Good news!

Good news! Allen received a phone call from the Hannibal Police Dept this morning! He has an interview scheduled for 9a.m. Monday morning! YAY! :) I have a good feeling about this. In the previous blog I said they cut it down from 600 people to 68, but that was a typo, it was actually 86. So it went from 600 to 86, to 15, and Allen is part of the 15. Keep praying for us. This job would be HUGE for us if he gets it. It would mean alot of good things! (Like maybe some little baby Cooleys in the future, but don't worry, not yet!)

We played tennis tonight for an hour and 20 minutes. We are both tired tonight, but proud of how we've been keeping up with the excercise. Tennis on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, tennis again tonight. Tomorrow night we might have to take a break because Josh is coming over for dinner and we have the movie Powder from Netflix. We really like that Josh comes over about once a week for dinner. It's really nice to get to hang out with him. When we were kids we fought alot, but now that we are older, my lil bro is a really great guy and I not only love him because he's my brother, but I actually just really like him as a person. I'll tell you one thing about him too, he's got our backs! If we ever needed anything from him, he would be there for us, and I just hope he knows that we would always be there for him too. Marrying into the Cooley family, has brought me two new brothers and a sister and of course a second mom and dad, and many other wonderful family members. I love you all so much . I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world to have the wonderful family I have. It makes me a little bit sad thinking about how some people don't realize how much love is in this family. I would just like to let that one particular "some people" know that we still love her very much. The love of a family is the strongest love, and even though sometimes we do things to eachother that we don't always like, sometimes we even do things that really hurt eachother, we always, ALWAYS love each other. Making one mistake doesn't take away the love of family. "Some people", if you're reading this, you know where Allen and I live, and you know that we love you.

MMmmmm GOOD!

Tonight we went to the Y for swimming. It was pretty busy there tonight, quite a bit more people than normal. The first time we went swimming there a guy told us that any time the weather is really bad or really good you can count on it being busy. Well, tonight wasn't really bad, but it has been looking like it's going to storm all day. Anyways, when we got home I made us some Orange Julius drinks. They were HEAVENLY! :) A lot cheaper than getting a milkshake at Dairy Queen, and more healthy too! Super simple to make. This is the recipe I used.

This makes enough for 2-4 people depending on how much ice you use.

ORANGE JULIUS

Measurements are approximate, you may want a little more sugar or vanilla, but would not recommend messing with the milk,water, and oj measurements.

1 cup milk

1 cup orange juice

1 cup water

1/2 blender full of ice

1/4 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla if you use the good mexican stuff, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions: add ice first, then milk,oj, and water, pour in the sugar and add the vanilla last. Blend until smooth. MMMM Good! :)

9:30-6:00 shift...yuck

This week is my 9:30a.m.-6:00 pm shift. It makes for a long week, which means an even longer week for us because this weekend we are going to Sturgeon and we can't wait. Getting off work at 6pm pretty much just screws the normal schedule up. It means we're not eating until about 7-7:30 p.m., and we end up staying up later than usual, which means next week when I go back to the 8-4:30p.m., our sleep is all messed up. I know, I know, you're supposed to go to bed and get up at the same time every day...it's better for our health and all that jazz, but we just can't do it. Allen and I were born night owls. Mornings are for the squirrels! LOL!

Tonight we went to play tennis and a family of four also came to play. They brought their two full size long haired dachshund's along to play and they were BEAUTIFUL! I would love to have another dog, but Allen says , no, not until we can get an outside dog, which deep down inside I know he is right, we don't need another dog.

Hope everyone's Monday was a good one! Love you all!

Something Allen is VERY excited about...

You may remember a few months ago about how we watched one of Allen's childhood favorites, TRON,

Well, behold the teaser trailer released at Comic-Con for Tron: Legacy. Allen is pscyhed about this. I have to say I'm a little excited too, because the theatre in Hannibal has the 3-D capability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1dHhktFLPs You have to click on the link because for some reason embedding was requested as disabled for this trailer.

