I've Gott It!!

Signing Off

2010-08-19T20:46:00.002-05:00

So it's been way over a year since I've posted anything. I doubt any of you still follow me. But incase someone out there does, I want to inform you that I have a new blog! What? Yes, you read it. New blog. You can get to it by clicking here. It turned out that once we downgraded our internet connection, blogger was way too slow for all the pictures I wanted to post. I tried to post several times and lost interest because of the long wait time.

My husband and I are blogging together so our posts should be vastly different. Check it out if you are reading this. We already have a handful of posts up. Comment if you dare. I'm pretty sure I've set things up so that non-tumblr users can comment too.

Oh and if anyone can tell me how to backup this blog on my computer I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

And thanks for following me.

Lily is home!!

2009-07-09T22:31:00.007-05:00

I'VE GOTT IT!!!

Lily.

Born 5-20-09.

Tomorrow is Vet day. I'll get her weight then.

She is a maltipoo. 3/4 maltese and 1/4 poodle.

She's white with an apricot patch from left ear going down to left eye. Some apricot on right eye and a dot of it on her head. I always thought I would get pure white, but she was my favorite. The cutest and the most responsive to us.

She was fearless when she met us. Out of her two sisters she didn't shake at all. When we put her down she was the most active out of the litter. She even pottied on command when I wanted her to go before we left (I think that was a fluke).

Here are some pictures of her homecoming.

She played in my lap on the way home and then went to sleep in my arms. She was so good on the two hr. drive home!! She didn't whine once and she never pottied or got sick! Good car dog!!

:o)

First picture with her daddy!!

First time eating at her food/water station!

Got a dry piece... and liked it!

She loves her new stuffed duck toy!!

I'm using the Dr. Pepper can so my dad can see how big she is.

"Hmm.. this is a cold one Mommy!!"

Thankfully her nose didn't stick to the can!!

Best Present EVER!!

2009-07-08T22:52:00.011-05:00

A Long Time Ago... say a decade almost.

Sasha wanted a dog. But she didn't want just any dog. She wanted a Maltipoo to be exact!

She thought she would get one as a graduation present, maybe. But instead she got a husband.

Husband told her one day she'd get a puppy just like she had always wanted.

For almost three years they lived happily in an apartment with no puppy because the tidy landlords wouldn't have it.

Instead they had hermit crabs and fish as pets. As well as numerous stuffed animal pets.

After almost three years of marriage the husband bought Sasha a house! This was very exciting and wonderful to the happy couple. And though some might argue, getting a house was not Sasha's attempt to get a puppy.

A few months afterwards, some things made Sasha believe that she'd be happy to stay at home and work/keep house. This made her husband very happy, but he knew that she might need something more than hermit crabs and fish to keep her company.

Sasha reminded her husband frequently how happy she'd be with a little furry friend, but she didn't think she'd get one until....

Well see for yourself what she found out when she received some early birthday gifts from her parents in Oklahoma.

Sadie, Sasha's parents dog, is thinking "I thought she was done opening presents. What's so special about a basket that's behind a chair?"

Sadie jumps up... "Wow!! This is no ordinary basket!! It looks like dog stuff!! "

Sadie is peeking in to look at the goodies and find the dog that isn't in there.

Sadie wasn't that interested in poop pickup bags.

Sadie wants to know what else is in there!!

Finally Sasha had to put the crate down so Sadie could go in and examine for herself.

Sadie is confused. Sasha is ELATED!!

The husband told Sasha's parents that they could get her "puppy stuff" for her birthday.

Sasha thinks she has the greatest husband and mom and dad in the world!!

Sasha's mom and dad didn't want pictures posted of them this time... but they deserve to definitely be mentioned because...

Sasha went to the store to buy the last of the dog stuff today and it was pricey. She was good though and only bought necessities...

Tomorrow the husband will take her on an hour and a half journey to go look at some female Maltipoos. Hopefully if everything goes well, she will bring one home.....

FINALLY!

A day before her birthday. (Which is Friday)

Past Celebrations Because I'm an Awful Blogger

2009-06-16T18:37:00.010-05:00

So... I get pretty lazy when it comes to uploading pictures off my camera. I'm not a snap and upload person... more of a snap, snap, snap - wait a while - oh yeah, I'm behind on my blog person. So I've missed several events to blog about. Two were so important that I decided that late is better than never.

Event Uno: The 3rd Anniversary (leather)

Jared and I didn't do anything extravagant for our anniversary this year, but it was eventful. Before I retell some of the interesting things that happened, let me preface by saying that this Anniversary really brought things into perspective for me. It isn't what you do on this day or what you get that makes it so special. I'm happy that God put Jared into my life and made us one. Our anniversary was a time for us to reflect on our marriage and be thankful for what God has blessed us with. We've been through a lot this year with job changes, weight changes, medicine issues, an MRI, biopsies and endoscopies, buying a house, etc. Through all of this we've leaned on each other and have grown closer. I look forward to more fun times and will endure the hardships as I know we have a long way to go as we, Lord willing, have the blessing of a long marriage together.

Now onto what happened...

Some note worthy things things that happened (to name a few): We went to Jackson to watch the Pixar movie "Up!". When we got there, our theater looked like it hadn't been swept all day!! It was filthy!!! But that wasn't even the worst. Our movie stopped in the middle and went to those advertisement previews that you see before the movie starts! Then after about 10-15 minutes the movie started back but didn't start where it left off. THEY SKIPPED PART OF IT!!! It was a great movie, but I was so ticked at the theater and managers!! I'm thankful now that Jared is so laid back. He didn't let this get to him and since he was there I didn't hunt down any managers to gripe to...

SOAPBOX WARNING: SKIP AHEAD IF IN A HURRY.

No one even came and apologized. I was so outraged (mainly because we NEVER get to go to the movies!) I really wish there was a better theater to give them some good competition. In Tulsa, this theater wouldn't even last a week!! There are TONS of theaters there and all you really have to do is pick your time of movie and what street you want to be on. They are pretty much all clean places with nice seats, big screens, and good customer service!!

OKAY OFF THE SOAPBOX.

After aforementioned movie, we went to Sakura. Yum Sushi!! We even got the warm towels this time. Things were looking up!

Then it was off to the mall to find something leather-like to give to each other. FYI, Jared and I are trying to stick with the traditional anniversary gifts. The first year was paper, second cotton, and this was leather. Funny thing though, we thought that the third year was the wooden anniversary and had planned to get a porch swing. About two days before I found out that it was the leather anniversary. So that and some miscellaneous finances put a halt on the porch swing for now.

At the mall was this purse store that was having a HUGE sale because it was closing. We went in to browse and I saw a purse that I liked. I didn't do my usual hide the item and go look around to see if there was something better routine. It was getting close to closing time and I just BOUGHT IT!! When in the car, I got it out to put stuff in and one of the snaps fell off!! :o( That was not a happy time. I was upset. Jared was upset. It just wasn't good. We were sitting in Books-a-Million's parking lot when Jared decided he didn't want to look for himself a gift from me. We'd had a tough night.

All was eventually okay of course. Everything looks better after some sleep. We waited until the weekend and were able to exchange my purse for a flawless one :o) Jared found what he wanted online. He's getting a VERY nice leather journal. Sounds boring, but it's super nice and Jared LOVES notebooks! We also found Grumbles a girlfriend while we were at the mall!!

After squealing with joy from finding this new and brighter pig that looked like Grumbles, Jared reminded me of how we needed to be on a budget.... "BUT IT'S 70% OFF I WHINED..." I let it go though because he was right. Later I discovered that he had bought me the pig I wanted behind my back and hid it in the sack that had my purse in it!! I was so thrilled :D

We named Grumble's girlfriend, Truffles. They are dating, will become engaged, and I'm sure will have a wedding... hee hee... I KNOW, I'M WEIRD. There's just something about these stuffed pigs that brings out the child in me.

Event Dos: Jared's Birthday!

Jared is not normal. He does not care for a normal birthday celebration. OR A NORMAL BIRTHDAY CAKE!! His lack of excitement is rather disappointing. The one really exciting thing that happened was that his family came the day before to eat a birthday lunch with him. I was happy that Mom Gott brought an apple pie for Jared. But I was happier that I had not planned to fix one. Instead I made a cheesecake (not pictured). Jared had a really rare Beatles picture back in AL and his family framed this for his present. He bought more stuff online (what a surprise) from me. He got a few checks, and he wanted his present from my parents in March!! (An ESV study bible)

He is weird. But I love him. We don't agree on how we like to celebrate birthdays. I like presents - not gift cards as much. He likes money. I like my presents the day of and will save my cards and try not to ask for things months in advance. (A few days early because family couldn't be with me is okay... I have internal rules) He doesn't care and will get things way early or open things when he receives them. He's also so selfless as to spend his money on me at times!! He doesn't like birthday cake that much and I LOVE IT!! He wanted those store bought cookies instead of cake!!! I made something anyway for him. This was the first year that I only had a card and cheesecake for him because I kept asking what he wanted and he kept stalling because he didn't know. We did go out to eat the weekend before his birthday, because he had class from 5-10p.m. on his birthday. I had girls' nite but was going to skip because I didn't think it fair that I go out to eat and have fun while he had class. He didn't want me to miss this and so I had fun at Rafferty's while he sat in a boring class. I truly have an amazing husband. Very unmaterialistic at times and not caring if things are a certain way. Maybe I can learn to be more like him, but I still like celebrating birthdays and holidays in general.

New Moon Trailer!!

2009-06-02T10:38:00.003-05:00

Yay the New Moon trailer is out! It officially went public Sunday, I think. I can't wait to see it. I know some people didn't like the Twilight movie. I agree that it wasn't great quality. BUT I love me some Twilight these days!! And to those of you who hated the first movie - this one has a new producer. We can cross our fingers, right?!

Anyway here it is.

Stop Calling Me!!

2009-05-20T16:56:00.005-05:00

I gave my cell phone number out on a form I filled out online - I know, I know... I knew almost immediately my mistake, but I wasn't thinking and there you go.

