Tied the Knot

Can't believe it's been two weeks already! It was a wonderful day and evening - I feel so blessed!

Where did the Summer Go?

Still alive - can't believe it's been darn near 4 months since I've posted. We've moved - had no computer access for a while and are now planning our wedding - October 17th - Sweetest Day - awww - but honestly we didn't know that til after we picked the date - kinda cool though - I think it's good mojo. Now off to bed - we still have a bunch of stuff at the condo, to include the computer desk, so I'm typing this on the floor and I think my elbows have fallen asleep already . . . .

Mother's Day

What an excellent day with the Folks yesterday for Mother's Day! We had a yummy brunch at the Garden and then just came back to the house and hung out. I'm so lucky to have such a Great Mom and such an Awesome Family!

Time Management

Of all the classes and courses and books I've read throughout my life, time management is the one I struggle with the most. I've been reading a book called "Today Matters" for the last year so what does that say about me? Can't believe its been over a month since I've posted. Jumped on Facebook and I barely have time to get on that as well. Good thing I can't access it at work or I might not have a job.

Lots happened over the last month or so - I'm now into my next decade - although from everything I've heard, unless they are just trying to make me feel better, it sounds like the 40s will be fun and will fly by faster than the 30s did.

Also went to Guam - WOW! This picture is from a secluded beach - Haputo Beach - that one of my bosses at work told me about. The picture doesn't do it justice but it gives you a glimpse of its beauty. We also took our goggles and dove down to view the incredible fish - just like the ones you see in the saltwater aquarium. Too Cool!

The house is coming along excellently - Mark is so good at so many things - he got tons done while I was gone. I only contribute in the destruction phase - making things look nice and work correctly is not my forte.

Easter was wonderful too - good friends, good food, good family - Life is Good!

Is there any such thing as truly quick and easy chicken?

OK, so I google-searched a recipe for this and have yet to find one. Maybe I need to search quick and easy chicken recipes that don't require any ingredients other than the chicken . . . . I'm attempting to surprise Mark with lunch and we've got this chicken we need to cook so I thought, how hard can this be? Obviously a bit harder than I thought - I guess I can't cook anything without Parmesan cheese or sour cream - both of which I do not have on hand. Oh wait - I just remembered I have two cookbooks in the cupboard that friends of mine bought for me. There has got to be something in there for chicken. One book is "Cooking for Idiots" and the other is "The Three Ingredient Recipe Cookbook". Yes, my friends know me and they love me :-)

The Joys of Homeownership

I think it is finally sinking in that we've bought a house. The signs are everywhere, especially in our dwindling bank account. This is my first home purchase ever, although I could've probably purchased one with all of the money I've put into renting in the last eighteen years or so. We went to Lowe's one night last week just to pick out lighting for the kitchen - it took a few hours and several hundred dollars before we got what we "think" we want. My friend bought me a magnet once that had the words "I used to be indecisive but now I'm not sure" inscribed on it. Well, that describes me to a tee. Thankfully Mark and I have very similar tastes, and he has built a home before so he knows what he's doing. If I say I like something and he agrees, or vice versa, then we know we're going to be pretty happy with our decisions. The house is unfinished upstairs and we want to make some changes downstairs and to the outside of the house and yard, so we're taking our time and doing a bit at a time. It's kinda fun, but kinda stressful too, and today I get a phone call that the furnace isn't working - not a good sign. Ever the optomist, I point out to Mark that we are going to get a new one anyway eventually because this one is too small to heat the whole house with the unfinished upstairs, but he wants to use this one for his "man cave" in the out building out back and didn't want to have to buy a new one right now. So one of our friends has volunteered to take a look at it for us and hopefully it's just something small and cheap, like the catastrophic converter or something.

I'm still glad we're homeowners though - they're not making land anymore, so at least we've got our own little piece of it.

The Old Barn

Not to count my chickens before they hatch, but we're due to close on this house and property very soon. Most of the formalities are out of the way, and we've taken some pictures of the place and are having fun looking at the ways we want to fix it up. This barn is ("they" say) over 100 years old, and it has so much character - it also has some major issues - part of the roof is gone, the floor has caved in and up in the hay mound area something pretty large must be residing due to the size of the "presents" it has left behind. Of course, being the romantic that I am, I really really hope we can save it - Mark does as well, but I think he's a bit more practical than I am. We're hoping to have an Amish crew come up and take a look at it and give us a quote on restoring it. If it's not cost effective, at least we can save some of the old beams and possibly incorporate them into the new barn we hope to build. I'm still hanging on to hopes that this one can be restored - like our friend Stu says, these old barns are a dying breed.

What a New Year

This is gonna be a heck of a year I do believe. If all goes well, Mark and I plan on getting married in October - first thought of going to St Augustine Florida for a small beach wedding and then a big party back here a few weeks later. That is still a possibility, but now we're working on trying to buy a house - it's on 10 acres with a pond and small woods in the back - needs a bit of work - unfinished upstairs, but it's really got character, and an old barn that's about falling down but hopefully salvageable. If we can get the place cleaned up, we might just decided to tie the knot at the homestead. Plus, I turn the big 4-0 this year - that hardly seems possible - seems like I just graduated from high school. And, on the work front, it looks like we'll probably be going back overseas early next year for another 6 to 9 month vacation - joy joy! So, the easily-overwhelemed, procrastinating me has decided to just take it one day at a time and pray every day. Seems to be working pretty well so far :-)

And speaking of praying, wasn't it truly a miracle that all of those people on the US Airways flight survived yesterday - God Is Amazing!

