June 4, 2011: Asheville

Mom and I left the hotel a little after 9 a.m. and spent the entire day exploring Asheville. First, we went to check out this apartment on the north side of town. It was alled the Springs of Asheville. The apartments were built in 2009 and way up in the mountains. They were similar to the apartment we are currently living in, in Norton Shores. I thought they were gorgeous. The view of the mountains was spectacular. It was about 1 mile from the nearest grocery store.



Then, we went to the Asheville Mall to check that out. Of course, we had to stop at the Barnes & Noble store. Neither one of us was impressed with the mall. If you know the two of us, you know that whereever we live, there has to be a nice mall and a Barnes & Noble nearby. We thought the mall seemed dark and gloomy inside. It had a Dillards, but didn't have the Ralph Lauren and Jones New York brands in the petite section, which is what my mom likes.


After the mall, we drove to Biltmore Village and did a little shopping. We had a bite to eat at the Biltmore McDonalds, which was featured on the Travel channel a few years ago. It is supposed to be the fanciest McDonalds.


Then, we drove on the south end of town to Hendersonville, which is about 18 miles south of Asheville. We didn't like Hendersonville at all. We both thought it was too much of a hick town for us. It had a pretty courthouse, though.


My friends, Jerry and Jamie Depoy, who were from Muskegon, moved to Asheville almost 2 years ago. They live in Mars Hill which is about 16 miles northeast of Asheville. I thought that area was gorgeous. It is way up in the mountains and the most beautiful area. There is a liberal arts college there that had a beautiful campus. We drove all around it. We found the elementary school which overlooked the hills.


Then, we went back to downtown Asheville and walked around. We stopped at the Chocolate Fetish store and got a piece of their chocolate. We went to the Grove Arcade. Unfortunately, the stores closed at 6 p.m. which was disappointing.


We found where Jerry Depoy's new church is located (inside the Asheville Community Theater). Tomorrow, we plan to attend his service, which I am excited about.


For dinner, we went to the Olive Garden.


I talked with several people today about the job situation in Asheville. Most of them said finding a job here is either tricky or challenging. I have done alot of research online which said the same thing. The city is great to visit as a tourist, but different if you live here. There are a lot of hippies and artists here. It is great for people watching. I am just not sure it is the place I want to live. Hoping I can find my new home soon. I don't want to stay in Muskegon after next year. I had planned to only live there a few years after living in Chicago, but ended up there 10 years now. I need a new place to live, so could use some prayers in finding that place.

June 3, 2011: Lexington to Asheville

Mom and I got up around 7 a.m. today, as we knew we had quite a bit of driving to do. After breakfast, we packed up and drove through the rolling hills in Lexington, KY to a small town called Paris. We were't too impressed with this city. I did think they had a beautiful courthouse. I wish the court house in Muskegon was not so ugly.


Then, we drove to the city of Georgetown, which we had driven around 2 years go. The traffic was worse this time around. It was very charming 2 years ago, but then again, that was in the fall and not during the summer vacation season. We drove through downtown Lexington, then headed toward London, KY.


Colonel Sanders had his first kitchen in London where he came up with the spices for his fried chicken. Then, we went to the Original Kentucky Fried Chicken, located in Corbin, KY. We had a nice chicken dinner there. They have a museum there, with a replica of his first kitchen. He started the business as a place for travelers to dine, get gas, and spend the night. There was a courtyard motel hooked onto the restaurant back in the day. Actually, he was known for his country ham. People would stop here to gas up, spend the night, and then get a nice dinner.


I had mom do some of the highway driving, as I had done alot of driving already. The mountains through Tennessee and North Carolina are gorgeous. I made my mom stop on the side of the road by the North Carolina sign, as I wanted her to take a picture of me next to it. I don't think she was happy about it, as she is a nervous driver, but glad she did.


Thank goodness we have our GPS as that has helped us out on all of these driving trips. I did have a few problems around Asheville. The exits seemed to come too fast so I kept missing them. The GPS just re-calculated and got us to our hotel off of Tunnel Road.


