Sickies

It has been a while. That's what happens when you're sick.

See...I thought it was just a 24 hour bug, but the vomiting continued for a couple of days. Then, when I got better, I caught strep, which gave me a sinus infection, which then led to days and days of drainage. I then had a cough I couldn't get rid of for several nights. Then, yesterday, I got a marvelous ear infection (like CANNOT hear at all out of my left ear). Today, I woke up with a bladder infection.

God has a sense of humor. But the way I look at it, if I get every illness at the beginning of the year, I won't be sick for the rest? haha.

Needless to say, I haven't been on the Internet nor have I had the desire to post a blog. :(

We found out that our closing won't be on Monday like we orginally planned. Apparently everyone else and their dog knows that closing dates aren't on expected dates except for us. haha. Hopefully it will all work out at the end of the week so we can HAVE OUR HOUSE and I can share pics. tehe :)

This is non-imformative, but I will update when I have a chance. ;) Off to do busy things like lesson plans and teaching certification stuff.

Good Things in 2010

February


1- Put an offer in on our future house
2- Learned a lot at my job training.
3- God showed me just how cool he can be. Remember?
4- Actually agreed on paint colors with Colton (although it will probably change)
5- Had a wonderful talk with one of my best and closest friends.
6- Beautiful bridal session with Colton and wonderful food at the Cheesecake factory.
7- Saw Mandy again, met Jack and had a great time watching the superbowl.
8- Saved $60/month by switching auto insurance companies. Every little bit counts.
9- First day at my new job. Thank you, Lord for providing.
10- Sweet night at home with the hubby.
11- Had an amazing day in the snow.
12- Colton sent me tulips to work, which helped with my awful day.
13- Hailey spent the night! Girl talk!
14- Thank you for Valentine's Day.
15- Received great news, that will be exciting to share.
16- We bought our bedroom set!!
17- Awesome Jack's Mannequin concert.
18- Spent the afternoon in the baby room at work. God is amazing.
19- Started packing and had a fun evening with the husband looking for furniture. So excited to have a new house.
20- Had another wonderful night with Hailey (and did excellent helping her in math this time)
21- Made a comitment to God today. We are excited to live in obedience.
22- Discovered the greatness that is 5 guys, burgers and fries! :)
23- Actually worked 8.25 hours at work!! Woohoo!!
24- Worked 10.25 hours today!! I am so thankful for these extra hours.
25- Starting feeling sick, but had a great hubby to take care of me.
26- Sick day. However, it was an excuse for a movie day with the hubby.
27- Found out that I will have my teaching certification very soon. :)
28- Saw Sam and Jen's new apartment and was able to spend some time with them. They also gave us a lot of boxes for our move.

Jack's Mannequin & why I love Andrew

I haven't posted in a few days. The hectic new schedule I am adjusting to can be blamed for that. I will try to be better this week.

On Wednesday, Colton and I went to see Jack's Mannequin (I will go ahead and put it out there, that they are my favorite band. Yes, I am aware of the fact that the CD has explicit lyrics, I own it. It is due to one song that has the "f" word in it. I don't want anyone to get upset.) It is, by far, my favorite band to see live. :) The pictures kinda stink because of all the fog in the venue.

Andrew (the lead singer) found out at 22 that he had Lukemia. I am 22 now and can't imagine how I would take the news. He battled cancer, chemo and the sickness that came with it all. I don't know if it was his attitude through the battle. His amazing piano playing skills, his lyrics, or the fact that he puts on an incredible concert, but I love him. We found out that he is going back to his old band, so there may not be anymore.

I wanted to upload a video, but it was taking entirely too long. Maybe I will edit and upload a clip or two.

We have an engagement shoot tonight and hopefully we'll be able to get things cleaned up around the apartment. It looks terrible. :/

Energy-less

Edit: No, the news is not that I am pregnant. haha. :)

This new job has kicked my butt. I literally have no energy left when I get home. Imagine that. Spending 8 hours with 4 year olds and not having energy at 5:30 pm. tehe.

Friday was a hard day. It was hard watching the snow melt away. Hard going to work for just a few hours. Hard day at work. Hard night at home. I did get beautiful tulips from my lovely Husband though.

