T.J.'s first day of school

T.J. at his "office" before we got it all set up! :) "corner office!!!" haha

T.J. at his Ivy League school

Yay!!!

I wish I had a picture of T.J. on his way to his first day of graduate school! ;) Let me just tell you that I LOVE that T.J. is completely HIMSELF. He isn’t going to conform to what anyone thinks he should look like, etc! Our landlord was giving T.J. SUCH a hard time for his wranglers and cowboy boots (honestly I didn’t think it would be a big deal up here b/c it’s kind of “country”) but oh no :) Tony told T.J. that he thought people only wear cowboy boots on Halloween and that it looks like his jeans were painted on :) HAHA then he told T.J. that he looked like Woody from The Toy Story! J Hahaha- T.J. I’m laughing WITH you not at you! But this was REALLY making me laugh b/c I agree with Tony- T.J. kind of is like Woody J long legs with tight cowboy jeans and boots ;) Tony thinks its crazy that he wears a camo hat too. SO- T.J. is still sporting the wranglers, boots, camo hat and knife in his back pocket at school! He told me his advisor smiled really big when he saw him like “that’s what I miss seeing here!!”

I went up to Cornell today to eat with T.J. (I mean I don’t have that much on going on right now- w/ no job) ;) today my list of things to do is wait for the cable/phone/internet guy and figure out some dinner plans along with taking pics of the house so I can upload them to my first blog that I can hopefully put out today!!

T.J. has A LOT on his plate… he told me he was a little worried about how much stuff he has to do and how I’m going to have to realize that :) but luckily Dr. Fisher (his advisor) also told T.J. that he needs to make sure not to get to enveloped in the study to and to take time for his family (me) J We STILL say at least once a day I CANNOT BELIEVE WE’RE HERE… this is what we wanted SO BAD and God had it in His plan for us!!!

Alright well I’m off to do some cleaning around the house- Ace is slapping all over the keyboard trying to attack my hands while I type and I have to keep deleting and retyping words so I think it’s time to go ;)

LOVE TO ALL!!

More from NY

Sweet Jade- this was awhile after she was stung

T.J. spraying the hole of ground bees- "Don't mess with my dogs!" :)

Deer in the backyard!

Troop with his TWO shock collars on b/c he likes to run through the underground fence- HA!

Okay so let’s see- today is the 25th- we still don’t have the internet but I thought I’d go ahead and get another blog “prepared”! T.J. just took Jade out to the “6 mile creek” across the street and so I have a few minutes before we’ll heat up our sour cream chicken enchiladas (YUMMMMMM- thank you Rose Matlock! And mom for giving it to me!)

Let’s go back in time a little bit… I forgot to tell ya’ll about Jade and her “near death” experience! (At least this is what we thought!!) So the morning after we arrive in NY we wake up to the dogs yelping- Troop won’t stop barking and Jade is WHIIIINING big time- T.J. gets up (it’s about 6:30 AM) to check on them and we keep hearing Troop bark but don’t really think anything about it- we’re probably just assuming T.J.’s hanging out with them and Troops being himself! Come to find out… this is the scene T.J. walked out to: Jade COVERED in bees- from the tip of her snout to her feet, she was rolling around trying to get them off but they had swarmed her and weren’t going anywhere- Jade and Troop were both on long leashes (b/c our fence wasn’t done yet) so Jade didn’t have anywhere to run away from the bees- Troop was trying to help her (although I don’t know how he could’ve! And was barking for our attention and his leash wouldn’t let him get to her) soooooo when T.J. comes out Jade stops rolling around and just sits up staring at T.J. to “help her” (keep in mind HUNDREDS of bees are on her) T.J. just had a split second decision and he has no shoes or a shirt on and he can’t let her die like this! So he goes in- unclips her leash and lets Jade run away from the hive. After she rolled around for a bit T.J. had to flick the remaining 30 or so bees off of her that were stuck in her… sooo (okay this is longer then I wanted) we ended up taking her to the emergency vet b/c she was delirious and had over 300 stings to her sweet little body!! After a couple days she was better (with medicine) but she has a million scabs all over her now!! That was NOT a fun way to start this journey!!

