tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209503772024-03-18T20:00:39.437-07:00The Chronicles of Motherhood .....Finding the beauty of grayEmmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.comBlogger453125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-32557818526509463892014-12-23T07:21:00.001-08:002015-01-10T22:55:09.841-08:00Anna's Birth<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We welcomed our fourth child into our family at home on Nov 21, 2014 at 7:16 pm. Anna was 8lbs, 6oz and 19.5 inches.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you want the synopsis…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anna was 8 days past her due date, yes we did a homebirth, yes it was planned, no we are not crazy, yes Jared opted for pants (see reference below), yes it was a fantastic experience and yes clean up was fast (first question out of everyone’s mouth about homebirth). A big thanks to our Nurse-Midwife, Katie, at <b><a href="http://easterniowamidwifery.com/">Eastern Iowa Midwifery</a></b> for a wonderful experience and helping us welcome a beautiful healthy baby girl. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you want the novel…..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you know our family you're well aware that there is a 5 ½ year gap between our third and fourth child. As we announced once again we were expecting we received many comments, most which contained the word “surprise”. While Anna was indeed a surprise, it was a long-awaited and welcomed one. I knew inevitably the day Ike was born that there would be a fourth. Years passed and due to health issues in my early twenties the consensus was that time had most likely ran out. Personally it was a tough reality, but with time the transition came. Ike started preschool, I started working more and looked at Masters programs. The kids were growing and for the first time in years everyone was sleeping through the night. By last winter we decided to relieve ourselves of all baby gear. For me that was the last big step to close one door and move forward.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mid Spring I noticed a shortness of breath out running. The weeks progressed and one Sunday morning I woke up nauseous. I sat on the cold tile with my back against the bathroom wall, face buried in my hands trying to regain composure, listening to Ike cry because Eliza was once again dictating what bow tie he would wear to church. The thought crept into my mind, was it possible? It couldn’t be, I had closed this door emotionally, life had moved on and so had I. Like any pregnancy I wasn't sure if I should cheer or panic. I got the kids ready, drove to church. I looked at my watch, service was starting in four minutes. Jared was just walking up to sit on the stand (I have the privilege to be married to an Mormon Bishop), I grabbed him by the suit coat and said “You, your office,NOW!” His weak petition of starting on time was no match as I dragged him out of the chapel. Before he could even close his office door I blurted it out. In typical Jared fashion, a smile spread across his face with a calm “All right, we can do this.” We walked into the chapel together like it was just another Sunday (but I’m pretty sure I spent the hour with my head between my knees hyperventilating in pew #8, everyone oblivious except the woman sitting behind me with a ½ dozen kids).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why a homebirth? I have my crunchy facets in life. And Jared, well we all know Jared married a landscape architect and that accounts for ALL of his crunchiness. So it wasn’t entirely that. I wasn’t crazy about my OB office in town, no one had a glowing recommendation. The nearest hospital-based midwifery practice was in Iowa City and history proved that a 30-mile drive was not a bright idea considering<b> <a href="http://www.renshawnuthouse.blogspot.com/2007/07/elizas-story.html">child #2</a></b> was born in a wheelchair at the wrong hospital and <b><a href="http://www.renshawnuthouse.blogspot.com/2009/07/chronicle-continuespart-3-precipitous.html">child #3</a></b> I delivered by myself in the hospital bathroom (links provided if you need to waste yet more time at work). With Eliza I learned to birth solo. With Ike I learned to enjoy birthing solo. While it was in chaos the morning he was born, it was an unmatched experience to catch that little guy and I had longed for it again. Laying in bed one night Jared turned to me and said “I can’t do the drive.” “What?? What do you mean?” “I mean I can’t handle driving you while in labor again, it freaks me out.” And with that confession the homebirth search commenced.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We had so many questions, was it safe? Would my body labor the same way being five years older? What if we had another heart baby? The reality is we've had a child who was not born perfect, at least medically defined sense of perfection. The weeks sitting in the CVICU wondering if we would ever have the privilege bringing her home hangs fresh in our minds with every pregnancy. There were so many scenarios, so many outcomes. We began to read, to digest, to look. Unassisted, Entry Level, Certified Nurse Midwife? CNM it was. After interviewing a few CNM’s we found Katie at Eastern Iowa Midwifery. We emailed her thirty times and grilled her on every possible scenario as I met with her in person. I imagine she was hoping we wouldn’t sign on, but to be fair I think we were pretty easy clients after all fifty irrational fears were put to rest. She answered our questions, put us at ease and gave us more information to digest. What I really liked about her was the balance of technology with natural birth. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> If you know us you know it takes us a year to pick out paint, transitioning from the status quo hospital birth to a homebirth was a big step. While it sounded like a perfect fit, we still were hesitant. One night someone sent us the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEbZrY0G9PI">Jim Gaffigan skit on homebirth</a>. We about died laughing and with the idea that pants were optional and the realization that we had done our research and found a competent practitioner we signed on the next morning. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Months passed and I got to know Katie, had my eyes opened to new ideas and alternatives to think about as we proceeded to delivery to integrate with what we were comfortable with. Plans were made, ultrasounds done, meeting with our cardiologist to make sure we had our bases covered to look for heart conditions. My pre-natal care was so much more thorough than with any OB. Anna was due Nov 13th and I still felt pretty good (pregnancy is a lot easier in Iowa fall than Houston summer). Sunday Nov. 16th back labor started to set in. I early labor slowly for days with all pregnancies and I was hoping the end was in sight. Tuesday things started to pick up, if like previous experiences, we would have a child within a few hours. I called Katie, Jared came home from work…and then nothing. Jared was so flustered that he would miss the birth he stayed home Wednesday from work. By Thursday I kicked Jared back to work, I was a week over my due and patience was waning. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally Friday came, I didn’t feel great. I went to Aldis mid-morning and part way through the store found myself forehead pressed against a cooler door, (the guy behind thinking I was way too focused on what kind of ice cream to buy) when the thought occurred shopping probably wasn’t the best idea. I went home and called our Midwife still not convinced I was in labor (I now see I have a history of labor denial until it brings me to my knees). It was to be an icy night so she said that she would swing by around 3:30 and check on me and if needed stay the night. At 3pm I texted her that maybe she should grab her equipment and she was knocking on my door a few minutes later, with Jared running in behind her. Dara was there shortly thereafter, coffee in hand, which signaled I wasn’t the only thinking this labor would be longer than I had originally anticipated. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I had tested positive for Strep B and opted for the IV antibiotics (thinking that the last two labors were so fast they didn’t have time to administer them in the hospital so most likely this time would be the same). Ironically I ended up with an IV with the homebirth but it was a painless process. With the last two labors being so fast we planned on just sticking the kids in the basement with a movie (don't worry we had many discussions including the one if Mom sounds like she is being trampled by a herd of moose, it's perfectly normal). They came running in the door from school at 4pm and I knew they had to go. Jared loaded them up and took them to Hodsons and I promised him I would wait for him to get back (like I had any control but it made him feel better). The room was prepped, we chatted, Jared made it back in time and administered a blessing. Everything was in place, it was time to get this little chica here. Like Ike my labor was all in the hips and back and so it was really difficult to time contractions. We talked to for a while longer as they filled up the birth tub. At that point I was all about laboring in the tub but still unsure about doing a full water birth.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I got in the water and my contractions picked up in intensity (the secret they don’t tell you) and yet the water seemed to mellow the sting. Lights were turned down, music was on, Katie monitored and there was silence. This was by far my hardest birth since my first and yet it was the best. As the contraction piled on, I was able to focus, to think, to process and for the first birth to stay in the moment. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jared and I had the conversation many times about how helpless he feels during labor, to know there is little relief he can provide. He had asked me repeatedly what I needed during labor since he didn’t have to drive (or recover from driving). Due to circumstances I had learned to do this completely on my own. With my two previous labors support had a different definition as in “I’ll never mention the line of profanities that came from you if you don’t have this kid in the car, deal?” (romantic no, but it’s what we had to work with). So I wasn't sure how to use him, I’m not an overly touchy-feely person in normal circumstance and in labor I’m really hands off (lets just say the Bradley method was not written for us :). But Jared sat there and held my hand in silence and after eleven years of married we both knew that was the perfect support for both of us.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There comes a time during labor when the clock becomes faceless and time is measured in breath and wave. When you find yourself in your own Gethsemane, with unanswered pleading. In that moment, so remote from the room around, you collapse in fear or find unwavering strength. Personally, it is in that time of helplessness that biology and Divinity meld to create the beauty of Motherhood. It is empowering and in each labor becomes sacred ground, an experience that buoys me through the sleepless nights, sickness and the uncertainties of life that is bound to come with raising children. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And for the first labor I didn’t lose focus. At one point I was asked to get out and use the bathroom, my water broke. I decided at the moment that water birth it was, there was no way anyone was dragging me out of that tub. I got back in, it was time to push. It was a hands off approach, they were there if needed, I knew the drill. For being a slow labor, the push was fast, about two minutes. Poor kid had some serious road rash from the quick delivery. I picked this sweet little girl out of the water at 7:16 and all was well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As always there was the joy of afterbirth, the part you forget and wished for the drugs coursing through your veins. It always amazes that I can gracefully make it through labor and birth and yet become a completely pansy afterwards. Katie and Dara were fast and efficient and before I knew it Anna and I were tucked into bed, laundry was in the washer and the room was back to normal, pretty sure they moonlight as a hazmat team. They stayed around for a few hours to make sure everyone was stable and left us to welcome in Anna (who was actually nameless for two days) into our family. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It was a beautiful experience, my only regret was not having the courage to do a homebirth before the fourth. A big thanks to our wonderful Midwife Katie that ensured we had the best and safest experience possible. Anna has gracefully transitioned into our family and after a month we couldn’t imagine life without her. She has such a sweet calm spirit and will always be a reminder that the blessing we seek don’t always come on our timeline.</span>Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-45258914202541387362014-08-24T13:35:00.001-07:002014-08-24T13:35:21.582-07:00Colorado SpringsJared is one of seven siblings so this year we did our first family reunion. Jared and I were in charge and being the engineer he is he plugged everyone's address in and Colorado Springs was the center point outside of the east coasters. <br />
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We rented a historic house in downtown Colorado Springs and it was perfect. We spent the week hiking Garden of the Gods. Erin did her first rock climb with Aunt Brittany. Jared took Eliza white water rafting and Ike and I went to the cliff dwellings. We spent an afternoon at the penny arcade, Ike celebrated his 5th birthday! And Jared and I found Blue Bell Ice cream. We enjoyed games and dinner together as an extended family and it was just a great vacation. <br />
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(our pregnancy announcement) </div>
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<br />Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-39141076010578549792014-08-24T12:59:00.001-07:002014-08-24T13:36:51.764-07:00Washington DCTime for our yearly post? We do more than travel! We survived a brutal winter, I think between Dec 15-Feb 15 we had 37 days below zero. By the end of school we had 11 snow days and were ready for summer! That being said the summer has been beautiful and soon the kiddos start back to school.<br />
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This spring Jared took me to DC for a week. I have always wanted to see the Cherry blossoms and luckily we caught the very last week. We flew in and headed to the DC temple to do a session. I finally got to see the original mural that spans the interior wall.<br />
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We then spent three days doing the mall, renting bikes, puking in the occasional garage can (thank you morning sickness) and just enjoying some time together. My top two favorite spots were the National Cathedral which we got lost on our bikes riding up there and missed our tour. I put my pride aside and played stupid tourist and scored a tour with the architect on staff. My second was Arlington Cemetery. In a city where the pace exceeds human decency Arlington provided a place of reflection and awareness. <br />
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We met up with two sets of friends from our Houston Days. We did dinner in and game night with Millers and dinner at an Irish Pub and Mt Vernon with Milenkovics. So good to see everyone. It was a fast trip but we loved every minute of it!<br />
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Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-208664213681670322013-09-10T12:52:00.001-07:002013-09-10T12:59:22.270-07:00Family Vacation Devils Lake State Park, Wisconsin Our family vacation this year got downgraded from Colorado to Wisconsin. However not a bad change at all. I was so impressed with the area and the park. We spent a week in August exploring close to home.<br />
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We booked a teepee at Devils Lake State Park. It was nice not to have to deal with tents. The teepees sleep 6 and had cots and have a huge secluded campsite. We spent the week hiking, took the kids horse back riding for the first time and enjoyed numerous glens and the lake. The nature center had GPS units the kids nature exploration bags to check out, which the kids loved.<br />
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Geologically this is where the glaciers stopped (think of a snowplow) leaving 400 foot piles of massive pieces of broken stone. The CCC built stunning trails through these rock slides in the midst of corn fields.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Teepee</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the pieces of broken granite, you can see the scratch marks from the glaciers sliding over it.</td></tr>