Today, I've started to get calls from the same 800 number. I'm getting pretty annoyed at this (I answer and no one says anything) so I decided to look into blocking this particular caller.

I found out that AT&T offers a service that this would be included in, but it's an extra $5 / month. I didn't want to do that, so I did this:

I added the number as a contact in my phone. Its name is: "Spam! Don't Answer!" I even gave it the personalized ringtone of: "Silent".

I'm actually hoping they will call back again so I can see if it works!! It should... :o)

Hopefully, if this ever happens on your cell phone you can do the same thing.

Hilarious Video - Must See!!

2009-05-20T13:32:00.002-05:00

Watch this video. Jared and I argued who was going to put it on their blog. He showed this to me, but it was my idea to post it. However, if he posts it also - mine was up first!! Hee, hee... wherever you see it though - IT'S GREAT!!

Lotsa Pips!!

2009-05-13T12:09:00.006-05:00

Pip - The name of the chipmunk on the movie Enchanted. While the little critters that are scattering about here are actually squirrels, they remind me of Pip, the chipmunk. And so that's what I think I'll call them - "Pips".

Here is Pip when he surprised me as I was looking out onto my back deck today. It seems like every time I go outside or look out a window I see Pip.

Also, if I open my windows in the morning it sounds like a rainforest outside!

Pretty cool. I love the wildlife around here. Just as long as it stays "out there"...

The Process of Moving Into Our New Home!!

2009-05-11T22:24:00.011-05:00

Well, we are finally in Lil' Yellow and I couldn't be happier. I absolutely love it here!! I'm so happy to be in and unpacked. Below is a slide show that I put together for anyone interested. You should be able to play it at your own pace by using the buttons to pause and go fwd or back. Also, if you are interested in a slide, click it to make it bigger. Or you can click the slideshow and view the pictures in my Picasa Web Album.

We had a lot of help from a ton of family and friends to get in and get situated. Jared and I are very blessed and fortunate to be able to have this place and all of the furnishings in it. It will be a little surprising to see everything in the new house if you've seen our apartment before.

That said, we owe almost everything to our family and friends. Without their generosity, we would not have a house so well filled. I also appreciate the financial lessons that I picked up from my family. My papa always told me, "Spend some, Save some, and You'll Always Have some".

But we all must remember that all of our material blessings come from God Almighty and that they are only temporary. We have a home in heaven that is much better than any home we could ever make here on earth.

Taking pictures was so fun, that I decided to take you on a virtual tour and make a video. Warning - I used my trusty digital camera AGAIN and so you might be in for a bumpy view...

Reminiscing Pictures

2009-04-26T21:12:00.003-05:00

Bittersweet: I sold my very first digital camera in Sandy's yard sale. It was an ancient little thing. Pretty powerful in its hay-day (when i was in high school!!) I saved a few pics and put some of them in a slideshow of when I was at Freed. My how times flies!! Most of the pictures I have from college were not digital because my digital batteries would always run down and I just got tired of that and bought a regular camera. These are a FEW of the many pictures I took while at FHU.

Please know that the "d" on "Saved" in my slideshow header didn't show up. I guess it was too wordy...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Time to Post a Few Missed Events

2009-04-24T23:19:00.014-05:00

It's been a busy time at the Gott house. We've been waiting to close on the yellow house. First we were told, maybe we'd close LAST Thursday. Then it was for sure Wednesday, for sure Thursday, most likely Friday, probably Monday, and now hopefully early next week!! The waiting game is hard for us... (like it's easy for anyone else!) On the bright side, I suppose it's been a good learning experience... Keeps our expectations low, I guess. And gives us a lesson in patience. We know we will get the house, it's just a matter of when. We should hopefully close next week. Please say a little prayer that we do; we are suppose to be out of the apartment by the first. I have a husband, a realtor, and two managers at the loan office pushing our gal along. Hopefully she won't make anymore mistakes (she's made a lot!!) Oh, and hopefully I don't get so upset that I decide to call her. Jared has been handling these matters. He's a lot calmer than me. (For that I'm ever so grateful.)

And so now I have time to post the Events that I've meant to post earlier, but didn't...

First Event:

Bobby May's Benefit Brunch...

From Collages

Click on photo to enlarge

Jared and I sponsored a table and had some of our friends and coworkers sit with us at this event. Bobby was one of my friends my first year and a half at Freed. We were both in Phi Kappa Alpha together and shared some fun times. Bobby died in a car wreck on his way home before Christmas in 2002. Bobby was a great guy with a big heart and an amazing voice. He was in the Ambassadors (a vocal group at Freed) and now there is a scholarship in his name that raises money for them. I'm happy that I was asked to be part of raising money for this year's event.

Makin' Music '09

From Collages

Click on picture to enlarge

Who's who in this from Left to Right:

*Brother in Law was a black in white character in XBX's show!!

*The crew plus me who came from Gasden, AL to watch the show. (Jared is missing because he was doing XBX's tunnel talk!)

*My alma mater club, PKA!!! And my cousin Justin was a wizard!

*The winning Makin' Music show!! Whoo-hoo XBX!! (Let it be known that I will always be part red, BUT I am also biased to XBX since the Gotts are purple and gold)

Extra note that we just learned: Eric (brother in law) earned a spot as a XBX Makin' Music director for '10!! "Huzzah!!"

I Love Old Main...

The lighting for my favorite building on campus was just right. If only I had snapped the tree and not its shadow!!

My Crabs Had a Growth Spurt!

They are so big now that I don't really handle them anymore... :o(

Lads to Leaders '09

From Collages

Click on pictures to enlarge

This year was our first year to attend the Lads to Leaders in Nashville. We attend this event because Jared needs to be there for his job. During the weekend he sees TONS of prospective students. I get to go and tag along - what a perk!!

We stayed in the Opryland Hotel and were lucky enough to get a suite sized room!! Literally it was HUGE!! The Great Oaks congregation, out of Memphis was staying in the next room. Ohh, how I love King Sized beds!! I want one some day. :o) The scenery at this hotel is A-MAZ-ING!! If you've never been, GO!! Also, eat at Wasabi's!!! We ate there TWICE!! :o)

The second time our friend, Frank paid..

Other Noteworthy Tidbits:

Nemo and Sunshine - the guppies - kicked the bucket. Ohh and one of the neons that we didn't find for days died also. Actually the neon sorta decomposed. I new he was missing but was so busy packing I didn't bother to look until I smelt him... Then I asked Jared to look. Oh, Brave hubby who's nose doesn't work well... you can handle any smell!

At the yellow house, the Irises are just blooming. I love that there are already flowers and plants in the yard. I'll try to get a picture of stuff soon.

And the apartment is a disaster zone! I will definitely update you on that process once we're outta here!! A documentary, if anyone cares to look at it. (I know my following is small)

So that's that.

Oh wait - a snapshot of me and Jared at the CrowHop Concert tonight. We saw Eric Hutchinson perform. I tried to take pictures but my little digital camera is just not powerful enough for me to post what it took!! (I'll save it the embarrassment!)

Lil' Prince Likes Apples

2009-04-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

Aughhhh!! Anything to keep a teething baby amused. This is what I came up with for the next 10 minutes or so...

Lil' Prince loves listening to Bible songs (especially FHU ambassadors) on itunes. I decided today to let him look at the visualizer on itunes... Seems pretty entranced to me. We might try sitting outside in a bit. :o)

I'm so new at this so if you have any ideas please share. Yesterday he was inconsolable!! Cried all day pretty much.

Today, I'm determined will be better!! :o)

My Brother on the Drum Set

2009-03-31T21:16:00.003-05:00

Here's one video as promised. Below is "Cold Pressed" by David Hollinden. This is the piece my brother did on the drum set. It's 8 minutes long, but I didn't want to edit anything out of this one because it was the coolest. I'll post clips of the others later. They'll consist of a Snare piece, Marimba, Timpani, and a Trio (Marimba, Vibraphone, and Xylophone). Beware, the video quality is bad and I'm sorry for that. I need a camcorder. :o)

Travels to See Families...

2009-03-31T13:11:00.004-05:00

*Sigh* more random people like Jared's blog than mine. Guess that's because my blog primarily is about what is going on with us. His is about what's going on in his head. I guess that would be more interesting... But anyway, this post is what HAS BEEN with us. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge.

TIME IN ALABAMA:

At the end of our Spring Break (roughly two weeks ago). We went to Alabama to celebrate Eric and Kara's (Jared's siblings) Birthdays. We were also able to see Kara perform in a Winterguard competition in Georgia!! She did such a good job! Winterguard is basically for a competing group of people that can twirl, toss, catch, and you name it to things like flags, rifles, and sabers!! It is very impressive!! Kara is one of the captains for her hometown Winterguard. She is in an independent group made up of high school and college girls. Training is rigorous and each weekend they compete somewhere. I didn't get a good picture of her competing because I was sitting so far away in the stands. There is a picture of her in the lower right of the below collage.

From Recently Updated

TIME AT HARDING UNIVERSITY:

We went to Harding University last Thursday because Chandler - my brother - had his junior percussion recital. Our family had been looking forward to attending this for over a year. Most music majors only do a Senior recital. Bragging here: Chandler is so good that his professors wanted him to have a junior recital too!! He definitely didn't disappoint! Bragging again: He is A-MAZ-ING!! I'm glad that he is going to Harding because of the Christian aspect of the school. Seriously though, he could have attended ANYWHERE with his talents. Not only is he amazing at percussion stuff, but he has a mind for composing that you wouldn't believe!! I have my B.A. in music, but I always feel stupid when talking to him. It can be aggravating!!

Okay little brother - if you are reading this, don't get a big head!! I still wish you would have come to Freed. Snobby Harding Person!! :o) J/K!!

From Recently Updated

Harding's facilities are impressive!! Top left is their recital hall. Top right is their new MUSIC BUILDING!! I wish FHU would have had one of these... I would have transfered to Harding my junior year had I not met Jared... <3>

Soon I will be sharing some bad quality videos with you. I just have to put my money where my mouth is about my brother. I have to crop the videos first though... I took a lot of them!!

