What a great idea!!  Thank you Becky for finding this and asking all of us to join in.  Thank you odelltrips for this great idea!!  If you would like to join in on Thanksgiving Thursday please go to www.odelltrips.blogspot.com and do so.  Now here is my list:
1.  Soft blankets and warm PJ's!!
2.  Cuddle time with family :o)
3.  Voting in America!
4.  A husband that helps with the house and cooking when I don't feel like it.
5.  Hot drinks:  Coffee, tea, hot cocoa, you name it!
6.  My macbook that Jared got me so I can blog...  HA!!
7.  My wonderful friends!!
8.  Thursday nights at Chad and Sandy's!  I'm HOPING to be there tonight...
9.  Telephones - These let me keep in touch with my family in Oklahoma.
10.  A God who cares about you and me.

Fish Escape

 

The above pictures are the types of fish that I have or had in my aquarium...

Last Monday night Jared and I decided to clean out the fish tank.  By "cleaning out" we mean a deep clean where we had to take almost everything out in order to get to the rocks.  We decided to put the fish in the same pot that we use for crabitat cleaning (my hermit crabs).  So in go the fish one at a time.  They were extremely hard to catch and it took me and Jared forever to catch them all!  Eventually they were all in the fish pot.  But where to put the fish pot??  

On the stove.

We slowly carried the fish into the kitchen and put them on the stove.  We thought that would be a safe place for them because Jared and I were running about getting supplies, water, and running out the back to pour out dirty water...

Sometime during the cleaning process Big Red sensed freedom and decided to escape.  Jared says he can imagine the other fish daring and double-dog daring him to jump out of the pot to freedom.  Maybe he was trying to make it to the sink...  I'm remembering that quote from the movie Finding Nemo; something about all drains leading to the ocean.  Anyway whatever his reasons were, we think he jumped out of the pot.  Maybe he did make it to the sink (I doubt it).  But wherever he is, he is gone.  We can't find him.

Yes, we checked the stove burners, we checked the cabinets under the stove, we checked all over the kitchen floor, we checked under the rugs, we even took our serving spoons out of the pitcher beside the stove and checked in that!!  No fish.  We checked all in our bedroom where the fish tank is.  We checked all of the places we had been in the house during the fish cleaning.  No Big Red.

So where Big Red is, we know not.  I hope one:  he's not in the house;  two:  if he's in the house he doesn't stink;  and three:  if he's in the house, I hope Jared finds him... hee hee!!

But it's been over a week.  Our house doesn't stink like fish and no one has seen Big Red.  The other fish are alive and happy and seem to be enjoying their new clean tank.

My letter is "M".

On some of my friends blogs, they are passing around letters and writing 10 things they are thankful for that start with a particular letter.  Well of course I wanted to be included too, so I asked my friend Arika for a letter and she gave me the letter "M".  I have compiled a listing of over 10 things I'm thankful for but I will only list 10 here.

1. Marriage- I'm thankful for this.  It is not for everyone, but I'm happy that it is for me and that I'm married to the smartest, most handsome, helpful, understanding, funny, upright, most wonderful man.  He is my best friend and I am very lucky to have him as my husband.  I know most of my family/friends would think of their husbands in similar terms so I don't feel bad for putting Jared on such a high pedestal. 

2. Momma and Mothers- I'm thankful for my Momma.  I can talk to her about anything and she's the best mom in the entire world.  She is my favorite gal pal and I love hanging out with her.  I also included mothers in with my momma because I have a wonderful mother-in-law and a mother I don't know.  Jared's mom is "Mom Gott" to me.  I know I can also go to her for anything and I'm so blessed to call her mother as well.  She has always treated me as a daughter and I'm very proud to be part of her family.  I am extremely lucky to have ended up with such a great mother-in-law when I married Jared.  The next mother I'm thankful for is a mother I don't know and probably will never know.  This lady is my birth mother and I'm happy that she had me.  She, for some reason could not care for me and decided to give me up to someone who would love and care for me.  I don't know much about her, but I know that she cared enough to see to it that I was born in a hospital and taken care of after that.  I am thankful for her and the choices she made regarding myself.  I have found joy in all aspects in my life and I hope by being here I have brought joy to others as well.  I wish today that Dad started with "M".  I am thankful for them as well.  But I will go on and save "D" for someone else.

3.  Mercy- I am thankful for God's mercy to us.  Our God is a merciful God and it is because of his mercy that we are here and that we can one day be with him in heaven.  We fall so short so many times of what he wants us to be, but still he has mercy for us and forgives us when we come back to him.  I am thankful for God's mercy.  I hope that I can be merciful to others as well as so many are to me.

