Tour of the House

Sorry these pictures have taken so long to post. I wanted to wait until a few more things were done before I posted pictures of our house. I didn't post pictures of the bathrooms or the basement but this gives you a general idea of the house. We love company, so visitors are always welcome.

Living Room

Office - Where I spend most of my time

Master Bedroom

Kitchen

Kitchen from the table

Guest Room (company always welcome)

Back of the House

Front of the House

Giggling Customer Service Rep

I had to call Comcast (again) about some issues with accessing my on-line account. I was having a pretty bizarre problem (an issue with running around in circles) and when I explained it to the rep...he giggled.

Now I've had some pretty bad customer service from Comcast (if you have ever used Comcast you can probably relate). I try to be patient but I'll admit I do call them with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Usually the last people I work with are great...as they are the ones who actually help me.

Well this guy's giggle certainly improved my mood. At first I was a trifle annoyed that he had the audacity to giggle. But it ended up relaxing me a bit and he proved to be quite helpful.

I may try giggling at the next person who comes off annoyed at me.

Sleeping in the car

I didn't have to sleep in my car tonight, but I came very close.

There are two sets of keys to my car. One is mine and the other Mark's. Because they are a bit bulky Mark leaves his set of my keys along with a few others at home when he goes to work. The problem is this set of car keys, does not have a house key.

I went to Wal-Mart after Mark left for work tonight (I find shopping at night much better w/0 all the people). When I got out of Wal-Mart I realized I had Mark's set of car keys...not mine. The other problem was I had left both of my cell phones in the house (a true rarity for me).

Now our house is thankfully more secure than our apartment was meaning I can't just use a credit card to card my way through the lock. I wasn't confident I'd remembered to lock the door when I left and for once I was hoping I had forgotten.

Thankfully when I arrived home, the door was unlocked. Not that this is very safe or smart...but tonight it proved a good thing.

Had it not been unlocked I either would have had to sleep in my car until Mark arrived at home (he works 3rd shift you don't know this) or gone to Caterpillar and found some security guard to help me find him. I haven't really been around the facility in Joliet like I had been in Thomasville, so that could have been interesting.

I'm off to go sleep in my bed (thankfully:))

Fun Father's Day (a little late)

We went down to Central Illinois this weekend for a belated Father's Day. We first celebrated with my Kuntz cousins. It was great to attend one of these again. I always loved Kuntz birthdays. We tend to get together for all major holidays and then some random birthday celebrations. It used to be about every month but since life has become a little busier, it's more like once a quarter. With Mark and I in GA, we didn't make it much.

Then we had brunch with my Vercler grandparents and my immediate family on Saturday morning. That was really nice too. Mom made fabulous food.

I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera. But the memories are there.

Asking nicely

We have a guy who I think every Wednesday comes in the morning to pick up the kids from the neighbor across the street. Normally our neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. Except on these mornings he comes in playing extremely loud music. He then leaves his car running, doors & windows open, and goes into the house. He is in there an extended length of time. I'm assuming he leaves the music going so he can hear it in the house.

Mark is on 3rd shift right now and while it maybe doesn't disrupt him too bad...it drives me crazy. I'm confident it is a noise violation.

Well today I decided to be a friendly neighbor and ask them not do play the music so loud. I wandered over, introduced myself, and made my request. It helped a lot that I could say my husband worked 3rd and is sleeping. I asked very politely if there was anyway it could be shut off.

The neighbors were very nice and quickly the music ceased. Ahhh the quiet again. I don't know if this is the end of our noise routine but it was great for today.

Missing the Family

This afternoon I had a bit of an opportunity to chat with the Lindberg family back in Georgia. I do miss spending time with them very much.

I had a wonderful conversation with Joel about his birthday and things going on in our house. He is really growing up and a lot of fun to talk to. Here is a great shot of him licking the wisk after making brownies.

I do miss them all so very much.

I don't think I look that young

Sometimes people think I'm younger than I am but typically they are in the general ball park.

Today a salesman rang our door bell, when I answered he asked

"Is your mom or dad home?"

