52 Weeks....to the Real Me

I read that once. Of course now that I want to quote more about it, I can't remember who said it or how exactly it is said. Here's the gist:

There is no such thing as a hard decision. Decisions only seem hard when we don't like the answer.

I am in that situation. I realize that my decision was made on Thursday, but I kept an open mind. It wasn't until Sunday on my LONG drive home that I was able to look at it for what it was and come to terms with it.

I wanted SO BADLY to move to Illinois. I wanted to be part of Melissa's and her family's life. I wanted the boys to really get to know their Aunt Megan. I had visions of what life would be like. Sure, I found places that I could live in. But no where that I WANTED to live in. Nothing felt like IT, a place I could call HOME.

I feel guilty about it all. (well I did... yesterday) I dragged Dad (although he did volunteer) all around the corn country - 5 straight days of 8 hours in the car! I feel like I mislead the Wheeler family. But I remind myself the point of the trip was EXACTLY for this situation. Better to have checked it out ahead of time, rather than move blindly. I do not mean to offend those that live in Illinois, but they have no landscape. It's all corn and soybean.

As we drove home, and crossed into Ohio, I realized that I actually like Ohio. Weird as that seems. It also seemed disproportionate to move so far from MOST of my family to be near a small PART of my family. One time in my life I had that "I belong here" feeling. I didn't believe it existed, people told me about it. It's supposed to be the same feeling that tells you "he's the one" -- you just KNOW. I got that feeling walking through UD campus when I was a senior in high school. I'm wondering why it was so automatic for me to just "move home" after college. Why not stay there? (oh yeah, the whole job thing) Anyway, I did really like Cuyahoga Falls. I liked the State Park, I liked the trees, the nature, the uniqueness. (and the conveniences not too far away).

Both times in the past week when we've driven past Dayton I had a pang of "missing". I miss that area, I miss Meijiers!! But there is Yellow Springs, Young's Dairy, the Minor League Hockey Team, the UD Games --Football and Basketball, it's near to Cinci, and not too far from Columbus, there's the airbase museum and tons of Wright Brother stuff. Plus I KNOW there's a Kiwanis club there that I would fit into. I also realized a lot of my UD friends still live IN THE AREA.

I also calculated...it's only about 4 hours to Oakland (where Melissa will be) that's STILL by far the closest we've been! I could easily do a weekend trip for Birthdays and other special occassions. We could still go camping together in the summers. Realistically the places that I would be "happy enough" in near her, were still over an hour away, so I wouldn't go there very often anyway.

Plus this puts me only between 4 and 5 hours from my parents (Both Dad and I have made two ways trips in one day when necessary) but it's really not unreasonable. It also puts me about an hour from Ashley, so hopefully we'll be able to get together more often . (she's currently 2 1/2-3 hours away)

Teaching- Teachers are paid much better in the Dayton area -- at least compared to my school. Plus I don't have to worry about switching my license, taking additional tests, worrying about switching my retirement, etc.

When I got home last night, I did some quick research on jobs -- found a few still open and applied for them. But I also looked at some local apartments. They seemed price comparable to those I was looking at in Illinois but they are on beautiful properties with unique floorplans, and most allow even BIG dogs!

I dare you to look at the pictures of these apartments:
Arbors at Yankee Vineyard
Spinnaker Cove
Harbour Club

This feels better. This feels right.

So what about that Rainbow I saw? Well, I misinterpreted it. Actually, I fibbed a bit when I told you about it. I was concerned when I saw it, that I had to turn around to see it. IT was over Dayton. We were pulling away from it... toward Indiana. At the moment I saw it, I knew. (But didn't want to know because I wanted to move to Ill) My rainbow was centered in OHIO.

Oh yeah, and there are 4 CrossFits within 30 minutes of the Dayton area!

I really never thought I would say this... but Ohio really is pretty. Those midwest farm states don't know what they're missin!

Our last day was spent mostly in Indiana and Ohio!
We drove around Charleston a little, to see the downtown area, then headed toward the Indiana Line. On the way out we visited Marshall.

Marshall was pretty nice. The downtown still had a lot of businesses, the schools looked nice. There were some conveniences right by the highway. We didn't stay long.

Dad watched his phone as we crossed into Indiana so he could see when the time changed. His phone changed a little less than a mile before the border, we figured it switched towers to an Indiana one then!

