Ihop and being annoying resteraunt patrons....

Lois is scheduled to work Fri (yesterday) today, and tomorrow. Well last night we met up at Ihop and grabbed some food. We talked about our Thanksgiving dinners and got caught up.

I then asked if she had a thing on her phone that when you open your text messages and press pound a computer reads your texts to you. She said no, so I let her listen to some of mine. This computer tries to pronounce things EXACTLY as they are typed. Which is really funny when you text in pirate talk. We spent half an hour or so just listening to my text messages and laughing so hard tears were rolling. The manager came out to see if we were ok. The waitress was trying to figure out why we were laughing, so I let her listen to one of my texts. She started laughing so hard I thought she was going to hit the floor.
We lost all the calories we ate just by laughing. It was a good night.

Comical little mishap.....

I decided yesterday that I would put up my Christmas lights. It's nothing too difficult. USUALLY takes MAYBE 20 mins to do. I outline my front porch eave with lights. I put two strands up and realized I was a strand short, and I couldn't find my extension cord. I figure it's probably "borrowed" by some local musicians that used to practice in my garage.
Well, I had to run Austin to work since his car is without a heater. I decided to run to Alco after dropping him off. We got there WAY to early so he hung out with me for about a half hour. I picked up what I needed to finish my light job, dropped him off at work, and was looking forward to finishing up.
I got home put up the last strand and realized I strung them up BACKWARDS. My extension cord would be hanging right in the middle of my front steps and across my front porch. Thankfully I didn't have to take down the last strand. Just the first two. After hanging them back up CORRECTLY I was able to sit back and wait for the timer to turn them on.

Now, I have my lights up, my shopping FINISHED, gifts halfway wrapped, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon) and Charlie Brown's Christmas watched, and now to get my tree up and wrap the rest of the gifts. And it's not even December. LOL.

Parental Warning.......

There's a children's movie coming out Dec 7 "The Golden Compass". I read the reviews and it sounded like a good movie until I started researching it.....

This movie is based on the book by the same name. It's written by a devoted ATHEIST who HATES CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia so much he decided to write this book... In it the kids "Kill God" (Which we all know is completely impossible) and take control of their own lives doing whatever they want.

Here's just ONE of the editorials I found when I googled this title......
The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights already is calling for a boycott of the film The Golden Compass, saying the book on which it is based furthers an atheist agenda. Now it's calling on the book's publisher to disassociate itself from any future films based on author Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.

"The author of these books, Philip Pullman, does not disguise his hatred of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church," league President William Donohue wrote in a letter to Richard Robinson, CEO of Scholastic Corporation. "Why, then, would Scholastic be associated with such bigotry?"

Donohue goes on to write, "Christians need to be convinced that Scholastic will never again work with militant atheists who have an animus against their religion. Catholics, in particular, want to be certain that purchasing Scholastic materials does not indirectly fund campaigns against them. To this end, we look for Scholastic to pledge that in the event a movie version of Pullman’s other two books, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, is launched, it will have nothing to do with them. This would reassure Christians that the "Golden Compass" venture was an anomaly."

The league is on record as saying The Golden Compass is the least atheistic of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and has acknowledged that the movie, to be released Dec. 7, may very well leave out some of the elements it finds most offensive (the filmmakers are on record saying as much). But that's not enough for league officials, who say they fear the movie's success could lead to increased sales of Pullman's books.

All I ask is that you do your own research and decide for yourself.

A strange request......

I know it's safe to put this here since he NEVER reads my blog.. here goes.....

I asked Austin what he wanted for Christmas and besides music he wrote.... “Heart felt letters.” Now I took that literally so I cut out a heart out of construction paper and cut out L-E-T-T-E-R-S out of felt and stuck them in an envelope.

Then I thought, what if he’s serious? So here’s where you come in. From now until Dec 19 I will be collecting letters. They can be
1. handwritten, typed, or emailed.
2. as short or as long as you want.
3 You can write one letter for the whole family, or each individual members can write one. Choice is yours.

If you are sending more than one letter you can put them all in one envelope or separate ones.

There are 3 ways you can get them to me.....

You can mail the letter(s) to me (email me for address if you need it..), you can give them to my mom when you see her, or you can email them to me.

If you mail them and you put it in only one envelope please write Austin somewhere outside the envelope so I won’t open it.