It threw me for a bit of a loop. I smiled and replied "No, I'm the wife."

He blushed and responded that I look young. Now our neighborhood has a lot of families and some-what older people in it but still...

Here is a recent picture. Now I wasn't as dressed up as this picture shows but you'll get the general idea of how I look.

Hello out there

hello to all those who check my blog. We've been very busy with the move. We are officially "moved in" but that just means all our stuff is in this house.

The closing went fine and moving in has actually gone pretty well. When we moved in though we realized something crazy about this house...it had no over head lights in the living room or any of the bedrooms. Mark and my dad have been busy putting in the wires for the new lights and fans. We have 2 and 1/2 of them up so we're doing pretty good.

I'll post pictures soon.

Feeling Ditzy

I thought I wasn't going to post for a while but...anyway.

Since we are moving to Illinois Mark and I drove his car up a little over a week ago to look at houses etc. We then flew back to Georgia and are living with only one vehicle for the next week and a half. Since I work from home it isn't that big of a deal.

The problem is in my fairly frazzled state...I keep forgetting this. On Monday I made out all my errands to run over lunch, only to walk out a realize I had no car. The errands had to wait until Mark got home.

Today my friend Dorcas called to meet up for lunch at Pizza Hut. Sounded great to me. I totally forgot not having a car until I walked out to leave. Thankfully Pizza Hut is really close, so she just picked me up.

The crazy part of that whole deal was I talking to my mother-in-law just prior to leaving and telling her I wouldn't be out to do voice lessons with Lydia until later because Mark had the car. I just didn't put it all together when it came to lunch.

Oh well...I made it. I just keep feeling a bit foolish.

New Home

Mark and I put an offer and it was accepted for our first house. It's in Joliet, IL. The house is only 5 miles (12 minute) drive from Mark's new job, which makes me very excited. I think it will suit us well.

Hope ya'll can come visit.

P.S. I haven't written much as things have been really busy with the move. Mark and I were exhausted last night. We still have a ways to go.

Hopefully once the move is complete, I'll be back up posting.

Moving On

It's official. For those of you who haven't heard, Mark accepted a position with Caterpillar in...

Joliet, Illinois!

With great joy and a few tears, we are making our way back up to the Midwest.We've felt the Lord's leading in this process and look forward to many new experiences.

We'll be attending the Apostolic Church in Chicago. We are looking forward to being a regular part of a congregation.

We have been immensely blessed here in Georgia and praise the Lord for his grace and mercy.

With love,
Mark & Laura

We go together

I knew Mark and I spent a lot of time together, but I didn't realize other people noticed. One of our typical routines is late in the evening after dinner, we'll go to Wal-Mart to do our weekly grocery shopping. I could go by myself but I don't really like to and if I wait until later it is less busy.



Last week while I was away, Mark had to pick up a few things. He went through the check-out line of one of our usual checkers. As he got to the front she asked..."Missing somebody."



He smiled and replied "She is out of town on a business trip."



I guess other people notice we are joined at the hip.

Home again

Greetings. It has been a while since my last post due to a trip up North. I was in South Bend, Leo, Roanoke, and Gridley all in the last 8 days. It was wonderful to see so many friends and family. I'm also thankful to be back home with Mark.

Talk to you later.

Curious George and Tears

This weekend while Mom and Dad Lindberg were up in Illinois for Great-grandpa's funeral, Mark and I stayed with the kids. We had a wonderful time and the family was a joy to be with.

We decided to rent a movie one night and selected Curious George. Now I loved this moved and thought it was very cute and nicely done. Excellent choice for kids.

Not scary...or so I thought. There is one scene in which Curious George is taken away by animal control. It isn't overly aggressive but...as the scene ends all of a sudden we here this very deep inhale from Rachel. She is notably crying at poor George's fate.

We quickly hugged her and assured her George would be ok. She watched it again Sunday without incident.

Such a sensitive little girl.

Here she is with big brother Josh.

Josh and Bethany

As most of you probably already know, my bro-in-law, Josh, is getting married at the end of May. Both Mark and I are in the wedding and we are very excited about it.

