The Beginning

We have arrived!

We drove all the way up here on Wednesday and stopped for lunch in Lexington to meet Mimi and Papa and Cindy and Haley at Cracker Barrel. It was so nice to see them and we were grateful for the break. The trip took us about 14 hours total and we were exhausted upon arrival. Chase drove straight to the field to check in and get his uniform. The team put us up in the Fairfield Inn next to the field and we went to sleep early!

Chase had to report for pictures, practice and a physical at 8 on Thursday morning. While he was busy with that, I checked out the mall that is right next to the field! Talk about convenient! It's a nice mall, with all the "essentials" but nothing like the Mall of GA. We're pretty spoiled! After Chase was done with his physical, we went out to our host family's home in Newton Falls. It's about a 30 minute drive from Niles.

We are living in the country! It is so beautiful! Right next door to the house we will be living in is a dairy farm! Chase and I took a walk out into the field last night and enjoyed the picturesque fields and barns.

Unfortunately, our host "dad", David Bryner, is in the hospital right now. He suffered a mini-stroke and is recovering. We have yet to meet him but it feels like we know him already! His wife, Jeanne, has been with him at the hospital most of the time. Her niece, great niece, and great-great niece met us at their house and helped us settle in and cooked us spaghetti for dinner. It was so sweet of them and we enjoyed getting to know them. They live very close by and I'm sure we will be seeing lots more of them this summer.

Jeanne, our host "mom", got in a little before nine last night and we talked to her for hours. She is such a sweetheart. She is a nurse. We also found out that she is a writer; a poet. She said that her writing is often inspired by her nursing--a profession she believes to be sacred since you deal with life and death everyday. She has 4 books published so far, I believe.

Last night was our first night in their home. They have built an addition onto their house and we are staying in a bedroom with a bathroom in it (no separation, I'll show pictures later). That will take some getting-used to! There is a little sitting room attached to our bedroom and the back porch is off of that. The view off the porch is beautiful! I hope to spend lots of time out there this summer.

Chase left early this morning for Jamestown, New York. He will be gone until Sunday night (we think). So, I am in the 'Brew Basket' in town in Newton Falls on the internet. Our host family doesn't have wireless internet at their house, so I'm not sure how often I will add new posts or reply on facebook. Until next time,

Here are some photos from the past few days:











Cincinatti












Welcome to Ohio!
























The dairy farm next door.
























Our new friend
























Excited!

Love and miss you all! More to come soon.

Cait