Our Vacation Situation

Josh and I finally got to enjoy our summer vacation this week. We headed down to Brown County, Indiana for a few days. Our vacation began in Brown County State Park where we camped the first night and enjoyed being in hills and feeling like we were no longer in Indiana. It rained most of the night, but our tent from Grandma Yoder kept us dry!


On Sunday we left the State Park and headed a few miles down the road to Nashville. Nashville is an old-fashioned, artsy little town with one traffic light. It felt good to mingle with the laid back country folk. We spent our time in Nashville strolling through the unique little shops, talking with the friendly locals, and eating homemade food. We also found a really nice hotel- Hotel Nashville- with a deal on weeknight stays, so we spent the next three nights in a hotel suite the size of our house. Maybe a little bit bigger. We had a kitchen, dining room, living room, king size bedroom, two bathrooms, and a balcony.

Monday evening we decided to hit up nine holes of golf. It was my first experience with the sport. Josh was a really good teacher and was very patient following me in the golf cart as I walked the holes, hitting my ball every so often. Josh scored a 51 and I scored a completed 6 holes. I won't go into details on how many times I had to swing, but this picture might give you an idea.



What I took away from the game was that I'm a much better golf cart driver than Josh (our cart had GPS!) and six blisters, one for each hole. Can you find them all?

Tuesday we walked through some shops in the morning and then headed back to our hotel for lunch. During lunch, a huge storm (and what we later found out was a tornado) hit the county and we lost power in our room. The rest of our vacation takes place without electricity. According to our hotel clerk, we experienced the longest power outage ever in Brown County. What an honor. Since we were planning on going back to the shops, we had a list of things to buy, but never got the chance to buy them. We woke up early this morning and the power was still out, so we ended our vacation early with no souvenirs. Except a new battery-powered lantern from the Columbus Indiana WalMart...

According to today's paper, Nashville is now on a level 2 emergency and "a boil water order is in effect". There is now a water shortage and residents have three areas in town where they may pick up water.

Despite some unfortunate circumstances during our vacation, we absolutely had a blast. We would recommend Brown County State Park and Nashville to anyone looking for a fun weekend in southern Indiana. We want to head back in the fall when the leaves start changing because we hear that it is beautiful. Any takers?

July 19th, 2008 is so 2000 and late

Yesterday, the two of us celebrated our One Year Anniversary! It is so hard for us to believe that it has already been a year. After some breakfast in bed, the 509 service, and lunch with friends, the party began. First we reminisced by watching our 2 wedding DVDs. We got chills watching Kristi walk down the aisle, felt so supported by listening to the worship, and cracked up laughing at the frequency of the bridesmaids' tears during the ceremony. After steak and potatoes at Logans (thanks Grandma Yoder), we discovered that we had the same exact gift idea for each other! We both thought that it would be a great idea to have a book where each year we take a photo on our anniversary and write a note to each other. Two peas in a pod, people, two peas in a pod.

Kristi's favorite part of the day was a surprise from me. Kristi got a video that I made during the weeks leading up to our engagement. I would talk into the camera every couple nights or so explaining my feelings, thoughts, and events that were happening. It was so great for both of us to relive the engagement and wedding experience all over again.

We want to thank all of our friends and family who loved and supported us on our wedding day, and during this past year. You all mean so much to us!

Here is a photo taken by our good friend and blogger, Daron Short (www.daronshort.com), on our anniversary.

In front of our first 'home' on our One Year.

Our wedding cake was still DELICIOUS after being frozen for one year.

So what have we decided to tackle in our 2nd year of marriage? Well, we have started Hip-Hop dance lessons. Yes, you read that right. Hip-Hop dance lessons. Kristi gave us dance lessons for Christmas, and we just now found the time to do them! Check out the video for the first hip-hop dance that we learned. Kristi is front and center.
SAY, All I Need

Independence Day, in Canada eh?

Kristi and I got quite a few strange looks from people when we told them our Fourth of July plans. Camping in Canada! Over the long Holiday weekend, we spent 2 nights camping on Lake Huron at 'The Pinery' near Grand Bend, Ontario. Mark Banks (Canadian Camper Extraordinaire) hooked us all up with a secluded camping site that had a private path to the beach! Games were played (which the Americans dominated), jokes were told (but do they call me Angus the road builder?), some INCREDIBLE camp food was consumed, and a great time was had by all. The traveling with an Indian across the border and getting our car searched twice was even worth it. Although we had a great time in Canada, it was a relief to us all to get our freedom back at the border on Sunday.