I am hoping to have a medium size box FILLED with letters from family and his friends. (Thank you Ashley for helping with the friends part)

Remember this is a Christmas surprise so please don’t tell him.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Angela

Things I never knew about the Sound of Music.....

I was looking at Carrie's blog again recently and I had this overwhelming desire to watch The Sound of Music... I do have the 40th anniversary 2 disk set and I NEVER watched the second disk.... OH..... WOW.......

They had an interview with ALL seven of the "children." They each told of bloopers they did that got in the film. For example.... Have you ever noticed that little Martha is mouthing the words to "My favorite Things" before the kids were supposed to "know" it?
or that during the Do-Re-Me song the two oldest girls are supposed to mirror each other as everyone is going up the steps? Lisel and Louisa are supposed to be on the same step. Lisel is on the step below, so Louisa steps down at the same time Lisel steps up so Louisa steps up too. Or how about the fact that the oldest boy had to dye his hair? Or that third oldest girl was asked to wear a blond wig until they decided to go with her natural hair color?

The "children" also talked about the relationship between them and Julie Andrews and Christoper Plummer. Supposedly the kids were terrified of Chris. He was standoffish and never spent time with them. Julie on the other hand played games and told stories to them. It really showed in the movie. There was always that tension in the father/kids scenes.

Also I found out that the scene where the kids are singing for the first time for the Baroness was the very last scene they did together. Right before the scene, the director pulled the kids aside and said "This is it, after this scene you are completely done." The tears in that scene were genuine.


The second disk also has interviews with Julie and Christoper. Plus the story of the real Von Trapps. (The real Maria sold the book rights to a Foreign movie Director for $9,000. Rodgers and Hammerstein bought them from that director for several million.)
It also has the premiere of the Sound of Music singalong. Which is EXACTLY what it sounds like. In some of the bigger cities they showed the movie in sold out theaters. Some people came in dressed up as different characters. There was even two girls dressed up to look like curtains hanging on a curtain rod. During the movie whenever a song is sung the words are on screen for everyone to sing along with. I think that would be so much fun.

I watched the movie last night, and now I have the "hankering" to watch it again. LOL

Holiday countdown........

Well I'm now officially counting the working days till Thanksgiving and Christmas. We only have 7 working days till Thanksgiving. We get a 3 day weekend this weekend, and a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving...

Also been hearing RUMORS (you know how those go) that we're going to have from Thanksgiving till Jan 2 off work. Hey you won't hear me complain if that's true. If it's not true..... Well.. that's ok too. It will only mean I'll have 27 working days till Christmas.

I'm ready for turkey (and no, I'm not talking about my siblings, although they are big turkeys. Ashley I know what you're going to say....... "HEY" LOL)

Playing the poor victim role very well.....

I went to a department store this weekend and I decided to get 10% off by applying for a charge card. My whole idea is to apply, pay it off, and then cancel. I'm SOOOO glad I did....

I was asked to enter my Soc Sec. number. When I did, the cashier looked at me strangely and said "Are you Ryan?" Of course I said NO. She cleared it out and I tried again. Some Ryan guy in Columbus IN is USING my SSN. I wrote down his full name and address. To say I was feeling a little nauseous would be like saying the Mississippi River is a little creek.

I went home and IMMEDIATLY checked my credit report... There's NOTHING out of the ordinary. This Ryan's name never came up. No strange charge cards, and no loans in my name. So, I then went to the SS website and requested an updated Social Security statement thats mailed out every year.

First thing tomorrow morning I'm hightailing it to the SS office in K and see what they can do to help. I know they can give me a new number, but the old number would still be used. I'm also going to ask if I should report it to the police.

Anybody have some chocolate????

Is this week over yet???

As I said in my past blog I had I repeat I HAD the flu. Which means it's gone now thank the Lord. However, even though the flu is gone, it has been a VERY stressful and edgy week. It won't get better until after the ratification of our new contract.

Contract. I am really starting to despise that word. I know they come up ONLY every 4 years, but that 4th year can really cause some stressful months. It amazes me how that one 8 letter word can bring out so much tension and heated arguments.

We had to vote on our "new contract" on Tuesday. To be honest, this contract really worries me. For 1 they are having a two scale pay. Core and Uncore. Core will be paid what we're paid now. Uncore will be paid 14 an hour. HOWEVER this contract isn't finished. We were told that within 120 days we will be told who will be core and who won't. Also 4 factories will be ALL uncore jobs. I want to know NOW who is going to be paid what. If our plant is going to get a drastic cut in pay, I need to start planning NOW.

