William & Shanna's Travels

Two words:

2009-09-23T22:41:00.003-04:00

UNDER CONTRACT!!! Yah! Got word about 7pm from my realtor that we are officialy under contract for our house. Now comes the test of my patience. We won't close until Nov 12th because we are trying to avoid paying rent and mortgage both for as long as possible. We will probably end up paying double only in January this way. We have our home insection on Monday though, so I get to see it again. :)
OK, so now that it is closer to official, I will share the virtual tour. Enjoy!

http://homescenes.com/_pgm/hs_IDXMain.cfm?PropertyID=53267

PS - Yes the kitchen is first on the painting list. Orange carpet to die soon too!

PPS - 5 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths - Everyone is expected to visit.

The House hunt ends ... I hope!

2009-09-21T00:31:00.002-04:00

Well, after a full weekend of verbal counter-offers, it seems that we are agreed on a price. I am faxing in the final offer in the AM. Yeah! More details to come when it is finalized. Don't want to jinx it.

The House Hunt Begins

2009-08-31T15:39:00.002-04:00

So far, so so. We spent 4 hours with a realtor yesterday afternoon and came up with "just OK" impressions of everything we saw. I will admit, we are being a little cheap with this, but I just can't see stretching ourselves to the limit. Most of what we saw yesterday were foreclosures, so we had an odd mix of the following problems:

Evidence of previous leaks in the roof
Actual leaks in the floor
Poorly done remodeling projects - I mean who decided that a closet would convert to a closet/bathroom combo ... REALLY!
Swimming pool (that we don't even want) full of green water - YUCK!
Washer and Dryer in a little room that opens off the back porch - No laundry on rainy days!

The saddest thing to me was all of the missing and stolen things. Most of you have probably heard about people stealing things out of the house or tearing it up when it gets repossesed, but we actually saw it yesterday. These people actually took the A/C unit and completely wrecked their basement renovation, tore out paneling and everything. So sad. This one house, they took the knobs off the kitchen cabinets and took the stove and fridge. Just insane. Of course, if I was losing that much money, I would probably go a little nuts too.

We may actually buy a forecloseure though, because there is something nice about fixing a place up just the way you like it and we would have the extra money to do that if we didn't have to spend so much up front. We will see though. Meeting the Realtor again on Friday to see some more properties.

August

2009-08-27T21:19:00.003-04:00

The weekend after we got back from the lake, we went to Ft. Walton with Joe and Sandra. Had lots of fun hanging out at the beach with the girls

Joe & Sandra at dinner.

Aimee, Me, and Danielle at the beach.

William with his Mommy.

Me and William at the beach.

July

2009-08-27T21:08:00.003-04:00

We spent 10 days at the lake for our Birthdays. We had lots of visits from family and friends.

Sandra, Aimee, and Ian fishing

Makayla, Me, and Aimee after Birthday dinner.

Aimee's fish. She even baited her own hook with a worm!

This boat needs a fun name. Any ideas other than Redneck Yacht Club.

June - a new Great Nephew

2009-08-27T20:56:00.002-04:00

In June we visited my new Great Nephew, Joseph IV, who lives in South Louisiana. It was a good excuse for the guys to go fishing in the flats. This is what they looked like after their fishing trip.

(L-R) Joseph III, Joseph JR, Joseph SR, and William

My Mom and Dad with JD (the 4th) and big sister Catherine

All 4 Joseph's

Catherine decided to try on my walking shoes. I love the pose.

April - Lamb and Friends

2009-08-26T14:19:00.001-04:00

Our friends Paul and Sarah roast a lamb for Greek Easter every year. Lots of fun and seeing old friends. They encourage us all to try making an authentic Greek dish to share. I learned to make Baclava this year. It turned out really good.

The lamb on Paul's home-made spit.

Paul with his masterpiece.

Will relaxing at the party.

Hmm... February

2009-08-26T14:11:00.003-04:00

We both had new jobs in February,so I don't think we went out of town. Lacey and I started training for the 3-day and we went to see our friend Sara in her first roller derby match. That was a new experience. Pretty fun overall.

