Love Grows in Small Houses

What I am Thankful For...

2010-11-24T17:56:00.009-06:00

The time has come to say goodbye to this nightly routine that I go through 3 nights a week of....

First locking the front door and then placing Matt's bike in front of it, this way no one can break in quietly.......

Next I place the siren alarm doorstop under the back door....... If someone is breaking in I am going to hear them!

Then I turn the living room light off, dim the dinning room lights, and turn on the hall light.... not too bright, but bright enough that there will be no surprise attack.....

Then I place the other siren alarm doorstop under the back door in Matt's office. I also place skis in front of the door just to make sure that I will hear someone breaking in....

Attack bunny always by my side. (His eyes only turn red when he is in attack mode or he is getting his picture taken....they are normally beautiful brown!)

Then I barricade the bedroom door with pillows, this way there is a little light that shines in but Harvey can't escape the bedroom. It's amazing how one little rabbit can sound like a burglar trying to break in at 3 am. (After that he lost all privileges to roam the house at night)

Then I turn the TV on to an old black and white Cary Grant movie... The volume turned down to level 3.....

Next I turn on the soothing sounds of Joshua Radin, volume level 4, so just barely a whisper. Of course this is more to drown out the sounds of our crazy neighbor building a secret room in his backyard at 2 am..... Oh the hammering.....

Then I place my two phones on my nightstand.... and set all three alarms (my hope is to at least hear one of them to wake up in the morning). I also place my keys on my nightstand. The keys have two different functions: 1. So if someone was to break in (hypothetically) I can escape out the back, hop in the car, and drive away 2. They also serve as a good weapon.... right in the eye...

Of course I always have to leave my bedside light on in order to see my phones and keys.... I have horrible night vision!

And last but not least, just in case the keys fail me, I have a butcher knife hidden under my pillow.......just kidding, I keep it on Matt's nightstand ;)

But after tonight I will not have to go through this routine anymore.... This is Matt's last PICU night shift. Starting next week he will be working day shift in the PICU!!!

And we will live happily ever after.........

I guess one thing I might keep with me though is this adorable attack bunny!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:24:00.006-05:00

Our Epic Adventure

2010-10-29T19:04:00.010-05:00

It has been a very busy past several months! Matt graduated from nursing school. Both of us passed our boards and got jobs! Currently Matt is working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at OU Children's Hospital and I got my dream job as a Pediatric Pain Management Nurse Practitioner at OU Children's. We also moved out of our wonderful 400 sq foot apartment to one that is twice the size and has central heat and air! (I LOVE central heat and air, and promise to never take it for granted again!). We love our new apartment but the size of it took some getting used to. The first few months we mainly lived in the kitchen and bedroom because it felt too big. To celebrate all of these exciting changes (mainly the fact that we both survived going back to school) we decided to go to Europe! Actually we had started planning this trip when we both started school as a goal to get through school. So two weeks ago after 2.5yrs of planning and dreaming we finally boarded a plane for an AMAZING and much needed two week vacation- In which I like to title Plane, Trains, and Automobiles.....

Our first stop was Rome, Italy. We spent 1&1/2 whirlwind days walking all over the entire city of Rome! Our favorite thing was visiting the catacombs de Priscilla. Which was a very impressive maze stretching 3 miles under the city.

After two days we road a train to Cinque Terra, which was absoultely breathtaking! We spent two days hiking and riding the train between the five villages.

The whole experience was incredible! One evening as we were walking back to our hotel we saw the happiest bride and groom walking down the street! It was so random as there was no one else around them or any sign of a wedding. It just proves how magical Cinque Terra is!

Our third stop was Florence, Italy. We spent two nights and one very long perfect day walking all over the entire city of Florence!.Our fourth stop was Venice. We spent one whole day here before boarding an overnight train to Vienna. I fell in love with Venice and will hopefully get to come back here again someday......
Our fifth stop was Vienna, Austria. We splurged on a private sleeping car which was completely worth it!
We were even able to see an Opera! We saw Salome which was about the beheading of John the Baptist. The music was incredible until you realized what they were singing about which was very disturbing! We spent two full days in Vienna. On the morning of the third day we woke up at 3:30 am to catch a plane for Bergen, Norway at 6:30am. The plan was for one layover in Frankfort then arrive in Bergen around 11:30am where we had a rental car waiting for us. Well what we didn't take in account though was the fog in Frankfurt which had us circling in the air around the airport for one hour before finally landing. Then once we landed they could not get the door to our plane open. So we had to exit out the rear of the plane, wait for a bus, then ride the bus to the opposite end of the terminal. We then sprinted to our gate arriving 15min prior to our connecting flight leaving. What we didn't realize though is they board much earlier and take a bus out to the plane. So we missed our flight. They originally had us booked on the next flight to Bergen which was 12+hrs away. We begged for something sooner and they found a flight to Amsterdam that had a connecting flight to Bergen which would get us there at 3:20pm, much better than getting in a midnight! We were disappointed about the delay but excited about getting there at a decent time- then we learned our flight was delayed to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam as our flight was leaving for Bergen. So we were booked on the next flight which did not leave for 7hrs. So we decided to make the best of it and buy a train ticket into the city to pass the time away..... Amsterdam is so pretty in the fall!

The airline was nice enough to give us food vouchers for the airport. So after waking up at 3:30am we finally arrived in Bergen at 11:00pm. We were so happy that at first we didn't realize that the ground was covered in snow!

The first night we took a taxi into Bergen to stay the night (since the rental car companies where closed). We were not too prepared on how cold it would be! The hotel we stayed in was nice, but we could never figure out how to turn on the heat! The only thing we could find was a little space heater. So that night we slept in our hats and coats. It wasn't until the morning that we figured out where the thermostat was!