SOME RARE FAMILY PICS WHILE AT HARDING:

Cousin Kevin, Chan Man, and Nana

From Recently Updated

Chan Man and Nana

From Recently Updated

Hubby, Chan Man, and Me

From Recently Updated

The Men

From Recently Updated

Mom and Dad and Chandler

From Recently Updated

Momma, Sober Sides, and Me

From Recently Updated

Really Good Pics of Mom and Dad...

From Recently Updated

I love my little brother and he puts up with me. Guess he's not so little anymore. :o(

From Recently Updated

ALSO WORTH NOTING:

We should be getting a closing date soon for Lil' Yellow.

It feels good to pretty much be only waiting for a closing date from our Mortgage Co.

I love driving by the house and checking on things. Spring is here and below is a picture of an example of the pretty plants that were planted for us!!

From Recently Updated

Jared and I took some friends by Sunday afternoon and Ashley D. says this is a "Lily of the Valley". I hope she is right, because those flowers are lovely. I love how pure and delicate this plant looks! The owners landscaped a lot with different things around the place. I can't wait until everything blooms!!!! :o)

Thanks for reading!! Makin' Music is this weekend. Eric is in it and Mom Gott and Pop Gott are visiting. I'm sure I'll have another family post soon!!

Earnest Money: So much that I'm pretty protective over it!!

2009-03-25T19:45:00.005-05:00

Earnest Money: If you've bought a house before you know what this is. Basically, by putting earnest money down you are saying that you are serious about buying something. It's a good faith thing. You aren't just going to up and walk away and leave the seller hanging.

When we finished the contract on lil' yellow we put a lot (for us) of earnest money in on it. I was just going to put a little in at first, but Jared wanted to put more in. He is the head and I'm totally trusting his lead on EVERYTHING!!!

I'M SO GLAD WE DID THIS EARNEST MONEY THING!!! BECAUSE.....

Tonight after worship I wanted to drive by the house and look at it. When we arrived, a SUV of college girls was pulling into the drive way. They jumped out of the car and I could tell they were excited about the house. I could tell by their facial expressions that they really liked it. My first reaction was HORROR!!! I was so ANNOYED that they were looking at it. I know that nothing is a SURE thing until you close. I thought about the little trick of the earnest money thing and felt a little better. I'm still nervous about people looking at it who want to buy it. I feel as if we've put down so much money, gone through so much paperwork, and interviewed so many people that it should be ours!!! I guess one good thing to keep in mind is that it is sort of neat that other people are looking at the house. I knew before we made the contract that there had been some calls interested in it. Lord willing, I won't have to panic much more. I'm so NERVOUS!! This entire process is OVERWHELMING. I almost feel as if I'm too young to be making such big money decisions!! But both of our families are or have looked at it, we got an amazing inspector.... and most importantly we are PRAYING to God to help us in everything. Hopefully, fingers crossed... We shall see.

Ziggy, the Painting Pooch!!

2009-03-25T11:40:00.004-05:00

Have you ever heard of a dog that paints? This one does!! Check out more by clicking here.

I've also embedded a video for your viewing pleasure!! Ziggy makes more money painting then I think I could. Maybe when I get a puppy it will paint for me!! HA!!

Taking the Plunge and Buying our Dream House!!

2009-03-23T09:57:00.016-05:00

Picture Copied from Real Estate Website

Incase you didn't know, I'm pretty sure yellow is the official U.S. color of 2009. I think it has something to do with yellow being a happy color :o) Evidently the fashion gurus thought that in our dim economic depression yellow might help our spirits... (don't quote me on that!)

Well like any fashion diva (yeah right) I have decided that I'm going to not only wear the color of the year, but LIVE IN IT!!! :o) HUZZAH!!!

Meaning: JARED AND I ARE BUYING OUR FIRST HOUSE!!!

My name for the color of our new abode is buttercream yellow. It is a beauty and we are both in love with it. I never thought I'd get my "dream home" so soon. It was just by chance that I mentioned we were looking to rent and one of my girl friends over heard me and told me about this one. I don't think we will have to do hardly anything to get it "picture perfect". I can't wait until we finally close!! It should be very soon. We will, Lord willing, be living in our new lil' yellow house by the end of April!! Below are some pictures for your curiosity... ;o) If you're interested, you can click on all the pictures to see them really big!!

Below are Pictures from the Real Estate Website!!

From Collages

Lil' Yellow has 3 Bedrooms and 2.5 Bathrooms. It is about a block away from the Church Building and I can see FHU from my front porch!! Everything has been remodeled and is new (thus the reason we don't have to do anything). The house itself is an older home, but I think that's what makes it so lovely.

Dream Location Below:

From Recently Updated

Below are some pictures of different things that I love...

From Recently Updated

Ramblings from left to right: I'm loving the big front porch (with hooks for my porch swing that I've always wanted!!) and all new, black appliances!! New showers (Ohh, apartment living memories...) This place has two pedestal sinks and antique looking stuff all over the place!! Love the fireplace and the cool brass cover thing!! My bathroom chandelier is glorious!! Ohh so soft Frise carpet (this was Jared's favorite when he used to carpet clean. He says it's super nice and easy to clean!!) The sink in the Utility room!! Big wooden plantation Blinds!! :o) :o)

Okay. If you've made it through all of my bragging without getting sick - HUZZAH!! And I hope you aren't sick of me. One last time though... The little yellow house that is about to be ours....

From Recently Updated

I'm so excited!!!! :P

Keeping Lil' Prince

2009-03-13T10:35:00.007-05:00

Things have been popping fast for me and Jared these days. We have so many things going right in our lives presently. One of those things is that I've taken on a new job!! YAY ME!!

My new job is providing child care for Lil' Prince. I don't want to put his name on the internet, but he is the grandson of the President and that's why I call him "Lil' Prince". He is so sweet and good natured. The only time he's cried so far is when he woke up because I couldn't get that bottle heated soon enough!! I think it was also a shock that a stranger had him too. He's doing well though and he's fast asleep in his bouncer. He looks very sweet all snuggled up in his blankets!!

Here are some pics of him.

He got here around 6:00 a.m. but slept in his car seat until 9:00 a.m!!

So precious, huh?

Not sure about Puffdiddy the pig. He likes to touch him though. He also smiles when I squeeze its belly and make it talk.

Too much excitement. Back asleep while listening to Raffi Children songs.

Girls Nite at O'Charleys!!

2009-03-09T21:06:00.005-05:00

There were eleven of us who celebrated Bridget's and Allison's birthdays this month at O'Charleys!! We had so much fun. I forget how much I love these!! I don't think I ever want to miss another. I hardly touched my food; I was talking so much. I think everyone had a good time. Conversations could be heard about TV shows like Gilmore Girls, LOST, the Bachelor, guys we've dated (Sandy's weird first date back in college!! HA!), people we've known from school, kids, houses, etc. etc. Also the waitress almost spilling our food was interesting!! We had a really fun nite and I can't wait until the next one! We did miss some gals that couldn't make it. Maybe next time it will be convenient for more to attend.

Creating makes me happy!

2009-03-09T12:56:00.005-05:00

I'm very blessed to have a husband that provides for me and encourages my crazy hobbies. I wouldn't have the time to do so many things that I enjoy if he told me to get off my bum and get a job, somewhere, anywhere, NOW!! He doesn't really want me to work unless I want to and that's rare I think. Not that I don't want a job. I desperately do. But I've found that staying home can have so many pluses. One of the pluses is that I have more time to be creative!!

This weekend I made my friend Ashley D. a ring. This is the second ring I've made like this and I think I'm getting addicted to the wire wrapping techniques and pretty beads!! Take a look:

I know the photo quality isn't the best, but that is honestly the best picture that I could come up with. I like to call this creation my "Wire Beaded Jingly Ring". I can make them in about any ring size with about any type of color combos. If you would like one, I would love to make you one too. The price is $15. Let me know if you'd like me to make one for you!

College Road Trip - The Movie

2009-03-07T12:54:00.002-06:00

This is a good rent worthy movie. I'm lovin' Pig Albert too! Jared and I laughed a lot. It's a good family movie about a girl (Raven) who wants to go far off to college and her dad (Martin Lawrence) is trying to keep her at home and protect her from the world. This meant a lot to me since I did go about 9 hrs. away to college. My parents didn't act like this dad did (thankfully). But I'm sure they might have had similar feelings all the while.

If you rent it, make sure you tell me how you liked it!! Happy Weekend!

Video of the Day!!

2009-03-05T15:33:00.002-06:00

This is for all of you mothers and all of you gals with husbands... You know what I mean!! :o)

This video is A-MAZ-ING!!! If you are wondering... this is a "clean" video. However, I wouldn't show it to children because it might encourage them. But there is nothing on here that I'm ashamed to post. Well, momma might not want to watch it. Sorry, mom. ;o)

Momma Visits during a Snow Blizzard!!

2009-03-03T14:44:00.010-06:00

Well things are getting back to normal now and I wanted to post some pictures of the fun times Mom and I had together. I was lucky that she came to stay with me while Jared was traveling for work. It was so nice to have mother/daughter time for a week!! Jared came back just in time to enjoy the most snow that we've seen while being together! Enjoy the pics!

Below: We went to "Asia Garden" to eat lunch. Ashley D. told us about this place and it was really posh, cheap, and had great food!! Plus, they have massaging chairs!! Way cool!!

Below: Project of the week. Mom helped me make a french memo board. On this I will display important cards/notes and pictures!!

Below: Of course we had to make cards while we were together. We also made some cards at Ashley D's. but I forgot to take pictures of that... oops.

Below: I recall waking up and seeing tweets on twitter saying it was supposed to snow. I told mom, but we weren't really sure how bad it would be. Hee hee... it was bad enough to snow her in an extra day!!

Below: The winter wonderland that we woke up to! At least a foot of snow!!

Below: We were snowed in big time. Mom decides to juice some grapes that we had and she also made unleavened bread so we could worship at the house. We weren't able to go to worship because of the snow. It was very memorable having our own service in my apartment.

