Sam's birthday was this Saturday. We didn't get the chance to go on a traditional date, but we did have a lot of fun celebrating 23! Far too many restaurants were visited to talk about each one, so I picked out a couple notable excursions.
Thursday night my parents and I gave Sam his birthday present. I think it's safe to say he was pretty excited.
First two albums I own -- The Smiths' "The Queen is Dead" and The Decemberists' "Picaresque." Perfect choices, In-Laws!
On Saturday, Sam's parents came into town to celebrate his day with us! We had a ton of fun going to the Oklahoma Aquarium.
I concluded that fish are weird.
Sam had been wanting to visit this place for four years and we finally made it! It's completely worth the trip. I learned so much about aquatic beings and the shark tunnel was amazing.
We don't have a picture, but google "african mudskipper" if you want to see my favorite. It looks like a grumpy man.
After lunch we ventured to Philbrook Museum of Art in Midtown Tulsa. It was once known as Villa Philbrook, the home of oil maven Waite Phillips and his family. Now it houses amazing art from all around the world. Every second Saturday of the month the museum has free admission.
When it's not an frigid and rainy day, the grounds of Philbrook are what draws most attention. On this day, however, I was more than content to peer out from a warm room.
As we walked around the museum, Sam's mom had everyone taking stock of what art we would like to take home, if given the option. I probably took the game too seriously.
You can't tell but I'm translating the latin on the frame. Old habits die hard; thanks, Mr. Bogan. Hopefully you will continue to read the rest of the post despite my very nerdy confession. I promise 1/2 of the people writing this blog are really cool.
The verdict? Sam wanted that giant modern art painting.
The texture is amazing and the colors just kind of smack you in the face.
And I will gladly take this captivating portrait of Greta Garbo by George Hurrell when the museum is done with it. I still can't take my eyes off of the photo. Now, off to watch Ninotchka, where I will fall more in love with this actress.
It was a great birthday weekend, thanks to all our friends and family! Thanks so much to the Moyers' and the Graves's for helping to make my birthday special!
On May 20th, Sam and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Our first year has been amazing. Full of many many happy days and exciting times as well as the hard lessons that are a part of every couple's first year. One thing we have definitely done is go on a LOT of dates. As you know, since we have documented many of them. So for this special occasion, Sam planned a truly wonderful date.
dinner. smoke. dessert. red rock canyon activity. stay at the mayo hotel One thing we recommend to couples who are about to get married is to schedule some time to relax after the wedding. We always wished we had planned in a little bit longer to hang out at the Mayo, where we stayed for our wedding night. Jordan had a great idea to stay there for our one year. It's the historic gem of Tulsa hotels. 
The single biggest life changing purchase I have made in the last four months? A curling wand. Seriously. Go get one and then watch a few tutorials. You will never be the same.
Guys. It's insane how good this food is. Locally sourced and handmade when you order, the food here has flavors that I didn't even know were possible. Some of the best food I have ever had. 
I never ever ever order steak. It's almost guaranteed to be the most expensive item on any menu. Jordan encouraged me to get it though, because it was our anniversary. I put the money out of my mind and enjoyed probably the best piece of beef I've ever eaten. 
That's how he felt when I asked him to wait to take a picture before devouring his steak. 
We also never order dessert. So we threw that in too. Red Rock canyon has whipped cream that bears the consistency and weight of pudding. It's exquisite. The only trouble was we were so full from Smoke that we couldn't hardly eat dessert! Oh well. 
We had so much fun being extra fancy on this one night. We don't often get to be all dressed up and have someone valet our car. It makes you feel like a celebrity. Even though you are sleeping less than three minutes from your real home where you have to park your car yourself.
The traditional one year anniversary gift is paper. I don't know what I did before Pinterest. I found this journal there and thought it would perfect. It was both meaningful and made of paper. For the final product I ended up combining the original idea with a photo journal that Elsie made. We spent the next morning at topeca recording all our thoughts about our first anniversary. With a cappucino of course. 
It was a great present from the greatest of women, my wife! We really loved our first year of marriage, and are super excited for the next one! And then the next 70 or 80 after that.
A few weeks ago I was feeling a little under the weather. I had seen 
