Happy Worst Day of the Year

In college Sarah (my roomie) and I decided that Valentines Day was officially the worst day of the year. Lots of reasons went into this decision, but I have continued to celebrate the worst day of the year ever since. The good news is, by labeling one day as the worst day of the year it's out of the way for the whole year!

Anyhow, here's how we celebrated...

Beautiful flowers were delivered to my office on Thursday (along with a box of decadent chocolates)!

We also completed an ongoing project. For Christmas you may remember (or probably not) that I bought Clay and Greenbay Fathead for his office. Subsequently we painted his office in Greenbay colors. We had to wait a month to put the Fathead on the wall. So without further adieu.


And of course we have been watching our fair share of Olympics. Go USA and Canada! We are truly a house divided!

I hope your Worst Day of the Year was as good as mine :)!

Good News

Baxter did very well in surgery. His tumor was just a fatty mass and his teeth are sparkling clean! Now he's resting comfortably at home.

On the other hand, Maggie may never forgive me for leaving her along all day. She has yet to wag her tail at me and keeps looking at me like I deserted her FOREVER! Poor codependent puppy.

Sigh...

So life has been running at a million miles a minute. The sad part is I don't recall anything especially exciting that has happened. January flew by in a flash. Partially because I was sick and missed work and partially because we had a massive ice storm that shut down work. I can tell you it will be a shock to the system when February winds down and we actually had to go to work every single day!

Several of you have asked about my Achilles tendon. I'm sorry to say it still has not miraculously healed. I am able to work out but nothing really intense. Anytime I step up the cardio it starts to bother me. So I'm resigned to lifting weights. I have discovered that spin doesn't bother my ankle so I'm making good friends with stationary bikes! Unfortunately though rowing bothers my ankle so that's been a big time bummer.

Also I mentioned the previous post that Clay and I were seeing if our icicle would reach all the way to the ground. I'm happy to report that it did! And here's proof...

Stalactite meets stalagmite

Shortly after these pictures were taken I had Clay knock down the massive chunk of ice because we had to go to work and I was scared it would fall on a dog!

Speaking of dogs, think positive thoughts about Baxter. During the ice storm he acted like he didn't feel well. I thought he hurt himself on the ice and I was checking him out I found what I thought was a hernia. As it turns out it's a tumor. My vet thinks it's just the fatty tumors that dogs sometimes get but better safe than sorry. So, since he needed his teeth clean anyhow he gets to go under the knife tomorrow. I'm just a bit worried for my baby!

Also check out the view from my office today. We had ANOTHER snow storm here in the city. I think good ol' OKC is having record snow fall this year.

Those are some massive snow flakes!! In case you're wondering I overlook construction of another one of our campus buildings. On a clear day it looks as if we are trying to dig a hole to China!

The Rest of the Story

Here are some pictures of the rest of the storm. OKC had about 5-8 inches of snow and we had about 7 inches at the house. Crazy stuff :)!

Baxter wants to move to Florida!

Maggie doesn't like the snow either.

They both thought we were punishing them when they had to go outside. Poor puppies :(

View out our front window.

Out the back door. Notice the icicles they will become important...


They kept growing...

And growing...

And growing...

By the end we had stalagmites and not just icicles!

Finally we decided that they needed to come down before they fell on a dog. So we geared up for the great demolition. Since I just took my OSHA safety course this week we decided to go about this operation safely.

Clay has some more pictures of the incredible growing icicles. We did leave the big one so we'll see if it touches the ground.

Iceapocolypse 2010

Yet again the winter weather has struck Oklahoma causing everything to shut down. This time we are experiencing an ice storm followed up by snow. Of course Oklahoma is never capable of dealing with winter weather so everything shuts down. Consequently, Clay and I both got off work at noon yesterday (Thursday) and are at home today also! Whoopee for working from home.

Here's some pics from the house...

Check out the ice on the tree limbs.

No folks, that's not snow that's ice on the lawn!

This morning then we woke up to the start of the snow storm. It's predicted we'll get between 3-5 inches of snow.

Polar Bear #1

Polar Bear #2

And here is how the family likes to spend cold days like this. Last weekend Clay was doing homework and when he emerged from his man-cave here's what he found...

