Turkey Day

"Want to go hike Turkey Mountain with us?" 

What an innocent question.  What an innocent name for a mountain.  How tame.  Small.  Fluffy almost.  So when I pulled up to the "Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Park" I had to put my eyes back in my head and resist the urge to turn around.

Clearly a before pic...

  Turkey Mountain is, in fact, a GINORMOUS trek that should not be attempted by anyone 'not so fit'.  I say that...We were passed by a family...and while Sweet Kendra and I were huffing, puffing and wheezing-- death grips on poor trees to hold us up-- a man carrying a toddler all but floated by. 

Let's start from the beginning.  How enthusiastic we were!  We marched up to the giant map and assessed our 'trekking options'.  That's when things got serious.  The PINK trail is 5.7 MILES.  The innocent map states that that trail takes 2-3 hours on foot.  PASS.  Ironically there are 2 other trails that say the same thing!  We opt for the BLUE trail.  Had I really read the map before our hike, I would have known better...

 

Off we go!  UP "Lipbuster" hill (which should really be named "big horrendous torture hill").  Our three athletic friends happily hiked.  Kendra and I made it a good ten feet then realized just how many Weight Watchers activity points we were actually going to bank today!

 

Past "Jelly Legs; Meat Grinder, Snake; and Bomb Cellar" we go.  People swish by on mountain bikes.  Dogs happily bark!  We are truly enjoying ourselves...after the stinging burning feeling in our thighs resorts to an awkward, achy numbness of exhaustion. 

 

 

 

An hour into our Urban Wilderness escapade, we realize we made a wrong turn amidst the forest that is Turkey Mountain.  I resorted to stuffing my water bottle in my shirt to cool off...Kendra sat down.  Rach, Steph, and Amy just smiled.  Remind me to start doing lunges and aerobic activities daily...

 

Back on our own trail we have made, a calmness sets in.  A breeze blows and leaves swirl around us.  I know that sounds ridiculous but we all seriously had a moment with nature and God.  It was AWESOME.  So was the view!

 

 

LOOOOVE them!



We made it down the mountain and I felt quite accomplished.  My entire lower body was on FIRE and breathing was optional at that point.  But it was worth it!




Turkey Mountain, you were brutal.  But you were also beautiful.  Thank you!

PS- I never got to see a turkey.  You can imagine my disappointment...


Aleve and Icy Hot are my night cap of choice tonight!
XOXO Summer





Chicken Gristle Road, TX

I was folding laundry today and somehow found myself reading the labels of some pants.  Did you know the Levi Strauss's headquarters is on Battery Street?  Isn't that a weird name?

I got curious, as ya'll know I often get...what other random street names exist in the good ol U. S. of A?.......

Cannibal Road in California

Peppermint Road (actually here in Sand Springs...Husby and I were actually looking at a house on that street, wouldn't that be FUN to live on a Peppermint Road?  It would be like living in Candy Land!  Except the house was a tad creepy and the neighbors had a dog the size of a horse.  And not a mini one...)  I digress.

Waterdragon Road in Hollywood!

Gungywamp in Connecticut...

Cow Shed Road in Oklahoma

Licking Hole in Virginia...gross....

Pooh Bear Drive in Missouri (LOVE it!)

Stuck Street in New York-- avoid that one in the winter!

Jesus Road and Demon Street in Pennsylvania (wouldn't that be awkward if they intersect?!)

And lastly, my favorite:


Digestion Drive.  I definitely plan on finding where that street resides and opening a chili restaurant.  Immediately.

What crazy city streets are in your pants?  Or shirt?
XOXO Summer

White River Fish Market

Southern Living ranted and raved about White River Fish Market in one of their previous issues this year.  Sidder and I were so excited to try it!

This past Monday I finally got to eat at White River.  It was SOOO good!

It's located in 'north' Tulsa, in a scary sort of area but once you walk in the doors and see all of the fresh fish and shrimp, any hesitations go out the window (and into the questionable 'salon' next door)...

Being back on Weight Watchers has at times been a struggle, especially when I am at a restaurant that serves amazing fried shrimp... my favorite food EVER.  EVER.  EVER.

I opted for the 'broiled' platter, a piece of tilapia, 3 shrimp, scallops, and hush puppies. You also get two sides (baked potato was yummo, cole slaw sucked).



