What a great time!

Ok, I know, I haven't posted in a LONG time, but I'm hoping to make up for that in 2010.

Here's the skinny - in 2010 (and just so you all know, in my head I'm saying "Twenty-Ten" lol!), I turn 27. For some reason, I have always thought that 27 was the perfect age. I don't know why, I don't know when I started believing this, I just think it's going to be a good year. Also, Tom and I are starting off the year with a vacation!

We're taking a trip to visit Tom's family in Texas! A week long fun fest! Plus, we're going to visit the HQ of one of our favorite websites, and see the Gulf of Mexico - which I've never seen before!

Also in 2010, we'll get to celebrate lots of birthdays and holidays with our friends and family; we've got lots of projects planned - new back patio, possibly painting some bedrooms, redecorating our master bath, and POSSIBLY new flooring in our Kitchen/Dining room (depends on how tax-time treats us!); and, our Five Year Wedding Anniversary is in March! eek! I can't believe it's been that long! In April, Tom and I will have been together for 8 years! He's my soul mate, I could have never imagined myself with a more perfect man.

2010 is also going to be the year of debt reduction and debt loss. For example, I believe our goal is to have at least two of our smaller credit cards completely paid off and cut up by this time next year! Yay! Also, the possibility of paying off Tom's Durango seems to be in the cards. The quicker we pay off the Durango, the quicker we can get myself a new car!

The economy looks better now than it has in the past 3 or 4 quarters - hopefully we'll be able to make the headway we want, and possibly receive more monetary incentives in the upcoming year. We can hope, right? lol!

We have other hopes and aspirations for 2010, but we'll leave those for another day - no reason to get any one's hopes up. Nothing is definite - more like planning and trying for "certain things" but nothing as of right now.

I don't usually make New Years Resolutions, because I don't like the pressure you get from them. However, here are a few I am hoping to keep:

1. Make sure that my husband knows everyday that he makes me the happiest I have ever been in my life. Show him the appreciation he deserves, and treat him like the King of my heart that he is.

2. Say "Yes" more times than I say "No." There are times when I say "Not right now" to my nieces and nephews, but why? What better time than NOW to play with them, to play BoomBlox or Wii bowling? what better time than NOW to cuddle with them, watch movies, play with their dolls, or watch them skateboard?? Why shouldn't we go out and play an impromptu game of Horse with Brett, or sit down in the floor and play memory with Kayla? Why shouldn't I color with Nikki? Or read with Jason? Why shouldn't I watch Sponge bob with Maddy, or play blocks with TJ? Why shouldn't I run to the store with Cathy? Or play in Lisa's room? Why shouldn't I sit down and watch M*A*S*H with my dad? Or just cuddle with Deloris? Or go outside with my mom when she goes to smoke? Why shouldn't I visit my brother when we're in Conway? "Yes" is so much more fun than "No". And this is the year of years for us. Why shouldn't we have fun?

3. I want to keep the friends that I have, keep them close, and grow our friendships. I love you guys, and there are times, I know I should make more phone calls, it's just "easier" to hit you up on facebook or email. This is probably the hardest, because I really don't like making phone calls, but I'm getting better!

4. I want to get into good eating habits, like we had in 2009, that helped us become healthier than we've been in the past 10 years. I'm also hoping to keep walking, playing softball, getting out and just playing!

5. I have not been a regular church goer in over a year. It's been hard, it's been rough, I've fought with my faith. But, in this year I've realized, you don't HAVE to go to church to know HIM. You don't have to participate in all of the church activities to have HIM in your heart. It helps, it strengthens the faith, and it brings you together with people who believe the same way as you do. I've found faith so many times in this past year, in places I never thought I would. I know HE is alive in me, and HE shows himself in the most unlikely ways. Kandi has helped me see that. My goal for 2010 is to see HIM where others may over look HIM. see the beauty in what we have everyday, and to enjoy those special moments even more. The "Ordinary Moments" should be cherished just as much as the special ones. I'm wanting to show those special moments in ordinary life more attention.

Those are my "resolutions". Those are what I want to do in 2010. A lot of people do the weight loss resolution - I did last year. We dropped 90 pounds each. We had to work hard, and I think it has paid off ten-fold. This year, I want to work on relationships, build good habits, and strengthen my Faith. It's not a long list, but by golly, it's going to keep me busy all year long! :)

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas holiday, and have a fantastic New Year's celebration. 2010 is the year. It's my year.

Will you make 2010 your year too?

A lot to be Thankful for!

Where has this year gone??

It's almost December 1st.

Wow... we've been through a lot this year!

We've lost 90 pounds this year...
We played co-ed softball this fall...
Tom and I have both had a great year at work...
We've been able to tuck some money away this year - to go towards christmas gifts, and our trip to Texas in January...

It just feels like we've had a great year.

I'm so thankful for the friends and family that have been with us this year. So thankful to have a wonder God watching over us. So thankful to have two "fur-babies" who are no longer babies, I guess! They seem to always know when we aren't feeling so great! I'm so thankful that both, my and Tom's, companies are doing well enough to keep us on.

Our prayers are with those who have lost loved ones, jobs, and pets. It's been a hard year, but we'll make it because He won't give us more than we can handle!

I love you all and pray that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!

Our plans include: me watching the Macy's parade while Tom sleeps in, cooking our own Thanksgiving dinner, and watching movies! yay for a great day!!

Thank you all for being in my life!

Love,
Jessica

Joe and Jose

Ok, firstly, I don't normally post things quite this political... but to me, it hits the spot!

This is scary and so close to the truth, too.

Joe and Jose

You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal". Both families
have two parents, two children, and live in California .

Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes
$25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.

Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number,
and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".

Ready? Now pay attention...

Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $ 1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00
per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has
$31,231.00.

Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or
$31,200.00 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has
$31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for
his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now
has $24,031.00..

Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and
local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has
$31,200.00.

Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or
welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per
year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.

Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps
and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe
Legal now has $9,631.00.

Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose
Illegal pays $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal
still has $ 31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal
now has $7,231.00.

Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has
$31,200.00.

Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.

Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities,
gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after
work.

Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school. Joe
Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get
a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after
school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services,
but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.

Do you get it, now?

If you vote for or support any politician that supports illegal aliens...

You are part of the problem!

It's way PAST time to take a stand for America and Americans

I am going to do this project this month for my parents - done by my niece and nephews!! How cute?? Fingerprint Snowmen Ornaments!!




I took this video from WonderHowTo. Such a cute site for How To videos!

Getting ready for the holidays! I'm going to try and keep everyone posted on my craftiness during this time!!

<3 Jess

What a great week...

Wow... this has been a fantastic week!
1. Numbers look good at work. We have been bustin' ass and takin' names!!
2. Fall Nationals was Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Orlando. Sounds like everyone had a good time.
3. I gave my Miley Cyrus ticket to my niece, well, she's my best friend's daughter, so she's my "niece" lol! I love my nieces and nephews - biological or not! So, I decided she'd get way more out of the concert than I would. That's tonight.

Here are the girls in front of the stadium at the Miley Cyrus concert!

Here they are in front of a green screen! Aren't they adorable??

4. I won tickets on Tom FM to Billy Joel and Elton John!! I'm so excited! I was begging Tom to try and win tickets for me, but I wound up winning them! yay!
5. I stepped on the scale - I started the diet at 290 pounds, I'm now at 196.5! Only 6 1/2 more pounds, and i hit goal.
6. Tom and I went shopping for new jeans today. I got a pair of size 16 jeans... yay!! And they are super cute!!

I'm having so much fun in life right now!! I hope things are going well for everyone else... I can't wait to see pics tomorrow from Cathy. She's with the girls at the concert. Sounds like they are having a BLAST!!!

<3 Jessica

2010 Survey

Welcome to the new 2010 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are
supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they
apply to you. Then send this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to
you.

Some of you may get this several times; that means you have lots of friends. The easiest way to do
it is to hit 'forward' so you can change the answers or copy and paste. Have fun!

I want to see your answers!

1. What is your occupation right now? Testing Representative for the American Taekwondo Association
2. What color are your socks right now? no socks right now!

3. What are you listening to right now? Hotel Babylon on tv.

4. What did you eat last night? Tom took me to the greek restaurant in bryant, we had hummus and pita, and i had a lamb and mozzerella calazone. yummy!!!
5. Can you drive a stick shift? technically... i know the physics behind it, anyway...
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My sister
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yup, it was Tom's Aunt Marti
8. How old are you today? 26
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? baseball... but i'd prefer to watch it in person, AND I would always prefer to play!!
10. What is your favorite drink? diet dr pepper
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes, i need to do it soon, too.
12. Favorite food? anything Tom cooks.
13. What is the last movie you watched? Wanted
14. Favorite day of the year? March 19... my anniversary
15. How do you vent anger? i cuss... a lot...
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? either a barbie - or my kid brother lol!!
17. What is your favorite season? fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? blueberries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? i love it when friends email me!
20. Who is the most likely to respond? ???
21. Who is least likely to respond? ???

22. Living arrangements? homeowner/wifey
23. When was the last time you cried? umm... earlier this week... because the vending machine was out of peanuts... lol i was emotional... bite me.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? nothing.
25. Who are the friends you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I'm posting it on my blog... lol but Ashley and Cassandra are probably my friends i've known the longest! (more than 10 years!!)
26. What did you do last night? watched Hotel Babylon, hung out with Tom, watched CSI, and hung out with my amazing husband.
27. What are you most afraid of? heights...
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? plain

29. Favorite dog breed? German shepard
30. Favorite day of the week? Friday or Saturday
31. How many states have you lived in? just the one.

32. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds
33. What is your favorite flower? i love gerber daisies! but roses are also wonderful...

Wow...

Ok, so let me tell you - other than a bit of cold, rainy weather, and my sinuses not liking our Summer-to-Fall weather change - I have had one of the best weeks since I started at ATA.

No drama in our office.Michelle, Marissa, Mr. Jacobs, and I went to lunch on like Monday or Tuesday - it was a nice lunch. (I was really happy because I got to steal everyone's checks and pay for lunch. I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing that! hehe!!) After lunch we all stopped and bought lotto tickets, i won like $8 (after spending $10) lol! I don't mind the lottery because it means that when my nieces and nephews or, God-willing, my own kids go to college, they will have access to the Arkansas Challenge scholarship. Tom had that scholarship when we were in college, his
second or third year they ran out of money - but they still paid him his scholarship money, Thank God! Hopefully, this will make the scholarship more wide-spread and be able to pass out more money to high school graduates to help them go to college.

Anyway, so great week at work. I only have a couple more applications for Fall Nationals to take care of. Then, I can do my score sheets, and print my numbers! Yay!!

This weekend has been really good too. Friday night, Tom made dinner, and we watched our first Netflix dvd - Wanted. OMG! What a weird/awesome/gorey movie!!! Then, we watched a couple episodes of Dexter on Netflix (PS. I love Netflix!!). I wound up crashing a little early with a sore throat.

Saturday, we woke up kind of late (i needed the sleep!) and got dressed and headed to Pine Bluff to hang out with Tom's mom at an SCA event. SCA is an organization that, for a very short and subtle explanation, likes to recreate medieval armor, weaponry (out of pvc pipe and rattan), and clothing, and like to reenact certain battles and/or scenarios of wars. To me, to begin with, it sounded like a lot of hype for a hobby. But, some of these guys take it really seriously, definitely to a higher level than other participants. It is a game. They all refer to it as a game. Some of the clothes are cute. I'm a big cloak person (Probably because of Harry Potter lol!)

