank's comfy bed & it always cracks me up.

7., 8. & 9. These are my boys & they are the best.
There are days when I just want to snuggle Ollie
& then I get home & see these 3 overly happy faces.


We also celebrated Ryan's birthday with my family @ Del Rancho
which was Ryan's pick since I also hate Del Ranch.
I know, I know. That's like a sin or something.
& we got some good friend time with The Apple's so Rachel could teach me how to play Magic.
I did enjoy it, although I don't know if I'll ever be into playing in large groups.
I could definitely get into some 'in-the-right-close-setting' Magic though.
I hope you all had a fantastic week!

Let's celebrate your birth.

It's Ryan's birthday today!

Happy Birthday love. You are far too good for me.

Thank you for never taking yourself too serious,

even if it means 95% of our pictures have a goofy face in them.

Thank you for being willing to send me a  cute selfie when I'm having a rough day. 

Thank you for always sending me dog play-by-plays when I'm away from the house.

Thank you for being in The Victory so that I noticed you & fell in love with you. 

(look at baby Ryan second from the right - awwwww)

Thank you for appeasing me & sending me pictures of your new haircut when I don't get to see it right away.

But most of all - & I think everyone can agree on this one:

Thank you for teaching yourself how to dougie.

Years & years of quality entertainment right there.

xoxo - your wife

Weekly Round-Up: May 17-23 aka Tornado Week

THIS is last week in Oklahoma.

Last week was the tornado.

A tornado that ripped apart Ryan's hometown

& the town that I've fallen in love with over the past 7 years.

A town that I literally fell in love in.

It's surreal & my mind can't grasp it.

I didn't have the privilege of growing up in Moore, OK

but I did meet Ryan there.

I did go to Van's with him every Sunday in hopes 

that he'd love me the same way I knew I loved him already.

It feels weird knowing that some of the locations 

of some of the sweetest memories in my life are gone.

I can't handle talking about the lives lost & the mothers in Oklahoma right now.

I am so terribly saddened by everything happening in our state.

With that being said, Instagram was not on my mind last week.

Before the tragedy,

Rachel Apple & I had a joined birthday celebration

& I could just go on & on about how wonderful she is.

I can take no credit for anything that was planned or happened.

She made homemade graham crackers, marshmallows & sweet/sour mix.

I wish I had that hostess bone in my body that made me do those things.

I didn't manage to get a picture of us.

(HOW THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN?!)

But I did get one with my sister:

 No clue how my hair got & stayed that curly.

& the best picture Tommie & I have ever taken in 3 years.

Also, Hank,

just because he makes life better.

Uh-oh.

Weekly Round-Up: May 10-16

1. & 2. Birthday celebration with The Marshell's! 3. $200 Schwinn for $99!

4. & 5. Went to Pop's on the Harley! 6. Ollie wanted to lay with Hank.

7. Mother's day with my beautiful mama! 8. & 9. Hank looks huge.

10. Spent my Saturday night with cross-stitch & Mad Men! 11. Dressed up. 12. Updated my office!

Weekly Round-Up: May 3-9

1. Preston vs. Hank; Preston won but Hank was so happy anyway.

2. Mint toes! Pedicures with my mom is the best way to spend a Saturday morning! 

3. Worst dinner date ever @ Red Robin but it did end with a great movie, "The Place Beyond the Pines".

4. Hank is pretty much spoiled. 5. Jana themed telephone pictionary = Mallory is a devil woman. 

6. "Hey look guys, I'm cute with this toy in my mouth!"

7. I'm obsessed with lipstick right now. 8. 40lbs of cuddle! 9. Kevin Durant touched Ryan's hand.

10. Blindfolded for my birthday date! 11. Ollie is a character. 12. Drinks (that I didn't like)!

One year to another.

I have the hardest time remembering how old I am.

I am constantly asking Ryan because he knows better than I do.

Yes, I could do the math in my head but I hate math.

I constantly have a dumbfounded look when I'm asked my age at a bar.

Let me tell you just how suspicious that makes you look.

I'm surprised that anyone in the state of Oklahoma even serves me alcohol

between my answer of "Uhhhh...." on top of the fact that I usually look about 16-19.

Well, I turned a day older yesterday which means it'll take me another year to remember.

Ryan took me on the most simple & sweet date yesterday which included our favorite things:

Food, dessert, drive time, mid-century homes & deer.

We had delicious bad-for-you food at Gabriella's,

which I highly recommend to anyone that loves real Italian food.

Or really just anyone that loves pizza because OHMYGOSH, their pizza.

I could eat the dough alone for all my meals for an entire week.

