Egg Nog

Love me some Egg Nog!!! So T.J. asked for a glass and I thought I'd pour myself a mug as well. I think I downed it all before he had taken his second drink! OH MY WORD. That was so great. Kind of like heaven in your mouth :) My mom is going to have Braums Egg Nog at home for us- right mom? :) We miss Braums! Why is Egg Nog so great? Is there actually raw eggs in there? Can't be right?? I'm a little clueless about the ingredients.

So FOUR DAYS until we're in O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!!!!!!!! :) I probably won't pack until Thursday night... :) I love traveling. Anyone else enjoy going airport to airport- finding your gate, grabbing snacks- reading a nice new book? :) THAT IS ME! T.J. said he enjoys it too. I do get nervous about ACTUALLY flying though. I still don't get the math on how we stay up there... We decided we are going to have to get our Mexican fix RIGHT when we get to OK :) We are heading for Ted's for dinner around 5:30 that Friday night! :) I can't wait to see family and friends. I'm SO EXCITED. Can you tell? :)

So we went to Cooperstown, NY this past weekend. We had a great time. We went with a couple from church- Micah and Heidi. They have a PRECIOUS 3 yr old and 3 month old. It was nice to meet Micah's family and feel part of a family. We walked out in the cold a lot :) and the snow was a lot better then here in Ithaca.

Last night we had about 4 younger couples over from church and that was great as well. I feel so blessed for all the people God has already put in me and T.J.'s life out here in NY. We are not forgotten! :) We give all the glory to God.

My computer is taking forever to upload videos but I'm going to try to upload some random pics/videos that we've taken lately.

We are watching Micah and Heidi's cat named Boy :) (Frances named him) over the break and we are SO GLAD b/c since we'll be gone for 9 days Ace will have a friend to play with. Let me tell you I wish we would've had our video camera out this morning b/c we could've won a nice price on America's Funniest Home Videos. Ace and Boy are HILARIOUS together. Boy is very crazy like Ace (black too) and they literally will leap 5 ft from the recliner to the floor to tackle each other all 4 paws spread out (you'd just have to see it) Hopefully I can get some on video to show you what I mean. Needless to say they are BFF- Ace almost licked him to death earlier. :) Here is a pic of them sleeping next to each other.

Trying to take pics for the Christmas card :)

I will upload more videos later- It's just taking too long! :(

Okay fine here's one more. This is the puppy we are watching for our landlords. They bought this sweet LITTLE Yorkshire Terrier for their kids as an early Christmas present. His name is Toby.

DIRTY RICE!

Alright folks- I ABSOLUTELY love when someone gives me a recipe I fall in love with :) I have found TWO great recipes this week but one I'm especially excited about b/c it will become a staple in this house!

Tamara Wright my dear dear friend who actually took my position when I left SandRidge gave me this simple easy recipe that maybe everyone else knows about but I sure didn't! Her fiance, Darren told her about it and now it's our favorite :) I LOVE TAMARA- I talk to her almost EVERY day on gmail chat :) LOVE YOU TAM!!!!


Okay so here is the simple directions- Buy a box of Zatarain's Dirty Rice Mix- follow the direction on the back and then throw the mix in heated up white corn tortillas!!! It's that easy. The directions basically tell you to add oil and water, boil it, then add the rice and 1 lb. of beef then simmer for 25 mins. I REALLY liked it. T.J. added some sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to his and it was really good like that on flour tortillas too but I also just like the plain ole mix with the corn tortillas. I'm sure this can't be really bad for you- especially if you use ground turkey or venison (which I'm sure we'll do)

Alright do ya'll got that? :) Make it this week and let me know what you think.

Here is another DELICIOUS recipe my friend Lindsey sent me- It's Cheeseburger soup and we really enjoyed it with bread on the side!

Aw man :( I just realized you can't copy and paste into this box! Okay well if you want the recipe email me at kellyross13@gmail.com and I will send you the recipe! :)

Enough about food :) I can't talk about it that much b/c when we get back from OK T.J. and I are going into a healthier lifestyle- we are both gaining weight and need to start the working out and eating better again! :)

ONE WEEK TILL WE'RE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME :) SO EXCITED!!!!

It's super cold here but I hear OK is really cold too! It's snowing today and we got 5 inches the other day!!! :) I can't wait to start sledding and show all our videos from that, I'm sure we'll get the dogs on the sleds too! :)

Here shortly I'm going to pick up T.J. at Cornell and we're going to Cooperstown, NY with some friends from church to meet their parents. I'm excited about that! They live on 40 acres and we'll have a great time I'm sure!!

I'll add some videos later- I don't have the time to upload them now!

Love you all!

Syrup

After finally going and washing my hands b/c they smelled like syrup I can finally blog. :) Did you know I hate the smell of syrup? That means I also hate the smell of hazelnut which smells a whole lot like maple syrup. I can stand the smell if it's on my waffles/pancakes but that's it. After, I need a good hand washing, clothes changing and mouth brushing. :) Does your skin not crawl seeing a little kid with sticky syrupy hands?! Or the smell of someones breath at the office when you know they ate pancakes earlier??!?!?! T.J. and I decided on a waffle night tonight. Which really means we don't have anything else to eat. :) This just made me think of my junior year in college when I could smell maple syrup in the stairwell- I was THOROUGHLY grossed out. I couldn't STAND the smell and decided that Kendi and I would FIND THE SOURCE! :) Michelle...did you ever know that we found the smell in YOUR room?? HAHAHA, up on the 5th floor you had the burnless hazelnut candle permeating the whole dorms!!! :) I'm sorry for invading your space to find the smell. It makes me queasy just thinking about it.

WOW- anyways!!! I had decided to go ahead with my "Not me Monday" blog since it's technically almost Monday but somehow I got distracted!! T.J. is in bed which I don't know HOW considering we just woke up from a THREE HOUR NAP not many hours ago! I LOVE naps but I rarely take them b/c I just get a little scared about them messing up my night of sleep! So as he's FAST ASLEEP (which probably happened when his head hit the pillow b/c he's a weirdo) I'm doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, emptying the litter box, starting the dishwasher and blogging. :)

Where do I start?

It couldn't have been ME that got a parking ticket the DAY AFTER getting pulled over in a school zone. NO WAY that would happen.

I surely didn't watch Twilight with the commentary on RIGHT AFTER watching the whole movie with T.J.... NOPE I would've been in bed with my husband, not wasting my time listening to Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart talk about themselves in the movie. :)

I didn't scream and almost have a heart attack when I found a HUGE TICK on the doggies bed. I couldn't have ran and covered it up with a candle so T.J. could deal with it when he got home.

I didn't just google "huge tick" so I could post a picture of what it looked like and then almost threw up in my mouth after seeing the pictures and grabbing a piece of paper to cover the screen as I x'ed out.... awoeijflasdjflaskdjflasdjflasdfjlasdjkf (me freaking out right now)

My mother-in-law didn't tell our landlord "now how do I know where you work again???"... I definitely didn't have to remind her in front of him that it was because she did a background check on him before we moved here. :)

That is it for now! TWELVE DAYS TILL WE'RE IN OK!!!!!!!! :)

Well this has been a different week to say the least! First I have to say goodbye to the in-laws which was NOT fun and then I got a ticket on top of that. :( So sad right?

