Wow...has it really been TWO months?!?!

Well....

out here in the world of The Stories not much has changed in two months...

Justin and I are heading back to the REAL world next month.

We leave hopefully on the 18th of December to drive to New York to be with our family. It has been FOREVER!!!!

I miss every one SOOO much and being on the evening shift has definately hindered all of my updates and contacts with every one from back home. I haven't had one chance to do much of any thing besides work and clean our house.

We went to the 20th Annual Paws and Claws Humane Society Charity Auction. We lost out on every thing except a certificate for 4 one hour Tae Kwon Do lessons and a basket full of beer and beer nuts. It was fun, but definately wished we had won the vintage baby carriage...

it was beautiful, but we just couldn't outbid the ceo of a local business here in Rochester, he bought it for his daughter who is expecting....

Jennie and Brewster and enjoying themselves, as Justin and I are on different shifts so they get to stay out of the kennel most of the day!

Justin has spent a lot of time out in the woods, attempting to "bag" himself a deer, or at the Y, playing basketball with some guys......he's joined the Thursday Night League.

They've got themselves a winning season right now....

Right now, he's nursing the open wounds of the Thanksgiving Aggie loss to Texas!

okay....so the real score was 49-39 Longhorns...but I couldn't resist the picture! :)

Other then that.....all is quiet in the mid-western front!

we miss EVERY one and CANNOT WAIT to see every one....and hug all of our family members!

Keep in touch!

Love Always and GB

Justin, Sarah, Jennie and Brewster

Updates...

Well....
Another month has come and gone...
and yet, nothing new has really happened....

Jennie's birthday was yesterday....
our baby girl is 3!!!

We've picked out costumes....
Justin wants us to dress up as Bud & Sissy from Urban Cowboy....
Jennie is going to be a squirrel....
and Brewster is going to be a big ol' nasty drooling dog!!

We miss every one and cannot wait to go home and see our family & friends!!

We'll keep updating to let every one know when we're heading home....
well....back to Fox...Animation Domination....
our date night!

Love to all
Jennie, Brewster, Justin & Sarah

what's new with the stories???

well....let's see....
we enjoyed our time with mom and rosie however short a time that ended up being.

we just got back from texas....jeremy (justin's baby brother) got married on sept 6th.
the wedding was nice but nothing ever compares to your day....the day that you got to say to the world and to God that you love some one more than you have loved any one before....
our biggest regrets of the trip was that we were not able to spend time with our friends (and family) in houston....and NO FREEBIRDS!!! >:( yes I am still upset about that!!!! lol
we are planning a trip for the holidays but we'll see about it as......
i started my new job on tuesday....
i work at a residential mental health center as a mental health practitioner.
so far so good....i've worked/shadowed all three shifts....tonight i'm working an overnight....
thank goodness they are not like SMC-IMHU!!!
although it would definately make the time go by faster....

well....back to reading the policy manual!!!

sending our love to all....
we miss you guys!!!!

Love
Sarah, Justin, Jennie and Brewster

MY MOMMIE CAME TO SEE ME!!!

yay!
my mom and rockin' rosie came to visit...
i'm SOO excited...
so....
tomorrow is the first day of their vacation
I'm SOO happy to have my family here.

It feels like home.

maybe my house will finally be our home...

Our House

Well.....
I guess it is time to share pictures of our house
we still have a lot of unpacking and setting up to do
so the first picture i'll post is of the outside
hope you enjoy
miss you guys and cannot wait to come home to see you guys
(counting the days)

Sarah, Justin, Jennie & Brewster

our new house...

The house is not yet our home.....
still lots of boxes and our pictures are not up yet...
I know that once the pictures are hung it will feel more like home...

I miss my family TERRIBLY!!!
Esp. seeing that the WHOLE ENTIRE family is camping in Plattsburgh for a baseball tournament....
I hear Brock in the background when I call my mom and it makes me SOO sad to hear him talking....

Other than that....
not much else going on....
still no job...i'll follow up on some leads tomorrow...
right now Justin and I are trying to get as much done around the house as possible....
seeing that his first day of his new job is tomorrow....

well....Justin is swearing in the kitchen, so I'd better head there to rescue whatever he's attempting to kill....

love and miss you guys....

:(

Sarah, Justin
Jennie and Brewster

Arrived Safely

Hello every one!

Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that we arrived safely to Rochester, MN.

We have a house....not the one that we planned on moving to, but one that is closer to Justin's work and is quite cute!
We are currently waiting for our "household goods" so that we won't have to sleep on an air mattress any more...

