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Our Trip to the Mitten and Indiana...

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Well... we're back! We left on Saturday, September 6th and drove and drove and drove to Ohio. We stopped to see Kevin, Greta, Ben and Ayden (Greta is one of Steve's oldest friends). We went to a nice dinner with them and had time to relax and forget about the remaining three hours ahead of us. We arrived at our hotel around 11:30 pm, quickly unpacked some things and crashed.

Sunday (9/7/08) we were up early and had breakfast, then headed over to Cathy's parent's house. We said our hellos to her parents and then we headed back to the car for an hour and a half drive to Frankenmuth. We met Cathy's cousin Terry, her husband Chuck and their daughter Natalie, as well as Terry's son Nicholas, his wife Natalie, her son Alex and their son Jack. Cathy's brother Scott also met us there and so did her brother Dave, his wife Heather, and their three children Eamon, Aine and Benton (they drove to Michigan from Arizona). We had lunch at Zender's restaurant and then did some shopping. After shopping, Scott, Dave and his family and Terry and Chuck and Natalie left, but Nick and his family stayed and we enjoyed a car show. We enjoyed seeing all the different cars and they had a German polka band! We even ran into Fr. Terry (small world). It was the only time that we were able to see him, so we were glad to run into him.

On our way home from Frankenmuth, we stopped at Cathy's Aunt Margie's house. Cathy was excited to see her aunt, uncle, and cousin Derek (he's leaving for France). Dave and the kids showed up and we stayed for pizza and had a nice time catching up. They have goats and sheep, so we had some fun outside with Eamon and Aine feeding the animals.

After dropping off Cathy's parents, we headed back to the hotel for bed. Monday we had breakfast and headed over to the house to figure out what we were doing for the day. We all went to Mongolian BBQ (our favorite place) for lunch. Then we drove to Plymouth Orchards for cider and donuts. Cathy's mom had to work, so she left, but we stayed a while and the kids enjoyed looking at the horses.

We headed off to Freedom Park in Canton, and stayed there with the kids for a while before heading over to Matt and Aimee's house. It started to rain and we had some time before going to Matt and Aimee's, so we went to the new Target (right behind our old house). We bought Mario Cart for the Wii and also the American Idol Encore karaoke revolution game. We took both to Matt and Aimee's and hoped to maybe play one of them.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant called Dolce Vita and had dinner together. It was still early when we were done, so we went back to their place and played the American idol karaoke game. It was so much fun!!! They decided that they wanted to buy it because it was so much fun.

On our way home from their place we stopped at White Castle for some gut-burgers. We headed home and crashed.

Tuesday Dave and Heather were leaving to go to Ohio for a visit with Heather's sister. We went to Big Boy's for lunch and then they left. We went back to Cathy's parent's house and spent time with the kids while Dave and Heather packed up their van. They left around 4:30 and we stayed and talked with Cathy's dad (he had come home from work early). We went to dinner with him (Texas Roadhouse) and then went to Dairy Dan's for dessert.

Then we headed back to the house and we all played American Idol. Scott came home from class and he joined in and then Cathy's mom came home and she played too. We had so much fun doing the tournament. The judges give you feedback and then they eliminate contestants. Cathy ended up being named the American Idol. LOL.

Wednesday we went shopping and then headed to Federal-Mogul (where Steve used to work) to pick up Cindy. We went to lunch with her at our favorite Thai place in Southfield. Then we headed over to Cathy's parents. The plan was to maybe go see a movie, but we didn't all get to the house in time, so instead we just hung out and visited. We had to leave around 4:30 to get to Mitch and Jess's place on time.

We said our goodbyes and headed off to Albion. As much as it gets easier each time we leave (because we know we'll see them again). it was really hard on Cathy this time. She cried a bit and then was able to settle down, but it was difficult to say goodbye to her parents, Scott and then even when she said bye to Dave, she got a little choked up.

Out visit with Mitch and Jess was good. They're expecting a baby girl in December, so we got to watch their ultrasound and see the baby. We went into Albion and had dinner at a cute Italian place called Cascarelli's. We had a great dinner and then went to an ice cream place for dessert. Our visit was short, but it was nice seeing them. The next time we see them, they'll have a baby!! CRAZY!!

We headed to Connorsville, Indiana on Thursday. We arrived around 1:00ish and Steve's dad was in the barn working on a rocking horse that he's making to sell. He made it out of wood and is planning on taking some to different craft fairs. They look really neat!!

We visited with his dad for a bit and then Sue Ann came home. We had dinner with them and their friend. After dinner, we headed outside for a fire but it started to rain, so we called it a night.