Saturday, I worked in the morning and my beautiful sister in law came over and spent the night. We worked on math until late Saturday night. We also went to one of Colton's shoots. So much fun!

Sunday, we went to church and celebrated Valentines Day by seeing the movie at Studio Movie Grill (and all you can eat pizza).

Monday, I had to be at work at 6 am for a training in Arlington and didn't get home until 7pm. Whew! Long day. I did get some really exciting news I can't wait to share, but it will probably be this summer I can do it. (You can email me if you are curious, I just don't want to post it on the online world).

Tuesday was a lot better. The kids were rowdy, but I'm used to that. I had a schedule set up with lesson plans and it worked AWESOME!! Things are looking up. We also drove around downtown Wylie (so cute!) and looked at our house again. Then, we ended up at Rooms to Go and bought our BEAUTIFUL bedroom set. I am SO EXCITED. It is the one I have wanted for so long now...and it is ours!! Eeeeekk!!

Closing date is in 19 days!!!!!!

My next post may be more insightful, but I want to get things together for our concert tonight (Jack's Mannequin). I have been looking forward to this since December and it is finally here. Yay!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

If you know me AT ALL, you know that I love (and I mean LOVE) the cold. I love hot cocoa, I love fireplaces, I love ice cream, everything cold. I really enjoy when it snows. We actually received record breaking snow. I could not be happier. When Colton got home, we bundled up, took Chuck and ran outside. We gathered snow for homemade ice cream, made a snowman, threw snowballs at Chuck and each other, made snow angels, ran in open fields by our apartment and had a blast. I am so excited it will still be here tomorrow so we can repeat the craziness. Enjoy these pictures. They are way overdue.

Look at those ears. :) *swoon*

I had to add some kind of chocolate. hehe.

And at last, I will leave you with this obnoxious video. Yes, we pegged Chuck over and over with snow, but he loved it. And yes I do say the word "sucks" so if that is a bad word don't watch it. hehe.

Ms. (Mrs.) Jessica

So I am officially Ms. Jessica. I have a classroom with 20 something kids (They haven't all been there at the same time, so I don't know exactly how many). No desk, no computer, no phones...just kids. Playing, reading, coloring and more. Right now it is super unorganized. They haven't had any structure at all. I am working on ways to get them quiet (give me a 5, "this is my ___ voice", red yellow green, etc). Right now they have minds of their own. I am working hard to break through their stubbornness and remembering they are all 4 (and a couple 5s). I also have a two hour lunch break. It is awesome that I live so close, because I can come home, let Chuck out, and relax...however, it blows once we move away and I will have no where to go (except the mall...which could be exciting. haha). The second half of the day is hardest. The kids are full of energy and unwilling to cooperate. Once I get the room together, this should change. I just need to bring in some organization and a clear schedule for them and the parents. It will be nice.

More updates on all that later. I want to enjoy my last hour with a banana split and some rest. :)

Weekend Update

We decided to put our apartment for rent on Craigslist to see if we can save on the last two months of rent. That would be SO AWESOME if we could. :)

Saturday- I worked in the morning. After work, Colton and I headed to the Old Red Courthouse for bridal portraits. They turned out AMAZING!! SO GORGEOUS. I am really excited about her wedding, because it will be beautiful (Colton can't post sneaks until AFTER the wedding, but it will be worth the wait). Then, we went to Cheesecake Factory (the first time at the Northpark one together) the Container Store (I could live there, seriously), and a few furniture stores.

Sunday- We had church, then an awesome engagement session at the Cotton Mill. Then, we went to Mandy's house for her Superbuckle party. She took this picture, and I stole it from her P365 blog, but it's the only one I have. I know you are tired of pictureless posts as well.

We came home, did some laundry, watched Supernatural and went to bed.

Today, I have been talking to our new insurance agent (who I found out I know. He's married to one of my knottie and IRL friends. He isn't married to two people they are the same person. haha). We are so excited about finding home/car insurance in our (below our) budget for great coverage. Woohoo!! It just means we THAT MUCH closer to our house. We still close on March 8 (so exactly 28 days!). We found out they are going to fix the roof, so many good things are happening.

I start my new job tomorrow. I met my assistant teacher today. He is a doll. I am excited to work with him and think we'll make a great team.

I'm that girl who...

I saw this on my friend Sandy's blog and thought, "what the heck. I'll do it."