Josh and Bethany came to visit the family in Georgia not that long ago. Here is a picture of the happy couple.

You can't see in this picture that Josh has a big boot on his foot. He broke it at work a while back. He's doing well and hopefully be walking normally by May 25th.

We wish them love and joy in their life together.

Bible Study

Renae and I just completed a Bible Study with a women's group in town, Beth Moore's Bible Study- Stepping Up .


Since we live so far from our church, Renae thought a women's Bible Study would be a strong encouragement. She was definitely right.


Life at my parent's house has been a challenging and this Bible Study was a real encouragement.

I learned a lot about worship, God's promises, and lot of the background about the feasts and how Jesus is connected to that history.


God was faithful in reaching me with very personal messages just when I needed them most.


It is a good Bible Study for someone who has been a believer for a while and who needs to take it to another step. It's probably not right for a new believer as there are some basic assumptions of what you understand.


It is designed for groups but probably could be done on your own.


I'm thankful God brought me to it during this difficult time.

Accidental Thief

Renae asked me a few weeks ago to pick up a pizza for Matthew from Pizza Hut as a surprise for his lunch. I was already have lunch with Mark at Caterpillar and Renae thought it would be a nice surprise.

She said she'd call her order in, pay with a credit card, and alll I'd have to do is pick it up and deliver it. Not a problem.

It wasn't quite ready when I arrived. I waited about 4 minutes, they handed me my pizza and I left.

The next day Renae calls me and asks "How much do I owe you?"

I replied "Owe me...for what?"

"The pizza"

"Ummmmm I didn't pay for it"

Aparently the credit card thing didn't happen. I had offered to pay for it to Renae if the credit card thing didn't work but they handed me the food and I thought it had gone through fine.

Renae stopped by there the next day to settle up.

Never meant to steal it...oops

Fell Down Springing Forward

As you know this weekend was the change from Standard to Daylight Savings Time. Well...you probably knew, I didn't.

I had no idea that it was this weekend. So Sunday morning we get up to get ready for church and Mark remembers. By the time he remembered though there was no way to get to church on time.

So we missed services this week. It was very weird not going to church and I definitely missed it. I was so sad because my future sister-in-law, Bethany, and my brother-in-law, Josh, were here and wanted to attend church with them.

Oh well, we did spring forward eventually and were well rested...

Riding Together

As some of you know, when we go up to Atlanta for church it is about a 4 hour drive. Not a short little trip but manageable in a weekend.



Next weekend is the Easter program. Both us and the Lindberg family need to attend because of our obligations to the Sunday School. Dad Lindberg though has to work both days next weekend. So Mark and I offered to drive the family up so Mom wouldn't have to take the big red van by herself.


We were talking about this the other afternoon and we greatly confused Joel. First he asks



Joel: "So we're leaving Dad?"

Me: "Yes"


Joel: "Who is going to drive us?"


Me: "Mark"


Joel: "Oh...who is going to drive you?"



Even though this is a 15-passenger van he hadn't considered that I could ride along.

After we explained that I'm going to ride in the van too, the world made sense again.




This is my little man Joel.

It didn't taste good

VS.

This morning when I was brushing my teeth I accidently put my face wash on my toothbrush instead of my toothpaste.

I didn't even realize what I had done until I put it in my mouth and realize it had a horrible very unexpected taste. I wouldn't recommend it.

Amanda Update: She definitely did a real good number on her nose. She has to have surgery tomorrow to repair it. She's handling it very well but she'll be sore for a while.

Poor Dandy-Mandy

Last night I called home and my Dad answered. After recognizing it was me he asked "Do you need any help?"

I responded no, I was fine..."Well Amanda does...we think she broke her nose."

Amanda wiped out face-first last night on concrete shed floor. She had parked her car in the shed and was running out to beat the garage door. She went to hop over a puddle...hit some ice and...

SPLAT!!!

Right on her face. Wasn't able to catch herself at all. (She thinks she probably had her hands in her coat pocket because it was cold but she really doesn't remember.)

Story goes, she came in gushing blood and in a lot of pain. They were able to pack her nose, give her a pain killer and then took her to the ER.

