Home Sweet Home

We have returned from our almost 2 week visit back in Ohio. It was a great visit, getting to spend time with family and friends before the move in 14 days. My mom drove back with us and will be spending some extra time here for the next week.

I am working to upload some pics from the past few weeks, including Christmas, our trip to Illinois, New Years Eve and from packing day. So be on a look out!

Until We Meet Again

"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

- Francois Mocuriac

We had such a nice week with Val and her family. We spent the week boating, shopping, eating yummy foods, hanging out, site seeing, drinking wine, taking pictures and just spending time together. Hard to believe we only see each other a few times a year. You never would have known.

Our visits may be even less over the next few years, however I know that no matter the distance, we will be friends forever. And while I enjoyed showing the Camp family all my fave sites and eating holes in North Carolina, I am really hoping to get to show them around Japan.

Here are a few highlights from the week. I can't wait to see all the pics Val took.

Added Bonus

Do you know how awesome it is to have a friend that is a professional photographer?

You get pictures like these (hope you don't mind me sharing Val!). I may have to pay to have her come visit me more often.

A Friend's A Friend Forever

"There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound." ~Diana Cortes

After 20 hours in the car on Monday, Jamie and the rest of the family finally made it to our house. It should have only taken about 14 hours, but when you blow a tire in Kentucky apparently you need to back track several towns and wait hours for your tire to be fixed.

We had an awesome week. For the first time, Mark came with Jamie and the kids to experience NC living. I think he actually enjoyed himself. Our week was jammed packed full of a trip to the beach, golfing, visiting the Farmers Market, shopping, lunches, working out (yes we even fit exercise into our visit!), a night out on the boat, and even getting Jamie's hair cut.

Sami and Hannah at the beach. I think they are well on their way to being best friends forever, wouldn't you agree?
Jamie and I on the golf course, with our pretty pink golf bags. Mark and Matt of course creamed us on the course, but hey at least we looked good doing it.

Jamie and her new haircut. I LOVE it!
The girls all decided to put on layers and slide down the steps over and over. What goobers.
Mark enjoying the waves.
Emily and Ashley tubing.
Mark tubing with his girls. Make sure you document this photo. It may never happen again.
Aren't they a cute couple? Jamie and I are trying hard to make sure we are related someday.
Jamie and I braved Matt's driving and decided to go for a spin too.
Even Matt joined in the festivities. Apparently I wasn't driving fast enough for Hannah.

It was a wonderful week and a few tears were shed as they pulled away late last night for their long drive home. I have been very blessed to have such a wonderful friend in my life. And I know no matter where we are, or which moving services either of us may be using, every time we get together, it is like we were never apart.

Thanks for an awesome week you guys. We already miss you.

Back from MIA

Saturday the whole family flew from NC to Ohio to visit family and friends until Tuesday. Sunday Jamie and her two girls drove from Illinois to Ohio to stay overnight with me and the girls in a hotel. A fun "girls only" shopping and overnighter. On the way her youngest (Hannah) got "car sick" once and that was it. But no big deal.

Fast forward to Monday. We had an awesome trip thus far. It was 8:30 pm and we were getting ready to leave my SIL house and head back to Matt and Kate's house (where we were staying). Sam had been laying all over me and refused to play with her cousins. When I told her to go play and stop being such a whiner she started saying her tummy hurt. Whatever Sam. Go play. Two minutes later she came up to me, took one look and projectile vomited all over me, the floor, the couch, herself, everything. I felt like such a bad mom. I asked her why she didn't tell me she wasn't feeling good and she reminded me that she did and I just said "go play".

She puked 6 more times between midnight and when our flight took off at 6 am. Then she puked again in the plane. At 4 am Emily started puking. She also puked on the plane. Jamie told me Tuesday that her oldest kid started puking in full force on their drive back and the lead story on the news is the flu in Illinois.

Since then I got sick as well. And the lead story today on the NC news was the flu epidemic. Apparently this strain was not part of the flu shot and it is everywhere.

Chris and Matt so far are fine. Thank goodness because Matt leaves with the chickens on Saturday for Japan. The girls are much better and back at school. And I think I am finally coming off my Imodium overdose. Lots of Lysol, antibacterial gel and air cleaners going on here.

I hope to get caught up with everyone's blogs soon. I promise.

Notes From My Trip

Monday night DH called and asked how my trip was going thus far. I told him that we were hanging out and playing Wii and he laughed and asked me just how old we were. Secretly I think he was jealous that I was playing my air guitar and bowling while he was at home with the kids. But hey, I deserve a few days away, don't I? I would post pictures of Jamie, Mark and myself playing the guitar but they are pretty scary and I would hate to terrify the younger ones that may read my blog.

Hannah rocking out while we played Guitar Hero.
Jamie and I hanging out like old times. (Well except we never wore PJs)
Hannah and I.

Tuesday and today I spent the morning and part of the afternoon at Cat. It was a very good visit. I managed to sit in on some meetings, got another plant tour, caught up with the team that I work with, and most importantly walked out of there with alot of work. A-lot. I won't think about that too much because it will stress me out right now and I am trying to relax and enjoy the rest of my visit.