I'm that girl who...

- is a Christian and hopes people see that in me

- drinks caffeine (frappachino) less than 4 times a year and hasn't had a coke (soda, pop, whatever you fancy) in almost 10 years.

- can't imagine life without a dog

- sleeps in the winter with the ceiling fan on, but buried in a comforter

- loves things to be organized, but can't keep it that way

- doesn't like french fries

- tends to exaggerate

- puts on a happy face, even when things are going wrong

- can live without radio music, but loves musicals

- misses the stage with all that I am (theater and plays and such)

- answers "anything ice cream" to "what's your favorite food?" and "what brand/store?" to
"what's your favorite flavor?"

- enjoys compliments, but feels awkward receiving them

- likes the simple things in life

- some may call a Drama Queen

- spreads herself to thin, and takes on everything at once

- still doesn't understand why terrible things happen to good people

- loves to dance, but can't do it well

- enjoys reading nonfiction, but never has time for it


What kind of girl are you?

Where did I leave off?

Oh Lyly...

We got it! They accepted our offer with a few minor and livable changes. (One being we have to close a week earlier. woohoo!) Closing date: March 8, 2010. So on March 8, 2010 Colton and I will be homeowners. Praise the Lord!!

We signed all the paperwork Wednesday night for the final contract. Yesterday, we met with the mortgage person and signed all the loan paperwork and turned in all our stuff (check stubs, bank statements, etc.).

That afternoon, we had the inspection. I was really nervous because they didn't look so good (Colton and the inspector). Come to find out, there was water damage around the windows and most importantly in the kitchen. Apparently, there is roof damage that is causing a water leak. We have sent over an amendment to the contract to find out if they will get a roofer over to take care of it, or if they will knock some off of the price. Either is fine, but we expect something to be done in order for us to continue with the house. We both love it, but we are already going to have to do a lot of little stuff that we want the big thing to be taken care of.

We also found out that the original owners didn't do a very good job at keeping it clean/nice. There are many things they neglected to take care of (replacing air filter being one). We are going to have to go in, room by room and scrub down all the baby germs. ;) I hate cleaning (love organizing), but I am so excited about cleaning our HOUSE.

After the inspection, we went to Best Buy and Home Depot to look at washers/dryers and refrigerators. Those will be our next big purchase for the house. While at Home Depot, we found ceiling fans that we really liked and were on sale (Wish I could find pictures online, but I can't). So we bought them. Not before driving 20 minutes to the next one because they were out of stock at our Home Depot. We also looked at paint colors and I believe we picked out our main color and accent wall colors. Woohoo. That excites me. We want to warm up the colors a little and I think we found a good color (that we agree on by the way, which is HUGE).

So no new pictures, just boring information post... Oh well.

A less home informational post and about me post coming up next...

God is SO COOL

I left Colton's work today (where we signed and faxed all of our paperwork for the counter-offer counter-offer) feeling extremely anxious. I closed my eyes (at a red light of course) and prayed quickly "God, please put my mind at ease. I want peace." I immediately felt a warm calming sensation and decided to sing along to KLTY (Christian radio station) to keep my thoughts on Him. I happened to turn it on right as a new version of "It is well" came on. The very first thing I heard was

"When peace like a river attendeth my way..."

(Although I couldn't figure out what the new version was called...it didn't say "attendeth my way" in it. However, it had the same meaning so I posted the original hymn).

I'll be the first to tell you that music isn't a huge part of my life. I could live in a life without it just fine (well, except musicals. I love them). So the fact that God chose to speak to me through music is awesome to me. He took something so unimportant in my life and made it into something extremely meaningful.

Seriously. God is amazing all the time, but it's in these small times I really feel his presence.

I just thought that was a cool story to share.

Waiting...

As of right now, we are waiting to hear back about Lyly.



Yesterday at work, Colton called and asked if we wanted to go see it, since a time opened up for it. I said "sure!!" I got off work early, and we headed to the house. We drove around the neighborhood and saw all the young families out jogging, bicycling, and even playing rugby. haha. We knew that this was the neighborhood we could see ourselves raising a little rugby playing kid. Driving around only made me like the neighborhood more. Honestly, it isn't as "nice and new" as Frisco, but it isn't as busy either. It's more quiet and humble (though the homes are beautiful). There is a lot of land nearby and even a woodsy area behind the house.



