Last Days in Germany

Back home and back to always being busy! I’m finally getting around to finishing my journal of Germany… I left off Friday night when we were on our way back from Austria… Saturday was a pretty relaxing day. We were able to sleep in and then went to Robert & Conny’s to pick up Oma and take her home. (btw… I had been spelling Conny’s name wrong in all my previous posts, that’s why it’s different now) On our way to take Oma home we stopped at Globus, a 2 level grocery/department store. There, we bought all kinds of caandy - mostly chocolate and gummy bears - to bring home. After dropping Oma off and saying a sad goodbye, we drove back to Conny and Robert’s for dinner - which Conny made!! The salad dressing was made from scratch and was delicious! I got the recipe :) Jon also said that the chicken with onion sauce was really good. I had pizza because I’m not a huge fan of onions :). Benjamin & Daniel’s Cousin Andre (sp?) - who came over for our wedding with Benjamin - was there for dinner as well. It was nice to actually meet him when we weren’t completely distracted with wedding stuff.

Sunday - what we thought was our last day - we again were able to sleep in late and then went for a nice walk with Jon’s parents in the park next to our hotel. After picking up Conny, Robert, Benjami, Daniel and Andre we went to visit another castle which was actually still occupied by the royal family who had passed the castle down through the generations for over 800 years. It was hard to get a picture of this entire castle because it was huge and spread out right in the middle of a town. Here's a glimpse:

After visiting the last castle we didn’t do too much. We sat around at Conny and Robert’s for a while then said our goodbye’s and went back to the hotel to pack up and go to bed.

Monday we left for the airport after breakfast and waited in line for what seemed like forever, only to find out that there was a problem with our tickets and we weren’t booked on any flights that day. By that point it was too late to fix the problem in time to fly out Monday so we got to stay another day! We stayed at a hotel right near the airport and took a taxi into the center of Frankfurt to do some shopping. Frankfurt is one of the bigger cities over there so it was a lot different than anywhere else we had visited. Jon found a pocket knife and I found salt & pepper shakers! :) I’m so excited that I found them because I’ve been looking everywhere I go and haven’t been able to find any for months! Here are some pictures from in Frankfurt:

A Church we visited:

Our entire trip to Germany was a lot of fun but Jon and I both agree that the highlight of our trip was going to the top of the mountain in the Alps! It was just so amazing!! We were glad to be home Tuesday night though. It’s always great to go on vacation, but it’s also great to come home afterward :).

I think that’s about it. I probably forgot to tell about something but I don’t want to bore everyone with all the little details anyway. If you want to know more, ask! :) We've also got over 700 pictures!! :)

More Stories From Germany

Right now we’re driving again. The Alps are behind us but still visible. It’s Friday around 6:00pm. I’m going to try and remember everything we did in the last two days since I typed out the last post. That was Wednesday and we were still on our way to the Alps. After we arrived at our hotel in Austria, we unpacked and then went for a walk thru the little mountain town. It was a very quaint, cute town surrounded by huge mountains with snow covered peaks. It was a little overcast so we couldn’t see the tops of the mountains. After our walk we at dinner at our hotel and called it a night. Here's a picture of the town and our hotel is on the right with lighted railings:



Here is a picture of the view from our hotel:


Yesterday (Thursday) we woke up and realized it had rained during the night and was still drizzling and very foggy. We had planned to go up to the top of the tallest mountain in the German Alps – which was right by our hotel - but because of the weather we decided to drive about an hour to the city of Innsbruck instead. The Olympics were held in Innsbruck a few years ago. On our way to Innsbruck Jon and I were once again in the car with Oma, Benjamin & Daniel. Oma makes me laugh because she talks almost constantly to herself in the back seat. At one point we noticed she was counting; then we discovered she was counting cars that passed us… when she finally stopped she had counted 500 cars! :) She was just doing that again recently. Her favorite word is “schoen” which means “nice” and she is always pointing to things and telling us they’re schoen. That makes me laugh too.

In Innsbruck we walked around exploring the town, had lunch and visited a big, elaborate, Catholic Church. The whole time we were also looking for wireless internet so I could upload my blog entry. We couldn’t find it anywhere! It’s not like around home. We found one internet café but they didn’t have wireless internet. Later we found out why… they are charged per-minute for internet, there’s no flat rate in Austria. So when we got back to our hotel we were able to use a computer in the office and transfer my blog entry using a USB port and our camera. It took a few steps but we did it. Here is us in Innsbruck:


When we got back from Innsbruck it was too late to go up on the mountain so we had some free time to explore the town some more. Jon and I went into a grocery store to see how different it was. They had some of the same things but almost everything was different. And their milk comes in little cardboard cartons that are less than ½ a gallon. For dinner we had pizza again. Yum! I love the pizza over here! Oh, and it was also Benjamin’s 23rd birthday yesterday. The hotel decorated our table for breakfast and brought out a chocolate cake with candles.

Today was the really busy day! This morning we packed up all our stuff and loaded the cars, then we went up to the top of the mountain called “Die (The) Zugspitze”. It was awesome! To get to the top you went in something like an enclosed ski lift – I’ll show a picture of it because I can’t describe it. It was kinda scary, especially on the way back down. When we got to the top of the mountain we were above the clouds. The view was incredibly breathtaking and unlike anything we had ever seen. I’ll post a few pictures.

This is a picture of the cart we rode up the mountian:


This is up at the top of the mountain. In order it is: Daniel, Connie, Robert, Jon's Mom, Jon and I:

After going up the mountain we drove to see an old castle built back in the 1800’s. That too was amazing! It was huge and very elaborate – built on the top of a mountain with taller mountains around it. To get to the castle we had to take a bus up a tight road with sharp turns and a steep drop-off on one side. The bus driver seemed un-aware of the steep drop-off because he drove that bus way faster than I even would have with my car! Here's a picture of the Castle:

We left the castle about an hour or so ago. Now we’re on our way back to Friedberg where Jon’s cousins live. We still have a few hours of driving till we get there! There’s nothing big planned for our last few days (that I know of). My stomach problems are pretty much gone. I haven’t been having much trouble other than being hungry often. Jon’s sore throat is a little better too, and he’s feeling pretty good.

I’m sure we’ll tell all these stories in much more detail with pictures when we get home. We’ve already taken almost 600 pictures (there are many doubles though)!

The first few days of Germany

Well we’re here and safe. As I write we’re driving about 115mph in a mini van on the Autobahn, and its raining. We’re on our way to Austria. Jon and I are driving in a car with his 2 cousin’s Benjamin and Daniel and his grandmother, who we call Oma. It’s funny, most of the music on the radio over here is American music.

We arrived in the middle of the night Sunday – our time - and it was around six in the morning on Monday here! Jon and I only got about an hour of sleep on the plane so we were tired. From the airport we drove to Jon’s cousin’s house in Friedberg, where we had a breakfast of fresh, delicious rolls and lunch meat. We were all a bit delirious but we couldn’t get into our hotel till around 11:00am so we spent some time there talking. We went to our hotel as soon as we could and got about 3 hours of sleep. Then we drove to Bad Orb (another city) to pick up Oma. We ate dinner at a Greek restaurant in Bad Orb. It was us, Oma and good friends of Oma’s. Jon and I both had Wiener Schnitzel (pounded pork, breaded and fried), I liked it. It was so strange having dinner and seeing elderly people drinking beer and then taking shots after dinner; Even a young kid (about 7 years old) at the table next to us was drinking wine and had a shot after dinner (Instead of after dinner mints they have after dinner shots, haha). Benjamin & Daniel said it’s not normal for kids that young to drink over here. The official drinking age is 16. Monday night after dropping Oma off at Robert & Connie’s (Jon’s cousin’s parents) we went back to our hotel to finally get a good night sleep.

