Ernesto... grrr...

BJ and I had a pretty nice weekend... we've been storm watching... Ernesto is severely threatening our vacation! :) We're planning the trip as usual and hoping that we'll see a little sunshine while we're there. I heard this morning that the keys have been evacuated (tourists only). If Destin gets evacuated at least we'll be able to get a refund.

Anyway, besides hurricane tracking, BJ and I took a tour around Indian Hill to see the monstrous homes -- several looked more like college campuses rather than houses. I took some blurry photos...





We also got to spend some quality time with Jeremy and Jessica. We learned to play a new game that I don't remember the name of... very fun. :)

Yesterday after church BJ and I went to see BJ's cousin Heidi's new baby. I took a bunch of photos and put together their birth announcement... Since I don't think I'll be spoiling anything by doing this... here's a sneak preview (I'm pretty sure that only a small few who read this blog might be receiving the actual announcement). :) The baby's name is Summer Grace. :)

Fruit Tart

BJ and I have been busy as usual... :) We're looking forward to our vaction in Destin - only a week and a half to go! :)

I'm doing a little catch-up here, but this past weekend BJ made a great meal. I love it when he has the time to cook because he cooks so well. He made cashew chicken and fruit tarts (without a tart pan they looked a little funny, but they tasted perfect). Here's some photos:





Here's also a shot of our backyard... so pretty. :)



This morning I had to head into work early to fix a problem at work that I'd rather not talk about (grrr) but it was nice to be out early because there was a layer of fog around the fields and the hills. It really made me wish I was up that early to take photographs instead of driving to resolve a mini-crisis at work.

IKEA Coming to Cincy!

Yea yea yea! BJ called me yesterday at work with the "big news" that IKEA is coming to Cincinnati. Today is was made official!

For those who may not know, IKEA is just plain awesome... and cheep.

Marintha's Wedding

BJ and I had such a nice weekend! We took off Saturday morning for Crawfordsville, Indiana to see BJ's friend Marintha get married. The wedding was beautiful and we had a lot of fun! Here's the church & everyone waiting for the bride and groom to exit.



Sunday morning BJ and I drove up to Purdue to go to church and visit with some friends. It was great to see everyone and catch up, especially with Roland and Becky. :)

We came home and went to a cookout, and learned about "Apples-To-Apples". :) We love learning about fun new games! :)

- Jessie

A New Do

For all those who have gotten used to long-haired Jessie, get ready for a change. I've been chopped. I was waiting until after Kristi's wedding to make the change. :)

This weekend BJ and I are heading off to Crawfordsville and Turkey Run State Park for a wedding (one of BJ's pharmacy friends), and then on to Purdue to visit Campus House and have lunch with Roland and his family. :) Hopefully I'll have some more photos to share when we get back.

- Jessie

Kristi's Wedding

This weekend was so much fun! BJ got home from camp exhausted on Friday afternoon, and we headed to Indy right away to help set up flowers for Kristi's wedding and go to the wedding rehearsal. Things really flew by after that. The wedding on Saturday was absolutely beautiful, and we were able to see a bunch of cool Purdue people we've missed. The wedding reception was at Conner Prairie, and it was gorgeous. The weather was great, and we had a great time! :)

Yesterday after church, my mom and sister Julie came for a visit on their way to North Carolina. We gave them a tour of our land, and us girls hung out while BJ recuperated from the week / weekend. :)

Big Weekend

In about a half hour BJ and I will be taking off for Indy. This weekend Kristi and Cary will be getting married, and I'm so happy for them! I've been setting out a bunch of wedding stuff to put into BJ's car when he gets home (he's heading back from camp now), and among them were a few... tulle wrapped bubbles.

For those who may not know the story, our cat Annie (the orange one) is a glutton for tulle. She is strangely attracted to the fabric and cannot resist eating as much as possible (and lets just say it doesn't do good things to her digestive track). Also, for those who may not know, wedding veils are made out of tulle. Annie ate mine... twice (the original, and then the replacement). It didn't take long to be able to laugh about it, but Annie was not on my good side those days.

Anyway, she's at it again. She already managed to find the tulle-wrapped bubbles and gobble down about an 2 x 1 inch area of it. :)

X-Ray Opera Glasses

I'm reading (well, really, listening to) this great book, and in it there was an account of how, around the time that xrays were first introduced and first being used, the new technology caused quite a stir. "News of the x-ray caused a public fervor, raising a fascination with (and fresh fears of) technology. In London, a firm began selling x-ray-proof underwear. New York State tried to pass legislation banning the possibility of using x-rays in opera glasses.(Karolevitz RF, Doctors of the Old West)".

I also learned about the wacky life-goal of Duncan MacDougall.

