Downtown

I just started my new job on Monday with State Farm. I get to work in the Downtown building which is great compared to Corporate South. Working downtown is so fun and the people here are so friendly and welcoming. We are allowed longer lunches here too which is exciting and with all the places to eat downtown I will never go hungry! (although I have been bringing my lunch this week because I'm a money saver). There is even a CVS downtown which is nice in case I ever forget something or have a mini-emergency!

One of my favorite things about working downtown is that it is so historical. The building I work in is the building that State Farm started in. They have done a wonderful job at trying to keep original items and restore things as well. We had a tour of the building on our first day and we got to see G.J. Mecherle's office. It was huge, and smelled old. EVERYTHING in the office was original which was really neat. It was funny to see that there were ashtrys in the rooms too. Back then there was a smoking policy which stated that employees could smoke at their desk (except women who had to smoke in the hallway). Now State Farm is a smoke-free facility! How times have changed!

I love love love the downtown building and if you're ever in the area around lunch time throw me text!

Loretta the Jetta

I recently purchased a new car, a 2006 Volkswagon Jetta SE. I absolutely love her! I named her Loretta the Jetta and she is the best! She is a silver/gray in color, 4 door, and very roomy. It has black leather interior...with heated seats and sun roof! The turn signals also blink on the side mirrors too (which is one of my favorite features) and the side mirrors are heated too which will be nice once the Illinois winter arrives. I have discovered so many neat things about Loretta recently... For example, it was raining the other day and I had my windshield wipers on. I came to a stop and my windshield wipers slowed way down, then once I accelorated they sped back up! How cool?!?! THEN, with the help of Matt, I discovered that I can move the shifter thing (ya know, the thing that moves the car from park to drive etc.....) well I can move it over when it's in drive and it brings up 123456 up where it usually says P R N D S and I can basically drive it like a stick shift with out a clutch!! My first car was a stick shift and I LOVED it, I wanted to buy another manual but didn't because they are hard to find. Loretta is perfect because she basically is both a manual and an automatic!


All in all.....I highly recommend Jettas for any of those considering purchasing a new vehicle.

I recently went on vacation with my boyfriend and his family. My first Maurer family vacay experience was great (and I survived haha)

St. George Island was so amazing. We were on a private beach and saw very few other people on the beach, it was not commercialized at all. Every morning we would wake up and eat breakfast, throw on our swimsuits and walk down to the beach. Our walk was so short and it was a nice little nature walk. We saw lizards and frogs and plants on our way to the ocean each day. Dolphin sighting was one of my favorite things about vacay....each morning between 10 - 11 we would see tons of dolphins swimming in little groups!! They were so graceful and gorgeous. Most of the time would could only see there fin and back, but every once in awhile one would splash its tail out of the water or jump out of the water completely. A local told us that there was a sand barge where the dolphins would swim and they would feed there in the morning which is why we saw so many.

It was sea turtle egg laying season too Soooooo we saw where the nests were that the mamma turtles made during the evening. They had to put caution tape around the nests so that the nests would not be disturbed or destroyed. St. George was FULL of nature and neat animals and beautiful sites to see!

Our house was amazing as well....(you picked a good one Jenn) It was a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom home. It was 4 stories high. The first floor had a walk-in area with a large coat closet type area. The second floor had 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The third floor had the kitchen area and living room and one of the master bedrooms and bathrooms. The top floor had the main master bedroom and bathroom with its own private balcony. (the second and third floors had balcony's as well, but they weren't private). We had a pool too which was great for Matt's (the boyfriend) niece and nephew.

We cooked at the home most nights but we did eat at a place called the Blue Parrot one night. It was delicious fresh seafood and even more delicious mai tai's and rum runners! We ate dinner outside and had a nice ocean view. I had fried shrimp (I'm a scardy cat when it comes to eating seafood). I tried Matt's though and it was good as well. He had stuffed shrimp and blackened grouper.

I was sad when it was time to go home, but it was by far one of the best vacations I have been on....it was also the first vacation for me in four years (thanks college.....).