Quick rundown...

Well, as much as I hate that Jay and I won't be together for Christmas & his Birthday, I'm way excited to go see my family. I fly into my home state Christmas Eve morning and we drive to my Nanny's house! Well, I get to see my family I haven't seen since the night before Jay and I moved to Nashville. Then, Friday my Brother, Sister-in-law, Niece, & Nephew come so I'm so excited to get some love from the babies! AND THEN... I get to see my best friend in the whole world, my Goddaughter and her fiance' who I adore, he is the best thing that has happened to T in a very long time! Wednesday can't get here soon enough!

A quick run down of the last couple of days... I got a really great job opportunity at the beginning of the week I am now managing 13 people instead of my original 8. I'm pretty confident that I can fulfill what is expected of me.
Jason and I went to our Sunday School Christmas party Friday night and we had a BLAST, we both feel at home with our friends from BGB Church. Saturday night we had another Christmas party over at one of my boss' houses, that was pretty fun, Jay got to meet all my team and today we went to Church and MAN!!! What a great service, its been a really, really long time that I have felt like the Church I was going to felt like home. Our Church is definitely a Godsend! We leave there every Sunday completely rejuvenated and full filled spiritually! In the New Year I am planning on starting with the choir, and they are going to start some different life groups towards the beginning of the year that Jay and I are really excited about!
Oh, I got on facebook this last weekend and found several friends from Wyoming that I hadn't seen since we moved from there in 1995. And get this.... a couple of them live in Nashville! Small world, huh? I'm pretty excited in meeting up with them eventually!
Anyway, not much else has been going on here, just getting ready for our two different trips! We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!!

The Nutcracker

My Goddaughter was in The New Nutcracker this weekend, she was an angel and a lamb. Ever since the first day she was born we always knew she would be beautiful and talented. I hate that I didn't get to watch her, but my very best friend (her mother) who I will call T had my Goddaughter talk to me on the phone last night before she went to the show so we got to talk. Then T ordered her professional pictures for me and is picking up flowers to give to her after the show tomorrow from Aunt Jenn Jenn. Here is my gorgeous Goddaughter! 5 years has gone by way to fast!

a few of my favorite things...and things I miss as a child

catching a snowflake on my tongue, sledding with my brother & sister, horseback riding, smell after it rains, rainbows, a warm fire, mountains, the smell of pine trees, Moose, watching baby fox play in the front yard, snow-mobiling, skiing, family vacations, my favorite song on the radio, new love, new life, babies, laughter from a child, the touch of a child's hand, hugs & kisses, being held by my Mom, My Dad's advice, My Pappy, fishing, drinking out of a water hose, running through a sprinkler, favorite pair of jeans, METABOLISM, water, iced tea, carmex, lime ice from Sonic in Perryton, Dixie Dog, sisters, crazy girlfriends, nights out with friends, dressing up, flirting, cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, floating the river, watching a good college football game, watching your favorite college football team win, innocence, first kiss, first date, pink, yellow, babies smell, puppy's breath, my co-workers (now), God's Love, vacation Bible school, growing up in a small town, Sundays at Bluegrass Baptist, making our new home our own, kissing in the rain, dancing, the cold side of the pillow, sleeping in, shaved legs, clean sheets, clean house, a good book, satin on a blanket, a really good sandwich at Nanny's house, my Mom's Dt. Coke, baby drule, warm sun, being in a swimming pool by myself, tanning, curly hair, eyelashes, mascara, pulling my brother & sister in the wagon, new clothes, comfy sweats, painted toe nails, painted finger nails, Mom's Jambalaya, homemade chicken noodle soup, grilled turkey & cheese with tomato, tomatoes, carrots, plum fun cake, my birthday, being the oldest sister, helping a friend, giving advice, listening, being a comfort to a friend, a dirt road learning to drive, sneaking out with girlfriends, campfire, camping in a tent, being in love, knowing I am strong, seeing the good in people, trust, guy friends, being silly, learning that I am pretty funny, tea parties w/ H and D, easy bake oven, baby pools, hot tubs, hot shower with no time restriction, reality t.v., pumpkin pie, Mom & Nanny's Dressing, Honey Baked Hams, potato salad, pickles, strawberry twizzlers, buttered popcorn, a good movie, true crime books, IPODs, singing, foot long cheese coneys, hand dipped corn dog, funnel cakes, ice cold draft Coors Light in a frozen mug w/ lime & salt, a good bloody mary, green olives, cocktail onions, fun make-up, glitter/shimmer, a good bible verse, how a sermon seems to be meant for you, pineapple, sand between my toes, skincare masks, pedicures, microderms, facials, massages, someone playing with my hair, getting my back rubbed / tickled, playing, playing the saxophone, daffodils, gerber daisies, tulips, Jason's eyes, Jason's heart, being called Aunt Jenn Jenn, a call from my brother or sister, talking on the phone with Niece, Nephew & Goddaughter, looking at the world through a child's eyes, family, my girlfriends daughters calling me just to talk, my cousin Lo Lo's laugh, laughing out loud, laughing until I cry....
These are just a few of my favorite things... I love my life, I love my family and I love my friends!

The 2 best things in my life!

