The J-squared Update

I killed it!

2010-04-14T11:59:00.002-05:00

I did it!! I killed my first bee or wasp. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference. I have always told everyone that I was allergic to them (I have never been tested for this, so as of now it is a lie). Today I get home from yoga and it was staring at me, ready to attack! I was very scared, and Jerod was on Skype at the time. He told me to get a magazine a hit… (He acts as if he has not dated me for the last four years) you honestly think that I am going to walk up to the beast and swat it with a magazine! Therefore, I threw three magazines at it! I ACTUALLY HIT IT! Then I just kept throwing and throwing until I knew it was dead! Now I have a bunch of magazines on the floor and I am scared to pick them up, because what if the wasp/bee regains strength and attacks? What if I am allegric and bust out into hives and cannot breath! There are too many risks! These are the times I wish Jerod were here, so now I will just leave the magazines on the floor until Kayrin comes home.

The Lenton Season Begins!

2010-02-22T13:23:00.003-06:00

After my entire family got a good laugh from my email I sent on Lent I thought this would be funny to share with everyone...I do pre-warn you the S-word is used a lot in this email, so sorry if your offended and feel free not to read it! Otherwise Have a blessed day!

So…today is a very important day in the catholic faith. It is the beginning of Lent, its a great time for reflection and understanding the sacrifice of Jesus before we celebrate Easter. Many people know it as the time when Catholics give up something, but I am way too old to be giving up so I use it as a time to find a way to enrich my life and those around me.

So today, I got up, went to Church, got my ashes, worked out with Sherri, and then came home and even took Bosley for a walk! I cleaned the kitchen and picked up the living, just getting stuff done. Then I had the CRAZY idea to go outside and pooper scoop (Kent has been on my for weeks), I figured, God blessed me with a wonderful day off, I am able to get my life in order, why not!

My first mistake was putting my new Uggs on versus the old ones, I put on pants and of course gloves. Well the woman at Pet Smart made the claw seem like it was the EASY solution to cleaning poop. Obviously, I have never done this so the last time it was done was before Jerods deployment. I get out there and start picking up poop, its going okay, then it start to get a little messy.

So here I am banging the pooper scooper gently to get the poop off…fine…then I notice poop has been flying on my clothes from the tapping, not freaking yet…then I as I continue I realize that Bosley has calcified shit in the yard, did you know shit came in so many different forms? There was orange shit, green shit, red shit, slushy shit, frozen shit, wet shit, pointy shit, traditional brown shit, pebble shit, multicolor shit, and my favorite BLOB shit. I filled a bucket full of shit. Had shit on my clothes, shit stuck in my shoes and on the bottom of my pants…shit everywhere! Oh and the best part. We have a dinky little tree in our yard so I went over to break a branch off to clean my Uggs, and when I started pushing to scrap the shit out of my Uggs, I lost balance and fell and my left hand landed in shit, thank god I was wearing gloves!

You know I never had any desire to have a dog, ever! Never needed one, I barely pet the one I have, so as all of you as my witness…I will probably never clean shit again. So if Jerod for the rest of our lives feels the need to have a dog, he will be the only person cleaning shit, because honestly after today, I can live without one! I actually had the thought of giving bosley a BUTT PLUG until he learns to use the toilet!

Have a Blessed Day and I hope its not full of shit!

Love,
Jess

Stuck Inside on a Snowy Day!

2010-01-07T22:10:00.008-06:00

I told you I wouldn’t be gone for too long. So today I slide into a ditch! Which was not exciting but I wish I would have gotten a picture of my huge car in a ditch. After two hours I was saved by nice people passing by and then I went home! I was supposed to be working at the store today but there was no way I was driving all the way out there just to come home in the dark.

So I got a off day which was nice because I got to start collecting addresses for the big wedding celebration, finish my Thank you notes for all those who donated toys for the Family Readiness Group Christmas party, and I got to organize my office closest!! Yes you heard right my office has been completed. I have an awesome fiancé as you all know that had been working on this office before he left, however it was not done yet. Jerod did all the ruffin' in, electrical, and sheet rock. Then we had black textured tile put on the floor, and his dad GRACIOUSLY came in and finished painting the room, put shelves in the closest finished the trim, and finished the light fixtures. So I have an AWESOME future father in law as well, although I would forget to feed him. Anyway, I am so excited!! So here are a couple of pictures. I am waiting on ordering my office furniture until Jerod comes home I already have one piece and just need a couple more! Here are a couple of Pics!

