Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone is enjoying their day of celebration! Philip and I have had an amazing few weeks and we are so blessed with family, friends and everything else that is in our lives right now.

Catching up from last time...

We celebrated Philip's birthday November 5. He had the day off of work, so when I got home, we went out to dinner with some friends and then had some pie and ice cream. It was quiet, but we've realized that as we get older, it's just another day. I tried to make it extra special for him, but like he says, if he can drink beer, relax and go out to eat, it's a good day!

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Philip had to work, so since a lot of his co-workers are in the same situation (being 20-somethings with no family around the area), we had a potluck at the airport. There were 8 of us that celebrated that night at the airport, and we dined on Gumbo, different salads, sweet potato balls, pies and ice cream. It was a night that we could all be thankful for so much. I had to leave the party a little early, as I am one of those insane Black Friday shoppers. Yes, I was up at 3am and met up with another co-worker of mine and her friends. Crazy, I know. But, it's all for the love of tradition and sales!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Philip and I flew to the midwest to celebrate 'Thanksmas' with our families. We spent a day with the Tiedeman's in George before driving to St. Cloud to meet up with my parents and my brother. It was a quiet four days, but it was just what we needed. I got in the Christmas season early and donated 9 inches of my hair to Beautiful Lengths (it's like Locks of Love). After our celebration with the Chmielewki's, we drove back to Iowa to celebrate with Philip's family. All I can say is it is much different celebrating with 5 adults (as we did with the Chmielewski's) to celebrating with 10 adults and 3 little boys (with the Tiedeman's). It was so much fun to see how excited the little boys got! Santa even made his way to the house early (we saw his tracks in the snow)! The trip went by entirely too quickly, but Phil and I continue to realize how blessed we are. We are so lucky to have such amazing families and we are anxious for the day that we move closer to them.

Unfortunately, our trip back to Midland was not all that wonderful. In a nut shell, we were excited to see about an inch or two of snow in Iowa, but we missed 'winter' in Midland.

However, our flight back was supposed to fly in during their 'winter storm.' We were able to fly into Houston, but once we arrived, we were notified that our flight was cancelled and we would have to stay the night. The next morning, we boarded our plane, waited 45 minutes on the runway and flew for about 30 minutes before the pilot stated we were turning around due to bad weather in Midland. Once we landed, Philip and I were informed that there were no flight to Midland until the next day. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so we went on a limb and booked a flight to Lubbock (2 hours from Midland). Keep in mind, we had no idea how we were getting from Lubbock to Midland! After calling all 8 car rental places in Lubbock, we thought we were going to have a $300 taxi fare back to Midland. Thankfully, two of our dear friends, the Thorton's (bless their hearts) came to pick us up. All in all, we were supposed to be back in Midland on Monday at 7pm and we got back on Tuesday at 10pm. I am so glad that Philip works at the airport and not me because I am not wanting to see an airport for quite some time :)

This year has been so full of blessing, memories and just so much more. Enjoy your celebrations and as Tiny Tim says, 'God bless us, everyone!'

Finally back in the game :)

After a few months of laziness, no computer in our apartment and hectic/random schedules, I can now get back to out beloved blog!

Since there is so much to catch up on, I'll just give highlights of the past few months:

August:

Phil and I did make it to New Braunfels for our little mini-vacation. We spent a day at Schlitterbahn Water Park, which was amazing. We also had a drink at the famouse Gruene Dance Hall later that night. The next day, we had planned to tube the river, but after spending the previous day in the sun, we decided to sleep in and leave a little early to take the scenic way back to Midland (yes, there's scenery in east Texas, we're just severly lacking it on our side). We stopped in the adorable town of Fredericksburg to have lunch and window shop. While the trip was short and sweet, it was worth it.

In August, we also attended Midland's famous Summer Mummers. It's a melodrama that is put on every summer and it's held at the old theater downtown. We went with a few of my co-workers, as well as one of Phil's co-workers. There is one main show at the beginning of the night and that's where the crowd gets into the action by 'booing' and throwing the popcorn at the bad guy as well as clapping and cheering on for the good guy. They sell bags of popcorn and it ends up being a huge popcorn fight (Phil and I are wearing some of our bags from that evening). Phil and I continued to find popcorn pieces scattered throughout our apartment for the next couple of days.

September:

The month of our first anniversary! We celebrated by heading to Lubbock to watch UND play Texas Tech in football. We went with two of our friend's from TX (that are Tech alumni) as well as another UND alumni (one of Phil's co-workers). On our way to the game, we stopped at Llano winery (which is right outside of Lubbock) for a little visit and tour. Then, it was on to the campus to see UND give Tech a little run for their money (hey, it's UND's first season in D1, so we didn't expect a lot, but it really was a great game).

The day of our anniversary, we relaxed and went out to eat, then came home to drink the wine that Sheryl and Warren had given us when we got married. Phil had made vanilla ice cream and colored it red to match the colors of our wedding and I made marble cake, as that's the one we had on our special day. The best part about the day-- Phil's ice cream ended up being peptobismol pink and my cake did not turn out marbel at all. Ah, memories :) We ended the night by eating dessert and watching our wedding DVD and just reminiscing about that wonderful day. It's been an amazing first year and I know that it's just going to get better!

At the end of September, I was able to fly to Seattle to visit my best friend, Kari. I planned it the same weekend that another set of friends would be there, so it was four days full of catching up, sight-seeing, walking, talking and having tons of fun! I was able to visit downtown Seattle, go to Pike Market, go sailing on a yacht, see where Kari worked, eat tons of fresh and delicious sea food and just enjoy the scenery (because they actually have some up there)!

