Wish us luck!

Today is the first day that both Steve and I are headed off to work this morning. I start my full time job today, working as a receptionist in a diabetes and internal medicine clinic. I am excited, although there is a part of me that wasn't quite ready to start up another job yet.

In other news, I have been project-girl recently. I finished a huge project for Christmas a couple days ago, and now I am editing my novel like crazy. Hoping to have it ready for public consumption in a couple weeks here. We'll see, I guess. Anyway, life is crazy busy, and the massive drifts of snow outside only make it more fun.

Love to all!

Another Quiet Sunday Afternoon

We knew when we moved to Ohio that we might have a lot of quiet Sunday afternoons, since we had no family to go visit. That was okay, at the time, although Sundays got a little long and lonely. Now here we are in Idaho, with family everywhere, and we're still spending Sunday on our own at home. Kind of silly of us, right? Well, probably. But honestly? We've gotten used to the quiet spirit that fills our house on Sundays, and the lazy conversations or long walks we have the opportunity to talk. Steve and I live such quiet lives most of the time that we respect the solitude and peace we have in our home.

Not to say we don't look forward to spending many crazy days at other people's houses. But maybe we have to ease into that. Maybe we have to say goodbye to life in Ohio a little more slowly before we can let it go. Just as I've discovered I'm a lot more homesick for Ohio than I expected, I think we discovered we like our quiet lives a lot more than we thought we did, especially now that we have an alternative.

Here's to peace and quiet! Oh, and for all my friends and family with kids who are seething with jealousy, let me remind you of the cute little faces you get to greet every day and night with, and let's leave jealousy out of this one, okay?

The End . . . and the Beginning

Well, everyone, I'm in Idaho! I left Sunday after church and drove like crazy until yesterday afternoon. I counted how many times I stopped, including stops for the night: six. That's it. No wonder I was tired when I got here!

So the trip was uneventful, for the most part. Monday I stopped for gas about 1:00 and discovered my car's coolant was leaking all over the ground. Fortunately, there was a Ford dealership across the street. So I poured some more in and drove over there. I suspected it was just the lid not being on tightly enough, but I had to make sure of course, since I was in Seward, Nebraska, and didn't want to get stranded. Anyway, after waiting for three hours, they determined there was no problem and agreed that the cap must just have been a little loose. I didn't have any more problems with it.

Yesterday, I woke up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to a frigid temperature. But the sky was blue, so I just started moving. About an hour later, I was stuck in the middle of a fairly nasty snow storm. It wasn't actually the snow that made it bad, though, it was the blowing. The road was difficult to stay on with the wind blowing so badly, and my visibility was limited to a couple hundred feet. Fortunately, I got stuck in a convoy of vehicles moving at a sensible pace. So I made it through, but it was a little scary, since I'm not used to blizzards any more. Anyway, the snow fell on and off throughout the rest of the drive, but never that bad, and I made it through okay.

One thing that surprised me was how huge the mountains seemed to me. I mean, I grew
up here, you would think I would know all about the mountains. But it's been too long since I've seen them, and I'd forgotten how massive and lurking they feel. I actually felt a little claustrophobic for a few minutes. Then I remembered how utterly beautiful they are, even when there aren't any trees, and I felt at home again.

Pocatello, by the way, is so tiny! We drove across almost the entire thing in fifteen minutes, and laughed a little bit at the tiny little stores. But I am totally getting Jamba Juice for lunch today, and that makes it all worth it.

Love to all!

On the other hand

Today is Wednesday, and I am sitting at work for the third to last time. I just can't believe my last day is the day after tomorrow. I can't believe I'm leaving Columbus! We've lived here since June 2008, and so much stuff has happened, so much of my life has changed in our time here. It's so weird to think I'll be going back to the city I lived in before, as though our time in Columbus was nothing but a dream. Of course, I know it's not a dream, because I'm a different person than I was when I struck out the first time. A better person, I hope. At least more confident and accepting. I have loved Columbus almost from the first moment we pulled in. It's been home to me, complete with a surrogate family and new friends.

