Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Stress......Sleep Deprived......Over Worked

Wow....I feel like I could collapse!  I am pooped!  The past few weeks have been busy adding  third job to my schedule.  But after this week things should really start to settle down.  We are excited for Christmas time and I can't wait to decorate!   We don't really do much for thanksgiving as far as decorating goes so I am eager for it to come and pass so it can officially be "OK" to decorate with xmas stuff!  :o)  We are heading to Hazel and Jerry's tonight for dinner with the family but hopefully we can call it an early night.  I NEED a nice long night's sleep!  But as we all know there is always other things that need to be done!  And somehow they all ways take priority over sleeping!  I thought this phase of my life wasn't supposed to happen until we have kiddos!  Oh well!  I guess I am just getting prepared for it now!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Holiday Hype and The New Year is Just Around the Corner!

Its hard to believe that the 2010 Holiday season is quickly approaching!  What is even harder to believe is that Rob and I are almost done with our Christmas shopping and it is only the 1st week of November!  We are very excited that Josh and Alyssa will be joining us this year for the week before Christmas and Christmas morning!  It is the first time in MANY years!  I know that it will be an amazing Holiday season filled with many amazing memories of time spent with the ones we love the most!

The new year is approaching fast too!!!  Can you believe that it is almost 2011??  Rob and I have been married for almost 7 months now and I remember last year at this time we were busy doing wedding planning!  Before we know it we will be celebrating our ONE YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!  We are sooooo in love with each other and even in the tough times our love seems to grow even stronger!

Rob and I have many exciting things to look forward to in the beginning of next year!  I will be applying for a FULL-TIME  8a-4p job and hopefully Rob will be busy with more Substitute work.  We have been lucky this past school semester because Rob has been working a temporary long-term substitute position and it has really helped us out financially!  We are also looking forward to the beginnings of yet ANOTHER chapter of our lives!  A FAMILY!  We are NOT expecting a baby yet but it IS in our 2011 agenda!  We are very excited about the thought of starting our family and I will be getting medical insurance at the start of December 2010 so that we can begin trying at the start of the new year!

It is truly amazing when I think that all of the things going on in my life right now used to be JUST DREAMS!  Now they are coming to life right before my eyes!  We are truly blessed and are thankful for everything and everyone in our lives!

I'm hoping to use this blog a lot more soon!  So keep posted!

~The Hesters

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Team LIGHT THE NIGHT FOR ELISE....




Get Adobe Flash player


Rob and I and some other family and friends are going to be doing a fundraiser 2 mile walk to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Last year a little girl that I used to Nanny passed away from Leukemia at age 7 1/2.  We are walking in memory of her.   We would greatly appreciate any size donation to our team so that we can raise awareness and money to support an amazing foundation that does amazing things for the patients and their families.  

IN LOVING MEMORY
Elise Cecelia Goertz
August 8th, 2001- January 17th, 2009



Monday, July 19, 2010

Summer is Here!!!

Josh and Alyssa just got into town on Saturday and we are having soo much fun already!  I can't believe how fast they are growing!  They are like little adults.....(not really..but deffinately don't seem like little kids anymore).  We are headed to Lego Land on Friday and went to Boomers last night!  We will be spending a lot of time at the pool too!  It has been waaaaaaay hot lately!  It was 106 the other day!  Its getting cooler this week but its still hot and swimming is a great thing to do with the kids and keep us comfortable!

Friday, May 21, 2010

KETTLE CORN AND RODEOS!

Hello,

      So we haven't posted since the honeymoon, but life's been pretty busy getting home and settled in from wedding and honeymoon.  We have finally gotten the house in order from all the wedding gifts and all the new purchases from the gift cards and money we received as gifts from everyone!  The place looks more like a home now rather than a ghetto little, bare walled apartment!  I LOVE it!!

      This weekend will be insanely busy!  We are going to be working for my aunt's business.  She owns a kettle corn vendor booth and she works, rodeos, street fairs, community events...stuff like that.   Well this weekend is one of the biggest events of the year...The Ramona Rodeo!!  Rob will be cooking the corn in the kettle and I will be working the front table selling the corn!  Its amazing!  People will wait in a 30 minute line to get a bag of kettle corn!  :o)  We are working all 3 days of the event!  Tonight, Saturday Night, and Sunday!  Going to be busy busy fun!  I love working rodeos because I love country music and the country "feel"!  I don't get to listen to country music very often because Rob isn't much of a fan!  :o)  No getting away from it this weekend! lol!

