Jonathon and Karen

Triathlon Series 2011

2011-05-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

My newest hobby with Jonathon has been to learn how to swim and bike to compete in a small triathlon series. It was so much fun! From January-April I got stronger and faster at each part. My only goals were: 1. Not to get hurt or drown. and 2. Not to come in dead last in any race. I succeeded!

Our bikes...Mine is the one with the pink handlebars....

Newest Nephew: Noah Christopher...

2011-05-08T11:09:00.000-04:00

My first update is that I have a new nephew. He's growing, growing, growing, but here are a couple pics from when he was born. His name is Noah Christopher and he was born on my dad's birthday-February 9. How special is that? Kristen and Chris sure do make big, beautiful babies!

Can't Believe It....

2011-05-08T11:06:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been since January 1 since my last post. I need to update....I'll start soon....

Christmas Weekend Traveling...

2011-01-01T23:16:00.001-05:00

We spent a lot of time traveling around visiting for the holidays. Here's the recap:

Christmas Eve: The DeVore's

Growing up, Christmas Eve was just for the Hooser family. We didn't go anywhere or do anything. It was just the four of us eating snacks, watching movies, and opening presents. Those days are long gone, but Kristen and I always commit to spending Christmas Eve together no matter what else is planned or who else will be there. She hosted her in-laws on Christmas Eve so Jonathon and I joined them...

Sisters

My Aunt Jessie stopped in for a while!!

This is the ONLY UK item in our house. Jonathon always fights me for my IU blanket because it's awesome. Kristen made him one in his alma mater. Ugh.....The things we do for love.

Christmas Day: The Wesely's

We spent most of the day at Jonathon's parents' house. We had a lovely dinner and spent a lot of time visiting. It was nice. We only took two pictures. I need to get better at the "Kodak" moments!

December 26th-Step-Family and "Sticeville"

We still get together with our step-family over the holidays. I love keeping in touch with them since they were such an important part of Dad's life.

Kari loves her gifts.

Connor kept walking toward me when I was trying to take his picture. He wouldn't stand still.

Callie and Mamaw Marilyn

Jill and Kristen

"Sticeville" is what we lovingly call going to Brownsville, Ky to visit the Stice family. I didn't take any pictures!! It's always fun to visit them. We spend most of our time gathered around the kitchen table catching up on life. I enjoyed staying with my cousin and her husband, Kelli and Scott. They are the best hosts! Next visit....PICTURES!!

Merry Christmas to my Hubby...

2010-12-24T06:43:00.000-05:00

Warning: Mushy Post Ahead! Jonathon and I don't buy each other Christmas gifts so I wanted to make a special post for him....

Jonathon, you are a better husband than I could have ever hoped and prayed for. I am so very lucky to have you in my life and I praise God each day for giving you to me. For Christmas, here are the top ten reasons I love you....

1. You are unconditional in your love and devotion to me.
2. You have more patience than anyone I've ever met.
3. You give and serve others...when no one is watching....No thank you, necessary.
4. You are good at your job and you take private pride in it. You are very humble about it.
5. You are very smart. I love being able to talk about anything with you.
6. You are hilarious. We spend 90% of our time together laughing.
7. You take excellent care of me when I am sick.
8. You put others' needs above your own.
9. You never complain when I want to drag you out to many social events when you would always rather be by my side on the couch watching a movie.
10. You love God. You live your beliefs. You pray and serve privately.

I love you! Merry Christmas....

Italy Vacation: Venice

2010-11-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Part Three: Venice

Venice was my favorite. The city is just amazing. There are twists and turns and it's very easy to get lost but Jonathon was smart enough to bring his GPS so when we got confused we just pulled out the handy tool and we were back in business. We really spent all of our time just walking around. We purchased a few small items and did some dream shopping in all of those stores that you see in magazines.

I am so glad we ended our tour of Italy in Venice. It was definitely the most romantic of the three cities. We had the best lasagna here and our hotel was amazing. Everything was just beautiful!!

The highlights...

Italy Vacation: Bologna

2010-11-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

Part Two: Bologna

Bologna is a much more modern town. It's a university town and the surrounding areas are home to many motorsports car factories. Jonathon and I found a package months ago that would allow us to tour Ducati factory and museum, Lambo factory and museum, and the Ferrari museum. To top it off, Jonathon got to drive a Ferrari for twenty minutes. It was the thing he looking forward to the most. It was a fun-filled time. Walking around the shops in Bologna was much more fun because the types of stores there were much more affordable. We still didn't buy anything, but it was much more fun to look! We ate at the Italian McDonalds. A Parmesan burger is really good! We also tried lemon sorbetto...it was like a lemon milkshake....so good! I also had the BEST tortellini of my life in Bologna.

The highlights...

Italy Vacation: Rome

2010-11-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

I decided to post about our trip in three parts. We had two days in each of three cities to explore.

Part 1: Rome

We visited the Vatican City and walked around exploring whatever we could find. Jonathon and I found a "mom and pop" version of a pizzeria tucked away on a side street and had the best pizza that night. While we were there, he asked me, "Would you consider this a romantic place?" I said, "Sure." He then asked me to close my eyes and when I opened them he surprised me with earrings. He was hoping to give them to me somewhere fancy but he just couldn't wait any longer. He's so good to me! We spent the rest of the evening walking around some of the shops. Things were pretty expensive so we were just window shopping.

On the second day we explored a different part of the city and took tours of The Colosseum, Capital Hill, and the Ruins. It was every educational! We really enjoyed it even though it POURED down rain the entire time. The picture still came out okay. No, those aren't ghosts in the pictures. It was raining pretty hard.

Some highlights....

Waiting in line at the Vatican...

Mmm...Gelato....

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:53:00.000-04:00

Jonathon and I made a tour of Halloween parties this year as "Prisoners of Love"

I met up with the DeVore gang to help out with The Wizard of Oz theme this year. We trick-or-treated around a Jeffersonville neighborhood. Fun Times!!

A Pic from Akron

2010-10-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

Jonathon ordered the finish line photo taken of us at the Akron Marathon as a surprise. Don't laugh....I earned that sweat stain!! I love it.....

Callie's Birthday with KK

2010-10-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I took Callie on her annual Day Out with KK for her birthday. We started with a pedi, went shopping at Target, then ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Fun, fun!!

Another Weekend in Ohio....

2010-09-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

Jonathon and I headed to Akron on Friday to check-in and get a good night of rest for the Akron Marathon on Saturday. Our plan was to do a late check-out on Saturday so we could shower after the race and hit the road. Upon our arrival we found out late check-outs were not available the next day. What would we do?!?! Well, we got all comfy in our room....which was AMAZING by the way...and headed out to get a bite to eat. Across the street was a Motel 8. Oh yes we did....we checked to see if we could rent a room the next for just a couple hours. I can honestly say I never thought I would actually ask to rent a room for a couple hours! LOL! They were happy to help us out.

On Saturday we got to the race in plenty of time and I was feeling good. My goal was just to finish before the six hour cut-off. I never dreamed I would finish in under five hours-shaving seventeen minutes off of my first marathon-that I actually trained for!! I told Jonathon after the race, "I impressed myself today!" I gotta hand it to God on this....He gave the strength and energy to keep on going! Jonathon finished his race strong. I still can't believe he ran two full marathons a week apart!

After the race we headed to our other hotel to shower before hitting the road to Columbus. It was the best money we've spent. I can't tell you how "worth it" it was to get that shower after running for nearly five hours straight!!

We headed to Nora's house in Columbus and had a wonderful time hanging out and telling stories. It was really the first time Jonathon got to hang out with her husband, Jeremy. I worried they wouldn't have anything to talk about and it would be awkward. That would be awful because I plan on several trips in my lifetime to visit Nora. Well, they hit off talking about everything from zombies to political stuff. Yay!!!

Sunday was all about getting home. We traveled back home then poor Jonathon had to drive three more hours to head back down to Kentucky. The good news is this is his last week to be gone all the time! I can't wait to have him home for dinner every night!!

Air Force Marathon

2010-09-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

Jonathon picked me up right after school yesterday and we headed to Dayton, Ohio. It was actually very cute. He pulled into the car rider line and I had my purse ready to go. The teachers got a kick out of Jonathon pulling up with all the parents!!

We woke up at 5:00 and waited and waited to make it up to the parking area. Jonathon ran the full marathon and had to start at 7:15. Here we are in the car waiting....

I didn't have to start my race until 8:30 so I took a small nap in the car while Jonathon got started on his. I made my way to the starting line and took off.

I finished the half marathon and waited until Jonathon finished the full. Here we are in our medals and towels...

It was a pretty fun day. Next weekend it's off to Akron for another!!

Weekend...

2010-09-12T21:43:00.000-04:00

Jonathon had to work with the guard this weekend so I was on my own for the most part. He did get to come home at night. :)

Friday- Jonathon got home and we turned what was supposed to be a trip to Kroger to get some tea into an impromptu dinner at Tumbleweed. We are so bad! We spent the rest of the night watching a movie and going to bed early. We were so tired from the week!

Saturday-I met my friend Jesse and we went to the gym. We were being cautious because it looked like rain was going to rain at any moment. I hate the treadmill!! After the gym, I ran some errands then headed home to get cleaned up. I played in the Steve Doherty Gold Scramble. It was a ton of fun! The rain never came and we had a great time. Jonathon made it in time to meet us for the dinner part around 7:00. I was so tired again from the day that I accidentally fell asleep around 9:00 and didn't set my alarm for Sunday!

Sunday- Jonathon left at some point that morning but I don't even remember it. I missed my running date at 6:40a.m. because I didn't wake up until 8:00! I guess I needed the sleep. :) Today was all about church, lunch with friends, watching Maddie cheer at her game, and coming home to catch up on some school work. It's been a fun and productive day!

I'm gearing for a week of baby visiting....My friend Jamie had her son last week, Jami delivers tomorrow, and Aimee delivers on Wed. (by the latest). It's going to be fun meeting all the new babies!! I just hope this cold I have goes away completely so I can get around to see them.....

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T19:39:00.000-04:00

We kicked off Labor Day weekend by going over to The Jackson's house for dinner Friday night. We had tons of fun playing Apples to Apples and enjoying a lasagna feast!

Saturday started with the Pioneer 5K in Lousiville with Jesse and Jonathon. I had never done this race before and it was nice. Jonathon enjoyed being back in his old high school cross country stomping grounds in Seneca Park. We came home to hang out for a little while until what I thought was going to be a cook-out but after a text to a friend, realized the cook-out I was thinking of was Sunday not Saturday. So all of the sudden, Jonathon and I had no plans. Yippee!! Date night alone was spent watching tv, catching a movie, walking around Dick's sporting goods, and dinner at Dairy Queen. Fun, fun!

Sunday was church. Brian preached about how to find God's will in your career. Jonathon and I both enjoyed the sermon. It was very timely for both of us. We both love what we do! After church I hugged Jonathon good-bye for the week and headed over to the cook-out I thought I was going to the day before. It was for my friend, Carrie, who is leaving for Switzerland for two years! I spent the evening catching up with some of her friends and family I haven't seen in a long time. I waited until everyone else left then had her all to myself for a few hours. We talked and talked until well after midnight. Her step-dad kept asking if I needed to make a bed for the night. Oh, I just didn't want to say good-bye. I think there will be a visit to Europe in my future!!!

Today was fun for me. I slept in until 9:00, then went shopping for a little while, splurged on a 15 minute massage at one of those stations in the mall (heavenly!!!), then had dinner at the DeVore's with my Aunt Jessie. This weekend was an awesome time spent with my hubby, friends, and family!

Life Update

2010-09-04T15:33:00.000-04:00

I know....I've been neglecting my blog. TONS of things have happened since my last post so here is everything in the short version.....

On July 6, I woke up to a normal day and went for a run. When I came home I had a surprising phone call from a colleague. Long story short....I found myself within the hour applying for a principal position and setting up an interview two days later.

July 8-Interview done.....Off to Arizona I was with the CIC Mission Team. We spend a week at a Navajo reservation in Dilkon, AZ. It was such an interesting experience. While we were there we painted the front of an Hopi grandmother's house and painted, cleaned and organized the local church to help them prepare for a revival. We built a relationship with an amazing woman named Irene, and bonded as a mission team. I had so much fun getting to know the younger girls and the returning members of our team. Good times serving the Lord!

