Pretty Toes

Pretty Toes
Today I went for my long awaited peticure!! Clayton had purchased "A Day At The Spa" gift certificate for me for Christmas and I am finally getting around to using it!

4 Things About Me...

Four Things about meThings you may not have known about me.....
A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Recreational Therapist
2.Summer/Winter help at Rexam Beverage Can Americas (with my dad!!!)
3. Norris Recreation Center
4. Babysitting
B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Father of the Bride (my ALL time favorite movie EVER!!!)
2. Love Story--it's an oldie but sooo good! (One of the best but most sad movies ever! I literally ball every time I see it)
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. The Notebook (I work in a nursing home and have so many people like the characters in this movie that it just hits home sooo closely and I ball my eyes out, in fact, I couldn't even leave the theater, I was crying sooo hard!)
C) Four places I have lived:
1. St. Charles, IL
2. Toledo, OH
3. Lombard, IL (just when I was a baby)
4. Dublin, GA...well as of August 4
D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. CMT
2.Everybody Loves Raymond
3. 7th Heaven
4. Beauty & The Geek
I really honestly don't watch TV ever...and if I do, I HAVE to be doing something, most likely crocheting
E) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. OKLAHOMA!!! (I have an obsession with this state)
2.Daytona Beach, FL
3. Myrtle Beach, SC
4. Colorado
quite honestly, I've been to almost all 50 states though
F)Four websites I visit daily: well, almost daily....
1. does my e-mail count
2. just individual sites for misc. info
3. My blog
4. my bank account
G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chicago style pizza
2. anything Italian
3. ice cream
4. berries & yogurt
H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. With my Lover Boy and babies in Georgia
2. Visiting my family
3. Oklahoma
4. camping, hiking, kyaking in Colorado
I) Favorite Past Times:
1. Anything with Clayton and our kids
2. Crocheting
3. Doing any kind of craft
4. Talking with people
J) Favorite things to do in general:
1. Camping with Claytie
2. Canoeing with Claytie and our puppies
3. Shopping
4. Crafts and taking care of plants

Sugar Snap Peas

I turned down a delicious ice cream treat at the world's best ice cream place ... MR. FREEZE!!! Instead I decided to induldge myself with a bag of Sugar Snap Peas...YUCK!! Since I haven't run in God knows how long I feel like an 80 year old! So, I've started to eat a little more healthy...fun I know! Plus, apparently the food diagram has been changed (so says my to-be mother-in-law) and you should be eating double the amounts of veggies and fruits that you eat of other foods. So I'm giving it a try! We'll see how long it lasts! (and my time at work doesn't count...because we always have cookies and crap food to eat!! hehe just kidding, I've been doing a good job staying away from those too!) Also, I heard today on one of the morning talk shows, that your body NEEDS water to digest food. If you're not giving yourself enough water, you're body holds onto the water that it DOES have and that's when you start to feel bloated and retain "bad" water weight. So note to self, eat lots of fruits and veggies and drink LOTS of water!!

Recreational Therapy

I graduated from the University of Toledo in Recreational Therapy and am employed at Kingston Care Center as such. This week is National Recreational Therapy week! I want the word about Recreational Therapy to get out there as much as possible because it's such an amazing and life changing field! I made a show board today as well as brochures to have posted around Kingston.

What is a Recreational Therapist?

A recreational therapist (RT) utilizes a wide range of interventions and techniques to improve the physical, cognitive, emotional, socal, and leisure needs of their clients. A RT works iwth the client, their family members and others significant to the improvement of their health condition. RT's assist clients to develop skills, knowledge and behaviors for daily living and community involvement.

Goals of Recreational Therapy

The goal of RT is to restore, remediate or rehabilitate in order to improve functioning and ndependence as well as reduce or eliminate the effects of illness or disability.

Some of the Populations RT's Work With

-geriatric, mental health, addiction patients, general medicine, physical medicine, rehabilitation patients, developmental disabilities, pediatrc, substance abuse, and many more!

Settings RT's Work In

-nursing homes, rehab centers, school, prisons, psychiatric facilities, camps, churches, YMCAs, hospitals, residential facilities (assisted living), substance abuse centers, hospice care, and many more!

Interventions Used by RT's

-craft therapy, music therapy, horticulture, yogo/thai chi, fitness & relaxation, games, pet therapy, creatve writing therapy, humor therapy, assistive techniques therapy, and again many more!