One of our main goals while visiting Norway was to see the Stangeland Farm. All growing up I have heard about the Stangeland Farm from my Great Aunt Shirley. In fact when my sister and I were in elementary school we would go to her house once a week for Norwegian lessons. So I was excited to finally see where the Stangeland family came from! Unfortunately I am afraid to admit that my Norwegian is severely lacking and I remember very little of it. Shirley, I promise to practice more before my next trip!

We spent the first day driving around the fjords. It was breathtaking!! The last day we spent exploring Bergen.....

The trip was incredible! This was not my usual expression.... this was after carrying my backpack around for two weeks and at this moment we had just missed our train. (Each day it seemed to get much much heavier!) I was telling Matt that I cannot run anymore.....

This was more my usual expression- I love this man and I love Europe!!

Hallelujah!!

2009-12-15T09:49:00.009-06:00

After two very long years it has finally come to an end! I graduated with my Advanced Practice Nursing Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I could not have made it without it!

Our Last Trip....

2009-12-15T09:47:00.019-06:00

A week ago we left on our last trip to Spokane, for finals.

After my last lecture and finals were over we spent the remaining of the weekend playing and trying to stay warm!!
The goat who eats trash!! (and tried to eat my hand)

The whole weekend was freezing! The high was 16 degrees with windchill -5, at night the windchill was -17! On Monday afternoon we headed to Riverside State Park to go hiking.... that only lasted for five minutes though! (Way too cold!)

So then we headed to downtown Spokane.... That lasted for 20 minutes!!

Spokane Falls

My face was frozen in the picture!

So then we headed to Cour'de Lane, Idaho... to walk around the lake and antique shop!

Mudgy, Midgy, & Matt

The last night we were there we decided to stay downtown in a historic hotel to celebrate!Amazing flat screen TV!

Dinner at Luigi's!

It was an awesome final trip! Gonzaga we are going to miss you! Thanks for being so good to us!

Happy 30th Birthday!!

2009-12-12T21:14:00.013-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated Matt's 30th birthday!

For his birthday, he is going skiing after finals week with Rob, Bryan (my brother), and Aaron (my cousin)!

Happy Birthday Babe!! I love you so much!!

Gonzaga Basketball

2009-11-22T13:19:00.003-06:00

An ideal evening at home......

doing homework and watching Gonzaga basketball.

(okay,well almost an ideal evening....)

4 Weeks Until......

2009-11-13T20:23:00.005-06:00

This makes me smile.....

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T20:07:00.006-06:00

This year for Halloween we were foosball players.....

We had so much fun, but it was a little difficult to walk around....

Fall 2009 Spokane Trip

2009-10-27T12:48:00.034-05:00

This past week I made my second to last trip to Spokane for midterms. This time my parents accompanied me on my journey! Thankfully I passed my midterms and I am currently on schedule for a December graduation! (yikes!). The first day we arrived I gave my parents a brief tour of Spokane before hitting the books. Then they spent the next few days with a tour of Coeur d'Alene, Seattle, and Port Townsend!

The fall colors were amazing!
Spokane Falls

Gonzaga

Harvest House at Green Bluff Orchards- We ate the most amazing apple-huckleberry pie, that we had to go back for seconds!!

Our trip to Portland- First we hiked to the top of Beacon Rock.

Beacon Rock

Dad hanging on for dear life!

Then we visited Multnomah Falls....

The top of the falls looking down....

My new best friend!

60th Wedding Anniversary

2009-10-19T20:14:00.025-05:00

On October 22, 1949 The Loebers (Matt's grandparents) were married. We recently were given the privilege to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary with them!

I hope that we are still this in love in 60 years! They are such an awesome testament to us!

Happy Anniversary!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!!

2009-10-15T10:15:00.015-05:00

Fall is one of my most absolute favorite times of the year!! I especially have welcomed the colder weather that fall brings! So goodbye summertime I will miss you, but I will not miss your extraordinary heat, roasting in our tiny apartment, taking cold showers just to try to stay cool, the dreaded loud window unit which feels as if you are sitting directly in front of a wind tunnel and requires us to turn on the caption function on the tv just to understand what the people are saying (I never appreciated the beauty of central heat and air until I moved into our little apartment, I promise to never take it for granted again!). So hello beautiful fall, I love your weather, I welcome the fact that I no longer have to read captions while watching tv, that I can finally open the blinds and welcome the sunlight in (no longer needing to block out the heat), that I am no longer required to use paperweights to hold down my papers while doing homework, and that I can finally take hot showers! Although with the welcoming of the fall comes the realization that winter's cold weather is just around the corner.........Not only has fall been welcomed into our apartment but the excitement of the upcoming holiday season, starting with Halloween.....

Of course our lives have not changed that much, although this picture was taken last year it is pretty much identical to the current state of our apartment and how we spend our evenings....

T-minus 2 months....

The Flu..

2009-10-03T22:13:00.002-05:00

Just a friendly reminder:

Get your flu shot, it just might save a life!

A Message....

2009-09-20T15:54:00.014-05:00

A couple days ago I went out to lunch with my preceptor. It was there that I received my message from God via fortune cookie.......

"Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you."
(I tried to take a picture of my fortune but it would not show up on camera)

Three months from the day I received my message I will:

1. Learn that graduate school is not for everyone.... (that I was not meant to write prescriptions for Amoxicillin on a daily basis, but at least I will be free from doing homework on a nightly basis :) )

2. I will graduate with my degree as an Advanced Practice Nurse!!!

I hope for the sake of the bank (who we borrowed student loans from) and my husband's sanity that the latter rather than the former is true! 3 months and counting.......

