Lost and Blind in Independence

Yesterday I told Adam that I would get off at the Rockside bus stop (close to his school) and meet him at the Walgreens on the corner of Rockside and Brecksville. On the ride into work, I realized that what I thought was a Walgreens was actually a Drug Mart. I forgt my cell phone, so once I got into work I called Adam (no answer) and left a message on his phone telling him that I meant Drug Mart. I called him quite a few times during the day without an answer (this is very common when he's at school so I just hoped that he'd get my message. Well, I got off the bus later that day and waited at the Drug Mart. Now, many of you know that I have a lot of problems opening my eyes lately, so I was a bit nervous about attempting to explore Independence on my own to try and find Adam. After about an hour of sitting and praying that Adam would find me I decided to search for a pay phone. These are really hard to find now that everyone pretty much has a cell phone. I walked over to a gas station (the scariest walk across a parking lot of my life because I couldn't really see) thinking for sure they'd have a pay phone. As I manually lifted my eyelids to get a glimpse of my surroundings I saw it across the street...WALGREENS!!!... which had been blocked from my view by the gas station and blinding sunlight. I quickly made my way to the corner of a very dangerous intersection to make my walk of death across the street. I was able to keep my eyes open long enough to see the green man appear that lets me know I can "walk." As I stepped into the street my eyes shut again and I prayed that I could walk straight. As I got toward the othe side of the street I heard Adam honk the horn of our car. I was so excited and relieved to have found him and to have made it safely across the street that I had a little cry of relief. The world is less scary when you can see!

Our $80 Mistake

When Adam and I moved into our townhome, the managers only had one key for our apartment. We had really good intentions to go and get another one made, but Wal-mart isn't very close to us and every time we did make a trip there, we'd forget about the key. Adam gets home from school before I get home from work, so it's never been an issue...he keeps the key. Well, Monday morning I had a doctor appointment, and I wasn't sure if I was going to come home afterwards or go to work. Since we only had one key we left it in our "secret place" for whoever got home first. Well, Adam got home first and then a few hours later had to leave to come and pick me up from work. When we got back home, he realized that he had locked us out...we could see the key sitting on our kitchen table inside! The management office didn't have any spare keys, and so Adam attempted to break into our own house. When we realized that all the windows downstairs were locked, Adam decided that he'd try the second floor. There wasn't anything near our house for him to stand on to help hoist him onto the porch roof, so he decided to drive the car over...across the lawn...so he could stand on that. After all that work, we found out that all the windows upstairs were locked too. The next thing I know was Adam was trying to jump off the roof. I asked him to just kind of slide back onto the car because the jump made me nervous. He thought that was even more dangerous and insisted on jumping...which he did...into a puddle of mud! We finally surrendered at this point and went to our neighbor's to find a locksmith in the yellow pages. We found one, and he wanted $80...in cash! He came and was able to unlock the door in about 3 minutes...maybe less. Adam decided he was going to quit podiatry school and become a locksmith ($80 in three minutes...not too bad!!!). I told him no. Needless to say...we now have three keys!

They were called letters...

On Thursday, Adam and I received a letter from Zach (my 16 year old brother-in-law). With today's technology...email, cell phones, text messaging, blogs, etc...we don't receive too many letters. I must say that Adam's family is probably some of the best letter/card writers in the country, and we do get them from his parents every now and then. Well, Zach had never written us a letter before, so it was quite a surprise getting it in the mail. I just love getting mail, especially letters! Now, there is nothing earth shattering really going on in the life of this guy, but everything he wrote was fun to read. It really made us laugh (he's hilarious!). Now, I have a little confession to make. I LOVE checking the mail. When I am at home for the day, I will check the mailbox 2-3 times before the mailman comes, just to see if maybe he came early today. Growing up, I would get mad if anyone would check the mail before me. When I went to college, my family didn't check the mailbox for a week because they were so used to me doing it. When I get home from work, the first thing I ask Adam is, "Did you get the mail yet?" I don't know why I have this obsession with getting the mail because usually it's just junk adds or bills. But every once in a while, that golded letter comes (like the one from Zach) that brightens my day and takes me back to a simpler time...before the internet and cell phones!