Below: Yay!! Jared made it back in time to enjoy the snow! He was so good to me when he got home. He was exhausted, but after I told him I had waited on him to play in the snow he went out right away with me so we could make a snowman!! I truly have the best hubby ever!!

Below is a video of our discussion as we try to think of a name for our snowman. FYI: The video quality stinks after I uploaded it to youtube, but I still like it.

12 Year Old Speaks Out On the Issue of Abortion

2009-02-21T15:31:00.003-06:00

If you have time to watch this video, it is amazing!

Crabitat Remodel

2009-02-18T14:40:00.002-06:00

Last night Jared thought it was time to clean/remodel the crabitat. Above are some images of the end product. Notice a crabbie peaking out of the Hermie Hut in the bottom left picture! They run and hide when they get put back in their 'tat. Once they feel safe they slowly come out and explore their new home. This crabbie is the only crab exploring right now (the others are molting).

My Valentine and Girly Fun!!

2009-02-17T23:40:00.005-06:00

A blurb about Valentine's Day:

Jared was great and took me around Jackson shopping and just doing anything I wanted to do. We went to Target, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, and Books a Million. We splurged and bought Guitar Hero 3 for both of us as a Valentine's Day gift to each other. We weren't really that romantic this year. With everything that has gone on we didn't secretly shop for each other. So we just decided to get something we both liked on the day of. Jared was sweet though. He made me a card and put it by Grumbles when I was getting ready. I could have taken a picture, but it was made out of a used red office folder :o) Hee hee.. the outside WAS a heart shape though!! It didn't look like much but he put a lot of thought into what he wrote and that mattered more to me.

We decided to eat at Olive Garden which was PACKED!! We were lucky we only had a 30 minute wait because we got there at 4 p.m. Afterwards we wandered around some more and ended up at Maggie Moo's!! What a date!! :o) Won't do one like that for a LONG time, but it was Valentine's day after all!! I think I gained 5 lbs!! HA!!

Ohh and the balloons... Jared didn't know that I had never received a foil balloon before. The day after Valentine's Day, Jared was in Wal-mart and picked these up. I was napping after worship and he tied them to the end of the bed. I saw them a few minutes later when I woke up and I was so surprised and happy!!!

We used Grumbles in our pictures again. We were in our PJ's when I wanted to take a picture of our present. Grumbles decided to be our stand-in!! :o)

Girly Fun at the Movies!!

The picture above is of Becky, Me, and Sandy at the FHU movie theatre. We went there Monday to watch Twilight! We had a lot of fun and everyone really enjoyed the movie. It was fun hanging out with these ladies! They are some of my best friends! I wish more people could have joined us, but we had fun together.

A Special Lunch and a Fun Night

2009-02-13T23:01:00.006-06:00

I'm still alive!! I know it's been over a week since my last post and I'm sorry. I've read everyone else's blog, but I've been too lazy to update mine. Recently, however, some neat things happened that I couldn't let go "unblogged".

Special Lunch for Me from friends in I.T.

This past Thursday my I.T. friends got together to throw me an "appreciation lunch" to say "thank you" for filling in while one of my good friends, Arika, was on maternity leave. I filled her shoes as Administrative Assistant in the I.T. offices at Freed-Hardeman University and loved every minute of the job! I learned so much about technology and I think I made a lot of friends while I was there. I think I've become a wannabe "techy geek"! Love the stuff, but so much to learn!! Anyway, back to the topic. Thursday most of my I.T. friends came to Los Portales to eat with me! They also gave me a card with a very nice gift card to Target! Sweet :o)

I have fond memories of everyone in the office - whether on a good or bad day. I was happy to work with them all.

Pictured above:

The guy with the beard at the top loved to play practical jokes and he always gave me things from his garden! The two ladies talking to each other, next to Arika, in the bottom left were often my lunch buddies. We usually got our lunch from the local grocery store and ate in the car as we people watched. I have a lot of stories I could tell about these two!! I'm gonna miss them! The man with the zombie face in the bottom right corner is purposely making that face!! Sadly, I realized I didn't get a picture of Jonathan because he was helping me take pictures!! I feel like shooting myself in the foot for this one. Sorry Jonathan if you're reading this!!

Comments on pictures above: (left to right)

Top left - They thought there might be rumors of this pic.

Top middle - My lunch buddies!! And since Arika wasn't there when I was - the only other women in the office.

Top right - Always Mr. Cool.

Bottom left - I worked with Greg, but also go to worship with his family.

Bottom middle - My boss (who set all this up for me); and my good friend Arika (she has her own blog too).

Bottom right - The one who tried to sneak outta all the pics. His best friend was smart and he did get out of them by helping me snap some of these! UGH!!

A Fun Friday Night

Today I learned that McDonald's had Hello Kitty watches in their Happy Meals so that's where I wanted to go eat tonight!! I'm not a huge HK fan or anything, but they looked so cute on the internet when I saw them on my pursebuzz website that I visit. I have my new watch pictured below on my pig, Grumbles. (You know the stuffed pig I always lugg around?)

Jared also had tickets to see Twilight tonight! I've been reading the books and since the FHU theatre was showing it tonight, he wanted to suffer through it for me. I think he thought it was okay though and he will probably have a blog post about it soon. I liked the movie. The special effects could have been a little better, but it wasn't bad. If you liked the story, you'll probably like the movie!! I'm thinking maybe girls' nite if they show it Monday!! It'd only be $2!! :o) Let me know what you think.

p.s. I named my fish. I asked for help on the name in my last post and 3 people responded. I actually named him "Gil"! Thank you for all who helped me!! It was fun reading your comments!

Happy Valentine's Day in like 20 minutes!! <3>

A Night of Fishy!!

2009-02-04T18:11:00.006-06:00

Jared and I went on a date last night!! I was so excited because I had wanted to get out Saturday, but was too exhausted. Jared told me he'd make time to go out Tuesday (last night) so we could eat and get some new fish for my aquarium. I thought we'd probably eat fast food somewhere, but he surprised me by taking me to Sakura's!!! What a wonderful hubby!! :o) He had the futomaki roll and miso soup while I had the crunchy roll and suki yaki don. It's a noodle dish with beef, cabbage, mushroom, rice, etc on a bed of rice. I was chowin' down once it came and forgot to take a picture.

After that we swung by Old Navy to do a return and then off to pick up my fish!! We bought 3 new fish for the tank. Another Cory Cat (I need help with a name!!), a tequila sunrise male guppy, and another rainbow type male guppy. When we were in Petsmart, I told the guy what kind of rainbow type guppy I wanted. He tried and tried to catch it, but couldn't. I felt so bad for him I finally told him that it didn't matter - the one he had in the net would do. I didn't realize until he plopped it in my fish bag that it was missing part of his tail. I told Jared to look at it and he briefly looked up while playing with his iPhone and said it was fine and that he'd probably grow it back. Once we got home I looked at it again and exclaimed - "Jared, he's missing 1/4 of his tail!!" Jared looked at it and said that he didn't realize it was that bad. I told him he never really looked at it in the first place. I was sorta bummed that I got a defective fish, but Jared tried to cheer me up by telling me how "noble" I was for buying a fish that no one else would have bought. He said that I had my own "Nemo" fish. I told him that I wasn't noble (if I'm buying something; I want the best.) He said he knew and I sighed. So the fishy's name is "Nemo" and I think he'll do.

I still need help coming up with a name for my new Cory Cat. My other one that I have is named "Whiskers". If you can help me think of a name, leave me a comment and when I pick a name I'll let you know. The Cory Cat is pictured in the middle of the fish collage. He is on a bed of blue rocks.

Weekend Events

2009-02-02T14:26:00.008-06:00

Whew, This weekend was packed full of events for me and Jared. I was so glad that my body had the energy to last through it all. Today I'm feeling the overexertion and I've been pretty tired, but I am happy that my medicine seems to be working and that I've had so many good improvements.

Friday - I had the energy to actually do a ton of housework!! The Christmas decorations finally got to me and I put them ALL up!! I also vacuumed, did laundry, rearranged different parts of the house, and reorganized a closet!! I felt like super Sasha!! :o)

Saturday - Mom Gott and Munner came for a short visit and took us out to lunch. We had to wait for Eric to get off work so we passed the time by going to Besso's (I had the espresso gelato - yum), window shopping downtown, and hanging out at Freed. Once Eric was off work we went to Los Portales for a late lunch. May I just say, I'm so excited that we have this restaurant in Henderson!!! Below are a few pictures of our fun. They were taken with Jared's iphone.

Munner and Mom Gott look at the bricks in front of the library to see who all they've met or know. Jared and I find this funny because the bricks have been there forever and they've been on campus numerous times and hadn't seemed interested before. Munner finally exclaims that it doesn't matter anyway because they're all dead!! This was funny to me and I laughed really hard. I hope it doesn't offend anyone that I put that. You and I know that they are not ALL dead yet...

Mother and Daughter a.k.a. Munner and Mom Gott

Jared and my brother in law - Eric. Eric does work study in the Library. I was so glad he was done for the day because it was 2:30 and I was starving!!! The black poodle is his dog... hee hee. He'll hate me for telling people that! Mom Gott brought it for him to see since he can't have it in the dorms. I thought this picture was sorta picturesque... I like it a lot.

Me - Happy :o)

Sunday - After morning services we enjoyed lunch at Sharon and Clint Kea's house. It was really good and Jared and I had fun visiting with them and the kids. I wish I had taken a picture of the event, but I forgot my camera!! Later we went to a youth fellowship in Corinth, MS for Jared to recruit. We had worship at 4:00 and then at 5:00 we had a Superbowl Party. If you didn't watch the Superbowl, the Steelers won. I was rooting for the Cardinals, because they had never been to a Superbowl before. They might have won had this player (I'm not good with their names) from the Steelers not made an interception and ran for 100 yds to make a touchdown!! It was very impressive though and I'm glad that the Steelers guy was given the touchdown (it was reviewed a lot). Had he ran all that way for nothing without a touchdown, it would have made me sad for him... but he got it as the second quarter ended. With the end of half-time, my enthusiasm for the game dwindled and I don't really remember much after that. Here are some pics of the students that Jared and I met and hung out with.

