Monday Excursion

As you may have gathered from my previous post, I decided to go on an excursion last Monday afternoon since I did not have to work (a lovely perk of having a state job, I must admit).

I decided to go a place, very often explored yes, but somewhere I have not been a while. Swan Lake. A place very known to the locals, and known widely by visitors as the only public place in the U.S. with all eight species of swans.

Only a few swans made it into my selection of pictures below because I try to focus more on the scenery. So below you will find a small selection of pictures from the time I spent walking around. My shoes got a little muddy after I underestimated the amount of rain that soaked into the ground, but it washed right off when I got home.

I hope you enjoy (especially you Kendra).

Until next time....

exploring.

i've decided that on my day off tomorrow that i will explore.
it has been far too long since i walked around, just me and my camera (wendy), and just took pictures. i must admit that i am very excited about this little excursion.
even though i will be going places that i have been before (no star trek reference intended), hopefully i'll come back with pictures that i haven't taken before.

Christmas, New Year's.

Okay. I haven't posted yet this year...it's actually been over a month.

So here's a little about the past month:
Finished the work year busy as ever, but that's to be expected.
Spent my 2 weeks of Christmas vaca with my family.
Took a family road trip (complete with a Queen song and dad playing air drums) to IL for our first Christmas with Grandparents, cousins, etc. since 1993.
Played "Apples to Apples" with the Baker family. My family is hilarious.
Scratched off a $1 lottery ticket from my Grandma Mary. I didn't win anything.
Played DDR with my cousin Jack on Christmas morning. He's a 13-year-old teenage boy and he beat me.
Had a white Christmas!
Threw a snowball at my Grandpa Bill. (He provoked me, and he was inside anyway)
Walked around the Air Force Museum for the second time.
Baked & decorated Aunt Carmen cookies with Mom and Aunt Alaina.
Enjoyed the warmth of the fire while it snowed outside.
Had minimal flight drama to and from Ohio.
Learned how much I really really miss not being around family.


I'll post pictures in a couple days hopefully.

To all you people out there in blogland. Hope you had a safe and joyous Christmas and here's to a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Grandpa Baker

For those of you who don't know, Friday, November 20, 2009, I lost a very dear person to me. My Grandpa Jack Baker (my Mom's Dad), he was 67.

He was a great Grandpa. I remember when I was little riding with him on his motorcycle and him playing music on the guitar or the keyboard. And of course his hugs. He also had this smile...I really don't know how to describe it, but just thinking of it and seeing him do it in my head makes me smile. Those are my favorite memories.

I've never really lost someone close to me before, and it's not something that you can easily describe to someone who hasn't. But there is a bit of comfort in this. He's not in any pain anymore. He was in a lot of pain the past few months, and he doesn't have that anymore.

I was telling someone that I kind of feel selfish in a way...now before you say "Alicia, you shouldn't feel selfish" let me explain what I mean. I feel selfish because I miss and I want him to be here because I miss him. That, to me, sounds a little selfish. I am glad that he's not in pain anymore, but it's still (of course) hurts.

Another comfort (for the family) is that fact that we'll always have him around...that sounds a little creepy, but, along with pictures of him, we also have his voice. A few years ago, he and two of his music buddies recorded a CD and he is singing a few of the songs. It's nice, so whenever I miss him, I can just pull out my iPod or cell phone (because of course I've now put it on there).

Because it happened so close to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's going to be a little more difficult for everyone I think. But we have so much still to be thankful for, he went peacefully. He's not in pain anymore. And we still have each other to comfort. And still more people praying for us.

So thank you everyone who's been praying. Thank you to everyone who's sent us little notes and cards. It really means more than I can express.

"May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant."
Psalm 119:76

Abby's Senior Pictures.

While I was in IL in October, I had the honor of taking my cousin Abby's Senior pictures. I had so much fun spending the afternoon with her and my Aunt Alaina.
With the help of Picasa, here's a video of the pictures that I took...I'll post a few later, but this has all of them, set to one of Abby's favorite songs. =)
Hope you enjoy.

University of Illinois Marching Festival.

Collage 1 of ?
Below is a collage of my cousin Abby's marching band competition at the University of Illinois on October 17, 2009.
We had a great day watching bands and hanging out. And, as I said in my previous post, they did well in placing.
More collages to come. =)

Seniors '09

Going to Illinois and taking my cousin's Senior pictures made me realized that I never posted Hailey and Heather's photoshoot.

Hailey and Heather are both beautiful girls, inside and out. They were my first senior shoot. Hailey asked me to take some pictures for her early in the year. Heather wasn't happy with her school pictures and knew that I took pictures and asked me to take some for her. Since it was my first shoot and I knew both girls, I decided to do them together. They both are awesome girls and had similar ideas for pictures.

We planned the shoot on a Sunday afternoon in March. The week of the shoot we found out it was supposed to rain on Sunday, but decided to do it anyway. It turned out to be a great shoot and we had a lot of fun, rain and no rain.

Below are a few of my favorites (and I say a few in complete seriousness because I took about 200 of each young lady).

I'll be posting Abby's pictures probably early next week...after I edit them and send them to her. =)

Wednesday.

Okay, so I haven't been blogging like I thought I would while I was gone, so here's an update of what's been going on.

Wednesday (Oct 14th)--I left at about 8 in the morning to head to Ohio. It rained every minute of my trip except about 20. So I was driving through the mountains in the rain. It wasn't actually all that bad. It was a great time to get to know my car. Who's name is officially Jane. I also call her Janey. Arrived in Dayton about 6.

