Our First IOWA Football Game!!!

Today we ventured into the land of the completely unknown....We became Iowa Hawkeye fans!!! We decided a couple of days ago to try to score tickets and had no problem. Then, I (Linda) decided we can't do anything if we don't do it right - so we went and got our Hawkeye apparel. Each of us picked out a shirt and, of course, Julianne got pom-poms, a necklace, and some tatoos. A friend offered to let us park at his place - which is only a couple blocks from the stadium.

So - Our first IOWA football game was a blast! Our seats were good and we were surrounded by people who weren't total knuckleheads. Julianne got to stand and cheer whenever she wanted without anyone becomming annoyed.

Not sure if we will be attending any more of them - as Jim would rather shoot things on the weekends - but I would love to go to another one. Wondering if the tailgating thing may be something to try next time....not sure.

Julianne's First Day of Kindergarten....

The day finally came - Julianne's first day of kindergarten. She chose to wear a Hannah Montana shirt with some cute pink sparkly shorts. Of course, she was also armed with her Hannah Montanna backpack and folders...oh, and Hannah Montana socks too.

I think she was excited, but we couldn't tell. She was aware that I was semi-not looking forward to it, so she may have been holding back on it. She understands why it's kind of a sad day for me. Anyway, no tears until she begins to march from the playground up to the school with the rest of her class. Then I pretty much cry all the way home. I took the day off today because she gets out early...okay - the real reason was so I could sit home, cry, and eat ice cream. Just kidding. I wanted to be here when she went to school AND when she came home.

We ended up taking her this morning and I'll pick her up - but, tomorrow - she will ride the bus for the first time and that will be another hard day. I can see her throwing a fit if there are no seatbelts on the bus.

So - after we drop her off at school, I realize that I can't find my phone. I look everywhere thinking that with lack of sleep and the drama of the morning - it literally could be anywhere. I'm even checking the trash, fridge, silverware drawer - you name it...I looked there. I called the school to see if anyone had turned it in. Finally, I drive to the school to retrace my steps around the playground to see if I'd lost it. Nope, no luck.

Yes, I finally found it....................................You will never guess where I subconsiously put it (okay - Sarah guessed it - but she and I share a mommy-brain)....................................................................................................................................................................

I found it in her backpack! I don't even remember carrying it around when we left, but at some point - I put the phone in the back pocket of it.

WOW - I am such a blog-slacker!

Okay - so since my last post - which was in JANUARY, a LOT has happened. We sold our house in Kville, moved to Iowa, both took new jobs....let's see...what else????

Let's start with the move....Those of you who know us well are probably familiar with just how long Jim and I have live in Kville. Jim came to college there in 1988 and I've there since 1994. Needless to say...we've accumulates some - uh - stuff. Our 30 x 40 building we built a few years back was FULL of crap. I had started to pack things back in January (maybe that's why I didn't blog very much!) and those boxes began to pile up out in the shop as well. We planned on having a sale of some sort, but ended up giving a bunch of stuff away and simply taking a lot to the dump. Without going into too much moving-hell-detail, I will just tell you that we are glad it's over and we are NOT looking forward to doing it again in 2 years!!!

So, our new house.... We love it. It's more room than we've ever had before and made us realize that we really don't have too much stuff! There are cabinets that have nothing in them! Not every single closet is full! However, our house is VERY new and we don't want to tarnish it.....so, I've not hung one single picture! We've kept a lot of stuff packed that we don't need - so we won't have to just pack it again when I am done with my fellowship. Ok....SO......THAT means that the garage has unpacked crap in it! Yes, it does! It is also filled with Jim's decoys. So, there is only room enough for my car in there and I'm not giving up my parking spot.

Julianne's room has a loft-bed and her art stuff is situated underneath it. Her loft is a full-size and is huge! It's from IKEA, but I bought it used from a lady here. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how big it is.....so, she can't turn on her ceiling fan or she'll whack herself! Her room is decorated with Hannah Montana stuff and butterflies.

We finally have an actual kitchen table. Yeah, seriously, a real one! We ordered it when we first got up here and it took about 5 weeks to get it, but it finally came 2 weeks ago. I no longer have to stand up while eating dinner. The sad part of this story is that there was no place for my beautiful kitchen island that I loved so much and I sold it on ebay.

