Favorite Christmas Memories

As I sit here at work, listening to Christmas music and looking out the window into the dense fog, I reflect on some things that have happened over the past few weeks that I'm so thankful for, and things that I look forward to.

Things I'm thankful for:
- my dear husband, who sticks with me no matter what. He has so much patience. He makes me laugh and smile.

- my mom seems to be doing better. She has actually gotten out of the house, and visited with friends, and she even went to the Christmas Program that FBC Buna put on last week.

- my new little nephew, Nicholas Ryan. What a precious addition he is to the family.

- that God has once again spoken clearly to me about some things in my life. and that He is opening the door again for me to once again sing on the praise team.

- that John and I are trying for baby.



Things I'm looking forward to:
- waking up with John on Christmas morning

- singing Away in a Manger with my dad playing the guitar at the Candelight service Christmas Eve.

- singing with Heaven's Breath at the Candelight service

- leading music Sunday morning (dec. 28) at FBC Buna with one of my dearest friends, Mitch.

- Christmas eve with my family - Singing Christmas Carols, listening to dad play the guitar, hearing the Christmas story, and singing Silent Night, as we all think about my brother Jeremy, and how he used to sing it in German every year.

- refreshing old memories

This year is the first year I've really been in the Christmas Spirit since Jeremy died.

Now...For my favorite Christmas memories...

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, Jeremy, Dad, and I would always go out to Double S Tree farms, and pick out the perfect Christmas tree that we were going to decorate that year. We'd go get the saw, pick it out, cut it down, and off we went. We'd go back to the house (we even did this after my parents split up), and turn down the lights, and it would begin. Dad would pull out his guitar, and Jeremy and I would begin to decorate the tree. Mom would sit back, listen and watch. We'd string the lights out, find out which ones were working, and which ones weren't. After we strung the lights on the tree, we'd pull out the ornaments. We'd laugh, and cry, and make fun of the poor little angel I made in the third grade. You see, my third grade classroom had a terrible leak in the ceiling, and one day, part of the ceiling collapsed. I'll never forget Mrs. Gerald saying "well, a couple of your Christmas Angels were crushed, but we managed to save them." Of course, mine was crushed, and wet, so the marker smeared, and well...I hope to get a picture of her while at mom's to share. Then there are all the silly little ornaments made of sweet gum balls, and lifesaver wrappers, and popsicle sticks, and then the ultimate ornament. I must preface this with - I AM NOT AN ARTIST. I should not have taken art my freshman year in high school. We made paper mache' ornaments. We blew up mini balloons, and paper mache'd them, and then painted them. My forementioned angel above looks like she came from heaven compared to my paper mache' sorry-excuse-for-an-ornament-made-by-a-14-year-old. :-) It's all caved in on one side, and it looks like I took it to a Mission Friends class and let one of the kids paint it.

It just hasn't been the same since Jeremy died. I took to some of the traditions with decorating my own tree, and still do what I can when I decorate mom's tree. Sadly, the Christmas tree farms in town have all closed, so if we want a real tree, we just go to wal-mart and pick it up. I throw on some Kenny G Christmas music, and decorate by myself.

I'm hoping as each year comes, John and I can start our own Christmas Traditions together, and that just as my parents' traditions have been passed on to me, we can do the same with our future children.

Do you have any favorite Christmas Traditions? I'd love to hear any!

I will post plenty of pictures next weekend when I'm back in San Antonio. In the country, it's hard to get any kind of good internet connection, so this will probably be my last blog for a week or so.

I hope that each of you has a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

Here's to a better year in 2009! *clink*


:-)

Thanksgivin' Happenings and More

Ok, so before I start my actual post, I have to tell y'all about something I heard this morning. I made an order with shutterfly and I never recieved my pictures, so I picked up the phone to call them this morning to check on what might have happened. The prompt menu seemed normal enough until i hear "To hear a Pirate read these options, press 6". HA!! And it actually works. You press 6, and you hear all the options read in pirate talk. Too cute. If you wanna hear, call (888) 225-7159.

ok. For my real post -
My Thanksgiving holidays were pretty fun! I got some much needed time off from work, and got my apartment all decorated up. (the first one is kinda hard to see...but all the lights are ours, and you can even see the Christmas Tree through the window. :-) )

Wednesday, John and I decided that we were going to go ahead and get our tree, and get everything decorated because we weren't going to be home on Thanksgiving, and he had to go back to work the next day. Once we picked out our tree, shoved it into the back of the Honda, and got it home, we realized we were a little short on decorations for it. It's a huge tree. Needless to say, John had to make an extra trip back to Target to get more lights.

