I HAVE ARRIVED

After many long months and many long training days, I have finally arrived in Kuwait only to find we have another 2 weeks of waiting and training before we make it to the big show. Kuwait is exactly like I remember it HOT. Let me reflect back to the first time I came here. We flew over on a chartered 747 double-decker plane, TV screens in each seat, good meals, and comfortable seats. This time we flew over on Ryan Air, anyone other than the people outside the US probably have never heard of that. The plane looked like it was from the 70’s. I flew in first class, but it felt more like economy. We had a re-fuel stop in Germany, which was nice; I was able to actually stand up and stretch out. When we finally got to Kuwait it was 5 a.m. and it was already 91 degrees. Again, Kuwait is like I remember but the bases have changed tremendously. On base there is a Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Charlie’s Steak, and Hole in One. The chow halls are amazing, I thought I was going to get over her and get back into good shape, the way it is going right now I am going to get even fatter than I am now. The PX here is like a normal PX on any base, you are able to buy plasma screen TV’s and laptops. I would like to say it’s pretty luxurious but I still have to remember this is not where we will be for the next year. Although, I have heard it is pretty nice where we will be. I hope you all continue to check in, as Jessica has instructed me to write a lot on her. Miss you all!!!!!
-J-

And we're back!

Needless to say, we have taken a hiatus from the constant updating of our lives on the blog. We have been very busy with life! Anyway, we are getting back in the groove of things and will be updating you more regularly. We will have to put a password on the blog soon, but we will be sure to get that to everyone, we just don't want this to be visible on google and yahoo. Anyway here is Jerods first "cool" during his deployment! Maybe he will come home and be a photographer!

WHERE THE HECK DID SUMMER GO!

I cannot believe tomorrow is my last full day in Columbia, Missouri as a resident! Life is going at a million miles a minute and this summer has gone by even faster! Today was the first time all summer that I got a chance to catch up with some of my grad school buddies and I cannot believe I am leaving them (Jodi, Chu-Chun I miss you already).

So this was the craziest summer, it started off with Nic and I graduating the same weekend, she from undergrad and me from my Masters. I skipped my graduation and went to hers and I am so glad I did, it was so much fun. After this weekend, the fun was only beginning! I did not spend one weekend in Columbia because there was always something I had to do.

June was the engagement party at Mattitos Tex Mex Café, which I love me some Bob Armstrong Dip! I had a blast, got to see my Dallas friends and my daddy gave the sweetest speech. (Although at the wedding, he will have a time limit :) Then the next weekend was the BIG move where I moved majority of my big furniture to Kansas City, my new home : ) Then the weekend after that was Jerod going away party and Melissa’s (Jerod sister) 30th surprise birthday party. My parents were in town for the parties and then it was nice to have father’s day with both father’s there, so we hosted it at our house and cooked up a big breakfast. Then we celebrated FOUR June birthdays in the family and Jerod got his wisdom teeth taken out. The next weekend Jerod and I left for our last trip before his deployment to Disney Land! It was so awesome and so much fun, but I was so mad because our camera DIED while riding “it’s a small world.” We also got a chance to go to Magic Mountain IT WAS AWESOME, and for some reason it was dead that day, so we got to ride 13 roller coasters. However, I realized that I am getting old and scared because instead of thinking this is going to be awesome, I would pray that God does not let me die or have a heart attack. And YES some roller coasters have now been retired! Nevertheless, this trip was so much fun and the first time all summer that Jerod and I got a chance to be by ourselves.

When we returned Jerods grandpa was not in the best shape, we got off the plane, drove straight to the nursing home, and spent the night with him, the entire family took shifts staying with him until he passed away. Bop Bop was sick for a very long time and he battled many heart troubles and kindey problems, so when he passed, we all finally knew he was at peace. I never had grandparents that lived in the states, thats why we would spend our summers in London so we could see them once a year, but as we got older it got harder to leave for a summer. So I really cherish other peoples grandparents and the ability to see them whenever they wanted, so I did become very close to Bop. Bop passed away just the way he would have wanted it, it was the one night that the entire family was there visiting. In a way, it was beautiful, him finally being at peace with all the people he loved the most in the room. There was just so much love there that night.

Then for the funeral all of Jerods aunts and uncles came up from Tennessee and they are AMAZING!!! It’s as if they have always been my family and we all knew that, but hadn’t met yet, they are amazing, and you can’t help my Thank God for having such wonderful people around you. Between Jerods family and my family we have enough love to last us a lifetime. And to both Jerod and I there is nothing more important than family, and they are ALWAYS our first priority…no ands, ifs or buts about it.

