Year In Review (AKA Christmas Letter)

Happy Holidays!

I guess this could be considered a modern day version of a printed Christmas letter. We had the best intentions of getting our annual photo montage out to everyone, but it just didn't happen. (insert long story about computer repair guy here) This year has flown by, but as you can see we've had many great adventures. Here is a quick re-cap of some of the highlights:

March: Our year started out training for a half marathon. Yes, "we." We signed up for the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA sponsored by Yuengling Beer (pronounced Ying Ling). We had a great trip! There were ten of us who flew out to participate in either the half or full marathon. This was Drew's debut half-marathon and possibly his last. A fun addition to the event was in addition to your normal hydration stations, there were several opportunities to partake in a Yuengling Beer. We ran the first 6 or 7 miles and run/walked the last half. It was a good experience and has kept us running since, just not as far. Definitely learned that more training will be in order before our next attempt.

April: Kelli and Drew took on new positions at the railroad. Drew is a Manager of Shipment Management in the Ag Products group. He manages the operation of 100-car grain trains and has traveled around Iowa/Nebraska to see how grain elevators load trains. He is really enjoying the new position. Kelli is a Sr Business Manager in the Industrial Products group pricing cement. It was a new transition from her previous logistics job, but she is finding it rewarding to understand this market in a down economy.

June: Drew and Kelli rode part of the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN). This was Kelli's first experience riding in BRAN. Aside from a few mental barriers she had to break through, she did really well. It was a great route and we got to see some beautiful scenery in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Yes, there is beautiful scenery in Nebraska. We were up in the sandhill and Niobrara area, and stayed in Callaway, Dunning, Ainsworth, and Butte ending our pedaling in Creighton. Due to lack of vacation we did not ride the whole week, but Drew did go to Shelby on Friday night to ride the last day to Yutan. Maybe some year we'll be able to ride the entire week.

August: Drew took a motorcycle class at one of the Harley-Davidson dealers. It was one of the hardest things mentally he's ever done. The coordination needed to ride a motorcycle is unlike anything needed to drive a car. He got his motorcycle license and bought a new motorcycle a week after the class was completed. He rides to work to save gas and rides on the weekends exploring the "countryside". Kelli has ridden on the back a couple times and seems to like it. At some point they plan to take some small weekend trips.

September: We drove up to Minneapolis to see Kelli's Uncle Tim and Aunt Terri. Our friends Chris and Karol rode with us. They also have family up there so we rode together to decrease our carbon footprint. We did some shopping (you should see all of the fabulous things that Karol & Kelli were able to squeeze in the trunk from Ikea!), Drew and Tim watched the Nebraska game (Go Huskers!), and we all hung out and had a good time.

October: Is always our busiest month - we're not sure why, but we definitely were able to cram in a lot of activities each weekend. For Kelli, it started off with the Midwest Lampworkers Guild All Member Show at the Hot Shops Art Center. Kelli was one of the show coordinators. The opening was a smashing success thanks to all of the work of the members and the recruitment of a local musician to play at the event. The following weekend, Kelli and her mom went to the Prairie Point Junction Quilt Retreat near Cozad, NE. Drew spent the same weekend at the farm in Bethany with our friend Tom. They worked on cutting firewood and hiking trails for the camping trip later in the month. The next weekend debuted the Art in the Bag fundraiser for Cancer Research, Awareness and Care. This was a first-year event and we raised nearly $3600. The committee is already brainstorming ideas for next year. The next weekend we drove to Austin, TX to participate in the Livestrong Challenge. Our friends Mike and Stacey have gone the last 5 years and we decided to join them for the event. We ran on Saturday (3 miles) and rode our bikes on Sunday (45 miles). Several times throughout the weekend we were able to see Lance Armstrong. The event is a definite repeat and we can't wait to go back to Austin. Good eats! Finally - we made it to the last weekend and went on our annual fall camping trip to Bethany with our friends.

November: Kelli started taking an enameling class at the LUX Art Center in Lincoln with her friend Betsy. The class met every Monday for six weeks. She also went to Camp Calvin Crest for a scrapbook retreat though she pulled some strings and actually took her sewing machine to work on some unfinished (UFO) projects. For Thanksgiving, we flew out Pittsburgh to visit Drew's brother and family. It was a great trip where we got to meet their new addition Lauren Mae born on Sept 29th and to see the kids. Austin (almost 4) and Renee (2) are talking now, so it was fun to interact with them. Julia is nearing the teenager years and has grown up so much since we first met her. It was a great weekend, though always too short. Bill and Jen are keeping busy with kids, work and their farm. We're hopeful to get back out for another visit after the first of the year.