We went with the LED lights this year. They are beautiful. So vibrant, and the colors are much more true than the regular lights. I have a lighted wreath I used to hang on my house in Houston, and when it's lit up against my LEDs on my patio, it looks so yellow. It's still pretty, though. We seem to be the only ones so far who have done anything. We've seen some other decorations, but I feel like we went all out, compared to anyone else. Maybe I'll take a drive around the complex at some point to see what else is out. Our neighbors have been very complimentary. We did have "bellicide", though. That could have been tragic. We had some bells hanging in the arch of the patio, and when they fell, they hit our neighbor's car. (Our patio is located directly above our neighbor's garage, and they park outside the garage). oops. Thankfully the only evidence was the red glitter everywhere. broke the bells, but no damage to the car, so they'll never know! :-)

That same night before Thanksgiving, my SIL, Kelli asked me if I would help her bake a Carrot Cake. I love to cook, and now that I have space, I was like "Yeah! Come on over!" so, she and her BF Chris came over. John went to the movies with a friend. Kelli, Chris, and I visited for a while, and finally went to HEB about 8:30ish. once again, like in an earlier post, i left my list at home. Thankfully, this time, we were barely out of the complex, so we turned around, picked up the list, and off we went! After our shopping trip, we came home, and started cooking. I got out everything on the list, and made the cake. I also needed to make a squash casserole, so while the cake was baking, I was clearing some space, and when I picked up the flour to put it up, I was like..."Hmmm...I wonder why I pulled this out. I didn't use it. Oh well, guess I didn't need it." WRONG! Kelli and I noticed that the cake was starting to fall, rather than rise. oops! Turns out I DID need the flour. 2 freakin' cups of it. That was the NASTIEST cake ever!! See for yourself. NOT pretty.

Kelli and I were both bummed about it, but I just promised her I would get up the next morning, and make another cake. I almost overslept, but I got up just in time, and made the cake again. This time, I only had 2 eggs, when the recipe called for three, and all the stores were closed. It still came out great! Here's my second attempt.

The actual Thanksgiving festivities were nice. We had about an hour long drive to Devine to go to an Aunt's house. They have about 33 acres of land, so it was a lot of fun to walk around. They have all sorts of trails on the property. Oh, and we visited the 10 foot rattlesnake John's uncle had shot two days before. That sucker was HUGE. I've never seen an actual rattlesnake in person. Calvin had blown it's head off and then cut the rattles off to keep as a keepsake. Or trophy. Oh, did i mention it had 15 rattles? Long rattle! calvin said he was just walking around, and that snake popped it's head up and immediatly started rattling. I would have freaked.

You can find out about my other Thanksgiving Day happening on my other blog.

On another note...At 28 years old, I discovered these. :-)

...and like them a lot.
Don't worry - not gonna get drunk or anything - I think you know me better than that. :-)

Hope y'all had a great Holiday!!

Beautiful Sunset...

It's amazing how God paints the sky in such vibrant colors. Yesterday, I rushed home, and John and I immediately got on our bikes to try and catch a sunset. We could not have timed it more perfect. We went out on the dam at Mud Creek, and captured some pictures. The great building you see with the sunset is the San Antonio, TX Mormon Temple on Stone Oak Parkway. Enjoy...




These are just some scenery pics from the same location. It's so beautiful out here.








And now for a couple of other pics...Check out the hubby...So GQ! :-) I just think he's HOT! It's ok, you can agree if you want...

Crazy Weekend...

And what a weekend it was!! Saturday started off kinda slow. I got up, got John off to work, and then just chilled on the couch and watched TV for a while. I don't get to do that very often, since I always feel like I need to clean my apartment, clean my car, run a few errands, or whatever. I'm not saying that when I need to do those things I don't watch TV, but I just feel so guilty while I'm sitting there doing it. :-) About mid-afternoon, I got up, and went to the church, because our workroom was in need of some MAJOR TLC. My little brother-in-law has been volunteering at the church on weekends, so he helped me out. It looks GREAT! That only took a couple of hours, so then I went back home and vegged for a while. I had the windows and doors open, and this is silly, but it was so cold in the apartment, I didn't want to get out from under the covers and do anything. Finally, when it reached about 55 inside, I decided to shut the doors.

John actually got off on time Saturday, which was SOOOO nice. Our off days have not lined up in two weeks, so we haven't gotten to see each other much the past couple of weeks. Just the evenings. By the time he gets home alot of nights, it's time for me to go to bed, since I have to get up so early in the morning. Last week, I traded in Resident Evil for the Wii, and got a racing game. I used to play Burnout on the Playstation 2, and loved it! Prostreet is good, too, but Burnout is still the best. (Boy, I sound like a game nerd.) Anyways - John and I make such a good team together, because he can do the drift, drag, and top speed races really good, and I can do the Grip, Sector Shootouts, and Time Attacks very good, so we dominate every race. It's awesome! hehe--

Yesterday morning, we got up and went to church, where I met the Author I am going to be working for. I've taken on a second job to make a little extra for the holidays. I'm typing a book for a new author. He will be dictating the book onto microcassettes, and he even bought me a transcribing machine to play the tapes. I do so much transcription at work, that this should be pretty easy. I just have to get used to using the machine, and also to hearing someone's voice besides my boss's. :-) Do I feel a full time, at home job in the works? :-)

