A wedding blog

New times, New schools

2009-01-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

I (Jody)am making use of a very old blog to talk of a new wedding, a wedding of myself to a new career, that of Librarian. I am joining the 21st century and going to school online at the University of southern Mississippi. Yes, my entire program is taught via computer, until I do an internship somewhere. A class I am really enjoying is Internet resources and Aplications, and I am dusting off some skills I barely had regarding the net as I prepare for work in an arena that is becomming more and more computer priented. It is exciting and it is scary, but I recomend this process for anyone who is self-driven and creative. Online classes are very different from the "brick and mortor classroom."

It has been a while

2007-07-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Yes friends, we do exist. It has been a long and chalenging summer. We presented at the Autism Society of America's national conference in Scottsdale, AZ and it was a sucess!!!. :-) It was way too hot down there, but other than that, it was a blast. I am still trying to get my teeth worked on with o luck. (16 cavities and a couple of those needing root canals yesterday) I networked with someone today who seemed willing, and would get back to me Wednesday to see if it would be possible, so I am stoked. It is nice not to here a no right off, after hearing so many. Team Ramey is stil perservereing, but we are tired. Please keep us in your prayers.

Jody

Team-Ramey Activity

2007-07-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last night was tiring. I was talking with people all over the country for many hours, after having a long day of doing just that. Emilia and I are preparing to present at the Autism Society of America's national conference. For those of you who are not aware, here is the profile from the ASA web site:

Two Autistic couples, Jerry and Mary Newport and Jody and Emilia Ramey, present their responses to three questions: What prep work did you do before marriage that in hindsight you were very glad to have done; What is one creative solution that you had to a specific marital issue that was successful; and what did you wish you would have known before getting married that you found out later? Q & A follows.

The Autism society of America does not provide any assistance to its speakers, and says it serves people accoss the spectrum. (Only those physicians and parents with money can present) People who are Autistic tend to not be represented, due to the fact that disabled people tend to fall on the lower end of the economic spectrum. So, I was wanting to change this and go, to increase that Autistic voice at an Autism conference. Jerry and Mary Newport are driving in from the other side of AZ. I had been running into brick walls with fundraising, but people I know at the end decided they wanted to make this happen, giving plane tickets, hotel... so it looks like it will work out.

It seems our Maker really wants this to happen. Emilia will stay in Portland and present from Portland State University, room 114 in Smith Memorial Student Union, 12:30-1:45 14 July 2007, and the rest of us will be in AZ. We will be connected via the magic of internet videoconferencing. This lowered the cost significantly, much as when we went to Australia, I stayed home and it was cheeper for Emilia to go and me to present from Portland. We apreciate all who contributed to this effort. There are so many people saying that sexuality, and positive relationships can't happen for Autistics, and we know this is false. Also, this is a great chance for me to network with disability providers from all over the country...I am taking 30 resumes and seeing what work can come from this. I am also looking forward to the witnessing opportunities. There is always opprtunity to let someone know that their loved one was given a gift from his maker, and that no one is born a mistake. That is the medical model that says people are flawed. So much is hapaning, and so fast. All you on the Judeo-Christian spectrum, please keep us in prayer.

Pinkabel arrives safely!

2007-07-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday, the 28th of June, my little pink harpsicle harp arrived safely at my door- at about 3pm. I knew to expect it, because UPS called me the day before to say it was on its way. It really is a marvelous little harp. It has a nice mellow sound, and the nylon strings are easy on the fingers. I have started to learn a couple of very simple tunes, and am enjoying every minute of practice. I am hoping to get better at reading music as well.
I have named the harp Pinkabel Quannon. The first name is a cross between Tinkerbell and Pachelbel, and the second name rhymes with Shannon or cannon (so the name is kind of a play on 'Pachelbel's cannon')

harp meanderings

2007-06-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

This morning I checked on the harp's progress. On the 25th, it left Indianapolis at 12:57am. It arrived in Hodgkins IL at 3:36am, staying only a short while, and departing later that morning, at 10:12am. I checked google map, and found that Hodgkins is very near to Chicago, so perhaps they will be flying the harp part of the way. According to UPS, the harp is still on schedule- to be delivered on the 28th.

harp progress

2007-06-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

For graduation, my family and friends purchased a harp for me from harpsicle harps. The harps come in different colors, which are called flavors. Mine will be a pink harp (cotton candy). It left the shop when UPS picked it up at 3:43pm on the 22nd of June in Versailles IN, and arrived in Indionapolis at 12:09am the following morning. Estimated time of arrival: Thursday the 28th. I am tracking it on the UPS website. I will be checking progress daily, as it makes its way cross country.
Follow the link to check out the fun harps.
harpsicle harps

The Hatred Song

2007-06-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning peeps! We felt we needed to share this video about being whiney. Have fun.

The Ramey's

We had a feast for Dinner!!!

2007-06-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful woman who runs the Asian market near where we live, we aquired a parrot fish for dinner. These are the animals that are pictured above. Very colorful!! :-) It had kind of a sea breaze flavor, but it was mild. Both Emilia and I thought it was good, but not our absolute favorite. What is interesting about these animals, is that they have big teeth. They eat plant life, and they also eat coral. When they poop out the remains, it is in the form of sand, which washes up on tropical beaches. There are many beaches that have a high percentage of recycled coral for as far as the eye can see. If you have been to such areas, you too have walked upon beds of parrot fish poo. Other than our bountiful feast, we are still looking for work, so if any of y'all have any leads...a best friend who is hiring wouldn't be bad either.

Peace

Jody

Brain sloshies and supernatural clarity

2007-06-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

Today started out to be one of thw worst days in recent history, then ended up being one of the best. I had a job interview today, after an appointment in the morning, and I left with plenty of time to spare. I had a siezure, than lost conciouness for a couple of hours, then in a dazed state, at the Parkrose Transit Center in Portland, Oregon, (since I had already missed the interview) decided to go to the airport. I had some fantasy about running away from home, getting on a plane, and flying away, as far as I could get and not telling anyone. After that fantasy was done I left the airport and started to go downtown, to meet my wife. I had some ugly fantasies about starting a crime streak, than I got downtown. I missed Emilia, and so I chatted with a couple of people, intending to go home right after. I ended up in the park blocks and I had the most intense vissions of G-d's beuty that I have ever had. I was watching a guy I know attempt to witness to a Chinese man who knew very little English. The words the men were using meant nothing. What was going on was so spiritual, so wonderful. I felt at peace about my seizure activity for the first time in weeks.I am not saying I won't loose conciousness again, but I do not fear loosing control in the same way. It is hard to relate this kind of peace in words. Emilia was a little freaked out today, for the obvious reason that I cannot relate that peace in words. Time will be the proof that what I say is a revalation of truth, and that seemed to make a little sense, than she hit me with a pillow, over and over. ;-) She was frusterated. Please pray for our little paradigm shift that keeps shifting and shifting again. Please pray that Emilia finds peace in this world. I thank G-d for the peace he has given me today. It has been an indescribable pleasure to be alive.

Midnight Relections

2007-05-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

There are times when the world seems to be chompin' at the bit, attempting to tear you to pieces, and there are times when you realize that you are completely blessed. Today is a day that covers both ends of the spectrum. Lately I have been having a ton of seizure activity, and it is getting worse. I have not found a method of accessing treatment, to get the seizures under control, and the most likely method, the Washington Basic Health plan, is looking like a year or more before they will authorize treatment. None of the free dentists will work on my teeth till I can get the siezures under control, so my teeth continue to rot in my head, which is also adding to my stress, which is also adding to my seizures. Finances are still on the downside, and I have to watch my wife cry in frustration regularly because we are forced to live in AmeriKa, land governed by the insane, for the Power Elite. Despite the fact that I am not able to give my wife the universe, I am happy to be the man to have his shoulder cied upon, I am happy that I am trusted enough to be talked to by her, I am happy that I have wonderful friends who like us because we are who we are and not because we have monetary value, I am happy that I can bless other people with what little wisdom I have acquired, I am happy that our book project is approaching completion, I am happy that there are other Good projects to follow, I am happy that my disability enables me to take a more objective look at the world. I hate the lifestyle that I have to live in now, but I love the life I was given, and I love the woman that I have to share it with.

wild weekend adventure

2007-05-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

We had quite the adventure this last weekend. We rented a rug doctor from Fred Meyer and steam cleaned our carpet. This was after moving all the furniture into the kitchen and onto the patio. Then, after we were done cleaning, and the carpet had dried, we put everything back. But not in the same spots! We rearranged the furniture, and now the appartment is actually a lot nicer. The new arrangement makes the space more workable and livable. All that is left to do is a little more clutter reduction, and this place will be awesome, and ready for lots of company and dinner parties! yeah!
The cats were quite dismayed with this entire process, but they have recovered nicely. In fact, they now have a nice perch for looking out the window that they very much enjoy.
My parents will be coming to visit us at the end of the month, so it was good to get the carpets washed and the furniture rearranged. We are looking forward to seeing them. It has been an adventuresome time for the whole family. I just got a postcard from Ron and Ruth Ann(brother & sister-in-law), they sent it from New York City, one of their many stops on this practice run at sales for Ron. Also, their first child is expected in October (I think it is October) Gwen and Kris (sister & brother-in-law) are ready to start their house very soon. It should be done by Christmas (but hopefully sooner). When it is done, Dad plans to visit them for a while and help with the landscaping (since they live in Hawaii, there is no 'winter season' for gardening)

Rameys perform again

2007-05-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

For all those who are interested in the performance activity of the Ramey couple, we are performing this weekend inthe Oregon Coalition of Dance's annual festival. We were thinking about auditioning, but did not get around to it, than we recieved an invite to perform. What a deal!!! We pereform on Sunday, a Jazz/Ballet influenced contemporary piece, with the "Best Man" from our wedding. Click on the little pics to make them big. Jody is listed in the first pic, both of us are listed on the sixth, Jody on the seventh, and Jody on the ninth. Why is Jody listed so much? This is a choreography festival, highlighting "the scene" here in the northwest. I choreographed the piece, so this is why. If you can come, the tickets are expensive, but it is a benifit concert, so this is why. If you cn not ome, you can at least read the program. We hope to have a couple of pics up from the show in a few weeks.

Peace,

Jody

Sweet Dreams

2007-04-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

I was in a conversation about the song, Sweet Dreams, that was about my age and they did not remember this song, nor the Maralyn Manson cover. I was suprised and thought I would post them to remind people how evil the Eurythmics were, and why Manson recorded this song. He did not change the words, but when you remove the happy '80's pop beat, you listen to the words. Oh my. Manson is showing another of the world's hipocracies. The Eurythmics are portrayed first below:

And now, here is the Manson vid:

For those who are interested in the progress of the Ramey book on Autism and Dating...we are continuing to move forward. It is a harder process than eith of us thought it would be, but we succeeded in putting out a good book proposal to Jessica Kingsley Publishers, which was a bout 50 pages of various shtuff: a literature review of all the Autism and Marriage books, Autism and Dating books, and books that had at least one chapter on one of those topics. We had to differentiate what we were going to talk about from what was on the market, establish a need for our controbuition and establish why we were the ones to make that controbution. We than made a case that our book would have a market, and in which countries. We submitted a sample chapter, they requested another chapter, than said we should finnish the book. We have crossed the hundred page mark of the actual manuscript (seperate from the book proposal) and we are still going. We should make our July deadlline to be done with the editing of our book if we finnish the manuscript soon, and all is well. I do not anticipate more than 150 pages, and it will probably be a little shorter, 130-140 pages. Christian folk, please keep us in your prayers.

