Painting and Projects

Over Christmas break, Nick and I decided that we would be re-signing our lease at our townhouse for next year. Since we will be living here for the next 3 years most likely, we decided to make it a little more homey. First it started out that we were going to paint. So we went to Lowe's, picked out the paint and began the project. We painted the hallways and kitchen a tan color and picked blue as an accent for the backsplash in the kitchen. For the living room, we went with green. We decided we would use the extra paint to paint the bedroom and bathrooms, but so far we haven't gotten up the motivation to paint those rooms...I think after spending three straight days painting we are taking a break for awhile. But hopefully sometime this Spring we will paint those rooms. Of course once you paint, you must rearrange...so we moved a few things around in the kitchen and living room. I also found some new decorations including the metal stars that are on the wall in the kitchen. After the downstairs redecorating was complete, we turned our attention to the lack of lighting in the living room. There isn't a central fixture in that room, and the one that was over against the wall hardly put out any light. As we later discovered it was simply a hole cut in the ceiling with a lightbulb and some plexi-glass to cover it...So we found a nice light fixture for reasonably cheap and Nick put that in. It is much brighter now! But that wasn't the end. Nick decided that he wanted to mount our TV on the wall. So with some help from Josh they got that project completed and it looks great!

Kinnick Graduated!

We decided to enroll Kinnick in the same Basic Obedience class that Herky took. He went to class for 6 weeks in December and January to learn Heel, Sit, Down, Stay, No Bark, No Jump, and Come. He did very well, and we are planning on enrolling him in Intermediate Obedience sometime this Spring or Summer. This class will work on learning the behaviors without a leash. Because Herky had already taken this class, he was able to come and re-take the class again for free! Nick worked with Herky and I worked with Kinnick during the class. Herky did much better this time around, probably because he was a little older. This picture is of all the dogs that graduated from our basic obedience!

More Christmas!

Our Christmas celebrations continued on Christmas morning as we went to my parents house to open gifts with my parents and my sister. Then we drove back to Nick's grandma's house for Christmas day lunch and fun there. But our day wasn't over yet...we continued on to my Grandpa and Grandma Perkins' house for sandwiches, gifts and visiting there as well! Before we knew it, it was getting well into the afternoon and Nick had to leave to drive back to Indiana for work the next morning. So he took off with Herky and Kinnick and I stayed a bit longer to visit with family. Our Christmas celebrations were great, but they flew by!

As part of our Christmas gifts, Dad bought our family tickets to see the Rockettes perform in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular performance in Des Moines. So the day after Christmas, we drove down a little early and ate dinner at Spaghetti Works then walked the skywalk to the Civic Center. The show was amazing! I hope someday soon I can watch it again with someone I know performing (cross your fingers for Lezlie!).

Christmas Eve Festivities

Nick and I safely made the trip home to Iowa for Christmas. He could only be home from the 22nd through the 25th, and I wanted to stay a little longer, so we drove seperately. I came home on the 20th with Kinnick, and Nick brought Herky on the 22nd. Despite a big snow/ice storm we were able to spend a little time with friends, including Shaybree, Shane, Casey & Steph. Starting on the 23rd we had a pretty packed schedule of Christmas dinners to attend before Nick had to drive back to Indiana for work. We went to Steve's house on the 23rd to exchange gifts and visit. On the 24th we went to my Grandma Callaway's house in the afternoon to eat soup and visit with all of the aunts, uncles and cousins that always pack her house. Then we left and headed straight to Nick's parents' house for dinner, gifts, and family time. We always try to take a few family photos, and as you can see Bill managed to take quite a few good ones this year.

However, it always seems to get a little bit crazier when it gets to gift time... This year for the annual Christmas game, it was guys vs. girls for Redneck Days of Christmas. And the girls won...of course!

Snow!

We woke up this morning to a couple inches of snow! It is supposed to continue to snow and sleet throughout the weekend here. I just hope the weather clears up before next week when Nick and I will drive back to Iowa. We decided to take advantage of the snow while it lasted, and we took the dogs to the dog park to play. They both loved it, especially Herky who likes to bury his nose in the snow and then make funny snorting noises.

Christmas Break!

I am officially done with classes for the Fall 2007 semester! I am very excited to have a break, and I am happy with how my classes and tests went this semester. Now I have a week to clean, go Christmas shopping, relax, and pack for Iowa! I will be leaving on Thursday, December 20th (with Kinnick) to come back to Iowa. Since Nick works, he and Herky will be leaving Friday night (the 22nd). Nick has to drive back on Christmas day to work the next day, and he is taking both dogs back with him then. But I will be sticking around until January 2nd. Hope to see you all over break!

Thanksgiving in Iowa

It's been awhile since I've posted an update here! Things are going great in Indiana. Nick and I just got back from a holiday trip to Iowa for Thanksgiving, and now I am counting down the days until Christmas break! Only one week of classes and one week of finals til my first semester of Optometry school is over! Hard to believe it has gone so fast. For Christmas, I believe Nick will only be home the 22nd through the 25th. Then he has to head back for work. I am planning on driving seperately so I can spend a bit longer with friends and family in Iowa. Tentatively I will drive home on the 20th and stay til the 1st or maybe 2nd? Not sure yet!

Anyways, these pictures are from Thanksgiving in Iowa. Nick and I went to 3 Thanksgiving celebrations while we were home. The first was Wednesday night at Bill and Lisa's house (Nick's parents). We ate and visited with Bill, Lisa, Nick's sister Melisa, Nick's brother Nate and his girlfriend Heather. It was a great night with roast beef instead of turkey - a nice change so that all the meals weren't exactly the same. The second get-together was Thanksgiving noon at Nick's grandma Mary's house. There were around 25-30 people there and we had a feast - all the usual Thanksgiving items, I'm sure no one left hungry! I also got to play cards with all of the younger kids while the adults socialized - it was a fun time (the other picture here is of me with Nick's cousing Chelsea who was the flower girl in our wedding).

Then we headed to my parent's house where we had an early dinner with my parents, Grandpa, Aunt Terry and Uncle Joe, Aunt Barb and Uncle Mike, and cousins Kristine and Karen and her husband Adam. Another great meal and conversation time here! Plus Kinnick and Herky had the opportunity to meet their dog-cousins; Karen and Adam brought their greyhound Razzy and the greyhound Sophie that they are fostering.

We were also able to spend time with friends over break on Friday night, and had a great time eating at Zeno's in Marshalltown and playing darts and pool afterwards. On Saturday evening we were able to help my parents put up the Christmas tree and snap a few festive family photos in the process.

We are very thankful for the great time we had, the safe drive to Iowa and back, and we are also thankful that my grandparents (who were sick over break) are feeling better now! We are also very thankful that the dogs slept almost the entire 9 hour trip both ways!