not much...

Well, I ended up with a few free moments and thought, for Melissa's sake at least, I'd write a little bit. We had the realtor back over today to take updated pictures now that the bathroom is done, and the carport cleaned out. House looked great, but my bedroom was a disaster zone! That's where everything from the other rooms got chunked. Anyway, if you want to see the house it is at www.unitedcountry.com - search the Imboden office real estate on about page 6. So then tonight, I had a jewelry show scheduled for this older woman I met. No, I cannot do a jewelry show and blog at the same time - obviously the show cancelled.... AFTER I had my jewelry set up AND the food set out (she'd been sick, I told her to have it here, and I'd take care of everything). So now I've tried calling local hostesses to do a "drop-in" thing so at least someone would eat the food and maybe even make an order... however 10 minutes is kinda short notice. All my church friends except one live too far away to invite, and the one that lives in town hates jewelry.... BUT... My mom just pulled up. Bless her heart. At least she loves me!!!! And Melissa does too, I know.. And Jeremy Camp....

To set the record straight....

Okay, Okay, I know you guys have been thinking... "WOW! Melissa has great taste in pink shirts!" (I just added the quotation marks for you, Melissa). May I warn you that you are in for a shock... It isn't Melissa with Jeremy Camp, It's ME! ME ME ME ME ME ME ME! I thought I'd post the proof!a>

Well I spent all day in Jonesboro today with Dentist appointments for the kids, who did awesome, and then searching for tile, mirrors, grout, showers, lights.... all those things for the new house. Well, the mirror is for this one, which is almost done, but we did get the tile for the boys bathroom in the new house. It's so small we were able to get what we wanted! For those of you who have not seen our current bathroom lately, here it is:

so, it looks a LOT better.... It cost about $600, but I am hoping the house will sell faster/closer to asking price..... we'll see. I think it looks AWESOME!! Everything is different about it, and no more water-stained white linoleum and ESPECIALLY no more red brick linoleum (which also caressed our dining room and kitchen floors at one time).

ALSO.... Andy and I did something today in Jonesboro that we havn't done in 10 years..... wonder what it could be? None of you will believe it! But, I can't tell right now because it's a SECRET!!! Take that, Melissa!

Oh well, it's bedtime and I need to call a hostess and close a show. Bye!

The highlight of last month...

Oh, I just had to hurry up and put this in here..... Several women of joy and myself got to attend a Jeremy Camp concert last month, and this picture has been the source of MUCH excitement......

If only I were the one to meet such a celebrity, how different life could be..... why, if it were me, Jeremy would have caught that special glimmer in my eye and known in the depth of his heart that he'd have to introduce me to Adie right away, as we are like-minded when it comes to music, that way, by now, she and I would be collaborating on the most highly anticipated song of the year I'm sure.... and by the end of the year our song would've blessed millions of people and maybe even led some of them to the Lord.... after all, look how well she did on her own, why, with the BOTH of us working together (as we would be the moment Jeremy would've seen how compatible we were) there is no measuring the amount of blessings that could be going around. Then Andy and Jeremy could hang out and watch the kids together while Adrienne and I worked on our music, well, actually Jeremy would probably help us out, and he would've grown so close of a friendship with Andy that he'd know for sure how great a drum player Andy is, then he probably would've INSISTED that Andy play the drums on our new BAND with the 4 of us..... (Did I mention until this "would-be" moment how I have LAMENTED over not being in the band anymore, and how that despair could've been gone once and for all if only I were the one to meet Jeremy?) so Anyway... THEN who would watch the kids? Oh, I know.... my dear beloved one.... Melissa...... It's too bad that SHE was actually the one to meet Jeremy that night.. I can't believe she's wearing that LOW CUT shirt! And in front of Jeremy, no less.... I would never do such a thing..... Nevertheless, I've chosen to honor my precious friend by posting HER picture for all to see.....

Notify the famiy! I'm still alive!

Okay - a few of my precious dear ones (women of joy-ers) have let me know that I have not blogged in over 3 months. It's so weird because I really like the idea of doing it - I just don't do it. Do I have any excuses? Well, things have been busy??? Well they really have been! I need to be posting pics of the progress on the house - man, last time I blogged I didn't even know we would consider moving, and now our house is up for sale!!! Check out www.unitedcountry.com, and find the Imboden, AR office to see our house. Anyway... see, I have to get Dakota ready right now, so I already have to go! Will chance bring us to crossing paths over the next 3 months???? I hope so, Precious one. :)

Quick update

Hey - just wanted to let you know that we are NOT performing the interpretive movement this weekend. I THINK it will be next weekend. A girl had a death in the family and had to make a quick trip to New York.... This just gives you guys more time to put it on your calendar! I'll let you know for sure.

