Justin & Melissa

Update!

2009-07-09T11:34:00.003-05:00

OK here is an update since I haven't in FOREVER!
School is halfway over for the summer! I am LOVING my classes even though they are exhausting me. Justin is doing awesome in his as usual!
Justin has been at MidFirst for a month now and really enjoys it. He has had to go to OKC for training multiple times. One of the times it was a week long training and I was able to take off most of the week and go stay with him. We had a fun week spending lots of time together!
We have started a new workout deal. We are doing P90X. If you don't know what that is - google it or go to youtube and type it in to see transformations. It is VERY hard and super intense - but we are loving it! In 90 days we will post our before and after results if they are as amazing as they should be! The best part is that we work out now for an hour at the minimum a day. So we get to spend that time together, yes working our butts off, but it is fun time together!
In 3 weeks we will both be done with summer school and have a few weeks break. I only have 1 semester left until all you folks have to refer to me as Master! HA JK!
He only has 2 semesters left and he is finished!
Also in the past month we bought a Jetski. I grew up with them so I am a fan but he has been dying for one. So we went for and we are very happy we did! We are planning on going this weekend so I will have to get pictures up soon if we do!
I will ask that you keep us in your prayers. We have been going through some dissappointments and we know that all we have to do is have faith that God knows better than we do and His plans are always better than ours! Patience is a virtue!
My big 25th birthday is coming up in about a month. I can't believe I am almost halfway to 50!!!

Vacation!

2009-06-04T08:09:00.010-05:00

Well we are back from Vacation. We went to Dallas and went to Six Flags and a Rangers game. We did lots of shopping too which I think is our favorite thing! We decided that we love to take pictures on trips but it was more fun to do little videos. So we took the flip and did a couple video diary sessions.
So here we go!
This is on our way to Dallas!

We went to the Rainforest Cafe in the Grapevine mall. We at at Rainforest in Vegas after our wedding and loved it.

Next is on our way to Six Flags. The story here is I booked our hotel on Priceline. If you have ever used priceline you know that you type in an area and price and it chooses a hotel that will accept it. We got the Hyatt Regency which was very nice, but it was smack dab in the middle of the DFW airport. When we arrived we drove all around that big airport trying to find out which terminal the hotel was on!!!

Next are videos from the arcade. We hit a few different arcades down there because lets face it, we are kids at heart! I will take this moment to mention that at the basketball game in the arcade not only did I kick Justin Ray's butt - but I also rocked the HIGH SCORE or the whole machine!

The next video is on our way to the Ranger's Game. As we were driving we were just following traffic to the parking lot. Our light had been red a full 30 seconds probably and we just kept going with the flow and turning and we had SO many people honking at us. In his defense - we thought we were suppose to go cause we were thinking we were following the traffic cop and not the lights! Also I had typed in the wrong address to the field in our GPS and we were passing the park and he said - shouldn't we just turn and go there instead of driving 30 more minutes - HAHA oops!

This is a recap of our trip. Since he was driving i was videoing - so it is his opinion! But I agree - it was fun!

And last - yes I had to include this - is me driving. He drove the ENTIRE trip. But his shoulder got hurt and it was killing him. So we pulled over - 30 minutes away from home - and I drove! It reminds me of that Jeff Foxworthy show where he makes fun of his wife for asking on mile 4999 of a 5000 mile trip if he wants her to drive. He says ' sure let me pull over and you can kick us on into the driveway!'

It was so nice to get away but to be honest it was nice coming home. We are home bodies! It is hard going back to work though! He started his new job June 1st and We went to Summer hours (10 hour days with Fridays off) and school has started back. It will be a LONG summer, but we can do it!
Hope you have enjoyed this post. It is a new thing for me to add videos. They may be stupid when watching them - but when we watch them back we just can't help but laugh! We have so much fun together!

J & M

Catch Up

2009-05-18T14:03:00.003-05:00

Well today I am home sick. I HATE being home sick. I feel so unproductive, I know the next day at work will be busy with catch up, and I just hate feeling sick. But since I have some time to kill, I thought I would update this.
Since the last time I posted things have changed.
First off - Justin got a new job. He will now be working at Midfirst Bank. We have been waiting to see about this for a while. The interview process was a month long it seems. He will start his new job June 1st.
Since we have been waiting to see about this job, we couldn't book a trip. We didn't know how the vacation leave would fall and all until we knew if he got the job or not. Good thing we didn't!
So no big trip for a while. Which is sad but we are so excited about the opportunity he has that it makes it ok!
His last day at his current job is May 27th. That is on a Wedesday. He starts his new job the following Monday. So we have decided to just do an extended weekend trip! We are going to leave for Dallas Thursday the 28th and go on a mini vacation! We are going to go to six flags, and a ranger's game. We just found out that Casting Crowns (one of our all time favorite chrsitian groups) are the pregame concert and the baseball game! We have been wanting to go to one of their concerts so we are SO excited that it happens to all work out like this! Se we ar ejust going to go and stay in Dallas for 3-4 nights and just have fun there!
Hopefully once he gets in this job and gets going for 6 months or so, we can take a week and go somewhere bigger for vacation. But to be honest, we will have just as much fun in Dallas as anywhere else. We just have fun together.
This weekend we decided to be spontaneous. We left Friday night and headed to the city. We have had some crazy weeks at work so we just wanted to get away. We went and stayed the night in the Marriot and just had fun. We shopped and went to the movies and ate at our favorite resturants. It was so refreshing and fun! We got back late Saturday night. Sunday we mowed and worked in the yard. I am loving the weather!
It was one of the best weekend I can remember in a long while! That is why me being sick is crazy. I have had a great weekend and felt fine. Woke up in the middle of the night last night so sick! Oh well - I just hope I am better by tomorrow!

Granny turns 75!

2009-05-05T10:36:00.010-05:00

The other night we all got together and had cake and ice cream from my granny - she turned 75! Garrett saw a picture of the Queen of England and started point to her thinking it was Granny. She got a kick out of this! So I got her a princess crown to wear to celebrate this event! She actually wore it!
This toy that Rece has was what my brother and I use to play with when we were kids. It has been broken for a while. Rece sat there and figured out how to fix it. This kid amazes me!

If you remember from my earlier post about Garrett's 2nd birthday, he loves to blow out candles. Look how excited he gets when my brother goes to lite granny's candles.

. The kid loves cake and of course granny (or GIGI as he calls her) isn't going to make him keep his hands out of it.

Just a little taste test(that eventually turned into him grabbing handfuls of icing and eating it!)

Blowing out candles with Granny. (We were still singing at this point, he had to beat her to it!)

Granny actually helped this time!

Look how big he looks. He isn't a baby anymore!!! And he is turning into quite the photogenic child!

Garrett gets so frustrated because I take pictures constantly. If I am annoying him and I don't see him all the time, just think how annoyed our kids will be with me one day! :)

Update

2009-04-21T14:58:00.005-05:00

Not only do I see the light at the end of the tunnel - It is about time to put on sunglasses! 2 more weeks of class for me and then another semester is finished! I will have a much needed 3 week break in between this semester and my summer semester. I am going all out this summer - 2 classes, with 1 being the one that requires traveling to Weatherford every week. We go to 10 hour days at work in the summer (with Friday off) so it is going to be a HARD summer! But it is only 8 weeks - I can do ANYTHING for 8 weeks right???
Justin is doing well and is 2 weeks away from his semester ending as well. He will get a 3 week break before he starts back up too. I think we are both burned out, so after a little break and our vacation (Last week of May), we should be revived and ready to go again!
Crazy enough, even though I hate putting in the time that my classes require and I hate having something to do at night after long work days, I have really enjoyed my classes. Counseling intrigues me so it has been so cool to get some book knowledge about topics that I have dealt with or seen. After my classes this summer I will have 1 class and my internship in the Fall and then I AM DONE! WOO HOO - bring on that Master's degree!
Justin will have classes this summer, classes in the fall and then his final semester in the spring! He is getting it done fast and so far has gotten straight A's from OU! He is so smart!
Since the weather is warming up, we are about to start working on our yard and flower beds. When we moved in last May we were more concerned with remodeling our bathroom and putting up our privacy fence. This year we are going to try to remodel the flower bed! I do NOT have a green thumb, so this may be interesting. What I keep telling myself is, it can't look worse! With the wind we have had lately, our flower beds now look like a trash dump!
Well that is a little update on what has been going on with us! Nothing too exciting, but somehow, life still feels so fun!

you jump i jump

2009-04-16T10:03:00.003-05:00

I am going to assume most people have seen Titanic. It was a sweet and intense movie. I was probably 14 or younger when it came out so it was HUGE for kids my age. Everyone thinks of the love story when they think of the movie. They think of how Rose gave up her life of luxury and money to be with the man she loves basically, right? There is another part of that love story that I think about. What about the part at the beginning – when they first met. You remember she wanted to commit suicide. He called her out on it and said she didn’t want to jump or she already would have. Part of love is confronting. The next part is him starting to take off his shoes. He doesn’t tell his plans; he takes action on her behalf. The reason for taking of the shoes? He is going to jump after her if she jumps. He isn’t going to sit there and give her a million reasons it is a bad idea, he isn’t going to get mad that she is giving up, he is just planning on going with her to try to save her. Yes he probably would die if he jumped, and he is hoping she gets her head on and stops doing this. BUT if she doesn’t, he is willing to go too. Fast-forward a few hours into the film. Rose is going down on the safety boat to the water. She has her ride to safety. She has the hope of living. But Jack is on the boat. He doesn’t have that chance or hope of living. She knows this. So what does she do? Yes, she jumps off the safety boat back onto the sinking ship. Why? ‘You jump I jump.’ They would rather die together than live apart.

Ok so why this ramble and blast from the past with Titanic info? I woke up this morning next to the most amazing person in the world. Not just the most amazing husband, the most amazing friend as well! And I thought to myself….he is my ‘you jump I jump’ person. If I am having a hard time he has a hard time. If I am encouraged or excited, he is. If he is stressed, I am stressed. If he is successful, I am successful. If he wants to move to Australia, I would move to Australia. All of this isn’t just because we are married either, it is because we have that kind of love that we are so connected that everything is tied together. Emotions, thoughts, motives. ..

As I was thinking about this in the morning (something which is strange for me since I usually can’t think before 10AM!) I got to thinking about how lucky some of us are. We found our ‘you jump I jump person.’ Talking to a friend yesterday, they described their husband as their Solid rock and strength. What an amazing way to describe someone. God has blessed us more than we know. What would life be without our ‘you jump I jump’ person?

This is the first picture we ever took together. We used my cell phone - we had only known each other probably 2 weeks! Friendship is instant when you connect!

Baby Fever

2009-03-29T21:16:00.003-05:00

This is Mason Dean. He is the wonderful little blessing that Mary and Jimmy brought into this world March 27th. Cute huh?

We can't wait until we get to have one of these!

Garrett Turns 2

2009-03-23T10:25:00.009-05:00

Well Spring Break has come and gone. Even though I was not as productive and I wanted and needed to be, it was wonderful! I got to spend LOTS of time with my wonderful husband and we had a blast!
We got a call on Wednesday that someone had 2 extra tickets to the Thunder/Bulls game so we jumped on that one and headed to the city when Justin got off work! We watched the game and then stayed the night and shopped the next day! He took Thursday and Friday off so we had a 4 day weekend together! We had a whole list of things we wanted to get done, but I think we only did a few things on it! It was nice to just be together without a million things going on! I think we have finally figured out how to manage work and school and still have time! It took time to adjust and figure it all out - but we found our groove!

On Thursday Garrett turned 2!!! We had a birthday party for him Sunday and it was pretty fun. We had a moon bounce house deal and they thought that was cool stuff!

This is Garrett in the bounce house. He kept saying ''mon sissy (me) hop 'mon JAR (JR) hop' which is his way of saying come jump with me! (which we did!) He kept getting knocked over by the big kids jumping but thought it was so funny!

