Why doesn't it work?

So I'm trying to add a new photo to my profile and it doesn't look right - you can't really see who or what it is:




I was trying to get something that had Lady, Topos, and Sedona in it...Mmm....going to have to rethink this one...

Off to bed with me.

C'ya!

Y'all Need to Try this Just Once!

So the last time I was in Phoenix, I went horseback riding with some friends at South Mountain. We got out there at about 6:00 and the temperature was about 110 degrees. Yes...it was hot! We had signed up for a dinner ride. We would ride for about an hour up over the mountain to a small restaurant called The T-Bone Steakhouse. Then, after dinner (and after dark) we would ride back. It was certainly a much different experience. I'm so use to riding on flat terrain and this was a mountain ride. I learned a lot about riding - that's for sure! I have a few photos to share - with a few more on the way from another rider (my camera died after the first half of the ride so I had someone else take a picture of me on my horse)

Lining up to get everyone saddled. This was an interesting endeavor - 11 riders, quite a few who had never ridden before. I'm not sure how we did it!


Riding up over the crest of the mountain at sunset; it can't be topped!


My horse Beavis. When we got out from the restaurant, he was sort of standing all alone. Turns out, I had the trouble-maker of the group. His name fits him well!


I'll share more photos and videos when I get them. For now, I need to get to bed.

C'ya!

Techcon 2007 Wednesday Photos

Up and at em bright and early on a Sunday morning...okay...not really. I've just been going through some of the photos from last week and organizing and naming and trying to remember what they all are...

Darnell - his shirt says it all!


There was a fire in downtown Scottsdale and the fire department had to cut the water to other parts of the city; including the resort where we were staying. The cooling system at the resort uses water so without it, the room we were in became a sauna. Aundrea was dieing:


I went out to dinner with the Midwest Region at the Tortilla Factory. Very tasty! Patrick and Sean being boys:


A picture at dinner of me and Steve (Trudge). I want everyone to know that Trudge is about 5 inches shorter than I am so you know he is standing on something in this photo:

A group of us went to Dustin's room after dinner. The FireSky puts gold fish in the room so you have a companion during your stay. Here is Dustin taking a drink from the bowl:

Justin was telling the story about the falling chair (you will have to ask him to tell it as I was not present).

From the Presidential Suite - some serious partiers!


That's some of the fun from the first night. More to follow as I go through the some 600 photos I took!

C'ya!

But It's a Dry Heat...

WHATEVER! 110 degrees is still hot; dry or wet!

Yup, you guessed it - I spent last week in Phoenix. I was so busy that I didn't have any time to post anything. I got home about 4:30 this afternoon and have been busy with school work and unpacking and such so I am just now getting online to post a little blog about the prior week. I must admit, I'm a little sleepy but not 'fall over dead' tired. It is only 10:00 in Arizona after all...

So I was in Phoenix last week for a technology conference. We used to have these conferences every year for the campus technologists to have the opportunity to meet people at corporate as well as hear the latest and greatest going on in IT. This is the first one that I have been involved in the planning phases and I must admit it has been quite the learning process. It was a great time but I think I managed to fit in about 8 hours of sleep for the entire week! I have a ton of photos so I will have to share a few over the next few days...

This is Scott from St. Louis. Every technology conference I have attended, I have a picture of Scott in his swim trunks...

One of the vendors at the conference was giving out hats to everyone. Here is a photo of myself and Brent being silly with our finger six-shooters:

I watch the Fox news station in Kansas City every single morning as I am getting ready for work. They have the philosophy of having a great time while reporting the news/weather. Whenever I travel, I check out the local Fox stations to see if they can compare to the Kansas City crew. So far, the only other crew I have found even close is the one in Phoenix. So, when I am there, I watch them just as I do when I am at home. Cory McCloskey (the weather man) happened to be at the FireSky resort the final morning of the conference. I went out and asked if it would be okay if I took a photo of him and he offered to take one with me:

We chatted a little after and I made mention of the Fox station in Kansas City and the fact he reminds me of the weather guy on Fox 4. He said that the weather men in the Midwest have a much more difficult job than he does; reporting the weather in Phoenix is pretty easy - sunny and warm or sunny and hot. It was funny!

