Our DINK Life

Meet Ruby!

2011-05-05T14:24:00.003-05:00

As I said in our last post, we got the "bug" to get a scooter while in Italy. We followed through on that desire and bought a new scooter last weekend. It is a Honda SH150i, in metalic red. Kelli likes to name her vehicles and bicycles, so we came up with the name Ruby for our new scooter. We plan to use it as italians do, getting groceries, getting to and from work, and running errands around town. It goes almost 60mph and gets around 90mpg. It is a much more ecomonical way to get around with gas prices nearing $4/gallon.

Omaha has a scooter club! We plan to become members and further ourselves in the scooter culture.

Italy!

2011-05-05T13:08:00.002-05:00

In April Kelli and I traveled to Italy for 2 weeks. It was a great trip. Italy is definitely a place we will return to at some point in our life. It is real easy to get around and there is not much of a language barrier. We learned that most schools teach English from grade 1 through 12.
We started our trip by flying through Atlanta, then to Paris, and finally to Naples. It noon in Naples when we landed so we hit the ground running adjusting to the time change as we went.

Naples was a dirty city and hard to navigate. We got lost numerous times but did find our way to the National Archaeological Museum. We also found a good pizzeria along the way. By the time we were done at the museum we were tired and ready to get out of the city. We boarded a train to Sorrento called the Circumvesuviana. This was a round trip train that runs back and forth between Naples and Sorrento. It is sort of a commuter train, even though tourists make up a large part of it's passengers.

Sorrento was a welcome sight. It was clean and picturesque. We walked to the hotel checked in showered and went back out for dinner. We called it a night around 10 or 11. The next day we walked all over town visiting the marinas and little shops and markets. We had fun finding new places to eat and new beers to try. The next day we took a bus to Positano another little town nestled in the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. The town was very neat and catered to tourists. We walked on the beach and we looked for sea glass for Kelli to make jewelry out of. After we returned to Sorrento we walked around some more had dinner and went back to the hotel. The next morning we got packed up and headed back to the train station to head for Rome. We were going to stop in Naples one more time to visit a fish market and famous pizzeria. Naples must have heard us complain about the trash problem in their town. It was amazingly cleaner and since it was a weekday it was less busy and crowded. We found the fish market and pizzeria, had a great time. It rained on us the heaviest rain we had the whole trip. We ducked into the pizzeria before they opened to take shelter. The pizza was the best we had in all of Italy. There were some contenders but it won the best pizza award. We headed to Rome from there.

Rome was busy, but Naples gave us a preview of what to expect so it wasn't so bad. Rome is a beautiful city with such rich history. I'm not much of a history buff, but could appreciate all it had to offer. We checked into our hotel and headed for the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. The Trevi Fountain was cool but seriously crowded. We returned to it several times in the 3 days we were there and it was always packed with tourists. There were amazingly a lot of groups of kids in Rome. We had later put two and two together that since it was culture week in Italy, all the museums were not charging admission. So what better time to take 30 screaming youths to a museum. We dealt with the crowds, but it took away from the experience at times. We spent 3 nights in Rome but I believe you can see all the sights in a day and a half. It was nice to have the extra time to wonder around and get to see some of the less traveled areas. We saw all the major sights right off the bat and spent our last day checking out the Campo di Fiori market, Trastevere, and the Basilica of San Clemente. San Clemente was probably my favorite place we saw. Not only was it off the beaten path with few tourists, but it gave the best look at how Rome was built on itself. Beneath the church they had excavated to reveal 3 layers of old structures it was built upon. We were able to walk through there and get a feel for how ancient Romans lived.

Florence was the next place we visited. Our hotel was in an ideal location to walk everywhere. There was real neat indoor market nearby with vendors lining the streets leading to it. We saw the Duomo, Uffizi Gallery (from the outside), and the Ponte Veccio Bridge. Our last full day in Florence we spent taking a Vespa Tour through the Tuscany countryside. This was one of the highlights of out trip. We got to ride scooters around beautiful Tuscany, what more could you ask for. We toured a winery, had lunch there, and had gellato at the end of our trip. It was great. Kelli and I got the "bug" to get a scooter when we returned home.

We headed towards Bologna the next morning. Our trusty guide Rick Steves, did not have any info on Bologna. We were flying blind for the most part not really knowing what to expect. Bologna was different, it was not a touristy town, and really faced our first real language barrier. It was something we had taken for granted. We were quickly brought back to reality that we were in a foreign country. Ordering off an Italian menu was hard, up to this point the menus had been in both Italian and English. Our highlight in Bologna was the cooking class we took. La Veccia Cooking School is run by the Paula Dean of Italy. I guess she was kind of a big deal. We learned to make pasta dough from scratch, torilini, tortiloni, and few other basic noodles. It was a great experience, one we hope to recreate in our home. Making pasta is a very labor intensive process, but well worth it.