Friday we got up super early (for being on a vacation) and headed to a place called Lumpy's. Steve's dad eats there a lot and is President of the "Lumpy's Liars Club." We had a great time meeting their friends and then we went back to the house. We ended up taking a nap and then Sue Ann's niece Cathy had a baby that morning, so we drove to Indianapolis to see her and the baby. We were absolutely SHOCKED by the room that she was in. It was a suite and she had the baby in that room. It even came complete with a man cave!! :)

After our visit with them, we went to Italian Gardens restaurant for dinner. Yes, it was Italian. We were soooooo in the mood for Olive Garden (where had planned to go with Matt and Aimee) so this was the third time we wanted Olive Garden, but had other Italian instead. It was okay, because we like Italian, but we thought it was kinda funny.

We ended up getting home late and went straight to bed. Saturday we had lunch at Macaboo's Steakhouse and then went to the Kenny Chesney concert. It was a fantastic concert!! We saw Luke Owen, Leann Rimes, Keith Urban, and Gary Allen. It was an amazing night-- and the last stop on his tour so he played for almost three hours!!! It was fantastic!

We didn't get home until 2am and then had to turn around and drive home at 7am. We got home around 6:30 and had time to unpack the car and then relax a bit before heading to bed.


We'll post pictures soon...

:)
The Walkers

Bla...

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Well, we went to an official pig-pickin' this weekend. A guy that Steve works with had his 40th birthday party Saturday night up in Wake Forest and he had a pig. It was really tasty!! A little gross to look at, but it was very delicious to eat.

We sat outside tonight for a little and enjoyed the luxury of a screened porch. It was 85ish but not too uncomfortable. We had fun watching Toebe bark at birds and try to get bugs outside the porch. We also watched Finding Nemo tonight. We forgot what a great movie that is!!! "Just keep swimming... just keep swimming..."

We're excited because Toebe has discovered his voice and purr! He hasn't been vocal at all since we've had him and just recently he's started to meow. It doesn't help that we've left him on the porch overnight and he's meowed so loud that it wakes us up. He's never purred before either. Just not a cuddler or lover, but today Cathy heard his purr! She was so excited to tell Steve when he got home from work and then he was able to hear it too!

I guess that's what we have to talk about--lol. No kids to talk about their great accompishments. We have cats to talk about. Sad isn't it? It's not like we're not trying to get pregnant... we are. Just taking a little longer than we had hoped. We're still young though (right?) and have time on our sides still. Until we have kids to talk about... we'll continue to bore you with details about our fur kids. LOL.

Ned is going to the groomer tomorrow. He is SO hairy! He is in desperate need of a shave! He'll be a new pup tomorrow!!

Later--
The Walkers

Paisley Party Tour and more!

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Jewel
Steve singing
Julianne Hough
Brad Paisley and Jewel
The Walkers
Brad Paisley
Us
Chuck Wicks
The Burt's Bees VIP Box


Goodness it's been a while since we last blogged!! What have we been doing??? Well, we know we have loyal fans that tune in regularly to hear all about our life here in NC (lol), sorry to make you all wait so long!!
As the pictures show, we went to the TWC Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek (like a DTE Energy Center/Pine Knob in Michigan) for a fantastic concert back on Saturday, July 19th. Steve stumbled upon some free VIP tickets to see Brad Paisley, Jewel, Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough and he couldn't wait to tell Cathy. We were super excited to go because we both love Brad Paisley and Jewel. Neither of us had heard of Chuck Wicks or Julianne Hough, but we enjoyed their time on the state none-the-less.
Cathy has started a new school year and has a challenging class so far. We're hoping that everyone just needed a track out to get their heads straight (Cathy included) and that when she goes back in August, it's all good. She is still teaching 4th grade and is still really happy at her school. She was asked to present to the teachers twice (on United Streaming) and she was nervous but really excited to have the opportunity to share her knowledge with others. She still receives emails each day from teachers all over the United States about her website and we're thinking about how to channel that positivity into a productive future. You wouldn't believe the emails that she gets... it's really amazing.
Steve is still loving Burt's and is really starting to make some wonderful changes for the company. He's respected and definitely regarded as someone who knows his stuff! He put together something called "Dumpster Day" and to his surprise, he was featured two different times on the "official" video that was made of Dumpster Day. If you'd like to view the video, send us an email and we can send you the link so you can watch him. :)
We both were super excited to set a new record for ourselves. We've been married longer to each other than to anyone else!! July 8th we celebrated our second anniversary. We're more in love today than ever before and it's awesome to have found each other in such a huge world. What are the odds?
This weekend we're going to a surprise birthday party for someone that Steve works with. It's a pig-roast (hopefully a real one) and we'll blog again with pictures.
We're getting excited for our trip home in September. We'll be leaving NC on Saturday the 6th and driving ALL DAY to Michigan. We'll be spending Saturday the 6th through Wednesday the 10th in Michigan with Cathy's family. Her brother Dave and his wife and three kids are going to be there as well so it'll be a great visit with them. Then we're heading to Indianapolis to visit Steve's dad and SueAnn. We'll be staying with them from Wednesday through Sunday and then driving back home Sunday morning. We'll be going to the Kenny Chesney concert with them on Saturday the 13th. It's the last stop for his tour and should be a ton of fun!!!
Talk to you soon!
The Walkers


