My girlfriends back!.... well ALMOST!

Yeah!!! My bestie is coming home!!!

First let me give you a little history on my bestie: her name is Mandy or Mandilynn as I have always called her! She is the beautiful mother of two awesome kids, William and Sadie. She's been married to her high school sweet heart 10 years now (OMG we are gettin OLD!). And she has been my best friend for longer! :)

We met the summer before our senior year after I moved in with my grandparents in the very small town of Depew, OK... google it- it's tiny!

So anyway, taking a step back in time! I had just finished boot camp and moved to this little speck of a town in Oklahoma. I knew no one! It wasn't a new thing for me, I've actually moved around a lot during my life, I went to seven different schools from K-12, so I was used to being the newbie. But this was by far the smallest town I had lived in... there isn't even a stop light!

So I started going to church with my aunt and started meeting kids I would go to school with. Sadly (please don't kill me!) I don't remember where I met Mandy for the first time, it could have been through my grandparents who knew her grandma, or through friends I met at church... whichever we became fast friends! :) We hung out for the rest of the summer, going to the beginning of school bonfire and shaving cream fight (that stuff is NOT meant to be put in your mouth! HA) and all kinds of other "cool" teen things! lol

We were total BFF! I LOVED going to Mandy's and hanging out, or going to the movies! She was my date to every school dance we had, except prom... and maybe she should have been then too! lol We were always the first to get on the dance floor! She was the first person I would call when I was upset. We cried about boys stupidity and laughed at them too. We loved going to the "city" aka Tulsa and shopping at the mall!

Her mom gave me one of the most horrific highlight jobs of my entire life, and I still love her too! So I think you get the picture!

We were (and still are!) Soul Sisters!!!

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure! :)

Ok so this is a really old pic and it's the best I could find! I have to work with what I have!

This is our graduating class... I'm serious! I'm fourth from the left and Mandy is fourth from the right...

OK so that's some back history without going into anything that would incriminate either one of us! So we've been friends FOREVER! it seems! :)

So Mandy married Steve, who has been in the military since he graduated from high school the year before us. And they have moved all over the place in the last ten years. Washington State, Florida, and now Hawaii (the last being my favorite!). I got to visit her June '07 and spend a week in the sunshine and on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. It was Heaven!

This is us 9 years later after a day at the beach!

And here we are hanging with the sailors!!! :)

But now they've gotten their new orders and she's coming home!!! Well Tinker anyway! But I'll take a two hour drive over 12 hours of travel time any day! Even if the end result was Hawaii! We can see each other all the time now! I soooo can't wait!

Yes they are giving up the warm winters and beaches of Hawaii to come back to the Great State of Oklahoma!!! Thank goodness!!!

We are both feeling sorry for Jordan and Steve who are going to have a lot of alone time for the next few months while we catch up! But we know they love us and they will learn to deal with it! :) Right honey??? LOL

40 Questions I just know you were all dying to know the answers to!

Hi my name is Terra and I'm a survey addict! lol jk... ok sadly not...

OK so I took this from my wonderful cousin Megan! It's a cloudy rainy day and I would rather be in bed... but that's not gonna happen so I guess I'll complete this for all of your enjoyment! (Plus the fact that I am a survey Queen!!!!! I HEART THEM! I really do!!!)