Ol' blue Jeans on!

So, anyone who went to high school with me pretty much knows that I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl. I don't remember ever wearing anything but jeans in high school! Well, with the job I have now, I can't wear jeans to work. Today, was a special day because we got to wear jeans in and it totally made my day. So this post is dedicated to jeans and reasons why they're great.
Jeans...

1. match everything...you can wear any color with jeans and it'll look good


2. are comfortable


3. are warm (skirts/dress pants are NOT suitable for Cleveland's winters)


4. can be dressed up...you can wear with a blouse and heels and look fabulous


5. are flexible


6. allow you to move free (you have to watch how you're sitting in a skirt, but not in jeans!


7. can be worn many times before washing and no one can tell (I promise I do wash my jeans though)


8. Jeans can easily be recycled (cut-offs, jean quilts, etc.)


9. It's cool if they look worn (you can't wear a skirt, shirt or khaki's with a hole in it and still look decent)

Jeans make me so HAPPY!!!

A New Family Tradition!

Last night we got together with our friends, Dan and Amber Patty and Tyson and Lauren Fiala, to make gingerbread houses. It was so much fun that I decided making gingerbread houses was going to be a family tradition for us!

Note: Yes, Adam's thumb nail is painted a green/yellow color. I have NOTHING to do with this. He does it on his own accord whenever we go to the grocery store. If you have any questions, please speak with Dan Nelson!

This is a back shot of my gingerbread house. I would put a back shot of Adam's on here, but his looked the same on both sides. As you can tell from the picture of him and his creation, we're not really sure what Adam built. This makes me nervous, and I decided that we will never build our own home.

There were a lot of creative juices flowing and it was fun to see what everyone came up with. Here's a fun picture with the whole group and our houses...

For our friends and family who live far away...these are our friends, Amber and Dan Patty. Poor Dan had a bit of trouble with the skyscraper gingerbread building he was making. It collapsed during the building of the fourth floor. What your seeing in the picture below is the remains of his project. His is the second one to the left in the picture above.
We hung out for the first time last night with Tyson and Lauren Fiala (below). They were a lot of fun, and we hope to do more with them! They both had great gingerbread houses, although Tyson's was really impressive with his two story home.

Dan in Real Life

If you have not seen Dan in Real Life, I would stongly urge you to stop reading this post. I cannot promise that what I write will not spoil the end of the movie for you. This movie is worth seeing; it has many truths and laughs in it that are all too familiar too all of us and our families!

Friday nights are mine and Adam's date night. For as long as I can remember, date nights have consisted of us going out for dinner. Last night we were both in the mood for something a little different, so we decided it'd be fun to go see a movie. Now, going to the movies is not something we do very often because one of two scenarios always takes place:

Scenario 1- We go see a movie Laura wants to see, usually a chick flick or Disney movie. Adam laughs in parts that are NOT funny and doesn't laugh in the parts that are. This annoys Laura a little. Laura places herself in a move when she watches it, so by the end of a good chick flick she feels happy and in love! After the movie she wants to talk to Adam about her feelings and thoughts, and gets little to no response from Adam except "Good movie." This really annoys her, and they both wish they hadn't gone to see the movie together.

Scenario 2- We go see a movie Adam wants to see. Laura drags her feet a little because they're usually filled with some kind of fighting and a story line she can't follow. This annoys Adam a little. Due to the fact that Laura "lives" every movie she watches, the violence eventually gets to her. She doesn't like the way the movie is making her feel and walks out. This makes Adam very annoyed, and they both wish they hadn't gong to see the movie together.

Well last night, after debating between Adam's choice, Beowulf, and Laura's choice of Enchanted, we decided to go middle of the road and see Dan in Real Life. We fell in love with the dynamics of the family. They were so real and deep. Not the kind of deep that you have to analyze to figure out, but the kind of deep that hits your heart because as you watch it you feel the love and concern that exists in your own family. The comedy was there too, and it was so real. None of those silly jokes that make it look like they were "trying" to be funny, but the kind of jokes and funny things that happen in every family.

