New blog

So, you voted, and I can't be lazy. I set up a new blog and even have already posted on it!!

http://danaessex.blogspot.com/

John Paul said he didn't need to be involved in the blogging, so I was selfish and just used my new name. Which is still so weird to see!! See you around the new blog!

-Mrs. Essex

one week later

So, we've been married a week now. It's strange. Things are still the same, yet way different. Found out he snores and steals covers, he found out I like to sing in the shower, but don't realize that I do it.

I feel sorry for him because he's got a lot of on campus interviews, tests, and homework and getting married added a lot of things for him to do. He's been trying to figure out all sorts of insurance and financial information, and I've been feeling more pressure because I'm the only one making money, and now that we are married we are spending more money. Not to mention that changing your name on everything is crazy!!

So, a week later we are happy but really stressed. Hopefully things will die down in a month or so... wait then it's the holidays lol. What were we thinking? ( we were thinking why wait any longer 5.5 years was long enough) any thoughts or prayers you can send our way will be greatly treasured.

oh, and do I need to get a new blog because my name changed? vote in the poll!! I was toying around checking and it's exciting that Essex isn't a common last name, and neither is John-Paul lol. There's a lot of options to choose from!

-Mrs. Essex

Pictures!

I'm a Mrs.!!!

We are finally married!! I'll be getting the large file pictures from Jackie (the photographer) tonight, so I'll post some then.

There's always so much to do when you get back from vacation, and I have to do all the name changing stuff on top of that!!

Everyone at work told me I looked really tired today. I thought that was a little mean of them, I mean, I just got married! lol!

Kansas City was great, and I'm looking forward to going back in a few years for our anniversary!

more details/ pictures to come!

-Mrs. Essex

Bachelorette party!!

so my friends came from all over to help me celebrate the fact I'm getting married in just a few days. it was fun and embarassing! My friend Amy brought the veil her mom wore when she got married 30 years ago!

I made a fun cake, and we went out to a piano bar and I had to be sang to. The man was crude, but it was fun!!

Just a few more days!!

we are liscened to wed!!

We went down to the courthouse today, and got the license!!!! Just a few more days!

ahhh!!

So much is going on I haven't really had time to write. Even with not doing anything really big for a wedding, it still takes a lot of time to get married!!

The reception is turning out to be kindof a big deal, but luckily a lot of people are helping with it.

I think if I can survive the next 8 days, I'll be fine!

Employee of the Month

so, I found out yesterday that I am the Employee of the month at our Staples stores! I'm really excited! this is only the beginning of the 4th month that I've been there! God's truly blessing the works of my hands.

Engagement pics!!

Here's the first batch. Our wonderful photographer and friend, Jackie Teauge, has another photo shoot planned for this weekend. Exciting times!!

Wedding Registry

So, Thursday after I got off work John-Paul and I went down to Bed Bath and Beyond to register. Everyone says if you can get through that you will be fine right? well I guess we survived. It was annoying, but hey, when is shopping with men not? lol

Our registry # is 5677642, but if you search you need to put in John-Paul Essex, or search for me but Cox as my first name and Dana as my last name. Weird I know, but that's how it is. lol

The lady talked us into registering for some china stuff. We were talking last night we are thinking about taking it off. Really, how often are we going to use it and how much of a hassle will it be to store and move it. It's not like we will do a family thanksgiving for several years, and then we'd probably use paper plates.

No pressure to get us anything. Ganny was trying to look, so I was helping her find it.

There's not a whole terrible lot on there because I've been living on my own for several years and I've gotten stuff I wanted, well little stuff that is. That made it really hard to register. I would look at little stuff and John-Paul would say we don't need a lot of stuff just sitting around. I thought I liked that he was a minimalist lol! Sometimes it's not fun, especially because I have too much stuff already!!

Much love!
-Dana

And the date is....

October 2nd!!! I felt bad hiding it from everyone, so there it is. The rule is if you live in Tulsa you can come, if not, we're having a reception in Chickasha (date TBD). Not being mean, I just want it super small. Getting married is between John-Paul, God and myself. We don't need 100 people there for that.

I'm glad the date turned out cute. John-Paul and I started dating on 1-2-03, so all he has to do is remember to add a 0 behind the 1 and add a few years lol! 10-2-08. Mom also pointed out that 10-2=8. He's go no reason to not remember the date! lol Also, a friend of ours from high school that I went to church with is getting married on the 4th. They can help remind each other lol!!

I'm super glad I'm no planning anything big. This long weekend, John-Paul went home and I did planning, and I'm already wedding-ed out. Just 30 days to go!!!