Sara AKA Scaryl Crow, Me, Lacey, & Michael

William & SAF

Random Pictures from ... January

2009-08-26T13:50:00.004-04:00

In January, we were both jobless so we spent some time visiting with William's Grandmothers. We spent a week at my Grandmother's house at Christmas too, so we got to see all of them.

This is Louise, Grandma Brooks' neighbor in Pensacola. She comes over to play cards with us.

This is Grandma Brooks on the left and Aunt Annie (her sister) on the right. This was at Annie's house the day she cooked us dinner.

This is Donna, William's Aunt in Macon. She lives with Grandma Howington.

This is Grandma Howington. Her Birthday is the same day as William's and she is in her 90's now. She's still really active though and fun to talk to.

A year off

2009-08-23T01:18:00.002-04:00

Yes, it has been almost a year since I have posted anything to our blog. I probably have no readers left. I have been distracted by facebook, but have decided to make an effort to keep up the blog too. So ... here's what's new.

We moved to Atlanta and I quit travel nursing.
Surprisingly, I love my full-time job and am not bored.

William is doing temp work still. It is something to do, but not very fulfilling.
He has recently started an interview process at UPS that we hope goes well.

We have been in major vacation mode since spring and are taking advantage of every day off.

We are still a one-car family, so I have been re-aquainting myself with MARTA.
William has even ridden it once or twice alone.

I am training to walk in the breast cancer 3-day walk with my mom in October. Sixty miles over 3 days isn't that bad, is it? Still fundraising if anyone wants to help.

We are planning to buy a house and a second car by the end of the year - yes we know it's crazy, but think of the tax credits.

We have found a new church in Atlanta that we both like and are involved in a small group when we are in town.

I got my tonsils out last week.

We recently went to the lake for 10 days, then the beach for 4 days - back to back!

We are planning to go to Colorado the week after Thanksgiving.

William was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, so there have been some drastic dietary and lifestyle changes at our house.

You know... I don't feel so guilty anymore for not keeping the blog up. We've been busy this year!

Settling in.

2008-09-14T17:28:00.004-04:00

So far we are liking New York. We are learning the area and checking things out. We ran into a street fair in Sleepy Hollow today. Somehow, we seem to find one of those wherever we go. More pictures to come when we actually start doing stuff.

Birthday Cake

2008-09-04T13:15:00.004-04:00

I love when my parents visit for my Birthday because that means that we get a Cakery cake. Grandmother came up with the idea for this one and I thought it was really cute. I just realized though that it looks like I'm about to smack him with the golf club! Ok, so they don't have their own website, but I linked directions anyway in case anyone wants the best Birthday cake ever!

Will's Birthday

2008-09-04T13:10:00.003-04:00

I had to work on William's Birthday so some of our friends from here were nice enough to take him out for some fun. We found some really great friends here.

Roy, Will, and Ken (aka - golfing buddies)

Denise, Carlie, and Pam (other travel nurses that I work with)

Philadelphia

2008-09-04T13:05:00.003-04:00

We took a day trip to Philadelphia too while my parents were here.

You can't go to Philly without having a cheesesteak.

The Liberty Bell

Independence hall

The actual room where the declaration of independence was signed.

Rehoboth Beach

2008-09-04T13:01:00.002-04:00

We took my parents into Rehoboth too. It's the more popular tourist beach around here and it was BUSY that day.

Don't know if you can tell from here, but the beach umbrellas stretched as far as you could see in this direction and it was just as bad the other way.

Atlantic City

2008-09-04T12:56:00.004-04:00

So, I know I'm way behind again. Here are the rest of the pictures from my parents' visit. Our Atlantic city trip was kinda short, but we had fun walking on the boardwalk (and gambling a little).

Mom, Dad and I on the boardwalk

Me and my Hubby

ARRGH! It's the pirates!

2008-08-04T18:29:00.003-04:00

This really cool ship was docked at the ferry terminal, so we checked it out while waiting for the ferry.

The Ferry

2008-08-04T18:21:00.002-04:00

When my parents were here, we took the ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ. It was a pretty day, but we didn't see the dolphins.

The Ferry

Mom and Dad on the Ferry

Catch up day!