Office Fan that acts more like a spot light

My one piece of office furniture
This is the closet devoted to scrap booking and gift wrapping!!

This is the accent wall

After the wedding we are going to make this a wine cellar, it will have a glass door and wine racks. I know how posh of us right! haha! We are trying to become wine connoisseurs, we do live on a golf course after all!This is looking in from the downstairs living room!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T22:01:00.003-06:00

Woah! It's been a long time my friends! I have done such a bad job the last part of the year with blogging. But between my 3 jobs, being the Family Support Group Lead, and trying to plan a wedding, I do not have much time for blogging. We are officially half-way through the deployment! Which is amazing! Wedding planning is going great, I have some amazing vendors that are making the whole process easier. Although in case you did not not I lost all the information I had on my USB, this had all of graduate school, everything from my sexual health educator days, all the PhD application info, and of course the entire wedding! Everything was lost! On the bright side I have now been able to start fresh with the wedding only putting the necessary things I need in the wedding file that is now saved on my computer....that I back up every time I even think about opening the file.

I apologize more to my friends moms for not keeping them up to date, because lets be real they read the blog more that my friends do! So I promise to do better, I also have had a ton of people tell me that I should put the different projects I am doing for the wedding on the blog. I am a DETAIL JUNKIE these days when it comes to the wedding. So I will share some of my secrets...and its okay to copy, because honestly, Weddings are EXPENSIVE! WE need all the help we can get in cost saving! Anyway, I will be back soon, as in a couple of days, not months. In addition, THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who send Jerod boxes and sent the soldiers Christmas gifts, that is wonderful and I LOVE YOU FOR IT!

I HAVE ARRIVED

2009-10-05T06:50:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-09-28T17:02:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-07-29T22:05:00.008-05:00

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

2009-07-27T22:02:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-09T09:10:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-28T21:53:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-06-24T21:59:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-17T10:32:00.004-05:00

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! :)

2009-06-17T10:12:00.007-05:00

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

2009-06-16T08:31:00.006-05:00

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

2009-06-14T21:03:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-01T21:08:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-05-29T11:30:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-29T10:46:00.006-05:00

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...

2009-05-27T19:34:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-05-27T09:05:00.011-05:00

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!

2009-05-26T21:29:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-05-26T21:07:00.007-05:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-26T20:51:00.008-05:00

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)

2009-05-21T17:45:00.010-05:00

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!

2009-05-20T17:59:00.001-05:00

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

2009-04-17T23:34:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-16T21:52:00.003-05:00

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

2009-04-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

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!

SURPRISE your 28! YOU'RE OLD!

2009-04-16T20:44:00.005-05:00

So, every year I try to make Jerods birthday special because he ALWAYS makes mine over the top. The problem with Jerod is that he has everything and he is hard to surprise. Well I go down to Kansas City every weekend to spend time at our new house and hang out with him. I decided that I would throw a little surprise party at our house on the Monday night of the championship basketball game. (Because we have BIG TVs in our house, we have no furniture but we made sure to have TVs!) I had Cory (Jerods Brother) call Jerod and invite himself over the watch the game, that way I knew Jerod would be at the house. Then I emailed some of his friends to show up at the house at 7 pm. Jerods whole family was in on the surprise as well. So my normal routine is to go down to KC on Thursday then leave Monday morning at 6 am to get back to class. Well I get up on Monday at 6 am and act like I am going back to Columbia for class, but I really go to the dealership to get my oil changed. Jerod made me feel guilty for leaving him on his last birthday before he leaves for Iraq. But I was thinking man is he going to feel like a jerk once he finds out what I was doing! Well for some reason we could not get Jerod to leave the freakin house this day. So I am running all the errands, Jerods Mom goes to pick up Jerod birthday cake an hour away (THIS CAKE LADY IS AWESOME! Cherry has convinced her to make the trip to Dallas do our wedding cake, YAY!) Anyway, we finally get him out of the house to set up the surprise, and was he super surprised to come home and see me? Well kind of, I had left my FREAKING email open on a message I sent to our best friend Kayrin, and the title said, Jerods Surprise Party…So once again, he knew! But he still played along, and the fam came over and some of our friends and it was a ton of fun, and the first official thing we have had at our house. We had to have Kent and Cherry (Jerods Parents) bring chairs from the Auction building so people could sit somewhere, cause we still have no furniture. But the funniest part of this story is I bought Jerod a stand to go under the TV down by the bar, but I made him buy it back from me because I needed the money for other things. Therefore, he bought his own birthday present! Haha!