Another thing that worries me... Our plant isn't scheduled for any new products after 2011. Which in english means, No products = no jobs. No jobs = approx 6,000 laid off people. Also if I'm laid off yes I'll get unemployment for 2 years, but if I'm offered a job in another factory (St. Louis, Michigan, etc...) I either have a choice to go or not go and lose my unemployment benefits.

I'm putting it mildly when I say I've been stressed this week. My mom keeps reminding me that we need to pray and leave this in God's hands. Sometimes it's hard to remember that God's in control. I try to remind myself of Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers. God always has a plan.

I DO have something to look forward to....
Aunt Carol and I are going to Nashville and to the outlet mall on Sat. I NEED to get away and relax, and I can't think of a better way than to FINISHING up Christmas shopping and spending the day with one of my favorite relatives?

Weird Flu going around

I missed work Friday, but went in yesterday. I think I have caught some sort of weird flu bug. A coworker had the exact same thing last weekend, so I THINK I got it from him. (I wish people would stay home when they're sick)

This "flu" starts with an earache/sore throat. There's no fever with this thing, but you feel weak and "lazy". One min you're feeling really good, and then after an hour or so your stomach hurts so bad you feel nausous.(Usually if you eat something) It comes and goes in waves.

I went to work yesterday feeling pretty good, bout 8 PM I felt like I was dying. Felt good again bout 9 felt like I was dying at 10. It's an hourly thing almost.

I feel okay today, but I didn't go to church. There's MOSTLY old people, and there's no way I could stay away from them. They always walk up to me wanting to talk. BELIEVE me I was doing them a favor when I decided to stay home.

This is WEIRD.........

I left work 4 hours early last night due to SEVER allergies. When I woke up this morning my throat hurts, my ear hurts, my neck is sore, and my neck glands are swollen (and all that is on my LEFT side. Right side is fine.) the most annoying is that the tissue under my tongue is swollen as well. It doesn't hurt, just annoying. It feels like it's fluid filled, but I doubt it is.
I just feel crummmy today, might call in and sleep. Supposed to work tomorrow, so maybe I should take it easy today.

Comment changes.....

I was told by a certain someone that she can't comment on my blog and she gave up trying. I changed some settings, and HOPEFULLY all who wishes to comment can now do so. Sorry about that Aunt Carol.

Funny little story....

I will be the first to admit that I am not a very good speaker. Yeah, sure I get my point across, but sometimes it's a struggle to find the right words and Pronunciations. I'm constantly mispronouncing words to the amusement of certain family members and a certain friend..
So,I'm always relieved when I hear someone else messing up a word or phrase. For example.............

Lois and I met at the gym one morning (as we do every morning Mon-Fri). Afterwards she said "I need to go grocery shopping want to go with?" I said "Sure." We get to Kroger and she kept saying very casually.... "I need to get some chicken to grill on my Mike Tyson Grill." After the third time of this, I finally asked.. "What's the difference between..." That's as far as I got. She stopped me and said "Oh my goodness. I meant GEORGE FORMAN grill." We were doubled over laughing. She almost fell to the floor when I said "The difference is a Mike Tyson grill is A LOT healthier. There's always a bite taken out of your food."

However, I'm having a HORRIBLE time deciding which is funnier the Mike Tyson grill or the Polio shirts. What do you think ASHLEY???? You'll have to ask her about the shirts. That's a whole different story.

Early birthday gift....

I know I should be in bed asleep since we (mom, dad, and I) have to get up about 5:30, but I wanted to blog. So, here I am..

My parents have always celebrated birthdays on the Sat following birthdays. (It was considered good luck if your birthday fell during a weekend) Well... That's when my dad worked 2nd shift and we only saw him on weekends. Growing up it used to mean eat at the birthday person's favorite restaurant and get a few gifts (Never spent a whole lot on gifts.) Perhaps my siblings would disagree, but birthdays were kind of downplayed in our house. I think, only Ashley had a real birthday party, but the rule was either a party or gifts, not both. If we were smart we would've realized a party would've meant more gifts. Oh well. I didn't have my first real birthday party until I met Lois and all the other female coworkers. They threw me my first surprise party which literally brought tears to my eyes.
But birthdays have always been interesting.. Especially with Aaron's last birthday when we went to see the dead bodies. That was very different.
This year my dad asked what I wanted. I told him "I know it's more than what you normally spend, but I would like to have my windows in my Jeep tinted."
Few weeks ago, I got a phone call, and my dad needed to borrow my Jeep. My dad took my Jeep in and had them tinted. The tint is illegal in Indiana. The darkest you can go and still see in. I LOVE it, and it makes my Jeep look even more classy. Since it's more than what they normally spend, and I was going to do it anyway, they're only paying little over half of it, I have to pay the other. Which is perfectly fine with me.

