We are still ALIVE! (and well ;-)

Honestly, I did not forget about my blog....I've just been uber-lazy and negligent. But tonight is the night and I'm feeling the need to BLOG! Family and friends we are still alive and well...and having lots of good times in SC.

I just read through my last post, and I can't believe the last time I posted we had just gotten Roman and he was so tiny! Um...he didn't stay that way for very long....Roman is now a daunting 70 lbs. Lucky for us though he is all sweetness and captain of cute. My favorite attribute of Rome's is that he's never truly found his voice. (No he's not deaf). Roman has never barked at another dog...human being....or squirrel. He does know HOW to bark; he barks occasionally when we are attacking him with the hose of the vacuum or playing keep away with a ball. He's still part magnet, but not nearly as bad as when he was a puppy, and no he still doesn't like his crate. The only magic trick we know to con him into the crate is a Kong full of peanut butter. (Maybe that's why he's so big.....huh.....) But he is so annoyingly smart, he destroys fabric toys in moments, and he is the cutest 9 month old puppy ever. Here are a couple pictures for you to drool over.....

Enough about my dog....Adam and I are doing well too. Adam is now done with his busy-busy football season, and onto basketball. I am still working in hemodialysis; putting in my three days a week and enjoying my four off.....I can't help it, it's how the job works ;-) One of the things we've added to our life here is our small group that meets on Sunday nights. Adam and I joined/lead a small group of young couples from our church, NewSpring. It has been such a blessing to meet and make connections with other believers and couples our age down here.

Adam and I plan on being up in Grand Rapids for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, so hopefully we will be able to catch up and see all of you! Roman will be with us over Christmas so you'll have to stop by to see my baby!

Miss you all, and love you lots -

Leah

Vacation...and the Dog

Good Morning everyone!

I am writing this because I have a little extra time this morning before I take off and run some errands because I'm waiting for my new puppy to find the urge to eliminate outside before I lock him up for an hour....oh how life has changed.....

Well for starters let's not get too far ahead of ourselves....we need to cover vacation before we can move onto the other changes. Adam and I returned from FL a little over a week ago....sad to be back to work, but at least we have some great memories to look back on. It was so much fun to spend a week with our Ploeg family in one of all of our favorite places, Marco Island! We hadn't seen Jen, Jon and Emma since Christmas so it was fun to see how much Emma has grown and how much she is talking and interacting now.
The weather while we were there was gorgeous, it only rained the day we came home and was 80 and sunny every other day. A full week of sunning, boat rides and family time...can't beat that!

After coming home from FL and before returning to work, I traveled down to Hilton Head to see Sarah and her Mom who were vacationing in my great state! It was fun to catch up a little and reminisce about old times. It was one busy week before going back to work for three days after that, but it was all worth it too
.

So then came Sunday....D-day. Adam and I woke up early drove to church on the other side of the state and then went and picked up our new little man....Roman.
I have come to conclude a couple of things, Roman is probably part ostrich and 2/3 magnet. The entire car ride home he has this bewildered look on his face, was breathing probably 100 times per minute and buried his little head either into my side, or in the seat cushion, or my crotch. Thankfully we didn't have any accidents, but that was probably because he was so scared. The first day home we played ball in the backyard...went for a walk...and spent a lot of time staring at each other getting accustomed to having one another around. Adam and I were very concerned about the first night and how that might go. Much to our surprise Roman didn't make too much of a peep, and slept most of the night. Of course the rest of our nights have not gone quite as well as the first....but we're working on it.
Adam keeps giving me a hard time because I kinda had this expectation that the dog would come pre-trained......unfortunately this is not the case. We've had some trying moments and I think I our biggest obstacle is separation anxiety and learning to love the crate. Roman does catch onto some things quite well....like going for walks and games such as catch. As for the 2/3 magnet part of him....he will not let you out of his sight....he is getting this companion thing down pretty well. Roman will be there for you when you do your hair, when you take a shower, while you are washing the dishes, and even while you are relieving yourself in the bathroom. And one nice thing is that you won't need to wear slippers anymore because Roman looooooves to lay right on your feet.

But all in all....He is the cutest, most adorable pup I have ever laid my eyes on.


Well he finally went outside and did his business so I guess I can now be on my way.

love you all! Can't wait until you can meet the little guy!

Leah

Oh the changes....

Well hey hey everyone! It's been a very long time since I blogged last...and lots has occurred between then and now.

For starters Adam and I have worked very hard on our new house and moved in the last weekend in February. We completely transformed the kitchen with the help of Adam's parents, who came down for a week in Feb. I have never worked so hard for seven days straight.....and hope to never have to again. But! it turned out beautifully, and I am so in love with how it looks now.

Considering we have to pretty much paint every wall in our new house ( i hated all the colors they had chosen) we have been busy. But we are almost done with that task too. Just a couple more spare rooms and the hallway to go. Finally tonight after one whole month Adam has turned on his x-box and is enjoying an evening relaxing....I'll take that as a good sign. Our next big projects move us outside to where our bushes have become very large trees, and we get the joy of hacking them back down to size.