We returned home on July 17. I had received a phone call on the trip offering me the new job and I had accepted. I knew things were about to get very crazy so I decided as soon as I got home from Arizona that I would go and spend a few days with Jonathon where he was working. We had a fun visit that included purchasing a new car! My black Honda started smelling like cat again. I had it detailed when we bought it used last year and it went away for a while but in the heat of this summer the smell came back. We decided to go ahead and buy a newer (new to us) car. We are now the proud owners of a 2008 Honda Accord. I love it!

I spend the next couple weeks getting used to the new job and making myself at home at Northaven Elementary. It was sad saying good-bye to my old JJ family but the transition has gone well and I just love my new job!

Some other interesting events included a trip to Brownsville to see the Stice family and watch my cousin Jeff perform, a trip to Holiday World with the DeVore family, some fun time with friends, and the beginning of my new running plan. I've been off the exercise wagon for a while but I'm trying to stay consistent.

That's what has been going on. I'll try to be better about updates now that I've settled into the new job!

4th of July Weekend...

2010-07-04T18:49:00.000-04:00

No fireworks....no family cookouts......no big celebrations.......

I hadn't seen Jonathon in two weeks so we made this a weekend of nothing. He agreed to see the Twilight movie with me Friday night, we both woke up and did separate workouts on Saturday morning, then we turned this weekend into a movie marathon....just the two of us! I loved it. Sometimes I make the weekends too busy and I don't mind at all when it's just me but since I'm not going to see him for another two weeks we decided to just spend as much time as possible doing our favorite thing.....staying home and watching movies.

I had a great weekend!

Founder's Day 5K

2010-06-26T21:24:00.000-04:00

Jonathon is working this weekend so I had to get myself up on time for this one. I met up with Alicia and Tammy at the starting line and we were off! This is a cross-country race and I did not enjoy that aspect. I did enjoy having company on the route though!

In the first mile I noticed my shoe lace felt loose. I instantly felt panic as I remembered that I had tied my key to that shoe. I looked down and sure enough it was gone. What to do? If I stopped to look for it I was just going to be trampled so I kept going.

Alicia's whole crew helped me look for it, which was so sweet of them. I decided I would just wait around to see if anyone turned it in and if not then I would just call AAA and a locksmith. Calm.

The good thing about waiting and waiting around is that I ran into some old friends I haven't seen in a while. It was fun to catch up. Half-way through the door prize ceremony they announced that a key was found. PRAISE JESUS! I ran up to the guy as if I had just won the biggest prize of all. I was just saved from a huge headache of events. Woo-hoo.

Praise God for the ability to run in hot weather and for giving some kind soul the vision and caring to pick up that key and turn it in!

Oh...Honey, if you are reading this I'm getting an extra copy of that key made ASAP. ;)

Summer Update-Week 1

2010-06-25T20:49:00.000-04:00

Monday: I went to school to "clean my classroom." By saying that it actually means I talked way too much to the other people working that day. Let's just say I didn't get too much accomplished. I'm too social!!! That evening my old roommate, Shannon, came over and we ran a lap around the neighborhood. She just started a fitness challenge at her work and I was happy to have the company running.

Tuesday: I found out the my tooth surgery schedule for Thursday (long story-dead tooth) got cancelled without me getting notified. So frustrating!! What if I hadn't been a teacher and had taken the day off and needed to take another day off the following week?!?!? To their credit, they were WONDERFUL about making up for it.

Then it was off to the dentist for a cleaning. Not my favorite thing in the world but I do always get to visit my friend Lindsey so yay. She said she could tell I had done BETTER with my flossing....not great but better. Does anyone else hate flossing as much as I do???

I met my step-mom for dinner. I haven't seen her a while and we had such a fun visit! I miss her! The only "thumbs down" part of the evening was when the waitress threw up right in the middle of taking our order. We felt so bad for her. The poor girl escaped into the kitchen and we thought someone would be out to help clean up. Well, someone did come out....the same girl. We felt so bad for her. She was crying and trying to clean it up. Shame on those other workers! We told her to go back into the kitchen. Finally the manager came out and sent someone to come and mop it up.

Wednesday: CLEANING DAY-I started by sleeping in until 8...oh joy!! I headed into school and finally finished checking out for summer. Man am I mess. It's ridiculous the amounts of things I piled up because I didn't have time to keep myself organized. I then headed home and started the laundry-o-thon.

Thursday: My day started out at Heather's babysitting Alex and Zoe. It was so fun. Zoe was the first to wake up. I warmed up her muffins then we read books until Alex woke up. He sat eating his muffins while Zoe and I played Crazy 8's. It was fun.

After Heather got home I came home for a little while then picked up Callie, Maddie, and Connor. We went over to my friend Angela's to swim. The weather was kind of touch and go in the morning but the sky cleared and it was beautiful. Good times.

Friday: I had Callie and Connor all day long! Connor is starting to be so much better about being without his momma all the time. We went out for lunch then headed over to the Frazier Arms Museum...Callie's choice. I had never been either. Teachers and babies get in free so it was a good deal! Pretty interesting.

I've had a pretty busy week and it's not going to stop. This summer is packed with plans! Next thing on the agenda: C-town Founder's Day!

Let Summer Begin....

2010-06-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo!!! School is out for SUMMER! I won't get to too excited because I have a busy summer planned and I'll enjoy most of it but it's not going to be sitting by the pool everyday for me which is what I really long to do. We kicked off our summer with a busy weekend....

Friday night Jonathon and I met some friends at the Bats game in Louisville. Our friend Todd got tickets for a bulk of his friends, family, and clients. It was a good time. It would have been a great time if it hadn't been so HOT. We toughed it out for a couple hours then came home to settle in on the couch for a while.

Saturday we met up with my old friend, Adam, and his new bride for dinner and a movie. It was great to catch up with him and to get to know his new wife a little better.

Today it was off to church as usual although I couldn't make it throug the service. They started singing Daddy's Hands and was out of there. I warned Jonathon if I thought it was going to be too sad I would just tap him on the arm and we would exit.

From there we were off to Jonathon's parents house to drop off our Father's Day gift. We had a nice visit. :)

Now I'm facing the task of what to do first during this first week off. I need to clean, organize, visit people I haven't seen in a while, and many other things. The good thing is I have time.....TIME.....It's nice to have time.....

Help Wanted...

2010-06-02T19:53:00.001-04:00

Okay, my blog world friends were so helpful with the yard sale ideas so I decided to bring something else to you. Take a look at this empty space in my living room....

I have been searching and searching for the perfect prints to put there since I moved in nearly five years ago. Well, I decided to go with a less symetric idea and put a bunch of picture ledges and frames together. Some of these still have the store pictures in them and some of them are very old and will probably be updated. I really need to get some pictures of Jonathon's family in some frames. I pulled together some frames from around the house and came up with two layouts I like. Which one do you like best?????

Option 1

Option 2

I actually plan on shopping for some different style frames...maybe add a couple with red on the edges or something but you get the idea....

Let me know what you think!

Golf Classic 2010

2010-06-02T19:48:00.000-04:00

It was time once again for the Karen Hooser Golf Classic. The same group of my friends get together each year on Memorial Day to play golf and hang out. It's so fun and I'm thankful for everyone who is able to come each year! Here are the results:

The first ever Kids' Division winner: Lucas

Third Place: Russel

Second Place: Tim

And the Winner.....Larry!

It was fun as always. Just wait until next year......

Today was AMAZING!

2010-05-15T20:44:00.049-04:00

5:30a.m. Wake up to a phone call from Kristen on her way to set up our yard sale.

6:00a.m. Kristen and I were busy at work getting tables set up and everything ready to go.

7:00a.m.-9:00a.m. Heather joins in on our yard sale fun and we have great time visiting and watching people come and go as they give us their cash for our ~~junk~~ treasure. I also enjoyed visits from Ashley and Jami as well. Fun times in the neighborhood!

9:00a.m. I reluctantly leave Kristen and Heather to man the fort while I head off to Frankfort to meet Jonathon. I was having so much fun at the yard sale BUT there was something bigger and better waiting for me...

10:15a.m. I arrive in Frankfort for Spouse Rides Day. I got signed in late so I was last in line but I was on the list to ride in a Blackhawk. I was so excited to finally get a taste of what Jonathon does everyday. We sat through a "safety brief" about what to do if there is an emergency then they issued us our mandatory ear plugs.

Below are pictures of one of the guys telling how to strp ourselves in and then some of us sitting after we practiced how to do the buckles. They worked just like infant car seat buckles. :)

10:15-11:00a.m. We wait patiently until someone informs us that there is a delay in the schedule and we'll have to dismiss for lunch then come back at 12:30 to prepare for the flights.

11:00-12:30p.m. Jonathon and I went to Panera but a bunch of his coworkers and their families. It was so much fun putting faces with names of people I've heard about and getting to know the wives. They are a super bunch of people!

12:30-2:45p.m. I wait and wait and wait on all the other groups to get their ride. While I wait I visit with the families and really enjoyed it. I also got to catch up with Travis Dunn since he's in Jonathon's company. It was fun to catch up.

2:45p.m. Finally, it was my turn!! So fun. We flew "doors off." When the pilot tilted to the right it felt like I was just hanging in the air over the trees. I felt completely safe though. It was so cool. The pilot would then tilt to the left to give the passengers on the other side the same experience. That part just made my stomach turn like I was on a roller coaster. Very cool.

Here are some highlights. Check out the second one. You can see the shadow of the helicopter in the water.

I had to make the next picture very large so you can see. There is a vehicle graveyard in it. There in the side of the yard there are three trucks and a boat. It's hard to see in the picture but they were all partially buried in the ground and partially above the ground. Only in Kentucky!

The rest of the day was pretty boring....just ran some errands then came home. It's only around 9:00 but we are both worn out and ready for bed. How sad is that?!?!?

Oh...I almost forgot to thank all of helpful people who gave me good tips for having our yard sale. We made close to $200. It was my best one ever. Thanks!!

WICKED

2010-05-14T21:00:00.000-04:00

I went to see wicked last weekend....

Throughout our time in Africa last summer Jill and Melanie were singing and talking about Wicked. I've always wanted to see it but never had. They vowed that when it came back to Lousiville we would get together to see it. It was so good! It was also wonderful to catch up with both of them. Melanie recently won the Miss University of Louisville pageant and will competing for Miss Kentucky soon. Jill recently got a new apartment in Lousiville. It's fun to catch up!

Here we are...

Help Wanted

2010-05-02T19:52:00.000-04:00

I am planning on having a huge yard sale in a couple weeks but I need some advice. How do you know what kind of prices to put on things? I've never been good at putting these things together. I mostly just want all the clutter gone but it would be nice to make as much as possible back on these items before I ship it all off to goodwill. I will take all the advice you can give. If you have successful yard sales...what's the trick? If you love to yard sale....what should I do to make people happy?

Cleaning Weekend

2010-05-01T23:47:00.000-04:00

I spent my Derby weekend cleaning. That's right....no cute hats or watching the horses for me. I started on Friday morning, took a break to have lunch with Kristen, came home to keep on cleaning, stopped to have dinner with some friends coming home from the Oaks, then continued into the night. I woke up early this morning and got started right away again, took a break to have lunch with Jami, then continued into the night. I turned down a couple social offers today to stay home and clean. Jonathon was working all weekend so I thought it would be a great chance for me to get some things done around this place. I'm proud to say I've worked hard, but I'm ashamed to admit that I really only got four rooms in shape. There's still tons to do. My poor house has been neglected for some time now. My yard sale pile has become my yard sale room. I cannot wait to sit this stuff out in the driveway and sell it by the dime!! It feels great to get things organized. I only wish I could be better at keeping it that way!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-04-20T06:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our two year anniversary. Jonathon and I actually celebrated in Hawaii so we said the real day would just normal...no gifts or anything. We both ended up having horrible days at work yesterday so I'm glad we didn't let that damper our day. I got home defeated from the day around 8:00. My friend Aimee gave a ride because on top of other things I lost my car keys. I was about to lose it when my hubby pulled into the driveway with three roses for me. One rose for each year we've been together. We met in person nearly a year to the week we got married. So sweet. I'm not big on getting gifts and flowers but in that moment he made my stress go away. I love him.

