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Saturday, October 18, 2008

More Camping Adventures

We got to take yet another camping trip this season last weekend, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful weekend. It was about 75 degrees and sunny and it was mid-October!!! We had a great time hanging out by the fire, napping in the tent, and going for hikes all weekend long! We revisited a camp we went to at the beginning of the summer in Michigan. It is another State Park with great trails! We really like it here, and we actually got the same campsite we had last time.

This is the view out the door of our tent looking up.
All of the color on the trees was beautiful!
I love getting all the blankets and sleeping bags set up
and then lying down looking out the window up at all the trees!



Getting the fire started! My favorite part!
P.S. Fall is in full swing. Check out all the leaves on the ground!


Here's the fire that we roasted marshmallows over and
spent lots of time talking about life! :-)



This fire was perfect for marshmallows!

Here we are warming ourselves up by the fire!


Our campsite. This was the same exact site we stayed
at on our FIRST camping trip this summer!


Here it is campsite 127 at Camp Waterloo in Michigan.
We noticed that there were VERY few tent campers! Most people
had pretty decked out campers and at LEAST pop-up campers.
I still prefer a tent myself!



Yet another favorite part of camping is cooking!
Mmmmmm! We made some yummie quesadillas for
dinner! That little camp stove is awesome! Look how
yummie those look!!!!!!



Here is an awesome hiking trail. This was the Water View Trail.
It gave great views of the nearby lake. The trials here are really nice.
They are spread out over a large area. You have to drive about 10 minutes
to reach a few different spots, but it is worth the drive.


The trail outlined the lake seen here. Across the lake
you could see all the various colors of trees.
It was a gorgeous fall scape.




Here we are, enjoying a nice long hike! :-)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Restful Relaxation

David and I were lucky enough to spontaneously get away for some of the weekend in Sandusky, OH at East Harbor State Park. It was amazing to literally take a deep breath of fresh air and put nothing on the agenda but spending some quality time together. The best part of camping is sleeping outside with all the leaves rustling, the the chilled air, and snuggling inside a tiny tent! There is nothing like escaping from every day life and embracing the laid back spirit of camping. It is like you are in a whole other world that values the antithesis of work, accomplishments, and checking things off the "to-do list"! We certainly hope to find time to do this more often!


We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather;
as you can see in the background!

Here I am with my feet up! YAY!


David cooking his delicious burgers over the nice, hot fire.
I LOVE cooking while camping, we had some delicious meals
that included sausage biscuits, pancakes, burgers, chicken
quesadillas, and brauts......Mmmmmm!

Where's the froggie? Bet ya can't find him!

We did lots of relaxing things. We played lots of cards.
This is evidence of a card game that David actually won! I had
to digitally document this rare occasion!!!!! :-)
Just kidding. He tends to win quite frequently. Here is
the score as he won 310 to my 185.

David showed me how to build the best fire in the world!

I got to get it started! Here come the flames!

Here it is REALLY going strong! Another AWESOME
part to camping is the fire! How relaxing! (Did I
mention masrhmallows!?)

We went on a couple of hikes and this was the view
from the Wetland trail, looking into East Harbor. It was
truly gorgeous! It was so peaceful to walk along the water.

Here is another shot from a trail. The path was
extremely wide and well taken care of! I love all
of the green that will unfortunately soon fade away
as TODAY is the last official day of summer!

Our super tiny tent - perfect for the two of us!

We went along the beach at Lake Erie. This
was one of the friends we visited along the way.

We did not get to swim, but it was super relaxing to
watch all the boats and listen to the soft crashing of waves.

Here's my amazing husband simply enjoying sitting and
resting!


Here we are resting with our feet up together!
This piture pretty much sums up our whole
weekend! :-)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

A Picture of Beauty

David and I went out last weekend with our friends Dave and Karen. As we were out at Fallen Timbers walking and getting some dessert, the sky was absolutely beautiful - I felt like I was in Florida! I have to capture any skies like this in Toledo, OH for they are seemingly few and far between. Here are a few pictures of beauty to share with you all!


My Classroom!!!!!!!!

