Doing Well

I haven't really posted lately about how things are going, so you can probably guess that means pretty well. We haven't been up to much, yet at the same time we are staying pretty busy, figure that one out. Last weekend we went to Cleveland to the Browns game, I hadn't been to a game since I was a kid, so Jason sacrificed and took me up there, since it was my birthday and all. What a good husband I have. Then this weekend my parents, Grampa, Aunt Vic, and mother-in-law came to the big town of Toledo and took us out for steaks and showered me with gifts for turning the big 2-5 which may quite frankly be my last birthday, I know most of the time they say 29 is it, but why bother? Just kidding. All in all the Raikes are doing well, living life, and loving every minute of it. This week Jason has a golf outing, his last of the season, he might just freeze his tail off. The countdown is on until the OSU vs michigan game. Other than that I have November 11 off for Veteran's Day, so I'm heading to Columbus to see the nephew growing up everyday. That is it for now..until next time take care and smile because it's not that bad, and it could always be worse.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending. Consumers will spend over $2.5 Billion during Halloween. That's a whole lot of candy, costumes, decorations, and party goods.
Growing big pumpkins is a big time hobby. And, serious at that. Top prize money for the biggest giant pumpkin is as much as $25,000 dollars at fall festivals. The current world record for giant pumpkins is 1446 pounds.
The Origin of Halloween
Halloween's roots can be traced back to Celtic culture in Ireland. According to their "Druid" religion, November 1st was New Years' on their calendar. The celebration would begin on October 31st ,and last into the following day. The spirits of all who died in the prior year, would rise up and roam the earth on this night.
This is an evil night when spirits roamed the streets and villages. Lord Samhain, the lord of Darkness, would arrive in search of the spirits to take them to the underworld.
Halloween as it is currently celebrated with costumes, trick or treat, and superstitions, takes from this Druid Holiday. All Hallows Eve
Halloween was commonly referred to as "All Hollows" Eve. It originated from the pagan holiday honoring the dead. The Roman Catholic Church created All Saints Day (also called Hallomas) on November 1st to honor Saints and All Souls Day on November 2and to honor and pray for the souls of the dead. These holidays were created by the church, in part to downplay the pagan holidays. Needless to say, it did not succeed. Halloween as we know it today, has grown from the ancient Druid Holiday. Along the way both fun, frights, and Satanic twists have been added to the mix.
The First Jack O'Lantern
The Irish carved Turnips and put coals or small candles inside. They were placed outside their homes on All Hallow's Eve to ward off evil spirits. They were also known to use potatoes and Rutabagas.
When Irish Immigrants came to America, they quickly discovered that Jack O'Lanterns were much easier to carve out and began using them. This truly neat tradition quickly spread to the general population in America and elsewhere.
Others believe that the Trick or Treating
It is believed that the Irish began the tradition of Trick or Treating. In preparation for All Hallow's Eve, Irish townsfolk would visit neighbors and ask for contributions of food for a feast in the town. irst Jack O'Lanterns came from the Story of Stingy Jack.
In any event, this is where Halloween is said to come from. I think the way it is done now is much better. It gives kids a chance to be kids, and adults too! Happy Halloween, hope you all have a great day!

Warning!

