Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Welcome Back!

We made it Charleston, SC tonight around 6:30. The drive wasn’t bad at all and the roads had all been cleaned, but you could see cars that didn’t make it so well through the snow storm of the weekend.

My goal was to leave by 6 AM, and we somehow left at 5:45, but had to go back home to look for Dave’s inhaler, oppps. (Which he didn’t find) We had to make a quick stop in Grove City to drop some things off at one a friend of Dave’s house and then on the road again.

We make it to South Bloomfield and we stopped at Mickey D’s to get some breakfast, and I took over the driving and drove the rest of the way down. Dave isn’t feeling to well, possibly the start of the cold like thing I had a few weeks again - YUCK!

We stopped in West Virginia at the Tamarack for about an hour. We walked around and looked at all the arts and crafts, bought a few things, had some lunch and hit the road again. They have a very nice eating area that is set up kind of like a cafeteria and you can pick what you want from the different stations. I think we will be stopping there again if we go though the area near a meal time!

We made it through Charlotte in good time and plenty before rush hour, unlike my parents who it at rush hour AGAIN!

We got here and got checked into our room with no problems, chilled for a few and then off we went. We needed to find another CVS to get a new inhaler for Dave before we did anything!

After we got the inhaler we headed down to downtown Charleston to see what we could find. I was a little sad to see not many Christmas decorations. We ended up going down by the water to take some pictures. We didn’t stay long as it was on the chilly side and I was hungry!

We ended up coming back to the area by the hotel and going to Carrabba’s and now we are back in the room relaxing from a long day!!

Tomorrow we get to see the family!!!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Baby Steps…

Tonight I “started” my training for the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer next year! I joined the Y last week and tonight I went for something other than Water class!

I am sure the people there got a nice laugh out of me. I decided I was going to start trying to get some time in on the treadmill. Of course I haven’t used one in YEARS. And they never had this many buttons before! So I walked around it, away from it, back to it, almost left, decided not to. Finally I got it started…and walked for 15 minutes and then did the 3 minute cool down...for a total for .7 miles. Yes I know it wasn’t much, but it was a start. And I learned for next time - bring water and my Zune! They have a few TV’s with closed captioning but, I of course was standing in front of Sports Center - BLAH!!!

I plan to go back on Friday night after our Girl Scout outing and try for 30 minutes….BABY STEPS will get there!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

We Reached the Destination!

We got on the road at about 9 AM this morning, a little later than we expected but it worked out well. We got to Charleston about 11:30 and waited for Sarah to come and get us to follow her to the base and get signed in so we could get on base.

Stella has grown so much in the last 2.5 months!!

We went to their house and got settled in and then Mom, Sarah and I headed to Wendy’s to grab some lunch and then ended up at Wal-Mart for a few things.

We went back to the house and waited for Heith to get home from work.

I started making the chocolate pies and then we moved on to getting the shrimp ready for dinner. YUCK! I guess I should be happy I guess when he had them they had heads on them….ICK!!!

The neighbors and their kids came over and stayed until like 9….it was a BUSY place with lots of kids running everywhere and noisy!

I am ready for bed!!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

One Day Down

My Mom and Dad picked me up at 9 AM this morning to start our Adventure to South Carolina. The day started with my mom calling to say they had gotten lost already. My apartment is NOT that hard to find. But they quickly got back in track and got me.

I went to put my three bags in the car and wasn’t sure if they would even fit in the trunk! My mom had SO much stuff to take down with us. Food for Thanksgiving, clothes people had given her to give to Stella, a trash can Sarah liked and left in Ohio, and a chainsaw….YES a chainsaw! I guess Sarah has a bush out front that she wants out. Everything did fit though!

There really isn’t a good way to get out of Ohio to 77. It is either rather out of the way or roads that at times are 2 lanes. This time we took 33 down to 77. Let’s just say Dad did NOT like this route. A lot of stopping and going slow in small towns.

About 3 o’clock Dad decides our goal is to drive THROUGH Charlotte and stop of the night. I pointed out to him that we would be hitting Charlotte at rush hour….but he was driving so we went ahead and did it. Let’s just say the last hour was HORRIBLE!!!! My Dad is NOT used to driving places and especially not in heavy traffic!

We are staying in a Holiday Inn for the night and just got back from a yummy dinner at Longhorn. My is getting ready to watch the season finale of Dancing with the Stars and I am going to get some sleep for the rest of our drive in the morning!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Holiday In Hand

I signed up for Holiday In Hand class on-line this year and MUST follow through! Even though it was free I have to prove to myself that I can keep up and DO it!

Day 1 is about value and goals for the holiday season. This works well with the thoughts I have been having this year and conversations I have been having with friends and family members so I am excited!!

Assignment 1: Write your Values & Goals

Values -
Family, giving, gratitude, traditions, memories, friends

Goals
-
* Focus on my family and spending more quality time with them
* Connect with friends and spend more quality time with them
* Complete Holiday in Hand class
* Make treats to give to family and friends
* Spend and evening having fun and going to see a lights display
* Find a way to give to those less fortunate
* Start the tradition of Dave and I exchanging stockings
* Get my Christmas cards out by December 1st so I don’t have to worry about them!

Today is Day 2 and I am just doing Day 1...so off to look at Day 2!!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Welcome Home!

My Sunday morning started BRIGHT and early at 4:30 this morning! I know, I surprised myself with this insanity too!! I had said yes to helping with selling merchandise at the Columbus Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event, after saying there was no way I was going to help since it was the morning after we got back. Too bad people know I can’t say NO when asked to help out!

I needed to be downtown by COSI at 6:30 AM to start setting up. You forget how dark it is that early in the morning until you are trying to set up tables and items and can’t see anything! We got everything set up and participants started to come and buy things. YEAH! I think we had a good amount of sales but not sure how it compared to years past. It is amazing to see all the PINK out there!!!

