It has been so long, so much has happened, some much is going to happen, yet all I want to do is ramble right now.

I've never been one that is so sure about my future. I have things I would like to do and like to accomplish, but never set out a time line to have them done by a certain time. I trust that it will all pan out in God's timing, not my own, so what's the use in dreaming and making plans? I want to have kids. but someday. I want to own a house. The time will come when we're financially able. I want to not work, hardcore, full time. Maybe someday. Maybe never.

But at the same time, I like to think, plan out, and be ahead of the game. Mostly financially, so we never run into serious trouble. As of recently, though, I have this huge desire to take off with photography. I know, I'm very new at it and in a hobby/business surrounded by way more knowledgeable and talented people than myself. But I've never been so passionate about something.

When I started dating Micah I was amazed at how many hobbies he had. And in return, how many hobbies I did not have. Micah cycled. played tennis. played the guitar. sang. was very involved in church and leading worship. school activities and programs. basketball. ultimate frisbee. any sport, really. And not only did he do all of this, but he was really good at everything! Needless to say, I felt boring. Micah never said anything to me about my lack of unique-ness, but it encouraged me to find something that I really enjoyed. But. I can't sing. Or play an instrument. Or anything musically for that matter. I LOVE traveling, but that's expensive and after planning out our budget as mentioned previously, that wasn't the smartest hobby to take up right now. But after spending time with his photographically talented side of the family, I bought my first camera. I didn't know a whole lot, but from then on, spent many hours researching, reading, asking around, and shooting. So...I found my new hobby.

I have a desire within me that wants to just do photography all the time. I don't know if this is just a hobby I'm going to keep with me while I take on a real job. Or if someday...my ultimate dream...own my own photography business while raising two little mini Jill and Micah's and traveling the country. Or the world. That would be soo cool!

I say all that to say this. I need to study. I'm going to dedicate this summer to learning as much as I can about photography and getting to feel super comfortable behind a lens. That's my goal for now. As Micah would say, "baby steps. baby steps."

__________________________

Now on to the details of our recent adventures...

Sunday marks Micah and I's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! YESSS! We're super excited and have been extra sweet to each other lately. It's just been a reminder of how far we've come, all the things we've accomplished in one year, all the difficult times we've already gone through, how God has completely and abundantly provided for us when we didn't know how. And we love each other more now than we did a year ago!

Last weekend we ran away to Kansas City to spend the weekend together. Apparently my frugal-ness...frugality...act of being frugal...whatev...I got a super cheap hotel that looked really cool in the picture and was a great deal but ended up being in the middle of an industrial park in north Kansas City in the middle of no where surrounded by a "pond" that brown and nasty and smelled. BUT, we were upgraded to a suite. score. Micah made fun of me hardcore when we pulled up to the place. He said I went a little too far this time. Maybe next I'll splurge with a Holiday Inn. Maybe. Oh, and the hotel served "free continental breakfast". Micah went down there at 8:00 the first morning and came back empty handed. He said there was a loaf of bread with no butter or jelly and coffee. Yikes. McDonald's it was.

Micah golfed while I road along in the cart and took pictures and got a really bad tan line. But it was a beautiful course and a great time chilling with my man. I got a massage and a low quality hair cut (again, I'm cheap, and I got what I paid for, I guess.) We ate at some great restaurants... Bo Lings, a mexican restaurant at the Power and Light District, Smokehouse BBQ, and our favorite, brunch at Eggtc. We shopped a little, walked around and got lost a little. Overall, a GREAT weekend!

Spring Cleaning, Round II

I have not cleaned as much as I did toda.. Eh...I haven't cleaned this much since I wa....I have never clea... Basically, I cleaned a lot today. Well, with my partner in crime, of course. Together we conquered a lot...