Then last, the inevitable, Jerod had to leave for what will be a 13-month deployment. I miss him every freakin’ day but this is just one year out of forever, and from what I hear forever is a very long time. You always believe that people come into your life for a purpose, and that other relationships do not work out for a reason, and things are going to happen the way they are supposed. Gods (or whoever is up there) master plan will come to fruition. Well if 13 months is all I have to do to have forever, then its worth it.

OH...and I forgot to mention, Jerod and Piper went SKYDIVING somewhere in July...

I have a ton of pics and I will post them later!

Only can happen to the Omoile’s...OH San Fran

Here’s the deal, I have been really bad this summer with blogging but you have to understand life is moving at a million miles a minute. But I thought this would be an entertaining story for everyone. So last week I got really sick on Wednesday, on Thursday my mom calls me asking me to go to San Francisco with my sister to go apt. hunting. I told her NO because I was deathly ill lying in bed. Then she made me feel guilty because Oni had just gotten his wisdom teeth out, my dad was in Nigeria and she was all alone and she could not do it. So I agreed, so I start looking for tickets to leave on Friday and they were like $1000! I was not even going to let her pay that, I am trying to have a wedding here! I was like Mom that could PAY for more stuff FOR MY WEDDING (selfish right). Anyway, my sister decides that she is going to ask my uncle for passes because he works for American Airlines, which my mom did not want us to do, but we did anyway!

San Fran was amazing, but those “hills” which are really mountains covered in concrete KILLED ME I am so out of SHAPE that I thought I was going to die, I couldn’t move from the waist down, I am sick and tired. At least it jump-starts the wedding workout I guess.

FAST FORWARD to Sunday when we are supposed to be going home, we get to the airport at 11:00 pm because we were going to take the Red Eye flight to Dallas and then I would catch another to KC while my sister stayed in Dallas with the parents. Well we didn’t make the standby list for the 12:20 am flight, but there was one at 6 am, so we decide to get a room at an Inn close to the airport, well by the time we get there at 2 am, I realize that I don’t have my Iphone. Iphone has a CREEPY thing where you can locate anyone on your family plan, so we did that and my phone showed up in a 400-yard radius in the SF airport. So we are like whatever we will go in the morning and find it. We get up (I did not sleep at all because I have a hacking cough, but Nic slept just fine) go to the airport and are searching for this dang phone. The woman at the ticket counter tells us we are confirmed on the 740 am flight to Dallas, but my phone was still locating and we wanted to find it, so we STUPIDLY give up our tickets and say, we will catch the next one.

I give up on the freaking phone, the phone is still locating but I am convinced it has fallen in a crack, we go to the ticket counter as the woman announces that Chicago Airport is having mechanical problems so everyone who was going to Chicago is now re-routed to DALLAS! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So they tell us there is no way we will get to Dallas today or tomorrow (this is already Monday and I should be at work). We start asking her to fly us anywhere, to St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver and there was nothing. She says we can catch a flight to Santa Ana airport in Orange County. We take it! We get to Santa Ana, and the first thing we do it go to the gate to get put on a flight to Dallas. Dramatically the woman say, “uh-huh no way, no how there is no way you are getting to Dallas today, tomorrow and probably not the next day.” We are like GREAT!! We go out of the gate to the main ticket counter and the woman tells us if we can get to Burbank Airport there is a flight leaving in 2 hours for Dallas. WE RUN to the shuttles and ask how much to Burbank, $90 we take it. Well we are so tired on the hour ride to Burbank that we both pass out in the shuttle, we get to Burbank with 20 minutes to our flight, we rush through security, to the gate and there are tickets waiting for us. Then Nicole goes, where’s my phone? She thought I had it I thought she had it, and we could not leave it because people were calling her to tell her if she got the apartments. The ticket woman looks at us and ask if we are getting on this flight, and with my sister freaking out, I just said, “No.”