It was a little coincidental that the two main characters' names, Dan and Marie, were both names that Adam and I have and don't go by. Their love story reminded my a lot of those first few experiences I had with Adam. This first time I met him, I felt a connection with him that I'd never felt with anyone else. He made me feel valuable and safe at the same time, just by the way he looked at me. For a month after that he stayed away from me because his roommate (not brother, liked me...we were not dating though). One Saturday afternoon , a group of us were over at his apartment. As usual, he wasn't saying much to me because of his roommate. As we were all talking, he picked up his guitar and started playing "To Make You Feel My Love." As he played that song, I knew that somehow I was going to have to get him to talk to me, if not date me. Well, our romance unfolded pretty quickly after that. He asked me out on a "non-date," and we talked for hours. Everything was the best with him, and he lifted me up. At the end of the movie, Dan talks about how we always tend to plan our life out, but it never turns out the way we plan. He says that we should teach our children to "plan on being surprised." As amazing and wonderful as my husband is, he is far from the blonde hair, blue eyed, sensitive, rugged person I had dreamed up. But as Adam said, "I was pleasantly surprised."

Our First Christmas Tree

This is going to be our first Christmas together! While my family was here, we went and bought our first Christmas tree! We bought a real one this year with the plan to buy an artificial tree when they go on sale after Christmas. Although, I've enjoyed the pine smell so much that I might ask Adam if we can do a real tree every year. I started putting the lights on, and then Adam did the rest. It was funny because our idea of Christmas lights on a tree was very different, and you could see it on our tree. My lights were spaced out pretty far, and Adam likes them concentrated. Our tree looked so goofy that Adam had to fix the part I did so that our lighting was consistent.It was fun decorating for Christmas, but I am definitly looking forward to the collection of Christmas decorations through out the years. With it being our first Christmas, we don't have a lot to decorate with. Luckily, we got married in December and used ornaments and lights as decor at our reception so we did have some stuff!

Kirtland

While my family was visiting for Thanksgiving, we took a drive to Kirtland, Ohio. It was the first time my family had been together to visit a church history site (excluding Temple Square in Salt Lake City). We started our tour at the Kirtland Temple and then went over to the LDS visitor's center and N.K. Whitney Store. We had a nice little surprise at the visitor center because the video they were showing was different than the one they usually show. Instead of one about old Kirtland, they showed the new Joseph Smith movie that originally played in the theatre at temple square. Adam and I had already seen the video in Rexburg, Idaho, but my family hadn't seen it and wouldn't get the opportunity in Georgia. My mom was so excited when she found out what video she was about to see. The movie is so good and always helps me appreciate the wonderful blessings that the gospel brings to my life. I am grateful that I know that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three seperate beings. Because of this, I am able to have a personal relationship with each one and understand the important role of each in my life. I hope that I will be stong enough to make the sacrifices needed in my life to instill a love and understanding of the gospel in my future children.

I love this picture because of Dallen. It had been a really long day for the little four-year-old who had to watch historical movies he didn't understand. He fell asleep, and we woke him up for a picture. You can tell he wasn't too happy about it!

Thankful for Family!

This was Adam and mine's first Thanksgiving together as a married couple. We got to have the wonderful treat of hosting Thanksgiving for my family at our house. They drove all the way up from Georgia to share the holiday with us. My mom is such a good cook, so it was nice to have her help in the kitchen. Adam made his delicious mashed potatoes (oh yes, he makes the best!), and he got to use his dissecting skills from podiatry school to carve the turkey.

It was nice to have my parents and four brothers around. At the holidays I always miss chaos since I grew up in a big family with a lot of noise. I must say that for those few days they were here, there wasn't a quiet moment.

Coming from Georgia, my family doesn't see a whole lot of snow. Dario prayed that there would be snow while they were here, and...

You can see that it snowed...

enough for the boys to play in the snow! It was such a fun day for everyone. I was so glad that my family was able to spend the holiday with us.

