Back to the grind

The holidays are over and, like everyone else, we are back and at it. No more vacation. No more travelling. No more obligations besides what our day-to-days lives require. Just the two of us again.

I added some pictures of our holidays spent with family. We had a great time seeing everyone!


We were so happy to have been able to go out to Los Angeles and spend time with the Koch family. Kari and Ryan were super hosts! It was a quick 5 days in the balmy 60 degree weather. However, we didn't have a problem filling our days. It's pretty easy to do when you live in a place like L.A. Back home in Indiana, we were able to spend a little bit of time with friends. But, we tried to reserve most of our time to see family. It is crazy how big our nieces and nephew are getting. It makes me sad to be away. However, my sister got us Skyping and now we can see my niece, Cori, whenever we want.

Could these two get any cuter?

This week, Brad started back with teaching. GCSU allows new faculty to teach only 3 sections/classes the first semester. But, don't expect that to ever happen again. Most professors are required to teach 4 sections and that is what Brad is now doing. He added his Sociology of Religion course to his load. Of course, that is his most preferred class to teach so he wasn't concerned about the added responsibility. However, last week a colleague in his department was involved in a terrible car accident. She is OK and, we believe, is now home but she will not be returning to teaching for the spring semester. Therefore, a few people (including Brad) were asked to take on some of her responsibilities.

For me, I started back as a student at GCSU. It is incredibly strange to be taking undergraduate classes. Though I realize I'm still in my 20's, the age difference is clear to me. In 3 of my 4 classes, I don't think there is a single student who is of drinking age. I really think that's where the division happens. I was talking to my mom the other day and she said, "they always say it's harder the longer you wait to go back." The hard part for me is just feeling out of place and different from my peers. Though, without all the distractions I dealt with at IU, my study habits have turned around and I've found myself studying more this week then I probably did in one month at IU. I'm exhausted. Additionally, I applied for and was granted a job at the GCSU library as a student assistant. I will only work about 10-12 hours a week, but that may be all I can handle anyway. I will start in another week or so.

This weekend we have a round of visitors coming to town. Our friends, Brent and Kyle, who were both in Brad's cohort in graduate school will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. We are so happy to have visitors. I hope many of you are thinking about travelling down to see us, as well. We aren't sure when the next time will be that we can get back north. We do have a spring break in March, but as of yet we aren't planning a trip home. It might not be until the summer that we get back. So, it's up to all of you to come here if you want to see our lovely faces. Our door is open and the weather is warming!

With love,

Lauren and Brad

A December walk though Memory Hill Cemetery

Tonight we took a walk around town and made our way to the local cemetery. Brad and I both share an odd interest in spending time in graveyards. To some, that may seem creepy but we appreciate the calmness and beauty that surrounds us.

We came across a map of all the local (past) celebs of Milledgeville and decided to take the self-guided walking tour. One of the most famous people of our area is Flannery O'Connor, "Milledgeville's most famous daughter" who was a well-known author of novels about the South. Beyond O'Connor, the cemetery included many confederate soldiers, college presidents, governers, state legislators, plantation owners, murderers, and even dogs. In addition to this, it should be noted that many Southerners do not acknowledge that Confederate soldiers fought in the Civil War, but rather the "War Between the States" or even more notably, the "War of Northern Aggression."

Even in death Flannery O'Connor still gets paid.

My attempt to show off the Magnolia trees.

The monument of a local plantation owner. It cost a measly $20,000 to design and erect for this wealthy individual who died in 1858. It stands at 37 feet tall.

OK, now for the weird and unusual...

The story goes that the man buried under this tree had actually hung himself and was directly buried beneath the very branch to which he tied the noose. Supposedly, he had pronounced his love to local woman before he travelled to Florida for business matters. When he returned months later she declared she was in love with another gentleman. His heart was so broken that he couldn't bear to go on with his life.

Tallulah-- it doesn't get more Georgian than that name. Actually, I think it's kind of pretty.

I can't say the same about this person's given name. Moodie? You can only wonder what her parents first impression could have been as she was delivered. Unfortunately, she doesn't come with a story.

Now I know that people have a devoted love for their dogs, but this goes beyond devotion. But, you know that saying, "All dogs go to Heaven?" This person really believed it to be true. Oh, it wasn't just Bruno that buried, but he also buried his other dog, Nick.
This was a fun one! This vault contained 6 family members of the Fish family. It is said that if you knock on the door and ask Mr. Fish what he is doing in there, you will get an answer. I knocked and politely asked, but I did not get a reply. (Later, we realized that hearing nothing was probably the answer.) However, kitty-corner from this grave lay the family of Brown-Butts (not pictured). This provided some comic relief for Brad, but I maintained respect for the family. Well...until now.

