A New Life

This Monday Andrew and I got to experience something that is indescribable. We were able to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time. What a true miracle it was!!! God is so amazing, and has blessed us so much. The heartbeat is nice and strong. The doctor says everything is going well and that we both look good. We are expected to find out the sex in mid-January. Speaking of heartbeat, my amazing brother has created a website for our family. The website is www.jamesfamilytree.org you should definitely check it out. He even posted the recording of our baby's heartbeat that we sent him via text on it!! What an amazing uncle he is!

Work is going well. Everyone has been very supportive and helpful since they have found out the great news. The boys are great, I really am getting to know them pretty well. Andrew is still loving his job.We just ask you to continue keeping him in your prayers as he wants to follow God's will for second job. I'm thinking of all of you and miss y'all very much. We love y'all! Hope all is well.

Just Sayin Hi

Well there really isn't anything new going on at the Rogers house. I just thought I would say that I was thinking about my friends and family and really miss y'all. Work is going great. I told them my news last week and they were extremely supportive. They told me to let them know anytime I don't feel well or if I get too tired. I was so relieved, so much pressure and stress just instantly lifted off of me. I'm feeling okay, everyday is a different day. I'm just praying that I only have a couple more weeks of the sickness and exhaustion since I'll be out of my first trimester then. Thank you everyone for your support and love that I have felt even across the country. We are really excited and thankful for such a wonderful gift from God. I hope to see and/or talk to y'all soon. We love you very much!!!

God is so Good!!!

Well with our new exciting news, we realized that having one car just wasn't going to cut it. But we also knew we couldn't afford another vehicle right now. We had been praying and praying for God to reveal His plan to us. With my new weird schedule we really knew we couldn't put it off for long. Well last week a very active member of our church randomly called Andrew. He had caught wind that we were looking for another car and he was in the making of buying a new car. Instead of trading it in, he gave us such an amazing gift. He is giving us his 2003 taurus for FREE!!! He won't let us give him a dime. How incredible is that!! NO words can properly express our gratitude for his family. I just wanted to share with y'all how amazing God is and no matter what He will ALWAYS provide. Love y'all!!

Prayers

Most of you might already know by now, but if you have not heard I please ask you to pray for the family of Mike Hale. You may or may not know him, he was my dad's life long best friend. He was an uncle to us our whole lives. He passed away this morning in a tragic car accident. He was just like a brother to my dad. I lift up everyone who had the privilege of knowing Michael Hale. He was truly an amazing man. He had so much life and always had a great energy about him. He is someone that will be truly be missed and never forgotten. It just doesn't seem fair. Why does a great man have to all of a sudden end his life and there are so many evil people out there who get to live???? Regardless, I ask for prayer because he left an amazing impression on any and every one who met him.

Great News!!

Well Andrew and I have some amazing news to share with y'all. We are officially pregnant!!!!! We are so excited. I'm not very far along though. I went to the doctor yesterday and they informed me I am only 5 weeks and 1 day (now 2 days) along. My due date is May 31st!!

I do ask a favor from you all, however. I have had a lot of pain in my stomach. On Saturday I went to the emergency room to make sure the baby was okay...and it is, praise the Lord! I just ask for prayer as this might be a rough pregnancy on me. But we are so thankful for this little miracle growing inside me!! I also have one more request. Please do not write anything on facebook about this as we are keeping it off due to my work. I am not going to tell my work until I have been there for 90 days. They can't fire me for being pregnant, but they can word around it if they like and I just don't want to give them that opportunity. I don't think I actually have informed y'all of my new job. I'm working at New England Center for Children. It's a school for autism kids. I'll be working with 16-22 year old boys. I'm really excited. I am still in hard core training and that alone is exhausting me. I truly feel I am back in college because I have had at least 1 test a day...last Thursday I had 5 tests!! I'm a little overwhelmed but am loving it!!

Anyway, thank you all in advance for all the love, prayers and support you have given to us. We love you and miss you very much!!!

Fabulous Week

I have had a really great birthday week. I came back from Texas after my adorable, healthy nephew was born. I had to work on Monday and had a job interview on Tuesday and was offered a job on this past Wednesday. I will be working for the New England Center for Children. This school is strictly for children with autism. It ranges from 3-22 years old. I am so excited. I officially start September 21st! They will train me in everything very extensively. I am also getting 5 weeks paid vacation with it! This has God's plan written all over it. Andrew and I feel very blessed for this opportunity! Thank you so much for everyone's prayers and concerns.

Then last night Andrew and I got a hotel room with a jacuzzi in the bedroom. I think I spent like 8 hours total in it lol. It was amazing!! Andrew kept asking me when I was going to get out, lol. It was the best birthday gift ever. It was a great get-away for the 2 of us.

I'm getting to know my softball team really well and members of the church so I am finally making my own friends up here. It takes forever because apparently new englanders are shut off to most people...shocking I know!! Anyway, I love you all very much and will talk to you soon!

Still Alive! :)

Hello everyone. I promise I am still alive up here in yankee land. Sorry it's been forever. I keep meaning to write and then I forget. Well not a whole lot has been going on except I think I've been lied to. I thought I moved to Massachusetts....but apparently it was Seattle. It has been raining like no other all summer. We literally just had one week where there wasn't at least one storm going through. On the bright side everything is super green.

