Summer break is nearing its end....

I thought I would write a real blog instead of stealing someone else's. Hee hee. Ok. I thought I would write about the last couple of weeks and looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Married life as a newlywed is great. We are spending a lot of time together and mostly because we don't go out because we are broke!!! LOL!! The first major hump of being married. Bills have been paid and I think we have enough money for food ;-) but the rest...well there is no rest. Remember we are teachers and the pay schedule can be different from school to school. Sulphur and Thackerville have different pay schedules. I will not be getting a check in August when I start at Sulphur, like I did at Thackerville, because Sulphur already gave out their August pay checks. Thackerville gave out their August paychecks at the beginning of the school year. Therefore the effect is we are eating less and being creative with the Ramen noodles. :D LOL!! It's not that bad, but we do have Ramen noodles. We did have to break down and eat out at our favorite Mexican restaraunt last week. I think we were going into withdrawals. And I did go see The Dark Knight in the afternoon. Pretty good movie!! What else. Not much else. We've pretty much kept to ourselves and have been reading, playing games on the computer, watching TV and swimming/floating in the apartment pool. And because I'm a dork, I will tell you what game we have been addicted to. It's called Peggle and it's on www.popcap.com I will say no more.

Yes...we've even had tournaments.

Yesterday was my birthday and got a LOT of birthday wishes and calls and e-cards that were really cute! It was a lot of fun! I got a flower and two awesome cards from Jason and the deluxe version of Peggle. One of the cards was a talking card from The Office. It was AWWWWESOME!!! The other was really cute with bears on it. We also went to Turner Falls just up the road about 20 miles from here. It's a park with beautiful falls and trails and caves. We took a picnic and I climbed what I'm going to refer to as a mountain. In my definition it really was. I am so proud of myself. I actually physically got my fat butt up the side and literally had to climb up the dang rocks. At first I didn't think I could go all the way but I kept on saying "just a little more," and eventually I was at the top!!! The terrain is sooooo rocky there were plenty of footholds and handholds. But the side was really steep so I had to rest a little bit. The rock formations are pretty dang awesome. It's a lot of limestone and very craggy and has a lot of caves. I took some pictures so of course I will show you. I had to sit on my butt going all the way down and I had no problem with that. I didn't kill myself and that is an accomplishment ladies and gentlemen. Halfway down, on my butt, I hear, "If you like Pina Coladas, And getting caught in the rain, If you're not into yoga..." OH!! my phone!!! It was Ruth (Jason's sister) and her boys and they sang Happy Birthday to me. It was cool and I got a good rest so I could get down the mountain. Jason didn't climb because his toe has been bothering him, so we met up and had our picnic. Yum. Then we drove around the park and saw some cool camping sites that would be cool during the fall. Anybody interested? Then we saw a gorgeous view of southern Oklahoma. The pic doesn't do it justice.

I really don't know what this plant life is called, except gross!

Today my arms are very sore. The legs are fine but the arms...ouch. It was so worth it though. It really was exhilarating to get to the top. It reminded me of all the times our family would go to the Buffalo River and camp out and all the times we went to Devil's Den and hiked the trail and explored Devil's Den cave. Ah, the good times...and we'll have to do it again!

All in all I really did have a good birthday and now the real adventure begins next Monday with us going back to school. I will be introduced as Mrs. McMullen to the Sulphur High School and begin my orientation. I've already had dreams of my first day and they have been interesting. I will be teaching Geography, US History and Psychology. Whoo hoo!! NO cheerleading duties, NO junior class duties. I'm sooooo excited about it. This is a bigger school and therefore a little more organized, hopefully :D I love structure and perform well in such an environment. I think that's about it and I'm sure I will be posting what happens after my first day with the kiddos. I'm super excited now there is less subjects to teach and I can really focus on the classes and being interactive with the kids.

Until next time!! Syanora!!!

PS: Has anybody been watching "I Survived a Japanese Game Show?" I LOVE IT!!!

