The Melton's

Help Wanted...

2010-10-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here is my cry for help....HELP!!!!
Since I have started work this week, life has thrown me a curve ball. Granted, we are making it. I just need some advice, pointers, how to's, and anything else that you can think of.

Here is the the issue: time management.
Reason: I'm a wife, a mom, a teacher, and a coach.

If you are a mom that works, give some ideas on how to get everything done that needs to be done, but, still have a time to be a wife and mom. (Those are the two most important things to me!)

Just looking for some ideas!

Thanks!

I think I can, I think I can....

2010-10-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night at 9:34pm and we are still trucking along well. It has been interesting these last two days to say the least.

I miss Lillee all.day.long.
I am very thankful for my job at Trinity, but my heart is torn.
I am blessed to have a precious little girl who smiles at us and holds her head up.
I am privileged to have a job with the economy like it is.
I absolutely love getting to pick her up in the afternoon and hearing her sigh when I hold her.
I have some great coaches that I get to work with.
I am close to daycare, about 4 blocks close, and I am thankful that I can see Lillee during my conference.
I love getting to invest in the lives of Trinity students.
I love getting to hold my sweet girl.

Needless to say, these 2 days have been hard. I keep saying my head, I think I can, I think I can. And I can....it just might not be easy. But, I have some pretty incredible friends that have been covering me in prayer this week.

‎"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Psalm 68:19

Parenting 101

2010-10-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

I decided to be the best parent in the world the other day. I put Lillee in swing and decided we would have the "talk." Since she can't argue or talk back or give me attitude I thought we would go ahead and have the talk about boys, dating, sex, and everything else you are suppose to talk your kids about. So many times it ends up being hard to have the talk with them, I just thought we would go ahead and get it out of the way......so we did! This is all in Parenting 101. I recommend that all parents have this talk with their 2 month old!
Here are things we now have an understanding about:
1. no talking back
2. no rolling of the eyes
3. no arguing
4. there will be a curfew
5. no dating until you are 29
6. you will go to college and major in something you can actually use (lesson learned from me on that one)
7. don't count on us being rich at all
8. there will be an interview process when you do start dating at 29
9. boys 4 years old and younger have cooties....stay away from them!
10. we love you and only want the VERY best for you!
Since we had this talk, we have nothing to worry about later on in life. We just keep loving on her and praying for her!

Weezer and Pa

2010-09-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

This past week, Chad had the opportunity to lead worship at my school's high school retreat. Trinity High School students and staff get out of town for a few days and have a retreat. They have worship, speaker, and games and just hang out as a high school. This is a great time for the students. They love it! Chad and the guys that lead worship did too. But it took him a few days to recover, he was pretty tired!
While Chad did that, Lillee and I went to see Weezer and Pa. My brother got his son, Caleb to call our parents Weezer and Pa. My family has always called my mom Weezer. So.....when Caleb was old enough to talk...this is what he called them! We LOVE it!
Lillee and I had no plans but to hang out with Weezer and Pa and my grandparents. We got to see one of my aunts and some of her grandkids as well. That was an added bonus! We really had a great time. Lillee did great in the car, she slept the whole way! We go to Robert Lee Tuesday afternoon and left Friday around noon.
Here are some pictures from the trip:

Chad has conference in Dallas in a week so he going to drop us off on the way. So we will get to go back and have some more time with Weezer and Pa!

Lillee Grace

2010-08-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

Basically, I'm a bad blogger! Last post was before Lillee arrived, now she's a month old. DANG! Crazy to think that the time has flown by already.
July 20...Lillee's big day!

She was 20 inches long and weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces. Also known to us as perfect! Things went so smooth that day. Thank you Jesus. I was totally nervous and freaking out, but thankfully things went great.
Since July 20, we have had family stay with us. Tons of friends stop by to check on us...well, not on us, but to hold Lillee. Which is understandable....she's pretty cute.
Everyone was so concerned about Pearl with a baby. When we got Lillee home, Pearl smelled of her and then she was done with her. Thanks to Caleb and Christian, Pearl is used to kids running around here.

Caleb calls Lillee, "Baby Willee." It's funny! He really loves his cousin! He got to hold her with the help of is dad.
Lillee was given some real cool boots from Emily Parker. All I can say is pay backs!

Lately, we've been trying to do the girly bow thing.....FAIL! It's not me and from the look on her face, it's not her either!

I have loved every minute being home with this precious little girl. I'm not looking forward to going to back to school, but also know that it is where God has called me to be. It will be hard. So far now......I soak up every minute I get to spend with Lillee!
It was been incredible to watch Chad love, protect, and take care of his little girl. I love to listen to him talk to her. They have watched alot of the Rangers games together. So we got him a Rangers shirt for part of his birthday presents!
It was been so much fun being a parent! Learning something everyday! And wouldn't trade it for the world!

Only a few hours.....

2010-07-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Only a few hours until life changes...
Only a few hours until we are a family of three...
Only a few hours until I'm holding a little girl that is ours in my arms...
Only a few hours until Chad becomes a dad...
Only a few hours until a dream in my head becomes a reality in my arms...
Only a few hours until we become parents to a precious little girl...
Only a few hours until our worlds change...
Only a few hours until we hold a blessing in our arms...
Only a few hours until we are honored to raise a child...
Only a few hours until the challenge is before us...
Only a few hours until we are blessed to have a baby...
Only a few hours until we depend and trust in the Lord more than we ever have...
Only a few hours...

Plenty of TIME!!!!

2010-07-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Since we found out we were having a girl EVERYONE started asking if the room was done. WHO DOES THAT? Really, who as soon as they find out what they are having gets the room done? If you (reader) did this....wow....I'm impressed. Our response when we were asked was that we had plenty of time. Apparently to some people (Mom, Heather, Jenny, and the list could go on) its good to have things completely done before the actually arrival of your baby.
Chad is youth camp right now and will be home Friday by midnight....and I am proud to announce that the room is DONE! 5 days before I am to be induced....It is DONE! Finished....Completed...DONE! Give me five or pound it or something. Better yet take me to get a Dr. Pepper at Sonic or ice cream. I should get something out of the deal.
Now not to get everyone's hopes too high....still no bags yet. Why you might ask....we have PLENTY of time!
I go back to the doctor on Monday afternoon and will find out then what time to be at the hospital on either Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Here are a few pictures of the room.....and remember....we have plenty of time!

Counting Down.....

2010-07-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing by now since I haven't posted in so long, nobody even reads this. But I was asked by one of my friends about the blog so I thought I would give it a try.
Since November 20th, our lives have taken a turn.

Never did I think, that it would be this close to the arrival of our little girl. From around 13 weeks when I took the first prego picture to now 38 weeks, time has flown by! It has been a very easy pregnancy. I've played basketball, worked basketball camps, and done everything else in the world. My life hasn't really changed since I found out I was pregnant. Now, I know life for us will change in a few short weeks. But it has been a great pregnancy. Thank you Jesus!

We are down to really any point now or on July 20th. If she has not made her grand entrance by July 20th, the plan is that I will be induced. Who would have thought that in just 2 short weeks, we could be holding Lillee Grace in our arms. We are both excited and nervous. It will be a very interesting at our house in a few weeks.
Still can't believe it is getting so close...........

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

Chad and I did our Christmas on the 23rd. We went out to eat, looked at Christmas lights, and stopped at Sonic before coming home to open gifts. Thanks to a family on the varsity girls basketball team we ate at an extremely nice place. It was GREAT! Then we drove around for a few minutes to look at Christmas lights. I asked to make the usual stop at Sonic to get a drink then we came home and opened presents. We both had a great time of hanging out, opening presents, and then playing the Wii! Here are a couple of pictures from opening gifts.

Then Christmas Eve, Chad woke up and yelling from the back door, "Jodee, Jodee come see this." Granted, its about 7:30am when he did this. I was planning on sleeping till about 9, getting up and getting things gathered up to head to Midland to see Justin, Ashley and their new baby, then head on to Odessa. Our plans suddenly changed at 7:30am. There would be no leaving Lubbock around 11am or for that matter who knew when we would leave. There was a TON of snow outside. It was blowing snow, almost like a mini blizzard. It was CRAZY! I thought we would get a little snow, but did not expect as much as we did. About 11am Chad and I went outside to take pictures and play in the snow, but it was to stink'n cold to be outside long at all. We took some pictures and came back inside fast. Around 2pm we decided that it would be melted off enough to head to Midland and Odessa....WRONG! We couldn't even get to our dumpster behind our house, so we thought we could drive to the church to throw away the trash and then we could also see how the roads were. The roads weren't any better. There were patches of ice and packed down snow. We made the decision to stay home even though we both wanted to see everyone. Decide to be smart, instead of chancing it. Here are some of pictures of the snow!

So instead of driving to Midland and Odessa, we played the Wii and watched movies.....ALL DAY! It was fun, after all this is our last Christmas just the two of us!!!!!!!!!!

Introductions....

2009-12-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

I would like to re-introduce myself to me few blog readers.
Name: Jodee Melton
Married: Yes to Chad Melton
Born: 1983
Lived in: Robert Lee, Plainview, Midland, currently in Lubbock
Job; wife, teacher and coach (no life lately!)

Soon there will be pictures and a more detailed update!

Don't judge me!

School, Youth, Dallas, and A Little Bit of Everything Else

2009-10-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since the last update in life. I'm sure all my 2 friends that read this have been worried sick about us! haha! WHATEVER!
School is going great! I really do enjoy it. Crazy as it sounds, I really like teaching 7th graders. It has been interesting so far! There are plenty of good stories to tell already and it is just now the 2nd 6 weeks! Basketball is good. We are small in number but should be really good this year. So that will be fun. I am the JV coach and helping with Varsity. I coach the 4 and 5's on the varsity level.
Church and youth is GREAT! We are actually moving the youth to the main campus on 98th street. Right now we do everything on north campus or 82nd campus. Around January we will be moving to the south campus or 98th street. In the move we get to remodel the portables and make it all youth friendly. So that is pretty exciting. The grand opening for the children's building is tomorrow. The children at our church have a really cool area. Things at IABC are going great!
This weekend Chad and I went to Dallas. We went with no plans and no agenda. The only thing we wanted to do was drop by and see CJ and Amy and their boys. We actually spent most of the day on Friday with them. It was good to see them and hang out. I got to play with Carter while Chad and Topher played NCAA on the xbox. We had a good time with them.
Overall, life is great!

Prayer....

2009-09-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

My step brother (Debi's son, Brandon and his wife Erin) have had a crazy last couple of weeks.
Erin delivered Sydney Grace, when she was 23 weeks along in her pregnancy. Sydney has come along way but still has a long way to go! Here is their blog and it has been an amazing journey for them. Read this and keep them in your prayers. Every time I read their blog I am amazed at how God is in complete control.

ORLANDO!!!!!!!!

2009-08-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we got the opportunity to go to Florida! Chad lead worship for the children's ministry at FBC Orlando. We got to see David and Monica Holme's and their kids. He was the children's minister at FBC Midland when we were there.
Basically we were at the camp Monday through Friday. Friday we checked into the Rosen Center! It was GREAT!

Saturday we spent the afternoon at Disney! David and Monica took us and we had a blast! Now we want to go back! We would love to go back now that we've seen it!

Sunday we skipped church. shhh! Don't tell! We shopped and hung out at the pool! Then Sunday night we went to WonderWorld. It was so neat! The building is built upside done. There were all kinds of things to do. We did EVERYTHING! There was a game that you could pitch against some MLB players. Chad struck out the guy that he pitched against. It was a fun place and spent alot of time there!

We had a great time and can't wait to go back to ORLANDO!

Family and Friends

2009-07-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

July 20-26 we were suppose to be in Beaumont, TX building houses. It was scheduled to be a high school mission trip but it didn't make. We didn't have enough students that could go sign up. The seniors have moved on to the college ministry and on this trip the students had to be 16 or older. It just didn't work out this year. I (Jodee) was going on this trip as well. Due to the lack of students...we stayed home! Well, kind of. Chad did. I really didn't the first part of the week.
Since the summer I have seen my parents but I hadn't had the chance to go to Robert Lee. So I did this week! I left here Sunday morning after church and headed to Robert Lee. I got there and my parents had been keeping Caleb for Chad and Heather. I convinced them to let him stay longer so I could hang out with him. When I arrived at the house, he was ASLEEP! He slept for about 3 1/2 hours. Thats too long when I am there! HAHA! We played Sunday evening. I even got to see one of one of the many aunts and uncle's I have. Along with their daughter and her kids (my 2nd cousins....dang I'm redneck! Haha!) It was fun seeing them. I realized that I am old when the oldest great grandkid was born when I was 15 and now she (Jessica) is 11 and will be in junior high this year. Anyways, I got to see them and it is always entertaining. Then we took Caleb to see MawMaw and DadddyDee. It was great seeing my grandparents. (The other day I found the letter my grandma wrote me when I graduated high school, time has flown by.) I let him walk in the water and play in the mud on the way home. Its crazy that Caleb is 18 months and very very independent! It makes me laugh watching him! After the mud and water, we just played in the house. Monday, we got up and took Caleb back to Chad and Heather. Caleb wore his sunglasses when we headed back to Midland. It was funny watching him put them on and take them off.
We took Chad out to lunch for his birthday. We ate at Logan's. It was a very fast and furious trip to Midland. I was glad I got to see my brother though!
Tuesday, we went to San Angelo and shopped and just hung out.
Wednesday morning I had to get up and come back to Lubbock. We had the students over at our house for hamburgers and just hanging out.
Thursday evening we drove to Brownfield to see CJ and Amy and their kids. It was great seeing them and sitting around talking. While we were gone some of the high school students got bored and had fun chalking our driveway and sidewalk. The whole drive was chalked. It was pretty fun the stuff they came up with to draw! Here is a small fraction of what they drew!
Friday we ate lunch at One Guy with them. They are getting ready to move so it was great to see them. They truly impacted our lives while we were all in Midland.
Saturday we had some friends from Midland up for the day! Ryan, Leslie and their newest addition to their family Levi came up and spent the day with us. Leslie, Levi, and I shopped all day. Leslie does a great job of being a mother and still being able to shop! I was impressed. It was fun seeing them and catching up. I hadn't seen them since the first of the summer.
This truly was a great week of seeing family and friends. I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of everyone. Sorry! But it was great seeing everyone!

