July 2023

 

• "If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead." - Roald Dahl

• July started with 2 weeks of rain and ended with 2 weeks of 100+ degree temperatures.  And the Weavers?  Back to being very busy! It's been a long summer with lots of challenges, more tears than I want to count, and some stress we wish we could have avoided.  But it has also been filled with adventure, family, joy, excitement, and lasting memories.  Those are the things we want to remember and cherish.  The bad times shape us, grow us, and change us.  And we need those.  But the good times?  Those make memories and smiles and reminders of how sweet life can be.

Fun little GLOW UP comparison.  Jake has changed SO MUCH recently.

We spent our first Fourth of July in Edmond - and tried to do as many Liberty Fest activities as possible!  I think the Parade was the only thing we made it to.  But we had fun the night before shooting off fireworks in our neighberhood, went to the parade of the 4th, and then went to Stillwater for our annual visit to Uncle Brian's gravesite.

 

Proof that time is a thief!

The first weekend of July, Jake traveled with Team Griffin to Duncanville, Texas to participate in the "Great American Shootout" tournament While there, he got a little shout-out for his play from the tournament!  It's truly amazing to watch him grow and excel!

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• The second week of July brought Jake back to school ball workouts, Lara to working VBS in Stillwater, and I had minor surgery.  Minor surgery, but still a recovery - and I am not very good at that! LOL! Although, I did complete my 2023 Goodreads reading challenge of 30 books in a year during that time.  We suffered the loss of a dear family member - my Aunt's boyfriend (I have that work) of 27 years, and celebrated the 50th birthday of a favorite friend. And Jake spent another weekend in Texas - Carrollton this time - with his Team Griffing teammates.

We started attending Faith Bible Church in Edmond.

Finn and I made homemade sandwich cookies - they were a HIT!

Happy 50th Birthday David!

And these kids have been friends with my kids for most of their lives!
They're all young adults now.  Crazy!
    

Jake's basketball weekend.  They only had 6 payers, and Jake was a key to their success.

• The third week was pretty low-key.  I had my post-op appointment, Finn spend a day n Stillwater with his cousins from New York City, Britt's Facebook account got shacked and stolen, my car got blocked in by a huge truck in my parking lot at OSU, and of course, Jake traveled for basketball.!  This time, he was in Kansas City, MO.

If you're reading this and can, please help us report the old account
and add the new one!

 

And the last week of the month was spent thinking about school starting soon, dealing with the hacked Facebook account, cleaning out closets (Finn has grown SO MUCH  he needs a whole new wardrobe!), and celebrating a life well lived.  And this weekend, Jake was in Lincoln Nebraska with a TOTALLY DIFFERENT TEAM!  After last weekend, Team Griffin as an organization dropped out of the final tournament we had scheduled  So, Jake was picked up for a 17u team by a good friend, and he traveled with them for the weekend to finish out his basketball summer.  A little Lincoln fun, a lot of basketball games - and so many memories made!

The rest of us celebrated a life well lived.  My "uncle" Mac Crack - who passed away earlier this month - was celebrated and remembered by family and friends at the Stillwater Community Center.  We took this opportunity - with all of us dressed nicely - to take a few photos!

Lunch at Eskimo Joe's!

All because 2 people fell in love

Book Club was small, but super fun this month as we discussed "Carrie Soto is Back" by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  I also read a few others - all over the place - this month!

"The Seat Filler" by Michael Brodkorb

"Carrie Soto is Back " by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Book Club Choice)

"Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

"Lily and the Octopus" by Steven Rowley

"The Quarry Girls" by Jess Lourey

"The Cruise" by Caroline James

"Gay Girl, Good God" by Jackie Hill Perry

I have surpassed my GoodReads goal and have completed 35 of the 30 books I had set a goal for in 2023!

Find me on GoodReads:

 goodreads.com/bdub_ok

June 2023

 

“In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.” – John Steinbeck

The month of June... Fresh and Sunny.  The gateway to Summer, the most beautiful second act to Spring. A butterfly in flight, perfect days followed by a different, spectacular sunset every night.  Nights made for romance, and days made for fun and light. In June, the world is AWAKE and ALIVE!  And the Weavers? Only slightly less busy...