Jared tries to give me his "look" because I took away his iphone to take all these pics... hee hee.. I love it when he tries to act angry! HA!!

Making amends...

2009-02-01T22:43:00.002-06:00

So it's been a few days since Stephanie started "Say Cheese". As I said in my earlier post - I did not follow the rules. I think I was the only one who was tagged that didn't snap the shot right when I read the post. Like usual, I'm feeling bad... None of my friends said anything about how I cheated, but I hate not following the directions. So here are the following pictures of me at different times when I was playing with my photo booth on my Macbook. These are all horrible and I hope they make you laugh. I'll even add a bonus picture at the end of me in my pajamas. That is how I prefer to spend my days if I'm going to just be around the house... I will get a shower, yes, but if I know I'm not going anywhere, I will grab a t-shirt and comfy pants/shorts. It's pretty pathetic, but I don't have to be a beauty queen when it's just me.. :o)

Top Left: "Asian Alien" Top Right: " Sour faced Asian"

Bottom Left: "Easter island" Bottom Right: "400 lb Sasha!!"

Below: Pajama Girl!!

Say Cheese...

2009-01-31T12:06:00.004-06:00

Sandy tagged me in "Say Cheese..." that means I have to take a picture of myself (or have someone take one of me) and write 5 things about the picture. Then I'm supposed to tag 4 more people to do the same thing. By the way, the picture is supposed to be taken around the time when you read the post... thus the catch.

I actually read Sandy's post yesterday when I saw I was tagged, I was about to take my picture when my husband walked in from work. Lucky for me, he was super needy because he had been working most of the day with a migraine!! So... my nasty picture of me with no makeup, hair not washed, after a day of house work just had to wait.

Wait until today... HA!!! I know, I cheated. Here is the picture of me the second time I read the post... Sorry, I know I ruined the fun. :o(

5 things about this picture:

1. I don't look much better than yesterday when I should have taken the picture!

2. I did wash my hair and I even have a little makeup on.

3. This would have been posted earlier today but my mother-in-law and munner came over right as I saving my picture to post it.

4. They took us out to Besso's and then when Eric got off work we went to Los Portales for a late lunch. It was really good and nice inside! I like that we have this in Henderson!! :o)

5. I'm sitting on my bed and I'm wearing a yellow FHU shirt that I got when I worked there for a short time.

Ummm, I think pretty much everyone that I KNOW reads my blog has been tagged. Isn't that sad?? If you read my blog and want to be tagged, please comment and you can definitely join in!! Otherwise I'll just end this with me. I think I need some more blogging friends....

Picture Header Directions

2009-01-29T14:04:00.009-06:00

A few people have asked me how I did my picture header at the top of my blog. So here are some rough directions. I'm sure there are a lot of ways to get a picture header on your blog, but mine is done using the free software Picasa. It is available for Mac and PC so you should be able to find the version that is right for your computer.

Once you have found a picture you like, save it and upload it to Picasa. If you have a Mac, I know it will upload your pictures automatically. After you've tweeked your picture to say what you want and look perfect, you need to export it to a file to change the size so it will fit in your header space on your blog. Here is a screen shot from my Mac. I believe on PC you could probably export it by going to "File" and looking for the same thing... Export Picture to Folder.

After that you should see a window pop up that will allow you to name the folder that you are exporting your picture to. You will also see where you are able to resize your picture. You will probably need to do this in order for your picture to fit in the header space on your blog. I resized mine to the second lowest tick mark. You might want to play with yours until you get it the way you want it. Here is the screen shot:

Finally go and put your new header on your blog. You will need to go into your layout and edit your header. Here is the last screen shot:

There ya go. I hope that helps anyone that would like to add a fun header!! If there are any directions that I missed please let me know. If you need any help, feel free to ask. Have fun and good luck!!

Thanksgiving Thursday

2009-01-29T09:51:00.005-06:00

Here are the things I'm thankful for that come to mind for the past week.
1. Snow - Although I didn't play in it, I thought it was beautiful.
2. Munner and Papa Lawrence - They are Jared's grandparents and they always let us drop in and spend the night on a moments notice when he's traveling. It's such a blessing to have them as grandparents. They are too good to us.
3. Mindy's directions about how to get my picture blog header to work!! If you knew how long I'd searched for a way....
4. Extra days to do our Bible reading schedule at Church. I was a lot behind, but luckily this week I have a whole week to catch up!! AND I think I will! :o)
5. Fast food - Although I wish Henderson had more restaurants it helps that there are a few to choose from when neither Jared or I wish to cook.
6. Weekends home - Sometimes it's the weekends spent traveling that make you appreciate the quiet lazy weekends at home.
7. Traveling with Jared - I'm not working now and it is nice to be able to go with Jared to some of his events.
8. Sleeping in - There are some pluses to not working now...
9. Jared's new work car - Even though he can't ever drive it home (silly policies) at least I know he will be safer when he travels... The other car had some problems.
10. My hairstylist - I recently got my hair cut and that made me feel great!! :o)

iLike Music

2009-01-24T21:50:00.003-06:00

I was searching the blogger buzz from my dashboard and noticed they added a link to a really cool music widget. If you want to add music to your blog too, click here. Feel free to find my music in my column to the right and listen. I picked relaxing music for now. I like that when trying to concentrate on blogging. Have fun!!

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-24T20:01:00.004-06:00

My friend Kim tagged me to write 25 Random things about myself. I hope I can make it all the way without getting too boring. Here I go:

1. I am Korean, born in Seoul, and I'm adopted.

2. I love music and I play the flute (although I have not played in a few years... I'm sure I could pick it up again with some practice)

3. I was one of 3 drum majors at my high school for around 300 band students!! Talk about being nervous during contests and football games!

4. I am a licensed music teacher, but still don't really know what I want to be now that I'm grown. A Christian of course first, a good wife and eventually mother, a loyal friend, but as to a career - I don't know. I like office work better than the classroom. Teaching in the Jackson-Madison School systems was very stressful for me and I didn't like it much.

5. I feel very lucky to have Christian friends that live close by. I know I can count on them for anything. Jared and I are very blessed to have such a good support group of Christians in our lives.

6. I'm weirdly attached to this stuffed pig that Jared got me after we were married. His name is Grumbles. Yes, I'm 25 yrs. old... HA!

7. My favorite channel is the food channel. I love watching those shows that show you how the food is made. I like Rachel Ray and her various programs... It's a channel you can watch or do other stuff while it is playing. It is not too distracting if you are trying to concentrate on something else.

8. I love comedies. If I'm going to rent a movie - I want a comedy. I HATE SCARY MOVIES!!! I also don't do well with war movies like 300 and Gladiator... BLUGH!

I also like old movies, clean chick flicks, animated movies, and musicals!

10. I love to read, but it sorta consumes my life once I get caught up in the story. I think that makes me slow to want to read at times. Especially series books... I've had the Twilight Series for sometime now and I'm still only in the second book. They are so good though!!

My favorite author is Jane Austen.

11. Jared wanted me to add that I have the best husband ever and he has a really cool blog that you should check out...

12. I look like an octopus. Really, I do!!! I was allergic to these sticky things the Dr. put on my chest to check something and now I have broken out circles all over me!! It is funny, but not so funny at the same time.

13. I also love Sonic drinks like my other friends. My favorites are the cherry limeade and the chocolate strawberry dr. pepper.

14. I'm sure everyone knows by now, but I want a Maltipoo really bad. The Havanese that Mindy told me about are also really cool. I might be checking on those more later... we shall see if I ever change my mind. I'm sure I have plenty of time to do so.

15. I'm from Oklahoma and I like unsweet tea!!! Especially Momma's.... yum! I used to drink it at about every meal except breakfast!

16. I'm lactose intolerant, but take lactaid so I can eat and drink dairy products.

17. I'm not a big fan of butterflies and will sometimes flinch if one lands on me.... childhood fear.... :o(

18. The one place I want to visit before I die is South Korea. Particularly Seoul, but I would like to see some other places there as well.

19. I really want highlights in my hair, but I'm not willing to shove out the money to pay for them right now. I also really want my hair to be slightly curly and long. I'm thinking London from the Suite Life of Zach and Cody...

20. I like to draw and paint. I'm not bad at painting with acrylic and I love to draw portraits. (I haven't done this in some time though)

21. I like being creative. I make cards, jewelry, do needle point, crochet, etc.

22. I cry just about every time we pull out of my mom and dad's driveway to come home. I really miss them.

23. I have a brother who is also Korean but we are not biologically related. He is also a musician and a much, much better one!! He makes me look like a beginner on just about any topic of music except maybe the flute which is my main instrument.

24. I bought an electric guitar when I was a senior. I wanted to learn how to play, but didn't try very hard at it. I still have it and Jared played it once at a XBX thing. I really wish I could play guitar...

25. Last, but first, I'm a Christian. I want very badly to be just the kind of Christian woman that God wants me to be, but I know I am constantly falling short in so many things.

Thank you Kim for tagging me in this game!! I am tagging the following people and I hope that you have time to join in on our list:

Jared

Arika

Mindy

Good luck and have fun!!

Picasa, Picasa, Picasa!!!

2009-01-24T00:24:00.004-06:00

I LOVE PICASA

It is like the greatest thing ever for my Mac. I was so upset because I could not find a good collage software for my blog. (I was using photoscape but that doesn't work on my Mac) One day during some "geek talk" I brought up my problem to John Bentley (he used to be my boss and he's FHU's Chief Information Officer a.k.a. computer/technology guru). He was the one that told me about picasa being available for the Mac now. Well like usual, he had me sold on the software once I found out all about the bells and whistles... and the best part - it's FREE!! If you would like to try it for yourself, here is my link: http://picasa.google.com/mac_tools.html.

There is also a version for PC users out there somewhere. I believe it works almost the same. That is what was at first created before the Mac program came out. Oh by the way, Mac users, this works GREAT with iPhoto!! Try it out... it is super easy and fun to use. I made a collage of some of my favorite pictures from last year as an example. I have a lot of pictures that I just had to include. If you click on the collage it will easily fill up your computer screen and you can clearly see all the pictures close up!! :o)

My Husband Has His Own Blog!!!

