Reading for Pleasure

Almost there . . .

2007-10-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

Today we visited five different states and are now in Alabama. As my friends Bonnie and Christy used to say, "Tomorrow I can say tomorrow!" as regards to my seeing Sam again. I'm really excited! Today we did a few tourist-y stops--some were better than others! First, we went to Tupelo, MS and stopped at a Civil War battlefield. Well, it sounded awesome in the AAA book, but when we got there it was just a small park with a few plaques and cannon. I've got photos on Facebook (or will real soon!). We then took the Natchez Trace Parkway (which was beautiful, by the way!) and stopped at a Chickasaw Village. This was kinda disappointing as the main sign area was cordoned off with that orange construction webbed fencing. There was a trail you could take which looked really neat, but we didn't have time to take it. They had some areas marked off so you could see the size of the buildings the Chickasaw used, so that was neat. The best stop came in Alabama off of Hwy. 238. It's the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies. Absolutely beautiful! The undergrowth was gorgeous, the lighting was lovely, and the whole setup was truly worth seeing. Again, photos on Facebook for those who are interested. Email me at bekahj77_at_gmail.com (replace _at_ with @) if you don't know how to access Facebook.

Our travels are going very well, traffic has been fun but not absolutely depressing. The roads have been good and like I said yesterday our weather is fabulous! Warm, breezy, and sunny for the most part.

On the road...

2007-09-30T19:26:00.000-06:00

Well, currently I am in Marston, Missouri. The first three days of our trip have gone very well. Our weather has been awesome, thank the Lord! There have been heavy storms in areas that we have already gone through, but only clouds or sunshine while we are there.

My kitty, CC, has done very well also. She doesn't like getting in her carrier, but once she's there she's resigned to it and either sleeps or pouts most of the day. She does very well in the motel rooms, eating and using her litter box. She's in the window right now--her favorite spot. Each day we have stopped to let her out on her leash. The first stop was fine, the rest she has been so scared each time. Loud noises (trucks, etc.) really frighten her and she tries to hide under the car or a tree. Her collar is a bit loose, so if I'm not careful she could slip out. Since these little episodes are more damaging to her and to me (!), we are keeping them few and far between. I think I may just take her carrier out of the car and let her look around, then let her out inside the car. She'd be a bit more contained that way, yet can still get some excercise.

Today we stopped at an overlook over the Mississippi River where a battle was fought during the Civil War for control of an island. The side which controlled the island, controlled the shipping on the river. It was very beautiful and peaceful. I'll post a photo on my Facebook account (www.facebook.com). If you can't find it, let me know!

Tomorrow we will be in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. The southern tour is here! Thanks for all your prayers as we travel....

Don't forget to look at http://armysam.blogspot.com for more information on Sam!

The Time Has Come...

2007-09-21T10:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my last day at my job. It's pretty bittersweet. I loved the people I worked with and the job was a lot of fun and right up my alley. Yet leaving my job means it's almost time to go to Georgia to see Sam! Yes, I will miss my job, my friends, my church(es), my family, my Idaho! But to be reunited with Sam....it's worth it all!

My family and I leave this afternoon to take a quick trip to California for my cousin's wedding. As soon as we get back, I will race around madly tying up loose ends. Mom and I leave on Friday, September 28th. As long as there is wireless internet where we stay, I will keep this blog updated with our travels. So come along to Georgia with me!

Now on Facebook

2007-07-28T12:25:00.000-06:00

My brother and sister-in-law introduced me to Facebook while I was with them in Chicago a few weeks ago. So I joined and have discovered a lot of friends from college with whom I had totally lost touch. Since there are many other Rebekah Joneses in the world (my sil being one of them!) I'm listed as Rebekah Zobel Jones as many of my friends would recognize my unique madien name.

