Folly Beach Jan. 2, 2009

Folly Beach Jan. 2, 2009

Getting tangled up in the leashes!

Wendy and Carly had a BLAST!

Relaxing for a moment.

Water was kind of chilly, but it didn't stop kids from running in and out of the water!

Playing "chase"

Folly Beach with Hayden and the girls

Look at pretty Wendy!

"Do you...."

Lots of fun pictures here of Wendy, Carly, and "mom."  Hayden came to visit over the holiday break and kind of on a whim took the girls to Folly Beach.  It wasn't the warmest day to have taken them, but still extremely tolerable.  The dogs had a blast and sand was embedded into their coats for the next day and a half.  Fortunately we got them good and tuckered out for the rest of the day!  There is still an impressive amount of sand in my car, which will be standard procedure come spring and summertime.  Can't wait!!

Christmas eve

Driving to Creekside - downtown Versailles, Ohio on Christmas eve

Vacant streets of Vtown, my old stomping grounds!

Mark, Marie and Caden at mom's Christmas eve

The little boo opening his gift!

What a cutie!!

Love this picture.  Look at his grin!!!

Getting sleepy....  :)

Christmas eve.  What an awesome night.  

First, I slept all day because of that crazy trip home, then got ready for the extended Francis gathering at the Vet's Hall in Russia, Ohio.  Everyone arrived around 3:30 and we did the usual drinking, eating, shouting, talking, etc. until dinner time.  Then the little ones opened their gifts and showed off their new toys from Santa.  I had a wonderful time talking to Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and Grandpa.  It's always so exciting to see how much the little ones have changed from the last family gathering, and to find out who is expecting!  We are an ever-growing family!

After the celebration wound down and we cleaned up our mess, Mark, Eric, and I went to mom's to celebrate our small family Christmas together.  It was great to hang at mom's and relax for a while, and we played a few games with the help of the super-gamers, Mark and Marie.  Caden was a hit, as always, being such a good baby and making everyone smile.  He loved staring at the Christmas tree and the bright colors on the wrapping paper, and also at any one of Mark's funny faces he made.  We spent some awesome, low-key quality time together that night which was wonderful and unfortunately a bit rare.  

After Mark, Marie and the baby left, Eric hit the road too, and I stayed at mom's for a few more days.  I ended up going to Creekdump (Creekside Bar and Grill in Versailles, OH) on a whim around midnight and caught up with lots of friends from home.  After the bar closed down a few hours later, several of us went to Roush's and extended the festivities well into the morning.  A fantastic time!!

Christmas day was spent lounging with mom through the morning, then we went to Grandma Schmidt's for a few hours for dinner.  Finally some quality time with my aunts and uncles on her side of the family!  I had missed the big Schmidt gathering because I was still taking final exams here in Charleston, so it was nice to catch up with a few of the aunts and uncles that could swing by.  I was able to wrap up Christmas Day night with fellow Vtowners too, which was great fun, as always.

More pictures from the 4-hour park on interstate 75.

Carly sleeping in a clothes basket

Watching a DVD before my laptop died, and Wendy standing guard, watching everyone congregate and smoke in the middle of interstate

Another of my little lamb-like alien-dog

The Trip Home - Christmas '08

ZERO mph on the trip from Lexington, KY to Troy, OH.   Parked in a construction zone for 4+ hours!

My favorite Christmas tree in Charleston.  This was a picture inside the tree of lights!

And another picture from far away!

The right half of the rainbow in Charleston just was I was leaving for home.

Annnnd the left half of the pretty rainbow!

Well, it's been a while!  Let's see, where shall I begin?  Finals were wrapped up with flying colors, I spent a full day cleaning and doing laundry, then hit the road for a little roadtrip back to Ohio.  I spent some wonderful quality time with my wonderful friend Shellee in Knoxville, then up to Lexington for a full day and a half.  I was able to stop into the Rupp Office to see friendly faces, then out to St. Joseph's East Hospital where Leslie was still inpatient, about to be discharged.  She and Ched welcomed their new baby boy on December 20th.  I was so thrilled to catch them before they left back to Morehead.  Micah Charles Crouse is a breathtakingly beautiful little boy with a full head of hair and adorable chubby cheeks.  I am so excited for the Crouse family that their little blessing is finally here.  What a miracle!

After a terrific day in Lexington, I went back to my house where April and the gals now live, and she and I got an awesome steak dinner at The Chop House, where I used to work years ago.  Food was great, saw some old faces from way back when, and hung with April for a while.  We went back to the house and watched a movie, and I slept on my old couch that used to be mom's, then mine, now April's.  She did a great job of decorating the house with all my holiday decorations I had left in the garage.  The house still feels like home, and I must admit I miss it a little bit.  :)

After an extremely loungey day the next day, I finally geared up to head to Ohio for Christmas.  December 23rd is a day that I am now destined not to travel on, simply because the trip always ends up being ridiculously long, one way or another.  Most of you know the Xmas travels of 2005, but this year was almost as absurd.  I left Lexington around 5 and managed to get to interstate by 5:45 or 6.  It took quite a while to get through downtown traffic, plus there was a constant drizzle and temperatures flirting around the 32-degree mark, making for potentially precarious driving conditions.  After cruising at a decent speed on interstate for 30+ minutes, the traffic began to dramatically slow down, then we were riding the breaks for a solid 20 minutes, finally coming to a complete stop.  I am usually relatively patient in bad traffic conditions, but when the "STOP" became "PARKED," then people began turning their cars off, I knew this was going to be a complete fiasco.  It turns out, the bridges crossing the Ohio river into Cincinnati were completely iced over and the police had shut down the bridges but did not give enough room for salt trucks to cross and do their job.  In the meantime, traffic was parked for 60+ miles southbound to Lexington, and I was right in the middle of the 2 cities in a construction zone.  There was no shoulder, median, or exit nearby, so the only option was to park and wait.  I watched a DVD Shellee had sent along with me until my laptop battery died halfway through the film.  Then I used every high-tech feature my blackberry has to communicate with the outside world for the next FOUR hours.  Finally, around 11pm traffic started moving again.  I pulled off at the first exit I came to and indulged in some Skyline Chili (awesome!!!), and continued home.  At about 1:30 AM, because of the crazy hours and unusual sleeping conditions the past few days, I was utterly exhausted and could not keep my eyes open.  I ended up pulling off and taking a "quick" nap in a Starbucks parking lot in West Chester (until my nap because a 3 and 1/2 hour slumber).  Finally around 4:30 or 5 AM I continued on, pulling into the driveway at dad's on Christmas eve just as he was leaving for work.  

