Day 1

Today was my first day of orientation at Youth Villages.  Of course it was all the mumbo jumbo about benefits, and HIPAA, and all sorts of other legal stuff like that, but still, we did a little bit of stuff about loss, grief, and separation too... and I'm EXCITED to get into it all!!!  It just makes me really excited to learn about all the stuff that I'll be utilizing, and also to possibly start going back to school (they have tuition reimbursement there... YAY!).

So yeah... I am happy I chose to take this job.  The more I learn about it and the organization, the more excited I get!

Jack-O-Lantern?

Jason and I decided we had to carve pumpkins this year because we've never done it together, and it's always a good time... plus, you get to have pumpkin seeds!!  So we invited Josh, Shannon, and the kids over to carve pumpkins Friday night.  I lined the tables in freezer paper for easy clean up (and that was a good thing!!).  Here's all the tools I bought for it... those two books have patterns in them.
Jason, Josh, and Shannon carving pumpkins.  Josh just helped Jason gets his seeds sorted, and yet Shannon and I were done getting our seeds sorted before the guys were... and we each had out own pumpkins!!
You can see what Gavin did the entire time in the background... that walker is GREAT... although Taco is quite afraid of it!
Garrett wasn't too sure about the whole pumpkin guts thing.  He didn't want to reach into the pumpkin and touch the gooey stuff, so he just watched while drinking his chocolate milk.  I think next year he'll want to actually do it all.
More carving... and Josh in camo in the back... more to come about that.
My finished pumpkin.  It's the first time I've ever done a pattern on a pumpkin, and it didn't turn out too bad, except that its nose broke off because the piece of pumpkin holding it on was really thin... oops.  I still think it looks good.

Jason and his winking pumpkin.  He was going to do a pattern and then decided just to go simple. :)
Gavin in his walker.  He was pretty tired and I was surprised he lasted as long as he did!
This is slightly out of order, but oh well.  Before we carved pumpkins, Jason and Josh went to Walmart to buy another pumpkin and some other stuff.  Jason also bought a muzzleloader for Josh (the one he's holding here).  However, Jason didn't bother to tell Josh it was for him until they got back to the house, and Josh's face was PRICELESS when he did tell him.  Jason got it for Josh as an early Christmas present and a thank you for all he's done for him this past month... taking him in as family like they were never apart, and helping him get to know everyone... so yeah.  Thanks Josh!! :)
After Josh admired his gun for awhile and had to keep himself from crying, Jason took him down to his camo area where he keeps all of his hunting stuff and camo clothes.  Josh wanted to get out of his work clothes, so Jason put him in this.  As Garrett told Shannon and I, "Uncle Jason is picking out daddy a outfit."  Haha.
Josh wore that the rest of the night, and also yesterday when they went hunting and shooting up at Mammer and Papa Wayne's again.

At the end of the night, Gavin finally got tired, so I had to get my baby fix. :)
And a picture of Taco for good measure... with green eyes.
The evening was really fun and we're glad they got to come see where we live... and more times like that will happen in the future!!

PS  We met Andy Griggs today... as in THE country singer Andy Griggs.  They sat behind us at church.  He's a cool guy and we talked to them for quite awhile about Washington and whatnot since his wife is from there.  Crazy to think of a famous person that goes to our church... and I'm sure he's not the only one... just the only one we've noticed so far lol.

Bass Pro

Jason just got home from an interview at Bass Pro... and pending his background check (duh), he will be employed there. :)  There were a few issues at the mall with his other job, so Bass Pro will be MUCH better.  It's hard to do your job correctly if you aren't given proper orientation and you haven't seen the SOP for the company... heck, he didn't even know it existed until talking to the main manager in Nashville... but like I said, Bass Pro will be much better.  Jason will have more to do there than sit on his butt, and we think he'll get more hours, especially since the holidays are coming.  Oh yeah, and he'll be in shipping and receiving, so he'll be operating forklifts and whatnot, which is right up his alley. ;)

Friends and Family

Over the past couple weeks, I've been taking random pictures around the house and whatnot, so I thought I'd share a few.  