She has an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat doctor today to see if she needs to have any surgery to fix her nose. Dad says you don't need to be a radiologist to see that it is broken in the X-ray. It will just depend on how it will heal if they leave it alone.

Amanda isn't feeling too pretty right now....

















So you can appreciate what she really looks like. Here is Amanda with me at the Valdosta Airport, after her visit last summer.

Feel better soon Amanda!

(note: I did recieve permission from Amanda for this post.)

Our Friend FJ

Mark and I have a dear friend here in Thomasville, FJ. Mark met FJ in the Wal-Mart parking lot sometime in the summer of 2005. Mark had just got off work from 2nd shift and was stopping by for groceries. Well he talked to FJ for a bit in the parking let and they ended up getting coffee at the Waffle House. He has been a friend every since.

He did the fabulous food at our rehersal dinner and was in Matthew's wedding. He is now managing a restuarant here in town, in addition to his catering business. He is a really neat guy and we feel blessed to know him.

We are going to try out the new restaurant tomorrow night probably. I bet it will be great!

Lindberg Fun

With all the young brothers and sisters-in-law I have, going to the Lindberg house is always fun. Here are some fun pictures.

This is Hannah and Rachel playing horse. Rachel uses Hannah's hair for reigns.

A fun Lindberg Pryamid.

North Florida Fair

A couple of months ago, Mark & I along with Matthew and Renae went to the North Florida Fair. I normally think of fair-time being in July or August but those months are so miserably hot here, they wait until November to have many of these events. It made for a very comfortable evening.

We walked around looking at animals and various shows. I enjoyed watching the 4-H goat showing but my comarades were less impressed. Here are some pictures from our outing.

Below is a water buffalo. The veggie tales song comes to mind... They had a large display of various unique animals. It also included things like a zdonk (zebra-donkey mix). Very interesting.

















Here is Matthew and Renae looking at...well I don't remember what.

















Mark "milking a cow" :)

Mark and I sharing a turkey leg. I love these things. It is very carnivorous, I know.

Sunday Morning

For the mornings Mark and I are here in Thomasville, we have a very efficient routine. When we wake up I head straight to the shower and Mark makes breakfast. He does things like eggs & bacon or biscuits & gravy. Here is a picture of his biscuits and gravy. Isn't he romantic with the heart biscuits?

This system works well as it takes me notably longer than him to get ready in the morning. It helps prevent us being late to church :). The Mennonite Church here does have a Sunday School for everyone before church. I am very blessed by the ladies class, so we make an extra effort to attend.

Without the help of my honey...well we do like cereal.

7 Facts about Me

I have seen this post on many people's blogs so I thought I would try for today. I don't find myself terribly interesting but I enjoyed other peoples...so here we go

1. I am deathly afraid of mice. I'm not sure where this issue came from but possibly my mom's reactions to them as a child. As a little kid we lived on a farm and so we had to put mice traps out a lot. I used to go empty the traps etc. No a days I can't even go into that room in the pet store. I had a dream two nights ago that two of them bit me in the neck. It was so real I woke up with my hand on my neck and it hurt.

2. I love working from home. I used to work in an office in South Bend before I got married. I've always enjoyed my job. I worried that when I moved down I'd miss the office interaction. While somedays I do, I love the lower stress and greater flexibility that comes with working from home. With Mark's sometimes crazy schedule this works really well. My co-workers have been fabulous in the adjustment so I'm thankful for that.

3. I don't mind having my picture taken if I don't have to look at it later. I never want to see into someone's digital camera after they have taken a picture of me. It's an insecurity thing but I just don't like looking at pictures of myself. I've eased up on this a bit since being with Mark. We take a lot of pictures together and I like looking at him.

4. Star Trek the Next Generation is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. Mark and I don't really watch much television but we do occasionally buy TV series on DVD and watch them to relax. I bought Mark all seven seasons of Star Trek and we watched it all last year. I still pull the DVD's out regularly and re-watch episodes. I'm getting pretty good at the Star Trek quizzes on line.

