Saturday, May 30, 2009

Wisconsin Day One

I am really tired right now and don't really feel like writing an update but decide that I didn't want to get behind.

The car ride was not horrible but definitely not pleasant. I left the hotel room in Richmond VA at 10 am and finally ended my trip in Beloit WI at 5 pm today. Very long. My back muscles tightened up, my hip and shoulder were killing me and my dad needs duck tape put over his mouth.

Rebecca passing the time




So far we have been to the old farm. It looks so old and run down. We got out and walked around a little - took a few pics.

Our Old House


Then we headed to church at Central - our first church we attended while we lived here. I got a tour of there new and AMAZING kid's building.

KidzsWorks and the new Worship Center

We saw people at church that I wanted to visit and then we came to Ken and Denise's house - it's where we are staying this whole week. Sarah and Sophie are so big! They look like little girls and not babies and toddlers!

I will try and add pics in the next few days. I need to be going to bed now. I am sharing with Rebecca. She hogs the blankets. :0( I am trying not to miss Rick to much. I am ok with being away from him - I don't have to be with him 24/7. It's just that when my family bothers me or I get stressed or tired - I want Rick to just hold me and talk to me and make life better. Oh well, just another 7 days.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

Day 1 – Thursday

We slowly made our way up to camp. We had to stop at Wal-mart to get groceries and I bought a pink fishing pole. We also stopped at a couple of different country stores and then to buy my fishing license. We finally made it to camp around 7. I made dinner – tacos and then we went down to the river to get some fishing in. I didn’t catch anything except a couple of twigs. I kept getting stuck on rocks and finally I got it wrapped around a tree. Rick spent a good 45 minutes trying to get it free. He ended up just breaking the line. Rick had some success – a small mouth bass. We had Spunkette with us and my turtle Samson. He decided that he was tired of his tub and wanted out.

Escaping Turtle


Deer by Camp


Day 2 – Friday

We slept in and just hung around camp. I did some reading and laying out in the sun, Rick read magazines and took a nap. I finally put in a CSI and started watching it while Rick was outside chasing some turkeys with his gun. I also worked on some homework and then made us some lunch. We watched a couple more CSI and took a really long nap that afternoon. We finally woke up and decide to go fishing again. But I couldn’t find my license. We searched for over an hour looking at camp, in our clothes, in the truck, went down to the river – twice. And still never found it. We finally gave up and I let Rick do some fishing. I had my camera and just took pictures and talked to him. He never caught anything. We went back to the store that I had purchased my license and asked them to make a copy of it so I could still get some fishing in over the weekend. We didn’t get back to camp until 10 pm and I still had to make dinner – hamburger helper with buffalo meat.

Rick fishing


Crawdads


Yellow Flowers


Day 3 – Saturday

We set the alarm and I made breakfast – biscuits, sausage and eggs. Then we started to pack up our backpacks and get ready to leave. We left camp around 12:30 and drove 3 hours to get to the spot that we would leave the truck and hike. We strapped on our backpacks and hiked up the mountain three and half miles. Rick didn’t really know where we were going, so it took us a little longer than it should have. It was very hot, I was trying to get used to carrying the pack, and Rick was pushing me to go faster because we had to beat daylight. We finally made it to the top and started to set up camp. The bugs were horrible! So I asked Rick to start a fire to help with the bugs. Well, he tried but it never took. But I was able to stand in the smoke and get some relief from the bugs. We set up the tent, ate dinner and were in our sleeping bags by 9:30. We didn’t really go to sleep until after midnight, but our bodies were so tired that it felt great just laying there. It was really scary that night – there was no nose in the woods and it was just Rick and I in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service in case we something happened. Plus I had a headache that turned into a migraine. I finally took some meds around 3 am and fell asleep shortly after.

Rick showing me the map


Mountain View


Tent set up


Smoldering fire


Rick cooking dinner


Day 4 - Sunday

We slept in until 9 and ate fruit snacks and granola bars for breakfast because we didn’t have enough water to cook the oatmeal that we brought. Rick attempted at making the fire but still it didn’t work. We tore down our campsite and strapped on our backpacks and headed out. We took another way out but still hiked about three and a half miles. But this day was a lot cooler, my pack was finally starting to feel better on my back and shoulders and we knew where we were going. We stopped to take some pictures of the view and then kept on hiking. We made it back to the truck by 1 pm. We were really tired, hot and sore, but it was also fun. We saw God’s handiwork, spent time with each other and got a great work out! We stopped on the way back to camp so that I could take some pictures of Senica Rocks.

Rick and I


The hidden passage


My Africa


The rocky trail


Senica Rocks


After we got back to camp, we just relaxed by watching some CSI, naps and took showers. While dinner was baking – frozen lasagna, we cleaned up around camp and got ready for our guests. At around 11, Rick Asbeas and his brother and the brother’s girlfriend showed up. We all talked for about an hour and the rest of the CSF group got there. There was a total of 14 people plus Rick and I at camp that night. We started a fire and made smores and just sat around and talked until 3 am.

Day 5 – Monday

People slept in till about 10 and we just sat around and talked while people took turns one at a time in the bathroom .A group of 5 went fishing and was gone all day long. The rest of us stayed at camp, played some cards, shot some guns, looked at wedding pictures and ate lunch - hot dogs and baked beans. We finally left camp at 2:30 and went down to Cass. We walked around the country store and when we started to leave the store to go hiking (or fishing) it started to rain. So we all sat down on the steps and just talked and admired the scenery in front of us.