AWESOME 3D Scooby Cake!

My Sweet Boy!
Singing Happy Birthday!

Mi casa Su casa

2009-04-10T11:39:00.001-05:00

We are setting here in our hotel room in the Dominican Republic because it is pouring down rain, so we thought we would let everyone know that we have officially closed on our house.
We were originally looking for a nice starter home, but I think this has turned into a little more than that. For those of you that do not know where or what Creekmoor is, it is a golf course located in Raymore, Mo and is at this point a semi-private golf course community. That house we live in is located in the Westbrook Villas. We figure since I was going to be gone for a year this would be the best location for a few different reasons. First, Jess won’t have to mow that lawn. Second, Jess won’t have to water the lawn. Third, Jess won’t have to shovel snow, basically she can be lazy. These are all amenities that come along with our HOA. Also, along with those amenities comes my favorite part, GOLF!!!! Because, I am trying to get on the PGA tour, living here will help my chances, ok maybe not but I still love golf. The area has its own elementary school. The club house has tennis courts, a weight room and a pool, Jess swears she will be swimming every day.

It' Officially OUR House!

2009-04-01T06:03:00.002-05:00

So the first night we spent in our house want Friday, we have only a bed, a TV and couch. We eat our meals on the floor, which is a great bonding experience. However it is the coolest feeling knowing that all of this is yours!

Welcome Video from Taiwan

2009-03-15T21:06:00.002-05:00

Taiwan...FINALLY!! :)

2009-03-14T22:01:00.005-05:00

As many of you know I went to Taiwan over Christmas break...I thought I should post some of my favorite pictures and I also including the blog I wrote for the Graduate School while we were there...

Since we have arrived in Taiwan, the people here have been very welcoming and gracious. The communal culture has been very rich and apparent in everything they do. We have experienced multiple professional classes and my favorite was on Solution-Focused Brief Taiwan. This class was very interesting because even though the goal is the same as in America, the approach is very different. Because it is a communal society, everything is collaborative effort between student, teacher, parent and counselor. They believe that everything they are doing is for the benefit of the child and that is why it is important to work together. Even when discussing family matters they highlight that it is important for the child to have a balanced home. The approach describes what the community can do to improve the person in needs well being. Students welcoming us...

Since I am a first generation American who parents both come from a collectivist culture, I understand this approach. What I have realized is that many of the experiences in Taiwan are similar to family’s culture. However, I find myself flustered and anxious in different settings. What I realized during our group process time is that even though the culture is very similar to mine, I do not connect Taiwanese people to me because they do not look or sound like my family. Thus, even though I understand the culture I still may feel lost because I am not used to experiencing it with them.

Some of my classmates at the Ministry of Education

Along with attending professional classes, we have visited counseling psychology training centers and museums. Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the Native Taiwanese Museum. Where we learned about the 14 tribes in Taiwan that are remaining, they are also known as Aboriginals. We learned aboriginals have occupied the island for almost 8000 years because the Han Chinese immigrants came to Taiwan in the 17th century. The Taiwanese Aborigines are Austronesian peoples, with linguistic and genetic ties to other Austronesian ethnic groups, such as peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Oceania. There were over 26 different languages, but now many are extinct and some of the smaller tribes’ languages are in danger of becoming extinct.
My Host Family

After going through the museum, I began to see many parallels between the aboriginal culture and history to our American Indian culture and history. I found it fascinating that two different areas in the world can have almost the same experience. The museum was a great learning experience about the history of Taiwan and its people. They welcomed our group with an amazing aboriginal ceremonial welcome dance. Where they pulled all of us to join in and dance with them. This is another display of how welcoming and warm the culture is here.
However, the greatest experience for me has been the reaffirmation in my beliefs is that the relationships we build are the most important thing in life. We sometimes become so wrapped up in life that we forget why we are working so hard, we lose sight of our original goal. The warmth and graciousness that the Taiwanese people have shown our group is astounding. It warms my heart to have built so many friendships in such a short time. Connections such as this will continue to shrink the bridge between the east and west and one day we will make the world a better place by working together.

