Almost a year!

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!

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!

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!

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.
:)

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

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

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!

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

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.