More pictures from Homecoming

Here are some pictures from this week. Wednesday night we had a few of Jessica's friends from her youth group over at the house. They all went to Johnson and were in town for Homecoming. Then there are also pictures from the week in general. We had such a blast!



This is Andy, Elisha, and Mattias. They stayed with us this week. Andy has a church plant in the Chicago area. We had so much fun!

This is a picture of Renee and Jacob. Renee is married to Gary, who grew up with Jessica in her youth group and now ministers in Warsaw, Indiana.

This is Gina, Lily (Gary and Renee's daughter) and Susan. Gina is married to Sam who was in Jess' youth group growing up. Susan was Jessica's youth minister's wife growing up. Doesn't Lily look like Boo from Monster's Inc?

This is Josh and Sam. They both were in Jessica's youth group growing up. Sam is a student at Johnson and Josh ministers in Winston Salem, North Carolina and might be moving to Richmond Virginia here soon.

This is Jess' Youth Group. Tim and Susan are on the left. They were in West Virginia and now they are in Delaware. Fun times for Delaware. I didn't even know that was a state. HA! Just kidding Tim! Josh is next to them and Gary and Renee are next to him with their two kids. That's Jess in the back. And Gina and Sam are next to her.

Here's Jessica with Naomi. Naomi is originally from England and now lives in Oak Ridge, TN. She's getting married soon!

Here is Jessica with Tami. Tami graduated with Jessica on the counseling program and ministers in Wyoming to kids. She got her Masters from JBC after Jess moved to Cincy. We got to eat dinner with her and our friend Tony (one of my roomates in college).

That's all the pics we got. We had such a great week catching up with old friends. I found out that my friend Tyler...who I grew up with...lives like 5 minutes from me. AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT! He almost died and is recovering from a stomach and kidney problem. It was good to see him again and we are getting together next week.

I should have taken the camera to the office today...because I did manuel labor all day. I know you don't believe me...that's why I should have taken pictures. I learned how to lay tile and grout. Fun times. But not really. My arms hurt from cleaning the grout up. And my knees hurt from kneeling down to lay the tile. Man I am such a whiner. Anyways, have a great weekend. Jess is going to see Hawk Nelson, Jeremy Camp, and others at Winter Jam tomorrow. I'll have her bring the camera so we can post some pics.

5 Year Reunion

We had our 5 year reunion tonight at The Butcher Shop. A fun time was had by all. Sorry for the blurry picture...I'm not a very good photographer.

Here is our class president Tim Seevers posing with Jason (CCC's youth minister) and Jason's new baby Esther.

This is Frank. He used to do trash duty with Jeremy on Monday and Wednesday's. We had lots of fun stories to share!

This is Corrie, Nicole and Jessica. Jessica traveled with Nicole for a Summer Travel Team and Corrie was a cheerleader with Jeremy :-)

This is John and Jean. John traveled to England on a missions trip with Jeremy one spring. They are so cute!

This is Jeremy's former roomate Ben and a professor Dave Wheeler. Can you guess which one was Jeremy's roomate? That poor guy...oh the stories he could tell!

Hopefully we'll have some more pics to post tomorrow!

WHA HAPPENED?

Jessica and I watched A Mighty Wind last night. THAT MOVIE ROCKS! I just want to say thanks to Justin and Bethany for getting us hooked on this movie. We're planning for a big week next week. Jessica and I are hosting our friends Andy and Elisha and their new baby Mattias. They are staying with us during Homecoming...which we are sooo pumped about. Hopefully we can have some good pics to post of the visit. Well, Jess and I are off to the store to do some shopping for next week. Have a great weekend everybody!

Something to Think About

Sorry Justin, I totally stole your picture ;-). Jessica and I watched the TV show "24" last night. (We had to Tivo it because of a "Heroes" party...not my choice to watch Heroes over 24...but we had fun) Anyways, there is a very gross scene where Morris...shown above...is tortured into arming a device that would blow up three nuclear bombs in the US at any time the terrorists would choose. The terrorist drills a hole in Morris' shoulder and then tells him that he will continue to drill holes until he either arms the device or dies of shock/loss of blood. WOW! Well, he sacrifices the lives of thousands of Americans so that he won't go through this torture and he arms the device.

