We're Home

We made it home last night around 11:15 pm. Thanks to Maggie who picked us up from the bus stop downtown. The whole trip was very interesting. It got started by Andrew being pulled over about 15 miles down the road. He didn't get a ticket, thankfully! The bus ride home was very interesting as well. It felt just like choir tour. The bus was very similar to the Sterling College bus. The only difference was that we didn't know anyone else on the bus! We ran into some bad traffic coming from Minneapolis to Chicago so our bus was an hour late getting into Chicago!! The bus driver of our bus called ahead and they held our second bus for us! Needless to say, we got some dirty looks while we were loading that bus. I would imagine feeling the same way but nothing could be done to help the situation!!

Well, the house project continues to trudge along. We are now working on getting the septic plan changed and reapproved by the county. By the time we get all the permits done and everything, I am thinking it will be mid-September now. I don't want to build in the cold and snow! :( Anyway, this is teaching me a great deal about patience and trust. I would never have chosen this path to getting a house of my own (again) but I have to trust that it is the best option for us!

Minnesota

We're here in Minnesota. After a whirlwind trip through Chicago, Milwaukee, and now here, we are about ready to attend the wedding of Andrew's cousin, Kristin. We have enjoyed lots of good food (of course, my favorite was Geja's fondue cafe in Chicago) and many good sightseeing spots.

We are continuing to make progress on our house. Right now the main hold-up is that we are adding a bedroom to our house and so we have to change the septic plan, which also means another approval through the county!

Fairchild Family Visit

My parents and siblings were in Ohio to visit this past weekend. I had so much fun with them. I only wish we could have had a little bit more started on the house. Oh well! We enjoyed tea, swimming, a Red's game, visiting, eating (of course), and playing games. I will try to post some more pictures later. Sorry this is short, I'm trying to really get a lot done at work today, because I have a very short week!

What kind of candy are you?

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Take the test and enjoy!

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcandyareyouquiz/

Lady in Waiting!

I am waiting. . . . waiting. I am either waiting for God to speak to me and say, "It is not My will for you to build this" or I am waiting from a call from our consultant saying, "You have to spend X amount of dollars extra to get this approved by the bank so we can find a house comparable in your area." I wish you could experience the drastic difference in those two voices in my head!! :) All I am going to say is that it is a wonderful thing that we cannot see the future. I doubt I would have packed a single box (let alone over a hundred), or gotten in the car (if Andrew had decided to pack boxes for me) to move, if I would have foreseen that we would have started on our house eight and a half months later!!

Assertive Quiz

Lately, I have been working on being more assertive. I found a definition of assertive and it means to stand up for your own rights while being sensitive to the feelings of others. So, I found this assertiveness quiz. I will post it below. The answers can be found in the comments on this post. Please post your results.

Assertiveness Quiz (Answer Yes or No)
1. Do you buy things you do not want because you are afraid to say no to the salesperson?
2. When you do not understand the meaning of a word, do you ask about it?
3. Do you feel responsible when things go wrong, even if it is not your fault?
4. Do you look directly at others when you talk to them?
5. Do people often ask you to speak more loudly in order to be heard?
6. Do you feel intimidated by people in authority?
7. Do you generally have good posture?
8. Do you often feel so angry you could scream?
9. Do you know how to ask for help without feeling dependent?
10. If someone cuts in front of you in a line, do you usually tell them off?
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1. The assertive person is not afraid to say no. She or he feels free to make choices.
2. The assertive person takes responsibility for getting his or her needs met. Fear of seeming ignorant does not prevent the assertive person from asking questions.
3. The assertive person takes responsibility for his or her own behavior but does not take responsibility for the behavior of others or for situations which are beyond his or her control. To feel responsible for things beyond your control leads to unnecessary feelings of guilt.
4. Direct eye contact is assertive and suggests sincerity, self-confidence and the expectation that others will listen.
5. An assertive person wants to be heard.
6. An assertive person does not allow status to intimidate him or her.
7. Good posture communicates a positive self-image. When posture is limited by a disability, good eye contact and facial expression can be used to express a positive self-image.
8. The assertive person works to get his or her needs met and does not let situations build to the point of crisis.
9. The assertive person is able to ask for help without feeling dependent because he or she maintains a strong sense of self worth and self-respect.
10. Telling someone off is an angry, aggressive response The assertive person would state that he or she is irritated by the unfairness and ask the person to move to the end of the line.

Holding Pattern

We are still waiting. We are now waiting on our appraisal. If the bank can't find any homes in our area to compare ours to, we may have to change our plans a bit. Because of the expense of the permit in Liberty Township, it is best to only turn in your plans for approval once. Therefore, they must be final. This waiting game is so frustrating. I remember thinking we would be started in May or June. Now, I am hoping to get started before the end of summer. Argh!

Next Step

We got our plot plan in the mail yesterday. So, at lunch today I'm off to the township to get it turned in for approval.

The House and Students

Well, the house project continues to plod along. I am hoping to get an approval back from the health department and get our plot plan by Friday of this week. If everything comes back to me in a timely manner, then I hope to have our building permit by August 16th. Right now, the bank is having a hard time finding comps in our area. Our house is considered a ranch style (because of the unfinished upstairs) for the time being yet it is more expensive because of the upstairs and the geothermal we are putting in. I hope this doesn't hold it up too long. It takes 10 days for the underwriters to get everything done, but we are waiting for the appraisal. We are also becoming increasingly frustrated with the county and township. They have told us several different things about the right-of-way on our property. We are now probably going to have to take out a few of our mature trees in order to build our house in the proper spot!

I am having great success with voice lessons in this area. I hardly advertised at all and now I have a full evening on Mondays. I certainly wish I could do it another night of the week as well, but I'm just too busy! That's all for now. Nothing very exciting to report.

New Blog

Ok, I was going to keep this blog to myself, on account that I don't want people to think I'm baby crazy (well, maybe I am a little). . . . . but I can't keep it to myself. Their new baby is just too cute. And they have a new doggy as well. babythorny.blogspot.com

We Need Design Help!

We had a great meeting with UBuildIt today. We got the budget reviewed and the next steps reviewed before we can start. We are getting so close! Anyway, our consultant said that we can help to speed up the process a bit by getting a few things picked out ahead of time. We have already finished picking out the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, countertops, and hardware. So our next project is to pick the color of siding that we want. We are having a tough time with this so we would like some input. Please review the colors below (other colors may be available, so feel free to suggest something else) and let me know in a comment which one you like best. Please pick a house color and a shutter color.

Viva!!!!

It is Fiesta time here at work. Actually, I'm not helping with the VBS (techically) but it sure has changed the quietness of this place. Its been great to see the kids and the teachers back here at the church. I just sometimes feel like closing my door to preserve the quiet!

As far as our house project goes, I made the trip to Hamilton on Monday to turn in our septic plan for approval with the health department. It took me one hour and seven minutes to drive to Hamilton, get the stuff turned in (stamped, cataloged, blah, blah) and drive back. I thought that was pretty good timing. The drive was good except I had to drive down Tylersville, which I generally try to avoid at all costs. We have a meeting with UBuildIt tomorrow. My hopes are that they are done with getting the bids and that they are ready to turn that big house building organizer book over to ME!! He he!! Ok, I'm crazy. Anyway, I also hope they got the stuff turned into the bank that they needed too and that we are about ready to get rolling with the finances. After paying Liberty Township, the County, the plot plan guys, and our septic plan engineer, we have been stretched thin (although our Hawaii money is still intact). :)

In other news, Andrew and I have begun helping Jennie and Maggie (Andrew's sister and cousin) sell their scones on Saturday mornings. While the getting up before 6:00 am for the one market isn't that great (I used to sleep until noon, back when we lived in KS), it has been fun to bring home a little extra cash. We haven't done anything fun with it, however. We are saving it up for a disciplinary tool for Dewey. He won't come when called and is starting to run out into the road more often.

More news, I now have three voice students. I got another call from a mom today who wants lessons for her 13-year-old daughter. That should be fun. That is more the age group I have worked with in the past. I am beginning to feel kind of pressed for time. I keep telling Andrew that I need to learn how to have fun and relax very quickly, so I have time to get all my work done. When I spoke to this mom today about voice lessons, she mentioned having lessons in the afternoons and I told her that I also worked full-time. She absolutely could not believe it. Am I really crazy? Sometimes I feel like I am. I don't want to be so busy that I don't have time for relationships and the important people in my life. Hopefully I'll have a good house update tomorrow after our meeting. In the mean time, I am always watching out for good self quizzes. I guess the health one was more fun than the city one! :)

What City Are You?

Since we have all had so much fun with the Real Age quiz I posted on here that I thought this might also be fun. I found it through Amy Doane's blog (link at the right). Take this short quiz to find out what city you are. I'm not sure I agree with all of this. The driven and successful part, maybe. Take the quiz and post your results in the comments section!! :) Enjoy!

You Are New York

Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen

What American City Are You?

The House the Schechters Built

I called our surveyor this morning after faxing him information yesterday. He said, "My, aren't you an impatient one." :) He was joking, of course. I explained to him that the plot plan was the last thing we needed before turning all our info into the county. He said he understood completely. He said that they were planning on sending a team to survey only what was needed for the plot plan (will save us money) tomorrow! He said the plot plan will probably be done by the end of next week! Anyway, I was anticipating a much longer wait. After that is finished, we will be getting everything cleared through the county and township offices. I spoke to a guy at the heath department and I realize that a lot of this government stuff is pretty crazy. We essentially have to get approved twice by the health department. One is an initial approval and the second is a release. Of course, they both cost money. I am hoping to be done with all the approvals from the county and township by August 14th. That might be a pretty hard goal to reach but we can always try. Realistically, I am hoping we will have our basement dug by the 1st of September. We have a UBI meeting next Wednesday to discuss the cost breakdown of our house, which is the final step of Phase 1; Phase 2 being the building Phase. Yeah!