Here are some fun shots of my classroom! Now that school is in full swing, I just HAD to post pictures of where I now LIVE for the next 9 months :-) You have to admire the work that some of the girls from Bible Study were able to help me with! Britnye was the lamination queen and boy was she good! Katie perfectly brought my mailboxes back to life, and Hillary helped label where all my kids should sit and where their mailboxes are! I now think of my friends when I look in my room each and every day! Thanks ladies for all your help - now you may admire your handiwork! I have had a great start to my year and I think I have a really fun class! I have 29 students, and they seem to get along really well and they know when to stop talking and focus! I think we are going to have a great year!



This shows the side of the classroom where the Homework
and Schedule are posted every day!

This is the front of the classroom!


This is a view of my desk to the back corner. An awesome student
brought in the flowers for me on the very first day of school!
A+ for him all year! :-)

Here you can see the mailboxes Katie labored over! YAY!
This is looking out from my desk to the rest of the room.


This is from the back of the room looking toward the front


Here is my favorite area: The Reading Room/Library. Liz (my awesome sis-in-law)
helped make the awesome bulletin board with the umbrella on it!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Forever Friends

Just this past Wednesday night I said my "Farewell" to Katie!! I cannot believe how fast time went, and I cannot explain how sad I am that I will no longer see one of my best friends on a regular basis. Although I know our distance in miles is vast, I know that I will ALWAYS cherish and remain close at heart with my friend! I am so excited to see what life has to offer both Katie and Dan in their new journey. It was a FUN and emotional night - typical for this group of girls! :-) We had a wonderful time going out to dinner as a group with Britnye, Katie, Hillary, and myself. I have to admit - we know how to have a good time! (Although many of our other friends were sorely missed like JULIE, LAURA, and JENI! You girls make our lives even more fun!) We did girl things and just had a blast. This is a new Chapter in Katie's life as well as ours, and I am excited to see what adventures and story lines will be written for us all in the days ahead!


Me and Katie being silly!

Britnye and Katie playing dress up!

The Bible Study Girls all together one last time!

Posing - or something :-)


Da Girlz at El Camino :-)
Look at that sky in the background! Can you
believe we are in Toledo, Ohio!?

Katie and Hillary playing models!

Julie's Birthday Bash!

My little sissy, who is all grown up now turned 23! I cannot believe it! Julie officially has a job now teaching in the Toledo area at Holloway Elementary School in Springfield District. She is now a spectacular 5th grade teacher and I know her students and colleagues are SO LUCKY to have such an awesome teacher and hard worker! YAY Julie! :-) In order to celebrate her new job and for simply just being born, Mom and Dad came to town and visited! I always LOVE their visits. We just get to hang out and spend lots of quality time together. They came and helped me with my classroom and then we went to see Julie's new room! I am extremely jealous of Julie's AIR CONDITIONED classroom! :-) She made it look so cute and fun. We then went to Tango's on the Docks downtown. Mmmmm! We all enjoyed our massive quantity of food and then went for a long walk on the docks after dinner! It was wonderful. Saturday we slept in a bit and ate cake for Julie's actual Birthday. We had so much fun and it is always such a blessing to spend time with family! Of course we missed Angela, David, and Lukers too, but we know you were with us in spirit! :-)

My sissy Ju-Ju and Fiance Jon

Me and the Hubby enjoying the beautiful night!

Mom and Dad looking wonderful with the picturesque
Toledo backdrop!

The Girlies loving eachother!
\

Wonderful Weddings

David and I have had quite a few weddings this summer, which has filled our weekends with lots to do. I cannot believe that school is just around the corner!! Time has seriously flown by. Here are a few fun pics from Rich and Deidre's wedding. These two are "Pharmacy Friends" that David graduated with.

My Hubby an Me :-)

The Handsome Couple

Megan and Todd (Who were just married as well!)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Friday night before the canoe trip on Saturday, we were able to get us all together in the wonderful town of Van Wert to spend some time together. with all the ladies! Some had to leave the babies at home and give up some time with their families and husbands to spend time together! I cannot remember the last time we were all able to be together - nor can I remember the last time I laughed so hard! We basically stayed up late and talked and told stories and laughed our heads off! We had pizza for dinner and a quick run of course to get some Ice Cream! Yum Yum! I love each and every one of these girls so much! It was so great to spend some quality time together! Since I forgot my camera these pics are courtesy of Katie! Thanks Katie! JENI YOU WERE MISSED MORE THAN YOU KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-( Wish you could have been there with us!

The Girls at Laura's on the couch - This was taken sometime in between laughs!

Ice Cream Run! Surprise, Surprise!
Laura, Julie, Brit, Hillary, Heather, and Katie