Brasa Grill

Last night Adam and I went with a bunch of our friends to eat at Brasa Grill. It was so much fun going downtown and having dinner with our friends. We have been blessed with fun people to hang out with here in Cleveland. The restaurant has more meat than anyone could ever really want.

As you can see from the picture, they come around with big skewers that have meat on them. It's cooked over and open flame in is so delicious. You definitly have to pace yourself because there are serious consequences for eating too much (Adam is still getting over it). I always like going to these kinds of restaurants with Adam because he feels like he's on his mission again. It's so much fun to see him talk to the waitors in Portugese. There was a Russian waitor there and Adam said the only thing he knows how to say in Russian, "Don't touch my butt." It took the waitor of guard. I just about died, but I must say I am getting more used to Adam's occasional outbursts! The service wasn't the greatest...we were there for almost three hours. It was fun being with a big group though. We've been so blessed in having wonderful friends here in Cleveland. We all come from such different background and places, but it brings so much color and personality into our get togethers!

Mysterious Ways

Adam and I decided to take advantage of the Veteran's Day Weekend sales and went couch shopping. The couch we had was functional, but we just didn't have enough sitting spaces for when we have company over. So, we decided it was time for a new couch and loveseat. Our search was successful at the third store we went to that day. We found some comfortable couches that were on sale and right in our budget. A little problem did occur...we were sitting on the last couch that they had...so if we wanted it we had to use the floor sample. We ended up getting a price cut because it was the floor sample. The love seat was going to be delivered on Friday.

We needed someone to be at home when the love seat was delivered, so Adam stayed home on Friday. When no one called to give us a delivery time window Adam called the company only to find that it wasn't going to be delivered until next Friday. This was so frustrating because we're celebrating our Thanksgiving on Friday because my family can't come in until Thursday evening. I really didn't want to have to worry about getting furniture on that day. Well, everything ended up working out even better than expected. The store we bought the furniture from told us that we could have the floor sample love seat and that they'd knock $100 off and we didn't have to pay a delivery fee. It amazes me how sometimes little inconveniences turn out to be blessings. My mom used to tell me, "Complain less and get more blessings." I don't know that we necessarily get more blessing for not complaining, but I do know that our attitude is adjusted tobe able to notice the blessings.

Well, I love our new couch and loveseat. They are so comfortable. Adam loves that they recline (that was his selling point), and I love that you can rock in the love seat (it'll be good for the babies we'll have someday)! Mostly, I love that Heavenly Father is aware of all his children.

Cassie's Rice Bag

This story begins eleven months ago, when Adam and I were a newly married couple. After having been married for about two weeks and living in Rexburg, we went down to Provo to visit Cassie and Jonny (Adam's sister and her husband). While we were there visiting, Jonny went snowboarding and hurt some part of his body (I don't remember what...maybe a shoulder). Anyways, Cassie insisted that he use the rice bag she had made. For those of you unfamiliar with what a rice bag is...it's fabric sewed up with rice inside that you heat up to make a heating pad. Jonny was not at all thrilled by the idea of using a rice bag because of the smell and resisted Cassie's attempts to put it on him. She had put mint inside the bag to make it smell good, but Jonny still thought it had an awful smell. The rice bag was quickly forgotten once Adam and I left Provo, until...

this past Sunday when my stomach hurt. If anything on my body hurt when I was living at home, my mom would bring me this heating pad that we've had for years. I really wanted the heating pad while I was in pain, but Georgia was too far away (so I couldn't borrow it from my mom) and it was Sunday so I couldn't send Adam to go buy one. Then it struck me...the memory of Cassie's rice bag! I went to the closet and pulled out a wash cloth and sewing needle and thread. I sat for about an hour sewing my rice bag together (I don't have a sewing machine...), and I put cloves in mine to make it smell good (but I think Jonny would still think it smells)! After heating it up in the microwave, it soothed my aching body! I was so happy and so proud of my little rice bag. I've been debating about whether or not to write about this because it's such a trivial and silly thing, but you know what...my rice bag makes me happy! Thanks Cassie for the great idea!

