Reasons Why I like Gifts Cards - an article that I found

MYTH: ALL GREEN GIFTS ARE CREATED EQUALLY

[Give the gift of reusables - visit our Gift Center]

Giving reusables is the smartest way to make a difference by reducing consumption and saving money and natural resources.

Because modern culture's gift-giving often comes at the expense of the environment, many people are looking for more earth-friendly gifts. Unfortunately, the popularity of "green gifts" has lead to an overwhelming number of products that are labeled "green" but in reality, aren't.

Two of the biggest threats to our natural environment are the consumption of resources and the increasing accumulation of waste that threatens our wildlife and our own health. Many so-called green gifts just add to this problem, by creating more stuff we don't need and likely won't use. Even if something is made of recycled material or contributed to the purchase of a carbon off-set, that eco-trinket is ultimately just more stuff headed for the landfill.

Furthermore, there's a reason "reduce" and "reuse" appear before "recycle" in the mantra "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." While recycling has its place in helping the environment and should be done whenever possible, as consumers move their attention and actions "upstream" towards reducing consumption, a far greater impact on the environment can be made.

As it is, the holidays produce more waste than any other time of the year. During the month of December, it's been estimated that households generate about 1 million extra tons of garbage per week. To battle this wasteful, harmful mindset, consider giving gifts that actually help people consume less, and gift a reusable.

Reusables, our term for smart, practical items designed to help people consume less, will empower someone to preserve resources and save money, too (you can't say that about most eco-trinkets!). Examples range from stylish reusable shopping bags and reusable bottles to paper towel replacements, replacements for common household disposables, personal items and more. Innovative, eco-friendly and functional, they continue to give back after each use. Check out our gift section here.

When you gift a "reusable" you effectively empower the recipient to reduce thousands and thousands of disposables. Collectively, this can have a huge impact.

For more information, read our press release on our Top 10 Holiday Gifts that help people consume less.

© 2003-2010, reuseit.com. All rights reserved.

Denial...

It ain't a just a river in Africa! (Bazinga!)

I have been in denial for, well I guess since my last post.

First, I am in denial that it is November 22. Somehow it seems like it is still August. In a few days Kevan and I will have lived at my grandparents' house for five months, this is a lot longer than we had expected. I have survived day by day, but I tell you this...the walls are getting closer and closer.

Second, I was so eager to return to Wisconsin that I never really thought about what it would be like to return and if I really wanted to return anyhow. When I left, I was 25 still a kid in many ways. I still remember the ideal of my family and was so eager to get back to what it was or at least what I thought it was. Now returning as an adult, the luster has faded, the glitter has fallen off and I am realizing that there was a lot that I did not taken into account about my family when I wanted to move back home.

Being here has been great and I don't think that I am saying I would like to leave again. However, I should have been a little less eager to return as quickly as I did. I have been able to be here to participate in some of the ways that I was hoping to, but for some of my family members it doesn't matter who is around because they are so enmeshed in their patterns that with or without me life goes as it always has. I have been in denial about what my purpose was going to be when I got back.

_______

Perhaps some of you might be thinking I was in denial before we moved. Denial about how hard it was going to be when we got here. Moving to Wisconsin in the middle of a terrible recession/depression without jobs is not the best idea. To you I still say we are Brave and not smart but Brave.

The other day, Kevan and I were in the car and we somehow got onto the discussion of hall government in Abel Hall (Abel being the residence hall we both worked in and shared a hall government.). The conversation was like turning on the hot water full blast and the water being instantly hot. We had very different opinions of what we were talking about, and felt strongly about what were trying to say. We were clearly frustrated and began to "fight" with each other. I don't feel like we have had such a heated discussion like that since we left Nebraska - at least not about something as trivial or lacking overall impact on our life as hall government. This however was a discussion we got into at least three times a week while we worked together and it would not have been any better if we stayed even if one of us quite.

