Our Summer Vacation 2012: Mining, Skiing, Golfing & Racing

Yes, that is a mannequin dressed in uniform. LOL

Vernon and I saw the largest steam driven pumping engine in the country; the Cornish Pump. This photo really doesn't do it justice.  You feel like a miniature person like in Honey I Shrunk the Kids when  you see the giant pistons.  Yes, you may be thinking, oooh, a giant pump, how... um... boring!  Well, Vernon enjoys mechanical stuff and history and I am interested in the history of Upper Michigan. We stopped at the Cornish Pump museum after having lunch and picking out my ring so it was a day with just the two of us.  The girls were perfectly happy sitting at home on Facebook... and when we came home later that day, they were right where we left them that morning.  In addition to all the cool mining stuff, the museum has another warehouse showing planes, gliders, old cars, military uniforms and other cool military stuff.  Apparently the Ford plant here in Kingsford built the gliders they used in WWII.  We watched a really interesting video of people actually working in the Ford plant here... which is now empty and deserted.  These gliders did not have engines in them, and they carried personnel, vehicles and equipment.  You have to see one to actually appreciate this concept.  The way they were picked up by other planes was really cool too... one plane would pick up 2 or 3 at a time.. you have to see it to believe it.  I found a video below, not the one we saw at the museum but one that shows how cool these gliders can be.

After our history lesson, we picked up my ring, and Yasmine and we went to the Ski-Ters show.  I knew they would enjoy the water skiing. I make sure to go to at least one show every summer.  I should go to more.. they are FREE! The radio station was there giving away door prizes.. I had entered Vernon's name without him knowing and his name was called! He was like, HUH? It was funny! He won a cd of some old country western singer, and it was autographed.  He thought it would be a perfect gift to bring home to his parents. I thought that was a great idea as well.



There is this place just across the Michigan border in Spread Eagle. (Yes, that is the name of the unincorporated community) and there is a strip club in Spread Eagle! Pretty genius... anyway... I have always passed this place called the Bears Den and wondered if it was any good.  Well after living up here for nearly 12 years I finally tried it out.  This place is AWESOME! It's clean, well kept, and the people are nice.  We spent an afternoon playing mini-golf  and Vern kicked all our butts, but I came in second. Woo Hoo!

Next were the go-karts.  Vernon was a speed demon and passing up the girls.  Yasmine was holding her own and zipping around the track, and then there was Heidi... I laughed so hard every time she came around, so very cautious.  Vern and Yaz would try to get around her because they lapped her a few times and Heidi would have this "Oh Shit!" look on her face. It was great.  She drove right in the middle which made it difficult for anyone to get around her. Vernon's face was very serious and he was so focused.  I loved watching him drive, I'm glad I chose to sit on the sidelines to take pictures.

I tried so hard to find a car show for Vern. He loves American cars, especially old American cars.  I looked for weeks on websites, facebook, for anything anywhere in the U.P. or north eastern Wisconsin, I couldn't find anything.  Then I remembered that there was a racetrack in Norway, MI so I looked in to that.  We went to the races one night, and what we thought was only going to be a couple of hours was hours and hours and hours... I never knew these races took so long. UGH!  The girls got sick of it really quick and ended up in the truck, Vern and I got tired after a while and left before it was over, but we had fun while we were there.

This post was a bit longer than I had planned, but I'm hoping you found it interesting or entertaining.  I again tried to fit things into our schedule that were "American", or "Upper Michigan".  I think I managed to succeed at that.

Do you have tourist traps, attractions or museums where you live? Do you ever go to them? I have been driving by the Cornish Pump/WWII Glider museum for 6 years without stopping in.  Don't wait for company or out of town visitors to go... you may learn something about where you live and actually have some fun.

Super Bowl Sunday and Other American Traditions

Photo taken by my cousin Holly while enjoying the festivities in Indianapolis.

Sometimes I wonder that if I were in England, what traditions would I bring with me as an American. Every family has their own traditions but overall, Americans have the same traditions when it comes to holidays and certain times of the year. Why am I picking American traditions as a topic today? It is the Super Bowl today! Although my team (Chicago Bears) is not in the Super Bowl this year, it is still a day I look forward to every year. It is awesome when your team makes it to the Super Bowl. The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl was 2007 and they lost against the Indianapolis Colts. I DO remember the year they won the Super Bowl. It was 1985. I miss those days!


Chicago Bears - Superbowl Shuffle by jpdc11

So how would I bring the Super Bowl to England? Well first unfortunately we would have to record the game because it wouldn't start until 11pm. Then we would probably have the party the following week. I would invite Vernon's family, our friends, and encourage the kids to stick around too. I would make beer brats and hamburgers and have all the snacks anyone could want like cheese, sausage and crackers.. and not English sausage, it would be summer sausage. Not sure if they have that out there or not... I would definitely have to plan ahead to make sure I had all the foods necessary to make this a true Super Bowl experience. Then there is the football pool. I am participating in my first office pool so I'm anxious to see how that turns out. My next favorite thing about the Super Bowl are the COMMERCIALS! My most favorite commercial aired last year.



