I am sorry that I have been so bad at writing recently. Here is a little of what is going on:
Substituting has been going really well. I have had about one or two jobs every week. I am having a great time getting out and meeting new people, getting to know the schools, and getting a bit of pay :)
Such few days of work allows me to...
Work on my schooling through Longwood University. I am taking two classes toward my librarian degree. The classes that I am taking now are research and young adult literature. They are both pretty easy classes but they are going to take a lot of time, projects, and work. So far I am loving young adult literature. We have to read 12 novels for that class and I am on #3 and it is wonderful!
But all of the above has not really helped with...
Trying to keep the house organized and clean. The house is manageable but I wish that it were better than it is right now. I wish that it were in the state that I try to get it into right before one of our parties or visitors come over. I am making progress on the house, but it is just slow.
Life is good, sorry that I have not been writing. I hope I will do better in the future.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friends!
I can tell you that Matt and I are so thankful to have some wonderful friends in our lives. One of my worries when I moved to Roanoke after marrying Matt was that I knew no one there and all of my friends were 1 1/2-2 hours up Interstate 81. We try to visit friends and family once a month in Harrisonburg, but it is still hard. However, we have been blessed with some friends who are willing to make the trip down south to see us :)
Amy (in the picture above) is a good friend from the Staunton/Stuarts Draft area. We first really got to know each other through Monday night Ethnic food/Sewing nights a year ago. To explain...Amy wanted a T-Shirt quilt made. Laura (another one of our friends) and I led Amy through the process, taught her how to sew and helped her accomplish her quilt. Now that is done, she loves sewing! This past Christmas she got a sewing machine of her own. Recently, she came down to visit and hang out, and also to learn a little more on how her sewing machine worked. So I taught her how to work her machine and we stitched together those two lovely bags as practice runs. Thanks for coming down Amy, it was so much fun!
Shawn and Sarah are people that I met a long time ago while working at Highland Retreat camp. We also spent time together during college and have tried to stay in touch since then. When Matt and I were dating we went over to their house and played board games (Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Aladdin's Dragons). Since we've gotten married, we have been trying to keep in touch with them. We had the pleasure of spending New Years with them at First Night Harrisonburg. We were grateful to have them come down to our house for a three day visit this past weekend. We got to know Shawn, Sarah, and their son Colin a lot better and we are anxiously looking forward to getting to know their second one that is coming in about a month! Many games were played, many laughs were had, and many balls were played with (thanks to the help of Colin! "BaW!")
These are the only two visitors that I have pictures of, but others have made the trip south for a visit. Jenn has been a visitor of ours many times, and we have had some wonderful dinners together. Laura has been here a few times and I hate to say that on this last trip she took with her a horrible cold that I gave her... (Sorry!)
Keep in mind that if you are ever in town or want to come this way for any reason, we love company so please stop by!
Amy (in the picture above) is a good friend from the Staunton/Stuarts Draft area. We first really got to know each other through Monday night Ethnic food/Sewing nights a year ago. To explain...Amy wanted a T-Shirt quilt made. Laura (another one of our friends) and I led Amy through the process, taught her how to sew and helped her accomplish her quilt. Now that is done, she loves sewing! This past Christmas she got a sewing machine of her own. Recently, she came down to visit and hang out, and also to learn a little more on how her sewing machine worked. So I taught her how to work her machine and we stitched together those two lovely bags as practice runs. Thanks for coming down Amy, it was so much fun!
Shawn and Sarah are people that I met a long time ago while working at Highland Retreat camp. We also spent time together during college and have tried to stay in touch since then. When Matt and I were dating we went over to their house and played board games (Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Aladdin's Dragons). Since we've gotten married, we have been trying to keep in touch with them. We had the pleasure of spending New Years with them at First Night Harrisonburg. We were grateful to have them come down to our house for a three day visit this past weekend. We got to know Shawn, Sarah, and their son Colin a lot better and we are anxiously looking forward to getting to know their second one that is coming in about a month! Many games were played, many laughs were had, and many balls were played with (thanks to the help of Colin! "BaW!")These are the only two visitors that I have pictures of, but others have made the trip south for a visit. Jenn has been a visitor of ours many times, and we have had some wonderful dinners together. Laura has been here a few times and I hate to say that on this last trip she took with her a horrible cold that I gave her... (Sorry!)
