Did you know last week (last year) Shaun took me on the scavenger hunt of all hunts. Such a crazy day, with a great outcome!
Now a year later we are in a different state, different side of the country, different environment, and truly loving every minute of it!
We don't have many friends or family to lean on but we have each other and good ol' Toby Joe.
This move across the country has been hard, worth it, but hard.
I was bitter to give up my school and [possible] publications.
Shaun was bitter to give up his fourwheeler and hunting rifle.
We were bitter to leave good friends, our hobbies, and overall the life we created.
Now, thinking back to those bitter moments I couldn't be more happy for the opportunity to be here in Georgia. I truly love it!
I do hate that im surrounded by city, traffic, and trees. But I love that it is the one place that has no other memories than the ones Shaun and I have created.
Many of you might not know, but this change was us following a life time dream and goal of Shauns. Shaun is true-blue farmer who loves his tractors. He loves to learn the ins and outs of every piece of agriculture equipment. We moved here because ever since Shaun was little he has wanted to work for a Tractor company. AGCO is that company. They are a fortune 500 company, that is the parent company of Massey, Challenger, Fendt, and many more. This company was Shauns dream job. Shaun found a way to get here, worked his butt off to do so and has been an amazing employee. It may not be exactly what we thought it would be but it doesn't matter, Shaun set a goal and made it. We have no idea where we will be in 6 months, 1 year, or 10 years ... heck, we don't even know where we will be in 30 days. But it doesnt matter. I couldn't be more happy than being able to share this dream with Shaun.
I actually decided i needed to chill out with school. I decided to take a few less classes and will graduate when I can. I have ALWAYS piled it on a little too high and... I'm freaking sick of it. I'm now going to get a part time job and enjoy not pulling all nighters every night to keep up. I'm still busy but i don't have to been so stressed that I can't enjoy time as a newlywed or proud puppy owner.
Shauns classes start tomorrow which will be crazy! I'm so excited and proud of him! He is super excited to see what an MBA is all about and finally get going. Its going to be a lot though. For the pre readings he had to read an entire book, for each class. Good heck! They also told him that he needs to have at least one person that will no matter what tell him that he can't quit. They told him that it will be the hardest and slightly worst 2 years so he needs to have someone that will keep him going. Comforting.
We also found out that Shaun will be coming to logan to recruit for AGCO. Since they are paying for all of his airfare and hotels we decided i would tag along as well! We're super excited to go visit, and see some friends that we have missed! Cody...Lauren... bonfire?? That isn't till the end of october though.
Toby went from the best most perfect puppy in the entire world to a complete pain in my... He is very much a puppy and we truly love having him. Our place constantly looks like a tornado came through but it keeps him busy while I work on homework. He still does really well with sleeping through the night, peeing outside, and not chewing on our furniture so i would say he is a keeper. He is great to have, when I get overwhelmed with school or Shaun does with work, heading to the park with Toby completely changes our day. He is a lot but I still think it was a great decision to get him... Shaun might tell you otherwise. Ha, he is still adjusting to having a dog in the house. It really quite bothers him but he is a good sport.
Here is a bunch of pictures of our little beast.
Giving him a bath.
He snuck into the closet and got to his treats. He even figured out how to open it! Grrr.
Right out side of our complex. Gorgeous!
Other than that we haven't been up to much! But i'm sure that will change here soon. Shaun just mentioned that i won't see him till tomorrow till 10pm FREAAAAKKK Thats not ok, 6-10 thats a long freaking day! Yaay gradschool....
Also, I was craving cookies today but didn't want to make 4 dozen. So I made up my own recipe! Turned out pretty great! Go HERE to my personal recipe box. Cookies for two!
There is a little place down south, on the coast called Savannah. This little Savannah may just become my new favorite vaca spot!
Shaun's family came to see us for a few days so we decided we would head down the the coast that weekend to see what Savannah was all about. Instead of getting a hotel we decided to rent a little house from the site home away. We actually use this site a lot when we travel and have really come to enjoy it. People rent out condos, or homes pretty much anywhere in the country/world. Its so much better than a hotel and we have been able to take Toby which of course is a must.