Misadventures of J & J...

Ok, it's time I told you about our honeymoon...and here we go...

Saturday 7/5: We headed up to OKC to Jason's bud Dawg's 4th of July cookout. We had a great time hanging out with old friends, catching up on times, missing friends out loud, and poking fun at each other from time to time. Good food, good times. After that, it was off to NW Arkansas to stay the night at my mom's place. We ended up driving through a downburst halfway between Fort Smith and Fayetteville...FUN. Made it safely, watched the lightning show, and called it a night.

Leaving Saturday 7/5

Sunday 7/6: Got up, went to church, ate a good lunch, took a nap, and then headed to the airport. As soon as we arrived, US Airways told us that our flight to Charlotte was delayed because our jet was still in Charlotte stuck on the ground. Evidently, a line of thunderstorms was going through at the time and the airport closed down till the weather moved through. When it finally got up in the air to head towards us, it was late enough that we'd end up missing our connection flight for Ft. Lauderdale. Soooo, they rescheduled us for a flight the next morning from NW Ark. to Chicago O'Hare to Fort Lauderdale. We called mom back to tell her to come pick us up so we can try again tomorrow. Good thing we had an extra day built in before our boat left for the Bahamas!

Monday 7/7: Got up waaaay early, got to the airport early, only to find out that this time, our plane WAS there at the airport, but was having maintenance issues! So, American decided to get us there by going from NW Arkansas to Dallas-Fort Worth (yeah, we're closer to DFW...sheesh) to Fort Lauderdale. Take off, land smoothly at DFW on a very short flight. FIVE HOUR LAYOVER....crap. Then, a 3 hour flight to Fort Lauderdale..... However, we started running into thunderstorms near Panama City and especially around Tampa/St. Petersburg, so we had to alter our flight plan a little, run down the west coast of Florida to avoid the weather, find a 'gap' in the storms, and then descend for the airport. A little bumpy, but made it with no problems. Got to the airport and waited for our hotel shuttle to arrive from just 2 miles away. Took the guy an HOUR to pick us up. Made it to the hotel, checked in, ate at Kelly's Landing (good New England food), then came back and crashed for the night. It stormed pretty heavy around 10-11 that night, but we were so out of it, we just opened an eyelid, mumbled about it, and went right back to sleep.

Tuesday 7/8: Woke up again way too early in the morning...went to Port Everglades and started checking in our stuff for the cruise over there. Waited an hour or so on the boat for departure, then finally got underway. The boat ride lasted about 5 hours or so....they fed us breakfast and lunch buffets, which were pretty tasty. Jason and I won some trivia game contest and took home a brand new water bottle! LOL Cheapskates! We were traveling against the sea current, so the boat ride was a bit choppy at times.....choppy enough to make Jason nauseous, but not completely sick. It took an hour and a half to disembark from the boat and get through government customs, then a taxi took us to our hotel....which was a van stuffed with about 9-10 of us, plus baggage, with no air conditioning.....FUN. The hotel we stayed at, Island Palms, was in downtown Freeport...right next to the Hospital and Police Department. However, if we wanted to go to the shopping, most restaurants, and the beach....we were going to have to take a taxi. Taxis run $6 per person one-way. Guess what we spent most of our money on??? The hotel was alright, but part of the deal was trying to get you to show up to some presentation on buying a timeshare at their sister resort. We told them we would try to go to the presentation tomorrow *wink wink*. We settled in, ate dinner at a nearby Wendy's, walked back to the hotel, and crashed out.

