Kyle's Request

Sorry, one more thing for tonight. I was showing Kyle the post with all the pictures on it, and he wanted to know why I didn't post a picture of our tree with the lights on, so here it is.

Early Christmas Present

No one knows this better than my Mother... every year I would beg and beg to just open one present, just one. And every year I would get the same answer: "Yes Jessica, go ahead and open them all." She would say it in a way that made me think it was a life or death decision. I would be hit with so much guilt that I wouldn't end up opening any until Christmas. Well today I got the same answer, only it wasn't coming from my Mom, it was coming from Kyle. "Please just let me open that little one!" Sure, he said, in the same tone my Mom used every year. I wasn't overwhelmed with guilt and indecision this time though, I opened it! It was an IPod!!! A pink one at that. So we're up here using the Internet so I can get the latest ITunes, and I figured I should write a short post to let you in on the exciting news. I included a picture so you can see how pretty it is. I better be off though, time to get this baby loaded with songs. Goodnight! -Jess

Well hasn't it just been ages...?

Well we don't have Internet anymore so hopefully you'll accept that excuse. Today is my day off so I figured I should probably drive up to McDonald's and use their Internet. Work is going well, I'm working at McDonald's actually. I've been getting quite a few hours, and I'm starting to loose track of the days. Thanksgiving went very well, Kyle invited two of his work friends over and we all had turkey. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it home for Christmas (major sad face). Kyle just can't get the time off right now because of his shift. We set up the tree on Black Friday. The cats already ruined it for the most part, not before I took pictures though. The first one is obviously of Bomber and Stealth with Larry the Turkey. The next picture is our dinner, super yummy by the way. We both finished our Christmas shopping for each other Thursday night. I could almost say what I got him, but with the off chance that he may read this, I better not. I'm pretty confident in my guess as to what he got me. I was just so particular that it's hard for him to surprise me. Just as a fair warning, there are a lot of picture on this post because I don't know how often I'm going to be able to get back to post more. So the next paragraph will basically be picture discriptions. Also, these pictures are in random order because Blogger is giving me a hard time today... FYI.

Okay, here it goes: The next picture is of our lovely Christmas Tree, now it has no bulbs on it though, the cats took care of that. Next is a picture of my cute little decorations on my kitchen cart, then there is our microwave, which is adorned with a window sticker (Kyle's idea). My Christmas rug in front of the stove, our Christmas scene that Kyle's mom made us, the top of my stove with just a couple of little decorations. Next is a picture of my cookie sign that I bought at a garage sale this last summer. The next picture is of my White Christmas Trash. It's actually very good. I just mixed Golden Grahams, Alphabet cereal, red and green M&Ms and some pretzles. Melt enough white chocolate to coat it evenly then spread it on waxed paper. Before it sets, sprinkle it with red and green sugar/ sprinkles. Once it's hard break it into pieces. You can even spread some on the lawn on Christmas Eve night, I heard it attracts Santa's reindeer. Next is a picture of my decorations in the living room, since we don't have a fireplace, I settled for putting my stocking hangers on a shelf. Then there is a picture of Stealth and Bomber sleeping, setting up the tree tired them out, next is a picture of Kyle setting up the tree (while I cleaned). The next picture is of the kitties eating their Thanksgiving Dinner (turkey and gravy). And last, but certinly not least is a picture of our little Butterball with our Thanksgiving Turkey.

Well, I do have to run because my two hours is up, so have a great holliday season everyone! -The Millers

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Departure

As I sit here waiting to board my flight, I'm wondering what I did to be blessed with such a great family. Coming home makes me wonder why I don't do it more often. These past few days have been the most difficult days I have ever experienced, but they've also been filled with joy and love. When I married Kyle I was well aware of what I was promising, which included following him wherever the military may lead him. I would make the same promise again tomorrow, but I'd do it with a heavier heart. Seems like the Air Force charged me a non-refundable experience this time, I missed my chance to say goodbye. Unfortunately, even if I would have made it home earlier, the situation at hand would still be the same. I swear, I would have rather cut my own ears off a million times over than to see my dad struggle through this situation.