Here it all is...

2009-07-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well....I never put up pictures from the night we went to eat for our anniversary. So no better time than now! Chad always says that we have to take a picture with our a.d.d. dog.

On to the house....here are the most recent pictures. Actually I took them just a few minutes ago! We now have blinds in all the windows. I have picked out everything to go in a flower bed but just haven't got to that point. I'll do it once I get back from youth camp. Everything is decorated...that was done the week we moved in. Apartment is cleaned and keys turned in. I have cleaned the house more than once. We really really like our house. Come see us if you are in Lubbock!

We leave for Student Life Camp tomorrow at midnight! We are excited! Chad said today, "This is my first camp by myself. I'm a big boy!" I asked him if he was nervous and of course he said no. We are excited about the group we are taking. There is a total of 92 (I think) going and that includes adults! It will be a great week in Durango! One of the girls that was in the student ministry in Midland is working with Student Life for the summer and her team will be in Durango and running our camp. It will be fun to see her!
That's a quick run down of our lives.
Check avenuestudents.com and the blog link for camp updats!

Peace, love and hair gel

Crazy Update...

2009-06-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick update on us:
1. closed on our house last Friday
2. got house set up!
3. built a shed
4. bought some new stuff for the house
5. had interviews
6. got a job (teaching and coaching! wooohooooo!!!!!)
7. been up at the gym in the morning coaching (actually watching more right now)
8. started on the flower bed
9. cleaned up the garage and actually pulled my car into the garage
10. packed and got ready to leave tomorrow morning

I'll put up pictures later. We just now got internet and cable. We leave tomorrow after church for mission arlington. we are taking our junior high students. check out avenuestudents.org and click on the blog link to see updates throughout this week. (if we have internet access we will be blogging!)

have a great week! see ya when we get back!

peace. love. and hair gel.

FRIDAY!!!!!!!

2009-06-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today there are no boxes packed.
Tomorrow there better be boxes packed.
Friday we move boxes.
Saturday we move furniture.

the end.

ONE WEEK!!!!!

2009-05-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Soon and very soon we will be in our house! We drove by the tonight and we have grass and carpet! WOOHOO!!!!!!!! Friday we are suppose to close at 11am and then we will be moving in!!!!!!!!! We have some friends helping us so hopefully it won't take too long!
Anyways....here are some pictures! Enjoy! We are pumped for FRIDAY!!!!!!!

3 Great Years And Many More!

2009-05-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, Chad and I celebrated 3 wonderful years of marriage. Our anniversary fell on a Wednesday which honestly isn't a slow day for us at all! We were trying to figure out what night would be better Tuesday or Thursday. Thursday Chad was asked to play in a softball game and he really wanted to play. So we picked Tuesday. He said he would take care of dinner. On Tuesday afternoon he has staff meeting at church. It lasted a little longer than normal on Tuesday. He had already asked some of the ladies in the office about a couple of different places. His plan was to after staff meeting actually decided and call and rsvp at a place. He got out of staff meeting at 4:50 on Tuesday. He apparently was a little freaked out about how to pull all this off. Then it all happened.....
Someone said told him for us to be at the Double Nickle at 7pm Tuesday night. He was little dumbfounded. Apparently you are suppose to wear nicer clothes than what we normally wear. So, my wonderful husband, went to Kohls and bought me a dress! That's right a dress! It was really cute.
He came home in a rush at 6:15 and said, "Jodee, we need to leave here at 6:50." I answered, "huh? Where are we going?" His cute response was, "Don't worry about it. We need to look nice, so I bought you this, if you don't like it or doesn't fit, we can take it back this week. If we need to take it back it won't hurt my feelings." And then he handed me the dress and said he was sorry it wasn't wrapped. I tried it on and go figure it didn't fit. So I put on a different dress and ironed some clothes for him and then left.
We ended up at the Double Nickle Steak House which was the best food I have ever ate. It was incredible!!!!!! I'm not even kidding! When we walked in and Chad told them our names, we went to back of the place in the corner where 2 dozen roses were on the table waiting for us. We ordered our normal Diet Dr.Pepper and Dr.Pepper and even ordered an appetizer. I was a little lost because the waiter wouldn't give us a menu. Not sure why but he told us everything on the menu and we never saw one. Then we ordered our steak and act until I thought we were both going to explode. It was SO good! Then came dessert. I was little lost cause we didn't order it. The waiter just brought it to us and brought me my favorite...CHOCOLATE!!!!!! We could only eat 2 bites and he boxed up the dessert for us. Then he told us we were free to leave. But we never saw a check. That's when I realized someone had blessed us! Someone had paid for our meal. Chad said that he was told to be here at 6:50 and that everything was taken care of.
How amazing that someone would set up our anniversary dinner for us. It was amazing! The flowers are still on the table and still look great! It was a great dinner.
After we got done eating we went by to look at that house. And then to the apartment to watching all of our TV shows that we had recorded. It was a great day!
The more I look back over the just the past year I can see how much we both have grown spiritually. When we continue to grow spiritually our love for each other only grows more and more. I say this every once in awhile to Chad, but I am finding more truth in this little phrase, "I love you more today than I did yesterday." It's true! I can't wait to see where the Lord takes and what He does in and through us in the next year of our marriage!
I love you more today than I did yesterday Chad!

EXCITED!!!!

2009-05-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

We went by our house this past weekend and we say TILE!!!!!!!!!! OH YEA!!!!!!!! We both got really excited. It seems like they have done alot lately.
All the cabinets are in. As of Saturday the counter tops for the bathrooms were not in yet. All the tile is done. Even around the fireplace. I drove by tonight with my dear friend Lissa saw the tile around the fireplace. Ceiling fans were in two bedrooms. Its pretty exciting!
I talked to the guys at the house yesterday and we scheduled the closing date! WOOHOO!!!!!! June 5th, at 10am we are closing! I'm super pumped and can't wait! Its exciting! We both are completely ready. And trust me our little dog needs a back yard so she won't chew up things anymore!
These pictures were taken on Saturday.

Blessed Beyond Belief

2009-04-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

The last 2 weeks have been down right amazing.
So often in my life, I overlook the blessings that are all around me. My car broke down 1 mile south of Miles, TX and we were blessed by a family to let us borrow their car for 2 weeks. 2 WEEKS! That's along time in my world to let someone borrow a car. Then they drove half way to meet us and switch cars. That moment that we got to talk was a blessing in itself. When Chad and got back in the car and headed home, Chad looked at me (while driving) and said, "Let's pray and just thank the Lord for the blessings." We were completely overwhelmed by how often we don't realize all the blessings that we receive.
The whole month of April Chad talked about with the youth at church What Not To Wear. He took a spin off TLC's show and used Colossians 3 to help the students what we as christians should be wearing. So many times we wear anger, jealously, bitterness and the list goes on and on. We looked at some the "church" words in this passage and really broke down what lust, sexual immorality, and idolatry really means. We also discussed putting on love and what that looks like for a student last week. Chad then handed everyone an envelope with 5 bucks in it and challenged the students to truly put on love and serve someone. Look for someone that needs to be loved or helped and then do it. Overall the month of April has made me more aware of how to put on love and how many people put on love for me. That there are people that have blessed my life and I never realized it till now. I wish I would have been keeping a running list of all the blessings in my life. That is proof that there is one God!
I want to constantly be putting on love.

Mary Kay

2009-04-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have officially started selling Mary Kay. Yikes! I have received the starter kit and my first order. Tonight is my first skin care class. The girls that work with/for me at the decided they should be the first ones I try this on! They are coming over for dinner and then we will get on with the fun!
We'll see how it goes!

One Step Closer

2009-04-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Almost done with brick.....
WHOLE house is done with sheet rock....
Chad's excited......
Jodee's really excited....
One day our dog will have a dog door and we won't have to get up to let her out....

We are getting one step closer....

Car, Family, Dog, Family

2009-04-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

On April 11th, Chad and I drove to Miles, Tx to celebrate in my dad's parents 60th wedding anniversary. We got right at 5 miles from their house and my car broke down. Just all the sudden, wouldn't go! We had to call my step-mom and get my dad to come get us. So at this point....we weren't sure how we would get back home that night. We had hung out with family for a little while. Then we headed back to San Angelo to get ready for dinner. As we were headed into town we saw a dog on the side of the road basically crawling. My dad stops and turns around to check on this dog. Three of its legs were broken and its back was broken. He was starting try to get up and walk but couldn't do anything. It was actually really sad. My dad called the Sheriffs office and told them the problem and decided to take care of it. So...my dad did "take care" of this poor dog. We got back on the road and made it to San Angelo.

Arrived and ate dinner then at this point, my aunt and uncle told us we could borrow one of their cars until we got ours fixed. Bonnie said she would take care of it. Answer to prayer!
Bonnie called me this week and its the front pump on the transmission that is messed up. Whatever that means.....it is gonna cost more than 10 bucks to fix!
Then we drove home Saturday night and got ready for church the next day! Mom and Donnie were in Lubbock because Amy had her baby that week. They got to go to church with us on Easter. But we didn't get to sit with them because church was full! But it was exciting to see every chair full!
We had a great weekend and it was full adventure!

Got brick?

2009-04-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We drove by our house on Friday and saw they had started bricking it! YEA!!!!!!! We are excited! It's so much fun to drive by and see the changes! My mom and Donnie got to come by and go out to the house with us! They now have started bricking two walls.....I'm guessing they will be done with the brick in one more day! But we'll see!

Like always, the dirt blows anytime the wind blows! Inside the house the ground was COVERED in dirt! So we wrote stuff in the dirt! Stupid and cheesy, I know but don't judge!

This is where one day very soon our sink will be! HAHA! My mom started taking pictures while I was in the "kitchen" telling her where everything would be!

All in all we are getting excited everytime we go to our house. Dad and Debi will probably come in and see the house still going up. The next time Judy and Norm come into town, we'll have a house. The next time Mom and Donnie come into town, we'll have a house. The next time Emily comes into town, we'll have a house. The next time.....

It's a BRICK....HOUSE!!!!!!

2009-04-09T19:06:00.001-07:00

That really cool song (totally not a cool song at ALL) popped into my mind tonight as we drove up to our house.
It's a brink...house!
Don't judge me, well actually you can. Because I'm a dork!
We made the weekly Thursday night drive by the house and saw this!
DIRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wind has blown like crazy off and on this week!

And then this is what we got excited about......it is looking more and more like a house!

They say they won't be done till the first or second week of June, but I think it might be sooner than expected! Who knows! It's always fun to drive by and see what new stuff they have done.
Maybe tomorrow some of that brick will actually be on the house.

Update on house...

2009-04-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

First of all, about 2 weeks ago it snowed.

It didn't get bad like it was "suppose" to, but I wore shorts one day that week and then it snowed. Fun times!
Anyways....here is our house!
We have bathtubs, showers, windows, and a garage door! Right now it seems like it is going up FAST! I asked Chad what he thought the next step would be and he thought me electric work. We don't really know for sure what they will do next but I guess we'll see!

Thats where they are! Its fun to drive by and see the progress! I can't wait till they are done!

A little surprise!

2009-03-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Much to a surprise Wednesday night, we discovered that they had started building! WOW!!!!!!!! I was taking Ashley back to her car and she wanted to see our house and this is what we found! I was in SHOCK! We had drove by sometime the week before and didn't see anything but dirt being moved. This was a great little surprise!
I called Chad and told him I had a surprise for him. He was to be dressed and waiting outside for me when I got the apartment. He didn't need money or anything...just be ready.
We got in the car and headed to our house. He had no idea where we going. When we drove up he had the same reaction I did, "WHAT? Is that OUR house?"
We ate dinner tonight and then headed to see our new house! It is pretty excited. They say we should be in the house in June. We have picked out EVERYTHING and are just waiting!

Someday....

2009-03-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

We drove by our future house this evening and found that they have been working on the plumbing. At least thats what I think. Someday they will pour the foundation.....someday!
This is where we are in the process....

Someday it will be ready.......SOMEDAY!

That's dirty!

