Midwest Tour '08

From November 21st to December 1st, we drove 2600 miles and spent 50+ hours in the car! Leaving CT at o'dark thirty Friday morning, our first stop was cousin Brian's house near South Bend, IN. We drove through snow in Penn and Ohio and then saw Maddie and Lauren playing in about 9 inches when we arrived. Brian and Pam took us on a tour of the area and Mark got to see 'touchdown Jesus' at Notre Dame.
Over the weekend, we spent time with Mark's brother's family. It's always great to laugh with Josh and Katie and we can't spend enough time with Nolan and Tyler. They grow so fast! We were relieved that they seemed to like their early xmas presents and that they remembered us! We both had tears in our eyes as we dropped Tyler off to school on Monday morning.
Sunday afternoon Kar accompanied us on our trip to Cabela's where we refrained from spending a fortune. Mark hadn't seen my 'big sis' since our wedding!
Sunday night we ate at Aurelio's--original brick oven-with Grandma Shipley and Monday we got to look through neat old pictures of her and Grandpa.
Monday and Wednesday we got to spend some time with Mark's Mom at Grandma T's house. Grandma is recovering from a stroke and Darlene helps out a lot. We also go to see Aunt Debbie and showed off pictures of our house while she showed pictures of her grandkids.
Monday night, Mark had dinner with his Mom, Lou, and Corey, while I took the train downtown. I was able to hang out with cousin Cassie and then meet up with my old college friend Erik--whom I haven't seen in five years! Makes me feel a bit old to realize that Cassie is graduating this May and I graduated almost 10 years ago!
I could have been happy with the highlight of Tuesday being lunch at Jimmy John's....but it got better! We took the train with Lauren downtown to meet up with cousin Steve for dinner at the Italian Village and to see WICKED at the Oriental Theatre. What a fun evening; I'm glad Mark finally got to see my favorite musical!
After stopping half way to have lunch with cousin Bailey in my old stomping grounds --Champaign, we arrived at my parents' house in Carbondale. Wednesday night, Mom instructed me on how to make cinnamon rolls since I will have to tackle them for Christmas this year. Thursday morning before the Macy's parade was over, we were out the door to Jackson, MO where my G'pa and Sue were hosting dinner. It was great to see them, Uncle Ron and Sally, and much of Sue's family. Cousins Bailey and Carly finally arrived, and we felt honored that they chose to sit with us to eat! We had a bunch of laughs and I don't think Mark picked on them toooooo much. Ladderball was played, pictures were taken, and at the end of the day there wasn't a sliver of turkey left! On the way home, as is tradition, we go to listen to xmas music and I finally heard Josh Groban's "Noel" cd.
Black Friday was lost on us...instead we started with bfast at Mary Lou's to fill up on biscuits and gravy before the big hike. Then we were off to the Little Grand Canyon for a 3 mile hike/climb down the canyon and back out again. I wouldn't have wanted to go when it was any wetter--it was already slippery, and I can see how flash floods happen in a hurry there.
We found the Root Beer Saloon in Alto Pass for lunch...after we hit a few places on the wine trail...my favorite remains PAMONA where they make the wine with apples.
That evening we polished off two pizza's from Pag's and were exhausted! Mark and I would need a good night's sleep to get up Saturday and ride in the car again. After a 6 hour ride, we arrived in Ft. Wayne, IN and spent he weekend with Grandma Weiss, Aunt Sandy and Von, and cousins Melissa and Kristy and their families. We put up Christmas decorations, saw Christmas lights around town, and I got my broccoli soup!
Monday morning at 4am we were back on the road. We finished, Eldest, our book on tape and made it home in 12 hours.
Thank Goodness Mark likes to drive! It was a great trip and we hope that all the people that said they will now visit us can get out here next year!

The Cave?

When we bought the house, the owners told us that there was a cave in our backyard...over half of our acre+ is a wooded rocky bluff. Our attempts to find this cave when the trees were still green were unsuccessful. Thinking it might be easier to spot now that most of the leaves have fallen, we climbed, slipped, and crawled our way up the rocks. I'm not sure if what we found is 'the cave', but Mark sure was disappointed! He has big plans for becoming Batman. Check out the OUTSIDE slideshow to see pictures.

A Chill in the Air

Well, the days of flips flops are gone and it's only the beginning of October! I've already pulled out the warm sweaters and 'real' shoes. While I am mourning the loss of my sandles, I'm glad to be able to experience the season I missed most in GA for the past 6 years. New England is the best place to be to reacquiant myself with the Autumn! This past weekend we hiked "Devil's Hopyard" and enjoyed the falling and changing leaves. Yesterday I picked apples at an orchard just up the road from our house. Now I'm going to try my hand at applebutter...

No Longer Under Construction!

As of the end of last week, we have a completed Kitchen! After owning the house for 3 months, and living here for 7 weeks, we finally have a kitchen in which we can sit, eat, cook, and clean. Even though it was very frustrating, time consuming, and costly, we are so glad we did it. The last boxes have been unpacked and now there is minor touch up painting and rearranging to be done. Come visit!

Happy 31st Birthday to Heather!

I am proud to admit that I am now 'in' my 30's...it's ok, I still get carded and Mark rarely does! Speaking of Mark, he gave me the best birthday present ever...he flew me to ATL to see Meg and Damien! I guess he figured he had to make up for being out to sea for my 30th bday last year.
We had a great time with Sis and Bro-in-Law and got to see their new house. It's adorable and Decatur seems like a nice area. We can't wait for them to come see our house at Christmas!

We're in the North Now!

Well, if we couldn't tell by the accents, other clues might be the 45 degree nights in August, lightening bugs, or the mouse that lives in our attic. I also saw a Woolyworm on my jog the other day, which means fall is starting already? According to this one, winter going to be cold at the start and finish, but mild in between. They do have an 85% rate of accuracy! Did you know they make their own antifreeze and can survive up to -90 degrees? I may need some of that this winter!

Out to Sea on Shore Duty?

Well, that's how it goes when you're a Shipley! Even when you're on shore duty you get to go out to sea! I took Mark to the airport this morning to go out to sea for a couple weeks. Just in time for him to miss the kitchen cabinets being installed...he's hoping everything is finished by the time he returns. Wouldn't that be lucky!
My parents have been here for a week and have done tons of handyman, plumber, electrician, and carpentry work. My dad basically did the Comcast guy's job for him after he didn't show up until 9pm, but we are now back in the 21st century with cable, phone, and Internet. My mom has kept us all organized and cleaned up. She even made a make-shift kitchen in the basement so we can at least have coffee and breakfast here. They leave on Friday, and I'm sure by that time the house will be fixed, organized, cleaned, sealed, polyed, wired, replaced, lighted, screwed, measured, hung, and updated!
We've also managed some side trips: Boston, RI to see Shakepeare in the Park, the beach to see Barefoot Truth, Mohegan Sun casino for cheap entertainment and fireworks, Mystic for lobster, and the Thames River in 60 degree temps in August for Lobster Rolls.

Boxes Galore

We managed to clear out enough boxes for the Clarks (all 4, Bill, Celine, Jeff, Amanda) to stay a few nights for Jake and Erica's wedding last week...now, we're trying to actually unpack and organize. Which seems to be making a bigger mess! My parents arrive later today for a 10 day visit...wonder if they know how long my list of chores for them is!? We look forward to taking them to the places we've already discovered up here--Mohegan Sun, Shakespeare in the Park, and Boston. They should also have pictures of Meg's wedding for me so that I can get some of those on the site.

27 Meadow

After living here for almost 2 months, we are finally getting our stuff from GA and the new house is livable!