My Niece and Nephew are the two coolest kids on this planet. Niece, Nephew and Goddaughter have showed me a kind of love that I never knew existed until they were born. I can't even imagine the love I will feel for my own children one day, but if its anywhere close to how I feel for these three kiddos my heart will explode! Meet Niece 2yrs. will be 3 in a month & 1/2, and Nephew 1yr old.... it goes by way to fast!

ONE WHOLE MONTH....

So I made it a whole month without SMOKING!! Woo Hoo! Yeah me, I am no longer a smoker... never again in my life will I pick up another cigarette! This was no one's choice, but MINE, a choice I MADE on my own... I'm pretty proud of myself, I was definitely tested.
As we are backing out of the driveway on Wednesday, I was putting my camera in the console, (haven't looked in there in who knows how long), guess what I see? A brand new pack of cigarettes that I had apparently bought a while back un-opened... that sat there in the console until we got to Jay's parents house. I told my mom and dad that knowing they were there was really hard, especially driving for 5 hours! Usually when I smoked the most!
Mom and Dad asked why I hadn't thrown them away... I didn't really know the answer, so Mom and Dad asked if they could talk to Jay a minute, I said "sure." Apparently they had asked him if he would help me out.... cause next thing I know he is getting in the console opening the brand new pack of cigarettes and dumping them in the gravel at his parents house. Then he stomped them, and spun his foot on top of them until there was nothing but the butts left to pick up... he said, "MAN, that was pretty therapeutic!" Ha Ha Ha
Apparently he had some pent up anger? Ya think?
So.... there you have it, I was tested, but guess what? I PASSED!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

I pray that you all enjoy your families and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What a week.... I'm glad its over! (side note: Get 'er guns up! Wreck 'em Texas Tech!)

It was kind of hard to be positive this week, its so hard to be so far from everyone. I have friends AT WORK and friends at Church, but after 5pm and before 8am I have Jason. Not that I mind hanging out with my husband, I love it, but if you know me, you know I need people.... well I need family and friends... I wasn't liking Nashville very much this week at all. Monday night, Jason called me on his way home from work and a deer hit him. Literally jumped into the side of my car (he's been driving it because the transmission is going out in it) He's ok just a cut inside his ear, and the car is drivable, but until today it was really hard to see any positivity about the whole situation. Anyway, it busted the rear-view mirror and the driver's side window. So the Malibu not only needs a new transmission which is way more than the car is worth, but a new rear-view mirror and a driver's side window. Cha Ching $$, Cha Ching $$.... to top it off, I asked Jason about 2 months ago after seeing a car insurance commercial,
Me - "do we have a rental car on our insurance?"
J - "yep"
Me - "U sure?"
J - "yes"
Me - "can you call tomorrow and double check?"
J - "yes"

I bet ya'll know what I'm going to say next.... Yep, that'd be right... no rental car on our insurance, so now what, do you ask.... "[Jason's] just going to drive it" Stubborn men.... Are you kiddin me? Drive it? Without a window? When there are snow flurries and its getting down to 19 degrees at night.... Whatever, I give up, NOW you know why I need an out.... I need GIRLS, I NEED FRIENDS just down the street from me! I need FAMILY!! So all of you that live in Nashville, point.... laugh.... blow your horn.... at the Malibu that's side is dented in, the rear-view mirror is literally hanging by a wire, and the driver's side window that is "saran-wrapped (hell if I know what he used on the window).... I have to laugh now, if I didn't I would go INSANE!!! And that was just MONDAY!!! Needless to say, I'm ready for the weekend and Saturday night football!! Texas Tech vs. OU at 7pm.... Let's go Red Raiders!

I've done it!

Its official, I am no longer a smoker!! I haven't had one in 16 days today!! We went out Saturday night to a bar for one of my girlfriends birthdays and its wasn't hard for me at all. It actually grossed me out! Habits and addictions are so hard to break, but seriously with the Chantix it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
Anyway, just wanted to update you all on my progress.... I'm pretty proud of it!

Best Husband on the planet!!!

Jason has got to be the best husband on the planet! He's always helping around the house and since we've moved here, we had to kind of switch roles. In Amarillo the hospital wasn't very far from my house so I could have supper started and almost ready by the time he would get home from his job in Canyon. Well, since we've moved here, he's had to start supper because I don't get home until 6pm when I leave work at 5pm and if I am a little after that, then forget it! Usually he has supper finished or closed to being finished by the time I get home. Yesterday, I had bad mouthed him at work because him and one of my boss' fiance's went hunting Sunday and Jay decided for some strange reason that we needed TWO deer? What the heck are we going to do with 2 deer and then he wants to process it at our house.... so whatever... I felt bad after bad mouthing him when I got home last night. He had the day off yesterday because of Veteran's Day... Well, I get home and he had literally cleaned every room in our house... SPOTLESS!!! And.... to top it off has dinner ready as soon as I walked into the house. I'm not talking just picked up... I'm talking sheets off the bed with a new set on the bed, every bit of laundry washed, folded and put away...dishes washed and put away... AND.... he cleaned the kitchen AS HE WAS COOKING... which never happens. I was like Jay this looks awesome, were you bored today? Nope, just wanted make the house look nice for you! WHAT? Is this man for real? He's awesome and I absolutely love him to death! Thank you Jay for making me feel special everyday!
PS: He has a single brother!!! LOL...

