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

101 things to do...

Hey there friends and family! Two weeks in a row...whoa... I thought I would let you all in on the exploring Adam and I did this week and the things we found. I found a brochure in one of our drawers from when we first moved to Florence that contained 101 things to do in Florence County. Adam and I have decided to complete the list (or at least try to do our best. It does contain outings like...painting pottery and picking sunflowers along the road). So.... Monday morning we decided to get off the couch and explore Lynches River County Park, #5 on our list. The park is about 10 miles down the road from our house (down US-52, the direction I never travel - but we were brave this day.) We walked the nature trail and packed a lunch and ate by the river. My Dad would be so proud, we stopped and read all the signs along the trail and learned the names of the trees down here in SC.


I had a couple of moments where the bugs, cobwebs, and lizards were a bit much, but for the most part I thought I did quite well embracing the nature around me. And yes that's right...on Monday I was introduced to the little lizards that live around our home.
After our nature walk Adam had to go into school, so I had some free time and it was a really nice day so I thought I would sit on the back porch and read my book. Of course after about 10 minutes of wonderful relaxation it was all ruined when I looked up to find two lizards crawling on my house - 5 feet away from me. And of course they were close to my back door so I felt trapped! I can't open the back door - they might scurry their way inside before I know it! Eventually I made the dash to the door while they weren't looking, but I was definitely shaken up. I thought the bugs down here were bad...now I have to watch out for the amphibians too!



Monday afternoon (after I had calmed down from my lizard encounter) my friend Sarah took me to Youngs Pecan Plantation, #98 on our list. What a wonderful experience. After perusing all the different SC jams, bread mixtures, soups and spices, we found the pecan sample table....oh boy. The company lays out bowls of there different types of prepared pecans and other nuts. Oh the choices! Double chocolate covered...sugar and spice...toffee chocolate...honey baked....chocolate amaretto...butterscotch...and the list goes on....my favorite (and of course I had to bring home a box) are the Chocolate honey baked....yum yum. I knew Adam would love the pecan shop too so we went back on Wednesday so he could sample the pecans to his heart's content as well. It was a great lunch....hehehe JK.

Last night I did one more very SC thing. I made my first rack of ribs for Adam for dinner. Now I understand why everyone loves ribs down here...they were good! My cooking is becoming so diverse!

Til next time - love ya!

Leah

A whole month since I've been here to share!

Coming up soon Adam and I will have been in SC for 3 months already. Since the last blog unfortunately not too much exciting has occurred, but I wanted all of you to know that we are still alive and doing well here in Florence. Adam actually said to me the other day, "Leah, I'm so impressed that you haven't cried yet." Oh yeah..that's right...I'm a rock. No really, Adam and I really do enjoy being here, and the transition hasn't been nearly as difficult as I had anticipated (or as bad as my husband anticipated - told him I might burst into spontaneous tears at any moment during the first couple of months - but that hasn't happened, yay!). The weather does help the situation quite a bit, it's still 85-90 degrees here each day, but don't worry it looks like we might have a "cool down" this week...80 degrees.

Adam's schedule has picked up quite a bit, he's busy now three mornings each week at the clinic at McLeod, and then every afternoon has football at Wilson. I continue to work in the dialysis unit at McLeod, I'm technically still on orientation for another 4 weeks...and I'm loving it. I do start some mornings now at 5:30am and those are a bit tougher. The four other days of the week when I'm not working I bum around the house, clean, bake and drive around Florence. I frequent the Farmer's market often, and I even made an apple pie this past week with apples I had never heard of. Not too shabby of me...

Two weeks ago we did have something exciting and newsworthy happen....probably the second most important thing in my life...I got baptized. Adam and I have been attending NewSpring Church (the Florence campus - one of four. NewSpring is actually the seventh fastest growing church in the US right now (www.newspring.cc) and I hadn't planned at all to be baptized that morning. The pastor taught about our faith not being a private matter and that we are commanded to accept Christ and then be baptized, no if's, ands or buts about it. I was nudged to say the least. I had always wanted to be baptized, but my pride and nerves always kept me in my seat. I'm sorry for all those who might have wanted to be there, but that Sunday was the day, and I couldn't deny God any longer, so I went public in the parking lot of the civic center at NewSpring church. Isn't HE GOOD?!