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The kids did so well on the trails. Balanced Rock was a 400ft assent on uneven stone stairs. Beautiful trail design. Needless to say the kids slept very well this day :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balanced Rock Trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trail Steps</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where is the trail??</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY1jMd2N1Ibsqt2Gp7oPZG2SceiOn9Uxm3_sO0VZKIFpkCmQCiy8lyXV2gBf6q_ZtBkz8Sjikn49_zOPs6yaLYug7mHgkOkPM1lMqrbvH6rUN58ok8mMRL5BHN-ZYsxnmkoxwlg/s1600/CAM00849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY1jMd2N1Ibsqt2Gp7oPZG2SceiOn9Uxm3_sO0VZKIFpkCmQCiy8lyXV2gBf6q_ZtBkz8Sjikn49_zOPs6yaLYug7mHgkOkPM1lMqrbvH6rUN58ok8mMRL5BHN-ZYsxnmkoxwlg/s320/CAM00849.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devils Doorway - We made it to the top!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the top of the ridge</td></tr>
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Our second day we took the kids into the Dells to go horse back riding for the first time. Erin was adamant that she was not getting on a horse for fear of death and dismemberment. Jared put his foot down and made her go. When she mounted her horse, she turned around with a gigantic smile on her face. Eliza had her own horse also and did very well for her first time and age.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOEUjaFzkKyrC_5u41j1TUv5SXls2H9fvJxB31Z1Z7zlcNmWG7l1yw5rYRTjUKxkrGpfZuH2A11iUSeSt2WvvSvj_D4fozoZf4zTK0u_7u4_r-CByzjaxoTyPmSs9RWPeppqpOQ/s1600/IMG_20130730_122048.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOEUjaFzkKyrC_5u41j1TUv5SXls2H9fvJxB31Z1Z7zlcNmWG7l1yw5rYRTjUKxkrGpfZuH2A11iUSeSt2WvvSvj_D4fozoZf4zTK0u_7u4_r-CByzjaxoTyPmSs9RWPeppqpOQ/s320/IMG_20130730_122048.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxNcQfqxbOUtyYK0FjNRXARREKGlqEWm-PiZRX5VS71h-VcJnCsmdaAYfQyC8ZXgVUSDlHfgsOq0ymDHOXPrL_tyNOP0Tg9Fuc24_MEvbKOtLe2GAgS1REhNHME0i8BWnDel_pA/s1600/IMG_20130730_122041.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxNcQfqxbOUtyYK0FjNRXARREKGlqEWm-PiZRX5VS71h-VcJnCsmdaAYfQyC8ZXgVUSDlHfgsOq0ymDHOXPrL_tyNOP0Tg9Fuc24_MEvbKOtLe2GAgS1REhNHME0i8BWnDel_pA/s320/IMG_20130730_122041.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
We spent one afternoon at Parfrey's Glen. We had hiked a few county park glens and the kids were tired. We were about to turn around, the trail was nothing special but Eliza wanted to keep going and this is what we found. Photos do not do it justice, to give you an idea of size and depth click on the panoramics below. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrNUdfQza0hP8R8wJW1Sl2crs6xxx504sT2T2mVvIYEH6AJEfwEYlDjsML0sCpsbnxCp74IrNgefeiHRvyI8xl7Z9GY9c90gPFvIp-s7puzEBUHQFwpl2PWH3ddC_Y1xdGEhfGg/s1600/IMG_20130730_162932.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrNUdfQza0hP8R8wJW1Sl2crs6xxx504sT2T2mVvIYEH6AJEfwEYlDjsML0sCpsbnxCp74IrNgefeiHRvyI8xl7Z9GY9c90gPFvIp-s7puzEBUHQFwpl2PWH3ddC_Y1xdGEhfGg/s320/IMG_20130730_162932.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYd2IBz-MbNoV6aJIihc9vQQiJgjoMOiMrXNFAFKNzE8cHxO-mq1k8nYNrOoKPHnYqIejTwBvosB8sXiul6PTHS2f2qpuIZCeyHgFGV1MyviMDvOe49YdvYu4x2j8hzsTXUfGPTg/s1600/IMG_20130730_163615.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYd2IBz-MbNoV6aJIihc9vQQiJgjoMOiMrXNFAFKNzE8cHxO-mq1k8nYNrOoKPHnYqIejTwBvosB8sXiul6PTHS2f2qpuIZCeyHgFGV1MyviMDvOe49YdvYu4x2j8hzsTXUfGPTg/s320/IMG_20130730_163615.jpg" width="240" /></a> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjiPRIn8g_iezmdHLxXU_ZVDBIK9qYyHKu7dYsnHR0iCt6yoVt0RCMx75_uqwdNL5wqzO99cfhyphenhyphenUltl1XRqnFGxiSP_ZmsQXjMUVJZ0-ib7YGtdcKKfHAbhVuNLrMbq-cLIIpeQ/s1600/PANO_20130730_165442.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjiPRIn8g_iezmdHLxXU_ZVDBIK9qYyHKu7dYsnHR0iCt6yoVt0RCMx75_uqwdNL5wqzO99cfhyphenhyphenUltl1XRqnFGxiSP_ZmsQXjMUVJZ0-ib7YGtdcKKfHAbhVuNLrMbq-cLIIpeQ/s400/PANO_20130730_165442.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids exploring Parfreys Glen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22FDBppdSMSexHMAa5VgKbPQJK4mHFPOWQCHm3jGBBLnMCgrr0APkG7swxm7f4st7e5naE2hyILtLoUO6s_GhrUMudVLdiOBSfuDhmgQEkiP6hRk5uGcu0X8QPiwUbQL7CERWsQ/s1600/PANO_20130730_170606.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22FDBppdSMSexHMAa5VgKbPQJK4mHFPOWQCHm3jGBBLnMCgrr0APkG7swxm7f4st7e5naE2hyILtLoUO6s_GhrUMudVLdiOBSfuDhmgQEkiP6hRk5uGcu0X8QPiwUbQL7CERWsQ/s400/PANO_20130730_170606.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parfreys Glen</td></tr>
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After four days we headed to Madison for a night. On the way we stopped at this roadside art place. Sadly it was closed but they did have a few sculptures on the side of the road.<br />
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We spent a morning at the Madison Zoo and then toured the Wisconsin state capitol before heading home. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ike was scared to death of this guy :)</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-17391905836494217762013-09-10T11:52:00.002-07:002013-10-07T11:30:50.623-07:00Costa Rica - Day 7&8 - Paradise on a Dirt Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZ59EhTOejtuaVatuRlCgn3xggoxiZa1oRRaDA6druSZ_3E7LBW7g-mF69JUrH53_Qs5HASy4YJM9tE37WMRGfYHmnlVZyZ20coW388HWFSSN3CNwpsFtGShTyHxnPt88OZslAQ/s1600/SAM_0218_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZ59EhTOejtuaVatuRlCgn3xggoxiZa1oRRaDA6druSZ_3E7LBW7g-mF69JUrH53_Qs5HASy4YJM9tE37WMRGfYHmnlVZyZ20coW388HWFSSN3CNwpsFtGShTyHxnPt88OZslAQ/s320/SAM_0218_2.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPm9RWEB7M480_L7Nx6ek29Oww8DoBkp_hw-6u_w3YuxYWFOA6iTiJ_cG-q4VdZTa5EEfbp7UOXtaEpN8vxSIdm5ZSTgE6dCEUT2qgCE-yfE3zvRjcKkZ7SDX9AtHXB9u8yzwaDA/s1600/IMG_20130829_165329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
We left Jaco and traveled another hour south along the coast to Manuel Antonio National Park. We had debated about going since we had read it was typically overpopulated with tourists. But decided that we would regret not going so we saddled up the Yaris and headed out. Pulling into the park we were met by an entourage of tour guides and parking lots hosts bidding for our cash. This didn't put me in a great mood and then the first mile of the trail was on a gravel road with groups of tourists, guides and the occasional government car....so much for wildlife.<br />
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And then we hit the "front of the brochure", the white sand beaches of Manuel Antonio. We spent the afternoon hiking the less populated trails and ran into a great troop of white-faced monkeys. Also a 280' tree (which was not properly labeled).<br />
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And then we headed to the white sands paradise of Manuel Antonio. We would have stayed longer but there was a storm a brewing (when you look around and all the Ticos have left you know its time to head out).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manuel Antonio Beach</td></tr>
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The drive was about forty minutes north and then turned on a gravel road that held stunning views and a serious 17km drive up the mountain. We passed through a small village, saw the agriculture side of the region. We seriously bottomed out the car once but managed to escape any major damage.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agricultural fields</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View on the mountain road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbEeltHRV-XfHhk9-3zGxwTBlAsQ8jEHENLVCSHPafpOzJCF8nDUK-mcXzdi57w8zVJFWyvxNxAMJpV3DEsUyQ8hMQkH7RL7ysDaz6up3mtUcaoD_axgE8mtZ7u4A6pT6nu4gsQ/s1600/SAM_0264.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbEeltHRV-XfHhk9-3zGxwTBlAsQ8jEHENLVCSHPafpOzJCF8nDUK-mcXzdi57w8zVJFWyvxNxAMJpV3DEsUyQ8hMQkH7RL7ysDaz6up3mtUcaoD_axgE8mtZ7u4A6pT6nu4gsQ/s320/SAM_0264.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain road panoramic</td></tr>
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Our last night we stayed at the <a href="http://www.hotelparaisocarlisa.com/">Paraiso Carlisa Eco Reserve</a>. We were the only guests on 100 acres of preserve. Story behind the place a wealthy European had built the chateau for his family and when the children grew up they wanted nothing to do with the area. They went on to build several villas for research and tourism. The The best western took it over for a while but because of the location it was unsuccessful. Our Villa was appx 800 sq/foot, it was huge (for $40/night).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpdUK2XahkL_QKJ2YGiN8XrdcK3EpIayaswM-t0JaUA8daAWhxXGF9o1S_cduyR11v43pVEnTs_kWfijcVN1-Uu7xPT6FJTJPGYXMZeV-GVyzmHWARsFlQySPluKddwL3ZXEz8w/s1600/SAM_0241.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpdUK2XahkL_QKJ2YGiN8XrdcK3EpIayaswM-t0JaUA8daAWhxXGF9o1S_cduyR11v43pVEnTs_kWfijcVN1-Uu7xPT6FJTJPGYXMZeV-GVyzmHWARsFlQySPluKddwL3ZXEz8w/s320/SAM_0241.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Villa Bedroom</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uUL6pKCGIyIYQHZ3bss40tvBKtCJBzIMLjz0yq0mxcEDXxvXznAx4n5uNsnLWM2CDn4qG_K4ZcQjHWnZUO-PRnl6Z3HmyvTOPqNDCzHhUhWFMqNQ3Eh7VOKPmws3n6W3aIGSaw/s1600/SAM_0242.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uUL6pKCGIyIYQHZ3bss40tvBKtCJBzIMLjz0yq0mxcEDXxvXznAx4n5uNsnLWM2CDn4qG_K4ZcQjHWnZUO-PRnl6Z3HmyvTOPqNDCzHhUhWFMqNQ3Eh7VOKPmws3n6W3aIGSaw/s320/SAM_0242.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villa living room </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eNOrh56Y6bls-C5eftUgvmmaXkF_TZi3H2JRNis96GJp7ufkXcSp9mksakRp72K2ym59ihl-HBz68kTbXXPUCNhOIfp3mM0p8KAMgtg6GYfY1wsZMNpCi9kgscVIn-nIDzDiLA/s1600/SAM_0245.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eNOrh56Y6bls-C5eftUgvmmaXkF_TZi3H2JRNis96GJp7ufkXcSp9mksakRp72K2ym59ihl-HBz68kTbXXPUCNhOIfp3mM0p8KAMgtg6GYfY1wsZMNpCi9kgscVIn-nIDzDiLA/s320/SAM_0245.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villa patio</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTpBq4epGgpdX_G4415FuWbv9m2YI6IMdnxHzLkSTzabAOBWca4t3m3y5O__NdmzaTQdx1Qxfqwuvhzl3qjLbw5lxIBdgZSjpfCt_6ZRS2w8byV3Pe6CmJra9drwg-pCGlb037g/s1600/SAM_0248.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTpBq4epGgpdX_G4415FuWbv9m2YI6IMdnxHzLkSTzabAOBWca4t3m3y5O__NdmzaTQdx1Qxfqwuvhzl3qjLbw5lxIBdgZSjpfCt_6ZRS2w8byV3Pe6CmJra9drwg-pCGlb037g/s320/SAM_0248.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lodge porch</td></tr>
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The next morning we were awoken by the monkeys on the roof. I stepped outside and saw a half dozen monkeys looking curiously back at me. We ate breakfast on the chateau porch watching all the wildlife. Then the Ukrainian college student (who was one of the five staff members on the whole property and very excited to see human life) took us on a guided tour of the preserve. We walked through the animal rehab center and then down through the pastures to the waterfall. We didn't have the time to do the horseback ride to the big waterfall (which was our one regret) because the clouds were gathering and we had to get the Yaris back on paved roads before the rain came. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPm9RWEB7M480_L7Nx6ek29Oww8DoBkp_hw-6u_w3YuxYWFOA6iTiJ_cG-q4VdZTa5EEfbp7UOXtaEpN8vxSIdm5ZSTgE6dCEUT2qgCE-yfE3zvRjcKkZ7SDX9AtHXB9u8yzwaDA/s1600/IMG_20130829_165329.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPm9RWEB7M480_L7Nx6ek29Oww8DoBkp_hw-6u_w3YuxYWFOA6iTiJ_cG-q4VdZTa5EEfbp7UOXtaEpN8vxSIdm5ZSTgE6dCEUT2qgCE-yfE3zvRjcKkZ7SDX9AtHXB9u8yzwaDA/s320/IMG_20130829_165329.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal Rehab Center</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggorGaFvmauU4k-kr-FuAXTAro6evlaJSNNMYv1wydbEIL8L4gcoigJX3MAUMMJZJ5JnUcA3tARrqmkes9RGBl7PiEQ-HliGIIJbPZtXOYzYyl67C8nFYQgxZx5sv8ld5-9FIYdw/s1600/SAM_0252.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggorGaFvmauU4k-kr-FuAXTAro6evlaJSNNMYv1wydbEIL8L4gcoigJX3MAUMMJZJ5JnUcA3tARrqmkes9RGBl7PiEQ-HliGIIJbPZtXOYzYyl67C8nFYQgxZx5sv8ld5-9FIYdw/s320/SAM_0252.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal rehab </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsQKPwdlOXPV5AcHU5AleIcIFwG53sTTS0BWzj9Q0kRy_SbdUhZjD9AoftpzDKx5kUspEpFXV32AMG-oYyPoMe27Ryjd_Iv4Vo8YVVuqUM-ObU5oYNZ-LSBY0VmQhJF5xGEyf-A/s1600/SAM_0253.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsQKPwdlOXPV5AcHU5AleIcIFwG53sTTS0BWzj9Q0kRy_SbdUhZjD9AoftpzDKx5kUspEpFXV32AMG-oYyPoMe27Ryjd_Iv4Vo8YVVuqUM-ObU5oYNZ-LSBY0VmQhJF5xGEyf-A/s320/SAM_0253.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginger! They had at least 20 varieties in the garden. The flowers were about 24" tall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KVGXi5IDyTkroI6uWxEgy1wKcu-oS4Apf1PtGdmlXhN7ZHqRM3f9FU2z3K98nnscMd2io0DouzO0B6C9zMIzyAmpfsEnGeU_WWrJEWq4MtiJgJfOdBd476Hg4Pm8skC98jA5ww/s1600/IMG_20130830_085649.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KVGXi5IDyTkroI6uWxEgy1wKcu-oS4Apf1PtGdmlXhN7ZHqRM3f9FU2z3K98nnscMd2io0DouzO0B6C9zMIzyAmpfsEnGeU_WWrJEWq4MtiJgJfOdBd476Hg4Pm8skC98jA5ww/s320/IMG_20130830_085649.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfall on the preserve</td></tr>
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This was by far our favorite place we stayed on our trip, so far off the beaten path it was a slice of paradise.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyOUp_TDAEGh1F43l7Yzd9r2SPe8w8KoKCTKJ52sFC7GWyKDu9gwjnGzJqUkOK8xxmasgADZBLcVRI' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>We left the Eco Lodge at 1pm and started our 26-hour trip back home. This was (one of the better) bridges we crossed on the gravel road. At least this one had all of its planks. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluOunsrjwsiIgDzNNpUfPlTM1PxFyCxepNPIyDNvd7iAnTgxSLSbLKDLN-zNvvauygtHo7pmlomfBgCCtNyDuen3SYqN3Sc8Xa8ua550Rc3mDcE9YbYUU-vf9Ijy4-3UkJ2PlTQ/s1600/SAM_0265.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluOunsrjwsiIgDzNNpUfPlTM1PxFyCxepNPIyDNvd7iAnTgxSLSbLKDLN-zNvvauygtHo7pmlomfBgCCtNyDuen3SYqN3Sc8Xa8ua550Rc3mDcE9YbYUU-vf9Ijy4-3UkJ2PlTQ/s320/SAM_0265.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain road panoramic 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3x_wkSb89R-E_X5lrL1oaCNGjuueALyCpXs-I4kqrMxkzzfiexwW3lnWtOJEi_LTkgPqlhRrLj7F6l7N3hRTCiy2JGP1xHhC6KUhKsWIiQlV12NnpJbKQk3i7DyxGA3XnGF7HA/s1600/SAM_0261.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3x_wkSb89R-E_X5lrL1oaCNGjuueALyCpXs-I4kqrMxkzzfiexwW3lnWtOJEi_LTkgPqlhRrLj7F6l7N3hRTCiy2JGP1xHhC6KUhKsWIiQlV12NnpJbKQk3i7DyxGA3XnGF7HA/s320/SAM_0261.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing the storm to the paved roads</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHgLdyuHEg4xfxUGG_dYm-XGNlQmoYS-DFwVEUxIyytcLLlPTk47dlt9lJUuEqPy5Gd0OPNt8VoBzs0JpA7wMs2zl4iEk1Et1lC2hxFFwpHrSrI0Fs4MbGPHbai5s8FzFuvrjeQ/s1600/SAM_0273.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHgLdyuHEg4xfxUGG_dYm-XGNlQmoYS-DFwVEUxIyytcLLlPTk47dlt9lJUuEqPy5Gd0OPNt8VoBzs0JpA7wMs2zl4iEk1Et1lC2hxFFwpHrSrI0Fs4MbGPHbai5s8FzFuvrjeQ/s320/SAM_0273.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interstate back into San Jose</td></tr>
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We then had a four hour drive back to San Jose in torrential rain, the first really hard rain we saw all week. Again hit rush hour and prayed that we could get the car back in one piece. AND WE DID! I have never been so happy to return a rental car. We stopped at dinner and then caught the shuttle back to SJO airport around 7pm. Our flight didn't leave until 1am but San Jose is not a safe place after dark so we sat at the coffee bar listening to the crazy man sitting down the row from us sing rap songs. We were happy to get through security and no longer listen to him, lucky for us he was on our flight. Last time I saw him he was stopped with three guards at Customs in Florida. We arrived in Chicago at 10am, found our civic with hub caps still attached and drove the final four hours home to hugs and lots of little smiles. I would trade the ocean and mountains any day the laughter and love at home. A big thanks for grandparents for making it possible. <br />
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Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-47218260779611709682013-09-03T20:29:00.000-07:002013-09-10T12:03:26.054-07:00Costa Rica - Day 5 & 6 - Lost and Landock meets Pacific Our drive out of Arenal to Jaco looked like an easy backtrack down the mountain....lesson learned stayed on the "yellow" roads on the GPS. The GPS rerouted us through a residential area. Still having a hard time dealing with psychotic driving habits of the locals I was more than happy to take the "less traveled" tour.<br />