The Tradition Continues...

2009-09-19T17:59:00.008-05:00

The Stangeland family has a long history of running Cross-Country. It all started with my grandfather who started the Cross-Country program in Ponca City and coached many successful teams. It continued with my dad and uncle running in high school, and my dad running in college. So it should have been no surprise to me that when I failed to master softball (only hit the ball once), soccer (never even kicked the ball), volleyball (I ducked anytime the ball came in my direction), and well basketball (I didn't even bother trying)... that my dad strongly suggested that I try Cross-Country. My thought 'this shouldn't be too bad, there is not a ball, and really how hard can running be'. I quickly learned that cross-country is a very difficult and challenging sport and I loved it! So once again there was a Stangeland runner on the Ponca City Cross-country team.... soon my sister Melissa was running, and my cousin Laura, then my brother Bryan....

Dad and I at the Tulsa Run in 1997

We were very excited when my cousins Brianne and Michael decided to run Cross-Country this year, and enjoyed watching them race! The tradition continues on....

Grandad, Michael, and I
Brianne and I after her race...

The Best Cake Ever!

2009-09-17T09:26:00.002-05:00

Although we have taken so many fun trips lately, the past two years have not been easy. Especially the past couple of semesters, with working, clinical rotations, and homework. Matt has been the absolute best. He has been such an awesome support to me from ironing my clothes, cleaning house, cooking dinner, running errands, quizzing me before tests and never once complaining! This time though he really went above and beyond..... the past week or so I have been craving cake. (No, I am not pregnant- I have always had strong and crazy cravings, just ask my past roommates). Well yesterday evening after getting home from clinicals (It had been a long week with work and clinicals for the past 6 days) and Matt surprised me with dinner and a chocolate cake that he had made just for me in our tiny gas lit oven!

California 2009

2009-09-01T15:48:00.044-05:00

The last two and half weeks Matt, my mom, my grandpa, and I were in Palo Alto, CA for my clinical rotation at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. (The second week my sister and Dad joined us). I spent two weeks working with the pediatric pain team (which included a full time golden retriever- an official pain and palliative care dog). It was an incredible clinical experience, and of course we managed to have fun on the down times as well!

Lucille Packard Children's Hospital

One of our favorite things to do in the evening was to walk to the outdoor Stanford Mall.

Of course we would always visit See's Candies for our free sample! Yum!

Stanford campus at night.

One of the best things about the trip was getting to spend time with our good friends Lailah and Ryan! They took us on the best sightseeing tours! On one of our trips we stopped off at a Maze, which were lost in for a good 30 minutes!

The Beach at Half Moon Bay!

Playing in the Ocean!

Racing the waves....

The first weekend we were there, Matt, my mom, my grandpa, and I went to San Francisco for the afternoon to visit Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge!

We were having a great time eating seafood and walking the streets of San Francisco.... until we got back to our car..... We soon found out that someone liked our car so much that they decided to break in and steal Matt's backpack...

Of course that didn't stop of from having fun!

Having a picnic at the park...

Watching the Black Swan at the Stanford Theater!

During the day, while I was working hard at the hospital, my mom, Matt, and grandpa would head to the beach to look for sea glass.....

Matt and I talked about how fun it would be to live out here, but we decided that this is probably the only house we could afford...

Eating dinner at haunted restaurant on the coast of Half Moon Bay...

Playing in tide pools at the beach in Monterey......

The second time we went to San Francisco Lailah and Ryan took us.... We had a blast visiting Union Square, Golden Gate Park, and Haight Ashbury...

Although it got a little chilly....

Another evening spent at the Stanford Theater watching William Holden in Picnic and Sunset Boulevard.....

Our last weekend was spent at Monterey playing in the ocean....

Melissa, Mom, and I on Cannery Row

Watching the sunset...

It was an awesome trip and we are so thankful to have this experience!

It has finally come full circle.....

2009-08-13T19:40:00.009-05:00

February 15, 2000- Tuesday

" Today I checked into the hospital. I was greeted by my team of physicians. They all seem very nice. Tonight will be my first official night in the hospital, luckily my room is not too bad. I have a nice enough view from my window of the front entrance of the hospital and a small garden, which is littered with flowers....but I still don't want to stay.... the food is gross, I have to share a shower with the entire unit, and it SMELLS like a hospital! I pray for strength and an open mind to help me make it through....."

My first hospital room

February 23, 2000- Wednesday

" Today was a crazy day! At 2pm I left for a nerve block procedure. First they wheeled me to the OR at Stanford hospital, then back to the OR at Children's hospital. When I finally got back to my room it was 6pm- with the medication I received before the procedure though, I didn't care what was going on...."

After a nerve block procedure- I actually feel okay in this picture, but my dad and I thought it would be funny if I pretended to look very sick.... (I still was a little out of from the anesthesia)

March 21, 2000- Tuesday

" ....During physical therapy today we set some very hard goals (well more like the physical therapist): 1. To walk heel-toe all of the time 2. Range of Motion goal of 5 degree dorsiflexion 3. While walking on the treadmill reach the speed of 3 mph in 1 minute 4. Walk up and down stairs alternating feet....."

My second hospital room- Spring Break when Melissa and Bryan came out for a visit. Bryan immediately climbed right up in bed with me.

April 3, 2000- Monday

" Today is my first day to be outpatient. They still want me to meet at the hospital at 8 am to begin a full day of activities including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and of course school. I took the courtesy van from the McDonald house to the hospital this morning, but they informed me that they want me to start walking to the hospital in the morning as part of my physical therapy..... I am not sure how I feel about this...."