2009-03-16T11:58:00.001-07:00

So I have had two experiences over the past couple of weeks that were DIRTY! I mean really DIRTY!
One of the experiences, happened last Sunday morning. Because of time change, IABC didn't have small groups that morning. Instead, we just had the worship services and the deacons cooked breakfast for the whole church. So you could eat in between the two services and then go to the early or late service. Chad and I got to the church around 9ish. Which is late for us! But we got there...walked around...said hi to everyone. We then decided to eat with some of the junior high guys. (mistake one...just kidding...no really!) We talked with them in line and then we were headed to sit with them. It took Chad and I longer to get to the table because we were still talking to everyone. Or I was talking to everyone. Anyways...we have our plates loaded with food and are headed to sit with 4 junior high guys. We get about 8 feet away from the table and all but one guy got up from the table REALLY fast and walked away. There is now, only guy at the table leaning over his plate. No one tells us what happened until now I'm 3 feet away. The only guy left at the table is still there at the table hovering over his plate still.....he grabs a napkin and then runs out of the building. I am left, about 3 feet away, and see it......his plate. He had taken one bit of his breakfast and then "something" happened and it all came right back up. There was more food in his plate now after this adventure than there was before he sat down. So now, Chad and I set our plates down on another table. Chad walks outside to check on him. My eyes are watering now and I'm gagging and starting to smell it. YUCK! I decided to go to get the trash can. Wheeling the trashing back to the table, I start looking for a MOTHER! A lady that has been and done this! Lucky for me, nobody is insight. One lady stops me on my way and asked me, "Are you ok?" HECK NO I'm NOT OK.....I'm about to clean up an 8th grade boys throw up! I tell her the story and she says, "Oh, I can't help ya I'll be throwing up too." And once again in my head I say...LOOK AT MY FACE, does it look like I can handle this? She walks away and I go grab the plate with my eyes closed. How is this going to work? No idea...just in time one of his friends comes over and grabs the plate real fast and throws it in the trash. Thank goodness I didn't have to touch the plate. I had my shirt pulled up over my mouth so I couldn't breath it in as I wheeled the trash can back over where it goes. I got a couple of weird looks but I didn't care. Either weird looks or me throwing up too......I pick weird looks!
The other experience happened today to be exact. The joys of apartment life....ok not really. Every once in awhile when we were in Midland our sink would back up and they would have to come fix it. The same thing was happening here in Lubbock. Chad ran some water this morning and it wasn't draining at all. Or just took FOREVER to drain. I told him we should call the apartment office and they can come fix it. He decides to see what the problem was. He pulled out the drain stopper and it was DIRTY! There was all kinds of long brown hair (Chad says like mine) wrapped around it I was gagging again! Chad told me it was my fault and I refused! HaHa! I know it was mine but I have already cleaned out another drain since we lived in the apartment. So it was his turn. I was gagging as he pulled it off and threw it away. It was nasty!
I just wanted to share with everyone my dirty experiences!

Build Already....Gosh!

2009-02-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

Just about every couple of days either Chad or I will drive our soon to be home to see if they have started. Much to our disappointment nothing has happened. I mean really, we have picked out EVERYTHING you can think of and they haven't started! I told the man that would be our house all the time, that he just needed to pick up it a little and get this going. I had to remind him that I AM JODEE LYNN MELTON! Once I told him who I was he said, "You're who?" Just kidding! We are hoping they will break ground next week....at least that is what they told us. So we will see! We do have a SOLD sign in our lot! Woohoo!!!!!!
Baby steps...baby steps!

BUILDING a HOUSE!!!!!!!

2009-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, around 4:30 we signed our lives away! HAHA! Not really! But we signed the papers to start building a house. Here is our lot!

The house will be 3 bedroom 2 bath. The floor plan is an open floor plan. Basically the kitchen, dining room and living room is one big "open" area. The 2 bedrooms and 1 bath are on one side of the house and the master bedroom is on the other side. It will even have a laundry room with a DOOR!!!!!!!! I can't wait to be able to shut the door while the laundry is being washed and dried and not hear it.

We are really excited. The plan is be in around the first or second week of June. We are hoping for the first so Chad will be here before the first mission trip.
YEAH for a new house!!!!

M2...Praying for Mark

2009-01-20T20:59:00.000-08:00

Talking to my friend Leslie today was hard...her dad, Mark, is going in for surgery tomorrow at MD Anderson.
If you read this at any point tomorrow (Wednesday) please pray for them. Mark is suppose to be there at 9:45am and could go in at any time.
As we sent text messages during the day my heart continued to break for them. For the unknown, for the wait and everything else that goes along with cancer.

Please keep them in your prayers tomorrow as they do the surgery and then along the road of recovery.

Father,
May your peace and presence be overwhelming for the Merritt's tomorrow. Wrap your loving arms and hold them as they wait during the day of surgery. May your hands take control of the doctors tomorrow.
Overwhelm them with who You are!
Amen

Manager...That's ME!

2009-01-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

The place of employment! Here it is!

I am now the manager at the Double T Zone store that is located on the north end of Jones Stadium (4th and University). I started at the Double T (aka The Zone). I also have a store that I am the manager of at the United Spirit Arena. My main focus right now is the Zone.
We will see how it goes!

You should some see me!

Totally NOT Ballet

2009-01-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Before I left for the Cotton Bowl, I got the JOY of seeing Emily (Miller) Parker. I can't remember the last time that we got to hang out. I think it was actually at her wedding. All I know it was a VERY long time ago. We planned to go see her before we moved to Lubbock but it never actually happened. She came to Lubbock one Sunday afternoon and Chad and I met her for lunch. Then the two of us went shopping and just actually got to spend some time together. It was so good to see her.
She started telling me about this concert that her mom, sister, and Kyle's parents were going to on December 30th. Chad was going to be out of town and so she offered me a ticket. I had no idea what it was so I wasn't so sure about going. Honestly she told me the name and I thought it was a ballet. And that didn't make me want to go at all.
Chad left Lubbock that day (December 30th) and Emily thought I should go with her. I kept saying NO thinking it was ballet. I called Chad that afternoon and told him that Emily kept asking me to go with them to this concert. He asked me who it was. I had no idea so I just guessed at the name and said something like, "Trans-Sans blahhhh." Chad then told me that I was an idiot because I said no. He kind of told/hummed me some songs that I would know. Come to find out it was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I called Emily and asked if the ticket was still available. She had to check and told me it was. I meet them for dinner then we were off to the concert. I told them that I thought it was ballet. They all laughed at me. Once they started playing, it was then I realized it was NOT a ballet!
This was by far the BEST concert I have EVER been to. The lights were incredible! The music was amazing. It was just down right good! And it was NOT ballet!
Thanks for the food and ticket! (oh yea...and thanks for letting me see something other than ballet!)

Christmas Eve Gift!!!!!!!

2008-12-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Gift!
My family has said that to each other ever since I can remember. Basically we call each other and answer the phone saying, "Christmas Eve Gift". On Christmas day, we just say, "Christmas Gift." Apparently at one point a LONG LONG LONG time ago, people said and the one that didn't say it first (aka lost) had to give the other person a gift. We have never done the whole gift thing...we just say it. MawMaw and DaddyDee always beat me. When our family calls each other, we literally answer the phone with "Christmas Eve Gift." I have got Chad to say it to. But he never wins! Maybe one day he will!
One this great Christmas Eve, I didn't have to work! YEA!!!!! We have our Christmas eve service tonight at IABC. And then after that we will head to Robert Lee.
Since Chad and already did our Christmas, we went to the mall and a shoe store and exchange a couple of things that didn't fit the two of us. Then we came home. It is a VERY nice day outside today. So we took our little dog to the pond right north of the mall and some old bread and fed the ducks. The ducks liked me more than they liked Chad. But when Pearl got down to run and play...all the ducks flew away.
Tonight we are headed to Robert Lee!

Christmas Eve Gift!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve Eve Eve at the Melton's

2008-12-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

Chad and I the past 2 years have gone to eat dinner somewhere nice and then come home and open presents. We did that exact same thing this year. I honestly didn't know if we would get to because I had been working until about 6:30 to 7pm at night. But this week I got off early. By early I mean, anywhere from 5pm to 5:30.
Monday night we went to eat at 50 Yard Line here in Lubbock.

Then we came home and put on our pj's and opened presents. It was a fun night. I made Chad stop after every time he opened something to take a picture. He loved it! Haha!

Pearl actually was calm for little bit during the evening! It was nice!

We had a great evening! It was fun to hang out just the two of us. I've been working alot lately so it was a fun evening!
Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve!

Wee Little Christmas Tree

2008-12-01T19:01:00.001-08:00

Not that you can really tell....but this is our small cute little Christmas tree. Chad and I went to Hobby Lobby tonight to buy it. Christmas isn't the same without a tree, so Chad let me get a small one!

Life is good for us. We are enjoying Lubbock. Its been pretty cold here, at least I think so.
My parents came up this weekend. It was good to see them. I worked the Tech football game. Yes, that's right I was forced to wear red and black. Chad almost kicked me out of the house. He would have if I wasn't getting a pay check! I was there Saturday 11:15 till 6:15. I saw the Watson's from Midland, so that was good. We are actually hoping to watch MCA girls play tomorrow night at Frendship. If I don't work late, we will be there!
The past couple of days at work, I've realized how comfortable I was at Midland Christian. I was surrounded by Godly people that I worked with and that I worked for. It was very easy to be comfortable in my walk. Easy to blend in. Easy if I wasn't in the Word and my biggest problem was that a student didn't say, "No thank you." Now, I have realized how vital the Bread of Life truly is. And how so often in my life if I sat with it for a few minutes a week, I was "good." God is teaching more and more about daily remaining in Him. Too often in my life I've been comfortable in my walk. At this point, I am realizing that when I am comfortable, I am actually a useless believer. I must be (as Chad said Sunday in youth) at STUDENT OF THE BIBLE! Taste and see that the Lord is good....once you taste it, you only want more. It is my desire that I constantly long and thirst for the Word of God. I want to be a STUDENT OF THE WORD!

Thanksgiving in Lubbock

2008-11-27T17:40:00.001-08:00

This year we actually stayed here in Lubbock for Thanksgiving Day. I got off from work late Wednesday night and I work early Friday morning so it would have been a REALLY fast trip. Our plan was to sleep late and do nothing, but that didn't happen. Well part of it did and part of it didn't.
Since I've been getting up pretty early, I woke up wide at awake at 7:30. I went ahead and got up and watched the episode of Prison Break that I feel asleep in last night. I was such a nice wife and let him sleep. We sat around here, talked to our families and then decided to go watch a movie. After that we drove around Lubbock and looked at houses. We looked in this one area but it is WAY WAY WAY out of our price range, but it was fun to look at. Its called Vintage town homes. The website is www.vintagetownship.com You should check it out. This area looks like it should not be in Lubbock! Its a really nice area but way way way way way way way way way too expensive!
It was weird being away from our families today. Knowing that they are all in one house watching football and eating. I guess I realize more and more the older I get how truly thankful I am for all of my family. Last night when we decided not to go and stay here I really almost cried. Only because I've never not been around some part of my family on Thanksgiving. It made me appreciate and be even more thankful for them. And appreciate Chad more. We had a great time hanging out, watching tv, relaxing together. Since we've been in Lubbock we haven't had a weekend or a day to do nothing by ourselves. It was a good day overall but I even learned alot with just the two of us here. It is when you are away from your family you realize how incredible they all are! We love ya'll!

As we drove around looking at houses, we stopped and took this picture!

This was our Thanksgiving meal. We were going to do chicken fried steak, but we didn't want to go to the store. So we has soup right as the cold front came blew in!

Pearl is alive and kick'n here in LBK!

After our GREAT thanksgiving meal that was cooked in about 15 minutes!

Happy Thanksgiving! Oh yea....we put up are Christmas stuff. Well....we only have room for our stockings! But they are up!

Visitors and DNow

2008-11-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Disciple Now here we had two visitors. Katelyn and Kasie came up to see us. They got here Friday night and we really sat around and watched TV. We got them hooked on Prison Break. YES! We had a great time hanging out and not doing alot! Saturday Leslie came up and we (the girls) went shopping. Chad stayed home and watched football. It was a fun weekend and good to see all three of them. Maybe we didn't scare them off and they'll come back to see us! I hope!

This past weekend was Disciple Now. This was the first one with Chad being the "big dog." Josh (Associate) had done a great job of getting things ready before we ever got here. It was a crazy three weeks before Dnow but it was a great weekend. I took off work at noon on Friday and helped Chad get things ready. It was weird being the "wife" but it was fun. Friday we had the guys from Midland lead worship (Woody, Dillow, Clayton, and Whit) and kick things off. Then students went to their houses. We (Chad, Josh, Woody, Whit and I) went around to some of the houses. The students had 2 sessions Friday night. We hit 7 houses Friday night. Saturday morning we started at 8am and got to all the other houses that morning. We ate breakfast as went from house to house! Every house had great food! Then at 1pm the students came up to the church and we had a worship service. Instead of having a speaker Chad lead the students in a prayer time. They prayed for the schools, their friends, and our nation in groups. Then they spread out all across the gym floor and had some time just by themselves. While they did that, there host home parents walked around and prayed the students. It was a great service. After the service they went back to their house and had their last session. Then they came back to watch the Tech and OU game. We had a huge party. Football, give aways, food, candy, games, and movies for those didn't want to watch the game. All in all it was a great party, but because of the way Tech played it was not some much fun. We cleaned up and headed to their houses and called it a night around the 3rd quarter. They came back to church Sunday morning for youth worship service then it ended by going to big church! It was a great weekend. We had great leaders that invested in our students. Looking back it was an incredible weekend and God moved in the lives of students, leaders, and host home parents!