Thursday (Oct 15th)--Left for IL about 9 in the morning. Rained a little less and I was able to use cruise control. Arrived in Peoria about 2ish (IL time, 3ish SC time). Went to bell practice with Aunt Alaina and Abby.

Friday (Oct 16th)--Spent part of the day at the Vojta's. Then back to the Curtis' b/c Mom and Dad were there for the weekend. Went to the Washington football game (they won 10-0).

Saturday (Oct 17th)--Aunt Alaina, Mom and I went to Abby's band competition at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana). It was a GREAT day! Pictures to come soon, but they did so well. On the field: 3rd overall, 1st drumline. Parade: 1st drumline, 3rd drum majors. It was a lot of fun watching bands all day. And, of course, the Marching Illini was awesome.

Sunday (Oct 18th)--Talk about a day of drama...Ty was supposed to fly into Bloomington around 9:30AM. I was going to pick him up and bring him back to the Vojta's for a big family gathering...Baker and Curtis sides. First his flight got delayed til 11. Then til 4. It was a big mess. Uncle Dave ended up calling Delta and getting Ty a guarenteed spot to the flight coming in at 9PM. Ty was so exhasted, he'd been up for almost 36 hours straight by the time he caught a few z's on the plane from Atlanta.

Monday (Oct 19th)--Spent the day with the Baker's. Grandpa planned a jam session since Ty was there...I'll have pictures up of that soon as well.

Tuesday (Oct 20th)--Spent half the day with the Baker's, then headed over to the Curtis' for the rest.

That pretty much catches you up...today Aunt Alaina is getting Abby out of school early so that I can take her senior pictures. I'm very excited about that. Right now we're just hanging out, so I'm going to go and spend some time with Grandma. =)

Until next time...

What's in a name?

So I decided to take a quick break from packing and stuff to blog.

Firstly and bestly, I have to say that I am SO excited about heading up North later this week. I'll be staying the night in Columbia Tuesday night to cut an hour off my trip. Leaving Wednesday [early] morning to head to Ohio. Staying with the parents overnight and heading to Illinois Thursday morning when Mom leaves for work.
Not really sure what the "official" schedule will be because we're still trying to work out details with some other family travels. I do know that Thursday when I get in, I'll probably go see my Aunt Alaina at work, stay the night with the Curtis', then part of the Friday with the Vojta's because my Aunt Diane won't be working that day. Saturday with be with the Curtis' because my cousin Abby has a band competition at the University of Illinois (I'm okay with being a nerd because I am SO excited about that!!). Sunday is when it gets kinda blurry. My brother is flying in that morning and leaving Thursday morning. I at least know that 2 days will be with the Baker's and 2 with the Curtis'...just don't know what days those are. After I drop Ty/Will off on Thursday, I'll probably be with the Curtis' for the rest of the day, then to the Baker/Vojta's where I'll be leaving to go back to Ohio on the 24th and then from Ohio to SC on the 25th.
I'm pretty excited about this trip. Especially after talking to Abby (my cousin) earlier on IM about how cold it is.


I guess that means I need to get back to packing...because I don't know exactly where my sweaters are. I think they are under my bed; wish me luck. Haha. Oh, wait, one more order of business...

I still have not decided on a name for my beautiful car. I first went with "Shadow". Shadow is a character from Homeward Bound, the one problem? Shadow is actually a boy, but I was okay with this because my car is black and I thought it would be cute...but it's just not seeming to fit. So here are some other that I have come up with...
-Lady from Lady and the Tramp
-Jane Banks (or JB) from Mary Poppins
-Rita from Oliver & Company
-Georgette from Oliver & Company
-Eve from WALL-E
-Colette from Ratatouille
Any more suggestions...or votes?

Discovery of the day: I am definitely a fan of whole wheat Cheeze-it's (especially the slightly burnt ones).

The search is over!!

For those of you who have been following my dramatic car search, it has now come to it's end!! I'm very excited to be the owner of a 2009 Toyota Yaris, Black 4-door Sedan.
You'll see the pictures below, but I got a very good deal. The car only had 61 miles on it when I found it. And I was able to find it locally, which is also great.
I haven't named her yet...but I have already determined she's a girl...she's too cute to be a boy. ;P
More pictures to come soon of the inside and such when I have time. I've been working my regular job this week along with working at the county fair at night for some extra funds [see below pictures]...so she's a little dusty. We'll fix that soon and have more pictures of her!
=) Happy Friday to everyone! Hope you enjoy your day!! =)

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100

Almost a new car owner!!

I just have time for a quick blog before I get to sleep. I'm working at the fair this week at night and I am so tired from my first day.
I got off work a little early today to go to Scott Will Toyota to test drive the 2009 Toyota Yaris 4-door sedan. It was different to driving the hatchback, but was still very good. The biggest reason that I decided to test drive it was because when I met with the salesman yesterday to talk about the 4-door hatchback (2010) he said that his boss really wanted to get rid of the sedan. It only has about 60ish miles on it. So I went in to test drive...talked him down to a price in my range... =) and tomorrow I take the paperwork to the bank to get everything situated...if all goes well, I should be able to drive it off the lot tomorrow...........I'm very excited. Not excited about the car payments by any means, but excited to have my own car again.
So I just have a few more details to work out, but I am so very excited. As soon as all that happens, I'll be posting pictures. =)

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for the situation and helping me out in other ways.


Also, quick update on Gpa Baker. Mom told me today that he went back into the hospital today...they thought the pneumonia was coming back, but after looking they found that something was going on with the spots on his lungs (I don't know the exact details b/c I'm really bad with medical terms). So the doctors were trying to decided if they should put in a shunt(sp?) or start him on chemo...I'll keep everyone updated as I here more info.

Thanks again everyone!!

Until next time.....