This got me thinking about the end times. I know there are Christians who are being tortured today because of their faith, but we here in the US are pretty safe from that stuff. We have laws that protect citizens from that kind of treatment. What if we didn't have those kinds of laws? What if we didn't have that freedom? Here's the question: How many times would someone have to drill holes in you for you to deny Christ?

I think Morris went into that torture thinking, "I'll never cooperate!" It was completely different as he felt the pain and thought about the upcoming pain. This causes me to question my loyalty to Christ and to look inside myself to see how serious I am about my faith.

Angela ROCKS

Stuff from the weekend

Jeremy and I were pretty busy this weekend. This is us at Miyabi's, a Japanese steakhouse Sat. night w/some friends. Good food but we had to wait forever and a day to get seated even though the people we were with had reservations. This is our friend Jordan's birthday party, she turned five. The little boy is Zack, he also goes to Cornerstone. They look so cute together, Zack has a crush on her, I think they should get married someday.
This is also at Jordan's party. Jeremy is holding baby Julianna. She is so beautiful and such a good baby.
Not much else going on. I start training Wednesday to be a substitute at a day care center. Hopefully I will find something more permanent soon. Hope you all are doing well.

This will have to do

Blogger is being stupid and won't let me download pics from the weekend. So this cute video with a cat flushing the toilet will have to tie you all over till we can download our pics. Hopefully, Jess will have better luck then me!

I enjoyed watching this!

Ashley Thompson Manning

I've had a lot of people ask me this past week if Peyton Manning is married. The answer is yes. He married Ashley Thompson who he met his freshman year at UT. They've been married since March of 2001. I know, I'm a dork. Jess and I were watching the news here in Knoxville and evidently the outfit she wore to the Super Bowl was bought right here in Knoxville. Fun times.

As a side note. It's 45 degrees outside and sunny. I hate snow and am so glad that I don't have to drive/shovel/freeze anymore. The snow here lasts for about an hour and then melts away.

So, we found out that it would be cheaper for us to travel England then to go to Disney World. How weird is that? Not that we are planning a trip or anything...except to our summer home in beautiful West Harrison Indiana. Fun times.

That's all for now. Have a nice day.

My favorite Super Bowl Ad

This is my favorite ad from the Super Bowl commercials. Enjoy...

YEA! The Colts Won!

I was sooo exhausted last night that I just went to bed. I'm so relieved that they won. I don't have any finger nails left! Anyways, here are a few pictures of our evening with our cell group.

You have got to be kidding me

Because of the blizzard like conditions that you can see in the pictures above, schools were closed today. What the heck is up with that? You can still see practically all of the grass!! I grew up in the mountains and we still had to go to school even if there was mass accumulation of snow. (Wow - I just sounded like one of those old dudes who walked to school up hill both ways) This is just craziness.

Now it's time to see how well you know Jessica

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See how well you know Jeremy!

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Football is a TEAM Sport

Well, this weekend in the big game. According to the media, Peyton can't win the big game. I was reading ESPN's A.M. Jump this morning and it has a great article showing the big games Peyton lost. Many of them, not entirely his fault. I would like to point out two proofs that it doesn't lie completely on his shoulders. My first proof is Big Ben in last year's Super Bowl. Check his stats: 9-21 and 2 int. That's awful! And they still won the game 21-10. My second proof is Rex Grossman. This whole season he's been simply OK...however they led the NFC with points scored...not because of him...but because of a great defense, special teams, and running game. My point is this...get over individual stats and realize that football is a team sport. Peyton Manning has nothing to do with this game. He must play well AND his running game must go well AND his blocking must go well AND his WR must catch the ball AND his defense has to play well. You get the point. I think the key to a Colts victory is this: Indy's defense must hold Chicago to under 75 yards rushing (their average in the playoffs this year) AND their offense must avoid turnovers (which is what makes Chicago's defense great). My pick for this week (of course) is INDY over CHICAGO! GO COLTS!