Okay, now here is the real treat. This guy that I have links to is funny. The first one is his speach on what dance means to him, and the next one is is "dating video" They are such a contrast it is a hoot...enjoy. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ghtvYTdtJA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJGRWfJc9xw

Peace out

Jody

Happy Easter, Money and manuscript news

2007-04-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Well humans, happy Easter to those who celebrate, and happy Sunday to those who don't. Christians celebrate Easter commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and as a Christian, I highly encouraage this practice. However, the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity, and it is facinating to learn about them.

Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox

Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.

Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 2I). So Easter became a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25

As to the australian $20.00 note that Emilia brought back from her trip, for info on what it is made of, go to the entry a couple of days back that has the $50.00 note. This is also a polymer. What is interesting about the twenty is the fact that therer has been only two issuings of this note. The first issue was 14 February 1966, replacing the ten pound note which had the same red colouration, and that was made of paper, which had a gradient of yellow and red, with a distinct red background, and this polymer note which can be recognised for its distinct red colouration in 1994. Mary Reibey, a philanthopist in the late 1700's to mid 1800's appears in the bottom pic, and the Rev. John Flynn, a presbeterian minister, appears on the other side. He founded the founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance service. He died an old man in 1951. Garry Emery designed the note.

Okay, as to the Manuscript news, we neeed to get it to the published by Jusly, completly done. The contract is in the mail to us, and all is well. We should have our book out next year at the latest, depending on when the publisher decides to release it. Okay, there is the excitement for teamramey, for those who did not know.

Peace

Jody

harp

2007-04-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

This harp is the Esabelle from Stoney End. The unique and wonderful thing about this instrument is that it has two rows of strings, that cross at the middle. One set corresponds to the white keys on the piano, and the other to the black keys. What this means is that one can play in any key, without having sharping levers on the strings. This is a beautiful harp. I have started saving to purchase a harp, and this is the one I have picked out.
I have started studying music theory, which is very interesting, and I have been reading a book called The Mozart Effect as well. It talks about the way music helps people feel better- reducing the need for painkillers, making them happier, and more relaxed. There was even a study that showed women in childbirth who had music needed to take pain meds only half as much as women who didn't have music. Interesting, huh?

7 month celebration!!!!

2007-04-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, 2 September 2006 Emilia and I were married, which was 0.58241758241758241758241758241758 of a year ago, 7 months ago, 30.28571428571428571428571428571429 weeks ago, 212 days ago, 5088 hours ago, 305,280 minutes ago, or 18,316,800 seconds ago. This is of course, making use of the 10:00 A.M. mark, the time the ceremony was due to end, so this is only an approximate. I guess I am saying that so far I still am glad that my wife agreed to marry me. :-)

As to the pics above, this was a $50.00 dolar bill that Emilia brought back from Australia. This particular banknote was released on 4 October 1995, and was desingned by Brian Sadgrove. It is a polymer banknote, made from biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP). This material is used in a wide variety of applications, including food packaging, textiles, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, thermal pants and shirts made for the military, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, and automotive components.

On the front of the bill (Top photo) is David Unaipon, who was an Australian Aboriginal preacher, inventor and writer. Unaipon was awarded ten patents, including a shearing machine, but could not raise money to get his inventions into production. He was known as the Australian Leonardo for his mechanical ideas, which included anticipatory drawings for a helicopter design based on the principle of the boomerang. He was often refused accommodation and refreshment due to his race.

On the back of the note is (Bottom Pic) Edith Dircksey Cowan, who was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament. In 1894 she helped found the Karrakatta Club, a group where women "educated themselves for the kind of life they believed they ought to be able to take". In time she became the club's president. The Karrakatta Club became involved in the campaign for women's suffrage, successfully gaining the vote for women in 1899. The building of Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in 1916 was largely a result of her efforts. In 1920 Cowan became one of the first female Justices of the Peace. Also, in 1920, Western Australia passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament. At the age of 59 Cowan stood as the Nationalist candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of West Perth and defeated her opponent, Attorney General, Thomas Draper, who had introduced the legislation that enabled her to stand for the position.

Emilia is home!!!!

2007-03-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, the merry married couple reunited Saturday at 1:00 P.M., in America,Portland airport. Our second presentation at the conference was a sucess. we had about twenty-five people dancing between the two sites, Portland, Oregon and Gold Coast, Australia (Via Internet videoconferencing). About fifteen people at the Gold Coast site did not wish to dance, and just watched. Too bad for them. The dancers had a blast! Thanks to all who prayed for us. Emilia made a couple of cool contacts on that side of the Pacific, and we are ready to work toward the next step. Oh, for those who are unfamiliar with academic conferences, we had bad time slots, so the fact that we got as many as we did on the second day (70+ on our dating presentation) and especially on the third day with our dance presentation (When nobody attends presentations because they are networking) is wonderful. (concurrent sessions to boot)

1st presentation achieved!

2007-03-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

We just did our dating presentation at 11:00 P.M. USA time. It was a thirty minute discussion on dating. The echo from my voice was pretty bad on my end, and it was bugging me out, but I got through it. I hope the Australian folk liked the presentation. I believe they could hear me clearly. The tables they were sitting at were round and the room looked nice. It is late, so I think I will end here.

Peace

Jody

First Presentation Tonight

2007-03-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

http://goldcoastdailyphoto.blogspot.com/

For those of you interested in where Emilia is hanging out this week, go to the above link and check out some photos. Gold Coast is a beutiful location. Emilia got into Gold Coast without too much trouble. She had some minor adjustment issues, and she has lost her phone card. Prayer is requested for her safty, health and travels back home. Also, prayer is requested for the conference, that all goes well. Our first presentation occurs at 11:00 P.M. tonight, and the second presentation occurs at 5:00 P.M. on thursday. So far we are still on track for our videoconference link-up, which means Emilia and I will talk face to face, accross the ocean, for the first time since Sunday (when she took off from America) in just few hours. :-) It is about 7,314 miles or 11,771 Kilometers that seperates us at this moment. Other side of the world, eh?

Emilia is in Australia

2007-03-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the next transition of the Ramey couple. We are Beta-testing our Internet mediated Inclusive Dance company at an International Autism conference in Gold Coast Australia on Thursday. Before Em boarded the plane last night, we were talking about how freaky it was to be road-testing a new application of computer software in an international forum. I was assuring her that we are ready, and we are, but it is a bit overwhelming to ponder that, in a couple of days, we get a shot to lay the foundation for a social entrepreneurial idea that we have been fantasizing about for months. Success could happen to us very soon, within a year. We are still unable to pay for my needed medical care, nor have we found a source to cover it yet, but so far I am still living, and still mentally functional, so praises go to HIM who is the author of all the living. When ameriKa fails and/or attempts to oppress its citizenry, our maker thwarts the attempt. My teeth are still hurting (All eight teeth effected), and my seizures are still occurring. So, I request prayer from all you Christian folks out there. Also, prayer for income generation. We would like some form of paid work for our hands. Sometimes it gets old hearing from employers “you are very qualified to perform the job, but you do not quite fit the culture of our company. (Translation: we do not like you, or we are afraid of you…get out freak!) Hopefully we will be able to generate some money out of a computer mediated theater company, since it seems that traditional employment does not seem to be possible for someone of my limited capabilities. Okay, frustration session over.

Team Ramey Updates (Graduation, Austalia, and Antarctica)

2007-02-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

Uncontained Nuts is a tap team in McMurdo station, Antarctica. There is a wide variety of activity in the off hours amongst those who are deployed in Antarctica. Some paint, some play instruments, and some dance. It is not all science down south.

Okay, enough frivolity. Here is the news. Emilia is graduating winter, and not in spring. March is the last month of undergraduate education. Yippeeeeeee! The husband is so proud of her. :-) Don't tell her I said that. ;-) Emilia was going to take the last term of third-year Hebrew in the spring, but they canceled it, and since all of her requirements are done, why not graduate now?

On to the together news. Emilia and I are ramping up for an international excursion. We have a presentation in Gold Coast Australia 11 P.M. on March 14th (Pacific Standard Time-Not Australia time) and six P.M. (Also Pacific Standard time) on the 15th. This is for the Biennial Australian National Autism Conference. Our 11 P.M. presentation is on dating, and our 6 P.M. presentation is on computer-mediated inclusive theater. Emilia will present from Australia, and I will be presenting from home in Vancouver, WA. USA for the dating presentation, and presenting from Portland State University for the theater presentation. We will be using internet videoconferenceing and google chat. In the dating presentation we are going to talk about using what works for you, thinking outside the box, and how to apply this in a society that devalues disabled people at all levels (including romantic) and in the theater presentation, we are going to teach a few excercises to conference participants on both sides of the pacfic, do a "mini performance" and talk about the aplications of computer technology in light of expanding artistic posibilities, and inclusivity for people with and without disabilities. (For example, some one has chemical sensitivities in one room, and another person has to wear topical medication that is detrimental to the MCS gentleman in the first room. They can still dance together via internet videoconferencing, without a major encumberance of wearing oxygen and/or filter masks.

We will give more details on our activities as we progress into our beta test mode. For now, if you have not watched the tap video, do so, and dream of the posibilities of hanging out in Antarctica. Here is a tour of the South Pole Station:

Peace Out

Jody John Ramey

100th post!!! Watch the movies!!!!

2007-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

I have made the 100th post on the marriage blog!!! Woo Hoo!!!! Okay, who cares. I told Emilia that I would try and put some good news on the blog, to avoid this blog from being a sounding blog to the world about the scary activities that the criminals in the executive and the Legislative branches of the U.S. government are engaging in, but this is such a good report that I felt it needed some broadcasting. (Sorry Hun.) This covers Blackwater, the mercenary organization that is revolutionizing warfare in this country. The video is in two parts, each part about seven minutes. Happy watching.

Part One:

Part Two:

And for those who want a little civics lesson...

Ramey Update

2007-02-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well, y'all probably know we are flying out this friday, 8:15 A.M., on Horizon Air. We are flying standby, so there is a chance that we will be camping at the Airport, but so far the numbers on the flight look good, so we should be lock and load. My next interview is at Portland State University, for an office assistant position, and we still have a roof o're our heads, so life is good. I am excited about our trip, and what comes of it.

For those of y'all who have not been keeping up on the national news: I leave you with a few clips. Some of them are harsh, but no matter what your view is, they comtain some facts that should not be ignored...