Here is Rece and Garrett in the bounce house! Rece LOVED it the most I think - he was doing all kinds of flips!

Here is his sweet face as we all sang Happy Birthday to him!

Big breath to blow out those 2 candles!

He blew so hard (and spit a little) that he got both candles!

So proud of himself! Now it is CAKE TIME! (His favorite!)

His 'big truck' that we gave him - makes all sorts of loud noises! Payback when we have kids is going to be bad!

It was a fun day! I cannot believe that baby is already 2! Time flies when you are having fun!!!

FRIDAY!

2009-03-13T10:58:00.002-05:00

Today is Friday! Not just a normal Friday, it is FRIDAY BEFORE SPRINGBREAK!!!!!!!!!! I know everyone in this school is in need of a break!
We have no plans for the break. He of course has to work - but is taking Thursday and Friday off. So we may go out of town for a night or so - just go have fun! But the thought of no agena (except homework of course!) is so exciting to me! I love sleeping in and staying up late! I sooooo wish I still had summers off!
Rece was student of the month so we are celebrating over springbreak! He wants to come stay the night and play the Wii and watch movies! He is a night owl like me so I love him staying so we can stay up watching movies and then sleep in!
Ok well that is all the rambling I have!

Baking cakes

2009-03-05T13:16:00.003-06:00

Well my husband loves cake (I know who doesn't?) but he likes white cake and of course I am a chocolate girl. So I decided to spoil him and make his favorite - confetti cake! Well it cooked and I got it out of the oven and let it cool. This is our convo:
Justin Ray - Will you please Ice it?
Melissa - You can
Justin Ray - But I always mess up cakes when I Ice them
Melissa - All you have to do is spread it
Justin Ray - Pleassssssssssse I don't want to mess it u p - it is too good to mess up
Melissa - OK but I am at least going to teach you how so come watch

I proceed to get a spoon and put a big drop of icing on, I go to spread it and it is taking off the top part of the cake!!!!! I don't know why but I keep going - when I finally have all the icing on and we are laughing so hard we are crying - we take a picture of my finished product that I 'taught him how to do!'

Yes I know now that we didn't let it cool long enough. We ended up taking it to my mom's because she wanted some too and of course she made it look pretty and presentable!

It is the thought that counts, right?

Why I love WOSC

2009-02-20T09:57:00.010-06:00

I was thinking last night about my job. I was thinking about whether or not this is the place I fit. I kept coming back to the friendships I have made here. This is a place where I don't just have colleagues, I have dear friends. I have people that really care about me. I have people that go through the same challenges and joys I go through during the day. I have people that will fly many miles to come and see me and my best friend get married. I have people that understand my job and make me feel appreciated and give me the feeling that I did something that was for a purpose. I have people that get up everyday with the same work goal as me - to make WOSC the best there is. These people I thank God for, they are the reason that I feel like I fit here. They have touched my heart!

This is Katie, Mary and I when we all worked for IT!

This is April, Terri, Pam and Vicki in Vegas for our wedding!

This is a group that we grabbed together to take some silly pictures with Terri on her last day so that we could laugh instead of crying!

This is my group of friends at Vegas for our wedding. They even wore wedding crew shirts so that when we all flew there together that we had a bond! I love those shirts - they meant sooooooo much!
This is April and Anita on the first day of my WINDS Job. They had decorated my office in pink and princess stuff so that I would feel special - and of course because they are ornery!
This is me with Terri. She was the best boss ever for over a year, and in that process became a wonderful and treasured friend. She is missed daily.
There have been others out here that just haven't gotten their picture snapped yet! We have some that have moved on - like JD, we miss you! - and some that haven't came into our lives yet. I love this place and it is because of you guys - thank you for being such wonderful friends!!! You mean so much to me!!!

Done!

2009-02-18T11:11:00.004-06:00

Wow life has been crazy! More so because of work. I just completed my first Course Schedule. Yay! It is one of those things that I will have to frame because of the amount of time and work that was put into it. I will be honest - knowing that I always have that coming at some point each semester makes me want to search for a new job! HA!
Terri's last day was Friday. It was a hard day. The party on Thursday went very well. I was so impressed with the amount of love and respect our campus showed her. I think it really showed how much love and respect she had shown others in her years here. It is still hard not having her out here - kind of like a security blanket, but I know it will be ok.
We finally decided on a vacation destination. We are going to go to......DISNEY WORLD! I have always dreamed of going - My princess castle is there ya know - So we are going to go for it! We found a week that we can both slip away from work and school so we are going to go ahead and book it as soon as we have an evening off together! It will be nice having something to look forward to - a light at the end of the tunnel! Other than our Vegas wedding adventure - this will be our first big trip together married!
Tomorrow Emma turns 1. I may have to post birthday pictures! I can't believe it has been a year since those puppies were born! It was such an amazing experience to be part of. They fit in the palm of your hand and now my big lug of a dog is a horse!!!!
Ok well that is all my rambling for now!

Therapy?

2009-02-05T14:46:00.002-06:00

I have decided that blogging has become my therapy! I have learned through my Master's program that everyone needs therapy! It is so important that you can't even become a counselor until you have had counseling and taken care of your issues. The other day I posted 25 random things. Even though I know what I wrote, I always go back and read my post a few days later because I am weird like that. So reading my list I decided how ridiculous it is to have a shirt fetish. Who has that? So this morning I got a shirt out of my other closet that I have never worn. It is brand new. I bought it about 6 months ago. I put it on. I got anal. It just is to low cut and to off the neck. But I wanted to push through it. So I put on a necklace and guess what, THAT DID THE TRICK! Now I can feel something against my neck and I am OK. It is still too low cut, but I have made it almost all day in it! I know, it is a weird thing to be excited about, but this has been a 10 year process for me. So keep blogging everyone and go back and read them later, who knows what kind of therapy it will bring to you!

Memories

2009-02-04T11:01:00.001-06:00

I found this old video and it made me laugh. It is stupid and silly but it is my lovely husband when we first started dating. awww memories!

Poem from the past

2009-02-02T13:30:00.002-06:00

In my 25 random things I touched on the fact that I like to write. Usually songs or poems. I was cleaning up an old e-mail address and came across a letter from a stanger saying she liked my poems. I had forgotten that I had posted them on a website in high school. So I went to that sight and got to read some old poems. I thought it would be fun to share one with you guys. This was written my senior year. At the time we were going through lots of stuff with my dad. You can tell that by the emotion. You can tell I was still a very immature write. But I love that this poem can bring me back and I can feel the exact emotion I felt at the time I wrote it. I was so scared of letting the world know that I was hurting and struggling as you can tell.

Cry
A picture is worth a thousand words
and tear is worth no less
it express all your inner thoughts
when words can't say it best.

With that tiny little drop
comes your heart so pure
it's our way of letting go
what makes us insecure

As it flows it strieks your face
it makes your eyes so red
it reminds you that your still alive
when you think your dead.

It lets all of your emotions out
not only when your sad
the greatest feeling in the world
is crying cause your glad.

Tears are real but can be fake
don't let your emotions lie
be real with others and yourself
and never hesitate to cry.

Fireproof

2009-02-01T12:24:00.002-06:00

If you have not watched Fireproof I highly recommend you go rent it and watch it. The acting isn't the greatest of course since it isn't a big budget film, but the message and story line is amazing. Also when you do that, go and buy the book called the Love Dare, it is what the movie is about. Justin and I have been reading the Love Dare together and it is amazing. Then when you put it with the movie, it is powerful. It is a movie and book about marriage and I promise it is worth the 2 hours it takes to watch it!

25 Random things about ME

2009-01-28T13:32:00.003-06:00

Someone on Facebook started a chain where they were to make a note that listed 25 random things about themselves. I thought it sounded fun, just a little hard. So if I am going to spend that kind of time on it, then I am going to post it on the blog!

1. I have a shirt fetish. A shirt cannot be on my shoulders – it has to be close to my neck – or I can’t wear it all day. That really eliminates lots of shirts which is why I wear the same type in different colors.
2. I bite my fingernails to the point they hurt and bleed. Every time I try to stop I bite them worse. My dream would be to have nails, but I have no clue if I will ever figure out how to break that habit so my fingers aren’t ugly.
3. I love Tivo. It brings joy to me so that I can still watch shows I enjoy that my schedule doesn’t allow me to watch. I even Tivo Saved by the Bell!!!
4. I have gotten to the point that I cannot function all day without at least 1 cup of coffee – sweet-n-low saves me from sugar so it is not as bad for me. It is a horrible addiction
5. Praying and reading my bible really does make me feel better. Having a relationship with God is the most amazing feeling ever. When I get busy and fall away from Christ I feel something missing in me. It is amazing the love and connection I can have with God almighty.
6. My favorite thing to do after a hard day is run me a candlelit bubble bath with a cup of coffee and just soak my worries away!
7. I LOVE being an aunt. I love getting to spoil my brother’s little boys. I love getting to be there from the beginning. I love that they yell my name when I walk in and that they beg to go with me when I leave.
8. The only place I have EVER worked is the college. I started as a work study 5 years ago, and then moved to part time then to full time. I have had 3 different full-time jobs at the college, but have only worked there. Maybe I am a little scared to go anywhere else.
9. I am horrible at texting. I am slow and not like most people my age with that. But I hate talking on the phone, so I text.
10. I am SO ready for my husband and I to be finished with College. I am ready for him to get the job of his dreams, and me to have more options.
11. I HATE going to the movies. Too many high school and Jr. high kids there that want to be loud. Does that make me old to say that? So sad.
12. I cannot wait – like some days I am way too impatient and am counting down the days – to have a baby. I know the best thing for a baby would be for us to wait a while longer for our lives to calm down, but I am so ready for that time in our lives. I am blessed to have a husband who is excited about it and ready for it too.
13. I am scared to be away from my husband for more than a day. It is kind of like the fear of staying away from home when you were a kid – which I never did because of my fear. He is my security and I need him with me.
14. I do not know how in the world I got so lucky to have the husband I have. He is kind, compassionate, patient, loving and he is so good looking. How in the world did I get him? I don’t deserve him.
15. I wish I knew how to wear jewelry. I love how it looks on people but I hate how it looks on me and I hate how it feels. It took a while to be ok with my Wedding ring!
16. Part of me wishes I could be a stay at home mom some days. I would love to be there through every part of my kids growing up – but I think I would go stir crazy! I cannot be in the house that long. Maybe one day I can have just a part time job so that I have more time with kids but not always at home?
17. I hate cats. They scare me to death. They are very smart and I hate that I think they know what I am thinking. It is just creepy.
18. Growing up I was a major tomboy. I don’t wear dresses. I hate makeup. I love basketball. BUT, my absolute favorite color to wear or to decorate with or just all around is PINK! Weird huh?
19. I hate roller coasters. I am scared of heights. BUT, if they talk me into getting on one, I close my eyes the whole ride, have no clue what is going on but I LOVE it and want to go again. Never will I open my eyes and the next visit to the park I will resist getting on one again to the point of tears.
20. Our first Valentines day together we split a Wii. We decided that roses and chocolates are sweet, but what would we use for a long time and enjoy together? So leave it to us to buy a Nintendo product to celebrate our first romantic holiday together! How could we NOT marry each other after that!
21. I am 24 years old and have a back of the door basketball goal up that I still play with often!
22. I secretly love to cook. I am horrible at it. I am ignorant with it. I don’t have the utensils or pans for it, but in a weird way it is fun.
23. My dad had a drug problem when I was younger. He has been clean for about 6 years. As horrible as that experience was and those memories are, I am thankful I went through it. I would not be the person I am today without those hard times. Being a daddy’s girl made it rough, but the amount of love and respect I have for him now is amazing. I learned about what true faith in God was during that time. I truly learned that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
24. I wish real chocolate milk, Dr Pepper, Hamburgers, Pizza, Enchiladas and chocolate candy or cake were all good for you. I could stick to that diet!!!!!!!!
25. I love poetry. I would love to write songs all the time. I wish we really could do anything we wanted to do – but instead we have to make sure we pay the bills.