There's still a lot to do. We are going to counseling, taking engament pics, registering, planning a reception, and we still have to go home to buy wedding rings. I'm soooooo excited!!

Much love!!

changes....

So, I was curious how my wordle thing would have changed over the last few weeks, and it has. Again, it's totally cool. I'm excited about getting married, and it shows!

http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/153102/word-thingy_2

I don't remember how I got the picture to show up in here the first time, but it says going married really big lol

plans!!

Not that all I'm thinking about lately is getting married, but it's close lol. Since you asked a few questions, I'm taking it that you want to hear all about it!

We are getting married in a city park not far from my (soon our) house. It's wooded, with azaleas all underneath. Not that they will be blooming, but it's a nice shrub. One of my friends from OSU works in the park, and it's her job to find a perfect place. She's also making me a bouquet since everyone says I have to have one. Friends are a great blessing!

I got my dress in the mail yesterday, it's pretty long, so I'm going to have it altered a little. I'd tell you about it, but I don't want to risk giving it away to John-Paul. I want him to be surprised that day.

We are getting married in Tulsa because if you go somewhere to get married you have to get there in time to get the license and all that mess. I thought it would take a little pressure off by getting married here, and that way we have witness that we at least know lol! Jackie (a friend of ours from high school, who goes to TU) is going to take pictures for us. Hopefully next week we will be able to take some official engagement pictures.

We are going home this weekend for lots of reasons. I wanna check on Ganny. She's under the weather. John-Paul's dad got a new car yesterday, so he HAS to check it out. Not to mention the fun stuff like picking out wedding bands, and maybe registering at stores at home.

ahhhhh!! I'm so excited!!!!

Set a date!!

So, we set a date! I'm excited, but not telling anyone. So don't feel left out!

The dress came in the mail today. It's pretty, not quite what I expected but great any way. My friend Jackie who's taking the pictures thought it looked fab! I'm really excited! Not that much longer and I can't wait!

So excited

So, John-Paul is back in Tulsa. I've seen him every day for the past 4 days, and it's wonderful. I'm soooooo excited to get married. This evening we are having dinner with the pastor and his wife to get to know each other and set out a plan for counseling. eeekk!! (that's an excited noise)

Other news, our friend Jackie is back in Tulsa. She studied in London last semester, and I really missed her. So, we have a great friend here in town again. She's going to be doing our photos for us. Hopefully this weekend we are going to get some official engagement pictures taken. Gotta have something to put in the ol' express star lol!

Life is really coming together and taking off all at the same time. For once in my life I feel like the future is really exciting instead of fearing the unknown. God's got a plan, and I'm seeking it, knowing that it's going to be awesome! Even if it's not awesome, I won't be alone in it!

John-Paul's Birthday

So, I worked longer yesterday to get things done so I got off early today.

I found out that John-Paul's plane was delayed so, I get to pick him up at the airport. He's been on vacation with his family the last week, so they will ride home without him. I'm sooooo excited!! I'm going to be able to celebrate his birthday with his family. I originally wasn't going to go home since I went home last weekend, but I just don't want to wait until tomorrow to see him!

It was so great to see him for the few hours we were together last weekend, I don't want to miss another minute with him.

So, the pastor said it will take 6 weeks to do pre-marital counseling so we have to wait 6 more weeks to get married. ahhh!! I'm so excited! That means by no later than the end of October I'll be Mrs. Essex!! Might have to change blogs lol!!!

Wordle!

A wonderful person had this on her blog, so I stole it.
I'm sooooo excited that God, Love and John-Paul were
all big and right in the same little area!

Click the image to see it larger. If you want to
make your own, the link is http://wordle.net/

Lately

So, lately there has been a lot going on in my head, heart and soul, but I didn't report on it because it wasn't really accompanied by any big activities.

I've been going to work coming home, and occasionally spending time with a friend. I've been spending a lot of time on the phone with John-Paul, eagerly awaiting his return to Oklahoma (he'll be in Chickasha in 6 days!!!)

In the last few weeks, I've been reminded of how blessed I am to be loved by so many people. As I was awaiting John-Paul's arrival home, I was pondering where he was going to fit into this new life I've gotten. Between my church friends from both the Seventh day adventist church and the Nazarene church, and my friends from college who live in town, not to mention the friends who wander through to visit me. Where will I find time for him? I'm blessed to be loved by so many people who don't have to! I'm thinking that means we just need to get married, so he will be at the house all the time lol!

In the past few days, John-Paul and I have made big headway on some problems that we have been dealing with for awhile. God's grace is abundant, and His love for us is where our love for each other comes from. Sometimes we just forget the latter part. When we begin to live our life without the focus being on God, it's not the best place to be!