That brings us to December. Drew went to the Big 12 Championship game with a couple coworkers to entertain some customers - a cold game but a fun trip. Kelli finished her enamelling class. Hopefully she'll get some pictures of the neat things she's been making posted on her blog soon. And, we hosted our annual Cookiefest Party which is a fun gathering of friends and food. For the Holidays we'll be celebrating in Nebraska from Cedar Bluffs to LaVista to Auburn to Grand Island.Have a safe holiday! And a wonderful 2009!

Drew & Kelli
Toby & Simon

Happy Holidays

The holiday storm is upon us once a gain. We have 5 separate get togethers this year.
Tuesday night at Nancy and Jim's with Chris, Stacey, Blake, Hunter, and Kennedy, Troy, and Teresa.
Wednesday night at our house with Judy, Pete, and Michael.
Thursday day at Aunt Jackie's with Drew's Mom's side of the family.
Thursday night at Stan and Sue's.
Sunday day in Grand Island with all the Traudts

We're also celebrating New Years Eve at our friend Regina's house.

For those of you that we aren't getting together with we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happer New Year.

Drew & Kelli

Holy . . . . Sheet!

I have to write to tell you about our new sheets. Yes, bed sheets. Sheets are very important in my opinion, if you don't select the write thread count they might be itchy. And, if you pick the wrong fiber contenct, they won't wear nicely and you could end up with pilling. I've also been reading a lot about sustainability in fabric selection. Organic cottons, bamboo, etc.

The sheets I selected are Pure Beech Santeen produced for Bed Bath and Beyond. I love them!! With one exception which I will get to later.

The packaging states that they are "made from Modal, a high strength fiber regenerated from the Beechwood trees of Europe. The process is conducted in accordance with ecological standards and sustainability. Pure Beech sheets contain no pesticides, or toxic substances. Modal is an extra smooth fiber. Therefore sheets made from Modal will keep soft and radiant wash after wash."

What do I love about them. I love the feel of them. They feel soft like silk but are easy to care for. Just thrown them in the washing machine like my old sheets. I like the color. They are taupe - it reminds me of hot chocolate which goes perfectly with our bedroom.

There is one downside that we are experiencing. And that it that the fitted sheet does not like to stay on the bed. It keeps popping on one corner. I'm not sure if it is how I roll over when sleeping or that it might be sticking to my flannel pj's. But, it is kind of annoying to wake up with no sheet underneath you. I have some of the elastic sheet straps that I'm going to dig out of my junk drawer to hold them down. Keep your fingers crossed that it works. Either way, I love the sheets and am willing to deal with this slight annoyance.

K

I've been meaning to tell you . . .

. . . about this great article I read in one of my new favorite magazines - Dwell.

If you haven't heard of it, I highly encourage you pick it up. What is Dwell - it is a modern, eco-friendly, architecture, home designing magazine. It has cool projects on how to be more kind to mother-earth in what you do and how you approach your dwelling. (excuse my play on words)

Anyway - the article in questions was about the "big box" stores and their impact on our world. Here are some of the stats to ponder.

Average square feet of an American home: 2,495
Average square feet of a Target supercenter: 174,000

Number of people who ttend religious services every week: 55 million
Number who shop at Walmart: 136 million

Number of trees needed to offset annual CO2 emissions from a high-energy-using American: 150

Number of trees Ikea plants each year to offset CO2 from customers/employees traveing to and from one store: 33,100 (Ikea rocks! Love it!)

Number of colleges and universities in the U.S.: 4,140
Number of Wal-Mart owned stores: 4,191

Percentage of eligible Americans who voted in the last presidential election: 60%
Percent of American who will shop at Wal-Mart this year: 90%

2007 revenues for Wal-Mart: $379 billion
2007 GDP for Sweden: $384.1 billion

What does all this mean -- for one, VOTE! The election is coming up in November. It is important for every American to get out on election day and cast their vote. If you don't like the "crowds" at your polling place, send for an absentee ballat or do early voting. There is no reason why you are not taking the time out of your "busy" schedule.

