Christmas stuff and wathcing Jordan

Jeremy and I did have a good time in W.V. even though we did have to cut our time short :-( Jeremy did get cool stuff like he posted in the previous blog. Jeremy got me tickets to see Lion King off Broadway in Cincinnati in April, that was awesome. From my mom Jeremy picked out a lot of really cool clothes....but hardly any of them fit so we're gonna have a big return day soon. This week and next week I am also watching a little girl named Jordan from church b/c her preschool is closed. She's really cute but definatley a spitfire! It should be a fun week. Her favortie movie is High School Musical, we've already watched it twice and listended to the soundtrack twice. Here's a picture of Jordan when we went to the park. Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas!

Catching up and my Power Five

Sorry faithful bloggers for our lack of posting. We got back last night from West Virginia where we had a Merry Christmas. The snow came a day late...and it was nice...just for that one day. Anyways, we came back early because a lady in our church past away yesterday. She attended Cornerstone for 65 years. Simply put, she was an awesome lady and she will be missed.

Hopefully Jess will blog more, but I got some cool stuff for Christmas. I got a new suit, a ton of clothes, The Office 2007 Calender, The Office Season 2 DVD, a coffee maker, and a bunch of other really cool stuff.

Before I enter my Power Five for the week, I want to say a few words about Shawn Merriman. What's up with the fact that he tests positive for Steroids and he's hailed as one of the best defensive players of the year? Why is it that Barry Bonds has never tested positive for Steroids and people say he doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame? Are you kidding me? Barry Bonds was great before his head started to grow (literally started to grow...its like twice as big)...Shawn Merriman is in his second year and he's already been tested positive...um...maybe Merriman is great because he CHEATED. Anyways, on to my five...

Number Five: The Philadelphia Eagles - I didn't see the game...cause I was watching soaps with Jess' mom. Fun times. But, they are one of the hottest teams right now.

Number Four: The United States Saints - Best all around offense in the NFC. Great running game, great QB, and a great recieving core.

Number Three: The Baltimore Ravens - I really don't like these guys...but they are winning games and are healthy. Plus, they have a very good defense. Its going to be very hard to beat them in the playoffs.

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - Still the best team in the NFC.

Number One: The San Diego Chargers - Still the best team in the AFC. Whatever happened to that conference. They look pretty sorry right now.

Teams that dissappoint me: The Bengals, The Colts Defense, The Giants, and The Cowboys. These teams really should have done better then they have. I had Santa deliver them coal this year. Sucks to be them. Have a good one...

Some pics from the weekend

Poor stupid leo can't defend himself against Jess and her silly hats!

This is my nephew Trevor. He's so cool!

Here is Jess with my nieces Savannah and Cheyenne. Savannah (on left) got a hold of some scissors and decided to cut her hair!

Here are my grandparents. They are awesome!

Here is Shari my stepmom. We are so grateful to get to see her this weekend.

This is funny

Hey we're having problems with blogger posting pics...so until we can post pics of the weekend...here's a funny thing I found online.

http://www.mistletoeinanelevator.com/

Jeremy's Power Five

Is it just me or does Chad Johnson cramp up a lot? Anyways, onto my power five. After a convincing win last night, Indy is back on. My top two are my Super Bowl predictions at this point in the season. I think they are playing the best football right now.

Number Five: The New England Patriots - Just like Indy they needed a convincing win after an awful loss the week before. The Pats stepped up and proved they are something to be reckoned with in the post season. However, they will probably need some home field advantage to do anything significant.

Number Four: The Baltimore Ravens - McNair gets hurt?!?!? Who saw that coming. But, they continue to win games...with the easiest schedule in the league...if I haven't said that for the 100th time...so they'll remain at the top of the list. I really don't think they are as good as their record shows.

Number Three: The Indianapolis Colts - Good to see Dwight Freeney wake up from his season long slumber. They will need either Corey Simeon or Bob Sanders to get healthy if they are going to do anything in the playoffs. Their defense will get eaten up on the road without these guys.

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - They've had some bad losses and almost lost this week. But, they continue to win in the NFC. 10-0! That spells Super Bowl trip.

Number One: The San Diego Chargers -Playing the best football right now. I guess I was wrong about their usual end of the year slump. Their best contenders for the Super Bowl are Indy, Baltimore, and the Pats. Indy won't stop their running game or their 3-4 defense, Baltimore and the Pats can't win consistently on the road. Looks like LT might lead his team to the Super Bowl this year.

I love my dog

I know you all will enjoy this story...so I've got to share it with you.

I went to Indy this weekend to see my family. While there, Jess, Leo, and I stayed with my sister Shelley. She has a beautiful new house with a sun room. She smokes in her sunroom and opens a window slightly right next to the door. Outside, her yard is fenced in with a privacy fence. This is one of the reasons we chose to stay with her instead of my grandparents. WELL, we got to Shelley's and she and her boyfriend had a party to go to...so Jess and I left Leo in the backyard and decided to eat out at Cancun's in Indy.

We get back and found out that Leo freaked out! He had a pile of mud on the patio where he tried to dig underneath the fence. And he had torn out the screen in the open window where he tried to crawl up into it. Underneath the window, he had torn down part of the siding as he attempted to crawl into the house.

I LOVE MY DOG! Luckily not much else was hurt and it didn't take much time to clean up. But I was not a happy camper. And it set me back 20 bucks for a new screen. Oh well. Just thought you might enjoy a Leo story...I know many of you are having withdrawals!

Hopefully, Jess will have some pics uploaded of our time with Shari (my stepmom), my grandparents, and my family at Shelley's house. She's out today shopping for Christmas.

Baby it's cold outside!

Jessica and I are leaving the 68-73 degree weather of Knoxville to go back to the frozen tundra that we call Indiana. Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Ft. Wayne to meet up with my step mom for Christmas. Then we'll meet up with my grandparents on Friday in Bluffton. Then we'll meet up with the rest of the family in Indianapolis at my sister's house. We really are looking forward to seeing everyone. I'm sure we'll blog when we get back.

Leo loves to eat

Yesterday morning I was eating breakfast and thought it was strange that Leo wasn't at my feet begging for a bite like he normally does. I did hear him behind the couch chewing on his bone like a good dog. Or at least I thought it was his bone....it was actually the kitty toy. We had a toy for Belle that was made up of feathers on the end of a plastic stick. Leo put away almost the whole thing. I was kind of concerned so I called Jeremy who obviously loves Leo so very much. Jeremy said not to worry b/c if he died from it we would just get a better dog. I'm still hoping he was kidding. Leo seemed fine so I decided to just keep an eye on him. Later that evening we saw our landlord who is also a vet and I told him about the situation. He said that Leo would probably be fine and that all the stuff he ate would just "pass on through". He suggested feeding him a lot of something bland like plain pasta or rice to help the process along. So I came home and cooked Leo a pot of rice. At first I wasn't sure if he would want to eat all of it, boy was I wrong....

As you can see he totally loved it and didn't leave a single grain in his bowl.After he was finished he seemed pretty happy. I took this right after he was done, I think he looks so cute and happy under the tree beside all the presents. I love my dog.

Jeremy's Power Five

Except for our number one, there is a lot of change this week in the Power Five. First of all, you'll notice that my beloved Colts did not even make it this week. I'm embarressed to be a fan. However, they can make up for it this week if they can beat Cincy. Also, a side note to Justin, my Power Five comes out on Tuesday mornings AFTER Monday Night Football...unless the game does not effect the Power Five...then I post it early. Sorry to spoil you with early Power Fives :-).