I'm still playing in a softball league and I"m loving it. I'm really starting to get to know my teammates and they're awesome....and it helps we're really good lol. We're ranked 1st out of like 40 teams right now!!! We spent all day at Six Flags which was fun. Spent the whole day with his cousins and sisters. I am so exhausted but it was well worth it.

Andrew's been very busy changing up the children's ministry and hopefully kicking it off labor day weekend. He is truly loving his job and its really awesome to see. I, on the other hand, hate my job but I don't wanna complain too much because it is still a job. So I do feel blessed for that.

Well I really hope to see everyone in a couple of weeks. I'll be down on August 20th....to celebrate the birth of my new nephew. I hope everyone is doing great adn love y'all very much and miss you!!!!!

What a weekend...

We had a really good 4th of July weekend. We started it off by taking the boys to a place called Davis Farmland. They had all types of farm animals that you could feed there and a decent size water park for young kids. They absolutely loved it. We went with a family we met at church which have kids around the age of the boys. They then cooked out for us and had a great time just relaxing at the table (it was just so rough to eat steak lol.



Then on Saturday we went to Maine to visit his oldest sister. This is just a picture we took about 7 or 8 minutes from their house. It was so beautiful. Raider had a blast swimming and playing fetch with a stick. It was a really nice and relaxing day....but driving home was anything but. We had just crossed over the Maine/New Hampshire border when a car all of a sudden got right behind us and put his brights on. So Andrew got over a lane to let them just go by us. Well that car got behind us again, so Andrew tapped his brakes to try and get his attention. We had no idea what this guy was doing. Well the guy speed up and got in front of us. He was going about 75-80 mph and within 2 seconds we were down to 15 mph on the interstate!! I don't know how (except by the grace of God) did we not have an accident either from the front or the back. So that guy speeds up again and does the exact same thing AGAIN! This time I was able to look in the backseat (as it was like 9:00 at night at this point) and saw 2 kids. I was like are you serious?!?! So I called 911 immediately and told them everything so they transferred me to the state tropopers and got all the information we could give them. So we just pray the law handled it. Those poor kids!!


Anyway so we made it home safe and sound. Yesterday the church had a special service just for Andrew. His sisters' and cousin and parents came. They called it 'installing' him into the church. He had to teach a lesson in front of the congregation for kids and then sing a song that basically told the congregation what his mission for the church was. And then the pastor gave him like 5 presents. It was really awesome. We ended it perfectly...by having a huge cookout of course!!! It was really nice to see how awesome the church supports Andrew and his own family as well. Well I'm pretty sure that's it. I miss y'all and love you very much!!

Anniversary...

Thank you all who wished us a happy 1st anniversay. We really appreciated it! We had a very nice, relaxing anniversary. We had plans to go canoeing and just be outdoors but things come up and changed our plans for us...or just put our plans on hold I should say. We ended up just relaxing all weekend and having fun. We watched movies on Saturday together and Sunday after church we grilled out with a TON of food...I just hated to eat so much lol. Then we danced to the song Andrew sang for me and the song we had our first dance too. Andrew thinks we should do that every year on our anniversary...I was like that is really sweet! We ended the day by taking a really long, peaceful walk. We had a really great day overall.

Andrew is really enjoying his job. It's so refreshing to see him happy and so passionate again! I'm not really loving my job but at least it is a job so I am thankful.

For any of you who didn't get the email from Jodie, please pray for Joylynn. She's having/had some tests done within the next week or so. We just lift her up to the Lord! Well I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing. Love you all very much!

It was good..

We had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Andrew started work last Wednesday and has fallen in love with his position. Everyone at the church is so awesome and very willing to help out with anything needed. Friday night Stacy and her dog Dixie came over and stayed the night with us. We had a good time catching up. On Saturday we went to go see THe Proposal. I was kind of disappointed. They had a great idea and awesome actors and the ending just kind of flopped. Oh well, we still enjoyed it. Then Saturday night we went out and celebrated Andrew and his sister Jen getting a new job. She is going to be teaching first grade next year as an official teacher. She is beyond excited!! Sunday we went to church and just observed how everything operates right now and talked with all the volunteers. I guess it doesn't matter how they run things because after Andrew gets done with all his plans it'll look like a completely different church lol (which they're all awesome changes)!! Then we went to Will's bday party who turned 6 on Friday. We had a half bday party half Father's day celebration with the entire family. It was nice...except for the weather. It's literally been raining since last Wednesday I believe...ugh!! OH well, everything looks exceptionally green and beautiful so that's a plus! I think even Raider's getting tired of the rain because he can't enjoy his yard to go run and play in. I think that's about it for now. We love y'all very much and miss you! Hope everyone is doing great!

Awesome news...

Andrew finally got the children's pastor position and officially started today! I can't believe it has taken this long but God had a plan! We are so thankful for everyone's prayers. We love you all very much! It's just a huge weight lifted off of us! Praise God!!! Love y'all!!


(Sorry not much to talk about besides that)!!

