I tried addie.... put the pictures up and cant get it to look right with text :)

Football Weekend....

Justin's Personal Fan Club :)
Xenia High School Football Team
Justin= #55
Game time ... JV-10 am Sat morning...

hopefully we see these kids again...
and hopefully xenia wins!

Should be fun. I have an aunt that will be here from Illinios and we are all going to see him play.
(he might play Varsity tonight, but its not for sure)

I'm OUT!

more random pics from the last birthday party

Jared and Drew

This is my little brother and Drew Carey. In Iraq in 2003. I guess they had lunch together...some soldiers and Drew and another comedian and Toby Keith I believe was there also. I still have to find the Toby Keith picture. Well I pulled this picture out today to show someone and just thought I would blog about it. My lil bro has since gotten out of the army (has a foot issue, he spent 7 yrs in the army though). So since Jared is living in Ohio now with the rest of the fam and not working he has been helping out my mom a lot. This week/weekend they have been having a garage sale. He sent his girls to hang out with some cousins and have been selling everything for about a quarter. His favorite answer to any question "25 cents". So he has a pile of hats sitting out on the table. A lady asks, "how much for this hat?" Can you even guess how much he sold it for? Yep, 25 cents. He was like, "enjoy that hat! it spent a few years in Iraq" The lady was pretty glad to hear that. She said she would appreciate that. And she was glad to know. He talked some more about his time in Iraq like it was no big thing. She seemed really appreciative and then looked at the hat some more. She noticed a little bit of writing on the inside and asked about it. She thought it was his name, but he went on to nonchalantly tell about meeting Drew Carey and how he signed the hat but it has faded over the years. She tried to give the hat back thinking he would still want it. He was like, "oh trust me....you can have it". I guess he is not attached too much to a celebrity autograph. I'm happy to know that. It was just an interesting exchange today at the garage sale at my moms house. I just wanted to share. I still don't really know my brothers feelings about having spent so much time in Iraq at war, but I am happy to know he survived serving our country. And now the unsuspecting garage sale customer has a story to go home and tell. Oh I guess I forgot to mention that I had her come in the house to show her the picture. And I pointed out. Yes Jared is wearing the glasses and Drew Carey IS NOT.

Do people really still use these?

When I went to the birthday party I saw a pay phone and I had to take a picture cause I thought to myself...hmmm, Do people really still use these? I mean in a world where pretty close to everyone has a cell phone. I wonder how much use a pay phone gets anymore? I mean how much does it even cost to use these suckers? I remember when I looked at one many years ago and it wasn't just a quarter anymore! Then I went to the mall a few days ago and saw a repair man working on one near the exit at the food court. Wow I guess people still use them enough to have it repaired right? Or was he ripping it out. Well all my suspicions of people not using pay phones anymore were laid to rest when last night I rec'd a call from a pay phone. My phone was on vibrate so I didn't even get to talk to my friend, but he definitely left me a message saying his power was still out from last Sunday. Our power company has been overloaded with work this last week. So many people are still without power. Its crazy. Who would've ever thought we would be hit by any part of a hurricane. I wouldn't be surprised if more people in Texas have power than here. So many stop lights are still out too. Anyway...just wanted to share.

Baptism

I had to work today from 630 to 3. BUT after work I went to a baptism today for John Butler. He is Reilly and Will's lil' brother. I was glad that I got to go and see him be baptized. He was so excited to see everyone and I know that it was a special day for him. It was cool getting to see their mom talk to him about being baptized by immersion and to see all the children sitting so close and half way paying attention and interacting with her. She also talked about how he would be confirmed a member of the church after being baptized...and then being given a gift. It was nice to hear that as a reminder. That when we are confirmed a member of the church we are given a gift. A gift of the Holy Ghost to be a constant companion. Thats always someone I want to have with me. That would be one of the best gifts I've ever been given by far! It reminded me so much of my baptism...(even though that was 20 yrs ago in december! WOW) For the opening song we sang a childrens song, "When I'm Baptized". Its a favorite. Always brings a tear to my eyes. John is such an awesome little guy. He has a good family. Will got to baptize him and all the children gathered around the font to get a good view.

All in all it was a good day and i'm just glad I got to end it by going to a church service. I hate that I have to work every other weekend and miss most of church on those days. *sigh* I need a job thats more challenging and better for my schedule, BUT...in the meantime I'm thankful that I at least have something to pay the bills.