Check out Sam's Army blog at http://armysam.blogspot.com -- I'm updating this as I hear from him. Need to upload photos somewhere know so folks can find them... :)

New Molly Photos

2007-07-09T16:59:00.000-06:00

My, how she's grown! Okay, of course she's grown as I haven't blogged anything in several months....:)

This photo was taken in April...I have a ton more, just not downloaded as we're on vacation and our laptop is not the greatest.

Miss Molly - - Da Niece!

2007-01-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Click on the photo to view the entire web album!

Molly Carol Anderson

Welcome to the world, Baby Girl!

2007-01-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo!! It's official! I have a niece! My sister, Leah, went into labor while my mother was on her way up to Sheridan. Mom arrived at the hospital at 8:45 that night. Molly Carol made her appearance at 9:06pm, much to the relief of her mother, father, and grandmother! This cute bundle looks nothing like her mother or her aunt when we were born as she has hair--visible hair--on her head. My mother said that Molly has as much hair as Leah and I did when we were a year old! I've been told she has her daddy's chin and her mama's eyes--I can't tell too much in the photos. What do you think?? Here's two of Molly--more to come later. Maybe I'll get that slideshow thingy working . . . .

Not normally a Technophobe . . .

2007-01-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

I think it's kinda interesting that I'm usually the one people go to when they have a computer issue. True, I've worked with computers since the early 1990s (remember that old 286 with amber monitor???!) and do know a lot. But since I started this blog thing I feel that I've learned so much about web use; not just the PC (oh yeah, I'm not a MAC person at all). I've learned how to post photos on the web (for free!) and how to upload movies to the web (again, for free!), how to post photos on a blog, how to post movies on a blog (and edit the HTML so you can see the whole thing!), and now I'm going to explore podcasting. I've explored it a bit before, but I'm feeling very brave and will plunge into it again. Now if only I could get paid for all of this . . .

I saw this cute cartoon earlier tonight. So true!

Typical Winter Day . . .

2007-01-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the snow that I thought was coming yesterday came early this morning. At my house, there was none and the roads were perfect. About half-way to work, the roads became icy and snow covered. All the streets were horrible and many people slid off the road or into other cars. Many of my co-workers were late but all were safe. The sun came out in the early afternoon and the roads cleared up admirably, but I'm a bit worried about tomorrow morning as it will be below freezing tonight and most of tomorrow. I'm grateful that Sam will be driving tomorrow so I don't have to deal with that level of stress as well. Speaking of winter, my boss sent out a little TV ad (I think) about dealing with winter. It was hilarious! I'll try to post it here, but I'm not sure how it will work!

Did it work??

Snow??

2007-01-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today at work I looked out my window and saw some snow flakes falling down. I was so excited! We usually don't see much snow and I was hoping that this would be a "real" snowfall. And yet, at the same time, I was hoping that it wouldn't be. See, today I had our truck and was driving home. If we had a big snow, the drive home would be horrendus! But snow is so pretty when it's all white and pristine and glistening in the sunlight. Well, we only saw a few flakes and then that was that--all gone! I guess that was good though; at least I made it home safely.

Tonight we watched Narnia again. My husband and mother hadn't seen it since it came out and I'd only seen it once more. It was good to see it again, though I think I have a love/hate relationship with anything Narnia. I love it so much that it is totally unfair to think that it's not real. I want Narnia to be a real place that I could go to. Seeing the movies, listening to the Focus on the Family Radio Dramas, or reading the books really makes me yearn for Narnia. Maybe I'll start looking in wardrobes . . .

Craziness . . .

2007-01-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days? Where everything seemed to just be a lot more insane than normal? Where the little things piled up until they became big things? That's how my whole week has been! I arrived home late on the 2nd from my vacation to find a message from one of my co-workers on my cell. Turns out we had some restructuring done and instead of coming in late the next day like I'd planned, I had to be there early. I met with this co-worker the next morning and found out that our company had to lay off several people and that he was now my direct supervisor. Also, I'd been promoted to supervise my department. How's that for a surprise? "Happy New Year! Welcome Back! Solve these problems!" Okay. Anyway, with several people gone now all our jobs are reorganized. Every day I learn of a new responsibility that I now have. Whew! Let's hope that things settle down a bit and the quality of the services that we provide is not diminished. What a year so far!!

