"We're sorry sir, your plane has been grounded...forever."

I think if we actually did that to Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, we might be able to keep Weldon Springs State Park open. My home town has one of the most beautiful, well-maintained state parks, but as of November 1, 2008, it will be closed due to state budget problems. But, miraculously, we have the money to continue to operate the plane that flies the governor back and forth every day from Springfield to Chicago. Amazing!

It's so sad to me that Weldon Springs will be closing. I remember taking field trips there when I was in gradeschool and walking the trails with my grandma when I was little. This November, I was planning on taking some of our wedding pictures out there.

So, this weekend, David and I went over to Weldon Springs and took some pictures. I took pictures of my dad's memorial and Veteran's Point and just walked around, enjoying the scenery. Especially with the part of Veteran's Point that has my dad's memorial, I knew I wanted to take pictures - who knew what will happen to it after the park is closed.

After that, David and I came home and played with his nephew (also known as the cutest little boy ever). He is such a sweet little boy and he just loves his Uncle Dave!

We actually got a lot of wedding stuff done today - I ran down to Lincoln to talk to the florist. Then, David and I ran to Decatur to Sam's Club to take care of the table service for the reception. I'm still trying to get fitted for my dress, though. I've called twice to see if I might be able to run over this weekend to have a fitting done, but the lady who is doing my alterations has never called me back. With just over two months before the wedding, dress fittings really need to start now.

Anyway, tomorrow we're off to a cook-out. Then, Monday it's back to Nebraska. The good news is, this week David has another job interview. He got a job offer last week, but he said he just really didn't have a good feeling about it. Almost immediately after that, he was asked to come back for a second interview for a copy editing job. So, we'll see how that goes. At least, David is feeling better because he has gotten some interviews and job offers.

Anyway, I think that's it for now. Just counting down the days until the wedding...

Livin' life Nebraska style...

I know, I know...it's been a while. Sorry.

This big news this side of the Mississippi? David is out here with me. He came out last weekend for a few job interviews last week. So far, he's heard back from one, but we're still waiting to hear back on the others. He's decided to just stay out here this week then we'll come back to Illinois next weekend for Labor Day weekend. It will be a nice long weekend to be able to drive home, plus I have a whole bunch of wedding stuff that really needs to get done.

I'm hoping that something comes up soon because he's so discouraged. And, the thing that really sucks is, he's very talented. He's smart and he's got a ton of experience, but there just really isn't anything out here right now, and it's really starting to get to him. He's just going stir crazy sitting around with nothing to do all day.

I got back from Oklahoma last weekend - it was really a great trip. I had a lot of fun down there talking to people and taking pictures. And, the countryside is just BEAUTIFUL. Not to mention the numerous tourist attractions. For example: Bullnanza, red dirt, ranches and the ever popular, Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo. Yes - the Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo. If I would have stayed a couple of extra days, I could have witnessed one of the greatest spectator events in history - or at least the South.

I did get to visit this awesome farm - Lazy E Arena. They house 1100 broodmares, 11 stallions and around 400 yearlings (the yearlings are for sale prep). All Quarter Horse racing bloodlines, but still a really cool place to visit - and absolutely beautiful - I've included some pictures.


Anyway, great trip, but I was exciting to be back home and spend a week in the office. This weekend has been spent doing wedding things. I ordered invitations and they came in a couple of weeks ago, so today, David and I spent time buying stamps ($100-worth!), stuffing invitations and digging up addresses. So, be prepared, you all will probably be seeing those in the next few weeks.

My friend, Kristina, got to go home this week. She went home Monday and has been doing some home therapy and out-patient therapy. Before she went home, WMBD out of Peoria did a neat feature story on her - if you would like to watch the story, follow this link:

http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=17951

She's looking absolutely fabulous and I have no doubt she'll be walking down the aisle by herself at our wedding. However, her parents told us the doctors have said it will be one full year before they know if she is fully recovered.

(I know - it just keeps going and going!) Janell moved into school this week - I've already gotten two phone calls. The first one was from mom telling me that she called Janell (the day after she moved in) but Janell hadn't called her back and if Janell called me, I was to tell her to call mom. Ten minutes later I got a call from Janell asking me where she needed to go to get books. When I asked her if she called mom, I got, "Yeeessssss. I called her." I can feel the love. Or something.

And finally - Project Runway. How funny was the last episode?? Oh my gosh - I thought I was going to die when they were designing these clothes for drag queens - it couldn't have been better. That is, until Tim Gunn said, "It looks like a pterodactyl out of a gay Jurassic Park." FABULOUS! Michael Kors giggled the whole time. I loved it. But, I still don't love Blaine. Or the gay mormon. Yikes.

Chillin' Okie-style.

Day No. 2 in Oklahoma and I have to say, I'm really enjoying myself. It truly is beautiful down here and so different from home.

Yesterday and today I spent my time down in southern Oklahoma (I was actually about 25 miles from the Texas state line), and was just amazed by the difference in landscape between central and southern Oklahoma.

Coming from Illinois, and even Nebraska to an extent, I'm so used to seeing cornfield after cornfield after cornfield (with a few acres of beans mixed in there, too). Southern Oklahoma was a huge change of pace, seeing ranch after ranch. I couldn't have found a cornfield if I wanted to. It was awesome to see some of the enormous ranches and homes to some of the horses that I've seen pictures of in magazines.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day, too. Okay, so, it would really only be exciting to me and a few other show junkies, but still. I have to drive over to Tulsa to interview the official vet of the AQHA World Show - while he's at the Reichert Celebration. The Reichert is one of those huge shows that I've always wanted have a horse good enough to show in, so it will be fun to go over and be able to watch it for a couple of hours.