There is so much more I could share about the day, but I'll just keep it short.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

Happy Almost Birthday Jennifer...

My Neices and Nephews... My little brother jared and his wife decided they were going to celebrate Jennifers 2nd Birthday a little early so they could do an outside birthday party. Her birthday is really October 3rd. They kind of had a carnival of games for the kids. (Jesse is hanging from the bars, Bryce and brandon are on the top step, Kaylee has the binky in her mouth and then Jennifer and Angela are on the bottom step) I got to the party while all the kids were playing and They were so excited to see me. I LOVED IT! So I asked em if they would all get together so I could get a picture. Sorry again for the not so great quality. It is still phone picture taking for me. They were so good and willing to take this picture. I only got one take, but it wasnt bad if you ask me. I wouldnt want to try and get anymore than that together.
This is the one of the cakes we had at the party. There was so much food. I ended up taking ice cream home because it was just going to melt at anyone elses house....and since I was having people over i figured people would eat it.
They had a whip cream game which is why by the time they got to opening presents they were all in diapers. They got some cool stuff. Mom was pretty excited that others took pictures so she could be in pictures with the girls for once :)
This is My dad on the left. Jared with angela and then my lil bro justin. He had just recently broken his pinky and sprang his wrist playing football. I think he will be playing varsity on friday night though. Pretty exciting. I cant believe he is all grown up !!!
I mean MY GOODNESSS....just look at how much bigger he is than my mom!
Tina was the one taking pictures all day with her new camera. She is loving it. I hope to see slideshow of all the pictures soon. She got some fun ones of bryce trying to throw water on me, but most of it just ended up landing all over him anyway. So basically it was a fun party and I thought I would just show a few pictures...Oh and I should mention that Jesse was talking to brandon as they were eating and he said, This isnt such a great party...I beg to differ jesse, I had a good time.

Oh what a day....and a yesterday...

Starting with sunday... Let me explain a little bit about my day. Maybe I should've started with my weekend. We had a little housewarming party for our apartment on sat night. And OSU played that night as well, so there was another party the same night. I ended up there and of course we stayed out kind of late. The sad thing is, i cant even remember anymore how late i stayed out, which obviously means i left too late. We got up sunday morning and made some parfaits for relief society. It was such a nice cool day. The wind was blowing, but not too much. Then we had a couple talks in Sacrament meeting on tithing, fasting, and basically being nice and not saying bad things about people. Kind of talking about using kind words. Me and my friend Aubrey sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus" as a special musical number. No one has sang in our branch in such a long time. Then it was time for Priesthood/RS. It takes so long to get through the announcements in a singles branch. During that time this girl came in and said I have to interupt. I sign fell and hit 3 cars. Then she proceded to tell the license plate numbers. I feel like we should've slipped some sedatives into those parfaits. This girl was totally freaking out. I dont know, i probably wouldve been if it was my car. Who knows. But I guess the wind had super picked up. I think it the papers said it was a good 70 mph. anyway.... Things were getting crazy outside so they told us it was time to pack up and leave. We would have to miss that last meeting of church. So I went with roommate wendy on the way home. I decided I would add a few pictures. It was a little crazier outside than I realized. If you look at this first picture you can see the awning that was blown off of these buildings. People were standing around in the masses trying to get on the bus. Wind was blowing everything alll over the place.

