The New Leeses on Life » Jess

Amazing Love Story

Jess — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:50:04 +0000

Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve cried over a movie/tv show/commercial etc. (I used to get made fun of for how I’d cry at the drop of a hat!), but I saw the sweetest true love story today that I thought I would share.

Sixteen year olds Bart and Brenda fell in love in the late 70s were secretly engaged and then a month later found out she was pregnant. They were separated and forced by their parents and priest to give up their baby for adoption. They were not allowed to even touch the baby. Their strained relationship ended shortly afterward and they went their separate ways. Both married and had two children with other spouses. After both their marriages ended in divorce, they found each other again and looked for their biological son together. Through a chance meeting, they found him and reunited with him after 26 years, finally getting to hold the son they had been forced to give up. They got married and their son walked her down the aisle. Then they had a daughter together named Madison and they lived happily ever after.

It sounds like a movie or novel or something, but it really happened! I tried to give the Reader’s Digest version, but wow. I bawled like a little girl!

Graduate School Update

Jess — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:45:08 +0000

So, four down and one to go…the graduate school auditions are almost over. I have received one acceptance letter so far from Towson University in Baltimore and I am still waiting to hear from the rest. My last audition is Monday at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Though we might hear whether or not we are accepted into the rest of the schools within the next couple of weeks, we will not know until as late as mid-April about assistantships and scholarships. These will be a very large factor in deciding where we end up, so we can’t really make a decision until all of the cards are on the table. The next step will be finding a job for Leroy and selling our house; the latter of the two being the most difficult task. (Looking at the comps in our area, the last houses that sold were in November and they were short-sales!) We know that God has plans for us, but we are just waiting to see what they are! (Jeremiah 29:11) Thank you all for your support in this process in so many ways! This process has been so fun!

In other news, Emma Kate is sitting up and rolling all over the place. I’m sure she’ll be crawling soon, but for now, she just rolls over and over until she gets where she needs to go. God has really blessed us with an amazing baby girl!

Waiting for the world to change…

Jess — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:13:16 +0000

Hi guys, it’s been a while since I’ve written. I honestly just never think of it and when I do, I realize Leroy/Phil does a good job of keeping everyone posted. But here we are almost 39 weeks and still no Baby Leese! We are so ready for her to be here that we just can’t stand it. Everything is ready: the nursery, the car seats, the clothes, the diaper bag…we’re just waiting on her to decide that it’s time. I have truly enjoyed my pregnancy up until the last month or so just because I’m getting so big that it’s very uncomfortable, but all negatives aside pregnancy truly is one of God’s most astounding miracles. Everyone has been so wonderful and supportive over the last 9 months and I just couldn’t have been more blessed with such a great experience. I am realizing that we have no clue how much our world is about to change…a lot of people talk about the down side of that change, but we enjoyed thinking today about the great changes she will bring and what she will be like. Thank you all for your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout our pregnancy! We’ll keep you posted!!!

First Day of School

Jess — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:36:18 +0000

Tomorrow is my first day of classes as a teacher at Rocky Bayou Christian School. I will be teaching 5th-12th grade chorus and speech and theater. I’m really excited to get started! I know it will be tough, but I’m looking forward to learning as I go, knowing that I will not be perfect the first time through. I hope that I will be able to apply my 4 years of college to my real job, but i know that will be tough too. Lots of prayer…

Sleepless nights…

Jess — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:32:17 +0000

As cute as puppies can be, they can sure be a pain! We are still learning how to be good puppy parents and what things to do and not to do. Wally made his first trip to the vet yesterday because we thought he had hookworms. It turns out that he just has tapeworms which is much less serious, which is good. Then, last night we made the mistake of leaving him in the kennel while we went out for a couple of hours and then trying to put him to bed an hour later. He was not ready to go to bed. He whined inside, he whined when we put him on the back porch, he whined when we brought him back inside…we finally just shut the door and ignored him. Our friends have given us some tips on how to handle it, but boy was it frustrating. That was the worst day we’ve had with him so far. Leroy is just ready to skip the puppy phase and have an obedient dog! ( I think I agree.)