Hopefully this blog finds you all well. We look forward to the days when we will see you again. We are excited for visitors - my mom, Matt and his girlfriend Sarah will be visiting us for a weekend in October - yay!!

Hugs and kisses -

Leah

Well it's Sunday....and I try to post every Sunday so...here you go. Unfortunately (yet fortunately) our lives have settled down here in Florence. We are starting to find our routine, starting to feel more and more like home, and starting to meet friends and build relationships. This is all good, and a natural and desired part of moving to a new city, but unfortunately it's no longer all that interesting. We've put new adventures and discoveries on the back-burner for now, and instead go to work, come home, and do it all over again. So...I wanted to forewarn you all that blogs may be few and far between because really lets be honest...you probably don't want to read about Adam's football schedule each week and what days I had to wake up really early and what days I slept until 12.

So all my excitement over my kittens was a little premature....they all ran away. I haven't seen any of them in over a week. The other day we did have a couple of stray dogs in the backyard...and no, we are not going to feed or adopt them.

Adam and I have started browsing the housing market in Florence - partly for fun and partly to look to buy. It seems it's the thing to do right now (Congratulations Tim and Ash and good luck Jon and Jen). Florence may not be our home forever, but it would be nice to stop renting and own our own home. That would be a significant prayer request - We don't know that plans the Lord has for us - but we would like to settle somewhere, and for now it looks like Florence.

Football season is in full swing now and therefore Adam is quite busy each evening at the High School. Practices go quite late here, and I go to bed pretty early to wake up at 5 some mornings, so please pray that Adam and I still are able to find quality time to spend together. We are so thankful for Sundays - we both have them off for sure, and get to catch up with each other.

Well it's been almost two months since we left Michigan, and no we aren't totally comfortable in our new city, but we have come along way. The streets are starting to feel like our streets, we have new places to go get our hair cut, new restaurants we love, and a few new friends. We're starting to settle into our routine. Thank you for all your prayers that have gotten us this far. I'm not sure when you'll hear from me again so.....til next time!

love you all,

Leah

Hi!

Alright everyone I'll start taking reservations now for those of you wanting to come to SC! The guest room is ready for you! It is quite comfy and cozy (considering the bed fills up almost the entire guest bedroom).
Adam and I have had a nice weekend so far...Friday night we went out to eat with some friends from the the Sports Medicine Clinic. Adam and I were busy Saturday cleaning...waxing the car in 90 degree heat - never will I do that again - and then spent the evening relaxing. Today we tried out another new church - NewSpring Church - we really liked it, but once again it has it's pros and cons.

Back to all of you coming to visit....I thought I might share with you a little tid bit about SC we picked up from one of Adam's friends who is a SC native on Friday night. We were talking about SC weather and how cold it might get here come January and February. The question came up, "So do you guys wear winter jackets?" The answer was, "Oh yeah I have a winter jacket that I wear while I'm camping in February, after the sun goes down..." UM EXCUSE ME!!! In February... camping!! In Michigan I used to wear my winter coat from November to April!! And I would never consider camping in February!! So...if you're looking for some place warm come February or March...you won't have to wear your winter coat here - unless we go camping....

Enjoy your week! We're thinking about you all.

Leah

New Wildlife

This week provided opportunities for Adam and I to better get to know the native insects of South Carolina. We were forewarned about Palmetto bugs - large cockroaches, and we've had colossal flies in the backyard, but this week we met the FIRE ANTS. Friday morning Adam and I were going about our morning routine, drinking my coffee, eatin' breakfast, watching the Today show.... when I noticed this large brown mound in the backyard. Adam and I first thought it was a dead woodchuck, but we found out after further inspection it was a large pile of dirt swarming with little little brown ants. Overnight they had successfully dug up a huge pile of dirt and formed a thriving ant colony. It took us probably all of 10 minutes once we figured out what the mound was to hop in the car, drive to Lowe's and pick out the most powerful fire ant killer they sold. We actually porbably spread some sort of toxic chemical over the backyard because it killed 'em or caused them to at least abandon their new dirt pile home. As long as that homes' not in my backyard - that's fine with me.


Here's a picture of Mittens - she looks a little possessed with her yellow eyes - part of the reason we don't touch her, just watch from afar. The kittens are doing well - they sometimes sleep on the back porch underneath the hose reel; the other night they were playing with eachother on the back step and hitting the door which made quite the racket while Adam and I were watching a movie.