It was definitely an interesting experience. The event was named Diamond Wars and held at a camp in Pine Bluff. Here are some of the photos I took:

Can't go wrong with a pic of us two, right??
Here is a pic of them fighting - the guys on the outside of the fort have to fight their way INTO the fort. easy enough right?? No!! Even though their weapons are made out of PVC pipe and rattan, they can be pretty brutal!!
Here is Tom's mom in her period garb. She looks cute, doesn't she??

Nick and Tom, "Bottle Jousting". What you can't see is that they are each standing on a piece of PVC pipe that is about a foot long, and you have to balance on it, while trying to off balance your competitor. Also, you aren't supposed to hit the other person - just their stick.

Tom, trying to keep his balance while Nick kicked his butt at Bottle Jousting.

After we watched a couple more fights, we all went up to "Merchant's Row" and checked out the shopping. It was cold, muddy, and miserable, so there were some shops closed. But the ones that were open held some of the neatest stuff. It was almost like walking through Toad Suck Daze in Conway. I think my favorite little shop was selling all sorts of jewelry, earings, pendants, bracelets - even a THONG - made out of links of chain-male. Like the Knights from that time period wore! It was neat. I thought it was a very ingenious idea to use the links as decoration instead of protection.

After that, Tom and I headed out to meet up with Ashley. But, come to find out, the cell tower in White Hall was down, and so we couldn't get in touch with her. We tried calling a few times, but couldn't get through, so we went to The Pines mall - it was a good sized mall, but it looked like a lot of people had closed their stores. Tom and I discussed the death of the "mall" setting. I enjoy malls, but I don't shop enough at them. I like going to Dillards, and Pennys, and sears, but some of the smaller shops, I won't shop at. I'll go and look around, but very rarely do I ever actually BUY something there. I'm the cause of the death of the mall. Maybe not me, specifically, but people like myself.

I also saw Senior Master Anderson's studio in the mall:

Not a great pic, sorry, it was on my phone lol!!

Anyway, at the Dillards in the mall - lol, yeah I know - I'm a nerd. Tom bought me a new Fossil purse!!! Super super cute!! It was originally $98, marked down to $29.50, on clearance with another 50% off, PLUS, Tom's Employee discount. We got a $1o0 Fossil purse for **drum roll please!!!** $16.04 AFTER TAX! haha! Yay us!! I love Dillards.

We decided for Christmas, rather than buying for each other, we decided to spend money on us. We are going to buy us a kick ass coffee maker from Dillards. AND, i think we're each going to get a new pair of jeans. Then we're going to do like $40 or $50 a piece for our stockings, but other than that, we're not doing anything for each other for Christmas. We always get each other a new ornament for Christmas - so that's a given. I've already got Tom's picked out! yay me!!

Anyway, so we wound up not getting to meet up with Ashley - because we couldn't get a hold of her because the cell tower was down in White Hall. We drove around for like an hour and a half looking at random apartment complexes in White Hall, trying to see if we could spot her car. But we could never find it! We tried! I promise lol!

After that we headed back to Bryant, and wound up eating at our favorite little mexican place. Then, we decided we were going to go walk around Best Buy to work off some of our dinner. lol! We wound up picking up a new laptop mouse for me - wireless! yay!! And we picked up Halo ODST for Tom. I think he likes it. He played last night for a couple of hours, and has played for a good part of today on it!

Oh! yeah, with it being blistery cold and windy yesterday at Diamond Wars, I seem to have knocked this "sore throat" into overdrive. I'm having sinus issues and drainage and a sore throat. So, today, I'm relaxing, resting, lots of fluids, Tom's even got me some Drunken Chicken Soup going for us tonight for dinner in the crock pot!!

I'm off to check my facebook and to do some more photo editing! Plus, I've got to load all the pics from Diamond Wars into my facebook and tag the snot out of them!!

Here's to another great week! We have a couple of softball games (hopefully!), some good shows on tv, possibly heading to my parents house for dinner one night. ALSO! We should get the first disc of season 2 of Hotel Babylon from netflix!! yay!! Plus! Monday is Columbus day! No mail, which means that we should get a little caught up on some piddly stuff at work! YAY!!!

Next weekend is going to be cram packed too. Friday night, Nikki's going to spend the night, then my sis is going to pick us up and we are going to do the Walk for the Cure. Then, we're probably going to go to Conway so Kandi and I can work on our costumes for Halloween! I'm trying to talk her out of Wilma and Betty and do something a little, i don't know, WARMER?? It's going to be COLD!! I love this weather though.

Sorry for the long post, but dang it's been good. I hope you guys are all having a great October!!

<3 you all!!
Jessica

Wow...

Ok, so this week has been way hectic! We were behind at work. Finally, got caught up and then, one of the girls in our office got fired on the last day of the month. Michelle and I handled the 1st and 2nd day of the month (Thursday and Friday) by ourselves pretty well! I was quite surprised at how well we kind of slid into our One-Man-Down mode. But she and I work really well together - when we don't have someone trying to keep us at odds.

Anyway, so that was this past week.

This weekend has been great! Friday night, Tom and I went to dinner at Chizi's- our favorite little buffett pizza place. Then, we went to Dillard's and picked me up a new wallet. Then we walked around the mall and then we went to Garden Ridge in west little rock. That was a lot of fun! Very rarely do we ever buy anything at Garden Ridge - but we love to look around at the stuff that they have.

Tom and I are doing a Gingerbread man christmas theme this year! I can't wait! We have most of the decorations already - I just need a LOT of felt, some buttons and some thread lol! Oh! Did I tell you?? I'm making my halloween costume this year! Well, mine and Kandi's! I'm super excited!!

That's off topic! Ok, so we got home Friday night, watched a movie, then Tom played his game, and I crashed on the couch. Then, Saturday, Tom and I worked on our computers in the office. Then, we went to my sister's house for my nephew's birthday party!

Kayla, Nikki, Maddy, and Jason were all there.

TJ and his Lightning McQueen cake!!

TJ wanting to share his cake with me!