        Rob and I are also going to be getting back to our healthy eating!  Have been so focused on other things that we had let that go a little too much and are ready to get back on track!  It feels so good to be healthy!  I got those Sketcher's Shape-Up shoes for my birthday and I want to start walking with them and my dad is going to help me get my bike set-up with new tires so I can start riding!  Exercise is going to be my new focus!  Time to get my body in shape!

       On top of ALL of this Rob and I are both in search for work for summer!  So we have been filling out apps and submitting resumes like CRAZY!   Hopefully something will materialize for the both of us!  We need consistent work and flow of income so we can get through summer with Rob not being able to teach!

Well....that's about it!  Catch up with you after the BIG Rodeo/Kettle Corn weekend!

                                   Love,
                                        The Hesters

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Friday Night Beach Bash!

So last night was the beach bash!  It was really fun however both Rob and I were super tired and I had a belly ache from too many Jamaican Smiles...(that's our FAVORITE drink)!  When we got to the party we were served a rum and juice cocktail in bamboo cups (that we got to keep as a souvenier) and the entire buffett was served in kayaks!  It was very cool!  They had a stage set up for the local band that would be playing for us and like 4 meat carving stations where they were serving Jerk Chicken, Pork Ribs, Beef and other stuff too!  Once dinner was over they started the entertainment and the band played some music!  I can't stop dancing and grooving to the beats of the reagge!  I love it!  When the band took a break they introduce "The Fire Kid" , he wasn't a kid...more of a young man and he did some dancing with two fire sticks and he would run the fire over his skin and on the bottoms of his feet! It was amazing!  Then he started running around the dinner tables and doing tricks and stuff right in front of the guests as we all  watched!  Then he ran right up to the tree I was standing under (Rob had ran to our room to get the video camera), he handed me one of his fire sticks and then climbed up into the tree and did some cool fire stuff in the tree.....all the while I'm still holding the fire stick and he finally jumps down and I go to hand him the fire stick and he grabs my hand in his hand and makes me feed him the fire!!!!!!!   It was sooooooo awesome....

     The bummer part was that Rob did return in time with the video camera and not only didnt catch it on the video but he missed the whole thing...!  Total bummer with that....but I guess I have the memory and we may  buy the photo from the resort...not sure yet..Oh yea...our regular camera battery was dead too...so I didnt even have that as an option! :o)  Oh well..."its no problem mon!"   That is what our friends here in Jamaica would be telling me! "Irie Mon"   :o)

                                    Love, Mrs. Hester

Learning Patois! (pronounce PAT- Wah)

Hello!
     Are you wondering what Patois is???  Here is some information and some words for you to try it out for yourself!  Its amazing to hear the staff talk to each other!  I will try to get a video of it later....but for now you can read up on it! 

                                                 Love, The Hesters


      Jamaican patois evolved, in Jamaica, over hundreds of years during which time the language was influenced by loanwords introduced by African slaves, and it was also heavily influenced by English words, from the British, who colonized the island. Therefore, it should not be surprising that many words in patois lean towards a British pronunciation; although no similar word may exist in standard English.
Some say that Jamaica patois is an accent. It is more than an accent. Some say that patois is a language. Suffice it to say that patois has its own pronunciation rules, word order is important and correct usage and placement of verbs are important. Moreover, Jamaican patois incorporates new words from other languages and from other cultures on a continual basis.
The language is constantly changing. Much of the change is due to new words being "coined" or borrowed from other languages. Youth culture also drives and promotes change in the language. One of these ways youth culture affects patois is through the use of the Internet.
Jamaican is a spoken language and was hardly written, except in folk poetry and folk stories, but now patois is frequently being written in Internet chat rooms where spelling is gaining standardization and new word are being coined.
Jamaican patois is the 'lingua franca' spoken in Jamaica. It is a vibrant, expressive and lively language. If you've ever listened to or heard dance hall reggae music you've had a taste of what the language sounds like.
If you know a few words of patois, Jamaicans will be delighted to hear you speak them but it's not necessary because Jamaicans can understand standard English perfectly well!


The following are a few examples of Jamaican words.
Popular Words for Greeting People:
yes eyeyah = yes sir (used as a very informal greeting)
wah gwan = what's going on
nutten nah gwan = nothing is going on
suh wah pun = so what's up
Showing Location:
eh deh = it is
nuh deh = it is not
deh deh = to be
she deh deh = she is there (at home etc)
Pronouns:
mi = I/my
yuh = you
unno = you(plural)
wi = we
dem = they
Common Verbs:
lef = to leave
dem lef = they left
gi = to give
dem gi eh = they gave it
Words and Expressions:
cho = an exclamation
cho nuh dweet = don't do it (exclamation)
cris = pretty, looks good
chaparita = wrist bracelet
boops = someone with money