a girls day!

the craft fair...view from the stage


my wonderful in-laws invited me to the huge craft fair in columbus after thanksgiving. i went last year but was so overwhelmed by the huge-ness of it all that i didn't really get any pictures. i did slightly better this year, taking a few pics and attempting to not spend a bunch of money on all the extremely cute home-made and hand-made decorations, jewelry, foods and other not-so-necessary-but-fun-to-buy type things. i was accompained by pat & heather and matt's grandma, nan, and her friend, shirley. we had a wonderful time browsing around the various vendors, picking out christmas gifts and just spending time together.
after we had exhausted ourselves at the fair, we headed into gahanna for lunch. i had never really been into downtown gahanna, and i didn't know how cute it was! it was even better on this day because the city was having a holiday fair for their tree-lighting that evening. there were horse-drawn carriges, live music, an ice-skating area and pretty decorations everywhere! so festive! we walked around a bit....mostly because the whole area was closed to parking and we had to park in a garage far away.....and finally decided to have lunch at the old bag of nails pub. tasty!
thanks for the great day, ladies!

shopping!


heather laughs at a tressel-dog pic


resting after walking around for 2+ hrs


the fountains in gahanna


the decorations


the big christmas tree


carriage rides!


at the pub


heather, nan, shirley and pat

turkey day 2009

thanksgiving 2009

our first holiday after moving to ohio! because we weren't having to fly in to celebrate this year, we actually got to spend time with both sides of matt's family. we also were very good and woke up early to do our workout before spending the day filling our bellies with tasty food! after the workout, we showered, dressed and loaded up with lexi into matt's car and headed to urbana. we dropped lexi off at heather's house so she could play outside with becky, then drove to matt's grandma's house, the traditional thanksgiving place. we ate, enjoyed the great turnout of family and extended family, and watched the first half of the cowboys game. we also got to enjoy the intermittent snowfall while eating turkey! it was so pretty, but really only exciting for me.
at halftime during the cowboys game we loaded up again and drove out to matt's uncle butch's house to spend time with matt's dad's side of the family. i was able to meet several family memebers i had only heard about and was able to watch the rest of the cowboys game. we enjoyed some dessert and good company before leaving to go pick up lexi and drive back to columbus. unfortunatley, lexi and becky had decided to make muddy messes of themselves while we were gone, playing in the snow and the rain. our yellow lab was barely recognizeable under all the mud! it took a little cleaning and a loaned blanket for the backseat before matt and i finally felt we could safely put her in the car. fortunately, she slept all the way home because she was *so* exhausted. we were definitely thankful for that!
hopefully your thanksgiving was filled with good food, family, friends and great memories! we are thankful for the many blessings in our life, and appreicate each and every one of you and the fact that you are in our lives!

happy thanksgiving!

matt's big birthday

well, it finally happened....matt turned the big 3-0 on november 21st! luckily, i was not scheduled to work that day, so i was able to spend the entire day with my birthday boy. the 21st also happened to be the date that ohio state played michigan, the biggest game of the season because the two are huge rivals (for those of you in texas, think red river rivalry!) . so we started off the birthday by attending an OSU beat michigan party at a friends' friend's house :) tim and erin had invited us to a party that some friends of theirs were having for the game. we had a great time watching the game, meeting new people, eating great food and enjoying their beautiful new house and ginormous back yard. oh, we also enjoyed watching OSU beat the smithereens out of michigan!
after the game, we headed back to tim & erin's house where we had left our lexi-dog so she wouldn't be lonely all day in our apt by herself. we stayed at tim and erin's for a while to let the dogs play in the back yard and run off some energy. lucky for lexi, i think she's made two new friends in charlie and emma!
we left tim and erin's and headed to urbana, where we met up with matt's family at a cute little italian restaurant in the town square. the dinner was great and everyone enjoyed the live piano music while we were there. after dinner we headed back to matt's mom's house where we stayed the night so we wouldn't have to drive back to the apartment. oh, and lexi got to stay at heather's house with their dog, becky so she wouldn't spend the night by herself.
i would love to say i had planned a big surprise party....or even a little one... for my husband's big milestone birthday, but this year i claim the "we-just-moved-and-have-barely-settled-in" excuse. and fortunately, i have a husband who is fairly low-key and doesn't like a lot of fuss about him. matt says he enjoyed his birthday very much, and appreciates all the birthday wishes. hope the next 30 are even better!