Ok, back to getting up early tomorrow morning.... I told my parents couple weeks ago "You know what sounds like alot of fun? Going to Springmill State park for my birthday. We can stop at the apple orchard on the way home and pick up some Apples and some Apple Cherry Cider." Well, since my birthday falls on Sunday, we are going tomorrow instead. I can't wait......

I know mom and dad don't read blogs, but if either one of you HAPPEN to read this I have only one Christmas wish........ "Automatic car starter". LOL..... No, seriously..

A Day in the life of........

I feel like I've been very busy, but truth is, it's all the same. Here's the run down of my day. (Hey, give me a break, Got to update my blog, and can't think of anything else to blog about. LOL)

A NORMAL day (Times are approximate, but VERY close to actual)

7:30 am- Alarm goes off.

7:31- Text Lois (or she texts me) to make sure we're getting up.

7:32-7:35- Sit up in bed and consider killing Lois for making me get up this early.

7:36- Make it out of bed, stumble into the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of Special K (YUMMY.)

7:40 Brush teeth, brush hair, put on workout clothes.

7:55 Text Lois to let her know I'm on the way.

8:15(ish)- arrive at the gym. Lois is always there waiting on me.

8:16- Mosey into the Gym, swipe our cards, and walk down the Looooooooong hallway (Always feel like a prisoner walking down the long hallway to get my lethal injection).

8:17-8:20 hang keys on the key rack, and just stand staring at the equipment wondering where to start.

8:21 Lois decides what to do, and I follow. (9 times out of 10 weight presses)Act really dumb, make fun of each other, and make people wonder what we were drinking or what drugs we were taking before coming in. (Surprising how slap happy you get that early in the morning.)

9:30 Drag ourselves back down that looooooooong hallway to the juice bar.

9:31 I order a Banana Bonita smoothie (Pineapple juice with coconut, Bananas, and a cup of protein.)

9:31.5 Get teased by Lois for ordering the same thing EVERY DAY.
9:34 Lois FINALLY decides on what she wants either an "Invisible Man" (Banana and Strawberry smoothie) or "Through the Lips off the Hips" (Peanut butter and chocolate smoothie)

9:36 head out to our vehicles.

9:37 decide what time to text each other. (usually 1)

10:15 pull into my driveway.

10:20 crash

12:30 wake up

12:33 take a shower

1- Text Lois to make sure she's up.

1:00.3 Get a text from Lois making sure I'm up.

1:05 Throw laundry in the dryer, which was washed the night before or before I headed to the gym. (according what day it is.)

1:10-2 Sometime in there eat....

1:45 get ready for work

2 Text Lois to let her know I'm on my way to work.

2:02 Ask her if she wants anything from Starbucks (SOMETIMES)

2:20 Run by Starbucks

2:30(ish) park close to Lois

2:32 Trade a Mochalite Frap for her K Tribune

2:33-2:40 walk into work together. Talk to people on the way.

2:41 Stop at our separation point and throw in some last min comments.

2:42 Yell, we'll chat as we walk in opposite directions.

2:45-2:50 change shoes and glasses. Grab marker, ear plugs, and gloves out of my toolbox. (Got pictures of Brennan and Jared on my toolbox. SO I see them EVERYDAY) Make a last min bathroom break and grab a bottle of water.

3-5 work while reading the paper and texting occasionally.

5-5:15 break (Work on School stuff or read)

5:15-7 work while texting occasionally

7-7:20 dinner (you can ALWAYS find someone going out for lunch and willing to bring you back food.)

7:20-9 work with occasional texting

9-9:15 last break (Work on School stuff or read)

9:15-10:30/40 work with occasional texting

10:40-10:50 clean up work area, write down my count, bathroom break, and change back into street shoes/glasses. Lock up toolbox

10:50-55 walk outside to the gates. Talk to people on the way

11 clock out.

11-11:04 make starbuck run (If Lois is pulling 12 hours) or make Walmart run, Ihop run, or a gym run (If she's not working 12)

11:40-3am get home.