The halftime show entertainment can be great, or it can really suck, or it can involve a wardrobe malfunction that people will talk about for years to come.



Another American tradition which is also a holiday is Thanksgiving. I really want to show Vernon and his family what I love so much about Thanksgiving. Getting together with family, turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the extras with dessert featuring pumpkin pie! There is also the traditional Thanksgiving Day football game. It would be such a wonderful day and I would really enjoy cooking a traditional American Thanksgiving meal for my English family.



Another tradition / holiday would be the 4th of July. I never really got into this holiday because fireworks scare me and annoy the crap out of me when I'm trying to sleep at 1am, but I do like the picnics and all the stars and stripes.  Maybe that week we'd have an American Day and go out that weekend for a picnic or something. That would be fun. This past 4th I was in a parade and I admit to having fun.

Well, the game will be starting in another hour so I'm going to finish up this post and get out my football pool sheet to see if I win any money. I have some good numbers so we'll see how I do.

Wish me luck!

Party Like it's 1999.

This week will be 12 years. In the beginning I never thought our distant relationship would evolve into something so amazing and wonderful. Next to my daughter of course, Vernon is the best thing to happen to me. I can't imagine life without him, nor do I want to remember life before him. He is my soul mate, my partner, everything I didn't know I wanted in a man until I met him. To get more of our beginning you can check out My First Blog Post or the "About Us" tab at the top.

Other couples know exactly when their relationship started. They also know who said "I love you" first, and when. Some can even tell you the cute little story behind it. I don't really know how it happened with us?  It just happened. We started as strangers in two different countries who just wanted someone to talk to and now, 12 years later, we can't imagine life without the other. I do not regret one day, one hour, one minute or one second with him.

It was mid to late September of 1999 that I decided to write to him. And he promptly wrote back. Everything was so different back then. His youngest was 3 and both of the older kids were 7. It feels like a lifetime ago when Heidi was that young. Here is a bit of historical information from the year 1999.

*This list is by no means exactly accurate or verified. I simply Googled various websites to find this general information for entertainment purposes.



Economy
Gas: $1.25/gal   Petrol: 61p/ltr
Milk: $2.75/gal
First class US stamp: 33 cents
UK minimum wage: 3.60 pounds/hr
The Euro is introduced
WalMart buys the UK chain ASDA



Entertainment
Top movies: Matrix, Star Wars episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, American Beauty, American Pie, 6th Sense, Big Daddy, Office Space, 10 Things I Hate About You, Boondock Saints, Cruel Intentions, Notting Hill and the Blair Witch Project.
I feel 1999 was an awesome movie year. This is only a handful of them.

Best Picture: American Beauty          
Best Actor: Kevin Spacy
Best Actress: Hillary Swank



TV Shows: The Sopranos, Futurama, and The West Wing

Music: Backstreet Boys - I Want it That Way  
TLC - No Scrubs
Britney Spears - Baby One More Time
Cher - Believe
Ricky Martin - Livin La Vida Loca

Books on New York Times Best Sellers List:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
Hannibal - Thomas Harris
The Testament - John Grisham
Bittersweet - Danielle Steele
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Stephen King

Sports
FIFA Women's Soccer World Cup-US defeats China in shootout
FIFA Men's Soccer World Cup-France defeats Brazil 3-0
Superbowl champs-Denver Broncos defeat Atlanta Falcons 34-19
NCAA Men's Basketball champs-Connecticut defeats Duke 77-74 (Michigan State was also in the final 4!)
World Series-New York Yankees defeats Atlanta Braves 4-0
Michael Jordan announces his retirement. (for the first time)



Technology I did a guest post on how technology has changed over the last 11 years and how it affected my long distance relationship. I'm quite proud of it. Feel free to check it out.


Businesses were starting to advertise on Dot.com businesses online.
Online auctions sites were the new rummage sales where you could bid on other people's junk..
Chinese government restricts internet use, aimed especially at internet cafes.
The Melissa Worm infects MS word processing and email systems around the world.
The Blackberry was introduced but didn't reach a million subscribers until 2004.
The world was panicked and getting ready for the predicted Y2K crash when date/time reached 010100 00:00:00. I really wasn't too concerned. Nothing happened that I know of.  My sister sold generators at the time and it was a very good year for their company.

