Parents-In-Law Visit To Vermont

August 9th through the 16th, Randy's parents came to visit us for the first time since we have moved over 1 year ago now. We were both super happy that they finally were able to come. They brought all 3 of the dogs in the 12-14 hour car ride it takes to get here from Michigan. I don't know if I would have had the patience, but Melanie (Randy's mom), prevailed and everyone made it here alive. We had a blast the whole week. I think I ate more corn on the cob the week they were here than I have in my whole life. It was in season, and it tasted so good after making it on the grill we ALL couldn't get enough of it! We made a trip up Mount Equinox during the visit on a gorgeous sunny day and we could see for miles. We even got a pretty good look at the Monastery where the Monks make all their beer. The dogs were all well behaved and there were no accidents on the carpet, THANK GOD!! We also made 2 trips to Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont, where my employee discount came in VERY handy. It rained on all but 2 of the days Jim and Melanie were here, but we made the most of those 2 days and the rainy ones. We did a whole lot more than just go up a mountain and buy things, but I don't really remember everything. I just really want my parents to come and see where their daughter lives. We love it out here, and I'm not so sure when or ever we will move back to Michigan. I know that is a bold statement (especially for a few viewer/readers, (Meagan, Mom) but that is the honest truth).
And now for a few pictures of the visit.


This is Melanie and I standing by one of the many "edges" you can drive up to while going up Mt Equinox.

This is Randy and I at a Picnic Area that was set up on part of the drive up the Mountain. There is a fireplace on both sides of this one in the background. It was huge.
Here we all are standing at one edge of the Mountain. Curly wanted to be in the picture too!

Here is a picture of the Monastery, you might have to look real hard. If you ever have the chance to see it in person it is very beautiful, and it kind of resembles a castle.

At the very top of Mt. Equinox there is a trail that I believe runs down one whole side of the mountain and over to the Monastery (but don't quote me on that). Anyway, it is very covered with trees and rocks and brush and even on a very hot day with all that coverage it feels cool. Well, it tends to stay very wet as well which is great for the growth of mushrooms. These pictures are just 2 samples of what seemed like 20 or more kinds that we saw while walking part of the trail. The white ones look like little roses that were frozen and frosted over. I thought they were really neat.

Ahh, The Weekend

This is just a friendly post I thought I would write. I am missing my family and friends from Michigan a lot these days. I am still having the unbeliveable urge to peck at my husband on the topic of "BABY". I think my clock must be ticking and its sitting right in my ear telling me to get it started. Ugh, I wish that I could be happy and content with the way things are, but I just want a baby so bad that, when ever I stop to think about it, I feel so anxious, its like I need to burst out in tears, scream, yell, what ever. Anyway, I think it hasn't helped that my very best friend in the world, Sarah, just gave birth to her first child and now that is all I can think about.
On another note, I am very excited to have my in-laws come to stay with us in August. This not only will give us time to show them around our new place, but it will give me a little vaca, from work. Which, I desperatly need.
Anyway, I just want to say hello to everyone in Michigan , I miss you all so much. We probably won't be home until Christmas, so I guess we'll see you all then.

Our 3rd New Home, In Less Than 1 Year!

So we are officially moved in to the new house in Bennington VT. We LOVE it. There are still a few boxes to put away, and things to hang on the walls, but, all-in-all things are looking great. Randy's parents are coming to visit us in August, hopefully things will be a little more put together by then.
I also have started carpooling with a woman from my work, so we both only have to drive into Manchester 2 days a week. We are working 10 hour days too, to cut back on traveling. Our neighbors are awesome. To the left of our house is a Vermont State Trooper. He and his wife have a dog, a newer (old style) black Mustang, Motorcycles and 2 other vehicles. They are always working in their yard and are very nice. To the right of us is a duplex. We have met only one couple who live on the furthest end and they are older, and retired. Their names are Bernie and Joanne, she stays home most days, but he is the elevator operator at the Bennington Monument. They RULE. They are both Super nice, and they always stop to talk with us when we are in our yard. I still really miss everyone in Michigan, (tear), but I love living in Vermont too.
Here are a few Pictures of our new Home.
Here is the view from the street. We have a nice little front porch.

This is our HUGE driveway, that, I swear you can fit like 8 cars in.
This is the back yard.
This is the side yard, along the right side of the house.