Catch and Release

I saw Catch and Relase last night starrring Jennifer Garner. It was really good and kind of surprising. I expected a lot of movie "fluff", like cute girl movie type stuff but it actually had some substance as well as comedy. It's basically about a girl whose fiance dies a couple of days before their wedding. She moves in w/his old roomates and ends up finding out all kinds of things about him that she never knew, and they weren't exactly good things. She finds herself torn between a lot of things and all the while never really loses the love that she had for him. There is one guy in the movie that was her fiance's roomate and he's really funny, so it was light at the same time. Anyways, it was a good movie, I suggest it.

Jeremy's Pick for Lunch

I just ate a delicious sandwich that everyone should try. It's called a Grilled Hampanini Sandwich. You take two pieces of Sourdough Bread and put mayo on them both. Then top it off with Ham, tomato, and cheese. Then pan grill it for about two minutes a side or until lightly golden. Very delicious...top that off with a diet mt. dew and some sun chips and you have yourself a great lunch. ENJOY!

Can money make you happy?

Read what Oliver James has to say about it.

Lunch Time

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog time to give you this important message from our sponsors: "I am eating a Krystal Burger right now and it is delicious!" Thank you for your time and we now take you back to your regularly scheduled blog.



I saw a sign today on the road that said. "Do not listen to 96.7FM." And that's all it said. So what did I find my self doing? Now that is advertisement. I'm putting a sign up that says, "Do not go to Cornerstone Christian Church." Do you think it will have the same effect?



Here's a picture of the new car I'm obsessed with today. I'm pretty sure Jessica is going to use her XMEN power to pick up this car and crush me with it. She's pretty annoyed and sick of me dragging her around everywhere. I'm sorry baby! I love you!

Another sad day for Cincinnati

I found this on ESPN today and had to share it...

Johnathan Joseph is the ninth Bengal to be arrested in the last nine months. Here's a list of the players and their problems:

Jonathan Joseph
CB
Possession of marijuana

Deltha O'Neal
CB
Driving while intoxicated

Reggie McNeal
WR
Resisting arrest

Matthias Askew
DT
Resisting arrest

Eric Steinbach
G
Boating under the influence

Chris Henry
WR
unlawful transaction with a minor (three counts), speeding, operating a vehicle under the influence, felony possession of a concealed firearm, possession of marijuana. First arrest was in December 2005.

Frostee Rucker
DE
Spousal battery

A.J. Nicholson
LB
Burglary, grand theft

Odell Thurman
LB
Driving while intoxicated

WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!

I called my football buddies (Justin and Randy), but no one is stinking answering their phones! So, I'll blog about how stinking excited that I am that the Colts are going to the Super Bowl. I almost cried when I got home from Church and it was 21-3. I was like, oh great...Peyton does it again...guess we'll try again next year. AND NOW THEY ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL. YEAH! Ok, so that's all...can't wait till Feb 4th!

Have you ever driven a plastic big wheel down a busy highway?