Something I have to remind myself is that Kevan and I have not even been able to set ourselves up here yet. Right now we are still living in someone else's house, depending on others (what a bitter taste admitting that). Of course everything isn't going to be all great right away we are not in a position to do that yet. No it has not been what we expected, but we have had an awesome time being around the people that we each love. It has been great to be here for my family and for Kevan's family. I may be in denial, but maybe not - maybe I am just focusing on the positive :) and I am not so worried about the setbacks and the unexpected.

Accomplished

Much has been happening here in good old Wisconsin, but nothing so time consuming that I have an excuse for not bloggging and keeping you informed.

Brief updates of our happenings...
...Thanks to Gayle (my friend Danielle's mom) we were able to attend Klement's Sausage Bobble head day - [Why do the race? They RACE for TASTE! yes I am completed emeshed in the Furru clan]. The day was a little on the warmer side and we were directly in the sunlight and in the end we left early enought to catch the rest of the game on tv, but overall we appreciated the opportunity.

...We made a visit to Eau Claire and LaCrosse to visit Kulasiewicz/Malay family. This was a really great trip and gave Alicia the opportunity to get to know Kevan's family a little better. Alicia also thinks it gave Kevan some one on one time that as grown-ups he doesn't always get with these particular cousins.

...Next we made our way to the South for the bright lights and big city - we went to Chicago! Kevan's parents have long time friends, Bon and Don, whose hospitality was amazing - we probably could have stayed for weeks and they would have been just fine. Our purpose of the visit was to see the Blue Angles. The angles were pretty cool as they went in and out of the buildings! They were loud and fast and Alicia missed them alot at first. That night we went to the Buckingham fountain and watched the "show" as the lights changed, the music played and the fountain danced. The next day we went to the Willis (Sears) Tower and stood out on the glass overhang like 70 stories high. After we had some delicious deep dish pizza, packed up the left overs and headed back north to home. We learned somethings about how we like to be touriest during this trip.

...Hazaa! Lady Megan and Lady Alicia took a days journey to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which in Alicia's mind is always a good time. We partook in a few shows including Moonie - a comedic mime, the dancing of the May Pole and the Mud Show - which was much more vulgar than Alicia remembers it from five years ago. Perhaps she grew up or grew to sensitive but homophobic jokes and jokes about women's bodies no longer are something she can really laugh at. Overall the day was great, food was terrific and as Megan and Alicia left they were sprinkled with fairy dusty for good luck!

...Ironically, (or at least Alicia thinks so) the non-laborers planned a Labor Day gathering! Justin, Danielle and Ethan came over on Labor Day for a tasty menu prepared mostly by Kevan. It will be nice when we have our own place and can cook and entertain more often. Kevan likes to cook and Alicia likes to entertain - it is the perfact combination of talents! It was nice to have the Justin, Daniell and Ethan over because we have not had a chance to spend a whole lot of time with them since we have been back!

...My mom's house flooded and she finally moved out of it. The house she was living in was likely already condemed because of deteriation, mold and overall filfth and she had intended on staying even after the further damage that was done by the flood. Praise the Lord she was motivated to move out. Now she and my sister have moved in with one of my mom's friends into a new place in Waukesha. The last few weeks I have spent working with my sister to sort through her belongs, pack everything she was keeping, unpack everything at the new house and set it up in an organizaed and easily managable system. I have succeeded and her room looks really cute too!

On the day to day Kevan and Alicia have read a lot of books - although Alicia is reading a monster of a book right now and the thought just occured to her that if she can read this 1000 page book she likely could read the Bible too. She always said it was too big. (something you should know is that the book is about a monk, so holy indignation and piety has been part of her reality while she reads it)

We have also been working to maximize our $15 netflix membership - The Big Bang Theory is currently in our que followed by other tv shows that we want to catch up on.

Kevan has started working on the presentation team at Target and has to be up by 3 am everday to get to work by 4 am! yeah you read that right - poor guy every morning Alicia is filled with love knowing that he is suffering to be awake to make money for them.