Here we go!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 4:30 am... a girls gotta run!
2. How do you like your steak? very medium rare
3. What was the last movie you saw? G-Force with Jordan, Joyce and Katie, it was cute!
4. What is your favorite TV show? I have a list of about 20 that I DVR!!!
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Right here!
6. What did you have for breakfast? Peanut butter toast & a smoothie yum!
7. What is your favorite cuisine? All of it! Have you folks seen me??? lol jk
8. What foods do you dislike? read above... it will give you a clue!
9. Favorite Place to Eat? please refer to 7 &8....
10. Favorite dressing? Asian Toasted Sesame!!! YUM!!!!
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Ford Expedition (or the baby bus as I sometimes call it!)
12. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Any beach anywhere! (ditto Megan!)
13. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Over flowing!!!!
14. Where would you want to retire? Again...any beach anywhere! (again ... I have to ditto Megan!)
15. Favorite time of day? Early morning when the house is quiet!
16. Where were you born? Tulsa Regional (where my mother and my first daughter were also born!)
17. What is your favorite sport to watch? UFC!
18. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning! I have a hard time making it to 9:00 pm! lol
19. Do you have any pets? uh just a few.... we have Maximus our "son", who is a german sheppard/lab mix, two guinea pigs Chubb-Chubb and Calico, two cats, Callie & Lillie, Mojo the fish, and two hermit crabs Biggs and Littles.
20. What did you want to be when you were little? a mommy! (Bet that's a shocker!)
21. Are you a cat or dog person? Either I guess!
22. Are you married? not yet but very very soon!!! (number 2 & LAST for both of us!)
23. Been in a car accident? Yes a few!
24. Any pet peeves? people who leave cabinet doors open when they have gotten what they need... those who will walk past something on the floor twenty times and never have the thought to pick it up... ok so just pure laziness!!! On a side note Jordan does not do any of these! :)
25. Favorite Pizza Toppings? canadian bacon!
26. Favorite Flower? Gerber Daises!!!
27. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate almond
28. Favorite fast food restaurant? N/A- are you surprised??? HA!
29. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Zero times!
30. From whom did you get your last email? from Jordan!
31. Do anything spontaneous lately? I have to many kids to be spontaneous!!!!
32. Like your job? Well I won't lie, I'd rather win the lottery and quit! HA!
33. Broccoli? Love it!
34. What was your favorite vacation? Two years ago when I went to Hawaii to visit my bestie Mandy all by myself!!! YAY!!! (of course that was before Jordan because I would have LOVED for him to go too!!!!)
35. Last person you went out to dinner with? Jordan, Joyce and Katie! (Joycie wanted Chinese food and only ate the grapes and watermelon! kids!)
36. What are you listening to right now? my fingers typing on he keyboard
37. What is your favorite color? I don't have just one!
38. How many tattoos do you have? Zero.
39. What time did you finish this quiz? 11:30
40. Coffee Drinker? Not often

So there you go! I know you were all just hanging on to each answer! :)
Have a happy Wednesday!!!

Super Mom!

Well I'm going to do it! I'm tired of always talking about it and starting and stopping with excuses! I have always been a fit person and I'm proud when people look at me and can't believe I've given birth as many times as I have and am only 2 sizes bigger than high school! Not to say everything is still in the same place... ha ha.

And not to say that my weight hasn't fluctuate a lot in the last ten years... don't worry there will be no photo's to confirm this! But I'm ready to get back the body I had before babies! And since... sigh... there will be no more little ones now it the perfect time!

So.... drum roll please.... I'm going to do the Tulsa Run!!! It's a 5K and you know 10 years ago I could do this in my sleep... and honestly I did during basic training for the most part! lol I'm no stranger to physical training and mental readiness for sure- raising children is no minor feat in itself! I've done 12K's in my past and I know I can do this too!!! Even though it's been years! I'm ready! Well... getting ready!!!

I'm doing this not only for myself but because I want the girls to see that no matter what you can do anything! Because GIRLS ROCK!!!

You know I've never been the type to let someone tell me I can't do something... that usually just makes me more determined! (Just ask my grandparents!) Like the time I put the girls play set together all by myself while my friends and family all stood idly around waiting for me to break down and cry uncle. But did I??? NO WAY! Because I think it's important for us to show our children that no matter what we can rely on ourselves for more than we can from anyone else! And plus it was way cool for them to tell all of their friends their mom totally put it together by herself while their dad stood around watching! HA! It took me 3 weeks working until dark after work sometimes in the snow (I'm serious!) but I did it! It was no small play set, one hundred steps and about a thousand pieces- literally!

And I'm just as determined now to do this! So here I go! Resetting my alarm for 3:30 am instead of 5:30 am... but it's going to be worth it! That's what I'm telling myself!

