Michigan, here I come!

I leave tomorrow for MICHIGAN! I am pretty excited about it! I can't wait to get some cooler weather! I dont even care if it rains or snows, I just am tired of heat already!!
Jamos and I had a GREAT dinner at PF Changs. Oh my goodness! It was DELICIOUS. :) We enjoyed ourselves greatly. We came home, played a game and then our friend Amy came over to celebrate with CAKE!!! :)
My suitcase is mostly packed...We have to leave the house NO later than 5:30am tomorrow to get to the airport!!! So, I have a feeling I will need some caffiene by the time I land in The Great Lakes State! :)
Anyways, I am super excited, but at the same time, I am sad that Jamos has to be here all alone, and can't be up there with me. I will surely miss him- the love of my life!!
Pray for safe travels as I head to Michigan and actually work FROM the school I work FOR! :)
OH!! Also, like 2 weeks ago, my flip phone totally bit the dust- broke in 2 and hasnt been working- if you called my cell- the message indicated that my phone was broken! BUT I finally went to the sprint store for like the 3rd time- to finally take the plunge and continue with sprint and get a new amazing phone! I found a picture, that is my phone- great color and everything! :) I was able to keep my number and now I also have text! :)

A few photo's

Jamos' presents and cards that he got from family! :)

This is the cake I made for Jamos! I was pretty proud of myself!

This was our view from our dinner! How wonderful to just look out at sunshine and palm trees!

Here we are eating Jamos' birthday dinner!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMOS!!

Happy Birthday Jamos!!! Today is Jamos' 24th BIRTHDAY!!!

Jamos, being the HARD worker that he is, actually went to work on a day OFF! He went to this ma and pop store south of Houston, he went and worked there on Saturday and he is also working at it today- to help out because this weekend in Texas, anything you buy that is energy star, is TAX FREE!!!

Jamos is very dedicated to making his career with Whirlpool a success. I am so very proud of him!!!

I also took the day off, I dont get vacation days now with SA. It kinda stinks. Remember that- in future jobs, get PAID VACATION DAYS!!!! Anyways, I took the day off so I could catch up with some church stuff and clean our home, which is always a disaster!!! I loved having a break from the daily grind. What a wonderful day- even if I was not with Jamos- or scrapbooking!! :) It is SOOO hot out still, I only ventured out one time. :)

PLUS, it was a good day because it is a John and Kate Plus 8 MARATHON ON TLC!!! :) So, I have been working and.... watching them :) I am just so impressed at their parenting skills. They are totally normal people, we have 8 kids. I love it. :)

ALSO, in celebration of my wonderful husband's birthday, I woke up with him to the alarm clock, so I could make him birthday morning blueberry pancakes!! :) I did an okay job. Next time, I will NOT make a huge pancake for the birthday boy, I will continue to make smaller ones and more of them. DUH. I am such a nerd. But, my lovely husband ATE his huge pancake with crispy edges!! :) HA! We bought some organic and wonderful syrup from Whole Foods - and that tasted yummmmy!

While he was in the shower, I also blew up balloons that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY and put them in the bathroom so when he opened the shower curtain, he would once again be reminded of how special he is!

I put up a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner in the kitchen/living room- I KNOW I am total dork!!

But, birthdays are a BIG DEAL!!! :)

Okay, so, now, I am waiting for him to get home from work- I have made a reservation at PF CHANGS for later tonight- and have a cake all made and decorated!!! I am SOOO proud of that! I will post pictures!!

It is SUPER cute- 2 layer round with whipped green frosting (like green grass) and I put Peanut M&M's all over it- so it looks like dots- and then, I got polka doted candles- it is the best cake I have EVER MADE!!! And, I only dropped the spatula 1 time with green frosting, down the front of the cupboards and some how got the side of the refridgerator and of course, the stone floor :) But, I mean, not other disasters in the kitchen.

Anyways, I am praying for a wonderful day for Jamos- as we celebrate, eat, enjoy cake and opening gifts! Yippee! :)

Hot and Humid

Wow, let me tell you- I have NO idea how we shall survive the Houston Summer. It is already over 90 degrees- and with humidity the weather man says feels like 98 at LEAST. You walk outside and it feels like you opened the oven and the hot air is hitting you. That is the best I can do to describe it! I am GLAD to be heading north this week for a bit, so I can experience some better temps!!