Alicia is hopeful and has a retial job on the horizon - still wishing for a job that is related to my "career" path. She walks the dog a few times a week just to have something to get accomplished.

Ladies Date at the Fair - check out these chicks!

My friend Megan and I went to the Wisconsin State Fair today. It was likely the best fair experience that I have ever had. It was a very chill morning with not a lot of people around and the weather was perfact for a day at the fair. Today was Hunger Task Force day so if you brought two canned food items you got in for $2 - not a bad deal!

We started out looking a the horses, which were mainly Clydesdales. Clydales if you don't know are the Budweiser horses and are very well endowed. At one point, I turned my head and got quite a suprise! I am actually afraid of horses, not for any real reason, but mainly because they are big. As a result of my fear, I want to learn to ride and take care of them so that I get over it.

We then moved on to the cows, sheep, and goats. At this point the only thing I remember about these animals is that they went to the bathroom alot while we were in there.

The expo building is ususally a pretty intense experience with sales people everywhere trying to get you to buy there crappy product, but today it was calm and maybe not as many vendors this year. We did stop off at the dip stand and tried about 8 - 10 different flavors. I felt guilty because I tried so many and was going to buy a few of the mixes, but I just quickly walked away instead.

We headed over to the mid-way which was crazy busy - it was dollar day so all rides were just $1 - another deal! We walked around and decided that we were going to ride three rides - the farris wheel, the tilt-a-whirl and another ride yet to be determined. The tilt-a-whirl was pretty awesome and we got a few good twists in there. Next we headed over to get a lemonade and then to the farris wheel. This is were my day become the best day EVER!

I don't even know how or when or at what point I realized what I was seeing but Corey Hart (All-Star and right fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers) was standing, I don't know, 15 feet away from me. I am pretty sure I lost my breath and Megan was a little bit ahead of me and I pulled, yanked on her shirt (Again I am Sorry Megan I just got all excited!). Then I kinda stalked him out to get a picture. He is standing at the ATM getting cash - funny! I didn't talk to him because he was there with his family and I wanted to respect that, but I was still freaking excited.

Once I was done freaking out we waited in line for the farris wheel. Next to the farris wheel and next to us in line was a what looked like a traveling re-fabed food cart that supposedly housed the worlds tiniest women. For $1 you could go and see this women who was sitting behind a screne. We were slightly curious because we were not sure what kind of trick the fair was using to get people's dollar. Megan asked a few ladies who had just been in the "attraction" what they had saw and they replied "a midget, she is just a 29 inch 32 year old midget who doesn't speak english." After that we no longer were interested but more disturbed. Disturbed because these women is involved in this and distrubed because someone thought it was a good idea to have this here and disturbed because people were paying to see her - very 1800's circus like. We did not pay to see her.

The lines had gotten pretty long for many of the rides and we were ready to head out so we gave our last tickets to two brothers about 8 - 12 years old in hopes that they would find use for them. I am sure the did on something crazy like the Zipper or the Scrambler.

During this time I dinned on a corn dog, a few cheese curds and some delcious Saz's french fries. I got some cream puffs to go to share with Kevan. Kevan was kinda kicked out of todays adventures because it was a ladies date at the Fair, but I am pretty sure we are going to the fair next week!

Distrubing Commercial #2: Singimals - Starring Kittens: Take 1

I also find this commercial very disturbing:

Suite Life of Kevan and Alicia

The last few weeks have been an interesting mix of excitment, angst, firsts and oldies but goodies.