Tuesday (yesterday) we had breakfast at our hotel and then went to Robert & Connie’s. We went with everyone to see an old Roman fort that was built back in 48 AD. We stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch and saw some US troops. It was nice to hear someone who speaks English. The McDonalds had things we don’t have in the states, along with the normal stuff; and it had a McCafé. On our way back we stopped and walked around the city of Friedberg (where Jon’s cousin’s live). There were so many old buildings and cobblestone streets. I bought a pair of slippers and Jon got a video game :). They have bakery’s everywhere over here! And the bread is delicious :). Last night we ordered pizza for dinner. I think that was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Each person gets an individual pizza that’s about twice the size of a Pizza Hut personal pan. Pepperoni over here means peppers, and pepperoni is called salami. I almost got peppers on my pizza because I ordered pepperoni.

I’m learning a few German words. I know how to say thank you “danke” and yes “ja” and no “nein”. Oma loves to talk our ears off in German and doesn’t realize Jon and I have no idea what she’s saying :). We just nod our heads and smile :).Benjamin, Daniel, Robert & Connie all speak pretty good English so we can communicate. Robert and Connie amaze me! They are both blind. They have all kinds of gadgets that talk to them or help them. Connie cleans and cooks and does dishes and everything!!

As I said earlier, right now we’re on our way to Austria where we’ll be staying for the next 2 days. It’s about a 5 hour drive. We’re going to the Alps and to see an old castle. Robert, Connie, Daniel, Benjamin and Oma all came with us. Jon caught a cold of some sort so he has a sore throat and runny nose and I’ve been having stomach problems. It doesn’t help that we’re still not caught up on sleep. So we could use prayer for health and continued safety. I’ll try to post again in a day or two.

It's now Thursday afternoon and this is the first chance I got to use internet and post this. I don't have time now to tell about the rest of the day yesterday after I left off. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a chance.

Check out these cool things I can do with a German keyboard! Üüü Ääää ÖÖööö ßßßßß-jon

Here is a picture of us in front of the Roman Fort:

Here I am in front of an old Castle in the city of Friedberg:

This is Jon at a McDonalds:

Germany & THP

Our trip to Germany is almost upon us! Unbelievably I haven’t even started packing yet… which is very unusual for me. Tonight I am definitely starting to pack! Jon’s finally finished his finals projects as of today, after two very late nights and just in time to help me pack and get ready to leave on Sunday. :)

I just found out yesterday that THP is looking for interns to do graphic design (that’s the field Jon is going into) so between yesterday and today I’ve talked to Jon and a few people at THP and things are moving along. Jon is applying today and will be going through the interview process. They’ve already said they are very interested in hiring him so hopefully he’ll have no problem getting it. I’m excited because that will mean no more working at night for Jon and he’ll be getting expierince in the field he is going to school for. We’ll see what happens.

Well, I don’t have much else to say. There’s not much happening these days. If we have internet access in Germany MAYBE I’ll get a chance to post some pictures and details about our trip. But I’m not promising anything :).

Weekend at the Cabin

Jon and I spent this past Friday night and Saturday at my Pop-pop’s cabin in the Poconos, with 3 other couples: Nate & Shawna, Brian & Sarah and Ian & Ashley. We had a lot of fun hanging out, relaxing, playing games and more. Friday, I left work an hour early to go home, finish packing, and leave - you would have thought we were going for a whole week with the amount of stuff we had piled into my car. When we got to the cabin Nate & Shawna were already there and had started a fire outside for dinner.

Back when all of us girls planned the meals and decided we would cook hotdogs over the fire for dinner Friday night, we completely forgot that it would be freezing cold, dark and most likely snowy outside. There was at least 1½ to 2 feet of snow everywhere and it was bitter cold! While we were roasting our hotdogs, our fire - which was built on top of the snow - kept shifting as the snow melted underneath it.

Needless to say, with how cold it was, none of the girls stayed out very long. We came in right after eating and spent most of the night huddled around the wood stove inside the cabin. The guys, on the other hand, were outside around the fire talking for a few hours after we came in. When they finally did come in they realized that one of the doors had been left open, explaining why it wasn’t getting warm inside and the girls and I were still around the wood stove and still chilled :). We all stayed up talking till after midnight that night. I got some scrapbooking done too, while we were talking.

Saturday we all slept in and had a late breakfast of pancakes and sausage. We spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon playing card games and I got in some more scrapbooking. By mid-afternoon Jon, Ian and Nate got antsy from being inside all day and headed out to shoot a few guns. It was a while later that they called saying they had taken Ian’s truck and it was stuck in the snow! It took them the rest of the night – with a break for dinner – till 10 something to get it out. They didn't think they were going to get it out.

We got home Saturday night a little after midnight. It was so nice to be in my warmer house :).

Yesterday (Sunday) Jon and I went on a mini shopping spree with the intention of finding clothes for our trip to Germany next week. We found a few things but not all that we were hoping to find. We might have to go again.

We're leaving next Sunday for Germany with Jon's parents and will be gone until the following Monday (the 12th). I'm really looking forward to the time away and to touring Germany. I've never been to Europe before and we're going to Germany, Austira and Bulgaria (i think... :)). We'll also be visiting some of Jon's extended family that live over there. Normally I would be half way packed by now for a week long trip... I haven't even started! haha

Alright, I think we're leaving to go on a date to Starbucks in a few minutes so I need to post this and get going.

Here is a picture of everyone:

New Layout

Sarah Changed her post layout and inspired me to change mine as well :). It's still under construction a bit but I'm liking it more already.

I'm 22!

I'm finally getting a chance to write about my birthday, valentines day, and the rest of last week's adventures and discoveries :). Jon's extremely busy with school projects for his finals coming up, so he's been upstairs all day working on one of his projects and that's where he is right now. The week or so before finals I don't see him very much usually :(. We just ate dinner - egg sandwiches and pork roll - about 30 minutes ago and it's 9:00 pm now! ha

So anyway, about my birthday - last Tuesday I turned 22, yikes! I was at work all day and when I came home I was surprised with a cake, balloons, flowers and gifts on the kitchen table waiting for me. Jon made the cake all by himself and had just finished icing it while I was on my way home - talking his ear off over the phone - I had no idea he was trying to ice a cake while I was talking to him :)

Here's what I saw when I got home:

I was so surprised Jon had actually baked a cake! Isn't that so cute!!! :) He's so sweet. And it tasted good too!The flowers and balloons were from Jon's parents. First I got to open my gifts - a PINK DS Lite with a PINK case and Diddy Kong Racing to go with it. That's one of my all-time favorite video games since when I was little :).

After I opened my gifts we drove to Jim's Buffet to get take-out Chinese food... YUMMY! :) Then we came back and hung out at home the rest of the night. We played Diddy Kong Racing together, watched a CSI episode and just had fun enjoying each others company. It was a nice relaxing night.