4th of July Weekend

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This weekend we celebrated the fourth of July by going to see Hancock. It was a really good movie! Not realistic at all, but very entertaining. We give it two thumbs up!


Cathy finished her last day of school last week. She was very sad on the last day of school because she really loved her class this year. It's safe to say that they loved her as much as she loved them, and we're both grateful that she's had such a wonderful first year teaching in North Carolina.
She's been really stressed at work. She went into work this whole last week, Monday through Friday and tried to get everything ready for the first day, but she had to bring things home this weekend to work on. Even with all that, she's still not done and has to go in early tomorrow to get completely ready for the kids.
She's going to have a challenging year this year. She has 15 boys and 8 girls, only 5 that are identified as Academically Gifted (the other teacher has 13) and she has 4 CCR kids (special education). One of her boys, isn't special ed, but requires a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan) and she has to keep track of his behavior for every minute of the day. She has to meet with a special team every two weeks to discuss his behavior. She also has a girl that's diabetic and wears a pump.
It's going to be interesting!! Steve is doing well at Burt's. He was really excited to be featured in their "Dumpster Day" video that was professionally made. If you're interested in viewing the video, let us know and we'll send you the link to view it. It's pretty impressive!!
Friday night we were entertained with the jack-asses on our street. They had like 50+ people over for a party and were drinking and being THEM, well, it got dark and they decided to light some fireworks. We're surprised that no one was injured because they were drunk and lighting explosives, and not really paying attention to each other. It was amusing. The only bad thing was that our house is now covered with the cardboard and paper that came off the fireworks when they exploded.
Satuday we went to see Hancock, and before we went to the movies we had lunch at Jack Astor's. We had a very delicious lunch!! After the movie we went to Office Depot so Cathy could get some school supplies, then we went to Jo-Ann's for stuff for Warm Fuzzies (things that Cathy makes her kids) and the to the Dollar Tree for some back to school treats for bags that Cathy gives her kids. Then we did our grocery shopping and came home. We watched Bee Movie this morning and now we're about to watch the latest episode of Intervention.
Talk to you soon!
The Walkers

What A Weekend!!

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What a wonderful weekend!! We were so busy doing things all over this great state of ours! On Saturday we drove down to Spivey's Corner, NC to attend the 40th Annual National Hollerin' Contest. It was very interesting! Cathy got to see Tony Peacock and cheer for him. He came in 3rd place, but he did great! There were more than 12 people in the men's contest and even someone that came down from Virginia!


After the contest ended, we drove home and on the way, Steve had a bright idea to stop at a local place called "Ron's Barn." Yeah... we should have known by the name what it would be like, but in the back of our minds we kinda had hoped that we found a hidden gem. When we walked in, there was a musty smell to the place, but there were lots of people and it seemed like everyone was happy. It couldn't be that bad right?
Well... to the left was a cafeteria-style line that was rather short. In front of it, there were a few tables. We were taken immediately to our seats and our drink order was taken. Cathy ordered a Coke and Steve had a water. The waitress brought out some hush-puppies and then said, "Help yourselves." Not a good sign... we both anticipated a menu and dreaded the idea of the cafeteria-style line. There were people at the table RIGHT (yes, we were on top of another table) next to us and they got up to go get some chow.
We thought that maybe we were in for a treat when the one man raved about the food. How can you mess up apple sauce? Well, you can and they did. They even messed up Coke. It was by far the most disgusting meal that either of us has ever ingested.
Now, you're probably thinking that we learned our lesson right? Wrong. We decided to order dessert. BECAUSE the man at the table next to use was going on and on about the banana pudding. We decided to get the banana pudding and chocolate pie. Cathy thought both were absolutely GROSS but Steve kind of enjoyed the chocolate pie.
So, at the end of the night, we spent more than $20 for dinner that was disgusting. Cathy enjoyed the corn and Steve enjoyed the pie and green beans. The rest... well, that's another story.
Sunday night we went to a Durham Bulls game with Cathy's 4th graders. She's going to blog about it on her blog, so be on the look out for that if you're interested in reading about the game.
:)
The Walkers














One Year!!