The RTA

So about two months ago, when I started working for Dix & Eaton, I drove our Mazda protege to work everyday. I would sit in that car for about 40 minutes every morning switching radio stations...convinced that if I pressed the buttons enough, the noisy morning show would disappear and magically music would play. Indeed I was disappointed each time! I would creep into construction infested downtown Cleveland and pull into the parking garage where it cost me $8.50 a day to park (that's with a hike to work...if I parked in the garage for the building I work in, it'd cost me $12.50 a day!). At the end of the day, I would turn around and make the trek back home. All in all, I used about a tank of gas a week...and with these crazy gas prices, I'm sure you're all aware of how quick that would add up! So after about a month of this, I decided that I've had enough. So I quit my job so that I wouldn't have to go downtown anymore! Okay, so I'm joking about having quit my job...I found a better solution than that.

At the beginning of October, I became more than just an acquaintance of Cleveland's public transportation system when I bought my first bus pass. To be honest, I was scared of riding the bus. I've seen the type of people waiting for the bus downtown...they're not exactly well groomed and smelling like a bouquet of flowers. My mind kept creating all sorts of interesting situations of getting stuck sitting next to Oscar the Grouch on vacation away from his garbage can! The first person I came in contact with at the bus stop near my home wasn't exactly the nicest. She has an 80s punker haircut with tatooed on face make-up (Adam keeps daring me to go up to her and say "I love Motley Crew too"). We weren't exactly sure where to catch the bus so we stopped and asked her...we must've caught her off guard because she looked at us like we were aliens coming to abduct her. I was relieved to find that everyone else at the stop seemed to be pretty normal. I quietly took my seat somewhere near the back of the bus (this is where all the "cool" kids sat in elementary school) and quickly realized that the "cool" people sat at the front of the bus. It would have been a great opprtunity for me to mesh in with their group because the leader, Joe Cool (okay, so his name is just Joe) was talking about The Office...a show I never miss. I made a mental note to ease my way up to their area over the next couple of days. I didn't want to start out as an outcast of the bus social life, and hopefully in the future another conversation would occur that I could casually jump into. Well, as I moved around each time I rode the bus, I met a wide array of people. There are the City Year young adults who wear red jackets and khaki pants, the woman who snorts through her throat, and the little old ladies who are real troopers to go downtown to work everyday. I eventually made it to the front of the bus where the "cool" people sit. I had to make a fool of myself before they finally noticed me...I kept getting on a different bus stops because I'd be running late. It was great finally being up there, but I missed the colorful personalities throughout the entire bus. The journey from the back of the bus to the front has allowed me to have an adventure everyday and get to know a lot of people. I like saving money and time using the RTA, but my favorite part is all the interesting people I get to meet!

A Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year. First of all, I dressed up for the first time in nine years! I had been planning our costumes out for a month, so I was so excited to finally put them on! My dad went to Hong Kong on a business trip and sent us back some robes...so we used them for Halloween. Here we are:

We put pantyhose on our heads to make the hair. It was so tight on my head that I started getting a headache from all the pressure! I think it was totally worth it thought. After all, beauty is pain, right? Actually I didn't make a very pretty Asian, but I'm okay with that. Adam looked awesome. I think his favorite part of dressing up was getting to give himself a tatoo.We had so much fun at the party with our friends. All the kids were dressed up adorably. There was a lot of great snacks and hot chocolate.

Brittany Vaclaw and Randee Mecham dressed up too! They're so much fun and so cute! All in all it was a festive and fun Halloween.

I've been tagged...

by my friend Audrey to write down six things about me. I'm supposed to tag six others to do the same. I'm tagging Cassie, Amber, Karen (mom), Randee, Stephanie, and Brittany Vaclaw.

1. I love peanut butter and chocolate candy. I was completely addicted to peanut butter M&Ms in high school.
2. I hated country music until I moved to Coral Springs, Florida. My friend, Brittany Brassell, loved country and was the first to introduce me to the wonderful music of Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson. I've done my best to spread the gift of county music to Adam.