Kevan and I went to the Jack Johnson concert at Alpine Valley. It was pretty amazing. Niether Kevan or I have been there before [Though my mom was pregnant with me when she went to REO Speedwagon there back in the day.] Jack was great and I knew quite a few of the songs, of course Kevan knew them all. Kevan and I had grass seats, rented some chairs and got a pretty good viewing spot. From where we were sitting we where able to do some pretty great people watching. The 40-year old women in front of us was pretty intoxicated and slept through the opener and then sat slumped over, texting for most of Jack. There was a screamer, I mean, girl behind us that was very excited about the show and about Jack - he is her man as she said several times. Ironically enough, she knew none of his songs and was pretty whiney about the fact that he had not played the one song that she does know. She stopped screaming about 45 minutes into the show. Our friends were also there, but those lucky dogs had front row seats! Something that we have discovered while we were there is that we have little tolerance for underaged drinkers and even of-age as$hole drinkers - we attributed that to our experience in the residence halls.

The next day Kevan and I went to a Brewers game and had seats in a suite - Thank you Dan Mike and his mom! It was pretty awesome to be a high roller for the day with the special parking lot, special enterance and catered pretzel bites, hot dogs and cheese tray. It was also pretty great to hang out with Nikki, Dan, Kacy and Joey. Oh, and it was Robin Yount bobble head day. This was the second Brewers game that we have gone to and it is so nice. The Brewers kept me connected to Milwaukee. I showed my pride for the Mil-town by rooting for the Brew Crew [and damning the team from the south]. The Brewers though are not the team I left, many of the players have changed or are in talks of being traded, I don't like change and this makes me nervous!

Yesterday Kevan and I took some Miller time! Well, we took the Miller Brewery tour. Again this is something that I had not ever done and Kevan had but when he was young. What can I say about the tour...it was pretty cool. The video was pretty cheesy [not the good WI kind] and was clearly filmed in the 90's. Kevan impressed the tour guide with his mass knowledge of Miller products. At the end of the tour we got a free sample of Miller Lite - yum! and two samples of your choice - I choose Summer Shandy and Batch-19 (this is a pre-prohibition beer that Miller is selectively serving in Milwaukee). All were delicious and during tasting we made a tour buddy. She was visiting from LA and will be running the Chicago Rock'n'Roll half marathon.

Today we went to Cliffords for a fish fry! Tasty!

Niether of us have jobs yet, but we continue to fill out applications and cross our fingers. I wanted to be home so that I can help my family and I am happy to do that. However, right now I am feeling like I need to help myself before I can help them. Unfortunately, my family has needed me and my introvert batteries are wearing low. Please cross your fingers and put out good metaphysics so that we get a job and a house stat.

Until then we will continue living our own Suite Life of Kevan and Alicia as if we are on a permanent cheap vacation in my grandparent's house.

Whew!

Wow! It has been almost two weeks since Kevan and I left Nebraska. We have done so much that it feels like it has been two months. I will report early that neither of us has a job yet, but are continuing to look. My hope is winding down, but I know something will come along. 

As I said the last few weeks have been crazy busy. We moved back to Milwaukee during what would have been our vacation any way. Every summer about this same time Kevan's family has a family reunion which truth be told last four days long! :) Here is a little of what we have been up to: 

July 7: departure from Lincoln and arrival in Wisconsin - I swear when I crossed the border into Wisconsin the air smelled sweeter and the sun shone brighter! Kevan drove the truck and I drove the car. I listen to Pride and Prejudice so it went pretty quickly for me. 

July 8: My sister still had not know that we were coming for a visit, let alone moving home, so we decided to stop over and surprise her with a trip to the movies. We say Toy Story 3 in 3D [for the record: $30 for a matinée is entirely too much money!]

July 9: In the afternoon we meet Kevan's parents at their hotel to take them to get their rental car.  It was nice to be able to catch up with them and see how they are doing. I was also given a great complement by my father-in-law, which I greatly appreciated - the complement was in regard to a trip I had take "to" Chicago in the spring with about 24 students. 

That night we went to our Brewers game and tailgated with a few Kevan's cousins there were ten of us all together. We saw the Polish Racing Sausage. After the game, there was some talk of tatoos by Kevan's cousins, but the store was closed so we meet up with his parents are the bar instead. 