Weekend Update

BJ and I had a great weekend... we missed the Bright Festival and parade, opting for the Wagner Family Reunion (BJ's mother's side) instead, which was at Sharon Woods park. Despite the very warm weather, we had a nice time. BJ taught me how to throw a disk golf (I thought I knew how, but every time I tried throwing it straight, it went directly to my right), so maybe I'll join in next time he plays. :)

Last night I met up with my sister Kris in Indianapolis at Fort Harrison State Park. It was SO great to see her and get to meet my beautiful nephew Aidan for the first time. He's such a good baby! Check out that smile!



Here's a couple of me with him:





And here's when he's done with the paparazzi. :)



Looking back now I wish I had asked Aidian to take a photo of Kris and I together. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded. :)

Jessie's Ancestry tied to Orlando Bloom!

Okay, so we're not related. However, he was named in part after my great great great (yes, three greats) grandmother Rhoda's brother Jonathan Blanchard. Jonathan Blanchard was, according to Wikipedia, "a pastor, educator, social reformer, abolitionist and the first president of Wheaton College, Illinois".

Orlando Bloom's full name is Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom.

I think he owes his success in part to my family... :)

Here's more on Jon:

Wheaton Online Exhibit

I Feel...

My friend Matt at work showed me this site, and I thought I'd share. It's a real-time database of blog entries that include the words "I feel". You can see the data in all these different graphic formats, and search only for certain feelings.

Crazy Cats

Here's a photo of Annie taking a break (in the new carrier I just put together) from Sidney's crazyness - for a while now they've been running all over chacing each other, running into walls, sliding on the floors, hiding and jumping out at each other, etc. :)

New Land Photos

BJ and I went out to the land last night to see what progress was being made... they've come a long way on the roads, and there were some really pretty wild flowers growing on our lot. :) We managed to take home some wildlife too -- four ticks... eeewwwwww. We killed them.

Here's some photos of the roads... This first one is the view if you were leaving our neighborhood:



Same view, different angle:



The road curving back (the area of tall trees to the right of the road in this photo are the trees on our lot):

What an Eventful weekend!

I was on the move again this weekend, this time I headed for Illinois to visit my family. It was so nice to see everyone! We'll be getting together again for Thanksgiving, which I am really looking forward to.

Before I left my aunt Bobbie, my cousin Keith, my mother and myself went to visit the place where my Grandma Marie and Grandpa Rod lived when I was a child. We met the two women who lived there, who were kind enough to take us around and even inside their home. In a lot of ways it was different from what I remembered. Here's some of my favorite pictures:







I have been really interested in family history lately, and I was really excited to be trusted with a box full of photos to scan and other treasures such as my Grandpa Rod's mother (Lois Vance)'s memoir, which I read last night and made me wish I could have known her.

I've started a blog to learn more about some of the photos that I can't wait to learn more about!

On Saturday night I drove to Indianapolis for Kristi's shower. I can't believe her wedding is coming up so soon! Only a few more weeks! :)

In other news... BJ and I have a new orchid named Lola (her arms are spread out wide like a showgirl). Isn't she lovely (Sidney and Annie sure think so!)?



Hopefully I'll do better at keeping this one alive, thanks to advice from Chrissy and Chris! :)

Brown County Weekend

So to Kate, and whoever else might have noticed… sorry for the lack of blog entries. : ) We’ve been pretty busy! This past weekend I went with the girls in BJ’s family (Wurzelbacher side) to Brown county and had a great time! The weather was beautiful!



One of my favorite parts of the weekend was hiking in the state park. We hiked around a lake, and the water was so still it looked like we were looking up into the sky – here’s one of my pictures of the water. It’s hard to tell where the trees end and the reflection of them begins.



While I was gone BJ hung out with Dave and Blake – disk golfing and regular golfing. : ) BJ also continued to demonstrate his new found cooking prowess by baking a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake (I would never have been so brave to attept a recipe had 26 steps!). I’m so amazed at how well he cooks – I never knew!



Here’s a cute shot I took of BJ last night with Sidney…. Awww…



And here’s BJ slowly confusing Sidney’s sense of stability.

Happy Birthday Matt Podjan!

¡Tenga un gran cumpleaños, Matt!

Cornhole Project

BJ and I had a pretty fun weekend. We saw Nacho Libre on Friday night, which was really pretty good. It was made by the same people who did Napoleon Dynamite and it was filmed the same way. The guy sitting behind me thought the movie was so funny that he would convulse with laughter... and kick my chair over and over. That was awesome. :)

On Saturday I went to BJ's cousin Heidi’s baby shower, and it was really nice seeing some of BJ's family again. On Saturday evening, BJ and I got cracking on our latest project --- a Purdue cornhole set (for those who aren't familiar, its a popular Cincinnati game). :) BJ finished one, and he's waiting to finish the other until I'm done painting it. The only bad part about this project was the large amount of mosquito bites I accumulated.... around 10. The worst one is on the bottom of my foot (this one literally kept my up all night last night scratching).

Here's some of our production photos... We'll be sure to post more when its all done.