We stopped at a Sonic. We have Sonic commercials on all the time, but the nearest Sonic to us is in Columbus, so I demanded that we stopped at one and ate. It was pretty good! The Sonic Blast was good too, very creamy.

I must say that Indiana claims to be the "crossroads of America" and I believe it. I kept track of the license plates we saw on our journey. Here are the states we saw ON CARS (note: for Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, we did see cars with those plates when we were in OTHER states)

1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. Arizona
4. Colorado
5. Florida
6. Georgia
7. North Carolina
8. New York
9. Utah
10. Nevada
11. Alabama
12. Kansas
13. Oklahoma
14. Indiana
15. Illinois
16. Wisconsin
17. Pennsylvania
18. New Jersey
19. Tennessee
20. Kentucky
21. Missouri
22. Ohio
23. South Dakota
24. Michigan
25. California
26. Maryland
27. West Virginia
28. Virginia
29. Minnesota

On semis we also saw:

1. Oregon
2. Washington
3. Nebraska
4. Iowa
5. North Dakota

Plus we saw cars with

• Ontario

So on our trip across 3 states, we saw representatives from 34 states and 1 province. Not bad!

We arrived home safe and sound, and I went to sleep. =)

This is really for my own benefit. These are apartments I liked, or sites to help find apartments.

Sites
Central Illinois Virtual Earth
University of Illinois Tenant Union
News-Gazette: Search Classifieds, Rentals - Champaign area
Herald-Review: Charleston area

Champaign
http://www.gardencourts.com/apartments/twobed.html
http://www.burnham310.com
http://www.manchester-apts.com/index.php

Savoy
http://www.johnsonrentals.com/BlackAndBlue/Properties/Savoy.htm (also have Champaign locations)

Charleston

Today I took Dad on a perimeter tour of the ENTIRE region.
We headed out on 57N where we saw a Semi flipped on its side, the highway was closed and traffic was backed up for miles. Luckily we were on the OTHER side of the highway. We then headed west on 36 where an insistent woman was on my tail, then passed me, then pulled over and tried to flag me down, then was on my tail again. I finally pulled onto a side street to see what she wanted -- but she kept going. We saw her about 1/2 mile down the road talking to someone else on the side of the road. She looked like she may have been lost... but then WHY flag down a car with OHIO plates? How could we possibly help? So we ventured on to Decatur.

Decatur - this was a spur of the morning trip decision. I looked at their website- they have a zoo, a children's museum, some nice apartments, so it seemed reasonable. Perhaps we came in the wrong side of town and didn't explore quite enough. We didn't see much, but we also didn't have much time. I'll give it potential, if I get to see the rest of it and it's nice. We did stop and a Burger King where I got an "Apartment Finder" that included just about all of the towns we visited! cool!

Next we traveled back to Champaign to visit Savoy, a small town just south of Champaign.

Savoy- This is my number one prospect I think. It is Champaign schools - a large district, but it has a suburb feel and many modern conveniences such as a Subway, Running Store, Movie Theater, RollerSkating Rink, etc. We drove through two apartment complexes. They were very nice, probably a little expensive, but I could easily call them home.

We drove back through Champaign and Urbana to check out Danville. On the way through we saw a really cool apartment building. You can check out their website, Burnham310.com. I bet they are very expensive, but I think I'd really like living there!

Danville- Danville looked great on the map and great on the website, but like so many other towns really rather diappointed in person. The schools weren't even that impressive (as some of the other towns') We drove around a little then headed out of town. (back to Paris) Danville was the home of Gene Hackman, Jerry and Dick Van Dyke, but I don't think it will be of mine.

On the way we passed through many small towns -- including Bloomfield -- I think it was less populated than ours! But we passed through Westville who claims to have had the first night football game back in 1928. It seemed like a very nice town, the schools looked great (from what I could see passing through on 150) It's small, but seemed quite nice.

I wanted to venture back to Paris to see if I could see all the other great things that were depicted on their website, no such luck. The downtown is virtually vacant, most of the homes were rundown -- the DQ was nice! We didn't stay long as we were being treated to a HOME-GROWN, HOME-COOKED meal in Oakland.

Oakland- Today we drove through town a little, checking out the schools, and the little town charm. They had the coolest/scariest water fountain and some really neat old buildings. We then headed to the farm to meet up with Melissa and her family and have dinner. Grandma, Tim's grandma, cooked Tim's favorite roast beef, some noodles, home grown corn on the cob, home grown green beans, home made apple sauce, and served home made banana cream pie for dessert. Yum! After dinner we went for a stroll around the farm and down the lane to the old cemetery. One guy was born in 1784!!! We had a great evening. We even got to see an OLD hanging glass fire extinguisher (you can see a similar one on ebay).