2008-08-04T18:19:00.003-04:00

I'm off for three days and have decided to catch up on my blogging. So get ready for new pictures and updates. Oh yeah, and we're definately going to Mt. Kisco now (see previous post). I've signed the contract and everything.

Where We're going next!

2008-07-18T18:22:00.002-04:00

Just got off the phone with my recruiter. It looks like we will be going to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, NY. From their website and their Nurse manager, it seems to be a great place, so I am really excited about it. I wanted to be a little closer to the city, but in the end, I chickened out because I really don't think a nurse-patient ratio of 1 to 8 or 1 to 10 can ever be safe, no matter how stable the patients are. It looks like we will probably be housed in Tarrytown, NY which is about 15 miles away. Not sure about any of this yet, but wanted to show you all what I've been looking at. Any opinions?

Happy Early Birthday!

2008-07-13T21:27:00.003-04:00

This is what William got for his Birthday. It started as just a driver ... then he needed a new bag ... then the salesman talked him into new irons ... then the putter was such a good deal that we had to get it too. So here is his Birthday present. A complete set of golf clubs. I got just a putter, but I already liked the clubs that I had.

I can cook!

2008-07-13T20:54:00.003-04:00

After reading the pioneer woman's website, I have been inspired to start cooking things that don't come out of boxes. My latest experiment ... biscuits and sausage gravy. Of course, I cooked them for dinner, not breakfast because I am not a morning person, but I still thought they turned out well. I took a picture so you could all salivate over them too. And the sliced tomatoes ... just because we're good Southerners.

Don't you just love the 1970's Corelle plates.

OK, we're really not that attached to our cellphones, we do eat without them. It just happened to make it into the picture.

More pictures

2008-07-08T22:23:00.000-04:00

I must be bored! This many posts in one day! I just wanted to show you our surf fishing tag. I was talking about it in an earlier post, but I just think that it is so cute. They are on the front of all the cars here, so now we look like locals driving around with it. It's important to fit in you know!

Tiny TV

2008-07-08T16:20:00.001-04:00

So this is my husband's beef about the housing here (besides the antique furniture which is uncomfortable and comes with constant reminders from me to use a coaster). The TV is tiny. I really thought he was over-reacting at first, but lately I've found myself squinting to be able to see the letters on Wheel-of-Fortune or read the final Jeopardy question, so I guess I have to admit too, that it really is small. Notice the Jenga game and the books for a size comparison, then realize that it is in a rather large room, so the couch is about 12 feet away. I know, very unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but just wanted to share (in case anyone actually reads our blog).

P.S. The DVD player doesn't even work, so we've been watching movies on the laptop.

Banana Tree

2008-07-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

When we moved into our housing, this was in our sunroom. A nice decoration, but kinda big for a houseplant and it was looking really sad (wish I had a before picture). Well, when we moved it outside, we kinda broke the leaves and it looked like it was going to fall over, so we leaned it against the fence to die. Then, we noticed this little sprout (like the one in the middle) and we decided this thing might stand a chance after all. William cut off the dead leaves and it now has 2 huge leaves again, with a 3rd one just barely out. He also put it in a bigger pot a couple of days ago and I think it is much happier. Doesn't it look happy? Oh, yeah, some birds built a nest in that square pot too, but I haven't seen them in a week or 2. We must have scared them off.

Jackson

2008-07-08T12:19:00.001-04:00

Many of you got my e-mail about my nephew Jackson who got burned in a bonfire on Saturday before the 4th. He has his own site, but I wanted to share some pictures that my parents took of him on Sunday when they visited. He's having surgery today, skin grafts to his thigh and arm. It's a shame he needs that nasty feeding tube, but burn patients need all the protien they can get so they're having to supplement him.

Jackson with his older brother Judson

OK, so I know this one is blurry, but I just think he is so precious with those little house shoes! That's my OLDest brother David blowing bubbles for him. He and his wife Jeannine were visiting from Louisiana. Notice how I put OLD in caps. David will turn 50 in September and I don't intend to let him forget it!

I am addicted ...