Number Five: The United States of America Saints - Who is not rooting for this team to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. That was such a big win this week. My vote this late in the season is for Drew Brees as Co-MVP.

Number Four: The Baltimore Ravens - I'm still not sold on their offense. But, evidently offense alone does not do much (stupid colts). Steve McNair has proved me wrong and has stayed healthy. This has got to be a record for him.

Number Three: The Cincinnati Bengals - Could be this year's Steelers and make it in through the wild card and shock everyone by winning on the road to make it to the Super Bowl. That would be a great storyline also. Could you imagine the Saints and the Bengals. No one would have thought that 5 years ago!

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - I didn't see the second half of last night's game. I fell asleep. But, I was very surprised to see the score this morning. Rex still doesn't impress me, but their defense and special teams sure do. Another good storyline for the Superbowl would be the two powerhouse defenses clashing: The Bears and the Ravens. Trust me, I'm not rooting for that one!

Number One: The San Diego Chargers - Wow, was I proved wrong earlier in the season when I wouldn't give them any props. They are still finding ways to win and LT is unstoppable right now. He's also my pick for the C0-MVP. I'm not rooting for them, nor do I think they have a chance in the playoffs. But, what do I know!?!?!

That's my Power Five for the week. Hope you enjoyed. Tune in next week when I will be proved wrong once again!

Christmas lights

This weekend Jeremy unfortunately had a funeral to help out with, but after the funeral we went to downtown Knoxville to check out the Christmas lights. They also had an ice skating rink that was so cute but it was really cold and we were dressed up so we opted out of skating. Here are some pictures, they turned out kinda blurry but you can still see the prettiness.

Here's the pic of the shirt!

GO VOLS

Tonight I attended my first Lady Vols Basketball Game. It was fun times!!! My landlord called me and asked if I wanted to go and I was like HECK YES. I love basketball. It's so much fun. Anyways, we had seats ten rows up and center court. It was awesome. I also won a t-shirt. The guy threw it up in the seats and the guy next of me catches like a girl and missed it and it fell on Bob my landlord and he gave it to me. Those girls can play ball man...they were really good. So, now I have a shirt that says Lady Vols and my life is complete!

Tomorrow we're taking my Jeep to the doctor to get the ball joint fixed. We're going to the nice shopping area in town. It's called Turkey Creek. That's right...I said Turkey Creek...how redneck is that.

Recalled

Jess and I bought a 2003 Jeep Liberty Limited in February and then one week later the 4x4 stopped working. So, we took it in and they fixed it...it took them all day...but they fixed it...at no cost to me. Well, we got a letter from Chrysler saying that our Jeep has been recalled! Actually, its just a ball joint in the steering wheel. The letter said that if I don't get it fixed the steering can go out and kill everyone aboard! So, off to the dealership I go...and once again at no cost to me...but I wish this Jeep wasn't such a pain!

In other news, Jess and I taught preschool tonight. They rocked! Funny story. We took the kids to the bathroom and I got the three boys and one of them took a really long time...and it smelled bad...so I assumed he pooped. Well, we go back to the classroom and the room starts to stink! So, I had to go get his grandpa and have him check his butt. Come to find out his cousin just had gas. Oh well.

Hope you all are enjoying this cold weather. I'm ready to move again...but this time to Mexico...where it doesn't snow! Sorry Katelyn for spelling your name wrong...I'm the worst friend ever.

HBK

That's an acronym for:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATLYN!!!!!

Weekend Fun

Bethany and Amberlee came down this weekend. I know that Jeremy promised you guys pictures but I am an idiot and didn't take any, I don't know why I didn't think of it. But, Amberlee and Bethany took picutres so maybe they will post some on their blogs. We had a really great time, it was a shopping extravaganza of sorts. We went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and got a lot of Christmas shopping done. On Friday we all went to a game night w/our new Sunday school class and believe it or not there is actually a person who already had the title of game nazi down here. So it was weird having two in the room w/the new person and w/Bethany. (I think Bethany's rules for Cranium are a little more acurate than the TN nazi). It was also fun to just hang out. Last night we hung out at the house and ate spagetti. Leo loves spagetti and I threw a noodle at him for him to catch it but he missed and it ended up hanging off of his ear. It was hillarious to watch him try to get it, that was a great moment. It was tough to see them go, I miss them both a lot. I guess I've been fighting loneliness down here a lot and not having a job yet leaves me a lot of time on my hands to miss my friends. Hopefully I'll get to see more of everyone soon.

Jeremy's Power Five

Sorry we haven't blogged here lately. BUT, we have lots of pics to share of Bethany and Amberlee's visit to Knoxville!!! BUT, they are at home...and I'm at the office. So, for now, I'll just share my power five for the week. Hopefully, we can get on here and blog tonight about the visit.

Number Five: The Cincinnati Bengals - You are welcome Justin and you are were right...they did make my list. Their win over the Ravens showed just how difficult their schedule is...and how easy Baltimore's is. The Ravens looked pretty sad Thursday night...but the Bengals looked like a playoff team. Their defense held the Ravens to 0 points. (I don't count that last touchdown...it was stupid...and obviously the refs are too.)

Number Four: The New England Patriots - Quietly winning...and quietly sneaking into the playoffs. Watch out for these guys.

Number Three: The Chicago Bears - Rex Grossman looked AWFUL. That's all I got to say about that.

Number Two: The Indianapolis Colts - Come On! A 60 yard field goal to win the game! Come On!

Number One: The San Diego Chargers - To be honest, the teams with worse records are playing like playoff caliber teams. But, the Chargers seem to always find a way to win. Once again, their defense looked bad...but when LT runs like that...wow.

Sorry my Power Five is awful this week...but there really isn't a good record team that is impressing me right now. Seattle seems to be picking up steam...as well as SINcinnati. Tennessee is on a roll right now. It's almost like the powerhouses are relaxing a bit...which is allowing the stragglers to catch up. Very interesting to see how things will shake out. Anyways, blog atcha later...

Just Walk Across the Room

I'm reading a new book by Bill Hybels. It's called, "Just Walk Across the Room." Basically, the idea is that we could save someone's eternity simply by getting up and walking across the room. We need to sometimes get out of our comfort zones and trying building relationships with people. Well today, I got a chance to "walk across the room."

Our youth minister told me last night while we were watching the OSU UNC game that there's a guy from the community who's in the hospital. His kids come on Wednesday nights. Well, since our youth minister is part time and has birthing classes in the evening...he asked me to go. So, here I am like, "Ok, I'm going to go visit this guy I've never met who's probably not a Christian who probably is going to be like...'why are you bothering me while I'm sick' " Anyways, I was pretty nervous...but I went. It was awkward at first, but I really think I planted some seeds. I showed him that I cared, but I didn't push anything.

So, next time the Spirit prompts you to make a move...DO IT! It's a great feeling.

Have a great weekend...

Jeremy's Power Five

Well, since neither the Packers or the Seahawks are going to make my list, I figured I'd give you my Power Five early. Lots of movement on my list this week with some very impressive games.

Number Five: The San Diego Chargers - Barely beat the Oakland Raiders. Their defense is going to have to step it up if they are going to do anything in the playoffs.