Wednesday 7/9: We decided to avoid the timeshare presentation and went shopping. First, we went to the Port Lucaya Marketplace and browsed around the shops there. They had little boutiques that reminded me of state fair-type vendors and some nice jewelry stores and things. Jason's favorite find was the Harley Davidson store! :-) We had a nice breakfast at Cally's, got our drinks on at a corner bar, and scoped out the marina. We then headed out to the International Bazaar, which was another large marketplace. However, this place was nearly a ghost town. Two nearby hotels were fenced up and boarded up and the marketplace itself was over half-abandoned itself...only a handful of shops open. It was nearly creepy how quiet and sparse that place was. There was one Asian shop open that did make the trip worthwhile...stocked up on our Bruce Lee memorabilia. :-) We then decided that we were close enough to our hotel, so we decided to walk the nearly 1-2 miles back to the hotel. High 80s...high humidity....mmmhmmm....that was a workout. Made it back, swam a little, then went out to a Mediterranean restaurant to sample some good seafood and try out a local delicacy called fried conch. Pretty good. Walked over to the Isle of Capri casino and wasted 5 bucks or so, then headed back to the hotel and crashed out.

At Port Lucaya Marketplace after our
Bahama Mama and Peach Daiquiri

Thursday 7/10 (Bahamian Independence Day): Most places were closed, but a good handful of shops were still open. Tried to go snorkeling, but found out a bit later after our arranged time that not enough people signed on to make the trip. Our guide felt bad, so he picked up us, and took us to our hotel's sister resort on the beach for free. He told us he would get us set up for tomorrow before we had to go back to Florida. Kewlio. The beach was nice.....it was cool to look out there and see nothing but ocean in the horizon, with a cargo ship thrown in here and there, and walk in a grit-free sand. The water was as warm as I thought it would be, but in all honesty, a lot of it reminded me of my trips as a kid to the lake. However, Mr. Numbnuts himself...(Jason called himself this), didn't but any sunblock on his pasty white legs. Yep, he paid for that mistake and it took over a week for it to go away. We took a shuttle back to the hotel, swam in the pool a little bit, then decided to save some money by walking to KFC for dinner, then crashed out for the night.

The beach at our sister hotel.

Friday 7/11: Got up, packed up, and checked out. Waited on our guide, called, found out that this snorkeling trip didn't make either. CRAP. Ate breakfast at the hotel, sat around, read by the pool, played ping-pong.....killed time basically. Took a taxi to the port, went through customs, and waited awhile till we finally left. The trip back was much smoother since we were traveling with the currents and the cloud cover made for a great sunset. Dinner was good and we enjoyed this cruise more than the first. Played 4 bucks on the slot machines in the boat's casino and came out with 40 bucks. That would come in handy for our flight tomorrow. Made it to the port, waited an hour before we could disembark, then FLEW through customs, waited 20 minutes for our hotel shuttle, then finally made it to bed by 1 am. That was good because......

About to get on the boat to head back to Ft. Lauderdale


Sunset from our boat.

Saturday 7/12: Got up at 4:30, left at 5, got to the airport 10 minutes later. We walk in and there is a HUGE LINE at the US Airways counter. This can't be good. Find out that all the computer terminals are down and they're having to write boarding and luggage passes by hand. (wait for it....) She sees that we are flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte to NW Arkansas in Fayetteville....she notices the Fayetteville on the paper and writes FAY on the luggage and our passes. We do make our flight to Charlotte with no problems and by the way, their airport is super nice. Rocking chairs all over the place, a NASCAR store, heck, even a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory! We notice as we are walking to our flight all the way on the other side of the airport that US Airways also flies to Fayetteville, NC. Hmmmmm.... After a short layover, we fly out to NW Arkansas and make it back safely with no problems. Boy, are we glad to be home! My dad comes to pick us up and all we need now is our luggage. Bet you can't guess what happened?!?!? Yep. We're in Fayetteville, AR (XNA). Our luggage is in Fayetteville, NC (FAY). They tell us that they will send the luggage tomorrow on the next available flight over. So, we stay at my mom, go visit dad and have a cookout for his birthday, dodge some rough weather, then go back to mom's place and crash.

Sunday 7/13: Slept in.....we needed it. Snuck in some breakfast and had a good lunch as well. Called, called, called, got the runaround....found out they didn't send our luggage yet. Why in the heck not?!?!?! They tell us that they'll try again tomorrow and hopefully we'll get it. Grrr.....they're about to get something from me.