Veterans Day

I just want to personally thank every man and woman who has fought for my freedoms, past, present and future. I can not put into words how I feel about each of you, your families and sacrifices! Thank you again for fighting for our country! May God be with each of you on this day and everyday!

GOD BLESS the USA and the Men and Women who serve it!

10 down 2 to go!!

I am so proud to be a Texas Tech fan... They are well on their way to the CHAMPIONSHIP!!! OU 11/22 and Baylor 11/29.... Get 'er GUNs UP!! Graham Harrell for the Heisman 2008!!!

How beautiful is this State!!!

One of the best pictures I have taken! Love it!

A run down....

Well lets see, compared to last week, this week has been pretty great. T and S (A's daughters) called me on Monday and we visited about school, football, softball, boys and of course their Mom. They both were so glad to have my cell number and it made my day that they felt comfortable enough to call me. They both told me that they loved me and wanted to see me, so I was planning a trip to Amarillo in December for my Goddaughter's debut in the Nutcracker ballet, so I just added a couple of days so maybe I can make it to Perryton and one my way there I can pick up S and B in Pampa and take them to lunch or something and at least finally give them that hug I been dying to give them!! And T called me night before last just to chit chat, she invited me to KState for her 21st birthday weekend in Feb and I am planning on going, I sure hope I can. Her Mom always made her Birthday so special and fun, its the day before Valentine's Day... they would have a bunch of girls over, do toenails, fingernails, and watch chick flicks. "A" had told me that she wanted to make T's 21st birthday amazing, so I would love to be there for her on her day! They have just really made me feel pretty good. S started her new school on Wednesday and had an ok day, I can't imagine how hard it is for her and her brother B to pick-up in the middle of the school year, move to a new town and start a new school all without a Mom to talk to about all the changes going on in their little lives.... Continue to pray for them and M.
As for the whole trying to quit smoking I am now SIX days smoke free... the only thing I have been trying to fight and I have found really hard is the habit of being out on my porch when I am on the telephone. So to fight the urge, I went out on the porch talked on the phone and chewed THE CRAP out of a straw!! I am feeling fantastic!!! Trying to fight EATING all the time though.... I've been doing good and even better once our Halloween candy was out of the house!
This weekend I am not sure what we are going to do, J called me this morning and asked if I would want to take a picnic out to the lake tomorrow and maybe drive around some more in Nashville to take pictures.... You can not believe all the COLORS! There are several spots on my way to work, I would love to just stop and shoot a picture. Off 440 there is a cemetery and the back drop is all the colors you can possibly imagine, reds, oranges, yellow, rust, deep purple's and dark greens... I haven't seen anything this gorgeous since we lived in Wyoming! I absolutely love fall in Tennessee!! So we will either do that, or I may try to talk him into taking a quick trip into the Smoky Mountains this weekend and take some really awesome pictures, plus some much needed time out of the house together!
I'm pretty excited about next week, one of my girlfriends from Amarillo is coming here to see her sister in Mt. Juliet, her and her mom will be here the 13-17th, YAY! FINALLY SOME GIRLFRIENDS!! And some GIRL TIME!!! AND.... someone who knows me!!! I'm pretty excited! I will finally get to show off my house to one of my friends! This is probably really wishful thinking but I called Tana last night and told her to catch a flight with them! Now that would be fun! I sure do miss her and my Goddaughter, I miss going to lunch, running by her house if I wanted to, just hanging out! She's my family and we have been best friends for 29 years, her mom and my mom have been best friends since 6th grade, so we feel like sisters. Anyway, I'm rambling, but this week as definitely been a better week! Hope to take some more great pictures of fall this weekend so stay tuned....

New lifestyle check...

Well as most of you know I have been taking Chantix for 7 days now, I slipped up this weekend.... That Texas Tech game got me all nervous!! Ha... by slipping up I mean I had one cigarette and didn't enjoy it so I put it out half way through. So you can smoke on it for the first 7 days and then you are done. I was done with my pack after that Saturday nervousness slip up.... and I'm not buying anymore. Its a great drug, but you have to be willing to quit as well. I have been a little irritable, but with the week I had last week, I think I've done pretty good. It will be a process and I am willing to stick it out for the sake of my life and our future family. Just hadn't given you an update on my lifestyle change... unfortunately I had to restart my quit days... so now, its 4:35pm and I'm almost 2 days smoke free....

I love fall in Tennessee...

Jay and I went for a hike around Radnor Lake yesterday after Church and man was it beautiful. It was so peaceful out there, they have the road blocked off around the lake so the road that goes around the lake you can walk on, and then there are trails that go off of the road up into the woods, it was gorgeous. There is no fishing allowed and no boats allowed so the water was like glass unless a fish jumped.... we saw a buck, a doe and her baby... it was definitely good for the soul! Here are some pictures that we took.... enjoy! We definitely saw God yesterday!

There is a new angel in heaven....

