The Ross Life

Baby Ross

2012-02-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

I've decided to make these blogs short and sweet because let's be honest, pregnancy is not full of energy and patience- at least for me!

SO, I think it is safe to say we pretty much shocked our families with the announcement of Baby Ross. This would probably be because T.J. has always made it known to his family he was NOT ready. Well, when T.J. surprised me on my birthday this past year with the sweet news that he WAS in fact ready to start trying to have a baby we didn't tell a soul! I will spare you the mushiness of realizing T.J. was "ready". But let me just say, that boy can write and he wrote me in one sweet letter that I didn't get through without crying.

We got pregnant in November- HAPPY THANKSGIVING! and we found out we were pregnant on December 9th. I will never forget that night. I was having "symptoms" of pregnancy or what I THOUGHT were symptoms and I knew it was still a couple 4-5 days until we would know for sure if I was pregnant but those clear blue pregnancy tests claim to tell you 3-4 days before a missed period and was I one impatient gal... I tried to convince T.J. we should take one and he did not want to because he didn't want to see a false negative... well, after some moping around and loud sighs of exasperation T.J. said "Kelly if you REALLY want to, that's okay I just don't want us to be disappointed if it says you're not because it is still probably too early to find out". That was enough for me to run in a grab a test! I didn't care it wasn't morning (and the best time to tell if you are pregnant) I just wanted to take one.

Here is where I messed up. T.J. and I have always wanted to take the pregnancy test together, and film our reaction when we see it. Well, when he sat on the couch waiting for me to tell him to come over, I decided I would just take it really fast, see that it was probably negative and then I wouldn't be as disappointed because we weren't waiting together. So yes, I took the test, said a very meaningful prayer and stared at the digital screen waiting to see if it was "negative" or not. Little to my surprise I look down and it said "PREGNANT". I think I almost fainted. Then I started some sort of high pitch shrill which T.J. didn't understand. I finally said "WE'RE PREGNANT" and his reaction was pure shock and "WHAAT?!?!?! YOU TOOK IT WITHOUT ME?!?! KELLY!!!!" Oops. Looking back it is kind of funny but I did feel bad at the time. That lasted about 5 seconds and then our hugging and crying and giddiness went on the rest of the night. I think we talked on the couch for about 3 hours that night.

We decided to wait and tell our families in person when we went home for Christmas. That was REALLY hard to wait but I am SO GLAD we did wait because I don't think it would've been the same telling them via Skype or Facetime.

We broke the news to "everyone" when I hit 10 weeks. Now I am 12 weeks. I can't wait to be another couple of weeks in and hopefully be free of all of the "morning" sickness. That is a whole different blog all together.

T.J. and I are SO EXCITED to be parents and can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or girl! YES, we will find out. We can't find out soon enough!

I will do my best to keep up little blogs with Baby Ross progress!

November

2011-11-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Instead of stressing about updating everyone on our lives here I'm just going to go with the flow and write about what I'm feeling right now! It is a fantastically beautiful day here in upstate NY. I can hear our neighbor mowing his lawn, the floor heater is running and my hot chocolate full of marshmallows is keeping me warm with the SUN shining through the window. We are having an abnormally mild fall! Not only are the trees not bare but it is 55 today! We have had some cold days so far don't get me wrong but today it is absolutely GORGEOUS outside. So nice T.J. opted out of HUNTING deer to attempt grouse hunting with Jade. If you are wondering what a ruffed grouse is it is below... our cat brought one to us a couple weeks ago to our dismay. T.J. has NEVER seen one of these suckers in the woods because they are "stealthy" we like to say, and yet our CAT brings one home... priceless. I posted a video on FB of this because T.J. was so proud of Ace.

T.J. and I both can't believe it is already November... SO MUCH has gone on the last couple of months and we finally feel like we are just now getting into the groove of things after his summer away. I'll blog about those events later... hopefully! ;) T.J.'s mom and papa are coming up in THREE DAYS and we are so excited! T.J.'s papa, Huston taught T.J. anything and everything about hunting and the outdoor life. T.J. is VERY excited to take his papa out to hunt in NY! It's all this boy talks about! Debbie and I will have fun around town and relaxing together. I'm crossing my fingers we can make a trip to NYC and show Huston Times Square... we will see!

This weekend has been great. We went and saw Courageous Friday night... if you have not heard of it please click here to watch the trailer! This movie was phenomenal.. even though I cried through most of it! Probably one of the best movies we've seen before. Yesterday was a fun day... we finally we able to find a great ring to replace the one I lost about a year and a half ago. I opted for the same ring and I can't wait to get it back. Thank goodness for insurance!!

I'm off to go spend some of my awesome Maurice gift cards :) I hope everyone is having a beautiful, happy Sunday! Love you all!

I'll leave you with a picture of T.J. and Troop taking an afternoon nap... :)

Another Update

2011-09-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well as my little sister Julia likes to point out "You're not really "BAAAAACK" when you haven't blogged in almost two months!"... I guess she is kind of right. One of the main reasons I haven't been blogging is because ~~I'm lazy~~ it is hard to tell you what is going on in our lives without stating the fact that I have been home alone all summer long... and that, my friend, is not something you put on the internet. A couple family members and friends have brought that to my attention lately and it's true... DON'T put on facebook that you are going on vacation, you are home alone and bored, that you can't wait to get back home, etc., etc., etc..... SO! I am actually writing this a week BEFORE you are reading this and not posting it until my dear, sweet, loving husband who I have MISSED SO MUCH this summer is back, safe and sound in our abode. I know that a lot of you (whoever reads this, shout out to Julia) ;) are curious about our plans, "WHEN WILL YOU BE BACK TO OKLAHOMA?!?!" and so here are the raw, dirty facts...

As of a couple days ago we have been in NY for TWO YEARS! I can hardly believe it. T.J. is DONE taking classes for his masters project and after this summer (One more week of data collecting in the field) he will begin to write his thesis this fall and some publications while searching for a job. One of two things will happen in the next few months....
1.) T.J. will find "the" job he wants (we're not sure what that would be yet) :) early fall and bust his little hiney to get that thesis done sooner than later so we can move to wherever that job is (meaning he would defend his thesis and graduate this winter)...
OR
2.) T.J. writes his thesis this fall, enjoys the hunting season, doesn't stress so much, looks for jobs and then next spring accept a teaching assistant position at Cornell so that he could continue to receive a stipend and write MORE publications about all the work he has done here and defend his thesis and graduate next spring.

Honestly I was completely against #2 at first but now I'm thinking it being mid August that moving in a mere 4-5 months from now is kind of scary! We both are 100% willing to follow wherever the Lord will take us and we are truly just putting it in His hands! It is really fun thinking that we get to start searching for jobs and essentially going on a whole new adventure again!

UPDATE: Reading back through this post as I'm about to post it we have had an update here. T.J.'s advisor told him recently that there is a VERY GOOD chance that he will have funding next spring WITHOUT having to be a teacher's assistant... this is big news. Being a TA wasn't appealing to T.J. but now knowing he could stay at Cornell another semester, spend more time writing his thesis, writing more publications, etc. and not having to take classes or help teach a class means that we honestly will probably take this option UNLESS a job surfaces that we do not want to pass on.

To the harder part... moving back to Oklahoma would be ideal, right? Being close to family and friends and one day starting our own is what I ALWAYS thought would happen. However, the more we look at jobs that are relevant to what T.J. has been doing out here in NY there just really isn't anything in Oklahoma for him. T.J. took time to go to some fish hatcheries in Oklahoma and they just aren't hiring. If they were it would be a different story. SO! With that being said, we are obviously looking around Oklahoma for a position as this 26 hr. driving distance from Oklahoma is pretty brutal. We LOVE upstate NY and the beauty that surrounds us but we definitely want to one day raise a family closer to home and a little more in the "southern area" hopefully! We would love your prayers as this next 6 months to a year we will face MANY huge decisions. I tend to get anxious and worry about this kind of stuff but so far I really am feeling the Lord's peace. Why worry when it isn't in our hands to begin with??
Right now I am just so happy that this is my LAST WEEKEND driving all by my lonesome out here to the Catskills to spend the weekend with T.J. We have had a blast on the weekends together, what isn't to enjoy in the Catskills?! But living life without my husband during the week gets old, FAST.

NOW I AM BACK HOME IN ITHACA WITH MY HUBBY!

Life is back to normal. Maybe I'll try to start blogging more :) We have had some sweet visitors up in NY the past 2 months and I encourage you to come see me and T.J. anytime here! Free place to stay and a beautiful place to see! It has been amazing to see all the people that have come to visit! We feel so blessed.

The dogs are barking outside, the cats in my lap and all seems right in the world... well besides having a "water day" from work b/c of the crazy flooding (second time).

On another note... I have a friend from my old job in OK and her family needs some serious prayer. Her nephew Talbey is having some serious health issues and needs as much prayer as possible! If you are on facebook please search "Healing for Talbey" and "like" the page to read about how we can keep this family in our prayers.

Love to you all!!!!!!

Now for some fun pictures!!!

T.J. getting ready for bow season.

Beautiful upstate NY- 1/2 a mile from our house.

Mike and Debbie came to see us in the Catskills. The first picture is on a train ride through the Catskills- the second picture is dark but I swear sometimes T.J. is Mike's twin!

T.J.'s house in the Catskills- Please note the backyard... not pictured is a beautiful big red barn that they had. The East branch of the Delaware ran through the back that T.J. fly fished on all the time. I guess I have not done a good job telling how much fun T.J. has had this summer. I'll try and post more pictures later but basically T.J. lived it up this summer! He fished every morning and worked on a stream every day with two undergrads from Cornell- he is happy to be home but I can't even imagine how much he'll miss this place.....

But I don't think he'll miss the flooding :) Thanks Hurricane Irene! We were stuck inside the Catskills house for 2-3 days and 1 day w/o power. Thankfully the house was on top of the hill so besides the basement flooding everything was fine. We played Monopoly, played the piano, stared at each other and walked around in the water if it was safe. We had already cleaned the house the weekend before (including the fridge) and so we barely had any food... the neighbors brought us brisket that had been smoked since 5 AM and we thought he was an angel from the Lord sent down to bless us with a Divine meal... it was divineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. *Mouth watering...* So besides the brisket we had handfuls of chocolate cheerios, shredded mini wheats and brats for 2 days :) oh and some juice. It was hilarious. T.J. was dying.

Here is a sweet picture of me and my sweet kind of freshly shaven husband :) I am so happy he is back in my care!!

OH and one last fun one ;)

I'M BAAAAAAAACK

2011-06-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Don't take my title literally... maybe. I haven't blogged in almost a year I'M SORRY!!! But I actually have a full time job now and it is hard to justify blogging when my house is so dirty, T.J. is here or the pets need to be fed! I have missed it though... and I think one reason I WOULDN'T blog is b/c I thought "BUT I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN SO LONG!! I would have to update on everything... I will when I have time!" Hmm.. I have now realized I will never have "time" so why not just post a lil somethin somethin? ;)

It has literally almost been a year since I last posted! I see my last post was my HUNDREDTH post and that I was just coming back from being in NC with the Werner family... funny enough b/c I'm just about to go see them AGAIN! :) This time in Flo-RIDA! :) So let's do a little play by play on this past YEAR so I can just get it over with!

August 2010- I finally was DONE with the crazy doctors office I had for some reason subjected myself to working for... I had a vacation in NC and interviewed at Chesapeake among a few other places. AND WE GOT GOLLY OUR KITTY :)

September 2010- Started an accounting job b/c Chesapeakes hiring process took forever. Oh and I ran a half marathon with Debbie, Suzy, T.J. & Mike- IT WAS A BLAST. Best 1/2 for sure. (Only my 2nd but hey) :) Oh and T.J. turned 25!

October 2010- Had a great 25th bday... T.J. surprised me with a fun dinner in a little town 40 minutes away with carving pumpkins after! (I had never done this before and he felt very sorry for me!) LOL

November 2010- PUERTO RICO BABY!!! T.J. and I went to PR to have an AMAZING vacation with Susan and Christian. Then I came back and started my job at Chesapeake with a sunburn. Oh, I guess I quit the earlier job in October. :) We also had a great Thanksgiving with our friends here in NY. Oh my word, I almost forgot :) I shot the buck of a lifetime!

December 2010- I become a coffee addict. We have Christmas in NY (T.J.'s family came up) b/c I couldn't miss 1 day of work for the first 3 months of my new job!

January 2011- I hate the cold. I hate winter. I hate snow... I hate the cold. That pretty much sums up January.

February 2011- Valentine's group date. Fun! Still really cold... still a lot of snow. This makes for some snow days at home and still hating the cold. Oh and I'm officially a Chesapeake employee- I made the 3 month probation period (phew!) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY! My brother in law Troy proposed to my future sister in law Kaley!!

March 2011- NYC trip. Still cold!! (Seriously). Looking forward to warmer months.

April 2011- Cody and Emily come out! Yay!

May 2011- Andy and Jen come out! Yay! Finally getting some warmer days at the end of the month!

June 2011- here we are guys! Celebrating 3 years with my hunny on the 28th!

Wow, that truly just bored me out of my mind so I'm sorry to put you through that! All in all it has been a great past year and I'm looking forward to this fall b/c T.J. will start JOB HUNTING! This is super exciting for me! We will pray pray pray and ask that you stand with us in prayer while we ask the Lord WHERE DO YOU WANT US!? Obviously, Oklahoma would be great it is just hard b/c the job possibilities there are looking a little bleak at this point.

By the way, on a totally different note- just stating the obvious here but I feel like everyone is getting pregnant! No... I am definitely NOT pregnant and you won't be hearing that statement from me anytime soon!! (Right God?) :) But really, 3 of my good friends are totally preggers- some in secret :) but I.LOVE.IT. Keep it coming guys! Aunt Kelly is ready!! :)

Lots of exciting things coming up though! A trip to FL, Mike & Debbie are coming up in August, THE WEDDING a month later and then T.J.'s papa and mom will come up this hunting season. T.J.'s papa will get to hunt with T.J. in NY! This is super exciting b/c T.J. LOVES IT HERE and since Huston, T.J.'s papa showed T.J. everything there is to know about hunting it will be super cool to see them hiking around upstate NY together. :) T.J. is super pumped and ready to "beat me" with a bigger buck... We'll see if that happens!!! :)

Love all my blogging friends and I have still kept up with you!! I will try to do this blogging thing more frequently!!