New Year Nausea

Happy New Year! New Year's Eve we stayed close to home but did stay up long enough to ring in 2009 - didn't even crack open the champagne, but I did have a few glasses of wine. Then on New Year's Day we took a drive and relaxed, but then in the evening I got sick as a dog. First thought it might be a touch of food poisoning, because I've been there before, once I did it to myself with tuna helper - ick. But this time I had the chills and body aches something fierce. Just now starting to come out of the funk - just in time to return to work - joy joy. All in all though, it was a very nice Holiday vacation - lots of friends, family, fun and laughs :-)

Merry Christmas!

May you enjoy every moment of the Season with those you love the most!

Ya Gotta Love 10's

Just started ten hour days a few weeks ago, so now I go in at 6am and work til 5 from Monday-Thursday with an hour for lunch - good for dog walking since he needs some relief too in a long day. It has been quite an adjustment, but today is a great reminder of why I think I'm going to like a four day work week. I got to sleep in, been leisurely getting stuff done around the house, and am in the midst of watching "Love Actually". It's nice to just have a whole day, all to myself and then to realize that I've got the whole weekend ahead of me as well.

Think I'm gonna go to the grocery store to get that over with and then pay some bills OR maybe I'll just stay right here on the couch . . . .

Harvey Oaks

Mom invited me to the neatest soiree the other evening at Harvey Oaks Jewelers in Fremont. For some reason I can never get my hyperlinks to come through on my blog but they have a website - www.harveyoaksjeweler.com/. Anyway, they invite customers to this event where basically they have appetizers and wine and it's the only time of year they actually have anything discounted. They also buy their jewelry and place it at fair market value at the time of their purchase. Then if the market goes up, they don't mark up the prices, so that's cool. They also encourage you to make a wish list, and then they keep it on file so that when your husband or family member or friend comes in, they know what type of jewelry you like. This event was for the ladies, and then in two weeks, they have an event for the men so they can see what's on their significant others' wish lists. My mom bought a very pretty gold ring, and the neat thing with it was that stones can be added later or she can wear it as is. The gentleman that waited on us has been with the store for 31 years. He goes to shows and buys the most unique and high quality gems. He spent a lot of time with us, showing us all sorts of gems that you don't see every day, and he explained all about the ones that are more durable or more soft than others. I never realized that emeralds are one of the softest stones so you have to be very careful when wearing them. So, if you're ever in Fremont, check them out. They aren't the most inexpensive of stores, but if you make a purchase there you know you're getting something special.

November Rain

Regrouping from two weeks straight without a day off. Drill was last weekend and it was a long week prior to and since. Yesterday I basically vegged out all day and today I'm playing catch up with all the things I've let slide, including bills and blogs. Mark and I decided to take tomorrow off and the government has graciously given us off Veteran's Day on Tuesday, so it's almost like we've got a mini-vacation. The weather has been a bit dreary but it makes for a nice opportunity to curl up with a good book.

This afternoon is going to be a bit tough though, because Mom and I are attending the funeral of a woman who was like a second Mom to me. I spent many days and weekends at the Mercer household while I was growing up, and now we've got to say goodbye to Mrs. Mercer. She is definitely in a better place where there is no suffering and nothing but peace and joy, and we will see her again someday - that is a comforting thought.

Amish Friendship Bread

Ever make it? Well if you're like me and you don't cook much or hardly at all, the task seems quite daunting. It was actually pretty neat though when I gave it a shot. You get this bag of goo and for like 10 days you do all this stuff to it and on the 10Th day you bake it. It's really good - tastes a lot like coffee cake. Most days all you have to do is mush the bag but a few days you add a few ingredients like milk and flour and sugar. You then split the batter and give it to friends on the 10Th day. It's sorta like a chain letter but with food. I gave mine to the ladies at work and told them I totally understood if they'd want to toss it, but I think most of them were actually gonna make it. You can also add raisins, nuts etc to it to make it even better but I thought I'd just follow the recipe since sometimes that alone is challenging enough for me. All in all though, it was fun to watch the batter ferment and stuff and people actually ate the bread when I took it to work so it couldn't have been that bad. Thanks April for bringing me my bag of goo - it made for an interesting 10 days, and you may just make a cook out of me yet - but don't hold your breath :-)

October Already?

Behind again - much has happened these past three weeks or so - almost all of it has been a lot of fun! It's had its ups - Family reunion at Put in Bay - and downs - had to take Mark to the ER - but all in all, it's been pretty good. Thankfully Mark is doing pretty well, although they are going to do some blood work to see what is going on with him. He's feeling quite a bit better though - Thank God!

