What lies ahead. . .

Most of the time on the blog, I tend to write about things we've done or places we've been; however, this post will be a little different. I want to let you all know where Steve & I are headed this year. (Now, keep in mind this is a tentative plan that can change any moment, especially if it's not in God's plan.)

These first couple months contain some big steps to calling Jackson home. We have attended 2 of 4 membership classes at the church we've been attending. Meaning, after the last class, we will have the opportunity (which we are taking) to become members of Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson, Tn (fellowshipjackson.com for those of you interested). We're also attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes (13 week course!) through the church. Hopefully, these classes will help us in some of the big decisions we need to make in the next six months.

Steve and I sat done a month or so ago and had a heart to heart on our future as a couple and our future here in Jackson. Our ultimate goal is for Steve to be transferred to P&G in Cincinnati. The sooner this would happen, the happier I'd be-- especially since this means we'd be 3 hours away from my parents instead of the 9 hour trip (accounting for the time change). Realistically, we will probably be in Jackson for another 3+ years. So that being said. . .

We're buying a house! Or, at least we're researching and starting the house hunt. Our lease for the house we're renting now is up and June, which happens to correspond to Steve's start date with P&G. If you buy a house within the first year of working with the company, they'll help in the buying process & save you some $$$$. We've started creating a list of available houses, noting pros and cons from the pictures, and driving out to see the houses and neighborhoods. Our next step is to contact a Realtor and figure out bank loans and mortgages.

Another big purchase we will be making is a new car. For the past several months, we've been blessed with borrowing a car from Steve's parents. However, in a few months, we're going to be driving it back to Colorado, leaving us with one car. Steve says I've been spoiled with my freedom and we don't need another car, but then I remind him I can't go & sub without the freedom of the car. (I probably shouldn't mention the fact that I haven't been called to sub in well over a month. . . ).

With my subbing experiences, I've come to the conclusion that I will never want a full

time job within the Jackson school system. I do have the option of the school system in the next county (comes highly recommended) or find a private or charter school within Jackson. So I guess I need to crack down and get serious about job hunting in the next couple months (which means that I have mountains of paperwork laying ahead for me).

Back to the car purchase-- we're still in the early stages of researching cars right now. I know what I want (well, not the specific make, but I'm a huge fan of crossovers) but we're trying to decide whether that's the best decision. Then we have to weigh buying a new car versus a used car. Luckily, Steve loves doing all the research. He has started his spreadsheet extravaganzas and works on them daily. I get overwhelmed with all the options, and gladly relinquish the car hunt to him. I'll just keep sticking to searching for houses and critiquing their looks :).

A New Perspective

This week marked Jackson's first snowstorm for the year. All last week, the news reports were warning a "big snow" to start on Sunday evening. Our area was predicted to have 2-4" of snow. Back in Indiana, that didn't really mark a "storm" label. It would just mean a definite 2 hr delay and possible cancellation when I was young and a debate on whether or not to skip class in college. As soon as the snow started to fall on Sunday evening, school was canceled for Monday. I couldn't believe it!

We woke up Monday morning to 2" of snow. Steve went to work and said the roads were fine, just a little slushy in areas. Some of his coworkers came in late, but that's about the extent of his day with the snow. While watching the local channels, news blurbs kept popping up about staying at home and avoiding the roads. One family was interviewed on the news talking about how they'd stocked up 2 weeks of food, "just incase" and even some restaurants and businesses closed early. We were supposed to have our first "Financial Peace with Dave Ramsey" class, but it got canceled due to the "inclement weather." By 4pm, it was announced that school would be canceled for Tuesday. Again, this is only 2" of snow! Growing up, I would NEVER have been lucky to miss 2 days of school due to 2 measly inches.

Living in the South has given me a new perspective on snow. I now understand how Steve always viewed snow in Indiana. He'd always make comments about "well in Colorado. . . ", and here I just wrote a whole blog post about " well in Indiana. . . ". Maybe schools and businesses closed because people aren't prepared to drive on snow down here; however, I have a different idea. I'm pretty sure everything canceled so that kids could play in the snow and parents have a reason to stay in doors. I'll have to admit, I stayed in doors due to the snow (and again, it was just 2"!).

Weather aside, we've had a very low-key week. I've not been called to sub yet this semester, so I've been keeping busy watching little Hadleigh. I can't believe how much she changes from week to week. I never know what new thing she'll do when she's here, like throw a fit over her diaper, growl (and laugh), or try to run. She's such a cutie & I'm thrilled to get to play with her! Steve is still recovering from his ear infection. He sees improvement each day, like (unpainful) popping, regaining some hearing, and no more coughing/runny nose. It's just a long process to have a fully decongested ear (doctor said it could take a week or so to start feeling better & we're just now at the week point). He's still got more antibiotics to go, so we'll see how it goes.

