Finished.

January 2010 a project began. Honestly, there were days I thought it would never be finished. EVER. Roughly one-hundred years ago this was my great-grandparents first bedroom set (there are also two nightstands) after they were married. Fast forward about 90 years and it was painted white and purple to go in a nursery for one of my cousins. Fast forward another 10 years, A LOT of sweat, work, maybe even a couple tears, and a few glass knobs... and it's finished and beautiful! When we started stripping it I never imagined it would look like this in the end. I will have this until the day I die... and will come back and haunt my children if they ever get rid of it! :)

( you can click these pictures to make them bigger to admire that pretty wood)



So, why do I love this piece so much? The history with it. Having this furniture not only makes me proud, but makes me feel closer to them both.


Of course I didn't know them, but I know their stories and the rich history they contributed to our family; truly fascinating. My great-grandfather was an early aviator (and also in the Air Force) who had many accomplishments and rightfully earned bragging rights for his time. I mean come on, he set a world flying record with Amelia Earhart- famous name dropping would be super easy for him. When the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped my grandmother remembers being a child and stopping by their house to drop off food and give condolences. I'm telling you, they have some great stories. I just googled him and among pictures, found MIT documents from his training and work through MIT- the man was seriously a genius, information about him flying on the Hindenburg and other cool little things. Here are a couple pictures:




And after some furniture rearranging in the house, it finally has a place in a room and is all ready to greet a friend that is coming to stay tomorrow!

Happy Anniversary!

no blog challenge post today- it's a special post :)

Five years as Mr. & Mrs. Dreier. Husband and Wife. Through good times and bad. Richer and Poor. Sickness and Health. As long as we both shall live.

Neither of us can believe it has been five years already. We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other over the course of these five years. We've had many good times with a few doses of hard times too, all makings us happier, stronger and better together. All things considered, we are beyond blessed with the life we have together. We can't even imagine where we will be in five more years.


In 2006 we began our lives together. Never in a million years, would we have thought that our life-long crushes for each other would lead to a marriage! Our wedding couldn't have been more perfect for the two of us- it was just the way we wanted it, beautiful and fun, surrounded by our families and friends. A couple very special family members are no longer with us, and we are especially thankful they were able to share that day in our lives with us.



I was thinking about all of our anniversaries and the years we've had and decided it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane.

The day it all began....


After a wonderful honeymoon to Belize, and a vacation to NJ and a trip into NYC, we came back and started learning what "being married" was all about- sharing space, paying bills, cooking, cleaning, having animals, and going to school... and a fun trip to Cancun for Rachel and Mathew's wedding.


We decided to celebrate our very first anniversary in a special way because Tony was about to leave for Iraq. We had such an incredible time together on our cruse. Two weeks after we returned he left for Iraq. It was a tough year. I lived in Tulsa to be closer to my family and tried to keep myself busy by living in, and remodeling, the home I grew up in. Tony had a really long year hating the desert. After he came home we took a trip to the Grand Canyon to celebrate.


We celebrated our second anniversary during a trip to Michigan with Tony's family. We stayed at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth for our anniversary. It's an awesome little German town with cheese shops, fudge shops, cuckoo clock shops, and even a jewelry store where Tony bought me a pair of diamond earrings. When we returned from this trip we spent the rest of the summer working on our new home in Norman. We moved back to Norman to our new house, and had a year full of house projects, and getting back into the groove of school and life in Norman. And, this was the year our sweet nieces Lydia and Addison were born!


Our third anniversary was during the summer I was taking classes trying to finish school and Tony was officially a college graduate with his first "real" job. We took our anniversary day and spent it discovering Turner Falls for the first time. After my summer classes were over, Tony took vacation from work, and we joined my parents on another cruise. For the rest of the year, Tony tried to enjoy his job while I finished school. Me graduating was a success, him enjoying his job? Not so much. I don't blame him for that, and I really appreciate him working, sticking it out for as long as he could, and supporting me through the end of school.


