HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We signed the lease today, got the keys, & took some pics. We finally are in a place, and the fact it is out in the country just rocks. We can’t wait to start moving in tomorrow afternoon. For those who want to see pics, here you go:

www.stephenrkelly.com\pics\house

I would like to also send out my thanks to my friend Tom & his mother Shirley. They allowed us to stay with them for about 3 weeks now while transitioning from the hotel to our rental home. I pray that God will BLESS them abundantly, as Shirley has said several times, “We are Christians, and God expects us to help each other out!” True Christians they are, true friends they are, and the hospitality has been more than I have ever seen.

Well, it has been 2 weeks now. The new job is going good. The search for a place is still ongoing, and the hotel style living is also continuing. Although I am getting a bit restless in the hotel, it also helps to make this feel like a small vacation too. The cat is doing good, both Andi & I have had an issue with our lower backs, and Skylar has made it to CO. We got to watch the July 4th fireworks here from Mt. Washington which made them exploding at eye-level to us. That was truly awesome to see them at my own hieght or slightly lower even. Seeing them reflect off the river down below. But next year we are going out in the boat to watch from the river, next to the barges they launch off of. That will also be cool. We are hoping to get the boat into the water for the first time somewhere in the next 2 week range. The drive around town here is always a pleasant one in the mornings once I get on the turnpike or some of the back roads. Most of the areas lately we have driven through to look at places have been so country for being so close to the downtown city area. A couple even had a view of the city from the backyards. We have had several of my new coworkers\friends drive us around & even one of my bosses took us out just yesterday. Well more later on – God Bless.

The move is over. We arrived Monday evening, June 21st, and got checked in. It took us to Friday to get a storage unit, and get the truck unloaded. U-haul was good to us & did not charge us for the extra day when they heard what all I went through on this move. But next time I am paying others to PACK & MOVE us. We started Saturday on the search for a place but we have the hotel until July 17th for sure. I think we will find us a place by then. I know I missed some calls and I am planning on returning them, but please be patient. I ahve had my hands full this week & by the time I get to the hotel I just want to eat & go to bed. Today, Andrea actually got out on her own to go 2 blocks up the road to get us a newspaper. I am so proud of her, as she is being brave enough to start exploring the new city, and for her attitude & support in this. Babe, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! More to come later on.

Well, I heard about a job opening, I interviewed for it, & then I got offered the new job. I accepted, and now we are moving to Pittsburgh, PA. This is going to be a fresh start for this family, a time for us to do things the right way. A time for us to do it on our own without help or interference from others. Our time together here in Dallas (OK, Garland) has taught us alot. Some things, we didn’t apply, some that we did. This family has made changes that were good, and some that were bad. This oppotunity is going to let us figure out OUR lives, live it the way we want it to be, the way it should be, and to figure out who this family is, as well as, who we are as individuala too. I want to say Thank You to those of you who have been so good to us, and know that we will definitely stay in touch. For those of you who who fit in another aspects of our lives, this is a time for our family to heal, but we will not be holding any grudges. We hope that in time as we heal, and when we come back for visits, we can all look back at life & know that we learned something from it. I wish the best for everyone here, and I hope that God blesses us all.

That’s right!! I have flown & become a Yankee for a week. I have to say that the downtown area looks pretty cool. The city looked really beautiful from above at night. I put pictures below that I took from my phone. It is really cold here, but it has been really cold in Dallas too so nothing much to report there. I got to meet all the people I usually only talk to over the phone, and they are all really great. I almost got a job offer here in the HQ office. Who knows, it may still come yet. The hotel room is awesome, and so is having a whirpool/tub (seperate from the bathroom) that I can sit in & watch TV while snacking on chips/dip. Well, not much more happened yesterday or today other than meeting new people & getting a lot of work done. But I must mention that I had some chili, which was made by my friend/co-worker, Bill Whitfield, and it has taken the #1 spot as my all-time favorite Chili ever. It was his black bean & corn chili, with steak. There were peppers & onion in it…. man I can only say that I could have eaten MUCH more of it. Oh wait, I get it all week long for lunch. Until my Quaker Steak & Lube Hot Wing Challenge is over, pray for me & God Bless.