Yesterday after church, BJ went disk golfing with Dave Miller, and I went to an Auction with BJ's mom and Carl, which was just down the road. I only spent $11, and I got so much! I won an axe for BJ, three antique books, a beautiful blue vase, a camera that I thought was cooler than it actually is (price tag: $2... so no big loss), and possibly my best win ---- a never used (still in the box) kitchen sink for $2! Maybe we'll use it if we finish our basement down the road. :)

Weekend of Fun

Just thought I'd give a short update on our weekend. On Friday BJ and I went to the Bright Carnival with Jessica, Jeremy, John, and John's daughter Jasmine. There were so many kids there is was like sensory overload. Jeremy joined in the fun of a sack race (I'm pretty sure he was the tallest one to race that day). :)

On Saturday BJ and I played tennis and later went to BJ's cousin Shelly's graduation / end of military term party, and yesterday we went out to eat with BJ's dad for father's day and saw the movie "Cars", which I highly recommend. I didn't know if I would like it because it was about cars, but it was really cute. Also, it’s the kind of movie that it would be good to watch more than once, so that you could catch all the small details and jokes.

One great thing -- after our tennis game on Saturday, BJ and I drove out to check up on the progress of the land development, and progress had been made! A section of trees had been cleared for the road, and that section of road had been carved out. It was great to see that work is being done, especially since this whole process takes so long. With the weather being so warm, its weird to think that we'll actually be moving into our house when its cold and probably snowing.



See how the road bends to the left and the right? If you go towards the right, that's the start of our road... :)

Another cool thing, my great friend Jessica and her husband Ryan are moving to Columbus this week from Raleigh, NC. She's been so far away for so long, and now I'll be able to see her easier (only 2 hours) & hopefully more often. :)

That's all the updates I have. Enjoy your Monday!

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

I just heard this yesterday, and I think its really great, that Bill Gates is stepping away from Microsoft to do charitable work with his wife full time. I always get so depressed watching shows like "The Fabulous Life of...", and see how some of the richest people in the world spend their money. $300,000 on a hotel stay, $1.5 million on a personalized car, etc.

I always think of how many lives could be changed with that money... especially when it takes so little (According to the World Bank, 1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day). I was shocked the other day when I read this article about child labor in India. The article states, "[Sarojama] has barely been able to feed [her five grandchildren] so she was forced to borrow money from a local factory owner. Unable to pay back the loan she sent her young grand-daughter to work. Parimeeta was taken out of school and has been working 12 hour days for two years." Here's the shocking part... "The debt is less than $20."

Really, the good thing about shows like the "The Fabulous Life of..." is that I can't criticise the obundantly rich without thinking about how I am with money, and I how I could also be better with it... do more important things with it.

Anyway, I guess that Bill Gates had to ask his children if it would be okay for their inheritance to be dramatically reduced. They agreed (I'm sure they won't be hurting), and so he's off (or soon will be) to focus on the fight against Malaria and AIDs, amongst other things. This makes me happy.

Holycrap-arama

Well, I lied. I don't have any really fun photos from the shower or Chad's visit... We did have a great time, and it was great to spend a little time with Kristi. I opted out of the game on Saturday because of the rain (so far I've been to three games -- we've lost all three and two of them it rained). I was glad I skipped Saturday's game because we lost and it rained.

Yesterday BJ and I went to Buca di Beppos for lunch (with a gift certificate from Discover - thank you cash back bonus), and then went to Homearama, the luxury (i.e. mansion) addition. We saw some pretty cool stuff - our favorite parts being the basements and the amazing patios. We even saw one home that had a complete glass wall that opened to the patio.

Here's some of our favorite stuff:

A room in a basement -- I loved this "Hotel" hall entranceway. It reminds me of an entrance to a Pottery Barn store, or something like that.



An outdoor fireplace and fountain:



A Ginormous shower:



The patio / outdoor room, notice the wall from the house that opens up completely:

The Reds are #1

Since BJ really never posts anything, I guess I'll be the one to say with glee that the Reds are in first! Woo Hoo! I would have never guessed I'd get this into baseball. My girl thing to say about it is that I really like Ryan Freel. He always tries really hard. Sometimes the other guys don't give it their all, and that's really annoying because they make a kajillian dollars.

Our friend Chad Campbell is coming up this weekend to hang out and go to a game. Hopefully the Reds won't lose on Saturday night! I've been to three games, and they've lost each one. Boooooo... Actually, maybe I should just stay home.

My friend Kristi's bridal shower is also tomorrow, and it will be great to see her. :) I'll post some photos from the weekend next week, so stay glued!

Trip Home to the Bend (and Beyond)

What an eventful weekend! I went home to South Bend to visit my family, and had a great time. My mom, my sister and I all got pedicures, and now my toes look like barbie toes. :)

Here's Julie getting her tootsies done:



I got to meet some of my parents friends and go sailing with my dad, mom, and my brother Eric.

I also got to meet Miss Lilly Podjan for the first time. She's so cute and so small! :)



Yesterday, I went up to Michigan for my cousin Kayla's graduation and got to see a lot of my family. Here's some photos from the day: