Is it snowing?

It is January 14th, and it is finally snowing outside. I think we're only supposed to get a couple of inches, but I guess it is something... Poor Josh got a snow blower for Christmas and still hasn't been able to use it. I wish we'd get a blizzard!

Well Tator is gone, but I think everyone is happier. A couple days after she was gone Josh called her new parents. They absolutely love her! She has been very good and going on car rides and playing etc. They are putting invisible fencing around their whole property this week so she can run. I feel so good that we found her a good home. The cats are sooo happy they have their house back too. They are running around and playing like they haven't done in a long time.

Josh and I decided we were sick and tired of our ugly 70's linoleum in the kitchen so we decided we would invest in some cheap laminate wood flooring. So Friday night we went to Menards and picked it all up. Josh spent Saturday and Sunday installing it and it looks absolutely beautiful. It makes the kitchen feel so modern and clean! To see a before picture go to our home blog.

Bye Bye Tator

Josh and I finally came to a decision that we need to rehome Tator. She is a sweet dog and we love her very much, but she is living in her crate and it just isn't right. She is in her crate from 7:15 am to 5:15 pm during the day and 10:00pm to 6:30am at night. We can't keep her out because of the cats. Plus keeping her in the crate makes her that much more wild when she is out. Last Friday night we put her on the Humane Society website in their "Dogs in the Community" section. Within 32 hours we had gotten 4 interested people either calling or emailing.

We were able to find her the perfect home. It is a couple in their mid 30's who live right outside Madison in the country. They have 2 acres and built a new house not too long ago. The guy has always had black labs and loves their temperament. So on Sunday they came out to see Tator. Luckily she had been out all day so she wasn't really wild. She was soo good for them. She showed them her tricks and sat by them and let them rub her tummy. They called an hour later and said they wanted her.

I love her soo much and I am really gonna miss her, even though she drove me crazy most of the time, but I know it's the right thing to do. She is the sweetest dog when she's able to exercise and get all of her energy out, it isn't right that she should be confined to her crate. We aren't asking for any money for her adoption; we just want to know she is going to a good home.

The best part is that there will always be someone home with her, so she won't be stuck in her crate all the time. I guess the guy works at home and they are going to install underground fencing around their entire property to she will be able to run :) She will be soo much happier there.

They are coming tomorrow night to come pick her up. It's gonna be sad, but it's for the best!



Good Luck in your new home Tator!!!! We love you!

Happy New Year!

Didn’t I say I would blog more often? I’ll have to work on that.

Here are some pics of our house all decorated for Christmas. (Thank you Josh!)





Friday the 22nd I had off work, so I spent the whole day Christmas Shopping. It took me 6 hours and by the end I never wanted to go shopping again. I went to the Sun Prairie Wal-Mart, the Movie Theater, TGI Fridays, Barnes & Nobles, American Greetings, Bath & Body Works, Boston Store, JCPenneys, 2 different Hallmark stores, Borders, Shopko, Panera Bread, Applebees, Target, back to Borders, and Babies R Us. AHHHHH it was crazy. But I ended up finishing all my Christmas shopping.

Josh and I ended up having five Christmas’s. On Saturday the 23rd we went to his Mom’s house to celebrate. On Christmas Eve we went to my Aunts house for lunch. From there we went to the Candle light Christmas Eve service at our church. It is really nice because we sing Christmas Carols for most of it and all of Josh’s family is there. Then we went to his Uncle Randy’s house for dinner. On Christmas Day we exchanged presents at our house and then went to my Mom’s to celebrate. Here are some pictures taken at Josh's Uncle Randy's on Christmas Eve.

Melissa with Baby Jena



Family Picture
Front Row: Josh's step sister Melissa with her baby Jena, step sister Sara, Josh's Mom, Me, and Josh
Back Row: Melissa's husband Tony, Josh's step dad Dale, and Josh's brother Brent



Picture of all the Cousins
Front Row: Cousin Blake, Cousin Chad, Cousin Justin, Me
Middle Row: Sister Melissa and Baby Jena, Sister Sara, Cousin Cassie, Josh
Back Row: Brother inlaw Tony, Cousin Page, Cousin Craig, Brother Brent, Cousin Tyler, Chris (Page's Boyfriend)



I got a new digital camera from my Mom and Rod. It’s really fancy and I still gotta figure out how to use it. I also got two sets of flannel sheets, a giftcard to Bath & Body Works, a new address book, a giftcard to my favorite restaurant “The Capri”, cookie sheets, bird seed, Season 1 of Roseanne, The DaVinci Code DVD, and The Great Outdoors DVD.