I wasn't expecting it, but it also didn't surprise me when my parents basically bent over backward to make sure that Brittney and I were well taken care of during our short stay in Michigan. I'm going home with new clothes and shoes, and cash to spare. It's no surprise that I had to check a bag this time around. I regret not being able to be at the funeral with my family today, and I'll probably have regret for quite some time. "We'll see you soon enough," I'm sure that's what Grandpa would say. I remember every Sunday morning, Grandpa and Grandma would come over after 8:30 mass, but before 10:30 mass. I was always sleeping whenever they got there, I'd be trying to catch as much sleep as possible. I'd tell myself I only needed 15 minutes to get ready in the morning, even though that really wasn't the case. I would come walking up those stairs at 9:50, looking like I'd been out all night. Grandpa would just say "Well hello Jessie!" They were usually sitting at the dining room table with my parents drinking coffee, black coffee. Mom would always have something on the table, weather it was cookies, cake, or whatever the neighbor had brought over the night before. Grandma would be fighting with herself, did she want a cookie, or didn't she want a cookie? Just have a cookie Gram.

I don't want to leave Michigan. I don't want to leave my mom and I don't want to leave my dad. I don't want to leave Grandma and I don't want to leave Maggie. In the end though, I belong with my husband. My husband, the one who gets lonely when I'm not there at night, and the one who cannot cook for himself. The same one who was so proud that he loaded and unloaded the dishwasher the other day. The one who wanted to know if the taco meat in the fridge was still good (I told him 'yes' by the way... not for sure if that was the right answer). I will do my best not to stay so long this time around, I don't think I could stand it.

I will end this with answering my dad's concern for "his own children". There was never a question, you are a great father.

Duane Joseph Henige 01/21/35 - 11/4/09

A Tribute

to be continued...

Watch where you put your cheese...

So Kyle and I went grocery shopping a few days ago. Just a normal shopping trip, nothing unusual about it. Kyle pushes the cart, I take charge of the list and put everything in the cart. Sometimes I forget that I have someone following me with a cart though, so I tend go through areas that maybe a cart won't fit. Well it was time to pick out my shredded cheese. Kyle was right behind me with the cart, or so I thought. I went to put my package in the cart before turning around. I realized too late that it wasn't Kyle behind me. So I just had to say "Oops, you're not my husband," and I took my cheese back. It made it so much worse when I realized that Kyle had seen the whole exchange. It took him about 5 minutes to stop laughing, and then another 5 minutes for the blood to drain back out of my face. Whew! Anyway, how cute are my chocolate covered cereal treats? I made these for my last day of work, they went over quite well too. There's going to be a craft show here in Knob in a month or so, and I think I may try my hand at that. Try to sell some of my cereal treats and what-not. We'll see though. So here's Bandit. He's begging for a treat. We've taught him how to sit and shake. Now if we could only teach him that biting isn't nice, we'd be all set. Kyle's still on his crazy shift, and from the sounds of it he won't be done with it for at least another week. I still don't have a job, but I put in a few applications around town here. I'd just prefer to work in Knob Noster for now, so I don't have to drive more than two miles to get to work. Other than that, nothing new here. Goodnight! -Jess

Siamese Twins

Seriously, this is how they fell asleep. This is nothing new though. They're best friends now, they're actually chasing each other around the house right now, leaving destruction in their path. So I'm unemployed, last Friday was my last day at Embarq, and I really do miss everyone there. I'm thinking about just putting in an application for McDonald's until I get my CNA license. It's about 1/4 mile away from where we live so it would be super close. Plus, I don't want to get involved in a job where they are looking for a permanent employee. School is going great. I really like it. We just toured the nursing home that we will be doing our clinical training in last night. It's amazing! I don't know what I wouldn't do to work there. They have what they call a "bail-out" program. You work 12 hours Saturday and 12 hours Sunday (so 24 hours) and you get paid for working 36! Now that would be awesome. I just finished my second week of class, and at the end of this month I will be done. Bandit is doing very well. His owner finally came for him about 3 weeks ago... a month late! He said "I see you've been keeping an eye on my dog," but I had to tell him no. A man that cares that little about his dog doesn't deserve to have a dog in the first place. This second picture is just a normally everyday thing. It's not a joke, they really fell asleep like this. She uses him as a pillow quite often. Kyle has been on another one of his crazy shifts. He's working 12 hours, and I've been leaving for school before he gets home most nights. So the only time I really see him is when he's sleeping. Good news though, he passed his big test that he's been studying for since we moved here 9 months ago, and he ranked up on Wednesday! So instead of Airman Miller, he is now, Airman 1st Class Miller or A1C. Something else crazy, Kimberly is gone. About two weeks ago I noticed that she wasn't next door anymore. I hadn't seen her kids in a while either. I caught up with her last night on Yahoo! Messenger, and she said that she filed for divorce the other day. Torey, her husband, is still next door though. Kyle hangs out with him on the weekends still. Things are really starting to change around here. Well, I hope everyone is still doing well. Talk to you soon! -Jess