I know...I know

It has been a tiny too long since my last entry. Yes I am alive I promise...we all are and are doing well. Let's see...it feels like we've been busy. I don't remember if I wrote this before or not but I joined a softball team up here. We're so far 4-0!! Our last game we won 16-1...it was a blast lol and they finally gave me a chance at 3rd, it was awesome even though I didn't get a ball.

I just got back from a Women of Faith conference in Connecticut. It was truly amazing. There's this lady that has 2 masters degrees and is a psychologist. Just from listening to her talk a couple of different times, I feel like I was in a personal session with her lol. I truly learned a lot about myself this weekend which was amazing.

Andrew had an interview this past week with another company so we're crossing our fingers on that. The final vote is tonight at 6. So assuming everything goes as expected, he'll be employed by the end of the night PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! Thank you all so much for your prayers. We really appreciate all of them.

Well I finally went to my 1st Red Sox game. I'm not gonna lie for the first 7 innings I was disappointed because of how much people talked up the fans. My expectations were set really high and I didn't get it. Well apparently that was because Lester had a no-hitter against the Rangers going into the 7th inning. After Michael Young had a hit everyone changed drastically. It was hilarious how different it became. It was really hard to root for the Rangers when they were getting their butts kicked but nonetheless I had a great time. As you can see I go a lot of confused from the shirt and the hat lol. Well that's really about it with us for now. We miss you all very much and love you!!!

Weekend

Well even though there has been a death in the family, we've had a pretty good weekend considering. Friday night we got home from work and was cleaning up fast as we had plans. The next thing we knew the grandma that lives underneath us was knocking at our door. Her husband had a heart attack the night before and she drove him to the hospital. Well she came back and locked herself out. So Andrew and I were doing everything we could to get her back in. This 90 year old woman said to us, "well I guess I could just stay outside until my son gets home"...we were like yeah not likely. Luckily Andrew found an open window in the bathroom so we were able to get her in lol. Then we went over to the pastor's house (the one Andrew is applying for) and had supper with him and his wife as well as the youth pastor and he wife. It was very nice and relaxing. I hadn't felt that comfortable in quite a while around a pastor. It really was awesome. He did his seminary at southwestern in Ft. Worth and she went to school at UNT...no wonder I liked them lol. They just really liked Andrew and are really pulling for him.

We spent all day yesterday at Andrew's parents' house as his all his sisters were in town for the oldest sister birthday. It was nice and relaxing! Then took Raider to the lake to swim for a little while and found 8 ticks on the both of us...it was ridiculous! Anyway, hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend and love y'all very much!!

Prayer

I ask you all to please pray for Andrew and his family as we have had a member pass away. Andrew's grandma who has been very ill for some time passed away late last night. It was Andrew's dad's mother. She is much better now and everyone realizes that but nonetheless it is still hard to say goodbye. Thank you all very much and love y'all!!!!!

Spring!

Wow okay I didn't realize it had been a while since I have last written. Well to start off, I can't explain how beautiful it is up here in the spring. I drive the same roads every day to and from work and it truly looks compeltely different...and I actually got lost for a second because it looked so differently! There's all shades of green (which we all know I hate that color lol), it's just so beautiful!

This past weekend Andrew's dad bought us our own flowers, soil, boxes for them and tomato plants! So I finally get to grow my own tomatoes! You have no idea how excited I am...Andrew hasn't figured that out yet lol.

Well Andrew taught Sunday school yesterday at the church he's been interviewing at. Then had a luncheon for us to get to know us. It ended up being a grilling session as one member decided to hit him with some hard core theological questions. It got so heavy that the preacher was like okay someone else can ask questions now. Nothing Andrew said was good enough for him. I felt really bad for him. I was like better you than me lol.

So we've been staying at my co-workers house the past couple of nights the one that has 17 dogs, 1 pig, 3 horses and a cat. It is so disgusting. We're like when can we stay at our place?!?!?!?

We just got back last week from the best vacation ever...I got to spend a couple of days with my family and nephew! It was perfect. I was like awww...the sun! Thank you!! It was an incredible trip though seriously. Okay I will talk to you soon, love you all so much!!

Still going...

Hey everyone, I just realized it's been a while since my last entry. I apologize for that. Well Andrew has had another interview. This time with the entire staff of 4! It's funny to us since we came from a church employeed with over 100! So it's the complete other extreme! It went really well. We just got a call yesterday informing us that the church wants him to come teach children's church in 2 weeks...but still no talk about a job offer yet. It's just a very long process!!

We had invisible fence installed and Raider has now had 2 sessions. He pretty much is acting as if we're torturing him. He is the biggest baby ever. The package we bought has 4 sessions from a trainer to teach him how to use it. And even the trainer is lauging at how big of a winnie he is lol! But it's going great!

Went to my co-worker's house this past weekend. We'll be house/dog/horse/pig sitting in 2 weeks so they wanted to show us around. This is the one that has 17 dogs. I'm like this is seriously nuts! So I'll feel like we'll be running some type of circus, lol.

So I was tortured myself yesterday. I was dragged to see X-Men...talk about pure boredom!! But whatever. We decided to invite my in-laws to it so we'll stay on their good side. Well I gotta run but hope to hear from y'all soon...I love you!!