We are thinking Santa Ana is a smaller airport there can’t be that many shuttle companies, UMMM there was like 28, so as Nicole starts calling them all. I go upstairs and beg the administrative assistant to call over there because there has to be someone in charge of all the shuttles. Since we BOTH don’t have a phone I have to wait in this office for an hour because they have to call the airport to get a hold of us. We finally find the phone and they tell us we can come and pick it up or pay another $90 for him to bring it back. At this point our life is just comical. Luckily, Nicole’s friend that was keeping her car lived in Pasadena nearby the Burbank airport, so we take another shuttle to her house to get her car and then drive back to Santa Ana airport, where we just came from. So we get there, go to chipotle, back to Pasadena and then we take another shuttle to LAX, we figure it was the last airport we could try and there is a flight every 45 minutes to Dallas. We have not showered since Saturday, we are tired and just feeling like whatever at this point. We get to LAX, they tell us we wont be able to get on til 6 am, so we decide to sleep at the gate. But It just so happed there was a 12:50 am flight to Dallas, and we finally GOT ON! Then I flew back to Missouri got in my car drove 2 hours to Columbia, took my first shower in 3 days and had to go to work….It was a wonderful trip.

And yes, Nic found an apartment, I will never fly stand by again, just what my mom wanted.

My Sister Does Amazing Things

Friends, Families, and Supporters:

My name is Nicolette Omoile. I am a graduate of the University of Southern California ('09), and Founder and former President of a student-run organization at USC, RAYSE (The Rise of African Youth through Self Empowerment). I would personally like to thank you for your support of RAYSE, and give details about the major success of the 1st USC co-sponsored Alternative Summer Break to Africa, ASB: Uganda.
A year ago, a good friend and I were discussing how amazing it would be if we could get USC to take more interest in African affairs, and get USC students interested in making an impact in Africa. It was a crazy idea that my good friend, Divinity Barkley (USC ’08) and I were discussing, but we both were determined to see it through.

Divinity had a head start, as she had courageously defied the naysayers, turning down a lucrative job offer to venture off to Kampala, Uganda to found a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women and youth in East Africa. I had the task of conveying this crazy idea—to take USC students to Africa to support this and other grass-root non-profit organizations—to the administrators and students of USC, hoping (or praying) that someone would take notice of me. After a few bumps in the road, R.A.Y.S.E. (The Rise of African Youth through Self Empowerment) was ready to take USC by storm and make a visible difference in the lives of African youth.

Overcoming unforeseen obstacles, a name change, a horrible fundraising economy, terrified parents and even more terrified USC administrators, On May 26, 2009 nine USC students, ranging from freshman to grad students, showed up at the steps of the Amagezi Gemaanyi (“Knowledge is Power”) Youth Association (AGYA – pronounced A-Guy-Ah) in Kampala, Uganda, ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime.

The students came prepared to teach new curriculum that would be co-administered with one of several AGYA Youth Leaders. These youth leaders are amazing young adults (age 17 – 20), that actually lead all classes and run the organization. Our classes ranged from dance to technology, film editing to language and culture. Each day, the two groups interacted beautifully learning about one another and perhaps most importantly, themselves.

I believe we succeeded in our goal of opening the lines of communication between youth in Africa and USC students. For example, our initial unconscious complaints about the unchanging food menu turned into a critical discussion on stereotypes of Americans and Ugandans. And our tardiness to Luganda language class provoked a discussion on the compulsory English requirements in Ugandan schools, where children are unable and at times disciplined for speaking their mother tongue in class. It put into perspective the same immigration “issues” exacerbated by the American media, that our fellow American immigrant communities encounter daily.

And as the Ugandan children lovingly called their new white friends “Mzungu,” our USC students experienced what it means to be a minority in that culture--the discomfort of always being noticed and the expectation that you are always a certain way (in this case…rich.) But while these discomforts were annoying, they were trivialized by the positive impact our presence had on the local community, the local schools we worked with, and at AGYA. In fact, the administrators at one of the schools (Good Hope) where we taught our lessons, in awe of the impact the creative lessons were having on their students, decided to implement art into their curriculum for years to come.

I can with 100% certainty say, that all of the people who participated in this trip were positively affected. We discovered that the fears and unconscious stereotypes of our parents, our teachers, and ourselves – of instantly contracting yellow fever, malaria, stomach worms, of violence, corrupt dictators, helpless children with flies on their eyes – were soon quelled by the reality of a strong African people, largely victimized by a sensationalizing media that fails to recognize that these people – are people. When we were told the devastating news that one of the youth leader’s brothers had been murdered, and saw that he came to AGYA for comfort and love – we knew that our mission and our calling was higher than the naysayers and those who said we were going to “save” children. Our mission became about opening our hearts to understand the commonality of humanity. We realized how blessed we were to be born in our situation, with unlimited resources and support systems all around.
It was an easy decision then for the USC participants to open their hearts (and wallets) to donate around $1400, the amount AGYA needed to secure a larger property that would allow the organization to continue growing and helping the surrounding community.

