SeaWorld

What great weather we are having! I got to go to SeaWorld today. I told my luncheon speaker (the VP of SeaWorld) that my sis & bro were bringing their significant others to town and we were gonna be at SeaWorld this Sunday (he too was at the monster truck show!). He gave me the hook up w/ free admission for all of us but my bro & Chris had to go back south so we called up Nicole & Otto to join us last minute. That was cool! We got a backstage VIP treatment w/ the trainers and the whales after the show. Now that was a pimp hook up! The pics are on the Flickr acct (Ma- click on the pic box till it opens and then click on the itty bitty pic of me up top w/ curly hair to see them all- or choose the slide show option).
I can't believe it didnt rain today on us! I saw some new things there that I had never seen before and I have been there dozens of times. We ate at the Shamu restaurant which overlooks the tank and they do a lil show and the whale is right next to you while you eat- I mean we were totally in the 'splash zone.' To make reservations there you have to call from the secret phone which I had never seen before.
It was cool.

Tomorrow is back to the grind. It is going to be a very busy week. Unfortunately I have a ton of school work to do as well- I'm not liking it for once! But I said I was going to finish this last one and by golly, if I said it, I am going to do it.

We are wiped so we just lit the fire and watched Ashton Kutcher's movie The Guardian. They did a good job. Thats the scoop. It was an event packed weekend. We still have a lot of tailgate clean up to do (clean the grill- and my car especially!).
Thats the update. Hope you had a great weekend.
:)

Monster truck show

Had a great time at the Monster Truck Show! Enjoy the pics on my FLICKR acct. I was bummed that Reptoid, Medusa, Superman, and the crazy motorcross wasnt there though. Whats up w/ that!?Ben slept through the good parts!Our seats had backs on them- wow what a difference that makes! We did the tailgate at 3 and that was awesome. Ben really liked that!Enjoy the pics- I am off to Seaworld.

I'll fix my blog later- now I have to access it through Google and through blogger- what the heck did I do?!

The perfect weekend....

Other than my previous annoyance (posted)- this should be a rockin weekend.

My iblings are on their way up! Ben is going to get to experience his first real tailgate and Monster Truck show! The weather is forcasted to be perfect.
Tomorrow I am taking them to SeaWorld including a special backstage tour thing w/ Shamu!

Expect lots of pics next week!

Absolutely annoyed

I'm a bit annoyed today.Someone said to Chaz that they think he took the job b/c it is what I wanted, not what he wanted.

Are you freakin kidding me?

First of all, during the process he kept asking me for my opinin and I told him he should ask others b/c it is his decision & I dont want to influence his choice. He should get opinions from others and weigh out his decision based on what he hears and what he wants. Then I get the lecture that I am his wife and my opinion needs to be taken into consideration too- but its his choice & I didnt want to tell him so we went to dinner and made a pro con sheet. We both made seperate ones, and both had the new job pros outweigh the old job ones. I'm just a bit freakin annoyed that people are going to tell him its my decision and not his.
Why do I want him to take the job? Multiple reasons. Reason #1 being that I think another 3 years at Siemens would definitely cause him a heart attack b/c they treat their employees like disposable peons. If I am viewed a bit*h for not wanting him to have a heart attack then so be it. They promise raises and they go back on their words. I'm the one who gets to hear the stories right when he gets home and if I see a better environment for him that is less stressful and harmful, then bygolly I think he should go for it. Reason #2 is the large quantities of travel that Siemens was going to send him on. Yes travel is cool- but when you are trying to start a family- not so cool. He will still get to travel with the new job- just not as often.

Other pros:A much larger salary Management experience over at least 14 peopleFree blackberry pda phone & serviceFree Internet at homeFree gym membershipFree travel and cost of training & conferences4 times as much paid holidays and vacationFree tuitionA big office as opposed to a cubicle (w/ wall sized window)Already knows most of the comp guysStarting in at a really high up position that would take others decades to get toFree health insurance for both of us
I could go on and on but I am too annoyed. Give me a break.