My "Real" Age

I took a "real" age test today. Very interesting. It said that my "real" age was about 19.9. The things I can improve on include: not having so many stressful events in my life (oh, sorry, couldn't help it that we moved, and my grandpa died), increase my weight training to 90 minutes per SESSION, lower my resting heart rate, etc. I got points for having a good marriage, a good car, not talking on my phone in the car, not smoking or drinking, having good family relationships and ties. www.realage.com This brings me to my next point . . . .

I have really been praying, lately, for some friends. I have made several good friends since moving here (mostly through work and our small group from church), but they just aren't the type of girlfriends that I can call up on a Friday night to do something. They are older and have kids or even grandkids. I have really been praying that God would spend me a friend that also really needs a friend like me. It seems difficult to get connected to people through church because I already know all of the Sunday School people (and they are older with kids or grandkids) and the young marrieds don't really have a group. Anyway, I guess I just need to be patient and wait to see what God has in mind.

Our house preliminary stuff is moving along. We had a meeting with our septic engineer last night. He said that he should have the drawing completed by Friday. After that, we turn it into the health department for approval. I have also contacted a company to survey our lot. They haven't called me back yet. Once the survey is done, then our plot plan can be drawn and turned in for approval from the township and the county. We could be ready to go quickly is everyone is as quick as our septic engineer has been. I'll keep you up-to-date.

Things that I like . . .

1) My new cell phone. It's pink and I can leave myself these cool voice recordings. It has helped me to be more organized these past weeks.

2) Our land!! We have a very pretty view out the back of our land. Dewey enjoyed his little exploring adventure there yesterday.

3) Dudley Woods! It is a beautiful park that I like to walk in.

4) Having a subdivision accross the street. Some of you may think . . . "Why is that a good thing?" It is because I love to walk there. If you walk the whole subdivision about three times it takes 1/2 hour (that's my usual path). I've even been able to recognize some of the residents. Sometimes I wonder if they are only nice to me because they think I live in one of the 1/2 or 1/4 million dollar homes! :)

5) I like my car! It is small, quick, and has a good stereo!

6) I like the secretary at UBI. She is so nice and has been more helpful than any other contractor, or engineer I have talked to thus far!

7) I like teaching Sunday School. Yesterday, I was only kicked once, screamed at once, and slapped once (she actually didn't pinch or bite today) and only by one child. No one pooped their pants this week!

8) I like earning extra money each week at the Farmer's Market. I was about ready to set it aside and save it for something. After I evaluated everything, this seemed quite silly as we are still in debt and paying interest on stuff, so it will be deposited and paid toward something. Someday . . .

9) I like my job. It is so quiet here this morning. I have gotten so much done already today and it's only 10:30 a.m.

10)I like Grandma Myers' new mower. I am getting quite spoiled by the new mower.

11) I like the colors of our kitchen. I think it will look nice but I am still a little nervous, since I can't really see it. I need a free designer.

That's all for now!

Neat Ministry . . .

After I finished with May Festival, I felt like I should get involved with something. I didn't really want something that was too time consuming with our house project and all, but I really did want to make a difference. I signed up to be a Pen Pal with Prison Fellowship, a Christian organization. I wrote my first letter last month and have corresponded twice now with my pen pal who is a prisoner. There have already been avenues opening up for me to share my faith. This is a neat ministry and many more people are needed to do this simple task. It is really just writing about one letter every two weeks. If you live in the area, I would be glad to mail and receive your letters from my "safe location" (my work place), as they recommend that you don't use your home address. I will include the link below if you are interested. It has really been a neat experience for me already. Feel free to ask me about it or read the letters I have received. I don't mind!

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/contentindex.asp?ID=26

Things I severely dislike!

1) I really have discovered that I dislike money. Not that I dislike having money but I just don't like to feel so controlled by it.

2) I dislike ditches. I like that ditches drain water away from things but . . . well, maybe I should say that I don't like to mow on a slant. I'm a Kansas girl, we aren't used to anything closely related to hills, slopes, or mountains.

3) I dislike my check engine light. It has been on for about two weeks, yet nothing seems to be wrong with my car. Just makes me nervous.

4) I dislike plats and surveys. I understand why they would be necessary but I am annoyed by them right now!

5) I dislike zits. My skin has been reacting so strangely lately. My shoulders have been especially bad and I have no idea what the problem is. Nothing has changed, as far as soap or diet is concerned. Maybe I should try Proactiv. Any ideas?

6) I dislike road kill. . . . especially when I am walking. No one should have to walk past a furry arm here or a little tail there. Aren't there road cleanup services?

7) I dislike leaving my doggy. Really all he requires is food, water, (umm, some minorly expensive vet bills), and human attention. The only time he is destructive is when he is unable to get the attention he craves (or when he sees that chewy stuffed animal that he has a fetish for). He is much better if you let him wander around the house with you, rather than lock him away by himself. Isn't that what we all want? Just a little attention and companionship??!

Mainly this post was to say how much I dislike the way money control's me. It makes me irritable. We need new sheets that don't have rips and that fit our bed, however, with all the things coming up we have to fund for our house (plot plan, septic plan, survey, building permit, township certificate, closing costs, mailbox, a couch, and other hidden costs) sheets are more of a luxury than a necessity!! Ok, I'm done ranting now. I'll try to post a list soon of things that I like. That list will be much longer.

We're Back

We arrived in Ohio tonight at about 10:00 pm. Before this trip, I thought of it as being a fairly long stay in Kansas, but now it seems to short. Yes, I am still up at 11:39 pm this evening with my usual bout of homesickness insomnia. I'm hoping that a little milk might help. I am kind of dreading getting back into the real world tomorrow. Not as far as work goes, but just with the house project and all. I hope things go smoothly and quickly. Well, I've got to try to sleep now. More later!

Blog from Kansas Part #2

We have arrived safely to my parents house. We had an enjoyable day. We had lunch with Andrew's great aunt and uncle in Kansas City and then we traveled on to McPherson to the quilt shop there. We thought it was only going to be open until 5:00 pm (and we arrived at 4:15 pm) but it was a special 4th of July sale (25% off) and so they were open until 8:00 p.m. We then stopped in Lyons for some famous pan bread at Pizza Hut! I guess that is all for now!

Kansas Trip Post #1

We left this morning at about 7:30 am for a little vacation to Kansas. Right now we are in Springfield, Missouri, visiting some friends of my in-law's. The just opened a restaurant and we got to sample the food tonight. It was very good!!! They serve mainly steaks. We are headed off to Kansas tomorrow, with a stop in Kansas City, McPherson and then on to my parents house. That's all for now....

Newest House Developments

Andrew and I met with an appraiser from the bank today at noon. He asked us several questions about our house plans, our lot, etc. He cost a pretty penny. We also found out from the people drawing up our plot plan, that our lot has never been surveyed. This, unfortunately, means that we will probably have to have it surveyed, which could cost us a $1,000. We'll see what happens. We are hoping that the guy we purchased the lot from has some information on it that will help us to avoid this cost. I was so excited about the cost savings in the septic system and the plot plan and now we are hit with this expense. Many times I just feel like throwing my hands in the air and quitting. It is so much easier to just buy a house, instead of build however . . . . . . . I have been learning that taking the easy route in life, isn't always the best (despite what the 'world' will tell you). Trial builds character. Right now, all I feel it is building is my blood pressure. I am not one who can easily see the big picture. I am more the detailed nature. That is why Andrew and I work so well together. Good thing that my better half is a big picture kind of man. He reminds me that when all this hard work is over, we will have a simple, modest, yet comfortable home that we can easily (and cheaply) expand, if we need. I have been praying that this house project is God's will for our lives and not just a selfish dream that we are chasing after. Sorry for the slightly depressing post. I guess it is time for a little vacation. Good thing, since we will be on our way to Kansas tomorrow morning for a visit. Feel free to comment. You know how I LOVE getting comments! :)

216

Andrew, in his boredom from lack of school work, decided to count my blog entries. I am at number 216. . . therefore the title of this post. Andrew also requested that I let all of you know we are listening to Poncho Sanchez's song "Yumbambe." He can sing it for you upon request with a pretty convincing accent. It is part of his latin jazz collection . . . yes, I said latin jazz.

My Day!

Well, my day certainly ended up better than it started. I began the day, yesterday, by forgetting my purse next door, at my in-law's house. The problem was that I didn't remember until this morning right as we were leaving for work. Andrew had to come back and drive me next door to get my purse and then drive me home. When I got to work, I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone AND the list of numbers I needed to call today for the house project. Thankfully, I was able to get the numbers again with just one phone call to the county! It was pretty quiet and slow today at work. I was able to get a lot done with preschool scheduling, attendance, and VBS. I am going to be gone on Friday on my way to Kansas (yeah!!) for a family visit. So, I worked ahead a little on the newsletter so it will be ready for the person covering for me on Friday.