October unfortunately started out on a sad note. On October 1, my Grandma Katie passed away. She lived an amazing life and all of us were so blessed to know her. Phil and I flew to St. Cloud and while it was good to see all the family, I wish it was for better circumstances. She will be remembered always and forever.

Too much!

That kind of seems to be the theme with our lives these days! It really feels like we blink and then it's already one month later! Or it could just be that we're getting old and I know that I just plain forget things :)

But, as for the Tiedeman's... life has been great! We moved into our new apartment at the end of July and so far, we love it! We stayed in the same complex, but just moved a few buildings down. Some of you may think that we're crazy for just moving a few hundred yards away, but if you had to deal with an interstate as your backyard for a full year, as well as college-aged kids living above you that don't care if it's 2am on a Tuesday because they just want to keep the party rolling, then you too would agree with our move. Currently, we live by the tennis courts and there are no major streets near us, so life has been peaceful. Phil has been a great husband and has been busy putting things away and hanging pictures (I've taught him well)! No, he's really been such a great help, as the past three weeks, I have been extremely busy at work, so while we were moving, he pretty much did the majority of getting things over to the new place. However, the best memory from the move would have to be Phil and I moving our mattress at 12:30am one night. Since both of us were working the evening shifts, we just thought it made sense to put the mattress on top of his car and drive it to the new place when no one was around.

Other exciting news is that I got a promotion at work! That is why I have been so busy-- I have had to complete my job duties for my old job, as well as the new one. Thankfully, my replacement is starting Monday, so today is the last day that I have to deal with all of that! It's really exciting to start this new adventure and I feel like it's a great fit. I am a Case Manager of 12 clients and it's a Monday-Friday 8-5 job, so I can finally have two solid days off! Once every 2 months, I will be on-call for a full week, so during that week, no phone calls on my personal cell please :) Just kidding, I'm just anxious to complete my first week (which is October 23-30).

Monday and Tuesday, Phil and I will be in New Braunfels taking a mini summer vacation. I haven't used any PTO since I started at MARC in April and so we looked at the schedule and Phil had Monday and Tuesday off, so we just decided that we're taking our only summer vacation. We're really not sure on exact plans for our trip, but we're just excited to get out of Midland and enjoy the east part of Texas.

My goal is to send everyone some cute little postcards with our new address on it... we'll see how soon that happens :)

4th of July

Just a few pictures from our adventures in George...




The Tiedeman Grandchildren (all 16 of them)











Phil's siblings (Alicia, Phil, Emily and Joel)















Grannie Tiedeman's
great-granchildren singing
'Jesus Loves Me'

Katie and Phil with Hudson and Declan

Memories

It's been awhile since we last wrote, but things here have been a bit hectic.

Unfortunately, Phil's grandmother passed away on July 2. So, for the 4th of July, we headed back to Iowa for the funeral. Thankfully, our jobs allowed us time off, so Phil and I left Texas on Saturday and spent three days with his family. While it was a tear-filled couple of days, there was some happy moments.

Once we arrived, the town of George was in full celebration for their 125th anniversary. So, off we went with Phil's family and enjoyed the festivities. We were also able to see Sheryl and Warren's new home, which they had just completed building. One word to describe it-- amazing! It was perfect for all 12 of us to run around and enjoy each other's company.

While the trip back to Iowa was not for the best of reasons, it really made Phil and I realize how much we want to move closer to our families. Yes, we are looking and trying, but until then, we'll continue to enjoy all the pictures and phone calls and learn to love Texas :)

We love you and miss you Grannie Tiedeman.

Minnesota trip

June 4-7, we went to Fergus Falls, MN for Kayley and Nick's wedding. Kayley was one of Katie's roomies in the Pink Lady house during college and Nick was one of Phil's roomies in the '3 Kings' apartment.

We left Midland in the early hours of Thursday morning and arrived in Minneapolis around noon. We had talked with two of our friends and coordinated flight schedules, so we all arrived within an hour of each other. So, we landed first and then minutes later, Kari arrived from Seattle. About an hour later, Rachel landed from San Diego, we loaded our things into the car and we were off! Since we were going through St. Cloud, we stopped for a quick visit with Grandma Katie and then made it to Fergus Falls about 6pm-- just in time for bachelor/bachelorette festivities! The girls headed to Zorbaz for dinner and drinks while the guys went to Kayley's uncle's cabin for an evening of grilling and beer!

Friday, everyone had a relaxing morning, then we got ready for rehearsal. Phil was an usher and I was a bridesmaid. Everyone learned what to do and where to go for the next day's activities and then we went to the groom's dinner. After dinner, Phil and I met up with my mom and Phil's parents. Both had arrived that afternoon and were staying at the same hotel as us.

Saturday started out early with the bridesmaid's hair appointments at 7:30am! But, everyone looked beautiful and the hair stylists did a great job making sure our hair would stay put, as it was a cloudy and rainy day. Things ran smoothly for pictures and Nick and Kayley finished up their outdoor pictures just before it started to pour. The ceremony was beautiful and the bride and groom did a wonderful job with everything! The reception was at the hotel that we were staying at, so we were able to dance the night away!

Unfortunately, Phil and I had to leave early the next morning to catch our flight back to Midland. It was a quick breakfast with our parents, some goodbyes and then back to the airport.

Nick and Kayley's wedding was such an amazing weekend and we were so blessed to be a part of their day. Even though we've only been married for 9 months, the wedding was a good reminder to keep things as new as they were on the day of our wedding. Whenever I think of our wedding, I think of the laughter and smiles and just the wonderful memories from the amazing friends and family that were there to support us. It was just a great couple of days for us to experience and we hope that we can continue to grow more and more in love, each and every day!