There's a huge selfish part of me that wants to sneak out without having to face any of my surrogate family or friends. I've never been good at goodbyes. I hate the idea that I won't see people whom I've grown to love. It's so much easier on me if I don't actually have to face them to say goodbye. But I've done the sneaking out thing before, and I've been told it's not terribly helpful to the people I'm leaving behind. So this time I'm doing it right. I'm going to church for one last Sunday to say goodbye.

Just don't be alarmed if I keep the actual goodbyes short!

We will miss everyone in Ohio so much. It's been so wonderful. Thanks to all our wonderful friends and surrogate family and support group. We love you!

The Verdict

Here it is, our big news of the year.

Steve has accepted a position as an Intensive Behavior Therapist in Pocatello, Idaho. He is already on his way out there, with all of our belongings. He will start on Monday, October 11, living with a family member until he's able to find a place to live. I am staying in Columbus until October 24, to train my replacement at work and tie up some loose ends at church, after which I'm going to drive out there as well.

We are very, very excited to be moving forward with life. It's been pretty emotional, working on leaving Ohio, because we love it here a lot. We've made such wonderful friends and worked with such great people. And I will miss the trees! But we are excited to be back near our families, and to have Steve gainfully employed. We hope that things can get a little settled and life will become a bit more calm. But for now, off to the adventures!

The news . . .

So almost everyone already knows but here you go: We're moving! We are moving to an undisclosed location in southern Idaho. Undisclosed because we don't know where quite yet. Steve is reviewing offers and possibilities. But we are moving regardless. We have to be out of our apartment on Thursday of this week, so I have spent the last four days packing up everything we own. It's exhausting. Right now I am sweaty and tired and listening to NSync. That's how bad it's gotten. :) It's not even ten yet, but I think I'm going to bed.

We should know by Friday exactly what town in Idaho we will be moving to, so I will post then. If I can stand up and still function after all these boxes.

Stay tuned . . .

:)

I feel like I should post something . . .

September is disappearing without any blog posts from me. So here you go! Unless we get a job, this will very likely be the only September post, as we don't want to share our stress and depression with y'all, and nothing else is happening. We appreciate everyone's prayers on our behalf. Nothing yet, but we keep trying and hoping. With any luck, the storm will pass and we can move on with our lives.

Steve's Recent Life Work

August

I can't believe it's August 1 already. It seems like the days are slow, but the weeks are fast. Yet nothing happens. Ever. We went for a long walk at Prairie Oak Metro Park, at the Darby Bend Lakes today. It was a lot of fun, but we were both pretty well soaked with sweat. Turns out it's 87 degrees outside. Maybe we'll wait till it gets a little cooler before we do our next hike! A couple weeks ago we went to Darby Creek Metro Park, which has some pretty good hiking. That was a lot of fun! Especially the picnic at some old barn on top of the hill. It's not exactly the Rocky Mountains, but it'll do.

I think the only other interesting thing that's happened is I've been cooking a lot recently. Those of you from Ohio, you've had the Home Fries from Bob Evans, right? If not, you need to. Anyway, I figured out how to make them at home, much more healthfully. So yummy. And we are eating spaghetti squash tonight, which is my favorite vegetable.

Our neighbors are pounding some terrible music with a loud beat. It's pretty obnoxious. We look forward to the day when we get out of this living situation and move somewhere where we don't have people living all around us. Can you imagine being able to play the piano at 9:00 at night? Crazy.

TTFN!

A better one

I feel like I need to get a less depressing post up. The last one was terrible. Everything is better now, because Steve is home and I no longer have to entertain myself in the evenings. He is a much better entertainer! And I have the weekend off from work, starting now until Monday morning. I hope by then my coworker Julie will be back in action, but if not, I will have had a good weekend to start another crazy week with.