National Taiwan Normal University and University of Missouri Students

The Coast, It was awesome! :)

Memoirs of a Boy Soilder

2009-03-11T20:56:00.003-05:00

I read the most amazing book this past week (I know you are thinking, how do I have time to read). Anyway, it is a memoir of Ishmael Beah who was a child solider during the civil war in Sierra Leone. This book drew me in and I could not stop reading it! There are many parts of the book that are just heart breaking and you cannot believe this happened to a real person. Actually, the whole reason I read the book was after I went to meet him and hear him speak. I went into my boss’s office and she said she was going to see a speaker tonight. I saw the pamphlet and I told her that I had bought that book about 6 months ago and had yet to read it. She invited me along and I ended up staying for 2 hours because I am just fascinated by him! His story was truly amazing, heartbreaking and just makes you want to get involved and help the children who suffer from the effects of a civil war. It makes you count your blessings and realize how lucky we really are.

VAGINA!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-01T23:31:00.004-06:00

It is over! I performed in my very last Vagina Monologues this past weekend and it was bittersweet. I was lucky enough to have Jerods’ whole family and mine in attendance (even though Oni and Jerods dad were thoroughly embarrassed by the entire play being about Vaginas). I love the Vagina Monologues for so many reasons. Not only because I love the stories that are told, but because it is truly a bonding experience with the cast. We met every Sunday for about three months. You really get used to seeing these wonderful women every Sunday and then you feel a little lost when it’s done. The Vagina Monologues is very close to my heart this year as the spotlight issue was to Stop Rape in the Congo to young girls and women. Civil war is something that no one in our generation or even our grandparents’ generation has experienced in America. However, my parents have both experienced the effects of a civil war and what it can do to a country. This year the new monologue hit me the hardest. It spoke about how we as Americans perpetuate civil wars in other countries. How in America we do not care about where the goods we buy come from, we just care if it works properly or looks nice. Like most countries in Africa, natural resources are in abundance. In the Congo, one of their major natural resources is rubber and the materials needed for cell phones and game machines like play station three. Which we do not realize that over here because many times we do not care to know. However if you have a minute take some time and explore the website below and read up on the aftermath of this civil war in the Congo. Moreover, the next time you look at your diamond, your cell phone, pump your gas, or play basketball stop and think where these items may be coming from.

Peace, Self Love and Vagina.

http://newsite.vday.org/drcongo

Stop blinding me with your BLING BLING

2009-02-24T23:32:00.005-06:00

Saturday, February 21st , 2009 will be a day I will always remember, it was a life changing experience, it is the day me and Jessica went to see the Dialog in the Dark exhibit at Union Station……Oh yea I also PROPOSED.

I have tried to think of ways to surprise Jessica doing it. It has been very hard, because we are basically doing our relationship backwards. I did not want to take her out to dinner, I didn’t want candle light, I didn’t want live music, all too predictable. Her family is coming into town this coming weekend, and if you talk to Jess, she even thought I was going to do it then. So the only way to completely surprise her was to be CHEEESY.

So I had a plan. Since we were having date day on Saturday, I would do it then. So I used the help of my BEST FRIEND Kayrin. I had Kayrin and my mother come our new house and set things up while we were on our date. I told Jessica on Friday that we needed to met the builder on Sat. around 3pm to discuss some work he was doing. So that was my way to get to the house. Friday night Jessica had girl’s night, she was real tired but I made her go, really I just needed the time to get things together. I bought 3 dozen roses and a bouquet of flows. So when me and Jess arrived at the house, I told her I thought I saw a light on the outside of the house, I asked her to go inside and call me and we will find out which switch turns it off. That was my first brilliant idea, reason being it got me away from her and second I made sure she had her phone, which will be used later. So I ran around the house where Kay let me in the back door. Jess went to the door to find a note that said, “Follow the Roses” “just play the games Jess, don’t ruin it.” Jess has a tendency to not follow my games. As she walked in, there were roses that led to the kitchen. There she found a sign and pictures that said “remember when we met”, following more roses, she found three more sign “remember our first kiss”, “remember our first fight”, ”remember the first time I said I love you”, the she came to the last sign, “remember the first time I wrote on our blog”. Jess for the last month has tried to get me to write on this blog. I have procrastinated on doing so, until then. This is where her phone was needed. On the sign it said for her to look at the blog.

