just a little something to bring a chuckle! Enjoy...

Great things to come

3 days away from April 1st. There is something that I love about April. I think that it has to do with the fact that when it came as a teacher, the end was near! As a child in NY, I loved April because it was finally starting to warm up! (By the way it warms up in February here...ha)

12 days away from our next trip to Ohio! We can't wait to be back with the Burkes. We love them so much! I will finally get to hear Jess speak at the Supernova Ministries conference!

3 weeks away from finding out with Carly and Kevin will be having! Car thinks it is a girl... If it is, her name will be Liberty Rose (Libby)... the jury is still out on boys names, but Kevin says that he will think about that when the need is there.

1 month and some change from a visit from two of my greatest friends. I haven't seen Heather and Jacob in like 4.5 years! Since that time, they have had two kids. Crazy! They are coming to stay in Naples at the beginning of May

1 month and 1 week away from my husband's birthday! He is going to be the big 25! When I moved here, my dad told me to marry older and much much richer... Well Slim is 2.5 years younger and well works for a church! Ha, but I couldn't be happier!

A little further away...

September: 1 year wedding anniversary! WAHOO!
September: Baby Jones is born!

To what are you looking forward? ( I was having a hard time not ending this phrase with a preposition... Sorry it sounds weird)

We did it!

We were able to provide enough money for Rock Hill's well. They were able to celebrate life on Easter morning! They will be be so blessed to have water for their children's children's children!

Thank you for moving out of your comfort zone a little and giving to a worthy cause! I know that God will bless you!

I will keep you updated with more well projects in the future!

A call to help

Many of you were at Summit this past weekend to hear Jamin speak about "The Good Samaritan." It was such a challenging message about being someone who helps despite the comfort level or even having any idea who the person is who will be receiving the help.

I was challenged, I hope you were as well. If you don't go to Summit, I pray that you too are challenged to help someone somewhere in spite of the fact that you may never meet them. The need is great. What are you going to do to help?

My dear brother and sister-in-law have been looking for some great tangible ways to be a blessing to people all around the world. Please go and check out their blog to read about their well project! If you are interested in donating you can click the button the right side of my page and it will take you directly to paypal. These people need clean water, and I am asking you to donate, even if the donation is small.

We are so blessed, let's go and be a blessing to others!

The love of my life...

I love this man! He is such a blessing to so many people, but the thing that I love most about him is that he is passionate.

He is passionate about so many things...

God

Me

The Dude

His family

My family

Music

Africa

life change

Friends

and of course Dustin Burke

His recent passion has sort of taken over our life. It gives him something to do in ALL of his spare time (which isn't that much). Slim loves Airsoft. I know, I know it seems weird, but the guy loves shooting cans, targets, and even his own leg. He is nuts!

It has really been fun for him to go and play. He went this past Sunday to play with a sqaud in Naples... If you are interested in joining him, pop him an email. He will set you all up:)

follow-up

Ashley and Justin!

My friend Ashley, the photographer who you read about a bunch of times on here, is getting married to her highschool sweet heart. They are in a contest to win a free photographer.

Please send an email to rmillerphoto@msn.com. In the subject write Free Wedding Photography contest, 2008. In the body write "ashley and justin" and leave your name and phone number.

I know that they would blessed to have your vote! Thanks guys!

You can read about them, and the other contestants here
http://0197051.netsolhost.com/photoblog/

finally a few pictures!

What you have all been waiting for...

Jess and Me!


Dustin and Slim doing what they love!


The four of us! Watch later, it will be in black and white!

This season's favorites...

So, every year from January to May, my life is consumed by American Idol. I would love to say that I have self control, but in actuality I am addicted. I live my life based on the schedule of Idol!

Here are my favorites this season!

Brooke White: She is a unique girl with a great family upbringing. I love her voice, and her sweet spirit! Definitely a front runner in my eyes!


Carly Smithson: She is my top choice right now. I love her funky style. She was born in Ireland but now lives in San Diego and her husband is a tattoo artist. LOVE HER!


David Archuleta: Youngest in the competition, but by far the strongest male voice. Last night was the first time that I didn't love his song, but I am pretty sure that his fan base will keep him in the running!


Jason Castro: He is a talented musician with a charming personality! He seems really down to earth and very takes the criticism well. I am not a fan of dread locks, but on him they work!