Totally switching gears-

T.J.’S POSITION

In case you aren’t exactly sure what T.J. is going to do here in NY here it is- he will be pursuing a master’s degree for fisheries and aquatic ecology- in the natural resources department. There is actually a project that T.J. is going to complete and after the project, and a thesis he will receives his masters. This is a paid position which is awesome! T.J. will be in the Esopous Creek in NY tracking trout and their conditions related to certain factors in the environment- if you really have questions you need to ask him J All I know is that I’m really proud of him and this is going to be some 2-3 years!! Although… we did find out after moving here that each summer T.J. will be required to stay at the creek for 2-3 months… yes, that means me alone here in our house… I know… I don’t even know what to think about that yet except I’m PRAYING I’ll have friends here by then J I will get to visit him every other weekend or so if I can take the trip out there (it’s about 3 hrs away). T.J. is really excited about the program- although he is aware that this will be the hardest thing he’s ever done. The professor he’s working under has VERY high expectations and T.J. just wants to make sure he can go above and beyond those expectations- which takes a lot of dedication!!

A JOB FOR ME

Well… I don’t have a job out here yet! It hasn’t been even 2 weeks yet since we’ve arrived so I’m not freaking out yet J although- I’ll just go ahead and tell you that in Ithaca it’s REALLY hard to find a job. There are almost no listings I even want to apply for… so that is something that we will be praying about!! I had thought about nannying (and even interviewed with one family) but after the family I interviewed with went with a “live in” nanny I realized that really wasn’t something that could “get me out there” and help me develop some friendships!! I will keep you updated on this! :) There are 2 jobs right now I have applied for that I’m crossing my fingers on…


So! T.J. starts school on Thursday and Friday I’m going out all day with his advisor’s wife :) Haha!! I’m just glad to have someone to talk to (T.J. can only handle so much from me) ;) Then Friday night we are going to eat with our landlords which I’m sure will be fun too!! Saturday T.J. is going to show me the Esopous Creek I think J Sunday we will try another church- last Sunday we were LITERALLY the only people our age within like 15 years… so we’re hoping to have a little more diversity next week!!

Another thing I found that is different about NY then OK- at the gas pump it is illegal to walk away while pumping and the pumps don’t have a “lock” for your pump- you literally have to stand there and hold the pump the whole time- very annoying… the things OK spoil us with!!! :)

Sorry no really fun stories!!!! T.J. and I are having a lot of fun together up here though. We rented “I love you man” and “17 again” at redbox b/c we don’t have TV yet and we have no idea what to rent :) so we just keep quoting movie quotes back and forth to each other and we haven’t gotten tired of each other yet!! :) I’m sure he’ll get tired of me sooner or later!!

One thing I have realized though is that moving gives you MANY cuts, bruises and scrapes- I literally don’t think I’ve ever felt more “beat up” then after moving!! Especially when Troy, Debbie and me and T.J. went to a creek and I fell face first into a rock wall :) a bruised chin and wet body later we thought we were fine until Debbie slipped and cut open her toe :) Then T.J. took me out to the 6 mile creek and I hop on in after him and what do you know- I slip down to my neck :) SO GREAT- it was a pretty fun laugh though!! Okay- off to go eat!!!!!!

NY Newbies!!

part of the backyard....

some of the kitchen...

more backyard-

1/2 of our room

living room

living area

our house ;)

okay-
Where do I start?! (First let me say I am POSTING this the 28th but wrote this awhile ago- these are A COUPLE pictures of the house but a whole album of our house is on facebook) - if you don't have a facebook account email me at kellyross13@gmail.com and I'll send you the link to the pics- there are about 80 of them! ;)

Okay so we don’t have the internet until the 27th but I do have my computer up and running so I decided to go ahead and try to write at least a little bit so come the 27th a blog will be posted! My family is ready for this!!! I will try to write a couple different blogs, that way it won’t seem like a novel!

Today is Friday, the 21st- exactly a week ago at THIS TIME we were stopping for dinner and about 2 hours away from our home here in Ithaca- wait- technically Brooktondale, NY.