Our first married Valentine's Day was perfect! We got snowed-in together all day! Jon's school got canceled and he had found out the day before that he didn't have to work. I was originally going to try and go in to work around 10:00 but the weather didn't get too much better and about half the other people I work with weren't going in so I stayed home too. We had another really relaxing day at home and for dinner I decorated with cute candles and hearts and we had a nice candle-lit dinner. After dinner we watched a few of the videos from our wedding and reception. That was really neat! We hadn't watched them since we got married so Valentine's Day was a great day to remember and re-live our wedding day :). We both had written each other letters which we exchanged too. Jon's made me cry - it was so sweet!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention... On my birthday I also found out I am anemic! I'm actually sorta excited to learn that I have a medical condition that is curable and that's symptoms include always being tired and cold. Those are two things I defiantly am, and I'm hoping that once my doctor figures out the root cause of my anemia, and tells me how to treat it, that I won't be as cold and tired all the time! But for now, it's a good excuse to get Jon to turn the heat up! ;) He's already caught on though. hehe!

Thursday when I came home there was another bouquet of flowers on the table for me! This time they were from my love... 12 light pink roses!!! They're sooo cute and they're still alive and looking well today. He knew I wanted to be able to have my flowers at work so I could enjoy them more (since most of the time I'm at work anyway). So he got me the roses to take to work. Which I did on Friday, but then brought them back home to enjoy over the weekend.

Friday afternoon I left work and took Kelsey to the doctors office and then to Grand View's Outpatient center to get x-rays. She had fallen while snowboarding on my birthday and her wrist was still hurting her, so I said I'd take her to the doctors to get it looked at. My parents were on a cruise - I'm jealous after all this cold weather :) - so they weren't around to take Kels. In the end she didn't have anything broken but we were both glad that we knew nothing was wrong instead of wondering and not knowing.

Saturday I spent most of my day cleaning and organizing around the house and cooking, while Jon worked on his final projects. We had Scott & Joann Heebner over for lunch on Sunday so I made spaghetti sauce on Saturday and we had spaghetti when they came over. Jon enjoyed adding his special ingredients to the sauce while I was cooking. He likes to make me nervous when he starts adding all kinds of things to whatever I'm making. This time it came out good! :)

RESULTS

The Rebelution just launched the results of their massive Modesty Survey! Over 1,600 Christian guys answered questions on everything from glitter lotion and lip gloss to swimsuits and skirt slits! For you girls, it's everything you've ever wanted to ask guys about modesty, but were afraid to ask! For you guys, it's really interesting to see what other Christian guys think!

Most importantly, the survey is presented as a resource to help Christian girls (and guys), not a list of legalistic rules, and it is accompanied by the Modesty Survey Petition (which tons of guys have signed) which encourage young women to focus on the heart, not the hemline, to honor their parents, etc.

Go check it out: Here

Modesty Survey

I just added a link to the "Modesty Survey" for anyone interested - see the side bar on this page, you won't miss it. It is from the Rebelution Blog by Alex & Brett Harris. They conducted a survey of 1500+ christian guys on the topic of modesty and will be releasing the results tomorrow (Valentine's Day). I'll be doing an entry tomorrow with a link directly to the results. I think the survey is a great idea and will be an amazing resource for all of us who are trying to honor God, as well as all the men in our lives, with the way we dress. Spread the word!

Grocery List Document is Available

The link to my grocery list is now working in my last post. Check it out! The only thing is, I couldn't get the formatting of my grocery list to show up right. The way you'll see it, the list just keeps going down but in my document I have 4 columns so the whole thing fits on one page.

I'm still alive :)

Wow! It’s been a while since I blogged. There just hasn’t been anything too interesting going on :). We bought a laptop this past Wednesday - after shopping around for a few days and doing research to make sure we were getting a good one. It has the new Windows Operating system (Vista) on it which is REALLY cool! I’m still getting use to how different it is. The laptop will double as my computer since mine has been acting up and we’re getting rid of it.

I’ve been spending a good amout of time going through all kinds of food and cooking magazines I had stored up. I was quickly going through and ripping out any recipes I want to try. Now I have a pile of recipes and need to sort through them and start planning a few meals. I have yet to even start going through all my cookbooks and picking out recipes I want to try – that will prolly be a while from now.

Ever since I started keeping a blog I’ve also been keeping up with other blogs (see the links on the right column of my blog homepage). The Girl Talk Blog – By Carolyn Mahaney and her 3 married daughters: Nicole, Kristin & Janelle – has been doing a mini-series on meal times, meal preparation, grocery shopping, etc. This series came in prefect timing for me since recently I’ve been thinking a lot and working on all these areas; trying to find some way to make full, more nutritious meals for Jon and I, even with our busy schedule. Last night while grocery shopping I used an idea another Girl Talk reader submitted: as I was going through the store I made a list – aisle by aisle - of everything I like to keep on hand and use regularly. Then I typed it all into a Word document in the same order I make my way through the grocery store. Here’s a link to see my new "grocery list" – it’s not completely fool-proof yet but it’s a start. I plan to print one of these every week and hang it on the fridge so when I run out of something I can just check it off. Then when I go to the grocery store I’ll have my complete list, in the order I shop. I’m hoping this will help me not forget things and also make my shopping trips much quicker.

Tonight and tomorrow afternoon Jon and I are babysitting our favorite little friends: Hailey, Justin and Sydney. It’ll be great now that we have a laptop, I can take it with me and get some things done while the kids are playing or taking naps. I’m hoping to create a weekly meal plan and a budget/bill paying system on Saturday - Jon has some things to do during the day so I’ll be alone with the kids for a good amount of time.

So anyway, other than that, nothing much has been going on.

Scrapbooking Retreat

I’m back from my scrapbooking retreat. I had a great time! Sarah and I left around 9:30 am Friday morning and were in Gettysburg in time for lunch. Then we unpacked all our things and started scrapbooking. It took me a little while to get into a groove and start moving but eventually I did and I got way more accomplished than I had anticipated. I began with when we first started dating and Jon gave me my iPod for my 20th birthday. By the time we left (around lunch time on Sunday) I was up to the processional of our wedding!! I started with about 430 pictures and got almost ½ of them in my book. I’m really happy with how the pages have been turning out.

Sarah and I had fun driving there and back and hanging out while we were up there. On the way there we discovered that I can’t drive and talk at the same time… I slow way down when I get talking! :) So, on the way home I used my cruise control most of the time and we made better time :).

Saturday afternoon we went shopping at the Gettysburg Outlet stores that are right next door. I just about went crazy with the great prices! Thank goodness Sarah was there to remind me not to spend too much! :)

I had a lot of fun but I was glad to get home and be with Jon on Sunday night. He went snowboarding both nights I was away – his knee is feeling just about normal.

Last night we went to Chili’s with Osborne’s and then came back to our house to discuss Love that Lasts. It was encouraging and fun. Tonight we’re going to the Inn for dinner with our couples group and then we’ll probably come back to our house to talk.

Manda might be coming over Wednesday to hang out with me for a while. That would be great! I hope she can come.

Everything is going pretty normal otherwise at our house. No injuries or sickness for now… :) We’ll hope it stays that way for a while!

Scrapbooking / Snowboarding / Emergency Room

As always I am keeping very busy. In the last week or so I have spent most of my free time getting ready for the scrapbooking retreat I am going on this weekend with Sarah. Tonight I hope to finish organizing and editing all my pictures and then take them to Costco to get developed. Sarah and I decided now, to leave early Friday morning so we’ll have even more scrapbook time. I’m leaving my house right after Jon leaves for school and picking Sarah up to head out to Gettysburg.