2:30-3:30 ZZZZZZZZZ

Depression stinks..

I do believe that the best line in any movie ever made is from Bambi.... "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Lois, Marlo (another coworker) and I went out to eat Friday night. Well, we usually take only one vehicle and ride together. Well, Lois, for some reason, drove herself. I decided to ride with Marlo....
After we left the resteraunt,Marlo and I sat in her car and talked for a while... Then right before I left she told me something that totally BLEW my mind. I was actually speechless on how to answer. She said.. I'm summarizing here.....
"You are too uptight, too high strung, and way too religious. Don't expect any man to fall madly in love with you. And if by some miracle you do find someone, he'll probably cheat on you because he won't want to wait till you're married."

To say I was taken by surprise would be the major understatement of the year.
I met Lois at Ihop Sat morning, and told her what Marlo said. She was speechless as well. She told me, "When you said 'you won't believe what Marlo said to me last night', I thought she was talking about me behind my back. I never would have dreamed she would say something that rude and inconsiderate to your face."

When your with friends, you're SUPPOSED to walk away feeling better than you did when you arrived. NOT the other way around. I've been so depressed since Friday night, and the rain doesn't help.

What was she thinking????????

A long post of random things.....

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but boy have I been busy...
I've had my Jeep for a month now, (Doesn't seem that long.) and I still don't have any good pictures. It's either I'm busy, it's raining, or it's too dirty to get a picture of. So, just hang on I promise you'll get a picture.....

Three weeks ago, Lois and I started "gyming it." Yes, you've heard me correctly, yours truly has joined a gym. Since Lois has to get Philip to school by 8, we meet at the gym at 8:15. She usually texts me every morning about 8 asking if I'm on my way. You should've seen me JUMP out of bed the other morning when my alarm didn't go off. I still made it to the gym by 8:30. Only took me 10 mins to get out the door.
We "gym" till about 9:30. We split it up. Cardio (treadmill, stairsteppers, stationary bikes, and the cross country thingy) 3 days a week (mostly Mon, Wed, and Fris) and the upper body/lower body presses Tues and Thurs. Sometimes we throw in some upper body work a day or two in with the cardio. We leave our weekends free.

After our workouts, (Which I do see a change) we grab a fat burner milkshake or a fruit smoothie before leaving the gym. The cool thing is it's all natural and no sugar added. They are AWESOME. We rather get these than Starbucks. They're also supposed to be starting to sell "Starbucks" type drinks, but found out that they are going to build a drive thru Starbucks right across the street. They don't want to compete with them.
After our smoothies/milkshakes we drag ourselves to our Jeeps. We usually park in the back of the lot, so we're forced to walk. we set a time to text each other to make sure we're getting up for work. Usually bout noon.
Then we go to our separate homes and CRASH before work. Then at our pre-set time either she texts me or I text her. whoever is awake first texts. Then we get ready for another wonderfully HOT and HUMID day at work..... I work 8 hrs she works 12, then we do it all over again the next day. ;)

And yet I still manage to find time to do my school work. Almost done with my Introduction to Business, next will be Business Communications 1. YUCK.

I did get a very odd text mess. Thursday... Lois textd me and said "Text me back Please." So, I did and asked her what's up. She said she had a very bad dream that I was kidnapped. She said that she was FRANTICALLY searching for me, and quit her job so she could devote her time to searching for me. She said after a few months of searching, she was somewhere and saw me walk in. She ran to me, and held me. She asked "Where have you been? What happened to you?" I supposedly said "I'm not allowed to talk about it, and I have to go." Then she walked out to her jeep and noticed that I was parked next to her. She sat there waiting for me to come out, but never did. That's when she woke up crying.


She said she woke up so terrified, that she had to text me and know that I was still around. She said she had never been so relieved to get a text message in her life. That was just weird.

A Sad Goodbye but a nice Hello.......

