GREAT NEWS!!

I finally got a job and it is exactly what I was looking for! I am working in a veterinary pathology lab with the opportunity to train as a vet technician for the emergency vet center! I am sooo excited! This position(s) will provide me with an awesome learning experience and is perfect for the future of my career! I start officially on Monday! Wish me luck!

Between this new job and working part time serving I am not going to have a lot of spare time for hiking which makes me very sad! I am taking advantage of my day off tomorrow to go with my hiking group to DuPont State Forest to see more waterfalls! I was there last week but only stopped at Bridal Veil Falls. Tomorrow we will see three more, hopefully! In the next few days I will have pictures of the expedition on my online photo album; if you are interested the link is http://picasaweb.google.com/laurensprouse

Well that is all for now! Check back in a week or so to read more about my new job! (YAY!)
Thanks for following...

Wild animals, hikes, and new nephew...

Hello there!

So, yesterday I was driving through the neighborhood and I was stopped by a progressing line of wild turkey! Luckily, I had my camera with me and finally had the opportunity to get a pic! Everyone around here thinks it is silly that I get excited over the wild turkey... but I think it is fun! When I was in Ohio last week, I got excited about seeing a groundhog and my friend thought I was overstating the incident. I probably would have taken a picture of the groundhog too, if I had had my camera with me! I guess I just enjoy seeing animals that I do not get to see very often. The picture of turkey is the main pic for today's blog.

Well, since the last blog, I have moved into my new place, made a trip to Ohio to see my new nephew(!), continued in my job search, and spent free time hiking. My new nephew, Carter, is doing great... and so is the rest of his family! Kristen had the quickest delivery! Her water broke at 6am and by noon, she had a new baby boy... what a lucky girl! I stayed home for several days, visiting with friends and family. Going home is always enjoyable, but I was glad to get back to my new home in the mountains!

I have always loved hiking but have not done a whole lot of it. This is primarily because I never have had a group of friends that wanted to go out for more than an hour or was willing to drive more than an hour to get to a trail.... Well, that was before I moved to Asheville! I joined a hiking group and last Saturday I joined them in a hike through Panthertown Valley (which is at the base of Cold Mountain). The trail is listed as difficult, not really because of the terrain but because of the unmarked trails.. making it easy to get lost.. which we did!! All- in-all, the entire hike was 9 miles! It is funny that before I couldn't find people to go on a longer hike and now I find people that don't like to go on short hikes... oh well! that is fine with me! I am just glad that I now have a group of friends that like to discover new trails and are ready to spend the day hiking 'em! During this last hike we pasted 4 waterfalls, each one better then the last! I have pictures of the hike and the waterfalls posted on my online album if you are interested.

Well, until next time... thanks for following!

I wanted to talk a little about my new place! I will be renting the lower portion of a house in northern Asheville. The house is located in a nice neighborhood, partway up a small mountain. I will have my own entrance through the deck and a private bathroom. I am really excited about this place and hope that it works out well!!

Lions and tigers and bears!! Oh my!!
The owner of the house was telling me about the bears that wandering into the neighborhood! He said that last week he was outside with his dog when he heard a strange noise coming from the woods. After a little investigation he went back inside and looked out the windows and saw SIX black bear walking through the yard!! I thought.. "Wow! well.. this is quite different from seeing a few deer walk through your yard! and very different from Bedford, TX!!" Good thing black bears don't eat kitties!!

Anyways.. once I get moved in and have more information, I will be sure to let y'all know!

Thanks for following!

P.S. The pic above was taken from the Biltmore Estate earlier today. To see more pics like this one... visit my online photo album at

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurensprouse

First Blog from Asheville!!

So, it's been quite an adventure since my last day at CAR! As some of you may already know, I got off to a rough start in the move! The movers were supposed to arrive around noon on Thursday, but they never showed. After numerous calls, we finally gave up! Do not worry though; I will be writing a strongly worded letter! Without a mover to help, my mom and I rented a U-Haul and moved out all by ourselves. I bet you wish you were a "fly on the wall" during that episode! It wasn't easy but we managed.