Also, hello dessert:

That my friends, was quite literally a little piece of heaven called Zeppole

& they make it out of that amazing pizza dough.

Our date ended by finding my dream neighborhood 

in a location we would have never even thought of on the east side of Lincoln

filled with one beautiful mid-century home after another

in what felt like a middle of a forest, complete with deer.

We were in love.

*I must also note that Ryan made me wear a blindfold to surprise me because he's just that cute.

& we spent all day Sunday celebrating my birth the best way: with family.

 My mother is the greatest.

Thank you to everyone for all of the birthday wishes,

it really was grand.

"Taking care of business, every day. Taking care of business, every way." - Bachman-Turner

My poor husband spent the majority of his weekend working

while I lounged around with Hank & watched TV.

Natalie came over Friday to meet Hank & keep us company

which is always a perfect way to spend an evening.

Saturday Ryan worked literally the entire morning & day

& I had become so stuck to the couch by the time he came home,

I had to stop myself from getting grumpy because he wanted to eat out.

I did not want to put real clothes on or brush my hair.

There comes a point in my day that if I'm not already out of pajamas by then,

it's just not happening.

But I did it & I'm glad. 

We had a nice dinner & went grocery shopping.

Sunday we had plans to clean & host a birthday dinner for my mother.

About the time we needed to do those things our laundry machine flooded

& poured out into our kitchen floor.

I mean, it was time for something in our house to break.

It was starting to feel normal around there with everything working properly.

Draining your washing machine takes forever by the way.

It all drips out of that tiny little hose at the bottom.

I actually flooded & drained it twice because I thought I fixed it & it didn't work.

We have no idea what's wrong with it but we're not wasting our time on it.

We'll just go back to using our stackables.

We were avoiding using them because of our plumbing issues

but we're just going to cross our fingers & hope it works out.

I was starting to stress but we moved dinner to Texas Roadhouse & everything worked out.

^^ One day Ryan will take a serious picture.... maybe.

^^ & I am apparently my mother in the 70s according to her.

& My sister & I look nothing alike. :)

I'm choosing to counteract our broken house 

by reminding myself of something that I do love about our house

& that is our bathroom tile.

It's original to the house in the 30s & I've always adored it.

We actually recently restyled our bathroom & I'm really digging it.

We got rid of our cheap towel & over the toilet cabinet,

brought in a bookcase we aren't using in our living room anymore,

& hung some art.

If I were smart I would have taken a before picture.

^^ I do also love the arches above the shower & toilet in our bathroom.

^^ This area is a work in progress. We plan on getting a floating shelf or two.

^^ An old friend made us these cyanotype's close to a year ago

& we're just now finding a home for them.

We weren't sure how to frame them before because of their odd shapes

but I like how they turned out in an over-sized frame together.

How was your weekend?

April & May 2012

Every year we have a few months that string together one bad thing after the next. Something usually happens with the house and then to our personal lives. We've hit those months.

• The squirrells have officially declared war on our house. If anyone would like proof of the damage that a squirrell can cause to your wood siding or shingles, come on over. Those little shits can chew.
• Lotion bottles have been flushed down toilets. Good news is, we have a really bad ass toilet that can flush things with a 1.5 inch diameter. This will come in handy when we have kids I'm sure.
• Windows have leaked water... just add it to the list of ways our house is falling apart.
• We lost Lady Bird.
• Ollie has been sick. She threw up for 12 straight hours. Come to find out, dogs with sensitive systems can't handle flea collars.
• I have been "sick". Not really sick but something is wrong with my body and it has caused so much joy, stress, anxiety, dissapointment and fear to last me awhile.
• I found out I have high cholesterol. This stuns me that I have to worry about clogged arteries at barely 23 years old.

To look on the bright side:

• I celebrated my 23rd birthday earlier this month & Ryan made it perfect. We just spent the entire day together starting with brunch @ Iguana's (I highly recommend it), a movie, bowling, dinner, etc. I wish every day was like that day.

• My birthday was also made special by dinner with my family, roller skating and a quiet "surprise" celebration with homemade ice cream cake with more friends.



• I've really learned a lot about myself and the people in my life these past two months.
• I know more than ever that God sent The Marshell's to be in our lives even more so to help us through times like the past few months. I wouldn't have survived without them. They are too dear for words. Not to mention, they are parents to my nephew so I have to adore them anyway. :)

• We're going on our first real vacation in 4.5 years in 19 days to meet our new little nephew Kyle who was born May 8th.