Wally

Jess — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:17:21 +0000

So, we got a puppy…he’s a miniature schnauzer and boy is he cute! We named him after William Wallace from “Braveheart”. We were trying to think of something Scottish reminiscent of (Jacque) Jock from “Lady and the Tramp” which is the same kind of dog. He is 8 weeks old and he’s one of the most mellow puppies I’ve ever seen. Leroy looks so cute with him because the puppy is so tiny. We took him for his first walk today which turned out to be not much of a walk at all. We had to carry him most of the way. It was funny how I’ve seen the same people every time I walk and we don’t talk at all, but today they were all eager to converse. It’s fun to have a buddy to sit on the couch and watch tv with or sit in the kitchen with you while you make dinner. I’m looking forward to having him around!

First Days

Jess — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:43:49 +0000

I have started my internship at St. James School in Montgomery and will be here (I think) until May 3rd. I have to teach for 20 full days, 10 of which are consecutive. I thought I’d take my time and put those toward the end, however, my cooperating teacher has the flu and is home sick, so I have been asked to run rehearsals for 4 choirs in addition to other music classes. I am kind of excited to be thrown in this way, because I don’t have to worry about messing up in front of an expert. Today’s high school rehearsal went suprisingly well seeing as how I knew about 5 minutes before class that I would be teaching it. I am looking forward to learning more, but am nervous about completing all the required red tape in order to graduate and obtain my teaching certificate. As I side note: I have never seen a group of people more obsessed with Starbucks than this school. The teachers, the students, the parents…wow. My teacher must drink 4 cups a day! (Thankfully, I am not drinking coffee right now to help with my Acid Reflux. Otherwise, I would go broke!)

Internship

Jess — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:05:21 +0000

Well as some of you know, I was delayed in knowing where I would be student teaching this semester. I was supposed to have known by November at the latest, but I didn’t get placed until Thursday…of this week. That’s right, I wasn’t notified of my placement until Thursday night and I start the training seminar on Monday. As of Thursday night, two other music interns weren’t placed yet. I feel very blessed to have a placement at all, however, I was placed in Montgomery, AL (my old hometown) 3 hours away from Leroy and our home. My parents have been gracious enough to let me move back in with them, but as you know, once you leave home for good, it’s hard to go back. God must have a plan somewhere in this madness, but it is very hard to see the positives in living away from my husband for four months.

Christmas at the Leeses

Jess — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 20:29:42 +0000

Now that the semester is over, and Leroy and I actually get to live in the same place for more than a week at a time, we are excited to enjoy our first married Christmas. We bought our first Christmas tree, a 6ft. Frasier Fir, and decorated it with the few ornaments we already had. We decorated the front porch with lights and ribbon and put a wreath on the door. We decided to go simple this year and hit up all the after Christmas decoration sales. We are realizing more and more that everything you have in your first years of marriage is not going to be what you remember your parents having. Our tree was always loaded with ornaments at home, so to me our tree looks sort of bare. But realizing that it takes years to accumulate so many ornaments was reassuring. I just feel so blessed to have a house and all the blessings of this first Christmas.

Gatlinburg!!!

Jess — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 01:56:40 +0000

We scheduled our first weekend getaway as a married couple today! We are going to Gatlinburg, TN next month! Here’s the link to the cottage we are renting:

http://www.mountainchalets.com/Rentals/unit_BLISS.aspx

This is our reward for being debt free, finally! It will surely keep me going through my grueling last semester of classes! Driving 1hr and 45 minutes to school every day is getting old really fast. I’m so close to graduating I can taste it, but I have a wicked case of senioritis. Gatlinburg sure is beautiful this time of year, too. It’s still hot where we live and it will be nice to get a tast of the cool weather and changing trees. Yay for vacations!