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Our paved road soon turned to gravel and gravel quickly disappeared and before we knew it our Yaris was navigating a one-lane dirt path with gigantic boulders and no place to turn around. I'm pretty confident this road was last on the maintenance list in the 1930's. The inclines were so steep that I could not see the road at the peaks and as we wound the mountain there were no guard rails. We stopped at a "bridge" and (the only vehicle we saw) was a truck from the 1940's. As it passed they all pointed and laughed. We drove through villages who haven't been touched by the modern world. Stunning views but we hardly took photos. White knuckled, both of us were trying to figure out how we would most likely soon have to tell our credit card why we had a 2wd car 1. at this location and 2. how we totaled it. At any rate we did pretty good navigating , came out with four wheels intact and left the local Ticos good dinner conversation about crazy lost gringos in a blue Yaris. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IQCQ6uSELFNBj8xNDqq5SKhPo7HAcbUur0ZSTLvsQ-O7gYW00m5eMMg6Tr7izjPh0CoJJnZjVZ9HUvdH2PfNq-ZLKMS1Dbbm28QPHtf78FjtrCN3j8WD89Qf6b5YEHCCI2nXDg/s1600/SAM_0155.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IQCQ6uSELFNBj8xNDqq5SKhPo7HAcbUur0ZSTLvsQ-O7gYW00m5eMMg6Tr7izjPh0CoJJnZjVZ9HUvdH2PfNq-ZLKMS1Dbbm28QPHtf78FjtrCN3j8WD89Qf6b5YEHCCI2nXDg/s320/SAM_0155.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have no idea where we are...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpPOgaU5xx5I7xJZjM9XbZPvR1LgZa9HXL0wpLMFmLU24mYthRuHV2ha2RmXQhazo_g2RMwdHLLZd4rObPiF77ladQtLfwwrwf14KpUaoskHGFWDB5BXjZuYyaPNmjmddGYwaGA/s1600/SAM_0185.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpPOgaU5xx5I7xJZjM9XbZPvR1LgZa9HXL0wpLMFmLU24mYthRuHV2ha2RmXQhazo_g2RMwdHLLZd4rObPiF77ladQtLfwwrwf14KpUaoskHGFWDB5BXjZuYyaPNmjmddGYwaGA/s320/SAM_0185.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still lost....</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Part way to Jaco we stopped at the Tarcoles bridge to see the crocodiles. There was a guy with raw chicken that would feed the crocs for $10.00. Lucky for us the guy next to us was your typical American tourist who laid down double the money to see the performance. There were around 18 gigantic crocs just hanging out.....waiting....we declined the boat tour, we wanted to live to see the ocean.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxpKxCl80zZ2pBxbE1-gGN2mYXhQw51lZASe69KdCvemJUMxPAd_FXzmYvmmgpxYE7acTF-q0yqSLO949y85-ecMzYP1m390sA1b8PmmkPOq_ia-1pdd-C5NvP-MPkeOEuUnazA/s1600/SAM_0156.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxpKxCl80zZ2pBxbE1-gGN2mYXhQw51lZASe69KdCvemJUMxPAd_FXzmYvmmgpxYE7acTF-q0yqSLO949y85-ecMzYP1m390sA1b8PmmkPOq_ia-1pdd-C5NvP-MPkeOEuUnazA/s320/SAM_0156.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Jared has always wanted to take surf lessons. Me, eh, the water up the nose and/or shark scenario never really appealed to me. But we were there and I too decided it was a once in a lifetime chance. We decided on going to Jaco on the pacific side because in was en-route to our next destination. Jaco is known for its party-hardy atmosphere (where we questioned if this was a good idea as we checked into surf camp and rule #2 was no prostitutes). That being said we stayed on the south side of the beach in the more residential area and ended up staying an extra day because we loved the area.<br />
<br />
We stayed at <a href="http://www.hotelpericoazuljaco.com/">Hotel Perico Azul.</a> which also housed the Tortuga Surf Camp. Celine (from France) ran the hotel and her boyfriend Mike ran the surf camp. It was like staying with family. They would sit down and swap stories and had so much information about the area.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rQATjyrLC82XqM7AvCXtXfUuNgoJqVCKDMP1nAKK3N-dbuNbbzg3pW9mTdRAkqZnmxQ5-QbYAw6nPGuS6lLK0qlYtdtSv_foA4MGXHHAQJvCP5gBM-EREerRhrp-MWTZuB1JtQ/s1600/SAM_0188.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rQATjyrLC82XqM7AvCXtXfUuNgoJqVCKDMP1nAKK3N-dbuNbbzg3pW9mTdRAkqZnmxQ5-QbYAw6nPGuS6lLK0qlYtdtSv_foA4MGXHHAQJvCP5gBM-EREerRhrp-MWTZuB1JtQ/s320/SAM_0188.JPG" width="240" /></a> <br />
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Wednesday morning we got out of bed at 5:30am to hit the morning
tide. Mike fitted us with rash guards and quickly named us "Team
Landlock" Within ten minutes we were in the water learning to paddle,
turn, and roll (where you roll underneath your board under the water as a
large wave thrashed over you) and get up and ride the wave. I have a
new found respect for surfers. By the end of two hours I felt that I
could hold my own without killing myself and even got a few good runs
in. Jared picked it up really well. But by 8am the only thing we
wanted to do was crawl back into bed. It was absolutely exhausting, a
muscle group you normally don't use. Mike thought Team Landlock
did pretty good.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuOOY79cM2ezsFXCaaE1Jjfp9xp7fWNzvkVGLOrCzjIh3MSxDfQ1EtTtyVKkmL4r1zHUx-jp8LkV2kM2n5u76_AiGYpaFJumLXTgEn3BzcNPuwJJphZ0FPfc2Gok4zVN8uOvLoA/s1600/1234562_538724749514178_770040659_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuOOY79cM2ezsFXCaaE1Jjfp9xp7fWNzvkVGLOrCzjIh3MSxDfQ1EtTtyVKkmL4r1zHUx-jp8LkV2kM2n5u76_AiGYpaFJumLXTgEn3BzcNPuwJJphZ0FPfc2Gok4zVN8uOvLoA/s320/1234562_538724749514178_770040659_n.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-_7dfG5nVLQCIjEOudBmn0zGICRM5s6PfVioInLUwBFOWmuLF8mshCn6MA0katiIXxHe2Yn3T34gL1r4bxs3pnt14AKbfMColIV19GXvH_fHzKu45CTdmtmIW6pFHk6_vIueNw/s1600/surf1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-_7dfG5nVLQCIjEOudBmn0zGICRM5s6PfVioInLUwBFOWmuLF8mshCn6MA0katiIXxHe2Yn3T34gL1r4bxs3pnt14AKbfMColIV19GXvH_fHzKu45CTdmtmIW6pFHk6_vIueNw/s320/surf1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqe8H-QWTtbCXbtGYbOgzHm3xN4-PPaDWEkaBhIWBn4W5VZpkvI17aHvTv35EYN5Lo2RX_iE0saaEbuTrMYXUZzhDisZc7TjNgG9t3ZgqNUeQe7kKS9-C2qFTIvhq2q8y6_nvzxw/s1600/surf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqe8H-QWTtbCXbtGYbOgzHm3xN4-PPaDWEkaBhIWBn4W5VZpkvI17aHvTv35EYN5Lo2RX_iE0saaEbuTrMYXUZzhDisZc7TjNgG9t3ZgqNUeQe7kKS9-C2qFTIvhq2q8y6_nvzxw/s320/surf.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />
We hit the local bakery headed
out to do some hiking. Celine told us of a trail on the south edge of
town. Thirty minutes up the mountain we came across this derelict structure, a series of porches standing in ruins and covered in
graffiti. The view was unbelievable. When we returned I asked Celine
about it and she said a developer came in to build a B&B and
started without a permit and was shut down. He then died and the
structure stood there. Jaco fights hard to keep the big resorts out.
We saw alot of half finished resorts that were an eyesore in these beautiful areas. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall that ran the mountain road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the first porch</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half completed B&B on the mountain side</td></tr>
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Wednesday evening we sat on the beach watching the sunset and then headed over the to Taco Bar. We'll admit we ate here three times. It may even be better than Freebirds. Costa Rician food is eh at best. But this place was great. AND it had swings as seats. AND it had really good passion fruit juice drinks, which Jared spent a paycheck on alone. We were always in by 8pm but we saw the softer side of Jaco and would stay there again in a heartbeat. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaco Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The one highrise development that made it through. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bar bathroom next to the Taco Bar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taco Bar!!</td></tr>
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Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-49755556799276527272013-09-02T07:13:00.003-07:002013-09-10T12:18:43.430-07:00Costa Rice - Day 3 & 4 - Arenal Volcano by Raft, Air and FootOur first four nights we stayed in La Fortuna, outside of Arenal Volcano National Park. The volcano is active, the last eruption in 1968. Arenal is a tourist trap with exquisite beauty. The volcano grows about 5 meters a year. With the grandeur of the volcano in the backdrop one hardly notices the billboards.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arenal Volcano billowing smoke</td></tr>
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Sunday we got up and left our cabin in the rainforest and drove an hour to church. The road was flat and we were able to travel through several small villages and got a feel for what Costa Rica is really like. The church was in the a town of about 70,000 people. Again the waypoints. We got to the suspected area but couldn't find the church. Then we saw father and son walking down the street in a white shirt and tie. We stopped and talked to them and were just a few blocks off from our destination.<br />
<br />
There was something so striking about the image of the two white pressed shirts on the backdrop of the of the cities dirt, concert, bars and wire. It was a reminder that the Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to rise above our surrounding environments and circumstances. <br />
<br />
Church was great, because we were out of the tourist zone very few spoke English. The LDS church has the same lessons world wide so I had my English copy on my phone and was able to follow along (somewhat). Relief Society was great. The RS president looked calculated and very organized. I got a warm handshake. However her counselor came up grabbed my by the shoulders, said who knows what in Spanish and kissed me on the cheek with a big smile. A welcome that would warm any woman's heart. The next hour I didn't catch much but it was a welcoming atmosphere and I enjoyed sitting back and watching the interactions of the sisters. <br />
<br />
We drove back looking for our next hotel. We both thought we were staying at the Arenal Volcano Ecolodge. We turned off the highway onto our first gravel road (if your thinking gravel, think Grade B at best). And within minutes the gravel triggered my "clutch memory". While tourists creeped along scared to be off pavement , our Yaris flew by giant 4x4's leaving them in the dust. The gravel had cured my driving issues and for the first day I really enjoyed being behind the wheel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfSUc6bgdvAEzluBYXU9b4ylz2mNckT1kbdWNYBVEg9Uq69QjRbkIt-usk1xfn7p2dM0lk0s_tQIK7hv5Ur2bnp_xCSkCmQ3z-eUExHFlKOUMRbes9Mq2C0x8ZEcs-BeuDYO1Bw/s1600/SAM_0098.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfSUc6bgdvAEzluBYXU9b4ylz2mNckT1kbdWNYBVEg9Uq69QjRbkIt-usk1xfn7p2dM0lk0s_tQIK7hv5Ur2bnp_xCSkCmQ3z-eUExHFlKOUMRbes9Mq2C0x8ZEcs-BeuDYO1Bw/s320/SAM_0098.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Volcano Lodge</td></tr>
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We drove thirty minutes out to the hotel, the road becoming smaller and rough, only to find ourselves at the base of the volcano with waterfalls and trails. We were so excited to stay here to spend the next two days hiking and exploring....only to find out that we were at the wrong hotel. Our hotel was the Volcano Lodge in town. While they didn't have trails or waterfalls, they did make cute jungle animals with their towels. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUQGVxuRh2VYZyNK-rkWz4g5EioE6k0HItX6nzEh-KRFwtaSw1KqUYrwLEjgl5wEMjkxJHDm05DsDOOxFgb6bWE2vqNXT4HVG7yS1V4OZYmW2zZzMRv5ScbLjslF0EfOaHXVxzw/s1600/SAM_0148.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUQGVxuRh2VYZyNK-rkWz4g5EioE6k0HItX6nzEh-KRFwtaSw1KqUYrwLEjgl5wEMjkxJHDm05DsDOOxFgb6bWE2vqNXT4HVG7yS1V4OZYmW2zZzMRv5ScbLjslF0EfOaHXVxzw/s320/SAM_0148.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Monday Jared talked me into zip linning. The girl who two days before wouldn't make a 20 ft jump into the river with a helmet and life jacket on was about to strap herself to a non-American engineered cable to be hurled 600 feet over the jungle floor at 55mph. There were several lines that cris-crossed the gorge. The volcano is rarely visible this time of year due to cloud cover but today was clear.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUTSwFFPOch2ob8_5v56cxNgqwlkX5QTPce_i8zcL2pIuN_a_65JpXimexDhGngxvp3yLKihqg_AZ7Vl-FjUctLR2FkzvpYuOmcJerBYNHQ5qpLvUDsc47oJunJOkZvgcES1BcQ/s1600/SAM_0106.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUTSwFFPOch2ob8_5v56cxNgqwlkX5QTPce_i8zcL2pIuN_a_65JpXimexDhGngxvp3yLKihqg_AZ7Vl-FjUctLR2FkzvpYuOmcJerBYNHQ5qpLvUDsc47oJunJOkZvgcES1BcQ/s320/SAM_0106.JPG" width="320" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMe4iJFapPTb-WY0SZgKNzsqfsLTzN6yFxoI5EdxpDMWrZAXC8J_nGhkdjsSAzxkUGpY9CYoXIXHD7nnX5GdXmrraxD-ehA1jEty5GtKodYtb4i8OhwmQFkymz8olVfq7GtWtug/s1600/SAM_0108.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMe4iJFapPTb-WY0SZgKNzsqfsLTzN6yFxoI5EdxpDMWrZAXC8J_nGhkdjsSAzxkUGpY9CYoXIXHD7nnX5GdXmrraxD-ehA1jEty5GtKodYtb4i8OhwmQFkymz8olVfq7GtWtug/s320/SAM_0108.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqj7tD-e85CQT7ew02F1UQkf8V0u2DXjoRW1AChUZpeetLYALcTJbfGKi1wIyQqmpnooR9lkySgQOISy5zwPBIIGR0mzwvX5m68IvgOh4ZPRNizDlE3OADqbOI3pNEk2PmevHDA/s1600/SAM_0104.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqj7tD-e85CQT7ew02F1UQkf8V0u2DXjoRW1AChUZpeetLYALcTJbfGKi1wIyQqmpnooR9lkySgQOISy5zwPBIIGR0mzwvX5m68IvgOh4ZPRNizDlE3OADqbOI3pNEk2PmevHDA/s320/SAM_0104.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzR_9Z5uQBkxLsy1PZf3tOlLDYLtPVCmgY8XgHz0r4y8T-CZbvU7kpFPrIBqHpLn4wvZyfcfVmwcVZE7W_t9u-1UiPmWGlplmozPKdg8kNWoMMyqoCJAVH3IzKdoR8GUrQRUUpA/s1600/SAM_0110.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzR_9Z5uQBkxLsy1PZf3tOlLDYLtPVCmgY8XgHz0r4y8T-CZbvU7kpFPrIBqHpLn4wvZyfcfVmwcVZE7W_t9u-1UiPmWGlplmozPKdg8kNWoMMyqoCJAVH3IzKdoR8GUrQRUUpA/s320/SAM_0110.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arenal Valley from the Zip Line</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrb6wi44EYwlJbcIKww3SZcv9kSTmRIGm27EOeUgNVx0ScdyDjYPOF0WYwbT7OoBwAkgzekYxD-SzZ4DvhXLRlVXCTzLgk6SNHhV6vv6TW68YYW02pZ1CAQUtH4AUJrdnKiG8eA/s1600/SAM_0112.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrb6wi44EYwlJbcIKww3SZcv9kSTmRIGm27EOeUgNVx0ScdyDjYPOF0WYwbT7OoBwAkgzekYxD-SzZ4DvhXLRlVXCTzLgk6SNHhV6vv6TW68YYW02pZ1CAQUtH4AUJrdnKiG8eA/s320/SAM_0112.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our pre-death pic opportunity (in case we didn't make it back)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDPVaY-AnVTq7gaGV87EjYydlpQYAb0lr6oLl8nu94CGqcLHgn3X1LfDfbtvZ2FFvPAMOdKXmriOh-gKAn7tTA5-LTiWWq9hqreDBVecJ_YrESxuOXPg5jq0o6sSglu_s6IwjxA/s1600/SAM_0117.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDPVaY-AnVTq7gaGV87EjYydlpQYAb0lr6oLl8nu94CGqcLHgn3X1LfDfbtvZ2FFvPAMOdKXmriOh-gKAn7tTA5-LTiWWq9hqreDBVecJ_YrESxuOXPg5jq0o6sSglu_s6IwjxA/s320/SAM_0117.JPG" width="240" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvvEzsdK7maXD11JS88RbIHBpPv6BBmf3buG9ZQQCqDdezxfriJNShqopYQ1lb4rShqxQeHhyphenhyphen2yJa8Af6hodAnk4VLz6mqDKsKi_plbEgGJiMiXKkaeVGsihhqM4bSNs8M_1VAw/s1600/SAM_0120.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvvEzsdK7maXD11JS88RbIHBpPv6BBmf3buG9ZQQCqDdezxfriJNShqopYQ1lb4rShqxQeHhyphenhyphen2yJa8Af6hodAnk4VLz6mqDKsKi_plbEgGJiMiXKkaeVGsihhqM4bSNs8M_1VAw/s320/SAM_0120.JPG" width="240" /></a> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzp7Xu2HF1z1HUsG0QhitGM5Vk2LrOCZ6Oa3y80vg2RL4DnLTRJNtqUHH6War4L1WNGk5AtV0zwiA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
After the initial push off the platform and the urge to spew a few lines of four-letter words (I didn't but the girl in front of me quickly earned the name "Jersey" for language like Jersey Shores). The views and the feeling of flying overoad the fear. It was a spectacular way to see the valley, lake and volcano. We had about a dozen people in our group from all walks of life. There was 15 minutes between runs giving us time to talk and hear people's life stories. <br />
<br />
We finished the ziplines around noon and the day was still clear. We decided to hike Cerro Chato, the smaller dead sister volcano. From what we read this was <u>THE HIKE</u> and view of Costa Rica. Our window was small but we paid our $20.00 and started off.<br />
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The brochure said it was "strenuous". Jared and I are both in decent shape and like to hike. And by NPS standards "strenuous" means that most of the general public can still do it. The hike started in the foothills and quickly we realized what a 2400 foot assent looks like in 1.8 miles. By halfway in I understood what the review title on Tripadvisor "I lost the will to live at the forest line" meant. The fields turned to deep rainforest and the path was a ladder of tree roots. Many being a good three-foot incline at a time. Being 5'3" many steps were higher than my hips.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting the Cerro Chato Trail</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktv7-C13xjCZI9e27ALgixblnRJ2gHHrz578nSyvU2oIHWC78cuzjV-ZupdwEod1n3uS71wwc6PRajq-yl3iS0SAaejocLJ_lNPpZ-wKWJVC-hyPiitIrkh0RQT1ahepZb4EnGw/s1600/SAM_0132.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktv7-C13xjCZI9e27ALgixblnRJ2gHHrz578nSyvU2oIHWC78cuzjV-ZupdwEod1n3uS71wwc6PRajq-yl3iS0SAaejocLJ_lNPpZ-wKWJVC-hyPiitIrkh0RQT1ahepZb4EnGw/s320/SAM_0132.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBo5ChTnkFudjjv5-mYZUsgr4ldB2Lvw7d5VTsqQhxVe1zohiTci3V6FOCBZ1w_pUX6wnSbF9Q5DR1YoZv3-YkvSyQLyv5Yh5dJEx9p1dct4TLgVArEheooIjD9eiOLfMEGRw6g/s1600/SAM_0133.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBo5ChTnkFudjjv5-mYZUsgr4ldB2Lvw7d5VTsqQhxVe1zohiTci3V6FOCBZ1w_pUX6wnSbF9Q5DR1YoZv3-YkvSyQLyv5Yh5dJEx9p1dct4TLgVArEheooIjD9eiOLfMEGRw6g/s320/SAM_0133.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trail steps, keep in mind Jared is 6'0" tall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuFsUJUgsRMfNYh_vdhAd0uygPrA6dF90JqBR46Ty1XEwVulPao7nyw3PuDiHya0up0GjXYpHui1vciM3Xq2NZgA2q2p9CBrwCcdTfDtUnKY13O5OYWGsx0FfjfUd_4j2zq0CVg/s1600/SAM_0137.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuFsUJUgsRMfNYh_vdhAd0uygPrA6dF90JqBR46Ty1XEwVulPao7nyw3PuDiHya0up0GjXYpHui1vciM3Xq2NZgA2q2p9CBrwCcdTfDtUnKY13O5OYWGsx0FfjfUd_4j2zq0CVg/s320/SAM_0137.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "good" part</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8PKAzGGzYrU-Xc4rjEqHVQH9bDlfjqHdoeYy-b30l18x_-z5z8bmuDNfCcFywIfCBWJ8IosFcu8C18ZsgjCSIs36D7fb_Smv4dlHOEcVdtOhyib6EFtv-I0_tDEgmY4VderUHg/s1600/SAM_0138.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8PKAzGGzYrU-Xc4rjEqHVQH9bDlfjqHdoeYy-b30l18x_-z5z8bmuDNfCcFywIfCBWJ8IosFcu8C18ZsgjCSIs36D7fb_Smv4dlHOEcVdtOhyib6EFtv-I0_tDEgmY4VderUHg/s320/SAM_0138.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trail upwards</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkmDTrBrq_zHtNb8ha7CoiDdnfuLN_Y4lk1TcPTlAHFUvQNHy46jaea4GoOh5jX0d2MMBm4oObGGotuoyQXwz79zW69bDGf2xrLWln9cm05exu3vBfZGR6rOkH5CGKpUcs9FChw/s1600/SAM_0139_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkmDTrBrq_zHtNb8ha7CoiDdnfuLN_Y4lk1TcPTlAHFUvQNHy46jaea4GoOh5jX0d2MMBm4oObGGotuoyQXwz79zW69bDGf2xrLWln9cm05exu3vBfZGR6rOkH5CGKpUcs9FChw/s320/SAM_0139_2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got to get my giant tree photo in!</td></tr>
