When the going gets tough...well...it sucks

Sometimes when life gets hard, I tend to clam up and do nothing but complain.
When the world seems to be against me, I curl into myself and hide.
I doubt myself a lot more than I should, and I take on too much at a time.

Let's look at this school year so far as a perfect example.
In the summer of 2014, I accepted the position of OSU-OKC's Deaf/Hearing Social Club President. I also enrolled in four college classes (though one of which was cancelled, so I only ended up actually taking three). The school year started off well, though I also made a few attempts at eating healthy and losing weight to get back down at least to where I was when I got married. I haven't gotten unhealthy by any means but I did notice a little extra Krysta in the mirror and spilling over my jeans. "No matter" I thought, "I can be a nearly-full-time student, sustain a happy marriage, run a college club, lose some weight, and work." Oh, I may have forgotten to mention. During this time, we lost some dispatchers due to other jobs, bad performance, or a lack of desire to come back after leave. So, not only was I this Nearly-Full-Time Student, Devoted Wife, Club President, and Health-Guru...but I was also working 42 1/2 hours per week. Easy peasy! I am woman, hear me roar! Right?
No.
My studies didn't suffer, as they have always been my priority, but I know I could have put forth even more effort and done even better. I could have attended more social events and exposed myself to more than I did.
My husband may have forgotten who I was during those few months, or maybe even forgotten that I existed. I hardly ever saw him (at least not while both of us were conscious) and I never got to spend real quality time with him.
The club wasn't as active as I had hoped it would be, though that was not entirely my fault. Of course I always think I should have done more or I could have done better, but that club was not ultimately my fault. Really, the only thing being President of the club brought me was stress and the blues.
My health nut streak has been an on-again off-again type situation, and I have a love-hate relationship with my healthy living. Actually, that's pretty much a lie. I have a apathetic-dislike relationship with it. Sometimes I do crave a good salad, or an avocado, or a grilled chieken breast with corn. Sometimes I love going for a long walk and listening to an audiobook or the sounds of nature (as long as it's not dogs barking and chasing me). Sometimes though, I just want to sit on my butt all day eating popcorn or ice cream and don't want to feel guilty for it. Besides, who am I trying to impress by slimming down? My doctor has already told me that I'm one of the healtheiest patients she's worked with, so I don't think I can get much healthier. The only thing is for me to slim down or get in to good physical shape. But who am I doing that for? I already have a husband that loves me and my body just the way it is (or so he tells me).
I was sick of working, and felt like I never did anything else. Normally we have 5 dispatchers and a supervisor (so 6 of us in total) but in August, we were down one due to personal/health reasons. A little while later, another dispatcher left due to accepting a job elsewhere, and another was promoted to another position within the casino. That hacked our numbers down to a whopping 3. 3 people to monitor a phone, at least 13 radio channels, and anyone that decides to pop in to the office unnanounced. Some days it was fine, but others, I just wanted to punch a wall...or a computer screen...or radio...or maybe just yell really loud. I had to work extra hours to help out until we could hire more dispatchers, and full time is technically 42 1/2 hours a week. While the money was nice, I had no free time whatsoever, which only assisted in my husband forgetting what I looked like.

So why did I take on so much last semester, and why on earth did I think it could get any better this semester with 4 classes?
Yes, I did go back to my regular hours at work, but 38 hours is still a lot.
Plus, I am not actually starting to take interpreting classes and working on becoming an interpreter.
Also, it's only getting warmer, so Hubby will only want to ride his bike on the nice days, which takes out that time that I could potentially be spending with him as well.

I've decided to take my cues from Elsa, and just "let it go".
At least...with some things.

