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Fissel Family Blog
august update...so far
hey there, everybody!
alright, ive done my job updating pictures...now im ready to see niagra pictures!
it was so good to talk to you on the phone, jeanna. we miss you guys so much and cant wait to see you in october! thanks SO MUCH for heading up the ticket thing, that means so much to us right now.
mikey and i ran out of minutes until august 12th so its been funny trying to figure out who has verizon and who doesnt so we dont go too badly over. i guess i have to chalk it up to me being home all day every day and receiving so many calls from family and such. ive had to tone it down these last few days, but its been nice not feeling obligated to pick up the phone. i knitted most of the day yesterday, as i have been conscripted to make four steelers hats for mikey, me and two of our friends from pittsburgh. ive almost finished my second one! we'll post pictures of them as soon as they are done!
mikey and i contemplated the possibility of me brining knitting needles on the plane in my bag. i dont want to risk losing my needles, but we both arent sure how ill survive without my knitting for a weekend :). exaggeration.......im planning on being very busy hanging out with you guys!
i start school august 11th--that's monday. its hard to believe that its already here! im not quite anxious about it yet, as i have workdays all this next week. it'll be the 18th-22nd that gets me all tied up in a knot. i always get nervous meeting new students and starting a new year. this year WILL be different, though. this is the first year that im returning to the school i was at the year before. im hoping that without having to meet a new administration, learn a new system of rules, grading and other policies, and meet a new staff, the start of the school year will be much smoother than it ever has been. not to mention that i saved all my lesson plans from last year, so i shouldnt have to start from scratch on much of anything this year! over all, im getting excited about monday, but i know its going to be hard to adjust to that schedule again. this was my first summer that i ever really took off and didnt work a stitch. *sigh*, what bliss.
im prepping mikey for baby-holding duty when we get down to texas! last night we babysat for some friends of ours who have a little baby--not even a year old! he fell asleep while mikey held him. i sensed that brennan (the baby) was as comfortable as i am when i snuggle up to mikey at night. i have some pictures on my phone to prove this event.
well, this is my last day of freedom so im going to go figure out what to do with it! we are going to charlotte tonight to spend the night with some friends before going to a wedding tomorrow at 2pm. maybe we'll have more pictures from that party!
love,
laura (and mikey, im sure)
posted by Laura Fissel Friday, August 8, 2008 @ 5:25 AM
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as promised
we LOVE having parties! this is the one we had on the fourth of july...
 
Lots of people ended up coming--I think the final count was 30?
 Mikey is always in charge of grilling things.
 Wherever kildoo is, that's where the party is. Me and my friend Emily.
 Mikey takes a break from the grill.
Eventually, everyone came inside the apartment because it rained. It was a record amount of people in our apartment and started getting mighty stressful....
We eventually went down to the pool, though, and played pool volleyball until late in the night. No fireworks for us this fourth, unless you count the smoke bombs people were setting off around the pool that we had to breathe in while we swam.
how was y'all's fourth??
-laura
posted by Laura Fissel @ 5:16 AM
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DC take two
just wanted to drop a note this morning as ive been thinking about you guys-particularly about dad and jeanna and how the trip went/is going. i cant remember when you were going or how long you were going to be there (during the summer i have a very difficult time keeping days straight!). we are thinking of you, though, and cant wait to hear about it! we are already trying to plan a long weekend in november to see you guys and hear about it in person. we want to see bryan too :)...does bryan even read this???
mikey and i went to DC again in june. he tagged along as i went to a holocaust conference at the holocaust museum. most of our trip will be reimbursed by the school so it was a nice "cheap" (or it will be when i go back to school and turn in receipts!) trip. we really like DC.
we first stopped in Fredericksburg, VA because mikey likes old war things and i like mikey :)
  