And Philip's turn...

The same weekend that Katie headed to CO, Philip headed back to Iowa for a friend's wedding in Des Moines. Unfortunately, he got a late start since his flight was cancelled, but everything worked out okay and he made it there only a few hours late!

Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, so he was the main man and showed everyone his amazing ushering skills :) Later that night, Sheryl and Warren arrived, so it was a few hours of catching up before heading to bed for the big day.

(The picture is of Phil and two of his best girl friends from high school-- Lindsey and Hillery)

Saturday was the wedding and Philip had a great time seeing all of his old friends from high school. His friend Andy was the groom and has been one of Philip's oldest friends (Philip has
many stories of adventures from childhood that include Andy). Philip kept saying how great it was to be back in Iowa (or as he stated 'it was great to be back in heaven'), but unfortunately, he had to head back to Texas on Sunday afternoon, in order to work on Monday.

(The group picture shows the George gang, with a few additional 'add-ons')

Because I had the camera for my CO trip, Philip's dad was able to capture a few snapshots of the weekend, so I could see what kind of trouble Phil was up to :)

Catch-up

It's been a bit since our last entry (oops), but instead of writing about details of the past three weeks, we're going to just cut straight to the best parts-- our vacations! (For this entry, you get to hear, and see, about my trip home. Another entry will be about Philip's trip to Iowa).

Last weekend, I went to CO for my brother's college graduation. Man I miss Colorado and all of its beauty! But, for the four days that I was there, it was full of seeing old friends, going on my first 'brew tour' at New Belgium Brewery (picture is after we got free samples of their new beer 'Skinny Dip), watching Tom hug the Interim President of his college as he passed the stage (mind you, he had never met the guy!) and just having fun with family. Like always, the days passed too quickly, but I came away with some great photos and some even better memories (so cliche, I know).

I got into town on Friday and was greeted by some special ladies. My mom, my Aunt Mag and Nana Kay all came to Denver to pick me up. After a delicious lunch at Red Robin (yum!), we spent a few hours at the malls on the way home and then I went to see my old co-workers and some participants at the Out on the Town Dance that they have every month. Saturday, we left the Springs to head up to Ft. Collins to get the graduation festivities started. We had lunch at Tom's house, then went on the most amazing brewery tour. After a quick early dinner, everyone was in speed mode to get ready for graduation. Two hours later, we were once again ready to party and headed to a restaurant for a late-night snack and more celebrating. Sunday morning, we went to church, visited Horsetooth Reservoir and then headed home. The boys and Nana Kay went straight home while Mag, Mom and I took another shopping detour :) After getting home, Tom and I went to a restaurant with his girlfriend, Laura, and best friend, Chris. Wonderful evening :)

Sadly, Monday morning, I said my good-byes to everyone and headed back to Midland.

Since coming back, it's been a pretty stressful week at work, but I know it's going to get better. There were some changes at work, and while it didn't affect my position too much, I now work Saturday afternoon. So, my days off are Thursday and Sunday. The best part is that I don't work holidays, so today I have off! Happy Memorial Day!

Tri, tri some more

Last weekend was my first Olympic Distance triathlon. It consisted of a 1 mile swim, 40K bike and 10K run and while I thought it was tough for me, poor Phil had to wait all those hours in order for me to finish :) He's such a good husband, great cheerleader and amazing photographer though, so I think he had a little bit of fun. We left Midland Saturday morning and drove to Austin to pick up my race packet and settle in for the evening. Then early Sunday morning, we were off to Pace Bend Park for race day! My age group was the last wave to start the swim, so I started 33 minutes after the first wave left. Thankfully, swimming is my strong area, so I was able to catch up to the pack and gain some ground. Unfortunately, I don't know how to bike, so I definitely got passed my everyone during that part. But, I ended strong and I didn't walk during the run portion, so I ended with a huge smile. I don't foresee any other triathlons in my future, but I am really debating with becoming my father's daughter and doing some long-distance runs... we'll see about that however. If we lived closer to open water, I would love to do more open water races, but seeing as how we live in a desert, I'm not sure that will happen soon.

Funny story of race preparations though... Phil and I decided to join a group and go riding a couple days before my race. We leave our apartment and realize I need to fill up one of my tires. We walk to an air pump and make it just in time to leave with the group. Less than 2 miles into the ride, that same tire goes completely flat. Thankfully, one of the other riders went back to the shop and got me a spare. Instead of waiting, Phil and I start to head back to the store. The man helps fix my tire and we start our ride again. But wait, there goes Katie's other tire! I had 2 flat tires in a matter of minutes. The nice man was thinking and had brought two spares with him, so he just went to work on the other tire. We ended up only riding about 8 miles or so, so in total, Phil and I figured that we walked about 3 miles and biked 8 miles-- all in a day's work :)

Phil has been interviewing candidates for the open agent positions, so once we got back from our vacation to Austin, he was back in the office to prepare for the upcoming interviews. The airport is also preparing for a Certification Inspection, which means that the FAA comes to the airport and makes sure that everything is running efficiently and up to standards. They will come for 3-4 days in order to make sure that everything is up to code. It's a pretty stressful time because if they fail, the airport could get in major trouble. So needless to say, they are making sure that everything is in its place.