Loosing a friend, who was so young and being this far away from her family and my friends last week was super tough for me. I got to talk to a couple of buddies I hadn't spoken with since we moved and it was so good to hear their voices and know that they were there for M and the kids. S who I have been friends with since I worked at Coors almost 6 years ago, called me the day of the funeral and told me he was giving the girls my cell phone number so that they could call me whenever they wanted talk. That made me feel great. Anyway, they told me that A's funeral was beautiful and that K did a wonderful job. I said a prayer for him that day as well, he married them 5 years ago and I can not imagine how hard that was.
Thursday was the funeral and I've done a lot of praying this week, like really hard praying. Around 2pm Thursday I went off by myself into an office, locked the door and prayed, I was feeling alone, I wanted to be there so bad with all of our friends, just to celebrate her life and to physically be there for M and the kids. So I am praying in the office and just asking for K to have the right words to help comfort her family, praying that God would comfort the family the only way he can, to help carry them until they are able to walk on their own again. I felt better once I had my time, but still just felt alone. God is amazing, in about 10 minutes I get a call on my cell phone from the preacher at the church Jay and I have been visiting, I haven't ever spoken to the man on the phone before, his first words were, this is M from BGB Church and I was calling to ask you how your week was going? Tears filled my eyes, amazed once again my God's love. I told him about A and the loss I was feeling and how sad I was that couldn't be there for M and the kids, he asked me if it was ok if he prayed for me and for A's family. I lost it and said absolutely can you please. I needed reassurance at that moment and God answered my prayers.
Today, I am doing better, I have been able to talk to M a couple of times and bless his heart he is so lost, so please keep him and her kids in your prayers. I've been able to make him chuckle a couple of times and that made me feel better, I just wish I could give the big guy a hug! I know now that we have one more beautiful angel in Heaven watching over us, and I will get to see her again one day.
A -- I am thankful that God brought you into M's life so that I could meet you and your kids. I will miss the talks we used to have, sitting in the chair at your house wrapped in a blanket watching t.v. and football games, your beautiful smile and the way you lit up a room when you walked into it. I will miss the way you looked at your kids, I will miss your silly little way you talked to the dogs when they "were talking" to us. You were a beautiful daughter, wife, Mother, Nurse, and friend and you will truly be missed by all that you touched. I can not wait to see you again!

Life is too short...

Today, started out being a fantastic day, I was pumped and was in a great mood. I was at work doing my thing when I received a text from one of my very close buddies, it said, "You need to call me ***ASAP!**** Well we talk at least once or twice a month since we've moved, but I had never received a text message like that before from him... I called and got the most shocking news... His wife, one of my very good friends passed away suddenly Sunday night. She was a hard worker, 40 years old, who adored her three kids like they hung the moon. When I lived in Amarillo, I would go and stay over at their house when he would work nights and she was at the hospital working nights. I would stay over there with the kids, wake them up get them breakfast, make their lunches and take them to school.
During our conversation, it was as if it was a dream that we weren't having this conversation.... I mean what do you say to a grown man whose world just fell out from under him? I wish I could have reached through the phone and given him a hug, I wish I could take it away from those kids who will grow up without a Mother.... what do you say? There are no words to make it go away, there is nothing I can do to fix it....
All I can say is; and its the very reason I do it everytime I talk to ANYONE I love or that is in my life.... Make sure you tell the ones who are in your life EVERYDAY how much they mean to you, make sure they have no doubt in their minds how you feel about them, because Life IS TOO SHORT, and it can all change in an instant! Please keep this family in your prayers.


"You don't have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it's all been made possible by your Saviour. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow."

---Joni Eareckson Tada

New lifestyle starts..... NOW!!!

Well, lets see I am FINALLY biting the bullet... I am going to quit smoking. With heart disease running rapid through both sides of my family and with Mom's heart thing 2 or 3 weeks ago, I figured it was definitely time to quit. This awful habit has been a habit of mine for way longer than I care to admit, I started way before high school because... well we thought we were being "rebels" and thought I could quit anytime I wanted to. Not so much.... pretty hard... especially with all the crazy stress Jay and I have been under the last year, with the move, starting new jobs, and buying a house thing... I would have probably been in the fetal position in the corner somewhere sucking my thumb; had I not smoked...ANYWAY, I had spoke with a physician back when we lived in Amarillo about Chantix and decided I wasn't really ready yet... it was one of those things I had "control over" and at the time I felt like I was loosing control over a whole lot, so stupidly I continued to smoke used it as "my security blanket." Stupid I know, but unless you've ever been addicted to something, you will never know how hard it is to stop.... well, Jay and I are finally settled into our lives here in Nashville and I feel pretty confident in the fact that I can do this with the help of Chantix.... I think I will be able to quit fairly quickly, since I'm not a "heavy smoker," a whole pack can last me a week.
Both my parents were able to quit with the help of this drug and several of my friends have quit because of it....so I pray I have the exact results they have all had.
I pretty excited and know that this will only make that dream of ours; of becoming parents only that much closer! Yea!

My family is the BEST!!!