TJ, after he opened some of his gifts. He looks excited doesn't he?

TJ and his mommy!

TJ and his big gift, a scooter!!

Nikki and me!!

We had a great time! After TJ's party, we came back home and hung out, watched a movie or two, then headed to bed.

Sunday, we woke up, took a shower, and slipped into fresh pjs and watched the 10th Kingdom! Now, we're waiting on dinner, and watching Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Dinner smells freakin' righteous!


The weather today has been awesome! cooler temperatures and rain! I am in flannel pj pants and a long sleeve tee! We have the windows open!! It's awesome!! I'm looking for new recipes to use - I got one for White Chili - Super excited!

October is a super busy month for us:

Saturday the 10th - Tom and I are possibly going to go with Tom's mom to an SCA event so I can photograph them. Then possibly trying to meet up with Ashley for dinner that night in White Hall.
Sunday the 11th - I need to go to Conway so that I can get working on my and kandi's halloween costumes.

Friday the 16th - Nikki is going to come and spend the night, then Saturday the 17th, Nikki, Cahy, and I are doing the Walk for the Cure.

Saturday the 24th is the Miley Cyrus concert - and yes I'm going. It's me, Cathy and Nikki going! Nikki doesn't know yet. It'll be a total shocker!

Then, we have Lisa's 3rd birthday on the 27th.

THEN, we are going trick or treating with Kandi and her kids and brothers. We're going to have a blast!!
I'm tired just thinking about this month!!

Anyway! I'm out!

<3 you all!
Jess

What a great weekend! (So far anyway!)

This is starting off as such a great weekend.

I had a really rough week - lots of drama. Work was crazy. Things seemed to settle down - haha - once I got home! Anyway, Tom decided that we should have a weekend of our own. Our plans for today? to veg in front of the tv/laptops.

I came home last night, and asked Tom if I could have a "testosterone" evening lol! I wanted to watch action movies, and play Halo, so I could blow people up! lol

Friday night (last night), we watched Die hard, which I've never seen before. I was pleased with it! Then, we watched Batman and Robin - not the greatest movie - but definitely good enough to satisfy my "testosterone" craving lol! we both got busy on our laptops and rather than playing Halo, we put on a couple of episodes of Rough Science - it's a neat show from PBS. Definitely a good NetFlix find!

Tom plays a game called EV Nova, that's what he was busy with last night. Me? I did photo editing:

Nikki

Andrea and Juan Sebastian

Kayla and Nikki

Ashley

Nikki

So then, after a couple of episodes of Rough Science, I crashed.

This morning (Saturday) we got up and headed back to our living room. We've loafed around today. haha! We started the day by watching Blazing Saddles, and now we're finishing up Rough Science. Here soon, I'll need to work on dishes/cleaning the kitchen, I need to clean the cats' bathroom. (Yes, our cats have their own bathroom lol!) Then, I also need to work on laundry.

Oh well, gunna be a decently busy evening.

Tomorrow, Sunday, Tom's got to go and help my dad move my grandfather from one building to the next at his Assisted living place in little rock. Then, Tom's mother is coming to dinner. I don't know what we're going to do after dinner. Probably just sit around and yack. Oh well.

Then it's back to the dailey grind on Monday.

Talk to you all later!!

What an awesome weekend...

So, Friday night, Tom and I went to one of my best friend's mother's birthday parties. Her 50th!! They are so awesome. That was at Gabe's Grill in Bryant - Tom and I had never been there before, but it was quite good! We did turn down some chocolate raspberry cake... darn! It looked REALLY good!!

Saturday, we woke up kind of later than we meant to. We were going to try and pop in at Tom's mom's house to visit for a little bit - but we just didn't have time. Because! My Maddy's birthday party was Saturday!

Her actual birthday was last Tuesday, but we did her party on Saturday!!

She loves Spongebob:
Her cake was spongebob sitting on top of his pineapple house! It was awesome!! Doesn't she look so determined to blow those candles out?

She loves Dora:

So Aunt Jessica and Uncle Tom picked her up a Dora mermaid! It must have been a good idea, cuz two other people also picked up the Dora mermaid! lol! But that's good though, cuz now she has one for her house, Gramma Tammy's house, AND Gramma Sandy's house!

She had a blast at her party - can you tell?? How can you NOT just fall in love with this child?? All of Kandi's kids have that affect on people though! They are all great kids!!

Here is Maddy giving Gramma Tammy kisses. Gramma is ordering Maddy a Design your own skateboard kit, so we can design it with Dora on it!

After Maddy's party, we went back to Kandi's house to watch the hogs game, well, we had a lot of people there, so Joey moved the TV out to the front porch and we watched the game outside! It was neat! Tom spent most of the time fixing Kandy and Joey's computer. We had to wipe it, which sucks. But, we should be able to get all her photos back on her computer.

Oh! That reminds me, I have to log into Kandi's myspace and facebook and add some photos to her pages!

Today, I spent most of the day doing "Fall cleaning" and decorating for the fall. I love this time of year. I really do. Then, we had my parents come over for dinner. They are having a rough time right now. Tom made some killer beef brisket. we're talking about making it again next weekend.

It's been a great weekend. However, I'm ready for bed! lol! Too bad I have some work to do!!

<3 Jessica

Labor Day Weekend

Wow, this has been a really good weekend. Here's the short version:

This was a cheat weekend for us with our diet. We ate whatever we wanted the whole time! It was great!!
Friday night: Tom and I went to dinner - but we didn't know where we wanted to go - so Tom had me just start picking numbers between 1 and 10. Certain numbers meant we turned left, others meant we turned right. Some meant we got on the freeway, others meant we took the service road. It was SO much fun!! I dubbed it "Spontaneous Human Interaction". So anyway, we wound up at Chili's in Bryant. It was AWESOME!!

This is Tom at Dinner - isn't he so dang cute???