Well, Jeremy and I did indeed test drive the Kia Spectra (by the way the name Spectra always reminds me of Big Phish) and the Ford Focus. We started w/the Spectra and as the title states, it felt like driving a giant toy big wheel. So, the Kia is out. Next we drove a Focus. We liked it, we weren't in love w/the interior but we did like the car and it was at a very good price. So, we decided to crunch numbers w/the sales guy. (By now we should be pros at this) Jeremy and I had decided that if they would not pay off our trade-in there was no deal. We now owe exactly what the car is worth, which is also what Kelly Blue Book states is the trade value. We did not want negative equity going into the final price of the car. So, the guy showed the car to his people and came back with a lot less than we wanted to see so we were happy to leave and say this is not the right time. But the guy kept trying and brought his manager into the deal. We liked the first guy, he seemed like a nice guy, joking around but still taking us seriously. This guy on the other hand was a different story. He immediately started talking like the micro-machine man and lost me at hello. Jeremy and I kept saying unless you give us the full pay off on the ZX2 we can't do this. He was getting frustrated and then said O.K. if I can get you the full pay of for the trade-in can I get your businesss today? Well, yeah, of course that's what we have been saying the whole time! So he says he needs to ask the general manager and then scribbles some illegible sentence on a scrap piece of paper, draws a line and says sign here stating that we have your business if we can get that price for your trade in. Is that weird to anyone else? Jeremy said that he was not comfortable signing anything like that, we shouldn't have to sign for that to happen. He also told the guy that we were willing to do it if they got our trade in where we wanted and if the price of the car stayed the same, who knows if he would have jacked the price up after we signed it. So, the guy said that's fine and took the piece of paper and quickly walked away. I sat where I was, and Jeremy stood up and said let's go. I said no...he's asking if he can do that. In the meantime, the first sales guy came back and it was obvious that no one was asking if we could get our trade in where we wanted it all b/c the manager guy got ticked cause we wouldn't sign a stupid piece of paper. The first guy tried to explain that it was just to show the head guy that we were serious but first of all, that should have been communicated and second of all, shouldn't our word be good enough? The sad thing for them is that if that whole weird situation would not have come up and they would have just asked the head guy for what we needed and did it, we would have bought a new car from them today. Does that seem weird to anyone else? I'm still a little confused by the whole thing and I think the guy over reacted and I also don't think we should have to sign anything until we are purchasing the car. Thoughts?

Frustration

Jeremy and I are a little frustrated right now. We found out a couple of days ago that a lady was willing to rent our house out for 4-6 months while her new house is still being finished. She had agreed to allow us to keep the house on the market and show it and if anyone made an acceptable offer she would gladly move out. This seemed like the answer to our prayers, we finally felt like things were coming together. She and Jeremy spoke on the phone and everything seemed great. We discussed drawing up a rental contract and she was fine with that. So, Jeremy found our old one from our Miamitown days and cut and pasted a lot of stuff from that. The whole thing sounded fine to me. Well, tonight during dinner we get a call from our realtor. Apparently, the lady had a problem with the contract and was withdrawing the offer completely! There were things in the contract that made her uncomfortable, things that to us seemed reasonable. Things like please turn on the fan while you are in the shower, do not burn candles when you are not home, and keep the grass cut w/the provided mower. These were things taken completely from the contract that we rented from except for the grass thing (with a mower that we were gladly letting her use). The whole thing stressed her out so much that she was "hysterical" over it and had to consult her mother and sister as to whether she should go through with it or not. They obviously advised her not to. So, we are pretty frustrated. The good news is that we have a showing tomorrow and maybe all this means that the people tomorrow are going to buy the house. I hope so, but please pray for us and that this whole thing can just be over and done with.

Restful weekend

Jess and I are excited to finally have a restful weekend. It seems like we can't remember the last time we didn't have anything planned. I look forward to simply sleeping in! We might look at cars tomorrow. I'm obsessed and really annoying Jess. My car has over 117,000 miles and I still have like 18 months left on the loan. I've got it paid down to a reasonable amount that we can trade in. So, we've been looking for new or used cars that we can purchase to put us in the price range we're paying now. That leaves us looking mainly at barebones and compact cars. No complaints here. We test drove a Mazda 6 today and a Ford Fusion. We like the Mazda better, but its pricey and both make me feel old. I really like the Mazda 3...but its out of my price range. So, we might look at a Ford Focus Zx4 (basically the car I have now) and the Kia Spectra tomorrow. Here are a few pics...

This is the Ford Focus.

This is the Kia Spectra

I'm pretty sure Jess is sick of me talking about cars, but if we can get out of our old and in with a new for the same monthly payments...WHY NOT DO IT?

In other news. We are renting our house for the next 6 months to buy us some time to sell it. The awkward thing is that we have a showing tomorrow and she is moving in Monday. Wouldn't it suck for her if we end up selling it Saturday before she even moves in? I told her that and she said she would probably cry. But, we are her last hope and she's our last hope. It works out pretty good.