Its been awhile since I've wrote on here.... Jay and I got to fly back to Lubbock and Midland last week and see some of my family. I got to see my Mom and Dad, my little sister, and my little brother and his family. We had the best time, we got to see my neice who is 2 and my nephew who will be 1 tomorrow!!! Man how time flies! The last time I saw them before this trip my nephew was 3 months old! They both have grown up so much in the last 6 months. We got to play every waking minute they were up and it was a blast. We pulled them in the wagon, we played with playdoh, we pretended we were having a tea party in their play room, we did so much.... 3 days wasn't long enough for my to get over my fix, but it was so great to be able to hold them again and give 'em hugs and kisses. I really enjoyed hanging with my Brother and Sister-in-law, too I would have to say that was the best visit we have had in a very long time. Being away from them kind of put everything in perspective for me, all the little petty crap isn't that important when you have a limited amount of time to spend with them. I got to hang out with my Mom and Dad who are two of my very best friends and that was super nice to get to see them, 8 more months and they will live in the USA FOR GOOD!!! We are so ready for them to be here and to get out of Qatar!



I love his little face!



I love her lil face too!!

She's our little ham!

Mom and Dad got her this car for her 1st Christmas!

He just woke up from a nap, Nana looks pretty proud of her Grandson!

My Dad is pretty proud of his Grandson, too! He looks just like Papa and his Daddy!

Next......

Well so yesterday was a little rough for me, I wanted to be in Amarillo with my Mom while she was having a stint put in. Unfortunately I could not due to miles between here and Texas.... so anyway, needless to say I had a little mini meltdown around 4:30pm, when they had to take her back into surgery to check the stint and was WAY ready to be home to just chill and relax.

I have to go back a little bit... a while back we put our names into an entry for a brand new LG Refridgerator at Home Depot, so its supposed to be held the end of Oct. They also do a weekly drawing to pick who gets put in the "big" drawing. So anyway.... Jay and I won the weekly drawing a couple of weeks ago.... THERE'S A CATCH.... to get your $20 gift certificate they want to send out a water sampling man to test your water.... then they will send you the $20 gift card in 4 to 5 weeks....

SOOOO, I knew the water man was going to be at our house around 6pm last night, I figure this dude will be at our house until maybe 6:45pm at the latest, so I had kind of gotten geared up for trying to appease some strange man showing me how disgusting our water is.... blah blah blah
So I call my wonderful hubby who, in his defense, was really probably trying to help out, but man bless his heart.... so I call him on the phone tell him I am on my way home and would be getting home earlier because all the Nashville traffic was downtown for the Presidential Debate.....
What does he tell me? "Well.... thats is good, I called the insurance guy and asked if he could come over tonight around 6:45pm tonight so he will be coming after the water dude leaves is that ok?"
"Sure, ummmm.... when are we going to eat dinner?" That always seems to be my question.... when can I FEED MY FACE?
"Well, it won't take that long the water guy should probably leave around 6:30pm and the insurance guy will only be here for 10 or 15 minutes."

Ummmm.... apparently he doesn't realize that both these people are trying to sell us something in our home after work hours so there is no where to go.....

So, J puts the pizza in the oven when I had called him.... I get home about 5:45pm.... 6:00pm the timer on the oven is going off and my door bell is ringing..... GRRRRREAT!!! No food!, grumble, grumble.... fake smile, hi how are you.... oh I'm fantastic.... except I've had one hell of a day and now you are here to tell me about my nasty water... and I am freakin hungry!!!
So we go through the very long process of demonstrations, the man is in my kitchen and J and I are sitting on the other side of the bar..... well water salesman and J decide that they need to be talking bow hunting and fishing..... goodie, I know that I have an insurance man coming in about 5 minutes and I can see my pizza sitting on top of the oven getting cold.... so I gently and lovingly kick my husband under the bar to hopefully get him to shut up about hunting so this poor man can get the hell outta my house.....
Door bell rings...... great insurance man decides to show up about 10 minutes early.....
Now I have a damn waiting room going on in my house...... grrrr.... no pizza for me!!
So the waterman tries to speed up his shpill, and is not doing a very good job if you ask me.... he still has to show us 5 more demonstrations, show my hubby a picture of a buck he shot last bow season, talk to him about duck season, blah blah blah.... all the while I have a poor man sitting in my now waiting room area staring at the ceiling.... coughing and tapping his foot.....
I could have shot my husband for thinking that this was all going to be over in what 30 minutes???
Ya'll.... the insurance man did not leave my house until 9:20pm.... so now I have missed the entire Town Hall Presidential Debate that was going on in my city, AND..... I have not eaten.... by this time I am way past the point of hunger, so I poured me a small bowl of mini wheats and watch the evaluation on the debate..... all the while trying to chill out so I would be able to go to sleep.
Bless J's heart I know he was trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, but yesterday was just not the night for me.... hopefully I can go home tonight and not have to holler "Next please...."

