My Mistake...

holy crap o'la.... i just ran prob 18-20 minutes and i almost died!!!!! the pavement was so hot, my feet were burning!!! i just checked the weather online and it says 99degrees, but feels like 109!!!!!...stupid me!!!

Antigua

Finally our plans for our honeymoon are finalized!!! We had been planning on going to Europe the entire time, however, with travel arrangments and time changes, and what's available through the travel agency we are not able to go anymore (so we'll have to go there for a 1 year anniversary or something).

However, we have now booked our trip to Antigua, an island by St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands, and about 800 miles away from Jamaica. http://www.jollyharbourantigua.com/ This is the website to our resort.

I'm so excited! There are so many things to do in the way of water sports, traveling, and sightseeing! I can't wait!!

We leave Chicago on December 18th in the early AM and arrive that evening and then come back home to on December 24th late in the night. We have decided that we wanted to be back for Christmas!! and time to relax and get back to Georgia before we have to get back to work.

Forsyth, GA - Fried Green Tomatoes

Ever seen the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"? I absoutley love that movie, and guess what?!?! it's filmed in Forsyth, GA!!! (not far from my house at all!) When my family was down here we went and visited.

Ruth and Idgy is painted on the house that is their's in the movie.


This is the restaurant that Ruth and Idgy opened up.

This piggy is by the outside cooking area where a major happening in the movie takes places!

....this one sums up the major happening

Delicious Zucchinis

The other night I made stuffed zucchinis and boy were they AWESOME!!

What I did:
1. Browned the sirloin with a bunch of random spices
2. Scooped out the centers of the zucchini
3. Diced a block of feta cheese and then soaked it in extra virgin olive oil
4. Mixed the meat and cheese together in a bowl
5. Added the mix to the zucchini boats
6. Cooked in the oven until the boats were soft
7. CHOWED DOWN!!

Internet!

1:29am and I have internet...at HOME!!! It's a miracle!!

Jobs

Today I turned in my application at the Lauren's County Board of Education (Lauren's County is where we live). I applied for a Para-Pro position (in Northern terms, Teaching Aid), and a substitute teacher position. Next Friday I am taking a "class" to become a certified Substitute and then should be expecting calls shortly after!! Wooo Hooo!!! I hopefully have a job...20 applications later!

Phone & Internet

Awesome news!! I complained soooooooo much that Clayton finally decided to let me have my way! Yesterday we got our home phone set up!! Ahh, it's amazing being able to call places and not feel like I'm on a time restriction...the best news of all...our high speed internet will be in no later than August 29th! YES!!!!!!! THANK GOD!!! I will have civilization once again in my own home!! No more library trips! No more squeaky keyboards! No more 30 minute time limits!!

Clean Laundry

WOO HOO!! Last night Clayton and I finally got our washer and dryer! Oh it's so great to have clean clothes!!

I have a busy day ahead of me (not job searching of course) but running errands and getting dinner ready because we're having Jeremy & Amy over again! It's AWESOME having such great neighbors! I love having them over for dinner!

---oh how I wish I could include pictures!!

Washer & Dryer

My parents, who are so giving helped Clayton and I buy our washer!! Thank God! We (and I really mean only Clayton, because I have no job) had to buy the dryer.

Back flase: when my parents were here, my dad and I went to the laundry mat to go do some laundry. Of course, it was a dump!!! But then again, where is a DECENT laundry mat? No where! My dad didn't feel comfortable with me going there by myself (and you were all wondering why I had no idea there was no such thing as a dirt road...I've lived a sheltered life!!!!)

So Clayton and I paid for the washer on Saturday and then we were going to buy the dryer on Monday because it was going on a better sale. Well we have been told 3 times now of when our stupid dryer is coming in and it still isn't here...so I called Sears AGAIN today and was kind of mad and asked if there is anything that they can do in the way of delivery for us because the people I have asked to help us pick it up, I have to keep telling them that I need to postpone the date (yeah I really haven't asked anyone yet, because I feel like a mooch, but oh well). The guy at Sears tells me well maybe he can let me use his trailer (I'm assuming from Sears)...and he asks me if we have a truck...I say "no we don't have a truck, we don't have any way of getting this washer and dryer to our house!!" blah blah, he MIGHT help us out but I'm not sure...I will find out on Monday when our stupid dryer "comes in"..yeah we'll see!