As for my job, it's continuing to be a bit stressful, but in a good way. Each day is a new adventure and I know it will take years before I fully understand all the documentation, rules, trainings, regulations and everything else. Just like Phil, we are preparing for State to come and survey all the houses. The house that I am in charge of is expected to be first and it could be anytime in the month of May, starting on Monday. So this week, we have had a lot of people from the office come to look at the house to make sure it is up to code and I have had to do a lot of extra preparations, just to make sure I really do know everything in the house. The staff at the house is great, so there should be no problem with the care of the clients-- I'm just worried about documentation and charting that happened before I was there. I think Phil and I will definitely celebrate after all inspections are done!

Both of us are very anxious for our upcoming trips. Phil leaves for Iowa on the 14th and I leave for CO on the 15th. Then, only a few weeks until Nick and Kayley's wedding!

Spring time

Phil and I have been staying pretty busy this past week. I started my new job last Monday and it's definitely going to take some getting used to. They warned me that I will probably never have a 40-hour week (I'll always be working more), and last week proved right on. I am really learning a lot and thus far, I have enjoyed taking everything in. My typical schedule has me working the floor on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 4p-12a. During that time, I'm helping the clients with showers, preparing for bed, making dinner and completing evening activities/goals. Between 8-9pm, the clients go to bed, so for the last few hours of my shift, I am finishing laundry, cleaning up, documenting and preparing for the upcoming days. Wednesday-Friday, I have office hours from 9a-5pm (yes, I have my own office)! During that time, I'm filing, charting, taking care of staffing issues, discussing things with other home leaders and people at the main office, and just attending to the needs of the house. The staff at the house have been fantastic at helping me, so I am so blessed to have such a great team to work with.

To make things a bit more overwhelming, after finishing an exhausting week, Relay for Life was Friday night. I was the Food and Hospitality Chair person, so after I got home on Friday afternoon, I had about an hour to re-group and then headed to the big event. It started at 7pm on Friday night and ended at 7am Saturday morning. I am pleased to announce that at the age of 25, I have finally completed my first 24-hours of staying up! Thankfully, I was a good college student and never had the desire to pull an all-nighter, so needless to say, staying up for so long was a shock to my system. But, I made it through and it was such an amazing night for a great cause. If your towns have not had the Relay for Life yet, you need to get invovled (either get a team together or donate).

Phil's job continues to be full of new adventures. They have finally narrowed the list of applicants for the agent position, so in two weeks, they will conduct face-to-face interviews with the candidates. So, hopefully, they will be full-staffed in about 2 months.

We've finally been able to get out to a baseball game. Saturday night, we went with a couple of friend's to the Midland Rockhounds game. It was great being outside with good weather and fun friends (and delicious adult beverages)! More games are definitely in the calendar, as well as seeing our new professional soccer team in action.

Next week will be pictures of our trip to Austin, as well as my triathlon... keep posted!

Catching up

So much has happened since I last wrote, so I'll try to keep things short and sweet, but make sure I don't leave out any details :)

As for the last blog, I'm sure all of you know now that it was our April Fool's joke! One day, I put in the wrong address for our blog site and I went to another Katie and Philip's blog, and wouldn't you know, they were blogging on their pregnancy! After a moment of confusion, Phil and I came up with the grand idea to put an ultraound picture on our site for some giggles. So, sorry, but we are not pregnant (and don't plan on being for some time).

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I have started training at my new job and so far, I'm really liking it. I feel like a deer caught in headlights, and I have a feeling that I'm going to feel that way for a couple of months. But, I love the clients in the house and I'm slowly meeting the other staff. It will be a shock to my system to change my hours (Monday and Tuesdays, I'll work 4p-12a, then Wed/Thurs/Fri, I'll have office hours from 9a-5p). The people training me have been angels sent by God and I'm so blessed with the amount of patience and wisdom that they are giving me.

Other exciting news is that I got to go to Colorado Springs for a few days last week. It was a much, much needed break from Texas and it was so good for my heart to see a lot of friends and family. The only thing that I requested of my parents was that they have snow for my enjoyment-- wish granted. I flew in on Wednesday to a snow storm and left Sunday after a storm had come through Saturday afternoon. Oh glorious! But, I took it without complaining! The main reason that I went home was to participate in the World's Largest Scrap-a-thon in Denver! It was my third year attending and like the other years, it was fantastic! There were about 2000 participants and we spent 11 hours chatting, scrapping, laughing and having a great time. (The picture shows just part of our table of creativity-- I didn't get a really good picture of the whole table, but this is just the mess from three of us). In addition to that wonderful day, I spent time with some of my old co-workers, visiting some programs that I helped with, eating yummy food (here's Sarah, Cquava and I at The Loop-- if you live in the Springs and haven't gone there, it is a must!) and just relaxing. It was only a few short days, but I am going back for my brother's graduation in a few weeks, so I guess I couldn't cram everything into just one trip!

Back in Midland, things are moving along just fine. Last night, Phil and I had one of the greatest moments thus far, as God provided us with rain, hail and even a lightening storm! We put on our sweatshirts and stood outside watching the beauty of it all. (Picture is from our patio, looking into our 'backyard.')

We also have been wrapped up with great hockey watching experience. Last night was great, not only with the storm, but we got to see an amazing NCAA championship game on ESPN. Oh, happy moments :)

In other non-exciting news, we've spent the past week clearing up some messes, finishing our taxes (yippee-- good job Philip!) and doing some Spring cleaning. I guess this is one of the few times that I appreciate having a small apartment-- not a lot of clean-up!

Hope everyone has a great Easter! We are heading to some friend's house to enjoy lunch with them, and a few other people. Then, back here to eat some candies and relax before my first day at my new job tomorrow!

Oh boy!