Legally Blonde

This weekend I went and saw Legally Blonde: The Musical with a group of girlfriends. It was so much fun! I always enjoy plays and this one was great. I was actually amazed how they took the movie and made it into a musical. It was a lot of fun to watch. If you get a chance I highly recommend going!

However, Legally Blonde always makes me think of a college friend (who shall remain nameless) that HATED Legally Blonde. She didn't just dislike the movie but, in fact, refused to watch the movie. One day I asked her what her problem was and she said that the movie makes it seem as if "dumb" people could go to law school. You see this friend of mine had intended to go to law school for a very long time and the movie came out around the time she was taking her LSAT and applying to law school and she was quite certain that no one as "dumb" as Elle Woods could EVER make it in law school. At the time I never even imagined law school was in my future and I figured only really really smart people went to law school so I had to agree there was at least some logic to her argument.

Fast forward to present day... and I'm here to tell you that "dumb" people do go to law school. In fact they even graduated from law school! And yes, these folks even passed the bar!

And while I've never confirmed it with my friend I believe even she would agree that "dumb" people can make it in law school.

So far I say poo on 2010!

While most people were more than happy to see 2009 in the rear view mirror I actually enjoyed that year. Clay and I were really blessed in 2009 and while I understand most people's sentiments I found myself in the minority of folks where were sad to see 2009 go.

However, 2010 is not getting on my good side. To start things off I injured my Achilles tendon last week while running. I took the rest of the week off and after talking with the doctor I need to take at least 2 more weeks off to make sure it heals. If not I'm off to physical therapy. YUCK!

Second this weekend I came down with what I thought was a bad cold. I spent Sunday on the couch and when I didn't feel better Monday I went to the doctor. Turns out I have a severe upper respiratory infection that is moving into my lungs (hello pneumonia). Thank goodness I went to the doctor when I did and I wasn't stubborn.

So here I sit. No rowing, no working out. In fact getting up to walk to my office was a bit of a strain. So I am tired now and must go take a nap. Maybe I'll wake up and it will be 2009 again :)!

Gamers Game

One of my favorite web sites is Cake Wrecks (it's linked to my blog) and every Sunday the author posts what she calls Sunday Sweets. Today's sweets were all about cakes were a tribute to game fans and included a link to a web site where some game fans made 100 cup cakes representing 100 different games. It's pretty impressive. Clay and I are gamers but there are games on there I've never even heard of. See how many you recognize.

PS. This is my 200th post.

PPS. Go Greenbay!

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

Who says Christmas Vacation ends once you're out of school? Not I! This year with the way the holidays fell both Clay and I could take only 3 days vacation and get 11 days off work. That's a heck of a deal if you ask me. So we have spent the last 11 days relaxing. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and apparently this applies to vacations as well. So since tomorrow Clay and I return to the daily grind I thought I'd give a quick re-cap of how we spent our Christmas Vacation.

First we braved the great blizzard of 2009! If you haven't heard (or have been living under a rock) OKC had the largest snow storm on record which brought us our first white Christmas in many years.

Maggie was grateful to be an inside dog during this time.

We also enjoyed spending a Christmas together. We chose not to travel this year because Clay has had to travel so much for work he wanted to spend the time at home. Since no one chose to come in from out of town we had a great Christmas together.

We spent the morning opening our loot!

Clay got a Greenbay Fathead for his office wall!

Clay suprised me (you'll notice I didn't say spoiled) by endorsing my new rowing addiction and buying me an Erg!!

Assembly was a challenge because, you could say, the instructions were less than clear, but once we got it put together my Erg found its new home in my office where I've enjoyed excellent calorie burns over the break. If you're looking for a high intensity workout may I suggest Erging. Every stroke combines strength training and cardio!


We were supposed to have several folks over for Christmas dinner but due to the aforementioned blizzard it turned into a smaller gathering. It was unfortunate but we rather our friends stay safe!

While Clay and I enjoyed a lot of time hanging out at the house playing Wii we also decided to venture out one day and visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. While we had both been there at my graduation party I didn't have a chance to enjoy the exhibits so we went on an excursion.

New Years Eve we spent with good friends from church and the new year was rung in with style. By style I mean good food, good friends, and silly games!

We also wrapped up our vacation by taking care of lots of home projects that we had neglected in the past 3 years of law school. For instance we finally finished decorating the living room and kitchen.

My pottery gets to join us in the living room now!