2009-01-22T22:12:00.002-06:00

Yay!! My husband updated his blog and I think will probably keep up with it! :o) He has been blogging before me but only had two posts (which he deleted). In fact, the title of his blog is similar to mine because I got my idea from his. Please visit his blog, Gott It, for some interesting insights about his ponders. If you dare you may even link to his blog... IF YOU DARE! Ha!!

That being said, there will be no more Jared's Jibberish on my blog.

2009-01-22T12:10:00.003-06:00

What a great idea!! Thank you Becky for finding this and asking all of us to join in. Thank you odelltrips for this great idea!! If you would like to join in on Thanksgiving Thursday please go to www.odelltrips.blogspot.com and do so. Now here is my list:
1. Soft blankets and warm PJ's!!
2. Cuddle time with family :o)
3. Voting in America!
4. A husband that helps with the house and cooking when I don't feel like it.
5. Hot drinks: Coffee, tea, hot cocoa, you name it!
6. My macbook that Jared got me so I can blog... HA!!
7. My wonderful friends!!
8. Thursday nights at Chad and Sandy's! I'm HOPING to be there tonight...
9. Telephones - These let me keep in touch with my family in Oklahoma.
10. A God who cares about you and me.

Fish Escape

2009-01-16T13:39:00.005-06:00

The above pictures are the types of fish that I have or had in my aquarium...

Last Monday night Jared and I decided to clean out the fish tank. By "cleaning out" we mean a deep clean where we had to take almost everything out in order to get to the rocks. We decided to put the fish in the same pot that we use for crabitat cleaning (my hermit crabs). So in go the fish one at a time. They were extremely hard to catch and it took me and Jared forever to catch them all! Eventually they were all in the fish pot. But where to put the fish pot??

On the stove.

We slowly carried the fish into the kitchen and put them on the stove. We thought that would be a safe place for them because Jared and I were running about getting supplies, water, and running out the back to pour out dirty water...

Sometime during the cleaning process Big Red sensed freedom and decided to escape. Jared says he can imagine the other fish daring and double-dog daring him to jump out of the pot to freedom. Maybe he was trying to make it to the sink... I'm remembering that quote from the movie Finding Nemo; something about all drains leading to the ocean. Anyway whatever his reasons were, we think he jumped out of the pot. Maybe he did make it to the sink (I doubt it). But wherever he is, he is gone. We can't find him.

Yes, we checked the stove burners, we checked the cabinets under the stove, we checked all over the kitchen floor, we checked under the rugs, we even took our serving spoons out of the pitcher beside the stove and checked in that!! No fish. We checked all in our bedroom where the fish tank is. We checked all of the places we had been in the house during the fish cleaning. No Big Red.

So where Big Red is, we know not. I hope one: he's not in the house; two: if he's in the house he doesn't stink; and three: if he's in the house, I hope Jared finds him... hee hee!!

But it's been over a week. Our house doesn't stink like fish and no one has seen Big Red. The other fish are alive and happy and seem to be enjoying their new clean tank.

My letter is "M".

2009-01-16T11:35:00.009-06:00

On some of my friends blogs, they are passing around letters and writing 10 things they are thankful for that start with a particular letter. Well of course I wanted to be included too, so I asked my friend Arika for a letter and she gave me the letter "M". I have compiled a listing of over 10 things I'm thankful for but I will only list 10 here.

1. Marriage- I'm thankful for this. It is not for everyone, but I'm happy that it is for me and that I'm married to the smartest, most handsome, helpful, understanding, funny, upright, most wonderful man. He is my best friend and I am very lucky to have him as my husband. I know most of my family/friends would think of their husbands in similar terms so I don't feel bad for putting Jared on such a high pedestal.

2. Momma and Mothers- I'm thankful for my Momma. I can talk to her about anything and she's the best mom in the entire world. She is my favorite gal pal and I love hanging out with her. I also included mothers in with my momma because I have a wonderful mother-in-law and a mother I don't know. Jared's mom is "Mom Gott" to me. I know I can also go to her for anything and I'm so blessed to call her mother as well. She has always treated me as a daughter and I'm very proud to be part of her family. I am extremely lucky to have ended up with such a great mother-in-law when I married Jared. The next mother I'm thankful for is a mother I don't know and probably will never know. This lady is my birth mother and I'm happy that she had me. She, for some reason could not care for me and decided to give me up to someone who would love and care for me. I don't know much about her, but I know that she cared enough to see to it that I was born in a hospital and taken care of after that. I am thankful for her and the choices she made regarding myself. I have found joy in all aspects in my life and I hope by being here I have brought joy to others as well. I wish today that Dad started with "M". I am thankful for them as well. But I will go on and save "D" for someone else.

3. Mercy- I am thankful for God's mercy to us. Our God is a merciful God and it is because of his mercy that we are here and that we can one day be with him in heaven. We fall so short so many times of what he wants us to be, but still he has mercy for us and forgives us when we come back to him. I am thankful for God's mercy. I hope that I can be merciful to others as well as so many are to me.

4. Money- Although this may sound shallow at first, we all should be thankful for money. I am thankful that God has blessed us with enough money to live on and share at times with others. I am thankful for Jared's job. I am thankful that my family had enough money to raise me and Chandler and put us through school. I have never known want and I've always lived in comfort. I'm thankful for the money that I have been blessed with to live in comfort beyond which I deserve.

5. Music- I was excited when I thought of this one. Not only do I love music so much that I majored in it, but it is also the name of my Papa. Goebel Music is his name and I'm thankful for him and the work he has done for the Lord. I am very very proud to be his grand-daughter and I want everyone to know he is my Papa even though I know it is not proper to go up to people and shout - "Hey, Guess what?? I'm Goebel Music's grand-daughter! Isn't that Great??" Most people don't know I'm related to him because one I don't go around telling everyone; two my Mom is his daughter and since she is married Music is her maiden name; and three I'm asian and I think most people think my parents are asian. Although Papa did a lot of mission work in East Asia he is not Asian. :)

6. Maroon and Gold- These are the colors of Freed-Hardeman University. It is where I went to college and where I met my husband and closest friends. It is because of this University that my husband has a job. And it is from this University that my husband is getting his MBA. (Which also starts with M) I'm thankful most of all for the University's stand for a sound Christian education. I hope that it stays strong in such wavering times.

7. Medicine and Medical Help- This is of a particular concern to me, because I am not feeling well. I'm not going to write about my symptoms as of yet, but I am thankful that we have medicines to make us better and educated Doctors to find out what are problems are. We are blessed to live in such advanced medical times. I shudder to think how short my life could be if I had lived 100 years earlier.

8. Military- I'm thankful for our military that keeps us safe. There are many brave young men and even women that are enduring hardships, torture, and death, to keep our country free and safe. War is not pretty or fun. The book, The Red Badge of Courage is coming to mind right now. I think it may talk about the ugliness of war. I'm thankful for these men and women that give of themselves to protect a country that they believe in. I pray that they are kept safe and that they are able to come home quickly. I also pray that in the present and future this country will still be one worth fighting for and that we can still believe in it.

9. Microwaves- I am thankful for microwaves. They make it so easy to zap the food that I am too lazy to cook or thaw.

10. Maltipoos- I am thankful for these cute and cuddly dogs and I can't wait when it is my turn to finally own one!!

A Family of Sharp Shooters

2008-12-31T14:45:00.011-06:00

Our time in Oklahoma has flown by and soon we will be heading to Alabama to spend Christmas with our other family. We will stop by to see Nana in Arkansas. That will be fun because I haven't seen her in awhile. I feel so blessed to have had so much time to spend in Oklahoma, but I always get a little sad when it comes to an end. I wish so badly that we could live a little closer to my family so that we could see them more often.

We all definitely took advantage of the time we had together. Some things we did besides doing all the Christmas stuff were: We went to look at Rema's Christmas light display...

We played games (Phase 10, Sequence, Scrabble...)

We ate like pigs and watched a lot of movies (Elf, Christmas Story, White Christmas, Iron Man, Horton Hears a Who, Dark Knight, Monster's Inc...)

I made jewelry with some of the beading things I got from my Mom and Dad for Christmas...

We shopped a little and even went to Starbucks!!! Momma and I have also been making cards. I'm making Valentine's Day cards and Mom is making Winter cards...

We also did something very very memorable this Christmas...

"A Family of Sharp Shooters"

What comes to your mind when you hear that there is a place called "Happy Hollow"? Maybe you think of a nice wooded park where you and your family could go and have a picnic. Maybe there are trails and a big field to throw a ball in. Overall it would be quiet right?

Wrong.

The Happy Hollow we went to was a gun range!! It did have lots of trees and there were families out there with young children, but it most definitely was not QUIET!!!

We decided to shoot some of our pistols at this place because it was more laid back and it was cheaper than taking five people to the Tulsa firearms gun range. I don't know what I was expecting, but I did not feel laid back when I got there!! As we pulled out onto the highway, Dad started to relay the different rules to us about when we can shoot and when we can't, etc. etc. He talked about the guy who would tell us what to do and how they were watching us at all times. He said we needed to treat the official on guard like the "superior being" and obey his commands at once or they'd kick us out!! Once we pulled into the range I heard loud thunderous noises from guns that might as well have been cannons!!! It was very intimidating for a girl that is used to shooting coke cans in her Nana's cow pasture! Once in, I immediately put my "ears" on to protect my hearing!! Every time a gun went off I would jump! I felt ridiculous!! Daddy set me up in the wrong place to start out with. When the guy told us that the "line was hot" my entire family lined up and started to shoot at their targets!! I was left standing there jumping and dodging shells! Daddy came over and set me up, but everyone was shooting at the same time I was and that made me jump. I also felt like the brass shells flying out of my family's guns were going to hit me.... I had to take a major break. After a little bit I got used to the noise and the shells and I wanted to try and shoot again. Daddy set me up to the left of everyone so I wouldn't get hit by any shells! I actually shot a few rounds out of the 9mm and I did really, really well at hitting the bulls eye! I almost hit it every time!! Watch out bad guys! Don't mess with me!!