So am I a glutton for punishment? Probably! But that's ok! I'm looking at this opportunity to get in great shape for my wedding! I want to look better than I did for my first one (which couldn't be to hard considering I already had a bun in the oven! LMAO) So keep me in your prayers!

My motivational mental picture of my goal is all of my little angels at the finish line watching and waiting cheering me on!

Babies Babies EVERYWHERE!

OK... so yes I realize that we already have six children... it doesn't take a mathematician to give me this total. But I have had baby fever like mad for the last few weeks! It seems that everyone around me is pregnant or has had a new bundle of joy in the last few months! And I'm getting to the age where my biological clock is ticking... and unfortunately the alarm will be set on silent. But it's still ticking none the less... I realize I sound crazy! I mean I already have more than enough children, right?




But does that make it lessen? No! All of my babies are growing up!


No I am not wanting to compete with the Dugger family by any means but I just absolutely LOVE babies!!! And all of the little clothes and accessories! Awwwwe! I just can't help myself!
;-P




I swear babies are invading my life! I dream about them every night! I can't help but to want to hold them when I'm around them! And I've become obsessed with television shows about pregnancy! "I Didn't Even Know I Was Pregnant", "16 and Pregnant", "A Baby Story" and "Twins by Surprise" are all shows I record religiously on my DVR!


Yes I realize I need help! lol And my poor Jordan never says anything about my babymania. I think he realizes it's hopeless!




This precious little beauty is my friend Andrea's little one! Isn't she just too cute!?! My girls and I love to hover over her and fight over who's turn it is to hold her! Oh we just LOVE her! :)






And here she is visiting her Padg's (Grandpa) work! I think she should turn in a resume! Who would turn her down?


With little cuties like this around who wouldn't want to have another one???? Right? lol

Well we obviously won't be adding to our family anymore :( But thank goodness I have babies all over the place to try and appease my longing!



And if that doesn't sooth it then I'm getting a puppy!



HA!

Our girls are back!

Yeah! The last few weeks have been really upside down and backwards for us. We have had weeks with two girls, or four and then a week with none! I am sooooo happy to have all my little duckies home where they belong! Yes mornings have been a lot easier! I can't lie, but still!

I didn't realize how quite the house gets when it's just Jordan and me! To come home to one (very small) load of laundry and cooking for only two every night is so strange! No fights to break up or booboo's to kiss... I guess I just never really thought about how much our lives really do revolve around the lives of our children.

I know I asked at least 3 times a night..."I wonder what the girls are doing?" or "I wonder if they've eaten dinner yet?" "Let's call them just to say hi!". LOL I'm sure I'm going to have a house full of puppies or other small animals to occupy my time when they start leaving the nest! HA

I just know I drove Jordan crazy! He's probably happy to have the girls home just so I'll stop driving him crazy with questions about them! :)

We met Jordan's parents (who had the girls for the last week) at the park by their house, in Arkansas, where the fireworks display was. As soon as the girls saw us they came running and scramming! I started crying because I was so happy to see them! I got enough hugs and kisses to make up for all the ones I had missed over the week. I'm sure all of the girls were counted by all of our fellow park goers. And I'm sure it was over whelming to most! They probably thought we were the Duggar family! lol

So we are home! All silly, wacky, eight of us!!! And I wouldn't want it any other way!

Because she said so....

Remember be careful what you ask for... lol

So I realize that I have been a very bad blogger... shame on me! And have been so incredibly tied up at work and home (even though the girls have been gone all week) and neglected my blog! I know how much of a let down this can be for those who want to read all the latest! :) (I only say this because while my beautiful cousin Megan was on vacation I longingly looked everyday for a new post to no avail... until her recent return!)

So because my wonderful Mom told me on Wednesday that I wasn't being a responsible blogger (not really the words she used but very close!) I decided that I should post!!!! And I know that she will be reading this an chuckling to herself, so this one is for you Mom! :) XOXO.....

There really has been quite a lot going on that I could blog about all day long... let's see...

