Lazy Spring Days

My semester is almost over. I'm done with teaching, but I still have a truck-load of grading to do. Anthony and I did some yard work this past Saturday, and although I love gardening, I can't stand weeding. I cleaned out my flower beds in front, which wasn't very hard (although my hamstrings beg to differ).

After a long day of work, we relaxed on the deck, which we almost NEVER do. I recently realized that someone who works 70 hours a week should be able to relax when she comes home. And realizing how good it felt after all that work on Saturday, we made a decision. This is first time in my life that I will be hiring someone to work/clean my garden, and....clean my house! I thought I would never have someone else clean my house, but I think I can get used to it. We are hiring a couple that was recommended to me from one of my colleagues at work...this is the first week! I imagine I am going to be much less stressed out this summer...it should be a good one.

I want more lazy days...of spring, summer...heck, every season! I want to be more like my lazy cats.

Look at what I drove past in town yesterday!

It was just another ride home from work, until I saw 10 elephants in the incoming lane, followed by ponies! The Ringling Bros. circus is in town. I absolutely hate the circus and everything it stands for, but I don't have the time or energy to get into that discussion. I was trying to look at the elephants' feet for signs of shackling, but they were moving too fast.

Sad news, but a blessing in the midst of it!

Soooo, Anthony and I have talked about my desire to stay at home when we have kids. I have an AWESOME job, but I wouldn't be able to devote as much time as I'd like to raising my children with the schedule I have at work. Well, the Lord worked that all out for me yesterday. I was asked to resign. I was joking with one of my students in class one day, and pretended, yes, pretended to be smacking him in the back of the head. Well, looks like the student and his family is using this as an opportunity to make some cash by suing the university. Sadly, the university is siding with the student and his family.

Well, yesterday could have been one of the worst days of my life...I was humiliated and voiceless. But, OH MY GOSH! I came home and there was a voicemail about a prize I needed to claim and that I needed to call an 800 number to claim it. Well, I usually NEVER call back to those stupid services. As a matter of fact, I'm usually so angry that they got my phone number some how. So, I'm not sure why I called back yesterday, but I did. And yep, you guessed it! I won $800,000!!!! OH MY GOSH! When I called and gave them my name, they read off my address. I was getting a bit nervous, thinking, "This could be a mass murderer." But, I verified my address and they said I won. After taxes, we'll be getting around $26,000 a month for the next 2 years. So, I may have lost my income at work, but HELLO! I think we'll be ok.

Oh yeah, April Fools!

Wishing it was still last week

Well, unlike my mother-in-law (see her blog), we DID wake up to a bunch of snow in State College this morning. You can see those "lovely" photos below...the only ones with snow! Ahhh, Florida seems so much sweeter today, especially because "Spring" has supposedly just arrived!!!

When I woke up today, I was wishing it was still last week, when I was in Baltimore. I had another conference to attend by the Inner Harbor, which was absolutely beautiful. It's less than a 3-hr drive from our house in State College, so it will definitely be a mini-getaway for us when the weather gets better. I have pictures of the amazing hotel I stayed in on the Pier. On my last day there (St. Patrick's Day), I went for a walk/jog along the pier and was a bit startled to see people who looked like they were running a marathon...in kilts! Even a black man was in a kilt...ha ha ha! I stopped by Starbucks to get a cup of tea and saw that there was a rest station for the runners across the street. On my way out, I talked to the people who were organizing the run to see what it was for. They said it was a St. Patrick's Day BAR run, and the runners had to visit 6 bars around the harbor...the first one back would win. That would explain a few things I noticed. Many of the runners looked a bit "green" in the face, and they were running very, very slow. They looked extremely tired, and I even thought to myself, "Wow, these runners look so out of shape." I didn't feel so bad huffing and puffing as I passed them jogging. Well, the fact that this was 8:30am tells me that they had to be dedicated boozers. Wow.

Anyway, there are just a number of pictures I took around the harbor...good times. The weather was beautiful on the day I was leaving, so I'm really wishing I was still there today!

Reasons to Stay in PA #3

More views that make me happy.

More PA Views

Ok, so aside from the autumn leaves in the background of the first picture, there's nothing particularly "Pennsylvanian" about these pictures, but it sort of describes another reason why I wouldn't want to leave PA. Autumn and Spring are my favorite seasons! I think the focus of my blogging for a while will be on the reasons why I wouldn't want to leave PA. I'd rather focus on that instead of the reasons why I want to leave.

Ok, I came back and edited this post 10 minutes later...I couldn't resist. The last picture in the slide show is a major reason I would want to leave. While I LOVE the changing colors of leaves in the Fall, I hate WHEN THEY FALL! The tree is in our front yard...ugh.

Moving to Florida?????

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted, but when I woke up to a sea of snow this morning, I was compelled to write. Anthony and I have been talking about where our next move would be, and when we'd move. I'd like to be in the DC/MD area, Anthony has though about Texas, and we've both thought about Florida. We'd probably be ready to make a move in about 5 years, but we really haven't given any serious thought to timing.