The University of Toledo

The University of Toledo (UT) is an EXCELLENT place to study Recreational Therapy! It was ranked in the top 3 for best RT progams in the nation. UT is the ONLY accredited college in the state of Ohio for RT. 98% of UT's students pass their NCTRS exam (certification exam to become a certified RT 6 months after graduation) on their first try!

check out www.atra-tr.org to find out more on this INCREDIABLE field!!

RECREATIONAL THERAPY: We put the FUN in FUN-CTIONAL!!!

Wild Life in Georgia

Funny, up North having cockroaches is looked upon as a something really bad, dirty people, dirty living, and just plain YUCK!!! Well, down in the South, apparently cockroaches are apart of every day life. Lord have mercy on me!!!

Clayton called me this evening telling me that Harley had bumps in one concentrated area on his body. They appeared as little red pimples. Clayton said he had talked with the neighbors and told him what they looked like and they said that they might be bites from red ants. Yikes! I did some research for some bug spray for him and this is what I found...
http://erinsedge.zoovy.com/product/INS001SPR Erin's Edge Labradors, it has NEEM instead of DEET. Apparently it keeps the bugs away and heals the skin very rapidly.

As for the cockroaches: Home sprays for bugs/ants/roaches http://www.bugsrdone.com/organicant-killer.html

This whole cockroach situation is FREAKING me out! They are so disgusting! And apparently that is just a common insect down in the south...like flies! We made an agreement with our Realiting company that they spray TODAY and once every 3 months. So a guy from Allgood Pest Solutions http://allgoodpestsolutions.com/ came out to our house and sprayed inside the house and outside the house where the walls meet the floor...however, Clayton just found a LIVE cockroach in the curtains of the house!! UGHHH!! So tomorrow Clayton is going to bomb the house with one of those bug bombs, however you have to leave the house for like 24 hours! So now he has to find a place to stay over night! Ahh, this is just becoming so complicated! I myself and sooo thoroughly disgusted that I'm afraid to be moving now!

http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2005/09/a_time_to_kill.html

Here is a funny blog story from a guy who HATES cockroaches just the same as I do http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2005/09/a_time_to_kill.html. Thanks Mr. I Hate cockroaches for the humor!

Plug in bug repellers from Home Depot. They admit an ultrasonic sound that repels the cockroaches. http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0424704761.1152330977@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdgaddiffjgddlcgelceffdfgidgio.0&MID=9876

Victor Poison Free spray killer!!! http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0424704761.1152330977@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdgaddiffjgddlcgelceffdfgidgio.0&MID=9876

Any suggestions from anyone?

Dylan & I ---we made a card for Clayton because we miss him so much!

YUCK!!

Our cute little house in Dublin, Georgia seems to have a bit of a problem....COCKROACHES!!!! How disgusting!!! Needless to say Clayton is sleeping in the car with the dogs! :-(

Claytie's Off

Tonight at 10:45pm Clayton left for Georgia... :-( I am so sad! He is traveling with a car load and Harley and Bella Rose.

Today we spent 7 hours with the moving company loading all of our stuff up to be delivered to Dublin, Georgia.

I can't wait to go visit in 9 days!!!

4th of July

4th of July

Clayton and I spent the 4th of July home in St. Charles, Illinois...our last time home with everyone together probably until either Thanksgiving or the Wedding!

One last picture at home

We also celebrated Clayton's 24th birthday!!

Cubs Game

For Father's Day I bought tickets to the Cubs game for my dad, Clayton, Stevie, and myself. We had a great time, even if the Cubs didn't win!!!

Stone Mountain, GA
Today I was talking with Poppy (Michael's dad) and he was telling me about this wonderful place to visit in Georiga called Stone Mountain. He told me that he used to go there a lot when he was younger. I thought I would research it at bit and this is what I found. http://www.rlrouse.com/stone-mountain.html
It is a geological wonder. Covering 583 acres and rising 825 feet into the air, it is the largest single chunk of exposed granite in the world. It is quite literally the largest rock in the state of Georgia! Carved into the side of Stone Mountain are Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee, & Gen. Stonewall Jackson (kind of like Mt. Rushmore).
From October 21-22, 2006 Georgia will be resounded with the sounds of bagpipes, fiddles and harps. For the 34th consecutive year, thousands of Scots (even those that wish to be "Scot for the Day") from around the world will don their family tartans and gather to greet old friends and make new ones too. --I think this is something Clayton and I will definetly have to go to this fall (because he's mostly Scottish!) Thanks Poppy for the great advice!