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By almost the top I was drenched in sweat and my heart rate was well above what was humanly possible. I didn't think I would make it, that lost the will to live thing set in. Jared wouldn't let me stop and we soon we reached the top to see this view. We just hiked what 99% of the visitors would never see. We caught our breath and hiked the final 100 meters DOWN into the old crater to the Green Lagoon. We made the assent in 1.5 hours (they said it would take 2-3 hours) which is probably why I felt like dying, poor pacing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_L3tehIGSZwL1NCFw6vUWm_WySlQjg4K3pp_abVB7IZ2JNgMFMVLcwJU5OyWMYJo-qgWiKopdqKViWfu5xmqkyw5Y9rMlz7y7K_i6HoMfmgpZSHIT3C-7qfxYUWRrgeAi1VlpwA/s1600/IMG_20130826_151030_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_L3tehIGSZwL1NCFw6vUWm_WySlQjg4K3pp_abVB7IZ2JNgMFMVLcwJU5OyWMYJo-qgWiKopdqKViWfu5xmqkyw5Y9rMlz7y7K_i6HoMfmgpZSHIT3C-7qfxYUWRrgeAi1VlpwA/s320/IMG_20130826_151030_2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Em on the top of Cerro Chato half dead</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjledrpBqBpLobTn34P-KAoT9xAhQwsyknRXfVLI_H7JKHsRoVvAit8W2KHzf_l7EvVoYgtZ-c8H0FpxBA6KTz5mapn9a6wQMqF_UOMCk9UrcepNc1iuPryZMr5DDx4y_UaijY0RQ/s1600/IMG_20130826_114116.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0dfDmxGRRMeAIGrwpuDeUXTMR-dXq4rC2AoMggA1pEJ07MzQ9eoUKSfZx7axTYGA4RgXDrQpAOdmrHtmo47n5DWTh1RI2q3Gd4C83w3atH2Y7HriB8UercSQPXiga7yKW7crPg/s1600/SAM_0129_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0dfDmxGRRMeAIGrwpuDeUXTMR-dXq4rC2AoMggA1pEJ07MzQ9eoUKSfZx7axTYGA4RgXDrQpAOdmrHtmo47n5DWTh1RI2q3Gd4C83w3atH2Y7HriB8UercSQPXiga7yKW7crPg/s320/SAM_0129_2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jared looking like he just walked down the block</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Arenal from the top of Cerro Chato</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Green Lagoon</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Storm rolling in on the hike down Cerro Chato</td></tr>
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Sitting at the lake we hear thunder and started to head down the volcano
trying to escape the rain, which was unsuccessful. But we got through
the most difficult passage before the rain came. After that hike we
spent the evening lounging in the hot tube nursing mangled quads and decided the new hotel wasn't such a bad gig. <br />
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Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-51862731735319183942013-09-01T21:51:00.003-07:002013-09-10T12:22:03.366-07:00Costa Rica - Renshaw Style - Day 1 & 2<br />
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When Jared and I were first married we backpacked Belize and Guatemala. At the time we were in college and dirt poor. We spent twelve days hitchhiking and camping across the two countries on a shoe-string budget. Looking back we spent $60 to snorkel and that was our "big expenditure".<br />
It was on that trip we fell in love with Central America and for years we talked about another visit, but kids came and between babies, nursing, sleepless nights and Jared's masters program on top of working, world travel was not exactly at the top of our list of priorities. <br />
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This September will be our 10th anniversary and it was due time. We decided during the spring that Costa Rica would be our first choice but we couldn't find tickets and sitters to match the dates we needed. Disappoint we purchased tickets on a whim to Washington D.C., mainly because they were cheap...and we are cheap, so naturally that's how you plan a vacation right?!?<br />
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Then last month we found tickets to Costa Rica out of O'hare for $370/ticket and we decided we had to do it. Luckily our DC tickets were through Southwest so we could bump them six month (maybe I'll get luckily and see the cherry blossoms next year ;) We had three weeks to plan a foreign vacation, thank you Trip Advisor! And this was it.....eight days of Pura Vida!<br />
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<u><b>Day 1 - Meet the Yaris </b></u><br />
We flew into San Jose airport and picked up our rental car. The manual cars were drastically cheaper than the automatic transmissions. I grew up on a manual but haven't touched one in a decade and Jared doesn't drive one at all. So naturally we booked it (because I thought it would be like riding a bike, I would jump in and we would smoothly roll out of the parking lot....right???) So when everyone else was pulling out in a mongo 4x4 automatic, we pulled out in a Toyota Yaris with a stick. <br />
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To make matters worse it was rush hour in San Jose. A place where all road rules, warnings and common sense are optional. Throw in gigantic hills, bikes, motor bikes and my lack of clutching skills and it was hot hell mess on wheels. I was in tears as we drove aimlessly attempting to find the road out. There are no addresses or road signs/names. Everything is off waypoints, most from the Catholic church. For example your hotel would be 1km west, 300m north of the church, next to the laundry place. Great for a small village, not so great for a large city.<br />
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Things got better when we left the city....and then we hit the mountain roads. The landscape was stunning - lush, rolling, mountains laced in fog. The roads were still paved but incredibly narrow and so steep that trucks would stall out going up....which meant we would stall out....which meant I had to clutch start on a hill that made my driveway back home look like child's play. The curves were so tight every so often a bus or truck came the other direction it would create a pinch point and the other lane would have to stop and back down to let them pass. We stopped at a road side restaurant to let the clutch cool and ate our first casado meal (rice and beans). It was this shack that had a million dollar view and I instantly fell in love. We had stepped out of the slum of the city and into the cover of National Geographic. It was only about 80 miles to our first destination but took us 3 1/2 hours to drive it.<br />
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<u><b>Day 2 - Survived to see La Forturna- Arenal Volcano Area</b></u><br />
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We survived the drive and still had part of a burning clutch left for the rest of the week. Our first two nights we booked at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g309226-d3210332-Reviews-Cabanas_Rusticas_La_Fortuna-La_Fortuna_de_San_Carlos_Arenal_Volcano_National_Park_Prov.html">Cabanas Rucstico</a>. For the price I was expecting a shack in the woods, but much to our surprise the cabin was beautiful. The owner was a true craftsman and the detail and design were beautiful.<br />
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Saturday morning we got up and went white water rafting on the Sarapiqui River. It had rained the night before so we had some 4+ class rapids which made for an excellent run. Our guide was great and the other couple we were teamed up with were really laid back.<br />
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We stopped to do some cliff jumping. Jared jumped...I valued my life more and did the walk-of-shame down to the river (which the photographer was more than happy to document).<br />
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But to redeem myself I "Rode the Bull" through a few sets of rapids. Yes that's me, Miss-worry-about every-possible-way-to-die, sitting on the front of a rubber raft lurching through raging water in a third world country. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GG0D8-PAYOxFggOR99BB-IvWO2fysT4qf_2enkbSPYdvulVWZwlYUC1J8hOgi_fHYeAN3zYNyZf287MOWQCtOvssJ3UCHuEGbTaRCAuZd-VwrYmPSb0MY2dfCAG8fmVoFQxLAw/s1600/IMG_6243.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GG0D8-PAYOxFggOR99BB-IvWO2fysT4qf_2enkbSPYdvulVWZwlYUC1J8hOgi_fHYeAN3zYNyZf287MOWQCtOvssJ3UCHuEGbTaRCAuZd-VwrYmPSb0MY2dfCAG8fmVoFQxLAw/s320/IMG_6243.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1WV15IM3LwEUjObWwChDYcvWewF09oR6fInQ_wNClxClglzMkpf1P0mYLhGYPJ-fHRvRFolDNkFkkkC1OHyf0BZd5xqxABLbv2clNns2WSH_HYPSjU5kojpv_qFXK3b-USmF0A/s1600/IMG_6248.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1WV15IM3LwEUjObWwChDYcvWewF09oR6fInQ_wNClxClglzMkpf1P0mYLhGYPJ-fHRvRFolDNkFkkkC1OHyf0BZd5xqxABLbv2clNns2WSH_HYPSjU5kojpv_qFXK3b-USmF0A/s320/IMG_6248.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGY1LV3cAlK1PM4Ivh8ooDpNJz4SEV4h5J16DBUtnEzGIqsz4sPJUCsQFr9cswKDqt4ddsmhbdTlWVeQaVSxkVIWwnqDvciW2Z8kFg8YRBHkPRmY3-o4UYf4PqI1YgDeQuPVsQ_Q/s1600/IMG_6233.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGY1LV3cAlK1PM4Ivh8ooDpNJz4SEV4h5J16DBUtnEzGIqsz4sPJUCsQFr9cswKDqt4ddsmhbdTlWVeQaVSxkVIWwnqDvciW2Z8kFg8YRBHkPRmY3-o4UYf4PqI1YgDeQuPVsQ_Q/s320/IMG_6233.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
This way my favorite part of the trip. I love being on the water (not in the water), paddle in hand creates such a different experience in an environment....and it didn't require a clutch. Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-31188674430162206092013-06-01T06:23:00.000-07:002013-06-01T06:23:10.191-07:00LIVESTONG at the Y<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKJWQbauitJHNwNjTj7a3SCffcPi7BrdhMwsmQcmhY8BCqbkIsSOfHZotJ8wZImCHD2Le3Iv6HP0JFH4P5wA-spEKE2U36vv6mCopIZqYo6blBLO-5iRkrfCCg4w_RjaMO38H2A/s1600/may+6+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKJWQbauitJHNwNjTj7a3SCffcPi7BrdhMwsmQcmhY8BCqbkIsSOfHZotJ8wZImCHD2Le3Iv6HP0JFH4P5wA-spEKE2U36vv6mCopIZqYo6blBLO-5iRkrfCCg4w_RjaMO38H2A/s320/may+6+class.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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We just graduated our first Livestong class at the Y in May. I got my certification last fall and the pilot program started over the winter months in Cedar Rapids. The instructor I teach with is</div>
a close friend and we have enjoyed working together. The program is a free 12-week fitness program for any survivor and their caretakers. <br />
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The participants have been wonderful and such an example of how to live life. While the situations are heart breaking, the majority have forgiven those who have wronged them, fixed the things in their life that needed to be fixed and have learned to smile through incredibly tragic times. For many of them it seems when they realize that time is short life becomes whole.<br />
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And I didn't realize at the time the best accomplishments would be the little things. Watching people walk up stairs for the first time in months, hearing their stories of being able to get off the ground without help and watching the improvement in daily living. We are teaching another session this summer and another great group of people.<br />
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<br />Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-15101739114921496152013-06-01T06:00:00.001-07:002013-06-01T06:00:10.033-07:00Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We spent the past several months doing this....<br />
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and this ....(don't even ask about the driveway)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj8PANOrmZLlBQKI7snCeyGBjYkia6dz0WQpa0MykRpDG8Nr7Yi-1cTfBx0hpC0Yr9as7O2SHq6bGg9Ttijs8NcgTF8aBGExPk3yUakwy8cYo4FWRowUWbk9kU9r5BeAArYsmjA/s1600/P1030660.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj8PANOrmZLlBQKI7snCeyGBjYkia6dz0WQpa0MykRpDG8Nr7Yi-1cTfBx0hpC0Yr9as7O2SHq6bGg9Ttijs8NcgTF8aBGExPk3yUakwy8cYo4FWRowUWbk9kU9r5BeAArYsmjA/s320/P1030660.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Needless to say it was a LONG winter, but we made the best of it. The kids used a sled as a mode of transportation to the bus stop a the end of the street. They would ride down in the morning and tie their sled to a tree and I would pick it up in the afternoon.<br />
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We took a short weekend vacation to Dubuque to the indoor water park. And had to make a stop at the new Grant Wood larger-than-life statue. While Dubuque is a beautiful city to visit during the summer, there isn't much to do with snow on the ground but it was a welcomed weekend away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOEGQAQIrk_Bcdo2_BWnWKQabTZAl7kI2UQk3dWZNzAsowgL8ryHmjN5ua-MjEWXkYY3F3WZdwONSTOg3q1q4OjZv4xYNpHt4MBWd4oc6ZVa4WjhccbQyqZhCDVStvPysW9cp0g/s1600/P1030671.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOEGQAQIrk_Bcdo2_BWnWKQabTZAl7kI2UQk3dWZNzAsowgL8ryHmjN5ua-MjEWXkYY3F3WZdwONSTOg3q1q4OjZv4xYNpHt4MBWd4oc6ZVa4WjhccbQyqZhCDVStvPysW9cp0g/s320/P1030671.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Per tradition Jared took the girls out to buy new <span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>Easter</u></span> dresses, they decided on matching this year and Ike picked out a new flashy suit....attempting to get a decent family photo :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XW7ld4-CLTb6LikO1Sg0qMixsWynCnlUGA0uCecKxWJoifNpVu-zWoyNMg-qble2FLaGpqSHLAFhJX9gkee9jbGLG4gsbRRpzacSjgXsvhgUi6lPKPFxi3WEBPLvuhCHCfz1kA/s1600/easter+pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XW7ld4-CLTb6LikO1Sg0qMixsWynCnlUGA0uCecKxWJoifNpVu-zWoyNMg-qble2FLaGpqSHLAFhJX9gkee9jbGLG4gsbRRpzacSjgXsvhgUi6lPKPFxi3WEBPLvuhCHCfz1kA/s320/easter+pic.jpg" width="247" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKE5WZ9awKIXFnPHkEogXdHEniv5qvFV6NJ7r6KCUqAZvLPH_ZlpUr4K0zjJYvJekkvzq6WvcTbzJ1pgoXXGFd8c9ndLqqDaQjGKH9W0Zzmz5GvykhtX5jNFxanu3Zw25RQIUKA/s1600/P1030694.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XW7ld4-CLTb6LikO1Sg0qMixsWynCnlUGA0uCecKxWJoifNpVu-zWoyNMg-qble2FLaGpqSHLAFhJX9gkee9jbGLG4gsbRRpzacSjgXsvhgUi6lPKPFxi3WEBPLvuhCHCfz1kA/s1600/easter+pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKE5WZ9awKIXFnPHkEogXdHEniv5qvFV6NJ7r6KCUqAZvLPH_ZlpUr4K0zjJYvJekkvzq6WvcTbzJ1pgoXXGFd8c9ndLqqDaQjGKH9W0Zzmz5GvykhtX5jNFxanu3Zw25RQIUKA/s1600/P1030694.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKE5WZ9awKIXFnPHkEogXdHEniv5qvFV6NJ7r6KCUqAZvLPH_ZlpUr4K0zjJYvJekkvzq6WvcTbzJ1pgoXXGFd8c9ndLqqDaQjGKH9W0Zzmz5GvykhtX5jNFxanu3Zw25RQIUKA/s320/P1030694.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div>
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One of the highlights of the Spring was the Mother's Day weekend Laces for Learning 5K. I signed up with a couple of sisters from church and all of the kids did the one mile. Its was cold, incredibly windy and hilly. Eliza was sobbing the last quarter mile, it was a track finish at the stadium and I thought i was going to have to carry her. She said never again, until they called her name for 3rd in her age division, I think she wore her medal all week (and taunted her sister that she didn't place). Erin missed placing by one second but ran an 8:12 mile (almost two minutes faster than Eliza but we didn't want to spoil to fun).</div>
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I love this age, its so fun to watch them grow and enjoy life!</div>
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Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-18690494175042958402012-12-29T23:09:00.000-08:002012-12-29T23:09:34.911-08:00We're still here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nei2OJku4WZiUllK7FTWaoNbPDqK5mpcQi5aKzPXh6Wyafsd35_roQx8fvH8MCelYh1-f9Lljm-pgnhTCQeHPq9AjMNlzD4SVdTE06qgzM8ETCqh-B2izj4q_n6r_dUQFucuWg/s1600/P1030396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nei2OJku4WZiUllK7FTWaoNbPDqK5mpcQi5aKzPXh6Wyafsd35_roQx8fvH8MCelYh1-f9Lljm-pgnhTCQeHPq9AjMNlzD4SVdTE06qgzM8ETCqh-B2izj4q_n6r_dUQFucuWg/s1600/P1030396.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.07101037304667501" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Well the Chrismtas letter made it as far as the desktop this year...We are alive and well!</span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.07101037304667501" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.07101037304667501" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We have now been in Iowa a whole year and have adjusted back to our roots (and the weather)!</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
seasons are beautiful and we are looking forward to this Christmas
Season and snow.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
are still working on the house (slowly). We now have all functioning
bathrooms, 90% of the interior painted and the retaining wall rebuilt.