happy birthday, honey!

matt's 30th birthday!

a new job

my new badge :)

my vacation is over! as of tuesday, november 10th i was no longer unemployed (which lasted all of 11 days, technically). i accepted a position at mount carmel east (MCE) located about 20 minutes from our apartment. i will still be working as an ER nurse, and actually it's a hospital very similar to MCD (funny name coincidence, i know...next i suppose i'll have to work at an MCF). their hospital has fewer inpatient beds, but more ER beds (50 as opposed to 40), and this hospital treats mainly adults. it is a chest pain and a stroke center, just like MCD, and is not a trauma center, just like MCD. the people all seem very friendly and helpful, and the place seems pretty organized thus far.
i had to attend hospital orientation on monday & tuesday (nov. 16 & 17), and today i was in the ER learning their computer system, mainly their charting/ordering/bed navigation system. i go back friday for my first 12 hour shift with a preceptor. for the first few weeks they won't let me orient on night shift, but they have compromised with me and are scheduling me for 12p-12a (noon - midnight) instead of 6a-6p. we all know that i'm very much *not* a day person, and waking up at 4am is not condusive to my person. so for this, i'm appreciative.
it's very awful being the new person all over again, espeically after being at a facility that i was assisting in running! while i never had all of the answers (and never expect to), i knew where things were and how the system worked. now i'm back to square one and i feel like a new grad all over again.....*sigh*
i will say that one of the most intimidating and weirdest things i have learned about here is how they handle severe weather. if you're from texas, this means thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes. here it means tornadoes and possibly blizzards. we were instructed on what to do in a "snow emergency" (which just seems so bizzare to me...coming from the land of no-snow!), it goes something like this, the county you live in is declared to have roads as one of the following:
level one: be cautious while driving, roads might be icy or slippery. i'm supposed to "allow extra time to get to work" per my employer.
level two: roads are hazardous, leave your house only if absolutely "necessary" (yes, i'm so special, my job is considered absolutely necessary). allow extra time to get to work, and if you are "already on shift, anticipate an extended shift" (yay)
level three (i know, how does it get worse than level two?!): roads are awful, they probably aren't even there. i assume at this point you use your snowshoes or snow-mobile to get to work, neither of which i have. the actual policy states "All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during these conditions....Those traveling on the roads may subject themselves to arrest." uhm...hopefully my badge will keep me from getting arrested! i think you can all assume that the same "allow extra time" and "expect an extended shift" policies are in place here.

we'll see how it goes....


the main hospital, this is the original building built in 1972


my new home...the ER


the heart center at MCE

housewarming party!

my in-laws were nice enough to ("insist") on throwing a housewarming party once matt & i got settled into our new apartment here in columbus. at first, i felt that it was really unnecessary, since matt and i don't really need anything for our new apartment. but as we continued to talk about it, i got more and more excited about just being able to host people in our cozy new space. after all, we've spent the last several weeks trying to make this little apt home, so it was a nice thought that we'd have the chance to show off our hard work. of course, i also loved the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.
the party was sunday, november 15 (of course, scheduled around the cowboys game). we had a very good turn-out, and even though i wasn't really thinking there was anything we'd need for the apartment, our guests surprised us with the very best gift for us....a brand new dyson vacuum! this was probably the only thing that we actually did need and it was the model i had been eyeing, one specifically designed for homes with pets (read: big hairy, shedding labs!). our old vacuum is still in working condition, but it's smelly and doesn't work very well. and if you know me and my stance on cleaning...well, i don't really have to explain any more ;)
we also received some other very nice gifts and enjoyed great food and company. thanks to all our friends and family for making us (esp. me!) feel so welcome in columbus!

housewarming november 2009

buckeye saturdays

pictures of actual buckeyes....or, rather, the nuts from the buckeye tree.
i include this because until i had relatives here, i never knew what a buckeye actually looked like.

the last few saturdays we have spent doing what every good citizen of columbus should do: watch the ohio state buckeye's football games*.
this past saturday was no different, and we watched an amazing game between OSU and iowa that ended with OSU winning by a field goal in OT. the last few weeks we've gone to urbana to watch the games with matt's dad and fiance at their home. steve & jacquie are big buckeye fans, and it shows! here are a few pics from this past saturday.

