Getting To Know Olney

You know you're in Olney, IL when:

• The local vineyard is right next to the local junkyard
• The beer distributor has a cooler at the checkout counter labeled "Single Service" where for 89 cents you can buy a can of beer for the road
• The bed in your apartment breaks because the frame was held together with duct tape

The last one is my favorite story from the week. So Amanda and I decide to watch a movie in bed on Friday night. By the way, this is after we worked all day, then had to drive 45 minutes to get to the only open FedEx store, then had to drive back in a crazy thunderstorm. Anyway, we have to move the bed to plug in our laptop (we don't have a TV in the bedroom) and we notice that the one side of the mattress and box spring has fallen down. Upon further inspection I see that the bed frame has separated from the headboard because the duct tape that was holding it together had broken. Fantastic. So now we have to take off the mattress and box spring so I can attempt to put it back together. The only thing I have available is JB Weld, which is a metal epoxy. Why I don't have duct tape in my tool kit is a mystery. Luckily, the JB Weld did the trick and as we speak the bed is still holding together. Such is life in Olney, IL.

Honestly though, we couldn't be happier with how things are going. We are more active than we have been in months with running, biking, hiking, and sightseeing. Everyone has been so welcoming and genuinely nice towards us. We've gotten all sorts of information about where to go and what to see, which has been keeping us busy. For instance, we went to Shawnee National Forest this week to see the Garden of the Gods. It was amazing. It consists of all these ridiculous rock formations that came about during a time when what is now the Mid-West was under an ancient sea. The scenery was unbelievable. And with giant hawks flying overhead, you felt as though you were a part of the wilderness. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip thus far.

Here we are at Garden of the Gods

Who knew such cool stuff was in Southern, IL?

Not bad for farm country

As for work, we did start our orientation this week, although we still don't have our licenses yet. Fingers crossed they'll be in by Monday. It's going to be great working in this clinic because everything is one-to-one treatment and they have a good system in place. The PTs and PTAs really care about providing good therapy, keeping up on the latest research, and taking care of the people in their community. Amanda and I are all about that.

We hope everything is going well with you all back home. We now have internet in our apartment so if anyone wants to Skype, just let us know because we can now make that happen.

• As a side note: A lot of people complained that the email sign-up on the blog wasn't working, so I got rid of that. Sorry for any inconvenience that caused. It seemed like a good idea at the time.