Scotty & Summer

Status Update

2011-09-26T13:46:00.002-05:00

I really stink at this blog thing. Oh well. Maybe if I lead a more interesting life I could blog more about interesting things…but I’m just not interesting. But I did realize that I haven’t made a post about the status of our loans, which is a question we get at least once a week.

We’re chuggin’ along. That’s really all I can say. We are roughly a year and a half away from being 100% debt free. It’s strange for me to say because I’ve been so used to saying 3 years, 2 ½ years, etc. So to think we’re only 1 ½ years out is crazy! There have been some months when we couldn’t make those big extra payments so that’s put us a month or 2 behind, but that’s okay.

I still have moments when I feel like this will always be our life. We’ll never move out, never have a place of our own, but I know those are lies that Satan tries to convince me of to keep me down. I think when we hit the halfway point I felt like I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but then we didn’t seem to go any further. But now we’re way past halfway and that light isn’t my imagination. It’s definitely getting bigger.

Looking forward into the future I wonder how this will affect our spending. I’m sure we’re still going to be cheapskates. We were before we got married. Everyone gives Scotty a hard time about being cheap but I personally think I’m cheaper than him. My mother tells me I squeak when I walk. Ha!

But going back to the loan situation, I’ll be real honest. Sallie Mae (the company that owns us) has been very frustrating. Their customer service is awful. I’ve never actually talked to a real human. Emails are never responded to, and there are constant changes to the website…kind of like facebook. The most recent change, though, has been a good one. From the beginning we’ve paid a large sum of money every month. We had no say in which loan that money was going to. Sallie Mae just divided it equally between all of them. So a debt snowball is virtually impossible to do. So if you have a loan for a measly $700, that you could get rid of quickly, you can’t until all other loans are paid off too. Does that make sense? BUT the recent change has fixed that. When you make a larger payment you now get to choose what loan you want it to go to!!! This is big people. Real Big. We actually have a measly loan that started at $700 so we’re going to get rid of that just because we can, but then we’re going to get rid of the ones with the highest interest rates. This means that we’ll get our loans paid off a smidge quicker, maybe a month or 2 quicker. That’s a BIG DEAL!!

When we started our journey I was very worried about what others were going to think. Why? I don’t know, that’s just who I am. I didn’t want to be judged because we were living with parents. But for the most part, we’ve gotten a lot of encouragement. That encouragement means so much to us. This process would be a lot harder without it. There are, of course, the haters. We’ve been told we’re just moochers, not really paying anything off, just trying to live for free. 1)I’m a little shocked that some people really think that. 2)If you’re one of those people….I don’t need you. And that’s that.

We’ve been blessed to have the friends we have. You all mean a lot to us! Thank you!!

B.O.S.S

2011-08-16T19:01:00.005-05:00

Where did the summer go?!?! I've never been so busy in all my life. The summer's have now become my least favorite part of the year. We have more down time when school starts!

Any ways. I'm not going to blog about everything we did because some of it isn't very interesting. But one thing we did that we've never done before is participate in a huge slip n' slide! We kept our youth group semi busy during the summer with camps and small trips and we wanted something super fun to do before school started. So Scotty came up with the idea to have a huge slip n' slide. The kids had an AWESOME time!

This is Shavar modeling the slip n' slide before we took it out of the box.

This is Shavar unrolling the slip n' slide while Amanda and I watched.

And here is the slip n' slide completely unrolled. That's a Big Ol' Slip n' Slide aka B.O.S.S.

Add a little water and some baby shampoo and this is what you get!

Here's one of our teens trying to get fancy and catch a football while sliding.

LOL!!! I laugh every time I watch that. Poor kid. So there's a tiny bit of what we did. More recently my brother got married. When we get some pictures back I'll blog about it. The wedding was amazing and I can't believe my big brother is married!! I'm so happy for him and excited to have a new member of the family. We love her!

A Rare Treat

2011-05-23T11:52:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again at Carousel Studios. All the kids are ramped with excitement about the end of the year recitals. Sunday was our biggest recital where all of our classes come together and play a series of duets. Everyone did a great job!! I'm so proud of the work they put into this music.

Tonight will be the biggest night for the seniors because it's their very last recital as a student of Mrs. Betty's. It's bittersweet. Watching all the kiddo's play takes me back to the time I was a student of Mrs. Betty's. She is hands down the best teacher of all time! She pushed me and challenged me in ways I never thought possible. She'd play a recording of a song for me and say "You're going to play this!" And I'd say "In your dreams!" But she always got her way. :)

One of the songs she was determined to get me to play was Chopin's Fantasy Impromtu. For those who don't know that song, it's roughly 12 pages of pure craziness! I seriously questioned whether or not Mrs. Betty was in her right mind when she gave this piece to me.

She knew what she was doing the whole time, though. In high school I was a huge performer. I played about 7+ recitals a semester. Something changed in the past couple of years and I have a hard time doing it now. My nerves get the best of me. So here's a rare treat:

This is my Sr. recital in 2005 playing Fantasy Impromtu by Chopin.

I wish I could say I can still play that piece. It was, hands down, the hardest piece I've ever played. It took about 8 months to learn and memorize. Since 2005 only one other student has managed to play that piece. Many have tried though.

I still get nervous when I watch it. I'm thinking "don't screw up, don't screw up." When I watch it I can hear all the little mistakes, and I'm critiquing my posture. Ugh. AND I apologize for not taking a bow at the end. That was really rude of my teenage self to do. But I should definitely be proud of the work I accomplished. Now that I've grown up more musically I should re-learn the piece and see what I can do.

Mrs. Betty is sad to be saying goodbye to the seniors she has now. They've been working hard on their pieces for several months and have made Mrs. Betty very proud. Good luck seniors!!!!

Don't worry...we're still alive.

2011-05-15T13:14:00.010-05:00

Because I'm sure you were all worried about it. I apologize for the lack of posting. Our life suddenly became unboring and more overwhelming than usual. 2011 has been the strangest year OF....MY.....LIFE. I don't remember what I've posted on and I'm too lazy to go back and read so I'm going to start at the beginning of the year and go from there.

I know I already told you about my gum surgery (which my gums look normal now, Dr. White did a GREAT job.) Megan brought in the New Year with us while we played Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. Best game I've ever played.

Then we got the privilege to counsel Scotty's younger brother through a very strange life event. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but it's so bizarre I'm going to now. I'll just sum it up in one sentence....Scotty's brother is living with his wife, AND her boyfriend. It's okay if you have to read that a couple of times. It's hard to fathom at first, but yes, you read it correctly. ...One big happy family... We tried everything we could to help him out without actually telling him what to do. It got to the point that it wasn't just consuming his life, but ours as well. And he wasn't using ANY advice from anyone. He's told a lot of people about it and has gotten a lot of sympathy, but refuses to listen to anyone. So I told the kid "I can't help someone who won't help themselves." I've lost all sympathy/empathy for him and his situation. He could easily solve the situation (yes, it would be life changing, hard, scary, sad, depressing, etc.) but he just lives with it...and then complains. If it's that big of an issue, CHANGE IT!

So there's that.

Most recently, myself and Scotty have relocated. Again. We're now back with my parents. I'm not going to go into detail as to why we had to move to protect certain parties, but it sucks. I just hope the saying "time heals all wounds" is true. This past week has been filled with unpacking, repacking, organizing, and adjusting to living in smaller quarters. I'm NOT going to complain though because we've now managed to make it half way on our loans. Well actually, we're now LESS than half way. :) It wouldn't have been possible if we were living somewhere else.

Needless to say, I'm surprised Scotty and I aren't on medication. :/ Things have been a mess. But on top of that there are LOTS of praises to be had. My best friend Andrea got engaged at the end of last year. I've been fully engaged with wedding planning for her. Her date is set for November 19th.

Scotty has some coworkers who are getting hitched later this month and Scotty is performing the ceremony! He's pretty excited. I'm also going to play the piano for them. So I'm excited too. I'm considering going into the wedding business. Hmm?

In a couple of weeks I'm going to be making a road trip to Tennessee to participate in another wedding. My good friend and college roommate, Becca. It was a blessing to get to know her in college. Too bad she lives so far away. :(

THEN my brother also got engaged recently!

Her name is Katie. We love her. They are planning on getting married in August...of THIS YEAR! Eek! So I'm going to be doing even more wedding planning.

I see grey hair in my very near future.

We recently learned, also, that our best friend Megan is moving our way! She got a job in Springdale. I was selfishly praying that she would get it. I'm hoping she loves it SO much that she'll stay here forever. :)

This is the 3 of us at the Cinque Terre in Italy. Best vacation spot EVER. Our friend Shiloh was on that trip with us (she took the picture). We had so much fun!

I don't know what it is about the 3 of us, but when we get together we have some of the strangest life experiences. So who knows what's going to happen when she moves here! Most recently the 3 of us (and another good friend, Ted) did a half marathon in OKC. I can easily say that's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. We walked most of the way, but 13.1 miles is a lot...I don't care who ya are. Ted and Megan had a little more get-up in their step so they jogged ahead of us. But Scotty and I both had a "hitch in our getalong" so we hobbled across the finish line. Did I mention that the weather was rainy with a high of 40 degrees?? And rained the WHOLE time! As soon as we crossed the finish line it started hailing. I'm praising Jesus that we made it across before that. I probably would have thrown in the towel. Here's a video of Scotty and I crossing the finish line. Scotty's in a bright green shirt and I'm in a purple coat with my hood on. Oh heck...the 2 people who are hobbling across the finish line are us.

http://www2.brightroom.com/browser.aspx?eid=78992&bib=16850&pwd=

This has been a strange, busy, emotionally overwhelming year. And it's only May. I'm kind of praying Jesus comes back this year so we can go to Heaven. I'm ready! There's a lot to look forward to, though. Again, sorry for the lack of posts. I hope this can hold you over for a while. Have a blessed week!!

