Our First Weekend GetAway

A perfect day to be at Niagara Falls: can't tell the precipitation from the Falls' Mist!

The thirty minutes I spent in the shower Thursday night sobbing like a ten-year-old girl who just found out she didn't get invited to the popular girl's sleepover should be reasonable enough of a display that Mark & I were in desperate need of a break. And we took one this Labor Day weekend. Mark had 3 days off and I had 4, so we figured we could get away, and still have a day to do nothing (Monday) and a day for me to get all the chores done (Tuesday).

So we left early Saturday morning for Niagara Falls, where, if you may recall, I did my internship; and then over to Rochester for the night, only to check out the sites of Palmyra and head on home Sunday. It was a nice  trip. A lot of firsts for Mark: Canada, New York, the Falls, Palmyra. I had a slight sense of "been there, done that" but it was nice to be together for a solid 2 days, I'm gonna miss him come Tuesday when I drop him off to work, I'm sure. We did and saw a few things I'd never done before and most importantly, I kinda got a better understanding of why Niagara feels like such a romantic place: you can kiss whenever you want and there's so many people and cultures there, that no one will think a thing of it. That was fun.

Mark at the Falls. HE'S SO HANDSOME!

This was something Mark was really excited to see and (surprising to me) really surprised that no one else around us knew what the big deal was. This is a statue of the inventor Nikola Tesla.

This 200-year-old Black Honey Locust is the biggest I have ever seen. It was planted for Alvin Smith, Joseph's oldest brother, when he died.

I like this picture of me. It was taken at a place in Niagara I had never stopped before: a park with a monument for a general named Brock, who died just before the war of 1812 started...why is there a monument for him? We couldn't figure that out.

 And this tree, I've seen it before, can't remember what it is...Alder? I think so. Well, I wanted a picture of us in front of it. Here we are, in the Sacred Grove.

We definitely had a good time and got some rest. One thing I've noticed as I'm opening this blog and looking at pictures from January, Mark and I look healthier. That's very very happy news. Yay! healthy, skinnier, and best of all: EMPLOYED! We may be tired, but it's for good reason and I'm glad.

Back to School...Back to School... to prove [that] I am not a fool

YAY! Mark's a student again! For the next 2 years, every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Mark will be beating his brain and staring at computer screens and books at Remington College in North Olmstead. I am so excited and proud of him. It's a lot of money and a lot of time and sacrifice, but he's already done so much, he really just might as well get some papers that say, "Hey, I know how to do that."

Home Sweet Home

We may have moved 3 months ago, but I finally found my camera cord and some time to get everything organized and into the computer. Let's give a "Happy Birthday Brad!" since he's the one who said he wanted this done. Thanks for the encouragement. So, here's home. the big dirt pile was from the guys who were re-building the street and, until it started snowing, is now green and lush. Yes, the 2-car garage that is illegally close to the house is a different color and leaks like a drainage pond.

Would you like a quick tour of our home?Well, COME ON IN!! ( this is the back door. It is extremely customary around here for the back door to be the main entrance. It was also the only key we had until the day before we signed the papers.) I have made a few changes to the rooms below, but am still looking for those pictures. Perhaps this will keep you on your toes:

From left to right: entrance from master bed to bath; front bedroom; master bed; family room. Here's the living room and the attic:

Now, here's the tiny kitchen and our dining room. From there, we go downstairs and into the basement, which is split in half: 2 bedrooms and a bath on one side, and our laundry and storage area on the other. I, for some reason, do not have any pictures of Mark's room, which he has made into a stylish little office area for us. And the other room is just kinda there...with piles of my stuff currently strewn about. So, here's the basement side of the basement. Oh my goodness! Really, a lot has changed since the day these pictures were taken. And it feels really good, smells a lot better, and looks a lot more me. We have changed a lot of the shocking colors to creamy earth tones, and everything is comfy and we love it. It really feels like home. Hope you come to visit soon!