Fall is approaching! I sure do love the crispness in the air. With Fall comes school pictures! Mine is to the right. (Click to enlarge.) I haven't seen Ed's or the boys' yet because school pictures aren't quite as important to males, I don't think. In other news, the winning phrase in the PEMDAS contest was "Please Elect My Dad As Sheriff." Click here to see all the phrases. Also, be sure to check out Abbi's site. She has three new pictures posted. I have more neat news to share, but I'm going to wait until I can accompany it with pictures...

Happy BMS Spirit Week! We kicked off the week with "Movie Character Day." Pictured to the right is the 6 North effort, 101 Dalmatians. Tomorrow is "Red & White Day." Lisa and I will be bridging the BMS-OMS gap by singing the Anthem together at the football game. In other news, I'm very excited to unveil a web site on which I've been working for the last two weeks: MichelleMedlockAdams.com! Check it out! Michelle is a talented author and inspiring speaker. I'm honored that she chose me to design her site. I've added her link to the Fun Stuff page and to JoKai CobbWebs. Visit JoKai CobbWebs to see the testimonial she wrote about my web design services; again, I'm honored! (PS: Less than five hours left to vote in the PEMDAS contest!)

Another week of school is done! My students made new PEMDAS Phrases today, and they need your help! I'm having a contest to pick the best PEMDAS Phrase. Click here to pick your five to ten favorite phrases! The winner gets bonus points on next week's test. Please vote by Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 10:00 P.M. If you don't have time to vote, at least read the phrases. They're pretty hilarious! In other news, JoKai CobbWebs is flourishing! I'm really enjoying making some money at one of my favorite hobbies—web design! Additionally, Good Vibrations has been picked up for two dinner theatre events on Oct. 20 and 21. You'll be able to get tickets from me! I also have some other singing opportunities on the horizon; I'll probably have more info on those later!

Happy September! I'm loving this cooler weather. I have a bit of interesting news today: I decided not to audition for American Idol. I hope those of you who were pulling for me will not be disappointed, because I feel I made the right decision. Ever since Ed and I booked the Idol trip, I didn't feel excited about it like I did last year—didn't want to plan, didn't count the days, didn't talk about it much. All day Thursday, I was literally sick about going to Memphis and had such a bad feeling—a strange, supernatural, God-speaking-to-me, "DO NOT try out for American Idol," feeling. So I didn't go. I'm more content than I've ever been in life. Why would I want to mess with that? I love being married to Ed; going to the boys' sporting events; visiting Dad, Mom, and Abbi whenever I want; designing web pages; teaching math; singing with Lisa at some random place on Saturday nights; going to Otis, or to sun, or to meet friends, or to sing at an Indians game. I just couldn't imagine giving up all of that. I'm not saying I would've made it on Idol (I didn't last year), but why would I even chance it? Others have admitted they had bad feelings about it too. I thank everyone who has been so understanding and supportive about my decision. I know it is right. I even ended up getting an Indians gig for last night, the night Ed and I were supposed to have left for Memphis. I was so happy to be in Indy on a cool September night rather than on my way to somewhere I didn't want to go. Just look at how happy I am in the pictures! Even the game delay didn't get me down. (The team's flight from Norfolk was delayed due to Hurricane Ernesto.) It feels good to have made the right decision!

As promised, I'm posting a link to a story about my Dad's victory that is in today's Times-Mail. It's a great story! The photo to the right was taken by Pete Schreiner of the Times-Mail. Celebrate with the Hackneys and Cobbs by reading the story about the Senior City Champ! In other news, Ed and I are headed to Memphis for American Idol auditions this weekend! Yeah! We leave Friday after school. I have no expectations about "making it" this year, but we're going to have a great time! (PS: Happy 2nd monthiversary, Ed!)

Dad won Otis Park's Senior City Golf Tournament today! Woo-hoo! Go Dad! Tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll post a link to the newspaper article. Go Dad! Senior Champ! Yeah!

It's been quite a while since I've posted here! The first days of school always keep me unusually busy. I have great students this year, and I'm enjoying filling more young minds with Math! Yesterday, Ed and I met Mom and Dad at Victory Field for another National Anthem appearance. It was a perfect day for baseball! I added new pictures to the Indy Indians slideshow. Also, Abbi has added some pictures to her site. They are located at the 2006 link under "Pictures." Go check them out! Finally, I have created a new, just-for-fun Silly Survey. The old one was a year old today, so it was time for something new. Take it, take it!

