So last post (for most of you this will probably be mere moments after reading the last post, if you actually have been reading, and waiting for new posts could you leave a comment? I need a little acknowledgment) I said I would write a little more about Indiana, to fill in some of the blanks. And I totally will, I just have to mention that Erik got a job!!Which is pretty awesome for us. So thanks for all the prayers and good wishes. Now, on to Indiana.
When we lived in Indiana we lived pretty close to the ghetto. Now, some people will look at where we lived and say, "What do you mean near the ghetto, this looks like the ghetto to me!". To these people I say that you are mostly right. It was a little ghetto, but for the most part it could have been worse. I saw places where it was worse, where every other house was boarded up, but some of the boards had people sized holes in them, for homeless people, or they were drug traps or whatever. Or places where the parks were over grown because kids didn't play there. So by that measure where we lived was pretty nice. What put it over the top though was our neighbors.
Specifically one neighbor, Jimmy. Jimmy was the nicest guy you could ever meet. For example, there were some college kids who lived next to him, and he would drop by their place to make sure they had enough to eat, and if they didn't, he would give them dinner. He lent his vacuum to every family in the building who needed it. When we moved out and were getting rid of some of our stuff, including an old twin sized bed he knew exactly who needed one, and he helped to move out the old mattress and move in the new. When my niece visited, she was immediately family as well. Completely the epitome of a neighbor. I actually feel a little guilty as I am writing this, because I haven't spoken to him since we moved away. I keep meaning to call him but unfortunately I haven't.
I'm not as good a neighbor as him.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
It's only been 2 years...
Since my last post on this. That is MARKEDLY better than some of the entries I made in my journal (Confession time: I totally typed "posts I made" before I realised I was talking about pen and paper, not keyboard and internet tubes. Does that officially make me a nerd?) some of those posts were further apart. I guess I'm just not that awesome at keeping up with my journals/blogs.
So. News then. Let's see... last time I wrote Erik and I had just moved to Indiana. Which means that my not writing was truly laziness (I'll be honest again, it does have to do with the fact that my faithful readers topped out at about 2, so the drive to write wasn't there so much). I know it was truly laziness because i had quite a bit of time out there in Indiana (notice the past tense? Yes, we will get to that in a minute). See, Erik was almost always working. Now, I can hear you asking "But Jenny, isn't Erik a teacher?? Don't teachers work from about 8 to about 4:30?!". While this is usually the case, it isn't necessarily true when one is a teacher in the "Murder Capital of the U.S.", working for a charter school. So Erik worked and I was at home a lot, but not blogging and letting you guys (my 2 faithful readers) know what was going on. So I will sum up, yes?
We moved out there in August and got our apartment and met some people. We went to church and made some awesome friends there, the Goepferts. We lived in a place very near to the ghetto, if not actually in the ghetto, where we made some equally awesome friends, the Shorts (in particular Jimmy). Jimmy was our upstairs neighbor and he took care of us. erik went to work at 6:45 each morning, and left work around 7 each night. His students' parents were largely non-committed to their children's education which in turn made the kids not care much either. I stayed home and played the Sims 2 a lot, and Megan came to visit me in the winter and we had a good time. We went into Chicago a couple of times (mostly driving through on our way to other places) but mostly Erik was too tired/ stressed to do much other than hang out around home.
After Erik was not renewed at WGLCS he tried to find a newjob around the area we were in, but nothing happened there so we moved back in August of 2007.
One thing people often ask me is "How did you like the weather out there, wasn't it horribly hot (or cold, depending on the person)?" I will answer this question here: Yes, it was really uncomfortably hot there, from June to mid-September. However, the frequent rain/thunderstorms kept it interesting and very green. In the winter, yes it was very, very cold. I remember one night ( I think it was late January, or early February) Megan (my niece) and I called my friend, Ben, to let him know that it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit outside. While Megan was visiting we would often go outside and blow bubbles in the single-digit temperatures, because the bubble froze in mid air; when the bubbles landed they wouldn't pop, they'd crumple. Because of the difference in what I was used to, and the absolute beauty of the dark green foliage or the crisp white snowstorms, I really did love the weather.
