Ugh...

So much to do, and I don't want to do it!  Laundry has completely gotten away from me, but why?  There's only the two of us.  I am trying to get all the blankets washed, coats, etc and packed away, but that just takes time away from regular laundry.  And then there's the packing and organizing.  REALLY?  I am at the point where I just want it all gone. 

I packed up all my craft stuff last weekend - 18 boxes worth.  They are all taped up, labeled and packed neatly away in the crawl space.  Now I'm re-thinking that.  Do I really want to haul all that stuff across the country so it can sit in boxes for months or most likely years?  Should I just get rid of it all? I was very inspired after visiting Jessi yesterday, as she had a very valid point - if I EVER decide to stamp again, will the stamps I have even be "in style" anymore? And all that ink would just be dried up.  Maybe I should go through it and sell most, if not all of it now and save myself the headache later.  So, does anyone want to buy my stuff at a discount?! 

Ok, back to organizing and packing - my third bedroom is now the catch-all room.  It should be the guest room.  We have a bed in there, but it is standing on end with tons of stuff (mainly for Goodwill) piled around it.  Our close friend Jason in coming down from Wisconsin tomorrow and the boys will be doing some spring Turkey hunting in the mornings and basement remodeling in the evenings this week.  This means I need to spend all my non-laundry time today trying to get things packed or removed and donated from this black hole of a space by tomorrow.  Ugh...I wish I had $$ so I could just hire someone to do all this tedious crap for me and I can just play all day.  I got some yummy new yarn to play with yesterday when I visited Jessi and I just want to park my butt on the couch and knit.  Or maybe golf first (the weather is beautiful) and THEN knit!  Decisions...LOL 

It's Official!!!

Well, I guess it's old news now...but it's official - Randy graduated and is now a doctor!  WOOHOO (you can't see it, but I'm doing the happy dance)!!

Okay, so now what?  Our time in Iowa is drawing to a close and it's time for a new adventure in Colorado.  I do have to say that I'm excited to be leaving Iowa (and I won't be sad leaving our little home in the ghetto), but I have a lot of great memories, met some incredible people and made wonderful friends.   I guess it's time to get to work and get the heck outta here  :)

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways....

1.  You make me feel safe when I'm with you

2.  You are bright and shiny, like a new penny

3.  You are technologically advanced and fun to play with

4.  You are comfy

5.  You are easy to handle, even in tough conditions

6.  You are strong and rugged

7.  You are dependable

8.  You have great features

9.  You turn heads when we go places

10. You are well built and FORD tough

Although these things describe my Bubba, who I LOVE with all my heart, I'm actually talking about this:

 Our brand-spankin' new 2010 FORD F-150

Our poor old truck had enough and we had to let her go.  With no warranty and looking at a buch of $$$ in engine repairs that we couldn't do ourselves, we decided to trade her in for a new model while we still had good equity.  It was a cold and snowy night - much too cold to be walking around the car lot trying to find THE truck, so we drove off the lot with a demo truck and had it for a couple of days before taking it back, knowing that it wasn't the truck for us.  After a lot of looking, our salesman finally found the truck we wanted - or at least the closest thing to it.  We still had to pay for a chrome package that we didn't want, but we got a couple extras that we weren't expecting, so it made up for all that chrome.  Oh, and it's RED!  Happy Valentines Day!! 

Vacation Anyone?

 Check out this awesome blog and website AND possibly win a Seattle Vacation.  Who doesn't need a vacation? 

http://www.rachelthurston.com/blog/?p=1860

Mad Skills

I've now got mad ninja skills...with my brand-spankin'-new circular knitting needles - so watch out!  LOL   I finally made my first real foray into circular knitting and made a hat. I've been putting this off for months because of those EVIL double-pointed needles (DPNs) - yes, they ARE evil!!  Every time I tried to work with them I either made tons of mistakes or almost lost an eye from all those pointy ends sticking out.   I got so excited when I found out I didn't HAVE to use DPNs for knitting in the round E-V-E-R  (yay!!)   So, armed with two sets of circular needles, I was able to finish with no mistakes AND the hat actually fits!  cha-ching   Even Bubba was impressed and wants me to make a hat for him  :)