I think all in all I can say this past year God has really worked through me and T.J., binding us closer together even though I didn't know that was possible! And showing us how much HE can do THROUGH us. I love the Lord with all my heart and I can only pray He will use me for His glory and plan!!!!

BLOG #100!

2010-08-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Who would've thought I would have enough things to fill 100 blog entries!! :) Well here it is! Blog 100!

Nothing too interesting...

Still loving life here in NC :) I literally LOVE living the everyday life with the Werner family. I truly feel a part of the fam and just enjoy every minute of being here. Definitely a GREAT vacation. Pool days, yummy meals, lots of laughter with the kids and GIRL TIME with Susan. I love Susan so much!!! We just had a great talk on Cade's boat bed (where I get to sleep) :) and I just am thanking God for such a wonderful example Susan is to me as a wife, mom and friend.

So I just had a HUGE glass of chocolate milk. How bad is a full glass of skim milk with 2 heaping spoonfuls of Nesquik? Is there anything better? I'm scared I just started a nightly routine... The worst part is I don't drink it slowly... I stood over the sink and drank it in NO LIE probably less than 45 seconds. Just GULPED THE WHOLE THING DOWN! Oh my word it was so good though I couldn't drink it slowly! It was better than Gatorade.

I'm feeling really sorry for all the Oklahomans that are running in this heat right now- I have some MAJOR respect for you guys. I ran in a heat index of 101 today and thought I was going to die! Of course there were some hills and NO SHADE but OH MY WORD it was brutal. It was one of my worst times for 4 miles. If NC is bad I CAN'T IMAGINE how bad it is in OK. I am thanking NY for their "mild summers" YES it still gets hot but when I run at 6 in the morning its at least more like 70 which is so doable and nice. I have LOST my heat tolerance. I might end up being a crazy NYer that complains that we are having a "heat storm" when its over 90 for 3 days straight! ;)

SOOOO I know I haven't blogged about my job situation lately BUT I am currently looking for a job... and I have an interview with a company I am excited about so PLEASE pray for me and God's will with my job search! This is a crazy time in our lives right now but I want to GROW from these experiences and lean on the LORD in these times and not my own understanding!

Off to bed! ;) Okay or "off to read" 1/2 way through my 1st book on my book list!

Here are some pictures of ice cream night with the kids the other night :) Please look at Alexa's face in the last picture... this is the face she makes if she isn't very happy :) Is it bad that I burst out laughing every time I see it?! :)

Haha LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

ANOTHER August book list

2010-08-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

I guess I read the last 3 books in 12 days... I didn't really mean to do that! Sooo on to 3 more books! All still from the community book sale.

"Goodnight Nobody"- Another Jennifer Weiner book. I have read a couple chapters and realized there is a MURDER in this book?! What?! I was NOT expecting this so hopefully it will be good. Um HUGE change from "The Kite Runner" though!

"The Scarlet Thread"- this will be another Francine Rivers book :) YAY!!! OH PLEASE PLEASE PUUUHLLLLLEASSSE suck me in immediately unlike "The Sin Eater"!!!!!! No idea what this is about... unless it has to do with Rahab in the Bible??? Just thinking by the name...

"A Painted House" YAY a John Grisham book :) I am excited about this one. Change of pace from the usual I read.

Have you read any of these books?!

Book Review #2

2010-08-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

"Litte Earthquakes"- it was a good read. Jennifer Weiner is a very creative writer and I had fun reading this book. Each chapter switched characters which I like. There are 4-5 girls in this book with VERY different lives all suffering "little earthquakes"- this book is "real" and you really feel like you're a struggling mom or a not loved wife or a workaholic, etc. I would advise this book for a good "break" out of your normal routine of books. I kinda flew through it!

"The Last Sin Eater"- hmmm...
Oh sin eater.... I really DON'T know if I recommend this book or not. I am NOT LYING when I tell you it took be OVER 1/2 way of reading this book to actually be interested in what was going to happen! The book is based in the 1850's and so it has HORRIBLE grammar, etc. so it was hard to read their vocabulary, grammar and so on. Francine Rivers is one of my favorite authors and I was surprised by this book. But also bravo to her b/c this is (to me) unlike any of her other books. I have NEVER (that I can recall) not finished a book (NOT including college books) :) If I start it I HAVE to finish it but I think 70% of people would've stopped trying to read this book 4 chapters into it. It had a GREAT message in the end and I guess I'm glad I read it?? :) This is more a book that is great for group discussion and should be assigned to read if you go to a Christian school (my lil sis Julia said at her school she was required to read this!) so anyways... I probably wouldn't have gotten through this as fast as I did except I was in the Catskills with T.J. and I had nothing else to do while he worked all day!

"The Kite Runner"- a surprise.

I did NOT know what I was getting myself into let me just tell you that right now! I literally thought I was going to be reading about a boy and his kite or something! LOL boy was I wrong. This is a GUT WRENCHING, fist clenching, eyes squinting kind of book. As in I am twisting my body and making "noooo" noises b/c I don't want certain things to happen!!! This books has some insight of what life was like for Afghanistan kids before their land was destroyed and after. I would advise on the strong ones to read this book. I'm GLAD I did, REALLY glad but it was HARD to read some of the stuff and I would NOT read this book lightly... This book stirred my heart to pray pray pray. Thank you Kendi for sharing this book with me!

The Werner family and North Carolina

2010-08-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

I'm here! :) Kelly is "back with the fam" living and loving life in NC. Things just feel right!

After arriving at the airport in NC (with greeting cards and running hugs from the kids and Susan) Christian treated us all to On The Border, one of me and Susan's favorite Mexican restaurants! It is actually the restaurant that we had our "goodbye" dinner 3 years ago. We had a great time catching up and then took the kids to their last night at VBS.

Yesterday we had a fun time exercising as a family and pool time, followed with a great Italian dinner. Today is Sunday, the Lord's day- we went to church (had a great time!) and now are relaxing after our bellies are full of Steak and Shake... which btw I might be gaining 5 lbs while I'm here!!! :) Off to run tomorrow for sure.

As I type Elle is playing with my hair. I have never been so pampered! Elle told me this is what I deserve for coming out here, Elle, Cade, and Alexa massaged me feet, legs, back and face last night with lotion and put me right to sleep. Lesson #1 with children, teach them to pamper you!!!! :) You can disguise this as "salon" "barber shop", you name it! :)

Things are going AWESOME, I have missed the Werner family SO MUCH and this trip was a huge gift from the Lord. Thank you Christian for making this possible and thank you Jim and Suzy for taking care of the pets that also make this trip possible! :)

Here are some pictures we have taken so far...

The pics of me and Susan in the sun was a hilarious scenario- our poor pupils couldn't dilate in time and we were blinded by the light! ;) How precious are these kids btw?!?!?! I will post more pictures later b/c I don't have any of sweet Cade!!!!

Coffee time

2010-08-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I have recently become an avid coffee drinker. This has progressed from 1 cup of coffee every other day in the winter to know 1 or 2 cups a morning :) and if we're out for dinner maybe even a cup for "dessert", it is actually sick I know.

Something that made my friend Suzy laugh and me question how weird I'm becoming...

Where do you drink your coffee? The couch as you read? The dining room table? On the patio? While you run around chasing kids? In your bed? In the shower?

IN THE SHOWER?! What?! Oh I guess that would just apply to me :)

So lately I took my mug of coffee with me in the bathroom while I hopped in the shower, the other day I thought, "Why not just bring it IN the shower with me?! I could just place it where the shampoo goes and take a sip every now and then!" Brilliant right? No really it was! I have started a new routine. So yes ladies and gentlemen I take my cup of joe IN the shower with me :) its GREAT!

So... where do YOU drink your coffee? Or tea, etc.

Try it... I DARE YOU!

Catskill weekend

2010-08-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

Our friends Claire and Brian did T.J. a HUGE favor and helped him do some fish tracking this past weekend as T.J.'s technician was out of town. They got a lot down and worked HARD. I literally just laid out and read all day- I felt so bad! But I did take a lot of pictures :)

Doing what I do best- reading and laying out! ;)

T.J. with the backpack shocker!

Oh just my gorgeous view...

WHAT A CUTIE!!!! :)

These views never cease to amaze me

The sweet couple- Brian and Claire

I spy two snorkelers!

I'm attaching a video of T.J., Brian & Claire shocking the fish (this does not hurt them, just stuns them so T.J. can get a good reading on them, etc.) It's a really cool process and fun for T.J. T.J. is LOVING it out there. He's outside every single day (as you can see by his tan) and just loves being outdoors.

Here is T.J. turning over rocks- he's never stopped doing this!

After a hard day at work (the others.. not me) we had an AWESOME dinner (we ALL got a guacamole salsa burger at a yummy place nearby followed with ice cream!) and played NERTS all night long! Thanks to Debbie and Mike we are now addicted to this game!!

I am NOT

2010-08-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

I am NOT sitting at the computer with a 1/2 gallon of Chocolate Nutty Cone ice cream with a spoon :)

I'm so proud of myself, I just GOT UP and put it away :) Now I'm really happy b/c I had come to the conclusion I was about to take in 800 calories and I probably only ate 200 :) Good job Kelly... for now!

Well... I'm back from my glorious weekend with T.J.! I won't see him for THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to NORTH CAROLINA PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!! (I'll be there for 10 days) If you know me than you know that means pure awesomeness b/c I will be with the Werner family- the family that I nannied for, became best friends with, and now am just a part of their family! :) T.J. and I vacationed with them a year ago and had A BLAST. Here are some pictures from the last time we were together...

I really am beyond excited about seeing my 2nd family! :) North Caroline here I come!!!

Dog gone tired!

2010-07-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

After running 4 miles with me and Suzy the pups were WORN OUT. Look at Jade sitting like a lady :) I should have taken a video just so you could see how heavily they were panting. I love these dogs! :) They are the best running partners ever!!

A week with the Ross'

2010-07-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

Time flies :( Mike and Debbie have already come and gone!

Some highlights of the trip...

*Running 8 miles with Debbie (we DID it!), T.J. and Mike ran 9.
*Pigging out on delicious meals! (Debbie made her famous homemade pizzas and sent FOUR back with T.J. to eat while he is gone for the summer)
*Watching Inception & The Book of Eli (still quite not sure how I feel about these movies) :) Overall I liked them though.
*Getting lost but finally finding our destination- a great restaurant near Cayuga Lake, eating outside on a patio while it POURED rain around us with the awesome sounds of THUNDER (don't get that in NY very much) and lightning. See pictures below of rain and the RAINBOW after.
*Taking the dogs and relaxing at the Brooktondale swimming hole.
*Running around the GORGEOUS reservoir at the Catskill Mountains (picture below)
*Staying at a B&B with Mike and Debbie, sharing a room and hysterically laughing until tears into the wee hours of the night!!! Need I say why? :)
*Playing NERTS with Mike and Debbie from about 9:30-1am Sunday night!!! Now our favorite game!!! And yes Mike and Debbie dominated us!

These are just a few of the many fun things we did. The weekend was full of love and laughter! Debbie was able to come out a few days before Mike so we enjoyed doing whatever we wanted! We somehow ended up working out 2 times a day and enjoying all the workout programs Cornell had to offer. We took a water aerobics class that I was I think the youngest by 40 years! Ha! Debbie was probably 10 years younger than them all too! It was really funny and FUN! Please imagine us with water belts and 70 year olds! Needless to say we were the only 2 in 2 pieces! :) The instructor even asked me if I "got a workout" after it was all said and done! I did!

I miss them already and I know T.J. was so sad to see them leave. HOWEVER we will see them again in September!!! We are all running a 1/2 marathon together in PA! VERY excited about this!!

Enjoy the pics!

The patio set Mike and Debbie are sitting on was their surprise gift to us for our 2 year wedding anniversary. I can't WAIT to take advantage of this! We've been wanting one for awhile!!!

My little Ace enjoying the outside

This is the gorgeous double rainbow that showed up after the thunderstorm.

I wish I could say I took this picture but I actually found it online HOWEVER this is the EXACT view we had when we ran at the Catskill mountains, tell me that is not the prettiest view ever! Definitely was motivating to us all I think!

Mike took this picture with his Iphone- capturing the Esopus river where T.J. works all day!

The spots would be all the rain falling down on us :) This was a great dinner at a restaurant near Cayuga Lake. We topped the evening off with ice cream from a famous creamery nearby!

So nice to spend some quality time with my husband! I miss him already.

Book List for August

2010-07-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

Off to start my next 3 books! I'm still reading through all the books I bought at a community book sale which I completely "judged a book by its cover" and grabbed books I thought looked good. Like I've said before I don't really love to read the back of a book and see what its even about! I just want to be taken completely by surprise. I just started "Little Earthquakes", so far so good! Each chapter switches the character and I always like that.

"The Kite Runner" I have heard great things about this book and can honestly say I have NO IDEA what it is about. My best friend Kendi is sending this book my way after she read it so I'm anxious to get it in the mail. I better finish "Little Earthquakes" fast so I can move on to this book!

"The Last Sin Eater", oh how I love Francine Rivers!!! I will read ANYTHING she writes. I've heard this book is a little hard to get through but someone else told me it was SO GREAT so we will see!

Have ya'll read any of these books? Tell me what you think if you did, do you have any book suggestions for me?

Thanks! And off I go to read!

Book reviews

2010-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I posted a blog about the next 3 books I was going to read, "The Host", "Water for Elephants" and "Two From Galilee". In case you are a book lover like me, here is my input on the 3 without spoiling anything! :)

"The Host" definitely a "Sci-Fi" read but I LOVED IT! It did take a little while to "get into it" and I DID have to pay attention pretty hard in the beginning but it was worth it! It's basically about the human race being "hosted" by an alien species and all the adventure that comes with that. The author of this book also wrote the Twilight Saga and that is what made me read this... or else I probably would've never opened it! I can't believe it but I really did love it! It was one of those books that when I finished I was really sad it was over... I "missed" the characters!!

"Water for Elephants"... what a change of pace! This definitely took a little while to "get into" as well... but mostly b/c I was so used to reading about aliens that it was hard to focus back on real life again! :) This book is a fiction book about the life of a man in a circus, what is CRAZY AWESOME is that he is from Ithaca, NY and went to the Cornell vet school! It was SO FUN reading all about Ithaca and it was around the 1920's that the story was placed in which was even better. There are some parts that aren't "easy" to read, obviously there is animal abuse in the circus which is SO SAD and regulations weren't the same back then as now! Overall I am glad I read it. I admit that the last night I sat down to read I started at midnight and put the book down at 2:30 am!!! (and had to wake up at 5:30am!) it was that much of a page turner near the end!