Here is the run down of the ticket. I got a call from Tony that Mackenzie was sick at school so if possible could I run and go get her? As I'm driving to her school I see the school zone sign and slammed on my brakes (as I realized this was the 2nd school zone sign) and hoped there wasn't a cop nearby b/c the school zone was 15mph and I was going 32 in a what I thought was a 30 zone. Anyways a minute later a cop swerves behind my parked car in the parking lot and started screaming at me for my license and registration... I'm not kidding- I was like... okay he's really mad, this CAN'T be good. I then realize I THREW AWAY MY REGISTRATION thinking it was my old ins. info., really Kelly!??!?! So as he continues on I start crying. Why do you ask? I DON'T KNOW. Probably b/c the last time I got in trouble with a guy being so stern with me was when it was my dad and I was 16! I don't like getting in trouble!!! So he tells me someone stole the sign on the first speed zone sign that tells you how fast you're going but obviously that's not an excuse.... so yeah that stunk... anyways 30 minutes later when he comes back to my car I THOUGHT I had calmed down but when he started talking to me again oh I just decided to start crying again...hard. Like I COULDN'T talk. He thought I was a SR in HS and I couldn't even talk to tell him what my situation was! :) So embarrassing. SOOOOO I'm SCARED TO DEATH how expensive this 17 over ticket will be (in a school zone). I'm going to go talk with the DA next week and hopefully get it reduced- say a prayer for me! I really don't want to start crying again! I take FULL BLAME for the ticket- don't get me wrong, it just stinks b/c these are the lessons you have to learn- I learned, I now am a paranoid driver and try to pay attention to everything!!!

On a totally different note! :) I took the doggies to the vet today to get their kennel shot so we can take them to the "Lucky Dog Inn and Cat Spa" while we're gone over Christmas. :) Little recap of how it went... They did great of course at first and everyone loved them. Then when we got out of the room (keep in mind I'm holding them by myself one in each hand) there was a huge black lab. I knew what was coming... the dogs LITTTTEERRALLLLLLYYY dragged me across the lobby. I was wearing my Uggs and they were just slliiiiddding and I'm bracing myself backwards saying "nooooooooooooo" as my hands are getting rope burns b/c they aren't actual leeshes they are ropes. :) Fun fun fun. I ended up putting them in the car b/c I couldn't handle them by myself anymore. That is more then 100 lbs of pure muscle and they will take you wherever they want to go! Here is a video of them when I got done paying... keep in mind they are only allowed in the back of the car. And yes I let them stay like this all the way home. :)

We've had fun this week dressing up the dogs in Christmas attire :) I don't want to show too much but I want the Christmas card to be a surprise but here is Ace after I put his sweater on him. He was NOOOOOOT a happy camper!!! :)

I'm going to start sending out Christmas cards tomorrow so if you haven't given me your address please do so! :) I promise I'm keeping everyone's addresses this time so I don't have to keep asking you for it! :)

Tonight T.J. and I are going to go see NEW MOON!!!!! :) We're SOOO EXCITED. I've been wanting to see it since... oh- since I saw Twilight! :)

Love you all!

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so many things! Don't worry I'm not going to list them all out, but I am SO THANKFUL. Mike reminded me that we are very RICH no matter WHAT your financial status is! :)

So... the in-laws are now gone. :( This means a sad empty house! I just keep telling myself "2 WEEKS FROM FRIDAY!" B/c I know before we know it we'll be there in OK having the best time.

I won't bore you with a play by play of the weekend but I'll try to give you the overall picture. We ate out at 3 GREAT restaurants, went to a couple falls, went to the farmer's market, wegmans ;), had THANKSGIVING, decorated the tree, and also watched a couple movies. The best movie of them all would have to be BLINDSIDE. I think I liked it the most out of everyone but WOW what a great movie. We did watch Elf too which is a fave!

So funny story... Ace has been very active with killing all the little predators around our house for the past month of so. Mike realized this as he was putting his shoe on and saw a headless mouse next to his feet and it scared him. WELL- as we're leaving to go to a waterfall I'm upstairs and can hear everyone SCREAMING/LAUGHING downstairs.. so I run down to the garage and Troy had put his whole foot in his boot and realized it just didn't fit right- there had to be an old sock in it or something. He then preceded to put his hand in his boot and wrap his hand around something furry. :) Ace decided he'd leave his headless mouse in Troy's boot this time. Troy was NOT HAPPY but really Ace was just trying to be sweet! ;) It was so funny, I don't even WANT to know what would've happened if that would've been me or Debbie's shoe!!!

Mike was very happy b/c we were able to watch the OU/OSU game here on Saturday. But Mike what I don't think you realized is now that we pay however much a month for that channel that we NOW get, 4-5 other hunting channels are available now too that T.J. has already set up to be DVR'ed! Oh geez...he is in there right now watching it as I type... this can't be good!

Troy wouldn't really "wake up" until about 10pm every night. Without fail Troy never got his "second wind" until about 10pm... when everyone else wanted to sleep :) FYI do not wake Troy up unless you want to be on his bad list for the majority of the day! ;) Me and Troy had fun playing "Words with Friends", I have to admit he did smoke me a couple times but I did in fact smoke him a couple times as well! :) We both have a love for word games!

Thanksgiving dinner was great! Debbie made some delicious food! We literally PIGGED OUT. I think Troy's plate was 1/2 a foot high :) I can't wait for next years already. Tonight I am going to try and make THIS- I'll let you know how it turns out!

We took some family pictures and even though the boys were not THAT happy about it we did end up with some good ones! It was fun showing everyone around where we live!

All in all it was great... now starts the countdown of when we go home to OK! :)

Lazy Sundays

Who doesn't love Sunday? Even with going to church you get to sleep a little later then usual, then you get to worship our AMAZING GOD, then yummy lunch with just a relaxing afternoon!!! (usually) T.J. is asleep on the couch as I type. Don't worry I have nothing important to blog about but after reading my friend Sara's blog I got the urge.

3 official days until the in-laws are here- WHOOOPEEEE. Let me just tell you THAT I LOVE MY IN-LAWS. I feel so blessed. I know there's always the "mother-in-law" stereotype but let me just tell you the Lord couldn't have blessed me with a better 2nd family. My in-laws make me a better person!! Thank you Lord! :) T.J. and I are SO EXCITED about them coming. It's supposed to be really cold and rainy but I know we'll make the best of it! We will be crammed in my 4 passenger car but that's okay! :)

OH! I almost forgot! T.J. got a buck yesterday! He was a little nervous he wasn't going to get any meat this year but he got one! :) He's already processed some of it and we had yummy fried venison the day he got the buck. It's a nice 6 point. (See picture below) Now our freezer will be filled with venison and that makes us very happy! I'm attaching another picture of T.J. and his friend Brian when they went duck hunting. Unfortunately I DON'T like duck meat! Oh well- T.J. can eat it by himself.

Alright well I need to start on dinner- I read this blog and the beef enchiladas look DELISH so I'm going to try this tonight.

Here is a sweet picture of Mackenzie (the girl I watch) and our kitty Ace, she LOVES our cat :)

Next Wednesday!!!!!!!!!

Just a pretty picture I took on the way to the family I babysit for- they live on a farm.

I'm SO EXCITED less than a week and Mike, Debbie and Troy will be here!!! :) I have lots of cleaning and shopping to do! :) Words can't describe how excited me and T.J. get when family comes to see us (yes it's only happened once so far but still)!!!

Supposedly it's supposed to rain the whole time they're here :( but we'll have fun anyways!!! Debbie sent me a list of things to get for our Thanksgiving meal- she is SO ORGANIZED- LOVE IT!

So I never blogged about the women's retreat I went on a couple weekends ago. Let me just tell you- it was AMAZING. I met some other girls my age and some other women that have the sweetest hearts and I can't wait to get to know everyone even better! I love hanging out with women of all ages and so this was an amazing opportunity I'm glad I participated in! The women that spoke talked a lot about the body of Christ. I truly am feeling the Lord's body lately! It is just amazing how you can be so lonely and then when you're with a group of believers you feel Christ all around you. We can't take this for granted! We had time with small groups too which was great and then a time of "sharing" the last day. I was wondering why the women were passing around tissues before the talk and I realized really fast why! Sob session!!! :) It was great though. Sometimes we feel like we're the only ones going through hard times and then all it takes is for another person to open their mouth and you realize you're not alone. Everyone has struggles and we need the Lord and each other to build each other up! So in a nutshell?! AWESOME! :) The Lord definitely wanted me there.

