A Brand New Car!!

Well, Jonathan and I finally made the decision to say goodbye to his old 1998 Toyota 4-Runner and get some new wheels.  His 4-Runner has been acting up lately...shaking all the time, a few transmission problems, not consistently starting, and the brakes were beginning to wear.  Last Saturday we went to CarMax and got a trade-in estimate on his SUV.  I was expecting $1,500, but to our surprise the appraisal was $3,000....WE'LL TAKE IT!!

We decided on a new vehicle to purchase as well.  Jonathan chose a 2008 Ford Escape (in Maroon, of course)  It had just under 45,000 miles and the only owner was a rental car company.  The car was purchased for $15,995.

 

Now who has the beater car??

....yeah, that would be me 

Official....Finally!!

Jonathan finally got his official offer letter from Weatherford Labs!  He has until December 5th to accept the offer, but he has already made up his mind.  Now he needs to do the pre-employment drug test and background check.  I am so happy that he is finally going to be official; I have been worried that he was never going to be official.  He has also been asked to go on a business to Brazil in January.  He is now in the process of getting is work Visa and all the approved clearance that he needs.

Baby on the Way

Jill's baby is almost here!! 
I can't wait to be an Aunt and Jonathan
can't wait to be a Uncle-in-training!!

Student Teaching

I am student teaching now at Spring High School, which is about 30 minutes away from my apartment in Conroe.  Spring High School has a nationally recognized choir program in which one of my college professors was the head director.  They have made sweepstakes at UIL state competition for the past 17 years....straight!!  I am learning bunches and the directors (Ms. Dean and Mr. Landgrebe) have been great mentors.  If you look at my facebook pictures, you may see some of the crazy things that we do during the day.  My last day is this coming Wednesday, Dec. 7th.  I then have a meeting the following day, then i'll be able to graduate!!  Yippie!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Jonathan and I went to his parent's house for 4 days.  While we were there we had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast, saw his little sister (Lauren) perform in the Fort Worth Lights Parade, went Black Friday shopping at Wal-mart, picked up some items from my parent's house, had a wedding counseling session, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and watched a couple of movies.  We had a fun and lots of family time....a good time by all!!

265 Days Until the Wedding....

....but who's counting??

Baby Shower & Back Pains

This weekend, Mom, Aunt Jenny, and Cousin Makayla came down to visit for Jill's first baby shower.  I was the "hostess with the most-est" for the day.  We enjoyed games such as "Guess the Gerber" - guessing the flavor of baby food by smell, "The Price is Right" - guessing the correct price of certain baby necessities, "Baby Bingo" - an all-time classic, and "Change Baby Andrew" - a timed exercise to see how fast Jill can change a diaper in the daytime and in the middle of the night....including a little "pee"!  It was fun by all with lots of good food, cake, family, and friends.  We had an overall turnout of 25 people.

But even before the baby shower, at about 1 AM in the morning the day of the shower, I woke up shaking from the pain (and a bit of anxiety) from this back pain I was having.  I have had bronchitis/cold for about 3 weeks now.  I have been on prednisone twice, a total of 4 antibiotic shots in my two doctor's visits, and 2 different prescription antibiotics.  My lungs are just not cooperating along with the rest of my body.  It feels like my lungs are oozing out of my ribs and my back is swollen.  Luckilly Mom stayed at my place (Jenny and MK were at Jill's apartment) so we hopped in the truck along with Jonathan and went to the hospital.  

Conroe Regional is just about a mile and a half down the road from my apartment and got checked in quickly.  They did a chest x-ray, chest CT, some blood work, and an EKG.  I got some Xanex for my shaking but nothing for the pain.  At one point, they had me laying down for the EKG and my pain was a 10 out of 10....approaching an 11.  I had to take shallow breaths just to prevent pain from happening.  Everything was clear and they diagnosed me with a cold....it literally says "COLD" on my discharge sheet.  I went to the hospital at 1 AM in the morning to get diagnosed with a cold...and no pain meds??  Are you kidding me!?!?  Anyways, we left around 4:30 AM, got some sleep then woke up for the baby shower fun.

While in the ER, we over-heard some interesting stories.  There was a prisoner from the Huntsville Unit there, a drunken Veteran who was refusing treatment by using some colorful language, a suicide attempt, a crying baby, and yelling/screaming couples.