July 10:  Breakfast without Aunt Nancy - each year about 35 members of the Furru family gather for breakfast the Sunday before the picnic. This breakfast began out of the desire to see Aunt Nancy, though she has moved away the tradition continues. 

Later that afternoon, Allie, one of Kevan's cousin's daughters, was having a high school graduation party which he attended. I did not because I had a really terrible headache and wanted to sleep away some of my stress so that I was feeling better for the picnic. 

That night, Kevan picked me up and we meet a few of his cousins at Ricardos in Greendale for some delicious pizza. I had a great time sitting next to Austin, one of Kevan's cousin's sons, and playing with his Tech Deck.

After dinner we meet Kevan's parents for Kopp's Butter Peacan flavor of the day!

July 11: The day that Kevan, his Uncle Ned and Randy Piskula (Kevan's second cousin but he is older!) live for - the Hirsch Family picnic. This year was the 55th annual. This day could be a whole blog on its own - how it works, the rotations, games and activities. What I will say today is that it was a great day. Great location in Franklin, kids games were pretty fun and the Furru's one the softball game. I got a little sun burned or really badly sun burned but I will know for next time. This was my third picnic and I really felt part of the group - I could recognize several faces and knew what to expect from the schedule - it was great! This year Kevan and I helped with the raffle and picked up the chicken! 

July 12: We meet Kevan's parents, Auntie Jo and Uncle Wayne at George Web's for lunch - my grandma Sandy came with us! After lunch we all went downtown to the Riverwalk and a few had their picture taken with the statue of the Fonze! 

After the riverwalk we went on a boat tour of the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan. It was relaxing to be out on the water - we saw a man catch a very large fish and we floated past one of the movie sets for Transformers 3 - Shia LeBouf was here!

That night we went to dinner one last time with Kevan's cousins from Florida and Auntie Jo and Uncle Wayne and then Kevan's parents were also there. We went to Claimjumpers at Brookfield Square. 

July 13: Today we slept in but joined his parents that night for dinner with the Kirchner's, one of Kevan's mom's very good friends. 

July 14: Today we went to lunch with Kevan's parents at Applebees. 

July 15: We joined Kevan's parents and their friends, the Gordon's at FestaItalina. All the rides were free so we decided to give one a shot - well that was a mistake! I smooshed Kevan! The fireworks were great and we ended the night seeing Pat McCurdy! 

July 16: Kevan's parents left today, but we went out to lunch one finally time with them before the left at Red Robing YUM! 

That night Kevan and I went over to our friends house Megan and Ryan for a vegan dinner. The food was delicious and the company even better. Before we knew it it was 1 am and time to head home. Megan and Ryan's home is very cozy and matches their personalities and values so well. 

July 17: My friend Danielle opened a new store today - Drawstring Studios: Fabric and Design. We went over to the grand opening to check it out. It is a great store, with nice products - I can't wait to get my sewing machine set up or buy a new one so that I can begin to make my own creations. 

Whew! I am exhausted now just thinking about all that we did and I am pretty sure I missed somethings or left details out. It has been a great first few weeks, but reality is setting in. The last two days have been pretty boring and there is not a whole lot to do day to day. I am however in a good place to do what I wanted to do - help my family. Yesterday I was able to help my sister to clean one of the rooms at her and my mom's house as neither can really do it on their own. 

Tomorrow we slid into home

Anyone who has ever played baseball or even has watched baseball knows that rounding third is an exciting time. As the runner you have a million things running through your head: should I stop, should I go, head first, feet first, how close will it be, tie the game, win the game, loose the game, how many outs are there, what inning is it, risk it, save it - the anxiety and anticipation for the call - safe or out!

This is were I am at right now. I have a lot of anxiety about rounding third. I am happy to move and excited to be home, but I don't like the unknown, I don't like change. Right now it is very difficult for me to know that we have no idea what is coming next. Kevan is good, he is at complete piece with the whole idea.

Tomorrow we slid into home.