Soon to depart

2007-02-04T19:29:00.000-08:00

Hello and happy sunday. We are soon to depart for the lovely town of Granada Hills CA. to visit Emilia's Grandparents (Flying out Friday morning). We are very excited about this. Emilia's parents will be there, a couple of uncles, and maybe a cousin or two. AS for the home front, still no job, and we have some minor health issues brewing. Emilia's Excema is flaring up, and I have been loosing conciousness frequently. I have been told by others that I am having siezures, and should get them checked out. Unfortunatly, I have not found someone who will check them out on our budget (no insurance or money). So, for you Chistian folk out there, we ask for prayer on these issues, being that, without job, we cannot pay rent, and if it is a brain tumer causing the seizures...hopefully it is just epilepsy due to the head injury I had a few years ago. On a brighter note, here is another video clip that is a takeoff of Hard Rock Hallelujah, by Lordi. This is Hard Ratz Hallelujah.

and for those who like music that is more melodic and popish, here is a Lordi song that both Emilia and I like, Would You Love a Monsterman:

Hope you enjoy a little Finnish Heavy Metal.

Peace out,

Jody

A taste of Europe.

2007-01-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

I was online this evening and ran accross a wonderful video clip of the Academic Male Choir of Tallinn University of Technology in Tallinn, Estonia. The song they are doing is "Hard Rock Hallelujah" which was originially done by the Finnish band Lordi, winning them a record 292 points at Eurovision 2006 and the first win ever by Finland. Here is the choir version:

Lordi has made there gimick for the last ten years on their intricate monster image. In Greece, before Eurovision, a number of organisations were trying to stop Lordi from competing. The Greek restaurant and bar owners' union President made a public plea directed to the people of Finland and Greece not to allow Lordi to perform in the contest, claiming the group is satanist. Three other organisations in Greece initiated legal action against Lordi. In Finland the choice of Lordi's representation in Eurovision was criticised by some and a group of religious leaders went as far as calling on Finland's president to veto their entry. Here is a clip of them playing the song live at Eurovision:

and for those who might think they are satanist, here is their video from their song (The Devil is a Looser)

and finally, for those of y'all who might wonder who won the #2 spot at Eurovision--Дмитрий Билан (Dima Bilan) He is a Karachay-Russian pop artist. In other words, he is of Turkish bloodlines. Here is a video clip from his performance. Hope ya like it.

Team Ramey Performs Yesterday

2007-01-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends. For those who are not up on the latest news, Emilia and I did our first show of the year at Performance Works Northwest. It was not specifically our show, being that the above program cover says "Impetus Arts," but for a first time on stage as a team, it wasn't bad. :-)

The above page was an ad page, the 2nd page of the program, and the page below is the obvious one to explain. (Click any image to make larger) First on the program was Emilia, who was doing a staged reading of a piece she wrote about Taco Bell. "Going to the Bahamas" is about the desire to not be in a stressfull situation with a customer. It was a humerous piece that elicited laughter during multiple points in the performance. Second on the program was me, playing the keyboard a singing a song. I was planning on playing the Ukelele and singing, but I could not find it at the last minute, before the tech. rehearsal, so I became a piano player in the span of a week. (That day for the tech rehearsal, and then a week to polish) Fourth on the program was a little dance done by Emilia and I, not exciting, but we were trying out some new concepts that we will build upon.

Overall, I enjoyed our performance yeasterday, and thought it was a good barometer for the shows Emilia and I will do throughout the year. Emilia seemed to feel good about the show, and all is happy in Mudville. :-)

To celebrate our day, for dinner, we ate quail. Yes friends, by the grace of our maker, we acquired, through a lovely asian woman that talks a mile a minute, six of the wonderful birds. (They are about three bites a piece so that is a meal) I stuffed mushrooms up their hind ends, baked them with some carrots, and they were wonderful. I laid them on a bed of rice noodles and served them to my wife and the rest...it involved chewing, sowallowing, and wiping the grease off our fingers. That was our yeasterday.

Hope alla y'all's days are good today.

Peace out

Jody

P.S. for those who do not know quail and what it looks like before it is eaten, go to this link and check out the little cuties before they are killed, plucked, and hit the table. ;-)

Jody is 34 today

2007-01-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

at 7:25 P.M., I will be 34!!! Who Hoo!!!! I survived another year. This means that G-d has something left for me to do. I am going to take a few liberties now, in celebration of my birthday, and post a few of my favorite political comentaries that have come out recently. (Comedy) Hope y'all like them:

Now I am going to be evil and sneak a music vid that I have not run by Emilia on to the blog. It is another Jethro Tull song, live at Madison Square Garden, NY, 1978. They are playing a song dedicated to Ian Anderson's (Lead Singer) son. I love the middle section.

PEACE OUT Y'ALL!!!

Jody

Jody's Birthday Commeth!!!

2007-01-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

Several people have asked if I am doing something on my birthday. Yes. I am going to the doctor. My wife is planning a suprise party for me (a small one) that will occur after my birthday, and those who are interested can call for details. She'll tell me when she has planned the date and time, so you don't need to bug her now for details. Wifey started back at Portland State today, and she seemed to think it was cool, despite the fact that she is sick again. In fact, so am I. Those of you Christian types, please pray for us to heal soon. another month of illness would really stink. On a positive note, I include a video from one of my favoriate rock 'n roll flute players. Jethro Tull is da bomb.

Peace

Jody

Four Months of Wedded Bliss

2007-01-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

16 hour timelaps from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, looking over the sea-ice toward Mt. Discovery. Some day we wish to see this in person. :-)

Happy Four Month Aniversary!!!!! This of course pertains specifically to the Ramey household. On 2 September 2006 we married, and it is now 2 January 2007. As of 9:00 A.M.(the time when the wedding began) today it has been 120 days, 2,880 hours, 172,800 minutes, 10, 768,000 seconds of wedded bliss. :-) I have been so blessed to be married to Emilia, and I thank G-d that she is my wife. I hope all of y'all who are single find a spouse that is as wonderful as mine. Specifically to Emilia: "I love you, and I am going to try and make the next four months even better than the last." :-)

Peace out

Jody

Happy New Year!!!!

2007-01-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first day of 2007!!!! :-) People usually come up with New Year's resolutions that they never keep, get depressed about this fact, than do this again the next year. The health clubs love it, as they oversell their memberships and than in febuary loose half the people that paid dues the previous month. (eliminating the need to expand facilities) Why am I saying all of this? Simple. I am going to make some resolutions for the Ramey home, and keep them, to show that it is possible, with the right approach. I will even write resolution update reports to demonstrate progress.

Resolution One: The Ramey home will figure out the employment issue that has gat hold upon us, and start generating income!!!

Resolution Two: The Ramey's will start a TheaterDance company, generate funds from this endeavor, performing in multiple venues, and in multiple countries, physically or virtually.

Resolution three: The Ramey's will travel to at least one country this year, paid for by someone else, for a purpose that is leagal, ethical, and moral.

There you have it, three resolutions that will recieve at least one monthly update till they are complete, and will be complete before December 31 2007. here is a New Year's song for you, if you feel like following a link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQNWj75WemU Flap at y'all later.

Jody

Funny Movies

2006-12-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

As the new year approaches, tv gets a little bad (for those of y'all that own one) and so, I offer a couple of vids to prepare your hearts and minds for new year's fun. To prepare your mind in the world of geography, here is a cartoon flick about the nations of ze world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17UfzqupaxM

I would have embedded the vid, but This new blogger platform STINKS!!!!! I hate it, it is unuseable. You cannot access former blogs you did in the old system. You cannot do many of the function in the old system in the the new one. Okay, enough complaining.

And of course, if it is me, you have to have a cool dance vid. Here is a dance sport competition. Have a ball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxDEgY9g72Q

Jody

More Wedding Photos-thanx to da Rogan's

2006-12-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Humans in Blogger Land. Greetings and happiness to all who read this. Yesterdays celebration of the first aniversary of Emilia's and mine's first hang-out session was a relaxing trip to Downtown Portland. We got our coffee at the Ione, than walked over to the Smith Center at PSU, just as we did a year ago. We did not wear our green pants like we did last year, but that was okay. There were more people this year doing whatever they were doing the day after Christmas, which suprised us. Who goes to PSU the day after Christmas? It was nice and we plan on doing it again next year. On to the Photos. The Rogan family sent us some photos from the wedding, and we decided to show y'all a couple of samples.

This photo was right at the beginning of the reception. I was the first dance leader, and taught people Hava Nagila, first the song, than the dance. It was a little chalenging leading both at the same time (People do not sing and dance well, sing or dance, but not sing and dance).

This photo has some dancers on one side, and some chatters on another. I am guessing this dance is Zemar Atik, but I am not sure with a still photo only.

THis last photo is of two young ladies playing Temple Grandin Squeeze Machine. For those of you who do not understand, Temple Grandin, one of the morst famous Autistics in the world, invented the squeze machine, a device redesigned from one used on cattle, to be used on Autistics. The squeze machine is a calming device amd the model for humans can be controled by the person being squeezed. Unfortunatly, the human model can only go up to 75 psi, but maybe Temple can get a more powerful model approved for distribution. :-) The female behind me is Laura Ridenour, and the female in front of me is Kassianne Sibley, author of my favorite entry in the book "Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum" (Edited by Stphen Shore) This is all for me today. May your day after 26 December go well.

Peace Out

Jody John Ramey

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

Hello to all and Ho Ho Ho! We had a wonderful Christmas lunch with my wife mother and my mother's cat. Santa was not at lunch. This is the only Santa I know that does not wear velvet. I have been going to him for several years now. People keep telling me that he does not exist, but why believe them? ;-)

Now, this post may look different, because blogger has forced me to change to a new account, so Em had to re-invite me to post, so hopefully this will not look too cornfusing. Hopefully we will figure out this situation soon.

Tommarow is the aniversary of Me and Em's first get-together. We are going to re-visit this memory tommarow as we celebrate at the same coffee shop where we visited on 26 December 2005. Then we will walk over to PSU and hang out in Smith center, sitting at the same table, and being all mushy-romanticlike. Don't y'alls wish you could have our life? ;-)

This is going to be a short post, because Emilia and I are going for a walk. May all y'alls holiday seasons go smooth-like.

Jody

More Turkey Sories

2006-12-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well, after the last post, I cooked Emilia and I some turkey neck soup, which came out well. Emilia had two bowls and I had three. For dinner, we had Stella fully cooked, and she was VERY good. Moist and delicious! Emilia was impressed. :-) Stella was a bit large for the two of us, so we had a bit of leftovers. More bird for tommarow!!! Woo Hoo!!!! :-) More food stories later...

Jody

Stella the tasty bird

2006-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. We are cooking a turkey right now, and I just fried up the turkey liver with some onions. It was yummmmmmy! :-) I am boiling up the other giblits, and the rest of our turkey friend is baking in the oven. Soon the lovely Stella will be fully cooked and ready. I am looking forward to enjoying our meal. We are so blessed this season, and I hope alla y'alls are blessed too. May your celebrations be merry.