Tonight we're having a WXKR radio reunion at Mi Hacienda in Toledo. Can't wait - it's been forever since we've all been together. I'm definitely taking the camera for that one. My friend Jennifer, who is AWESOME at planning these types of events -is making a CD of old pix that we all e-mailed her - that oughta be a hoot.

Thought I'd put a picture from the old radio days on the blog too - partying with the band The Why Store back in the mid-90's - seems like only yesterday!

And of course, I had to post a picture of the wild and crazy Kruse bunch at Casual Cape on Put in Bay - what a neat place and what a great time! Two houses all to ourselves - we're going to try to do this every year from here on out, and thanks to my Mom's cleaning effots, next year we get Thursday evening free! Go Mom!!!

Memories of Summer

Our friends and neighbors, Tom and Emily, have a friend who came in August and took some pictures of their dog Sandy and also of the lake views from our beach. I swear Sandy is smiling - no wonder Noah loves her.

Said Yes to the Dress

Found "the one" - it's simple but beautiful. I love it! Thank God Mom has been there all the way to help me with one thing at a time so I don't feel so overwhelmed. Still nailing down the date, but it's definitely going to be next September or October. This is really exciting - never tried on a wedding dress before, so what an experience that was. I had tried on about a dozen before finding this one. I actually passed on it a few times because it didn't look like "me" in the bag, but once I got it on, it fit so perfectly and I just fell in love with it. Plus it was actually comfortable - I never thought a wedding dress could be comfortable but I can see me wearing it easily all evening. My sister is coming in town in a week and a half for a family reunion and I just can't wait to show it to her - she's going to cry, and I might even cry too.

In Check

God always has a way of keeping our egos in check. This morning I went running down at one of my favorite spots down the road from here, and it was such a perfect morning for a run. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot yet, and there was a nice breeze as well. I had run all but about the last quarter mile, and I was thinking here I was running on my day off, feeling good, thinking that I've come a long way since I started doing this regularly almost nine months ago. Then all of a sudden, some young tan girl in a Brandy Chasteen running bra comes running out of Lakefront Marina looking absolutely stunning and running with the greatest of ease. As I was running behind her I just laughed to myself, noting that there's always room for improvement.

In other news, with persistence, God also allows for things that start off rocky to turn out Great. That's what happened yesterday. My Sister was in town for basically only one full day and we were hoping to go waverunning. Unfortunately, everyone and their brother had the same idea around here. We had a heck of a time just getting them around to the beach to fuel them because they were on empty and kept cutting out before we could even get them to the jetty (is it jetty or jeddy? hmmm). Then there were so many people at the beach that we didn't feel comfortable fueling them around all those people, so poor Mark basically had to trek through thick foliage (hopefully not poison ivy-infected) to get around to a more secluded spot for fueling. Once we finally got them fueled, the waves kicked up so it was a bit of a bumpy day for riding, but we ended up having an absolute ball! Then we came back up to the condo and cooked brats and beans and corn on the cob and snacked on veggies and cheese and talked and laughed with the folks too. They even got on the waverunners and rode for a while - I was so proud that they did that, even though it was a bit rough out there. It ended up being just a wonderful and memorable day - a hard one to top!

Hot, Hot Hot

Whew - Summer is back with a vengeance. These last few days have been muggy and hot, and we've taken refuge in the cool condo. The dog, poor little black critter that he is, is out and in in a moment as the heat is way too much for him as well. Our neighbor Joan had a fish fry last evening - walleye bites, and they were awesome. We sat around and ate and drank some refreshing Sangria and enjoyed the occasional breezes as they would blow through. Now it is Sunday afternoon again, and I've got that ambivalent feeling I always get as the weekend winds down, wanting to savor every moment of what's left of the weekend and mentally preparing myself for another busy work week. Maybe I'll head out and take a dip in the lake because before we know it, it will be sweater season again.

Oh, and I finally downloaded the picture from when my Uncle Frank (my Mom's little Brother) and my Cousin Missy came through on their way to moving her down to Virginia. She is starting an exciting job at James Madison University tomorrow. She's going to be teaching a history class and getting her Master's Degree there as well - too cool - we're So Proud! We had such a nice time the other day - hadn't seen them in at least five or six years - Uncle Frank lives in North Dakota. It's amazing how time gets away from us, but with family and close friends, it's like we've never been apart!

What a Weekend

This weekend was our FTX (field exercise) at Camp Perry. Each year we spend three days in the field playing war games and honing our skills. It's always a trip - we have chemical attacks, aggressors trying to access our camp, and all sorts of other fun stuff. Well this year, we had our Detachment, a brand new group of Red Horse Personnel from Mansfield, join us. Normally it's hotter than heck and miserable as all get out, but this year, the weather was just perfect. Other than the downpour we experienced on Saturday night, you couldn't ask for anything better. OK, maybe one thing could have been better. If you're going to have over three hundred people playing war games, you might want to locate the porta potties a bit farther away from the dining tent. Needless to say, after three days, even with good weather, when you stood in line for your meals, you always had the pleasant aroma of porta potty wafting through your nasal passages. Maybe this is the Air National Guard's way of helping us to control food portions and stay within fitness standards . . . it sure worked for me!