Rumor has it they are shooting a movie based on this book in Ithaca this summer! :) I know that Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson (famous "Edward" from Twilight) is in it... it should be great! :)

Last but NOT LEAST I read "Two from Galilee". I borrowed this book from Grandma Ross and was really excited about it. It is the story of Mary and Joseph that is VERY "real" and told like you are right there with them experiencing this miracle. It's easy to read the story of Mary & Joseph in the Bible and not really feel like it REALLY HAPPENED to 2 ordinary people. This was a page turner and I read it pretty fast. It made me remember that we are ordinary people but can be extraordinary with Jesus. I would recommend this read out of the 3 the most b/c I think EVERYONE would love it. Thank you Grandma Ross for this amazing read! :) Debbie is bringing it back home with her to OK for you!

Posting the next 3 I'll be reading soon...

Happy Birthday Debbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

2010-07-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

My sweet, sweet mother-in-law just turned the big 5-0-!!! Look at this picture and tell me if you think that is possible... yes I know my mother AND mother-in-law both seem to defy nature the older they get! They only get prettier! I love this picture of Debbie, she has her long hair pulled back and is dressed up like a cowgirl as she helped out with VBS at their church.

DEBBIE is coming to see me today! :) Mike will get here Friday and T.J. will drive up for the Catskills and we'll have a great weekend together. Then we'll all drive back to the Catskills so Mike and Debbie can see what T.J. is doing down there! We will attempt to tube down the Esopus creek :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBBIE! I love you and feel so blessed to have you in my life! Running partners for life! ;)

Nana's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars :)

2010-07-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Oh you THOUGHT you knew what a good dessert was didn't you? :)

I know many people have their "secret" recipes that is theirs to keep (and if you do that is FINE) I however like to share all mine! :) Why not right?? This is my FAVORITE dessert. It's my nana's chocolate peanut butter bars and I know if she was alive she'd be happy I was sharing it with people! This is literally to die for!

Nana's recipe for chocolate peanut butter bars
you will need:
1 c. butter (or margarine) creamed
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c. peanut butter & then another 1/2 c. for later(I like to use the extra crunchy kind)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 c. quick oats (1 minute oats- like the Quaker brand)
1 12 oz. package of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c. powdered sugar
2 or so tbs. of milk

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350
*Cream butter and gradually add in sugar & brown sugar. Cream well. (I usually melt the butter 1/2 way first b/c it makes it easier to do this) :)
*Blend in eggs, peanut butter (which I also heat up for a good 20-25 seconds so it can mix better), baking soda, salt and vanilla.
*Add flour and oats, mixing between them.
*Spread this mixture into a 13x9 GREASED baking pan (I usually use glass but probably doesn't matter)
*Bake at 350 for 22-24 minutes. (The original recipe states 30-35 but I think 25 minutes is actually even too long!!) We don't want these suckers to be hard do we? No! :) It will be a nice golden brown and you will be able to tell the edges are done.
*When you take out the pan sprinkle the pan immediately with the whole bag of chocolate chips, evenly distribute them across the top.
*Let the chocolate chips stand for about 5-7 minutes (maybe even a tish longer)
*While chocolate chips are melting mix together 1 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 c. peanut butter (I heat the peanut butter up in the microwave for about 25 seconds to make it easier to mix), and 2-3 tbs. of milk (go easier on the milk you want this mixture not to be too runny!), mix well.
*Spread the melted chocolate chips across the entire top of the dessert with a spoon or fork.
*Then drizzle the peanut butter/powdered sugar mix on top of the melted chocolate chips. I usually swirl it all around on top :)

Then you are DONE! :)

MAKE SURE TO EAT A PIECE RIGHT THEN! It won't be that hard and it will fall apart when you take out a piece at that point but you won't regret it b/c it is SO DELICIOUS! :)

Also keep in mind... I NEVER EAT THIS DESSERT WITHOUT HEATING UP MY PIECE FOR 15-20 SECONDS, it should always be eaten while warm in my opinion with a big glass of milk :)

2 years later...

2010-07-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

I could write a novel about how much I love T.J., our marriage and these last 2 years!!! I won't bore you with that :) HOWEVER I will brag on my husband for just a sec! T.J. suprised me with an awesome night at an awesome bed & breakfast in the catskills for our 2 year anniversary! :) I couldn't be any more grateful for T.J. and everything he does for me and is! It's hard to believe it was 2 years ago that we said "I do!" who would've EVER THOUGHT we'd be in NY, and T.J. would be at Cornell... studying fish?! Not me! :)

Our sweet room at The Alpine Inn

The view off our balcony

2 sleepy heads waking up to God's glory behind us!!! We are very excited at this point for the breakfast to come! :)

The AMAZZZING breakfast! :)
I will always remember this time :) I'm just so thankful!

Hurricane Simulator

2010-07-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

T.J. and I went and saw Eclipse today (also known as the third Twlight movie) :) Yes this was the 2nd time I saw it within a week and it was SO GOOD, T.J. loved it! However... after the movie T.J. saw what looks like a large vending machine that you can open up... the idea is that you pay $2 close the "door" and "feel" what it's like to be in a hurricane- the wind gets up to 80mph. T.J. wanted me to do this SO BAD, I refused... of course when I told HIIIIM to do it he didn't want to- he just wanted to watch MEEEE be in it so he could laugh :) So I decided "why not?!" Yes it was uncomfortable.. yes people stopped and stared at me while I just stood there for a minute :) Yes T.J. laughed hysterically the whole time.. and YES my clothes and hair were flying everywhere... that's all. Now I just have tangles in my hair that won't come out.

"Staycation"

2010-07-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

What a week!

It's sad to think a week ago today Julia and Kylie were both here... we were enjoying the 4th of July heading out to see an awesome show after a great cookout with friends...

With that being said I had a GREAT "Stay-cation" with Julia and Kylie. Julia is obviously my awesome 19 year old sister and Kylie is a friend from OK that I was able to get to know really well while she visited and I'm really excited about this new friendship! :)

We hiked to a couple different waterfalls, swam, laid out, ATE, ran, watched girly movies, did our toes, cooked yummy meals and just had a great time showing the girls my life out here. :)

I miss them so much already and am now looking forward to Mike and Debbie (T.J.'s parents) coming out for a week here very shortly! :) Enjoy some of the pictures I uploaded from the girls trip, there are plenty more on facebook!

This picture was taken at the "Brooktondale swimming hole" it is AWESOME. There are waterfalls to jump off of, pools to swim in and lots of places to just lay out and fall asleep to the rushing water!!! :)

This was taken at Ithaca falls

A nice waiter took this picture of me and Julia after we ate our lives away at a Thai restaurant :)

Love my sis.

Julia showed me the ropes on the "jumping pictures" I love them now!

Julia and Kylie

the small things...

2010-06-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's the small things that matter and make you happy, am I not right? :)

T.J. is 3 hrs away all summer long... this means we just get to see each other on the weekends. I love that when I go to see him for the first time he went out and bought a $6 mop, and shower cleaner so he could clean the bathroom up for me :) I LOVE that he made his sweet bed for me, and I love that he swept the whole house and did the dishes... :) it makes me smile and just remember how BLESSED I am to have the husband that I do.

This whole separation thing is not EASY by any means... there have been MANY times that I needed him home... like when CHIPMUNKS were invading the house, etc. Thank you Lord for our friends Jim and Suzy that saved me from these traumatic events and even set up a "room" for me to spend the night at their house if I'm having a lonely night and just want to hang out (and YES I have taken advantage of this more than once) :)

This summer has me already appreciating T.J. in a whole new way. He is working CRAZY hours every day for US and our future... it means so much to me. So while T.J. is tracking fish out here in the Catskill mountains I am at home in Brooktondale working, hanging out with Jim and Suzy, running, and exercising our crazy dogs. You would THINK I would have all this time on my hands now that T.J. is gone but I've sat down ONCE to watch TV since he has left... and why do I go to bed after midnight?! I don't get it...

Well right now I am at T.J.'s house in Phoenicia, NY... T.J. and his tech, Jackie are working and will be "home" soon :) I have spent the day RELAXING, reading and cooking! I will be leaving T.J. with 2 frozen meals (cheesy tuna noodle casserole & chicken divan for you curious readers) and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Bless their sweet hearts... T.J. and Jackie have been living on PB&J's out here and that is just not acceptable. The other night he ate a frozen meal I prepared and he said it was the first time he felt "full" since he came down here :( sad right!? Phoenicia is a TINY town but SO CUTE. It's a "resort" town so nicer restaurants, spas and small shops but no fast food or big grocery store. T.J. JUST discovered an IGA 2 miles away yesterday and you'd think they struck gold! :)

Off to a "nice" dinner with the husband :) Oh how I treasure these times now!!!

Alright if you are a husband or wife go right now and hug your hunny! Be so thankful that you get to spend your life with them and enjoy all the small things! God is so good! :)

Book list

2010-06-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have lots of books here at the house that I am waiting to set my little eyes on! :) Here are the next 3 I will be reading though... not sure on which order yet..

T.J.'s grandma, Maurine lent me this book. I'm really excited to read it. I have been LOVING reading stories either based in the "Bible time" or biblical characters so I'm really excited to read this.

My friend Emily (my great friend that I had the privilege of being in her wedding last week!) let me borrow this book. Honestly I'm not really sure too much what it's about b/c I don't like to read the back of the book or a review b/c I want everything to be a surprise! I do think it has to do with the circus somehow though... Basically if someone tells me to "READ THIS" I do :) no questions asked... there haven't been TOO many I didn't like yet doing that.

Oh Stephanie Meyer :) This lovely author is the well known author of TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, ECLIPSE & BREAKING DAWN... yes the "Twilight Books" :) I am excited to read this book... its like watching a movie that you can't look away from for even a brief second... has you hanging on everything :) SO EXCITED I just might read this one first... no brain power needed.

Do you have a book I should read?

Are you annoyed I'm posting about books when you really want to know what is going on in my life? :) My trip to OK was AMAZING and I'll post pics later, I still need to do the same with camping...

Do YOU need a good book to read?

some of my all time faves:
Redeeming Love
The Atonement Child
A VOICE IN THE WIND!!!!!!! (no seriously go buy it right now.. then you'll read the 2 that come after it IMMEDIATELY) (trilogy)

those are all written by Francine Rivers.. my favorite author!

Love you all!

Kelly

Not me! Monday??

2010-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Here we go again...

It's not me who cried the day after her husband left NY b/c she was lonely. It wasn't me who let the dogs sleep in bed with her EVERY NIGHT while he was gone, I DIDN'T send picture texts of the dogs and myself constantly b/c I know he can't stand it he misses us so much too :) I am NOT pathetic.

The guy that sold T.J. his truck didn't mail the keyless entry piece in such a flimsy envelope that it fell out before it even got to us. The post office didn't STILL give us the envelope, empty with a stamp that said "received empty"- thank you post office.

I wasn't me that drove to Cornell to drop T.J. off at school before I went to work and then realized T.J. wasn't in the car with me... he drove separate... I am NOT that stupid to drive an imaginary person to work.

My husband did NOT pick up a package of chew that was left in the woods by a stranger and put a "chew" in. My husband did NOT do this in front of friends. My husband is NOT an addict to tobacco. My husband will NOT kill me after he reads this :)

Okay okay, just so T.J. feels a little better- T.J. REALLY is doing a FANTASTIC job going on with life w/o tobacco! He used to be addicted to dip and thankfully he has realized he DOESN'T want to get cancer and he has quit, I am so proud of him!!! (This is for real guys, not an opposite thing!) However! I don't mind if he rarely has a dip with a friend or something like that... but really he did find a package of chew in the woods when we were on a hike with friends... and he really did take some of it! He blames this on the "addiction" that is still there :) Oh Teej....

I am NOT posting this on a Tuesday night...

Things you do and don't know about T.J.

2010-05-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Are you so ready to start reading?! :) I've spent awhile compiling these random quirky things about T.J.- I'm debating whether I'm going to let him "proof read" this or not... I'm thinking noooot. :)

1. T.J. likes to go to bed as early as possible. If I was okay with it our bedtime would be 8pm every night- if not earlier!

2. T.J. eats breakfast every morning, as in eggs, sausage, toast- and so on. He REALLY wishes I would eat with him and probably MAKE IT too :) (Sorry I'm just NOT quite a morning person!) But I am going to try to eat breakfast with him at least once a week.

3. T.J. used to have SPINNERS on his truck- no seriously, he really did. IN HIS DEFENSE it looked "cool" at the time- HAH!

4. T.J. broke up with me once right before we were supposed to go to the circus (as I was getting ready and telling him how excited I was b/c I'd never been) :) I still like to give him a hard time about that.

5. T.J. LOVES our cats- he never would've thought! Sometimes I catch him kissing them :) LOVE IT!!!!!

6. This year T.J. has realized that whitey tighties are the only thing that is going to work with his tight wranglers! Yes I know TMI- but I just think its hilarious. T.J.'s mom definitely sent out a whole package of new briefs to replace his boxier brief collection. Sweet mom to the rescue.

7. T.J. isn't a picky eater- he'll eat mostly anything except liver.. and I don't think he's a fan of tomato soup- literally those are the only 2 things I know of he doesn't like!

8. T.J. can literally eat ANYTHING he wants and still stay thin with an 8 pack- oh wait, you probably already knew that... NOT FAAAAAAAIR.

9. I have got T.J. addicted to The Bachelor/The Bachelorette :) along with a couple other shows he'd probably not like me to name!

10. T.J. has had his tongue pierced 3 times!!!!!!!! All 3 of those times were times we broke up- HAH! Rebellion???

11. I'm kind of embarrassed to say this one... T.J. has (T.J. MADE ME DELETE THIS!) :) If you're still curious ask him- he'll probably tell you.

12. When T.J. and I met he wore polos, necklaces and converse shoes- boy has he changed! :) Now its wranglers, cowboy boots and a tee! (I like it MUCH better this way!)