Happy 2008

It's a new year.... any resolutions? I don't even bother with those anymore!! Well, I knew it had been a while since I'd written.... does anyone still check this anymore???? I'm sorry! Well I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Christmas wasn't too hard for me, but the new year was. When it turned 2008, the only thing I could think of was how this was the first year my Dad would never see. That the last year that I was with my dad was over. Like keeping 2007 around would keep more of him around.... I know that is silly. Today is 3 months since he died. This was the first "month anniversary" that I actually looked at my watch at 4 pm... 12 weeks since he died, which is about how long he lived after we found out it was confirmed stage 4 cancer. If he had taken radiation every day would he still be here? He didn't think it was worth it, but I do.

Anyway, at least Christmas was fun... The kids had a great time. The morning started out by sleeping in (strange, huh? We Ross's LOVE our sleep!), and then I cooked a big breakfast (just about the only day of the year that I do that), and then on to stockings. After that we opened presents and later in the day we went to Andy's sisters house. I've got some pictures:

Kids Choice! Eggs, bacon, french toast, juice, and kool-aid!

Walkie Talkies!!

Okay, let me just pause here to inform you of a most awesome book series!!! If you havn't read "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer..... Do it!!! I read it in one day, and the sequel "New Moon" the next day (these are 600 page books), and then Andy got me the third book, "Eclipse" (came out in Aug. 07) for Christmas. It is an extremely readable, high action series about a girl that moves to Washington State to live with her dad (after her mother remarries). She enrolls in the small high school there, and meets the love of her life - her soul mate - against his better judgement (though he cannot deny it).... Okay, so he's a vampire.... but he's a good guy.... doesn't keep her out of danger though...

OH MY WORD THESE BOOKS ARE DELICIOUS!!! I would rather read these books than eat. Enough said.

Christian author, guys..... no sex scenes, I can count the curse words (not any BAD ones) on one hand..... AND I was literally breathless with my heart pounding out of my chest while reading....... The MOVIE is coming out next year (Dec.) Stephenie has no say over it except that she demanded no rating above a PG13. Book 4 comes out next fall....... check out http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ for more details. Anyway... back to Christmas...

Not that funny, until you look at the pajamas he has on....


Andy talked a gas station out of this sign for me..... he is so sweet!


Just wanted you to see how our useless dog spent ALL Christmas morning... poor Andy didn't even get to move!


And for the best present...


Momma got one too.......

Don't be a hater..... I AM a guitar hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So, presents were fun. Andy got me a cd player to go in my truck (YES!) Just about the ONLY bad thing about a 1996 model is that cd players didn't come with them. By the way, have any of you NOT seen my truck? I should put in a picture for you. You know, it was God's gift to me while my Dad was sick. He was saving my hearts desire until a time when everything else was falling apart. I know it was His way of telling me He still thought about me. He knew that it would take something big to cheer me up. Dad got to see it, but he never got to ride in it. He was so happy for me! (This is the truck I've longed for since I was 17.)

This was a couple of days after I got it... That is my best friend from high school, Tammy, with me. I'd daydreamed about this truck every day of my junior, senior, and maybe even sophmore year... No one better to celebrate with than her!!! Anyway, that's my truck. I don't know how I got on that story, but let me tell you... be glad I wasn't on here in August or it's all you would've heard about for a long time!!!! I love that truck. Thirsty booger, though. Hey, my trailblazer only got 16 - 17 miles to the gallon. I can handle 13 - 14. And do I ever look GOOD in it!!!!! Makes me look little!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yall, I could talk about all kinds of stuff, but I need to go to bed. Andy isn't feeling well. Pray for him, he's on his second round of antibiotics and steriods for this sinus stuff, and if it doesn't work, they want to do a catscan of his sinuses. I'm guessing that isn't covered by the $40 doctor visit..... He's been in pain for months with this stuff, so remember to pray.

Also, the interpretive movement went well... the one we've been working on to Lifehouse's "Everything". I'll have to tell you about it later. We are doing it this weekend at our church - 10:45 Sunday morning. Koinonia Christian Fellowship in Imboden. Consider yourself invited!

Love everyone!

It's December! Do you have your tree up?

