Getting Tan Before the Summer Season

Summer is just around the corner - so I thought I'd get a jump start on my tan.
My mom and dad agreed, and were surprisingly supportive in me catching some rays.  They were nice enough to get me my own tanning bed and blanket for my room! 

Mom keeps referring to getting a tan as "being jaundiced" - I don't know about that.
So what if my skin is a little yellow?  I think it goes quite nicely with many of my pink outfits. :)

So, I got to tan for 3 straight days. Who knew they made tanning beds just my size???

When not in the bed, I had a blanket to focus on my midsection. (Who wants a white belly when sporting a 2-piece swimsuit?)

Sometimes I got bored when laying in the bed, so I found ways to keep myself entertained...

And as quickly as the tanning bed was delivered, it was taken away.
Not before I got a nice tan - and the yellow is all gone!

Brennen Emma

Entering the World - Au Naturale

Exciting news at the Peacock house! We have a GUEST EDITOR for The Peacocks Blog!
Introducing BRENNEN EMMA PEACOCK!

First of all, I'd like to thank my Mom and Dad for bringing me into this world. I am DELIGHTED for the opportunity to share my thoughts and insight as a guest editor on this blog. And BOY - do I have a great story to start with!

"My Entrance Into This World - Au Naturale"

Saturday, April 7th was a busy one. Aunt Molly and her friend Laura were in town for the Lady Antebellum concert. Mom and I had so much work to get done - changing bed sheets, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, shopping, oh and cleaning out the tornado shelter. I decided that I could help out as well - I kept trying to use my hands - but this darn uterus was getting in my way. Nothing some pushing and moving out of my way couldn't fix. "I'm on my way Mommy."

I started trying to wiggle my way out about 7:30am that morning. All my efforts only temporarily distracted Mommy with slight cramps every 30 minutes on and off all day. We had lots of work to get done, so I didn't try THAT hard to get out. We got all of our chores completed and even made a trip to WalMart for groceries. It was approaching 4pm, and we needed to get started prepping our dinner, as we were leaving the house for the concert at 6pm.

I remember hearing Daddy's voice announcing he was home around 4:15pm. (I sure loved hearing Daddy talk to me every day. His voice is so soothing...) We were getting fixins' for quesadillas ready and I decided that this was one meal I wanted to have in person - so I made the decision to get this ball rolling. And all of a sudden, I felt Mommy stop moving. Yep, that did the trick - a good ol' contraction. I think I'll keep reminding her I want to eat too every 5 minutes or so. I don't think she was happy about this as I recall her moaning and complaining of pain and just wanting to use the restroom. A LOT. 5 minutes was really too long of a pause, so I moved up my reminders to every 2-3 minutes. It was now 5:15pm.

Daddy called the hospital and inquired about when we should arrive. I thought, "I've done it for real! They are going to help me get out and get a quesadilla!" Hospital bags and my car seat all packed up, we finally decided to get in the car. En route to hospital at 6:00pm.

Mommy walked into the hospital by herself and chatted with the Registration lady before we walked to the elevators to go to Triage on the 2nd floor. A very nice nurse wanted to communicate with me, so she strapped up a monitor to Mommy and I was able to chat it up. I was doing just fine, but Mommy's blood pressure was up pretty high. After 15 minutes of evaluation, we learned we would get to stay in the hospital for good (quesadillas anyone?)

So excited about the news, I began to nudge for my quesadilla reminder every minute. More intense and closer together gets you what you want, right? The doctor came into the room and examined Mommy. She even ended up tickling my head! Silly lady - get out of the way so I can come out! The doctor had to break Mommy's water and noted I was ready to come out. As the doctor and nurses were preparing the labor room, I heard someone ask Mommy if she wanted to push and WOW! She said YES really quickly. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't a Mommy be hooked up to an IV and have some meds for this? Narcotics, epidural? Nah, not for my Mommy. Woah, woah, woah - I think this is happening faster than I anticipated. Just like that, I was being shoved out of my home. Squeezed out is more like it - talk about outstaying my welcome.

Showing my true coordination, I gave 3 more contractions and Mommy pushed 3 times and "TADA - HERE I AM!" I was born at 7:45pm. I weighed a slim 7 pounds and was 20 inches tall.

I was so excited to see Mommy and Daddy's faces. Tears of joy, along with my tears of a freezing cold room and having to breathe on my own, filled the room. The nurse lady finally got an IV for my Mommy while another one continued to ask hospital admittance questions. Shouldn't this have been done BEFORE? Oh right, I wanted out too fast. Well, like Mommy, like Brennen. Fast deliveries tend to run in the family.

So, 3 hours and 15 minutes of true labor, from start to delivery. Not too shabby, for myself.

Thanks for listening to my very first story. I'll have plenty more to entertain you with along the way.

