Life in a Small Town

I love living in the tiny little town of Damascus! I am such a country girl at heart! I was listening to some of the older songs on my mp3 player, and as soon as I heard "Famous in a Small Town" by Miranda Lambert, I had to post the lyrics. This is EXACTLY what it's like living in my town. I wouldn't change it for anything, and plan on living here until the day I die :-)

Famous in a Small Town:

They say Life is so much sweeter
Through the telephoto lens of fame
Around here you get just as much attention
Cheering at the high school football game.

I dreamed of going to Nashville
Put my money down and placed my bet
but I just got the first buck of the season
I made the front page of the Turner Town Gazette

Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell
Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend maybe knows you just a little too well
Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail
Hey, word's gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town

Tyler and Casey broke up
It ended pretty quietly
We heard he was caught red handed with her mama
So that's just what they let us all believe

Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell
Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend maybe knows you just a little too well
Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail
Hey, word's gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town.

Baby who needs their faces in a magazine
Me and You, we were stars in the town since we were seventeen.

Let's go on down to the Quick Stop
Wear your yellow shades and I'll put on my tight jeans
And we'll just spend the weekend burnin rubber
And we'll let 'em point and stare in disbelief

Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell
Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend maybe knows you just a little too well
Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail
Hey, word's gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town.
Everybody dies famous in a small town.

I love that the whole town shuts down every Friday night in the fall for football games. I love that I know most of the people who live here. I love that my old high school is shaped like a barn because we're known as the farm school...seriously:I love that people go TPing for entertainment, and that on the first day of deer season it becomes a ghost town. I love that 12 hours after Luke and I got engaged, the entire town knew about it. Most of all I love how close everybody is, and how we band together. I could never live in the city! I'm glad Luke loves it here too, so we can stay here forever :-)

Surprise!

Last night at about 8:00, one of our renters came up and informed us that they had no heat. upon further investigation, we realized that we also had no heat (heat rises, so it wasn't too cold in our apartment yet). Luke had to stay home from work today to take care of the situation, which didn't turn out to be too big of a deal, thank goodness!

Anyway, I got home from work. In the kitchen, I noticed that a few dishes had been washed and put away. Apparently Luke had been busy while I was at work! It was a total surprise, because he usually doesn't help around the house unless I ask him to. And I don't ask him to help too often.

I also noticed a couple of bags of groceries: just a few things we needed, and no, he didn't put them away. But I was excited that he thought to go out and get a few things that we needed!

His biggest project was in the bedroom. He completely rearranged the furniture and cleaned up in there!

Here is how our bedroom was set-up. This was taken the week we moved, so that's why it's a little messy still!
And here is what it looked like today when I got home:
I think I like it better this way! although the little rug on the floor looks kinda funny now. And I think I realize that I need to put on my bed skirt!

(On a side note, can you believe I got our bed frame at a garage sale for $75? I love it! It also has a canopy that you can add to it, but our ceilings aren't quite high enough for that. maybe someday. Anyway, you really can find great bargains when you look for them! Dave Ramsey would be proud of me :-D)

Not sure what got into Luke today, but I like it! He can be sweet when he really wants to ;-) I better make him a special dinner tonight as a thank-you :-)

R&R at a B&B

I think we've finally done it: we've made a decision about our one-year anniversary trip! This is not 100% for sure, but pretty close!

We decided on a place that will make us both happy; it's romantic for me, but fun for Luke.

Okay here it is: we are probably spending our anniversary in New Jersey. I know, it's an odd place for a one-year anniversary trip. Luke actually picked the location, because he wants to go to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. At first I was a little bit against this idea - it didn't sound very romantic to me!

But last night I spent lots of time researching the area, and I found a quaint little bed and breakfast just 8 miles from Six Flags!

The Dancer Farm Bed and Breakfast in New Egypt, New Jersey:

It's on a beautiful 250-acre farm, and it's a quick walk from the Laurita Vineyards. There are 10 rooms in the B&B, and they each have a different theme that somehow goes along with the farm. I would love to stay in the "Romance is in the Air" room:

Mostly because of this:

It's a little girly though, even for me! Plus it's one of the more expensive rooms because it's the biggest one, and has an extra large whirlpool bathtub. So we might choose my second favorite, The "Fruits of the Season" room. I love the bright, summery colors in here!

Here's the bathroom...for some reason, I always love to know what they look like too :-P

Each room has a private bathroom with a whirlpool tub or claw foot tub, and most have a balcony facing out over the farm.

There is a top floor observatory for guests as well as porches and gazebos. There are many horses on the property - they train race horses and also give horseback-riding lessons.

