Tag Archives: Heather

Skywatch – Standup Paddleboarding on Broken Bow Lake

Heather and I on our recent short getaway to southeast Oklahoma had a great combination of activity and rest. We spent a lot of time at the cabin reading but we also spent a lot of time hiking and one afternoon we rented a kayak and a paddleboard at Broken Bow Lake.

The lake is also part of Beavers Bend State Park and we found a concession who is open on the weekend. I got the kayak and Heather got the paddle board. I can do paddle boards, I really can, kind of, but they are a lot of work. Kayaking is a lot easier. Heather loves paddle boards. She teaches a class in our gym’s pool where one stands on the boards and does things. I take the class but I am pretty shaky.

The lake was beautiful and the day was gorgeous. A slight haze in the air. I was wondering if was from the horrendous fires in California, Oregon, and other places in the west.

Being the weekend after Labor Day there were not that many people out on the lake. Seems like most of them were from Texas.

Heather showing her chops with the paddle.

And busting out some yoga moves for good measure.

We were out for two hours. We went here, there, and everywhere.

And then it was time to bring them in.

And of course I wore my Garmin watch to document the adventure. I mean it didn’t really happen if it wasn’t documented, right?

And then back to the cabin to chill. It was a great place to chill. We didn’t spend much times indoors. We spent most of the time on the deck with its sectional couch and the hot tub which I didn’t take a photo of for some reason. So if I didn’t take a picture of it, did it really exist?

I’m so thankful that we could take this little trip.

Anyway, we had a great time. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Go check it out.

Thanksgiving 2018

We had a small group for Thanksgiving this year. Just me, my wife, Heather, her Mom, Nana, and my brother Bob who drove over from Tennessee. We Nana’s two bratty dogs and reclusive cat. We left our three bratty mutts and two spoiled cats at home. Yes, we are bad critter parents.

It was low key. Nana did most of the cooking except for the chicken and ribs. I smoked them the day before. We had lots to eat.

I went to bed Wednesday night not feeling well and it got worse before it got better later the next morning.

20181122-140752-14 — **Fiona doing her best grin. Didn’t work, no ribs or chicken for her!!**

Brother Bob and I watched a lot of football. We saw Chicago beat the Detroit Lions and then later on we watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins. You know I wasn’t a hundred percent because I did not have one beer during the game, or all day for that matter.

I’m a geocacher and so while on a gas run I found a cache. You have to be sneaky like this if you want to be a geocacher. I have almost 1600 and I am trying to get to 2000 before the end of 2019. So I have to be sneaky. By the way the cache above is a special type called a skirt lifter because they are hidden under the skirts of parking lot lights.

I eventually felt good enough to have two or three “half glasses” of wine. You know a half glass doesn’t really count right?

Anyway, it was low key but we were together and that made it great!!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well.

I was very grateful for my family today.

Shopping with Heather

I guess that I am a little different that some husbands. When Heather goes shopping, I almost always go with her if I can. She is my best friend and I am rarely bored especially with my phone and my various camera and filter apps. So this is a recent trip.

We went to Sprouts. Sprouts used to have these stern signs at the entrance to the store that photography was strictly forbidden. Yeah, you gotta be kidding me man. So I took pics of everything in sight. They don’t have the signs any more but I still take pics of lots of stuff. I love these pears.

And their flowers! I love them also. I was using the Hipstamatic App to take photos. I love Hipstamatic.

And then we went to Steinmart. I found these bears.

And these purse chains.

And these bears!

And these little knick knacks.

I found these shorts. I love them, but I have way too many clothes. Should I go back and get a pair?

I loved this shirt also. Should I get I go back and get this one. The slightest encouragement would cause me to do so. I think Logan has this same shirt. Maybe he will let me borrow his.

Anyway, so much for shopping trip today.

Tulsa’s “Top of the Town 2018” – Exploring Tulsa’s Notable Buildings

Thursday night Heather and I attended a fund raiser “Top of the Town” in downtown Tulsa benefiting the Community Service Council of Tulsa, a social services organization

So you pay some money, you get a wrist band, and you get access to some cool buildings downtown that are not public. So we got to see some really neat rooftop patios, and a deluxe apartment and other spaces. They had some kind of either drink or food or both at each place.

This is the old Petroleum Club. It went defunct years ago and now some internet based company ripped out the flooring, ceilings, wall coverings, put in some funky lights and miles of tables. Cool, trendy, yes and I think a comment on where our society and culture is going. Things are changing, whether we want them to or not is what I say.

