June 6th, 2014: Well, it’s officially moving day.  I say officially because there’s a nice crew of movers packing up our boxes and furniture and getting ready to haul it over to our new home.

I have to admit, as I stand here and watch (don’t judge me, I’d rather stay out of their way and let them work), it really just now hit me that I’m leaving this small house that has been my homestead for the past 12 years.  I still remember moving in day. 

And while it’s a bit bittersweet to be preparing to say goodbye to this little house, it’s so fantastic that Danielle and I are finally getting to move into OUR house.  Danielle moved into my house after we got married, and now the new place is OUR house.  So saying good by to the Longworth home isn’t all that bad.

The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. 🙂

Okay, so who didn’t figure that it was time for the obligatory Christmas themed blog post.

After a great Thanksgiving weekend visit with family in Cincy, Danielle and I are back home and got a chance to put out our Christmas decorations.  A few new additions this year include;

our new advent wreath (it blends well with the garland).  and yes, our stocking are hung with care, just no chimney.  The furnace is nearby, though, if that counts;

and we added the three wise men to our Willow Tree Angel Nativity set;

I almost forgot our new tree this year (okay, perhaps not the best picture of it, but trust me, it’s pretty.)

We hope everyone has a fantastic, merry, and blessed Christmas season this year.  Enjoy your time with family and friends, eat hearty (and healthy!), and have fun exchanging gifts at the end of the month.  We hope everyone remembers the reason we are celebrating; the greatest gift of all, the birth of Jesus.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

No, I don’t mean houses or anything like that.  Our blog has moved.

You can follow us now at dndrub.net.  And watch for foodies.dndrub.net to come active in the near future.

Watch for our new blog, coming soon.  That one we both will keep up.  It’s going to be focused on healthy eating, new recipes, and the fun we have making them, eating them, and sharing them with friends.

Danielle and I opted to spend this weekend having an early Christmas celebration.  I took an extra vacation day this past Friday, and we enjoyed a nice long morning of working out, followed by a showing of the new movie “The Hobbit”. 

Saturday, we volunteered at a local school that our church has partnered with.  Dani helped in the daycare while I helped with guest directions for the Affordable Christmas program, which helps parents buy gifts for their kids at affordable prices.  We had 94 family units come through in the 2 hour time span, and let me tell you, what an awesome feeling it was knowing these families would be able to have a good Christmas.

Of course, all of that morning was tempered by the events of Friday in Connecticut.  Out hearts and prayers go out to those families.  We won’t even try to imagine what they feel, because we have nothing to begin even conceptualizing their grief.  But we pray the peace of God is on them.  Our Saturday evening was ended with the Christmas at Crossroads music concert.  Good music, good message, and a chance to see a few faces I hadn’t seen in awhile. 

Sunday we had a very lazy day.  And I do mean very lazy.  Started with a holiday tradition of homemade egg/sausage/cheese casserole, gift exchanges (my wife fed my Star Wars addiction!!!), and then lazying on the couch for most of the morning.    A good 2.25 mile walk in the afternoon, and a glazed ham with veggies for dinner ended the day. 

All in all, it’s been a great Christmas so far.  We wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas season, and a Happy New Year. 

Okay, so this is a few days late in coming, but I wanted to share a great time Danielle and I had this past weekend.

December first was an odd day from a meteorological standpoint, as the weather was in the 70s, sunshine, and very, very comfortable.  Given that this is southern Indiana, we expect colder weather.  But hey, we didn’t complain.

Danielle and I wanted to do some walking so we started our day in Newburgh visiting one of our favorite small businesses, Mulberry Jeans.  A cup of freshly brewed hot tea for each of us (and some loose leaf to take home!) was a good way to start the trip. 

While we were there, two individuals in Victorian-period costumes came in.  He was an older gentleman in properly gentleman fashion, and she was an older lady in proper civilized dress.  “Classy” is how one lady later described it.

We were also introduced to the scavenger hunt going on downtown.  Several of the downtown shops were participating in an Elf on the Shelf hunt.  Some stores had a point value of 1, others were worth 2 points.  Contestants were challenged to locate the elf in certain stores, then have a store employee sign off a check list for them.  After getting 15 points, you could turn your sheet in for a chance to win a $200 downtown shopping spree.

Yeah, we joined the hunt.  I’m not sure if I had more fun hunting for the elf or visiting several small businesses that I would not have ever considered stepping foot into while in Newburgh.  We even found and purchased, thanks to this little adventure, a new door ornament for Christmas; a hand made Christmas star, made from tobacco sticks and a heavy gauge wire.  Goes perfect on the front door.

We ended our wonderful day by going to see the Icemen hockey game.  Danielle scored some tickets for free, and since it was Star Wars night, we had a blast seeing all the costumed actors.  Some really nice outfits and costumes were there.  And the Icemen won their game. 

At the end of the night, we asked each other what the best and worst part of the day was.  It was unanimous that the best part of the day was the entire day, and that there was no worst part of that day. 

So tomorrow is the Bob’s Gym See Bob Run 5K run/walk.  Danielle and I will be doing this together.  It’s our 2nd 5K together, and should be fun.  I suspect it’ll be a bit cold, but it’ll still be fun.

Expect some pictures, as we are going in costume as well.