three things.

Three things happened today.

1. It Snowed...a lot! But Dan and I were still able to make it to the Fractured Prune for some wonderful breakfast donuts!! YUMMY!!!


2. Our fish died...Unfortunately, Porcupine and Soccer Ball, our two beautiful ladies were dead when we woke up. We aren't sure what happened, but Dan noticed them acting funny on Friday and it got progressively worse over the weekend. One began to turn black, which makes us think that maybe she had a disease of some kind and may have spread it to the others - President Bartlet, our lone male, is still alive, but doesn't look like he's going to last much longer.


3. I completed my first TESOL course!!! As soon as my grades are posted, we'll be able to begin our search for our next big adventure! Now the goal is to assist Dan in finishing up his course and make some headway on my second course.

update.

Greetings. It's been a little over a month since I've last updated the blog, and Dan keeps giving me more things I should add. So in an attempt to share all of the updates in our married life, here is the bullet list.

No space.
Living in a small apartment, has been fun but, a bit of an adjustment for two people. We've had to be creative with what space we have and utilize things in ways we never thought before. Two of our best space savers are my new desk, and Dan's bike rack. The bike now hangs in the living room as a piece of art would...and for someone who likes things to be "just so," I actually quite like it! :-) My desk came about from numerous complaints that I was creating a mess on the table with all my junk. I didn't have anywhere else to put my stuff, so we decided that the TV would go (we never watch it anyway; and with the new digital switch, we get like 2 stations) and we'd use what used to be the coffee tables (just red stools). It took Dan a few attempts to get the bike art correct...

The desk was completed after a trip to Milton Hershey's new student homes...via dumpster diving! We found two small pieces of counter top and a wonderful chair...I LOVE IT, and the best part is, I actually use it, and the table is clean!!


New Friends.
Meet President Bartlet, Porcupine, and Soccer Ball...

Our new guppies joined us after a weekend trip to New York to visit Dan's sister. While in Chinatown for dinner, we stopped in a fish store and decided that we needed a pet. They've been a wonderful addition to our life...


We decided that we'd get a head start on our garden and plant some starters inside. We planted a number of herbs and started our lettuce, tomato and pepper plants.



Extra Time.
As Spring approaches, I'm glad to feel as though I have more time to enjoy it. This past week I finished my coaching position at the middle school. The Cheerleaders competed the weeks prior, bringing home "best jumps," "most creative," and third place in their division. Over all it was a great season, but I'm beyond ready to have my evenings!! Tuesday I will switch to the morning shift at work, so I'll be off at 3pm, allowing me to be home for dinner with Dan. We're nearing the end of our TESOL class, so I hope to spend more time knitting (I'm almost done with my first sock!), and bike riding when the weather is nice.

Thanks.
We recieved many wonderful gifts for our wedding, but one of the best by far has been our Crock Pot. To date, we've made a number of meals for ourselves and guests. We've made two whole chickens - recently found whole chicken for $.69/lb!!! - chili, turkey and noodles, soup, and more. If you're looking for a great gift, this would be it!!!

Happy 2009!!!

Now that the holidays are over, life has begun to feel a bit normal for Dan & I. Here's a recap of the past 2 months....






MERRY CHRISTMAS...
After an eventful trip to Indiana, we spent Christmas with the Cripe's in Indiana.

During the trip to my parents, we took a bit of a detour to meet up with a High School friend in Indy. While we were visiting, our car was the victim of a hit and run. Unfortunately, the whole area was covered in a sheet of ice and it took 2 hours for the police officer to respond to our call to file a report. Fortunately, our friends Ashley & Travis were able to stay and play Settlers with us while we waited - bit of a blessing in disguise as we rarely see one another!!! After the police report, we were on our way! Because of the weather - mix of rain and ice with the temperature hovering around freezing - it took us nearly 8 hours to make the normal 2 1/2 hour trip from Indianapolis to my parents home. When we finally arrived home at 4am, we were ready to crash!!

We were able to spend Christmas Eve with some of my extended family and friends playing cards, visiting, and checking out the cool beads I had brought home. (check out the website for more info... www.beadforlife.com)

Christmas was a wonderfully relaxing day, filled with great gifts, wonderful food and fantastic family!

















**Making Dad's famous potato rolls requires the whole family's help!!





During the remainder of our time in Indiana my Dad and brother were able to do some surgery on our car to make the trip back to PA. Horray, for Duct Tape - always useful!