Mowed the yard. Washed my car. Vacuumed. Cleaned the carpets. Went to K-Mart. Bought pots, flowers, lights, rugs, rake-thing. Came home and used the previously mentioned items to give some color to the front of our house. Did laundry. Cleaned everything else around la casa. And all done by approximately 5:00 pm. Here's some of the finished product...



Here's the best shot of the hanging basket...



It's not Martha Stewart quality, but it's our first adventure with our green thumbs, so don't make fun. :)

Well, I am hanging out at a coffee shop getting ready to hear Micah and Kyle play some tunes and my computer battery is about to die so I gotta cut this short.

(Looking forward to Michelle and Daniel's baby shower tomorrow afternoon!)

Have a great weekend!

Number Two

Ok, I know I just blogged once today, and literally just posted it, but I had just had to write about our trip to St. Louis!

Last weekend we went up to STL for the JOHN MAYER CONCERT! WOOT! We left Saturday afternoon, arrived afternoon-ish and went to the mall. Surprisingly, I really wasn't in much of a shopping mood, so I walked away with nothing, but Micah got a hat and shirt which he wore later that night. BUT, we went to this tea store and sampled all these great teas. As you know, I am a hardcore coffee girl, but I have caught a bug for learning more about tea. It was SO GOOD! They had all these cool tea kettles and tea pots and amazing smelling/tasting teas. We didn't have any extra money to fork over for $18 4 oz. bag of tea, but maybe one of these days we can splurge.

We headed to our hotel, freshened up, and began our search for a good place to eat. We got advice not to go to Houlihan's because it wasn't that great, so we drove around and found this "saloon" and ordered some amazing burgers.



After dinner we picked up my sis and her friend and headed to the concert. We had paperless tickets, so we just had to show our IDs at the door. Oh, and the credit card we bought the tickets with. Yeah, left that in our car. Oops! After successfully making it into the venue, we were escorted. Yes, escorted to our seats. On the floor. 5th row. They were great!

The first band was full of energy! We were only familiar with one of their songs, but they put on a great show.

T

H

E

N

.

.

.

JOHN MAYER

Micah and I mid-concert

There were so many good shots...I just gotta share them...



Assassins was pretty cool...he was right by us!





Unfortunately it had to end. So, we found Taylor and Allie and took them back to their hotel, while the whole car ride was spend raving about our out of body experiences.

The next morning we got up and headed to this amazing breakfast place. (Thank you iPhone and Urban Spoon App!)




AMAZING food!!!




After breakfast/lunch we headed to visit some relatives on the way home and had tons of fun. Remember Maggie Moos? OMG. We had some while we were there. It is way better than I remembered, and way better than coldstone. Not Andy's, but close. I had Red Velvet ice cream with reeces in it. Now I am craving some. MMMmmmmm...

Needless to say, we had an amazing weekend! Thanks for listening/reading again!

Produtive!

I feel super productive today! I woke up this morning knowing I had the whole day off and wondered how I should spend it. As Micah was leaving for work this morning he mentioned I should deep clean the house. At first that didn't sound that appealing, but after I thought about how much this house needs it, there was no question. So I started by making a list: vacuum, clean the kitchen floors, toilets, bathrooms, showers, do the laundry, dust, and clean the carpets. Whew, lots to do! I called to see if I could borrow my momma's carpet cleaner and after discussing the weather and the current state of my kitty (I'll explain in a bit.), I decided the carpet cleaning should wait until next week. So as of now, everything else is done and I'm waiting on the last load of laundry to get out of the dryer!

As for our cat, I think she has a bladder infection. Micah came into the bedroom early this morning fuming because the cat had peed in the corner of the living room. I thought that was really odd, because she never does that. And then before Micah left for work, she had peed in the corner again. And as of now, she has tried to pee at least a dozen more times. So, I think there is a problem :( She has been acting mellow and wanting to cuddle a lot too, which if you know Bella, this is very abnormal... Since it's Saturday afternoon, we'll have to wait until Monday morning to take her to the vet. Hopefully she's not in too much pain by then.

