Water, Rain, and Mist

I've never been as drenched as I was this weekend.
This weekend the Shoup's came to NY where it rained the entire time. But that's not why I got so wet. We spent a day at Niagara Falls where we got splashed by the waterfall from the Cave of the Winds, sprinkled with mist upon the Maid of the Mist, and completely soaked on the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour. The falls were beautiful and the attractions we a lot of fun. The biggest adventure for me was the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour that took us out on the raging waters of Niagara River white-water rafting style, except with out the raft and paddles.
When you get there, they make you sign a form, which we rushed through to catch the tour, but I'm sure it said something along the lines of " This tour will have you praying more in one hour than you have prayed in your whole life. If you aren't close with God now, you will be in a few minutes. By boarding the jet boat, you are agreeing to probably the craziest thing in the whole world, and we can't be held responsible for the words that come out of your mouth when you come face to face with the raging rapids. If you bring a small chid, you may want to put earplugs in his/her ears. By signing this form, you are basically signing your life away, and therefore, we encourage you to upgrade your life insurance plan prior to taking this tour. Enjoy the ride!"
My dear husband suggested we take the front seat of the boat that would eventually charge through class 5 rapids (class 6 being the highest and pretty much impossible to run). So we donned the wool sweaters they give you because not only are you going on crazy huge rapids, but the water that will be drenching you is frigid. Then they give you a windbreaker that is basically a joke because you think it will keep the water off of you, but there's no hope of that happening. Next, is the only mandatory piece of equipment - a life jacket. This so called "life" jacket hangs around your throat making it harder to take those big deep breaths that are important right before a gigantic rapid hits you fully in the face. Then you get on the boat where there are no seat belts and shallow walls. Clearly it was designed so you wouldn't miss a single drop of water. The tour advertises 3 runs through the class 5 rapid aptly named "Devil's Hole" but lucky for us, we had time to take a "bonus" ride. I swear, if Eric hadn't been sitting right next to me, I would have believed it was his ploy to get rid of me (and after only 2 years of marriage!). But somehow we made it through and ended up having a ton of fun!
When we got back to Ithaca, we had lots of rain. We sloshed through the mud to get to the Farmer's Market, braved the rain and humidity on the wine trail, and "swam" through downtown for dinner. But everything was great and we had a blast with Eric's parents. The only thing that could have made it better is if we could have had more time to spend with them. It was a quick, action-packed trip, but it was so worth it to see our family.

Going for the Gold

Several weeks ago I opened my big mouth and told the owner of the company I work for that I would "LOVE" to go golfing with him and some others the next time he was down to visit our office. When he told me to find a course and set up a tee time, I realized I had made a mistake. I haven't picked up a golf club, much less golfed, in well over a year. Now I was going to have to make a fool of myself in front of the person who signs my paychecks. I tried to "accidentally" forget to schedule a morning for golf, but a week or so later, he reminded me. So I dusted off my clubs and started praying for rain.

God only gave me a sprinkle of rain today. I guess I should have been a little more specific. So this morning the owner, my direct supervisor's husband, and I all met at Cornell's golf course to play 9 holes. I arrived at the course early to putt around and try to get a feel for the greens (and to try to spot some lightening and convince the course manager to close for the day). On the practice green I putted like Tiger Woods! I was amazed at how well I was doing after not playing in so long. Things were looking up!

Then we tee'd off and my ball went every way BUT straight! Geez! This was going to be a looooooong morning. A few holes later I hit my direct supervisor's husband! At least I got the owner to laugh...

After I relaxed a little, I played much better and even out drove the men a few times! I finished 2nd overall and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I think I'm even going to get to keep my job! Not bad for a Tuesday.

Holy Baseball!

Eric and I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, NY, last week and all I have to say is "Holy Baseball!" I knew it would be full of baseball memorabilia, but I can't even explain how overloaded my brain felt after that trip. All I wanted to see was the asterisk by Barry Bonds home run ball, but that wasn't even there! So I was surrounded by pre-pubescent boys all running around like pre-pubescent boys do, looking around for an asterisk that wasn't even there! While it was baseball overload, I did enjoy the Babe Ruth room. But my favorite was the room dedicated to the women. It had original uniforms (just like the little dresses from A League of Their Own) and photos of the women. It also talked about how the women had to go through charm school to learn how to wear makeup and how to fix their hair so they could look like little ladies on and off the field! It was a fun little room, but it was also the same room where the pre-pubescent boys acted the craziest. I wanted to rip one of those baseball bats out of the exhibit and threaten their lives with it, but I refrained.
The trip to Cooperstown was an adventure in itself. We traveled down windy, bumpy, country roads the whole 2 hours and then when we were about 20 miles from Cooperstown, we finally got a highway. I was just very thankful for the GPS system we have or we would have had a heck of a time trying to get there.
All in all, it was a good day off of work and hanging out with Eric. We had a lot of fun laughing and looking at some really neat baseball stuff and I believe my baseball fix has been satisfied for probably my ENTIRE life now.