Goodness Gracious :)

Transitions

As a person that works with people with disabilties, I have learned the value and importance of transitions. During my time as a director at summer camp, I always made sure to tell the kiddos when we had 5 minutes left of an activity, what we were going to do next and where they needed to be. This was repeated about 3 more times during that final five minutes. This helped the kiddos, as well as the staff, know what was about to happen and what was expected of them. With all of this preparation, why are transitions so hard for me to deal with?!? I wish that someone would just be able to lay out the master-plan, go over the expectations, and then prepare me for what is next. So, with all of these thoughts, I bet you all are wondering why I am mentioning transitions. Well, this past week, I accepted a new position with a non-profit company call MARC (Midland Association for Retarded Citizens). I will be in charge of the six clients in the house, as well as the 9 staff that work there. Basically, they said that my job duties are described as being the 'mom' of the house, so I will be doing anything and everything from laundry and cleaning to maintenance requests to dealing with staffing issues and making sure the client's needs are being met. I'm excited for this new adventure, although I know I will miss the kiddos at school. With this new transition will also come the transition of changing my work hours. Monday and Tuesday, I will have to become a night-owl, since I work 4p-12a. Then change back to daytime hours during my Wed/Thurs/Fri shifts of 9a-5p. Whew! I'm really optimistic about this new adventure, so I will let everyone know how things go!

As for other details, Phil and I continue with our day-to-day activities. Last week, Phil had to work his lovely 8-day stretch of the evening shift before getting a few days off and then transitioning into day shift for two days, only to then go back to swing shift. I don't know how the poor boy does it. But, they're getting closer to hiring another agent, so he's excited with the prospect of having another body around the office.

I've been keeping up with my training, and even ran a 10K race yesterday. I was super excited with my time (beat my best time by 10 minutes!) of 56 minutes. This gives me hope that I can finish my 10K run during my triathlon in 1:20. We'll see about that...

Last night, Phil and I were part of a Murder Mystery Dinner with our bible study. It was a great time to get together and chat with everyone, and of course my favorite part was being able to dress up in 'pretty' clothes! Yes, I am a 5-year old girl that still loves to play dress up. Phil and I are always dressed opposite when we go out because he has to dress up for his work, so any chance he can get, he dresses in jeans and 'comfy' clothes, but I dress in jeans all the time (and with my new job, I get to wear scrubs), so any chance I can, I dress up. There were 9 people invovled in the mystery and it was a lot of fun! No, Phil or I were not the murderer, but we did have fun accusing each other :)

The past couple of days have also been full of hockey! We love having great hockey on TV (the NCAA men's hockey championships are being played) and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Friday, we went to a restaurant to watch the Air Force vs. Michigan game (I think people got mad that we requested a TV play the hockey game-- I mean, who watches hockey in TX?!?) and we spent 5 hours at our table! Well, I spent about 4, since I got there late after school, but from the time Phil was seated until the time we left, he had been there a little over 5 hours. That's what I call dedication! It was so great, grand and wonderful to see how amazing Air Force played (my parent's have been season ticket holders since '94ish, so I grew up watching them play). Then yesterday, the UND game was played on a channel we could watch at home, so I watched here while Phil caught bits and pieces of it while he was at work. Yeah, we won't go into the details of that game... But, only a few more weeks until the Frozen Four and more great hockey!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The past few days have been absolutely wonderful as Sheryl, Warren, Joel and Kristi came down to Midland. They arrived late Friday night and left Monday afternoon, so while it was quick (and much too short), we loved having guests! Saturday morning, we met up with Sheryl and Warren (Joel and Kristi were at our apartment) and had some breakfast at their hotel (with a mean breakfast attendant, but that's a story for another day). Then, it was off to tour the airport, eat some lunch and of course, go shopping. The ladies tried not to be too long, but I guess one of the guys thought that we took a little bit too long (hence the picture or Warren asleep on a ledge at the mall)! Later that night, we dined at one of our favorite restaurants (Abuelo's) and then back to our house for snacks and drinks.

Sunday morning, everyone went to our church (with everyone at church introducing themselves to the visitors-- that's what you get with a congregation of 30 people) and then back to our apartment for brunch. Then, the ladies headed off for pedicures while the guys went and got some things for dinner. This past week, Phil bought us a grill, so we got to give it it's first cook with our special guests! Warren had brought some steaks from Iowa and we were all happy to enjoy them. Phil also used one of his other favorite toys that we got for our wedding, and made us green ice cream, for an early St. Patties Day treat.

Monday we did minor sight-seeing (this is Midland after all!) and did another drive through town and stopped at George Bush's childhood home. After some pictures, it was back here to put on our bathing suits and head out to the pool! Unfortunately, when everyone arrived, Friday and Saturday were cloudy and only in the 50's (which is cold for us Texans!), but Sunday and Monday were gorgeous! Sheryl and I probably spent about 3 hours by the pool on Monday before agreeing that it was getting a little bit too hot for our liking :) So, back in to the shade of the apartment where everyone finished packing and started to load up the van. Unfortunately, business back in Iowa could not wait, so after some great, short days, they loaded up and headed out.

The house is once again quiet, so if anyone wants to stop in for a visit, we would love to have you! I would really like visitors this week, since it's my spring break and people may look at me funny sitting at the pool with it only being mid-70's this week (gasp- I know)! Don't worry-- I will have my book to keep me company-- I finally got suckered into the Twilight series and I'm on the 2nd book. So far, so good, so I highly recommend that everyone read the series. Phil heads back to work tomorrow evening for his 8-day work week, so hopefully I can be a good wife this week and make some goodies while he's working :)

Hope everyone has been touched by the luck of the Irish today, and may the blessings of St. Patrick continue for the rest of the year!