No more Sadie

Well this weekend we gave our new dog up. We were really struggling whether or not to keep her. We were getting really attached but all y'all who know Raider knows how much of an only dog he is and he started acting up because he wasn't getting all the attention. We found this home where this 8 year old girl was going to keep her as her own which will give her some responsbility.

Andrew still hasn't heard anything else from the church. We're just going day to day. It's pretty difficult on him.

It felt really weird not being there for the reunion. I'm glad things went well, I thought they might fall apart since we weren't there, lol! We've actually been pretty boring all week. Oh but I did see a movie for the first time that I've heard was just a classic..."The Godfather" (only the 1st so far though). I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

Invisible fence is going in the week so no more scares from Raider thank goodness!! That's good news. Well that's about it. I can't wait to see y'all again!! I love you and miss you like crazy!!

Good News..

Well Andrew had his 3rd interview with the same church yesterday. He was taken out to eat by the head pastor. It went really well, but with it being a baptist church up here it's still going to be a little while before a decision is made. So thank you all for your prayers. It's coming to an end one way or another finally. Andrew's just been very down lately because he doesn't feel worthwhile about anything because he's not working.

I hope everyone had a great Easter! We went up to Maine to visit his oldest sister and husband. It was very relaxing and low-key. It was really nice. It was the first time that his entire immediate family was all together on a holiday. It felt very weird not being home but it was the next best thing.

Sadie's leg has healed up very nicely and fairly quickly. Even the vet is surprised to see how quickly. She is getting long amazingly with Raider. They are really funny to watch together.

I did something yesterday for the very first time at work...I drew blood from a dog from the jugular (or however you spell it lol). I was the one who actually inserted the needle and took about 4 inches high of blood. It was really an awesome feeling!! It was neat because the other 2 vet techs and the actual vet stopped what they were doing (didn't answer calls or anything) and all took the time for me to actually learn how. I felt really special!

Well I joined a softball team up here. We start in a couple of weeks. I am really excited about that. It's from May-September. I'm like heck yeah. And apparently the head coach is a christian which is basically extremely rare up here. God is defintely looking out for me! :)

Well I miss you all so much. I'm ready to come back! I love you and look forward to hearing from y'all!!!

Fun times

Well we had a pretty good weekend. His sisters and some cousins went with us to a bouncy house type of thing. We played for like 2 hours and were completely exhausted. It was a lot of fun. They had an oversized basketball with a huge net and I had to school some of his family members lol. I had to show my amazing blocking out technique. I might have injured one or two but hey no pain no gain!!! Then they came over and hung out until about 1 in the morning. I was like okay guys you have got to go home!!! We went to see his dad's mom yesterday morning. She is truly losing her mind so it was really hard to see her like that for them. Then it was Austin's birthday yesterday so there was a big party for him turning 3. He was hilarious! His dad (who is the cop) bought him a cop outfit with a belt and everything. He decided that everyone should be in handcuffs!

Well Sadie is doing so much better. She had a very invasive leg surgery on Wednesday. I actually was able to assist in the surgery by literally holding onto the bone as he drove the screw into it. I learned a lot so that was pretty cool.

We still haven't heard anything about Andrew's interview which we're really not that surprised about. I'm starting to get frustrated with this church. I understand taking a while to find the right person but do they not understand how crucial this position is for children?!?!?!? Anyway, I ask that y'all continue to keep him in your prayers. He is really getting frustrated. Well I'll talk to you soon...love you all so much!!

New...

Well I think we have adopted a new dog this weekend. She is really sweet and she's a terrior. I really didn't think that word would ever describe a terrior but she really is a great dog. She's only 5 months old and her previous owners wanted to keep her medicated for life because she was too hyper. We told them no so they decided to put her down. I was like you have got to be kidding so we're trying her out. She listens very well and loves to cuddle. She is really adorable! She is a lot like Raider though. We left for a little bit Saturday and left the window open in the extra bedroom (with the screen still in tact) and she jumped out from the second floor. So now we're seeing if its broken when I'm at work today...I was like awesome. I have another genuis dog lol!

Andrew had his second interview with the church this past weekend with 4 new people. After an hour and a half, he feels like it was a success. We should hear something this week if he is still a contestant or not for the position. Thank you all who have been praying for us. We really apprciate it!

His youngest sister, Sarah, got her license this weekend. She is really excited so we just had to go out and celebrate lol. We went to as good as mexican food that you can expect up here. Not too bad though (or maybe I'm just settling...I can't tell yet). I guess that is about it. I love y'all and look forward to hearing from you again!!

Exhausted...

Well I had a decent weekend, pretty tired from yesterday though. Friday had supper with his parents (they conned me by grilling steak lol). Then Saturday we ran, and then ran some errands. Then the boys came and stayed the night. We took them to church with us to meet his dad then came back to the apartment. I ran almost 3 miles...crazy I know right lol. But I have to say this, my family will get a kick out of this. We were in the middle of the run and I HAD to go to the bathroom. There was no holding it at that point. Andrew didn't know anyone who lived nearby so I was like well there is only one thing to do. I went and knocked on some random person's house and they actually let me in to go to the bathroom!!!! I was like THANK YOU...THERE'S AT LEAST ONE NICE PERSON IN NEW ENGLAND!!! Well that is pretty much it for now...I love y'all!!

