Living the Ohio Dream...

Another week has come and gone in beautiful north-west Ohio! I've gotten through three weeks of law classes, and in another twelve it's on to my first round of law school finals. I'm not nervous yet, but I am spending much of my free time at school in the law library studying.

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Rick (Janet's dad for those not in the know). he arrived Saturday morning, and after he and Janet bummed around town and I studied, we drove a 1/2 mile down the road for the "festival" taking place at the Northwest Ohio RR Preservation Society.

It was an annual festival with food (notably homemade ice cream from some type of John Deere contraption, see photo); a 1/4 scale steam locomotive offering rides; a large and impressive train layout; tour of an old caboose many tractors and other old-timey tractors and steam engine powered stuff. the coolest part for me was the modestly sized civil war reenactment encampment, while Janet loved the alpacas!

We had a nice dinner, and went to see the film 3:10 to Yuma, which was GREAT!!!! I think I can speak for all three of us that we highly recommend it. Also, we found a wonderful new bookstore in Findlay, The Stately Raven, which is housed in a beautiful old church, recently renovated for its new purpose. We'll likely be spending much more time there in the coming months...

Sunday was relaxing, mixed with studying, and watching (but mostly fast-forwarding) the recorded Badgers and Packers football games. We're determined to "buck" the system, and not become "Buckeye" fans just because we're Ohians...Ohioans...Ohionites...um, people who live in Ohio. And, just to make our friends in Italy jealous, we also enjoyed take-away from Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner!

Coming soon - more fun Ohio trivia...stay tuned.

Our Columbus weekend!

This weekend we went to Columbus to visit Bill, Melisa & Emily. We left Friday evening and got there around 6:30/7:00 p.m. We visited, ordered pizza, and played some Word Sweep. Saturday, we slept in, and went to the mall!! At the mall, we were looking for 2 stores in particular - a game store and a Banana Republic. We found both. I used my Banana Republic gift card and we got a couple games - Munchkins & Carcassone. Both games we play with Tick and Janel. Carcassone is extra fun, because it can be a 2 player game. Then we regrouped back at Bill & Melisa's and played some more Word Sweep and Carcassone. We played a lot of Carcassone - I think Bill will be getting the game. The next morning we tried out one of Bill's mall purchases - Settlers of Catan. It was a little difficult initially, because none of us had ever played, so really it was the blind leading the blind. But, once we got the hang of it, it was fairly easy. After the first game, we played a quick second where Bill slaughtered the rest of us. We had lots of fun in Columbus and are looking forward to our next trip! Lots of thanks to Bill and Melisa for hosting! And, thanks to Emily for being such a good baby who barely ever cries and is super cute!

We got home Sunday afternoon and vegged out. On Monday, we went to Kohl's which was great for Brian, depressing for me. I'm too tall for petite size pants, but too short for normal size pants, which led me to the conclusion that I just need to buy more super high heels. And, we went grocery shopping...where we saw a giant Ohio State University football sign made out of seven-up cases. In Wisconsin, you would maybe see something similiar regarding the Packers, but not for the Badgers, unless maybe you were actually in Madison. But we're nearly 2 hours from Columbus - home to OSU. It's really an interesting phenomenon.

Today, I'm doing laundry and made some more banana bread. I've also been watching the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet....so at least my television viewing is educational. And, I finally finished reading the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, as recommended by Angie and Laura. I liked it a lot and am mailing it to Charlotte to read!