Saturday we went to Tybee Island and went Sea Kayaking across to a little beach. All but Shaun's dad struggled to get across to that island. It was hilarious. That man could kill a bear with his bare hands, or knock out a bull with one punch (true story).
After the kayaking, we ran to an amazing restaurant called the Crab Shack. We ordered a big tray of seafood and ate till we couldn't any more. I think there was literally 5 lbs of shrimp along with 5 lbs of crab, mussels, and every other type of shellfish you could think of. We took home 4 boxes!
The restaurant also had a big "swamp" area with a bunch of alligators...or are they crocodiles..? Doesn't matter, all i could think of is what might happen if Toby got away from me... and he wasnt even with me. Morbid right?!
The next day we rode around around on limo size golf cart and saw the city. It was an amazing. The buildings there are so old and beautiful. I want to buy one so bad! I think it would be amazing to buy them, restore them, and sale them. Hobby for the future I suppose.
Scott was about as wild of a driver as my dad! Thats a scary thing folks.
Toby didn't so much enjoy the ride. He was pretty bored.. as you can see.
After touring the city for awhile we decided to stop and grab some cupcakes and head for the 5 hour drive back to Atlanta. I hate driving, it makes me so bored and restless, and when I get restless, I get annoying. I can admit it, it's fine. Luckily for Shaun I sat in the back with the dog on my lap meaning i couldn't possibly bug him. most peaceful trip he has had yet.
I love savannah, I think there would be some awesome dives, and deep sea fishing down there as well! hint hint... dad!
It has been a crazy couple weeks! Here is the recap!
As for Shaun...
Shaun took his GMAT and did frickin amazing!
Because of this amazing score he will now be starting his masters come September 16th!
Shaun was offered a different position at work which will give him responsibility and training!
His work has been super slow which has caused him to get a bit bored some days, this new job is a HUGE blessing! He will now have some set responsibilities and will be able to learn a lot of really cool things!
He is also headed out to go to a farm show in Illinois this week and is super excited! He was asked to make some videos showcasing the new features of AGCO's tractor and also compare them to the competitors. He decided to practice on one of his toy tractors and its hillarious. He sure knows his stuff!
As for me...
I am starting my last year of college! Great news. Little nervous about managing my time but it will be ok!
I started a really great internship at the Marcus Center For Autism and LOVE it. I have learned so much and really enjoy the clients I have been assigned to. I was volunteering previously but now its a legit internship... moving up in the world I suppose. meh.
This internship made me realize that i MUST go on to more school.... dang.
My very good friend Ashley is coming to spend the week with me! Perfect timing since Shaun is gone!
As for US...
We decided to cancel our contract on the house. Crazy right?! We were SO CLOSE to closing... doi!
Everything is up in the air to much, and because of that we dont want to be tied down to a house.
It looks like (fingers crossed) I will get a job at this center and if that happens I don't want to live so far away. Traffic is a beast!
Also, i could start my masters as soon as next year. If that happens then we will have to move again to somewhere between here and there!
Its all crazy and a bit hard to make these decisions. So we feel that its best to rent until we figure it all out!
Crazy thing also happened just last week. We sent Caden out on a mission! Me and Shaun Flew home to Idaho to be apart of his farewell. He gave such a great talk, it was hilarious and spiritual just like talks should be! I held it together, but i'll admit...it was a close one. The night me got set apart was very spiritual. Seeing him with dad and all his really good friends standing around him setting him apart was awesome! It will be hard to have him gone but I'm really excited for him! I'll be honest though, driving away from the MTC I wasn't so much a fan of missions...i was a bit bitter! Dont you worry, I'm over that. Church is true folks! I love this church... it brings me such comfort and blessings I never knew were possible. The Lord really does look out for his children and I have been on the receiving end of that needed aide many times. He has never left me alone (even though it may have felt like he did a few times) and he has never gone back on his word. The lord promised that our family would be blessed when we send a loved one out on a mission...and having 3 out now, i can promise you that is one awesome promise! LOVE OUR MISSIONARIES! Ariell, Jetson, and Caden... you are literally heros.
Last but not least, I must introduce our new little buddy!