Scared Us...

Last night Andrew and I had a pretty good scare. Raider got hit by a suburban going around 40 m.p.h. The car hit him right in the head and was so hard it spinned him around in a full circle 3 times! The amazing part is that the only thing wrong with him is he will be really sore for a while! He didn't have any broken bones or anything!!!! God is truly amazing! We were so thankful and in complete shock! So needless to say he's been getting very spoiled since the accident. Poor guy won't even stand up, he just lays there because he is so exhausted. So we had a great night last night (not the sarcasm)!

Oh I have some good news about Andrew though. The church called back and he has an interview next week. We are so excited. They really like him but they feel obligated to give the other candidates a chance (complete waste of their time if you ask me lol)! I had a great time on Tuesday. I mean really how could you not on St. Patrick's Day??? All the green you could ever want and if someone doesn't wear it you get to pinch them!!! What an awesome day that was lol!!! Well I'll write more later, love you all and truly miss you like crazy!!

Check out our pad...

Hey everyone! Here is a link for a video of our new apartment. [ Click Here ] It might take several minutes to upload so please don't think there is something wrong with your computer. Also don't be fooled, even though Andrew is in shorts and short-sleeve and I'm only wearing 3 layers...it got up to high 40's this afternoon!I hope you enjoy it. For mom and Courtney maybe you can go to Anita's house or something to watch it since we all know you won't be able to watch it otherwise. Well our friend Matt from Texas came up and spent his spring break with us this past week. We had a lot of fun. It felt really good to have part of Texas up here.

We're watching the boys about 3 days a week now which is fun and exhausting! They just seem to be cuter and cuter...just like my nephew!! Last night we went out to celebrate Andrew's dad's and brother-in-law birthday. They wanted to eat steak so I convinced them to eat at Texas Roadhouse!! It was amazing...I was so excited. It was so good!! Let's see. I really don't think anything else is going on. We've been pretty boring. I miss y'all so much and can't wait to see y'all. Hope everyone is doing well and look forward to hearing from y'all!!!!

Shoveling...

Well last Monday we had a snow storm that was over a foot. It was crazy. Our clinic was closed down. I really wasn't aware that they actually closed businesses for snow. So since I had the day off we decided to shovel our way out. We have a very tiny porch and a stairway but took us forever. I used muscled I never knew I even had before. I was like holy crap this is exhausting. We ended up going over to his parents' house and shovel their driveway. Their driveway is about 1/4 the distance of my parents and with 2 people shoveling it took over an hour. Needless to say I was flat out exhausted after that. Then we watched the 2 little boys 3 times this past week. We had a gift card to Chilis so we took the boys with us. Austin (the youngest who is the boy in the picture) was SO hungry and he ate a few bites of his food then looked up and looked awful. I was like please do not throw up. Within seconds that little boy was completely passed out on the table. It was so adorable. Then on Friday their dad asked us if they could stay the night because the boys were really wanting to. I couldn't say no to that even though we already knew Stacy and her dog would be staying the night that night. So in a 800 sq foot apartment we had 3 adults, 2 dogs and 2 little boys...lol, very interesting!! We had a great time though. The boys dad treated us to bbq that night and I ordered okra. When it arrived Austin said why did you order rocks?! I was like oh if my family heard that lol!!!

Andrew and I are really happy right now. Our really good friend from church/school who stayed the night with us most Saturday nights flew in yesterday to spend the week with us. It feels like I'm in Texas again a little!

Today we went outside and played tennis and I only wore a short-sleeved shirt with a fleece pullover. I was so proud of myself (not to mention everyone else was in shorts lol)! Well I miss you all so very much! Hope you're all doing well...love you!

Pretty Cool...

Well Friday at work I was trained on something I had never done before. I actually cleaned a dog's mouth! I know that probably sounds a little odd to be excited about, but it was really interesting. I had to watch several different machines to monitor the heart beat (hoping it stayed regular) as well as the breathing. It's hard to explain but I truly enjoyed it. I guess they had a lot of faith in me because they left me alone in the room for over half the procedure.

Well yesterday I was sort of expected to go to a luncheon with the women of his family. It was the first time I had gone on a women only fiasco, if you will. It was definitely interesting to say the least. It definitely made me miss the women in my family a ton!!!

So I did something completely out of my normal range today. I ran in the snow! I know it's crazy right?!?! LOL! We are expecting to get 5-8 inches tonight and another 5-8 inches tomorrow night! It is going to be beautiful once it's all done. Oh speaking of snow I had to kind of put my father-in-law in his place (or something like that). He was telling me about the storms coming and his wife works on the way to my work. So he told me that he'd take me to work in the morning due to the snow. I had to quickly inform him that we were more than capable of getting myself to work. I know his heart was in the right place but to be honest it kind of erked me. I was thinking I know I am new up here but that doesn't mean I'm handicapped. I love figuring things out on my own, ya know? It's my mother's fault for encouraging the indepedence and strong will so long ago in me...so thanks mom for that!!! LOL!