mikey caught a coupla rainbows over DC one day
going to the air and space museum was one of the only things we were able to do together while we were there. we love the air and space museum!
walking back to the subway from the air and space museum, on the last day, we stopped to take some picture of "the castle."
overall, it was a short but fun trip. we like being together on adventures any chance we get!
next post (and hopefully soon): pictures of the fourth of july!!!
laura
posted by Laura Fissel Monday, July 14, 2008 @ 4:55 AM
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quick thursday morning words
well, i'm out for the summer; yesterday was my last day of school, officially. mikey and i leave for the beach on saturday to be with the family for a week and, for the most part, i am excited. there is a little bit of apprehension there for me because i am purposefully going to make this a time of strengthening relationships with my family through honest communication, and that can be intimidating.
i'm not quite sure what to do with myself today, but i don't think its because of a lack of things to do. i just don't know where to start! i think in a moment i will start with the unfolded laundry in our bedroom and then see where that takes me.
i was thinking about you guys this morning and prayed for you all. id love to know some updates on you guys in Texas and Pennsylvania so i have more of an idea where to direct these prayers of mine. i love you guys--well, we both do, but mikey's not here at the moment--and look forward to hopefully visiting in the fall, provided we have the $$.
love,
laura
posted by Laura Fissel Thursday, June 5, 2008 @ 7:34 AM
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DC PICTURES
Sorry it took so long to get these out there! I know you've been wanting to see them, Grandpa Fissel... 
(union station--very beautiful architeture. mikey bought me expensive chocolates here!)
We left Winston really early in the morning and upon arriving in Virginia, stopped first at Arlington Cemetery.
  There we read very practical signs and saw the very systematic changing of the guard (and I cannot figure out how to make it stop being underlined so bear with me):
 
  I'm having trouble remembering our itenerary, but I think that night we visited good ol' Abe and the next day, our good friend Teddy.
  
 These pictures are not going where I want them to. Oh, look, it suddenly decided not to be underlined! We really liked the Roosevelt monument, even though it would have been a lot better if it were warm and the water was turned on, seeing as how it's all fountains...
 
  We saw Washington's monument from far away, then stood in line in the FREEZING, WINDY, FEBRUARY DC WEATHER...then we were warm inside of it, and it was really a cool place!
  
(as you can tell by our clothing choices, it was very cold.............)
We stopped off at the country's capital and had a great tour guide.
 
(big gun)
whew, so many people to visit with! Robert (as in, E. Lee) was kind enough to snap a picture with me.
 
we visited the white house but couldn't take our camera, so we don't have any pictures--it was really lame anyway.
call me nerdy, but the library of congress was, by far, my most favorite place. GORGEOUS!
   
At the end of the trip, we got some free-time and Mikey and went to the National Botanical Gardens and the Air and Space Museum, where they had some items on display from the History museum that was being renovated.
   