Brennen Emma

And, I know you're DYING to know - I DID get my quesadilla, just not until the next day. Aunt Molly brought it up to me at the hospital (the food there sure was bland!)

Little Miss Peacock's Room! (as promised...)

5 weeks left for Little Miss Peacock's arrival - and I think we're ready.

Feels good to have the nursery completely functional and ready to go at anytime.

I'm in love with our theme and colors. The brown and pink is a favorite of mine - and we had always said we wanted the "African Safari" as the theme. I love my variation of the 2.

The art on the walls actually is one large mural (3 feet by 5 feet) that I did not want all on one wall. So I broke apart the individual animals to place 1 mural on each wall. Just traced and then painted with acrylic paint. The leaves of the trees I just utilized a towel for the texturing - and LOVED it.







We were fortunate in getting the furniture. I found all of it in a bundle combination, but 2 times I went to order it, it was out of stock. One day, I clicked again and it was in stock, so I was ordered. AND EARLY. We've had it since November, but I happened to see again that it's out of stock. So popular! The crib converts into the graduating stages (not sure why anyone wouldn't want this option) and the dresser and bookshelf will be used in the bedroom for years to come.

I love all the stuffed animals we have - I think a little too much for an infant, but she'll love having them in a few months.

Here's the rest of the photos of the nursery. My mom is making a quilt that is pink and brown striped, reversed with brown polka dots. Matching window valance and crib end organizer also. Can't wait until they arrive to complete the full look.

She's almost here!

Less than 6 weeks before Little Miss Peacock makes her way into the world!

She "smiled for the camera" today for us at my appointment. Just can't keep those hands away from her face.



Juandre and I are as prepared as we can be for her arrival. The nursery is almost complete (I will post separately with those pics) and ready to go.

Stay tuned - once she's here, more pics to come!

It's a...

Short and sweet post today...

Week 18 of the pregnancy is here. We can't believe it's almost the halfway point! Our little one will be here before we know it!



(Apologies if the 4D photo creeps anyone out...it kinda does me!)




AND...we've found out, we're having a GIRL!



Big promises on future posts in the next few months. Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii and then 2 1/2 weeks traveling the Southeastern U.S. with family from South Africa will provide MUCH to blog about!

The "Semi-Annual" Peacock Post

Yeah...as we've seen - I am NOT a good blogger. And I feel really badly about it.

Perhaps once we have children, I might be more apt to update this thing.
So for now, let's just keep the expectations low - and if I post more than every 6 months, it will be a present to everyone! :)

Juandre has successfully completed his first year as a PhD student; however is continuing to be busy throughout the summer. Working on his Thesis, grant work and taking classes, "summer" as he remembers it is not exactly a time for R&R. He is anxiously counting down the days until football season starts - in particular, OU football. We have purchased season tickets this year, taking advantage of the availability while he is a student. (No, I'm NOT a traitor...I support ALL college sports, especially those who have a good, historical tradition. I still have a BEAK!)

My sister Molly completed her MBA from Wichita State this year. It was nice to see her hard work come to an end! :)




On May 27, Juandre became a U.S. Citizen. Almost 12 years in the U.S., he's earned it. :) It's a nice relief to know any traveling to and from the States will no longer have the worries of not being allowed back in the country.



This past weekend, we celebrated the 4th weekend with our close friends, the Blignauts. It was a great time to gather, especially with their oldest son who has just returned from Afghanistan. We are thankful to have him home, as an attack took the lives of many of his troop. We enjoyed barbeque and games and mostly, the pool. Bella even joined in on the fun!



So, for now, we'll continue to make the best of our EXCEPTIONALLY HOT early Summer and wind down towards the Fall. With school starting and football season kicking off, we know that some BIG events are coming our way. Juandre, myself and my family are taking a Thanksgiving trip to Maui, Hawaii. Then, our South African visitors will be coming for a month, ensuing a 2 week road trip of many of the Southern States of the U.S.

Stay cool everyone!

2nd post in 10 days!!!

Look at me! I AM posting frequently again! :)

For Juandre's birthday on December 29th, we went to Lawrence for a KU basketball game. I booked us a hotel room with massages at the spa at the Oread hotel on campus. Upon checking in, we were told we received a complimentary upgrade for our room. Sure did!
We were put in the condo suite, the best room at the hotel. What a great birthday present for Juandre! The room was great, our company (Pete and Lacy Williams) was great and the game was great!

For the full album of pictures from our trip, including the fabulous shots of our hotel room, visit our Shutterfly site.

Juandre's semester starts in about 2 weeks - he's getting a little stir crazy in the house. Work is gearing up for our National Sales Conference for me, plus we have many open positions in which I do most of the recruiting for. Busy times heading into Spring at the Peacock house!

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!