I've never been to a bed and breakfast, so I can't wait! I can't wait to walk around the farm, gardens, and vineyards; relax on the balcony drinking sparkling white grape juice and eating chocolate-covered strawberries; to soak in the tub, and just unwind and relax! It won't be rest and relaxation the whole time, though, because we will be spending a day or two at Six Flags! In addition to the regular park, they also have a water park and safari ride. So that will be fun! It will be great to return to our country haven after a hot, busy, crowded day at the park.

We're thinking our trip will last 3 days and 2 nights. Just enough time to get away, rejuvenate, and have some crazy fun at Six Flags! Six Flags makes Luke happy, and the Dancer Farms Bed and Breakfast makes me happy!

I absolutely cannot wait until our anniversary weekend in July! Only 4 moths left. This first year has been flying so far!

Here are some more pictures of what we will see during our trip, just for fun, because I'm so excited :-)

Horses at Dancer Farms:
Breakfast room at the B&B
Laurita Winery:

Six Flags Great Adventure:

Safari Ride at Six Flags:

Hurricane Harbor - Six Flags:

Opportunity Cost

Dave Ramsey always talks about opportunity cost. Basically, it means that whenever you buy something, you are always giving something up in return for that.

In life that's true of the decisions we make. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what Luke and I gave up to buy our house. We were so excited about buying our first house, and on top of that, renting part of it out to cover our mortgage payments. We couldn't wait to renovate and decorate it. Couldn't wait to feel like we weren't just throwing our money away by renting. I especially couldn't wait to get a pet! We got all those things, but we gave some things up, too!

We gave up an apartment that I was absolutely in love with! I really miss my apartment. It had been newly renovated, and had everything a renter could ever want. The rent was so low it was almost unbelievable. Now that I have my dream: a house, I find myself missing the apartment every once in awhile!

Here it is...not much to look out on the outside, but the inside was awesome. And we had a garage!!! Something that I miss now, that's for sure.
We also had a larger kitchen back then, with a pantry and a lot more storage room
There was even room for a table that we could sit at!
There was a dining room - not room for one of those here...our table is in the hallway
I miss the HUGE living room. Our living room now is pretty tiny. The old one was perfect for parties. this picture was taken when Luke lived there alone, a few months before the wedding. You can tell it needs a woman's touch!
I miss the His & Hers closets we had in our bedroom. Although our bedroom was tiny back then, so that's an upgrade!

I miss the big window in our computer room that let in so much natural light (during the daytime that is...this picture was obviously taken at night!)- we don't get much natural light in our house since we live in the top floor and just have little windows.

But most of all, I miss our yard! We have almost no yard now, and I miss it.
Our old yard was perfect for playing cornhole,
Bonfires,

Throwing the light-up Frisbee (Not sure how JC got this picture to look like this, but I like it!)
And just hanging out with friends on a summer night. Now that it's getting warmer, I'm missing having a yard so much! But I can make the most of what we have, I guess.

Along with the apartment, we gave away a lot of free time. It was nice to just call our landlord when something went wrong. Now we ARE the landlords, and have to worry about our own problems, plus the problems of 2 other groups of people.

We gave up a lower rent payment for a higher mortgage payment. Even though the rent money we get from our apartments covers it, it doesn't cover the taxes, gas bill for the whole building, or repairs. It doesn't help when our renters' check bounces, which is exactly what happened this month.

In a nutshell, we traded freedom for responsibility.

I love our house, and I'm so happy with where life has brought it. We feel so blessed. But I have those moments when I miss our life when it was a little simpler. I have learned such a great lesson through this experience: Be content, and be happy in the moment! Because you WILL miss it someday. I'm trying to enjoy and remember every moment right now, because I know that in a few years, I'm going to really miss being a newlywed! It's easy to look to the future and hope and dream about it, but it's more important to be content and happy in the moment.

I'm sure there are things going on in your life that you will miss someday! So remember to cherish them while they last. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Dreaming of Summer

I am a special education aide, which means I help students with special needs who are included in their regular classroom. This can often be boring, since I'm sitting in another teacher's classroom for 7 hours a day. A lot of that time is spent while the teacher is lecturing the class or teaching them a new lesson. Lately I've found myself daydreaming of summer during those times. Today was especially bad since it warmed up to 50 and is supposed to be in the 60s all weekend (woohoo!!!)

Here are all the things I'm looking forward to...this list is so long that I bet no one will read it. But it makes me so happy, and really makes me look forward to 2 or 3 months from now!

1. A 12-week break from work! I get paid hourly, but they stretch it out so that I get paid year-round. It's not very much money by any means, but it will be nice that this summer I will be lounging around the pool and still getting a paycheck every other Thursday! (don't worry, I really do plan on doing more than just lounging. But it sounds nice!)