When we moved back top Puyallup, WA in August '07 I was sad to leave Indiana. I would have loved to stay there for much longer. Thankfully Erik was able to get a job in the Puyallup School District, and he really enjoyed teaching this last year. It was such a nice change to have students who liked him and liked learning; or at least they'd tolerate learning.
This summer has been slightly unfortunate in that Erik has been looking for a job again. His contract with Puyallup last year was not a continuing contract, and so when his school needed to lighten it's numbers he was one of the ones who had to leave. Other than that we have had a great summer. Erik's brother Andrew got married to an awesome girl named Bobbi, we got a new dog (named Wrex), and we have been lucky enough to spend almost all of our time together, kind of making up for the lost time we had together in Indiana. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews and with his parents, so other than that little job thing, it's been a good time.
Erik has another job interview tomorrow, so we are anxious to hear good news back from that, I am planning on cleaning while he is interviewing, and that pretty much fills you in on our lives for the last little while. Hopefully I will be able to flesh out more of the details of Indiana and Puyallup in later entries, but I think this one is quite long enough.
So. News then. Let's see... last time I wrote Erik and I had just moved to Indiana. Which means that my not writing was truly laziness (I'll be honest again, it does have to do with the fact that my faithful readers topped out at about 2, so the drive to write wasn't there so much). I know it was truly laziness because i had quite a bit of time out there in Indiana (notice the past tense? Yes, we will get to that in a minute). See, Erik was almost always working. Now, I can hear you asking "But Jenny, isn't Erik a teacher?? Don't teachers work from about 8 to about 4:30?!". While this is usually the case, it isn't necessarily true when one is a teacher in the "Murder Capital of the U.S.", working for a charter school. So Erik worked and I was at home a lot, but not blogging and letting you guys (my 2 faithful readers) know what was going on. So I will sum up, yes?
We moved out there in August and got our apartment and met some people. We went to church and made some awesome friends there, the Goepferts. We lived in a place very near to the ghetto, if not actually in the ghetto, where we made some equally awesome friends, the Shorts (in particular Jimmy). Jimmy was our upstairs neighbor and he took care of us. erik went to work at 6:45 each morning, and left work around 7 each night. His students' parents were largely non-committed to their children's education which in turn made the kids not care much either. I stayed home and played the Sims 2 a lot, and Megan came to visit me in the winter and we had a good time. We went into Chicago a couple of times (mostly driving through on our way to other places) but mostly Erik was too tired/ stressed to do much other than hang out around home.
After Erik was not renewed at WGLCS he tried to find a newjob around the area we were in, but nothing happened there so we moved back in August of 2007.
One thing people often ask me is "How did you like the weather out there, wasn't it horribly hot (or cold, depending on the person)?" I will answer this question here: Yes, it was really uncomfortably hot there, from June to mid-September. However, the frequent rain/thunderstorms kept it interesting and very green. In the winter, yes it was very, very cold. I remember one night ( I think it was late January, or early February) Megan (my niece) and I called my friend, Ben, to let him know that it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit outside. While Megan was visiting we would often go outside and blow bubbles in the single-digit temperatures, because the bubble froze in mid air; when the bubbles landed they wouldn't pop, they'd crumple. Because of the difference in what I was used to, and the absolute beauty of the dark green foliage or the crisp white snowstorms, I really did love the weather.
When we moved back top Puyallup, WA in August '07 I was sad to leave Indiana. I would have loved to stay there for much longer. Thankfully Erik was able to get a job in the Puyallup School District, and he really enjoyed teaching this last year. It was such a nice change to have students who liked him and liked learning; or at least they'd tolerate learning.