This is our picnic table that sits under a canopy of red grapes. The grapes will be ready this fall, YUM!
Here are some of those grapes!
This is our back porch, this runs along the left side of the house by the driveway.
Here is the kitchen, the open doorway leads to the laundry room.
Here is the other side of the kitchen.
This is our dining room. We got this solid oak, (or at least we think its oak, it could be pine), table from Bennington Furniture, during Vermont's no sales tax week, for $100. It has 2 leaf inserts that fold down into the underside of the table. We lucked out. The chairs don't match, we still have to find some.

This is a picture of our living room. Hard to tell with it sideways, but, I didn't take the picture.
Another view of our living room. We still need a TV stand/entertainment center. Can't afford that yet.
More views of our awesome table.

This is the table fully extended. It is probably about, 6.5-7.5 feet in length, with the leafs in.
This is my awesome washing machine that we found, in Bennington, on craigslist. It came as a set with a much, much older dryer that we only paid $200 for the pair. We lucked out on this too, since it is an energy star rated front loader and it's only like 4 years old. We basically ended up paying for the washing machine and getting the dryer free. The man we bought it from wanted $300, but my husband knows how to get a bargain!!!

Will's Vermont/New York visit!

Here are a few pictures that Will took while visiting us from Michigan. (Will, is Randy's best friend).



These first few pictures from outside are of the Nature Trail, at the Vermont Country Store, in Weston, Vermont.

These are of Randy and Will (taking the picture), doing the dishes as a nice surprise to me when I got home from work that day. Aren't they so helpful! :-)

On the way home from the Vermont Country Store, Michelle (a teacher friend of ours), had to go to the bathroom, so, we stopped off at a porta-john in the parking lot of a restraunt and found this little water fall.

We also saw some craw fish that were hidind in a hole with all their babies(too tiny for anyone to see on camera), at this same waterfall, as well as this neat, run down, old building. We all had a lot of fun tooling around Vermont. Taking our time looking and stopping at local places on the way. I wish that my parents could come out for a visit this summer. I miss everyone at home (in Michigan), something terrible. But, I love Vermont too. I hope we get some money in soon so we can go home for a visit.

Moving....Again

We recently found out that the house we are currently renting, SOLD! We have to be out by the 28th of July. At first, this came as quite a shock. We kinda thought, great, what the heck are we supposed to do? But, in the end things worked themselves out, like they always seem to lately, and we found a 2 bedroom house in Bennington VT. Which works out totally great because now Randy and I are closer to work. Randy so much so that he could walk or ride his bike. This alone will cut out a $70 a week gas bill. YIPEE!!! Anyway, no new pictures right now. But, a friend of ours from Michigan is staying with us for the week. We should have something by the time he leaves.

Guitar Blues...

Randy plays guitar as one of his many hobbies. He recently decided to re-vamp, and old guitar that he has had for many years. It used to be chipped, grey, and pretty beat up all around. He has since, rewired it, bondo-ed the chip marks, and painted it. He and I both, had no idea that you could use Bondo on wood. It worked pretty well. I think it looks pretty cool. I thought he bought a new guitar, I was so impressed. He's quite the handy man.

Garden Memorial

This past weekend we decided to take a few pictures of our garden. We planted most everything on April 26th, the 1 year anniversary of my Grandpa Braman's death. This last picture with my hands in it is a hole we decided to put the left over onion bulbs in. They ALL seem to be growing. Crazy. We put like 20+ bulbs in there. Can't wait to see what they do!

We planted a few different things. The first row (next to the porch, 1st pic) in front is peas. These are doing very well. Behind those (same row) are carrots. Apparently, Randy "forgot" to tell me that after they sprout you're supposed to separate them so that they will grow larger. Oh well. Middle row (first pic) in the front is the red onion bulbs we planted. Those have all come up. The second picture is the green beans we planted, memorial day weekend. Everything looks pretty good, I just can't wait to taste it all. We also planted a mixture of peppers, that tanked, oops, corn, and yellow squash, mmmmm! :-)

Fall Colors

These are some random pictures of the Fall Color Change, all around Vermont. Out here, the local Vermonters call the tourists "leaf peepers," I guess that is what that made us when taking these photos.

These next few images are from 300feet up in the Bennington Monument. When looking out each side you are looking into another state or onto a different mountain.
I couldn't tell you from what image what state and or mountain you are seeing, but this last image is out "lemon lime" trees. These are in front of the Monument.