We almost got hit by someone who drove on the wrong side of the road to try and miss an orange cone that was in the middle of the street...in the same moment one of those people waiting for the bus decided he was going to run out in the middle of main street in dayton to get his baseball hat. Oh people. So then as we were driving I told wendy to go on Dayton-Xenia rd to go home instead of just taking 675. haha, what was i thinking. Of course there were allll kinds of other trees down. I got a picture of one of the trees and some other stuff that had been tossed around.
Then when we finally got home me and wendy sat in the back yard awhile just kind of enjoying the breeze. It was nice until the wind realllly picked up and started making crazy noises. We looked out the front window awhile and then out the back. We were like little kids watching a storm. It was just wierd because i've never watched just wind as a storm before. Normally rain, thunder and lightening follow. When we went out front we talked to our new neighbors for a little bit. That was fun. Then we all got to see about a million shingles fly off of our roof. We had let our door in the back of the kitchen stay open, and as we were watching out the front everything blew over in the kitchen. I made wendy pose with the white board. It was a little out of control. I think i failed to mention yet that when we got home we had no power. So that is when i text a few guys from the branch. We found out that Geoff and Bob were going to be our new best friends :) THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!!! They have seriously been the biggest help. Its nice that someone has power still. I think its because they are in base housing. Wright Patterson Airforce Base is like 2 minutes from my house. (Bob is in the airforce)
Basically everyone came over to Bob and Geoffs to watch a movie and play games. Oh and to all use an outlet to plug in a cell phone or two. I decided to snap a picture of everyone just chillin. I didn't really play the trivia game because Holly was giving me a little foot massage. I was trying to teach her a few things. Thats when I think the boys got a little jealous , eh, its okay. I was in a good mood, so Jeff, Will and Andrew all sat in front of me to get a turn of my "magic hands" haha. These boys were so funny. Anway....We mustve left by 1030 ish and then when we were driving home we realized...dang No power means no hot shower. WHICH meant...we called the boys and asked if we could get our stuff and come back to use their showers. If anyone has been to BYU or BYU Idaho, you would know why this just seemed slightly awkward. Not to mention when the girls left it turned into a lil guy night. I hated that we left and then CAME BACK. Oh well, I was greatful for a nice hot shower...specially since I had to be up early the next morning (this morning) to go to work. I had a headache all day even after taking meds. Blah. I dont know why I was having such a bad day. We were so busy at the hospital today though. And it bugged me that people were calling in because they didnt have power.
I was just glad that holly helped me relax just a lil bit the night before. I was pretty much in heaven for at least a small portion of the sunday night get together. *see next photo* :)
And I called my mom today to see how things were going over at her house. You would think I would maybe go be with my family since they actually have electricity. Naaaa. I called my mom and could barely talk to her with all the craziness going on. Mom and dad were both there cause Dad didnt have to work. Jordan and Justins school got cancelled so there were there. Jake and Stacey lost power so they brought their 2 boys over. Joe and Wendy didnt have power so they brought their two kids over. AND jared Didnt have power so he brought his two girls over (his wife was at work). Basically it was a mad house of children screaming and playing. (ps. Jared and Nikki found out they are having a BOY , not a girl! in January...they are going to name him Isaiah James) ....and well....on with my story. Today after work I came home and bagged up lots of our freezer food and stuff in our fridge and took it over to the boys house. Then I got a nap. Awww loved it. Then I cooked dinner. And now its just time to blog about it.

OH BEN...

This isnt current...but oh well...Its me and Ben...i'm not sure if this is me mocking him, or him mocking me with the cheesy smile effects...but I must go on with my story for today...

Why Ben makes me laugh......

REALLY HARD.....

So I was on my way out of my house today to go pick up a friend for the singles branch activity when my phone rang. It started off with just lots of laughing. So that was funny in and of itself, but it was Ben and I finally got him to tell me what was going on. He was laughing so hard and just saying "A tree landed on my car". I'm not sure I know many people who laugh when a tree lands on their car...but BEN, my friends in one of those people. So in my mind i'm picturing him looking out his apartment window and seeing some tree topple over on his car. But that wasnt that case. I asked did you see it or were you in it? And well i was thinking and talking so much and asking questions that it took awhile to get to the answer, but as it turns out he was in the car when it happened?! I guess it would be first good to explain that he lives in TX and today there has been hurricane activity, high winds, rain and things of that nature. Therefore the reason for power lines and trees to be down. Reasons you would think that people wouldnt need to go to work and/or bring movies back. Don't worry, Ben must be really special. See....he works for an all important VET....and i dont mean like war vet, i mean....animal hospital vet. duh. the boss still made them come in to work this morning even with all this crazy storm talk. I guess he told me he only stayed an hour and then went home. I think that is the point when he realized he had to bring a movie back and it sounded like he didnt really want to stay at his apartment with no power anyway. So he proceded to leave...even though i'm pretty sure people were being advised not to drive but there was a break in rain and wind for a bit...so he decided it was time to bring the movie back. It was only a one day rental! haha duh.. anyway. i think the movie got back safe, but he told me he was talking to his mom about his aunts and uncles and how they were all freaking out because a huge part of the storm hit in Beaumont where his family is from and it was all crazy with other family members and phone calls where people were crying. (hopefully i'm relaying and remembering this all right, but i suppose its not a huge deal if its not all 100% accurate) anyway....as he was talking to his mom...THAT is when the tree slowly fell and hit his car. All he could do was laugh. His mom was wondering what happened, but he said, i cant tell you or else you will freak out. Now tell me that isnt something a mother wants to hear?! haha again, funny to me to hear. He said as he was driving down this road he was thinking to himself i shouldnt be on this road there are lots of trees and power lines, but every time he looked down a side road there were trees blocking the road. So he kept driving. I guess this must've been when he stopped talking to his mom and called me. As I was talking to him he finally made it to the church building where they had a generator and people gathering to be so they could have power while they waited out the storm. I just think thats super crazy. I can't even imagine being in all that mess. I asked him the other night if he had his 72 Hr kit. I guess it makes a little more sense to me now as to why we are warned to be prepared. You never know what is going to hit...and where. I think where i am its more likely that we would see massive amounts of tornados than anything else, but i guess these hurricanes are causing damage to alot of areas. I think I'm going to call later tonight to get the scoop on how things are going at that church building that everyone is staying at as a shelter. WOW....so I salute you ben, good luck on your adventures. If you come out alive and welll...which i'm sure you will. I hope you call me with many more laughs. I think you should call the radio and ask them what is going on and tell them you think you were struck by a tree :)