My schooling is still very important to me, and excluding my marriage, it is my top priority. So I will cling on to my education.
My marriage is most important to me, and I am lucky enough to have a husband that understands that our situation is temporary, and makes the best of the time that we do get to spend together.
I will not let the club go to the point of failure, but I've already quit worrying about what will happen when I resign at the end of the semester, and have already made it known that i will not reclaim the position in the Fall. I can only do so much to keep the club alive, and if the members do not share my enthusiasm, then all I can do is feel sad for them and the loss that they will no doubt experience when the club does in fact fail next semester. However, I have to brush this off my shoulders, as it was not my doing that will bring the club down. It takes more than one person to run a successful organization, and try as I might, I am not Atlas and I cannot bear the weight alone.
It has been confirmed that I am healthy, and I feel healthy. The only reason I wanted to lose weight before (realistically) was to look good, but to others. Even when I was at my lowest on my wedding day and on my honeymoon, I still felt "fat". I don't think I will ever be OK with my appearance, and stressing myself out about a few pounds or a couple of extra calories isn't worth it. My husband makes me feel beautiful, and that's all I need. I wasn't trying to lose weight to be healthy, I was doing it for vanity. I need to break that, and accept the way I am. There is nothing wrong with how I look, and so long as I remain healthy on the inside, who cares what the packaging comes in? My health is what matters. I need to understand this. My weight has always been a sore spot, but it's never been outragious. Besides, who cares about the number on the scale other than me? NOBODY!

I've decided to make a conscious effort to remove the unneccesary stress from my life.
I need to add more smiley faces, more laughs, more hugs, more encouragement, more friends, and more love.
We all need more positivity, but I need to truly embrace the positivity I have already, and make a conscious effort to find more.
It helps that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'll have a week off in March to see my family.

So what's your positive throught of the day?

Following Figueroa Footsteps

Well, it's official.
I'm following in my sister-in-law's footsteps pretty closely.
Nobody ran against me for President of the Deaf and Hearing Social Club...so I got it!
So far, I am the president, and one of my classmates is Vice President.

I'm a little worried that people aren't going to want to run for office, but I really hope the group proves me wrong.

I'm already trying to think up ideas for fundraisers and events that the group can do next year. DHSC is running for Organization of the year this year, and while I won't know if we won or not for a while still...I think we've got a good shot.
I'm terrified that I'll fail the club and it will go under again, but I know that the current/former president and my sister-in-law will both help me come up with ideas and keep the club thriving.


School is slowly winding down, and I feel very confident that I'll be getting A's in my ASL classes, and a B in my Juvenile Delinquency class.

I'm happy with that!


This year was the 3rd annual Footloose Festival, Hauling for a Cure 5k and Mom-in-Law, Little-Sis-in-Law, Little-Sis-in-Law's Friend, and I all walked it. We walked all 3+ miles in 48 minutes and 48 seconds. Not bad for walking!!
Afterwards we had pancakes again...and this year they were so tasty!
I think the Boy Scouts were responsible for the pancake fundraiser this year, and they did an amazing job! The pancakes were so filling, fluffy and delicious, and the sausage was wonderful as well! I'd walk many many 5ks if I could eat those pancakes afterwards!

I think this last 5k made 3 this year and 5 overall.
Funny considering I hate running.

Well...
Hopefully my posts won't turn towards me getting stressed out because of the DHSC presidency.
Wish me luck, and if you ever have a good idea for a college club fundraiser, let me know!

Student, Interpreter, Dispatcher, President

I'm really enjoying my new path towards becoming a Sign Language interpreter.
My first semester, I managed straight A's and this semester I'm looking at A's in my Sign Language classes, and a B in my general studies class (Juvenile Delinquency). Not bad if I do say so myself!
At OSU-OKC, I am a member of the Deaf and Hearing Social Club, and this is the last semester for all the current officers.
The current president really wanted me to run for her spot, so I put my name in for it.
I'm a little worried that I'll be overwhelmed with things to do (between taking 4 classes, working 34-39.5 hours a week and being the DHSC President) but it's worth a shot I think (I hope).
I love being a part of the club, and I'd hate to see it go under like it did the year before I started in the Interpreter Training Program.
So, I'm not sure if I'm hoping that I do get to be president or not, but I'm sure that whatever happens, I'll make the best out of it.

So since it's been a while since my last update, let me rewind a few months and hit the highlights!