Last night I caught up with a few people and then Jamie and I went to see August Rush. Very good movie, however I do have to warn you it is definitely a romantic movie and with that comes alot of cheese. But who can dislike a movie with Keri Russel and rugged sexy men with Irish accents?

Tonight Val and I met for supper and then we went on the town's holiday walk through town. It was so cool to be back to Val and my "restaurant" for supper. I wish Robbie's delivered to NC. Maybe I can look into some type of real estate franchise for them.
Me and Val in front of Robbie's. We would look cuter, however the frigid weather made us bundle up like snowmen.

Then afterwards we met Heather and Val's mom for the holiday walk. We went into just about every store downtown and got some yummy treats, good wine and great buys.

Val and Heather inside Giggles retail store.

Speaking of good buys... I am so excited about two purchases I made on this trip. First is this Nine West bag. And those who know me, know that a) This is a very nontraditional type of purse for me. I mean come on it will not match everything and it isn't black or brown. And b) I no where paid regular price. In fact I paid $12. Man am I good.

My cool new purse.

And my second buy is this mug. I saw it tonight and just had to buy it for myself. It will look so cool sitting on my desk while I am knee deep in writing about poultry vaccinations or large mining trucks. I am a huge tea drinker so I think it fits nicely.


Tomorrow I am going to go to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and finish up some Christmas shopping. Then Val and I are heading to Bloomington to do some gabbing and drinking Starbucks before I have to catch my flight back home.

It has been a great visit. I am already counting down the days until I get to come back again. Thanks for an awesome visit everyone!

Brrrrrr...

Well I made it to Illinois! Yeah! My flight left a 57 degree North Carolina at 6:45 am and headed towards the 19 degree state of Illinois. I love flying but the anticipation really gets me anxious. Once we are flying at a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet I love looking out the window and seeing the beautiful clouds and the different land below. How can someone look outside a plane window and see everything and still not believe in God, I will never know. I was reflecting yesterday at how different it is just between NC and Illinois. The ground below in NC is all green and the ground up north is like a patchwork quilt with all the browns of the fields below. It almost made me miss living up here... well until I stepped out into the cold weather.

Anyways, I was lucky enough to sit on the runway at O'hare listening to some guy yap on his phone about real estate flipping while our gate was occupied for almost 30 minutes to run (and I mean run) to my connecting flight to Bloomington, only to find out we were delayed so they could change the planes tires. But even after all that I managed to make it only an hour late into Bloomington where Jamie and I spent the day shopping, eating and catching up. It is like I haven't even been gone these 15 months.

Today I will be at Caterpillar all day for meetings as well as tomorrow. But I will still find lots of time to catch up with old friends, drive past our old house and go on a Christmas shopping walk and dinner with Val before flying back late Thursday night.

Have a great day!

A Special Visit

I have a little brother. Well, I guess he's not so little considering he is almost 6'5" tall. My brother and I have not always gotten along. But what kids do, right?

I remember we used to chase one another. One time he thought he would be funny to run after me with a croquet mallet. I ran inside the porch and he hit the glass door. Needless to say I have a few scars from that one. As we got older we got along even less. My parents were more strict with me, you know the whole boy versus girl thing, and I resented it. While I was in college things started to change. I was the "cool" older sister. The person he could come party with. The one with a super cool boyfriend (who is now his super cool brother-in-law) who didn't treat him like a little kid.

I admit it. I was a pita sister. I would tattle on my brother when I thought he was partying a bit too much. I lectured him on his life choices. But I think today he can look back and know I did those things because I loved him.

I am excited to say tonight I picked him up at the airport for a 4 day visit. This is special because this is the very first time my brother has ever visited me since I was in college –– 10 years ago. He has never seen where we lived or visited us in any of our houses (we have lived in three places since we were in college). Never gotten to see where the kids go to school or any of their activities. Never gotten to see their rooms. But all that will change this weekend. So now we are going to cram 10 years worth of things into 4 days.

I get frustrated with him on some days, but that makes me love him even more. I am proud of my brother and the person he has become and I just know he has a wonderful future ahead of him.

So welcome to North Carolina Scott. I can't wait to see what all this weekend has in store for us. Hopefully this is the first visit of many.

Wordless Wednesday : Hug Across The Generations

I know this is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I just had to explain the picture. This is my great Aunt, who has been basically a grandma to me my whole life. My grandma, her sister, died when I was 4, so she stepped in and filled my Grandma Vivian's shoes. She lives in Indianapolis and is the reason I agreed to go to Indy a few weeks back. It warmed my heart watching Sami hug Aunt Pauline.

Thursday Thirteen #6

Thirteen Places in the US I Want to Visit I've traveled alot around the US, but there are still lots of places I have yet to see. Before I die, my goal is to visit all 50 states. Mount Rushmore Grand Canyon - I've flown over it, but never saw it in person Mount St. Helen & The Space Needle Honolulu Hawaii Alaska - Only in the summer. I've heard it was beautiful then. Boston Vermont/Maine/New Hampshire - In the fall I've heard the changing of the leaves are amazing. Miami - Sorry Val but I just want to see the culture there. Yellowstone Petrified Forest in Arizona Painted Desert Nashville, Tennessee Gatlinburg Tennessee Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


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