Update

Sometimes, it's hard to find time to post what's been going on in our lives, we are so busy!!! But, guess what...we have only two weeks left of school and then we have a break (for a few weeks). Right now Bill is working hard on learning his songs (on the tuba of course). In August he is going to audition for the Army band. I am so looking forward to that! He has worked very hard on his music, and I'm ready for it to pay off. He'll audition in August, and if everything goes well he'll join the Army next January. I am staying busy as well, I have had to write so many papers this semester and it's almost over; I only have 4 papers left! One of which seems really fun, it's a research proposal. I have to create a study and write about how I would conduct it. I'm studying the effects of after school programs on children through adulthood. I know, not the most interesting topic, but it's interesting to me and it pertains to my future profession! I guess that's about it. Enjoy the pictures
When we leave Maggie usually watches us walk away. It's really cute and sad at the same time!

Bill about to ride his bike through the snow. This was taken in January, I just haven't been able to upload it! I have a white mask that I wore everyday! People said we looked freaky...I don't care, at least we were warm!!

Sometimes I find Maggie asleep in the oddest positions. Weird cat.

During spring break Bill built this for Maggie. Can you say AWESOME!! Yeah, I know, Bill's pretty amazing. He had a dream about a "tree house" for the cat and just went to work. It is over 6 ft tall and barely fits in the door. Maggie loves it, she runs/climbs/jumps all over it!

My Aunt Pam

Well, my Aunt is finally pain free. She passed away on February 23, 2010. The night before her passing my mom told me Aunt Pam kept trying to get out of bed and go find Jesus; I thought that was really sweet..she knew who she was meeting and she was ready to go. Her funeral was a very nice service. I was able to keep myself together; knowing where she is helped me a lot. I have no doubt in my mind that we will be reunited one day. I played the piano for her in the middle of the service; it was an arrangement of Be Still My Soul by Jeff Bjorck. Wow, what a peaceful song! I felt the Holy Ghost surround me when my fingers hit the piano. That particular hymn has special meaning to me and I felt that everyone attending the funeral needed to feel how I felt. Heavenly Father has a plan, a plan for each and everyone of us; our job is to be still and know that God is in control. "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain." What beautiful words to hold in our hearts.

Anyway, this song meant so much to me, so I wanted to dedicate it to my beautiful Aunt Pam and my family (her parents and sisters). They had no control over what happened, but what they do have is the promise that God will always be with them to provide comfort and peace.

What I want..

I guess this happens when most of your friends are married...they start having babies. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. BABIES. HA, is there something wrong with me? I think my husband thinks so... It just seems like the season for babies..ha ha. I really want to be a mommy, but this little thing called COLLEGE (YOU MUST GET YOUR DEGREE FIRST!!!) keeps ringing in the back of my head... If I would have had everything figured out in the beginning of my college career, I would be graduating in less than three months. But INSTEAD I had to be lost in translation and unsure about what I wanted to do with my life.

Funny thing happened in church today, (amongst all of these baby thoughts) a lady came up to me and asked me when I was due...I was thinking to myself, man do I look that fat (and wait, can she read my mind)?!?!?!?!?!?! I sure hope not!!! She's the 2nd person from her family to congratulate Bill and me, so we think they were miss informed by someone!!!!

Bill and I had a wonderful Valentine's this weekend!!! I'll add pictures soon....Now, I must get back to studying for the two exams that I have tomorrow. :)

OUCH

So, the roads/sidewalks were pretty bad in some areas of my bike ride this morning. I fell TWICE. First I rode over a thick patch of frozen snow...I couldn't get around it, it was everywhere. So, I fell and I landed on my poor little knee, and yes I cried. Luckily Bill was there to help me up. The second time I hit a sheet of ice and the bike seriously slid right out from under me and I just stood up...Bill said it looked awesome. I'll take his word for it, I was terrified!!! The snow is pretty and all, but I'm ready for it to leave...it's getting in my way, it made me 4 minutes late to work. GRRR!!!
In other news, Bill went away this weekend to D.C. for a Tuba Conference. He had a blast and told me there are two tubas he MUST buy. We'll see... I'm so glad that he made it home safely, I guess Virginia got a lot of snow and the roads were pretty bad.

Rough morning

This morning I rode my bike to work, which isn't anything new...I did it all last year. But it was a little different this time because I went a lot further!!! I have a new job now, I'm working at the Tennessee 4-H office and I am VERY VERY excited!!! I love 4-H, so this is basically where I should be right now, working with the kiddies in the TN 4-H program!!! Anyway, back to the rough morning. I rode my bike, it was probably close to 2 miles in the freezing cold weather (it's about 27 degrees) I know it could be colder, but I lived in the south most of my life so it's REALLY cold to me! I huffed and puffed up the hills and managed to make it to work with 5 minutes to spare. Then I realized I lost my lock....AHH!!!!! Their are thieves on this campus, so I can't just leave my bike outside not locked up!!! So I walked back down the BIG hill and back up the BIG hill and found nothing. So I just took my bike up to the office. Then my really nice coworker took me in her car to go looking for it, and guess what!!!! I found it!! It was on the side of the road....somewhere between home and work...what a relief!!!! I was very excited, it would have thrown off my entire day. I would have had to go home drop off my bike and then walk back to campus to go to class... :)

Christmas time

Well this Christmas has been quite the adventure, in one week we traveled from Knoxville to Nashville stayed for a few days. Then drove down to south of Atlanta and stayed for a few days, then drove to south Georgia. Whew, oh but it doesn't end. After Christmas I went with my parents to Indiana. THAT'S A LOT OF DRIVING!!!!!! But, let me tell you..it was worth every second of it! I really enjoyed the time we had with our families.

