Oreo

Something interesting happened Tuesday. We were driving down highway 64 and saw this adorable kitten on the side of the road. We just couldn't let him stay out there. So we took him home with us. He is the sweetest cat. The vet said he is roughly 4 months old. He is so loveable and friendly. He also does not put up with the other animals crap. The cats are still hissing at him but he doesn't pay them any attention. The dogs have tried to play with him and when he decides they are in his face more than he likes, the claws come out. The dogs are used to that because Nala and Sarabi are babies and run away. Here are a few pictures that I have taken thus far.

Ben found out the other day that the Murfreesboro Fire Dept has already hired someone for their temporary slot. Ben never got a phone call or notice. I think Ben might be giving up on Murfreesboro. Smyrna quit taking applications on July 20th. We hope to hear soon from them. Ben has also applied with the Chattanooga fire dept. They require you go through their fire academy and EMT school. Come to find out, their fire academy is the TN Fire Academy that Ben has already completed. So if Chattanooga accepts him, he already has his fire academy and EMT license so he is ahead of the game.

Ben and I have seriously thought long and hard about a move to Smyrna. Ben would not move unless a job is offered first but if we move to Smyrna, it is a more localized area for Ben to get a good fire job. He could then also apply to Franklin, Hendersonville, Nashville, etc. I do not like change nor do I like to uproot myself, but I do like the idea of moving back closer to family. I left Smyrna once, I'm not sure I could do it again. We are just praying for guidance and doors to open for the advancement of our careers. Besides that, Ben and I would give anything to get out of our ward!!! That alone is not a reason to move, but it is a sweet perk of leaving. :)

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I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hallelujah!! Thank you for the prayers and support!

Some cool things have happened this week. I was working monday and one of the Doctors and I started talking. He is in connection with another lab in Manchester that is opening up. They are running the same software that we run in our lab. He mentioned to me that he would like to utilize me at that lab some if I wanted. I told him that I would love the opportunity to work PRN. I told him that I am dedicated to our lab for Wednesday-Friday and that I could work in the front part of the week. Now that I have my registry, I can ask for more money. People who work PRN are usually offered more per hour than a F/T person. So I could probably make $5 more per hour than my raise will be here at work. So that will be a great assistance to help Ben and I save some money.

Still Waiting

I'm tired of waiting, but that is all I can do until my test results come in. I hope to have them no later than Friday. We shall see.

Ben is also waiting, waiting to hear from any of the fire departments which he has applied for. As of right now, the only one that would require us to move is Smyrna. We'll see how that goes as well.

Not much else is going on...I'll post more later.

Almost done

My BRPT exam was Saturday. I can definately say that I'm glad its over. What I can't say is whether or not I'm confident that I won't have to take it again. That test was beyond hard. Even after a 12 month long sleep program plus 20 months of working experience, I in no way was prepared for the vague questions a objective nature of that test. We'll see how good of a guesser I was.

Ben has one month until Paramedic school is over. We are currently working on his research paper....Acute and Chronic Renal failure...I know...super interesting topic. We will both be very happy to have that over with. We have already put 5000 miles on our car due to school. My gas budget will go down drastically once his schooling is done.

We are hoping to hear from Murfreesboro Fire soon. Ben wanted to meet with the Chief but he is out of town until Thursday.

I have to work Tuesday and Thursday and Ben works Wednesday so we are planning on buying some fireworks and shooting them off at work with his coworkers on his shift. We will make a day out of it with grilling and what not. Should be fun. Happy Birthday to Shannon as well...Have fun at the beach. I'll be at the pool tomorrow ;)

Home Sweet Home

It has been an entirely long couple of days...

Saturday mom, andrew, kara and myself headed out to Helena to visit with Bryan, Lisa and Noah for his birthday. The party was nice but way too hot. We all enjoyed the visit inside. :) I got some cute pictures of Noah and the video of his birthday song.

Sunday I had sharing time in primary. I was glad to have that over with. Took too much time. Then right after church we had to rush home, pack and get up to the airport. We flew out to Houston, TX to bring back a fire truck. Storms were beating down on Houston on Sunday and our flight got delayed from 5pm to 8pm. We did not get to our hotel until very late and not to bed until midnight. Then traffic delayed our meeting with the dealer. We did not get out of Houston until 10am the following morning to begin out long 14 hr drive. By 10pm, Ben and I had just about had enough. We were too tired to even make it to Birmingham. We ended up in a hotel about 40-50 miles outside of Birmingham. We did not want the expense of another night in a hotel but it beat us being dangerous on the road, so we just got up early and drove in the next morning. I'm grateful to be home.

So here are some things we learned on our trip across the south:

Texas is nothing special, muggy, and hot

Louisiana roads are horrible

A bayou is what we would call a creek but sometimes can be a swamp.

Riding in the middle of a bench seat that has hardly been sat on and still has very good springs after 12 years can make for a very roller coaster like ride on Louisiana's bumpy roads. (Yes my head came close to hitting the roof numerous times. haha)

Mississippi has nothing new to offer...roads comparable to Louisiana.

Alabama...well...I think the nutty clerks at the gas station summed up Alabama in their behavior alone...nutty people.

Tennessee.....beautiful home sweet home...even if we are in a drought.

FINALLY!!!

I'm just tickled pink today. We got our car back today. Ben surprised me with it this afternoon. Ford forgot to change our oil so Ben had to take it back this afternoon. The guy who has been supervising our car getting fixed (Mike), has been wonderful to work with. He was wanting to give us the oil change free. His manager did not. So Mike told him that he had to tell Ben that because he refused to tell Ben that we did not get a free oil change even after they had our car for 2 weeks.

So the guy came over and told Ben that he would not get it free. Ben said, "The heck you will." Ben told the guy that he better get us a free oil change or Ben would not only give him an unfavorable review and he would also personally go talk to Mike Thompson the owner. The guy freaked a little bit and walked away. A little while later, Mike Thompson just happened to walk back to the service department. Ben walked up to him and started talking to him. He asked what car we bought and if we liked it. Ben told him that we loved our car. So he asked why it was in the shop and Ben explained. Mr. Thompson said, well let's see what we can do about getting you a free oil change. Ben pointed over the the head manager and said, "he told me I couldn't get a free oil change." haha that guy came running over to Mr. Thompson and said, no no no we are giving him a free oil change. Then Mr. Thompson gave Ben an $20 dollar gas card. Then Mike, the guy who had been working on our car, took Ben over to the parts department and gave him a huge discount on some floor mats and bug shields that we had wanted. He gave us like a 50% discount.

Long and the short of it is, I'm glad to have my car back.