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