House Repairs

I tell you, I really enjoy owning a home. Part of it is that we aren't spending all of our Sundays driving around to open houses, trying to figure out what we would like in a house or trying to figure out what we can afford. It is really great to have these days back. Actually I often find myself not knowing what to do on Sundays because first it was football season so the majority of the day was taking up watching football, and this time last year we would be out of the house all day looking at different houses. It is great to have this extra free time, and we've enjoyed taking the time to go for bike rides, long walks or just hang out at home.

Now that we have been here since the end of July, things have finally settled in a little bit, and we survived our first winter, without too many worries. We have undertaken a few projects like reroofing the entire house, hanging gutters, replacing soffit and fascias, fixing a leaky shower valve and caulking the shower. Now I have never really done a whole lot of this kind of stuff, but I am finding that I really enjoy working on things. I don't know if it is the smell of sawdust, or the sound of the drill, or the satisfaction of getting something accomplished. But I really enjoy this part of owning a house.

Now you may be wondering what will the next project be, well hopefully later this summer we will be able to tackle residing. Again (like all the other projects) I have no idea about where to start, but fortunately we have family that knowledgeable and willing to help us out. I can't wait, until then I'll just enjoy what we have and work on the little things like hanging up photos. Don't worry AJ, pictures will be coming soon.

I AM IRONMAN!!!

Well folks I did it. It took me five fewer days then I had predicted, but I was successfully able to complete all 140.6 miles of the indoor ironman. As Brian Collins (fast forward to the 2:28 mark for the trademark line) would say, "Boom goes the dynamite!" It was great to have a goal to accomplish again. I was very surprised with how quickly my biking legs came back...I believe that I will be back on the two wheels this summer quite a bit, and maybe even do a race next summer. We'll see how that goes.

Now in a previous post I talked about what I liked about fall and how I would continue you that on for all the seasons, well now that it is almost spring, I better talk about winter.

Things I like about winter:

• the snow
• seeing the snow fall (as long as you are able to be at home and watch it come down)
• driving during a snowfall (it seems like you are driving at warp speed)
• skiing
• sledding
• snowshoeing (we had some good times this year)
• shoveling (I actually don't mind the shoveling as long as it isn't a wet heavy snow)
• watching Rudy bound through the snow
• every four years watching the Winter Olympics (nice job USA!)

That's all that I can think of for right now. Stay Classy!

How did another month fly by?!?!

Man I am just awful at being consistent with posting here. I keep hoping that I will get better, but I'll be honest I won't believe it until I see it. Anywho, here is just a short list of things of note since Christmas:

1. Held our second annual Winter Cookout/celebrated New Year's with friends that have started to spread out over this great country. Starting to get ready for next years too!
2. Cassandra and I celebrated out 2nd wedding anniversary...We have made so much further than many Hollywood couples.
3. We've been snowshoeing a few times (I'll be honest, I kinda wish we were living on the East Coast right now and would be able to enjoy all this fresh snow).
4. Cassandra and I have now been in our house just over 6 months, being a homeowner is way better than having to pay rent! (Thanks Obama for the first time home buyers tax credit...without you this part of the entry wouldn't have been possible).
5. Cassandra celebrated her 25th birthday!
6. I have started the journey to become an Ironman, while it is going to take me a month to complete it (currently I have just over 2/9 of the way completed. At the YMCA where I work, every February they put on the Indoor Ironman, where you complete 140.6 miles (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 run) and give you until the end of the month to complete it. Stay tuned for more updates. This came at the right time where I needed something new to do, and I am looking forward to finishing it to see what my next challenge will be.

Tonight I am looking forward to watching one of the best Super Bowl matchups that I can remember in a long time. As great as it would be for the city of New Orleans to win this game, I believe that the Colts will win. I just hope the game is as exciting as they are making it out to be.

Stay Classy!

Merry Christmas!

From all of us here at "From the River", we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time that you have with your family, and don't forget the real meaning of Christmas.

What is your favorite Christmas movie or movie that really only plays around this time of the year?

Mine would be Elf.

Stay Classy!

Here comes the snow (do do do do)

Most of the time I don't trust meteorologists.
I mean besides playing baseball (really hitting the ball 1/3 of the time is considered good) what other job can you have the luxury of being wrong some of the time (or most of the time). Doctors, auto mechanics, teachers, pilots, chefs, police officers, school-age directors, assistant to directors, the list goes on and on. All these jobs require you to be right/correct at all times. Unlike meteorologists really the only thing that they can do to mess up is have it be sunny on a day that it is supposed to rain (or the other way around) and all they do is mess up people's plans for the day. How nice must that be? Notice how the two scenarios below are different:

Weather person: "Pack your picnic baskets and make your tee times, it is going to be 75 and sunny all day"
The next day as it rains and pours all day....
Same weather person: "Sorry about the wrong info folks, maybe tomorrow will be better!"

or

Auto mechanic: "Yep, it looks like you just need to top off your brake light fluid, check the specs on your rotator grirder, and we should have you back on the road tomorrow.

Guess who will still have a job tomorrow. Yep nothing says job security like a meteorologist.

To be honest, you are best just going to the window and looking outside.

Now having said that, I liked what I heard last night and all through out the day regarding the weather. They said we have a 100% chance of having snow tomorrow with between 8-12 inches of snow with most of it falling between 10pm and 6am. Even without many years of training I think it know that that means...SNOW DAY!!!

As I write this there are already 37 districts closed.

Now even though I am not in school anymore, snow days are still very exciting and I am excited for those kids to stay home and have an extra day to be kids. Plus work for me will be a little more relaxed because my programs won't be running. High Five to that!