Our realtor came by and we finally got to see inside. I was so nervous that it wouldn't live up to our expectations and I would be severely disappointed. Nope. All we kept saying was how perfect it was. From the huge backyard for Chuck and his future sister, Lucy to the beautiful living room and kitchen (my favorite part!). The bathrooms needed tile floors and the spare bedrooms needed paint. Otherwise, it is perfect. Colton actually likes that it needs those things so he can feel more manly. haha.

We couldn't stop dreaming of all the fun things we would do to it when/if we got it. We left and went to the nearby Whataburger for the paperwork. Colton and I signed and sent our offer with our realtor.

This morning, she sent it to the seller's realtor. Now, we are just waiting to hear back from them to see if they made any changes. We fully expect them to counteroffer, but have enough room in the contract to play with. I am so excited to see where this leads us and the plans God has for our lives.

I was asked why I don't put pictures up. I eventually will, but I don't want to post pictures of a house if we aren't getting it. The only house I will post will be the one we get. Also, only people who know my address will know why its called Lyly. I don't want to give the street name away for security reasons. (FYI, its pronounced Lily.)

Good Things in 2010

I started to do this last year and didn't get past January, so let's see if I can do it this year...
I encourage you all to think about something positive from every day. Even if it ends up being a bad day and write it down. At the beginning of each month, share your positive "good things" with everyone else. :)


January

1- Quiet night to ourselves. Great way to ring in the new year.
2- Blessed to have a great job, even if I do work Saturday mornings.
3- AWESOME day with my favorite ladies.
4- Quality time with the sister and Kandice.
5- Day off spent catching up on Bible studies.
6- Worked with awesome people.
7- Decided to apply at several preschools and see where God leads me.
8- Thank you for the gorgeous cold weather today. I love it.
9- Got to catch up with a high school/elementary school friend during her engagements.
10- Another fun couple Colton got to photograph.
11- Thank you for another Monday.
12- Day full of interviews (3). How lucky am I that I have a job and have so many interviews? Thank you, God, for allowing me such a great opportunity.
13- God has really been speaking to me today.
14- Had a wonderful day off getting ready for the cruise.
15- Worked hard one last day before vacation.
16- Made it to Galveston without a problem.
17- Had an awesome time with my family before leaving on the ship.
18- A great first day full of fun, food, and amazing new friends.
19- Beautiful day at the beach. God is AWESOME!

20- Swam with amazing stingrays. What beautiful creatures.
21- Witnessed more of the beauty God created for us in Jamaica.
22- Had a wonderful time taking pictures with all my new friends on the ship.
23- Won $80. :)
24- Left the ship with nearly 30 new friends.
25- Blessed to have the day off to recuperate from our trip.
26- AWESOME news from the doctor. Thank you Lord for healing my kidney.
27- Wonderful first day back at work.
28- Worked tonight, which means extra money in our pocket.
29- Got a new job, which means we are able to get a house.
30- Bought amazing new furniture for our future house.
31- Amazing service at church. Saw many people proclaim their love for Christ in baptism.



A post about Lyly is coming soon, I promise...

Anticipation

I am so excited. We are FINALLY going to be able to see Lyly. Eeek! I really like the outside of this house and hope the inside doesn't disappoint. Of course I will be praying that God's will be done in the whole situation. It is a perfect little place for us.

Weekend Update:

Saturday- I worked while Colton shot an engagement session for my gorgeous friend Meredith and her fiance Danny. I cannot wait for him to put the previews up. They are awesome! Then, Colton and I went "furniture" shopping. We figured we would just window shop and price things for when we did get a house. However, we ran into a fantastic deal at Rooms To Go and had to go ahead and purchase. It's so exciting. Just waiting for us to get a house and will be shipped. We picked out our couch, chair, ottoman and a 50' Plasma HD. I am so ready for our house now.
Although we didn't buy anything else, we picked out our washer/dryer, and our bedroom furniture as well. We are ready to get this show on the road. :) Then we hung out with Jen and Sam (ate dinner and watched Supernatural). I am so gonna miss them being in our apartment complex (but they are leaving at the end of this month, and we are actually moving a lot closer to their new place than our apartment. Meaning, we'll still see them all the time).
Here's our living room stuff...