2008-06-28T23:46:00.000-04:00

to the pioneer woman's website. If you haven't been there, you should. It's like an online cooking show with funny tidbits and great photography in between. I picked it up off of my friend's blog and I've been reading it non-stop. Plus, she gives away prizes sometimes. So check it out, just 'cause it's fun.

Ripley's Museum

2008-06-25T17:56:00.001-04:00

We went down to Ocean City, MD a couple of weeks ago and went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. Just a few pictures of the random things we saw there.

A Vampire Killing Kit

This picture is made entirely from human hair,

this one is lint,

(No, I'm wrong...it's cobwebs!)

and last but not least ... toast

A little bit bored.

2008-06-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

I'm blogging today, because I'm stuck inside on such a beautiful day and I'm going to go stir crazy. Somehow, I got an infection in two of my toes (probably a bug bite). I went to the urgent care this morning because I couldn't put it off any longer and it was getting worse every day. I got a shot of antibiotics and 10 days worth to take by mouth and was instructed to stay home and prop my foot up for the next 2 days. Hopefully it will be better by Friday so I won't have to miss work. I kinda want to post a picture of my gross foot, but I won't in case someone has a weak stomach. If anyone else is home bored, call me! By the way, if any of you nurses have ever given IM Rocephin and wondered how bad it is, yes, it does hurt. Very bad. Even with lidocaine.

We actually did have pictures

2008-06-25T17:20:00.001-04:00

I forgot that my Husband actually did take some pictures of our new place the day we moved in. I like it because it is really bright and open, I just wish there wasn't so much antique furniture.

Living Room & Sun Room

Sun Room

Front entrance. We decided it was best to hide the transvestite mermaid. He was a little scary.

The back deck

Our room (oops, didn't see my elbow in this picture)

Delaware

2008-06-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

Bad person that I am, I have no pictures to share with you yet. However, I will try to describe.

OK, so Lewes, Delaware was the first city in the state of Delaware (Probably because it sits out on the point between the Ocean and the bay). See the map here. Also, Delaware was the first state to ratify the constitution, so they get the claim of being the first state. So, the slogan around here is the first city in the first state. William and I are thinking, so they've been around awhile, plenty of time to figure stuff out. However, in many ways it is more backward than South Georgia. For instance, there are only 3 counties in the entire state. They even have South Georgia-type thunderstorms and we've had a heat advisory all week (over 90 degrees for about 4 days now).

I obviously didn't fully realize what I was getting into when I moved here. I imagined a snobbish, Cape Cod type atmosphere. One trip to Wal-Mart proved me VERY wrong! It is a tourist area, but not in the way I expected. Also, most of the tourists are just down the beach in Rehoboth, not right here in Lewes. I was sadly mistaken as I thought that all rednecks lived in the south, but nope, they have their own special brand of redneck here.

Luckily, we have met some really nice people too. William went to the local par-3 golf course on our second day here to check the prices and ended up with a job. He has been helping clean up the course from the afore-mentioned thunderstorms. Every time it rains, we just laugh and say, "job security" for him. But I digress. Mark and Barbara, who hired him at the course, have invited us out to the beach with them several times to go surf fishing (more about that later). Mark also owns a deep sea boat that he has taken William out on and his parents live on a nearby lake and have given him free use of their john-boat. He is in heaven as you might imagine!

So, more about surf fishing. You have to buy a special permit for your truck and you are required to have 4-wheel drive, but you can actually drive out onto the beach at Cape Henlopen State park. Now, when you are on the beach, you must be "actively involved in surf fishing" which basically means you have to have all the gear and bait with you and actually have a pole in the water. However, it is a basically a good excuse to sit afound on the beach all day, cook out and play horseshoes. They go every week and we have been with them twice, so we are now the proud owners of a surf fishing tag for our truck.

I know this isn't as good as pictures, but I wanted to fill you all in on our lives. I'll get you pictures ASAP, but if you really can't wait for pictures, just plan a visit. We have 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and will be here until Labor Day. It would be the cheapest beach vacation ever, plus we would love to see friends and family. It's about a 12 hour drive from Georgia, or you can fly into Baltimore or Philadelphia (about an hour and a half away) and we'll come get you. Hope to see you soon!

