Holiday Blog

Hello from bloggerspace! We thought this would be a fun and interactive way to update people on where we are and what we're doing without using so much paper.

The first half of the year in California was productive. Polly Mae was working at the McHenry Library on the UCSC campus and John was teaching in Watsonville. We often visited the most awesome city of San Francisco to hang out with John's brother Eric, go to the Fillmore Hardware store (Polly Mae's favorite store ever), and spend a lot of money at Amoeba Records (the best record store). San Francisco, and all it has to offer, is sorely missed. We also spent a good amount of time going to Avett Brothers concerts where we would dance our butts off and scream at the top of our lungs. Something that is very contagious at their shows. Other than that we would kick it in Santa Cruz with our homies.





We also made it down to Southern California to see Disneyland! John's mom took us and we had a magical time. The best part was we won Dream Passes so we hardly spent any time in line. Space Mountain is a fantastic ride and every person should experience it once before they die. We also met up with Eric and checked out the legendary Watts Towers built by one man using only crude tools.



So, here we are back in the Midwest again. Our three years in California were fun, but it was time to come home and be closer to family. After some sad goodbyes, Polly Mae's Dad flew out to help us drive our two cars packed to the rim with our belongings. We took our time and made a fun trip out of it. Started with Uncle Roy and Aunt Cookie's wedding anniversary party, then on to Lake Tahoe, CA where we gambled for the first time (legally). We continued on to Arches National Park in Utah followed by a stop to visit Uncle Be in Colorado. During this visit we discovered Guitar Hero and all it's glory. We had heard whispers of how good it was, but we had no idea until we experienced it. Following that we drove straight through, about 15 hours, to Neoga! What a great journey! We spent the summer staying in Granny's new home that she built on Mom and Dad's property. It was great to be surrounded by family. The summer was full of looking for jobs and apartments in St. Louis. But we also took time to catch up with friends and family. Jobs were looking scarce, but we managed to find an apartment that we love! An old three story brick building right across from the beautiful Tower Grove Park. We're on the top floor so we have a great view.




Now, almost four months later here we are in St. Louis! We are slowly adjusting to city life...well, midwest city life. It's no San Francisco. *sigh* We miss our dear friends we left in California. Haven't met any kindred spirits in these parts yet. So we entertain each other most of the time. But it is wonderful to be just a few hours away from family and friends in Illinois!

John is working as a permanent substitute teacher at Flynn Park Elementary School. It's just outside the city in University City. He goes in every day and is there to go where ever they need him. He loves it! It's great experience with all the different grades. He comes home with some great stories! His coworkers are nice and there are some excellent teachers there to learn from. This is awesome news since he came across a few disappointing sub positions before this one. Outside of work, he is trying to get involved in community radio again. He is doing training classes at KDHX, 88.1 FM.

Polly Mae picked up a job as a librarian substitute! So, out of the 17 library branches she goes where ever they need help that day. Mostly she works at the downtown library, which is beautiful. It reminds her of Hogwarts in Harry Potter! But she enjoys those little community branch libraries too. She is wrapping up a semester of two library school graduate courses that she took online through the University of Missouri - St. Louis. She loves library work and has decided to test the waters of grad school! Yikes. She isn't in the program yet... She's hesitant about school. Likes more hands on learning rather than sit, listen, read and take notes. We'll see!




We also became managers of our apartment building. Our old landlady was moving away and she asked if we would be interested in managing. So we took it! There are seven units in our building, including ours. We pretty much deal with the maintenance of the building, collect rent, and deal with any of the tenants needs. Plus it cuts our already cheap rent in half! It's good experience and we're enjoying it.

Other than all that, we try to get out and see our new city. We caught a couple of Cardinals games before the season ended. Go Cardinals! Our families have been out to visit which is nice. Plus we run over to Illinois a lot to play. Our friends Sarah and Frank came to visit from California! We love to ride around on our bikes and play in the park. Now we're buckling down for our first Midwest winter in awhile. So we're staying in listening to records, watching the Daily Show online, playing games, reading, and baking.




We have a lot to look forward to in 2009! We will bring in the New Year with Polly Mae's cousins, Evie and Noel in North Carolina...our awesome friend Sheri is coming for a visit...our friends Bear & Pets are getting married in Portland... and we will be spending a week in Maui, HI for Polly's Mae's 30th birthday! Please, if you are in our parts, stop by! We'd love to see you. Sending our love to all parts of the world...*hugs*

Polly Mae & John