My Uncle ordered the gumbo, rendered delish once hot sauce was applied!  He also had the seafood salad.



My parents always order the same thing at every restaurant they go...fried catfish...and they also gobbled down theirs.



Everything on the menu is around $14 a plate but you get so much food and the fish is MEGA fresh.  Completely worth it!

The best part for my Momma was the Buttermilk pie.  It had a luscious lemon flavor which I didn't care for but everyone else loved it!



Now do you see why I had the hiccups? :)

Starving as usual,
XOXO Summer

Fly Guy

Every time I turn around, I dang near have to spit a fly out of my mouth.  It has rained SO much in the past weeks that flies are reproducing like...well...flies.  I'm sick of being annoyed by them, so I googled 'fly' to see how to rid my life of these nasty pests.  I learned waaaaay more than I care to know about the sicko buggers but ya'll know I just had to share the highlights!

1.  Flies carry and can pass on super revolting diseases.  Like what you ask?  Um, bubonic plague.  Gangrene.  Nice.  I'm glad they sneak into my house and post up in my kitchen....

2.  The fly guys only travel as fast as 5 MPH.  So WHY are they so flippin hard to smash?

3.  A fly's life span is 30 days.  But some have been known to live up to 5 months (GAG).

4.  Flies only have two wings.  All ofter flying insects have four.  And when they 'take off' they actually fly backwards first.  Weird, right?

And lastly, 5.  My dog, Caddy, is obsessed with them.  She will literally hold perfectly still and watch them land on her food bowl and then snap her jowls until she catches a few.  Sure, she can do that, but fetch?  No way...

How many flies have you counted today?
XOXO Summer

Hello, my name is....

Watching the weather last night was an unusual source of entertainment for me. Bear with me, I had been around two children under the age of two allll day!

Husby and I found ourselves fascinated by some of the small town names in Oklahoma. Ones you never hear about (unless a tornado is headed straight towards it...).

Here are some we learned!

Slaughterville (nothing as romantic as a postcard from Slaughterville, Ok!)

Hogshooter (bacon!!!)

Jumbo, an old mining town which ironically has about 11,000 people in it... This is assuming my google researching skills are accurate! 

Cookietown (yes, we are most definetely moving there!)

Okay (which I am assuming is just...well...okay). 

Pink (ohmiword, it is my favorite color! Oklahoma just moved up a notch on my coolness scale!)

And lastly my dear friends, wait for it. I almost died... 

HOOKER. You may now pick your jaw up off the floor.  Are you ready for the super bonus?  Cross your legs so you don't pee!

Their mascot is: Hooker Horny Toads. 

I have no amazing words to follow that one. Just pure elation and relief I was a Stillwater Pioneer. Not quite sure how I would explain Hooker Horny Toad to strangers. I mean, I already throw people through a loop when they first meet me. Why add fuel to that loud mouthed fire??

Happy Saturday! We are watching Pocohantas in our jammies. 

XOXO Summer

Friday Five!

Ya'll watchin the weather?  I knew things were about to get serious when Husby told me to 'put on pants'...(At home I opt for maximum comfort...and I get hot flashes..a lot...TMI?  Sorry...)

Whilst watching KOTV Ch. 6, I am sending so many prayers, hoping and praying people stay safe and sound! 

Here's my Friday Five list!  (I have seriously not had a single day to just sit at home and have a normal routine since school let out 2 weeks ago...until today!)

1.  For Memorial Day weekend, I trekked down to my roots in Stillwater.  My parents took it upon themselves to sing chidlren's songs at the TOP of their lungs to my poor Loves...Can you tell how excited they are?  HAHAHA!

2. Sweet Bestie Anne had her Miss Paisley oh so long ago and I have been itchin to get my hands on her!  But with colds, surgeries, school, and moving to a new town, getting to Stillwater has been impossible.  ANYWAY, Paisley is a tiny, perfect, precious ball of cuddlyness and I am completely obsessed with her.  Bee learned what 'being gentle' means...picking up her brother by his FACE is her new hobby...we were cautious with her!


Sweet LOVES!


I wanted to snuggle her allllllll day!  I am so proud of Anne and so in love with Paisley!!!!!!


Turtle and Paisley!

3. I never pack toys when I go to my parents because Momma saved all of mine and Sidder's from our childhood...ironically 98% of these toys are...Barbies...