****READ MY PREVIOUS BLOG TO UNDERSTAND NEXT PART****

She then came down the stairs to me on one knee (OLD FASHION AND CHEESY). Kayrin was there to get the pictures, which are completely my fault; I forgot to turn the flash on (a little nervous), so a little dark. I was not even able to get the word out of my mouth to say anything before she grabs me and hugs me to the point where I can’t breathe. Note, she is balling at this point. Jessica was completely caught off guard, which I was hoping for. I really didn’t get to spend much time with her right after because she was on the phone. So, like I said before Dialog in the Dark is an awesome experience, but there is nothing better than putting a big rock on the woman you love.

And it goes like this... (My version of the engagement)

2009-02-24T23:31:00.004-06:00

So, about two weeks ago I asked Jerod if we could have a date day because we haven’t had one in a while. Jerod and I had been constantly saying we wanted to experience “Dialogue in the Dark.” Where you experience being blind for an hour in a safe space. However, they take you through daily experiences that the blind go through, such as walking through a park, crossing a busy street, going to a restaurant, and a farmers market. If you are ever in Kansas City, you should definitely experience it!

Any who, we made plans to go to Dialogue in the Dark, and then Jerod said we had a meeting with the builder at 3 pm about some issues with the house and then we were going to home depot. That was the plan and me having Type A personality I stick with the plan! We get out of Dialogue in the Dark at I am thinking we are late! We rush down to the house and Jerod says something like, I think there is a light on in the back, call me from inside when you find the switch that turns it off and now that I think about it, what he told me did not make sense to me at the time but I just went with it.

When I got to the door there was a sign that said, “Follow the roses” and “Just play the game Jess, don’t ruin it! Because I ruin everything, but I honestly figured that Jerod was trying to make date day special, I had no clue this was a proposal. Jerod is a hopeless romantic so this is not unusual for him to do something sweet at the end of a date. At this point I was still thinking, “Where the heck is the builder.” So I go through the house following the signs until I get to the closet where it said “remember the first blog I wrote” I was like you haven’t written one yet, so I get on my Iphone and I read the blog below this one and at that point I began to BALL!! His brother Cory had uploaded it while we were on our date day! So, I walked down stairs and my sweet boyfriend was on one knee. I do not remember anything he said beyond this point, I just kept hugging him and it took me a while to say yes because I was crying so hard.

At this point, I am still crying and my type A personality kicks back in and I ask him if we can still go to Home Depot because it was on our list of things to do. At Home Depot the lady helping us asked how long we had been married and Jerod replies by saying we just got engaged about an hour ago! The last looks at me and says, “AND YOU’RE AT HOME DEPOT!” I said, “We really needed shower rods.” And Jerod called me his fiancé for the first time there too! Then we went home and had a big dinner with the fam! It was a perfect day! :)

We're Engaged!

2009-02-24T22:58:00.008-06:00

Follow the Roses!!

Jerods' set up down stairs on the Bar

Kayrin Jerods and my BF who helped with the whole thing.

Me and my new bling!

I was crying so hard!

It Is About Time !!!!!!

2009-02-21T13:55:00.004-06:00

Well, this is my first blog and it is sure going to be a Doozy. For many of you may know, Jessica has always talked about getting married and her wedding and if you didn’t know well SHE DOES!!! She has also talked about it so much it has made it hard to surprise her with anything. Right now Jessica is standing in the closet of our new house reading this blog, hopefully getting the surprise of her life.

Jessica, as you read this for the first time, along with everyone else, I want to tell you I LOVE YOU and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Take a minute to reflect on the times we have had, when you are done COME DOWNSTAIRS.

More Home Pics...