In August we went on a week “camping” trip (we stayed at a KOA with a
water park and pizza place) at Mt Rushmore. On our way home we camped
in Badlands National Park and were lucky to catch the annual astronomy
symposium and toured the missile silo bunker. The stars were beautiful,
as was the weather and no cell phone service.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Over
the summer had a community garden plot at the local park. We met lots
of people and carried hundreds of gallons of water by bucket because of
the drought. In the end had a productive garden (and good looking
arms). We did several one-night camping trips in and around Cedar
Rapids. Emmaly & Jared did their annual canoe trip on Turkey River
in NE Iowa... at the end of of drought...we ended up walking next to our
canoe for three hours, but enjoyed some kid-free time. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TpVEVK9CrdZyM_8Coy4wGBc_1hVNnBwJi6HST6mLEf3FSAYRJZlJ4hC3WvrDLznIk1CCB66xSwIA4fVLhAaGRsMtjBLEYSwj818QfTT8xEeYW2ARnLoGKjtEHTFMQgMkuSAoGg/s1600/418448_4519483705437_310472596_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nei2OJku4WZiUllK7FTWaoNbPDqK5mpcQi5aKzPXh6Wyafsd35_roQx8fvH8MCelYh1-f9Lljm-pgnhTCQeHPq9AjMNlzD4SVdTE06qgzM8ETCqh-B2izj4q_n6r_dUQFucuWg/s1600/P1030396.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jared:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jared
continues to work at Rockwell-Collins under the government division.
Last spring he spent a several weeks (months?) in Virginia for work.
We are happy to have him back in Iowa again. In March Jared was called
as a Bishop at church, it flipped our lives upside down for the first
few months, but we have learned to prioritize and enjoy serving the
people in Cedar Rapids. In what little free time he has Jared enjoys
spending time with the youth at church and at home with the kids.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TpVEVK9CrdZyM_8Coy4wGBc_1hVNnBwJi6HST6mLEf3FSAYRJZlJ4hC3WvrDLznIk1CCB66xSwIA4fVLhAaGRsMtjBLEYSwj818QfTT8xEeYW2ARnLoGKjtEHTFMQgMkuSAoGg/s1600/418448_4519483705437_310472596_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Emmaly:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Emmaly
is finding a bit of new freedom with only one at home. She started
working at the local YMCA this fall teaching a youth fit class. They
gave her a room full of preteens and a whistle, what more could a woman
ask for? She also became a trainer for the LIVESTRONG cancer
rehabilitation program through the Y and is excited to see it launch
this winter. Em ran her first sprint triathlon this summer and lived
to see the finish line.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Erin (8):</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Erin
was baptized on her eighth birthday in November and we enjoyed the day
with lots of family and friends. She is active in Girl Scouts, is on
the Junior Skippers jump rope team and loves the second grade! Last
spring she ran track through the “Y” and long jumped 9’4” leading the
women's division. She loves to dance and sing and enjoys reading.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eliza (5):</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eliza
started all day kindergarten this fall and also loves it! I hear that
she is perfectly behaved at school. Eliza was in gymnastic last spring
and played t-ball over the summer. She kept with the boys pretty well.
Eliza enjoys harassing her little brother and drawing.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Isaac (3):</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ike
is into trucks and planes. He joined Mighty Mites at the “Y” and has
enjoyed getting to know other kids his age. His favorite thing to do is
go to Aldi’s grocery store. He is VERY talkative and is an
entertaining little guy.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
wish you all the best during this Christmas Season. May your find
great blessings in your life as you celebrate and reflect on the birth
of our Savior, Jesus Christ!</span>Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-89492157207950931412012-07-08T08:14:00.004-07:002012-07-08T08:17:52.478-07:00Blur....Where does time go? I was looking forward to a nice relaxing summer....and well I am still waiting for it. Life has been moving at full-pace and I am starting to realize its not going to slow down anytime soon. Here are some late spring/early summer happenings at the Renshaw household. <br />
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Jared received his last documents from United Space Alliance and almost a year later his dealings with the Space Program are officially closed. He enjoyed a couple of days at Scout Camp and Girls Camp. We went to see Jared's baby brother off to the MTC. He leaves for Chile for a two-year mission. Life keeps J moving at race pace, but he's managing well.<br />
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I'm still plugging away at training. I am regularly biking 20 miles, running 3 miles and swimming longer that I ever thought possible. I still look beached whale in lane 2 when I swim, but at least my arms look good :) I turned 31 and found out I have serious arthritis in one knee, this 30-something sucks, can I have my twenties back :). I attended YW camp for a few days with Jared. It was a wonderful experience to get to know the girls and the leaders. I started working for the family business again, picking up their computer layout side of the business. I am also getting ready to pick up a couple of certifications to work at the Y this fall. So needless to say laundry has been piling up :). <br />
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We've spent some much needed time with family. Jared's sister came to visit in June and the kids met their cousin Macy for the first time and had a great time. Grandparents have been bouncing back and forth to see the kids, celebrate birthdays and watch games. <br />
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As for the kids....<br />
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Erin completed the first grade, her report card was stellar. She finished the year with a "woodland creature fashion show". Luckily it was PETA approved and no animals were harmed in the process. Each kid researched a native animal and shared a fact they learned and made a costume to model down the red carpet, too cute! We then had lunch on the green. <br />
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Erin also bridged from Daisy Scouts and is now a proud Brownie. She also attended jump rope camp and now has some killer jump moves.</div>
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Despite the heat we have managed to hit the bike trail a couple of times. Cedar Rapids has a nice network of paved trails, its a great way to see the city. Erin can now ride up to six miles on her own....Eliza sits on her tag along bike and lets Jared pull her :). Ike loves the central trail since it goes by the train yards.</div>
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Our Tuesday and Thursday nights have been consumed with ball. Erin is playing Softball and Eliza is playing t-ball through the Y this summer. They both love it. </div>
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We spent a day in Nauvoo for the ward temple trip. Eliza and her friends played at Pioneer pastimes for HOURS.</div>
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Ike decided that to was too hot for clothes, but not for his sister slippers (he is now into hats of all kinds).</div>
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We spent some time feeding the geese at Ellis park after working in the garden. Its been an incredibly dry year and we spend a lot of time watering with 5-gallon buckets, but the garden is doing well. We've had a good crop of peas, green beans, zucchini out the wazoo, and picked our first tomats this week! <br />
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Erin and Eliza read a book about a boy who made play clay cookies and gave them to people to eat. Erin and Eliza made play clay cookies and proceeded to give them to Ike to eat.....they then documented his reaction.....love what I find on my camera and the stories that go with it :).</div>
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And that's life!</div>Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-37214546522583578612012-05-20T09:12:00.001-07:002012-05-20T09:23:56.653-07:00Birds of All KindsWe've had a theme this week and it been all about birds.<br />
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Bird 1: This pigeon showed up early last week and hung around for five days. At first I thought he was sick, then when I drove over him (straddled him) I thought he was just a little slow upstairs. Then we took a closer look and he was banded and we realized he was tame??? I could pick him up (which of course is when the neighbors comes over and I am walking around with a pigeon, chalk one up for the new weirdos in the hood). The kids named him Lulu and started feeding him cupcakes. I have a friend from college who is a bird guru and he said that he was probably a "racing pigeon". What the heck??? So thanks to a Google search of "Lost Pigeon" we found the <a href="http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm">American Pigeon Racing Association</a> where we could key in his band numbers and let the owner know his where abouts. He was gone the next day so I am hoping he found his way home and not to the neighbors free-range hunting dogs. Either way I feel a bit more normal now that I know people race pigeons for a hobby.<br />
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2. Eliza ran in all excited on Thursday talking about a giant black and gray bird that was "as big as she was:". Eliza is in that lovey story telling age where things tend to get stretched a bit. We walked around the house and didn't see anything so I told her it was probably a crow. Ten minutes later we walked outside and she yells "Mom there's my crow!!!!" Standing 10 feet away was a giant tom.<br />
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3. And lastly. Erin ran track this spring through the YMCA. I was one of the coaches and it was a blast! We had K-5th grade. It took two weeks to get the little ones running in the right direction and finally by the last meet they learned to stay in their own lanes for the 4x1.<br />
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We are finding out that Erin is a distance runner. She did very well in the 600M and unexpectedly this kid can fly. Her first meet she long jumped 7'6". Second meet 8'0" and this Saturday she jumped 9'4"! The last race of the season the 600M, Eliza decided she wanted to get in on the action and ran the last 300 with Erin, while she didn't keep up she had plenty of cheers from the stand as she crossed the finish line.<br />
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<br />Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-55576071884922825712012-04-30T21:11:00.000-07:002012-04-30T21:12:11.690-07:00Learning to SwimI keep thinking that I am finding which way is up and then waves chaos flattens that thought. We are learning quickly to prioritize, simplify, pray more specifically and I am learning for the first time in my life to say "good enough". Jared comes and goes at random intervals. Many nights we only see him for dinner and then its off to church. He left for Washington DC again this morning, he is starting one week rotations between CR and DC. They said it's short term, but last time short term turned into three months. Don't get me wrong, its been a good experience, just a change of pace. The marathon has started, there are days I feel the cadence and others I feel like I tripped in the first 20 feet and am being trampled :) <br />
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And I am learning to swim, literally. Somehow this months visiting teaching spiritual moment included signing up for a sprint triathlon August 11. Its a 300 yard swim (in a pool, because we all know I don't put my face, or really any part of my body for that matter, in open water), 15 mile bike and 5K run. It's one of those things that sounded like a really good idea at the time and then you wake up the next morning and think, crap. But I've paid my $50, therefore I may die, but at least I'll get my t-shirt. <br />
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J left for DC today and we had a great day! I taught my last after school gardening class at Erin's school which was a blast. Erin and I swam laps at the Y, I officially made it 300 yards, in 15 minutes mind you. I am now confident that they won't require me to wear a life preserver at the triathlon. We played at the park and after a day of the kids getting along Eliza walked into her bedroom missing her bangs....yes that crucial part of your hair that screams when missing "nerd"! Its so bad, I about died laughing. Its off to my hair gal tomorrow to see if she can work miracles.<br />
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I found some photos from the spring on my phone....<br />
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Last month we went to the Children's Museum in Iowa City. Rockwell
Collins sponsored an avionics day and it was a blast. They had several
of these pedal plans and Ike fell madly in love. I was impressed with the museum, chalk up another mark for Iowa.<br />
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One of the coolest parts of living here is we are in the Nauvoo Temple district. Its a two-hour drive...traffic free, which does not require a quick road-rage repentance session as you run in the doors :) I love it, we walk in and I am home. Jared and I took a trip to Nauvoo a few days before he was called as bishop and it was a wonderful weekend back where it all started eight years ago. <br />
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We've climbed trees....</div>
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And did monster Easter Egg hunts...</div>
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Our hideous looking dandelion-filled yard welcomed hundreds of butterflies this spring, the kids spent hours each day catching them. Ike just liked whacking Eliza with his net, he got really good looking innocent and saying "I missed" :)<br />
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And Good Friday our community garden opened. We are plot C-9 (so if your going to scavenge, scavenge elsewhere) So far we have onions, lettuce, carrots, potatoes and peas planted. Ike really had to go to the bathroom one day when working out there. He figured out how to stand up. Now every time we go out to work he feels it's his duty to mark his territory, boys....Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-38369114810381405812012-04-01T19:55:00.000-07:002012-04-01T19:57:48.580-07:00Spring is Here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring has been here for almost a month now! It's been in the 70's and 80's which is crazy, but no one is complaining. Garden and yard prep is now in full swing, although I have to hold back knowing it could still freeze. The kids are loving it, we have 1/2 wooded lot and they play outside for hours. So here is our spring going-ons....<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKvtqj-h1U2XNtYMwNYh4YJ3h9UUYWBvmgXooWaGYowDHdtOAwdvnSHFhTK39mcSEOu2ahiZA9_cL99QAini2tL3Xw0sKCi6CRCJE9CvO_fjTwGilq0IG3kw80jiqulWUnSyPQA/s1600/P1030053.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKvtqj-h1U2XNtYMwNYh4YJ3h9UUYWBvmgXooWaGYowDHdtOAwdvnSHFhTK39mcSEOu2ahiZA9_cL99QAini2tL3Xw0sKCi6CRCJE9CvO_fjTwGilq0IG3kw80jiqulWUnSyPQA/s1600/P1030053.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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This little man is officially potty trained! Actually has been since late January. All it took was a $30 Thomas-the-Train pillow pet and a few packs of Cars undies. And he is doing awesome! This is our first time in seven years not having anyone in diapers and its NICE! Right now he is all about trains, cars and of course the Space Shuttle. He can now recite Eric Carle's "Panda Bear Panda Bear" book and chatters incessantly. <br />
