Welcome...

...to the first meeting of slackers anonymous. That's right - I'm the president and I'd like to welcome you to our (my) first meeting.

I've been slacking on the blog and I know it. My apologies. Because it has been a while, I can't think of a better place to start than with a little update:

1. Lonelytown, population 1.

That's me. David has been in Illinois for 10 days, and I am certainly ready for him to come home. He left last Wednesday to spend a few days at home, then he and his dad headed down to Shawnee National Forrest for a week of camping. Of course, Southern Illinois isn't exactly known for it's exceptional cell phone reception, so it has been nearly a week of little to no communication. Yep, I'm ready to have my husband home again.

2. Home is where the heart is.

Even though David left for home on Wednesday, I had to hold out until Friday. I took off a few hours early on Friday and made the eight hour drive home for the long weekend. It was so nice to be able to spend a few days at home with nothing to do. Well, I guess that's not completely true. Janell had a couple of jobs lined up for me when I got home. She wanted to wash and clip Buck and then take some new pictures of him for our farm ads.


Of course, I had already planned on taking LOTS of pictures while I was home (and I did - if you would like to see them all, log on to Facebook and check them out), but it was nice to get a horse out and mess with him.



Sunday, I spent a good portion of the day visiting with Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Don. I also drove down to the farm to see Nancy, Cheryl and Ted. It was so nice to be able to catch up with everyone. I also spent some time riding. Mom mentioned that there were a couple of young horses that needed ridden, but wanting to be able to return to Nebraska in one piece, I just rode Lucky. I thought my chances of staying in one piece would be best with Lucky.





3. No, I'm not pregnant.

So, I got home from, well, home, late Monday night. Of course, I had to get up the next morning and head to work. As I was sitting at my desk talking on the phone, I took my shoes off and pulled my foot up to rest it on the opposite leg. I looked down and saw that BOTH of my ankles and feet were extremely swollen.

My left ankle had been hurting - for no reason really - but, for both of my ankles to be swollen was really weird. I called mom to ask her if that had ever happened to her before, and of course, she had to ask the question: "Now, Rachel, I'm going to ask you a question. Are you pregnant?" To which I responded, "Nooooooooo Mmmmoooooooooommmm." The follow-up, "Are you sure??" The final answer, "Yyyyeeeesssss Mmmmmmooooooommmm."

I have no idea what was going. Three days later, my feet and ankles look much better. They're still a little swollen, but much less than before - I can at least get my feet into my shoes. The plan is to ask my endocrinologist about this strange occurrence at my next appointment next Saturday.

4. I might be the coolest person you know.

This is why I love my job: One of the girls I work with sent me an email today to let me know that we had a new testimonial lead to add to our list. This lady, Mrs. Brooks, lives in Tennessee and uses our products frequently. So, we may take a trip down to Tennessee to interview Mrs. Brooks about how much she likes our products.

Mrs. Brooks is married to Mr. Brooks. Mr. Kix Brooks - of Brooks and Dunn. Yep that's right. I might get to see their house and interview Kix Brooks' wife. I might be the coolest person you know.

5. We love visitors!

Looks like we're going to have more visitors headed out to see our place. Grandma Margie and Grandpa Dick called a couple of weeks ago and said they would like to make the trip out - the following weekend (which was Memorial Day weekend). I told them that the middle of June would work much better, but we still had to run through all of the weekends leading up to the middle of June. After all of that, it turns out that the middle of June really does work best. The circus begins the 13th.

6. I'm racking up the mileage.

I can't wait - next weekend, I'm headed to Waterloo, Iowa, to visit my four favorite boys. That's right, the legendary 2003-2004 Illinois Association FFA major officer team will be reuniting for one fabulous weekend. I can't wait to see my boys and catch up.

The following week, I'm headed to Oklahoma and Northern Texas for a few testimonial interviews for work. I love that area and I can't wait to go back.