That is all I have for now- I will leave you with some "Not me Monday moments" that I haven't shared in awhile ;)

It wasn't me that turned the hot water on to defrost some chicken and forgot about it. I definitely didn't hear a weird noise that was coming from the kitchen to find water POURING out from the sink all onto the floor :) whoopsies!

I absolutely don't try the baby food when I feed the little twins :) That would be WEIRD. Who wants to know what baby food tastes like!?

After sharing french fries with my husband on our "night out" and wondering why the fries tasted so funny I definitely didn't realize my husband had poured SUGAR all over the fries instead of salt :) NOPE he definitely knows that the HUGE container with the HUGE hole is for sugar- not salt!

I didn't cry when Taylor Swift won entertainer of ther year... nope.... not me.........

My cat isn't killing MOLES and leaving them outside the door- EWWWWW

I'm also still not convincing Mackenzie the 7 year old I watch to braid my hair b/c no one ever plays with my hair anymore. :) Oh well!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to you all!

Kelly

PRECIOUS VIDEOS

I will blog soon but I wanted to share some PRECIOUS videos I have come across lately... :) ENJOY!

First you HAVE to go check THIS one out- this makes me want to cry.. here are 2 other great ones!

Good ole Ace

Just a little video of Ace and Troop playing. I love that Ace plays with the dogs like he is one of them.

About to go watch the CMAs!

Starting to feel a LITTLE sick, so trying to get lots of rest and take my airborne! 2 weeks from today the Ross' will be here so I want to be in tip top shape! ;)

This weekend T.J. is going to take a little break from hunting so we can have some quality husband and wife time! I'm really excited about that. It is starting to get really cold up here (26 tonight) so we need to use as much time as we can outside until it just gets too cold.

Today we went to the dogpark with a friend and it was really fun to see the dogs all playing together :)

I will blog later about the amazing womens retreat this past weekend!

love to you all!

Got an offer?

Hey friends! Alright SO are you a size 7 foot? (Ugg size), do you want an awesome pair of Uggs? Do you not want to pay full price? :)

Alright my friend Aaron bought these Uggs for his wife for Christmas but they are too small for her. These are the EXACT Uggs I already have and I LOVE them. They are normally $140 plus shipping. My friend Aaron said- find a "best offer"!

Do you want these Uggs mailed to YOUR house? :) Let me know if you're interested- I can already tell you they are awesome since I have this exact pair.

I have them in the size 8 and I wear a 8 1/2 tennis shoe and 7 1/2 heel/flat if that makes any sense...

A mysterious weekend ahead

This picture is a couple nights before we left for NY! :( I want my tan back.... and hair that is highlighted....

Hi :)

I shouldn't be blogging right now. I should be packing for my weekend away! I can hear my sweet husband sweeping the garage and cleaning MY car- he INSISTS he does it, not me- what a gentleman!! :) I can't complain! He is THE best.

This weekend is the women's retreat our church is having in Montrose, PA. So yesterday I would've told you I don't know ANYONE that is going and that I am a little nervous! So T.J. and I met this SWEET couple, Micah and Heidi- Micah is at Cornell with T.J. and they both attend Bethel Grove with us. They invited us over for dinner and we had a great time. They have a 6 week old boy and a 3 year old girl (who is ADORABLE, a carrot top!) ANYWAYS! So I get an email with a list of people that will be riding with me down to the retreat. Heidi is in my car with her little boy! :) I was SO EXCITED. I emailed her immediately to tell her God heard my prayer! She emailed me back and said she was thinking the same thing, "Why am I going? I don't know anyone!" We both signed up super late and just never thought to ask each other about it. God is so great :) He is always looking out for us!

I'm really excited about this weekend. Of course I'll miss T.J. and the pets :) but I think this is such a great time to just spend 2 solid days with no distractions from the Lord- not to mention meeting some great women! If you would like to pray for me that'd be great! :) AND that T.J. will be okay by himself! ;) I'm guessing he'll be doing a lot of hunting!!!

T.J. and I are trying to stay healthy and not sick! It seems EVERYONE is getting sick!!! We bought some airborne tonight and are going to start taking that. Remember to wash your hands a lot and gargle with warm salt water! :) and drinks lots of water!!! (just call me Mary Ann) ;) I've learned over time that you really DO start morphing into your mom over time!!! WHICH I LOVE ;)

Eck! I can hear T.J. coming back upstairs! I don't want him to catch me blogging! ;) I better go. I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

THREE WEEKS FROM YESSSSSSSTERDAY until Mike, Debbie and Troy are out here!!!!!!!! :) YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Not me Monday

It's not me that is posting a "Not me Monday" blog on Tuesday, I'm smarter than that! :)

It wasn't me that woke up to a nice little tickle on my neck/face to find out it was my CAT licking me to death. No way- that is so gross. I didn't throw him off me MULTIPLE times.

My landlord DEFINITELY didn't tell me not to use my dishwasher FOR TWO WEEKS b/c it was leaking downstairs...... my landlord ALSO did not procrastinate to get a guy out to fix it. The guy that came to fix it definitely didn't say the dishwasher was fine... really!??!?! I wasn't upset at all! Who doesn't love to wash dishes by hand for two weeks?!

Well I definitely wasn't in the worse situation with a diaper this week! I definitely DID NOOOOOOOT have to physically with my FINGERS pick up a piece of you know what... NO WAY- I'd NEVER do that. (DON'T WORRY it was really small and I had a 10 minute hand scrub after this...) I'm not gagging still thinking about it!!!

That's it! :)

Samaritans Purse

I will be upfront- this is a blog asking for your help and prayers! In church we were shown a program called "Samaritans Purse" Please read about it HERE- really, go look, please. :) Read what they are about and the "shoebox program"

What am I wanting to do you ask? I am wanting to make as many shoebox donations as possible. In each shoebox would be things from shoes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, toys, books- anything you thing a child needs or wants. With each shoe box you contribute $7 that will help the shoebox get to the child you are helping. You can also put a picture of YOUR family with your address as a lot of the children want to write thank you notes and have penpals.

We heard a lady speak about how these shoeboxes changed her whole life. This is a Christian organization and when the children ask where they came from they are told who Jesus is and many of the kids are saved. The lady we heard from was going to school and she DID NOT want to go- it was cold and the only shoes she had were these old old sneakers that were completely ripped open and her dad tried to shut them up with wire but all the cold air was still getting through. When she came to school someone handed her a shoebox... what was in there? A BRAND NEW pair of sneakers- she then learned about Jesus- was SAVED and now works for the company.

Would you like to help out? If so- send a shoebox!!! Don't want to make a shoebox? Don't have the time? Make a donation- don't want to make a donation? Send me a check and I WILL MAKE A SHOEBOX FOR YOU :)

It's so amazing to know we can truly change someones life- and not even know it. Praise the Lord for these opportunities.

Thanks guys!

TGIF

YAY! I can breathe a sigh of relief- T.J. has presented at school and so that means a whole lot less stress around here! T.J. had to present to about 40 "important" people about his project, what he'll be doing, etc. He spent a lot of time on the presentation and he said it went very well! It was about 20 minutes long with a Q and A segment after. We are just going to RELAX tonight- maybe go to Chilis to celebrate.. we will see ;) This is what T.J. did to our mirror while he was presenting. He said that he didn't like seeing himself present so he had to put a blanket over the mirror ;) Also I had to turn the TV on for awhile b/c he wanted to practice (w/o me hearing) a couple times before he presented to me. HE DID GREAT! :) PHEWF!