Bill's family is so calm and easy going. I really just enjoyed the time of relaxation. At Bill's parents we got to see a really awesome Christmas light display. I cannot imagine sleeping at night with those lights...they were pretty though!

My family is always on the go. GO GO GO!!!! Not as relaxing, but I still enjoyed every minute with them. We enjoyed the feirce game of catch phrase...which I still clame the boys cheat. Seriously if you want to hear some people get crazy with a "screaming fest" over a game, just come to my house. I guess I could say we are slightly competative. (well, mostly just my dad and me) Mom just watches and laughs...Bill gets in on the fun too, mainly to irritate me...

In Indiana I got to spend some quality time with my Aunt Emily. She is a very strong woman. To have the ability to raise four chilren basically by yourself takes courage. She has so much love for her children, I hope they realize that! I also got to spend time with my Aunt Pam, she is also a very strong woman. Everyone can learn so much from her, she is fighting cancer right now and isn't garuanteed much more time. She has been my best friend since I can remember. Growing up we had tea parties, stayed up till who knows when, and took many trips. Wow, what a life she made! She has been an inspiration for me to always live life to the fullest. I am grateful for her love and involvement in my life.

My Aunt Pam and me.

Well, anyway, that's how Christmas was for us. Bill stayed home while I went to Indiana, so I really missed him! When I got home he suprised me with a dozen roses (my birthday was Dec 31st). What a sweetie!!! I love roses!!! Now, we're just getting ready for school to start (next week). Here are some pictures of our adventures!

I cut my hair.

My parents got a new puppy. Her name is Mona.

She fell asleep like this...so CUTE!!!

Maggie

Announcement:

It's official I am a mommy to the cutest kitten in the world. Yes, you read right, THE CUTEST KITTEN in the WORLD! Her name is Maggie and she is curled up on my blanket as we speak just purring away. My parents cat Jade had kittens and they saved us one! We got her last Friday. Saturday, Bill and I decided to give her a bath...well guess what we found, FLEAS! AHHH!!!I freaked out, seriously I handed her to Bill and left the room. I guess I'm a little terrified of those nasty bugs...anyway, Bill dried her off and we rushed to the pet store and got some intense flea killer. We gave her ANOTHER bath and then combed all the fleas away. SHE IS NOW FLEA FREE!!! YAY!!! We also sprayed our apartment to kill any unwanted fleas. WHEW!
Well, Maggie is so feisty. She likes to play fight all the time; she'll run away and then charge after you. Who thought a cat would be like that! It's so fun to play with her. We bought a laser and she runs after that thing like it's a mouse. SO FUNNY! Here are some pictures.



















































I was trying to study, but she kept sitting on my notes, and playing with me!




















Poor Maggie!

Halloween

I know it's been like a week since Halloween, but I'm slow at posting the happenings of our life!!! Anyway, I carved my first pumpkin this year!! It was sooo fun!! Well, Bill actually did most of the work, but I helped gut it! :) After we were done carving it, I roasted the seeds...MMM!!!!!! They were very yummy! Friday I dressed up as a Zombie! I got some of the craziest looks from people..but I also got lots of compliments! Halloween night we went to the football game with Bill's family. It was wet and cold, but the team did really well. The half time show was the BEST though!!! The Pride of the Southland is seriously the best band in the U.S. (just so you know, oh and Bill was a member of it for 3 years...so I have all the rights to BRAG!). Since the game landed on Halloween night the band did a Halloween show, and boy did they rock it! A few of the selections included This is Halloween from Nightmare Before Christmas, Jaws theme song, Thriller. They DANCED to thriller, how entertaining. They even wore just one glove!!! BAHAHAHA!! I loved it! The half time show turned my night from yucky to AWESOME...the cold wet weather just was not fun! Overall I had a really good Halloween!



















Me, zombiefied! :)














































































































The Power T!
















There goes the football team!






























BOO















Thriller!!!















JAWS!


















Last week I had an exam in every one of my classes. Whew, that was tough! I did pass all of my exams, though...and even A's on some of them!!! Wow, I KNOW! I am really enjoying my new major, it's such a blessing to actually enjoy what I'm doing. I actually look forward to going to class now. Bill's doing great in his classes, he just passed a test for Ear Training...he has one left and he'll be done with that class! He has been SOOO busy these days. He goes to class, then rides his bike to work, then comes home around 8...we eat dinner then go to bed. He gets no breaks. I try to help him out wherever I can, but he's just being pulled thin. I'm looking forward to our Thanksgiving break, we WILL relax!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, GUESS WHAT! We're getting a kitty!!!! I'm really excited!!! The closest I'll get to being a mommy for a while! ;) My parents cat just had a litter so my parents are giving us one! I can't wait to see it!!!!!