Interesting Week

Dear diary,

Today is Friday, almost the end of the loneliest week I've had in years. I remember what it's like to be single, but for some reason, most of my memories involve going out with large groups of friends and playing video games. I don't really remember the part where I slept alone every night and often had nothing to do. But no more! Now I remember that part too, and I am exceedingly grateful to be married to a wonderful man. Even if he has been in Minnesota for almost a week. Don't get me wrong, I love that he gets this chance to be with his parents for so long. It's unusual for him to have so much time off, and it will probably be his last chance for a while. So I totally encouraged him to go and stay as long as he wants. I still want him to stay as long as he wants.

But in the meantime, I feel a little sad.

It doesn't help that my good friend and coworker has been out of the office sick all week, leaving me alone in the front office to cover both our jobs. Fortunately the office hasn't been as busy as sometimes. It would probably be easier if it was really busy, because then I wouldn't have time to miss her.

Now it's almost the weekend, which will be the hardest part of this thing. I always had a hard time with weekends when I was single, because I never could keep myself doing productive things. It's a good thing I have church, or I would probably go crazy.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, diary, that I'm going to be just fine, but I'll also be very excited when Steve gets back. I do have a giant stack of libary books, which I'm slowly chewing away at. Unfortunately, half of them are Mary Higgins Clark books, and they are scary enough I probably shouldn't read them on my own at night. . . alone. . . but I do anyway.

Good think I have a giant stuffed alligator to protect me!

Sincerely yours,

Di

Thanks!

I am so excited that people actually read this. Yay! We love you all! Oh, and thanks to my friend Robin "The Blog Queen," I have decided not to privatize the blog. She gave me some good ideas about how to make it less searchable, which makes me feel better. So for now you still won't have to sign in. But we love you all anyway!

Quick update on life: Nothing new has happened. Steve is looking for work like crazy, and I am working as many hours as I can stand. We're trying to come up with lots of free activities, since we have no extraneous money. But we're healthy and happy and life is progressing fairly smoothly.

Hi y'all

I think it is finally time to make this blog private so it can't be searched on google. If everyone could please email or message me their email addresses so I can get you on in the invite list. (I think we're about to find out how few people actually read this thing:) ) Thanks!

Anniversary Poem for Diane

Four

Four may seem young.
Four may seem small.
But four is the number.
Four is a life of love.
Four is a life of peace.
But four is just a beginning.
Four will add one.
Four will be five.
But one day four will be multiplied.
Four may seem young.
Four may seem small.
But four will become forever!

Tens of Thousands of Dollars Later...

A Busy Week

Here's the kind of week we've been having lately:


Me and all my coworkers


Mom and I in Kirtland, Ohio


My piano recital


Steve's Evening of Recognition


They give all the social work graduates a yellow rose.


Being hooded by the dean. Made me so proud!


The recessional


Afterwards. Isn't he the best looking guy in black robe there ever was?


Beth and Steve


Jeness, Kendra, and Steve


We were in the parking garage when I realized I didn't have a single photo of Steve by himself, so here we go. Isn't he handsome?

I love this man, and I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has done for the last two years. I know how hard it's been, but he's done a great job and I love him so much. I feel so incedibly blessed that I get to spend eternity with him.

Tails of a Dog

We were house-sitting for some dear friends this past weekend, and one of the responsibilities is caring for a small terrier named Newton, whom we love. Newton is accustomed to having much of the house to himself all the time, since everyone who lives there is so busy. Unfortunately for him, we were there over Memorial Day weekend, so we didn't have too much we wanted to do. Instead, we laid around watching TV and reading all weekend.

At one point, Newton came over to me where I was laying on the couch, gave me an extremely reproachful look that told me he wished I wasn't there, and then jumped up on top of me as if I wasn't there. He made himself comfortable and stayed there until my legs had gone numb and I had to move. Then he resituated himself and went back to sleep.