*Sigh*

Good times. After we eat lucky beans (black eyed peas) tomorrow we will start our trek to Southern country. I don't know how often I'll get to blog at Jared's house. There is a lot of demand for the internet and so I might just wait until I get back home. :o) I miss all my friends though and I love reading about how you and your families are spending your holiday together! Take care!!

Santa, I Know Him!!!

2008-12-26T10:42:00.008-06:00

As always, my pictures are coming in late!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!! I know I did. Here are some pictures of our Christmas in Oklahoma!

Later after Christmas dinner we all went outside and played a competitive game of Bocce!! My brother, Chandler won! Notice the athletic picture of mom as she lobs her Bocce ball!! And me with my new scarf that Jared gave me for Christmas!!

In the picture above my dad is holding our trusty companion, Sadie. She was lucky she didn't get hit with any flying Bocce balls! Jared did manage to peg my brother in the head accidently. He has a pretty large goose-bump on top of his noggin...

We will stay in Oklahoma for a few more days and then we will begin our trek to Alabama to have a late Christmas with Jared's side of the family!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

Catching Up

2008-12-18T10:18:00.009-06:00

Whew!!! How behind am I on posting pictures and blogging?? Too behind! Here are all the fun shots that I haven't had time to post. The first grouping are pictures of mine and Jared's Christmas decorations. It's not much because we're just starting out. Most of the stuff we have has been handed down from Mom and Pop Gott. We did not purchase a real Christmas tree this year, but Mom Gott came through with letting us have the Christmas tree pictured below. She was going to all pencil trees in her house and needed to get rid of this one. It found a home with us and I think it made a beautiful little tree. Hopefully we can resume our tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree next year. It's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time!!

Below are pictures of my trip to Oklahoma. I flew out there to surprise Momma for her birthday! It was so fun!! She was so happy she nearly cried. I had a lot of fun out there seeing my mom and dad. Below are pictures of us and the Oklahoma Christmas tree. This is before we put the ornaments on because Daddy was fixing to go to bed... hee hee. Notice that little bitty blue bow at the top of the tree. It looks pretty sad, doesn't it? If you say "no it looks fine", you are just being nice! I wanted to make Momma a beautiful blue bow to go on her tree because she likes the blue and silver Christmas decor. I didn't get enough ribbon though and so it turned out to be way too little!! Being a mother, she liked it and stuck it up on the tree anyway!

Above are some shots of Mom's birthday celebration. Except for the picture of her making the snowman necklace. That was taken from when we spent the afternoon at the beading store! Which I must say has started a new hobby for me!! More to come about that later. (We'll see what Santa brings me for Christmas first.) Notice what message Daddy wrote on her birthday cake!! The thing on her back is what her best friend, Mrs. Hill gave her. It is a camelback that is used for bikers to drink water and hold stuff in while they're cycling. Mom's new exercise has been bicycling and she can go pretty far!!! It's really impressive to me because I'd probably fall off the bike. I don't even know if I still remember how to ride one!! Anyway, I had a great time spending mother/daughter time with my best friend (besides my hubby). Love you Momma!!

Beach Bums

2008-12-02T14:26:00.008-06:00

Here are the rest of our beach pictures that I couldn't post because the internet in our beach house went out. Notice my super crabbers in the center picture above. These are what I wore to go sand crab hunting at night!! Thanks for letting me borrow your shoes, Kara!!

Above are pictures Eric took of Me and Jared in front of their family Christmas tree!! I'm excited because tonight Jared and I are going to decorate our house for Christmas!! YEAH!!

blue angels...no bites today...where's the ship?

2008-11-24T21:39:00.012-06:00

Jared and I woke up to fly overs this morning! I went out to see what was going on and saw four planes in a diamond formation going over the house. Pop Gott went outside too and said it was the "Blue Angels" flying over and that they were probably doing winter training from Pensacola. They flew over off and on all day and I was able to get some shots of them practicing.

I've been fascinated with fighting planes for awhile. Always when Daddy would hear them coming, he would go on the porch to look at them and I'd always try to make it out there with him before they flew out of my sight. Daddy can usually identify the planes and I think that's always really cool.

After eating we went to Fort Morgan's pier to go fishing and crabbing. Sadly we didn't catch anything but a hermit crab. But I did get some good pictures of us fishing. I've had to be a little more choosy in posting pics because it's taking longer than usual to post. The below picture is my favorite one of Jared and I fishing today. It's actually taken at the beach later this afternoon.

Believe it or not, the picture below is part of a ship that washed up on shore during Gustav. The ship beneath the sand was supposed to be an old Cival War ship. When we arrived we were quite disappointed that the city had covered the ship with sand. We had seen such cool pictures on the internet! It turned out that having a washed up ship with metal things sticking out of it was dangerous.... thus the burial. Our thought is 100 years from now some kid will dig it up and they'll make a big deal about finding an old ship in the sand! HA!

To close out, below is a picture of our beach house and our view off the porch towards the ocean. You can see the ocean out some of the other windows a little better, but I like sitting on the porch. It's been another good day. Oh and since all my friends are blogging about Christmas cards... I made three tonight! I'll try to post pictures of these later maybe :o)

The picture below is antiqued a little. I'm trying to learn how to add cool coloring to my pictures. I need some practice though.. :o)

Lulu's

2008-11-23T22:14:00.012-06:00

Tonight we went to Lulu's to eat. We weren't supposed to go there until Tuesday night, but some of us couldn't wait and we were all plesantly surprised when Pop Gott pulled into the restaurant. I snapped a few pictures of the event because it was a really cool restaurant. FYI: Jimmy Buffet's sister (Lulu) owns it. It definately got a thumbs up from all of us... We all had excellent food and there was even live music!!

Afterwards we went to Wal-mart to pick some things up and Jared and I bought our first fishing pole!! I can't wait to use it. We are supposed to go crabbing maybe tomorrow and hopefully we'll get to take it out and try it then! Enjoy the pics. I'm on Jared's MAC so I don't have photoscape to collage everything this week.

Below: I Love Palm Trees!!

Below: All the Gott siblings and me.

Above: Me and my sis (Kara) being silly...

Below: I've picked my souvenior! :o) Where should I put it?

Surf n Turf

2008-11-23T14:46:00.004-06:00

Sunday Afternoon... Finally able to get out on the beach. The water is cold, and it is cool outside, but it's very pleasant and we all had fun walking on the beach and looking for shells. I found a sand crab exoskeleton. I'll have to try to snap a picture of it later. These two pictures on this post are from Eric's camera. By the way, today I got my saltwater fishing license! Now Jared and I will be able to go crabbing all week. It's a new law in Alabama that you have to have a salt water license to do ANY kind of fishing. That stinks because you have to pay for a license... but I was excited to get a new license to do something!! It's nice at the beach in November. We are one of the only ones here at the Heritage Shores houses and it makes for a private beach (almost).

Last Week

2008-11-21T15:25:00.015-06:00

Wow this week has been so busy that I haven't even had time to blog or even look at my friends' blogs. Hopefully over Thanksgiving break I can keep up, but here are the updates I promised last week.

Last Thursday, 11-13-08 was Molly's Birthday. Molly is an admissions counselor like Jared and she is one of our friends. It was really nice to be invited to her sushi birthday party. Below are some pictures of the group that came. I'm missing 3 people that were there an hour or so earlier. I believe we should have groups that go to Sakura and in general hang out more often!! I loved hanging out with these people. The funniest thing that happened while we were there was that after Molly ordered this banana dessert, Sakura gave her a complimentary birthday dessert and it was the same banana stuff she ordered but without the ice cream! Lucky for the rest of us, she was full of that and we all were able to have some!

I also promised to post the pictures of Jared's wicked wreck. This happened during "Rev it Up" on Friday late morning after chapel. Here is before the wreck shots. Jared is very apprehensive about wrecking and hurting himself....

And here are a couple shots of the wreck... "Why worry, wrecking was the best part of the race!"

I really was worried about him. I was in shock at first because I couldn't believe he actually did wreck!! But after I saw him get up he was laughing and I knew he might be sore, but he'd be okay.

Here is a picture we took before the races (sorry it's out of order). The lion is our buddy, Joe Askew!

Saturday morning we drug ourselves out of bed to go see the clubs do "Pep It Up". It was FREEZING outside. Jared promised me a sausage biscuit from Jacks though so I was a little happier about standing outside in the cold.

The top picture above is of XBX. Jared was once President of XBX and now he's a sponser so we try to go to a lot of their activities. I will claim them too because when I was in school it seemed I had more dates with XBX then PKA guys!! Thus, I went to all their banquets and retreats!! Oh yeah, and I married Jared. : )

Below is MY club and family while at Freed. PKA!!

And the winners of Homecoming!!

PHI KAPPA ALPHA!!! YAYYYYY!!

I was happy Phi Kappa Alpha won. But I remember the days when it was really hard to win anything. My hope is that the club won't let winning go to their heads. Stay humble and proud at the same time guys. OTSS!!

The other noteable winner for this blog goes to the best Homecoming Window ever!! Designed by my brother in law and most special friend - Eric of Gott. Whoo-hoo go XBX for winning this!

And saving the best for last... my favorite part of homecoming is seeing friends and family.

Remembering the memories and good times....

Love you guys and all the other wonderful people I saw during homecoming!!

I hope you enjoyed this week's post. Come back next week and I will try to have posts of my Thanksgiving Break to Gulf Shores!! Fun in the Sun!!!

Happy weekend and upcoming Turkey days to all!

Wicked wreck / Trouble with Keys

2008-11-14T20:59:00.005-06:00

First off, Jared is lucky to be alive today. He almost died. Second off, I should not have keys of any kind. Both parts of my blog today will be dealing with those topics. Also, there will be no pictures because my camera cord was left at work and I don't have my magic keys...

Jared's wicked wreck (pics to come)

This year Jared was asked to drive the XBX soapbox car for "Rev it Up" in FHU's homecoming. We joked and joked about how nervous he was and the possibility of a wreck. I told him that if he wrecked I could take him to the hospital and maybe get the rest of the day off... "taking care" of him.

