saturday, july 19th and sunday, july 20th (revised)

OK, so Saturday was kind of crazy. We went to open our emergency fund at a different bank so that we can't access it as easily since it IS our EMERGENCY FUND! It is there for emergencies only, so that if something were to happen out of the blue we have the funds to cover it without having to worry about when the next paycheck will be here. It's a slow journey but I must say I am looking forward to being debt free in the future. So needless to say we go in and we are talking about what kind of account we are going to set up and I said it needed to be a checking account because it is for our emergency fund and we need to be able to write out a check if an emergency does occur.

You'll never guess what came next...our banker looked at me and said, "I'm guessing you have taken the Dave Ramsey class." I then told him that we are currently taking it and that I am so glad we are and I have enjoyed the class very much thus far. It all makes so much sense and I can't wait to be debt free. He said he is actually trying to get things together so that he can start teaching a class and that he and his wife took the class and are living by Dave's program. We talked about the program quite a bit. I mean come on we were at the bank for an hour just to set up an account. He is working with a group of people trying to get Dave Ramsey's program to be taught in schools to high school senios because so many of them go to college and finish with tens of thousands of dollars of debt in student loans. Anyway...that was the first part of the day since I didn't have to work.

After the bank we went to the kid's sale in Sugarcreek. We spent just over $30 and got a ton of clothes for Jocelyn and a talking Kermit the frog for me...

Saturday evening was Mike's nephew Reese's 7th birthday party. He's into the transformers so Jocelyn just had to wear one of the party hats. We put it on her and she was fine...we took it off and she started crying, so needless to say she wore it for most of the party.

After the birthday party we had to go grocery shopping at WalMart of course. And would you know they have a red box now...it's a big red box in the grocery exit door area that you can rent movies from for one day. It's a dollar for one day but it only takes plastic...actually I decided it's smart on the company's part because if you don't return the movie on time it continues to charge your account a dollar and tax for each day you keep it. Once you have it for 25 days it stops charging and says the movie is yours. My how technology has come along.

Then on to Sunday... first thing in the morning was Financial Peace University of course and Josh Wilson, an up and coming christian artist, was there for morning service. I missed his performance because I was volunteering in the reign forest. But there was a concert last night and a tail gate party before the concert. Josh Wilson played guitar hero with some of the kids between services and he played corn hole and catch with everyone at the tail gate party. It was totally cool to see how down to earth he is. After the concert he was doing autographs and pictures so we got his autograph for Jocelyn and then of course I had to get a picture for the scrapbooks...I asked if we could get a picture and he asked if he could hold Jocelyn for the picture and of course I let him! So here for you viewing pleasure is JOSH WILSON holding Jocelyn!

If you have never heard of Josh Wilson learn his name...he doesn't have a band, he has a foot pedal thing that he makes music and programs into a loop and builds on it until he has the entire background...he is amazing...and his lyrics are unbelievable. See for yourself 3 minute song by Josh Wilson has been added to my playlist...take a listen!

the dedication

I've decided that since I am soo far behind on soo many pictures, I'm just going to feed you guys a few at a time. This was Jocelyn's dedication at New Pointe. Pastor Dwight Mason performed the ceremony and she is just TOO cute! The dress she is wearing was made by my good friend Rae Ann, who was my maid of honor in our wedding!









Now that I've figured out how to upload pictures directly from my camera, I'll try to get 4th of July pictures on here this weekend. I worked today until 1PM so we are going to get ready and head out to my aunt's for a cook-out...she has a pool, it should be a lot of fun...pictures to follow!

Cleveland Zoo

Here are some pictures from the Cleveland Zoo on 6-14-08. We had a great day and Jocelyn is just too cute in her safari hat! She got to see the elephants, gollias, fishies...it was great and she loved it!

i apologize

I know it's been way too long since I've updated, however, I do promise to improve...we now have wireless internet thru verizon, so I don't have to go up to mom's to get online...just to print things.
I also apologize for being so slow at getting pictures on here...I might see what I can do in a little bit, I have to find my cable to connect my camera to the laptop, if I find it I will get you all some current Jocelyn pictures!!!!

Mike and I have been busy, we are taking Financial Peace University through our church. The program is Dave Ramsey's program, and I must say that it is really good. Due to the storms yesterday, New Pointe didn't have electricity today, so church and FPU were both canceled :(
This would have been week number three, but since it was canceled Mike and I came home to work on our budget during Jocelyn's nap that was way too short today!

Now Mike is playing with her and she is being fussy...I better go see what's happening...I'll try to get pictures up soon!

Don't give up on me yet, I promise to get back to updating regularly!

a whole week without posting???

Yesterday was a long day, and it's been a long week, of course being that I haven't posted in so long, some of you probably caught onto that being that I haven't posted in over a week. So, I'll give you a short outline of yesterday, because it was the biggest day.

First I'll start with saying I had the day off because of Jocelyn's hip ultrasound being at Akron Children's Hospital at 2PM. So we decided to make a day of it and go to the Akron Zoo first since Mike and I have a membership, so it wasn't going to cost us to go. Except for the bucket hat, stuffed elephant and book about bears that we just HAD to get for Jocelyn. The hat was necessary because we haven't been able to find one with a brim that actually fits her head, all the hats are too big in WalMart. Then we had to go to the hospital before coming home and getting ready, then it was on to First Wednesday at New Pointe.

Jocelyn did really good at the zoo. It was kind of overcast, so the animals were actually out, but she likes bears, at least she likes "Boog" on "Open Season" she sits in her "theater" and watches it and actually "talks" to the movie. Her theater is her car seat in front of the coffee table. Anyway, the one bear was awake, but the other one was sound asleep against the glass. She saw the lions, but the gibbons, a type of monkey, were off exhibit. There were a ton of kids there and so while we were at the gardens it was just loud and a bunch of the kids were actually playing in the fountains. They were soaking wet, so we tried to avoid that area as much as possible.

We went for her ultrasound and I got the results today. Her doctor said that everything checked out fine and that her hips are the way they should be so we don't have to see anyone else about her hips! Yea!!!!

So, then it was time for First Wednesday, after a short stop at home. We've been in a series on Sundays called, "What lies Beneath, a journey to spiritual and emotional happiness." It's been deep, all about clearing up family issues and turning everything over to God. It's been a really good series, so for Wednesday night, they focused on that. The main point made was that obedience always comes before God's miracles. The man that couldn't walk had to obey God when he told him to "Take up your bed and walk", but because he did as he was told, he was healed. After 38 years of not being able to walk! So at the end of service we were told to listen to what God is telling us to do. Everyone has a handicap, whether it is visible, or it's something emotional. But 3 questions were posed, and they were as follows:

1. What is your handicap?
2. Do you want to be healed? or are you comfortable with your handicap?
3. What is God telling you to do?

Then there was a long time of prayer and worship, and I have to say, as we stood and sang songs about giving our all to God and giving Him every single piece of our lives, I realized that I couldn't really sing the songs truthfully. There was still another part of me that I needed to give to Him before I could say that I had given God everything. I am glad to say that I have given Him the rest of me. I gave Him everything, telling Him that even if I was forgetting something, He could have that too! It felt like a burden was suddenly lifted, and I feel so much better. So I want to challenge you if you are reading this now...What is God telling you to do?