5. Two of my toes on my right foot are slightly webbed. It isn't terribly noticable until you look but I definitely have the webbing like a duck there.

6. I am definitely an audio learner. I gather information best by it being said to me. This is why college worked so well because I could go and listen to lectures. I think this is also why I talk to myself :)

7. I cry easily if other adults are crying. I can handle children's tears fine but if another adult is crying and emotionally struggling, I often cry right with them.

New Year's in Florida

Happy New Year!! Ok so the month is almost over but I'm feeling a bit behind. We spent a wonderful New Years in Florida with our friends Matt and Emily. We were able to go down on Friday and spend the long weekend with them. They were wonderful hosts and we had a fabulous time.

Dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger (a place with very unhealthly but fabulous food)

Us with a beatiful shot off the pier.

This is Matt and Emily on the Pier in by Sharky's

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Moving Out

Not Mark and I...no the college boys who moved in below us last week. Mark and I live on the upper level of a 2 story apartment building (a lesson learned living on Marsteller- it is best to be at the top).

Anyway, last Saturday 5 college guys moved their stuff in below us. We aren't that far from Thomas University which has limited campus housing. Needless to stay we were quite nervous after we had a quiet family living below previously.

Most of the week went fine until Friday morning after I brought Mark home post-wisdom teeth removal. You could hear the slight thump thump thump of the base and the loud swearing of these guys. Our lease is up at the end of February and I was already thinking about where we could move to.

In the afternoon I left a sleeping Mark and went to the gym. When I returned the guys were hauling stuff between the apartment and their truck. I decided I'd be friendly and introduce myself. Well I went up to one of the guys and said

"Do live there?"

He replies, "Actually we're moving out"

Seeing the puzzled look on my face he continues, "We have an apartment in another building, they were just letting us keep some stuff here until it is ready."

I reply "Oh...happy moving."

And proceed to skip up to our apartment. I feel very blessed that we can all live in peace and harmony...in other buildings.

Have a great day!

Thanksgiving Cooking Memories

I know Thanksgiving was ages ago but I just now downloaded the pictures off my camera. Here are some shots from our pie baking adventure.

Mark being the wonderful husband he is helped make pies for Vercler Thanksgiving.

I forgot to add the eggs to my pumpkin pie and let's say it didn't look so pretty (tasted good). So we made a new one for the family event and just ate this one at my Mom and Dad's.

Christmas Card Fun

I just want to give a shout out for a Happy New Year. I have many fun pictures I'll post soon.

In the mean time, I'd like to let you know about our fun Christmas card. Traditionally my family has done a rather painfully boring Christmas Card. It is usually taken at Grandma's house at Thanksgiving because that is when we are all together and have someone else to take the picture.

This year we had a little fun at Grandma's...see result below. We kind-of tried to deceive my mom that this one was just for "fun" and we wouldn't think about it for a Christmas card. Well it turned out so well that we begged and pleaded with her.

Now my self-conscious mother was adamant that we were not going to use that picture and wanted to use this one instead. After much debate and since she gets to order the cards, we allowed this safe one.

She surprised us with a mild compromise. She ordered 40 of the "fun" card and like 120 of the "boring" card. I have a "fun" card to treasure forever. I had no idea she had done this until I received ours in the mail. Needless to say for my mother this is very impressive.

Next year I told mom we need to do a fun card again, but she doesn't have to be the object of the fun next time.

Colorado, Oregon, & Utah

What do the above 3 states have in common? They are the 3 state quarters I'm currently missing from those which have been released of my state quarter selection. I've been collecting since 1999 and have done fairly well collecting. But since I use minimal cash, it takes a while to find them.

If you happen to find one of these states and would like to help me with my collection, I would gladly reimburse you.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I'll post more from our Christmas later.

Happy Day After Christmas (also known as Mark's birthday :))

Our Christmas Card

Merry Christmas. I love Christmas cards, especially the ones with pictures. Plain cards are nice too but I'm fond of the picture ones. Mark and I enjoy doing fun things with our Christmas cards. This year we went Southern :)

The challenge with Christmas cards is when you send them out making sure you get to everyone. I try to keep my list up to date but I'm sometimes only mildly successful. I'm posting our card this year so everyone can at least see it. I have some extras so if you want one :)...just let me know.

