A nice break...

After everything that's gone on these past few months, we've really needed a break. Luckily a few months ago, we decided that we would go back to one of the places that we stayed for our honeymoon. It couldn't have been timed better, so this past weekend we headed off to South Haven, Michigan...
One of our favorite places to eat is called The Vineyard, which has really great pizza. Saturday night, Julie decided to be a bit adventurous and try some of the roasted pepper that you can put on your pizza. She should have checked the cap first... :) We had a good laugh!


In downtown South Haven, we saw a new pub called Jake's Beach House, which is ironically owned by the same people as Jake's Road House in West Lafayette near Purdue. We were able to meet the owner who was happy to see some fellow Purdue fans!


We did some driving around on Sunday, and this is apparently related to some kind of inside joke about the movie Grease between Julie and her brother & sister - I guess you have to ask them :)


The wind kicked up right before we left today, which allowed us to take some great pics of the lighthouse:




It was such a relaxing and perfect weekend (except the Colts loss, but I digress) it was a great way to recharge our batteries!

Homecoming

This past Saturday, Julie and I went to Purdue's homecoming. I hadn't been to campus in a while, and it was our first football game in 2 years. It was a cold, overcast, and rainy day - perfect for my wife :)

We started out at Julie's old sorority - Alpha Xi Delta. We were able to park there since she's an alumnus, and they provided free breakfast as well.

From there, we headed off to the Center for Nursing Education on campus, where one of Julie's students was acting as a guide. It was really neat to see all of the simulators and tools that they have available. Julie was in heaven ;)

After that, we headed around campus where they had a bunch of tents set up with information about the different schools on campus. We caught up with Donna and Jane (two of Julie's former professors and now fellow faculty members) from the Nursing school.



We also got our picture taken at the Engineering's tent where they had a green screen and superimposed us onto the moon! Pretty cool...

They also had a couple of sculptures around campus...


No trip to campus would be complete without a visit to the fountains...



Once we were done, we headed to the game.


Purdue was up big early, but lost the lead heading into the 4th quarter. They needed a spark, and one was provided by none other than Neil Armstrong - the first man on the moon! They dedicated a new building to him that day, and he rallied the team with a rousing speech. Can't really see much from here except for the flag he was flying...


Purdue scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to win the game!


After the game, we headed past a couple of what looked like secret servicemen, so Julie figured we might get a chance to see Neil leaving. We waited for about 10 minutes, and look who showed up!

To a couple of space nuts like Julie and I, it was a moment we'll remember for the rest of our lives. All in all, it was a wonderful day and we couldn't have asked for it to go better!

Purdue Day Trip

~*~*~*~Here's a faculty status update~*~*~*~*~
Purdue completed my contract and mailed it to me on Friday, so I'm really official now! I will be teaching 2 clinical groups (approx 10-12 students/group) on Friday's, one group in the AM and then one group in the afternoon. We will be at St. Vincent Women's Hospital, here in Indy which means that I won't need to travel to campus very often. Since St. V's is where I got my start in L&D, I'm very excited that I'll be able to work with these RN's and MD's again. Faculty week will start on Aug. 13th, but I'll have a few meetings with the Maternal Child Health team at St. V's and at Purdue before then. My last day at the office will be this Friday, Aug. 3rd.

~*~*~*~On to the actual blog~*~*~*~

It had been awhile since Cory and I had been to Purdue together, so we decided to take a trip up to West Lafayette this weekend. Luckily, we had good weather the whole day so we were able to do a lot of walking around campus. As soon as we were on campus the first thing we did was a
thorough drive through, from the Acres to Purdue West, from Chauncey Hill to the Levee, from the Union to my old home at 519 University St., I wanted Cory to have a better idea of all the places & landmarks that made up campus. After our drive, we parked at the Nursing building and were able to go up and check out my office, it was pretty quiet! Then we found my name on a school of nursing scholarship plaque on our way out...that was exciting! We walked across University St. to the Alpha Eta chapter of Alpha Xi Delta, my old home. We were *so lucky* that someone was in the house because they were able to let us in! This was such a nice surprise! Cory and I were able to walk through the whole house, look at all the new changes, see some of the traditions that were still in place and I was able to reminisce about my years as a collegiate member. By this point, it was starting to get really hot & humid outside (and our sorority does not have AC) so we sat on the back porch for awhile to cool off. Then we headed back to the
Escape and drove to the student union where Cory ran into the Purdue Bowling team....yes, Purdue has a bowling team, and then he wished he had brought his ball! We were going to have lunch there, but unfortunately the market area was under some improvements for the upcoming school year. So, instead we went to Jake's Roadhouse Pub and had a traditional college town lunch. After lunch, we hit one of the bookstores and updated our Purdue apparel and Cory bought me a really cute Purdue sign that I can put up in my office. As soon as I get my faculty ID card, I will begin getting discounts at all the bookstores on campus! By this point we had finished up all we wanted to do on campus, so we decided to go exploring Lafayette. We drove past all the major shopping/dinning venues, drove through *many* neighborhoods and talked a lot about what would happen if next year Purdue offers me a full time teaching position (during my interview last week, this was brought up as a possible future option by Dr. Novak). It is still a ways off, but a real possibility. For right now, we're just thankful for this opportunity I've been given and we're going to keep open minds about what the future may hold...until then...

Per Request...

We had a request to see pictures of the vintage prints we picked up...

We don't know if these prints will grace the walls of our current townhome, but we're certain that we'll find a space for them in our first home.

Here are a few other *things* that Cory and I picked up...

We envisioned this vintage style sign hanging in the mud room of our first home as a constant reminder of the choices we can make each day.