Scotty's Bucket List

2011-03-29T21:34:00.003-05:00

I have seen many people's bucket lists, and thought that it would be neat to write my own. Periodically I will add to my list, and mark things off as I complete them.

Here is my list, enjoy!

-Attend an Olympics Games
-Be a foster parent
-Be on the city council
-Build a model train
-Coach a youth basketball team
-Compete in a curling match
-Complete a full marathon
-Create a hand-made chess set
-Do woodworking
-Go zorbing
-Help build a Habitat for Humanity Home
-Learn archery
-Learn how to ride a unicycle
-Learn sign language
-Learn to play the accordion
-Learn to play the guitar
-Own a house
-Pay for a stranger’s meal
-Pay off student loans
-Perform a wedding
-See the Northern Lights
-Shake the hand of a president
-Solve the Rubik’s Cube (without cheating)
-Take flying lessons
-Tune a piano
-Visit “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”
-Visit all 50 states
-Visit Canada, Eh?
-Visit Las Vegas
-Visit the Grand Canyon
-Watch all 8 Harry Potter movies in one day
-Watch every movie that has won the Oscar for best picture since 1986 (the year I was born)
-Write a book

Beverly's Legacy

2011-02-24T12:16:00.006-06:00

Beverly was born Dec. 18, 1937, in Oklahoma City, Okla., to Charles Austin Coleman and Marjorie Alma Fore.
She and her brother, Charles Richard Coleman, were raised by their dad and stepmother, Neoma Dean Coleman. She married Jerry Morrison on March 30, 1957, at Bethel Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
She was a Sunday school teacher for 50 years, Vacation Bible School director for 14 years, served on the Long-Range Planning Committee for First Baptist Church in Pea Ridge for 15 years, on the Money Counting Ministry for 17 years and the Nominating Committee for seven years. She also worked in the Puppet and Bible Drill Ministries for several years. She loved people and was always concerned with their relationship with Jesus Christ. She also loved dogs and owned her own dog grooming business for 20years.
She is survived by her husband of almost 54 years, Jerry Morrison of Pea Ridge; two daughters and sons-in-law, Sherrie and David Ragland of Pea Ridge and Iris and Darrell Roller of Rogers; one daughter-in-law, Lisa St. John and husband, Steve, of Rogers; her brother of Hot Springs; a sister-in-law, Peggy David Schmidt and husband, Loren, of Greenwood; eight grandchildren, Travis Clark and wife, Mary, of Pea Ridge, Joseph Ragland of Pea Ridge, Megan Roller of Rogers, Mollie Hendrick and husband, Mark, of Bentonville, Scotty Roller and wife, Summer, of Rogers, Trey Roller of Springdale and Stevie Grace St. John of Rogers; six great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews, family and friends.
She is preceded in death by her parents; a son, Jerry Leon Morrison; and one grandson, David Lynn Ragland.

If you knew Granny, you would know that she made it her life goal to bring as many people to Jesus as possible. She touched so many lives while she lived on this earth. It was very apparent just how many lives she touched by the amount of people who came to the visitation and funeral. The family heard story after story of how Granny shared the Gospel with them. She's an inspiration to us all and we deeply miss her.

Sweet, Sweet Banana Bread

2011-02-10T14:58:00.002-06:00

For those who don't know, it's has snowed like crazy in our area! I think we got somewhere between 20 and 25 inches. The last time I remember seeing snow like this is when I lived in Norman, OK and the snow was as tall as myself (I was 4). I'm currently a little freaked out about the roof caving in. Scotty texted me as he left for work this morning and said to stay down stairs because he was hearing creaking and popping. Not good. It has stopped making those scary noises, so I'm hoping it's okay now.

Since we've been snowed in I decided yesterday I'll make some banana bread. The problem I have now is that I want to eat it....ALL. I've kept it in the kitchen and didn't bring it back to our little domain so that I wouldn't be tempted. But I can't stop thinking about it. I ate a lot of it yesterday, and I think Scotty's dad nibbled on it a bit....but I know it's down there....speaking to me. It's taking all my will power not to pig out.

I've been trying to fill my time with crafting instead of eating. I did a little bit yesterday with what little supplies I have here. I want to do more though. I should have taken pictures of what I did so that this story could be a lot better.

Scotty was able to stay home yesterday since his office closed. It was so nice having him around! When he started to get bored he wanted to go play in the snow. I DID take pictures of that, but they're on his phone. I'll post them later. The story won't be as funny without them.

Update on Granny. She's still in the hospice house. She constantly has visitors, which just goes to show how loved she is! She has her good days and bad days, but we were told it won't be much longer. So keep the family in your prayers for the next few months.

I also have another prayer request. Scotty's younger brother (Trey) is going through some pretty serious personal/marital issues. To protect him that's all I'm going to say, but please ask God to give him wisdom and strength.

If you also got snow this week stay safe out there and protect yourself from the freezing temperatures!! For now....I'm going to eat another slice of banana bread. It's a problem, I know.

Prayer Request

2011-01-19T13:27:00.004-06:00

The Roller family needs prayers. Berverly Morrison (Granny) was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 or 5 years ago. At one point she was cancer free but then it came back. Now has spread to most of her major organs. She's been going through all sorts of treatments that have caused her to become weaker and weaker. Just last week we found out that she's being put on hospice. But now the family is meeting with different nurses to see if she needs to stay in a hospice home. Just over the weekend her health has plummeted. Thankfully, she's not suffering. We're all going to be spending as much time as we can with her these next few months. I just want any body and everybody out there to pray for her, and the family.

Most Recent Happenings

2011-01-03T11:33:00.002-06:00

I know. I've been a slacker at blogging. But I promise you don't want to read about our boring lives. We haven't done anything in a long time that is worthy of blogging about. But since Christmas and New Years just happened we've been more busy than usual. Before I go any further, I just want to let you know I'm on some heavy drugs at the moment so please ignore any strange typo's or sentences that make no sense. I do apologize.

We had a great Christmas this year! We stayed the night at my folks Christmas Eve and watched movies and enjoyed a quiet house. My brother wasn't there this year, which is super sad, because he was visiting his childhood friend in Oregon. Him and his wife just had a baby and Justin is the Godfather. It was our 1st Christmas without everyone there. Weird. We woke up Christmas morning and did our usual opening of presents. I think everyone was pretty pleased with what they got. We then enjoyed a nice big breakfast and just lounged around till about noon. I'm glad we got the day started with lot of peace and quiet because the Roller household was CRAZY!! A good crazy, of course. Lots of kids running around with excitement, adults trying to cook lunch, and me trying to stay out of the way. :) We ate lunch just as soon as everyone got there. Me and Scotty struggled because we JUST had a huge breakfast, but we managed. After lunch we then opened all sorts of gifts. It was a lot of fun. When I married into this family it was small. Scotty had 2 nephews and now we have 5 nephews and a niece. And a couple extra sister-in-laws. It's still small compared to my family, but this big house feels a lot smaller with everyone in it. Instead of giving everyone a gift we draw names and just give ONE person a gift. Scotty's cousin drew my name and she got me Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin for 4hands!!! I'm super excited about it! The only problem is no one will play with me. :( I have to find someone brave enough. Scotty got a gift card to Vintage Stock, which is a movie/video game store. He really wanted a video game for our gamecube.

After Christmas time really flew. We dog sat the next night and had a game night with Scott and Stefanie! I'm not sure what happened on Monday or Tuesday of last week but Wednesday my best friend, Megan, came to town!! She got here right in time to have a Mary Kay party. I got suckered into it. I like Mary Kay good enough, but I'm too poor to buy it. Until these loans are paid off, Mary Kay isn't getting my money. It was fun though. Then that night we took Megan to Fast Lane. We had some free passes because of a close out a couple of weekends ago so we used them. We played some lasor tag, go karts, and played some games...all for FREE!! That's the way to do it.

The next day I had surgery. I think I talked about it in my last blog. I'll review. My gum in the front 2 bottom teeth had receeded way too much. It was really painful and I had to have a gum graft. The surgery went well. It took about an hour. Because it was too much money to put me out I only did the numbing. Which turns out was no big deal. My mother was worried beyond belief about that, but I've gone through worse. I've got my happy little pain pills, along with antibiotics, and gross mouth wash. I still have some pain and am REALLY hungry but I can deal. After surgery all I wanted to do was play Mario with Megan and Scotty. I love that game. We went to see Harry Potter 7.1 on Friday. Then went home to play more Mario. It's hard playing that game on drugs. Late Saturday night we beat it though. And even though we beat it, I still want to play, but it's Megan's game and it went back to OKC with her. :( It was a great visit, and we enjoyed spending the New Year with her.

Can anyone believe that it's 2011? Me either. What the heck happened to 2010? I'm not going to complain about time going by so fast because that means we're that much closer to paying off our loans!!!!!!!!! 2 years from today we will be in our own place. I'm really starting to see a small light at the end of the tunnel. Whereas before, I was convinced there was no end. We'll be half way done pretty soon. Would it be really conceited to throw a party when we're done? Hmm. It might happen.

I hope everyone had a wonderful new year!! I can't wait to see what 2011 brings.

Birthday Week

2010-11-22T10:49:00.003-06:00

Tuesday, November 16th was my birthday. I turned 24. I’m not much of a birthday person. Let’s have one small shin dig with family and close friends and be done with it. I’m not depressed about getting older I just don’t like the attention. It makes me feel very uncomfortable. But for some reason this whole week there has been some kind of birthday celebration.

It started last Friday when my inbox flooded with birthday notices from restaurants I subscribed to. If you sign up for eclubs these restaurants will give you free meals, free desserts, a percentage off the entire meal, etc. The specific ones I received were from Chilis, IHOP, McAlister’s, and Red Robin. When Scotty got home Friday night, he suggested that we use one! There weren’t any arguments on my end. So we chose IHOP because I LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast. I could eat it for every meal. So that was my first celebration. Of course, the waitress there kept telling Scotty happy birthday and tried to guess his age. Lol. Better him than me! We never corrected her.

