The Pooch

well - i haven't posted any pictures of our pooch recently. and even these pictures are a little old. he is definitely growing by leaps and bounds. we took him to my parents on monday and he is the same size as their dog. just a few months ago he was so much smaller. now he finds great ways to use his time. for example he likes to jump up on the counter and see if there is any food there for him. on sunday i turned my back on some chicken for a few seconds and he was up there chowing down. he's a sneak. he's started this crying when he wants to get out of his crate. its so annoying. he'll wake us up on saturday mornings with his crying.

this is the one and only period of silence in our lives when we actually wear the dog out enough so that he falls asleep. then when he does we don't move and we definitely don't talk, because if we do he will wake up and the madness will begin.
here is a picture of charlie with my parents dog kisha. this is one of the few times when they aren't play fighting. charlie will chase kisha around barking at her. its really funny to watch. but also very noisy and kisha gets hair everywhere and my mom gets mad.
well - its wednesday and it feels like it should be friday. i'm so tired. but volleyball is finally over which means that i'll actually get to see mark for a little while. :) and hopefully we'll actually get to rest this weekend. we'll have to wait and see!

happy birthday steph!!!

jen and steph at sea world
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

yup that's right already another birthday. when we were younger these were the best couple of weeks, because becca's birthday is nov. 4 so we got to eat a lot of cake. steph is 22 today. she is spending her birthday at college is sunny florida - lucky!!! well - i'm sure that she wishes that she could spend her birthday with me. :) the last couple of years she has been able to. we would have her over to our apartment. the first year i tried to make fried chicken - man was that a disaster!!! oh well! lots of fun times that we will miss! this picture was taken when we were at sea world before mark and i moved. florida teachers get into sea world free. it was a lot of fun. they tried to convince me to go on the one and only ride at sea world, but i'm pretty stubborn and also very afraid of heights!!!

anyway - steph we hope that you have a wonderful day!!! we love you and miss you!

happy birthday mom!!

becca and mom
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

today is my mom's birthday! and finally this year i got her a real non-giftcard present and i can be here to celebrate!

this picture is of my mom and my youngest sister becca while we were at the lake for our family vacation. becca is experiencing being the only child since everybody else is in college or real life (like us). becca gets to spend this weekend with us since my parents are going away to celebrate their anniversary which is on friday! so lots of fun. hope that you have a fabulous monday!

Our Fabulous Apartment

Well i finally got this to work. these are pictures from our apartment. pardon the mess - this was while we were still unpacking.

this is our kitchen. we didn't have a lot of space to put our junk so we got these shelves to put stuff on and the microwave stand.
this is what the outside of our apartments look like. i'll have to take some better pictures soon.
this is our fireplace with our mammoth tv. it was mark's sister christy's but she gave it to us. it is so heavy that we can't find another place to put it. (its too heavy to move.) :)

i have some more pictures and maybe i'll post them again soon! i hope that you have a fabulous friday (thank goodness - i don't know about you guys but i'm tired!!)

a whole decade

jen and mark at jr. sr.
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

that's right mark and i have been together a whole decade. 10 years ago today we started "dating". yes we were in high school - 9th grade to be exact. its actually a pretty funny story that i would like to share with you all.

it was the week of homecoming at our school (you know spirit week, pep rally, and a huge game on friday). at the beginning of the week one of my friends told me that some boy liked me. now join me in the world of boys never liking me. (junior high had been very rough). so i guessed and guessed but they wouldn't tell me. i thought that it was very rude. and was in fact furious. on wednesday - we had youth group and i was still furious that they hadn't told me. (they said that this boy was going to talk to me about it - so of course i didn't eat all week :) ). well at youth group i figured it out. and go figure i hadn't even thought to guess mark corbin. and even worse i didn't like him at all. he was a gross boy that i had grown up with. so of course i dreaded the day that he would talk to me. i avoided him at all costs! :) then on friday during the night soccer game he cornered me with the help of those same friends. and we had a chat - he asked me to be his girl friend. i don't really remember what i said, but i do remember what i felt. i told him i would think about it. then my friends began their work. so later that night i agree to be his "girl friend". i thought that it would be like all the other relationships i'd seen - you know last a week or two at the most. (little did i know).

anyway - to make a long story short - the entire first year we hardly talked. then i tried to break it off, but i was dating the most stubborn boy in the entire school. we went through some hard times in high school , but we made it through. then came the process of finding a college - and God led us to the same one. Then God continued to develop us and we got married in July 2004.

so i always tell my class. little do you know - you might marry the boy or girl sitting next to you. of course they think that's completely disgusting. and i understand i felt the same way until God changed my mind.

i am married to the most fabulous guy out there!!
thanks mark for being so stubborn!!!
i love you!

Fun Facts!!!

i've seen this on some other blogs and decided that it looked like a lot of fun. Mark isn't here with me so i'll have to guess. but as most of you know - i've known him pretty much his entire life -so it shouldn't be too hard!!!

Jen will be in red, mark in blue, and both of us in green

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables - mark doesn't eat vegetables :)
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment – who hasn’t?
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero - AWANA man
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played Touch Football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari-at Disney World :)
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life.

its not that mark hasn't done a lot - we just usually do everything major together!!! :) and i'm a little more adventureous in certain areas than mark. (as far as hair dying goes!!)

little angels :)

6th grade class
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

this is my class - we had just gotten back from a field trip so they were all wound up.
back row (left to right): George, Charles, Isaiah, Zhane, Michelle
front row: Nicholas, Dallas, Gavin, Felicia, Rolanda
very fron: Courtney

anyway - so the weekend is finally here and we can relax. the only thing we have to do this weekend is go to church. ahh...i know that it will go much faster than i want it to. ugh. and unfortunately there are no breaks in sight!!!

well - i hope that you all have a fabulous weekend. rest up because monday will come much faster than you would like!!!

i know - its been a long time!!!

the fam
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

well - it has been awhile - partly because we've been so stinking busy, but the other part is that i've been waiting to post these pictures. this was from our family vacation this summer. it wasn't anything big but it was fun to spend time as a family.

life has been going pretty well. the other weekend we had a class reunion. (its been 6 years since i've been out of high school). anyway - a lot of people showed up. it was nice to see everybody and find out what they had been up to. then last weekend we went up to mark's parents house to spend some time with his sister christy who we hadn't seen since she moved to west virginia. it was a lot of fun.

my most fabulous sister - becca - watched charlie for us while we were there. after the boys of course kyle and tyler got to see him. whenever cheryl tells tyler (he's 2) that he gets to see aunt jen and uncle mark he makes barking noises. we've been outclassed by the dog. anyway - it was a good time.

today - my class had a field trip which i am very thankful that it is over. i am so tired. but be in prayer especially for the 5th grade teacher here at my school - her name is donna and she is having some health issues.
well - i hope that everyone is doing well! we love you and miss you all!