Sunday- Colton played the djembe at church in all three services. I went to the second service and watched as many children and adults were baptized. It was awesome. They had all the children on stage cheering when the person was brought out of the water. It was a celebration on earth just as the angels celebrate in Heaven. So cool! We had another awesome engagement shoot with an adorable couple last night. Then, we went furniture shopping, got a redbox movie and came home to watch it. Colton, Chuck and I snuggled in our bed and watched "The Invention of Lying." It was interesting. Parts were funny, but I wasn't too crazy about how they brought in "religion."

This morning I went to the preschool I will be working at to pick up my info sheet for my training tomorrow. Then, I came to work. In approximately 15 minutes, I will have to tell my supervisor the news (that I got the job). Starting tonight, we are going to clean the apartment and take pics of our current furniture. Once we put an offer in and have a contract going, we hope to sell everything. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of the inside of Lyly for everyone.

Updates...

Thank you all so much for your prayers!! They have really helped with my nerves today. Here is the latest.

I did get the job. I am so grateful, because I think this will be such a huge step in my life. I really feel that I will do a great job, and I am very excited about it. I requested a specific amount of money, and they are unable to do that for me. They jumped through several hoops to get me what they were finally able to offer me. It was only $2/hour less than I requested. Some of you may think "$2? What's the big deal?" However, $2 breaks down to $40/week which is $160 a month. However, Colton and I crunched numbers and I feel a peace about it. It may not be exactly what I wanted, but God has a plan for it and us.

About the house. We were scheduled to view Lyly today, and the owners had to cancel our appointment because their child got sick. We were bummed, but did some research. We found a house, "Washington" that would be a new build. That greatly excited me, so we bought our flashlights and headed over to the neighborhood. It was a little too rural for our taste, and Colton wasn't a huge fan of the neighborhood like he was Lyly. We decided against that one and drove by Lyly only to make me like that house even more. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of picking our own carpet, tile, and everything in between. We just like everything else about Lyly (without seeing the inside) better.

I'm excited about where this journey will go. Hopefully I will be diligent about documenting everything in process.

Changes

This isn't a post about the cruise.

No pictures.

No scrap pages.

I thought about whether or not I would write about this or wait until we have answers, but I thought I may as well just go ahead. I figure if everything does (or doesn't for that matter) work out then I will be glad I documented everything from the beginning.

I tweeted about a *good* anxiety I am feeling about two important changes to my future. I had to clarify that it wasn't a baby (since that is what immediately everyone jumps to).

#1 I decided I wanted to teach preschool and the week before the cruise had 4 interviews at local preschools. I had a couple offers, but the last interview was "the one." I went on the cruise expecting to hear something by the time I got back about whether or not I got the job. I found out that right now my application is snagged in payroll. They are taking a looooong time to get back. Tuesday, I heard something. They suggested I bring my transcript in and hopefully that will expedite the process. It has officially been two weeks (today) and still no word. I talked to them this morning and *fingers crossed* should hear something by tomorrow morning. Just to clarify, I didn't apply because I hate my job. I actually love my current job and if I do get the preschool teaching job, I plan on working here Saturday mornings. I am blessed beyond belief with two amazing supervisors and great coworkers. It has been the best job I have ever had. However, I have a degree and aspirations in education/counseling and have to move on. :( I have talked with a couple of people at work about it (including my supervisor) and they have been extremely supportive.

What I am asking. Please pray for me in this situation. I have a lot of emotions running through my head right now. Honestly, I am a little nervous it has taken this long to hear something. I have been in communication with them, so I don't feel shafted. Not to mention the fact that it is a huge job change for me. Although I am confident I can and will do a great job, there are still jitters about getting started and doing something different. Just pray that God's will is answered and I am able to cope with whatever it may/may not bring.

#2 With a full-time job comes a steadier salary and with that comes a house. I really didn't want to post about this one either. Mainly for superstitious reasons (which I don't even believe in. haha). I think in the long run, I will be happy to have the (hopefully not) long road of owning our own house chronicled from the begining. We have found a neighborhood with several houses we really like for sale. One of those, we both are super crazy about (despite that it only has a couple pictures posted). We are scheduled to go look at it tomorrow. I am SO EXCITED about the possibility of owning our own home. What great timing too (with the tax credit and our lease coming to an end)?

