SOONER...or Later?

An OK sunrise

Saturday mornings are good for sleeping in; however, this past weekend found us up at 5:15 and on the road by 6AM headed for Norman, Oklahoma. YAWN!

Our resident OSU Cowboy willingly agreed to drive his middle child to the enemy camp -- University of Oklahoma -- for a campus tour. At least Mr. Smith has braggin' rights this year, since OSU routed/trounced/crushed/licked/defeated OU in football 44-10, and the Cowboys captured the Big 12 championship. (Although tempted, Mr. Smith didn't wear any orange and black articles of clothing on Saturday.)

We arrived on campus 30 minutes before our orientation meeting began. (It would be really corny if I said that we were there sooner than we needed to be, so I won't.) We were thankful to get to the visitor's center early because we found a really great parking spot. All was going smoothly until we realized we'd be spending that time in a torture chamber... er, uh, I mean large meeting room with seventy-some total strangers listening to "Boomer Sooner" way too many times. Awkward!

Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner,
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner,

Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner,
Boomer Sooner, O-K-U.
     
Oklahoma, Oklahoma,
Oklahoma, Oklahoma,
Oklahoma, Oklahoma,
Oklahoma, O-K-U.
     
I'm a Sooner born and a Sooner bred
And when I die I'll be a Sooner dead!

Rah Oklahoma, Rah Oklahoma,
Rah Oklahoma, O-K-U!

After being subjected to an instrumental version of the OU fight song a countless number of times, a representative from the university FINALLY turned off the background music and gave an informative, thirty-minute, multi-media presentation about the school, its history, degree options, campus life, etc.  We were then treated to a walking tour of the lovely campus. It was a cool but sunny day, perfect for a stroll across the university grounds. Mercifully, while on our tour, there were no more recordings of the school fight song within earshot, but I was having a brain itch or an earworm as a result of hearing the same tune over and over and over again. Boomer Sooner's "catchy" lyrics and unforgettable melody were solidly stuck in my brain. Arrrrgh! Despite having my own personal soundtrack playing in my head, it was a wonderful visit.

I had never set foot on OU's campus before, so I was surprised to find how beautiful it is. Apparently, Frank Lloyd Wright used the phrase "Cherokee Gothic" to describe the unique architecture style found on campus. The buildings are classic gothic architecture mixed with design elements from Oklahoma Native American tribes. It is pretty and interesting, and pretty interesting!

The Great Reading Room in the library is lovely, and oh, so quiet. Shhhhhhh! When I curl up with a good read, I prefer to do so on a comfy sofa or over-sized chair, and that is one thing that is noticeably absent in this room. Perhaps furniture that would promote sleeping was deliberately omitted from the decorating scheme since snoring would be a distraction. ;-)

I snapped a photo of a couple of dancers outside the School of Dance. 

Liesey had originally scheduled a ballet audition at the school, a few hours after the campus tour; however, due to injury and a flare-up of bursitis in both shoulders, she had to relinquish her spot. (No dancing for a minimum of two weeks, doctor's orders.) We saw so many bunheads on campus, but alas, our dancer was not one of 'em.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

We are taking this as a sign that the Lord has something else in mind at this particular time, but it was disappointing, nonetheless.

It definitely was not a disappointment to get to spend time with a dear friend, Sarah.

I snapped a SECOND photo of a couple of dancers. :-)

After a very full day on campus, we met up with our long-time friends, enjoyed tasty food, then spent several hours visiting. All's well that ends well.

The college tours are complete. After visiting IU, Texas A&M, TCU, and OU, our soon-to-be college freshman now needs to decide where she wants to go to school. Bring on the scholarships! That might make the decision-making process a little bit easier.

A Brunette Moment?

Who is that brunette hiding behind the blonde? 

I guess I didn't understand the "power of the dark side," until I tried it. It's not that I have anything against being a brunette; blonde is just a shade more natural for me, as well as a more natural shade.


Yoda said, "Fear is the path to the dark side." Nope, I'm pretty sure a box of L'Oreal Excellence Medium Golden Brown was the path that I took. 


Yoda also gets credit for saying, "Once you start down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny." I know that the wise Jedi Master wasn't talking about hair color, but I decided I'd better turn back before my roots started growing out, just to be safe.

"More fun, blondes have. Yes, hmmm?"

Despite all the flack that blondes receive about being dumb, I'm now back to being a golden girl. Brownish tresses were fun for a few weeks, but blonde is way "funner." Also, blonde jokes are better than brunette jokes. And I can certainly laugh at myself.

Q: If a blonde and a brunette are tossed off a building, who hits the ground first?
A: The brunette. The blonde has to stop to ask for directions.