THE GOODBYES

Wow… that was NOT fun, I knew I probably wouldn’t break down until the goodbye with my mom and I was somewhat right :) While T.J.’s sweet grandpa Ross was praying over our dinner I started crying and my mom had to hold me for a minute… after that I was okay until I really had to say bye that night and I kind of broke down!!! Sorry- I just have the best mom in the universe and saying goodbye for 2-3 years is just really tough!! T.J. helped me through it after they left- so thankful we have each other throughout this journey!! We had SO MUCH of our family come out to tell us goodbye and it meant SO MUCH to us. The next morning wasn’t much easier with the goodbyes to Mike, T.J.’s dad and gradparents… tears everywhere. Luckily Troy, T.J.’s brother, and Debbie, T.J.’s mom were going to take this 24 hour journey with us!! :) So no goodbyes to them.

THE DRIVE

Okay honestly- the drive REALLY wasn’t that bad!!! We had the huge Budget truck that only T.J. and Debbie could drive (which towed T.J.’s truck) and then my car with a small uhaul thingy on the back :)- we all switched around, slept, read (just me- & Troy mainly ate- which meant a bathroom stop for Troy every 2 hrs!!!) haha :) and even though we drove around 12 hours each day it just was easier then we thought- God had his angels surrounding us for sure!! No close calls- hit traffic ONCE, and no car problems. Troy and I both did a fair share of sleeping :) The dogs did SO GOOD while we drove and Ace our kitty was in T.J.’s truck that was being towed b/c we didn’t feel like hearing him meow the whole time. :)

PULLING UP TO THE HOUSE

We actually pulled up to the WRONG house (289) b/c that is what we were TOLD but really it’s 283!!! :) So everyone our address is really 283 Brooktondale Road, Brooktondale, NY 14817. Our landlords were there to meet us and direct us to our house :) WE LOVE THE HOUSE. Hopefully when I upload this blog I can upload pictures of the house as well!! There is SO MUCH WOODS around us!!! Literally it’s a gorgeous view from every one of our windows- UGH love it!! (Except the bees… I’ll get to that later!) The house plan is a lot nicer then the house we had in Guthrie (sorry sweet old house) hard wood floors everywhere, lots of storage space- 3 rooms- couldn’t like it anymore!! ALSO :) In case you didn’t know- we sort of have a roommate- not really a roommate at all but there is a small apartment in our basement that a SWEET older lady lives in- her name is Pam and she is awesome :) lol we weren’t sure what we were getting into with having an apartment in the house but we honestly wouldn’t have it any other way- for instance… (this is crazy) but we get a knock on our door this evening and Pam has made us homemade mixed berry muffins with chocolate- who does that!? SO SWEET. Pam usually pays whoever is in the house for using the laundry machines and T.J. wouldn’t have that- so he mentioned “just make me some cookies every now and then” well she was really serious and did! :) and as crazy as it is she goes to a Southern Baptist Church here in Ithaca (we attended the same in Guthrie) we will visit the church but she did tell us there were about 10 members…. :) We know we have been blessed by her- b/c we wouldn’t have been able to get this house unless there WAS an apartment in in b/c it lowers the rent for us… and with it being double then it was in OK we needed all the help we could get! She has her own entrance to her house and everything. Okay... on to something else!

GETTING SETTLED IN

Let me start off by saying we COULD NOT have made this move without all the help we received, thank you to the whole Ross family and my mom and James!! Oops I can’t forget Dennis Hewitt either!!! :) Troy and Debbie helped us SO MUCH here in NY. I mean I’m sitting in a house practically all decorated and ready to live in!! If they wouldn’t have helped us I’d still be unpacking the kitchen!! We had SO MUCH FUN with Troy and Debbie here. We are still getting used to them not being here as they left on Tuesday. We felt like they were supposed to live here with us! Debbie and Troy are troopers and worked around the clock!! We had MANY laughing fits and Debbie would clean our feet for us in the bathtub every time we “went out” b/c they’d be BLACK from working so hard outside/inside. I won’t forget our first night here- we brought in a mattress and plopped it on the living room floor for Debbie and Troy and T.J. and I were on the floor on some mattress pads- Troy rolled off the mattress on top of me and we couldn’t stop laughing for a LONG time- Troy why would we get so giddy at night time!? Lol. We played boxers or briefs (a board game, and yes Sara I still have this game of yours!!! Lol) and had some hilarious times then too!!! Saying goodbye to them was really tough- they left us with some letters that had us both crying in my car after we left them at the airport. They are such givers.