The Ronald McDonald House

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

For those of you who don't know, it will be 10 years ago in November that I was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or CPRS (http://www.rsds.org/). It is a chronic debilitating painful nerve disorder resulting from a previous injury causing nerves to misfire and send constant pain signals to the brain. The sympathetic nerves become overactive causing intense burning pain along with swelling, changes in skin color and temperature. I was diagnosed November 7, 1999 and was given a poor prognosis. Although RSD usually begins in an extremity, eventually it will spread throughout the body. I was told that I would be crippled and in pain the rest of my life and there was nothing that could be done. My mom did not care for that answer and began doing intensive research to find a place that has had success in treating children with RSD. She found Stanford Medical Center. In February 2000, after multiple treatments in Oklahoma City, we headed to Palo Alto, California. What I thought would be a two week stay ended up being a ten week stay. Although this was not an easy road I am very thankful for the path that was taken and the support I received along the way, as I have been in remission for a little over 8 years! In a few days I will be returning to this hospital for a clinical rotation for school, to work with the same medical staff who took care of me nine years ago. I am excited to return and learn as a provider and not as a patient. My hope is that I will be to come away with the ability to provide hope to those in pain as they provided hope to me so many years ago.....

A Girl's Weekend........

2009-08-10T08:37:00.017-05:00

Growing up my grandmother would spend her summers in the Branson area. She has very fond memories of those summers and has decided to share that experience with us girls! Every summer for the past 14 years my grandmother (or Grammy as I call her) takes all of her granddaughters to Branson for a weekend of shopping and shows! These trips are undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year!!!

Every summer one of our first stops is lunch at College of the Ozarks. It is where Grammy's mom went to school...... (They also have the best food!)

Shopping is always a must on these trips! We hit the shops at the crack of dawn and don't stop until it is dark..........

Of course we love our shoes!

Success!!

Every evening we see a show. The first night we saw the 12 Irish Tenors. An absolute must!

We also always visit Taneyville, where grammy's grandpa's (my great-great-grandfather) old general store is. It is currently an antique store!

From there we head to one of the old farms......

Lunch at the tea room....

The second show we saw was Peter Pan....

After a successful trip we head home with a full car load eager to return next year!

5 semesters down 1 to go......

2009-08-10T08:36:00.022-05:00

After completing and passing my final exams (for the summer), Matt and I decided to celebrate by spending a couple days in Seattle! First stop, Matt's Mecca also known as the REI home store!

The next stop... The Farmer's Market.......

Yum!

Day two we headed to "Little Norway"......

from there we headed to Olympic National Park!

We ended the weekend watching the sunset on the beach! A perfect ending to an almost perfect weekend, (If only Seattle had not set the record high temp of 103, while we were there!).

Vital Signs

2009-07-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

We are still alive....I promise!

We will post more about our last trip to Spokane, the 4th of July, and fun around Apt. C very soon.

Until then....stay cool and be very thankful if you live in a place where the temperature is under 105!

The 4th of July Celebration

2009-07-05T21:09:00.021-05:00

The Stangeland family Loves the 4th of July, and every year we celebrate not just one day but several days! This year our celebration started with a "friendly" wiffle ball game!

Day two consisted an afternoon at Sun N Fun (the local water park) followed by a "friendly" game of laser tag.......
Talking strategy.....

The Players.......

The cousins.....

Our nightly gatherings at Braums!

Day three started with a trip to the original homestead....

The rain could not keep us away.......

The evening of the 4th was celebrated with Matt's family with a game of home run derby and fireworks! (Matt was the champion!)

Series Premiere

2009-06-07T17:29:00.013-05:00

If you read our blog with any regularity you realize that we live in what some people would call a bad part of town. Others might use the word "sketchy" to describe our particular neighborhood. While some might even say that we live in "the hood". Despite all these lovely adjectives describing our place of residence, Carol and I both love living in this area (midtown OKC) and we feel safe and secure in our lovely little apartment.

We have, however, noticed and experienced many things during our almost two years living here and these experiences and events have led us to begin this new blog series called...

Oh wait...I don't really have a title for this new series. I need help coming up with some kind of catchy title. For now we will go with..."You know you live in 'the hood' when..."

...A homeless man uses the telephone pole outside your apartment as his own personal bathroom.

A House Concert to Remember.....

2009-05-26T08:37:00.007-05:00

Carol and I both love music and we like finding new, unknown artists to listen to and follow. Well awhile back, Bryan (Carol's brother) and I were looking through random music on iTunes and came across this guy named Chris O'Brien. He is a singer/songwriter from the Boston area and we immediately fell in love with his music. We downloaded his one, and only album, from iTunes and listened to it all the time. I joined his online mailing list and always hoped that one day he would play a show somewhere even remotely close to Oklahoma.

The great news is...not only did he play close to Oklahoma...he played in our friend's (Lisa and Jay) living room!! Chris had sent out an email to fans asking if anyone was interested in hosting a house concert in the Texas, Arkansas, area. Bryan and Carol convinced me to go ahead and send an email even though it didn't specifically ask for shows in Oklahoma. To my utter shock and surprise I got a call the next day from none other than Chris O'Brien! He said he would love to play here and we proceeded to set up a date and time. I couldn't believe this was actually going to happen.

Anyway, the day of the concert came and Chris showed up just as we had planned. He was a super nice guy and we had a great time getting to know him and listening to some amazing music. He is amazingly talented and we loved every minute of his concert!