After church, we went to John's parents for a little visit, and then we went to buy a wireless keyboard for the computer. (Turns out, I'm going to use my old computer, so I didn't need it anyways, but..oh well.) We went to Best Buy, and as we were walking across the parking lot, this lady stopped to let us cross the street. John made a comment about the guy behind her that had just honked at her, so we were surprised she stopped. She was on her cell phone, so she probably didn't realize she was being honked at. Well....about that time, the impatient guy behind her floored it around her, totally oblivious to the fact that we were in the street, and she was being curteous. He really didn't come that close to hitting us, but it was the principle of the matter. He could have. John decided he was going to wait at the door for the guy. He informed the employees standing at the door that he was going to have a little talk with this guy, and promised him he was going to be nice about it. Me, not wanting to see my new husband get arrested for fighting in the store, went to the back to look at keyboards. Apparently what happened was John told the guy he needed to have a chat with him, and even though the guy ignored him, John informed him that he almost hit he and his wife in the parking lot, and maybe he should be a little more considerate of pedestrians in the parking lot next time. He said the guy got really angry, and started yelling, cussing, calling him names, and all of a sudden, they were surrounded by several employees and security. The guy ended up walking off, and John apologized, and that was it. We bought our keyboard, and we were leaving the store, the lovely gentleman was in front of us. As he was backing out of his spot, he saw us, proceeded to flip us off, and flew out of the parking lot. jerk. At least John and I were ok. John only wanted to confront him, because he figured if no one ever tells this guy how inconsiderate he is, he may never think about it, and one day, he might actually hit someone. Maybe he'll at least think next time before he goes flying around someone in a parking lot. Maybe he won't.

Last night, I finally got to ride my new bike I got last week. There's a park right down the street that has some mountain bike trails so we ventured off on those. wow. that was some tough riding when you're not used to it!! I loved every minute of it though. The weather is perfect right now, and the scenery is just beautiful. Maybe next time we go out riding, I'll strap the camera on and take some pics. I love living in the Hill Country. It makes me forget I live in San Antonio.

Have a great work week!

TTC Blog...

I am creating a blog that i hope will follow the TTC journey of John and I. I pray that it's a short blog, but we'll see! Sooo...for the millions of you that read my blog out there (HA!), the address is http://littlemojoparker.blogspot.com. Bookmark it if you wanna follow along. I haven't posted anything yet - that will probably come tomorrow.

Anything is Possible if You Have Enough NERVE...

But, apparently, some of us actually don't!

This morning, I finally got the answer to why I've been dizzy off and on since January of this year. :-)

After a series of testing - one test in particular showed that I have a degenerative Inferior Vestibular Nerve on the right side. Lovely. It is 54% gone, so I have 46% of my balancing ability on my right side. This would explain why everything I do with the right side of my body makes me dizzy! Turning over in bed to the right, raising my right arm, i fall to the right when I stand up, etc...

Crazy stuff.

The Good News? It's treatable. With simple-stupid exercises!

One exercise, for example, is to stand in a corner on a hard surface with my feet together, my arms crossed, and my eyes closed. Sounds easy, huh? Well, for you it may be. For those of us with balance issues? One of the hardest things to do. I would also fail a field sobriety test if I were to take one. I can't walk in a straight line. I can't put one foot in front of the other, and stand straight. I fall to the right. Even though I have a hard time with this, these are the exercises that will rehibilitate me. These simple exercises will teach the left side of my brain how to compensate for the right side not holding up it's end of the bargain. :-) I guess it just got lazy all of a sudden.

Did you know that you have "crystals" in your ears? When these crystals get out of place, this can cause some serious vertigo. One thing you can do is the "Epley Maneuver", and this will put those crystals back into place. I had a few out of place, so hopefully those are back where they belong. The person performing the manuever can tell when you get dizzy, since your eyes are bouncing back and forth. If they do that during this manuever, then you can almost guarantee there are some out of place!

Anyways - I'm so excited to find out what it was, because I'm normally the one that is going to have something that the doctors can't figure out. of course.

On another note - Some of you will know what it means, and some will have to look it up if they want to know, and others wont care...but John and I are about to start a new journey in our lives. We will soon be joining the TTC club. In the past, I have had problems TTC, so I want to start as soon as I can, so that I know what's in store for us. say a little prayer!

The Cheapest Grocery Trip

Well, last night, I had the cheapest grocery shopping trip ever...Let me tell you how I did it. :-)

Sunday night, I sat down, and planned out a menu for the week, and had the website I was using take those recipes and create a shopping list for me. I was so proud, and ready to go try out the new HEB Plus on 281 Monday night after work.

So last night we got in the car, and headed on over. The store is only about 2 1/2 miles from the apartment, so it's going to be very convenient. It just opened on October 27, and I've been waiting for a good night to check it out. This was a great night - surprisingly enough, it wasn't packed like I expected it to be.

