Welcome Home, Lincoln!

My Hubby's first car was a red '78 Lincoln that was passed down to him from his grandpa.  In their early driving years, he and his two best friends all drove Lincoln's.  Knowing who those two friends are, I feel like those kinds of cars really suited them.  They were all born older.  I joke about it sometimes and call Hubby my old man and that I'm there to keep him young, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  His mom says it all the time that he's wise beyond his years, and yes, he may get along better with older folk rather than people his own age.  But it suits him.  He helped bring a mature foundation to our marriage that I am very thankful for.  So natuarally a Lincoln, thought of as a gentleman's car was a perfect fit.

    There she sits in all her classic glory.  Hubby's dream car.  He's wanted a 2 door Lincoln Continental with a 460 engine since he was a kid. So when he found one at a hard to resist price, he snatched it up!  We couldn't get the engine to run at first, so we bought a new battery and tweaked a coupel of things and the engine roared to life.  Of course, as soon as he took his foot offthe gas petal it'd die, but it was a start!

The interior needs to be cleaned out, seats reupholstered, some stuff (yes, that's a technical term) done to the engine, the electrical door locks and windows don't work, and some body work, including being painted and getting a new vinyl overlay on the roof.  Not too bad, considering it's age and what it could look like.  According to the tag, it was last tagged in February of this year, so it was still driving at one point this year.

    Needless to say, Hubby is very excited and has been working on it every day since we got it. 

    Now for me.  This is my latest craft project.  I gotthe idea from a friend that always had the cutest iPhone cases.  Her secret?  A clear iPhone case.  That way you could just print off pictures, cut them to size and have any kind of cover you wanted!!  I'm a person that likes to change seasonally.  I couldn't carry a pink iPhone case in the Fall, or an orange one in the Winter!  Problem solved!  This is a fun Springy/Summery one that I found online and printed off.  The case itself was about $10 online.  Nothing compared to the $30 and up cases that I see while out and about. 

What are some of y'all's unique craft projects?

The New Mrs.

    This past weekend I had a blessed opportunity to be a part of one of my dear friends, Sarah's wedding.  It was a perfect day!  It was full of music and everything that was so suited to Sarah.  The family and bridal party walked down the aisle to the introductory song from Pixar's UP.  The rest of  the music was smooth jazz. She was such a beautiful bride.  I couldn't be more happy for her.  By now, the new Mr. and Mrs. Spurrier are probably enjoying themselves in Florida on their honeymoon!  It was an extra special experience to sing David Child's Where Your Barefoot Walks with some of my best friends.  It was made extra special by the fact that it was the same song they sang at my wedding also.  Sarah wanted to carry on the tradition and I loved it.

    Their reception was vintage carnival themed, with large metal tubs of popcorn to scoop into little brown paper bags, garlands of burlap, an iPad photobooth, and a caricature artist.  One of the most unique things that I have never seen before was a s'mores bar.  It was delicious!  There were all the fixins, such as three different kinds of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.  Wooden skewers were provided to roast the marshmallows over a display of little bunson burners.  CONGRATULATIONS, MR. AND MRS. THOMAS SPURRIER!!!

Countdown to Fall

Fall is by far my favorite season.  I love everything about it.  The crisp air, fallen leaves, hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, the way anticipation hangs in the air, time with family, fog, Halloween!, Thanksgiving, fellowship, apples, pumpkin carving, warm apple cider, pumpkin and pecan pies...the list can go on and on. Nothing beat a crisp fall morning, dressing in a sweater, leggings, boots and a scarf and walking the couple of blocks to school while fog was still in the air, drinking a hot mug of coffee...mmm.  Everything seems so peaceful and silent.  Can it be Fall already, please??
 
  Now I know countdowns typically start lower, and end with the top spot, but I can't resist starting with number one on my list. Mine and Hubby's 1 year wedding anniversary!!  This blog started off as a log of the wedding planning but kind of fell by the wayside with so much going on with school, job, opera, recital and planning a wedding.  So I figured I'd give everyone a peek into the beautiful day that couldn't have come together more perfectly!