We opened the month with me in Nashville for my yearly work conference.  This is a conference of balance - hard work, and HARDER play!  My director and I took the stage on the final day (after the BIG PARTY the night before) to present a little about how we use the Salte software for Student Sucess on the Oklahoma State University Campus, and it was a smashing success!  The conference is fun, but tiring and long for this homebody.  Always glad I went, but always ready to be home to my crew.

Music City Center Nashville is AMAZING!

While I was out of town, Dad took Finn
to a Lego event at our local library!

After I go home Saturday and played catch up all day Sunday, it was time to send Lara and Jake off to Falls Creek with Univeristy Heights Baptist Church from Stillwater.  Lara was going as a counselor for the younger girls, and Jake as a camper with the high school boys.  They had a GREAT week - came home, tired, dirty, and on fire for the Lod- just the way we like it!

So glad they went and had a good time, but
I was happy to have them back home for sure!

Once camp was over, it was back to the summer basketball grind for Jake, back to a more normal work schedule for me, and Lara was on a full-blown Big Girl job hunt!  She was able to attend a large career fair in Oklahoma City the week after camp.    Britt was busy keeping Finn busy, planning all of our meals, and keeping the house running smoothly. And Emma?  She started he first post-college fully time job on June 12 with Jet AirWerks in Arkansas City, Kansas!  Her job location is very close to her house, and other than getting used to the long hours and being on her feet all day, she is thriving and loving it!

Since Lara is out of school, and home with us full time for a bit, we relieved Evie's foster family of their dog duties and brought Evei to our house in Guthrie.  She was so well taken care of, but we are happy to have her home and with us for a little while.  Been busy getting some weight off of her and getting her back into constant ball-chasing shape!

She likes to lie under my desk when I work from home

Jake also had a fun surprise waiting for him when he got home from Camp.  His Oklahoma Class 6A State Basketball Championship RIng was here!  The rest of the team had a little party while he was away at camp, but he got his BLING when he got back to "work!"

That next weekend, he was off to Kansas City, Missouri (for the second time this summer) with the Edmond North High School Husky basketball team to compete in the Midwest Showcase.  They played about state camps from all over our region and had a really good weekend!  This is the only photo I have (LOL):

Father's Day was pretty chill, but we did take time to make sure Britt knew how much we all loved him!

My favorite day of the month was the 21st when I got to spend time my two of my favorites.  My work wife Chelsea moved to Illinois a little over a year ago, and she was back in town for a few days. First time I had seen her since she left, and she had her adorable 7-month-old baby boy, Wyatt,  with her as well.  My heart was SO FULL!   So my work wife Emily and I went to lunch with her.  It was so very much needed.  Tiem with people who truly "get" me, ad love me anyway.  PRECIOUS!

We were able to catch Jake in a few of his ENHS Husky Summer League games...

Then it was time for the University of Central Oklahoma Team Camp.  He got a little love from the Press on his first day, and we were able to go see some games on the last day.  He has had a great summer so far!

Our LAST chore for the month was to get the storage unit in Stillwater emptied out so we didn't have to pay any more rent for it (Oh - don't worry - we had to get one here.  We have too much of Lara's stuff not too!  Including her other bedroom set for her future home!)  We thought we could get it all in one pick-up load, so we borrowed Grandpa's truck.  We did it!  Even it was a little redneck and we drove 45mph the whole way from Stillwater to Edmond on back roads...

As we close out June - it is on to a VERY busy July!  Jake had a "mini-camp" this last weekend with his Team Griffin group to get ready for 4 straight weekends on the road to close out the Summer.

We had a great time discussing All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers at Book Club this month!  Lara got to pick the July book, so that will be a fun one!  We both love our Hidden Oaks neighborhood book club!  Just was not quite as book friendly as I thought It would be, but I read To Paradise, and it's like 800 pages, soo..... ;)

"The Seat Filler" by Sariah Wilson

"All Good People Here" by Ashley Flowers (Book Club Choice)

"To Paradise" by Hnaya Yanagihara

"Your Place or Mine" by Portia MacIntosh

I have read 28 of the 30 books I had set a goal for in 2023.  

Find me on GoodReads:

 goodreads.com/bdub_ok