We got to go into somebody’s private apartment in another building. I fell in love with the place. I loved this cozy space in the corner with the big windows. We have three dogs though who are thoroughly spoiled and like going outside a bunch to do their business and give the neighbors a good barking. And books, the people that live there are readers, reading decent books.

And from the living space you open a big double door into an office suite. How nice is that!! I don’t know though, that may not be enough space.

One of the neat things about Top of the Town is that from one party you could see the other parties going on. We attended all of them, except for the VIP venue. I heard it wasn’t that good. sniff, sniff.

And here is another one attended.

And yet another.

And got to photograph and see some great buildings from the oil capital days.

And here is the Mayo Hotel with its beautiful terra cotta details and the big neon sign. I love that sign but it is hard to get a decent pic of it.

And one of my favorites, actually a little bit out of downtown. Bruce Goff’s magnificent Boston Avenue Church in all its art deco glory.

We enjoyed music at several venues.

We ended up at the 110 West Seventh Street building, everybody calls it the Oxy Building or the Cities Service building. I worked in the building up until 19 years ago. The top floor was out of date back then, and they haven’t changed a thing!

We had a great time!!

Skywatch Friday – Mid May 2018 Edition

Well May is well on its way and it has certainly warmed up around here and it is about time.

I apologize but I am going to bombard you yet again with a barrage of action cam shots from my bicycle rides. I have ridden over 200 miles this Spring. I do it every chance I can. I love it and it is a lot easier on the knees than running was. It is not near as good for cardiovascularwise. It is hard to get your heart rate up.

Heather has joined me a lot also. She teaches Zumba and other exercise classes so often times she rides after teaching two or three classes and she is still ready to ride a bunch of miles.

On one of my rides, I got to the literal “End of the Trail.” Most trails end a little more gracefully than this. The end at a road or something. Oh well.

Lets get out of the sun for a little bit and head to Tulsa’s beautiful Woodward Park. The azaleas were in bloom recently. The park’s shrubs got freeze damaged a few years ago so they are re-establishing the vegetation and doing a very good job of it in my opinion. It is not up to what it used to be but it is on its way.

I know nothing about flowers, and blooms but I know what I like. It was opportunity for me to practice what I learned about depth of field and making have a “soft” background.

More practice!

The season doesn’t seem to last too long and the strong winds that we have been very hard on the blooms.

What have you been up to lately?

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday!

Shadow Shot Sunday – Riverside Ride

This Friday was my 9/80 day. I work 80 hours over nine days and get every other Friday off. I love it!! Been doing it for years despite criticism at work sometimes for taking off all my 9/80s. Yeah well duh. Anyway Heather and I wanted to go on a bike ride today. For a while it seemed like the very air was conspiring against us but it all worked out and we loaded up the bikes and headed off to the River Parks. Then, my bike had a little problem. A problem with the brakes. Believe me, if you are having a problem with your bicycle you do not want it to be your brakes. So I spent about fifteen minutes trying to fix them and suceeded. Yeah!!

And here is my very patient wife. All ready to go, waiting on her husband.

And off we went! First down a very nice rails to trails path that cuts through a very nice area of midtown Tulsa.

And then because of some park construction we got out on a street. It was a beautiful, sunny, cool day, with hardly any wind (8 mph is hardly any wind in Oklahoma, just so you know). As you can see we had some nice shadows all day long.

And then we got to the RiverParks trails. We love them. They have separate paths for cyclists and pedestrians

Heather led the way back to the car.

We got back to the end and had a reward. There is a brewery taphouse on the trail so we enjoyed a craft beer before the ride home.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Heather’s BollyX Demo Class at Utica Square

My wife, Heather, in addition to being a wife, mother, daughter and all around great woman is an exercise instructor. She teaches Zumba, Drum Fit, Aqua Zumba and other classes to variety of people mainly at the Health Zone and other places. One thing she is certified to do but hardly ever gets to do it is teach BollyX. A dance fitness exercise based on India’s Bollywood music. Heather loves Bollywood films and dancing so she is excited about teaching it. She was very excited to get a chance to teach a BollyX class at Tulsa’s Utica Shopping Center at the Athleta store early last Saturday morning.

The class is free and it is outside so it was a little nippy at the start. Heather got the three people who showed up going though. I had never seen her teach a class before and I was really impressed how good she is. She even let me take photos and record some of the class. There were only three people but they were game and went to the end.

There was even a guy there.

The class was about 45 minutes or so. I got a little chilly watching but Heather and her students got warmed up very well and looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Even the nearby Nutrcracker puppets got into it.

And with BollyX you end the class posing with the “X”

And you have to have a dramatic pose as well.

I think everybody had fun. Afterward Athleta had water for everybody and a drawing for a gift certificate. Pretty good odds with only three people.