I have one voice lesson tonight and then my efforts will be concentrated on getting our little area of the house cleaned up. It seems that the paper clutter in there has just exploded. I need to get my filing system back into shape after the move. It should be cleaned up quickly after that. I also need to get myself a little bag I can tote around that contains all of our house information. That is just sitting in a pile and sometimes I need it! :) Anyway, not really much news to share. I want to mention how much I miss people posting comments on my blog. The comments don't need to be deep or profound but I enjoy hearing from people. Anyway, just a side note. Hopefully, I'll know more about our septic system designer tomorrow.

Little House on the Prairie Soil

Our perc (aka soil evaluation) test went well. We met at our land and waited about 15 minutes before the soil specialist arrived. He walked around and tested for about 45 minutes, while we chatted. Then he gave us a report. He said that the soil up by the house was pretty heavy clay (not good) but . . . we had a strip of land about 30 feet behind our trees (means we get to save our mature trees) that is called Prairie Soil. It is good soil to host a septic system. What does that ultimately mean for us? A savings of about $10,000 on our septic system! We are getting things built just in time because starting January 1st, the county is setting new standards for septic systems, which means every one has to get the more expensive kind.

The next plan of action is to call a septic design engineer and having him draw a plan of where our septic system will go in. We have two in mind and we will decide on one this weekend. After he draws the plans then we will need to get a permit from the health department at the county.

Percs, Permits, Plots, Plans Part #2

I'm not sure I got the title exactly right but I wanted to give a house update. I feel like we are finally moving along. I heard from UBI (UBuildIt) today and they gave me a list of things to do before we are able to actually break ground. I have already started on many of them and we are waiting on other things (soil test, sewage plan, plot plan, and permits) before we can move ahead. I feel I can the the end (well, the beginning anyway) in site to starting our house. I still haven't heard back from our kitchen designer. We are up in the air with that. I will have to call and bug him. I don't think these people know what is coming when I get involved with a project! :) I like to be very nice but since I enjoy being organized and efficient, I just feel like other people should as well!

It may be expensive to live in Butler County, Ohio, as I'm sure we will soon find out, but their offices at the county have been very helpful. I have had to call the health department twice to clear up misunderstandings on my part and they have always explained things patiently, and have returned my phone calls promptly. So far (knock on wood), they have been very easy to get along with. After all this is over, I think that I will feel like starting a UBI franchise on my own! :) Ha ha, just kidding. After this is over, I don't think I will want to think about home building for a long time! I have also been getting an education in tire disposal. Who knew it would be so hard to get rid of a bunch of old tires that were left on our lot? It was going to be so expensive to get rid of but I found a landfill that will take them for $3 for unrimmed and $5 for rimmed. That is the cheapest I could find. I wish I could recycle them but I can't find anywhere that will do it. I've looked! Ah, the weird things an adult has to know. Now, why didn't I enjoy the innocence of childhood more?!

In other news: Andrew has taken an accidental six week break from classes. He didn't get registered for a class during this next six week period. He probably could have gotten into one, but I encouraged him to take a break, even though it will take him six weeks longer to finish. He has been working so hard and even though the house isn't ready to be worked on, I still think he needs a break. I am helping with VBS at our church tonight. I'm not sure what I am doing, but I guess I'll find out. They just called me up and asked me to help out on Thursday night. I think it is mainly following kids around to each station.

New Blog

No, I am not going to quit writing this blog. I doubt that my frequency will decline any either, but I have decided to start another blog as well. I recently started the Lose It For Life program. I just need a more private place to track those results so I started a private blog. I would like some of you to be able to read it and have a place to share your thoughts (the joys of a support group). So, if you are interested in being part of my weight loss blog, please email me and I will send you a link. jaime_schechter@yahoo.com.

Andrew mowed more of our land last night. He and his dad are going to work on planning out the lot tonight and possibly staking where the house is going to be. I feel like we are actually starting to move on things now. I would imagine that our detailed budget report will be ready in the next two weeks or so. Then we will be working on getting a building permit and other government permits so we can begin building. Yeah! I actually rode my bike out to our land last night, and back. It is about 5 miles. It seems to get easier every time I do it.

Permits, Plans, Percs, and Plots

Well, we continue to work hard on our house project, even though it may not seem like it to the outside world. I feel like a fish swimming upstream at best! I am now dealing with things like soil tests and septic plans and I have NO EARTHLY idea what I am doing!!!! The majority of the time, when I am talking to these people, it is like they are speaking a different language. I am trying to look on this as an opportunity to learn (more than I ever want to know) about the building industry. At least we will have a house in the end, it just may not be built quite as soon as we had hoped. At times, I feel as if I am carrying that house by myself, on my back, uphill in the snow! I think that my guess of breaking ground in a month was totally unrealistic. My best estimate is now that we will break ground in late August/early September. We have to have so many things squared away by the time we begin with actual construction. I just wish I had a guide book. I would do so much better with a little direction! I apologize if this post seems a bit over the top but I am just pretty frustrated right now. It is good that I have been so diligent in my exercise lately. It is a GREAT stress reliever. I feel like running several miles right about now! I'll have to wait until tonight! Oh, also I am giving two voice lessons tonight. Yeah and yikes! I seriously doubt my skills at a time like this. (now I sound like Napolean dynamite when I say skills). Ok, I'll stop rambling now, I think . . . . . . . .

Memories

Grandpa and three granddaughters (we're missing Rachel)

Jaime, Grandpa, Jenny, and Laura

Thanksgiving 2005

Many of my fond childhood memories come from visiting my Grandpa Walter in Downs, Kansas. Many of my earliest memories are of holiday's spent there, visiting Grandpa's welding shop and getting peanuts and pop, and fun times playing with my cousins.We always had a good time at Downs because Grandpa would take us around doing all of the things he enjoyed. Some of our favorite included going fishing with him in his boat on Waconda Lake, going out for coffee break, going to Rose Valley Church to Sunday School and Church. There we got to see many third cousins and other distant relatives. My cousin, Laura and I, have many fun memories of the weeks we would spend there together in the summer. One of our favorites was the time that someone dropped us off at the Downs pool . . . without our shoes!!! We decided to walk home after a while and devised a scheme to lay down a towel, walk across it, and then pick up and lay down the other towel. Grandpa eventually found us walking home in this manner!! I always looked forward to Grandpa visiting us in St. John for sports events, birthdays, and concerts. He made a huge effort to attend our events, even though he had to drive 2 1/2 hours to be there. Of all the wonderful fun and wonderful memories I have of my Grandpa, I am most grateful for his Christian example that he set for the entire family. He was always willing to help and he was known to break the law by piling too many children in his van to take them to church. Right before he died, he won an award for evangelism from the district Methodist conference, and I cannot think of a better person. These words don't really express the gratitude I feel of having known such a wonderful Christian person, who was always chipper and positive, even when having serious health problems. I certainly miss my Grandpa, but I feel so happy to think that he is in heaven, rejoicing with Jesus. I can only hope to pass along such a strong and wonderful Christian heritage to my kids someday!

Rewards!

After I reach a goal, I give myself these little rewards. When a person is trying to lose weight, I have heard that it is a terrible idea to reward yourself with food, so I have had to be pretty creative to come up with ideas of things to get that 1) aren't too expensive; 2) will make me feel rewarded; 3) will motivate me to keep going. My first goal was to walk for 30 minutes for two weeks (14 days to be exact) and then I would receive a new pair of athletic shoes. This is an especially good goal, since I haven't replaced my athletic shoes since my tennis days in high school!!!! I am off, in a few minutes, to go shopping for some new athletic shoes. I have my next goal set, which is just another little baby step in the right direction, and my next reward chosen as well.

Here We Go

I received my first call last night for voice lessons. It is strange since I placed the add back in May. My first lesson is next Monday night! I need to work on updating my cards and my forms.

Delay

Sorry for the delay in posting. I have been wanting to create a nice post about my Grandpa but our laptop is on hold for the time being. The power cord went bad so there is no battery to speak of. We have one ordered but it hasn't arrived yet. I'll update again soon! Until then my search continues for the Sandi Patty songbook, Hymns Just for You. My mom has a copy but it is now out of print and I want one for myself. I even called the publisher! Nobody has one!

Harvest Time Blues

I'm not sure whether it is because it is harvest time or because I was just in Kansas that I am feeling pretty homesick for my home state. Many of my favorite childhood memories are centered around harvest. My siblings and I would spend hours riding the combine with Grandpa and Dad, listening to our Adventures in Odyssey tapes! I would plot how I could get my cousins to come and ride the combine with me. I'm sure I brought my dolls along to play with. We also rode on the tractor's while they were disking after a wheat field had been harvested but that would always bang your head against the glass of the back window whenever the driver changed gears. The combine had a nice comfy padded seat. I haven't spent much time in Fairchild Farms' new combine but I understand it has some pretty fancy computerized equipment now as well. I will always treasure the moments out on the combine. One of my favorite memories was when my Grandpa shared his supper with me. I'm sure he was tired and hungry after a long day out on the combine but he shared his ham sandwich (with real Mayo . . . I remember it being so good) and a peach with me! I also remember chewing on the wheat right out of the combine bin, just like it was chewing gum. I never knew how lucky I was to experience those days. It taught me a lot about hard work and devotion. It makes me sad to think that my kids will not grow up on a farm because it was a great experience for me. More to come . . .

Caring

I have received five sympathy cards and . . . . . ALL of them have come from members of the church where I work. Have I said it enough that I love my job? More later . . .