In other news , tonight we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Allen got a new pair of shoes today! These one's are Nikes so hopefully they will hold up a little better than the New Balance shoes we bought him last year.

Some fun on Saturday...

Well, we are going to be out of town for Caleb's birthday, which is next week; so we decided to celebrate with him tonight. We took him out to eat at The Mark Twain Dinette, where we of course had to have some homemade root beer, and then we watched the new Harry Potter movie. Dinner was good, movie was long! (Not my favorite by any means...it was a LOT slower than the other ones have been.) Then we went to Wal-Mart where we bought Penny a new toy. It's called a Zany Ball. It's just a little plastic ball with knobs on it that has one double A battery in it and it just kind of wobbles around on the floor. She loves it! Here is a video of her in action with it:

Hopeful Thursday

Well, today was the big day. Allen had his test at 8 a.m at the Hannibal Police Dept. (Penny and I went with, we stayed in the car though...) It did end up being an IQ test, a very simple one at that, then the applicants were given five minutes to write a paragraph explaining why would be best for the job, which Allen has already submitted his resume and cover letter with his application, so the paragraph was easy to write. Then they had what was called a "physical agility test" which included only one thing, and that was to pick up a 50 lb bag of sand and carry it a certain distance and up a few stairs. Allen aced that. No prob. He's had LOTS of experience handling big squirmy dogs which is a lot harder than a stationary bag of sand. The man in charge of testing today advised the applicants that there had been over 600 applications received! They narrowed it down to 68 people to test, and will be whittling those 68 down to 15 to receive actual interviews, and then of course only one person will get the job. Allen's chances for an interview are looking good so far. Just keep praying, and we'll keep you updated!

Last night we ate dinner with Grandma Hazel. We took her to Elders. She was in town for a dentist appointment and had been trying to find a dress for her 50th high school reunion. FIFTY years out of highschool!!! It's only been 6 for me and that seems like a long time! :) Allen celebrates his 10th next year. We are still debating on whether or not we really want to go. My class had our 5th year reunion last year and if you ask me it wasn't very much fun or exciting. Don't get me wrong, it was good to get to see a few of my classmates and their beautiful children, but with it only being 5 years most people hadn't changed much from highschool. Now a 10 year reunion may be a little more fun than a 5th. We'll just have to wait and see. Good thing we have a year to think about it.

This morning after Allen's test we dropped by Grandma and PopPop's to say hi. Penny really wanted to investigate the house, but of course we didn't let her. The last time she was over there was on Thanksgiving last year and she was still a teeny tiny puppy then. She slept most of the time on my aunt Amy's lap. Today Penny is 11 months old. Next month is her birthday! YAY! That little dog is probably one of the very best investments we have made. We just love her to pieces. A dog's love is certainly something special. Human's tend to place conditions our love, or expect something in return for our love-not a dog. A dog faithfully loves you no matter what, unconditionally and whole-heartedly. Their loyalty is unparalleled. As I write this, I know when Grandma and Popop read it, there will be a little sadness felt over the recent loss of their wonderful little dog. Also, Brenda and Phil have recently lost more than one dog. We were sad to see each of these dogs go. I would have to say this, that I am very sorry for your loss, but I am very happy for both of you that you were able to share your lives with her and that she gave her whole life to you, that's the way dogs like it to be. We try to love eachother unconditionally and with family I believe we all come as close as possible. God is the one who truly loves unconditionally, but sometimes I think he created dogs with their mindsets the way they are so that we could experience that love in a more tangible way. We can't reach out and hug God, but we can certainly hug a dog and feel that love coming from them. As gross as puppy dog kisses are...they always warm my heart. Grandma and Popop, the memories you have from her will always be good ones, and you will always know that special bond. Thanks to Penny I now understand that bond too! Before, I just didn't get it. Now I wouldn't trade her for anything. We would have lived in a cardboard box if it meant getting to keep our little dog. We're very grateful to have found a landlord that has no problem with her. In all honesty, she's alot cleaner than most little kids I know...LOL! :)

Well, I'm off to my eye appointment.

