Home again....

We arrived home to much fan fare (for Nadia) on Monday night. We split our trip from Georgia in half by staying overnight in Roanoke, VA and it is likely we will be visiting there once again with hopes of exploring the city a bit. On our way home we visited the Shenandoah Caverns  as well and they were amazing. Spires, bacon, water, minerals, and crystals all come together in one place to form amazing caves.

We stayed in Western NC for 5 days visiting a trout farm, Hot Springs, downtown Hendersonville, Asheville, The Grove Park Inn, and stopped to show Nadia her first water fall at Looking Glass Falls. We also had the best pizza available in Asheville thanks to Thom.

After our NC visit we headed down to D&Ks down in Georgia. On our way to our their home we stopped at the Cabbage Patch General Hospital. Yes, a place which seems to be where Cabbage Patch dolls are born. It was slightly creepy but very neat and Nadia chose her first Cabbage Patch doll by chewing on its head.

We had a blast once we made it to LaGrange with a Friday night pub visit for Dennis and me and then a visit to a southern party the next day with oysters (fried & raw shucked by me), fried shrimp, fried tilapia, stuffed mushrooms, ribs, pork, swedish meatballs, spicy lasagna, mac and cheese, mash potatoes..... and much more. It was good grub for sure.

Sunday morning was our last day in Georgia and we were treated to biscuits, gravy, and eggs by our friends Dennis and Kerrie.

And now back to the grind.... School starts next week along with my field class at Big Brother Big Sister in Asbury Park. I am nervous and excited but I am certain that I will work hard and that will guarantee my success.

4 weeks of summer left....

Well, it has been a great summer break for me thus far. We took Nadia to the beach twice now and Tash's grandmother also joined us on our visit to IBSP last week. I am hoping we get to the beach again soon as IBSP is a great beach to go to and it is also cheap.

We visited Luna Parc back in June as well and now we are left with 4 weeks till the end of summer. Of course, we also had over 60 of our friends and family members over for a successful picnic in July.

I have landed my field work program at Big Brother Big Sister in Asbury Park. I will be working from 12-7 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. My work is allowing me to shift my schedule around so for that I am super grateful. I will be trained and eventually have my own caseload at BBBS. I will mainly be working with children in after school programs. Although this is not my area of interest I am looking forward to it. So when September rolls around it will be family, school, work, internship, gym, and eating. I will sleep in December.

We also have a vacation scheduled for about 8 days or so and we will be traveling south. First we will be visiting our friends in Georgia for a few days and then back to western NC for 5 or 6 days. It will be Nadia's first trip south and our first vacation in two years. We are certainly looking forward to getting away.

RANT ALERT
Lastly, we joined WOW this week in order to exercise on a regular basis. Back to the gym... Of course every time we go to a gym to sign up they always figure out a way to irritate me. One time they handed us a $300.00 check to cover their member fee... to me that was just stupid because only an idiot would feel they are saving the $300. I know they do this to everyone but I of course take it as a personal attack on my intelligence.

The man at WOW took all our information: credit cards, DLs, emails, phone numbers and said over and over $5 per week no contract. After he filled out all the paperwork and we were there for 30 minutes he mumbled.... Oh yeah... each year you have to pay an annual maintenance fee of $50... and of course I get upset because of how he waited till the last minute to mention this. It was not about the $50 as $300 per year for a gym is pretty cheap but I cannot stand car dealership sales practices (I tolerate them at car dealers)  and they make me livid when I encounter them. Of course, Tash is there to talk me down after I called the fee a deal breaker and some other things that I will not write here. I should also mention on our first day there was found that over 10 of the treadmills are "waiting for parts." To which I stated.... "So much for the maintenance fee."
END RANT

Ok, on to Nadia. She is doing great. She is trying to crawl every day and she loves various types of vegetables and fruits. She also has learned how to do a neck bridge when she is attempting to move. I did not know wrestling practice passed through one's genes.

Nadia is growing and catching up each day. She has a hearing test coming up. She is alert and is very active with various verbal noises. She will be uttering her first words soon I suppose.

This weekend we will be relaxing and doing some work at the house.

Bye for now.