It Pays To Know People

Last night, Mark and I got a call from my aunt who invited us to go with her and my uncle to a Tulsa Drillers (minor league baseball) game. They happened to have tickets to the Love Bottling Co. suite, and wanted to know if we could go. Luckily, we didn't have plans, so we loaded up the Accord and headed  downtown.

The Drillers ballpark recently moved to downtown, and while it was a very controversial move in Tulsa, I think it's great. I'm all about bringing back the cool downtown vibe. So, we walked several blocks and then got into the suites entrance, where we were given some awesome purple wristbands and sent on our way to find our suite. Basically, we were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

I would like to say that from now on, I would totally be okay with only watching games from a suite.

Free food? Check.

Free drinks? Check.

Awesome view of the ballgame (and air conditioning and away from rain)? Check.

Basically, we had a fabulous time! It was so nice to catch up with my lovely Aunt Connie

And my cousin Bill even got a ball! His friend did, too - what are the odds? 

From our suite we could see all the downtown buildings:

I do have to admit that in total, I probably watched maybe five minutes of the game, and that's really generous. But, we had great food, great company, and a great time.

Go Drillers! (-:

~Kathryn

PS I know my blog looks weird. Some photobucket thing showed up an wouldn't leave and now I'm trying to figure out how to get my blog to look decent without that, and clearly it's not working out for me. Stay tuned.

It's Been a Whole Year!

Today is our one year anniversary of being married! I know everyone always says it, but time has really flown by. I guess it's because this first year of marriage has been so much fun. There have been challenges, but honestly they have been very minor and not very many, which has been great.

It has been so fun being married to Mark. He makes me laugh a lot, and he is such an encourager. He keeps me grounded when I start worrying about ridiculous things and he gives a wonderful and realistic perspective to everything. I love that we can talk about anything and everything, and still never run out of things to say. I guess you could say we're BFF. (-:

I love how much Mark helps around the house. I mean seriously, I am super spoiled. He does the laundry and the dishes almost every day. How fabulous is that? He also makes sure that Miguel gets his medicine every day, and wakes up in the middle of the night if Melvin wants to go outside. He thinks everything I cook is wonderful, (-: and he is a good sport about everything - whether it's shopping, sitting around the apartment and doing nothing, or having to listen to my music (a lot). He is so serving, and it challenges me to be more serving every day. What I most admire is his relationship with the Lord and how he encourages me in mine. He's the best.

Of course I could go on and on, but basically, I love being married to Mark, and I am looking forward to many more fun and challenging years to come.

For a few laughs, I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the exciting events that have happened in the past year. There was the time we had a fight, the time I finally threw out Mark's old shoes, and there was the day we stole  , er, I mean borrowed some pizza. Mark also lived up to his "through sickness and health" part of his vows when I almost died, and finally, there was the time he was the person that found the missing keys.

Happy First Anniversary, Mark!

~Kathryn

I Know That You Are For Me

Do you ever have one of those moments where the Lord really speaks to you at your point of need and it's overwhelming? I had one of those moments on my drive home today.

First of all, I consider myself to be immensely blessed in my life. I really don't have any room to not be thankful for everything. But, like everyone else, there is usually at least one area where you just wish you could change something. And usually, in those situations, there's not really anything you or I can do to change them. Thankfully, there's really only one area in my life like this, and it's an area that I try to always be positive about. I try to be realistic and I try to do my part to bring about positive change. And while hope is not a strategy, it is comforting. Because I know that while things may not turn out the way my heart would like, I can always pray and hope that it will.

But, all that aside, as I was driving home today I was just bummed. My normal positive attitude about this particular hurt was very quickly turning into hopelessness and I was actually feeling sorry for myself, which I really hate to admit. I was thinking about other people whose situation is better than mine and how I would like to switch places with them. I was thinking about my one situation and how much it stinks and how I can't do anything about it. I was wishing things were different. And I was just very sad.

Rewind to the last week or two. I have always loved Kari Jobe as a singer/songwriter. On her newest album is one of my favorite songs, "Revelation Song". On that particular album I usually listen to that one song and then the skip the song that comes on after that. The last two weeks, Kari Jobe has been talking about a new song. I listened to the backstory of the song on YouTube and about her writing it and heard the song enough to be slightly familiar with it, but it hadn't really sunk in yet.

Back to the drive home. As I was driving home, I had her cd playing in the background, and it was on "Revelation Song". Right at the point where I was really starting to dwell in my sadness, that song ended, and the song I usually skip over started, and I realized it was the new song I had been hearing in the last week. And immediately my mind flashed to the title of the song and the chorus that I had recently heard, and I teared up. I knew that that song was meant for me at that exact moment. And as I intently listened to the verses and really let the words sink in, I realized how the Lord was showing me that He is for me, in my weakness, and He is ever faithful, ever constant. Even in my hurts and in my disappointments, He is for me. As isn't that enough?