Bonfire

Jason and I had a really great weekend, it started out kind of sad for me because all my immediate family met in Lubbock this last weekend and I couldn't be there, but my Mom made sure I got to talk to my niece and nephew a couple of times while they were all together which made that part a little easier, we are SOOOO ready to see them all... 7 more days left! Can't wait!
Anyway, Friday night Jay and I kind of hung out and watched a movie. Saturday we cleaned up the house, unpacked a few boxes and started to hang up stuff on our walls, I love I have so much space, its amazing that in our last two apartments that I had all this stuff. I had it all crammed into the apartment in Amarillo, sensory overload.... I have TONS of pictures and thought I guess they all needed to be in one area of the apartment... LOL. Anyway, we still have lots to hang up, but are waiting on painting the sunroom and the spare bedroom before we hang up the rest. Anyway, Jason went to a teach a fish clinic Saturday afternoon, so I just did laundry and watched a couple of movies. Saturday night our Sunday School class had a bonfire in Gallatin which is about half and hour from our house. The bonfire was out on someone's farm which was huge and somewhat in the woods... N and her husband are so creative, we had a blast. We roasted hot dogs over the bonfire, chit chatted with each other for awhile and then broke up into teams. Jason and I were on different teams, there were about 6 teams with 5 people on each team. You had stations that you went to and at each station you had a task you had to complete and puzzle piece, you could not go onto the next task until you had completed the one you were at. So #1 station you had to eat 5 oreo cookies before going onto the next station, #2 we got a compass with a task saying 10 steps N, 15 West 5 East... there was another puzzle piece and a task, #3 we had to tie a slip knot with a rope, once it was tied we had to go to station #4, at that station there was a huge bucket of water and a tin at the end, you had 5 little dixie cups that your team had to make a line and pass it down, once you filled up the pie tin you could proceed to the last station, #5 was the last and final puzzle piece in one bag with the task of putting together the puzzle. In the next bag was a razor, magnesium and flint you were to start a fire with your puzzle pieces and whoever's fire went for 1 minute won! Well my team won free movie tickets! It was so much fun, and keep in mind this is in the pitch black darkness in the "woods." After that we all sat around the bonfire and listened to our spirit team leader and another guy from our Sunday School class play the guitar. It was a much needed night out with friends, Jason and I had so much fun we didn't leave there until around 10:30pm went home and went to bed for church yesterday morning. When we got home from church we hung up some more stuff on the walls and then laid around and watched movies, we haven't been able to do that in so long with us working on the house or moving, so it was so nice to just chill out with each other yesterday.
It was a really good weekend.

Some parents should not be blessed with babies!

On my way to work this morning, I just happened to get behind an explorer, and I kept seeing the person in front of me just whaling in the back seat.... at first I guess it wasn't registering what was going on, then it clicked after the next time she went back toward the back seat with her fist.... I blew my horn long and loud enough to where she knew someone was watching.... and then I thought about it longer and got sick to my stomach realizing that I couldn't see the lil person's head over the seat so they had to be a lil person... I called the Nashville Police Department, gave them her license plate number and description, I pray to God she at least gets the crap scared out of her and she won't ever raise a hand to her child ever again.... Why is it the ones who can pop kids out with no problem, have no problem conceiving and have one right after another one; aren't responsible enough to even take care of themselves let alone a little human being, are the ones who don't deserve them at all.... and then the ones who absolutely want one, more than anything in the world... struggle to get a baby? ... it makes me sad. I just pray that that child is ok.
My parents will tell you, well most of my family will tell, my poor brother and sister can definitely tell you that I was born to be a Mommy.... I used to mother those two around like no other... I have just always wanted to be a Mommy, so I just can not fathom wanting to hurt a child, ever... I could go ON AND ON AND ON, on this subject....

Quote

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way."

I loved this quote so I felt like sharing....

I will write more later.

Forgot to post finished kitchen pics

Well, I was looking through all the hard work that Jay and I have done on our house so far,
and realized I hadn't posted any finished pictures of the kitchen and breakfast nook.
We've been living there for a week yesterday and are absolutely loving every minute of it
we got all of our stuff out of the apartment yesterday so we have only 1 place now.... no more driving 20 miles one way to pick something up, and then 20 more miles to go home.
Unpacking won't be that bad, because I already have this mental picture of where I want to hang all of our stuff up. Its been fun, and its been super nice that most of the house has been painted and feels so much cleaner.... we still have the sunroom, our master bathroom, and that nasty spare bedroom, that has all the colors in the florescent world in it... we also got a new faucet, thanks to my parents and one of my boss'. We have definitely been blessed beyond belief.

Veggin Out

Beau is absolutely loving his new backyard. He will lay in one spot for a little while, get up.....

And move to another place in the yard, just chillin! Its pretty funny!