Early Morning

So I missing a day of work today. My coworkers have to get up and get ready to be to work at nine. I had to get up and get ready to be at a conference by 8:30. I'm not sure this is a great trade-off.

Actually I am sure, because I am going to a writer's conference! Granted, it's a little tiny one hosted by the local community college through which I am taking my class. But still, it's another step on my path to eventually become a writer, I hope.

In other news, I used to think our upstairs neighbor was vacuuming almost every day, but Steve told me it's not a vacuum, it's a treadmill. Based on the sound I'm hearing right now, I think he's right. They must work out a lot. I really hope to move out of this apartment sometime soon.

Pirates Mad Libs

Ye can always pretend to be a bloodthirsty ambulance by cleverly working into yer daily conversations phrases such as "Avast, ye moose!" and "Shiver me geese!" Once ye have the lingo down pat, it helps to wear a three-cornered St. Bernard on yer head. The pirate flag was designed to scare the living roundabouts our of captains and crews. The red flag signaled that mercy would neither be asked for nor given - no universities would be spared. The captain ruled with an iron appendix. Any buccaneer who disobeyed the captain's orders would be put under lock and ceiling and fed only bread and cities for 21.3 days and zebras. Any oxygen who did not keep his or her sword light and musket read to usurp would be thrown over the UFO and fed to the spacemen.

Mmm, Coconut

So a couple of months ago we had some significant leakage in our 2nd bedroom closet. Although there was little damage, we had to move everything out of that closet and distribute it around the house. As that room is where we keep all our storage, our house has been a fairly huge mess ever since. Yesterday we finally tackled the back room, throwing away a ton of stuff that we don't need, shredding old paperwork, and vacuuming walls and windows. Our house looks and feels so much better now. My spirit feels lifted just walking into that room, now that I can wander around the whole room without tripping over everything we own.

Oh, and we went grocery shopping and I bought a coconut, which is one of my favorite fruits. Steve doesn't like them quite as much, so he grumbled a little bit about having to break it open for me, but he did it and I have been enjoying it since. So much better than the processed stuff!

This post is a downer . . . do not read if you want to stay happy.

So I imagine almost all of you skipped the warning in the title and are reading this anyway. That's fine. It probably won't be as much of a downer as I thought anyway, since the act of writing it is lifting my spirits.

Steve and I have both been feeling a little . . . discontented lately. We are wanting life to get moving to whatever is next, but time apparently is out to get us and keeps slowing down. I find I am getting a little jealous of the things my friends and family have (like families and houses). Then I feel insanely guilty for being jealous. And I remind myself of everything that I have, including the world's best husband. But I still feel anxious.

This particular week has been made worse by the fact that I feel isolated from everything that is going on. I keep checking my email incessantly, hoping that something will be there, and no matter how many emails I get, it never seems to be enough. I think I am probably homesick. It has been four months since we have seen our families (except for Mike and Charity of course). While we love Columbus and look forward to sticking around here for as long as we have work, it gets a little depressing sometimes to not be able to jump in a car and visit my parents or Steve's parents on a whim.

So I will continue to do the things that do make me happy: writing, reading, playing piano, chilling with Steve. I'll try not to focus so much on what I don't have and concentrate on all my wonderful blessings. And hopefully tomorrow will be easier.

More traveling

So last night we drove to Nashville, Tennessee, which makes the 12th state we've been to in the last 15 days. Whew! We are here in Nashville visiting my brother and his family, including their 3 great boys. Besides not having slept in the last couple nights, things are great.
Why haven't I slept, you may ask? Well, last night was just because we got in very late and woke up accidently early. The night before last, I didn't sleep because I was busy having nightmares. I am taking a creative writing class right now, which started this week, and for the first week's assignments, we had to read several horror stories.
I don't ever read horror stories, because they scare me and give me nightmares. And these ones scared me and gave me nightmares, so hopefully never again.

Day 7-9 of Spring Break Trip

Well, we're back at home again now, and it feels so good to sleep in our own bed! But I suppose I need to get the last couple of days up here on the website.