June 19, 2009 was the official last day of the 1st USC Alternative Summer break trip to Africa. It was full of meaningful words, changed hearts, and a celebration on the part of the leaders in charge. Even with a trip to the Nile and various side adventures, everyone was returning home happy and healthy. Five students were so moved by the experience, that three continued for two more weeks to Kenya and Rwanda, and two others have gone to Dakar, Senegal to do an internship that ends in August.

As I pass the torch on to the next executive board headed by Co-Presidents, Jillian Chou and Marianna Singwi-Ferrono, it is my hope that RAYSE continues to dispel stereotypes of the African continent and its people. Our organization is dedicated to educating, empowering, and enriching the lives of women and children in Uganda, and eventually all of Africa. We are committed to providing a safe, supportive, sustainable learning environment where youth in Africa (initially Uganda) can develop the leadership skills needed to create a new generation of leaders in Africa. We ask for your continued support of our mission. It is our hope that with the additional continued support of the USC Volunteer Center and the USC Africa Fund, RAYSE will continue making an impact on the USC Family and youth of Africa.

Most importantly, we would like to give special thanks to the people and organizations that made this trip possible: to the parents of our participants, the Amagezi Gemaanyi Youth Association (AGYA), The USC Volunteer Center (Dir. Melissa Gaeke), the USC Health Center – Travel Clinic, and USC Health Insurance.

We are currently working on a website, but feel free to email our new account – uscrayse@gmail.com (formerly bavubuka@usc.edu) for any questions, comments, or concerns and for ways to get involved!
Also check out the Amagezi Gemaanyi Youth Association’s website at http://www.amagezigemaanyi.blogspot.com/ for more information, or contact the organization via email - amagezigemaanyi@gmail.com for ways to make a tax-deductible donation, or your own personal trip to Uganda!

Thanks for your blessings and good wishes. We look forward to speaking with you in the future!

Best,

Nicolette OmoileFounder, RAYSE (The Rise of African Youth through Self Empowerment)

-- "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."-- Albert Einstein

Michael Jackson

Have you ever wondered why a celebrity’s death affects you so much that you feel devastated by the news? This is someone you did not know, could not call on the phone, and most of the time have never even seen them in person. It’s as if the thought of them dying was inconceivable because in your eyes they are immortal, those are the untouchables. That is what Michael Jackson was for me and I know for many other people. I feel that Michael Jackson death made me so upset because I realized that a HUGE piece of my childhood could never be touched again. Michael Jackson’s concert is one of my very first memories, I was five and I went with my mom and dad, this was after the moonwalk had just become huge! I remember seeing huge flames coming up from the sides of the stage. I just remember looking at my dad and mom dancing the night away! That was the first time Music was ever introduced to me in that way. The one thing that I thank my parents for the most is introducing music into my sister and I life so early. I feel that my whole life to a huge soundtrack that just plays in my head. I can remember where I was when I heard many songs or how I felt the first time, I heard those songs. I remember my sister, Okwus, Vince and Amy, Jeff, we ALL did dances and put on concerts mimicking the Jackson 5. I remember Okwus, Nicole and I went as far as learning the dance at the end of the Jackson 5 movie and acting it out. Michael Jackson's music is probably the largest part of my life soundtrack. Those will be songs that I sing (horribly) to my kids, and dance in the living room too and put on “talent” shows with them. And knowing that there will never be another Michael Jackson song again is sad, because no matter what anyone says, no one can deny the musical genius in that one person and it will be many….many years before someone of this world wide magnitude steps foot on our earth again.

Wedding Date Officially Set!

Well as many of you know, Jerod is leaving on July 7th, I think I have said this about 30 million times by now. BUT we got our faithful letter from St. Ann’s Parish (http://www.stannparish.org/) that we have finish all of our preparation and that we are officially getting married on October 9, 2010! Woo-hoo for 10.9.10! It will be a crazy weekend with events Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Since I am Nigerian we have those events too, and believe me WE LIKE TO PARTY! I am very excited! So now, I need Jerod to leave and hurry up and come back! We will also be having a Kansas City reception for the older folks who may not be able to make the trip to Dallas. I encourage EVERYONE to make it to Dallas, especially since my Dad is footing that bill :) Anyway, I have more post coming up in the next week, but I left my Camera in KC and I want to put up the pictures with the blog. Chat with ya soon!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

So we had our engagement party two weeks ago in Dallas at Mattitos and that was a ton of fun! I had many of my girls friends come in from out of town and it was the first time it hit me that I am really getting married. Obviously, the ring is a good indication that you are getting married but this weekend it finally hit me. The weekend started a little rocky, because the air conditioning upstairs in our house died and the repair man could not get out until Monday. Luckily my dad had another house in Coppell that he bought for guest to stay in (We have a lot of guest) so we all moved over there for the weekend, so we would not boil to death.