This would be Skylar’s first time to ever go to the State Fair of Texas, and man has it been a weird one. First, we don’t get to go on her school’s fair day (see my post about the wreck we had). Neck & back pains just don’t make good for walking, standing, being jerked around, or being crowded. So instead of going on the 5th, we had to go today. Secondly, it is the last weekend for them to be open this year and on the Texas/OU game day. Who would have thought that it would have been more crowded going there after the game had ended, than it was coming home late that night. Luckily, they actually have a train station now at the Park’s entrance. Lastly, it was a great time for us all. We ate some good ole’ Fletcher’s Corn Dogs, drank a couple of sodas, and ate a funnel cake. It was an original’s, State Fair staples kinda day. We rode on the Crazy Mouse, which Skylar just BEGGED to go on, then after we got off couldn’t stop telling us how “now I understand why they call it ‘crazy’ it now.” (Not one I see her getting back on) We also went on the Ferris Wheel and to everyone’s amazement – WE SURVIVED. You see, both Skylar & I are afraid of heights. That’s right, and Skylar showed more evidence of that while standing in line, while mine showed up during the ride. Poor people in the car with us… sure hope they can get that out of their jeans/shoes. Just Kidding!!! I did however spend 1/2 the ride staring at the floor of our cart. Then we all were shaking a bit in unison due to the fact we rode it at night, when it was cold & windy. (I was hoping it would hide the fact I was a bit scared) Anyway, the best part of the whole trip to me (& always is) was getting to go to the Car Show. Man how I love to sit in cars and see how comfortable (or not) they are with no pressuring salesman making you feel like you are being stared down through a sniper’s scope. We got to see the new Camaro, which was the absolute highlight of it all. They had some really nice SS versions, and yes, they had the Transformer’s Bumblebee version. What??!! Of course, I sat in it!! Do you think I am stupid?? Wait, don’t answer that. It was awesome. Then we sat in the newest, latest Corvette Z06, and Andrea was really liking that. My sweet Corvette lovin’ wife! We ended the show by sitting in some of the nicest new trucks too. I have to say, the 2010 Ford F-150 4×4 Platinum was the hottest & my favorite truck in the whole place. We didn’t get to catch any of the other shows that we wanted to, but got to do some shopping for cool food products, like spreadable honey, spices, and some jams/jellies (cranberry-habanero & jalapeno flavors). Right up my alley!! The place that I think we spent the longest other than the car show would be the petting “zoo” area. We got to see some really cool animals & watch some baby animals playing around, being funny, or being really cute. Skylar fed some, and I took some pictures of the whole day, so check them out below, and until next time – God Bless!!

Skylar & the Zebra

Four-Horned Goats

Sleeping Baby Llama

Feeding Time Momma

Texas Longhorn

God surely provides in a time of need. As you all know, we got into a wreck a couple of weeks ago. A few Chiropractor visits to work out the minor whiplash that Andi & I suffered from was treated & now we’re much better. Andrea still feels some in her neck but she has a couple more appts. I am fine because Dr. Sandy got my lower back to pop, and I felt like a new man the next day. Anyway, the young lady’s insurance got us a nice ’09 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab truck for a rental while mine was in the shop being appraised. By now, the estimate has changed from about $3,000 to now they want to total it out. OK, no problem. Actually, I am glad it is going this way. So I start looking for a replacement vehicle. A truck of course, I do have a heavy boat to pull around. I end up with 2 brand new truck quotes (courtesy of Jay Taylor @ Huffine’s Chevy in Plano - right off the corner of Coit & Plano Pkwy. Tell him I sent you. ) I then went to craigslist & found quite a few F-150′s with the Harley Davidson pkg, and a few plain, but nicely optioned out F-150′s. There was a Dodge ram, and even a Toyota Titan in the mix. Then I get the pay-off information, give it to my banker, and ask what my max limit is. As my luck would always have it, my limit was half the one I set for myself when I started my research. My list got narrowed down to 2 trucks. One of the F-150′s, & the Dodge. I liked the Dodge more because it was a crew cab. And it was in my price range. lol. So before I called the guy on this, I thought I would go to his website, and see if he had anymore possibilities in my range. Then I found what I thought was going to be my next truck. A beautiful, F-250 with a gasoline engine instead of the diesel, crew cab, nice wheels/tires, and priced close enough to my “budget”. I just had to call right then. But, the bubble got busted, and then God showed me how he never fails this family, and how he constantly blesses us in our times of need. Rocky, the owner of the car lot (Reynolds Auto Group, just off of Plano Pkwy & Plano Rd in Plano, TX) asked if I had seen the information on the F-150 he has. I looked again to be sure, and then advised him kindly that there was no F-150 on his inventory list on the site. So he asked me to wait 15 minutes, and then refreshed my browser. So, I did exactly that. Now, there is an F-150 in the inventory. THAT IS IT!!!! This is my dream truck, right in front of my eyes. A 2004 Ford F-150 Lariat 4×4; 2-tone True Blue w/ Tan ext.; Tan leather w/ Wood Grain on the int.; POWER EVERYTHING (locks, brakes, windows, sunroof, rear-sliding window, etc); steering wheel controlled – cruise control, stereo, & air/heat; 4-wheel drive on-the-fly; Super-Crew cab big enough for me to sit in with inches to spare at my knees; just about ever freakin’ option I could want & then a few more. Rocky had been driving it since he bought it, and was enjoying it. Don’t blame him either. But when he heard what had happened, he posted the truck on the site for me, and he sold it to me at a price in my “allowed budget” – $12,000. I picked it up today, and I have to say that I have never felt so blessed in my entire life. I thank GOD for watching over us, I thank Rocky for having a heart so big he would part with this truck, I thank Jay for all his help/advice/support, and I thank everyone else who over the last couple of weeks prayed for us & was patient with us while we dealt with this mess. Until next time, God Bless!

