tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70554427679132083642024-02-18T21:14:01.197-08:00Celeste, James, and ChampCelestehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10855681453531924950noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-40397517426310398452009-05-14T21:12:00.001-07:002009-05-14T21:15:51.463-07:00Happy Birthday ChampToday is Champ's 1st birthday<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQWwDnHVrldt0jEYRT5W3s9_jVFF1XLB6xlT7BgJN1TBCoYJhMsXvbr6ANmHSNRmucoNE-qhKYNy0o0R26DpbsQ_1q8CLYMhAlJetHnYmXB9ajtC-Sc2ENFfpJ0wnBhHiW7qQ6stVr2vV/s1600-h/SSPX0199.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQWwDnHVrldt0jEYRT5W3s9_jVFF1XLB6xlT7BgJN1TBCoYJhMsXvbr6ANmHSNRmucoNE-qhKYNy0o0R26DpbsQ_1q8CLYMhAlJetHnYmXB9ajtC-Sc2ENFfpJ0wnBhHiW7qQ6stVr2vV/s400/SSPX0199.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335899083121104018" border="0" /></a><br />Oh yeah...<br /><br /><br /><br />Celeste also finished her last final. We'll be back soon. Me for a few days and Celeste for the summerUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-69469104619415291352009-05-13T06:54:00.000-07:002009-05-13T07:04:26.568-07:00That BlowsSo there wasn't much sleeping going on in the England household last night. At about 1:30 am, we were awaken by the loudest wind I have ever heard. Before attempting to go back to sleep, I checked the weather information on my phone and it said that our area was getting 40 mph winds. Now, that is the regular wind, not the gusts. According to the local newspaper, the Warr Acres area, which is about a half-mile from our apartment, reported 70 mph gusts. I believe that is pretty much the same speed that blew over the Dallas Cowboys' preactice bubble and paralyzed a team scout.<br /><br />Anywho, apparently the roads were a mess of power lines this morning, but since I don't commute to work, this doesn't bother me much. As far as personal damage, one of my dog-walking flip-flops that I keep outside the door was missing this morning. Luckily, I was able to spot it in the middle of the courtyard.<br /><br />At least the wind was blowing from the south which means temps in the high 80's today!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-37989622127163876182009-05-04T14:00:00.000-07:002009-05-04T14:05:59.966-07:00Happy AnniversarySo it has been a little while since either of us has posted, but I think that this is a pretty good follow-up to the last one I did.<br /><br />Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of the <a href="http://www.kxii.com/blogs/weatherblog/44203512.html">THE most destructive tornado in Unites States history, based on dollar damages</a>. I don't know the whole story behind this thing, but it completely tore up the OKC suburb of Moore, killing a bunch of people in its path. I also have heard that the tornado sirens malfunctioned, which led to the current mandatory testing of them every saturday at noon.<br /><br />Take a look at this crazy footage<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/835837/f5_tornado_from_moore_ok_on_may_3_1999.swf" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="345"></embed><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/835837/f5_tornado_from_moore_ok_on_may_3_1999/">F5 TORNADO! From Moore, OK On May 3, 1999</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-26013731224113944652009-02-11T08:20:00.000-08:002009-02-11T08:42:58.606-08:00Twister TalesSo yesterday we got our first lesson in Tornadoes 101. Luckily, we didn't get hit directly or else we probably would have failed. Although we had known that the Oklahoma-Texas-Arkansas area had a good chance of some tornadoes, it looked like we were on the fringe of the danger area, but around 2 o'clock, the tornado sirens started sounding. Celeste and I were working in the den and immediately turned on the TV. Talk about a great feeling to see your house in the expected path of destruction. At the time, the gigantic spinning cloud was about 10 miles to the south-west of us, but it was projected to head north-east and fly (or possibly touch down) directly in our vicinity. So, we did what any couple of fools from tornado-free Utah would - turned up the volume, grabbed the dog, and headed toward the bathroom.<br /><br />Once the sirens turned off, we started venturing back into the den to see the live footage about what was going on and the situation was actually worse for us. The cloud had just touched down at Rockwell and NW Expressway, which, according to Google Maps, is about 0.7 miles from our apartment. I decided to look out the window (despite instructions not to by the local weatherman) and saw that it wasn't terribly windy or haily outside, but we were getting a substantial amount of rain.<br /><br />After the tornado had officially left our area, one of the weatherfolks driving the weather van was attempting to make a U-turn to assess the damage. From the dash camera, we could see our complex. He then turned around and headed toward our local Chuck E. Cheese (0.5 miles away) to show us how the twister took off the entire back of the back of the building.