Out with the Old, in with the New

Sorry it has been awhile since we have posted. Everyone survived the last storm although people are still without electricity a week later. We were one of the lucky ones. So we had a great evening at the Lion King. Mike surprised me and took me out for dinner which was great and then we really enjoyed the production. On our way to the theater we realized that our seats were not together. They were actually a whole row and section apart. Luckily the show wasn't sold out and so we were able to find some good seats together. If you have never seen the "Lion King" ala Broadway style they have the most amazing costumes and scenery. It is what really made the show. It was really impressive watching how they were able to create the scenes and characters with just costuming. Also, the woman who played Raffiki was amazing. I have never heard a human being sound like that. She would sing in different African tribal languages like the one where they just "click" their tongues. It was great. She was very talented. We were also able to see more of downtown Columbus than we have seen. It is a relatively nice, clean and quiet town. (At least the areas we have seen) We are really enjoying our time here.

So our summer is finally coming to an end. The weather is starting to change, which I love. I love the Autumn and I hear it is beautiful out here with all of the trees. Also, Mike starts school tomorrow. He was lucky enough to have such a long break, but now he won't have another long break until next June. I guess we've been spoiled. So this is a good luck post for Mike on his new quarter of school. Only 4 left, Yeah!!!!!




(Here's Mike and his class preparing for a hard day working with Food)

Unfortunately it is not going to be that easy, but a lot more rewarding. Love ya Honey.

Crazy Fall Weather

So yesterday we had a wild wind storm. It started out pretty mild but then picked up some good speed. Wind is definitely the weather condition that I hate the least so it wasn't too exciting for me. We were really lucky though as we have been checking out the damage. Many trees were ripped in half or just tore up from the ground. Our neighboring complex had a lot of their siding and shingles torn off as well. We were thankful that our complex has kept up on a lot of those things since we didn't have too much damage. As a result of the wind many power lines were down and most of the surrounding areas have been without power. As I woke up this morning I hoped against hope that my work would be without power and they would cancel school. My hopes were made a reality as we pulled into the parking lot to find a couple employees wrapped in blankets ready to send everyone home with a paid day off for "emergency circumstances".

So luckily Mike and I were able to have a day off together. We ran a few errands and because it was such a nice day I thought I would get in some spring planting. I decided to plant some tulips and daffodils. It will be such a welcome sight in the spring to have flowers right outside our door. It's too bad we can't see them right now. Other than that we are just gearing up for fall. Mike starts school in a couple weeks and I am loving the nice weather and anticipating the holidays. This is my favorite time of year. OH, we are also going to "The Lion King" on Wednesday. It is a traveling Broadway group and Mike was able to get us a really good deal on tickets through the University. It will be nice to have one last summer Hurrah before Mike starts school. We've had a nice long summer and we've been lucky to have done so much.

Officially a scientist

My senior year of college I worked on a research project with one of the professors at Utah State. It has finally been officially published. Here is a link to look at the abstract: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121381836/abstract . It took a lot of work and time, but I definitely learned a lot, and it's pretty sweet to have my name out there in the world of science.

Living with Superman!

This weekend I have learned again how nice it is living with "Superman". I guess that best part is that I am actually married to him. Yesterday, Mike was a sweet heart and helped my friends the Bailey's move into their new home. It's nice to have some more people out here that we know. He really worked hard and helped out a ton. I was really thankful for him. Even after his exhausting day yesterday he has been working just as hard today running errands and getting stuff done around the house. He changed our burnt out headlight, played with the cat, (and hamster), changed the hamster cage and the litter box, "helped" me clean out and organize our downstairs closet. He says I cleaned it, but I mostly just got all of the Fall decorations out while he hefted things upstairs and really did the organizing. He then vacuumed the house, paid the house and pet rent, as well as checking out our budget for this month. Ya, and he did all of this by 1:00.
And what was I doing this whole time you may ask? Absolutely NOTHING!!! I have been the most lazy wife today. I haven't been sleeping the greatest this week and so he has made me sleep all day. I feel so guilty, but I appreciate him so much. He never complains and he works so hard. So this post goes out to all of the other superheroes that you all may have the pleasure of living with as well. What would we do without them.