Well, during our fourth anniversary we both had "real" jobs, took vacation, and spoiled ourselves with a couple days in NYC during our NJ Beach vacation. Upon returning home, Tony put in his notice at work and went back to school full-time to take the classes he needed in order to go to Medical School. I kept working but soon realized, even though I had a good job, Sales/Marketing just wasn't something I found interesting or the least bit rewarding. I decided I wanted to go to nursing school, but couldn't start right away. While Tony continued his classes, I decided to take a leap of faith (and courage) and go to Ethiopia and volunteer in an orphanage. I came back with a totally new and different perspective on life, and started back at school.


And here we are today... both back in school and school wouldn't dare let us take a vacation anywhere right now. We went back to Turner Falls to spend the day relaxing with each other. We laid down by the waterfall and read, and it was amazing- so peaceful and relaxing. We came back to Norman and went to dinner. It was a simple day, but exactly what we needed.... and the thought of a camera or taking a picture never crossed our minds. Oops.

I guess you'll just have to stay tuned for all this next year holds-- there's NO telling where we will be next year!

Love you, forever.

I've been avoiding this topic for the past couple of weeks. I simply have no words. I've been filled with lots of emotions- sadness, thankfulness, reminiscence, peace, happiness, anger, hopefulness, and more. In my heart I know it was his time, which gives a peace, but it still hurts. It wasn't unexpected; in the last few days we shared many "I love you's", spent hours holding hands, and in the very end exchanged smiles and eye contact that expressed feelings that words could never serve justice. He died peacefully, which is the way we all wanted it to be. He was witty, smart, funny, caring and has a family who all admires him. He had 89 wonderful years of love, laughter, family and friends, and enjoyed life to the fullest-- that's something to celebrate! The day before he died, January 31st, was the 70th anniversary of my Grandmom and Grandpop's first date. Wow, what a love story! As she was lying in bed Sunday night I snuggled up behind her and said, "Just think, 70 years ago tonight you had no idea what was in store for you the next day." She responded, "Yeah, or the rest of my life." I believe there's a Heaven. How can people not? He's restored. He's perfect. He's with his little Linda, whom he waited so many years to hold once more. He's happy and free.

I could go on and on, but I won't. He knew that I love him with all of my heart and I know that he loved me, after all, I was "his little sweetheart". I'm so lucky and so proud to have had him in my life. I owe so many "thank you's" to him for so many things... and one last thank you. I received the best and most priceless gift from him this past Saturday- his Eeyore. He always loved Eeyore, so I gave it to him when I was younger to keep him company when he had back surgery. Since then it's always been by his bed. On the underside of the little tag it reads, "I love Melissa. (heart) GP". I'm sure he wrote it years ago knowing this day would come. However, I'm also sure he never knew how much it would mean to me.

Grandpop, I will love you forever. xoxo



"A Parable of Immortality" by Henry van Dyke
I am standing by the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes! Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the places of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, 'There she goes!', there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: 'Here she comes!'

Charles P.W. Crowell Jr. of Tulsa, formerly of Brielle, N.J., passed away peacefully at home on February 1, 2011, surrounded by his family. Charles “Chuck” was born on July 8, 1921, in Upper Montclair, N.J. He was graduated in the class of ‘43 from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force serving in WWII and the Korean War. He was a 32nd degree Mason. Chuck retired from Warren Petroleum/Gulf Oil after 30 years. In his retirement he enjoyed golf and spending time at the Jersey shore with his family. He was the beloved husband, for 63 years, of Madeline Aldrin. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son Dr. Charles P.W. Crowell III and his wife, Jeannie, of Fairfax, OK and three daughters, Elizabeth Brandon and her husband, Greg, of Tulsa, Cathy Anello and her husband Beau of Tulsa, and Lori Hebenstreit and her husband Steve of Croydon, PA. He was preceded in death by his daughter Linda Crowell in 1963. He was the loving grandfather of 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Friends and family are invited to attend a Celebration of his Life to be held at Asbury United Methodist Church on Saturday, February 12, at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.