Kenny Rogers or Robert E. Lee

Funny story, when my family was here, we ate at Sonny's ...it's a really good BBQ place (apparently they had them down in Talahsee when I lived there when I was little and my dad really liked them...so he was excited about eating there).

OK, so we're sitting at the table and the restaurant is decorated "country like" and there was a picture on the wall by the fireplace that had a white bearded man kneeling in the snow with a horse. My dad prompted who is that guy in the picture (asking with seriousness). I of course look and respond with "Kenny Rogers"...and yes, again, I was being very serious! Clayton and my dad start cracking up! My mom and brother (who are apparently DUMB like me aren't lauging). My dad and Clayton say at the same time it's "Robert E. Lee!!!" ...opps! My mistake! He seriously looked like Kenny Rogers!!! ....I guess I need to take history lessons about the south, because EVERY town you go to there is a statue of this guy...Robert E. Lee!!! Yikes!!! I guess I should have paid attention in history class.

Rude Awakening

Clayton had a really rude awakening yesterday...we were at dinner and I was telling him about my day! (beause he was mad at me for interrupting him so many times so I just kept on going on about my day...I'm at brat!)
OK, so I had been driving around ALL day to find a fricken house to buy! Why? because I HATE renting and plus the realiting company is kind of shady to me...and the older lady (Bette is her name) at the chamber of commerce that I met (who by the way is a NORTHENER!!! ....she's actually from Rockford...not far from me!! and her brother (who is probably 65 now, haha) had a girlfriend in Rockton...which was ironic because I had a boyfriend from there...and a little side note...Danika Patrick --who I don't even really know about, but I do know she races Indy cars--is apparently from Rockton...small world!!) OK back to the story, Bette said that our realiting company is kind of sketchy --with a wink wink--. OK so I was driving around looking for houses, and I was running into dirt roads and trailers as houses with horses out front in the yards, and just a bunch of really CRAZY things! So I'm sitting at dinner telling this to Clayton and he's like, "yeah, so what". I tell him that I didn't know there were such things as dirt roads, etc. I thought that was only in the movies!!!! (I am so not kidding right now, this is 100% true). He almost crocked! He could not believe that I had no clue that there really is life like that out there!! He now feels bad from taking me away from my sheltered environment. --OK, I thought Toledo was bad (ie: run down, kind of poor, etc), but NO!!! I have never seen anything like what I have seen yesterday! (man I am a bad person for saying all of this but I am so serious, this is just so different for me!) I'm a girl from St. Charles, Illinois...in the SUBURBS!!! I am just really going to have to get used to my new life!!! Hopefully I won't be such a stuck up snot anymore!!

Civilization

CIVILIZATION.....ahhh!!! thank God! I am on the computer, on the internet!!! This is going to be a bunch of venting from me today because I feel like I am living in the 1920's with no phone line, no internet, no TV....I swear, I am living a deprived life right now...apparently I never realized how much I took for granted until I moved to Georgia.

Ok, here we go...
Yesterday (tuesday, I believe...yes, that's right, I don't even know what fricken day it is!!!) I came to the library to be a library card (so I can use the internet...definetly not for books..gag!!) So I get my card and all and of course!!! the stupid internet is DOWN!!! I drove to the library 2 more times during the day, still down, AND I called 3 times to see if it was up again and it wasn't!! ...And let me tell you all something, yesterday I REALLY NEEDED to blog! Why? Because I can get all of my raging emotions out and maybe, and I mean maybe, someone will read about it! hehe

Also, the guy at the desk, who was very nice, was kind of pestering me about getting a Georgia lisence...no way!!! I am an Illinois resident, and am staying that way until I am FORCED to change (so in other words, when I get a job...ah yes, that's another wonderful topic...I'm still jobless!!! ugh!!)

...more in other posts!

Hello From Georgia....

Hello Y'ALL from Georgia....(Dublin library)!!!!
I have made it to Georgia along with my family who took a weeks vacation to spend with me out here. It has been awesome so far!! We have traveled so much: Stone Mountain, Okefenokee Swamp, Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, and WONDERFUL DUBLIN!!!
Consequently this post is going to be short because I only have 16 minutes remaining in my "library online session". Hopefully we will have internet soon...once we have enough money to pay for it!!! It is so gosh darn expensive!!