On Thursday, we drove to Plymouth Rock, Massachussetts, and finally got Steve his clam chowder. We loved wandering along the shore of the ocean, although it was not very warm, and there is no beach area there. We found a bunch of clam shells which we brought home with us, and saw Plymouth Rock itself. It is supposedly the rock on which the first pilgrim stood when they arrived in the New Land, although there is much debate about which rock it might have been. Regardless, somewhere there is where the Puritans arrived, and the era of freedom and independence was ushered in.

As a sidenote, one of the things we purchased in Plymouth was a Pirates Mad Lib book, so if you hear either of us say something like "Avast, ye Moose!" or "I will feed you to the spacemen!" that is the reason.

Then we drove to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and got there after dark. After the usual where-should-we-eat-tonight rigmarole, we went to bed.

Friday was the day of family history. We spent the day visiting cemeteries and geneaology libraries, trying to ascertain where Steve's family ended up after Scranton. Although we didn't have much success finding out where they went to after Scranton, we did find the graves of Jacob and Jadwiga Yerka, who where the original immigrants in his family. They are buried in Dickson City, PA.

Saturday, we finally came home! It was a long drive, during much of which I played a Nancy Drew mystery game while Steve was driving. The most eventful part of it was that, about ten miles from home, the serpentine belt fell out of our car, stalling it while we were on the freeway. Don't worry, we're both fine. Steve managed to get the car off to the side of the road, and we called a tow truck. Unfortunately our mechanic was closed for the day, so we left the car outside the shop and we'll call them on Monday. The tow driver brought us home, where we were going to pick up our other car and take it over to get all our luggage. Unfortunately, after he dropped us off, we discovered that the battery in our other car was dead. So we called a couple dozen people from our church to find someone who could come over and jump it for us. We did eventually find someone (thank you, Brother Snow!), and everything is well now.

That's it for vacation posts. In conclusion, we had a great time, and we learned so much about history and the events that shaped our country. I came away with a great appreciation for all those who serve and have served to help us enjoy our freedoms. It was so great to stand where these wonderful men and women stood.


A tunnel in Boston. There were exits in the tunnel! It made me feel like such a country girl.


Plymouth Rock. It's hard to see, but the date 1620 is carved into it.


Steve standing on the shore of the ocean. He was trying to find a way down to the water, but there was disgusting dried seaweed everywhere. We found a way down in a different spot.


The Atlantic Ocean, by way of the Plymouth Bay.


Sorry about the expressions on our faces. It was cold and windy! Behind us is the Mayflower II, a replica of the original pilgrim vessel.


The gravestone of Jadwiga Yerka. If you look closely, you can see the whole thing is written in Polish. That has put a bit of a kabosh on our plans to find her parents.


The gravestone of Jacob Yerka.

Day 6 of Spring Break Trip

The fun thing about this trip is that we've been getting farther and farther back in American history. We started at the Civil War, then did the Foundations of American Constitutionalism. On Day 6, we did the beginnings of the Revolution, and today we are planning to go to Plymouth Rock to see the place that started it all.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. We rode our first subway! In Boston there are four subway lines, all named after colors. We rode the Red Line into downtown Boston, past Harvard and MIT, and got off at the beginning of what they call the Freedom Trail, which is a walking trail that goes past all the historical sights.

We saw places I've only read about, like the Old North Church, where Paul Revere put up a lantern to warn how the British were coming; the Boston Massacre site, where the Revolutionary War fighting began; the Old State House, where James Otis argued that "taxation without representation is tyranny;" and the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Mother Goose, and Elizabeth Pain (said to be the inspiration for Hester Prynne). Everything was really great, except the weather, which was windy and cold.

After this excursion, which took most of the day, we got back on the Red Line and headed for our hotel, where we camped for the rest of the day watching NCIS. We are on vacation, after all!

