First Anniversary and Freezer Burn Cake!

Hi Guys! Yes- we made it a year! Yay! I felt really excited yesterday when we celebrated being married for a year. Our first year of marriage has really challenged me to work on issues I really didn't know I had- and for that I am thankful. I am also thankful for my husband who is always quick to forgive and move on. (I am still working on that one....) I could write a novel on what I have learned this year- and maybe I will someday....but for now I am happy to say that we made it through year one and are so excited to start year two. I can't imagine what God has in store to teach me this year but I know it will be "to prosper and not to harm".

We exchanged gifts last night and I am sure I acted like a 5 year old on christmas morning when I got mine. I have been asking Patrick for a kitten for a year now and last night when I opened my gift it was filled with mice, (stuffed of course) cat toys and cat food. I looked at Patrick and said "Does this mean what I think it means??!!" He had been keeping it a secret from me - which is really hard to do. We are going to pick one out at a shelter as soon as we can.

We also ate our way gross freezer burned wedding cake. Don't get me wrong....a year ago that cake was the best cake I have ever eaten but I guess a year sitting in a freezer didn't sit well with our creme' brule cake topper. The real flowers were still sitting on top of the cake - we ate a few bites and then mutually agreed to toss it.

So- I inclued a few pictures of my fun gift and our not so fun cake....enjoy!!!

Baby Sea Turtle!!!

Yes! I just was able to finally get a picture to upload here in Mexico. I absolutely love this picture. Patrick was taking pictures of the baby sea turtles right after they hatched out of their shells and this one actually looked up right at him. Isn't he adorable??!!! Watching them struggle down the sand to the sea was amazing. They have a hard life ahead. It is incredible to think that they have to make it on their own - from birth. The mom lays the eggs and that is it. Patrick, me, and my family loved watching them wiggle their way down to the ocean and then get swept up into a wave and then swim out to start their life. I came up with a motto that I keep repeating to myself. "If a baby sea turtle can make it, then so can I." I know it sounds corny but I have been feeling overwhelmed lately with life and what not and watching this event here on the beach in Akumal really made me think. These little ones have to first, break out of their shell and struggle to get down the beach to the water, and second they have to make it out in the ocean being so small and new to life and everything around them. They grow to be so huge and mighty- but they start so small. I don't know why it is sticking with me.....I keep repeating the motto and Patrick keeps laughing. I think I may be the only one in the family that got inspiration from the baby sea turtle but I think God speaks to everyone in different ways. Anyway, I am ready to go back to the US with inspiration from a baby sea turtle. Yes, I am!!! So- if you are feeling down, look at this picture of this little guy! I can send you a copy! :)

Akumal, Mexico....

We have spent this past week in the most beautiful, peaceful place in the world! Akumal is about and hour and a half from Cancun and a hidden treasure. We have had no agenda and haved loved every minute of it. Our condo is right on the beach and we have spent countless hours sitting watching the ocean or the amazing stars at night. It is just another reason to thank God for His creation. Patrick has been loving taking pictures of the scenery and was lucky enough to get some great shots of a lightening storm last night. We also saw baby sea turtles crawling to the ocean for the first time in their life from their little nest in the sand. It was incredible!! I will update more later but I wanted to blog about this because I have been a lazy blogger this summer. We fly home tomorrow but are trying to live up what is left of the time we have here today. I have tried to post pictures with this but for some reason nothing is attaching. I will definitely post some when we get home to the states! Hope everyone is well....those of you that are still checking this blog. I promise I am going to get better at updating!!!