basically i have a busy night, but i needed to share my ben story and share the old picture...cause i would feel wrong about stealing on off your blog ben ....

you are somethin else...good times....keep saving those animals

pictures....

Wish I couldve put this in the right order. oh well. This was the offical sign. I like sign pics.

This was a look out that we pulled over and went to check out.
This was just along our hike at the Sky Bridge
This was on the way down to KY the night before. (taken on my phone I might add, not too shabby) i love the random sunset pics...
This picture was taken just to show our friend Ben who appreciates moss because its so unambitious.

uh this picture was taken, probably while i was like, um, holly remember how i said i WASNT going to rock climb! yeah, this is me, climbing up on this rock for no freaking good reason...haha it was funny. and it was so hot and sooo humid!
and this is the picture i took on my phone at Sky Bridge
I loved this sign as well. red river gorgeous..haha awesome!
so some of the rocks had holes, perfect for a crazy picture.
see a wider angle of the rocks and holes and things.

we walked over the top of the sky bridge and then it led down to the underside, but yeah this is the top... and there was wayyy too much of people writing on it...i hate that.
and yeah...i was like holly , must we really take pictures of me, i look horrid...oh well, i did, and now im showing them. dang it!

holly inside that little hole. Behind that hole was where we were trying to climb that rock.

dont know why i was just pointing my finger. just holding the rocks up i guess.

this is the NOTHING tunnel...it was fun.
kinda creepy and fun at the same time. I love it!
we were fascinated by the spider webs...so
there are multiple pictures of the spider webs... i hope you enjoy.
This is driving into KY...a little while after that sunset picture...this one is also taken on my phone...

This was where holly asked about leaves changing colors...
and then we got another self photo...i think it looks like we have fake smiles. oh well.
more scenery...
this one is the famous katie pose....i made holly do it. she might hate me for it. oh well


and multiple pictures of us taken by US :)

this suspension bridge that we were on...
this one makes me laugh too...
my dad mentioned something about holly wood in this picture. corny jokes are his specialty
this is where people carved their names one too many times in the rock. I hate that. sad but i cant say i've never put my name in nature anywhere... on a tree once, my first year at girls camp. i was young. so were all of these people i bet.

this was on our way back in to Ohio coming home....home sweet home.

I love this. It was actually taken on the way TO KY ...crossing the ohio river. I am so afraid of this bridge, its dumb! i love it, but for some reason i have a small fear of bridges. Its better or not as scary if I am the one driving, i think i see less off the sides if i'm driving. It makes me uneasy to not be in control. but its cool...and i took it with my phone :)
this is a better idea of what that suspension bridge we were on looked like. This reminded me of kunfu panda for some reason.
yeah after i climbed that rock. I had to jump back off. we couldnt get around like we thought we could. I just had to laugh cause the two feet i jumped to get up....well it seemed much more going back down. i'm a chicken!
holly mentioned this hole looked like a heart...awwww