                                            {Precious cousin flower girl and ring bearers}

 {Story behind this is: Photographer told my ladies to pretend like they were going to throw pumpkins at Hubby.  One of them actually did throw it, and it was caught in mid-flight!!}

 

                  {Our lovely wedding party.  Each one of these people meant so much to us!}

                 {Hand carved synthetic pumpkin with a tealight that my bridesmaids carried in}

                                                  {Wedding shoesand rings}

                                                             {As husband and wife!}

 

 {Delicious cake! Red velvet, marble, and white.  We should have made the biggest tier instead of the smallest tier be the Red Velvet.  We played nice during the feeding of the cake and didn't smash it into each other's faces}

                             {Blushing bride and Handsome Husband}                 

                                           {Three generations; Grandma, Mama, Me}

 {Blowing bubbles for our exit. Everything seemed to happen so quickly!!}

McNellie's with the TOCCD's!

I hope everyone survived the storms last night!  Insurance has declared Tulsa storms a catastrophe.  Huge trees are down everywhere, power is out, powerlines down.  It looks like a war zone wherever you drive.  Hubby and I were woken up around midnight to the sound of torential rain and severe winds.  I thought a tornado was outside our house for sure!  Flash flood warnings were going off on our phones...I don't even have weather alerts set to go off!  But we all survived.  Hubby had to manually open the garage door to let me get to work this morning.  I am so thankful that he got to go into work late today.  Otherwise I would probably still be at home trying to figure out how to get the door open...
    In other news I had a lovely time last night with some of the ladies from Tulsa Oratorio Chorus. (I'll let you all guess what the extra C and D stand for...)  We went to the new McNellie's at 71st and Yale.  But before I went there, I willeda little time after work at this fantastic market called The Fresh Market.  It had so many good things to look at, smell and taste!  Fresh fruit and veggies, coffee to sample (plus tons and tons of flavors to choose from, including Red Velvet!), oodles of types of candy,  and so many more things!  A nut and granola bar, a snackies bar, seafood bar, fresh meats...etc!  Anyway, back to McNellie's!
  
   Pictured right is what if called a Flight.  I had never had nor heard of before.  I got The Wheat is On Flight.  It's a shot sized sample of 5 different beers.  You start at the top and drink them in a clockwise order.  I didn't taste one that I didn't like.  They were all so good!  I included a list below.  Someone before me had gonethrough and checked which ones they liked and didn't like.  I think the Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat was my favorite.  It was very light and easy, pleasing to the tastebuds and very refreshing and springy, yet super flavorful.  the Marshall Sundown Wheat was really good too.  And of course, I couldn't resist reading out loud the last two beers on the list.  All together now "Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier."

This was such a delicious Chrgrilled burger!  Super flavorful and super good!  It was a perfect combo with the beer flight.  It only took me a few tries to settle on what I wanted.  I at first had looked at a menu online before I went and decided on the Balsamic Chicken Sandwich.  One atthe restaurant, I thought psh, I can make that at home, give me some fish and chips!  Then the Char burger was calling my name.  Much to being made fun of, I changed my order a second time.  I wasn't about to try to go back and add cheese onto it after I'd already ordered.  I'm a woman, at a table full of women, having had our order taken by a woman.  They should aaallll understand how women are. 
    It was a good dinner time, filled with lots of laughter, chatter and ideas.  I am so blessed to be a part of such a great group of people!!  Choir rehearsals start back up September 9th.  I can hardlywait!!

Boston: The Final Chapter

Our poor little puppy missed us while we were gone!  My sister was so sweet and puppy and house sat for us.  She kept him good company so he didn't get lonely.  Thank you Rachel for taking such good care of everything!!

  {In other news, I promise this will be the last of my Boston posts for a while!  Though It was such a great trip full of fun and family.  Below is a picture at one of the hugest antique malls we have eeever been to.  When I say huge, I mean like 50 stores put together.  It just went on and on and on.  I never even got to see everything.  I spent enough time getting stuck in the book section going through all the music they had.  There was an entire huge warehouse of row upon row of furniture.  And the store smelled amazing. Old, musty, exciting, and full of the anticipation of finding hidden treasures.  This is just one of the many antique stores that we went to while here, but it was by far the most extensive!  If David and I had driven and had a truck, you bettere believe that truck would have been full with a full trailer hitched up!  This store was full of amazing things!  The New England area offered different varieties of antiques that we were very impressed with.  We hope to start saving and be able to drive back at another time with a truck and trailer!}