We are also preparing for our puppy to join the family. We drove to Fair Play, SC a couple weeks ago and picked out our new addition, Roman. Roman will come to live with us in April. I'm not sure whose most excited, Adam, myself, or my Mom (it is her first grand-dog ya know?)

Adam and I are currently in between spring vacations as well...we just spent a week in Charleston with my family for my parents 30th anniversary and in April are we going to Florida to spend a week with Adam's family. We had a wonderful time in Charleston...we relaxed, walked the beach, and most definitely did not think about all the work waiting for us at home. We are excited for FL. as well.....more relaxing couldn't hurt.

Enjoy the before and after pics of our new place.....and no we can't come to your house and transform it....I'm too tired. hehe.




Before and After:

What an eventful couple of weeks! We are making some big changes here in Flo-Town!


For starters....Adam and I got to witness/be a part of Extreme Home Makeover last week Thursday when we visited where they were building a home down here in S.C. A family in Loris, S.C. was nominated, and a husband of one of Adam's friends from work is part of the planning/organization committee so we were invited to go out to the site and check it out. We got to pretend we were very important and wear the hard hats and the blue shirts and walk up to the house. Some old lady thought we were famous and even took our picture! It was pretty crazy to see how it is all put together. Unfortunately I didn't get to see Ty......bummer. The episode should air some time in March.



This week Friday Adam and I closed on our house. We are officially home owners!!! And what fun that has already been......can I get my money back...please.????JKJKJK! After signing all of our papers and handing over the biggest check of our lives, Adam and I ran over to our new house, so excited to get inside it....come to find the previous owners hadn't completely left yet! A couple of rooms were still full of their stuff.....this is not how I had pictured this going.....But anyways we let them slowly remove their possessions, and even leave their food in our refrigerator for the night. We are way too nice....
So anyways Saturday morning Adam had me up at 8 o'clock to get ready and get over to the house and start working. If you haven't seen the pictures of how the house looked before we bought it, you might not understand quite as well, but there is a lot of work to be done inside. I'm planning on posting before and after pictures (but that won't be for a long time ;-). Oh the joys of owning a little bit older home...The wallpaper in the kitchen is probably going to be the bane of my existence for the next couple of weeks....goody goody. But house work is housework and it's has to get done, and once it is done, it will look wonderful, and represent us and no one else.

Housework wasn't the worse part of our first day of homeownership....no it was the visitor we had. Adam and I are scraping away in the kitchen when we hear a scratching noise in the livingroom. Thinking it was a cat at the back door we look out the back, but can't find anything until we turn around and come to find a SQUIRREL in the fireplace! It was sitting there with it's little paws on the wire grate, staring up at us with a dumb little smile on it's face. Needless to say we both freaked out (maybe me more than Adam) and scared the thing half-to-death. After much deliberating and staring into the fireplace we attempted to give the squirrel a chance at freedom by opening up the glass on the fireplace and cornering off a path to the door and the backyard. Of course the thing wouldn't go near our neat path, so Adam monkeyed with the flue for a while and opened some vents and we went back to our work and when we checked back a couple hours later the squirrel was gone. Of course something like this would happen to Adam and I on the first day we own a home....of course.

I'm sure many more interesting stories will be coming about our slow progress on our house....but hopefully no more squirrels.

love y'all

Taste of Home

Well...after receiving a little flack from family for not posting in so long....maybe since Halloween...oops...I decided to update everyone on what's been going on, and what's ahead for Adam and I. Adam and I got back a week ago from Michigan....and what a week it was!!

To start things out...Adam and I plowed (and I mean plowed with our Honda Accord) through the worst winter snow event North Carolina has seen in the last 10 years on our way up to Michigan. We left on Dec. 18 (Adam's Birthday) for Grand Rapids, hoping to make it to Lexington, Kentucky that night. Of course first we hit all the rain, then the buckets of snow once we got closer to the mountains of NC; the mixture of 12 in. of snow and drivers that have never seen it before and sure didn't know how to drive in it, was just bad. We lost our battle to the snow around Hendersonville, NC (only about 4 hours from home) where we stopped for dinner and the only place open was Denny's. We decided to be wise and hang it up for the night...considering we didn't have much choice...they closed the interstate.
The next morning Adam and I awoke with great hope that today we were going to get all the way from NC to MI! We got on the road at 5am and promptly sat in a traffic jam for an hour....great start. After one more small traffic jam (only 45 min.) we made it to Asheville, NC and the roads started getting a little better. Adam and I decided to take a state road through the mountains, hoping for less traffic and better luck and ended up driving through the most beautiful snow covered mountains and small towns I have ever seen. Past the mountains the driving conditions got even better, and finally we were making up some time. Until....it got dark. We were in the northern part of Indiana right before the MI border when the roads started to ice up and Adam and I after 11 hours of driving decided to get a hotel room rather than drive 30 mph for the next 5 hours to get to home. Tough decision, but laying down in bed that night never felt so good.
The next morning we finally made it to GR and finally saw some family! Now the fastest week ever can begin!!