This summer has been slightly unfortunate in that Erik has been looking for a job again. His contract with Puyallup last year was not a continuing contract, and so when his school needed to lighten it's numbers he was one of the ones who had to leave. Other than that we have had a great summer. Erik's brother Andrew got married to an awesome girl named Bobbi, we got a new dog (named Wrex), and we have been lucky enough to spend almost all of our time together, kind of making up for the lost time we had together in Indiana. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews and with his parents, so other than that little job thing, it's been a good time.
Erik has another job interview tomorrow, so we are anxious to hear good news back from that, I am planning on cleaning while he is interviewing, and that pretty much fills you in on our lives for the last little while. Hopefully I will be able to flesh out more of the details of Indiana and Puyallup in later entries, but I think this one is quite long enough.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Indiana-nans
It's a little bit like banana, where you first go "bana" nope not enough "na"s so then you go "bananana" nope too many. It takes some practice.
But, YEAH! I live in Indiana now. It is really cool here (not cool as in BRRR, not yet anyways) and things are neat!! We live in a decent apartment i.e. there is enough space but the dishwasher is crap (making me the new dishwasher) and the maintenance guys are slllooowww to get anything done. But our neighbors are super nice. Our one neighbor upstairs is awesome, he says he doesn't think Taz counts as a dog, yet he brings him bones and cows ears and all kinds of things. So now Taz thinks ALL black people want to give him food. Except that doesn't really work with the black kids, they are scared of him. Which is sad, because once he senses their fear he gets uppity and that scares them more. It is a vicious cycle.
So yeah, we love it here and I will apologize in advance but I don't foresee us moving back to WA. Sure it is beautiful, but it is beautiful here too.
In other news we bought a car. We had to leave my little Ford up in WA so we bought a replacement. We are super excited because we will probably be getting it in mid-October, in plenty of time for our trip to Louisiana.
What's that you say? Louisiana? Yeah, that is our destination for Thanksgiving. I get to go to Louisiana! I never (seriously, never thought we'd be able to go) thought I'd be going to Louisiana, even for a couple days. Yet another reason I like it here, it is a lot closer to those places I'd like to visit, but doubted I'd ever be able to, like Louisiana and NYC and Chicago.
Haven't been to Chicago yet. We were supposed to be going this weekend, to meet up with Erik's friend Atom, but we had to adjust our plans. So another time for Chicago.
Anywho, that is what is going on with us. We are here, we luurrve it, and come visit sometime!!
But, YEAH! I live in Indiana now. It is really cool here (not cool as in BRRR, not yet anyways) and things are neat!! We live in a decent apartment i.e. there is enough space but the dishwasher is crap (making me the new dishwasher) and the maintenance guys are slllooowww to get anything done. But our neighbors are super nice. Our one neighbor upstairs is awesome, he says he doesn't think Taz counts as a dog, yet he brings him bones and cows ears and all kinds of things. So now Taz thinks ALL black people want to give him food. Except that doesn't really work with the black kids, they are scared of him. Which is sad, because once he senses their fear he gets uppity and that scares them more. It is a vicious cycle.
So yeah, we love it here and I will apologize in advance but I don't foresee us moving back to WA. Sure it is beautiful, but it is beautiful here too.
In other news we bought a car. We had to leave my little Ford up in WA so we bought a replacement. We are super excited because we will probably be getting it in mid-October, in plenty of time for our trip to Louisiana.
What's that you say? Louisiana? Yeah, that is our destination for Thanksgiving. I get to go to Louisiana! I never (seriously, never thought we'd be able to go) thought I'd be going to Louisiana, even for a couple days. Yet another reason I like it here, it is a lot closer to those places I'd like to visit, but doubted I'd ever be able to, like Louisiana and NYC and Chicago.
Haven't been to Chicago yet. We were supposed to be going this weekend, to meet up with Erik's friend Atom, but we had to adjust our plans. So another time for Chicago.
Anywho, that is what is going on with us. We are here, we luurrve it, and come visit sometime!!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
Okay today I am overwhelmed. It just hit me that there is SO much to do and very very little time in which to do it. Want a quick list? (Of course you do, you don't have anythin better to do do, do you ?) {BTW if you haven't heard, or it hasn't sunk in yet, Erik and I are planning on moving to Indiana ASAP, considering he gets the job of course}
Not to mention that Erik is flying to Indiana on Monday for his interview. We like to leave for the airport from Puyallup because it's closer and I'll just stay with his parents while he's gone so we don't have to drive 3 hours, just one. So there is today (which I am wasting by writing this haha), Friday (but we have to take Taz to the vet and buy Erik some clothes for his interview) Saturday (friends coming by to watch the World Cup, who knew soccer was so cool?!) Sunday (church and leave for Puyallup) and then our house is on the market by next Wednesday. So I have no clue when I am going to do the cosmetic stuff that our house needs. Probably Friday night and Saturday morning. Sounds like fun huh?
Actually it almost is. In a sick way. I am busy, there is a goal and some pressure, and I still have time to write blogs that no one reads!!
So wish us luck, light candles, pray to whomever, throw some karma our way, whatever you do to sway things in our favor. We could use the assist!
- Paint- I have to not only paint some of the walls, I have to find out what color the walls are, cause I am way to cheap/poor/lazy to buy a new color of paint and repaint every wall. This means I either have to call the company that built my house and ask them to look it up, or (and this is more realistic) look at the icky dirty GARBAGE FILLED can of primer/paint the buillder left in our garage (Yeah, no, seriously, don't leave the extra paint that's fine. I'd rather have some garbage if you have any.)
- Clean- I actually have a good start on this but once again I have alot of other stuff I have to do too and not a good work ethic to do it with. I have gotten the kitchen done. That is it. I still have to do the bathrooms (ick) and the closets and the garage (ick, ick, ick). The garage is horrible. Seriously. There is an oil spot on the floor not to mention all the junk that got moved in there because of space issues. But worst of all is the bugs. Yeah, I said it. There are bugs in my garage. Spiders mostly. Spiders and their webs and the bugs they've already eaten. It is seriously gross. Thankfully my Mother-In-Law has a pressure washer so my game plan is basically to blow them out with our blower, and then spray whatever is left. I will probably have to refine that.
Not to mention that Erik is flying to Indiana on Monday for his interview. We like to leave for the airport from Puyallup because it's closer and I'll just stay with his parents while he's gone so we don't have to drive 3 hours, just one. So there is today (which I am wasting by writing this haha), Friday (but we have to take Taz to the vet and buy Erik some clothes for his interview) Saturday (friends coming by to watch the World Cup, who knew soccer was so cool?!) Sunday (church and leave for Puyallup) and then our house is on the market by next Wednesday. So I have no clue when I am going to do the cosmetic stuff that our house needs. Probably Friday night and Saturday morning. Sounds like fun huh?
Actually it almost is. In a sick way. I am busy, there is a goal and some pressure, and I still have time to write blogs that no one reads!!
So wish us luck, light candles, pray to whomever, throw some karma our way, whatever you do to sway things in our favor. We could use the assist!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Hoooo!!!
Wow, lots and lots has happened. I'll start with the small stuff, work my way up. Tonight I watched Dukes of Hazzard. That movie was terrible. Maybe even the worst movie I have ever seen. that doesn't mean it doesn't have its moments, but I think that Johnny Knoxville is a better actor than Sean Williams Scott. Cuter too.
Then last night I saw Boondock Saints. That movie ROCKED. It was really good. Kind of a little Guy Ritchie/Snatch feel. If you get a chance to watch it, and you don't mind cussin' and Irish and blood watch it. Buy it, even.
Night before last was The Ringer. That movie was surprisingly good. Sure "mentally challenged" people still creep me out a little, but it was funny and ended well. And Johnny Knoxville did a good job in that one too. Not Oscar material, but not that bad either.
The reson we're watching so many movies lately is Erik's got a kid in his class from one of those "no TV" families, the kind that buys every movie ever made rather than pay for cable. I've never understood that, seems like paying for cable might be cheaper, but that's just me.