Not a great transition, but I am really in the mood to cook tonight. Since I get off at 8:30 during the week, it doesn't leave much time to whip much of anything up when I get home. So I usually get the urge Saturday and/or Sunday to make a big 'ol meal. Since we are running low on supplies, I may need to take a trip to the store before I can tonight. What do you think I should make? We've had Mexican for like the past 3 big meals, so none of that. Pasta? Micah'd love that. Healthy salad and fish? Micah would like to think he'd like that... ;) We'd have to hit up Andy's afterwards. Only sort of kidding.

Well, I better freshen up before my man gets here. Speaking of, sorry for the randomness, but because of him I have solidified a pet peeve of mine lately. It bothers the poop out of me when there is time left on the microwave. There. I had to tell someone. I feel better now. I do love him, so. Can't wait for him to get here so we can just have fun together! I think we're going to hit up some thrift stores and see if we can find anything good. Last time we found these really cool, old tennis rackets that we have yet to hang on the walls. They'll make it there someday.

Too-da-loo!

Bath Time

What does a mixture of rain, dirt, and puppy make? A filthy mess! It's been rainy around here lately and has turned parts of our backyard into mud piles, and apparently our doggies are lovin' it. Maya has it caked within her fur and little Lady no longer had a white tail, but was brown alllll over. So....time for a bath! Here is what Lady looked like BEFORE:





...DURING:





Bella: "What are they doing in there?

...and AFTER:



She's a sweetie pie and a great bath-taker. She doesn't fight it but just stands there while you scrub her clean. She gets dirty so easily that this comes in handy when we regularly have to get her in the tub. Apparently, the bath, or maybe the playing in the mud, has warn her out. She's passed out next to me, snoring away. After getting up earlier than normal this morning for the Praxis exam, I could use a nap as well. Maybe I'll join her. :)

Picture Walk

Today I would like to catch you up on a few little details here and there of our life, and post pictures along the way. We'll start back in February and then work out way up to today!

This first photo is the morning of February 13th. Micah said he was going to play basketball that morning, but instead he decorated the entire inside of my car with "love notes". It was the sweetest thing and a TOTAL surprise!



Here is a snippet of what some of them said...





A few weeks later, we visited my sister who had just made a funfetti cake. If you have never tasted such a dessert, you need to go out and make you one. It's super easy and very delicious. Well, by the time we got to her place, all that was left was the crunchy outer layer, which we still didn't refuse to eat. But it only left us hungry for more, so the next day our craving was still strong, so we went to the grocery store and bought a box and frosting (it had to be destiny, too, because it was on special!). Here are the results...



It was super delicious and gone in 48 hours.



This past Sunday we had the delight of having a day long double date with our friends Lauren and Caleb. We started the event with Caleb and Micah playing a doubles tennis match. Lauren and I both brought our cameras in hopes of taking some sweet action shots of the boys, but they were like 12 courts away from the balcony and even with our telephoto lenses, could not get any good shots. So after about 45 minutes, we decided to go for a drive around town. We drove around with the windows down in search of some sweet photography shots. We found some. But they happened to be in some shady parts of town. We sat on the side of the road debating on if we should lock our purses in the trunk before we started. By that time, we had freaked ourselves out enough that we just drove off. We decided we should probably head back to pick the boys up since we had keys to both vehicles, their wallets and all the phones.

We headed back to our place to wash up and head to dinner. Caleb forgot a change of clothes so had to borrow some from Micah. Below is a great picture of Micah's twin. I was searching for a good picture of how Caleb normally dresses....the exact opposite of Micah. Tight dark jeans, tight black shirts, black belt and brown shoes. Micah handed him light blue jeans, a striped colorful blue shirt and blue loafer shoes and said, "Hey man, I think these shoes will go well with this outfit." :)




Shortly after this picture, he "found" some of his own jeans in his car and Micah found him a grey band shirt. ...but he kept the loafers.