I am once again blonde, but I'm no dummy.

Ahhhh! It feels good to be back -- jokes and all.

PADD

I must confess that I have PADD -- Prayer Attention Deficit Disorder. I know many prayer warriors who seem to have NO problem finding the right words to pray, and they stay focused as they communicate with God. (Confession: I really don't like those people!) I know, too, that there are others, just like me, who no more than 30 seconds into prayer, start thinking about what has to be done, what has been neglected, questioning if the bills got paid, or if my outfit matches, or what the dinner menu is going to be, or... 


Be still, my over-active thought life! 


Now, what was I writing? See, I am distracted, even as I write this. I have always thought of being able to think about three things at once not as being "distracted," but as being able to multi-task. I thought this skill was an asset, not a liability. When it comes to prayer, I should not do or think about more than one thing at a time. 


It certainly is hard to be STILL.


It's been said that you can always find a distraction if you are looking for one. I guess my eyes are wide-open, and I am on heightened alert for a diversion.

I also have been known to fall asleep right in the middle of a prayer. I know, that's REALLY bad form. So, it's possible to be too STILL during prayer? I suppose so.

My intentions are good. I try, really I do, but when I pray, I all too frequently find myself hopping down some rabbit trail of unrelated thought. Thankfully, God is ever so patient with me, despite my digressions and slumber.

Here are some ways I've found to have more effective prayer:


1. JOURNAL 
Writing down my prayers in a journal is an idea that I haven't yet successfully implemented, but am willing to try -- again. I have attempted to do this over the years, but I never stick with it for a prolonged period of time. My greatest fear is that the information contained on those ink-filled pages could be embarrassing, damaging, hurtful, etc. if someone else read it.  By contrast, if I wrote things in too cryptic of a way, even I might not remember what it was I was praying about. 


I have had people tell me that this is a wonderful way to document what God is doing. I keep searching for a journal that I like, but I cannot find one that fits my requirements. I suppose that I could resort to using a plain ol' spiral notebook, but holding out for a pretty hardbound, book-like journal. 

2. DOODLE
Praying in Color is a book written by Sybil MacBeth (Hmmmm... I just had the quote "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." come to mind as I typed the author's last name. I MUST stay focused.) that I have not read, and will probably not purchase. The concept presented in the book is pretty straightforward: as you pray, you write down names of those you are praying for. Next you doodle and color in with markers as you think about what your prayer for that person is. By drawing your prayer, it allows you freedom/creativity and time to think about what it is you are praying about. I kinda like this concept of having an "active, visual, and meditative" way to pray, especially when words fail me. This approach appeals to my inner-artist, too! (No, this is not one of my doodles. I do not know Sandy & Tom.)

3. The B-I-B-L-E (Yes, that's the book for me.)
Use Scripture as prayer. I have done this in the past, but somehow do not seem to keep it up.

4. ONGOING CONVERSATION
-Use everyday (even mundane) situations all throughout the day to give thanks to the Lord.
"God, thank you for giving me __________."
-Pray for others when they pop into your mind.




5. ACTS
A- Adoration
C - Confession
T -Thanksgiving
S -Supplication


6. THE LORD'S PRAYER
Jesus prayed this way, so we should use this as a model of how we are to pray.


I know that I am only scratching the surface here, as there are MANY other ways to have a more effective prayer life. I just hope to find something that works for me. If you have any other suggestions, please send me an e-mail.

Oh! Here's yet another option for enhancing prayer time, but I am not adding it as #7 on my list.  I read about a gentleman who set up an e-mail account for God. He writes/sends prayers to God's e-mail address throughout the day. Whatever works... but I wonder what happens if/when God's server is down, or if His in-box gets full. Or what if God starts marking the influx of e-mail prayer requests as "spam" or "junk mail"?!!!

Okay, I'm thinking it, so I might as well write it. I am wondering what kind of name this guy chose for God's e-mail account:

god@god.com?

jehovah@heaven.com? 

creator@iamgod.net?

yahweh@alphaomega.net? 

god@themanupstairs.net?

iam@gmail.com?

The possibilities are limitless.

Out with the old. In with the new.

It's time to eat healthier, exercise more, and get ORGANIZED! I'm not so sure about the first two, but I am all about organization. I love making order out of chaos. 

I've been going through scads of photos from the past twelve months. Sorting through pictures is time consuming, but rewarding. It's a good reminder of just how blessed we are. I've sorted through an abundance of family members' faces, oodles of friends' smiles, countless places we've been, stuff we've seen or done over the past 365 days, numerous ballet pics, and a few things I just don't recognize or recall taking a picture of. Of course, there are a gazillion images of those darn cats. (Millie's been using my camera again!)