Saturday we were busy preparing for our bonfire with the teens so there wasn’t really a celebration of any kind, but the teens wished me a happy birthday, which was really sweet.

Sunday was a celebration day but not for me. It was my mother-in-laws birthday. We got her a small gift card to her favorite restaurant and spent some time with her. I think she enjoyed her day.

Monday I got to use some of my birthday money and bought some hair products...wild woman...I know. I also got a phone call from my good friend Megan!! It was nice talking to her since we hadn’t talked in for-ev-er. So that was a nice gift.

Tuesday (my actual birthday) I tried to sleep in but I was woken up my text messages and a lot of commotion downstairs. I started off the day normal, but I had a doctor’s appointment so I left for that. And this kind of ruined my day, to be honest. The dentist told me I needed to see a specialist about my gums. I put it off as long as I could, but my gums started bothering me so I made the appointment. The specialist said my gums on the bottom front 2 teeth are really thin and receding. Well, great. So I have to have surgery...again. I’ve had thousands of oral surgeries. So here goes another. It’s like doing a skin graft. The doctor will take the gum from my palate and place it over the problem area. It sounds worse than it will be. I’m more concerned about the cost. I cried all day. When I got to work I knew no one knew it was my birthday so I could get by without any embarrassment, but I was wrong. A good friend whose daughter I teach came in with a delicious cookie cake and sang to me. I was thoroughly embarrassed. But it was so sweet and I wasn’t expecting it. After work Scotty took me to Red Robin (free birthday burger) and to the AT&T store to fix my phone. He gave me a very pretty bracelet to!! After dinner we went to get our Harry Potter tickets for Saturday! Overall, it was a good day but I could have done without seeing the specialist.

On Wednesday my dad took me to Shoguns to get some yummy sushi! I love sushi (thanks to Daniel & Staci) but I don’t get to have it that often. Scotty is not a fan of oriental food so we don’t eat it much. I could eat it just as much as breakfast! It was a nice, delicious treat. I have a good dad. That evening we had bible study with the teens. A couple of other kids had November birthdays so a parent got us a cookie cake! The 2nd cookie cake of the week! It’s a good thing I like them better than regular cake.

On Thursday my good friend Andrea took me out to eat. It wasn't just for my birthday though. I’ve been borrowing the Harry Potter books from her to refresh my memory and I found a savings bond in book #5!! I guess she was using it as a bookmark and forgot about it. Lol. I got to looking at it and realized it was dated back to 1998!! We were 12 in 1998. HA! I dropped it by earlier in the week so she can take care of it and she told me she’ll take me out as a reward for finding it. So I had a wonderful evening with her celebrating a birthday and finding lost money. Lol.

Friday was a great day. I was waiting for months to be able to go get my hair cut! And with the birthday money I got I decided to go! I even went to a different lady. I’ve had the same hair lady for a long time and she’s always known me to have long hair. So when I tell her I want it short she never gets it short enough. I still love her though. This other lady did a GREAT job. I’m still trying to get used to it. Others say they really like, and I hope they’re not lying. Friday evening I celebrated my birthday with my family. My mother made a cookie cake for me (#3) and we ended the evening playing wii.

To top the whole week off me and Scotty went to see HARRY POTTER 7.1!!!!! It was amazing! I laughed, I cried, I wanted more. I’m beyond sad that there is only one more. I haven’t read book 7 yet so everything was a surprise! There is going to be a serious void in my life after the last one. Before we saw the movie Scotty took me to Red Lobster. It was so yummy.

It was a good week. Thanks to all my family and friends for making me feel very special and loved. This week I am very excited for Thanksgiving. I’m going to see family that I haven’t seen since my wedding. And this is Scotty’s 1st Treadway Thanksgiving! I hope everyone stays safe over the holidays and enjoys their time with family!!

Where you at?

2010-11-04T21:15:00.002-05:00

Hey, it is Scotty!

I don't normally post on here, I usually leave it up to Summer to post things, but she is hanging out with a friend tonight, and I am at home watching TV. You may have noticed a new addition to our blog recently, the map that tells where people are viewing our blog from.

There are some dots on our map that we can pretty easily guess who they belong to...there are others that take us by surprise. So I just wanted to ask everyone to check in...which dot on our map is you?

Click on the map that is to the right of this post, find where you are located, and then leave a comment letting us know who you are and where you are reading our blog from. We are shocked everytime that we get a new dot. Not only because we can see that there are people all over the world reading our blog...but also because you are reading our blog even when we have nothing exciting to say.

In summary...leave a comment to let us know WHO reads our blog and WHERE you are reading from.

Thanks!

525,600 Minutes

2010-10-10T17:04:00.003-05:00

It official. We've been living with the Roller's for exacatly one year. It really doesn't feel like a year, that's for sure. It's gone by a lot faster than I've anticipated which is a blessing. A BIG blessing!

It's interesting to look back to this time last year. If I knew then what I know now....we wouldn't have moved in. And that sounds bad, yes, but there are a lot of factors to me saying that, that I don't need to get into. BUT we are very thankful that Scotty's parents have been so kind to let us live with them (without rent). That's kind of a big deal. Which leads me to the 1st thing I've learned while living here:

Never look a gift hourse in the mouth. There are times that I just want to complain about everything. I get so frustrated, but I have to stop and think...I could just as well be living on the streets. Scotty's parents so graciously invited us in. So I have to deal. I've gotten lots better, but I still have days.

I've also learned that I'm WAY more sensitive of a person than I thought I was. I knew I was sensitive...but honestly, it's ridiculous. I worried myself physically sick when we 1st moved in because of something someone had said to me (it was mean). I need to develop thicker skin and quit taking everything so seriously. I've done better at that too. Work in progress, really.

Another lesson I've learned, which has been the hardest, is there are just some people in this world that AREN'T going to like you...and you simply aren't going to like back. And it makes it worse when they're in your family. Oh boy, does it make it worse! At least with others, you can avoid them, but when they're in your family you can't. At one point we were even told we HAVE to get along with these people. And we tried...but some relationships are very poisonous, and we deemed that one of them. I had an anxiety attack one evening just from trying to muster up the courage to be in the same room with them! (Which goes back to the sensitive thing).

And on a lighter note, we've also learned that mice come in packs (read Feburary's post to get that story) and food is a special commodity. That's a story for another time, though.

I have had several moments when I think "I'm not going to make it another 2 years" "I can't handle this environment, I have to get out for my own health and well-being." But really, I can handle it, because God wouldn't have given us this opportunity if I couldn't. On those days I'm ready to move out, I just tell myself, I'm building character and growing as a person. God is clearly teaching me so much about myself and what I can handle. And this goes for Scotty too. I've learned a lot more, but I won't bore you with it all. I'm just anticipating what He has in store for me these next 2 years. I have a feeling there will still be lots of tears, and frustration but I know that it will all work out in the end.

"I love Jesus...But I Drink A Little"

2010-09-15T21:50:00.006-05:00

Okay....nothing exciting has happened around here so I just thought I'd let you know what's on my mind and share a little laughter. For labor day we visited our VERY good friend, Megan, in OKC. We did lots of fun stuff but on Monday (actual labor day) we visited the OC campus since they don't celebrate labor day. It was SO NICE being back. All sorts of memories came flooding in. We didn't recognize many students, but we got to chit-chat with lots of former professors. Super fun. BUT ANY WAY! It got me thinking about how much I miss it there! But, recently, a few things have stuck out in my mind. First off, I miss all the friends I made there and I wish I spent more time with them than my books. Second, I rrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllyyyyyy miss the independence we had. Our loans weren't in repayment yet, all we had were silly little bills, and more importantly, WE HAD OUR OWN PLACE! Oh, how I miss it. And finally, I miss one tv show. I know what you're thinking "tv show...really? Like you can't watch tv in Arkansas?" I can, BUT the show I always watched was Ellen. I never had an early morning class and Ellen came on at 9:00am. So of course, that's what I set my alarm to and I turned the tv on first thing. She is so funny and uplifting! Love her. Well, Ellen comes on tv at different times in every state. Just so happens it comes on at 3:00pm here in Arkansas. And it also just so happens that that's the exact time I work. Of all the luck. And to top it off, Arkansas doesn't even show new episodes. So if I were to ever get a chance to watch, it'd probably be an episode I already saw. Which, that's okay, I guess. So, to wrap this up, I'll leave you with one of my favorite Ellen moments.

Misophonia

2010-09-10T20:28:00.002-05:00

People...this is HUGE!!!! All of my life I have been annoyed at the silliest things...mainly noises. I thought I was just easily annoyed. But it's becoming more and more of a problem as I get older. I don't know what prompted me to do this, but I looked it up. I simply typed "irritating noises" and I read blog after blog of people experiencing THE EXACT same thing I was. I was in shock. Turns out, I'm not easily irritated (I'm sure Scotty could argue that) but I have MISOPHONIA!!! Holy cow. There is actually a name for it!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia
I know wiki isn't the most reliable source but it provides a good summary. It started when I was pretty young. I simply got super annoyed at my mom chewing/popping her gum. I constantly was nagging her about it and eventually she just wouldn't chew in front of me. As I've gotten older it has gotten worse. It's not just gum chewing, it's ANY noise made with your mouth, the "clicking" of a mouse, keyboard typing, clanking spoons/forks on plates and bowls, ceiling fans, etc. Those are the ones that really enrage me. But there's a lot more. This will help all my old college roommates. LOL (mainly Megan) The thing of it is, it's not just an annoyance, it's rage. I've never acted out in rage, but I've come close. I raised my voice at my dad once. TOTALLY made a fool of myself, but I was so mad I lost control of myself. I mean....pure rage. I have felt so guilty for saying things to my family that I will just leave the room till they are done eating or playing on the computer but that really cuts into my quality time. Some of you may be reading this and thinking "what a ding-bat" but I promise this is real!!! If you are around me and start making those noises, you will see an immediate characteristic change. I probably won't say anything to you because I don't want to be rude...but know, I'm picturing myself punching you in the face.
I'm still reading and doing a lot of research about it, but as far as I've seen, there isn't any treatment. Maybe someday, when I have money, I'll seek professional help (that's really funny to say). So in the mean time I'll invest in some really good ear plugs and just deal with it like I have been for 23 years. I am SO relieved that there is actually a name and there are others (very few) out there in the world who suffer from the same thing.
Special note: I haven't been diagnosed by a professional, I have definitely self-diagnosed. But there is NO DOUBT in my mind that this is what I suffer from...and I'm sure Scotty and my college roommates would agree.

