Monoface

If you get bored and want to find something entertaining online, check out this website. http://www.mono-1.com/monoface/

Once it loads, click on the facial features. I thought it was fun. 

Big Al

I don't know. I got a kick out of this. "Big Al" was a fake alligator in the window of a gas station somewhere in GA, I think. Good stuff. 

Weekly Wrap Up

Another week has gone by. I went to Chicago for a product photo shoot on Monday and Tuesday. It was a lot of fun, and I saw a lot of new product I had not seen before. It takes forever to set up a shot...lots bag styling before it is ready. We ate dinner at Morton's steak house on Monday night, which was my first time eating there, and being an avid meat eater, I very much enjoyed it. We also went to Ikea where I was the only poor person, and therefore the only person not to make a purchase. The second day of the trip, I got sick. It was pretty embarrassing because I didn't want everyone to think it was from the drinks we had the night before. The problem was that I got NO sleep on Monday night. Tossed and turned all night. Finally gave up trying around 6 am and just watched tv. I've always had issues with not getting sleep and not feeling well. So Tuesday I woke up with a headache, which turned into a migraine, which turned into nausea. By lunchtime, I was miserable, and actually had to go lay down in the van while everyone else ate lunch. Pretty humiliating. Now I am probably called 'that stupid new girl that got sick' behind my back. Hope not, anyways. 

The rest of the week went by pretty fast, and now it is a 3 day weekend, woohoo! Friday night we went out to a bar downtown with some people from work and their wives, so that was fun. It was nice to hang out with other people. We had a good time, and went back to someone's house and hung out. Everyone around here owns homes, it is so frustrating, I have started looking up houses online, because I am ready for my own! They are definitely cheap enough here, it would pretty much cost the same per month as renting, if not cheaper. Hopefully our time will come. 

Of course we watched the Gator game yesterday. Great game, definitely enjoyed it. This is so not a college football town. No bars/restaurants around here carried the game so we bought the ESPN gameplan so we could watch it at home. Fun stuff, that college football. Looks like our weekends will now be booked. 

As for today and tomorrow, we are hoping to get to a driving range at some point. Who knows what else...the world is our oyster. 

-nissa

Life goes on...

Sorry, no pics today. Not a lot to photograph. We had a good week, and now a good weekend. We checked out a bar on Friday night, which I am sure we'll go back to. It's almost within walking distance, so a good place to watch football games. Saturday we went shopping at two different malls. For dinner we tried out a new (to us) restaurant, across the street, called Casa Grill. Turned out to be pretty great. It was like a Olive Garden, but with way better food. I had stuffed shells (although they called them something much more fancy) and Alexis had a chicken and mushroom risotto. We then had a cannoli (sp?) and I had a chocolate cappuccino. The food was so good, and really well priced, I imagine we'll go back there soon! I love trying out new restaurants, I think that has been my favorite thing about moving. 

Today Alexis went to the driving range while I stayed home to work on a freelance project. It is hard to work full-time AND work on freelance projects, but I am trying to get back into it and stay on top of things. Tomorrow (Monday), I am going to Chicago for two days for work, along with some other people. We are going to watch/manage a product photo shoot, so I am excited about that. 

We have had a good weekend, but we'll have to try to do more 'visually interesting' things so that I have pics to upload. I am starting to meet more people to do things with outside of work, so I think our schedules will continue to get busier. I hope anyways, I'll keep ya posted. 

-Nissa

Tired.

It has been a long few days. We left for Florida on Thursday last week, after work. We got home at about ten or eleven in the morning. Then we left Florida to come back on Saturday night, around midnight, and arrived in Fort Wayne at around five pm. I am still exhausted from lack of sleep and long hours in the car. But the good news is, Mettina's wedding was last weekend. yaay!

The wedding was beautiful, as was Mettina, of course. The only snag during the day was that the Bride almost caught on fire. Now, that would have been a HUGE snag, but notice I said almost. There were candles on the stairs leading up the altar, and fortunately the bride's mom made a beeline for the dress when it brushed up against the candles. Talk about saving the day.