Well my life seems to be like that Alanis Morissette (misspelled) song "Ironic".

Ironically, Jared did wreck. I stared in horror from the top of the hill as his car spun out, his tires flew off, and the car collapsed. I held my breath and when I saw him smiling and getting up out of the wreckage, I knew he was okay.

Luckily, he's just a little sore and everyone was very entertained. I felt bad for XBX because they had such a neat looking car, but this is definately a "Rev it Up" that I will not soon forget. Thank you Jared for always making my life entertaining. Look for pictures to come, but not this weekend....

The trouble with Sasha and Keys...

First off, I should NEVER be in charge of keys. Nevertheless for some reason I am. I'm in charge of lots of keys and they all are important. I think I realized I shouldn't have keys when I locked myself out of my car on one of mine and Jared's first dates. We missed our movie because we had to wait for the locksmith to unlock my car. Then there was the time that I locked my keys in the car in N. Jackson during an inservice. And that time when I locked my keys in the car at Madison High School (one of the roughest parts in J-Town and my boss stayed with me until Jared came to rescue me). Oh and that time - wait no that was Jared- we locked ourselves out of the house and Jared had to call our landlords to let us in. And very recently, that time when I thought I lost the master key to the I.T. offices. That was interesting - the Desk Monster in my new office ate it for about three weeks! Due to my OCD of being organized I cleaned that out and the desk monster went to one of my co-worker's offices. All that to say, today I have not one but TWO stories of missing keys.

First there was the missing Enterprise car key of one of my co-workers. After searching our offices up and down (even our trash cans), sending out a faculty/staff e-mail to the ENTIRE campus, much stressing of me and many calls to Enterprise, we were finally notified that the mail person took the key that was in the sealed envelope labeled "Enterprise" off my door and somehow Student Services ended up with it. How crazy was that?? No worries now that it's found, but good grief!

The second key episode: I have a nervous tick sometimes. Evidently in the hub-bub of trying to find the lost car keys I was fiddling with my key ring clasp that held my key fob... I remember doing this... (oddly enough) Anyway after coming home and realizing that I left my camera sync cord at the office, imagine my horror when I looked at my key chain and my precious fob was missing!! And yes, I say precious because I've lorded the power of my special I.T. status several times over Jared. So no pictures because only the special fobs swipe through the electronic dungeon after hours....

Luckily I know the fob is probably in my office or one of my co-workers' offices. The floor locks down and so it is hopefully safe for now. If I don't find it Monday, I'll have to cancel my little key fob and hopefully get my hands on a new one soon. But no pics this weekend (sadness).

Look for pictures soon though. I need to document Molly's birthday Sushi Party, "Rev It Up" and the rest of homecoming this weekend! Please, Love, and Crabs! :o) Have a good one!

Shopped till we dropped

2008-11-10T15:25:00.005-06:00

This past weekend was the Gott's annual Christmas Village shopping extravaganza in Birmingham. I don't have a picture of the enormous shopping area because that wasn't allowed, but it is an all day event bound to make your feet hurt every year if you look at everything!! This year was a lot of fun and in between all the samples we ate we made a few purchases as well! Jared, Kara, and I were like little kids, going from booth to booth and trying all the samples from the vendors. The food is always my favorite part! We were there from 10:00-4:00ish and we didn't even eat lunch because of all the samples we ate!!

After we finished Christmas Village we went to eat at "Wings". This was very awkward because the Gott's are Auburn fans. When we walked in the entire restaurant was full of Alabama fans watching the AL/LSU game!! Kara had her Auburn sweatshirt on and I felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb! It was definitely an experience watching everyone get so excited at every little thing Alabama did well or LSU did bad. We just smiled and laughed at all the hub-bub that went on around us. (We were the only table that didn't stand up and cheer, clap, or give high-fives every few minutes!) Smile and nod, smile and nod... poor Kara she got a few stares...

After that we went to the Galleria (mall) to walk around. The gals decided that we'd like to make Build-a-Bears and the guys agreed that we could make the animals but we'd have to wait on the clothes until another time. So the above picture is me, Mom Gott (Kim), and Kara with our animals (Floppy, Pookie, and Twilight). That was a very memorable time and fun moment shared! :)

The final picture is of Me and Jared before we went into Christmas Village. I wanted a picture of everyone else, but Mom Gott didn't want to take one because Eric wasn't there.

Sadness - Eric was being responsible and painting XBX's window for Homecoming this week. If you're in town and drive by check it out! In my opinion it's the best!! :) I'll try to get pics of homecoming stuff throughout the week. I'm hoping that my brother gets to come over from Harding and enjoy the festivities with us! Hope you have a great week!

Crabits Get a New 'Tat!

2008-11-06T15:47:00.012-06:00

My crabits below get a new 'tat. This is a picture of them waiting on Jared to finish their new crabitat. They get a new home because their old one busted when Jared was cleaning it out. The crabs, Mika, Larry, Curly, and Lucy (from left to right) are very excited about their new home. They've been in a smaller tank for over a week!! It's really cramped their crabby style!

I've had my hermit crabs for over a year now! They've gone through many molts and most of them have grown more than twice their original size! Next is a picture of their new crabitat that Jared designed. They live in a crabby paradise!

Stay tuned for more of my Crabit updates. They are very funny to watch. You'd be surprised to know that they each have little attitudes!

Pretty Tree

2008-11-06T15:21:00.005-06:00

I love my window in my office. I absolutely love to look at this tree. I've watched it change so many colors within the last few weeks. When we went back to standard time I noticed a little before 5:00 p.m. that it would be almost a red color! Today has been rather windy and I've seen the leaves falling outside. It is so pretty!

When I see how beautiful everything is around me, I am thankful to God for giving us "fall" and making the leaves change such vibrant colors!

I don't wanna grow up...

2008-11-06T11:33:00.008-06:00

My two mushabellies that I promised I'd post on here. At left is "Grumbles" Pig - a very well loved and cared for member of the family. At right is "Barry" Polar Bear - from Leslie that I bought at our Yard Sale!!! These animals have a grumble (or pooting) noise when you squeeze them. Barry is a newer version though and when you press his left hand he sings "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Grumbles Pig has lost his (pooting noise)... very sad. I think I squeezed him too much, plus he's been washed!

One thing that's sorta cool about these guys is they have a website sorta like Webkinz. It isn't as advanced, but it's still kind of fun. As for me, I don't care as much about the website. My favorite things about them are how cute they are, the grumble noise, and I think they make perfect tummy pillows! :)

No Sticker Today... Sad.

2008-11-04T14:09:00.007-06:00

Jared and I went to go vote this morning. I was very excited because this was my first time to vote as a resident of Tennessee! We waited patiently in line for about 30 minutes. I told Jared I was a little nervous that we were doing this electronically, because I didn't know how to work the machines. Jared assured me that someone would show me how. Sure enough, a nice lady showed me how to vote. She walked me completely through the process. After the first 5 seconds, I understood but I patiently waited for her to show me everything I would need to know to cast my ballot correctly. Next thing I knew, I was done! Whoopee!!! I VOTED! Republican of course =o)

The only sad thing about this whole process was that I was expecting to get an "I Voted" sticker! I was pretty sad that I didn't get one. I always received a sticker back home when I voted. I even purposely passed up early voting just so I could get my sticker today and wear it on my shirt. Oh well, maybe next time.

Busy Weekend

2008-11-03T16:05:00.001-06:00

7:00 a.m. Saturday Morning. EARLY FOR THE GOTTS!! We had a 6 family yard sale today. It was a little chilly, but overall it was a beautiful day for a yard sale. Jared and I made a little money and had a lot of fun with friends. This is a picture of our sale.

I was so excited when I found another Mushabelly stuffed animal! Thanks to Leslie, I'm the proud owner of two very cute Mushabellies! "Grumbles" pig who was my first and favorite Mushabelly from Jared. And "Barry" who is a Christmas Polar Bear from Leslie. "One person's junk is another person's treasure!" I was so excited! It was a successful yard sale just because I found that! I'll have to post a picture later since I'm babbling on about a silly stuffed animal.

Sandy and Maria. (Notice the ugly cat Maria had) This was the neighbor's cat that we tried to sell. Ashley even put a price tag on its head!

Me and Ashley. Freezing and enjoying hot cocoa! Let it be noted that the girls were outside while the boys stayed inside and watched youtube videos! HA! :0) The guys did play a big part in entertaining kiddos and Chad cleaned the house for Sandy. Very cool!

Later that afternoon we drove down to Hamilton, AL to attend XBX's Fall Retreat. We had a lot of fun. This is a picture of Jared doing the annual "STARE" at the Talent Show. After the bonfire we went to the hotel to thaw out for a few hours before getting up and going to the Hamilton Church of Christ for a school visit. The congregation there was really nice and the lesson was good. I look forward to going back. All in all it was a fun and exhausting weekend!!

Blog It!!

2008-10-31T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well this is my first shot at "blogging". I've been meaning to get to this for awhile, but haven't been exactly motivated. After looking at some friends' blogs I've decided to give it a try. The picture above is what Jared and I decided to be for Halloween. I was a "Pig in a Blanket" and Jared was "the Joker" from the Dark Knight. I always try to have a cute costume and as you can see, my husband's costume is usually freakish. We dressed up this year for "Trick or Trunk". We had fun, but I miss the days where I actually did the trick or treating. The best part of trick or trunk was seeing all the cute kids that were dressed up. The babies were especially cute! And no, I don't have the baby bug yet. I just like other people's babies. I want a dog and house before I have my own babies.

This weekend will be extremely busy. Tonight we'll hand out candy to any young-ins that come by, get ready for the fall yard sale at the Thompson's house tomorrow, go to XBX retreat Saturday afternoon, spend the night in a hotel (I'm very excited about this), and do a Church visit in the morning!! Whew!

In the meantime, I plan on learning how to make my blog better. Thanks for checkin' it out! Oh and Happy Halloween to You!!