First storm of the season

We had the first blizzard of the winter season yesterday. A few weeks ago we purchased a snow-blower, so Brian tried it out on the driveway this morning.
I think we'll keep it. No doubt we'll get plenty of use out of it in the coming months.

Thanksgiving 2010

With Christmas right around the corner, we decided it was probably time to update our blog with our Thanksgiving outing. Brian and I have both been working a lot, so Brian suggested we go out for Thanksgiving rather than making a big meal at home (which would require washing a lot of dishes). I thought this was an excellent idea, so I found an advertisement in the local newspaper for a B&B that serves Thanksgiving dinner.

Halderwood Farms, outside of Pocahontas, IA.
This B&B has taken a centennial barn and turned it into a banquet hall- that's where dinner was served.

The inside was really nice and the buffet was tasty. Brian ate lots of stuffing- I concentrated on the mac and cheese. We had reserved seating- just like in a fancy restaurant. A nice lady that we sat with took this slightly fuzzy photo of us. Sometimes a point and shoot camera would come in handy...Fun times in central Iowa! We missed being with family, but were happy to be together, enjoying a new experience.

Not much to report...

There isn't much happening here to report. The weather has been cool- not much about 30 in the mornings, but we haven't seen snow yet. I'm starting to feel better (I'll be at 15 weeks in a few days) and have some energy back, which is great because I've also started teaching an evening college class- Organizational Communication Theory & Practice. Guess that Master's degree came in handy after all. The class meets two nights a week from 8:10-10:45 pm, so I'm pretty tired after all the prep work, working all day, and then instructing. My free time has been limited to say the least (hence the lack of blogging). The extra funds will come in handy to buy baby furniture after the first of the year, I think. I've heard something or other about kids being more expensive then dogs...

Homework distraction

Today is the final week of class (until the start of the new term next week), so in an attempt to put off working on my final, I will post some jeep progress pics!

Here is the jeep with the new tires I bought for it before they were mounted.

And here it is after.

Almost done with the streering, starting to get cold in the garage so I might need to pull out the heater if I want to continue to do work. Next is to run the brake lines and get that all hooked up!

We're expecting!

The exciting news of the week is that we're expecting April 27th! First ultrasound was done last week and everything looks good. I'm heading into the second trimester, hoping that my queasiness will subside. And get this- it looks like there's only one. Go figure.

Congratulations Jeff & Laura! Welcome Baby Karl!

We have a new nephew- Karl Bickmeier. Born to Brian's bother Jeff and his wife Laura. Karl was born on October 1, 2010 @ 9:40pm. He weighed in at an impressive 8lbs 4oz. Congratulations Jeff and Laura!

The Dayton Rodeo

Over Labor Day weekend Brian and I attended the Dayton Rodeo in Dayton, IA. Although there usually isn't much going on here in rural Iowa, this is actually a great event complete with bareback and bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing, and entertainment. It was a nice day to be outside, spending time with a local crowd.

Part of the entertainment was a one-armed guy with a whip, riding a mule, getting buffalo to do what he wanted them to do. It must have been mule with more horse personality than donkey.

The bareback riding looked painful.But the BEST event was a wild horse competition. Teams of 3 are given unbroken horses that they need to saddle, mount, and ride across a finish line. Only a few teams completed the task, but it was awesome to watch- and not for the faint of heart to participate! I believe this was the winning team, but it was chaotic with 15 or so teams competing at the same time.

Fun things out here in the country! Brian's talking about trying next year, but his severe allergy to horses will probably prevent that...