Reclaiming the House . . .

Even though we have physically been back in Jackson since Sunday, I finally feel like we are home. I spent the majority of the day reclaiming the house from sickness, Christmas, suitcases, dishes, laundry --- you name it! Steve and I came back from our Christmas travels sick. I bounced back pretty quickly; whereas Steve has been hit pretty hard. You know it's bad when he makes his own appointment to go to the doctor!

All week, I've been either lazy or babysitting little Hadleigh. When she's over, I can maintain the house as it is, but can't catch up. Which is fine with me -- I enjoy having the excuse of playing with a little kid all day! But today, I was finally able to put the rest of Christmas away & packed into the garage, unpack suitcases, and do a deep house clean.

Steve got Monday off, which helped him recuperate a little bit from traveling. He had hoped that sleeping in Monday, and taking it easy all day, would unclog his ear (which got clogged & became painful on the flights home) and bring his energy back. Tuesday, he went back to work & seemed to be about the same. However, Wednesday is a different story -- he came home sick at lunch & took a half day. For those of you who don't know Steve well, he is not one to use vacation days, so the fact he took a half day shows how sick he really is. This morning, his ear was pounding and driving him crazy so he ended up leaving work in the afternoon to head to the doctor. The doctor prescribed him a "heavy duty" antibiotic & medicine for ear congestion, diagnosing him with an upper respiratory & ear infection. Poor guy, he should be back to normal in a week (hopefully the ear pain dies down in the next day or two!).

Odd fact I learned tonight -- if Walmart doesn't have the medicine you need to fill a prescription, they'll have it filled at Sams Club & you don't need a membership to go get the prescription.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Steve and I have finally made it home from all our holiday travels. We somehow managed to pack Christmas with both our families in one week, which made for lots of traveling, and not much resting. We spent Christmas Eve just the two of us in Tennessee. Even though we were married last Christmas, this felt like our first Christmas together. Last year, we spent Christmas Eve at my parents house; whereas this year it was just us and the beginning of our traditions.

On Christmas day, we flew out to New Jersey to be with Steve's family at his Nanny & Poppy's house. While there, we went to a family Christmas on a farm in Pennsylvania, drove through a blizzard (18" of snow in the end), and spent lots of time laughing with his family. Steve got to have his Birch Beer, TastyKakes, Mack & Manco's Pizza, and Shriver's taffy (all things I hear about all the time when we're away from Jersey). We stayed until Wednesday, and then we headed to see my family in Indiana. Somewhere between saying goodbye in New Jersey and hello in Indiana, I came down with a cold-- runny nose, sore throat, ear ache, the works.

Even though we were in Indiana for only 3 full days, we managed to pack in 2 family Christmases, reigning in the New Year with Carl & Julie, and I packed in a nice visit with my friend April. I don't think I actually "sat down" at all in Indiana. Sometime while there, Steve ended up getting the same cold that I had, and he got to bring it home with him on our early early flight to Tennessee Sunday morning. My wonderful parents woke up with us at 3:30 am to drive us to the airport for our 6:30 flight. Thanks again Mom & Dad!

Since being home, I think I have successfully held down the couch & reminded the television how much it is loved. Steve has also helped in consoling the tv over our absence as well as reminding his desktop computer that it was not forgotten in our absence. All in all, we had a very busy, and yet very enjoyable, holiday trip; however, I am very happy to be back home in Jackson.

Colorado Wedding

Yay!!! We felt much better!! Here we are at the reception. Thanks Trish for the picture!

Not exactly what you'd call "Vacation"

This past weekend, we headed out to Colorado for Steve to be in a wedding. His middle school friend Steve Willson (he was in our wedding) got married. The wedding ceremony was in a very old church which created a beautiful setting; while the reception was a full sit-down, open bar, dancing reception. We had a great time at the wedding; however, the days leading up to their celebration were not so fun. The story of our travel starts back to Thursday. . .

Thursday morning at 2 am, I woke up feeling horrid. I went to the bathroom where I soon began throwing up. I had awoken to the wonderful flu bug (no I'm not pregnant as all my friends ask whenever I don't feel well). I let Steve sleep as I laid on the couch. I would sleep into my runnings to the bathroom, as I through up for over 6 hours. Finally, by 8, I woke Steve up and told him what had been going on. He ran to Walmart to try to find me some medicine to settle my stomach. Instead of being able to lay around and rest the the whole day, I had to get better quick because we had to leave the house at 10:45 to get to the airport to make it to Colorado!