High Point of the Day: Seeing these historical sights come alive (or maybe riding a subway)
Low Point of the Day: Being tired and hungry, and therefore grumpy.


The New State House, built in 1842. We took a tour and learned a bunch of information about it, but none of it is really important to anyone but a Massachusetts native, so I won't put it in here.


Paul Revere's grave. As you recall, he was one of the men who took word to the minutemen that the Redcoats were coming. We were told he is mostly famous just because of Longfellow's poem.


These are the graves of the first casualties of the Revolutionary War. The little boy was killed in February, and the Boston Massacre happened in March. We actually saw the exact site where it happened.


Me at Paul Revere's House.


The Old North Church, where they lit lanterns to show which way the British were approaching from. Also the site where Ian gets arrested in National Treasure.

Day 5 of Spring Break Trip

Today was the big drive day, from Philadelphia to Boston. Honestly, we didn't do much rather than that, so this will probably be a short post.

We drove through six states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The farther east we got, the more fun the accents were. About the only two memorable experiences were in New York and Connecticut. In New York, we had the pleasure of driving straight through the middle of the Bronx (on highway of course). It was about all that you would imagine: disgusting and dirty with tall buildings everywhere. We didn't stop anywhere.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, it was a completely different story. There we stopped at the Ocean for the first time (actually Long Island Sound), and saw some of the hugest houses I've ever imagined. We felt definitely out of place in our old car. Everyone there drives Lexus and Audi and here we are in our Ford Contour.

In Boston we drove on the lower level of a huge bridge to get to our suburb, which is called Revere, Massachusetts. Then, after a hunt for some food that ended in delivered Chinese, we went to bed.

High Point of the Day: seeing the Ocean!
Low Point of the Day: New York City and spending $8! to cross a bridge!


You can barely see it, but that is Manhattan in the distance.


My first view of the Atlantic Ocean!


Steve and I standing at the shoreline.


The biggest house I've ever seen.


Oh, and they also have the biggest Audi dealership in the world, and I believe them, since everyone there was driving something like an Audi.

Day 4 of Spring Break

Today we finally made it down town to all the historic sights of Philadelphia. It cost us $18 to park downtown, and we walked around a lot. We saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. It was so neat to be standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were drafted. But the coolest thing was next door in Congress Hall. There, on March 4, 1797, about fifteen feet from were Steve and I were sitting, John Adams took the oath of office of the President of the United States, and became the first person in history to have a peaceful transference of leadership that didn't occur through bloodshed or bloodline. Just thinking about that gave Steve and I chills.

After that we walked up to the Edgar Allan Poe historical sight, but it was closed, which was very disappointing. For lunch, on the advice of several friends, we went to Geno's in South Philly and got cheese steaks. They were great! Then we came back to our hotel room, and we have been chilling here, watching movies and eating pineapple. We feel a little guilty for being so lazy, instead of being out there doing things, but part of this vacation is to relax and unwind from our busy lives.

Tomorrow we leave for Boston and we get to see the ocean!

High Point of the Day: Congress Hall and the great tour
Low Point of the Day: Walking 8 blocks to Edgar Allan Poe's house and finding it closed.

This is the Senate Room upstairs in Congress Hall.

This is the clock tower of Independence Hall.

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square.

This is outside of Edgar Allan Poe's house. We were very sad to find that it was not open and will not be again until after we leave.

This is the Liberty Bell.

Day 3 of Spring Break Trip

Sunday was not the most spiritual Sabbath we've ever had. We did make an attempt to go to church, but we found out the night before that they were all having Stake Conference. So we lounged around the hotel for several hours, reading scriptures and resting. We ate breakfast for free at the Marriott because they were so busy they couldn't help us. We weren't actually inconvenienced, but we didn't turn down a free breakfast.

After a small lunch, we headed for New Jersey, where we did a tour of the Battleship New Jersey, which was great. I've never been on a battleship before. Then we drove south to Delaware, which makes 30 states I've been to now. We got lost in Wilmington, and ended up next to the Brandywine River, which was picturesque. Then we came back up to Philadelphia and spent the rest of the day around our hotel. It was quiet and nice, a great day.