Jason and Taco decided to take a nap one day... I thought it was cute.  Jason REALLY likes his recliner, and Taco likes taking naps too!
Taco likes looking out the glass door in the front of the house, and one day he was going nuts with excitement.  I usually attribute that to the fact that there's a squirrel outside, but this day, I got up to find a new little friend.
Apparently we have bunnies!  So then I let Taco out to chase him.  We also have quite a few robins, but this was the best picture I could get of one because they don't hold still very long!
As for family, yesterday Jason and I went up to Lafayette, Tennessee to meet Jason's paternal grandparents for the first time.  Not only was it MY first time meeting them, but it was also HIS first time meeting them, so it was somewhat nerve-racking for the both of us!  Luckily, Josh, Shannon, and their boys went up there with us.  Here I am with our nephew Garrett.
Then Garrett wanted to take a picture of us... it didn't turn out too bad for a 4 year old!
Garrett also took this picture, once again, not too bad...  Papa Wayne and Mammer (Patsy), as well as their dog Bandit.  You can see Gavin in his little walker thing too... he really knows how to move in it!!
Papa Wayne wanted a picture with Gavin... Wayne Kemp and Gavin Wayne Kemp.
This isn't a very good picture, but I still like it.  Jason's hold our nephew Gavin while Garrett was talking, and Papa Wayne on the side too.
Josh, Jason, Gavin, and Papa Wayne.
Mammer and Jason.  She's in SUCH good shape for her age, and she's the sweetest little lady ever.
Josh managed to get Papa Wayne to sign this CD for Jason... and he signed it "Grandpa Wayne".  Jason was SO excited to see it say Grandpa Wayne... it's going to be put in a shadowbox (probably with a few pictures) and put in the living room somewhere.
By the time we started taking more formal pictures instead of just candids, it was pretty late and Papa Wayne was sleeping.  When we make it back up there, we'll get some more pictures of everyone together!  Oh yeah, and Jason has an open invitation to hunt on Papa Wayne and Mammer's land whenever he wants to... he's already planning on going up there every weekend. We were up there ALL day yesterday, from about 930 to 845.  Jason and Josh went and shot their guns out back and took Garrett with them, then later Jason and Josh wandered around looking for squirrels to hunt while us girls stayed at the house and chatted.  Josh is excited to learn how to hunt from Jason since he's never done it before... aren't brothers great?!   All the pieces seem to be falling into place.  Jason's really happy about how things are going, and so am I. :)  It was a GREAT day and I'm sure there will be many more!

NEW job...

I know I just got a job, but this new one is way better... and I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, but it's a good thing!

I have accepted a job offer as an In-Home Family Counselor with Youth Villages in Nashville.  I will have 4-6 families on my caseload at one time, meeting with them 2 to 3 times a week in their home.  I'm pretty excited about it, although the first couple months may be very difficult since they will be closer to 50-60 hours a week instead of the regular 45.  The cases may be VERY difficult at times, and I'm sure they will be stressful, but in the end I want to help people, and this will be a great way to do it!  I'm excited to finally have a job that relates to my degree and has a lot of room for advancement.  AND I'll even have my own business cards... ;)

Rain and Politics

It hasn't rained here in a month... even before we had moved here, it hadn't rained in awhile... until today.  Strange how it finally rained when the presidential candidates come to Nashville for the debate... maybe it's a sign.  Politics are stormy... I'm SO not a fan of politics!

First Day of Work

My first day of work at Polo Ralph Lauren has come and gone.  We got a shipment of 132 boxes, which is WAY more than normal, so I was in the stockroom all day unpacking those boxes and putting the clothes where they needed to be.  It was kind of nice because I didn't have to deal with customers, and I got to see what products the store has.  I worked a full 8 hours on my feet, which I'm not used to anymore, so I'm a bit sore, but that's ok.  I'm doing the same thing today too (11-8).  The nice thing is that I can come home for lunch because it's a 2 minute drive! 

Happy birthday!!!

Happy birthday DANELLE!!!

Our niece, Danelle, turns 3 today.  Hard to believe, but they grow up fast!!

Chic Chat and Chocolate!

Last night our church had a women's event for a few hours called Chic Chat and Chocolate!  They had a chocolate fountain, and about a million other desserts there... even a dessert contest.  I didn't win, but that's ok because I was hyped up on sugar, just like the other women there!  It was a good evening, and I met a lot of people, even though I know I won't remember all their names!!!  One cool thing... how many people know who Andy Griggs is?  He's a country singer... well, search him online if you don't know who he is.  But anyway, I met HIS WIFE last night!  She (and probably they when he's home) goes to our church!  She's one of the most hilarious women I have ever met, and she's a hairdresser, so I think I found my new hairdresser because I was just thinking the other day that I needed to get enough courage to find someone to do my hair.  I hate people touching my hair because I'm always afraid they will cut it wrong or mess it up real bad.  But anyway, that's a whole new topic!  Renee is great... and when I first met her, our conversation went something like this:

Renee:  How are you?  Have you been coming to this church very long?

Me:  I'm good.  I just started coming here about 3 weeks ago.  I just moved here from Washington.

Renee:  Washington STATE?!?!  (She was REALLY excited.)

Me:  Yep.

Renee:  I'M FROM WASHINGTON STATE!!!  I lived in Spokane... one of my kids was born in Walla Walla and one was born in Spokane!!

Me:  Oh really?  I grew up in Moses Lake!

Renee:  So what are you doing out here?

Me:  My husband brought me to Tennessee.

Renee:  Mine too.

That conversation was before I found out who her husband was... haha.  But it was exciting to meet someone that knew something about Washington, and even more exciting that her husband is pretty darn famous... but then again, we're in the Nashville area.  I think Gretchen Wilson (another country singer) lives a couple miles away from us... I know her house is somewhere here in Lebanon.  I'm just waiting to run into someone famous at Walmart... but I probably wouldn't even recognize them!

Here's a picture of Andy and Renee Griggs from some awards show... I found it online.  But she definitely wasn't wearing an evening gown last night... instead it was a Harley Davidson jacket and some jeans.

My job...

A couple people have asked me, so I thought I'd post it on here.  Monday I will start working at Polo Ralph Lauren at the outlet mall across the interstate from our house.  It's about a 2 minute drive, so it's very convenient, and I get a great discount, so that's always good too.  We're still waiting to hear about all of our government jobs we've been applying for!