This was my first week watching the twins! They are so cute! They are almost 11 months old and very active. The boy is Donny and the girl is Emmi- here is a picture of them passed out... this is the best time ;) I LOVE the mom- she is SO SWEET. God blessed me with this job! Even though I had to change a couple "#3" diapers today I still love them! That was NOT fun- trying to breathe through your mouth as your face is right by this DISGUSTING diaper... and the baby is squirming and the mom is looking at you... ugh- that will take some getting used to!!!

Well I have decided since I babysit MWF 8-12 now, and then 2-5 M-F then I am going to volunteer at church on every other Tuesday for "MOPS" I can't remember exactly what it stands for but something like.. Mothers day out type of thing. It's only for about 2 1/2 hours and I think it will be great. When the lady called me today to tell me they would love my help she said I was "an answer to prayer" THANK YOU LORD! :) I'm so happy God gave me the schedule to be able to help these moms who just NEED a few hours to go grocery shopping or some rest! Another thing I decided to do is go on a women's retreat our church is having this next weekend. I literally don't think I know one woman that is going! It is DEFINITELY out of my comfort zone but I think it will be so great- and a great way to make some friendships as well.

Should I start the countdown? ;) Less then a month until Mike, Debbie and Troy will be here!!! We are BEYOND excited- having family and friends come out here IS THE BEST feeling.

Okay I better go- I can hear the kids SCREAMING outside. They love playing with the dogs but sometimes it just gets a little too rough!!!

Love you all!

Not Me Monday!

It's that time again... NOT ME MONDAY! :)

It wasn't me that played Nintendo Wii for 10 minutes and had a sore arm the next day! Nope! I work out way too much to get sore from something as silly as virtual tennis!

It's not me that chews my gum for 15 seconds and then spits it out. That would be such of a waste right? I wouldn't waste a stick of gum just to have a better taste in my mouth!

But it definitely wouldn't be my husband that plops my "old" peice of gum in his mouth when I get "sick to my stomach" from the gum after 15 seconds. That would be way too unsanitary!!

I would never bring up the subject of my cat deheading mice during a nice dinner with a new couple we just met. That would be weeeeeeird!!!! Thank goodness I have better manners than that!

My husband definitely doesn't randomely shout "WHAT" or "YEAH" to me a couple times a week b/c he hears things. He definitely wasn't shooting guns without earplugs that gave him a hearing problem- he is way too safe than to forget earplugs!

That's it for Not Me Monday! :) What is your Not Me Monday moment???

Duck season is officially open!

Has T.J. quit smiling all day? No he hasn't! He is SO EXCITED b/c today was the first day of duck hunting. He limited out and was SO HAPPY. Now we have duck to eat... but I don't like it! He will have to eat it all by himself! T.J. takes great pride in bringing home our meat for the year! I have to admit I'm ready for him to get a deer or 2 so we will have meat all year and I can stop buying beef at the grocery store. This way is a lot CHEAPER and SO MUCH healthier. We had fresh bacon this morning and it was SO GOOD. (Tony brought a freezer full of pork to us) OH! I almost forgot! :) T.J. took Troop (pictured below with me) as his hunting partner today (and his friend Brian) Troop retrieved the ducks! He is so smart! Troop was SO HAPPY! :)

Here is T.J. in his glory-

Last night we had over 2 couples. Brian and Claire and Jim and Suzy. Claire is in T.J.'s department at school and so we have hung out with them a couple times and we met Jim and Suzy at church. We invited Brian and Claire to come to church with us and they have gone the past 2 weeks so hopefully they'll keep coming! We had a great time eating dinner (mexican pizza) and then watched Wicker Park. We had a great time just hanging out!

Tonight we just ordered a pizza and we're going to hang out. T.J. is at Cornell right now so I'm just waiting for him to get home!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

October is flying by!

Are ya'll in disbelief that it's October 21st?! October is FLYING by for me! To think in a little over a month the in-laws will be here IS CRAZY! I'M SO EXCITED. I had a dream they got here a week early and I was BAWLING I was so happy.. but then I started freaking out b/c I hadn't swept the floors and cleaned everything up. :) I have the weirdest dreams. T.J. woke up to me saying "UUUUGGGGGHHHH..... AHHHH... UGGGHHHH" in the middle of the night... what?! I don't remember why I was doing that but I do remember making awful noises really loud.. that's embarrassing!!

HOLLLLAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I kid you not JUUUUST NOOOOW I got a very exciting phone call!!!! :) This is LIVE people! :) Okay so here is my "job status"- I started watching Darren and Mackenzie (our landlords kids) this week. I pick them up at 2 and watch them till about 5... but it's been more like 6-8 right now with Tony hunting in the evenings! I help them with their homework, read with them and make dinner of course. It's going great so far and I'm really happy to be doing it. SO! Even though this is all great I am looking for another job in the mornings to make more money and this way T.J. and I really won't have to worry about finances and all that stuff... wellll JUST NOW I got a call from a SWEET mom named Marissa. I met with Marissa yesterday about possibly watching her 2 10 month old twins (boy and a girl) 2-3 morning a week. Well she just called and would love for me to hop on board! So I am! This really is SUCH a blessing THANK YOU LORD JESUS! T.J. will be so happy I'm sure! Oh course it's not going to be easy watching 2 10 month olds 8 hours a week but I'm down for it! Marissa is from Puerto Rico and we learned a lot about each other while we met yesterday- I think it's a good match! She actually called Christian Werner (the father of the family I nannied for in NC a couple summers ago) THANKS CHRISTIAN! :) I am bound and determined to see the Werner family soon- I MISS THEM SOOOOOOOO STINKING MUCH.

Okay okay... I obviously wasn't planning on talking about that but I just got the call and had to share!

Thank you all for your comments about my Uggs :) I think I decided to wait to get them until after Christmas- even though I REALLY WANT THEM NOW I think it's smarter to get warmer clothes and get the shoes later ;) I still haven't decided between dark tan and black.. but dark tan is pulling me pretty hard!

Okay and just one big prayer request today. T.J. has a huge presentation next Friday the 30th. He has to have it prepared and ready by next Wednesday to present it to his advisor... this is a huge task and he is putting in over 12 hour days right now. Please pray for strength, drive, motivation, and anything else you can think of for T.J. Big deal!

I hope you guys are having a great Wednesday!!!! Miss you all! I'm off to paint my fingernails for the first time in seriously probably 2 years!

Survey

I love my friend Kandie- she makes me laugh. I got this survery from her blog.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you're blogging?
Nothing! :( I usually am not eating! BUT if I am then it's probably a mini Twix (whoops!) :)

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without?
T.J.

3. Beach, Mountains or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice?
Um I think I'm supposed to say farm.... but sorry T.J. the beach would be THE BEST

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty?
bathroom

5. Who do people say you remind them of?
I am too unique ;) hahaha just kidding! UMMMM I don't know!

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying at home with the fam?
staying at home with the fam!

7. What's your all time favorite movie?
I have a lot of favorites- right now my favorite is Dan in Real Life, so sweet

8. Do you sleep in your make up or remove it like a good girl every night?
uh oh.....

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it?
no hidden talent unfortunately.... I would love to start playing the piano again and be GOOD at it

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at?
UGH I don't have strange talents people!!!! I'm good at facebooking ;) HA!!! That is what T.J. would tell you

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
LOOKS and sweet heart

12. What is something you love to smell?
T.J... SORRY IT'S TRUE!

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.
I can be a loud/fast talker ;)

14. When you have extra money (HA!) what's the first thing you think to do with it?
pay off school debt!

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher?
BOTH mostly loud though... although between the loud outbursts there is silent laughter

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
target!

17. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time?
work out

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
frugal

19. Who is your favorite character of all time (from a movie or book)? (Can't be real)
ummmm EASY- bella and edward in twilight :) and jacob from the movie ;)

20. Would you want to be famous?
I don't think so- I don't think I could enjoy life as much!

NOT ME MONDAY!

One reason I love Mondays (okay wait let me rephrase this...)

One reason I don't hate Mondays so much is b/c I get to read every one's "Not me Monday" moments :) I LOVE THEM

Unfortunately for you my moments are SO embarrassing I can't even post them. :) Haha this weekend I was talking to T.J. about politics and I started saying something and then I just said, "Okay I really have no idea what that really means and I'm just going to admit that right now".... silence... "Okay Kelly I don't know what it means either!" :) We laughed for a long time and then got back to the subject of "unkept" and "unkempt" Let me teach you something in case you didn't know... if you have unruly or messed up hair you would say, "My hair is unkempt" I said this to T.J. one day as he was telling me he wanted a crazy nasty beard (SICK) and he laughed SO HARD at me, like DEEP LAUGHING that I would think it was "unkempt" and not "unkept" guess who was right?! :) ME- yes I know- it was a great time in my life!!! My mom backed me up there and T.J. had to go look it up online... ANNNNNYYYWAAAAYSSS!!! My point is that there are too many "Not me Monday" moments I'm too embarrassed to put on my blog!!! :)

BUUUUT

It was not me who went crazy when we got DVR and started recording every show I could possibly EVER want to watch. Then it DEFINITELY wasn't me who tried to watch them all! :)

It wasn't my husband that was just going to go hunting Saturday morning but went all day instead.... AND Sunday too! ;) (It's okay T.J.!)

There is no way it was me that started a work out video and after 5 minutes turned it off b/c it was too hard. I am way too hard core for that! ;)


WISH I COULD SHARE MORE! ;)

Give me your "Not me Monday" moment!

Like if you were my sister Heather you would say, "It wasn't my daughter that threw up on my face, in my hair, and in my mouth... nope not Brynn!!!! She would aim for my shirt at least!" ;) hahaha!!!

If you were my little sister Julia you would say, "It wasn't me who spent 5 hrs in the library at OU working hard on a paper... it DEFINITELY wasn't me who saved the paper on the school's computer thinking it would be waiting for me the next day to print out...." oh whooooops (LOVE YOU JULIA! LESSSON LEARNED)

If you were my husband you would say, "It definitely isn't me who is regretting going to Cornell... nope not me!" :*(

LOVE YOU ALL!

I'm so torn!

Okay this is a dumb post but seriously I'm torn!!! T.J. has promised me I can get a pair of Uggs for this 6 month long winter here in NY! BUUUUT what color do I get?! :) I want the black ones or dark tan... what do you think? This is for sure the style I want. Also do I WAIT and get them until after Christmas and spend my birthday money on more warm clothes or do I go ahead and indulge now!? HELP!!! :)

Ace in the Peanuts!

You can't deny how cute he is. :)

Snowing!

We woke up to our yard covered in a beautiful white surprise! :) Unfortunately it's starting to melt now but it was snowing hard for awhile!! Can you believe it? October 15th and we started getting snow!

Tonight is dinner and a movie with T.J. and we're really excited! I'm about to go take T.J. lunch at Cornell (I usually do every day) and it gives him a little break in the day.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

P.S. :) I'm getting these terrible headaches almost every day... I think they are "tension headaches" (at least after doing some research it was the only thing I came up with) but anyways they are getting worse and are starting to REALLY bother me. I would REALLY appreciate your prayers.

Love to you all!

Pretty Fall...

I know I already blogged once today but I just wanted to post some pictures I've taken recently!! The trees aren't at their "peak" yet. The said this fall has been different then usual b/c of the "wind storms" (HA!) taking off the leaves on the trees before they have changed. :(


Ace looking at T.J.

There are old cemetaries EVERYWHERE like this one.

A storm is coming! :)

An area T.J. is excited about duck hunting!! :)

Okay this video is of Ace and a mouse!! Ace is an avid hunter now! He actually LEAVES mice outside our sweet "neighbor" Pam's door as a "gift" to her!!! AHHHHH.....

Birthday Blog!!

Well today is my birthday! :) I am officially 24 years young! I decided not to freak out too much b/c 25 is really the "oh my goodness I'm not really a kid anymore" moment!

Today has been great so far! T.J. and I ate muffins this morning and I took him to school. He likes it when I take him to school b/c he gets to sleep in about an hour longer. I've been running errands and da da da DAAAAAA picked up our "DVR" box from our cable company!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED! We aren't paying any more money for it (for at least 12 months) ;) and we are SO PUMPED. Just call me Telly Kelly b/c I definitely got it all hooked up and running all by myself :) just one smashed finger that hurt REALLY bad but I'm okay!!

T.J. and I are "celebrating" tomorrow with dinner and a movie but tonight we'll get to open Mike and Debbie's present via Skype ;) I'm excited. I got to open my family's gifts when they were here so that was nice! Everyone has been so sweet with texts, calls and facebook messages! Thank you everyone!!!

SOOOOO big news....IT'S SNOWING HERE TODAY!!!!!!!!!! BIRTHDAY SNOW! :) Ithaca, NY is welcoming us with a pretty light snow on my birthday. DEFINITELY a first for me to see snow on my birthday! So far it isn't sticking though. They call this "snow showers" and we're supposed to have them all weekend. So as you can see- IT IS COLD HERE. I have my rice baby and a scarf on me almost all the time! :)

Okay so what else is new? Next week (99.9% sure) I will be starting to watch the Rich kids from 1-5 every day alone with some household duties! This is good but I also would LIKE to find a little part time job for the mornings- that would be PERFECT! T.J. and I are doing good! We obviously miss home and sometimes are sitting down eating dinner and one of us will be like, "now why did we do this again?!" :) but it's definitely an adventure and I think one day we'll look back on this and realize why God placed us here.

Prayer requests-

*That T.J. will be extra productive (not that he already isn't!) these next 2 weeks to be ready for a presentation and some meetings with important people. T.J. has a LOT of things going on and I wish SO BAD I was able to help him out- so I need your prayers covering him!

*That I could possibly find a part time job in the mornings

*My friend Sara's cousin and husband, they lost their house and ALL earthly possessions in the fire (but are okay thank the Lord)

*For me and T.J. to make a difference in lives here in NY!

Thank you for your prayers!! They mean so much to us! Let me know if there is something WE can be praying for YOU!!!

Here is a picture of Ace hiding in Darren's backpack ;)

10/5/09

October 5th, 2009 was not a good day for Kelly Ross.

It all started with my mom and step dad leaving to go back to OKC.

Okay so I didn't really mention to anyone on October 2nd (a Friday) that I accepted a position at a construction company. The construction company needed an administrative manager. They needed someone to basically RUN all the bookkeeping side of the business plus SO MUCH MORE. I felt overwhelmed before I even started but after talking to T.J. we thought this would be a GREAT opportunity to learn so much and gain some awesome experience. Plus if T.J. was struggling every day I can learn to struggle too. :)

Alright.. day 1. I motivate myself and head over to the boonies (the office is in his basement... is this a bad sign already?!) I pass the house b/c of wait it's in the woods and nowhere to be found. Alright so let me clarify something really fast. The guy was REALLY nice and I felt comfortable with his family and the company or I NEVER would've "signed up" for this. (I know lots of serial killers are probably "nice") ;) T.J. knew the address where I was ;) So after getting a tour of the house I was led into a cold unfinished basement- my OFFICE :) Okay I don't need to bore you with the details but lets just say throughout the day I realized this WAS NOT the job for me... dirty old basement.. tiny old laptop... STUFF EVERYWHERE from the past 3 years that I was supposed to go through.... the list goes on and on. Needless to say I started feeling very uncomfortable. So I talked to my friend Tamara on the computer and she convinced me to QUIT!!!!!!! :) LOL- SO I left for the evening and the guy I was working for proceeded to give me a "high 5!" and tell me how much I rock and how he's SO EXCITED with everything I'm doing and we're going to do awesome... So I say "OKAY COOL! SEE YOU TOMORROW!" with a smile on my face... 15 seconds later out of the driveway that smile turns into a frown as I start bawling :) LOL I was so pathetic.