You can check out part of Carol's favorite song below and hear more of his music at www.chrisobrienmusic.com

Lisa, Chris, and Carol

Chris playing in Lisa's living room!

Two Years...

2009-05-06T08:33:00.018-05:00

I still can't believe it has been two years.....time has flown by so fast......

Hallelujah!

2009-04-28T08:48:00.003-05:00

I just finished my fourth semester and Matt just finished his first year of nursing school! Only two more semesters to go.....

My Gardener

2009-04-20T14:00:00.011-05:00

One of the my favorite things about where we live is running through the neighborhood of Heritage Hills admiring the beautiful historic homes and all of the flowers!

Today on my run I noticed that almost every house had a crew of some sort doing yard work or washing windows. Well since I have always been one to try and keep up with the Jones' and I figure they must be doing something right since the finished product is beautiful....that I, myself, should hire a gardener to plant some flowers as well!

I think my new gardener Matt, did a fantastic job! Now if I could only find someone to wash our second story windows......

Roomates Together Again!

2009-04-20T06:10:00.015-05:00

It will be six years ago, this June, that three girls moved in together. Little did we know that it would mark the start of a new season in our lives and the beginning of a beautiful friendship! This weekend we were able to once again unite! It was a weekend of pampering, relaxing, catching up, and celebrating the end of tax season and the spring semester!

We were pretty hungry!

The ultimate relaxation...

Fantastic cupcakes!

Playing beauty shop....

Lisa's finished product...

Where it all began.... 2003

2009

Dedication

2009-04-13T21:59:00.036-05:00

Our Easter weekend started with celebrating Matt's mom's birthday on Saturday night!

Loeber family after churchAfter church we headed to Ponca City for the annual Great Easter Egg Hunt at the Stangeland Farm. The Great Easter Egg Hunt started 20+ years ago with just three participants, over the years it had grown to be quite the event....

(A picture of my cousin and I at one of the first Stangeland Easter Egg Hunts)

The Great Easter Egg Hunt of 2008

And of course not only has the number of participants increased but the competition to find as many of the 500+ plastic candy-filled Easter eggs as possible!

Now some of you may be asking yourselves is it really fair for a 26 year old to be hunting Easter eggs with her younger cousins? Well I like to think that I am doing it out of love, I feel that it is important to teach them about the "real world"...... it is a "dog eat dog world", no one is going to just hand them Easter eggs.... so it is my job to make them work to get the eggs. I am really doing them a favor if you think about....

The Easter celebration always starts with an amazing lunch.......(or nutrients for the big hunt)

Table #1

Table #2

Table #3

Next was the Great Easter Egg Hunt, which consists of hiding 500+ plastic candy-filled eggs all throughout two pastures..... Hard to believe but in 20+ years of hunting we had never been foiled by the ran and we weren't about to let it stop us this year!

Can you find the Easter eggs? The last Easter egg hunter struggles in......

Soaking wet!

Now it is time to count our loot and the candy-trade!

After the Hunt and candy-trade, is the annual Stangeland Olympics. This year though it was relegated inside....

Thanks Grammy and Grandad for another awesome Easter Celebration! We can't wait till next year!

Have a Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T21:44:00.005-05:00

Wishing you a very Happy Easter!!

Love, Harvey

Finals and an Adventure

2009-04-10T10:03:00.030-05:00

This past weekend my grandpa, Dad, and I headed to Spokane. It was a weekend full of exams and lecture for me, but as soon as the weekend was over we headed off on an adventure....

We arrived in Spokane on Friday morning, and started the trip with a filling and delicious lunch at Anthony's, which overlooks the falls! (We wanted to carbo load for an exciting weekend!).

Here are pictures of our hotel! (just kidding). After lunch we walked over to the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane. This hotel was built in 1914 for around 2 million dollars!

Here is one of the many beautiful ballrooms!

Sunday, after finals were over, the adventure began! Our first stop was Manito Park....

We then headed to Riverside State Park...

Grandpa climbing a mountain!

We then took a tour of downtown Spokane. The falls were amazing!

After a brief stop at See's candy, we headed to Idaho!

Our first stop in Idaho was Cour'de Lane. We took a walking tour around town, with a moose and mouse tour guide!

Dad and Grandpa standing on the longest floating boardwalk!

Climbing to the top of Tubbs Hill....

Our next stop, on our way to Montana, was an old Mission that was built in 1850! It is the oldest building in Idaho.

We then headed to Montana.... the snow was amazing!

At the end of the day we had traveled through three states, visited historical sites, played in the lake and snow, and stuffed ourselves with good candy! It was a great adventure and a good reward for finishing finals! Thank you Dad and Grandpa for the good company!

The Grateful Bean

2009-03-24T20:36:00.009-05:00

I know our last post might have been a little gross for some of you out there so I thought this time around we would go with a positive part about living in the 'hood' (otherwise known as Midtown OKC). Today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood (no, we don't live next door to Mr. Rodgers but we do live above a 94 year old lady...kinda the same, right?)

Ok, on to the actual events of the day...Carol got done with clinical early today so we decided to take a nice walk down to The Grateful Bean on 10th and Walker. We have been meaning to try the ice cream there for some time but never seem to have time to stop in.

The coffee shop/restaurant/ice cream parlor is in what used to be Kaiser's, a restaurant that has been located in this location since 1917. It is an awesome spot with great atmosphere, a really nice staff, cool old pics on the walls, and a great menu including buffalo burgers and awesome ice cream.