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Eliza is as crazy as ever. She loves gymnastics and is really good, she is completely focused in the midst of a crew of four year olds. Her speech is coming along and we got her registered for Kindergarten. She has made lots of new friends and loves to collect worms from the yard and sometimes put them on Erin's side of the bed :/<br />
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Erin grew up over night, she is almost as tall as me now. She is completely obsessed with chess, drawing, art and reading, she is my brain child. She is excited to start track through the Y in April.<br />
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As for Jared and myself we have been busy painting the basement, still need to do touch ups, but its looks really good. Jared spent the majority of the spring in Washington DC for work. It sounds like his travel will now be limited which is an answer to prayers. He was called as a Bishop this month which has flipped our lives upside down but we are slowly finding which way is up. Things are falling into place and he'll do a wonderful job. And our front yard looks like a swath of yellow from the dandelions, such is life :).<br />
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<br />Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00411271154099479326noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-46793878824636487632012-02-17T13:17:00.000-08:002012-02-17T13:21:06.340-08:00The $60 update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5GRLx0v17I5rQesI3BR-QamlU3WdWGo32qS8cAQ1gBbg8fvM5gaI9p3q4NyP8Ep_GB74ypurszNBIqS0MMwBefIr3cM0GQlwwnyOgmJ7OGnomUuBJALBJPuKblLELOelS2edfQ/s1600/P1020990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5GRLx0v17I5rQesI3BR-QamlU3WdWGo32qS8cAQ1gBbg8fvM5gaI9p3q4NyP8Ep_GB74ypurszNBIqS0MMwBefIr3cM0GQlwwnyOgmJ7OGnomUuBJALBJPuKblLELOelS2edfQ/s320/P1020990.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Most of the house we are keeping with a natural/nature color palette (frankly I don't want to have to repaint if we ever put the house on the market). But you have to have a little fun with the kids areas right (according to J, no. But when J is on travel, E get to do whatever she wants to :D<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3hHL7Vv-ElwzMuRqdNWB2w3zL6t1fnEz9Qybji8WTXaxbg2EORoPPceK8rfn0TH1pddQr8v3H2CIy84pCmBFw3fFphXSODSwff__jrx-ilTr-pvzeL7zJ-wH3FrkxilCsiPDgQ/s1600/IMG_20111008_183857.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3hHL7Vv-ElwzMuRqdNWB2w3zL6t1fnEz9Qybji8WTXaxbg2EORoPPceK8rfn0TH1pddQr8v3H2CIy84pCmBFw3fFphXSODSwff__jrx-ilTr-pvzeL7zJ-wH3FrkxilCsiPDgQ/s320/IMG_20111008_183857.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jared is a drywall master, he did a great job!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwpqbvqPSoyhUpqLcavQLdBoUbAO-F-7itjqzSTWE7U3pmskaS3egpzef59v0CmbUAAKbFJDyvmDWiYQ4x9mmP31aYTNWcVJEuJw94W73n7LVsMNP17mACHZVUr5QW89aPYi5EQ/s1600/P1020944.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwpqbvqPSoyhUpqLcavQLdBoUbAO-F-7itjqzSTWE7U3pmskaS3egpzef59v0CmbUAAKbFJDyvmDWiYQ4x9mmP31aYTNWcVJEuJw94W73n7LVsMNP17mACHZVUr5QW89aPYi5EQ/s320/P1020944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz49Knjf4F3TbniSpzxKeBz5jd14bFjnCter91UvhwaGa1xIvjGGcnKRgtQvZSZktzKYxli-kRrzF4pHGimxSdyu_iJ1XEhTYsZc6iZjeWxIGDEA5U_GWwAJR2GSDhB3h67hji9Q/s1600/P1020945.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz49Knjf4F3TbniSpzxKeBz5jd14bFjnCter91UvhwaGa1xIvjGGcnKRgtQvZSZktzKYxli-kRrzF4pHGimxSdyu_iJ1XEhTYsZc6iZjeWxIGDEA5U_GWwAJR2GSDhB3h67hji9Q/s320/P1020945.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original - baby blue toilet seat included </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRd39u04KhleFJ13M7TOWY0ogoQl4bo_OyhnBkutTGv2XoWzo2S5z2AN19R5l03RIn6mOdVhrSgu_TAjs-Zt891orbta4Z4K5eCezfgaY1haJtXF_niXlCPsmJkv3MJj1uYAgEXQ/s1600/P1020997.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I was at Menards in January and found a gray and orange/red I really liked on the mismatch shelf for $5.00/gallon. The orange matched the shower curtain perfectly. When I got it up on the wall, it was almost HD orange! The brass towel bars were shot, luckily Menards also had nice chrome towel bars clearance for $4.00 and the mirror was on sale for $15.00. <br />
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Which left the light. I'm not a fan of the "row" light, plus I wanted that "row" light to put in our Master Bath to replace the hideous monster of a fixture (12 bulbs) we now have. The bathroom was a small budget project and new fixtures start at about $60.00. Which bring me to my new hangout and love - The Restore. If you haven't been there its a goodwill for home improvement projects. This fixture was $5.00 (hideous and brass) and then all their glass shades are $1.00 each. Its kind of a mix and match. Anyway $5.00 in spray paint and my new $15.00 light was on the wall, I was happy with the final product. It had a fun modern shop feel to it and was looking kind of girly for Ike. My bro collect hub caps so he gave me a few old ones to hang on the wall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYQ59GQklzUweRLbIf4fpsouOCaxf0UjcG_UziMR0UeKB8jjiSIiQwfDeavsDr9CIYBTfbXC-sM_9Ad7XAz5XeXKBVV7dQf2lBGqtsRatk28SE0PxnwIegaTP1EqOExFcsG336g/s1600/P1020962.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYQ59GQklzUweRLbIf4fpsouOCaxf0UjcG_UziMR0UeKB8jjiSIiQwfDeavsDr9CIYBTfbXC-sM_9Ad7XAz5XeXKBVV7dQf2lBGqtsRatk28SE0PxnwIegaTP1EqOExFcsG336g/s320/P1020962.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One man's junk</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBgeozvPyEOsO-8c6s6vLKyoamd30vDPbqT50H84MJ85fTI4TCXOIVpJhZLqfNzCcQmBr6bbL8iWbbY_pX-ZoGMiMk5aYGfIZwZAOn1rx_4QWcKfSmSz3ijauKn_lXTGmfL8hUQ/s1600/P1020998.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBgeozvPyEOsO-8c6s6vLKyoamd30vDPbqT50H84MJ85fTI4TCXOIVpJhZLqfNzCcQmBr6bbL8iWbbY_pX-ZoGMiMk5aYGfIZwZAOn1rx_4QWcKfSmSz3ijauKn_lXTGmfL8hUQ/s320/P1020998.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little paint and its wall ready</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anyway minus the cost of caulk and drywall supplies, this is our $60 bathroom update. I love it, J hates it, the kids are thrilled and its one more project we can cross off the list. Now we have three out of four bathrooms in working order (which is more than any family needs).Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-43138638880005094082012-02-14T14:24:00.000-08:002012-02-17T12:38:58.299-08:00Entry, Office, Dining & Living Room<div style="text-align: center;">Before & After<br />
Entryway</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCwIormD2STMcYkd8ZKQJAJtUZZ47W8sJ547xPFEf8wJ8PlZBD5hTSxf9vD0z2Zq7HfnTk8ag0vGGcurR_8XlFdNkf3Mr18fEf7h8C0bRbGYW5TkUedjP0bJjPWhOp2IzS02Spw/s1600/4716-riverside-ct-ne-cedar-rapids-iowa-52411_1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709121819565030866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCwIormD2STMcYkd8ZKQJAJtUZZ47W8sJ547xPFEf8wJ8PlZBD5hTSxf9vD0z2Zq7HfnTk8ag0vGGcurR_8XlFdNkf3Mr18fEf7h8C0bRbGYW5TkUedjP0bJjPWhOp2IzS02Spw/s320/4716-riverside-ct-ne-cedar-rapids-iowa-52411_1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpvEMj_SYeNWQIJFC6cn07qW09xWw5SXNbk_GGsMakrB_QONC7IC5j0r6wH-TdAXh85IGYEPBgWvQVsNmijJyD7yudMhCJTnjcTqYl5WxyRD_kb00RDmgGskXLXw9Bpm72oDC0A/s1600/P1030110.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709122673126205570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpvEMj_SYeNWQIJFC6cn07qW09xWw5SXNbk_GGsMakrB_QONC7IC5j0r6wH-TdAXh85IGYEPBgWvQVsNmijJyD7yudMhCJTnjcTqYl5WxyRD_kb00RDmgGskXLXw9Bpm72oDC0A/s320/P1030110.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Living Room<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7WRa2-h9g54gwTlPUrKoA83aevF1huyAiTNp391-M4wQJY9EMoEx_JcMaBU2NomZudQVtwTy8H_mVd890wwvvp2U4tokijV5hC9OEEYnVi24jfPes35dWQzoaF2I1Tsf7k13cg/s1600/P1030100.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709122677218411650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7WRa2-h9g54gwTlPUrKoA83aevF1huyAiTNp391-M4wQJY9EMoEx_JcMaBU2NomZudQVtwTy8H_mVd890wwvvp2U4tokijV5hC9OEEYnVi24jfPes35dWQzoaF2I1Tsf7k13cg/s320/P1030100.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Office</div><div style="text-align: center;">The office didn't have many holes, yay!</div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSBkwGfdAa5agOqQ-93d5YVhaMxtjmsmsX2mBoPhPnZQs-rPHgm4QdRR7BrKl2vDX_S4_vL2NoLMK3pqSOOkkNod_sMtPl9SI9MM_3uSYjv5n8tbRKaqgcTnn0_cbMAAE6rmDzg/s1600/IMAG0267.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709121822465639202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSBkwGfdAa5agOqQ-93d5YVhaMxtjmsmsX2mBoPhPnZQs-rPHgm4QdRR7BrKl2vDX_S4_vL2NoLMK3pqSOOkkNod_sMtPl9SI9MM_3uSYjv5n8tbRKaqgcTnn0_cbMAAE6rmDzg/s320/IMAG0267.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 191px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGF-QMLNJLG54koVIZgKqK0ouNT3_ZtJ0BpTKAmsG0SG3Oopf9i2Ocw_BZwd32lDNT2euBM7U4EhzT0a80cafIPOYMzlpFDwnP2u0Y7mQWgPwiRw4cahvLTZj448IDVNSS-WyVfQ/s1600/P1030087.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709121834440896402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGF-QMLNJLG54koVIZgKqK0ouNT3_ZtJ0BpTKAmsG0SG3Oopf9i2Ocw_BZwd32lDNT2euBM7U4EhzT0a80cafIPOYMzlpFDwnP2u0Y7mQWgPwiRw4cahvLTZj448IDVNSS-WyVfQ/s320/P1030087.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Formal Dining Room</div><div style="text-align: center;">Yes, the fixture is hideous, it our own personal Liahona. When we figure out how to change out the entry way one (26' up) this one will also go :)</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmj-wmIErRJX3rA99jSKsLI7J97V7rpPfKfNYpUKWzvOmgda2RGsZYu7BcakoFmPqT6viehmCoN2aJLowpvuhHpQ_bJY1Hr-l3NEnj9MALX2IFZMKXL5-jm78ZdknV6pdi0ozFg/s1600/IMAG0311.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709123276463608642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmj-wmIErRJX3rA99jSKsLI7J97V7rpPfKfNYpUKWzvOmgda2RGsZYu7BcakoFmPqT6viehmCoN2aJLowpvuhHpQ_bJY1Hr-l3NEnj9MALX2IFZMKXL5-jm78ZdknV6pdi0ozFg/s320/IMAG0311.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 191px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9ic5EeUyQnPgPHDkmNero9R7KT9sSiPnaXJG-HoYZJG2wBa4W295zjzeJazLra3yhyR3aqFIceE8-zCC3pkLoKgRkqFbcxCELm7vmfLiQp3TINNXkV90SpbMkE_biEGnl1s3ZA/s1600/P1030092.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709121838069453234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9ic5EeUyQnPgPHDkmNero9R7KT9sSiPnaXJG-HoYZJG2wBa4W295zjzeJazLra3yhyR3aqFIceE8-zCC3pkLoKgRkqFbcxCELm7vmfLiQp3TINNXkV90SpbMkE_biEGnl1s3ZA/s320/P1030092.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>1/2 bath<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcC7EJFmDa-b8MgL5vSx83Zh7D2VrSgPDl-odZEv2qVD_DNkmd7mmjGbSWHR1B6uk8axhvL5fphOkWeVaPUp6N59xN6OZ5hvgME2adA2h6E_k7nQyD7F4Xti-K10ZO4_1ArmiNA/s1600/P1020883.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709125509671634386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcC7EJFmDa-b8MgL5vSx83Zh7D2VrSgPDl-odZEv2qVD_DNkmd7mmjGbSWHR1B6uk8axhvL5fphOkWeVaPUp6N59xN6OZ5hvgME2adA2h6E_k7nQyD7F4Xti-K10ZO4_1ArmiNA/s320/P1020883.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKrhem24LxTcas3SXOdYuCfYUxAgBj2H2E-427Uv5pp28HYziQn3iuuTLtMHq7lKXNl-zd3FazPv8nyANK0JVH28pqQ2qv1ixDqCvCoZSX20yZm6FGD-n0Hm4NE5mCwhN4JWMTg/s1600/P1030096.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709125528593365602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKrhem24LxTcas3SXOdYuCfYUxAgBj2H2E-427Uv5pp28HYziQn3iuuTLtMHq7lKXNl-zd3FazPv8nyANK0JVH28pqQ2qv1ixDqCvCoZSX20yZm6FGD-n0Hm4NE5mCwhN4JWMTg/s320/P1030096.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
Spray paint is a beautiful thing.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwqEYpX_CFkKwf8PMBNANk_d4tCzfeEytbReckBcM7USspKEGMlpIFJ9tQ5Iakx6uQdTiEDxoBfaMlogFwlE8DnaCn4_EyIe1J-jWmaJmk2jnjCUgKBmG1Z0mScWCSf2AL-76Hg/s1600/P1020889.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709125518112389218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwqEYpX_CFkKwf8PMBNANk_d4tCzfeEytbReckBcM7USspKEGMlpIFJ9tQ5Iakx6uQdTiEDxoBfaMlogFwlE8DnaCn4_EyIe1J-jWmaJmk2jnjCUgKBmG1Z0mScWCSf2AL-76Hg/s320/P1020889.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjZHlgJHqta8O0TYK_SeXDTDivoHnS6gux4wJvN9VqG5-EmDaeDk3YnRmTrRProEK25EvLUhhGzwBNmtIVInf_LdelNUdp8Ew_qu8G_BBcWQ5cMnKkI0xg-XG9dOKxnnLDIetYA/s1600/P1020890.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709125524623650082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjZHlgJHqta8O0TYK_SeXDTDivoHnS6gux4wJvN9VqG5-EmDaeDk3YnRmTrRProEK25EvLUhhGzwBNmtIVInf_LdelNUdp8Ew_qu8G_BBcWQ5cMnKkI0xg-XG9dOKxnnLDIetYA/s320/P1020890.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
And that is the main floor :).</div>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-1594373930192441912012-02-14T13:33:00.000-08:002012-02-14T14:21:20.528-08:00The Kitchen<div style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQsm8NCRaW9_et2GGgpvaGZ7k6wlQFKlO6Y-y9xpRxnlo_HSFRAm-wL4N8V84ouFyUumW4YXeCJpjUra98CIqJOkEOIm_uMUnRqSusXu_iSbKI51NXi888M4-f6jEVpLN1TWeOw/s1600/4716-riverside-ct-ne-cedar-rapids-iowa-52411_5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQsm8NCRaW9_et2GGgpvaGZ7k6wlQFKlO6Y-y9xpRxnlo_HSFRAm-wL4N8V84ouFyUumW4YXeCJpjUra98CIqJOkEOIm_uMUnRqSusXu_iSbKI51NXi888M4-f6jEVpLN1TWeOw/s320/4716-riverside-ct-ne-cedar-rapids-iowa-52411_5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709115804521239202" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Before - Realtors Photo<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIe_GYDtyZh4ZXo68vGoBcOF-BclNPTDYKjesIiRvC42bjGw0Z1wOOMD1qBymx-GY8TL5MSqc95VxXzAR_ElBPdRUkrg9ZEabeOuJGkAH0HhUFf6O_yhM-Gzcs1uV1A_7ZkWxAg/s1600/P1030103.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIe_GYDtyZh4ZXo68vGoBcOF-BclNPTDYKjesIiRvC42bjGw0Z1wOOMD1qBymx-GY8TL5MSqc95VxXzAR_ElBPdRUkrg9ZEabeOuJGkAH0HhUFf6O_yhM-Gzcs1uV1A_7ZkWxAg/s320/P1030103.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709119382950426226" border="0" /></a>A little drywall and paint, $10 light from Lowes and it looks like a Midwest kitchen!<br /></div></div><br />I ran into an old friend on Saturday and she asked if she would EVER see the house....I said of course, if she came over :). Maybe because its still a work in progress, the rate its going it will be a work in progress until the day we move out :). While it now looks like a liveable house, most of the work was the stuff that does not show, hundreds of holes patched in the wall, plumbing project and just cleaning. I am thinking about starting a new blog just about the DIY project we have been working on (and gardening season is around the corner). So here are a few pics to satisfy those of you who keep bugging me :).<br /><br />The kitchen, while intact, was a complete mess. The faucet had a leak that would spray the ceiling when turned on, the sink was cracked, the oven was broken, drawers were broken and the previous owner failed to invest in shower curtains so there were water marks on the ceiling where water had leaked through, and they cut a hole in the ceiling to fix the upstairs toilet plumbing (luckily from the toilet hole the inspector was able to see the there was no mold and the drywall ceiling was dry so we could prime and paint and didn't need a new ceiling). On top of that I don't think the house had been cleaned in years. Over time we'll update the appliances, but our goal right now was to make it livable. <div style="text-align: center;">Hole in Ceiling<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqu16KbgR2JaLz9AzmhArZxffQ7xR5F2kd2DpyU2yMo9lWxJsKe5pgXXH71Q1inFuUzKNKnDaJOvIkcBVeCFv-C7VUWD5AiBJy2thFZ5NEltYhrJQfVgd4B_qPDdn6hnNiHgljXQ/s1600/IMAG0320.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqu16KbgR2JaLz9AzmhArZxffQ7xR5F2kd2DpyU2yMo9lWxJsKe5pgXXH71Q1inFuUzKNKnDaJOvIkcBVeCFv-C7VUWD5AiBJy2thFZ5NEltYhrJQfVgd4B_qPDdn6hnNiHgljXQ/s320/IMAG0320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709115812608215074" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sink??