Tae Bo Tuesday!

Well, Allen and I have been doing pretty good with our diet and fairly decent with adding additional physical activity to our daily lives. ((It has been 3 months almost 4 month since Allen and I ate anything but a grilled chicken salad from McDonald's!) Getting the Y membership and tennis rackets has really helped, every little bit helps make us healthier people; but I don't just want to be more healthy, I really truly want to lose weight. So....that means more than just increasing physical activity. It means REALLY exercising...the kind I hate...ok, so I don't really hate it, I'm just not any good at it. But yesterday was the start of the week, and we made it a good start. We played tennis for an hour and then I walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill. Tonight I did Tae Bo. Allen is holding off on anything to serious excercise wise until after Thursday because we have no idea if this test he is taking for the animal control officer position is going include anything physical. We would hate for him to get hurt or be too sore to perform if he is going to have to. Hopefully, he won't. The job description only mentions the ability to carry 50 lbs up to 25 ft. which Allen can definately do. I remember doing Tae Bo with my Grandma Hazel when I was in Jr. High. It seemed like it was fun then, but tonight, I'm thinking WOW...I am REALLY out of shape. It was REALLY hard and I'm REALLY worn out! That's ok though, it's gonna be worth it. Someone please remind me tomorrow that I said that! LOL! :)

Penny has been a little terror tonight. In fact as I'm typing this , Allen has her on the treadmill for the second time tonight! She's sooo full of energy, so Allen's gonna walk it out of her. She does such a good job on the treadmill. She can walk on it all by herself now!

Weekends...never long enough!

Well, this weekend went by much too quickly. Friday night we ate out, at Elder's, which is a restaurant that is very close to our house. It was the first time we ever tried eating there. It was a very nice experience. Definately a "hometown" diner feel to it. I think my Grandma Downing and PopPop would really like and Allen said it reminded him of a restaurant called the Junction in central Missouri. We got an appetizer of chicken livers!!!! I've never had them before this, at least not that I could remember, maybe when I was a kid, but this was definately my first tasting of them as an adult, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Suprisingly to me, they were pretty good! Different , but good. Probably not something I will ever crave; but it was a good experience. The rest of the food there was really good and the prices were very reasonable. We will definately be eating there again sometime.

Saturday night we went to a birthday party for a friend of ours in Hannibal. We played Apples to Apples and poker. We lost, but the birthday girl won. It was a pretty good time!

Today we have done nothing but relax, trying very hard not to think about work this week. No such luck...tomorrow it starts all over again. BLEH! That's ok, though. Thursday is Allen big day for the animal control test. I wish Thursday would hurry up and get here! I also have an eye appointment that day, so I might be picking out a new pair of glasses....possibly....

Hope everyone has had a great weekend. To our family in Sturgeon, we can't wait to come see you! :) We are counting down the days! Can you believe that half the Cooley clan has birthdays in August!

YAY! ....and other things....

So, Allen turned in his resume, cover letter and application into the Hannibal Police Dept yesterday and today he received a phone call to schedule himself for testing!!!!! I guess there is a test you have to take to qualify for an interview, something the paper did not say, BUT I'm thinking it's definately good news. Now, the guy already told Allen that there are ALOT of people testing. He's scheduled to take his test at 8a.m. on Thursday morning. I'm hoping that it is just going to be your standard personality/ iq test, which I really think that this is probably what it will be. The job will require someone who is smart and mentally stable and an interview cannot always show that. My job required a "test" before I got an interview, too. Heck, even the gas station job that Allen has now required an simple IQ test. I think that pretty much with the job market the way it is now, any time an employer has a job opening, they need to have something extra in addition to the interview to help weed out some people. Especially a job that only requires at minimum a GED. I'm sure that at least 100 people have applied for this position. I know I've said this before, but please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Allen is nervous as all get out, and I am nervous for him. It has been very tough on Allen for the past two years applying and applying, only getting an interview here and there, and nothing coming out of it. We have been able to maintain the positive thought process that every time one of the previous opportunities didn't work out, it was because Allen is meant to have something else. Something better, but that is starting to be a hard outlook to have.