We had a delicious pizza at the chain restaurant, Mellow Mushroom on Broadway St in downtown Asheville.
I was glad to get back to the hotel before it got too dark. I hate to drive in unfamiliar areas when it is dark.

June 2, 2011: Lexington, Kentucky

We met Jeanne and her husband, Kevin in Nunica and drove in my mom's new car to Frankenmueth to pick up their car that was being fixed. I had a great time chatting with them. Jeanne and Kevin would be great companions on a road trip. They are so funny. They treated us to breakfast at IHOP.


After we dropped them off in Frankenmueth, we took US 23 South to I-75 toward Lexington, Kentucky. Mom did the driving around Dayton, OH which was a mess, as they were doing so much road construction. I took over driving outside of Dayton and drove around Cincinnati, which was absolutely a nightmare. I have been through Cincinnati before, but never this bad. Once we got into Kentucky, the traffic was so much nicer. I love the rolling hills. Tonight, we are staying at the Fairfield Inn at exit 115. We split a turkey and dressing dinner at Cracker Barrel. I asked the waiter about the job outlook in Lexington. He said there are alot of jobs. He said that Louisville had alot of crime, so he didn't recommend that city. We talked to the clerk at the hotel, who said she loves Asheville.


Both my mom and I loved Asheville when we went there 2 years ago. I have heard that isn't as easy to find jobs in Asheville, as it is in the Raleigh area. I have researched online and both show about an 8% unemployment rate. I have been researching all of this for about 3 years now. It will be nice to check out these areas in person and see if this is a place we want to move.


My mom has Sirius satellite in her car, so we were listening to the Casey Anthony case on Headline News. I thought it would be so funny if we were down in Orlando and got in line at 3 am at the Orange County Courthouse to be one of the lucky 60 peolple to get to sit in the courtroom and listen to the procedure. That is the type of crazy stuff I like to do on a vacation.

May 20, 2011: Muskegon Memories

Muskegon has never been my favorite city, as it has had many issues over the years, such as high unemployment.  However,  I have lived most of my life in the area.  I have had both good and bad memories of Muskegon.     Lake Michigan is a true asset for Muskegon.      There are some beautiful areas of Muskegon, especially around Norton Shores, Hoffmaster Park, and of course, our lakes.   There is a nice path that goes along Pere Marquette park which my mom, Maggie, and I love to take walks on.      

There isn't much to our current downtown.    We used to do our shopping at the Muskegon Mall in downtown Muskegon, but has been torn down.    Now, we have a newer mall out in Fruitport, which was very much needed for the area. 

Ryke's Bakery is the best bakery in town.   They have the best butter creme frosting on its cakes.     Plus, they make the best flat butter cookies.  My Uncle George loves those cookies and I try to bring him a container of them when I go visit. 

I am very thankful that I grew up on Lawnel Avenue in Norton Shores, as I had many kids to hang around with growing up.

I am not sure what the next chapter will be in my life, but hoping to find a city that is warmer and has enough activities to keep me busy.        

 

May 14, 2011: Bible Studies

For most of my adult life, I have tried to be involved in a bible study through my current church.     When I started at Calvary Bible back in 2001, I was in a bible study at a lady's house in Norton Shores.  I met Janelle Humble in that study.  Then, I left that church and went to Lakeshore Community Church for a few years.    Jerry Depoy Jr. was the pastor at this church.  It was held in the Harbor Theater.   I really enjoyed his sermons there.     He now lives in Asheville, NC and has a new church.

In 2008, I started attending Bridge Bible Church and saw in the program that Janelle Humble was in charge of the women's ministries.   They were going to start a women's bible study in the fall, so I started to go to that.  I met some wonderful women there such as Michelle Cramblet, Beth Evans, Beth Keur, Alicia Belrose, Shannon Pothoven, etc.    

No matter where I live, I hope to be a part of a women's bible study and continue to worship God and be in fellowship with other Christians. 