In December, my iMac's hard drive crashed, and nothing was salvageable. I still have the hard drive and I know I really should send (should have sent?) it to a specialist that was recommended to me, but I haven't.
I cried sobbed in my car after they told me, because all my pictures, old graphic design work, videos, assignments, everything was on that hard drive.

Chris knew that seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was on my bucket list, and this past winter was their last winter tour. So guess who's hubby bought her (and the family-in-law) floor seat tickets to see them in concert?!?!? Yeah, mine did!
It was a 3-ish hour concert, and I was sad when it ended!
Everyone else seemed to think it ran a little too long, but I could have sat there another 3 hours (well, if I didn't have to use the restroom so badly, that is).
Another check mark on my bucket list!

We had our 2nd annual Christmas Ball in Elmore this year, and it was just as fun as the last! More friends came out this year, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Probably the neatest 5k I've done so far, was the Glow Run.
Mind you it was absolutely freezing cold and my toes, fingers and face were numb or in pain from the cold, but it was a really cool (pardon the pun) experience.
I walked the vast majority of it, but seeing everything glowing and lit up was awesome.
I'm hoping there is another one in a warmer month so I don't have ice forming on my face.

Chris FINALLY got his wisdom teeth taken out. Oh... and he cracked his elbow (AGAIN) a few days before.
I felt really bad for him because I know he had to have been in a lot of pain, but he was down at his mom's house since he was going to Ada and I couldn't do anything for him. He's healed up alright now (though we still need to do a follow up with his arm soon) and hasn't taken any pain meds for almost a week now.
Yeay!

Last year, Chris and I wanted to get a new car for me, but things came up that needed our financial attention.Well this year, I got a new car!
Don't judge...but I named it Dory, and I'm in the process of slowly bling-ing it out! I've already bought a license plate frame with embedded rhinestones, and I still want to get a rhinestone/glitter steering wheel cover and see what else I can bling out (not including putting rhinestone stickers everywhere. I've only had the car a month, I'm not ready for stickers yet).


It's been a busy few months, and I anticipate it will only get busier.
I can do it though!

P.S.
I also got bangs!
I love them... I think I'll keep them (for a while)

Surprising Momma

This year for Thanksgiving, Chris and I surprised my mom by driving out to California a few days before. It was perfect.

Monday night, I got off work, sped home, changed, and piled in the car with Hubby and a few day's worth of clothes, then headed out on I-40 for a nice, long drive.
Since I'm used to staying up later due to getting off work at 10:15pm, I took the first leg of the drive while Chris slept. After what felt like an eternity later, we crossed the Arizona/California state line, and both Chris and I started to feel all out little aches and pains under a magnifying glass. About 3 hours to go and neither of us wanted to drive another 3 minutes, but we trucked along and we made it! The last 3 hours of the trip, Chris and my step-dad were voxing (voice messaging) back and forth to work out the kinks.

Finally...18 hours and 1,300 miles later, we pulled up to my Mom and Lee's favorite Bar and Grill.
I walked in and came up beside my mom at her table and asked "Excuse me, do you mind if we sit here?" and her response was priceless.
She looked at me with the most confused look on her face, then looked at Chris and whipped bad to me. Finally she looked at Lee and the tears began. It was perfect.

It was Taco Tuesday, so we ate tacos, had a sip of a really gross Mint Strawberry Margarita, and let my mom try to process the fact that I was no longer in Oklahoma.

That night, we stayed at my mom's house, and the next day, I got to meet my nephew!
I know everyone always thinks their baby is the best, or cutest, or most well behaved...but my nephew is! Sure he has acid reflux, so he spits up a lot, but he's so cute that I don't care!
I wanted to hold him and hug him every moment I could. He wasn't up for smiling much, but he still has the cutest chubby cheeks and a full head of thick baby hair! I fed him, held him, kissed him and loved him until he got fussy and made me put him down.

Don't worry...I don't have baby fever. I still loved the fact that I could give him back to his momma when he got too cranky or stinky.