The J-O-B!!!!!!!!

2008-11-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

So I have spent a few days looking online for a job and the such. Emailed my resume all over the place. Got emails saying, "I'm sorry but due to the job requirements we have decided to go with someone who is more qualified." And even letters that say basically the same exact thing. Talk about a humbling experience. A few letters and emails saying, "blah, blah, blah...we aren't hiring you." Love it! Love hearing that and reading it! NOT REALLY! I don't like it hearing it all actually.
I interviewed at a place here and it went well. Then I got a call from another place called Campus Design. The owner was the chairman of the youth search committee at IABC. I called and talked with him. He said that they had 2 positions opened. He said to come in and help out/work and see what I think. So, since last Monday I've been working there. 8:30 till sometimes 5 or even later. But it has been good.. I've been working at the main location and will move to a store after Christmas. But its been good. So...thats where I've been. Not on facebook all day. Not playing the Wii. Not shopping. Not sitting in Chad's office. Just at the J-O-B!

A Little Bit Of This And That...

2008-11-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Before we moved to Lubbock we had the chance to go see our families. When we were in Texarkana we got to see Brayden, our nephew play football. It was funny watching him. His dad, Chad's brother, Shane is one of his coaches. It was interesting to watch! Not alot of scoring!

On Tuesday I made a mad dash to Midland to hang out with one of my friends. Leslie had a rough week so I went down and we ate dinner and just did whatever. We went to Target and found footy pj's for adults! It was amazing. Now that I live in Lubbock and we haven't turned on our heater, I think I would pay some BIG bucks for those!

Then Saturday afternoon Chad, Heather, and Caleb came to see us. Well, Heather and Caleb came to see us. Chad had a ticket to the Tech and OSU game. So we got to play with Caleb and catch up with Heather. It was/is (they are here right now) to see them. We miss them alot! But glad it is a short distance from Midland to Lubbock. Man, Caleb is growing fast. He is crawling like crazy and is walking when you hold his hands. He is fun though!

While my brother Chad is at the game we are sitting here in the apartment watching the game. It has been a good weekend.
Still no job for me. I am going to a couple of places Monday to apply. My mom sent me an email this week and it basically said, "The job will come, after you have been on your knees." Wow! Thanks Mom! At first I kind of took it personally, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how I have been worried about a job and not on my knees about a job. So I've tried to obey my mom, even if I am 25 years old. She has wisdom that I don't have. One day maybe I will have the wisdom that my mom has. But for now, I'll be on my knees praying for a job and praying for our ministry here in Lubbock.

Football and First Sunday!

2008-11-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday we had some friends from Midland come up and they had tickets to the game. We (Chad and I) didn't have tickets, but we did go and eat some really good food with them at a tailgate party before the game. Kim, Bear, John, and Big John all had tickets. Jane, Chad and I came home watched the football game from our apartment but heard the drum the WHOLE time during the game.

Total shock at the end of the game! TOTAL shock!
And Saturday night was time change day. We have no idea what happen but we were planning on being at church at 8am and actually woke up at 8am. Alarms went off and they were all an hour behind. Youth on Sunday's doesn't start till 9:30 but he wanted to be there early to get it all set up. Anyways...Chad left the apartment in about 4 minutes and ran out the door. I finished getting ready and then headed to church. The Mehringers came at 9:20. After youth and big church we went to eat. We actually brought it home and ate here, then the Mehringers headed back to Midland. It was fun to have them here. After all the times we've just shown up at their house and invited ourselves over to eat or whatever. It was fun for them to be here.
Sunday afternoon, Jennifer Beal came by to see us! They were in town for the game and to see family. She was here for a little bit. But it sure was good to see her!
Sunday night at church we got "pounded." Tons of canned goods, cake mixes, brownies and on and on! Our whole table is covered in the food that we brought home. We also got gift cards to United!

Game Day - Friday Afternoon

2008-11-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Chad and I went to Tech to go to Game Day. It was suppose to start around 3:45, and we actually left around 4:30pm and didn't see it start.
There were some pretty funny signs up that made us laugh. Oh...college students! They made us laugh!

We are going to tailgate party with the Mehringers and John. Got our burnt orange on and we are ready to go!

LBK-We're Here

2008-10-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

We are now Lubbock residents. Its official.
The moving truck loaded us last Thursday at 9:50am and by 11:40am the truck had left and headed to Lubbock. By about 4:30 the truck was done unloading us into our apartment. Chad came with the truck and I stayed and cleaned the house. I left the house by 3pm and drove to Lubbock with Pearl. Once I got here, we put the bed together and got cable running to the TV and sat down. We were dog tired! Friday, Sarah came over and helped us unpack the kitchen. Sad day, I left 2 boxes packed full of kitchen stuff and it is in the closest because we don't have much room. A 2 bedroom is smaller than a 3 bedroom house, just so you know. But...we like it our little apartment. Sorry I haven't taken pictures of the place but they will come, soon!
Last night (Thursday) we had some of the seniors over and we just sat around talked. We are excited to be here and start things at the church. Chad has hit the ground here running. Disciple Now is in 2 weeks and there is still some work that needs to be done. Deciding on camp and then there is the ski trip that is in December. Needless to say, Chad has been busy. I haven't really looked hard for a job right now. I am starting to get a little more serious about it though. I have been this week getting the apartment done and have been at church a couple of days just helping Chad with different things. So that part of not having a job has been good.
Tonight we have the Fall Festival at the church. Saturday is the big game! Go Longhorns! We might be going to Game Day tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn! Chad wants to go and I said if he really wanted to...I would go too. It will be early and cold! Saturday afternoon the Mehringers are coming to town for the game. They have tickets to the game but we will watch it from the comfort of our apartment...unless we are lucky to get some tickets for free or dirt cheap!
I'll put up pictures later!
But we are here!

Wrap and box...wrap and box

2008-10-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

"Wrap that."
"Trash that."
"Keep that."
"Can we please throw this away?"
"Where's the tape?"
"Where's the marker?"

These phrases are what Chad and I have saying the most. We are in the process of boxing up our house. And we are moving into an apartment so it will be a little of an adjustment. But we are excited. Our house is a mess. boxes are moved into the garage. Two rooms empty. Kitchen and our bedroom is pretty much what we have left.
Here is our progress so far!

Next time I post, we will be in Lubbock!
Bonus to Lubbock:
1. New York and Company
2. Guitar Center
3. More snow
We are excited and ready! It will be a change but it will be a fun adventure!

Trip to Mountains with the 2nd Family

2008-10-15T18:31:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we were able to enjoy the mountains from New Mexico. My dad and step-mom have bought a condo there. We left here on Thursday around lunch and got back Saturday night. CJ and Amy went with us. We had a great time of just hanging out and eating good food!
Amy had actually found bracelets that said "Best" on one and "Friends" on the other. They were actually in the shape of guitar picks. She bought them and CJ gave one to Chad and he kept one! It was really funny! Then two dorks, actually put them one and we took pictures. It was picture perfect!

After we laughed about the bracelets, they had actually made us a photo book on Shutterfly. It had pictures from the time that Chad started at Midland till now. It was really cool. We called it "The Yearbook." It is a great idea and we have sat and looked at it many times! Chad and I were talking the other day and we are slowly realizing that it is going to be hard to leave CJ and Amy. They both have had a huge part in our lives. Hello, they hooked us up! We truly will miss them!
When we were at the condo, we could feed the deer and they could come about 4 feet from us and eat. We put out corn for them and they would eat right in front of us. It was a pretty cool place to have our Jesus time.

On Friday Chad and CJ played golf. While they did that, Amy and I walked around downtown and shopped. It was great to have a girl to shop with. We walked down by the river and I took off my shoes and walked in the water. It was cold. But I did that when I was little and we went backpacking through the mountains. I thought it would be fun to do again, but it was stink'n cold!

Then we ate downtown and we took a picture by a wooden indian. It was not Chad's favorite thing, but he did it!

Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed hanging out with CJ and Amy!

Moving to Lubbock

2008-10-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

That's right...you read the heading correctly.....we are moving to Lubbock. I haven't blogged lately just because we haven't had a chance to just sit! So tonight's the night to catch you up on our lives. (This shouldn't take long!)
We went to Lubbock on September 19-21 inview of call at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church. Chad first started to talking to them around the middle of July. I guess we both never really thought it would happen. We love it here in Midland. We have/had great jobs, incredible friends, and a great church. We went to up to Lubbock the weekend before school started for me and meet with the committee and had a great time just talking with them. Then they called Chad and he went back the first week of school. Both times went extremely well. They then decided to ask to us to come inview of call. Basically that's the last step. So we went up and on September 21st, they voted us in 197-0 Sunday night. They run about 800-900 on a Sunday morning and 120-150 youth on Sunday mornings. We are really excited.

This is the house we stayed because it was Parents Weekend at Tech! Thanks guys!

Going to meet all the staff!

We are packing up on Oct 21-22 and loading/driving on the 23rd. We are actually leaving Monday after lunch to go see our families. We will stop in Robert Lee for 3 days and then head to see Chad's parents in east Texas. We will be back Monday on the 20th and then start packing! Leaving our friends is literally going to be the hardest part. We have meet some incredible people here. This is our first big life changing decision that Chad and I have made since we've been married. It is excited but yet it will be hard. We have invested in student's lives and they have invested in our lives. Adults have poured out to us and families have taken us in and loved on us. They have fed us and we all know that we love to eat! We have some strong friendships here. Just typing about them and different friendships running through my head brings tears to my eyes. I have only thought about leaving not moving. There will be some people that we will never see again. When I think about it....I realize how hard tomorrow really will be. Tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day at FBC Midland. It will be hard leaving. Students that I know I will probably never see again and always wondering and thinking about. From the summer of interning, to Chad and I dating, our engagement, marriage, and now our first 2 1/2 years of ministry as a family will be over at Midland tomorrow. That is hard to think because of relationships. I DO know that God has something amazing waiting for us in Lubbock. I am sad to leave, but excited to see what and how He will use us and work in and through us.

Infection

2008-09-06T20:27:00.001-07:00

On Monday night (Labor Day) Donnie was put into the hospital because of an infection in his foot. It turns our to be in his in ankle joint. The doctor did surgery Monday night and then they watched the infection to see if it was getting better.
Heather, Caleb and I left Midland Tuesday morning and headed to San Angelo to be moral support. We left here and it took us a little longer than expected. The reasons, however, I am not able to discuss in a blog. Although that in itself is a funny part in this story!
Anways...we got there and actually didn't even plan on staying the night. Donnie wasn't have a great day and his foot was hurting and mom wasn't leaving hospital. So we stayed to be my moms mom and make sure she was taking care of herself. We went to Target and got some clothes and managed to stay at Slade and Laura's house. Thanks guys! On Wednesday we hung around the hospital and made sure he was doing better before we left.

I went back to school on Thursday and Friday. Then on Friday they ended up doing another surgery. The doctors aren't sure where the infection is coming from. But hopefully this will be the last time they have to do surgery.

Labor Day

2008-09-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

I had never really that on Labor Day holiday it actually meant LABOR! It meant hard core labor this year for us. I had to work at the pool one last time Saturday and Sunday, so Monday we worked hard around the house. I decided to paint the back bedroom. Chad decided to finish the door project. We painted doors and spray painted the hardware on the doors. Now, we had to put about 4 coats of paint on each door, but we got it done. It took some time. In the middle of our work, our light bulbs went in the living room. The ceiling fan was old and we couldn't even take the light bulbs out. It was weird so we decided to go ahead and buy a new one. So...putting that ceiling fan together took awhile for Chad to do but he did it. While did that I continued to paint!

After our hard day of LABOR, we ended the day by heading over to On The Border to eat CJ and Amy. We had a good time eating and hanging out with them.

First Day of School

2008-09-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

August 25, 2008 was the big day. It was day the school year kicked off at Midland Christian.

We started at 7:30 with junior high volleyball. It was a great way to start off the day! Then off to classes! It was an easy day as far as my classes went. So.....we will see how the rest of the year works out!

Oh yea...we took this picture for all of our moms!

The Latest

2008-08-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Chad and I got away from Midland for a few days and ended up watching a 3D movie. We got the glasses and the whole works. It was really fun! We recommend going to one and getting the cool glasses.

We celebrated Chad's birthday before his birthday because we both had little trips planned. So for his birthday we had cake and homemade ice cream. It was GOOD! I invited a couple of friends over and we had a good time. We didn't have the party until 9pm because Chad had a youth event. Woody, Dillow, and Clayton came with gift. They got the random idea to go to Sears and take picture of themselves. Needless to say we got a GREAT laugh out of the deal. We still make fun of them to this DAY!

I left on Wednesday which was actually Chad's birthday for a Beth Moore Conference. I meet Valerie Boyt in San Antonio and we got to spend a few days relaxing. We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country for two days and then headed downtown to where the conference was being held. We were 2 of 10,000 people that attended the conference. It was a great conference and a great week. Perfect way to start off before school started. It was a great week! Valerie and I had a great time.

It has been a fun past couple of weeks around our house! Woody, Dillow, and Clayton have added to the entertainment around our house!