Anyway, on Saturday we had a girl’s day out and we took out everyone who came from out of town. Claire planned everything, shes great! We went to breakfast at Dream Café (http://www.thedreamcafe.com/) which was FABULOUS! And then we got our nails done at this wonderful spa that had a million pedicure chairs…okay more like 20 but still that is a lot if you ask me. This was a lot of fun and I was very excited that Grandma Merilee who is 85 years old made the drive down to Texas and that meant so much to me. She spent the who day with the girls and I think she had a blast. I got the Milk and Honey pedicure, it was interesting to say the least, but its two weeks later and my toes still look good. Ashley on the other had got a reflexology massage and was in serious pain, so don't get that one! They also serve wine and beverages here complimentary, Ashley got cut off after spilling two glasses! After we all got our nails done, we went and set up Mattitos for the engagement party and went back to the house to get ready. It was such a great day!

Grandma, isnt she sweet!

All lined up!

Oni IS 16! Oh Lord HAVE Mercy! :)

So my little brother turned 16 and I realized at that point that I am getting old. I can’t believe that my little brother who used to pee on cars, throw hard animals at my friends and bite people is now sixteen! It is scary. Well he threw his first party ever, which was a Vegas themed party. We went all out renting slot machines, black jack and pokers tables and they even came with dealers, my cousin Okwus was the DJ. He already has his car, but he hasn't taken drivers ed, so it just sits there. We had the party the Thursday night that school got out. Well lets just say that the boys outnumbered the girls for sure (not a typical high school Jessica party, Huh?). But it was a lot of fun and they are so silly. I cannot believe that I was this silly. Another realization I am getting old was when I was driving to pick up the cake. I was thinking to myself and saying, if there is alcohol there, I am going to have to call their parents, or kick them out of the party and take the alcohol. Then I was like WOAH, WHO AM I! Is this the same party girl from high school? Well I guess she has finally died, and now I am a disciplining, “that is bad for you” talking, older sister. It is true I am no longer “cool.” Anyway I just wanted to share some of his pictures from the big party!

Boys playing Black Jack Dancing (a lot cleaner that what I remember doing! :)

Happy 16!

Makin' it rain...haha

Slot Machines

Wedding Update

We are starting to get people booked slowly, it has actually been really great to do this while Jerod is here. He is so creative and has so many ideas, I am going to miss him being gone. Last week Cherry (Jerod's Mom) surprised us by getting our monogram done. This is so sweet of her, its awesome and we think this is the final product, check it out! Cherry says, "it represents that they lean on each other for love and support with a big M behind it." Very cute. Anyway, if you do have wedding tips for a wedding guest list of 400 PLEASE share...its turned into something bigger than me! haha!

Dinner at the Mickelson's

So Jerod and I have owned our house now for about 2 ½ months. However since we moved in every weekend has consisted of trips to Home Depot, Lowes and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. However this week Jerod had his wisdom teeth pulled out and had to rest. We actually relaxed at our house and it was really amazing!!! We also cooked our first full meal at the house, sad I know. But we eat out a lot since it’s just two of us, and usually we just throw things together to make a meal. Well tonight we cooked together, ate together, and cleaned up together. It was one of those moments that seem surreal, it hits you that this is our own house, and our own table, and it makes me Miss Jerod. It’s just one of those moments where you are with the person you love the most and you miss them even though they are sitting right next to you. Not that I took him for granted before, but I really cherish every minute with him. Jerods countdown is down to 25 days, which is a hard reality. Anyway just thought I would share our wonderful meal and we actually busted out the china! Woo-hoo! I have some many posts to put up in the next week look out for them!

Lemon Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Caesar Salad!