You Can't Buy Trust

2010-08-31T13:15:00.004-05:00

Well...what can I say? We're boring. ...really boring...
I'm not sure what happened with the month of August. It came and went before I had a chance to realize it. I had 2 weeks off at some point, but filled it with babysitting. Scotty has been working his patooty off at Arvest and has been working with the teens. And that's our life.
Some drama happened 2 days ago with my brother, though. Not a lot of drama happens in the Treadway house so when the you-know-what hits the fan it makes for an interesting day. Justin has been looking into buying a house. He has been pre-approved and has already been out looking. The whole family--even Justin's girlfriend, Katie--HOLLA! was at my parents for lunch. Justin got on his online bank account to check things out. He's been at camp for the past 3 months and hasn't had the chance to look. Well, he started noticing some strange charges to his account. That's always scary. He did a little investigating and realized it was his roommate that made some charges. See, Justin lives with 3 other guys. He's known these guys for a long time and they're all friends. And they are all in charge of rent and certain utilities. One is in charge of gas the other electric, etc. Well, these charges were for utilities that Justin wasn't suppose to pay for. So clearly, one of his roomies did a no no. Justin immediately calls the roommate to confront him about it, no answer. While he was doing that Katie looked a little further and saw that this roommate had stolen a book of checks and wrote some checks to himself, forging Justin's name. You could see Justin's heart sink. This was his friend. And this friend committed a felony. ..Kind of a big deal... The roommate took about $1000 of Justin's money. And this happened while Justin was out at camp. Well, as you can imagine, Justin wanted to move out ASAP. So my parents, myself, and Katie (Scotty had to be with the teens) drove to his house and packed him up in about 2 hours. Eventually the roommate called back and they set up a meeting. Justin, being Justin just wanted the money back and then forget the whole thing. He has such a soft, kind heart he didn't want to do what he knew he HAD to do. Which was press charges. Monday, Justin ran around town talking to the bank, the utility company, the police, etc. and had the gut wrenching meeting with the roommate. Justin said his roommate was emotional and really felt guilty for betraying him. Rightfully so. Justin made him sign a contract saying how much was owed and when it needed to be paid back. Justin also explained that he had to press charges. That's an awkward and uncomfortable conversation to have. Well, as the day progressed Justin got a call from his roommate wanting to meet again. When they did meet, this roommate paid Justin back in full. He put his car down for collateral and sold all of his guitar gear (he's in a band). Justin is so relieved that he got his money but, honestly, there's not enough money in the world that can fix broken trust. The bank said since all the money was returned there wasn't a need to press charges. That's good, but at the same time, who's to say this roommate isn't going to do it to someone else or a place of business? I don't know that I'd be so forgiving. But in the mean time Justin is living with our parents till he finds a house.

And on a happier note....well, I'm going to brag a little bit. Me and Scotty are ALL about saving money (because we have none) and we made some super awesome purchases yesterday!! I say "purchases" but we really didn't spend any money at all. Academy sports just opened up in town and they had a $10 off coupon in the paper for shoes and another one for apparel. We checked it out last night and I found some cute Capri pants, which were only $5 with the coupon and Scotty found a pack of underwear FOR FREE! They were only $9 dollars to begin with and when you throw a $10 off coupon in...FREE! And then for dinner we ate some FREE pizza thanks to 101.1 KLRC. Scotty won a contest on the radio and they gave us a coupon for a free pizza. So we saved over $30 yesterday! That's what I call a good day!! Oh...and by the way....I did the math and come January of next year we will be half way done with our loans! Praise the Lord because I don't know how much sanity I have left!

Sitting on Dogs

2010-08-01T20:36:00.002-05:00

Where the heck has the summer gone? It'll be August in a couple of hours and I have yet to sit and relax!! The summer has been great so far. We started dog sitting in early June and haven't really stopped till now. We have only been home a week and a half for the whole summer. It's been AWESOME!!! We've made several trips with the teens from church...that's always fun. They definitely keep us on our toes. We counseled at camp for a week. GVBC never let's us down. And finally, our good friend from college came to visit us this weekend. We took her to Eureka Springs and had her chaperone a teen event today to Lambert's. I'm still digesting that food. When you stay this busy time really flies. It's nice, but not at the same time.
Since all of our dog sitting days are over (for the time being) we are going to be heading back to the place we have to call home. It'll be nice to sleep in our own bed, for sure, but we're going to lose a lot of the serenity...and maybe sanity. *sigh*
My brother turned 25 this year...crazy. And I just found out he's got a lady friend. A very cute one at that. Don't tell him, but I'm already planning a wedding in my head. :) My mom won't admit it, but I know she is too.
I have a vacation for 2 weeks till school starts but I'll still be sitting on kids to earn an extra buck. I'm currently also trying to get a part-time job in the elementary schools. So be praying about that.
Me and Scotty are exhausted from doing so much so hopefully the month of August will be slower. Who knows.

6 down 14 to go!

2010-06-18T15:56:00.005-05:00

I heard that it's okay to sit on your pity potty every now and then, just be sure to flush when you're done. So I'm flushing that last post and posting a MUCH happier one. :) Things have been really busy lately! I don't know how that happened. I thought I'd have time to sit out by the pool and catch some rays (with my SPF 50 sunscreen, of course) and have plenty of time to clean but no. Not at all. Since June began I've only seen that house twice. CRAZY! But good.
We've been busy spending time with the teenagers at Flagstone, dog sitting, baby sitting, and our usual daily jobs. It's been a lot of fun! But that's not the best part. Three amazing things happened this month. First, we got another car! Second, we celebrated 2 years of marriage!! Third, my loans are PAID IN FULL!!!

Before I get into that I want to tell you about our sweet car. :) It's a 1999 Crown Victoria. That's right, don't be too jealous. It was owned by my grandparents. If you haven't driven one, they're a smooth ride but also very large. My grandfather is the one who usually drove, but since his passing last year my grandma drives it. Well, my uncles didn't want my sweet little grandmother driving it around so they bought her a smaller car. But she wouldn't drive it because she was used to the crown vic. So they decided to sell it. Just so happens that my father was visiting her when this conversation happened and he told them me and Scotty could use it! So we bought it from her! I don't know about Scotty, but I feel a little more free. It's a serious puzzle when you have so many things going on and only one car. One of us was bound to get stranded somewhere. Thank you to anyone who gave us a ride somewhere! We appreciate it!
In case you're wondering, Scotty is driving it around. He even bought some aviators to complete the look. People have to look twice to make sure he's not a cop. Lol.

Now, onto the other exciting part of the month....I AM DEBT FREE!!!!! We paid the last payment early this week. It feels so good! Scotty told me I need to pick what I want to do to celebrate...but I haven't a clue. I just want to keep paying hard on his! Then we can really celebrate!! I remember last summer we were making 5 different payments and now we are down to one! Of course, that one payment takes care of 14 different loans...but I don't even care...as long as it's one payment, I can deal. Thank you to everyone who has kept us in your prayers. Those prayers are definitely being answered. Me and Scotty are overwhelmed with your encouragement and love!! We truly feel blessed!

Needless to say, June has been a great month!

Warning: Pure Frustration

2010-05-10T09:02:00.003-05:00

If you don't want to hear me complain, then you DON'T want to read this. I have had just about all I can take...and we have 2 more years to go. I don't even know where to start...
My biggest issue I'm dealing with right now is our living situation. All me and Scotty want right now is our own place. We don't care if it's as small as a cardboard box, we just want something of our own. The number one response I get to that is "then, why don't you just move out?" Well, the reason we can't is because we pay 4 digits every month to get this over with as fast as we can. Scotty's minimum payment is already as big as a mortgage payment. Can you imagine trying to pay a mortgage payment ON TOP of another mortgage and bills AND trying to find something to put in savings? Some people can do it...but we can't. Financially, we can't. If we decided to just pay the minimum payment and move out we might not ever get these loans paid off, and I'm not willing to be in that kind of debt the rest of my life. His entire paycheck goes to these loans and mine goes to bills/savings. There is no extra spending money. If you see us at a restaraunt or out shopping it's because we have a gift card of some kind. It's never our own money. And we work more than just our daily jobs to earn an extra buck.
Now, when I say we don't like our living situation it's not because it's not our own...it's what goes on here that we don't like. I feel bad for Scotty because there are days when I feel like all I can do is complain to get things off my chest. I, sadly, am one of those people who fester on problems. I poke at it and poke at it until there's nothing left to poke. Thank goodness I married a patient man. Scotty is used to the way this house is ran because he grew up with it. He doesn't like it as much as me, but he's used to it. I, however, am not used to it and I don't want to get used to it. I try to hold my tongue most of the time but there are moments when I can't. I don't think I'm ever mean about what I say but I am very honest.
What I really need is a change in attitude. Scotty is such an amazing example when it comes to attitude. Things that would eat me from the inside-out would just roll right off Scotty's back. I wish I could do that. It's going to have to be a process. A long, long process. I guess I just need some serious prayers for my attitude and my sanity.
On a happier note, next month we will make our last payment for my loans. It's a relief. And there was serious divine intervention there. Maybe someday I'll tell you about it.
Keep me and Scotty in your prayers. We only have 966 days left to go (Lord willing). I'm sorry for giving you such a mean/depressing post. Everyone is allowed to have a moment.

Marathon...and other things.

