Some Exciting News

It has been awhile since I placed a post on here, things around here have been very busy. After mom left, I worked that week and then just relaxed during the following weekend. I needed to catch up on some sleep. Then I headed back over to Canada for some more corn and some very good peaches. Plus some peach jam, thank-you Aunt Amy. The day that I left Canada, I ended up getting a cold and spent the next week and weekend very sick. Five out of the ten girls at work were sick that weekend and we just kept passing it around. Not fun at all. No big plans for this weekend, except get ready to watch my Florida State Seminoles play against Clemson on Monday night. Okay so that was a quick update, now for the exciting news.

At work we have been doing these walks to win prizes each week. We have to walk at least five miles each week for the last eight weeks. At the end of each week have to submit our miles and they draw a winner for some of the small prizes. The grand prize was for a trip to Mackinac Island. Today I got a phone call from the hospital wanting to know if I would enjoy a trip, meaning I had won the grand prize. I won a two night stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island with breakfast and a five course meal included. Of course I am really excited, the hotel has the longest front porch in the United States, people pay just to walk on the front porch. I am going to wait until the changing of the leaves, which will not be too far away. Or I should say, going to see the colors, because that is what they call the changing of the leaves in Michigan. You can check out the hotel at www.grandhotel.com it is beautiful.

The second bit of news is that at the end of this next assignment (I will be staying in Michigan until December 14) I will no longer be traveling. I have enjoyed all the traveling that I have had the pleasure of completing over the last two years, but it is time for a little stability in my life. I have taken a job in Pinehurst, North Carolina and will starting at the beginning of the new year. I am really excited about this new opportunity in my life. I will be going to North Carolina in a few weeks to look at some house that my real estate agent has been emailing me about. This will be a pediatric position in a clinic and developmental center. If you know anything about Pinehurst, it is a golfing and horse community. So now I will have a place for people to come and visit me and a place for people to stay. I have known about this for sometime, but I wanted to let my family know what I was planning and I wanted things to move a little farther on before making this announcement. So please keep me in your prayers that the move happens safely and that I get the house that I really want to get. Well this has been a long post, so I better close out now.

P.S.: GO FLORIDA STATE!!!!!!

My Birthday Weekend

On Saturday, Mom and I went over to Portage, MI to see old friends Matt and Silvia Decker. Silvia even cooked me a birthday dinner, and put 28 candles on the cake. It was kind of hard to blow out because you could not get close enough because of the heat. How old are we getting?? This morning I got up at 4:30 to take mom to the airport for her to return to Florida. So today will be spent relaxing and taking it easy.

Trip to Canada

Grandma 80 with the great grandchildren. Christy was not in a good mood at the time.

On the Main of the Mist getting completely soaked.

I thought that this was a cool picture. Just so you realize, I was leaning out the back of the boat to get this picture. Plus it is ironic that the picture is of the Canadian flag in front of the American Falls.

One thing that we enjoyed while home was the first crop of corn for the season. Lauren really enjoyed trying to take the silk off the cob, but mainly she had fun throwing the cob to the dogs.

Josh was trying to look at the camera, but the sun was shining and it was very hot. Plus, those rain jackets make you even hotter then normal. At the end of the Maid of the Mist boat ride, we were so wet that we looked like we had taken a shower.

Christy was helping Grandma Ruth Ann make home made hamburgers. She got to smash the meat into patties. Let's just say, they were very thin burgers.

Times with Old Friends

So this past weekend I got to spend time with an old friend. I went over into central Michigan to visit Troy and Carrie McCaman. Carrie and I went to high school together in Hobe Sound and I was also in their wedding. This picture is of their boys, which were great fun for the weekend. They go as follow: Trenton (8 yrs), Tyrell (4 yrs), and Michael (6 yrs). Carrie and I spent the weekend getting caught up and talking about old times. I even got to a hold a gun for the first time, they are a hunting family. I do believe I will be receiving shooting lessons next time I am over there.

Border Crossing

Let me tell you about my experience this weekend with crossing the border. I left to go to Canada on friday night after working ten hours that day. I got to Port Huron and the bridge wait was an hour and a half long, so I got off and went to dinner. I was hoping that the traffic would get lighter and then I would go across, my plan did not work. So I ended up getting a hotel in Port Huron for the night and got up at 5:00 am to start out on saturday. No problems the rest of the way. I came back on sunday afternoon, because I needed to bring my car the the dealership again on monday morning. After driving from Stevensville all the way across to Sarnia and not stopping I got to the bridge. They held us from being able to pay the toll charge for about 10 minutes and then let us across. I ended up having to stop right at the international line and wait. Let me tell you that I really needed to go to the bathroom, two sodas after driving a number of hours was really becoming urgent. Finally after an hour waiting I got up to the booth. He looked at my plate (which is for FSU) and asked where it was from. I told him Florida and he said "No, the florida plate is a picture of the state." I explained that it was from the university that I attended. He looked my name up in the computer and then said, "Sara, what do you got for me." I handed him my green card. He then asks me to roll down my back window and looks in saying "Not much in here." His next question was what did I do for a living and after I told him, he then asked if I thought that he needed speech therapy. Next question is if he can see my ring that I wear. He wanted to know if it was a genuine black pearl and then informed me that it should be worth some money years down the road. And then he let me go, needing to really go the bathroom. Never once did he ask me my citizenship, purpose for the visit, why I was going to Michigan, nothing that they usually ask. How crazy was that.

Sore

So this weekend I did not have anything planned. I decided to go and get a massage. After you drive across the country, your arms and shoulders can be a little sore. So I went for a massage. I think that my mas sues had to take some aggression out on someone, so it was me. I like the deep tissue, but I have black and blue marks on my neck and shoulders. So when it was initially relaxing, I am now in pain. So here I sit, listening and watching church on the Internet and sitting in pain. That is all for now.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Okay, so I am a day late, but I was in Canada so I was unable to put a post up. We went to a barbecue that evening and got to watch some wonderful fireworks. Plus it was Canada's 140th birthday this year. Ty and I saw these hats at a store and thought that we needed to look festive. Oh, by the way, Happy 4th of July to all the Americans.