Cheese Fries with Friends/House Tour

Tammy and I have been friends since 1995 when we met each other working in a daycare in Stillwater. We have both since moved a couple of times but she still has some family in Stillwater so she comes to visit a few times a year.

Tammy and her girls got to come to her sister's house for Easter so the kids and I took a day to drive to Stillwater and share some cheese fries at Eskimo Joes. Of course, we had to do some shopping in Joe's Clothes afterward.

The drive to Stillwater was downpour after downpour almost the whole time.

Driving in the rain was worth it to get to have some cheese fries with friends.




Before leaving Stillwater, I took the kids on a driving tour of all the places Jimmy and I lived before moving to where we are now.

The grayish building on the right you see sitting there alone in the parking lot backed up to our first apartment after we were married. It was tiny apartment with one bedroom and bath and two very small closets. it was small but big enough for the two of us with such humble beginnings. That apartment complex has since been torn down to make room for more parking when the OSU football field was expanded.
After about five months, we had the opportunity to move to a bigger place which allowed us to have dogs. This house has since changed owners and they have added a whole bunch of "landscaping" in the front that was not there when we occupied the house. This house is what they used to call a "shotgun house." They say you could stand at the front door and shoot your gun all the way through to the back door without any obstructions.
Next, Jimmy and I moved to Kansas for about a year for a job opportunity that was more than we could imagine. Once that was over, we moved back to Stillwater so that we could take turns finishing school. We lived south of town and this house will always have some sad memories for us that I will not uncover here on the blog. The garage had a small apartment over it that the landlord rented out to a single student while we rented the house itself.
The next house was only a couple of blocks from the campus. Jimmy had graduated from OSU and was working 4-ten hour days in Tulsa and I was going to school so we wanted to be closer to campus. We thought it was safer but for those of you that know Stillwater, we lived right behind McDonald's on 6th Street and two doors down from The Barn. The only thing good that came from this house was that we found out we were pregnant with Hannah while living here.
Since we found out we were pregnant, we wanted to find something in a quieter location before the baby was born. I happened upon an ad for a house south of town towards Perkins on over 300 acres. Jimmy was in heaven before we even looked at it.

It was a sweet little 3-bedroom brick house with garage, huge kitchen and beautiful wood floors. The landlord was an elderly man and had a workshop on the property but kept to himself and was more than gracious when we would offer to do repair work for him. We will always have special memories because Hannah came home from the hospital to this house and had almost all of her first two years in this house.

Unfortunately, I could not get a good picture of this house because I would have had to drive up the driveway and I did not want to worry anybody that was home.
If we had had the opportunity to stay in that house we would still be there today but God had other plans for us. The landlord's daughter wanted to move home to be closer to her parents who were starting to fail in health. He had always told her that if she moved back, she could have the land and house. He came to us with a heavy heart with the news that we would have to move. We understood but it was not an easy move emotionally.

I was on the search again and found a house in the neighborhood behind the movie theater. Another three bedroom house that was bigger and had kids next door for Hannah to play with. The downfall to this house was we were not allowed dogs, even in the backyard so one went to my parent's house while the other two went to Jimmy's parent's house.

Hannah helped me plant flowers in the garden along the house, got her first swing set for her second birthday, moved to a big girl bed and swung a golf club for the first time all at this house.
This house was a good option for us but the landlord left a lot to be desired. I understand that the landlords have to have rules to keep their properties in good condition, especially in a college town but this one was way over the line more than once.

The next house was located north of Stillwater in Noble county and Morrison school district. It was another 3-bedroom but a bigger garage and yard plus the master bedroom had another room built with a hot tub. The biggest plus was that we were able to have pets outside again and we desperately missed having them with us.

This house was where Hannah got her cat, Boots, who saved her life when he ate a bug for her. Also, we experienced a miscarriage while living here but it was also where we lived when I graduated from college and Hannah had her third birthday party.

I wonder if the owners of this house has changed. It is definitely not been kept up as nice as when we lived there. I noticed a broken pane in the window, overgrown flower gardens and an old hot water heater piled up next to the garage. Jimmy said he wonders if the 70s orange counter tops were still in the house.
The last house we lived in in Stillwater was back in town east of the Best Western. We had nice neighbors and plenty of kids to play with and we were just a few blocks from where our church was meeting at the time.

This house had four bedrooms and two living areas so Hannah had a great playroom all to herself. While living here, my dad built her a playhouse for her fourth birthday, she was a yellow crayon for Halloween, Boots the cat was killed by a dog and we found out we were pregnant with Jordan.
I know what you are thinking. Yes, we moved a lot! I like change but now that we have four kids, more stuff, and live close to family, we are staying put where we are. If we make any changes it will be to add another bedroom and bathroom. Jimmy says he will not leave this house unless it is in a hearse.