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!