Merry Christmas and God's blessings on the new year!

Driving 115

Now the speedometer reads 115 on this car, yet any of you who know me probably doubt I would drive that fast on public roads. Don't worry Mom, I haven't.

While Brian was down here visiting he had a rental car. We took this thing everywhere (Tallahassee, up to Atlanta twice) etc... One of the funny things about it is you could push a button and it would switch from standard to metric. Since kilometers are shorter than miles, it of course goes up when you switch on the speedometer. Since I would never drive that fast this is probably one of the few times in my life I'll see it so far up.

Ok, so I know not the most fascinating thing but on the long drive to Atlanta...you'll take about anything.

I elfed us

I saw Sandra do this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun.

I'm sure Mark will think I'm nuts....but he'll like it

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1411767104

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Caroling in Sandals

I didn't wear sandals when we went Christmas caroling on Sunday but I should have. It is notably warm here right now. As I read and hear about all the ice back in Illinois, I shiver. We have had unseasonably warm temperatures. It is about 80 degrees during the day. I had to turn my air conditioner back on.

Mark and I try to take walks in the evening to enjoy the beautiful weather. Winter is definitely a mild season here. This is a great reason for all you Yankees to come visit us down in the South.

The Singing

When we were down at the Lakewood Retreat (a Mennonite campground), we saw this sign that described a "Singing." Now those of us from the A.C. and other like worlds, we know what a singing is. Sometimes when I would mention I was going to a singing on a Friday night to my non-A.C. friends, they would be confused.

Well the below definition of a singing is not usually the one I would describe to them. I posted both pictures of the sign as one is easier to read expect where the flash is and the other is more blurry but doesn't have the flash (they are the same sign).

This does kind of weird me out thinking back to young group days. We aren't Amish but the general principles here could apply. I don't think I ever heard someone describe it in our church having that purpose. But then again...think College Weekend. It certainly is not the whole purpose for most people (a side purpose for some I'm sure). As for me...I really did and do just like to sing!

Adventures with Brian

As some of you may know, my brother Brian came to live with us for most of October and the first part of Novemeber. He works for Caterpillar in Pontiac, IL which is the parent facility to the one down here in Thomasville. We had lots of fun with Brian which included several trips to Atlanta, exploring Thomasville, and lots of Star Trek.
Here are some pictures with Brian

At Sonic

Alston Trading Post

Getting Boiled Peanuts at the Trading Post

I'm back

After being on the road to various places since the 12th of November, I'm happy to say I've returned home to sunny Georgia. I have many pictures which will become subsequent posts on the blog.

We had a wonderful time in Illinois for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you ask my mom) our flight was canceled coming home on Sunday night. We were able to fly out Monday morning (very early I might add) and we did make it home. But it was quite the adventure getting there.

I'll update more later but I thought I'd give a shout out.

O

Family Fun at Lakewood Retreat

In October of this year Mark, Lydia, Ben, and I traveled down to Florida to the Lakewood retreat. It is a gathering of the Florida churches at this camp/cabin area for a weekend of fun and fellowship. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

There were lots of little girls around who loved to play.

Human Foosball -Now this looks like a lot of very painful fun. You hold on to the pipes and the whole line has to move as one, just like in Foosball.

Our cabin the "Wren". Since this year they had less people that normal, we were able to stay in a fairly large cabin just the 4 of us.

Inside our cabin

The "Lindberg Family" (abbreviated version)

God's Protection

Last night, we (Mark, Brian, & I) were walking around Thomasville after dinner as it was a beautiful evening. If you've never been by our apartment (which applies to most of you), we live on a busy 4 lane road. It isn't impossible to cross by any means but you do have to pay attention. Also there is no side walk on our side of the road, you have to cross the street to walk on the side walk

As we were about home, I decided to cross the street just a little earlier than normal (I believe now it was a little push from the Holy Spirit). Just as we go into our drive way a motorcycle sped by us. None of us had heard it before it was right behind us. It was within a couple of feet from where we were standing. Had we crossed just a few seconds later, we could have easily been hit as he was going so fast we didn't see him till he was right there. I can still feel the blowing of my skirt.