חג שמח
cHag Sameach
From Vancouver's Ramey couple

afternoon nap

2006-12-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

I dreamed this afternoon (napping) in Hebrew. I was visiting a first year Hebrew class, and one student was very proficient, so I wanted to talk to him. I remember being very careful to use the correct form of 'you' and match the verb to it.
"אתה מדבר עברית בבית"
והוא אמר "קן
Well, it wasn't a long conversation, but that was cool to have a dream in Hebrew ;)
I wanted to include punctuation, but the question mark goes to the wrong end of the sentence :( so I couldn't. Oh well.
Jody suggests that I translate the dream to English:
"You speak Hebrew at home?"
and he said "yes"

Milk For My Wifey

2006-12-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

I love bringing home milk for my wife, because she loves it so. She also loves cheese, yogurt, and butter. I saw this vid on you Tube, and for those who know my wife well, you will agree that this is her...

100 Days of Marriage Bliss

2006-12-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Yes friends, it has been 100 days since Emilia and I tied the knot. She still does not trust me with a jar of peanut butter, but other than that, we have a wonderful marriage. ;-) The first 100 days of the U.S. Presidency is usually the benchmark that analysts use to judge the tenor of his next 4 2/3rds years. So, with this in mind, what is the first 100 days for Emilia and Jody?

After setting up our apartment in Tigard, Oregon for the first month of our Marriage, we decided that a large rent hike after October 15th was going to be detrimental to our financial state of being. We moved, and Emilia changed her last name to Ramey, and obtained a Washington State Drivers License. We live in Vancouver, Washington now. We signed a year-long lease that has a nice renewal option, so we are planted in Vancouver for the time being. Even though we dislike change, the fact that we were both non-drivers, and that moving is EXTREMELY stressful for us, we established that in light of impending financial doom, we will do what it takes to push through and find another alternative. We also established that the Northwest, specifically, Washington State, is our home for the time being.

During the First few weeks of our marriage we answered several calls for proposals to different disability and education related conferences. Two of them have already come through with invites, and the rest have still not answered with a yes or a no. One invite is to Australia, and one is to South Africa. This has set a tone for the two of us to grow as speakers, advocates, and educators, on a world-wide scale. While we were dating we were invited to a conference in England to speak about dating. Emilia and I are working on a contribution to a refereed Journal, and we started on a book project in which we have already gotten feedback on a couple of chapters.

Along with our great in-depth conversation, Emilia and I have experienced some trial and tribulation. We have not developed a source of income yet (NO JOB) nor have we experienced a lot of health (One-Month of illness for us). So, our wedding money has run out, and while we were coughing, snotting, puking, and everything else, we were also triggering some of our sensory hypersensitivities, making things more intense. Despite all of this, our Autistic logic kicked in and we attacked our issues as they came up, talked about them, read scriptures, and prayed, and we are not completely well, but we are feeling much better, and all the other financial and social issues are slowly but surely being worked upon. The prayer is indicative that spirituality is a focus in our lives, and will be for the future. Also, that when tribulation hits, we will work through the issues as a team, indicating that the blog for "Team Ramey" was aptly named. God is caring for us in our time of need, and for that we are thankful.

So, that about raps up the first 100 days of our marriage. Thank you to all of our good friends and family members that have been providing supports to us through the tough times, and I thank Emilia for being a wonderful partner for these 100 days. The experience has been AMAZING, and I am so blessed to have been a participant. I could write a lot more, but it is late, and I am tired.

Good Night,

Jody John Ramey

posting from em

2006-12-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hello all!
I had my job interview yesterday at PSU- actually it was 2 interviews, the first with the staff and the second with the board. I think that is a good idea to have the staff included, rather than letting the board decide alone. I should know their decision in less than a week. It sounds like a good job, and the people who work there are friendly and good natured; I really hope that I will get to work there.

I just learned how to embed a video from You Tube, so I am going to include one on my post ;) This one is very fun!

Emilia has a job interview

2006-12-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Just between me and alla y'alls, Emilia has a job interview on friday morning with a student service organization at PSU, and she is a little nervous. I think she can do the job spledidly, but she is a little hesitant. For those of you in the Christian universe, please pray for her and her success, whether it be in this interview, or the next. The job involves posting flyers, updating a web page, designing flyers, writing press releases, and other sorts of publicity type endeavors. It is 20 hours per week, and can be scheduled around her classes. What a short term opportunity!!! :-) In celebration, here is a cool vid from Judas Priest, the later years. Those of y'all who are not heavy meatal fans, give this one a chance.

Peace

Jody

Back is feeling better

2006-12-06T06:26:00.000-08:00

I pulled a muscle in my back a couple of days ago, and it is feeling better. Yippeeeeeee! Good News from Jody. Okay, the real reason I am writing. Lisa and I were chatting Last thursday about "Tenacious D" and the only song she had ever heard by them was "Tribute." I will change this now. For any of you readers who have not heard tribute, here is that song:

Here is a clip of them from a nameless TV show...

and for those of you who wish a farsical explination of homosexuality in our culture, from the Fallwellian perspective...

Okay, this is not Tenacious D, but my wife has just said, "no more Tenacious D on the website." If ya want more, go to youtube.com and check out the Tenacious D.

Peace

Jody

Anthrax Meds

2006-12-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Look at all the cool people dancing at our wedding reception. This is the coolest pic of the dancing that we have been sent so far, from the camera of Ma Squyres! Thanks Mom! :-) For those of y'all who do not remember what Ma Squyres looks like, this next pic is of Mon and Dad kissing their beautiful daughter on her wedding day! Awwwwww! :-) Their so cute!

As to Anthrax meds, I was given a perscription of meds most commonly given to folk with antrax issues...found this out after reading about it in between bad reaction issues..all this on top of another med they gave me that gave me issues...no longer on meds. Remember, Jesus loves each and every one of y'all, and if you have a prayer need, feel free to email and/or post your need in the comments, and it will be preyed for.

Peace,

Jody

P.S. For those who remember "Gansta's Paradise" here is Weird Al's song "Amish Paradise" from the files of You Tube. Enjoy!!!

A three Month Reflection

2006-12-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hello to all. It is Saturday, 2 December 2006, and that is about three months, to the hour, since we have gotton Married, Saturday, 2 September 2006 @ 9:00 A.M. I have VERY MUCH enjoyed married life, and have learned SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH about how to relate with people, how people function, and the like. In some ways it has been much easier than I imagined, and in some ways much harder. Despite the trials that Em and I have been going through with finances and health, I would rather have my marriage than live one more day as a single man. For all you single folk out there deciding whether or not you are called to the vocation of marriage, keep in mind the sacramental nature of the institution before you take the plunge and the bumps should work out. Marriage is for life...although, no one goes into it to get divorced.

Also, for those who are not familiar with some of the paperwork involved, whether you are single, or reside in another country, here are a few of the certifications we obtained. This one comes from the Catholic Church we celebrated in. This is necessary, for example, if I decide to be ordained to the Married Deaconate. One has to be married first, along with having the three Sacraments of initiation: Baptism (which can be done by any Christian authority, Catholic or not), first Eucharist, and Confirmation. Here is the Church cirtificate of marriage we obtained:

This next certificate is a cerimonial one that is given by the state you were married in. in the United States, one needs to have a legally recognized officiator
from the state you are haveing the ceremony in sign a document that says you are married. Only than will your marriage be legal in the syes of the state and/or nation. Most major religious denominations (Their leadership) have recognized authority in all 50 states. When one state recognizes a marriage, all states have to recognize it, even if they will not recognize a marriage performed under that right within their municipality. The possible exception is Gay marriage, in which several states have amended their constitutions to omit such possible recognition, even if a state decides to uphold gay marriage. (Even Massachutes struck down gay marriage in favor of domestic registery) So, anyhue, you need state recognition, first and foremost in this country, and they give you a pretty certificate for your walls. Here is our State of Oregon certificate:

Now, the pretty certificate from the state carries no legal value, it is only the certified copy of the licence request that has any authority, especially if you wish to change your name and/or get a new social security number. Here is our certified copy:

and on the back of the copy is the signature and seal form the Notary Public authenticating this document as a true copy of the original on file:

So, a taste of what is to come for all you singles out there, and a little about American mariages for all of our buddies from afar. There is much more to it than what I shared, which makes it all so silly, but every country has their silliness. Here is one piece of ours. For those of y'all who are Christians, please keep us in Prayer regarding health and finding, getting, and keeping a job, and if any of y'all have a prayer need, please do not hesitate to ask.

Blessings,

From the Husband

Illness still lingers in our home

2006-12-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Yes friends, the horrible flu bug that got Jody for a couple of weeks now has a hold of Emilia. We are trying to rid our home of this pest, but he still seems to want to stick around. Jody still has a few leftover coughs that hurt the ears of Emilia. We look forward to getting ourselves well so we can sit on Satan's or Santa's lap and get our picture taken. Emilia is curently more violently illy-like, so Satan or Santa will have to wait. How is it spelled? Hmmmm...

On a brighter note, we have a few more pics we would like to show from the weddding, so here are a few from the Parental units on the Squyres side of the fam. This series is of the lovely bride as she prepares to wed. The dressing room is the basement of the Church.

Isn't Emilia BEUTIFUL. :-) G-d did a wonderful job in his asembly of her. :-)

Our Cat

2006-11-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

If you have not met our big cat, here he is. "Big Boo-Poos." Don't tell my wife I wrote that. ;-) Okay, he is Spare Augustus Kitty, named by my wife, and there is a huge story behind that, which she can tell you if you want to here it. He is dominated by our little cat, who is eight ponds (Spare is 16 pounds). Right now he is fast asleap behind me. I am now throwing a sock at him (Evil laughter ensues)He is still asleap. The other day, while he was asleap, I was making his lip rise like Elvis Presley, multiple times, and he was still asleap. I wish I slept that good. He is starting to wake up now. Hmm nope, just thought he was. I am getting over a cold, so I have nothing to contribute today. For those of y'all celebrating thanksgiving in the USA--happy T-Day. Here is a video for fun. Enjoy.

Video Clips From the Wedding!!!! :-)

2006-11-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some video clips from Glen, taken on his handy cell phone. We have heard rumor that there is another set of film clips floating about on another person's phone. If you have a clip of our wedding, please send it. We would love to post what you recorded. :-)

To view this clim on a new page, in a larger format, go to theFirst Video

To view this clim on a new page, in a larger format, go to theSecond Video

To view this clim on a new page, in a larger format, go to theThird Video

Wedding Pics from Glen

2006-11-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

Glen, one of the lovely greeters has gotten us some wedding pics. Yippeeeeeeee!!! These are from the actual wedding, and were taken without flash photography. Go cell phones!!! The first pic is during the signing of the Marriage certificate. Beside me is my best man, Katee, and beside Emilia is her matron of honor, Sherri. I had just signed the certificate at this point.