Keep in mind that if you are ever in town or want to come this way for any reason, we love company so please stop by!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New Gym
It has taken a little while, but the idea of having a gym at our house is slowly coming true...and it is so much fun.
Matt and I knew that we wanted to have a space for treadmills or exercise bikes or something eventually, and now we do. Back in the summer we found an exercise bike that was free to a good home so we picked it up. And Matt had also gotten a weight bench from some of his friends many, many years ago. So we've had the equipment - all we needed was the space. During the moving-in process we have been focusing on cleaning out the very back of the garage and placing the items one in front of the other over the width of the back of our garage. They fit perfectly!
Then we took one of our extra TVs and DVD players into the garage and are able to watch movies or TV shows on DVD. If you look closely at the image above you can see the screen for the bike in the lower right hand corner, the weight bench in the middle, and the TV with a Star Trek episode on in above it all. It is a nice set up for the small space and limited materials that we have.
Matt and I knew that we wanted to have a space for treadmills or exercise bikes or something eventually, and now we do. Back in the summer we found an exercise bike that was free to a good home so we picked it up. And Matt had also gotten a weight bench from some of his friends many, many years ago. So we've had the equipment - all we needed was the space. During the moving-in process we have been focusing on cleaning out the very back of the garage and placing the items one in front of the other over the width of the back of our garage. They fit perfectly!
Then we took one of our extra TVs and DVD players into the garage and are able to watch movies or TV shows on DVD. If you look closely at the image above you can see the screen for the bike in the lower right hand corner, the weight bench in the middle, and the TV with a Star Trek episode on in above it all. It is a nice set up for the small space and limited materials that we have.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Lofty Goal?
I am not really into New Year Resolutions but I did make a goal this year (also, I began my goal on January 5...not January 1. So I am not following the "resolution" standards in many ways).
This year I would like to run at least a mile every day. I would like to do more than a mile, but I would like to do at least a mile. And on the days when I can not run because it is too cold or yucky outside I would like to do an equivalent exercise on our exercise bike (which I understand that four miles on a bike equals one mile run).
The main reason that I am doing this is to be able to stay in shape, at least a little. I realize that this is not going to get or keep me in the best shape ever, but there have been times when I stopped running for a little and when I tried to do it again I could not even do a whole mile without stopping and walking for a bit. I would like to be able to run at least a mile (maybe more) easily. Most people would probably think that this is being done for weight loss...hey, if weight loss is a side effect of this goal I will certainly take it!
So far, since January 5 I have only missed one day of running. I can tell that it is getting easier and I look forward to adding distance to my runs soon.
Wish me luck on my goal!
This year I would like to run at least a mile every day. I would like to do more than a mile, but I would like to do at least a mile. And on the days when I can not run because it is too cold or yucky outside I would like to do an equivalent exercise on our exercise bike (which I understand that four miles on a bike equals one mile run).
The main reason that I am doing this is to be able to stay in shape, at least a little. I realize that this is not going to get or keep me in the best shape ever, but there have been times when I stopped running for a little and when I tried to do it again I could not even do a whole mile without stopping and walking for a bit. I would like to be able to run at least a mile (maybe more) easily. Most people would probably think that this is being done for weight loss...hey, if weight loss is a side effect of this goal I will certainly take it!
So far, since January 5 I have only missed one day of running. I can tell that it is getting easier and I look forward to adding distance to my runs soon.
Wish me luck on my goal!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Daisy and Twelfth Night
Last winter (Matt and I can not remember if it is February or March) we went to an orchid sale at his college (UNC Charlotte) greenhouse where he used to work. The greenhouse was amazing to wander around, look at all of the beautiful plants, and to see all of the exotic plants (mainly orchids) that were for sale.
Matt found, fell in love with, and purchased a few orchids. I too found an orchid that is just amazing, but I truly fell in love with the simple Gerber Daisy. He bought a red daisy for me that day.
The next day I was back at work and somewhere between Matt's apartment, the trip back to Staunton, or being left at school (accidentally!) the wonderful and beautiful daisy got too cold and died a quick and horrible death. It was very sad because I only had one or two days to admire the beauty of the flower.
Fast forward to twelfth night (January 5, 2009). This was the day that Matt and I were planning on taking down our Christmas decorations and just enjoying the end of the holiday season. That morning we also realized that day also could be celebrated because it has been 6 months since we were married (half year...it is hard to believe!)
Matt came home that day with a big smile, some Baileys Irish Creme, and a pot of Gerber Daisies - just like the ones that I fell in love with and purchased at the orchid sale.
