Words

When I was in school, I was not very good at spelling. I'm still not good at spelling. But in school, I didn't really care and I didn't like grammar either. Maybe I didn't like it because I wasn't good at it, maybe I wasn't good at it because Korean was my first language. I tried to blame the fact that I wasn't good at spelling on the fact that Korean was my first language, but I highly doubt that had anything to do with it. As I've gotten older, I've taken more of an interest in words. Maybe it is because I work at a University or maybe I just like words or maybe I care more. Anyway my interest in words are 2 fold. #1 I like pronouncing words correctly. The biggest one that I am known for at work is "verbiage". We use that word regularly, but most people pronounce it without the "i". The correct pronunciation includes the "i". However, my coworkers have called me out for "churching" up chosen words. They don't allow me to pronounce certain words differently just because it "sounds" better. Like envelope. I think it should be pronounced like "on"velope, the correct way is line "in"velope. But I like "on"velope better. For the sake of correctness, I will say "IN"velope.

#2 My 2nd interest about words is learning new words, using new words, and using words properly. Oddly enough (I know, I'm a nerd) my new favorite website seems to be dictionary.com. Here are some of my favorite words, try to use them today:

Kerfuffle - misunderstanding, or disagreement. A brouhaha
Brouhaha - see above :)
Kvetch - to habitually complain, a complaint, a habitual complainer
panache - grand or flamboyant manner, flair
verklempt - choked with emotion
Palpable (this one became a fave because it seemed to have been the buzz word a couple of years ago) - obvious, evident, capable of being touched, felt, or tangible.
Qi (thanks to words with friends) - chi
AND...
floccinaucinihilipilification - rare, yes this long huge word means RARE!

A Friend

I realized that in my last 3 posts, I have referred to "a friend". In an effort to avoid my friends and family thinking that I still have imaginary friends, I decided to name said friend. This is him. This is my friend Dusty Butler. Not only is he my friend he is my insurance agent. Cody prefers to refer to him as our insurance agent and not just my friend. Makes spending so much time with "our insurance" agent seem kind of creepy, but I don't care. I figured since I have referred to him recently, he deserves to be called by name from here on out. From this day forward he shall be know in this blog as Dusty.
I cannot have a blog post about friends without talking about my best friend Holly. Since I moved away from her, I don't get to have my weekly dinners with her, nor do I get to stop by whenever I want. For now we have to settle for lunch here and there and seeing each other whenever we can. Not only is she my best friend, her son Trevor is Brayden's best friend. They are a great family and I am lucky to have them in my life. We have enjoyed many sad and happy times together, and I cannot wait for more (happy times anyway).
AND this post needs to include my new besties Shawn and Morgan. Shawn and Morgan both work with me, so not only do I spend around 40 hours a week with them, I spend several hours outside of work with them, and take vacations with them. They are practically family. Morgan is definitely Aunt Mo to Brayden. Since Shawn and Morgan are about to have their first baby, I will be Aunt Kira to him or her. I will most definitely be spending lots of time with this baby so prepare for many post/pics. From this day forward that baby will be known in this blog as my little niece or nephew!

Happy Birthday to JOSH!

I spent Saturday and Sunday helping Josh celebrate his birthday. Today is his actual birthday!! Saturday we went shopping. He bought himself a new birthday outfit. From head to toe he was decked out. I provided a watch as one of the new items and birthday gift. And of course, I bought myself a thing or two while we were at the mall to celebrate his birthday.

We had dinner at Fedora. A local fondue place in Springfield. It was Yummy. This was my first time to eat there and his first time at a fondue restaurant. I must say it was a bit different from the Melting Pot. I need to take him there so he can see the difference. Most of the fondue at Fedora is cheese and you don't really get to cook any of your meal, it's precooked. That's good and bad. Bad because the experience is not AS fun and good because you don't the steam facial. But all in all still a good meal.

Then we met up with some friends to watch some of their friends in their band. We enjoyed...the company. I'm pretty sure Josh will appreciate this picture. ACTION SHOT!

Sunday we celebrated by spending the day inside watching TV. Since it was a rainy day, it was perfect for that. How was watch TV celebrating Josh's birthday? Well, we spent most of the day watching football. 4 different football games to be exact!! YIKES!! That was more football than I've watched in a whole season!!! I actually fell asleep quickly after the 4th game started, and yes that was about 8:30!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

NO - you know why I don't love football season? Because people get SO obsessed with football. I, for one, never get obsessed with anything. However, seriously, I never hear guys talk so much until football season. All the guys at work talk about is football. So many posts on Facebook about football. I went to a baby shower and the WOMEN were talking about football. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Friday (in prep for the weekend) it is football. Football, Football, Football.