This past Saturday Jon and I went snowboarding for the first time this year – it’s been so warm we couldn’t go earlier. We went down the hill once and got back on the lift. There was a skier that I didn’t know sitting next to me and I was afraid I would run into him getting off the lift (I’m not that good at getting off smoothly) so I asked Jon if he could try to hold me up. So we got to the top and off the lift but soon after that both of us fell together. I hit my knee and got a bruise… Jon hit his knee really hard. He said he got really dizzy and thirsty and started blacking out and doesn’t remember much. He stood up for a little and was leaning on me but then collapsed taking me down with him (he doesn’t remember that). I think that’s when the ski patrol guys saw us and came over. They asked all kinds of questions and offered to take Jon down on a sled. Jon didn’t want that so he just sat down for a while and then made it down the hill to the lodge… that was then end of our first snowboarding trip! Not much snowboarding but we were both glad to be together.

Sunday morning Jon’s knee hurt extremely bad when he tried to walk so we stayed home from church. Sunday afternoon we found out Jon's parents had crutches at their house so I went and got them for him. That night we went to my cousins birthday party. Everyone was saying that Jon should get his knee checked out because it could be something serious even though it was starting to feel better.

So Monday morning we went to the emergency room to get an x-ray and a doctors opinion. The x-ray showed that it was just a deep bruise and the doctor said for Jon to continue using crutches for a few days and take it easy.

I was really glad to know that it was nothing serious and Jon was glad because it means that he can go snowboarding this weekend while I’m away – as long as his knee feels fine. Yesterday he started walking without the crutches and today he said it’s feeling really good!

How crazy! We are barely 6 months into our marriage and have already been to the emergency room twice! At least this time we got answers.

Just an FYI… the Passion Fest website that Jon’s been working on is live now: www.passionfest.org. Check it out! Jon did all of the image and animation work on it. They’ll be continual updates as the event gets closer.

Weekend Fun

I survived Jon being away at the men’s retreat! :) Thursday night I kept myself busy grocery shopping, cleaning and doing wash till Manda got there at around 10:00. We talked for about an hour and then went to bed. Friday night, after work, Manda was with me all night. We made dinner at my house and then went out to Starbucks for some coffee and to talk some more. We were able to really catch-up with what’s going on in each others lives, which was great! After Starbucks we went to Blockbuster to pick up Sweet Home Alabama… that’s one of my favorite movies and Manda has never seen it, so we watched that. As always, I cried when Melanie went to visit Bear’s grave in the coon-dog graveyard! :) That part always gets me. Manda had tears in her eyes too…

We talked till late into the night and when we woke up Saturday morning we talked the whole morning until she had to leave. I had a lot of fun and it distracted me from being lonely. Jon got home around 4:00 Saturday. I was so glad to have him back at home! Jon said the conference was really good and very encouraging and challenging. He went over all the messages with me and explained what he learned from each one. That was fun hearing all the things he was taught and it was really exciting to see him learning and growing.

Yesterday we had lunch with Nate and Shawna and then went to my parents house - Nate and Jon were target shooting with pistols. They’re both all into pistols these days so Jon was excited to get to shoot one. We also went over to visit Grandma Bea’s mom – Grammy – who turned 101 yesterday!! It’s amazing how much energy she still has.

Last night we had some people over to watch a new movie called “The Illusionist”. I had never heard of the movie before but it was really good. Nate and Jon installed my under-cabinet CD player in the kitchen. I’m looking forward to trying it out tonight.

My big project right now is getting ready for the scrapbooking retreat I’m going on with Sarah the last weekend of this month. It’s coming up quick and I still have to sort, crop and edit all the pictures I’ll be using and get them printed out. I think I’m going to be working on a 12x12 album of Jon and my love story, including our dating, engagement, showers, wedding and honeymoon. I’m excited to get started on this album.

The scrapbooking retreat, I’m sure, will be tons of fun! It’s in Gettysburg at a hotel which is right across the street from shopping outlets. So when we need a break from scrapbooking, we can go shopping! :) It’s going to be another weekend away from Jon though – I’m not looking forward to that. :(

Life is Slowing Down... For Now

Life has been moving along at a slightly slower pace since New Years. It’s been nice having a few more open nights in the last week or so. This past Saturday Jon and I went out on a shopping spree for a good chunk of the day. We were supposed to be looking for clothes; I came home with quite a few things but Jon didn’t get a single piece of clothing! Haha! The only thing he got was a Nintendo DS Lite, which is a hand-held video game system. He sold his old DS on ebay so he could get the DS Lite, since it is smaller and better quality. He also got a Super Mario Bros game. This game led to something he wasn’t expecting, and neither was I…

I’m not a major video gamer - or whatever you want to call it - however, there is one game that I used to love playing when I was younger…Super Mario Bros! Guess who used Jon’s new DS Lite first? ME! I discovered that I really enjoy playing this new Super Mario game, and it’s a lot easier than the classic version that we have been playing on the Wii. Jon said yesterday “Now I have the perfect wife!”. Of course he was joking around; but in reality, he is really excited that I now enjoy playing video games with him, even if it’s only when he’s playing Mario :).

Jon’s leaving tomorrow afternoon for “The Quest” Men’s retreat in Hershey, PA. He’s driving out with his dad and Dave. I’m really going to miss him! He’ll be gone until Saturday evening which is the longest we’ve been apart since getting married :(. Amanda is coming to stay with me tomorrow and Friday night so I won’t be alone. Tomorrow she’ll be out till later, but Friday we’ll be able to talk and catch up all night! I’m looking forward to that.

New Years Eve 2006!!

Not only was New Years Eve 2006 Jon and my first one together after being married, it was also our first New Years Eve Party in the little cottage we call home :).

Over the course of the night we had about 18 people in and out. A smaller group of our friends came over early to watch the Eagles game and have dinner. Then everyone else started showing up around 7:00. We played video games, card games, watched a movie, talked, and ate TONS of food! I should have taken a picture of it. Our kitchen table had the leaf in and was completely crowded with food + some.

December 31st is also Steve Heebner's birthday so I had secretly baked him a cake (which Jon decorated) and hid it until everyone was there. Then we randomly started signing happy birthday to him as we brought it into the room he was in. He was so surprised! :) 3 minutes before midnight we turned the tv on and watched the ball drop as we counted down. Then at 12:00 am we toasted the new year with sparkling cider and ran outside to lite off a bunch of fireworks in the back yard.

At around 2:00 am I had stayed up as long as I could, I crashed in bed with my noise machine on, and amazingly, didn't hear a bit of the noise that was right outside my door. People slowly headed home but a bunch of the guys stayed. At around six in the morning they found spots all around the house to sleep and stayed the "night" and into the morning. Everyone was awake and gone by noon on new years day.

For the rest of the day on New Years Jon and I cleaned up the house (which wasn't too bad) and took down our Christmas tree and all our other decorations inside. That night we went over to my parents house for dinner with my family, Nate and Shawna and the Clemmers.

Tuesday I took off work to stay home and finish getting my house in order and run some errands. I got so spoiled between Christmas Weekend and New Years Weekend! I only worked 3 days in between the two long weekends. Needless to say, this past Wednesday, I DID NOT want to get up and go to work again! :) haha... but I did. It makes me hope for the day when Jon's done school and gets a Job and I can start working part-time or none at all. I was so relaxed and not stressed out and I got to see Jon way more than normal.

