Nothin' like a night in a shoebox

we are about 3.5 hours from South Bend

Well, we left today, Tuesday, at about noon and decided we would drive most the way and then stay the night so that by the time we arrived on Wednesday we would have plenty of time to unload the truck and we won't be as exhausted as we would have if we drove the entire way. So, we stopped just outside of Champaign, IL and got a room at the Microtel Hotel. WHOAH... what a nice place ;)! I thought our house was small, but this room is TINY

Overall, our drive went really well. The sun was shining, traffic was good. Hell, even rush hour through St. Louis wasn't bad. KC is far worse than that traffic, haha. I had been to St. Louis before, year ago, when I worked for Dr. Coleman. But this time I got to see the Arch. It was pretty neat, but hard to look at when you are driving in rush hour traffic and staring at the back end of a Budget moving truck. I think that Budget logo and colors are forever engrained in my memory. :)

Jada did pretty good through this first leg of the trip. When we first got in the car she was meowing like crazy and wouldn't sit still. After about 30 minutes of that, she laid in her carrier and slept most the way. She woke up a few times to tell me hello, look around and get a bite to eat... but that's about it. She seems happy to be in the hotel room. HAHA

Well, better get some shut eye before the drive tomorrow. I don't know when I will get access to the internet again, so if you don't hear from me in the next few days have faith.... I will find a way!!!

Love you all!!

Emptiness

tomorrow... off to Indiana

I sit here, staring at an empty house and I am ok. I am ok. A little scared, but ok.

We loaded everything up yesterday and today. Just have a few more things to load in the morning. I am exhausted. My next blog post will be from Indiana. Wish us luck everyone!

That's it... I am marrying Jon Bon Jovi! Sorry Jared :)

what a rockin' good time

Misty and I before the Bon Jovi concert

Misty and I totally rocked out at the Bon Jovi concert last night! It was AMAZING. Let me say that again A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I have been to quite a few shows, but I have to say, Jon still knows how to work a crowd and move on that stage. And, might I add, his butt didn't look to bad either... even from nosebleed seats. :) Even the DUI-stricken Richie Sambora made it to the event with the band after his court appearance earlier this week. I was so glad he was able to be there... the show would not have been the same without him. He even sang "I'll Be There For You" and it was beautiful.

So, despite the fact that I have such a great time at the show, I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of stupid people in the world that always seem to end up at the same concert as me and always manage to sit right behind me.

So, here we are, Misty and I, pumped up for this show. Daughtry comes out and they are rockin' the Sprint Center. Misty and I just love Chris Daughtry, so we are standing up, clapping, singing and dancing along with him. I slightly bump someone behind me slightly (not much elbow room in this place... way to packed in) and I turn and say to a man behind us "hey, sorry, haha, we like to dance around and have a good time." He says "no big deal, we like to drink and have fun too." So, I think to myself that they are cool, no big deal, this is going to be fun.

Well, I was wrong. Not two minutes later the girl sitting next to him taps me on the shoulder and Misty and I turned around. She said "I'm sorry, my husband does know what I want. Could you all sit down maybe every other song so we can see. All we can see is just a little bit through your shoulders." (might I add that this comment had a rather stuck up, better than you, bitchy undertone).

I wish you all could have seen my face. Misty just turns back around and leaves me to deal with this girl. Thanks Misty! My jaw seriously hit the floor. Could she SERIOUSLY be asking me SIT DOWN at a ROCK CONCERT? So, I just look at her and I said, "Are you serious? You really want me to sit down?" Her reply was "yeah, we paid for these seats and we want to see the show." I, still standing there trying to pick my jaw up off the floor (I bet I looked like a real bitch, but I didn't care at this point). "I said, "you know what? I can try... but I paid for these tickets too and I can't make you any promises when Bon Jovi comes out!" Of course then they were like "Oh , yeah, I understand".

Then one of the guys in their group actually said to me at that point that he would get security if it was a problem. Um, first of all.... the only problem is YOU (I didn't say this but I totally wanted to) and I seriously doubt they are going to kick anyone out of a rock concert for standing up. But, go ahead and try to get someone who will.

So they basically wanted us to sit down every other song while Daughtry was on. Are are freakin' kidding me? IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE ROCKIN' OUT AND HAVING FUN, DO US ALL A FAVOR AND JUST STAY HOME! I mean, seriously.

Have a great weekend bloggers! We will be loading up a moving truck! FUN FUN :)

Those Greenbush gals!

nothin' like workin' at the Bush

The girls got me a cake today and we are doing yummy mexican lunch from town. Today will be a good day!

The RPC/YouthFriends gals... Lisa S., Lisa Mc., Amanda, Misty and me!

No, I don't plan to eat it all myself. Well, hopefully not! :)

Strip Pits, Big Brutus and Chicken.... gotta love it!

oh how I love SEK

I have blogged a lot about my time in southeast Kansas but I haven't really talked about all the things I love about this area of the state. So I thought I would make a little list for you of all the great memories I have from my 6 years in SEK.

