Life in Jacksonville!

HER: Hello everyone! Hope all of you are doing well. Thanks for staying posted! Just a brief note... I am using the school's computer. We don't have Internet at home yet.

Things are staying pretty exciting for all of us!

Sebastian started pre-school on Monday. He loves it and his teacher loves him. They moved him up to the 4 year old class, because they were so impressed with him. With the things he learned while in Peru, including writing his own name and good manners!

Frank, loves it... You can tell how excited he is, but busy as well; spending long hours at school and Starbucks; reading and keeping up with projects and papers; making several friends and study buddies.

For me, things are also staying very exciting. THERE ARE MALLS AT EVERY STOP LIGHT!!!
Don't have to drive too far to go grocery shopping either. There are several places really close.
I have really enjoyed spending time at home. Playing with Sebastian and cooking...

This week my interviews started. They have all gone well. I have already had to turn some jobs down. Trying to work around a specific schedule, most have offered night shifts and that is impossible. There isn't child care after 6:30pm here. Today I had one that is willing to work on a schedule to fit mine and full time! It is a Bistro downtown called Biscottis.

I am working next week one night at a Bistro called Bisto AIX and, well... taking advantage of the little challenges.

I have also mastered my way around this city! So, if you are on your way to the Jacksonville area, I am the one to contact and take you around for a drive. It has been fun and scary exploring. There are definitely places you don't want to go.

All of you have a great week. We will keep you updated. I apologize for any grammar errors. I am an alien at the school right now...

We Made It

HIM: Jacksonville Travel and Arrival Log

Sunday, August 12
Vanessa and I finally had our stuff packed and loaded into our two cars. We took to the road mid-afternoon. Several hours later, my parents took Vanessa's to the airport for their return flight to Peru (they had been visiting...). We drove through Chattenooga and right into Georgia until we couldn't truck along anymore.

Monday, August 13
I crept out of bed early to call the Financial Aid office at Florida Coastal School of Law (FCSL) and our residence hopeful, Bay Pointe Apartments. For anyone keeping score, these two businesses are incredibly well-run. Despite my best efforts to unnerve the staff with questions and requesting assurances (having not yet secured either with 100% certainty), they were extremely polite, helpful and tolerant of my incessant phoning. THANK YOU!

Having "checked in" (read: "met annoyance quota") with the Jacksonville peeps, we got up, got ready and got going. I won't trouble you with a drawn-out poem of our mythical journey to the new home, but I do have some statistics on the number of thumbs-up, honks and waves (or innumerable nods and smiles...) you can get while making an multi-state convertible ride wearing a Burger King crown. *notes the clear tan line on my forehead where most got sun, but royal shade covered the rest* Thanks Sebastian. =)

We eventually made it into Jacksonville in the evening. The main strip (Baymeadows Road) has EVERYTHING. It's like all the best parts of Indianapolis and Louisville (and everything inbetween) crammed into an 8 mile developer's dream. Scouting out the area, we found that FCSL was only 4 miles from our apartment (later, we discovered that Sebastian's pre-school was only 6 miles from the apartment and 2 from law school!). It was getting late. We were getting hungry.

Having just received a generous gift card from Carol at SOAR! for Bob Evans, we made that our first meal in Florida. Checking into a nearby La Quinta, we then rested the best we could in light of still not signing our apartment documents.

Tuesday, August 14
Everything came together! I got my financial aid documents from the school and traded them with the apartment for a lease. We checked out the place, signed on the line, and moved into our new home! After unloading most of the cars in 90+ degree heat, we took a swim in our new pool. It was fun and refreshing. Sebastian was happy to finally get to play. We worked on some swimming and safety practices, then went back into our apartment with more things from our car. We got our beds set up and prepared for the day ahead.

Wednesday, August 15
Law and pre-school orientation! We got up at 9:00am to get ready for the coming activities. I left for FCSL and Vanessa went off to look for pre-schools...

(More to come! Stay tuned for updates! - We don't have internet at the apartment yet and the fam is waiting for me to get home so we can do dinner.)

Make Your Own Blog!

HIM: So, we took the inspiration to create this website from Matt and Misty's. It is incredibly simple and FREE! Just go to www.blogger.com and sign up. The interface is pretty simple and you'll have your first message up in no time. You can add pictures and some pretty neat features with just a few clicks. Scroll down and look at some of our old bloggage. We aren't notorious computer geeks and we were still able to make a presentable website.

Seriously, make a website, so that Vanessa and I can follow the excitement in your lives! We'll even add you under "Other Peeps"! =)

Beck Wedding Nostalgia

HIM: In looking at Eric's wedding, I was reminded of this awesome picture of the whole crew fom Chris's wedding last summer.

As well, Ryan (2nd guy from the left...) is now engaged to a great English woman (see his MySpace for details).

Wedding Bells Are Rung

HIM: We attended the union of Mr. and Mrs. Eric (and Bethany) Ashabraner two weeks ago in Anderson, Indiana. Another marriage down! Only Anthony and I remain un-wed. It was a terrific service and well put-together. There were some pretty horrific moments at the reception, like when the DJ called me up saying that I requested the YMCA song. He made the girls circle up around me and forced them all to dance around in a tribal ritual fashion. I'm sure there are pictures floating around, but luckily, we don't have any from that portion. :)

Everyone came together from out of town. This is a great one of Chris and Vanessa.