He took me back up to the school and patiently waited for me to figure out where my keys were. He's always patient with me. I am quite absent minded all the time and it takes a special set of patience to deal with it.

This morning before he left he said, "Happy first day of year three!" He's the best husband and I'm so lucky to have him. I love you, Jonathon!!

Day Four: The Corvette and The North Shore

2010-03-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

We decided to set aside a tad big extra on our car rental day to get a Corvette convertible for cruising around the island. This was by far our favorite day. We dressed with possible beaches in mind and stopped many times to look at sights, grab a snack, and even play put put. Jonathon was like a kid in a candy store driving that thing. It was so much fun! This was also the day we had the famous Hawaiian Shave Ice. It has a scoop of ice cream at the bottom which made it so much better than a regular shave ice. :)

Day Three: USS Missouri/USS Arizona/Pacific Aviation Museum/Dole Plantation

2010-03-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

This was our "learning day." We spent a better part of the day at Pearl Harbor/Ford Island learning about the historical events of the island. It was really an interesting day. It's amazing to me how somber the USS Arizona platform was. People would be laughing and joking on the boat on the way to the the platform but it was very solemn from the moment we stepped off the boat until it was time to board again. We finished up the day at The Dole Plantation with a train ride through the produce fields. I love pineapple so I had to make this a must see for us. We had pineapple ice cream with crushed pineapple as a topping. It was delicious.

Day Two: Beach/Nap/Beach/Nap/Italian Dinner

2010-03-27T21:05:00.000-04:00

We only took one picture on this day right after our AMAZING Italian dinner. Jonathon loves Italian so we had to add Sergio's to our list of places to eat. We took the suggestions of our waitress and she was right on. The two dishes we had were incredible.

Day One: Beach/Army Museum/Luau

2010-03-27T21:01:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm way too lazy to post all of my pictures. I can't stand how slow blogspot is with the picture posting. I'm going to do a small post about each day and just include some highlight pics. On our first day we just explored the beach and resort to see what our options were going to be for the week. We just happened upon the US Army Museum so that was a neat addition. The Luau was so much fun. We took a shuttle bus about twenty minutes away and had a very entertaining bus guide who called herself "Cousin Flo." We ran into her later in the week and she hugged and kissed on us like we were really family. Fun!

Trying to Post Pictures....

2010-03-27T20:52:00.000-04:00

Is there any easy way to post a bunch of pictures at once?????

Hawaii Bound....

2010-03-19T09:19:00.000-04:00

We are off to the airport to begin the hours and hours of flight time to Hawaii. I woke up so giddy this morning. I've been bouncing around the house like Tiger!! Jonathon has been calmly preparing. We are so different. ;) I'm ashamed to admit that my suitcase weighs the same as the one I packed this summer for six weeks in Africa. I know I won't wear half of what I brought but a girl just never knows what she might need! Jonathon on the other hand just told me, "I packed BOTH pairs of shorts." What?!?!? Again, we are so different. ;) I love you, babe! Thanks for taking me to Hawaii!!!

Captain, My Captain...

2010-03-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

Jonathon pinned on Captain this weekend at his drill weekend. They let his family come in for the fine minute ceremony to snap pictures then it was back to business for the unit. Here are some pictures....

I'm so proud of him!

Maddie's Day with KK

2010-03-09T06:52:00.000-05:00

Maddie and I had a date for her birthday a couple weeks ago. We started out going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was really cute. I've had "All the single ladies...." in my head ever since. It was fun to see Maddie laugh at the funny parts.

Our next stop was Target. I gave her ten dollars to spend. She never got past the $1 bin and bought two items each for her family members. She has the sweetest heart. I love how she just wants everyone to be happy. :)

I let her choose where she wanted to eat and she chose Bob Evans. I thought that was an odd request from a kiddo but she said she had never been there before....fair enough. She enjoyed it and so did I. I love spending time with her!!!

Big Week for Family Birthdays..

2010-01-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

1. Happy BIRTHday to my new baby cousin, Caleb. My cousin, Kelli, had her baby yesterday. She and Scott are going to wonderful parents. Kelli has always been a huge role model for me. She's an amazing educator and now she's going to be an even more amazing mom. I promise to make a trip soon to meet him. His pictures are so cute!!

2. Speaking of amazing moms......Happy Birthday to Kristen! We celebrated on Sunday with a meal to Longhorn Steakhouse. Yummy. I love having Kristen so close to celebrate special events with. I love her family so much!

Say it ain't so....

2010-01-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

Do I really have to work 5 days this week?!?!?

Great Start to 2010

2010-01-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to say that my outlook on life has kind of changed for 2010 and so far (7 days into it-LOL) I'm keeping to it and I've been a happy girl. I decided that I stress out too much on things that matter....but not as much as they should. Here are some things I've decided are going to change this year:

-Spend less time at work. I love my job but it has become my life. I even caught myself through the fall talking about it at times when I should have just been relaxing or talking about anything but work. I'm still going to strive to be a good teacher but I had forgotten that my priorities should be God-Family-Then Work. It had become the other way around for a while.
-Take time each week to keep in touch with people I miss. I always said I wasn't going to be 50 and think, "whatever happened to _______," especially when (whomever is in the the blank) was very close to me. I've been so busy that I have been feeling distance with some people I used to be very close to. I know that when you get married priorities change....but I can still do a better job.
-Quit stressing out when I don't get everyone done in the next day, hour, or minute.
-Spend more time with my extended family. I don't want to lose family members and think, "I should have......"

So far I've done an excellent job at the first three and just letting some things go has really made me happier! I need to have more time to make good on the last one....Hey, it's only been seven days. So, here's to continuing a less-stressed, more quality time 2010!

Out with 2009.....in with 2010....

2009-12-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Highlights of 2009

By the month:
-Ringing in the 2009 with a pajama party in January.
-Jonathon hit 500 flight hours in February.
-Spring Break trip to Venice Beach, Florida with lots of friends in March
-Jonathon completed his first Marathon in April
-Kristen and Chris renewed their wedding vows in May
-I was in Africa for June/July
-Extra time off in August. (It was so nice this year.)
-Callie and I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in September
-Jonathon and I went to Chicago for his 30th Birthday in October.
-We painted and began the big remodeling project (that still isn't finished) in November.
-Jonathon and I ran the Kiawah Island Marathon (my first) in December

Overall:
-My nephew Connor has been so much fun to get to know this year. He turned one this week!
-Celebrating 30th birthdays this year was like a theme. Several of my friends turned the big 3-0 and they all celebrated in different ways. It was a ton of fun. :)
-First full calendar year being married to Jonathon.....it's so much fun and we are just beginning!

Happy 2010....

Proud of my Hubby....

2009-12-29T23:10:00.004-05:00

I was going to wait until after we painted the living room to post pictures but I'm so proud of Jonathon that I just have to go ahead and post. Below you will be see before and after pics from two different views. We are still going to paint the living room a little bit darker but I think it looks great already. I'm so proud of my hubby for learning how to do the flooring...it was way cheaper to put it in ourselves!!

Thanks, Jonathon!!!

Before...After...
Before....

After...

Christmas Weekend

2009-12-25T12:01:00.003-05:00

Christmas Eve

-Jonathon and I worked on the house all morning. He was working on the flooring and I was working on my endless laundry pile. This is pretty sad to say but I don't think I had done laundry for real in about six weeks.

-I went out shopping for a couple last minute items then it was off to Kristen's for the DeVore Family Christmas. Highlights included a visit from Santa and the best tasting food ever.

Christmas Day

-We received a phone call around 8:00a.m. that Jonathon's mom was super sick and we've had to cancel our family dinner.

-Jonathon and I decided to stay in our pjs all day long. We baked the pie we were going to take to the dinner and had some for lunch and dinner. Jonathon eventually started working on our flooring and I got back to work on folding and organizing all of that laundry.

Saturday
-I woke up feeling like I was starting to get sick. My throat and ears were burning but I took some meds and we headed down to visit my family in Bowling Green. KY. We spent the afternoon visiting. It's always so nice just to relax and have fun talking.

-I slept all the way home and went to bed as soon as I got home.

Sunday
-I woke up this morning with a hacking cough and no voice. I had to call in to say that I wasn't going to make it to Sunday School. It's kind of hard to teach without a voice. Then I headed to the Urgent Care center and camped out there all morning. I headed home with some antibiotics and took a long nap.

-Jonathon and I went to his parent's house tonight for Christmas dinner and to exchange gifts. We are so blessed to have them live close to us. They were very generous and we got the best gifts. The food was also super delicious. It was such a nice time. We had to cut it short because Jonathon started sneezing a bunch. I think whatever I have has been passed to him and his allergies are also in play. ICK!

The past four days have been crazy but fun. Now we are snuggled up on the couch watching tv and playing on our laptops. He has to go back to work tomorrow, but I'll be sleeping in.....

New Year's Resolution....

2009-12-21T22:12:00.002-05:00

I will not over commit myself.....I will not over commit myself.....I will not over commit myself....

Can you guess what the theme of 2010 is going to be for me? I've decided that if I don't have a happy heart to do something I'm going to learn how to say no. Mark my words!!!

Pictures

2009-12-17T19:38:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures we got this week from the big race.....

The starting line.....

In the middle of the race...

The big finishes...

We Did It!!!

2009-12-12T16:23:00.002-05:00

Jonathon and I finished our marathon this morning! It was soooo not as hard as I thought it would be BUT it sooooooo wasn't easy! I'm pretty sore right now and expect to be for a couple days but it was worth it. Here's some highlights:

-The starting gun is always such a rush for me. My adrenaline really pumps me up! Jonathon gave me a kiss good-bye and we were off!
-This race was AMAZINGLY organized and all about the runners. There were water/Gatorade/orange slice/banana stations every 2 miles! It really made it easy to stay hydrated and you would be amazed at how hungry you are during the race. I made a point to take water....then an orange slice...then Gatorade....then a banana....in that order at the stations....not all a once. That's the order I took them-one item per station. I think it made a huge difference for me. Let me tell you that those were the most wonderful tasting orange slices I've ever had in my life!
-Passing the Mini marathon/full marathon point was a rush. I really didn't get to run more than 13 or so during my trainings so the words "every step is a step farther than you've ever ran before" kept ringing in my ear. Travis Dunn told me that during my first mini-marathon and it really helped me reach the end.
-Seeing Jonathon around mile 18 and half. He was on the loop on the way back and it gave me a jump of more adrenaline.
-Around mile 25 someone walking back with a mini-marathon tag on said, "I don't know how you all do this. I think you are amazing." I started crying.
-Right after the mile 26 marker Jonathon was waiting on the outside of the runner gates wrapped in his foil blanket. After finishing his own, he jogged along the outside to help me finish. I love him so much! (More tears)
-The marathon here treats each marathon finisher to a Carb buffet at the end of the race. I thought I may be sick or something but no....all I wanted to do was eat....pasta salad, cornbread muffins, brownies, more oranges, more bananas. It was the most delicious meal ever!!

There were some negatives.....
-I started forming some blisters around mile 8 or 9. Eventually you just get numb to them but MAN do they hurt now!
-Around mile 12 there was a medical team working on someone on a stretcher. As I passed I saw that it was a man around my age and he had turned blue. This was my first bought of crying. I cried on and off for a mile and prayed very hard for him and his family. He didn't look like he was breathing but the team was hard at work on him.
-Around mile 19 and half I had to start walking for the first time. I was so disappointed because I had given myself the goal to run solidly until mile 20. I just couldn't help it. My legs felt like hard stilts. Luckily if realized that if I ran on the grass surrounding the road it cushioned my joints. I was able to do this off and on for the rest of the race. All-in-all I probably walked about two miles of the 26.2....but there's no shame in it!!!
-I'm super sore in my feet and legs. I never really got out of breathe but my legs are on fire. It's going to a long week anytime I see stairs.

There you have it. It was a wonderful experience. I know I will do it again in the future!!!

Okay, Okay.....

2009-12-05T00:10:00.002-05:00

...I'll update my blog.....(Rachel yelled at me!!)

I haven't been updating because I just didn't have much to say. I've been BUSY....that's about it. Let's see.......Since October 28.......