The other point I'd like to make . . .well, it's really just to get you thinking. Think about where you shop. Think about your impact. Do you bring your eco-friendly bags into the store vs. using plastic? The bags aren't just for grocery shopping, you can use them anywhere! The hardware store, the home repair store, the bike shop, the craft store, the clothing store. Everywhere!!! Review you errand route, do you really need to be driving all over town? Have you thought about recyling at home? Plastic, aluminum, paper. Think how dramatically you can impact the amount of "stuff" going into a landfill by setting up a simple recyling system at home.

Ok, so those are my random ramblings to today about Mother Earth.
I always knew I was a closet tree hugger, I can proudly say that I am taking action. I am making better decisions. I am recyling. I am being a better steward. . . . you should too.

K

Busy Weekend

Saturday we slept in and then got busy around the house. I used our new vacuum and tested it out. It designed specifically for pet hair. I have to say it works really well. We went to Lake Manawa Sailing Club for our friend Pat's 40th birthday party. We got there a little after noon and hung out there until about 4. Kelli got to go sailing on Pat's sail boat with Amy and Stacey. Us boys stayed back and drank beer and ate lunch. I went over to Tom's parents house for the Nebraska game at 6.
Sunday we slept in again. We were supposed to do a bike ride (bicycle) but decided not to because of the 30mph wind gusts. I went down to the garage to put the gas tank back on my Jeep. I had pulled it to put in a new fuel sending unit, but the part I ordered did not fit my tank so I decided to just deal with the gas gauge not working. I needed to get it running and get it out of the garage. Once it was out I had some cleaning to do so I swept up all the cob webs, dirt and crap that had accumulated over the last year. I got my shop smith out and started on my next project. I'm making a washer game. I had to made two octagon shaped boxes out of 2x4s. I could have cut corners and made it on the cheap, but I wanted to make it look nice and professional. So I'm sanding it, painting it, putting carpet in the bottom of it, and making it so the boxes will clip together to be able to carry. I'm going to take them down with us in a couple weeks when we go to Kansas City for the NASCAR race.

What's been going on?

We've had a busy last couple weeks. I have been really busy at work. My counterpart has been on vacation so I'm covering his stuff. It's made for a stressful couple weeks.
We had Grandma Amy, my parents, and all of our friends over for dinner last Tuesday. It was a great time. I had a ton of compliments on the food. Thank you all.
Last weekend we experienced our first "Pucker" ride. Our friends Chris and Karol are on a RAGBRAI team called Team Pucker. It is named after the Pucker brand of schnapps. They are a drinking group of riders and Saturday was not different. We rode from Brainard to Valparaiso on the Oak Creek Trail. It's a rail trail (former railroad track turned into a crushed limestone rec trail) that runs 14 miles. So we had a 28 mile round trip ride that took 9 hours. Yes 9 hours. We left Brainard at 11 and got back there at 8 just before dark. We drank the whole way down and back. It was a lot of fun except for the extreme exhaustion we had to deal with on the way home, and the chiggers I got from somewhere.
Kelli had been out of town the last three days on business. She went to KC on Tuesday for the day and then left the next day to fly to Detroit. She'll be back tonight.
I've been continuing to ride my motorcycle and am getting used to riding in traffic. I think I'm going to start riding it to work next week.
Speaking of next week, it will be a short week. We have Monday off for Labor Day and then We took a day of vacation on Friday to go to Minneapolis to see Kelli's Uncle Tim and Aunt Terri. We are going to have Chris and Karol joining us this time so it should make for a fun trip. Chris has family up there so we are car pooling.

Done Deal

Tuesday I bought a motorcycle. It's a Suzuki Boulevard M50. I got a great deal on it and got some accessories at dealer cost. It is being delivered tonight, since I didn't feel comfortable driving it on the interestate yet. The plan is to take it to a parking lot and drive it around and get used to it. Then I'll graduate to the residential streets, and then on to the main streets and highways. I'm hoping Saturday I can get it out for a ride south of town. I chose this bike over the Honda because it has fuel injection. Plus I liked the all black look of this bike.

It's Almost Time to Ride!

I've been taking a motorcycle safety course this week. I signed up back in May and this was the first class they had available. I'll be done on Sunday and will be able to get my motorcycle license after that. So far so good with the course. We don't actually ride bikes until Saturday and Sunday. I'll be done on Sunday and will be able to get my motorcycle license after that.