4.  Money-  Although this may sound shallow at first, we all should be thankful for money.  I am thankful that God has blessed us with enough money to live on and share at times with others.  I am thankful for Jared's job.  I am thankful that my family had enough money to raise me and Chandler and put us through school.  I have never known want and I've always lived in comfort.  I'm thankful for the money that I have been blessed with to live in comfort beyond which I deserve.

5.  Music-  I was excited when I thought of this one.  Not only do I love music so much that I majored in it, but it is also the name of my Papa.  Goebel Music is his name and I'm thankful for him and the work he has done for the Lord.  I am very very proud to be his grand-daughter and I want everyone to know he is my Papa even though I know it is not proper to go up to people and shout - "Hey, Guess what??  I'm Goebel Music's grand-daughter!  Isn't that Great??"  Most people don't know I'm related to him because one I don't go around telling everyone; two my Mom is his daughter and since she is married Music is her maiden name; and three I'm asian and I think most people think my parents are asian.  Although Papa did a lot of mission work in East Asia he is not Asian. :)

6.  Maroon and Gold-  These are the colors of Freed-Hardeman University.  It is where I went to college and where I met my husband and closest friends.  It is because of this University that my husband has a job.  And it is from this University that my husband is getting his MBA.  (Which also starts with M)  I'm thankful most of all for the University's stand for a sound Christian education.  I hope that it stays strong in such wavering times.  

7.  Medicine and Medical Help-  This is of a particular concern to me, because I am not feeling well.  I'm not going to write about my symptoms as of yet, but I am thankful that we have medicines to make us better and educated Doctors to find out what are problems are.  We are blessed to live in such advanced medical times.  I shudder to think how short my life could be if I had lived 100 years earlier.

8.  Military-  I'm thankful for our military that keeps us safe.  There are many brave young men and even women that are enduring hardships, torture, and death, to keep our country free and safe.  War is not pretty or fun.  The book, The Red Badge of Courage is coming to mind right now.  I think it may talk about the ugliness of war.  I'm thankful for these men and women that give of themselves to protect a country that they believe in.  I pray that they are kept safe and that they are able to come home quickly.  I also pray that in the present and future this country will still be one worth fighting for and that we can still believe in it.

9.  Microwaves-  I am thankful for microwaves.  They make it so easy to zap the food that I am too lazy to cook or thaw.  

10.  Maltipoos-  I am thankful for these cute and cuddly dogs and I can't wait when it is my turn to finally own one!!

A Family of Sharp Shooters

Our time in Oklahoma has flown by and soon we will be heading to Alabama to spend Christmas with our other family.  We will stop by to see Nana in Arkansas.  That will be fun because I haven't seen her in awhile.  I feel so blessed to have had so much time to spend in Oklahoma, but I always get a little sad when it comes to an end.  I wish so badly that we could live a little closer to my family so that we could see them more often.

We all definitely took advantage of the time we had together.  Some things we did besides doing all the Christmas stuff were:  We went to look at Rema's Christmas light display...

We played games (Phase 10, Sequence, Scrabble...)

We ate like pigs and watched a lot of movies (Elf, Christmas Story, White Christmas, Iron Man, Horton Hears a Who, Dark Knight, Monster's Inc...)

I made jewelry with some of the beading things I got from my Mom and Dad for Christmas... 

We shopped a little and even went to Starbucks!!!  Momma and I have also been making cards.  I'm making Valentine's Day cards and Mom is making Winter cards...

We also did something very very memorable this Christmas...

"A Family of Sharp Shooters"

What comes to your mind when you hear that there is a place called "Happy Hollow"?  Maybe you think of a nice wooded park where you and your family could go and have a picnic.  Maybe there are trails and a big field to throw a ball in.  Overall it would be quiet right?

Wrong.

The Happy Hollow we went to was a gun range!!  It did have lots of trees and there were families out there with young children, but it most definitely was not QUIET!!!