Ok - we get to the grocery store, and let me tell you - this place is freakin' HUGE!! I've been to a couple of these HEB Plus stores, but this one tops them all. (For those of you not familiar with what an HEB Plus store is - think HEB on steriods. You can now go to HEB and buy many of the same items [and sometimes more] that you would find at your local Wal-Mart or Target. Clothes, furniture, and even a trailer hitch if ya like!) I get in the store, and I'm like a kid in a big ole' toy store...wow. Then i realize I forgot the list. grrr... Most of the time, I can remember what I've put on the list, but it's because I've actually written it out. I didn't write this one, and I was so overwhelmed by the store that i couldn't remember anything past bread.

I opted to leave John in the magazine section (he can read car mags forever!), and I ran home to get the list. I started not feeling so well. My stomach was a little queasy, but since my husband was carless at the store, I knew i had to press on, and get back. 15 minutes - I was back with the list in hand. :-)

We started down an aisle, and I was like, babe - I really don't feel that great- can we just get what we need, and get out of here? He told me his stomach was feeling really weird, too. Neither one of us felt like walking around. After all that...

we went home.

"He went to Jared!!!"

Wow...it's been almost a month, and SOOOOO much has happened since my last post.

As most of you know, I married Mr. JP, Jr. on October 12. John proposed on Ocotber 2, and of course, I said YES! I have known for a long time I wanted to marry this man, and I can't believe it's actually for real now. It's not really sunk in completely yet since I didn't go through all the hu-bub of a big wedding. He just decided to do it - not even the way he had planned. The proposal went a little something like:

(We were already just sitting on the couch, talking about getting married to each other some day)

Melissa: Look at this face (au naturale - no makeup. Hair in a very messy ponytail). Is THIS the face you want to wake up to for the rest of your life?

John: Well, yes it is. Now. Let me ask YOU a question.

John pulls the ring out of his pocket -

"Will you marry me?"

it was absolutely so sweet, and how funny that I just happened to ask him that question, and opened the door right up for the proposal!!

I knew he had been up to something all day, but I had no idea what. He called my dad to ask his permission to marry me, he had been across the street from the church at Jared for several hours, knowing that I ALWAYS go to the shopping center where Jared's is. :-)

It was so sweet and tender. A moment I'll never forget.

The wedding was very simple. My boss, Jim, married us in the amphitheater located on the grounds of the church. Only John's family was able to make it. It was such short notice, it was hard for my parents to make it. My dad tried to fly in from Midland, but the weather was too bad in west Texas. He was pretty hurt that he couldn't make it. I would have loved to have had someone from my family there, but I know things don't always work out, and I still had a good day. I married the man of my dreams!! Doesn't get much better than that! After the wedding, we went with his family to Alamo Cafe' and they surprised us with a couple of gifts and a wedding cake!! Yummy! I had gotten a gift certificate to a brand new hotel here in town, and when we got there, our room wasn't ready, so we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom 2 bath suite. It was SUPER nice. :-)

The week after the wedding - we moved into a new apartment. We absolutely love it. I was so excited to get in and get it set up, that I had it done within 4 days of moving in. John's a go-getter too, so that helps. We installed shop lights in the garage last night, so that should help John be able to see well enough to work on cars and stuff.

I just want to thank everyone who's been praying for John and I lately. I'm so glad that we have gotten off to such a great start. I especially love the fact that not only did I marry the man of my dreams, but that man became a Christian on October 5!!! YAY!

hmmm...maybe a baby in the future? We'll see how my body does. It was pretty uncooperative in the past. Hopefully this time will be a success...

Of to straighten up the apartment, and do my wifely duties! Yay!

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words...

Thank you Lord for answering prayers...

Mojo Superhero

I know many of you have seen this in my writings, in my usernames, and some website addresses, so I thought I'd take some time to explain. It's simple, really.

Last fall, we had some sidewalks and other concrete areas repoured at the church. I've always been the one that wanted to make a lasting imprint in wet concrete. (My Reebok High Top pumps shoeprints still remain at First Baptist, Buna!) Well, I did it. and then it rained, so they had to repour the sidewalk I had so carefully put my initials in. Drats. So thought maybe that was God's way of saying I shouldn't have done that in a place that was so prominent. one day, one ofthe maintenance workers came and told me of a spot they had poured hours before that was starting to set. perfect!!! I found an old pen, and to the "chiller yard" I went. :-) Well, the concrete was already set enough that it just crumbled. This is how it turned out...



yes, it says "MO". It was supposed to be M.D. Just a little ironic now, seeing as how my last initial is no longer D. John was still working as a security guard at the church, and he was walking past there one day, and thought it was so funny that my "criminal act" had gone sour. That's kinda when he started calling me Mo. We didn't talk that often, but that's what he would call me when we did talk. When we started talking more, we kinda came up with the whole "MoJo" thing - as a combination of our names. :-) You can imagine the looks on his friends' and families' faces when they would hear me call him Jo. :-) One day, I happened to call him my mojo superhero, and that has stuck every since. He even had shirts made for us...