<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGkLDmQ4XfyfpE-hFTKKv3ixMC9fD3N7WlqbzEqq69UwJrLTuEyECgTk-kxd58-qO-YlDMxAB3jXmVTqanYFug9BGD3ajEyDFkJAv6QmLnFMiwmyVQYw-svNQphiNCX3xrEDH3g/s1600/IMG_20111008_180724.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGkLDmQ4XfyfpE-hFTKKv3ixMC9fD3N7WlqbzEqq69UwJrLTuEyECgTk-kxd58-qO-YlDMxAB3jXmVTqanYFug9BGD3ajEyDFkJAv6QmLnFMiwmyVQYw-svNQphiNCX3xrEDH3g/s320/IMG_20111008_180724.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709115807093202530" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Final Product<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1E9-YBC7e3pJHTw0IBYVkMbUmTPEmjKU75UBEI0hVJtU3QYBelEpZ92_DuyvO5Rwh6HgQMMiKTSvPaCA4kmkL5pHnHK-6gO1xFbz18f9w1BKKtMdCjY2tjdbSd4N_px3xaqfFJw/s1600/P1030104.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1E9-YBC7e3pJHTw0IBYVkMbUmTPEmjKU75UBEI0hVJtU3QYBelEpZ92_DuyvO5Rwh6HgQMMiKTSvPaCA4kmkL5pHnHK-6gO1xFbz18f9w1BKKtMdCjY2tjdbSd4N_px3xaqfFJw/s320/P1030104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709115824307920850" border="0" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NAroKg86NsCAEAlPAIBk44jkcGHu6xl6-kEyAQR343ZopWHDkxKeW6RVfXCS3i06FZB6pYoSeO5BC541dz4N_VEme6JRsMq8fmYid9t2w164ePdn4xnj7XKLU2lIEWPBQcbAEQ/s1600/P1030106.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NAroKg86NsCAEAlPAIBk44jkcGHu6xl6-kEyAQR343ZopWHDkxKeW6RVfXCS3i06FZB6pYoSeO5BC541dz4N_VEme6JRsMq8fmYid9t2w164ePdn4xnj7XKLU2lIEWPBQcbAEQ/s320/P1030106.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709117528264179890" border="0" /></a>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-78720410441826530272012-02-02T12:54:00.000-08:002012-02-02T14:44:33.232-08:00The Trunk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15DIjm5pM1TMMQF_ckdR_DQWvAYB9fHTVoJeNl5adIztUAGj_sR-yc1eppYAMMgonuZcukBrEEM2FrQb8HySPcYaDNRqbTvCzbyEoLSOPVdOv8f3JAJG2ukmLZ_beYAbWjjlzmQ/s1600/P1030005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15DIjm5pM1TMMQF_ckdR_DQWvAYB9fHTVoJeNl5adIztUAGj_sR-yc1eppYAMMgonuZcukBrEEM2FrQb8HySPcYaDNRqbTvCzbyEoLSOPVdOv8f3JAJG2ukmLZ_beYAbWjjlzmQ/s320/P1030005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704646110138680002" border="0" /></a>Jared has been out of town on business for a few weeks, so last week I took the kids back to my homestead in NE Iowa. My parents have 10 acres on the outskirts of town (a town of 1100 and dwindling). Seven miles NE of town lies the rolling hills of our family farm. Its no longer farmed by our family, many fields have sat dormant for the past two decades as family farms could no longer stay afloat. The fields were sold or went into the CRP program, where their labors would rest and the native grasslands it sustained generations before would slowly return. <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p>I have watched many sunsets from these hills, its hard to describe the feeling of home, those who grew up on the ridge understand the link between family, blood and the land. <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My father called me a few weeks ago and said he was cleaning out the barn (which is like an antique shop in itself). I always like poking around in the hay mow, its like a scene out of a movie, trunks, old furniture, books from the turn of the century, old art work sheeted in cloth with a layer of dust that makes everything look gray and mysterious. He said there was something of mine up there. Um ya, like a dozen landscape architectural models from my college years, to big to put in your house, too many hours invested to trash. I have cattle fair boxes and cc skis, old sleds and kayak parts. I hoisted myself up the boards nailed to the barn wall and into the musty old loft. Growing up we spent hours playing in this loft, this was my first visit back in years. And what I found surprised me, it was an old trunk, coated with dust and a simple yellowed sheet of paper that said Em. We dragged it down from the loft and threw it in the van. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The trunk, origin not completely verified, is thought to be my Gt. Gt. Grandparent(s) immigration trunk from England. Inside held few articles, a cookbook of my grandmothers, some of her text books when she was a teacher in the 1930's, a 1940's Webster Dictionary and a tarnished silver spoon. If it really is that trunk they immigrated to Iowa late, circa 1850-1860. The Alderson's would have broken true prairie sod to start their farms in NE Iowa. They would have built the massive Gothic barns at the height of their farming success that now crumble under years rural economic depression. They raised their families in these hills, worshiped in the rural congregations, endured the brutal winters, waiting patiently for technology to reach the area easing their daily burdens. This would become their land, their home. As generations passed their horses and mules would be replaced with machines, the worn harnesses stowed in hip roofs to collect dust, becoming artifacts of a forgotten lifestyle. And after a lifetime in the fields, they would return their worn bodies to the land that prospered them, buried in a peaceful rural cemetery at the base of the ridge, waiting for the following generations to join them for eternity. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As I brought the trunk in this week, it made me think about the sacrifice of previous generations. It took a night to carefully clean, but in the end the trunk itself was intact, the hinges functional, and the wood strong. For such a functional crate, to be boarded on a boat to the Americas and pulled across the plains, there is beauty in the design and the structure. It now has become part out our home, a daily reminder to me of who I am and and a feeling of overwhelming gratitude of the great sacrifices of my preceding generations. And maybe a better understanding of the yearnings to be connected with the land.<br /></p><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">Before<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv56otaLUfOLXF4XgwS-0vd9mwfypCMTklJYy6zASAkfKPo6g55S5T2HsEw2KGCxM2BUMz0UBcnPuCJ2lJcn3JXn1mwz4uao7UwDIJ4zDpW2gU38pMCcg5y-U-xbrhO1qABUlMQ/s1600/P1030007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv56otaLUfOLXF4XgwS-0vd9mwfypCMTklJYy6zASAkfKPo6g55S5T2HsEw2KGCxM2BUMz0UBcnPuCJ2lJcn3JXn1mwz4uao7UwDIJ4zDpW2gU38pMCcg5y-U-xbrhO1qABUlMQ/s320/P1030007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704646099405630738" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ1ogz9NIphFScTq-Z99CAI-L847hu9mqz-8tafKqOJ9kuXapc-6N44RTKYlZSb_SX6UmWJ62WcJuo4mnpZWLoVnS3dvpz7HLOUn0Z9l6ZwspcTxqB_b-lwZoX-HU4IoPf4nP_Q/s1600/P1030004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ1ogz9NIphFScTq-Z99CAI-L847hu9mqz-8tafKqOJ9kuXapc-6N44RTKYlZSb_SX6UmWJ62WcJuo4mnpZWLoVnS3dvpz7HLOUn0Z9l6ZwspcTxqB_b-lwZoX-HU4IoPf4nP_Q/s320/P1030004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704646094593314978" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">After<br /></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqmtK2oOHEynQkGv36S2Midp1uraEOUNnnsnfqRj23SVvcuhVDqDFDdvdBds-Zi2FGPMuySQUeXQgCWVa_YPZNSUImXujVEFnQ8jKiEn20RsBKa3nD5M5DDmXx8pNbFmXbY7lVA/s1600/P1030016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqmtK2oOHEynQkGv36S2Midp1uraEOUNnnsnfqRj23SVvcuhVDqDFDdvdBds-Zi2FGPMuySQUeXQgCWVa_YPZNSUImXujVEFnQ8jKiEn20RsBKa3nD5M5DDmXx8pNbFmXbY7lVA/s320/P1030016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704646112974875346" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolMb5r27pal309HZLvJPYPTY2KvH8y9eOFLUKX62t_31L-u8MmdSD_syqlLKZmm_7T_yfd446U_bhBGtk3cT0YZZuhs3zLoLPAlKY8xrnWeqzKY1iR_bmNgH4ctOQ7MQOJnZUqw/s1600/P1030014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolMb5r27pal309HZLvJPYPTY2KvH8y9eOFLUKX62t_31L-u8MmdSD_syqlLKZmm_7T_yfd446U_bhBGtk3cT0YZZuhs3zLoLPAlKY8xrnWeqzKY1iR_bmNgH4ctOQ7MQOJnZUqw/s320/P1030014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704646119254174274" border="0" /></a>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-37746694299021115112012-02-02T12:29:00.001-08:002012-02-02T12:45:35.208-08:00Winter?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-2lxx8cDpWdBxYFYGf2OWh93rFnaRPRb1kIstwouJ6dZsR0Nk7e5GkcURaHCNDaAWIpzUOVjo6tLFFzhvdRPUaRYotxwxLdtmv-38VS54Nyakca4kOTvc8F9ay2Z9HSER6fI3Q/s1600/P1020974.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-2lxx8cDpWdBxYFYGf2OWh93rFnaRPRb1kIstwouJ6dZsR0Nk7e5GkcURaHCNDaAWIpzUOVjo6tLFFzhvdRPUaRYotxwxLdtmv-38VS54Nyakca4kOTvc8F9ay2Z9HSER6fI3Q/s320/P1020974.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704639088777230082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvyoX8ChnX9xG_6URLDcldeJ6rOZMEOKNsWz0YkcSc2yyygk4UT3c6o4j224bNObDm9q0PrwM4GgBVMEOt8ubvfyka7AdSyVYZ6ZwqupJFVRj5YjULZlCXEGhMEWqv0gMXkwc4g/s1600/P1020968.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvyoX8ChnX9xG_6URLDcldeJ6rOZMEOKNsWz0YkcSc2yyygk4UT3c6o4j224bNObDm9q0PrwM4GgBVMEOt8ubvfyka7AdSyVYZ6ZwqupJFVRj5YjULZlCXEGhMEWqv0gMXkwc4g/s320/P1020968.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704639073206208482" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHHVQfqeqzWAnD1LQzLBDz47VdlGnaexe1cMC1GvYvTBWGRm2pRiDxCzda-QVU6OOIHcsZvMTDAgdDMbRCDZrp5NTxW_ktrb1l0o7YJ5dToOFx5Lq3TDVDaevdp6MT6rcKulpWg/s1600/P1020970.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHHVQfqeqzWAnD1LQzLBDz47VdlGnaexe1cMC1GvYvTBWGRm2pRiDxCzda-QVU6OOIHcsZvMTDAgdDMbRCDZrp5NTxW_ktrb1l0o7YJ5dToOFx5Lq3TDVDaevdp6MT6rcKulpWg/s320/P1020970.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704639089496567250" border="0" /></a> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Where have the past few months gone?? We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families. It was nice for once not to speed two weeks in the car. We slowed work on the house to finish unpacking and enjoy the holidays. Jared spent late November/early December in Washington DC. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAz3wBAc-Kk1hrZqDoH0sEmCssAEA-U9dKth1pUdQDKirdyQwdDKc7sN39Q3Td_QnlU50c4mPI6r94VLTUtrrLckPfqJaPQ5Ns5-GxtXhOGbSe0EU0Dc5Bsd61D6pGpyuIsaBow/s1600/P1020963.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAz3wBAc-Kk1hrZqDoH0sEmCssAEA-U9dKth1pUdQDKirdyQwdDKc7sN39Q3Td_QnlU50c4mPI6r94VLTUtrrLckPfqJaPQ5Ns5-GxtXhOGbSe0EU0Dc5Bsd61D6pGpyuIsaBow/s320/P1020963.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704639069475353250" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Even into the first weeks of January temperatures were in the 40's and 50's, unbelievable! I could get use to this global warming idea, this is much more bearable than the winters of my childhood. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The snow finally came a few weeks ago along with the sub-zero windchill, within a week we had two snow storms (both moderate, 4-6” each time) and an ice storm. After the ice storm our front yard became the sledding mecca for our street. The kids would start at the top of the hill and then continue down on the icy road making for an awesome run. Our morning entertainment was watching the school bus slide backwards down the massive hill outside our kitchen window. And this week its back into the 50's and 60's, today it will take the last of the snow, until the storm starting tomorrow night. I forgot, I can handle cold, its the drastic temperature shifts that are hard to deal with. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjPj3F_i7ehmfF059aVsgZ2dO0s0LRO3vtky5rKF6rJ3loHCikZ60z3B5DHpL5Wer4n-5byGHMGBU5_cvCsoS4u62hWPz0XEdiMxNaseeqjwOqi1WOrfykZfsHvHyRqgCBGHX6A/s1600/P1020972.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjPj3F_i7ehmfF059aVsgZ2dO0s0LRO3vtky5rKF6rJ3loHCikZ60z3B5DHpL5Wer4n-5byGHMGBU5_cvCsoS4u62hWPz0XEdiMxNaseeqjwOqi1WOrfykZfsHvHyRqgCBGHX6A/s320/P1020972.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704639079145964674" border="0" /></a> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">With Jared being gone so much I have decided to also have an “open marriage”. Only mine is with a 4-stage 26” craftsman snow thrower. The thing is a monster and does well on our nasty driveway. Its been a life saver when he is not around. We are hoping for at least a little more snow, however I could stand an early spring also.<br /></p>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-20821187172725808182011-11-06T20:02:00.000-08:002011-11-06T20:13:02.686-08:00Blast from the Past<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAL5l2oL03PhxEKb6dpmxpHkTgfWzwEWuu-bAaadRTCAgvsHaYjs5mgIivRb8qGJe287tePQk-wcM7mAeax6hOJhKIyqVkuTqSKaKFAVm2gn1MV7T8qJV2awb_y-sD7LIKC9InQ/s1600/P1020772.JPG"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8ghpHMk8h9Le4bj8i8NJu4GUTp9LwVoOCilVTB3U9AH2BpbohGvFHpoa9A1IK2eMlL5TqVsazcUqW9FW6FlGC1v4PHBbVABDws3Zgtqqan022FoY5HuEgIb46bWTrdl-RYmOXw/s1600/P1020785.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8ghpHMk8h9Le4bj8i8NJu4GUTp9LwVoOCilVTB3U9AH2BpbohGvFHpoa9A1IK2eMlL5TqVsazcUqW9FW6FlGC1v4PHBbVABDws3Zgtqqan022FoY5HuEgIb46bWTrdl-RYmOXw/s320/P1020785.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672100547919830498" border="0" /></a>Time was short this fall so sadly I didn't get around to making the kids costumes. However we went to Jared's parents a few weeks ago and the kids found an old bin full on costumes that Grandma Linda had made over the years. They had a blast trying them on and were so excited she let them take them for Halloween. In fact we think Ike's batman was Jared's costume as a toddler which made it kind of fun!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAL5l2oL03PhxEKb6dpmxpHkTgfWzwEWuu-bAaadRTCAgvsHaYjs5mgIivRb8qGJe287tePQk-wcM7mAeax6hOJhKIyqVkuTqSKaKFAVm2gn1MV7T8qJV2awb_y-sD7LIKC9InQ/s1600/P1020772.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAL5l2oL03PhxEKb6dpmxpHkTgfWzwEWuu-bAaadRTCAgvsHaYjs5mgIivRb8qGJe287tePQk-wcM7mAeax6hOJhKIyqVkuTqSKaKFAVm2gn1MV7T8qJV2awb_y-sD7LIKC9InQ/s320/P1020772.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672100543288922322" border="0" /></a>We had our church trunk or treat, they had tons of games and the kids had a blast and came home with lots of candy. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kv-B4X-ac8g2nvxOtgnkpLODAuisYy-cRC4lfI_Sejl3QvQtu4Lc8PRfdgiHDe0bwK_fejQGAhptT9m2MteLy71qPM9tLUdTfP5Fj8-ErTvM1Y8r3gOZZ-xmLLZqsj91IzNmKA/s1600/P1020771.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kv-B4X-ac8g2nvxOtgnkpLODAuisYy-cRC4lfI_Sejl3QvQtu4Lc8PRfdgiHDe0bwK_fejQGAhptT9m2MteLy71qPM9tLUdTfP5Fj8-ErTvM1Y8r3gOZZ-xmLLZqsj91IzNmKA/s320/P1020771.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672100540032241938" border="0" /></a>Ike was so proud of his Batman Costume. He would walk up to any giver door and yell "I'M BATMAN! However note to self, snow white hair and black hair paint do not mix, his was a dusty gray for a few days. By the end of trick or treating Batman looked like he had a rough night :)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGrxGzNHrEdhxSRK8UV33raSguDacguo5J-k6JfKYatA5LTxcnYRhpMoCCoKEg20KNuEqNloGubfxXqE5viQSMaB0UVri9kAJtg0kK5OZC8PDMOGLKW9SuB2RfSGmgR2eS5hJug/s1600/P1020792.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGrxGzNHrEdhxSRK8UV33raSguDacguo5J-k6JfKYatA5LTxcnYRhpMoCCoKEg20KNuEqNloGubfxXqE5viQSMaB0UVri9kAJtg0kK5OZC8PDMOGLKW9SuB2RfSGmgR2eS5hJug/s320/P1020792.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672100556837506914" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcI93yOkC70C6D63Q4_RQ9EknN_sfQDAE5BhyphenhyphenKpMaPI9DdnK_nAEqO7yvvbWLDnTPTYwp1BerqolBJlQtnRi04vpgX6JeZ0vHjFMN5W9UFVJxoJB3keHOLCSnGYMKr-Ea5pUnmJg/s1600/P1020794.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcI93yOkC70C6D63Q4_RQ9EknN_sfQDAE5BhyphenhyphenKpMaPI9DdnK_nAEqO7yvvbWLDnTPTYwp1BerqolBJlQtnRi04vpgX6JeZ0vHjFMN5W9UFVJxoJB3keHOLCSnGYMKr-Ea5pUnmJg/s320/P1020794.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672100555159731282" border="0" /></a>Checking out their loot!<br /></div>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-15767551937717599112011-11-06T19:06:00.000-08:002011-11-06T20:16:08.380-08:00Fall WhirlwindThe fall passed without notice. And yes it is officially winter here because Dairy Queen closed today. We have had beautiful weather. Even today was t-shirt weather for a few hours in the afternoon.