Number Four: The Chicago Bears - Wow, they stunk it up against the Pats. Yesterday's loss showed how bad Grossman is when he is pressured. That's the key to beating the bears.

Number Three: The New England Patriots - Looked very ugly against the Bears, but they did beat the number one team in the NFC. They are going to be hard to beat in the playoffs.

Number Two: The Baltimore Ravens - Absolutely dominated the lowly Steelers. The Ravens are looking like a Super Bowl Team right now. So, when does Steve McNair get hurt? Do you think it will be this week or next? McNair is like Leftwich...can't go a whole season healthy. I look for his breakdown right before the playoffs.

Number One: The Indianapolis Colts - Joseph Addai is the real deal and its time for Dungy to start giving him more carries. The Colts are unstoppable when they have a solid ground game going. The Eagles may have scored 21, but the Colts were practically playing a prevent defense after they went up 21-0. Now, Manning needs to figure out the 3-4 defense...and then its on to the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the 3-4 defense. If the playoff picture holds true, Manning would have to get through Baltimore, New England, and/or San Diego. All three of these top teams play a 3-4 defense and they are all leading their divisions. Since Manning and Dungy read my blog (HA!), my suggestion to them is to really focus the end of the season on this kind of defense. In all likelihood, they are going to have to get through at least one team using this kind of defense...and every year they lose in the playoffs to...you guessed it...a 3-4 defense. Pittsburg, New England, etc.

Hope you all enjoyed this week's Power Five. Hope you all have a wonderful week.

House pictures

As promised here are pictures of the house. This is the living room.
This is our bedroom.
This is the sunroom which we use for an excercise and game room.
This is the kitchen.
This is the dining room/office which is in the same open room as the kitchen. You can see the corner of the island in the right of the picture which is in the pic above.
So there you have it, our new house. There is also a guest bedroom which I did not post a pic of that has it's own bathroom and any of you are welcome to stay there anytime you want!! Come visit us soon!

Black Friday

So I ventured out into the crazy world of shoppers this Friday. I got lost right off the bat and drove around in circles making illegal U-turns for a while. Then I finally got my bearings and started off at Walmart. It was the least crowded place I went to all day so I felt pretty optimistic after leaving there. Then I went to Kohls....no one was at Walmart because the entire city of Knoxville was at Kohls. The line wrapped around to the very back of the store and it took an hour to get through. Next I hit Target where they were out of the toy I needed, total bummer. So then I went to the mall and found some great deals. I also hit a different Target and Walmart on the way home and then later that night Jeremy and I went out to eat and went to yet another Walmart. So the Walmart total of the day was three, all very different with different merchandise believe it or not. At Kohls I witnessed what almost turned into a fight between three women. One left her cart with all this stuff sitting in the middle of no where and the other two started going through it. The one that left it came back for it and freaked out, that was pretty funny. Other than that, people were pretty nice and helpful so I guess it was all worth it.

Leo and Gidget

I know there have been some requests for pictures (Jessie :-) ) so this is Leo playing in our house w/the dog that used to live here. Now she lives at the landlords just down from our yard. I let her in sometimes b/c she looks so sad. Her name is Gidget and Leo loves to play with her. We still have some curtains to hang when we get back from Thanksgiving so we will take pictures of the house once we have all that set up. Things are still going o.k. No job more job interviews for me yet but hopefully I'll get some calls back after the holiday. I'm still trying to decide if I should venture out on Friday to go shopping. We will be back in Knoxville by then so I'm not sure if I want to try to find places by myself. I know I lived here for four years but I don't remember how to get anywhere, especially from where we live now! I hope all of you guys have a great Thanksgiving. Pics to come of the house after the holiday - I promise!

Jeremy's Power Five

This week's edition of Jeremy's Power Five has a few changes. For starters, my beloved Colts lost their first game of the season. It was bound to happen, and I'm glad it happened now...so they can pick up momentum going into the post season. The Broncos also lost at home, almost knocking them off the list completely...but I hate the Pats...so they made it.

Number Five: The Denver Broncos - They beat out the Pats because they beat them earlier in the season...and because I hate them :-)

Number Four: The San Diego Chargers - Well, now they are winning some meaningful games and have some momentum. However, if they are like the Chargers of old, they will lose down the stretch throwing off everyone who jumped on their bandwagon.

Number Three: The Baltimore Ravens - Almost a lock for the playoffs. The Bengals just have a much harder schedule. The Ravens have a clear shot into the post season...as long as they don't lose easy games.

Number Two: The Indianapolis Colts - Their weakness is still their defense. Fourteen fourth quarter points is unacceptable. It would help if Bob Sanders could stay healthy and Freeney could start sacking again.

Number One: Da Bears - Back on top this week with a Colts loss, but their offense still isn't very good. All the defense has to do is pressure Grossman and he freaks out. All of their close games (and one loss) came because Grossman was pressured early.

Well, hope you all enjoyed. Have a happy Thanksgiving. We're going to West Virginia this year. It is simply too much to travel to Bluffton with all the moving and traveling we've been doing lately. And this will be our first Thanksgiving at Jess' mother's. We're looking forward to it.

Transitions

So we finally have cable, internet, and phone. It only took Comcast forever and a day to get their act together. As Jeremy posted earlier it has been a major fiasco. So, we are slowly getting unpacked. We actually got some pictures hung up today. My goal is to be finished by next Sat. so we can put up all of our Christmas stuff then. Our house still hasn't sold so we are still hoping that someone will come along and buy it. I had two interviews last week. One with the school system that turned out to a big disappointment, it's a long story but it wasn't what I was looking for. I also had another interview with a youth development center, I didn't realize till I got there and saw a fenced in yard with barbed wire that it was a lock down facility for juvenile delinquents and they were looking for a therapist to work w/sex offenders. I'm used to cute little 3rd and 4th graders and was pretty intimidated by the place so I turned it down as well. Hopefully something will happen soon. So that has been our life lately, unpacking, getting ready for the holidays, and just getting adapted to Tenn. again. Nothing too exciting but we'll keep ya posted.

Leo the Lion Hunter

That was Leo's original name. Well, now its Leo the wuss. Leo has been constantly abused by the Golden Retriever owned by Bob's son who is in Korea with the Vet Corp of the Army. (By the way, who new the Army had a Vet Corp...that rocks!) Anyways, Bob is keeping the dog until Chad gets back from Korea and he lets him, their small mutt, and the previous occupant's Jack Russell run free on the 11 acres of land we're staying on. Jellico (the Golden Retriever), has raped Leo, bit him, and just plain played bully. But, he's only out at night...so its not like we leave him all day with this dog. He spends most of his day hanging out with Bumper the Mutt and Gidget the Jack Russell. I think he really likes those dogs. Especially Bumper...they play all the time. But Leo's hips are sore and he has a scratch on his ear. He's going to have to start standing up for himself or stop trying to be so aggressive with Jellico. Jellico is a really sweet dog...he just doesn't like it when Leo sniffs his "you know what" and tries to play when Jellico doesn't want to play. Leo has to learn boundaries. Anyways, this is probably more info then most of you care to know...but Leo is safe...just bruised. At least he's getting some much needed exercise.

