Here in Illinois

Well folks, it's about time we told you about Illinois. To be honest, after getting home from Europe, we were both really psyched up to come out here and face some new adventures. I mean, moving to a remote area, far away from family, friends and familiarity (say that 3 times fast) -- that's the definition of adventure. (Take my word for it, I looked it up).

Now that we're out here, adventure isn't always peak of the rollercoaster, or screaming downward at 60 mph. There's always the uphill climb. And boy can that part take a long time. Have you ever gotten stuck climbing the first ramp of a rollercoaster? And it takes like 10 or 20 minutes for the teenage-techinicians to figure out the problem and start the coaster back up? Well we're kinda in that position. We know good things are coming, and we're working hard to make them happen, but they just haven't come yet. And anticipation is a killer. So we make due. And we find happiness along the way.

One fortunate blessing was that our apartment turned out to be a pretty decent find. We were scared at first because we found it on the internet. There were no pictures of the actual apartments, just pictures of the picturesque surroundings. "The Garden Court" complex. Well, there are lots of pretty gardens, and luckily the apartment is fine too. It only had a tinge of cigarette smoke smell.So, what have we been doing since we got here? Well watching TV of course! We were really excited to sign up for cable and get a DVR box. It's a pretty sweet invention. Reinventing the wheel and all that. So we have watched a bunch of TV shows -- both on the TV and Computer.

Here's a list of what's hot in the household:
* The 4400
* The Office
* 24
* Arrested Development
* Star Trek: The Next Generation (that's right...we're trekkies)
* Whose Line is it Anyways?
* Inside the Actors Studio
* 30-Minute Meals (Rachel Ray rules!)
* Amazing Race 10

As for school and jobs, well Brad's school is going ok. Not too difficult for now. It's kinda the same old engineering stuff. He is taking a robotics class which is pretty interesting. He has a job as an on-call tech support consultant. And he has agreed to help a professor restructure some labwork for an undergrad class. The problem is that right now he isn't being paid for that work. The professor is in "negotiations" to see if he can get some extra money, but nothing yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed because it'll pay for his tuition and give him a monthly stipend. Celeste is super frustrated trying to find a job. There's nothing in the way of theater, or theater teaching. That leaves clerical work, or substitue teaching, and it is just so tough to find a job. It really is who you know, not what you know. So she is ready to split at the seams with boredom and anger, but she manages. Hopefully we'll make it into Urinetown, the musical, and that will give us a creative and fun outlet.

Well that about raps it up.