I love GREEK food- and I cannot wait to someday visit Greece. Jamos and I both want to go- I have wanted to go since I saw "sisterhood of the traveling pants" and saw the white buildings and beautiful blue waters. Anyways, finally visited this amazing Greek Rest. and I will be going back ASAP! They had the BEST hummus, greek salad and Gyros. It was GREAT!!! We went out with our friend Amy and she had another Whirlpool friend with her down from Dallas, so we enjoyed ourselves! It was fun. I was eating like a maniac. :) That is pretty normal now adays. I dont know why, but everywhere we go they have GREAT food down here. It is nice to actually go someplace OTHER than applebees, you know? So, we go often and the food is SOO GOOD!!!

At least fruit season has started down here- I got strawberries for 99 cents yesterday, and cherries for 2.99 a pound. When we first came down in January, Cherries were like seriously 6.99 a pound!! So, I am GLAD about fruit. I love it- and hopefully it will counter-act the other food I have been eating- allowing me to fit into my pants again!! :)

ANYWAYS, I will post some pictures that we took last night- not much picture taking has been happening around here. We work so much.... trying to afford to live down here! :) I was just reading this book about living on well less than you think- and it was talking about areas of the country- where you may get paid less, but the cost of living, insurance, home taxes are SO much less expensive...hmm. I think we need to review that before we move again!!!

Jamos has enjoyed getting cards in the mail for his birthday! I am so proud of my family for how they have blessed his life lately for his birthday! :) He feels really special and I will say it again, birthdays are a BIG DEAL in my world, so I am making them for him too!! :) I have all his gifts in front of the fire place and we are placing the cards on the mantle as he opens them and feels pretty special!! :)

Today he got a package from his family, and I put that there too- and he got a card from his sister- so that was really nice too! :) He loves it and totally deserves it. I am trying to figure out how to decorate his cake.... I saw the CUTEST cake on the back of the cake box...not exactly sure I can conquere that, but I will try and I will post pictures for SURE!!! :) HAHA.

I wish we had lots of friends down here so we could have a birthday party for him! I remember last year, we had a party at my dad's house- in the pole barn- I suprised him!!! That was a blast!! :)

Okay, well, here are some pictures.

No Husband

Okay, so when I found out that Jamos had to be at this conference a while back, and leading up to it, I was kinda excited, because I could finally think of ME and be selfish, etc., but, I was good until Bible study last night, when he wasn't there...and then, I had to go get gas and get milk at the grocery...and came home to a dark house with no Jamos :( It was sad. I stayed up late working and finishing up with marriageprep stuff... Which was good.
I also thought, "YES! I can watch whatever I want on TV" Let me tell you- there is nothing good on TV at all right now. I am flipping thru channels...And, I miss my lovely and wonderful husband.

AWWW. Feel sorry for me yet?! :) He will be home tomorrow afternoon- and I can't wait to see him! His birthday is on Monday so I have been frantic trying to wrap some of his gifts... :) And, it is strange, cause I guess this is his Birthday Week- even though his birthday is Monday. So, we better start celebrating birthday week!!! :)

I am getting nervous about flying to Michigan next week. Some of you know that I really really get nervous about crashing in a plane crash. That is like my fear along with throwing up. And, I mean, normally I am totally fine once I get to the airport, cause you realize how many planes are going up and down safely. But, I have SO much anxiety about things before I fly. ARGH. I hate it. One of my new friends is a flight attendant for Continential down here in Houston- she fly's all over the place and has been filling me with confidence on how there is a plan for a plan for a plan in case something goes wrong. SOOO that makes me feel a little better! Maybe she could just come fly with me!! :)

That is all I can report. It was over 90 degrees here today. They said with the humidity it felt like 98 degrees and it is MAY!! COME ON!!!!!!
It seriously feels like you are in a dryer when you step outside. I have to keep all the windows shut (blinds) so the sun doesnt heat up the apartment- which will then increase our electric bill with having the air on!!

An Update!

Wow, 8 days shy of ONE MONTH of no blogging. That is SO not like me! I honestly do not think Jamos and I have ever been so busy in our lives. Now that we have been in Texas, we are getting involved with many things, friends, church and of course, work!

Besides both working a LOT and not your typical 8-5 hours, which is great in one area and not so great in the fact your work basically NEVER stops....we are learning how to get things done, keep a half way decently cleaned house and manage to eat foods of a nutritional value. When it is nearing 9pm and we both look at each other and ask "what is for dinner" you know your life needs to slow down!

I am very proud of Jamos, he has been working really hard for Whirlpool and learning and growing in all areas. He has had to do some public speaking and training in the last month, which he has done AWESOME at! Right now, he is at a conference in northern Houston, which is like 45 minutes away with people from all over the US- meeting and mingling and training. Continue to pray for him, that he will have great strength and find joy in what he does. We were talking last night and he really is motivated to succeed and do well with this company and I am proud to see him like this.

This past weekend was my first MarriagePrep event at Second Baptist. What a great time we had, and I believe the couples were ministered to as well. We had about 90 couples on the registration sheet. Most of them came, we had great food, and it went really good! As the MarriagePrep Coordintator, it was great to actually SEE what MarriagePrep is all about! I believe the next one in August will NOT be as stressful for me!! I was at the church pretty much all day Thursday and Friday, it started at 6:30 and we got home around 10pm- and we were up picking up breakfast at 6:30am on Saturday morning, which I have since learned- is the BEST time to be up and about- NO TRAFFIC. Which is VERY uncommon around here. :) We were working for 11 hours on Saturday and Jamos was SO sweet in assisting us as "sound man" :) We are going to count on him for each weekend!! :) What a trooper!!! When we got home, we couldn't move, or speak, or anything! It was CRAZY!! We were EXHAUSTED!!!!!!

With Jamos being stuck in a conference we decided it would be a good time to take his car in for the 120k check up. I always hate spending the money on our cars, but, our accord is a 1999 and given me NO problems, never stranded on the road or anything, which I am thankful for and I think it is because my father taught me preventative maitance is ALWAYS GOOD!! So, we took the car in and they of course, found a LOT OF rust. Everyone down here drives really nice cars, they dont have to worry much, no salt, no snow, etc., So, I think for a car that has been in the snowy north for SO long, the Honda Dealership was a little suprised. We ended up needing to replace some of the engine hooks- I can't remember the word for it- but basically there are these parts that hold the engine in your car- and 2 of them broke, so, you kinda want to get those fixed!!! We fixed them and got the big check up and all of that.... They also told me that my rear brake pads were at 40% and when it comes time to replace them, we will have to replace the roders too- because they were totally rusty. And, those do cost a pretty penny. Darn SALT!!! Can't they use something else, like SAND on the snow ALL the time instead of ice???

So, we will save up our money and get ready for that big bill when it happens. ARGH. But, there was a recall on a part in the ignition, so they are going to replace that free of charge, you know me, always look for a deal. And I had a 20% off coupon for all of the parts, etc., so, hopefully I saved a little big of money. This was NOT how I was planning on spending the economic stimulus check!!!

I really need to be reading my book for small group, it is a couples small group from our nearly/newlywed class that meets on Sunday mornings, we are studying Pastor Ed Young's (he is our pastor at the church) book, "The Ten Commandements of Marriage" it is really good- and this week's topic is COMMUNICATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always a great topic:)

Next Thursday I leave for Michigan, I am attending a registration day and our office retreat on Lake Michigan- I booked and reserved the location like last year, so I am glad they invited me to attend. The BEST part of it ALL is that I am able to spend the weekend Friday-Monday morning with my dad, barb and my grandma!!! And, I will get to spend Wednesday night with them as well- I will head back to Texas on Thursday night. I am EXCITED to be back in Michigan. I just love that state and wish I could convince my husband he loved it too- but he has too much of an adventurous spirit and needs to see a few places before he can settle down in MICHIGAN!!!! :) I dont blame him, I am an ODD BALL!!

Well, I hope this was a nice update for you. Sorry, I have no pictures to share, but, I am sure I took some at one point. OH! A few weeks ago we went back to Dave and Busters and got another photo booth picture of what our future child would look like- and this time we picked that we wanted a GIRL- well, she is the UGLIEST girl EVER. With huge crazy thick hair and bangs that need to be cute. We are a little embarrased, but we proudly display her on our dresser mirror with "Charlie" our cute kid!!! :) We are bad.

OH!! My friend Kelly, from high school has a great blog and I told her how great I thought her banners were, and so, she sweetly offered to change my blog up for me!! :) Thank you Kelly!!!