SO! Anyways- yes I started a job and quit in the same day. WOW. That was a first. So having that conversation with A.J. was NOT a fun one... especially when he didn't get my email the first night and called to see where I was the next day ;) We talked- we're cool, but he was "very disappointed" but me?! I was jumping up and down I was outta there!!! SO the plan now is to babysit our landlords kiddos M-F from 2-5. How easy is that?! I'll still cook, maybe do some laundry, etc. I'll actually be getting paid MORE for this then the other job anyways! God is good! It took that HORRIBLE experience for me to realize what I really do want to do right now.

Let's see... right now Ace is sleeping on my laptop as I type ;) T.J. is at school and I'm going to pick him up early today :) Yay! We are having a couple over (Titus, Amy and their son Tor) tonight for enchiladas- it should be fun! Tomorrow T.J. is taking Jade out to hunt and he's SO EXCITED about that. We also might go with the Rich's (landlords) to the Cornell football game (we play Harvard).

We're doing good up here :) We had so much fun with my mom and James up here and are now looking forward to Mike, Debbie and Troy coming up here!

Also mark your calendars!! We officially have tickets to OKC this winter! (Dec. 18-27th)

Here is a video of when we were at Ithaca Falls ;)

Time with my mom and James!

There aren't words to type on how awesome this past weekend was! It was BEYOND amazing to see my mom and James! It's funny how you think you miss someone and then when they're HERE and they leave... you realize HOW homesick you really are!!! I literally cried myself to sleep Sunday night knowing they were leaving at 6am the next day!!!!! BUT we had lots and lots of fun while they were here!!

Friday my mom and James got here about 4 or 5 pm and so we showed them the house and then headed off to eat dinner at a local restaurant we heard was really good right off the lake. It was yummy! Fish fry heaven! Then it was off to get some yummy icecream :)

Saturday we took my mom and James to see the Cornell campus, to a waterfall (Ithaca falls), Wegmans :) and a couple other places. James was a trooper b/c he was sick this WHOLE time but he stuck it out with us the whole weekend :)

The trees are about a "5 out of 10" in how pretty they are getting so they get to enjoy the gorgeous views. We rented a couple movies, they took some walks and mostly we just HUNG OUT. Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market which we love and experienced different foods, vendors, and people. :) Haha it was funny to see my mom and James as confused as T.J. and I were about recycling when we moved here! There are about 4 different trashcans you have to figure out where to dump your "trash". I still look at the pictures above each trashcan b/c I haven't mastered it yet! This is where my mom screamed at James b/c she realized he was about to put his coffee cup in the dog waste trashcan :) hahaha so funny!

The weather was chilly one day and really really nice another. I am SO GLAD they were able to see where we live and experience our every day life! :) We miss them so much!! I'm still "debbie downer" right now.

This video is from Saturday afternoon I think :) I came out from being on the computer to find my family comotose!

I am going to upload more pics to facebook just FYI :)

So are you jealous?! Do you want to come take an awesome vacation to NY?!?! Come to the Ross house free of charge! ;) Mike and Debbie and Troy are coming in November (we'll be home Dec. 18-27) and then Heather and Brock will come in March. We can take a bus to NYC- drive to Niagra Falls :) SO FUN! You should think about it! ;)

NOT ME MONDAY

Oh the not me Monday.... I'll try to actually post this on a Monday next time ;)

Well... it definitely wasn't me that started a job and quit the same day!!!!!!! Who would do THAT?! I mean that is ridiculous. (and a whole different blog) :)

It wasn't me that bawled like a baby when her mom left to go back to Oklahoma!! Nope!

My husband definitely didn't have to stop me from cooking b/c I was sobbing about my job day/mom leaving day- there was no way I was literally sobbing/cracking up at myself!

It wasn't my husband that made SO MUCH FUN of me for saying "unkempt" to the extent I thought I was wrong when really "unkept" is not a word :) hehehe (sorry T.J.!!!!)

It wasn't my mom that screamed in public at James for putting a coffee cup in the wrong recycling can. HAHAHA (oh mom I loved it)


Alright that is it for now! :) I would love to hear your "not me monday" comments!!!!

So excited!!!!!

TOMORROW MY MOM AND JAMES WILL BE HERE!!!! :) I am BEYOND excited!! Today I am doing lots of laundry, cleaning and food prepartion! I also learned a valuable lesson- don't wash towels that your husband wiped oil up with :) The towels are now in the THIRD cycle after I realized our house started reeking of oil and the washing machine was black inside :) awesome!!

SO! I'm going to head to the grocery store. I haven't told ya'll about Wegmans. Wegmans is the coolest grocery store EVER! It is HUGE and "green" (I think) and just AWESOME :) as in a super walmart of just groceries!!! (I ALMOST walked right back out the first time I went in due to feeling COMPLETELY overwhelmed.) Actually it was in the "best 10 places to work".. hmm maybe I should look into that... ;)

So the other day we got an awesome surprise in the mail! Mike and Debbie took a business trip to Argentina (rough huh) ;) (KIDDING MIKE!) So Debbie sent us some things from Argentina- look at my AWESOME scarves she sent me- I LOVE WEARING SCARVES!!!! (one good thing with the weather here- I can already wear them!!)

Oh and some cute warm jammies ;)
So last night was the first night I had to be alone (overnight) while T.J. was working- it was not fun!!

Seriously I was SO BORED and so I decided to go to the city to get a movie... HOW I ended up back home WITHOUT a movie I DON'T KNOW :( So I brought the doggies in and we hung out and had fun- EXCEEEEPT they are NOOOOT allowed on the couch unless we CALL them up there to snuggle with us... well I'm looking EVERYWHERE for the dogs last night, under the bed- other rooms, bathrooms and so I finally walk in the pitch black living room and they had snuck onto the couches... sneaky dogs!!! I literally had to DRAG Jade off the couch- oh and they did it twice :) Literally I don't know why they are being so prissy b/c we have 2 mattress toppers they sleep on on our floor- other dogs would be so jealous! Here is the picture of them sneaking onto the couch.

So now we are all anxiously waiting for T.J. to get home today and then tomorrow and this weekend will be SO GREAT with my mom and James here!!! I hope they are ready for chilly weather and pretty changing leaves!! :)

Okay here is one more video- it is of Jade and my rice baby. I realize some people don't realize what a rice baby is so I'll tell you. :) A rice baby is a sock (usually a dress sock instead of cotton I've decided) that is filled with rice and you tie a knot at the end of the sock- heat it up in the microwave for 2 minutes and you have a warm cuddly friend!!! I always have mine nearby, and I've had it for 6 years! :) Okay well Jade has a weird thing for my rice baby!! I wish this would've captured what she did BEFORE I started filming! :)

Couple video and pics!

I will "blog" later but I just wanted to post a couple videos and pictures- yes I realize they are all of our pets :) that is all we have up here okay!? :)
This picture is of sweet Ace waking up from a 3-4 hour nap in the laundry basket- he loves that thing!!!

