Greetings from Maine!

Hi everyone! I just thought I would send a quick hello to let you know we are alive and well! I missed having internet access. It is really weird not being able to hop on when ever you want.

But anyway, we made it to Maine safe and sound. We are in our house and our house hold goods arrived yesterday. We are up to our necks in boxes and packing paper! We are actually unpacking pretty quickly which is nice. It will be great to be settled and feel at home again.

Boone isn't too happy but I am sure he will adjust after a few days. He does, however, love all the snow outside. I, on the other hand, do not! :o) I will post again soon with pictures. I hope you all are doing well.

More...

After months of investigating a local treat thief, the police apprehended their suspect during a sting operation. The suspects name has not been released. But we have been given this picture. The face has been changed to protect the suspects rights.

Ha ha ha! I have too much time on my hands. Poor Gravey! I hope she forgives me for making her into a criminal!

Very weird..

I am sitting here listening to the movers pack all of our things. It is a weird feeling to have strangers in your house, looking at everything you own, and then throwing it in a box. So to help me try and block it out, I decided to play with some pictures to help past the time.

Delaney:

Original

A softer, black and white version. I tried to make it so her main features were a little more crisp then the surrounding area. The picture I have is a little bigger. I think it looks better.

Sydney:

Original

I added just a little of the original colors back into the photo.

I am going to continue messing around with pictures. I know these don't seem like a big deal but I am slowly learning!

I almost forgot!

Saying goodbye...

We have less than a week in KY. I can honestly say I am going to miss this place. I like our house, the area and the people we have met. The past week has been filled with goodbye dinners and a farewell bowling/game night.

Lauren, Justine, Evan, Aaron and I went to the Elizabethtown bowling lanes on Saturday afternoon. Even though most of us were off our games, (I have always been a bad bowler!) we had a fun time. I actually beat Aaron which never happens. Although, to be fair he was trying to learn to put some spin on his throw.

The guys getting psyched to bowl.

Us being silly! Don't we look mean!?

After bowling we went back to Lauren and Justin's house for some board games! I love to play board games but since Aaron isn't a big fan, I haven't played in awhile. The game of the night? Cranium. If you haven't ever played this game you are losing out. It is a lot of fun! It isn't your typical board game. You should check it out!

Lauren showing off her artistic skills.

Justine being used as a puppet. I don't think he guessed what it!

Last hug for awhile.

We sure are going to miss the Pellacks. Lila and Stitch too of course!

We were also treated to dinner by some friends from our church. We had a lot of fun sitting around talking. And the food at The Stone Hearth was delicious!

Ms. Lejeania, Pastor Larry, Me, Aaron, Teresa, Gary and Kristopher.

We have received some great goodbye gifts. Here is the basket we got from our church. It was filled with pictures, mugs, peanut brittle (made locally) and a Kentucky cookbook. I am really excited to try some of the recipes because they have some great food down here.

Lauren picked out some awesome stuff to go with my new kitchen.

I am not sure what God has store for us in Maine but we won't forget the fun times and great friends we made here in KY. And who knows the Army may just send us back again someday!

Two posts in one day!

I get bored easy sitting around! I can't wait to get to Maine and find a job. Today in my bored state, I was messing around with some of the pictures I have taken in the past. Who knew there were so many fun things to do to a photo!

Here is one of my niece:

Here is the original one I took.

Fun with editing!

I am going to keep playing. I am sure I will have more to share as the days go by!

No fried green tomatoes for me!

Yesterday, Lauren and I ventured down to Glendale, KY. It is a tiny town known for it's antique stores, The Whistle Stop restaurant, and it's Crossing Festival every fall. We heard it was a must see place to go, so off we went. While the town is known for having a dozen antique stores within two blocks, we were sad to see that a lot of them have closed down. But we plowed ahead and visited the stores and the friendly people who ran them.

We first ate lunch at The Whistle Stop located about 3 car lengths from the railroad tracks. When the train went by it was so loud I couldn't even think. I don't know how they deal with it all day. Although, one of their specialties were the fried green tomatoes, I opted for a Kentucky hot brown and a bowl of french onion soup. It was all very yummy! My lunch was worth every penny.

The outside of the Whistle Stop. The whole inside (as you could probably tell) was train themed. We thought it was like the earlier version of Cracker Barrel.

Lauren and a train filled with logs.

We stumbled upon this train car. And had it been summer we could have gotten some ice cream!

We went to about 7 stores in town. I am not really into antiques. But I had a good time looking around at everything. I saw a lot of things I wasn't sure anyone would buy. And it was hard to for me to understand that someone would want to pay $80 for a doll whose hair looked ripped out, eyes were crazy and her head was almost falling off. I guess the saying 'One man's trash is another man's treasure' is definitely true.

Here are a few things crazy things I found...

I like country kitchens but this is a little odd. A pig head anyone?

I can't tell you how many dolls we saw you looked like this one. I felt a little bad that they had no one to take them home and love them. But I wasn't going to be the one letting Chuckie's spawn come and get me at night.

Have you ever seen these hands? They make look harmless but in the room we were in there must have been over 50 of them. It was creepy seeing so many bodiless hands waving at me.