After that, things went perfectly, and the church was full of emotion. The wedding was followed by a 7-course meal at a little Italian Restaurant (appropriately named Little Italy) and the food was amazing, and I do believe that a good time was had by all. I am so glad I was able to be there for all of it. Congratulations Mettina and Tim!

In the limo

Best friends

Dogs at Kentucky rest stop on way back.

The trip back was a bit rough, but I am thankful we made it one piece. Now it is back to work for me, which thankfully, I don't mind. Although, I do wish they would get the A/C issues resolved, sweating it out in an 85 degree office is not my cup of tea. Feels like I am back in Florida.

Thats about it in our lives. Just living the dream! (ha ha.)

Time to eat dinner now, bourbon chicken, by Chef Al.

til next time

It's been awhile

Well it's been awhile since the last post. Mainly because now that I have a work computer I never go on my dinosaur of a computer at home where I upload my images. Everything takes forever. But anyways, things have been good. Work has been great, and the weather has been a-mazing! 60s in the morning, 70s to 80s in the afternoons. We have been keeping our back door wide open during the days and turning off the air. I wish the weather would stay like this all year.

Last weekend we went to the driving range. That was a fun experience. It was only my second time going to one, and it has been over a year since the last time so I was basically starting from scratch. Luckily, by the end of the day, I had made some good improvements so there is hope. We'll have to start going every weekend now until winter comes.

my new golf clubs

driving range

for mom

So that's what we've been up to. Golf, movies, cooking, etc. Alexis has been looking into going back to school. Tonight we have to get ready for our drive back to FL for Mettina's wedding. We will be leaving tomorrow when I get off of work, so I will definitely have info to report next week. Talk to ya then...

First Week and Fort Wayne

So it's Friday, which means I have completed my first week of work. It was definitely a hectic week, there was a ton of meetings, but it was fun to get so involved so quickly. The hardest part will be remembering everyones names, I have met sooo many people. I definitely like the job so far, so I am excited. If you are not already a member of Club Vera, make sure you go to the website and join! I'll be creating some of the emails for that.

But anyways, I am exhausted from information overload. Definitely draining. I am hoping to have a low key weekend. We are thinking about going to a driving range. I have only been to one once before, and I was sore for days. I'll have to keep you updated on my amazing golfing skills. There are a lot of nice courses here, and they are not very expensive, so I feel a hobby coming on.

Anyways, don't mean to be boring, but I am too tired to be witty today. Here are the pics of Fort Wayne:

Our complex.

Fire Station downtown.

Fave place to shop.

Downtown.

City of churches.

Cute, older homes.

library downtown.

That's all folks!

Nissa

exhausted and last day of freedom.

So today is my last day of freedom before I become a working woman. What a change that will be. It has been awhile since I've had to wake up early every morning. We'll have to see what kind of beast I turn into.

I wanted to upload some pictures of Fort Wayne today, but for some reason I am having "issues" with that, so I will try again tomorrow.

Alexis and I ran some errands today. I think we are starting to turn into twins. We both got dressed at separate times this morning but ended up wearing t-shirts that referenced Hawaii. (Totally different shirts, but weird nonetheless.) Then, while were driving in the car, at the exact same time, we each turned to our respective windows, rolled them down, and spit out our gum. Then we just looked at each other like "did you know I was about to do that?" weird. As long as we don't start looking like each other, I'll be okay. I mean, he is an attractive guy and all, but I'd like to keep some of my femininity.

Anyways, not much to report on today. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods, Pier1, blah, blah, blah. Alexis is assembling a gigantic punching bag stand as we speak. I think it will take up the entire extra bedroom. He said when people come over he will put it on the back porch, but I think he forgot to take into account the fact that it will probably not fit through doorways. Awesome.

I recently had a request for more pictures of Alexis and I on the blog. hmmm...well, unless said person (mom!) would like to make a trip up and take some pictures of us, said person will just have to settle! I am the only photographer, and Alexis is a very unwilling subject, so not many pics of he, I, or us have been taken. I'll see what I can do.