I added some stenciling above the kitchen sink to complete my re-painting project from a couple of months ago!

Overall we had a stellar break. Lots of good times with friends and relaxation. We hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe New Year and can't wait to make many more great memories together in 2010!

Oh what a year it has been!

Since I'm bad about sending out the annual Christmas card (I've never done it) I figured I would do the Dwyer 2009 summary in my blog. Clay and I had a wonderful year filled with some interesting challenges and amazing blessings. So here we go!

January - Clay and I spent last Christmas in Montana with my folks. Unfortunately Clay had a little run in with the moguls and tore his ACL so January was spent preparing for surgery. I also started my last semester of law school! However, our greatest blessing was finding a new church home and making some great new friends!

February - Clay had his surgery but not until we got to see our favorite comedian, Bryan Reagan, in concert. The show was awesome! Clay's surgery was very successful but it made for a challenging month because he spent 6 weeks on crutches and couldn't drive.

You can tell he's thrilled!

March - We had a huge windstorm which blew down our fence. Since Clay was stilled laid up we called in the cavalry and my uncles helped fix the fence. Thanks again Uncle Don and Uncle Dean!

April - I had my 29th birthday so I am now as old as I'll ever get! I spent my time enjoying the last month of being a student (maybe forever) and preparing for my last finals!!! Clay finished rehab and got back on his feet (literally)!

May - I graduated from law school and was blessed to have lots of friends and family come to celebrate. My folks, Amanda, and Gene and Pati came from the far off reaches of the northwest to help celebrate. Plus lots of friends came over to the house from around the city to enjoy a great dessert reception! SO MUCH FUN!!! Also later that month we were bless to have my grandparents stop by for a visit as well as my sister's family. So much fun!


June - All I can say is BAR PREP! I spent the month working part time and studying for the bar full time! Clay was a trooper and did a summer class and helped out as much as he could. Unfortunately there's not a lot a person can do to help someone who is freaking out!

July - THE BAR!!! July 28th I took the bar! While it was scary I was mostly glad to have it over with. I think Clay will join me in saying that I NEVER want to go through that again. Clay helped out a ton by cooking for the study group and trying to keep us all from complete panic and melt down. Thanks Clay!!!

Everything you need to know for the bar!

August - August was a BIG month! I rejoined the workforce and again became a full time contributor to the gross national product! YEAH ME! I love my job and have been very blessed. Also Clay celebrated another birthday by fishing in Canada with my dad. (If you want to hear some tall tales... I mean fishing stories just ask!) Clay and I also celebrated 5 years of marriage. I love you honey!


September - Clay's work took him to Winnipeg where he got to spend time with his family. (Hi Ally, Rick, Aiden, Drew & Rhys!) I found out that I passed the bar and was sworn in as a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association. (Yes I'm now a licensed attorney :)!)


October - Clay had to return to Canada for work (this time Calgary) so I took up my latest sport - rowing! I had a great time in my learn to row class and found my new favorite activity :)!

November - While Clay was still in Canada I went to visit him in Banff! We had a wonderful time staying in a castle and exploring the Canadian rockies. We also participated in our favorite Thanksgiving tradition - overindulging and Ellen and Phillip's house :)!


December - As we wound down the year Clay was back in town and we spent a great deal of time with friends at different holiday functions!

Clay and I have been truly blessed this year! We hope 2010 brings even more adventures to the Dwyer household. We hope to be able to visit many of you in the coming year and as always if you find yourself in good ol' OKC please stop by we'd love to see you. God bless and Happy New Year!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Apparently Oklahoma hasn't had a white Christmas in around 50 years. Today is going to change that. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!








At 4pm the airport had reported 10 inches of snow in OKC and every major highway and road was shut down.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Rowing

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would update on my rowing. I've learned a lot about this sport over the last few months which has been a lot of fun. It's not very often I get the chance to be immersed in a completely new activity.

Today I did my first 20 minute Erg test. The Erg is the real name for the rowing machine that typically sits lifeless in a gym because most people don't know how to use it. However, the Erg is interesting because you can get a cardio and strength workout simultaneously. Bottom line, if you use the machine properly it will kick your butt!