(I really liked seeing Kermit!)
That was pretty much it. I wish we had some pictures that could convey our frustration at the breaking down of our bus and how it started to rain when we switched buses to come home HOURS later than we were supposed to.
Well, here they are; our lovely DC pictures :).
posted by Laura Fissel Wednesday, May 7, 2008 @ 5:12 PM
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listening to mikey on the phone with grandma...
Hey there!
Mikey has talked to both Mike and Jeanna, I think, since I have and, although I get the information, I still feel a little out of the "inner circle" :P. Just kidding. Jeanna, your ring is GORGEOUS, and your beautiful hand just enhances its effulgence. I am so sad about y'all's vacation and hope that you are already starting to plan it for another time!
Mikey is on the phone with grandma, remoting into her computer because she "screwed up her e-mail," and I am messing around before I fall into bed.
This weekend has been really busy and I find myself exhausted tonight. A woman, who I am in small group with (a group of women who get together to talk once a week), was having an open-house today as she and her family are selling their BEAUTIFUL HOME (which I really want to buy but is waaaay out of our price range). I helped her clean yesterday and today, along with going to church, hosting small group and attending open-house. I haven't had too much of a chance just to be quiet and the introverted part of my personality is dying for it.
Things are pretty normal here. I started physical therapy about two weeks ago after a long time of visiting doctors and having tests done about a pain in my left thigh. They have diagnosed it as starting in my back and have me doing exercises that seem to be working. I've had this pain for a year so it's been really encouraging to do some little exercises and already see the pain moving out of my leg...the only thing is that it's moving to my back (my PTherapist says that's a "good thing" because it's going back "where it started") and I'm going to have to work pretty regularly to get rid of it entirely. I am hoping it doesn't take very long so I can get back to normal....actually, it will be BETTER than normal because I won't be living with this frustrating, constant pain!
I have 4 weeks of school left and I'm counting down the days! RIGHT after school is out, we'll be going to the beach for a week with my family--which I'm really excited about--and then my summer is unaccounted for for the most part. I think I'll be doing some workshops for teacher renewal credit and, hopefully, attending a free Holocaust workshop in DC for a few days (I have yet to hear my acceptance to the program). I usually work during the summer but I'm hoping that this summer can be more chill than last.
We need to find a place to live...a house preferably...as we want to get out of this apartment. Things are shaping up to be quite interesting, however, because we are considering a new prospect for Mikey. They are pretty definitely going to make his position a part-time with benefits at the City of Greensboro and are going to offer it to him when he graduates. This would give him health insurance, hopefully a bigger paycheck, and at least one day off a week to really invest some time into students through the college ministry. This is a scary thing because of the prospective sacrifices we would have to make (instead of thinking about Mikey getting a full-time job and the money that would come with that), but I know that Mikey loves encouraging and listening to people, especially young people, and I have come to realize that the majority of myself is willing to make sacrifices to allow him to do that. I have been thinking a lot lately about how "safe" it seems to dream about the big paying jobs, the big house, nice cars and state-of-the-art stuff, but I know that those things aren't the source of happiness. I want to seek out a lifestyle that is built on truly lasting, truly valuable things, even if it means living..."smaller" lives...Anyway, it will be an adventure and we'll see how it goes! I am excited to see what is before us in the years to come.
Well, I hadn't imagined that this would be so long. I am sooooo tired and my wrists are hurting from tapping away. We love you guys and hope, especially, that you have a fantastic Mother's day, Jeanna. You are ONE AMAZING MOTHER :).
love love love,
Laura (and Mikey)
posted by Laura Fissel Sunday, May 4, 2008 @ 7:57 PM
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News & Random Babble
Hey family! How is everyone this beautiful Earth Day? I am off, trying to get things done around here and be as energy covservative as possible. So today I have pledged to work in silence - no TV all day, keep the blinds open and all lights off, and to turn the computer off as soon as I finish this posting. Of course none of this applies to Mike and his cave - couldn't get much work done without power. Then we are having a cold dinner, made a pasta salad with ham chunks and cheese, and going to Mike's softball game, then coming home and going to bed. So it should be a good day start to finish. Things have been crazy here lately, that seems normal now. I worked late all last week, not getting home until 7:30 and 8 all days, just enough time to eat and talk for a while, then fall exhausted into bed, just to get up and do it all over again. But I love my job still so much. I had my annual review, got a very good one, and also a very nice raise. I was pleased to get both, the feedback from the doctors I work with means a lot to me, and who doesn't enjoy a raise!!! Mike is working like a wild man right now. He is trying to get all caught up so we can leave for the next topic of conversation..... OUR VACATION!!!! We will be leaving on Tuesday, April 29 @ 7am bound for our 10th anniversary, second honeymoon destination of....NIAGARA FALLS!! We are so excited about this, I can't wait. I have always wanted to see as many of the natural wonders as I can. We will be there from Tuesday until Sunday, so we plan on doing a lot of exploring. We are going to spend a couple of days driving to Toronto (1.5 hours). I am looking forward to the CN Tower, the worlds tallest structure measuring 180 stories (1815 ft) at its tip, and seeing City Hall, featured in an episode of Next Generation. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the 5th largest city in North America so there should be plenty of things to explore there. As if this vacation wasn't enough of an anniversary gift, the most wonderful human on the planet bought me a ring. Now when I say ring, this is so vague that it is almost unjust. It is simply the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and absolutely to the very last detail, the exact ring that I have always dreamed of having some day. It is a 3 stone diamond in white gold, and it is gorgeous. It is the most beautiful thing and means so much to me. I see so many young people expect a ring like this in the beginning. It took us 10 years to get to the point where we could do something like this. I look at it as a badge of honor, and I wear it so proudly, because it stands for so many different things for Mike and me. We had snow back in March, it was pretty crazy to see. A good 4 inches, maybe more, very pretty, very much a pain in the but, since I was at work and had to drive the covered car home at night. The mutts loved it, Piggy the most of all of them. She had snow in her ears - YUCK!!    
We took on a small home project last weekend. We put knobs on the kitchen cabinet doors. It really was a very inexpensive, and not very time consuming project that made a BIG difference in the way the kitchen looks as well as feels now. We love them, next is drawer pulls - HOW EXCITING!!!!!!
I found a list of home repair/fix up projects by price range, under $100 and up, that will increase the value in your home, so here we go, a project a month is my goal, start to finish...we shall see.
We may know what the baby is this Thursday! Jennifer goes for her sonogram at 1:30...I am so very excited!!!!!!
I guess I should stop this now, we have gone into the random babble phase of the posting. I have to go to the Chiropractor and get adjusted. Laura, if you haven't tried that yet, I can't say enough good about it. My dr. has helped me so much, and I will go for routine adjustments for the rest of my life.
Much love to you all, can't wait to see everyone. Look forward to a lengthy vacation journal when we get home!!
Hugs, Kisses & More!!!
Me
posted by Jeanna Tuesday, April 22, 2008 @ 10:04 AM
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