Hi to all! Well, can you believe here it is Dec. 2nd? Christmastime! How many of you already have your tree up and lights on your house? Well, our tree is up - but the ornaments arent. I have a goal of getting that done today. I told my kids if they cleaned the house we could do it! Hee hee hee. I need something to lift my spirits - today is hard since it is two months from the day that Dad died. BUT I'M NOT GOING THERE on this blog! See, I said that with conviction, to intimidate myself into not going there again. If you read my last blog, you'll see I've already went there this week, and am crying now because I just read it again! Thank you to my friends who read that and left comments and are and have been praying for me. So shall we move onto something happy? I have just the thing!

Speaking of Christmas - I am all about this game that I say we are getting Dakota for Christmas, but it's really for me. It is so AWESOME! I'm sure you've heard of dance dance revolution - well this is just like it, but it is all christian rock - it is called Dance Praise. They just came out with the second version which is supossed to be way better than the first one, and I CANT WAIT TO PLAY!!! Now please know that I do not like to move quickly and certainly will avoid a bead of sweat at all costs. However, I AM A DANCING MACHINE!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, those arrows start dropping from the screen and my feet are on fire! I just push through the pain. (at 210 pounds - the pain isn't far off, believe me, but once I dance through it, I'm good to go!) Andy and I like to try to beat each others scores. I love being competitive with him on something! Yall, I actually sweat! Like, you know, when the back of your shirt is wet - major sweat, and I'm in the zone and can't be stopped! Guess who is expecting to lose weight over the coming months..... ME! I can just feel the calories burning off with every step. The great thing about it is that it isn't really dancing, so you don't feel stupid. I am going to go find a link to the website so you can watch the video and see how cool it is for yourself. Youth groups are doing this and it is such a fun activity!
www.digitalpraise.com
look at dance praise 2 - the remix and watch the video! I cannot tell you how much fun it is! My neices (ages 7 and 9) have the original version that came out two years ago and the whole family plays it when they come to visit! The ONLY drawback is that you can only play it on the computer. If you have a notebook, I guess then you could plug it into your t.v. Did I mention how FUN this game is? Make sure you check out the website!

We are also getting ready for some Christmas stuff at church. One thing we are doing that I need to update you on is we are actually working on the interpretive movement that I posted at the bottom of this blog! It is SO exciting! We (me, Andy, Leann, Adrian, Janee, Tanner, Perry) are doing the movement out at Phil and Melissas camp on the 14th. By the way - you should check out www.cedarspringscamp.org (could be .com - somebody correct me if I am wrong) for yourself. Our church is doing a Christmas party out there, with Karna working on a christmas program, and we'll have food and all kinds of good stuff. I think it is a surprise for the teens. I am telling you, this interpretive movement is powerful. If you havn't seen it yet, scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on it, and scroll back up to watch it. We have seen several different versions, and taken the best elements from each, and are combining it into one. Please pray for us to do a good job to really impact the kids and hopefully their families who will be watching it. We only have one more practice, and we were still ironing out things today, so keep praying. This all really just came together over the last few weeks. It's so neat to identify what God wants you to do, through confirmation from others - Leann really has felt a lot of leading about this after she watched it, and we've been able to see reaction from some of the people watching us practice, and it is neat to be a part of something like that. I am excited because we have some working in the movement that usually don't and I'm hoping they may be moved to be a bigger part of our drama ministry. How many of you out there have a drama ministry in your church? I love ours. I hope that you are blessed with one as well.
Pretty soon you will be able to get on our church website and see some of the more recent things we have done - my friend Adrian is working on getting that updated and I will post a link as soon as it is ready.

Well, my kiddo's are ready to decorate!!! I need to get off here anyway, because I just keep looking at the clock. It is almost 4:00 and believe me, you don't want me on here then, or this blog may end up like the last one! Two months ago right now I was sitting on the end of Dad's bed and he was just staring at me and I was looking into his eyes, smiling. I just wanted to give him a feeling of calmness, and love. I didn't want to speak to him because I knew he couldn't speak back. Sometimes I wonder now if in his mind he was telling me goodbye, that maybe he knew it was about to happen. OH WELL!!!! Maybe I should just write a book or something to "get it all out". You know? Anyway - leave a comment if you can. I love to read them. Hope you guys are having a great start to your Dec. I'm about to go get festive! My next goal would be doing lights outside, but I don't know if I'm that festive today! Time to go rock around the Christmas tree!