Update and Jeremy's Power Five

This week is a shortened Power Five because dang Comcast stinks! Oh, I am so mad. They were supposed to come out last night and install DVR, an extra line, digital phone, and internet. So we waited from 1-4pm as we were instructed (they called to remind me in the middle of church) and low and behold NO ONE SHOWED! He finally got there at 8:30pm and stayed till almost 10pm. AND NOW WE ONLY HAVE ONE LINE AND NO DVR!!!!!! That's right folks, he couldn't figure out the internet, didn't have time to install the extra line, and didn't have a DVR box. So, they'll be back Thursday night. That's their last chance.

Anyways, we are moved into our new house. Email me if you haven't gotten our new cell numbers or address. I don't have a new phone number yet and for those in my family who I promised to call: I'm sorry that comcast stinks! Once I get my digital phone, I'll call...I promise.

Check out Chrissy's blog here in the next couple days...she's supposed to blog about Randy at work...I almost ripped my pants in laughter! They have the funniest stories.

Ok, here's the part that no one really cares about, but I have eight more of these coming...so deal with it!

Number Five: The San Diego Chargers - Ok, I broke down and put them on here. It was them or the Patriots who lost to the lowly Jets.

Number Four: The Baltimore Ravens - I don't like them either, but they have been winning games. I guess that's what happens when you have the easiest schedule in the league.

Number Three: The Denver Broncos - If it wasn't for the Colts, I'd pick them for the Super Bowl. The Broncos are the only ones the Colts can beat in the post season.

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - Still very good.

Number One: The Indianapolis Colts - Record breaking second consecutive season starting 9-0. WOW!

That's all for now. Hopefully we'll have internet Thursday night and we can post pics of the house this weekend. But don't count on it...comcast stinks!

Jeremy's Power Five

Before I post, I would like to take time to praise God for the successful surgery today on Nick Baxter. I know he's still got some recovery, but I am rejoicing today that he's doing better! Please continue to pray for him.

Sorry for the lack of posts here recently. Our internet at home isn't working and I'm working from the library! I arrived safe here in Knoxville getting stuff ready for the move. We are moving Sat 8am if anyone wants to help :-). Please continue to pray for our house to be sold. No bites yet.

On to my power five:

Number Five: The New England Patriots - I really wanted to leave them off the list because there are other very good 6-2 teams. But, they did almost beat Indy...but then again...who hasn't almost beat Indy! Still a very good team in a very weak division.

Number Four: The Baltimore Ravens - The easiest remaining schedule in the league. They are almost a sure fire bet for making the playoffs. Their division doesn't look that tough either...especially with the Bengals falling apart, the Steelers looking ugly, and the usual Browns team competing with them.

Number Three: The Denver Broncos- Still the best defense in the league. Take away the Indy game and they have only given up three touchdowns in 8 games. Simply amazing!

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - I think Grossman will have bad games like this weekend. But, his defense is still very good and they are playing against a Giants team with their two best pass rushers on the bench. Grossman isn't too bad when he has time in the pocket. They should pull away this weekend in the Meadowlands.

Number One: The Indianapolis Colts - They have not lost a game that matters in the regular season since 2004. Wow! They only losses came when Manning was benched so that he could rest up for the playoffs. Please tell me they choose to be smart this year and let him keep his momentum going!

Well, I hope to post here soon. I'll have internet at the office tomorrow. YEAH!!! No more libraries for me!!!

Halloween Fun

Jeremy and I have had a fun couple of days. Monday night we spent the evening with the family I used to work for. It was so nice to see them again, I miss those kids sooo much! I can't believe how big they have gotten. Tonight of course was Halloween. BJ and Jessie came over to pass out candy with us. It was cold and had been raining earlier but at least the rain quit before Trick-or-Treat time. We had less kids this year, I think we had maybe 50 kids at the most. We had fun though. I put Leo's Superman costume on, I think he's gotten a lot fatter since last year. He had to go inside b/c he kept barking at the kids so he didn't even get to show off his costume. But we had fun anyway and it was good to spend time with BJ and Jessie before we leave.

Here is Will and Alex. They're such little studs.

Here is Kira. It's hard to believe she was only a few months old when I left. This is her practicing in her first pair of high heels.Here is Leo the dog in his Superman costume. Jeremy says he looks stupid, I think it's cute. Anyways, only two kids got to see it this year anyway.

Jeremy's Power Five

Number Five: The New York Giants: This week is especially hard for the number five spot. Teams that deserve the spot and didn't make it are: Ravens, Falcons, and the Saints. However, the Giants are on a roll right now with a good defense, good running attack, and Eli Manning has managed the passing attack pretty well. I'm not sold on them at this spot yet...but I had to pick someone!

Number Four: The Denver Broncos: They put up a good fight at home against the Colts...but come on, it's Peyton Manning! Still very good with their run based offense and very good defense.

Number Three: The New England Patriots: Looked very good last night on the road. Let's see how they fair against the Colts on Monday night this week. That's going to be a great game!

Number Two: The Chicago Bears: Still incredibly balanced and it looks like Grossman is back to playing well. Very scary team.

Number One: The Indianapolis Colts: Simply put, no defense is safe and no lead is safe with any time left on the clock. Great show of clutch (regular season) performance by Manning.

Good-bye Party

Yesterday was an emotional day for Jeremy and I. It was our last Sunday at Cornerstone. It's so weird that we won't be going back there next week and doing the same things that we do every Sunday. After church we had an open house at the Honeycutt's. There were lots of laughs and lots of tears. We had a lot of fun but at the same time it was extremely difficult to have to say good-bye. We still have a couple weeks to spend time w/people but Jeremy leaves for Knoxville on Wednesday and our schedules are gonna get crazy. The most difficult part is that the people here have become our family and I feel like I am leaving my family behind. Starting over is tough, and I know I will find friends but our friends here are irreplacable and it's so tough to say good-bye. Tonight Jeremy and I are visiting the family that I was a nanny for, I'm excited to see them. Tomorrow is Halloween and B.J. and Jessie are coming over to pass out candy w/us. Then on Wed. Jeremy heads down to Tenn. Here are some pics of last night. I'm sure we'll have lots more stuff to blog about now that these changes are really starting to happen.
This is everyone hanging out.

This is Mindy and Hope coloring. Hope said that she wanted to color a picture for Jeremy's new office. How sweet is that!

Here are the boys hanging out and watching the Bengals game. We ended up staying pretty late and lets just say that these three get pretty goofy and giddy past midnight. Crazy times.

Random Pics

Ok, so we didn't post pics from Family Camp. So, I'm going to post pics that I found on the digital camera. Enjoy...



Here's a picture of Bethany and Baby MacKenzie with Bob back there in the background


Here's a picture of Sheryl, Karen, Tonya, and Lorie having a great time in the cafe'


Here's a picture of me holding Baby MacKenzie. One day I'll have one of my own. I'm going to go to Africa and adopt a baby through the Madonna Adoption Foundation. Have a great Thursday!

In case you missed it

In case you haven't been watching the World Series and missed the new trailer. Here is the new trailer shown last night during the World Series. Enjoy...gosh I can't wait till it gets here!

http://www.24trailer.com/

New Website

I'm very excited about our new website for the church in Knoxville. Jessie did such an awesome job setting it up and designing it. I've done nothing but screw up her good job...but I'm still learning. There's still some work to be done and some glitches to work out...but I really like it. Let me know what you all think.