Meet Kyle Edward Adkins

• I have realized more than ever just how bad I want and am ready to be a mom.
• Having high cholesterol will force us to stay on diet and lose the weight we want off. I only wish our neighborhood wasn't too sketchy to go running in after dark.
• The Thunder just made it to the Western Conference Finals. That's pretty amazing.

On a side note, Blogspot's formatting is driving me crazy. I am not putting those gaps in between paragraphs. Even when I look at the HTML there are not spaces entered. I don't understand.

"We're gonna drink Bacardi like it's your birthday..." Fitty Sent

I love my iPhone apps.

Does anybody else get sore from bowling?

I’ve been popping ibuprofen like its candy ever since Saturday.

This is the definition of being out of shape.

Friday was my birthday and Ryan & I decided we’d have an “old school” date night.

Meaning we did what we used to do when we were dating and falling in love: El Chico at Sooner Mall & a movie in Norman.

Ryan knows how I shy aware from the attention of others and how easily embarrassed I am so of course he had to ask El Chico to sing for us. I got an even more special song since the manager played with my hair while singing. Yes, I am still holding this against my dear husband.

I really wanted to see Water for Elephants because I’m a sucker for period pieces. I don’t care how bad a movie looks, if it takes place in the 20s-40s... I’m watching it. I really wasn't sure what to expect with this movie because the previews are quite vague but I must say it was quite good. I don’t know that I could get myself to watch it again though because it disturbed me and really broke my heart. Ryan & I both got squeamish during the elephant scene with the circus owner (that prick!). I do recommend everyone seeing it though. (Warning: You other very strong animal lovers out there will have a hard time as I did.)

Best birthday present ever! My husband's amazing!

Lady Bird cuddles on my birthday.
I don't have kids yet so this is what you get. 

 Saturday we cleaned house and watched the Thunder game in preparation for the bowling party. (For anyone interested, Heritage Lanes has a pretty good deal on Saturday nights. For $15 you get to bowl as many games as you want from 10pm-2am. Plus, it’s cosmic bowling so that’s icing on the cake.)

Boys vs. Girls

Jeremy, Dave, Ryan and Jeremiah

Mallory, Natalie, Me, Tommie & Jason
(Tom & J's unborn baby was our support system)

 Jeremy & Natalie came back to the house with us and we had a great time.

…. I even danced.

I can truly say she's seen me at my worst and still loves me.

First picture of the two of us. It's about time.

I know she'll always be there for me. That's what sisters are for. :)

Although my husband won't appreciate this, I had to take this picture.
His score: 46 - My score: 88
I broke my all time high score of 70.
(That's how horrible I am)



Needless to say, I had a great birthday and I couldn't ask for better friends and family in my life.

"Peel back our ribs again and stand inside our chest. We just wanna' love you." - John Mark McMillan

The past few weeks have been really tough for me. I feel emotionally and physically drained.
Why? I couldn't tell you. I have been extremely discouraged.


I am tired of being flesh. Of making human mistakes. I want to live righteously. I am sick of stumbling. I am tired of messing up.


Ryan and I were talking last night about finances and what we want and our selfishness and we both came to the conclusion that we think God is trying to teach us about sacrifice. We have lived a coushiony life as a married couple. We haven't had to make sacrifices. Even when Ryan got laid off two years ago for two months we didn't have to give anything up. Here lately, if we want to stay on the right path, we're going to have to give things up. It won't be easy and we might whine at first but I'm thankful for the lesson. One year of sacrifice ahead and I know we can do it.

For a less serious note, and to keep you updated on what we've doing lately, here you go:


We celebrated Jeremy's birthday this past weekend by taking it old school and having a roller skate party at Skate Moore complete with 3 hours of skating, pizza, soda, cookie cake and the Hokie Pokie. How can you go wrong? It was a blast and it was awesome exercise. I can't stop thinking about when we're going to get to go back. Happy Birthday Jeremy. We love you dearly.


Ryan started his new job and it's gone really well. His eyes lit up when he told me all about his first day and it made my heart so happy to see. I've got such a good feeling that he will thrive there and really find his place.


We're addicted to a game called Wahoo and if you've never played it, you are seriously missing out. It calls for 4 people to be able to play and it's a blast. Although the past two nights we've played and I've gone home with what felt like a fever because my blood pressure got so high. Ha! It really makes you anxious and nervous. I can feel my heart pounding towards the end because it's such an intense game. We play with the wonderful Marshell family and we're currently Boys - 10 and Girls - 9... which means we've played 19 games that generally take atleast an hour to play each. Yikes!