I worked the event until about Noon and I headed off to Hilliard to have lunch with Stacy and Jimmy. They had walked the event and stopped by to see if I wanted to meet them when I was done. We met at Red Robin and had a nice lunch and got to catch up. We ended up being there for a few HOURS! It had been awhile, so it was nice to have that time.

Then I was off to Meijer to look for large cupcake pans and liners to make cupcakes for my Girl Scout meeting tomorrow night. I was so happy I quickly found the pans I was looking for and they only cost $5 each! At Wal-Mart they had been $10 each…and I really wanted to get 2 of them!! AND I also found the liners I could use there (I couldn’t find them at Wal-Mart) so I got some of those also.

By the time I got home it was close to 6 PM and I needed to make 2 cake mixes of large cupcakes!!! It didn’t take too long and they turned out yummy so all is good! Now I just need to get them packaged up to take to the meeting tomorrow.

So not much of a recover from vacation day! Glad all of our laundry was done on vacation!!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Random Day

Today was a rather random vacation day.

As most days we didn’t really have a plan when we left and ended up pulling off the road at a pull off by a bridge that I had seen multiple times and thought was neat and wanted to go get some pictures of. Dave decided that he was going to give some fishing a try in the area also. So he fished, I walked the trail and took some pictures. Then before we left I made him do a couple pictures of us on the bridge and down by the water.

We then started driving and looking for a place to pull over for some more fishing. I was going to leave him there and come back for him but I decided to just stay and sit in the car and read. Didn’t want to have to worry about turning around, coming back and finding him, etc.

We then came back to town to look for the Post Office and then back to the condo for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

After dinner we relaxed for about an hour and then we decided to go walking through Gatlinburg.

We found The Village which has a lot of really cute stores to walk through, and even made a few more purchases! We stopped for a coffee and a carmel apple cider.

On the way back we stopped and listened to a live Bluegrass band for a few before we came back to the room for the evening.

Only one more day…and it is supposed to be rainy L Oh well we did have good weather for most of the time!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Cades Cove

This morning I got up bright and early at 7:30.WHAT is up with that. I am on vacation, I KNOW Dave will be sleeping in so WHY can't I? I watched some TV, made cinnamon rolls, realized I needed to shower, took a shower, watched some more TV and then Dave woke up. And I ended up taking a 30 minute nap!!

Yeah I know, me, nap, ODD! But it was nice!

We ended up leaving here around Noon, stopped by the Visitor Center, and decided that we wanted to head off to Cades Cove today. So off we went.

On the way we stopped at a pull off to take some pictures and check things out then we got back on the road.

We got to Cades Cove and before we started the loop we stopped to use the restroom and had our lunch. We took all of our stuff down and realized that all the picnic tables had been taken. So we sat on a log and had our lunch.

Dave wanted to head into the water to get some pictures, but found that the water was deeper than he thought so we left and started the loop.

It is a one way loop, that they said would take about 2-3 hours. There are a bunch of little pull off's on the way and we stopped at a few of those. We saw a few deer out in a field, I thought they
seemed a little on the small side from what we see in Ohio!

Towards the end of the loop we saw a rather large buck out in the field! We pulled off and took some pictures.and then Dave decided to head out into the field to the side of the deer to see if he could get a good picture. Well he did get some.and also got 2 Park Rangers coming out to visit him and another guy that had gone out to do the same time. The Rangers just asked them to get out of the field.

On the way back we stopped at The Sinks since we missed them on our way. And then headed back to the room.

We both just wanted to chill so we warmed up some BBQ pork sandwiches, saw the bear again and are just hanging out now.

A calm end to a calm day!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Out and About

Today was Dave's pick and he decided he wanted to go to Oconaluftee which is at the OTHER side of the park!

So off we went this morning down the Newfound Gap Road. It was a VERY slow start out of Gatlinburg, the traffic was very backed up, but once we got on our way it went pretty fast, well as fast as you can when the speed limit was only 25 and 35 MPH.

We stopped at a few different road side stops on the way to take some pictures.

We arrived at Oconaluftee and it was gorgeous outside. Warm, sunny, blue skies, it was great! First we hit the gift shop and picked up a book on waterfalls and also our Christmas ornament.

I don't think we ever ended up on the actual trail there because Dave was, of course, drawn to the stream. Which worked out good we got some great pictures and it wasn't very busy.

Before we left we decided to go ahead and eat some lunch. We sat the chairs up behind the car in the parking lot and made out sandwiches and watchedthe people go by. It was a good time!!

Next we headed toward Cherokee to go to Mingo Falls. Can't say much about Mingo Falls because we never made it there!

We ended up going to Harrah's Casino to check it out. Dave hadn't been to a casino in 15-ish years so he wanted to see what it was like.

We ended up not even gambling while there.Yeah I know, weird, but that is us!!

We walked back to our car instead of taking the bus back and it was a nice stroll next to and over a stream.

We needed to make a stop and fill up the tank for a few reasons - we would be in the middle of the part in the evening/after dark, I wasn't really even sure how much gas we had as the gauge had been bouncing around all day. So Dave filled up the car and I went in looking for something to drink. I saw a pop called Cheerwine and mentioned it to Dave, who decided to pick up a
bottle. It was SOOOO good, so now I will be on the lookout for it!!

Next stop was Clingman Dome for sunset, but we got there VERY early! We decided not to go all the way up to the top but stop at the overlook by the parking lot. We set up the tripod and waited, and waited, and waited. We got to talk to some of the other people waiting for the sunset also.

It was beautiful and I am glad we did it, even if we only got a few pictures out of it!

Now the drive back wasn't as nice. We left before most of the people, which meant they all caught up with us on the LONG and DARK drive back. To say the least it was rather stressful and I was glad to be back!

We ended up going to Bubba Gumps for dinner. Dinner was yummy and the service was good. But the waiter for the table behind us drove us crazy! He spent more than half of our meal sitting talking to the table behind us. Story after story going on and on!! Ahhhh well, what can you do!

