We SURVIVED our first...and hopefully last TORNADO!

Its true, at about 2:00pm on February 10, 2009 Mike and I were sitting on the couch watching television when we heard a noise outside our window that sounded like the Tornado Warning Signal! The only other time I have heard this signal is on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm when they do the weekly test! Suddenly panic began to rise inside of me and I felt extremely worried! We quickly turned the tv to a local news station to find out that there was a tornado warning for Oklahoma City and its surrounding areas! It storm that could likely turn into a tornado was about 10 miles North of us...in the city where some of our good friends live! As we watched the news report, they were asking people to get to their shelters, to get away from windows and brace themselves for a tornado. Mike had to leave for work at 3:00pm so I was really anxious to be at home by myself...but I knew what to do if the tornado started coming my way. Pretty soon the storm headed north east of us and we were out of the warning area. As I continued to watch the tv, two more tornados appeard on the map...but all were at least 10-15 miles from me...thank goodness! The local news stations stated that there hasn't been a tornado in February since 2000...we must bring good luck to Oklahoma! Tornado season does not actually start until April! As most of you know, the third tornado absolutely devistated a city called Lone Grove and killed nine people, along with hundreds of injuries and a lot of damage to buildings, streets and power lines! I am truly grateful that Mike and I were not in the line of this tornado. It really opened our eyes to what "being prepared" truly means! We have made a goal to have two 24 hour packbacks in case of an emergency...because you just never know! Our thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered any kind of loss from this tornado!

* Our area of Oklahoma City where we live did not get hit with any tornados..but did get hit with severe thunderstorms, wind and huge hail (reports were made of baseball size hail in parts of the city!)....so these pictures are ones that I found on the internet!

Oklahoma State University!

On Saturday Mike and I decided to attend an Oklahoma State University wrestling match againt Missouri! OSU is in Stillwater Oklahoma...about an hour and a half from Oklahoma City! We had a really great time! We headed down there early and had a little dinner and then went to the match. Ever since we knew we would be spending some time in Oklahoma, Mike had mentioned that he wanted to attend a wrestling match...so he loved every minute of it! OSU prides themselves on their athletic events including wrestling! Cowboy Wrestling is perhaps the most storied program in all of college athletics. OSU's incredible 34 team national championships are the most collected by any school in any one sport. The Cowboys have also produced 133 individual national champions, including the sport's first-ever four-time champion, Pat Smith. I have to admit, that even though I dont love wrestling I really enjoyed myself very much! The OSU mascot was seriously the coolest...he is called Pistol Pete (he is a cowboy of course) and his face is entirely plastic...he is cool....check out his picture! We hope to enjoy a few more college athletic events while we are here! We also saw the Stillwater Firestation (so naturally I had to take a picture for both dad and Brons!)! Enjoy! P.S....Oklahoma State got their butts kicked!

Oklahoma is a very ....interesting place... here are a few fun facts to enjoy!

* The world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935!

* Vinita Oklahoma was the first town in the state to have electricity. It is also the oldest incorporated town in the state.

* Oklahoma was the setting for the movie "Twister"!

* The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City.

* The town of Beaver is the Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World. Here that the World Championship Cow Chip Throw is held each April.

* Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa and grew up in Yukon Oklahoma

* The official State Meal of Oklahoma is chicken fried steak, fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, black eyed peas and pecan pie.

* The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist attack on April 19, 1995 aimed at the U.S. government in which the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, an office complex in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed. The attack claimed 168 lives and left over 800 people injured.

* The name "Oklahoma" comes from the Choctaw words: "okla" meaning people and "humma" meaning red, so the state's name literally means "red people.

* The famous cowboy, singer and comedian Will Rogers hailed from Oklahoma

* America's most famous highway is celebrated at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma. The highway stretched from Chicago to California and was the road used by many Oklahomans to flee from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to the greener pastures of the Golden State.

* Oklahoma state flower is mistletoe!