Oh yeah, you can also check out my hospital here. It has one of the only remaining Diploma program nursing schools in the US still attached to the hospital. I know this doesn't mean much to many of you, but the nurses will find it funny. I really didn't think there were any of them left.

Hirshhorn Gallery & Sculpture Garden

2008-06-10T10:59:00.001-04:00

Just a few examples of the things we saw at the gallery. Sorry I don't know who any of the artists are. We just wandered around the four floors for about 4 hours enjoying the art. The place was huge, besides the 2 sculpture gardens outside.

Don't really know what it was supposed to be, but it reminded us of the Death Star!

Postal Museum

2008-06-10T10:50:00.000-04:00

Now that we're finally settled in Delaware, I thought I would catch up on our last 2 adventures in Virginia, the National Postal Museum and the Hirshhorn art gallery. We don't have many pictures from inside the gallery, because many of the coolest exhibits were video, not still art.

An early RFD truck.

Funny looking mail truck.

Mailboxes from around the World.

Arlington Cemetery

2008-04-28T12:44:00.000-04:00

The tomb of the unknown soldier.

Changing of the guard.

View of DC from the top of Arlington Cemetery.

Opening Day

2008-04-28T12:36:00.001-04:00

So, they opened a brand new ball park for the Washington Nationals a few weeks ago, so we said, "It's opening night and they're playing the Braves, maybe we should try to get tickets." So we went. It was pretty fun except that the Braves lost in the bottom of the 9th inning and we waited in line about an hour for 2 hot dogs!

President Bush throwing out the first Pitch.

Cool Picture

2008-04-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

I found this on the internet when I was trying to identify a statue that we took a picture of (without success). So I can't take credit for it, but wanted to share the cool picture.

National Cathedral

2008-04-28T12:26:00.000-04:00

Joe, Jackie and Mae Visit

2008-04-28T12:11:00.000-04:00

We had the quarterly visit from the parents the week after Easter. It was Mae's birthday too and we made her walk for miles! The junk on the White House lawn in this picture is left over from the Annual Easter Egg Roll the Monday after Easter

Jackie & Mae in front of the Lincoln Memorial (taken from the WW II Memorial)

Shanna & William at the WW II memorial

William in front of the fountain at Union Station

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T01:06:00.001-04:00

Went to the St. Patrick's parade today. 2 1/2 hours of marching bands, law enforcement and bagpipes. We actually got a little sun about halfway through the parade.

Wandering around DC.

2008-03-17T00:59:00.001-04:00

We've done lots of wandering around, seeing the sights and enjoying (slightly) better weather. These pictures are from several different trips. I don't even remember which we did on which day, but here they are.

The White House

Union Station

The National Archives Building

Snow and Ice

2008-02-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

Well, one thing we haven't had here is beautiful weather. The first night I worked there was a huge ice storm and the past 3 days we have had snow and ice. Not much better weather in between. Luckily there are lots of things to do close to home. There is a game room with a pool table and a private theatre here at the apartment complex. I'm afraid we'll be pool sharks before we leave. We have made a few friends too. Check out the link below to see our new place. More pictures to come soon if the weather cooperates!

http://www.equityapartments.com/market/brochure.aspx?page=overview&PropID=2344

Alexandria - The first week

2008-02-04T21:35:00.001-05:00

The Smithsonian Castle

Hope Diamond

Museum of Natural History

The Capitol

Washington Monument

We had an extra day to get settled here in Alexandria since I don't have to start until Tuesday, so we checked out the National museum of Natural History (part of the Smithsonian). We're in a really great location here. It's very convenient to public transit - the best way to get into the city. As you can see, it was kinda foggy today. Maybe I'll get better pictures later.

Denver decorates for Christmas

2007-12-27T04:52:00.000-05:00

The State Capitol

City and County Building

The Denver city and county building is straight across from the State Capitol, so we went down to check them out one (very cold) night. They go all out for Christmas and even play Christmas Carols on the bells.