7. There MAY BE light at the end of the tunnel.

David applied for a job with a newspaper in Beatrice (about 45 minutes south of Lincoln) a couple of weeks ago and finally heard this week that they would like him to come in for an interview. He's supposed to notify his supervisor that he is interested in the job - because both papers are owned by the same company - and then drive down to Beatrice for an interview on Wednesday. Pray, cross your fingers, work your voodoo - do whatever it is you have to do - to ensure that David gets this job.

Well, after that novel of a post, I think you should all know EVERYTHING that is going on with David and I. I'll try to keep you all posted - hopefully a little more frequently - with what's going on.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

And we have another one to add to the list...

No, not the "I love these things" list. This time, I'm adding to the "Things I don't so much like about Nebraska" list.

It has been a while since I've added to this list, so if you need a refresher it's understandable. Check this out for a complete listing of all things I dislike about Nebraska: http://racheltorbert.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

Now that you've taken a little trip down memory lane, here's the latest addition. And, here's the kicker - I'm not adding this to the bottom of the list. No, this item has the distinct honor of now being No. 1.

Drum roll please....

1. Vehicle registration renewal.

Now, I know many of you are thinking the same thing: "Dude, I hate that, too, and I don't even live in Nebraska."

Well, my lucky Illinois friends, when you pay to renew the registration on your vehicles, you probably pay about $85.00 - if you're driving car. Here in Nebraska, they come up with a total based on how new your car is and several other factors. Which means, the grand total for Rachel is $359.00.

That's right, $359.00.

I think I'm going to get up early tomorrow and pay that @%#*$&% thing, but trust me, I'm not going to be happy about it. I can't believe I have to pay that much in registration - every stinkin' year!

Deep breaths....

Okay, on to something else. A couple of days ago, Aunt Cheryl sent me some pictures that really does prove the old saying, "Home is where the heart is."

A few months back, Grandpa Don finally bought something he had wanted for a long time - a team of Halflinger ponies. And, apparently, now that the weather is warm, he is taking full advantage of his new mode of transportation.






I'm hoping that I can make it home at the end of May for the Memorial Day holiday because I would love to be able to witness this for myself. However, I'm trying to get a trip planned for work at the end of May, and I'm just not sure I'm going to be able to work all of this travel out in a way that is efficient and won't kill me with all the driving I'm going to have to do. I guess we'll just have to see.

In other news, you'll all be happy to know that I have finally been able to stick to my workout program. For the past three weeks, I've worked out nearly every day, running between two and four miles and lifting weights. Now, to look at me, you wouldn't be able to see any difference, but I sure do feel good.

Other than that, David and I don't really have anything new and exciting to report. The job market still sucks and David is still working for the paper - hoping to find something - anything - full time.

But, David has the night off tonight, so we're going to curl up on the couch and watch some Deadliest Catch. Speaking of which, I think I have just enough time to jump in the shower before it starts....

Yours truly,

Needled in Nebraska
(A.K.A. - the Nebraska DMV is on my shit list)

"Tell me something, Norm. If you were a hotdog, would you eat yourself?"

"I know I would. I'd cover myself in mustard and hot relish - I'd be so delicious!"

All of you SNL fans out there will know who that is - Will Farrell playing Harry Caray. After going to the Cubs game at Wrigley this past Saturday, I just couldn't help but put that quote up here.

It was wonderful to go home this weekend and have a chance to catch up with everyone and do a few fun things. David and I got home Friday night and spent the night at my house catching up with mom and Janell then we got up at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday (4:40 a.m. to be exact) to make the drive up to Metamora and meet Greb and Stephen to drive up to Wrigley for a Cubs vs. Marlins game. And, I have to say, my first Wrigley experience did not disappoint.

We got to Wrigley a little later than we wanted to, so there weren't any bleacher seats left. Lucky for us, we were able to find a great place to stand and watch the game. There weren't really any people in front of us and the sun was shining to make it nice and warm.