Then, we played the game again, and wound up in West Little Rock and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 3D!! We didn't get home until like 1:30 in the morning! It was such a fun date night!!

Here is us waiting for the last showing to empty, so we could go in to watch the movie... These geeky looking glasses were the 3D glasses. How cute are we??

This is us in the theater... damn we're cute!!

Saturday, we spent the morning just kind of hanging out at the house. Then we went to my parents' house to do "family crap". I was really surprised at how much fun I had. My Aunt Dianne and Uncle George came over with one of my cousins' kids, he's like 2 or 3 months old. Super cute. My cousin doesn't really want much to do with his own child. Breaks my heart, y'know? Any way, my other cousin, Leon, came over with his girlfriend and their two kids. He is doing really well to take care of his responsibilities. I'm really happy for them.

Anyway, after that we came home, Tom made me a couple ring tones and we listened to music for a while before hitting the bed.

Sunday, Tom and I went to Conway to hang out with Kandi and her crew. It was a lot of fun. Tom, Mom, and Kandi all had Tequila. I've learned my lesson, I only drank about half of a Mike's Hard Lime, and a quarter of a shot of Tequila. I really didn't want to get sick. Anyway, so we had a great time at Kandi and Joey's. We got to hang out with her mom which was nice. We watched some Nascar - which I have never in my life actually paid attention to. it was interesting... a lot of left turns, but mom was trying to teach me some of the strategies within the pit stops and the crews and stuff. It was fun. The Tequila kicked Tom's butt, he wound up sleeping off some of the effects on one of the kids beds.

Poor guy... When you lose 80 pounds, your body can't handle quite as much Tequila as it could before. lol. Kandi and I got to talk for a while, and we watched "I Love You, Man." Super cute movie!! I thought it was a really good movie. I don't know how much Tom would have liked it, but oh well!

Today, Monday, we have just hung out at the house. I've ran a couple loads of laundry. We did the dishes earlier, swept and dusted the front room room. Tom even filled all of our bottles of water up.

We have softball practice Tuesday night, a game on Thursday, and I have no clue what all is going on this weekend! I know we have to mow the yard... hehehe... we skipped out on that this weekend!

Anyway, I said it would be short, and this is all but short lol!

Love you all!!

Only Tuesday??

Man, last week FLEW by, but this week is dragging!!

Tom and I have been watching a show called Penn and Teller's BullShit! It's awesome! We have so far watched episodes about the so-called Obesity Epidemic, Wal-Mart, Handicapped Parking, and Illegal Immigrants.

You have to understand, Tom and I talk about just about everything. We actually discuss issues. It's really nice. I like that we share a lot of our beliefs and ideas. But, I'm also glad that we are adult enough to discuss each others' opinions without causing a fight. We have a really good relationship.

Anyway, I was hoping to clean house all week, but have DEFINITELY not been motivated... maybe I'll get to it later in the week?? I dunno...

<3 Jess

I should find something productive to do...

A waste of about half an hour... lol! oh well!!

A - Available: only for Tom
A - Age: 26
A - Annoyance: annoying people?

B - Best Friends: Kandi, Monica, Ashley and Cass - and Tom
B - Bar: not much of a drinker.
B - Birthday: cake on Labor Day!!

C - Crush: Tom
C - Car: Neon
C - Cat: Penny and Ellie

D - Dead Pets Name: Idgy
D - Dad's Name: Bob
D - Dog: don't have one

E - Easiest Person To Talk To: Tom
E - Eggs: boiled?
E - Email: not likely lol

F - Favourite Colour: purple
F - Food: pizza
F - Foreign Slang: Hasta Lasagna!

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
G - God: yes
G - Good Time: hanging out with friends and family

H - Hair Color: brunette
H - Height: 5 5
H - Happy: yes

I - Ice Cream: only carb right stuff
I - Instrument: I play the radio pretty well!
I - Idol: My favorite is David Cook - or Andrea if she makes it!!

J - Jewelry: my wedding ring and my engagement ring are all I ever wear
J - Job: ATA Testing Rep
J - Joke: i am not a big fan of the "dumb blonde" jokes

K - Kids: one day
K - Karate: Taekwondo
K - Kung Fu: Panda - hehehe!

L - Longest Car Ride: to Nashville, TN
L - Longest Relationship: almost 7 years!

M - Milk Flavor: i haven't had milk in almost 9 months!
M - Mother's Name: Linda (it means beautiful in Spanish - but we're not spanish.)
M - Movie Last Watched: The Italian Job

N - Number of Siblings: 1 bro, and 1 sis
N - Northern or Southern: Southern - with a mid-west accent... no clue where THAT came from!
N - Name: Jess-kah

O - One Wish: to have kids
O - Otter Pop: wha?
O - One Phobia: clowns

P - Parents, Married or Divorced?: married
P - Part Of Your Appearance You Like Best: my eyes
P - Part Of Your Personality You Like Best: my sense of humor

Q - Quote: Balls to that - thanks Luke!
Q - Question For The Next Person: Why are you reading what I'm putting here??
Q - Quick or Slow?: say wha?

R - Reason To Smile: Tom
R - Reality TV Show: umm... I don't think I watch much reality tv...
R - Right or Left: right handed

S - Song Last Heard: the song that never ends
S - Season: Fall - starts this week - I think?
S - Sex:Female

T - Time You Woke Up: 10:30 a.m
T - Time Now: 8:43 p.m.
T - Time For Bed: probably around 10ish

U - Unknown Fact About Me: i don't know...
U - Unicorns: i'll take two please.
U - U R: L?

V - Vegetable You Hate: brussel sprouts
V - Vegetable You Love: asparugus
V - View On Politics: conservative

W - Worst Habits: umm... actually, right now, I don't know... we quit smoking, I quit biting my nails...
W - Where Are You Going To Travel Next?: back to texas in January

- X-Rays: never had one... other than my teeth
X - X-Rated Porn: no thanks.
X - X-tra Special Someone: Tom

Y - Year You Were Born: 1983
Y - Year It Is Now: 2009
Y - Yellow: banana flavored laffy taffies

Z - Zoo Animal: penguins rock!!
Z - Zodiac: Cancer
Z - Zoolander: i was not happy with this movie.