More Christmas Photos!!

2007-01-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Would you like to see more photos of Stephen and the Jones family?? Of course you do!! Here's a link to my Web Album (that I finally figured out how to do--next is that cool slide show that I see on other blogs . . . )

http://picasaweb.google.com/bekahj77/ChristmasIllinois

Enjoy!

Ain't it the truth . . .

2007-01-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

My mother sent this to me a while back. Enjoy!

Photo Hosting . . .

2007-01-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I figured out how to get my photo attached to my profile. It wasn't easy; the help link in blogger's profile edit page told me to download Hello! and utilize bloggerbot. Well, I tried that and lo and behold I got error message after error message. I looked up various help screens, trying to find out why bloggerbot said that I did not have access to my own blog! I discovered some information that said that bloggerbot was no longer working and we were to use BlogThis on Picasa. So, I downloaded Picasa, it found the 85 billion photos on my computer (and didn't find the one I wanted!!), tried to use BlogThis, found that it only posts photos in a blog posting, it doesn't do internet hosting. Played around with it a bit more this afternoon and found that I can upload the photos to my Web Album, and copy and paste the image source link into the proper place on my blogger profile and Eureka! there I am. Don't you just love computers??

Stephen Champlain Jones

2007-01-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have to brag about my new nephew! Josh and Bekah are in the process of adopting this adorable little 15-mo old boy. Currently, they are his foster family, and the adoption should go through later this year. Little Stephen loves to give "kisses" but he can't really pucker up yet! He just gets close to your cheek with his open mouth and then grins. Once while he was sitting on my lap and I was trying to entertain him, I remembered a rhyme from my days of doing Storytime programs at the library. We did this nonsense rhyme together and he really picked up on it. Although he couldn't repeat the words, he knew the actions and could remember what came next. He is so smart! After Sam and I left Illinois, Mom showed him a picture of us and he immediately did the motions for the rhyme! His Mama will be sick and tired of "Ram Sam Sam" after a bit, I'm sure! In case you are interested, here are the words and actions. If you have or know of a 1 yr - 3 yr old child, they will love this--
Ram Sam Sam
(On Ram Sam Sam hit one fist on top of the other.)
A Ram Sam Sam
A Ram Sam Sam
Goolie Goolie Goolie
(Roll hands)
And a Ram Sam Sam
(hit fists again)
A Raffy A Raffy
(Lift arms)
Goolie Goolie Goolie
(Roll hands again)
And A Ram Sam Sam
(Hit fists again)

Here are some snapshots of Stephen for your enjoyment!

Stephen with his Christmas present from Uncle Sam and Aunt Rebekah--a special lion from Jungle Stuffers (like Build-a-Bear)

Grandma helps Stephen discover the baby in the mirror. Of course, he had to "kiss" the baby!

The poor dear was so patient with his crazy family as they dressed him up in the Christmas tree skirt, a black hat and a couple bears. He looked like a cross between a magician and a matador!

2007-01-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest portrait of the Jones' clan! In order:

Back Row (L to R) Rebekah Jones, Joshua Jones, Rebekah Jones, Samuel Jones

Middle Row: Pastor Milton Jones, Pam Jones

Bottom Row: Stephen Champlain Jones

It was wonderful to be with my in-laws for Christmas! My brother-in-law Josh and his wife Bekah are in the process of adopting little Stephen. What a difference to see the holidays through the eyes of a 15-month-old boy!

And here we are! My husband of six-and-a-half years, Sam, and I. It seems that photographers around the country think that this is the only pose that Sam and I can do as no matter where we are we are asked to stand just this way for studio photographs. We're going to have to find a unique photographer and see what will happen!