2009-02-15T23:15:00.007-06:00

Big Tub!!!

More of the Nook Area

Looking into the living room and kitchen

Part of the Master Bedroom, it has recessed lighting..Ooohh!

Call Me Betty Crocker!

2009-02-15T23:02:00.016-06:00

We have appliances! So, this is really geeky, but it’s kind of a big deal, it’s our second largest purchase together! Also, Jerod is getting the kitchen he has always dreamed of, because God knows the year he is gone it won’t be used! But These are some pictures at Home Depot when we were picking out the appliances. The house is still moving…slowly…they are repairing and replacing everything we wanted done, which is great. We are just waiting for our closing date and then we begin to move in! We are holding out on new furniture until Jerod gets back from Iraq because we have a ton of stuff now and we want to get stuff together, and that means we are not spending the big bucks now and we can actually save! I threw some more pics of the house for your viewing pleasure!

I am not sure how much I will use this...

Oooh! Aww!

I Just Wanted my Teeth Cleaned...

2009-02-10T22:03:00.003-06:00

I officially HATE going to the dentist. I went in to get my teeth cleaned on Friday. I had a jam-packed schedule that day and my teeth cleaning was the second item on my list. After I was done with the teeth cleaning, I told the hygienist that I had a loose crown and that should be the next thing we fix. LITTLE did I know I had just opened a can of worms. They start to take x-rays and the dentist comes in and says you know we are going to have to take that tooth out. I thought she was saying, “Let’s make an appointment so we can get that tooth out later.” Next thing I know they are having me sign a consent form to take the tooth out RIGHT THEN! I was caught off guard, and instead of saying can we do this next week, I go, “oh, really, like right now?” like a pathetic puppy.

They first drill a hole in the middle of my crown to take the rod out. Then they take pliers and twist the crown off. Well when they do that, my original tooth SHATTERS! So now, the two roots are stuck in my gums. Needless to say after two hours of drilling and pulling, drilling and pulling, the roots are completely out. I thought okay well the worst is over, but NO she starts to put stitches in and says, “Oops, I did it backwards and now the tissue is tearing.” She then takes them out and starts all over again. So, 2 ½ hours, one less tooth, and five stitches later I walk out of there were a prescription for Vicodin and Clindamycin. I had to cancel girls night, cancel my appointment with my advisor who is EXETREMEMLY different to get a hold of, I forgot about my chiropractor appointment, and cancelled getting my tires put on my car, so I could drive to Kansas city, take my Vicodin and go to sleep.

The dentist is always a traumatic experience.

The Infamous GOLD Bowl

2009-02-06T20:16:00.006-06:00

So… some of my friends have been giving me crap about my Gold Bowl. For those who do not know about it here is the story, I went to this store named JM Porters with Cherry (Jerods Mom) and Melissa (Jerods Sister). This is Melissa’s favorite furniture and décor store. Well the store was having a one-day only 50% off sale as long as you donate $50 to the homeless. So, when I saw this GOLD bowl I HAD TO HAVE IT! It was beautiful, it has the serenity prayer craved on the inside. Of course, since this store was “fancy,” I called Jerod to make sure that he was okay with the purchase. The first thing he said was, “No, you’re crazy.” But, when he realized how bad I really wanted to the bowl he caved in and said I could get it as long as I use my credit card and I pay for it. Well I only have one and it turns out they did not except American Express, so I had to call Jerod back. Somehow, I convinced Jerod not only to let me get this GOLD bowl, but to put it on his credit card. This just shows how much I love Jerod and he loves me for allowing me to have something I really wanted : ) Well… I guess the picture that I sent Jerod over the internet was a little deceiving. Because when I got back to the house Jerod was SHOCKED, because the bowl is about a foot and a half wide and 70 pounds! So right now, we are trying to find a place in the new house for this giant bowl! Anyway, I love that bowl! No matter what my friends say!!! I am going to put it on a pedestal and put it right in the entryway of the house! Hahaha! Jerod says he is going to make it a birdbath and put it in the front yard.

Part of the serenity prayer View from the side
Okay, so Kay we were a little off on the size of the bowl...Jerod wants me to say he was RIGHT!