2010-04-27T08:53:00.002-05:00

Scotty, his former professor, Jody Jones, and Jody's son walked the half marathon Sunday. I am SO proud of them!! 13 miles!! That's a lot! Lisa (Jody's wife), their daughter and myself were their cheerleaders. It was a lot of fun and incredibly inspiring. My favorite part was getting to cheer my husband on as he went across the finish line. It was awesome! I am so proud!

Speaking of my husband...we had quite an adventure last night! Not one I would like to experience again. Scotty loves softball. Any chance he gets he'll play. Last night he had a game with his coworkers. Last week there was an incident where one of our players got creamed in the face with a softball. He was slightly conucssed and his eye swelled shut but he was back in the game last night. This week, it was Scotty's turn to get hurt. I didn't appreciate it. He was the first to bat. He hit a grounder out to the left field, ran to 1st and headed his way to 2nd. He slightly passed 2nd so he dove back to tag the base before the guy tagged him. Well, I guess the guy tagged him because the ump called him out but the guy also stepped on his hand. Scotty stood up to walk off, but he paused and grabbed his hand. Sometimes he does that just to be silly but it was different this time. My thought process was "is he joking?.....yeah....no...no he's not!" So I ran over to the dugout where I met him but he wasn't showing me his hand! I'm thinking something is broken. He had his back to me and showed a coworker...his coworkers face was priceless. "Uh..Scotty, I don't think your finger should bend that way." So I said WE'RE GOING TO THE ER NOW! He still wouldn't show me. Scotty was pretty calm, a little shaken because he's never seen his finger bend that way, but he was calm. As we were walking to the car a caught a glimpse of his hand and yes, his pinky finger was bent the wrong way. I picked up the pace and drove him to the ER. He was being his usual self the whole way there. I, of course, was in a panic. I knew it was just dislocated and that's an easy fix. But I didn't want MY husbands hand to look like that. I never want to see my family in any kind of discomfort or pain. He really only experienced pain when it immidiately happened which is what keeps flashing in my mind like a nightmare. At the ER he was just shootin' the breeze with all the nurses and doctors. Instead of asking him if he was okay they were asking me! So when they went to set it I stepped out of the room because I didn't want to see him in pain! But they numbed it so he didn't feel a thing. Praise the Lord! Today it's pretty swollen and he said it's sore. He asked the doctor if he could have just set it himself, and yes, he could, but something could have been broken. Thankfully, nothing was! I've decided that when we have kids, they are going to live in a bubble. It was just a dislocated finger, but I was a hot mess. Someone called me a sissy for not looking at and that irritated me. I've seen worse...but this was my husband. It's different. He was a good trooper and the x-ray tech gave him a spongebob sticker. Precious.

On another note, this Sunday is our family and friends day at Flagstone! If you're in NWA we'd love to have you there!! flagstonecoc.org

It is time....

2010-04-20T22:42:00.002-05:00

Hey there, Scotty here...I haven't posted in a long while.

This Sunday morning...EARLY morning...I will embark on my first ever 1/2 marathon. Above is a map of the route that I will running/walking/crawling/be dragged this Sunday. Pray for me...it will be a long 13.1 miles.

Duck Season or Rabbit Season..

2010-04-13T12:29:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if it's duck or rabbit season right now but I do know it's allergy season! And it hit with a vengeance this year!! I think I skipped all the usual symptoms and just went straight to a sinus infection. Awesome... Thankfully, I'm recovering after a week of feeling ill. From what I understand because we had that snow in late March it caused some things to bloom later than usual, so now everything is blooming all at once. I don't know if anyone has noticed their cars having a yellow tint to them...but that's pollen. Ick. I've never seen it so bad before.
We're trying to clean our deck off and seal so we can enjoy it this summer but we can't be outside for too long without sneezing our brains out. So needless to say, it's a slow process. But it's looking good. I'll post before and after pictures.
I think the worst part about having allergies besides the constant sniffling, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, and pressure that makes your head want to explode is the fact that I'm stuck inside!! Since the weather has been so beautiful all I want to do is be outside! Or if I'm inside I want to open the windows...but that can't happen. I have tried just about every at home remedy you can. I know I'm exaggerating a bit, but I have still tried a lot. I did the Nettie pot for a while but that never worked for me. My sinus cavities are so swollen that the water won't go through. My grandmother told me to snort salt water instead. It cleans out your sinuses but won't reduce swelling. I did that for a while and it really does help! I have also tried drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with water. That surprisingly helps too...but it's not something I could do everyday. I want to gag with every sip I take. I have gone to bed with a warm wash cloth...I drink hot things throughout the day...I let hot water hit my face in the shower...I've used nose sprays...I take Zyrtec everyday...I inhale steam...I eat spicy foods...etc. etc. etc. There's some I forgot, I'm sure. As you can see I've tried a lot. Some work great, some work okay. I think I just want a cure, and as far as I know, there's not one. Hopefully once everything is done blooming it'll get a little better. If you are a fellow sufferer of allergies, I'm sorry. You're not alone!

Express 101

2010-03-16T09:55:00.002-05:00

I've been getting some questions about the mouse situation so I figured I should give an update! Since our last blog last month we haven't had any more mice. We still have 3 snap traps set up just in case though. I keep telling Scotty we need to take them down because one day I will forget they're there and step on one. But I just have a feeling that as soon as we put them away another stinky mouse will show up. But, no, we haven't had any more mice!

I have even better news than that though! Early this month me and Scotty paid off 3 more loans!! AHHHH!!! It's getting very exciting. We still have 15 more to go, though. But whenever we pay off a loan (big or small) we like to celebrate! It helps to keep us motivated. Since we paid off 3 at once we decided to celebrate a little bigger than usual. Typically we just go out to eat where ever we have a coupon...which is usually Red Robin (YUM...). We had planned on going to the movies because we hardly ever go. We are both huge Disney fans and Alice in Wonderland just so happened to come out this month so that's the movie we chose. Part of the reason we chose to go to a movie is because we had movie passes. We're cheap...not poor. So any ways... We went to see Alice in Wonderland and it was awesome. That Johnny Depp never disappoints! After the movie we had some lunch and walked around the Promenade. It was really nice. Then that evening we went out with our super good friends Sarah and Mikey. When we go out with them we always go to Taco Bell then Chuckey Cheese. I guess we were feeling a little crazy because after Taco Bell we ended up going to Target instead. Sarah had informed me of some awesome sales going on so I wanted to check it out. Scotty and Mikey ran off to do their guy thing and me and Sarah shopped till we dropped! It was so much fun! My favorite purchase was pair of shoes. I am a shoe fanatic! I used to buy them all the time and Scotty picks on me for having so many. BUT I haven't bought any for over a year now...that's a record. I made a deal with Scotty that if I buy a pair I will get rid of a pair. But what made this pair so awesome is that they were slightly damaged. And when I say "slightly" I mean it. They were just my size and cheap but Sarah told me to ask someone if I can get a discount because they are damaged. So I did...and I got them dirt cheap!! It was awesome. But there was one more exciting purchase that Scotty made and that's the GT Express 101! If you don't know what it is, look it up. It's amazing. It was marked down also because there is a newer version out. You just HAVE to look it up. We made our first meal on it, and it is EXACTLY like the info-mercial. Amazing!

So that was our big day of celebration! We have set out a time-line to see when we will be done and it looks like we'll be done in April of 2013! And that's with paying a TON extra each month. However, we have an expert goal of December 2012. And just a side note, but we are 7-8 months AHEAD of schedule! If we were to pay the minimum amount we wouldn't be done till 2025. LOL! That's a joke. So we're still slaves to Sallie Mae, but not too much longer. Thank you, to everyone for being supportive and understanding. It really makes a difference to us and keeps us going!

Hickory Dickory Dock....

2010-02-10T09:09:00.005-06:00

For those of you who are friends with me or Scotty on facebook you may know that we are currently dealing with a little mouse problem. This is a common problem in this house because we're out in the country. Just about every winter we have mice. However, most of those mice hang out on the 1st floor in the kitchen. For some reason the mice found their way upstairs.

We first noticed the mice when Scotty was home on a sick day. He was laying on the floor when he saw something out of the corner of eye. At first he thought it was just a bug, but he knew it was a little too big. So he watched the floor closely to try and see it again. And in the blink of an eye the little creature zoomed past him on the floor and then he knew.....it was a mouse. If you are on facebook you probably saw Scotty's facebook status that said "I don't like mice." Scotty hates mice. I don't blame him. Since Scotty was on the floor he didn't want to be down there with a mouse. So he decided to sit on the couch and not touch the floor at all. The next thing he knows, he is playing games on his computer when he looked over and there was the mouse...ON THE COUCH....watching him play games. As you can imagine, that is terrifying. So Scotty ran downstairs and didn't come back up till I got home.

Because there are mice just about every year Scotty's parents have a ton of traps. We only set one and put it on the floor where we saw him run before. We put a little peanut butter on it because apparently mice love peanut butter. We went to bed that night hoping that when we woke up there would be a dead mouse. As soon as I got up I checked the trap and there was no mouse....but he did eat the peanut butter. That jerk.... So then I realized this isn't his first rodeo. So we had to get smarter. The next day we reset the trap and left for the day hoping that when we come back it'll be dead. And it worked!

