Spring has sprung!!

Well the weather has finally gotten warmer and I have my first sunburn of 2009. Well, I guess that is not true since I got a sunburn in the Dominican in January so I officially have my 2nd sunburn of 2009. The snow is all gone and I have been out on my scooter for almost a month now. I was a little leery at first due to my lack of experience driving a motorized vehicle on two wheels, but now I am just flying around (and yes I am being safe).
I have just recently been employed for a part time job as a secretary at Reactive Massage. I will be learning the ropes in the beginning of June. I am really excited. Mike is still hoping to hear back from a some jobs that he has applied for, so if you could keep that in your prayers that would be great.
I have come up with some really great ways to spruce up our yard and I can't wait to get started. There are only a few things standing in the way right now but once those things clear up I will be on my way to having a sell-able back yard!!

Our day at the fair!!!

Mike and I took our nieces, minus one, to the Brandon Winter Fair today. We had a blast. The girls each had allowance money to spend and it was so awesome to watch them try to decide how they were going to spend that money. They wanted to make smart choices so that they would not be wasting their money but yet they still wanted to get something fun. They all made really good choices: Jada and Isabella both bought necklaces and Hailey bought a balloon with water in it (it is bouncy and a good choice for a girl of the age of 4). With the last of their money they bought cotton candy! mmm suger! We really had a great time!

The life of Mike and Jenn!!

So life for us has been flying by. In three months I will be a certified Massage Practitioner, wow that sounds professional. Anywhoos, Mike is still working at Harrison Middle School and come July I will have a job as well (hopefully)!!!! I am pretty excited. Mike is on spring break right now so we are just hanging out. I should have been able to get caught up on my school work but that is not the case. It seems that the closer we get to the end of school, the farther behind I get. I really just need to get my butt in gear.
As of January I am the proud owner of a 2004 Yamaha scooter. I am so excited to get it out on the streets but this snow is pushing that day farther and farther away. I know it sounds nerdy but it is really cheap to own and operate one of these things.
My neices are coming for a sleep over this weekend so I should have more to post then.

The Dominican!!

For Christmas 08, Mike's parents bought us tickets to the Dominican. It was designed to be a family trip. Plans were made and we all flew out on January 2nd. We landed in the Dominican at around 5 pm and set off for our resort. We stayed at the Occidental Grand Flamenco because Mike's parents have a time share there. Everything was beautiful. We spent the first day there just relaxing on the beach and taking in the sites.

Every night for supper we would go to a different restaurant.

Sunday was Mexican! (the guys singing would go around to every table and sing a different song. When they were finished they would expect you to tip. If you told them you did not have any money they would not sing for you!)
Monday was Italian! the food was fantastic!

Tuesday was Oriental. The food was good! ( I think I went with all the safe choices)
Wednesday was the beach party! The food was not all that great so we went for pizza and tacos after!

Thursday was Steak and Friday was Lobster. I can't seem to find my pictures of those places so you will just have to use your imagination.
We walked out to a market just outside our resort one day. There were not very many tourists there so when we would walk by a store the people selling stuff would come out and grab your arm and pull you in. They were very persistent and would always say "you the boss, you the boss". I got my hair braided and Mike & I made some purchases there.
On one of the days Rebecca and I went para sailing. It was so much fun. Unfortunately we were to far away from our resort that there are no pictures of us actually up in the air.
We also went snorkling! This was a lot of fun. We got to swim with the fish out in the ocean and we swam with sting rays and nurse sharks. We were also able to feed the fish which was really cool. Included in this package was a chair massage.

We had a really great time out in the Dominican, but when the day came to go home I was ready to go. We left for the airport and boarded the plane for home on Friday at around 5 pm. We got to the end of the runway and started to take off when the captain slammed on the brakes. He told us that a light had come on in the cock pit and that we would go back and try it again. The second time he tried to take off the same thing happened. Only this time when he slammed on the brakes someone at the front of the plane was injured. So we had to go back to the loading gate and have her taken off by stretcher. We then waited on the plane for about an hour while the captain checked on the status of the plane. He then told us that they would have to call in a technician to come in and look at the plane so we would be getting off the plane and waiting in the airport. We decided to go eat supper and then we waited and waited some more. Finally the captain said it was time to board the plane and we would give it one more try. So we did just that. As as the plane was boarded and ready for the doors to be closed, a lady from the back came up the isle saying she did not want to be on that flight. We then had to wait another half hour while they located her luggage. We finally got to the end of the runway just to find out that the light was still going on in the cock pit and that we would not be leaving the Dominican until the next day. By the time the pilot had everything figured out we were the only people left in the airport minus a few security guards. There was no one there to stamp us back into the country and the arrangements were made that we would be going back into the Dominican Republic to stay at one of the resorts. I was really worried that we would be caught, but nothing like that happened. As soon as we found out where we were supposed to be going, Mike's parents went into "The Amazing Race" mode. We needed to get to the resort before everyone else so that we would not have to stand behind 150 people trying to get our room keys. So we took off in the first taxi and made it to a resort and were the first ones there. Half an hour of discussion with the person behind the desk revealed that we were at the wrong resort. By now all of our taxis are gone and there is about 60 people needing to get to this other resort. Mike's dad talked our way onto a bus and we made it to the right place. We stayed the night and were told that our flight would be leaving at 3pm the next day so they were going to pick us all up at 1pm. I thought it might be pushing it a little but I figured that they must have everything under control. We left the resort at 1 the next day and made it to the airport safely, only to find out that we have to stand at the back of an amazingly long line to go through security. Mike's mom did a little budging and we made it to the front of the line. We (the whole flight) was waiting at our terminal to board the plane at 3 and nothing happened. We did not actually board the plane until 430 and then we had to wait a half hour for this unruly woman to stop arguing with the pilot so that we could get going. We finally got into the air! What a great feeling. There were a number of things that happened from the time in the air to the time Mike and I went to sleep in our own beds but that would just make this story long and drawn out ;) If you are really curious, feel free to ask us sometime.

Let's get up to date!!

Since the last time I wrote here, I am not as fond of the nature that I saw in two of the pictures that I have posted. About a month and two weeks ago a deer ran into the side of our car. Yes I said that right, a deer ran into the side of our car. Mike was on his way to basketball and the deer came running out of the ditch and into the side of our car. I think this city needs to be cleared of some of this wildlife.
It took them a month to get our car fixed. It was a good thing we were covered because that would have cost us a whole bunch more than we would have been able to afford. All is well now and we have our car back!

The Wonder of God's creation!!

There is nothing like nature to show you the peacefulness that God intended for us. Here are some pictures of the nature that we see from our back yard!

Back to school!!

So summer has begun and I am hitting the books. What a way to spend my summer holidays:) I am almost a month into my massage therapy studies and I could not be more excited. I love all of my assignments except for the reading of the text book part. I so forgot how boring it is to read about molecules and chemical reactions and chemical bonds and atoms and... the list goes on.
Mike is at his first week of camp and I miss him already. He left on Tuesday and he will be back on Saturday! I can't wait until he gets back. I have been going a little stir crazy in this house all by myself. I do appreciate Mike's willingness to go spend a week at a camp just so we have a little extra money.
This last weekend we had our niece Jada over for a few nights. We had a blast going to the theater, and the mall to buy a Webkinz watching movies and baking cakes!! It was exhausting but fun indeed.