High Point: Touring the Battleship New Jersey
Low Point: Spending $3.00 just to cross a bridge.

We are at the Battleship New Jersey.

We are standing at the fore deck looking back at the big guns and tower.

This is one of the bunks.

This is the Officers' dining area.

Daffodils in Delaware.

Day 1-2 of Spring Break Trip

We got moving about 2:30 on Friday afternoon, heading for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The most interesting part of that trip was driving over a mountain pass in the Appalachians with a 9% grade. That's the highest I've ever seen! It was pretty fun, although it was dark, so we didn't see much.

In Gettysburg on Saturday morning, we went to the visitors center for the Battle of Gettysburg and hired a private tour guide (as we were told it was the best way to see Gettysburg). Turns out, whoever told us that was right. The man who drove us around was very knowledgable and made the Battle of Gettysburg come alive for us. It was really neat. We spent a little time in the Museum Giftstore, buying some Civil War books. Then we got back on the road and drove to Maryland, where, as it turns out, it's very difficult to find postcards.

After Maryland, we drove north to Harrisburg, then got back on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and headed for Philadelphia. We discovered that Valley Forge is on the way, so we stopped there for a brief time. After arriving in Philadelphia, we started looking for a hotel, which for some reason was a very difficult process. We got completely lost in the slums of New Jersey, which was scary, and drove around and through Philadelphia till we were sick of it with no luck. Finally we headed back into the suburbs and decided to hang the price, we were staying at a Mariott. As luck would have it, the Mariott was the same price we had budgeted for our hotel rooms, so we are going to stay here for all three nights that we are in Philly.

The last thing to do was find some food. So far we have avoided spending much money on food on this trip, but we were pretty hungry last night, so we went to a place called Dave and Buster's, with no idea what it actually was. Turns out it's like an arcade, for adults. We got carded, for the first time in either of our lives, which was a little embarrassing because I didn't have my wallet on me. They let us in anyway (apparently I look older than 21), and we ate some food in a place that was buzzing with people. It was very nice to get back to our hotel and finally go to sleep.

High Point of the Day: the Tour of Gettysburg
Low Point of the Day: Getting lost in New Jersey with no internet

General Lee and some members of the Confederate Army

Minnesota Monument

This is a Union cannon. They ran out of balls for them on the third day of battle as the Confederate troops were attacking. The Confederates thought they were completely out of ammunition, so they started advancing more quickly. The Union soldiers had some canisters full of scatter shot, however, and they were able to stop the advance of the Confederate soldiers within about 25' of their line.

We made a quick lunch excursion across the border from Gettysburg to Maryland.

This is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge across the Delaware River into New Jersey.

Springtime and Corners

Steve and I went for a walk today. It is the first time in months that we have felt like going on a walk. The sun is shining, and it is fairly warm (for winter): 46 degrees. It was so nice to be outside and moving around. I feel like we have been hibernating for months, and I am so tired of it. I want to live somewhere where I can go outside, or at least see outside. Our apartment has north-facing windows, and not very many of them at that. Oh how we hope to be changing our living situation in the not-too-distant future!

In other news, my friend Heidi taught a wonderful lesson in Relief Society today, about how to use our different stages of life to become more like Christ. She said a lot of great things, but one thing in particular stuck out to me. She said we should do whatever we can to make our homes a place of strength, peace, and security. I think that is exactly what I needed to hear this week. I have been struggling so much with knowing what I can do to help Steve with the stress he has been feeling, and also to give myself something to do that will help me feel productive and useful. Often I don't feel like anything I do is actually important, but it takes the time I could have used to be productive. It's very frustrating. But now I have some ideas of how to create an atmosphere in my home that will allow Steve to work through the things he needs to get done. And, I will find a way to challenge my own mind so that I'm not bored and impatient.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and I also saw Alice in Wonderland yesterday and I would recommend it. It was pretty cool. I enjoyed the 3D.