April 29, 2011: Prince William & Catherine's Royal Wedding

I remember watching Princess Diana's wedding back in 1981.  Now, her oldest son, William, was getting married to Catherine Middleton.    This wedding has been in the news for about six months.     It was aired on every major network.    The wedding ceremony began at 11 a.m. London time, so I got up at 4 a.m. my time, in order to watch the nuptials live.       William and Catherine had dated for about 9 years.  They had broken up in 2007 for a few months, but then got back together.      This was supposed to be the wedding of the century.    After the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, they took a carriage ride through the streets of London to Buckingham Palace, where they did their famous kiss.   One of the little chubby bridesmaids covered her ears while the military planes flew above the palace.   It was quite funny.     They had several parties during the day.   Although the wedding was played over and over on the news, it still was gorgeous. They estimated that it cost about $40 million.  

My Best Friends Growing Up

I was very blessed to live on Lawnel Avenue and have many kids to hang out with in the neighborhood.

Kara Filius lived down on the corner of Lawnel and Lincoln, next to the farmhouse.  I met her when I was 4 years old.  Mr. Crab lived in the farm house next door. We used to go to his house to get cookies and candy.   He was the nicest older guy we had ever met.      He made it to 100 years old.

Eric Anderson and Jeff Anderson lived behind me at 2260 Columbus Ave.    I met Eric when I was 4 years old.   We went to each others houses almost every day.   His mom, Patty, was the greatest 2nd mom to me. She used to make us sandwiches and punch and we would sit on this small picnic table in their back yard.

There was one morning when I got up around 7:30 a.m. and ran in my pajamas through the backyard over to Eric's house and yelled for Eric.    His mom yelled out the window that he was still sleeping and he could come out later. I was so excited to hang out with him.    We all laugh to this day about that.

Their younger brother, Matt Tomasiewicz, came along in 1984.   He was like a little brother to me all growing up. I would take him to the movies, bike rides, ice cream, stores, and play baseball, kickball, and tennis outside with him. 

Justin Sternberg lived next door to Eric and Jeff.     He was always so humorous growing up.   

Next door were Ted and Pat Zimmer's family.  They had 5 children (Kim, Lori, Sharon, Debbie, and David).   Debbie and David came over when I was little to play with me.   

Across the street were Bill and Kim Daugherty.   Bill was my age and Kim was about 5 years younger.     Next to Bill and Kim were Anne and Tony Ruthkowski.   Their grandchildren, Jessica, Alison, Karen, Joe, Jeff, and Kelli came over to play.      Across the street from the Zimmers were Anne and Tony Kulikowski.    I played with their granddaughters, Alexia, Alissa, and Aleah Wysozan.

On the corner of Lawnel and Leon was Mike Keith.    He wasn't there very long.  When he moved to Grand Haven Rd, he came back one day and told us how lucky we were to have so many kids to play with in the neighborhood.

Later on, I met Nicole Sanchez, Paresh and Priya Hansji, who lived on Columbus street.     Between all of these kids, I always had someone to hang out with.    

My dad's friend, Bob Dykema, had 2 kids, Kim and Steve, who we went to visit in Jenison on several occasions. They had a pool in their backyard which was so fun. Also, my dad's friend, Ron Morse, had 3 boys (Dan, Jim, and Phi) who we saw during the year.  They lived in Spring Lake on Carol St.

I met Sue Arnouts in grade school. She lived on Reneer St.  I didn't hang out with her much as a kid, but when I got to high school, we became great friends.     I have enjoyed hanging out with she and her daughter, Ashley.      Ashley was born in 1993.  I hung out with Sue and Ashley all the time.     They have been wonderful friends.

In 2002, I met Cody and Conner Schotts.  They moved in next door.  They were like my other little brothers. They came over to visit me.  I taught them how to play croquet and we played video games. I will never forget them looking out their bedroom window and yelling over to me and I would yell hello back.

Even though I was an only child, I never felt like one, as I always had someone in the neighborhood.