Random thoughts

I never thought that not being able to watch Texas Tech, Texas, and OU football would be an issue, but living in Nashville, I am now in a completely different division. There is a package you can add to your cable so that you can watch it, but for some strange reason MY HUSBAND doesn't want the package... and then it just hit me, its because we are back in the division of football he grew up watching, so he's watching the teams he wants to see so why would he want to watch my teams? I do miss it, there's just something about college football, I absolutely love it way more than Pro, they are definitely still playing because they love it and not for the $$$. I've never really gotten defensive about anyone bad mouthing a player, but since Vince Young was such an awesome player for Texas, I am a little offended when I hear that the Titan fans can not stand the poor guy. He screwed up on a game and now he is on their shit list and they are wanting him to leave, every Monday morning I come in to the office and have to hear about how horrible he is, and how he's going to cost them the season.... well I've got a news flash for you people, the Titans aren't the greatest Pro team anyway!
I know shame on me, but dang.... LET IT GO!!! The poor guy messed up, I'm sure we've all messed up at one point in our lives and didn't have to do in front of millions of people!
Enough about football....
I'm bored at work today and everyone is gone to a Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon and unfortunately I have an appointment soon, so I wasn't able to go... hopefully next year.
Well, this is our last weekend before we are completely in our new home.... I think its almost easier to move all at once instead of gradually because once you get your necessaties over at the house your going to be, why would you want to go back to that apartment.... anyway, we are finishing getting the rest of our stuff out and cleaning it... It is so nice to be able to sit outside on our front porch and hear the frogs, and crickets and QUIET!! There are no sirens, there is no blaring music, there is no one who thinks that its a fun toy for their toddler to play with the alarm on the vehicle so your constantly hearing the freakin horn honking FOR 2 HOURS STRAIGHT, you can actually hear your conversations in your own home because you don't have some dumb ass kids upstairs blaring their electric guitars and the amp as loud as it can go..... being a home owner is definitely a blessing!!
So we are excited, I'm ready to start decorating now, and hanging up all our pictures! I miss walking by a wall and not being able to see my Niece, Nephew, God daughter, my brother, sister-in-law and sister and of course our parents hanging on my walls, crazy as it may sound it kind of makes my homesick (sadness) go away (very little), but it helps to see their faces.
18 more days until I get to see them and I am so ready, it sucks being away from them for so long. My husband and I were talking the other night and we both got kind of sad when we realized we don't really know our nephew as well as we do my niece, so we are both looking forward to seeing him and getting to know his little personality, we are SO READY! I wish we were flying out today! Not much else going on in the crazy life of the Henegars, stay tuned that could change at any minute... LOL

What a year!

Well, Sunday Jason and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary, and were thinking back at how much has happened in our 1 year of marriage! We got married September 21, 2007, we moved to Nashville in March, he started his job April 1, I started my new job April 7, and we bought a house in August.... so we got married, we moved, we started new jobs and we bought a new home, 4 of the 5 major stressors in life! And we survived them all! Its definitely been a ride the only other stressor in life is adding a baby to the mix... and unfortunately for us we aren't prego yet!
We've been staying in our home since Sunday and its amazing, I can definitely say it feels like home, we love it!
Yesterday hmmmm......
My company will pay its employees to go to a "community day" where you can pick a non-profit organization to do community service for, you get paid to go... pretty amazing, I've never in my life worked for a company who is all about community service. I've done several community service things, and fund raising type deals, but not as much as I would have liked. Now.... I can go and volunteer anytime I want and get paid to do it, if I miss work because of it.... Anyway, I went to the Sexual Assault Center of Nashville, and wow what a blessing! All that I can remember was having call centers about 10 years ago, but this is a building where anyone can go, get free therapy for as long as they need! It was heart wrenching in that 70% of their clients are children under the age of 12! After yesterday, I completed training and education and now I am an ambassador for the center its exciting, this is the type of work I have always wanted to do and to be able to do it, makes me feel great! We will be having an Open House, (they just moved into this great building) Nov. 14th, so I will be there giving tours of the new building to clients, there is going to be a huge 5k walk in March that I am way excited about and have already recruited half of my floor at work to go...
Not much else has been going on, I'm counting down the days when I can go see my Niece and my Nephew, I absolutely miss them so bad! 6 months without seeing them has been super hard, the last time I got to see my lil man he was 3 months old still on baby formula, and now he's walking all over the place, eating table food and has teeth!! It goes by way to fast, there are days I wish I could twitch my nose and have them in my arms in a second! Not long only 20 more days to go!!!

I will be sleeping in my house tomorrow night!!

Well, I have been able to take off early from work the last two days. I had a huge meeting the last couple of days at work and was coming in way early, not taking a lunch and staying after work to finish what I hadn't gotten done during the day.... ANYWAY I got off early yesterday and Jay and I got pretty far on the house last night, he is finishing up the Master Bedroom trim and then we are going to be CLEANING fools tonight! We will start moving our stuff over tomorrow! We are so excited and can not wait to SPREAD OUT!! Woo HOO!!
Anyway, I will post the finished product whenever we get out internet up at the house, it should be up tomorrow, but it never works the way you want it to at first. I am so glad its Friday and can not wait to be getting ready for work in our big master bathroom, in that awesome shower!

Sunday, Jason and I will be married ONE YEAR!! For those of you who have been in my life for the last 12 years or so, know how awesome this relationship has been for me, I am amazed that we have already been married a year. My 1st marriage with in the first year we were seperated 3 times and 3 weeks before our 1 year anniversary, he decided he didn't want to be a husband anymore.... THANK GOD! I wasted WAY TOO MUCH OF MY LIFE trying to fix it....

Anyway, although our 1 year has been filled with HUGE life stressor events (getting married, moving across the US, Starting new jobs, and buying a house) Jason and I's relationship has stayed strong and has gotten stronger, but relationship wise this has been the EASIEST, I just keep saying I never knew it was this easy (don't get me wrong, I know marriage is a full-time job, but compared to the first one, this is HEAVEN). I never knew that this is what it was supposed to be like, thank God he brought Jason in mine and my families life.