We had a good time and got to explore somewhere new. Also, even though we got snow on Sunday it was already up to 65 degrees outside and that alone was worth walking around this tiny little town.

Ridiculous!

Aaron and I had noticed that the red flag on our mailbox has been up for a few days. We thought maybe the mailman or mailwoman may have forgotten to put it down when they delivered our mail. Well, that was not the case. Our Netflix movies and other items were still in there. So I stopped by the post office today to mail a few larger items and thought I would talk to the postmaster about it.

Now, you know me...I am a calm person who doesn't like to state her opinion too much. (Insert laugh here!) I did however, ask calmly if the mail wasn't delivered Saturday because of the amount of snow we got. He said they did not make any mail deliveries. So I then asked why they hadn't delivered Monday. The response I got was they did. Ok, interesting, my mail is still in the box to be picked up. What is the deal? So I told him my mail hadn't been picked up or delivered. To which he asked 'Do you have any snow around your mailbox?' I told him there was a bit of slush around it. He told me that they told their mail people that if there was any snow that looked dangerous to drive through that they should just go past that house and bring the mail back to the post office.

I told him I understood but that there was no snow to the door so why didn't they come and give us a warning? How would I have known this if I never would have asked? Needless to say I left upset. I came home to take a picture of the snow. I think you too will find the idea of not getting mail because of this tiny patch of snow RIDICULOUS!


I gave in and shoveled the tiny patch of snow! I mean I know there were only Netflix in the mailbox. But anyone who gets Netflix knows how important it is to keep it on a good rotation so you get them for the weekend!

Our first Kentucky snowstorm (sort of)!

This weekend Aaron and I were a part of the largest KY snowfall in the past 10 years! I bet you won't even be able to guess how much snow has fallen. Go ahead, guess...give up? There was about 10 inches or so that have fallen here. For Aaron and I this snowfall was nothing. But I understand for native KY folks that is a huge amount of snow. Aaron and I went for a ride yesterday and there was no one on the roads. And most churches were closed this weekend. I can't remember the last time church was closed because of snow!

Since we knew the snow wouldn't last long we went for a walk in the woods out back of our house. Boone loved it! And Aaron and I had fun throwing snowballs and making snow angels. Well, I was the only one to make a snow angel but I had fun none the less.

Here are a few pictures I took from our walk out back:

Boone loves catching snowballs!

How long has it been since you made a snow angel? I suggest making one. I had a lot of fun!

Random pictures I took while on our walk.

I must admit, it was nice having a little snow. Although, I liked it more when KY didn't get more than a dusting. But I guess that is God's way of preparing me for the Maine weather.

Poor Boone!

This is what happens when I get bored...

'What is this thing?'

'Are you really letting her do this to me?'

Did you know there is a state fossil?

Lately all we have been looking up on the internet is stuff about Maine. We are trying to find housing, a job (for me), hunting regulations (Aaron of course.) recreation areas, etc...

So I thought I would share with you some little facts about the state that I found:

*Population of Maine: 1,000,000 (+)
* Land Area: 33,215 square miles
* Length of Coastline: 3,500 miles (I really like this one!)
* Lakes and Ponds: 6,000
* Forest: 17 million acres
* Largest City: Portland (Which is only around 63,000)
* State Capital: Augusta
* Statehood: Became the 23rd State on March 15, 1820

Random Facts

State Animal: Moose
State Berry: Wild Blueberry
State Bird: Chickadee
State Cat: Maine Coon Cat (Where is the state dog?)
State Fish: Landlocked Salmon
State Flower: White Pine Cone
State Fossil: Pertica Quadrifaria (Did you know there were state fossils?)
State Herb: Wintergreen
State Insect: Honeybee
State Motto: Dirigo (I Lead)
State Nickname: The Pine Tree State

Facts about Maine I know Aaron will love:

*It is one of America's largest blueberry growing states, raising 90% of the low-bush blueberries.

*Main has 17 million acres of forestland and 3,500 miles of indescribably beautiful coastline.

*Is nationally famed for the fine taste, texture and fresh color of its seafood.

*Main has 436,064 acres of state and national parks, including the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine.

We both are anxious to get to Maine and start exploring. Now if we only had a place to live...

Miss you lots!

Happy Birthday Karen!

I hope I got the right date. ;o) I can't wait to hear about the day you guys have left Drum and are headed to Raleigh!

One class down and one to go!

Yesterday, Aaron graduated from the Maneuver Captains Career Course. It was an hour of speakers, awards, diplomas, and propaganda videos (Fran, Karen and Erin, I know you know what I mean!)

The last six months have been preparing the soldiers to command Armor and other combined Army units. The course teaches tactics, maintenance, training methods, leaderships and staff function just to name a a few.

Here are a few pictures from before and during the ceremony:

Aaron receiving his diploma.

His small group class.

Isaac, Aaron and Titus (from Switzerland).

My buddy, Paul and I.

This one is obvious.

There were 13 of us last night who went out to 4th Street Live in Louisville to celebrate and say our goodbyes. It was the first time I had been there and we had a blast. We started with good food at The Pub and then headed to Felt where we played pool and talked for hours.

On Monday, Aaron starts the CAV Leader Course. This class will only be 3 weeks. Then we will be headed off to Maine!