Chris and I spent Thanksgiving at my step-dad's house and it was delicious! My step dad smoked a turkey and cooked an $80 rack of prime rib. It was all so good, I wished I had a second stomach.
Not to mention, I made two of my double layer pumpkin cheesecakes, my step-sister made a pumpkin cheesecake, Chris made pumpkin rolls, plus some of the other family members brought desserts.
There was so much food, and such little room!
After dinner, I got to see my two baby cousins (that aren't babies anymore by any means...) and a few other family members.

Unfortunately, Saturday came too soon, and Chris and I made our tearful departure that morning in order to make it home Sunday so I could go back to work.
Overall, it was a short trip...but it was worth it.
I can't wait until my mom comes out to visit me next.

Happy Birthday Brandon Lee!

Welcome to the world Baby Brandon Lee.

I wish I was there to welcome you personally. I wish I was there to hold you and kiss your tiny hands and feet. I wish I was there to watch you grow.

It's bittersweet to see your pictures, because I know that I was unable to take part in your coming in to the great big world.
I hope that as you grow, you will know me, and I won't be just some strange relative you know of, but know nothing about.

I hope to meet you soon.
Take care of Momma Briana and don't wear her out too much.

Class, Homework, Work, Rinse and Repeat.

So with school in full swing, there's little awake time for Chris and I to spend together.
Here's a rundown of our schedules...

Sunday:
Krysta has work and leaves at 12:45pm and returns at 10:45pm

Monday:
Chris has work and leaves at 6:30am and returns at 3:30pm
Chris has class at 5:45pm
Krysta has work and leaves at 12:45pm and returns at 10:45pm

Tuesday:
Chris has work and leaves at 6:30am and returns at 3:30pm
Krysta has class at 9:00am - 11:30am with a Deaf and Social Hearing Club meeting every other week
Chris and Krysta both have class at 5:45pm

Wednesday:
Chris has work and leaves at 6:30am and returns at 3:30pm
Krysta has Interpreter Training Lab work at 11:00am
Krysta has work and leaves at 4:00pm and returns at 10:30pm

Thursday:
Chris has work and leaves at 6:30am and returns at 3:30pm if there is no sporting event. If there is, he will not return until 9-10pm
Krysta has class at 9:00am - 11:30am
Krysta has class at 5:45pm

Friday:
Chris has work and leaves at 6:30am and returns at 3:30pm if there is no sporting event. If there is, he will not return until 9-10pm
Krysta has work and leaves at 12:45pm and returns at 10:45pm

Saturday:
Krysta has work and leaves at 12:45pm and returns at 10:45pm

Plus in there, we both have homework to do.
The time we have together is precious and a decent amount of time to be together is hard to find.
But we're doing the best we can. It could always be worse...we could be 1500 miles apart again.

In other news...I'm trying AGAIN to lose weight.
Chris and I got off track badly the last few months. Probably the worst we've been since we got married.
We both gained weight, and were both the highest we've been since we got engaged. It was very disheartening to look at the scale, so we're in it together to get back on track.
I won't make any promises that I'll keep track of my progress on here because I haven't stayed with it in the past, and I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. Plus, I'm not the world's best blogger and sometimes it's a month or more before I actually update this thing.
I may make a passing comment here or there, but I do not promise to keep regular updates.

Other than work and school, I've been pretty boring lately.
Maybe something fun and exciting will happen soon and I can let you all know!

Two years and counting...

Yesterday, Hubby and I celebrated two years of marriage.

In reality, two years isn't all that long, but I know it's just the beginning.
We have already grown so much together and learned a lot.

Chris has gotten back in to his career, I have changed gears and started a new one.
We went from a one bedroom apartment to a two bedroom rental house.
We've even added an addition to the family! (A furry, kitty one...not a human baby one.)

Five years together in total... I can't wait to see where we are after another five years!

Here's to another many years together!

2 Associates and a Bachelors

So if things go as planned, it looks like I will have three different degrees from as many colleges.

One Associates Degree in Graphic Design from Cuyamaca-Grossmont Community College.
One Associates Degree in American Sign Language Interpreting from Oklahoma State University.
One Bachelors Degree in General Studies from University of Central Oklahoma.