During the month of December, there were several hundred pictures taken with my camera. (Oh, I am so glad we don't have to buy film and pay for processing any more.) I won't share all of the pictures here. I promise! The majority of the images already have been, or will be, deleted. Here are a few choice photos from Christmas Day until the end of the year. Well, there might be more than a few pics -- perhaps a dozen-ish will do.

The table was set for five for Christmas dinner, but Jemima thought that she needed a chair of her own. (No, we didn't pull an extra chair up for her. She got booted. And no table scraps, either.) I thought our table looked simply elegant set with our Dansk china and silver. (Wedding gifts!) The water goblets are circa 1900, and used to belong to Mr. Smith's grandmother or maybe great-grandmother. They are old, no matter who the original owner was. I think the food tasted better because it was served up in a little more formal fashion than we are used to on a daily basis.

#1 Resolution for 2012: Use the "good stuff" more often, and not worry if a piece gets damaged/broken.

These "boots" were a quirky addition to the Christmas decorations this year. They are so doggone adorable, I would almost consider leaving them out all year. Thank you, Pier1!

 Harwood and his two favorite girls. These two are my two favorite, too.

The journey to the Hoosier state on December 26th may have been long, and rainy, but it was fun. Junk food (a road trip tradition) and silly games were the order of the day. We received many stares and chuckles from other motorists along I-44 as we were playing this guessing game. You've gotta admit that the headbands ARE rather stylish.

Walkin' in a winter wonderland? What a treat it was to wake up to an Indiana snowfall on our wedding anniversary. All that precipitation we drove through in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois turned white when it caught up with us in Indiana.

 I coerced the Smithlings into posing for a picture in the new-fallen snow. Everyone's smiling and all eyes are opened, so it's a keeper.

Surprise! For our 24th anniversary, Mr. Smith had our favorite Hoosier florist, who did our wedding flowers all those years ago, recreate an arrangement similar to what we had for decorations. He's so thoughtful!

Are there any photos of me with my beloved on "our" day? Nope. Maybe Mr. Smith and I will pose for a photograph on our twenty-fifth. I'll start planning now.

#2 Resolution for 2012: Say, "Cheese!" more often.  I take lots of pictures during the year, just not of myself. I've always been more comfortable behind the camera, but I will resolve to get out of my comfort zone and get in the picture more often.

 Millie Girl with her grandpa

Grandpa and his grandkids minus two

All smiles!

I've always looked up to my mostest-favoritest seester.

 Or over to her? Or something like that.

Cousins!!!

Thompson, Burton, Thompson, Burton...

Do you see a pattern here?

I already know that I am going to get questions regarding my current hair color, so I will address it right here and now.

So, does she... or doesn't she?

She did.

On a whim, I decided to try out some darker tones. It has been interesting to hear and see the reactions of my family members and friends. The brunette hair color has been getting mixed reviews. One of our neighbors simply didn't recognize me, and had to do a double and triple-take before things clicked. A couple of people loved it, a few liked it, and there were some who were indifferent. I only received one "mildly dissatisfied" comment. All in all, I learned that I could do a brown 'do if I wanted to. So, there! Operation Brunette was not only born out of boredom, but also it has been a scientific experiment to try to answer the age-old question of whether blondes or brunettes have the most fun. The results reveal that blonde wins, by a hair! 

#3 Resolution for 2012: Return tresses to their mostly natural shade of dark blonde soon; however, a few well-placed lighter blonde highlights are always welcomed. 

After three short days in Indiana, we drove back to Texas. Instead of the usual 14 hour trip, this one took 17 hours. We stopped in St. Louis for coffee and beignets with T&L. This tasty stop may have added an extra hour and a half, but it was well worth it.


We stopped again in Joplin, MO, to survey the rebuilding process. It was amazing to see how much has been cleared and rebuilt after the tornado last spring. We opted to eat at Panera, no fast food, so this stop added another hour.

Sprite

Miss Millie took a photo of her Panera drink, and I think it turned out really well; however, too much liquid refreshment caused us to have to make an unplanned McWee Wee stop along the Will Rogers Turnpike in OK.

After our McStop, it appeared that we would be getting home around 10:15 PM, but that was before we opted to make a Starbucks stop in Norman, OK. Since our resident high school senior has applied to a certain university located in said city, we had to take a short driving tour of the campus. We arrived home at 11 PM, oh, so happy to be back home and out of the car.

New Year's Day Forecast:

#4 Resolution for 2012: Give thanks and enjoy every day, rain or shine. (Shine is preferred, but rain is good, too.)

#5 Resolution for 2012: Rejoice!...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Happy New Year!