We walked around a little and came back home for the night around 9:30 and then the FUN began. We have been bear watching/tracking for awhile now. We have now seen 2 bears up close and personal. They are walking around outside out porch area and also in the hall in front of our door! Dave had to wait in the stairs area waiting for one to go the other way when he was coming back to from the parking garage as the bear was between the elevator and our door. I went to check it out when he called and the darn bear was right outside our door! Talk about an exciting end to a fun day!!!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 1st Anniversary! I can't believe it has been a year already!!

And I am counting my blessings for how lucky we got on the weather, people thought it was chilly last year and it was in the low 60's. This year it was in the low 40's!!!!!

Being the good wife that I am I made Dave pancakes and sausages for breakfast to start his day. (I was up at 7:30-ish, he got up a little after 10.) We had decided yesterday to go to the Aquarium today since it was still supposed to be a on the cool side and the rest of the week it was
supposed to be a little warmer.

We walked down to the Aquarium and stopped at a few little shops on the way. WOW it is crazy how many little stores they have!! The Aquarium was nice, it had a really good glass "tunnel" to go through and we had a fun time taking pictures!

We then headed off to see if we could figure out where the restaurant was that I had picked to have dinner at. I had sent the address and phone number to Dave via an e-mail since my phone was dead and I wasn't planning to take it with me. What I didn't know was the e-mail I sent it from didn't really send because I am not on the RoadRunner network. Opppps!! I had looked at the map and THOUGHT it was near the aquarium so we kept looking. After about 30 minutes of wander we decided to head back to the hotel to get the correct info. On the way back we saw a Visitor's Center that included Gatlinburg and also The Great Smoky Mountains so we decided to
stop in. As we looked around we saw a phamphlet about the restaurant! Come to find out it was back the other way just past our hotel. So we headed back that way and decided to just do an early dinner.

We got to the restaurant about 3:30 and found out they opened at 4 and there was already a line. We decided to walk around to a few stores and then came back to wait for them to open. We went to Cherokee Grill which is part of a local "chain" of restaurants. We might have to try another one later in the week :)

We had a WONDERFUL meal including a great dessert! Our waitress was great, she took a picture of us, suggested that we take a picture in front of the fireplace (but that one didn't come out to good!) We decided to call it an early evening and head back to our "home for the week".

Dave got me 2 cards - one funny and one romantic and a gift card to REI and said that we would make a trip to Pennsylvania soon to actually go to the store!!

It was a WONDERFUL 1st Anniversary and start to our vacation!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

We Made It!!!

To Gatlinburg that is :)

We ended up leaving town about 11 AM. A little late for me, but I said I was just going to go with the flow and I did. Until I got a HORRIBLE headache and felt sick after being in the car as a passenger for 15 minutes. It might have been because I was trying to do Sudoku but I'm not sure.

I ended up going to sleep before we even got out of Columbus!! I woke up right before we got to Kentucky and to hear the "better" part of the OSU game!

I was OK the rest of the drive, but the most looking down I did was to check out Facebook every once and a while.

We stopped for lunch about 2:30 in Kentucky, and I think it was colder than we left home. The average all day was about 43 degrees - UGH!

We then stopped in a small town in TN to get some groceries at Wal-Mart. We got enough food for most of our meals to be in our room and sandwiches to take out with us when we go hiking.

Everything was going good for a 7 PM arrival..til we got to Sevierville!!

It took us about an hour to go 17 miles!!!!

I was driving at this time and it was horrible..slow and people going every which way. NOT happy!!

We finally got to our hotel about 8 PM and got checked it. Everything went well with check-in, which we had some worries about since it was a timeshare with a name change can at times cause problems.

As we checked in the woman told us that the last few nights a small bear had been coming to the area. Yep, from everything I have read there are is a good chance we should be seeing a bear.

Our room is great! It's very nice and even has a whirlpool tub!!

We got everything unpacked, put away, and now we are trying to decide what we want to do tomorrow!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Is it time to go home yet??

This week at work is going SO slow! I think part of it is the gloomy weather, part of it is my work load is a little less for some reason, an the fianl part is I have thing at home I want to get DONE!!

We are leaving for vacation on Saturday AM and I am NOT ready yet. Yes I know it's only Thursday but I just feel behind, but I am making my lists so it should help a little. I guess somehow this week got busier than I thought it was going to be.

Monday - I had my Girl Scout meeting. Yet again it went pretty well. I was concerned going in, I had a headache already. But Kim was in charge which made it nice for me! She had a few crafts planned for the kids and they seemed to love them. They are putting together items to put in a basket to auction at a school raffle. The Brownies did colored/smelly salts for a bath and little bags of potpouri. The Juniors did soap. They carved old soap into smaller pieces to put into the big bars of soap. It was pretty cool and I have never done any of those things before! Next meeting - a birthday party theme! So now I am on to that. Got home and picked up a little bit but it was soon time for bed.

Tuesday - I went to Curves and then decided I really wanted Chinese. So I waited for Dave to get home to go there. We went in my car (I have been driving his) and start on our way and something wasn't right...it had a FLAT TIRE! UH! Just what we needed rgiht before leaving on vacation. So I freak out for a few and then when we got home and I calmed down when we rememebered we had a warranty on it and most likely the repair would be cheap or free.

Wednesday - I left work at 2 and went home and called AAA to have them change the tire. I figure we pay for it every year we should go ahead and use it instead of having Dave out there in the dark, rain, and cold. Then I went to Curves and left from there to make my 5 o'clock appt to get the tire looked at. It was just a nail in the tire. They patched it up and said it should be good to go. I ended up going to Panera so I could work on some paperwork and try to get some things done. Went to the Y to get a Program membership so I can take water aerobics. Found out I can't sign up for the class til Saturday though :( But I SHOULD be able to do it on-line. I sure hope so!!! went home and picked up the living room and ran the vaccum, much to the cats dismay. Just when they thought I was done I would turn it on again....hehehe. I went up to bed at 10 because I had been so darn tired all week!!!