-On a lawnmower I had was a big label which read: "WARNING WHEN MOTOR IS RUNNING- THE BLADE IS TURNING!"
-We once bought a grocery store pizza and the instruction were on the bottom, so we turned it upside down to see how long to cook it etc., and low and behold the first instruction was DO NOT TURN UPSIDE DOWN!
-Warning on a curling iron: Do Not Insert Curling Iron Into Any Bodily Orifice…
-My bathroom has inadequate ventilation and therefore, develops mold spots in the lower corners. I attempted to purchase a cleaner specifically designed to remove bathroom mold deposits. The directions on the product label stated, "Only use in well ventilated areas."
-Seen on the bottom of a Coca-Cola bottle: "Do not open here."
-On a bottle of spray paint: "Do not spray in your face."
-On a bottle of bathtub cleaner: For best results, start with clean bathtub before use.
-On a container of lighter fluid: WARNING: Contents flammable!
-On a bottle of hand lotion: Warning: Starts healing skin on contact.
-On a box of household nails: CAUTION! - Do NOT swallow nails! May cause irritation!
-Microwave popcorn is packaged so that the directions cannot be read unless you open the plastic and unfold it. Direction #1 is Remove plastic.
-On a television commercial that says it cleans dentures 4 times better. Below in small print it said "Lab test: (their product) vs. water.
-On a television commercial I saw it said they their denture paste was better than any other. BELOW IT, it said in small letters, vs. using no adhesive.
-I have a full-face motorcycle helmet with a giant arrow pointing to the front. I can only guess that some idiot put the helmet on backwards, jumped on a bike and hurt himself. This is to protect to manufacturer from future lawsuits.
-One day I went to a wall-mart out of state and I went to buy a blow dryer when I read the warnings it said "DO NOT BLOW DRY IN SLEEP"
-Seen on the back of a drink bottle label: "Do not peel label off."
-On a Band-Aid box: "For serious injuries, seek medical attention."
-On a can of powdered infant formula: "Mix with water before serving." Like I'm going to spoon it to my baby dry!
-This stupid label was found on a can of Woolite carpet cleaner: "Safe for carpets, too!"
-On a plastic orange juice can: "100% pure all-natural fresh-squeezed orange juice from concentrate."
-I once saw an ad for some type of contest on a candy bar. The wrapper said "No purchase necessary - Details Inside."
-Directions for eating Lunchables Nachos: Dip chips in cheese and salsa.
-The golf carts on the course I worked at have warning labels saying, "Not for highway use."
-On Clorox Fresh Care: (for cleaning out odors from fabric) "Safe to use in households with pets Warning: Fresh Care is NOT intended to be sprayed directly on pets."
-On the back of the Pilots seat on NATO AWAC Aircraft (E-3A), is a sign that states: "Seat must be facing forward for take off and landing."
-I came upon a bottle of children's cough medicine stating "Caution: May cause drowsiness; do not drive or operate heavy machinery"
-Seen on a container of salt:Warning: High in sodium
-Seen on computer instructions: Visit our site for further instructions. http://www.pc.com/pc/instructions.htm
-On a hose nozzle there was a warning that said: "Do not spray into electrical outlet."
-Seen on an industrial size washer in our local laundry establishment was the (large lettered) sign: "Warning: Do not put any person in this washer."
-There is also a stroller on the market with the warning, "Remove child before folding."
-I saw a car ad depicting cars driving in the water with fins like sharks. At the end of the ad in small letters it read: "Caution, do not drive underwater"

Some people....

Chicago: A man was wanted for throwing bricks through jewelry store windows and making off with the loot. He was arrested last night after throwing a brick into a Plexiglas window...the brick bounced back, hit him in the head and knocked him cold until the police got there.
Portsmouth, RI: Police charged Gregory Rosa, 25, with a string of vending machine robberies in January when he: 1. fled from police inexplicably when they spotted him loitering around a vending machine and 2. later tried to post his $400 bail in coins.
Kentucky: Two men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, though, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home. With the chain still attached to the machine. With their bumper still attached to the chain. With their vehicle's license plate still attached to the bumper
A man was arrested for stealing a car. When he was taken to court for his arraignment the judge asked, how do you plead? Instead of saying guilty or not guilty the man said: "Before we go any further, judge, let me explain why I stole the car." The judge ruled in record time.
A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously waving revolvers. The first one shouted, "Nobody move!" When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.
Burglars in Larch Barrens, Md., tried to cut through a safe using a Laser Tag gun.
Now that's funny, I don't care who you are!
Have a good day!

Ever wonder why?

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

Worthless but interesting

Coca-Cola was originally green.
23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.
More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
No piece of square dry paper can be folded in half more than 7 times
The people who make school kitchens, also make electric chairs.
An average human loses about 200 head hairs per day.

Things that make you go hmmm...

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning
When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop ... even your heart!
Only 7% of the population are lefties.
The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
Just some more crud to fill your mind, probably stuff you'll never need to know, but hey now you know.

