Raising Libby Jo: knotties

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Ono treats from Hawaii

There are a group of women who I have chatted with daily since September 2006...we all were married in Hawaii and "met" online at The Knot, while planning our weddings. Some of these gals live in the islands and most of us just love Hawaii and come from all across the US, Canada and Australia! We exchange gifts a couple of times of year. Last year it was Christmas Ornaments, if you remember the awesome ones I received from Evonne and Jaime. Once we receive them, we usually take photos of the items and post them on the forum we all chat on to share.

This summer, we decided to do one with little gifts that represent where we live. I drew Kristen, who lives in Colorado, and sent her items from the Made in Oklahoma Store...pralines, peach jam, BBQ dry rub and pecan chocolate turtles (missing from the photo, because they were too tasty!). Here's what Kristen got from me:

Lisa in Hawaii drew my name for this gift exchange and look what I got:

Yummy mac nut goodness in three flavors along with a cute note from Lisa!

Tanioka's Corn Flake and Chocolate Chip-Arare Cookies

Lisa and her husband John make these marble magnets from John's underwater photographs.

He's a free diver, which means he uses no snorkel or scuba equipment and just holds his breath for the photos! Aren't they just little gems of art!

Much mahalo to Lisa for sending us a slice of the islands! It makes me want to be there SO much more than I already do! I can hardly believe it's been two years since Joseph and I were in Kauai (for our wedding) and nearly a year since I was there, in Honolulu, for work, when I was lucky enough to meet Lisa in person!

It's funny, I chat online with this group of women daily. We've shared a lot...from wedding planning to life as newlyweds, family issues, work dramas, and for some of us, try to conceive and pregnancy. It's amazing how close you can become with people that you've hardly met in real life by share your daily experiences with online. I love my Hawaii Knotties, turned Nesties! They're a great bunch of ladies!

Holiday Cheer

J came home and found this lovely package on our doorstep! I have no idea how it was left there without the dogs going nuts about someone on our porch! It must have been placed there when we were out in the backyard earlier today.

Inside was a note...

...from my pal Jaime, who lives a neighboring suburb of Tulsa. Jaime and I met online over two years ago...on The Knot's Hawaii Board, which brings together Hawaiian Brides from all over the world in cyberspace. Never in a million years would I have thought we'd ever get a chance to meet. But we did...last August, for lunch. Then, this December, we organized an ornament exchange for Hawaii Knotties (that's what the gals who post on The Knot are called) through Elfster.com and lo and behold, Jaime drew my name and sent us awesome peacock ornaments!

The note says:

"Just a little more holiday cheer. There's something special marked "From Tia". She picked it out just for you saying that if you love Hawaii you had to have it! Hope and and J have a blessed Christmas.

Happy Holidays, Love, Jaime, Matthew, Tia & Hani"

Here's the adorable, handpicked item from Tia (her kindergartner)...

Love his sparkly shell and bright red flippers and cool snorkeling mask!

And, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge! I love it! I definitely feel like I've left my heart in San Francisco this Christmas. My mom called and she's meeting up with my aunt, uncle, cousin and brother in SF to see my other cousin's new apartment in North Beach, go see a move and then attend midnight mass at St. Peter and Paul Church in Washington Square. She also confirmed that she and her two chihuahuas (Dot and Sport) will arrive in Tulsa on Sunday, January 11th. I cannot wait!

And super tasty, world famous Honolulu Cookie Company Hawaiian Shortbread...mixed flavors including chocolate dipped, pineapple and lilikoi (passion fruit)...YUMMY!

The pugs were so excited too! Here they are checking out all of the goodies!

And how cute are these ornaments on our tree? Love them!

Words cannot express how happy this gift made me today. Jaime is an amazing friend who, oddly enough, I have only met face-to-face once. When I came out for my job interview last May, she left an OU Sooners coffee cup and sweet note for me at the hotel. And now this!

She's so thoughtful and I greatly appreciate her taking the time to do this for me, especially today, when I am home alone with the furbabies. Waiting for my sweetheart to come home after having worked a 16 hour day and getting ready for another 8. And talking on the phone with my mom in CA... getting ready to spend the evening with family in the city I love dearly and my dad in Alaska, gathering together my siblings and their children for a traditional Christmas dinner. It's nice to know that even though I am a little lonely on this day, I am not alone. Thanks for spreading the holiday cheer Jaime...you're the best!

Now it's my turn to spread some holiday cheer...I am surprising J by making carmel apples with peanuts....his fav! Wish me luck, I have never made them before butI have good instructions. And since we're in major debt-pay-off and save mode, my gift to him this year is a bunch of "love coupons" I made up for him on the computer, printed and put in a nice card for him in his stocking stuffed with all sorts of chocolates and goodies he enjoys (like Burt's Bee Hand Salve and Alba Shave Cream). The coupons are good for everything from a night on the town to a weekend get-away, movie of his choice and a tech-free evening (no TV, no phone, no internet..just us!). I hope he likes them and uses them too!

UPDATED: Here's how my carmel apples came out...

They were super easy to make!