Keep in mind there is a mouse in the video with Ace!!! :)

Not me Monday! (On a wednesday!) :)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

So I LOVE reading all my blogging friends "Not Me Monday" blogs- BUT I'm not a mom, so I felt left out ;) BUT lo and behold my friend Crystal challenged me that I STILL can write one :) so hear I go!!!


It definitely wasn't me who asked a 5 year old girl to braid my hair b/c I miss my hair being played with, no way- WHO would do that? CREEPY!

It was NOT my husband that made us drive to Rite Aid, CVS, Wal-Mart & Staples until he found his perfect mechanical pencil. No way- who is that crazy? He definitely wasn't dead set on not doing homework until he had his 5 mm mechanical pencil that he's "had since highschool".

It wasn't me that set 2 interviews up at the same time- who would do that? Anyone trying to get a job would be more careful then that!!

Thank goodness it isn't our shower that wasn't pouring out sulfur water but now instead has been treated with chlourine so now we smell like the YMCA every time we get out of the shower- or drink pool water. That would be miserable!

Oh and most importantly THANK GOODNESS it isn't me that has a "farmville" on facebook! Who would waste so much time in their life to be a "virtual farmer" PATHETIC!!!!!

:)

I want to hear about your "not me monday" moments!! Heather I'm sure you have a million!! ;)

Job Interview #1!

My job interview today went well! It was at Ithaca Medical Group which is a private practice that helps cancer patients. The office is actually IN the hospital here in Ithaca, but they aren't directly associated with the hospital. Basically a girl is going on maternity leave and they need a temporary administrative assistant to fill in for her- BUT the position would be for 9-12 months, with a GOOD chance of continuing to work there after.

I felt like the interview went great. I was asked A LOT of questions- "What are you strengths/weaknesses", "How would your previous coworkers/boss describe you", "What is the biggest work challenge you've faced?" All the annoying typical questions!!! :) Don't worry one time I forgot what I was answering!!! LOL I don't think she noticed but I was just like "Oh my gosh Kelly come ON!" :) just typical me.


My face always hurts after I interview too... there is just way to much smiling going on!!! :) It was SO NICE to mess up my hair and put on a hoodie and sweats after!!


Okay so anyways- it REALLY did go well and I TRULY hope to hear back from them! It's a 8 hr day including a paid lunch :) anyways- I'll tell you more about it if I get it!


I have 2 more to knock out next Tuesday and hopefully I will hear something from one of them!!


Okay so onto something totally different :)


My friend Crystal made a "Bucket list" yesterday and so I'm going to copy her! Here are 10 things I would like to do/achieve before I go to be with the Lord!


1. Have a healthy family that is raised in OK ;) (sorry T.J.)





2. Bring as many people as I can to the Lord





3. Live on 200+ acres in a house T.J. and I build :) (his DREAM)





4. Travel to as many places as possible! (Australia, Africa, I could go on and on)





5. Get a job that I am HAPPY at





6. Stay very close with my family





7. Live in God's will (okay sorry this should be #1) ;)





8. Be on Wheel of fortune (YES I SAID IT!)





9. Stay FIT





10. Love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul and all my strength!!!!!!


On to ANOTHER note :) I mentioned yesterday that I like to have a picture in every blog and now I am "without" a picture SOOOOOOOOO I'm going to post a picture of one of my best friends ever- Sara Schakelaar. Sara is in Slovenia right now serving our Lord. She is ironically living with my cousin Brooke (Brown) Stevens and Brooke's husband Johnny (who are both missionaries in Slovenia.) She has been there around 4 months now and will be there until December. Can I ask you to pray for her on some certain things??



*God's will for Sara! (Sara needs to hear God's calling on what he wants for her after she leaves Slovenia)

*Her ankle- Sara was training for a 1/2 marathon and rolled her ankle (pretty bad) and needs to rest awhile... she is afraid that with the time off she won't be able to do the 1/2 marathon. I have TOTAL FAITH she can. I experienced having to take time off while training for a 1/2 marathon and God carried me through that race!!

*Her health- Sara is very healthy but she did have a sinus cold/infection- just that the Lord will keep her healthy as she is serving Him in another country.

*Her outreach- Sara has done SO GOOD in meeting people, making friends (which is obvious b/c who DOESN'T want to be Sara's best friend?!) But that the Lord will show these girls that there is something special about Sara (and that is the Lord's life in her) and that they will come to know His life.

Here is Sara's blog if you want to check her out ;) Let's continue to pray for her and her time in Slovenia! He can do WONDROUS things through any of us!

GOD IS GOOD! :)

I just ran down the hall singing "God is good, God is good, God is good!" :) yes all by myself.

Okay nothing THAT HUGE happened but to me it was GREAT!

The past couple of days T.J. and I have both been like "okay... I REALLLLY need a job now" and last night I started freaking out and I just started telling T.J. how we REALLY need to be praying about this and just GIVING it to God and all that! Well I haven't heard back from anyone in awhile and so I've been feeling a little discouraged.

Well I woke up this morning and just "gave it up" to God again and NOT EVEN 5 minutes later my phone is ringing- it is Ithaca Medical Center wanting to set up an interview with me! :) YAY! So THANK YOU LORD! I have an interview with them tomorrow at 9:30. The lady was REALLY nice and I'm excited to meet her.

Okay that's it really- oh and I don't really like posting without a picture b/c that's not fun but I don't have a picture of me prancing down the hall so I decided I would post this picture. It's a picture of Jade :) she was sleeping like this but opened her eyes when I took the picture- this was when we were moving in and she was all doped up on medicine from her bee stings. :)

Hard boiled eggs

Do you know the smell of rotten eggs? You're driving down the road (especially around 63rd and Rockwell somewhere in N. OKC!) and you smell sewage or just that ROTTEN EGG SMELL?! :)


WELCOME TO MY LIFE!!!


In case you didn't know if you have sulfur in your water this will make your water SMELL and TAAASTTEEE like rotten eggs. At first it wasn't bad, it started in the bathroom sinks... but now it has taken over the water in the washing machine and this is where it has to end... THE SHOWER. OH MY WORD. So the WHOLE time I'm taking a shower this morning I am just telling myself that the smell is actually hard boiled eggs and not rotten eggs so I could "make it through" the shower w/o gagging!


ANYWAYS- the landlords are supposed to fix this, they actually pay a service to MAKE SURE there isn't sulfur in the water and they obviously aren't doing the job! So they'll fix it soon hopefully!! I pray it's not like this when my mom and James come out!


The only good thing is that mosquitos won't bite you if you drink sulfur water... so I guess that's good?!?!?! Thank goodness for our Brita!


Okay that's it :) just annoying part of the morning!!

Here is a picture of Ace doing what he likes to do best- getting into the TRASH!

Fall is here- officially!

Well according to KLOVE fall is officially here around 4:18 pm. We definitely have been feeling it here! During the day the weather is ususally PERFECT but in the mornings- OH MY GOODNESS, it is SO COLD!!!! It was 37 the other night in a town nearby. BRR!!! I have heard it's in the 60's in OK- that sounds SO GREAT! Today it is kind of drizzly and rainy- which I LOVE :) so I'm hoping it stays that way for awhile.