 

 

S-N-O-W is that four letter word I've been mumbling under my breath

I love the snow...under CERTAIN conditions.  Growing up in the desert, I did not have to shovel snow.  We could drive up a well maintained road to a mountain resort and enjoy the snow while not having to work with it.  Then, when we had our fill, we could drive back home to our warm, sunny spot in the desert valley.  That was nice and enjoyable.  Now we live in Iowa...it's a whole different story here.  Between the arctic temperatures, the strong winds blowing across the plains, freezing rain and a whole bunch of snow piling up in my driveway, I'm starting to re-think my love of snow.  Ok, not REALLY - I still love the snow...I'm just not liking Iowa so much right now.  What I AM rethinking is my wish-list for Santa.  This is my new wish list:  SNOW BLOWER.  That's all I want/need.  Why didn't I ask for this back in 2003 when we moved here?  or the next year?  or the next?  Why do I forget this one essential item?  Because we normally don't get slammed with snow until AFTER Christmas and the memory of such horrible, backbreaking days shoveling ice-snow is just an inkling of a nightmare long past.  So instead, I get to send Randy outside to chisel away the foot tall ice hump at the end of the driveway while I rest my aching back from shoveling the rest of the drive. 

While Randy studies for National Boards (part 3), I figured I would finally download the camera and update the blog...

Our last Iowa summer is coming to close, not that there was much of a summer. Other than about 2 weeks of HOT, the weather was relatively cool and pleasant and I'm glad that I won't leave here with fresh memories of a sauna-like summer. We ended up having a lot of fun in August, with a tractor ride through the country followed by a game of horseshoes with some friends, finally seeing a River Bandits game (who?!?), and ending with a spectacular 4 days in Wisconsin. I have no pictures of the first few events, but we did get pictures of our Wisconsin adventures.

Our friend Jason is from a small town outside of Milwaukee and he invited us up for some fishing. We love fishing, but we've never experienced BIG lake fishing and Lake Michigan is HUGE! We left his dad's house around 2:30 am on Friday and were in the boat heading towards open water by around 3:30. Apparently, the fish stop biting after the sun comes up, so we had to get an early start. Have I ever told you that I'm not a morning person? Yeah, I was not too happy about the lack of sleep, but excited to bring in some fish so I didn't complain too much.

Jason had checked the wave report before we left, and we were supposed to have 2 to 3 foot rolling waves. We made it past the break and into open water and found out the wave report LIED! We were hitting 3 to 5 foot waves (and I swear there were some bigger that that) and feeling every one of them. After going almost a mile we were ready to set up rigs. Unfortunately, Caroline (Jason's girlfriend) ended up feeling very ill from the waves. Poor girl - she looked absolutely miserable. Needless to say, we turned around to take her back so she could nap in the truck, then we headed back out again. All that travel on the water was really freaky...the waves were high and the sky was pitch black so I had to turn around and watch the Milwaukee skyline. Well, we got back out to the spot, set up the rigs and ended up catching three 8 lb fish - two king salmon and one rainbow trout. The fish stopped biting and we were freezing, so we headed back in. We did end up going back out that evening and the waves were pretty much gone, but so were the bigger fish. We caught seven, two of which we lost and three we released since they were really small. We kept the only decent sized fish - two more 8 lb king salmon. We had to cut it short as we watched a storm roll in and we didn't want to be caught out on the water. We finished getting the boat secured and the fish cleaned as the rain hit - perfect timing.









That evening, while we were on the lake, another couple from Palmer arrived at Jason's. They ended up heading out fishing Saturday morning. We decided to sleep, especially since the wave report was for 3 to 5 foot waves (which meant they were probably bigger) and I had my fill of that adventure. They ended up not even getting a bite - the storm must have scared all the fish away. We spent the rest of the day at Cabella's and the guys were in heaven (and so was I since there was a sale and I can't resist a good sale!)

We ended our weekend with a trip to Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was Randy's first MLB game and we had so much fun! What a great way to end our last summer in the midwest!