Only in Midland...

While our daily activity and home life have not been that interesting, Phil has come home with some great stories from work. On Monday, he was a few hours into his shift when he realized that the phone had not rung since he started his shift at 7am. Seeing as how it was a Monday, he thought this was rather unusual. Later in the day, he finds out that the City had not paid the phone bill for the airport, so no one was able to use the phone lines for the first part of the day. Later in the week, he got a call from one of the airlines stating that something like 'a large rat' was on the runway. One of his co-workers jumped into the car and found that there was a Chihuahua that had escaped from his kennel and was running around. Then to top off the week, Phil received a phone call from a woman wondering how she could send her chicken to Vietnam. Yes, only in Midland :) I'm sure they happen at other airports too, but we like to think that they only happen here just to add some excitement to our lives.

As for me, work has continued to be a big stress in my life, but I try to take each day with a smile. This past week, we took a field trip to visit the four junior high schools, since seven of our kids are going to 7th grade next year. It was a good experience for them to meet their new teachers and to see what their school will look like. I also enjoyed it, since I haven't been able to see any of the other schools in the district.

Training continues to go well and thankfully (praise the Lord), I have not had any major aches and pains (whew)! I have hit the point where I just don't want to do anything some days, but Phil has been a great cheerleader, and I am so lucky to have his high spirits around.

On Friday, Phil and I also celebrated a milestone, as we hit the 6 month mark in our marriage! We celebrated by baking a cake, having some adult beverages and just spending the evening relaxing. No gifts were exchanged since we continue to save for our 25th wedding anniversary present-- a trip to Italy :) There's no better time than the present to start saving!

We are getting very excited for his parents, brother and brother's girlfriend to come to Midland next week! It will be wonderful to have visitors and hopefully we'll be able to find some fun activities to do while they're down here. Their timing will be perfect, as I have Spring Break next week (that's why they're coming-- Joel and Kristi are on break from college) and Phil was able to switch his schedule around to have some days off. The weather is supposed to cooperate and be in the 80's during their visit, so I'm sure they'll enjoy having weather that's actually above freezing! Hopefully we'll be able to have some picture-perfect moments and have some pictures for one and all to see :)

Here Comes the Sun

It is officially summer in Midland. I know we're still in the winter season, but to us, it feels like the middle of summer (sorry to all of you in the midwest and up north-- I know you're summer is coming soon)! This past week, we had 5 days of temperatures in the upper 80's. It was hard to be inside all day, knowing that the beautiful weather was right outside. I was able to take some advantage of it during work, as I took some of my students out for a 2nd recess in the afternoon, and Phil was sometimes able to get out of the office to do an inspection or an escort. After work, I spent a couple days sitting at the pool, reading (one of my students loves the Twilight series, so I have been roped in and have started the first book). On Tuesday afternoon, we packed dinner and headed to the local elementary school to have a picnic and play on the playground. I still am in amazement at how quickly it can go from the high 80's to the low 60's in just a few hours (that's life in a desert)! Today, a 'cold spell' is coming through for the weekend, and temperatures are only supposed to be in the mid-50's.
Other than loving the weather, life has been pretty laid back for us. Last week was a time for us to catch up on errands and housework, so there was nothing major to report. We had one of Phil's co-workers come over last Sunday to watch the Oscar's, and I think all of us are ready to see Slumdog Millionaire. The day before the Oscar's, Phil and I went to see a movie, but we were in the mood for an action thriller, so we saw 'Taken' (decent movie, especially if you like the James Bond movies).
Phil's job continues to keep him busy, with staff evaluations taking place right now, as well as the continued process of hiring a new agent. And last week, he even got to do paperwork and deal with a small plane crash (no one was hurt and there wasn't a lot of damage done). He's really liked working the day shift this month (and I have loved having him home for dinner!), but it's back to shift change next weekend.
Like the students, I am happily counting down the days until Spring Break-- only 2 more weeks :) I think the whole school is ready for a break (we haven't had a day off since January 19-- gasp, I know!), so the kids are getting anxious for the whole week with no school. Thankfully, my training helps me keep my balance and is a great outlet to burn off steam from the day. A round of sickness is once again present in our classroom, so pray that I, and Phil, continue to stay healthy!

Our first Valentine's

Phil and I have had a pretty exciting week as we were able to get out of Midland, go camping, celebrate our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, deal with computer problems and continue with life in general! Whew-- since when did becoming an adult get busy?!?

Last weekend, Phil and I headed to Carlsbad, NM to visit the Carlsbad Caverns and go camping. I took the day off of work on Friday, and we left Midland around 8am. We drove to Carlsbad, stopped for lunch and then headed to the caverns. It was extremely interesting to see all the formations below ground and we highly recommend that everyone goes. We did the self-guided tour, which was about 3 miles of walking and took us about 2 hours to complete the tour. Unfortunately, we didn't get very good pictures, but we tried to capture a few of the things that we did see.

After walking around and seeing all that we could, we drove about 30 minutes and arrived in White's City, TX. We got there just in time to set up camp, go for about a 3 mile hike and watch the sun start to set. After our hike, it was a quick dinner of sandwiches (no campfires were allowed in the park) and then the rest of the evening was in the tent, snuggled under a blanket and eating a dessert of GORP/trail mix (which we lived off of for most of the weekend. Side note, Phil and I decided that GORP must become a staple in our pantry)! Both of us were pretty exhausted from the day, so we both were asleep pretty early.