Today - Well I can't decide what all I am going to do. I need to do a few different things but not sure how it is all going to work out....I just want to start getting our stuff ready so we aren't freaking out on Saturday AM!!!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

10/10/09 - 7/7/12

101 Things in 1001 Days

I have seen this in different blogs a few times this year and I keep thinking it sounds interesting. But then I don't make the list. So I am finally doing it. Making the list was harder than I thought it would be!!!

10/10/09 - 7/7/12

Marriage & Family
1. "Date night" with Dave once a month (1/33)10/18/09,
2. Surprise my husband with a gift just because
3. See Dave's parents once a month (0/33)
4. Take my parents out for dinner at a nice restaurant
5. See Stella at least 4 times a year (0/10)
6. Do a puzzle with Dave



Mind, Body & Soul
7. Take multi-vitamins everyday for a month
8. Don't eat fast food for one week each month [0/15]
9. Eat dinner with the television off for one week
10. Personal
11. Get through one week a month without eating a single frozen lunch (1/33)
12. Complete some form of exercise at least 3 times per week (2/146)
13. Read 10 books (0/10)
14. Get a massage
15. Indulge in a few pedicures (0/5)
16. Buy a bike
17. Do a 5K Walk
18. Do a 10K Walk
19. Do Avon 2 Day Walk
20. Take water aerobics class - Starts 10/28/09
21. Get CPR certified
22. Run a mile outside without stopping.
23. Equip my car with an emergency kit



Home Is Where the Heart Is
24. Reorganize kitchen cabinets
25. Go through my Totes in storage; recycle, pitch, & donate [0/6]
26. Move
27. Have a yard sale each summer (0/3)
28. Get a new TV
29. Empty entire fridge, clean it, then put everything back in



All Work, No Play
30. Get a better job
31. Redo resume

Hit the Open Road and Explore
32. Go to Marblehead Lighthouse
33. Go Kayaking
34. Go canoeing
35. Take a day trip to a state park we have never been to and have a picnic
36. Visit a zoo other the Columbus
37. Travel to at least four different cities for weekend getaways/vacations (0/4) Gatlinburg 10/17/09
38. Visit Niagara Falls
39. Ride on a train to somewhere
40. Road Trip - 2 Nights, No Reservations
41. Go camping twice a summer (0/5)



I Love Food
42. Pick Apples
43. Try at least two new recipes a month (0/66) Oct 09 - Italian Subs
44. Take a cooking class
45. Eat at 5 new restaurants a year (0/15) 09 - Cherokee Grill, Bubba Gumps,
Smoky Mountain Brewery
46. For one week, make meals that can only be made with ingredients already
in our cupboards (excluding perishables-vegetables and dairy)
47. Make homemade pasta
48. Visit a Farmers Market 5 times (0/5)
60. Make homemade jam


Friends Are Forever
49. Send out Christmas Cards by December 1st (0/2)
50. Go to Amish country with the girls
51. Catch up with an old friend
52. Send birthday cards to all friends/family in 2010
53. Send 10 "Just Because" postcards to friends or family [0/10]


Pinching Pennies
54. Pay off 3 Credit Cards
55. Put $50 a month into savings [$0/$1650]
56. Put $1 in savings for every task completed [$0/$101]
57. Don't buy anything I don't need for a month (/3)


Pay It Forward
58. Donate blood
59. Clean out closet twice a year and donate old clothes to charity (0/6)
61. Mail packages to soldiers through Operation Baking Gals (0/6)
62. Do 15 random acts of kindness [0/15]
63. Volunteer for 5 separate charity events [0/5] 9/25/09 - Making Strides


Just for Fun
64. Watch a sunrise with Dave
65. Watch a sunset with Dave
66. Discover 5 geocoins [0/5]
67. Find 10 geocaches [0/10]
68. Make a geocache and hide it
69. Buy a Nintendo Wii
70. Go to a comedy show
71. Pick Strawberries each summer (0/3)
72. Attend a local theatre show
73. Go to a local museum
74. Go to a drive-in movie


Hobbies & Skills
75. Attend 2 MPEG events a year (0/5)
76. Do a wedding photobook
77. Blog at least 15 times per month (0/33)
78. Complete a Photography class
79. Tag all photos on computer
80. Learn to knit
81. Sew something
82. Make a quilt
83. Create a honeymoon digital scrapbook
84. Take a cake decorating class
85. Girl Scouts Earn Super Troop
86. Go camping with Girl Scouts
87. Be in a parade


Go Green
88. Start a compost pile
89. Start a rain barrel
90. Go with organic cleaners


Capture the Memories
91. Take 6 pictures of Dave and I a year (1/18)
92. Create photobook for each year (0/2)
93. Get pictures printed to put in frames and hang
94. Design a honeymoon album and get it printed


No More Procrastinating
95. Inventory all possession, put online with approximate replacement value
96. Get important papers in safe
97. Get a passport
98. Backup all photos on my harddrive to DVD


101 in 1001
99. Celebrate day 1001
100. Donate $5 to charity for every item on this list that I do not complete
101. Start a new 101 Things in 1001 Days list once this one is completed

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Home More??

It is hard to believe that a year ago at this time was finalizing plans for our wedding. I really do kinda miss it! Yes at time it was stressful but overall it was great. I love to plan events, and right now I don’t have one to plan so it makes me miss it even more! I have even been having wedding dreams again – HOW weird that??
I have been going through stuff trying to clean up and thin things out. I keep randomly finding things that remind me of it. Too bad I can’t find the paperwork from where we bought my rings! I need to get them cleaned, checked, and dipped and they won’t do it without that darn paperwork. ARGH!!!
This is just making me realize HOW much I need to get organized this winter. Now that I am home more it bugs me more. Time to get rid of some stuff and organize what is left to find easier. We had a yard sale in August and only brought back in 5 things and donated the rest and it only seemed to make a dent. So I am starting the boxes for Yard Sale 2010! How sad it that? But whatever it takes I guess!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Girls Night Out

Tonight was out bi-monthly girls night out at Spaghetti Warehouse for their Mystery Dinner.