Some tributes

As some of you know, my grandfather passed away last week. We have been in Kansas for the funeral. I have been wanting to write about him but the memories have just been too much right now. Two of my blogging friends, one my cousin, Laura, and the other my third cousin and childhood in habitant of Downs., Edie, have written about him. So for now, I will give you links to what they wrote. Right now we are in the Kansas City airport waiting on our delayed flight to leave (in about an hour). More later!

http://www.xanga.com/ritalin_fixes_EDD/

http://www.xanga.com/hawkfan212

Review and Schechter House Update #2

Ok, I have one more review from May Festival. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20060528/ENT/305280006/.

My favorite line is "Robert Porco has trained his chorus to sing with buoyancy as well as power. Indeed, few places on earth can one hear such a finely trained amateur chorus. The result was vibrant and rich." I must say that I am proud to have been in such a fine choir. I do feel a great sense of relief now that it is over! It just took so much time!

Our meeting went well today. We worked out a lot of details about our house from, different types of foundation, windows, shingles, appliances, flooring, lighting, plumbing, etc. We are now in the process of getting our house plans printed (he needs 20 copies) in a big copy format so that our consultant can start to gather bids. We are going to try and get those very soon. It is a little out of our hands, however. I asked him today how long he thought this house would take to build. He estimated that it would take about 4 months to build this size of house. We will hopefully break ground sometime in late June or July and therefore I am hoping to be done by November. It would be great to be in our house for Christmas! Anyway, I feel like things are really moving now. A lot of this is all over my head but I am hoping to catch on soon. If anyone is in the area and wants to help when we tile, paint, finish, etc, let me know. We will probably only be able to pay you back with favors or a nice meal in our home, once finished! :) Anyway, I will continue to update when I know more.

New Baby

Here is the announcement I received from my college roommate about her second child. I actually got this a few days ago but I haven't checked my email recently! You know I am BUSY when I don't check my email! :) I guess I got the baby's name wrong in my previous post.

Toby Graham
8 lb 7 oz
21" long
Black, thick hair and dark blue eyes

I can't believe my little friend had such a big baby! Anyway, congratulations to them!

Soapbox

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060525/NEWS07/605250364/1009

I have always been against too much TV watching. In middle school, one of our teachers had us go 24 hours without watching TV. It was wild to see how people struggled with it. I enjoy my shows (24!!) like the rest of the world and I still watch too much TV (especially at night). I do believe that the majority of the world's children watch way too much TV. So, I was glad to find this article through Google news that has backed my theory of too much TV. Just think of how much we could get done if we weren't so captivated for hours a day by watching television.

Happy Anniversary!

I don't want to get too sappy on this blog because I know several family members read this who don't appreciate sap. Anyway, I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my husband. It has been a wonderful three years and I am looking forward to many many more! I love you so very much!

Miracle

It is strange to think that my college roommate is getting ready to deliver her second baby by C-section in about 15 minutes. I am so glad that things have gone so much smoother this time around for her and the baby. I can't imagine having children so it is hard for me to fathom having two! I will wait until I hear any news about the birth to update this since they don't know stats yet.

I haven't gotten any calls from my voice lesson add that I placed in the Pulse Journal a week ago. If I don't get any interest, I might just forget it for now. I really would like to teach again because I enjoyed it so much. I could write local schools but with school so near the end, it seems pointless.

Another Review

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20060522/ENT03/605220328/1083/rssenq05

Websites of Interest

Well, I just got home from our second May Festival concert of the season, which went well. I must say that I have such a love/hate situation here. I love certain aspects of May Festival and hate other aspects! Andrew has given me good advice to just take the next year off and then decide whether I will continue on. If you'd like to read reviews and other information about this year's festival. Click on the links below.

1) Interviews and a clip of a performance: http://www.cetconnect.org/arts_culture/index.asp

2) Cincinnati Enquirer review of Friday's performance:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20060520/ENT/605200347/1083/rssenq05

Article

I thought this was a good article, describing the May Festival history. I was actually surprised to read that the Orchestra was created originally for the May Festival. Enjoy!

http://cinweekly.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/a1/20060517/NEWS0102/605170330/1082/rsscin10

Schechter House Update #1

We have a meeting set for the 30th of May. It is hard to get a meeting set up there and the only available time they had before that conflicted with my staff meetings. I need to remember to set up these meetings quickly after the last one so no time is wasted. Oh well, it will give us plenty of time to get final house plans finished (thanks to Tim) and get some information on other specific products we want in the house since it is a specs meeting. Our consultant claims it will last 3 or 4 hours. I am just looking forward to the fact that I will be completely done with May Festival (until a later date, anyway) on that day! I had the hardest time going to sleep last night, even though I was tired, because all of our music kept running through my head!! I am feeling ready for a relaxing summer and hopefully some hours spent in Rolf's pool (when it warms up! It's only 54 degrees right now! Brrr!).

What I will be doing!

If I happen to not post much in the next two weeks, I wanted to explain why. I am going to show you the schedule we have for May Festival this year. Thankfully, I am not in the Mozart Vespers and therefore I do get a few (three) evenings off in the upcoming two weeks. I don't know how the singers in that will do it. You can read about the upcoming concerts at www.mayfestival.com.

WEEK I:
Saturday, May 13; 10:00AM-5:00PM LRR Rehearsal; Hailstork Vespers (Lunch provided in Corbett Tower): no early Chorus Call

Sunday, May 14; 2:00PM-9:00PM LRR Rehearsal; Repertoire for Week I (Dinner provided in Corbett Tower); no early Chorus Call

Monday, May 15 6:15-10:00PM LRR Rehearsal; Basilica Program6:00PM Chorus Call

Tuesday, May 16 6:00-6:20 LRR Rehearsal; 6:20-7:05PM Stage Block Earthrise7:15-7:30PM Seat Orff Choruses7:30-10:00PM Rehearsal with OrchestraHailstork/ Orffno early Chorus Call

Wednesday, May 17 7:30-10:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Tippett; Vaughan Williams 6:30PM Chorus Call in LRR

Thursday, May 18 7:30-10:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Hailstork; Orff (Open Dress Rehearsal)6:00PM Chorus Call in LRR

Friday, May 19 8:00PM Stage Performance; Hailstork; Orff; 7:00PM Chorus Call in LRR

Saturday, May 20 10:00AM-1:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Tippett/Vaughan Williams (Open Dress Rehearsal) 9:00AM Chorus Call in LRR

Saturday, May 20 8:00PM Stage Performance; Tippett and Vaughan Williams 7:00PM Chorus Call in LRR

Sunday, May 21 3:00-5:15PM Basilica Rehearsal; Mozart Vespers 2:15PM Chorus Call in the Latin School(Light supper provided between rehearsal and performance)

Sunday, May 21 7:00PM Basilica All-Mozart Concert 6:30PM Chorus warm up in the Latin School

WEEK II:

Monday, May 22 7:00-10:00PM LRR Rehearsal; Haydn Creationno early Chorus Call

Tuesday, May 23 7:30-9:30PM Stage Rehearsal; Mozart Abduction 7:00PM Chorus Call

Wednesday, May 24 7:30-10:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Haydn Creation

Thursday, May 25 7:30-10:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Mozart Abduction 7:00PM Chorus Call

Friday, May 26 8:00PM Stage Performance; Mozart Abduction Chorus Call TBD

Saturday, May 27 10:00-1:00PM Stage Rehearsal; Haydn Creation 9:00AM Chorus Call in LRR

Saturday, May 27 8:00PM Stage Performance; Haydn Creation7:00PM Chorus Call

The places I've been: States

Obviously, most of my travel has been limited to the Midwest! Too bad Andrew and I never made time or money to take our "southwest road trip" when we still lived in Kansas. I do believe that I will at least add one state (West Virginia) this year. Thanks, Anna, for this fun idea!

create your own visited states map

House Update!

Our meeting went well. Our rough estimate was quite a bit higher than we expected. We decided to change some things and make the upstairs an "attic" for the time being so that won't be included in the cost of the total building project. We are changing our house plans to make the downstairs acceptable to a lender and then we will have a long meeting with UBuildIt to decide specifications for the whole house. I hope we can get our house plans finalized quickly so that we can keep the process moving. No, we don't know yet when we will start building. That's all for now. Have a good day!!

Oh no!

It all started yesterday when I began to feel a litte bit congested in my nose. Now, I have a terrible sore throat! This is the worst possible time for me to get sick. I do feel a bit draggy today as well. I'm hoping that it is just allergy problems and will clear up quickly!

This week!

I am looking forward to our meeting with UBuildIt on Thursday. We should find out then, the rough estimate of how much it is going to cost us to build. I hope we don't have to find another house plan!! I am also going to ask him when he things we can start the actual construction (even though I realize this planning phase is just as important . . . I am getting lots of questions that I don't have answers to!). We have had a difficult time figuring out how to get the property mowed. It is so deep that a regular mower just can't handle it!

I have actually been working out very regularly lately. I have been running (my longest run was 3/4 mile, not long, I know) and working a lot outside. On Saturday I trimmed trees, mowed, tilled the garden, and planted some stuff. Then I went for a run! Whew! I am thinking about getting my bike out and riding that some. I need to discover some good places to ride bikes around here because the roads just seem way to narrow and busy for me to be comfortable. I also don't like riding bikes because I can't take Dewey. We need to head back to my favorite park, Dudley Woods, so that Dewey and I can get a good long walk in. I will probably be in shape before I know it. I am having some weird pain in my ankle's when I run, so I need to figure that out before too long. I know these upcoming two weeks with May Festival will put a damper on my exercising routine but hopefully I can start up right after the Festival is over. I have also been doing a bit better with eating. I need to continue to eat more veggies and fruit but I bought some and have them at work with me. I guess that is about all for now!

