It's Been a Very Long Time

Yes, it's been a very long time. I'm not sure exactly where to start. I was reading my last blog before I started on this new one, and the last one had left off on the fact that Mark and I would be moving to Ohio in a week. That was nearly two years ago, so I guess I'll just pick up from there.
Mark and I put basically what we knew we'd need in the car, and placed everything else in a storage unit in North Carolina before we'd made the move. We came up here basically on the last paycheck I'd recieved from my previous job, and I was grateful that work was relatively easy to find once we got to Ohio. I found a job in about two weeks after we'd made the move. Unfortunately, Mark hasn't had quite the easy time that I'd had, but that's okay.
Mark and I stayed in Berwick for a while before finding a house in Fostoria. It was a decent two story brown house. We stayed there for several months, but it was just too big for just the two of us, not to mention a bit expensive (nearly $400 a month!), so we found a smaller house that worked rather well for us, which was a little more affordable (about $300 a month). Thanks to my job at the time being terribly slow, we basically went broke, so we had to move back to Berwick, which is where we are today. I guess it's not too bad, although I'm not here all the time since I work six days a week (just to get 42.5 hours a week), but that's all right.
While we were in Fostoria, Mark and I adopted a stray cat that we'd found. She'd got out of the house one day and didn't come back for a day or two. When she came back, she was pregnant, which we discovered after we'd moved her out here to Berwick with us. About two weeks before Father's Day 2009, our cat (Cleo a.k.a. "Little One") gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens (one of which looks like a carbon copy of his mother). Unfortunately, on Father's Day, "Little One" was hit by a car and died, leaving behind her small litter of kittens.
Mark and I raised them from that point on, and we did a pretty good job. Two were given away, and Mark and I kept the one who looks just like his mother ("Little Man") and the only black and orange one (who's name is Abbie). They've grown into very healthy cats, I might add (even the vet said so himself!).
Just recently (like last month), the house went "high tech" with the final addition of a brand new computer and the internet. It was really no big deal for Mark and I as we've had internet before, but it gets kind of crazy at times because we're basically everyone else's instructors until they really get the hang of things. I'm not complaining though. I really don't mind it.
Oh, I almost forgot. Aran got his name changed legally at the beginning of this month. He also got his new license and social security card sometime last week or the week before (I think). Mark and I (as well as Mom & Dad) are showing our support for him, though sometimes I wonder if Mark and I are the only one's who are really trying. Well, let me rephrase that, I'm sure there are others in the household that are trying. Mark and I seem to be the only two who seem to get it right 100% of the time.
At any rate, it's been a short two years, in my opinion. I've been trying to stay busy. It's almost summertime, which means it's about time for me to start my ritual with mowing the lawn every other week. I can't wait for it to get warm and stay warm! I'm also grateful that the snow has finally melted! YAY! So anyway, that's all for now. Until next time....

Moving On

It's final now. We are sure of it this time. We have decided not to put it off any longer. Yeah, that's right, as of the ninth of May this year, Mark and I will be living in the great state of Ohio. We're not leaving North Carolina behind. We'll still come down to visit as Mark's mama is still down here along with some of our close friends. We haven't left NC behind us. We are just moving up to Ohio for a fresh start, and to be closer to my side of the family as Mom and Dad aren't getting any younger.
The entire family is very excited that we're moving up there. Moving up there was Mark's idea originally, though we did discuss it in depth amongst each other before we made any solid plans to do so. So, even though we've been talking about it for the last year, we've finally decided to stop putting it off. It's definitely set in stone this time.
We're both very excited, and we've been counting down the days. Our departure date is only seven days away, but it feels like it might as well be seven years away. The closer we get to that date, the longer the days seem to get. However, we're both aware that, once we're in Ohio, the days are going to go so fast.
We are very sure this is a good way to better ourselves. Jobs here are getting scarce, and I myself am not sure how much longer my job is going to last. We are confident we'll be able to find good jobs in Ohio, and that we'll be successful in whatever ventures we set out on. So, just so you know, the next time I post a blog, it will be from the great state of Ohio! So, until next time........peace.