Okay, now for the big guns. Erik and I are hoping to move. That's right. We love Camano Island and all but holy crap it is totally expensive. Where are we hoping to move to, you ask? Indiana. Yeah that's right, I hear your gasps. But we ain't moving there because it is cool, or anything. It's just cheaper. Erik gets paid the same and things are cheaper, yadda yadda yadda. Anywho, that's it for me.
Then last night I saw Boondock Saints. That movie ROCKED. It was really good. Kind of a little Guy Ritchie/Snatch feel. If you get a chance to watch it, and you don't mind cussin' and Irish and blood watch it. Buy it, even.
Night before last was The Ringer. That movie was surprisingly good. Sure "mentally challenged" people still creep me out a little, but it was funny and ended well. And Johnny Knoxville did a good job in that one too. Not Oscar material, but not that bad either.
The reson we're watching so many movies lately is Erik's got a kid in his class from one of those "no TV" families, the kind that buys every movie ever made rather than pay for cable. I've never understood that, seems like paying for cable might be cheaper, but that's just me.
Okay, now for the big guns. Erik and I are hoping to move. That's right. We love Camano Island and all but holy crap it is totally expensive. Where are we hoping to move to, you ask? Indiana. Yeah that's right, I hear your gasps. But we ain't moving there because it is cool, or anything. It's just cheaper. Erik gets paid the same and things are cheaper, yadda yadda yadda. Anywho, that's it for me.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Yay!!
Now I don't usually give shout outs to other blogs (no, I want to keep you all to myself) but this is really, really clever.
This Day In Mythstory
This Day In Mythstory
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
I'm Tired Already...
So the summer is starting to shap up for me, (earlier than usual) and it is looking pretty busy. Just so's you all know.
May (this counts because it is warm fairly consistently): Erik goes to Outdoor Education Camp. I am lonely for about 4 days. But maybe Adrianne will be here for some of that time, so at least I have something to look forward to.
June: School lets out for the summer! This means being lazy with another person!!
July: Friends will visit from Utah. How ever, these people are not Utards, they are nice and normal. Then we go on a short vacation to Fort Flagler. That place is quite awesome, some of my favorite times ever have been spent there.
August: A road trip :) to Utah :( Not that Utah isn't cool and everything (it isn't), but it's for a family reunion, and not my family either, Erik's family. So could be worse.
Tail end of August, start of September: Andrew comes home from Korea! Seems like it is so soon, but it isn't really.This is cool because I like Andrew, he is funny and nice, but not so cool because I hate being present when people are fawning over someone, and believe you me, there will be fawning (is fawning what happens when a deer gives birth? I would hate that too.).
So that is what I am doing this summer. It is one of the busier summers I can remember, usually my summers are just like the school year, only there is way more complaining (from me) about how hot it is. I live in WA and apparently can't handle the heat.
May (this counts because it is warm fairly consistently): Erik goes to Outdoor Education Camp. I am lonely for about 4 days. But maybe Adrianne will be here for some of that time, so at least I have something to look forward to.
June: School lets out for the summer! This means being lazy with another person!!
July: Friends will visit from Utah. How ever, these people are not Utards, they are nice and normal. Then we go on a short vacation to Fort Flagler. That place is quite awesome, some of my favorite times ever have been spent there.
August: A road trip :) to Utah :( Not that Utah isn't cool and everything (it isn't), but it's for a family reunion, and not my family either, Erik's family. So could be worse.
Tail end of August, start of September: Andrew comes home from Korea! Seems like it is so soon, but it isn't really.This is cool because I like Andrew, he is funny and nice, but not so cool because I hate being present when people are fawning over someone, and believe you me, there will be fawning (is fawning what happens when a deer gives birth? I would hate that too.).
So that is what I am doing this summer. It is one of the busier summers I can remember, usually my summers are just like the school year, only there is way more complaining (from me) about how hot it is. I live in WA and apparently can't handle the heat.
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