Ryan and I thought we were going to have to bite the bullet and buy a second car this week because of his new work schedule. We spent all of last night driving all over Edmond, Del City and South OKC test driving cars. It was frustrating. All in all we fell in love with the first car we drove (a 2010 Jeep Patriot). I even got Ryan to love the burnt orange color but decided we needed to think it over and see more cars before we made a final decision. I am so glad that we did because after we were done seeing all the cars and we were driving home I started to realize how much it would suck to have two car payments, two cars to put gas in, two cars on the insurance, two anual tag renewals and two cars to maintain. We came to the conclusion that although yes we can technically afford it, we don't want to right now. We can deal with sharing a car for one more year until the Cube is paid for. After all, Dave Ramsey taught us better than that. It was hard falling in love with a car we knew we couldn't have though.


My birthday is next Friday and I could care less. Is that weird? It's not a "I don't like birthdays" kind of thing. I just honestly haven't thought about it. There are so much more important things I want to do or care about than turning one year older... Maybe this another step to adulthood? Haha.

"You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Do you know what the only good thing about going to Chelinos is?

Family and a Mexican Mariachi Trio....

My point is: We had some amazing entertainment!

Happy Birthday Warren!

You are a wise, caring, compassionate man and a wonderful father and I love you for it!

I hope you had an awesome birthday!

"Say you need me with you here, beside you... anywhere you go, let me go too..." - Phantom of the Opera by Sarah Brightman

Wedding weekend of Ryan's brother Darren and his fiance Wynter has finally come and almost gone.

I went to my sister's after work so she could fix my hair and do my makeup. I could have done it all myself but why would I when I could have sister time? She did a wonderful job and I'm so thankful she's always there for me.

She really didn't want me to take her picture but I didn't give her a choice!

I let her put Peanut in the picture to distract from her unshoweredness. :)

I felt bad that I didn't make it to the house earlier to be there while Wynter got ready but it didn't seem like there would have been anything for me to do anyway. When I got there everyone was basically ready so we just hung out waiting for the photographer so Wyn could put on her dress and we could go take pictures. 

Their pictures will be beautiful. Here is a sneak peak from her photographer. Of course, I'm cut out in all of the pictures because I was the tallest and had to stand on the end! 

Everyone should check out her photographer: http://www.angelporchphotography.com/

I am super jealous that they'll have such beautiful pictures to capture their day. Ryan and I did not get to pick our photographer and have been extremely disappointed with our pictures ever since. We plan on getting our pictures done when we have the extra money to do so. I can't wait. 

Wynter has an abnormal love for the game Yahtzee so she wanted to play after we took our pictures and waited back at the house for the ceremony to start. I'm always surprised by how many people have never played before.

She cries when people get Yahtzee's because apparently "it is the greatest thing in the world". :)

This is her trying not to hyperventilate because right before we left for the ceremony... 

SHE GOT HER WEDDING YAHTZEE!

The Griffis wedding of Darren & Wynter was beautiful. They got married at Wills Rogers Park Amphitheater. They did a wonderful job with it. It was extremely obvious how much love Darren has for his new bride. I don't think he stopped crying once through the ceremony. It was beautiful to watch and of course, I couldn't help but cry with them. Ever since I've found my husband I can't help but cry when babies are born and people get married. They are the most joyful parts of life and I can't wait to meet my future children with tears rolling down mine and Ryan's faces.

Everything went very smooth - even though it's super awkward to walk down the aisle with someone that is not your spouse. We talked about this before the ceremony. We're not sure why it's so weird, but it is! I even knew my groomsmen! Ryan looked extremely handsome and even my boys dressed up for the occasion! I felt like a proud momma looking out from the stage and seeing Jer and Jeremy all dressed up - even with ties! (This is very rare sight.) I am so sad I didn't get a picture of them. I had nowhere to put my camera while I walked down the aisle. My sister did get one of her and Jer though. They're a good looking couple.

 

It was really fun watching everyone dance at the reception.  Ryan, Jeremy and Jer are so scary when they get out there together. Maybe one day I'll dance... but it's not likely. I can't wait to see the pictures from the reception. 

Saturday night we went to Iguana Mexican Grill for a late birthday celebration for Ryan with my mom. The food was delicious but the service was the worst service I've ever had. Our waiter forgot to put my order in so by the time I got my food everyone else had already finished their meal. Did we get any kind of compensation? NO! I was so mad. It took half an hour just to get our bowl of queso we ordered with our drinks and he forgot my mom's cup of ice she asked for 3 time. It was horrible. So if anyone ever wants to eat there, do not sit in Shamus L.'s section. He's crap. The food is so good though. Ryan got some awesome gifts though and we had fun spending time with family!