Clark and Danielle

Chasing Rainbows: Enter to Win!!!

2011-05-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

my cousin and her husband are adopting two sweet babies from ukraine. these are special babies-- they both are HIV+. please take a look at their blog!

Chasing Rainbows: Enter to Win!!!: "We're counting down the days until we leave to go and meet our little ones- most likely in about 4 weeks! (We're still waiting on our travel..."

On Being Born... Again

2010-02-16T14:14:00.005-06:00

in order to prove my identity, and my citizenship in this great nation, it has been requested that i send a copy of my birth certificate to the insurance company. i have looked at this particular document a few times throughout my 24 years; i remember asking my dad to pull it out, along with other "important papers," just so i could examine and wonder at the proclamation of my birth, as if it were some great historical treatise.

i still enjoy looking over my birth certificate, as it gives me a peek into the lives of my parents in a more youthful moment, as well as defines some of my familial structure. for instance, my mother was 28 years old at my birth. i was her fourth child, and in two years she would give birth to her fifth, my little brother. 30 years old with five children, three under the age of five. my mother is bionic, and the proof is on my birth certificate.

i also love to see my dad's handwriting. it is the handwriting of a scholar, of a time when penmanship mattered and humans strove to perfect it as an art form (although i think my dad really missed that era by about 50 years, he was influenced by his own father who, if anything, valued the art of education). this brings me to my mother. i would recognize my mom's handwriting even if i saw it come from another hand. it is loopy and slightly sloppy, and reflects perfectly her free-spirited nature.

out of all the peculiar little things to notice on my birth certificate, this is my favorite:

there is a box to check yes or no regarding whether "the blood of this child's mother was tested for syphilis;" my parents checked no. and another box that reads "if no test, state reason therefore," with my mother's wily response to modern medicine, in her loopy, sloppy, bohemian handwriting, being

no need

both parents Christians

WOW! it's been a while.

2010-01-10T16:46:00.002-06:00

for anybody i haven't spoken with comprehensively in the past 3-4 months, here is clark and danielle's life, in bullets:

clark ran some 5ks (in october), hurt his foot, can't run anymore (for a while)
we got a dog--a stray--named her timber
we closed on our house beginning of november, didn't move in until end of december because
we dismembered the kitchen
house needs lots of work (unending, as far as we can tell...)
we got health insurance--woo hoo!
i began a CNA course in november, finished beginning december
CLARK FINISHED COLLEGE! (this has been a long time coming)
i finally enrolled in a human anatomy course, start monday (tomorrow)
some of our pipes froze/burst last night, flooded the garage
we are now back at clark's parents' house, for a few days

of course to go along with this bullet list, are all the bullet lists of those near and dear to us, all weaving and intertwining so that the world is a net, with plenty of good, but right now a lot of stressful bad. i told clark that it feels like the world is ending, but he assures me it is just life.

ps.

i just ate a whole bunch of whoppers malt balls, am wondering if they make minty malt balls because i think that would be quite tasty

Adventures in House-Buying Land, and Other Details

2009-09-18T14:05:00.004-05:00

Once upon a time we tried to buy a house annnnd... it took a very long time. Apparently our seller doesn't actually have the title to the house? And he's in the hospital? So, we're waiting.

I recently had a job interview at the local hospital pharmacy. I was recommended by an employee, so it wasn't a job i had sought and prepared myself for, but I felt that the Lord was giving me an opportunity in one way or another, so I applied. As we are living out of boxes right now, I didn't have anything appropriate to wear, so I went shopping. Skinny girls like me rely on the breadth of shopping available in larger towns to find something that fits properly. There is no breadth here in A-town. There is Maurice's, Stage, little locally-owned cowgirl stores, and Wal-Mart. I ended up at Wal-Mart. In the children's department. I had to buy a pair of pants designed to fit a ten-year-old girl. Good news: I got a pair of suitable trousers. Bad news: I deprived a child of pants. Do note that these pants are about six inches too short and would be better labeled as "capris" on me.

2009-09-06T15:51:00.001-05:00

"Let's be clear: This is a fall, not a collapse. He's not been repudiated or even defeated. He will likely regroup and pass some version of health insurance reform that will restore some of his clout and popularity.