We don’t really MEAN for it to be a Girl’s Night Out, but for some reason we keep ending up with just us girls! But I am OK with that really, it makes for a fun and relaxing evening!

We go every other month because the Mystery Dinner portion runs for 2 months and we don’t want to miss a show!

We started going about 2 years ago and we have been going every month. It is normally Jackie and myself and whoever decides that they would like to join us.

We have gotten to know the actors that put on the show very well over the last few years so it is like going to see friends!

I can’t wait til the next show. I always like the Holiday show!!


Saturday, October 3, 2009

First Brownie Outing

This year I finally took the step and signed up to be a Brownie Go-Leader with the Girl Scouts. I have been thinking about it for a few years but this year actually did it! I am working with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders and at times helping with a group of Juniors which are 4th-6th graders. I like dealing with the littler girls better so far!
We have had 2 meetings and 2 Service Unit meetings so far, and today we went on our first outing! And so far I am having a good time and I think (HOPE) the girls are too!
We went to a local Corn Maze for the afternoon. They had a lot of different things for the kids to do and I think they could have stayed for a lot longer if we would have let them!
For the Maize I did end up with the 2 older girls who went, but it still went pretty well. We all went different ways we when we started….but somehow we ended up all coming out together in the end! After that we ended the day with a hayride and picking a pumpkin. The hayride was really boring really - I think we could have all skipped that part!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Small Town Baseball Fun

The Columbus Clippers are playing in a brand new stadium this year and I have been wanting to go all summer. Somehow summer has almost slipped by us but I FINALLY mad it! Dave isn’t into baseball and didn’t want to go, so I went with Jackie and Kristi which was MUCH more fun!

We met at Kristi’s office to we only had to take one car down to pay for parking AND Kristi had tickets from work so we didn’t even had to pay to get in! We got there about an hour before the game actually started, but it worked out OK. We got familiar with the stadium and the location of all the different foods that we wanted. Nope it isn’t a simple everything in one location, each area had a different variety of items they offered.

To bad I forgot my camera because they had all kindsa random things I thought would be fun to have pictures of, as well as us girls having fun!

We watched the players get ready for the game, stretching pitching, decided which one we thought we should send Jackie after, you know all the normal before game fun! If it wouldn’t have been for the darn sun in my eyes when I looked over at the girls it would have been perfect!

The game was fun, but as I always say I think 7 innings is really enough for baseball, and it could be the 5th inning stretch. I have it ALL figured out!!

I was sadly rather excited to be able to have “Stadium” food. Hot Dogs, soft pretzel, and nachos. A lot f people like “Festival” food, I have been wanting “Stadium” food all summer!

The Clippers did end up winning, I think I was the good luck charm of the night!! It was a nice end of summer evening.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Time to go home

We woke up this morning and all I could think was I don’t wanna go home!! This is the first time as an adult I have gone camping and NOT been ready go to home on the morning we leave. Since we had the whole day off work we decided that we would just take our time getting ready to go home.

We didn’t get up until like 7:30 - and that was only because the sun was baking us out of the tent.

We slowly started packing up, showering, making breakfast and all that.

Much to my surprise everything DID fit back in the car.

We left the campgrounds about Noon to head home.

We got home and pretty much unpacked the whole car before I had to leave for Relay Wrap Up. Go us! Normally I would have camping stuff in my car for days, weeks, maybe even months!!

And now my mind is drifting…and googling when and where we can go camping next!!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Fun Evening

Tonight was supposed to the LAST Relay For Life Fundraiser for this year that I was planning/taking part in. I was VERY excited. As much as I LOVE Relay I need a break. I know we can collect $$ til the end of August, but I am do ready to be done!

We had a Lia Sophia party planned at a local hotel. As of 10 AM this morning I just a handful of maybe’s but no Yep I’ll Be There’s. So after talking with Stacy we decided it was best to cancel it. We are looking into having it later this summer, maybe August when the new catalog comes out?!?

So what is a girl to do with an unexpected free evening? Why call Stacy and see if she wants to do Happy Hour at Uno’s of course!! Stacy had also been wanting to buy a camera but because she is SO dang busy keeps putting it off. So I figured Uno’s AND Best Buy all in one evening would be perfect! So off we went.

We had some yummy Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas and Pizza Skins at Uno’s for dinner. And of course some good conversation! We have been so busy lately we hadn’t had time to go out and enjoy our evening without it resolving around Relay or Jaycees.

Next stop was Best Buy! It was great - I got to play with cameras and someone else was buying! I had done some looking on-line at a few before we went so we really only LOOKED at 2 different ones. One I didn’t realize in my web looking was a Waterproof to 10 feet camera - I of course wanted one, til Stacy pointed out the chances of me actually going underwater!

She ended up getting a shiny new RED Cannon!! It is very cute, and has a ton of features!!!

So yet another SUCCESSFUL evening - yummy food, fun with a good friend, and a new camera!!!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Camping Day 2

I really have NO clue what time we got up. I do know that Dave had showered, washed dishes, I had showered, cooked breakfast, ate breakfast, wash dishes again and was done and relaxing by 7:15 AM. Yea normally I can’t be out of the shower by 7:15!!

The happy point of the weekend was we had HOT water to shower with and NO line!! Yep that MADE the trip. Normally when we have gone camping it has been COLD and we only shower the first morning and then shower when we get home the next. But this time was so much better, the water was so hot I had to turn it down!

The people had we thought went to the wedding the night before - all dressed up again and leaving at 6:55 AM. Again - I have never seen people get so dressed up from a tent!

We had a VERY yummy breakfast – after a little panic that the power at our site wasn’t working. But Dave reset it and it was good to go! Dave made scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausage link for breakfast – very yummy! At first I was concerned about the shake and pour pancakes, but they ended up being very good.