Birthday Update!

I had a great birthday yesterday. The day started out with Andrew making me breakfast in bed. I enjoyed pancakes, scrambled eggs, and strawberries. It was delicious! When I got to work I discovered that my boss and his wife had given me a very nice book and card!! I was very surprised and it was very thoughtful of them. I know he realizes that I LOVE books but I'm not sure he knows how much I love books!! Then Susan took me out to lunch at Dewey's pizza! :) It was very good and I still have half (or more) of my calzone in the fridge at church. That will have to wait until Friday because my co-workers are taking me out to lunch today. Andrew then took me out for supper to Abuelos for some mexican food. It was very yummy! I was well fed, to say the least!!! Well, I'd better get going! Happy National Day of Prayer to all! Bye!

Weekend Update!

We had a great weekend in Cincinnati. Our only disappointment was the hotel. We had to wait in a long line, we didn't get clear instructions on anything (parking, dining, where our room was, checkout), and the bathroom was a little dirty. The show we saw was fantastic. My favorite song in the whole musical was "Bring him home." Great performance. The baseball game was great too. It was better once we left our original seats and sat down closer. We enjoyed expensive treats and the Red's won!

Yesterday, I was surprised at lunch by a birthday lunch. Susan and Jennie made my favorite, Super Nachos. I appreciated that because I know (for a fact!) that everyone in the family does not like them. Because of that reason, I would not have picked them if someone would have asked me (I am glad no one asked so . . . I could get my favorite meal, despite myself)!!
I also got to have the leftover Super Nachos which I will enjoy for lunch!

They didn't forget!

My wonderful co-workers and boss (the Pastor) gave me a beautiful flowering basket and card for Administrative Professionals Day (yes, secretary's day). I was so surprised! I am blessed to have found such a wonderful place to work after coming from a wonderful place to work!

Too many subjects for a title!

I have so many ideas of what to write about that I can't think of a title. I guess that is good. First of all, I must say I am having a hard time adjusting to the weather here. My desktop thermometer says 42 degrees. That is way too cold for me for April 27th! I am used to 80 or 90 degree temperatures by this time. I wonder if Ohio is always this cold this time of year!

I am so excited for our weekend plans. Andrew's mom found a deal on a hotel downtown and that sparked the idea for a birthday get away. We are going downtown for a little retreat tomorrow. We are going to see Les Miserables on Friday night at the Aronoff Theatre, we are staying the night in a hotel with free food (part of the deal), and then we are going to see a Red's game on Saturday. I'm not a huge sports fan but it's the experience that is fun.

At the church where I work, we have had a goose lay her eggs right in the courtyard of the church. She has been sitting on her eggs for 20-some days but they began to hatch yesterday. It has been so much fun (for me as well as the preschool kids) to watch this experience. Also at the church I have had a robin decide that she wants to help me in the office because she tries to get into my office by flying into my windows. This has happened frequently and it is very funny behavior to watch.

We took a walk last night in my new favorite place . . . Dudley Woods Park. It has a beautiful nature trail. We enjoyed walking around the trail and Dewey enjoyed the mud!

Yesterday was Administrative Professionals day (aka. secretary's day, which is ok with me). I didn't think anyone remembered or knew about it (which was ok with me as well) but I received a very nice plant this morning!

It has been a little over a week since our last meeing with UBuildIt. I want to call to see when he will be done with our rough budget outline but I don't want to rush him. I will just have to wait and see.

Oh, and if you read my blog and have a blog of your own, I would be glad to add it to be list (on the right side of the page). Just leave me a comment with your blog address. I would love to get more blogs linked to mine.

Mass Exodus!

We have been hearing of the large number of staff members leaving Sterling College in recent weeks. We are glad for our good friends who are still there to continue the good work and to keep us up-to-date but I am kind of glad I am not there to watch some very good friends leave.
:(

Isn't that selfish?

It's another May Festival night. I always dread it this time of day but when I am leaving Music Hall at 10:00 pm, I am thinking how much I enjoy it! Talk about mixed feelings!

Pics

A picture of me in the MFC. You can see me if you zoom in quite a ways. I've got to go to work. Hopefully I can do more of this later!

No Pictures?

Sorry for not posting pictures. I'm not sure what happened . . . well, yes, I am. I went to see a movie instead. I hardly get to see Andrew anymore (or it seems that way) so since he wanted to go, I went along. I enjoyed the movie. Please pray for Andrew. He's in a tough situation. Thanks and hopefully we'll have some house news soon!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1 year blogging anniversary to me, myself, and I! The actual date was on the 18th but I was busy that day and didn't have time to write. It's been quite a year, huh?! I'm in the mood to post pictures so there may be some pictures posted on here later tonight if I think of it.

My Weekend!

Yes, I was in Kansas this past weekend. I tried to work out a time to be in Sterling but I was there for such a short time that it just didn't work out. I flew into Wichita on Friday evening and didn't get home until about 12:30 am. My grandpa drove back with me to Kansas, in the car my parents gave us, and we left Sunday evening and drove to Lawrence to stay with some relatives. The weekend was wonderful. It was great to be home and relax, even for a short time. Flying is definitely the easy way to go. I believe I will fly more often and when I get older I can rent a car (still not old enough yet!!) because sometimes that is cheaper.

Grandpa Fairchild drove with me out to Ohio. We had a great time and I was impressed with his ability to stand such a long drive. I guess he is used to long hours on the farm. On Tuesday, I was able to show Grandpa around the area. We went all over. We showed him our land we bought, visited both sets of Andrew's grandparents, went up to see Andrew at his office, went out to lunch, went to a house-building meeting, toured my father-in-law's plant and then went to the airport. I had a hard time getting up this morning, especially since I had to drive downtown to practice last night as well. I feel as if this post is a bit choppy and not well written. I have been in a bit of a fog today and the cake and cappicino I had for breakfast doesn't help. Yes, I know that is BAD BAD BAD (mom) but I didn't get up in time to eat anything else. I will never do it again (hopefully). Anyway, on to more news:

The church where I work had a breakin while I was gone to Kansas. Whoever it was took one safe out of the building and tried to break into another safe. Some money was taken but the thieves didn't try to steal any of the computer equipment that is sitting in this room (the safes were in my office). I also found this morning that a lock was broken on some desk drawers and money stolen out of a purse I had in there. The purse wasn't mine, I was simply holding it in there until someone claimed it. We'll probably have to have that fingerprinted as well. Scary stuff! Anyway, that is the latest news.

Melanie, our next planned trip to Kansas is over the 4th of July. We will be there for several days this time, and we will get to Sterling for the 4th of July celebration! Will you be in town then? I hope so! Anyway, I'll email you soon!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Happy Easter!!!

I wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone! I am enjoying my time in Kansas and am looking forward to the Easter service at my old church! The Lord is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

What was I thinking?

When I look back at my decision to audition for May Festival in January, I ask myself . . . what was I thinking? My motivation for that decision was not a good one and it was way to hasty. I simply wanted to see if I was "good enough" to make it in there. Obviously that was a very vain thing to do. However, I have enjoyed the experience. I have enjoyed singing the music and it is good to know that the choir is there. I am hoping that in several years, Andrew and I could join it together. For right now, I dread thinking about going down there for rehearsals and I dread thinking about the two weeks in May when I am going to have to practically live down there. It is just frustrating to me to think that I am going to spend about 4.5 hours of my day on May Festival stuff today when I really want to be, playing outside with my puppy, working on Sunday School, getting more involved in my church, maybe volunteering in their Wednesday night program, spending time with my husband, working on stuff needed for our house, planning my voice lessons and getting ready for students, and maybe even making some friends. My heart it not in it because of the type of organization that it is and that make me sad that I am spending my time there.

One final note: Even though I consider myself one (in a vague way) and many of my friends are musicians I just have to say . . . many times, I just don't like musicians. They can be terribly snotty and know-it-all's. If they would really listen, the note that is incorrect is coming out of their mouth. That is why I say, I enjoy the music and the experience but all the criticism . . . I could do without!

Weekend Update

The weekend was a bit of a crazy one. On Friday night I started on a project to scan in some of the Myers family pictures (old ones) into our computer. Andrew and I are interested in doing something like this for families as a side business someday, so I thought it would be fun to try it out. It has been very fun and interesting so far. We will be able to put together some neat presentations when I get them all in. Of course, I need lots of help labeling things because many times I have no idea who someone is.

This morning, Dewey decided to welcome in Holy Week with a bang. He snuck into the dining room (while I was waiting at the door to let him out) and decided to poop all over the floor. It was an emergency sort of poop but it made me about 20 minutes late for work since I had to clean it up. We haven't had an accident like this in a long time. I put some Frontline on him last night, since it is spring time, and I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

I also had a bit of a weight scare yesterday. I'm not sure what I was smoking and at time I think I am a bit psycho about my weight. Anyway, I thought I weighed myself and it was 10 pounds more than last time but I must have just seen the numbers wrong or something. I weighed again this morning and I was actually down a few pounds from last time I weighed. This makes sense because I haven't eaten that much the past few weeks because of my teeth and cold. So, I have only gained about six pounds since returning to Ohio. I'm not sure what I was smoking when I thought it was 20 but it was a big relief this morning. I still need to keep working because I still want to drop about 30 pounds.