At the bottom of the 5th inning, some guy stopped where we were standing to watch the game. He stood right next to me (as in his shoulder touched my shoulder) and I thought to myself, "I know that guy...I know I've seen him somewhere." In my head, I was thinking he had to be from a TV show or something, but for the life of me, I couldn't understand why a TV star would be standing in the bleacher seats at a Cubs game.

Five minutes later, a girl walked up to the man and said, "Oh my gosh - I'm such a big fan of yours - can have my picture taken with you?" To which the man said, "Of course."

At this point, I knew he had to be on TV. However, when I got David (Mr. TV nerd himself - seriously, this kid could watch a show once and pick the star out in a different show or movie ten years down the road) he said he thought the guy was just a regular guy and didn't recognize him. So, for the next hour, I was completely irritated because I knew I had seen this guy on TV but I couldn't place him. Finally, after an hour of being completely annoyed, Stephen said, "Oh man, you're right - that guy is on TV. I think he's on The Big Bang Theory on CBS."

But, since we still weren't sure, David manned up and went over to a man that had taken a picture with the TV star in question and asked him point blank, "Hey - that guy that you took a picture with - is he famous?" Thus, our Big Bang Theory was confirmed. That's right, kids - I rubbed shoulders with an honest-to-God TV star. In fact, it was this guy right here...

To top it all off, the Cubs won, making it an all-around beautiful day. After the game, we headed home - completely exhausted!

Sunday, I got up early to go out and take some pictures of the latest Baum's Hilltop Farm babies - and boy are they cute! We have five on the ground right now and are expecting a few more. Unfortunately, my pictures didn't turn out too well for some reason. But, I'm thinking I might go back home at the end of the month because we'll have a long weekend with the Labor Day holiday.

Janell and I also headed over to Grandma Shirley's and Grandpa Don's to visit for a little while, but found out they had headed to Decatur to run errands. So, we headed over to Ted and Cheryl's and chatted with them for awhile. Then, I headed into to David's for lunch with his family and back home to see Grandma and Grandpa (Grandma left me a message that sounded like she was so disappointed to have missed Janell and I that I knew I had better stop by before David and I made the trip back home).

David and I finally headed West at around 4 p.m. With eight hours to drive, that put us home around midnight and we were both beat - especially after spending what seemed like the entire weekend in a car.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and felt great to be able to spend a little bit of time at home. I'm actually looking forward to the end of the month in hopes that I can make the trip again.

I suppose that's it for tonight - you know me, I can't spend too much time on the computer - it's Deadliest Catch night. Oh, Mike Rowe....

I love chicken.

I know what you're thinking. My list of loves is becoming quite lengthy (and, after that sentence, perhaps I should add alliteration), but I simply can't help it.

Of course, chicken isn't going to be near the top. The upper echelons are home to David, Mike Rowe, the smell of rain on a summer night, dirty emails from my mom (yes - the General forwards those emails that you know you're not supposed to laugh at but do anyway) and letters from Grandma. I mean, honestly (and those of you that have lived with me or are related to me know the answer to this) - how could chicken ever surpass a letter from Grandma Shirley?

"Hey kid. How's Nebraska? Watching any basketball? Boy, I sure hope those Illini win their next game. We got lots of rain this week. Grandpa's leg is feeling better. We're going to Iowa for that horse sale next weekend. What kind of pans do you use when you cook?"

Notice, there are no paragraph breaks. But, back to chicken. I grew up on a farm, and have always had an appreciation for production agriculture and the agriculture industry in general. But, I grew up with horses and dairy cattle, so most would think my favor would lean toward milk. Don't get me wrong, milk is wonderful. But, somewhere on my list between comfy underwear that maintain elastic instead of sagging and a worn out pair of square-toed boots, chicken has found a place on my love list - and for a couple of very good reasons.