In this next pic my best man is signing the certificate in witness of my signature and of the ceremony:

In this pic the Catholic Priest, Father Mayo, is praying over us and the entire congregation a final blessing and sending us forth:

In this pic, we have finnished the ceremony, and left the church, and people are exiting the chuch and talking to us in the reception line. How fun is that. Emilia and Jody are now husband and wife. :-)

Glen also gave us a short film clip of the wedding that he took on his phone, so we will figure out how to post that in a couple of days. Come back, and you can watch us, as we kiss for the first time as husband and wife. Yes, we did end up kissing before the wedding, but it was a long time after we were engaged before we kissed, so we can count ourselves lucky and strange in the eyes of America. Yipppeeeee!!!

It Has Been a While

2006-11-07T05:28:00.000-08:00

Hello. It has been a while since we have posted, so we thought a little update was in order. We moved from Tigard on the 11th of October to a place in Vancouver, WA. All went well with the move, and the kitties even like it too. The first day of the movewas a little challenging for the famliy, but after that we were fine.

We are still looking for work. My next interview is at Clark College on Wednesday the 15th of November. Please pray for that those of you Christians reading this. We are still waiting for people to send us wedding photos, so those of y'all out there who still have some to share, we'd love to see them. For now, check out this pic taken on Memorial day. This was before Em and I were married. We went on a hike in the Columbia Gorge. We were going to use this pic on our wedding invites, but changed our minds. Oh well. Here is the pic now.

Ciao

Wedding Pics from Nancy

2006-09-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hello humans. Jody said he would post more wedding pics as soon as someone else sent us some, and behold, we have pics from a second person, one of the many nice people named Nancy that were at the wedding. Even my mother is a Nancy. :-) This of course is only a sample, because I would like to post pics taken form at least seven of the folk who were flashing us. For those who need comentary on the pic, above, I was sitting on Emilia's lap at the reception.

Pictured above is a candid group shot of the reception.

Here is a candid dancy photo, also taken at the reception. Now, I am going to shift gears just a bit and throw in a couple of photos taken by me, when Emilia and I got home from the Honeymoon three days later. actually, the next two pics were taken the day after that.

Here is a pic taken at our home in the morning. This is looking out our front window. You are seeing what we see every day, or will be seeing every day until we move on October 11th. Those of you who are willing to help us move, we would greatly appreciate it. Give us a call Please. Well, it seems the computer is not allowing me to post photos anymore, so I will have to end this here. More later...?

Jody John Ramey

Some Honeymoon Pics.

2006-09-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey dudes and Dudets and those who do not identify as either,

It is I, Jody John Ramey, here today to share a few pics from our three-day adventure in Salem, Oregon, USA. I will not bore you with a recap of what I already said in my report on the honeymoon, I will just give you the images to back up the text of what was previously published.

The above pic was taken in the Thai resraurunt in downtown Salem that Emilia spoke of in her honeymoon posting. It is located in the Salem/Lancastor Mall, which is the building just outside the window. How could I be saying this? Simple. The Mall is on multiple street corners and is connected by Skywalks. If you look close, you can see one of the skywalks in the background. We got engaged in that mall, just after we had lunch in the food court region, hanging out on a skywalk looking at the trees. So...

Here is a pic taken of me, by Emilia, at Willamette University, which was near our hotel. We had fun playing around there: jumping, skipping, leaping, spinning...

Here is a pic taken at the Oregon State Fair, one of our cherrished activities of the adventure. This pic was taken when we were on a ride, kinda like a ski lift, that went over the entire fairgrounds. We were twenty feet off the ground hanging by a cable. Fun!!! :-)

Above is what the Cable looked like. I would post more pics, but for some reason, the site is not letting me post any more than this right now. Latter today or tommarow, I will attempt again.

Later Peeps,

Jody John Ramey

2 weeks, 2 days

2006-09-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

We have now been married 2 weeks and 2 days. Yesterday we picked up the pictures we took on the honeymoon. We had them developed next door at Rite Aid (that was an expensive mistake) But we did get some good pictures and will be posting a few of them later today or in the next couple of days.
Also, I cooked for Jody for the first time yesterday. I baked some gluten free dill bread, and made a creamy vegetable soup. I served a fruit salad on the side and ice water to drink. It was a successful meal, and I was particularly happy with how the bread turned out. I used a bread mix, but with some variations. For part of the milk I substituted cottage cheese, I also used whole egges instead of one egge plus egge whites. I added additional yeast and xantham gum. I also added two teaspoons of Dillweed, and I meant to add in 2 tablespoons of diced onion, but I forgot- oh well, there is always next time. This was done in a bread machine, I only had to watch and make sure as it mixed that the moisture ballance was correct. I look forward to cooking for Jody again in the future. In fact, we plan on doing a special sort of meal once a week, and alternate who gets to 'be chef' for the day.

First Wedding Photos

2006-09-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

These are a sample of the first wedding photos that have been sent to us, taken by the Matron of Honor. We had to be flashed at by several people, so to those that have not sent us photos yet, please do not forget. The first photo is of Emilia and I after we have gotten married in the Church, before we left to go to the reception.

The second photo is of the happy couple with all their brides maids and groomsmen. The side with all the females is the groomsmen, and the side with the males is the bridesmaids. The Matron of Honnor, Sherri, is standing to the bride's right, and the Best Man, Katee, is standing to the groom's left.

In order from left to right in the above photograph: Kris and Gwen Palagi, Ron and Ruth Ann Squyres, Sheldon and Sheri Millar, Emilia Squyres, Jody Ramey, Katherine Lamkin, Abigail Rose, Whitney Hammon, Britney Goecks, Kathleen Lynett, Stacy Johnson

The Third photo is of the happy couple and their parental units, the bridal units standing to her right, and the groomly units standing to his left.

The fourth and final photo I will post here tonight is of the happy bride. Oh how happy she looks: ;-)

and here are a couple of Messianic dance pics from the reception. There are more that Sherri took, but, we only want a sample of what she sends us up, because there will be more from other people. I hope the photos were fun for you, cause I know Em and I had fun during the day. Thank you all for comming and helping us to celebrate!!!!

some notes on the honeymoon

2006-09-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 2nd: My Mom and Dad gave Jody and I a ride to Salem. We stopped along the way for lunch at a Chili's. Jody was not feeling too well because of low blood sugar. He downed a big chilled mug of milk and two mugs of ice water before his meal arrived. We made it to Salem- and it was hot! I took a nap and Jody took a walk to BigK- that is, he scoped out what was nearby our hotel, the Howard Johnson. We stayed there Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights.

Monday the 4th: This was the best day of the honeymoon. After breakfast we headed for a sale at Value village, where we picked up two antique beaters, two books, two pairs of pants for Jody, and a beautiful shawl for me- all 1/2 price. Next we walked into town, through the Willamette University campus, and on to the waterfront park. From there we went to the Thai food restaurant in the mall (yummy) From there we went to the bus mall, where a free shuttle was going out to the state fair. We saw many animals, including some awesome little goats (nigerian dwarfs) and bunnies looking like tribbles (Star Trek reference), fuzzy chickens, and emu. For activities we made a tree cookie and rode a ski-lift-esque ride across the fairgrounds- very fun. We also saw a beautiful garden set up, some wonderful photographs in a display, and all sorts of craft work. We took the shuttle back downtown and walked to the hotel. Then we went out and picked up some dinner. A lovely day.

Tuesday 5th: we got up at 5am and as I combed out my mess of hair, Jody went and got a few plants for us to transplant. We left the hotel at about 6 and made it to the busmall in time to catch the 6:45 to Willsomville, where we just caught the bus to the barbur transit center. From there, Jody went to work and I went home. So there ends my honeymoon tale.

Initial Report From A Married Man!!!!

2006-09-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hey peoples. Jody is a married man now, and so is his wife, Emilia. For those of y'all that tried to watch the ceremony on the net, we had technical difficulties and we are sorry that you could not see it. :-( for those of y'all that were not there, we started a few minutes late in hopes of getting the broadcast going, and than capitulated to the anxious priest that presided over the celebration to go on without the webcast. The ceremony was quite beautiful and I am not saying it because it was my ceremony. We had three clergy, all representing different denominations, participating in the event. The first reader was David Sumner, from Rehoboth Messianic Congregation in Vancouver, WA. The second was CJ, the covenant Five Campus Pastor at Portland State University. (She is Quaker) and Father Mayo, Pastor of St Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish in Portland laid on the prayers. Doug was in good voice, (the cantor at the wedding) and the reception afterward was filled with singing and Messianic dance, which occurred in the PSU park blocks. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and all was well. We left for our honeymoon that afternoon, and arrived in Salem just after lunch. We had a relaxing time, stayed at the Howard Johnson Inn, and even wen to the Oregon State Fair on Monday. We will have more pics from the wedding and Honeymoon later, for now, we include only one pic, which is of a tree cookie Emilia and I made at the State Fair. Hope all is well with y’all, and thank you to those who helped make our wedding the wonderful event that it was!!!!

A little over 11 hours

2006-09-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

The wedding rehearsal was fine today. The bride was a bit late, which made the wedding coordinator all huffy n' shtuff, but that is okay. We started, figured out the order, and all went well. about 11 of us went out to a Vietnamiese restarunt after the rehearsal and had chow. Not bad, eh? Tommarow I will be MR. Ramey. :-) Sounds so nice. :-) See ya all at 9:00 A.M. Pacific Standard time.

Hugs to all,

Jody

Less than 50 hours

2006-08-31T06:35:00.000-07:00

At 7:00 A.M. pacific standard time we hit the 50 hour mark untill the ceremony begins. All is well, I met Emilia's Sister and Bother-in-law Yesterday, and today we wil meet again for a couple of hours. :-) Her Mom and Dad should also be in town too. :-) a few more things need to be implemented, but all-in-all, we are on track. Still need the RJ 45 from Jason, but my clothing is cleaned and pressed. :-) Lock and Load!!! Soon I will be Mr. Ramey.

120 Hours till it begins

2006-08-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

As of 9:00 A.M. Pacific Standard Time (PST) today, there are 120 hours till the wedding begins. (9:00 A.M. PST=5:00 P.M. for you British folk, 7:00 P.M. for you Finnish folk, and 10:00 P.M. for you folk in Kazakhstan) Still looking for jobs, still trying to figure out how to take care of my teeth, but after that, all is fine. We have some stimmy ideas for a couple of projects that will manefest after the new year. Stay tuned. On the home front, we have started the gargantuan job of blending Emilia's and my shtuff together. We will probably not come close to finnishing by the time her family comes into town tommarow, but we can at least get her apartment to a point of minimal functionality. We can actually se patches of floor n' shtuff. This is goodly. :-) Have a wonderful day, and we shall see y'all at the wedding.