Lately...

I know it has been awhile since I've written anything so I'll update you on what's been going on with the Shoups lately.

Eric and I are both out of class right now, which is great! I get to come home from work everyday and actually spend time with my husband. Imagine that! This is a luxury we have not had since we started classes last August.

I have been busy working with Habitat for Humanity - I'm currently writing about 5 stories for them. I am also working on my internship, which is conveniently located where I work so I do a lot for that during work hours. I plan to wrap that up in the next month. I am creating a marketing plan for the Ithaca location of Comfort Keepers, which is an in-home care service for seniors.

Eric is still working on his thesis, playing video games and taking care of the dogs. They seem to have a lot of fun together!

Last month we flew to Missouri for Eric's cousin's wedding, which was beautiful. I finally got to meet Eric's grandpa and he is absolutely adorable! It was great to see the rest of Eric's family that I haven't seen since the wedding and to hang out with his parent's and brother. It was a quick trip, but it was a lot of fun.

We went to Union Station while we were there and there was an exhibit that was all about the human body. The coolest part about the exhibit was that it used REAL human bodies to show every part of the body. It was amazing! You could see everything from blood vessels, major organs, bones, and well, EVERYTHING! There were even some diseased organs on display and those made me want to puke, but it also made me want to take better care of my body, too. I had never been to an exhibit like that, but it was highly educational and very interesting.

While we were away, the dogs stayed at a vet's office - not the luxurious doggie B&B Princess was used to staying at, but we had to get them up-to-date on their shots. When we dropped them off, Eric made the quick decision to have Sarge neutered! Poor Sarge! He didn't know what was going to hit him once we left. But it's best that we took care of that while he was young. I just felt bad for the little guy. So when we picked them up, Princess was super excited to see us while Sarge seemed a little reserved. He got over it though and now they are back to normal - acting as crazy as possible.

We took the dogs out to a field today to play ball and run around. It's important to let them run that extra energy off! We are having such great weather right now, so it is nice to be outside in the sun. I don't even know if it got into the 80s today! That's just how I like my summers.

Other than hanging out with the dogs, working and writing thesis papers and PR stories, we haven't been up to much lately. Wednesday we are meeting Eric's college roommate, Brian, at the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, NY. It should be a lot of fun! So, more on that later!

Maryland, SOJA, and the hot, hot sun

This past weekend I went to Ocean City, Maryland, with a co-worker/friend, Amber, to see a reggae group she's been following called SOJA - or Soldiers of Jah Army. We had a great time and the concert was tons of fun. This band is from the East Coast and plays mostly East Coast venues. I decided that since I had never been to Maryland, I should go. The band was fantastic and I had such a great time with Amber and her family. Unfortunately, while we were there the weather got scorching hot. It was in the upper 90's and the house we stayed at had no air conditioning! I know - being from Texas I should be used to the heat. But in Texas, we have it set up so the only time we have to feel hot is when we go from our car to the building. Otherwise, it's a very comfortable 75 degrees all year long! When I got back to Ithaca, it wasn't much cooler. Actually, today the bank thermometer said it was 103 degrees!!! Amazing! This is New York! I'm shocked and appalled at how many venues in town do not have central air. Luckily, Eric and I happened to rent one of the only apartments in town with central air. And trust me, this was purely accidental. (I thought every building in the world automatically came with central air!) Who knew it could get so hot?! The good thing though is that it is supposed to get back down in the 70s where it belongs by the end of the week. In Texas, the 103 degree weather lasts for much longer than one day. Thank goodness it's just a freak occurrence here.
Other than being really hot here, not too much else has been going on. Eric had his final in his Team Building class where the whole class had to prepare a seven course meal. The morning of the final I woke up to him packing up kitchen gadgets, including his beloved stand mixer. I had to ask to make sure he wasn't leaving me! If he ever did, I know he'd take that mixer and the TV! But lucky for me, the TV was still there so I knew he wouldn't be gone for too long! He came back about 8 hours later. The final went well (which surprises me a little because I know how Eric likes to have the kitchen to himself.) I think he even learned a few new recipes. So he's done with Team Building but he still has his class on Motivation to finish.
My class (Crisis Communication) is still going great. It's gotten me slightly more paranoid because we're always talking about worse case scenarios. If I haven't told you already - learn how to text message. It's one of the best ways of communicating in a crisis when all other forms of technology either don't work or are too overloaded to work. So other than that, I'm really loving the class. You wouldn't believe some of the case studies we look at. It amazes me how heartless some companies can be. On a less horrible note, I meet with my grad advisor tomorrow to set up an internship for me. It will be in Marketing and PR. After this semester, I think Eric and I are going to have the second summer session off. At least I hope so. We have been pretty busy this session.
I'm also doing volunteer work for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter doing Public and Media Relations. I submitted my first article to them and they seemed to like it. Once it's posted I'll send a link. Now I have another one to write - I'll be interviewing the chapter president who is retiring after 9 years of service. They want me to capture the history of those 9 years and I feel really honored to do so. I'm also working on a few other smaller press releases for them, too.
Sarge and Princess are doing great. Sarge still hates the heat - let's hope we don't move somewhere too warm for Eric's Ph. D program! Princess spends most of her days lounging around and Sarge spends most of his days trying to get a rise out of her. He is a little pest! I guess that's typical of little brothers...
Everything else is going great. If you're interested in reggae music, you should check out the band I saw this weekend. Their website is www.sojamusic.com