If you were in my situation- what would you tell your significant other?

CN&JN close up

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Chaz dad sent me a pic so here it is.

Today is Chaz Dads bday. Happy birthday to him!
Charles brought home a cold from his CT trip last week. Now we both have it. Blah.
I'm a little 'events' out. I have the film series tomorrow night. I have some weird all hands meeting presentation on Friday. Saturday is the Monster truck show. Sunday will also be family day. I'm planning some stuff for Emilys departure. We have a bday thing for Chaz on the 1st, his 1st day at his new job on the 2nd, his dinner on the 3rd, the supbowl on the 4th. Makes the days really fly by.

So for Chaz new job- I found out they also pay his home Internet bill, and his cell phone (they will by him a Verizon). He might also get to go to some conference in CA in March. Plus the free insurance for us both being employees here. Good stuff.

It is official, the Homecoming parade will NOT be downtown but rather on campus! Woo hoo. I am so tork as to whether or not to buy season tix. Often times I can get my bosses tix....but it is the 1st year of the stadium...Humph- I dunno. Its about $500 and thats a lot of $.

So with Chaz switchin jobs- our insurance (we are both on his) ends Feb 1st :o so I am gettin all my appts in now. I just got back from the dentist. Oh the excitement.
I went to the gym by myself for lunch- what a loser. But- if you stop once, it makes it easier to stop again. I thought I was doing so well until supergirl gets on the treadmill next to me to train for her 10k. She made me look like I was walking. Punk.

Crazy, huh!

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

This is an example of how we had to maneuver theough fallen trees.
Now thats canoeing!

Canoeing

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

I went on the best camping trip I have been on in years!
We got an invite from Andrew & his wife to join him & his wife, her bro and his girlfriend. We were gonna go to Kelly Park but they were full since it was the most awesome weather ever…So Andrew called around and found the best kept secret and it was only about 4 miles from here! Literally- it is right off of 50 hidden behind this RV place. We were the ONLY people there which meant we could bring drinks, be as loud as we want, and take up all of the room. At the front of the place they even had restrooms. Sweeet.
The site for 6 people was about $36 I believe. Then we also rented their canoes.
So how fabulous is this- I didn’t have to do any of the planning and organizing. I didn’t have to drive. I didn’t even have to bring my tent or food even. Andrew took care of all of that. We had drinks duty- that’s it.
We got there, set up tents ( we shared w/ Andrew in his mini tent mansion). They cooked us all burgers and dogs for lunch. Then we went canoeing. That was an adventure- You had to maneuver the canoes into crazy angles to get through/under/over trees and such. Perfect scene for a scary movie. Andrew got tipped by his wife which is funny b/c he is the most experienced of the group. After canoes we hung out then Andrew cooked us all chicken and potatoes for dinner. They are hard core campers- cooking everything on site- they also had a clothes line and a water dispenser hung from a tree. We played cards for hours and made sure not to get dehydrated… ;) We roasted marshmallows. We got to use our new sleeping bags finally (I think they were a wedding present) and let me just tell you- it was the best nights sleep that I can recall. Between the fuzzy goodness of my sleeping bag and the firm air mattress and the cold air- I was in heaven.

We came back today around noon. My arms are sore from canoeing. We met Nic for lunch then went & bought the Monday morning breakfast for work. What a lovely weekend. More soon.

Work

Today was interesting.
The boss asked that I notify the rest of the staff by email about Emily departing us.
So it is official. Her last day is the 7th. Chaz first day is the 2nd.
So I will throw a staff lunch thing here that day. I hope I don't cry. Oh what a loser I'll be- I know its gonna happen b/c Arlene will start it and when people see Arlene tears, it has a dominoes effect. So I am trying to think of some special things to do for the going away. I have a few ideas down but am open for suggestions.........