Jody

spider solitaire and phone book mishap

2006-08-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't written in a while, and that is because I have been busy, or because I have been playing spider solitaire on the computor instead of playing on the internet on the computor. I actually have been fairly busy. The current project is to get all the stuff moved from Jody's storage unit put away (or at least mostly away) before I have six people arrive for the wedding.
What else? Well, Jody's phone book disapeared, so he is looking for ways to get in touch with people before the wedding. Which is on saturday of this week. At 9 am. Rehersal will be friday night at 6pm (for any of those out there in the wedding party that may not know exactly what is going on) And hopefully, if you are reading this, and are in the wedding party, you will get in touch with Jody.

moving and organizing

2006-08-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jody and I, with the help of my good friends Sheri and Sheldon, moved Jody's belongings out of his storage unit and into my apartment. It is now very crowded in there, but we hope to be organized before we have to move again. Jody's Bass (instrument like a chello, but larger- not a fish) is lying on the kitchen floor. I think that it should be called Pinkerton, but we have not discussed it. I also want to learn to play it, and Jody says he can give me lessons once things calm down and there is space to walk at home.
There are now ten days till the wedding. Soon, family will be arriving in town. I don't know where to put them, but I am looking forward to seeing them.

11 More days after today

2006-08-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello humans!!!! above you see a picture that I drew on the plane going to England a couple of weeks ago. It is the same picture, both views. It was drawn specifically to be two diferent things, a human, and an animal, depending on which angle you view it at. Since the plane ride there was so good, I could actually concentrate on something other then the pain in my head, and the spinny feelings that swirled through my brain (at least for a short while).

For those of y'all who are praying folk, Em and I still need jobs, and my teeth still need restration, or to have about $7,500-$10,000 worth of work to deal with the root canals I need, before the infection goes to my brain and I die or something. (note: Em and I did not pay for the trip over to England to speak..others paid our expenses) Please agree with us in prayer that a good job comes our way soon, and that a method of dealing with the teeth comes even sooner. We have even called organizations that help poor and homeless with dental care, and they are wanting a pile of money to pull all my teeth out. (Cheeper than root canals, and by the time we save up the cash, it will probably be what will have to be done to save my life) Toothless Jody...?

On a hapier note, Em and I are moving more of my shtuff in to our home today, and we made some progres toward Webcasting the wedding yesterday, so all seems to be progressing well. We should be able to get out evites for those watching the wedding live online soon. Stay tuned.

Pics From England

2006-08-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

After emilia and I went to mass today, we picked up the England pics and took a peek. (For those who have not read earlier posts, Em and I recently went to the Autscape conference in Radstock, England, and spoke on the subject of Autism and Courtship) Some pics came out bad, others not so bad. for those of y'all who might find them interesting, I have included a few for your pleasure. This pic of a bird at Hyde Park was fairly bad, but the bird was so ugly it was cute, and I found him to be quite stimmy, so I included the pic anyhue, even though it does not do him justice:

and this next bird at Hyde Park (London) was watching us:

and for those who think I do not take the purely tourist-like photos, here is one taken at the observatory in Greenwich, right at the Prime Meridian. It does not get more tourist-like than that...jump to one side of the line you are in the eastern hemisphere, jump to the other you are in the western hemisphere:

When made it to Radstock, we had a little play time, and I celebrated in the beautiful fields with dance:

and spent time at the Jollife family monument:

Other times were spent hanging out with beautiful women:

but the most important message (Tee Hee) came from a sign on the road into Ammerdown Centre, the retreat center that the Autscape conference was held at:

there were other pics, and Emilia might include some of her own, but there is limited room, so I am stopping here. Hope you enjoyed them.

Jody

a new park

2006-08-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jody and I went for a walk in a park that we had not yet explored. We brought a couple of little tupperwear-esque containers, anticipating that we might find some ripe berries. It was a pleasant walk, with some lovely shade in some spots. We did also find a lot of berries, but not very many that were easily accessible. We picked and ate, and picked and saved, and it was a good adventure. We also got a fair bit of work done on my place, organizing and clearing out spots to put the things from Jody's storage unit that will be arriving on Monday. My next goal is to get the computor area nice and tidy- hopefully today.

14 days after today

2006-08-19T06:14:00.001-07:00

Or, for those who like it by the hours, at 8:00 A.M., Pacific Standard Time (PST), there will be 337 hours till the wedding begins. (8:00 A.M. PST=4:00 P.M. for those of you in England, 6:00 P.M. for those of you in Finland, or 9:00 P.M. for those of you in Kazakhstan.) We do not have much to go to finnish the wedding plans up, being that we got the guest books yesterday. Monday, Bernard and I are going to see if we can make our new webcam work with the system at the church, and assuming that is possible, we can start sending evites out for those who will only be able to attend the wedding via computer. We still have not develloped our pics from the England adventure yet, but sooon we will have some pics up. For those of you who might find this interesting, here is the tube station at Kings cross, in which we bought our tickets to Heathrow, in which we already had our plane tickets, so we could fly home.

yesterday's outing

2006-08-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jody and I went out to Gresham by MAX. We had a nice stroll in the historic downtown area, and through the park as well. There we found a plethora of berry bushes covered in ripe delicious berries. Jody says that one of these days we will go on a berry picking expedition, and freeze some berries for fall and winter. Ariel is keeping me company at the computor as I type. She likes the computor a lot. She managed to change the walpaper and the web settings single pawed (I don't know how exactly- stepped on some important keys, no doubt)
We reminisced about our walks through Hyde Park, and talked of our schemes and dreams for the future. It was a lovely day. Today we may have the opportunity to work out the web casting puzzle, and that will be nice.
I have two appointments at PSU today, and I may also stop in on my advisor's open office hours. She will be teaching Syntax in the fall, and I have heard so many bad things about the subject that I have started to study early. I am fortunate to be taking the class from her, though, she is an excellent professor.

Tuesday to do, 18 days

2006-08-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today we meet over at Jantzen Beech in the continued quest to find a web-camera for web-casting our wedding.
What else we will do, I do not know. It should be a good day- it looks now as if it will rain. That will get some of the allergens out of the air, and keep it cool as well.
We have 18 days until the wedding- that is one and a half dozen days.
On monday of next week (21st) there will be one dozen days left,
and from the following sunday (27th) there will be half a dozen days left,
and from that wednesday (30th) there will be half of a half of a dozen days left.
One could also say that from the middle of the 31st there would be half of a half of a half of a dozen days, but that would be carrying things a bit too far ;)

travel updates

2006-08-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

I just got an e-mail from my sister, she will be flying in with her husband, Kris, on the 29th. We were hoping for more time together than that, but it was not possible to get earlier flights because of the holiday rush. I am glad they were able to find at least something. It will be wonderful to have them here- they have not yet met Jody, and I feel certain that they will really like each other.
The contingent from Bozeman may be caravaning in at roughly the same time. Mom and Dad are planning on continuing on from here to southern California to see Mom's folks, and Ruth hasn't met any of the family down there. If they decide to continue on and then fly back, they will need to keep their time here on the short side, as Ron doesn't have much in the way of vacation time.
They are already helping out with the wedding from afar. Mom and Ruth Ann are putting together the bouquet and repairing the veil.
We picked up a wireless web-cam to webcast the wedding, but there seems to be a glitch with that- the camera we bought has wires (odd) and Jody's Mom is helping figure that one out.
Things are moving along, and pretty soon everything will be in order.

Countdown By The Hours

2006-08-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

The wedding is comming, faster than we think. Here are a few mileposts to illustrate the soon-to-be affair.

On 10 August 2006 @ 11:00 A.M. there are 550 hours till the wedding begins
On 11 August 2006 @ 12:00 noon there are 525 hours till the wedding begins
On 12 August 2006 @ 1:00 P.M. there are 500 hours till the wedding begins
On 13 August 2006 @ 2:00 P.M. there are 475 hours till the wedding begins
On 14 August 2006 @ 3:00 P.M. there are 450 hours till the wedding begins
On 15 August 2006 @ 4:00 P.M. there are 425 hours till the wedding begins
On 16 August 2006 @ 5:00 P.M. there are 400 hours till the wedding begins
On 17 august 2006 @ 6:00 P.M. there are 375 hours till the wedding begins
On 18 August 2006 @ 7:00 P.M. there are 350 hours till the wedding begins
On 19 August 2006 @ 8:00 P.M. there are 325 hours till the wedding begins
On 20 August 2006 @ 9:00 P.M. there are 300 hours till the wedding begins
On 21 August 2006 @ 10:00 P.M. there are 275 hours till the wedding begins
On 22 August 2006 @ 11:00 P.M. there are 250 hours till the wedding begins
On 24 August 2006 @ 12:00 Midnight there are 225 hours till the wedding begins
On 25 August 2006 @ 1:00 A.M. there are 200 hours till the wedding begins
On 26 August 2006 @ 2:00 A.M. there are 175 hours till the wedding begins
On 27 August 2006 @ 3:00 A.M. there are 150 hours till the wedding begins
On 28 August 2006 @ 4:00 A.M. there are 125 hours till the wedding begins
On 29 August 2006 @ 5:00 A.M. there are 100 hours till the wedding begins
On 30 August 2006 @ 6:00 A.M. there are 75 hours till the wedding begins
On 31 August 2006 @ 7:00 A.M. there are 50 hours till the wedding begins
On 1 September 2006 @ 8:00 A.M. there are 25 hours till the wedding begins

On 2 September 2006 @ 9:00 A.M. beigins the wedding ceremony of Jody John Ramey and Emilia Squyres. Again, all are invited. :-) St Michael The Archangel Catholic Parish, 424b S.W. Mill, Portland, OR., Locaed accross the street from the PSU bookstore.

thursday thingys

2006-08-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

I am putting together a good plan for this thursday. There are 23 days until the wedding. I think that today I will run errands, and go to Portland State, and work on cleaning, and work on my article for the August newsletter for DACA...
I brought back two postcards from our recent trip to England- one is of Seattle, at night with a full moon, showing the downtown area. The other is of the Abbey at Bath, at sunset/dusk...
My cats are both doing well, I think they lost a little weight while I was gone (they are supposed to be on a diet) They eat low-fat diet cat food, but somehow when I am here, they eat so much of it they don't loose any weight. A cat sitter, on the other hand, is not here to plead with for extra servings. So they were doubtless annoyed, and yet helped out by my absence...

today to do

2006-08-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today is tuesday. Jody and his Mom will be meeting with Deacon Chuck to fill out a form (they sent one by mail to my parents) and I will bring in the marraige liscence and a letter from the parish where I went through RCIA.
Every day will be busy between now and the wedding, but a lot of the wedding related things are in order already. I am glad that we did not leave everything for the last minute. That would not be fun.
What will be fun is having my family come in the week before the wedding. Hopefully, the work will be basically done when they get here, but they are more than willing to help with any thing that needs to be done. And when they are here, they will have a vehicle, so running last minute errands will be no problem.
One thing Dad is looking forward to is having some meals together, going to some of his favorite eating places, especially a nearby Thai restaurant and an icecream shop called Cold Stone Creamery (they have the best-ever ice cream).

Back to the USA

2006-08-08T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Em and I are back at home and all is well. When we were in England, it was another world. I have been out of the country several times, but never sharing the experience with someone else, so I was in a new frame of mind. We got to England on the 30th of July, and I was not compleatly deaf, but VERY close, in both ears. This lasted for about a day, which was not too bad when compared with previous flights I have taken. We stayed at the Lancaster Hall Hotelin London the nights of the 30th and the 31st.