Don't Worry...

Yea... don't worry I'm still alive. It's late and I just remembered I haven't posted in forever!! I'm about to head to bed though so I will write tomorrow. I have a lot to say... so consider yourself warned! 'Night! - Jess

Bandit

Here he is. This was the only good picture I was able to get out of probably 10 or 20 shots. He was too happy about his new munchie bone to even look at me. We decided to name him Bandit. His old owners were calling him King, but that was just too much irony. We've been making it a point to take him walking as much as we can. We call him our little rotisserie chicken, because he's got such a belly on him. He'll lay down on the garage floor with his legs sprawled out behind him, but you can barely see toes under his belly. He basically looks like a chicken that has been roasting for 8 hours, it's hilarious. We've already taught him how to sit and how to shake, so that's a very good sign. The first night he was with us though, he did ruin my flowers. I knew it was coming though, it would either be the dog or the cold weather eventually. If it was the middle of summer we'd be able to fix them, but it's no use now. But anyway, nothing else new. I'll make sure to keep you updated on the job situation. I'm not too worried, though. School starts in 9 days, and I'm VERY excited. Well... later Michigan! -Jess

Okay now, hear me out...

He had no place to go, and he is so cute! There is this man who lives down the street from us. His daughter is friends with Kimberly's (my neighbor) daughter, Autumn. Well he got evicted from his place and he asked Kimberly to watch his puppy until Tuesday (Sept. 1). Well he never showed, and he hasn't been back since. They were about to take it to the pound but Kyle stopped them. So we adopted a pup last night. I'll take pictures of him and post them tonight. He's a very sweet dog, and he is very protective. He will run next to you without a leash, and he will come when you call. We figure if we can't find a good home for him, then we'll just keep him. He did poo all over the garage last night though. We even had the garage door cracked, but apparently he didn't want to go outside to go potty. Maybe he's mad at me, because he went right behind my tires and there was no other option other than to back over it. Luckily Kyle is back to working second shift, so he can clean it while I'm at work. What are husbands for anyway? A bit of bad news, or should I say a bit of expected news. All of us contractors were pulled into the meeting room today and given our two weeks notice. They don't need us anymore, so we're done September 25th. Aerotek offered me another job, the only problem is, it's in Lees Summit. The drive is equivalent to driving from Chesaning to Lansing. I may take it though, at least until I'm done with school. But anyway, I need to get back to work. Just wanted to let you in on the good, the bad and the ugly news. Later Michigan! -Jess

Yay for 3-Day Weekends!

So this will probably be the last picture of the flowerbed before Fall kicks in. The leaves are starting to turn red and yellow out back. Kyle and I both had today off. He had Friday off too though. As usual, there was nothing to do around here. We stayed in and played Monopoly yesterday and today, I beat him both times of course (you gotta jump on Park Place and Boardwalk!). So yes, quite the boring weekend. We're both really ready to come home for a little bit. Hopefully by the middle of November we will be planning a trip. My contract at Embarq ends in 23 days, and we still haven't been told anything. I expect to hear something by the end of next week though. At least they said they would give us 2 weeks notice, that doesn't mean they will though. The last picture is, obviously, of Bomber. As I've said before, he absolutely loves being outside. This picture is the result of relentless "crying" at the front door. Taking him outside for a few minutes is the only way to get him to stop. So anyway, I'm going to get back to enjoying what is left of my 3-day weekend. Goodnight Michigan! -Jess

Monday, Monday...