Even though I wasn't throwing up anymore, I was exhausted, my stomach felt tight, and I just felt awful. I kept debating with myself whether or not I could even make the car ride to the airport, to make the airplane to get to Colorado. At 10:20 I made my decision to go, I took a shower and quickly got ready. I wasn't gonna miss out on Steve W's wedding!

2 hours in a car, 2 hours in the airport, 3 hours in the plane, & another 1 hour car ride later, I made it to Steve's parents house. I was okay in a laying position or walking. Unfortunately, I couldn't do either on the plane and was losing it. But all that matters is that I made it to his parents' house without getting sick again! For the next 24 hours, I felt better but had a knot in my stomach. I took it easy laying around.

Friday morning, Steve woke up around 3 am throwing up. He only threw up a couple times and was wiped out the rest of the day. We were supposed to head up to Colorado Springs around 2 to get to the rehearsal & dinner. Even though Steve wasn't throwing up by then, he was in no shape to head up (however, keep in mind he made me ride in a car & a plane when I was feeling this way). So, he took a four hour nap instead of going to the rehearsal (the groom okayed all of this!).

Saturday morning we woke up and felt able to go to the wedding. Steve had to be with the rest of the wedding party by noon in order to start taking pictures. While he was off with them, I went shopping for a wedding gift, and then headed to a book store to read for awhile. I met Steve back at the church around 2. Steve sat down in between all the pictures. The wedding was at 4 and lasted about an hour. Luckily, there was a lot of standing & sitting (Episcopalian wedding) and they let the wedding party sit a lot. I was so concerned that Steve was going to have to stand the whole time (he would have never made it, he had only ate a grapefruit & an egg in 24 hours), but God took care of him!

We hated to have gotten sick at Steve's parents house, but it was a hidden blessing. Without the flu, we would only have seen Steve's parents Thursday night & again at the wedding. Instead, we got to see them each day and spend lots of time with them. Plus, they took excellent care of us when I would have had to do it all myself back in Tennessee. God does work in mysterious ways!

Busy Bees

I know it has been way too long since my last post. We have been crazy busy -- by we, I guess I mean me since I'm the one who blogs. If only Steverino enjoyed writing as much as me... oh well, you're stuck with me.

Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone. We spent the time in Indiana visiting my family. On Thursday, I woke up early to watch the Macy's parade with my dad. It's an unspoken tradition the two of us had, so it was nice to get to spend the first thanksgiving at home in 3 years! After watching the parade, we headed to my aunt's house for some yummy food.

We didn't have "our" family Thanksgiving until Saturday. It was a tradition my Grandma started before she passed away. She always chose to have family holiday gatherings on a day around the the time of the holiday, but not on the day (her thinking was that no one would have an excuse not to show up!). It was a little hard to enjoy Thanksgiving without her this year. She used to go all out with her Thanksgiving meal by making 3 different kinds of meat (Turkey, Ham, and cubed steak), lots of side dishes, and amazing amounts of desserts. She made a famous sugar cream pie that we are trying to duplicate without any luck. We found her recipe, but like any good cook, she never followed it.

Upon returning to Tennessee, I had to jump into a full week of subbing. I subbed every day, except Tuesday -- I was supposed to sub, but wasn't needed. Since I didn't sub on Tuesday, I babysit one cute little girl (Hadleigh). Monday I subbed for the same Middle School choir class from a few weeks ago; while Wednesday-Friday I subbed for a 2nd grade class. I was not prepared for 18 7 year olds all wanting my attention at the same time. I came home each day after subbing extremely exhausted! Poor Steve had a very tired and emotional wife for most of the week. He's such a good husband and encourager. I can't even begin to put into writings how wonderful he is!

On Saturday I drove up to Indiana all by myself. My parents are out of town for the week and I went to spend some time with my sister. I've kept pretty busy since I've been here visiting with my other sister and nieces as well as catching up with great friends. Steve rode with his boss and some other coworkers up to Cincinnati on Monday for leadership training. On Wednesday, I'll be headed to meet up with him in Cincinnati so that we can drive back to Tennessee together on Friday.

This is the part where I inform you that this is just the beginning of our holiday travels. In the next month, I think we'll only be at our house for a total of a week. Stay tuned for all the crazy travel stories to come (when I find time to write about them!).