Life After Camps.....

2008-08-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well.......summer is almost over and we are done with camps. Student Life Camp, Staffing Camp, GA Camp, Basketball Camp, Children's Camp.....I think thats all of them.
Chad has been busy with the normal summer youth stuff and I've been at the pool. Pool life is good. 1pm till 8pm gets pretty old REALLY fast.
Inservice starts next Monday. YUCK! I'm not ready for school at all. Although I do have an assistant coach for basketball. Ashley Walker moved to midland the end of July from Alabama. She will be teaching math, 6th grade computers, and study hall. She will be coaching JV"b" volleyball and JV basketball. She will probably help with junior high track as well. Its been fun having her here so far. She has ate with us and just come over randomly too! I'm excited and think that she will be HUGE for ALL of our girl sports!
But I guess that is all that we have been been up to.
Until next time......

Student Life Camp 08

2008-07-17T21:25:00.001-07:00

We had an incredible week at Student Life Camp. My family group was AWESOME! I had a total of 12 students and they were only from FBC Midland. We did rec in the morning and then bible study in the afternoon with our family group. Here is all 12 of my kids at rec.

I really was blessed to have a great group. I got to share Christ with 2 of the girls and they came to know the Lord during the week. It was pretty incredible to watch two really hard hearts become soft and broken by the middle of the week. Both of these girls have had a pretty rough pass but now they know the grace and mercy of our Lord!
Our Rec Leader was pretty cool too. Hunter, was actually going to be a senior at Lee when I was the intern at FBC Midland. Chad and I got to see Hunter go through his senior year of high school and have an impact on his peers. He works for Student Life during the summer (this is his second summer) as a Rec Leader. We had a great time hanging out with him and watching him impact the lives of high school students!

It is always crazy at camp. Chad and I never really see each other. Well, see each other but never really get to talk much or hang out. Which is totally understandable because we have a lot going on. This year I did not stay for staffing camp after camp so we went to eat breakfast and load my luggage together the morning before we left. There ended up being a huge line for breakfast so we just sat and talked for about 10 minutes. That was the most that we got to talk to each other all week.
It was a pretty incredible week!
He is God ALONE! All by himself...it is HIM!
He is to be in all that I do and not just on top at the top of my list!
He beckons ME! Even when I mess up!
He has it all under control and He doesn't need my help!
He simply needs my faith, trust, obedience, commitment, and all of my heart!
He is MORE than enough!
He is simply ENOUGH!
HE IS.....

4th of July

2008-07-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July I worked from 9am till 2:30ish. Green Tree was a pretty happen'n place to be on the 4th. Chad came out for a little bit and we went to the Car Show. There was a ton of food there. But of course, you have to pay for it all so we ate animal crackers. Big spenders! I know!
Once I got off we made some butterfinger ice cream and went to the Vanderland's house and cooked out. We brought our own meat and there was a group of us there eating and hanging out. We had a good time!

The watermelon was really good too!
On Saturday night we went back over to the Vanderland's to play a game. We ate left over ice cream and some brownies. As I am scooping ice cream out onto the bowls this is what I find my husband doing!
What a dork!

Random Stuff

2008-07-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

So we have almost been living here a year now in our little house. We have really enjoyed it. We like our house. We like our own place and love having people over eating, hanging out, playing Halo, and staying with us. It has been good! But since we have been living here our internet connection has been crazy. When Chad is playing Halo, I can't be online. When we are both online it is really slow. We can't really watch videos on You Tube or anything like that at any point because it takes 10 years to upload the videos. So tonight as the guys are here hanging out they start AGAIN trying to fix it so they can all play Halo. Well....after many times of taking to our media minister and other people, they decide to call Sudden Link. A good idea! So the guy at Sudden Link basically says they show that we have never moved and our "high speed internet" is still at Windtree Apartment #2109. Those people are lucky! Anyways, the guys does the stuff to show that we have moved and now I am online while Chad is playing Halo! YEA!!!!!!!!!
A few days ago we went to eat dinner with some friends. I took a few pictures just for the fun of it. We hadn't pulled out the camera and taken random pictures lately. So we did! Don't judge me!

Chad, Heather, and Caleb are OFFICIALLY moving to Midland! YEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*I'm married to a Chad and my brother's name is Chad....it can be crazy at times!*
Chad (my brother) started his new job on Monday. So Heather and Caleb came as well. They haven't found a place to live as of now, but they are looking. So they are staying with us! Which is fun because I get to see Caleb alot and hang out with Chad and Heather too! I've gotten to play with Caleb every morning for a little bit.

I've been going to work at 1pm so all morning we've been hanging out. One day Heather, Caleb and I went and drove around looking at apartments! Another day I hung out with Caleb while Heather went to look at apartments. It has been fun! We've really enjoyed them being here and staying with us!
Oh yea...one morning on Chad's day off a few weeks ago, he decided to make an omelet. He offered to make me one. I said, "No thanks!" Growing up Donnie made the best omelets every and I wasn't real sure Chad could pull it off.

Um....I was right! My scrambled eggs were really good!
This is the our lives.....fun, huh?

VBS and GA Camp

2008-06-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Since school has been out it seems like I have gone NON-STOP for 3 weeks. I had basketball camp, VBS, and then GA camp. It has been CRAZY but tons of fun!
I ended up being a 1st grade director for VBS. This all happen the week of finals in May. But because of vacation and basketball camp I really didn't have a lot of time to get ready for it. It all worked out though. It was a crazy week though! We had 30 1st graders running around like crazy.
I got bit by a first grade boy! It was insane! I didn't even deserve it either! That's what is really bad!
I had 3 high school girls that helped and were AMAZING! They did awesome loving Jesus on the kids. We had kids that had never been in church before and we had kids that had grown up in church. All 30 were from completely different backgrounds. All 30 needed love and attention. Most of the kids had a some hard home lives. One little boy, told me that he really missed his dad. "Why?" I asked. He said that his mom and dad got a divorce and now his dad lives in Florida. He didn't make it for his birthday and he wasn't sure if he would even see him during Christmas. Tears started forming in his little eyes. At this point, my eyes got watery too. I told him my parents got a divorce too but it was all going to be ok. He talked about how much he missed his dad and just wanted to see him. He said that his dad never calls or anything. He kept saying, "I just would like to talk to him." My heart broke. It was moments like this that I had with first graders all week. Some would totally let me on their lives. One little girl really and truly started walking home because she wasn't getting any attention. She really REALLY was walking home, like on the street headed home! Not looking back headed home.
It was a good week but at moments it was hard. I saw God move in the lives of 1st graders and that was pretty sweet to be apart of!
Then this past week, we headed out to Circle 6 Camp. There were about 300 1st-6th grade girls attending GEM (Girls Exploring Missions aka GA) Camp. Chad and several guys lead worship for them.

I was the cute wife that ran the sound system, did the powerpoint, took pictures, and anything else they asked me to do. I got to speak to the 6th graders one night. That was pretty exciting! One of the most amazing sounds happened this week when 300 little girls sang "How Great is Our God." It was the most incredible sound I have ever heard. Chad and the guys did a great job! The girls loved them! They were asking for autographs and it was funny! Paul Brand and his family came! So those three kids were my entertainment for the week! We had a great week but it was nice coming home and sleeping in a real bed!
This week for me is pretty calm. Ashley Walker is flying in on Wednesday. I'm hanging out with her. I'll work a couple of days at the pool but nothing too hard!

A True MONDAY!

2008-06-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today is Saturday and I'm just now posting this because it was a true Monday for me.
I stated off basketball camp Monday. I was thinking I would only have about 20 kids. I was WAY wrong! I ended up with 42 kids. The first session started at 8:30 and ended at 10:30. The next session started at 11:00 and ended at 1:00. Because I really only thought I would have a total of 20 I didn't get anyone to help me. This is how the Monday started off. So I camp ended at 1:00. I had some errands to run. And then I had to go back to school. I headed home around around 3:30ish from school. I had to drive Chad's pickup because my car was starting very well. Anyways, I'm headed home on Midkiff and the Loop when I get rear ended in Chad's pickup. It put a bigger dent in the bumper than what I did when I hit him three years ago. Calling Chad was NOT an option. So I thought I would just text him. As soon as I sent it, I my phone started ringing. It was Chad. I told him what happen and he was ok. I thought he might have been a little mad. But he wasn't! I made it home with no other major events.
It was a pretty rough day. 42 kids....got rear ended. Not too exciting!

Go Fish....NOT the Game!

2008-05-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

If you don't know who these guys are, it means you are older than 12.

Chad and I got to experience an interesting event last week. My good friend, Kim Stokes, asked me to help with a concert at our church. Because I am such a nice person I said "yes" without even really thinking about it. The concert was full of people under the age of 12. It was Go Fish. These guys started out in the Christian Music world trying to be like all the other bands there are. After a few years they realized that they weren't going to be going very far. So, they made a kids album and it took off from there. That's right, they travel around doing kids music. It wasn't that annoying music like "if you're happy and you know it....blah blah blah!" There songs weren't annoying but the kids screaming was!
It was by far the longest 4 hours of my life. Once the concert was over, the mad rush to the products table was CRAZY! I worked the products during the middle of show and at the end! I heard more whinny voices that said, "Mom, I want that." AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They weren't bad but I left singing their songs! And that is BAD!

DONE

2008-05-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty exciting day!

7:30 Chad cooked breakfast for me because it was my last day of school (it was GOOD!)
7:45 Arrived at school for my LAST DAY (Praise JESUS!)
8:30 my kids were done and I was entering grades
9:00 my grades were done and my room was packed up for the summer
10:00 I was headed to the church to take Chad some stuff
11:15 we at lunch with brother who was in town for a day
11:45 I was asleep on the couch (it was nice)
2:30 I went to a meeting at schools
4:00 I went to the pool for a meeting and made some money
7:30 I came home and Chad had cooked supper
8:20 Decided to go to see Chad's parents next week
8:30 Headed to Leslie and Ryan's to play Joker (the girls lost 2 out of 3)
11:00 Came home and went to bed!

The highlight of the day was..........I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End

2 years

2008-05-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

On May 13th Chad and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Needless to say we didn't go out to eat, didn't go watch a movie, we just hung out at our house and did nothing! Well actually it might sound pretty dull but we had alot of fun! I woke up and made breakfast and then when I got to my classroom at 9:30 there were flowers on my desk at school. Then when we both made it home I cooked pork chops and they were GOOD! We watched tv and just enjoyed being at home and relaxing! It was nice!
We were excited however when we made it through the week without anything happening and Norm (Chad's dad) being able to preach his first Mother's Day at his church. This Mother's Day was Norm's first time to actually preach at his church in Arkansas. He missed the first one because of our wedding. Then the year before that he had heart surgery. So, we were excited that he preached and no offense we were glad we didn't see Norm that week! Haha!
It was overall a good night! We had fun and enjoyed each others company!

A Scooter Family

2008-05-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Scooter life has been fun. Chad and I both have scooters now! Thats right....we are a scooter family!
Here's mine:

Here's Chads:

When we get bored we scoot around town. When we are headed to see friends, we scoot over to their house. We we are tired of being home and don't want to work around the house, we scoot around town. It has been good. Chad filled it up last week for $4.59. HAHA! It is great!
I have 10 more days of school. Actually 8 because the last 2 days we only go half a day. No lie, it has been a good year but I am ready for summer. I'm ready for a relaxing summer. This summer I will the Pool Manager at Green Tree Country Club here in town. My hours are 1 till 7pm. I'll be making some money, getting a tan, reading books, and hanging with kids! It will be a nice little job for the summer. Not stress full pretty enjoyable and I'll have a good tan!
Chad finished with his classes for the semester last week. He has started working on his masters. It was alot of work trying to do that and work. My idea of "Don't make grades, make memories" is not the best way to handle getting your masters. I had to help him make grades and memories were put on hold for awhile. He survived and made it through well!
My parents got to come last weekend. We didn't have any exciting plans just hung out and ate. We like to eat! Chad and Donnie went and hit golf balls and mom and I shopped. We had a good time! I was glad that got to come. Its sad that we live 1 1/2 hours from them and it is hard to get to Robert Lee. So the times that we do see are always fun!
That is pretty much all that is going on in our world!

Kimberly Jane

2008-04-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

After today our lives will never be the same! We have a new addition to our family.
A SCOOTER!!!!! We have named her Kimberly Jane.
Chad has been wanting one for awhile now. We drove to Weatherford Sunday afternoon and stayed the night there. He had been talking to a guy there in Dallas about a certain one that he really liked. He decided that he wanted to go there first tomorrow. We started looking at where it was in Dallas. It was at this point that Chad realized that they were closed on all Mondays. So, we found another place, and they were closed on Monday. Come to find out most places that sales any kind of street bike are closed on Monday. We're not sure why but they are.
So we looked and looked and found a place in Decatur. So we took off there after we looked at some on Weatherford. We got to Decatur but they wouldn't let him test drive one. So left there and headed south to Ennis. They would let him test drive it and give him the same deal as the place in Decatur. So.......we finally found one that he liked and would go at least the speed he wanted it to go. We left Ennis at 3:45ish.
We made it home. Unloaded it and then took turns driving it. Don't worry moms we have a helmet. It's pretty fun. We can both ride on it too! And it gets like 70 to 80 miles to the gallon. That's not a bad deal!

