In Buckeye Country

This weekend I traveled to Columbus, Ohio for an interview with THE Ohio State University.  Go Buckeyes.  I think that it went well, but we will see what happens.  I have never in my life been an Ohio State fan, or even set foot in Ohio for that matter, but it was interesting that by the end of the day, I felt myself catching a little Buckeye fever.  They really know how to sell their school.  Also, their football stadium is absolutely ginormous. 

For the rest of my time in Columbus, I drove around the city scoping out potential places to live if we were to go to OSU.  It seemed like a very nice place.  I also tried a White Castle burger for the first time in my life.  Not life-changing, but it wasn't nasty.  Anyway, I had a good time in Ohio, but I was definitely missing Cory by the time it was all said and done.

Love is in the Air...

So it looks like Cory and I have to give up our coveted title of newest newlyweds in the family sometime this summer.  Jake and Anna got engaged today, and are planning a June wedding.  I have mixed feelings about it.  On one hand, I totally support them and love Jake, and don't mind being around Anna.  On the other hand, I can see my last chance of being sealed to an Anderson slipping though my fingers.  I did everything I could to make sure Brett and Anna ended up together.  Heck, I would have taken Trevor and Anna, but J-Smoove was too much competition.  

In all seriousness though, we love and support them, and Cory and I have no doubts that they will be very happy together.  Welcome to the family, you filthy animal.  That was to Jake...

Valentine's Day 2014

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all.  Cory and I spent our 2nd Valentine's day as a married couple together this year.  It was awesome.  When we were dating, I feel like I usually bought flowers for Cory for every special occasion.  That isn't a bad thing, but this year I wanted to get her something that would last longer than a few days.  So I still got her a rose, but also got her some massage oil and a wooden, back massage tool thing.  It is cool.  Cory has chronic itchy and achy back.  It is a real disease and a real struggle.  Hopefully my gifts will help.  Cory got me some awesome new shoes that I have had my eye on for some time.

So the big surprise of the day was that we actually got to spend it together!  Cory had been telling me all week about how she had to work until 2 AM, and so I was planning on spending the evening alone.  On my way home from work I actually considered just going straight to a movie theater, but decided to at least change clothes first.  As I opened the door, I found a nice dinner waiting for me.  Cory never had to work, she just wanted it to be a surprise!  She is the sweetest girl!  She even made gnocchis, which I ate regularly in Argentina, and had just been mentioning them a few weeks earlier.

For all who are wondering, we are still in love!

Emergency Preparedness Fair

Cory and I are the Emergency Preparedness couple at church, and this weekend the stake had a big Emergency Preparedness fair.  We oversaw the emergency car kits booth, and it was a hit.  A lot of people came by and made comments like, "Oh my gosh, this is such a good idea.  We really need to do this."  It made us feel productive, and it was nice to feel like we were helping people.  Cory used her new Silhouette machine to make the sign, and Brother Fillerup provided us with some of the things he keeps in his car for our display.  It really doesn't take that much to just make sure you have a few necessities in the car in case of an emergency.

Busy at the MTC

The work rolls forward at the MTC.  Here are the past couple of districts that have come through my classroom.

L to R: Elder Newell, Elder Beal, Elder Tillotson, Elder Morgan, Me, Sister Patera, Sister Winkleman, Back L to R: Sister Lara, Sister Killpack

L to R: Elder Stanger, Elder Warner, Elder Hansen, Me, Elder Legierri, Elder Lentsch, Elder Wyatt

Mazda CX-7

As some of you know, Cory was in a car accident in late December, and the insurance proceedings have been a major headache.  I will leave it at that.  Cory has told the story a lot more than I have, but I think it is safe to say we are both sick of re-living it.  Moral of the story: Collision insurance is worth the mulah.  Here is Cory's poor Honda at the salvage yard.

Knowing that we might not get any money from the insurance company for quite some time, we made the decision together that it was time to invest in the future, so we started to look around for a new (used) car.  We ended up finding one that we loved in our price range, and signed on the dotted line.  Say hello to the new member of the Gilmore family!

I currently drive a Mazda 3, and made sure Cory understood that by doing this, we would be staring our very own Mazda fleet.  Long story short, I now go by Commodore Gilmore.