Laundry - we bought a front-load washer and dryer and they are seriously the BEST things I've ever purchased. They can do HUGE loads of laundry and it's cut our laundry time by at least half!

Since we have an extra couple bedrooms, I was able to use one of them for a designated gym. My treadmill and eliptical are down there and I even put up a flat-screen for my 4am DVDs! I have mirrors for weight training, but they aren't actually up yet - just propped against the walls - because of the "afraid to put holes in the walls" syndrome I mentioned earlier. The surround sound I used in the old house sounds so much better in the smaller room.

The area.....wow... where do I start? It's nice having options. It's nice having a place to go besides walmart (but we find we are pretty brand-specific and still do most of our shopping at walmart!). We discovered the downtown IC ped-mall this past week and have been there twice. Wish we would have known about it sooner. There are miles upon miles of trails for me to run on, and it's easy to get in 8-10 miles without having to plan it all out and not do loops.

So, I am now a critical care fellow at the University of Iowa in the surgical ICU. It's actually an anesthesia fellowship, not an internal medicine one - so, I'm seeing things I've never seen before in my life. New people, new ways of doing things, new everything. It's overwhelming, but good. You all know me and you know that I am extremely uptight.....that's probably not going to change. So, my adjustment period may be a bit longer than usual. So far, things have really been going well at work. I'm not TOO far out of my element with the things I've been seeing. The people I work with all seem to be way smarter than me (but I would probably think that if I were flipping burgers somewhere!). There's been a few frustrations, but overall - I think I'm settling in well.

Jim's job is going well. He really enjoys the positive atmosphere he has up here. He enjoys being in the office and has gotten off to a really good start. He even learned how to text!

On August 20, Julianne will start school. I've already taken the day off! I'm not ready at all. I'll try to let everyone know how that goes.

I've got tons of pictures to post on here. I'll try to get around to that - but there are no guarantees!

My Journey Across America

Here is a map of my miles across America. I'm keeping track on FitnessJournal.com
So far, I haven't made it out of San Francisco! Mileage has gone way down since Jim and I started P90X.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Travel safe, and hope Santa is good to you all!

Getting closer to Christmas...

Not long until Christmas. If that sentence elicited a big sigh, you aren't alone! I've yet to talk to anyone that's actually excited about the holidays coming around. Everyone's looking forward to the idea of the Holiday Season, but when specifics are discussed....I hear many "ug's!". I suppose there are lots of reasons some of us are dreading the holidays: travel, messes, finances, tax time, and the 100% possibility of overeating!... The dreads go on and on. Trying to fit in time with each part of the extended family is close to impossible for many. For us, that means driving in one direction, then in almost the opposite direction within just a few days. We don't mind. After all, there is the reward of family at the end of each journey. However, it's still DRIVING! Fortunately, Julianne travels much better than either Jim or I. (Which is in contrast to how she did in the car for the first year of her life, for those of you who can remember!) Anyway, getting back to dreading the Holiday Season.....

I suppose each dread is matched with something that is sort of pleasant....seeing friends or family and finally catching up on gossip (you guys knew this would be something I look forward to!), seeing the little ones - especially new babies that we get to see for the first time, and let's not forget...................THE FOOD!!!!!! The food is a catch-22. It's a must for most social gatherings - and Holiday Celebrations are certainly that. But, for those of us who aren't pure ectomorphs (google it if you don't know what it means), the spread laid out before us during the holiday season can cause some serious anxiety. I want to eat everything in sight! You all know I have an incredible sweet-tooth and can't resist anything that contains even the smallest amount of sugar. So, I guess this is my biggest dread for the holiday season - dealing with the plentiful nourishment that is set before me at each holiday gathering.....pies, fudge (where'd all the peanut butter fudge go? - oh, Linda at it all!), peanut brittle, finger foods, cookies, dill-dip in a rye bread bowl, snack mixes that seem to reproduce in the bowl and are available 24-7...it goes on and on. The bad part is I even catch myself eating the food that I don't even like - such as those gosh-awful cheeseballs! Even worse - I have no plan in mind to stop me from continuing my Holiday Eating Tradition, but suggestions can be made!