To Texas and Back

Well, I FINALLY made it to Texas - 6 hours later than I was due to arrive. I had a 4 hour delay in Ithaca and a 2 hour delay in Philadelphia. Luckily my trip back went without delay. One of my flights even left early!
It was great to see my family and friends. I had so much fun with Summit at the zoo and at Sea World! He just keeps getting bigger and smarter. And of course, more adorable! We had action packed days of swimming in the pool, having water gun fights, playing trucks, and digging in the dirt. But now that I'm back in Ithaca, it's back to reality...for some people anyway. Yesterday, my friend Amber and I were driving around and this hippie in coveralls and a floppy hat whipped out a flute and started playing it while he walked around looking at plants. I wish I had my camera with me.
So for the rest of us not playing flutes around town,
There's school:
Eric started classes yesterday - he's taking Motivation and Team Building. One of the projects for Team Building will be to cook a 7 course meal as a class for his professor. It might be challenging for him to let someone else cook with him in the kitchen!! I've learned that lesson... :-)
I start my class, Crisis Communication, tonight. It should be interesting, and I'm excited to see my school friends again. I'm also working with my thesis advisor to fine tune my topic and find resources. I think it will be interesting. I'll divulge my topic once it's set.
There's work:
Teresa, the general manger at work is at a "conference" in Arizona this week. I say, "Conference" because there is a spa and swimming pools with swim up bars and it just happens to be at a resort...doesn't sound so bad. Amber and I are holding down the fort at the office and so far (knock on wood) things have been going smoothly. We move to our new office next week and I can't wait! It's huge and we got to pick our own paint colors and carpet and when Teresa gets back, we get to go shopping for all of the decorations! It's great!
And there's life:
Gas has reached $4.15 a gallon, and I think I'm going to have to sell one of my kidneys to buy my next tank of gas!!! It's either that or take the bus and quite frankly, surgery sounds like more fun to me than taking the city bus!
The dogs are doing great! Sarge doesn't seem to like the heat too much. His coat is very full now and he gets hot pretty easily. But it doesn't keep him from pestering Princess. She's so good to put up with it. At the end of the day, I know they love each other and sometimes they even snuggle up when we're not looking.

Other than that, things are going great. Eric and I are excited about Chris's wedding and seeing his family. I can't wait to meet the rest of his family and see those I've already met!

I've Got the Airport Blues

I should be on the second leg of my flight right now, but instead, I'm siting at the airport which is about 5 blocks from my apartment where I'm sure Eric and the dogs are sound asleep. My flight out of Ithaca was scheduled for 5:30 this morning, but it is now almost 8 a.m. and the only journey I've taken is the one through the security check.
There is no food on this side of the security checkpoint and people are getting angry. I just want to get to Texas to see my family!
The customer service rep just got on the speaker to announce that the mechanic is only 15 minutes away. Where has he been all this time? They new the plane was broken at 5 o'clock this morning when thy weren't letting us board it. Are there no extra airplanes hanging out around here?! Talk about not having a back up plan.
Hopefully I will get to Philly to catch a 9:30 flight, but it's looking pretty grim. I guess I better go schedule another flight.
Wish me luck!!!

My Google Dream

My newest career goal is to get a job at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA. Visit this link to get a glimpse into why Google has been rated the # 1 company in America to work for.

Some of the other cool things they do is provide a nap time where you can go to a pod to listen to music or catch a few Z's. There are even people zipping around the Googleplex campus on electric scooters! But, because they are so great they get approximately 3 resumes a second. So I basically have a  year to figure out how to make my resume stand out from the other 2 which will be submitted at the very second I submit mine. Any ideas?