We have one more town to check out on our way back home.

We awoke early (having gotten our showers the night before) and headed straight to... Cracker Barrel. We've now eaten there 3 times. =)

After a yummy breakfast we drove North to check out Tolono, Mahomet, Rantoul, Urbana, and Champaign. We also added Tuscola to the list, got a glimpse of Savoy.

Tolono- I'm beginning to see a trend with these small towns. They are very cramped on the inside. Although I get a kick out of knowing "where the town ends" -- you run into a cornfield. They did have a very nice school complex (Jr High/High next to each other) and a brand new, large library. The streets were kind of a maze and there are some new large houses being built in the area. Also there was this one old farmhouse in the center of everything, cornfield included. It was 3 stories high -- that's the house I want! lol (picture courtesy of Virtual Earth)
We drove through Savoy and Champaign to get to our next stop- Mahomet.

Mahomet- The schools looked great, the secretary was very friendly, she was actually the secretary for the preK-K building. They even had smaller railings lower for the kids to reach- in addition to the adult ones. There isn't much in town. A DQ, a few gas stations, an orthodontist, a pizza place. Everyone seemed very friendly and the houses were nice. I'm not sure about there being any rental properties though. Champaign is only about 10-15 minutes away, so "big shopping" is not too far away.

Rantoul - I think this was my favorite of the day. It was the one I was hoping to like the least, since it was the furthest away, but it immediately had a suburban feel, the secretary of the superintendent was very nice. There was a huge park next to the middle school -- even had a skate park in it. There is an Air Museum, with some huge airforce planes from the olden days. Just like with any town, there are nice parts of town and not so nice parts. It does seem like they have most of the "modern conveniences."

Urbana- I had figured of the two, Champaign and Urbana, I would like Urbana better because it was smaller. Silly me. Urbana is well.. very urban. Everything is close together, and rather rundown. (at least from what we saw as we traveled between the schools and the superintendent's office. Dad said he saw things chained down in the yard, presumably so they wouldn't be stolen, not exactly the kind of area I want to live and work in. Champaign looked more promising.

Champaign - First of all - IT'S HUGE. There are some really cool apartments on the IU campus, but after investigating when I got home last night, they cost significantly more. The schools all seemed nice, the once I tracked down (there are SEVERAL, 3 High Schools) We drove around the city quite a bit. Just like everywhere else though it felt kinda cramped, narrow streets, houses close together. But we found several neighborhoods that were more spacious, lots of parks, pools, and Champaign does offer about every shopping convenience.

On the way home I decided to stop by a small town that had OUTLET STORES.

Tuscola - Very small, schools were nice. Outlets were ok, I actually went to the Jockey one and talked to the ladies inside. One happens to be an "aspiring teacher" she's been subbing at the school for 2 or 3 years and is hoping to get hired. Her overall opinion was a bit bitter. It was a nice little resting point, but I don't think I'll really consider it.

We returned home (to the hotel), Dad took a nap and I surfed the web. I was searching for apartments, re-researching areas. Someone had asked it I was going to check out Danville, I hadn't planned on it, but I might on Saturday. I was also researching Walmarts and Targets just to get a feel of where they are, how far they are etc. I'm having doubts as to what I want, my natural assumption is that of course I want all the major conveniences, but then I think - how great it would be to live more simply, without all the commercial stuff. I guess this is something I'll have to ponder more over the coming months. Another town that keeps popping up that I've been doing some research on is Savoy.

Savoy- Savoy is part of the Champaign school district but it located just out of town (to the South) They seem to be the most "suburban-like" place. They share a library with Tolono (see above) and have a movie theater, book store, running store, Subway (restaurant, not train) and are within 10 minutes of Champaign and all it has to offer. I'm going to see if we can ride through there again on Saturday.

So I guess that's it -- oh we did find Mattoon's Walmart, we stopped for some diet coke and diet pepsi where it occured to me -- "do the Illini call it pop or soda??"

*We also watched Eagle Eye, it was a pretty good movie!

Side Note: We noticed that on the local news, they make it a point to report GOOD things that are going on in the community.

So today we drove quite a ways around Illinois today. We went to Charleston, Mattoon, Shelbyville, Paris, and Oakland.