Alright, you will have to wait until tomorrow to see any more cause right now, I need to head to bed and try to re-adjust to the time zone. Hopefully I will also readjust to the cold temperature cause I don't know that I really want to continue to wear my sweats all summer!

C'ya!

Boy Are My Arms Tired!

I got my butt out of bed at 4:00 AM so I could catch a 7:15 AM flight to Phoenix, Arizona for a week of work. I left the house at 5:30 thinking I would have plenty of time to get to the airport, check in, and get through security (Kansas City airport is NEVER busy on a Monday morning). I always park in the parking garage, check my luggage, and then go out to the satellite parking lot to park; catching the shuttle back to the airport. I got inside and discovered that I didn't have enough time to do my normal routine. The lines were outrageous. The conveyor belt for the luggage was not working which made matters even worse. Needless to say, I am now parked in the garage parking lot at $18 a day...almost $100 for this trip. YIKES! I guess I needed to get up a little earlier :0)

So I get to Phoenix and ended up spending most of the rest of the day in meetings. I'm staying in Scottsdale at a quaint little resort. It isn't bad - I'm not sure how much time I will get to hang out in my room - depends on how much work I have to do!

Anyway, I need to quit blogging so I can focus on my husband and his school work. That, and I need to get some sleep!

C'ya!

Nothing Today But a New Do

I know...I don't lead an exciting life...but hey - it is mine :o)

Just got back from Stephanie's getting my hair done. Didn't do much to make it any shorter (just a trim) but did add some bangs. I forgot what those were like I haven't had them for so long so we will see if I can still do them! Color this time is a little more 'gold' then blonde. I know it will lighten up but I have to remember next time to just go with the blonde - it's a ton more fun!

Well, I told you it isn't much for an exciting day. I just got back from the tanning salon and I think I'm just going to call it a night.

C'ya!

The Love of Friends

I know I should be doing homework but I just had a couple of busy days at work so I am going to take a short break and blog!

On Monday night, the Lake's came to town (Jeannine is here for work; Dan for pleasure) and a group of us decided we would go out to dinner. Being the organizer that I am, I formulated a plan for everyone (Janice, Holly, Amber, Jeannine, Mike, and I) to meet at the Margarita's on Southwest Traffic Way because it is centrally located for us all. Holly backed out in the middle of the afternoon (something about a dinner with her husband or something...). Amber was on her way down with her little one but had to turn around (terrible two's...that's all I'm going to say). So it was down to Janice, Mike, and I meeting Jeannine at the restaurant. We arrived and I sent a text to Jeannine, who replied that she was already on her second Margarita. Funny thing was, she wasn't at the bar as she said she was. Let me tell you something people, there are four Margarita locations in this city. She WASN'T at the one we were at. The organizer forgot to mention to the visiting family where we were planning on going so she went to the location she normally goes to. OOPS! Oh well, Janice and I (and Mike after I called him and told him to turn around) headed on up to the correct location. We sat down, had some food and some great conversation. Janice and I have decided that we really miss Jeannine and she either needs to move back here or we all need to go to Colorado...I prefer the latter!

Dan showed up with the boys about an hour later. My husband (Mr. Wonderful of course!) brought the camera and shot some photos for us. Here are some of the results:




Liam being shy...


Aidan, his normal self!


"So Big"


This photo requires no discription...


Jeannine, Janice, and Jennifer - The J Crew!



The crew!

...and finally, a video of Liam saying a few words for us. You can hear Jeannine in the back with a combination New York and Nebraska accent...



We had a great time and we wish everyone could have been there! Maybe we can all get together and road trip out to see The Lake family this fall...

Alright...I'm done playing. I best get some homework done...

C'Ya!

My paper is done!

I didn't finish my paper last night due to technical difficulties...I mean lack of motivation...so I got it done tonight about 5 minutes ago. I never thought I would be writing a feasibility study...but I did and there you have it. I'll see if I can develop this project I have created in my head over the next 4 weeks...