Now that December is over Jon's back to working only 2 nights a week, last night and tonight. Last night Sarah came over to scrapbook and tonight I went grocery shopping, made brownies and have been blogging ever since.

I think it's about time I get up and start getting some stuff done. Jon should be home anytime!

Our First Christmas

Christmas Eve and Christmas were two very busy days for Jon and I, Christmas Eve we had church in the morning, which ended fairly early. Then we went straight to Nana & Pop-pop’s for the big gathering of my Dad’s side of my family - my favorite part is Nana’s homemade Chicken Pot-Pie! :) After that celebration, we headed back to church for the Christmas Eve Service. From there we went over to Jon’s parents for dinner and to open our stocking stuffers from them. It was a late night but it was fun. Here's a picture of us at Nana's (click to enlarge):

Christmas morning we slept in until around 8:00. I had made Cinnamon Buns ahead of time for breakfast and prepared coffee to brew first thing in the morning, but we aren’t big breakfast eaters, so neither of us was even hungry for the cinnamon buns. But we did drink our coffee while we read the Christmas Story recorded in the book of Luke. Then we poured ourselves some egg nog and set out some white chocolate covered Oreo’s and began our gift exchange. First we opened our stocking stuffers from each other and then our bigger gifts that were under the tree. Jon had been warning me for days that I wasn’t getting much for Christmas because my biggest gift was really expensive - he said it wasn’t something from my list; So I was really curious to find out what it was. Of course, Jon made me wait till last to open it, so I’ll wait till last to tell about it :). I got a big tub of gum balls (my favorite candy), some Creative Memories things, a cute pink cell phone holder, and a bunch of fun stocking stuffers. Jon got the new Ipod Shuffle, 2 video games, a wallet, a video game strategy guide and a bunch of stocking stuffers. I ALSO got a remote starter for my car, which was fully installed and functioning on Christmas morning!! That was my big gift, in case you’re wondering. I have no idea how Jon thought of the idea because I didn’t even realize I wanted one until a few days before Christmas, when I heard that someone else was getting one. I was so excited! He was really sneaky and got me to leave my car home two different days – one time I thought he was going snowboarding and the other time, he went out to start my car in the morning and said it wouldn’t start – while I was at work those two days he had the remote starter installed in my car! Isn’t he great?! :) I’ve been enjoying never getting into a cold car ever since Christmas. Below is a picture of one of Jon's gifts to me. He bought this really cute paper that wasn't actually wrapping paper, but he liked what it said, so he wrapped one of my gifts in it, I thought it was adorable!

After Jon and I opened our gifts from each other Christmas Morning we went over to Jon’s parents to spend some time with them and open our gifts from them. We couldn’t stay long though because by 12:30 we had to be at Grandma Bea and Pop-pop’s for my mom’s side of the family gathering. There we ate a yummy lunch and opened more gifts! Right from there we went over to my parents house to spend time with just my immediate family and open our gifts from my parents. Once again, we couldn’t stay long… we were back to Jon’s parents by around 5 or 5:30 to have a light dinner and then go over to the Inn for hide and seek, which has been a tradition for years. Christmas Day is the only day of the year that the William Penn Inn is closed; and Christmas night we go over with a bunch of our friends and play hide & seek all over the restaurant. We’re allowed to eat anything we find too! This year I was sort of a bum, I only played the game for a few rounds and the rest of the night I sat and talked with the moms. I was really tired. Jon had a great time though, especially when his team found a hiding spot that no one discovered for most of the night :).

So, that was our Christmas! I’m sure I missed plenty of things but I got the gist of it. I thought everything went really well for it being our first Christmas “on-our-own”.

Since we didn’t have that much time to ourselves during the actual holidays, Jon and I got steaks and had a nice candle-lit dinner Tuesday night. That was fun! Jon made the steaks and I made corn bread, noodles, beans and a baked potato for Jon. After dinner we just relaxed the rest of the night. It was great spending time together and not feeling rushed or stressed. Here's a picture of the table all set:

I'm so far behind in my blogging! I'll be writing about our first NEW YEARS in a little while!

Oh, and here are those long awaited picture of the outside of our house decorated with lights:

New York Pics

Alright, I got time to sort through our pictures so here are just a few.

This is inside of a really cool mall that we discovered, right near Rockefeller Park:


Me eating my Fettuccinie Alfredo that I loved so much:

Grand Central Park:

The Apple store:


Rockefeller Center (the first picture is a glimpse of the people-traffic around Rockefeller center):


The Charmin Restrooms:


The crowd of people trying to get into the train terminal:


Well, that's all! Hopefully you enjoyed these pictures. It's just little bits of our day :)

New York City

Man! Life is Busy! I’m just getting a chance to sit down and write about our day in New York City on Saturday. We had a great time. Nate and Shawna met at our house at around 8:15 am so we could get to the Trenton train station for the 9:08 train to New York. By the time we got to our destination the train was packed with people.

The first thing we did was just walk around with no real direction. We were kind of heading for Little Italy but went the wrong direction and ended up at Rockefeller Park. Jon and I had never been to that park before; it was a nice little park on the water.

After walking around Rockefeller Park we headed in the right direction toward Little Italy. On the way we walked down Canal Street where there’re all kinds of shops and people trying to sell you stuff. I got a Cashmere feel pink scarf, which I love!

We ate lunch at this little Italian restaurant that had the most amazing Fettuccine Alfredo I’ve ever eaten! While we were at the restaurant an older man that was sitting outside of the glass front window, had a heart attack or stroke or something and fell off his chair, hit the window, and was laying on the ground. By the time the ambulance got there the man didn’t have much of a pulse. They shocked him a few times but nothing happened. Then they got him into the ambulance and were supposedly still working on him when we left (which I guess what a good sign). Needless to say that was quite an event to happen. I was shook up for a while after that.

We took a walk in Grand Central Park after Lunch. I always love going there! There must have been a Santa parade that day, because there were hundreds of people all dressed up like Santa, walking through the park (they seemed unending)! It was pretty funny to watch and see all the interesting Santa outfits people had.

Not far from Grand Central park is the new Apple store that Jon really wanted to see. So we walked over there next. It’s pretty cool. The building is all glass with just a glass elevator in the middle of it and an Apple icon. You go down the elevator or the glass stairs and the store itself is underground.

There’s also a Nintendo World store near by that Jon really enjoyed going to :).

From the Nintendo World store we walked to Rockefeller Center. All of NYC was pretty crowded but when we got to Rockefeller center the people traffic got way worse. The sidewalks were so crowded that you inched your way forward, wedged in-between thousands of other people. It was nuts! We got to see the big Christmas tree all lit up (it’s so pretty!), but we didn’t even try to get close enough to watch people skating in the ice rink. It was way too crowded.

Time Square was our last stop before dinner. We didn’t actually spend too much time walking around in Time Square. We were trying to figure out where we were eating for dinner, and of course, everywhere was full with an hour or so wait for the next table! We ended up eating at TGI Friday’s right in Time Square. We were all so glad just to sit and give our legs a rest from walking all day :).

After dinner we were headed back to Penn Station to catch our train home but we stopped at the “Charmin” Restrooms first. What a crazy place! Yes, I’m talking about Charmin as in “Charmin” toilet paper. As a Christmas gift to NYC, Charmin installed at least 10 or more private bathrooms in a building right in Time Square. You go in and there’s a huge line of people in line. “Charmin” music is playing and there’s “Charmin” people running around dancing, singing, talking through megaphones, and all kinds of crazy stuff. After each person uses their own private bathroom with a little sink, a Charmin employee goes in and quickly sanitizes the seat and sprays febreeze. Then the next person can go it. It’s this big, huge ordeal just to go to the bathroom but it was nice and clean and quite an experience!