Also next Friday we are having an all hands meeting at work. Its something new. Each office has to talk about accomplishments of the past year and any interesting tidbits to help keep the rest of the staff informed- and we were told it has to be informational and entertaining.
So we figured everyone will be doing powerpoint or handouts so we had to up the game -
so Emily & I made a video. A cheesy, funny 12 minute video. That meeting will be very interesting!

More on this poopy day

By the way- the mortgage didnt go up due to an ARM (adjustable rate mortgage)- it went up do to taxes.

I hear my sis is going to have her in laws stay with her for 3 months.

ANywho- does anyone have a good suggestion on a location down south for Ben's next bday party?

This can't be legal

So all in all, today stunk.
Not only did I find out that Emily is leaving, Chaz is in CT, the garage door broke again, I didn't do my HW b/c I was bummin- but I come home to get the mortgage bill and they raised not by $50, no not by $100, no not even by $200. Oh wait, not by $300, but rather by $359.95
Are you freakin kiddin me?!?!? I understand now how so many people go into forclosures now. GeeezUs! Is my mortgage paying for that retarded minimum wage increase. Argggg.

Emily

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

I knew this sad, sad day was coming.
My program assistants husband got a job- in
North Carolina. He starts Feb. 12.
So later today we are going to work out the final day and how that works with sick leave and what not.
Ouch- Feb & March are the crazy busy times in my office- esp w/ the BHCSI interviews....I will have to conduct prog asst interviews.
So bummed. I got attached. I had her for over 3 years. She rocks. Sigh.....

What a productive holiday

Chaz had to work today and I didn't. It is just now 11am and so far I have cleaned all the windows, flung all the poo, cleaned the remaining graffiti off the stillwater sign as best I could, cooked a pot roast meal, vacuumed. cleaned, planted 5 plumbago bushes, watered the lawn, cleaned the toilets, did some laundry, responded to all of my work emails, took some pics of the dog, and treated the whole inside perimeter of the house for bugs. It is amazing what procrastination can lead to when you are not in the mood to do HW.......

And the dimwit award goes to.........

Brighthouse.
So get this. On numerous occassions, Chaz has gotten calls on his cell phone from Brighthouse about 'service orders' that he did not call for. This weekend they called and said they would be here at 11:30. We didn't call them! So this was getting old and so Chaz called Brighthouse (again) to fix the problem. The woman said "Well gee sir, looks like your number is on two accounts." In which Chaz replied he would like that fixed. Here is where it gets good. The woman replied back with "I'm sorry we can't do that. The other customer would have to do that so you would have to call him and request that.' Um hello- if we called him we would be calling ourselves oh brilliant one!!!! Are you kidding me with this?!?!?
So he asked for a manager and conveniently none were available so he got her name and asked for a manager to call him back.
Who needs comedy TV when you have this. Oh well- at least they are funding our itty bitty stadium...

Another romantic Chaz pic

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

This one was taken in Central Park in NY. Artsy and romantic, eh?!?!?

Sweet Sauce

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Here is a really bad pic of me. But ahhh...the good life.

Oh- you should see all the baby shower goodness I also picked up for Nics party next month.

The final product

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

So Kudos to Chaz and Denrique for their fantabulous job of putting the TV and cable up. This thing rocks!

How to make Jeeeol happy

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Here is a pic of Chaz walkin my boys on campus.
On a scale of 1-10, this rates a hotness factor of 12.

Monk

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Monkee was sooo excited on campus. He was going left to right to right to left. He he is jumpin up to give the camera kisses. He was so excited he even ate some tree bark along the way.