So I have the videos from horseback riding downloaded and ready to share. This first one will crack you up. I am learning to 'jog' on Lady. A jog is faster than a walk but not as quick as a trot...it is also less jarring to the body. In order to jog, you put your foot on the gas (push your feet into the horse's side to make them run) and then apply the brakes (pull gently back on the reigns like you are going to stop). The result is a nice smooth ride. I am still learning how to do it but you can see Lady understand what I want and do it in the video. I was so excited. The only thing I must warn you about is that I have a bit of a 'strap' issue. I correct it at the end of the video (hehehe):



This next video is simply walking. My reigns weren't working quite the way I wanted them to so I would go to one of the pasture, stop, then adjust and then turn around and do it all over again. This video is where Mike caught me stopping her and then giving her praise as I adjusted those silly reigns one more time...



Finally, I guess Mike wanted to show Lady walking from behind so you get to see our butts as we head the other direction:



I hope you enjoy my videos and pictures. I love to be able to share them with people because I never get to do that now that I don't have time to do any scrapbooking. I also don't print photos out any more - they are all stored on my computer so unless I'm sitting there with my computer in front of me and happen to think of it, I don't usually share them.

I am ready for bed now. I have so many more stories to tell you and photos to share (especially about Neen and Dan being in town today) but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

C'ya!

The Mewes Family

It's Sunday and I have had a full day of cleaning, mowing, and hanging out (very little of the hanging out - although we did watch an Indy-car race). The house once again looks like somewhere you would want to live!

As promised, I do have some photos from horseback riding yesterday. I also have videos but I am still working on getting those loaded on so I will have to share those a little later on in the week. For now, you will have to settle for the Mewes Family Photos. I'm on Lady and Mike is sitting on Jet. He rode for a while but his back and feet don't let him stay up for long. He has to fight the urge to run the horse because it would do too much damage. Some day, we will find him a horse he can ride and not have to worry about the pain he will feel afterward.



Maybe I will just have to use one of these on my our next Christmas card!

Well, I have to write a paper for class. I need to get on it.

C'ya!

My Heart Aches...

Today was not the best day ever...last night I told you we were headed up to Kent and Kim's and were going to go horseback riding this morning. When we got up there, Kim let me know that a lady she met at a horse show was going to be coming over as well to ride. Cool for me...She and her 3-year-old son showed up around 10:30, we harnessed the horses and came out of the pasture to saddle them. When she had first showed up, Kim was introducing them to all of the dogs (including mine). Mike went over to the little boy and pointed out that Topos is not much of a 'little kid' dog and that he would probably be served best by not playing with him. The boy acknowledged and we moved on. While we were saddling the horses, the little boy was running around playing with all of the dogs and the cats. We weren't really paying that much attention to him but I did notice that he kept chasing Topos and Sedona around so I gave him a gentle reminder that he needed to leave them alone becuase they are not used to little kids and that sometimes Topos likes to snip at little kids. Again he acknowledged what I said. A few minutes passed (we had the horses saddled and were working on the bridles) when all of a sudden I heard Topos growl and the little boy bend down with his hand over his face. You guessed it, Topos got just a little mad and got the little boy on the lip. He bled and ended up with a fat lip. I feel just terrible! He has snipped at people before but he has never broken the skin like he did today. Of course, I took the dogs in the house and Mike doctored the little boy. We finished saddling the horses and rode (I have pictues but they will have to wait until tomorrow)...but the entire time all I could think about was the fact that MY dog just bit someone. The lady said she was okay and that he had been told so he should have known better - but that doesn't erase the fact that he did it. I'm heart broken. I am not quite sure what to do about this. Part of me says that we can't have a dog that is like that around little kids and he needs to find a new home because we know too many people with little kids. Mike recommended he go live at the farm with my parents...which doesn't work well when my brother and Ella are there...The other part of me says that he is my dog and I can't get rid of him - his sister would be heart-broken as well. I'm just torn. Right now, Mike and I have come to the resolution that we will look at muzzles for him and any time we are going any where with little ones, we will have to put it on him. That, or chain him up/lock him up. I hate to have to do that all the time but what else can be done? He isn't like that at home. And later in the day, the little boy came over and was petting Topos and pulling on his tail, and Topos just sat there and let him do it. Dogs don't attack unless provoked and I am sure the boy just scared him (which provoked him). I'm going to have to give this one to God and let it be. I did want to write it all out though because I have been pretty upset about it all day...