The back pain is better, now I think it's just sore muscles from coughing and tension.  Keeping up on the Tylenol and Advil for pain and inflammation, along with an inhaler for my shortness of breath.

Another Sick One...

A couple of days ago I had believed that Jonathan had given me his cold.  After taking every medicine that is over the counter to fight the cold, nothing was working.  I had a runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, coughing, gunk in the lungs, I decided to finally go to the doctor.  I went to urgent care after church this morning and the doctor told me that I had a sinus infection and severe bronchitis.  While in the office I had a nebulizer treatment, 2 antibiotic injections, and 3 prescriptions written.  I picked up my prescriptions this afternoon for another antibiotic and prednizone.  The antibiotic is HUGE!!!  If you know me and pills, we have a love-hate relationship.  I have to cut this pill into 4 pieces just to take it....NOT FUN!!

Here is hoping for well wishes!!

Cold Season Has Arrived!

Jonathan has a cold.  He has been complaining of body aches, cough, sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, and PND (post nasal drip).  I went to CVS tonight and got him some cough drops he could use at work, some cough medicine (go Robitussin!), some travel kleenex for work, and hand sanitizer (for me!).

Well wishes for a speedy recovery!!

A New Church Home

Jonathan and I have found a new church home to attend.  It is called First Presbyterian Church in Conroe, TX.  This church is in the process of getting an interim pastor and just elected an associate pastor.  The music ministry here is really strong.  They have 3 services: two traditional and one contemporary.  I received a scholarship to sing in the choir.  I am probably going to transfer my membership to here from my Huntsville church.  The choir director is a SHSU graduate and is a great leader for the ministry.  Since joining the choir, I have lowered the age percentage of the choir about 50%.  I am also playing in the hand bell choir as a fill-in/floater.  I will be filling in as substitute director for both the hand bell choir and regular choir if the director takes vacation or needs to leave.  It is a great church and I can't wait to continue being involved in the music ministry here!

Happy 4-Year Anniversary!!

On Wednesday it was me and Jonathan's 4-year anniversary.  I got Jonathan a card and some of his favorite chocolates.  Jonathan got me a dozen red roses, a card, and a freezer chocolate pie slice.  We only got just a little bit of time to hang out on the couch and watch TV because I had church until about 9 PM.  It was still a good day and it was great to be reminded of how long we have been together.  We both look forward to the upcoming planning of our wedding and our continued life together!!

A Mess My Mother Wouldn't Be Proud Of....

Student Teaching

This semester, I am required to student teach before graduating in December.  I started student teaching on August 22nd - Monday.  I will be placed at two different schools.  I am at Peet Junior High right now.  It is located in Conroe, so it doesn't take me very long to get to school.  My next placement will be at Spring High School in Spring, TX.  I will start there towards the middle of October.  It will be about a 15-20 minute drive everyday, so still not bad.

My experience so far has been great!  My mentor teacher had given me lots of guidance and direction.  She likes to just let me run lessons how I would like to.  I have one class that she has given me complete control over and that is the Music Appreciation class.  I also get to teach some of the choir classes.  Lately, I have taught all of the classes all day!!  It is so much fun, but SO EXHAUSTING!!  I usually go to bed around 9 or 10 PM and wake up at 6:30 AM.  I have already had to write-up a girl and she got In School Suspension because she would not stop talking....and it's only the 3rd WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!

Anyways....I have been loving every minute of it and it's not over!!  Here is to more stories on the way!!

Blogging Break

Sorry about being on a blogging break....life has been busy!!

Burnin' Down the House!

While cooking lunch today, I was cooking hamburgers in the oven using the broiler.  FYI...I have done this before!!  Well this batch of hamburgers was a little bit more greasy than normal, so the grease was bubbling up and splattering on the broiler coil.  I noticed this and pulled them out of the oven and turned the oven off.  While in the midst of putting my temperature fork together the smoke alarm started going off!!  I didn't know that the oven was producing that much smoke!!  Jonathan started running into the bathroom and acting crazy....seriously!!  I grabbed the kitchen towel and started fanning the smoke detector.  After 30 seconds it stopped beeping.  I'll never make hamburgers in the oven again....who's getting us that grill off of our wedding registry??