Cass Country Store


Train


CSF group


Everyone left around 5:30 and I made dinner for just Rick and I – biscuits, eggs and sausage. We took naps, cleaned camp, packed and watched some CSI.

Day 6 – Tuesday

We left camp at 7 am and came back to Richmond. We both really enjoyed our time up at camp. It was very peaceful. I loved spending time with just Rick. We had a good time with the CSF people. I can’t wait till we can do all of that again!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Apart

Last weekend Rick and I went our separate ways. Rick went on the men’s retreat from church. About 12 guys came and they all hung out at the Petry camp. Meanwhile, I went to Ohio with my mother-in-law to a cousin’s graduation party. We got there Friday night and just hung out. Saturday we helped with the rest of the cleaning and setting up. I was assigned the photographer of the day. I took a ton of pictures of the dessert table and people. On Sunday after church, I hung out with my mom and sister. We went to a new Jamaican restaurant and then watched a movie. That night I went bowling with the teen group. Rick came bowling and I was SO happy to see him and hug him! I did really well over the weekend. I didn’t want o be all moppy because he was gone. But I did miss him. And I will say that I now sleep better with him in the same bed as me. Just knowing that he is there makes me feel safe and I can sleep. Those two nights without him weren’t very restful.

I found the Henrico Public Library yesterday. Here you have to pay to get a card. I went ahead a got a temporary membership and checked out some magazines, DVDs and a book. Now I have somewhere to go and hang out on Mondays and don’t have to walk around Wal-mart to kill time!

I have so many pictures to work on right now. And I have no motivation to do it. I didn’t end up losing all of my pictures of m y flash drive! That was an answered prayer! I had most of them uploaded to snapfish, so those weren’t lost to me forever, but I had many folders not uploaded. Today that was a project of mine was to make sure all my pictures are backed up in case I ever really did accidently erase my flash drive.

In other news, I have finally decided to go to Wisconsin with my family. I am hoping that I won’t regret that decision. I want to see my old friends and I can’t wait to get back on the farm with the cows. I am just wondering how it will be traveling with my family and hanging out with them all week long. I think that it will help with Sarah and Joe driving spate. We can divide up and not all crammed in the van.

I have also finally decided to do something about my big fat body. I have to have the right mind set in order to follow through it. I am reading this great book called “Tales from the Scales” and it is just full of stories of women who came to a point that they realized they needed to do something about their weight and health and how they did that and the feelings that they went through.

School wise – I finished up my Acts lessons. Now I only have a paper and test due in that class. I am getting ready to start another class. I really need to be working on at least two classes at a time, but it so hard just to do one.

Spunkette update: she is doing great. Eating lots and gaining weight. That’s not good for her little body! I found out this past weekend that she LOVES cantaloupe! She also likes cheese and peanuts but by far cantaloupe is her favorite!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Tagged

Got this from Angela at Angela's Grand Adventures



Here are the rules: Pass it along to 5 fellow super bloggers, and comment on their blog to let them know how lucky they are today! When you present your Super Blogger awards, link back to the super blogger who gave it to you. Ya gotta love being a favorite of a fellow blogger and the hardest part is picking 5 people to pass this SUPER BLOGGER AWARD on to. Here are my picks for this SUPER BLOGGER AWARD:

butterfly . .fly away

The Dearborn Chronicles

This is Reverb

The Owens in Scotland

Quintooples

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Rambles

I haven't been feeling well this past week. I think it must be PMS stuff just dragged out and seems like it will never end. I got two Acts lessons completed and sent in this week. But I still feel like I haven't done much. I haven't gone on my daily walks this week because it has been raining almost non-stop. I think those help me alot. Just getting outside and breathing some fresh air.
Rick and I have been trying to get more on a schedule in the evenings. We have started getting addicted to tv. Almost every night during the week, we have shows that we like to watch and we were making sure we were always back from dinner in time. Before we got married, we both agreed that we wouldn't have a tv in our household at least for the first year of marriage. And here we are watching it every day just because it is there and available.
We have worked out every night this week. Even though I have def not felt like it. :0) I am really wanting to lose this 'marriage wight'. Since I left JBC in December, I have gained 20 pounds. I hate it. It makes me feel yucky. I have no energy, my clothes don't fit, and I don't feel very pretty. I think that this is also part of the reason that I have been feeling depressed. I worked so hard to lose all that weight during the last two years and in 4 months it is all almost back. Because I have no self-control when it comes to food. It was so easy at JBC. I knew what the cafeteria served and didn't eat as much cause it wasn't that tasty. Now I am eating sweets all the time and getting fires with my meals. I tried WW online and have quit. It wasn't as much accountability to me as it is going to a meeting and talking with real people. I need to get back into the right mind set and make myself follow the plan and then maybe I will start feeling better. Physically, mentally and emotionally.
Spunkette is doing great. We both love playing with her so much. She has been getting out of her ball - the lid pops off when she hits up against something to hard. So, we now have to make sure we now where she is at all times. She got out of her cage again last weekend. She popped the same plug off as last time. This time though, Ally dog could have gotten her and eaten her as a snack! Rick fixed it though, so hopefully it won't happen again.

Yup, 6 pieces of purple duct tape.


We also put the wheel back into the cage. It helps keep her occupied during the night so that she is not chewing on the wire cage all night long. This was taken right after I gave her a 'bath'.



She is just so cute!


She likes running through the paper towel tube



She is growing up on us