Yarrrrr!

Yes, the best of Jack Sparrow. Well, at least the best I can do. Justin played a much better pirate of the Johnson county than I today. His whole work team dressed as mighty pirates. Yarrr! The gote was too much fun to pass by, so we alternated between trick-or-treaters this evening. We wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween! Yarrr!!!

Much a do about not nothing

So after the snake incident, there has been much a do about researching snakes. I did my research later that evening only to find venomous news. I compared pictures to our squiggly friend and concluded maybe he/she was a rattle snake. Justin being the resourceful engineer he is, sent the picture to the Kansas Herpalogical Society's Vice President and discovered it was a rat snake. If any of you have different thoughts or can identify the snake, please comment. I'm not sure who to believe, but either way I don't like it. If the snake is found in the driveway or garage again it will get run over by my car while I am protected from bites and venom.

On a happier note, our weekend was spent in Creston, Iowa for Justin's sister's wedding shower. We stayed with our good friends the Kenyons. While we did not get much sleep as young children under the age of three have very different sleeping patterns, it was a fabulous weekend. Jacqueline picked out the perfect pumpkin. I wish we would have gotten a picture. Trust me, it really had lots of character. Many thanks to our good friends! We love you guys!

Snake!

If you look very closely, you can see a snake charging at my camera. I could clearly see the little fellow in my garage when arriving home this evening. He was a fierce little sucker really. This all occured after Justin had come home early for the arrival of our new washer and dryer. Yes my friends, the washer and dryer rock! I could go on and on about the washing and drying capacity and literally how quiet both machines run, however, I was not pleased by the snake in the garage. Justin was doing yard work and had left both garage doors open. This seems to be a problem when he is engrossed in raking leaves this fall season. Monday night he had left them open all night. Both events have lead to a good you-know-what chewing by none other than myself. Maybe the snake in the garage has been a good lesson. If left undiscussed, the next thing could lead to some badger or mountain lion invading our refrigerator and attacking us in the wee hours of the morning. Can you just picture the headlines, "Young married couple devoured by mountain lion." Ugh!

In other news, everything seems to be going well. The house is looking great and we are pretty much unpacked.

Home Improvement

While we were a little disappointed about the loss to the Hawks, Justin and I quickly cheered ourselves up this weekend with our first home improvement project. We cleaned out both of our storage closets in the apartment and took about four carloads of stuff over to the new place. Then, we went on our first trip as proud home owners to Home Depot. I have a major aversion to padded toilette seats. Some find them quite comfortable; I however, find them grossly disgusting. Maybe it's a texture thing or something, but padded toilette seats just seem dirty to me. It doesn't matter how clean the bathroom or the rest of the toilette may be, it just makes me cringe. Anyhow, above is the nice new, non-padded toilette seat Justin installed. It even can be easily removed for deep down cleanliness. How cool is that?

Updates

Yes, it has been a while since the last blog. I appologize for this and don't blame you at all if you have quite checking our blog all together. Unfortunately, life has been very hectic. We closed on the house Monday, I had a bit with the flu, work is crazy with crazy kids (and I mean really crazy), and we have class just about every night of the week to add to our list. How are we going to move? I have asked myself this many times, especially when I was layed up in bed all day yesterday. It's times like these I remind myself, "There are 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, and 30 days in a month. It will get done," and the major quote, "This too shall pass."

On a different subject, is everyone ready for a good old football rumble on Saturday? Let's hear it for the Cyclones! I will bring my camera with me wherever we watch the game. What is a blog without a good picture?

Our Nest

So we finally made a compromise with the seller of our new-house-to-be. Much to our gratification, we are not only getting a new roof, but also repairs to the chimney. We are sooo excited! The closing date will be September 8th. We don't have to be out of the apartment until October 3rd, but I am planning on slowly moving boxes into the new place after closing. Who knows, I might even sleep there since it is much closer to work. Anyhow, I really haven't felt this relieved since we got the last thank-you out for the wedding. It will be great to finally have a place that is really our own.

Back-to-School

Yup, we're some pretty groovy people in the special education department. Last week was our annual professional development training. I am on the left (peace) and one of my co-workers, Sara Kuhl, is pictured with the groovy afro. Hannah was unable to join us, as she is a new mom and is on maternity leave until October. While there have been a lot of changes with curriculum and classrooms, I hope our team has a far-out and groovy school year. Peace, love, and happiness for 2008-2009!