So I have no new pictures today. I'm waiting on one from my neighbor, so as soon as I get it from her I'll tell the story. She was suppose to email it to me a few weeks ago actually. I could just go knock on her door but that's just too easy. So anyway... living in Knob Noster, MO is about as exciting as watching paint dry, if you know what I mean. Nothing really new has happened. Kyle did go to "Worlds of Fun" on Saturday. He compared it to Michigan's Adventure, even though he said it wasn't as fun. It was military weekend so he just had to flash his military ID to get in free. I stayed home of course, it'll take a lot more than a trip to an amusement park to pull me away from my Saturday Sweep. It was even better this Saturday because Kyle left at 9:30am, so I was undisturbed all day!! We're all still in the dark about our fate here at Embarq/ CenturyLink. Two more contractors left this last Friday after putting in their two week notice. So we are down to six contractors. One has no intentions of staying after Sept. 30, he's moving to Georgia for school. Two others have such bad attendance that we're all pretty sure they won't be considered for contract renewal. So that leaves three of us. I'm hoping those odds are good enough to keep me on, but who knows. The cats are still getting bigger. Stealth is in a questionable state, she's doing things that make me think it may be time to get her fixed. All I have to say is, luckily Bomber has already been neutered. The neighbors got a little puppy, and we actually noticed two tied up out back last night, so we're thinking they went back and adopted the brother too. I thought two cats were a handful. They've got two cats, two puppies (I'm guessing) and three kids under 7 to top it all off... more power to them I suppose. She's not working right now so I guess she does have extra time on her hands. The weather has been WONDERFUL (to my standards) the last few days. We've been leaving all the windows open at night and it'll get down to around 60 degreese in the house. It's about 60 outside right now, and it's noon. This is my perfect kind of weather right now. I can already see the Jack-O-Lanterns... I know, it's terrible. Well anyway, I'm about go on lunch break here in 15 mins, so I will be back around in a few days. Later Michigan! -Jess

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Wow, I've set a new record for longest time gone without a post. Sorry! Anyway, Kyle's dad left yesterday. He was here for 5 days. Kyle took leave for those few days while his dad was here but he is back to work today. It has been storming for the last few days, and raining like crazy. We were driving home from the airport last night and it was almost impossible to drive because of all the rain. My neighbor took this picture. Nothing Michigan hasn't seen before, but this was what the sky looked like the other night right before it started down-pouring. Too bad this was the day Kyle and his dad when the the tractor pull at the state fair. It was delayed 4 hours. The show must go on though, so eventually the rain stopped and the show began. I didn't go, thank goodness! I did finish the last book in the Twilight series, and I've already started over again. They were just that good. Other than that, Stealth is still growing and it's pretty quiet in the small town of Knob Noster. I know I've said this before, but I will try not to wait this long again to post. Goodnight Michigan! -Jess

Chewy Bars Recipe...

Okay, so no picture this time but Aunt Kelly asked for the recipe for the Chewy Bars I made a few days ago. I figured I would just post it here for all to see. Happy Chewing!

No-Bake Granola Bars

1/4 cup of unsalted or salted butter
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of plain or flavored granola
1 cup of Rice Krispies
1/2 cup of pretzel sticks broken in half
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a sauce pan heat the butter, honey and sugar until butter is melted. Once melted, bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved (about 2 mins). Stir in granola, Rice Krispies and pretzles and well coated. Press mixture into a 9X13 ungreased pan. Press the chocolate chips into the top of the bars. Place in refrigerator until cool. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Okay so here's where I made my own alterations. First of all, I used Organic Granola. Walmart sells it in the cereal isle. I would suggest using granola with nothing else in it (ie. almonds, dried fruit) unless of course you want those things in your Chewy Bars. Also, the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of raisins to be added in with the cereal but I'm not a huge fan of dried up grapes! I also used mini chocolate chips instead of regular ones, I think they work better. Plus I put my chocolate chips in the freezer for a few hours because the granola is super hot once it's poured into the pan and I didn't want them to melt. So freezing them first helps them keep their shape. I hope they turn out for you! -Jess

Chewy Bars!

