Year 2, Week 5: Work, Sleep, Repeat

Sunrise from the Haas porch on Thursday morning

It has definitely been a week of working, sleeping and just trying to survive here at the Lil Landis house. When one of us is off, the other one has been working. Thankfully - this will be coming to an end soon and we are already seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. This week will not look like that as I am not working as much and Jonathan will be home all week.

Monday I only worked 9-5, which was nice. We went to game night since it was Shem's last one for the summer, he left Tuesday morning, so it was good to see him again before he left for the school year. Jonathan worked, then helped me out by folding some laundry and doing some dishes. 

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked long days, so Jonathan went and got peaches on Tuesday and then went to play basketball in the evening. He also made some pulled pork so we would have leftovers to eat for the rest of the week. Wednesday he mowed the lawn and packed to get ready for his trip out to work.

As life works, Jonathan headed out to Celina on Thursday, which was my only day off this week. So while he was gone, I cleaned, got shots, picked up more peaches, hung out with my parents and went to get some ice cream that evening. Jonathan got dinner with Graham at the bowling alley and they also went to get ice cream that evening - great minds think alike! 

Friday I worked in Minerva from 9-10, then finally got to see Jonathan when I came home. Jonathan came back from Celina and brought back two bookshelves that he bought from the office! While I was still at work he did some cleaning and then went over to Kyle's for the fire.

The pretty, but mushy watermelon
we got this week

Finished pedestal!

Saturday I worked in Carrollton and it was my last day for a little bit. I am very ready for some time to just relax! Jonathan cleaned, washed our bedding and finished stripping the table while I was gone. He also got to watch some football and did a bit of grocery shopping. Right before I left work he ordered us some pizza and I picked it up on the way home. We watched a show while we ate, then brought the bookshelves in, cleaned them and organized all of our books, games, CDs and puzzles! It is so nice to have places to keep everything!

Today they had a cake and gave
me a round of applause for
passing my boards

Today has been a busy but good day. We went to church in the morning - my first time going in about a month - then we went to the Landis' to see everyone since there was a lot of family in from out of town. Since then, we have been at home, relaxing, ate some dinner and are working on rearranging our house since our bookshelves are not exactly where we want them right now. Plus, now our little bookshelf is empty, so we have to figure out what to do with that! Lots of exciting things, but our home is really starting to come together and our spare room seems much more homey with the bookshelves in it. 

The upcoming week leaves us a lot of time to relax and enjoy each others' company since we haven't been able to do that in awhile. We are so looking forward to it! I plan to do a lot of cleaning, preserving, reading, relaxing and cooking. The two of us plan to check a lot of things off our list of tasks for this month, we are going to play games and we are going to go do some adventuring! I hope you all get to relax a little bit this week too, it looks like it will be a good option for the weather we will be having around here! Love you all, have a great week!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan

Year 2, Week 4: Books, Work and Friedenswald

Last week was pretty boring, but this week has been filled with a bit more excitement! We have been able to do a little bit more with our evenings/time off and it has been wonderful.

Monday I was off, it was my only day off and at home for about two weeks, so I really took advantage of it. I cleaned the house while Jonathan worked, did some reading and counted all of our change - which ended up being much more than anticipated! As soon as Jonathan was done with work we went to the book sale at Rodman Library. This event has got to be one of my favorite experiences. There are rooms and rooms and rooms filled with books and they are all so cheap! I always go and spend at least a few dollars on some books, one of the main reasons we are already looking at getting more book shelves. Finally, Jonathan was able to go with me and he is just as hooked as I am. We ended up getting about 20 books and two movies. It all cost us a whopping $9.75 and we have more reading material than we will be able to read for awhile! We went to game night right after the book sale since I hadn't been there in awhile. Jonathan has been using his new card book there and they have been playing Hearts. Unfortunately, I had never played before. Fortunately, I was pretty good at it because I casually beat them all. This is super out of the ordinary...so everyone was pretty stunned - including me! It was a fun game and a good time with the framily. 

