THE HOUSE!!!

Yesterday Jeremiah and I (and some of our friends) went to check out how the new house is coming along. So far, they have the forms and today the plumber is supposed to be putting in the plumbing. After that they should be able to pour the slab. I can't wait!

I've Been Tagged!

My friend, Lauren, tagged me on her blog. The rules are that I have to tell 7 random things about myself and then tag 7 friends...


COMING SOON!

New Orleans

During the first week of November, I traveled to New Orleans for a conference for work. It was a fun week and I learned a lot.



One day, the class I signed up for didn't seem to fit my situation like I had hoped, so I skipped out and did some sightseeing! I took a streetcar to the Garden District and took a walking tour and saw a lot of beautiful old houses and an old "City of the Dead" above-ground cemetery. Then, I went down by the river and walked to Jackson Square in the French Quarter. I walked around the French Market, ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde, and went into the St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in North America.






One day during an extended lunch, I walked down to the casino and lost $5 on the penny slots! I have never gambled before, so this was a new experience for me. I realized that I could never be a hard-core gambler when a guy came and played the machine next to me and I saw he was playing $5 each time he pushed the button and I was only playing 5 cents - and this was while I was being daring and had moved up from 1 cent!


Since I was there alone, I didn't feel comfortable going out after dark, so wasn't able to go out and eat much great New Orleans food. Instead, I stayed in my hotel room after a quick bite to eat nearby and cought up on my alone time and some good fun reading! It was a great week, but I was definately ready to get back home!

Pumpkin

Last week I bought a pumpkin because my small group at church decided to roast pumpkin seeds and bring them to share with the group. I had never roasted pumpkin seeds before, so it was an adventure! I couldn't decide what flavor to make, so I made two: garlic and enchilada! Really, I wanted to make taco instead of enchilada, but I didn't have taco seasoning! They turned out pretty good, but I liked the cinnamon ones that a couple of the junior high girls brought! They were GOOD!

So, then we had a pumpkin that needed carving! I told Jeremiah that he is WAY more creative and artistic than I am and that he should probably carve the pumpkin. Last night when he got home from work, he grabbed a knife and started. We aren't much for Haloween, so instead of a face, Jeremiah carved a cross and a tomb - an Easter Pumpkin! It looked great!

Voting

I will be out of town next week and will be unable to vote on Tuesday, so I decided to go to the Election Board yesterday and vote early. I didn't know it was an option until I looked online about getting an absentee ballot. It was a little crazy - there were alot of people there. Parking was difficult. I drove around the lot several times before I found myself being directed back onto the street! I don't know how I got in the line to leave, but I had to start again! When I got back into the parking lot, I found a spot pretty quickly, but then had to walk to the back of the parking lot where the line of people ended! I was surprised how quickly we got through the line, though! Parking and everything, I think I was there about an hour. They say that the early voting is up ALOT from 2004 and that this election will probably be the highest turnout in the past 100 years! I am glad I got it out of the way! Now I can only pray that the right man will be elected and make the right choices for our country!

The New Pad

We are FINALLY moved into our apartment!

Actually it is a condo, but whatever you call it, it is small and it is where we live! It is definately an adjustment to move from a 3 bed/3 bath to a 1 bed/1 bath! We put most of our stuff into storage and only brought what we really "need" for the next 5 or 6 months while our house is being built. Meanwhile, we are finding creative ways to use the space. We have a dining room/office and a kitchen/laundry room to deal with! There are stackable washer/dryer units in a closet in the kitchen and I have a bookshelf to hold all my office stuff and where I can put my computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. when they aren't being used on the kitchen table! I know we will appreciate our new home when it is done!

Alex, our oldest...dog, is staying with her...grandmother?, Jeremiah's mom, while we are here because we found out after we moved in that they only allow 2 doggies! :( We miss her ALOT and visit as much as possible, but our busy schedule makes that difficult!

The other challenge we found out about right after we moved in was that the owner has put the place up for sale! So, we just thought we were done with realtors and having people walk through our house! We are not entirely sure what will happen if the place sells, but we are believeing that God will take care of us and that He has us here for a reason. Hopefully that reason isn't to move out in a few months!!! We hope that it won't sell until after we are in our new house and the housing market is in our favor, but we will see!

Since the realtor had professional pictures taken for his website, I am going to use them here to show our temporary home! The pictures do make it look bigger than it is, though!

Superstars

Last night Jeremiah and I had the oppertunity to go to the Gymnastics Tour of Superstars. We got to see Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Shannon Miller, The Hamm brothers, and many more great gymnasts perform. It was great. Our seats were on the floor right next to the stage. It was really cool being so close to the gymnasts!



We had some friends that were there also and had a backstage pass that they weren't going to use, so I was able to go back and get all their autographs!

Afterward, we all went to The Cheesecake Factory for appetizers and cheesecake!