Better Late Than Never

Really? October 28th was the last post? Good lord. I am HORRIBLE at this blogging thing. I honestly forget I have it, and if I do remember, it's when I'm not able to post. Oh well. Enjoy the little bit I share...

Christmas 2010


The new house has been great. It's been nice making it our own. Got all moved in and decided something was missing...yep-a dog. Welcome Bella. She's a miniature schnauzer and tons of fun. She's a total lover, taking every chance she gets to curl up with you.

Juandre has completed his first semester at OU. Lots of time and effort went into finishing up. 9 more semesters to go, but the first one is out of the way. He's enjoying a full month off before classes begin again.

Christmas eve and day were spent in Kansas with my family. A return trip to Kansas is planned for Juandre's birthday to watch the Jayhawks play basketball on December 29th. Rock Chalk!

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful start to 2011!

And we're moving AGAIN...

But this is a move we're SUPER EXCITED about!!!

Welcome to the Peacocks new home! October 29, 2010 - it's OURS!

For more pics, feel free to check out our website here.

4245 Manhatten Drive
Moore, OK 73160

I'm delinquent...

Yep. See? Look how long it's been since I was last on here.
Guess that means we've got really nothing going on in our world.

Juandre's school is off and running. He's very, very busy with his schoolwork and preparation. This PhD thing is for real! :)

My job is going great. I'm learning lots about the insurance world and have a WONDERFUL company to work for. My co-workers are lots of fun. I am very blessed to enjoy it so much. Lord knows I've had some CRAPPY jobs in my past...

The biggest news - we are buying a home. Everything is just so right for us to own our own brand new home instead of paying way more in rent than we would in our mortgage. If all goes well, we close on October 29th. It's still in Moore, just 1 mile away from where we live now. Exciting, but another move, nonetheless.

In about a month we'll have new pics and such to post.

For now, hope everyone has a happy Fall!

The month of June

Since my last post was a month ago, my absence is looking to be a habit...
Nonetheless, here's what has happened in our first month in Oklahoma:

I started my job June 1 with American Fidelity Assurance as a Field Training Specialist. I am in charge of recruiting and training our account managers who sell our insurance products. It is a great company that pays me well and has outstanding benefits. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to have a job - let alone one I truly enjoy.

We've been able to host a few visitors at our new home. My parents came down the first weekend to visit, my sister came for a weekend with her dog, Homer, and our friends Jamie and Zach stopped through on their move from Indy to LA. It sure is nice having all the extra room to comfortably put up guests. Any other takers??? Our door is always open. :)

Speaking of the house, we're enjoying getting to put our own touch on things - especially the yard. It was in such dire straits when we arrived. We've given it fertilizer, water and love and it has made HUGE GAINS. Funny how Juandre and I like to fight over who mows the lawn. (Except for today - I let him do it all by himself while I watched - ha!) Juandre trimmed the hedges in front of our house and did an excellent job. They are nice and tight and square. We have planted a couple of bushes and have big dreams...don't want to do TOO much now, as we don't own our home, but it's nice having it look nice.

We've met the neighbors that live on both sides of us. They are all super nice. Our neighbor to the east, Bruce, lets us borrow lots of lawn equipment AND he comes over and edges our lawn when he does his! Mendy and Jeff live to the west with their 2 little girls. We've had a few adult beverages with them a time or two. They're great. So glad we have nice folks living around us. (Breathe a sigh of relief...)

If anyone saw the crazy downpour of rain that occurred on June 14th in OKC - yeah...got stuck in that. We were headed to a funeral in Kansas that morning and got caught in traffic stopped on the interstate due to flooding. Luckily, the rain did not impact us directly - just made us sit on the road in the car for over 2 hours, eventually diverting off and we missed the funeral. It was CRAZY to see how all that rain fell so quickly and there was nothing anyone could do.

Juandre has started heading up to OU's campus, meeting with his mentor and getting things squared away for fall. He's already started meeting with the peers in the group he'll be assigned to - in a way he's getting a head start. Good thing - he needs the reintroduction to the 'real world' of school. (And our couch will miss his rear end in a month!)

Last weekend, we went to Denver for my friend from high school, Kari's, wedding. It was so wonderful - the wedding was beautiful and hanging out with some of my gals was super fun.





Sorry it's not too exciting - it's all we've managed to do in our first month here. Perhaps it's ok that I don't post but once a month. It makes it worth your while to come and read! :)

The Month of May

As you know, the month of May has been a DOOZY for the Peacocks.




Running the Indy500 Mini-Marathon...
I still can't believe that I ran that many miles! The excitement of it all certainly carried me for at least 5 of those miles. It was a great accomplishment and a great way to spend our last days in Indianapolis.



Juandre graduating from IUPUI...
Mother's Day hosted a celebration - Juandre's graduation from IUPUI. He graduated with distinction from Purdue's School of Science, with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Such a reward for 4 years of hard work! Great job Juandre!



And moving to our new home in Oklahoma!
FINALLY! A house big enough to suit our needs! And storage! LOTS OF IT! The neighborhood is so quiet. The few neighbors we've met have been very friendly. It is located within everything we need - and splits the difference between his drive to Norman and my drive to downtown OKC. Please come visit! We've got a room for you!

If you want to see the full pics from all of these events, please visit our photo site: www.juandreandjenifer.shutterfly.com


:) Jen

Why Molly Ann Boyer-R is the best

So often we take those who give us the most support for granted.
It's easy to get lost in the hectic running of our lives day in and out - leaving behind the ones we count on to get us through.
If you are reading this, take a moment to tell someone thanks for all they do.

Here's my public thank you, to my sister, Molly.

She's my radio contest partner in crime.
She's the 'informant' for keeping my parents and I updated.
She's the hater of Ace of Base. (Really? How?)
She's the owner and lover of Homer-Doodle.
She's the driver of one old, hot, sweaty Toyota from Indy to El Dogg.

She's the one who calls me out when I take her for granted...

Peacocks and the Penske

Ok. Finally! The synopsis of our move to Oklahoma...

We're here. We're good.

Packing and loading went smoothly - just took a long time to get all of our stuff packed in to the 26 FOOT TRUCK. That's right. A massive truck used for a 5-7 room home was packed FULL with all of our stuff. How can 2 people have this much stuff??? Where on earth was it all stored?

Getting an hour and a half late start on Friday, we were off. (Yes, Jen was driving the truck. Breaker breaker...) Along the way, a light regarding emissions came on - detouring us to a Penske location to have it looked at. 1.5 hours later...we were back on the road. Instead of driving on to Kansas to stay the night with my parents, we decided to pound on through to OKC. 18 hours later than we left Indy, we arrived tired, stiff, irritated at a Motel 6 (yuck-because of the cats, that was our only option) to crash for the night.

Saturday morning started with a delicious bacon-filled breakfast to boost our energy for the long day ahead of us. Met the property lady at our new house - meeting us with unfortunate news...a 'semi-completed' cleaning job and NO GAS RUNNING TO THE HOUSE. The jackums that rented the house prior to us had not payed their last few bills, so the meter was yanked. Yes - removed from the house. So, on a Saturday of a holiday weekend, there we were, without hot water. Lovely. We strongly stated our disappointment in the state of the house and got a 3-night hotel stay paid for.
Can't beat moving to a new town and new house and not being able to stay there...

We were so fortunate to have Juandre's 'family' (the South African family we've known from Wichita), the Blignauts, to come and help us unpack. They were SO HELPFUL - getting over 75% of our unpacking and organizing done in the 2 days they were here. It was great to see them and great to have 10 extra hands!

So, here we are, Day #4 in Moore, Oklahoma. We're here. We're good. And we're about to go to bed for the first time in our house.

Night night!

Almost a Month???

Yeah, aren't blogs supposed to be a little more frequent than once a month?
Well, as you might know, things have been SUPER BUSY around here!
I promise to (soon) write a blog for each of the things I am about to list (complete with pictures):

Juandre's Graduation from IUPUI
Jen got a job at American Fidelity Assurance
We're moving on May 28th!
We found a house to live in!

Ok. Yes, that about sums it up.
More to come soon - just let me get packed, loaded, moved, unpacked and settled - then I'll go into more detail.

Moore, Oklahoma...Here come the Peacocks!

Job - Take Two!!!

Cross your fingers! Say your prayers! I have a phone interview tomorrow with the same company I already had an excellent interview with back in February. Same job, but a different division this time. I have the support of the previous hiring manager (that gave the job to an internal candidate) and was contacted by the recruiter - not me searching!

I have such a good feeling about this! Everything seems to be falling into place - just as everyone told me it would. Deep breaths, lots of prayers. We'll be taken care of.

Just 10 days away from Juandre's graduation. 5 years down, 5 more to go! PHEW! Where does the time go?

Stressful Times

So, you'd think that once the decision was made and we knew where we'd be moving, our lives would slow down...HA! I'm more stressed out NOW than before we knew.

Finding a new job is not going well. More than a dozen applications out, and nothing is moving.

No moving date set - our lease here is up June 30th - so nothing later than that at this point.

Juandre has 3 weeks of school left, then graduation is May 9th. A friend's wedding and 2 charity walks will make the time pass quickly.

Stay tuned...HOPEFULLY updates to come sooner than later...

A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Digital ecard made with Smilebox

Decisions Decisions...

Ok. Just returned from visiting Central Michigan University. Small town for sure... (good thing I have El Dogg experience) small school, small Psychology department. Juandre enjoyed the visit - liked a couple of the faculty members, liked a few aspects of the program.

So, now we're finished visiting all of the potential places. I've begun looking for jobs anywhere we might move. My current employer was not as favorable in allowing me to keep my job and work remotely, (don't get me started on THAT topic) so I have freshened up the resume and search the internet every day...

We plan to make an announcement about the chosen school shortly, so in the meantime...stand by!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Juandre and I celebrated our 1st anniversary on March 14th. We had a delightful day at the Indy Zoo and then topped it off with a fabulous dinner.

Juandre and I petting the sharks at the zoo.

Ha! Look how rosy my cheeks are! Damn wine!

My nephew's birthday

OK. OK. So, I don't REALLY have a nephew...but Molly's dog, Homer turned 1 today!

How cute is his pic from Doggy Day Care???

Romancing with Roses...

Kudos to the hubby today...

A gorgeous foreigner showed up at my work with one white rose nestled inbetween the red ones.
Juandre brought flowers for the week leading up to our anniversary. He wanted me to enjoy them for the entire week leading up to our 1-year.

Very creative - the white rose stands for our first year together. He rocked today! Just had to share!

The Peacock's Future

Ok. The main reason I started this blog was to keep everyone informed of our future plans.
Here's the latest info to this point:

Juandre has been accepted to the Industrial/Organizational Psychology PhD programs at the following schools:
Central Michigan University
University of Oklahoma
University of Tulsa (Masters' program only)
Florida Institute of Technology

We visited OU last weekend and we both really enjoyed the campus, faculty and program. I was also very fortunate to have started looking for jobs prior to our visit and had an interview while we were down there. I've not heard back yet, so I will not share any details until something happens with it.

We visit Central Michigan March 19th. I have not been able to find any jobs to apply for, let alone get an interview anywhere in Mount Pleasant, Michigan! I've been telling people the location of this school is in 'the Middle of the Mitten' - as it is literally in the middle of the state (and NOWHERE). But, we've got to give all programs a fair evaluation, but obviously me having a job is a huge piece of our decision puzzle.

Tulsa is out of the question as Juandre is not interested in entering a Masters' program at this time. After 2 years, he would have to re-apply and go through this same process again to get into the PhD program and it's not guaranteed. So, why create extra work and effort if other schools have accepted him directly into their PhD programs?

And Florida Institute of Technology...well, this school unfortunately does not offer tuition remission or stipends to its students. :( We should have known that before applying, but someone I know went through this same program and the chance of interning at Disney were a couple of persuading factors. Unfortunately, the school is private and extremely expensive. Hard to choose a school that will pile up debt while 2 others want to PAY Juandre to come to school...

Anyone reading this post...pray for my job to come through and pray that we are guided to make the best decision for ourselves in where we truly belong.

Reconnections...

For anyone who thinks about that long, lost friendship that once was...
For the grudge you hold regarding that silly, petty argument...
For the time that's been wasting while both breaths were being held...

Life is too short for it not to be filled with the love of as many friends as possible.

I had the opportunity to reconnect with a long, lost friend tonight. It made me realize how selfish and foolish I had been, letting so many important life events pass by without sharing them.
Nothing felt better than hearing that laugh on the other end of the phone. One I knew so well from before, yet allowed it to disappear from my life. I found my friend again, this time for good.

So for anyone who might be in the situation I was, please let me be the one to tell you to make amends. Nothing is beyond being passed off as 'trivial' in the grand scheme of things. Reconnect. Reach out. Resume the friendship you once had.

And for my 'new friend' - you know who you are - thanks and I love you!

I need to talk about how much I LOVE my alma mater. KU basketball is my favorite season, with fall coming in a close second.

What about the Shutterfly account?

Molly posed a question to me - "How is this different than your Shutterfly site?"

Good one. Yeah...the Shutterfly site is where I currently store the photos of Juandre and I's lives. The blog is really for my story-telling, since the shutterfly site doesn't really have a place for this without pics. (Maybe I just wanted to be cool and own a blog, ok?)

Speaking of...I will have new pics to upload from our trip to the Grand Ole Opry a few weeks ago. I should be able to get them finished tonight.

That's right. 2 sites from us. Depends how you want your updates...pics or no pics.
The shutterfly site is http://juandreandjeniferpeacock.shutterfly.com

Beginning da Blog

So...

I've just realized that there are too many people to keep continually updated on our lives.
This way, I can ramble on about our stories ONE TIME and ONE TIME ONLY!!! :)

Thanks to my dear college roomie, Jenny, who also gave up trying to keep all of her friends and family updated (way to give in!)

As I write this, Juandre is rolling his eyes and saying that my blog is dumb. Well, I'll show him - he's not getting the address!

Stay tuned for the Peacocks adventures - a new school, a new job, and new phase in our lives - coming soon!