Catholics FOCCUS on Marriage

THURSDAY
Jerod and I have been trying to get all our preparation to be married done fast. Since we are in Missouri and the church we are getting married in is located in Dallas it is a little difficult. Jerod is not Catholic and I am, but I am a very liberal Catholic so some people question my Catholic-ness, but I am, believe me. Anyway, we joined a new church in Raymore to help us with preparation and after attending Mass there I liked it and Jerod enjoyed it , but will not be converting anytime soon. We love that priest, he was pretty awesome, and since we haven’t been having the most positive experience preparing with my church we were really excited to have such a positive experience with him. Some of you may not know that Marriage is one of the Sacraments in the Catholic Church, which means lots of paper work. So we have a contract to fill out and then in this same meeting we took this 156 questionnaire called the FOCCUS. Which is a great idea and can be very helpful for many couples.

The thing is I just graduated with my Counseling degree, with an emphasis on couples and families. Therefore the last two years Jerod has had to read every book, do every questionnaire, went to pre-marital counseling before we were engaged, and for those who don’t know I have even designed a 14 page goal sheet for couples to fill out every six months , (which Jerod and I do) that goes over everything from finances, personal goals, relationship goals, self-care, future goals, and the list goes on. There is nothing in terms of relationship that at least has not been touched, we have even come up with Plan A, B, and C for disciplining our unborn children. Poor Jerod I know (he’s super supportive), but because of this we have hammered out a lot of things in our relationship that many people do not even think about or talk about before they get married. We have developed a strategy for the future and how to handle future problems and arguments, because we know life changes you and no matter how much you prepare for life, it will always throw you something that is unexpected.

FRIDAY – SATURDAY
We had our Engaged Encounter weekend retreat. We spent the night at a church in Moberly Missouri, which is a dot on the map in the middle of no-where. I am sure we are the first interracial couple to ever be there! Haha! It was a good weekend, it was the first time in a while that Jerod and I have just been alone, and that was nice. However, of course this is a Catholic retreat so the girls slept in one house and the boys sleep on the gym FLOOR! Again, Jerod suffering for me, which is why I love him! The weekend brings up a lot of issues that couples need to talk about, and majority of them have talked about these issues, which was noticeable by some of the fights and also the very last session is on forgiveness (nice planning). The only thing Jerod and I had not discussed before was Natural Family Planning…For those who don’t know I have been a sexual health educator for the last four years of College and the last year I ran the Outreach program. Enough on that… Anyway, some of the comments others made about making their partner convert to Catholicism, or stating that their husband or wife should or should not do something scared me. I was thinking making someone do anything is not a good idea for so many reasons. However most of the weekend I did not make any comments aloud, because once you tell everyone you’re a counselor they start asking all the questions like you know stuff. I don’t know anything, all counselors do is reflect what you say to them so that you can answer your own question! Haha…Just kidding…well…Anyway I wish more couple could go through something like this, even though it has been empirically proven that these one shot methods do not work it at least plants a seed, if nothing else. So overall a good weekend, and good effort by the church to help couples in building a foundation in their relationship. Only in my dreams I wish this was a 3 month course one night a week and was inclusive of everyone…A girl can dream cant she.. :)

We made is through the first night! Tired, but we made it!

Jerod's Floor

My Bunk

He works hard for it honey!

Jerods deployment date is about a month away and he has recently stopped working to spend more time with friends, family, and me of cousre. He has been also trying to get projects done around the house. He is currently working on my office and the wine cellar, he is ruffin' it in all by himself and I am pretty impressed!

Wine Cellar
Future Office

WIP

Since we moved in we have been slowing working on the house and decorating. Since Jerod is leaving fr Iraq we decided that we were not buying that much new stuff because with him being gone it just wouldn't feel like our house. So we have picked out a lot of stuff we are going to buy when he gets back and we will register for a lot of stuff. Luckily we both have a ton of stuff already and we did buy our bedroom set, so here are some picks to show our Work in Progress!

This is the bedroom, we are going to paint and hang pictures, but this will probably wait til Jerod gets back. This is the dresser, we are still waiting to order some more pieces, and of cousre TV.

Living room...Its getting there very slowly.

This is the down stairs, we already have pick out a really pretty sectional for here we wil order when it gets closer to Jerod getting back. But this is Jerod Favorite spot because it has his "man TV"

Beginings of a Mizzou Bar!! Go Tigers!

Kitchen

Yay I got my washer and dryer. I am still thinking of what to put in here.

Thats it for now, we will keep you posted as well start to add stuff to the house.

All you need is Love...