So what do you do at 7:15 on a Sunday while camping? Dave thinks fishing is a good start. I think reading and dozing in and out is the better option! And in my relax and go with the follow I don’t know much on timing for the rest of the day! I just know we went a BUNCH of different places.



Brandywine Falls - This was my pick, one of the reasons we picked the park to stay at. I have no clue how I even found out about this place but I have been looking at it on-line for months. This also added another National Park to my list! Brandywine Falls is part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We ended up not going down into the riverbed of the falls but had a great time! We walked to both of the main observation desks and looked around and took pictures for awhile. It was a very nice park, they had wood walkways and stairs up and down.


Blue Hen Falls - On our way out of Brandywine Falls I saw the words somewhere else on the map and decided we needed to go! So we looked it up online via the phone and found out where that one was. We learned that Dave’s GPS does work with coordinates! At this park it was more trail walking. Again we decided we didn’t want to go down in the riverbed but we did go to the top of the falls and took some pictures of smaller falls at the top.

After Blue Hen Falls it was Dave’s turn to pick our next stop, he wanted to go to Painesville he had been there for work MANY times but wanted to go for fun.

$2.10 large water - On the way to Painesville I needed to stop to use the restroom, so we stopped at a Mickey D’s so I could get a cheeseburger too. While I was in the rest room Dave went ahead and ordered me a sandwich, but I also wanted a water. So I ordered a large water and French fry, the cashier informed me that she could give me a free small water but anything bigger would be the same price as a soft drink, which was $2.10 for a large. Uhhhh, no thank you please cancel my order. I was NOT to happy, I think that is CRAZY – really $2.10 for water???

Some park in Painesville that had falls in the name but saw no falls - In keeping with our go with the flow theme we saw a park, it had Falls in the name. It was a down a bumpy dirt road, with lots of people pulled over fishing, playing in the water, and picnicking. We never found any waterfalls, but we had SO much fun. I couldn’t stop laughing for most of the drive. Boy oh boy does my car need a bath after that drive!

Some park in Painesville - Next was the other random park on the other side of the river. Dave wanted to do some fishing so I sat at a picnic table in the park and watched everyone . Dave didn’t catch any fish but I had a nice time watching a family come together for a picnic. A group of kids playing in the water. (To be young again!!) Another family going out in a canoe and kayak. It was nice to see families doing things together, that are free or cheap. Made me rethink some things….back to the basics!!


The beach - At this point Dave realized how close we are to Lake Erie and wanted to see if we could go see the water. So he got on the GPS and looked for a park, it ended up being Headlands Beach State Park, and it was very impressive. It was a HUGE beach, it was a very long walk to the water to say they least!! As we walked down we saw a lighthouse, which of course I wanted to go and see. We walked around for a little bit and then decided to see if we could drive down further on the beach and walk to the lighthouse. It was still a ways down the beach! We got to the end of the beach and thought there was a walkway out to the lighthouse – but NOPE, it was a bunch of broken up rocks and stuff and we BOTH decided that I was not going to be able to walk it. I am very clumsy and trip over my own two feet and didn’t want to end up in Lake Erie!! The walk back was HORRIBLE. It was hot, I was getting hot and tired, and I was bummed because I didn’t get to go out to the lighthouse. I was VERY excited when we got to the car!


Back to Camp – On the way back to our site we stopped by the Lodge and cottages at the park to see what they are like. Always good to know what is available if we go back! Then we had to stop by the Marina again to pick up some ice…and milkshakes! Dave wanted to go fishing again but we decided to start the fire first with what firewood we had left. He went fishing and I decided give pizza pies again. They turned out MUCH better tonight! I ended up laying in the tent and reading and relaxing again. When Dave got back we made s’mores, sat around the fire, and went to bed. Whew – what a LONG busy day?!?!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Will I Ever Learn?

To not wait until the last minute to get ready and pack for trips?

We are going camping this weekend. We haven’t been since last August and to say the least we didn’t do a very good job or organizing things when we put it away. So I knew it was going to take some time – but MAN!

I started bugging Dave earlier this week to get stuff together, and he did dig some of it out on Monday night. Then Tuesday night he got the call that he needed to go out of town overnight for work. He ended up leaving Wednesday @ 5:15 AM and didn’t get back until Thursday night at about 11:15. So both of those nights ended up out the window!!

So tonight we started. I had gone on-line looking into what all we should be bring up and made up some list..in a spreadsheet of things needed to pack, so we started checking things off when we got home from work tonight.

The car is now half packed, we had to make a quick trip to Meijer to get a cooler and a few other things. The one we have been using for a few years is rusted with the handle up and won’t fit in my car!

Dave is working on getting the last of the things we can think of together – minus our clothes. That will be a tomorrow AM event. We aren’t planning to leave until 10-11 AM since we can’t check in til 3 and we are staying until Monday.

I am TRYing to be patient and go with the flow this weekend. A little less structure than I am used to…so we will see how it goes.

On Sunday we will be going to Brandywine Falls and a few other places in the NW Ohio region.

It should prove to be an interesting weekend!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Culver’s Fundraiser

For the last 5 months we have had a monthly fundraiser for the Relay For Life of Hilliard at different restaurants around town. This tonight we had our last one at Culver’s in Hilliard. It is a pretty good deal - we got 10% of all sales of the evening and all we had to do was spread the word and have a few people work as “runners”. As orders got done we got to take them out to the customers table or car if it was a drive up order. I am a big DORK and LOVED it! Not saying I would like to do it every day or for a living, but it was fun. PLUS we got to have someone at the door to accept donations!

The fundraiser lasted from 6 PM – 9 PM to cover the main dinner rush. It stayed pretty busy most of the night between people getting dinner and then also coming back to get dessert. We had about 9 volunteers throughout the evening to help.

At the end of the night we made $110 from sales and about $25 in donations/tips!! Compared to the other fundraisers we have held that was pretty good for it only covering a 3 hour time frame! AND we got to eat some yummy CHEESE CURDS and ice cream - a win win situation!!