Keeping Up With the Times

Well, it certainly has been a while. Mark and I have been super busy here lately, and, for brief periods of time, didn't have access to the internet. Anyway, we're still alive, and I thank God for that. Mark and I are just as happy now as we've always been, and I thank God daily for that. I'm so happy that I've found that one person in my life who can truly make me happy and truly love me for me.
I can't believe I've been living in North Carolina for two years now. It doesn't seem like it's been nearly that long, but it has been. I've still got the same job, and I thank God for that. On August twenty-eighth of this year, Mark and I will be celebrating our three year anniversary. It's been a pretty good three years, too, and I hope and pray every night that three years turns into thirty, and thirty turns into sixty, sixty turns into ninety, and so on and so forth.
But quite a bit has happened since last October, Mark and I are no longer living on our own. We were living in Granite Falls in a house which Mark's stepdad and mother own, but his stepdad got a hair crossed sideways or something, and decided to kick us out. Shortly after that, we met two people who have become very close friends. They gave us a roof over our heads when we needed it, and they are really more like family than friends. They are true friends, and that seems like something which is very hard to come across these days.
On the lighter side of things, I did something a month ago which I thought was too painful to even think about doing up until now. I walked into a tattoo and piercing place, and had my tongue and my lower lip both pierced. Believe it or not, neither one of them hurt. Feeling the needle sliding through the flesh of my bottom lip first, then feeling another needle sliding through the flesh of my tongue a few moments later gave me a little bit of discomfort, but there really wasn't anything about it that really hurt.
When I went to go get pierced, our two best friends went with us. The man I went with got his nipples and his tongue pierced, and the woman who'd gone with us got her nose and her tongue pierced. The funny part is, out of all three of us, I was the only one who had a swollen tongue afterward. I guess my tongue is just a little more sensitive to that kind of stuff or something. Anyway, I couldn't talk very well for a few days, but I can now talk normal again since it's healed and the swelling has gone completely down.
Mark wasn't quite sure how a man would look with his lip pierced, but after I got mine done. he said he thinks its sexy. . .especially on me. I'll have to get a picture to put on the computer for those of you who are interested in seeing it.
But that about wraps it up for now. Until next time...........Peace!

A Place of Our Own

Well, our roommates have officially moved out. Mark and I finally have our own car, and we have our own house. We've been very busy at work working 10, 11, 12, sometimes even 14 hour days. In the evenings we've been coming back home, and working on cleaning the house...very well. We've finally got things situated in the house the way we wanted them from the beginning. We love it!
We were even able to unclutter the bedroom a little bit by bringing some of it out into the living room so it can actually be seen. The living room is now adorned with a lot of large elephant figurines, and things of the like. We're not quite done yet, but we're satisfied for now.
Our next project will be 2 remodel our roommates' old bedroom as well as our own. You know, just change things around. I've never really been this involved with a house project before, but I think this time it's different because it's a place that I'm actually a part of, a place that I actually own part of. A place that Mark and I can call our own!