I'm really tired now as we left Kent and Kim's right after lunch and cleaned up the rest of the yard...with horseback riding and all the drama...add the yard work...I'm beat. I think I am going to sign off and head to bed.

C'ya!

I'm home

Last night at about 4:00 in the morning, the storms finally made it into Springfield. It sounded to me like someone was RIPPING the roof off of the place. I got up out of bed and looked out the window - nothing but lightning and noise. I went back to bed and that was the end of it - well, not the end...it kept going, but I was sound asleep! I rolled out of bed at about 7:00 and started the day.

The rest of the day was very uneventful. The drive back was boring as usual.

When I got home, Mike had spent the day cleaning the house (thank you honey!) and trimming all the bushes in the yard. There were piles of sticks and trees in the yard! I put on my gloves and started loading them all into the bed of the truck. We didn't get them all in there! We still have piles of sticks in the middle of the yard but it looks so much better. I can already visualize the rock garden and bird feeding area...some day when I have all sorts of money...

We are now at Kent and Kim's. We need to unload the bed of the truck but it's too dark out there now. Tomorrow morning, we are suppose to be horseback riding...I'm pretty excited. Mike brought the camera so I will try and post some photos!

Well, going to go socialize now.

C'ya!

Down South

Tonight I am in Springfield, Missouri - and I'm blogging - so you know that there must be absolutely NOTHING exciting to do in this town. That's okay. I've been up since 5:00; which is just a little early for me. I'm fairly certain that I am going to be doing just a little bit of homework and calling it a night. I don't mind. I busted my buns today so I'm pretty beat. It is funny...I'm staying at the Hampton Inn on Glenstone Ave (not that you probably know where that is...). It's a Hilton so I like to stay here because I get the points. I've stayed at this one before - only last time it was under rennovation. The changes are done and it looks pretty good. I didn't get lucky enough to get a King size bed as I usually do. Instead I got two doubles...but these beds look more like two twins. I swear they were much bigger when I was a kid! I am just a little disappointed in the customer service when I walked in though. The girl at the front desk greeted me by say "Yes?" and not in a friendly, 'Can I Help You' tone. More of a "I'm really busy and I could care less if you or I are here" type voice. I would feel much better about my stay if they greeted me with a smile and a "Can I help you?". But I guess, I don't work in the hotel business so how would I know?

The good news is that I sold a couple of bracelets today and I need to make a watch to match on of the bracelets. I'm so excited - maybe I can do something more with them...

I suppose, not much of an exciting day. I'm going to finish eating my Fazoli's (which is one of my favorite places to eat but we don't have one very close to the house so I don't get it very often) and watch a little of the tube...

C'ya!

Babies in the yard

Again...just got off of work (8:00 PM). I think I need a vacation...

Anyway. My husband and I have the cutest little baby squirrel in our yard. I occassionally work from home and the darn thing is housed in the tree right outside my office window. He is so cute and somewhat distracting. Today I was sitting here and he was on the ground right outside my window rolling over and over and over. I think he must have had an itch! Mike went out and snapped a few shots of the critter - one I think worthy of posting on the blog:



My husband is quite the photographer. He has a great eye and can snap some really good ones. I think he should enter this one in a contest...I'm not biased or anything but I think he would have a good shot of winning.

Off to class...

C'ya!

My Dad - The Bowhunter

Long day at work but I finally made it home so I thought I would pop on here before going to class.