But what has occurred -- irreversibly -- is this: He's become ordinary."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/03/AR2009090302859_pf.html

Verbatim

2009-08-18T21:30:00.003-05:00

"I would be ashamed and embarrassed to peddle this." - Greta Van Susteren, regarding H.R. 3200, the House Democrats' health care reform bill

2009-07-07T19:06:00.002-05:00

clark and i are looking to buy a house. we kind of came to the decision to buy instead of rent hastily, but the more i pray and think about it, the more i am sure it is the right decision for us. we are learning so much about the house-buying process, and really enjoying it. we got estimates for loans, checked out a ton of properties, did mondo internet research, sought counsel from relatives and are feeling pretty good about where we are now. hopefully soon we will be putting in our first offer :D

other news:
- i dropped my class pretty much before it began; it just wasn't the right time.
- i've been blessed to have my job at the elementary school for the past year or so, and am so glad i got to continue during extended school year.
- clark will be taking his very last college course this fall (yeah!).
- we will be in altus by august 1.
- colored bubbles are now available! (i have waited so... verry.... long..... !!!)

later gators

2009-05-24T09:58:00.004-05:00

hello world. since i last blog-posted i have had the flu for a week, quit sonic (they made me work while i was coming down with the flu--NOT COOL), and enrolled in a human anatomy class at OSU-OKC. well, i have done other things, like eating and stuff, but who wants to know about that. you do? okay. while visiting clark's parents we were served Gundelsheim brand original German recipe barrel red cabbage. i guess it is similar to sauerkraut... but better! it is slightly sweet and a little tangy, and clark and i both enjoy it immensely. kae served the cabbage with grilled bratwurst, and i just imitated her meal almost exactly, with the addition of roasted lime broccoli. delicious!

now that food is out of the way, let's discuss my forthcoming summer biology experience. in all of my college years (i graduated high school six years ago this month... yikes!), i have taken many a science class, including lots of biology. that is what you focus on when your intention is nursing school... eventually. but one class i never took was human anatomy, and for good reason! the community college i attended and got my associates in science from was killer in the science department, and their anatomy class was CADAVER DISSECTION. yes, as in the dissection of dead human bodies. i couldn't hack it (no pun intended), so i avoided it and took lots of other classes that are all valuable and necessary. well, fine and good until you actually have to enroll in nursing school (not that i have been accepted yet, but i am anticipating?). completion of a course in human anatomy is a requirement prior to enrolling in the nursing program at WOSC (the two-year school in altus that i hope to attend), and my only available option this summer is another cadaver dissection course at OSU-OKC. which means all this time i have spent avoiding cutting open people has been for naught. sheesh.

there is another important detail of my life: my recent discovery that britain's got talent. makes me cry every time.

good day to you all!

weekend with the in-laws

2009-04-30T19:36:00.005-05:00

we spent the past five days with clark's parents. it was a great time to visit because we got to spend a lot of time with our niece and nephew, hazel and samuel, who we don't see a whole lot of. they are adorable and we love them.

i don't know why the layout of these photos is so wacky?

WWDRD: What Would Dave Ramsey Do? or How We Chose Not to Participate in The Recession

2009-04-07T17:47:00.002-05:00

i don't know how to open this blog post. is it proper or good etiquette to start a blog post with a preface? does it matter? i always found the thesis paragraph the most annoying part of writing essays in school. sooo, no introduction. just read the post.

clark likes to listen to conservative talk radio while he's driving, and a favorite program of his has been the dave ramsey show. about a month ago clark and i borrowed dave ramsey's financial peace university tape series from his parents. along with thesis paragraphs, i have always had a distaste for finances and money in general. people fight over money all the time, and where there is money there is usually bountiful debt (hello, america). mo' money, mo' problems y'all.
but MAN! ever since listening to dave talk about money, and how to make your money work for you, i am PUMPED about finances and money in general! it seems like since clark and i have been taking a more active interest in managing our income, our lives have been blessed with more money. one of the blessings has been a second job for me, which brings me to...