Have a wonderful weekend...blog at ya later!

Oops, we did it again

O.K. So here is how it all happened....Leo in his massive amounts of fur was starting to leave tumbleweed like hair balls around the house so I (Jessica) thought that it would be wise to TRIM him. Just trim him, because I think you all remember the tragedy of shaving him last April. So our friends Karen and Byron had just bought these special dog trimmers for their dogs and had done a nice job of grooming them themselves. Byron thought that he could get the job done as to what I was looking for. I just wanted Leo trimmed to about two inches of hair so he didn't look like a giant white racoon again. So Karen and Byron came over and got started. The problem was that Leo's hair was so thick that none of the razor guards would work on him. So they started trying different length guards and before we knew what happened he had a giant strip completely shaved on his leg. Jeremy and Byron thought that they could just fade it in. Karen and I knew that all was lost and we just needed to shave him completely. Also his undercoat had started to mat to his skin b/c of his massive amounts of fur. Soooo, this is the end result..... Pretty sad but you know, it's just fur....it'll grow back....right?? He doesn't look that terrible....does he???

Jeremy's picks for the week

Sorry to post this late, but we had a very busy Monday and Tuesday. Monday we had a 24 party at our house and watched all four hours in one sitting (thank you DVR box for fast forwarding through the stupid commercials). Yesterday we had dinner with our landlord and played cards. Fun times! And the rest of the week is just as busy! Anyways...on to my picks for the week.

United States of America Saints at the Chicago Bears - I predict a Rex Grossman melt down. I mean come on...did anyone else watch Tony Romo fall apart under pressure. Chicago's defense is over-rated and gave up 24 points and 127 rushing yards against the Seahawks AT HOME! I can't imagine what the two-headed monster in McAllister and Bush is going to do to this defense. Plus you have MVP runner up in Drew Brees. I think its going to be a shoot out and that's just too much pressure for the Bears' offense. Saints over the Bears in a high scoring affair.

The New England Patriots at the Indianapolis Colts - Now this is the game I want to watch and will miss because of Church. Oh well. The Patriots are surging because of these last two wins. However, Indy's defense is the best so far in the Post-Season only giving up 23 points and ONE TOUCHDOWN in two games. Their run defense has been incredible! However, Peyton Manning has looked awful throwing five picks and only one touchdown. GOSH I DON'T KNOW WHO TO PICK! Brady has shown he's a big time quarterback only losing one playoff game his whole career. However, he didn't look too good last week and in my opinion the Chargers lost that game and Brady threw a pick in the fourth quarter that could have decided the game. Anyways, I'm going with my heart and picking the Colts so that Manning can make it to his first Super Bowl.

I guess we'll all find out Sunday!

The scrapbook

(This is Jessica posting by the way) So the other day the mail lady dropped off a package and I immediately got excited. I couldn't wait to see what was inside and when I opened it I discovered the promised scrapbook from Cornerstone 1. I thought about waiting for Jeremy to get home to read it but knew I wouldn't make it that long so I opened it up. I got through the first few pages with a smile and then all of a sudden the tears came. All of the thoughts and warm wishes melted my heart and made me miss my friends a lot. By the end I think I was crying out loud (thanks a lot Justin). Don't get me wrong - I still am happy with our move and I know we made the right decision but that doesn't mean that I can't still love and miss my "family" in Cincinnati. Thanks to all you Cornerstone 1 readers who contributed and a special thank you to Bethany who put it together. I love you guys.

My life is over!

So, those who are not Office fans...um wait till we post again...cause this will make no sense. But what the heck is up with Dwight quitting his job??? I have a big picture of him in my office and now I have to burn it! Oh well. Nothing new happening our way...just wanted to complain about Dwight quitting his job. Everyone have a great Friday!

