May

I know i've been slackin' in blog land lately so please forgive me! I'll do my best to catch everyone up today!!!!

We are officially some what organized in the new house now! We are loving it! It's so nice to be able to do whatever we want to the house and not worry about if we're allowed to or not! We have many projects in the works right now but our main one has been landscaping the yards! Our main goal is the back yard cuz when it rains the dog has no where to go because of all the mud! So Jon has been working hard at getting the back yard all cultivated for sod and such. This past weekend we started working a bit on the front. Mainly we planted a couple shrubs and put down some pine bark mulch around them... nothing too fancy, but definately better than dirt! I know it looks very messy right now...but don't worry...we've cleaned up since this pic! haha

We had some visitors the week before Mother's Day! It was so much fun! Debbie and Jess drove down to come visit! I had to work the first couple days they were here...but after that I was able to join in on the fun. The Friday before Mother's Day we took Debbie out and celebrated with her! It was a blast! We wrote little poems and would give them to her throughout the day as clues to what was coming next. Odie woke her up with the first poem that told her to go shower and there were flowers in the bathroom for her...then while she was showering Jess snuck in and hung a new outfit up for her with some bath and body works and left another clue! Then Jon took her to Starbucks and then the mall...and at the mall Jess and I were sitting in our pedicure booth waiting for her...then lunch... then we went home and freshened up...and then took her back the mall where we had some pictures done for her! They came out sooooo good! Then we did go karts! then bowling (which i'm suprised to say I WON! haha) then we went out to dinner at Olive Garden. It was just so much fun.

As for lately, we really haven't been doing much other than working on the yard and working. I'm hoping to take my last two classes needed this summer...and then start my 21week nursing program in November and be done for good after that! Jon is planning on starting back to school this fall as well...

Little Odie is doing good too! Spoiled as ever, but it's ok :)

HOMEOWNERS!

We are officially homeowners!!! After all the troubles and stressors it's all done!

Now that we have moved in we received a not so nice welcome from out neighbors. Twice not our teenage neighbor next door has egged our house. We are so not happy. We've cleaned up the egg and tried to let it go. However, the other day this kid and his mom were pulling out of the driveway so Jon and I stood on the front poarch and starred them down as they pulled out. We know they saw us too...since then nothing has been done so hopefully it stays that way.

I have started my new job and i'm absolutely loving it. The people are amazing and i'm loving the medical side of everything. Jon is loving his job as well...they are so laid back and easy going that it makes his work environment so much better. Jon has also started the process for getting set up to finish school starting this fall!! So that's good too. As far as my schooling goes...I'm trying to get a couple classes set up for the summer so that I can start my nursing program in November. The program is a fast paced, 21 week program that allows me to test for my RN when finished! So by this time next year I could be done with everything!!!! So excited!

Next week Jessica, Debbie, and Norm are coming to visit!!! We're so excited! We have some fun stuff planned for their visit and i'm sure they're excited to see the house in person! Other than that we are just kinda hanging out and relaxing. We've had a stressful past couple months so it's nice to just relax for a bit. Hope everyone else is doing well too! And if you're ever in the Abilene area you know you have a place to stay! I'll try to post pictures of the house soon. We are going to try to finish everything up tonight :)

Quick Update

I have many things to say but I am oh-so tired so I will make this short and simple...

• We are moved in our home but waiting to close.
• We should close sometime this week.
• I (Jalane) start work this week. Very excited. Kinda..
• Jon has started work and absolutely loves it. Great coworkers and an all around great environment to be in.
• Dog is doing better allergy wise.
• This weekend was our first weekend spent at home since we've left Florida.
• Went to ABQ last weekend. Tons of fun...pics to come.
• Went to Clovis weekend before that. Again, tons of fun...pics to come.
• House is starting to look like a home with pictures on the walls and less boxes on the floors. I'm quite proud of it.
• Congress and the President have signed off on the flood insurance program (for those of you who were wondering...)
• Right now we are waiting for them to come fix our laundry room in the house. The room isn't big enough for both our washer and dryer. Imagine that. So we are having to stack them and the builder is having to re-route the dryer vent and such to another wall... once he fixes that we will close.
• If any of you have any pics from our visits I would GREATLY appreciate you forwarding them to me so I can add them to our Christmas CD for this year.
• Love you all! I'll give a more formal update once we settle down a bit.