Hello from East Texas!!! I know it has been well over a month since I have blogged, but I love the fact that I can just pick right back up again. I am in my home town of Tyler Texas. There is something so peaceful about coming home. I have lived in the same house my whole life, it's beautiful and green here, and I love spending time with my parents. Now, the real reason I am here....a call of daughterly duty. :) My mom broke a vertebra last saturday after a nasty fall off of a ladder. She was in the hospital until thursday evening and came home finally with a shiny new fiber glass brace. Let me tell you- it is one snazzy addition to any wardrobe. It killed me that I couldn't come home last week but we were finishing up school. This weekend I worked graduation which was great- but very time consuming. I finally was able to drive in today to get a crash course in nursing in about 5 minutes. My dad has been amazing. He does everything that she needs. It is really neat to see him in that role. I have a pretty wonderful dad if anyone hasn't met him. The accident happened on their 34th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary!!! My mom has been such a trooper. She is able to walk around with a walker and sit up on her own. I think she is making a great recovery already. We keep making her laugh - and she tells us to stop because it hurts to laugh. I think laughing is the best medicine. It's like taking one big vikaden. I guess I will have to hold off on the jokes. I have some great plans for us this week that include reading every magazine that we have, watching movies, painting nails, and figuring out how to wash her hair. The brace cannot come off - except for bed time. We think we already have a hair washing system concocted....we are going to give it a try tomorrow! Patrick and V will drive in Thursday night. Patrick starts summer school tomorrow. He had a "one day" break. He has been wonderful through all of this - he even surprised me with peanut butter m&m's for the ride to Tyler. Of course I ate them before I left Dallas. They were the small size ok!! I know what you guys were thinking.

It really does feel so good to be home. My parents marriage has been such a good example of working as a team to me. They have been that way ever since I can remember. They called themselves the "parent team". Patrick and I have been married 9 months as of today. Yay! I cannot believe it has been that long. It is fun to think that my parents are 34 years and still going strong. Thanks mom and dad for setting such a great example of faithfulness to one another and loving each other through the hard times. I can only pray that we do it half as good as you guys have. I am truly blessed! Here are a few pics of my mom and dad. Great Great people. I love them alot. :)

My mom came to Dallas for the fair. We had a blast. We tried every type of fair food there was. Patrick took a picture of me eating every one. I will have to download those. I have a fair food addiction. I may need help.

34 years ago!!! They are so young!!! I absolutely love this picture. It is my all time favorite. My dad helped my mom make her veil. I borrowed mine. Sorry Patrick. No luck there.

The fiber glass queen! Mom- you are amazing! You will be walking around here so fast by no time! Pretty soon, We are going to roll that walker down a hill and never look back!

Dad at his best! (cooking bacon!!) Virginia made him that apron for christmas. Some of my best memories are dad in the kitchen. He is a great cook. He is always taking risks and creating new things. I think that is where V gets her passion for cooking. I inherited mom's sense of humor, passion for talking and love for reeses blizzards. All three have gotten me into trouble.

My mom and dad. They look just as happy as they did on their wedding day.

On that note, I am calling it a night. I promise I will start writing more. (I really mean it Kelly!) I will update you guys on my week as a nurse jen. I am really excited to get to help mom and see my friends from home. Darrah and Kel- wish you guys were here. :) Good night!!!!

Haney Update, Ranger Game, and Tire Fiasco, need I say more?

Hi! Yes, it has been a very long time since my last post but I am making a comeback everyone!! Since I have last written I am going to sum up our life.....let's see.....hmmmm....
wake up
get to school (jen is usually late)
teach (patrick does more of this)
eat an extremely short lunch ( 30 minutes)
teach some more
leave as fast as I can (patrick tutors or works really hard)
get home
look at the laundry and decide to let it sit there another day
work out??? (sometimes)
talk about our day ( for me it takes 45 min, for Patrick about 5)
eat dinner
eat dessert ( I am addicted to dessert)
watch law and order svu- but we have seen most of these
go to bed
start again

On the weekends we have been sleeping in because we are so tired! Teachers will understand that in April and May you start to go insane and live in complete exhaustion pretty much all the time. We are counting down the days until graduation. (yes- we work graduation and wear robes and sit with the kids...it's fun!) I have been making cards and eating peanut butter m&m's...that is pretty much our weekends! This weekend I am meeting up with my college roomies to have a girls weekend in Tyler. I am so excited. Patrick will be all alone and I am sure he will find something to do. We also went to Canton last weekend which was an experience! I wish I would have had my camera...so many interesting things to see and people to meet. Canton is great if you haven't been!!! It is a must! East Texans are awesome! ( I am one so I can say that)

Ok...back to the real event! Last night we went to a Ranger's game and had a blast! First of all, the real reason we went wasn't because of the Rangers (even though I grew up loving them and had a HUGE crush on Pudge Rodriguez and was crushed that he was married and didn't speak my language) Anyway, the real reason we went was because my good friend Robin was recognized on the jumbo tron as her school's teacher of the year!!! Yay Robin...keep on teachin girl! (that was something my mom would say) (mom- that wasn't an insult- it is a complement I am turning into you! I promise!) So, we went to the game to see Robin get announced on the "tron" and took a few wrong turns and ended up missing the big sha bang! I'm sorry Robin!! I can only imagine that you looked amazing on the jumbo tron getting your honor. We did however get to the stadium and hung out with some good friends who we haven't seen in awhile.

The game was super fun- I didn't watch much of it but I did get to experience the best part.....the amazing food!!! Yum! It was like the fair all over again. I love fair food and game food is right underneath it. I started off trying to be healthy and brought smart pop popcorn in my bag so I wouldn't be tempted to eat sweets...but it all went down the tubes when I walked in the park and got my first whiff of garlic fries. It was over! So I decided that chicken fingers, waffle fries, garlic fries, and a huge sundae would be the healthy option. It was so good and I ate every last bite. I didn't have the fried cheesecake like I did at the fair but that's ok....I will cut the vendors some slack.

Ok....I will post some pics now. Me, Patrick and V ( my sis) had a great time!!!



We love hanging out with Jayden! He had so much fun!!
Yes...Patrick got his glasses at Canton...they have everything...get yourself there people!!

What you don't see is the enormous amount of whip cream that was on top of the sundaes. People were staring. I ate it fast so it wouldn't look so huge...I think it still looked huge.

My wonderful sister Virginia!

This picture was not staged. Patrick was doing the "wave". At least one of the Haney's participated. I chose to pass.
Christy and Jayden! :)


After the game we had a little mishap...we ended up having a flat tire on wonderful Hwy 360. My first time to ever be on the Hwy 360 and I got to see the shoulder for quite awhile. We pulled over and Patrick saved the day by changing the tire while V and I stayed in the car. It was a little stressful but all was well when we finally found that missing part that rolled onto the shoulder. Tricky little thing! (Patrick found it- I cannot take credit for anything) He put on the spare and we rolled slowly (not over 50 mph of course) back into Dallas about 11:30 pm. We went to Sears today after school and apparently it takes 3 hours to change a tire so we walked around Town East Mall. It is so weird to see students outside school. They stare at you like you are an alien and you shouldn't have a life except teaching. We laughed alot and finally got our tire and went home.

Well, that is the Haney update. So sorry for any mispelled words. I realized tonight that my spelling is getting worse. I spelled two words wrong at foundation group tonight. I mean- who says "faithe" isn't a word??

Good night all!!

Hawaii!!

Patrick and I went to Kauai for our honeymoon. It was amazing! Definitely worth it! Here are some fun pics of our trip.

This is the rope that Indiana Jones swung on!!

Us Haney's love our shaved ice! We got it three times in one week! So good!

Leaving on the last day. I was smiling on the outside but crying on the inside. We got back on Sunday and went right back to teaching on Monday. Not fun!!

This restaurant is surrounded by the ocean. It was part of our hotel. The food in Hawaii is amazing. I would go back just to eat the food!

We heart Walmart!! We went there frequently to get things that were actually in our price range! We still have some really cool beach towells from the Kauai Walmart.

This was right before we went on our helicopter ride.

Patrick took some amazing pictures from the air.

These helmets are awesome! We had a blast going on our ATV off road experience! It was a 3 hour trip- we were covered in dirt by the time we got back. I definitely recommend it!!

In the helicopter! I got to sit by the pilot- Kirk. He had flown Ben Stiller to his movie set the week before. Hard life. :)

Our awesome chrysler sebring!! We drove around with the top down every day. Patrick is sporting the hat he got from Hal. (my dad)


Lots of orange colored fish. Just thought this picture was funny.

Getting to know the Haney's

Hello! I can't believe I am starting a blog....but here I (Jen) am!! Patrick and I thought it would be fun to write our thoughts out on our blog because we both love to write....and I really love to talk.....so we will see how this all works out! We got married about 6 months ago in Tyler Texas surrounded by our wonderful family and friends. I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing group of friends who have walked with me the past 15 years of my life. To have them stand by me on my wedding day was surreal. Patrick and I met teaching at the high school where we currently teach now. We were friends for 4 years before we dated and then got married. It has been fun to be "Mr. and Mrs. Haney" at school around our high school students. So, for now, we are learning daily what is means to live our lives as "The Haney's".

I am going to post a few pics of the wedding so you can get acquainted....