Summer of 2010. It started with a weekend in Las Vegas. Mark flew in from Oklahoma and I drove. We stayed at the Luxor and saw The Lion King on my birthday. The next day, Father's Day, we left together for the drive to Norman, OK where I would be spending the summer. 
random stuffed penguins... one of Mark's favorite animals :) 
We took two days to get to the extended stay hotel where Mark had been staying since March. We listened to the book Freakonomics on CD to help pass the time. In Flagstaff, Arizona we looked for and found this Motel I remember fondly and well. When I was a little girl we stayed here a few times. Back then it was a great treat because it had a pool. I remember watching the storm clouds roll in and hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning. And then we'd have to get out of the pool. The pool (in the foreground) is filled in, and it is certainly dated and run down, but brought back such fond memories.  
In Texas we stopped to check out this "Cadillac Park". One of those things that just leaves you with lots of questions... how? why? Then a few weeks later we saw a photo of them in the Fred Jones Art Museum on OU's campus.  
A week after our arrival in Norman our new home was ready to move into. I spent several days shopping for furniture and other necessities. Mark and I did some exploring. We went to the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum, 
Shakespeare in the Park to see Comedy of Errors, 
an art fair in Oklahoma City where we saw these street performers, (that's when I knew I was in Okie country) 
The guy on the left is playing spoons on his leg. 
We took walks around the OU campus. This is a hall in the library. 
Then Amy, KC, Malachi, and Melanie came to visit. We went to the library, 
the swimming pool, 
the zoo, 
 
the splash pad, 
and played with the hose in the backyard.  
Kent and Carol came this weekend. We took them to the Natural History Museum on OU's campus 
Guess who? 
this is a real skeleton of a mammoth 
and the largest dinosaur skull ever excavated... it's the real McCoy! 
They took us out for dinner at Nonna's in downtown Oklahoma City. After three hours of fine dining we took the water taxi through Bricktown. On the way home we stopped at the memorial. It was beautiful at night. 
And here's a few pictures of the inside of our house. The house is very small, but works fine for us here for now.  
The kitchen set is a replacement of a different one we had in here. That one we had gotten from Pier 1 Imports and had a warped leaf. We just weren't happy with the overall quality. Then I saw this one. It is the same one they have in the model of our house. I really liked it when I saw it in the model but couldn't find it until a little furniture store in downtown Norman where we got some other furniture had just gotten it in. The pot on the table is one Michael made in art class at FCS. 
I think when this summer is over and I'm back in Redlands, it will all seem like a dream. I guess that's one reason why I am posting this. I want to be able to look at it myself and know it really happened. | 