Moving Along

We met with the builder today. He was very willing to do whatever it takes to make us happy; which was a relief! We did a walk through with him and showed him the big things we wanted him to address along with paint touch ups and such. We are supposed to be able to move what we have with us in to the house tomorrow! We won't have the big stuff until Monday though. He is basically leasing the property to us until we close... So it'll be a lot cheaper than a hotel and we'll actually be in OUR home!!! We went today and ordered a fridge! It's a cleansteel finish so it looks stainless but doesnt leave the fingerprints!

Other than that we are just kinda hanging out. Jon reports back to work Friday and then all our stuff comes Monday! Then I go into work Tuesday to start my paperwork and such for my job. Odie is doing better. He has been having a lot of allergy problems lately so we took him to the vet today. They put him on some special allergy meds that we are gunna try for a couple weeks so hopefully that helps! Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Home Sweet Hotel

Well, we are officially in Abilene! Although we are currently residing in a hotel. The house is still not yet finished so we can't even begin to lease at this point. And we found out today that our builder may not let us have the pup with us while we're leasing...so, we may end up staying in a hotel until we actually close on the house when Congress passes the new flood insurance bill. So anyone wanting to donate hotel points!? haha JK. We will keep everyone posted as we go! Love you all!

Closing

Jon and I are officially out of Florida! We were able to drive through Abilene last night and see the house! It's coming a long great! I would post pics but we cant find our cord to the computer to do it...but I WILL post some soon!

Jon and I were supposed to close on our house on Monday (the 5th) but we won't be doing so. Thanks to Congress for letting the bill on flood insurance expire...no insurance company in our nation right now can issue flood insurance. So for any house accross the nation that is in a flood zone and needs flood insurance-you can't close on your house until after April 12th when Congree returns from "Spring Break" and passes the bill on it. Lovely right?? So now, we are in Clovis for the weekend. We are going back to Abilene on Sunday and getting a hotel that night. Jon has to check into base on Monday. Our builder has agreed to lease us the property until we can close on it...But as to when we can actually move in is still unknown. They are working day and night trying to get the house finished for us. They still have a few little things to get done, but sometimes the little things take the longest. So we honestly at this point don't know what our plan is. We had arranged for all our stuff to be delivered on Monday, which I highly doubt will happen now, and all our services such as water and electric were scheduled to come on Tuesday... everything is so unknown right now that just thinking about it kinda stresses me out. So, tomorrow my brother has a baseball game [GO RAMS] and then we'll go to Abilene Sunday...thats about as planned out as we are right now. So if everyone could continue to keep us in prayer...we'd greatly appreciate it!!! I'll post more when we know more...

Saying Goodbye

Today is officially our last full day in Florida. While we are so excited to begin a new chapter in our life and to be closer to family it is hard to leave here. Last night we went out with our two best friends down here, Stephanie and Dennis. It was SO hard to say goodbye, even though I know they're going to come visit us soon. They have been there for us through thick and thin, and visa versa. After I returned from dropping Jon off at the airport the day he deployed I went home, put on my pajamas and cuddled up with a box of tissues in bed fully expecting to cry myself to sleep...but it was Stephanie and Dennis at my front door right as I crawled in bed to take me out to breakfast and get me out. These two have heard my tears and wiped them away, we worked together for 2 years and through them i've learned so much...They are truly amazing and we will miss them dearly. It's always so hard to leave people that you've grown close to...but i'm trusting God to bring more people like them into our lives and into Stephanie and Dennis' lives as well...