So the last couple of years I have become one of those people who cries when I see good things happen. I cry when I am happy…I know I am turning into my mother. I just got done watching a re-run of Extreme Home Makeover and I think there is no way I could ever have that job. I would be crying EVERY freakin day at how awesome the Human Spirit can be. That is part of the reason why I love being a counselor. You get to witness to amazing capability of humans to excel and survive and that is beautiful. You see people at their worst and best, and learning to redefine progress has been one of the greatest things I have learned this year. I have faith that in everyone is the ability to be great, sometimes they may need some help along the way to discover that “greatness” possessed inside. In the end, I just love people. My greatest hope is that one day we will treat all people as equals regardless if we agree with their lifestyle or not. The bottom line is we are all humans, we have the same blood and bone in our bodies. We share the same emotions of grief, happiness, and sadness. We love the same, and the closer July 7th comes I realize how powerful love really is. The Beatles had it right a long time ago, All you need is love… :)

Have a Happy Day…as Ashley says, even the bad days ain’t that bad.

Wedding Magazines can be a waste of money!

There are a TON of wedding magazines, but what I have realized is that they are expensive and I get little to NO ideas from the Mags. I found on that I really love and its Wedding Style Magazine, its expensive compared to most BUT it is so worth it! This is my favorite Magazine to steal ideas from! I live in a small town or Village as my mom calls it, good 'ole Columbia, MO. However we have had two wedding featured in this magazine, of course they were the Wal-Mart Kids. Although I cant afford a 10 million dollar wedding like Paige Laurie, there are little details that you can steal! Also you can view most of the Mag on the website so you don't need to really buy it! Weddings are expensive enough with out having to buy all these magazines! :)

http://www.weddingstylemagazine.com/
Click on Real Weddings on the right

Another good Magazine that you just need to buy once is
Real Simple Weddings
http://browse.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/index.html

Memorial Day!

As you all know yesterday was Memorial Day. It means so many things to many people. So I just want to say thanks babe for serving our country! I am starting to realize how quickly July 7th is coming and realizing that 13 months is a long time and I will miss him very much! Jerod favorite song is Chicken Fried and I have a favorite verse that I sing to him anytime it comes on:

"I thank God for my life
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly, let it ring.
Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice
All the things we love"

Thanks Jerod, I LOVE YOU!

DJ, Photos, Flowers Oh MY!

The thing about Jerod is that he is a VERY involved Groom. This is difficult because he is leaving for 13 months on his activation. He wants to be involved in every aspect of wedding planning so we have been meeting with vendors and honestly, I feel like I am putting together MY DREAM TEAM! I don’t want to jinx it so I am not going to say who they are yet! Until I have time to go back to Dallas to sign the contracts. Jerod has been super amazing and has great ideas. Nevertheless, it was really awesome the florist just whipped together some examples of centerpieces from pictures I sent her, I forgot to take pictures of the large ones, but they were beautiful. I am starting to get pumped about planning, but as you know I am taking it slow!

Here are some of the low pieces! (These arent the colors, but these are in season.)

GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sister and I both graduated the same weekend, I figured since I have already had one and will have one more I should go and support my sister. The morning of her graduation we woke up in her apartment with all her friends and they were blaring Good Morning by Kanye getting ready for their big day. They all were emotional and it was so cute! I loved being there for that moment. It was the first time the realized that everything is different after this day and they were all going in different directions. It was very sweet and it was fun getting ready with them.

USC has a different kind of graduation its GRANDIOSE! First off, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the Commencement speaker over the large group and he was good I was surprised, but it was really good. Then her satellite graduation for the school of communication was the President of E! Entertainment and THEN they even fed us after! This is where all her tuition dollars are spent, my dad made us eat as much as possible as if he was trying to get his monies worth! Haha! My sister is phenomenal and I am so proud of her! Now she is off saving the world in Uganda and I will miss her during the month she is gone. But YAY for graduating!

Engagement Pictures (Photographers Faves)

Jerod and I just got our engagement pictures done and the photographer got them up super fast! These are her favorite pictures. We flew to Lubbock Texas because we really liked this photographers pictures and she was so worth it! We wanted pictures with a Texas feel and that is exactly what we got. I am so excited that they turned out wonderful because we were super tired!! The day before we met with four vendors and the day before that I was in LA at Nicolette’s Graduation and Jerod was working our 3 day garage sale and going to Drill all weekend. So, it was a long 5 days. Anyway, these are some of the pictures…

Sneak Peek!