White Christmas

2007-12-27T04:47:00.000-05:00

Had a big surprise Christmas morning when I left work. There was snow blowing in my face when I walked out the door and EVERYTHING was white. I had to come straight home and wake William up. I slept all day, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he sat in the chair all day and looked out at the snow!

More snow pictures.

2007-12-27T04:40:00.001-05:00

Proof that Grandmother actually did sled.
Christmas in Breckinridge and the lighting of the tree.

The way you're actually supposed to sled.

Snow, snow and more snow

2007-12-27T04:31:00.000-05:00

Joe trying to clean FEET of snow off the car!

Mom & Grandmother in their sledding attire.
Will & I trying to come down the hill together.
Not the correct way to sled.

William stayed in Frisco with Joe and Sandra for four full weeks this year. I ran out there everytime I got a day or two off. My parents and Grandmother also visited the first week of December. We had lots of fun skiing and sledding. It's been a tough jump back to reality this past week and a half. I had to work 4 days straight at Christmas, but we get a few days off this week to go skiing and I have New Years off too!

2007-12-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I updated, but we haven't really done much here in Denver to take pictures of. We took a tour of the Denver Mint, but cameras were prohibited, so no photo souvenirs! We have been spending the last 2 weeks out in Dillon, CO with Joe & Sandra. Joe, Jackie, and Mae are here this week too. We've had lots of snow in the mountains and we're starting to get some here in town too. Hopefully I'll have more pictures in the next week or two. Hope you are all well!

Snow!!!

2007-10-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

The courtyard of our apartment building.

Well, yesterday it was like 75 degrees outside and we were walking around in shorts and t-shirts, but look what we woke up to this morning. They expect 1-3 inches today, but I think we've gotten that much already. It's noon here now and it's still snowing pretty hard with HUGE snowflakes. It's still melting pretty quickly on the pavement though because it was so warm yesterday. The Broncos are playing in town about 6 pm today and they say it's going to quit by then. Yes, they play outdoors, not in a dome!

Colorado - The first week

2007-10-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

We must be getting better at this travel thing because we're starting to settle in much faster. I had a full week of classes this week, but was off Friday so we decided to head up to A-basin and try out our new ski passes. We ended up backing out, though because there was only one lift and one run open, so the lift line was about an hour long, not fun!!! We did enjoy the drive up through the mountains though, with the familiar scenery. We stopped in a little town called Idaho Springs and ate Buffalo burgers for lunch.

Hoover Dam

2007-10-21T13:57:00.001-04:00

Lake Mead

The power generators in the dam

The Colorado River below the dam.

Vegas!!!

2007-10-21T13:50:00.001-04:00

In front of the Monte Carlo. We saw Lance Burton's show here.

The Bellagio at night.

We spent the week in Vegas between our 2 assignments. Had lots of fun and celebrated my mom's birthday. We also saw the new Cirque du Soleil called Love. It is all of the Beatles songs.

Pacific Grove

2007-10-01T19:02:00.000-04:00

Not something you see every day!

Black Sheep of the Family

Basically, Pacific Grove is just a suburb of Monterey. It's really close to the pebble beach golf courses. We got a kick out of the seagulls here. They eat watermelon!

Big Sur

2007-10-01T18:58:00.000-04:00

We took a drive down Highway 1 to see what they say is the most beautiful part of California's coastline.

Capitola

2007-09-16T17:39:00.000-04:00

Just a few more pictures of the beach here in Capitola.

The Mystery Spot

2007-09-16T17:24:00.000-04:00

This place is in Santa Cruz. It's not really just an optical illusion, it's actually a place where compasses don't work and the normal rules of gravity do not apply. No one really knows why but it's really cool.

Update

2007-09-08T03:52:00.000-04:00

Since we finally got the California pics on here, I guess I should tell where we're off to next. Our next assignment is in Denver, Colorado. It will be at a hospital in the downtown area and we should be living downtown as well. I can't wait! I love this California assignment, but it is so rural. I miss my big city! Not to mention that Denver is only 70 miles from the ski slopes. Can't wait!

Roaring Camp Railroad

2007-09-08T03:24:00.000-04:00

While my family was here, we took a ride on a steam train through the Redwood trees near Capitola in Scott's Valley.