Each time we visit a new city or go on vacation somewhere, Cory and I choose a magnet to bring home as our souvenir. I imagine that if we keep this up, one day we'll be able to fill the side of a refrigerator with all our "vacation magnets". Plus, it will be a fun way to tell stories to our children of all the places "Mommy & Daddy" have been.

This magnet quotes a verse from "An Irish Blessing" that was read during our marriage ceremony...

These three are "zen" magnets that feature three states of mind:
THINK
LOVE
RELAX

Our Relaxing Michigan Holiday!

Cory and I just returned home from our wonderful extended weekend in Michigan. Even though we took an extra day off work to give us three days off, it still felt like the weekend went by too fast. We stayed in Holland, Michigan at a very charming, quiet and secluded B&B. Cory and I stayed here last October for a short time on our honeymoon. We were the only guests this weekend so it really felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! Here are some pictures of our room & the surroundings...

The Cozy Fireplace....

Our Room with a View (and two person hot tub!)...

The perfect screened in patio...

On Sunday, we drove down to the coastal town of Saugatuck to do some sightseeing. We found a shop that sold vintage prints of food/wine/travel advertisements and picked out two that we liked. We also found a sidewalk cafe/bistro called "The White House", I should have taken our picture by their sign for my father! Later that day we drove a little further down the coast line to visit South Haven. South Haven was celebrating their annual "Harbor-fest" this weekend so there was a lot going on. I think Cory and I walked close to 5 miles that day just trying to see it all! There were blocks upon blocks of unique shops and artist stands, live music playing, all kinds of boats & ships coming through the harbor and many interesting people to watch. A few times during the afternoon we gave up trying to walk everywhere and instead found a shady spot to rest in and enjoy the atmosphere and the lake breeze. It was *hot* all weekend...the breeze from the lake made it bearable, but a few times Cory and I were tempted to just jump in the lake and cool off!

Here we are at the end of the South Haven Pier...overlooking Lake Michigan...ready to jump in the water and cool off!

Asides from the sightseeing and shopping, we had some fantastic fare during our visit. In South Haven, we ate the Amicarelli Vineyard which is a locally owned & family run Italian restaurant. As fate would have it, we were seated at the same booth that we first had dinner in last October! In Holland, we had a late dinner at Boatwerks which is situated on Lake Macatawa. Here are some of our pictures from that area:

Sitting on the pier...waiting to be seated

Just enjoying the view!

One of the more "unique" sea-crafts!

My handsome husband!

We had such a great time just relaxing with each other, getting some sun and taking in the local sites. And while we're going to miss being on the lake and taking lazy evening walks on the beach, we're happy to be home again.

A Secret Turned Surprise!

This evening, my husband and his parents (who had been conspiring together for about a week) gave me such a wonderful & heartwarming surprise! Our cousin Amanda is expecting her first child this summer on July 11th. We know it's a boy and his name will be "John". Since we're all about 4 states away from each other we haven't been able to see Amanda or any of Cory's family since our wedding in October. Well, it turns out that Amanda's shower for baby John is on May 19th and since Cory and I were not planning a trip to New York until the 4th of July, we were going to miss it...or so I thought until tonight!

Cory's parents are planning to fly me out to New York from May 18th-May 20th so that I can be there with the rest of the Albert family women as we celebrate this new addition to the family and Amanda's welcoming into motherhood! I am truly touched and overwhelmed by Mom & Dad Albert's generosity and love. Saying that I feel blessed sounds like an understatement. The Albert's have shown me unconditional love that a parent gives their child since the first day I met them, almost two years ago! I don't think of them as "in-laws" they truly are my second family.

This will be my first trip to New York without Cory...but before you feel sorry for the guy, let me just remind you that he'll have the whole weekend to himself, with the exception of the 40" LCD HD TV, the Wii and his Xbox 360. Needless to say, I know what he'll be doing while I'm in New York, hehehe!

We love you Mom & Dad Albert! Can't wait to see you next month and celebrate baby John & Amanda!

A Weekend on the Lake at Home

Cory and I were able to go to my hometown of Warsaw, IN this past weekend, and it was a much needed change of pace. It's hard to make yourself slow down sometimes and just enjoying ~being~. Life at the Albert house pretty much revolves around the typical schedule of work, school, homework and chores...the staples of most family life, so it was nice to break the status quo.

As soon as we arrived at my parents house the smell of early spring and the lake was instantly relaxing. It sounds silly to describe it this way, but the smell of the grass, the lake and my parents house just reminds me of all the lazy summers spent with my brother and sister before we were married and responsible adults. I would like to think that one day Cory and I will be able to live on or nearby the water so that our children can experience what I was able to growing up.

During our trip one of our stops was to the little town of Lake Webster. For those of you who know my dear husband, you can understand the strife we go through trying to find the guy shoes that fit. It just so happens that there is a shoe store in Lake Webster that carries shoe sizes up to a 20! So, it's pretty much become a regular stop for us during visits home to check out their shoe selection. Another one of our regular stops during visits home is to Winona Lake. Warsaw and Winona Lake are synonymous with each other really. They have a quaint little shopping village on the lake and a peninsula with many lake homes and cottages. Ever since I was a little girl I've had a fascination with one them, which is named the "Kilarny Castle". It's right out on the peak of the peninsula and overlooks the whole lake. It's a deep and tall home with spires and towers reminiscent of medieval architecture...and I love it! It was for sale a few years ago, needless to say, I was not the buyer! However, I can't shake this feeling that one day if it goes up for sale again, that Cory and I might look into it :) Wishful thinking perhaps...

I could get used to lazy weekends like this again, only 12 more months until graduation!