Once our 30 minute bathroom break was over we took the subway to Penn Station and waited to find out what track our train would be on (they don’t post the track #’s until 10 minutes before the train is supposed to leave). Once the track # finally was posted there was a mad rush of people that were running to get on the train. Once again, we were surrounded by hundreds of people squeezing their way through the doors and down the stairs to the terminal. We had to run all the way to the front of the train to find a car that even had seats! The others barely even had standing room. But we made it on the train and home by like 11:30, not too bad.

It was a really fun day!

I took pretty many pictures throughout the day but I haven't gotten a chance to go through them yet. I'll try to get to that tonight and post some, but there's no guarantee. :)

Passion Fest Video

The link below is a fairly short video clip from the previous Passion Fest. It will give you a little idea of what it's all about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDEx3p3WIU4

Starbucks

My wonderful, sweet husband got off work early last night and came home to take me out to Starbucks for a date!!! I knew he was coming home early ‘cause he had told me to do my errands first because he might be able to get off work early. But then when he got home he said he wanted to go to Starbucks with me. I was surprised but of course, I was glad to go! :)

We had a nice time talking and relaxing together with nothing to do.

This week is a full week for Jon and I. Tonight I’m looking forward to a girls night at Denise Randolph’s house and Jon is probably hanging out with Ian because Ashley will be at the girls night too. Tomorrow Jon works and Sarah is coming over to scrapbook again with me. I’ve got all my pictures organized this time so I’ll actually be able to do some scrapbooking. Then Thursday night Jon works again and I was invited to go out for dinner with mom F! Friday night Jon and I are babysitting our favorite little buddies Hailey, Justin and Sydney. After they go to bed we’ll be packing and getting ready for New York the next day. We’re going for a day trip with Nate and Shawna to see the lights and decorations and to walk around the city. It’s always fun walking around New York City.

So that’s our week at a glance, and next weeks no less busy! What a crazy time of year. But Christmas will come and go before we know it so we’re enjoying the season while it lasts. :)

Here I am Again!

It’s been a while since I wrote but not that much has happened. The smell in our fridge is gone but we don’t know what it was. The guy from LG came out and took apart the whole fridge and couldn’t find anything or any reason we would have had a smell. Hopefully it doesn’t come back since we don’t know what it was. I’m so glad to have a working refrigerator again though! :)

Our wedding album is finally created and in the process of being printed. Here is a link to the digital pages: http://www.allebachphotography.com/customer/jonalana Page #19 is the only one that will be different when we get our album, we asked to have it spruced up a bit more. I’m so excited to finally get our album, everyone is always asking about it :).

This past Saturday Jon had to work for lunch to cover for someone so I spent most of the day by myself. We had my parents over for dinner then Saturday night. That was fun :).

Going back to last Monday night (a week ago) Jon and I had our first Passion Fest meeting. This is the first time we are involved with Passion Fest. It is a big event, originally started by a few people at THP, to reach out to the communities around us in a way that is fun for everyone. Earlier this year we attended Passion Fest in Pottstown and really enjoyed it and thought it was a great way to draw in the youth of the community and then to present the Gospel to them. So for next year we decided to be a part of the Passion Fest team so we could help plan, promote and run the event. Basically it is a totally free, family oriented day with all kinds of stuff going on. There’s activities for younger kids, speakers, bands, food, and action sports - which last year included professional stunt bikers, skateboarders and motorcyclists (all of who are Christians).

July 7th of next year is the event we’re starting to plan for now. It will be in Pottstown again. www.passionfest.org is the website for it but it’s still under construction so there’s not much information yet. I will probably continue to talk about it and give updates incase anyone wants to come or knows people who would like to come or possibly benefit from coming.

Tonight Jon is working again (this week is the only week in December that he’s actually working 3 nights). I’m going to go out and try to finish my Christmas shopping :).

Scrapbooking

Someone from LG (our refrigerator manufacturer) is coming to look at our fridge today!! I hope they can figure out where the smell was coming from. The actual smell seems to be going away but we want to know WHY it was there in the first place. If it’s something that died I don’t want the remains of whatever it is, stuck somewhere. And if it wasn’t something that died, the smell could return…

Wednesday night when Sarah came over to scrapbook we had a great time! It was a lot of fun talking and scrapbooking together. When I pulled all my stuff out, that I haven’t touched for probably a year or more, I had a lot of organizing to do. Miscellaneous pictures were everywhere and things were just all out of order :). So between talking and organizing my stuff I didn’t get much actual scrapbooking done, but it got me motivated and I had fun. I also discovered that I was out of blank pages for the album I am in the middle of, so last night, while Jon was at work, I went out and bought a few things I needed and then came home and continued to organize all my things. I have everything organized accept two stacks of pictures. Sarah invited me to go to a scrapbooking retreat that is the last weekend in January. I am really excited about going! I need to get everything in order before then and have enough pictures/albums to work on so that I can stay busy while I’m there. Jon thinks I’m crazy for going to a scrapbooking retreat, but he’s glad I have something to enjoy doing with friends! :)

Tonight I think Jon and I are driving down to some place near Philly because one of Jon’s friends from school is having people over to play video games for his birthday, he invited us. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do but I haven’t been able to spend much time with Jon this week so I’m just going to spend time with him.

Christmas Tree

Here's our Christmas tree finally:

Those blubs are not black and clear. The darker ones are actually a purply/grey color and the ones that look clear have glitter and snowflakes on them :). You have to see it in person to really know what it looks like but the picture gives you an idea.



I haven't taken a picture of the outside lights yet because theres a big chunk of them that died so we're going to replace them and THEN I'll take a picture.

Alright, Sarah's here to scrapbook, gotta run!

Quickie

When I was saying yesterday about Jon going hunting, I totally forgot to say that he really enjoyed hunting even though he didn’t get anything this past weekend. He’s excited about going again. He keeps teasing me that when he gets something he’s going to get it mounted and put it on our wall. Yeah RIGHT! :) I always said I’d never marry a hunter and now my husband is one! The thing I don’t like about hunting the most is the animal heads that get hung on walls as trophies. So hopefully Jon won’t ever really want to do that…

Sarah is coming over to my house tonight while Jon’s at work and we’re going to scrapbook. I’m excited, it should be a lot of fun, and I’ll be glad to start getting caught up on all my albums – I’m so far behind! Since Jon works every Wednesday night Sarah’s going to start coming over about twice a month to hang out with me and scrapbook, tonight is the first time she’s coming over.

Speaking of Jon working… I just found out last night that he has a new work/school schedule and he will now be working THREE nights a week! He just started a new semester of school this week and his new classes are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings so he’s working a double on Monday’s, Lunch on Tuesday’s, and Dinner on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. That leaves us with Tuesday and Friday nights open. But then we have care group every other Tuesday. I’m pretty bummed about this new schedule! Jon said it’s only for the month of December though and after that he’ll cut back on work. Since I really didn’t like the idea of him working three nights he’s also going to see if he can just work two nights a week in December too. I hope he can!

THE SMELL update: our kitchen still smells like a mixture of bleach and dead something. I think Jon’s going to call Home Depot as soon as he gets a chance, to see if they can come out and take a look at the situation!