The next morning, Phil and I were brutally awakened by the cold (our bodies were fine, but our heads were freezing!), so after a few minutes of staying in our sleeping bags deciding what to do, we agreed to get going with our day and set out for our hike. Since neither of us has been up in altitude for some time, the hike up the mountain was a rude awakening for us. But, we managed (with the help of yummy gorp) and I think we did pretty well :) The best part of the whole experience however, was seeing little (and we mean little) patches of snow! We almost didn't know what it was, but after getting over our giggles and smiles, we of course had to take some pictures (you would think that it's been years since we last saw snow)!

About 4 hours later, we had had enough, so we packed up camp and headed home. Both of us agree that we need to get out more often and see all the sites of Texas (because, as we're told, there are some great places to camp and some beautiful things to see), so I guess we'll be having some more adventures in the up and coming months.

When we got home, we began to get settled into our everyday life, only to find that our computer didn't work. (You can tell that we're from a generation that loves technology-- well, I guess I am more addicted than Phil, but we both enjoy our 'toys'). Phil tried to work on it for an hour or so, but decided it was best to call tech support the next day. Long story short, the computer company had no idea what they were talking about and Phil's original theory of what was wrong was the correct problem. Thankfull, it was an easy fix and all is well (however, we did take that as a warning sign and Phil proceeded to back up all of our files. I married such a great guy)!

As for other news from Texas, we continue to stay busy with the everyday activities. Phil is busy at work preparing for upcoming interviews with potential agents and I am consistently having adventure-filled days full of the entire emotional spectrum. I am now at 10 weeks until my race, so pray that my body continues to deal with the training as well as it has thus far!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week and God Bless!

Short and Sweet

I know I just wrote earlier today, but this is news of celebration and excitement:
It is raining in Midland, TX! While most of you don't think that this is news, Phil and I just spent some time outside just breathing in the smell and listening to the patter of raindrops.
It is these small things in life that make it worth living!

February

I'm a little boring today, thus the reason of the generic title of the blog :)
But, I guess it's okay for life to be a little on the slow side for the moment. It really gives Phil and I a chance to have fun together and take joys in the small things of life.
The new bible study we've joined is great and we've been able to do some activities with a few people from class. It's such a blessing to find this group and I am so, so happy that I now have girls my age to go and do 'girly' things with (not that I don't enjoy Phil's company, but I know he's really not dying at the chance to take me to all the wonderful 'chick-flick' movies that are out right now)!
Phil and I will finally be able to spend some time together, as he went on a shift change at work for this month. So, at least for the next three weeks, we'll be working the same hours. It will be great to finally have some dinner company, and someone to help with the cooking/cleaning :) Although I'm not ready for him to make fun of me going to be at 9pm (at least when he's working late, I don't feel guilty about going to bed so early)! I keep telling him that if he's getting up at 5:15am to work out, he'd be going to bed pretty early.
We've had some great weather the past week and I gladly took advantage of it during my training this week. I officially registered, so on April 26, I will be completing my first Olympic distance triathlon. I have a training schedule that I'm using, so hopefully my body won't go into too much shock during the race. Phil and I will be joining a cycling club on Wednesday nights, so it will be fun to have a training buddy for my biking days.
Much love to all of you!

New Adventures

It really was a new world to us down here when we had a 'cold front/ice storm' roll through last week. Phil and I had a few good laughs as people down here literally had no idea what to do and then proceeded to freak out about the 'dangerous conditions.' I was even the lucky one that had a two-hour delay from school one morning. Oh well, everyone (including our cars) are safe :)

Another adventure for us is that we went to a Sunday school class designed for newlyweds. The class meets at one of the larger churches down here and it was recommended to us by one of the girls that I know. It was a lot of fun and there are about seven other couples in the class that are all going through the emotions/trials/experiences that we are going through in our first year of marriage. The class is only for couples that are engaged or have been married for less than a year, so it will be a lot of fun chatting with the other couples to see all the joys that they've had thus far in this crazy adventure! I even joined a few of them for a Super Bowl party (Phil unfortunately had to work), and I know that we'll be joining them for some more adventures :)

Everything else is moving along pretty well. Phil actually has Valentine's Day off, so I think we're heading out of Midland to camp somewhere (I mean, we got all of this cool camping stuff for our wedding and it's about time we used it)! As long as a true freeze doesn't come through, we'll be camping out under the stars for our first Valentine's Day :)

Phil finally gets a shift change this month, so for at least the next three weeks, we'll be able to see each other in the afternoons and evenings! We've been talking about joining a cycling club and I am still working up the guts to do a couple of long-distance running races and triathlons. I know I've probably repeated this a dozen times, but things really are falling into place. Granted, we both miss our families, but at least for me, Midland isn't as horrible as I had made it out to be :)

Hail to the chief!

That was the buzz in Midland this week! Tuesday afternoon, former President Bush flew into Midland to say a few words at his celebration event. He came with a whole plane full of people (including his wife and his parents), so from a very far distance away, we were not really able to see George W. Bush and then from an even further away point, we could see George H.W. and Barbara getting into their charter plane to fly home. They had about 20,000 people in downtown Midland, so since there was so much traffic expected, I was the lucky one that got an early release from school! Phil and I headed to the airport to watch the plane land, along with his co-workers and some of their families. This time, I was able to go out with Phil to get a closer look at the plane (in October, I stayed in the office). Wow! I knew it was big, but it really is huge.

After spending a few hours at the airport, Phil and I met up with his Uncle Lyle and Aunt Lorna, as they were in town for the night. They had been travelling through Texas and came to Midland to see us, as well as see the celebration for former President Bush.