WONDERFUL WEDDINGS...
At the end of our trip, we stopped in Ohio to attend our friend Ryan's wedding. It was great to see friends from college and catch up!










HAPPY NEW YEAR...
As the new year approached, Dan & I decided to spend the evening relaxing and spending time together after all our traveling. We were able to join in on the community celebration in our wonderful little town of Elizabethtown. For those of you who don't know, E-town is home of the M&M Mars company - so for New Year's we drop a huge M&M!! All the festivities happen early in the evening, 7pm, so that all, young and old, are able to join in. We spent the evening readying our apartment for our upcoming bead party on New Years day. This proved to be a wonderful time to visit with work friends in a setting outside of work. We finished the day with dinner and Christmas with the Ankney's. Because I had to work the next day, mom & dad Ankney brought pork and sourkraut ready to eat!! It was fantastic!!!


Now we're back to the daily grind! Unfortunately, Circuit City has closed, leaving Dan out of a job. Please pray for our sanity as we try to push our way through this recession with the rest of the world!!

Much awaited wedding photos.

2 Week Anniversary...

The past two weeks have flown by.  Returning from the Honeymoon, we spent our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with Dan's family.  We enjoyed not one, but two wonderful dinners then returned to our apartment to find it clean and tidy with a massive pile of gifts.  Thanks to those who helped transport items from the wedding to the apartment, and a special Thank You to Ashley and Travis for cleaning up the apartment, it was wonderful to be able to relax when we got home.  

Over the past month, our local grocery was offering a free turkey if you earned a certain number of points.  Dan insisted that we get this "free" turkey - we spent one afternoon stocking up on all the necessities and indeed earned this turkey.  We unfortunately had to redeem the coupon by November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving...which meant that we had to eat it within the week because our freezer is jam packed from the shopping spree to earn it!!  We decided to skip church Sunday and had our very own Thanksgiving.  It was a lot of work, but well worth it, and we are now stocked up on turkey!!  I have to say, for my first ever turkey experience, I think it turned out pretty good!  Check out the whole process...

7am stuffing the bird...we didn't have the proper skewer, so I used a paperclip to close up the neck!

While stuffing the body, I broke the skin connecting the leg to the body of the bird.

ALL DONE!!  Looks and smells wonderful!

Let's Eat.

After eating our wonderful meal, we loaded up some leftovers and headed to Dan's parents house for opening day of hunting season.  Dan has never hunted, but he 

decided to give it a try this year - hoping to bring home some yummy venison.

  He and Kyle were up early and spent the day hoping to get their buck.  Unfortunately both came home empty handed, but Dan's hoping to give it another try before the season is over.

We're both back to work and continuing to clean up/organize our small apartment.  We've taken one trip to Goodwill, and I'm sure many more will follow as we sift through all the things we thought we would need someday and have never needed!  We're enjoying the many wonderful gifts we received - especially the "best one" from our neighbor lady!!   

We're looking forward to another break in a few weeks when we'll be headed to Indiana to spend Christmas with my family.

Honeymoon...a secret no more.

We're back....

The honeymoon was kept a secret until about 6:30p Sunday, November 23 - a whole 24 hours after leaving the church!!  He gave me no hints, at least none that I was able to pick up on.  Except of course the fact that where ever we were going, we'd have a 3 hour car ride from the airport!  At the airport, I was informed that we were going to Pheonix, Arizona (well, 3 hours from Pheonix?!)

While waiting on the flight, Dan decided to tell me that my mother had known about the trip all along.  As we were packing to leave the church, Dan gave me a new pair of cowboy boots.  Apparently he had called my mom a few months back to see if she would break the boots in for me, unfortunately her feet are a bit smaller than mine - during the phone call, he inf

ormed her of some of the details of the big secret!

When we arrived in Pheonix, we picked up our rental car - PT Cruiser!!  After loading up, we were on our way - still not sure where!?!  As we drove along, the landscape was gorgeous, cacti and mountains with a backdrop of a beautiful Southwestern sunset.  The beautiful sunset came a bit sooner than expected - my suspense grew more intense as it grew darker.  After driving nearly 45 miles on a road with no houses and only a few dirt side roads, we turned onto a dirt road ourselves.  Another mile and a half down the road we arrived at the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch!!!

We were only there a few days, but enough to enjoy some much needed relaxation.  We enjoyed gourmet meals and horseback riding lessons, followed by beautiful sunsets and a warm fireplace in our room.