Caleb Walker

2008-04-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

I got the joy of seeing my family this weekend. I got into San Antonio on Thursday and stayed with Chad, Heather, and Caleb that night. I played with him, bathed him, feed him and of course spoiled him. Ok, not really how to spoil a 3 month old. But I did enjoy Friday morning when I kept him while Chad was at work and Heather was taking a test. We managed really well in fact. I had a great time and I enjoyed being there with all three of them!

Disciple Now Leader VS Disciple Now Wife

2008-04-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

The question for the day is:
Is it better/easier to be the wife of a youth minister during Disciple Now weekend or be a small group leader during Disciple Now weekend?

The Leader:
1. stays up late
2. never sleeps
3. hangs out with a small group the whole weekend
4. as much Dr.Pepper and oreos as you can eat
5. nice host home family
6. doesn't sleep in their own bed
7. really doesn't see the husband during the weekend

The Wife:
1. runs around for the husband
2. sees all the girls at their houses
3. eats everyones food
4. gets Dr.Pepper wherever she goes
5. sleeps in their own bed
6. doesn't stay up AS late
7. really doesn't see the husband during the weekend

Well......you tell me which one is better. Both sound good and both are hard...you decided.
I've done both....both are hard....both are good..........you decide!

It is finished.....

2008-04-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here is what our bathroom looked like last week. It has been a long road. A tiring road, frustrating road, annoying road, LLLLLOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG road, and actually a joyful road!

We started on this wonderful journey today at 10am. Give or take a few minutes. We started by making a run to Lowes to get some necessary items. Then we got back and started talking and figuring things out and realized we forgot something so we haeded back to Lowes. We took a break around 1:30 and ate lunch with my brother. By that time we had just got one screw in to hold the sink up.
It took about 6 or 7 trips to Lowes and tons of patience. We went to eat dinner at 6:30 and a that point we actually had the plumbing done but we were checking for leaks, We left and decided we would check when we got home.
Once we got home and checked for leaks, we actually didn't have any! Chad and I both were shocked. We hung the mirror and then went back to Lowes and bought new baseboards.
By 10:15pm we had the baseboards cut and painted. All we have left is the baseboards.
Check out our work.....let us know what you think.

(if you don't like it, we don't want to hear about it...if you do like it, leave LOTS and LOTS of notes for us!)

Still at it...

2008-04-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

It will have been 2 weeks on Saturday since we started our guest bathroom. And we still haven't finished. Our problem now is that we are not home long enough to do anything on it.
What is bad is that we had some friends over last week and the bathroom was destroyed. The pot worked but there was no door. I thought about making them use that bathroom. But since I have such a small number of friends I thought I should at least give them a door on the bathroom. So I nailed up a sheet.
Just kidding! Our bathroom was become everyone's bathroom! haha!
Chad has been at Staff Retreat most of the week. Since he was gone, I sure didn't hang out here at the house by myself much. So I didn't do much on our little project.
Tonight we made HUGE steps for us. What is scary about this deal is that I actually know how to do more of this than Chad. We had plumbing issues for the longest time in the bathroom. Chad and Micah Hoke spent all last weekend working on that. Needless to say, that took longer than expected. They got that done and it took awhile.
Tonight after school and work we put up sheet-rock and that was harder than expected. We talked to man at Lowe's and talked us through it.
We started working tonight at 7pm and stopped at 10ish. We had to cut two pieces and then half moon a hole because of the drain that goes on the sink. So......we got it. We are now offically one step closer to being done!

A Proud iPhone Owner

2008-03-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

As of Friday I became an iPhone owner. It is actually a funny but long story....
Chad and I both have been wanting an iPhone but we refuse to pay that much for one. Our phones work great. But we had a friend (Aaron) who had an iPhone. His phone ended up one day getting washed. Meaning, it didn't work anymore. He got his phone as a gift and so didn't get insurance. When his phone got washed his options were mail it off, be without a phone and hope Apple could fix it. Or he could just go buy a new one. He decided to get a new one.
Aaron gave the phone to Chad to see if Chad could get it fixed or take it to an Apple store. We (Chad and I) happen to be Dallas over spring break and took the phone by an Apple store. Apple said they would charge us "some" (not the full price) and replace it. We said "GREAT!" But Apple put the phone under Chad's name with Aaron's phone number. However, they didn't activate it. So we have an iPhone and we are using it.
Chad and I both got Christmas money and he has been saving for an iPhone. I don't save and I bought some really cute clothes.
Chad used his money and bought the iPhone and I was bitter. But because Chad's phone is on the churches cell phone plan he didn't know if he could have an iPhone. So he waited to hear yes or no. The answer came and it was a "Yes" but he would have to basically pay for his own plan. (I don't know why but that is what he found out!)
Chad decided to let me have the iPhone and it would only make my plan go up by 20 bucks. So I went to ATT and got a Sim card and Aaron was at our house yesterday too. I plug in the phone to iTunes and (here is where it gets really interesting) it activated my phone but with his number. My phone became his phone and his phone wouldn't work at all. Now, my phone is his phone and his other phone doesn't work. We started freaking and didn't know what to do. We called Apple and the guy (his name was Matt) started laughing and thought it was the funniest story EVER! We had to then get transfered to ATT and get Aaron's phone working. His other phone not my phone working for him. So, we talked to a lady at ATT and we got his phone working after 45 minutes. Then we went back to Apple to get my phone working. We talked to another who was rude and he said he couldn't help us it was ATT fault. So we got transfered by to ATT. After another 45 mintues and telling the story a total of 4 times both of our phones work.
I lost all my numbers in the process. Went through 2 different Sim cards and have a sad husband all because of an iPhone.
It was pretty funny. All in all I have an iPhone. Aaron's phone works and Chad still has his old phone.
But because Chad paid for it with Christmas money, I have to give him the other money that I have saved. But I still have an iPhone!

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Last year at Easter it snowed, this year it rained and is really cold. We got alot of rain last night that included some lightening and thunder. But we were so tired from working all day yesterday I sure didn't hear a thing during the night.

Some things never change as you grow up. Both Chad and I had to take pictures on Easter as kids. It was a just a must do! So now that we are older, for some odd reason we did it this year! So this picture is for our moms! They should be proud of us for doing this. It was a chore!

And some things do change when you grow up. For example, the Easter bunny didn't come to my house. I didn't hunt eggs this year. I didn't get any candy. Instead I worked on our house. Given the choice to hunt Easter eggs or grout a tile floor on Easter, I would pick hunting eggs. However, I didn't have a choice and we simply grouted the tile floor that was laid yesterday.

Now we have to let it set for 24-48 hours and then seal the grout. Let that set for 24 hours. Then put the sink in, hang the mirror, put the pot in and pray that it all works!

It has been interesting here working on the tile floor. Chad has never done this. I helped my parents when we put tile in our house. But that was a few years ago. We are almost done. So, I'll let you know how it works out.

Manual Labor Over the Break

2008-03-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a few days in Dallas over spring break. We left Midland on Monday and came back Wednesday. It seemed like we were gone for a really long time. It was nice to get away and hang out just the two of us. We shopped, watched a movie, and of course ate really good!
Thursday we just messed around here. Saw some friends and didn't do much.
Friday the hard work had only started. We decided to tile our bathrooms. Our living room, dining room, and kitchen is all tiled and so we decided to go ahead and do the bathrooms. We wanted to put in a pedal stool sink in the guest bathroom. Friday we started getting the guest bathroom ready to work on.
We torn out the sink, moved the pot, took out the mirror and then pulled up the vinyl floor. It was a chore. We got all that done and then we to eat at the Mehringers.
Saturday we tiled the guest bathroom and just took the floor up in the guest bathroom. It only took us about 2 hours to tile. CJ helped us. Amy, Topher, and Carter came over and went to get us Chick-Fil-A and then they left.
I decided to go ahead and paint our bathroom. That only took us about 30 minutes. It was pretty easy. Chad painted the trim. I painted the rest and taped. And I really hate taping.

By this time it was only 2pm. We couldn't stop then. So I went out and started trimming the shrubs in the front yard. Chad decided to start working in the back yard. We cut down all the ivy junk that had COVERED our backyard fence. This my friends, was a pain! Chad was on one side cutting the vines and I was on the other side pulling them off the fence. Our arms are all scratched up . We finally got this part done at 5pm or so. We tore up the yard. It looks so much better I have to admit! It actually makes the yard look bigger.

We took a sleg hammer to the arch we had that was by the gate so we could get in and out. Tearing this up was liberating! We both took turns at it. No lie...the sleg hammer was HEAVY!

We will grout the tile tomorrow. It is now 6:32pm we are clean and Chad is sleeping HARD in his chair!
This work thing is overrated but it looks good!

Caleb Walker

2008-03-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I got to actually see my nephew, Caleb Walker. He is pretty cute and actually a really good baby. He was pretty content just being held and didn't cry very much at all. I held him basically the whole time to make up for the 7 weeks I missed before I got to see him! I only gave him to Heather (mom) when he needed to eat. And all the other times I was holding him!
Here is a picture! Check out his hand! Caleb already knows that he is a Longhorn fan!

I had a great time spending the weekend with Chad, Heather, and Caleb! In a few weeks I will be seeing them again! I can't wait!

Basketball, DNow, and Everything Between

2008-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Basketball is over and has been since Feb 8. We played our last game in Lubbock against Lubbock Trinity. The first time we played them we got beat by about 50. When we played thenm on Feb 8, we got beat by 19 and we were within 6 in the 3rd quater. That is pretty impressive when you are talking about playing against Lubbock Trinity. They live, breath, and eat basketball. When they play, it is evident. But we played our guts out and had a great game. After the year that we had it was a good way to end the season.
The weekend after our last game was Disciple Now. It was a good weekend. It was different being the wife instead of being leader. But it was good all in all. No idea how many kids. I hung out at some of the girls houses and that was really entertaining. It was a good weekend.
Now junoir high track has started. Chad took off to Houston for a Student Life Conference. Brandon Horner, Paul Brand, CJ Malott and Chad all went. They are not back yet, but I think it was nice for them to get away, hang out and relax alittle bit. I do know that they ate at some really good places. I'm a little jealous.
That is what is going on in our little world. Not too exciting. But we are alive and kick'n.

The flu, crud, shivers, fever....

2008-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

I came home Thursday after school and basketball workout not feeling good. My throat was hurting and that was about all. Friday I woke up and I felt lots worse. I made it to school and had no energy and coughing up a lung and I was freezing! I decided to go home about 11am and I slept till 2pm. We had basketball games starting at 3:30. I thought that I would be fine. Needless to say I was just getting worse. I made it through the games barely. Kevin did most of the work. Saturday we had more games. Chad and I went to clean up the gm at 8:30. I kept the clock for the JV girls game and ended up going home in the middle of the game. I came home and slept for about an hour and then headed back to the gym. I felt absolutely horrible. I was freezing the whole game. I basically sat there while Kevin did all the work again. The girls played really well. I was VERY proud of them but I still felt bad. I ached all over and had a fever. This flue crud stuff is not fun! I am feeling better. I have no energy at all and my fever is gone. Chad has been VERY helpful. He has let me sleep and been very patient with me.
My advice: take Vitamin C and don't get this junk! It's no FUN!

Husband of the Year

2008-01-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

I (Jodee) spent this weekend in Fort Worth playing 2 distict basketball games. Chad decided to stay here and enjoy a weekend with nothing to do. He had a few plans that he told me but nothing major. I left Friday morning and came back late Saturday night. I would call Chad and give him updates on our games and scores. I thought that he was hanging out with the boys watching movies or sitting at the house. I was completely wrong!
Little did I know but he decided to paint our room, hang a ceiling fan, and paint the bathroom. I really had NO clue he was working on the house. He had mentioned earlier about doing some painting but nothing major. We (more of he) has been painting doors in our house. I really thought that he would continue painting the doors and that would be it. Man, I WAS WRONG! He primed the bathroom, painted the bathroom and our room all in 1 1/2 days! He has worked non stop. He rain into some problems with the fan. But our room looks AWESOME! He did an amazing job!
It is offical, he wins Husband of the Year!

Glorieta, New Mexico

2008-01-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

After we finished with our Holiday Basketball Tournament in Big Lake, Chad and I packed our clothes and headed for Glorieta, New Mexico to get away for a few days.

We spent 2 full days hanging out at Glorieta doing nothing but reading, playing games and watching a few movies. It was a great trip and nice to get out of town. We went into Santa Fe Sunday afternoon and went shopping and ate dinner. Monday (New Year's Eve) we walked around Glorieta in the snow. We saw bear tracks and made a snow angel.
It was nice to have a mini vacation before school starts back up again.

Christmas in Texarkana

2007-12-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

We had a very relaxing time in Texarakana this year for Christmas.

We got there on Sunday evening. Didn't make it to church at all that day. We hung out and played with Kayla and Brayden. We had Christmas at Chad's parents on Christmas day. It was about 3 or 4 by the time we opened gifts. Kayla got a cell phone and Brayden got a Wii. Needless to say we played the Wii alot.

Our shoulders were sore from playing it. We had a tennis tournament with everyone and then Brayden and I played Mario Party 8.
I flew home on the 26th for a basketball tournament. Chad drove home with our dog on Saturday. We had a good time and enjoyed seeing all of our family!