Here is to a wonderful twelfth night, and many future years with a sentimental husband :)
Matt found, fell in love with, and purchased a few orchids. I too found an orchid that is just amazing, but I truly fell in love with the simple Gerber Daisy. He bought a red daisy for me that day.
The next day I was back at work and somewhere between Matt's apartment, the trip back to Staunton, or being left at school (accidentally!) the wonderful and beautiful daisy got too cold and died a quick and horrible death. It was very sad because I only had one or two days to admire the beauty of the flower.
Fast forward to twelfth night (January 5, 2009). This was the day that Matt and I were planning on taking down our Christmas decorations and just enjoying the end of the holiday season. That morning we also realized that day also could be celebrated because it has been 6 months since we were married (half year...it is hard to believe!)
Matt came home that day with a big smile, some Baileys Irish Creme, and a pot of Gerber Daisies - just like the ones that I fell in love with and purchased at the orchid sale.
Here is to a wonderful twelfth night, and many future years with a sentimental husband :)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Handy Man
It feels like Matt and I have been gone from our house since December 18th. That is partly true since we have been in Tennessee, then home, then to Harrisonburg for New Years, then finally home again. So when we came home this second time, we decided to conquer the projects that faced us.
Last night, Matt got an amazing burst of energy and began to work on the TO DO list that I have started to create. At about 9:00pm he decided to fix the vacuum. I have not been able to vacuum the house since right after Thanksgiving. The last time that I vacuumed, smoke started billowing out of the machine. So I stopped and let the house get worse and worse. We both thought that the motor was blown and would have to be replaced. Upon closer inspection the belt was all that needed to be replaced and the smoke was from where I was melting the belt because it would not turn. So today...I got to vacuum my house, and it was so nice. Then about 10:00pm he gets the grand idea to fix our dining room table. It was a bit wobbly so he tightened all of the legs. It is like brand new again :) Finally after that I was able to convince him that sleep might be a good idea.
Today he fixed one of my cabinet doors that would not shut quite right. But the biggest and most wonderful thing that he did was.....
He installed a new light fixture in the kitchen! The kitchen came with a wonderful light fixture when we bought the house, but it hung so low that Matt hit his head on it whenever he walked under it. So it was promptly switched for the one in the dining room. The dining room light however was a dim, smokey, hazy light. Now that the sun is not around when I am making supper I am noticing that I am cutting up meat and vegetables in the shadowy haze that I call my kitchen. Considering that we Kiser women are known to cut our fingers, Matt agreed to brighten up the kitchen. So we bought a new fixture which is now installed. Matt laughs now because every time I enter the kitchen and turn on the light I let out a little squeal followed by "We have light!"
The projects are not even close to being all done at this house, but we are getting a very nice start. And it is always nice to have a wonderful Handy Man.
Last night, Matt got an amazing burst of energy and began to work on the TO DO list that I have started to create. At about 9:00pm he decided to fix the vacuum. I have not been able to vacuum the house since right after Thanksgiving. The last time that I vacuumed, smoke started billowing out of the machine. So I stopped and let the house get worse and worse. We both thought that the motor was blown and would have to be replaced. Upon closer inspection the belt was all that needed to be replaced and the smoke was from where I was melting the belt because it would not turn. So today...I got to vacuum my house, and it was so nice. Then about 10:00pm he gets the grand idea to fix our dining room table. It was a bit wobbly so he tightened all of the legs. It is like brand new again :) Finally after that I was able to convince him that sleep might be a good idea.
Today he fixed one of my cabinet doors that would not shut quite right. But the biggest and most wonderful thing that he did was.....
He installed a new light fixture in the kitchen! The kitchen came with a wonderful light fixture when we bought the house, but it hung so low that Matt hit his head on it whenever he walked under it. So it was promptly switched for the one in the dining room. The dining room light however was a dim, smokey, hazy light. Now that the sun is not around when I am making supper I am noticing that I am cutting up meat and vegetables in the shadowy haze that I call my kitchen. Considering that we Kiser women are known to cut our fingers, Matt agreed to brighten up the kitchen. So we bought a new fixture which is now installed. Matt laughs now because every time I enter the kitchen and turn on the light I let out a little squeal followed by "We have light!"
The projects are not even close to being all done at this house, but we are getting a very nice start. And it is always nice to have a wonderful Handy Man.
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