You are reading it right… We got rear-ended in the truck while sitting at a green light tonight. Let’s start at the beginning. We were out helping my God-mother Shirley driving her around & getting some stuff. We got back & put together some furniture, and just enjoyed our visit. We were happy to have had spent some time with her today. Anyway, while on our way home through Plano, driving down Preston Rd., we approached the red light at Lorimar or Legacy (the intersection with the construction & the bend in the road), where there was a car sitting there. So we started slowing down to a stop, and the light turned green. I had to come to a complete stop, at this green light. Why you ask, would I have to do this if the light was green? Because some stupid @$#&! just sat there like it was still red. I politely gave him 3 full seconds (equal to the 4 passing cars in the right lane) to move before I blew my horn at him. Then he waived as though he was saying sorry & started to drive off. At this point, I had looked over at Andrea & was laughingly calling this person an ID10T, while I was also taking my foot off the break to put it on the accelerator to move along, and then that is when it happened. BAM!!!!!! Skylar immediately asks what just happened. I had to tell her “We just got hit. We were just in a car accident.” Then she absolutely FREAKED OUT as though she was going to die. So, I checked to make sure everyone in my truck was ok (and we all were), and then I went to check on the other driver. Well, Well. What do you know. The very reason that there are laws being passed nowadays about teens driving while texting or talking on cell phones. How do I know this, becasue she said to me, “I looked up & saw the green light, but didn’t see your truck”. Okay. If you are looking forward at the road & the traffic in front of you – YOU COULDN”T HAVE MISSED MY BIG TRUCK!!!! (Here’s Your Sign!) Then, she had to use my cell phone to dial her own cell, which she then found on the dash, on the driver’s side, right there in front of her face. (I am guessing that her blonde hair wasn’t dyed at this point) And as if that wasn’t stupid enough, after we exchanged information (who was driving without her license on her?), we both stood there watching the water/anti-freeze/transmission fluid mix just flow like a river out of her vehicle until there was no more left. I told her she needed to call for a tow truck, and that we would wait with her until one arrived. Yet, this young, blonde, teen, who has already proven her reasoning skills/judement are quite lacking, ignored my advice & DROVE OFF IN IT ANYWAYS!!!!! At least the damage to my truck didn’t impair it from being drivable. So, we followed her up the road a few blocks, until she had to turn off, to make sure she would be okay. Man, what did I do so wrong to deserve this moment. However, I will make sure I tell her insurance company what she did too, and I would sure hate to be around when her parents find out all this. I will keep you all posted on how things go, so until next time – God Bless!

Well folks, we have just had & somewhat celebrated our 7th year of marriage. I have to say that it has had its rough moments, but after 7 years, our relationship has gotten stronger & better. I have had the great pleasure of having the best wife ever, who always takes good care of me, puts up with all my BS (& a lot of it too), and that she has continued to love me whole-heartedly. I look forward to everything that this next year will bring us, and I look back on the past years & see how much growth we have both had. I am proud to call Andrea Paige Kelly my wife, and I hope that I can bring even more happiness to her in teh future than I have so far in our past/present. I Love You, Andrea!!!!

Well, Skylar has made it back home safely. She has already made her rounds with the family, and tonight we do the school orientation, which means I will get to meet her teachers & see her classrooms. From everything she has told us so far about her summer, she had a really great time. She got to take a photo of her standing in front of BumbleBee (the transformer that is the yellow camaro) while visiting ComiCon. She has other pics that she says she has, and as soon as I can get them I will add them to this post. At this time I don’t have too much to say, just that I am glad my babygirl is home safely, I am happy that she has had a great summer, and I know that she is such a daily blessing to my life. Luv u Babygirl!! Until next time, God Bless everyone!!!