What a great few days.

Seriously, the last three or four days have been really great!!

Saturday, Tom and I went to Sam's club, then we came home and watched movies all day! We had a great time watching the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, then we watched He's Just Not That Into You, THEN, we watched Bob the Butler. We had a lot of fun.

Sunday, we went to Conway and had a GREAT church service! The message was about marriage and true love. It was a great message! One line that sticks out to be from service is "True love has not happy ending. True love HAS no ending." It was great. Very uplifting.

After church, we went to lunch at IHOP. I had some great tilapia with holandaise, and took a super cute picture of my wonderful husband.


Anyway, after IHOP, we went back to Tom's mother's house and hung out for a while. Then we went to Kandi and Joeys and had a great afternoon hanging out with them. We came back home and did laundry afterwards.

Monday went really quickly. Then, we got home and had dinner, then we headed out to Softball practice. Softball practice went really well! I had a great day! I hit well, played catcher well. Tom caught some great balls out in the field too!

Today has gone by really quickly... time for bed now!

Hopefully we'll have a great rest of the week!!

Happily Married

Are you sick and tired of hearing songs about "hooking up"?

I am. I am happily married. I really like this song:

Shoppers Hotline

Hey everyone,

Just dropping in to talk about Shoppers Hotline - I LOVE this program!

You get sent a scanner - if you qualify - and you scan everything you buy...

Once you scan it in, it's transmitted through either your phone line, or your computer, and you get points for your shopping trips!

Once you have enough points, you can cash them out for money on a visa debit card!! It's GREAT! I love it!! I have a document I can email anyone who is interested with my member number as a reference - I get bonus points if you are active with them for 6 months!! It's got the phone number and everything!! Message me, or email me if you're interested!! It's a lot of fun!!

<3 Jess

This year...

This year has been chock full of changes. It's crazy... the biggest one, I've written about before - losing weight. I'm down right at 70 pounds according to my scale. According to the doctor's scale I'm down 80... lol! Anyway, We're holding steady again, but we do that for weeks at a time, then we lose again.

The other big change happened on Saturday, August 1, 2009. This is how I looked:

See how long my hair is in a braid???It measured longer than Tom's ruler!!

Well, my bestfriend's daughter wanted to donate her hair to locks of love, and I got roped into the whole shibang!

So here's the new look!!

I love it!! It's shorter than I was originally going for, but it's super cute! Super easy to manage!!

What else is in store for 2009?? Guess y'all will just have to wait and see!!

<3 Jess

Me X 100 = A lot of me! haha!!

1. Real name → Jessica
2. Nickname(s)→Jess, Sweetie
3. Zodiac → Cancer
4. Male or female → Female
5. Elementary → St. Theresa's Catholic Schools, Watson Elementary, and Landmark Elementary
6. Middle School → Didn't do middle school (it was k through 6, then 7-8 was jr high, then 9-10 was high)
7. High School→ Bryant High
8. Hair color →Reddish Brown - more brown than red though
9. Long or short → haha! Short now!! Super cute though!!
10. Loud or Quiet → both
11. Sweats or Jeans → Jeans
12. Phone or Camera → Camera - my Nikon D60 is nice!
13. Health freak → sort of... but not really
14. Drink or Smoke? → yes
15. Do you have a crush on someone → my hubby!
16. Eat or Drink → Eat
17. Piercings → Ears
18. Tattoos → Not yet

HAVE YOU EVER?
19. Been in an airplane→ Yes
20. Been in a relationship → Yes
21. Been in a car accident → Yes
22. Been in a fist fight →Yes

FIRSTS:
23. First piercing → The first one I remember was when I was like 5 years old.
24. First best friend → ummm... Ashley Thompson or Lindsey Gilbert (both softball friends)
25. First award → in the 2nd or 3rd grade I won a $500 Walden Books giftcard

LASTS:
29. Last person you talked to → Tom
30. Last person you texted → Kandi
31. Last person you watched a movie with → Tom and my parents
32. Last food you ate → Homemade crustless pizza
33. Last movie you watched → The Yes Man
34. Last song you listened to → Uhh, Heaven by Los Lonely Boys or something like that
35. Last thing you bought → Diet Dr. Pepper


FAVES:
37. Food → ummm... I think fish
38. Drinks → Water, diet dp, or Pecan Torte Coffee
39. Clothing → I love jeans and sweatshirts
40. Flower →Gerber Dasies and roses
42. Colors → Navy Blue, silver, and dark dark red
43. Movies → What Dreams May Come, The Harry Potter Series
44. Subjects → I loved my science classes, and most of my marketing classes in college

check all that apply
In 2008, I....

45. [X] kissed someone
46. [X] participated on Halloween
47. [X] had your heart broken
48. [] went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone
49. [] someone questioned your sexual orientation
50. [] got someone pregnant
51. [X] got pregnant
52. [] had an abortion
53. [X]done something you've regretted
54. [X] broke a promise
55. [X] hid a secret
56. [X] pretended to be happy
57. [] met someone who changed your life
58. [X] pretended to be sick
59. [] left the country
60. [X]tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
61. [X] cried over the silliest thing
62. [] ran a mile
63. [] went to the beach with your best friend
64. [] got into an argument with your friends
65. [X] hated someone
66. [] stayed single the whole year

CURRENTLY:
67. Eating → Nothing, still digesting dinner
68. Drinking → Diet DP
69. I'm about to → Digi- scrap!
70. Listening to → Nickelback!
71. Plans for today → wind down, take a shower, go to bed
72. Waiting for → nothing... I'm pretty content

YOUR FUTURE:
73. Want kids? → Yes, hopefully soon!
74. Want to get married? → Nah - I'm good thanks!
75. Careers in mind →I would love to be a project manager for marketing firm - or a manager for a massage center.