A Leaky Machine

Tonight, I was attempting to do some laundry.  I had succeeded in one load of permanent press, next was jeans and colors combined. The jeans and colors did not fill up the machine, but it was a good amount of clothes.  

During a commercial break, I was going to put the jeans and colors in the dryer and I stepped into a pool of water....at the sink!  This pool was a lake leading all the way to the washer.  I screamed for Jonathan's name in the other room and quickly grabbed some towels.  After cleaning up the puddle, I immediately looked up our apartment policy regarding emergency maintenance issues.  It said that if the issue was to cause property damage, it was considered an emergency....water, square stick-down vinyl "tiles", leaky washer, EMERGENCY!!

We called the leasing office and left a page for the emergency maintenance worker.  10 minutes later, "the man" arrived at our door to fix our problem.  What he found out was our drain line (the thick black hose-a sample pictured below) popped out of place because of the water pressure and drained on our floor instead of down the drain.  He told us to keep an eye on it for the next couple of wash cycles, and if it keeps popping out he would rig it to stay put.

 

Thanks you maintenance man!!

Honeymoon Plans

Jonathan and I have been discussing what we wanted to do for our honeymoon plans.  We talked about delaying it for a while because we wanted to visit with our family that was in town for the wedding, but after we found this great deal, we couldn't pass it up!  

We are going to take a 4 Night Bahama cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's "Norwegian Sky".  Our ship leaves from Miami, Florida and taking us to Grand Bahama Island, Great Stirrup Cay (the cruise line's private island), and Nassau.  Our ship leaves on July 2nd, which will give us time after the wedding to visit family that are still in town then fly out that early evening for Miami.

We are really excited now that we have the trip booked, and are now looking at possible excursions, attractions, and planning our beach time!!  Another countdown to make!!

2 Month Review

Jonathan had his 2 month review at work on Thursday.  They talked to him about how he has been enjoying his working environment, his job position and tasks, and other questions.  He has another month before he will have a decision from Weatherford on being hired.  Hopefully it will it be good news!!

GRE Exam

This Thursday I will be taking the GRE test (Graduate Records Exam).  This test includes 3 sections: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning.  Starting August 1st, they changed the test to be more accessible, probably not easier though. 
So, this Thursday would appreciate some prayers!!

Summer Convention

This past week/weekend, I attended a choral convention in San Antonio, TX.  Texas Choral Directors Association annual convention is usually held at the end of July or beginning of August every year.  This convention featured 35+ workshops and 13+ new music reading sessions.  Featured composers Craig Hella Johnson, Dan Davison, and Laura Farnell.  Other featured clinicians and workshop leaders were Donald Neuen, Sandra Snow, and Jonathan Reed.  There was also a huge exhibit hall featuring music vendors, fundraising ideas, t-shirt makers, and other musical items.

This year I received 266 free pieces of choral music from the reading workshops!!  Music ranges from Unison/2-Part music to advanced HS and college level, incorporating secular and sacred music.  Not bad for a person starting to build their choral library!!

New Mattress!

Last week, Jackie and I went to Rooms To Go and purchased a Sealy Posturepedic queen mattress set. Well, it was delivered today!A clean, empty room awaiting the mattress arrival

It's here! (plastic and all)

The finished product

Here's to many rest-filled nights ahead!

Saying Yes to the Dress!

This weekend, I went wedding dress shopping with Mom and my Maid of Honor, Nicole.

We traveled to David's Bridal and tried on some dresses.  After lots of deliberation and some re-trying on dresses, I finally chose what will be my wedding dress!!  Nicole then tried on some bridesmaid dresses and we decided on a style and look for the wedding.

I am now really pumped for the wedding.  I have been making lots of decisions and choices since being home.  I have updated our wedding website.  Here you can find information about the wedding, how we met, and where we are registered!

Jackie & Jonathan's Wedding Website

What Is Wrong With This Picture??

Winnie the Pooh Movie

Tonight, Jonathan and I took a "date night"!

We went to Denny's for dinner because I had received coupons in the Sunday paper.

Jonathan tried the new Georgia Peach French Toast while I had the Build-Your-Own Grand Slam.