Don't Try This At Home

It is impossible to lick your elbow.
Yoy can't sneeze with your eyes open.
About a third of all Americans flush the toilet while they're still sitting on it.
It is impossible to bite your ear.
If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib.
Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
Groaking is to watch people eating in hopes that they will offer you some.
Daily, you will breathe in 1 liter of other people's anal gases.
During an hour's swimming at a municipal pool, you will ingest 1/12 liter of urine.

and now you know....
have a great weekend!

Hungry?

The estimated number of M & M’s sold each day in the United States is 200,000,000.
Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave
A hard-boiled egg will spin. An uncooked or soft-boiled egg will not.
The five favorite U.S. school lunches nationwide, according to the American School Food Service Association, are, in order, pizza, chicken nuggets, tacos, burritos, and hamburgers.
The number 57 on a Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickle the company once had.
Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where it was first developed.
There are 2,000,000 different combinations of sandwiches that can be created from a SUBWAY menu.

Did you know...

The dollar symbol ($) is a U combined with an S (U.S.)
Pigs don't sweat
The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck
Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time
The silhouette on the NBA logo is Jerry West
The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew
A coat hanger is 44 inches long if straightened
Cat's urine glows under a blacklight
The pitches that Babe Ruth hit for his last-ever homerun and that Joe DiMaggio hit for his first-ever homerun where thrown by the same man
Every two thousand frowns creates one wrinkle
Now that everyone is just a little smarter after reading this...get back to work you slackers! :) Have a good day, and no frowning allowed!

Funny

did you know a turtle can breathe through its butt?

Random Fact

There are 293 different ways to make change for a dollar.
Happy Monday!

THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE STUFF I WILL BE POSTING...
SOMETHING RANDOM: The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU THINK: Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet (2 m) away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE: The average person spends about 2 years on the phone in a lifetime.
SOMETHING STUPID: Kansas state law requires pedestrians crossing the highways at night to wear tail lights.
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH: Going out to eat is like paying to poop.

Something New/Something for Everyone

I HAVE DECIDED TO TRY AND POST DAILY (maybe not on weekends), BUT I THINK THAT I WOULD LIKE TO EITHER PUT SOMETHING RANDOM, SOMETHING FUNNY, SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU THINK, SOMETHING THAT JUST MAKES YOU SMILE, OR SOMETHING JUST PLAIN STUPID. JUST THOUGHT I WOULD TRY THIS AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE VISIT AND MAKE SOME COMMENTS. HOPE TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BREAK FROM THE RAT RACE WE LIVE IN OR BETTER YET, HOW ABOUT A BREAK FROM REALITY. I AM LISTENING TO THE TV RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE, HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD ABOUT THE LADY WHO JUST HAD HER 16TH KID? THAT IS REALLY TRUE AND NO THIS ISN'T WHAT MY DAILY POSTS WILL USUALLY ENTAIL, BUT I THINK THAT IS PRETTY WHACK. THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS THE LADY WAS PREGANAT FOR LIKE 16 YEARS, THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT! AS FOR THE WEEKEND, NOT TOO MUCH GOING ON, LAYING LOW WHICH IS SOMETIMES JUST WHAT WE NEED. I'M HEADING TO D-TOWN TOMORROW MORNING TO HANG OUT WITH MY MOM AND GRAMPA, I ALSO GOTTA GET MY SWEATERS THAT MY MOTHER IS SO GRACIOUSLY STORING FOR ME. THE WAY I SEE IT, MY BROTHER MOVED OUT AND STILL HAD STUFF AND HOME FOR ABOUT 7 YEARS AND I HAVE AT LEAST TWICE AS MUCH AS HE DOES SO I SHOULD BE GOOD FOR ABOUT 14 YEARS, WELL UNLESS MY MADRE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT. HOPEFULLY WE CAN JUST GET A HOUSE SOON AND THEN IT WILL ALL BE GOOD. WELL HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GOOD WEEKEND, ENJOY THE WEATHER I HEAR IT'S GONNA BE GREAT! UNTIL NEXT TIME....