Thanksgiving weekend... and beyond

It's been a while! We decorated for Christmas since my last post so I was waiting till I had pictures of what our house looks like before I wrote. I haven’t gotten a chance to take them yet though, so I figured I better write because a lot is going on!

Thanksgiving went well and we had a nice day. We slept in :) and then went to my parents for lunch with a bunch of my extended family. Jon went with my dad and Alysa to sight in his gun for hunting and got all psyched up to go :). Thanksgiving night we went over to Jon’s parents for some more food and to spend some time with them.

I took off work Friday, and Jon didn’t have school so we had all day Friday and Saturday to start Christmas shopping and decorate the house for Christmas. We had a lot of fun spending both days together with nothing urgent to do! Friday we slept in again and then went out shopping for most of the day. After shopping we went on a date to Olive Garden for dinner, yum, yum :). Saturday we went out and bought a tree and then decorated it and we put lights outside on the house. I think everything looks really good and I'm happy with how it turnned out! I’ll take pictures when I get a chance and post them.

Sunday after church and lunch, Jon left with Nate to go hunting up at my pop-pop’s cabin in the Poconos. A bunch of guys go up the weekend after Thanksgiving every year for the opening of Rifle season. While Jon was gone I SHOPPED! :) I got a lot of my Christmas Shopping done on Sunday and even took a break to meet Jon’s mom and dad at Maccaroni Grill for dinner. Sunday night I slept over at Jon’s parents since I don’t like to sleep at home alone. I was really glad when Jon got home last night! I missed him even though he was only gone one night. :(

When Jon got home last night our refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen still smelled really bad (like it has for at least a week and a half), so he said we were cleaning it out right away. We’re both getting really frustrated with the smell and the fact that we can’t figure out where it’s coming from or why! There’s no bad food in either the fridge or the freezer plus Jon and Glenn Clemmer pulled the whole thing out and took the grate off the back and pulled some of the insulation out to see if anything was dead in there, but they couldn’t find anything.

So last night we nailed a drop cloth over the doorway from the kitchen into the hallway, we opened the windows and door in the kitchen and emptied everything out of the entire Refrigorator! We had to throw out anything that wasn’t tightly sealed because the smell had seeped into it; everything else we washed with soapy water. Luckily everything that was left from the freezer, fit into our extra freezer in the spare room. The stuff from the fridge we put in coolers out on the porch. Then Jon turned the refrigerator off and sprayed a bleach/water mixture all over inside and wiped it down. All night last night we left the doors to the fridge open and the windows open to air everything out.

This morning when we got up the kitchen mostly smelled like bleach so we couldn’t tell if the fridge still smells bad or not. The coolers both smell when you open them though so the smell must have really absorbed into the containers of everything. UGH!

Earlier today Jon turned the fridge back on and closed the doors and tonight he’s going to wash the fridge down again to try and get rid of the bleach smell, so we can see if the bad smell is still there. If it is, then I guess our next step is to get someone to come out and look at the thing! Maybe we’ll have to get it replaced by Home Depot.

If there is something dead in the back though, I wish we could find it because it grosses me out just thinking that it’s still in there, even if it doesn’t smell anymore. Eww!

So, that is what’s been happening over at our little cottage latley :) . Between the smell and our plumbing not working for a week, we are really learning what it’s like to have a house! For the most part I love having my own house but sometimes it’s just not fun. Hopefully we figure out this smell problem and can get back to normal life soon.

Alright, this post is really long. I’m going to go now. I’ll post those pictures of our decorated house as soon as I get to it.

Nintendo Wii

Sunday was launch day for yet another video game system! Nintendo’s newest system called “Wii” which is much cheaper than the Play Station 3 that we waited in line for. The Wii is a much different kind of video game system than any before it because, instead of a usual controller, this controller looks more like a TV remote and it’s motion sensitive it’s also much less complicated with less buttons than other controllers. In-other-words, all the people out there like me, who can’t help but move their hands around while using a video came controller, now can actually move their car or player or whatever on the screen when they move the controller.

Jon had a Wii system reserved, so Sunday he went to pick it up, and yesterday he had a “Wii Party”. A few of his friends from school came over earlier in the day after school and then last night a bunch of the guys from church came over. It was dangerous walking through the house! They were playing games like bowling, tennis, baseball, etc. Since the controller is motion sensitive when you’re batting in baseball you actually swing your arm with the controller in it. When you’re bowling you go through the motions, just like if you were bowling, accept you don’t actually throw the controller! You probably get the point.

They had David’s TV and Wii set up on the kitchen table and Jon’s in the living room. To walk through the kitchen you had to watch out that you didn’t get smacked by someone swinging their bat or racket or rolling a bowling ball!! haha

I took a few pictures but it’s hard to see the motion:

Dave & Steve playing boxing:

Bowling:

Tennis:

As far as other things going on in our life. We’ve discovered a horrible smell coming from, we think, the freezer although we can’t figure out what it could possibly be!

Our plumbing is fixed as of today!!! Yesterday and today they were working on it and today they realized that it could have been fixed last Monday but somehow there was a mis-communication and they didn't realize that it was the sinks and tub that weren't draining. They thought it was the toilet, which was actually working fine! I can’t wait to be able to take showers at my house, do wash, wash dishes and run the dishwasher again! I’m very thankful that Jon’s parents live right next door and they've allowed us to use their house whenever we needed , but obviously that's more of a hassle :)

Alright, Jon's waiting to use the computer, I've got to run!

Waiting In Line For A PS3

Last time I wrote I thought I would be home alone for 3 days (that was Tuesday night). Turned out I was wrong. :) Wednesday I had a conference to go to for work that was in Valley Forge, so, embarassing as it was, I asked if I could drive my car to the conference and then afterward not go back to work so I could hopefully get in line for a PS3 before the line filled up. I got to Best Buy at about 1:30 on Wednesday and was 15th in line (Jon was 1st). Jon talked to the people in front of me so I was able to hang out and sleep in the tent that Jon was in with Nate, David and John Hendricks. Here's a picture of the first two tents in line and a few people (the big yellow & blue tent is ours): Most of the other people in line were very friendly so everyone hung out together. By the end, a lot of us knew each other pretty well. Here's a close up of our tent (the one side of it isn't up in this picture): After I got there the line started filling up quickly, by around 5 or 6 that night there were as many people in line as Play Stations that Best Buy was getting (28). Someone in line decided to write up a list with the names of everyone in line so that no one could budge and say that they were in line if they weren't (people get crazy about these systems). There was a 24 hour Giant, a Target, a Lowes, and other stores, all right there in the same shopping center, so we were able to get out of line for little bits at a time to go get food or use the restrooms. People were pretty easy going about it.

Shawna and Kelsey got to Best Buy around 3:00 and they were racing about 3 other people who were also on their way. Shawna brought the Hendricks camping grill so some of us cooked up hamburgers for dinner Wednesday night and Thursday we made bacon and eggs for breakfast. A few of the guys also made Steaks for dinner Thursday night:

Nate making hamburgers:

Steaks:

Me reading a magazine: Thursday it rained so we bought a tarp at Lowes and put it over the tent to keep it from leaking. Then we all sat inside watching two movies on a laptop, which was hooked up to a car battery for power :). In the picture below you can see our tent in the background with the tarp over it:
Thursday we were on Channel 10 news two times. Throughout the entire time we were sitting there 2 news papers came to do interviews and Wired 96.5 (a local radio station) also came out. Channel 10 news interviewed Jon and Nate personally and video taped us grilling and sitting around.