HAVE YOU EVER:
83. Lost glasses/contacts → don't wear
84. Snuck out of your house → no
85. Held a gun/knife for self defense → nope
86. Killed somebody → Would I tell you?! lol No
87. Broken someone's heart → not that I know of
88. Been arrested → nope
89. Cried when someone died → Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
90. Yourself → Here lately
91. Miracles → totally
92. Love at first sight → no, but I do believe in love
93. Heaven → Yes
94. Santa Claus → Yes!!!
95. Sex on the first date → Does "Believe In" mean you AGREE with it? Or just that you've done it?
96. Kiss on the first date → Depends on the guy, the night, the mood

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → Yes
98. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? → Pretty much
99. Do you believe in God → Yes
100. Post as 100 truths

Don't tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is.

"Today, July 26th, 2009, my faith has been renewed.

Tom and I had a hard time in 2008. Two miscarriages that shook us harder than I think either of us really knew at the time. Coming to service became so hard, and “not worth it” in our eyes. It was like we felt God had not tried for us, so why should we try for him?

It didn’t take us very long to decide we didn’t want to try again for children in 2008; obviously 2008 was not the “Year of the Baby” for us. We slipped into what I truly believe was mild depression. We hid from a lot of our feelings. We still spent time with our friends and family that we love dearly, we still had a great relationship, but, to me, it always seemed like we were skating on a thin layer of ice, and we were always fearful of falling through. We skirted around certain topics because it was hard. God and babies became some of those topics.

Around Christmas time in 2008, we decided we needed to begin bettering ourselves. Not so much for anyone else, but for ourselves. We began eating better and exercising January 2, 2009. We have been going strong for almost 8 months. We have lost 75 pounds each, 150 total! We are hoping to celebrate 100 pounds lost, each, around Thanksgiving. It’s been a process; one, in which, we have learned will power, self-control, self-discipline, and something we thought we had already learned: open-ness.

Throughout the months, we have pushed each other, we have celebrated milestones for each other, and we have cried with each other. We have always had an extremely close relationship, always talking, always sharing our feelings, I didn’t feel like we hid anything from each other – but mile after mile that we walked, pound after pound that we shed, we talked. We have opened up more in the past eight months than I thought possible.

The more open I felt with Tom, the more open I felt with God. Surely, He knew what He was doing when he put Tom and me in the same dorm. Surely, He knew what He was doing, when we grew to be friends, and then began a relationship. Surely, He knew what He was doing, when he gave Tom the inspiration to propose. Surely, He knew what He was doing, as he gave us the strength and courage to speak our vows, to promise ourselves to each other. Then surely, He knew that Tom and I together could handle the trials he gave us.

And we have.

In the past month, Tom and I have been discussing religion, God, and church, but probably most frightening: the possibility of trying to get pregnant again. We plan on waiting until after we hit our 100 pound goal, because of health reasons. We want to be healthy, to make it, hopefully, an easier pregnancy.

We have been so scared. The closer the goal becomes, the more nervous, the more burdened we, both, have felt. We are scared, not just about the prospect of having a child, but with our medical history, and the worry that it will be hard for us, financially, to support a child. My sister has always told me “If you wait until you can afford to have a child, you’ll never have kids.” We know this is true, but it still a fear.

Today’s sermon at Peace Lutheran Church in Conway, hit me like a Mack Truck. "Don't tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is." That was the message that rang out, loud and clear, in my mind. No matter what your fears are, God can handle them. No matter your worries, give them to God. It reminded me of something I'd heard in the past: "If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it." Needless to say, I was in tears through the entire sermon.

It was exactly what I needed to hear.

Poor Tom, when he noticed I was crying, he thought I was upset. But, it wasn’t that. It really hit home. It is hard to put into words how it made me feel. Lighter? Less burdened? Less troubled? Yes and no. I still have fears, I still have worries, but I know if I bring it to Him, He will guide me.

His message has renewed my faith."

[This was taken almost word for word from an email I sent to our Pastor today. The Gospel reading and his sermon rocked me to my core. We are still scared about the possibility of becoming pregnant in the future. But, this message will stay with me for quite some time.]

Me, Me, Me!!!

If you've been tagged or you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging 25 other victims. You have to tag me so really you just need 24 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.


1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:50ish

2. How do you like your steak? Medium Rare? I think?? I like it pink in the middle, but not bloody

3. What was the last movie you saw? Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and I liked it!)

4. What is your favorite TV show? Probably Chuck and House

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Ummm... Somewhere futher north, but not TOO north! lol

6. What did you have for breakfast? an Atkins shake, and a pack of peanuts

7. What is your favorite cuisine? mexican

8. What foods do you dislike? brussel sprouts

9. Favorite Place to Eat ? Cabana Joe's (pizza place in Benton)

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch from U.S. Pizza Co

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Dodge Neon

12. What are your favorite clothes? I am actually loving my black and silver warm-ups from work! haha!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Germany, Tom's Oma lives there.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full

15. Where would you want to retire? Vermont - snowed in every Christmas with my Tom... I'd be in HEAVEN!!

16. Favorite time of day? 3:38 p.m. haha??

17. Where were you born? Little Rock, AR

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Baseball, I've gotten into football too.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? uhh... Probably Tom, cuz he's a goob like that

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? Uhh... IDK!!

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Tom, but please refer to question 19.

22. Bird watcher? not unless they are dive bombing me and trying to build a nest above my front door...

23. Are you a morning person or a night person ? Midafternoon/Evening

24. Do you have any pets? two beautiful kitties!

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? We are planning a vacation!!