Andrew received a phone call today from the church he interviewed at a couple of weeks ago. The man who called him was in charge of the hiring committee and he basically just told him that he'd probably get a phone call within the next week or two for a more formal interview. The informal one he had was very successful and they really liked him. So at least we know that they are still heavily considering him. We're just continuing praying that we follow God's will.

I don't know if you have heard of Josh Hamilton but he plays baseball for the Texas Rangers. We watched an hour interview of him and his life. It was so inspiring to see a man who had fallen on his face going as far to the MLB and giving all the credit to God. It was truly a wonderful testimony to watch on television. Well I hope to hear from y'all soon. I love y'all!!

Our own rythem

Well we are finally starting to get into somewhat of a regular schedule. It sure does help with the process that is defintely for sure. At work today, we had a new client that moved up here from Alabama. Granted it's not Texas but is definitely a southern state. She told me that since I'll have her number at the clinic that I should call her just to talk about southern things lol. I was like I love it!!

So I wanted to mention a crazy surgery that happened last week at work. The doctor removed an 8 pound tumor from a dog that was connected to one ovary. It took up the entire stomach. I could not believe how gigantic it was! Speaking of work a co-worker asked me if we had punch buggie stores in Texas. I said are you referring to slug-bugs...meaning beatles? She was like yeah. I informed her that yes even in Texas we had beatle dealerships. People really do believe what they hear about us southerners....CRAZY!!!!

We watched Andrew's cousin's 2 little boys last night for a couple of house. They are the ones who's mom just decided to leave them and is in the process of divorcing their dad. Well we tried to give them a night of fun and I'm pretty sure we succeed. We started off with rock band and they were completely jamming out on the drums. Then we put in spiderman the movie. They decided they both should be spiderman and tried to catch Raider with their "webs" lol. Then their dad stopped by to visit (as he is a cop in our town) and when he was leaving Austin (the 3 year old) started crying and said please take me to see mommy. Apparently he cries himself to sleep a lot because he misses his mom. I almost started to cry it was so upsetting to see first hand. But then Raider came to save the day and basically tackled him with kisses...gotta love dogs!!! Well I miss y'all like crazy!!

Finally...

We are finally settled in our apartment!!! Heck yeah! It's incredible. We are so happy and feel so blessed. We are not taking the obvious gifts for granted anymore. Tonight is the first night since we've moved that the 3 of u (Andrew, me and Raider) have been by ourselves. It's a little weird lol. We've always had another dog or someone else with us. It is definitely an amazing feeling!!!

So I really like my job but I have found one MAJOR problem with it. I work really close to a city called Worcester (pronounced Wisster...I know weird!!). Well they have a very distinguished accent that is very difficult to understand if you're not used to it. Well we have a lot of clients that are from there. They call to set up appointments and I have to look them up on the computer. The problem is that is can't understand a word they are saying!! SERIOUSLY! I have them re-spell their names like 3 or 4 times and they start getting very annoyed with me and I'm telling them they're not in ou system. It's crazy.

Oh yeah...I know all my family members will for sure laugh at this. Get this...Andrew has NEVER had to wash dishes by hand before. Well this is the first time that he has lived where he didn't have a dishwasher. He told me that and I was just floored. I was like well welcome to the real world buddy!! Get used to using a towel to dry those dishes. Isn't that insane! So now he's learning what I learned very young lol!!! Bless his heart! Well I love you all very much!!!!

One for the Books....

So y'all should get a kick out of this. We moved in yesterday (yeah amazing news I know right?!?!?) but when we start to unload everything guess what happens??? IT STARTS SNOWING! I know it's one thing to have to wipe down everything when you bring stuff in from the rain...but from snow???? That is definitely one for the books!! We are getting a little more settled in. I really like it. It's awesome not living out of our suitcases for a change!! It's incredible!

So we could still use a lot of prayer for Andrew's possible job. We haven't heard anything since his first interview but we knew it'd take a while to hear something.

Work is going well. I really like it. The girl I replaced apparently didn't do crap so the more I do the more amazing I look in everyone else's eyes!! It's a win-win for me! LOL. Well I need to go finish unpacking. I love you all so much!!!!

More news...

Hey everyone!! Well first of all Andrew's interview went extremely well. We feel that they didn't take him very seriously at first due to his age but once they found out what all he did at IBC the mood of the interview changed instantly!!! They really liked him, but they did say it'd probably be a couple of weeks before we heard anything for another interview with the board.

So....we finally have an address of our own. We won't live there until Wednesday but if any of you wanted to send a letter, restaurant gift cards, gas gift cards, a package of any sort you would know where to send it to lol!!! Okay the address is 191 B SOUTH ST. NORTHBOROUGH, MA 01532. We are so excited and ready!It's amazing what all we take for granted. Oh did I mention it's 2 bedroom so anyone who wanted to come visit us has their own room finally (hint-hint)!! I miss you all so much!