The NBC 10 news van:

Channel 10 News video taping:

EVERYONE asked up what we were doing there! It was pretty fun, other than the fact that we couldn't get showers and it rained pretty hard on Thursday so it was very moist and a little damp on the outsides corners of the tent.

Here you can sort-of see some of the tents but they also wrapped around the building:

It was definatly an experience :)

Less than an hour later...

Jon came home right after I published my last post but he was rushing around and on the phone constantly. I bairly got a few words in and just waited to see what was happening. Then Nate showed up and after that it was really a mad rush around here. Jon ran around and grabbed things he needed and within 15 minutes they were running out the door to go to the Best Buy in Plymouth Meeting because there they only had 2 people in line so far so they would for sure get a system. I just sat in shock!

I came home expecting a nice relaxing night with Jon and to prepare for going to sit in line tomorrow night. Instead I bairly got to talk to him and he rushed out the door and now I have no idea what to do! I was looking forward to not working Thursday and Friday and now I'll probably have to work because I won't be sitting in line for a PS3 unless, for some reason, there's no one behind Jon, Nate and David still tomorrow night.

I guess I should start packing up some things to go over to Jon's parents to spend the night, and the next 2 nights!

This is the first time since being married that Jon won't be around :(. I'm going through withdrawal already!

Play Station 3

Oh boy... on my way home from work today I called Jon and found out he was driving around Montgomeryville and there were already people standing in line outside of Target waiting for the launch of the new Play Station 3 that comes out Friday morning. Jon and I and a bunch of other people from church were planning on waiting in line too but we weren't planning on arriving until tomorrow night. So Jon drove to Best Buy and there were already 11 people in line! He hung up at that point because he had to figure out what was going on....

About 20 minutes later he calls and asks what I'm doing, of course I'm just walking around the house wondering what the next few days is going to look like if there's already people standing in line and Jon is determined to get a PS3. Then he says that him and David are standing in line at Best Buy for a PS3!!!

So, now I'm sitting at home waiting for him to call back to find out what's happening. He's calling around to other locations to see if there's anywhere where there aren't people in line yet. They may not stay in line at Best Buy. I was supposed to be with him too, but I've got work tomorrow and I'm already taking off Thursday and Friday.

Wonder what's going to happen! One thing I know, if Jon doesn't come home tonight I'm not staying by myself! I'll be heading next door to stay at his parents, I have to go over there to get a shower in the morning anyway.

I'm Back! :)

Since the last time I posted I have had absolutely no time to write again. I've been busy at work and even busier at home preparing for my open house that was yesterday. Friday I only worked a half-day at work and then came home to start preparing for the open house. It was so nice out when I got home that I just had to be outside, so I raked the yard, swept the porch and walkway and washed some windows. I should have worn gloves to rake because I had a nice big blister when I was done. Friday night Jon and I organized some more upstairs and I cleaned up there so it was all ready.

Saturday my mom came over after lunch to help me finish making all the food. Without her help I never would have gotten it all done. We baked and cooked the whole afternoon and into the evening, it was fun! My dad came over with pizza at dinner time so we wouldn't have to stop cooking to make dinner. After we ate pizza dad and Jon helped make mini sandwiches and cut up cheese and ring bologna, which was the last of the food that needed to be made. Mom and Dad left around 8:30 or 9:00 Saturday and then I was up till midnight finishing the cleaning and organizing. Jon did a lot to help out during the day Saturday too, even though he had homework to finish up.

The open house yesterday turned out wonderful even though the weather didn't cooperate. It was raining off and on all day so we put a couple pieces of remnant carpet from Jon's parents house on the porch and right inside the front door and we had people take off there shoes when they came in. Suprisingly the house stayed really clean and there's no stains on the carpet! Yeah! We had WAY too much food though :) I guess it's better though to have too much than not enough. There was a steady amount of people coming through all day long but it was great! I took a few pictures throughout the day:

The main food table:

Here's another table of food we set up in the middle of the kitchen:

We had 900 some pictures from our wedding and honeymoon playing on the TV:

Mom, Dad and Uncle Ron watching the slide show:


I meant to take more pictures than I did, but I forgot. So I only have a few more than what is here. :( Oh well. Most of the crowd left by around 9ish but Amanda stayed to help clean up some. We were dumping things down the garbage disposal in the sink for a while and then turned it on and it kept going and going... It wasn't sounding normal, so we shut it off and dirty water started bubbling out! We kept turning it on but it didn't do anything different and when we ran water in the sink it would just sit there until we turned on the garbage disposal. I got Jon and he tried all different things but nothing worked. Then I was going into the bathroom to get something and noticed an awful smell and realized that the tub was full of dirty water with carrots and dip and everything we put down the garbage disposal, YUCK! Jon tried plunging the drains a little but it didn't do anything. It looked so gross. Jon's mom was still here at this point so she said she'd have the handy-man from the Inn come over first thing this morning to check it out.

This morning I had to get my shower over at Jon's parents house before work and I left with all my dirty dishes sitting on the counter. I had requested a half-day of work today so I could come home and clean, and I was hoping that the drainage problem would be fixed by the time home so I could do all my dishes.

When I got home there was an I.T. Landis Truck and the handyman from the Inn just leaving and I was told that our septic pipes were all collapsed and busted and it all had to be pulled up and re-done. They said we could use water, but sparingly and I'm not supposed to do wash or anything because that's too much water at one time. I can't really do anything though because the water drains from the sink and tub so slowly and if I turn on the garbage disposal to make the sink drain fast it bubbles in the tub, ha.

When I came inside after getting this news I was surprised to see my counters were all clean and there were no dirty dishes in sight. Jon's mom and Liz (her cleaning lady) had taken all my dishes over to her house and washed them for me!!! I am so thankful! Mom F even cleaned out the disgusting junk in the tub for me!

I'm so glad this all happend AFTER the open house when there was only 2 people left! That would have been really bad if it had happened earlier in the day!

Tonight I am getting a massage, I can't wait! I'm sure I have tons of knots :). Jon came home a little bit ago from school so I better go. We have to go out shopping to fill the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This post is getting really long anyway.

Now that I figured out how to post images I'll have to post more of them later.

A surprise for me! :)

Normally Jon works Wednesday and Thursday nights until late, and since I don’t like being home alone after dark, most of the time I’m out running errands or grocery shopping while Jon’s at work. This was my plan for last night. I had a big list of errands to run: things to return/exchange, grocery shopping, gift shopping etc. Jon had said he would be taking off tonight to work on homework so I wanted to get all my errands done last night so I could be home tonight while he was there. Yesterday afternoon I emailed Jon to see if he had gotten off work for tonight so that I could plan my night last night. To my surprise and excitement he said he was going to be home last night PLUS tonight he is going to be hanging lights on the trees at the Inn so he’ll be home earlier than usual!!

So last night, instead of going out, I went home and got a LOT done around the house. Even though Jon was upstairs working on homework for most of the night it was good just knowing he was home, and we got to eat dinner together and spend a little time together at least! :)

Tonight I’m going to run all my errands and go grocery shopping. My open house is coming up in less than 2 weeks!! I can’t believe time went by so fast since I planned it. I’m going to start baking cookies this weekend and freeze them. Thanks so much for everyone that is helping out with food or otherwise!