Carol and I decided to split a two scoop sundae and we were not disappointed. Unfortunately this is not a picture of the actual sundae and this pic doesn't really do it justice. The ice cream was amazing and the hot fudge was probably the best I have ever had. The sundae was HUGE...it's a good thing we walked there and back! Needless to say we will visit this place again soon. Next time your down this way I would highly recommend The Grateful Bean. See, living down here isn't all bad!

New Pets

2009-03-21T22:15:00.004-05:00

We have some new pets but Carol won't let me keep them!

They have been living under our sink and Carol refuses to step into the kitchen so...I had to go out and buy some of these...

So far I have caught four mice! Not sure how many more could be living down there. Not sure I want to know! We'll keep you updated...

Laundry Day

2009-03-11T20:59:00.012-05:00

I know it will come as a shock to most of you, considering how big and luxurious our apartment is, but...we do not have a washer/dryer in our apartment! I know, crazy isn't it! We don't even have a washer/dryer in our building. We have to brave the elements and walk to the building next door and then go down in the basement to use the coin operated machines. Carol and I affectionately refer to the "laundry room" as the "horror movie basement". It really would make the perfect setting for a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It is dark, damp, has large old furnace units and a huge incinerator in the middle of the room. I told Carol when we moved in that she shouldn't go down there at night and she has gladly complied with my wishes. Needless to say, anytime we are visiting our parents or grandparents we always take our laundry!

Carol always takes her phone just in case the boogie man comes to get her!

The scary incinerator

On the right you see the furnace units. On the left is a creepy painting that stares at us as we go back up the stairs.

A true representation of how dark it can be in the basement. One bare bulb...horror movie anyone???

Just watching TV......

2009-02-23T15:27:00.003-06:00

I just thought I would share one of Harvey's favorite activities.......

watching TV with Matt. We just won't tell him that Matt was working on homework at the same time.........

A School & Ski Trip

2009-02-22T10:29:00.023-06:00

Last weekend Matt & I made the long trek to Spokane for another on campus weekend of lectures and tests. Although for me the weekend is filled with lots of anxiety from flying to test taking, it is still nice to have a change of scenery! This weekend was the weekend of Valentine's Day, and although I spent Valentine's Day weekend in class and eating dinner with fellow students it was still nice that Matt was able to come! Before we left though he surprised me with these beautiful tulips!

Here are the pilots that flew the plane......they looked a little too young

Studying in the hotel

I had class and tests on Saturday and Sunday. We spent Monday and Tuesday though, playing in the snow and exploring Spokane!

Matt's brother Rob and Emily flew out to go skiing with Matt. On Monday morning the fog was so thick you could not tell where the snow met the sky!

Overlooking Spokane Valley

Here was our little rental car! We rented a mid size car and ended up with this! We got a lot of crazy looks on the mountain.

Matt getting ready to ski!

Overlooking Spokane Valley from the top of Mt. Spokane

Rob and Matt taking a break from skiing

A wicked fall!

NBC says "United is the worst of the worst"

2009-02-18T20:38:00.002-06:00

A warning to all those who are planning a trip in the near future. Do not make the same mistake Matt & I made by flying United. After several delays in and out of Denver we finally arrived home very late last night only to find that our luggage did not make it. After talking to United we learned that while transferring our luggage from one plane to another (in Denver), someone forgot to connect our baggage trailer to the rest of the baggage train therefore leaving it somewhere in Denver. United told us not to worry, that we would have our baggage by 12:30 the next day. Well 12:30 rolled around and after calling United we were told sometime between 1pm-6pm. So I waited and waited and still no bags. So at 6:30pm we called and they said that 'they are not sure where the bags are', but that they were somewhere in Oklahoma City. I am not sure how they knew that though being that the individual I was speaking with was in India. It is currently 8:45pm and after several phone conversations our bags are still missing. We have offered to drive to the airport to pick our bags up several times, but were told that we could not do that. Oh and after inquiring about a refund (we paid $60 to check our luggage, I thought it only fair that we receive a refund since they could not deliver), I was told that they do not refund checked baggage. When I asked them why, '$60 to United is like drop in the bucket, so unless they lose baggage all the time and have to refund millions of travelers, $60 is nothing'. My answer was complete silence. After researching to find a local American representative from United to discuss my claim I found this website, www.untied.com. So if you don't take my word for it just check this website out WWW.UNTIED.COM.
Thank you for your time....... I feel much better now.

5 Hours in Denver

2009-02-13T09:40:00.004-06:00

I realize it has been forever since we posted anything and we have five hours to kill in the Denver airport so I thought I would give everyone a quick update.
We are on our way to Spokane for the first of Carol's two trips this semester. She has to go to Gonzaga for a couple days to take tests, listen to lectures, and observe demonstrations. She hates going alone and this time we got lucky with my school schedule and I was able to tag along. Although the trip involves alot of hard work for Carol it is always nice to get away and take a break from our little apartment and our regular routine of eat, sleep, study.
It is supposed to be cold and snowy in Spokane so hopefully we will have some pictures to post when we get home. I may even get in a day of skiing!!
Well, it's time to go cruise the food court. Until next time...

Back to School

2009-01-12T20:33:00.004-06:00

Just a quick update...
Happy New Year everyone! Carol and I had a great Christmas/New Year's break and we hope you all did too!
Carol and I started back to school today. This is going to be a tough semester and truthfully, a tough year. God willing, and if everything goes according to plan, when December rolls around Carol should be graduating as a Nurse Practitioner and I should be one semester away from completing nursing school. Please keep us in your prayers! We will keep you posted on our progress...keep checking back!!

A Very Merry Christmas!!