3. I am afraid of E.T. I saw the movie when I was four in a dark living room on a big sceen TV at my friend, Jacque's, house. Afterwards she took me upstairs to where there was a lifesize statue of E.T. with a glowing finger. Needless to say...I was terrified ever since. I know he's not real, but if I ever hear the music from the movie or see an unexpected picture him I freak out.
4. I love the smell of orange blossoms, Arizona sunsets, and dust storms. These are the things I miss most from Arizona. I've never found these things anywhere else.
5. My favorite TV show when I was a kid was Full House. It came on channel 13 at 5pm on week nights in Utah. I think I've seen every episode at least three times. Boy Meets World took it's place during my teen years.
6. In third grade I played Cheetah Star Wars at recess. I know that sounds weird...and it is. We were Star Wars characters as cheetahs rather than humans. I was always Princess Leia and actually even wore my hair in the side buns a couple of times. I'm really glad I grew out of that stage. By the way, I've never even seen the Star Wars movies so I don't know why this game was so appealing to me.

Well, there you have it. Six things about me...feel like you know me any better?

Cleveland Rocks!!!

This is Adam, I've never done one of these blogging things before. On wednesday, we went to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame with our friends the Mechams. This picture was taken outside and we didn't get much more than that because no pictures were allowed inside at all. It was really cool and there were a lot of neat things to see inside, but the overall feeling was that we are still too young to really appreciate most of the things that they had inside there. They had a lot of outfits that people like Jimmy Hindrix and The Rolling Stones wore on stage. They had a giant brick wall representing Pink Floyd, and a special presentation for The Doors. To bo honest, Laura and I didn't know too much about those guys, so it didn't really captivate us as much as it was supposed to. Our favorite part was listening to the "top 500 influencial songs" over the last 60-70 years. There were a lot of songs that we recognized and that we could sing along to, much to the dismise of those standing around us. One neat thing that they had was a giant Weezer light, and it was outside the admittance area, so we were able to get a picture of that. Weezer was one of my favorite bands growing up so I was pretty excited about that.

Adam's Birthday!

Wednesday was Adam's birthday! I was so excited to give him his birthday present that I had him open it Tuesday night. He got a Wii and was so excited because he "never thought he'd get that kind of present from me." I kept him in the dark by telling him that I got him something practical for his birthday! He was really excited, and seeing that smile on his face was priceless.

Wednesday evening we had a little get together with friends for cake and ice cream. It was fun. Adam got a lot of birthday wishes from family and friends throughout the day which made him happy. So I must conclude with saying that even though Adam didn't get an Xbox 360 to play Halo 3 (sorry Jonny), I still think he enjoyed his birthday!

FHE Bowling Night

This past Monday Adam and I went bowling for family home evening. Our friends, Dan and Amber Patty invited us to go with them. It was a lot of fun playing with everyone, but not a whole lot of fun losing. I'm awful at bowling...although I did redeem myself on Wednesday when I beat them all at Wii bowling! Dan absolutly beat us all, and claimed "that's the best game he ever played and he's usually awful," but I'm a little skeptical. :) Adam has a nice spin he puts on

the ball and it was complimented with a nice side kick everytime that kept us all entertained. Amber pretty much rocked at bowling, and did a wonderful job of making it look effortless.

Amber and Dan have the cutest baby girl, Grace. After bowling we went to Friendly's for some food. Adam had fun giving Grace water from his straw. We're so grateful to be good friends with the Pattys!

Naked

Today I forgot to put my wedding rings on, and I also forgot my cell phone. Those things are such a huge part of my daily life that I feel as though I forgot to put my clothes on this morning! It amazes me how certain things play such a huge role in my life and I don't realize it until I go without!