The other thing that has been so interesting is completely unrelated to my interests here in Oklahoma: football. I've always heard that football is a religion down here, but I found out it was true today as I listened to the radio. Every radio station I listened to frequently listed each area football team's opening game information. You could find out who was playing when, what kind of fundraisers to attend for each team and find out how many practices per day each team was committed to. It was like living in Varsity Blues.

After tomorrow's excursion in Tulsa, I'll return to Guthrie to talk to a couple of vets on Friday, then it will be time to head home. Hopefully, by the time I get home on Friday night, David will already be at the apartment! He's coming out to Nebraska Friday afternoon and is planning to stay for a week or so - he has an interview on Monday for a sports sales position with the city of Lincoln. I'm so excited for him - he's been submitting resumes left and right and hadn't heard anything back yet. So, he's really excited about having an interview - and, is excited about the job. So, it will be nice to be able to spend my open weekend with David and see him this week.

I think that's it for now. In the words of Paul Harvey, "That's the rest of the story."

Back by popular demand...

Ok, well, maybe not popular. There was only one person who ragged on me about not updating my blog.

I was home this week and was given a stern (I use the term loosely) talking-to by Aunt Cheryl for not posting nearly often enough - and not being detailed enough! She had read my blog and was still not aware that I was going to be home - and made sure that I knew the last time I posted was a week ago.

Thus, this is my attempt to make an effort to post on a more regular basis. Here's an update from the past couple of days:

1. I still totally dislike Stella on Project Runway. I was able to catch up with last week's episode and she is still going on about leather. Does everything have to be biker-chic and rock and roll? Oh, and Blaine doesn't know what the Yellow Submarine is? I don't care if he is younger than Tim Gunn - did he grow up in a freakin' cave (or perhaps a tanning bed)? Who doesn't know the Beatles, honestly? Maybe the artificial rays from the tanning bed are starting to go to his head...
2. Flying into Lincoln, Neb., at 10:15 Sunday night and finding out that your bag didn't actually meet you there is not fun. Especially when you have to leave again on another trip the next day. Fortunately for me, the idiots who didn't put my bag on the plane in Chicago Sunday night were apparently blessed with a spark of momentary intelligence and got it on the flight first thing Monday morning, so my bag (and all of my belongings) were able to accompany me to Oklahoma.
3. I'm in Oklahoma (see above). The 8-hour drive down from Nebraska wasn't bad, and I actually enjoyed the scenery. I'm looking forward to my week here (collecting testimonials for work) and will try to take some extra pictures to post up here.
4. Don't be fooled - inflatable water slides aren't just for gradeschoolers. You might have seen them before - a giant, inflatable slide with water spraying from the top - specially made for kids ages four to ten or so. Now, imagine, if you will, four adults (again, I use this term loosely) playing on a giant inflatable water slide. David, Janell, Brian and I remembered just how much fun they could be on Sunday afternoon as we took turns launching each other off the slide and into the pool of water at the bottom. And, to enhance the mental picture forming in your brain, think of my David sitting at the top of the water slide and my cousin Brian (big six-foot-five, 250 pound fire-fighter Brian) running from a short distance and jumping on the back of the slide to fling David off the top of it. The answer is yes - it is just as funny as you imagined.
5. My good friend Greb will be returning home at the end of this month! Her halo is gone and she is now sporting an ever-so-sexy C-Collar. She's up walking around (and promising to be walking by herself at our wedding) and impressing the heck out of all of her doctors. David and I went to visit her on Saturday and she just looks absolutely fabulous. I can't wait to be able to visit her at home.
6. It's time for the official countdown. That's right, people. At the end of this week, the wedding will officially be only three months away - official freak-out time. I have this whole list of things that I said to myself I didn't really need to do until the wedding was about three or four months away - well, I'm there now and I still don't have them done. Yikes.

I think that's it for now. That's my life in a nutshell for the past couple of days. And, Aunt Cheryl, I'm going to try really, really hard to post more often - just for you!

"Wise man once said, 'Know thyself.'"

"That man's name was Tater-Nuts!"

Are you confused? That quote - otherwise known as the funniest thing ever said in a television show - is from That '70s Show. I think the show is absolutely hilarious, but it's more than just that.

I'm fairly certain the characters are based on me and all of my friends. For instance: Donna and Eric. Anyone who knows David and I knows that we're just like Eric and Donna. I'm a giant lumberjack and David is smart and skinny. On top of that, our personalities are even similar. And, I could probably slate some of my friends to fit into the other characters on the show - but, I'll save that for later.

Aside from the character similarities, who can ignore fabulous quotes like these:

"We were goin' at it like rabbits that just got out of prison."
"When my time comes, I want to be buried face down - so you can all kiss my ass."
"If Pastor Dave comes over, we'll never get rid of him. He'll just go on and on about how great.....God......is."

Anyway...Where did May go?

The past few weeks at work have been pretty crazy with projects, meetings and traveling. I've been on the road a lot the past couple weeks - South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and next week, Oklahoma. In between all of those states and status calls, I apparently have just neglected to look at my calendar - well, any calendar for that matter.

Today, while I was working out of the Milwaukee office, I wandered into Jenny's office and glanced at the calendar and realized that summer - the ENTIRE summer - was gone. I'm not sure where it went - I'm thinking wormhole somewhere around mid-June - but, it sure is gone.

The good thing is, I've been home for the last couple of weeks and have been able to get a lot of stuff for the wedding done. Tomorrow, I need to run to Champaign to order my veil, then I need to head over to see the lady that is doing the alterations on my dress so she can get them started. Plus, it's been really nice to be able to spend some time with David and the rest of my family.

Better sign off for now. Wait, what's tomorrow? October?