Bike fixer

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Here is a picture of Chaz getting the bikes ready for our bike ride. What a stud. I forgot how unfanny friendly bikes could be though :o

Romantic pics that Chaz did for the room

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Some of you requested to see the pictures that Chaz did up for our room. This one is not only of the campus, but also our wedding location.
:)

Recommendations for the ladies

For all the ladies out there- I found some good goods that I had to share.
1.) Yankee Candle air freshner that snaps to your AC and then the hangin gel pack. I got it for Xmas and it is the bomb! Its a Macintosh apple scent. Awesome.
2.) I also got Almay mascara. It actually lengthens and fills out. Score! Another fab xmas gift.
3.) Sugar cookie lip gloss. Dang- its like having candy on your lips and it stays on a long time. I think my mom says she got it at Bath & Body Works..?
4.) Ulta brand nail polish. Dries super fast and stays on a long time w/out chippin.

JillChaz

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Here is my weekend update.
Our garage door broke but Chaz was able to fix it- the cable snapped. We got tons of house stuff done- including shop vacuuming all of the ceiling fans and lights (yeah yeah, I have OCD- I even did the garage door).
We did some more car shopping. We are sooo on the fence about what to do about the car.
Derek came over and helped us set up the cable on the TV that we installed under the kitchen cabinet. It is pretty flippin sweet.
Then today was like total Jill Day. Chaz wanted to go on a dog walk- ON CAMPUS. Hot dog! Thats like talking dirty to me. So we drove to campus w/ the boys and went on a long walk around the whole campus. That rocked. I'd share pics but my thing to download pics off my phone is being screwy. So then we came home and took a nap. Then when he woke up he said he wanted to go for a bike ride. Are you kidding me?!?!? Sweet! Then we went to Giovannis w/ Ot/Nic and then went to the grocery store so I cold cook a roast tomorrow.

Race Car Driver

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Ben would like to be a race car driver.
Now thats stylin.

My folks backyard

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

So my folks have this new thing at the new house where they feed the birds bread at dinnertime. It is quiet the show.

My folks cats

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

So here is a pic of my folks cats. Cute, huh? It's Mao (pronounced Mow since thats what the cat shouts often), Toonces who has a gogeous plume tail of fluff, and Cuddlebum. Toonces also likes to sleep up against Barney the black lab w/ his arm over him and he cleans out Barns ears.

Hamster cage

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

So my coworker got an office pet(s). two dwarf hamsters. They are rather cute. The cage is very girly pink. There has been sugesstions that we connect the see through connector tubes so that the hamsters can visit each office ;) In the front of the cage you can see the mini exercise ball. Funny stuff.

My other class & other updates

I had my other class last night. It is in the most ghetto of rooms in the Business Building. I will see if I can get it moved to my building. I enjoyed the class. Cool new people. We have some big ethnographic analysis project we have to do. My other class is only a 1 credit hour class but my goal is to convince them to let me take all 3 one credit hour classes in this semester as opposed to over a freakin year. Two classes is a bit much but I really want to finish this grad cert up as soon as possible.

So work is a mad house right now. I'm a lil freaked out b/c I'm supposed to plan & be at film series, luncheons, summer institute, alumni events, congress events, philanthropy events, rez life events, planning meetings for the new towers and the brick wall project, cultural events/tix, garden, merchandising, meetings w/ students, notarizations, and the budget, etc....with classes that is a bear.

Well Emily just left w/ Mark who is interviewing for his 'dream job' in NC. I think we all know what that means! Ack! I am certain he will get offered the job :( so that will put me in the market for a new program asst soon. Right before BHCSI madness. I have had 5 people recommend people for the job already. Oh I hate search interviews. I'll keep you posted.
I tried something different for lunch today. It was just so busy at work that I grabbed my bag and went to the faculty gym. It was crazy empty. I'd like to make this a routine and just eat a PB&J sandwhich on the way there or something. We will see.

The Monster Truck Show is fastly approaching. I am psyched! That will be followed with the Chuckstar birthday weekend.
Oh - also at work, one of my coworkers got office pets. Jessie got two dwarf hamsters and a very pink see through hamster mansion.

Been polling people for cool game ideas for Nicoles baby shower. I got a good list goin.

Is it bad to be ready for vacation when the 1st week of school isnt even over yet?!?!?