24 hours behind, we left Friday afternoon and drove straight through to Nashville. In Nashville, we toured the Grand ole Opry and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I have to say, Nashville is much cooler than I would have originally thought! It is a pretty city and it’s very clean. I loved all the flowers!

We finally arrived in Asheville on Sunday! I love it so far! It is everything I expected and more! Today we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was beautiful, of course. The city is very interesting… you can be driving down the road and feel like you are in the middle of the woods and the next thing you know.. .you are in the city!! Downtown is full of restaurants and street musicians. You will find many people walking around and riding their bikes! Ahh... it is definitely a nice change from the busy DFW area! I am not giving it justice in this description!!

I am still meeting with prospective roommates. I have one gal scheduled for tomorrow which I am very optimistic about! I will let y'all know soon how that works out. Justin ( my brother) is coming down on Friday to help me move, so I will have made my decision by then!

Until next time, Thanks for following!

3 more days!!

I was kindly reminded yesterday that I am a bad blogger! I intend to be more compliant once I have more exciting news to blog about!

Any-who... I am almost ready for my big move! I have painted my walls back to original color (boring!), sold my desk, and am about 1/2 packed. Last night was my "farewell" party with all the friends that I have met over the past year and nine months! We all had a lot of fun and I am definitely playing for that today! I was very happy to catch up with those I have not seen in a while and obviously pleased to see the regulars!

The next couple days... well weeks, actually… are going to be pretty crazy! I will be working the next 3 days and spending my free time packing. My mom flies into DFW on Wednesday, Thursday I send out my things and Thursday night we begin the drive. We should be in Asheville by Saturday.

I have several places lined up to visit for prospective housing. I am really looking for a house renting month-month until I figure out where I ultimately want to be. I am hoping to find a house share that has a yard and is suitable for my kitties! Speaking of Luca and Lola... they have no idea what’s coming!! I keep telling them that it is going to get worse (car ride) before it gets better! They are really in for an adventure!!

Well that is all for now! My next blog will be coming from Asheville!!

Ninja Cat

Okay.. So, this video has nothing to do with "my adventures" but I just love it!!

"Ninja Cat" has been floating around on YouTube for a while now. I was reminded of it today after my cat Lola was doing something similar! To bad I didn't have my camera aimed and ready... darn!

Thanks for following...

Kitty Travel-Hotel

So.. I am planning to move here in the up-coming weeks. I will begin my 16 hour drive from Dallas, TX to Asheville, NC on July 16th. I am excited for the move but am a little intimated by the drive with my two cats! This will not be the first time for one of my kitties, Luca! He made the long drive with me to TX from OH. We did not quite make the entire trip in one day as I had planned, but we got very close! Luca, my car and I were all very tired (just 3 hours from our destination) when I decided to stop for the night! Anyways…. Now, I have two cats and will be attempting a similar trip again. This time I have constructed a "kitty traveling hotel" which is the purpose of my first blog.

Originally, the idea was to construct something large enough to hold both cats but small enough to fit into my Honda Civic. The project went from a patchwork of cardboard to my masterpiece! See, I love crafts and color… So, I couldn't allow a simple cardboard box sit in my back seat. Next thing I knew I was spray-painting and on my way to Hobby Lobby! After the paint had dried, I sewed one side of the fabric to the cardboard box then used Velcro to anchor the rest. The fabric covers part of the box and secures the door. I wanted to use fabric to allow a little light in and for air ventilation. I also found a little rug for only $2 to place on the bottom!! Once the final assembly was complete, I was very impressed with myself!! :) As of right now... I would have to admit that my cats could really care less about the design!! However, I am still hoping this little contraption will make my kitties feel secure during the journey.