*for those who don't already know, the "deal" when matt & i got married was that he would glady cheer for the cowboys, if i would cheer for the buckeyes. now, this doesn't mean i'm not a texas fan....but since the two teams hardly ever play, it makes it quite easy for me to cheer for both.


ready for game time!


a buckeye couple (see below)


yes, steve gave lexi her very own buckeye necklace!


and an OSU "jacket"


yes, those are cupcake cookies with "scarlet & gray" sprinkles

4549 candlewick circle

a view of the main office


our floorplan, and this is actually the exact orientation of our apt in the building


yes, the pics you've all been waiting for! these are the pics that show the apt the night we moved in and then after we finished unpacking, getting rid of (more) stuff, decorating and attempting to turn this little rented space into a home. i have to say, i'm more pleased than i expected to be! i actually really like this little apartment and the way our stuff fits in it. of course, after i finished captioning all the pictures i realized that i haven't taken any of the outside of the complex or our patio...eek! and sorry! i will have to take some tomorrow when the sun is up and add them to this post so you can see the apartment(s) from the outside, too! i went ahead and stole some from the internet so you could get an idea for now :)


one of the pretty pathways we can walk lexi on


view from the clubhouse/fitness area

i've also included the very few other pics i took when i wasn't busy unpacking boxes. among those that are noteworthy: i recevied my nursing license and we had the chance to hang out with tim & erin at buffalo wild wings where we watched the dallas cowboys defeat the philadelphia eagles! go cowboys!
enjoy the pics and let me know what you think!

4549 candlewick circle

journey to ohio

thursday night, we spent the night at my parent's house while matt's mom & step-dad stayed at a nearby hotel. friday morning we waited and waited to find out what time our closing would take place....very long story, but it ended up being at 4pm. this actually turned out to be a blessing because it gave me the chance to have lunch with my mom & brother, pick up lex with matt so we could say goodbye to ryan & carrie, and see my dad & mom one last time right before we drove out of texas. we ended up driving onto highway 75 at about 8pm. we were *very* thankful that matt's parents had decided to take the two rental trucks and leave early in the day so we only had to take their car and my car and meet them in st. louis at a hotel.

we drove all night friday night and finally reached the hotel around 5:30am. to my surprise, we were met in the parking lot by pat & david (matt's parents) who were loading their stuff as we were unloading ours. they had reached the hotel around 8:30pm, so they were rested and ready to go! it was actually a good thing that they were so far ahead of us, because we had other family and friends meeting us at the apartment on saturday afternoon to help us unload the trucks. so, matt and i stayed at the hotel with lexi and slept from about 7 - 11am (we had to enjoy the free breakfast first!) before loading up the cars and heading back onto the road.

it took us the rest of the day to reach columbus, i think we finally made it to the apartment sometime around 8:30pm. but to our surprise, everything was completely unloaded and in the apartment when we arrived! there were even roses on the table and sheets on the bed! for as messy as the apartment was, with boxes and such everywhere, it was so beautiful after two days of driving and 2 days of having everything packed up before that! we were so thankful that we could just come in and rest and talk with all of the great people that were willing to help us.

journey to ohio

goodbye, 31 brewster court!

31 brewster court

on wednesday morning (following my last shift at MCD on tuesday night), i went to bed with the happy knowledge that when i woke up my husband would be there! he arrived wednesday afternoon, and my friend jerimey was nice enough to pick him up at the airport and then take him to get the rental truck. the only sad thing about this was that our hello's were somewhat brief since we had to finish packing up the entire house, and try to coordinate it around my fabulous going-away party. so, that evening several friends and family members came over to help us load our heaviest pieces of furniture into the truck (and some extra stuff, too!). on thursday, i dropped lexi off at ryan & carrie's house so she could play with their two labs (dax & bailey) so she could 1) be out of the way, and 2) burn up some energy before being in the car for almost 20 hours. after that, we finished packing up the house and drove away from brewster court for the very last time :(

if you've never seen my house, see it here!

31 brewster court