So WE have been SLACKERS! With graduation, traveling and a three day garage sale we have had little time! Anywho, we took our engagment pictures yesterday and here is a sneak peek of more to come...this is Jerod in his Dress Blues!

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

A couple months ago, we booked this trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, because we knew with all the stuff coming up this year we just wanted to RELAX! Well I think it was the first time ever in either of our lives that we followed threw. On our vacation to the Dominican, WE DID NOTHING! Our schedule was, wake up, get breakfast, get chairs, sit by the pool, eat lunch, sit by the pool, go shower, eat dinner, maybe watch a show and GO TO SLEEP! It was truly amazing, we did nothing, and I could not believe it. We were there for SEVEN NIGHTS, and we did not get bored doing nothing. Jerods sister, and parents went a long with us and it was so much fun. It was the most relaxing vacation that we have ever been on and we are excited for the next one.

Something we realized early in our trip is that the Dominican Republic was not an American attraction. We went to a show one night and were the only Americans in the room! Most of the English speaking people were from Canada, and they even spoke Spanish (America is so behind on the bilingual thing). There were many people from all over South America and Western Europe. It was a different experience and has made me extremely determined to learn Spanish fluently, even more than before. Melissa (Jerods Sister) is getting married in Costa Rica in December so we are going to enroll in classes together. Her fiancé is bilingual and we want to be able to communicate with his family. Therefore, that is our challenge for the next couple of months.

So the story behind the “Unofficial engagement photos.” At our hotel there was a place you could sign up for free photo sessions, and Jerod and I took complete advantage of that. It was free, we just had to pay for the pics we wanted, and they turn out great! We love them, well I love most of them. The photographer was really into making you pose all sexy, and I do not have a sexy face at all!! So I mostly laughed when it came to the sexy ones, but my sis in law took beautiful ones! Here are a couple of pics from the trip!
Side note: Melissa and I hated the food, but we are picky!

Fam on the dock Girls before dinner

One of Melissas' "professional" pics

The photographer made us ROLL on the sand, I was acutally in pain!

One of our favorites!

Hand Painted Easter

This is a bunny given to me by my future sister in law. She is getting married in Decemeber and went to New York to find her wedding dress this past weekend. I had to take a picture of this bunny before I ate it! Its hand painted!

Not the woman I expected to be

I have been engaged for a month now, and I have found it to be a very interesting experience. Since Jerod has a 13-month deployment to Iraq, we are waiting to get married until he returns, I have not had to do anything other than set our date. Well, I did look up Spas to treat my wedding party to a Spa day, and I did look up cigar rollers, and lounge furniture because that is what is important. I did ask some fellow St. Ann parishioners that have gotten married there before me for some advice on what to do. I guess because it is still so far away I do not feel so much pressure to book everything, but I have picked out a couple of FAVS that I have had my eye on from past weddings to contact. Anyway, my point is that I have realized that I am not an “OH MY GOSH” girl, even though growing up we are socialized to dream of our PEEERRRFECT wedding. My extremely generous partner did put a nice ring on my finger. So when people I have no seen in a while notice it, they say, Are you engaged? In a pitch so high, that I think dogs could hear it. I respond very nonchalantly, “yeah.” I have realized people do not like that response, because they usually say back, are you not excited? Well yeah, I am excited I am marrying my partner and best friend I just don’t feel the need to be like “OH MY GOSH IM ENGAGED! WOO-HOO” every time I see someone. I also realize that I am not as Type A as I thought, sure I want things to go well on for our wedding, but I am not a bridezilla, nor plan on turning into one. I appreciate the girls who are really excited and wedding is always on their mind, it is a very exciting time and over joy is to be expected, so I don’t want to knock them. Nevertheless, Marriage is a privilege that Jerod and I are lucky enough to be able to participate in. I love Jerod and he is everything I have ever wanted in someone, he’s my rock and best friend, and even though he is my political, social and religious opposite, (but he’s starting to see the light in many issues), we work together, additionally we will raise our kids to be flaming liberal Catholics (Side note: our priest looks like SANTA! How cool will it before our kids to see Santa every Sunday…haha!) Anyway, I decided that this picture would be my big WOO-HOO I am engaged and display my internal excitement! Therefore, if I forget to tell you that I am engaged, I apologize in advance, but at the end of the day, our commitment of a lifetime together means more to me than planning a wedding.

See I am SO EXCITIED!