Biking at the Wetlands. Don't get too close Jon!

I'm sorry that I hardly ever update this blog. The only reason you are viewing new photos is because of the persistence of my lovely friend, Whiteshoes. She stated in a recent phone conversation that she was so tired of seeing "Canoeing with my folks" and she was threatening to sabotage the blog. So...I posted a few more pictures, and will get more up here soon. There is lots to tell of all the happenings since the winter. My apartment is now pretty much completely furnished and comfortable. My parents came again over spring break with two family friends. Jon is doing well in his job and is now getting to work on projects he is more interested in. Right now he's taking a course in LEED certification (has to do with sustainable development and green building...I think). I am learning tons at my job, although I can't say I always love it. I am stretched on a daily basis though and am grateful for the opportunity to meet some of the families I deal with. Our biggest news is that we got engaged two weekends ago. Jon took me to Siesta Key and Sarasota - we had an awesome weekend and he surprised me with a proposal and a perfect ring. I'll post pictures of that weekend soon. And just recently, some of his family came to visit which was a lot of fun. Now we are busy planning our August wedding and constantly wondering why we didn't just elope! Anyhow, like I said -- I'll get around to more pictures soon. Thanks for staying loyal to a not-so-exciting blog!

Florida's Fun Fauna

We went to some springs a little north of Orlando to see the manatees. They are the grey blobs in the water. They don't look too exciting in the pictures but it was actually pretty neat to see them in the wild. There cool birds too, as well as an alligator here and there.

Gulf coast - near St. Petersburg

More pictures from my parent's FIRST visit back at New Years.

WE LOVE MICKEY!
Jon must be winning the game.
My favorite beach in Florida.
That sea monster is made of lego!

Canoeing with My Folks

Check out the youngster just chillin' on the turtle!




See the two little guys on the log? Mama wouldn't budge, even when Dad got kindof close and hit the canoe with his oar.

Our First Christmas -- Kinda lonely, but still Lovely

Presents - mostly from Jon's family.
Christmas Eve snacks.
Christmas Day dinner.

Shuttle Launch

Back in December (I think) we went to see the shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral. We showed up with about a thousand others for the scheduled lift-off, but because of a slight wind, they cancelled it and rescheduled for a couple nights later. We made the trek back out to the coast and were so thrilled we did - because the launch was one of the coolest "man-made" things we've ever seen. The pictures aren't great, but perhaps you can get the drift. The whole place lit up and it looked almost like day time. You could FEEL it in your feet. Awesome. There is supposed to be another one in March, which we're hoping to watch as well.

Our Houses

This is Jon's place. He lives in one half of a duplex with his roommate, Jason. Jason has all sorts of great stuff - top of the line cookware, awesome washer and dryer, and a huge flat-screen TV. Lucky for Jon.
And this is my house -- I live on the top. Thomas lives on the bottom with his dog Sam. They make me feel safe.

My Apartment

I secured an apartment by December. It has two bedrooms, all hard wood floors, and lots of space for little ol' me. One of the bedrooms is a "work room" -- it holds the old furniture we find on the side of the road while we fix it up. Actually, now that room is mostly empty because most of our projects are done. It's nice to have my own kitchen, too. Jon comes over every night after work for dinner. This is a picture of the first dinner in my apartment. As you can see, no table and chairs, but we made do. I also included a picture of Jon while he was trying to convince himself that he knew enough about electronics to fix a TV. Good try buddy. I think the day after this picture we went to circuit city and bought one.

Downtown Orlando

Jon and I both live in walking distance of Lake Eola. We walk or run here, go to the farmer's market, or sit in the grass and play cribbage. It's right in downtown Orlando. Nice birds, too.

A little bit longer

Okay, I know....sucking on the updates. I'm writing a midterm and a final tomorrow...so I promise PROMISE I'll update after that. Just putting this in here so the blog doesn't EXPIRE. Gasp! Imagine that. I keep telling Jon to update FOR me, but I guess he has other things to do.

Rice anyone???