Now it is YOUR turn to write 25 Random things about yourself!

Snow Days

2009-01-27T15:39:00.001-06:00

Today it is white outside. It is cold. It is icy. I am home in our warm house because School – AKA work – got cancelled. It is a day most people nap or get warm by a fire, but today I am taken back.
Today I can’t help but remember some of my favorite memories of Justin and me. A little over 2 years ago we had just decided to take our friendship to the next level. We had been close for a while and had basically been dating (going out to eat, watching movies, going out of town for day trips) but we had just decided to take the leap of faith in each other and ‘get together.’ I remember WOSC had cancelled school for a few days. At that time we both worked there so that meant we both had the days off. I lived in my TINY 300 square foot efficiency apartment. It had a dorm fridge and 2 burners – I had a toaster oven that had to work as my stove. Since I have bad luck driving in ice – that is for another post – I didn’t leave my apartment for a few days. When I woke up I texted my lovely boyfriend so that he would come over when he woke up and he showed up with stuff to cook breakfast. So he made use of my tiny kitchen and made some food. At that time it was still a bit awkward – we are use to being best friends and hanging out all the time and now it was a tad different. To overcome that we tried to be just like we had been. He ended up getting stuff to make lunch and dinner those 2 days so we basically spent every waking moment together. We spent our time by making a pathetic snowman – it had fruit loop eyes, was made of only the snow on the stairs and patio and a running hat on! - , beautiful snow angels in the grass downstairs, watching movies and doing what we have always done best – talking. We had always thought each other was ‘the one’ but I think those 2 snow days really sealed it for us both.
Today is not as fun of course because he is at work. When he came home from lunch I asked him if he knew what days like today remind me of and without missing a beat he said those days in my little apartment when we started dating. Those were days that we will never forget. It was so fun falling in love with the man that I now call my husband. We already knew what each others favorite color was and what each others favorite song was from our friendship, so I remember learning how he likes to kiss and how being romantic with him would never be a challenge – just natural. We were just simply 2 best friends that had fallen for each other in ways they never knew were possible. After our snows days we knew it was just a matter of time before God laid it on our hearts to get married and start our lives together as man and wife. But I think it was in those 2 days that we started our forever life together.

Bring on the Ice!

2009-01-26T22:10:00.002-06:00

I think if every day was like today, that I would never know what being exhausted felt like! We got off at 2:00 because of the weather, I came home and took a nap, when my husband got off work I got up and just spent time with him! What a great night!
My weekend was productive. Many of you would be proud of me - I did some wife-like duties! First off let me say that for those of you that keep up with my blog that we are doing just OK on the whole losing weight/diet plan. We did good the first week, but of course with school in full swing it gets so hard! So this weekend we searched some low fat casseroles and Sunday was full of cooking! I cooked lots of stuff up and did what many recommend and froze them for when we don't have time to cook. That way not only is dinner ready, but it is healthy! One question though - I ran into the problem that the first dish that I sat out today was not defrosted by supper time. So it threw the cooking time off and all. Any way to avoid that?
Something about doing that gave me a little confidence that maybe this losing weight and eating better is attainable. It just takes preparation!
Ok well here is my next question for you vacation savvy people. We are looking at our vacation time and we have finally set a week in the summer that we are both going to take off. So now comes the hard part, where do we go? Here are some ideas and feel free to add - Disney World, Cozumel, Vegas. We want to go on a fun big trip this summer - we figure it will be our last big one before we have kids. We will take future vacation money and save it for a kid. So we want it to be fun and full of memories! So bring on the ideas!
I hope everyone's week is going well. Tomorrow night my classes got cancelled already because of the weather so I have a feeling it is going to be a great week!
:)

Sad

2009-01-23T11:29:00.003-06:00

No matter how well your life is moving along something can always come up, even if you know it is coming, that just makes you sad. Even if it isn't something that is a bad thing, good things for other people can just make you sad in a selfish way. I guess I am very selfish, because as happy as I am about the situation and opportunity for another, I am so sad. I feel that feeling of being lost. Amazing people don't just come around every day. What a blessing to have someone mean so much that it crushes you at the thought of not seeing them daily. I will be supportive and happy in the long run for them, but today I am just selfish and sad and need to cry for me.

Thank you President Bush!

2009-01-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

Great People

2009-01-18T21:18:00.006-06:00

It has been such a blessing having such a strong Christian president. I am so thankful for his solid Christian beliefs even when it caused him criticism. The bible says when the world is against you, God is for you. May God bless president Bush and his wonderful wife. You will be deeply missed.

Love Thursday

2009-01-15T10:17:00.002-06:00

I love this picture for many reason. April took our engagement pictures. We were on a bidge here. She shot normal, but sometimes she would be playing with her camera or something and we were oblivious to her. This was not a posed picture, she just caught us in a true intimate moment. This picture reminds me of Passion. More than anything, I love this picture because everything else was out of our minds except each other in that moment. I love when the world fades away and he is still there - not faded. True Love.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-14T11:21:00.002-06:00

Biggest Ice cream I have ever seen. I took this picture in Vegas - 3 years ago on New Years Eve.

Girlie Girl?

2009-01-13T08:29:00.003-06:00

When I was younger I was 100 percent tomboy. I grew up with an older brother that taught me how to play sports and be with the guys. I think my mom had dreams of me being this girlie girl. She always made me have long hair - I didn't cut it off until my sophomore year of high school! She always had her little outfits she wanted me to wear. So of course to school I would, then change as soon as I got home. When I was in 5th grade I forgot to tell my mom that we had school picture one day. I went to school in an OU basketball jersey and OU shorts. I remember someone called to tell her. She came up and fixed my hair but let me just take the picture in that outfit. She says to this day that in that picture you can see my true self! When I was 7 she had glamour shots taken of me. She loves these pictures. Even though they do not reflect me at all - I love the pictures too. Maybe because my mom loves them so much and cherishes them. Who knows! So here are a few of them.

Smiles

2009-01-09T09:01:00.003-06:00

Monday night we went to walmart to get groceries. We never go without seeing people we know of course. We had almost finished shopping and we were walking towards the front when this little kid walks by. I know her. Her eyes caught mine and she just stopped. Her eyes got big and a smile came to her face. She started waving. She was within 3 feet of me and she is just waving. I told her hi and smiled. We both kept going. She is in 5th grade now. I know her from when I student taught in her 3rd grade class. Every time I see her she usually runs and gives me a hug. I hadn't seen her in about 6 months so she was hesitant this time. I got so close to this class. I student taught in a 3rd grade class and a kindergarten class. I think my heart is more with the younger kindergarten kids, but I loved being able to build relationships with the 3rd graders. They had full personalities. They could make up jokes, use sarcasm, show emotion. I think I felt like I taught them more because I connected with them more. Something is very satisfying about the fact that 2 years later every one of these kids still know who I am and they still get a big smile on their face when they see me. (Of course that could be because I was the only teacher to play basketball on teams with them at recess!) I can't wait to see the adults they turn into. I hope I get to see that. This was a fun semester. It was a very stressful one, but fun. Just look at the ornery group! I can't help but smile when I see this picture!

P.S. The girl I saw is in the white sweater on the front row. :)

Love Thursday

2009-01-08T09:08:00.003-06:00

This is Rece and Garrett when Garrett was about a month old. I love the child-like pure look Rece has.

I had to post 2 because I couldn't decide. This is me and my boys napping at my mom's house when Garrett was about 2 months old. We did this a lot, but this is the only one caught on camera. I think it shows the closeness we share.

Christmas Break is over :(

2009-01-05T16:52:00.006-06:00

Today is it. This is my last day on Christmas break. It is a sad day. It is the feeling that you get the minute before you know you have to get out of bed in the morning. That minute that you want to last at least another hour. 2 weeks flew by. Teaching during the break made it not feel like a normal break either, I was at the college just as much as I was at home. But it was a good thing for the college, and in the long run, I think it will be worth giving up most of the break for. Now it is time to start another semester. Another semester of work, another semester of taking Graduate classes, and another semester of teaching adjunct. The thoughts and stress of all of that starting tomorrow has kind of ruined this last day of freedom!!!
So on a different note, we had a great anniversary. We were going to go on a big trip (either skiing or back to Vegas) but since Intersession was so consuming and I really needed to be close to the college, we didn't go. We did decide to just run to the city for a few nights. Nothing big. No plans. Just me and him. It ended up being our best trip yet I think! We just got to relax and be spontaneous with our time. Our hotel had a hot tub and so that was nice to just go sit and relax in. We shopped a little, ate at our favorite restaurants and went to the movies. I still wish we could have had that big getaway to celebrate 1 year married, but it was just a blessing to go spend a few nights without interruptions together.
The break was pretty productive in a a few ways. My husband stripped all the nasty carpet out of our kitchen and re tiled the whole kitchen in a few days. We were without a fridge, stove, washer, and dryer for a few days, but man it looks so good and clean. I didn't get a before picture, so I am searching for one and then I will post a before and after picture. We are getting close to being done with house updates for a while.
We found a new restaurant that we love. We ate it last time we were in the city and have been anticipating it and ate it again this weekend and it once again impressed us. If you haven't ate at the Santa Fe Cattle Co then you have to go try it. It is just good ol country cookin. I am usually a pasta fan (Fazzolis is my all time favorite!) but this place is just awesome.
We decided that our New Years resolution is to eat healthier and exercise. We both have such crazy schedule that it is hard to cook good food and not just fast food. So we are trying. We also want to exercise. We both feel so much better when we workout. My goal of course is to shed pounds through it. I went on a streak a few years ago and lost about 30 pounds altogether, but I have just about gained it all back. :( I don't have the frame or genetics to ever be really skinny -
but I don't want to be overweight. We got a basketball goal for Christmas thanks to my mother in law and so I am going to enjoy workout in that area! It cost more to eat healthy, but it will be worth the money for us to get some energy back. Strangly we kind of enjoy working out, just have to make the time to do it. Life is busy enough, but we have to take care of the bodies that God gave us! So wish us luck! (Mainly me, he already looks good!)
Ok that was a lot of reading and no pictures. So here are so pictures from Rece's 7th b-day party. It was back in September but I guess I just never posted about it. It was a skating party, and a fun one at that! We played limbo on Skates! I couldn't be kept from the fun even if the kids had a height advantage!!!
Here is Garrett playing. He had the right idea, no skates!!!

Here is Rece man. He ended up geting 2nd place I believe.

And then here is me. No I wasn't the 1 that beat Rece. I got close to last. But I sure did try hard!!! :)

Almost a year!

2008-12-31T00:45:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it has almost been a year. This time last year we were packing up getting ready to head to Vegas to get married. Some days it feels like we have been married for years, and then others it feels like we just unpacked from Vegas! It has been such a wonderful year. Of course there has been learning experiences :) but after such a stressful year with school and new jobs, it is amazing how well it has all went! I guess being best friends before anything else really did set an amazing foundation. Also having our marriage centered with Christ always gives us firm footing. I thought I loved him as much as I could the day I married him, but somehow, that love has grown to a level I never could have fathomed! So come January 4th we are going to be out of town celebrating our first year together, and dreaming of the many many more we get to share!!! Saying that I am blessed is an understatement!

Straight A's!

2008-12-27T13:40:00.001-06:00

I got straight A's again! I have a 4.0 cumulative GPA for all of my graduate classes!!! 15 hours down, 18 to go!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T22:30:00.002-06:00

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. If you are traveling, or will be traveling, be careful! We will pray for your safety! I hope everyone enjoys the fellowship of family and all the wonderful food! Sometimes the hustle and bustle makes us forget why we celebrate this time of year, to celebrate the birth of Christ. What an amazing gift!
A friend posted this and it really touched me so I thought I would share. It is my wish for all this Christmas season:
May you rejoice with the angels, worship with the shepherds and follow with the wise men.