This past Sunday, my dad shot in an archery tournement in Grand Island, NE while we were there visiting for my sister-in-law's birthday party. We decided we would tag along for a while and cheer him on. My dad has been shooting a bow in leagues and tournements as long as I can remember. Every fall you can find him in a tree stand hunting deer. In the winter and summer he is shooting in leagues and occassionally tournements. I remember having shelves of trophies in the living room (that sucked dusting) that he had won through the years. He's a little older now but he still enjoys it and wins quite often in his division (something about senior free style something or other). This particular Sunday was an outdoor tournement with three rounds; we were around for the field and hunter rounds. He shot with Jim Jepson (a competitor for many years) and Ericka Anschutz (who is a professional archer who has a goal of trying out for the 2010 Olympics http://www.alpenoutdoor.com/upload_2.shtml). It was so much fun watching the three of them and I know they were enjoying themselves which is the most important part! Ericka had no problem cleaning house in her division (she shot a 279 out of 280). Neither one of the guys even attempted to compete with her. Between the two of them, however, there was a friendly little competition going...

Here are some photos from the day:


Dad pulling back to shoot.


The target looks so far away...


Just like he is hunting without all the snow...

Of course you know I had to shoot some video to document the actual process.

In this video, you will watch Dad shoot a couple of shots:



In this video, you can see the three archers shoot at an animal target. They were allowed to shoot one shot - it's either hit the animal or not. Most every target, they hit the animal:



We didn't stick around for the final round so I really can't tell you at this point how Dad did. Not that it matters, he enjoyed himself and we got to spend time with him while he did it!

I love you Dad!

Okay, I have to get to my homework now...

C'ya!

Bubbles!

Sitting out on the deck at my brother's house on this past Saturday, my niece, Ella, tried her hand at blowing bubbles! She had a GIANT bottle of bubbles (which may have been part of the trouble) but she certainly was giving it the ol' college try. Listen carefully in the end, she tells you how to do it:


I also caught her on video making a little mess out of things. In the end, the bubbles were all over the deck and her.







Such a little doll she is!!

Alright, I'm working on loading Windows XP on a new machine so I better get back at it.

C'ya!

Surprise!

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days - we were at my brother Eric's house in Grand Island this past weekend and I didn't have much time to do any postings.

This year my sister-in-law Jeri's celebrated her 30th birthday. Eric decided about a month ago that he wanted to surprise her and throw a big party. The event was planned to be held at their house in Grand Island on Friday evening. Now, how exactly to you plan a party for someone at thier own house? He and one of his friends had set up a movie night where a few (4 or 5) of their friends would come over to the house, they would have a big cookout, and then they would watch a couple of movies. Eric and Jeri spent the few days leading up to the party cleaning up the house and preparing salads for the meal. (Nothing like preparing for your own surprise party that you have no idea about). Their friends were all scheduled to show up at 6:00 while everyone else was to begin showing up around 7:00. Eric's original plan was to just have everyone come into the house and she would eventually figure out that something was going on. However, people started showing up just before 7 and hanging out in the garage. So the goal was to try and keep it a complete surprise as everyone waited for the big moment when she would come out. The cake (which was scheduled to show up at 7:00) finally made it at about 7:15 (the guy making it forgot about the party - luckily it was already made and he lives very close!). By this time, there are 30 people standing in their garage waiting for them to bring out the birthday girl. I have no idea how he pulled it off, but she had no clue there was anyone (other than Eric and his friend) out in the garage. Needless to say, when she walked out, she was surprised! It was fun to see the look on her face - especially since she didn't know. We hung out for the rest of the evening eating, playing games, and sitting by the fire. A good time was had by all.

I have some photos from the weekend (surprisingly enough, none from the party itself):

Daddy and Ella outside just before naptime on Saturday.

Mommy and Ella eating dinner Saturday evening; leftovers from the party.

Grandma and Ella looking out the glass doors. She wanted to come outside but it was getting a little to cold.

Dad and I being silly!

Aunt Jen and Ella looking out at Uncle Mike.

We just got home a while ago and I still want to get some photos uploaded so I will continue this story tomorrow night and have some videos to share!

C'ya!