Hail Damage

On Wednesday afternoon (4-06-05) I was working when I heard lots of thunder and loud winds outside. I walked to the glass doors and watched the storm come in. It was so windy that both sets of double doors were actually blown open OUTWARD by the wind! Leaves and small branches were blowing all over the parking lot and it began to rain. The rain was soon followed by hail and I watched my car get pelted over and over again. There were no coverings nearby for me to move my car under so I watched helplessly. Some of the hail was REALLY large and did much damage to our cars. A guy at work took these pictures of the hail. Insane!









I still haven't bothered to get my car fixed (I'm not the only one though). The insurance wrote me a fat check and I'm having trouble parting with it. I stuck it in savings where it's earning 3.30% interest (that's great interest for a bank account!)

Repair companies still stick their adds on my windshield every once in awhile when I'm out shopping. 2 places I got estimates at said the hood and roof were so bad that they would just replace them rather than try to pop out all the dents.

Here are some pics of my car (hard to take because of all the reflections...the damage looks much worse in person):

Shrooms!

I found these mushrooms in the field by our apartment today. There were several clumps of mushrooms. This group had the largest. Mushrooms are so nifty!

RiverWalk Pics

There is a new place in town to hang out. It's called RiverWalk and it just opened this year. It is not totally complete yet, but there are many restaurants and stores currently open. They are still building and fixing up more stores and restaurants as well as an 8-screen movie theater.

I like to walk to the RiverWalk from my apartment (about 2 miles). I walk south on the trail that goes along the east side of the Arkansas river, cross over the pedestrian bridge and then walk north a short distance on the trail on the west side of the river (in Jenks, OK).

The RiverWalk shops and restaurants are crowded on the weekend nights. They have free concerts every Friday night in the outdoor amphitheater so that brings some of the crowds. I've gone to several concerts this summer. A location station made a TV show out of it so each Friday night the host introduces the musicians and briefly interviews them throughout the concert. Then they show the highlights of the evening on TV on Saturday nights. Pretty cool.

The place is not crowded at all during the afternoons or weeknights...not yet anyway. It's actually a peaceful place to hang out at those times. You can stroll by the river trail, sit by the fountains or chill in the grassy areas or on a bench. They even have several stand alone outdoor fireplaces that will be nice to sit by in the fall and winter.

(I took all but the last 3 pictures today...it's not as nice when the water is low.)


Main entrance



You can walk through the rock tunnel behind the fountain and peek out from behind the fountain



Amphitheater seating



View from behind the amphitheater stage





Fireplace area



Fountains with Cityplex Towers in background (across the river)











Looking north from pedestrian bridge



Looking to south end (white pedestrian bridge in background)



Friday night concert (unknown artist so smaller audience)



Friday night crowds

Riverbend Pics

Craig and I have renewed our lease for another year (our 3rd) at Riverbend Apartments. We love this place! It has many amenities and is a quiet and safe property with a diversity of buildings. There is a clubhouse, pond with fountain and fishing dock, soccer field, 2 swimming pools (one for adults only), basketball court, tennis court, as well as a park with swings, grills and tables! We got a really good deal on rent so that makes this place even better. Also, our unit has new carpet, new refrigerator, new microwave and new waterheater. Wahoo!

Seattle Pics - People

On the day of the wedding, Sheryl's roommate and former roommate took me to The Market for breakfast while Sheryl was getting her hair styled. I came out of the bathroom wearing my pink shirt and saw that Amber (girl on the right) was wearing a similar pink shirt. So, Sheryl's roommate Genessa (girl on the left) put on the pink sweatshirt that she had so we would all match (I've never done that before!). How cute...we got a few comments about it in the coffeeshop we went to. After walking through The Market and eating croissants filled with various items, we headed down to the docks. We saw a very large, bright orange jellyfish in the water just below us. It was incredible! Largest one I've ever seen...and I've never seen one that color!



Sheryl and I just before the wedding.



Sheryl and 2 of her bridesmaids in the limo bus on the way to the reception.



Sheryl and the Candle Carriers posing Vogue style (taken by professional photographer). I now realize that I didn't exaggerate my pose enough because you can't even tell that I'm not just merely standing there...I was in an awkward position (balancing on 2 steps and sticking my butt out while placing my hands on the walls). Oh well. Anyway, most of these girls live in the mansion with Sheryl. I had a blast living there for several days during my visit. Reminded me of my college days.



Sheryl and her new husband Daniel (taken by professional photographer). Gorgeous couple!



I absolutely love this pic!!! (taken by professional photographer)



And this pic looks like it is from a magazine! So fabulous!! (taken by professional photographer)

Seattle Pics - The Mansion

People filing into the mansion for the 8pm wedding reception. There were lanterns lining the sidewalks and lights & tool on the trees. The guests gathered on the front porch, back balcony, entry way, dining room (where all the desserts were!), hallway, ballroom/living room and informal eating room.



Here is a view of Portage Bay from the side yard of the mansion. Lovely!



The wedding cake consisted of cupcakes frosted and covered with coconut--easy to hand out! Sheryl's friend baked batches and batches of them all day long the day before the wedding. So tasty!



The ballroom reception room before the guests arrived and before all the decorations were complete. I and several of Sheryl's friends helped the wedding coordinator with the decorations (candles, tables, tabletoppers, etc) and flowers (we made the rose bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres and displays).