Merry Christmas With Love!

Almost over!

2008-12-17T09:05:00.004-06:00

Finals are over! I am still waiting on grades, expect a post on that (if they are good at least).
Last night I gave the last final for the Micro class I taught. It was a challenging class, but such a rewarding experience. I had some students who had never touched a computer before, and some that hadn't been to school in over 20 years. It was a dynamic group. I couldn't let 1 student slip by though. I know the lifelong repercussions that come when you let one slip by. I slipped by in my 8th grade math class. I learned nothing. I had an easy teacher that didn't make us learn. To this day, I struggle bad in math. I missed a year of building blocks. I didn't want to let these students do that. They will use computers in one way or another in every class they take. After spending lots of time out of the class teaching and tutoring them one on one, they got it! Last night I realized that the light bulb had come on. I had one student say how they wished we could go back to the beginning and start over because they understand it now. I had one present a powerpoint last night that included pictures and animation on their own and knew what to do without my help who had never touched a computer before class started 16 weeks ago. They told me last night that they were sad that class was over because it had been so fun! (Who know learning Word, Excel, and Powerpoint could be fun?) That made all of the stressful times disappear, it was worth it. I love teaching online because it 'fits my schedule,' but nothing compares to teaching in class. I feel I made a difference and that makes this hard semester worth while! It reminded me why I went into the teaching profession in the first place. No other job can be as rewarding as teaching.
So 3 days left until Christmas break. I can't believe this semester is already almost over! It has been the hardest semester of my life, being in a new job, taking 9 hours of grad work and teaching my adjunct class, I have been just praying I would make it to this point. And I have. It is basically done. In 3 days we get half a month off (that just sounds longer than 2 weeks). Yes I will be teaching intersession classes during that time, but that is it. I'm excited about getting to see my husband for more than an hour every day. I am excited about using my extra time to do things I want to do (such as reading a book(that is not a textbook), or organizing our house, or spending time with my nephews) instead of studying. I missed Rece's Christmas play last night because I gave that final and I was very disappointed. So tonight Rece and I are going to pop some popcorn and get the tape my brother recorded of it and watch it together. He is excited about seeing himself perform!
I am listening to Christmas music today. I love Christmas music, but I have been to stressed to be able to stop and enjoy it and this time of year. That changes today. Today is a good day. Today I feel a weight has lifted.
:)

2008-12-15T10:52:00.003-06:00

Here is a picture of Mr. Garrett Cole in his NEW big boy bed! It is really just his crib without rails, but he thinks he is big stuff! For Halloween Rece and Garrett were Batman and Robin. When you put the outfit on Garrett he would transform and just take off running through the house like a superhero! It was soooo funny!

He is such a big help! He is getting the cheese thing down, and he is in this stage where he does not like wearing clothes!

He is growing so fast! Christmas will be so much fun this year with him!

Our Christmas Card Picture

2008-12-12T16:30:00.002-06:00

After a long hard week, I am so blessed to get to go home to this: Everyone has said if it wasn't for Emma it wouldn't be cute! That is just mean! :)

It's not Mayberry anymore

2008-12-09T08:22:00.002-06:00

Last week a friend of mine got some dirt bikes stolen out of her barn. It spooked me for sure. Then I start hearing about it going around town. Lots of people are reporting stolen things. That spooked me even more. Then the biggie happened. It hit home. This weekend my husband's Ipod and modulator got stolen out of his pickup. He left it unlocked so as mad as I was, it was kinda that feeling that it could have been prevented if it was locked. Then the scary part kicked in. My window to my LOCKED NEW TRAILBLAZER has a big X carved in it. Someone tried to bust my window to get my ipod too. We called an officer so that they would know it is still going on in our neighborhood (a few blocks away someone got their house cleaned out basically) and he gave us some tips. He was a nice guy and was being very helpful. These tips are sad, but this is our world today:
1. Don't lock your car. Take everything of value out. Most likely they will just look in for things that will fit in their pocket and then move on. If your car is locked, they have been busting windows and that cost a lot in itself.
2. Don't put your Christmas tree by a window or door. A thief can see if you have presents underneath it and is more likely to target your house.
3. Wrap empty boxes for under your tree and hide the real presents. (This one is the saddest!)
4. Forget a safe or hiding things in your house, thief's know where to go - (closet, freezer....) Hiding things in an attic eliminates some theft because they will not take the time to climb up there to look.

To say I didn't sleep well is an understatement. I was spooked by every little noise. My husband was alert most of the night. It is a scary thought knowing all this happened in our DRIVEWAY on our safe street in our safe neighborhood. I don't want to be at the house alone, I don't want to be outside when its dark - nothing! I was born and raised in this little town - I was raised leaving our house unlocked and cars unlocked, now we can't even lock things up and be safe.

So be careful and be on the lookout.

CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-05T10:38:00.004-06:00

Of course since my office is Pink and Brown I had to have a PINK tree! I couldn't find brown ornaments, so I found pink ones! Whats better then pink on pink??????? :)

My Husband did a wonderful job hanging candy cane lights! It kinda looks like we have an OU theme going! They are so beautiful!

And I couldn't leave off the picture of Emma that we took while hanging lights. She was bored I guess. It looks like she is just blinking, but she really was falling asleep with her head up! I guess we weren't being very entertaining!

Such a fun life!

J & M

Dreams

2008-12-02T08:23:00.003-06:00

I believe you cannot reach a dream or goal without setting them. How many of us have actually sat down and wrote out a list of dreams? When I was 17 I sat down and made a list of things I wanted to do before I die. I have it in a special place and every time I complete on of those things I get to mark it off. It is almost just as fun to mark off something as the actual trip is!!!
I sat down a few weeks ago and started a list, I wanted to write down 20 dreams. Now that we are married, my dreams have changed a bit. These dreams don't just entail places I want to visit, but things I want to accomplish. I encourage everyone to make a list. Spend some time on it, you will forget things if you just write it all at once! Here is my list:

1. To have at least 1 little boy and 1 little girl.
2. To finish my Masters.
3. To go for my Doctorate.
4. To have a schedule that allows me 10 hours of sleep a night.
5. To have an athletic body with abs!
6. To just pick up and move to somewhere we have seen in a magazine.
7. To pay for my children’s full education – as much as they are willing to get.
8. To go to Hawaii.
9. To have the courage and financial option to change jobs and choose a job by what sounds fun instead of what pays the best.
10. To be able to pay off our families debts for them as a gift of a stress free life.
11. Buy my husband a 1969 mercury. It is his dream to have one.
12. To drive a Dodge Viper. I don’t have to own it because it would get old; I just want to drive one.
13. To go to Disney world.
14. To go to a professional basketball game (I wish I would have went when Jordan was playing!)
15. To go on a mission trip overseas.
16. To have someone do my hair and makeup every day so I always look good.
17. To have someone cook for me every night so I can eat right instead of just throwing something together fast.
18. To get to see cool things like Niagara Falls, grand canyon…
19. To learn how to edit pictures professionally.
20. To find some kind of cure so that I do not have a lifetime fight with my stomach.

Thank you to Justin Ray!

2008-11-24T23:15:00.018-06:00

Every bit of credit for the enjoyment I get of having my hand picked bathroom goes to my wonderful husband. He has catered to my every want and has been patient with me changing my mind. He has done awesome and I am so proud and appreciative of him and his work!

Ok just in case you haven't seen or you forgot what we started with here is what the bathroom looked like when we bought it. Notice the pink and the carpet floor.

Now here are a few pictures of how we tore it completely down. We started with brand new sheetrock even!!! He basically built a brand new room. He moved plumbing and all!!!

Here is a picture of my shower head and faucet. Yes that is tile on the wall! Above this is what it use to be like!

This is my new mirror and cabinets! He put a hole in the wall so he could set this in it so that it would give the room a bit more space. This is a tiny bathroom and we used every inch!

Here is my sink! I LOVE IT!

I wanted to get a picture of the tile he laid. I know you can't see it to great cause of the rug, but you get the point!

Here are some before and after pictures!!!!

This was the ceiling vent before:

This is the new ceiling light/vent

This is the light above my mirror before:

This is my light above the mirror now!!!

This is my vanity before: (Notice where the toilet is. Yes we completely moved it)

This is my vanity now!!!

And my FAVORITE PART! This is the tub before (took FOREVER to warm that ceramic up!!!)

And this is my new jet tub!!!

This is a long view of it from out side the door.

There are still a few things we are doing to it. If you notice there were no plug covers. We have to get special ones. My dad is making trim to go around the shower tile to match the vanity and mirror. We also bought brush nickel accessories to match but have not put them up. The reason is because we are debating on whether or not to put a big towel cabinet next to the vanity. If we do, expect new pictures!
Hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have!!!

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

2008-11-24T11:02:00.002-06:00

Last year we were engaged at Christmas. We decorated a tree and bought everyone presents together but it was still my tree at my house. He still had to go home at night so it wasn't like 'ours.' This year is special. It is our First Christmas together married. We bought a 7 and a half foot pre lit tree and we used all of the decorations we already had from the tree last year. We need to buy more since this tree is bigger, but that will come soon. Also since we actually have a house this year, we are putting Christmas light on it. I will post that tomorrow (I still need to post bathroom pictures, I just get distracted! Terri calls it my Shiny things syndrome!) We stayed up late last night finishing up the house lights and then we decorated our tree together. I wish this picture showed some of the detail because it really is a cute tree! Last year we made that toppper (bought some at walmart then pieced thigns together) and we decided last night that it will be the one we use forever. We laughed because our moms both have toppers that we think are 100 years old and ugly, but it was tradition. I guess this will be the ugly topper our kids remember!
I love this season. I love Christmas. I love getting to be married to my best friend and getting to share all of my favorite times and moments with him. This will be the best Christmas yet I know because we get to celebrate it together!

YAY! YAY! YAY!

2008-11-20T08:18:00.002-06:00

Just so you know, I got ready this morning in my NEW bathroom that my amazing husband built for me! I have not had a chance to take pictures, but I will be posting before and after pictures soon! He has put up with all my changing requests and has done it with an amazing level of kindness and patience! It is just perfect!!!!!!

Emma and the heater

2008-11-19T08:58:00.003-06:00

Something you may not know about me is that I can be very cheap. I like having nice things don't get me wrong, but I would much rather save money. Every month I am in competition with the previous month. I try to save more than we did last month. I know I can get extreme!
Well I decided we are NOT turning on the heater until December. My mindset is that we could save more by not running the air or heater this month.
Well I have a very cold natured husband. He needs heat! So we compromised and got a spaceheater. It actually warms the room we are in so good that we have to turn it off because it gets so hot! Well I learned that I not only have a cold natured husband, but a cold natured dog!
Emma has been cracking us up! It doesn't matter what room we are in, she goes to where the heater is. She just lays in front of it by the hours! The other night the gate was open and I didn't know she had gotten out for about an hour. I run to the front door to go outside to try to find her and there she is sitting on the front porch just waiting on me to let her in! The second I opened the door she darted as fastest as she could to the heater, slid into position and was out cold within about a minute! It is the funniest thing!
We bought her a big dog pillow. She usually destroys anything with plush in it, but we take it away unless we are there with her and that has eliminated that. When I got home from class last night, Justin had brought that big pilliow into the living room (it is usually in her cage) and placed it in front of the heater and she was knocked out cold. I just looked at him, and he smiled and said "She loves them both and I didn't want her to have to choose between them so I brought them together." can you say SPOILED! Here are a few pictures to laugh at!

I guess I am getting out-numbered, So we may have to turn on the heater soon!

Recipes!

2008-11-18T11:01:00.003-06:00

Our favorite food is Italian and Mexican. I need EASY recipes! On some nights we only have about 30 minutes to cook AND eat before we have to be at school or something. We are getting tired of our same ol same ol things. Any ideas???

