Thanksgiving, Decorating, & Christmas Lights

We had two Thanksgivings! Well, really three with my work's Thanksgiving get together, but by the time we got there, everyone had pretty much left already and we were pretty full. So we'll stick with two.

Brent and I bought some juice for communion, ingredients for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and green bean casserole. The pecan pie may or may not have been just for us...

Starting our day!

 

The first celebration was at our friends Tyrone & Jenni's house, along with their three girls and some other friends from school.

 

At one point, me and three-year-old Kiana were playing with my phone. Then I started eating her brains...

After we hung out at Ty & Jenni's for a few hours, we went to our friends Jordan and Leanne's apartment for another dinner!

On Saturday, Brent and I went shopping for CHRISTMAS! Not presents, just decor. I was so excited, I even put on tennis shoes! It's a big deal for me...

 

We also bought a frame for Brent's "Star Wars Rocks" poster!

Saturday night, Brent and I went to see the Rhema Christmas lights. Now, these lights (about two million Christmas lights!) are literally right across the street from us in the Rhema park and draw over 200,000 people a year. They're a huge Christmastime tradition around Tulsa (this is their 30th year doing it!), and people love them. In fact, I would not suggest turning left at all if you're trying to get out of student housing anywhere between 5:30 and 9pm all throughout December, as it's pretty busy. And I'm not going to lie: the lights are pretty impressive! I took a few shots, but they don't really do it justice, so I also took some videos! However, Blogger isn't letting me upload them right now, so those will come soon!

Getting ready to go see the lights!

 

'Merica!

You can't really tell in the photo, but these poles look like candy canes!

People love their coffee...

Blue, purple & white!

Rhema Student Housing, from across the street.

On the pond...



SO MUCH LATENESS!!!

Seriously, friends and family, I have been so behind on my blogging! I meant to get stuff up right after Thanksgiving, but that obviously didn't happen. So let's see, what's new...

A while back, Brent and I joined some friends and went Frisbee golfing (or disc golfing, as it's called here). We were at a park near the airport, so we saw several planes close up! It was cool. Also, I suck at disc golf. Brent, however, is pretty decent at it.

Proving it's a small world, one of our new friends here in Okie lived in Twin Falls when he was a kid! Not only that, but he went to the same elementary school Brent did, and not only that, but when he was in fourth grade, Brent was in second grade...at the same time! Too crazy... (The second picture is of Brent!)

Brent cut his hair...

Before!

After!

I made a yogurt pie thing, and some chicken chili! I also tried to make my own Velveeta-style cheese sauce. It didn't work out so well.

We voted...and got eggnog milkshakes!

This is why church is awesome...

Saw this gum at the checkout stand, and it made me homesick for the Great Potato State.

 

(Speaking of Idaho, these are two shots my dad took of the Snake River Canyon and the road leading to their house!)

 

Also, on the subject of nature (I guess), here's another shot of the Oklahoma sky. I can't entirely remember what Brent and I were doing on this particular evening, but I'm sure it was important.

 

And as if that photo isn't enough, here's a video!

 

 

Finally, here's a train and church...

 

 

Hey guys! It's been a while...

OK, so I don't have any pictures at the moment! I do, but I just don't at this particular second have the time to post them. But I wanted to just assure everyone that we are very much alive and very well!

We've begun our second term at Rhema, and are loving our new set of classes! Probably our favorite courses this time around are "Holy Spirit" and "Spiritual Growth Principles," but we really do love them all! My history-buff husband is also really loving our New Testament Survey course.

I've been working as a waitress for the past two weeks, kind of by accident really, haha! But it's actually been really good for me. I've been learning to be faithful to a job and it's helping me to put my flesh under and do things (like going to work and doing it well) that I really don't always want to do. I've also had the opportunity to pray with coworkers and be a blessing to my manager and those I wait on. The nice thing is, we didn't really need the money. We were doing fine with just Brent's paycheck, but the extra cash has been nice to have around. The best part about the extra cash (my tips) has been that we've been able to budget for things we weren't before, like home decor (CHRISTMAS!!!!!) and such, so that's been nice. (Unfortunately, No-Spend November kind of failed after a week....we are ashamed.)

As I said, we didn't really need the money, and God is our provider before either of our jobs ever is. The best part about working again is that I get to be a blessing to others and put my hand to something, and it's been very rewarding. So I'm glad I'm there.

Brent is still really loving his job at the bank as well, and he has great coworkers that he gets along with really well. In January, Brent will start classes at Southwestern Christian University (where I'm also attending) towards a bachelors degree in business leadership. He's very excited about that!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so everyone be safe and eat well! We'll be joining our friends Tyrone and Jenni at their house with their three girls, as well as another couple, Courtney and David. Later, we'll spend the evening with another couple, Jordon and Leanne. We're excited to spend the holidays with new friends!

Before next week, I'll get some new posts up with pictures!

Have a happy Thanksgiving! We love you!!!

A bit o' everything...

First up, one night when Brent got home from work, I told him we were going to go on a surprise date. I kind of had him convinced it was to a haunted house, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that we wound up at the dollar theater to see the newest Batman movie, which we hadn't seen yet. It was a pretty shady theater, not going to lie, but hey...it cost us $4 so we'll take it.

 

Another desktop change! We love Tom Hanks in this household.

 My friend Ally and I Skyped. I love having coffee dates with my girlfriends over Skype. It's almost like we're just sitting across from each other at Starbucks! We've also recently Skyped with Jed & Kera, as well as Jim, Courtney, TJ (the cellist at our wedding who played the brilliant rendition of the Imperial March... ;) and my parents! We love Skype, so if anyone has Skype and ever wants to Skype with us, our name is "brentbrittanyb," just so you know!

Also, before Skyping with Courtney, Brent said I looked like a Who from Whoville...

Last Sunday night, I rode up on the bus to Rhema's Oklahoma City Campus to help volunteer. I help with some audio/video stuff. It was the OKC campus' first year anniversary, so they had a big dinner thing. It was fun!



Homework and coffee on the bus!

My adorable bus seat mate!

BUS!!!

The OKC campus.

This was just dessert. The actual food was in another room. Seriously...this entire table...only sweets.

Set up!

 

Mmm...pumpkin cheesecake and Italian!

Soundboard!

 

I made some pumpkin brownies with chocolate marshmallow frosting. They were decent, but not the best. Better luck next time, self!

I called my Great Grandpa Charles and my Grandpa Larry last night. I had a great time catching up with them both. They're pretty much the most adorable things ever. Here are the texts I sent my mom afterwards.

And just a bit o' everything else...



Mancala!!!

I made ground beef enchiladas one night! Hooray for left overs!

My passport photo, taken when I was 17. Oh...my...word. Praise the Lord I can get a new one thanks to my name change! Just...wow. Haha!

Oklahoma skies!

Finally, Brent and I had a little outing the other night because for the month of November, we're challenging ourselves to not spend any money other than bills. We're calling it No-Spend November! Anyway, we went to this restaurant that everyone talks about called Cheddar's, which looks really fancy and has excellent food, but is soooo well-priced! It was super tasty. Definitely a new favorite. (Not that we'll be returning anytime soon...) Here's just a little something from our trip there.

 

P.S.

Now, everyone can leave comments on the posts! I know a few people had wanted to, but couldn't because my settings were on the wrong thing. So now if anyone would like to leave a direct comment on the blog post, you can! YAY!!!