First and foremost, David and I aren't exactly rich, so chicken has become a staple of our diets - mostly because we can only afford to look at steaks at the grocery store. But, that's okay because you can do anything with chicken. Think back to Bubba's explanation of shrimp in Forrest Gump and you can pretty much do everything to chicken that he lists when describing his love for shrimp ("Forrest, have you ever been on a shrimp boat?" "No, but I've been on a really, really big boat..." Sorry. Had to.). "You can bake it, broil it, boil it, saute it, barbecue it..."

Second, but equally as important, chickens produce eggs. And, as I told my husband this evening, I sure am glad they do because if we didn't have eggs, I wouldn't have anything to feed him. David loves breakfast - most often for supper - and eggs are always a staple of breakfast/supper. Not to mention they come in handy around Easter time when it's time to hard-boil three dozen eggs and hide them around the yard. Perhaps you can now understand my love for chickens.

In order to keep things even, though, I must add a couple of items to my "I don't really love these things" list.

Right now, these things would be the door frame to our bathroom and my knee. And yes, those things are somewhat of a joint item right now. All you need to know is that my knee, courtesy of the the door frame, is swollen up like a balloon and this means that I have not been able to get my normal two-mile-run-a-day in. This I do not love.

David can hear me typing in here and just wondered aloud, "How much can you really write about chicken?" I can't think of much more, so I suppose he's right. But remember, when you go to sleep tonight...

...thank God for chickens. And, ask him to make my knee feel better and to keep the bathroom door frame from attacking it again....

Bring it on!

I look out my windows here in Nebraska and the trees are starting to bloom (well, the ones that do, in fact, bloom) and the grass is greening up. I can FEEL spring...BRING IT ON, MOTHER NATURE!

And, of course, spring also means it's that time again. No, not time to get outside and work in the yard. It's time to sit inside on Tuesday nights and watch Deadliest Catch.

You're all all well aware of my love affair with Mike Rowe. Of course, I love to watch Dirty Jobs - I have never seen someone with such perfect comedic timing! But, one of my favorite things about Mike Rowe isn't his looks or humor - it's that voice. Yummmmmmmyyyy. And, who else would narrate Deadliest Catch but Mike Rowe. What can I say - it makes my life happy. Plus, I think this is going to be a kick-ass season.

Stop complaing. I don't care if you don't love Mike Rowe as much as I do. I'm obsessed. I've come to terms with it and it doesn't bother me anymore.

In other news, David and I finally parted with a few extra dollars and rented some movies (and yes, it was like prying the pacifier out of a crying baby's hand). Anyway, we rented several movies, among them was Fireproof.

Most of you that know me know that I'm a fairly religious person. Well, that isn't correct - my faith is very important to me - I don't think religious is ever the right word because it can mean way too many things. That being said, Fireproof is a movie that focuses on mending a broken marriage through faith and keeping God at the center of your relationship. But, even with that, we thought it was a great movie and one that every married couple should watch. Fireproof really doesn't pull any punches - it comes right out and shows you just how nasty a marriage can get. But, it also shows how rewarding and carefully maintained marriage can be. Apart from the not-so-great acting in the first few minutes of the movie, it gets four thumbs up from us.

Coming right up (in the next two weeks in fact), David and are I going to be making the journey home. Like usual, we'll plan to be home sometime late on Friday night and then on the road again early on Saturday morning - headed up to Chicago for the Cubs-Marlins game. I've been to a major league game, but this will be my first Wrigley experience and I'm so excited!

We hope to be home again sometime Saturday evening. I'm hoping the weather is nice because I am just dying to go home and have a few hours to shoot some pictures at home. We have some new babies on the ground and I can't wait to get the pictures - and practice my photography a little. Living here in town isn't exactly a great way to get the shots that I like.

I think that's all the news for now (I know - we're super-duper exciting). Hope you all have a great week!

Go Cubs Go!

BIIIIIGGGG DEVELOPMENT: David and I are so excited! We have officially made plans to head home the weekend of May 2 to watch some baseball. That's right, David and I are going to be cheering on the Cubs at Wrigley Field - and I just can't wait. I've never been to Wrigley and David hasn't been in about six years, so it's going to be fun to be able to spend Saturday afternoon at the ballpark. Of course, I'll be sure to post some pictures...