These are some pretty pictures from our trip to Georgia. I took them when we were at Tybee Island. The weather was perfect when we were there...I can't wait to move there!! :-)

Friday - My New Running Buddy

FRIDAY

This is Friday! She is the sweetest girl Weimaraner (yes, the same kind of dog as Harley). Her and I have been becoming best buds since I've been staying here at the Wiley's. Today Friday and I went for a run at Wildwood. She was awesome!! She let ME pick the pace and didn't pull me along!

Stephanie The Chemist

Clayton is taking a chemisty class online (because the Unversity of Toledo wouldn't accept some other course he took at the University of Iowa). This class is online, which is always trouble, because you don't "HAVE" to check everyday. So as you can imagine, he is behind!! Me being the wonderful fiance that I am decided to help him out. I did the 3 labs as he studied to take the 3 tests that were due that night.

(Mind you, when I took chemistry in college I got a D --worst grade EVER!!! So I'm not so sure how much help I was to him!! haha)

Pasta Noodles With A Twist

Yumm!!!

A few nights ago Clayton and I were pacing around trying o figure out what to eat. I finally decided that I was going to use our angel hair and linguini noodles that we have in abundance!! Clayton was less than thrilled when I told him that I was making a "pasta" dish because he wanted MEAT!! So I decided to put a different spin on the noodles. Once they were finished cooking I sprinkled them with ground garlic and a little butter. I then added dices of hard salami (which I had slightly cooked on the stove while making the noodles). To top it off I added provolone cheese...mixed it all together, and WAL LAA!! It was delicious!! ...and EVEN Clayton liked it!!

Dublin, Georgia

Soon we'll be off to Dublin, Georgia!

Father's Day

Awww...my family on Father's Day. We made it a blast by going to Gino's East...yummm!!! Oh how I have missed my Chicago Style Pizza!!! (I'm going to have to have it shipped to me in Georgia...which they do!! as well as Portillos!! Thank God!)

My Temporary Home

My Room!!!


These are some pictures from "my" new bedroom! It is amazing!

Leading up to my room is a staircase (I'm on the 3rd floor) and little hallway with pretty windows and a closet.
Once you enter this is what it looks like from the entrance door (don't pay attention to the blow up mattress...a bed is on it's way and I will post new pictures when I turn it into a cute bedroom!


This picture is of a porch right off to the right from where that entrance door is. Notice the pillars!

This picture is of the staircase in my room that leads to ANOTHER porch off of my room. How amazing!! The door to the left is a closet...there are 2 in my room...and then the one in the hallway. The door to the left is pictured below.















This room is my favorite in the house. Why? Because it's PURPLE!!! my favorite color! It's such a cute room...it is circle and filled with these windows. The ceiling is really high and has a great view of trees and of Glenwood (street).



Isn't this just the cutest?!?!? I can't understand why it's been on the market so long!! ...pass it on, this house is for sale...and is amazing!!

"Georgia On My Mind"...

Yesterday Clayton received the official offer to the company in Georgia!! Woo hoo!! We're moving to Georgia! Clayton is moving down there July 5th and I am moving August 4th! I am so excited! This move is going to be something that we will look back on and be so appreciative of! Being away by ourselves (no family) our first few years of marriage is going to be so helpful and engaging. We will be relying on each other for mostly everything and building an even stronger foundation that what we have now! A plus for being so far away is that we won't have to feel guilty about not stopping by and saying hello or spending time with our families...Because that is pretty much out of the question now! When we do return we will have such a good base that we will be able to handle all of the craziness that all of our families love to offer!!

I'M BACK!!!

Hello world!! I am back! (well kind of, I'm blogging from the Univerity of Toledo's computer lab). I have something wrong with my computer and no one at D-Link or Dell can figure it out!! Ughh! (however, on a good note, last night after being hung up on from India, I finally called back and got ahold of an American!!! Oh it was wonderful! I was able to completely understand what he was saying...for once!!!) Everything boils down to me re-formating my computer for like the 1,000 time since I've owned it! Oh well!

Updates:
*I am living with the Wiley family right now (in the mansion house :-) ). I will post a picture of my room once I get back in business on my own PC.
*Today Clayton and I are going to pick up our new Caliber...it finally shipped!!! woo hoo!
*Clayton was officially offered the job in Georgia!!! So in just a few short weeks I will be a Georgia resident!! (Clayton is moving there on July 5th and I move August 4th).
*The best part about the job move is that they pay for everything!!!! The movers, the move, our trips out there, our food we ate, our first months rent, $1,000 for start-up costs, and tons more...AMAZING!!! I am so thankful that I have such a stellar fiance!