Did you know that these trees will continue to grow even if they fall over at an angle? As long as like 25% of their roots are still in the ground, that will grow, even sideways.

Fisherman's Wharf

2007-09-08T03:22:00.001-04:00

The Family

2007-09-08T03:18:00.001-04:00

Alcatraz

2007-09-08T03:16:00.000-04:00

San Francisco

2007-09-08T03:14:00.001-04:00

Chinatown Gate

The Golden Gate Bridge

A Cable Car

The TransAmerica Building

The San Francisco Skyline

Capitola, CA

2007-09-08T03:06:00.000-04:00

The Guest room

Our room

Living room

We have this really nice housing here in Capitola. It's in the touristy part of town called "The Village." We've been having lots of fun walking around town and checking out the local shops and restaurants. Here are some pictures of our apartment.

California here we come!

2007-06-21T02:40:00.000-04:00

OK, so in case anyone didn't already know, we're going to Watsonville, California next. It's a small farming community just North of Monterey. We will actually be living in Capitola, California because there is limited housing in the area. Too bad they had to give us a 2BR again! Actually, it's not even an apartment. It's this really nice vacation rental that is a 2 minute walk from the beach. Anyone is welcome to visit. The guest bedroom has 2 double beds, so bring the whole family!
I'm going to attach a link from the property management website. From what I can tell it is one of the two condos on this page, but I'm not sure which one!
http://www.vacationsbythesea.com/search.php?City=Capitola&Bedrooms=2&RentMinimum=&RentMaximum=&RentBy=Week&Term=Both&AmenitiesOtherText=&SearchTerm=&submit=Search

Williams, AZ

2007-06-21T02:35:00.000-04:00

It just so happened that there was this big motorcycle rally in Williams that weekend, so we managed to catch a Bride and Groom on motorcycle as well as an Old West shootout. It's really a neat little town. You know my husband ... he makes friends everywhere we go!

Hotel

2007-06-21T02:32:00.000-04:00

So we stayed at this neat little hotel in Williams, AZ. It's right on route 66. It was restored a few years ago and has all of these themed rooms. You actually get to pick the room you want to stay in when you get there. It made Billy a little nervous when I told him there was no air conditioning, but it's in the mountains and the windows open. It actually got a little cold at night.

Grand Canyon

2007-06-21T02:28:00.000-04:00

Since we only had 2 weeks left, we decided it was time to visit the Grand Canyon. Big surprise, it's a (REALLY) big hole in the ground.

San Xavier del Bac

2007-06-20T03:28:00.001-04:00

This is an old Spanish mission that is actually on an Indian reservation. It is sometimes called the Sistine chapel of North America or the White Dove of the Desert. It is currently being restored, so we bought postcards showing it without the scaffolding!

Airplane Graveyard

2007-06-20T03:24:00.000-04:00

There is a huge airplane graveyard here in Tucson, because it is so dry that the planes won't rust. They cover the windows to preserve the interior, then sit them out in the desert to wait for a need for them again, or they are eventually destroyed when they become completely useless.

Air and Space Museum

2007-06-20T03:18:00.000-04:00

Have you ever spent a whole day walking in the desert just looking at airplanes? We have! Just a small sampling. The top one is an old Air Force One, the funny looking one was made to carry the space capsule, and the bottom is a WW2 Bomber.

Mount Lemon

2007-06-20T03:14:00.000-04:00

Tucson is actually home to the southernmost ski resort in the US. They don't get snow for much of the winter, but they do get enough to ski now and then. We rose the chair lift up to see the sights. There was a huge forest fire 4 years ago that completely destroyed the town near the ski resort. Lots of the trees are still charred or just growing back.

Mom and Dad visit

2007-06-20T03:11:00.001-04:00

Mom and Dad came to visit for Mother's day. We went to the Air and Space museum, the Titan Missile museum and the casino!

Capitol Museum

2007-06-20T03:08:00.001-04:00

We took Grandmother to the Arizona Capitol museum in Phoenix on the way to the airport. The really cool thing is that the woman on top actually moves back and forth with the breeze even though she weighs 700 pounds!