Adam is busy this week with more football practice at Wilson High School. He hasn't started working in the clinic yet - one more week off. I've started full time working on the dialysis floor now. 6a-6p three days a week. I never knew my body could get out of bed on a regular basis at 5am, let alone actually function.

We visited another new church this past weekend - another possibility. It's a little more what we're used to, but it would probably take a little more effort on our part to get to know other people. Please continue to pray for our church search!

I hope you all have a great week!

Leah

Weekend Fun

Hi faithful followers! (and those of you who aren't...doesn't matter to me!)...

Well it's been a little while....but I did warn you that I may not be as faithful as you might like...life just starts to happen, and before I know it a week has gone by and I haven't updated the blog.
But I do have lots to write about today because we have had a big week/weekend!

Last week (and this week) I am sitting through dialysis classes at work. Um...could learning be any more boring...but I have to listen because I want to do learn as much as I can because it is basically what my job depends on, so...it's been a struggle. I have learned a lot though, and hopefully someday soon I will understand it all. Adam was busy and very tired last week from two-a-day practices (he got up at 5am), and organizing physicals for all his athletes. But we were very excited because Jon and Jen (Adam's sister and brother-in-law) came and visited us this past weekend!

Adam and I treated Jon and Jen to all of the finest things of Florence life....my fine cookin' (hehe), Myrtle Beach, the farmer's market, Red Bone Alley, peaches peaches and more peaches, and of course, the heat.

Jon and Jen flew in on Thursday evening, that night we took them around town and showed them our lovable Florence, which took all of maybe a half an hour? Friday morning we produce shopped at the farmer's market. Jon enjoyed testing the local produce and ciders such as scuppernongs and Scuppernong Cider. We all tried the southern delicacy boiled peanuts for the first time....not a fan. As Jen put it, "...it tasted like a rotten potatoe"; I'd have to agree. During the day on Friday, with a little help from Jen, I convinced Adam to let me get a kiddie pool for the backyard. I love it! We spent the afternoon relaxing in the water. The only problem we have is that the pool heats up during the day underneath the tarp we have over it....and with our heat...it's probably about 88 degrees in the water and 94 degrees outside. But it's still refreshing (kinda ;-). On Saturday Adam and I took our guests to Myrtle Beach and at night to Red Bone Alley in Florence for dinner. After church on Sunday we lounged in the pool, the boys played XBOX and we enjoyed taking eachother on in Wii Olympics. All-in-all it was nice to have people visit and have a little connection from home for a couple of days.

Other big news -our cat (not really mine, but the one we inheirited when we moved in; it lives in my backyard) had kittens!! 'Mittens' had seven kittens a week ago; they are deathly afraid of us but they are somethin' awful cute. We admire them from a distance; we don't touch 'Mittens' (not that she would let me....) because we're not sure what she might be infested with, but almost everyday she's back there; she'll even come up and sit on the porch.

I think that's about it for now...oh wait....one more thing.... HAPPY ANIVERSARY ADAM! We've been married two whole years now, can you believe it??!

Hugs and kisses -

Leah

Week One

Hi!

My first week of employment at McLeod is done. It wasn't my favorite week, considering I had to wake up early every morning and sit through a week of Skills Lab and orientation....but I'm not complaining, it was easy and I got paid for it. Adam has been keeping busy this week as well with the finish of the Dixie Youth Little League tournament and the start of two-a-day practices. He's actually really been enjoying football practice, the kids and the coaches.

Today Adam had practice early (6 am), but after that we took to exploring Florence a little more in depth. We also headed out to the Farmer's Market. My new favorite place in Florence!!! Ok, so I had this idea that the farmer's market was going to be like a whole bunch of fruit and vegetable stands that you see on the side of the road all put together in one place. But nooooo.....there is this huge barn (like a football field long) that has a drive that runs right down the middle of it and the stands are lined up on either side of the drive. You can drive your car right into the market and pull up next to the stand/growers that you like best. They have everything you might want out....peaches, green beans, lettuce, peppers, corn, orka, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tons of watermelons, jams, fresh flounder and shrimp...etc. I do believe I have a little of my father in me considering I loved just walking through all the produce and admiring how good it all looked. I will try to remember to bring my camera next time and take a picture of the market, you have to see it to believe it.