After the deliciousness, we went lamp shopping to replace the broken one.  See the previous blog entry for that story. 

After purchasing our new lamp, we loaded it up in the car and drove to the movies.  I had been so excited to see this new Pooh movie that was coming out.  Luckily the theater was not full because of the Harry Potter madness that was going on.  It was a really cute movie and included many adventures in finding Eeyore's tail, searching for Christopher Robin, and fighting Backsons!  While it wasn't better than The Tigger Movie, it was still really funny and a new favorite of mine!

New Lamp

Our lamp had an unfortunate accident a while a go.

I received a phone call from Jonathan telling me that he was vacuuming one day and hit the end table by the couch.  In doing so, the lamp knocked over and broke the glass surroundings.

Today before going to see a movie, we decided to stop by JCPenny's and look at lamps.

The one we purchased was on clearance for 60% off, originally being $100.00, now $39.99

It now matches our new couch furniture and it more stable then the one before.

It includes a 3-way lighting system and came with the shade.

We made sure to check for scratches or marks and found none.

Extreme Shoppers

After church this morning, Jonathan and I did some extreme coupon shopping at CVS and Walgreens.  We got several items to stockpile because they were on sale and had lots of good coupons to use that were going to expire.  Our loot includes:

• 24 Pack of Bottled Water
• 3 Venus Pro-Skin Razor Sets
• 1 Fusion Pro-Glide Razor Set
• 1 Bottle of Shaving Cream
• 1 Refill Cartridge (Venus PS)
• 1 Refill Cartridge (Fusion PG)
• 4 Oral-B Indicator Toothbrushes
• 1 Box of Cascade (60 oz)
• 2 Boxes of Wal-Zyr Allergy Medicine (30 tablets)
• 1 Box of Bounce (120 sheets)
• 2 Packs of Bounty Basic Paper Towels (8 rolls)
• 2 Packs of Charmin Toilet Paper (16 rolls)

Our total between all items include: $130.51
Our savings with coupons and sale items: $70.15
Extra savings and coupons received: $5.50 ExtraBucks + $20 Walgreens Coupons + $10 Shell Gas = $35.50
Grand total: $24.86 (81% savings!)

We now should be good on toilet paper and paper towels for a while, Jonathan has a 2 month supply of allergy medication, Jonathan and I both have razors for our shaving needs.

We have filled up the empty cabinet in the kitchen that holds all of our paper goods we bought.  (Picture to come....if my computer would recognize my memory card!)

Toyota Transformed!

Jonathan picked up his Toyota 4-Runner from the dealership on Thursday afternoon.

There were quite a few major repairs done and some other needed tune-up items.

Work done included:

• Transmission fluid flush and replacement of Transmission O-rings
• Replaced front brake calipers and brake pads
• Cleaned and aligned back brakes
• Replaced fuel filter
• Replaced all 6 spark plugs

Now the 4-Runner purrs like a kitten and brakes like a dream!!

Hopefully we won't have problems with that car for a while!!

Bridal Shower Present

Here is the first bridal shower present that Jonathan and I have received. 
We got it in the mail from Kohl's today sent by Dee and Doug. 
We have been borrowing their vacuum that they use for the upstairs. 
I'm pretty sure they are getting tired of carrying the downstairs vacuum upstairs. 
Don't worry, I'll return it when we come home in July!!

 

The vacuum is really light-weight and includes all the normal attachments.
It is bagless, includes a HEPA filter, and also has a special small vacuum attachment for rugs.

I think the feature that I like is the foot power latch. 
There is a red latch on the back that you just push down to start the vacuum.

I might just enjoy vacuuming now....maybe Jonathan will get a break from vacuum duties!!

Toyota Troubles

This week Jonathan called my during camps to tell me that he was having some car problems.  The steering wheel was shaking vigorously when slowing down from high speeds, hard to brake, would not go over 35-40 MPH, and the list continues.  After getting home from camps we towed the car to Gullo Toyota in Conroe (about 1 1/2 miles from the apartment).  We talked to Kenny and he told us that they would look at the car and give us an estimate of repairs (if any).

We received a call from Kenny today saying that the mechanics did not finish looking at the car yet.  They did give it a test drive and had no problems getting it to high speeds.  They are going to continue to look at it on Monday (they are closed on Sunday) and let us know.