On the 31st we got the chance to visit the University of Greenwich, the Maritime Greenwich Campus, which is centered on the principal buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, part of a World Heritage Site on the banks of the River Thames. Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I were all born here. Go to the link below to see a pic of the grand square. (Note: The Statue is of George II)

Follow Link

The chapel was also very beautiful, and there seems to be no picture that can capture the 3-D celing that is all carved flowers. The Painted Hall is also very beautiful.

On the first of August we traveled to the Ammerdown center, just outside of Radstock, England, to go to the conference we were scheduled to speak at, Autscape, the only conference in the world to address Autistic adults. Most autism conferences will not address the needs of Autistics themselves, and of the few that do, Autscape is the only one that specifies the needs of Adults. Em and I were speaking on the subject of autism and dating. We had one principal address, which went well, and we ran two workshops on the same subject, both of which were outstanding. People were enthusiastic, and I believe we learned more from the participants than they did from us.

We got a chance to reconnect with some people we have not seen in a while, and we met some cool new people...all in all WE HAD A BLAST!!! On our way back home, we spent a few hours in Bath, and one of my favorite sights is below:

This is the Pultney bridge, which is one of three bridges of its kind in the world, with shops on both sides, foot, and car traffic. It crosses the River Avon, and is a romantic sight to stroll by.

On August 5th, just before we went to the Heathrow Airport in London, we visited the St Pancras Old Chuch, which is the Oldest sight that is still used for Christian worship in England. It is rumored to have been used since the 4th century, but the most reliable records date back to the 6th century, when St. Augustine rededicated the church. there is only an alter stone that dates back to the 6th century that remains. All the rest of the archetecture has been rebuild and/or refix afte...over the centuries. It is a merry mix of shtuff on the inside especially.

On our flight back home, a gentleman had a heart attack on the plane, colapsing at my feet, which was an exciting affair, and even more exciting was the fact that he lived. When we flew into Seattle at 5:30, leaving London just 1.5 hours before (the magic of time zones) we had to wait till 8:10 to catch a Geyhound to Portland, getting us in just after 11;00 P.M. There is a lot more that I can say, but for now, I will leave it at this. Oh...for those who are counting, there are 25 days after today till the wedding.

Peace

Jody

back home

2006-08-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

This has been such an eventful week, I don't know where to begin! Our trip to England has taught me valuable lessons about working together as a team, and about communication. Also, if I am ever flying out of Heathrow again, I will forget what the ticket suggests- getting there two hours early- and make it three. I have never seen such crowds or such confusion massed together in one place.
The Ammerdown center, where the conference was held, is beautiful, out in the countryside. We took the train from London to Bath Spa, and had some time there to explore before we were picked up to go to Autscape. I would like to spend more time there in the future, given the chance. We didn't see the Roman Baths because it was expensive to get in, and we didn't have that much time. I will look forward to seeing them next time. The Abby was amazing. I got a postcard and mailed it back to my parents in Bozeman MT.
I will write more about the trip later.

a wedding poem

2006-07-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Happy is the day together
friends and family here to gather
celebrating life no matter
what the fortune or the weather

To become a close-knit team
here we realize our dream
that two are one and one can scheme
many a thought, or plan, or theme

We will spend our lives together
this will be our wedded theme
and rejoice with those who gather
with us in our wedding dream

Tomorrow we fly to England. What a great adventure.
We have so many adventures in our near future: there is Autscape, and our wedding, and my finishing school (yipee!), and who knows what else?

On the Eve of 37 Days

2006-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

For those of y'all who are counting, which is probably only Emilia and I, it is 37 days after today when we are geting maried. Who Hoo!!!! :-) We got our postcard invites back from the printers yesterday, which are pictured abouve, and we have started sending invites to people in far away places. For those of y'all reading this blog, everyone is invited, and please feel free to bring guests with you. As to the visit of Emilia's father, it got delayed a bit. When he was driving to our neck of the woods, from Bozeman, MT., the head-gasket blew on Emilia's car as it was going over Lola Pass (Dad was driving Emilia's care from Bozeman to here so that we could take ownership of the vehicle in question), and it is currently in Lola, awaiting a decision on what to do. Dad caught a greyhound bus home to Bozeman and will fly out here a week before the wedding. I wish the Dad unit well, and look forward to our next interaction, along with the rest of the Squyres clan. :-) See y'all at the end of August!!!

Jody John Ramey

family visit

2006-07-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my father will be driving here from Montana with Pinkerton (the car), and staying through the weekend. He is mostly coming for the race at Washoogal (sp?) that runs Saturday and Sunday. Last we talked he was complaining how it was in the low 90's there in MT, but felt like it was over a hundred. It felt like it was over a hundred here too, and I found out later that it really was (104). According to the forecast, it will cool down a bit- and I sure hope it does!
It will be nice to have Dad in town a few days, I am looking forward to our visit.

Dreams

2006-07-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

This is going to be (somewhat) the wax philosophical post for me. I had my first dream last night, or rather, early this morning, of my grandmother's house, since her death, that was not looking like it was before her death. My subconcious finally accepts she is dead? Who knows. One of my friends Katee (I have multiple katee people in my life)and I yesterday had a discussion of my years of musing on being married. ("Not gonna mess this one up eh?"..."After years of you listining to my dreams of mariage, do ya think I'm gonna...") I had made a bad joke, and she was giving me a bad time. The vocalics are impossible to put in with email. I also had a dream discussion yesterday with Emilia regarding moving out of the country for a couple of years, something we have both dreamed about in a wake-ing-like sense. It is interesting out this word dream gets used for so many things, and in so many ways, how it is a signifyer of the forces that govern our lives to a point, and how it reveals much of who we are as people. Okay, maybe I just felt like talking and did not want to call someone so early in the morning. It still is ineresting, maybe, to some of y'all.

42 days after today!!!!

2006-07-22T06:19:00.001-07:00

On July 9th, 2006, Emilia and I went out on a little adventure after church with Jon, a former roomate of mine, Tammy, Jon's significant other, and their plastic pig. It was the first time Jon and Tammy got to meet Emilia, and it seems they had a good impression. :-) We took several pictures that day, two of which are displayed in this post. The lower image is of Tammy, Emilia, myself, and of course, the pig, on the skywalk between the education building and the University Services Building at Portland State University. (photo by Jon) The upper image is of Jon, Emilia, myself and the pig in front of the doorway of St Michael Catholic Parish, where Em and I will say "I do" on September 2nd, 2006 @ 9:00 A.M. (Photo by Tammy) Come one, come all!!! Consider yourself invited!!!! Oh..by the way, for those who have not heard, Jon and Tammy got engaged a couple of days ago. Luv is in the air. :-) Tell us if you are getting maried and we'll lift you up in prayer too.

a biblical encouragement

2006-07-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
"Therefore do not worry, saying,'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' for after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Mathew 6:25-34
A good reminder to myself to stop worrying! If you need it, its for you too!

Wedding flyer and more art

2006-07-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hello humans. Happy Saturday. Shabat Shalom. Mahalo.

We had our final class day yesterday. Yippeeeeeeee!!!! No more eight-hour-per-day classes for a Looooong while. I have included two art pieces that I did yesterday...again, to keep focused. I got a couple of good tips out of the class that I look forward to trying, and the teacher, Louise, was good. The other pic (click to make larger) is an invite flyer that we are starting to pass around for the weding. This will not be the only means of geting the word out. There will be emails, and some post cards. keep your eye out for any or all of the above. Also, keep in mind that if you are reading this blog, you are invited, so please come. We want a big party on the big day. :-)

Yesterday's Art

2006-07-14T04:52:00.000-07:00

Emilia said that I should add another art piece to the blog, being that she liked the first one, so here it is. This was another pen work done in class to help get me through. I had a harder time yesterday, all around, so it was a little more flow-lke in the drawing. Hmmmmm. That is my hypothosis at the moment. Both drawings are people. figure that one out, eh? Thank you Em for being so cool with me this week. I will be more there next week. Luv ya darlin'. For all those counting--50 days after today...

52 days and a little art

2006-07-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am taking a conflict resolution class this week, which is a class that is 9:15 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. every day for the entire week. the schedule is a bit demanding on the concentration, but it is interesting every so often. This is a drawing that I did in class to help me concentrate on the lecture when we hit hour four. This was the one I liked best for today. It is not great art, but it was fun. My life slipped away for a couple of moments during its conception, so that was good.

After class today, Em and I had a cool talk about stress, since we are both experiencing high amounts of that as of late, how we can deal with the stress, and how we can keep it from taking control of us. We prayed about it, and we ask all of you to do the same. We also ask for continued prayer on finding work, and for good recomendations to people whom y'all know that are hiring. 52 days till the 2nd. Hope alla y'all's can come to the wedding.

shopping

2006-07-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went shopping at the grocery store, and there were all kinds of fruit there- I bought raspberries, and strawberries, and watermelon, and nectarines, and mangoes. A veritable feast of goodies...
I also found some earplugs at Walgreens that claim to prevent ear pain from flying- so I picked some up, and I hope that they work as well as they say that they do! It would be wonderful for our trip to England if that is the case...

Saturday Market

2006-07-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jody and I got together with a couple of Jody's friends. We hung out for a while around Portland State University, and then wandered down to the Saturday Market- I hadn't been there in ages. There were many interesting craft booths and many snack booths as well. We saw several jewelers there, one of which had a nice selection of rings, and we found a nice simple one to serve as Jody's wedding band. So things are going well for the wedding planning- we have both rings, and have designed the wedding invites, and hopefully today we will have a chance to chat with the wedding coordinator at St. Michaels.

invites

2006-07-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I started to work on invites to our wedding. I have three design ideas for Jody and I to decide between- so as soon as we pick one, we can get them printed and mailed out! It will happen soon...

58 Days After Today!!!!

2006-07-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Humans, and those who choose not to identify as such. We had a wonderful time on the 4th, and to prove it, we have a pic of my mommy near the truck and Em and I sitting in the recycling truck. It is oh so cool to recycle. The photos were taken by my Aunt Penny at about 4:30 P.M. Don't we look happy? (Everybody say "awwwwwwwwww.") ;-)

On the weding front, we should have invites printed out by next week, or the week after at the very latest. Which means we will have them out by the end of the month. Some of y'all will recieve paper invites, those of you without internet connections, and the rest will recieve evites. If you go to one of the places that flyers will be displed, you wil see flyers. Hope y'all had fun on the 4th, and we'll chat at ya later.

Shalom

Happy 4th Day!!!!

2006-07-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all. In the above pic you see the park area near Fort Vancouver. In this area alone, there will be about 1/4 of a million people. This is where Em and I are going to spend the afternoon. I am excited that she will have a chance to see a very profound location of youthful memory for me. I hope all of y'all reading this have a wonderful 4th, and Em and I hope to see all y'alls at the wedding in 60 days. Just a reminder:

The wedding is Saturday, September 2nd, 2006. 9:00 A.M. St. Michael Catholic Parish, 424 S.W. Mill Street, Portland, Oregon 97201. ALL ARE INVITED!!!!