Nothing else new our way. Busy packing and preparing for the move. Still waiting for someone to buy our house. SPREAD THE NEWS :-). I have half my office packed and we probably have 1/4 of the house packed. Still lots to do. We'll update later...

No need to wait...Jeremy's Power Five

Well football fans, no need to wait till Tuesday. My power five comes early this week. The Bengals are moving their way up my list with a much needed win this week. The Chargers proved why I didn't put them on my list with a loss to the Chiefs. And the Eagles are falling fast. So, without further adieu...

Number Five: The New Orleans Saints - They did well this week with a bye to stay one of the three NFL teams with only one loss. Too many two loss teams to choose which one makes the top five...so I'll stay with the Saints.

Number Four: The New England Patriots - I hate them. When will Tom Brady just go ahead and run into Corey Dillon ending his career and Brady's season? Oh well. Once again they play a bad team in their division and beat them up. No way anyone is going to catch up in their division.

Number Three: The Denver Broncos - I think the Pats are better, but I can't bring myself to put them higher. Plus, Denver has only given up TWO TOUCHDOWNS in six games. That's a Super Bowl caliber defense. Too bad they have an awful offense.

Number Two: The Chicago Bears - Bye week. Still undefeated.

Number One: The Indianapolis Colts - I watched this game and there was a point where Manning was hit pretty hard with a cheap shot. He got up finished the half and then came back and scored 20 unanswered points (three touchdowns and a missed two point conversion). Don't hack off Peyton Manning...he'll kick your butt!

No luck on the house. The couple went with another house. Please keep praying for us. Selling a house makes me want to rent the rest of my life!

Justin is by far the smartest man I know...sort of...

We're still waiting to hear if we sold our house. So, I'll beat Justin to the punch and say he told me so. My picks for the world series were the Yankies and the Mets. After the Yankies folded in four I still had hope that I was half right. The whole time Justin kept saying, "No man, its going to be the Tigers and the Cards." Well, he's right...I'm wrong...he's a genius...I'm an idiot. There you go Justin...enjoy yourself.

Big Prayer Request

The picture makes more sense further in my story. Ok, so you all should know that Jess and I are really stressing over the sell of our house. Well, yesterday I got a call from our realtor who gave us a time for a showing. I went home for lunch and started cleaning up and our lovely dog (the one pictured above) blew chunks all over our carpet. So, we now have a stain in the middle of our family room for this couple to see. Well, after stressing out all day, they looked at the house...didn't notice the stain...and it's in their top two homes! They came back today and hope to make a decision by tomorrow. So, please pray that this couple is the one. Like I said, we're really stressing over this and hoping to have this settled before I start the new Church in November. Thanks...and by the way we are going to have the carpets cleaned.

Jeremy's Power Five

Before I start my power rankings for the week, I thought I would say a few words about a couple teams. First, my beloved Bengals (2nd favorite team behind the Colts) absolutely blew the game Sunday. There are a few reasons why the Bengals may not make the post season. 1. Their rookie sensations Chris Henry and Odell Thurman are druggies and thugs. 2. Their defense is either beat up or in jail. 3. Chad Johnson needs to stop making commercials and working on his touchdown dances and start getting open. TJ Whosyourmamma is making him look like he's a third string receiver. (Who by the way is having an awesome year)

Second, I refuse to jump on the Chargers bandwagon until they beat a quality team. So what LT scores four touchdowns Sunday. They were playing the 49ers with the worst defense in the NFL! Come on, beat someone good and you'll make my power five. So, with that said...here are my five.

Number Five: The Carolina Panthers - Now, here's a team who has rebounded since Steve Smith got healthy. The Bengals better get ready for Sunday...cause the Panthers are looking hot right now.

Number Four: The New Orleans Saints - They have beaten two quality teams and have a very good offense and a decent defense. They could very well make the playoffs if they continue to play this well.

Number Three: The Denver Broncos - Who still have the best defense in the NFL. They are, so far, this year's Steelers...great running game, mediocre QB, and awesome defense.

Number Two: The Indianapolis Colts - Who are still undefeated thanks to a bye this week.

Number One: The Chicago Bears - Wow, what a game last night. Still undefeated even though Grossman threw four picks and gave up two fumbles. Arizona lost that game...Chicago didn't deserve the win.

Delaney's

Jeremy and I had a pretty good day. We went shopping in Lawrenceburg and Western Hills, even though we didn't find what we were looking for we had fun. Then this evening the Ladies Sunday School class took Jeremy and I out for dinner to Delaney's to spend some time with us before we move. It was nice to spend some quality time with them. I think Cleo was a bit disappointed in the food selection, we liked it but I guess it's no Cleve's Diner! The funniest part of the evening was that Cedric came along (he's about 8 years old) and insisted on ordering from the adult menu, I think he wanted to feel like a grown up. Well, he decided to order ribs and they brought him a full slab which was the biggest serving of ribs I've ever seen. Needless to say Cedric was a giant mess and only got about a third of the way through them. But it was cute to watch him dive into these ribs like no one I've ever seen! So, we had a fun evening and we really appreciate that they took the evening to spend with us.

Family Camp Fun

I was going to post some pictures of family camp but the computer is being stupid. So I'll post some pics later and just tell you about all the fun now. First of all, the best thing about family camp is of course sitting around the fire and roasting marshmellows. (Thanks Sarah for roasting the perfect ones for me.) Second, playing games non-stop rocks. I think I got Bethany hooked on Racko and we also dicovered a new game called Whoonu, it's fun. Leo had fun running fre all weekend and making new friends. And of course just spending time with everyone is always awesome. On Sat. night we celebrated Bob's birthday early and that was cool. It was great to see how touched Bob was at all the people that care about him. The weekend was so much fun but also a little sad for me. I guess it reminded me that I won't be able to see the people that I love on a regular basis after we move and that's pretty tough to swallow. Hopefully we will be able to come back next year but I guess ya never know how things will work out. Too bad it can't be family camp every weekend. Anyways, pics to come later once I figure out what the problem is.

Jeremy's Power Five

I think I'm done doing predictions for a little while. Justin is right, I don't know anything about baseball. The Yankies, Twins, and Padres all lost leaving me 1 for 4. Oh well. Today is Tuesday, which means my new segment called "Jeremy's Power Five." This is where I stick to what I know best...football.

Number 5: The Denver Broncos - This was an incredibly hard pick, especially with a lot of good teams (Bengals, Ravens, and Chargers) who could go in this slot. However, they have only allowed ONE touchdown all season. That's simply incredible. However, they have Jake Plummer at Quarterback...so I just can't bring myself to bump them any higher. Defense wins championships...but you have to score points and not turn the ball over. Denver simply cannot do this with The Snake at Q.

Number 4: The New England Patriots - I hope they lose so I can take them off the list. But once again, Tom Brady and his dualing running backs are great on offense and their defense is still just as good. Would someone just break Brady's leg so that I can take them off this stupid list! Where are the Steelers and their thugs when you need em?

Number 3: The Philadelphia Eagles - Donovan McNabb for MVP this year. Write it down and remember that I called it first.

Number 2: The Indianapolis Colts - Still perfect at 5-0, with a bye week this week. Their banged up defense needs it. However, they still always find a way to win...in the regular season.

Number 1: DA BEARS! - I'm riding the Bears bandwagon until the post season. Still the most balanced team in the NFL. It'll be great to see them and the Colts in the Super Bowl. (Ok, or the Bengals for all those Bengal fans that read my blog.)