Oh yeah, it was Andrew's sister's birthday yesterday so went to a mexican restaurant. I wasn't too excited about it because I know what actual mexican food should taste like and I highly doubted it would even come close. Well I was wrong and I am so glad! We had to drive like 20 minutes out in the middle of nowhere to find it but we did dang it! It was owned by real mexicans. Evidently his family had no idea what anything was on the menu (inculding fajitas!!) so Andrew and I were doing our best how to describe it. Andrew told them to start off with a fajita because in a way it's the simplest and you can build your own. Well I was the only one who ordered it and as soon as mine arrived literally everyone just stopped and starred. Both of his parents said dang I should have ordered that!! I was like heck yeah you should have. A real Texan knows how to order mexican food!! LOL! Love you all and Happy Valentines Day!

My New JOB!!!

Yeah I finally have a job as a vet. It's completely different from working with Doc. The biggest difference is the technology that is used at this clinic. We do all the blood work here, plus x-rays, plus all different types of gas for surgeries including a device to detect the heart beat and breaths. Its insane!!! LOL! I was floored at how much more they do there. Apparently the technicians are really the vets because they are the ones to draw all the blood, run the tests, draw up all the medications (including for anesthesia...meaning doing the calculations for each individual animal...the vet does NOT do it at all), and do the dentals on the animals...its so crazy!! I am totally overwhelmed but I really like it. The vet is from China and is very hard to understand. His procedures are VERY different from Doc's...which is a huge understatement.

Good news...Andrew has an interview tomorrow night with a church. We are so excited. It's the one I talked about before. So keep your fingers crossed!! Thank you for everyone's prayers so far...it is truly appreciated!

Also...we get to move into our apartment next Wednesday. You have no idea how excited we are! I have never wanted my own space so badly as now lol. God's timing is amazing though (not that I should be surprised)!! Well I miss you all and love you very much!!!

About time...yeah!!!

I have amazing news! I finally got a job! I am really excited. I'll be working for a vet again. Isn't that funny?!?!? There would have been no way for me to get this job unless I had experience with working at doc's office. Isn't is awesome how God works in your life?! I start on Monday. I'm so ready to get into a set schedule...finally!!! So we (of course) had to go to Olive Garden last night to celebrate...basically because we had a gift card left over from Christmas lol. Well we got there and Stacy knows the GM really well. So he just came over and talked with us basically the entire time. Then he "took care of" our bill and even brought me a bottle of the salad dressing that I love so much for free!!! It was an amazing day yesterday let me tell you. And I still have my Olive Garden gift card!!! AMAZING!!!!!!

Andrew is really bummed that we haven't heard anything from that one church. Please keep him in your prayers as we find what God has in store for him. Love you all very much!!!

Trucks...?!?!?!?

Well now I believe I have seen it all! Yesterday we were in Northborough helping his sister get her books for college and then taking her to class. Well when we got back we drove by a "field" with a bunch of snow that had 2 trucks and 2 four-wheelers out there. I thought that was odd but was like whatever. Then Andrew said, you know that's a lake right?! I was like what the heck are trucks doing on top of a lake? They were plowing the lake!! Is not that not weird to anybody else? I truly believe now for certain that New Englander's do not have any common sense, lol. He said they plow sometimes to either make ice skating rinks or just for 4-wheelers to play on. If I had a plow, I wouldn't be so nice for 4-wheelers just to have fun on, maybe I'm just mean like that.

Well it's snowing here again today. It's been dry for about a week now. I didn't know that the weather had clear skies that long EVER up here!! We're expecting 3-6 inches by noon and then it's suppose to start raining. The weather up here is so weird, it just changes all the time.

Oh yeah, I was so excited the other day. As many of you know, Raider often injures me instead of Andrew (i.e. the huge bump on my head, bloody lips quite often, black eyes, etc.), well not this time!! A few days ago Andrew and I were playing around. Raider thought he was hurting me so he went to stop him. He ended up biting him, not breaking skin or anything, just enough to get his attention. Well the next day, Andrew had a huge bruise on him arm with a little tiny tooth imprint in the middle!! I know it's not much but I was laughing so hard!! I was like FINALLY!! Well that's all I have for now, talk to y'all soon...love y'all so much!!!!!!

Chruch

Well Andrew and I went to church yesterday morning for the first time since we've been up here. We tried going last week to the one that Andrew has that pending job for but they canceled due to the amount of snow. Anyway, there is this cute, tiny little church about a block away from Stacy's house so we decided to go to it. It started at 10 and we left while it was still going on at 12:45. I was like you have got to be kidding me. The worst part was since the church was so small, they had a VERY small parking lot where people doubled up. Needless to say we were blocked in!!! I was like man this church keeps getting better and better. So we had to walk back to Stacy's in the freezing cold and had to go pick up our car later. I guess there's no need in saying this but just to make sure y'all understand...we are not going back there again!! LOL!! My butt was so tired!!

Anyway, that's what the exciting thing that's been going on with us, sad I know. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we find land the job that God has planned for us. We love y'all very much!!

Driving...ahhhhh!!

Well I have done it! I have officially driven in a snow storm. It's crazy. Yes I totally freaked out every time I slid out even a tiny bit!! It was beautiful but I was amazed at how sore you get because you're so stiff and uptight then entire time you're driving lol.