Only one more fundraiser to go for this Relay season!!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Columbus Arts Festival

This weekend was spent downtown Columbus at the Columbus Arts Festival working a Beer, Wine, and Pop booth to raise money for the Hilliard Jaycees. In years past we have worked the event for one day, but this year decided to do two days. To say the least it was two LONG days. We didn’t have enough people so Stacy and I both ended up working all day both days! Lucky for us the weather was very nice for the festival and we got to be under nice big tents so heat wasn’t too much of an issue!

We made our pay for the weekend but also got a little over $100 in tips! Pretty good for not being about to ask for them by putting a tip jar out!

The Arts Festival is always fun to people watch out, it brings out the biggest variety of people in festivals that we work. You have people dressed up with heels and dresses and suits - to people in town clothes with multiple colored hair! Our booth was pretty slow so we got to do A LOT of people watching.

I got to look at my favorite vendors items, he does black and white photography – and he had some of the places we are going to be going next week. I didn’t buy anything, his prices have gone WAY up in the last few years, and all the stuff I have bought from him is in a box labels home décor. That I keep adding to, but never have taken anything out of! I figure with all of Dave’s pictures if I am going to buy something it better be SPECIAL.

Friday, June 5, 2009

A day off

The lovely company I work for is nice enough this year to give us an extra 10 days off - unpaid :( Today is one of those days, and I really have nothing to do today but get some things done around the house.

Last night I made a to do like for today, I ended up with about 29 items, including to go to lunch with Stacy - the highlight of the day! We ended up going to Boston’s Pizza in Marysville, it was pretty yummy, but the company was even better. Stacy has been sooo busy this year we don’t get to do that very often anymore, but only 3 weeks until she is done with her MBA program!!!

I decided I needed a Diet Coke from Mickey D’s on the way home. First she forgot to give me a straw, but I got that and was happily on my way home. Til I got to the stop light, the ding ding 2 cars in front of me stopped on a green light and then wouldn’t go right on red – and my cup went tumbling into the passenger floor! A WHOLE large Diet Coke :( Come to find out they had given me TWO cups which made the top part top heavy and it flipped. And YES I did go back and get another one. I had my heart set on one.

Now I am back to work around the house, doing laundry, cleaning some of the basement up, sending out reminders and invites about upcoming meetings and fundraisers for Jaycees and Relay! Not the most fun way to spend a day off, but very needed with everything else that has been/is going on lately!! Is it July yet??

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Another New Experience

Last night I tried another new things, and like normal stressed myself about it! We tie dyed our 2009 Jaycee chapter shirts!

We all thought that the other one knew what we needed to do. But really none of us had done this before or in over 15 years! We went to get started and learned you needed ½ cup salt for every color and we had planned to do 5 colors. That is A LOT of salt, so Stacy and I had to go and buy some more.

We got back and the fun started we started by putting our rubber bands on the shirts and picking our colors. I of course have to over think things – MAJORLY. So I ended up pretty much being on rinsing patrol.

I am sure that Jackie’s neighbors thought it was a little odd that a group of 30 and 40 year olds where out tie dying shirts at 9:30 at night!

I don’t have a finished project yet, but hopefully tomorrow night.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

Yes, I do know that it is June, and that our year starts in January. I have decided that this year I am going to start my “New Year” in June!!

The first 5 months of 2009 have not been the best. Not that they have been HORRIBLE, and I know it could have been much worse, but I want to start over!

For a few months now I have been saying my life would start to look a little better in June. So I am going to go with the positive and say things are going to be better starting in June - which happens to be today!!

Relay For Life is over! Well the event is but I still have some accounting fun to do with it, but now is the fun part, seeing our total raised go up!

Part of my “June New Year” is I do want to start blogging more. I think like 5 times a week would be a good thing - so that is going to be my goal!

I am also trying to get rid of some of this extra weight, I have been taking baby steps for almost a month now. Hopefully as I am home more it will help with that!

I am planning to take a cake decorating class in July - I started one a few years ago but didn’t like the teacher so well and didn’t continue. So I am going to give it a go again!

My main thought, is to find a nice Happy Medium!!!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

HOT!!!

So all I can say about today is HOT!

My mom had the lovely idea to take Stella my 3.5 year old niece to the Columbus Zoo today. She had called earlier in the week to see if I wanted to go and me who never looks at the forecast agreed. Well we ended up breaking the 2 main zoo with kids’ rules - 1. Don’t go when it is hot 2. Don’t go on a weekend.

I met them in Marysville and off we went to the zoo. We get there and mom sees that the Baby Elephant is on display from 11-1 and it was almost 11 so off we went. We got in the line and the signs said it would be about an hour. An hour with a 3.5 year old who had just sat in a car for 2 hours - I was worried. Luckily they had some different animals in line that you could look at and even pet some of them and the line did move rather fast. About 15 minutes out from seeing the elephant Stella decides she is hungry. Sooo mom talks a guy on the outside of the line into going to the pretzel booth and getting us a soft pretzel. That held them both over til we got through the line.

I have to say the baby elephant was rather cute! He was walking around following mom and even got away from mom’s side for a minute.

Then we went off to see the rest of the zoo. We saw the Sun Bear and then Stella decided she was hungry for lunch. Soooo off we went to the back of the zoo to get her some food. Of course she wants a hamburger and that the longest line there. So I go in line and the girls sat down. And I got to listen to the screaming kids AND parents. Really the kid is 2 - do you think they can make up their mind and then be quiet and still for 20 minutes. NOPE - so why yell? That is just MORE annoying to the rest of us. I can excuse kids being irrational - but the parents should know better, especially when it is the 4th kid!

Then we went off to the play area for Stella to play for awhile. At first she was scared of the big kids and climbing up to the top so we over to the smaller kid area. Then she got brave and climbed to the top!! After about 15 minute of playing we decided to head off to see some animals….but ended up at the Carousel. Mom and Stella rode and she seemed to have fun!

