A Little Late. I Know.

Well, we finally did it. After weeks of Jonathan being on the road and all the rainy Saturdays, we finally have our garden done. I came home from work on Friday and Jonathan already had the garden plowed and tilled. He tilled about 4 times on Friday and Saturday. We didn't take the grass off before we plowed, so the dirt needed extra tilling. Our garden is about 12' x 16'. Just big enough to give us 3 rows of corn, 3 tomato plants and 2 cucumber hills. I wanted to start small this year and wanted to see if I could actually grow something. I am a little worried about all the grass that was left. We pulled out as much as we could before we planted, but I'm sure some will still grow back. I'll have to be out there weeding as much as possible. Hopefuly, after a couple of years of compost and just working the dirt, the grass won't be as much of an issue
I'm really excited about our garden. The first for this city kid. If all goes well, I should have more than enough to share. I will keep you all updated.

And Then There Was One

Well, it appears our eggs have been relocated. However, there is still one remaining. It"s been about a week now that the nest has only had one egg. I'm assuming this is the one we named Alejandro. He's such a good boy.

Sadly I fear this nest has been abandoned. For whatever reason, this egg was left behind. I've been hoping another mommy bird would come along, but I think it's been too long. I guess I'll give it another week before we take the nest down. :(

We Have Company

It looks like we have company. The weekend before we left for Arizona, Jonathan walked out our front door to notice a bird flying away from our front porch light. He looked up to notice the beginnings of a birds nest. He went to get the broom and didn't hesitate to knock it down. The very next day, the bird was back and attempting to build the nest. It got knocked down again. So finally after the third attempt from the bird, we decided to just let it be. The bird was obviously determined to keep that spot.
When we returned from Arizona, we were curious if there were any eggs. The only way to tell was by holding the camera over our head and snap a shot. Look what we found!!! Definitely more then what I was expecting. Since this is the closest thing to a pet that we will have for a while (though temporary), I feel the need to look after them. They are now welcome to camp out on our front porch. Hopefully we won't regret our choice. Does anyone know how long it takes these things to hatch??
So now, we need names. What are good names for a four-some like this?
We will keep you posted on the progress of our new temporary guests.

Weekend in Arizona

On Saturday we were off to see my sister Wendy in Arizona. As soon as she and my 3 year old nephew Colton picked us up from the Phoenix Airport, we were off.
As we headed south, our first stop was in Tempe. We stopped for lunch and headed off to the Tempe Lake. They had a big local event going on on the lake/river. The best was the Cardboard Boat Race. Kids who had built there boats at school out of cardboard, and brought them to the lake to race. The results were based on who could finish the fastest with out sinking. Some of the contraptions were quite interesting and pretty funny.
After the scenic ride, we ended up finally at my sisters house in Florence. Approximately 1 hour between Phoenix and Tucson. Right in the middle of the dessert. Since Jonathan and I were so tired, we decided to cook out at her house that night.
The next day, we awoke refreshed and ready for a full day. On a whim, we decided to head about 2 1/2 hours south to the Mexican border town of Nogales. The town straddles the border of Mexico and US. We weren't sure if we could get in, but thought we would try. Once got there, we got out and walked. We didn't know where we were going, so we just followed the crowd. We finally reached the walk through border entrance. We could see the border patrol letting people in on our side, but we didn't see anyone on the Mexican side monitoring who was coming in. So, before we walked through the turnstile, we decided to ask the US Border Patrol what we need to get in to Mexico. He Responded "Nothing. But you will need a Passport or ID with Birth Certificate to get back in to the US side." UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. We were so glad we asked before we walked on through, because we didn't have either on us. Just our drivers license. So, we just spent our time walking around on the US side. There was plenty of cheap shopping. Before Jonathan and I left on this trip, we decided we wanted some good Mexican Food. So while we were wondering around Nogales, we were looking for Mexican food. Wouldn't ya know it, we were in a border town and not a single Mexican Restaurant. So we settled for the Baskin Robbins.
After a couple of hours of walking around Nogales, we decided to head back north. We ended up at a restaurant called The Cow Palace. This was definitely a themed restaurant, with everything you could imagine on the menu. Across the road was another place called the Longhorn Grille (in the pics below). Even though we didn't eat there, we had to get a picture.
We hopped back into the car and our next stop was in Tuscon. We stopped at a place called Old Tuscon. This is still an active movie lot. A place where they film old west movies. Unfortunately we got there an hour before closing time, so we didn't get to see all the shows for the day. But we did get to see one show that was a wild west bank robbery. After that we had to hustle through there to see everything. We rode a train through the park, rode some antique cars, and took lots of pics. At closing time, we just happened to be at the horse stable. They have HUGE horses that they were doing trail rides. There had to of been at least 20-30 horses in this stable. But at the end of the day, the employees hop on horses and prepair to guide the other horses to the barn for the night. It ended up being a running stampede through the town with all the horses following the guides. That was definitely my favorite part! We only managed to get pics of the horses before they left. We had already put the camera away, when the stampede started. We then headed farther north back to Florence.
This, unfortunately, is where our story comes to a screeching halt. Monday, was supposed to be our last full day there and we had a full day planned. But, at about 330am on Monday, I woke up out of bed to see Jonathan with his head hung over the toilette. At about 12 noon, that is the same place where I ended up. We both managed to catch a stomach virus. (no we didn't drink the water at the border) We were both miserably ill and on vacation. That brought all the plans we had for Monday to a stand still.
On Tuesday, we were headed back to the airport and only feeling a little better. Going home is the only thing we wanted to do but we were dreading the flight back. Our first flight was delayed so much that we wouldn't have made our connection. So the Airline sent us through Chicago to get home. With all the mishaps for the day, we still managed to make it home by midnight, within 3 hours of our original time. However, when the alarm went off at 530am, that is when the pain was felt. Jonathan had to drive 3 hours to work out of town and I managed to drag myself into the office.