INGREDIENTS:

- 5 medium Granny Smith apples, washed and dried

- One bag of Kraft Caramel Bits (they come with 5 wooden sticks)

-1/2 cup of chopped pecans and peanuts

Melt the caramel bits with two tablespoons over medium-low heat.

Remove the melted caramel from the heat, roll the apples (with the sticks inserted in the stem part of the apple) and use a spoon to cover as needed.

Dip the caramel covered apples into chopped nuts, using a spoon to press them into the caramel as needed

Place caramel covered apples onto wax paper sprayed with non-stick spray and refrigerate for at least one hour.

End of a long week...

Ah, Saturday. Slept in. Ate breakfast late. Still in my jammies as I blog.

This has been one long week. I worked everyday, skipping lunch breaks (sufficed with a quick bite at my desk, horrible habit, but there you have it)...most days were 9 hours and yesterday was 10. Busy, busy, busy time of year. Got my review yesterday. Not bad for six months. "Areas for improvement" included learning the history of the company and processes. Well duh? Anyway, it's all good. I've officially been on the job 6 months and so far, so good. Save for the office politics and daily drama that every workplace dynamic has...I am trying to avoid all that. I don't have time or the energy to invest myself.

Next week looks to be just as busy...long meetings on Monday and Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. More deadlines. And then I know, closer to Christmas, it will slow down. I hope. That's the plan.

We also found out this week that J's mom is back in the hospital. Nearly one year to the day. In the early part of the week she wasn't feeling well and finally went into the urgent care clinic nearest her. Her CO levels were high. She may have been fighting a cold, which led to this. We're not 100% sure. She's still there and we hope she'll be released today. J drove out there to see her today. And brought her some homemade chocolate chip cookies. He's been on a baking kick this week....stress relief? Funny thing, it's his first time ever baking cookies from scratch. How cute is that? Now...I hope it doesn't become a habit or else we may have some problems! We don't need dozens of cookies in the house, okay?

He worked three doubles this week. He's working very hard and I hope that it's all worth it. After the New Year we're gonna take inventory and see where we want to head. Homeownership is high on our priority list. But maybe we need to pace ourselves. We shall see.

On a fun note...I came home from work yesterday to the sweetest surprise... a fun Christmas ornament from my friend in Maui:

How cute is this? Hopefully we can decorate our tree tomorrow. The tree has been in our living room for a week, naked. It looks pitiful. But J stored our ornaments and lights in the attic in the garage and there's no way I am going up that creaky ladder to fetch them. So he promised he'd do it tomorrow. And then we can finally decorate the tree. Christmas will be a challenge this year. We've given up exchanging gifts a long time ago, but still celebrated by spending time with friends and family with little parties and get-togethers. Being in a new place, the dynamic is new too. We will spend Christmas day at J's aunt and uncles in Arkansas, as we did for Thanksgiving. But since we're still establishing our network of friends here in, our dance card is wide open as far as December social obligations. That's different for us and I guess we will try to enjoy it. For many, many years December was break-neck for us. So I will embrace this new, kinder, gentler holiday season.

I'm back from Hawaii...

12 hours later, I am finally home. Flying to Hawaii from Oklahoma is no joke. I now know how spoiled we were, being able to get to Hawaii in 6 hours from CA.

Anyway, it was a long, long 10 days in Hawaii. Thankfully I had a wonderful room at the Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort and Spa in Waikiki. It was my refuge from the 16 hour work days. My feet will never be the same, I am sure of it. I had 1.5 days off, which I used exploring the island and hanging on the beach. I was also able to meet some of my internet friends from TheKnot.com's Hawaii Brides Board. These are the ladies I connected with when I was planning our wedding in Hawaii and we've just kept in touch via email, Facebook and The Knot over the past two years. I finally met them in person over some yummy local grinds (food) at the Side Street Inn:

From Left to Right: Evonne (MrsBabySalute), Lisa (LisaKeiko), Nicole (MrsNicole&Brian808), Me (Married2MrWright) and Sarah (MrsZiz)

That was the most fun I had all week. The food was delicious and the company was even better!

Let's see, I won't get into the nitty-gritty...the first part of the week was spent in Board Meetings and then an all day festival for girls aged 25 and under. The rest of the week, I was the backstage manager for the quartet and chorus contests. That was all well and good, except that I soon discovered that I am very allergic to the fire retardant chemical that was on the stage curtains and I broke out in a nasty rash all over my body. Good times. And then, in my exhaustion, I left my carry-on behind in the rental car along with my house/car keys, camera and eye glasses. Thankfully, my colleague found it and it will make it's way back to Tulsa later this week. I did have to take a cab home from the airport because J was at work when I arrived. Later, he took me back to the airport to get my car out of long term parking. WHEW!

To recap:

Average number of hours worked each day: 12

Average number of daily shoe changes to help my aching feet: 3

Number of hives on the parts of my body that came in contact with the stage curtains: hundreds

Number of tubes of Benadryl cream: 3

Number of bags left behind: 1

Missing a once-in-a-lifetime history-making election: PRICELESS.

I voted absentee, but I was basically in a convention vacuum and missed all of election day! I got text message updates from J and during my dinner break was able to see snippets of the McCain's concession speech. But that was about it. I tried to catch up on the action later that night, as much as possibe on CNN, but with an 8 hour difference between Hawaii and the East Coast, I feel like I missed the whole thing. That's pretty sad.

I wrote to our OK Senator and former Congressman, Tom Coburn, and requested tickets to the Obama-Biden Inauguration in Washington D.C. Hey! It never hurts to ask, right? Apparently, the only legitimate way to get tickets is from your state respresntative. I mentioned our being an interracial couple and that J is bi-racial. I also mentioned that I had sung with his opera singer daughter, Sarah Coburn, at the Metropolitan Opera competition back in 2001. Who knows, we might get the tix! He's a Republican anyway, so I am sure he'd be happy to give them away, right!?

More pics of my week in Waikiki to come, once I get my camera back. I never thought I'd be anxious to leave Hawaii, but I must say, it's good to be home.

UPDATE: Here are some pics from my 10 days in Honolulu:

On the balcony of my suite in the Rainbow Tower overlooking Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head in the distance

Sunrise

View of the main swimming pool and Ali'i Tower and their rooftop pool

Pinneapple growing at the Dole Plantation

The Wifey Cut

Well, it's taken nearly a year, but I have done ye old chop-chop to my hair. Affectionately called by my newlywed friends, the "wifey cut". Have you ever noticed that many brides-to-be grow their hair for the wedding and then chop it all off afterwards? Well...I am a little late, but still shy of our first wedding anniversary. What do you think?

Please excuse the "self-portrait" I took after work today (on the right). The photo on the left is from earlier this summer. I was just getting tired of putting my hair half-up into a clip (like I have been doing since 7th grade) or pulling it in a ponytail or bun for work. This is SO much easier! And kind of more businesslike and my age (whatever that means).

Another milestone was accomplished today. For the first time ever, I have invested in a 401K. Even though the current climate on Wall Street is near catastrophic, I was advised to take full advantage of my company's 100% match and was assured that since I am just getting in that everything is on sale and it's a great time to buy into the market. Here's hoping! I can make changes, with no penalty, every 30 days and adjust my contribution ever quarter, so if it all goes south, I do have options. But since I just got my 90 day stipend added to my base salary, I figured now would be the time to jump in since, technically, we won't feel it in my take home pay. In fact, I can contribute 8% to my 401k and still have a bit of a raise in my take home pay. Yay for the stipend!

Mamma Mia! My, my...

Okay, so some of you might think this is weird, but eh, not me. Anyway...I went to lunch today with three girls that I have only "met" online. Yeah, virtual strangers from the internet! Sounds risky? Not really in this situation.
Let me explain...

When I was planning our wedding I became a regular on The Knot, a website for to-be-weds. I was mostly on the Hawaii Board and "met" all kinds of women from Hawaii and around the world who were also planning their weddings in Hawaii. Some of these gals I even met in real life, for lunches that "knotties" (the ladies who post on the website) call GTG (get togethers). There were several NorCal2HIKnotties, a couple I even helped with wedding planning. Anyway, one of these knotties was a make-up artist from LA but moved to Oklahoma to be closer to her man's family. Tulsa, Oklahoma! They're actually already married and have two small daughters, but they never had a real wedding, so they're renewing their vows in Maui in May. Another thing we have in common? Her hubby is African American and she's Caucasian. So she has been helpful in adressing my trepidation about being in a mixed-race marriage in the South.

Anyway, she and I have corresponded via email more and more, especially once I knew that we'd would be relocating here. When I came for my interview in May, she even left a little "Sooner" welcome gift in the hotel room for me. She has advised me on places to see, eat and play here in "T-town". But we've never met face-to-face. Until today.

The other two gals, I've gotten to know on The Nest. This is the site you are "kicked over" to by The Knot after you, well, tie the knot. It's for newlyweds. I mostly frequented the Northern California and Money Matters boards, but once I knew we were moving here, I started visiting the Oklahoma board too. That's where I met two locals (most of the other posters are in Oklahoma City) and where we got the ball rolling on a "nestie" GTG.

Fast forward to today....the four of us met up at Pei Wei, an Asian diner (owned by the same company as P.F. Changs) for lunch and then we went to see Mamma Mia! It was so nice to meet women who are not co-workers and just talk about married life. Two of the gals have small children and are stay at home moms. One is remodeling her home so they can sell it and move to a bigger place and think about starting a family. All lead fascinating lives. So it's a start to making new friends in this new town. At the very least, I'll know some ladies who like to take in lunch and a "chic flick" every once in a while.

By the way, Mamma Mia! was a funny and touching movie. Meryly Streep was awesome! She is a study in living the words, even if they are cheesy ABBA lyrics! And Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, her side kicks, were a freaking riot. I saw the stage show, many years ago, in San Francisco, and loved it. Today, I loved it even more. And it has made my need to see Greece all the greater. Go see it! You will dance in your seat and laugh out loud!

Ono treats from Hawaii

Holiday Cheer

End of a long week...

I'm back from Hawaii...

The Wifey Cut

Mamma Mia! My, my...

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