Okay this went on A LOT longer then I thought I was going to write and I have SO MUCH MORE to say so I’m going to end this blog right here and hope I can add some pictures to it- I will make an album on facebook too of the house if you want to look there as well. I’ll blog more about T.J.’s position at Cornell, job opportunities for me, and lots of other stuff… I’ll try and leave you with some differences we have found from OK to NY :)

*We aren’t allowed to talk on our phones while driving (unless we have a hands free device- which weirds me out!!)

*By law we have to recycle- don’t get me wrong I’m totally down for this!! But it’s a little more complicated then you think, everyone is composting some of their trash or turning it in for money or saving it for designated pick up days- I have a lot to learn!! Oh! And it costs $1 for each bag of trash you want to throw away! And you pay for your trash service… not sure if we did that in OK or not?! :)

*GREEN GREEN GREEN- NY is definitely A LOT more aware of being green, which is awesome! It will be fun to learn more ways I can help out the environment.

*If I had to put a label on the sort of people out here I would say a majority of the people are “hippyish” not everyone of course but I mean I never saw people in OK like I do here.. you know the whole girls not shaving and stuff… sorry not a fan! :) The people here are just a lot FASTER- I literally feel so overwhelmed and out of place in the grocery store and stuff, I know that sounds strange but I feel like I’m annoying people or something!! Also the drivers ARE NOT friendly- and even the guy at the bank that was born and raised here in NY will admit that!! He said there are FEW nice drivers here… T.J. has gotten frustrated a couple of times ;) Don’t get me wrong we have met some really nice people… they just aren’t OKIES!!!

*The road system isn’t on the “grid system” like most cities- that is SO CONFUSING and frustrating, we have taken SO MANY wrong turns- it’s really just a maze out here!!

*Obviously things are pricier up here as well.

*Not very many franchises, which is great for the small businesses

*The accents!! :)

*Farmer’s markets and fresh picked produce on so many corners!! This will be something I will definitely be taken advantage of!!

We were expecting more of the NYC feel when really Ithaca- and especially Brooktondale is kind of country!!! A lot better then we expected!

ALRIGHT that is it for know- love you all and remember my cell is still free to call!! ;) BUT we do have HORRIBLE/NO service here in Brooktondale so I usually get all my voicemails/texts when I go into the city.

Off to go hang out with T.J. :)

"Is this real life?!"

Please tell me you've seen this video... well this is how I feel .... "IS THIS REAL LIIIIFE?!"

No, I didn't get a tooth pulled.... the thing is ... WE'RE MOVING TO NEW YORK!!! That is right...

T.J. applied for a graduate position at Cornell University in April- we saw the opportunity probably in March and thought "WELL THAT WOULD BE A DREAM OPPORTUNITY!!!" He applied.. and we waited... May rolls around and we hear that we will be informed of the top 3 candidates by June... June rolls around and low and behold T.J. made it to the TOP 2!! So then we're supposed to hear who the candidate is by July... as you can tell we didn't hear until TODAY, August 4th that HE MADE IT!!!

I actually found out first- I was at my computer at work and checked his email (for the 6th time that day) :) and saw the email immediately (first of all who emails someone this kind of news?!?!?!) So I proceed to FLIP OUT and hyperventilate and realize I have jumped out of my chair and am doing some sort of weird pacing- holding my heart- not breathing thing. I don't know why but I convince myself that I can "trick T.J." on the phone into checking his email- about 5 seconds after he answered I just blurted it out "YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT, I PROMMIIISEEE!!!" okay :) sorry- after that is was just a blur. I just remember T.J. saying "HOLY SMOKES, HOLY SMOKES, HOLY SMOKES" hahaha. I run to my boss' office and look like a crazy lady- I don't think he understood me for 30 seconds and he made me sit down to calm down and breathe :) I COULDN'T stop shaking. Luckily my boss is REALLY nice and very supportive- VERY IMPORTANT! ;)

So... right now my cheeks are killing me- I feel like I did after my wedding day with 1,000 pictures taken- I can't smile one more time tonight or my cheeks will explode!!! I think I'm coming to my "calming" stage- it's not even 8pm and I'm about to go get my book and get in bed- waaaay to much excitement for one day!!!