1st day of school, etc

I am taking 2 classes this semester. Todays was the research seminar class. It is with my most favorite professor ever who I have known since 95 and she & I get along like peas in a pod. Its research and I can prob curtail it to be work related and use it there so bonus points for me! Woo hoo. Tomorrows class is in the business bldg- crap! I have to move my car. I'm going into that one blind- no idea what to expect. Tonights class has a total of 4 of us. One person is a principal. It is cool who you get to meet in these classes.

I think the weekend before the monster truck show we may go camping with Chaz future coworkers. Good way to break the ice and learn the good stuff. The weekend after the monster truck show is Chaz bday. I have a few ideas that I am investigating. Soon after that is Nic's baby shower. I feel like an event whore.

So here is an interesting question for you. We have a friend over right now and were discussing relationships. This individual mentioned how their significant other was so upset b/c their person sent a Christmas gift to the persons ex (or their kids). It led to some drama. So here is my debatable question to you. Chaz says that the person got mad b/c they were jealous, and that it is a trust issue. I say that it is a self confidence issue since you trust the person you are with- but you dont trust their ex(s) since you don't really know them. Hence, a bout of low self confidence equals a tinge of jealousy. I dunno- what do you think causes people to get riled up when ex(s) come into the picture. Do you and yours stay friends with the ex(s)?

Talk about romantic....

So Chaz did this fabulously cool/romantic thing. He had 5 pictures blown up in black and white in size 11 x 14 after he photoshopped them a bit.
Last night we bought 5 large matted frames and hung them up in the bedroom. Each picture is from a romantic scene from special/meaningful places that we have been together. How hot is that?!?
He has one of the hot air balloon in the sky, one of a palm tree on the beach in Key West, one of the waterfall in Costa Rica, 1 of the Reflecting Pond at night at UCF, and 1 of gorgeous trees in Central Park. I Love it! I want to also do this for the living room. We have meaningful art! How hot is that!?!?!?

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

What do you do when you gamble all of your money away and you are stuck out in the ocean? You take a bazillion crazy pics of course....

Chaz is such a stud

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Here is a pic of Chaz w/ his new hot friend.

Weekend Update

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The weekend is almost over :(
On Friday Amy arrived and met me at work. We all met up at the Sterling Casino place. Initially we had 27 people signed up to go. In order to get our VIP status, we had to have a minimum of 20. We had 7 no shows/last minute cancellations. Phew. Just made it. That would have sucked if we had like 19 and then found out we couldnt get the VIP room. Amy was rockin on the craps table. Everyone gambled for a pretty long time. I lost my $20 worth of quarters but I ate $40 worth of food so I am happy. The VIP room was atop the spiral staircase and was roped off just for us. Sweeeet. It had round tables, a mini buffet, drinks, and bottles of champagne on ice with windows overlooking the front of the boat. YOu could see all the slots and stuff also from our VIP room. I put a few of the pics on my FLICKR account.
I think we made it to bed around 3am.

On Saturday we went looking at cars again. Jim left on Saturday. For dinner we did Nicoles bday thing at Outback. Afterwards we went to their house. I was still wiped from the boat. We came home afterwards and watched Snakes on a Plane (cheesy) followed by another cheesy plane movie.

Again, we stayed up till at least 2. I am wiped so I will keep this short. More later.
:)

Semester break is almost over :(

Starting next week, the school madness begins. I am signed up for 2 classes. Only 1 more to go after that. Yes I am crazy, I know.

So today at lunch I had a meeting with the UCF IT department. They call it a 'networking' meeting. Thats funny. Really we just played basketball. I got my butt handed to me. It was such a good time though.
On the way to turn in our tuition vouchers, we made a detour and swung by and saw Otto in his office. Tht man needs some UCF paraphenalia in his office. Instead of Pimp my Ride- I need to send him to Pimp my Office. Now that would be cool to get all UCFified.

I have some super cool luncheon speakers lined up. That is always something to look forward to in the spring.