All is Well

Everything is going really well. I just got off a three day weekend, gotta love those holidays. I was able to see Clark who is just a little cuter everytime I see him. He wasn't in the best mood, but he was still pretty good. It's so cool just watching him everytime I get to see him, get a little bigger and more mobile. He was crawling this time, not just scooting with his arms like last time. He is pretty easily entertained and so am I so we were able to make each other laugh! Got to see Adam for a little bit and Mary Beth for a little tiny bit. Grampa, Vic, and I went we had a nice visit and today it's back to the office. Over the weekend we got to watch the Buckeyes suck it up pretty good over at our friends house Steve and Erin. It wasn't the best time we ever had, Steve is a Michigan fan and they also lost so it was a pretty solemn day all in all. Sunday Jason got a round of golf in and I was able to spend a little time with my good friend Rachel. That is about the gist of the weekend. Nothing too much else going on, for right now anyways. I have my allergy test tomorrow morning, yippy skippy, really looking forward to that. Maybe they will fix me though. Hope everyone is doing well! Until next time....

Jason at his first ever Cubs game, like a kid in a candy store 

On the up and up....

Thought I would put some of these pics up, Jason's cousin took these, thought they turned out pretty good. This way if you weren't able to make it to the wedding you can see some of the highlights. As for us, things are going pretty well. We haven't been feeling too hot lately, but we are slowly trying to recover. Good news is I found out I don't need surgery for the cyst they found in my sinus, they are relating all my problems to my allergies, gee imagine that. So I'm having another allergy test done in about 2 weeks, so I hope that will clear up some questions and get me feeling better. They say that NW Ohio is one of the worst places for people with asthma and allergies and Toledo is up there in like the top 10 worst, so that could be a problem. As for Toledo, Jason and I really like it here. There is always something to do and we are at a pretty good location. The new job is going well, I have just been doing some odds and ends of things, some training stuff and helping out with some outreach stuff for Medicare Part D, don't know if any of you follow that kind of stuff, but it is a pretty big deal. I won't actually get into my job training until November for the first part and then December starts round 2 until March, so I won't actually get into my job until sometime after March, but I will be learning quite a bit in the meantime, they have assigned me a mentor who has been there for over 10 years, she is super nice and knows what she is talking about so that will help out big time. I know that this was the right move for me and I am just really excited about everything that has been happening the past few months. I mean, I had an awesome wedding, married the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, and now my career is taking the path I wanted it to. Jason and I were talking the other night about how lucky we are. We both have secure jobs that pay well, but the biggest thing is we actually enjoy what we are doing. To me that is so much more important than how much you make. I see my brother and sister-in-law struggling to make it on the income they have, but I don't really ever hear them complain about it, they do what they can, and Adam is making a difference in the life of so many young people. I know that he gets frustrated sometimes but he really is good at what he does and they do what they hafta to get by, I think a lot of people could learn from them. Then Andy, my lil bro, is doing what he loves not making a ton of money, but he has recently had some offers to go to Wittenburg in Springfield and work for his old boss, unfortunately the money was better but just not quite enough to make it. He is good at what he does and he enjoys it, that is the most important thing. The other things come in time, everything eventually falls into place. Watching Adam, Mary Beth, and Clark live on not much extra at the end of the month shows that Adam does have a good heart and a lot of love for God and what he does. He could probably easily change the direction of his career and his life but he has set his heart on bringing youth to Christ for now at least and he does such a good job. Sometimes, we get down in our lives and think we have nothing else to offer, it's at that point when we don't have anything else to offer, never set limits on yourself because if you do, you limit what you can do. Jason and I are indeed blessed to have found each other and now in our lives together we continue to be blessed everyday. We need to constantly remember what our place here on earth is and strive for the common goal, to be a good person and to please God in everything we do.

...............and they lived happily ever after 

I sure hope my mom was just giving him money for our dollar dance, otherwise this picture doesn't look to good! 

We are blessed to have so many close friends 

We only had a few guys in the wedding....I guess Jason is pretty popular 

The cutest little flower girl ever! My cousin Morgan :) 

Jason and his parents....they should be smiling, I mean look who he married.... 

Here is our little ring bearer again, "the mother-in-law" haha, and Jason's Aunt Linda 

Here is the bridal party at the church, but yeah I have some tall friends and you can't see all the guys....but thought it was a pretty good snapshot otherwise 

Here's a picture of my dad and I, it's still neat to look back at these pictures, it was just an awesome experience, that I'll never go through again. 

Here's the man Frank Raike with Justin our ring bearer at the rehearsal thought this was a cute picture.