<br /><br />We finally moved in last Saturday, it was a long weekend, but is so nice not to be living in two places! One of these days I will get some house photos posted. We worked on the house night and day for three weeks, but probably don't have much to show for it. Most of it was cleaning, drywall and patching, plumbing and some painting. However we are loving it and this massive box on the hill is quickly becoming home. <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Erin changed schools when we closed on Oct 7<sup>th</sup>. She has adjusted well and is loving riding the bus (as is her mama!). She started Daisy scouts and is making friends quickly. We also changed wards for church. I got a calling first week in as RS secretary. Its something completely new and I feel like I am learning the ropes and Jared is next in line. It has been nice to have some down time the last few months, but life is soon going to hick into high gear again.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So this a snap shot of the last month... </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDpU6JdOBBx0e6VFtSEAHyy-awO2RBjW0I7gL9wUlF4WY2UKdGK13QouL1mFPQC_rNJjSXuMvX1-lwpIAWSUw-ziWg7QiaW07HMOMwNaURlXntqk78NssaYS-gvl6H7Ro0uc84g/s1600/IMG_20111007_082959.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDpU6JdOBBx0e6VFtSEAHyy-awO2RBjW0I7gL9wUlF4WY2UKdGK13QouL1mFPQC_rNJjSXuMvX1-lwpIAWSUw-ziWg7QiaW07HMOMwNaURlXntqk78NssaYS-gvl6H7Ro0uc84g/s400/IMG_20111007_082959.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672085750127280722" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kids had their first experience with fall leaves. For a month I have found leaves in coat pockets, backpacks, seat pockets in the van and in lunch boxes, they were obsessed. As you can see by the attire it has been a mild fall.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuizoxxVZMGhYY5AjvoLzwKZ1FSqWJGv4j60qnMuJxYyhyphenhyphen3KZ7Cz7I1Pdyj2buF5Jwbl9oZOcDKciWY4rnIMdE72nnYySeSkYzqzkL4pt6Es7MDbAKIWLMWhhREzd2d-co26OIpw/s1600/IMG_20111004_113714.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuizoxxVZMGhYY5AjvoLzwKZ1FSqWJGv4j60qnMuJxYyhyphenhyphen3KZ7Cz7I1Pdyj2buF5Jwbl9oZOcDKciWY4rnIMdE72nnYySeSkYzqzkL4pt6Es7MDbAKIWLMWhhREzd2d-co26OIpw/s400/IMG_20111004_113714.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672085752983955170" border="0" /></a></p> Ike met Clifford and was terrified! In fact he was waving his booking in the photo yelling "Get away bad dog!". Ironically he LOVES the books (and real dogs).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZQKggekavqLhxcHTGPhA97zG3R-aHpNFiYIkVpJbZCv8Nx6uQ0OvBWW5rHOTa2aFVtYmHDmykX5nBNNvFx_tZUic0Z8ewDJ-RjETBOvyFUg1cu5kSA8phyphenhyphenqRJwTLcrvfFLghvA/s1600/IMG_20111026_160820.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZQKggekavqLhxcHTGPhA97zG3R-aHpNFiYIkVpJbZCv8Nx6uQ0OvBWW5rHOTa2aFVtYmHDmykX5nBNNvFx_tZUic0Z8ewDJ-RjETBOvyFUg1cu5kSA8phyphenhyphenqRJwTLcrvfFLghvA/s400/IMG_20111026_160820.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672085775932744642" border="0" /></a>Erin spent many afternoons serenading the neighbors and walkers on 5th ave with her 3-string out-of-tune guitar as we packed up the things at the rental. The girl can rock it!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9WaKDf1NYJFWVkstcvtV5MHOyWJFV7fSlwQi7-1u0iDx5lcMmG8mJKuqp2fd6aNbSvvtbuyQI3CvF5wiX1VWLZ-qSzkgwdbjcYm0aDfDDPy33hnEOIog-pPpKUhYF59JpCOsWg/s1600/IMG_20111023_160253.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrZl8yU64hinXpFhduLy87E-mbZcHgwhZR6EAbK2Wj3nGJROT8q_M9-ferRLvn8nNtaiWBnO8-yygxLaTJGuWopNNjrxiLsJs2FFc_F7IKx5Jog82Kwf2cImgOHBz85aDQICJGg/s1600/P1020761.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrZl8yU64hinXpFhduLy87E-mbZcHgwhZR6EAbK2Wj3nGJROT8q_M9-ferRLvn8nNtaiWBnO8-yygxLaTJGuWopNNjrxiLsJs2FFc_F7IKx5Jog82Kwf2cImgOHBz85aDQICJGg/s400/P1020761.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672093763115435890" border="0" /></a>The kids did great and played together so well as we worked on the house.....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqJOD8D2ZQOvf2A4E0TnCyAH0U5xrZ5p5mSkIlcunZgcnspwsklPXZvEP5H04FGc_xc_05vtfajwCqnjdozpV6yqeF4cKB7CoFtbuGbDsEUsoMVDEHaLpMF-3IjC9iaGsmTeLyA/s1600/P1020758.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqJOD8D2ZQOvf2A4E0TnCyAH0U5xrZ5p5mSkIlcunZgcnspwsklPXZvEP5H04FGc_xc_05vtfajwCqnjdozpV6yqeF4cKB7CoFtbuGbDsEUsoMVDEHaLpMF-3IjC9iaGsmTeLyA/s400/P1020758.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672097540865317314" border="0" /></a>sometimes they played well at Isaac's expense. Sadly he was just happy to get attention.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9WaKDf1NYJFWVkstcvtV5MHOyWJFV7fSlwQi7-1u0iDx5lcMmG8mJKuqp2fd6aNbSvvtbuyQI3CvF5wiX1VWLZ-qSzkgwdbjcYm0aDfDDPy33hnEOIog-pPpKUhYF59JpCOsWg/s1600/IMG_20111023_160253.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9WaKDf1NYJFWVkstcvtV5MHOyWJFV7fSlwQi7-1u0iDx5lcMmG8mJKuqp2fd6aNbSvvtbuyQI3CvF5wiX1VWLZ-qSzkgwdbjcYm0aDfDDPy33hnEOIog-pPpKUhYF59JpCOsWg/s400/IMG_20111023_160253.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672085754448051394" border="0" /></a>The owner of the house at the trail head posted this sign in his yard next to the trail.... our peaceful Sunday afternoon hike was disrupted by Erin thinking every movement (or person) was Sasquatch. It didn't help at Halloween he had a fire pit and the guy was dressed up like a serious Viking :).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDpU6JdOBBx0e6VFtSEAHyy-awO2RBjW0I7gL9wUlF4WY2UKdGK13QouL1mFPQC_rNJjSXuMvX1-lwpIAWSUw-ziWg7QiaW07HMOMwNaURlXntqk78NssaYS-gvl6H7Ro0uc84g/s1600/IMG_20111007_082959.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuizoxxVZMGhYY5AjvoLzwKZ1FSqWJGv4j60qnMuJxYyhyphenhyphen3KZ7Cz7I1Pdyj2buF5Jwbl9oZOcDKciWY4rnIMdE72nnYySeSkYzqzkL4pt6Es7MDbAKIWLMWhhREzd2d-co26OIpw/s1600/IMG_20111004_113714.jpg"><br /></a>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-91824732198837057482011-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:002011-10-08T05:38:17.519-07:00Welcome Home<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9cWe6yD0yCEwCPrer0j3W-IixWg6xSPJfXdkjdQgW1Hgg6kcSQEs15Iax_rczWGrHyvMgzQm7rNHIQtRueZmaQOrL94FRKNJGVXSrYszB2znmDpVk8NveUE-5uFGEUN-OGp7-A/s1600/IMAG0262.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0V4FtbyVdoGv9rNebTNslkrNy_PZL8k7SBTqdWPdI-pfwqKm4jIq5EnVT1WmpMBrGBiOhSOipVcQYaszZZnedCX8GhUxaOO5UTw5eAOk3D2stc8FarnHCTUqXa5KdRHQXNGjSw/s1600/IMAG0286.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0V4FtbyVdoGv9rNebTNslkrNy_PZL8k7SBTqdWPdI-pfwqKm4jIq5EnVT1WmpMBrGBiOhSOipVcQYaszZZnedCX8GhUxaOO5UTw5eAOk3D2stc8FarnHCTUqXa5KdRHQXNGjSw/s320/IMAG0286.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661090170144866274" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxiDhimCXnbEgIVniwrcAx86d8KRA4KYbTCXWY4IQ0fBriR4VLBUPBDcXHYHRiOaD3MZSSudW6k8czBrC7ZTHiAGm5wRC6E2fSrBmdq-0HkUKeiEHy-facOKHaySiSxHBouPv66A/s1600/IMAG0264.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxiDhimCXnbEgIVniwrcAx86d8KRA4KYbTCXWY4IQ0fBriR4VLBUPBDcXHYHRiOaD3MZSSudW6k8czBrC7ZTHiAGm5wRC6E2fSrBmdq-0HkUKeiEHy-facOKHaySiSxHBouPv66A/s320/IMAG0264.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661090178108391730" border="0" /></a>View</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9cWe6yD0yCEwCPrer0j3W-IixWg6xSPJfXdkjdQgW1Hgg6kcSQEs15Iax_rczWGrHyvMgzQm7rNHIQtRueZmaQOrL94FRKNJGVXSrYszB2znmDpVk8NveUE-5uFGEUN-OGp7-A/s1600/IMAG0262.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9cWe6yD0yCEwCPrer0j3W-IixWg6xSPJfXdkjdQgW1Hgg6kcSQEs15Iax_rczWGrHyvMgzQm7rNHIQtRueZmaQOrL94FRKNJGVXSrYszB2znmDpVk8NveUE-5uFGEUN-OGp7-A/s320/IMAG0262.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661090181175815266" border="0" /></a>Basement<br /></div><br />Well almost.... We closed on our second home yesterday. As always it was a bumpy process but we finally made it to closing (which signing papers was much less stressful this time around)! We were planning to wait until the spring but we have been watching this house and with the current mortgage rates we were able to do a 15-year loan so we bit! This time we purchased a foreclosure (it was either pure genius or the most idiotic thing we have done) so it will not officially be home for about a month.<br /><br />Short history on the house, built in 1996 by a single guy (its a man house, three-stall garage, tiny kitchen pantry). 2200 sq ft above grade, 3300 sqft with basement on .6 acres (mostly slopped). Completely builders grade, he never even painted a wall but I think he had a dart board on every wall because I have never seen a house with so man large and small holes in the dry wall.<br /><br />The house itself is structurally in good condition but needs a new roof. There was a roof vent leak in the girls room (drywall repair = DR#1), vent leak in the upstairs bathroom (DR #2), he never used shower curtains so the kitchen and living room ceilings have water stains #3,4 &5. There was a toilet leak where the drywall was haphazardly cut out #6, and then he got miffed at the bank rolled a bowling ball down the stairs #7 and lastly peed in the downstairs corner carpet and drywall #8.<br /><br />Not to mentions the hundreds of nail (dart) holes and dented corners.<br /><br />The retaining wall are failing, the sink fixtures leak, the windows and siding are so dirty there is a coat of grime on them and the list goes on. However the view is specular, I can't see into any of my neighbors windows and we have a built in luge run that double as a driveway! I think with a little elbow grease and some arguments we can bring her to life.<br /><br />So this weekend is seeing if we can salvage the carpet and starting the drywall repair process. Heather demanded that I start a project list again so to make her content I will and we'll see what we can learn during the process.<br /><br />So come visit, we have plenty of room!Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-24947346496107484172011-09-28T19:31:00.000-07:002011-09-28T19:52:05.624-07:00Mother of the Year Award<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So the blog has been a bit boring lately, here is a story for you. I FORGOT MY CHILD. I only have three, its not like it should be hard to keep track of them, but for some people like myself, it is. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Cedar Rapids has early dismissal every-other Wednesday for teacher in-service. Personally I think it's a little excessive but whatever. Today was one of those early out days. I was running left and right and at 1:30 my phone pinged with an email that I had a message on my home phone. It was a mother that I have met ONCE and the message said this.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“Emmaly, um Erin seems to think you forgot to pick her up, she is at my house, but we have to leave so I guess I'll swing by your house and if your not home we'll figure something out”.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> I throw the other two in the car (we wouldn't want to lose another one) and race home, no one is there, I go to the woman's house, no one is home and she called from her home phone. So I head to the school thinking that she may have dropped her back there.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And that is where I earned the Mother-of-the-Year award. I walked in the office and said</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“I forgot to pick up my child today (school has now been out 40 minutes). A mother in her class picked her up and I was wondering if you have her cell number on file.”</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The secretary say “Sure, what is her name?”</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I say “Umm, I think Molly. And Molly has a child in first grade (now looking sheepish)”.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">She stares blankly at me for a second, then smiles and says we'll start with “Molly X”. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sure why the heck not, so I called the cell number she gave me and asked the woman on the other end if she by chance had an extra child with her. Wheph she did and she even enrolled her in an afternoon cooking class with her daughter!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">After almost and hour I could breathe. Seriously only in Iowa will a woman pick up your child after only meeting you once and take her in as one of her own. And the crazy thing was no one cared! The mother saw it as a favor, the secretary saw it as a parent helping out an idiot, Erin saw it as an extra play date and the day went on. In Texas this would have snowballed into a huge issue but Iowa kind of has this village raising mentality. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So my new goal for the week is not to forget anyone.</p>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20950377.post-87677689570444073052011-09-28T19:07:00.000-07:002011-09-28T19:31:28.230-07:008 Years!<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Its hard to believe its been eight years and its been a wild ride....</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In eight years we have:</p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Backpacked Belize and Guatemala, slept with the jaguars in the jungle and hitchhiked from village to village.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Had an authentic Charlie Brown tree</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Graduated ISU and moved 1,000 miles away from friends, family and the familiar</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Jared started his career working for the Space Shuttle Program</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Watched our precious baby under go open heart surgery just days after birth, found out the blessing of good health care and good insurance</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">J and I were called as church clerk and YW respectively, where we would serve the remainder of our Texas years. </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Evacuated with three million people running from Hurricane Rita and spent way too many hours stuck in traffic watching the monster churn towards us, came home to an untouched community.<br /></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Purchased our first home, made it a home and began to call Texas home. Friends became our family</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Had child #2 in a wheelchair and learned to fight insurance (and laugh)</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Jared started his Masters</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Learned to balance life, learned to be real parents (thank you Eliza).</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Evacuated from hurricane Ike, came home to a storm-ravaged community. Learned to count our blessings as we helped others tear down and clean up as we had minimal damage.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">After Ike our relationship was tested by building fences and laying new floor :) I got addicted to DIY projects.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ike was born ten months after Ike and self delivered in a bathroom by yours truly (and learned to say the hell with insurance, sometimes it's just easier to pay for services not rendered)</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Purchased a minivan, a GOLD minivan</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Learned that the space program was coming to a close and learned about faith and patience</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">J finished his Masters!</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Watched the final Shuttle Launch from KSC</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">J started a new career, sold our first home, and ironically ended up back in Iowa where we started this Journey! </p> </li></ul>Emmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03905491011106654906noreply@blogger.com0