Monday, September 29, 2008

Yellow Dan

A lot of people have asked about how my sister is doing. First, let me say thank you for all the prayers and concern for her. It's nice to know what there are people out there checking up on us.

She is doing well, despite the circumstances. She was was put on bed rest about 6 weeks ago, and has spent the last 3 or 4 weeks on more of a voluntary bed-rest. They are coming up on 23 weeks and although she still has contractions, they are not as bad and aren't anywhere near as painful.

I would encourage you to hop onto their blog and drop her a comment. She has a laptop and tries to keep in touch with the outside world that way. Oh, Yellow Dan is one of her nicknames from the Mississippi days.

She gave me a nickname in middle school that I was especially fond of: Rat...Thanks again for that one Sis!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Long time no blog...

Well, I finally have a little bit of free time (which I usually have most nights, I just don't spend it blogging) and I wanted to contribute to 'our' blog and update those of you that read it on what's going on in our world from my perspective or point of view as I tell the students in Guidance class.  Speaking of, school is going really well this year.  I am full-time in one school and I think I can actually say I love it.  Maybe not everyday, but today I do.  I still have trouble getting up and actually wanting to go to work every day, but once I'm there, I usually enjoy what I do and I am really excited about that.  Today was a pretty normal day, but tonight we had Open House.  I can't remember the last time I'd been to an open house, but it was really fun to watch how excited the kids were to show off all of their school stuff to their parents.  I was of course waiting in the Guidance classroom for them to come by and surprisingly, LOTS of them came by.  I certainly didn't have time to plan lessons like I thought I would.  But, it was really neat to see the kids and their parents.  I actually enjoy getting to know the parents and it is fun to see why the kids are the way they are :)  The main thing I'm really enjoying about my job is that being in one place all the time is really letting me be able to do my job and be effective.  I think the students and myself missed out on a lot of opportunities to build relationships last year because I was in two places.  Hopefully this year, I'll be able to see some of the benefits of what I am there to help the students with.

Justin's job:  He loves it!  I am really excited for him (he is too, just not as vocal about it as I am) and this opportunity.  He finally has a place that he enjoys going to each day and likes what he is doing.  He is working for a top-notch guy who genuinely cares about Justin AND me and I am just so thankful that Justin has him as a boss and mentor.  We are really looking foward to what the future holds at State Farm.  And, if any of you need any kind of insurance and live in the state of TN, Justin is your guy!

At home, things are moving along as usual.  Maybel keeps us somewhat occupied, but really is an easy going girl and doesn't require much effort which is nice.  We of course are still crazy about her and she probably gets annoyed with us always wanting to love on her while she just wants to sleep.  Oh well, she better get used to it.  She is still spending most of her days over at the Farmers' yard with her boyfriend Maverick.  In case we haven't given them recognition on the blog, we are SO greatful and blessed to have such good friends like the Farmers and for them letting us use their back yard as  doggy daycare for Maybel.  We love you guys!

Car update: Well, we still don't have a newer car...I'm not sure what our plans are, but I sure hope it happens soon.  I am glad that we are not rushing into anything and trying to be smart about it since it is our first time to buy a car for the both of us, but it's getting to be a little annoying, for me anyway.  I'm just ready to get it over with and I'd like to have a car with nice heating by the time the mornings start getting cool.  As always, we'll keep you posted...

Church:  Our church involvement has just grown quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, but we are both really excited about what we'll be doing this year.  We are working with Club 56 (activities with the 5th and 6th graders) again this year.  We did it last year with the Farmers and really enjoyed it.  This year, two other married couples are doing it with us and we are looking forward to getting to know them better while working with the kids too.  We are also helping teach the 6th graders on Sunday mornings.  No, we are not qualified to teach and that is why we are just there to help facilitate.  But, it is a really cool curriculum that helps prepare these crazy pre-teens for the journey they are about to embark on (spiritual and pubescent, yikes!)  I'm actually looking foward to it for the experience it will give me as a counselor and for both of us as parents, hopefully someday.  Our lifegroup is still great as well.  We are so thankful for this group and definitely wouldn't have been able to get as plugged into Otter Creek if we hadn't had it.

I think that pretty much sums it up, sorry I don't have any pictures, I am trying to get better at taking pictures of things we do, but I just haven't uploaded them.  I guess I need to get over the idea in my head that a good blog post has to have pics.  Oh, one more thing, when I'm not blogging, I'm usually taking my free time to read, the Twilight series to be exact.  Any fellow Edward and Bella fans out there?  I'm on to the third book, Eclipse, and I'm loving it.  It's taking me a while b/c I usually fall asleep by the time I can read, but it's so good.  Just wanted to share, if you haven't heard of it and want a good read, I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Update on the car

Katie and I went to Georgia this weekend to look at a few cars we have been checking out on the internet. The cars we saw weren't that great in person, so we didn't test drive or even go talk to any of the sales people.

We did get a decent loan from US Bank, and when I say we, I mean Katie. That's right, I'm nowhere on the application. It stings a little.

The S-10 and the Accord are still running, so that is a good thing. Its not like we actually need to replace a car yet. We're still looking and our hopes are high.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Our dumb Nation

I borrowed the title of this post from the Onion (so I hope they don't sue me) but that is EXACTLY what the good ole US of A feels like to me right now. Katie and I (mostly Katie) have been trying to get a new car. With our debts all gone away we don't exactly have a lump sum of cash laying around, so that means its car loan time.

Before we get into that, a little background on me....I have never borrowed money. My parents paid for my school out of the money they saved for my college education (for which I am and will be eternally grateful) and I have never had a credit card. So, I am pretty proud of that.

Katie has had school loans (which are gone, see the first paragraph) so she has a credit score, and a good one at that.

To the Loan process, we have applied with 4 different institutions now. Here's the breakdown of them so far:
Regions: Approved (which should be good news) but with a rate of 13.74 flippin percent!!! I almost laughed in the girls face when she told me. When she said she needed to call and check if the rate she was seeing was right, I knew it wasn't good. Regions may be on the way out as our bank of choice.
Suntrust: Declined twice. They have a second lending company they use once Suntrust can't offer a loan.
US Bank: We have applied and are awaiting their decision. We had to take me completely off the application for them to consider the loan. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
State Farm: We are applying with my work (yes, State farm does Auto loans, e-mail me at Justin@rustybragg.com if you're interested in learning more)

I am most upset about this: Someone who is in debt up to their eyeballs but can make a minimum monthly payment is more credit-worthy than someone who has never had to borrow money in their life. How dumb of an idea is that? Who are the Ad Wizards that came up with that? I wish I had this dog's credit score in this instance.