If I had my way, and the ideas I had in my little brain could become reality with a click of my Brooks, the following things would be present at each Holiday Meal: 1) A professional hand-slapper. Theoretically, each gathering would need more than one of these. Someone who stands by the food and slaps your hand as you reach for the bad stuff. Seriously, there has to be an agency who rents these guys out! 2) Boxed-Dinners (dessert included). You walk in the door of someone's house for Christmas Dinner, hug 5-10 people, and are then handed a box that holds your evening's food in its entirety....Perfectly measured out portions of Turkey (white meat, of course), stuffing, a vegetable, salad, and - most importantly - a bite-sized sweet of some sort. And, that's it! That's all you get! There's NO buffet of treats lining the dining room furniture! 3) Instead of the usual sweats, the only sugary item available is an assortment of Jelly-Bellys. Imagine it...Jelly-Bellys in the flavors of Christmas! Some may exist already, but I'm thinking of flavors like candy cane, peanut brittle, fudge (all kinds!), white-chocolate-macadamia nut cookie, chex-mix, puppy-chow mix...I could go on and on. Anyway, each guest would be given 3 tickets for 3 Jelly-Bellys - and that's all you get!

So, those are my ideas for a much less stressful Holiday Season. So far, I've stayed out of the Christmas isle at Wal-mart. However, the kid and I made caramel corn last week (and it was kick-a$$) and it's already gone - mostly me, I admit!

My request for you is this - if you know I am coming to your house for a holiday celebration - can you please place duct-tape over my mouth as soon as I walk in the door? (Have mercy, however, and leave a small hole so I can drink wine through a straw.) I begged the dentist to wire my jaws shut for the next 3 weeks, but he wouldn't - so, it's all up to you - my cooking, talented hosts and hostesses - to save me from myself!

I'm going to switch gears now and talk about gift-giving. Most of you know that I really don't like giving gifts. Of course, I LOVE getting Julianne whatever she wants and I constantly have to keep myself in check with that. I am talking about buying a gift for someone just because it's Christmas and you feel you have to get them something. Yeah, you have a drawing at work, so you better get something for the name you drew. However, how many of us actually know someone who really NEEDS something for Christmas (besides cash!)? I really know not one single person who is in need! I could go out an buy you a trinket, a neckless, some towels - or some other stupid gift that you really don't need, or I could spend my money where it benefits those that ARE in need. I've encouraged my family to NOT give Jim or I anything this year. A)we are moving soon and really don't want to have to pack more crap and B) we DON'T NEED ANYTHING!!! So, we are just buying for the kids. At the bottom of this post, there is a list of links to charities that you can access online and give - knowing you really are benefitting someone that is less fortunate. You guys all know my favorite is St. Jude Research Hospital. I push everyone to order from their catalog each year because 100% of the proceeds goes to the hospital. They have some really nice stuff on there, too.

Bottom line - do something different this year....send someone a card saying you spared them having to find more room on the mantle for the knick-knack you were going to get them and, instead, donated to a charity in their names.

www.charitynavigator.org - this site reviews all the charities and lets you search where you'd like to put your money....environment, public health, animals, etc. It even tells you which charities are worthless!

www.charitywatch.org - this site also rates the charities so you know you are giving to a worthy (and legitimate!) cause.

www.wish.org - Make-a-Wish Foundation. As you probably know, this organization grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. I know several people who give to this charity on a yearly basis - certainly a good cause.

www.rmhc.org - The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (RMHC®) is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.

www.stjude.org - My personal favorite. Navigate your way the The Hope Catalog. Again, every sent goes to St. Jude...the designers of the clothes and jewelry all donate the goods! Your purchase is tax-deductable! So, you are purchasing a gift AND donating to a good cause.

www.ecarepackage.org - this site is an organization that sends care-packages to the troops. I came across this site and it looks legit, but I've no experience with it. Good cause, none-the-less.

Well, that's enough to get you started. If online donations make you feel uncomfortable - you can always find your local Red Cross or Salvation Army and give.

Okay - stepping down from my soapbox now! Please feel free to check out the poll I've added to my blog!