This blog will be very random b/c I have a lot of randomness to talk about! :)

Let's see- I'll start off with church. We found a great church we decided to stick with! The church is called Bethel Grove Bible Church. The church is about a mile down the road from us which is really nice. We go to "Sunday school" (I'm not sure what they call it) and that has been good. We are going over 1st Corinthians right now. The church has 2 different "services" in the morning and I think maybe 200-300 in each service, but it doesn't seem that big. We have met 2 different couple that have invited us to do things. This past Sunday we hung out with an older couple and had venison chili (it was really good!) they had a daughter that was a sophmore in HS and so she hung out with us for awhile too. This was the first couple we really felt was "on the same page" with me and T.J. and I'm not going to lie- that was a comfort! :) The other couple we met is a couple years older then me and T.J., this Saturday we're going to go to their house and do s'mores :) we're excited. ALSO in the next week or 2 the church is starting a "young couples" home bible study so we'll be glad to get involved with that. SO needless to say we're really excited about getting involved and "plugged in" at this church and love meeting other couples.

Okay on to the job front- same ole same ole :) I have been actually GOING OUT and submitting my resumes to some places, so we'll see if that makes a difference in landing a job. T.J. and I feel that if I don't have a job by the first week of October that I'll probably say yes to Tony and Jen (our landlords) and watch their kiddos from 2-5 every day and do some other things for them- what would be IDEAL is if I could do that and have a part time job in the morning!

Skype anyone? :) Mike and Debbie, and my mom and James (which of course includes Heather and Brynn), Julia, Carlie & Sara are our only "friends" on Skype that we have video chatted with. It is SO EASY. If you have a MAC you have NO EXCUSE not to download Skype for free at Skype.com b/c you have a video camera IN your computer :) if you don't have a camera in your computer (we didn't) we bought one at Best Buy for 39.99 and it works GREAT! This is a great way for us to communicate with our friends and family and we love doing it! Think about it ;) If you do have it- add us as a contact, our name is "NYNEWBIES" :)

T.J. is swamped with school work as usual- especially this week. He is even going to miss Biggest Loser tomorrow night!! :) He has to go to a lot of extracurricular activities that normally you wouldn't go to- but he needs to "network" and do it for the department he is involved with... I am able to help him input a lot of data in Excel so I'm glad I can help him a little at least!!

I don't have any new pictures but I do have a video I took of T.J. and the doggies the other night- nothing that fun but just a "ritual" they do all the time. I caught them AFTER the dogs were freaking out attacking him :) but notice the doggies little tails WAAAGGGGGGING :) lol



2 random things that are different from OK-

#1 People in the north don't tend to say "bye" when you get off the phone- this makes me laugh really b/c I "got on" to Susan Werner about this when I lived with them in NC- I WAS NOT used to people just HANGING UP without a salutation- I NEED an "okay- see ya!" or "buh-bye" but you don't normally get that here :) Susan started saying goodbye after I told her I need that, lol but I just got a message from Jen our landlord and it made me smile b/c she just ended a sentence and hung up- no goodbye or anything. What is with that?! :)

#2 I don't know what brought this up but I was talking with T.J. last night and he was telling me how he's learned so much more vocabulary being up here. Here is the bottom line- yes, people are smart up here (Cornell is an ivy league school so that's obvious) BUT the difference is that they MAKE IT KNOWN. I have noticed this a little but T.J. has seen it a lot more. When you talk to people it's like "what crazy long words can I use to look as smart as possible"? :) Obviously as you can tell this REALLY gets on my nerves. But I am not a smarty pants, I want to understand what you are saying. There is no way I am going to try to impress you and make you think I'm really smart. That is how I feel a lot of people here are ;) But they probably honestly don't even think about it- they are just thinking I'm hick or something, and that's fine! I just am used to the smart people in OK that don't try to broadcast it.

Alright I'm off to do some more cleaning today! Yesterday I swept, swiffered & wet jetted all the floors/stairs (I have a blister to prove it!) and so today I am off to do the bathrooms and dust.

One funny quote from T.J. this week that made me laugh, "Kelly can you buy me some underwear this week, I've never bought them before- do they come in boxes, bags??? I'm 24 and I've never bought my own underwear....I don't even know what size I wear" :) HAHA Debbie I can blame you for this ;)

2 more weeks!

In 2 little ole weeks my mom and James will be here- FINALLY!!! We are SO EXCITED to get them here! Not sure really what we're going to do but HANGING OUT is really the only thing that matters to us! Not sure what the temperature will be like when they're here but I know the leaves will be GORGEOUS! :) YAY!

So tonight T.J. and I are going to see the movie Love Happens, I love Jennifer Aniston so I'm excited! I like Aaron Eckhart too though! Hopefully it's good! I bought the tickets already and was NOT happy when I realized they are $10 a piece for just general admission! UGH NY prices STINK!!!

T.J. decided to take off about 3:30 today which I was REALLY happy about- even if that means he's napping right now :) he needs it!

Here are some pictures that I took of T.J. when we visited the Esopus Creek last Saturday. It's about a 3 hour drive there (did I MENTION he'll be there all next summer?!) So I'm going to have to learn that route so I can visit him every other weekend or so!!

I wish I would've taken a little bit better of pictures! :) T.J. and his advisor took some awhile back so I'll have to post those later. Honestly I haven't really thought about him not being here basically all summer next semester... and I don't want to until I HAVE to :) That WON'T be fun... We have FOUR yes FOUUUUUR weddings we are in or want to go to next semester so hopefully we can do that- so much love! :)

On the job subject I have 2 "opportunities" I guess you could say that have come my way! One of them I'm not quite sure about yet but the other opportunity is with a financial planning group- I have an interview with them the 29th- so we'll see how that goes!

Okay sorry I don't have any fun/silly stories this time! :) I just wanted to send a little note out! and by the way! I am curious- T.J. was asking me last night how many ppl read this blog, and I told him "21" b/c... hey! that's how many "followers" I have- but then I started thinking there are ppl who read this that aren't "followers" so :) to satisfy my curiosity will you leave a comment on this blog if you read it? Come on- don't be shy!! Just comment as an anonymous user (but tell me who you are!) Thanks guys!!!!

Breaking out the Uggs!!!

Okay I know this sounds so dumb to some but I've been waiting to "break out" my Uggs since... awhile now :) But hello you just CAN'T wear Uggs in 100 degree weather! So it was a brisk cool morning today and I decided why not?! In case any of you don't really know what the big "hype" is about Uggs this is it- they are 100% SO COMFORTABLE and once you buy a pair you don't take them off :) Isn't that right Ugg owners?! I am trying to convince T.J. right now that I need a "normal" pair of Uggs (here) and I think he is starting to see my reason! :)

Yes, it might be an investment at first but when you wear them EVERY DAY that is like.. what? MAYBE $1 a day if you wear them for 6 months (the winter IS 6 months long up here!!!) so :) we will see! I HATED Uggs when they first came out (I thought they were so ugly) but they're just not so ugly when they are SO PRACTICAL :)

Okay sorry... enough.

So- TWO BLOGS IN ONE DAY! :) That is CRAZY! I am going to post a couple pics and try to attempt to upload a video. We met a couple named Titus and Amy- Titus is doing his post doc work under T.J.'s advisor Dr. Fisher and that is how we met- they are about 30 or so and have a little CUTE boy named Tor (seen below) we watched him one afternoon as they unpacked a room or something at their house. We had a lot of fun but even though Tor was PERFECT we were just like "okay- YES this is why we don't have children yet!!!!!!" I mean we literally watched him for like 2 hrs and were worn out afterwards!! But I have to tell you watching Tor reach up to T.J. and going to sit next to him was ADORABLE and it warmed my heart :)

Okay- also, Ace found a little friend, a baby chipmunk- don't worry he was just playing with him!!! He finds the STRANGEST things!!

One more thing- if you ever question my love for T.J. (which you won't) :) I took a picture below to have proof that I do in fact make him corn- and FRESH corn on the cob that is too! If you know me AT ALL then you know I HATE corn... I can't help it- I just do, it makes me gag really bad and it is just GROSS. And if I didn't like it ENOUGH it has to be all hairy! Ewwwwwwww!!!!!