Michael Johns: Oh I love his accent! He is extremely consistent and has a wonderful voice. My favorite guy in the competition!

Who do you like this season?

I LOVE THE BURKES!

We had the most fantastic weekend in Dayton, OH with our dear friends the Burkes.

Here is what happened...

Carly dropped us off at the airport at 5pm on Thursday afternoon, we waited in line at Airtran and decided that we were going to be upgrading to business class. (one of our better ideas) Our flights there were fantastic, and we landed in Dayton at midnight, collected our bags, and met Jessica at the curb. There was no snow on the ground at all. We arrived to her house and went to bed.

Friday morning, we woke up nice and early so that Slim could see Dustin before he went to work. When we looked out the window, we saw that the ground was white. There was about 2 inches by that point. Dustin headed off to work, and Tyler to school. Jess was working very hard because it just so happened that that day, there was a strike and she had to schedule all the security for the strike, on top of studying her notes and answering a million phone calls asking if the conference was still on. Dustin arrived back home after about an hour... the roads were awful! At this point, the snow was coming down fast! Slim and Dustin went downstairs to play music, and Tyler arrived home from school early, because every school in the area was closing. At about 1:30, Jess made the final decision that the conference needed to be postponed. There was a level 2 snow emergency, and despite our excitement about the conference, we knew that this was for the best! The boys headed out to guitar center to look at some stuff, and we just relaxed.
When the guys got home, we took the kids and played in the snow with them. It was just a quick outing because it was sooo cold! At around 6pm, Jess and I decided that we should try our hardest to get out to the grocery store, because we hadn't been there yet. We drove real slow, and got there safe and sound. We picked up dinner, got home, cooked it, played the Wii and then went to bed!

On Saturday, Jess and I cooked a big family breakfast while the boys played music. We ate eggs, turkey bacon, and breakfast potatoes! It was delicious. Dustin, Slim, and Matt (a guy in Dustin's band) had planned on going to the studio to record an arrangement that Slim put together. There was about 1.5 feet at this point, so we encouraged them to be safe and go slow. Before they got to pick up Matt, they had to help a man get his car out of a ditch. They were such good Samaritans! Back at the house, the kids played upstairs together and Jess and I just hung out in our pajamas, ALL DAY! They guys were gone about 8 hours, and Jess and I had cooked a whole chicken all day, in the crockpot. Jess shared a recipe for Mexican lasagna, and we used the chicken to make it. We at dinner at about 8pm, when the guys got home, and we reminisced about old times while the guys played the Wii.

I forgot that we were supposed to turn the clocks ahead for Sunday and when I woke up and looked at my phone, it said 9:30. I couldn't believe that I had slept that long... really it was just 8:30 to my body, and that made much more sense. Living Water Worship Center (the Burke's church) had to cancel, because no one knew how bad Sunday would be. We decided to visit Matt's church. It was a really great, laid back service, and God's presence was very evident! After church we took the Burke's to lunch at Bravo- DAAAALICIOUS! After lunch we had to go home and pack and get ready to leave. Slim checked the flights and we found out that our flight out of Dayton was delayed 45 minutes making us certain to miss our flight in Atlanta. There was no luck though, we had to fly out to Atlanta because all the Dayton flights for today were over booked. They upgraded our seats to business class for our flight yesterday, and when we arrived in Atlanta, they gave us a voucher for a hotel room, and booked us in business class this morning.

We are back now, and back to work. There are many pictures that I will be uploading tonight, so be sure to check back later, to see those!

The chili I made in my crockpot

Olive Oil Spray
1 pound ground extra-lean turkey
1 (10.75 ounce) cans low sodium tomato soup
1 can diced mild tomatoes with chilies
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch ground allspice
salt to taste


Spray the skillet with the olive oil spray. Over medium heat, brown turkey in the skillet.
Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomato soup, tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans and onion. Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, allspice and salt.
Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.

A gorgeous wedding

On Saturday night, our friends Lauren and Bill Vecchio wed at the Naples Grand. It was a fantastic event, and every time I turned around I was in awe. Everything was done to the tee. Here is just a glimpse of the wedding ceremony!



We then ate dinner outside by the pool, and had a wonderful night of dancing. Vintage Vinyl (the band from our wedding) played at theirs as well! It was a great time!