2. Being able to wear summer clothes! Flip-flops, skirts, sundresses, t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, capris...these things are all just begging to be brought out from hiding! And I can't wait :-D

3. Enjoying my parents' pool. Thank goodness they live a few seconds down the road!

4. Camping with Luke's family and getting to use our new tent! We got it from my parents as a wedding gift, and never got a chance to use it yet.

5. Celebrating our 1-year anniversary on July 12

6. Luke's church softball games. I love sitting on the sidelines chatting with the other wives/sisters/mothers/girlfriends, etc. We do occasionally take a break in our conversation to watch the game ;-)

7. Going to the Dairy King (that's right, King, not Queen) after the softball games for flurries, and then taking a late swim with our friends and the team afterward. There's nothing better than church family :-)

8. Going to the drive-in. We bring pillows, cushions and blankets and sit in the back of Luke's truck with a couple of friends. We love ordering some fried food from the snack bar, getting cozy, and watching a couple movies until WAY too l ate into the night. If you've never been to a drive-in theater, you should go!

9. Fireworks on the 4th of July. I'm talking about the illegal ones that my husband and all of his friends spend way too much money on, and then set off themselves. It's a tradition: the men set off the fireworks while the women sit and watch and pray that no one loses a limb. Last year Luke promised he wouldn't set off too many big ones, because it was a week before our wedding! I didn't want him to be injured for our special day! ha!

10. Summer barbecues. Just thinking about it, my mouth is watering for burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, corn on the cob, and baked beans.

11. Helping at VBS. This year I'm in charge of the crafts for the pre-schoolers. We are expecting about 40 or 50 preschoolers alone this year, so it's a pretty big job! But I love to help and spend all morning with the adorable kids for a week in the summer.

12. Water skiing and tubing at Lake Milton. Or just relaxing on the boat getting a tan.

13. Picnics in the park. Luke works for the parks department in a town near where we live. I told him that he's taking me there for some picnics this summer because we didn't get to last year!

14. The possibility of getting a puppy since I will be home to train it. Not sure about this one yet. Gabby (our adorable cat) really likes to have all of our attention, all the time!

15. Baseball! Luke and I love going to Cleveland Indians games and watching them on tv. We especially like to go on fireworks nights. Watching the fireworks while sitting in the stadium with the city skyline in the background is always amazing.

16. Trips to Cedar Point. I wrote about this one the other day, but I had to add it to my list!

17. Working on our yard. We moved into this house in November, and the yard (as small as it is) is UGLY. I'm so glad I married a landscaper! I'm expecting Luke to make it beautiful this summer :-) Unfortunately there's not enough room for a garden, but in our "forever house" I can't wait to plant my own garden and have fresh fruits and vegetables (especially tomatoes...yum!)

18. Church picnics. It seems like church ladies really do cook the best! Who doesn't love a potluck meal followed by a game of sand volleyball or a walk around the lake?

19. Hiking, canoing, and other outdoorsy things that you can't do in the winter.

20. Matinees! I never seem to find time to go to a matinee on the weekend, but during the summer I can go with my mom or friends during the week, and only pay $2!!


There are SO many other things I love about summer, but I've written quite enough for one day! I will leave you with a few summer pictures that make me smile :-D

Here's my wonderful husband in Myrtle Beach '07. It was his (extended) family vacation, and we were engaged, so I got to go with them for the first time that year! I have at least 20 pictures of Luke and his bro-in-law trying on hats from that week :-P

Here I am with my sister-in-law, Maria. The sun is shining so brightly!

Here are the beautiful Smoky Mountains. This was taken in July on our honeymoon to Pigeon Forge! I long to see blue skies and puffy, white clouds like that again!
Yay for roller coasters! This was taken from the Eiffel Tower at Kings Island last year. In Cincinnati, not Paris :-P Nothing screams summer like amusement parks!
And of course a beach pic is in order! I was on Luke's shoulders trying to get a nice picture of the sand sculpture he had made of the Ohio Stadium. Seriously. Yeah, he's a little obsessed if I haven't mentioned it before :-P

All right, I know ya wanna see it. I'll leave you with Luke's Ohio Stadium sand masterpiece:
Click to make this picture larger, and you will see that Luke even included script Ohio inside the stadium. He's a true fan, that one!

And THAT was the longest post ever :-)

Weekly Splurge

Today I should be calling it my "Weekly Save" instead of my "Weekly Splurge." That's because there are a few bigger things that I'm saving my splurge money for, so I won't be buying anything small this week with it. I will be saving it for a few nicer things I want.

First of all, I'm saving it for this:

It's going above the table in our makeshift dining room. Being that we live on the top floor of our house (we rent out the bottom two sections) we have a weird layout. The kitchen is quite small, and there's not much room for a formal dining room. No problem for us! We just added a table in the hallway. When we eat there, it feels like it's a dining room...sort of :-P It definitely needs some different lighting, though!