If you're at all familiar with Georgia (or the South), you've heard at one time or another of Milledgeville's finest Central State Hospital which was formally known as the "State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum." By the 1960s it was considered the largest mental hospital in the world, which lead to the phrase "Gone to Milledgeville" to indicate insanity.

The rest are just photos of different areas and headstones placed throughout the cemetery.

Wedding Pictures

Brad and I finally finished uploading and organizing all of our wedding pictures. It was a pretty time-consuming task and I don't know where the patience came from, but we did it with very few disagreements. Out of approximately 5,000 pictures located on 6 different CD's we narrowed it down to a mere 1,000 pics for all your viewing pleasures.

http://bradandlaurenswedding.shutterfly.com/

ENJOY!

Good news! Just what I've needed

So, most of you know that I applied to GCSU early last month to begin taking classes this spring semester. The ball got rolling when I first talked with an advisor in the nursing department. I was attempting to find more out about the program and instead was surprised to hear about how I could begin sooner then later. One thing led to the other and I was quickly applying to the school and filling out my FAFSA. It all happened in a weeks time and before I knew it, I was waiting to hear some good news that I was going back to school.

Today, I found out some excellent news. I'm officially a college student again! This coming semester, I will hopefully be taking Chemistry II(plus lab), Anatomy, Politics & Society, and a Psychology class. That's hoping there are open seats in all of these classes. My fingers are crossed. I will, then, be taking a few more classes either this summer or fall.

It is all very exciting right now!

My nursing program courses will begin starting January '11 (a year from now). That's also assuming I will be admitted into the program. I'm staying positive! From there, I have two years of intensive classes and clinicals. So, in approximately three years, I will rejoin the real-world once again. It will all be worth it.

I hope everyone is well. We will be in Los Angeles from December 23- December 29 to see the Koch's. We will all be staying at Kari and Ryan's place. We'll fly back and from there we will drive up to Indiana to stay with my family until January 3 or 4. We have a wedding to attend on January 2, but other then that we are open to see everyone.

One last thing, don't forget to congratulate Brad on completing his first semester as Prof Koch. I'm very proud of him. I can tell he is exhausted so we're looking forward to our winter break before the next semester begins.

Love, Lauren

Puttin' on the Ritz

We made a trip to the Ritz-Carlton located about 45 minutes northeast of Milledgeville. It wasn't bright, sunny, and warm on this day, but the food was good!

The Ritz is located on Lake Oconee.

Go Braves!

At an Atlanta Braves baseball game. It was extremely hot in the stands which made us a tad miserable, but the Braves won!

It was pretty empty in the stands around our section. We were there on Tuesday night.

are we boring?

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Brad and I have sort of run out of things to post. We don't want to bore you with the small details of our lives. We will try our best not to do that. Maybe I'll do a quick question and answer with myself that some of you would like to hear about ;) Can you tell I have nothing else to keep me busy? I mean, seriously, Brad has been watching something on the History channel about Beowolf. Did I spell that correctly?

OK first question to myself...

1.) In what ways has marriage and/or the out-of-state move affected our relationship?

I would say that we are so much the same, but I have found some improvements. For example, for the first time ever, Brad and I hung a picture together without arguing about how to measure! Yea! I mean, we still hung the darn thing crooked, but I'd say we improved on our team-work that day.

2.) What do I like most about Milledgeville?

It really helps to have the college here with all the young college students. Though I can no longer be a part of that crowd it's still nice to have around so it keeps our coolness in-check. Oh, here's something funny. Brad was walking through campus one day and was mistaken for a student. Yeah, he's still got it!

3.) What do I like least about Milledgeville?

Where is the Buffalo Wild Wings, Target, and a decent grocery store? I answered that with a question, but if I had those 3 extra things it would be a bit better here.

4.) Have we discovered anything fun and exciting around Milledgeville?

Well, there are the lakes which are all over the place. The closet one to us is Lake Sinclair. We wish we could spend more time on it, but with no boat we don't have much access. We recently made a trip up to Lake Oconee (uh - cone - ee) to the Ritz-Carlton and Reynolds Plantation. We ate a yummy lunch on the water. Reynolds Plantation combines very nice golf courses, houses, and rental units in close proximity to the lake. It never was an actual plantation.

Other then that, we haven't found anything too exciting. We're still on the hunt. Of course Macon is about 40 minutes away. We haven't spent much time there except to go to Target or the mall.

5.) Have I found a job?

Nope! But, I applied for my very first job this evening. It made me feel good. It's a position at Mercer University in Macon. I applied for a housing assistant position in the Dept of Residence Life. I'm happy to start there in hopes of working my way up and, in the process, taking some classes.

OK...I couldn't think of any more questions. I hope you enjoyed!