Right now Micah is in the "music room" recording a few worship songs with a friend. I'm suppose to be making sure the cat doesn't meow... :) I stepped in before the magic started and snapped a few photos...




Elly is helping us out with the recording process and letting Micah use that sweet mic and all her equipment! Such a blessing!








So that's about it lately... Hope you enjoyed!

Today marks the first day of my spring break! We have nothing planned, but at the same time, that is so nice. We both take the praxis next weekend, so hopefully some of those mornings will be spent studying for that, oh so important, exam. Please pray for both Micah and me. We HAVE to pass these tests at some point in the next few months before we can graduate! Speaking of, if all goes as we have planned right now, we GRADUATE COLLEGE in December! Crrraazz-aayy!

No new news on the pets, really. Lady is sleeping next to me, snoring away. Bella is off doing her own thing as usual, and Maya is basking in the sun in the backyard. Yes, we have SUN! The weather has been so nice lately. I can not wait until Spring! One, because of warmer weather. Two, means summer break is almost here. Three, means wedding season is starting and I get to take pictures outside again! Four, I won't be a ghost much longer. Five, ....I need to start working out lots more! That's not so much of something I'm looking forward to, though. Isn't it funny how you making working out as convenient for yourself as possible by joining a gym that is so close to your house, buying a treadmill for your basement so you can just walk out of bed and start running, or for us buy P90X where we don't have to have any equipment and just work out in our living room....yet we still find reasons not to.

Sunday is our first Sunday without a regular church to attend. We've talked about going to a Baptist church down the road that we have been wanting to visit ever since we moved over in this part of town. I think I've already mentioned this, but I'm excited to see where God wants us to be. I desire to have a church family to connect with, build relationships and accountability, and people to fellowship with. I've missed that ever since I moved from Ozark, very much. I pray that God blesses us with a church home and shows us where we should be.

Well, I've fiddled around the house too long. I better get to doing something productive. The first thing on the list is to eat a big 'ol bowl of cereal!! I love how cereal has never grown old for me. I think I will eat that every breakfast for the rest of my life. And some occasional lunch and dinners, too.

Ta Ta For Now!

Peaceful Sunday

I have been blessed with a restful Sunday afternoon! School, the new job, and the new puppy has been taking a toll on me lately. We arrived home late last night from spending the day with Micah's family for his mother's birthday, and were tuckered out. We wanted to just hit the hay when we walked in the door, so the thoughts of the dog crying and howling from her crate was not appealing. So we decided to take the chance of her messing in our bedroom and let her sleep with us. She looked tired, too, so we were only going to get about six hours of sleep anyway, so we thought she could at least make it that long. We were wrong. I awoke at 3:45 am to my lap wet with dog urine. I don't know how she did it, but she peed right on me. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy. She went outside, and Micah and I were too tired to change the sheets, so we just moved to the couches. I don't remember a whole lot from those early morning moments, but I do remember saying, "That dog will be sleeping in her crate from now on."

After sleeping for a few more hours, we arose from the living room and readied ourselves for church this morning. I think it's safe to say now that the church plant we have been attending in Bolivar is not continuing. The church support out of St. Louis withdrew without notice, so next week will be our last week. It was bittersweet this morning. Micah had feelings of, "Why are we even here? It's over." Which are understandable, but I tried to get us through with positive thoughts. Not just to make him and the church members feel better for the moment, but to really step back and see how much control we don't have. This is obviously God's will. There was a reason we went to Bolivar for the few months that we did. It changed our hearts. We now are beginning to think more missionally for the people of our community. A desire to seek out the less fortunate and non-Christ followers all around us has begun in our hearts. I am so very thankful for the community and relationships that we have built in fellowshipping with them since last year. We have learned from each other and grown spiritually from one another. Micah and I were given many opportunities to use our God-given talents to bless the Lord. We were shown a glimpse of how we can impact other peoples' lives when we feel like we don't have much extra to give. I say all this to say, I am so excited to see what the Lord has for Micah and I and the members of what was formerly known as "the Journey-Bolivar".