Hard Week

2008-11-15T11:32:00.003-06:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks that you are so ready for it to end but on the other hand need it to last longer so you can finish everything? That was this week. It was a bad week. A very bad week. A stressful week. I am one that I want to figure out my job, I want to be the best at it. This week I realized that it may never happen with this job. I am not good at this one. It doesn't click with me. It is very busy and there is so much to do, but so much I don't know how to do. I have tried to learn it, and will continue to try, but it is not my niche. My boss was gone most of this week so I had to really step into her shoes and take care of some things that came up. I failed at them. I hate failure. I hate the feeling of trying to do great at something then finding out later that you messed up. It is a very defeating feeling.
But, on the bright side, next week is a new week. Last night my hubby and I came home and ate then went to bed at 7:30(it was just going to be a 30 minute nap but we were just too tired to get up!). I got up at 10:30 this morning. So lots of sleep may be what my body needed to shake that horrible week. I actually got to the point of being emotional from the stress and mess ups so I am hoping rest will cure that! I HATE being emotional!
So now I am about to drink a cup of capachinno to get me going, and get to work. Be prepared to see pictures of our finished bathroom by Monday morning. We have kicked butt this week and are almost done. This is something I can't fail at, it is just an effort game and I can put in effort!

So until the bathroom is done,
M

time.

2008-11-12T12:37:00.002-06:00

This picture makes me smile. Not only because I think he is the cutest 20 month old in the world, but because it makes me think about the future.

I use to be a person that never wanted to get married and never wanted children of my own. I was too selfish to give up that much of my life. My feelings have changed. Now that I am married, I couldn’t picture myself happy without being with him. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way.

My feelings have changed about having children as well. I want to have children with my best friend. I want us to raise a family together. When that day comes I believe he will be a wonderful dad. He is kind, compassionate, patient, caring and selfless. He is sensitive but consistent. So when will that day come? I am not sure. We have talked a lot about it lately and have been praying really hard for God to give a peace when that time comes. So many factors come in to play. Financially we are ready. Emotionally we are ready. Environmentally we are ready (we have room for a baby in our new house). But time is the factor we get held up on. We are both going to school. He just changed to a complete online degree, so that helps, but you still have to factor in time for him to do it. I am his biggest encourager and supporter when it comes to him finishing his degree. I am halfway done with my masters, but do I really want the stress of school on me during a pregnancy? Will that be hard? Does pregnancy require you to have more down time then what we have? Do I want to continue on to get my doctorate? Can I get through that with a child? So many things go through our minds. There will always be a ‘better time.’ A time where we have more time, more money, more everything. But is there really a perfect time to have a child? So many people tell me if you wait until the right time to have a kid, then you will never have one. Is that true? I am 24. He is 21. Is that too young to have children? Medically I have always heard it would be better to have all the kids we want to have before I turn 30(We want more than 1). Is that really true though? The desire is there. The passion is there. The willing to give up what we want for what a baby needs is there. But how do you know when it is right? A baby deserves us to put the thought into when the best time would be for them to join our family. So we are thinking. We are praying. We are being patient. We are being hopeful. We are just waiting. What are we waiting on? Time. Will it come?

Any words of wisdom would be wonderful. Any criticism would be hurtful. So please choose the first one.

Great Birthday Weekend!

2008-11-10T10:41:00.006-06:00

We decided we were going to take a trip to celebrate our birthdays. Mine was back in August, but we haven't had the time with work and school to get away. So we planned a double celebration! We both took Friday off and headed to the city. I use to think I would love to live in a bigger city, but after being there I don't think I would. I love the fact that we can go somewhere as simple as OKC on a vacation and have this much fun. If we lived there day to day, it would take more of a trip (which means more money) to have a getaway. So as fun as the city is to go to, I think I will stick with my smaller town!!!

His pick of fun thing to do was to go to a hockey game. I had never been to one, but it was a blast!

I love bricktown! Since the game was in the Ford Center, we got there early to eat in bricktown. It was so pretty now that it is fall and the leaves are changing colors. Here is a picture I took that doesn't even come close to catching the beauty I saw.

We never have enough self-portraits I guess!

Yes, my mom put 21 candles in the cake she made cake. Garrett was impressed with the fire!

And what is a birthday without a bunch of strangers at a restaurant banging pans and singing happy birthday while you wear a sombrero? He obviously thought he could live without the embarrassment, but I love him to much to not treat him to this tradition and fun! HA! Ok ok ok, I guess the fun was more for me, but now that I am sharing the picture, it is fun for EVERYONE! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN RAY!!!

2008-11-05T10:59:00.001-06:00

Today is Justin Ray's 21st Birthday! Wish him a Happy Birthday if you see or talk to him!

God Bless America

2008-11-05T09:50:00.004-06:00

Here is the end of John McCain's concession speech that I thought was great:
MCCAIN: Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.
AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA.
MCCAIN: Tonight — tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama — whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

I hoped and prayed McCain would win, but my prayers and greatest wishes goes to President Elect Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their families.

VOTE!

2008-11-04T08:26:00.003-06:00

Well first I just want to say that my nephew Rece won thier game last night! They are the elementary school football champs! :)
Today is an important day! GO VOTE!
But here is some security just in case it doesn't go the way we want and pray!

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him

Have a great day!

J&M

November????

2008-11-03T09:40:00.004-06:00

I cannot believe it is already November! Time has flown! It feels like we just got married yesterday! It will be 10 months on November 4th! Then on the 5th Justin turns the big 21! I cannot wait because I cannot keep presents I get someone a secret! I had 6 to start with and I only have 2 left! I keep giving them to him to open! I am worse than a little kid!!! We are going on a Birthday celebration this weekend! We both are taking Friday off and heading to the city! we have hockey tickets on Friday night. I have never been to a hockey game, but Justin loves it and has been trying to get me to go for a few years. So I got some tickets and we are going! Then we are going to go to the Riverwind casino in Norman on saturday night. We will hit the movies and go eat at all the fun resturants and just have a fun weekend! We have so many things on our list to do that I think the weekend will fly, but it will be fun. We have been trying to knock Christmas our early this year, so we are going to try to finish all of our shopping this weekend. I know that is pushing it, but we won't get a chance to go shopping before Christmas again because we will be to busy!

Life has been soooooooo busy this semester. Between work and school and teaching classes, we just haven't had 2 seconds to rest! This weekend we finally got some house work done. We have not had the time to spend on our house and we are really anxious to get some things done to it. So we are just going to start making time now. If it takes not having time to sleep, that is just the price we are going to pay! It is driving both of us crazy having so many things we want to do, but no time to do them! We got our frotn bedroom transformed from a storage unit to an office this weekend and we got all the trees cut down and removed. Now we have to finish the bathroom (it is getting so close!) and then tile the kitchen, and ad a part to the fence and we are done! That is until we find other fun things to do! HAHA!

Starting December 1 and going through January 7th I will be super busy with Intersession. Our college is really putting lots of effort into it this year and I think it will keep up busy. It kind makes me feel trapped to Altus since I can't go to far over the holiday, but I know in the long run it will be worth it!

Tonight Rece is in the Championship Little League Football game. I have had to miss all but 1 game because I have class Monday and Tuesday night. But tonight I am going to make it happen and go because he is so excited about it! He asked us a million times yesterday if we were going to go. He is so cute in his Football Uniform! I will post a picture of him in his uniform and Kenzie in her cheerleading outfit!

Ok well that is the catch up of our lives! If you have Justin's Cell shoot him a text on Wednesday and wish him a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Fall Break

2008-10-18T11:49:00.002-05:00

Unfortunatly Fall Break is almost over. It went by so fast. I had lots of homework to do, but I do feel all caught up now that it is done. We went to the lodge Sunday night. We had a free voucher for a night there and 4 free breakfasts. We got them to give us 2 free dinners and 2 free breakfasts. To be honest it was not our favorite trip. It was way to close to home and it just wasn't fun for us. We are not nature people so it wasn't fun just looking around. Plus it ended up being windy and rainy so that kinda made it not as fun. We both decided it was ok for a free trip, but we would never spend money staying there. We are ready to take a real trip soon!
I have been sick since Wednesday night. I just have some allergy/sinus/cold stuff. Just a bad sore throat and my nose is clogged which makes my head hurt cause it is full of snot. I just feel icky. What a way to end a fall break huh! I wish Justin was off all week with me. I am glad he wasn't because I wouldn't have gotten my homework done, but it just isn't as fun without him home. And bless his heart, I was wanting to stay up late cause I had slept in, so I kept him up which made him exhausted all week! But me being sick helped him cause we have been going to bed early the past few nights.
I am so ready for this election to be over. I hate hearing all of the political fighting. I am a strong supporter of McCain/Palin, but I am not a vocal warrior for them. I hate political fighting. I am tired the news being all about Obama and McCain slamming each other. I am just praying that the right man wins. I think it will be a scary world if Obama really does win. I love Sarah Palin. She is such a classy woman. McCain did well picking her. I hate that this election has a bit of racism in it. What is weird is that it isn't people not voting for Obama cause he is black. It is people not voting for McCain because Obama is black. I got an e-mail of a clip of the Howard Stern show (a very liberal opinion guy) and he had went on the streets of Harleem and interviews black people. He asked them who they were voting for and when they said Obama he asked them the reason. All said that the reason is because they agreed with him the most. Then Howard Stern did something interesting, he would say things that McCain stood for to see if they knew. He would ask quesions like 'Do you support Obama because he is pro life or because you like his running mate Sarah Palin?' They would all answer the same - we are pro life too and we think he made a great choice with Sarah Palin. She will be a good VP. These people had no clue what Obama went for (Or who his running mate was), they just knew he is was black. It is so sad that these are the people that get to vote. Ok enough politics.
I am kind of worried about Emma. She threw up lots 2 nights ago. She hasn't thrown up since, but I haven't let her eat much. I hate that her belly is so sensitive. She is such a good dog and is growing like a horse!
Check back soon, I have a video of Garrett 'putting up his dukes' and it is the cutest thing ever!

Till Next Time,
J & M

Our New Car

2008-09-27T14:50:00.012-05:00

Well we got a new Chevy Trailblazer this week. I missed having an SUV and it was such a good deal that we couldn't pass it by. Now I am going to brag about my sweet husband for a second. He wanted to make this extra special for me so he stole the pink OU tag off of my corolla and had the chevy lot color match it to paint the bowties (chevy symbols) on the front and back to match! So now the car is very unique and I am so particular about someone having the exact same car as me! He is so wonderful to me! So here are some pictures of it!

Till next time!

J & M

New Furniture!

2008-09-07T21:56:00.006-05:00

We got our new furniture delivered last weekend, I just haven't had a chance to post pictures! But here it is! This first picture is our new sleigh bed! I have always wanted a sleigh bed so I am so thankful we found this one! By the way for all of you who don't know, we found a wholesale dealer (Home Zone) and got an AMAZING deal on all this! I highly recommend you go check it out!

This next picture is our Chest. It is so beautiful! It is one of our favorite pieces!

This is our new dining room table! It is like a dark cherry wood color. It has a lazy susan in the middle that we have used for pizza! :) It is so fun!

Now onto our living room furniture. Here is a picture of our loveseat and our rocking recliner. Both our loveseat and couch both recline also. That is something that Justin has always wanted, so we got it and I must say that I am enjoying that too!

Here is our couch. The middle doesn't recline, just both sides. Also the coffee table and 2 end tables (1 in this picture and 1 in the other) we got with all of this. It is a dark brown color to match the dark brown leather part of the furniture.

Well that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Come by and see it in person! We are so thankful that people loved us enough to allow us to have thier old furniture when they got new stuff, but I must say that it is a pretty cool grown up feeling buying it new! Well that is it for now!

J & M

EXHAUSTED!