{This is a collage of photos taken at an architectural salvage place in Newbedford, MA. This place was also amazing!  I didn't know they existed.  Rooms full of old windows, light fixtures, shutters, porch columns, chair railings, mouldings, anything you can imagine that can be salvaged from renovating an old home.  That's another thing about New England.  The architecture.  There's nothing like it.  Even the new houses being built look old.  We love how they stick to the classic style and don't build the "how soon can we get this house put up and sold" architecture that has no art and that seems to be popping up more and more here in Oklahoma.}

{The sun setting into the water at the dock close to the Linde's Quincy home.  It was a perfect evening.  We all 4 sat on the doc eating ice cream, watching the sun set.}

{The last night we were in MA we went to Jake's Seafood in Hull.  It's a restaurant right on the water with the seafood practically jumping from the water into our plates!  Don and I splurged and got fresh lobster!  It was mm-mm good.  I didn't expect it to come our whole.  Here in the state surrounded by land, I've only seen lobster tail served.  Don had to show me how to start.  (It was a little overwhelming to think of how to start!)  The sangria was good, (though since David and I had out of state licenses, they requested a second photo i.d. (which I've never encountered before) and the only other i.d.'s we had on us were our gun licenses!  Imagine us ordering drinks with DLs and gun permits!) company was great and the food was unlike any seafood we've ever had.}

{Just a few parting memories!}

New Hampshire and Vermont: Vacation Part 2

I'm a sucker for funny faces.  This is only one from a series of many while people watching in the Boston Common Park.  Hubby just takes it all in stride!  But I've seen him make his fair share of silly faces.

The next leg of our trip took place in this little VW Bug Convertible as we headed to New Hampshire to visit Hubby's dad and step-mom; my new in-laws!  The weather was so nice!  Perfect driving weather.  Once we made it into our NH destination, we got to take the top down.

                          {Hubby and his daddy!}

           {This is from our excursion to Plymouth and Duxbury}

{These are a few of the graves of the VonTrapp family.  Yes, the VonTrapp family of The Sound of Music. We visited their family lodge in Vermont, which is actually a popular ski resort.  They said it was the closest thing to the Alps since they came to America.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  We got to drive all through some of the Vermont mountains and see beautiful, luxurious ski resorts and scenic views!  Of course, we hit up a few antique places along the way!}

{We spent a couple of days at Hubby's grandparent's house in the Vermont mountains for the 4th of July.  Their house is situated on the top of a mountain and in the middle of a 9-hole golf course.  The scenery was breathtaking.  As Hubby and I pulled up that first night, the weather was perfect.  It was sprinkling slightly and the fog was just beginning to roll in.  Cool temperatures.  We couldn't sit on the front porch because a protective Robin mama was protecting her two little chickadees and was going wild.  We settled on the back porch instead, for sandwiches and a glass of wine.  The picture above is with Hubby's grandpa, aunt, and uncle.
    For 4th of July, there was record rain fall.  Actually, it had been record rain fall for about the past 2 weeks prior to our getting there.  There was so much rain that the road up to their house washed out and the course flooded.  We had to drive across the course to get out!  We went to Hubby's grandmother's niece's house in a nearby town to watch a wonderful fireworks show!  I must say, it was one of the best finale's I've ever seen.  The walk back to the house that night was one that I won't soon be forgetting, nor will Hubby's family for sure.  They didn't let me live it down for at least a couple of days.  We couldn't drive back up the golf course road to get back to the house so parked our cars at the clubhouse to walk back. (I, of course had conked out half way back so was a little groggy.)  We were a little under half way back when Shannon, Hubby's grandmother looked down at the green and pointed out the nightcrawlers. Eeewwwww!!!  They were slimy looking and quick!  As we shined the light on them and continued walking, they would squish and suck out of sight, back into their little ground holes.  I squealed, tiptoed, tried climbing onto Hubby's back before finally making it back to the safe paving stones leading up to the house.  We all slept really well that night!}

{This was a cup of delicious cold apple cider from the apple mill that we visited while in Vermont.  They had the most amazing apple cider donuts!  I couldn't get enough of them!  I was almost tempted to get a bag of  the donut mix, but I remember what happened the last time I tried to make donuts.  (Smoky kitchen, burning oil, burning eyes and nose...) }