As well, we were exploring the basement of the church that the wedding was held and uncovered a centurion outfit, which Vanessa happily donned for all to enjoy. And yes, that is a whip in her hand. Don't ask what she was doing with it... ;)

Strangely, but not really surprisingly, not a single photo of Eric in his tux turned out from either Vanessa or my camera. We do have a nice one of him in the rehearsal, but that's about as good as we could nab. Few of Eric's pictures ever come back without a goofy smirk or odd look of bewilderment. So, this one was pretty impressive by his standards.

And another unlikely photo of Eric.

Thank you for everyone who made it a wonderful weekend!

Major Announcement

Jacksonville, Florida HIM: The time has come to relocate! Vanessa and I will be departing for Jacksonville, Florida in two weeks! We have both put in our Notices of Resignation at our places of business (me: SOAR! Family Literacy Program, her: Christie's on the Square) with much sadness. We have found our coworkers to be so terrific!

Burl and Carmelita Jean - Masterminds Behind Christie's on the Square

I will begin classes at Florida Coastal School of Law on August 20th. We have been scrambling for the last month to get all of our things in order for the possibility of departing and last week we got verification that the last items had fallen into place for our new adventure.

Carol, Barbara and Sandy - Driving Force Behind SOAR! Adult Literacy Program

Now, by "adventure", I mean full time classes and studying in an environment where they TRY to weed-out the less dedicated students. Advanced degrees are no picnic and law school is notoriously trying. Nevertheless, Vanessa and Sebastian will be there to give me the strength to fight through all the growing pains! I expect that there will be many days where Vanessa can take Sebastian to the beach while I'm working in the law library. I fully anticipate that they will both become even stealthier in no time... Meaning, they will be undetectable in the dark for their soon-to-be ultra-tanned skins! =)

In other news, we recently acquired photos from various cameras capturing our activities over the last three months, so be on the lookout for exciting new snapshots! We have a lot to add and it will be a good break from all the packing to get them uploaded. Also, feel free to shoot us an email or, better yet, register for Blogspot and get your own webpage running with all YOUR news! Just be sure to add a link to us and we'll do the same!

Have a great weekend!

What does he mean?

HER: Things that you might hear while having Chinese with Frank:

- This tastes like plastic. I think you should try it... You will probably like it. (What?!)
- I love my CHOCO-BROCCO! -- broccoli dipped in chocolate pudding --
- That is how I like my shrimp, tender and moist. (Huh?!)

Happy Anniversary

HIM: Vanessa and I celebrated our 7 month anniversary last night! It was quality time with a very beautiful girl who I adore very much!

We started off the evening at Vanessa's favorite Chinese restaurant by Kohl's in New Albany. I enjoyed it quite a lot. We then went to see the Transformers movie across the street, which was surprisingly impressive. After that, we went to Meijer for some cuisinal acquisitions. We were home by midnight and ready for some sleep.

Every day with Vanessa is wondeful. Every moment, a treasure I cherish. I look forward to many more days like yesterday... =)

HER: WOO-HOO! HAPPY 7 MONTHS!!! Every day is a great day and I thank you for that! All the laughter and silliness that happens when we are together. Thank you for putting a smile on my face at all times, for being such a great loving friend, having my back, and giving me good advice when I most need it. There is so much to say and be thankful for.

SIMPLEMENTE TE AMO!!!

EXCHANGING PRESENTS!!!!!!!

HER: HELLO EVERYONE!! For the ones who know Frank and I have recently had birthdays... Mine was on the 29Th of June and Frank's on the 3rd of July (25 and 28, respectively).
We also celebrated our 6 month anniversary!!!!!! How exciting was that!!!
So we did some smart shopping for our gift exchange....
First of all, Frank surprised me with a huge box and said... I know it is a huge box but no worries... it isn't where your present came in....... I wasn't expecting that at all (not his words but the present).
He got me a RED (my favorite color by the way) Blender and toaster!!! how neat was that... I had been wanting a blender for smoothies since the summer started. I had previously owed one but a couple of months prior to this date it suffered some damage that cost it to function and a consequence to that, its purpose... but that is a different story....
Also a picture frame with a picture of Frank, Sebastian and I (that was cute). a candle and princesses napkins!! The night of my birthday after a long day of work... he surprised me with a birthday cake that he decorated himself, a lighted candle and a big smile singing happy birthday to ME!!!! (THANK YOU SO MUCH LOVE!!! TE AMO!!! YOU ARE THE BESTEREST.....!!!!)

I wasn't that exciting... I got him tires for his car before the date, since we were heading on a road trip to Saint George Island, FL to meet his parents and sisters (Annie and Vanessa) to spend the 4th of July week with them....

LONG TIME, NO SEE....

HER: I must confess we have this page a little abandoned....
It is seriously on my "to do next list" and I have probably sat down on the computer a couple of times this week and got distracted by the pics and thinking on the WHAT TO WRITE NEXT? or by a webpage of some clothing line on sale...
For the ones that check this page periodically and send emails, thanks for checking on us!... We are ALIVE and KICKING. There has been so much going on lately that we will be comming up with the updates and pictures.....