27. What is your best childhood memory? oh wow... Umm, learning to ride a bike, roller blading for the first time, BSB concert, spending the night at my grandaddy's house

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Definitely cat

29. Are you married? to my soul mate

30. Always wear your seat belt? Always... It's too easy of a step to take when you get in the car that can save your life. Why wouldn't you? Too cool for a seatbelt?? Well, here "Mr. Cool" meet "Mr. Windshield", don't worry, you'll only meet as you pass through him.

31. Been in a car accident? a couple fender benders, nothing major, Thank God.

32. Any pet peeves? hehhehehehehe, me? Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

34. Favorite Flower? I love colored gerber daisies! I think they are gorgeous in like LIME GREEN, and NEON PINK. Like the ones that came in Marissa's bouquet she got yesterday!

35. Favorite ice cream? French Vanilla

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? oh, uhh... I guess Burger King?

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? I didn't, I only missed like 1 question maybe 2? I don't remember, that was TEN years ago!! EEK I'm old!!

38. From whom did you get your last email? My dad

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Right now? Old Navy, cuz I'm finally down far enough in weight to shop IN STORE!! Yay me! Well, US!!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? got in my car and drove around a couple of blocks at lunch today to clear my head (and thaw out a little)

41. Like your job? Love the job, some of the people that work there are less than desirable.

42. Broccoli? OMG! YES! I love it!!

43. What was your favorite vacation? What's a vacation??? Oh wait, it's that thing that you do, when you want to get away from people, and relax... yeah... Must be a couple of weekends ago, when Tom and I went camping... it was beautiful. The perfect weekend.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Tom

45. What are you listening to right now? "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney!

46. What is your favorite color? Purple, Navy Blue, and silver

47. How many tattoos do you have? i don't... I want one, but I doubt I'll actually do it... I'm so terrified of needles.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? A LOT!

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 10:52 p.m.

50. Coffee Drinker? only from my own kitchen, with Splenda and cream. lol!!

Human Evolution

For those that don't know about history. Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food is standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most liberal women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your position.

How well do you know your husband??

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers . . . shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your husband to see how right you really are.


1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
probably a game of some sort

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ceasar - cuz he always gets a chicken ceasar salad

3. What's one food he doesn't like? peas

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? water or a beer.

5. Where did he go to high school? Conway High

6. What size shoe does he wear? 12 1/2 to 13 depends on the brand

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? quarters, and tools lol

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Ham and cheese

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? pizza or good lasagna

10. What is his favorite cereal? umm, i don't think he's a big fan of cereal - unless it's kix

11. What would he never wear? breifs

12. What is his favorite sports team? LSU or UT Austin

13. Who did he vote for? McCain - cuz that's how we roll

14. Who is his best friend? Robert

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? get whiney

16. Did he play sports in high school? Nope, he was in the band

17. What could he spend hours doing? playing nintendo!

18. What is one unique talent he has? constantly curling his toes under his feet lol

My birthday... a definite MUST READ

So today, July 10, 2009 is my 26th birthday.

This is what was in my email box at midnight last night:

"Dear Mrs. Hinz

As a member of Hinzcorp, it is my pleasure to congratulate you on your 26th birthday. And what would be more rewarding than a token of gratitude offered by Hinzcorp? Why, your very own birthday present, that's what!

So here is what we are going to do: hidden somewhere in your house is a present just for you. To help lead you to it, we are going to send you various hints via email to lead you to it. You will have exactly 5 days to claim your reward, or else it will be forfeited. Just kidding.

Since today is the 10th, that gives you until the 15th to figure out where your special something is stashed inside your luxurious home. If you cannot find your gift within the allotted time period, it will be removed from its hiding place and given to you with much chiding.

Here is your first hint:
It is located in a corner.

Finally, guessing your present does not mean that you get a free pass to its location early. You must FIND it!!!

Thank you for your loving support of Hinzcorp, and we look forward to hearing of your success.

Sincerely,
H. Thomas Hinz
Co-CEO Hinzcorp"

I absolutely love my husband. He is AWESOME!!!

<3 Jessica

4 Fun Things About Me!

Fun things about me


Here is a fun and quick way to stay in touch. Let's see
how many people do this too




1) 4 places I go over and over:

My parents' house, Kandi's house, walmart, work



2) 4 people who e-mail me regularly:

Marti, Tom, Sue (from Australia), Angelle (from Slidell, LA).



3) 4 of my favorite places to eat:

Casa Mexicana, Red Lobster, Chili's, and my kitchen when Tom is cooking!!



4) 4 places I would rather be right now:

Germany, in the middle of the woods, in bed, Vermont



5) 4 people I think will respond:

EEK!!! I don't know!! Maybe Crystal (my cousin), Jessica (a couple of them possibly), my kid brother, and... ... uhhh... I don't know! Maybe Cassandra?



6) 4 TV shows I watch:

Heroes, Chuck, NCIS, and House

Red, White, and Blue!!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!! PS. I took that picture at the top! With my camera... and mad skillz lol!! Anyway,

Day 1 of our 3 day holiday weekend was climbing Pinnacle Mountain, and going swimming.

Day 2 has been all about relaxing! Tom and I started the day by getting up and playing on our computers. Then, around 2 o'clock. Robert and Monica came to the house so that they could follow us to my parents' house to do fireworks. We shot off probably $250 worth of fireworks... I think Tom and I spent about $75. Part of which was one a kick ass "Finale" piece.

(l>r) Monica, Tom, and Robert, lighting sparklers for Lisa to play with.

My mom and dad, a really cute pic of my mom, too bad Dad's eyes are closed... lol

Brett, getting to light fireworks for the first time this year!!

Anyway, it's been a great weekend so far, and we still have ANOTHER day. It's GREAT.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we have Brett's birthday party. He turned 13 years old on July 1st! I can't believe how quickly all "my kids" are growing up!! It's crazy.


Anyway, Happy 4th of July!! Thank you to all our troops at home and abroad. You keep us free, and for that, there is not enough "Thanks" on the planet.

<3 Jessica

P.S. I took that last photo too with my camera!!