Inspired to Return

My co-worker/friend Ashley has inspired me to get our blog started back up again. With everything we've got going on this fall, phone calls are going to be few and far between. So I figured I'd start blogging again to keep Mom informed :) and as a kind of record for us to look back on.


Excuse the quality of my pictures for the next couple of months. My digital camera ran away so most photos will be Blackberry photos.


Not a lot has changed around the house this summer. We've been movin' and groovin' a lot, so we haven't exactly been swimming in extra time. We did get a new tree! It's an Autumn Blaze Maple. The leaves are just now starting to turn a bit red. It's still a little guy, but it's supposed to grow quickly.

Within the next couple of weeks I plan on digging out some of the sod in front of that front window and putting down rock so next spring we can plant some... I don't know... shrubs? flowers? We're also finally going to hang the pegboard in the garage and clean that up a bit. The Ankeny High School construction class is going to come finish our basement this fall! We're pretty excited about that! Hopefully by early next year we'll have a game room and another bedroom! I'm already thinking decoratey thoughts!

Fall is very busy. Paul is done with actual classes for grad school, so he's doing his Practicum right now. This means he's got a few papers due over the next 6 months and he's spending a few hours a week working on a substance abuse program at work. He will graduate with his MSW in May.

Hopefully I'll be graduating in May as well with my MBA. I'm doubling up on classes for the next few terms. I'm taking a stat class right now that's no fun at all. But I play volleyball with a girl who is a stat wizard, so I have help if I need it.

I'm beginning to instruct cardio kickboxing at Farrell's. I've lead a few warm-ups and this week I start instructing full classes. Paul started his 10-Week Extreme Body Shaping in August and he's doing really well! He's done with 4 of the 10 weeks and you can already tell a difference. I'll make sure to post before and after pictures when it's all done.

Parsley, Capone and Rex are doing very well. Parsley had a very big day on Friday! She helped me take pictures at the Ankeny Dog Park grand opening and she got to meet Ankeny's Mayor! She gave him smooches and talked politics with him for a bit before posing for a ribbon cutting picture.

That's all for now! More updates to come ...