Tonight is a really wierd night because Allen switched a girl who always trades him to work the night shift. So, I'm home alone. :( I took Allen dinner though! I haven't really been blogging about the food lately...mostly that's because I have either been recooking recipes that have worked in the past or something so simple that it's not blog worthy...but tonight I really did make something I was pretty proud of because I came up with it on my own! I made a marinade for pork chops that had dijon mustard, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic and orange marmalade in it. And then I made a little extra to glaze the pork as I cooked it in the skillet. I should have taken a picture because it was beautiful! :) The flavor was amazing too. Only problem was they ended up being a little dry...but ehh...maybe not next time! Another recipe that I didn't really mention here on the blog that I made last week was Lime Caribbean Jerk Chicken Breasts. The chicken was VERY simple but soooo good. I bought some McCormick Caribbean Jerk seasoning and cooked the chicken almost all the way through in a skillet dusted with the seasoning and then in the last few minutes of cooking I squeezed a lime over the top of the chicken. It was AMAZING, and we will definately be eating it again! The seasoning was DEFINATELY a good investment. We're going to try it on pork chops too!

Hmmm....Allen's not home yet...so I guess I can just make this an extra long blog...this week at work we have been having the "Never Ending" baby shower for a girl at work in our unit, where each day someone brings her a gift and someone else brings snacks for everyone each day of the week. I signed up for snacks today and went w/ a "baby" food theme. Baby carrots, baby pickles, baby bagels, baby tortilla pin wheels, and the hit of the day, "baby" sandwiches. The sandwiches were actually "tea sandwiches" made with cream cheese, mayo, and dry italian seasoning spead on the bread with slices of cucumbers in between cut into triangles. I had four people ask me for the recipe, so I guess I better remember to take it to work with me tomorrow. Something so simple was such a hit. I was really suprised at the reaction to it, but I myself was suprised by the flavor because they were very tasty little sandwiches.

Work is REALLY hard right now, with more and more people losing their jobs, thus their insurance too. Some of the calls I've been taking lately have been breaking my heart. I'm having to put on my armor before work too though because for every nice person that calls breaking my heart, I have another jerk face talking to me like I'm not a human being. It's a really good thing they haven't decided to implement any kind of video phone customer service, I wouldn't be able to do it. It's also a good thing that I know how expensive the equipment I use at work is, otherwise I probably would have put my fist thru the computer screen and broke my keyboard in half a long time ago. I can handle a lot of crap on the phones but when someone completely disregards the fact that I'm of the same species as themselves, living in the same screwed up country as them, I lose my cool, on the inside of course. Sometimes I picture myself punching the computer screen in my mind...and it helps...is that a bad thing? LOL! :) I may be a super human magician, and a psychic while I'm at work, but one thing I am not willing to be is a verbal punching bag. COME ON PEOPLE! If you are having problems, even if it is our fault, talking to me like you a 10 year brat is NOT going to accomplish anything, not going to help you. Talk to me like you are an adult, and like I'm a person. I promise it is my job to help you, and with the economy the way it is, I definately want to keep my job, so I am definately going to do my very best to get your problems resolved.

Ok, well, I think I'm done ranting for now. Thanks for ummm...listeni....reading! :) Hope everyone had a great day. We miss you all!

$0.40 Wing Night

Tonight we went out to eat with Josh and his friend Brandon at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was $0.40 wing night, and Brandon made up his mind that he was going to try the HOTTEST buffalo wings they have and take Joshua down with him! Josh was sweatin up a storm, Brandon made it through 2 and 1/2. UNBELIEVABLE! Brandon at one point said "I want to put a wetnap in my mouth!" LOL! Before they even ordered the hot wings Brandon says, "I heard they made one guy's nose bleed and burned the skin off his lips..." Allen and I opted out of this crazy plan and ordered several different flavors of the hot wings. We tried the third hottest kind they have "Mango Habenero" , and those were plenty hot for me but VERY GOOD! :)