<br /><br />After feeling a bit relieved, we watched the TV for a little while and watched the coverage of the tornado growing larger and touching down in Edmond - an OKC suburb - and apparently going directly past Champ's daycare. Edmond got hit a lot worse and a lot of homes and buildings were damaged. Just as we were relieved that we didn't get hit by that, the weatherman interrupted and told us that Tornado #2 was headed our way. Talk about fun! I actually think we got more rain and hail from this storm, but the storm never 'tornadoed'.<br /><br />The rest of the day was pretty boring. We had to stay at home and just kind of hang out; however, this morning as I escorted Celeste outside, I noticed that she had a tire that was completely flat. I don't know if the storm caused it, but luckily the good folks next door at Hibdon Tire fixed it up for us for free - other than the personal cost of wasted time and a crappy scissor-jack. Hopefully things will now be back to normal, but hell it is only February....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-47345213839444298802009-01-19T13:43:00.000-08:002009-01-19T13:53:57.314-08:00Gone Campin..Today has been the fist day that I can remember working without Champ since our move to Oklahoma. This is because today is his test-run at <a href="http://www.campbowwow.com/us/ok/edmond/">Camp Bow Wow</a>, a dog boarding business that attempts to be pretty dog friendly. I gotta say that it is nice to be able to leave doors open around the house and we will probably do this more often- assuming that they allow him back. It is nice for us not to be constantly hounded by him and its gotta be great for Champ to actually get to play with someone during the day.<br /><br />My favorite part about this place is that it has a bunch of <a href="http://bowwow26.viewmydog.com/jpglogin.htm">Doggie Webcams</a> set up so you can waste all day at work watching your doggie run around.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0uo0tXDCGU1cztnt-2GUplat-ZvTJx62JfzPpL9sySZ_bIj_Og0SVyhL8PrA1-Ggkxxhirt6s0EgCIZsaEzIeHzzzLn37sOu6h-Gpit_UJnTRePpDgtCBIPRQVXpynnGFGGQGtS4Df9o/s1600-h/cam0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0uo0tXDCGU1cztnt-2GUplat-ZvTJx62JfzPpL9sySZ_bIj_Og0SVyhL8PrA1-Ggkxxhirt6s0EgCIZsaEzIeHzzzLn37sOu6h-Gpit_UJnTRePpDgtCBIPRQVXpynnGFGGQGtS4Df9o/s400/cam0.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293126284854718226" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-45097426080673628102008-12-07T17:41:00.001-08:002008-12-07T17:42:24.411-08:00Merry Christmas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPbxim5RQCebjso1K2dAYfKfX5mvmWoZ65gH5FSeluEFwaPVv4N_-eZLDCjBA7ASqG08uw_6FIv0XeDJ_un0Iy42L4UYyFsSIGYtSeItY0l2id2PyOXPze_Dl-0LyhKglOdvdP8J840LF/s1600-h/christmas+2008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPbxim5RQCebjso1K2dAYfKfX5mvmWoZ65gH5FSeluEFwaPVv4N_-eZLDCjBA7ASqG08uw_6FIv0XeDJ_un0Iy42L4UYyFsSIGYtSeItY0l2id2PyOXPze_Dl-0LyhKglOdvdP8J840LF/s400/christmas+2008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277228516238213810" border="0" /></a>From Celeste, James, Champ and Santa Clause. Ho Ho HoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-75513874354233657322008-11-12T18:11:00.000-08:002008-11-12T18:24:13.214-08:00The OLD ChampSo I was rummaging around the den today when I stumbled upon my old phone that had a bunch of pictures from the beginning of our adventures in Oklahoma. What I was happiest about most was finding the pictures of Champ. Every picture we took was from the first week in Oklahoma, making Champ less than 2 months old in this picture.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbxikVWMj92h1AAPna8THh5k1uDKc04dN10kNAvK9wOooc-h91sLZTRL82AIMphNXm9mryZEk221KJw8MMKI3RD4UW8jJxPzRPVknuL9wwnQzwkX3lej2-jI45RanqXa-qqHYAWDKink7/s1600-h/P_00041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbxikVWMj92h1AAPna8THh5k1uDKc04dN10kNAvK9wOooc-h91sLZTRL82AIMphNXm9mryZEk221KJw8MMKI3RD4UW8jJxPzRPVknuL9wwnQzwkX3lej2-jI45RanqXa-qqHYAWDKink7/s400/P_00041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267959624155122194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Compare that to a more recent pic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe91mhZMIN47lEvefmMkWthpAE6lwvZobAl3XCpL4ljepX2w1EXDtJmGt7SIkYCSTn3kFOvRRnrDARjpfqxbrI0s3v8_nQ2Wv9OelnbhwJJ-XeiDlxD3gJ2K1ziaK9C0NgvWaFwFSQMacx/s1600-h/SSPX0091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe91mhZMIN47lEvefmMkWthpAE6lwvZobAl3XCpL4ljepX2w1EXDtJmGt7SIkYCSTn3kFOvRRnrDARjpfqxbrI0s3v8_nQ2Wv9OelnbhwJJ-XeiDlxD3gJ2K1ziaK9C0NgvWaFwFSQMacx/s400/SSPX0091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267961931512871554" border="0" /></a><br /><br />He's still adorable, but I'm afraid he can't compete against himselfUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-9466309490713924232008-10-21T08:15:00.000-07:002008-10-21T08:17:08.616-07:00Nothing is better...... than being around a bunch of Oklahomans when their beloved Dallas Cowboys are getting torn apart by a terrible football team. I hope it keeps happeningUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-48065971895663319042008-10-13T11:04:00.000-07:002008-10-13T13:57:00.875-07:00What I have learned in OklahomaNow that we have settled into this place for a couple of months, I am beginning to notice some stark contrasts between Oklahoma City and Utah. Here is a list of some of the lovely quirks of OKC:<br /><br />1. Gas is CHEEEAP - at least compared to the rest of the US, and especially compared to Utah. It'll cost you about $ 0.75 less per gallon over here than the national average for regular gas. The bad stuff with Ethanol is even cheaper<br /><br />2. BBQ Ribs & Car Repair - Have you ever had a conflict of needing to eat some greasy ribs, but you can't go to a restaurant because your car needs a tune-up? In OKC, there is a solution to this problem. By simply having a BBQ Rib Restaurant and a Car Repair Shop under one roof, there is never an excuse to not eat.