We haven't made our "game plan" yet but as of now we will probably move a week from this Thursday... we are guessing. CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT YET OR I'LL CRY :) this is so bittersweet- the only time I really almost broke down was when I called my mom- I literally don't know what I'm going to do without her so close to me- okay DONE can't talk about that anymore or I'll start crying right now.

We do have a house ready for us there! :) God worked this out SO PERFECTLY and we had already put a first months rent down to be safe!! This house has ROLLING ACRES (PERFECT FOR THE DOGS), the landlords are letting us take the kitty- which they normally never allow, and even reduced the price for us (which includes snow plowing!) :) It is so evident that the Lord worked this out b/c this family even stated to us they NEVER would normally do this (hold a house for complete strangers) but they just "had a good feeling about us" :) (AKA GOD!!!) I've already done some looking around job wise and I'm seriously considering nannying again for awhile- I loved it the first time, so I might just try it again! :)

You guys- T.J. IS SO EXCITED. AND I'M SO PROUD OF HIM. He truly is so smart and driven!!! The professor that accepted T.J. told him that this really was a "once in a lifetime opportunity and he would've died for it at his age" hello Ivy League school- here we come! :) I'm just going to live vicariously through T.J.- I've never known this "smart life" ;) His masters will be in fisheries aquatic ecology in the Natural Resources department. He basically be be doing a 2- 2 1/2 year long project on trout in cold water streams- he is PUMPED and is bringing a lot of his own ideas into it.

I literally don't even know what to think, I go into these crazy "OH MY GOSH" phases, and then like... wow... I have to pack up a whole house in a week :) :) :) Troy and T.J.'s mom are for sure going to travel with us there (Thank you Lord!) so that will be nice!!! Not excited about the HUGE prices on the U-HAULS though!!! Booo.

If anyone has any advice with moving, leaving your family, etc. GIVE IT TO ME- b/c I'm a homebody and I don't think I realize what's about to happen!!! I'm trying to continually give it over to the Lord b/c I know He has HUGE plans for us!!! We are so happy!!!!

I think I covered all the bases... but if you have any questions you can still ask me :)

Also here are just some wonderful pictures I found of Ithaca!!! And if you didn't already know I'm not sure HOW I'm going to handle this cold weather... I'm already a baby as it is!! Did you konw that in Ithaca, NY (where we will be living) they had a "hot spell" the other day when it was in the UPPER 80'S?!?!?!?! HEELLLOOOOO Literally almost no houses in Ithaca have AC!!! This will take some GETTING USED TO :) and I'm sure we'll be snowed in all the time!!

Also- MOST IMPORTANTLY :) I'm going to TRY MY HARDEST to blog AT LEAST once a week if not more when I'm in NY- I mean don't you want to know what we're doing every day!?!?! :) So "FOLLOW" my blog- you can do that by literally clicking "follow this blog" on this page. If you don't have a gmail account it takes like 5 seconds to set one up- if not... you just won't know what's going on in the Ross household!! :(

Thank you Lord for this awesome opportunity- Guide us through every moment!!! We can't do it w/o you!!!

Watching Brynn..

I am being told right now... "You will be the kid and I will be the mother" ;) by a 4 year old. Brynn is my adorable neice and I'm glad I get to help watch her today while her mommy is at hair school! (Go Heather!)

Right now Brynn is playing with magnets.. as you can see by this picture- she is making "cute fuzzy ears" for a kitty...?!?! not sure...

Brynn is really into "reversing roles" like right now she is calling me "dear" :) HAHAHA. My mom told me that earlier they had a picnic and Brynn said "Now I am your grandma and you are my granddaughter and I am going to call you dear" (I'm not sure what it is about "dear" with her... she is just cracking me up right now with her "oh my goodness dear you are doing such a great job on the computer" in a grown up voice- such a sweet imagination.

Here is the "sweet precious fuzzy kitty" she is making right now... I love the sweet innocence of children :) Can't wait to have my own one day... okay I REALLY can wait but you know what I mean ;)

Praying my headache goes away as I'm about to have girls night with my HS friends I love so much! Mexican Food!!!! Yaaay.