Off to see the Manatees - that was a packed short visit and then we all decided to head home.

On the way out we did see an alligator and Aunt Debbie’s favorite Pink Flamingo’s. Then it was time for the cotton candy hunt. The vendor that Stella thought had cotton candy didn’t L But the LAST booth on the way out did. YEA! I didn’t have to keep looking.

On the way out there was FINALLY wind - but it was blowing so hard poor little Stella was having problems walking. So I ended up carrying her to the car - which took us awhile to find! One of the ONLY times I don’t walk right to the car I came in.

I haven’t been so happy for AC in a long time!!!!

**Just in case you need an overview we saw 5 animals while at the zoo - I think that is RECORD low for me!!

Mom dropped me off and I ran to KMART to try and get a few more things during Super Double Coupons and then headed home!

We are in the middle of reorganizing the kitchen/dining area and couldn’t get in the kitchen so we ended up using a coupon and ordering pizza from Marco’s. We had never had their pizza before but it was a pleasant surprise! I think we will be ordering from there again in the future.

Then the bad part of the day that made me HOT again - our cable/DVR box started acting up, even worse than it had been. We couldn’t get cable through it; we couldn’t watch recorded shows, nothing. I was sooo angry we decided to get out of the house and headed to Marysville to use our Cold Stone Creamery gift certificates! YUMMMM-O!!! Birthday Cake Remix, need I say more!

So much for my slow nothing going on Saturday!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Mrs. H

5 days short of 4 months after we got married I have FINALLY changed my name at the bank! The whole name change has been a very slow process for me. I went to the SS office on Christmas Eve, but didn’t make it to the BMV before it closed, missed it by one minute! BUMMER!! So I went back to the BMV on New Year’s Eve to get my new DL. Now the bank was a whole different story. It isn’t close to work or home, they are only open last 5 PM on Fridays. Every time I was planning to go something came up. So I finally went tonight – GO ME! Of course the lady we talked to when we added Dave to the account in October gave me wrong info. Dave has to sign the paperwork for the account, so I have to mail it in after he signs it. But they let me cash my checks so I was happy!!

I met Dave at T.G.I. Friday’s for dinner after all the bank fun and sitting in traffic. They have a buy one entrée get one free coupon going on this month so we thought since we had other errands to run in the area and it would be late when we got home to we would give it a whirl. I haven’t been there in forever and we have never been together. The food was pretty good, but temp wise was VERY hot. Which made it hard to eat and annoying, but other than that it was good.

Well we are headed off to see my parents this weekend, so I better get a packing!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

A happy medium…

I would LOVE to find a Happy Medium in life. This is an ongoing issue for me. I can’t just KINDA do something I either want to go go go or do nothing. If I am involved in a group or project it is normally all of nothing. At times this is not very fulfilling for me, or causes problems in other parts of my life.

I am TRYING to find a happy medium, to not continue doing things that don’t make me happy - that I am just doing to do. This week I stepped down as Co-Chair of the Relay For Life Hilliard. I decided that is was causing me too much unhappiness and straining my relationships with others. I don’t want that to happen, as much as I love Relay - I love my friends even more. I am still going to be on the committee and help where I can. It might even end up being more work, but a change of dynamics. It was a hard decision but I do personally feel much better!

I am finding this problem when it comes to housework. I like to be all or nothing with that too. And since I know I will never get to the all point I just do not much of anything. This one I think will take a little more practice on. Since I am home more it is coming along….slowly!!! I just need to keep the thought it my head that it will eventually get to the point I want if I keep trying!!!

And I won’t even get STARTED on my “hobbies” issues. I want to do this, I want to do that. Everything I hear sounds like fun…if only we had the time, space and money for it all!! I just need to focus on a few things consistently.

I need to get back to the basics and a nice happy medium…

Sunday, January 18, 2009

January BLAHS

So far 2009 has not been off to the greatest start. On the 1st it was ER for Dave's bronchitis, then back to Urgent Care the next week for the same thing. He is feeling better now.

Our heat has been out for awhile now, but with heaters we had been doing pretty good...til it's been below freezing and 0 for a few days now it is kinda chilly. After a week of snow and cold I am SICK of it!

Thursday night my car broke down on the way home. Lucky for me it was close to home so Dave could get me and we got the car home. Had AAA come tow it to the repair shop. Yea that is a $750 breakdown!! Struts and springs and stuff.

Friday Dave got rear ended in the work van. He is OK just a little sore and the van just needs a new bumper.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Hello 2009!

Well I hope that today isn’t a warning of how 2009 is going to go!

I made it up to see the ball drop last night - go me! And even got that first kiss of 2009 after being shocked when my nose touched Dave’s - OUCH! Then off to bed I went.

I was woke up at about 6:10 by Dave coughing. He got up to go downstairs to the couch to sleep, but I was woke up again about 6:18 to the sound of him getting sick. Yep that is how 2009 started.

I was then up til about 7:30 watching TV. And decided I needed a NAP! So back to bed I went and slept until about 11:30!!

Late morning and early afternoon was full of coughing by Dave, watching TV, cleaning the kitchen…then Dave decided he needed to head to the ER.

So we headed off to Dublin Methodist Hospital. It’s a new hospital, just opened last year so we thought would give it a whirl. It has ALL the bells and whistles and everyone there was very nice. It wasn’t very busy so we got to see the Dr. very quickly and everything moved very fast. Dave ended up with x-rays a breathing treatment and they sent us off with three prescriptions to get filled - he has bronchitis.

We went to Giant Eagle to get the prescriptions filled, but they closed at 3 and it was 4:15. Dangit! Missed out on those Fuelperks!! So we went across the street to Walgreen’s who was open til , YEAH!

So we have just been chilling since we got home. Dave had some food so he could take his meds, I have been watching TV and cleaning up the kitchen….somehow it willll all fit!!

Happy New Year!!!