Krystal burgers give me gas

This blog is just to let everyone know that I now have a replacement for Skyline Chili. KRYSTAL BURGERS! They are delish...so if you have one close...go out and eat one. White Castle is sort of the same...so go have yourself one of those if you would like. You will only regret it as you digest it :-)

Jeremy's picks for the week

It's the playoffs baby! This weekend we have some wonderful matchups...and here are my picks for those games.

Colts at Baltimore - This one is difficult. You have a great defense in Baltimore vs a great offense in Indy. Indy proved last week that they can do pretty well against a pounding back like Larry Johnson...but how will they fair on the road against another pounding back in Jamal Lewis. Hmmm... I think the game hinges on the play of the Colts' rookie sensation Joseph Addai...if he plays well they win. I think he'll play well and Indy will get the win.

Eagles at New Orleans - The beloved Saints with their high powered offense will completely roll all over Phily's "prone to give up big gains" defense. I don't think this one will be close...I pick the Saints over the Eagles.

Seahawks at Chicago - Which Rex Grossman will show up Sunday? Last game they played at home Rexy boy threw a ton of interceptions and got booed by the home crowd. However, their special teams and defense will eat up Seattle who has looked awful this season and barely beat a very poor Dallas team. I pick Chicago in a shutout 9-0.

Patriots at San Diego - Tom Brady makes awful mistakes when he is pressured. Luckily they have a tremendous offensive line. However, steroids induced Merriman will come on a lot of blitzes and the high powered offense lead by MVP LT will hit the ground running. Look for a hard hitting and emotionally charged game which will be close to the end. I pick the Chargers to win at home.

I was wrong

Ok, I don't mind admitting when I am wrong. Larry Johnson did not rush for 582 yards like I predicted. It was more like 32 yards on 13 carries. I am a little nervous about Peyton's three interceptions. But, I am SOOOO excited that they got the W. GO COLTS! And I am excited that their defense looks better. GO COLTS!

Mattias

This is Mattias Hamilton. My friend Andy from Chicago sent me the picture the other day. He's so cute...so I thought I would post him on here. Jessica is mad at me. I keep telling everyone at Church she is pregnant. No, she's not...but I thought it was funny at the time. I'm the worst husband in the world. Anyways, we can't have a baby till we sell our summer home in Indiana. Its in our contract.

I hopefully had my last funeral last night in a long while. I have attended four in the last month, plus we've had two members in the hospital. It's been a long week and today I'm going to kick back relax and watch my Colts beat up on the Chiefs :-) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Feet

I took Jordan to see Happy Feet yesterday. It was really cute. I definately suggest going to see it. I hope you guys are having a good week. This is my last day w/Jordan and then next week I'll pick up w/the job search which still isn't going to hot. Anyways, if you get a chance go see happy feet!

No more Power Five :-(

That's right folks. The season is over and there's no reason to do the Power Five. So, I'll give you my picks for the week instead. Yeah!

The KC Chiefs at the Indy Colts - Of course everyone knows that I have to go with my Colts even though Larry Johnson will probably run for 582 yards. That's right you heard it here. But, the Chief's have an awful defense and there's no way they can keep up in a shoot out. But don't worry Justin, Peyton will lose when he heads to Baltimore in the second round.

The NY Jets at the NE Pats - Tom Brady just isn't right. They don't look that great and it looks like the leader of their defense is out for this game (Harrison). So, this is my pick for an upset this week. I pick the Jets to move on to the second round.

The NY Giants at the Phily Eagles - I'm not sold on the Eagles yet. But, the Giants look just as bad. So, I'm picking the home team with the momentum to beat the Giants who are unraveling. At least one Manning has to lose this weekend...right?

The Dallas Cowboys at the Seattle Seahawks - Dallas is a mess which leaves the Seahawks at home to pick up a big win moving them into the second round of the playoffs. Wouldn't it be awesome if the Eagles make it to the Superbowl and TO and the Cowboys don't?

Ok, well, those are probably the worst picks ever...but that's alright...fun times.

Pray for me and the church here this week. I'm doing a funeral tonight and I just did one Sunday as well. We have had a lot of really great people pass away this month and its taking a toll on the Church. Thanks.

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...