Last stop, Venice. Wow, the best way I can describe Venice is it's like the Las Vegas of Italy. It's full of tourists and there's so much to look at it's over stimulating. We started out taking a water taxi to the island of Murano. We hadn't really researched it so didn't know where to go. We had also gotten out there later in the day and places were starting to close. In Venice, I had the best time wondering around getting half lost. Wondering around took up most of our two days there. I took a ton of pictures and finally stopped myself because everywhere I looked I wanted to take a picture. It is such an amazingly beautiful place. On our last night we took a gondola ride on the Grand Canal. It is a typical touristy thing to do, but an experience that you have to do. It was fun and our (boat rower) was fun and informative.

The next morning we got up way to early and caught a 04:40 am bus to the airport. We flew through Paris again and then onto Chicago, Minneapolis, and finally Omaha. After 22 hours of flying and layovers we couldn't wait to sleep in our own beds.

We are waiting for one more thing to finish off our trip. In Venice we splurged and bought a glass bowl. It was made in Murano by a master glass blower. It was too awesome to pass up. We had it shipped to us, so hopefully we'll see it soon.

See pictures from our trip by clicking HERE.

Thanks for reading
Drew & Kelli

2011-02-25T18:00:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Kelli and I traveled, with a group of friends, to Myrtle Beach, SC for the Myrtle Beach Marathon/Half Marathon. 9 of us stayed in a condo in North Myrtle Beach. 4 ran the full marathon, and 2 ran the the half. The 3 of us that didn't run, rented bikes and rode around the course supporting our runners. It was a great weekend of running, hot tubbing, shopping, touring, drinking and eating.

Packs Purchased, Pondering Pizza

2010-12-10T13:02:00.006-06:00

Kelli and I decided on backpacks for our trip to Italy this spring. Our requirements were very simple. It must fit in an overhead bin so we don't have to check it, and it had to be big enough to hold two weeks worth of clothes + gear. Now you might be thinking how are we going to get two weeks worth of clothes in those packs? The key is in the packing. We've learned that you don't need 14 of everything. Things can and have to be worn more than once. Lighter weight quick drying clothing is key so you can wash them in you hotel room and hang them to dry. Some people might bring 3 pair of pants and wear them for two weeks without washing them. It all depends on how comfortable you are in your own filth. The only people who know you are wearing the same clothes from yesterday are you and the people you are traveling with. By the way, they will be wearing clothes from yesterday also. The goal is to have roughly 3 pair of pants, 5 shirts, 5 pair of socks, 5 underwear, belt, light jacket/rain jacket, toiletries, wallet, hat sunglasses, and passport. Some people bring clothes along that are on their last leg and throw them away as they go. It's a good way to leave more room in your bag for souvenirs to take home. The other thing to remember is just because you are in a foreign country doesn't mean they don't sell clothes. Clothes can be a souvenir too.

Travel Plans For 2011

2010-11-11T20:04:00.004-06:00

We have two upcoming trips we are looking forward to. First up is our annual trip to PA over the holidays. We're spending four quick days in Shippenville visiting Bill and Jenn and the kids. We just bought our tickets today and reserved a car.

After that is our group trip to Myrtle Beach, SC in February. Kelli will be running a half marathon, one of several destination running events for her in 2011. Most of the group we are going with will be either running the half marathon or a full marathon. Drew will be cheering Kelli on along the course. We recently bought our tickets for that and secured a rental car today. Our good friends Chris and Karol will be travelling with us on the flight out and back. This will serve as a test run for our big trip in 2011, Italy!

We'll be touring Italy in April. Right now we have a rough plan of attack. We'll fly into Rome, working our way down the coast, and then back up to Venice where we'll fly out of. We have a lot of research left to do.

We're In!

2010-11-11T19:25:00.011-06:00

So apparently we skipped blogging about the whole building process. We closed July 17th and moved in a few days later. Now as of today we still have a few boxes scattered around the house still needing unpacked. The garage is obtianing organized garage status, our main level is pretty much filled in with furniture, and we finally have our complete bedroom set. Still on the to do list is to finish Kelli's craft room desk, build computer desk, build storage for tools in the garage, and finish the basement. Sounds like Drew has some work to do.
Our old house is nearly sold, we actually had the sold sign put up this week. Our inspection came back with some to do items. A couple repairmen later and we are near complete. Our closing date is 12/2, a mere 3 weeks away. We still have furniture staged in the house. Some will go to storage, some to thrift store, some to friends, and the rest into the new house. I keep telling myself "a few more weeks".
Below is a picture(s) of our completed house. We need to get more pics of our rooms with new furniture, but we'll have to clean first before we can do that.