[On a side note: I just said good bye to the custodian that clears out my trash everyday. He is a great man and over the last few years Kevan and I have had a good connection with him. I asked him for his address so that we can send him a holiday card and keep him updated - he even gave us his telephone number in order to call him from time to time! He is one I am going to miss!]

Hopeful for the move and excited for the change

Whew! We will be on the road in five days! We drive away from Lincoln, NE on July 7 about 9 am :)

Here are some of the things that we are looking forward to:

• Family Picnic - that is evident
• Bristol Renaissance Fair - already have two trips planned to go!
• George Webb's
• Milwaukee County Zoo
• Brewers baseball game at HOME - already have tickets to a game!
• Drawstring Studios Grand Opening - a friend of ours is opening a fabric store!
• Clifford's Fish Fry
• Lake Michigan - I want to take a booze cruise soon!
• Smoke FREE Wisconsin! - nothing says welcome home better than that
• Southridge, Mayfair, Brookfield Square

• Meeting Zachary - a cousin that we have never met!
• Baby #2 is on the way for our friends - I am excited to be there to help this time!
• Surprising Cassie and being able to hang out with her!
• Visiting with our friends who just bought a house!
• Reconnecting with old friends that Alicia lost connection with
• Being able to be helpful to the family and make plans to hang out with all sorts of people

Overall, I think that we are excited about being able to be apart of our families and friends lives. Living in Flagstaff, we were still connected to family with Kevan's parents not being too far away. In Lincoln, we are a plane ride or eight hour drive away from family - this has been difficult for both of us. We are hopeful for the move and excited for the change.

I am also really excited to rediscover the city I grew up in. I was a fish in water before - I did not really pay attention to what was around me or what the city had to offer. Now that I have lived two other places I think I will have more of an appreciation for the city around me!

I had a dream....

This was not your inspirational, strive for a better society Martin Luther King, Jr. type dream.
It was a bit of a nightmare...

I dreamt last night that we were already back in Milwaukee, living at my grandparents house and I got a call for an on campus interview (YEAH!). As I was preparing for this interview, I was looking for my suit and realized that I had left my suit in Lincoln. I then realized that I had left everything from that side of the closet in Lincoln including all of my dresses and sweatshirts. This is bad enough but then I approached Kevan with this information and he said that he was planning to go back anyway because he had left a few items too! When I looked in the moving truck, I discovered that he had only put 8 or 10 of our rubbermaid containers and had left everything else in Lincoln....

...then the alarm clock went off and all was well. I have full faith that Kevan will remember all of the boxes and that I won't forget my suit!

12 days left in Lincoln!

Life happens while you are busy making other plans.

I have grown to understand something these last few years, especially the last few weeks - Life happens when you are busy making other plans. I think John Lennon said that.

Both Kevan and I are planful people. Kevan more so than me, he doesn't go across town without a plan. Both Kevan and I are practical people. I don't buy anything unless I know exactly how it is going to be used and then I only buy it if I will want to move it later or it comes in a recyclable container.

Life happens when you are busy making other plans.

When I was 19 or 20 I made a catastrophic decision. The world still turns, I am alive and no one got hurt directly, but I decided that I was not going to push myself in the teacher education program and I changed my major. WHAT!!! I think this is why I work with college students - if I can stop them from making the same mistake I did maybe I can correct mine in some way. I don't know if I will ever become a teacher, but the dreamer and believer inside me says - do it, make it happen! The planner says "there is no time/it no longer fits", the practical thinker says "you have a masters degree already and now you want to go back to school again" - Nice! Well I was "planning"on becoming a teacher and life happened - it caught up to me not acting on my plan. I got to get over it or get on it!

Kevan is on his way back from a job interview tonight. I have not talked to him yet so I don't know how he feels he did. I think that the University that he applied to would be a great fit for him and I am hopeful that this will work in his and our way. Our plan was to move back to Wisconsin and still have a live in job to help ease the transition. The planner says "this is the plan", the practical thinker says "duh free room and board no brainer!" Life says "hold the train we are taking a detour and you're staying at your grandma's house for awhile."