Hope you all had a great week! Enjoy your weekend!

Til next time...

Leah

Thank You!

Hi all -

First I have to start out by thanking everyone for praying that I would receive my nursing license on time. I received my temporary nursing license from the State of SC on Friday afternoon, called HR 2 minutes later, and had an appt. with HR and Occupational Health for new hire paperwork and a check-up about an hour after that. They were willing to fit me in at the last moment so I could start orientation on Monday. If I hadn't made it in, I would have had to wait another 3 weeks to start....and that would have been three long weeks. So...I start work nursing orientation on Monday! Thank you so much for praying; it all worked out on God's timing and I guess I just needed to have a little faith.

This past week also held a couple of firsts for myself here in Florence. I made my first trip to the dauntingly massive library and my first trip to the Florence Starbucks! (Sarah - it's a really good Starbucks, it has a lot of seating....hehe) The coffee is just as great down here. And even in the heat, my latte was wonderful.

Adam has been busy this week organizing his training room at Wilson High School, and working the Dixie Youth Little League Baseball Tournament. This week ahead holds more of the baseball tournament (in 95 degree heat) and the start of two-a-day football practices on Friday. Yippee! (not)

Prayer requests for the week:
- Pray for Leah as she starts orientation, and getting back into the groove of working again.
- Pray actual nursing license comes from the state, and that the state of MI sent their portion to SC.
- Pray for Adam as he is still figuring out his schedule and keeping it all straight each day.
- Pray for Adam as two-a-days start up and working with the coaches and athletes.

Goodnight friends and family! Love you!

Leah

Wedding Weekend in GR

Hey y'all!

Sorry it's been a couple days, but Adam and I have been busy! This past weekend we flew back to GR for a little time with family and to celebrate my cousin Erica's wedding. Adam and I flew out on Friday afternoon, and eventually made it into GR after a couple delays with flights. Let's just say after this weekend's flying experiences - I'm so over flying for at least a little while. Airports just aren't that cozy to be spending that much time in them. So anyway...we made it and spent late Friday night and early Saturday morning with our Ploeg family. Nice to see everyone again!

Erica and Phil's wedding was beautiful! The wedding was in the afternoon and the reception was held later at Egypt Valley Country Club. It was a great time (see pictures :-). I've never witnessed my Mom dance that much; my favorite being the conga line - watching everyone (including my mother and Uncle Bill) prance around with sombrero's on their heads. Classic.
It was really nice to be able to see our family again so soon - not easy to say good-bye again, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Adam and I were exhausted on Sunday after flying out of GR at 6am. Once again we had a delay at the airport - that made us really cheery. Once we got home we immediately went to bed and slept for a couple hours then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

I don't have any stories about any recent ventures out in Florence because I haven't been able to explore for the past couple days because my cars been in the shop. Hopefully I will be able to get out tomorrow - thinking its about time to explore the library - that probably sounds more exciting to some than others - and I think in a day or two I will venture to the farmer's market.

This is also probably more exciting to some than others, but we purchased our first lawn mower yesterday. Adam was like a kid in a candy shop....and of course the mower is bright red and probably has way too many features for our tiny little lawn. But it is OUR lawn mower and we feel so grown up now to have this new responsibility. (The lawn does look much better now - I have to say. Between the weeds that were by now up to our knees and the bird-sized flies in the back yard; it was resembling a jungle.)

I am still waiting for my nursing license to come in the mail - we are praying that it comes by Friday so I can start orientation on Monday. I decided to take the Hemodialysis position with McLeod. I will be working 6a-6p three days a week, and on-call Sundays periodically. Not that I really want to start - but it would be nice to have something to do here. Please pray that the Board of Nursing hurries up!

Have a great day!!

Leah

End of a Busy Week

Hey All,

Hopefully you all had a great week. Leah and I made it through week one. Praise the Lord, she has 2 job offers. Choices are nice.

We went out for dinner with AJ and Alison, (2 of my friends from Cedarville) who will be getting married next summer. Yah! They have been out at Myrtle beach with family for the last week. We went out to Redbone Alley for dinner. Mmmm. That place is delicious. If anyone ever comes, I recommend either the Ribeye or Grilled Carolina shrimp. Delicious.