On the road.....

2007-12-24T17:32:00.001-08:00

When we left Robert Lee we headed east to see Chad's family. We got outside of Abilene Pearl (dog) threw up on me. It was pretty nasty! We stopped in Fort Worth and I went into a mall and found NOTHING! Then we got outside of Rockwall, I drove. Chad slept and that meant that I got bored driving. So I got my camara out and took pictures of us on the drive. I started eating Gobstobers and taking stupid pictures. I entertained myself while Chad slept!

Christmas Eve Gift

2007-12-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

I have come to realize that my family is crazy and fun. We don't have many traditions when it comes to the holidays. My parents are very flexible when it comes to when we need to be at their house for Christmas and so on.
We basically have one tradition when it comes to Christmas. No matter where you are for Christmas is it a contest to see who can call and say "Christmas Eve Gift" first. Now that Momma Aud knows how to text, she thinks that texting will count. I completely disagree. I call my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents all to say "Christmas Eve Gift." Growing up I didn't know why we did this but we always did. We read in an article a few years ago about other family's that did this same thing. The point of this is if you lose or are the last one to say "Christmas Eve Gift" then you are suppose to give the person that beat you to saying it a small gift. We never once gave the gifts, but have always said it. When you call someone's house you had better know that you will lose because my family answers the phone on Christmas eve and Christmas day with "Christmas Eve/Day Gift." So you will lose if you call someone. That's just the facts! That is the one tradition that we have and will always have.
Chad and I got to Robert Lee on Friday night at about 9ish. I'll be the firs to admit that I didn't get we didn't get my parents anything huge or amazing but things that they would actually like. Or at least I thought they would like. I was so excited about the salt and pepper shakers that we got mom I made the open their presents as soon as we got there. Normally we would wait till Chad and Heather or Amy and Lacy got there. But we knew we would be the only ones there, so we did it RIGHT then! It was pretty funny! I laughed hard because I was so excited about salt and pepper shakers. How weird am I? My mom has started buying the Fiesta wear dishes and has still been using her old salt and pepper shakers and they don't match at all. I was glad to see that when we ate at their house the rest of the time we were there the salt and pepper shakers matched.
Mom made us take a picture in front of the fireplace. Chad was complaining that he was hot and we needed to hurry up!

One other tradition that we have as a family is when we leave notes for each other we sign, "ILU." That is short hand for us meaning, "I love you." My mom got ahold of my camera and wrote a note and then they took pictures of themselves!

Our time in Robert Lee was short but really GREAT!

Christmas in Midland

2007-12-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

Since Chad and I would be leaving on the 21st we decided to do our Christmas on that Thursday the 20th. We went to eat and then we went to Starbucks and got something to drink. We then drove around in Grasslands to look at Christmas lights. Then we went home and had our Christmas together.
Chad had been asking for an electric razor since we got married. Supposely his didn't work very well. I have always said that buying a razor is not a FUN gift. He actually got it this year. Plus a golf bag, shoes, hoodie, a nerf gun (I'm an idiot for buying that), and a cap. I got some clothes, notebook, cook book, a couple of necklaces.
After we got done doing Christmas we watched Lost on dvd and then made some chocolate covered pretzels. We had a great night and and it was very relaxing!

Sunday Snow

2007-11-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we watched big flakes fall to the ground. When we got up this morning there was still snow! I made Chad take a picture with me in the snow. He said he would take one if Pearl was in it too. I caved here we are!

And one actually without Pearl!
We are enjoying the snow on the couch watching TV with our Christmas tree!

Christmas in the Air

2007-11-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

Chad and I went to Robert Lee for Thanksgiving and spent a couple of days with them. We got back late Thursday night so that I could get up at the crack of dawn to go buy a Christmas tree. I got up with all the other idiots in the world and went shopping on black Friday. I got home at 6:15am with nothing to show for my shopping experience. I went to 3 different stores and didn't buy a thing. Grant it I found things I could have bought but by the time I got in line with my arms full I was going to be just in line for at least an hour or more. I quickly realized I'm ok with spending a few dollars more and not stand in line for an hour. I put my stuff down and left. I only wanted to buy a Christmas tree.....that's really all I wanted.
I got home and went right back to sleep. Chad and I went to Lowes to find a tree. We got it home plugged it and it didn't work. The Longhorn game was on so I took it back and got anoher one.....same thing! It didn't work either. At this point, I decided we weren't going to get a tree. I ran by and looked at Target....no tree......went to Home Depot....found a TREE!!!!! I bought it and was a little nervous about plugging it in. Surprise.....it actually worked.
We went to see the Mehringer's and got home about 11pm. I started putting up the tree then and decorating the house with what little Christmas decorations we have. Thanks to the Beal's we have a new Christmas decoration!

We have a good break. Chad actually took off all week. It has been nice to sleep late, take naps, do nothing, watch TV, and hang out with family! 4 more weeks till Christmas. But it is getting closer. It's time to listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies, wear coats, and cuddle. This is my favorite time of the year!!!!!

Head Coach Update

2007-11-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

Our lives the past 2 weeks have been crazy! Changes, experiences, and adjustments have all taken place. But things are good overall.
Tuesday was the first game as head coach. We played Abilene Cooper and fought hard but lost in the end. I was very proud of the girls for fighting hard the whole time.
We left Thursday morning for San Antonio for a tournament. We played Brooks Academy and won. Then today we played NBCA and won again. Much improvement has taken place since Tuesday night. We are getting better and better. Overall our game has improved everytime we have played. Tomorrow we play at 1:30 and then we play again after that depending on the outcome of the game.
It was been a relaxing trip. I have seen Chad and Heather. They have been to the games and they ate dinner with us at Chick-Fil-A. They even bought Kevin Wallum and I Krispy Kream donuts! Mmmm good! I'm glad they have come since we won't see them Thanksgiving or Christmas. I'll see them again before we leave so that is good!
Since this whole head coaching thing, I haven't see much of my husband lately. Getting away and coming to this tournament was great because I do get to get away from EVERYTHING, but I do wish Chad could have come.
Through this pretty big change and adjustment in our lives I will say that Chad has been amazing! I started to pick out my clothes on Monday night for the first game as head coach and he brought in some clothes that he had bought for me. He has been patient, supportive, caring, and encouraging through all this.
Overall things are good. Busy but good!
Oh yea....Heather took some pictures of the girls tonight so when I get them I'll put some on here.
Until the next tournament updates......peace, love and hair gel!

Head Coach

2007-11-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

On November 7th at about 11:05 I became the interim Head Girls Basketball Coach at Midland Christian. Coach Fitts resigned as of Wednesday morning. I am now the head coach and we have a new JV coach. This has been one CRAZY week!
We have already had the first game of the season, but Tuesday at 7pm will be the second game of the season with a new head coach!
We play Abiline Cooper at 7pm here at Midland Christian!
You ALL should come. Even if that means you might need to get on a plane and come! You should come!

9 People, 6 Pizzas, 30 minutes....."I can hear"

2007-11-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight after church since the Cowboys were on TV Chad wanted to get home and watch the game. So we (I) ordered pizzas from Domino's online. Once I ordered the pizzas I made some brownies real fast. Once we got home with the food, we fixed the drinks and in 30 minutes or less 6 pizzas were gone!

Basketball games kick off for us on Tuesday. Varsity is playing at Chap Center and JV is playing at Lee. My JV girls will play and then as soon as I get done I will hurry and get over to Chap Center and help coach there. So.....we'll see how it goes.

Chad's mouth is good. He had an ear infection like 2 months ago and a hole in his ear drum. He basically hasn't been able to hear out of one of this ears for about 2 months now. It didn't get better so this week he wented to the doctor again this week. He got some medicine and started taking it. Then this morning at church, he was messing with his ear and trying to pop his ears. Then he leaned over and said, "I can hear." It was so funny! "I can hear."

So basically our lives really have been uneventful!

Our news...

2007-10-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

October 20th we bought a new car! Check it out!

On October 21st Chad was ordained to ministry by First Baptist Church Midland, TX. His dad preached at the service. His parents and my parents were all here for the Service. I didn't think it would be emotional for me, but it actually was. We both got home Sunday afternoon and our heads were hurting from crying. It was a great service though.

Then on Thursday Chad got his wisdom teeth taken out. I took off work and tried to be the cute patient wife. I made jello and pudding for him. We iced his face and his face wasn't swollen at all! He didn't say anything stupid at all. He completely behaved.

Travis Cotterll came and lead worship on Sunday at FBC Midland. It was incredible! Here are some pictures!

That was our past week! It was crazy but FUN!

Volleyball, Basketball, School, Church, Husband, Brother/Sister-In-Law

2007-10-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

We had 2 volleyball games this week. Monday we won, Thursday we lost, however we have made some major improvements. We are getting there. I guess we had better hurry up and get there since we only have 2 more games left! Thursday we went to Lubbock One girl forgot her shoes, one girl hurt her wrist in workout that morning, and then one girl failed and couldn't play. Needless to say, I my sub choices decreased fast Thursday night. The girls worked hard and played good overall. But a W is always better than a L.
Basketball is getting closer. We offically start workouts Monday. I tired to get us to workout on Sunday night at 12:01am. How fun would that be. But this whole they have to be at school on time kind messed up my plans. But we are starting Monday evening at 6pm. I will have a volleyball game and then head right over to basketball that night. It will be a long week going from 6-8:30ish every night. But I am ready for basketball.
School is good. I am getting use to teaching 3 different classes. I just have to be creative in motivating one of my classes.
Youth stuff is good. My girls that I have on Sunday mornings are GREAT! Chad and I have been to several Midland High volleyball games, football games to watch the band, and anything else in between that.
Chad is good. He is being ordained next Sunday. His mom is coming in on Tuesday and his dad is coming in Friday. Norm is doing the service. We are pretty excited. It will be good to see them.
Chad (brother) and Heather are getting ready to move to San Antonio. They are moving next weekend as well. We are not going to be able to help them move. They helped us so much when we moved and we can't make it to help them. Maybe they won't hate us. I'll get to see them in November when we have a basketball tournament in the San Antonio area. Heather is doing good. Soon and very soon we will have a nephew!
So basically.......life is GREAT!

Well.....

2007-10-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

This week was a little slower for us. No volleyball games, no evening plans....it was just us.
Just a little update.....Pearl, our dog is bigger. We haven't hurt her or left her. Nor have a I put her somewhere and left her there by accident. I have proof she is still alive!

We went over on Friday night and had dinner at the Mehringer's house. I had been a while since we had done that so Kim invited us all over for REAL food. We had steaks and corn and mushrooms. I didn't eat the mushrooms but the steak was good. Jane started the food but then we got the guys to do everything else and we just enjoyed talking and catching up. We hadn't had time to hang out with them in awhile. We were there Friday night till 1:30am. The guys then decided to play Halo3. I laid in the floor and sleep. I slept good till Chad woke me up and took me home.

Chad made a big purchase over the week. No not a TV like I told him to get the whole time. He bought a Xbox360 and Halo3. He has an addiction. He is playing all the time. He was up till 1:30am every night this week playing. He is teaching me how to play Halo3. As of now.....I'm not very good. He is playing at this very moment. He really does have a problem!

Pictures...

2007-10-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from Homecoming Week! It was CRAZY!

Don't you wish you could look like me?!?!?!?!

Homecoming, SYATP, Home Alone, and Volleyball

2007-09-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

This week was/is Homecoming. It's not over yet! Volleyball game tomorrow morning and the big football game tomorrow at 2pm. It has been completely CRAZY here this week. Everyday was a different dress up theme day. I dressed up a few times but never spent money to get my outfit. The first day was the best. But the rest of the week I was kind of lame in my clothing. It was too much work and of course my kids didn't take me serious at ALL when I looked like an idiot. I do have pictures, but I don't think it would be wise for me to post them on here. They could and probably would be used against me at some point.
See You At The Pole was Wednesday. I didn't make it to the breakfeast. But at 7:30am I took my 7th and 8th grade volleyball girls to the flag pole so they could be there. Then we ran back to the gym and continued with our workout. That night we had the SAW You At The Pole rally at our church. It was really good. Chad was out of town leading worship at a rally. I stayed home all alone! But the one that Chad was it and ours was both really good.
Chad went to our good friends church close to San Antonio and lead worship at that rally. He took Nathan Dillow, Woody, and Brandon with him. I managed staying here and survived all by myself. The boys had a good time though.
Volleyball is still going. I won't lie to you....it has been hard season. I have the 8th grade girls this year. I had the as 7th graders last year. They are doing good. Every game they are improving ALOT! We just can't seem to finish a game. We can't get a good win. But we are done with tournaments on Saturdays! That is a blessing! We are doing good though. I think there are 4 or 5 more games and then on to BASKETBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess that is all for now. This week our lives will be kind of slow. No games this week, just youth on Wednesday night!
No big plans this weekend. Just relax and watch football.

LAST ONE!

2007-09-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the 3rd and last junior high volleyball tournament for the season! This one is going to be very ROUGH!!!!!! I have to be at the school by 6:15am. We play in Odessa but we play at 8am and we need to be there about an hour before the game. Ouch! For those of you know that really know me, know that I am not a fan of the early morning hours. Especially on a Saturday! Not too excited about this. I might be making a run to Target though to buy some clothes or Chick-Fil-A. We'll see about those to exciting things.
Today is my mom's birthday. We would have taken off to Robert Lee but, I had a basketball party and then the tournament tomorrow. Guess we will celebrate her birthday another time.
I am getting better at this whole planning thing for school. It has been ALOT easier the past week. Maybe I have just used my time a little better during the week. Only 2 more weeks left in the first six weeks. Summer is 4 weeks closer! haha!
That is about all the exciting things in our lives.
Oh yea...we still have our dog. And we haven't even forgot about her. I think in 11 1/2 more years we will be completely ready for a kid. Pearl is getting us ready for that time.

40+Dr.Peppers and a birthday!

2007-09-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Chad took me out to eat for my birthday and gave my presents. His brother, my brother in law was going to be here on my birthday so he wanted to take me out before Shane got here. We went to eat and went to watch the MHS volleyball game. Oh yea...they came back and won 3 in a row and won. We left early. Stupid us!
While we were at dinner Chad told me I need to be at church on Wednesday night by 6pm and look nice. I didn't know what nice meant. Usually I come to church from school and I wear shorts and a t-shirt. He told me just wear jeans and a nice shirt. I got there and hung out with him for a little bit and then the door opened at the fellowship hall and Kim, Valeria, and Lesile were dressed cute and told me to come on! They took me out to eat for my birthday! We had a girl night and it was GREAT! I was completely shocked and didn't have a clue why Chad told me I had to look cute and be there at 6pm. But it was worth it!
So then on to Thursday. The actual birthday. I got to school just like every other morning before 7am. Yeah, I know that is early. I get there to turn the lights on, AC on, and get the volleyballs out. I sat at the scorers table and the first two girls show and hand me a Dr.Pepper from Sonic and said, "Happy Birthday Coach." I said, "Thanks" hugged them and started drinking it. Another girl shows up hands me a can Dr.Pepper and says, "Happy Birthday Coach." A minute later another girl and another Dr.Pepper. Then another girl and another Dr.Pepper. By the time 7:25 came around I had 24 Dr.Peppers that were in a can, one 2 liter, one from Sonic, and one from T&T. There was also a cookie cake in there too. I laughed alot and thought to myself this is pretty funny. I head to my classes and see that there are 2 more Dr.Peppers on my desk with notes from other teachers. I laugh again and don't think my about it. Then I start teaching my 3rd period class, there is knock on the door. I open it and am handed a Dr.Pepper and he said, "Happy Birthday Coach." This happens all during the morning. I went to lunch with Kim. I got back to school and walked in where the teachers are eating and then they pull out more Dr.Peppers and hand them to me. I got more during my afternoon classes. I think the total that I had recieved by 7th period was about 46 or so. I could be wrong. But I do know that is not coke machine in the building at Midland Christian that still has Dr.Peppers. They are all either at our house or in my classroom. I have never laughed so hard. I didn't know when it was EVER going to end. It was GREAT!
I didn't even have to clean up Pearl's poop this week.....cause its my birthday week!
It has been a great week and I have laughed alot.

The Seond First Year

2007-09-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am 3 weeks into my second year at Midland Christian. But it seems more like a true first year. Since school has started I have spent more time at school in the last 3 weeks than I ever spent at school last year. My mentor teacher last year was incredible! I taught 3 periods but they were all the same class. This year, my mentor teacher is gone and I have 3 periods all different classes. So I am constantly trying to stay ahead of the game. So far, I have been a failure! One of my classes got a new book, one class doesn't have the software I need for the class and the other is all freshman. Sunday afternoon I spent all afternoon at school. Last year I took naps on Sunday afternoon. I miss my mentor teacher. She made my life WAY WAY WAY easier. I'm making it though. Well...I'm kind of making it. I am headed back to school this evening to hopefully get a little more done. Maybe my third year, will be easier. My second year is harder. I don't think it should be this way! I'll make it though.

Zoo, School and Porch

2007-09-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend before school started Chad took me to Fort Worth to the Zoo. We had LOADS of fun! No lie. It wasn't too hot either. It was a fast trip but totally worth it!

School started. That means life is busy! I have 3 completely different classes. And basically I stay behind in lesson plans and the whole works. But I'll make it. I'm ready for basketball. No lie!
This weekend Chad and some other boys destroyed our back porch to put a new one up. This one will have a roof. As of today at 3pm they had issues. At 7pm they are actually making progress. It won't be done tonight like they thought it would, but they will have made some big steps. One of the guys is married, his wife and I hung out. We got out of the way today for them and went and crashed a 10 year old girls birthday party. Way fun!
Tomorrow school and so on.
Oh yea...Chad turned the big 27. As of now, he is as close to 30 as I am 20. Basically, his old. I made him a cake and bought him a couple of cd's. He isn't big on having a party so we ate his favorite meal and watched House!
My junior high volleyball team won their first game. It was all me. Not really, but I did look cute! haha!
I guess this is a short blog but full of insightful information! Yea whatever!
I forgot a funny story. We haven't paid a gas bill since we moved in this little house. Friday our water was cold. Didn't think much about it. Saturday is was really cold. We checked the hot water heater and realized it is gas. We haven't paid a gas bill remember. So we have no hot water. Not sure how we had hot water up till this point, but we don't have it right now. They can't come turn it on till Tuesday. This long weekend we haven't had hot water. So we just haven't showered. Not really. We went to some friends house and used hot water and loved it! Rookie home owmers.....gotta love us!
Ok I'm done. I'll try to update sooner next time!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2007-08-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

Lately Chad and I have been playing alot of Rock, Paper, Scissors. There is a purpose to this fun little game that we so often play.
When one of us comes home for work, school, shopping, eating or whatever one of us has to clean up Pearl's little mess she makes. If I come home before Chad then I clean it up. If Chad comes home before me then he will take care of it. BUT when we both come home together, we play the fun game. Loser has to clean up the poop. That's the deal. It's not a 2 out of 3 round or 3 out 5. But it is one game and loser gets the dirty job.
In the past we have played this game to see who cleans up the kitchen or who cooks. But now that we have a dog, it is all cleaning up the poop. Until 2 weeks ago before we had Pearl, I lost EVERY single time we ever played. No matter why we were playing, I lost. Within the last 2 weeks, since we have had Pearl, I have lost maybe once. Which means, Chad has become a very good pooper scooper.

One to other things that are going on in our lives.
We actually got the canvas's that I painted. Chad and I hung them last weekend and they actually look pretty good. It took awhile for the look to grow on Chad and I, but we actually like them. Let me know what you think?

This week was also Super Week for the youth. Basically that means that every night from 7pm till 8:30pm the youth had something that was happening for them.
Monday-games at the AB
Tuesday-scavenger hung
Wednesday-worship service
Thursday-food fight
Friday-Boot Camp for incoming 7th graders

Food Fight is the big night. Basically it is random foof with really random games. But the kids love it and it is alot of fun. I actually took pictures the whole time was the only person there to walk away completely clean! I took a ton of pictures and had fun staying clean!

12 more years....

2007-08-10T19:50:00.001-07:00

I, Jodee, have decided that it going to have to be at least 12 more years before we have kids. Getting a dog only comfirms this idea.
Here's the run down...
We brought Pearl home on last Saturday. She totally didn't sleep at all that first night (or the second, third, fourth, and so on....) To top it off she pooped in our room during the night and whimpered ALOT!
It has been a week now, she is getting better about going to the bathroom outside. During the night I still hear her. And for a small little dog, she can make ALOT of noise.
When we do put her outside, you would think by the sound of her that we were killing something. It is bad! We take turns who puts her in the little dog house when we leave cause she whimpers SO loud. She has started sleeping through the night but still leaving her mark in our room during the night.
Chad and I play Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who has to clean up the poop. Let me just say that Chad has been cleaning up Pearl's messes very well.

Today was not such a good day with Pearl.
Here's how things happened tonight....
4pm...wet the couch
8:15pm....wet the blanket that was on the couch
8:16pm.....Jodee whipped the dog
8:17pm.....cleaned up th blanket
9:37pm.....threw up in the chair and on me (jodee)
9:38pm.....Jodee almost threw up
9:39pm.....Chad cleans up the dog's throw up

Just when I think things are getting better and she is going outside more the throw up happens. YUCK! Nothing like sitting next to a little mound of dog puke and it getting on your jeans.
After Chad cleaned up the mess he told me, "I'm not ready for kids, we can't even handle a dog." My response, "AMEN, 12 years buddy."
Even though I have heard of many of my friends from Wayland that are now with child, we are NOT ready! Congrats to all those of you including Chad and Heather.....we are not ready.
Like my husband said, "We can't even train a dog, how are we gonna handle a kid."
All I say is 12 years.....12 years.......

Pearl

2007-08-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

2 monthes ago bought house. This month got a dog. Who knows what we'll get next.
We drove to Abilene today to pick her up. My plan was to get her before Chad got back from Ecuador. That didn't go like I had planned. So we left today about 4:30 and drove to Abilene and got her then came home. We stopped at Walmart to get the food, bed and other things. Now we home with our cute little Min Pin Pearl.
On the 2 1/2 hour drive we decided to think of names. We knew it was a girl but girl names are harder to come up with. We would read signs and say some random name off any sign we saw. One idea was "Sell" that idea came from "We Sell For Less." We thought of Star, Merkel, Bristro, Lady, Girl, and Wendy. We weren't too creative. But Pearl just kind of sounded fun. And so it is offical.....Pearl.
Once we got home we gave her some food and water. Afterwards she walked around the house then fell fast asleep on me.
I always said I would never have a dog that came inside. Just ask my friends from Wayland (Emily, Jen, Mike, Shawn, and Jeff) they will tell you. But now, I don't want to even put her outside. Chad said he would clean up the poop. I'm holding him to that.
Pearl is a pretty cool dog. Small but pretty cool......here are some pictures.

Rain and more rain...

2007-08-02T22:18:00.001-07:00

Over the past 2 days it has rained like you could not believe. Chad decided to go into the office a little later today because he was leaving this afternoon for the youth choir trip. We got up and started getting ready only to find the carpet in our closet and guest bedroom was wet. The area that was wet wasn't huge but you could totally tell that it was soaked. We got out the fans and started to dry out the different areas. I was in panic mode thinking great....this is gonna cost ALOT! But, Chad talked to the maintance guy at church and they said that it was probably just a little crack in the slab and when it rains this much it soaks through the crack. Basically, that is code words for wait, dry it out, and see if this ever happens again. We got the fans going and it is drying out pretty fast.
As I was in panic mode because of our little issues...I realized that we were by far lucky compared to some people. On my way to school this morning I saw easily 4 houses in a row on Northup Street that had the carpet out in the yard. There were many houses that were flooded completely. We were lucky compared to some people in the town. The city has been pumping the water out of some of the streets in our neighborhood to a little creek thing. There is so much water here.
Once I actually got to the gym for a volleyball meeting.....the gym lobby had about an inch of water in it. The 4 of us volleyball coaches got out the brooms, mops and whatever else we could find to get the water out of the lobby. It took a awhile....but we got it done. I walked over to the High School once we were done with the meeting, and needless to say the whole school was underwater. On my hallway every classroom had water in it, even the computer labs. They were using anything they could find to get the water out. Our poor janitor staff had just waxed all the floors......they are going to have to redo them.
Bates and I went back up to the gym tonight to make sure there wasn't anymore water and as of tonight we are good!
There is water though everywhere in this town!
My advice, take an umbrella.
The next exciting news is that Chad and I might be getting a dog. I found some that we like in Abilne and we might be driving there on Saturday to get a miniature pinscher.
Not sure yet on this whole thing. It was suppose to be for Chad's birthday and I was going to get it before he got back from Ecuador. That didn't happen but we'll see about this. We might be dog owners on Saturday!
Got a house and what else do we need...a dog! We'll keep you updated!

Home Sweet Home

2007-07-30T18:07:00.001-07:00

Chad and the group made it back! They got back into Midland about 1:15am. They were all pretty tired when they got home. I think they were up for almost 22 hours yesterday.
He got to come home to our nice decorated house with no water. We had a leak that I found Sunday morning. I couldn't get anyone to fix it Sunday afternoon so Chad got to come home to a house with no water. Fun times!
I decided that a water leak would be the best way to welcome Chad home from a foreign country....don't you think?
It's fixed though now.....we are very grateful for water!

The Living Room

2007-07-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Since Chad has been I decided to do something half way productive today. I had a couple of people to help me out along the way. We got some stuff hung in the living room. And I got the guest bathroom painted too!

Servant Life

2007-07-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

I got an email on Friday night from Chad and he said they had made it to Ecaudor. I found a blog that Student Life has set up for the teams that they have out. If you go to studentlife.com then click on Servant Life. Once that site has come up click on Ecaudor in the middle of the screen. So far there are two postings from CJ about the group. I don't think I will hear anything till Saturday or Sunday from Chad but I know they are updating the blog at Servant Life daily. At least, I think they are trying to do that daily. Just thought some might want to see what is going on and how you can pray specifically for them.
As for me...Chad and Heather came in this weekend. We hung out and celebrated my brothers 27th birthday Sunday. I got the bathroom painted. It looks good!
The bad news is in ONE month school starts!
The exciting news is 4 more days of class and 6 more days till Chad comes home!