Halloween-Jonathon and I stayed home and passed out candy....we had about twenty trick-or-treaters and I was pretty disappointed.

Cheer seasons at both schools are in full effect and I'm running in two directions at all times after my school day ends.

We still haven't finished our painting. It's time for the living room and we're both too scared/lazy to get going on it. I don't want to mess it up! After the paint comes new laminate flooring....Maybe we'll get it finished over the next month....I'll post pictures when it's all complete.

I ran Fast Freddie's Five Miler on Thanksgiving Day. I LOVE this race every year for two reasons: 1. I can eat guilt free later that day. 2. I always get to see old friends and people I haven't seen in a long time.

We had three Thanksgiving dinners. They were all very yummy and full of family fun!

Marathon-Jonathon and I are a week away from our big goal. Don't ask how the training has come along. I REALLY dropped the ball on things these last few weeks. I know the race won't kill me but it's sure not going to be the most pleasant experience. My goal is to finish before they close the finish line.....We'll see what happens.

Okay, that will have to do for now.... Happy December!

A Post from Maddie

2009-10-28T20:10:00.000-04:00

Me and kk had fun today gas weta i had for dennr? tann nodl casroll now it time for bed good nite

A Post from Callie

2009-10-28T20:03:00.002-04:00

I'm handing out with KK til Thuresday. Ya we came home and did all cone of stff.Do you want to know what I had for dinner?So I had thuiencasaroll.Oh Connor carie all the time.and that's all of my stoy. The End

Help!

2009-10-26T21:41:00.001-04:00

My blog is not updating my blog list on the right. Does anyone know why this happens? I just thought all my blogger friends had taken the week off. I've missed out on so much!!!

What We've Been Up To....

2009-10-25T21:49:00.003-04:00

We've been working....

We've been running...

We've been painting and changing things in our house....

There's some events I need to catch you up on but I don't have the time right now. Soon, I will post pics from our Chicago trip, a Halloween party, and my step-mom's 60th birthday lunch....I have to get back to work now...

Norman got his handbike....

2009-10-25T11:32:00.004-04:00

For those of you who followed the trip to Malawi this summer, you may remember a story about our friend, named Norman. He lost the use of his legs with Polio as a kid. We would see him every day sitting outside of a store in town where he sat each day making money as a beggar. Some beggars were pushy and rude, but Norman would smile the most humble smile each and every time.

Jill (team member and my step-sister) would noticed him most often and she had a tug in her heart about helping him out. We found out about a place that would make a hand bike for him as well as fit him for knee and elbow pads for when he is walking around...using his hands to scoot his body along the road. Our team gathered together and took him to the office.

The bike was supposed to be made by the time our team left, but it wasn't. We left knowing that one of the pastors was going to follow up for us. Since our return we found out that the doctors at the office acted like they didn't even know what the pastor was talking about when he went back to claim the bike. Long story short.....after a long battle of breaking through the shady ways of the system....Norman got his hand bike.....

Video

2009-10-17T10:02:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to a Malawi Video. It has many more pictures from the trip than I posted this summer.

http://animoto.com/play/PIPfvkecI08GhZrEBMljfw?autostart=true#

Updates

2009-10-17T09:40:00.002-04:00

Jonathon- His "busy season" ended last week and he is now going to be home all the time. Yay!! There will be a couple weeks through the fall and winter that he has to go out out of town but for the most part he will be home. I LOVE having him home!

We went to Chicago last weekend to celebrate his 30th birthday. Well, we originally booked the hotel because we planned on running the Chicago Marathon but we didn't get registered for the race in time. We couldn't get a refund for the hotel so we decided to just make it a fun weekend and celebrate his birthday instead. It was a lot of fun. I'll have to post some pics...they are on Jonathon's camera and my computer doesn't read the card. Stay tuned...

By the way, I'm so glad Jonathon is finally 30. Now he has to stop teasing me about being in my thirties! ;)

School-Busy, stressful, still rewarding...

Family-Kristen has been dealing with sickness all around. First, two of the kids had the flu. Then, two of them got a stomach virus and Kristen caught it too. At last check, everyone was healthy again except for some seasonal runny noses.

Marathon- I have to confess that after eight solid weeks of training, I've only run 5 miles total in the past two weeks. I'm back on it as of today though. I've been battling a cold over the past two weeks but I feel back to normal now. No excuses-EIGHT WEEKS TO GO!

Friend Time- Jen and I hung out last night. Jonathon had Guard and Ryan was hunting so we watched a movie and ate Pizza King. Of course our conversations centered around school and teaching. You can't have two teachers in a room and expect conversations not to be centered on school. At least the guys weren't around to be tortured! I had a great time catching up!!

Umm....How about no one.....

2009-10-05T20:11:00.002-04:00

I was watching the news this morning getting ready for work and the station was interviewing Kentucky fans about what they thought about the former coach, Gillespie, being arrested for a DUI. In one of the interviews, the fan said, "Well, everyone should be able to do what they want to do, but when you are a coach you need to be held to a higher standard."

Umm....excuse me, but what happened to the thought that NO ONE should be allowed to drink and drive???

Proud Wifey...

2009-10-04T22:43:00.002-04:00

Jonathon and I were hanging out before he left this afternoon and he "mentioned" that he hit 1000 hours this week. He was counting up with so much attention on every minute to reach the 500 mark that I could hardly believe he hit the big 1000 and forgot to tell. I'm so proud of him!!

The more he flies, the better he gets and the more valuable he is considered to be as a skilled helicopter pilot. I love that he loves his job and takes so much pride in getting better at it each day. He's pretty humble and you will never catch him bringing it up, but he is really good at what he does.

Congrats, babe! I love you...

The Flu...

2009-09-28T23:17:00.003-04:00

Kristen called me on my lunch today to let me know that Connor and Madison both have the Flu. Influenza A or the Swine....supposedly it's all the same....they don't know but they have "it" nonetheless. Please pray for the kiddos.

I was hugging and kissing all over that baby this weekend so who wants to place a bet on when I start feeling symptoms? My immune system stinks....

Happy Birthday, Callie!

2009-09-27T22:28:00.003-04:00

You could say that this was Callie's birthday weekend. I'll be telling this story in reverse because my pictures loaded in the wrong order and I'm too lazy to fix it. :)

Callie and I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Derby Dinner tonight for her birthday. We had a seat right beside the stage. I had seen this musical in college but this version was the best. Callie even said it was her favorite afterwards. She loves musicals.

On Saturday, Callie had a little party at the bowling alley. It was fun hanging out with them. Here's a picture of Aunt KK and Connor. Poor baby...he hasn't been feeling well all weekend....

Kristen and I even shot a pic with our Aunt Jessie.....

Bowling shoes...

Seriously...Callie was soooo excited to take a picture....

Maddie and Callie had very different approaches to getting the ball down the lane...

It's been a fun weekend celebrating. I still can't believe it's been eight years ago that she was born.

I love you, Callie! :)

Memories....

2009-09-20T22:25:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling a little nostalgic tonight...forgive me if you're not a fan of sad posts....

I'm not the kind to wallow in any kind of sad or angry emotion. I'm really okay so nobody has to worry about me or anything. I've just had them on my mind a lot. So here are some things that I miss....

I miss talking to my momma each and every day. I used to call her and talk to her for a few minutes each day. It's like my day wasn't complete until I did.

I miss my dad's jokes, even the ones I heard a million times. I miss his laugh and the look on his face when he made other people laugh.

I miss my mom's cooking. I wish I had paid more attention to her when she cooked-One of my life's biggest regrets!

I miss my dad's realistic view of life and his no-nonsense advice. He always cut the chase and told me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear.

I miss how my mom always told me what I wanted to hear and then we ate ice cream or cake or whatever we could get our hands on.

I miss laughing at the kitchen table on the weekends.

I wish mom could have met her grandbabies and I wish dad could have met Connor.

I wish they both could have met Jonathon. I never dreamed that I would find someone that my mom and dad would both have loved but he's it. Jonathon's sense of adventure with food would have won my mom's heart over. His ability to fix just about anything and wanting to "do it himself" would have earned my dad's respect. They both would have loved the way he loves me.

I don't talk about it much, but I do miss them both very much every day.

Updates!

2009-09-13T14:09:00.003-04:00

Things have been so busy lately with the start of the new school year. I've pretty much been working, coaching, running, and working some more. The transition to business always takes about a month before I can get my time management under control. Here are some things that have been going on....

-Charlestown Football: I'm loving going to the games. It's so exciting to watch some of my former students get to play now that they are getting old enough. I also LOVE the feel of the community and the pride in Charlestown these days. It's really great to see.

-Family: I found out this week that my cousin, Kelli, is going to have a baby boy! I'm so happy to have another addition to our family. Kelli is my cousin, but I also consider her a close friend. I can't wait to meet Baby Brooks in a few months!

Labor Day Weekend: Jonathon and I didn't have much going on. We got invited two different places over the weekend and they both got cancelled. I got to hang out with Kristen's family a bunch last weekend. We played games, the girls hit me with their latest fundraiser, we had a great dinner, and I got to hold baby Connor a lot.

-Marathon training: Things are still going well. I'm so happy to report that I just finished week 5 and I'm sticking with it. I ran 10 miles on Saturday and I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. In the past I would have trained for a couple months to hit 10 miles, but the marathon training schedule is accelerated. It think it proves that it's really a mental game you play with yourself. I told myself I was not going to leave the gym until the treadmill said ten. I slowed down and took it steady. It felt great!

-Jonathon: He didn't get to come home this weekend and I'm missing him like crazy. :(

I've been so awful about taking pictures and posting things lately. I'm going to try to be better in the weekends to come as we have something going on every weekend over the next month. :)

I don't see what all the fuss is about....

2009-09-07T17:06:00.003-04:00

I don't speak too often on political issues in my blog, but I just had to share my opinion about something. I heard all the fuss being raised over Obama's address to students on Tuesday. From what I've heard over the weekend I wasn't sure I would want to my child to listen to the message, but I just read the speech released on: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

...and I have to say that I think the speech is great. I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm a pretty conservative minded person, politically speaking, and I have to admit that I agree with his message. Kids MUST come ready to listen and work hard.

Now I know this is probably not the first draft and who knows what it said before it actually got published....but I would welcome this message in my classroom. I think this is an example of people being upset about who the message is coming from rather than listening to what the message is saying. There's plenty of things our president has said that I don't agree with, BUT this speech has nothing to do with politics....it's about encouraging kids to do their best and work hard.

Note: Our school has decided not to show the video so our students won't hear it at my school. I really feel that parents should read it themselves before they make a decision about whether their children should listen to it. For the matter, no one should ever trust what they hear in the media on an issue. Check it out for yourself and make your own decisions!

Baby Connor

2009-09-06T14:08:00.004-04:00

Jonathon and I babysat Connor Saturday night so Kristen and Chris could have a date. The girls were at a sleepover so Kristen took the opportunity to have some free time out on the town. He did pretty well...just one little fit when Kristen left. It was a sad moment. He was crawling toward the door with a smile on his face as they left. The door shut and his brief depression set in. I took him outside to get his mind off of it and Jami brought Cooper over to distract him too. It worked! After that it was smooth sailing. He's a pretty easy baby. (Editor's note: I've never actually had him longer than four or five hours.)

I love his little face...

You can see all of his teeth in this one...I don't like it when he is sad but his little lip is adorable. Plus....look at those eye lashes. I'm super jealous!

Running Group

2009-09-06T14:04:00.002-04:00

I was invited to run with a group of people Saturday morning. There were six of us and we are all training for something (except Alicia who just likes to workout a lot). It was so much fun! We ran a little in Indiana and through downtown Louisville up to Bardstown Road. There were tons of runners and walkers out along the way and it sure made the time go by faster when someone from the group told a funny story or made a comment. Toward the end we were all kind of spread out on our own just trying to finish but it was great. I'm planning on meeting up with them next Saturday. It's going to make getting in the longer runs for the marathon a lot easier.

Thank you for being a friend...

2009-08-30T20:10:00.003-04:00

So this is the only picture I could find of all three of us that had already been scanned in. I'm so lazy! It's a great one of Heather and Jami....I look a little weird....back during my "brace face" period. :) It's a very unique self-pic taken at Jami's wedding. Anyway...on with my post....