Over achiever much? I believe so!

I go back to school at OSU-OKC on Tuesday and will be taking American Sign Language 1, lecture and lab as well as Introduction to Deaf Culture and Nonverbal Communication. I've already taken an ASL 1 class, but seeing as it was two years ago and signs can change from region to region, I figured it wouldn't hurt to re-take the class even if it means I won't get any credit for it. I'd rather refresh my memory and not get crdit for it than jump in to ASL 2 and have forgotten half of my vocabulary.

I tried to get in to take a class at UCO this semester online too, but apparently I didn't get on to the waitlist in time, and all the classes I want to take are full or meet in person at a time that I can't go to.
In order to get my Bachelors in General Studies, I need to take so many credit hours of Upper Division classes and a couple more electives at a four-year university.
Luckily all my mandatory general education classes are finished, both for my Associates and Bachelors degrees. The only thing that sucks, is my Sign Language classes from OSU-OKC won't count towards my Bachelors degree because all the classes I have left to take need to be at a four-year university and OSU-OKC is a two-year college.
Between going two schools for two completely separate degrees, I think I can manage to get everything done in about three years. I guess we'll see.

I'm excited, but the more I think about it, the more nervous I get.
I'm going to school to learn and become fluent in a new language, then to use that knowledge to translate for someone. That's quite the responsibility, especially if I do end up working for a school like my sister-in-law does. I think that's what I want to do once I graduate, but then I'm responsible for making sure that child understands what the teacher is saying and is learning the material.
I know it's probably not going to be that severe of an issue and I know that I am a very quick learner, and when I took ASL 1 the first time it was easy to catch on.
So I'm not sure why I'm so nervous about it, but I am. I know I need to just relax and take it day at a time, but I am a worry-wart and I always worry about the what-ifs and the what-may-bes.

Anyway...
Chris' classes start tomorrow and he's really exited to be going back to school.
His online classes are already up and people have already been posting their introductions on the discussion forum, so he's been checking it out a bit. His on campus classes start tomorrow though and he's ready to go!

So back to school we both go. Where it stops, nobody knows.

Home Sweet California Home

Last month Chris and I were both able to take off 10 days to go back home and visit my family.

I got off work Saturday night and couldn't sleep.

With all the craziness with the tornadoes the weeks before, we didn't get much packing done, nor could we wash much laundry.

So all Saturday night we stayed up washing laundry and packing our bags. Considering we had to be up by 5:30am to leave for the airport, we knew we wouldn't be getting much sleep, if any.

I managed to squeeze in an hour, but Chris didn't sleep at all.

We were able to squeeze in a couple of hours worth of crappy sleep on the plane, which normally wouldn't have been enough, but I was so happy to see my famoly in San Diego that it was just enough sleep.

As usual, my mom and sister started bawling when they saw me and my step-dad just sat back and laughed at them.

That night we went to a Padres game with my sister and her boyfriend. We took the trolley to get downtown, which was okay until it was time to come home. I'll elaborate in a second on that bit.

So the game itself was fun. At the beginning of the game, the Padres were kicking butt! They kept it up until the last few innings where the other team caught up to a tie. The game went in to 3 extra innings until the Padres lost terribly.

Now, by this time it was about 10:30pm, and the trollies quit running back to the town we needed to get to. We freaked out and called my mom to see if she could come and get us. We finally were able to find a single trolley that would take us all the way home, with all the crackheads and tweekers. By the time we pulled in to our driveway it was 1am.

Needless to say, Chris and I were worn out and slept quite a long time after that.

Since I'd never been to Knotts Berry Farm, my mom decided to take a day off so we could go.

It was a lot of fun until we went on a ride that went forwards, looped around, then came backwards. It messed up all of our stomachs and heads, so we decided to cruise around on some easy rides until it was time to go home.

My mom and sister ended up unintentionally matching and bought matching backpacks to hold all of our stuff in. My sister thought it was the cutest thing ever.