Well I'm disappointed to say I didn't get the job I was hoping for. I didn't have enough medical knowledge as the company wanted. I'm bummed but realize God obviously has something completely different in store for me. There is still a hope for Andrew. The church is meeting tomorrow to specifically talk about him...so everyone please pray for him. We are really wanting to follow God but we don't know where He is leading us at the moment.

Apparently God does have a sense of humor because apparently this weekend it's suppose to get as low as -15!!! That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. Anyway not much else is going on yet, will write back when there is more. Love you all!!

Freezing (literally) cold!!

Well I have experienced my first below zero weather and I'm not gonna lie....it really sucked. I can't even begin to explain how cold it is. It was miserable for real. You could put on as many layers as you could possibly think of and it didn't matter at all. What I couldn't figure out was how the stupid yankees were all out in the weather. I was like you are all freaking idiots!! I was amazed at how ridiculous they are. Then it snowed so if you weren't careful you'd be walking on snow and slip and fall because there was ice underneath it....another reason so just stay inside!!

Well I had my 3rd interview with the same company on Wednesday. I really feel that everything went really well. They told me it would probably take a little while but I'm getting very impatient...shocking I know!

Andrew has a possible job. It's so bizarre how God works in our lives. His boss from Irving Bible Church recommended this lady up here who has a lot of connections. Well apparently a guy who knew Gary (his former boss) and actually hired him whenever he lived in New England. Well the lady that has connections told this guy that Andrew wanted to work with children. So that guy called Andrew and has already checked his references. They need somebody asap and so we're crossing our fingers on that as well. Plus it's part time which would be perfect since we only have one car and he would still be able to go to school!!! So we're just praying a lot right now! Gotta run, talk to y'all soon...love you!!

My first...

Well I had the interview on Friday and as far as I could tell it went really well. I learned a lot more about the company and it appears they have a huge passion for helping the elderly. I think that is pretty cool so we're crossing our fingers really hard that it works out well!!! But I do have have another interview on Wednesday as well as job fair so hopefully that'll help as well.

I had my first gambling experience this weekend. Stacy (who we're temporarily staying with right now) lives really close to a casino so we decided to go check it out. I wanted to do 'the slots' so we spent $10. I got down to $5 and panicked so I cashed out. I went to a penny slot and it was called TEXAS TINA!!! How funny is that?! Well I ended up with $28 and immediately cashed out. I was freaking out. I was like how the heck do people gamble on a regular basis? I was a total wreck lol!!

Today we went to Gordon Conwell Seminary (GCS as I like to call it lol) where Andrew will start in the summer. It's very pretty but has a TON of hills so it's a little nerve-wracking when it gets icy. It has snowed quite a bit since I've been up here. It's really pretty but it reall is ALWAYS COLD!!! I won't even tell you what they're expecting the high's to be the end of this week. Okay I will...they're not expecting it to get into the double digits!! I was like are you freaking serious....that's just nuts!! Well I hope eveyone is doing great. Hope to hear back from y'all!!!

Snow

Hey everyone. Well I am currently in Maine right now visiting Andrew's sister. Her house is beautiful here but it is seriously freaking cold up here!!! Well like I mentioned in my previous blog that I had an interview on Monday. I didn't have the one on Tuesday due to the lady getting sick. Anyway, my interview went really well. It was a staffing company so it was pretty laid back. They had a job that they thought would be perfect for me. I had a phone interview with that company on Wednesday and tomorrow I have an actual interview with them. I'm pretty excited about that. As nice as it is to be doing nothing, I am ready to have a steady paycheck as well as our own place again. It's not so fun living out of suitcases and in a different bed every night.

Well as far as me adjusting, it hasn't set in that this is not just a vacation. I feel like we're just hanging out. I am DEFINITELY not a fan on the cold but that was to be expected I guess. Raider on the other hand seems to love it. We've been taking him out in the snow and he just hops around like a rabbit everywhere. Andrew will throw a tennis ball for Raider to fetch and he just dives for it. It really is very funny.

We've Arrived!

Well it's now official. I have moved to New England. I still can't believe we made it here. WHAT A TRIP IT WAS!!! We got into our 17 foot U-haul with our car towed behind us and our dog in the cab with us. We drove for just about 30 hours. We dropped off our dog in Connecticut as we were going on vacation with his family immediately. As we were leaving Connecticut we told the GPS to take us the quickest way to Andrew's parents' house. Well as we were headed back it began to snow pretty quickly as well as it made the roads pretty icy. We were going up one specific hill where a vehicle stopped halfway up. With the roads being as slick as they were, it was pretty much the dumbest idea ever to just stop. Needless to say, we had to slow down so we didn't hit him. After we slowed down, we realized we had no momentum or traction to get up the rest of the hill. Andrew floored it and the trailer began to jackknife. As he pressed the gas harder, the more we began to lose control of the trailer. We instantly began for God to protect us and give us a tiny bit of traction. After about 10 minutes of this, God gave it to us to get over the hill safely. We truly were seconds away from tipping over. I have 2 interviews in the next 2 days in actual downtown Boston. My next blog will be posting on the outcomes.