After work I came home and some punks did some graffiti on our entrance sign (two W's). So I went out there w/ DeBond and Windex for the 1 hour of sunlight left and scrubbed my heart out. The DeBond flawlessly got the black spray paint off the letters. I need a lil more arm muscle and light on the bricks part but I ran out of DeBond. It is funny- I met sooo many neighbors out there. On the way driving home they saw me out there, would turn their trucks around, and would ask how I got stuck cleaning that up. Are you kiddin me?!?! Don't people have neighborhood pride anymore. You want somethin done you gotta do it yourself. Ironically, only cool people in trucks actually stopped. However, none of them helped! Of course they would suggest stuff like paint thinner or brake fluid (?!) in which I would go into commercial mode and give them my DeBond schpeel (Dad 2 would have been proud if he was there). I will try to finish the job on Saturday hopefully.

After that, Derek & Simone came over and we did the xmas thing and then had a fabulous dinner at RJ Gators.

Thats all for now.

Fam

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

You know you are cool when everyone in your gang wears the same shirt.

Car Gremlins?....

So here are some of the weird things that is happening with my car:

*Sometimes while driving it feels like it is going to stall. Kind of like narcolepsy where you start to fall asleep but then jerk up suddenly.
*Back window button has gone on strike. No fresh air for you unless I say so from the front door control button.
*Yesterday I went to lower the radio volume on the steering wheel control, and as I hit down, the volume blasted up. So I hit the up button thinkin it would go down, but it changed the channel!
*At Hollywood Beach, I tuned the car on and the radio wouldn't turn on for like a minute.
*You know how when you have the key in the ignition and the door open how it beeps? Well I sat in the car, shut the door, and it started to beep. Then the car realized I didnt put the key in so it stopped real fast.
*I turned my seat heater on yesterday and dear heavens I thought my butt was on fire- it got scorching hot!
*Of course in Vero, when we had the 2 dogs and all of the xmas presents in the car, it didnt start. Just went click, click, click.
We bought a new battery. I even had it detailed like 2 or 3 days ago. It should be a happy car.
*We had the GPS plugged in to the cigarette lighter, and it asked us on the drive if we wanted to shut off or switch to battery power. Huh? The outlet went dead.
I forgot the other small stuff but you get the picture.
So how much does this suck...
On one hand, we want to get rid of the Mountaineer fast b/c it could turn into a money pit. Plus if Chaz takes the new job, he loses his X Plan pricing on new cars. However, it is the new year and their are like no incentives out there right now. Plus the car we want just came out so it is hard to get a good deal on a car that is in hot demand. We cant afford it at the price they are asking. We want to buy a new car that we can keep a long time (but can afford). This stinks. That is my car story.

Nakedness

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Again- I swear mom- he is not naked! Although I am not quiet sure what he is doing!

HAPPY 2007!

Ever wonder what you look like driving?

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

Well now I know.
I swear mom- I am not driving naked. I just own a lot of tube top shirts.

2 smell good recommendations

In case any of you are looking for these types of things-
Glade makes these cheap candles in a glass that smell fabulous! I have vanilla cookie lit right now and for $1.98, it is making the whole room smell fabulous.

For xmas, I got these Yankee Candle car freshner items in the scent of McIntosh Apples and it rocks. Trust me- my car smelled like dog and now it smells like dessert!

Now if only people would recommend to me how to trade in my car w/out additional money down and keep the payments the same for the vehicle I want......

cars

So initially we were thinkin we would get a GMC Acadia. After seeing the Saturn Outlook, shoot- I really liked it. We will look at them some more this week.

New Years Party 2007

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Originally uploaded by drjeeeol.

We spent New Years Eve at Mike & Lynns.
Nicole, Otto, Rob, Lisa, Mark, PJ, and Jim were also there.
Mark, PJ & Jim are stayin w/ us for awhile.
We are off to go pick up PW to look at cars.
More soon.