Toby...Toby Joe... is his name. And we LOVE HIM!
He is an awesome pup! He sleeps all night and does ok with the potty training. He has started to let us know when he needs to go out so im impressed! 9 weeks old and were already pretty close to being trained! We went to church... no accidents. He was home alone for 6 hours today and... NO ACCIDENTS! Told ya... best doggy ever!
Gads. New word to my vocabulary. Where did this funny word come from? My mother in law (still weird to say those three words Mother. In. Law. whoa) this word/statement has been directed towards me on numerous occasions in awe (or disgust) of my odd behavior happening at that moment. Fact, I secretly love when she says it to me. Makes me laugh.
Why Gads?
uh.... just spent a week in greece, thats gads.
Seems like it didnt happen now, but it did! Best week ever.
I was so excited for this trip i could hardly stand it, sleeping didn't happen the week leading to this adventure thats for sure. I never use to get super excited for family trips but this time I was. Not sure why I was unbearably excited, maybe the fact that I had finally graduated from the kids cabin to a room of my own. Or that everyone was going to be there. It was great.
Low down goes like this.
My family headed out a few days before us to have some time to adjust to the time zone and see vince. Due to the fact that we get 10 days of vacation a year we decided to go two days late. They flew out wednesday we went friday.
flew all night. Didn't sleep. Shaun snoozed thee ENTIRE time. I was jealous. Freakin' 9 hour flights.
Got of the plane and headed to find some type of taxi to take us to the hotel my family had been staying at. Right when we walked out there was a guys standing at a booth with a big sign reading taxi JACKPOT. He told us we could take a private taxi or wait an hour and take the "shared". We needed to be on the cruise boat in 2 hours so we figured we better go private. We payed the man and headed on our way.
Pause Have you ever traveled foreign? Well if you have you will understand how the concept of how much things cost gets lost in the exchange rate. 1 dollar equals 1.32978473 Euros so take the dollar times it by 3 divide by 2 minus 1.... Screw it, I don't do math. Anyway, that private taxi... cost 110 euros. That equals 155 dollars. How about that Jackpot? oops..
As we walked outside we saw signs to the taxis followed them and they led to the ocean with boats everywhere. Come to find out taxis in venice are all boats! These boats are not like the good ol' fashioned gondolas your imagining (thank heavens) they are speed boats baby! It was so cool. I'm not sure roads really exist in that city, to the looks of it everything was water "roads" equipped with speed limits and turning lanes.
After a 30 minute tour of the amazingness of venice via water taxi we met up with my family, grabbed some pizza and gelato and headed to embark on our cruise!
We had a little tour guide take us to where we needed to be who ended up being hilarious. If the people around us did something dumb she would mutter something under her breath and shake her head. When we finally asked her what she was saying she responded by giving us a crash course on how to swear in italian. Useful knowledge to have folks!
We all but walked right onto the boat (no lines) and headed to explore our staterooms. Me and shaun explored by taking a nap. nap only lasted about ten minutes before my siblings came pounding on our door saying "no napping, or you'll never get over the time change" blah blah blah... i was so FREAKING TIRED. So... I napped... for another 10 minutes before my alarm went of saying it was time to head to dinner. &@#$!... didn't say it but I definitely thought it!
Dinner... not so great food
Service... could have been better
Ports... So So amazing!
Greece is B.E.A.uuuutiful! (name the show)
If you want know the details of the places.. ask.. i'll give you EVERY detail. But for the sake of blogging here is a few events worth mentioning.
Croatia has this meat that is called.... shoot can't remember. Pretty much extremly old bacon. 30 month old bacon. GADS! But, it was awesome!
Europe just knows how baking bread is done. I love bread especially greek bread.
Snorkeling is awesome but note that iphones particular ones of the white variety don't enjoy it. Hence the reason for no pictures.
Snorkeling also leads to seeing octopuses hiding under rocks. Kinda freaky.
Traveling abroad makes me want to live abroad, really bad.
Greece is EXACTLY what you imagine.
Athens is a huge city, stacked buildings for as far as the eye can see.
The greek temples are amazing. Those buildings date before christ's time, and are still standing! Unreal.