Charleston - This is where we are staying. So far I think it's my favorite. As in- the most like what I'm used to. I met the assistant superintendent. He was very nice. (even recognized that I was a math person -- due to my Pi shirt!)

Mattoon- The town right next to Charleston. It was ok. It seemed rather run down. The assistant superintendent there was also friendly. The schools looked great! The high school was a huge complex with every sport field imaginable!

Shelbyville- It seemed to take forever to get to. (about 15 miles of farmland) I wouldn't like being that far from everything. There is a large lake (formed from the Army Corp of Engr. Dam) that would offer good recreation. We "accidentally" visited a cemetery -- more flowers than you can imagine. Almost every single grave had some type of flower arrangement. Dad pointed out-- "these people must really care about their families." We wandered around (ok we were kinda lost) but we made it back to town. Some rundown mom and pop stores were in town.

Gays- Ok this is like a tiny blip on the map between Mattoon and Shelbyville, but the sign caught my attention -- TWO STORY OUTHOUSE. So we stopped. In reading the signs I learned that originally the general store was built here and it had apartments above it. To prevent the tenants from having to walk all the way downstairs (and share a bathroom with the public) to the outhouse, they built a second floor with a bridge to the apartment porch. All that is left is the outhouse itself.


Paris - Paris was a front runner on paper. We (I) passed the street we needed and ended up in Indiana (oops!) The schools looked nice, from what we could see. We ventured to Sunset Park, that area seemed a bit rundown, kinda trashy. But I saw some of the COOLEST flowers. I want some. But I have no idea what they are. We saw them in a bunch of yards and even in Oakland too. I might want to visit Paris again, to see the main downtown.

Oakland - When we left Paris we went through Oakland so I could see Melissa's future house. Very nice. =) I think Grandma was even outside! -- we didn't stop. We stopped for gas. $2.39 =) much better than the $2.67 I paid yesterday!

Charleston Part 2- We explored more of Charleston this evening. We saw the schools -- look really nice and in one large complex. There are some nice parks, including the Rotary Water Park. I'd like to go swimming there. It even had a huge waterslide. We also found a "rich development," a cool apartment complex near EIU (Eastern Illinois University), and I had Little Caesars for dinner -- first time I've had that in about 10 years!!

We are now watching some tv and heading to bed early so that we can go to the Champaign-Urbana area tomorrow.

So Dad and I ventured across the Midwest to check out Illinois. I am looking forward to exploring the area. The drive wasn't too bad. We had a minor detour in Columbus (Dad's oops). When we crossed into Indiana I found a way to bribe Mom to come visit me -- Warm Glow. However before we go there we hit a bad rainstorm, that rainstorm was made worse by the glaring SUN! Ok, you science people... what does a rainstorm + sun equal? YEP. A BEAUTIFUL rainbow stretching from one side of the sky to the other and VERY bright. Unfortunately it was behind us and I couldn't get a picture of it. The rest of the journey was spent heading into a gorgeous sunset, complete with sunrays beaming down through the clouds. I take this all to be a VERY GOOD sign. (see my thoughts on religion post -- which will be written soon).

Where do I begin?
Last weekend I went to Syracuse to hang out with my best friend and her family. She has 3 little boys, ages 8,6, and 1. This was the 2nd time I’d seen the youngest, Lincoln. The 4th or 5th time for the middle, Cole, and about the 6th or 7th time for the oldest, Leo. That’s rather pathetic - 7 times in 8 years! 2 of which were in the last 6 months. (and 2 were in the first year). I’m ashamed. I’ve always been bad with keeping up with long distance friends. (Melissa and her family have lived in 4 states since we were in College -- none of which was the state I lived in and they are moving to state #5 (8hrs away from me) next Summer.) This situation is especially bad because this isn’t just some friend I haven’t kept up with, this is someone who is like a sister to me.... to her boys, I am AUNT Megan.

So this Spring, as I was deciding who I really wanted to be, I decided that I want to re-connect with friends that I’ve lost touch with. Facebook has been greatly beneficial in this endeavor. I’m proud to say that this summer I’ve communicated with Melissa, Ben, Mandy, and Matt with regularity. (I’ve also been catching up with other college friends, family members, and high school classmates.)