Monday Blahs

It's Monday...back to work for me. A day of trying to get a new job for Allen. He picked up the application from the Hannibal Police Department for the animal control officer position. It's a pretty simple application, and it included a full job description and needed qualifications. Allen fits it all perfectly. He really does. The position doesn't even require a high school diploma. A GED is acceptable. Allen has a college degree in wildlife and fisheries! :) HE'D BETTER GET AN INTERVIEW!!!!!!! Him getting the job would probably require another move, but if he gets this job. We will finally be able to start looking at finding a house to buy. We will see. It's all very nerve racking. Allen says don't talk about it too much because he doesn't want to get his hopes up, but mine are already up; and I can't help it. He would be soooo good at this job. Pray pray pray for us.

Blogging away from home...

We got out electric bill for last month...and it was completely manageable! YAY! :)

I am writing this blog from the Downing house in Missouri. We came over here for dinner and to see the family. I cooked for everyone tonight, my "buffalo sauce meatloaf" with Ole Planter's Green Beans and ranch mashed potatoes, and for dessert we had Orange Julius's! MMmmmmm! It was all really good and I'm completely stuffed. Caleb is playing his brand new video game Conduit and Allen is waiting to take a turn playing. Caleb wants us to stay to watch Saturday Night Live with him, but it doesn't start for another hour and 15 minutes...not sure if I"m gonna make it that long. Today has been a mostly uneventful Saturday. Allen had to work, and I did dishes today. Josh came over to say hi for a little while in the morning. Penny is happy to see my parents dog, Mia. Those two dogs love eachother. It's really cute to watch them play. It's nice to get to hang out with the family at least once a week. We both really wish that we live closer to Sturgeon. We miss you all alot. Don't worry, we are coming soon to see you! :) And Grandma and Popop, we are going to come see you soon too! We're definately up for a game of Pitch! :)

So, Penny has stopped trying to put her nyla bone under the loveseat for the most part. She has moved onto better things to hide...MONEY! That's right, our little Penny is a little penny hoarder! We caught her carrying a quarter in her mouth the other night. She was going to put it under the loveseat, but of course we took it away. Out of curiosity I stuck my hand under there to see what I could find. I pulled out five pennies and one dime!!! LOL! Penny had a saving's account going on underneath the loveseat. It made Allen and I both laugh HARD! :)

We have decided that Monday night is going to Penny's first night with free run of the kitchen. She's gotten to the point where she is holding her pee overnight. Tomorrow we are going to puppy proof the kitchen and we'll let you know how it goes after Monday night.

Well, while the boys are playing video games I suppose I have plenty of time to type tonight. I don't really have much to say. I'm really disappointed in the national news today, nothing but absolutely despairing news. "Parents of 16 kids shot to death in Florida", "Possibly 6000 people exposed to Hepatitis C by drug addicted technician in Colorado", and many more. Where is the "good news" news? As desperate and terrible as things are as a whole for our nation right now. A lot of good things are coming out this too! People are coming closer together, and starting to really appreciate things they have taken for granted in the past. There is good news to be had, but it just doesn't sell as well as all this other disturbing and morbid news. So, I decided to google "only good news" and came up with a few websites. I thought I would share them with you. I haven't done any research on them, so I don't know that all of the news is legit, but I can't really see any reason why it wouldn't be. These two websites are great. I am going to make it a point to read a good news article at least once a day!

http://www.goodnewsgazette.net/

http://www.happynews.com/

And seriously check this out : http://www.happynews.com/news/782009/forget%20gas%20batteries%20pee%20new%20power%20source.htm , batteries that work with urine!?!? I'm way beyond amused by this! Next alternative energy resouce, urine?!?! I'm going to think about my pee differently from now on.

Well, I hope everyone else has had a great Saturday night! Love you all, and see you soon!

Pics (Can you believe it..two posts...one day?!?)