On Saturday, Heather and I went for a girly morning at a spalon in Louisville to celebrate her upcoming 30th birthday. Afterwards we met up with Jami for lunch. I had a great time hanging out with these gals. I love them so much!

Throughout my adult life it seems like I've become good friends with people in threes. Jami, Heather, and I started hanging out right after I got home from college. I can't even really remember how it happened but it did. I have so many great memories with each of them....individually and together.

For those of you who don't know, we are all neighbors now too. Jami lives on the opposite corner of my street and I can back straight out of my driveway into Heather's. I love having them close to me. It's not like we hang out every night or anything, but it's great having them near me. :)

I love you, girls!! :)

Snuggies....

2009-08-23T20:15:00.004-04:00

If you've ever wondered about the couch blanket from the Snuggie commercials are awesome....I'm about to become an expert witness. Jonathon got me a royal blue Snuggie for my birthday....great for CHS football games! Oh yes...laugh now....but if you are at the game and want me to share my "blanket with sleeves" I'll be the one laughing then. (Just kidding, I'll share.)

I say I'll be an expert because today Kristen and Chris went to lunch with us after church and guess what Kristen gave me??? A zebra print Snuggie! Now I have two. :) Apparently I've talked about how goofy, yet awesome those things are every time I see the commercial.

Thanks for my Snuggies, Kristen and Jonathon!

Need a Cat???

2009-08-22T15:16:00.003-04:00

My friend, Lindsey, would like to give one of her cats to a good home. Her oldest cat has a ton of health problems which is making it harder and harder to care for their latest cat rescue. If there are any animal lovers out there, let me know!

This Week...

2009-08-22T09:10:00.004-04:00

I've had a pretty busy week. It's a good warm-up to the full "back to school" week that is coming....

Monday- I was working in my classroom and in the afternoon (very out of the blue) I started feeling sick. I rushed home and went to bed. It only last for about four hours and then I was done. Kristen brought me some Sprite and I just hung out on the couch for the night. It was very weird. I think it may have been that Lean Cuisine I found in the back of the freezer to take to lunch. I have no idea how old it was.....Someone told me, "When in doubt, throw it out!" I'll do that from now on....

Tuesday- I started my day with a 4 mile run with Kathy. We haven't ran together in so long and it was nice to catch up. She is going to be my Tuesday running partner through the marathon training. I'm so excited because she pushes me.

After the run, I met up with Jami for lunch at the Chick-fil-a. We got to chat with Rachel there and support ROCK.

I met up with my mother-in-law, Denise, after lunch. She had a coveted 30% off coupon for Kohl's. No big spening from me though...I needed to find something for Jonathon to wear to a wedding in a couple weeks. I feel like I barely hang on to the fashion train with myself. It's been interesting over the past year trying to shop for him too. I hope what I picked out works!

Wedesday-I had an all-day meeting for school. Intense! Then I got to go to my hair appointment. I had it cut to just below my chin. It's been years since my hair was this short. It was a request by Jonathon and I told him I would try it again. I was ready for a change. We both like it. :) I'll have to get a picture to post.

Thursday-I had several school things to do....Seems like I was running back and forth to places all day. It was very busy!

Friday-First official day...meetings all day long. The highlight was going to the football game at CHS. I met up with a bunch of friends to hang out a little before the game. Jonathon was texting me throught he evening updating me with his travel updates home. He finally got home right before the game ended. Pirates win....then I headed home to my hubby. :)

Saturday- I had a birthday wake-up call this morning. Callie and Maddie called to wake me up and sing "Happy Birthday." It was very sweet. Jonathon and I went to Perrin Park to run....BTW-I had another great running week. No missed workouts!-Now we are waiting for his parents to arrive. They are having a family dinner at Huber's tonight. I've never been there to eat at the restaurant. Should be exciting.

I hope everyone else had a great week!

Update/Top Ten

2009-08-16T22:20:00.002-04:00

I thought I would put my update in the form of a top ten list...In no certain order, here are the top ten things of the past week...

10. Getting some things done in my classroom...although it still feels like there's so much to do!
9. Getting to see my friend Jill's new baby boy, Justus Cash....cool name. :) He's a doll.
8. Starting week 1 of my marathon training schedule...with 100% success! I didn't skip a single workout.
7. Working registration night at school. I love back to school time...I'm such a nerd!
6. Having dinner with lots of family Friday night. I always have fun catching up with everyone! I especially enjoyed seeing my baby cousin, Gracie. She is so full of life.....sweet and adorable!
5. Holding my nephew, Connor. He's such a good baby and I just want to hug him all day.
4. Meeting my good friend, Carrie, for lunch on Thursday. I miss my Carrie Jo!
3. Double date movie night with Jen and Ryan.
2. I spent most of the week in London, Ky with Jonathon again. I really think I could get used to living in a hotel having other people clean up after you. :)
1. My favorite "witty Jonathon" line this weekend: "Next weekend have ice cream waiting in the freezer for me like a good wife should." He was totally kidding but we had a good giggle over this one!!! I was running late Friday so I didn't buy any ice cream for the weekend.

I'm looking forward to my last week of relaxation before the whirlwind begins with the school year.....

I'm just saying...

2009-08-12T01:16:00.002-04:00

I have NEVER liked Rick Pitino. From the time he was at UK until now I have always said this. It wasn't the coaching (Even I can't deny that he is a very good coach.) and I could never give anyone who asked a better answer than, "I don't know. I just don't like him."

I'm just saying......

A Plug for Porter Paints...

2009-08-03T17:19:00.002-04:00

I just had a color consultant come to my house to help me pick out paint colors. I'm not very good at picking anything out unless I can see everything together. You may remember that I was in the market to purchase new couches a couple months ago. Well we bought them but realized soon after that we must paint the walls because I apparently don't know how to match up different shades of beige. :) So anyway....

The Porter Paints deal is awesome. You pay the consultant $50 to come to your home where she can see everything in natural light. She helps you pick out your shades and then she leaves you with a $50 gift certificate to Porter Paints. So basically, you get an in-home consultation for free as long as you buy your paint there. What a deal!

I will soon be painting the living room, hallway, guest bath, and master bedroom in our home. Wish me luck!

Jonathon at Work...

2009-07-28T11:06:00.004-04:00

I am in London, Ky this week hanging out at the hotel while Jonathon is at work each day. It's really nice to be away from any kind of work for me. I am working out in the hotel or at the local aerobics gym, watching TV, wasting time on the Internet, reading, and my favorite...taking naps!
It's awesome for me but Jonathon is busy at work each day. I got a message ten minutes before he arrived back at the base yesterday and I drove straight there to catch him landing. I've only seen him fly once before. Below you will see pictures of his approach. The last picture is what helps me sleep at night. After every single flight a team of mechanics inspects the helicopter inside and out. That mixed with knowing he is a great pilot helps me know that he is safe in the air each day.

Kiawah Island, Here We Come..

2009-07-27T10:39:00.003-04:00

Jonathon and I are officially registered for the Kiawah Island Marathon in December. Originally we wanted to run the Chicago in October but we didn't register in time. I went on a search to find another marathon to be my first. I found the Kiawah Island Marathon.... http://www.kiawahresort.com/recreation/marathon/ I'm thinking the weather will be perfect that time of year in South Carolina.

The training calendar doesn't begin until the end of August so now I have a few weeks to get my body ready to train. For the past two years I just haven't had the motivation to get going but I am pumped and ready to go now. I spent an hour on the treadmill this morning running/walking. I'm so excited to be committed to it!

Happy to Be Home

2009-07-26T17:13:00.003-04:00

It has been a wonderful week being back home. I spent most of the week catching up on appointments. If you know me well you know that I'm always going somewhere....dentist, orthodontist, chiropractor, etc. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac...but most of the time there is a real reason to go so I'm not crazy. :)

I did a really stupid thing while in Africa. I dropped my retainer in hot, boiling water and it shrank so I had to go get that fixed. My teeth are so mobile and they had already started shifting around. They are trying to salvage the old retainer so I don't have to buy a new one but I have to go back in a month to see if it worked.

I also switched dentists this week. I'm now going to my friend Lindsey's office. No, she's not the dentist. She's the hygienist and she did a great job. At first I thought I would feel weird having a friend clean my teeth....in case she thought I was super dirty or something....but it was actually comforting. I'm slightly cholosterphobic so having a friend all up in my mouth put me more at ease.

I got a new haircut this week and I love it. It doesn't look much different but she layered it a little differently...small, subtle change...but I like it.

I got to stop by Megan's in between appointments one day this week and got to see little Lincoln. He is a skinny little thing. I'm used to chubby babies in my family. :) He was just as cute as the pictures on their blog.

My church was having VBS this week and I'm usually involved somehow but this year I was out of town the whole time they were planning and putting things together so I didn't have a role. I volunteered to babysit my nephew, Connor, while Kristen took the girls each night. I loved this! He's the cutest little thing and we had so much fun each night. He's such a good baby. We visited with Jami and Cooper and went walking with Heather and Alex one night. It was fun to catch up with everyone while watching Connor.

Jonathon and I did share our date night with Jesse and BD to see a movie. We ran into the Kaelins at Qdoba so it was nice to catch up.

The rest of the week I did a whole lot of nothing.....which was really nice! Jonathon and I are headed out of town to London, KY. He's working there this summer and I don't want to be away from him for another week. I'll be hanging out at the hotel during the day while he's working then we'll get to hang out at night. I'm looking forward to it.

Doing What I'm Supposed to Do...

2009-07-25T08:14:00.002-04:00

I have been touched and honored by comments made here on this blog as well as on my Facebook page but I have a sense of guilt about them. I want to share the experiences I had in Malawi to help others see what life is like there and because I had a wonderfully perspective altering time there. I give all praise to God for making it possible for my church to send another team there this year. I only went because I truly felt like that's what I'm supposed to do. Not everyone will get that tug on their heart but they'll get a tug to do something else. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was easy for me to go. I don't feel a sense of sacrifice at all. It would have been hard NOT to go because it would have felt wrong. So it humbles me to receive such wonderful comments but please praise God, not me. :) Sometimes He gives us a task to do...I just said yes to it. That's all. Honor Him instead of me by saying yes to whatever it is you get the tug to do. :)

Malawi School Pics

2009-07-24T21:21:00.003-04:00

I have tons of school pictures but it takes so much time to upload them!! Below are some highlights. You can see the conditions of the classrooms. The resources are so scarce. Usually there's just a chalkboard and some chalk. They did have more books this time but not close to having one book per student, per subject. They have had some books sent from the US and one of things we did was help organize them and make sense of them for the other school teachers. In a couple of the pictures below you'll see where we took the kids outside and let them have free reading time with some of the US books. They LOVED it!!

Medicine Clinic Pictures...

2009-07-19T21:34:00.006-04:00

The most moving experiences in Malawi were during the medicine clinics. I have to tell you that not a single one of us was a doctor but we did have a nurse with us for the last session. We didn't give out powerful medicines...mostly mild antibiotics and cold/flu/cough stuff along with arthritis, open wounds, stomach acid issues and some eye infections as well. The patients would be sitting around when we would pull up to the building. The most we served in one day was about 500. These people wouldn't otherwise have been treated for their illnesses and it seemed good and right to be helping out with such an overwhelming task.

The times of the days were when you could visibly see a tumor or when they would complain of symptoms you knew were super serious. We would just tell them they must find a way to the hospital to seek attention. There are several government hospitals available for free but the care is not what you would expect here in the states.

If you are wondering what we are wearing....the ministry there is called Good Samaritan so they had skirt wraps and shirts made with green material with the Good Samaritan verse on it. We wore skirts and wraps most of the time while we were there. The Malawian culture is just beginning to open itself to women wearing pants. For a long time it has been promoted even by the government that pants for women was kind of scandalous. We saw a lot more women in the cities wearing pants this time than we saw two years ago. In the villages you see skirts and wraps though.

Back home again in Indiana...

2009-07-19T21:31:00.001-04:00

I am home safe and sound. Jonathon picked me up at the airport this afternoon and I've never been happier to see his face. I love my hubby!

I'm going to post some pictures of the next week but I have to muddle through TONS of them. I may pick a different topic each day for the next few days and post similiar ones... Right now I'm exhausted and ready for bed.

Stay tuned...

:)

Almost home...