<br /><br />3. No Sidewalks - Perhaps if gas cost as much as it does everywhere else, people would need to utilize their feet for transportation, but in a state where gas still costs less than a gallon of milk, we don't need to walk, so we of course do not need a place for anyone to even if they wanted.<br /><br />4. You always know when it is noon on a Saturday - Thanks to the helpful siren tests for potential life-threatening tornadoes, you never have to worry about sleeping in on the weekends.<br /><br />5. SOONER FOOTBALL!! - If there is something that an Oklahoman feels stronger about than the rights of an unborn fetus, it is Sooner football. There seems to be a weekend dress code of Crimson and White. Ironically, those who seem to love the Sooners the most look like the least likely to have furthered their education past middle school.<br /><br />6. Cars - It is a little-known fact that if you own a car in Oklahoma, there are certain rules. White people MUST own at least one Ford Mustang, although the year of the model is insignificant. Black people do not need to have a certain type of vehicle, but they must have wheels that are large enough to affect the suspension of their vehicles. The extremely affluent black people must put those big wheels on a Mustang. Lamboghini doors are also a plus<br /><br />7. Insurance - In Utah, and perhaps the rest of the country, there is something called car insurance. It is useful when you are involved in a collision. Some Oklahomans have learned that this is a cool idea, but 25% of Oklahoma drivers haven't really caught on yet...<br /><br />There will be much more where this came from as we continue to live in the land of the Red DirtUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-77762835316612850482008-09-26T11:58:00.000-07:002008-09-26T12:03:00.724-07:00Law School Update & Champs GirlfriendSo thus far I am the Treasurer of the J. Reuben Clark Legal Society, and the Student Bar Association representative for the American Bar Association Law School Division. School is going great, stressful but great. For the record, champ has two girlfriends he plays with almost everyday. They are all so cute together. He even knows that they are his girlfriends because when we say lets go see your girley friend he gets all happy and excited. By the way champ has big ears......Celestehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10855681453531924950noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-9235617040022263562008-09-05T10:57:00.000-07:002008-09-05T11:44:36.692-07:00The story of my one night stand...with my chihuahua spots!!So a couple weeks ago chihuahua was spotted wondering around our parking lot..of course I had to save him. He was a little black and white spotted chihuahua who was cute as button. Him and champ had a blast...James and I not so much.....both dogs kept us up all night. Needless to say school and work were not very productive the next day. Alas, we could not keep him. He was adopted by one of the other law students who so graciously offered to take him into her home with her other chihuahua.Celestehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10855681453531924950noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-50838043861257085182008-09-05T10:45:00.000-07:002008-09-05T10:53:11.614-07:00The okies thus far.............To catch everyone up here is a lil blurb about everything that has happened for the England family in the last 2 months or so........................<br /><br />So married life is going great, we have a complete little family, James, Champkin "Champ", and me!! We live in Oklahoma City, Ok., about twenty minutes from down town Oklahoma City where the bombing occurred. There has not been any tornadoes, but we have been caught in some pretty wild storms....and I mean extremely wild...we are talking six inches of rain in less than ten minutes with lots of thunder, and lightning that lights up the whole city. Champ just got fixed so he is a lil under the weather, but it was for the best. He is 19 weeks old, 10lbs 8 ounces and is almost full grown. He has the cutest little paws and ears.. We like to tell him that he has big ears cause they are so floppy. I have also been caught singing "do your ears hang low do the wobble to and frow"....I know I'm pathetic.<br /><br />We greatly miss Utah, but we have quickly made Oklahoma our home. We will be home for Christmas so we hope to see as many of you as we can. We will be in Utah on December 21st and will leave on December 27th.Celestehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10855681453531924950noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055442767913208364.post-9283990895386853702008-09-04T11:03:00.001-07:002008-09-04T11:03:44.023-07:00Just StartedJust Started this....more will be coming!Celestehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10855681453531924950noreply@blogger.com1