"Olds" disguised as "News" (Part I)

Okay, okay. So it's been awhile. So sue me.

I really don't have any excuses, other than that I haven't felt any strong compulsions to blog lately. However, I realize that many people are NOT actually psychic, and therefore NOT privy to the various experiences I've had in the last couple of months. So, I thought maybe I'd better post something.

That being said, most of those that ever read this are also Facebook friends, and since I haven't really had any huge, significant events happen in recent past, this will primarily be a picture post to give you a visual idea of what my "new" life is like.

This is the exterior of my apartment. Amanda and I live on the second floor there.
For a tour of the inside, keep scrolling.

First, we have the living room.

(Yes, the living room includes a REAL fireplace, complete with a mantle!)


The "dining" portion of the dining room area.
(I spy with my little eye a familiar feline...)


My ever-cluttered bookshelves, also in the dining room.


Most of my DVD collection, also in the dining room.
(I spy with my little eye a certain Spider-spud
and a penny frame made by one of my creative sisters.)


The other two corners of the dining room.
(I spy with my little eye two paintings done by my talented friend, Cristall Harper!)


Our nice and very spacious kitchen-
SUCH an improvement over the narrow aisle in my last apartment.

A closer look at the kitchen- the stove is gas, the oven electric,
the dishwasher mediocre (so I still do my dishes by hand).
I will say that I have decided that tile counters are NOT my ideal-
they are a pain to clean because everything gets stuck in the crevices. :/


And finally, my bedroom.
(This is the view looking into the room from the doorway.)


The view of my room looking back at the doorway.
(I spy with my little eye a special stuffed bear created especially for me.)


These are the cabinets above my dresser/bed area.
(Yes, there is quite a bit of shelf space in this room, which is nice.)


Opposite the cabinets, (to the side of the bed that swallows the room)
is my computer, desk, storage cabinet and printer.

Hopefully, this at least gives you a taste of my "new" home and what my living space looks like. (I hope you don't mind that I excluded the bathroom and the extra storage room, neither of which are interesting enough to blog about.)

Up next, a few photos of my "new" town. Stay tuned...

The End of Summer

I know the end of summer was actually awhile ago. I also know many of you have been asking to see pictures of where I now live. Well, too bad. Since moving interrupted my attempts at sharing my summer saga, I am going to pick up where I left off and, in one fell swoop, try to show the best tidbits of the many places I visited between the beginning of June and the end of August. So here goes:

New York:
Yes, I did visit Syracuse University, but apparently I only took pictures of my jaunt up to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the summer exhibits there was called One For The Books, featuring just about any and all records related to baseball- not just the hitting, the pitching, the running, but the stories behind them, too.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that excursion:

The "numbers" of some of my favorites in baseball.

My two favorite teams.

Some baseball at the movies:

In case you can't read the placard, this uniform, worn by right-hander Anthony Michael Hall, was made backwards so that they could reverse the film and make it look like he is a lefty, like Whitey Ford, the person he portrayed in 61*.

"There's no crying in baseball!"


Best baseball film. Ever.
(More on that later...)

After visiting SU, I headed to Ohio to check out Kent State University:

(Hee hee! Someone put some googly eyes on the bench!)


Historical marker explaining the events surrounding the tragedy that occurred here regarding the Vietnam War.

After Ohio, I rested a bit in Indiana before heading out the other coast, visiting friends near Seattle and checking out Washington University.

Freezing at the beach on the Fourth of July (Remember, it's a beach in Washington- not sunny California- the water was COLD!) Still, it was fun to watch fireworks at the beach later in the evening.


Visiting the house where Mikey and Brand lived in The Goonies.
(I totally geeked out! :)


Seattle's year-round farmers' market (This was a big draw for me to move to Seattle... Luckily, I found one here in Syracuse!)

I'm not sure how/when/why this infamous Gum Wall was started, but it is as fascinating as it is gross. Yes, I added my own chewed piece to the ever-growing mass of ABC nastiness.


That's as close as I got to the Space Needle. (I didn't have time/money to actually go up to the revolving restaurant. Oh well.)


The lovely Seattle Temple.

And one of the most breathtaking shots of the entire visit- (and another major inducement for me to move to Seattle) Mt. Rainier in full glory!


(Wouldn't you just LOVE to go to a school where you could walk by this view every day?!?)

After just a few days rest back home, I was off again, this time to Iowa/Nauvoo. My youngest sister was going to take out her endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, so I took advantage of the opportunity to visit my dear friend, Rebecca, who lives about 20 minutes away in Burlington, IA. She breeds Shibas and does dog shows.

(Elise with Elise!)

Remember that earlier reference to the best baseball movie ever? Yeah, since I was in Iowa, I further took advantage of that and went to THE Field of Dreams.

The day couldn't have been more perfectly beautiful. Despite being in Iowa, the peace, the serenity, the tranquility, the purity of this place certainly gives credence to the idea that it is, in fact, heaven.

On the left, graffiti from the movie- "Ray Loves Annie."
On the right, coming out of the cornfield.

And, the house. If I had the money, I would totally buy it. Again, aside from being in Iowa, it is my dream house!

Then came Girls' Camp with the Indianapolis North Stake. We hit record heat indexes that week. It was rough, but the girls were amazing troopers, and we all grew stronger despite the physical challenges!

The Second-year girls on their 5+ mile hike!
(These were my girls...)

Finally, in early August, I drove with my parents and 3.5 year-old nephew to Utah to attend the aforementioned sister's wedding. A perfect culmination to a very full summer!

Mt. Timpanogos Temple (where I did a session earlier in the week).

Jordan River Temple in Utah, where Kirsti actually got married.

Nothing like two toddlers clinging to one's legs to really tone those calf muscles!

Best friends. (At least after some initial uncertainty...) :)

And finally, the happy couple!

Annnnnnnnnd...... Done!

(If a picture really IS worth 1,000 words, I'm glad I went the picture route! ;)

Now, leave me alone about current pictures. They'll get posted when they get posted!