I am flying out on Friday afternoon to journey to Kansas for a short weekend trip. I am looking forward to it.

Here We Go!

We had our first official meeting with UBI (UBuildIt) today. We signed a contract and paid our downpayment (ouch!). We now have a few things to get together before our next meeting which is the budget meeting. It is up to us to finish this stuff and call him back. Is tomorrow too soon? Just kidding. I'm sure I will work on it tonight but I'm not sure that I will get it finished. Anyway, I am very excited to actually be moving forward with this whole process and I am itching to start on the construction part. We still have the four step planning process. Our construction guy assures me that this process is necessary to help reduce costs and have things in place before they are needed. I'm sure he is right!

On to other things: My diet is out of control! I have got to get things back in line and not eat so much. I have a difficult time choosing the things I eat (except for lunch) because I don't really do the grocery shopping or have my own kitchen. So, I really need to concentrate on not eating very much. This is very hard. I kept a food journal until I had my teeth out but I stopped during those rough two weeks. I need to start doing that again. I have been a bit more active lately. Since Dewey has been having some trouble with his behavior, I decided that some one on one playtime would be good, so we have been playing fetch each evening. He seems to be doing well. The only problem is how long it takes to feed him by hand. I was fairly late to work this morning because Dewey took so long to start eating. I guess I need to get up earlier, which means I need to go to bed earlier, huh?! Ok, that is all for now.

I will keep the house project up-to-date. My biggest fear right now is that the whole project will be over our budget. We have scaled it down quite a bit but I hope it is enough!

A fun time was had by all!

I had so much fun visiting with my sister this weekend. It was fun to show her around and to just have a good time. The visit was a little short but that is how is goes, I guess. I am still struggling with a bit of sinus trouble but I'm sure it will continue to improve as the week goes on.

Our building project is moving along. We are finalizing a few small details of the house plans and I am meeting with UBI (UBuildIt) on Wednesday to turn in some plans and get started on the project planning process. It will be good to officially meet with the builder. I hope things go smoothly. There is a chance that it will just be me meeting with the UBI guy but I am hoping Andrew can join me.

We discovered this morning that our sweet doggy, Dewey, is having some issues with possessiveness. I never thought he would be this way. It all started when I tried to get close to him while he was eating an ear treat. He growled at me and showed his teeth! I couldn't believe it. I took the treat away from him, made him sit, and then gave it back. Hopefully showing him that it is ok to share. He did the same to Andrew when he came in the room! So, I decided to walk up to him while he was eating this morning. He definitely snarled and me and then bit my hand. It wasn't a bad bite but it was a bit all the same! I put him in his crate for a while, so I could cool down. I heard that hand feeding was a good way to make your dog realize that the food was not his possession. I let Dewey out of his crate and hand fed him the rest of his breakfast (I also made him sit for each bite). It went well. This is a problem we will have to constantly monitor and work on. We might have to hand feed for a while and then simply sit right by his dish. I used to work with him on possessiveness but he just never showed any signs of it so I quit. I guess it is time again!

Nothing else has really been going on around here. I was able to unpack my spring clothes yesterday and pack up some winter sweaters. I always love doing that. It wasn't as pleasant this year because I spent much of the time thinking about how many things from last year I couldn't fit into. I have got to start walking more often.

Still Down!

I am still struggling with a cold. Now into my sinuses and chest. Yuck! But my sister is coming for a visit. Hopefully we can have fun anyway!

If it's not one thing . . . it's another!

My sockets are well on their way to recovery. They are healing nicely and aren't painful at all. Unfortunately, Andrew decided to share his little cold with me so I have been battling a sore throat for about a day and a half now. It's really not bad, as I can function at work, but I'm just not 100% yet. My sister is coming to visit this weekend and I just want to be all better by then.

I do know that I am feeling better because I have been thinking about working out and diets. When I am feeling completely lousy, those are usually the last things from my mind! I can't wait until I am completely back to normal.

Happy Birthday to my sister!

I decided that what better day to write a post about my best girl friend in the world, than on her 26th birthday! Happy birthday to my sister, Jenny. Where can I begin to tell you how much my sister means to me. Here are some of the wonderful memories that I have about my sister.

- From a very early age she was nice to me and included me in her circle of friends. I have many wonderful memories of playing Russian spies in our basement with my sister and Sasha.

- My sister always let me be the bride when we played 'wedding!' :)

- My sister was always there to share her bed and her 'blanket' when there was a terrible thunderstorm outside. Of course, she usually had to wake me up before I would hear it!

- My sister was always up for staying up late on Christmas Eve to be 'Santa' and to put gifts in our parents stockings.

- My sister put up with me in junior high when I copied the way she dressed, what she did . . . and pretty much her every move.

- My sister included me with her friends in high school and drove me around when I couldn't drive.

- My sister encouraged me to go to Sterling College and invited me to come stay with her when I was in high school.

- My sister included me in her circle of friends at college. She even went with me to the Service of Dedication the day I arrived on campus so I wouldn't be lonely after my parents had gone home.

- My sister helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life in college by just being there for me to talk to and by providing active solutions for my problems. I don't know what I would have done if she wouldn't have been there for me then.

- My sister let me sleep in her room at college, and even her bed, if my roommates were sick, or if I was just lonely.

- My sister makes the world, especially mine, a MUCH better place! I am so proud to call her my sister!

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Weekly Appreciation

I have had lot of things to appreciate this week. These are not in any particular order (after Andrew, of course) Here are some of them. . . .

1) My caring husband, who took wonderful care of my after my teeth were extracted! He was so thoughtful and thought of things that I couldn't while I was out of it for a while.

2) My parents for the beautiful flowers that brought me great comfort and for the many comforting phone calls!

3) Andrew's grandma, who worked hard to make me comfortable this week, along with her regular nursing duties, and she can make a mean batch of biscuits and gravy!

4) My co-workers and boss for their concern for me throughout the week, their prayers, and their insistance that I leave early when I looked pale from pain!

5) Andrew's grandpa, for the long talk and reassurance he gave me right before I left for the dentist.

6) Andrew's mom for making me tea and a smoothie and for checking up on me.

7) For my puppy, who is almost not a puppy anymore, for cuddling and keeping me company in bed!

Thanks to all who helped take care of me. I am feeling so much better today after receiving my second treatment of antibiotic packs. I hope I didn't leave anyone else out but I'm sorry if I did.

Appointment

Well, I have an appointment with the dentist today at 12:30 so he can check for dry socket. I had such a painful night. I woke up at 4:00 am and couldn't sleep because of the pain. I didn't want to take a prescription pill because I wanted to be able to drive to work. So, I took some Ibuprofen and got ice for my face. I eventually fell back asleep. I made it into work today and actually feel a little better than yesterday. We'll see what the doctor says. I am ready for some pain relief. Poor Andrew has a little bit of a cold. I have tried out several natural remedies to see if it will shorten the time of his cold. So far it hasn't gotten too bad.

Ouch!

Today has to be the most painful tooth day of all. I am so lucky that my place of employment has been so understanding and has let me off early all week. I have a feeling I am going to have to leave early today too. I didn't take a Vicodin last night and so I wasn't dizzy this morning but I did have a considerable amount of pain. I have called the dentist to see if this is normal. Argh!

New Look

I have been considering a new look for my blog for some time. This really isn't exactly what I had in mind but I'm not quite up to doing many changes without Andrew looking over my shoulder. So here it is for the time being. My pain is a bit better today but I am still experiencing some dizziness. Since we are being hit with a terrible snowstorm, it wasn't fun to drive/slide to work while dizzy this morning. I still have a bit of recovering to do!

Update!

I have been a bit out of commission since my wisdom tooth extraction on Friday. Friday evening I felt so good and thought this was going to be a breeze and then the pain hit. I made it to work this morning but my whole face is throbbing. I told the pastor that I probably wouldn't make it through the whole day and he said that was just fine. I just hope now that I can make it home. I refrained from taking any prescription strength pain pills this morning, because of the driving, but I still feel a bit like I am underwater. All I want out of life at this point is my bed, prescription pain killers, and my snuggly puppy! How many hours until I can climb back into bed?

My Personal Nurse

As my first major ordeal (having my wisdom teeth out) without my mother within 50 miles, looms on the horizon, I must take this time to reflect on how lucky I was to have her as my own personal nurse growing up.

When I needed just a bite to eat, it seemed as if, magically, she would appear with one piece of toast, topped with butter and cinnamon/sugar, cut into perfect squares. Her cool hands always felt good on my hot forehead and she always knew I was really sick if I didn't want to watch TV. She let us keep a bell by our beds, just in case we needed her. She would make us chicken noodle soup in bed and run our baths for us. There was even the time I convinced her to let me have nachos from a can (the spicy cheese kind) because I told her they would clear my sinuses!

Other things she put up with: the time I had pneumonia and I wanted about twenty pillows to use on the couch (we have a picture that is very funny), the time I passed out while having my blood drawn in the Stafford hospital, the other time I passed out while having a needle poked in me at the allergist, holding a bucket for me when I couldn't move due to anethesia, while I got sick after my gallbladder surgery (no one else was there!! only person I know who would do that for their married adult daughter!!).

My mother has not only cared for us all of these years but she brought our dog, Hunter, though a case of Parvo, by feeding him chicken noodle soup and gadorade. :)

This is not meant to be a put down to my husband or anyone else who might help me through this wisdom tooth ordeal but we all must agree . . . there is just nothing like your mother when you are sick!

