Kenzies B-day!

We had an action packed weekend. We decided to go up to Delaware to celebrate Kenzies Birthday. It started with a drive up to DC to meet up with Tyler Cuff and Cousin Kyle at the cheesecake factory. My mom decided that her and Loni were going to go to the temple on Friday morning so they brought along Kristi, Madison, and Alli so they could eat dinner with us and so Kristi could watch Loni's kids while they were at the temple. Dinner was fantastic, even though it was about 2 hours late. My mom told me that they would plan on meeting us there at 830 for dinner. I called them at 730 and they were still in the garage. I have been away from home too long and had forgotten what mom really means when she says "830"

So we had a lovely dinner with friends and family and a great day at the temple the next day. My dad was elated to learn that I would be coming home for the weekend, although he did not trust me with the lawnmower. In fact, when I told him we were coming to his house for Kenzie's birthday, he said, "Oh good. Hey when you get here on Friday can you go ahead and weedwack the yard?" I have been demoted from lawnmowing to weedwacking.

Kenzie's b-day was great. I managed to pick out an acceptable jewelry box for all of her expensive jewels and she had a good time shopping with Kristi for new jewels to place in her box. We also went to see the movie Get Smart with Kristi, mom and dad. It did not disappoint. The weekend was wrapped up by a Saturday night dinner with the Slaughs and all the Winn family in the region at some Italian place that I will not even attempt to spell. It was the standard laughs and good food expected on such an occasion.

We also got to attend a dance recital! I was really happy to go see Alli dance for 3 minutes in a one hour show..... It actually was not bad at all and Alli did very well. I even tried to show her a few new dance moves so she could expand her repertoire. Turns out I am really bad at dancing...

So in conclusion, Kenzie had a great birthday and now we are back to classes and work in the town that constantly smells like cow poop. Good thing we have vacations, family, and friends to get us away from the stench.

My Old Kentucky Home

We spent this weekend in the great state of Kentucky. I woke Nate up bright and early on Thursday morning to head to Cincinnati for Sommer's baby shower. The drive was about 7 hours. It took us through West Virginia which is probably the most beautiful state I've ever been in - mountains covered with beautiful green trees. We even drove right through Huntington, where Marshall University is. I think we should move there. I would love to buy a house on the river and get a boat. We could go fishing every weekend. We would probably have several hillbilly neighbors, but hey, we'd have a great view.

We got to Kentucky just as Sommer arrived. We met her, Diana, Carl, Amber and her kids for wings. It was weird to see Sommer with a big baby belly. She looked great, as usual. Nate got to go fishing. Payton and Julia, Amber's oldest two, spent some time making fun of the fish he was catching. They were rather small, but he had a good time. He did hook a couple of big fish, but they snapped his line. Next time we go out, he is hoping to catch a catfish big enough to grill. We also had a bonfire that night and had hotdogs, s'mores, and these banana things Payton taught us how to make. They were pretty good. We sliced a banana open, scooped out a part of the banana, filled it with chocolate and marshmallows and then wrapped it in tin foil to cook. They were pretty tasty.

Friday night we had a girls night out of eating and shopping. It was a lot of fun. Nate and Carl went driving through some neighborhoods to look at houses. We're thinking about living there and Nate wanted to take a look at some of the houses around. It's a really nice place.

Saturday was Sommer's shower. It was a lot of fun. There were so many people there and I've never seen so many little bitty clothes. I made two little baby blankets for her and at the end of the shower we filled a big suite case full of baby clothes.

The trip was over too soon and we had to leave early Sunday morning to get home at a reasonable time. We had a great time and will probably head back soon. We're both very excited for Sommer and can't wait to see her little baby boy!

Better Wear a Tie

Things are looking pretty good here in Harrisonburg. I just finished my accounting class with a final score of Nate 13 and Accounting 6. Somehow I also managed to pass with a B so I guess that is not all that bad. We are getting ready to head out to Cincinnati for the weekend to see Sommer and her big tummy. We leave tomorrow and spend all weekend there. I was busy getting things set at work and I had a meeting with the CFO to report on the progress that me and my boss have made over the past couple of weeks on all of our projects. I wore a dress shirt that day without a tie and thought maybe I should throw on a tie for the meeting. When I reappeared in my office with a tie on after lunch (with Kenzie who had the day off - Hooray!), my boss made fun of me for wearing a tie and dressing up for the meeting with the CFO. I just told him that is how I roll.

The meeting with the CFO went well and I finished telling him about all our projects and then he proceeded to ask me about my future plans. I was taken aback, and told him I was going to graduate and then look for a job. He asked me if I liked what I was doing and I told him that I loved it. He then thought out loud about how he had enough free capital in his budget to allocate a new position in revenue cycle and then asked me if I would be interested in staying around working at RMH (the hospital). I was really shocked and told him "I will have to run it by my wife".

So that's the gist of it. My first real job offer happened as I made my 2nd presentation to the CFO. My immediate boss was with me and walked out of the room asking me, "Do you know what just happened in there?" I laughed and I told him that is why I wear a tie. He looked at me and said he would hate to see what happens if I had a nice pair of pants on. I think I will move from black Dockers to Gucci or something....

If worst comes to worst, I can stay in the sleepy, poo-smelling town of Harrisonburg and get a little bit of experience under my belt before moving on. Either way, I now know how important it is to wear a tie.

Steel City

This weekend was spent in the exciting city of steal, Pittsburg. My mom flew in to visit her mother and brother so Nate and I took off on Thursday evening and made the treck to Beaver, PA. It was great to get to see everyone and this weekend was the first time Nate met my uncle Will, aunt Cristen, and cousins Moriah and Danny. His life will never be the same again. My uncle and his wife are both ministers. My uncle is a thirteen year old trapped in the body of a thirty-nine year old and my aunt is Italian. This made for a weekend of nonstop eating and laughing. The first day we were there we actually had steak for lunch and a ham for dinner. It was great.

On Friday afternoon, my uncle took my mom, Nate, his two kids and I to visit a plot of land they are building on in West Virginia. They have about 6 acres on the top of a hill - it is incredible! It looks like a scene out of a movie and it is going to be a great place to live; however, they will have to claim West Virginia as their home, so... (we stopped at the McDonalds in town and in the bathroom I saw a mother with her son and daughter, both fully naked and sporting full-fledged mullets to match that of their mother's)

We made one little pit stop on the way to visit West Virginia... We took about 20 little dirt rodes, driving past some man living in a double wide with a petting zoo, and countless people riding their tractors in bib overalls with no shirt or shoes to finally arive at the nudest colony. At one point anyone was able to waltz in and get an eyefull, but "the nudes" have since gotten smart and put up a fence. Of course, without hesitation, my uncle picks up the intercom and is greeted by "the nude" working in the office. He then informs her he is looking for a place for the summer and would like to come in and check it out. Would you believe the charge 25 dollars per person for a bad peep show?!?! So Uncle Will comes back to try to get my mom, Nate, and I to fork over the 25 bucks each so we can get in. In the mean time, his four-year-old son is yelling from the back seat, "I want to see the nudes dad! I want to see the nudes!" To make a long story short, there were those in the car not willing to cough up the dough so we left without seeing any "nudes." Later, my uncle informed us that seeing "the nudes" would not have been a sin because "there would be absolutely no lusting going on."

The rest of the trip was just as interesting. My uncle spent several hours on Saturday singing karaoke, dedicating the majority of his Evis love songs to either Nate or I. There was more eating and lots of laughing. We had a great time and will probably go back to visit again.