We spent time at my step-dad's house hanging out, drinking adult beverages and eating BBQ.
We ate lots of California fast food.
We had a grand ol' time.

Saturday, Chris went on a 50 mile bike ride up the coast with a local and said it was beautiful! I don't think he was prepared for the California mountains though, because he was exhausted by the time he came back.

Sunday my sisters and I all got dolled up and took pictures for my step-dad as his Fathers Day gift. It was a lot of fun taking pictures around his property with my mom trying to be a photographer.

Though my trip lasted for 10 days, it wasn't long enough.
It never will be long enough...but my heart will always be split between San Diego and Oklahoma.

Hopefully once I get my degree in Sign Language Interpreting I can get hired on at a school. That way I'll have summers off, paid and I can spend a month and a half or two months to stay with my family.

That'd be great.

Now I'm out of vacation time, so I'm just waiting for one of my family members to come out and visit me.

Who's next!?!?!

My May Tornadoes

This year was a bad one for tornadoes, as I'm sure most of the nation knows.

I've always been afraid of tornadoes, and I think I always will be. This year, I wasn't in an outward panic like I was last year, but I was able to keep it all inside.

When both of the May tornadoes came through, I was at work and Chris was at home.

May 20th:

I knew we were in for bad weather when I left for work that day and I kept telling myself that I'd be okay at work because my refuge area in the casino is one of the safest in the building.

All day we had been listening to the News on our computers and phones, just to keep an eye on the weather. Just before 3pm there was an announcement that a tornado had touched down just west of the city of Newcastle.

This started a panic in me because I had made friends that worked at the Newcastle Casino in my year and a half working there. I started frantically e-mailing and texting my friends in the area, and I could just feel my chest tightening when I didn't get a response from them. I knew it was most likely because they were taking their safety precautions and were away from their computers and phones, but it didn't ease the dread in my heart. When the Severe Weather announcements said that the tornado was passed Newcastle and heading for Moore, I sat patiently and waited for my friends to respond, and turned my attention to my friends that I knew lived in the Moore area.

As the test messages started pouring in from my friends and family in California and other parts of Oklahoma, I tried weeding through the "Are you OK?"s and "Where are you?"s to find the replies from those I had contacted first to make sure everyone I cared about was alright.

The tornado died down and reports of destruction started pouring in.

The Warren Theater in Moore off of I-25 has been hit!

Two schools destroyed with many children, teachers and other staff still unaccounted for!

Cars overturned, crunched and thrown across highways and interstates!

Homes destroyed and the death toll steadily rising!

It would be real! This couldn't be true!

I'd just driven down I-35 today on my way to work and it was fine! I just saw the Warren in all it's glory standing tall, with the new IMAX addition gleaming proud! There's no way it was all destroyed in a matter of horrifying minutes!

But it was true...it was all real.

The worst I'd ever lived through before those terrifying moments had been a could of wildfires that had mostly burned over uninhabited land with most casualties being wild animals and plants. Never had I seen anything like this in a place I called home.

The rest of the day dragged by in a haze. A sort of shocked disbelief, even though nobody I loved had been harmed. Nothing I owned was destroyed.

Come time for me to go home, the reality of the chaos really hit harder.

Heavy rains rolled in after the tornado had dissipated, causing severe flooding and furthering the destruction. Most of the major interstates I knew would be closed due to the tornado's destruction, though I didn't know how bad the flooding had become.

I drove up through Newcastle to get home that night instead of my usual route up along I-35, but once I got to the beginning of I-44, which would have taken me from Newcastle Casino to my home, I found that the police has blocked the interstate off and were forcing traffic to choose alternate routes to reach their destinations. I didn't know how to get home from there, and so I did what anyone would do when lost. I called my mommy.

My mom pulled up a map on her computer and after I told her where I was, she looked for city streets and side roads that would take me home. I memorized the roads and hung up so I could head home. Power lines were down across Central Oklahoma, which made for a dark and dreary drive home. Down one of the country roads that was supposed to take me home, there was a car that had hit a power line, and the pole was in the road and in some gently flowing water. Cars were taking turns going around the power line, and as I drove over the water, all I could think of was "Please don't shock me...please don't mess up my truck...I just want to get home."

