Jerry's Perfect Christmas Gift

This year, Jerry truly out did himself! He got me tickets to 4 musicals!!! It was the perfect gift! He also got me the soundtrack to Legally Blonde the musical (so I could sing along at the show), the Rent soundtrack (NO DAY BUT TODAY!), Garden state Soundtrack (one of the most amazing soundtracks of all time), and Scrubs soundtrack (soundtrack high five!) I'm looking forward to Rent the most, the lyrics are absolutely amazing.

Santa Fe

For Christmas we went to Santa Fe with Jerry's family. It was so much fun! We stayed on the Glorieta camp grounds in a lodge. The lodge was perfect, it had 8 rooms and 4 bathrooms and was a perfect fit for us.

We arrived on Saturday around lunch time. We ate lunch and then walked around the town square in Santa Fe. I love Santa Fe, it's so different from any other place. One time we walked into this store that sold very expensive jackets, next thing I know there is this beautiful Great Dane in the store just hanging out! I wish I could do that with Lucy and Rowdy... yeah right, she would destroy the store. Then we went to the Loretto Chapel where they had this amazing staircase. It was so beautiful.
After shopping, we went back to John and Susan's house and did Christmas and ate Gumbo.

On Sunday we woke up to an amazing breakfast prepared by Deanie and Granny. Later me, Jerry, John (Jerry's uncle), Susan (Jerry's aunt), Holly (Jerry's cousin), Drew (Holly's fiance), Haley (Jerry's cousin), and Bretton (Haley's boyfriend) went skiing. I usually snow board, but I wanted to try something new so I took an all day ski lesson. I like skiing, you don't fall near as much, but when you do fall it's so hard to get up. Everyone else stayed back and went sledding, including George!


After skiing all day, we came home and played a game where we split up into 3 groups and were asked questions about the family. My favorite question was about the Christmas Adam Party and the "Who said 'Are you naked' when they were 8 years old to random people in a hot tub thinking they were family members." Apparently, when Jerry was 8 he watched these music videos by Ray Stevens. One video called "It's Me Again Margaret" had a line that said, "Are you naked." Later, he thought his family was in the hot tub at a hotel and said, "Are you naked." I love hearing these funny stories about Jerry. Later that night we went into Santa Fe and looked at all the lights.



On Monday we went and bought shoes at John's store, the Running Hub. By that time, we had to catch a plane to go home. Santa Fe is such a unique place, I love it!

Tametra Wright

On Saturday, November 15 Tametra Wright was killed by a drunk driver. Tametra was a sweet, kind hearted young lady that will be missed. She was a Bowie Volunteer wrestler and Lady Souljah. It is not fair that her death is a result of someones stupidity. She's in a better place now and she will be missed. My prayers go out to the family.

Detroit

A few weekends I ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to Detroit with Papa Harley, Uncle Nathan, and my mom. In Detroit my grandfather was honored as one of 36 greatest players for the Lions. I had no idea that my Papa Harley was that great of player. He truly is a legend. I was so proud and got to meet so many interesting people. I'm so grateful that I got to go.

Holly is engaged!

Holly Lumley (Jerry's cousin) got engaged this weekend to Drew Eakins!  Holly was meeting him at a chapel at Glorieta and she walked in and saw a letter.  The letter said to follow all the other letters.  Each letter she received was a letter from a family member.  Then she came up to a box and it was a bible with her future name on it  (Holly Eakins)!  Then he came out of no where and proposed!  How romantic!  Then they came back to Holly's house where her entire family was there and all of her friends.  I'm so excited for them!  I love weddings!!!!

       

I survived my first 6 weeks

I have officially survived my first 6 weeks! Wow! I've been very busy learning new programs, all of my students names, and keeping up with due dates. Although I have been incredibly busy, I wouldn't have it any other way. I get bored too easily.

Good things that have happened so far in the past two months:
Things to look forward to:

• I'm going wedding dress shopping this weekend!
• Shreveport with friends- October 17
• Step Show- October 28
• Texas Tech vs. UT on November 1st--- GO TECH
• Santa Fe with Jerry's family- December 20

I love the fall. It's such a beautiful time of year.

Concrete!