Anyhow, back to the test. The goal was to Erg as fast and hard as you could and be able to maintain that pace for 20 minutes. Since I didn't know what I should be aiming for my coach suggested I try to keep a 2:22 split. That means I can row 500m in 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Halfway through my piece my coach asked how it felt and based on my reaction she had me step it up to a 2:20 split.

The workout was really hard but my problem has been I don't know what's "good". So I cornered my coach and what I learned today will really help. To compare rowing to running I know I can run a 9:30 mile and keep that pace forever. I may not be fast compared to other people but I know if I'm going to run a distance race that's the pace I will set for myself because I'll be able to finish and have kept my pace the whole race. Today's Erg test was designed to find my "9:30 mile pace" for rowing. Right now my pace is about a 2:21 meaning I can row that pace for as long as I need to.

Now the next question is if this is a "good" pace. Apparently female rowers who are Olympians or who are at the top colleges on scholarship will have a flat 2 minutes or below split time. So, as in running, I'm not fast but I do know that I can keep my pace for a long time. And now I have an idea of what kind of time I should be shooting for when I take my next 20 minute Erg test.

Sorry it was a boring post. I promise to have something more interesting soon!

Pics

For all of you dying to see the new living room and dining room here ya go!

Chocolate brown yumminess!

I felt brave going for blue in the kitchen but I really love how it turned out.


(Another angle)
I ended the blue at the dining room so it wasn't too overwhelming.

Much ado about nothing

Today I rowed in my first rowing race! (Sorry no pictures) I'm not sure how well I did because times won't be posted until Monday but I had a lot of fun. Since I'm a novice I only raced a 2K (the "big kids" got to race a 4K) but I was surprised how much work it was. I've been working out a lot at the boathouse which I think did a lot to prepare me for the race but I can tell I still have a long way to go before I'm ready to compete with the next level of rowers.

In other news I re-painted my kitchen this weekend. Long story short, I was really sick of my living room and kitchen. I had a red wall in the living room and the kitchen was done in a gold-ish color. I had painted before law school and as part of the purging process all of this had to go! So I did what any sane person does I looked through the Pottery Barn catalog to see what's new. I fell in love with the chocolate brown and steel blue color combination. However since no one can afford Pottery Barn accessories I decided to see if I could duplicate the colors at Target. Of course I was successful! I then painted my red wall chocolate brown which meant my gold-ish wall no longer "went" with the decor. Now I had a problem. I had no idea what I wanted in the kitchen but since I have an open floor plan I had to do something. Consequently I pulled in the neutral tan that I had throughout the living room into the kitchen. I HATED IT!!! As Clay sait it made the whole house look small. So this weekend I fixed it and now I have a blue kitchen. It's MUCH better. However you will have to hang on for pictures because I'm not done decorating so it looks a bit sparse.

'Til next time :)!

Oh Canada!

As many of you know Clay has been spending a lot of time working in Canada lately (and will be for the foreseeable future). Luckily Clay works for a generous company who allows one of us to travel to see the other every other week. A couple of weeks ago I went up to Canada to see him (yes I realize I am WAY behind on blogging). We spent the weekend in Banff at the most amazing resort ever!

Instead of spending the weekend in Calagary Clay decided we should go up to Banff which is a lot like Jackson Hole, Wyoming and is a gateway to the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Having grown up around the Rockies my whole life I was amazed how much more rugged the Canadian Rockies are. We drove up Saturday morning which was snowy and raingy to first visit Lake Louise which is this picturesque glacial lake. Luckily I did pack my ski jacket, hat, and gloves. But even with all of that we could only stand to stay out for a few minutes because the wind was blowing so fast off the glacier and across the lake I could barely stand up!

Me attempting to stand up in the wind.
(And yes, that is the color of the water!)

After nearly freezing to death we decided it was time for lunch at the Chateau Lake Louise which was really wonderful. After lunch the wind had calmed down a bit and we took our chances at a normal looking picture.

Not sure I look normal in my goofy ski hat, but Clay looks handsome!

We stayed at the Banff Spring Hotel (if you ever visit Banff you MUST stay here) which is a 5 star resort. At first we had planned to just drop off our luggage and head down to Banff but after discovering I was staying in a Castle we spent most of the afternoon exploring our awesome digs!

An upclose of the castle (we really couldn't do the building justice).