But back to my relaxing Sunday... I spent a few hours with some group-mates working a class project, which ended up being a lot more laid back and productive than I imagined. We then went home and cleaned up the house for company later that evening. While Micah was leading worship at an evening bible study, I did laundry (specifically, the dirty sheets and comforter from the previous;y mentioned extravaganza), watched some t.v., did some homework and took a mini nap. The dog was asleep the whole time, so I was in heaven. :)

Speaking of the puppy, I don't think she's feeling very well tonight. She was really hyper earlier this evening, then all of a sudden her ears started feeling hot and she got really sensitive. She didn't want to be picked up. She didn't want to be near Micah. She kept coming to me and cuddling up and giving me the puppy dog eyes. She didn't want to play with the cat, and she has never refused some play time in the past. We'll see how a great, uninterrupted, quiet night's sleep will do for her......we only hope.

Today was a great day! It was such for a few reasons:

1. It was Friday. Who doesn't love Fridays?? I do, especially now because I don't have class in the morning and I don't have to be at work until 4:30, so I can just chill. Which is something I don't have time for during the week. It's even been a few Friday's since I've been able to do this.

2. I got to sleep in, but no so much that I feel like I've wasted my day. I love spending the mornings with Micah. :)

3. I got new kitchen curtains! This has been long over due. We have only had blinds in our kitchen window since we moved in, and those were already there when we got here. I can't complain though, because as many of you know, that window is our only real source of light in this whole house, so we rely on it to illuminate our living room/kitchen/entry way/hallway. You know what's even better?! They were on clearance! A whole set--valance and two panels for ELEVEN DOLLARS! It still puts a smile on my face nine hours later. I'm a sucker for the clearance aisle...

4. Our house is clean! Sam is up for the weekend to play tennis with Micah so we needed to make the place presentable. I feel way more relaxed when there isn't stuff laying all over the place. mmmmm...the little joys in life.

5. I went grocery shopping today and got lots of yummy food. Ok, maybe it's not all entirely scrumptious since I bought multiple flavors of hamburger helper, but it fills our cabinets and our bellies so, YAY! (I got peppered turkey from the deli!! wow, i think i'm addicted. yet, i never realized how expensive that stuff is! we use it sparingly on our sandwiches...)

6. And drum roll please.... we got our tax refund back today! Praise the LORD!! Finances have been tight and income has been scarce lately, but after trusting the Lord through it all, he has blessed us so much. It was all in the Lord timing too, because our savings have run out and expenses just keep coming. I can finally fix my car and get new contacts! Micah keeps dreaming up things he "needs", too :) I just pray that we don't see this money as "fun money", but seek out how to use it wisely.

Well, I need to go keep my eye on the puppy. Throughout this blog, I kept hearing hard things being chewed on (pill case bottle for her ear mite stuff), fake trees being rattled, and crinkling plastic (fruit snack wrapper that SOMEONE left laying around before they went to go play tennis.... ;) ).

........too late, she just peed right in front of me.

Update

I would like to start blogging on a regular basis. I know, this was our intention in the first place, but for many reasons haven't kept our word. Our lives are so busy right now that I want to still be able to keep in touch with all our family and friends and update them on the little, exciting things that are happening in our lives.

Here's a run down of the most recent, interesting events in the life of the AuBuchons:

...We still have the pup. Micah is actually getting ready to take her to the vet because we think she may have an ear infection. Poor thing. She keeps scratching at her ears and we have seen black stuff which we thought was dirt when we first got her. so we thought we'd go have it checked out. Nice to have a sister that can get us an appointment through text messages :)

...The pup snores louder than anyone in this house.