After that, we figured our mouse worries were over...but I thought wrong. I did a little research on the web to get more info on mice. I found out that mice are nocturnal, they can hardly see, and they can squeeze through spaces smaller than the diameter of a dime. That is small. Worst of all, I discovered that if you have one mouse you have SEVERAL!! Seriously? That's just great. We reset the trap just in case we had more and for a couple of days we seemed mouse free. Until one night when I was upstairs relaxing I saw another one. The trap was still set and the mouse ran right over to it! I watched him at first but when he started to eat the peanut butter I quit watching because I didn't want to see him get caught. I held my breath, closed my eyes and waited for the trap to go off. And I waited...and waited....then I finally looked and the mouse was sitting ON TOP of the trap just casually eating the peanut butter. I ran down stairs to get Scotty and tell him what I saw. He set more traps hoping that at least one would get him. He went back downstairs b/c he didn't want to see it happen so I stayed upstairs to make sure he would be dead. But no....he just kept eating all the peanut butter, like it was some kind of buffet! That jerk. Me and Scotty finally came to the conclusion that the traps were just too old and not sensitive enough. The next day Scotty bought new traps. They were more updated and A LOT more sensitive. Scotty's dad also bought us some sticky traps. For those who don't know a sticky trap is pretty much a piece of cardboard with extremely sticky glue on it. It's to catch mice or insects. I read on the internet that they are very effective and more humane than the traditional traps. Well, I could care less about being humane. Mice carry bacteria and diseases and they will eat just about anything and I wanted it OUT OF MY HOUSE! So we set 4 new traps and the sticky trap. The next day I was home alone, getting ready to go to work. I was putting on my make-up when I saw the mouse in the bathroom. He ran behind Scotty's dresser. I saw his little head peak around the corner to make sure all was clear but I moved and scared him. So then he peaked his head around the other corner, I moved and scared him. I played this game with him for a good 10 minutes. I couldn't get away long enough to grab something to get him. He finally braved up and just ran for it and that's when I found out how they were getting in. The mouse ran under Scotty's sink. The hole is very small, but he fit through. When Scotty got home we did further investigating and found lots of mouse poop under the drawers in the vanity.

What we have assumed has happened is that these mice made a home in the attic. The attic is attached to the upstairs. When we were getting christmas decor we put floor down and completely reorganized, probably interfering with their homes. So, of course, they wanted to make a home in our bathroom. We strategically put the traps where we knew they would go. We went downstairs to wait. An hour later we GOT HIM!! We were so excited. I came upstairs to check out the damage and I saw ANOTHER mouse. For Pete's sake!!! I'm not running a mouse farm here... The mouse ran behind Scotty's dresser again and the game started over. But this time I wasn't home alone so Scotty got in on the fun. We put a trap at either end of the dresser. He was really trapped. After a minute or two the mouse got tired of this so he made a run for it. He took a large leap of faith and WHAM!! The trap went off. I screamed and ran, Scotty ran after me. Scotty yelled "WE GOT HIM, WE GOT HIM!!....wait....I didn't see if it really got him.." So I run back upstairs and the trap was somewhat under our laundry basket. I pick up the basket and the trap started moving!!! I screamed again and ran for it. The trap got his back leg and the mouse was trying to get away. Me and Scotty are wimps so we made Scotty's dad come empty it. The mouse was still alive so Darrell took him out back and killed him. What a brave man.

So we were hoping that was it. No more mice...please! We put all the traps back up though just in case. We are about to go to bed, laughing, still about what just happened and we hear SNAP! Oh my goodness....yes....we just got another mouse. I go back to the bathroom to check it out and it got the mouse right across the body. His legs couldn't move but the rest of his body was still eating the peanut butter like nothing happened. Darrell had already gone to bed so we couldn't get him. Scotty got a box, scooped him up and threw him outside so the cats will eat it.

Unbelievable. 3 mice. Gross. Finally, we hop in bed. We both had a feeling like this just isn't over yet. Scotty had fallen asleep and I was almost asleep when I heard some shuffling around across the room. I sit up to see what's going on and then I hear "squeak squeak." GROSS!!! Another mouse got caught but this time in the sticky trap. It took me forever to go to sleep because of that. Humane my foot. That mouse suffered a lot more than the others who died quickly. EWE!!

Our traps are still set but it's been a good, solid week and no mice. Well, actually we saw a mouse but it ran downstairs. We saw it trying to get back up but it couldn't. We closed off all the holes we found in the bathroom with steal wool. Mice hate steal wool. That's why that mouse ran downstairs....we locked him out of his house. :) We are mouse killing machines and we don't feel bad about it.

2 down 18 to go...

2010-01-18T09:12:00.003-06:00

We did it!! We got another loan paid off!!! SOOOOO exciting!!! We still have a lot more to go, but we have 2 less to worry about. It feels really good. The day we paid it off we celebrated by going to Red Robin and eating a free burger and eating all their fries. YUM... I think we then went to my parents and played their wii! Which reminds me that one of my students last week told me the Wii is only for old people..."only old people like to play that..." Really kid? I made him take it back. :)

Another very exciting thing that is going on is the church plant! We had our 1st meeting w/ the future congregation yesterday. It was SO encouraging! We had LOTS of questions to ask b/c, as far as I know, it's still in the early stages. Most people were concerned a/b the money issue, the children's ministry, the youth group, the future name, location, etc. So I'm sending out a prayer request! We have a building in mind that is in a part of town that is growing a lot! There are hardly any churches out that way AND it's close to the airport so a lot of people from out of town (especially those wal-mart folks) will see us. We have such an opportunity to reach out to A LOT of people! I don't know details about this location but we were told that it is the best option for us. And I think it's in the negotiation stages. So pray hard that we are able to get it...and if we don't get it pray that we can find something else! Also pray for funds. Obviously, that's kind of a big deal. For now, all our questions were answered and we were reminded that God is able to do anything. I don't know a/b you, but sometimes I forget, so it was nice to be reminded. So if you could, pray hard that everything works out so we can save more souls!

That's What She Said...

2009-12-31T08:36:00.002-06:00

Okay, so it's the last day of the year and, yes, I feel the need to look back on what '09 brought. It was quite a busy year but it went by SO FAST!!
We started our year in OK so I could finish my last semester of school. It was definitely the easiest semester of all....and that's probably because I slacked off. But that's okay because I had super grades.
I finally graduated and we moved to Rogers, AR! That was probably the most exciting thing about '09. We caught a lot of grief from our OK friends though. People are excited when you tell them your moving overseas but when you tell them you're moving 3 hours away they freak! We didn't want to stay there though. Whatev...
We went on a Disney Cruise!! I've changed my mind...THIS was the most exciting part of '09! I think about it everyday and we are already planning to go again when our loans are done. Then when we become millionaires we will just go every year. I would say billionaire...but lets be realistic. :)
We remodeled a house! That was cool. But we have more to go this coming year.
I started working at the piano studio and Scotty started his job with Arvest. That was a blessing for sure!
Finally, we started paying off our loans. That is not exciting at all, but we've done okay so far.

Who knows what 2010 will bring. I get a little nervous thinking about it...but when am I not nervous? I hope you have fun plans for tonight, but please be safe!!

Tourist Trap

2009-12-14T08:53:00.007-06:00

Scotty and I took a trip to York, NE the day after Thanksgiving for our friends wedding. We usually don't drive that far just for a wedding but I was playing the piano for her...so we kinda had to. We were a little bummed out about having to drive that far just for a day or two. You know, gas prices aren't that great. But Scotty had the brilliant idea to see what kind of silly tourist traps we could find on the way up there. And just saying...Missouri has A TON of tourist traps. We didn't stop to see many on the way there because we were on a time crunch but we definitely took our time getting back home and this is what we found...

This is the worlds largest mushroom. It's a lot bigger than it appears in this picture. This is somewhere in MO.

This is what you see the majority of the way to NE. So exciting.

This is the worlds largest coffee pot!! Yes, it is a water tower. You can find this just as you enter NE from Iowa.

This is the worlds largest covered waggon! Again, it's small in the picture but it's HUGE in person. This was somewhere in NE.

We took this picture for Megan since she lived there for a while.

And this next picture is the best of all. It's close to downtown Kansas City. Before we left for our long journey we were just going to rely on our TomTom to get us there but within minutes of our trip the power cord pooped out. So we had to find this thing the old fashioned way. Needless to say, we drove around for about 45 minutes before we found it. And of course, the map that we had told us Exactly where it was...but I was looking at the other side of the map that was more detailed so we didn't know it was there till we already found it.

And you would think...."how hard is it to find the The Worlds Largest Shuttlecocks!?!" Well...it was hard for us...so there. There's 3 or 4 of them in the largest courtyard outside the art museum. They are super cool.

1 Loan Down.....19 to go...

2009-11-07T18:10:00.003-06:00

Come Novemeber 9, 2009 we will have one loan completely paid for! What a relief. Now in December we will only have to make 4 separate payments and not 5. We shouldn't have to do that for long though.

We've been living with the Roller's for almost a month now. It's been interesting. I've had a lot to learn about family roles and how things really work around here. I'm starting to get used to it, I think.

Our room is still a mess. Usually I can have a room put together and organized in a timely manner but I have been sick for the past 3 weeks. Yes....3 weeks. Each week brought a different illness. I'm still not 100% but I can deal. Our immune systems aren't used to living with children. Every little illness our nephew's get we get it too. Not......fun...... This could be a long 4 years.

Other than that our lives haven't changed. It's been boring and uneventful.

If Jimmy cracked corn and we don't care, why do we sing about it?

2009-10-15T10:17:00.017-05:00

These are the pictures of the room. I apologize if they are hard to see.

This is the wall we knocked down. It's kind of funny because when Scotty's family first moved in they had to build this wall because there were 4 kids and they needed the extra room. So now, 17 year later, we are knocking it down. This room used be Scotty's room.

This is the other side of the wall. This room used to be Scotty's sisters room, Megan. The previous owners had 2 little girls and these 2 rooms were sort of one. There was a partial wall here at one time. One room was for sleeping the other for play. When the wall was built they left a doorway between the 2 rooms, which is what you see on the right.

This is Megan's room again with the closet, taken from the doorway between the 2 rooms.

Scotty's room again with the closet, taken from the doorway. Under the plastic is a bunch of stuff we put in a garage sale pile.

This is Scotty's room and the mess we made knocking down the wall.

Scotty was super tired after knocking it down. He might be exaggerating a little bit.

And the 2 rooms shall become 1. It's a 2 level room so we built a step.

Knocked down wall from Megan's room.

Final product of Scotty's room.

Scotty's room again. There used to be a closet there...but it's gone.