And while my situation hasn't changed, I think these moments when I am honest about my feelings are the moments when I can experience the Lord's healing in a powerful way. And how special is it when the God of the universe speaks words of comfort to our individual hearts? I think it's pretty cool. And I don't think I'll be skipping over that song anymore. (-:

You can hear the song here on her sneak peek for the music video - it will only be up temporarily:


And I am posting the lyrics below:

I Know That You Are For Me - Kari Jobe

So faithful
So constant
So loving and so true
So powerful in all You do
You fill me
You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to You

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
I know that You have come down
Even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who You are

So patient
So gracious
So merciful and true
So wonderful in all You do
You fill me
You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to You

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
I know that You have come down
Even if to write upon my heart
To remind me that

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
I know that You have come down
Even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who You are

I hope you can find as much encouragement in these words as I have.

Grace and Peace,
Kathryn

We Are Home

Well, folks, we made it.

We had a fabulous trip, on and off the road. Mark did a great job driving. Even though I offered several times, he really enjoyed driving and actually wanted to do it. So who am I to argue with that? (-: He got us there in record time.

The trip home was not as exciting as the trip to vacation - I don't think it ever is. But, it was still enjoyable. Mark is already planning our next road trip - so you could definitely say that he had a good time. (-:

I hope you enjoyed our ridiculous video blogs and that they perhaps made you laugh a little. We certainly had fun making the videos.

And now, it is back to reality. Back home, back with the poodles, and back to work.

Happy Monday!

~Kathryn

On the Road Again....

Well, we left Virginia this morning. It was very sad. )-: The drive home is not as exciting as the drive to vacation, which will be very clear by the videos. It does involve a breakdown of sorts, some ice cream, some rather out of control singing, and the arrival at the hotel.

Here is the departure video:



 Here I am, about six hours into the drive. I started to get rather sick of being in the car:



Here I am, trying to entertain myself:



And here we are after a pit stop in Columbus.



And here I am, again, trying to entertain myself:



And finally, our arrival at the hotel:



I also did some of this:

 And here we are:

So there you have it! One more day and we will be home!

~Kathryn

Apparently I'm a Pretty Awesome Bowler

On our final day with the cousins, we went bowling, at the local lanes. I must admit that as a child, I was a pretty good bowler. I generally won, plus I was super competitive, so I had lots of motivation to do my absolute best.

Even when Mark and  I would bowl I would usually beat him.

It's been a couple years since I've bowled, but I just figured I'd pick right back up where I left off and be decent. (And by decent, I mean able to consistently hit the pins, and get a strike or two, so really, pretty terrible, but like you know, in the 80's or something.)

Well, something has changed. Drastically. I bowled a 57. A FIFTY-SEVEN. I may as well have blindfolded myself and spun around three times before I bowled each time. I mean SERIOUSLY. My score card did say 67, though, because on one of my turns the lane was messed up and gave me a strike for free. So that was great, but in reality, it was a 57.

Here's the proof:

And yes, Mark got a 112.  He was on fire.

I think I should have used this:

When we first arrived at the lanes, it was Mark and I with three of  the girls. There were some kids in the lane next to us with their grandmother and the lady came up to me and said, "Are these all your children? You don't look old enough to have these children." And I said, "No, I'm their cousin, but I'm 25." And you could see the shock in her eyes as she sized me up and said, "Oh, Honey, that's WONDERFUL." Clearly she was impressed that I was 25 while looking like a 14 year old, and was just offering me encouragement and celebrating that I apparently will always like at least 10 years younger than I am. It was pretty funny. Ha.

Despite my terrible performance, we managed to have a fabulous time. Here are some photos:

Silly girls:

Sorry this is kind of fuzzy:

And one more:

We had lots of fun. After bowling, we had lunch at Elevation Burger, which is an organic, grass fed beef burger joint. It was pretty fabulous. And, we are now getting ready to load up and see Toy Story Three. WOO!!

And tomorrow we head home. )-: But, we got a hotel for $40 off priceline, and it's a Hampton Inn, so I'm pretty pumped. Until next time...

~Kathryn

Road Trip: Day of Cooking Out and Swimming

Well, today was another fun and relaxing day in Virginia. Unfortunately, my cousin's migraine worsened so she was out for the count for most of the day. So, Mark and I made another trip to the pool with the girls. This time we got some video footage and some pics. Let's just say the girls LOVED playing with Mark in the pool. I thought it was VERY comical, so I snapped several photos.

And Mark is in this pic, you just can't see him, because he is surrounded by girls:

And here I am with the cousins. The youngest one is Elizabeth, and it's been two years since I've seen her. She isn't four yet, so she doesn't exactly remember me. We were walking back to the car today and she looked up at me and randomly said, "I still don't remember you." ha.

Here is me and Mark. Yay!

Here are the girls sitting out of the pool for the grown-up swim time, with Mark in the pool. This is a video:



And here I am, talking to Elizabeth, and teaching her the peace sign, which is very crucial to learn:



And here's one final picture from the pool of my, Georgia, and Annie.

Tomorrow we are going to the Zoo. That should be pretty fabulous. And tonight we are cooking out. No photos of that yet.

Peace!

~Kathryn