Long Time, No Post

Well, it's been awhile since I last wrote. Things got really busy around here and although I wasn't working, I was running around everywhere! So let me catch you up on a couple of changes:

1. I'm no longer a house wife!!!!! Hooray!!!! I was going so crazy. Ithaca's mall is not even close to being big enough to keep me entertained. Also, as soon as I had quit my job, my friends had all gotten jobs. It was just me and the dogs and HGTV. Eric was getting pretty tired of all of the design shows!! Thankfully, I've started working with my old boss from Ithaca Rentals. She is the General Manager of Comfort Keepers of Ithaca, an in-home care and companion service for seniors. I'm working part-time as a receptionist, and it's working out great. I work 4 hours a day which gives me something to do, and I really like working for Teresa.

2. I guess in a backlash from having very few responsibilities over the past month, I have also put in my resume to do volunteer PR/Media Relations work for Habitat for Humanity. I will meet with someone next week to discuss the position. It will be a great opportunity for me to test out the field and work for a great organization.

Sarge has fully integrated into our family and runs around like he owns the place. He and Princess are like real brother and sister - always playing and being noisy! They LOVE getting into trouble together. They are the sweetest when they're sleeping!!!

Although I wasn't working, I still hardly ever saw Eric! He spends a lot of time on campus working on all of the research projects he's involved in. He's currently spending a lot of time in the lab doing data collection for a squat study and a body awareness study as well as working on his thesis. When he's not at school, he's busy being studious or watching ESPN.

Eric and I both got pretty excited because we had been having multiple days of sunshine and there was no snow left on the ground. But that all ended the other night when we got a lot of snow. Today was sunny so some of it has melted which only creates ice at night when it gets really cold. Hopefully that was the last snow. I'm SO over winter!

Next weekend I leave for a conference in NYC. I'll be there from Saturday through Tuesday and will be there to attend some sessions and rub elbows with important people in the field of communications! I think it will be a lot of fun. 

Well, that is basically the run down of everything that has been going on at the Shoup Coop. We hope everyone is doing well. We miss our families, but are excited about the upcoming trips to see them.  

In a Nut Shell

Today is my first day as a "House Wife" and so far, so good! Actually, I haven't gotten much done due to these crazy dogs! Sarge has really come out of his shell. He loves to run and play and pick on Princess who is literally 10 times his weight. But she's been really good with him. They play with each other's toys and chase each other around the apartment. They are both insane, and I just play my part as referee. Being a house wife is not nearly as glamorous as I thought it would be.

Eric and I decided I would quit my full time job because working 40 + hours a week, being a full-time student, working on my internship, and participating on the executive board for International Association for Business Communicators (IABC) was too much. I also want to do a Summer internship so I'm going to try to put something together while I've got time during the day. 

I was really hoping that since I'm not at work all day, I would get to see Eric more, but his lab project eats up a lot of his time. He also spends quite a bit of time working on his assistantship and his thesis. He took a mini-mester in January and plans to take another one in May. Then he should graduate in December of this year. I should finish in May of 2009.  Eric has started looking at doctorate programs and one common theme of the schools he's looked in to is they are all located in an area with WARM WEATHER!! Winter just lasts way too long here! I am SO ready to hang up my coat for the season. It snows. Then the sun comes out and melts the snow. Then it's muddy. Then it snows again. And it happens all over again. Speaking of which, we're expecting a pretty big storm tomorrow. I guess that means it will be muddy next week...

A New Year, A New Way

So far, 2008 has been Great!

Classes are going well for both Eric and me, and we're really keeping busy. Eric is working on a research project where he spends a lot of time in the lab, and I'm on the executive board for International Association of Business Communicators.

Because we have gotten so busy, I thought I would start this blog so that communicating with family and friends could be a little more convenient. I'll write as much as I can as often as I can. If nothing posts for a little while, it just means we're probably spending time on a paper, project, or buried in the hundreds of pages of reading we have assigned to us!

So just to catch some people up to speed: Eric and I moved to Ithaca, NY, last August to pursue Master's degrees. Eric is studying Sports Psychology, and I'm studying Organizational Communication. We're both really enjoying our programs, and we are looking forward to the next phase in our life. After we finish our programs, Eric will begin a doctorate program in Psychology so he can teach at the university level, and I will hopefully start a fabulous career in training and development...or marketing and PR...or whatever else interests me for the time being!

Ithaca is a neat little college town located in the Finger Lakes Region. It is also the North American seat to His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. We are enjoying our time here, but I have decided that I prefer the warmer months! 

Along with Eric and myself, the Shoup Group consists of our 3 year old Staffordshire Terrier, Princess, and our newest member, Sarge, an 11 week old black Pomeranian. The dogs (shhh, don't tell them they're dogs!) really keep things exciting around here and provide lots of entertainment to us and our friends.

I'm excited to share our lives with you, and I hope you enjoy this blog. Check back often for updates. Eric and I send our love and hope that we will be able to see you soon. We miss our family and friends a lot, but we're really having a great experience here.