Hopefully, Jess and I can get some pics of camp on the blog here in the next few days. It was fun times. I feel bad for those who didn't come for various reasons. They really missed out on some great times and some great weather.

FAMILY CAMP!!!!

Well, Jess and I are signing off for the weekend. We're headed to family camp tomorrow. I'm leaving early afternoon and Jess is getting there when she gets off work. Looking forward to long days of doing nothing, staring at the camp fire, playing games, football, golf, frisbee golf, and jail break. FUN TIMES!!

On a positive note, we hired a real estate agent Monday night and today we had our first showing. This weekend we are having an open house. So, please pray for us that we can get this house sold.

We got the call today about 2:25 asking if an agent could show the house. I was at the office, Jess was at work, and Leo was guarding the house. So what does our guard dog do? HE LET'S THEM IN!!! That's right, our weak non-agressive dog opened the door for them and told them to help themselves to whatever they want. Oh well. Probably for the better.

Blog at ya later.

Jeremy's Power Five

Hello, I'm sitting here on my lunch break and I thought I would take some time to start a new segment to our blog. I call it Jeremy's Power Five. Every Tuesday I'll give you the top five football teams from the NFL as seen by none other then ME :-)

Number Five: Eagles: They didn't prove much last night by beating up on the sorry Packers, but they are one of the toughest teams in the NFC. McNabb is having a great year!

Number Four: The Pats: The New England Patriots make me sick to my stomach. But, they came into Cincinnati and absolutely destroyed the Bengals...so I have to give them their props.

Number Three: Ravens: The Ravens are by far the most improved team this year. They have a healthy defense and a quarterback who can throw, run, and has leadership. Good pick for the Super Bowl if it weren't for....

Number Two: The COLTS: I love the Colts. Manning will go down as the greatest clutch quarterback during the regular season. His fourth quarter comeback this past weekend was awesome!

(Drum Roll Please!)

Number One: DA BEARS: The Chicago Bears are the most complete team in the NFL. Absolutely unmatched...so far.

I hope you all enjoy my new segment. Tune in next week as I jump on a different bandwagon :-)

Jeremy's Thoughts on Baseball

Hello everybody! I've always wanted to give my picks for the post-season in some sport. So, for all those who care...here are my picks for the baseball post-season:

In the American League we've got the Min Twins hosting the Oakland A's and the New York Yankies hosting the Detroit Tigers. I've never really been big on teams that limp into the post-season and I'm really big on pitching (thanks Justin) so I'm going to have to go with the Yankies beating down the Tigers who don't have experience or momentum. I also have the Twins beating the A's. For my pick for the World Series, I've got the Yankies. They match up really well with the Twins. They both have great pitching, shut out closers, and great hitting, but New York just has too much experience. I really think Matsui/Sheffield/Jeter will make up for the choking that A-Rod is destin to do.

In the National League we have crap. That's right folks...NOTHING! I got San Diego taking out the limping Cardinals and the Mets barely squeaking by the Dodgers. The mets have too much experience, pitching, and offense to loose to the Padres, so I've got them in the World Series.

Yankies over the Mets in 5. Sorry Justin and Blake...please don't hate me.

Thanks for the prayers

Hey everybody. We are back from Knoxville. It was a good trip. We hit some really really bad weather on our way down and back. So, we really appreciate all the prayers. We'll have to blog later when we have a better idea about what's going on.

Be back Saturday!

HEY EVERYBODY!!! Well, it's 6:50am and we are off to Knoxville to look at apartments and to attend some stuff. Jess is going to a women's retreat at Smokey Mt. Christian Camp. I'm going to a Healthy Church Conference. Please pray for our trip and for us while we look at apartments. Have a great weekend!

O.K. Here it is...

Most of you probably know this already and I've been avoiding blogging about it, but it is a part of our life so here it is....we are moving. To make a long story short, over the past several months God has made it evident to us that He has a new and different road for us to go on, as well as a new and different road for Cornerstone Christian Church. Jeremy and I will be moving to Knoxville around the last week of October. However, if we don't sell our house I will be left behind until it sells. Jeremy will be the full time preaching minister at Cornerstone Chritian Church in Knoxville. Yes, they are both called Cornerstone. There are several new and scary things ahead of us. There are also so many mixed emotions going on with us as well. We are excited to see what God has in store for us yet at the same time sad to leave the friends that we have made here. We are also very overwhelmed about selling our house here and finding a new place to live in Tenn. I've been sooooo stressed about it all this week. I even had a melt down over chicken that wasn't done on time! So we ask for your prayers both for us, and for Cornerstone here. We do truly love Cornerstone and want to see God take this church to the next level, so I pray that He puts in place the right man for the job here. We are headed to Knoxville on Thurs. to go house/apartment/townhouse hunting and then to go to some retreats that are going on down there this weekend. Oh and by the way, no matter what Jeremy says, Leo and Belle will be going with us and that's final! :-) So here it is, the blog that I have been avoiding. I'm not sure why, I guess cause it's kind of admitting that this new chapter in our lives is starting....not that this chapter now is closing, I guess it's just changing. I won't say that it's closing b/c it is so important to me to keep my relationships here as strong as possible. So anyways, Iwill stop rambling and let you get on to other blogs. Have a great weekend.

More pics of our pets

Just when you thought you had had enough of Leo and Belle....we post more pics of them! Ha Ha! We're like those people that show you home slide shows of their childhood vacations. You don't care about our pets, but it's all we have to talk about. So here ya go.....

Guess what - Leo's hair grew back!!! Now he doesn't look so stupid. He feels a lot better about himself now.

Here is Jeremy making Belle attack Leo. And you guys wonder what made her hate the world so much.

I think that Leo looks like the Cottonelle dog in this picture. He's so cute....he makes me happy.

Jeremy's Must List

Ok, I know Justin has the Must Lists, but I just watched a show that I was very impressed with. Jessica and I tivoed Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip with Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. The series premiere was probably the best premiere I've ever seen for a dramady. They did an awesome job with the character development and writing. It's just good to see some good tv. I'm sooooo sick of reality shows and horrible sitcoms. Anyways, check it out sometime. It's pretty good. Monday's at 10 on NBC. I'm going to bed now. I'm tired. Good night.

Crazy Animals

I know you guys are probably bored w/all the posts of our pets but let's face it...our life is boring and I'm not creative. If you want a creative blog, check out Amberlee's. If you are Amberlee, sorry about your luck. So here is a pic of Belle being a fashion diva wearing the latest in plastic Bigg's bag attire. She has always been obsessed w/plastic bags. She likes to chew on them, lay on them, and occassionally wear them like a dress. Hey, give her a break, she doesn't get out much. You should also take note of the freaky way the light bounced off of her eyes. I think this proves she either has purple contacts or really is a satan cat, hmmm...

So, Leo, is obsessed w/people food. There isn't much he doesn't like and if he does find something he doesn't care for he usually tries really hard to like it just cause it's people food and he thinks it's better than his usual Purina. So here is a pic of him trying really hard to like cucumbers. He ended up tasting it, leaving it alone, and then coming back later to eat it. Weirdo.

What were we thinking?