...We are trying our hardest to make sure the house is picked up all the time so she doesn't have any excuse to chew.

...We think the cat is getting sweeter now that she has a play mate. Who would have known.

...Micah has a job interview on Friday. We're praying this isn't another crappy part time job, but one that will help support us. And hopefully Micah can make enough to save while he is able to work more this semester.

...I'm kind of getting into the swing of things at my new job. Like I said, it's a whole new world. I am starting to understand my basic job duties, but still the most puzzling aspect is insurance. I deal with it when I am registering patients, and it's just so foreign. I shared this with the lady that was training me last night and she said not to worry, because most newbies don't get the hang of it for six months to a year. If you know me, that was a challenge. My goal is now to feel comfortable with it within three months. We'll see...

...Today was beautiful. It's been pretty grey and cold here lately, but today the weather was warm and sunny. I got into a sun-warmed car after class today and was very thankful to not have white fingers when trying to turn the steering wheel. We took Lady on her first walk yesterday at a nearby park because it was nice outside as well. It was funny to watch her because she didn't understand the concept of a "walk." Micah had Maya on a leash and I followed behind with Lady. She would run full force until the leash ran out and then come to a complete stop, sit on the ground and then look up at me confused. If we were able to catch up to Micah, she would run at his heals and he would continually smack her in the face with each step, but she didn't seem to mind. She would even stare up at him while running like, "Where are we going? Does this have a purpose?". It was quite enjoyable.

...Tonight my plans are to go to work in a few minutes, meet a bride at a coffee shop with Lauren right when I get off, return home for Lauren to meet Lady for the first time. Lauren is an animal lover and can't wait for them to meet. Hopefully her husband Caleb will be able to come over after work and chill for a bit. Maybe an accidental married-people sleepover again, I dunno!

~Jill

Our newest addition to the family

No, we didn't have a baby. Micah brought home a puppy! To be honest, I was very against having another animal in the house for many reasons...two (or 2 1/2 because I'm not convinced our dog Maya should just be counted as one.) animals is already too much for our little house and backyard, we can't afford to feed another animal, and I don't want a puppy chewing up our furniture and shoes. But as you will see from the pictures I plan to post at the end, those puppy dog eyes were hard to refuse. She really is adorable. And has only barked once, which I wasn't even home to hear, and has only pottied twice in the house which were not entirely her fault. We introduced the pup and her sister, Bella, to each other and the cat literally scared the pee out of her. Needless to say, she's a baby.

We are pretty set on a name. "Lady" is what we call her now, though "Annie" was also in the running and slips out from time to time to see which she will respond to. She doesn't listen to much of anything, not even a whistle. What dog does not turn their head to a whistle? This got me to thinking maybe she's deaf... I'm not sure. We recently have been trying to see if she can really hear.

Since our last post, I have found a new job and Micah is in the process of getting another one. I am now working at the hospital as a "registration specialist". It's a whole new world, and have been trying to get the hang of it all. I get off later now so Micah has been learning to cook dinner (YAY!). Last night we had spaghetti and bread and it was just wonderful. I'm excited to see what he has planned for tonight!

School has started to be a little overwhelming. Every bit of my free time seems to go to trying to catch up on projects or lesson plans or group presentations. I don't feel like I can give enough attention to every class and assignment, so I try to give enough just to get by. I know I will pass and have good grades, but I don't think I'm actually learning a lot. Any other semester this wouldn't bother me, but knowing I will be student teaching next semester and NEED to know all of this new information, it's a bit frightening. Maybe that's why I am blessed with a summer of free time to study up! (yeaaahh right...)

Speaking of summer, photography is exploding!! We have like six weddings booked and usually get at least on email a week from a bride interested in our services. With those weddings, each will more than likely have an engagement session. I'm going to be a busy lady! Yet, very blessed to do something I love to do and get a little cash out of it!

Now, I'm off to work. Glad to get to share what is new in our lives!

Here's Lady...