Packing it In

We're sitting at a pleasant, but very humid 91 degrees right now. Looks like some storms are supposed to move through, so hopefully we'll get some rain. It sprinkled a little this afternoon. Trees and bushes look wilted.

The 4th of July was super fun this year. I love fireworks, so my plan was to get in as many shows as possible. I saw two really good ones - one on the 3rd and one on the 4th. Then a couple of days after I got to shoot some off with some friends.

This weekend was super fun. 6 friends came into town who were in Korea at the same time I was. Heather and Rachel are from Texas, Katee, Beth, and Amanda are from Canada, and Abby is from Springfield, MO. We've gotten together the past 2 summers, so it's become an annual tradition. It was so fun. We ate a lot, talked a lot, and laughed a ton. I have three roommates already, so with 10 of us, we were definitely piled in the house, but it seemed to work out pretty well. This is about to get detailed, so unless you're my mom or sister you may want to stop reading now!

Friday evening when they all got in we went and ate Korean food, which was excellent, and then we sang in the norae-bang (singing room) they have at the restaurant - Korean karoke. It was a blast. They gave the room to us for free for one hour. It had taken the Canadian girls 20 hours to drive down, so they were pretty tired, and the norae bang ac wasn't working, so we were worn out from singing and heat exhaustion!
We went to a little farmer's market on Sat. morning and got breakfast burritos, then went to the Philbrook art museum - it was free that day! It's a pretty good museum and the gardens are gorgeous. The AC was a lifesaver though, because I think we were at 100 or higher that day. After that I took them to Quick Trip - a local gas station that has 59 cent drinks during the summer. Yummy DP. Then we went home and just hung out for the afternoon. That evening, we went to the riverwalk to eat at Los Cabos. We sat outside and tried to yell at each other over the super loud (but fun) band that was there. Then we strolled and a few of the girls listened to another band that was there. After that, we went to get coffee (I should have gotten decaf). I found out that my brother and his friend, Kent were going to be at a restaurant across the street, so we went to hang out with them. The trip took an even better turn there, because Kent suggested (kind of insisted) that we should go out to his family's cabin on the lake. So generous of him and such a great idea. So the next afternoon, after church, we went out to the cabin. The girls got to seem my flowers on the way out, which are majorly struggling with the heat, but at least some of them are still alive! Once we got there, he took us out on the boat and we all got in an swam. (Swam? is that the right word?) Yes, believe it or not, I did get in the lake and swim. And it was really fun. I felt a lot more relaxed once I had a float/life jacket think to hold on to. There's something about not seeing or touching the bottom that makes me really nervous, but it was a good time to face my fears! I even went in after seeing a snake along the bank by the dock. Bleah. Can't think about that too much. After that, Kent left and we hung out on the deck the rest of the night. We ordered pizza that was super yummy and sat outside a long ways after dark. It never cooled off, but it was still fun and beautiful. The next day, Amanda and I took a stroll and saw a sign for blue green algae - swim at your own risk. Great! Still don't know what that means, but Amanda still went in later. There was a little incident of a cut foot and passing out from pain and me getting just a little panicked about someone seeing someone faint, but we all survived. I'm so glad for her that it was just a minor accident. We headed back to Tulsa that afternoon, met David for supper, and then went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and coffee. The Canadians don't have the Cheesecake Factory. That was the perfect ending to a great visit. Katee had to be at the airport really early this morning. Abby had to leave on Sunday, but the other girls came up to my office and we went and got a hamburger and fries for lunch at Ron's. I kind of feel like I'm about to go into friend withdrawals and I'm experiencing major sleep deprivation, but what a great time. I couldn't feel more blessed. :)