2008-08-26T09:05:00.010-05:00

Hey Everyone! Just thought I let you know things going on right now. Last night my Master's classes for the Fall started! UHH it is already wearing on me. I worked 8-5 then was in class from 5:15-10:30. Taking 9 hours plus working full time plus teaching a Tuesday night class is going to be challenging. I was in tears last night feeling overwhelmed, but it is going to be ok. I can always drop a class which is what Justin is encouraging since this is a new job and these are Grad level classes and I am already stressed without school, but I want to stick it out. It may make it hard this semester (and next semester because I will take 9 hours then too) but then it is over. If I can make it till May I will be good to go! I may just have a break down or 2 by then!

Yesterday Emma got Spayed. She is in pain and has been sick since we got her home, but she is going to make it. She just needed some attention. I am going to put a picture of her belly on here just for you JD!

Justin has been working really hard with dad. I have encouraged him to just rest in the evenings after work, but he is really enjoying it. I think it is like a hobby to him. He comes home and says hey I know how to do this now and this. Pretty soon he will just build us a new house I think. I am glad he has a hobby that he is enjoying! He knows we don't need the money so I think he is allowing it to just be fun!

This weekened was good - not long enough! We were planning on going to a bday party Sunday but thought it must have been cancelled so we headed to Lawton to look at furniture. We ended up finding some! So after it is delivered Friday, I will post pictures. I have never had new furniture - it has always just been passed down through family. It will be nice to have fresh new furniture. We are pretty excited!

I got a new toy - kinda of. We got Wii Fit! It is my favorite thing right now! I have worked out every night for over a week! I hope it starts toning me. I am having a blast with it. I try to work out at least 30 minutes a night. Some nights there won't be enough time to do that but then on weekend I will make it up. It can be a hard work out, but I am having a blast from it. I need to still figure out how to post videos because I have a funny one of Justin hoola hooping on the Wii Fit!

Ok the pictures I am posting. As I have said one if of Emma's belly. I am going to put one of Emma's sick face too. Then there is a picture of Garrett and Justin taking a nap. It was to cute not to take. Then A few pictures of the boys. In one of them you can see Rece racing on mario Kart on the Wii. He is intense! Stephen and Kellie have been working extra hard getting the new salon open so I helped out while Justin worked by letting the boys keep me company. Rece keeps me challenged on the Wii Fit!

Well, in case I don't see you, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight! (Name that movie!)

Love you all!

J & M

Rainy Day

2008-08-16T15:27:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I actually have time to post twice in a week! :)
Today is a rainy day so there isn't much to do. I could be cleaning but that just really doesn't sound like much fun does it! Justin Ray is working for my dad at the moment. He learned to tile last night so that means hoepfully he can finish the bathroom pretty soon. I am in no rush though, he has my jet tub in and all set up so even though it is not done, I have been taking baths in there! HAHA! It is just so relaxing! I love baths, they help me relax more than anything!
An update on a few things:
1. Rece & McKenzie started first grade this week. How in the world did they get old to be in first grade??? I can't believe how fast they have grown up. I remember the night Kenzie came home from the hosptial and it seems like yesterday that Rece was starting to finally use the potty! Rece has Sam for his teacher which I am so excited about. She is the best in town (or tied for best with Kimmie!) and I think that will be so good for him. He already came home telling me she taught him to read! HAHA! So cute!
2. Emma is finally to the age that we are letting her loose in the house during the day instead of caging her. Her favorite position to sleep in is on her back with her arms and legs stretched as far as they will go and her cage is just to small for her to do that in. We were a little nervous trying it out, but she hasn't has any accidents or anything so far (she has only had maybe 3 accidents since we got her)! Also in 1 week we are getting her spayed. She is now 6 months old so it is time. I hope she does good with that, I know she will be in lots of pain, but she is a strong girl.
3. I am not sure if I have told you about my brithday gifts! My wonderful husband got me TIVO! Now I can record all the shows I am addicted to and watch them when I have time! I will never miss another Grey's Anatomy! Also my parents got me a Flip! It is a little camcorder. JD has one and told me about it. We researched it and it is pretty awesome. When I learn how to put videos on here I will start doing that! That is where the funny post will be! :)
4. My sister-in-law is putting in her own Salon. This is a dream of hers so I am so excited that it is getting to become a reality. They are going to start ordering the stuff and doing the remodeling this week!
Well that is about it for all of my rainy day updates. I guess I have wasted all the time I can, so I now must go and get some cleaning done! YUCK!
:)
Till next time!

Thie week!

2008-08-15T15:40:00.002-05:00

This week has been crazy! This is enrollment week at my job. So that means we have been swamped. It is official now though, I have learned my job! You kind of have to when you get flooded with it! My birthday was also this week. I feel like I am getting old - 24 now! :( I remember when I was younger, 24 year olds were old women! Oh Well! I am going to take 9 hours of Masters classes this semester. I will be busy. I have it set so that Monday I work 8-5 and have class from 5:15-10:30. So Mondays will be long! Then I have picked up a class to teach Tuesday nights. I hate giving up an evening, but it is always fun to have extra money! I found the sleigh bed I want, so I don't mind picking up extra tasks so that we can get the furniture I want without touching our savings! Justin is loving his new job. Which is so exciting! I love that he is enjoying what he does everyday! He is getting through his classes well. Some nights I do have to nag him a bit for him to finish his work, but he has been doing well. He is working for my dad a bit on the side and this is allowing him to learn lots of stuff he wants to learn and make some extra cash too. We decided that while we don't have kids that we will just dive into work, school and any side things so that we can build up a nest egg. Money isn't the most important thing in our lives, but it will provide security for our family in the future and our future and family is important.
On a side note, I was hit with major disappointment this week. I am still shifting through emotions. I am surprised it hit me this hard, but my loyalty runs deep!

Till later,
J&M

Change

2008-08-06T10:39:00.002-05:00

I hate change but it is essential to live. How do we decide when to change and how do we change with class?
My life requires some type of change. Will it be today or will it be next year, who knows. I hate change, but I crave something different. Time changes all.
With love though, time makes it stronger and deeper. When talking about my husband, I crave more time. He makes waiting on time to change things do-able.
Even craving change, life is more than I deserve!

LONG WEEK!

2008-07-31T23:09:00.002-05:00

This has been one of the most stressful weeks ever! I am glad it is over! This new job does have pros, but right now I am seeing lots of cons! I know once the learning curve is over it will get better, it is just very hard right now! I know, suck it up and quit whinning!
Monday Justin starts his new job! I think he is a little nervous, even though no one would know that by how he presents himself. He handles pressure so well, me on the other hand, I have a hard time. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers Monday, I am hoping he really enjoys it since this is what he wants to do for the rest of his life!
Well I finished my 2 summer classes - the start to getting my masters. I hit a few bumps and almost dropped one class, but sucked it up and pulled through with 2 A's! Now only 27 more hourse left (9 classes). It will be over before I know it!
Mid-America is going good for Justin. 1 class at a time 1 night a week works so well for him. He is not a fan of school even though he is crazy smart, so this is what is best for him. I can't wait for him to finish it up though! I know that will be a relief for him!
We found out some of our friends are having a baby. We are so happy for them. They will be such great parents and we are excited at the news! I love big moments like this in our lives! It is so fun! I know they are super excited too! Congrats Mary and Jimmy! Can't wait to meet Zia or Mason!
August will be a crazy month. He starts his new job which means we will be on the same schedule. As all of you know, I am not a morning person. I just don't talk in the morning, I am not awake enough. His schedule has bene 9-6, which means I get ready by myself in the morning and by time he gets up and calls me, I am more awake to talk and not be grouchy. Now we both will be working 8-5 so I am going to have to function getting ready at the same time as him. PLUS our other bathroom is still under construction, so we are sharing a little bathroom! So I am NOT excited about that! :) I am going to try my best to be better in the mornings!
Also this month will be crazy with my job. With enrollment and stuff, I will be busy! That is a good thing because I like staying busy, but when I am lost at how to do things, it isn't as fun!
Also a really special event is this month. It is actually my favorite day of the year, the most important holiday. Yes you guessed it, my Birthday! It is so crazy that I am turning 24 in 12 days! WOW! I know most of you who read this are older than me, but to me that sounds old! I remember knowing 24 year olds and thinking how old they were when I was young, now I am that old person to kids! Crazy!
Well this blog has kind of just been a blah fest. I wish I had big things to share or fun pictures, but it is just our everyday life.
One more thing. I do want to tell Jennifer and April THANK YOU for always commenting on our posts. I know lots of other people read this, but it is so fun getting to hear your thoughts about these posts! So thank you guys for giving your time and input. Now for the rest of you who read and move on, POST! We want to hear from you too! We love you all! :)
Till next time,
J & M

2008-07-25T22:45:00.001-05:00

Lucky to have a smart dog?

2008-07-18T12:54:00.002-05:00

Someone told me this week that labs are the easiest dog to have because they are smart and can be trained easier. Well Emma was very easy to train so I guess that was good, but I am going to tell you why I disagree that they are the easiest dog to have.
Last night Justin and I were out front with Garrett. We had the sprinkler on and he was playing. The water pressure all of a sudden went down, which was weird. He asked me if I had the washer or dishwasher going and I said no. I thought there just must be a kink in the hose somewhere and even though we couldn't find it, it wasn't a big deal because Garrett liked the water smaller anyways.
Well they come to pick Garrett up and decide they want to come inside and see our progress on the bathroom. We come in and I look outside to see what Miss Emma is up to and I don't see her, but I see water all over our back patio. I just stood there for a minute thinking how weird that was, then Justin came in and I said well now we know why the water pressure was low it looks like the back water is on.
Then all of a sudden here comes this HYPER lab running around the conor slidding across the patio on the water like it was a slip in slide head to toe covered in mud. She was having the time of her life. Of course Kellie and Mom were cracking up but I was just looking in disbelief. She just had a bath so how in the world was she turned into a chocolate lab?
The answer? SHE LEARNED HOW TO TURN THE WATER ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are not sure if she did it with her paws or her mouth, but I guess she had watched where we had turned it on enough that she knew where to go. So next time you are debating getting a lab because they are so smart which makes them easy to train, rethink it! Their brains can work against you!
I would have a picture to post of her, but I was to worried about bathing her!

Till next time,
J & M

Emma the GREAT

2008-07-09T07:22:00.003-05:00

Ok well I thought it was time for a few Emma stories. She is such a dork that she is actually amusing!

Story 1 - I decided to lay down to take a nap. Being at work by 7AM is killing me! we have been letting Emma stay out when we sleep because she doesn't have any accidents in the house and she just sleeps when we sleep. So I am kind of already to dream world when I feel my hair being pulled. I open my eyes and I have this 30 pound lab laying on top of my pillow all the way across my hair with her head laid on my nightstand next to me. She was just sleepin away! so I put her off the bed and she looked at me like "why did you do that? I was sleeping good!"

Story 2 - Last night my mom had called and told me my dad was going to come over and do something to one of our gates. He has been helping us fix it. Emma had decided to go crazy in the house and had ran under this table in the living room, knocked the lamp off which then knocked everything else off. So I put her out back while I cleaned that mess up. Usually when we put her outback for that kind of stuff she stares with her sad eyes in. At first she was doing that but then I see her down on the porch a bit. I knew dad should be there by now so I looked out and sure enough he was there. Now Emma loves my dad because he lets her jump in his lap and he spoils her. So I was shocked that she wasn't over there licking him like crazy. Well I go outside and she looks at me, then across the yard to dad then back at me kind of like saying "do you see that?" So I walk a little farther and she gets down in the grass, butt in the air but head to the ground by her feet and hopes back and forth like she is protecting me. I get close enough so dad can hear me and I ask if Emma had came to see him. He said nope, I don't think she knew who I was. Well when she heard his voice she jumpped up out of her stance and darted to him and started licking him. So our WONDERFUL watch dog was scared but instead of barking and protecting us, she just stared. I feel so much safer with her! HAHA!