13. Some would think T.J. doesn't have a heart for animals b/c he's a hunter (we do it for food) but really T.J. has a huge heart for animals. Hello already 2 dogs and 2 cats!

14. T.J. used to clean his truck every Sunday in HS for up to 6 hrs- he'd even break out the toothpicks and clean EVERY TINY CREVICE. And yes I was bitter b/c he would do this instead of hanging out with his girlfriend.

15. T.J. claims to only know how to make breakfast food- sorry I don't buy it! :)

16. T.J CANNOOOOOOOOT MULTI-TASK- no SERIOUSLY, he can't.

17. T.J.'s a "natural runner" he can not run for 6 months and then go one day and run 8 miles like it's no big deal.

18. T.J. used to breed snakes and chameleons. He also bred mice for the snakes- I will NOT go into detail there.

19. Total cover hog- takes all of them off his wife in the night to leave her in the fetal position shivering.

20. Helps out with the tiny tot kids at church! (He is so cute with them!) He is sweet to help me babysit every now and then too.

21. Loves having mosquito bites so he can itch them... like he literally WANTS them so he can itch them later... weeeeirdddd!

22. T.J. won't try another food off someone else's plate if he is eating off his plate. He hates to "mix food taste".

23. T.J. wants a bunch of fainting goats when we have land so he can run outside- scare them and have THIS happen.

24. T.J.'s top 3 choices of a career- 1.) "professional hunter", you know have all the cameras filming your hunting adventures and making money off your favorite hobby. 2.) Live on hundreds upon hundreds of acres and guide different hunts, manage deer, etc. 3.) Completely run a smaller fish hatchery- be his own boss. and of course T.J. said an option that is always available for us is to just go "live off the land" somewhere and not work.. riiiiiiiiiiiight.

25. T.J. believes he was born in the wrong era. He thinks that he should've been an Indian (he is partly!) or been alive in the Oklahoma land run times so he could go claim his own stake of land.

26. T.J.'s favorite movie I think is 300.

27. T.J. would do just about almost anything for money. Unless it went against his morals... I think... :)

28. Only listens to country. (but he is starting to venture out now and I'm so proud of him) :)

29. T.J. not only changes our oil in our cars but changes the brake pads too- yay! He wants to take a couple mechanic classes so he can do even more stuff on our cars.

30. T.J. DOES NOT like to be called Tyler.

31. T.J. also doesn't want you to write "tj" or "t.j." or "TJ" he wants a "T.J."- really he is that particular :) he will say something every time to me if you don't probably.

32. T.J. is the guy to pull over and help someone with their flat tire, move their car out of a ditch, etc.- this must be a Ross thing!

Okay so I've had this post in my "saved drafts" for awhile now and instead of "building" on it I thought I'd just go ahead and post it :)

I love my husband so much and am SO BLESSED that God put him in my life!! He makes life FUN and exciting! I love you T.J.!!!!!!!!!!!! Please don't be mad at me for any of these "facts" ;)

My mom

2010-05-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to the best mommy ever, my mom!

There aren't words to describe how grateful I am for my fantastic mother, role-model and friend! I LITERALLY hope I'm 1/2 as "great" as she is when I'm a mother.

She is loving, caring, sweet, compassionate, a great listener and always there 24/7!! (She says this to many times and I'm grateful for it!) :)

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I was there to celebrate this Mother's Day with you!!!!!!!!!

Random

2010-04-23T18:08:00.001-07:00

T.J.'s gone for the weekend (praying no crazies are reading this nearby) but if they are it's okay b/c I'm armored here!

Anyways..

Random thoughts and feelings

I really wish T.J. was here so I wasn't rummaging through the kitchen trying to find something to eat (think I'm settling with a tuna sandwich)... or b/c it's Friday night and my plans involve sitting on the couch with Ace and the dogs watching a couple episodes of 19 Kids and Counting and maybe "Beauty and the Briefcase" which I recorded b/c I knew T.J. would be outta town...

I am really happy I went and exercised with the dogs but am annoyed I'm still coughing from being out in the "cold" but happy I'm a little sore. BTW am I the only girl that gets the ANNOYING "white lips" after you run? You know from your chap stick or something? That is probably one of the grossest things to me! When you see someone working out (or not) with that white gummy stuff on their lips- BARF! blah.

I wish my cat would STOP laying across my keyboard and randomly xing out of stuff or opening new windows, etc.

I am babysitting from 1-10 tomorrow- but I'm glad I am. I need some distraction!

I am reading another vampire series- :) but so excited to start reading all the other books I bought at a "book sale" (see pic)

Oops- I almost just freaked out on the people living below us (temporary neighbors before the girl that will rent the apt. moves in in June) b/c there was an alarm going off for 10 minutes!!!!! I just realized it was the hard boiled egg machine that I plugged in 20 minutes ago :) hehehe

Speaking of the neighbors... I finally had to LOCK THEM OUT of our laundry room (which they are NOT supposed to go in) b/c they kept doing load after load after load of laundry (AND USING OUR SOAP) come on people.. common courtesy! Oh well. I thought I was being nice at first but I finally had to put an end to it.

Oh here is a pretty picture of flowers that are in our backyard- I keep replacing the vase on the dining room table- its so nice to have FRESH, BEAUTIFUL FREE FLOWERS :)
Speaking of flowers.. my mom told me a really scary story that happened in OK. Basically DO NOT answer the door if someone is there with flowers. Recently in OK this happened the lady opened her door and they barged in and burglarized her house (hope SHE is okay!) anyways.. if someone really does have flowers for you they can leave them for you on your front porch! It's not like they need payment anyways! This is fine by me considering I ALWAYS answer the door with mace in my hand :) no seriously I promise I do- the hand the stays behind the door has mace in it in the "go" position :)

So what have I been doing since T.J. left me? A whole lotta nothing.. I did break out into tears twice :) once today when I was talking to my mom, she probably felt so sorry for me when I broke into "I"m just so loooooonely right now mom!!!!!!!!!" :( I know lets have a pity party for Kelly! T.J. will be home Sunday and I can't wait!!! Right now he is probably rehearsing for Jacks wedding tomorrow. Here is a picture of me, T.J., Jack and Katie (the couple getting married tomorrow and who is having T.J. as a groomsman in the wedding!) :)
Alright I should go finish my dinner... I mean I have LOTS to do tonight and I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit it all in- HA!

I heard it was in the 80's in OK today... it was like 45 here :( I'm so jealous.

Please come visit me this summer- did I MENTION my husband will be gone the whole summer? Here is an amazing picture of where he will be... and some follow up pics of his little cabin he'll be staying in as well :)

One more thing- did I mention I was basically chewed out by a 87 year old lady today? I was told I was stupid and that "just b/c I have gray hair doesn't mean you should treat me like I'm a baby" :) (sarcastic smile) I was WORKING doing my best to help out a lady and all I got in return was 20 minutes of belittling. Needless to say I was SHAKING after I was so upset. I was trying my best to turn to the Lord the whole time even though I wanted to just ask for some respect! Just a little venting- sorry guys.

Less then TWO MONTHS and IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII will be in OK for a wedding! :) YAY!!!!!!!!

Oh coffee...

2010-04-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Who would've ever thought? Who would've imagine that one day Kelly Ross would be a coffee lover?! NOT ME!

It scares me how much I love coffee... I think I went a little crazy at first. Once I discovered I liked it (VERY doctored up!) I drank it every morning AND before I went to bed?! It was like a dessert to me.. I know, weird.

Oh and don't worry mom... I have caught myself "sipping" my coffee like you do!!!!! "sip sip sip sip sip.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" AH!!!!!!!! LOL, this only really scares me b/c I would get onto my mom about it ALL THE TIME when I was little and now I'm doing it! :) Oh well!!

I've realized that when I drink coffee I DON'T want to chew gum after or brush my teeth (and yes folks I brush my teeth BEFORE my cup of joe in the morning), I actually LIKE having the taste of coffee in my mouth afterwards... I apologize for all of the people that have to deal with me in the morning!

I also realized I'm probably going to have to start using Crest white strips soon... I mean I literally SWISH the coffee around my mouth each sip and it COATS my teeth... EEECK! This can't be right!

Anyways I just wanted to share my new enjoyment in life with everyone :) I hope you enjoy your coffee a little bit more next time! And don't worry it's actually GOOD for you to have a cup a day! 1 cup people... not 10. (T.J.!) Just try not to SPILL it down your shirt on the way to work (like I did) or then the next day accidentally pour it inside of your shirt on the way to work (don't ask me how that happened b/c I'm still not quite sure...)

I'm still in the search for the perfect travel coffee mug though... I don't like the metal ones b/c I feel like I can actually "taste" the metal :( ew.

Our dinner

2010-04-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

So my good friend Suzy inspired me- make a 2 week meal plan, grocery shop for it all at once and TA-DA! No annoying little grocery shopping trips that someone go from a $5 milk stop to a $45 grocery stop.

SOOOO I did it :) Um it wasn't fun spending almost $200 at the grocery store at one time but hey we will only need to make "quick trips" for milk, bread & eggs and in this house that is at LEAST once a week if not more b/c I am married to someone named T.J. Ross that eats about 1/2 a dozen eggs, 1/2 a loaf of bread, and drinks 1/2 a carton of milk in less then 2 days!

We are really buying almost ALL fruit, veggies & diary organic now. We really feel so much better about this and truly FEEL better doing it. It's disgusting how many chemicals are in/on your non-organic veggies. I think it's funny how my organic bell pepper is not very pretty, lumpy, etc. and the non-organic is 2 times bigger, brighter and so "perfect" looking- oh it's so deceiving!!! BTW not to go on a tangent or anything :) but bell peppers is one of the top 5 veggies that you DEFINITELY want to buy organic (as in bananas that really don't matter as much...)

SOOOO the point of this blog is to show you the wonderful ORGANIC meal I made tonight. Even the pasta was 100% whole wheat organic :) Now don't worry I didn't take this picture- I took it off the Pioneer Woman website but mine was almost identical!

Don't be intimidated... if I can make it.. you can too! There was a lot of cutting but really you don't have to do any "cooking" and so it wasn't bad at all. This recipe also makes SOOO MUCH so we will definitely have leftovers for days.

Please make it :) you will not be disappointed- afterall its the Pioneer Women's FAAVVVORITE SALLLAD EVVVVER! Oh and for the men out there- T.J. LOVED it! :)

HERE IS THE RECIPE

Miss me?

2010-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the "blogging world" in a couple of weeks- sorry guys! With starting a new job I realized pretty fast that my lazy computer days were over! I'm JUST NOW downloading pictures from NYC and usually I download pictures the day after a trip! I'm realizing that the laundry piles are getting higher, the floors a little dirtier and the furniture a little dustier with this new job! I decided that a question/answer blog will be a good way for me to let you know what is going on in the Ross household!

What is your new job?

I currently work at an optometrist office, I do all the front desk type stuff- I promise it's a lot harder than it sounds!

When does T.J. leave for the summer and how will you hold up?

Well if you didn't know already T.J.'s "job" here will be taking him to the Catskill mountains this summer. He'll be working on his project every day there- this is where he'll get all his "data" to work on the rest of the year when he's back at home with me. He'll be working with brown trout all day long! T.J. leaves sometime the end of May... he'll be gone for about 3 months and I don't even want to think about it still b/c it will be beyond hard for me!!!! I'm such a baby when I have to be by myself for one night! I'm sure I'll go see him at LEAST every other weekend... it is a 4 hour drive though and that is FAR! :( Sooo.. I'll hold up but I'm not gonna be happy about it! I'm sure I'll crash at our friends Jim and Suzy's house a couple times and I'll have people over all the time so I won't be so lonely! Wanna come vacation here for the summer? :) Plenty of room in our house!

What are some dates you or T.J. will be back in OKC?

T.J. will be home for a wedding one of the last weeks in April and I'll be home for about a week or so the beginning of June :) YAY!

Is Boy back?

Boy the kitty isn't back yet... we think something maybe "got him" outside.. and no I haven't fully dealt with this yet!

What are you doing for Easter?

You mean what DID we do for Easter? :) We had a GREAT time with friends! Our great friends Jim and Suzy decided to do a "couples weekend" of Easter festivities! There are a lot of couples our age out here that are all away from family as well so we started events Friday night all the way to late Sunday night! A couple things we did... s'mores, playing guitar around the campfire, greasy hole in the wall diner for breakfast, geo-caching (look it up if you don't know what it is! So fun!), picnicking, game night, Good Friday service, early Easter breakfast service at church and then to end it we did a huge pot luck with all our favorite "Easter food" then dyed eggs and hung out till about 9:30pm Sunday night- it was a busy weekend but definitely one of my favorite and not to mention the weather was AMAZING- I even got a little pink from the sun!!!

How is T.J.'s school coming along?

He's going hard! T.J. is by far the hardest worker and most dedicated person- trust me, he HATES working in an "office" and that's basically what he has to do every day... so even though he'll miss me this summer I know he's SO READY to do the FIELD WORK of this project. He never ceases to amaze me how much he can do for this project.

Are ya'll still eating well/working out?

We are! :) We are trying to do better about working out consistently but considering the weather is starting to get NICE we are out with the dogs a lot and soaking in some vitamin D! I've lost about 8-10 lbs since Jan. and have stayed at this weight for a couple weeks now and feel great! We just weren't watching what we were eating AT ALL before this year and with the changes we've made we feel so great! Loving this fresh organic food out here! Oh but trust me we still "cheat" too- or what fun would that be?! It's all about balance!!

Alright that's it for now.... love you all and miss you so much!!!!!!!!!

Off to get ready for a cook out tonight!

NY pictures!

2010-04-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of when we went to NYC with Heather and Brock a couple of weeks ago, more are on my facebook page! :)
Holy M&Ms!!! Don't worry $12.99 a lb!!!! T.J. learned this the hard way as he thought his scale was in ounces and not lbs :)
Playing darts! :)
Live with Regis and Kelly!
Ground Zero
Famous little restaurant called "Serendipity"! So great!
How cool is this? Featured in the church across from ground zero.
Empire State Building
Best friends!
Just an awesome little cupcake place- oh don't worry only about 500+ calories a cupcake! :)
me and Heather in time square :)

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN- I miss them so much already.