Thats about it for today, I'll try the pics again tomorrow. Time for me to enjoy my last few hours of my last non-working day. Wish me luck tomorrow!

Brace yourself....

Since I have been promising apartment pictures for awhile now, I guess I need to deliver, despite the fact that things are not as done as I'd like. So go ahead and have a seat, there's quite a few: (and I even spent time ordering them from front door to last room, even though you'd never know the difference)

Living room and front door. New Ikea coffee tables.

Living room from other side.

"Entertainment center." We had to get creative seeing as the one we were using before is now broken. That shelf used to hang above the tv.

Kitchen from living room. Pretty standard.

Good-bye cards

Dining and kitchen area.

Dining room. Kind of busy.

Office side 1

Office side 2

Our retro gator rug grandmommy gave us. (also happens to be a favorite poop spot for Bella)

Alexis's (hall) bathroom.

Hallway.

Spare room / exercise room / storage.

Our bedroom side 1. (room that needs the most work - notice broken dresser #1)

Our bedroom side 2. Other broken dresser sitting where it was left. Alexis is hiding out on the bed. So much work to be done.

My bathroom

Backyard. Yes, that's a Christmas Tree! They are everywhere.

At first I thought it would be weird to have separate bathrooms, (unless you have a big house that is designed to have a his and hers master bath), but then I realized it was nothing short of genius. More space for me and no one telling me to clean up? duh! Alexis does get a drawer in my bathroom though. I am so nice. 

Surprisingly, despite the fact that I hate white walls, carpet, and linoleum, I actually like the way this place turned out. It's the first time in a looong time I haven't painted an apartment when I moved in. And I am surviving. 

So is anyone else as amazed by the Christmas trees as I am? Probably most normal people have been up north before and already knew about this, but it is a new discovery for me. I didn't know they grew all year around...and so abundantly (I guess I had just never thought about it. To me, they were just special trees that only came around at Christmas. Like Santa.) But they are like the palm trees of the north. Only they don't smell like a Christmas tree. Kinda disappointing. 

Well I'll keep this short since I posted so many pics. My blog wall must be feeling loved today. Besides, I am hungry and need to feed my growing belly. And no, I am not pregnant, unless you can be pregnant with cheeseburgers and pizza. In which case, I am just a couple of months along. 

Til later...

Nissa

Trip to Ikea and Italian Bistro

Today we took a drive 2 1/2 hours into Michigan to go to Ikea. The drive wasn't too bad and Canton, Michigan was a really nice, well-kept town. We got just a few things at Ikea, a coffee table, a shelf, and some accessories, and that was about it. Afterwards we went to an electronics warehouse but were quickly scared off by the abundance of leering salesmen obviously on commission.

Drive into Michigan

Ikea! Why can't you be closer?

Go Sweden!

This was the image on one of the fake tv's at Ikea.

It is a UF vs. UT game with the logos on the helmets poorly edited out, and Crowder has been changed to Bowder. Poor guy.

We got back to Fort Wayne by seven and drove out to eat at Panera, only to change our minds last minute and eat at the Pizza Hut (otherwise known as the Italian Bistro according to the sign) across the street. Wow, was that a mistake. There was a buffet, and let me tell you, there is nothing like fighting off all the vultures for stale pizza. Things got even better when I was ready for my dessert pizza and we sat and waited about thirty minutes for one to be put out. The pizza putter-outter guy said a chocolate one was on the way, but another ten minutes later, I gave up. Of course, it whizzed by us as we were paying our bill at the front. I wanted to cry the experience was so bad. What were we thinking? At least the ambiance was nice. ha. ha. We sat next to a family taking up two large booths with rather large children singing "We in the club...It's goin' down." They also pumped their fists in the air after they would finish a plate of pizza.

That was our day today. Our apartment is about 90% done, so I will be posting pics of that tomorrow. Just want to put up the shelf we bought first.