Bad news is, Justin is allergic to her. So we need to go get some allergy medicine or take him to get a shot every month. Of course he would fall in love with the dog he is allergic to!

There are probably a million more stories to tell, but these just happened yesterday! I am sure there will be more to come here!

J&M

YAY AGAIN! God is good!

2008-07-01T16:22:00.002-05:00

Well another God thing happened! Justin got a new job! Still at NBC but he now moved into the loan department. This will lead him into an officer job when his bachelors is complete. We were waiting on God to give us an answer, and it alllllll came at once! I am so proud of him! He is so pumped about it and I could not think of anyone who deserves a promotion more! So if you see him, tell him congrats!
Lots more to come!!!

J&M

Been a long time!

2008-06-23T12:43:00.006-05:00

Well I just realized it has almost been a month since I last blogged. That is crazy! The reason is because I am on SUMMER BREAK! I have been to busy with school to do much of this. For all of you that don't know, I went back to school to Get my master's in counseling. No, my plan is not to get that and leave the college. Working with students how I work with them almost requires some kind of counseling background. I have always wanted to help people with their problems though, so who knows, it may lead me to a whole new field.

Since my last post I have gotten a new job. It had, in one way or another, been in the works for many months. I was approached on different terms back in Feb. But lots of things had to happen for it work out and I LOVED MY JOB, so I just waited on the lord to open or close doors. Well a whole different set of things happened that opened it up and I was approached again. It made me feel very special having people think I could do this job, but on the other hand it scares me so much having so many expectations of me. With this new job I lose my summers off, but it is not on grant money like I was on and Justin and I wanted that security as we build our lives together. So I am now the assistant director of admissions and registrar. I start July 1. I am very nervous so keep me in your prayers.

The saddest part of moving jobs is not the students even though I will miss working with them like crazy. The saddest is leaving Terri. She has been so wonderful to work for and has become such a great friend and mentor. She has taught me a lot in our shared difficulties. She is amazing and I will do everything I can to keep this relationship building.

Since the last time I posted we had that big storm too. That was crazy stuff. We lost power for 2 different nights. I have a whole new attitude when I pay my power bill!!! You don't realize how much we are relient on that kind of stuff. Sometimes I wonder how people went without it for long. There is not much that doesn't get affected by the loss of power.

Last weekend Justin and I decided to sneak away. Thanks to the wonderful place I work at, we got a surprise bonus. So since I am about to go back from my summer vacation, we decided to take that money and get away for the weekend. We just went to OKC, but I never knew that place could be so fun! We stayed in bricktown at the Sheraton. The first night we just walked along the river thing and ate at Shorty Smalls. We we tired from the week so we went and rented Fools Gold in the room. It was a cute movie! Then the next day we had lots we wanted to do. We hit every store and mall in that town. We both needed clothes and I wanted stuff for my new office. So we shopped until we dropped. We had so much fun though. We went back to bricktown and ate at Abuelos and then decided to hit celebration station and just play like little kids for a while. We had sooooooo much fun there! Then on a whim we ran to the car and raced back to bricktown and literally parked and ran as fast as we could to the theater and got there just as it started. We saw What happens in vegas, another cute movie. It was so much fun just getting away and enjoying each other without worring about everything going on. I fell in love with him all over again! He is so much fun and hello he is Hot! :)

Our house is coming along good. We have our privacy fence up minus a gate. We will finish that this week though, have been needing a new part. My bathroom is totally destroyed. We got the old bathtub out finally though so now the new jettub can go in and then we can tile and add our new vanity! It will look so awesome when it is finished I think! I am so excited!

I am putting a few pictures from the trip up. The first is our sad face to go home one, the second one is a picture that this machine made of us. It drew us and printed it out. It was at celebration station, the third one is us inside of celebration station. The last one is a picture of us the first night on the riverwalk thing.

More to come soon!

J & M

So much change!

2008-05-27T10:46:00.007-05:00

WOW! since we posted 2 weeks ago SO much has changed! This has been the most exhausting weekend ever! It was a 3 day weekend too! We closed on our house on Thursday at 2:00. We had already bought paint for our bedroom and the living room so we went and painted. It was so late when we finished that we just stayed at our apt. Then Friday I had a dr. apt in Lawton and went ahead and finally got my name officially changed to Smith. Which is pretty cool! Justin didn't get off till around 6:30 so I went ahead and moved all of our clothes and stuff I could do alone when I got back in town. Then that night we hit it hard! We busted our butts until about 2 that morning and got basically everything moved in! We had all the little stuff left and we finished that within an hour on Saturday!
We had a problem with our high dollar mattress!!! All the pillow top in it rolled to the middle during the move. We just made us sick! So we had fill out warranty papers. It was suppose to be a few week process but as soon as they saw pictures they issued a new one to be sent to us on Monday because it was so bad. So we have a brand new mattress!

Of course as you can imagine there are boxes everywhere! We have started unboxing some but are doing it slow because I am organizing as we go. I want to put everything where it goes so I don't have to go back and redo anything. Friday is my last day to work and then I have the usmmer off so I will have time to do it all!

We have purchased everything to build our privacy fence, all the tile needed to redo the 2 bathrooms, the kitchen and the entry way, a new jettub for the bathroom, and new fixtures. We are going to get the sink we want today. We are so excited about making this house our own! We have saved up a 'house fund' and that was so good because now that we are in it we want to do so much stuff!

I can't add all of the pictures I have but I will add a few. I am going to add the mattress pictures so you can see how bad it is, I am going to add our bedroom. The walls are still naked but you can see the color we painted it. I will add one from the living room, same story as the bedroom though. I am also going to put one of Emma up. She is finally living with us. She has explored that whole house. I think she likes it. And also one of Emma and Justin Ray playing. He LOVES having her there! She is his shadow!

I will have more to come soon!

1 week closer!

2008-05-12T10:54:00.003-05:00

Well we are another week closer to moving into our house! As excited as we are I think we are equally dreading the packing and moving. We hate it!

So many awesome things are going on. Justin just finished his last class and graduated with a double associates in Business Admin and Computer Science. He didn't want to participate in the graduation ceremony but since part of my job is helping with that, he was up here with me. So the picture of us is at graduation. I should have made him put on a gown at least for picture purposes! I know he is very relieved to be done with this part of school. He will start at MACU June 3rd. I would say he has a few weeks to relax but it just so happens we are moving during that time so it may be busier than usual!

Well lots is going on and is in the works, but so many things are not final yet. So we will just keep praying and trusting that God has his hand in everything and having faith that He knows what we need more than we know. He is a faithful God and has already blessed us more than we deserve. So check back for updates on many things!

Until then,

Rock N Rumble

2008-05-05T10:21:00.005-05:00

This weekend was the infamous rock in rumble. If you know my husband, you know he eats this kind of stuff up. He had so much school work since it is finals, so it was good that there was something to break that work up. We took Emma with us to some of the rumble., but she got scared when she heard all the loud noise. The yellow car is the one I decided I liked the best. Justin said it was a cobra.

As fun as the weekend was, it didn't end great. Justin Ray is home sick today. He has some kind of stomach bug. This is a bad time to be sick with finals and all so just keep him in your prayers that he heals quickly!

I think we are both a little overwhelmed right now with everything going on. The cool thing is though that it is all great, wonderful, amazing things. They are things we decided are worth being stressed over!

17 days until we close on our house! WOO HOO!

much love,

J & M

Emma Rae Smith

2008-04-29T22:21:00.005-05:00

Here are pictures of our new little girl. She has been awesome so far! All she does is sleep. She has only had 1 accident and she ran to the tile. It was our fault too cause we couldn't take her out cause we were hiding her in our apt! :) We will have many more pictures to come! :)

Excited!!!

2008-04-29T08:35:00.002-05:00

Well last night we got to go see 'our new house' again! We took some family and friends over last night to let them see what we have been talking non-stop about! It was pretty fun getting to see reactions and hearing ideas from everyone. We were so excited to get to go in it again. We always see something we had missed before every time we go in it. We are soooooooooo stinkin' excited about getting this house. We cannot wait until May 22nd!!! We have so many ideas about how we want it to look! We had a minor scare this weekend about the house, but everthing turned out great. It is truly a God thing we believe more now than before!
Well we decided to go crazy I guess because we added one more thing to our plate last night. My brother and Sister-in-law had a big litter of lab puppies (10) and we have all gotten pretty attached to them. Justin and I knew we couldn't get one because labs need a yard of their own and we only have an apartment. Well since we have gotten the house everyone has been saying how we need to get one of the puppies. Justin has one that is his favorite and it just so happens to be one that is everyone else favorite too. She is beautiful and looks like my mom's lab. She is a whiteish yellow one. Last night someone was coming to buy her unless we wanted her and since Justin wanted her sa bad, we got her. So she is living there until we officially close and get a yard, but she is our new little girl. We picked a name finally last night....so be looking for new pictures of Emma. We have her all set with pink everything so she is good to go!
He is so excited to get her to our house. She will retrieve a ball for hours and he is determined to get her to catch a frisbee. Even though it is our dog, it is really his little girl.
Well that is all for now.

Suggestions!

2008-04-26T12:19:00.002-05:00

Ok we are taking suggestions! There are some things in the house we want to redo and will do it this summer. So if you have a certain kind of tile you think looks nice or hardwood floors that you love, or you know the "perfect" paint color, LET US KNOW! Or if you know someone good to help with stuff. We are going to do most of it ourselves with the help of my dad in some areas, but we may need backup! We are adding a privacy fence so any suggestions on ANYTHING, send us pictures or let us know what you think! Of course we will make the ultimate decision in the end, but we know all of you have seen things we have never seen, so let us know! Thank you!!!

Love,
US

YES!

2008-04-24T22:14:00.004-05:00

I know all of you guys are just sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what happened!

HAHA!

Well they ACCEPTED our offer today! We were shocked! We were willing to go with the old offer but just decided to take a chance and it worked!!! So we are officially home owners (of course pending on all the home inspections come back good and all that house jazz.)

We are super excited! We got the news about 45 minutes before I left town for a trip with my job so we rushed over there and signed the papers because it had to be done by 5. So we haven't really had a chance to celebrate! But excited is an understatement to describe us right now!

So WOO HOO! We will have to have a move in party (no not the kind where you have to help move, just a cookout or something!) soon!

More to come,
Justin & Melissa

Yay!

2008-04-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

Well the other people counter offered and it was much better than we even thought! We went ahead and countered again just to see if they will come lower, but no matter what we we SUPER happy with the price they already offered! I (melissa) have to leave town at 1 for a work related trip so we should know their final offer before I leave!
I bet the person who lives there think we are crazy! We drive by that house like 10 timse a day at least! HAHA! We are just sooooooooo excited. We have already talked about all the things we want to do to it and colors and stuff and we are really on the same page! It is pretty exciting! So as of right now our estimated time of closing is 1 month from today which is may 22. Which is great because that is a 3 day weekend!
Now the horrible part...Moving! We have moved so much the past 9 monthes. I moved then he moved to my old apt and then we moved into the current place we live and now this. But this will be a long term move so we are pumped! It will be worth the long sore days of moving and the unfun boxing time.
Thanks for all of my faithful readers, I know this is just blah blah blah stuff, but this is HUGE! We are buying our first house!!!
Stay tuned for pictures and the final verdict!

AHHHHHHHH!

2008-04-23T12:01:00.000-05:00

We are sitting on pins and needles today waiting!!!!!!!!!! We put in an offer on a house yesterday and we are waiting on a response! AHHHHHHHH! I will keep everyone posted on what happens! We are soooooooooooo sooooooooooo sooooooooo excited! We sure hope this is God's will, we believe it really all fell in to place so far!!!

The hooptie!

2008-04-19T13:34:00.000-05:00

Well the past few weeks have been completly consumed with our new project! We for sure didn't need a project to add to our busy busy busy lives, but this one is going to put us through school!

