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