especially beautiful view through the windshield

Border wall in Nogales
Border wall. Notice the people just watching through the wall on the other

side.
Walk through border entrance. Luckily we didn't go any further.
Santa Cruz County Historical Courthouse in Nogales
Even though we didn't eat here, we couldn't resist this shot.

Old Tuscon. An old movie studio where many western movies have been

filmed.
Old Tucson horses. Just before the stampede
Sorry, we had to have this shot.
View of the state park that Old Tuscon was located
View from Old Tuscon

FDIC "The Big Show"

He had to try it out!
Have ya ever seen a fire truck in the air??
He had to try the jumpseat too.
Jonathan with one of the Lion Apparel dummies
Isn't he handsome? I think the helmet suits him.
Anyone in the market f0r a $400,000 vehicle? Hey, they'll
even deliver it. Sounds like a bargain to me!!
The old Chiefs car

Sorry..........I couldn't resist this shot.

This past Saturday, Jonathan and I got to attend our first FDIC show. It's the world largest Firefighter and EMT training show. Lion Apparel had an exhibit set up which allowed Jonathan and I free entry. I was strongly encouraged to go to the show since this has been my first year with the company. I didn't have to work the exhibit. We just got to walk around and see everything. I was completely blown away buy how big it was. I think Jonathan was pretty impressed too. He especially loved the fire truck. The show was at the Indianapolis Convention Center and RCA Dome.

The show had everything a Firefighter and EMT could possibly need. They had all the latest and greatest in fire trucks (even custom built), ambulances, radios, uniforms, tools, tires, CPR even the jaws of life. They had demonstrations along with a fire truck simulator. I got to meet some people that I talk too everyday but have never met and even got to check out some of the competition .

We definitely had a great time. I can't wait to go back again next year. Except next year we will be at the new Lucas Oil Stadium. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

On the Road Again

Well, all alone again. Jonathan is back on the road again with his job. Looks like this could be a while. All is well so far. This is the first week. Ask me again next week how I'm doing, I might have different story. I guess we will just have to make the best of our weekends.
We have 2 big weekends coming up. This week is "The Big Show" in Indianapolis. Next week we are off to Arizona to see my big sis, big nephew and my pint size nephew. oh yeah and my big brother-in-law.
I hope to have many pictures to share. Stay tuned.....
For now I guess I will keep this short and go busy myself. TTFN

B&B in Holmes County, Ohio

I realize I'm a bit late with this blog entry, but this past week I was being lazy with my entry.
So, last weekend we decided to take a quick trip to Holmes County, Ohio. For those that aren't familiar, it's the largest area of Amish in the country. We decided to stay at a bed and breakfast called The Barn Inn, which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, that area wasn't exactly scenic last weekend. With all the fog we drove through to get there, and then all the flooding from the previous snow melting, there wasn't much to take pictures of. I think we may go mid to late summer next time, when there is more to see.
I was good about my shopping. the only thing we came home with was cheese from the Guggisburg Cheese Factory and a basket that I bought from an Amish girl alongside the road. Other then that, we had some great food at a couple of restaurants and just enjoyed the beautiful B&B.
This was my first experience at a B&B, and I was completely amazed. From the pictures, you can see that it is an old barn that has been completely redone into a B&B. There were 11 rooms all decorated differently along with a beautiful sitting room and dinning room. Paul and Loretta are the resident Inn Keepers and they are both very welcoming. They also made our breakfast on Sunday morning which included, stuffed french toast, a quiche-like dish, local sausage, homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. OH MY GOODNESS!! IT WAS AWESOME! I have posted some pictures of the inside and out. You can also go to www.thebarninn.com and see pictures of all the rooms to choose from. If you are looking for a few days away, this is the place to go. When we go back to Holmes County, I won't even think twice as to where we will stay.