This is our foosball table. We bought this with Christmas money right before Christmas. When we first bought it we played it all the time. Now, I can't remember the last time we played it. And now it sits in the middle of our office where the only use it gets is when we need somewhere else to hang wet clothes. How sad is that? Oh well. It was fun when we played. But, when Mike and Amy visited their kids stayed in the office and IT WAS IN THE WAY! How crazy is that. Our foosball table went from being our most used entertainment device to a laundry rack that gets in the way. Maybe you fellow bloggers should come over sometime and make some use of this thing.

Smores...yum!

Well, Jessica and I had a couple logs left over from when Mike and Amy visited. So, we decided to make some smores. This is a picture of the always beautiful Jessica with our puppy. Leo, the big dope, almost caught his nose on fire when I threw a dropped marshmellow into the fire. The big dope went to retrieve it. Everything seemed to go well. I didn't burn the house down, so that's good. Anyways, hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We both have been sick...pretty much laying around and feeling miserable. Fun times. Hopefully, we'll feel better tomorrow for church! Alright, blog at ya later...

Our dog rocks!

This is a great picture of Leo catching popcorn. I'm not sure why I decided to post on Leo, but I guess its cause we got him this really cool collar that helps him to behave while walking him. Actually, we let the dog stay over at a friend's house and the lady that walked him realized that he's hopeless and gave the collar to us. Anyways, he walks really well now. He also does this cool trick where we'll throw the popcorn up in the air and he catches it. I'm pretty sure Leo is addicted to popcorn like his daddy. Anyways, Leo is chewing up our new pillows...gotta run!

A Great Visit

Jessica and I had a great time this weekend as our friends Mike and Amy Kupferer visited. They brought with them their two children Nathan and Wes and their dogs Sadie and Sticky. We had a great time watching their dogs as they visited old friends, grilling out, and making smores around the fire. It was also really good to catch up on life. Mike's been my best friend since jr high school...so we have lots of history.

Here's a pic of Jessica with little Wes around the campfire. He fell asleep on her very quickly which we were told he does not do often. She's going to be such a great mother!!!

This is Sticky (on the left) and Sadie (on the right) after our one mile walk. I think Leo wore them out. He doesn't have very good boundaries.

Here's a pic of Nathan's first smore. I think he liked it, but he was really cautious of creepy Uncle Jeremy :-) who made the smore for him.

It was a great Labor Day Weekend for us. We hope you all enjoyed yours!

Wake Me Up When September Ends

So this is the last un-official weekend of summer and I'm sad. Summer is my favorite time of year and this means that it all has to come to a close. Also, we have enjoyed very hot weather lately and it seems that as soon as September 1st hit, the termperature dropped. It's now 67 degrees out, that may not seem very cold but it certainly feels it when you go from the 80s to that. I like the fall time, but I'm still bummed that summer is over. On the up-side, our friends Mike and Amy Kupferer are coming to visit tomorrow evening until Tuesday morning. They are also bringing their two kids and two dogs so our house will be extra-busy. Maybe that will distract me from the dropping temperature and the signs of summer being over. We are also going to the Honeycutts for a grill-out. I mean, what would a holiday be without a trip to the Honeycutts right? Have a good weekend everyone. I'm sure we'll have some pics to post of our weekend later on.

Another question

I have a question about Marcus' case. Why do you guys think this has not received national media coverage? In light of Jon-Benet Ramsey, Lacey Peterson, and Natalie Holloway it makes you wonder if the media is obsessed w/pretty white girls from affluent neighborhoods. Maybe I'm over-analyzing it. I just think it's important to get this story out there specifically b/c Marcus had autism. People need to understand that children w/autism are very loveable, awesome kids. However, they have very special needs b/c of a misunderstood disease. People need to know thier limitations and I think that if foster parents are going to take kids like this in, special trainings should be required. Any thoughts???

Senseless

I have to blog about this Marcus Fiesel issue. For those of you that are out of town readers, here is the story...Marcus Fiesel was a 3yr. old boy in foster care. A few weeks ago Marcus' foster parents claimed that Marcus went missing from a park after the foster mom fainted from a heart condition. This evoked a very long extensive search for this little boy (by the way, Marcus had autism). It turns out that Marcus' foster parents faked the whole park thing and three weeks ago, they went to a family reunion in Kentucky for two days. They didn't want to take Marcus w/them so they chose to lock him in a closet where he was wrapped in a blanket and bound w/tape w/his arms behind his back. Upon their return they discovered that Marcus had died so they took his body and burned it in the woods. I can't imagine what Marcus last little bit of time on this earth was like and how scared he must have been. How did these people become foster parents???? I've been trying to think of a suitable punishment and can't even come up with one. I can't even wrap my mind around it b/c it's so heartbreaking. My Christian co-worker put it well by saying that Marcus is now dancing in heaven and is suffering no more. I guess that's the solace to be found in this.

What's better then NFL Football?

That's right...EA Sports presents Madden '07! This means that through the pretend world that is my Gamecube, I can see how my Indianapolis Colts will fare this year. Or better yet, they have a mode in which I can create a player...let's say Jeremy Cox the running back...and enter him into the draft and follow his progress as he works his way up the depth charts. Right now I'm playing for the Cowboys second in the depth chart behind Julius Jones...making 1.5 million a year. Fun times. Ok, this blog stinks in comparison to Jess' yesterday...but I just got the game yesterday thanks to UPS and it's what's going on right now in my world :-). The only thing Jess hates worse then football is football on the Gamecube. Hope you all have a great weekend...you know I will!

Memories of a Forgotten People

This is going to be a long blog so prepare youselves...Yesterday when Rick and Jane McKinney were talking about their walk across America, they spoke a lot about their experiences walking across the desert and encountering a lot of Native Americans. They had a lot of stories that touched my heart, this one in particular I would like to share with you. They had a picture of a momument in New Mexico that was two steel beams and an American Flag in between them. They came across this monument and there was a Native American gentleman standing in the midst of this thing (I believe he was Navajo). When they approached this man there were tears streaming down his face and they proceeded to ask him what was wrong. He said that he was just remembering...you see the two steel beams were from the Twin Towers and when 9/11 happened they rounded up a lot of Native Americans to do the dirty jobs that no one else wanted to do - as in searching for dead bodies and body parts. This man was a part of that mission and happened to be paying his resepects at this particular monument. Rick and Jane proceeded to share the Gospel with him and he was greatly moved. This is a big accomplishment b/c Native Americans are generally not receptive to White Christians. They went on to ask if there was anything else they can do and he went on to tell them that he was homeless, and quite hungry. There was a truck stop buffet across the street and Rick walked him across to get him a meal. The man stopped outside of the restaurant and said they won't let me eat inside b/c I am homeless and an Indian. Rick persuaded him to go in anyway. At the cash register, Rick told the casheir that his friend would be eating at the buffet and the cashier then reached under the table and pulled out a styrofoam to go container and said "He will be needing this". Rick politely explained that this would most certainly not be the case and that he would be dining w/everyone else until he was full and that is exactly what happened.
This story touches my heart for so many different reasons. It puts so many things in perspective for me about my own predjudices and selfishness. Some of you may not know (by the way this is Jessica typing, not Jeremy) that when I was in college I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to the Zuni Indian reservation in New Mexico. This is why this blog is long, I feel compelled to write about this so suck it up. In New Mexico we worked with a Christian school to do a VBS for kids whose parents allowed them to come. During the day we did a lot of manual labor on a ranch for the minister of that school. His name is Will and he was kicked out of the reservation for becoming a Christian. Will had a foster son and they lived in what was literally a shack in the middle of the dessert. He had 7 gallons of running water a day, an outhouse, and a generator for electricity that could only be used in the evening. We slept outside, inside of make-shift partitions to keep wild animals out. Sleeping under the stars in the desert certainly shows you how awesome our God truly is. Anyways, what I am getting at is that I saw so much poverty and discrimination and this was all inside our very own country. I was telling Jeremy earlier that this was third-world country conditions. While we were there we met so many brave people that risked so much by becoming a Christian, they would be shut out of their families and their communities, which to them is a very big deal. I also learned a lot about certain rituals that their reservation has - like a certain man whose only role is to dress like a monster on a daily basis to scare children. This man is also what they called the Audoshlay. If a parent felt that their young child (often 7-8 yrs. old) was being defiant, this man would kidnap them from their homes in the middle of the night and they would then become his slave for a few long months. And all of this is legal there! They have their own governmental system. The reason I wanted to write all of this was to communicate how often I forget how blessed I am and that I forget that thier are people w/true need in the world and people who do not know the love of Jesus Christ. This trip did so much for me and it breaks my heart that I don't have more opportunities to do things like this that often. If you ever get the chance to do something like this I encourage you to go for yourself and for others. It's truly amazing.