 Politics
President of US: Bill Clinton
Prime Minister of UK: Tony Blair
President Bill Clinton begins impeachment trial in the Senate.
Pro Wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as Governor of Minnesota







Other Major Events of 1999
Hurricane Floyd hammered North Carolina
Columbine High School massacre happened in Jefferson Co, Colorado
Millennium Dome opens in London.
Ladbroke Grove rail crash in West London kills 31 people.

Another big major event is worth mentioning here. On October 12, 1999 the world was able to proclaim "The 6 billionth living human in the world is born". Vernon made a beautiful post about us and it was titled 6 Billion to One, We met in September, and the world didn't reach 6 billion until October, but then One in 5 Billion 999 Million 999 Thousand 999 to One just doesn't have the same ring to it.


So many things have changed since 1999, including us and our relationship. We love each other more and more every day so after 4,380 days that's quite a lot of feelings we have for each other. Also, physically, I don't think we changed a bit... and I'm stickin' to that. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY. I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH AND HAVE CHERISHED EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE. I AM YOURS FOREVER. <3 <3 <3

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to say Happy Father's Day to three of the most important fathers in my life.

My English dad: "He is a very tall man". That was my first thought when I met him several years ago.

He is loved and highly respected by all in his family. He is often surrounded by his grandkids and as of April 2011 he is now a great grandad. He likes to play and have fun and I have never witnessed him grumpy or impatient.  He is a perfect example to his grandsons on how to have a good work ethic, how to treat the women in your life and simply how to be a good man. He is one of those dads who will come to your rescue if you are having car trouble or need a hand with moving and home repairs. He doesn't expect anything in return. When I am there I don't feel like a foreign visitor. I feel like part of the family, I feel loved and accepted and missed when I am gone. He is a wonderful man and I am thankful that he is a part of my life. I can see why Vernon is the man he is today.

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My Dad: He is my Superman

I don't even know where to begin. He's the guy who taught me how to play baseball and basketball and ride a bike. Most importantly he taught me that the only way to get the rebound was to "sacrifice my body!" He rescued me from my runaway tricycle as it was taking me down the hill way too fast. He picked me up after I went face first into a tree on a sledding hill. He took me trick-or-treating on the John Deere Tractor. He took me to lots of Brewer games, a Bucks game and I even got to see the Harlem Globetrotters. He taught me how to fish and how to do my taxes. He taught me how to balance a checkbook and look for a job. He coached me on interviews and helped me do my homework. He also made sure I had change when I went out so I could call home if I needed a safe ride, and I always knew I'd be much better off by calling him no matter what situation I was in.  He even didn't accuse me of lying when I wrecked the car on the way to my ACT's and I told him it was a hit and run while parked. He knew better... but never called me on it.  I have often felt like I have disappointed him because I did not follow the path he laid out for me. But then we have moments where I do feel that he is proud of me, and the woman and mother I have become. If it wasn't for the Christian upbringing and the work ethic, I don't think I would be very happy with who I have become or where I am in life.

My dad is also a wonderful grandpa. He has had to pick up a lot of slack left by Heidi's absent inattentive father. He has made sure Heidi had experiences and opportunities that I normally wouldn't have been able to give her.  Heidi and grandpa are best buddies, and that means more to me than anything he's ever done for me.
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My Sweetheart, Vernon, what a wonderful loving dad he is.

His number one priority has always been his kids. Making sure he made time for them and gave them the attention that they needed. If we were chatting, he would tell me one was needing attention and we would say goodbye. If I didn't see him online at all he was spending time with them. I love that about him.  We have had this long distance relationship because of the kids. All three of them. Although I have not been in England, I have watched his two kids grow up through pictures. He has told me of the awards and accomplishments of school, activities and sports. I hear about the friendships, girlfriends, illnesses, sad times and difficult times. I have cried with him and rejoiced with him and even given him advice on the tough stuff.  Most recently, I was able to share his joy of the birth of his granddaughter. He's going to be a super 'granddad'. Bottom line, he's a great dad, and grandpa who is dedicated, loving and loyal to the ones that depend on him so much.

He has also been a wonderful loving father figure to Heidi. As you know her dad is absent emotionally and financially and Vernon has been there to support her and encourage her and make her feel important and loved.

Vernon has dedicated his life to his kids and has made an impact on mine, showing them by example how to have a good work ethic, how to treat others and how to conduct yourself with class. He also made it very clear to them that they are loved. It's these traits that make him very attractive to me, well, it's part of the reason he's very attractive to me.

We have a date in Spain planned!

I was a basketball player and I am a football fan. Americans get a little nuts over Nascar, especially in the south. Why? I have no idea. It’s as boring as golf to me.  I just assumed all racing was the same as Nascar, round and round and round and round and round the same round track.  Well, all racing isn’t as boring as Nascar.