AND - football tickets are so expensive. Who can afford to go to these games. For me, it would require a 3 hour drive, an overnight stay, and about $600!!! WHAT? Ridiculous. Cody can go to an NFL game, when he is an adult and he can pay for his own ticket and drag his wife to a game! Since I have 2 sons, I do have to indulge them in some football talk. I will here and there try to know a little about football and talk a little football for their sake, but that's enough for me.

I have friends that are so determined to turn me into a football fan. I keep saying that I will resist. One friend is determined to wear me down and prove me wrong. Josh tries the argument, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's not going to work either. I will dig in my heels and stand firm. I don't HAVE to be a football fan!

The Hang Up

You know how you have those dreams that seem SOOO real, you can't shake the dream for like the whole day. The other night I had a dream, not one that FELT so real, I REALLY thought it happened.

Basically, I thought Josh called me at 6 AM and when I answered he was singing to me (which I typically enjoy him singing to me) and I say something like, really singing? And he's like yeah, why you don't like singing. I respond by saying not when I'm trying to sleep and I hang up on him. Then he sends me a text and I just ignore it.
When I woke up, I decided to look at the text and there is one from Josh that says Good morning, I can't wait to hear about your night. I thought to myself, wow he seems very understanding about me hanging up on him. So, I text him and I'm like I'm so sorry for hanging up on you. I only vaguely remember our conversation but I should have just not answered the phone. He responds back, what? I didn't call you. I didn't believe him, I still had no idea that it could have been a dream, so I look at my call log on my phone, and no calls from Josh...

I actually believe that had happened and I even told one of my friends about the whole situation before I realized it was a dream!

Here Fishy Fishy

One of our nights in FL, Emmanuel and Jodi got Emmanuel's sister to watch the kids and we headed to a nice restaurant called the FISH House. As we are waiting for a table, there is one table right on the way to the restrooms. At one point, Jodi says, "I hope we don't get that table." Guess what?

So, the nice thing about this table is that it is right by the fish tank and I can watch the pretty little fishes. I look over ater a few minutes at the table and see this fish laying on the rocks. I may have freaked out a little bit... we mentioned it to the waiter, and he's like oh no it's sleeping (I may have believed him for a second or two). Apparently the fish died earlier in the day and they just left it there. AND I may have continued to obsess about this dead fish for several more minutes. ok, ok I know you all are shocked that I was a bit dramatic about it. But seriously, it was disturbing. Finally, Jodi thought of the brilliant idea to put a menu up against the tank to block the fish. Thankfully, I was able to move on...

Then to top it off we just happened to get the fortunate pleasure of sitting under the leaky a/c something or other. So, Josh and I had some serious water dripping on us. Luckily, we had a large booth and we just moved down. Believe it or not and despite the above unfortunate events we had a really nice dinner. Good food and good company. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know Josh's family a little better.

And look at them being willing to pose next to the dead fish for a photo op!

Labor Day - FL

For the Labor Day weekend, I am with Josh in Pensacola, FL visiting his sister and her family. Jodi is Josh's sister and her husband Emmanuel have 2 adorable sons Ian and Dominic. The trip started out not awesome when the air conditioning in my car went out on the way to Tulsa. So I drove for about an hour in 100 degrees. I was a gross sweaty mess when I got to Tulsa. But the drive to FL was pretty uneventful. We took the puppies and they were great travelers.

We stopped at the Louisiana boarder to use the restroom, let the puppies out, and of course take pictures. We missed the Alabama rest stop... :( And I figured we would take enough pictures of Florida.This is Dominic the baby. He is about 9 months old. He is soooooo sweet. He almost let me rock him to sleep. He loved the puppies.

This is Ian. He really loves having his Uncle Josh here to play with. And Ian REALLY LOVES Neo. Neo has been really patient with the boys.

We did actually make it to the beach even though it rained most of our first day here. It was super windy so we did not get into the water nor did we stay on the beach long. We shopped on the Boardwalk for awhile, had lunch, then went back to Emmanuel and Jodi's. We all just took it easy the rest of day. It was the perfect rainy day for naps and movies.

We shall try the beach again...