Thanks gaz, and yes, i do use "that" a lot... I had to restrain my self from "just" because i use it frequently too. I don't remember why I didnt cite those first couple things in the second paragraph, she may have said it was unnecessary, but I see now that I should have probably included them anyway. Thanks for the feedback!
EDIT: I think "that" being used so often is just the dialect here... we say things oddly here. Apparently saying a question and ending with a preposition is an Ohioan thing, such as "Where is my hat at?"