We decided to unsink our sunken living room by filling it with sand and putting a top layer of cement. By filling the living room, we are creating so much more usable space and I am very happy with the results! We also poured concrete in backyard and now have a beautiful sitting area and porch! I'm so happy!














Unsunken living room!




Backyard!!!

Lucy and Rowdy's Halloween costume.

I got Lucy and Rowdy's Halloween costumes. Lucy is a Ruff-eree and Rowdy is a pirate. Now I need to decide on my Halloween costume.

Lauren is engaged!!!

Lauren is engaged! Dave and Lauren went to San Diego and he proposed on the beach... how romantic! I'm so happy for them! They will most likely have their wedding in Austin in August. This summer is going to be super busy, but I'm totally up for it!

Souljah's and Lady Souljah's

I was asked last Friday if I would be interested in being the new step team sponsor. After thinking about it all weekend and speaking with the head sponsor, I have decided to do it! I can't wait! These kids are amazing! They have won 5 State Championships in the last 5 years! I'm so proud and excited to be a part of something so amazing! The bowie step team is called the Souljah's and the Lady Souljahs. If you want to go to the website its http://www.eteamz.com/bowiesteppers/.


Here are the Souljahs!

These are the Lady Souljah's.

I'm just so proud and happy to be a part of these kids lives! GO VOLS!

All moved in!

Jerry is all moved in! We worked hard all weekend to get everything put up and put together. It didn't hit me that it was ours until Saturday evening. I love this house and I cannot wait to move into it next summer! Sometime this week I'll take some pictures of the house and post them. Thank you Megan for our rooster and Kristen and Brady for the wine.

First day of school as a teacher

I survived my first day of school! I was so nervous the night before I couldn't even eat dinner. School was great! My students are amazing and the day went by so fast! I can't wait for tomorrow!

All about Care Bear

My Turn....

Carolyn:

Carolyn loves Dogs, everything on TLC, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, children, Dogs, her friends, her family, Scrubs, The Office, The Notebook, Dogs, the Beatles, Across the Universe, Rent, Musicals, ESPN (just kidding), Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers, enchiladas with a flour tortilla and sour cream sauce on top, Birraporetis (however you spell it), PetLand, working out, tailgating, going with me to games, Dogs, Facebook. Oh and me. Carolyn has lived in Arlington all of her life with her mom, dad, sister, and pets. Carolyn now lives in south Arlington with her sister Lauren, her sister's dog Barkley, and our dogs Lucy (Chocolate Lab) and Rowdy (Yellow Lab). Carolyn works at Bowie High School as Life Skills coach in the special education department where she gets to take kids out to job sites like Walmart and CiCi's Pizza. School starts and Moday and after preparing all summer I can tell she is really excited and ready to get going. Everyone always says it takes someone special to do what she does, and trust me it does and she is. We met on the golf team at Arlington High and Carolyn said "yes" on January 2nd and will say "I do" on July 11th. She has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known and I love her.

House, Car, School

We are officially home owners!!! Wow, what a feeling! I am so happy! We get the keys on Wednesday and I cannot wait!

I also bought a new car. I know what you're thinking, "Carolyn, you just got a house and a car.... are you crazy." Yes, I am crazy, but I needed a car desperately since the car insurance took mine away on Monday. I got a navy Honda 4-door Civic and I love it!

School is going well, my room is completely set up and I have great teaching assistants. It's hard to believe the time is finally here. I feel like I have been waiting to have my own classroom for years. Now that it's here, I'm so nervous. I know everything is going to go well, it's just the first day jitters. I'll take some pictures of my classroom and post them so everyone can see. Yesterday, I worked up there from 7 to 7 and came home and feel asleep on the couch at 8:30. Hopefully this is not going to become a habit. Lauren and Jerry wouldn't stop making fun of me, but I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.

Everything is coming together slowly, but surely.

Got a house----check

got a car----check

classroom ready----check

I'm choosing to make my next focus school and wedding. I'll keep you posted. I'm also making an effort to recognize that not all things need to be perfect. I never thought I was a perfectionist, but I'm starting to realize I am. I think my biggest fear is failing.

