road trip

I apologize for any grammar errors as I don't like to proof read unless its necessary. Sorry


After much deliberation and planning (2 hours) Michelle and I decided to buy a car in Washington D.C. through my father-in-law (Thanks Mike and Susie). We looked around the Northwest Arkansas area for several weeks and found only one possiblilty. We found an 08 Civic which was exactly like our last car and decided that was what we wanted because we like our last one so much before it got totaled.

After being at the dealership for almost four hours they decided they weren't going to come down one cent of the sticker price. I said literally not one cent. The guy said he could sale them the next day as is. I said well good luck selling them. I felt bad for about an hour when I got a phone call from my father-in-law saying they were going to come down three-thousand dollars ($3,000.00) I said where do I sign.

As we look book at this whole wreck fiasco, we reflect on the fact that we wish it had never happened. But God has done some cool things for us. We made over 2500 on the old car because of appraisal value. We got an upgrade from an lx to an ex. (sunroof, steering wheel volume, alloy wheels) as Michelle smiles! We got an interest rate to go from 5.9% to 1.9% and are paying less per month than the last payment. I know Dave Ramsey says your not supposed to buy a car with out cash but I'm ok with getting a brand new car. It is pretty fun seeing you only have 21 miles on the car.

in front of the Smithsonian information center

The 21 miles didn't last long! After buying the car the next step was figuring how to get it back. WE looked for plane tickets off of cheaptickets.com and found a one way for $126 dolares. So i flew on a roller coaster to get there and here is where the vacation for me starts.








I got to hang out in D.C. from Monday night until Friday morning with Michelle's family. While some might look at this as a drag. I truly and absolutely adore my in-laws. They are incredible to be around and I was so excited to hang out with them. I even got the bonus of my sister-in-law and her husband being there as well because they are living with them right now.

TUESDAY: (Tuesday and Wednesday were days with Susie)
To be perfectly honest she has got to be the coolest mother-in-law ever because she is very short and those of you who know me, know that I walk very fast. She kept up the whole two days of walking without one complaint. I know she had to be getting tired because I was all over the place. (Anytime I get to see history I salivate) Here are some pictures from the first day:

This is the Natural History Museum
This is the bones of a rhino i think

This is what it looks like all together
Sweet Susie with an animal behind us but I can't remember what???



A cool looking elephant, who needs the zoo

My favorite part!! I love lions......
A real ART museum: While I find these to be pretty boring because I don't appreciate art it was actually kind of neat to see some of the famous pictures. I only took pictures of the ones i recognized(which was like two) *Prepare to laugh at my commentary

Stonewall Jackson one of my favorite hero's from the Civil War.
Here is a story about him that is really kinda cool)
Robert E. Lee (I have some books about him) Silly I know but he is the greatest General America has ever had in war)

The Greatest President we have ever had!





Woops how did that get in here?????



This is one of my favorite pics of all time...I have seen it several times. Does anyone notice anything funny about this picture. If you do I will give you a dollar!
DAY TWO: (And Susie is still walking)
Just a neat statue next to the Capitol
A cool picture of the capitol before our tour.




Inside the Capitol main room which this is called the Rotunda

OK, really funny, but sad story. We decide to schedule a tour inside the capitol. We get a ticket at about 10:00a.m. that morning that tells us to come back at like 2:30 that afternoon. We go around all day looking at stuff and come back. WE get this guys that can't talk and is completely slurring everything he says. They give us these headphones that are really loud. We can't understand a word this guy is saying!! Everyone is looking at each other wandering if this is for real. He ask really loud like 8 times if we can hear him and then he begins to discuss the history of the capitol only he loses his train of thought about every TEN seconds. He repeats they same thing over and over, until finally we decide to ditch him and go with another tour. You aren't allowed to walk around inside without supervision so we just kept sneaking places with other groups until we saw what we needed to and moved on.
We couldn't believe that they let this guy be a tour guide. I am all about giving someone a job and equal opportunity employers but let him hand out tickets not try to explain and lead a tour of 25 people. It was the WORST! By the time his particular tour was over we saw that they only had about Eight people left with him. OUCH! It was really a shame. But we still saw some neat things.

