ITS OFFICIAL.........

I'm a graduate student! Today was my first day of orientation at Bowling Green State University. I will be there all week becoming oriented and learning my way around. Classes officially start a week from today but my first one isn't until Wednesday. I'm only a little scared because we've already started talking about our thesis and classes haven't even began! Oh dear...I've dreaded this for as long as I knew what a thesis paper was. Who knows what mine will be on but I have been assured that I still have time to figure that out. It feels strange to be on a campus that's not NC State or Meredith but BGSU is beautiful and I'm excited to learn more about the school I'll be attending for the next 2 years. 

Our New TV

As you all know, since Forrest and I have been married, I have been staying at home working on my new job....wife! While I am at home I like to catch up on the news and other various programs while doing the housework. I must admit I mostly enjoy having the TV on just for the noise it provides. This is the main TV we own and it lives in our living room.

Every month we sit down and work through our budget for that particular month. Well, when the electric bill came this month I anxiously opened it, hoping we had done better than last month and immediately put it down and hoped Forrest wouldn't see it for a long time! We had not done better than last month, but far worse and exceeded our electric budget by over $30! Apparently, our big screen TV sucks up all of our energy. Who knew? Well, graciously the Lord has provided me with a wonderfully smart and creative husband. After seeing the bill, he doesn't say a word, but sits there with his mouth wide open. After trying so hard no to laugh at his reaction, he says, "you know, Mom gave me a tv to take to the race track. I wonder if I still have it?" So off he goes to the attic to look. Low and behold he comes back with a huge smile on his face and says "Here it is!" I take a look at the box and cautiously open it. Inside is this:

So we now have a 5 inch black and white tv accompanied with radio and flash light. See Below:
We now own a tv in the kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. Note the handle so that we can take it to any room we want! If it saves money....I'm all for it. So when you think of me watching tv you know exactly what 5 inch, black and white screen I'm watching. :)

Holy Toledo!

Okay, so I was doing some research and found that the phrase "Holy Toledo" refers to Toledo, Spain, not where we're moving. But I thought it was fitting to announce that we are moving! After settling down here for about 2 months, we have felt the Lord calling us to pack up and move to Toledo for Forrest's job. It may not seem like the most desirable place since anywhere in NC seems to be first choice for all of our family and friends. But a position opened there a couple of months ago and around the same time Forrest needed to begin looking for a more permanent position with his company. Toledo was not a location that we were instantly excited about...I even said "Absolutely NOT!" How's that for eating my words? We begin to pray and little by little doors to other positions closed, I found a school to apply to, and our hearts began to change toward the city. We even spent a Saturday driving around and found some great areas and best of all, a Target! It is now a done deal, Forrest has signed on the dotted line and we are waiting for our relocation package to become available. We have no idea when we will start the moving process nor when we will be settled. We do know that there will be a transition period where Forrest will work from Toledo three days out of the week and spend two days in his current office. After spending a few weeks in the city he will then be responsible for finding an office for the company to purchase or lease because he is the only sales engineer for the city at this time. There is interest from the company in adding another person within a year and we are praying that this will be something they are diligent in following through with. We will also be purchasing a house by the end of the year which is very exciting. We have been looking online and twice I have found my tiny dream home and twice they have been sold. :( So we are also praying there will be another affordable home that we love at the time we are ready to buy. There are a lot of things going on right now but we are so excited to see what marvelous things the Lord has in store for us in our new city. 

We were so blessed to travel to NC this past weekend for Jeff and Lindsey's wedding. The wedding was outside and the weather was beautiful. We got to see a lot of college friends at the wedding also. It was just what we needed since it was at our wedding that we last saw any of them. Forrest and I stayed at a little bed and breakfast near by, which was wonderful! Our room was amazing, Ellen & Jerry were so friendly and hospitable and best of all, Ellen cooked a gourmet breakfast on Sunday. We didn't want to leave! Here are some pictures from the wedding.

On the porch of the B&B

The beautiful bride

The happy couple along with the NC State guys

The wedding party waiting to be announced

Cutting the cake

The cutest barn where the food was served and where the wedding party sat

After dancing

Me & Alyse...I miss her :)

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” - Oscar Wilde

This past Saturday, Forrest surprised me with matinee tickets to see the Broadway show Jersey Boys. It is a musical about Fankie Valli & the Four Seasons and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2006. It is here in Cleveland until this weekend and was a phenomenal show. Below are some pictures of us at the State Theatre in Cleveland's Playhouse Square on Saturday.

The outside of the theatre

The Ohio Theatre is next door

Playhouse Square

Outside getting ready to go in

The lobby of the theatre before they were seating

Forrest and me outside the theatre

The ceiling of the theatre

Fun drink menu at the bar. Note the influence the song names have on the drink name.

Me and Forrest before the play

On Sunday after church, Forrest and I park off-site and as we were walking back to our car we came across this:

This deer was hanging out in the yard by the road. We were about 500 ft from her.

After church we spent the afternoon at the pool. Here are some pictures.

July 4th Weekend

This past weekend Forrest and I watched fireworks on Thursday night in a nearby town with some new friends. I think the fireworks were some of the best ones I've ever seen. On Friday afternoon we were invited by some friends at church to a cookout at their house. We had such a great time and sadly were too busy to take pictures. Somehow I always get distracted and forget the camera unless Forrest reminds me ;). On Saturday we went to Crocker Park to find a huge 4th of July festival going on in the streets. We did take some pictures on Saturday so I have put them in an album below. On Sunday after church Forrest, me and two guy friends played 9 holes of golf. There are also some pictures of our golf adventures in the album. The last pictures are of a very cute raccoon who apparently lives in our trash dumpster. Enjoy!

Familiarities Found in Ohio

This past weekend, Forrest and took a little drive around the Ohio area and found some things that reminded us of good 'ol NC. Below are some pictures. 

A lighthouse in the middle of Ohio, who knew?

If you play pretend, you can imagine that this is the Atlantic ocean.

We later found out that this lighthouse is just a tiny one in someone's back yard!

Bass Pro Shop! 

Last night after dinner we were trying to think of something to do and Forrest mentioned going to Barnes & Noble in Crocker Park, an outdoor shopping center. I responded with an association to food like normal, by saying, "Man I wish they still had the beignet stand there!" Well, Forrest got on the computer and after awhile said that the plans had changed and I would need to dress a little nicer than the tee-shirt I had on. So out we went and after about a 30 minute drive, we wound up in downtown Cleveland at a place called Light Bistro. We sat down, got dessert menus and after looking at the first item listed I realized why we were there. They served beignets!!!!  Below are some pictures from our wonderful dessert.

What was left of our dessert. We forgot to take a picture of the beignets before we started to eat them!

Forrest finishing off the espresso ice cream that came with the doughnuts.

My Wonderful Hubby

Yesterday I was feeling a little under the weather and my wonderful husband knew exactly how to cheer me up! Below is what came through the door along with Forrest. :)

Ben and Jerry's always hits the spot!