For the record, I was in SHOCK each time I stepped out of my car.  It was 73 degrees when I left Charleston, and 25 when I reached Ohio.  Brrrr!!!

Post-Finals

Today is day 1 of post-final exams for the first semester of post-baccalaureate studies.  I'm not used to a weekday with "nothing" to do and no specific agenda, but I'm sure I'll keep busy throughout the day.  It's 9:00am though, and I am still in bed!  I can't believe it!  I slept in until about quarter after 8, and have since been watching my favorite news/morning show on FOX.  I'm extremely grateful for this moment of a little rest and relaxation. 

Lots more to talk about later, when my brain wakes up a bit.  :)

Writhing, livid, fuming...Pissed!

My favorite pair of $115 Dansko's, perfectly formed to my feet that I wear at least 3 times a week for class/work.

Not happy.

Guess what just got added to my list for Santa?!? >:(

Gobble Gobble

Left: Aunt Michelle and Caden;   

Below:  Maddie holding Caden, Liz holding Elle, and Ryan on the end!

Thanksgiving.  It was a looong drive and a fantastic trip overall.  Good thing I'm not much of a planner, because my original "plan" which I am almost guaranteed to deviate from at any given moment, didn't pan out as expected.  I was supposed to stay with Shellee in Knoxville at the half-way mark, but she had to drive back home to Kentucky last-minute, so instead of stopping Tuesday night for some rest and quality time with Shell, I powered up with some coffee and kept on goin'!  The drive was surprisingly great, especially through the middle of the night because there was little traffic to speak of.  (You can see below that Wendy and Carly travel well, alternating between the seat and the floorboard.)  I was definitely functioning on coffee (and a Red Bull late in the game), but also I think on adrenaline and the excitement of getting home.  I rolled into Mom's driveway right at 4am and stumbled up to bed.  My mind and body had every reason to be tired, but because of the excess caffeine consumption I stared at the ceiling of my childhood bedroom for another hour before falling asleep.  I woke up early, too - go figure - and spent a loungy, lazy morning with mom, before taking a noon-ish nap.  Later, Mark, Marie, and Caden came over for Thanksgiving on Wednesday night.  The food was terrific (Thanks, Mom!), and it was great to catch up with Mark, Marie, and of course the little guy.  What a good baby!!!

After dinner and some down-time, Mark, Marie and the baby went home and I drove to Sidney to meet Christy at...the Moose?!??  Thank the Lord for GPS because I had no idea where I was going.  At any rate, exhausted, sleep-deprived, and running on coffee, I made it there and visited with my former partner in crime for a while.  I successfully managed to discreetly pour my second Maker's and Coke in HER cup without her noticing (we were drinking the same thing), but she caught me on my 3rd drink which I had resisted in the first place.  I was driving, AND sleepy!  Regardless, the time visiting with Christy was great and grand as always, but always too short.  We've already powered up for Christmas, when there's more time to make the "rounds."

You can see a few pictures taken at Mom's, including one of the flat, vacant Ohio farmland, and the wide open yard, field, and woods behind the house.  It's so peaceful out there.  Actually, when I pulled up to the house on my 4am arrival, I sat for a minute and looked at the sky/stars - breathtaking!  I love that about growing up/living in the country.

Caden was such a good baby - almost 4 months old - being passed around to each family member.  Amanda was holding the little guy at the kitchen countertop, and at this point in the night he hadn't had much of a nap all day, and was still in good spirits.  So glad I got some quality time with the nieces and nephew!  You can see Maddie and Izzy on Thanksgiving day in their Holiday dresses, and baby Elle on the couch with her Mom and Dad (Ryan and Liz) in another picture.  After Thanksgiving "Lunch" on the extended Francis family size, Maddie and Izzy were extremely curious about my camera, so they did a little photography of their own!  (See below.)  The Francis Family Thanksgiving was HUGE, as always, and I caught up with lots of the aunts, uncles, and cousins, though there is never really enough time to talk to everyone.  I felt like I told the same blazing-fast story only to start all over again to the next family member that walked up.  Makes for lots of talking post-dinner!    Chatting, Spicy Bloody Mary's, and kids running wild, it was just another typical Francis get-together!  The exciting part was there were 4 pregnant family members there, and 4 babies under the age of 4 months.  Rapidly growing family!

More to come later, and my apologies for the disorganized photos.  My computer is...acting up?  I don't know.  Something needs fixed on the ole laptop, but I'm not about to tend to it until after finals.  Check back for more photos later, and enjoy!

Aunt Amanda and the little guy
Caden gets a little cat-nap in the car.

 

PHOTOS:

-- Maddie experimenting with photography

-- Christy and me at "The Moose"

-- Maddie, Izzy, and Aunt Michelle at the Francis Thanksgiving

-- Mom holding Caden

-- More Caden photo-op's!

-- Home sweet home.