Greece was my favorite trip so far. I love europe!
Don't worry in 10 days time ill show you the pure amazingness of this trip.
Random Fact:
Shaun-y has never been out of the country... other than canada ( if that counts) so actually he's never been somewhere where they speak another language. AND, he's never been snorkeling, on a cruise, in a warm ocean (cali= ice water), on an international flight ,or had to deal with a major time change. I'm more excited to experience this with him and see he how much he likes it more than any thing else!
Dumb moment... I actually googled what language they speak in Greece... duh, GREEK! idiot.
About 2 years ago, I sat in the kitchen of Austin's little apartment as he opened his mission call. We were surprised (as you always are) and excited to hear that he would be heading to Atlanta Georgia!
Little did I know... in a year and a half, so would I!
When I got here I sent him a letter saying I just move to Georgia, and he called me a few days later. Come to find out I lived in his Area! Whoa!
Anyway, I got to see him at church on sunday and it was pretty crazy! It was so good to see him after so long, and I realized I actually miss that stinking wexi! He is very much in missionary mode which was hilarious. He's so serious and says the funniest things, with out meaning too! He threw me off so many times because the things he said sounded more think a shrink than the fool that I use to know. He's doing good though, and you can tell all the missionaries very much look up to him. It was great for him to be able to meet Shaun as well! It was so great to have Kyle at my wedding and it ment so much, I wish wex could have been there too! We have had so many great times and along with Kybo/kuppy/kyle we have had some fun memories!
Heres a few:
Stuffing wings in our coats at all you can eat wings
Deer hazing and getting chased by the cops down the canal bank.
Sneaking dinner in to Edwards, all stuck in Kyle's coat.
Horse ride to the Boys camp and both kyle and Austin making fun of how burnt I got.
Austin walking over a rattle snake nest... and stopping. fool.
Austin making fun of me... kyle sticking up for me.. endless cycle.
Getting lost in the "cliff" because austin took off to follow some deer...i had no idea where i was going and got a bit lost.
Hooking up the Xbox the theater and making cadens day
Trying to scare me with the old man mask.
Night games
Kyle and I trying to keep austin from going all scriptorian on our sunday school teacher.
Laughing when austin would call them out on teaching opinion rather than doctrine
Making fun of kyle and the girls he was dating :)
Making fun of austin for dating such girly-girls
Youth conference, where the names Kibet and Kybo came from.
Watching the horse take off with Jace, and not being able to stop them
Watching Kyle's football games.
Laughing when Kyle was a little out it from all 6 concussions
We finally bought a vacuum after a month of not having one... this is a BIG DEAL! Our apartment is FINALLY clean and livable! I just got finished vacuuming and for the first time ever, I enjoyed it! Weird.
Most of the odd random things are organized and put away which makes this place a lot more relaxing. I guess there was a general authority that ounce said "a made bed and clean home brings peace and order to your universe" thats a fact jack!
Here are a few pictures of the new humble abode.
This is the bed set Shaun made his senior year. Perfect isn't it? One problem though is that its a stinking heavy sucker. Like 800 lb. heavy. Still love it though
That quilt is the one Grandma Allred made us for our wedding! It is perfect with the bed set and we absolutely love it! I need to find some pillows to match to complete the look though.
Notice the mirror. Ya, I hate that stupid wall of mirrors.
We arn't sure how to set this room up given the stupid fire place.
This would be my craft room/ storage room/ office. I'm working on a sign for my parents cabin so its even more messy at the moment. Guess this can be my next project to clean and organize.
This is our spare bathroom. Its HUGE, about double the size of the "Master bath"
Our porch is quite large too. I really like it! I sit out and do home work here a lot of the time. I wish we weren't facing a bunch of other apartments and it was a bit more private but, its fine. Also, this is are "garden" Shaun really wanted to plant some tomatos which ended up in us planting Tomatos, Peas, Onions, and Strawberries. We had a little bit of a rough patch and almost everything died. But were past that and they are doing GREAT!
This is still the same porch. Big right? We like to roast s'more here on a nightly basis with our little sterno fire.