I don't know if Turtle is a ladies' man or expressing his feminine side during nap time...  either way it makes me swoon!

4.  We had a BLAST making these shirts with our cousins and their super grown up kids!  (I say that because they are so well mannered and even though they are still in grade school, they are taller than me...)  My kids didn't get dirty in the process...but I had to throw away my shirt, attempt to wipe off permanent paint from my pants, pick blue specks out of my hair, and there is still red on my hands...I look sort of creepy if you stare at my fingernails...


5.  Debbie Diller.  Need I say more?  For those of you who don't know who she is, let me tell ya!  I idolize her.  In every way.  She pioneered small groups in classrooms and has successfully published over 7 books and has retired from teaching to teach teachers how to integrate literacy and math and ohmiword is that a run on sentence??  I have seen her speak 4 times, I have my picture with her, and I have had her personally autograph all of the books she has written....we are friends on Facebook...I follow her blog, and after yesterday, I can tell you where she SHOPS for clothes.  (My best teacher friend Teresa joked that my next encounter with her might lead to a restraining order...HA!)  She is just such an awesome person who really motivates me to be a better teacher.  And she has ah-mazing ideas!

Here she is drinking water...She bought that cute little orange print top at J. Crew!


Me and Teresa waiting for her Literacy seminar to start.  I almost wet my pants.  No lie.

And I shall leave you with this picture, dearest Friends.  Sweet Turtle posing with nerdy glasses.  Melt my heart!


Ya'll don't forget to DUCK and COVER!
XOXO Summer

Ramblings

Ramblings!  Ready?  GO:

.

This wanker.  Who posts random weird crap on a nice car???  My favorite is the bottom one:" WWJD?  Not tail gate."  Ironically his top speed in his COROLLA was a whopping 9 MPH and tailgating isn't the word I would describe my reaction to being stuck behind this creep...more like bumper punching...

Had meetings at school this week so our ah-mazing 2nd momma baby sitter, Jessi, had the kiddos.  I told Turtle to SMILE! and this is what I got.  SWOON!


Husby has been busting his behind helping our good friends build a retaining wall in their back yard.  Bless his heart he wore a white undershirt and forgot sunscreen...needless to say he has quite a redneck tan line.  THEN, the next day he didn't wear a shirt at all and attempted to put on sunscreen by himself....let's just say it looks like a blind, armless, stoned armadillo applied SPF 50 to his back...hysterical!  I told him to be positive, at least only 1/3 of his back will avoid skin cancer....


You know you've hit 'Hollywood' when small town Moore and Shawnee make the Today show.  Al Roker was some what amusing to me, trying to stumble thru rubble and act like he knew how Oklahoman's handle twisters.  Dude, Toby Keith said it best.  "We've been hit before.  This one was just a bad one.  We will be ok."


Look close.  That's right.  I'm walking a weenie dog..and a cat.  I was taking Bentley for a walk (over a mile trek!).  I was 1/4 into our little adventure when I heard an Elmo sneeze (bless his heart, he has allergies...Husby tells me he is allergic to himself...)  Elmo literally followed right beside me and the dog for the whole mile.  It's safe to say our neighbors officially think I'm nuts.


Saw this at Mardels yesterday.  I ordered it on Amazon.  Pretty sure several people have bets on how long it actually will take for me to learn to 'think first and then speak'.



Yesterday evening was spent lounging in the sun with my sweet neighbor and her kiddos.  She has three boys (OMG!) and they ah-dore Bee!  The oldest carries her around and is her body guard.  Here he is taking her for a spin on his bike trike thing?!  (Apparently I really need to clue in on boy's toys...Turtle just plays with Bee's dolls and necklaces....uh oh...)  Anyways he let Bee steer the bike for a while and she was on cloud 9!


Turtle giving Cadillac a snuggle :)


Peanut butter is gross when it covers 94% of one's body.  Trust me, I will most definitely think twice before giving Bee a banana and peanut butter for dessert again!


Bestie Houston sent me this tonight.  No words.  I lie.  Maybe 2.  Pure elation.

Sorry for the absenteeism in the past few days.  Life has been cah-raaaazy round these parts.  I promise to try harder!