Tonight we have Jon's going away dinner with his coworkers at Olive Garden...then he has a briefing in the morning and then we'll hit the road. Our stop tomorrow night will be outside Shreveport, LA. Please pray for safe travels!

Empty House

I write this post laying on our air mattress in our empty livingroom while watching TV on an empty box :)

The movers have come and gone and needless to say, we are quite impressed with how fast that process was. Our movers literally had the whole house packed in about 3 hours. They did awesome. Packing the truck yesterday took a bit longer, but they had to do inventory and make sure everything was secured and boxed well.

Tonight, while Jon and I were watching TV on the floor, we both went back to the memory of when we first got married---> We moved into our little townhouse with basically no furniture until my dad drove it down a month later. When our landlord came over a couple weeks after we moved in he asked us if we were still unpacking because all we had was a lawn chair and our TV on the floor in our livingroom.

I will say, we really really miss our bed, but other than that, it's not too bad. However I really wanted a cookie tonight and as Jon pulled the cookie dough out of the fridge we realized we didnt have a pan to cook it on! haha. But it's kinda nice to have a completely empty house...it kinda makes this whole moving process seem more real.

Our plan is to leave here Wednesday afternoon so that we can get into Abilene on Friday and take care of house stuff before the weekend. It's kinda down to the crunch on if the house is going to be done by the time we get there...but we're trying not to stress about it...everything else so far has happened smoothly so we're trusting all to continue that way.

It's just so awesome to have a feeling of peace through all of this. Everything has just fallen into place so well that we know we are in His will. In fact, my new job called me yesterday and informed me they just had a pay increase and upped my pay a dollar more than the original offer... God is so good to those who are faithful!!!

Anyway! Just 3.5 more days in Florida!!!!!

Thank you all for your prayers through all this! Please pray for safe travels over this week!

Love you all!

Getting Ready

I know it seems like all our posts lately have been about us and this whole moving process, but really, besides work, this move is the main thing happening in our lives right now. haha. We are planning on hopefully leaving Florida on the 31st of this month, if not the 31st then we will definately leave on the 1st of April. That leaves us now with 12 days left here in Florida! CRAZY! It's kind of stressful because we know we are leaving in less than 2 weeks...and not ONE thing is done!!! We can't pack anything, we can't set up for our water and electric to be turned on in Texas because we are still waiting on our house to be completed and keeping our fingers crossed that it will be completely finished by the time we get there...as far as the house goes...it's coming along. It now is completely bricked, has a roof, driveway, and now I believe they are mainly working on the inside. But we received pictures a few days ago and it's coming along wonderfully! Over these next couple weeks please pray for our sanity and for a safe move. We would greatly appreciate it!!!!

Congrats!!!

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary

to my wonderfulin-laws!!!!!!

25 years is something to really be proud of!

We're blessed to have such a loving example before us!

Happy Anniversary you two kids!!! ;)

32 Days

The countdown continues! We are at 32 days until we are out of Florida! It's coming so quickly! Today I was able to completely strip one room down to just the mattress and blankets! [bare in mind those were really the only things in that room haha!] but after I had all the blankets folded and in the corner I took down all our wall decorations and put them out on the bare mattress for the movers. It's so hard and kinda frustrating that we can't pack anything! It is nice in another sense, but I just want to get some little things packed and out of the way and I can't!!!

But in 25 days they will be here to pack our things...I just don't want them walking into our house and thinking we are lazy or something because nothing is done! But I guess that's the rules of the game...just hard to get used to!

Job

I just wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and support through all of our adventures through this moving process. We are both so excited to finally get to Abilene! Today the hospital that I was really wanting to work at called and offered me a position!!! [and more money than they had originally offered ;)] When we get to Abilene I will no longer be working Labor and Delivery, by choice. I am moving on from the "land down under" and going to Acute Care :) I can't wait!!!! Thank you all for your prayers!!!!