2009-07-17T12:31:00.000-04:00

Hello Friends and Family! We are at the FUllford's this evening so that means access to the Internet. Our phone access home was short lived. The phone worked for a day and then nothing. Here's the update....

Last Saturday we had a lazy morning. It was nice to rest up! We took the afternoon to go to another orphanage nearby. Mr. and Mrs. Gentry are friends with the founder since they have worked in the same area for nearly ten years. The founder is an amazingly strong woman from South Africa and she is about to write a book about her life. I'm definitely going to put that book on my "to read" list. This orphanage was amazing. They get the orphans from babies and raise them. The facilities were outstanding and the school was just as colorful and friendly to walk through. They get funding from all over the world. It made me long for more support for the orphanage were we work. They do the best they can but resources just aren't not as readily available. The orphanage is Kondanani and there's supposed to be info about it on the web...but I'm waiting to get home to check it out.

On Sunday we took public transportation for the first time. We seriously see thirty people in those vans sometimes so we were a little nervous. It was actually a great experience. The music was playing and it was neat. The windshield had three stickers on it: "I love Allah," " I love God," and "I love Toyota." I found that pretty funny. :) We took the transportation because we wanted to visit a different church than where Mr. Gentry was going. This church was started by Wilson, the night guard at our house. It seemed like it would mean a lot for us to come so we wanted to make it happen. The service was so good and afterwards Wilson had lunch for us. There were bowls of nsima (the main food here...imagine hot cornmeal), boiled eggs, and relish. We tasted the nsima for the first time. We decided it was kind of like grits...no taste though. They eat a lot of it here because it fills them up very fast...but it has little to no nutritional value. It was a fun experience. When we headed home there was no transportation available so we walked the two and a half hours home. I was actually glad to get the excercise. We walked through many villages and got to see more of the life up close. Several babies and kids would wave at us and yell "Nzungu!!" That's "white person" in chichewa. It's a funny feeling to stand out so much here.

On Monday we had our last medicine clinic experience. We served around 500 people this time. It's amazing to see so many people in line to get help. Again there were several cases we had to tell to go to the hospital because there was nothing we could help with. These medical experiences are always tug on the heart.

On Tuesday we went to Mount Mulunje to climb to a waterfall. We did this two years ago when we were here and wanted to do it again. Mel wasn't feeling well and ended up staying home...even making a trip to the hospital. She was okay though. We missed her!! On the way to Mulunje we drove to the Mozambique border. We walked across the border and visited for ten minutes. We were excited to add another country to our passport but they wouldn't stamp it. I have pictures to prove I was there though! On the way to the mountain our truck broke down so we had to get a tow from a minibus. We called one of the Good Samaritan staff to come tow us home...but we still got to climb the mountain while we were waiting. It was a great day...even with the truck breaking down. We took Thandie (the director of the children's home) with us. She is by far one of the most amazing people in the world. She dedicates her life to being a mother to the 80 children at the home. We love her and we were so glad to have this day with her.

Wednesday was pretty emotional. It was our last church service here and we cried a lot with the realization that we were heading home soon. A couple of the kids gave testimonies thanking God for bringing us together. We cried a lot...did I already say that?

Thursday was our last day at the school. We said our good byes and had one last soccer game with the kids.

Today has been about spending time with all the missionaries here having a good time together on our last night and evening. We were hoping to take Norman to get his hand bike but we found out that it will not be ready until next week. Rackson assures us he will make sure it happens. He is even going to take a picture and send it back to us. :)

This has been another amazing experience and my life will not be the same. Thanks for all the supportive messages. I will be home Sunday afternoon. Please pray for safe flights. I will probably take a couple days to rest up and settle in at home before I surface but I'm so excited to see everyone again.

Week 5 Update

2009-07-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

It may seem early for an update but I'm so excited because we now have Internet at the house where we are staying!! The phone lines here were stolen and now that the Gentry family has returned to Malawi they had the lines fixed. We just figured out tonight that the Internet connection would work. Yay! It's EXTREMELY slow though. By the way I just reread my last update and please forgive any and all typos on these updates. The connection is so slow that it's just not worth the time to edit. :) So anyway.....

We had so much fun this week! We just finished a full week of teaching at the school during the day and playing football/soccer with the kids every afternoon. The first day we played with them we noticed they started calling themselves "Team Malawi" because it was about twelve little girls around the ages of 7-13 against the three teachers from USA. They stomped us each and every time. Let me tell you that they can play rough...without shoes...VERY rough. We have even recruited about four of the girls to play on our team and we still can't beat them. The boys and girls play separately here....not a lot of mingling on the playground....so we haven't attempted playing them in a game. Today we did pass the ball around with some of the boys though. After all of our testing sessions we took the classes out for a "PE" class until their time was up. So fun!

We were able to take Rackson, one of the pastor's and our driver, along with his family out to dinner on Thursday night as a thank you to them for helping us out so much. It was so sweet for them to tell us the story of how they met. He tried to woo her for nearly two years before she would agree to "go out" with him. (That's in American terms.) During the time, he spent the last six months writing a letter to her each and every day trying to persuade her. She finally said yes! Then it took another six months for him to impress her mom enough to approve. Talk about determination. You don't find that with the culture here very often. A lot of marriages are arranged or done for survival purposes. It was sweet to hear a story about a Malawian man trying to impress the woman of his affection. It made us love him even more! He is a very wonderful person and we have been blessed by our time with him.

We were able to go to the hospital today to visit the little girl who was burned. Rose is in a government hospital that is free. The hospital rooms remind me of scenes from old war movies where you have rows and rows of hospital beds sitting two feet apart. There were several children there. The hospital doesn't provide bedding or food so the families have to bring meals and and items for comfort to the patients. Rose is an orphan but her uncle happens to be on staff at the orphanage so her aunt is with her. It was hard to see her today but it's comforting to know that she is getting some pain relievers and she has an aunt to sit with her. Please keep her in your prayers.

I will be leaving a week from tomorrow to come back home. Our last week is full of many activities so I'm sure it will fly by. I've missed so much of what is going on back home and can't wait to catch up with everyone. I would like to congratulate my friends Todd and Lisa on the birth of their baby girl, Claire. She is beautiful!!

I would also like to brag on my husband a little. He earned is "PC" status this past week which means he has enough flight hours and knowledge to fly the helicopter alone without anyone else as a copilot. He has been flying solo all week long. I'm so proud of him!

Week Four Update...

2009-07-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

I have the same feeling on this trip that I did on the last one. I thought God sent me here to do some good work, but in the end I really thing he sends me here to renew my faith and grow as a person. Having said that, here's what's been going on....

Last Monday-We took a man named Norman to get measured for a hand bike and hand/knee pads. He had polio when he was a child and lost the use of his legs. Every time we stop of the market he is sitting outside along with many other beggars asking for food. There has always been something different about him. Jill remembered him from out trip two years ago. He has a joy-filled face and is always so happy despite his life circumstances. Jill's idea was to find out if we can get him and hand bike to help him travel and we were right on board. You see many handicapped people here getting around by the use of their hands only. They wear flip flops on their hands and their knees are extremely callused due to dragging their legs along as they walk down the streets. It would truly break your heart. We hope to get to see the completed project. The bike is supposed to be ready for pick-up on Friday, July 17... the day before we leave.

Tuesday-Thursday- We taught at the school. Our typical day includes teaching 40-80 minute English lessons to six levels of learners. Just to give you and idea. I'm using LOTS of my Reading Recovery skills here along with Jill and Melanie to help students learn their letters and begin to read. We are hoping to pass along some of our strategies to the English teacher here. We think we are really helping them make a jump in their knowledge. ON Thursday we were late to school because one of the little girls was hurt badly. Here is my prayer request for this update: It has been unseasonably cold here. Remember that it is winter here but the average winter temp is usually still in the 60's. It has been in the 40's and 50's here and the native Malawians really even don't know how to stay warm. A little girl named Rose was trying to warm herself near a fire on the orphanage grounds. She decided to straddle it to warm her legs and her dress caught on fire. She has suffered third degree burns all over her legs. Please pray that she has a speedy recovery and for no infections. Health care here is not what it is in the states.

On Wednesday the founder of the mission here, Gardiner Gentry, arrived and he and his wife and nurse are now staying with us at our house. We are so happy to have them here. Not only do we feel safe and more secure but they are awesome company as well. they are truly an inspiration to leading this mission!

Friday-Saturday- We took a little vacation. We went to the Mvuu Camp about two hours away for a safari. It was AWESOME. We saw hippos, all kinds of different antelopes, wart hogs, baboons, all kinds of birds, elephants, and crocodiles. We were SO CLOSE to the crocks and elephants. Wow...can't wait to share pics when I get home. It was a nice break.

Sunday-A day full of church. Jill played the guitar while Mel sang O Holy Night for the morning service. It was beautiful! I wish I could have participated but people just don't really want to hear the IU Fight Song played on the clarinet here and that's really all I have to offer...

Monday- It was a holiday at the school. Malawi's Independence Day.....so we have spent the day at The Fullfords helping them with projects. I had a hot shower (GREAT) and now I'm checking me email. This weekly shower/email trip to their house is really a treat.

Okay, that's all for now. We are coming home in a little under two weeks and I'm happy/sad. I could stay here forever and help out if only my friends and family were here with me.

Love,
Karen

Three weeks in Africa and still no sign of Madonna...

2009-06-26T15:02:00.000-04:00

Ha Ha! Anytime I said I was going to Malawi it seems like most people had heard of it because of Madonna. We found out tonight that we are just a short drive away from the orphanage where she is adopting her baby girl. Huh...small world.....

So anyway......

This week has been full of excitement:

Saturday: We took Lana to the airport and sent her on her way with hugs. Then we spent the afternoon taking care of business. We shopped for some teaching things, went to the Internet cafe, grocery shopped, and treated our driver, Rackson, and the head of the school, Ms. Goodman to lunch. It was a really fun afternoon and we think Ms. Goodman enjoyed getting away for the day. She NEVER gets a day off.

Sunday: Church in a the Bwaila Village. We taught Sunday school with the help of an interpreter. Wow is it hard to teach through a different language. Mel wrote a song and taught it to them. It was a lot of fun. We later attended evening church at the orphanage. Jill and I sat in on the youngest junior church class. They are so stinkin' cute!

Monday: Medicine in the village again. I'm proud to say that we were able to treat even more people this time in about an hour and a half less time. I think having some experience under our belt really helped us move along. There are again a great number of sad stories I could tell from this day. It's amazing the illnesses that can be treated so easily in America that go untreated here and result in death. It feels right to be helping out. I learned how to say "cough" in Chichewa. It's cold and flu season here so it seems like everyone had "the cough." There are many situations that are just to sad to describe here. Just know that your prayers should be with these people.

On the way out of the area we got stopped by the Malawian police. They made Rackson get out of the car and they spoke to Jill in Chichewa. They were mad because she didn't speak in Chichewa back to them. Then one of them kept asking me questions...What are you doing here? Is this a hired car? Where are you residing? I have to admit I was a little nervous. They can arrest you here for any reason at all and then you have the burden of proving your innocence. Rackson got back in the car and said they were just fishing for a reason to write a ticket. Praise God for protecting us in that situation.

Tuesday-Friday: We taught at the school and got more time with the kids. It was hard at times this week because they have been going through the rooms and desks looking for stolen items. The kids are pretty defensive and not in good moods about the staff. Luckily they have responded well to our teaching activities and the new books we are introducing. We have been having some self-selected reading time with books and you would not believe the way even the 12-14 year olds are reacting over reading first grade English books. They are just so happy to have a book to hold in their own hands. They are loving it!!

Friday evening: Right now we are at the Fullford's house having a slumber party. It's Jill's birthday so we are staying at their house where they have water AND electricity. What a treat!!! We are actually going to take hot showers tonight and that is most exciting. I will never ever take for granted the access to clean, hot water at my home again. :) They are the best hosts and they work so hard for the kids and people here in Malawi.

Thanks to those sending text messages and emails. I can't always reply but they really help with the homesickness.

Karen

Week Two Update

2009-06-20T09:52:00.002-04:00

Hello Friends and Family! There are so many things to talk about. Here are the highlights...