New Truck

2007-05-02T03:00:00.000-04:00

Well, the old truck got us out here, but it broke down again a few weeks ago, so we decided it was time for a new truck. We're still having arguments about who gets to drive it!

A lesson in Cacti

2007-04-30T04:35:00.000-04:00

Above, the Saguaro cactus. It's bloom is the state flower of Arizona. These only grow in Arizona. They can live to be hundreds of years old and weigh thousands of pounds. It can take up to 15 years for them to grow their first "arm." The fruit from these is naturally sweet and can make syrup and jelly without any sugar, but nobody wants to climb up and get it (it blooms on top).

Sonoran Destert Museum

2007-04-30T04:28:00.001-04:00

We took Grandmother to the desert museum too. It is a combination museum, zoo, botanical garden and 1/2 mile desert hike all in one. We got a little sunburned! Yes, Cacti do bloom and yes, people are allergic to them.

Grandmother's Visit

2007-04-30T04:19:00.000-04:00

Grandmother C. has been with us this week and we've done some cool things. We went to Tombstone, AZ and learned all about the shootout at the O.K. Corrall. Boothill cemetery is there too. This is where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are buried.

Easter (a few weeks late)

2007-04-30T04:09:00.000-04:00

We did manage to find a close church to go to on Easter and then we decided to drive up to Oracle, AZ to see the Biosphere II. This was built for a project to see if we could create a new ecosystem (in space for example) and keep it self sustaining. Six people lived in the biosphere for 2 years, but it wasn't a complete success. It turned out that organisms in the soil were using up the oxygen too quickly and they had to end up pumping oxygen in to even out the atmosphere. It's kinda grown up now but still pretty neat to see the science behind it.

Funny side note ... we didn't take into account that restaurants in the middle of nowhere would be closed for Easter so we ended up eating Circle-K hot dogs for Easter dinner.

First Week

2007-03-30T17:38:00.000-04:00

A tiring first week at work is finally over. I have TONS of paperwork and classes for this new job, but I think I'm going to like it. They are good to their travelers here. I actually got 2 days of orientation on the floor, which were busy! William has been playing house husband all week and having my dinner ready when I get home which has been great. He is actually at an interview now to get a job at Home Depot. We figured that would be someplace he can transfer easily from city to city, plus it's right across the street from us now. Our apartment is in a really nice part of town called Oro Valley. It's north of Tucson and kind of far from my hospital, but we still like it. See the link below for a map of the area.
http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=10700+N+La+Reserve+Dr,+Tucson,+AZ+85737&daddr=350+N+Wilmot+Rd,+Tucson,+Pima,+Arizona+85711,+United+States&layer=&ie=UTF8&sll=32.398298,-110.952129&sspn=0.017647,0.028925&z=11&ll=32.301063,-110.912476&spn=0.282648,0.462799&om=1

Finally in Tucson!

2007-03-22T19:58:00.000-04:00

Well, after 3 LONG days on the road and a side trip to Phoenix, we are finally in our apartment. I'm blogging now because I've had major internet withdrawals recently and had to get online as soon as I could. Unpacking is over-rated, I'll get to it later! We were in Phoenix last night and ate at Alice Cooper's restaurant and saw the Bodies exibit (see poster above). It's really cool if you haven't heard of it. It's a new form of preserving human bodies called plastination. It sounds gross, but it's really not. (This from someone who is afraid of any thing dead!) OK, I guess I'll go unpack now. More later.

Worn Out

2007-03-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

What 2 boys look like after 2 FULL days at Disney. Better wake up. One more to go!

Four Stooges

2007-03-06T13:59:00.000-05:00

Mickey Mouse

2007-03-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd share a few pictures from our trip to Florida. We went to a pirate and princess party one night. Yes, we are dressed as Pirates. You know I don't do princess!

Here we go...

2007-02-22T13:39:00.001-05:00

Well, we have both quit our jobs now and still don't know where we are going! This weekend, we are going to Disney world with my (Shanna's) parents and nephews. We just wanted to get this started so everyone can see pictures and learn more about where we are, where we're going, and when we might be back in town for a few days.