I am not sure if everyone is aware, but we are both about to start at new schools. I am going back to SWOSU starting June 3 to get my master's in counseling. I am going to need it to advance at work so I might as well start now! Justin is starting Mid America Christian University on June the 3rd. His original plan was to attend SWOSU since he got paid to go there because of his Regents scholarship, but we really believe God opened doors for MACU. He will be able to work better hours at work (8-5) because he only has class 1 night a week and he will finish almost 8 months sooner than he would at SWOSU. Since he is not a fan of school, this is something that he really wanted to look into. It is a private school so the chance of getting it paid for is gone, but always remember that when God closes a door, he opens another.

We make pretty good money for 'kids' our age. We can easily pay our bills and save each month. But when you are slapped with my school costing us around 4,000 over the next year and his costing 9,000 to finish we had to start making decisions. Yes student loans are always an option, but we are both very financially conscience so we really don't want a debt like that hanging over our head as soon as we finish school. So we made a plan!

I have a 2008 Toyota Corolla. It is a great car because of the gas mileage. It is the car we take out of town when we go or the one we take when we go anywhere together. The reason? Well he has a 2003 Dodge Ram pickup. It has been getting 10 miles to the gallon!!!!!!!! That is crazy! He only drives it to work and back and we are paying more in gas for it a month than we do for the corolla! Well we added it up and between gas and insurance that truck really isn't worth it. So this is what we did!

My dad has a friend who has a farm. He has lots of farm trucks. He has a truck that wasn't working (the timing chain went out). So he sold it to us for 300 bucks!!! The low value worth on KBB was 2300. So it was a steal! We had some money put back for new furniture so we just took that and flipped that vehicle!

Justin got it running mechanically. He put lots of time and work into getting it going. He is very smart with cars and he knew what he was doing. He definetly impressed me!

My job was the interior. He ripped the seat and carpet out and I cleaned. I took the carpet to the carwash to get the inch worth or dry mud off of it. There was dirt in every area of that truck! (by the way it is a chevy s10 pickup) My dad found us a different seat because that one had holes in it and we cleaned it up good and put a seat cover on. By time i got it all windexed and armoralled it looked pretty nice! Everyone has been impressed that saw the beginning and ending product!

So now that we have this paid for truck up and going, we have his pickup for sale. The money we will save on gas, insurance and payment should pay for school and allow us to not have to take out a student loan. Which we think is the smartest thing we can do.

School is not a fun thing to pay for. Most of my school has always been paid for by pell. Grad school doesn't accept pell so that really has been hard. We thought he would receive pell to help with school, but even though we weren't married last year we still have to file pell togther and I supposedly made to much for us to qualify. Which really stinks. Yea, if my whole entire paycheck went only to pay for school and not any bills we may be able to, but come on! Oh well!

Obviously this is something God wanted us to overcome. And we are. Yes we still are praying for a miracle (you know, hitting it big on the lottery....well i guess that would mean we should start playing!) but we know that we are doing everything we can to be as smart as we can with the money God entrusted us with. We have complete faith that God already has eveything under control.

So if you see us pimpin' in the hooptie - make sure you honk real loud because it is a noisy little truck! :)

Until next time,

Justin & Melissa

P.S. - If you know anyone that is looking for a used truck, send them our way!!!

Married Life (old myspace post from melissa)

2008-04-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

Well we have now been married 3 and half months. It has went by very fast, but on the other hand it feels like we have been married our entire life! Married life really isn't what I thought it would be, but it is 10 times better than I could imagine! We are having so much fun! Yes, the stress of the real world hits, but it is cool getting to split that stress and joy with someone else. Yes, we did that while we were dating, but it is totally different when you are married. A lot of people have asked if we have had 'the big blow ups' yet, and I still find myself laughing at that question. If you know my husband at all, you should know we will never have big blow ups. He is WAY to easy going and soft spoken for that! Yes we do disagree at times, but that is probably our greatest strength, the fact that we both bring ideas and personality to the marriage. So no, we haven't had the big blow up. haha. We really aren't the ones to fight like that. We know how each other function so that makes it easier. We just get each other. We get over things and move on and I love that about us. We are very simple people. We want to work hard and earn what we have and enjoy the time we spend together. We both stay pretty busy, but we always find time to just sit and talk to each other (sometimes that isn't until 1 in the morning when our days are so packed!).
I just thought I couldn't love him anymore than I did on our wedding day, but man that love has grown more than I could ever fathom. I am truly blessed to have him not only as my husband but as my best friend. My life is so much fun as his wife and I look forward to spending every day with him for the rest of my life!
So for all who have asked - Married life is amazing! It is truly a gift from God! I wish everyone the happiness we have been blessed with!
P.S. Another big questions is - So when are you having kids? The answer for the wondering: When God lays it on our heart that it is the right time! :) (I know, not the exact answer people are going for!)

What's going on (old myspace post from Justin)

2008-04-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

Right now in my life, I have many things going on. The greatest of which is I just recently married my best friend in the world who just so happens to be the greatest woman ever. No, she didn't tell me to write that I whole-heartedly mean it. We got married on January 4 in Las Vegas. Since we started dating, we both somehow knew that we were both meant for each other. Our relationship started as just friends, but eventually we realized what God's will was for us. After almost two weeks of marriage, I can honestly say I have to be the luckiest man alive. (Not that I didn't feel that way before.) God is working on numerous things in and for our marriage, and I can't wait to see where they take us. The best thing about being newly weds is setting up the foundations of our lives together. Luckily that foundation stands on The Rock that is our relationship with God. One of the greatest things is that no matter what God will get us through anything, and I believe that Faith is the key to a succesful marriage. I'm not really finished putting all of this down, but for now its bed time.

Our Wedding! (Old myspace blog from melissa)

2008-04-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

Well we are back and let me tell you it was a BLAST! Some people may not know what we did so let me fill you in...We decided after lots of stress and decisions that the best idea was to go to Vegas to get married. My dream was a beach wedding in Hawaii or Cancun but by doing that we would have limited people coming because of costs. We decided having people share this amazing memory with us was important and a different kind of dream so we decided Vegas was the way to go. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that love us. We ended up having 20 people fly out to Las Vegas to be part of our special day! We thought we would get some family members and a friend or 2, but we never would have dreamed that this many people would come! Of course Vegas is a vacation in itself so people were enjoying that side of it as well, but they did come for us and it meant so much!We started out by flying out Thursday morning January 3rd from the city. There were 8 of us on the same flight! We all got matching wedding crew shirts so it made the trip fun! Another couple from the college that I work at actually came and got married the same day Justin and I did so that made it all even more fun!Well we got to Vegas and had to go get our license and find the chapel and all. It was a busy busy day!Well Friday rolls around and at 10 that morning the other couple got married. It was a very fun and pretty ceremony. After that it was time to go get ready, we were getting married at 4. And as you can tell by the pictures we did do a little traditional things such as a Wedding Dress and Tux. (By the way, the hardest part of a destination wedding is bringing a dress and tux. Our flight didn't have a hanger place so we had to put them above us in the small little compartments! My mom brought a steamer though so it all worked out). So throughout the afternoon we got all ready and got to the chapel. We had a photographer that was a little....different. We actually got in trouble by him twice for laughing---turns out we weren't showing the emotion he wanted us to. I guess weddings aren't suppose to be fun! Good thing is one of our friends that came is actually a great photographer---we think of her as a professional (she did our engagement pictures as well!) so we weren't worried about him. We were not allowed to have cameras in the chapel though so we had to improvised. We left the wedding in a limo and headed back to our hotel for pictures. We were staying at the Wynn, and if you know anything about the Wynn then you know it is beautiful, amazing and classy! This was a wonderful place for pictures. We did not have April's high dollar professional camera and the pictures still turned out gorgeous! She is the best!The next day we finally had a full day in Vegas with no wedding stress or responsibilities so we were able to go and do some fun things we had planned. I have been to Vegas once before, but this time seemed like my first in the fact that it changes so much and there are so many things to do that you can't do it on one trip. I know most people head there to gamble or party, but Vegas has so many fun things to see and do that have nothing to do with those things! The lights and people are so captivating!Well Sunday our trip ended and we all flew back together. As much fun as we had, it was very nice to come home together. The weekend before we left I moved into the new apartment/townhouse we now live in. Then the day before we left we moved all of his stuff in. So we came home to boxes and a mess! We have started getting things arranged now and it is pretty fun setting up house together! We aren't your typical couple at all! We were best friends long before we were anything else so we would rather eat a frozen pizza and play nintendo then go out to eat and on a real date. We just enjoy spending time together and I think that is the most exciting thing we have to look forward to, every day we get to do that! God blessed us so much and we do not deserve the joy and happiness that he has given us! Our love and friendship was built on Him, so I know that a foundation like that cannot be broken!So as much as I like the uniqueness of my old last name Gribble, I am so excited and ready to see what the future now holds for Justin and Melissa Smith!
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! We appreciate it so much!!!

Our engagement (old myspace blog from melissa)

2008-04-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

It started out that we were going to go out to dinner. As I was about to get ready he told me his brother had called and he needed to go and help him move some furniture. So he left to do that as I got ready. He called me about 45 minutes later and told me that his brother had broken down and he was going to let him use his truck but he needed me to come and get him so we could go eat. So I went to get in my car and that is when it started.
I opened my door and there was a notebook opened on my seat with 2 pictures. The note explained to me that I was going to have to follow the pictures to get to the next stop. The first picture was a picture of raisinets (our favorite popcorn topper!) and the second was like a cut up piece of a picture. I learned that I would be getting a piece of the puzzle each stop. On the back of each picture he had written a note of the reason that place was special. This one was because he loves our movie nights. They are our favorite dates!
So my first stop was Wal-mart. I went to the chocolate isle and there underneath some raisinets bags was another piece of the puzzle and a picture of imagination station(our first date place after we crossed the friend line). On that picture it said can you still fly?
So I went to imagination station and I found the pictures in the little airplane that we took pictures in on that date. I have another piece of the jigsaw puzzle and a picture of our spot at the reservoir. On that back of that picture he had wrote how he is glad that this place exist and where to look for the next clue.
So I went to the reservoir and finally found the next set of pictures. The next picture was to my old apartment-his new one. This picture said that this was where our first kiss happened and that it is just a little redecorated now.
So I went to his apartment and found the next set of pictures. This one had a picture of the big sign at the lake. This picture said that I now probably know where this is going so don't speed and look for warning signs.
Well I kinda just figured it was the lodge so I kinda missed a step....But if I would have stopped at the big sign he had the next set of clues on a warning sign. The picture was of the dock at the ampa theater. On the back of that picture he wrote that the first time we got to have a long face-to-face friend talk was here. You're still my best friend and I want that forever....Do you remember which bench?
So even though I skipped that step I still knew where to go. I went to the ampa theater but I didn't see his truck but I walked down the dock but I still didn't see him. He had the last picture that completed the puzzle taped to that bench. All of the pieces put together made up a picture of my ring. Then he came out and got down on one knee and proposed (with a diamond ring with PINK yes PINK sapphires!!!). And of course through my tears I said Yes!
He had his brother drop him off at the lake so that he could drive back to town with me. He was so creative and made it so special because he incorporated all the special memories of our relationship.
I don't deserve to have a fiancé like him but thank God for giving him to me!

Who really wants to know about our lives?

2008-04-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

Blogging has become very popular in our world. It is just one more way I guess we stay connected. I actually enjoy reading other's blogs. I like knowing what is going on in their lives. So I decided to start one about our lives. We don't really have exciting lives really, but we do have things come up that may be fun to blog about. I may even grab some of my past blogs from myspace and go ahead and post them here for those of you who don't have a myspace.
I hope you guys enjoy reading about our lives! I hope we can express the joy we have in our lives right now with everyone!

Justin & Melissa