This will probably be long, so if you don't have time, you might want to come back later....
Background story....
On July 20th I had spent most the day loading and unloading stuff for a yard sale. It was close to 11PM, and I was still in F when I got a call from Ashley telling me they were taking my dad to the hospital. (appendicitis)

I just got a block away from my mom's rental when I heard a HORRIBLE banging coming from the back of my Jeep. It sounded like something came loose and was hitting underneath. It worried me enough to make me pull into a gas station and actually get on my hands and knees to check. When I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, I texted Lois and told her to start praying.
I made it to the hospital all right, but I refused to drive it back to F the following two days.
I met Lois at Walmart that Friday night, and let her listen to it. She said that normally her husband has to point out sounds in their vehicles, and she still never hears them. She got in my jeep, and heard it right away.
Her husband offered to take a look, so Sunday afternoon I took it over, and he jacked it up. There was something wrong with back axles. One back tire rotates before the other. He said that his Jeep did that, and it cost close to $2000 to fix.
I had planned on getting a new Jeep after the contract in September anyway, so I didn't see the point of fixing a jeep that I was going to get rid of in a couple months. However I just wasn't sure how I could swing a big bill at this time. The ones I looked at ran close to 40,000. I didn't want to go that much.

So,fast forward to July 22.....
I did a lot of praying about it, and figured it doesn't hurt to look around. I discovered that you can google dealerships and check out their inventory and their prices. Not only that but you can arrange test drives online. Pretty cool.
Anyway after living with and loving a Jeep Wrangler for 8 years, I wanted to stick with the Jeeps. I noticed a HUGE Jeep dealership in N, so my dad and I planned on going up that Tuesday morning to check it out.....

July 24....
I left home driving my Wrangler, and I felt really sad knowing it was going to be for the last time. I kept thinking of all the bad weather it got me through, and all the fun I had in it. It was the last vehicle Aunt Ida drove. It was the summer before she died and before she found out she had cancer. I had the top off (which I only did that one summer), and had her laughing when I kept saying "If that's too much air let me know." She drove it when I first got it, which also made me sad. I tried to keep from getting too teary eyed as I drove it to N. Isn't it strange how sentimental you can get to vehicles?

I also prayed that if I was supposed to get a new Jeep then have the price reasonable enough that I don't have to work overtime to pay for it. If not then have it so expensive I can't swing it on a 40 hour check.

I got to the dealership around 10 AM, and of course was greeted by a nice old man. My dad's side was hurting so he went inside leaving me with the salesman. My first thought was "Oh, no. He's going to treat me like a bratty 3 year old, and show me the pretty vanity mirrors." Okay, so maybe that's the stereotype I have about salesmen, and thankfully this salesman proved my thinking wrong. He didn't talk down to me, or make me feel like I didn't know what I wanted. Then again, maybe that was because I had in mind what I wanted.
When I asked to see their selection on Liberties, he took me straight there and showed them to me. He didn't try to persuade me to look at any other vehicles.

When I saw it, I was in love.... A 2007 Midnight blue Jeep Liberty Sport.. Of course it has the standard 4 wheel drive (For me that's a MUST) a 3.7 V6 engine, 4 speed automatic transmission (Which my dad's job was tearing those down and rebuilding them from scratch. That could become very handy YEARS from now), 69 cubic foot storage space in the back with a standard easyfold 65/35 rear bench folding seat, room for 3 in the backseat (instead of 2 like my Wrangler), cd player, power windows, power locks, (No more leaning over to lock/unlock doors or roll windows. Whoo hoo) keyless entry, 2 count them 2 12 volt auxiliary power outlets (aka cigarette lighters) one is in the front instrument panel and the other is in the rear cargo area, 4 cup holders 2 in front, two in the back doors, which also means I now have 4 DOORS, (no more adjusting front seats to get people in and out. Another reason I wanted a Liberty.) and several safety features that I find pretty cool.

When I asked to take it on a test drive, the salesman offered to let my dad go instead of him. Had to get used to not flooring it to take off like my old jeep. It's a MILLION times smoother and quieter than my old one. I don't have to feel like I'm yelling to talk now. Only had 35 miles on when we got back to the dealership.

When I got back to the dealership instead of pulling into a place I backed in just to see how difficult it is..(Which is a crucial thing, and a main reason I hate neons.) It wasn't as easy to back up as my Wrangler, but I had no difficulties with it.

So, I then asked about the price... $25,000. I was debating until I heard about the rebates and got my trade in price.....Yes, I used my Wrangler as a trade in. I was HOPING it would be worth at least 2,000. I cringed when their mechanic took it for a test drive. I saw that 2,000 quickly fading away. But figured if it's meant to be, then the Lord will work everything out..I was SHOCKED and OVER THRILLED that they offered $5,500 for it, and that's not including the rebates. I won't go into the final price of it, but I'll just say the final price was cheaper than my mom's Neon. Yeah, remember what I said about praying that the payments would be reasonable? The price was so reasonable I thought it was a misprint. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about it.