One night back in April, Melissa and I were talking -- actually ON THE PHONE, and I was at a fork in the road. The school wanted to RIF me (reduction in force) so I needed to figure out what to do with my life. I had not intended on staying there for long anyway, but still, decisions needed to be made. I’m still living with my parents, driving an hour each way to work, and not feeling at all like a 30 year old. *I have since qualified for a continuing contract and am no longer under the threat of RIF* But as we were talking Melissa suggested that I move out to the same area of Illinois that they were going to move to. Hmmm.

2 winters ago I was all set to move. I had done research as to the various areas I was interested in, where teaching was better (i.e. pay, unions, retirement, etc) and Illinois had actually come out quite high. But I hadn’t actually considered it because I had no real reason to go there.

So this proposition was an interesting one. I thought about it. I talked to some of my trusted co-workers about it. I eventually mentioned it to my parents, once I was fairly certain it was something I was seriously considering. Living in the same area would give several perks -- I would have a girlfriend. A real friend that I trust, could go out with, could hang out with. One that KNOWS me. We’ve been friends since 1st grade! (That’s about 25 years!)

Ok, so about my weekend (that was now 2 weekends ago!) I was nervous. Nervous because, even though I’m a teacher, I’m not very good with little kids. Or I should say more specifically I don’t know how to act with them. (Why I want to teach OLDER ones!) I was worried because they (the boys) don’t know me. I’m just some stranger coming to their house. I’m hoping that the more I see them the better I will get. I think back to how my mom acts around her nephews (she’s got a ton of them). Well anyway, I got there LATE Thursday night. Friday during the day we went to Target (the boys and I explored the toy section while Melissa shopped for a bachelorette party gift), then we went to the MOST, a Science Museum. It was pretty cool. I’ll post pics eventually. They had a toothpick city!! (1 of 2 in the world, the other is in Spain). Then we headed out for the evening. (Just Melissa and I ..lol) We went to a nice restaurant and then a Karaoke bar. (I’ll comment about the Karaoke bar later...remind me)

Saturday (after my bout with severe back doms) we headed to the beach (Lake Ontario, actually). It was a great day. The kids swam, built sandcastles, we ate lunch, played on the playground. I was feeling more comfortable. As we were driving back to Melissa’s, I was thinking about how nice it would be to have them in my life more. To see them on a much more regular basis. To have that special Aunt-Nephew relationships with them. As we were nearing their house we saw a rainbow - the kind that goes from one side of the sky to the other!

Rainbows have a special significance for me. (See My Religious Beliefs post). To me this was a sign. A sign that the way my life was heading was the right way. That I was meant to be in their lives more.

I had a lot more I was going to say about my trip. But since it’s taken me two weeks to write this, I can’t remember everything I was going to say. So I’ll end it here. For now. I have much more to add.... eventually.

Note. The other posts mentioned in this have NOT been created yet. I’ll let you know when I type them!!

For the first time all week I'm a tad bit ahead of schedule.
I'm going to take advantage of that -- so my long blog will have to wait another day or so.

CrossFit - made it. did it. loved it. Ok I loved the rowing part. I don't know why I like rowing so much. I do know I'm getting better at it. I am much better at keeping my knees between my elbows! My fastest 100m was 26.4 sec. I did a total of 1400m today.
We also had to do Hang Power Cleans - which I had never done before.
I did 4 rounds
- just the bar - x15
- bar +10 - x 7
- bar +10 - x9
- bar +10 - x10
(yes I do tend to get better as workouts go on. I've noticed this in general!)
**my notes on TheBarn site, I'm FlyerMJ**

Went to class - am feeling much better about my ability to pass!

Took dad to get his truck, then we went to storage.
I went through my books, packed my kitchen stuff, while dad swept up mice "pellets" THANKS DAD! (thankfully the mice didn't ruin anything!)

Why do I have SO MUCH kitchen stuff? Tomorrow night I'm going through it. I'm sure I can't need ALL of it.

46 burpees done
As mentioned earlier, I get better as a workout goes on -- at least to a point. My first 10 burpees were down right painful. There was cracking, and popping, and groaning but by the second 10 I was cruising right along (in fact the second 10 turned into 15!)

So I'm off to shower, read a little of my book (He's Just Not That Into You), and head to bed BEFORE 11PM!!!

I needed this book. Thanks, Sara for suggesting it! You, and it, told me exactly what I wanted (and needed) to hear about Boy #1 -- as well as Boy#2 and some things I needed to know about some previous guys too. I know I'm worth more, and I will believe that there is the RIGHT someone out there -- hopefully in Illinois!

I'm going to see The Ugly Truth Tomorrow. I can't wait!