Tuesday I worked in New Philly. Jonathan worked while I was gone, then went to play basketball in the evening. When I got home I scarfed down some food, finished my book and when Jonathan came home we were up late catching up on our days. The late night made for an early morning Wednesday since I had to go to Carrollton for a 13 hour day, but thankfully, it went pretty well. That is, until about 9:40 PM (we close at 10) then everything went sideways. I left my house at 8AM - I used the restroom once before I got home at 10:30...that is a long day! But it really went pretty well otherwise. Jonathan was super helpful and cleaned the kitchen and bathroom for me. He also mowed the lawn and made salmon for dinner, so his evening was quite entertaining as well!

Thursday I only worked 10-6 and Jonathan worked while I was in Carrollton. When I got home the burgers were ready and we had a nice meal while we watched a quick show. After that we made popcorn, cleaned dishes and went to bed to prepare for the weekend.

We saw a fawn on our walk!

Friday was the day to leave for Camp Friedenswald. This is an annual camp trip with Jonathan's mom's side of the family. It is an absolute blast and we so enjoy spending time with them since we see them so infrequently. I woke up, did laundry and packed in the morning. Jonathan worked until 11 and we headed out a little after 12. Right before we got there we stopped for some Popeyes then finished the trip to camp. Friday evening was full of everyone getting there and reuniting for the first time in a while. Saturday was super eventful with volleyball and basketball games, swimming in the lake, great food, tons of games, lots of adorable children and a campfire in the evening. We took a bunch of games along and got to teach them to some people throughout the weekend. The conversation is always great and we really enjoy our family out there. Additionally, the camp is beautiful! Saturday morning we got up early enough to take a walk together and enjoy the scenery. It was incredible to get to spend some time together. Jonathan showed me around some of the places they used to stay and we explored some new places too. I shared a few pictures - but I will admit, we were pretty detached from our phones, which only made the weekend better.

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast, then Jonathan led us in some worship songs and a devotion and Deidrea read a story for the kids. It was such a special time to connect on a deeper level with all of those people. Jonathan did a phenomenal job. Afterward, we went to take the yearly picture, then we finished packing up, said our goodbyes and headed for home. The trip home was about 6 hours with stopping for lunch and gas and everything. On the way home, Mom invited us to Grandma's for dinner, which was a difficult decision because partially we are tired and partially we have nothing to eat around here since we have been gone - so we ate. It was all delicious and we loved telling them about our weekend. Since then we have been chilling at home and it feels awesome. Next week is going to be pretty insane, so we are resting while we can. No idea what we will eat or when we will rest again, but confident we will figure it out!

Hope you all have a week as wonderful as our past week was! We love you guys!

- Alli and Jonathan

Year 2, Week 3: A Boring Week

This week we don't have a lot to report! Monday and Tuesday we were both home, relaxed, played games, ate good food and just enjoyed time together. I will say - we ate pretty well this week. Lasagna rollups, beef bergiugnon, stuffed shells, flash chicken, it was all delicious and we had/have a lot of leftovers...which has been good, because we have worked a lot this week too! Jonathan traveled back to Celina to work for Thursday and Friday, I worked Wednesday-Sunday, it has been quite exhausting, so we enjoyed our evening weekend just relaxing and catching up with each other. I've been working in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Carrollton. This week I will be in New Philly and Carrollton - so I am thankful to be closer to home! Since last week was so crazy and since we have so many leftovers, we really don't have much planned in the way of meals for the next week. It'll be more of a "fend for yourself" type of atmosphere. So far - working is way better than studying, for both of us. We were made for adult life, not college life, which is perfect because we will be spending the majority of our lives being adults!

Wednesday was our notable day as we met the Landis' for dinner in Canton at Fatheads. None of us had ever been there! The food was great, we enjoyed each others' company and we sent Jonathan's car back with them, so now we are down to the Fusion and the Canyon, which is exactly what we want! My truck is in the shop right now and it is so nice to have another vehicle both of us can drive, plus, it's great for listening to books and stuff while I drive to work. I will be driving the Canyon for the most part, but I don't mind the car much either!

This week is going to be a fun one! We anticipate lots of family time and some acquisition of some wonderful materials for one of our shared hobbies - reading! More on that later, for now, I will leave you with a fond farewell with promises for more notable adventures next week! 

Love you all,

Alli and Jonathan