Medical Update

It appears all is well at the Yoder house. Jonathan is finally healing from his pilonidal cycst. We spent most of the weekend inside just trying to keep the cyst draining. The more it drained the better Jonathan felt. After 4 days of being holed up in the house, Jonathan finally got out of the house Saturday night. He was anxious to get to his 4wheeler at his parents house to do some plowing. The trip over there ended up being too much, so he ended up comming home and just let his dad plow our drivway. But on Sunday we managed to make a quick trip to Walmart and he seemed to be doing much better. We were both nervous about him going back to work on Monday. I tried my best to prepare him for every possible scenario, but ended up worrying for nothing. So now, he doesn't have any pain, and very little drainage to worry about. WHEW!!!!
Now that he is better, we are now planning a quick weekend trip this Saturday. If the weather cooportates, we should have some good pictures to share.
Stay tuned!!

A Week of Woes

Well, here I sit at the computer on a night of a blizzard. I had been meaning to blog earlier in the week, but I'm glad I didn't. This week has been the first time that Jonathan and I have had to deal with "in sickness and in health". Though, it's not exactly life threatening, I feel it's a good example of what this phrase means.
Last Saturday, Jonathan started to feel some pain on his tailbone. Buy Monday evening, the pain had developed into a large bump. When I came home Tuesday night from work, Jonathan wasn't able to walk right or sit straight. Sadly, Tuesday was the Gods Great Outdoor Expo and needless to say, he never made it. If you may recall, Tuesday night was also the night of the ice storm. We decided that we needed to see a doctor that night, since the bump had gotten so painful for Jonathan. So, Jonathan crawled (not literally) to the car and we headed off to Wayne Hospital. When we arrived, I was very surprised to see a practically empty waiting room. Just a few sick babies and us. While we were there, the hospital lost power twice due to the storm. The lights went dark and then the generator kicked in. The nurses were saying that they had never seen this happen. Part of there computer system also went down. But they had enough to get what they needed. We finally got to our convenient care room and saw the doctor. She knew immediately what Jonathan had as soon as she saw it. She said he has a Pilonidal Cyst. It is actually very common especially among men and can be hereditary. It's a large cyst that grows on the end of your tailbone and dangerously close to your spine. She said that we could try to treat it with antibiotics and letting the cyst drain on it's own or surgery to completely remove it. Eventually he will need surgery, since the cysts inevitably come back. If he has surgery, he would be off work for 2 weeks and would require much nursing of the affected area. So, we opted for the antibiotics for now, and maybe be prepared for the surgery later on down the road.
So we headed home through the ice storm, having to take the long way, due to all the accidents blocking the main roads. When we got home, we found that our power was out, which means no running water. So Jonathan, in his state, headed to the garage to try to start our generator. After about a half hour of fighting with it, he had to give up. I began to make plans on how to handle things without power. I mainly just worried! But luckily, the power came on after being home for about an hour. We ate dinner and got ready for bed. About 1am we woke up to discover the house was really cold. The power had gone out again. We just put an extra blanket on the bed and went back to sleep. I think the power came back on again between 4am and 5am. So, we were fortunate again.
When we woke in the morning, Jonathan was still in a lot of pain. He ended up taking the rest of the week off, because the cyst had not started to drain yet, resulting in the worsening pain. Now, since I have known Jonathan, he hasn't had the need to see a doctor and hasn't called off sick from work. He also has a high tolerance for pain. So when he says something hurts and calls off work, I know it's bad.
The Dr. instructed him to soak it twice a day, and hopefully it would open up. So after 3 days of Jonathan taking long showers and taking the advice of moms on both sides, the cyst finally opened up tonight. I have never been so happy to see something so gross. It's just real slow right now, but hopefully by the end of the weekend, it will have drained enough to ease the pain and get Jonathan back to work on Monday. I am praying that this is all that needs to happen to make it better. If it's not, then I guess we are going back to the doctor on Monday.
For now, I guess I will just watch the snow fall the rest of the weekend and take care of my husband. Maybe later I can get Jonathan outside to play in the snow on Sunday.

Venison Chili

This Tuesday, our church is hosting the God's Great Outdoors Sportsmen's Dinner & Outdoor Expo. This is a chance for outdoor/hunting enthusiasts to gather for an evening of guest speakers and dinner while also hearing the Word of God. It's a chance to gather with beleivers and a chance to reach non-believers all with the same interest. It's definitley mostly men that attend but women are not excluded.
As I mentioned, this is also a dinner. When some of the GGOD wives came to our Sunday school class begging for volunteers to help cook Venison Chili, I heard CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!! I have never cooked with Venison before. I thought this would be a good way try it since they were providing the meat. I volunteered to make a double batch with 4lbs. of meat.
So after church and dinner, I headed to Sutton's for the rest of my ingredients. Luckily the church already had a recipe for me that they will put together with all the other volunteers.
After about an hour of prep. time, I had 2 frying pans of meat, onions and peppers. The final product ended up being about 7 quarts of chili. Yes, we cheated and tried some. Now I just have to find a container big enough to get it to the church.
So, if anyone is interested, the expo is at Community Grace Brethren Church in West Milton, this tuesday March 4 @ 6pm. The cost is $10 at the door. Come one Come all!!