My problem, when I see a house, I immidiately begin imagining family and friends over for holidays. I see all the ways I can decorate it. I look past the payments and financial obligations. I tend to get overly excited and disregard the fact that I am a planner (an over-planner as Colton may say). The idea of having my own house is just something I have dreamed about since I was little. Soooo...all that being said. Pray for me and my emotions. Pray that I will think critically and Colton and I will make the best decision. Pray that we will be alright with setbacks and understand that God has a plan for us. Whether or not this is the house for us. For blog purposes (and hopefully future scrapbooking of our "first house") I will call this one "Lyly."

If you read all of that, you are really cool, by the way. That was a long boring post. Hopefully next one will be filled with good news and pictures.

It's happened...

I have reached a point of obsession for blogging. It has only been 2 days that I have posted in a row, but I was waiting until this morning to post another one (mind you, I have nothing to say). I didn't want to post twice in one day unless it was important. haha. :) I check it every 20 minutes to see if someone on my list updated. I get super excited when I see a comment. Probably just because it is all new again. Who knows?

I am also super excited about all the MckCruise pictures pouring in. I can't wait to see MckMama's. She took some of Colton and I, along with the other cruisers...kinda like a mini photo shoot. I have been updating my facebook like crazy. I love adding all these pictures. I highly doubt more than 2 or 3 people will look at all of them (those being my mom and dad), but facebook has become my photo storage place. I love photos. As much as I like capturing the moment, I love being in them. 90% of the time, I am critical of myself in photos, but I love being caught, in the moment at someplace/with someone very special. They literally last forever. I love looking at pictures of my mom or Meme from back in the day, and I can only hope my child/grandchild(ren) will want the same from me. Since Colton and I have been together since we were 14, I have the most adorable pictures of us. Like this...

I may update again at work tonight, I want to try to get some scrap pages together of the trip. I don't know if I will be able to do that at work, but we'll see.

Let's play a game of catch-up.

HUGE THANKS TO MANDY for helping me make my blog prettier! (I made my own header, believe me she does a much better job at headers than me, so please don't be deceived. Her work is awesome.) I gave her personal blog a shout out last entry, so here's to her blogs blog. ;)

We last left off in October... Wow. Things have changed!

Thanksgiving and Christmas were awesome, spent with family and friends. We had our beautiful Christmas tree again and this year, Chuck posed perfectly in front for me. Becca and Zack spent Christmas with us at our apartment. I finally had the opportunity to meet my beautiful new cousin Chavon (who married my cousin Casey a week after Colton and I) who announced to us that she was pregnant. :) Hailey got a new boyfriend, that we all love so much and have had the most amazing time with. Here are just a few images from those...

Then, I graduated!! Actually, I graduated first, then Christmas, but oh well.

Colton's new website finally opened and business has been booming. We are so blessed with the most amazing brides, couples, families, and everyone who has contributed their wisdom and knowledge. It helps to know amazing photographers who have always been there, and meet new ones along the way. Everyone in the business has been so encouraging and helpful.

Finally, the event that Colton and I have been talking about, wishing for, and saving for 11 months finally came. Our cruise. It was FANTASTIC! Words cannot describe how amazing it was. I will let pictures do most of the talking (then caption) ...




Our huge, beautiful ship.


Cozumel, Mexico.


My new favorite people ever. Seriously, these girls became such good friends of mine in just a week. I can't believe Mandy (middle) lives just 10 minutes from me. You will probably see a lot more of her in the future. ;)


Colton and me with a giant stingray in Grand Cayman.


Colton ziplining in Jamaica.


Game night: I think this sums it up.

Our wonderful waitress, Renata from Croatia and our table mates. We had the best conversations.

I may break down each day in more detail with pictures/scrapbook pages, but for now...I hope you get an idea of what we experienced.

:)

I am going to try to post more often. After spending a week with bloggers, I thought it would be time to get off my butt and document my life. I start work again on Wednesday, so hopefully I will have time for a life recap. My new inspiration... http://www.jackandmandy.blogspot.com/ I love her and her blog.

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that my blog will be beautified in the process. I am going to try my best to learn HTML and photoshop to bring you the very best.

Here's to nothing...