My week was a busy week filled with lots of new things. I started seeing patients today in the clinic, but that will decline once I start football at the end of July.

Well, sorry it was so short today. Leah and I are now headed back up to MI for a quick trip (Friday afternoon-Sunday morning). Sorry we won't get to see everyone. Congratulations to Erica and Phil who are getting married this weekend! Looking forward to seeing as many people as we can.

Much Love,
Adam

Job Prospect

Yay!!

Thank you so much for praying everyone! I got a call back today from the HR lady at McLeod and she told me that both hemodialysis and cardiac would like to offer me a position! I haven't decided which position to take yet, both have their pros and cons.
The next hump is making sure my South Carolina nursing license goes through so I can actually practice here. They are notoriously slow I hear, but hopefully it shows up soon.

Blessings!
Leah

Just a quick word

Hey all,

I got the afternoon off for a few hours this afternoon - yah! I guess that's nice considering I put in 12 hours yesterday. Orientation has gone well. However, I think my brain is about to explode. Lots of information. Computer based training, policies, procedures, manuals, etc... I did get to work a Redwolves game last night though. They are part of a "wooden bat" league. They are all college baseball players from all over the country who come here to play summer ball. I actually met a coach who graduated from Cedarville the year before I did. Small world.

Leah had her interviews today, she might post something about that at some point, but thought i'd give my 2 cents. She said they went very well. Both the hemodialisys and the cardiac positions have pros and cons, but both would work for her. We're not totally sure which sounds best at this point, but then again we don't have an offer from Mcleod either. We're not sure when they'll call us back. Hopefully soon.

Well, I need to get a dinner real quick before I go cover another baseball game for the Redwolves. Thanks for all your prayers and support. They are felt every day.

-Adam

Big on the Pig

Good morning!

Leah here - thought I would update everyone on my experiences during my first day alone running errands in Florence. Adam started orientation yesterday morning for his position at McLeod. He seemed a little overwhelmed with information yesterday - but that's how orientation always goes. Please pray that he gets to hang of his schedule and begins to feel comfortable with all the things that have been put on his plate. We found out a little more about what Adam's schedule will look like for the next year - he will be in the sports medicine clinic from 8-12 each day and then, (depending on the season) he will be at Wilson High School in the afternoon each day. Now we just need to find out what my schedule will look like! I have two interviews tomorrow morning at McLeod one for hemodialysis and the other with the cardiac unit. It is our prayer that I am able to get a day position - but I would probably take anything for now.

So anyhoo...I decided yesterday to venture out into Flo-town (without the GPS mind you) and see what types of stores and shopping were available. Mind you venturing out here is something different than venturing out in MI. People here don't use the blinkers the car companies purposefully place on their cars for their safety and the safety of the other drivers on the road. I actually had one lady pull up next to my car and stick her arm out of the window to motion to me that she wanted to move over. And the car she was driving wasn't old. Of course they do it with a smile on their face and wave because people are nice, but it still takes some getting used to.

I headed towards the main shopping area in Florence, the Magnolia Mall. Florence has the typical stores like Kohls, JCPenney, Sears, Barnes n Noble, Dicks...and of course a Target (a prerequisite for considering moving to a new town :-). But I wanted to explore the new department store available to me - Belk. Dumb name huh? The name sure didn't draw me in, but someone told me it was like a Macy's s0 I decided it couldn't be too bad. Upon exploring every section of the store I decided I wasn't all that impressed -it will do, but it's no Macy's. (The outlet mall 45 mi down the road will probably be more promising :-)

After browsing my options in retail - I decided we needed a couple more groceries for the week. It was time to make my trip to the local Piggly Wiggly. I was excited. The Pig (my new nickname for the store) had a nice selection - a little cheaper prices than the Food Lion (what's up with the animal names?) and the isles were larger. AND every employee where's a t-shirt that has a big pig on the front and says "I'm Big on the Pig" on the back; AND they sell these t-shirts in every color! Get excited about X-mas presents everyone! hehehe JK.

So...it was good day in Flo; Adam came home, we ate dinner then unpacked the office a little more. I'm not sure yet what today might bring - maybe I'll venture to the Library. But it is sunny and only 88 so I could lay out...supposed to be warmer later in the week...oh like 95, so maybe I should catch my beams today.


Have a great day!


Oh I almost forgot - here's some pictures of our new house!