You should know that I wish that John and I had met under different circumstances. My life had been totally turned upside down last fall. John has kept me from going under. He's allowed me to greive the loss of my 7 year marriage, and he's been there for me - even when I had friends that wouldn't be there for me. I'm having to deal with my past, but it's just that now - the past. There are no plans to revive the marriage, as we have both moved on. THe fact of the matter is - I love this guy. He has made leaps and bounds in many many ways over the last 8 months. Sometimes, I just stare at him and wonder how someone so amazing could be a part of my life after all the wrong I did in the past??? There's never a time he's not there for me. He knows my thoughts, and can finish my sentences. He always makes sure I have everything I need, even if he has to make big sacrifices. He stands up for me against people who talk down to me, or treat me wrong (He actually confronted the neighbor that yelled at me about Daisee). His family even sticks up for me against him!!! HA! He will tell me thank you 100 times for fixing a pot of ramen noodles. I love that he appreciates the small things. Nothing goes unnoticed with him. I'm not in it for the praise - but it sure makes me want to do a lot more!

Life's not all peachy-keen, and smellin' like roses. We can aggravate the crap out of each other, but that's normal, right? the most important part - he loves me. and I love him.

Jo,
You truly are my Mojo Superhero!

Thank you for being you. Thank you for everything you've done for me. Thank you for all of your hard work to make sure I have what I need. Thank you for making me happy at one of the toughest times in my life. Thank you. I love you baby...

-Mo

Russell who? I don't think so...

Ok. I watched the MTv VMAs last night, cause i like to watch the live performances sometimes. I mostly do it to see who can really perform live, and actually sound good, and who's lip syncing, and who just flat out can't sing. well, I didn't last night, and I don't know that I will again.

I only watched the first 10 minutes, and I was so angry, I turned the tv completely off. I was absolutely horrified that some idiot such as Russell Brand would come to the US from another country, and bash our government the way he did. If you didn't see it,and you dont know what I'm talking about - you didn't miss anything. First, he assured everyone that he is very famous in the UK. Of course - no one here knows who the heck he is???? Then, he "begged" America, for the world's sake, to vote for Barack Obama. Then he began name calling, and called Bush a "retarted cowboy fellow." Excuse me? Who do you think you are? You can't tell people who to vote for! You can't even vote in this country! I'll admit, I voted for Bush, and I know he hasn't been the greatest president ever, but he didn't deserve that. He proceeded to go on bashing Sarah Palin, and republicans in general. I couldn't take it anymore, and not just because I'm a Republican - which, really, I'm an American - isn't that all that matters? His remarks were just crude and very ugly. Of course, they're in Hollywood, so there were cheers, but when they showed the audience- there faces told a different story. It was apparent that some of them were not impressed.

When I read the news this morning, I found out he had poked fun at those who wear "Promise Rings", as a promise to God and their future mates to stay abstinent until marriage. Jordin Sparks - wow. She got up and said "I just wanna say, it's not bad to wear a promise ring because not every guy and a girl wants to be a slut, OK?" I'm proud of her for that. The Jonas Brothers were poked fun at too, because they all three wear promise rings as well. Their faces had sheer horror on them as Russell "apologized", and then ended his "apology" with "a little occasional sex never hurt anyone."

Who does this guy think he is? I hope he got on a plane last night and went back to the UK. That was ridiculous.

Now, let me end by saying this - I'm not saying that people shouldn't get to pick who they vote for. I know who I'm voting for, and although it's probably obvious who I'm voting for, that's between me and God, and the machine counting my vote. If you choose to advertise who you're voting for - that's fine. I know, I know - Freedom of Speech. That's why I get to post these opinions on my blog! But just as a lot of places are not allowed to "sway" people to one side or the other - they should have been a little more careful with that. Especially since he was from another country. *sigh*

What's happening in this world? If you didn't see the awards show, you can do a search. he made every news site there is out there.

The Things We do for Love...:-)

Ok, so I had started a post with all the hurricane happenings, but there really weren't any, so maybe when I get home, I'll add some pictures of the weekend activities. I do, however, think the most exciting part was....

I bought a car.

yes. My very first one. all on my own. I felt like a big girl.

Then I handed John the keys.

John has been driving a 1992 VW Corrado for the past several years, and lately, it's been giving him MAJOR problems. Just since I've known him, he's made so many repairs, it's not even funny. He's replaced, axles, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, batteries, hoses, and I can't even remember what else. not to mention, in Texas - he has no A/C. He's also been having to push start it every single morning before he goes to work. It won't even jump start sometimes. This made for very frustrating starts to what have been VERY long, hard, hot, annoying late days at work.

A few weeks ago, he casually started looking, because he didn't know if he could get financed or not. Well, last week, he got financed through one company, but they were going to charge him 18% interest!! yikes! It was also a smaller amount, so he had a hard time finding anything he liked in that price range. He did find a Mazda rx-8 that we test drove, but both of us were extremely disappointed. I offered to apply, and see if I could get financed, but no success. They said I have an excellent credit score (almost 700!), but I'm on a Debt Management Plan, so they wouldn't touch me. ok. so we'll wait another 8 months, and try again. John's very picky about his cars, too. Not only does he like them fast with turbo, and boost, and blow-off valves, but he likes what we call "rice boy" cars - loud exhaust (not the fart can kind, tho), and big spoilers. ew. Cars are just something we never seem to agree on.

Until Tuesday.

On our way back from Buna to San Antonio, we stopped in Houston to check out a couple of cars that his friend Jason had told him about. Two Dodge SRT-4s. One Red, One Yellow. One with 19,000 miles. One with 70,000. One 2005, one 2003. One $17,000, and one $12,000. *sigh* decisions. We thought it there would be no decision to make, because neither one of us could get financed for the larger amount. Of course, though, when we get there, we can't test drive the cheaper one, because they are making repairs to a worn seat in the cheaper one. John took the keys to the red one, and off he went. 95 mph in a 35 mph zone. The salesman and I got a good laugh off of that one. I just said 'Well, he's gonna test it to it's limits." :-) John doesn't always drive like that - but he LOVES fast cars, and this one is fast. It's got a turbo, and it's a good turbo. Of course, we know what happens next. He falls in love. he fell hard. He wanted that car so bad. Neither one of us liked the yellow one, so basically here's what happened.

John filled out the financial paperwork, and then we jetted, because we didn't think he'd get the financing. The sales guy called about 35 minutes later, and asked if I would co-sign. Sure...I love this guy, and he deserves this new car. I'll help him out. While I'm giving him the information (we had made it to the Love's in Katy by this point, and stopped to get gas), John realizes his wallet's missing. I asked the sales guy, and he went and checked the SRT-4. Sure nuff. It was in there. GRRRRR....ok. Do we drive back in Houston's 5:00 traffic? Do we have the guy mail it to us? Are we gonna get the car, and have to come back to Houston tomorrow anyways? We opted to go on back to San Antonio, and leave the wallet in Houston. We had already been on the road 6 hours, and had 3 more to go.

Anthony (the sales guy) called about 2 hours later, and said he was 99% sure that they could get me financed for the car, but by myself, without John. WHAT?? Are you kidding? He said he would call back the next morning, and let us know. We waited...and waited...and waited... Finally. the call came. 3 hours later than he said....WE GOT THE CAR!! WOO HOO!!

I was so excited. John had his friend, Carlos, ride with us to Houston, and we got there about 3. It was quite an ordeal to actually get the car, but we finally drove it away at 5:45 that evening.

I now own a car that at this point, I had never even sat in. hehe. Oh, and I have to learn to drive it. I haven't driven a stick in about 15 years.

I prayed long and hard about this, and asked God to somehow get us the financing if it was meant to be. I never dreamed it would actually happen. I just told John that if anything happens, I have a new car! :-) Oh, and I begged him to please not get a ticket in it.

oh, Did I mention I'm not the one making payments? :-) That's the best part!

Anyways- He's so proud of it, and I am too. He needed this. I finally got to ride in it for a 20 minutes yesterday. :-) I like. I'm hoping to take it to Buna when I go back in a few weeks. Meet the "Mojo Mobile" :-)

It's Raining...It's Pouring...the old man is...what? It's Flooding!!

I got home today, and it was absolutely coming a down pour. The water was within an inch from coming into the apartment. My neighbor heard John and I talking and he poked his head out, and said that the water fortunately has never come into the apartments. There was a pretty good flow. I suppose you could say we had the Abbey River flowing through here. I took a couple of videos, but they didn't turn out great. I'll post them, and see what happens. I took some pictures too. Oh, did I mention Niagra Falls came to visit too? See for yourself: (click picture for larger view)

1. "Niagra Falls"
2. You can see the water quickly rising to the threshold.
3. Standing outside my front door.
4. My patio. The water is rising nicely here, too. You can tell by the leg of the bench.

This first one is a tad bit hard to see, but wait till it gets towards the end. You'll see when I get the camera to focus the water coming up at the bottom of the video. The roar is the rain and Niagra Falls at the end of the sidewalk.

This second video is shorter. At one point, i show my feet completely submerged, but it'll be hard to see on this small shot. You'll hear my neighbor (One of the TWO nice ones here) talking about how it flows and disappears as soon as the rain is over. He's right. It's already gone.

S.P.A.S.I.C.

S ome
P eople
A re
S o
I n-
C onsiderate


*UPDATE* I added a picture at the bottom of the post showing what happens outside my door when it rains...

So only a few of my oldest friends would remember the days of screaming SPASIC!!!! when someone was rude to them, or just had no concerns about anyone but themselves.


Today, I went over to some friends' house to see their new baby, and help out with a few things around the house. When I got home, I followed my normal "come home" routine.

Daisee had been locked in the crate for several hours, and when this is the case, I leave the front door open, go to the crate let her out, and she runs straight for the door. If I don't do this, she'll pee on the floor, cause she's so excited. usually, on the way out the door, i grab a poop bag and her leash. Today, I couldn't find her leash quickly, so I went on outside with just the poop bag. I normally don't put her on the leash anyways, because she stays right with me most of the time.

Well, I have these semi-new neighbors who seem like the unhappiest people ever. I've said hi to them, smiled at them, John's said hi, and both of us get the same response: "Go to hell" looks, and they turn and walk away. At first, I thought maybe they didn't speak english, because in this lovely town, you never know. BUT - Hello, Hi, and a smile are universal - everybody knows that! These are the kind of people I dread running into when I'm outside, and it seems like they come and go so much that i ALWAYS see them. grrr... This was the case today-

As they are getting out of their car, Daisee is minding her own business, and sniffing out a poop place. She then spots him, barks one time, and then goes on about her sniffing. Well...Mr. Nice Guy turns around, raises at her the shoes he has in his hands, and says "Shut the F*ck Up." Yeah. I was kinda mad. I'm non-confrontational (especially with a stranger), so I didn't say anything. UNTIL...he started to walk off, and Daisee started walking the same direction. He turns around, and stomps at her to scare her, and mouths something else to her.

HECK NO. So I said something, and this is how the conversation went:

ME: Look, you don't have to talk to my dog that way and threaten her.

MR. NICE GUY: I didn't threaten your dog. besides, you need to have her on a leash.

ME: She's not bothering you or anyone else. She's fine. Leave her a lone

Mr NICE GUY: I'm gonna turn you in for that. You also need to have a doggie bag.

ME: What do you think this is in my hand?

--
The whole time, he won't even give me the respect to talk to my face - he's walking off the whole time. JERK.

My dog has been at the Abbey MUCH longer than he has. This is why I hate this stupid apartment complex. Rude people, and holy cow- just in the year I've been there- it's so trashy now. Daisee has quit peeing outside because they don't mow the dang grass. It's so tall, she doesn't like to walk in it. She poops, but she will not pee outside. yeah- you guessed it. She pees inside. AARRRRGGGHHH!!!! My creepy upstairs neighbor has started a new trend with several people - Hey! Let's all just drop our trash out the side of the car instead of taking it inside or 25 yards over to the trash dumpster. There was a hypodermic needle on the ground last week, surrounded by about 30-40 cigarette butts. Hmmm...wonder was going on there. This weekend, someone dumped HUNDREDS of strip club ads all over the place. They are everywhere. My neighbors all smoke, and they love throwing their butts down at my front door. What have I done? Maybe it's because we all got the notice NOT to throw butts on the ground, and they don't want people to know it's them. hmmm..let's see- what else? oh yeah - the flooding. Now there's mud all up to my front door, and it's covering my door mat, so mud is getting tracked into the carpet. I found a bottle of KY Jelly at the end of my sidewalk. huh??? How does that happen? It's nothing to walk out to the grassy area where I take Daisee and it be covered in beer bottles from the party the night before. Of course, she likes to lick them. yuck. I'm amazed the poor thing is still alive.



<-- This is what happens outside my door when it rains. My door is to your right. The water is about 2 1/2 inches deep, and is about 1 1/2 inches from getting into my door.

ok- well, I've vented about this place long enough. Thanks for listening. :-)

oh yeah - i got my hair cut off yesterday. It's cute, but i'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I had grown my hair out for a long time, and I'm now wishing I had just gotten it trimmed. I was enjoying it. most of the time. I convinced myself otherwise when I was sitting in that chair yesterday. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Prayer Requests

Ok - So there aren't any rules about posting two times in one day, are there?

I have some prayer requests I'd like for you to pray for. Little to no details. God knows who I'm talking about, and knows their needs.

*Mom - Needs a new job, and to get meds lined out
*Dad - getting over flu
*John - job is extremely stressful
*Katie
*Troy - Cancer Treatment
*Ray - Parent Matters - wants to return to church
*Karen - Parent Matters - Wants to return to church
*Kevin - Had a very scary event happen in his life.
*Marcelle - has been feeling bad lately. no explanation for it
*Bruce - juggling many tasks at once.
*Scott - on the search for a house. deals keep falling through. adjusting to new life up north.
*Jim - Needs to slow down a bit.
*Jason and Karina - new baby - Mary Katherine
*Daron and Sarah - new baby - Katherine (Katie)
*Justin and Shannon - almost new baby! -Hudson
*Oak Hills Church - about to launch a HUGE series, following the book, The Story
*Nathan - was in emergency room this week with heart issues
*Bill - getting married Labor Day weekend
*Dawn - leaving Oak Hills for a new position elsewhere

These are just some for the people closest to me...there are plenty more. Join me in prayer...

God is Working overtime in my life...

Wow. that's all I have to say about the past couple of days.

What normally would be an ordinary weekend, turned out to be EXTRAordinary.

It started with leading worship this weekend. I absolutely LOVE to sing, and I think God has blessed me with a natural gift, and I love to just give it back to Him. Well, not only was this just an awesome weekend music-wise, but in so many other ways. We have so many talented people on the worship team, and this weekend, I felt like it just meshed. I had a blast. I clapped my leg so hard, it was bruised when I got home. oops. I guess I got a little into it.