Megan's room. The wall on the left is new. The door leads to the closet and inside the closet is the previous closet. I think they call that a double walk-in.

Megan's room. Closet on the right, the other door leads to the hallway.

I can't seem to find the pictures we did of the living room. I'll find them someday. So that is Scotty's parents new master bedroom! It's quite a down grade from their upstairs room. I feel guilty taking their super large room but they keep reassuring me that it had to happen for Darrell's sake. So there you have it.

We've Finally Arrived

2009-10-07T08:59:00.003-05:00

I must say, me and Scotty are pretty much professionals now. We have successfully finished the first part of the remodeling of his parents house. Overall it took 4 long months. We started in the living room taking off popcorn on the ceilings and patching holes or other imperfections in the wall. We textured the ceiling and painted everything. It looks really good. Then we moved to the back bedrooms. That's what took the longest. We made two bedrooms into one which consisted of knocking down a wall, building a closet, painting everything and putting carpet in. It's sounds easy enough but there are lots of small details no one bothers thinking about. I have yet to put the pictures on my computer so you'll have to wait to see the before and after.

This past weekend we were able to move his parents downstairs and started organizing the upstairs. When springtime gets here we are having a HUGE garage sale. I'd like to say the upstairs is completely empty and ready for us to move in but it's not. It's full of things to put in the attic and garage sale stuff. We put the first coat of paint on last night and we'll put another one on in a few days. Our plan is to start the moving process Friday (weather permitting). Because of the storage incident that happened in June his parents rented a POD and have put it in their yard so we don't have to worry about someone making a home of it. So all of our stuff is occupying a lot of the space and we can't get the garage sale stuff in it till our stuff is out....but we can't put our stuff in the room till the garage sale stuff is out. So it's going to get a little tricky but we'll manage. It's going to be so nice to see all of our stuff again.

On top of all the work we've been doing we've gotten some bad news lately. Last month sometime we received an email from AES (American Education Services). They told us our first payment is due soon. We thought that was strange because as far as we knew all of our loans were through Sallie Mae. So Scotty emailed them back and told them they have a mistake. A few days later we received a phone call explaining that if we don't pay they will file fraud charges. We were utterly confused. So Scotty called the number back and asked for all sorts of information. I emailed our financial counselor from OC to see if she knew anything. I figured she had taken out a loan without his permission. I thought that because she did the same thing to me while I was in school. I kept a close watch on the activity with loans and noticed an extra $2,000 that wasn't suppose to be there. When I confronted her she said I had asked for it....she was wrong. She fixed the problem but she didn't own up to it. So needless to say, me and her aren't the best of friends. So I just assumed she did the same thing with Scotty. But after Scotty talked to someone on the phone we found out that it wasn't a mistake. At the time we thought our financial counselor took out ALL loans from Sallie Mae except one....which is really annoying and stupid. So here we are with an extra loan we didn't see coming. But don't worry it doesn't end there.... Just this week we received ANOTHER letter from a DIFFERENT service saying that we start payments soon. I can't believe this has happened again. I'm so glad that Scotty is so calm and collected. I was in the middle of a break down when Scotty got the smart idea to find the credit report Arvest pulled on him a few months ago before he got hired. It had listed every single loan, including the surprise 2. Needless to say there shouldn't be anymore surprise loans. Now if you're thinking if we had it on the credit report this whole time why didn't we know about it? Well, me and Scotty were absolutely positive that we knew where all of our loans were from. Our credit is good so why bother looking? Wrong. Our financial counselor from OC finally emailed back and said that she did indeed take out ALL loans from Sallie Mae except one, and that is the most recent one. But the one from AES was a mystery until we found out that Sallie Mae sold it right as we started paying them off. I'm sure they sent us a letter about it but they send us a letter about everything so we probably just skimmed it and threw it away. Bad idea. It's still really frustrating though. Why would our financial counselor do that? I know it's not her fault, but because of the history with her I'm still going to be mad. So when my loans are out of grace period in December we will be making 4 separate payments to get them paid off.

Our goal is still to pay them off in 4 years. We have set out a plan and we are going to be successful. But some words of advice....read every letter your loan service gives you and make sure you understand it. Ask your financial counselor where all your loans are from and how much they're for. Hopefully your financial counselor was better than ours.

A New Found Respect

2009-09-14T09:20:00.004-05:00

Well, I was hoping by now that me and Scotty would be in our new place but that hasn't happened yet. We're still working on getting the house ready. We've knocked down the wall to make the 2 rooms 1, built a closet, and covered a pre-existing door. It sounds easy enough but I had no idea how much work it took to build a wall. And of course, once you start building these things you start to remember other small details that need to get done. For example, we built a new closet...well, there aren't any racks or shelves in the closet so you have to build them. For some reason I thought when you built a closet the racks and shelves just magically appear. Tearing down and building up walls is a hard job and I have a lot more respect for people who do that as a living! I'll try to get pictures up soon!!

Our first goal was to get moved in by the time school started which was a month ago. Now our goal is to get it all done by October 1st. We'll see. Scotty seems optimistic about it--but when is he not? I don't think it's going to happen. With both of us working now it's not as easy to get over to his parents to work. And it doesn't help that they are raising a grandchild AND his siblings feel the need to drop their kids off without warning so our work has to stop. It's all very frustrating so when this project gets done we'll be happy.

Thank you to those who have been praying for us and our loan situation. In the past 3 months we've managed to pay down quite a bit. If we can manage to go at this pace they will be paid off in 2 1/2 years. If we decided that we didn't want to be losers and live with our parents it would take us till 2025 to get them all paid. I'd rather be a loser than stay in debt that long.

And there's some more good news. Scotty got word the other day that at the beginning of next year he will be permanent and we'll get benefits! I know this is weird but my teeth are craving the dentist. I don't know if we've explained this before but Scotty is classified as "seasonal" as of right now. Arvest Mortgage has grown a lot in the past year and they needed more employees but they didn't budget for it. So all the "seasonal" people are getting paid like a full time employee but they don't get benefits. Not a huge deal, but as soon as we get dental insurance I'm going to the dentist!

Oh, and I almost forgot. Southside Church of Christ is going to need some serious prayers because we have decided to plant a new church in town! Don't worry, nothing is wrong with the church. We aren't splitting we are PLANTING! The elders are still working out details but what we know right now is that it will be west of I540 and our family minister (Marshall Brown) with his wife and kids will be the minister. It is very exciting and very scary once you start thinking about what all has to be put into this. So keep the church in your prayers.

We're almost there!

2009-08-13T09:42:00.002-05:00

For the past 3 months we've been working hard on trying to get Scotty's parents house ready for us to move in...or invade. The living room is done and the smaller room (piano/library) next to it is almost done. Tonight we are going to do the biggest thing of all--knock down a wall to make 2 rooms one. We are pretty darn excited!!! Once we get the wall knocked down we can paint and move his parents in their new room. THEN we're going upstairs to paint and move our stuff in. So we may be looking at about a month before we move in....maybe less. Either way, we're excited about getting more room to breath. The hard part about moving is trying to keep my mother happy. She's pretty bummed we're moving out. "Oh, I'm going to miss you so much!"...."I'm never going to see you any more!" I just keep telling her we're only 10 minutes away and we can come over any time we want. My precious mother...

On top of all that excitement I did a little something new yesterday. I posted all of my college books on Amazon.com. I refused to sell them back at the school bookstore because they rip you off. So I had about 27 books to post--some books were my brothers as well. I went into it thinking I might sell one book BUT I got better results. I hadn't even had the books posted for 2 hours and I already sold one. How cool is that?! But it gets better....once I got home from church in the evening I sold a second one!!!!! And to top it off, they were books from the absolute worst class alive--Psychological Statistics. HAHAHAHA Dr. Newell!! That class was a waste of time and money. But any way. I sold the books!!!

Thanks for everyone's prayers about Scotty's dad getting a job. He got one at Hobbytown USA. It's a nice temporary job, I'll say. He has another interview today to be a dispatcher. He seemed really excited about it so pray that he can get that job! Also, Megan Collier is now in Gambell, AK. She was very nervous but of the few times we've talked she seemed to be enjoying herself. But keep her in your prayers as she starts the new school year.

And So It Begins...

2009-06-29T09:58:00.002-05:00

WORK! It has begun!! Today is Scotty's first day at his new job. We had prayed so hard that he finds something and those prayers were answered. So hopefully he really enjoys it and can make a good career out of it! I'm so proud of him. For those who don't know, Scotty got a job at Arvest Mortgage. It is pretty close to what he was doing in OKC. He takes care of people who are having trouble paying off their mortgage. Let's hope he likes it and excels quickly. And if he doesn't like it, then lets hope that he finds something else! As for me, I've started teaching piano at Ms. Betty's studio. It has been a lot of fun and being in the studio brings back so many memories of when I was a student there. When school starts back up again in August I'm planning on doing some substituting in music classes to get a little extra income. We have to start paying on loans in July so we'll need all the little extra cash we can get.

Besides work we've been working hard on VBS stuff at church. We're teaching the story of Adam and Eve to 1st-5th graders. Last night was the first night and it was a lot of fun. VBS is always so exciting even for us big kids.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that both our parents have been keeping us busy with projects around the house and I am very glad to say that we finished Iris and Darrell's living room! It looks so good! All we need to do is decorate it and then start on the next project! It's been a lot of fun.

Well...Scotty said I'd post a week or so ago about the cruise but we've been so busy lately I haven't had time! I'm not going to say a whole lot about the cruise just because it'd take me all day to tell you about the magic we experienced! But I will say that we loved it SO much that we want to go again before we start having babies. And when we start having babies...and they're old enough...we want to go again...........and again and again. It was AMAZING! We highly recommend Disney Cruises.

That's it for now, but I do have a prayer request. Be praying for Darrell (my father-in-law) because he has been job searching too. Pray that he finds something that will be enjoyable for him. Also be praying for me and Scotty to get these crazy loans paid off in our goal time. It's going to be really hard but we have faith that it'll come through somehow. Thanks!!!