OH, and I GOT FANTASTIC NEWS!!! My Goddaughter who is 5 years old, started ballet about 2 weeks ago, and my best friend Tana took her to audition for The Nutcracker with the Lonestar Ballet, and lil miss tootie fruity MADE THE CAST!!! I can not wait to plan a trip to watch my lil doodle bug be up there hamming it up! Stay tuned for her lil pictures! Well, I need to jet and go help the hubby clean our home!!

Ta Da!

My pictures didn't go in the order I wanted them... just wanted to show the progress that we have done on that AWEFUL kitchen, it looks so much better with out the wall paper, the grey is a primer we are painting it tomorrow or this weekend.
Anyway, I also included pictures of the dining room, I originally was going to do a dark earthy orange below the chair rail, but after Jay and I looked at it at different times of the day, we tried to make it darker by putting another coat of orange, well that just made it brighter. SOOOOO....
We then tried to do a faux finished with like a chocolate color, but that didn't work either, so we just decided to put chocolate at the bottom.
We are going to repaint the sunroom later in a neutral color, but not to concerned with it right now.

Just wanted to show you where we started and how far we have gotten. Its been a super fun project making it our own, but holy cow I will not EVER again decide to paint an entire house! I will be smart and paint one room at a time!

Boredom

Well, sitting at home by myself is not exactly what I enjoy doing. I didn't mind it so much in Amarillo, but when Jay is out of town here, it just makes me realize that I really don't have anyone to just hang with. When he was gone in Amarillo, I could always go over to someone's house or always had stuff to do. Being new here and not really having established friendships where you can just go hang on the couch and not feel like you have to talk the whole time has been tough for me. It just makes me miss my family more. I have met a lot of really great people here, just no one yet that I would really call up and go hang with them. I know that will come with time, but right now its pretty depressing.
I guess the positive to this is I am resting the ole' fingers, arms and back from painting the house. Jay won't be home until late tomorrow night. We only have to paint the kitchen and master bedroom to be able to move in, we are ready!

Almost there!!

Wow what a weekend! We worked our little fannies off at the house. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! All we have to do now to be able to move in; is finish up the kitchen, (we primed it yesterday) paint the master bedroom and clean the carpets. Beau is absolutely loving it, he thinks he has a football field for a backyard and that we are living in a castle compared to where we have lived since we've had him. Jason and I are really excited and the house is really starting to feel like our home now. We've done alot of work to it, and there will always be something to do until we get it exactly like we want it. When we finish with the inside we have tons of ideas for landscaping the front and back yard, we can not wait!

Well, I guess I am joining the blogging world, mainly so that my family can keep updated on our daily lives. Jason and I moved to Nashville, TN on March 24, 2008 and it was hard at first, I had never been so far from my family before. I was definitely out of my comfort zone and didn't like that to much, all I did for couple of weeks was cry and pray. My prayers were answered when I went to a temp agency and did some skills testing for them. They had told me that they wanted to send me to an interview with a major corporation downtown the next day. I had never heard of HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) before nor did I realize how big of a company it is! They implement the best practices for over 140 hospitals nationwide. Oh man, did God answer my prayers, I started working for them on April 7th and have loved Nashville ever since! I truly believe had I started a job anywhere else here, I would not like Nashville as much as I do. My team I work with are the most amazing group of individuals, I love it! I am the Administrative Assistant for Patient Safety, Pharmacy Services and Infection Control. My Infection Control department just started a nationwide campaign with Mitchell Musso ("Oliver" from Hannah Montana) called Clean Hands are Cool Hands. We are going into the grade school classrooms trying to start good habits with younger children about washing their hands, as this campaign grows we are going to be watching whether or not attendance improves. We have commercials airing in Nashville, Las Vegas, Tampa, and it will grow as the campaign grows! Its pretty exciting to be involved with this program!
Anyway, Jason is the Rivers and Streams Coordinator for Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for the state of Tennessee. He seems so much more happier with his team than what he was working with out of Canyon, TX. Man, these guys actually feel blessed to have their jobs and work everyday! I can probably count on my hands the days Jason has actually been in the office. He's been learning the Rivers, Lakes and Streams all over the State. It probably helps out that he grew up in East Tennessee, and Kayak'd or fished on most of them! He's lovin every minute of it!
He and I closed on a home August 29, 2008. 3 bedroom 2 bath, house in a small town right outside of Nashville, it is the perfect place for us to live, small town values, with the convienances of Nashville! We have met some really good people since we moved here, its amazing how sweet everyone is here. Since we have lived here, working down town close to "music row" I have gotten to see several Country Music Stars. I have seen Todd Gentry from Montgomery Gentry, I have seen Martina McBride, I have seen Keith Urban, and saw Clint Black's entourage! There is kind of an unwritten rule here in Nashville that you pretty much leave them alone. Which is hard to do sometimes especially when your sitting at the table right next to Martina McBride at Pancake Pantry and you just want to go give her a big ole' hug! LOL I completely understand leaving them alone, they come here to get away from all the camera's and stuff.
Well, I am going to close for now, Jason and I are going to a football party tonight with several people from our Sunday School class, we are ready to break away from painting walls, texturing, and priming. Hopefully this weekend we will be done painting and can start moving in soon!! We are definitely ready to be in our own home! Hope you all have a great weekend!