Cute Kids

So I have to gush a little bit about the cute little ones in my life right now. Now that I am no longer working with toddlers, but with 3 year olds, my work days are definitely a lot less stressful and the kids are sure cute. I just wanted to post a few pictures of the kids in my class. It is always nice to walk into work and hear 5 kids yelling "Miss Amy, Miss Amy". They really help to start the day off right. It isn't perfect all of the time, but they sure have their moments when they tug at your heart. One of my favorite little girls just left to go to a different "center". I am really going to miss her. I hope she does well at her new school. A new school year is starting and so we are getting a few new students as well. There is always a transition time for student and teachers and we are getting a couple younger students from the toddler class. It is amazing to see the difference in the students who have been in our class for a few months compared to those who are just coming in. This new little girl has no desire to sit during circle time, or follow many directions. She is presenting an interesting challenge for us, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it. She's still pretty young as well. I'm also enjoying my co-workers a lot more. I've finally gotten to the point where I feel more comfortable being myself around them and they basically know what I'm all about. I felt a little unsure how to fit in at first because I was new to the state, and just had different ways of doing things since I am from Utah and am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but it has been a great learning opportunity for me and I've had some great opportunities to share the gospel with my co-workers. The Lord definitely has some wonderful things planned for us here in Ohio.

The other cutie in our lives right now is our CAT!!! She is so adorable. I guess our lives pretty much revolve around her right now. She is such a novelty.:) Gracie loves to sleep with us at night and play during the day. It's sad that we are gone so much because she gets so bored, but Mike has come up with some homemade cat toys which she loves to play with. She also just loves to sit and look out the window. I'm guessing the birds are pretty interesting. She gets sad that she can't go outside, but for her own safety we want to keep her inside. Hopefully she'll get used to it soon. Gracie and our hamster Deb are the best of friends. Gracie is facinated by Deb in her little ball. Deb loves to run full speed in to Gracie. Of course we don't let them play unsupervised.:) So that is our fun life for this week. Life is going well and we are truly being blessed.

Utterly Dissapointed

So I just have to vent for a sec. I just found out that the movie Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince has changed it's release date from November of this year to July of 2009. What!!!! For those of you who are avid Harry Potter fans this may be as much of a let down to you as it was for me. (By the way Mike does not support this post:) I guess Warner Brothers wanted to release the film during the summer months in order to make more money. I'm sure they would make plenty of money as it is if it were released in November. It wouldn't be as unfortunate except for the fact that they already posted their release date and got my hopes up. Oh well. I'm sure it won't be as good as the book, which was my favorite of the series. I guess that gives me one more thing to look forward too (or wait for). So that is the end of my rant. I guess it's time for me to move on and not be so obsessed.:)

Albert Pujols, Arctic Glaciers, Kentucky, and No Bats

My wife is the best wife in the whole world!!! Not only did she decide to get a cat (which she loves), but she agreed to go see a baseball game with me (something she has been dreading). Yesterday we headed down to Cincinnati and it was a lot of fun (sorry there are no pictures our camera's batteries died). It only ended up being an hour and a half away. We first went to the Museum of Natural History. And although I think we both agree that we would rather see live animals than prehistoric bones from animals, it was really interesting. They have a full size cave and arctic glacier replica. They are supposed to have live bats in their cave, but we didn't see any. After the museum we were on our way to the stadium to see my favorite team the St. Louis Cardinals play the Reds, we got a little lost and ended up in Kentucky. It was OK though, because now I can say that I have been in 18 states. The baseball game was way sweet. Albert Pujols hit two home runs and the Cardinals won easily. I think that even Amy enjoyed herself.