Elephants

Ever since I was four or five years old, I've always had a fascination with elephants. I'm still not really sure what it is about them, but does anybody really know the exact root of their vices. Elephants are very magnificent animals, and, even though their brains are very small, elephants are very intellegent animals.
My favorite movie when I was a little kid was "Dumbo". I loved that movie, and I watched it a lot. I watched it so much that I, at one time, could actually recite lines from the movie from memory! I nearly cried whenever the circus people imprisoned Dumbo's mother in that cage just because she was defending her son. I laughed when Dumbo got drunk off the "water" the clowns had left beside their tent. I triumphed in the end when Dumbo became famous for being the world's only flying elephant.
I recently watched a Bill Murray movie called "Larger Than Life", in which the main star is an elephant. It's about this uppity guy who doesn't even know who his real father is until it's too late. He finds out that his father was a circus clown, and that his inheritance is his father's circuz elephant. He (Bill Murray)despizes the elephant at first, and decided to get rid of the elephant, but grows to love the elephant by the end of the movie. If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out. You'll even have a lot of laughs as you watch Bill Murray's crazy adventure with this elephant. Matthew McConnahey (the star of "A Time to Kill") even has a snall roll in the movie as this gungho truck driver.
But anyway, that's enough with the movie reviews. It's time for me to get back to the subject at hand. Over the years, I've gotten all kinds of elephant things for Christmas. These include mirrors, pictures, stuffed animals, small statues, Christmas ornaments, and various other things of that sort. Mark has also given me many, many things that deal with elephants: pictures, crystals, paperweights, blankets, and pillows. I thank him as well as everyone else, for all that elephant stuff that I've gotten over the years.
I've also gotten Mark into elephants in the time that he and I have been together. He's just as obsessed with elephants as I am, I think. The only difference in my obessession and Mark's obessession is that I went as far as getting an elephant tattooed on my left bicep. It's the most expensive elephant that I have (it cost $50). Though, I have to admit, this is the first time that I've ever written about elephants.
Anyway, that will probably do it for this one, seeing as how I'm running out of things to write...at least about elephants anyway. I apologize for the lapse in entries, but work usually has Mark and I extremely busy, so I can't really get on the computer too much. I'll be sure to write though whenever I can.

My Busy Life

Have you ever taken a step back, and looked at how busy your life is? I have, and I also discovered something else, too. Unless you're impossibly lazy, nobody has a life that's not busy. Of course, the hustle and bustle of every day life is rather annoying at times, it still feels good to know that you're still alive. For example, I work ten hour days five days a week plus between an extra four to six hours on Saturday. I also help Mark keep up with the housework, as he has the same schedule as I do. It's amazing that we even find time to get on the computer, or even time to go do things together. We're pretty busy people, and things get kind of crazy most of the time. Both of us need a way to relieve some stress, a break from our busy lives. I try to find that break as often as I can in my writing, whenever I can't find that break anywhere else.
There are times that Mark and I just take off and go somewhere...just to get away. We'll go out to a nice restaurant, catch a movie, or go to a hotel for a night. Warehouse work is no piece of cake, and when you work ten hour days, your life is practically devoted to your job...as we've both found out. It's really nice to be able to get out on the weekends...when we can. And when we can get out, we just try to relaz and get away from all the stress and everything else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm sure we all know how that goes.
There are times that I feel like all I ever do is work, work, work. I'm sure we all feel that way at times. The day starts at five in the morning for Mark and I. We get a break from everything at 4:30 on our way home, and then it starts all over again whenever we get home. I'm really busy almost constantly, but it's all worth it in the end. I'm very happy where I'm at. I never would've dreamed that I'd ever live in North Carolina or work for one of the most well known furniture companies in the United States, but that's where my life has brought me, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm even happier living here with Mark. I love Mark. I love my busy life, and I love it here in North Carolina!

A New Writing Site!

Yesterday, Mark was sick so he left work early. He'd been on the computer surfing the net, and he found a good site for me. I can post my poems on it, and get feedback from other writers, and they can rate it, and all kinds of things. It also has many other links to other writing-related sites as well. I've posted two poems, and I've already got feedback on one of them. Also, this site automatically copyrights your original poems so that way nobody else can claim them as their own.
Membership to the site is free, but you can upgrade your membership for so much money a month. I think an upgraded membership costs like four dollars a month or somewhere in that range. There's also a lot of writer's forums, and various other things to keep you tapped into a whole network full of writers. I'm hoping that it will help me out and get me one step closer to getting published.
Also, I'd like to take a moment to give thanks to Mark for believing in me, and finding the site for me. He keeps assuring me that I'm really good at it, and keeps telling me that I should follow through with my dreams of becoming a published author, if that's what I want. Thank you so much, sweetheart.
Anyway, I know it sounds like I'm plugging this site, or giving a testimonial or something. I do apologize for that, because that really wasn't my intent in the first place. I'm just really excited about this site. It's great! I'm not too sure how the site is about publicity or advertising, so, if anybody's interested, send me an e-mail, and I'll give you the website. I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do.