Sunday, July 25, 2010

Happy One Year Anniversary!

This time last year Jesse and I were doing this.....
We made it through our first year of marriage and I can honestly say it has been one of the best years of my life. Here is to many, many more!

-Heather

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Canada Eh? Part 3

Yes this is the third post on this subject!

Our Keepsake Pictures from each (new) state on this trip.

Mississippi- No idea where we were, we just crossed over the border to get our picture.

Kentucky- Nothing like cows for a back drop!

Ohio-In the corn fields.

West Virgina- In a small town called Wheeling.
Pennsylvania-In front of Lake Erie.

New York-At the Horseshoe Falls.

Ontario, Canada- At the family reunion.
Michigan- We wanted a picture of old cars for this state but the graffiti had to do.

Indiana- Again, no clue where we are at.
OK, I am finally done posting about this trip on my blog, enjoy!
A special thanks goes out to Jesse's parents for taking all of these photos...it was much better than using my car as a stand.

-Heather

Canada Eh? Part 2

Our Journey

Like I said in part one of this, we made five major stops along our journey: 1) Buffalo, NY; 2) Niagara Falls, NY; 3) Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada; 4) Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada; 5) Campbellville, Ontario Canada.

Buffalo, NY/Niagara Falls, NY
This is the birth place of Jesse, although their family left when he was about two years old so he does not remember much about it. We explored downtown a bit and ate at a famous BBQ wing restaurant, which is where Buffalo wings originated. I am not a wing person, but I couldn't let Jesse pass up eating wings in Buffalo, NY! Next we went to Niagara Falls. It was beautiful. I could have stared at the waterfall all day. Since it was evening, there was not much of a crowd and we got to see the falls lit up at night which was cool. We then drove by Jesse's old house and then went and stayed the night with some friends of Mike and Kim's.






At the Horseshoe Falls.
The American Falls.

Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada
We spent Friday morning at Niagara Falls on the Canada side, and I must say that it is a lot prettier from the Canadian side then the American side. We took a tour called Journey Under the Falls. We got to go underneath the Falls and got close to the base of the it. It was very neat because you could hear the roaring of the Falls. You got somewhat wet, but not too bad. Again, I could have watched the waterfall for hours.



I bet the people in that boat got SOAKED!Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada
We went from the Falls to a town called Niagara-on-the-Lake (Lake Ontario that is). The one word I would use for this place is "quaint." The flowers there were beautiful and very plentiful! We spent the afternoon there shopping and walking around the town.
Campbellville, Ontario Canada
Last stop....Campbellville! Time to meet and greet lots of my new family. Some of the family from Canada came to our wedding so it was good to see faces I recognized, but it was also great to meet the rest of the Ellis family.

There was a lot of this over the weekend.
Jesse's grandparents. This is his Grandmama's side of the family.
Serious golfers.
Three generations.

At this point we are half way home!
-Heather
p.s. I have no idea why half of my writing is centered and not the other half, so excuse the inconsistency.

Canada Eh? Part 1

Jesse and I have hit the road again and this time it was a VERY long road we traveled. Last Tuesday evening we headed to Nashville where we would hop in the car with Jesse's parents and travel our way to Campbellville, Ontario for a family reunion! Since this was a vacation, we took a longer route going to Canada in order for us to do some site seeing.

Travel Route- Going to Canada:
Staring point- Oklahoma
Arkansas
Mississippi
Tennessee
Kentucky
Ohio
West Virgina
Pennsylvania
New York
Canada

Travel Route- Going Home:
Starting point- Canada
Michigan
Ohio
Indiana
Kentucky
Tennessee
Missouri
Oklahoma

Total hours in the car: Approx 50 hours

On this journey we went to seven new states together as a married couple and one new country! The map below show all of the states we have been to in blue, somehow Wisconsin sneaked by us.

We made little stops along the way so Jesse and I could take our pictures in each state (Our keepsake of the trip), but some of our bigger stops were in Buffalo New York, Niagara Falls (both NY and Canada sides), Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada and of course the family reunion in Campbellville, Ontario.

More details to come on each stop.

Oh and if you did not know, Canadians say "Eh" almost after everything they talk about. They like to put things into question form. I don't know what I was expecting about how they spoke, but to me it did not sound that much different than from the way I speak. There were a few words though that I do not think many Americans say.
Examples:
We say: Bathroom/Restroom
They say: Washroom
We say: Baseball Field
They say: Ball Diamond
We say: Baseball glove
They say: Ball glove

Oh and they also think 70-80 degree weather is hot and I thought it was wonderful!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Job Update

I have completed my first week of work and it went great. I love my new job! I mean I still have a lot to learn, but I am just excited that I get to learn. This job is going to teach me great things and I cannot wait to jump into the events even if it does mean working on a Saturday here and there (yuck).


My office, well technically it is a small conference room, but for now it is all mine. My desk is on the left. I also use the conference table when I need to spread something out.


My desk! Small, but it's all I need.
One of my window views. This room has three large windows in it so I get great lighting and views (even if the views are of parking garages). The big building in the background is the building Jesse will move into soon.


Another great thing about this job is location, location, location! We get our own parking garage and I get my own spot, so no more hail dents in the car. Even better, it is super close to where Jesse works, we even got to eat our lunches together some this week. AND it is right across the street from the gym I go to (will go to...more often hopefully).

-Heather










4th of July Activities

Jesse and I had a great weekend with my family for the 4th. Hope all of you had a great 4th of July as well.

Started with a round of putt-putt with the parents.

Mom's flag creation...I helped :)


And this is what it did almost all day on the 4th. It did stop for enough time to pop fireworks and then it started again.


The rain did not stop mom and dad from grilling our lunch.

Oh and I also got to see the new Twilight movie with my mom and sister. I won't spoil anything but it was a GREAT movie, now if I could only convince Jesse to see them with me. Any suggestions on how I can do that?

-Heather

Thursday, July 1, 2010

New Job!

I officially have a job!!!! Can you tell I am a bit excited? It has been a tough two months of never ending searching and rejection...it can really take a toll on yourself.

Who I (will) work for: United Way

What is United Way? A non-profit organization that works with nearly 1,300 local United Way offices throughout the country in a coalition of charitable organizations to pool efforts in fund raising and support. The focus of United Way is identifying and resolving pressing community issues, as well as making measurable changes in the communities through partnerships with schools, government agencies, businesses, organized labor, financial institutions, community development corporations, voluntary and neighborhood associations, the faith community, and others. The issues United Way offices focus on are determined locally because of the diversity of the communities served. However, the main focus areas include Education, Income and Health.
According to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Way_of_America)

My title: Assistant to the campaigns and marketing director.

What I will do: I get to work on every detail on putting on an event, some writing of press releases and letters to supporters/volunteers, find volunteers and financial supporters for our events, work with some Photoshop and InDesign for fliers and such and of course answer phones and stuff envelopes. This is a new position they are creating, so I will get to help define it.

This job is right up my ally. I love working with the community and having that since of attachment to where I live. I start Tuesday July 6th, so I will let you all know how it goes.
 
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