Front of our house

View across dinning room floor

Stamped and colored back patio

New bed set

Master bath walk in shower

Reality setting in

2010-03-16T10:11:00.002-05:00

Last week we had progress on our house. The forms were put up and foundation was poured a few days later.

We should see the framing start to go up soon. The weather is getting warmer so we should really see things start to move along from here.

Wheels in motion

2010-02-22T08:42:00.002-06:00

We met with our cabinet guy this morning. We picked out all our cabinets for the house. Kitchen, vanities, mud room, and parlor room. We'll have birch cabinets throughout and still need to pick out the stain. We've got several things left to pick out and we're trying to get that all lined up.

They have not started on the house yet so we've got some time. We've been driving by the lot to see if they've broken ground yet. It's nice being so close, we'll be able to check up on the progress frequently once things get started.

Oh by the way did we tell you...

2010-02-12T10:25:00.005-06:00

...we are building a new house this year! 3 story, 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 4 car garage. We are building about 2 miles from our current house so we'll stay in La Vista. We've picked out our lot and will break ground this month and have a foundation completed by the first of March. We had planned to build or buy in the next couple years but decided to go ahead with is this year. We have outgrown our current house so the new house will more than handle all our "stuff". Kelli will have a bedroom dedicated as her craft room for sewing and beads and scrapbooking. Drew will have a bedroom designated as the office. We will keep one bedroom for guests. The basement will be unfinished and customized to meet our other hobbies. Kelli will have a glass studio room down there. We'll also have a workout area with our treadmill, bikes, and kettlebells. We'll also build in a storage room for camping gear, luggage, and other misc stuff. The main level has an open floor plan, walk in pantry, and parlor room that we'll convert into a bar. We are excited to take on this project. However it does mean that we'll have to go through the dreaded move. The next few months will be spent fixing up our house getting it ready to sell. The estimated completion date is early to mid July.

Drew

Increasing productivity

2010-02-08T09:19:00.003-06:00

Over the past 6 months there have been some significant changes in the way we get around at the farm in Missouri. My Dad and I each purchased an ATV. This has allowed us to get into places we haven't been for years. It also allows us to get from one end of the property to the other in a couple minutes. This has completely changed the way we do things down there. We can now haul more gear and pull things around. The old method of driving our truck through 5 foot high weeds and hiking in with only what we can carry is no more. In January my Dad purchased a side by side UTV. It offers more pulling power then an individual AVT and has a dump box on it that will haul bulk items better than an ATV. Plus it will be convenient to sit side by side and have a conversation while riding around.
One more addition to our growing compliment of power equipment is a DR Brush Mower that I got a week ago. We have been borrowing one of these for past few years from a friends father in-law. After a couple recent issues with that mower I decided it was time to get our own. This thing is a beast. It will mow over 3" saplings, and 6' high weeds. We will use this to mow trails around property, as well as clear a path around all the fence lines. The additional access to remote places around the farm will give us miles of trails for hiking or riding the ATVs, as well as keeping a better eye on the place.
The next step is to put everything to use. All the snow we've had this year has made it hard to get around down there. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to get some warmer weather and melt all this snow off. Our annual work weekend is in the works for early March. We'll be cutting firewood as well as planning a trail system for the new brush mower to cut out.

The Comeback

2010-02-07T20:48:00.002-06:00

Seems that we forgot about this blog in 2009. Hopefully we can get back to posting more regularly this year. One of our big news stories for 2010 is that we are building a house. After a lot of thinking about it we finally decided to do it this year. A large part of that decision was based on our other piece of news. Kelli will finally have her student loan paid off this spring. We are throwing a party in April. It should be a busy and exciting year for us.

Drew

Year In Review (AKA Christmas Letter)

2008-12-24T14:33:00.004-06:00

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

2008-12-18T09:05:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-11-13T06:53:00.004-06:00

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 . . .

2008-10-27T20:32:00.003-05:00

. . . 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

2008-09-15T10:21:00.002-05:00

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?

2008-08-28T11:35:00.003-05:00

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

2008-08-14T15:31:00.005-05:00

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!

2008-08-07T12:54:00.003-05:00

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

2008-08-05T19:22:00.003-05:00

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 . . .

2008-07-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-15T20:54:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-14T14:04:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-08T17:20:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-07T10:52:00.004-05:00

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.