DAY 2 AT NIGHT: (This time I get to hang out with my awesome SISTER-in-LAW Meg)

The funny thing about this picture is she first got in between his legs and I looked through the lens and it looked like she was in his crotch so she moved to the outside to take the picture.

Albert Einstein



HONEST ABE

US WITH HONEST ABE

Cool Background

Vietnam Memorial


One of my favorite memorials. There is also a wall with names on it of those who served.


WWII Memorial (My grandpa's brother 's name is on the wall of this one.

Washington Monument




Ok so I am really mad about this one. Meg said she saw the silhouette of a sniper on the roof of the White House so we stayed for like 15min so I could see one and I never SAW IT! Dang it MEG.

OK more to come later because I don't want to overwhelm....
To come: Rest of trip including the Pentagon & drive home (that was fun!)

B

Chuck Norris Facts

WARNING----This is extremely humorous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

-Chuck Norris recently had the idea to sell his urine as a canned beverage. We know this beverage as Red Bull.

-If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

-When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

-Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

-The quickest way to a man's heart is with Chuck Norris' fist.

-What was going through the minds of Chuck Norris' victims before they died? His shoe.

-If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

-When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

-Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors.

-Chuck Norris Isn't funny, stop laughing.

-Chuck Norris CAN believe it's not butter.

-Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

-When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

-There are no steroids in baseball, just players Chuck Norris has breathed on.

-If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris.

-If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.

-Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.

-Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.

-Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.

-Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

-Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost

This is how we ended our Friday at work =)

Say A Little Prayer.....

Brian is making the long drive home today and tomorrow, so if you think about it, say a little prayer for him and his safety! Me and Moses have missed him so much and we are ready to have him back! I don't really enjoy living the single life---I love my husband =) Have a great weekend! =)

My New Ride!!!!

Our adventure trying to find another car for me (michelle) has not really been that enjoyable. Over the past few weekends we have visited pretty much every dealership in NW AR. We have test drove both used and new cars. Our goal was something with LOW miles b/c we plan on keeping this vehicle for a LONG time. I don't think we realized just how good of gas mileage our poor totaled Civic got until we started comparing it to other vehicles. Our favorite vehicles that we test drove were: Mazda CX7, Honda CRV, Toyota RAV, Honda Accord, and Mitsubishi Outlander. We were really thinking of getting a cross-over car BUT when it came down to it, couldn't deal with the gas mileage. Although, the Honda CRV gets 30 mpg highway miles, which is awesome for a small SUV, but too pricy for us! SO, after all that we decide that we just want our CIVIC back. So we start the hunt for used civics. NADA. NOWHERE. Apparentley, everyone in NWA has decided to start driving civics. So, we start looking at the 2008 Civics at the Honda place. They don't have ANY out on the floor (apparently, they sell out as soon as they put them on the lot), the salesman finds 4 that were just delivered in the fenced lot behind the drive-in in Fayetteville. SWEET. They even have a black one, this is going to be like old times! Brian goes to wheel-n-deal them, won't come down a DIME! They seriously want us to pay sticker price for a brand-new car. They tell us that they will sell these tomorrow (saturday) for sticker price. SURE you will. We walk away. We go back by there the next night, sold 2 of the 4 they just got in. OK, so maybe they are right. But we still REFUSE to pay sticker price. Meanwhile, my mom and dad are driving home and decide to stop by the Honda place in Washington D.C. My dad goes in to talk to someone and gets them down $3000, with a ridiculously awesome interest rate. I mean seriously, hardly paying any interest. So, with all that, here is my beautiful new ride:

2008 Honda Civic EX (that means sunroof!) whoohoo! Atomic Blue. It has 4 miles on it! I'm so excited and I just pray no more accidents and that I have this car until we have too many kids to put in it! =) Then maybe I'll give it to my hubby =) Brian is flying on Monday to go get it and drive it back. Found a super cheap one-way ticket for $125!!! That was a blessing too! So we are just glad that we found a good deal and saved ourselves some major mulah! With gas being the way it is---you can't beat a civic! I had my first chiropracter appointment today. I have never been and was a little freaked out to get adjusted but it wasn't bad at all. I feel a little better already. I go back tomorrow. She said that my neck is pretty messed up. Its supposed to curve a certain way, mine is straight and slightly curved the opposite way. Plus, my lower spine is not aligning up either. I'll be glad when I get back to normal =) All of this has kept me from running b/c my neck and back would hurt so bad when I would try to run. I'm pretty sad that I haven't gotten to run in over 3 weeks, and I was just starting to shave time off too! So, I'm ready to get back into it soon. We'll see. Thanks for all the comments and prayers--we love all of you! See you soon!

peace be still

We had group last night and it was awesome! The food was Mexican - the party was hopin - the lesson was dop... very exciting. I just realized after starting this post we didn't take any pictures. We did play signs though!

The main reason I wanted to write this post is to let you know that GOD is peace. He wants us to have peace in every situation. One of the greatest fruits of the spirit is Peace. We go through trials in order for our peace to be strengthened. Satan is constantly trying to steal it from us because it is the easiest way for us to NOT focus on Jesus.

"EaSy way to Lose Peace"

Spill your huge razorback cup full of MILK in the laundry room at 7:15 in the morning on your way to work. Then that milk knocks your sausage biscuit on the floor which your dogs begins to eat, that he throws up five minutes later. BAD DAY!


We laugh at stories like this all the time but the truth is there are normally circumstances that happen several times a day that try to steal our peace. You think that is an accident? No way jose! Satan knows that he has power over you when you lose your peace, and that is why God thought it be so important to teach about it so often.

Psalm 119: 165
Please take the time today to read this verse and realize that God is peace and it is easy to have peace in front of others outside your circle, but to have peace is to have it in front of those you are most comfortable with.

the GOOD, the BAD, the not so nice

THE GOOD:
The good is that they have totaled our car. This means we are allowed now to get another car. (Thanks goodness, but I do love taking my wife to work, then picking her up from lunch, taking her back to work thirty minutes later, then picking her up from work.) What good husband wouldn't love that! She is amazing!!!


Also, I had an interview at Lowell Elementary School.
This would be a great opportunity because it would allow me to coach Football at any school in the district.
The school is connected to the city facilities so I would get to use them everyday. (That includes a Softball field, volleyball court, tennis court, track, fields, full size gym, and more) We haven't heard anything back yet but hopefully soon.


THE BAD:
Our adjuster would not call us back so we had no clue what was going on with the wreck. So I called, and I called, and I called, still calling. Voice mail every time. I tried to go over her head, but her manager was on vacation for two weeks. Yesterday morning she called back (after I spoke to a manager and told me she was trying to get a statement from the other driver! WHAT YOUR KIDDING ME. It has been ten days since the accident and you haven't gotten a statement yet. I thought to myself,
"WHO do you WORK for?

She also told me our case was a typical he said, she said case. NO IT'S NOT!

Finally I got a hold of someone and they switched our adjuster immediately. This new woman has been really good and believes they should be 100% liable. She was hardcore and awesome, because she was like, "We'll go to arbitration if we have to." I said go gettem girl.

THE UGLY:
Then we find out later yesterday they are trying to hold us liable because one of the girls (who was walking around after the accident and wasn't close to getting hit at any point during the wreck) said she now has a broken leg???? The funny thing is our cousin saw both the girls later that day after the wreck out on the lake partying it up. (Broken leg my butt)

Ok nuff stuff about that. I do believe that God has got something awesome that will come out of this whole thing. I haven't figured out what it is yet but I know he has the best plans mapped out for us!

Jeremiah 29:11