edit: i feel like this paragraph about working at sonic sounded condescending. that was not my intent. the truth is that sonic is stereotyped as being a job for high-schoolers and high school dropouts, and for a reason. however, i really enjoy the company of most of the people i work with, and i'm pretty proud of the ones who haven't finished high school because they work a lot harder than most people i know. /edit

here is what i get paid to do:
i am a carhop. when i am inside the little sonic building i am preparing your tray to bring out to you (laying your straws spoons and napkins out, mostly), making drinks, cleaning our drink/ice cream area, or just standing around. sometimes i refill the ice bins. i am also responsible for bringing out the "smile tray," which has all the fast food necessities such as salt, mustard, ketchup, salsa, ranch and honey mustard packets. i share these duties with the other carhops.

this is merely a glimpse of our life right now, but i just don't posess the blogging stamina to go on. before i finish, let me reiterate how much i love dave ramsey. he is awesome. i wish i were his neighbor or his hairdresser. adieu!

ps.
sonic trivia!
did you know the first ever sonic was started in shawnee, ok?
did you know there is only one sonic drive-in in michigan??

whoa, coins! they totaled $199.

2009-03-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

"hey y'all! see you in belton!"

if you weren't yet aware, THIS is what happened to our hotel. at least we weren't there yet!

2009-03-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

rayna dances for thanksgiving from daniellew on Vimeo.

2009-01-08T15:07:00.000-06:00

hello there. i do not know why it is such an arduous task for me to update this blog. i look at it about one hundred times a week hoping for new photos of friends family and babies. i am just selfish and want to eat up all of your lives, and share none of my own! and clark's own (our own).

feed your brains with these pictures from thanksgiving in San Anton':

i have more photos, but my flash was not functioning so a lot of them are blurry.
it was an enriching trip! i learned a lot about texas history (how did i never learn about the alamo?), and got to eat real texas barbecue right out of a bbq pit!

things as of late

2008-11-09T17:05:00.000-06:00

hello to all, friends and family! i realize that this blog is not often updated, and let me apologize for that and at the same time assure you that we do love you all and think of you often! here is what is going on with clark and danielle recently:

WORK - this takes up most of our time. when i (danielle) am not at lincoln elementary working with kiddos, i am likely babysitting some other kiddos. this is fine because it allows us to pay bills, and also i like dem chillens. clark is still at his student job with the university, and it treats him well.

SCHOOL - this semester we are both part-time students at OU. i am taking a ballet class, which is interesting and tons of fun, and a music of the pacific rim class, which is not tons of fun but certainly interesting. clark is taking two history classes, and they are kinda tough. he's hanging in there. this semester clark also changed his major to multi-disciplinary studies, with an emphasis on history and media. this change came at a good time, and that he was able to do it was a blessing. he now is set to graduate in the spring or summer, with only 15 credit hours left to complete.

NETFLIX - clark and i decided to subscribe to netflix, and let me tell you. it's fun. in the time that we aren't working, in class, or doing classwork, we're usually enjoying the cinema right here at home.

LIFE IS GRAND!

HEY GUYS! WE'RE MARRIED!

2008-09-02T19:23:00.000-05:00

(photo by Erica Jenkins)

...old news, but hey! life is busy!

nephews

2008-05-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

here are some photos from babysitting samuel on may 9th (during bret's graduation). also a photo of clark and i with my nephew avi, whose 12mo birthday was yesterday (may 24th) :D

an update?

2008-05-07T12:35:00.000-05:00

school - we're in finals week! it's hard to believe the semester is already over. finals are stressful, but when they're finished i can start working and focusing on the wedding.
work - clark is still at television and satellite services at OU. he's doing well there and will continue to work during the summer and fall. i was just hired by Norman Public Schools to be an instructional tutor for autistic students at Lincoln Elementary School. i start on monday (may 12th) and will work for a couple weeks before school is out for summer, and then hopefully i will be able to tutor during summer school as well. i will continue in the fall in the same position.
wedding - i'm trying to find a bridesmaid dress presently. i will decide on other things based on this choice.
cats - they are happy and enjoy clark's new apartment that has stairs for them to run up and down.

that's the low-down. later gators.

clark and i at a football game fall '07

this is our first blog post.

2008-05-04T21:03:00.000-05:00

more to come