I'm finding a lot of joy in my job. At first it was hard to. I didn't get what I would call the best quality training. But, I've made the best of it, and can do it on my own for the most part. It's so exciting to enjoy work. I don't dread going. It's an adventure and a challenge. It's great! What I may be giving up financially, God is more than making up for with His presence in all things. Living in faith, while it's hard, is so rewarding! God isn't just a shadowy personage that I talk about. He's someone that I know.

The past few months have been hard/lonely/stretching among other things, but through that God led me to a RELATIONSHIP with Him. It's such a wonderful place to find myself. I pray that God can be blessing you with the peace, love, assurance and joy that I've found!!!

Breaking Dawn

I went ahead and reposted this picture. The others were almost too small to get the awesomeness that are our shirts lol! Mine is covered in glitter. I used a whole can of spray paint glitter. Ellen's says Team Jacob, but she almost ripped it up, it was awesome. We won the t-shirt contest. There wasn't a lot of people. We both had our books in 15 minutes after midnight. I was in the second group in line and she was in the 3rd group. I can't imagine that it took that long for everyone to get through the line.

I officially finished the book at 4:30 this afternoon, it was so good I couldn't put it down, but now I'm sad it's over.

Happy reading to you if you haven't finished!!! Go Team Edward!!

Breaking Dawn party

Memories

This is fun!!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Memory Lane

So, when I was at home this weekend, I ran across this picture of me. It's my senior picture from high school. It made me laugh, and think what was I thinking, but a little bit I miss that crazy kooky side of me. I don't know exactly where she went, but deep down I know she's still in there.

May you all have a giggle at my expense, I know it's making me smile as I type this.

Pic for Ganny

Ganny asked for a closeup of the ring. it was really hard to get one in focus, that the flash didn't drown out, and even was close to capturing the beauty that is my ring. Ok, it's a little fuzzy, but this is like the 20th picture. It's so much better in real life!

The Whole story

Sorry it took a few days to get this posted. I found out just before I left that a full time job at Staples opened up, and I've started training for it this week. Praise the Lord I'm scheduled for over 40 hours this week. He's really providing!

Any way, the story. I went to visit John-Paul in Denver where he is interning for the summer. We went up to Winter Park for a hike. He had went up a few weeks earlier to scope out a good place to go hiking. (I didn't know what he was planning) So, we got sandwhiches and headed to the base of a trail. After about an hour hiking, we came to a clearing with a little waterfall below it, and an awesome view of the other side of the creek.

He was really meticulous with his instructions on how to fold out the picnic blanket. He wanted it to be double thick but for me to just flip it open. I figured a careful unfold was better, and I revealed duct tape lettering. I turned around and instead of digging out the sandwhiches, he had dug out a ring box!

I gave him a big kiss and said yes, and he put the sparkely ring on my finger. it's soooo pretty! So, we had a picnic and headed down the mt.

The rest of the trip was pretty fun, but not really eventful. The next day we called our parents, because we were spending the 4th with some of his family. We thought our parents should hear the news from us, not his uncles.

The fireworks were amazing! We were sitting on a mountain side, and they were exploding about eyelevel a mile or so away, but the town was in a ravine, so we heard echos several times as the noise traveled through the canyon. It was amazing!!!

The next day we had lunch with the lady I lived with when I was in Denver. It was nice to tell someone else. Then went shopping and to an arts festival. it was fun, but we were both tired. The altitude really kicked my bum.

The last day we did lunch at the Botanic Garden where I worked, then had to head to the airport. It was sad, but we hung out in the terminal for as long as I could before going through security. It was so sad to leave. But, now that I'm back I'm so busy I can't miss him. I'm working a lot, and I've got a huge to do list.

We haven't set a date, but we have planned to elope. After seeing other weddings, I don't wanna deal with all the stress related with planning one. We are hoping to be able to just go away, and come home and let everyone know we got married. We will throw a big party after that lol!

We got engaged

Just posting pics for now, I will post the story soon. I have to got to work today, so it will be after that. I was just so excited I wanted to share at least a little!

Birthday Fun!

So, I had a pretty lame birthday. I worked all morning, and then after work I was able to talk to lovely family members and friends. It was nice catching up with people from all over. About 6, a van pulled up to my house and delivered flowers from John-Paul. They are amazing!

After that I went to dinner at Kilkenny's (my Favorite resturant, a little Irish pub) with Dena from Chickasha. We both work at staples, and she took pity on me since I was going to be all alone on my birthday. After dinner we spent a little time together, and then my friend Ellen came and got me for late nite ice cream at Braums. Ice cream at almost 11 pm is not a good idea. O well!!

