One Year Ago Today...

Joseph and I got engaged! We could not be happier!! One of the first postings of this blog tells the story of how it all happened! I LOVE YOU JOSEPH!

Christmas Decorations

Joseph is not related to Clark Griswold, but he does have the same type of thinking when it comes to Christmas! He is my "sparky"! If it was up to him we would have a huge Christmas tree in the middle of our living room and 250 light strands would cover every inch of the exterior house!!!

Instead, we have a beautiful decorated Christmas tree perfectly framed by our front windows! Our lights line the trim work around the house and give out a beautiful glow to the neighborhood. The Okerlund house is very festive filled with snowflakes (thanks to Grandma Williams), nativity scene (thanks Mom Jill), snow people (thanks Mom Carol), and a small wooded area of charlie brown trees!

Our big tree is the second tree we put up this year. We originally had a smaller tree up but really Joseph wanted a taller one! My parents haven't used their tall tree the past couple of years so they let us use it! Of course we had to put that tree up right away and it really fits the room nicely(thanks Mom & Pappa Mutz)!

Our house is very beautifully decorated and yet we won't be spending Christmas here! We are traveling to Colorado to be with family! BUT we can not wait till the time comes when we get to host Christmas here! We were able to host dinner for Joseph's Aunt Susie and Uncle Jack! We enjoyed it and can't wait for future gatherings here at the Okerlund's!


Following are pictures of our decorated house and holiday cookies which I made!

First Holiday Party of the Season

Last night we had our first Holiday Gathering at our wonderful neighbors house - Sarah and John! We enjoyed meeting new people and watching the children decorate holiday cookies! We were the only couple there with no kids - and we enjoyed every bit of it! I enjoyed holding little Riley most of the night (Joseph say's I held her too long and I will start to have crazy ideas of having kids!). Joseph was amazed at the crafts kids can make and all the advanced toys they have today! Boy - Will I have my hands full when we do have kids as Joseph is a big kid himself!

We throughly enjoyed ourselves and are blessed to have great neighbors! We are sad to find out they will be transfering to Rhode Island for John's job. We hope to continuue our friendship with them and look forward to the many great times we do get to cherish with them before they leave.

November

November flew by so fast....We traveled to Colorado Twice (total of 32plus hours in the car!) One time we drove for my brother's surprise party! He was so shocked and made the trip worthwhile! His party was November 1st and everyone had fun singing karaoke all night! While we were there Joseph golfed and I went to see Obama! Following are pictures of our trip:

The second time we drove was for Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving because you get to spend lots of valuable time with family! Joseph's brother Jason and his lovely wife Melanie hosted Thanksgiving this year. The food and company was great! We were entertained after dinner by our two nieces. Before we came back to Oklahoma we celebrate Joseph's birthday with his family! Following are pictures of our thanksgiving trip:

Besides all the traveling we have started to decorate for Christmas! I love Christmas because of the decorating! I love all the twinkling little lights! Once the house is complete I will get pictures up for all to see!

As for our house projects, they haven't been worked on!!!! Life has been crazy driving here and there, and doing this and that, and everything else we just have decided to wait till things calm down. After all it is just Joseph and I and really there is no hurry to get it done. I would rather get it down right than done fast!