XOXO Summer

Questionable TV

Awaiting the impending storm, Husby and I started channel surfing last night...Here's what we came across:

Beiber Penguin Pants

Bison tongues



Tim McGraw on stage with Pitbull...worst performance ever.  It was like a car accident.  You had to look away but you couldn't.  SO bad.

Tonight is supposed to be the mega storm!  Shawnee got hit pretty bad last night.  Be sure to keep everyone affected in your prayers!!
XOXO Summer

Sunday at Sprouts

SIL told me about this ah-mazing new farmers market/organic food store, Sprouts in Bixby.  I was DYING to go!  Then sweet MIL said she would go and we were off!  Here's a photo overload of our deliciously fresh adventure!

3 Musketeers!

Random store shot...it was so so so fun!  Everything was colorful, fresh, (have I said that enough already??!) and CHEAP!  Cheaper than Wal-Mart cheap.  Even pineapple!  SOLD.

Someone was not such a fan of his organic chocolate chip cookie sample....

Bless her, MIL took Bee in her cart!  BRAVE woman!



See how CUTE and little some of the produce was?  I just swooned for these baby heirlooms!  (They are so so so flavorful so naturally I'm sure the baby ones will be just as wowza!)


BABY mangos!  HOLD ME BACK!  Yes, the store has regular sized fruit and veggies, but me being 'fun sized' myself, I  fascinated by the little gems!


Now, I wasn't in the market for a new brush, but I just might have to skidattle on back for one that has the same name as me!  (Bass!-- it's nice to NOT be just a fish, ya know?)


You can buy your own seasonings and herbs and whatnot by the oz/pound!  HOW fun!  There was craaazy stuff too, like powdered vanilla, arrowroot, and whole (dried) chamomile flowers!



They had an abundance of fresh things you could 'self serve' and buy the pound.  Now, call me naive, but isn't hemp marijuana?  And isn't SELLING all things marijuana illegal?  These puppies were 'salted'?  Strange...



Love Jamaican food but have a gluten allergy?  No worries, apparently so is Bob Marley!


How do I always manage to find the strangest vitamins?  Do you take these to treat leg veins or are there creepy chopped up old lady legs in these jars???

All in all I was completely floored and fascinated by everything!  Most definitely going back!  Thank you, Sprouts for a super fun Sunday!
xoxo Summer

Beached Whale

Bathing suit shopping.  Most women cringe because they know they will be stuffing their self-conscious, unforgiving bodies in spandex...Most husbands panic or even fake illnesses because they know their credit card bill will sky rocket or will be asked, "Does this make me look fat?" That is...unless you are Eva Longoria or Katie Holmes...or me.  HA!

I had to endure this painful situation today.  Luckily my husband thought I was just getting my oil changed in my car and I took Bestie T along for a good laugh.  Here's what we found!


Ima do my country a favor and not attempt this little number.  You're welcome for my patriotism!


There is so much fabric in the rump, my bum looks like a flat tire.  That suit definitely did not make the cut! But it was a good chuckle.  Especially trying to peel the blasted thing off...Poor Bestie will most likely bill me for therapy Monday!

Don't even get me started with this one.  It's like Golden Girls meets Spring Break 1997.  I thought the v-neck would be slimming.  Turns out it's just a giant arrow pointing out my lady hips and stupid knobby knees.  PASS.

Nope.  Nada.  Never.  (PS-the peacock number on the left was over $100!)



Work it Bestie T.  That elastic waist band is certainly slimming.  Good thing you found that on the clearance aisle...

One king size package of M&M's later (to boost my spirits!) and our last store...I finally found the bathing suit!  For so long I have had to wear a maternity bathing suit-- two years of being preggo!-- that I discovered I didn't even really know what size I was.  And I was a lot smaller than I realized!  God bless Bestie T for that!

Once we moseyed through the exercise DVD aisle (and no, I didn't buy a DVD this time...ha!), we found this 'cookbook'.  I almost died.  Do you know what it's mimicking?  50 Shades of Grey!  I could not believe it, so I opened the book!  Not only were the recipes nasty but the directions and ingredients were super perverted and extremely X-rated!  And the back cover picture is a naked guy holding the chicken to cover...his chicken!  Hysterical!  I'll stick to Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman.

Here's the winning number!  Isn't she a doll?  So excited!

Just keep swimming!  Just keep swimming!  Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!

xoxo Summer