2009-01-01T12:01:00.017-06:00

Matt and I have come to learn that one of the best things about being married is double the Christmases! This year Christmas was a week long celebration for us, which worked out perfect since I worked Christmas day. The celebration began the Sunday before Christmas with the Hammer's. Every year we play dirty Santa. The goal is to find a gift to bring that is a good deal! This year like every year, dirty Santa did not disappoint with a fight over Christmas dishes, a snowman, and tools. I ended up with a toaster with a retractable cord, which I was very excited about!!

(Bryan had just stolen the beautiful decorative snowman that Mitzi wanted)

All the Hammer Cousins!

We celebrated Christmas Eve early with my family on Tuesday night. Every year the cousins, my brother, sister, and I all sleep in the same room eagerly awaiting Santa. It has been a fun tradition, one that we just can't give up. One tradition we did give up though was getting up at 5am on Christmas morning to open presents. This year we slept in and woke up at 7am!!

My family celebrated Christmas on Wednesday complete with an amazing Christmas dinner! After dinner the boys played Wii and Anna and I worked hard at completing a puzzle!

On Thursday we celebrated Christmas with Matt's family!

Then Christmas continued on Saturday celebrating in Ponca City with my dad's family!

Christmas dinner!!

Bryan and Neil with their new sweaters!

It even snowed for a few minutes!!

Christmas of 1999 was one of my favorites! We woke up to a white Christmas that year. Here is all the Stangeland cousins and Grandad at the farm on Christmas day.

Harvey's Love/Hate Relationship with the Christmas Season

2008-12-21T21:36:00.007-06:00

Harvey loves the Christmas tree! After we put up the tree Harvey immediately hopped over and sat underneath it. He thinks it is his space and doesn't appreciate it when we put presents under the tree.....

Harvey is not a fan of the cold though.... He spends his days curled up under his stool, curled up in my arms, or laying by the fire. We are not sure how he can stand laying so close to the fire, his body gets so hot. Matt thinks he feels like a rice bag that has been stuck in the microwave!

Decorating Christmas Cookies

2008-12-21T21:08:00.010-06:00

This past weekend Sara and Mike invited the fam to their house to decorate Christmas cookies! It was a lot of fun and interesting to see everyone's designs. Let's just there were no two cookies alike......

Sara's very creative and colorful Christmas horse!

Then: Aren't they cute!

Now: Their concentration and focus decorating cookies is amazing........

Working Hard!

The finished product.....

Christmas at Apt C

2008-12-20T12:29:00.006-06:00

Finals are finally over, we both survived our semester (thank goodness), and we are enjoying Christmas break!! Only three more semesters to go...... Now that the semester is over we are enjoying the Christmas season!!

My little Christmas village

The dinning room
Every Christmas my goal is to see how many wreaths I can put up.... I think there are only six this year....
Our little kitchen
Our Bedroom

Matt's 29th Birthday

2008-12-14T14:40:00.005-06:00

On Wednesday, in celebration of Matt's birthday we went to dinner at Irma's in Midtown. Their burgers are amazing! Afterwards Matt's parents came over for birthday cake! Due to having tests all week the big celebration was postponed until Saturday.......

On Saturday the celebration continued at his parent's house, with his family, my parents and brother and sister. Kathy made Matt's favorite, the most amazing lasagna and a chocolate birthday cake. After opening presents we decorated their Christmas tree!!

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-09T23:00:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Matt & I went to Sorghum Mills Christmas Tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. After an hour of searching the fields and drinking hot apple cider, we finally found the perfect tree! Of course Matt needed a little help, so I had to step in and show him how to cut down the Christmas tree.......

A week of finals and Thanksgiving........

2008-12-01T20:35:00.014-06:00

The first part of this past week was spent in Spokane taking finals. I am so thankful that the semester is almost over. Three down, three more to go......November in SpokaneThanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays. This year Matt and I spent it with my family in Ponca City. Growing up, every Thanksgiving Day was started by running in the Pioneer Woman 10K. It was then followed with our big Thanksgiving dinner at the church building where my grandparents go to church. After stuffing ourselves we usually follow it up with a talent show or basketball game. In the evening the entire family heads out to my grandparents farm where we spend the rest of the evening eating more food watching sports or home videos. Of course I was always a firm believer in dressing up for the holidays.
The Pioneer Woman Run is no longer held on Thanksgiving morning, but that didn't stop Matt and I from taking a quick morning run around Lake Ponca. (don't worry, we didn't run into the Deer Woman) Thanksgiving dinner with the Stangelands
Matt and Bryan playing some basketball
Hanging out in the evening with the fam and celebrating Brianne's birthday.......

Melissa, Laura (my cousin), and I with our great-grandparents.....
Melissa, Laura, and I now.......

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2008-11-22T11:32:00.003-06:00

Carol is headed back to Gonzaga for a long weekend. Too bad I have to stay behind and do homework all weekend. Well...not all weekend...I will be watching football too!!

Leaves are Falling

2008-11-21T13:44:00.004-06:00

So, it's fall here at our house and I just thought I would share a few pictures I took today in the courtyard outside our apartment. Enjoy!

All these leaves were on the big tree in the courtyard until last night. When the temperature dropped into the 20s the leaves gave up and fell off. Oh well...they look pretty on the ground too!

A Typical Evening

2008-11-15T10:49:00.002-06:00

This is how we spend the evenings and weekends.............. Our living room littered with books and papers. Matt doesn't even notice his picture is being taken. He is completely in the zone..... the homework zone. If only I had amazing concentration like that........