Rick and Jane at Family Night

Tonight Jess and I were very blessed to hear the testimony of Rick and Jane McKinney. This couple walked across America earlier this year and shared the Gospel with a lot of people. It was neat to hear about all the people they talked to and encouraged and prayed with. They started in Los Angeles, CA and ended in Washington D.C. on July 4th. Their message through song and testimony was an encouragement to Jess and I and really put into perspective how little we do on a daily basis for others. I don't know about you, but compared to Jesus I'm a pretty selfish person. But anyways...

On a very sad note, Jess and I were very discouraged at our turn out. There were only six of us in all who gathered together. It's just not very encouraging when I put something together and invite a couple who work hard in ministry only to be told by my congregation that they really don't care. I know there are a lot of folks who had some other things going on and please don't read this and feel like I'm speaking to you, but we even had folks sign up to bring food and not show. Our dinner consisted of spaghetti and leftover chips from VBS. We also had a ton of cookies and a cake...needless to say the ladies signed up to bring desserts all showed. One person who forgot came later and brought chicken...that was nice. I mean, maybe they weren't the most exciting act or the latest trend, but these folks gave their lives to ministry and what they did by walking across America is much more important then sports, family time, and the latest TV show. Ok, I'm off my soap box. I'm just really really mad tonight and I'm going to bed.

King's Island Fun

Today Jeremy and I got to tag along w/Christ's Church at Harrison's staff for a staff day at King's Island. There were five of us and we had a good time. For me, any day as a day off of work is a good day. It wasn't too crowded since a lot of schools have already started. It was hot but not blazing hot so the weather was nice too. I decided that my now favorite ride at King's Island is Delirium. I just think it's very fun. I still love The Beast but I think I now have bruises from it! The Son of Beast was shut down b/c a couple of months ago some people got really hurt on it and now they are suing. I think a lady actually broke her sternum. We were not disappointed b/c that one seems to hurt more than The Beast. It was also fun to watch Jeremy try to win me a giant stuffed turtle. Don't feel bad babe - I think those things are rigged. It was also good to come home and take a nice shower after feeling like I was covered in a sticky King's Island film all day.

Blogger stinks...but here's the stupid blog anyways

Ok, so I've been trying to upload pictures for the past three days WITH NO LUCK! Either my computer stinks or Blogger stinks...I think it might be both. So, no pics today...just Jeremy and a few words.

I just finished reading The Da Vinci Code. I know, I'm a little behind and that was yesterday's news...but I haven't read anything for fun in a really long time and since I'm taking a semester break from school, I decided to see what all the hype was about. Very good. I enjoyed the book very much. I used to read Sue Grafton novels and I rate this book up there with some of her best. Jess and I will probably see the movie this weekend...I didn't want to see it till I read the book.

So, honestly, the book is very preachy. Dan Brown is a whacko! I'm preaching a sermon series on the Da Vinci Code because I really don't think most people know anything about the history of the church nor do I think most people can refute Brown's claims. I really believe that if the average church goer read the book they would say, "That's not right...it can't be!" But couldn't really say much beyond that. So, hopefully the series goes well. Love to hear some input on Dan Brown or this sermon series. Talk to y'all later!

Frisbee Golf and Rascal Flatts

Jessica and I spent the afternoon playing frisbee golf. We played at Heritage Park. It was Jess' first time. She really enjoyed it and she did very well for her first time. I think we might start doing this on a regular basis. Tonight we are going to the Rascal Flatts concert with AJ and Mindy. Jess is pretty pumped. It should be loads of fun. We're going like an hour early so that we can get a good spot on the lawn. I'm just really glad its nice out, cause its at Riverbend. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend.

Office Space

So this is the latest and greatest in the latest adventures of my (Jessica) job. I would like you guys to tell me if I am being a baby here or if I have just cause to be peeved. As most of you know, I have my own office, I have had this office since I started working there a year and three months ago. I heard from a co-worker who assumed that I already knew that my other co-worker Andy (who used to be my boss and then stepped down from any authority position) is being forced to move in and share my office with me. This kinda sucks cause I like my own space. However, what really "Grinds My Gears" - that's for you Justin- is that my new boss does not respect me enough to tell me to my face. This move is supposed to happen this week and she has not told me, nor does she know that I know. I guess I was just supposed to walk in one day and see Andy all moved in. Is this disrespectful or should I just be thankful that I have an office, and a job for that matter? To me, it is one more thing that upsets me about my corporate, disrespectful job. One more question for you guys - should therapy be a corporate business or should it be focused on people?? Call me crazy, but last I checked, it should be about people. I feel like my worksplace has totally lost sight of that. Just some thoughts, tell me what ya think.

VBS Party

Jess and I spent Sunday afternoon at the Oberkorn's house for a VBS Party. We ate some great food (including a fantastic banana pudding and banana split cake), went swimming, rode some ATV's, and rode some horses. It was a great time. We had a lot of folks on vacation and not able to come...so we had a small turn out. But, that's ok...we still had a great time.

Here's a picture of me on Lucky. He was a little stubborn at times...but still a great horse to ride. Don't I look like a cowboy?

Here's a picture of Jenna on Riley. She got to put Riley back in the stable and give him a treat for being so good. She's so lucky!

Here's a picture of Reagan and Leo. Leo kept barking at the horses. I think Reagan is here trying to calm him down. He's so cool!

The Inevitable Plastic Fork

Well, I'm back from camp. We had a great time and I think everything went well. The only bad thing was the weather. It was sooo hot! The heat index was in the 100's all week except for Friday when everyone went home. So, besides that...it was great! In case you were wondering, the theme for the week was called "The Inevitable Plastic Fork" in which we studied forks that we might face in the road of life. Here are some pics...

Here's a picture of me playing dodgeball with some campers. I look like a dork!

Here's a pic of Jordan feeding Leo what looks like a snow cone, but we didn't give the kids any snow cones...so it must be drugs...or water....

Here a pic of Justin, Bethany, Jess, and I. Bethany was our nurse for the week. She did a wonderful job!