I really miss my friends. Congrats to Megan for getting a 3rd grade teaching position! She's going to do great! Also, congrats to Kristen for passing her teacher test! I knew she could do awesome!

Virginia

We just got back from Virginia about an hour ago. We had so much fun! I got to meet a lot of people that I have heard about and see a lot of family and friends. The first night we went to Blacksburg for a party at Larry's boss' house. They had a live band and a lot of great food. It was really nice being outside when it's not 110 degrees out and the mountains were amazing to look at. I can't imagine being able to wake up to something so beautiful everyday. The next day we had a huge barbecue with family and friends. Larry smoked ribs, corn on the cob, and pork. The food was amazing! The next night we went to an Italian restaurant and came home to play Monopoly. This was no ordinary game of Monopoly... me, Chase (one of Walker's friends), and Jerry had all been knocked out by Karen. Walker was barely hanging on when Jerry decided to become Walker's "teammate." Needless to say the game lasted for over 3 hours and Walker ended up losing. It was a valiant fight though. The next day we went to Anthony's a great little diner in Salem for breakfast and Red Robin for lunch. By the time lunch was over we had to head to the airport. In between barbeque's and going out to eat we had a great time visiting with family and friends. It truly was a great weekend.

The trip kind of ended in a bang. Our flight from Roanoak to Charlotte was delayed and Jerry and I barely made the next flight to Dallas. We had to sprint across the airport. I felt like I was in a movie, it was kind of fun. If we hadn't made that flight we would have had to spend the night at the airport, which would have been interesting.

It was a great weekend and I cannot wait to go back again!

All about Jerry by Carolyn

Jerry:
Jerry works for a company in Dallas called Commerce Street Capital where he is the staff accountant. He has been working there for a little over a year. Every morning Jerry gets to ride a train to work, which I think is pretty cool. Jerry enjoys watching sports of any kind, reading about sports, and playing sports. Some might say Jerry is a little obsessed. He has mainly lived in Texas his entire life except for when he lived in Washington and Virginia for a few years. Throughout his life he has had four dogs: Laddy (a mini Lassy dog), Daisy (a poodle that he wasn't the biggest fan of), Lucy (our first child), and Rowdy (the newest addition to our family.) Jerry graduated from Arlington High School and Texas Tech University with a finance and accounting degree. Jerry loves James Bond, Scrubs, ESPN, chips and salsa, Texas country, Dave Matthew's Band, Ocean's 11/12, playing golf, going over to Rustin and Kody's, horse racing, Lucy, Rowdy, and of course me. Jerry decided to propose to me on January 2nd. He took me to my favorite restaurant and favorite pet store. When we got home he tied the ring to Lucy's collar and proposed. It was the perfect proposal. Jerry is hilarious and is always making me smile. I cannot wait to marry my best friend. I love him more than anything.

A very busy time

Jerry and I are in a very busy time in our lives. We are starting to plan our wedding, which is next summer on July 11. I cannot wait! We have decided to get married in at a place called Victory Art's Center. This building used to be a convent and boarding school for young women and has recentely been renovated into apartments. I love that we are getting married at a place that is a part of history.

Jerry and I also are about to purchase our first house! We found a house in North Arlington that is everything we were looking for and more. It was the very first house we looked at and we counldn't help but compare every single house back to that one. I cannot wait to begin decorating! We close on August 22 and move in August 29.

About 2 weeks ago, Jerry and I were in a terrible accident that we were truly lucky to walk away from. I still cannot believe we made it out with only bumps and bruises. This accident has really made me realize how fast your life can change. I really don't know what I would have done if something happened to Jerry. I am cannot stress how grateful and fortunate we are. As of right now, I am driving a rental car, avoiding highways, and waiting on insurance.

Rowdy Hank Peterson is the newest addition to the Peterson family. About a month ago I finally convinced Jerry to get a yellow Lab. He is precious and Lucy and him are best friends. He does keep me busy, but I don't mind one bit!

This is such an amazing time for Jerry and I and I am so grateful that we have such great families and friends. We have great parents that are so supportive of our dreams and hopes for the future and have continually cheered throughout the years. Our friends mean everything to us and we cannot wait to "grow up" with them.