Speaking of pictures - we finally got our wedding pictures today! The album looks wonderful, but we also got a CD of all of the pictures that were taken at the wedding and you know what that means - they're going up on the blog and Facebook. So, for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure depending on the picture...)

Of course, there are about 812 more, but I didn't want to upload that many pictures. The point of the story is, if you would like a copy of one, please let us know. As I said we have all of them on a CD and I would be more than happy to send you copies.

Oh Mother Nature....

...You are such a freakin' tease!

Alright. I consider myself to be a fairly level-headed person, but I have to say, this weather has me hanging on by a thread!

Last week, I headed to Milwaukee for work. I flew home on Friday to BE-A-UTIFUL weather in Omaha. And, because David didn't have to work and the night was still young, we decided to drive on to Des Moines to visit David's sister. By the time we headed home on Saturday afternoon, the weather got all PMS-sy on us and changed its mood. David and I drove home, right into several severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings. But, of course, mother nature - never happy with her work - changed it up one more time. By Monday, it was 20 degrees outside and very, very windy. Tomorrow, we're looking forward to 65 degree weather.

So, to Mother Nature I say this: "Quit being such a woman and make up your damn mind! I want to wear flip-flops already!"

To all my ladies out there - my apologies for the above statement. But, to be fair, you know it's true.

Anyway, on to the update in the ever-exciting saga that we call David's and Rachel's life. As I said earlier, I just got home from a trip to Milwaukee. It was wonderful to see everyone up in the "big office" and to be able to put some additional faces with names. Working in a remote office is wonderful, but it can also be difficult because you only have the opportunity to speak with your team on the phone - and not face to face.

I also have a revelation this week: I have been in Nebraska for almost an entire year! It's so hard to believe we've been here this long. I suppose, that could be because we like it here - well, I do at least. I'm sure David would enjoy it more if he had a full time job. I told him he just needed to listen to the news more because Nebraska was recently named the happiest state in the union. In fact, Janell passed a link on to me proving the point:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/rn=3906861&cl=12839723&ch=4226720&src=news

As Janell said, "Quit being a wimp and open the link - it's from America's most trusted news source - ABC!"

Anyway, David still didn't believe me...

But, things do seem to be looking up. Just today David told me that one of the guys he works with was just accepted to law school at Creighton in Omaha and will be leaving his job at the paper. David is hoping to land some of his steady writing jobs and possibly his beat with the Lincoln Saltdogs - Lincoln's independent minor league team. Talking about it this afternoon, he seemed very excited. And, of course, I'm excited for him! It's hard for me to watch David turn in resume after resume without any responses because I know how talented of a writer he is and how hard he works.

In other news - Easter is coming up and I'm ready to get my bake on! David and I really didn't plan to go home for Easter, mostly because it's a long trip home and because neither one of our families do anything special for Easter. So, we had originally planned to spend the weekend here at home, but since Tracie is now in Des Moines, we thought it would be nice to spend the holiday with her. After Denise found out we weren't coming home, but were heading to Tracie's, she thought she and John would just head up to Iowa, too.

And that just gives me an excuse to bake another cake! I'm thinking white two-layer cake with white icing and a raspberry filling...yum! We'll see how it goes - I've never made the raspberry filling.

Of course, the coming of Easter means it's also time to mark the six year anniversary of my Dad's passing. It's so hard to believe that it has already been six years since he died - sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday. But, I'm still looking forward to Easter. I'm not sure if it really was one of Dad's favorite holidays, but it always seemed like it was. I have so many memories of him helping us hunt for Easter eggs or pictures of us out in the yard all dressed up in our Easter dresses.

Hopefully, Easter will also mean the coming of spring weather. I'm ready for Mother Nature to stop being such a...well, you know the word I'm thinking of.