We've survived one year!

One year ago we were getting our puppy, Dewey. We have managed not to kill him even though he has eaten towels, Sunday dinner pound cake, insulation, and numerous Kleenex. I wouldn't trade my little snuggly smiling beagle for the world regardless of how much trouble he gets in!

http://jaimeschechter.blogspot.com/2005/04/thats-cute-dog.html

Voice Lessons

One of the main reasons that I am probably going to quit May Festival Choir after May is over is the fact that I would like to teach voice lessons again. I did put an add in the paper when I first got here but I didn't get any response. I'm not sure how to attact students in this area but I will probably check with the local schools. I never thought I would stay this (before I taught lessons) but I miss the students. Maybe I was just spoiled with the good students that I had in Sterling but it was fun to interact with students that age. I would like to do that again and the little extra income doesn't hurt either! :) If anyone has any good ideas of how to advertise for that sort of thing, please let me know. Of course, I probably won't advertise until May and then say that lessons will start in the summer, or maybe I should wait until our house is finished but I'm not sure about that. Anyway, any ideas would be helpful!

P.S. I would seriously consider giving family discounts! :)

Who knew?

Who knew that I could do so much and just get up the next day to do it again? I am thinking this is only a taste of what May will be like with the choral festival. I have been driving downtown each night this week for practice. Luckily, I have been able to get home around 9:30 pm each night. We were expecting it to be later. Tonight is the first performance in which I am singing with the May Festival Chorus as they perform with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. We are performing Mahler's second symphony. It's a pretty cool piece of music if I do say so. We are singing much but we do have to sit up there through the whole thing since there isn't an intermission. I am trying to convince Andrew to take just one picture of the May Festival up there for proof so we'll see.

I am still torn whether or not I should quit the chorus. It is one of those things that I love to do while I am there but I dread driving down there and back so much and it does take a lot of time. I think I should probably quit it after the May Festival and then just plan to join again in the future if my time allows it! I have been thinking about how much money I spend just in gas money driving down there and it doesn't seem worth it. I am really glad for the experience but I'm just not sure I can keep it up.

Family!

Please be praying for Andrew's grandpa. He had some emergency breathing problems yesterday and had to have a traech tube put in yesterday! He needs a lot healing! Just pray that he will have comfort and peace in the upcoming days.

I have to put in another plug here for my wonderful family. Here is the latest wonderful thing they have done for me (us). They were going to give me my old car back (which they gave me in the first place) so that Andrew and I wouldn't have to buy another car anytime soon. Yesterday, my dad calls to say that he traded the old Buick in for a newer car and says that I can have my pick between the car they just bought or another car they own. Both are better, have less miles, and are more reliable then the ole Buick. My dad has gone to all this trouble to make sure that I have a good car to drive back to Kansas and one that will last us a little bit longer. They haven't had to do any of this! Aren't they great?!

All in order!

One of my favorite things to do is to organize things. It was so nice to have some time each evening to work on getting a few things sorted and put away. When we moved, for the most part, I had each box labeled with a number and a book described what was in each box. My downfall is paper clutter. I will admit that I didn't have time in the two week moving period to sort and file all of the important papers that had piled up! So last night I finally got around to sorting through a box that I had just thrown together from our office in Sterling. I got to throw away about 2/3 of it. Most of it being envelopes or just things we didn't need anymore. Now my project for the weekend is to organize the important bank statement/bills/insurance info/etc that I pulled out of that box, into binders. Binders are my favorite way to organize. Filing cabinets are just too hard to manage for me, yet at times they are necessary.

I was also able to figure out our budget the last few nights. I took over handling the money when we moved here, since Andrew is so busy, and I finally got it figured out. Actually, I should give credit where credit is due. I thought I had good Microsoft Excel skills . . . until I tried to set up a budget. I started listing income, expenses, etc and got a little frustrated with it not working properly. My genious husband comes in and waves a magic wand over the Excel spreadsheet and . . . presto we have some complex funcions that work beautifully, a layout that is easy to read, shaded in the right spots, and each column separated and easy to read. We tried to calculate in costs that we aren't currently experiencing but that we will plan on experiencing when we have our own house. Anyway, now you have all gotten a glimspe inside one of my hobbies, organizing things. That doesn't mean that I am always organized, it just means that I like to be!

Favorite Kitchen "Looks"

To anyone who wants to help me with decorating our house (when it's built), you can see the style of kitchen I want by clicking the link below. Obviously, ours won't be as big or as grand. I mainly like the black and white simplicity of this kitchen. The stove and sink are a bit overkill for me.

My Favorite Kitchen Design

Andrew and I saw this kitchen while watching Designer's Challenge the other day. Actually, Andrew was watching and I caught the tail end of the show. They also had a hardwood floor! I would probably add more red color accents but this is the look that I want. Thought I would share! I would appreciate any tips and ideas from my creative friends and family as we gather ideas.

House Building Update

We are in the process of being pre-approved for a construction loan through IndyMac Bank. The specialize in working with UBuildIt, the company that will help us build our house. They have a pretty good program with their loans including things such as unlimited draws (once every two weeks) and online draws. We should know tomorrow sometime, our pre-approval amount. Our next step is to get our house plans to UBuildIt so he can figure up all of the specifications for the house and how much the whole thing will cost to build. That's where we are at right now. We're moving forward with things but I don't feel as rushed as I did before.

I am still trying to make a decision about whether or not to keep on with the May Festival Chorus after the year ends in May. I am enjoying my time in the choir, while I'm there, but the time committment and the drive down there is enough to make me consider quitting. I also want to get more involved with our church and to be able to do other things to help Andrew out with his Master's. I also really want to start teaching voice lessons again to keep that up but I can't do both as well as everything else I am doing. I know that I have a long time to make my decision (several months) but I would appreciate advice and prayers about this matter.

Family Sacrifices

Last night I attended Andrew's cousin's high school musical. It was very good. It made me reflect about when I was in high school. I got to thinking about all of the things that my family provided for me over the years. Let me explain. My family didn't spend large sums of money on vacations for themselves, eating out, brand new "things," clothes, etc. But when it came down to getting something for one of us that they felt was important, like senior pictures, college, weddings, etc, they weren't afraid to spend a little extra for something quality. I just realized last night how much I appreciated that through the years. This quality definitely carried over into the wedding that they provided for us. They never once complained about how much money it cost and a lot of times they wouldn't share how much sometime cost, just so I wouldn't feel guilty. Everything in the wedding was beautiful and well done, just because my family was willing to foot the bill, even though it wasn't something for themselves. I just wanted to blog and say how much I appreciate the sacrifices made by my parents and grandparents so that we (my sibilings and I) could have quality things at important times in our lives. Thank you, family! I love you very much!

So Funny!

One of the perks in my job is seeing all the kids in the preschool come by every day. I don't know many of them yet but today I had a little boy come into my office and said "Excuse me, can I have Kleenex?" After I gave him one he said, "I am a little sick. I have lots of buggers." Oh my, I laughed very hard. The preschool director is gone today so I have all the naughty kids in here. Right now I have a girl in my office who is in trouble for pushing a scooter into other boys head. Oh my!

On Being Loved

I just have to make mention of a wonderful thing in my life . . . job appreciation. This doesn't mean that I wasn't appreciated in my work at Sterling but the effort these people at King of King's Lutheran Church put into appreciating me is quite amazing! I usually get a few calls a week from members just calling to tell me what a great job I am doing and about all the good things they have heard about me. I have received homemade cookies, cupcakes, invitations to lunches (twice), a beautiful plant for my office, a journal, cards, many hugs, and offers of office help from these people. Also a few days ago, a person who I thought didn't care for me much because of their cold attitude to me, said out of the blue how happy they were that I was hired for the position! I am truly blessed to work here and I am truly enjoying it!

UBuildIt

Our meeting went very well yesterday. I had spent some time "researching" UBuildIt on the internet and was impressed by the meeting and by the information that I found. It is a very detailed system and all of the costs are looked at upfront, so there aren't any surprises, or very few anyway. We are now in the process of getting pre-approved for a construction loan. Once that happens, we will give our plans to the UBuildIt (hard to type that name) and they will lay out all of the specifications of the project to see if we can afford it. That's where we are right now. I will continue to update.

House Plan

I have had several requests for me to post our favorite house plans again. Click on the following link and then click on House Plan 1. That is our favorite. We are going to take that plan to UBuildIt today to see if we can afford it. If we can't then I will post our second favorite.

http://jaimeschechter.blogspot.com/2006/02/house-plans-part-ii.html then click on House Plan 1. We will make it a side entry garage and the area with Washer/Dryer will be made bigger by using the garage storage area inside but washer and dryer will still be kept on the main level.

President's Day!

I'm really not sure why I had to work today. There is no preschool at the church today so it is VERY slow. I am here with the facility manager and the pastor. That is it! The lights are even still off in most of the building, except my office. Luckily, because it is Monday, I do have lots to do with the attendance from Sunday. I could have done it tomorrow! :)

We have a meeting with the U Build It people today at 4:00 p.m. I am excited to get things underway and see if we can afford the house we want. We went out and walked around on our land again yesterday. Dewey had a good time running around and getting his paws muddy! :) There is a nice fence around the property. We just had to watch him when he got near the front of the property. There is no fence there. I think I have picked out a spot for my garden. I hope to put in a few things this spring, even though our house will still be under construction then. I have some good landscaping ideas but those will probably have to wait until construction is finished. I have a feeling things will be trampled! Andrew's dad is planning on coming with us to the meeting. I'm glad. He has lots of experience building houses!