Happy birthday to me!

A Short Post

We have had so much snow in the last few days, and it is still coming down. I am getting a little tired of it, honestly. I have always been a bit disappointed that my birthday falls in late winter instead of late spring. Every year I wish I would have flowers and green for my birthday, but every year instead I get mud and melted snow. Ick.

Apparently we really do live in a big city

After a wonderful temple session last night, I came out to find my car window broken and my purse stolen. AAAAA!! It took a few moments for me to take in this information, but then I was fairly emotional and upset. The good news (there is a lot of it) is that my wallet wasn't in it, but was with me. So they didn't get anything except my cell phone, a little bit of change, a few grocery store cards, and some stamps. Unfortunately, I also had one check in there, so they have access to our bank account. Mine was not the only car they broke in to: apparently there were at least four others. Steve talked to the police and the temple president for a little while, and they thought it might be some organized crime. I did file a police report, but I doubt I'll get any of the stuff back.

So, Steve and I spent the morning trying to clean up the mess. We went to the bank, canceled that account and opened a new one, went to the T-Mobile store to buy a new cell phone (which, fortunately, I was able to get the exact same phone for free!), called the Auto Glass people to replace my windshield, and then sat down to count our blessings.

Our blessings:
1) My wallet was not in the car. I still have my ID, my recommend, my library card, and my debit card.
2) We were able to get a new phone for free, due to the upgrade process.
3) I wasn't hurt in any way, nor was there any additional damage to my car.
4) The Auto Glass company is coming to our house to fix the car, which means we don't have to drive it anywhere with no window.
5) They only took my purse, leaving an Mp3 player, a violin, and various nonvaluable items alone. I am especially grateful that they left the violin, as that would be much more difficult to replace than my purse!

The moral of the story is, don't leave your purse in your car, even when at the temple. Also, I am going to need everyone's phone numbers again, since I always forget to back up my contacts list onto the computer. Grrr.

It's raining in Ohio . . . so what else is new?

So I realize it has been almost two months since I've updated this blog. That's pathetic. That's about how often I've been writing in my journal too, which is also sad. You'd think, with how busy I am most of the time, I would find more to blog about, but somehow I don't.

Today we learned about the tender mercies of the Lord, and I would like to share a couple. The flowers in the above picture were given to me by my wonderful husband (who has always been a tender mercy). Last Wednesday was a rough day in the Yerka household. We received some fairly bad news that made us both quite sad. However, the Lord loves us and he takes care of us, and somehow, even though we were sad all day Wednesday, when we woke up on Thursday, everything was okay. Not that things had changed, exactly, but our hearts were filled with peace. And then Steve brought flowers to my work, and made my whole day. I love flowers! Especially ones that come with great amounts of love.

Riley is another tender mercy. She and her family have been such good friends to me. She was my first piano student here, and very talented. Here she is, dressed up for mismatched day. I especially love the two kinds of stockings she is wearing.

This is a blanket I made for Steve's mother, my wonderful mother-in-law. I actually finished it on the Thursday of Peace (see above), and it was so wonderful to use my peaceful, spiritual feeling to do something good for Mom. I love her so much, and she is such a tender mercy in my life. Being able to serve her makes me so happy, it added to the peace I was already feeling. Even if Kiley beat me to it!

The Lord takes such good care of us. Even though my life hasn't been turning out exactly how I wanted or expected, he has let me know we're in the right place, doing the right thing. He has put us in the Marble Cliff ward, where we have made some wonderful friends. People take such good care of us, even when we sometimes feel lonely or depressed. I wish everyone could feel the happiness and peace that I have felt for the last three days, even with all the trials that I have had. I encourage all of you to turn to the Lord no matter what you are going through. I have tried it both ways, but this way is better. (Hopefully I'll remember that the next time I choose the other way.) Love to all!