Living Happily Ever After - Issue 1 - 1994

Florida Cowboys..

Volume 1 - December 1994

Note: Our title was derived from Oklahoma State University Cowboys and our Florida origin. If you have any ideas for a great title, please let us know....Name changed to Living Happily Ever After in 1995

The Kickoff

The words I DO! rang like chimes throughout Boyd Hill Nature Park on July 16. Over 150 people witnessed the ceremony which brought us together as husband and wife. After the ceremony we had a wonderful time partying at the reception. Then it was on to t he honeymoon! All of this hoopla was surrounded with incredible gifts. Mom Brown’s living and dining room were starting to look like a department store. There were tables with gifts on them, under them, around them! It was so much fun to open them all ! We have terrific pictures of everyone’s faces while we opened card after card, gift after gift! The best thing about all of this (aside from getting to spend the rest of our lives together) was getting to see so many of our favorite people! We reall y enjoyed seeing so many family members and friends. Our only regret was that our wedding could not last for several weeks so we would be able to spend more time with everyone!

Let’s hear it for technology!

Keeping in touch with each other during the early months of this year was both easy and inexpensive with the use of computers. Modern technology made it possible for us to chat (talk to each other simultaneously on computer) on many occasions even thoug h we were 1400 miles apart. We also managed to electronically mail hundreds of messages to each that would arrive at their destination minutes after being sent. All this “free” use of computers kept phone bills down considerably

25,000 air miles later.....

Compiling frequent flyer miles came naturally forus this year. The first 7 months of this year had us nearly 1400 miles away from each other which neither one of us was too happy about. Liston was in Oklahoma taking classes, while Caroline remained in F lorida to finish up at UCF and work at Boyd Hill Nature Park. To resolve this unhappiness we felt the need to visit Dallas, Tampa, Houston, Orlando, St. Louis, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Tulsa International Airports. (It’s hard to tell whether we spent more time in class or in airplanes this year.)

The end is near?

Classes have been going very well for both of us this year and graduations are fast approaching. Liston had the opportunity to intern with the Vice President of Student Services this semester. An experience he thoroughly enjoyed. Liston will also be gra duating with a Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration this month. And thanks to an assistantship in IE, he will be working on his PhD in Industrial Engineering & Management for the next 3 or so years. Caroline, on the other hand, will be gra duating with her Speech Pathology Bachelor’s Degree in May 1995. Caroline will start work on her Master’s degree in the Fall... the NEARBY location of which is still being determined.

NEWSFLASH! Summer ‘95 plans still not finalized. Looking into the possibility of spending the summer outside Florida. If you can help us with finding jobs, etc. please call!

We love to drive and it shows...

Traveling for us has been both fun and a test of endurance. Thank goodness our driving has almost come to an end for the year. We will finish the year out by driving to Florida for Christmas, and start the New Year off right by hopping in the car and ret urning to Stillwater.

Oklahoma bound - Our first trip to Oklahoma was in January to drop Liston off at Oklahoma State. That trip was a very cold one, but we got a welcomed relief from the cold by stopping in Hot Springs, Arkansas for a few hours. Much to our s urprise we also got to see the Presidential motorcade! Liston drove to Florida with Errol (best man at wedding) at the end of the Spring semester, and drove BACK to Oklahoma for summer school a month later. At the end of summer school Liston once again got friendly with the road and drove the 24 hours straight to get to St. Petersburg.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee - After Liston returned from Oklahoma, we hopped in a mini van with several friends and went to Gatlinburg Tennessee (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) for a weekend of hiking and some icy cold swimming! We even got a chance to hike to the top of Clingman’s Dome (highest point in Tennessee) at 3 o’clock in the morning. Boyee, was it cold and wet. Upon our return from Tennessee, we packed up the car and set out for Oklahoma in time to start classes. (You would be am azed at how much Liston can pack in the Hyundai).
Thanksgiving in Ohio & Indiana - Our next adventure was a 2500 mile Thanksgiving week trip. There were several relatives who had not met Caroline or had not met Liston so we drove to Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana to resolve that ma tter. It was well worth the drive.

Here’s to Alpha Phi Omega!

As Liston was preparing to leave for OSU, we realized that A Phi O (National Service Fraternity that we met each other through in Florida) did not exist at OSU. We have taken on the task of rechartering it here. We have had a fun semester and recruited a dozen dedicated people. In the past 15 weeks we have done some really neat Service Projects. We started out by painting a Giant US map (36’ x 36’) on the playground of a local elementary school. We have since then washed dogs for the Humane Society, raised money for the March of Dimes by Painting orange and black faces at a football game, helped work a Hunger Walk, made Halloween Costumes for University children, worked the Christmas store, and Organized & judged events during a Boy Scout Camporee. Making the Halloween Costumes turned out to be a lot of fun. We made dozens of Power Ranger costumes, worked on Ninjas, witches, spirits, and princesses. Liston worked for almost 2 hours with one child on an X-man Wolverine costume to get it exactly ho w the child wanted it. (It looked terrific!) The other super fun project was the Boy Scout Camporee. It was a very cold and pretty wet morning when we headed out to Lake Carl Blackwell to get last minute instructions. We set up a compass course, blind folded tent pitching, and several fire building, first aid, and knot tying activities. The kids had a ball, and we did too! We even received a plaque at the closing campfire that evening!

Classes? I have classes???

Since classes don’t occupy ALL of our time, we have worked hard to find alternative ways to occupy those 168 weekly hours.

Caroline’s Endeavors - Caroline has spent quite a bit of time doing volunteer work at a local elementary school this semester. What started out as 12 hours of obligatory volunteer work in an Exceptional Children program at a local elementary s chool turned into a long-term commitment with a class of severely multi-handicapped individuals. This, in turn, led to Caroline being able to observe with a Speech Pathologist at the school in addition to her regular volunteer work. She plans to continu e (and hopefully expand on these things) in the Spring. Caroline was also involved with the Oklahoma State University Volunteer Center, the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association, and the planning committee for an Outdoor classroom at a local elementary school.
Liston’s Endeavors - Liston was elected Student Government Association Graduate College Senator and Representative to the Off-Campus Student Association this semester. Other activities for the coming semester include Institute of Industrial En gineers officer (elections not finalized), Treasurer of the Educational Administration and Higher Education Department club, and representative to the traffic appeals board, campus safety committee, and allied arts board.
Bowling - Our bowling team didn’t do so hot in the rankings (8 of 10) but we both had a lot of fun. Caroline, who is relatively new to bowling, improved greatly from week to week. We plan to bowl weekly next semester also.
Spectator Activities -Attending most sporting events (basketball, football, wrestling, plus others) has provided hours of entertainment. We also went to all the Theater (2 shows) and Allied Arts (orchestra, Harlem spiritual ensemble) performan ces as well. We also went camping a couple of times and explored Tulsa and Oklahoma City on numerous occassion to keep ourselves active.

Coming Soon...

As the New Year fast approaches, we have been finalizing our plans for Christmas and the coming year. Right after Christmas, Caroline is going to the A Phi O National Conference in Dallas, and Liston is going to be busy being a smiley Walt Disney World c astmember.

Date Posted: 05/09/96
bias@pobox.com