Okay so I made Chewy Bars a few days ago and they were a success! I brought them into work because Kyle refuses to eat anything remotely strange. Even though granola bars aren't strange... that's just Kyle. There are still a few in the fridge that haven't been touched in a few days. They're in the fridge because it's SO HOT here right now. Humid and hot. They would just turn into a sticky mess if I left them out. So anyway, Kyle is off of his crazy shift and doesn't have to go back again until Wednesday. He's enjoying his time off. He's also super excited because his Dad is going to be here on Saturday and staying until Wednesday. The State Fair starts next week, so they'll be busy doing that. I'm finally on the final book of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn. I'm taking a break though, so maybe I'll start up again tomorrow. It doesn't look like we're getting our contracts extended. The company made an announcement on Friday that they are doing away with the system that half of us use. I'll try to make this short, but basically we have two different systems that our department uses. Half of us use the old system, the other half uses the new. I use the new, along with all of the other contractors. Well, the new system is out. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks what my fate really is at Embarq. Well, one of the cats just ran through their food dish and there is cat food EVERYWHERE! So I suppose I will go clean that up. Later Michigan! -Jess

The Twilight Saga

Well you'd think I'd be able to get my nose out of a book long enough to write something more than just once a week, but aparently I haven't been able to. There has been so much talk about that movie Twilight for the last year or so that I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to watch it. It was awesome! So, of course when I found out it was based on a book, I had to read it. And come to find out, there are 4 books all together! To make a long story short, I bought these books a week ago today and I'm already on book number 3. The saga includes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I'm ashamed to admit this but they are way better than the Harry Potter books. I can't seem to put them down. But anyway, back to reality. Kyle is on some weird exercise all this week, so I get to see him 2 hours a day, and those hours are between 5am and 7am, so I'm sleeping. I work 8am-5pm, he is working 5pm-5am. This started last Sunday and hopefully will be over Sunday at 5am... hopefully. He calls it a nuclear exercise... not much of a clue what that means but I guess it's pretty important. The worst thing is that for those 12 hours, he has to sit in the "Ready Truck". Basically they just drive around the flight line all night a 15mph with the AC on full blast. I guess that answers your question about where all of our tax dollars are going to. Nah... he said it isn't too bad, they only use about a 1/2 tank a night. Stealth is getting so big, it's scary. She jumps up on top of the fish tank, which is a good 4ft high, and tries to get at the fish. We were considering a puppy that a friend from work had found on the side of the road but we didn't think we could handle a puppy quite yet. We don't have a yard big enough for a grown dog to run around in. Plus we were pretty sure it was part Rot, and those are big dogs! Well these pictures are just of our "indoor" kitties. They love being outside. Bomber likes eating grass, and well Stealth just likes to run. But anyway, I'm going to get back to my book. I will try not to wait another week to post again. Have a good one Michigan! -Jess

Day Old Taco Pie

What a funny title right? Well I suppose I'll explain. Kyle comes home for lunch every day at 8pm. Usually I have dinner ready for him when he gets here because he only has about 40 minutes before he has to be back to work. The plan for today was goulash. Well Kyle had to go on lunch an hour early, so guess what? No goulash! Instead he got... Day Old Taco Pie! I made it yesterday for the first time ever and I guess it was pretty good. I woke up this morning to a dirty bowl in the sink. I guess Kyle got hungry last night after work and broke into it again. A girl from work gave me the recipe. She talked about it all the time so I finally had to ask her how to make it. Basically it's a layer of ground beef with taco sauce, a layer of refried beans and for the top layer, mix 8oz of sour cream, 1 jar of salsa and a few handfuls of shredded cheese. Throw it in a 400 degree oven until it's all bubbly. We just eat it like a dip with tortilla chips. It's pretty good. I guess it's good a day old too because Kyle didn't seem to mind eating it again today. Anyway... I still can't make up my mind about school. I'm signed up and ready to go, just need to pick my classes. However, another opportunity just jumped out in front of me on Tuesday. One of the girls I work with, Krista, found a CNA program starting Sept. 22 in Warrensburg. It's only a total of 20 days and it's night classes, so 6-10pm three nights a week. So I don't know what to do. But about the pictures... the first is just a view of the flower bed from the living room window. The second is of Stealth ready to INHALE her dinner. Every once in a great while they'll get a can of wet food to split and this was one of those days. The bowl is almost bigger than she is. Then you can see Bomber in the background with his glowing eyes. Well I'm heading to bed. So until my next post... have a great morning, afternoon and evening Michigan! -Jess

Oh Harry Potter...