Not a mile further down the same road I came to a 4-way intersection and the road I was on was heavily flooded. Rather than chancing it through the rushing water, I turned right and called my mom again. Since I still had no idea where I was or how to get home, she gave me a new set of directions. Shortly after, started to recognize street names and finally I knew where I was.

As I drove through Oklahoma City, it seemed like power was out at every other intersection. Sometimes the traffic lights were on, sometimes they were flashing red, and sometimes they weren't even flashing. I almost ran through an intersection because it was so dark outside, but I saw another car coming up on my right, so I stopped (though just barely).

I knew it was going to be a hit or a miss as to if I would have power at my house, because every other block wouldn't have any.

I pulled on in to my driveway two hours after I got off work, unlocked my front door and flipped on the lights.

They came on.

My night was over.

I was emotionally drained.

I traded my work clothes for my coziest pajamas, scooped up my kitty and crawled in to bed.

May 31st

More bad weather was in the forecast and I didn't think I had it in me to stress and panic anymore.

I was wrong.

A severe storm was forming west of my house, moving slowly and developing rapidly.

Again, we had the news playing on multiple devices and most of the weathermen were focused on the El Reno area.

Half jokingly, I told my Supervisor that if they mentioned a tornado near the fairgrounds, she should get prepared for me to start crying since I lived on the other side of I-44 of the state fairgrounds.

Not long after that, I wished I had never said anything because I had jinxed myself.

A wide tornado had touched down just south of El Reno and was traveling west, basically following I-40 and making a beeline for the fairgrounds.

 I cried so much after the tornado that went through Moore just a week and a half prior, that I didn't have it in me to cry anymore, even though this tornado was heaving towards my home and my husband.

If I believed in a God, I would have been on my knees praying, promising anything and everything for the safety of my home and family.

The storm chasers on the news weren't much help, not for a lack of trying, but because there was so much rain and wind. They kept showing shots of what they thought could be a tornado, but they weren't sure because if a tornado had touched down, it was rain wrapped and nearly impossible to see.

The only damage to our house was the siding.

Even without a tornado on the ground, there were strong, damaging winds ripping up my neighborhood and threatening to topple trees, power lines and anything that stood in the way.

It felt like the storm was just circling overhead with the threat of a tornado touching down just teasing me.

At some point in all my worrying, Riverwind was given the go-ahead to take cover from a different storm.

As my fellow dispatchers and I gathered up our emergency bag and radios and headed to the vault to take cover, I never felt a pang of worry for myself. I was never concerned with my own safety, just the safety of my friends, family, and home.

Not long after getting in to our safe area, we were told we could come out because there was no tornado in our area, just heavy straight winds. The winds were dangerous, sure, but they wouldn't be taking out the building any time soon. Not unless they got about double or more in strength.

Again, this storm moved on and I was left exhausted.

Luckily there was no downpour of rain after the tornado and getting home was much easier.

The Aftermath

I hate to admit that it took such a series of events for me to realize that Oklahoma is in fact my home.

I live here, I work here, I go to school here, I have family here, I've made friends here.

It took a devastating storm and my fearing for my loved ones lives and well-being for me to understand that I belong here and am a part of this state.

I've made donations to the Red Cross and Salvation Army. I've been raising money selling jewelry so that I may donate my profits to the Moore public school system, so that they may rebuild and the children there can try and return to a sense of normalcy.

So far, I've raised $214 from selling jewelry.

Chris was able to raise about $600 for a friend of his that lost his home, and gave me another $200 to turn in with my donation to Moore schools.

I only wish I could have done more.

Oklahoma...
I'm sorry it took me almost two years to realize that you are my second home.
I'm sorry I didn't understand sooner that I belong here now.
I won't forget it again.

Mall of America

So I'm quite overdue for my post about my trip to the Mall of America with Chris... oops.
Well I found out that I can write blogs at work, so I may start taking advantage of that on our slow days!

