Fun-filled weekend

Well, here's a slightly belated recap of last weekend:

On Friday night we went on a DATE! Yep, a real date. We did it Baldauff style by sharing a meal at a fancy restaurant, even though we did have a giftcard. We ate at "91" and it was delicious. Afterward, since we like our couch and sweatpants even more than going out, we rented a movie and picked up some ice cream.

On Saturday we made a day trip to Erie, PA. We stopped at the Grove City outlets and found some sweet deals on nice clothes. Then we headed up to Erie to visit our cousins and friends, John and Mary Nelson. It was fabulous to see them...we ate dinner together at Molly Brannigans...mmmm. The bad part came when we walked out to our car and realized that it had started snowing. The 2.5 hour drive took us 4 hours that night. It was the worst winter weather either of us had ever driven in. The visibility was so bad that it made John car sick, the gas station we stopped at was closed, and our turn signal cracked off when we pulled over to scrap the snow and ice off of it. WONDERFUL. At this point we were really happy. We did eventually make it home at 1:30am. NOT FUN.

Sunday night we hosted an Oscars party, formal style! A bunch of our friends came over in their fancy-wear, we watched the Academy Awards, and ate GOOD food! Oh, and I wore my wedding dress! Here's a taste of our evening:




It has been an easy week for me at work since our caseload is low...I enjoy the extra time at home, although it does hurt my paycheck a bit. We have started apartment hunting in the Chicago area...it is certainly a challenge, but we're looking forward to the move.

Dad B. received his stem cell transplant last week and is trying to gain his strength back. Your prayers for him and Mom are continually appreciated.

Have a great week!

Leah

Homeward Bound.

This past week I received a big fat "NO" from Duke. I was disappointed that the best school in the country didn't want me, but I quickly realized that I had never really expected to get in anyway.

And the best part? It means I'm moving home. I will be starting PA school at Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago this May. In three short months, Ohio will be history. There's no hiding that I'm soooo excited to be near my family that I've lived far from for six years now, but my heart is torn because it also means moving farther away from the other half of our family. This is especially hard since Dad B. is receiving a stem cell transplant this week, and we have no idea how things will go in the next few months.

So, we are trusting that our God is leading us in the appropriate direction, and that He will provide for us and for our parents as we make this transition. We don't know yet what John's job situation will be, and we will begin to be on the lookout for housing in the north suburbs.

John just got back from a weekend in Pittsburgh at the Jubilee Conference. I confess that I was a bum while he was gone...apparently he gets my butt moving more than I realize. I am glad my better half is back home.

Caleb came to visit!

Good to see you, Caleb! Thanks for stopping by. You're welcome for coffee anytime. :)

After a long week of John being sick and both of us being in a bit of a funk, we have enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend. Last night we saw an AMAZING movie: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was playing at our local "old-style" theater...the kind with the ornate walls and ceiling that in any other context would be hideous. Oh, and the best part is that it has stars and clouds that move across the ceiling. Way cool.

And most of our snow melted yesterday! So nice to see the grass again.

Trip to NC

Well we are back from North Carolina and we had a super great time. We traveled down there through 9 hours of snow, sleet, and then rain. It was a wet trip down there and we witnessed two accidents but we made it unscathed. We stayed with our good friends Jim and Emily and it was great to see them on Wednesday night. Thursday was Leah's big day as she had here interview at Duke's physician assistant school. Duke has just built a sweet new building for their PA program. I had the chance to go with Leah for the first part of her interview and everyone was really nice and the program that they outlined was pretty impressive. For the second half of the interview I went off to the Sarah P. Duke gardens and met up with Jim and Emily to do some geocaching. Leah felt that her personal interviews went well. So now we will just wait and see what happens.
On Friday we went to a local state park with Jim and Emily and their terror of a puppy Bentley. Bently is only 7 months old but is huge and has a ton of energy. He is a ton of fun but seriously made me reconsider some day having a big dog. The state park was fun. We did alot of hiking and he had a nice picnic by a waterfall of sorts.
Saturday was a bunch of fun as Jim, Emily, and our friends Jake and Laura went to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. It was a great zoo and required alot of walking. We saw some seals and sea lions eating. Out favorite part though, was the aviary. It was huge and very warm inside with a ton of beautiful tropical birds. The smells and sounds made it feel as though we were somewhere tropical. Jim, Jake, and I also got to sit in a helicopter...sweet. Later that night we went with Jake and Laura to our friends Tom and Amy's house. It was great to see them and their new baby son Isaac. We had a great meal and good conversation.
Sunday was time for us to go home. We left early and had a great trip home. Unlike on the way down this drive was sunny and we made great time. Then we went over to our friends Scott and Christina's place to was the Steelers WIN THE SUPERBOWL. I was nervous from kick off until the last play but it is super exciting to have experianced another Superbowl win.
So we had a great trip to NC. We are looking forward to hearing back from Duke and then we will make our decision but if Leah does get accepted it would be a cool experiance. Besides our friends being there there are many things about that area that we find desireable. So we shall see.

Gross, but cool.

African dwarf frogs shed their skin every 1-2 weeks, but it is rarely seen as it happens so quickly. And then sometimes they eat their skin "shell".

Today we walked into the apartment after dinner and saw Josephine just finish pulling her skin off of her hind legs. And then she ate it. Pretty disgusting.

The science geek in me loved that we happened to catch that moment.

We're Goin' South!

I've been invited to interview for the PA program at DUKE UNIVERSITY! Needless to say, I don't think I can turn that down!

So, we're heading to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina in just two and a half weeks. I'm very excited, especially since it means an opportunity to see our friends the Alianellos, Hapners, and Parkinsons (we hope!).

I know, I know. I thought I had finally narrowed down this whole PA school thing...we had decided to stay closer to family, not move far away, blah, blah, blah. But, it's Duke! See what I mean? Well, nothing's for certain yet...it's only an interview. 130 candidates are interviewed for 56 spots.

Oh, our froggies are still alive. It must be true love.

Welcome Home, Napoleon III

May your life be longer than three days.