I have been losing things lately (not weight! Ha Ha). I couldn't find my book club book this morning and I have had a hard time remembering to mail things. Nothing that important but it is frustrating to me. I was wondering why I was feeling so displaced and disorganized. Oh yeah, half of my stuff is stored out in the big red barn! That's why! I felt better about being a little disorganized (we still know which box things are in, the trick is finding that box number) since we are still technically in the process of moving!

I will update tomorrow with details from our meeting today! Reminder: I love comments! :)

Any Who!

The other day, I was looking at commonly mispronounced words on the internet. The reason I was doing this is another story that I won't share here. Anyway, it was highly amusing. Let me share. If you wish to read the whole list you can go to www. yourdictionary.com. Here are a few that I thought were very common. Even though the word on the left may be a real word or saying the correct ones are located on the right for the purpose of this website. The ones on the right are the commonly mispronounced but correct words.

calvary/cavalry
card shark/card sharp
close/clothes
dialate/dilate
diptheria/diphtheria (pronounced with an f)
excetera/et cetera
Febyuary/February (I know I say this wrong)
foilage/foliage
For all intesive purposes/For all intents and purposes
heighth/height (not the same at width)
'erb/herb
irregardless/regardless
larnyx/larynx
mannaise/mayonnaise
miniture/miniature
nucular/nuclear
ofen/often

Enjoy and happy pronouncing! :)

My Valentine!

I woke up this morning expecting Andrew to have forgotten Valentine's Day. His actual gift to me is going to be a dinner theatre trip next week so I wasn't expecting anything on the actual day. He surprised me very much with a wonderful card and a love note during my breakfast. He went out and started my car for me this morning. When I got out to my car to leave for work, I saw a second card and love note! He did very well!! :)

Strange Things and Positive Things!

I have been noticing strange things lately, like the weather. January felt like March or April and now we are being hit by some very weird weather. While driving back from downtown yesterday we would hit patches of heavy snow followed by blue sky and sunlight. This happened several times. Today, it snowed for a good hour when I got here this morning and then by lunch the sun was out and the snow has all melted. I guess it is just in Kansas where it snows, sticks around for several days, and gradually melts. Ohio is weird! :)

Someone I work with is also weird. I won't mention who, but you can ask me later. This person will say very random comments in the middle of something I am trying to explain. His comments have nothing to do with the matter at hand. At first, I was a bit perplexed by this. Now, it just makes me laugh. This person also will interrupt even if I am explaining something serious. I don't believe they mean to be rude but well . . . I can't explain it! It's just weird!! (good thing I know how to spell weird, huh?!)
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My husband has been pointing out lately (sometimes in a nice way and others not - but that's ok) that I have developed a very negative attitude. This is true. I realize it and really want to make a change. So, whenever something annoys me or makes me sad, I am going to try and just look for the good in that and concentrate on it. I was encouraged and inspired back in Kansas, at a women's retreat I attended. The pastor's wife was speaking and she told a story about how her husband (the Pastor) would set his alarm for an early hour (think she said 5) but would then hit the snooze button for over an hour. She, however, would wake up with the first alarm. Instead of getting mad and grumbling at her husband, she instead began to use that time to pray! It made a difference in her life. I believe there is good in every situation if we just look hard enough. I realize this may be difficult but if I just start small and make little adjustments, I think it could really change my outlook on many things. I will have to share Andrew's "weightloss solution for Jaime" some day. It's pretty good, I thought!

Cupcakes

I've been thinking a lot about cupcakes lately and how they should be concentrating on their grades!

Saturday

A few requests have been made for another post from me. I'm not sure why I am writing this now, as I really don't have much to say. Today, I slept in (which was very nice), visited Andrew's grandpa in the hospital, wandered around on our new land for a while, watched some olympics, make homemade chili (which I enjoyed), and went next door to my in-law's house to watch more Olympics. I now am going to work on my music for tomorrow's concert.

Really, if I am honest, I don't really like Saturday's. I like to look forward to them, and I like them if I have sometime planned but most of the time they make me feel lousy. Just a day to lay around and not get anything accomplished. Next Saturday I will have to plan sometime to do for the day so I won't feel like I was a bum all day. I'd better get to work on laundry.

We own land!

We officially own our two acre piece of land as of 11:00 a.m. today. I am excited in a way but I am also sobered by the amount of debt we are facing now! I really feel like this was God's leading. Things just worked out so smoothly! Anyway, we will probably go take some pictures tonight so I will possibly post them here. If you want to send us mail, our address is 4862 Maud Hughes Road, Liberty Twp, OH 45044. We don't have a mailbox yet but we will soon!

Land and other such things!

We are closing on our land tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. We will then begin cleaning it up as there is some old tires and scraps of metal still left on the land from where the previous owner tore down an old house. It will be fun to go out there and play around!

I have been exercising a lot lately. I'm quite pleased with how I have been doing. I have done Pilates a few times this week and I even got up early this morning and got in a 20 minute pilates workout. I was a little late getting ready and didn't have time to make Andrew's lunch so I will have to get up just a bit early if I am going to continue this. I did another workout video last night.

I need to practice for May Festival Chorus a bit tonight. We have our first concert on Sunday and I have only sung through all of the pieces once. The choir sang some last year and so there are others more familiar with it than me.

House Plans Part II

Thanks, Linda and Melanie for your comments! I LOVE comments and I agree with you completely. When Andrew said that he liked that plan the best, I was a little disappointed that it wouldn't have an upstairs but I did like the idea of the dormer windows bringing lots of light into the family room. We are now considering two other options as well. One of them is our favorite, absolutely #1 plan. It is, however, a bit too big for us right now. The second one is significantly smaller. We really want to do what God wants us to for this house. Our dilemma lies in the fact that we are sort of limited in our ability to house needy people (which we both feel called to do, whether it be adoption or just a needy family) if we build the smaller house. I really don't want to build the bigger house just to be selfish. If we are able to afford that one when I really want to use it for a bigger purpose than just a place to live and accumulate stuff, if you know what I mean. I'm not sure that I am making myself clear in this post about how much I really just want to do what is God's will! Even if it means a tiny house, I am fine with that. Ok, here are the links to two more house plans.

This is the plan that is a bit too big for us right now, especially if we finished the upstairs. We would have a side entry garage, and a railing on the porch: House Plan 1

This is the sensible and economical house plan that we like:We would add a two car garage to this plan. House Plan 2

Let me know what you think! I am so glad that we have a while before we have to decide.

House Plans

See the link below to view our (Andrew's) favorite house plan. I have others that I like better, that have all features that I like but they are too big for us to build right now and stay within our budget limit. We probably won't be putting up a wall to that smaller bedroom (I would say knock out the wall, but hopefully we just won't put it up in the first place) and make the dining/living area bigger. We will have two bedrooms to start out with and then add one in the basement and start to finish it when we need more room! The whole plan will probably be mirrored to adjust to the sun/wind/rain factor on our property. Andrew also thinks this plan is easily add-on-able but I'm not so sure. I think it would look funny. I do ADORE the outside of the house! It is so cute and I can imagine us enjoying the view from the front porch. Enjoy looking at it and PLEASE let me know what you think. I am open to ALL suggestions because you know how much I LOVE comments! :)

http://www.houseplans.com/plan_details.asp?id=12732&st=10

Beautiful People!

In my time in Ohio I have noticed a very funny thing about people. I have been wondering when I might make some friends. What I didn't notice was that I already had. They just weren't like my friends in Sterling (meaning, 20 somethings single, or young married couples). Another things that I have noticed is that people who aren't as good looking as society thinks they should be, sometimes make the nicest friends. I won't mention names or specifics but one lady that I have met is just the sweetest person ever. She isn't good looking by the world's standards (overweight, facial hair, etc). She asks about my life and watches out for me. She isn't attractive or someone of high importance but my life has been made better through the brief interaction we have had. She is the person that I wish I were like, not the skinny blonde, with whom I have contact, who is consistently rude and doesn't have time to even say hello. So, why do I, as a woman, spend so much time pursuing outward beauty, because in my experience that is NOT at all what counts! I realize that this may be a bit of a deep subject for this early in the morning and that I just may be slow in this discovery. Some of the most beautiful people I know are ugly by the world's standards.

Compromising

We are in the process of picking out a house plan to build later on this year. This has turned a formerly fun task into somewhat of a tedious one! Part of the problem is the organization of over 100 house plans. I will start to work on that tonight, if I have time. I am attending Andrew's cousins shower tonight. Andrew and I like different things in our house plans. I tend to like house plans with 1) porches, 2) nice Master bathrooms, 3) secluded Master bedrooms, 3) kitchens with islands, 4) the potential to expand the house in the future, meaning expandable upstairs, basement, or the ease of an addition. We are also limited by funds. I would like a 2,000 square foot house but pretending we are just living on Andrew's salary means that we can only afford about 1300 square feet. Andrew has picked out a house plan that he thinks is the one. I guess that I just expected to see a house plan and say "that's it." Kind of like the feeling when you find the perfect wedding dress. This house plan is definitely acceptable. My only qualms with it include the layout of the house and the lack of a second story. Looking at what we have lived in so far, I guess I shouldn't be so picky.