So I finally got to see The Half-Blood Prince last night. It was good, but I was expecting more from the 6th movie. Of course the movie is never as good as the book, I wasn't as impressed as I had planned to be. I know I'm not a movie critic or anything but the last one was better than this one. Oh well. Anyway, I have more pictures! So on we go with the "virtual" tour. First is a picture of our walk-in closet. Nothing special there. Next is a picture of part of the master bathroom. Off to the left, on the other side of the door is our bathroom sinks. After that is another picture of our double sinks. Off to the left is the door to our closet, and to the right is the door to our master bathroom. The next picture is of our bedroom. This was shortly after I finished cleaning, so you can see the cats out cold on the bed. Like I've said before, my cleaning tires them out. Next is a picture of our main bathroom. After that is a picture of my laundry room. Next is our living room. I'm so proud of our curtains. You can't really tell, but they are brown and blue. Sounds like those two colors may clash, but they actually go very good together. You can kinda see the front door off to the left. There is also a shoe/coat closet on the left wall that you can't see. And last, but not least is our kitchen and dining room. The door off to the right leads into the laundry room, and then there is a door off the laundry room that goes into the garage. So that's the end of my mini tour. It looks like today is going to be pretty warm again. Hopefully not too warm to enjoy though. Anyway, it's 11:30 here right now and Kyle is still in bed...it's time for an intervention. So until next time, have a great morning, afternoon and evening Michigan! -Jess

Happy Saturday Sweep!

So it's clean! I had to take a picture of everything I use each Saturday. Now, this isn't all of it, this is just what I used today. Really, no joke! There is actually more stuff hiding behind the stuff in the front. This was the only way I could arrange it all to fit in the frame... and not look completely insane. Did it work? It feels so much better now anyway. I also took a lot of pictures today of our place. So I'll give you a "virtual" tour. The second picture is of my room. We have three bedrooms, so we have our bedroom, my room and Kyle's room. If you look close you can see the sign above my door says Jessica Ct., then the door right next to it says Kyle Ave., which is Kyle's room. Of course, my Saturday Sweep does not include cleaning Kyle's room so that is why the door is closed. I basically just keep my sewing machine in here, along with all of my recipe books and other kitchen appliances that won't fit in the kitchen. The next picture is of the hallway and part of the kitchen. You can see some of the lovely pictures we hung last weekend. Next is a picture of Kyle's door and some of the pictures in the hallway again. Don't worry, it's just a sticker on Kyle's door... not paint. Then there is Stealth. I was doing laundry, and walked away for a few seconds and this is where I find her. Of course I can't blame her, it did look very comfortable and I had just turned the dryer off so it was still warm. Well I have more pictures that I will post later. Kyle and I are getting ready to go to the movies. We were actually suppose to go with the neighbors to Kansas City, but we decided not to. Kimberly's mom is here for the weekend so she's watching the kids, so I figured we should let the two of them have a night alone together. I will post more pictures later tonight or tomorrow after church. So until my next post... oh you already know what I'm going to say. Later Michigan!

I can already smell the bleach...

