Nephews & more

I had the unexpected opportunity to spend last Sunday with my nephews.  I loved them so much.  It was a great day and a much needed break in the midst of my schedule that has been overwhelming and crazy.  Hannah and her boys came to spend spring break at Grandpa & Grandma's.

 Our dapper Jack

 Marshall loves being silly for pictures.

 JT & Sam

 This was as good as we could get of all four.  It's very difficult to get 4 little active boys to sit still for a picture and look at the camera all at the same time.

 After lunch I took Marshall and JT on an adventure in the park behind Grandma & Grandpa's house.  Logs, hikes in the trees, throwing rocks & sticks in the creek, wading in the creek and mud.  What fun!

 Mom's redbud tree is in full bloom and beautiful!

 These are the wonderful ladies I spend Tuesday nights with.  We took a life group picture for a scrapbook this week.  I love learning and sharing life with these women.

Skiing

I went skiing with some friends in Winter Park, Colorado two weeks ago.  I hadn't been skiing in 3 years.  It was great to get back out on the slopes.  I had never skied at Winter Park before.  It was fun, despite the high winds.  We skied for 3 days and the last 2 it was so windy they closed a number of lifts. I was glad I made it all the way to the top of the mountain (12000+ feet) the 2nd morning before lifts were closed.  Views went on forever.

It was a fun little trip!  Lots of beautiful views and good friends and food.

New stuff

As you know, I did a sprint triathlon last fall.  Afterwards my schedule got crazy and I dropped off significantly on my workouts.  But as the new year approached I decided to kick it into gear again.  I did an indoor triathlon at the Y on Jan 15.  I finished a little better than I expected, in 1:02.  A friend did it with me and convinced me to do indoor tri's in Feb & March too.  But my biggest goal for this spring is to run the 10K for the Easter Sun Run.
I spent a lot of money last weekend in pursuit of these goals. I had to get new running shoes and love my new Mizunos.  So much lighter than my old shoes.

But the biggest and long contemplated purchase was a new bike.  I trained last year on my 1983 Schwinn 10-speed. When we first moved to Kansas, Mom saved her first few paychecks and bought us each a bike. It has served me well over the years.  I didn't want to buy a new bike until I was sure I was going to stick with this.  But by the time my triathlon came along, the bike was pretty much worn out for anything but a leisurely ride.  The gears started popping the week before the race.  I had it serviced but in the middle of the race it started acting up again and I just prayed the chain would stay on for me to finish.
So as a friend was sharing research when he was looking for a new bike recently, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  I invested in a new bike and it is so sweet!  A 2011 Trek Lexa S. I took it for a ride and the gears are so smooth and effortless. I'm loving it.

Birthday

My birthday was on Friday this year - Friday the 13th that is.  Since it's a rare occasion, I couldn't let it go by so I threw a big party.  I had a number of friends who helped and it was a great time.  Cleared the furniture out, hired a band, a friend dj'd, and lots of friends came to hang out.

Christmas

It was a bit of a different Christmas for me. My parents went to Hannah's in Tennessee, so I spent Christmas with Sharon & David at their house.  JT was excited to have Diesel stay at his house.  We spent 3 days there and their little dog Nacho was Diesel's shadow.  D adjusted after a day. 
Christmas Eve my roommate and I met up to go to the Chiefs game against the Raiders.  Unfortunately the Chiefs lost, but it was a good game. 

I had a lot of fun spending time with JT and Sam.  I've said it a lot but I love my nephews!

JT loved the "hamster ball" he got from Grandma & Grandpa.

I am very blessed by my family.  I got to spend a day with my parents when they came back.  And I got to spend an afternoon snuggling with my best friend's baby boy.  It was a good trip home.  I've spent the rest of my week off working on house projects & deep cleaning.  I realize I was so busy this fall that I have tried to squeeze 4 months of maintenance into 5 days.  I'm exhausted and almost ready to go back to work.  I was so blessed to spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with many friends. 

May you be blessed in 2012!



End of semester

There hasn't been that much to blog about recently.  I've been busy with finishing up the semester.  Project, paper, tests.  Fun stuff, but I completed my first semester in the masters of public administration program.  We'll see how successfully when grades come out.  But I enjoyed learning new things and got to know some interesting classmates.  Looking forward to what next semester holds.

I enjoyed my first weekend without homework hanging over my head.  There is about a month between semesters.  One thing I did this weekend was attend the Delano Chamber Orchestra's Christmas concert.  A friend plays flute & piccolo in it.  It was very enjoyable.

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone. We were all home for Thanksgiving this year.  7 adults, 4 kids, and 2 dogs made it a little chaotic at my parents' house but it was lots of fun.  I got a lot of time with my nephews - always a good thing.  We had family pictures taken on Friday morning.  It was windy & cold but I am looking forward to seeing the proofs. 
Nothing terribly much to report other than good family time.  I am thoroughly in love with these 4 little boys.