Last Day in Ohio

Today is my last day in Ohio. I'm sad yet very anxious to finally get to Georgia! I have had such a wonderful time here.
I was brought to Toledo, Ohio because of college...well mostly running in college. I ran on the University of Toledo's Women's Cross Country and Track teams for 4 years (well besides when I was injured). Although my running career didn't pan out the way I would have hoped, I feel very blessed that I ended up at UT because I found the perfect job for me! The degree I pursued was Recreational Therapy. Personally, I feel that this is the all-time best job in the world! I absoutley LOVE Recreational Therapy. I do not think that there is another job out there that would make me so happy...and to top it off, UT's Recreational Therapy program is ranked 3rd highest in the nation. How awesome!!
Along the way I have meet some wonderful people. I really need to give a thanks to all of the families that I have babysat for (my second favorite job!!) All of the families I watched really made me feel at home, which I really appreciated because being from Illinois (5 hours away from Toledo) I was never able to go home. All of these families ROCK!!! I will miss all of them dearly...especially the Wiley's!
Goodbye to Toledo, goodbye to college, goodbye to my friends.

My Favorite Kids

These are my favorite kids!! Max and Dylan Wiley!

Bridesmaids Weekend!

My Bridesmaids
This weekend I had all of my bridesmaids come to Toledo for a little get-together. We had so much fun!
From left to right...Stephanie Phillips, me, Becky Dobberfuhl (my sister), Kristin Zambreno, & Alison Tittle.
I had planned on going home and taking everyone to Gino's East pizza in Chicago! "(because Chicago pizza is the best in the world!!). However, things got changed a bit at the girls came here so I took them to "The Original Ginos" in Toledo (yuck to me!! but everyone else liked it). It was the closet to "chicago style" I could get!
We played lots of fun games so everyone would get to know each other (kind of like ice breakers...yes you can definitely tell I'm a Recreational Therapist!!)
I can't wait for the bachelorette party!! :-)


Becky & I










Myself, Kristin, & Alison










Steph & Steph :-)

My Bridesmaids

This weekend I have planned for all of my bridesmaids to get together here in Toledo so everyone will have the chance to get to know each other...and really, one last chance for me to see everyone before the wedding, since I'm moving to Georgia August 3rd (yes, the date changed).

My bridesmaids are:
*Becky Dobberfuhl - my sister
*Kristin Zambreno - family friend
*Alison Tittle - ex-roommate, ex-teammate
*Stephanie Phillips - ex-roommate, ex-teammate

This group of girls is just going to rock!! I am so excited! More about this weekend will be posted once all of the girls are here!

Fun in Attica

On Sunday I drove out to Attica, OH to see my friend and ex-roommate and team-mate, Stephanie Phillips. She always told me that she lived out in the middle of nowhere in a one stoplight town. Well silly me, growing up in the huge suburbs of Chicago, I really did not think that there was such a thing as a one stoplight town. Boy was I wrong! Holy geez!!! was her town small! Yet so cute! Her family has moved from their house in "town" out to the country where they have 3.4 acres and their own humongous pond (which is actually the source of their water supply). Anyway, we had family with her dinner and then met Nathan (Steph's fiance) at his house and we drove to Bellevue, OH in his old Bug that he restored! It was a dream come true!!! (for those of you who are aware of my obsession with Bugs and Jeeps!)

We stopped at this little hometown ice cream shop (not as good as Mr. Freeze however) and then went back to Nathan's do to some serious 4 wheeling!! Oh my gosh, it was so much fun! His grandparents have 80 acres and there are trails all over for the 4 wheels! I even did a really good job of driving, I was so proud of myself!!

I can't wait for Steph to come up to Toledo this weekend!

Bella Rose

Today Bella Rose got her first catch! Clayton found a dead baby bird in the back yard today and when he went to go get something to pick it up with, my crazy daughter, Bella snatched it up and took off sprinting with the poor dead bird! She obviously found it so funny because she would not let Clayton catch her! ...ohhh how gross!! Needless to say Clayton won't allow either of the kids, Harley and Bella to kiss him for 24 hours!! :-)

Our New House Clayton sanding the wall
at the house in the kitchen
(we ripped down all of the wall paper)



The friendly lizzard sunning on our porch