I have added most of the pics from the 4th of July to the photobucket Summer 2009 album. Again, :( a lot of them are blurry...still working on getting that fixed. Oh well. Blurry or not...they are still good memories. Click on this link to view: http://photobucket.com/summer09cooley

Or you can always click on the picture in the side bar.

A new job prospect...YAY!

Today in the paper there was an ad for a Hannibal Animal Control officer! Starting pay $11 then moving to $12 an hour after probation period. Allen applied for the same position here in Quincy. He scored an interview, but we are pretty sure that they already had someone in mind when the posted the position. We're thinking he has just as good of a chance at scoring an interview w/ Hannibal as he did with Quincy. I think that Allen would be very good at the job. He has a degree in wildife and fisheries, a lot of experience with dogs, PLUS he has a lot of experience dealing with the public. It would be a job that I bet he would really enjoy. Please pray for us that something will come out of this. He's picking up the application on Monday. He has to get out of where he's at now. They are REALLY stepping all over him. It makes me mad that an employer is taking advantage of Allen's good nature and excellent work ethics. <<>> With the job market the way it is now , and the economy in the dumps...we're very lucky he has a job at all, and we know this; but we would really like to be in the position to start looking for a house, get settled, and start a family.

Tonight we went swimming at the YMCA. A couple and their little girl were swimming, the little girl couldn't have been any older than 3. She was absolutely adorable, there isn't a happier sound than a tiny child laughing. It's so pure, so innocent, so care free. I can't wait to someday hear the laughter of our own children. I say I can't wait...but really I can. We haven't even been married a year...I know we have plenty of time. Still...seems like everyone I know is pregnant...including people who pretend like they don't know me anymore...ehh....

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Belated Blog

Well, it's been a week now since we blogged. Sorry for the delay. We've been pretty busy with work and getting in some excercise. We are really going to use our YMCA membership so we've been going swimming just about every other day. We have also been playing tennis before we go swimming. I'm not any good at it, but I REALLY enjoy it. I've never been too excited about any sport, but this one is a lot of fun. No fun at all to watch on TV but a lot of fun to play.

Now for the update:

July 2nd my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary! :) I'm so blessed and happy to have such wonderful parents that still love eachother now as much as they did when they got married. I would even venture to say that they love eachother more! I've learned alot about love from my parents, and I am eternally grateful for the example they have set. Not only have I learned about love, but in watching my parents I have learned alot about marriage, and how it's hard work, and how much it's worth it!

July 3rd was a day off from work for me, not for Allen. It didn't really seem too much like a day off for me because I spent most of the day running around at the grocery stores and cooking, but it was definately worth it.

The 4th of July was so much fun. This year was definately interesting to say the least! It POURED down rain for the whole first part of the evening. The boys had a heck of a time getting set up to fry the fish; but it all worked out in the end. We ended up having WAY too much food, like always, but it was all sooooo good! I made bean salad for the first time and it was pretty good, but no one really ate any of it...can't say that I blame anyone though with all the rest of the yummy food that was there. We gave Mom and Dad a beautiful bench for their rose garden. They REALLY REALLY loved it. It was great to get to see everyone again. Allen and I camped in mom and dad's yard in a tent, which was kind of wierd, but also kind of fun. Penny sure did like it. She snuggled up right between the two of us. It was cute. I'm sure glad she was under the covers with us because it was unusually chilly overnight. We will post the rest of the pictures from the 4th to photobucket and put up a link here tomorrow.

Sunday we relaxed. We didn't sleep very well in the tent, so we ended up taking a three hour long nap!!!!!! We needed it though.

Then Monday...back to work...bleh...Allen had it off, which was nice for him. We played tennis and went swimming. This whole YMCA membership thing is definately a great thing! :)

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend and fourth of july. We missed all of our family in Sturgeon. Congratulations to Matt and Nicole, they are settling the final stuff to get their first home together. Someday we will be doing the very same thing. Pray for us that this job market will turn around.

Question of the day: How is it possible for one person to completely turn her back on the people who love her and not look back? If anyone has any answers...I will take them.