Those of you native to the area, or who have lived here as long as I have, will appreciate these.

Enjoy!

• Fishing in the strip pits and being a little leery of anything that you catch on your fishing pole (darn Frontenac mafia put all kinds of bodies in those pits) :)
  Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's (first time I ever had chicken and spaghetti on a plate together... thought it was kinda weird. But now, I love it (except when I have to smell it at Greenbush all the time). Oh and the German potato salad.... yummy.
• Big Brutus (Oh yes my friends... SEK has the largest steam shovel ever!! At least we are known for something)
• Dollar night in Walnut with Marla
• Karaoke night at JBs
• Pitt State Football Games! Go Gorillas!!!
• Climbing the 58 million flights of stairs at Russ Hall just that stinkin' government class on the top floor that I HATED.
• Dance night at Mooremans (can't move like a used to so this is a very distant memory... haha)
• Chatters (need I say more!)
• Dealing with construction on highway 69 to KC
• Connie's cooking at Sundowners... YUMMY!!!!
• My 311 Club family (Home of the Slim Jim)
• The May 4, 2003 tornado (I was working at the Girard Press at the time. I drove highway 7 south to 126 to go home to Pittsburg. I later found out about 5 minutes after I got onto highway 126 the tornado passed over highway 7. WHEW... that was close.)
• Late nights at the Girard Press with Mary Ann and Brandy
• Late nights at the Morning Sun with Jessie, Shawna and Sherry (we hated it, but we tried to have fun)
• BBQ's at Jamie's house and swimming in the kiddie pool with Jace
• The day Jace was born, January 10, 2003 (Jamie was sooo nervous!)
• Going out to Mo-Kan to watch the drag races with the boys
• The fire in downtown Fort Scott
• The good ole' days of the Bachelor (watching it with Brooke at McCarthy's when they had free pizza for all the girls) That was awesome!!!
• Dr. Fog's Legal and Social Environment of Business class (she was so quirky... but we all loved her)
• Good times in the dorm with Sherry
• Laying outside at Summerfield watching the stars with Jared (I know, I know... how mushy-gushy. But the guy has a romantic side)
• Winning the big Karaoke contest at McCarthy's and beating the cowboy guy that already had a record deal! That was AWESOME!!!!
• The Oval at Pitt State
• Stealing cups, and various other kitchen essentials, from the dining hall with Sherry. We were SUCH rebels :)
• Sherry and Chris's wedding
  

I could go on and on... but I bet I am boring some of you. haha. I will keep these memories close to my heart as I move on to make more in Indiana.

Until next time bloggers.... have a wonderful day!

Cry me a river

good thing I wear waterproof mascara

This has been a rough week for me. When I wrote my last blog I was feeling ok, getting a little nervous about leaving, but managing.

Since then I have found myself crying multiple times a day. It is frustrating. Any time someone asks me "so, when are you leaving" or "are you ready to leave" I just break down. I hate it! I cleaned out my desk at work today and it was like I was a freakin' water fountain. It was embarrassing.

I am ok with the move and I am excited about it and about the new opportunities it will bring us, but I think leaving my job is really getting to me. I love what I do. No one understand what I do and why I love it so much, but I do. Working with people is my passion and that is what I do. I help people and youth and that is what makes me motivated to make a difference. I want to find that same kind of work in Indiana, but the job market is not looking good. I don't want to settle on just any job. I want to be happy.

I am sad about leaving my family, but I know I will see them and we will keep in touch all the time just like we do now. I am sad about leaving my friends too. However, a lot of my friends hav moved away and moved on with their lives as well, so we've been keeping in touch through e-mail, cell phones and MySpace for quite a while now.

The only thing I keep telling myself that is somewhat making me feel better is that I moved from El Dorado to Pittsburg 6 years ago and I did alright! I made friends, I found a career and I was successful. If I did it when I was 20 and made it work, I can do it now that I am 26. Plus, I think about my parents. They moved Alicia and I from Moore, OK to El Dorado, KS when we were little, I was in the 4th grade. It was hard for them to leave everyone and come to an unknown place. But they made it work, even with two kids!

Jared seems to be doing much better than I am. That, or he is hiding it really well from me. I'm not sure. Anytime I try to talk to him about it he just says "well, you should have said something earlier, it is too late now". I know he doesn't mean it that way and he is probably just saying that because he doesn't know what else to say. I don't think he understands what thoughts are going through my mind right now. It's not that I don't wanna go, it's just going to be rough for me to say goodbye to everything and everyone. I just want him to tell me that everything will be ok. I just need to hear that right now from him; from everyone.

Sorry to be such a downer on such a nice Friday afternoon, but I thought if I got it off my chest, maybe it will stop the crying. Just maybe.