We decided to shoot some of our pistols at this place because it was more laid back and it was cheaper than taking five people to the Tulsa firearms gun range.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I did not feel laid back when I got there!!  As we pulled out onto the highway, Dad started to relay the different rules to us about when we can shoot and when we can't, etc. etc.  He talked about the guy who would tell us what to do and how they were watching us at all times.  He said we needed to treat the official on guard like the "superior being" and obey his commands at once or they'd kick us out!!  Once we pulled into the range I heard loud thunderous noises from guns that might as well have been cannons!!!  It was very intimidating for a girl that is used to shooting coke cans in her Nana's cow pasture!  Once in, I immediately put my "ears" on to protect my hearing!!  Every time a gun went off I would jump!  I felt ridiculous!!  Daddy set me up in the wrong place to start out with.  When the guy told us that the "line was hot" my entire family lined up and started to shoot at their targets!!  I was left standing there jumping and dodging shells!  Daddy came over and set me up, but everyone was shooting at the same time I was and that made me jump.  I also felt like the brass shells flying out of my family's guns were going to hit me....  I had to take a major break.  After a little bit I got used to the noise and the shells and I wanted to try and shoot again.  Daddy set me up to the left of everyone so I wouldn't get hit by any shells!  I actually shot a few rounds out of the 9mm and I did really, really well at hitting the bulls eye!  I almost hit it every time!!  Watch out bad guys!  Don't mess with me!!

*Sigh*

Good times.  After we eat lucky beans (black eyed peas) tomorrow we will start our trek to Southern country.  I don't know how often I'll get to blog at Jared's house.  There is a lot of demand for the internet and so I might just wait until I get back home. :o)  I miss all my friends though and I love reading about how you and your families are spending your holiday together!  Take care!!

Santa, I Know Him!!!

As always, my pictures are coming in late!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!!  I know I did.  Here are some pictures of our Christmas in Oklahoma!

Later after Christmas dinner we all went outside and played a competitive game of Bocce!!  My brother, Chandler won!  Notice the athletic picture of mom as she lobs her Bocce ball!!  And me with my new scarf that Jared gave me for Christmas!!  

In the picture above my dad is holding our trusty companion, Sadie.  She was lucky she didn't get hit with any flying Bocce balls!  Jared did manage to peg my brother in the head accidently.  He has a pretty large goose-bump on top of his noggin...

We will stay in Oklahoma for a few more days and then we will begin our trek to Alabama to have a late Christmas with Jared's side of the family!!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!! 

Catching Up

Whew!!!  How behind am I on posting pictures and blogging??  Too behind!  Here are all the fun shots that I haven't had time to post.  The first grouping are pictures of mine and Jared's Christmas decorations.  It's not much because we're just starting out.  Most of the stuff we have has been handed down from Mom and Pop Gott.  We did not purchase a real Christmas tree this year, but Mom Gott came through with letting us have the Christmas tree pictured below.  She was going to all pencil trees in her house and needed to get rid of this one.  It found a home with us and I think it made a beautiful little tree.  Hopefully we can resume our tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree next year.  It's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time!!

Below are pictures of my trip to Oklahoma.  I flew out there to surprise Momma for her birthday!  It was so fun!!  She was so happy she nearly cried.  I had a lot of fun out there seeing my mom and dad.  Below are pictures of us and the Oklahoma Christmas tree.  This is before we put the ornaments on because Daddy was fixing to go to bed... hee hee.  Notice that little bitty blue bow at the top of the tree.  It looks pretty sad, doesn't it?  If you say "no it looks fine", you are just being nice!  I wanted to make Momma a beautiful blue bow to go on her tree because she likes the blue and silver Christmas decor.  I didn't get enough ribbon though and so it turned out to be way too little!!  Being a mother, she liked it and stuck it up on the tree anyway!

Above are some shots of Mom's birthday celebration.  Except for the picture of her making the snowman necklace.  That was taken from when we spent the afternoon at the beading store!  Which I must say has started a new hobby for me!!  More to come about that later.  (We'll see what Santa brings me for Christmas first.)  Notice what message Daddy wrote on her birthday cake!!  The thing on her back is what her best friend, Mrs. Hill gave her.  It is a camelback that is used for bikers to drink water and hold stuff in while they're cycling.  Mom's new exercise has been bicycling and she can go pretty far!!!  It's really impressive to me because I'd probably fall off the bike.  I don't even know if I still remember how to ride one!!  Anyway, I had a great time spending mother/daughter time with my best friend (besides my hubby).  Love you Momma!!

Beach Bums

Here are the rest of our beach pictures that I couldn't post because the internet in our beach house went out.  Notice my super crabbers in the center picture above.  These are what I wore to go sand crab hunting at night!!  Thanks for letting me borrow your shoes, Kara!!

Above are pictures Eric took of Me and Jared in front of their family Christmas tree!!  I'm excited because tonight Jared and I are going to decorate our house for Christmas!! YEAH!!