Thats our place! kinda regretting buying a house now that were finally settled in. Well we havent bought it yet. It's still gonna be awhile before we hear if we got it. Stupid Short Sales.
It was memorial day last weekend (well, two weekends ago) which meant Shaun had monday off, which meant we could go on a little trip!
NASHVILLE!
We decided to leave saturday morning catch the bars that night, then see soem sights Sunday and Monday before heading home.
Were only about a 4 hour drive from nashville so it made for an easy fun trip. Plus i've always wanted to go to Nashville!
On the way up we saw this creepy sign. Of course you cant tell in the picture but the eye moved in circles and the beak was motorized too. It stood taller than most of the other building so you could see creepy chicken for miles! Good heck.
When we got to nashville we checked into our hotel then figured where we wanted to go to dinner. We decided we wanted a good steak and headed over to Stoney River. It wasn't the best, so i dont recommend it. I looked up and realized Shaun had his hat on backward, what the heck? Never seen that before.
After than we headed down town to see the city, We stopped at LP field (where the titans play) and took a picture. Wasn't that cool given its off season and no one was there. But I still liked seeing it! We also say a huge bride that was called korean veteran bridge or something like that. I obviously dont know the history of why it was called that (heck, i cant even remember the name) but it was HUGE and really cool. And funny to be a memorial to the korean veterans... or what ever it was, I know it was a memorial of some kind to a foreign country!
We saw this funny group, im not sure if they were Amish or what but they were singing their hearts out!
Then we headed down town and hit up the bars, haha... I love saying that. The first place we went (picture with eh 3 guys) had THE BEST music. I was shocked. And it was a blast! We kinda just stood around and listend to the music and watched everyone else look like idiots from way to much alcohol in their systems.
Video:
This girl was a freaky girl. I think she was only 16-17 cause everyone was making fun of her for being too young to drink or even too young to be in the bars. She was pretty good at the violin, and would do all these weird moves like play behind her back, laying down. upside down, in the bridge stance, and many more. I think i was more in shock that awe at that point.
Funny "band" outside on the street. The lady on the far left was playing the spoons. Like 2 s dinner spoons. Not sure what you would call the instrument on the right... but, it worked for em. They were pretty fun to listen too.
See, told ya it was cool....
Sunday we decided it probably wasn't good to go down to the bars again so we went to a flea market and experienced that for the first time! It was awesome! I had so many things i wanted to buy! I did talk Shaun into buying this though. LOVE IT!
Then we went to the Parthenon (sp). Big random greek building in the middle of nashville. Again, not sure why its there but it was cool.
It was Ginormous!
Then we ran into a Baptist revival and had a blast watching and listening to that. These 4 little girls were quite the divas, walking around with their sunglasses on and holding hands. It was cute.
This was a funny man dancing up front at the revival. Notice the hair... WHOA
Monday we decided to head back early and go to the Jack Daniels Distillery on the way home. Really glad we did, so interesting to see how it was made and how it is still made like they did way back when it began! No fancy machines or anything! I can also tell ya that Jack Daniels has the best dang lemonade around... probably because the water was from a natural spring filtered by the lime stone. Awww... heavenly
First and last time holding a bottle of jack!
The Spring water I wanted to drink SO BAD!!! I sure miss non-chlorinated water! Screw the whisky.. just give me that water.
So, quick run down of how they they make it! They use 4 ingredients , corn, barley malt, water and rye. They mix that up and it becomes a "sour mash" The sour mash creates a liquid that is 140 proof ( we had to ask what that ment... and were looked at very sourly) that is pretty much just moon-shine.
then they take the "moon shine" and run it though 10 feet of Sugar Maple charcoal. Thats what gives its color and I guess "mellows" it. Making it the whisky instead of bourbon. Then they put it in 500 gallon drums made out of White oak that are burnt/ toasted. They sit in these drums for 4-6 years! Sounds like a healthy drink right? Geesh.
So, after a long post... you no know what we have been up to as of late. I swear we never quit moving. PARTY ANIMALS! This weekend... I think we're going camping. I'll let you know how it goes. Pray I dont see any possums. They really really scare me! Stupid rodents.
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