{The last day in Vermont before we headed back to New Hampshire to see Hubby's other grandparents who also lived up a mountain, about a mile up a gravel road. His grandparents lived in their current house (which they are trying to sell, if anyone is interested.) (Not the house pictured above.)}

{This is the meal that awaited us at the home of the Lawrences. It was so nice getting to meet my new in-laws!  They are all such nice and loving people.  We all had a lot in common and had no trouble finding things to talk about.  They live on about 63 acres, a few of which have maple pipelines that they have someone harvest and process for them.  They actually sent us home with 3 or 4 jugs of  delicious maple syrup.  There was good conversation, good home-cooked food, good company!!  Dinner was croc pot cooked ribs and potato salad with hard boiled eggs.  Breakfast was home made waffles, sugared strawberries, covered in whip cream and maple syrup. (His grandfather, Jim had to teach me the proper way to pile of the whip cream!  Haha.)  After dinner, I got to walk their donkey, Pedro and took him to the clearing where he liked to eat the purple flowers that grew there.}

{Flowers that we got to take with us from their house when we headed back to Massachusetts.  Beautiful pink roses that were so fragrant!}

New Hampshire and Vermont were both beautiful excursions, and we met such wonderful people!  It was hard to say good bye to the Lawrences as we headed back to MA.  

Massachusetts: Part 1

Any trip is not complete without a pretrip mani or pedi!  Mama and Rachel were very patriotic in theirs.
  I can't even begin to express how blessed I am to have married into such a generous, loving, family-oriented, humorous family!  It was such a wonderful trip for Hubby and me.  We got to spend a lot of time getting to know his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and cousins.  There were so many favorite parts to the trip that I felt I owed it to you all to not try to cram it all into one post.  I wanted to devote enough time to each thing, but also not overwhelm you! 
   
  We landed at the Boston airport round noon on June 30. His grandparents picked us up at the airport and drove us to their house in Quincy, which is about a 20 min drive (in good traffic) from Boston.  That night, we had a fun cook out where I got to meet everyone!  As you can see in the place setting picture below, there were quite a few of us!  I was ok with knocking elbows with people at the table if that meant that everyone got to sit in the same room so we could visit.  We had ribs, sausages, grilled cut steak, potato salad, grilled asparagus and a curious dish called 'Sleeper Salad.'  I was curious ad dubious at first, as the spoon cut into the solid looking orange surface of the salad to a custard like consistency.  But after the first bite, I couldn't stop eating it!!  It was like a smoother version ofthat orange and marshmallow salad that everyone has around Thanksgiving!  It was delicious.  Our bellies pleasantly stuffed with food and wine, we sat around the table conversing and getting to know each other.    

                     {Leaving Tulsa International Airport}              

{Here we are at Plymouth Rock!  I didn't include a picture of the actual rock because if you've seen one rock, then you've seen this one.  I was very surprised at how small it was! But the Plymouth area was beautiful!  We ate at a little (well not really little...) seaide restaurant with excellent food!  I had fried clams.  Mm-mm.  And Hubby tried getting filleted fish, whose name I can't quite recall.  He's not a fish person, but he really liked it and the fried scallops!}

{This is in Duxbury, MA.  This actually used to be a shipyard run by David's family.  This is all that's left of it now though.  A highway has been built through it and most of the docks are gone.}

{Blue Hydrangeas were everywhere!  All over Massachusetts.  And boy were they beautiful.  I cou;dn't get enough of how pretty and blue they were, not to mention the huge size of the bushes.}

On our day in Boston on the trolley tours, some of the highlights included:

{The Opera House}

{Burial Grounds: Paul Revere's grave}

{Eating at the original Cheers! (though really that wasn't the original name of the restaurant/pub.  They changed it to Cheers after the named show took off .)}

{Trolley ride that took us all over Boston!  We were able to get on and off at all the stops as much as we wanted.  Trolleys ran every 15 minutes.  I would highly recommend Old Towne Trolley Tours for anyone visiting Boston.  The only drawback was that their booth to redeem our online tickets was so hard to find!  But aside from that, the tour was amazing!}