When I was growing up snow days were very rare, so my mom would make homemade doughnuts. Rumor has it that she had to go shopping recently to make sure that she had the supplies. Hopefully a few will make their way up to La Crosse (hand clap and point).

Now I recently saw on a friend blog that he ends each time with a question, and I wanted to do this as well. I won't do it every time, but every once in a while will be good. So, If you grew up in an area where you could have snow days, what was your favorite thing to do while at home?

Enjoy the snow, I know I will just as soon as I dust off my snowshoes!

Stay Classy!

Fan of the Fall

Hey it has been less than a month since the last time that I posted, I must be getting better with this!

There is the age old (does anyone even know where the phrase age old came from? I don't but it seemed good to put here) question of what is your favorite season. Many people have just as many reasons about why they like certain ones. Personally I enjoy the winter because sometimes summer just gets too hot. Plus you can only take off so many layers of clothes before you start getting the strange looks. In the winter you can always put on another layer of clothes to keep warm. Then there is also the whole bunch of sports that you can only partake in during the winter.

Now don't get me wrong there are things that I enjoy about all the seasons, so I will do a series of blog entries with each corresponding season. Nothing too hard right, I mean I can definitely post at least once each season (but hopefully more).

Things that I enjoy about fall:
Football season-I could site and watch football just able all day especially if the Packers are playing (although as of late, the Packers haven't been very enjoyable to watch. I was never a fan of Ted Thompson, and I really hope that he gets fired after the end of the season). Football being my favorite sport, I just really enjoy seeing the game played at it's highest level. Although there are times that I do not enjoy seeing these players who get paid millions complain and get mad because things don't go there way...grow up Ocho Cinco (dumbest name in the NFL, seriously). Also to play fantasy football...even though I am terrible at it, it is a great way to stay connected with friends from all over.

Seeing the leaves change colors and fall to the ground-Thanks Cassandra for raking them all up so far this fall :)

New season of TV shows (so far the best episode has been the wedding on The Office)

The cooler weather-I'm a big fan of being comfortable wearing shorts, a sweatshirt, and sandals, I am not really sure why, but I am.

Thanksgiving- there is something about just getting together with family (Miller, Pat, and Tuna you guys are family), nothing beats it.

Things that make the house smell good- apple pies/crisps/etc., pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds, turkeys, cookies, fires in fire pits/fireplaces/wood burning stoves, anything really that makes the house smell good and feel cozy.

Baseball- I especially enjoy baseball in the fall because that is when everyone is making their playoff (PLAYOFFS!!!) pushes (plus 162 games is hard to follow). I also really enjoy watching the World Series (but hate watching the Yankees) because that is when the two best teams are playing.

The end of wedding season- Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of weddings (and I am guessing in **SPOILER ALERT** spring you will see that I like the beginning of wedding season **SPOILER ALERT OVER** , they are a ton of fun, but after a summer full of weddings it is nice to have your weekends back.

Lastly we are one day closer to....


SNOWSHOEING!!!!!!! If you can't tell from the picture, this is a photo of Rudy and I snowshoeing last winter. I realized tonight that we don't have a picture of Cassandra, Rudy and I snowshoeing, that will be this year's mission. I look forward to the first time I can strap them on and hit the trails.

Enjoy the rest of your fall! Stay Classy!

Life recap

I know, I know, I know...this whole keeping up and typing this blog on a regular basis isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. That's alright, sorry to all those who had been checking on a regular basis, hopefully with the weather getting cooler and it starting to get dark at 4 pm will also help.

I just wanted to recap things that have happen with us since my last post. Things are finally settled in our house, the roof, the roof (is not on fire) is done. The house was done enough to host a surprise birthday party for my good buddy Pat (or SPA for short) who had just moved to this great city. It was great to see so many people make the trip, especially those that I hadn't seen since Cassandra and I got married (closing in on two years now, crazy how the time flies). We were able to finally break in our fire pit and just have great conversations into the wee hours of the morning.

Cassandra completed a 1/2 marathon and finished in a time of 2:20ish. That was awesome, I was able to see her at the halfway point and she was feeling pretty good then. I wish I could have been there for the finish line.

We wrapped up our wedding tour of Wisconsin '09 (congrats to Ashley and Jeff, Leif and Kristen, Tony and Holly, Adam and Lisa, Bernie and Phil, & Megan and Jason). We had a blast at all of your weddings, and a great time at your receptions. I would also like to add that I was able to play the air piano at all six weddings to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". Probably my #1 favorite song to hear at weddings.

I had to get a new car this past weekend, my old one decided to stop working this past week, in the middle of the rainest week we have had in a few years. The plus side was I was able to bike to work, which is something I had wanted to do for the longest time, but always found reasons to not. Plus it was time for Cassandra and I to have a good, reliable car and not over 14 years old.

Lastly, now that it is fall, and the weather is getting colder, (we've already had our first snowfall, nothing measurable, but it was falling at least) that means we are ONE DAY CLOSER TO SNOWSHOE SEASON!!!! Last winter Cassandra and I had recieved some money at Christmas and were unsure of what we were going to use it on, but we thought that we should treat ourselves to something. After doing some research we decided on purchasing some snowshoes because we both know how to walk and there isn't a whole lot of skills that need to be learned prior to starting (unlike another option cross country skiing), plus we live in an area that is full of trails and hiking opportunities, so that provided us a way to enjoy these trails all year round. As an added bonus, Rudy, our dog, is able to with us and get some excerise as well.

Well, that was somewhat of a recap (and also a preview), I am sure I forgot a bunch of things, but this was what came to mind when I sat down to write this. Thanks for stopping by and Stay Classy!