Emily and Libby get Hitched

This past weekend we ventured to Oklahoma City with the world’s greatest MIL, Nana, to attend the wedding of our sweet friends and family, Libby and Emily above. No they didn’t get married in a swimming pool!! This is from earlier.

It was a classy affair. Instead of a guest book they had this thing. You signed a little wooden heart and put it in a slot at the top. Being the classy guy I am, I not only signed it, I went ahead and put a Dallas Cowboys star next to my name. Not that they are Cowboys fans, but they should be!!! Right!!?? I don’t see my name. Some Eagles fan probably took it out.

The wedding party was very attractive. I stole this pic from Cheri Lou’s facebook. She is probably going to sue me for doing that. So I need you to contribute to my legal defense fund. Just send me your credit card number including that four digit supernumber that unlocks all sorts of good things and your billing address. I anticipate ongoing needs so dont’ be cheap with me.

And this is a Yogi original photo. I mean what is up with this group of people, they are ll over the place. Look at them. That is Sweetie on the left, then Nana, then Cheri Lou, and behind her is her husband, Sweetie’s cousin, Joe, and the kid in the back is Logan. Quite a group wouldn’t you say, and the bar isn’t even open. This is my photo but Cheri Lou is probably going to sue over this picture as well. So double up on the legal defense fund. And Sweetie is going to dump me so I need an extra donation for that also. And you will never guess it from this photo, but The BAR WAS NOT EVEN OPEN yet!! Yep, they are all stone cold sober.

And here is me with the kid and Heather aka Sweetie. Doesn’t she have a sweet smile?

And here is Nana and bored grandson.

And here is the cake, You can tell the bar still isn’t open.

Things are looking up though. Heather and I found a shuffleboard table. We do shuffleboard!! We courted playing shuffleboard. That is our thing. We also found a cooler. At least I did.

More selfies, you can tell the bar isn’t open yet!!

After the ceremony, the bar opened!! And Sweetie danced. She loves line dancing. I can’t do it.

Logan wouldn’t dance with his Mom, (this is awkward he said). But he cut a rug with his Aunt Cheri Lou.

And next thing I knew, Heather is leading the Conga line. Why not?

Yep, Emily and Libby got hitched and it was a heck of a party.

Skywatch Friday – Anniversary Edition

On Sunday Heather and I went for a bike ride. We drove 14 miles in nice weather under a beautiful blue sky.

And because I’m such a nerd, here is a video of the route we took.

Saturday night we celebrated our Anniversary in style at a trendy restaurant downtown. The Bull in the Alley, only ten tables in the place. But it is deluxe.

We had lots of real estate to ourselves. We had a nice leisurely dinner. We’ll be going back.

The entrance is in an alley. Who’d of thought. No sign or anything.

We also have a new member of the family. A nice little female kitten. She has taken over the house. We are trying to name her. The vet we got her from calls her Wendy. We think Windy might be more apt because she is kind of gassy. We are thinking Izzy or Lizzy or Chloe sounds good. What do you think? She is very sweet and not scared of our goofy dogs at all.

Nana kind likes her also.

Heather is already hooked, and so am I.

Anway, that is what is up with us. I did post a bit of the sky so this is my Skywatch Friday post.

Happy Father’s Day Dad

Another Father’s Day and I am blessed to still have my Father. He lives a thousand miles away but I think about him all the time. He is my personal hero. Dad is getting better at the group selfie thing.

He grew up in the plains of South Dakota but somehow became a Forest Ranger with the US Forest Service.

We lived in some really out of the way places. This was Coyote, New Mexico. In case you are wondering, I am the good looking kid. It has been years since my brother and I have held hands like that. It may be a few years before it happens again.

He fought forest fires for a living.

And suffered from the same photography frustrations as I do now. Left to right I think that is me, sister Ellen, and brother Bob.

Dad was always student of history. We took a journey to Fort Sill, Oklahoma several years ago and found Geronimo’s grave in a very out of the way place on a very cold day in November.

Here is a publicity still by the Forest Service with him and me and my Smokey Bear on the Santa Fe National Forest. I am still waiting for the royalty check.

Here is Mom and Dad in Ireland back in the 80’s. They had lots of fun together.

This is Dad with my sister Ellen, brother Bob, and me at a church reunion in Payson, Arizona.

Dad even tried a little geocaching, here with me and sister Ellen. Mainly trying to be a good sport more than a love for the sport. He was always a good sport.

He has slowed down a little bit but is still sharp as a tack and is still living life.

Happy Father’s Day Dad, I love you.

YogisDen.us

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