So why a motorcycle you ask? Well my truck gets 13mpg in the city. With gas nearing $4 a gallon I pay close to $80 to fill up my tank. So as part of our new green lifestyle I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint. A motorcycle will get me 40-60mpg. So to commute to work it will be ideal. I'd eventually like to take it on a few long weekend trips with Kelli.


As of now the bike I'm looking at is a Honda Shadow Spirit 750 C2. It's a good bike for a first time rider like myself.

Simply Simple

Enviro-friendly, green and Mary Janes? Could it be true? Say it ain't so . . .

Check out these fabulous shoes by Simple.

The one review on REI isn't so fabulous, but I don't think that will stop me. Here is the description.

Suede leather Mary Jane uppers are supple and feature two straps with snaps

Vulcanized rubber sidewalls, toe caps and heel wraps enhance durability and protect uppers

Printed organic cotton canvas linings are soft and breathe well to keep your feet comfortable

Ortholite® antimicrobial EVA and recycled rubber pedbed™ insoles/midsoles provide cushioning underfoot

Durable rubber outsoles are made from recycled car tires and thus grip the road as they should!

Made with water-based cements to avoid releasing harmful glue toxins into the air

Simple uses 100% post-consumer paper pulp foot forms and has also reduced the stuffing used in packaging for less waste

Maybe the birthday fairy will leave them on my doorstep?

From the Garden . . .

It's harvest time! This year we put in a new garden area in our yard. We have 3 raised beds on the south side of our house. Drew built these great cedar boxes (we'll have to get a picture posted) and we filled them with organic soil & compost.

We've planted peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, basil, sweet corn, popcorn, zucchini, cucumbers and watermelon. I also had cauliflower, red cabbage and broccoli, but they were destroyed by the cabbage worms. So sad.

More saddness, I decided to trim back the watermelon plant. It was growing and growing and growing. It was about ready to grow into the neighbors yard which is across the entire garden area. I hated to cut it back, but needed to make the executive decisions to trim it back. Several vines are now in our compost bin.

Our harvest to date is peas, beans, cucumbers, zucchini and a few cherry tomatoes. We've had so much rain this year we haven't had to water. Though Drew installed a rain barrel just off the corner of the house, so we'll have this as a potential water source.

Happy Gardening!
K

Feeling Better

Kelli's health updates:

I'm feeling better -- though spending the last three + days sick has not been my idea of fun!
Tomorrow I'll go back to work. I tried to go this morning, but just didn't have the energy. I'm looking forward to not being sick, not coughing and sneezing and aching and being stuffy. I feel like I've been run over by a truck!

Oh - and my knee - almost healed! Just in time for our next cyling adventure. For those that haven't heard, we've signed on to ride 3 days of RAGBRAI. We'll be riding with Team Pucker. It promises to be an eventful few days.

K

Weekend Update

This weekend I met Bill in Chicago for the NASCAR race. We had a great time and may decide to make it an annual event. It is almost exactly half way for each of us.

Kelli stayed home to work on some of here arts adn crafts hobbies. She unfortunately got sick and was miserable yesterday whenI got home. She is feeling (and sounding) much better today. She stayed home from work to get more rest.

Our New Rain Barrel

Rain barrels are used to collect water that would normally come out your downspout and go into an already taxed sewer system. The water can be reused to water your lawn, flowers, and garden. This is a part of our new green lifestyle that we have adopted. I am making a few modifications to this barrel before we put it to use. More to come on that.

4th Weekend

We had a great weekend. Friday we went for a 20 mile bike ride. I got a flat tire at mile 3 and Kelli crashed at mile 9. She was OK, I was more concerned about it than she was.

We were running short on time due to my flat so we turned around at mile 10 and headed home. We got cleaned up and headed to my moms for lunch. We got to see most of Jackie's whole family. It was about 15 degrees cooler than last year. So we could actually sit outside comfortably.

Saturday we got up early and did a ride on the Wabash. We met Tom, Amy, Chris, & Karol at the trailhead and rode to Malvern 23 miles south. We had breakfast in Malvern and stopped for a beer at the Mineola steakhouse on the way back. It was a great ride and got to catch up with everyone along the way.

Saturday night we met up with everyone again at the Hot Shops for the Liquid Arts Festival. It was a great event, one we'll make sure to do again and again. Free homemade beer and wine! You cant beat that.

Sunday was our day of rest. We were lazy all day long and never changed out of our PJs.