Monday 7/14: Slept in again...trying to find out information....find out nothing. Get a call from US Airways around noon. They tell us that the luggage should be in Charlotte for the last flight to XNA and that it'll take two hours to deliver it to us so we should have our baggage back by midnight. We decide to chill out and catch a matinee: Hellboy II. Decent movie. Go to Backyard Burgers for dinner. Get a call from US Air. The peeps at Fayetteville, NC got our baggage to Charlotte faster than they expected, got it on an earlier flight to XNA and it was there at the airport waiting to be delivered to us! FINALLY!!! CLEAN CLOTHES!!! That dood delivered it to us at 8:30ish that night, dropped them off, and hightailed it right out of there. Guess he knew better than to stick around and try to answer our questions. Finally unstressed and finally get a decent night's sleep.

Tuesday 7/15: Leave Fayetteville, AR and make it to McAlester to eat lunch with my parents. Spent a good hour with them, got back on the road, and finally made it back to Ardmore by 4.

Summary: I don't think we will be using US Airways again. I'm more of an American Airlines girl, just because I've used them so much. They were pretty decent to us....the US Airways people at XNA were top-notch despite the other junk. Timeshares and people that try to sell them stink. Grand Bahama Island was nice and relaxing, but the aftereffects of previous hurricanes are taking a long time to heal. The taxi drivers were the nicest and friendliest people we met there on the island, but they got expensive really quick. When we go back, we'll probably go to Nassau instead. This was the first time I've ever had my baggage lost, and I pray to God that it will be the last.

All in all, it was eventful. It was stressful. It was aggravating. It was relaxing. It was comical. It was a blur. It was a good time. Thanks to our family for making this vacation happen for us!

*This is an edited piece that actually Jason wrote but I edited to make it sound like it was coming from me. :)

Live in the Moment

Sometimes I feel like I'm living for the next thing that happens...something that will be happening in the future. I should live in the present, don't you think? I'm happening now...not 10 minutes from now. Anyway...a lot of things will be happening in my future, and I feel like I'm just laying around waiting for them to happen. Don't worry out there in blog land...I have a list of things to do, like always but, not too too motivated to do them right now. PLUS I felt just awful yesterday and didn't do diddly squat. Tuesday night, I felt really sore and achy, almost like flu symptoms...well when I woke up yesterday...more flu symptoms so I just laid there for a good while. Lunch helped a lot, especially when your husband brings it to you!!! :D Then I dragged myself into the shower and felt a little better too. Guess what...I'm good to go today!!! Weird, huh!?

So what's been going on since the wedding? Well...I got a new job. I've been hired on at Sulphur High School to teach Government/Geography (one semester each), a US History course and Psychology...better get ready kids...the psycho is back!!! (and better than ever!) I've cut down on my preps (THANK YOU!!!) and don't have to do cheerleading or Junior class sponsor! Sounds like a dream job, but wait!! it gets better! Jason teaches at Sulphur too!!! *woo wooo* He's gonna let me ride with him!!! *woo wooo* We will save on gas!!! *woo wooo* We are both super excited. Eventually we will probably move up there and that will save on even more gas. Let us do one thing at a time, people!!!!

I got my ring back. It makes such a difference!!! It's weird, but it is awesome to wear the ring your husband gave you. I went and bought stuff from Bed Bath and Beyond with all the gift cards we got. That was fun!!! Didn't have to spend a dime and I still have a little left on the card! Yippee!! I HAVE to write my thank you cards...Its a monumental task and I just am dreading it but I want to have most of it done before we go to the Bahamas....which we leave on Saturday for. Eeeeek!!!

Yes, we are definitely ready for the Bahamas, whether the Bahamas are ready for us or not!!!! So instead of blogging about all the stuff I haven't been doing in the now...why don't I go do it...now!!!

Love ya,
Jessica

PS: Wedding pictures are in so if you want to take a gander, click here.