I had to work again this morning and it was so hard to get up. I told my co-workers I had a ice cream hang over from my birthday lol! Ellen came over after work and took me out for cupcakes (see pictures) It was so much fun. It was sad not having a cake on my birthday, but I didn't really need to eat a whole cake, so the cupcake was great!

A wonderful visit

My lovely friend Jessie came to visit me for an early birthday. It was great. We sat around eating junk food, watching movies, and knitting/ crocheting. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by love. God's really making me realize how loved I am. It's amazing!!

Family

Bubba and his family came through Tulsa on their way to their family vacation. Matt, Kinsley and Tanner (the one in the yellow shirt) stayed with me. Kim and the other 2 boys stayed with her cousin. We visited Safari Sanctuary. It's pretty much someone's farm where they built cages in and they rescue lions, tigers, bears, snakes, and normal farm animals.

It was nice to get to know the boys a little better. I haven't really ever spent much time with them. It was even nicer to talk to Matt. We haven't really had a sit down conversation in years. It was nice to start to get to know him after years of little communication.

(Side note: I'm on Team Edward.)

*deep breath*

So, lately I've had a few things to do. I gave in and have been reading the Twilight series. Arin was right, they are great. I read all 3 in just a week or 2. One book I read in 24 hours lol!

Last week was my first to work at Staples. I trained and worked the register. It was a little stressful, but I think I'll survive. Just so much to learn!!

I went home this weekend for my Ag teacher's retirement party and father's day. Bubba took dad and I out to dinner with his family to celebrate father's day. Doesn't dad look like a proud grandpa? It was good to see everyone. Matt and his fam are going on vacation next week, and as a part of that they are stopping by to see me. So there are things to always look forward to!

I'm planning a trip to Denver to see John-Paul over the 4th of July weekend. I'm soooooo excited!

Exciting times

This weekend I had my best friends over, and we all went to a wedding on Sat. night. I didn't catch the bouquet again, but hey that's ok. We had a lot of fun. We bought the patterns for the bridesmaid dresses for Amy's wedding. (She and Bethany were friends visiting) There was fabric drama. It's crazy how much drama there is. She's been engaged only a month and the wedding isn't until march. Goo!


I'm really excited about next week. I'm going to start working at Staples on Monday. Tuesday I'm going to help getting the parsonage for the new pastor, who I'm going to helping move in on Wed. It's like 3 days in a row with a plan!!! and maybe Tuesday and Wed. I will get to work too!!

life is going well. I'm still unsure what the future holds but it is looking up!!

My weekend

So, here's little Kinsley. If she doesn't look like Bubba, I don't know who would. She's getting bigger.

So, there are 2 girls grabbing for the bouqet. I'm the one in beige. That other girl came out of no where!! I thought it was coming into my hands, and then outa nowhere, that other girl grabbed it seconds before it woulda been in my hands. I didn't cry, but I was really bummed. O well. I'm going to another wedding next week. I'll get it then lol!

This is the picture of the small part of the group in attendence of the first "group" wedding. John-Paul has been friends with the same core group of people since the 4th grade. There's about 10 people in "The Group." So, it was really sad that only 3 others (2 other guys were in it so they had to be in it lol) showed up for the wedding. O well. I guess we are growing up. (the groom is in the middle lol)
So, this is the cake that I made for Jackie's coming home party. After a semester in London, it seemed like a piece of art was the way to welcome her home. The original is below. Not exactly the same, but I think it looks pretty good considering I just used knives and spoons to swirl my sugar around instead of brushes and paint. It was such a joy to make a cake again. It is so fun to be creative, and it's great to eat the product!!I came back to Tulsa to try to find a job. It was so hard to say that I was looking for a job when people would ask me what I was doing now. I spent a lot of time at the feed store, and saw a buncha people at the wedding. I felt like such a loser being unemployed, but I'm going to get a job! I know that God had something out there for me, I just have to move my feet to find it. I pray that I can find His path for me.

Going home

I'm getting ready to turn Fred (my laptop) off, and put him in my car for the trip home. I'm going to spend the weekend there. I'm attending a friend's wedding (not depressing) and attending a coming home party for a beloved friend Jackie. She goes to TU with John-Paul, and we normally hang out all the time, but last semester she was in London. Can't wait to have her back!!

She's having a party for "the group." (John-Paul's friends since like the 4th grade. They are all really close) I'm making a cake. I'm going to decorate it with a monet painting. I'll post pics when I get back to Tulsa on Monday. So excited!!!

Have a great weekend yourself!!