I was Skyping with Vernon today and I was being distracted by Heidi and goofing around with her.  Vernon was being distracted by the TV and searching for the mother ship, uhhhhh I mean a mother board.  Well, he then started to get pretty vocal while watching the TV. “Woah!” and “Oooh!” and “I love it when they race in the rain, they’re all over the road!” I was like, “What are you watching?” He said the blah blah blah race in Canada. I figured it was live and I started flipping channels. I found golf (Aaak!) and Nascar (Aaak!) and then this other race with these cool low little cars and the course was all curvy and twisty and it was wet and as I turned it on this guy was trying to get debris from a recent crash out of the road and freaked as a car came around the curve and he fell so the car had to swerve around him. {breathe!} I bet they both needed a clean pair of shorts after that.

In the upper left corner I saw a logo, F1.  So I asked Vernon, “F1, Formula 1, you know that racing group right?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m watching.”  

Then I saw the Canadian flags and I knew we were watching the same race. AWESOME! Last time we watched the same thing together it was the Royal Wedding.  We started watching the race together. Well, I had an educated guess that F1 racing was international, drivers from all over the world. Since Vernon was into cars and Top Gear I’d figure he’d know the name of England’s driver if they had one. Turns out they have 2 guys, Hamilton and Button. After he said the second name I was like, “I have a button on my shirt-Button?”

“Yes”.

Well, turns out this Button guy was in 4^th place, then 3^rd then 2^nd, and there were a few laps to go.  It was pretty exciting to watch. Those little cars can really get around those hairpin turns.  Then on the final lap the guy who was ahead for several laps lost control for a bit, Button pulled ahead and he won the race. I don’t know if it was fun and exciting because it actually was or because I was watching it with Vernon and we were enjoying it together?  Either way, we are going to watch the next race that takes place in Spain, two weeks from now.

I think we have a date planned. I can’t wait!

Goolies Are What?!?!

I have a hot manly boyfriend! And he can change a tire in 5 minutes! WHEW!


We were chatting on Skype and like a man, his eyes wander above the computer and to the TV. I just watch him for a bit and finally ask,
"What are you watching?"
"Uh.... it's hard to explain."
(What???)
"What do you mean it's hard to explain?"
"OK, you know the show 'Top Gear'?"
"Yes"
"Well, it's kind of like that, but it's not. There is this overweight man who is trying to change a wheel, he has to change it in 15 minutes but he's already going on 35."
I'm thinking what a stupid show. Then Vernon tells me about the time he got a flat.
"One should be able to change a wheel in 10 minutes, I have changed one in 5."
"5 minutes? You changed a tire in 5 minutes? Why would you change it so fast?"
"I was on my way to work. It's all about being organized."
Wow, my man can change a tire in 5 minutes, and he says it's about being organized. I was laughing, carrying on over my sexy man being able to change a tire in 5 minutes. Then he adds...
"And I take my shirt off when I do it."
WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! I got all giggly and jumpy and my face was all red and it was getting really warm. He's so funny and so cute at the same time. We were having fun being silly, laughing and flirting, but I'm still amazed that my man can change a tire so fast.
During the call Vern likes to relax, sit back and enjoy the conversation. Sometimes he sits with his hands up behind his head. I love it when he sits that way, I miss his arms. Sounds odd but I really love his arms. He was wearing a white t-shirt, and I love him in white. It contrasts with his skin. I got all worked up as his sleeves pulled tight around his arms and all he was doing was relaxing. He looked at me like I was nuts. I told him I liked his arms, i wanted to see more biceps. I think I embarrassed him, then he grabs the Spongebob Squarepants pillow and extends Spongebob's arm, "There, that's my arm." It was funny!
We got to talking about hockey. I was explaining how Heidi has been going to hockey games at school. Of course, when Americans talk about hockey we are speaking of the great big toothless brutes who knock the shit out of each other on the ice. Vernon is thinking of girls in short skirts in a field... hey wait a minute, lol... then I said, "I think Heidi likes it when the players crash up against the plexiglass." there was a pause and he was like, "Ooooh, you are talking about ice hockey." I said, "Of course! Not that sissy hockey. We live in the mid-west. It's only ice hockey here." Then I went on to explain how the players don't really have anything protecting their faces, except for the goalies... Then Vernon interrupts me,
"What did you say?"
"What."
"Did you say goolies?"
"Huh?"
"Goolies?"
"Not ghoulies, GOALIES"
I thought this conversation was pretty silly, but then it got sillier... Vernon then said,
"Goolies are men's tackle"
"What?!?!? Hahahaha!"
"Goolies are men's tackle"
Ok, that's just hilarious. By then I was just laughing hysterically and giggling and crying all at the same time.

I love his sense of humor, I love how he makes me laugh. He's so intelligent and witty and being English doesn't hurt either.