A Weekend Visit

Sometimes I am completely torn between my Love of living in rural Ohio and my unquenchable thirst for travel.  I love all kinds of travel, via planes, trains, or automobile.  Just exploring a new place.  Taking pictures of it all.  But at the end of the trip, I'm always ready to come back home to the slow pace of the country.  The wide open space that is our yard, the familiar places we frequent.

This past weekend a friend and I drove to Lancaster, PA to visit my best friend.  On Saturday we rode an Amtrak train into Philadelphia.  It was my first experience riding a train somewhere, and I enjoyed it.  So nice not having to worry about where to park or having to deal with the stress of driving in a city.

We took the subway to the historical part of town and walked from there.  We spent the day walking to several historic sites and then venturing downtown for a bit.  We met up with my best friend's cousin who lives in Phily. We had cheese steak for lunch. (So good)  We walked around carrying coffees.  We hung out in a Barnes and Noble when we started to get sore feet.  Then we made our way back to the train station, and back to Lancaster.  Then Sunday we drove the 6 hours back home.

I loved visiting. I loved getting a glimpse of what life might have been had we moved to Ireland, in the sense of living in a city.  (We most likely would have been in Dublin.)  But as we were driving home it hit me how much I really do love home.  I love living in the slow paced country.  But I'd go visit the city again in a heart beat.  Always torn. :)

Late Favorites

I never did get around to doing a favorite last Friday - or over the weekend. But I was inspired to post today about my current favorite television show....

Picture borrowed from HERE.


Last night I came home from a great night of exercising, put the boys to bed, made myself a bowl of the Iced Banana stuff I blogged about last week (I added some blue berries, raspberries, and cranberries, and a drizzle of chocolate syrup - it was Excellent!!), and curled up on the couch for 2 hours of wonderful television. I think my heart rate was elevated the entire time. I don't think I've ever looked forward to watching something as much as I look forward to Lost. Plus my best friend loves it too, and we exchanged texts through out, which was alot of fun. I also Love the fact that they have a definitive end to the series. Some shows just kind of climax and then just fizzle along until the network finally pull the plug long after they are very enjoyable - sometimes leaving gaps in the story. There will probably be gaps left in this story, but it will all be planned in advance, which for some reason makes it better for me... And they can have the ending be exactly what they want it to be.
So if you ever wonder where I am on a late Tuesday night (as long as it stays there.) , I'll be at home watching my favorite show.

Time in Texas, New Car, Today's Appointment

I had such a great time in Texas with Nate and Aubyn. We went out to eat, saw Bolt in 3D, went to the zoo, went to the beach, and played Blockus. I got to see their place and where they hang out, I got to meet some of Nate's coworkers, and I got to go with them to their church. It was a really great time. I was ready to be home, but at the same time it felt like my time there was way too short. It was pretty warm there too. Probably in the 60s most of the time, but I was happy to come home to the snow. :)

While I was away we got our new car. Well it's not new, but just new for us. I never thought we would ever own an SUV, but here we are. I drove it today, and I like it. It will mostly be Jonathan's work car, or at least that is the plan for now. It has a sweet lumbar control, which is pretty much awesome. It makes me think I could drive it for long periods of time.

Today I had a doctor's appointment. To be honest, I was really nervous about this one. I just had this awful feeling. I didn't have any reason to have that feeling, at all, but nonetheless, it was there. So I did the normal routine stuff, found out I've gained only 1 pound so far, yay. Then the Dr. came in to listen to the heartbeat. He tried for about 15-30 seconds with the doppler. I don't know if I looked really nervous or he was just in a hurry, but he was like, well let's just do this the quick and dirty way. So he fired up this little sonogram machine they have right there, and I got to SEE the baby again. He pointed and said, see right there, that's the heart beating - I didn't see anything moving at all, but he's the Dr. he knows. :) I could make out a body and a head. It was very cool and now I'm feeling so much better. The heart rate was at about 130 so you can use that information to try and guess the gender if you would like. I can't remember if it is a faster one for a boy or a girl... I just know that scientific, it isn't. :)

Oh and then I got my flu shot. I never had one before. It really didn't hurt going in, but MY GOODNESS. About 15 minutes later it felt like someone ran a truck into my arm. Crazy. Now it doesn't hurt all that much again. So that's good.

Today was just a really good day, besides the appointment, I had lunch with Heidi, got to listen to Christmas music in the car with heated seats and lumbar control, got to go Christmas shopping, and got a letter from Laura!!! Oh and also got a short visit from Jeremy and Lacey tonight, which is a nice bonus. :) The only bad spot of the day is that my throat is hurting. :( Hopefully it doesn't escalate into anything.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Some Prayer Requests

My brother and his beautiful wife just moved near Houston in August. Nate called this morning and told us that they have to evacuate because of Hurricane Ike. They are currently making their way to San Antonio to wait out the storm. Please pray for their safety as they travel and that their apartment will remain in tact. Also, please keep the whole region in your prayers. Hopefully Ike will die down and go home.




Secondly, my best friend Laura just left Monday for a year in India. She arrived safely. Please pray for her as she adjusts to the culture and gets into the swing of things there. Her blog is linked on the side if you would like to read her updates. :)