Updated Cruise Slideshow

2009-06-22T10:09:00.001-05:00

At the bottom of this page I have put a larger slideshow, along with captions and music.

It is at the VERY bottom of this page.

Enjoy,

Scotty

Cruisin'

2009-06-19T10:32:00.002-05:00

Post from Scotty.

For our 1 year anniversary we were able to go on a cruise with all of our friends from Disney!

We went to Nassau, Bahamas and went to Disney's own private island Castaway Cay (pronounced "Castaway key"). The weather started out a little wet, though the weather ended being BEAUTIFUL for most of the cruise. There were Broadway style shows on board, food, Disney characters, food, swimming, food, sun, food, and a lot of fun!

I have put a slide show to the left of this post, I know that it is small, but that is as good as it gets until I figure something else out to make it bigger (I could use some help from more technologically savvy bloggers).

We had a great time, and I will have Summer post more later.

Scotty

WHAT A DAY!

2009-06-06T21:22:00.003-05:00

On Sunday Summer and I (Scotty is writing this) leave for our cruise to the Bahamas! Saturday was a VERY full day, little did we know it was going to be even longer than what we first thought.

First, we finished the last day of our garage sale, we had to wake up at 7:00 to help take the tables out and watch the junk. That lasted until about 12:00. The Razorbacks were playing on ESPN2 and so I watched some of that.

Next on our agenda was 4 things before we headed to my parents house for a cookout, (1) go to my grandma's house; (2) go to Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute things for our trip; (3) go to the church and drop off some board games; (4)stop by the storage buildings that we have some stuff in to see if Summer's backpack/bag/purse box is in there.

That is where our day got a little bit longer than originally expected.

I will break it down for you:

My parents rent 3 storage units in this one storage unit place in Rogers. Summer and I have some stuff (couch, coffee table, side tables, TV stand etc.) in one unit, there is another unit that only has a little bit of stuff in it (a sectional couch and a couple of boxes) and my sister has the final storage unit (stuffed FULL of stuff). Megan's (my sister) unit is so full in fact that directly in front of the door is a couch, standing on end, blocking the door-it would be nearly impossible to squeeze past the couch and get in the unit, let alone be INSIDE the unit.

In the past couple of months there have been many vandels go to storage places and cut the locks off of storage units and take things. Two of our units have been cut twice though nothing has been stolen (to our knowledge).

Summer and I arrived at the units and checked the first unit that had our couch/TV stands/coffee tables in it...and we were unable to find the box we were looking for. Before we left, it was decided that we should check the other units to make sure the box didn't some how get put in one of those. I was not quite sure of which unit was ours, though I knew what our locks looked like. We got to where our units were and ONCE AGAIN our locks were cut, but were nowhere to be seen.

I walked up to the one that I thought was my sister's unit and opened the door and saw exactly what I expected to see, a HUGE couch blocking the door. I closed the door and latched it. Then I walked to the next door unit (mine) and opened it, the lock was cut on it as well. Opened the door and looked around and the box was nowhere to be found...BUMMER.

Now I realize that was a very boring, seemingly pointless story but there is one key point that I will bring back up now. After I closed my sister's unit I CLOSED THE DOOR AND LATCHED IT. While we were standing in the next door unit, Summer and I heard some rustling, my first thought was that there was a possum or a raccoon somehow that had gotten in to the unit...GROSS...but then we realized that the noises were of some PERSON rustling through the things. Summer and I quickly closed the door to our unit and got into the car, when we looked back at my sisters unit, we saw the door bulging...like somebody was trying to get out!

Somebody was living in my sister's storage unit!

However, thanks to the quick thinking of me, I had latched the unit shut, he was effectively shut inside the unit. Not knowing what to do, I got out my trusty little cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. I quickly told the dispatch lady of everything that was going on and asked for them to send someone to help us, because we didn't know if this person had a gun and wanted to kill us or what...all I knew was that I was not going to go near that unit until the cops showed up. While we were waiting for the police, we continued to watch the storage unit. The next thing that we saw really surprised us. All of a sudden what looked like a screwdriver was shoved through the metal wall of the storage unit. The person inside of the unit was trying to dig his way out. Whenever the genius inside realized that a screwdriver was not going to work, he decided to look for something else to help him get out of the unit. His next weapon of choice was a wooden back scratcher (he may not have been the most brilliant person ever). He jimmied around with the wooden back scratcher but was not getting too far with it. Next he decided that my sister's curling iron would help him escape the unit.

As we watched (and waited for the police) we saw his hand finally reach outside of the unit, he had managed to free his hand from the bonds of storage unit-ness. The only problem with him having his hand outside, was that he had freed his hand roughly 2 feet above the latch that he was reaching for, and he could not reach the latch to free himself from its grasp. He then pulled back inside and began frantically to escape again, once more freeing his arm from the prison of storage. This time it appeared that he was going to get the latch, but once again my quick thinking allowed me to stall him for a moment. While his hand was sticking out of the unit, reaching for the latch I honked my horn-I imagine this scared the poop out of him, because he jerked his hand back inside the unit VERY quickly (which we later learned cut his hand up VERY badly). After a few silent moments his hand emerged once again, this time with a very determined effort and his mind was set stedfastly on his goal...FREEDOM. Finally the inevitable happened and he was able to unlatch the door.

The door was now open but he quickly shut the door. My first thought was "Shootout at the OK Corral." I thought he was now going to be loading the gun that he had or that he was going to make a break for our car or something. So in the most heroic voice that I could muster I stammered to Summer, lay your seat down and hide, just in case he decided that he wanted to shoot at us (I will admit, I learned that from a TV show). Then the door opened again and I could see him struggling with something, like he was trying to take something with him.

Now if you remember, I said that their was hardly room to get IN the unit, let alone put something else in the unit...this guy had aparently been in the unit, and was storing his bicycle in there as well. He was pulling his bicycle out of the unit. He then proceeded to get on the bike and ride off like nothing happened. He crossed the street and headed straight for the open field across the street. Just as he was getting to roughly the middle of the field the police showed up (better late than never). One car headed after the biker and one officer went with us to the unit.

We told him what had happened, and what we had seen and then the cool part...watching those CSI marathons really helped. The police started doing what they do on TV, putting on gloves, checking for fingerprints, taking DNA samples from the blood that the man poured all over the place, getting the pieces of skin left behind from yanking his arm through the sharded metal wall. It was AWESOME...afterwards.

We told the officer what the man looked like: Grey shirt, navy blue shorts, a hat rough hair, very dirty/bloody, blue bike.

The officer said that they had caught a man and they were going to need us to get in the car and go with him to try to identify the man that they caught (Summer and I high-fived...we were going to ride in the cop car). He asked if the man was kind of chubby, and we told him that he was very small (which apparently means that the man that they caugth was chubby, so that was the wrong answer, so no police car ride...BUMMER!

In the end, what should have been a 5 minute stop at the storage unit, ended up being a 2 hour stop.

After the police had left, my sister was beginning to look to see if anything was taken, and she saw a bag, remembering that Summer was looking for a bag, she pulled it out and asked if it was the bag she was looking for, because Megan did not recognize it. It was not Summer's, and then Megan realized that this was the man's bag. We called the police officer back to get the bag, and he looked through it. Inside were some of my t-shirts (that jerk) and the lock that he had broken, the makings of some cigarettes and some other stuff. The guy apparently had left in such a hury that he forgot his bag...sorry guy.

As we were getting ready to leave, the owner of the storage units showed up and we gave him a run down of the situation, and all he had to say was, "Bummer." Next I asked if he had some locks that we could have to replace the ones that were cut, so that he didn't come back to get his bag-which was now being put into an official evidence bag (AWESOME!). The owner guy said, "sure, they cost $10 a piece."

WHAT!?!?!? A guy who broke into our storage unit, was living there in the units that you own, you have not even said "sorry" and now you are going to charge us money for another set of locks? I wanted to punch the guy. Oh well, at least we will have locks again. This time we got those circular locks that cannot be cut, or at least the jerk that owns the place says.

We then headed to my parents house for a cookout and now we are going to make sure that our packing is finished so that we can leave for the airport at 3:00 AM Sunday.

This seems like it will be an AWESOME trip!

Scotty

P.S. We never found the dumb box...

Hey, it is Scotty!

2009-06-02T09:42:00.001-05:00

I am now writting a blog post!

I have nothing specific to say, but I am saying it!

And now, I am finished!

Scotty

insert title here

2009-05-22T09:28:00.002-05:00

This is our first blog post! How exciting!! We decided to get a blog because our very good friend Megan is moving to Alaska at the end of July and we wanted to keep her updated. Sure, we could just send emails but it's not as fun as blogging. And this way, more of our beloved OC family can stay updated.
So I guess I'll give a run down for now. Not much is going on so this probably won't be that exciting. Scotty graduated OC in December and I graduated May 1st! We BOTH wanted to move back to our hometown, Rogers, so that's where we are! I emphasize "both" because some people thought I was dragging him back with me. That is incorrect. Since moving back to Rogers Scotty has started his job with the church. He's having a lot of fun. It's exactly what he wanted to do, so God has really blessed us. His goal right now is to get another job so we can get all those loans paid off. I'm going to be teaching piano at Carousel Studios with my former piano teacher. I'll start that in a week or two. I'm also babysitting on the side to help with the loans. So if anyone needs me, just let me know.
Besides getting ready to start work for the rest of our lives we've been staying busy with fixing up our parents houses. My mother has a long list of to-do's and Scotty's mother has an even longer list! And in between working on houses we've been playing Wii!! That is the best game ever invented. I've been really into the Wii Fit. It hurts the self-esteem quite a bit but it's actually a really good workout!! I was surprised.
The most exciting thing happening in the near future is we're going on a Disney Cruise on our 1 year anniversary! We are so excited!! I'll be sure to put pictures up and tell you all about our adventure.