Our House

This is the exact house model that we will be building. It will have this same design and bricks. The only difference is in the backyard the porch will be a bit bigger :)

Abilene

As many of you know Jon and I are in Abilene doing our house hunting and my job hunt. As far as jobs go I have a good feeling about one that I really want. I was offered a job today at a hospital that is affiliated with the one I currently work for. However, it's not my first choice. But I am definately considering it pending this other position i've applied for. I should know for sure which hospital I will be employed at before we head home on Friday.

As far as the home search goes...as of today, we are officially homeowners!!!!!!!!! We couldn't be more thrilled. These past couple days have been very frustrating as far as looking for a house goes. Trying to find a nice house within our budget was proving to be a task...but just as we were about to give up hope we found this house...

May not seem like much right now but it will be AMAZING! Obviously this is a brand new house still under construction...but it's one that is within our budget and fits us perfectly. It's a 3bedroom 2bath house with a 2 car garage. Fenced backyard, huge inside!!! We were able to view another house with the exact floor plan as this one will be so we know what it will look like. The builder was there today and took us through the house and let Jon choose where he wanted the fence to start, where he wanted stuff in the house...He let us pick the paint, carpet, brick for the outside, the granite countertops, appliances...everything!!!! All within our budget!!!!!!! We know this was God dropping this in our laps. Walking away with not a hint of regret or worry. Such an awesome feeling to know that God is in control.

You can kinda see below...the front will have two columns there under an archway... then to the right is one bedroom with a box window..and to the left is going to be the two car garage... more pics will come later as it's built!!!

We are so excited and know in our hearts that this is where we are supposed to be. God is truly in control of everything! We thank you all for all of your prayers and support through all of this!

Busy Busy

Jon and I are gearing up for a busy next couple of weeks! This Friday we are loading up the Jeep and heading to Abilene in search of a job for me, school for us, and most importantly...a house! Time is flying by so quickly! To think that in a month and a half we will be packing all our stuff up and leaving here is crazy! I don't think it's actually hit me yet...but once we start packing and stuff I think it will. We have so many memories here. This move will be bittersweet :) But we are truly excited! We'll keep everyone up to date on our whereabouts as best we can next week! Wish us luck!!!

Update

Hello folks! Just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and kicking. I'm more so kicking than anything. This past week I started back to school. Fun stuff huh? No, not so much. Since school has started I have literally had my head in a book or typing some sort of report up on the computer when I'm home. It's completely exhausting! This semester i'm taking classes that I probably won't ever use in my career of nursing haha. American Government, which thus far has proved to be quite interesting, it's just very time consuming. American History, which I would probably enjoy more if the instructor didn't act like she was teaching an English class. There is a lot of reading [not from the textbook we had to pay for] but from other random books that we subsequently had to go out and first find, and then purchase! And lastly i'm taking a humanities class that is fast tracked. Meaning I cram 3 credit hours worth of a class into a month and a half. So i'll be done with this class mid to end February, so that'll be a relief. But until then, it's TONS of writing. 20 papers due within that time period...and that's just for that class!!!! All of this while getting geared up to make our big move to Tejas!

As far as that goes, we are completely ready for our move. It seems it's been colder here lately than it has back in NM and in TX. We're ready for some dry heat! And knowing that we have a big move coming up is kinda stressful to think about, but we're ready to get'ir done!

Jon is mainly taking care of the move stuff for us...getting all the paper work done to transfer, asking all the questions, setting up dates for things... he's ready to move too. I guess the anticipation of the move is what is getting to us! haha. Anyway! That's our update for the time being. Hope everyone is having a good year thus far!!!!

Peanut Butter Balls

Christmas 2009

No, my present was not dog treats...Jon just got creative with the box haha

"But I don't want to wait till Christmas! I want my toy now!!!"

My boys :)

Jon and I had a great Christmas this year :) It was so awesome to be able to spend it with him, unlike last year... I had to work nights on Christmas Eve so I didn't get home until 7:30 Christmas morning... then after we opened gifts I was off to bed!!!!

Thank you to everyone for all the gifts! We absolutely loved them!!!

We hope you all had a great Christmas too :)