Last Friday-We went into a village and had a mini-worship concert and showed "The Jesus Film." It's bascially a story about the life and miracles of Jesus. Then they do an invitation at the end of the movie. It was so neat to see about 1,000 villagers gather for it. One of our team members, Melanie lead the worship music before a couple of their staff workers took over. It was so much fun! I had a funny moment when a man came up to me and asked me if I understood the movie. I told him that I did and he started grinning and said..."English, Chichewa, English, Chichewa!" He thought I heard the movie in English and he heard the movie in Chichewa. I couldn't get the point across to him that I understood the movie because I knew the stories from the bible. I feel kind of bad that he thinks a miracle occured and really it was just a language barrier. Mr. Fullford later told me that the guy had been drinking...that makes more sense. :)

Last Saturday-We woke up early and went to a village to go "soul winning." I didn't quite know what this was and was a little nervous. When people in the states walk around trying to get you to listen to them tell about Jesus people tend to run from them. We just walked around the village and Mr. Fullford would stop every now and then and give mini-sermons. We helped passed out little bibles with the books of John and Romans. It was a great experience.

Sunday- Church at Njuli village then church in the evening back at the orphanage.

Monday- This has been the highlight of my trip so far. We went up to a village about two hours away and set up a make-shift medical clinic. We had a couple tables and boxes of medicine. Here in Malawi you don't have to have a prescription to purchase medicine...just the money. We treated wounds, colds, infections, worms, snails, malaria, stomach pains, headaches, and other illnesses. It was heartbreaking to see some of the things we saw. One person brought their son to Melanie wanting to know if she could do anything to help him. As best we could tell he was born with a mental condition. They said they had been to several doctors. The whole day just broke our hearts, but it felt wonderful to be able to be giving them something they needed. Many people we had to suggest to get to a hospital because their issue was too big for what we had available. There are many stories I could tell about this day....

Tuesday-Friday- We organized and taught at the orphanage and school. We are trying to get books and clothing that have been donated organized in a way that makes sense for the workers. At night we have been working on aligning the Malawi English curriculum with all the materials sent over from the STates. I am very proud to say that I have come across names like "Welle" and "Kaelin" written on books. Our JJ books arrived from two years ago...but they are just now getting to use them. That should make my JJ friends happy to hear!

Okay, time is so limited for the INternet. I love and miss everyone so much!

:) Karen

We're Here...

2009-06-11T14:42:00.000-04:00

Friends and Family,

We arrived safely to Malawi on Wednesday afternoon. Our travel was WONDERFUL. Everything ran on time and the leg room on the plane was great compared to last time we made these flights. We spent the night in Johannesburg, South Africa and I could not believe the difference between that town and the Africa we see in Malawi. It looked like any major city in America with it's fancy hotels and billboard signs.

When we landed in Blantyre and I saw the familiar airport signs I was tearing up with joy. I had been a little anxious preparing for this trip and feeling slightly different than last time. As soon as I saw the place, I was reassured that this was the right thing to be doing. Thandie (the woman who runs the orphanage) and Mr. Fullford (the man who is overseeing the entire ministry here) met us at the airport. I had never met Mr. Fullford and instantly he and his wife were big hits with us. They have the best personalities! It was so great to see Thandie again too. She greeted us with big hugs.

So far we've only had time to settle in and get ourselves organized. We attended church Wednesday night at the orphanage and heard the most beautiful music. Today, we went to a bible study in one of the villages. It's so fun to see them soak everything in. Tomorrow we report to the school director to talk about curriculum and our other jobs while we are here.

Our plan for Saturday is to go "soul winning." I am most nervous and excited about this....expect an update about that!
So anyway, we are here. We are safe. We are absolutely in the middle of God's plan for us.

Thanks for the prayers and I'll update again when we get the chance!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane....

2009-06-08T06:54:00.002-04:00

...I do know when I'll be back again: July 19. My bags are packed....each weighing in at 49.8lbs...perfect! I just need to get dressed and out the door. I will be sending a weekly email out to some people to give updates. I'm going to try to blog too...we'll see. Have a great six weeks everyone!

More to come...

Saying Good-bye....

2009-06-07T19:05:00.003-04:00

Well, I've been through all the rounds of trying to say good-bye to everyone before I take off. Jonathon and I had lunch with Kristen and my step-mom this afternoon along will Jill who is going with me. We came home and spent the afternoon taking care of all the business items that needed attention before we both leave. Jami stopped by, my aunts Jessie and aunt Evonia have both called, and JOnathon and I walked over to chat with Heather and Craig before he had to hit the road.

Now he is gone for the week. We've been separated for seven weeks twice before since we've been together but for some reason today was harder to say good-bye. I know I'm traveling farther away but people do it all the time....everyday. I'm not sure why but I'm so much more emotional this time.

I miss him already....

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening trying to get everything I need into my two suitcases...I'm just two pounds over now and I have to make decisions about what I really need vs. what I just really want to take. Jami has a dessert waiting for me so I'll pop over and have a bite. Then it will be time to go to bed and get ready for the take off tomorrow. I would appreciate any prayers for safety tomorrow if you have the time.

Productive Saturday...

2009-06-07T08:24:00.002-04:00

Jonathon had Guard duties yesterday so he woke me up around six to say goodbye. I rolled over slept in until eight. That may not sound like a huge deal but it felt awesome! My friend Jesse came to take me to breakfast with Aimee and Amy. They were all getting together last night for a trip to the drive-in but I had decided not to make any plans since Jonathon wouldn't be home until late and I still needed to pack. The breakfast at IHOP was so yummy!! I had a great time.

I spent the entire day packing a little then running to either Meijer or Walmart to pick up things I thought I had or forgot about. The trick here is to get everything I'm taking to donate and all of my personal items for six weeks in two 50lb. suitcases. At one point last night one suitcase was 10lbs. over and one was 2lbs. over. I had to decide what really didn't need to go....that was hard! I have medicine cups, syringes (without needles), backpacks, school supplies, socks, underwear, eyeglasses, rubber gloves, kitchen towels, and some other things. Our church collects items to send but the things I listed were specifically mentioned as needs for right now. Oh..I wanted to mention that I didn't pay for all that stuff myself I have had financial support from friends and church members to buy supplies so thanks to all of you who have contributed to this project!! Our goal is to get as much as we can in the states because everything is more expensive there. I'll be taking more of the contributed funds with me to purchase items needed over there as well.

I did take a break from the packing madness to attend a graduation party and catch up with my friend, Jen. It was a nice visit and a chance for us to catch up.

Jonathon got home around 7:30 and we spent the evening hanging out and laughing. I love him so much. He makes me laugh with all of his witty comments. We had dinner at Outback...thanks to Hannah and Kari James for my teacher gift card!! It was delicious. I don't eat there very often and I was reminded that we need to go back again and again.

It was a wonderful day to get things done and an even better evening with my hubby. Things are coming together and I'm feeling almost no stress now. Praise God!

I Made It Through...

2009-06-05T22:19:00.002-04:00

The insanity of the past two weeks hasn't left much time for blogging. Know this....it was crazy out there and I pulled through it! The school year is sealed...lots of mixed emotions because my class was AWESOME this year and I will miss them so much...Now it's on to getting myself ready to fly out on Monday morning.

I spent the day gathering my cash for the trip and purchasing needed items for the orphanage. Today I packed a suitcase full of medicine cups, needleless syringes, kids' underwear/socks, school supplies, and eye glasses. The only problem now is that my suitcase is 10lbs over the limit. I have another suitcase to pack with my clothes and personal items so I'll have to do some shifting of stuff to get both bags in under the weight limit. It's hard to pack for 6 weeks!

Jonathon surprised me by coming on Wednesday night. His boss let him work from home on Thursday so we could add an extra evening together before I leave. I just love spending time with him and we have had so much fun the last couple nights just hanging out. I think we are soaking in every minute of it since we know we'll be separated for a while.

I do have an added prayer request this week...Kristen was diagnosed with diabetes this week. We knew it was coming....It's a genetic curse the doctors warned her about years ago. There are tons of medical milestones they've made in the past decade but it's still weighs on our hearts knowing that mom's health problems revolved around her diabetes. Please say some prayers that she will be able to combine meds and a healthier lifestyle to keep it balanced. She needs the support. It's so hard!

Okay, I have to get back to packing...I'm so last minute.....

Decorating Tips...

2009-05-25T20:10:00.004-04:00

We sold our couches this afternoon thanks to Craigslist....yes there are some positive things that can come of that site. A couple from 45 miles south of Louisville came up this evening and bought my old couches. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure. I have to admit I nearly shed a tear as they pulled away. Those couches had been with me since I moved out of my parents' house in 2000 and they belonged to my parents for years before that. I called Kristen as soon as the people left and she asked me if I cried. (She does know me well.) It did feel like it was losing one more little piece of "home." I was surprised that I felt that way because I have been talking about how hideous I think they are for years. Emotions are funny with their timing.

So...onto the new couches. I pretty much know what I want but I thought I would throw out the opportunity to get some advice. below is a picture of my living room with the old couches and then with the empty holes left. I'm thinking beige/neutral with red accent pillows to bring out the red accents all around our living room and kitchen, but what do you think???????

Weekend

2009-05-25T09:10:00.004-04:00

Friday: Jonathon and I made a date out of seeing the new Terminator movie followed by dinner at Dairy Queen. I always have a blast hanging out with Jonathon. He's quiet most of the time when he's around but you would never guess how funny he is. He's so witty and he makes me giggle non-stop. :)

Saturday: Jonathon and I CLEANED. All my laundry is caught up, the kitchen is scrubbed down, and I organized some important papers. We had a bird camping out in the grill again this spring so Jonathon evicted them. I'm not sure how he did it. I didn't want to know. :( We have to get a grill cover to keep the birds out next year.

We also celebrated our friend Michelle's 30th birthday. Tons of fun! We went to Rocky's for dinner then spent some time on 4th Street. We decided to take pics on the river.

Jonathon and I... (I am in serious need of a haircut!)

Heather and Craig... Lookin' cool...

Michelle and Russell...Her dress was super cute!

The ladies....

I don't know why I didn't get a shot of Lindsey and Tim???? Or Jeremy????

Sunday: We were poised and ready for church but then we got the call from my sister that our friend Sarah needed help moving. She's pregnant and has lost two babies already and Kristen was worried if she didn't have enough help she would overdo it. We took the truck over and helped get them moved. Their new house is beautiful!! I wish I had taken my camera. Jonathon and I added a few of their design aspects to our "wish list" of a house.

We got home in time for Jonathon to start packing up for his ride back to London, Ky for the week. Our friend Travis stopped by for a visit and invited us to a Riverbats game. Jonathon couldn't go but I went on and had a great time. It was fun to get a chance to hang out with his wife Megan. I haven't known her very long but I really like her. :)

Today was supposed to be the Annual Karen Hooser Golf Classic but is was raining so we postponed it. There's still going to be a cookout this afternoon with some indoor game playing but we'll have to wait to find out who the 2009 winner is this year.

What a full weekend!

To-do List....

2009-05-18T16:17:00.001-04:00

The "to-do list" is the answer to may prayers. I made a huge one today and I've marked everything except two things off of it already. It's only 4:15!!! I can start working on tomorrow's list of things to do now. This makes me think it's all possible......Thank you God for organization skills!!!

Three Weeks

2009-05-17T22:04:00.002-04:00

There are three weeks left of school and three weeks until I leave for my big trip. The stress of everything is hitting me tonight. There are bazillion things that I need to get accomplished in the next 21 days. Will I be able to get it all done?????

Slow down...take deep breaths....and take one day at a time. If you see me on the edge over the next three weeks, remind me of those three steps!!

AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

The To-Do List:
-Organize the Relay for Life team for JJ and get everything ready to go for the big event that will take place a week after I leave. This includes holding two fund raising events in the next two weeks and getting all of our donated funds turned in....oh and pick up the team t-shirts.
-Finish up the final assignments with the kiddos then get through or organize: Field Day, 5th Grade Summer Olympics, a Talent Show, and a Graduation Ceremony.
-Make a video for our 5th graders
-Clean and organize my classroom.
-Clean and organize my house.
-Purchase all my travel items.
-Pack for Africa....keeping everything I need to donate/use for 6 weeks within two 50lb. suit cases. It's not easy.
-Get around to some friends and family before I leave.
-Watch Chris and Kristen get remarried and take them to dinner.
-Celebrate my friend Michelle's 30th!
-Got to Lexington with Jonathon for a little reunion.
-Ummm....I think that's it.....I'm sure there's one or five things I'm forgetting about it.