Anyway...here's my recap on the trip!

So after I got off work on Monday at 10:15pm and came home, changed, grabbed my clothes and we were off!
We were stocked up on laffy taffy, cookie teddy grahams, beef jerky, Monster energy drinks and a few other miscellaneous snacks.

Chris started the trip since he was used to working nights, and I tried to get some sleep so that I could take over driving once Chris got tired. At about 6am, Chris was starting to get tired, so we stopped off at a gas station, refueled and swapped seats. I took drove until about 8 or 9am when we stopped off for real food at a little Subway, then we were off again and finally got to the Mall at about 10:30am.

I didn't think the mall looked that big from the outside, but once we got inside my mind changed. It was huge! The middle of the mall was a Nickelodeon themed amusement park (mostly for kids) and there were 3 full stories of shops, 2 major food courts (with some miscellaneous food shops and full sized restaurants scattered around the mall) and a 4th story with a full sized movie theater, a Hooters, Dicks Last Resort a comedy club and a few other major restaurants.

In order to take in the full mall, we decided we'd make two laps around every level. First focusing on the shops on the right, then on the left

Of all the stores, our two favorites were called "Mind Marbles" and "The Afternoon".
Mind Marbles is a store that has games, toys, puzzles, books, and all sorts of things to stimulate different parts of your brain. The store was broken up in to sections like "logic", "memory" etc. and all the things in that section, stimulated that part of your brain.
I bought a book from mind Marbles where you answer a question every day for a year, then the next year, you answer the same question and you get to see how you have changed and how your answers have changed over the years. You do this for 5 years. So far I've filled it out every night before bed!
We also got one of those books for Chris's mom, and an art puzzle for his youngest sister. It's not like a regular puzzle though where the pieces fit in to one another...in fact they're just squares and you have to overlap them to make the picture. I didn't know how much she's like it, but she seemed to love it!
Out other favorite store (The Afternoon) was a store that just had a bunch of cool little trinkets and knick knacks. There were odd books, weird games, strange kitchen tools and appliances, unique clocks... I could have spent all day in there just looking at all the neat stuff!
If I had an endless budget, I would have bought one of everything...but I settled on a measuring shot glass instead.

When the mall was closing, Chris and I weren't very tired since we had slept for a while at our hotel (which was like a mile and a half away from the mall) so we went to a nearby Casino for some dinner and free play. It wasn't the neatest casino I've been to, but the food was pretty good and it was still fun.

On out last day, we went to the Rainforest Cafe for a big, filling lunch before we made our way home. Our waiter told us that we were eating at the original Rainforest Cafe, which was neat. The whole restaurant was really cool though. There were plants and fish and waterfalls everywhere, and the ceiling was painted to look like the starry night sky.
I'd love to eat at another Rainforest Cafe!

After eating, we walked the aquarium under the mall. It was a full sized aquarium with turtles and fish and sharks and octopus! All it was missing was Shamu! It is incredible that all of that is tucked underneath a mall!!

With one thing knocked off my bucket list, we had to scratch one more thing off, so we made a detour to Pizza Doctors on the way home since it was just over the Minnesota/Wisconsin border.
I'd seen this place on some food show and it looked so amazing!
Basically, anything you want to put on a pizza, they'll put on a pizza. There were taco pizzas, seafood pizzas, pasta pizzas, dessert pizzas...anything you could want!
My favorites were the macaroni and cheese pizza and the Mr. Potato head pizzas. The Mr. Potato Head was basically a baked potato pizza. I think there was a tasty cheesecake one too, but I ate more dessert pizzas than regular ones. 


There's no way I can go in to detail about every little thing we saw, so hopefully some of these pictures can explain for me!

Panorama of the amusement park in the middle of the mall

There was a LEGO shop that had multi-story LEGO displays!

These "paintings" were made up of single square LEGOs

The jellyfish display in the aquarium was absolutely beautiful.

There was a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant and they had Forrest's suit form the movie!