Oh tomorrow is going to be so wonderful. It's starting to look quite scary around here. Now, I'd love to give you a before and after shot, but I'm too ashamed. Okay, it's not super bad, but it just doesn't look as pretty as it does after I'm done with it. This is a picture of one of the walls in our laundry room. I love this little sign, because it's so true, sad, but true. Now usually I'd do a little "pre-game cleaning" on Friday night, but this is the first Friday night that Kyle has had off in a few weeks, so we're grilling tonight. Yummy! I'm in charge of the taters, and he's in charge of the steaks. Kyle can make a mean steak on the grill. I don't like steak, but I'll eat the ones he makes. And no, it's not a newlywed thing, where I eat it just to make him happy. It's actually very good. Well the neighbor, Kimberly, and I decided to go in on a carpet cleaner rental. So that means I have an even bigger job in front of me tomorrow, which translates into an even cleaner house. Oh when does the fun end? No, but really... I think Kyle is going take me to see Harry Potter tomorrow (finally). Warrensburg is the closest big town to us, so that's probably where we will go. I work in Warrensburg, and it's only a 10 min drive. So not too bad. I've been putting off seeing this movie because Warrensburg just put in a new movie theater. And when I say they just put one in, I mean the grand opening was last Friday. So it's going to be packed! Hopefully it won't be quite as bad this weekend though. Well this last picture is of Stealth. She's about 5 months old now. Bomber just turned 1 around the middle of July, so he's already an old man. But anyway I think we're going to get this carpet cleaner going so I don't have so much to do tomorrow. So until my next post, have a great morning, afternoon and evening Michigan! -Jess

Hello Family!

Hi everyone! I see my mom already got the word around. So... "Hi people!" Anyway, here's a picture of Kyle at the Knob Noster State Park. I'm sure you're giggling because I just said Knob Noster... but it's where we live! We actually just say "Yea we live in Knob", and I'm sure that sounds even worse but that's what they say around here. So tomorrow is someone's last day at work. She's "one of us" so I made cupcakes. I guess everyone is bringing in something tomorrow, and I didn't want to be the odd one out. Not for sure if anyone knows, but I'm working for Embarq telephone right now. Actually, I'm not suppose to say Embarq anymore because we are now CenturyLink. CenturyTel bought us out earlier this year and the merger just went through July 1st. Now the reason I said she's one of us is because "technically" I'm not an employee of CenturyLink and neither is she. We're contractors, which means I'm employeed by a temp agency called Aerotek, and my contract ends Sept. 30th. So at the end of my contract I will be offered 1 of 3 options. One, they will offer me a position as a full time CenturyLink employee; Two, they will extend my contract up to 12 more months; Three, I won't get number one or two, they'll just end the contract and Aerotek will most likely offer me another temp job. I'm hoping for a contract extension, even though employees get paid much better and they get benefits. I'd rather not have to commit myself to something right now. Especially because I'm going back to school in the fall. Oh, the second picture is of my kitchen, part of the living room and off to the right starts the hallway. The pictures will probably be quite random for the next week or so, just so I can get all the ones we've taken since we've been here posted. Well, the important ones at least. Anyway... it's late and I have to work in the morning (YAY FOR FRIDAY!) so I will try to post again tomorrow. So until next time, have a great morning, afternoon and evening Michigan! -Jess

Is it Friday yet?

Well no, it's not Friday yet. It's usually the first thing I ask though when I get to the office Monday morning. So here is our little girl, Stealth. She fell asleep like this one Saturday afternoon. My cleaning tires the two of them out. I'm not sure I have many pictures of them awake. Speaking of pictures, we finally put a bunch up in our hallway. It looks much more homey now. And by the way, Kyle is doing very well. Right now he is testing to become a 5 level. Basically, the higher the level, the more access and security he will obtain on the job. He tests every day, and will continue to do so until he gets 5 consecutive 90% or above on these tests. For the last three days he has scored exactly 89%. Oh well, he will get better. Every day when I come home for lunch that kid is studdying. I'm very impressed, considering he never use to be this way when he was in high school. Plus, hopefully within the next two months he'll be ranking up. He'll no longer be just "Airman", but Airman 1st Class, better known as "A1C". It equals out to two stripes instead of one. He's been ready to rank up for a while, and I'm excited for him too. This picture of Bomber explains him to a perfect "T". He fell asleep right in front of the window. He loves being outside more than any other cat I've ever known. He scratches at the doors and cries when we won't let him out. If we're outside, and he can see us through a window he cries. The first thing he does when we let him out is run to the grass. He would eat it all day if we let him. But anyway, I'm completely out of information for now. Especially because I rambled on for quite some time yesterday. So until my next post... have a good morning, afternoon and evening Michigan! - Jess