After my heart slowed a bit, I really realized how tragic it could have been. We are so fragile that it would take almost nothing to end our life at any second. I guess God doesn't want the 3 of us home yet. I praise God for his protection over us last night.

Men are hard to buy for

I'm starting on my Christmas shopping as we are going to Illinois for Thanksgiving and I want to leave my gifts up there. I have my brother's name for Christmas and of course their is Mark. For the other women in my life, I have tons of ideas. For these two I'm struggling. Now this may be because I'm not male and therefore can't imagine what would be a "fun" gift.

I'm open to suggestions.

My Sweet Sister

I was very impressed with the sweetness of my sister Diana. Last week her boyfriend Nick (sorry no picture available) was having a very rough week. They are both in Physician Assistant school and currently in their rotations. Diana is in Ft. Wayne and Nick is currently about 1 hour away in Marion.

Diana knew he needed cheering up. She had done that same rotation down in Marion a few months before. She called up her former preceptor (Nick's current) and told him of the situation. She was able to secure a couple of hours to take Nick out for dinner (not hospital cafeteria food). She looked up restaurants in Marion (not a large town) on the internet before departing.

She then drove down and surprised him. She said he shocked but pleased. I know she is really busy with school and such right now. Therefore I thought the gesture was very kind.

Holidays

As the holiday season is fast approaching, I'll have to admit it comes with much joy and some sadness. This year Mark and I do have the opportunity to spend the week of Thanksgiving up in Illinois. Last year due to Mark's limited vacation time, we didn't get to go back for any major holidays.

This year we are sacrificing Christmas to Thanksgiving. Now Thanksgiving is a pretty big holiday in my family. Both sides get together and enjoy a time of sharing and of course eating. The food is always great even if some what predictable. I'm excited about going back to Illinois even if I know I'll be sad when we have to leave. We are leaving on the last flight out of Bloomington to fly home. I know this is crazy but it was the only way to make the most of the day. I'm trusting God will get us back to Georgia.

Here are some pictures from last year's events that my family sent me in our absence.

My Immediate Family Christmas

Vercler Family Thanksgiving

House Alarms

When I stay with different people in my trips to South Bend, many of them have home security systems. I've recently been a pro at setting these systems off.

The first time I did it, it really wasn't my fault. I thought someone was home, they weren't and I didn't know the code. So of course after I enter 60 seconds later the alarm goes off.

This most recent time...it was my fault. I was talking on the phone when I entered the house. Instead of pushing "off" after the code, I did like I had in the morning and pushed "away." If I had been focused on the task at hand...it probably wouldn't have happened.

Now if you have never experienced the perils of a house alarm going off, I liken it to what I think alarms at the end of the world will sound like. So loud that you can't think straight. I think they protect your house from burglary as the criminals will be scared and deafened by the noise.

I did get them shut off eventually and no police showed up so it wasn't a huge deal. Just a lesson learned.

Tabasco Sauce

I had a very early flight with a fairly long lay-over on my recent trip to South Bend. In an effort to curb my hunger and entertain myself during my layover, I decided to have breakfast at one of the restaurants in the Atlanta airport verses just getting a quick bite to go. I should have got the quick bite to go.

As many of you know, I travel with carry-on luggage only. As I was trying to arrange it around my table, I accidentally bumped over a bottle of Tabasco Sauce. It then promptly broke and splattered all over tile floor. In addition it doused the ankle of a man wearing a very nice light tan suit at the table next to me. Needless to say he wasn't impressed (or very nice). I apologized profusely and the waitress helped him clean it.

They then moved me to another table (probably for my own protection) and to clean up the mess. To top it all off, I had an itch in my eye. I didn't realize I still had the Tabasco Sauce still on my fingers and of course it caused my eye to burn. I did get it rinsed out but it probably looked like I was crying over spilled Tabasco Sauce.

Oh well, such is life.