Josh got a snowblower, new packer helmet, 2 pairs of jeans, three t-shirts, a Brett Favre book with DVD, the book “Pursuit of Happyness”, Garth Brooks boxed CD set, a John Michael Montgomery CD, Candy, and a Packer Day Calendar.

Josh and I together received $900 which we used on new carpeting for our upstairs (More on that later), two giftcards to Marcus Theaters, a giftcard to Damons, giftcard to Blockbuster, giftcard to Pizzaria Uno, and giftcard to my favorite Mexican restaurant Pedros.

I know I’m forgetting things, but that’s all I can remember right now.

The day after Christmas I took the day off and cleaned. We had put our Christmas Tree upstairs in our bedroom because I was afraid that Tator would tackle it and break all the ornaments. The cats kept playing with it at night and so we kept locking them out of our room. So I took the tree down and hauled it to the curb, I put my dresser and stereo back in my room, I did three loads of laundry, swept and vaccumed the floors upstairs and down, did dishes, cleaned both bathrooms, and took Tator for the walk from HELL!!!

Yeah, about that walk… I had her on her harness cuz she doesn’t pull as hard when she wears it. Well she must have thought she was a sled dog cuz she pulled me for the entire walk. During the walk she pooped and off course I had to pick it up...While I was getting the baggie out she stepped in her pile of poo. So that was gross. Then we were entering the park and there was another black lab coming towards us and she freaked out. She wanted to go play with the dog and she pulled and pulled and jumped and whined. It took all my strength to restrain her. Finally the other doggie was gone so we started down the trail in the park and she decided she was thirsty so she found a muddy puddle that wasn’t frozen and started slurping up water getting mud all over her face in the process. After I drag her away from the puddle she decides that she should share her muddy water with me and proceeds to wipe her dirty wet face all over my coat. Then we make our way back down our street and she sees a weiner dog and wants to play with it. She pulls and pulls, and jumps and whines. Again, it takes all my strength to restrain her. Finally we get home… I was cold, dirty, and wounded from restraining her from jumping on the other dogs. I told her I would never take her for a walk again, but I know it was a lie. I love Tator. But I am never getting another dog EVER AGAIN!!!!!!! SHE DRIVES ME INSANE!!!!!

Once Christmas was over we went to get an estimate for our carpet. A place in Columbus quoted us $1200 for the upstairs (which includes two bedrooms, a hallway, and the staircase) and $1200 for the downstairs (which includes the dining room and living room.) Obviously we can’t afford that, so then Josh started calling other people to get quotes. He found a guy who sub-contracts for Menards who would do it for like $800 and he seemed very promising, but then he wouldn’t call us back. He was telling Josh he had money problems and had to get one of his phones disconnected, so we thought for sure he would want the job, but “You Snooze, You Lose!” So Josh talked to a couple guys who were installing some carpet at his work and they gave us an estimate for $900, they seemed a little more competent than the cheaper guy.

So yesterday morning they came to put it all in; I took a half day of work so I could help Josh move all the furniture and stuff back upstairs after they were done. It looks soo amazing! It feels more like a home and it make everything warmer as well. You can see pictures on Our House Blog. We’re hoping to get the dining room and living room carpeted once we get our tax return.

Last week my Mom and Rod met with a home builder. They are going to be building a house near me. It is on a lot that faces south and it right on the golf course. They will probably begin building within the next month and hopefully be finished about May. See the "House Building Adventure" link under my friends blogs.

In other news I have quite an interesting story about my my former Pastor...
Last May my Pastor announced he was not going to be a pastor anymore. We found out that he had been cheating on his wife with the church secretary. The church secretary filed for divorce from her husband and the Pastor filed for divorce from his wife of 20 years. Josh and I were rather disappointed because this was the Pastor who married us and we really liked him. He was a real nice guy. So anyways, we have had a new Pastor since last June.

A couple weeks ago we found out that the church secretary had broken up with the Pastor and I guess he didn’t handle the break up very well… He broke into her home with a knife and a hammer and threatened to kill her or commit suicide. He also wrote letters to her three children (all under the age of 10) explaining that he was sorry he would have to kill their mother. Luckily he didn’t hurt anyone and left. He then checked himself into a mental institution and called the police, who came and arrested him. His preliminary hearing was last week. I doubt he had a very merry Christmas.

I guess his father had committed suicide, so there is a history of this in his family. I feel bad for him. He gave up his whole pastoral career and 20 years of marriage to be with this woman and she dumped him. Obviously he had no right to do what he did, but I can understand how he could have “snapped.” He also has two children around ages 8 and 13. The whole situation is really sad. He made some really bad judgment calls.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years!

Love, Jenny