1964 the Tribute

Yesterday I won tickets at work to go see 1964 the Tribute at the Palace Theatre downtown! It was late in the afternoon, and I quckly called Adam to tell him that we were going to the concert that night. I was SO excited. When I was 13/14 years-old I went through this complete Beatles phase and have loved them ever since. We had the best seats...they were loge seats, and we were smack-dab in the middle. We had a little table next to our seat and a menu to order appetizers and drinks from. Granted...everything was rediculously expensive so we passed on the eating at a theatre experience. Donna, a friend of mine from work, won tickets right next to us. Her and her husband came, and it was a fun night for all of us.
I know, I know..talk about the show right? Well, it was AMAZING!!! They sounded and looked just like the Beatles with their mop tops and black suits. They played Can't Buy Me Love, Nowhere Man, Yellow Submarine, 8 Days a Week, and pretty much all the great ones up to 1964. They had great energy and really reached the audience. Now I'll admit...Adam and I were probably some of the youngest people there. It was fun to watch the older generations step back in time and dance like they were in their teens because the band definitly got people up and out of their chairs. It was so fun singing along, clapping, and dancing to these classics. The night was great.
I'd also lilke to put in a little thank you to my husband who isn't really a Beatles fan. He was a good sport and enjoyable even though I know he would've rather gone to the Indians game! Speaking of...there was one guy at the theatre who must have been confused as to were he was spending the evening because he came to the show decked out in Indians gear from head to toe. Adam and I are betting the his wife told him they were going downtown for a "surprise," and he was expecting a night out to the game. He must have definitly been surprised when it wasn't the game! Teehee!

Johnny Appleseed Festival!

Adam and I decided to kick-off Autumn with a fun trip to a festival. Every year Mapleside Farm throws the Johnny Appleseed Festival to begin the season. I guess it's a pretty big deal around here that Johnny Appleseed brought apples to Ohio. Adam and I are still trying to figure out whether this guy really existed or if he's just a tall tale. Either way, we're really excited that they throw a festival every year in his honor because it is a great way to open up fall. We ate yummy apple butter BBQ pork sandwiches, apple fritters, and...nothing says fall like apple cider! There were a lot of booths with crafts and food. We also got to pet an alpaca...a cousin to the llama! Our favorite part had to be the wagon ride through the apple orchards. During a small pause on our ride we found out that although horses have no problem pooping when they walk...they find it impossible to walk and pee. It was so funny to see the reaction of all the kids on the wagon ride when this happened! Nevertheless, it was still romantic going for an autumn hay ride with the love of my life!

Every time the season changes I think, "This is my favorite season!" Honestly though...autumn has to be my favorite. The other seasons had to grow on my before I enjoyed them so much. There is something about autumn though that reminds me of home and warmth. I don't know if its the warm yet vibrant colors of the leaves or if its the smell of cinnamon and apple, but this time of year always helps me to refocus on creating a home full of warmth and love.

Dix & Eaton

Tuesday began my exploration of the world of Dix & Eaton. I have taken a receptionist position with this PR firm and had the opportunity to begin this week. I get to work in downtown Cleveland in one of those tall buildings that looks so important. Coming from a family that stays as far away as possible from downtown "anywhere," I never really expected to work in such a building. I seem to have suddenly fallen into my Dad's world, and it's been quite the experience. When I was a little girl daydreaming about the future, I never quite envisioned a world of paperwork, networking, codes, computers, lunch breaks, attempting to climb the business ladder, and dress slacks. While the "start of something new" (that phrase can never be said or typed without the High School Musical song popping into my head) has been very stressful (not a big surprise since I'm great at making everything more stressful than it needs to be), I have loved every minute of it and feel like I can't soak it up quickly enough. I love being needed and having responsibilities towards others. I feel so blessed to be working for a company that is so willing to help out and be open to new ideas. I have never worked in a place where others have been so eager to reach out towards me and immediately made me feel like part of the team. I have been pleased with the relaxed, but productive environment and feel like it is somewhere where I will be able to develop talents and skills as well as assist others in doing the same. This job is a huge blessing in my life right now, and I am grateful for all the help and support I've received in pursuing it.

Changes

With this being my last week before I start working, I've frantically been trying to finish up a few projects.

Project #1: Painting the first floor.

Living room before:

After:

Dining area before:
After:
The kitchen has been done for a while:
Project #2 Re-upholstering the dining chairs:

I thought the fruit print would tie all the colors together nicely!

It's been a lot of fun putting my personality into this new place. It has definitly helped make this place our own!