Summer vacation will be over in less than 24 hours! However, it's OK. This summer has been full of exciting things: getting married, Republican Idol, Good Vibrations, the reception, Indy Indians games, and JoKai CobbWebs, to name a few. I'm looking forward to a new group of kids, but I'll miss my days by the pool and at Otis! Summer had an exciting ending last night with a party thrown by Patty of Hoovers for the Good Vibrations group. It was a super good time! I added pictures of the event to the Good Vibrations slideshow. Now, I'm going to go sun on my last day. Goodbye, summer!

JoKai CobbWebs is here! Check it out! Tell your friends! I think JoKai CobbWebs (also added to the "See The Sites" page), has the best layout of all JoKai.net sites. (Sorry, Abbi!) In other news, I found myself among nearly 20,000 pictures in the American Idol Season 5 Audition Photo Mosaic. I look terrible because it had been raining, but I'm there nonetheless. I am immediately to the right of the "L" in "Idol," about two-thirds of the way up the stem. See if you can find me! Finally, boo on today's rain. I have sunned by the pool for nine consecutive days and am quite upset about today's rainout. However, I'd better be getting used to being inside during the sunning hours; school starts in a week!

Although JoKai CobbWebs isn't fully functional yet, I do have a splash page up for the site, which should be completely ready before school starts next week. In the meantime, check out the JoKai.net First Birthday Slideshow! (Its debut was slightly delayed due to work on Abbi.JoKai.net.) Take a look at pictures of events that took place during the first year of JoKai.net! Some pictures have previously appeared on this site, and some are brand new. Enjoy! The slideshow is also on the Fun Stuff page, along with a new site, Dead or Alive? Finally, I hope you enjoy the picture (to the right) of the corn I had for dinner tonight. It was the world's strangest looking corn, but it was tasty.

August is here! With August comes the preparation of my classroom. On Wednesday, Ed, Mom, and I got the BMS 6 North Math room ready for the 2006-2007 school year. That action finally got me in the "school" frame of mind. When Day 1 comes, I will be ready! Today, the Indy Indians called to ask me to sing the National Anthem at the August 20 game. I'm there! Finally, I'm excited about a new site coming to JoKai.net: JoKai CobbWebs. I've been doing some web designing for people other than me, so I think it's time to "take it on the road," so to speak! I'll post a link here when the JoKai CobbWebs site is finished!

I have a neat add to the Fun Stuff page today: Mini-Putt! My aunt and Mom both sent the site to me. Golf is a major sport in my family; my husband, stepsons, father, and uncle all play, while I hunt for lost balls and clap for good shots. I do enjoy mini-golf though, and Mini-Putt is a neat virtual version! I was +1 on my first try because #17 killed me. By the way, Pageantry's web site is updated, but it looks like my letter, about reality television meeting pageantry, won't be linked. Also, thanks to all of you who emailed Abbi about her site. She was most pleased, as was her web author. :o)

Happy 1st Birthday, JoKai.net! JoKai.net was originally a Crohn's fundraiser site, but it began its life as my domain site on July 28, 2005. I planned to make an anniversary slideshow (and still may), but I've been spending my time on another endeavor: Abbi.JoKai.net! Abbi now has her own web site, linked on the "See The Sites" page. Don't worry, I'm not crazy; I'm just having a little fun! The other day, I was looking at old pictures of her, and I'd also been experimenting with different kinds of layouts, graphics, and codes to become more efficient at web designing. Thus, I used Abbi as a subject, and the result was Abbi.JoKai.net. If you're still a bit weirded out by the site, think of Abbi as a cartoon character or a Muppet. That might help. Here are some other quick updates: Ed and I have spent all our gift cards from the reception, and it was FUN; my Solstice came in, but I sadly decided not to take it because it's not really practical now that I'm married; and I have a letter in this quarter's Pageantry Magazine, which still has the last issue's info online. I'll post a link to my letter when it becomes available. There are also a few other things to tell, but this post is already long enough!

Our wedding announcement appeared in yesterday's Times-Mail! Yay! Go take a look! There aren't any more major events to report, so I'll just string together some random little events: I got some cool new shoes (see right) on sale at Smith's for $14; I love being married; Abbi is having puppy depression because she misses me; I've been enjoying the nice weather; I got stung by a wasp today, and it really hurts; Miss Universe is tonight; there are only three weeks left until school starts; and I think I'm going to Memphis for Idol auditions. How is that for a bunch of unrelated stuff?