There are so many things I love about living in rural PA. It's safe, the landscape is beautiful (mountains all around), and people are very friendly. We love our little neighborhood and our neighbors are great. We love the family we have at our church, and we love our pastors. But there are days when I really HATE being in State College. For one thing, there's hardly anything to do on the weekends. Even our favorite hangout, Barnes and Noble, is only open until 11pm on weekends. Now, I could very well drive 3 hours in either direction to get to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia for fun, but that means I have to DRIVE FOR 3 HOURS, adding everything that goes along with traveling. I find that seeing gray skies for 6 months out of the year is beginning to take its toll on me. I would take a cold and sunny day over a warm and cloudy day. I need sunshine...it makes me happy and gives me energy. We know that this is a scientific fact too. So, while I love it here, I'm ready to go. I want to see my flowers blooming all year round, even if it's only green leaves. I want more than bare trees and brown, soggy grass.

The pictures in the post capture the 2 landscapes I love the most. I love sunsets in PA...the mountain views are a sight to see. I also love the sight of snow right after it falls...it's so quiet and beautiful. It's just having to go out in the stuff that I hate, along with when it turns brown and slushy from traffic...ugh.

August, a busy and sad month

August was full of traveling for me. First, I went to Brock University in St. Catherine's, Canada to meet with a colleague. I flew into Toronto and stayed in Niagara Falls. The university was about 20 minutes from my hotel, but over an hour to the airport. Trips like these make me love my job. The first morning I was there, I went for a jog along the North end of the Falls...those are the pictures of the falls through all the trees/brush. After my meeting, I went for a long walk along the main part of the Falls, on the Canadian side. I used to come here often when I was an undergrad in Buffalo. It was beautiful. I even caught an amazing glimpse of a rainbow over the top of the Falls. After I checked out of the hotel, I went to the Botanical Gardens and a Butterfly Conservatory. They have a huge horticulture school there, so the students are in charge of designing and maintaining the gardens. Sadly, on this trip, I got a call from my sister letting me know that my grandmother had passed away after having a heart attack. She lived a good, long life though...88 years!

Conference in Madison, WI

I had to present at a conference in Madison, WI from August 19th-22nd. Once again, I had the opportunity to mix a little business with pleasure. There are pictures I took from the plan, and from my walk by the Marina. Madison is such a cute little town.

Elsie Taylor's Funeral

And sadly, we had to travel to New York for my maternal grandmother's funeral in Long Island on August 24th. It was a sad reason to go home, but it was great to see my family, especially my cousins who I haven't seen in over 15 years! They all still look the same!!! I'll post some pictures of my grandmother once I get them from my sister. She was an absolutely stunning woman. She even wore spiked heels until a few years ago. My aunt convinced my grandmother to wear flat shoes in her older years, and much to her chagrin, she relented.

My 33rd Birthday

And the final day of August was my birthday. Anthony took me out to one of my favorite restaurant's in town, a Korean BBQ. We had way too much to eat and ended with dessert at Rita's Italian Ice...mmmm. Not sure why he's making that silly face.

Long overdue pics from Sweden

I realize that the pictures that I posted from our Sweden trip disappeared into cyberspace, so until I can figure out an easy way to post to my blog from our Mac, feel free to see all the pictures from that vacation at Anthony's online photo album site (www.flickr.com/anthonystauffer). The albums are listed on the right, and I think "Sweden Vacation" is one of the first listed. There are LOTS of pictures, just to warn you.

Sweden

We are closing in on the end of our Sweden vacation. I had a conference in Norway at the end of June, so we decided to tack a vacation on the end of my conference to visit with Anthony's sister and her family in Sweden (next door to Norway). I was in Oslo, Norway for a week and then head over to Vannasby, Sweden at the end of the week (June 24th). Anthony arrived on the 25th. We spent a week with his sister Miki and her family (see pictures below for more info on them). Miki has lived in Sweden for 17 years...she met her husband, Kris on a missions trip 17 years ago, and she stayed!

We left their house yesterday (july 1st) and head over to Stockholm for some sightseeing for a few days.Stockholm is beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for a better day! It was warm and sunny...perfect! We have a few more places we want to see tomorrow, and then we're off to Pennsylvania on Wednesday. The pictures below can tell the rest of the story.

Late evening ride

The sun doesn't fully set in Sweden during the summer...these pictures may have been taken around 8 or 9pm. We took quite a few walks and bike rides...I want a motorcycle after riding the hog!

Midnight ride

What should have been a midnight motorcycle ride turned into a midnight drive to see what midnight in Vannasby, Sweden looks like...ahhh, beautiful. This was actually our last night with Anthony's family, so I guess I'm working backwards.

Stress-free, if only for a little while

We've been soooooo relaxed here, staying up late and sleeping in...can you tell by the look on our faces? That second picture is cool, huh?

Favorite times

Some of our favorite times were hanging out on "outdoor furniture" like red necks in Kris and Miki's nice backyard. And of course, playing with sweet little Jackie, the dog...she went crazy over soda bottles.

Our hosts for the week

Our hosts...they fed us well. Bjorn is in the first picture, being silly, as usual (he wasn't really drinking). Katrina, looking beautiful, as usual. Kris and Miki, in the next set of pictures, laughing as usual.

Food and Fun!

These pictures sum up our past week...food and fun. Anthony's sister Miki, her husband Kris, their kids Katrina and Bjorn and their Jack Russell Terrier, Jackie, were excellent hosts. We ate a lot, drank a lot and laughed a lot. We had a blast.

Moose Farm!

Sweden is known for its moose. The male (bull) in the first picture is 9 years old. The calves in the other pictures are just a few weeks old. They were so cute!