Still no job for me...
Justin is on a 10-day TDY (or 10-day vacation)...

just site seeing and waiting for our bed!!!

Keep in touch and now that I have the internet...I'll try to keep you posted!

Love & GB
Sarah, Justin, Jennie & Brewster

Our Bon Voyage Party!

First we want to thank every one that came....
it was a lot of fun seeing every one and we're glad the weather cooperated with us.
We've got lots to do before we head to Minnesota!

Our last day in New York is the 7th of July!

If any one is interested in seeing us, let me know via here, or our cells....

Cannot wait to hear from you guys!

Love to all

Sarah, Justin, Jennie & Brewster

Another Countdown.....

Well...
another countdown begins....
we have our party this coming weekend...
all are invited it's at the Norwood Beach on the 27th at noon and lasts until you guys decide!!!
Then...
we start counting down the days until we roll out west!
We're looking at heading out early on the 7th....
we have a home in Saint Charles which is just outside of Rochester...
Our home is open to whomever would like to drop in!

Hope to see you on Saturday....
if not, keep in touch!

Love
Sarah, Justin, Jennie and Brewster

Richard's Story

Justin's father was interviewed after writing in to the local news station wanted to thank our angel for all that he did...
so here it is, well at least here is the website to find it on...

www.waff.com

look for SGT Justin Storie

hope you enjoy!

Love
Sarah

Angels Among Us

So...Justin was due home last night but..........
there were a few snags....
As soon as he crossed into Virginia he stopped at a rest area, came out to head back on the road north and his truck did not start....
so, he waited on a tow truck...the garage replaced the fuel filter ($130) and Justin set off on his long trek home....
200 miles later.....
Justin stopped to fill up the truck, went inside to use the rest room, came out to head back on the road north and his truck did not start.....
So, he waited on a tow truck...the garage was not able to work on it because it was getting late...
Sooo he had to crash at a hotel for the night...
as he was retelling his story a guy came up thanked him for his service, asked him if he'd like to head out to a bar (which he declined as he wanted to get up early and get to the garage) and then told the check in staff that he was going to pay for Justin's room... ($100)
So, after thanking the guy a million times Justin headed to bed for some much needed rest.
Bright and early this morning Justin headed out to the garage. They looked it over and said that it was the fuel pump and it needed to be replaced. ($935)
So...Justin okayed it and headed off to breakfast(McD's).
When he got back to the garage, the guy from the night before was there....stopped in and chatted with Justin for a while...asking the usual questions: where he's from, where he's stationed, what he's doing down there, if he had deployed (as 10th MTN are the #1 deployed unit in ALL of the military branches) and then asked some questions about what Iraq really is like.
Then he told Justin his story:
He was from Northern New Jersey and had worked at the World Trade Center, but did not go to work that day, he just didn't feel right that morning. He thanked Justin again, and shook his hand.
He asked the mechanic to check some thing on his truck and thanked Justin AGAIN and the two guys walked outside to look at the man's truck. After a few minutes he waved to Justin and drove off. The mechanic came back inside and Justin got ready to leave. Justin asked how much the bill was and the mechanic said "don't worry about it". Justin said "I used to work at an oil change shop and know you guys don't make that much, so what do I owe you." "Nothing" the guy said. "Did your boss take this one?" Justin asked. The mechanic shook his head no. "Then who" Justin asked.
The mechanic said "I was asked not to say any thing, but think back to the story you told me about last night".
A complete stranger paid for Justin's hotel room the night before AND the new fuel pump. ($1000)
This man showed us how no matter how bad it gets there are people out there that care, that are things will be okay, that God works in mysterious ways, and not to give up.
I do not know who sent this angel to us, but they knew that we were about to give up all hope, faith and pretty much every thing else!
So, by noon my husband was in West Virginia and less than 7 hours away.
AND
my faith in people and in God have been fully restored.

To think that a man who lost so much, almost 8 years ago, is able to show others the light.

We want to let every one know that we love you all and are glad that you allow us to be a part of your life.

Thanks & GB
Sarah, Justin, Jennie & Brewster

Counting down....

We have SO many things to countdown....

Justin will be here in less than 4 days...

My last day of work is in15 days...

Our going away party is in 32 days....

and we will sign in at Rochester, Minnesota in 48 days.....

SOOO many countdowns

a few that I wish wasn't....

Once again I hope to see you all at Norwood Beach on the 27th of June!!!!

Miss you all

Love & GB

Sarah & Justin

and

Jennie & Brewster

PS I completely forgot to blog about Brock's First Circus!!!

He had SOOO much fun and is such a ham!

Alia and Brock had a lot of fun!