Fourth of July

2006-07-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Happy fourth of July!
Jody and I are planning on being in Vancouver for the festivities today- it should be fun, I hear that the fourth is even bigger in Vancouver than in Portland. My first year here, I watched the fireworks on the Wilamett, and that was far beyond anything one would see in Montana.
Who knows where we will all be for the next fourth of July? I am sure that there will be a lot of changes and adventures between now and then...

This is a page I found with some fun pictures of fireworks:
http://www.dramainnature.com/pictures%20of%20fireworks.htm

Beautiful Morning

2006-06-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

For wedding related news: we are looking at possible places to go for our honeymoon- someplace in the northwest; and I got a message from my sister, saying that she plans on being here about a week early to help with the wedding and reception arrangements.
It will be nice to see her again- I haven't seen her since her wedding in October, and she and Jody have not yet met. She will be in Glacier National Park for the fourth of July as a part of her honeymoon (they wanted to go in summer) and my parents, and brother and sister-in-law will be traveling up to stay with them at the park for a couple of days.

69 days after today

2006-06-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Em and I got home from Bozeman yesterday, in the early morn'. We tried to leave the airport in Seatle at a good time, but we got bumped to later and later flights. After several hours we finally got to leave and arrived in P-town close to 11:00 P.M. After that I was stuck going to downtown Vancouver via public transit and walking from 7th st. to Mill Plain and Andreason. The weather was great, so all was good. It took almost 18 hour to get full hearing back, but the right ear wan't too bad. Em and I went to Rehoboth later that Saturday, and all was fun. What a bonding experience... :-)

69 days after today
All will be gay
On the wedding day

Almost Home.

2006-06-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

It is friday, and Emilia and I are almost home. We flew out of Bozeman at 8:15 A.M. Montana time and it was an hour to get to Seatle. The flight was a little harder for me than the ones going to Bozeman. Right now I am totally deaf in my left ear, and have coresponding feelings of the left side of my head wanting to burst. Oh well, life goes on. Em and I are wandering around the Library at the University of Washington, for the purpose of checking out the school at large. We will fly into Portland in the early evening, and we shall sleep in our own beds. We had an AWESOME time visiting the family, and I personally want to thank Jim and Lorraine again for hosting us for the past week. I hope you had at least half as wonderful a time as I had getting to know y'all a little better. I am a little freaky-deaky right now, so I am not to keen on concentrating on the screen right now. Will write more in P-town.

Later,

Jody

Pictures from Yellowstone

2006-06-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our marathon day at Yellowstone National Park. Some day we would like to go back and spend several days wandering around the geysers- people who only see Old Faithful are really missing out. There are some fascinating trails to check out and many geysers that are actually more interesting than Old Faithful, although they don't regularly erupt... I have posted a picture of Old Faithful on my other blog, murrymuse.blogspot.com
Today is our last day in Bozeman- we are planning a short hike with my brother and sister-in-law this afternoon, and then travel home tomorrow. I am praying for a safe and comftorable flight, and nice weather in Seattle.

Note: The lady in pink in the fourth picture is my Mom, Lorraine Squyres. Her name means 'famous in battle'

Home tommarow Night!!!!

2006-06-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Humans. Em and I will be home tommarow night. We will do two flights, one from Bozeman to Seatle in the early morning, and one from Seatle to Portland in the late evening. For you religious folk out their, please pray that Jody's ears survive this and that the pressure equalizes in my head quickly. It can take days for me sometimes.

On to other items...yesterday, Jody got his animal fix. Em, her parents, and myself, piled in the car at about 8:30 A.M. and drove to Wyoming, to Yellowstone National Park. We saw many wonderful sights, starting with the area near firehole creek, where we stopped to picnic. It was a large, grassy area, with tables, (and a creek), and at this location we saw a couple of Canis latrans (A.K.A. Coyote) up close. They were very cute. We saw this bison off in the distance that was having a blast rolling around wildly in this dust pit (like a cat rolling on your carpet at home), and Em and I walked up about 40-50 feet from this other bison that was very into eating, to see if we could get close enough for a good smell. ;-) THat was as close as we were going to get. We also saw a fox when we were driving away, which was very cool. Later that day we looked at several points along the canyon area of the Yellowstone river. This is a VERY large expanse, not as large as the Grand Canyon, but when you are looking at areas up to 1,200 feet deep, and a 3-4,00 feet across, it looks pretty impressive.

One of the cooler feature that we saw along the way was Dragon's Mouth Spring. To see it for yourself, go to:

Link to Panormaic View

This was most amazing because of the unique sounds it made. Too bad the sounds were not captured. The smell was a fairly intense sulpher, but the sound kept you there. I cannot describe it, but I recomend going there. :-) We also stoped to watch a few other animals from a reasonable distance: moose, elk, bear, etc.

The end of our day was at the sight of Old Fithful. We watched that geyser, and then saw two other geysers go off in the geyser basin nearby. Old Faithful is NOT THE LARGEST geyser, but it is the one the erupts most during the day. There were many cool springs and boiling mudpots there, and there are some cool paths to walk on. When we left to drive back to Em's parent's house, we ended up getting stuck in a heard of bison. The heard was about 100-150, babies to adults, and this was up close and personal. We rolled down the windows and listed to the gool gutteral grunts the animals were making and had a ball. The babies were cute, the adults smelled a little musty, and they are BIG. The heard eventually wondered on, and we got home at about 12:15 A.M. This is probably our biggest activity day for the week. We'll see if we can download a couple of pics later. TTFN

Happy Tuesday!!!!

2006-06-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Em, her Mom and Sister-in-law went shopping and did facials today. (They think they were being sneeky, but I know what the goal of the trip was) ;-) So, since Dad and I were alone, we went for a drive, and did some lunch at a mexican restaunt. When Em returned, she and I went to Montanna State University and hung out, and played with the ducks too. I even did a little follow the leader--with the ducks. For those of y'all who are far away from Bozeman and want to see a little of what we see, here are a couple of links:

Pics around Bozeman:

Link One

Link Two

Pics From around Montana State University:

Link Three

Keep in mind that some of the pics have snow, and this is not what Bozeman looks like all year. Right now there is green grass and wonderful magpies flitting about. The gophers scamper around too. I am a little disapointed that I have not gotten real close to a deer yet, but I have seen several wandering about a football field away. Rumer has it that they will approach the house and get into the planters, which would mean I would be nose to nose with one. I know Mom and Dad would not want to have their planter ravaged, but, just between us, there is part of me that would like to get a close up view of a deer that was not already dead and prepared as food. I love deer and I think they are very tasty, but this is another experience. ;-) I think I am going to have to find a hunter and see if I can score some deer. It has been a long time since I have eaten any. It is after 11:00 P.M. here, so I am going to bed. No more animal musings from Jody tonight. This is Jody, off to bed. Really, I am leaving now.

Ta Ta

Pinkerton

2006-06-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today I was reunited with Pinkerton, the car that I owned when I lived in Bozeman (now my father's car) and drove around with Jody to show him a little of the town. We went to Lindly park and strolled up and down main street. It was a fun outing. We didn't make it up to the university- Montana State University- today, but plan to see it before leaving town. Later in the day, we had a mini thunder storm, and there was a little lightning also. We went to dinner with Ron and Ruth and Mom and Dad at a Thai restaurant, and the food was delicious, especially the lemongrass soup. yummmmm.... so that is it for my late night posting...

On the Eve of 75 Days

2006-06-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

After today there are 75 days until Team Ramey becomes a legal unit. Happy day after Dad's day to all. On Dad's day, we (Em's dad, Mom, brother, sister-in-law, Em and myself) went to church at Grace Bible, (BIG CHURCH for small city) which is on the edge of Bozeman, stayed for a couple of services, and then came home. Em and I went with her bother and siter-in-law to their place and hung out for a few minutes, than all of us went back to her parents' house, and the six of us enjoyed a wonderful barbeque. Good bonding time with the family...

Begining Day Two In Bozeman

2006-06-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Yesterday Em and I got on a plane to Seatle and spent several hours there. The flight was one of the most comfortable I have experienced. When we left the airport, we walked around the downtown area, hung out at Bell Peer, Pike street Market, and we even did a little ring shopping. At Liberty Loans, on 2nd and Pike, Em and I found the ring we will use in our ceremony. It is simple, yet elegent, and for you cooking fans, we even purchased up an old meat grinder. ;-) We went back to the airport and flew to Bozemen, getting there almost at midnight, where we were picked up by Em's parental units. The flight was not as good as the first, being that I experienced more pain along the way, but I recovered my hearing fast, about 45 minutes for full spectrum perception, which is very good.

The Squyres family home is nice, and it sits on a hill that overlooks Bozeman. Mountains surround the valley, lots o' grass, not so many trees. There are a few scattered about. Haven't gotten the chance to leave the house today and get the big tour of Em's youth yet, but it is only a little after 6:45 A.M. here, so we have not been in the state long, even though we are technically in day two, day one being about 30 minutes long. I am excited to put a few pictures in may head, to go along with the stories I have heard regarding Em's early life. :-) I will write more soon.

Reproductive Rameys

2006-06-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

People have been asking, so here is the news. Em and I had a baby. Our daughter is now about 10 years old, and is really the child of my cousin, but wouldn't it be cool if Em and I were parents? We would have such wonderful spawn. ;-)

Happy Birthday to Em!!!

2006-06-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dear Em
I Give Praise To HaShem
Again And Again
For Meeting you Em

To answer the travel plan question, no we are not guaranteed spots when flying standby. We should be okay, being that Bozeman is not a major student hot spot for vacation. For anyone else who migth be reading this, a reminder, Emilia and I are getting married on September 2nd, 2006, at 9:00, St. Michael Catholic Parish, 424 S.W. Mill Street, Portland, Oregon 97201. ALL ARE INVITED!!!!

b-day, and travel plans

2006-06-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the 16th of June- my birthday, and the next day Jody and I are planning on flying to Montana to spend a week with my family. I say 'plan' because we are flying stand-by- we have contacted the airline with our travel plans, but I have never flown stand-by before, so I am not sure if this means that we are guaranteed spots on the flights we want or not...
Finals are over- yipee! Well, there is the good and the bad in seeing the end of this term, for me. I had some excellent classes, and I will miss them. My next goal is to find a summer job...

photos

2006-06-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here are two photos taken at the AAA conference held at PSU. It was a fun and informative conference.

On the eve of 90 days

2006-06-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ten days have passed since I last posted--ten very intense days. After today there are 90 days until Emilia and I get married. I am still looking for work, and I still have no idea where we are going to live after September second, but several people are agreeing with us in prayer on these topics, and this will be answered in His timing, so all is good. Emilia and I had a wonderful time at Mass today, and on Memorial day we did lots of hiking up the gorge. We are also talking about the posibility of going to Montana to visit Emilia's Mom and Dad, a trip which I am looking forward to. I have not had the chance to see Emilia's stomping grounds of her youth, so this will be a good education for me, when it happens. Keep us in prayer, and let us know how we can pray for you.

Peace out y'all

Jody John Ramey