Not Me! Monday

2010-04-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

I wasn't running out the door to my new job when I spotted Ace patiently waiting to be pet by the door... I didn't put all my things down to pet him and coo at him for a couple minutes before leaving. I then couldn't have noticed that I split chocolate creamer on my cream sweater after putting Ace down.. I DEFINITELY did not SMELL the brown spot to make sure it was my creamer to then realize Ace had accidentally "dripped" poop down me while I was holding him. :) I didn't have to run around trying to find a WHOLE different outfit.. and the poop definitely didn't leak through to my skin. Ew. Sick.

I didn't wake up the other morning to realize I was sleeping on the bare mattress... this COULDN'T be because my husbands rips all the blankets off me to cocoon himself in them every night now could it? Come on T.J. taking the mattress sheet too is just low! :)

My car DIDN'T decide to just stop working... it wouldn't be sitting at my work right now for 5 days straight...

On that note my laptop couldn't have decided a better time to not turn on! :) Yay! That means no more skyping! (Sarcastic of course!)

Oh and I definitely have been shaving my legs every day when I take a shower! There is no way that I haven't shaved my legs in over 2 weeks to hear my husband say, "Won't you just shave them for me?" :) hehehehe okay okay, I will!

I didn't leave my lunch with my husband so we could eat lunch together to have him text me 20 minutes after I dropped him off at school telling me he had lab and I was on my own... so when I got my lunch somewhere else and grabbed a yogurt, apple and a cheese stick I DEFINITELY didn't forget to grab a spoon too.. and no... I DIDN'T "drink" my yogurt. And NO I didn't have to lean my car seat back all the way to "drink" a non-drinkable yogurt ;)

Most importantly my husband DID NOOOOT wake me up 15 minutes before church on Easter morning thinking this was enough time for me to shower and get "Easter ready"- also he wasn't showered and fully dressed himself... really?!

How is your Monday? :)

NYC

2010-03-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Back to reality!

Heather and Brock are gone :( we just got back from taking them to the airport just a little bit ago. I already miss them so much! We had SO MUCH FUN together. We spent our first 3 days in NYC and then drove back to Ithaca to show them our little town!

I thought initially Heather and Brock were going to want to stay in NYC LONGER then we did but they were just ready to leave that busy city as soon as we were! NYC is SO BUSY and fast and EXPENSIVE!!! We had a great time EATING and eating some more! We went to a comedy show one night that was pretty good, shopped, ate lots of food, went to ground zero, took lots of cab rides, saw the empire state building, went to a taping of Live with Regis and Kelly- and a lot more!

Our hotel was really nice! It was called The President Hotel in Times Square it had a lot of fun "president" decor and was modern and cool. We shared an awesome suite with Heather and Brock- fun times! We were LITERALLY right in Times Square so we had constant noise and people everywhere but it was fun (for just 2 nights!) we couldn't have stayed there any longer I don't think! Don't worry I "let loose" of my "eating habits" and gained like 3-4 lbs JUST in NYC! :) Back to my eating good again though!

We got back to Ithaca Friday evening and just sat down on the couch- watched 3 days of American Idol and bought a pizza :) it was great except I WAS SO SAD that my favorite singer, Alex Lambert was kicked off :( I don't even want to watch the show anymore- they should call it "popularity idol" b/c its obviously not about keeping the people with good voices anymore.

We showed Heather and Brock where T.J. works in Cornell, did a little shopping downtown, took them to a couple of our favorite restaurants, rented a couple movies, saw Shutter Island (SO GOOD- not scary!), and just HUNG OUT and had a great time with amazing friends. T.J. took Brock out to the woods a couple times with the dogs too and hopefully I can get some of the pictures Brock took b/c he got some AWESOME shots.

Troy got here to Ithaca on Sunday and he'll be here till Saturday- brother bonding time :) It makes it a little easier having him here even though Brock and Heather left b/c we aren't completely alone!

Say a little prayer for me tomorrow! I start my "new job" at the optometrist!

Ace face

2010-03-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was awakened this morning by T.J. telling me Ace was hurt... THE LAST THING I WANT TO HEAR IN THE MORNING! :( But hey it did POP me right out of bed... maybe T.J. should start telling me horrible startling things every morning to get me up really fast! :) (okay KIDDING!)

Long story short Ace is fine! BUT he was very bloody! I'm not sure WHAT he got in a fight with last night but whatever it was I think punctured his little head in a couple places by his ear and it wouldn't quit bleeding until we cleaned it up. We put him in his cat crate for the morning just so he could rest and not irritate the wounds and start bleeding all over our house. This reminds me I need to go wipe down the bathroom a little more extensively b/c he was shaking blood EVERYWHERE.

P.S. Does the smell of blood not make you want to gag? That copper/metal smell was making my stomach turn this morning! Ew!!!!

Needless to say I'm thanking God that he is okay- we love our pets so much! I'm sure most of you know that Troop and Jade escaped for a day when the weather was horrible and after 5-6 hours of pure torture and me breaking down they finally made their way back home soaking wet and a little beat up- they had WAY too much fun running around all day. I think everyone was worried for our sanity if the dogs didn't make it back home- but they did! :) Love those guys.Thank you Lord for giving us sweet pets to love on and make our lives more enjoyable!!!!

and I love Boy our kitty too even though I didn't upload a picture of him ;)

Snow Day! Or not...

2010-02-25T08:20:00.001-08:00

I had mixed emotions when I saw that you COULDN'T see the road this morning... yay I don't have to work... then well we could really use the money... then YAY I can travel with T.J. to Syracuse to take a friend to the airport (yes on bad roads)- then I had a wave of ARE YOU SERIOUS when I realized I would be watching kids today ALL day b/c THEY had a snow day... No fun time with T.J. :( just me and the ole kiddos. I'm trying my best to have a positive attitude- I DO love kids, I love the flexibility I have with all the different things I juggle right now.. but... I'm starting to want something a little more stable. This is about the worst time to want that too b/c with so many weddings this summer and people coming out here I need the flexibility... oh but how nice to have ins. paid for with a job :)

On that note! I wasn't going to say anything but I have an interview this Friday. It's at a small doctor's office and I'm not even sure yet if it's something I'll want to do BUT if it's the "perfect" situation, I can't see myself turning it down. I've had SUCH bad luck with finding a "real" job so to be perfectly honest I have NO expectations... at all- but mainly I guess I decided to tell all b/c your prayers on the "right" job for me would be very much appreciated.

Let's hope I can even GET to the interview since we're supposed to get another foot of snow tonight! :)

I wanted to share a couple blogs I love reading in case you are interested as well- I LOVE getting new recipes and these ladies don't ever fail to deliver! The Weight Watcher blog and Whole Family Fare are pretty much always "healthy" (AND GOOD) but all the recipes look DELISH!

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Full Bellies

Reid all about it

Whole Family Fare (great for those organic lovers and vegetarians!)

On another note- please check out my friend Sarah's new blog, they have decided something VERY exciting (I will let you go look) and need as much help as they can get! :)

Alright well I'm off to go drag some kids away from the TV and throw them outside to play in the snow ;)

Love you all!

What's that you say? You want to see a picture of Ace? Okay luckily I have one! :) This is what I walked into the other day- Ace somehow opened up my sock drawer all the way and decided to take a lil snoozer!

Thai food night

2010-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

It was a success! My friend Claire and I made Thai food for 6 people, and it was a hit! Claire is my SWEET friend that is in T.J.'s dept. at school- luckily for me we've become great friends and share the love of cooking! We had another couple come over (Micah and Heidi- with their little ones, Frances and Lawrence) too- Micah is also in T.J.'s dept. at school- and both couples go to church with us, love them all!

Here are some pics of Claire cooking and then a sweet pic of Heidi and Lawrence and then sweet Frances who I could watch every day of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The menu consisted of Thai iced tea, fried shrimp, fried spring rolls, coconut curry chicken, Thai fried rice & fried bananas for dessert (which were SO GOOD)- trust me it was a lot of food and I'm pretty sure we ate almost ALL of it- the dogs had the little leftovers and then they paid for it later if you know what I mean! ;)

Thai food ISN'T the easiest thing to make- luckily Claire has a 25 yr. old wok that is awesome so we used that to make most of the dishes.

Here are some fun pictures of our food :) try not to get tooooo jealous!!

I know I wish you could have been there too~ :)

Not Me Monday

2010-02-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

I didn't just almost throw my cat against the wall for stepping on my keyboard for the 87th time in a row. I swear sometimes my computer ACTUALLY starts talking to me, which I didn't know was possible b/c of whatever buttons my cats push when they walk across the keyboard!! UGH!

T.J. did NOT find out this week that he can't make one of his best friend's weddings to be the best man... REALLY!? :( NY stinks!!!!!!!!!!

I won't be in NYC in a week with my husband and some amazing friends.... oh wait- YES I WILL! :) BOOOYAAAAH!!!

My landlord couldn't have told me to my face that I've gained weight since moving here... REALLY?!?!?!?! Especially since I really hadn't! He thought this was "okay" since I've lost weight recently... no guys- NEVER OKAY TO TELL A LADY THAT SHE IS/WAS FAT.... Basically Tony's words to me... and no I'm not sensitive about that! ;)

We didn't throw our cats into the 3 feet snow drifts outside :) that would be cruel (they didn't mind!)

I couldn't have teared up in The Bachelor finale last night. LAME-O! And for the record I DIDN'T let a tear fall down.. I was just so sad for Tenley!

I am definitely not freaking out that I can't remember if my interview is at 10 or 10:30 tomorrow... I am not that forgetful!!

Most importantly I WILL NOT beg T.J. to stay up extra late tonight and watch The Biggest Loser. I WON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES get on my knees to request this.

That's it for now!

Tasty Cookies

2010-02-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

Looks good right? I made these cookies yesterday and my husband has ate ALL of them- he said it's probably his favorite cookie. This kind of surprised me b/c it is relatively a lot "better" for you then most cookies. You get your sugar fix from the bananas, chocolate and coconut oil that it requests.

I was a little intimidated at first b/c it calls for things like coconut oil & almond meal but these things were NOT hard to find at our grocery store. Of course Ithaca is a little "granola-ey" if you know what I mean so you might need to head out to the health food store if you're in Oklahoma.

This is a great "snack" to bring to someone's house- they are small little cookies too so you don't need to feel bad eating more then 1.

"Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe"

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas. If you have gluten allergies, seek out GF oats.

You will need:

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups) (I actually had to use 4 bananas to get 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.
In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Spinning

2010-02-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not but T.J. and I woke up at 5:30 am- ate some eggs and oatmeal and headed out to a spinning class at 6:30am! Do you not know what spinning is? If not check it out HERE luckily our room was bigger then this and the lights were off so everyone couldn't see me dying in the back of the room. All I can say is that it definitely was an experience! T.J. was next to me and we just kept looking at each other and mouthing "I'm dyyying"- "it buuuuurns" "oh myyy goooooosh" :) 45 minutes of pure torture is what it is! I still can't figure out what hurts more, my quads or my HINEY!!!!!! I need some of those padded biker shorts! I was bracing myself with a hand on the seat 1/2 the time b/c it hurt so much- how do people do that?! Hahaha T.J. wasn't having the best time with it either! I mean can that be healthy?? ANYWAYS besides almost puking and realizes my leggins were basically see through it was an experience we won't forget... not sure if we'll be back anytime soon though...

Who's glad that Friday is finally here?! MEEEEE! Tonight I'm having "girls night" with 2 girls I love and T.J. will be having "guys night" with the girls significant other. They are going to see Shutter Island tonight NO THANK YOU- scaaaary!!!! It will be good to have some "girl time"! T.J. and I are both so thankful for the friends we have met and gotten to know out here. Sunday night we are having the 2 couples over that we're actually hanging out with tonight! We're going to attempt to make THAI FOOD! :) I'm SO EXCITED.

So I have some exciting news :) T.J. was awarded a scholarship/funding for his project that he applied for recently. I think only like 45 people in the nation are awarded the scholarship so I was so happy for him! He will have plenty of money to expand his project and do side projects on it. No this money isn't for US it's for the project ;) but now he won't have to apply for any more funding b/c it was a pretty big chunk he received.

Well I never blogged about Valentine's Day! We really celebrated Valentine's Day when we stayed at a hotel in Buffalo before I head out to OKC and went out to a nice sushi place SO we played it low key on Sunday. We swapped cards (of course T.J.'s are always SO SWEET) and I made lunch, FAILED on the mini chocolate moltens... and then T.J. bought me Scrabble... wait I think I DID already blog about this!!!!!!!!! Okay well here are some pics of us playing Scrabble :) and yes he dominated me by winning with like 102 more pts. then me!!!!

And it wouldn't really be a good blog w/o a picture of a pet right? :) RIGHT! Here is Boy hanging out in the sink as I get ready... such a good boy! :)

I think that's about it!!! Miss you and love you all!

OH!!!! In 3 weeks Heather and Brock will be here!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're going to NYC to meet them- stay there for 2 nights, then come back and show them around Ithaca- then WHILE they are here TROY gets here! :) Oh my word- we're gonna have SO MUCH FUN!

Not me Monday-

2010-02-16T04:43:00.000-08:00

I didn't write "Febuary" on my dry erase calendar to only notice my mistake 4 weeks later :) Thank you T.J. for letting me look like an idiot!

I couldn't have worn see through leggings to a spinning class! No way! Especially since we walked in front of T.J.'s advisor and wife when we were there.... (BTW I DIDN'T KNOW)

I didn't fall down our staircase. Our staircase isn't wood which means you'd bounce off each step bruising yourself all the way down. I'm way to coordinated to fall down the stairs more then once already. The kids I watched didn't laugh at me either.

I'm not blogging when I should be making dinner for me and T.J. and our landlords family!

I didn't take pictures of all the food that was cooked at my house yesterday! I'm not that proud of it! (I will post pics up later!) ;)

I didn't just post the most lame "Not Me Monday" blog :)

"Lifestyle Change"

2010-02-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well as a lot of you know T.J. and I have decided to have a little "lifestyle change" this year in regards to our health! We are trying to make healthier choices in the food we eat and cut some out completely. We all know T.J. does not need to loose ANY weight so he is careful to eat big portions and he doesn't really COMPLETELY cut anything out for good! :) But he likes eating healthy too so its fun to be on this little journey together.

Since Jan. 1st I've already lost 8 lbs. This is ONLY from eating better, I don't calorie count but I do try to eat 4-5 meals a day (smaller meals) and for the most part I have cut out white bread, fried foods, fast food, lots of desserts, cokes- you get the picture. BUT I want to still ENJOY life and I still eat at least one small dessert a day and don't deprive myself of something completely b/c what fun is there in that? But I feel A LOT better and love eating organic, healthy food- and I try to get all my food groups in every day!

I will try to start posting some of the healthy recipes we enjoy! We live out of The Biggest Loser Cookbook for families and eatingwell.com. My friend Megan also has some GREAT recipes, you should check out her blog. She inspires me!!!! But don't ever expect an awesome blog of a recipe like she has! :)

Anyways- I didn't have anything that special to say except that you can do it too and all you have to do is make small changes! You CAN STILL eat things you want! :)

Not me Monday

2010-02-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

Here's to Not me Monday!

When I asked my husband to "flag" a couple recipes he thought sounded good out of The Biggest Loser cookbook, my husband did NOT flag almost every single page!!!!!!!! (proof below)

I didn't maybeeeeee volunteer my husband to babysit with me on a Saturday night. I wouldn't do that b/c that is NOT a sweet thing to do.

T.J. and I didn't leave Avatar a little depressed wishing we lived on Pandora and were Na'vi people. Who would want to live as a 9 ft. tall blue creature? Not us!

I also ABSOLUTELY did NOT open up a 1/2 gallon of milk in my car and start drinking out of it b/c I was thirsty. Ew! Sick- I definitely waited until I was home to pour myself a nice tall glass.

I probably didn't let the dogs sleep with me under the covers while T.J. was gone 2 nights in a row- I also couldn't have kept the TV on in our room until I fell asleep, I'm not a baby!! My bed DOESN'T have dog hair ALL OVER IT NOW :)

I didn't have a dream I was pregnant and woke up secretly wanting one- I know I DON'T want a baby any time soon! :)

My dog DIDN'T bodyslam me into the floor last night. He's way to gentle! This didn't start with me running down the hallway to "slide" like T.J. though..... Troop didn't jump up on two legs and push me with his other 2 legs at my shoulders to knock me flat on my hiney.

I didn't text in church Sunday... I wasn't bored in church... I am a very attentive girl.

I also didn't throw out my "lifestyle change" guidelines and pig out on Thai food last night. I didn't order fried spring rolls, an entree and a fried banana..... ewwwwww!

I wasn't SO PROUD of myself for making mini chocolate moltens to have this happen... yeah they definitely turned out PERFECT and SO EDIBLE........... noooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!

I also most definitely DID NOT get peed all over when babysitting today. I didn't feel a warm trickle down my leg to see that urine was all over my shirt, undershirt and jeans :) YAY!!!!!

T.J.'s "flagging" of yummy looking recipes (I think all the recipes he flagged had a picture conveniently enough) :)

The horrible sunken gross mini moltens :(

Tams Day

2010-02-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well I am back from Oklahoma!!! The trip was FAST but FUN! I was able to spend some great girl time with my closest friends and be a part of Tam and Darrens wedding day! Here are some pictures to enjoy...

Tam and Darren on their first dance, "Feels Like Home to Me"- WHICH BTW I remember Tam telling me when we were like 15 this would be the song she would dance to with her husband! :)
Me and Heather

My friend Andrea from SandRidge that I was SOOO HAPPY WAS THERE! :) LOVE HER! She is newly engaged and getting married on my birthday! Hopefully I can be there!

Oh just me and the BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS BRRRRRRRRRRRRRIDE :)

Tams wedding was SO FUN. We had a blast dancing the night away!

Mike I just have to thank you again for giving me your southwest ticket so I could go!!!!!!!! And T.J. for driving 3 hrs to take me to the airport and pick me up!

I not only had GREAT WEEKEND with the girls but I was able to do lunch and dinners with my family and see my Papa and Gran, so sweet!

2 hours and counting...

2010-02-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

In LESS THEN 2 HOURS I WILL START MY JOURNEY HOME! :)

I'm super excited to have me and T.J.'s Valentine's tonight! We are celebrating early. Since T.J. has to drive me 3 HOURS to the airport we thought we'd get a hotel in Buffalo and maybe try a new fun restaurant... like I said we're leaving in less then 2 hours!

Have I packed? No. Have I gotten ready? No. Do I still need to dry clothes in the dryer? Yes. Do I still need to make lasagna for T.J. to pop in the oven later and for the landlords too? Not gonna happen. Have I made to do notes for T.J.? No. Am I sick to my stomach? Yes..

WHY AM I BLOGGING THEN?! :) I don't know!

Okay so I better go... I bought 2 books at Target today, Dear John & L.A. Candy- they were both on sale and I've kind of been going back and forth if I wanted to read them so hopefully I won't read them toooo fast so I'll have reading material on the way back to NY.

This trip is going to go by WAY TO FAST! :( I'm dreading boarding the plane back to NY already.

Tam here I come! I can't wait to celebrate your wedding!!!!!!!! Get ready family! I LOVE YOU GUYS AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!

T.J.'s new ride

2010-01-29T11:26:00.001-08:00

Yay! Here you have it. To think T.J. thought he wanted the old body style!? Hah! We ended up getting a HECK of a deal on a silver 2004 F-150 extended cab that has the Fx4 package. The guy that sold it to us took this truck in that he bought brand new a couple years ago to trade in and the dealership wasn't going to give him a good deal so he just listed it a little over what he could've gotten for it at a dealership- luckily we found it fast and long story short it's ours!

We did have to drive 3 hours to pick it up but the drive there went by FAST! The drive back? Oh you mean the drive that my GPS took me on some crazy turns and we ended up extending our trip home by an hour? That drive home was rough. I may or may not have had a mini anxiety attack while driving by myself the last hour b/c it was so snowy I couldn't see where I was on the highway. I may or may not have started crying and praying for God to take the wheel :) "JESSUSS TAKE THE WHEEEEL" Okay seriously though- the roads were getting really bad! We drove 20mph for the last hour. Also why is it when you know you could slide at ANY MOMENT on the roads your eye lids STILL try to close b/c it's 2am?! Shouldn't my body know well enough that they need to stay OPEN?! ANYWAYS we did finally make it home a little after 2am!

T.J. may or may not have also called me 2 or 3 times really mad at me/the GPS for going the wrong ways (It's okay he apologized!)

Oh the memories!!!!!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers on this whole situation! God definitely worked it all out and we're super pumped about the truck! I almost refuse to drive it though, the possibility that I might wreck it scares me too much. Knowing you and your husband have each already gotten in a wreck this winter (I've had a ticket too) you just realize YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE WRONG.. or... who knoooows what will happen! It's actually really scary and I think that's why I had a mini freak out last night (T.J. probably wouldn't call it mini!) :) It's like when you're playing a game and you have 1 life left. You play it so much differently b/c you know GAME OVER if you mess up... that's how I feel when I get in a car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't I go to sleep?

2010-01-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'm antsy... I don't know why! I should be in bed- I'm not feeling that well for goodness sakes and I know my body needs its rest... buuut I just can't seem to go crawl in bed, even though I know my bed is warm and toasty from my electric blanket and me sweet husband is there! He always "pats" me goodnight when I get in bed after him and he's asleep :) so sweet. I think I just know I'll be awake for awhile, and I'd rather get sleepy NOW then waiting 20 mins. in bed.

So as I'm sitting here in the office I might as well post some pics that I had fun with using picnik- picnikhttp://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome- do you know what picnik is? If not it's an AWESOME site that's FREE to upload and edit, change and play with pictures. I LOVE it and will probably sign up for the upgraded version.

Here are some pretty flowers Andy and T.J. got me when they went duck hunting and stayed out a litttttttle longer then expected! ;)

T.J. took the dogs out to the woods for 4-5 hours the other day and this is them about to head off. Jade isn't pictured b/c she was running around and not cooperating!

The dogs patiently waiting to be let out of the car! :)

Oh just me and the lovely Mr.

Pretty snow in the woods...

Trying to get the dogs to take a pic...

I love our life. I know it can be stressful sometimes and some days we just are ready for the NEXT day but I have nothing to complain about. I love my God, my husband and my pets that are always with me in NY! :) I am excited about the day that we'll be back or CLOSE to OK though! :)

P.S. Just a little over a week and I'll be "HOME" to OK for Tam's wedding!!!!!!!!!!!! :) YAAAAAAAAAY!

P.P.S. Pray that we will find a truck soon for T.J. and that it will be the "right truck"! :)

Whelp...

2010-01-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

So lately I have been really sad... one of my DEAR friends is getting married in 2 weeks and that is a GOOD THING but not when I live in NEW YORK! Tamara has been my friend since HS and we were pretty close back then! We dated younger boys together :) went to concerts, cheered WHS on at football games, all that fun stuff! :) Then college came, we weren't as close but always still good friends. Well whenever I left SandRidge I was able to get her an interview for my position and low and behold she got it! :) I knew she would! SOOO needless to say we talk ALL THE TIME now, almost EVERY DAY :) I love keeping up with Tam and I couldn't ask for a better friend!

Here we are on my wedding day! :)

Okay... now for the big news :) I'm coming to your wedding Tam!! :) I WILL be there! I fly down the 4th of Feb. and fly back the 7th. This was just finalized TODAY. Mike, T.J.'s dad had a voucher for a southwest ticket and GRACIOUSLY gave it to me. Yes, I am serious, I REALLY will be there! :) I thought this would be a fun way to tell you! So get ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) Oh how I love surprises.

Yummy Recipe

2010-01-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

Okay so the mom of the twins I watch made a really yummy lunch the other day and gave me the recipe- I made it and of course it wasn't as good as hers but still pretty darn good!

This dish is full of colorful bell peppers, little cheese, yummy chicken and pasta of course! :)

Seriously so easy and yummy...

You will need:
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
and heck if you want an orange pepper add one of those too :)
an onion
black pepper
salt
4-5 chicken breasts
spaghetti noodles (I use 100% whole wheat pasta!)
Goya (the brand) Adobo- this is a "mexican" all purpose seasoning- not hard to find at the grocery store.
1 tbs. ketchup
1 tbs. ceasars dressing (I use fat free)
1/4 c. tomato sauce
olive oil

Saute the sliced peppers, sliced onions & seasoning in a little olive oil until soft.

Take the peppers out after they are soft and then cook the chicken in the oil that is left over. (Add more oil if needed)- season chicken with salt and pepper. When the chicken is almost done, add 1/4 c. of tomato sauce, 1 tbs. ketchup, & 1 tbs. ceasars dressing along with maybe 1/4 c. of the leftover water that you boiled the pasta in- (or just hot water). After mixing put the peppers back in and cook another 2-3 minutes. Take this time to shred the chicken breasts up and mix througout! :)

DONE

Sprinkle with a little cold olive oil after you are done and you can even serve with some fat free mozz. cheese sprinkled on top as well.

When I made this I out it back into a casserole dish and put some fat free mozz. cheese on top and cooked at 200 degrees for another 10-15 mins. SO GOOD.

I hope you like it! I'm so sorry I meant to take pics but I forgot!

Not Me Monday!

2010-01-18T21:39:00.001-08:00

I am maaaaaaaaybe posting this actually an hour past Monday :)

Alright lets start this off complimenting me and T.J.'s driving skills! T.J. definitely didn't slam my tire into the curb causing over $1,000 in damage :) I DEFINITELY didn't in turn TOTAL his truck... we know how to drive on these roads!!!

We didn't obtain another pet for this family... no way- why would we need ANOTHER cat? :) 2 dogs and 2 cats is normal for a just married couple, right?!

Being on this new "lifestyle change" I am trying to eat VERY healthy- when I was taken to "5 Guys Burger and Fries" my our landlord and the kids (I really did have no choice) I didn't order what I thought was the healthiest thing to find out later not only did the bun have 280 calories alone but there was another 300+ calories uncounted for... so much for making "good" decisions!

I absolutely didn't have to clean up a 7 yrs. old vomit from our floor- that was from the rug in the living room... all down the hallway into the bathroom :) who knew vomit smelled so awesome... BAAAAAARF.

There's no way I JUST figured out how to record a greeting message on our answering machine. :) I'm to technical for that!

I'm not listening to my husband practice for his presentation in our bedroom right now. :) Better turn my music back on before I get in trouble for "listening"!

T.J. and I don't watch The Bachelor. I DIDN'T get him hooked. We don't like to partake of TRASH. :)

My husband COULDN'T have left me at the auto shop thinking I had already gone home. No husband would just ASSUME that their wife left. They'd call right? I DEFINITELY didn't sit in a car for 45 minutes WAITING for T.J. to come outside only to find out he was already home... and had left 45 minutes earlier... (not to mention our house was 20 mins away) :) I didn't call T.J. and leave him the harshest message EVER. Nope- I'm perfect and never loose my temper!

That's it! :)

Oh yes and I'm NOT awake at 1am- I'm in bed with my husband where I should be! :)

Want to know what I AM doing in 4 hours though? Waking up to make my husband homemade blueberry muffins before his presentation :) NO REALLY! I am! :)

100 things you don't need to know about me :)

2010-01-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be interesting to think of just a bunch of random stuff about me and my life and share it with you. :)

1. We have 4 pets (Jade, Troop, Ace & Boy)- with only being married a year and a half this seems like it could turn into a problem if we keep it up.

2. I use an electric blanket every night.

3. I go to sleep with warm pants and socks on and after about 20 minutes take them off- this annoys T.J. and I always find a nice collection of dirty socks under the bed every week or so. :)

4. I like to hunt but can't STAND to see a dead mouse, or a goldfish especially. I might go into hysterics.

5. I might just be a cat lady...I talk to my cats like they understand everything I'm saying. Don't worry T.J. loves them too.

6. I always am scared something is going to happen to T.J. (bad) and I hate it.

7. Instead of my husband shoveling a path in the snow for my car to get out of every day he shovels the WHOLE driveway (which can fit about 5-6 cars). He also shovels the front porch and steps that is rarely used... and get this, he ALSO plows a path to the door of the apartment below our house THAT NO ONE LIVES IN! He knows there is NO POINT but he just CAN'T not do it! Silly T.J.!

8. T.J. and I both like to let the dogs sleep with us sometimes :) we just feel like they couldn't be happier when we let them! (I only do it when I wash the sheets the next day!)

9. I religiously wash my sheets- there isn't a better feeling then fresh clean sheets! Especially when they're warm :) (Thank you Debbie for that electric blanket!)

10. I HAVE to have a spotless kitchen before I go to bed. No dirty dishes. The living room definitely has to be picked up too. Sorry!

11. I read almost every night in bed with a book light, it puts me to sleep and its fun!

12. My favorite part of the day is when T.J. comes home.

13. I have the best family. Immediate and extended. Couldn't thank the Lord enough.

14. I LIVE IN NEW YORK?!!?!? Who would've thought!?!?!?!

15. If someone has a hair tie on their wrist and its too tight- I want to take it off and rub out that little indent it put there, I feel like its just so bad for your skin :( (I've done this with Carlie many times!)

16. I have an obsessive need to be "up to date" with facebook.

17. I have A LOT of friends, I wish I could be REALLY CLOSE with all of them but I don't think that is possible.

18. Although I'm SO EXCITED to have kids and start a family we aren't planning on doing for another 3 1/2 years! (at least- and of course God willing!)

19. I'm secretly pretty competitive, okay maybe its not much of a secret! :)

20. I'm still trying to find out "what I want to do in life"

21. Couldn't be a prouder wife- my man is the hardest and most dedicated guy EVER.

22. The older I get the more things I realize I do like my mom (not a bad thing)

23. Our water at this house smells like rotten eggs b/c it has sulfur in it, which is really nice when you take showers.

24. I'm not going to lie that sometimes I like going to bed after T.J. is asleep b/c then he doesn't care that I cuddle with him and I get to spread across the whole bed! :)

25. My husband is a massive blanket hogger (when he wakes up in the morning and I'm curled up in a freezing fetal position he covers me back up).

26. I'm a bed hogger.

27. I am mad at myself for missing out on broccoli and Chinese food my whole younger life (for some reason I thought I didn't like it!?)

28. I DESPISE.. and hate corn. Don't think you can sneak in a few kernels in that soup or casserole... I will see it, and carefully dip out my bites to avoid a kernel of that horrible stuff.

29. I really like Lady Gagas music.. :)

30. I am a BOOK WORM. Love Francine Rivers. Like I said, I read every night.

31. I want to dye my hair chocolate brown but I'm afraid T.J. won't like it.

32. I love the "3 in 1 laundry detergent" from Purex! What an amazing invention. This keeps me from filling up the detergent to the "Max fill" line even though I have 4 articles of clothing in the washer- I just can't NOT fill the lid to the top- I don't believe that it's that concentrated!

33. I'm desperately missing my pedicure dates with my gfs back home. 2 words: dry feet.

34. I really enjoy paying bills. Not the giving away money part- just the writing checks, putting a stamp on the envelope and mailing it.

35. I might watch too much T.V.- but considering I live in NY I think this is okay. I might cry on The Biggest Loser and American Idol- but that's normal, right?

36. I like that people know we're not from NY when they meet us.

37. My belly button is pierced- that is weird to me. Why is it still there? Oh well.

38. I have a shoe fetish... normally wouldn't be a problem but it is b/c I usually just switch off from 2 pairs of shoes- why do I need another 50 pairs? No... seriously.

39. I cook for another family throughout the week.

40. I might have the weirdest dreams, this week consisted of me being in a school shooting, another girl hitting on T.J. and T.J. ENCOURAGED IT (yes I woke up and was mad still) & some other crazy thing I can't remember at the moment)

41. I kind of want to be Taylor Swift's BFF ;)

42. I can't wait until I see T.J. hold our little baby :) (again.. in YEARS to come)

43. Unfortunately "Farmville" on facebook got me- hook, line, and sinker- I PROMISE I will delete this app sometime this month... how embarrassing! WHO plays on a VIRTUAL farm!?

44. If you post an album on facebook I might just comment on every single picture- but you will love it and that means you are my very dear friend! :)

45. I MIGHT'VE registered for a Twitter account JUST so I can see what Taylor Swift and some other special people are doing... WHOOOPS! It's okay I found out Julia did it too! :)

46. I love to be really immature and silly with my girlfriends.

47. I have started craving "hot drinks" which might lead to coffee- IF there is some special creamer and is all doctored up! Man, I'm not sure if I should even start on that path! I don't want to be the person that HAS to have coffee before they can "function".

48. Why can't we ever wear our wedding dress again? :(

49. Great idea- girls lets have a slumber party and we ALL wear our wedding dresses!!! :) No seriously....

50. I HATE public speaking. I had too many bad experiences. At church the other day the associate pastor asked me to read a verse during the service- I laughed and said I'm sorry that just makes me too nervous! So T.J. did it :) I would LOVE to get "over" this but I just don't know if that's going to happen!

51. I'm SO INCREDIBLY happy that Alabama won the national championship this year- my papa has been WAAAAAAAITING for this! :) He was the sweet grandpa in his bama hat and jacket cheering them on the past couple decades (on his couch)! :)

52. This is my favorite number! Or 13.. I like that number too.

53. I can make a mean dish of orange chicken!

54. I wish I had an accent- like a Puerto Rican accent or something- the women I nanny for is from Puerto Rico so I just like to imitate her to T.J. and pretend.

55. I usually wait between 10-12 week to get my hair done again... crazy I know!

56. I love all types of music, country, pop, blues, classical, soundtracks, hip hop, christian- almost all genres.

57. I really wish I was more athletic. I will try just about anything I'm just not very GOOD at it... I'm hoping one day I will realize I am really great at something. :)

58. When I told my mom I didn't have any special talents she said "but you have sooo many friends Kelly" :) she is so sweet.

59. I love love and am so genuinely happy for people when they find it.

60. I can't stand for hair to be in my hairbrush- I take it all out almost every time I brush my hair.

61. I NEVER used qtips until I got married- now I HAVE to use them or I feel like I am walking around with soggy ears. Ew.

62. I want an iphone but if I had one I'd be on it ALL THE TIME playing words with friends (kellyross13 is my username!) :)

63. I put hand sanitizer all over my blackberry regularly. My keys too sometimes.

64. If you are turning the volume up or down on the T.V. you have to keep it at intervals of 5. I WILL NOT stop the volume at "63" or "59" or something like that- it has to be "60" or "55", you get the point. It's okay, thankfully T.J. feels the same way.

65. I DO NOT GET how people can have trash all lined up on their dashboard and throughout their car. This SICKENS me, sorry I'm not trying to be rude but HOW can you keep fast food trash in there for that long!?!?!?

66. Oh how I love Christmas music. Sometimes if I'm in a sad mood I'll just listen to it and it will make me feel better.

67. Oh how I love vampire books. Who would've ever thought I'd like "sci-fi" but I do- its such a fun escape from this normal world! And YES I have said before in another life I would like to be a vampire :), T.J. choose a werewolf so I guess we'd be archenemies.

68. My husband would go to bed at 8pm every night if he could.

69. I've never had any other car besides the one I have now (my explorer), I credit this to my papa blessing it.

70. T.J.'s now on his 5th car and 2 of them have been totaled by other people! :) (Andy and myself!) Sorry T.J.! But you know you're glad b/c now you get an awesome new trucky!

71. I like to call T.J.- teej, teejy, teejy weejy, teeeeeeeeeejaaaaaaaaaaaaaay or any other "pet names", T.J. just calls me kelly- how boring! :) and yes I just said "teejy weejy" :) haha

72. I hope one day when T.J. and I have a lot of land that I can take in lots of pets and adopt them out to people. I will be writing bios on them like "Hi my name is Sally! I love to swim and bark at the birds, please come adopt me b/c I want a loving home"- I think I would be good at this. :)

73. I really wish I was more creative.

74. I have to curl my eyelashes every day. I was not blessed with gorgeous eyelashes like my husband.

75. I cry when I get pulled over...hard.

76. I'm now scared to sled after getting a bruise the size of a football last time I crashed.

77. I was ALLLLLLWAYS a "mustard girl" I'm realizing that I DO LIKE mayo on my sandwiches now! (NOT on a burger though) :)

78. I miss the days driving with Carlie when we were 15 and didn't have licenses :) hehehe

79. I can't believe I used to think I wanted to be a cop- WHO AM I KIDDING? Dark alleys, bad guys, guns? That's funny.

80. I wish I could get a massage weekly. Who doesn't though.

81. I've NEVER had a facial- always wanted one!

82. The first night of our honeymoon in Mexico I accidentally SLAMMED my head on the edge of a marble slab. It was bleeding and I got a huge goose egg. That's embarrassing.

83. I think I'm wearing Andy's socks right now... sorry Andy I think you left them here :)

84. I would be fine if the only place I could shop the rest of my life was Target.

85. I notice people's teeth and hands/feet when I meet them. Not sure why. I think its about hygiene- please take care of yourself!

86. God giveth, and God taketh away. I have learned to trust Him in all aspects of my life- or at least I to try remind myself to do this!

87. I miss my dad ALL THE TIME. It doesn't really ever get that much easier- every step in life I wish he was here. On to number 88 before I start crying!

88. I am so thankful for James :) God is so good.

89. Did I mention my mom is my hero?

90. I love space heaters. I hate being cold. That's not good considering I live in the coldest place EVER right now. Thank goodness for down jackets and warm Uggs! And plenty of scarves! Oh and long underwear too!

91. Sometimes I have cravings for things SO BAD I think I'm going to panic if I don't get it. I used to do this growing up with Gatorade.. now I do it with orange juice.

92. I've ran a 1/2 marathon- something I NEVER thought I could do. I WILL ONEEEE DAAAY run a full marathon.

93. Jennifer Aniston is my favorite actress- she is GORGEOUS. I don't have a favorite actor.

94. I can't just sweep, if I sweep I also swiffer and then use my wet jet. Talk about a process.

95. I used to tell Julia I was a genie, and she believed me :) HAHA.

96. I usually DON'T like watching a movie more then once- I have to REAAAAAAAAAAALLY like it to be okay with watching it more than once.

97. I miss writing "Kelly Brown" sometimes- as much as I love Kelly Ross.

98. Can Wheel of Fortune PLEAAAAAAAAAAAASE let me be on their show? I need to win some trips!

99. What I would do to go back and spend another night in the SNU townhouse with Kendi when we were roomies- watching WOF every night, procrastinating on HW, making videos, and sleeping through our classes! :)

100. I had the perfect proposal. Surprised and everything.

Think thats enough? :) I'll leave it at that.

Wreck #2 down!

2010-01-09T10:33:00.001-08:00

Well if my car trouble wasn't enough I had to go and wreck T.J.'s truck a couple days later! I won't bore you with the details b/c most of our family and friends know now b/c of facebook but basically I was going too fast on a curve (I didn't THINK I was going to fast- who knew SLUSH was so slippery?! Not me!) Well I ended up spinning T.J.'s truck into oncoming traffice (THANK YOU LORD NO ONE WAS THERE) and ended up slamming into some trees in a ditch... NOT FUN. Suprisingly I was prrrretty calm (besides the bawling phone call to T.J. which I DID make sure to say "I'm okay" first even though he couldn't understand it!) That is one thing my mom taught me, always let the person know you're okay FIRST THING before you start blubbering and not making any sense! :) We are almost positive his truck is totaled but we won't be for sure until the adjuster calls us on Monday. I really am just praising the Lord I am okay b/c it was definitely one of the scariest moments in my life- I literally just closed my eyes (once I knew there was no fixing going off the road) and prayed! I was picturing myself in an ambulance and seriously injured at the hospital! Thank you Lord for keeping me safe! I was sore the next 2 days but I'm pretty much back to normal now!

The truck...

Sorry T.J.! :( In all honestly though we are kind of hoping it IS totaled- we loved the Ranger but it could only seat 2 people and this has started to become a problem for us. PLUS not that we are planning on having kids anytime soon but we WON'T be able to use this car at all when we have a little one with us! (That's weird even saying!)

SO- we have had a PRETTY stressful week to say the least. T.J. started back up with school and he has only a million things going on and I'm TRYING to start back up with babysitting but with the roads being so bad I can't do that every day. The day I got in the wreck I was actually going to nanny.

Yay for the weekend! T.J. is out duck hunting right now (last weekend of the season) and I think he limited out.

ALSO :) Tomorrow morning T.J. and I are assigned to watch the "Tiny Tot" room at church. Can I just laugh right now? Don't get me wrong- we'll do FINE! But I am already laughing thinking about T.J. consoling babies and so on! :) Hehehe, I'm sure I'll have a great blog about it!

Home (Sweet?) Home...

2010-01-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of sick to my stomach that last time I blogged I was so excited to be HOME (In OK) and now I'm back in NY... BLAH. Sorry NY you are just not the same. I admit- T.J. and I both were SO EXCITED to see our pets but after a day you realize they are just pets and family is a little cooler. (Sorry Troop, Jade, Ace & Boy) Speaking of Boy... Boy is the little kitty we are watching for our friends- we have to give him back to his family tomorrow and I am NOT happy about it. I love this kitty like he is mine now. Ace and Boy are BEST FRIENDS and Ace might hate us after we separate them. Although... we will have a lot less spilled vases, torn up decorations, and less claw marks from where Boy tries to CLIMB UP YOUR BODY to your head...Alright enough of the animal talk- I realize my friends and family love me but have officially started to call me the cat lady and laugh about how I always have animal pics and stories... what do you expect??? We don't have family up here and few friends!! :) So you might just have to deal with it.

Boy and T.J. taking a Sunday afternoon nap

On a happy note :) Andy is here! Andy is our college friend and one of T.J.'s best friends for sure. That was another positive thing about coming home- we had a friend coming! I will put some pictures up of Andy and T.J.'s duck hunting expeditions. It was Andys first time duck hunting and besides the FREEZING weather, they had a great time. It was also nice to have Andy here when my SUV slammed into the curb.. whoops! Having 2 boys instead of just T.J. replace the tire was a lot easier I think. I'll also post a picture of the tire... the rim literally busted open. We just learned we also have to replace the tie rod and a ball joint??? or SOMETHING like that so this will not be a fun week :( BUT I'm just thanking God my car is not broken forever and that everyone is okay.

T.J. and Andy with their ducks

Literally ripped the aluminum apart! Eeck..

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy New Year's Day! I could go on and on and ON about our trip home. I can't start to tell you how nice it was to see all of our family and friends. The time went by way too fast of course but we ALMOST saw everyone we wanted to.. I really wish I could've seen Emily and Cody of course though and Donna Walker from my old work, & Megan-Joy! :( Next time for sure!! Going home reminded T.J. that he does want to work in OK if possible when he graduates Cornell so that was a very good thing! :) One thing I appreciated the most about being home was the overwhelming sense of love and support around us. I don't take that for granted! Coming home I was MORE homesick then before because it was like I was ripped out of that again :( Oklahoma had an INSANE blizzard which was a LIIIIITTLE annoying considering we have crazy snow and freezing temperatures here in NY, BUT mostly it was just fun because it was so exciting and unexpected. 14 inches in 5-6 hours I think! 3 days before that though we had a day when it was SIXTY DEGREES OUTSIDE! Can you imagine how happy I was?! No jacket or anything! My mom was laughing at me because she said when I left the house I just had a HUGE grin on my face like a little girl! :) Of course I miss my mommy the most! Girls just aren't supposed to be far away from their moms I think.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE- I get insecure sometimes about my blogs, I want them to be fun and interesting to read but I've realized that all your blogs can't be like that! SO- I'm going to STOP worrying about that right now and just tell you everything that I'm thinking :) Sorry. I just waited to long to blog so I have a lot of things to say!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is Christmas Eve at T.J.'s grandparents house. We eat chili, read the Christmas story from the Bible, sing carols (HA! I will try and upload a video of this), open presents, have birthday cake for Jesus, and then open "Christmas letters". Christmas letters are just letters we right one another (if you choose to) telling that person whatever you want to tell them! :) How much they mean to you, why you are thankful for them, etc. Oh! I almost forgot! T.J.'s grandpa (Bob Ross) spent the past 6 months writing a book about his history- his dad and grandpa and from then on- I admit I haven't got to start reading it yet because its being shipping from OK to here but I am SO excited to read it. I truly feel like I have 3 sets of grandparents now and I love that feeling. My papa and gran, grandpa and grandma ross and papa and grannie! :) I love gaining more family!

Christmas day was great of course too! T.J.'s papa and grannie are always there which is AMAZING- it WOULDN'T be the same without them there all the way from Stigler. I can't even list out the generous gifts I was given BUT I will share with you the Uggs T.J.'s parents helped me get! Click HERE. LOVE THEM- I got them in chocolate brown. T.J. got a lot of camping gear he was wanting and I got him a bear hunting DVD b/c that is his goal next year- to get a bear. Yeah I'm not sure how I feel about that!!!

We got our Mexican fix while we were home too! :) We had a homecoming dinner at Teds which was DEEEELICIOUS. We also got our Johnnies and Braums fix :) and yes my mom had Braums eggnog waiting for us :) and Debbie even made some homemade! They know us well. Alright this is when I have to stop talking about food... me and T.J.'s resolution for the new year is to live a healthier lifestyle... maybe I should go eat another carrot stick (blah) for my growling stomach, doesn't that sound scrumptious? :) SO if you have any healthy yummy recipes will you please send them my way? Thanks!

We went to a Thunder game our last night in OKC and here is a short video I took of T.J. and Troy :) Mostly I'm just posting this b/c they will be annoyed that I did it (hehe) I will have to start off by telling you that I was trying to make them make the "ugliest face" they could make... might I say I think my husband has it DOWN?! :) lol

Well tomorrow our routine starts back up again. I start watching the twins again, MWF from 8-12. I will be busy with that and watching the other 2 kids and cooking. On a side note I did apply for a position at the hospital here in NY... just praying for God's perfect plan. I almost always have 1 or 2 applications in at Cornell and Ithaca College, the competition here is fierce! Ideally I'd like to start a "real job" in the fall- it would be nice to still have the flexibility I have now throughout the summer.

Well it's still snowing up here. There's about 8 inches out in the back. The roads aren't very good at all (obviously considering my car basically did a cartwheel off a curb). It's cold.. very cold- in the negatives with the windchill almost every day. I wear long johns almost every day under my clothes. :) Oh! I also about broke my leg while sledding :) You can watch the video HERE of me, T.J. and Andys sledding adventure. It's not very exciting unless you want to see Andy fall a lot so you can just fast forward to the end to watch me fall. :) I will post a picture of my bruise later- it's about as big as my hand opened wide and black :) YUP. The guys apologized to me for thinking I was a baby after they saw my leg. AWW the guys also bought be flowers (Lilies one of my favorite!) and Andy treated me and T.J. to a movie (Nine) that was all fun... except the movie wasn't a total winner.

My bruise- this was pretty much a little after it happened. Now its all black. Worse unfortunately.

Are you asleep yet? :) Sorry. My life just isn't the most interesting! The boys are out with the dogs and I'm here to fend for myself. I think I'm going to go read a bit. T.J. got me a couple books for Christmas and right now I'm on the THE LINEAGE OF GRACE which is UUUGHHMAZING- seriously... amazing. I've learned so much about women in the Bible and I think everyone should read it b/c you can't put it down! I totally can hear Jesus speaking to me through it!

Love to you all!

P.S. I love reading- duh. If you ever want some good suggestions I would love to point you to some great reads!

P.P.S. I really wish someone was here to rub my back or play with my hair. Not fair.

P.P.P.S. My stomach is growling and instead of carrot sticks I REALLY just want to get the tub of icing out of the fridge and eat that.

P.P.P.P.S. But I won't- at least not today.

P.P.P.P.P.S.- I'm sorry for all the PS's. I'm just bored, hungry and jamming out to pandora.com :) Love me some Whitney Houston! (Anyone remember the Preacher's Wife Soundtrack.. Caitlin???) :)

Egg Nog

2009-12-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

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!!!!!!!! :)

2009-12-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T12:51:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-22T14:25:00.001-08:00

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!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-11-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-10-24T15:41:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-10-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-17T11:00:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-10-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

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

Snowing!

2009-10-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

2009-10-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

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!) :)

2009-09-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-25T10:44:00.001-07:00

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! :)

2009-09-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-09-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

HILARIOUS

2009-09-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

Okay so my friend Lacy sent me this email- I have NO IDEA who wrote it but nonetheless it was me who was physically covering my mouth trying not to BUST out laughing in the Cornell library with all these smarty pants scholarly kids :) Some were not very appropriate for my blog so I will delete those :)

ENJOY!

1. -I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

2. -More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me. (okay so NOT my thought but I feel like this sometimes when I talk to someone else) :)

3. -Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

5. -Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

7. -I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

8. -Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the “people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

9. -Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

10. -There is a great need for sarcasm font.

11. -Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it. SO TRUE!

12. -I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

13. -How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? this made me laugh b/c I STILL have trouble with this task! I just fold all the "ugly part" in the inside of the folds so no one can see it :)

14. -I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. T.J. and I both!!!!

16. -The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text. soooo trueeeee

18. - Was learning cursive really necessary?

19. - Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

20. - I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. my problem exactly...

21. - Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scranton test is absolutely petrifying.

23. - Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

24. - How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

25. - I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent an idiot from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers! T.J. is very serious about this guys!!!

26. - Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”

27. -What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

28. - While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.

29. - MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

30. - Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

31. - I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

32. -Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. something Troy and T.J. would believe I'm sure!

34. -I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired. except for me b/c I am not working ;)

35. - Bad decisions make good stories

36. -Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do! This made me laugh b/c I can remember this feeling in college!!!!

38. -If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

39. -Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem…. T.J. this is for me- WHYYY OH WHHY!??!?!

40. -You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day. sandridge energy- about 1 o clock friday afternoon :)

41. -Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

42. -There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far. laughed out loud in front of students in library.. sorry but hilarious!

43. -I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

44. - “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

45. -I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

46. -I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

47. - I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

48. -When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

49. -I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

50. -Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…

51. - As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

52. -Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

53. -It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

54. -I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

55. -Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what to do with it.

56. -Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time… hahahahahaha

57. -My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the heck do I respond to that?

58. -It really ticks me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text. lacy this was us at mjca!!!! :)

59. -I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

60. -I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

61. -I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Okay I hope you enjoyed at least some of these!!! I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!!! I plan to blog again soon- GASP 2 BLOGS IN A DAY!?!?! oh my goodness!!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY T.J.!

2009-09-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the cake I made T.J. for his 24th bday! Yellow cake with funfetti chocolate icing! :) and that is a heart on top of it if you can't tell!

T.J. had to go to the Esopus creek on his bday which stinks b/c he was gone all day but in all reality he loves it there (where his project is based) so he had a fun day! We had a yummy dinner (chicken lasagna, red neck potatoes and more!) and of course finished with this yummy cake! We even opened T.J.'s parents present over Skype so they watched him open the awesome photos that Debbie had enlarged and framed from the waterfalls and more.

Right now I am doing the usual! Looking for jobs online, emailing friends, making a list of errands to run and of course I'll go eat lunch with T.J. at Cornell around 11:30 :) I REALLY NEED TO GET A JOB. I'm starting to feel the panic coming. It's hard TURNING DOWN a job when you don't know when the next offer will be. Our landlords offered me a good amount of money to watch their kids from 1-5 M-F and cook 3-4 meals a week, do laundry, etc. As awesome as that sounds- I don't think I will stay sane doing that! I NEED interaction with people and I need to exercise this brain of mine somewhere!! So we're just praying that the Lord will bring something to me and we're staying faithful and hopeful of what's to come!

Last weekend we took the dogs out and here are some pictures- and yes, that is a bloody paw :) Troop SLICED OFF a chunk of his toe pad!!!! We didn't even knoooow until we were leaving and there were bloody footprints! He never complained or anything- you know Jade would've laid down and made us carry her! Troop just ran around like he was never injured! He is so tough!!

So Ace the kitty is crazy! Last night I was watching Mackenzie and Darren (Tony & Jen our landlord's kids) and they started yelling at me to come outside! Okay these kids LOVE Ace, they think he is SO FUN- and he is :) So I go outside to our back deck and lo and behold Ace is next door in our neighbors backyard in his stalking position- dead still and crouched down. So there is a 6 point buck coming near Ace just NOT sure what this little guy is. We then watch the buck walk ALL the way up to Ace- NOSE TO NOSE- Ace then jumps up like he's going to attack him!? I mean Ace just thinks he's invincible obviously!!! The buck JUMPS back and up so you can see his whole belly. Then he comes back and is just basically toying with Ace. The buck ends up leaving so Ace just stalks/plays with the does for the next 30 minutes! I swear that cat thinks he's a deer one minute, a dog the next minute and then a human when he's with us! I LOVE HIM :) Here is a picture of when the buck backed away- (wish I would've caught the thing on film!)

Okay- I'm off to get ready for the day- and it's 10:43 am- oh dear. I really don't sleep in I promise! I've just run out of things to do!

EXACTLY 3 WEEKS TILL MY MOM AND JAMES GET HERE... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!! :)

Little Struggle!

2009-09-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to be honest! I'm really missing OK!!! I teared up driving yesterday looking at BEAUTIFUL upstate NY and I was honestly wishing I was staring a an ugly ole highway with plains all around!!! LOL More then missing Oklahoma, T.J. and I both are really just missing our "comfort" that we had in OK. With family and friends everywhere it was so easy to just be "comfortable" and not worry about anything or stretch ourselves- BOY IS IT DIFFERENT HERE.

I REALLY miss being with people that LOVE THE LORD- okay I KNOW people love God here in NY :) BUT we don't have those friends yet and let me tell you, developing relationships with people that don't know God and don't believe much of ANYTHING that T.J. and I believe is hard, especially when they are AGAINST it. My heart is tearing for these kids I'm spending time with that might never know Jesus- all I can do is pray that I SOMEHOW sow a seed in them and that they become friends with christian children. THIS is what I struggled a lot with yesterday. That and kind of being dragged into a "debate", and people- I DON'T like debating. That's just that- so maybe the Lord is trying to teach me something!!

So as I'm SO SAD yesterday I come across my friend Amanda's blog. Amanda is GREAT and her blog "It's not about Circumstance" really touched me! You should read it if you have time. Here is the MAIN part I enjoyed- "True joy and lasting contentment does not come from my circumstances, it comes from the only true source, God." I haven't been concentrating on that at all lately! I need to TRUST God completely and rejoice NO MATTER my circumstance.

SO! That was my yesterday. Today I am experiencing my first day of not much to do! Still job searching... I actually got a call back today from a medical billing company that wants to hire me but it was LITERALLY the one interview I had that I thought "okay I DON'T want to work here..." so ... we'll see. I'm going to eat lunch with T.J. at Cornell (they have AMAZING food) :) and then I'm going to run some errands for T.J. HIS BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! I'm excited for him!!! 24!!! WOWSERS!

Oh yes one more thing- I am officially cooking not only for T.J. but my landlords now :) HA! So I've been helping them out with watching their kiddos before school started and I did some cooking for them too. They have offered to pay me AND pay for the groceries that go into at least 4 meals a week (which will provide for me and T.J. too). This is a GREAT deal b/c all I have to do is double the recipe I'm making for T.J.! So funny!!

I'm off! The price is right is on and it's the showcase showdown! Can't miss that! ;)

SAHW

2009-09-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

brothers

this is where I fell- chin first into a rock :) then debbie sliced her toe open

Isn't as tall as the picture makes it look

Of course an album dedicated to all this beauty on facebook :)

Stay at home wife- that is my life right now :)

First of all I went to upload my last blog that I had written and somehow I deleted it!!! So frustrating b/c of course it was LONG and about Troy and Debbie being here and our crazy adventures at the waterfalls- falling and all but it is GONE :( so sad.

So I will upload some of the AMAZING pictures that we took, some our with Troy and Debbie and some are from when me and T.J. spent a day going to 2-3 different state parks and hiking our tails off! It started from T.J. wanting to be a hard core hiker at first (with the dogs and a tent) to ... "okaaay this is REALLY hard... maybe not" :) it IS tough- but so enjoyable as well.

My mom and James are coming in less then a month YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY :) so weather permitting hopefully we can show them some of the beautiful falls.

So as I still don't have a job I am living the "stay at home wife" life right now and though it IS NICE at sometimes- I have to keep things on my list to do or I will go crazy. I REALLY do want to find a job for #1 money :) and #2 meeting peolpe and #3 keeping my sanity!!! I can't believe I haven't WORKED in a month now! I did babysit for our landlords last week so that was nice (and will again tomorrow)

T.J. is at school right now and I'm about to go up there to eat lunch with him- yes Cornell has school on Labor Day- NOT COOL, even though we all know T.J. would be up there working on Labor Day anyways.... can't stop thinking about our family and friends today- we wish we were there in OK!!!

T.J.'s first day of school

2009-08-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

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!!