I'm going to miss my nephews SOOO much.....okay I've got to stop or I'll start crying.....

Enjoy the picture!

Lastest News....

So, it's official....
I handed in my letter of resignation.
Justin and I are already planning our trip....
we are planning clearing our home and being up at mom's around the 20th of June.
we're inviting every one now as an informal invite to Norwood Beach on Saturday, 27th of June at noon....
we want to have a HUGE get together with our family and friends.....
so if you would like to come...
just email or gimme a call....

Minnesota here we come!!!

Love to all
Sarah, Justin, Jennie & Brewster

Half way there...

This past weekend was lots of fun...
it started out pretty rough, but as soon as I saw my boys every thing was better.
We got up at 0700 to get packed up to head to Grandma's so the puppies could stay there while I went to Ottawa, Ontario Canada to see Austin and Brandin play in a Hockey Tournament.
I packed up the puppies and stopped at the 24-hr Shoppette to grab some Fiji water and a grape juice to get me to Norwood...
when I got back in the car I noticed the unforgettable smell of doggie poo. Jennie had pooped in the car. So, back to the house we went...the puppies played in the yard, while I cleaned the car. Time to go to Grandma's!
So, I grabbed the puppies and off runs Brewster to smell every thing in the yard.
I get Jennie in the car and run after Brewster, who is waiting patiently by the front door to go inside.
I get him back to the car and Jennie won't let him back in. So I open the door a little wider to help him in and out pops Jennie....
Off she runs....
No she didn't wait for me at the front door because there are SOOO many things to look at and smell.....
I walked towards her pleading for her to come back...
with every step I take towards her, she runs about 15 feet away from me....
So...back to the car....
I drive down the road to see if she'll jump in the car...
there's Jennie running next to all of the houses smelling every thing she can .
I open the door...
"Wanna go see Grandma" I pleaded.
She runs up to the car and seems to want to jump over me and into the passenger's seat....
NOPE!!!
She ran AROUND the front of the car!
I throw it into park, jump out and plead with her again, for about 3 minutes....
finally I grab her and throw her into the car...
WHAT?!?!?!?!
Brewster has pookeed in the front seat ALL over the seat and console!
WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!?!
Am I allowed to kill them? no they're our kids
Am I allowed to strangle them....just a little?! no
But I can call my mommie....
so after a couple minutes of my mommie telling me that every thing is going to be okay, I head north.....
listening to the steady barking of dogs all 82.7 miles to my mommie's front door, who is waiting there for me!

So after cleaning up after Brewster I collect up daddie and head to get Rachael to go see my boys!
They lost, but played really well...I cannot believe that they're getting so big and so good at hockey....it seems like only yesterday they were playing at Grammie's house, crawling around and barely talking...
Which of course leads me to Brock!
He was such a ham that I just HAD to buy an Elmo movie.
He rode home in "MY Jeep"...hehehe
Watching Elmo all the way out of the city.
I dropped off Rachael and gave Justin a call to let him know that we were safely back on American soil....
only to find out that Brewster had ripped the wires off from the large kennel outside and Jennie had gotten loose!!!!
WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!?!

She of course was safe, she came inside from her Grandma.
And now, we have to wait for Daddie to get back so he can fix the kennel for his puppies!

which for those of you that just check to see how Justin is doing..............


Well, we're half way done with Recruiter School.
Justin should graduate on the 29th this month, then he'll be home and we'll start planning for the trip to our new place.
I cannot wait until he's home, not so much that we'll be moving after that....but I miss the big lug!

Well, I'd better finish getting ready for work....
I love my job
I love my job
I love my job.....

Miss you guys!
Love
Sarah & Justin
and
Jennie & Brewster

Our Next Plan of Action

First off I want to share our little Brock-olee with you...his new thing is to close his eyes when he smiles for pictures...he's such a little ham, I cannot believe that he is already TWO!!!
Where does the time go?!?!?!

Well.........

here goes nothing.....

We've got orders to go to Rochester, Minnesota.

We've got to sign in by 13 July.

I of course am busy looking at homes (w/fenced-in yards) and jobs. Hopefully, I'll have a good news in the next coming weeks of where we'll be living, pictures and a job!!!

Please keep your fingers crossed and us in your prayers!

Love to all of you and hope to have updates soon!

Sarah & Justin

and

Jennie & Brewster

So to Our Future....

We've got a big choice to make....
Justin can
1. drive rigs for the Army across the US for colleges, NASCAR races, etc. for 3 years and I am left in Fort Knox, Kentucky while he goes TDY for 6 months out of the year..
OR
2. recruit out of the Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Northern Iowa

What should we do???