Memorial Day Weekend

John-Paul got to Denver Sunday afternoon. I'm missing him a lot. Even though the past few months were pretty hard in our relationship, I miss him so much. I thought I would be ok, but I've kinda been a mess.

I've been doing a lot of reading and journaling. I walked to church on Sat. and Sun. It was nice. It was cloudy, but I made it without getting rained on.

I was hoping someone would invite me to some sort of cookout for Monday, but that didn't happen. The Nazarene Pastor is having the church over for a cookout in 2 weeks. So, it just didn't happen when I wanted it to.

I was really lonely, so I called my friend Rachel Sunday night. She graduated from OSU from the hort dept a year before I did. So, we got together and talked about plants and life in general. She's super busy, and i'm just bumming around for awhile.

I was determined to make it through the day today, but I finally broke down and called the only other person in Tulsa that I consider a friend. The sweet lady from the Nazarene church, Rhonda. We went over to her friend's house and had the most wonderful dinner. Grilled pork loin and home made ice cream. It was the most amazing homemade ice cream I have EVER had!! it was so good, it didn't need anythign chocolate in it. I don't like plain vanilla ice cream, but man!! *drooling thinking about the ice cream*

I'm going to go to bed, so I can get plenty of beauty sleep. I have my interview at the temp agency in the morning. I pray I get a job, I'm going to go batty just sitting around my house for much longer!!

Love,
Dana Marie

Pictures of me, John-Paul and My house!

Here are some pictures so you can see some of my world. I really thought I had posted pictures of my house. Thanks Arin for pointing out I hadn't. Maybe some day everyone can come visit!

Crazy or just misguided?

So, in the midst of huge changes in my life I find myself totally crazy, I'm trying to tell myself I just don't have a plan so I'm misguided. I'm one who likes to have a plan. God's really teaching me that He's got the script and He'll show me the pages as we shoot the scenes. Right now I just wish I knew where the next scene was going to take place, or maybe even who the main characters will be would be nice.

I met with the pastor of the Nazarene Church yesterday afternoon. He's the interim pastor. He's got a job as a executive trainer, meaning he helps people get promotions. In the midst of my fear yesterday, I remembered him. So, I gave him a call.

In spite of the fact there are so many unanswered questions, of one thing I'm sure. God is and He cares. If He didn't care, I wouldn't have had any one to turn to in these scary times. I realized how blessed I am to have so many people who love and support me. It's amazing, really awesome. People I barely know are reaching out and really embracing me.

He helped me form a short term plan. Like super short term. Today, we planned today. I was to go to a temp agency. Part of my fear was not knowing where to go. He gave me a suggestion of where to go. So, I got up and went. I filled out a buncha forms and they told me to come back next week for an interview lol. So, I didn't accomplish much, but the wheel was set rolling.

I took the Mardel gift card I got from the Chickasha Nazarene church, and went shopping for some encouraging books. I love mardel's, it's a Christian books store. i asked if they had any openings and they are looking for part-time cashiers so I got an application. Maybe a baby step for a bright new future.

On a happy note, one of the people I interviewed with on Monday went to a conference with the 4-H educators I worked with last summer. So, they asked him what he thought, and he said he couldn't say much because there were still more applicants to interview, but I was one of the stronger candidates. So maybe all is not lost.

God is and He cares. (that's the mantra the pastor kept telling me, I get it in the brain, trying to engrave it on the heart)

Much love to you, and may your dreams be coming true!

Frozen by fear

So, I know I need to find a job. Really, I understand this. I just can't do it.

I've got all the paperwork saved to go down to the temp agency. Just gotta print it off, well take my zip drive to kinkos and get it printed off. I've also scoped out some help wanted signs around my house.

I can't get out of my house to chase down the leads. I'm just crying and crying instead. I know that God won't lead the right job to me if I'm just sitting on my duff, but i really can't make myself move. Fear is awful. Please pray for me.

On a happy note, John-Paul came to visit. He is racing today at Hallett. One of the guys he met at his internship last year gets some of his friends together and rents out the track for a day. He's really excited. He came in last night and we went to eat a quaint little Italian place. He's going to come back and stay one more night, before he goes to Denver. *sighs* it's looking like it will be a long summer.

Fun Quiz

The rules are simple:
1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/.
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
3. Using only the first page, pick an image.
4. Copy and paste the picture into your blog.

What is your first name?

What's your favorite food?



What high school did you go to?


What's your favorite color?

(item and color!!!)

Who is your celebrity crush?

(Fernando Alonso- F1 Driver)

What is your favorite drink?


What's your dream vacation?

What is your favorite dessert?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What is your favorite indulgence?


What do you love the most?


I noticed that i put a lot of chocolate in here, guess it's obvious that's something that I really like!