Clay really spoiled me with a massage at the spa. It wasn't just a massage though it was the whole spa experience complete with mineral pools, relaxation room, sauna, hot tubs, steam room, and of course "purification water" which was sliced cucumber and basil (YUM!)! The massage was amazing and I loved the spa experience. I even told my massuese I suggest she buy a castle with a mineral pool. She just laughed at me.

While I relaxed in the spa Clay had a swim at their Olympic size salt water pool (which he loved) and then we had dinner at their Italian restaruant. All I can say is they frown on licking your plate at 5 star restaurants otherwise I would have licked my plate. AMAZING!! The best part was the dessert (okay just one of the best parts) which was ice cream truffles. Yeah they were good :)!

Finally Sunday we did find time to explore Banff which was a wonderful little town with neat shops. If you ever get a chance I highly recommend visiting. The weekend was really special and I was glad to see Clay. Right now we are lucky that he gets to spend some time at home which we are enjoying. So with that I shall leave you with the breath taking scenery!

The view from our room. (We had a "cheap" view)

From the highway during our dreary Saturday drive.



This is Cascade Mountain which was one of my favorite views

The drive home on Sunday was partly cloudy which made for some amazing views. This picture really doesn't do the mountains justice. Imagine this about a zillion times cooler!

Sunny Days

Sweeping all the clouds away!
On my way to where the air is clean!
Can you tell me how to get ...
How to get to Sesame Street!

If you haven't googled this week you're missing some adorable headers. I can't seem to find a link to all of google's headers but they are celebrating Sesame Street's 40th anniversary and if your childhood was anything like mine Sesame Street was a big part of it.

Today's post was brought to you by the letter "Q" and the number "3"!

UPDATE: Here is the link to all of google's Sesame Street Logos. Enjoy!

Editorial

I would encourage everyone to read my sister's post from yesterday titled "In the beginning." I couldn't agree more.

PS. I just got back from Canada and plan to have a real post of my own sometime soon :)!

Whole lot goin' on

So I've neglected my blog for several weeks now but I swear I have a good excuse! Okay I have no excuse but I will try to be better.

In the big news Clay has been gone for several weeks. I am trying not to count how long because that is just depressing. Last weekend was his weekend home which turned into a whole fiasco. He flew from Calgary to Houston to OKC. There had been a big storm in Houston which had backlogged all of the flights. Technically he made it to Houston in time but with the backlog his seat was given to someone in standby. He ended up spending the night in Houston and the airline couldn't get him to OKC so he flew to Dallas and I made a quick trip to go get him Saturday morning. By quick I mean I drove to Dallas, picked him up from the airport, got gas, hit a drive through for some lunch and drove back to OKC. Sadly Clay's time at home was about 36 hours total because he flew out again Monday morning :(.

To keep myself occupied with all of my newly discovered free time I've taken up a new sport. I decided to learn to row. Oklahoma City has a boathouse that offers lessons to those who want to learn to row and I am really enjoying the new sport. It's a lot more complicated than it looks but I like that it's a style sport that you can participate in your whole life. After years of running and soccer my knees are spent so I was looking for something low impact that would keep me in great shape. Also I was really getting bored with running and needed something with a different challenge. Rowing seems to fit the bill. So goodbye running and hello rowing!

Other than that things are going well. Fall has definitely arrived with a vengence. (I'm already sick of the cold weather.) I will get to visit Clay in Calgary over Halloween weekend. Even though I hate cold weather I have decided to fully embrace my time in Canada and Clay and I are going to try and find opportunities to go skiing, snow mobiling, cross-country skiing, and maybe even try snow shoeing! For the true Canadian experience I may even ask to try curling! We'll see how that goes.

'Til next time...

Purging Law School

While Clay was packing and getting ready to go on an extended work trip to Calgary, I spent some time purging law school. I had been meaning to do this for a while but it seemed appropriate now that I know the experience is over. One law school experience I wrote about several times was the now infamous note card writing during finals. I kept all of my note cards I wrote. I'm not sure why. I suppose some part of me feared I would have to retake the class and those note cards may come in handy yet again. Some other part of me just can't stand to throw away that much time and effort. So today while I was packing up and putting away I took some pictures of my note cards.

The pile

The front right is an unused stack of 100 notecards, just to give you some perspecitve!

And just to show you how Type A I am, here they are laid out by class in order. The ones on the left are the bar review note cards.