Adam and I hadn't seen Adam's parents since July, and most other family since August or October, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We spent evenings at Jon and Jen's new home in Fremont, Tim and Ashley's new home in Grand Rapids, and hit almost every Christmas party we could. We sat in awe of how big our niece Emma has gotten and marveled at the fact that she talks and walks too. She even knows our names....except for Adam's. But we'll get there; at least she has Eeeah down. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing friends, spending time with family and completely forgetting about work for a week. Coming to the end of the week was difficult because it meant A) we had to get back in the car and B) we had to leave all our friends and family behind again. It was such a good week with everyone though, and I can't wait til next year!

The trip home was much smoother. We hit a little bit of trouble on 75 in Ohio due to some snow and icy roads, but made it that first night down to Lexington, KY. The next day was fine and we finally made it back home after 16 hours in the car.

So what now??? Back to normal boring life?! OH no way...we need some excitement...some change around here! Adam and I purchased a home here in Florence and we plan to move in come early February! We are very excited making it truly all our own, and actually owning the property rather than renting it. And the house is sooooo cute! Not on the inside yet....you'll understand after I post the before and after photos...but soon it will be so chic.

Also we have two big vacations coming up, opportunities to spend more time with family so we are so very excited about that too! The first week in March my parents are taking our family to Charleston, SC where they rented a home for the week to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with all of us kids. Then 4 weeks later Adam and I are traveling to FL. to spend Spring Break with Jon, Jen, Emma and Adam's parents. It will be so nice to relax with family!

After all of our vacations....Adam and I plan on making a new addition to the family! A puppy! (gotcha for a minute didn't I?) We get the first pick of a golden retriever litter in Fair Play, SC. We can not wait!

So much ahead of us...it will be a very busy couple of months, but wonderful months though.
I will attempt to post pictures of our home as we get in it and start remodeling.

Miss you all once again!

Leah

Off to the beach on Halloween!

I really don't have much to report today, but I thought I would update some pictures, and make you all jealous by sharing with you our day at the beach at the end of October!

I forced ;-) Adam to take me to the beach last Saturday because I thought it would be so relaxing and fun to say I went to the beach on Halloween and laid out. It didn't quite work out that way, but we did eventually make it down there and sat for awhile and watched the waves. It was still beautiful, even though it wasn't as warm as I would have liked it.

In the afternoon instead of going to the beach right away due to the drizzle, Adam and I finally explored Broadway at the Beach in downtown Myrtle. We had a really good time walking through all the shops - my favorite store was the Sugar Store - filled with every type of candy you can imagine. We made some close friendships with a couple of ducks....no seriously friendliest ducks I've ever met....

Anyways...enj0y our pictures....miss you all!

Visitors to this Foreign Land

We've had visitors! This past weekend my parents, and my brother Matt, and his girlfriend, Sara stayed with us in our little abode over my brother's fall break from college. It was so nice to see familiar faces, receive family hugs, and spend time laughing like you can only do when your with your family. Unfortunately the weather wasn't what we had hoped it would be for their visit, Florence's usually 80 degree weather dipped down to the 50's for the weekend, making things a bit chilly.
I attempted to do my best to give my visitors a small taste of Florence and southern culture. Thursday morning, after sleeping in after a late arrival the night before, we ventured to Young's Pecan Factory and the Farmer's Market (two places I know my parents would love). They loved perusing the various types of pre-mixed grits, special jams, and pecan syrups and the Pecan Factory. But it was the Farmer's Market that stole my parents hearts. They slowly wandered through the produce, admiring all the freshly picked options, browsed the fresh flowers and enormous pumpkins. Mom even attempted to make a friend with a local grower when she stated "lovely weather isn't it?" and he looked at her cross-eyed and stated, "Your not from here are you?" We southerner's enjoy our warm weather. The rest of Thursday involved a Wii Championship tournament with the gold medal going to Mom for making us laugh the hardest. On Friday we explored more of Florence's shopping district and had a good southern lunch of Chick-Fil-A. Everyone who comes to visit must experience Chick-Fil-A! Before Adam had to go to work we craved pumpkins that we had purchased at the Farmer's market. Friday night I convinced my family to go to the Wilson FB game against Crestwood. We enjoyed the game, and cheered like true Wilson fans. We didn't partake in all the Wilson FB rituals - such as getting fish from from the concession stand. No need to experience that much of the South.
On Saturday we had to go to the beach and thankfully the weather was a lot nicer. The sun actually came out and we enjoyed walking the beach, searching for shells, and had a nice lunch together. At night we took the fam to Red Bone Alley so everyone could experience one of Florence's best restaurants. Matt finally got to eat some southern ribs, and Adam and Dad were purring with their steaks.
It was a great weekend for everyone and it was so nice to share some of our favorite Florence and SC things with our family. We can't wait until we have more visitors!

This week also included my birthday - Thank you so much to everyone who called me and sent cards; I feel very loved. Thank you!! It's tough to celebrate far from home, but you all made it still very special.

love you all!

Leah