Cades Cove and stuff

Last weekend Bill and I went to a place in the Smoky Mountains called Cade's Cove. It was so beautiful! The leaves were starting to change...the only problem was all of the people. It's tourist season here in East Tennessee, so everybody and their brother are headed to the Smokies. Here are a few pictures of our adventure










































This is a water chute..I thought the angle looked really neat!















Also, yesterday, Bill's good friend, Eric, left for boot camp. He joined the Army, and when he's done with boot camp he'll be in the Army Band (which is what Bill's going to do when he graduates). We got to spend a little time with Eric the night before, but we're really going to miss him!















We made him some brownies!















One more update! Monday Bill and I spoiled ourselves... For starters Bill took me to the most AMAZING place in the world. KRISPY KREME. I love this place, I never get it unless we get special gifts from my family. My grandma sent me five dollars to spend at Krispy Kreme, so we did just that!!




















My parents gave us a gift card for Olive Garden, so after our Krispy Kreme stop we went to Olive Garden. (We saved the doughnuts for dessert). We feasted on never ending soup and salad and seriously when finished we were sooo stuffed!!!!! It was very very yummy!!!






































Bill found something that looks really good! I think it was some kind of chocolate dessert...but remember we have doughnuts waiting for us!!!!!!!

We have enjoyed our little breaks, but we're still going strong in school and looking forward to Christmas Break!!!

Date Night

A couple of weeks ago, Bill and I went to Pigeon Forge, a vacation hot spot here in Tennessee. We went to a place called WonderWorks, it looks like an upside down building!!! It's basically a place to be a kid!!! It's really interesting, there's scientific stuff and art stuff and interactive stuff too!! SO FUN! We also went to a dinner show called Hoot'n Holler; that was pretty funny!

This ride just looped around, but to make it move he had to pedal. It was so funny..when it started Bill barely moved, then the lady to him to pedal and he shot off!!

















This was the bubble section...so neat!!! I almost covered myself with this HUGE bubble!















Here's Bill playing a virtual game.
























Bill Lying on a bed of nails!














This is me dancing!!!














Bill and I have been very busy this fall! We're both going to school full time and working. We like getting away once in a while.
I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, my Aunt Pam wants to go to Dollywood which is just about 45 minutes from Knoxville... So I get to see my family!!! We weren't planning on seeing my family much this year, but luckily they're coming to us!! My Aunt Pam has cancer and we're not sure how much longer she'll be with us. She is a very special person to me and I pray constantly for time to spend with her. So, I really want Thanksgiving to HURRY up and get here so I can see her!

Change

Well, the day before classes started this semester I decided to change my major. Math is great and all, but it was causing way too much stress for me!!! If I wasn't stressed out I was depressed, because I couldn't excel in my math classes...I'm the type of person that really feeds off of excelling! If I'm failing constantly then I just want to give up. I guess you could say I gave up on math. My new major is SOOO much better. So, here is how I decided to choose a different major. I was planning out the next two years of my life and realized I would have to take a TON of HARD math classes so I just broke down and cried my eyes out, then Bill found me and tried to cheer me up. He's really good at that. He started talking to me about 4-H; I wanted to show him my portfolio from my senior year of high school...it contains all of the amazing things that I did in 4-H. Anyway, I went on for probably an hour on how I miss 4-H and how amazing the organization is. (mind you, without 4-H there would be NO Jennifer & Bill)
So the wheels in Bill's head started turning...He said to me, "Jennifer, since you have so much passion for this why don't you major in something that allows you to be a part of the program." That means Family and Consumer Science... I said "oh, that makes sense." So I decided I would look into it. I compared classes and the time frame... I'll get done with school in the same amount of time as is I would with math..so that's alright..I would have LESS stress...that's amazing! I would be able to do what I LOVE...that would just be PERFECT! So, I did what everyone should do before they make a huge decision, I prayed. Oh, boy did the tears just flow!!! I have a calling in life, and I feel it is to help the young people of this world.
UT doesn't have Family and Consumer Science degree, so my major is now Child and Family Studies.
Already I can feel a difference. I really enjoy my classes and I'm actually remembering what I learn!! What a relief. Oh, and I'm taking more hours than I ever have and I don't even notice the strain of more classes!! I'm taking 18 hours, (6 classes)..I could have never done that with math.

Visit to Georgia

I was able to visit my family these past two weeks, and boy did I have a blast! For starters I went to Savannah to see my sister Kristi. She took me to all the sights of downtown Savannah, we rode our bikes everywhere! I also got to experience crabbing; wow, let me tell you, it's some hard work!!! My entire body was sore after we were finished. We caught 4 crab and some shrimp. The work paid off, though, our meal was delicious!I didn't get any pictures with my parents, mostly because I forgot to bring my camera out. I had a great time with my parents though. I miss them so much now. School starts this Wednesday and I am not looking forward to it. I'm dreading all of the math classes I have to take. Weird, I know, since I am a math major. This major is just really kicking my butt. I hope I survive this semester.