Last Thursday, Emilee and Taylor both spent the day at work with me, well part of the day. And they were so excited! You know how kids are they think going to work is the greatest thing in the entire world... well give them 10 years and I'm sure they will be whistling a different tune! HA Anyways! I'm off track... lets see... where was I.... Oh right, girls at work! lol

We had a really great morning, they felt very grown up getting to spend the day at work... in the break room watching movies. When it came time for lunch one of my great friends/co-worker Andrea grabbed the girls something from McNasty's (note: McDonald's) and they were able to get the eating out of the way so that we could do some shopping on my lunch hour!!! (WE LOVE SHOPPING!) We decided to visit this used bookstore that is close to my work since the girls love to read (and so do I).

So below is a picture of the girls on our lunch hour adventure!

Yes... that is the Incredible Hulk... And why is he in a used book store you might ask? Well for the amazing price of only $250.00 this life size replica could be yours! (Seriously) And we saw a photo op that just couldn't be missed! I truly love the look of terror on Taylor's face... I think she was making sure no one was really around to see her act like a fool... And Emilee is completely into it! LOL

Later that day I received a phone call from Emilee's fourth grade teacher saying that my wonderful, beautiful, smart and witty ten year old first born daughter is going to be published!!! I was so happy she was there so her teacher could tell her first hand! She was so excited!!! We can't wait to get our copies of the book so that we can see it for real in print!

Emilee's class had entered a creative writing event and their work was submitted to the Anthology of Poetry, Inc for review. Emilee's poem was chosen and will be in the 2009 edition of the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans!!! I know you can't wait to run out and get a copy of your very own!

So as you can see it was a busy wonderful Thursday! :)

For the weekend we were kid free! That doesn't happen very often for us... at ALL!!! So we acted like kids ourselves and went to a 10:30 PM showing of Transformers at the IMAX! OK, just so you all know I am not a night person at ALL! And usually if we watch a movie that lasts past 9:30 PM there is a really good chance I'm going to fall asleep no matter HOW good the movie is! But away we went! I went home after work and picked Jordan up, who had to shower and get ready. We went to dinner and SHOPPING! since we had a few hours to kill! And my dear sweet lovie did the respectable thing and held my purse and bags for me at all the right times and even went into the jewelry store and shoe store where I proceeded to shop my bad week away! :) (On a side note: the jewelry store is the $1 Jewelry Store and the shoe store is Shoe Carnival!) But to me it could have been Moody's and Nine West! HA I just wanted to get out and do something grown up! I love all of my children but sometimes I just never get any Terra time...

So Friday night was awesome! We got home at 1:30 AM... I don't even get up at 1:30 AM to use the bathroom! I covet sleep! But we did, and I passed out pretty much as soon as we walked through the doors. Poor Jordan had to work Saturday so he only ended up with around four hours of sleep! Now I remember why responsible grown ups don't do this sort of thing! (I'm sure he is remembering too!).

So Saturday I stayed home and cleaned... not fun... and when Jordan got home and showered we went to the movies again!... FUN! We saw The Proposal and LOVED it!!! I just love romantic quirky comedies! After the movies we decided to go bowling!!! I haven't been bowling in FOREVER! But sadly I was wearing sandals and no socks (of course!) SO we decided to go to Wal-Mart and pick up a pack of socks... only Jordan and I being the goof balls we are decided to have a race walking contest. He is always making fun of me for walking so fast and I'm always teasing him for being so slow!

And so we were off! I was in the lead cutting between the ladies department fully camouflaged and Jordan was out in the open when he saw me reaching the sock department he broke out in a full fledged run! I started giggling as this rather large older woman sitting in the dressing room area started getting on to him like she was scolding a child!!! Well that really set me to laughing and stopped him dead in his tracks and I the triumphant speed walker took first place and won!

We had a great time bowling. I won two out of the three games we played! I'm rather competitive if you can't tell... I'm sure it isn't obvious at all. And were home by 10:30 PM... much more my speed! :)