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We've been in North Carolina for a year already!! Can you believe it? It's gone by so fast! Steve celebrated his one year anniversary with Burt's today. He didn't get any recognition at work, but Cathy sent him a congratulatory email and text that made his day. :)

Cathy has survived the EOGs for this year. She has learned a lot from giving these tests.
  • First... regardless of how many HOURS she spends reviewing and giving test-taking tips... it's all thrown out the window when the test is in front of their faces.
  • Second... for some kids, being the first one done is like a secret victory. Even if the test takes the average child 60 minutes and they've finished in 20.
  • Third... there are a lot of things on the EOG that Cathy didn't spend enough time teaching to her kids!! :(
  • Fourth... Everyone from kids to teachers stresses out about these tests!!
  • Fifth... sitting/wandering the room for four hours a day is excruciating. It'd be better to be taking the test than to be monitoring the test.

Cathy doens't know how her kids did yet (she's very nervous about it and scared that they all bombed it) and hopefully will know by Friday. Keep her in your prayers!!

We're excited to spend this weekend at home doing nothing. It's Father's Day and both of our father's are out of state, so we'll be chilling out together.

Next weekend we're going to the Hollerin' Festival with Katie (a girl that Cathy works with) and maybe her parents and then on Sunday we're meeting Cathy's kids and parents at the Bulls game. Should be fun!!

We'll write again soon...

The Walkers


Not Even Summer Yet...

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Well... it's not even summer yet but it sure is hot! This week we have had temperatures reach over 100 degrees!

On Friday, Steve attended the second annual Burt's Bees Culture Day. You might remember the post from last year that talked about it. We had just moved down here, and that Friday was his first Friday at Burt's. He got the drum and they all played the drums to find their rhythm as a company. Burt made an appearance. Well... not this year. This year, they went to Hope Crossing, (Aa"green" community) which is a Habitat for Humanity of Durham community of homes. This last week was a "Building Blitz" across the US and for the Durham area, they built ten homes in five days. To make their impact, the Burt's Bees employees went for the day and built a playground.

Steve had a great time and really felt great giving back to the community. It was a VERY hot day though. There were several groups of people that left before 10:30 am, and through it all, Steve stayed and worked hard. He was among 15 that were able to stay through the whole day and help clean up at the end. The temperature on Friday was over 100, but Steve was able to stay hydrated and able to stay cool. He was really proud of the work that he did and can't wait to volunteer in September with the Burt's group. Cathy plans on volunteering with him. The home that Burt's will be working on this fall is extra special because it will be the home given to a fellow employee at Burt's.

Cathy is getting ready for her fourth graders to take the North Carolina End of Grade exams (EOGs). She is quite nervous about it, but we're hopeful that her kids will do well on the three-day test. They'll be taking the reading test on Monday and then Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent doing math tests. She got her scores back for the state writing test (which has been discontinued for next year) and was excited about the results. Her kids did an amazing job and she was very pleased!! We hope she'll have the same results on the EOGs. She'll find out how they did on the math test this coming Friday, but won't know anything about reading until September/October.

Tomorrow we're going to see Kung Fu Panda with Cathy's fourth graders. Acutally, they're meeting her at the movies. She has about ten or eleven kids and their parents/families coming so it should be fun. The movie looks pretty good and we're sure that the kids will really enjoy it. Cathy has planned a "Meet Mrs. Walker at the Durham Bulls game" in two weeks. You might remember that she always did this in Michigan with the Tigers, and fortunately, we're close to Durham and can do the same down here. She has about fifteen families that have signed up for that event. They'll get to have their name on the big screen. We'll be sure to post pictures of the event.

We're excited to head to Spivey's Corner in two weeks. It's time for the Annual Hollerin' Contest. Cathy is excited to go and cheer for Tony Peacock. He was the writer in residence at her school this year and she was really excited to maybe get to see him compete. The contest is the third Saturday in June. He has won the contest several times!! Click this link to watch a youtube video about the contest and to see Tony Peacock!! (After the guy explains distress hollerin', Tony is the first guy and he's wearing purple.)


The warm weather appears to be sticking around for a while, so send cool thoughts our way!! We hope everyone reading this is doing well. Feel free to drop us a line and say hello!! That's what the comments are there for!! :)

Take care,
The Walkers