Om--ickelson Casa Update

2009-02-05T17:55:00.002-06:00

We are still under contract and we are hoping to close by the end of the month. We have SLOWLY been buying/ searching for items for the house. We are trying not to buy very much because Jerod will be gone for a year and we want to wait until he gets back to fully furnish the house and buy “new” stuff. As of now, we are getting the basics, like appliances, TVs and our bedroom set. Once we close on the house, we will probably landscape the front and keep it at that. We have many plans for the house but we will wait until Jerod gets back from Iraq.

Any who, Kayrin, Jerod and I went at stuck about 60 post its on minor repairs that we want the builder to make to the house before we move in. It was funny but I am sure the workers hate us now. It is a new house and so we want everything to be as close to perfect as we can get it. We have an unfinished room down stairs that is going to be the office and then it has an area designated for a wine cellar (Jerod and his dad will be heading that project.) Jerod and I are having a big debate on what type of flooring to put in the office. In the section of the wine cellar, it will be hardwood floors for sure. We have found waterproof hardwood floors. However, I wanted hardwood floors in the whole area! Below is a picture of the office furniture I am going to get, and doesn’t it look great with hardwood floors! The compromise so far is to have a pretty carpet pattern in the office area and wood only in the wine cellar. Nevertheless, if you see Jerod go ahead and tell him that you think the wood floors like great!!! Haha!

Goals and Money!

2009-02-04T13:07:00.004-06:00

I am a HUGE goal setting person. I live my life by setting goals and milestones that I want to achieve. It keeps me going forward and I rarely ever spend time looking in the past or participating in self pity. Anyway, I have redesigned my infamous goal sheet. It is new, improved, and better than ever! It also went from 18 pages to 14. :) Jerod and I are doing it this weekend to try it out and I have already sent it to some of my friends. It works whether you are in a relationship or not. I love it. Also, I discovered Mint.com, which is an EASY way to keep track of your finances. It can also be an application on your Iphone. This is great because it shows you what you spend your money on, how much you save and gives you updates if accounts are low. Check it out and if you want a goal sheet let me know!

Home on the Range

2009-02-01T19:46:00.006-06:00

So here is most of the house, its 3 beds, 3 baths, but I did not post those, because you know what a room looks like. We are making some changes to the house. We are buying stainless appliances and still have to get a washer and dryer. Then we are finishing some of the storage space to make an office! It is a lot of work though! We will keep you posted! We are hoping to close by the end of the month! Enjoy the pictures!

This is the backyard

Bar in the basement
Rest of the Basement

Kitchen with the daylight windows Laundry Room

Nook Area

The Kitchen The living room media center

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-30T09:07:00.009-06:00

WE HAVE A HOME!!!!! My first thought was, “We bought a house! Whose is gonna pay for it!” Then I panicked, then Jerod panicked and then we were panicking together! Granted we understand that for our generation we are taught at retirement our house should not be our largest asset, but until this point in our lives, the house is the largest purchase we have ever made. Anyway, we love it! I am not going to lie, we are pretty spoiled at this point, it is brand new construction, it's on a golf course with a clubhouse that serves lunch and dinner (so I still do not have to cook!), we don’t have to mow the lawn and we have a workout facility. So, basically I will never leave home again! Jerod is going to be going back and forth between Columbia and KC until I graduate in May and then I will move down there. We will not be having a house warming until after Jerod gets back from Iraq, so with this much notice everyone should be able to come! : ) It’s also good because we can’t afford any new furniture right now, my mom said she would donate floor cushions to sit on, Thanks mom! It’s been a couple days now since it went under contract, so we are feeling normal again, no more panicking, we can do this! Nevertheless, we are both glad that we finally have a place to call home.

Front of the house! More Pictures to come!

So here it goes...

2009-01-28T23:38:00.000-06:00

It's OFFICIAL, we have jumped on the bandwagon of blogging! I am not going to lie for the next couple of months we may suck at this, but we decided to get this up and running before Jerod leaves for Iraq. Jerod plans on Blogging about how he is doing in Iraq so that everyone can come to one central location and check on him. It makes it easier for him, now that he is a big bad OFFICER! He will be able to post pictures and everything. Nevertheless, for now we will just be blogging about our lives and what going on. So check our blog often and we will try to keep it updated!!! CIAO!