Updates to come!!

This One Time at Band Camp....

....well, not a whole lot!!

I just got done with the first week of SHSU Summer Music Camps.  This week was JH Band Camp.  These students range in ages from 10-13.  There were approximately 150 students separated into 3 different bands.  The kids were really well behaved and mannered.  There were a couple of incidents but nothing major.

Tomorrow I go back to Huntsville for the second week of camps: JH Orchestra Camp.  Hopefully everything will go as smoothly as planned!!

Our New Couch & Chair

This is a look at our new living room furniture!!

We bought it from Rooms to Go.  We went because they were having a special for rooms under $1000 and no interest until January 2013.  He had to pay just a little bit more because of the furniture lifetime warranty and sleeper sofa.  We purchased this furniture in an espresso finish.  The pictures look a little green-ish but it is brown in real-life.  The couch has a queen sleeper sofa included so that our guests may have the opportunity to sleep over.  The couch also has a chaise included (aka...Jonathan's spot).  I get the rest of the couch and lounge my feet on top of Jonathan.  The chair is over-sized and completes the set.  We were a little worried about it fitting in the living room but it fits great with our space.  We will now be accepting reservations for visitors, FREE OF CHARGE....continental breakfast included!!

My New Job!

Well I've made it through my first week as Instrument Technician at Weatherford Labs in The Woodlands! I've already learned a lot and am having a ton of fun too.

As part of the Instruments Department, I build machines that analyze the chemical composition of rock and oil samples. One reason I love my job so far is that it's so hands-on. Building these machines requires everything from soldering of electrical components to assembly of power supplies. Once I gain more experience, I'll be able to travel to customers to troubleshoot equipment.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers for me during this new chapter in my life! I look forward to keeping you updated as my job progresses.

A New Goal

 
Well, it's about time that I faced the music on this.  I am not at a weight that I would call beautiful right now, and I would love for that to change.  I have found that over the past 3 years since my sophomore year I have gained over 60 pounds.  I mostly blame it on my thyroid disease, but I mostly have to blame myself for not doing anything about it.  I have just over a year before the wedding and I would love to not be a "chunky monkey".  I calculated my BMI today and I am considered in the Obese category now.  That is really motivating me to shed this weight.

I have started my new weight loss goal today.  I plan on losing 50 pounds by December 1st.  This is approximately a little over 2 pounds a week.  I weight 185 right now, and would love to be 135.  I am now watching my calories and exercising everyday.  Thanks to Mom, she let me take her Wii with me to Conroe and I can work out with Wii Fit and My Fitness Coach.  It is also a plus that I have access to the apartment's fitness center 24 hours a day.

I am also using a website calorie counter called Spark People that helps me track my calorie intake, add fitness/cardio credits for exercise, and give myself goals.  My motivation is in competition with Mom.  We are making a "friendly wager" in our weight loss journey.  I told her that I would like to do something like volunteer at a food pantry or donate some money to Feeding America.  So, watch out Mom, I'm coming with a force!!  :-)

I hope that you all will help me be accountable, as I hope to be accountable to all of you in your life goals as well.

Registered!

You can now find the Jacklyn Kuklenz & Jonathan Kiefer
wedding registries at Kohl's and Target!

We've Got Mail

Today we received our first pieces of mail.  It was over half junk mail, but there were a couple of coupons for local businesses and our State Farm insurance policies.

It also included our first bill from State Farm to pay for our Renter's Insurance and Jonathan's auto insurance.

Welcome Home!

Jonathan and I moved into our new apartment this weekend. 
We live in Conroe as it is about half way in between Jonathan's work and SHSU for Jackie.

Here are some pics of our apartment!

Jackie Kuklenz & Jonathan Kiefer

901 Wilson Road  APT 224

Conroe, TX 77301

Office desk

Dining Room

Living Room

Shoe Rack

Kitchen

Bathroom

Laundry Room

Bedroom

Jonathan's Closet

 Jackie's Closet

Here is a picture of Jonathan before leaving for his first day of work on Monday.  We went to Walmart to buy some steel-toed boots.  He also gets the pleasure of wearing comfortable clothes to work!