We need help......

Those are the choices that we have for the next 3 years............

Love to all
Sarah & Justin

The Countdown Begins.............

Well, Justin has been at school now since Monday.

With that......we're getting ready for our big move!

Wether that's 20 miles away or 2000 miles away....we are prepared for any thing now!

We're hoping for Nashville or West Virginia....but we might get Syracuse or Wyoming!!!!

So, every one keeps us in your prayers and hope for the best:

Nashville, Tennesse!!!!

:)

I have been checking out some really nice homes/properties in the area.

As soon as we know, I'll send out an update for you guys!

Also, before I forget......

We plan on having a get together on Saturday, June 27th at Norwood Beach in Norwood.

We hope to see EVERY ONE there!!!!

Love you all

Sarah & Justin

and

Jennie & Brewster

Today's GREAT news!

WE'VE GOT ORDERS!!!

Justin leaves this weekend for Recruitment Training...
6 weeks!

Then we'll know where we're heading to next!!!

If you haven't given your email/USPS addresses and birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates, make sure you do so ASAP!

Who knows how long we'll be without the internet at our next home...
(of course, that won't be until July!!)

Love to every one
Justin & Sarah
and
Jennie & Brewster

Okay Okay.......

So it has come to my attention (thank you Sharon hehehe) that I have not updated in a while.

All is well on the home front.
Justin passed his tape test...he's waiting on written orders...
then off to Recruiting Training on April 10 for SIX WEEKS!!!

So as for the children and I, we plan on:
1) working many many more hours
2) visiting with the family
3) getting things ready for our move...

No, we do not know where or when but it will be soon....
in fact, it will be 10 weeks!

Well, back to work before Sharon sees that I'm not doing work but blogging instead!
lol

ps Brock just turned TWO!!! He just LOVED his Elmo cake :)

and his present from Uncle Justin....

Our boys!

Well the boys made it to States even after the craziness that they had to replay the overtime...

Our boys ended up being 7th in New York State Pee Wee League! We're all SOOO proud of them. Austin and Brandin gave 110% and played great. Now, comes Spring Hockey. I believe they are playing for a Canadian team this Spring.

As for the rest of us, with Spring comes School...Justin is due to head to Recruiting School next month...which means it's just a few more months until we are off on our new adventure!

I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Love

Sarah & Justin

and

Jennie & Brewster

We're SOO Proud of Our Boys!

Well...it's off to States!!!
Our boys (Austin & Brandin) won Sectionals...
so they're off to Olean, New York for State Tournament!!!
Our boys are undefeated!
I think that the game they played this evening was, by far, the BEST game I've ever seen them play. Tie game went into overtime...tied again...then a shoot out where Brandon R. stopped 3 shots and Zeb B. Matt M. and Tristen H. all scored!!!
I'm SOO proud of our Icemen!!
States are on March 6-9, so look for an update then!

Love to you guys and God Bless!

Sarah & Justin
Jennie & Brewster

Almost forgot.....our puppies DO NOT like hockey as they spend all day cooped up in their kennel!

Newest Addition

Well, as most of you know Jennie was our only daughter (our Coonhound) but over Christmas Block Leave we adopted our son, Brewster (our Bloodhound).

If we thought Jennie was a handful before...we were in for the shock of our life!!!!

Brewster is now 89lbs. and growing...he's broken out of his kennel so many times that even the zip-ties are not strong enough!!! So we've broken down and threw that kennel out.....now he bunks with Jennie, who seems happy to have some one to share her kennel with as well as spend time with when her mom and daddie are working!

Jennie has taught her big brother how to run around the house barking at every noise and jumping up to see out the front windows (yes Judy, we've now have 3 broken blinds--lol)!!

And just this past evening, Justin made his infamous "Shake n' Bake Chops" and Brewster helped himself to Daddie's leftovers.....so no chops for lunch today! :)

Well, it's about time to get back to work!

I'll post more pictures soon.

Keep in touch and send us some updates!

I have LOTS of time to surf the 'net at nite.

Keeping in touch

So, we decided that with the inevitable approaching soon (moving away from home)...
we thought that we should blog about the things that are happening in our lives.

It's SO hard to remember to call every one that we know about how things are especially when you have a husband like Justin who forgets every thing as soon as you stop talking! :)

So...

this is our blog.....

The Stories: Our Journey as a Family

I hope you all keep in touch...
and maybe start blogging so that we can keep posted about all that is going on with you guys!


Love to all and God Bless

Justin & Sarah
and
Jennie & Brewster