Life happens while you are busy making other plans.

I have put a lot of faith in the fates, destiny and the universe in the past. I believe that what you put out you get in return and that the universe takes care of you. Well universe I am waiting - trying to be patient - what is next?

Brave Not Smart

I woke up Saturday morning at 6:45 am with the feeling of sheer panic taking over my entire body. This was for two reasons: first, I had to clean the bathroom this weekend and had been putting it off for a week; second, when Kevan and I move back to Wisconsin as of Saturday and yeah still as of today neither of us have jobs yet!

Our plan had been to stay in Housing/Residence Life to help ease the transition and save a few more dollars. As of yet the limited job search that we did has hit a wall, but is still in progress. There are just so many candidates and not enough Residence Director positions for every one. Most of the time it does not matter if you are qualified because we are qualified, it is a matter of are you a good fit for the department.

So why move home without a job and with limited prospects?

Both Kevan and I are generally happy, hopeful and positive people. However, Nebraska and our experience here has turned us grumpy, uninspired, negative, and judgy - GROSS! Some of this is of course on us. As a person you are responsible for making your experience what it is going to be and taking responsibility for your actions and behavior. Our experience however has had a lot to do with our decision to leave.

Bottom line we are not happy here. We have the financial resources and family support to take on an adventure such as this right now and if we don't, if we stayed in Nebraska, I am not sure either of our mental states would make it.

To stay would be safe - we would have a general picture of what would happen and it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy of discomfort and unhappiness.

To go is brave - we have no idea what to expect and from where we are starting it can only go up.

What I have been telling people is that it is Brave not Smart, but I am hopeful that this move and our lives in Wisconsin will put us in a more positive environment. As of right now, we are frantically applying for jobs that come our way and getting excited about move.

"Rounding--Third" and Coming Into Home

I have thought about having a blog for awhile now, but never really had the content. My friends have blogs and have been really successful with articulating their observations or reporting about family happenings, but I knew that wasn't going to work for me personally. While I enjoy reading theirs and knowing what is going on in their lives, I knew I would get board and busy and loose fast interest in my own.

Kevan and I recently watched Julie and Julia, which to my surprise was a snooze fest. However, in watching the movie I decided that I too could write a blog for one year about our up coming move back to Wisconsin like Julie wrote about her cooking adventures with Julia Child's cook book. After one year I could stop or continue - no commitment!

As stated Kevan and I have decided to move back to Wisconsin in July just before Kevan's yearly family picnic. This decision did not come lightly for reasons I will get to in the following weeks and we had been contemplating it for awhile now. We were told that it is not going to be the same and that Wisconsin really is not going to be what we expect it to be. Kevan has not lived in Wisconsin for 17 years and I have not lived there for 5 years. I agree that it will definitely not be the same, I mean come on the Brewers traded JJ Hardy - something I took a little hard! But honestly, it won't be the same. I feel that this blog will be a place where I can share our experience of reentering our home, the place where we grew up, and are now returning as an "adult." I believe that Kevan and I will have an interesting perspective about how we view our families, friends and Wisconsin. No one else might think so, but we will see - your reading stick with us let us know! :)

I thought hard, maybe not long. about what I wanted to title this blog. I knew I wanted it to have home as a theme and I tried several names involving home and family and the like but all had been taken. [Side bar: Annoyed I started checking these names to see what sort of person had "stolen" my oh so awesome name and guess what --- Many of the blogs had not even been updated or used in years! BLAST!] So needing to get more clever I turned to America's favorite past: Baseball. This of course is great because Kevan and I love baseball and could pretty much attend any game and be content and we love the Brew Crew! So we are Hayden's Homestand and Rounding--Third and coming into Home. [The dashes are necessary because someone already has the name, but I said screw it and improvised!]