An Overdue Halloween Post

2008-11-09T15:59:00.009-06:00

This year Matt & I were lucky enough to be invited to two Halloween parties! One pre-Halloween party and one the night of Halloween. We decided to go as a magician and a white rabbit. I quickly found though that being a magician is no longer cool, and after visiting multiple stores in search of a magician cape and wand with no success, I decided to attempt to make a cape and wand. So this is my first attempt at being domestic in the sewing world.....

We were able to tear ourselves away from the homework for two nights of fun!! Thank you to our friends for hosting awesome Halloween parties!!

Homemade costumes rule!!

Matt, Aaron (my cousin), & I having fun!!

Aaron made his costume using 6 rolls of duct tape!

Now that the Halloween fun is over with we are getting ready for Thanksgiving at Apt C......

A Weekend of Concerts

2008-10-20T20:36:00.019-05:00

Last weekend Bryan (my brother), Matt, and I headed to Wichita for a Joshua Radin Concert.....

Bryan & I chowing down on McDonald's

Bryan found out about the concert on Facebook. Tickets were only $14 dollars at the door.... so we started to wonder when we drove down a small alley to get to the venue. It was a large empty warehouse with a stage. We were one of the first ones there, so we were on the front row!

The Avenue in Wichita, Kansas

The concert was amazing (even standing for three hours)!! If you have never listened to Joshua Radin I highly recommend him!
On Sunday we had a birthday dinner at the Stangeland Farm in Ponca City. We celebrated September, October, and November Birthdays!

Playing football with the cousins at the Stangeland Farm

On Sunday night the five of us surprised my dad with tickets to the Neil Diamond concert for his birthday! The concert was amazing and Neil can still rock it at 67! The one thing that I had been hoping for the past few months is that he would sing Brother Love's Travelin Salvation Show, and sure enough Neil did not disappoint......the very last song he sang was Brother Love's! It was a perfect ending for a perfect weekend!!!

The fam (minus Matt) after an amazing rocking concert!! I have never danced so much in my entire life!

5 Warning Signs That You Are About To Run In The Spokane Marathon

2008-10-15T19:15:00.010-05:00

1. As you are leaving the hotel someone asks if you are running in the marathon today.....

Our Reply: 'No, we just wanted to take advantage of this beautiful crisp 27 degree weather..'

2. At the beginning of the trail you notice two women huddled over a table with cups of water...

Our Thoughts: 'They must be having a campus event at 7 am on Sunday morning.......'

3. Running on the trail, that runs along the river, you pass a runner, running at a very fast pace in the opposite direction...

Our Thoughts: 'The cross-country team must be having a time trial.......'

4. Continuing to run on the narrow trail many more runners begin to pass you. This time you notice that they are wearing numbers on their shirts......

Our Thoughts: 'The school must be hosting a 5k fun run........'

5. Hundreds of runners are soon coming at you, forcing you off the trail... the only choice you have is to run along with them....

Our Response: 'This must be the Spokane Marathon........'

Trip #1 to Spokane

2008-10-15T11:23:00.013-05:00

For those of you who didn't know I am currently pursuing my degree as a family nurse practitioner at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. I am currently in my third semester and will hopefully graduate in May of 2010! It is a distance-learning program. Once we begin taking upper level courses we are required to visit campus twice a semester for testing and classes. This past weekend was my first required visit. Since it was fall break for Matt, he was able to come with me. It was very exciting to see the campus for the first time! I learned that Bing Crosby went to school here! You may be more familiar with Gonzaga's basketball team though. When researching schools, initially the only thing I knew about Gonzaga was from my March Madness bracket.

The campus was beautiful! All of the leaves were starting to turn colors! It reminded me how much I love fall!

We found this giant Radio Flyer slide at a park in downtown Spokane and of course we couldn't resist playing on it! I don't think the little kids appreciated it though....

On Saturday, we spent the day walking along the river in downtown Spokane! It is a beautiful city, especially since all of the trees had begun turning for the fall.

I have never been to Idaho before.... and since we were so close, Matt thought we should go visit! So we decided to visit Post Falls, Idaho, which is known for its famous RV outlet!

Halloween at Apt C

2008-10-05T20:19:00.017-05:00

Fall is one of my most favorite times of the year! I love the trees changing colors, the smells, the colder weather! It also is the start of the holiday season!! I love decorating for Halloween! It is so much fun to let your imagination run wild........

Halloween at Apt C

The Living Room

The Dinning Room

The Kitchen (our little gas stove)

The Bedroom (looking in from the dinning room)

Harvey's 3rd Birthday!!

2008-10-05T19:59:00.004-05:00

I have had Harvey since he was a month old. He has become more like a dog than a rabbit. He has free roam of the house, loves tortilla chips, greets me every evening when I get home from work, and follows me all around the apartment. On Oct. 2nd he celebrated his 3rd birthday by munching on his favorite sprinkle stick! We spent so much time searching for the perfect birthday gift, but it turns out he preferred the box instead!

Inside Apt. C

2008-09-27T23:00:00.005-05:00

View from our dining room into the living room

Our living room. Sweet TV courtesy of my brother. Thanks Rob!

And so it begins...

2008-09-27T21:27:00.010-05:00

Hello blogworld! Carol and I have finally decided to start a blog. Aren't you all excited!?

As we start our second year in the shoebox we call our apartment we thought it would be fun to record all the "adventures" that go along with living in a very small, very old (1930s!) apartment. We hope you all will laugh, smile and maybe cry along with us as we experience life here in midtown OKC.

Of course, not everything in this blog will involve our apartment. We are both in school and working and many people have told us we are crazy for living the life we do. Keep checking the blog and you can decide for yourself...are we really crazy??

Thanks for checking us out...come back soon!