Well, Sunday morning was extra special. John's mom, stepdad, and little brother came to church. THey had said several times they were going to come, but this time, they really did. There have been some life-changing events for them lately, and they felt they really needed Gods help. God totally brough them there this weekend. Randy's message? "Do the Right Thing". It was the story of David and Bathsheba, and then he went into the part where Nathan confronts David, and tells him that because of the wrong he had done (adultery, trying to cover up the resulting pregnancy, and then sending Uriah [Bathsheba's husband]out in the battlefield to die), his baby with Bathsheba would die. Randy is a phenominal speaker, and it really hit home with a lot of people (including myself), but John's parents...oh my goodness. They were so excited. They LOVED Oak Hills. They want to come back. Kevin, John's little brother has been reading his bible faithfully, and has set time aside each night for his time with the Lord. Let me just say - this is HUGE...I even glanced up to see John walking back to his seat, after praying with Max Lucado. This is another blessing. Not that Max can pray better than others, but it's a big deal for John. I really can't put it in to words how exciting that part of the weekend. Thank you Lord for bringing them to Oak Hills. I pray they come back. Would you pray for them, too?

This morning, I was in prayer time and made a prayer request that I have been making for 3 weeks now. it went something like this: "I know I sound like a broken record, but please continue to pray for my mom. She's STILL without airconditioning, and it's getting very frustrating. It's only a WINDOW UNIT..." Without going into all the details...my mom now has a brand new air conditioning unit being delivered to her house tomorrow. Dorothy Bagley at Oak Hills Church is an absolute angel to me and my mom. She is one of the dearest, sweetest, ladies you could ever meet. and I mean that. I never mentioned that my mom only had a window unit, so everyone had been picturing a big central air unit. When they heard window unit - they were shocked. Several people stepped in and wanted to go get her one, and install it TODAY...until they found out she's 6 hours away.

This was an email from one of those dear people...

Melissa,
It’s just so simple... There are many prayers that are sought in our Prayer
Time that only God can answer... But getting a window air conditioner is
something God can do through US...

What sweet words. I never thought of it that way.

I have really been so moved by people the past couple of days. These are the days that are worth living.

Thank you, Lord, for taking care of my family and friends the way you have. You have not only answered one prayer, but several in just a matter of 24 hours. All glory to YOU!!!

--

I started my 10 hour work days today. It was still dark when I got to work this morning. yuck. 5:30 am?? I didn't know such a time existed! HA! I enjoyed it. I was extremely busy all day, and I didn't even leave until 5:15!! Normally I'm beatin' the doors down and OUT...let's see how long it takes me to get used to this one!

Bedknobs and Broomsticks...

She's driving me nuts...Daisee that is. It's been almost a month, and I still have all this coke stuff in my apartment. I can't keep Daisee from eating the corners of the boxes, and well, to be blunt, it's making her constipated. Poor dog can't push it all out. I feel sorry for her, but she just won't stop. She's always got something in her mouth. It just never seems to be something she's allowed to have.

I did manage, though, to get all of the coke stuff back in boxes - 11 boxes to be exact. They are in a neat stack in my dining room now. This is not great, but it's better than my living room. I had to even put my ottoman out on the porch. Ok, so I did that because Daisee peed on it, and it stunk really really bad. Hopefully it's aired out.

I've got some more changes to talk about! First of all - by just changing my diet - I've lost 5 pounds. I finally saw something below 140 on the scale. yay! Maybe it's because I've been incredibly stressed out, and haven't had much of an appetite. I'm still eating, just not as much. not a bad thing.

Yesterday - I found a new apartment!!! I'm so excited. I don't move until October, but I had to get my hands on this one, because they say they rent out very quickly, and this is the ONLY one they had open for now. I got an incredible deal on this really nice apartment. visit http://www.estatesatcanyonridge.com/ to see the new place. :-) Here's my floorplan.

Of course, i'm not paying the price listed. I'm paying a LOT less. :-)

Another change is going to be my working hours. I'm starting four 10s next week. It's on a trial run basis. With high gas prices, they are providing people with the opportunity to use less gas on trips to and from work. I thought it was a nice gesture - however, I don't think it's going to save anyone on gas. People are using those days to run all over town! So, as opposed to my 18 miles a day to and from work, I'll probably put more on than that some days. :-) Thank goodness for Hondas. My odd thing is I will have Wednesdays off. I think it will break the monontany (do doo do do do...manamana...do do do do...manamana. <-- sorry...a little muppets humor). I will work two days, be off one day, work two days, and be off two days.

Jim (my boss) and I sat and had a really long talk this morning about how we can help each other be more productive, since I'm going to be there for 10 hours. See - as I mentioned in one of my very first posts, i generally don't have too much to do, so I'm bored. Adding two more hours to nothing could be a killer. I'm trying to avoid that. Since I'm feeling better, though, I'm much more productive, and can generally stay pretty busy. We'll see how that goes.

oh...as far as the title of my blog today - it has absolutely nothing to do with the contents. :-)

thanks for dropping by...