My head is spinning......I heading to bed so I can start EVERYTHING tomorrow....

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T23:29:00.002-04:00

I've decided that as long as I'm a blogger I will share one of my favorite memories about my mom on Mother's Day.....

Mom LOVED to entertain with food. She was an excellent cook and I so wish I had paid more attention to her culinary skills when I was younger. She had a side business of catering weddings and anniversary parties. It was a family thing and we all loved it. She would give Kristen and I a cut of the profits from each wedding and it paid pretty well. It was always her dream to have a full-time catering business. We were looking into grants for women business owners for a while but as her health failed it was put on the back burner. I loved those times in the kitchen with her. We all had our departments to take care of. I was the sandwich maker....how can you mess up sandwiches, right?!

The night before I graduated from IU I had a dream about her. She had passed away the summer before my last year there but in my dream it was the day of my graduation party and my mom was there. We were all in the kitchen doing our catering duties and preparing for the guests to arrive. In my dream I knew my mom was not alive anymore but didn't understand why nobody else was freaking out about it. My dream ended with us sitting on the couch, watching TV before our guests arrived. On the TV was a commercial for funeral caskets. My thoughts were "Oh, that's not as pretty as the casket we had for Mom." I instantly looked at her and she said, "Karen, don't think about sad things. Just enjoy our time together." It was like God gave me the gift of that dream. Everything about the graduation party in my dream went like it would have if she had been there. I got to experience it anyway.

I miss those times in the kitchen with her and I will cherish those memories forever. Everytime I entertain for showers or small get togethers at my house I try to arrange little plates of food and I always think, "My momma taught me how to throw a party!"

Busy Saturday

2009-05-09T23:21:00.002-04:00

Jonathon and I slept in this morning. It was so very nice! He didn't get home until late last night so we decided to have "date afternoon" by going to see the new X-Men movie at noon today. He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening fixing a few small things with our "new to us" car. He wanted to check a bunch of little things so he felt comfortable having me drive it around. He offered for me to take his truck and he would drive the older car, but I like smaller vehicles. I would be so nervous driving that truck around.

Jonathon stayed home to take care of some business and I went on to our Music for Malawi concert. We had a low turnout but honestly, it was so much fun hearing the worship music that it doesn't matter. I think we will break even on the event so I'm just glad the thirty or so people who came out had a great time. I also got to do some brainstorming with a few people about some opportunities to think about. Hmmm.....

Overall it was a great Saturday. Now it's time to put the pjs on and relax....

If you don't have plans...

2009-05-09T11:18:00.004-04:00

think about coming to our Malawi mission fund worship concert. The info is listed above. We will have pizza/nachos/popcorn on sale for dinner/snacking.. The concert is free and the concessions/love offerings will go to benefit the mission trip I'm going on to Africa this summer.

I know it's a busy time but if you find yourself in Charlestown tonight....come by. For those who are worried about not being able to give....I mostly want this to be a fun night for worship and wholesome fun. Just stop by to hear a couple songs if you like. :)

The band covers a lot of music like Third Day and Casting Crowns...

It's nice to feel loved....

2009-05-08T18:15:00.002-04:00

I had to take a half-day this morning to go to a follow-up doctor appointment. I usually tell my students that I'll be out but I forgot to mention it yesterday. When I walked in the door at 11:30 this morning, their faces lit up and I was greeted with a group hug. They are usually pretty happy to see me but in a "look up, see me, smile, look back down" kind of way. They were nearly jumping for joy this morning.

They hadn't had a bad morning. My sub said everything was wonderful and so did the kids. They just missed me. Aw....That made me feel so loved. :) I've had such a great year this year. I'm going to miss my class!

Live Like You Were Dying...

2009-05-08T07:38:00.003-04:00

I'm in tears this morning watching the story of the woman who had the face transplant. She seems so thankful and positive. It's a good reminder of how we should be thankful for the small things in life as well as not take for granted the big things. She said her favorite song is Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying." This was a great reminder to me this morning to live life to the fullest. I'm so blessed and I don't take enough time to enjoy it and praise God for it.

You can see more about her at this site...

Dave Ramsey would be so proud...

2009-05-06T19:06:00.003-04:00

I found out on Monday that the Honda has been considered totaled and I had until Friday to get out of the rental. All of the paperwork stuff started stressing me out so I took today off to deal with everything and start looking for another car. Anticipating a total loss, I began searching over the weekend for "new to me" cars in a price range that would maybe give me an upgrade, yet only be $1000-2000 out of pocket once we combined the insurance money. Jonathon and I both decided we did not want to buy anything new and finance right now. We've been on the pay off debt kick and we get giddy each month when we update our debt spreadsheet to see how much closer we are to our goal.

Last night Jonathon called me with a great idea....He said we should look for a car a couple years older than my Honda and then pocket some of the insurance cash to put toward our debt goal. I was so proud of him and us for deciding to do this.

I began searching the Internet last night for good deals and I found a steal at a lot outside of Lexington. After I did the paperwork thing this morning I drove all the way out there to test drive the car. I called early this morning to see if it was still there. At the time I called I didn't think I would be able to drive there today and thought it would be sometime over the weekend. I told the guy we would see him in a couple days so he was surprised to see me come just a few hours after I spoke to him.

When I got to the lot, it was already being test-driven...oh no!! I thought it was over. The guy liked it a lot but had another car down the road he wanted to look at as well. I was in luck. I test drove it and weighed the pros and cons. I went to McDonalds to sit and think about it and to call Jonathon to get his blessing/input. I drove to the library in town to run a carfax report and then went back to the lot. I bought it!! We now have a reliable 2000 Honda Civic AND about $3000 to put toward our debt. I feel so good about our decision and I can't wait to write that check to pay or debt down...

Here's our replacement car....

I will admit there was one down side....the car smells like cat. It will have to have a detailing job. The same woman owned it from the start so I'm guessing she took her cats on occasional joy rides. :)

Vests for Valor

2009-05-06T19:01:00.002-04:00

Last night I went to the Vests for Valor fund raiser at Silver Creek High School. It was organized to raise money for better bullet-proof vests for the area SWAT team. My friend Tim is on the SWAT team so I went to show my support. It was a lot of fun watching the policeman play basketball against formber high school basetball players.

Here's a picture of Tim with his little Lilly....

Weekend...

2009-05-03T21:22:00.002-04:00

Jonathon was working the Derby this weekend. He had parked his truck in Frankfort and flew a helicopter to Louisville so both nights I drove to Bowman field to pick him up and drove him back the next morning. He basically came home to sleep and that was all the time we had this weekend. :(

On Saturday, I went to Kristen's for dinner and hung out with the kids. They are so much fun!

On Sunday, I had to take Jonathon to back to the airport and missed church because of the timing. I kissed him goodbye for the week. He has a trip to PA and won't be home until Friday. The poor thing was sick as a dog last night. He caught some kind of stomach bug.

I went by a furniture store on the way home and found out the couches I have been keeping my eye on until I saved the money to get them have been discontinued. Rats! They are doing a search for them because they are on clearance. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they find them somewhere.

We had a mission meeting tonight and I'm getting more and more excited about my upcoming trip. We separated some school supplies and other donated items to put in our suitcases for the kids. We also polished up the plans for our worship concert this weekend. Even if you can't afford to give a love offering, you should think about attending our worship concert just for the praise music!

Accident update: Many people have commented, called, or emailed concerns about the accident. Jami and I both are feeling pretty good. I will admit that I had some tightness in my neck and eye yesterday that came with a headache. Today I woke up feeling 100% but throughout the afternoon I started getting tight again....then a headache. I decided to get checked out to be safe. I'm 99% sure everything is fine but I want to be sure. So thanks to those who have worried...I'm going to get checked out. :)

Okay, here's to the start of a good week...

Another memory about yesterday...

2009-05-02T12:41:00.003-04:00

One of the funny moments was when we got back to Jami's house and we were starving...I ran across to my house to grab stuff to make sandwiches. While we ate our sandwiches, Jami said, "Is it bad that right after we got hit I was hoping we'd still be able to make it to eat?" LOL! I had the same thought. Until I saw how bad it was, the thought crossed my mind that we would do the paperwork thing then go and enjoy our queso. I knew we were friends for a reason. We both love food! :)

My Daddy Saved Our Lives...

2009-05-01T22:10:00.004-04:00

Today started out very fun. I had the day off because of the Kentucky holiday of "Oaks Day" celebrated here in Southern Indiana as well. I planned to take my friend Jami out to lunch for her birthday. She turns 30 this weekend!

We met at 9:00 and went to get our fingers and toes pampered with manicures and pedicures. We shopped a little bit around Walmart as well. It was so nice not to rush around. We left Walmart and headed to El Nopal for lunch. We both LOVE Mexican food and couldn't wait to get some queso.

I pulled up to the entrance and turned on my signal. We sat patiently waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear so I could turn. All of the sudden, BAM. We were hit from behind. I was in shock for a good couple of minutes. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the trunk lid was up and knew it was a bad hit because of the loud crash. I just sat there for a minute, kind of in disbelief. A couple people drove by to see if we were okay. Jami called 911 but before she could complete the request there was an officer on the scene. He asked us if we were okay and wanted to know if we wanted an ambulance. We said we felt fine, but he asked, "Are you sure?"

I was really shaky and kind of in shock for a few minutes. I kept looking through my pile of papers in the glove box saying, "Registration. I'm looking for my registration. Where's my insurance card? Registration." I think I sort of sounded like Rain Man for a couple minutes. Jami got out of the car and then got back in. She said, "It's bad."

The policeman had us pull over into a nearby parking lot and I finally got out of my car to take a look. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the safety of the Honda. The trunk is caved in and the back windshield completely shattered but if we had been driving with a baby in the back, everything would have been just fine because everything caved in so the back seat wasn't harmed.

Apparently the guy didn't even apply his breaks and just plowed right into the back of my car. There was a very nice witness who pulled over with us. He was determined to give the police a statement supporting that I was sitting still with my signal on. He was almost in disbelief as well.

The policeman brought Jami and I back to her house and I began the insurance nightmare. I ended up getting a rental car for the weekend until they can get things figured out on Monday. Everyone who has looked at the car seems to think it's going to be totalled but I've also heard that body shops can do amazing things with the repairs. I only snapped one picture, but I don't think it shows the worst part. I should have taken it from the side so you could see how mangled the side and trunk are. Under the hanging bumer there is a whole piece of the main frame that got stripped off. That seems to be the part that could "total" it. My trunk was full of track hurdles from JJ in case you are wondering...

Okay, so now to the part about how my daddy saved our lives... On the way back to Jami's house the police officer complimented me on not having my steering wheel turned and ready for the left hand turn. He said most people do that anticipating the turn so they can react quicker when the traffic breaks. If I had been in position for the turn already when the guy hit us we would have been sent into the oncoming traffic instead of being pushed straight ahead like we did. He said, "I don't know who taught you to turn left like that but it probably saved your friend's life." (Jami would have been in the receiving end of the on-coming traffic.) I proudly said, "My daddy taught me that." I think it was part adrenaline but I almost got emotional. Dad always passed on his "professional driving" tips because he saw so many things as a truck driver. It was a good reminder that my parents are still with me.

Praise God for watching over us today! I can't forget Him either.

A Big Day

2009-04-25T16:47:00.002-04:00

Jonathon ran the full Derby Marathon this morning. He finished right about 5 hours and I am so proud of him!! I only wish I had been there to see him cross the finish line. His dad camped out around mile 14 to give him a little encouragement. My step-sister, Jill, was waiting for him at the finish line with a care package of band aides and pain killers. She is so good at thinking about things like that!

My JJ cheer squad competed in The US Finals today and came in 2nd place. 2nd place never felt so good. The girls were disappointed about not being in 1st place but they performed so well and I couldn't be more proud of them. To be the 2nd best squad out of hundreds that tried to get there is definitely something to be proud of!!

I would love to have given a lengthy description of both of these events, but.....we are both so tired. I think we are going to relax for a while.

Happy Saturday!