Then we started the paperwork. YEAH. took 1 1/2 -2 hours to see if I was approved. Then had to sign all the paperwork. I decided to be brave enough to have my payments payroll deducted, which is a lot easier knowing it comes out each week instead of having to do it yourself. By noon we were STILL in the dealership, so I went ahead and called in tardy for 4 hours.

At 1:30 I was driving home in a brand new Liberty, and to celebrate took my parents out to eat. I am one happy girl.

Getting in shape mind and body.....

Lois and I have been talking for close to a year now about getting "in shape." Well.....

Last Thursday we checked out a gym in K, and we were both impressed.
They not only have 10 of every machine (treadmills, step machines, etc.) They also have a weight room, personal trainers, classes, karate, and private rooms (mostly for school teams), and they have a 500 yard track. That's not including TVs around the room. These TVs are HUGE, and the sound is off. Each TV has the FM station under it, so you can bring your own FM radio with headphones and listen. It also has a daycare center, free massages, tanning beds, and a women's only workout room (for those who's insecure with men in the room.) Oh, and a restaurant in the front that sells food and smoothies. YUMMY.

Oh, and the best part? It's open 24/7. We can go right after work and work out if we want....
We both signed up for the 14 day free trial, however Lois has already said she's going to go ahead and get a membership and pay the whole year at once. Since I won't get a check for a couple weeks, she's offered to pay mine as well. I hate the thought of her doing that, but I told her that I would pay her back ASAP.

I also signed up for my Assoc. degree in Early childhood education. I was going to go with Penn Foster, however.... You have to put in a 300 hour internship in a 4? month time span. I simply can't do it that quickly. So, I checked out Ashworth College, and chose that. My first course has been sent to me already. I'm really excited to start....

Now to get my high school transcripts sent and find 2 people to nominate for my semester exams..... Hmmm...

Something to pray about.....

When I first started researching international adoptions my main thought was "WOW, not a lot of countries accept single applicants." Most countries let single women adopt ONLY special needs and/or older children over the age of 5. I understand they need homes, but I wasn't sure how comfortable I am in taking in a seriously ill child or an older child as my first.

My second thought was "They require too much time off work."
Some countries you have to be in their country for more than 2 weeks. One country you have to be there for 45 days.

Then I found out that Guatemala adoptions only take 2-4 days. SO.... I was thinking seriously on adopting from there UNTIL..... The government has stopped all adoptions from there. There's been cases of people "pretending" to be parents and giving kidnapped children for adoptions.

When I read that I thought, okay, so maybe I'm not supposed to adopt... UNTIL......
I was researching again and Haiti has opened up an international adoption service. The requirements for single women is that they are a MINIMUM of 30 years old and they show proof of faith. And the travel time is only 3-5 days. Another awesome part? The cost is only $7,000, which is cheaper than other countries that wants double that and more.

I know I decided YEARS ago that if I was ever blessed with a child her/his name would be either Taylor Rose or Taylor Brent.

I just think how symbolic it would be to adopt Taylor from Haiti. I have A LOT of praying to do.

HUGE MISTAKE

My mom was asked to take WKFM (I still have trouble not calling it YMWB). Well, she agreed and she drafted me to help. No problem, I didn't mind since it's only the first Sunday of each month. Last Sunday was a special service so our WKFM service was today.

Well, before the service, the kids go upstairs and take soup cans around and take money. The money goes to different missions.

We have 4 boys that come every Sunday. Jake is the oldest, and he's 10. Then there's Noah, Caleb, and Isaiah. They are all under the age of 5.

This was Noah's first time taking up the offering, but once he figured it out he was fine...... UNTIL.....

After giving the money to Kita, we went back downstairs. First thing Noah said was "When do I get my money?"

My mom thinking maybe he left some money somewhere asked "What money are you talking about?" He said "The money up there?"

My mom told him that the money upstairs was going to the Indians (Which it is) for school supplies. Poor Noah got really quiet.

After singing some songs, my mom started telling about the Indians. Everytime mom mentioned Indians poor Noah puckered a little more each time. Finally he started crying. We tried everything to get him to stop, but he wouldn't. I even took him to the back and tried to read to him, but he wouldn't stop for anything.

The only thing we could think of is he really thought he was going to keep that money. Poor little guy.