Yesterday's Indianapolis Indians game was a lot of fun! Ed, Mac, Mom, and I, went to Victory Field for the second time this year, and I sang the National Anthem again. Even though it was boiling hot, we had SO much fun! The Indians won (again)! I've incorporated pictures from both the June 1 and the July 19 Indians games into one big slideshow, and added it to the Fun Stuff page. Speaking of the Fun Stuff page, I also added another neat link, This Day In Music. Go check out what song was No. 1 on the day you were born! They only have dates from 1952 to the present. (Sorry Mom & Dad!)

The reception was a success! Ed and I had a ball at our beach party catered by Hoovers. It was so neat to have most of our friends and family all in one place to celebrate with us! We ate, talked, laughed, danced, and sang the night away! A lot of guests even stayed late to help us clean and prepare the church for Sunday morning. I've added 17 pictures of the reception to the wedding slideshow. Go see how much fun we had! In other news, it's HOT. We went from super nice weather, to rain, to HOT. Ed played golf in the extreme heat all weekend. (He was runner-up in his flight of Otis Park's match play tournament!) Hope everyone is staying cool!

First of all, I want to say thank you for all the nice emails I've received regarding the wedding slideshow. I'm glad to have nice folks with whom to share the photos! There will be more pictures to enjoy after tomorrow's reception. I should post those photos sometime next week. Speaking of photos, Ed and Mom took tons of pictures at last Saturday's Good Vibrations reprise. Instead of featuring the new pictures in their own slideshow, I've added 36 of them to the original Good Vibrations slideshow. There are two new thumbnails with the new pictures! Enjoy! Finally, don't forget about the mailing list! I promise not to spam you! Much! :o)

It's done! I have completed work on the wedding slideshow! The link will direct you to five different slideshows of the wedding and honeymoon (with reception pictures coming soon). The wedding slideshow has been added to the Fun Stuff page. Speaking of the Fun Stuff page, I deleted a lot of old files today. Also, please notice that I've added a mailing list for JoKai.net updates. Click here to be added! In other news, American Idol announced auditions cities and dates today. I'll either be in Los Angeles in August or Memphis in September. Stay tuned to JoKai.net for my decision about where to audition, and for a slideshow of last weekend's Good Vibrations performance.

The professional pictures and DVD by AAA photography have arrived, and they are AWESOME! I am now working on putting together a slideshow of the wedding pictures. This is proving to be a little difficult since I'm running out of web space. In the meantime, enjoy one of our favorite pictures (to the right) taken by AAA. Now everyone can understand why we selected sunrise as the time for our wedding!

Happy Belated Independence Day! The Fourth is my favorite holiday; as usual, we had a great time! The day started with a mixed-up flyover and parade downtown, then we went to my cousin's house for food and the annual wiffle ball tournament. (My team lost the only two games we played.) That night, the Good Vibrations cast was part of the pre-fireworks entertainment. I also sang the National Anthem immediately before the fireworks, which was super cool. The fireworks display was the best I've ever seen! It was a great Fourth. Luckily, a little of the excitement is spilling into this weekend. Good Vibrations will be performed again on Saturday. Tonight is dress rehearsal, and I'm anxious to see how the show sounds in our new venue, Schafer Auditorium. In other news, my professional wedding pictures haven't arrived yet. I'll post those pictures here as soon as I can.

I'm Mrs. Cobb! The wedding was absolutely GORGEOUS. It was the world's most beautiful wedding. The sun was out, it didn't rain, and it wasn't too warm. After the wedding, Ed and I enjoyed our honeymoon in Myrtle Beach. (We came home slightly early because, unfortunately, Ed's Granny passed away.) I've posted several pictures below and to the right. I plan on making a slideshow of the wedding and the trip when the professional pictures by AAA Photography arrive. For now, check out a few of the pictures I've posted here! By the way, I archived all Spring 2006 What's Up files. There's a link at the bottom of this page where you can still find them. (PS: Happy 28th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!)

Happy Summer! It's the longest day of the year! On Monday night, I participated in "Republican Idol" at the Republican State Convention, which was held at the Indiana Convention center. I sang "I've Been Everywhere," one of the world's hardest songs, and remembered every word! At the awards ceremony, I learned I came in second! Wheeeeeee! Check out the slideshow of Republican Idol (also on the Fun Stuff page). By the way, I slipped in some fog machine residue onstage at the convention and hurt my foot. Luckily, it's just a pulled muscle. As long as I can walk barefoot in the sand, I'll be fine! ONE WEEK until the wedding!