Let me explain. Our house was at one time an office building. I think it was a house first, and then offices, and then a tri-plex. It's been through a lot! Anyway, there are huge fluorescent lights in EVERY room except the bathroom and kitchen! Here's what the ones in the hallway look like. (Gag me :-P)

(Don't ya just love the texture on the ceiling too? YUCK!)

Every time I turn on a light switch in our house, it triggers the most un-relaxed feeling. You practically need sunglasses in there! It seems to almost warp the pretty colors I picked out for my walls and linens, etc. We've been wanting to change all the lighting in the house, and I figured I better start somewhere! The dining room seems like a great place, because it needs to be romantic in there! I need to add some ambience :-) I think a chandelier will do just that. And I'm excited about buying some plain chandelier shades and decorating them and adding them to the light fixture. I can even change them based on seasons! I'm excited :-)

Here is the other thing I'm saving my money for:

Luke and I live about 2 hours from the greatest place on earth: Cedar Point! If you're a roller coaster junkie like we are, you MUST visit Cedar Point at least once in your lifetime! We go every year. We decided yesterday that sometime in May we're both going to take a personal day from work and go there. I've only taken 2 sick days, and I've never taken a personal day (I get 3 per year) so I don't feel too bad about it. It still won't be too unbearably hot in May, and the crowds won't be too bad when everyone's still in school! I'm so excited :-D I may save up enough to go 2 or 3 more times throughout the summer, too! At this time of year I literally start having dreams about Cedar Point...that's how obsessed and excited I get about it. Cedar Point = summer to me. I only wish we lived a little closer so I could justify buying season passes!

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As I mentioned yesterday, this week is spring cleaning at the Wallace house. I showed this embarrassing picture of our attic storage area:
In my defense, at one point it was more organized, but Luke threw everything in a monstrous pile in the back to make more room for his tools (they're behind me in the pic).

So here we are after:

Is it still a little chaotic? Sure. Is it organized chaos now? Absolutely, and I feel good about it! We don't even have a garage, so a lot of junk has to fit in this space. No one EVER sees it, so I'm really not worried about making it perfectly neat. I just want to be able to go back and be able to find something quickly. Mission accomplished!

My next task will be to organize my bedroom closet and dresser. Luckily, those just need rearranged a little with spring/summer clothes (don't worry, I will keep my winter clothes easily accessible...it was 24 degrees today!) and won't be too much of a major task. I won't bore you with pictures!

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One last totally unrelated thing. Who else watched the Bachelor finale and After the Final Rose Special last night?? My friends and I were gasping and yelling at the screen so much that we had to turn the volume way up. We couldn't believe it. Let me just say that I was totally shocked, I lost ALL respect for Jason, I feel horrible for Melissa, and I really wish Molly would have turned Jason down instead of taking him back so easily! I don't think Jason understands that love isn't something that's always going to be a perfect fairy tale. You have to work at it, and it's messy sometimes! Oh well, what can ya do? :-P I just hope Melissa or Jillian is the next bachelorette! I love those two!

Well that is certainly enough rambling for one day!!

Randomness

I've got a lot of random things on my mind today, so it's time for a random post!

1. This week is spring cleaning week at my house. My first task is cleaning out our huge attic closet. This is the room where everything was literally thrown when we moved in. We have cleaned out everything we need from this room, so all of our useless stuff was left in there. It is pretty bad! Good luck to me as I organize it and clean it out later today!

I can't believe I actually posted that mess for the world to see!!!

2. The Bachelor finale is on tonight! I'm pulling for Melissa. Apparently there is a huge twist at the end! Two of my friends are coming over so we can eat popcorn and watch the show together. I can hardly wait until 8:00! I'm dying to find out what happens! And dying to spend some time with some friends :-)
3. After the Famine was over on Saturday night, Luke had to clean up the stage from the big concert. So I went over to my parents house while he was doing that! My mom and I watched "Changeling." I didn't think it looked too great according to the previews, but it was amazing! Angelina Jolie did an incredible job, and I would definitely recommend this movie.
4. Our whole church is doing a 40 day spiritual journey with the book "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I read the book when I was in 8th grade, but it's definitely more meaningful now. We attend a young adult Bible study on Saturday nights where we are studying the book. It's been great so far!
5. I realized lately that I need a new motto for my life: KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Everything doesn't have to be perfect! Hamburger Helper meals are okay every once in awhile. A clean house can look better than an expensively decorated house that's cluttered. Camping vacations can be just as fun as exotic ones. And date nights can be as simple as a home-cooked meal, a game of Scrabble, and then popcorn and a movie at home. God is teaching me to be content with who I am and what I have. I need to stop over-complicating things!
Well have a great, random Monday :-)