We got to see some old friends and make some new ones. Here is the whole crew together on the top of the sand dune at the beach!





Also, to answer many of your questions about how I (Josh) am doing after this past week, the answer is I am doing alright. Though I am sad to see MJ go, his music will live on. The walls he broke down in this country and in the world during his career were incredible, and I wish that I could have been born two decades earlier to witness his entire career. I hope that other artists follow his example of writing songs like 'Heal the World', 'We are the World', and 'Man in the Mirror'.

Cheers! to Thirty Years.

Several months into Kristi and my relationship, we discovered that my parents and her parents were both married on the same exact day, same exact year. June 9th, 1979. We half-heartedly considered getting married on June 9th as well, but it fell on a Monday in 2008, and we weren't about to wait until 2012 (not with all the flack I would get from her friends...). The way my mind works instantly considered this coincidence a major score as it would be easier to remember our parents anniversaries. This year was the big 3-0 for our parents, and we were able to celebrate and surprise them both in different ways.

Can I get a couple family shots up in here?

The Millers (and one Montgomery)

The Thompsons (and two Millers)


In an unrelated note, this morning's trip to the lab at the family practice was a wonderful start to the week. Kristi and I both bring many things to our marriage, and one of the things that I bring is tolerance of needles. She is petrified of them and has passed out just by looking at the little things. She has even passed out while sitting outside of the doctor's room while her mother was getting a shot. The Ambulance was even called for her on that one. I on the other hand don't really mind them. This morning I went to the lab to get my blood taken for some tests (Don't worry everyone, just checking to verify that I have high cholesterol, I can't do anything about it, and am eventually going to die of heart troubles) and they specifically told me to fast for 8 hours before the test. So, I made sure not to consume my daily bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats to fulfill my doctor's request. Not feeling nervous at all, I sat down in the chair, the nurse began drawing blood, and I instantly turned into a 5 year old girl. Passed out cold. I woke up on the floor unable to move any of my extremities, then felt woozy again, and passed out a second time. After several minutes, and a cup of Pepsi, I finally realized what was going on and looked to the nurse for some comfort. I asked her if this happens often and she says only every couple of weeks. Fantastic.

Halfway to my house I realized that I had a large gash on my neck that was not there before my trip to the Family Practice. Perhaps I bashed my neck on something when I passed out? Seems like the nurse didn't find that information important enough to share with me. Kristi thinks she is a vampire.

To save all you men from humiliation, learn from my mistake, and consume sugary beverages before getting your blood drawn.

A weekend away for my birthday!

So I got home from work on Friday excited that my summer was ready to begin and ready for a relaxing weekend. Little did I know that my husband had other plans in mind. I came home to find a big vase of flowers and a note telling me to pack my bags because we were going on a trip for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and the end of the school year!

When Josh got home from work, we headed out, me still not knowing where we were going. We ended up spending the weekend in Cincinnati, back in God's country. It was a fun and relaxing weekend. Our hotel was amazing--the Drury Inn--where the extras aren't extra! They had a free bountiful breakfast, free drinks at night, free soft drinks and popcorn everyday, and free snacks in the evening. Now if you know me, you know I love freebies, so we took full advantage of it. We also spent time walking around downtown Cincinnati trying to find a market that we are convinced does not actually exist. We also visited Ikea, and decided we would come back when we get our own home and to get another 50 cent all beef hot dog, tax included.

Before I elaborate on our Sunday lunch experience, let me tell you that Josh and I are very bad at making decisions. So after hours of deliberation, we FINALLY decided on Johnny Rockets. Using our faithful GPS, we typed in the address and followed her directions, only to discover Johnny Rockets no longer exists. A little frustrated, we made a quick decision to try Red Robin. Again we typed in the address and followed her directions, only to discover we had arrived at our destination, which happened to be a school rather than Red Robin. Josh was determined we were going to eat where we wanted to eat, so we headed to another Red Robin, passing Ikea for about the eighth time that day. All in all it was almost worth driving around for 45 minutes, despite the fact that our nacho appetizer was literally only 12 tortilla chips spread strategically around the large plate. What a birthday meal.

Our last stop was Jungle Jims, a 6 acre store selling foods from all over the world. We spent a few hours walking around, checking out the food, reliving some memories from Brazil and Spain, and buying some treats to take home with us (including some Guarana! Brazil '05 anyone?). It was a wonderful weekend, and now I'm ready for summer to begin!

Josh's first Skyline Chili (Cincinnati's claim to fame) experience!

Kristi's Skyline with extra cheese!

Jungle Jims! Who would've thought grocery shopping could be such an exotic experience?