While in Chicago for the weekend, we went to a Korean fair. They had a give-away, where you spun a wheel and the arrow would land on your prize. Well, we won a lot of rice. Allison won 20 pounds!

Nick, Ally and Lindsay's Birthday

Jon has triplet siblings, and this summer they turned 21. So we all met in Chicago, which was a central location for everyone at the time. In the afternoon, Jon's dad took us out in groups on a little sailboat on Lake Michigan. It was beautiful. Then, in the evening, we spent time down town and had a picnic dinner while listening to a symphony perform at Millenium Park.

Tigers Game

Once we went to Detroit to watch a Tigers game with a bunch of Jon's relatives. We had a suite, which is a pretty nice way to watch a baseball game. Free hot dogs, soda, air conditioning, and grandpa for company!

Grandparents

These are Jon's dad's parents -- they live in Grand Rapids and are some of the loveliest people I have ever met.

And this is Jon's mom's mom. She lives in Muskegon (also Michigan). She once introduced me to people at her church as Jon's fiancee. When I looked surprised, she said "well, close enough!". Cute.

Work....or Entertainment?

Anna, Gabriel & Luka

For my last two weeks in Ann Arbor, I babysat these three darlings full-time. They are from three different families. We had a great time together, although they completely wore me out.

The Heidelberg Project

Okay...so we're back-tracking a bit. These are photos from the Heidelberg Project in Detroit. While living in Ann Arbor, we'd go to Detroit from time to time to visit our friend Nate. Nate lives in the inner city and does work with the Navigators. Once, the three of us went to check out this project...done by some guy who lives on this street. It's his art. And it's pretty cool.

still alive

living in orlando.
still no job. no apartment. jon has both though, so that's swell.
will update sometime. just didn't want blog to become inactive.

News

Hi everyone!
I decided to post so that my blog wouldn't expire like Erika's did. I cannot upload pictures because I am using a library computer which doesn't allow me to. These are the only computers I have access to, so there won't be photos for quite a while yet. I'm sure you'll be okay.

So.....since "Ontario", Jon and I remained in MI till the end of August. I babysat three little kids for the last two weeks, and made some pretty good money. The kept me very busy 9 hours a day, and it was great to have a little cash flow. On September first, we moved to Chicago, where we have been shacking up in a little apartment just 2 miles west of the lake. We know it's not the most ideal situation, and we're both eager to get out of it. However, we're not quite sure what the next move should be. We got back from Florida yesterday cause Jon had a job offer from Orlando....so it's looking like we'll move there. But not 100% yet. So for the mean time...still just biding our time in Chicago. Money's running low though, so we gotta figure stuff out soon!

We've had a good time though. Jon's family lives really close, so we've been able to see a lot of them. He has several other good friends in the area as well. We've had fun exploring little neighborhoods in the big city, biking along the lake, and watching tons of LOST.

Orlando was fun. We were just there for three days. The first day we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and went on all the rides. There were absolutely no lines, so that was cool. The next day Jon met with the people at city hall, who he'd be working with, and then we explored the city a bit in our convertible rental car (what dorks! -- didn't cost any extra though, so how could we refuse???) and went swimming. And the third day, we drove around more and then hung out at the airport for 6 hours cause the rental car was due back and would've cost a ton to keep even for a few more hours. We had a great time though - sent eachother on a digital scavenger hunt. We walked around, looking for things the other person had to find, then came back and told them...then that person had to go and take pictures of the things with their phones. Funny when jon made me get "dutch butt" and I had to take a picture of someone's large rear end.

On Sunday, Willowcreek Chicago has their first service. So we're quite excited about that. that would be one of the downfalls about moving to Orlando....we were looking foward to that Church opening. Oh, but a plus about moving: I can't do midwifery in Illinois. I got into a masters program where I can do the course work via distance learning...but I wouldn't be able to do any of the clinical stuff here in Chicago. So ya, we should move, huh....

Anyhow...this is all for now. I'll try to keep this blog updated more. If we move to Orlando, PLEASE come visit.
Adios.