That was the biggest news for us this past week. Phil and I have been enjoying a couple days of gorgeous weather (I guess all days here are nice, but these days were exceptionally nice). We were able to go out on our bikes after work the other day and then since he's been working the evening shift, I spent some afternoons running and working up my endurance for triathlon season.

I am still healthy (knock on wood), but I think this next week will tell if I am truly immune to my students. We had a few of them out sick this week, so the bug is just floating around our classroom, waiting to catch someone (hopefully not me)!

January

Can you believe we are already half way through January?!? Things here are flying by and it's only a matter of time before we are experiencing temperatures in the 70's... oh wait, we're almost hitting that already. Earlier in the week, I was all smiles as we finally had a few 'cold' days of temperatures in the upper 30's. Now, we're expecting mid to high 60's from here on out, and it's only going to get warmer. So, all of you need to schedule your vacations and head down to the tropics of Midland!
As for other news, not a lot has happened. We did add a new member to our family with the purchase of a new plant (okay, not really a huge addition, but it's new to our little house). It's a euphorbia dwarf apache red (I call it our cute little pink cactus plant). Basically, it's a plant that I can't kill :) I went to the greenhouse in search of something 'a little Texan,' and when I told the guy that I had a black thumb (instead of a green thumb), he suggested this plant. Of course, I have done nothing to it and let Phil do the work of watering and pruning it! It pays to marry the son of a farmer :)
School started two weeks ago, and thankfully (knock on wood), I have not caught any more viruses. It's been a hectic few days, but this week will be a 4 day week, as the kids have tomorrow off. Then Tuesday, we have an early release since President Bush will be flying in after the inauguration. So, this week should go by quickly. But then it's all 5-day weeks until spring break in March (goodness, what will I do when I have to have a real job with 5-day work weeks and no breaks during summer or winter?!?) I've been staying busy with morning exercise classes at the YMCA. I love the variety of the group classes and I have fallen in love with the Zumba class. It's an hour long aerobic class with a lot of latina-style dancing and moves (basically, we shake our hips a lot and dance to salsa-like music). There are about 50-60 women in the class and it's a lot of fun. Other mornings, I am doing spin classes, Body Pump (strength training) and random cardio sessions. This is all preparation for the Olympic distance triathlon that I am planning on doing in April. Goodness gracious!
Phil has been busy at work planning for President Bush's arrival (which means talking to Secret Service and increasing security), as well as planning for their yearly disaster drill (coming up in June). The disaster drill requires a lot of preparation, which involves the majority of the City operations, so a lot of thought has to go into it. When he's home, he spends his spare time playing his new video games and watching the football play-offs.
We were both very excited last weekend when we were able to see the UND vs. UofM hockey games. A co-worker of Phil's also went to UND and is a huge hockey fan, so he ordered the games on his TV and we went over to watch UND cream the U (sorry Minnesota fans)! We both realized how much we miss good hockey, so I think when it comes time to move, that may have some ranking in our options!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone's 2009 has started off with happiness, smiles and joy.

Since I last wrote, things down in Midland have been a whirlwind! After Christmas, Phil and I prepared for my parent's visit. They arrived December 27 and the week that they spent down here was wonderful, and very much what I needed. After they got to Midland, they stayed one night before taking me away to visit San Antonio and the surrounding areas. Phil once again had to work, but I think he was okay staying home to play with his new video games from Christmas :)

We arrived in San Antonio late Sunday night, so it was up to bed to rest up for the days ahead. Monday, dad had to work (those husbands and their work-- I guess someone's got to earn the money while the other spends it!), so mom and I met up with one of her friends (Kathy) that lives in the area. First off, Kathy took us to a bridal store so I could get fitted for a bridesmaid dress for my friend Kayley's wedding. After getting business out of the way, Kathy was our gracious tour guide that lead us through the craziness at San Marco outlets. One word to describe the outlets: AMAZING! There were so many stores and goodies-- I was proud of myself for not buying everything in site :) We spent about 5 hours there and maybe hit about 1/5 of all the stores. Whew! After the stores, we drove to the town of Gruene and walked through the adorable streets of this historic little town. Here are mom and I outside of the Gruene Hall (random interesting fact: the cover of George Strait's first album has a picture of him standing inside of this bar/dancing hall). Then, back to the hotel to pick up Bob and head to dinner at Red Robin (yum)! The next morning, mom and I met up with Kathy again while Bob stayed at the hotel to work. We toured the Alamo, took in the sites around the town and then spent the majority of our day at the riverwalk, just walking and taking in the scenery. With all the walking and long days, mom and I were exhausted, so Tuesday was an early goodbye to Kathy before returning to our hotel for a nap. After dad was done working, we once again headed into San Antonio for dinner and walking along the riverwalk.

Wednesday morning, we headed back to Midland. Dad had to work the afternoon shift, so while he stayed at our apartment, mom, Phil and I went to gather some things so we could decorate our apartment. We finally got our wedding pictures, so we bought frames for those, as well as a mirror for the living room. The boldest thing was painting an accent wall in our bedroom. Mom and I surprised Phil by choosing the color and painting the wall while he was at work, so I think he's still getting used to it :}

New Year's was spent at the apartment and playing Dominoes. We taught Phil the game of 'chicken feet,' and of course he had beginner's luck and beat us all! We all made it to midnight, celebrated with some drinks, made a few calls to friends and family, and then crashed for the evening.

My parent's left early this morning to head back to CO. I think their trip was entirely too short, but I'm sure Phil thinks it was just right :)

The next time I see them will be in May when I head back to CO for Tom's graduation (maybe?!?), so hopefully the time will fly by quickly.

It was great to have visitors, so if anyone wants to head on down to Midland, we would love to have you!