October 2013 Highlights

And here we go for October 2013...

October 4, At work we had visitors from Penn State Transportation visit our offices.  I had a really nice conversation with them and it made me miss my family in Pennsylvania!

October 5, Luther and I went to our nephew Garrett's first swim meet.  It was at the middle school in College Station where Ryan went to school.  We watched him swim his first heat, but then we went home because I was not feeling well.

October 12, There was huge storm in College Station on this evening.  We ere supposed to go the the Texas Renfest for the first time, but we woke up to this the next morning instead:

Our swimming pool was destroyed, the fence was down on both sides of the north and south ends of the yard and our granite table was knocked over with broken pieces and the umbrella on the table was destroyed as well.  We are not sure if a tornado came through, but there were definitely high destructive winds.

October 14, This was a horribly sad day!  My friend, Paul Dioguardi went to be with the Lord.  I know I will see him again some day in Heaven, but I will miss him dearly until that time.

This was Paul and me at the George Bush Library when he and Dan were visiting from New York.

October 19,  We spent the day cleaning the mess from the storm.  Ryan and Luther patched the fences.  The insurance adjuster came earlier in the week and was very helpful.

October 20, Ryan and I spent the afternoon making a stuffed mole for his Chemistry class.  I think he turned out cute!

October 21, This was a fun day...not!  The school called me and I had to take Ryan to urgent care to get his leg stitched up.  They were running the bleachers in Athletics and Ryan slipped and fell and hit his shin on the bleacher.  It made a disgusting hole.  He made me take pictures of it at the doctor's office.  They were gross, so not posting any.  He was supposed to take it easy to let it heal, but he did not do so well with that and opened it 2 more times before wrestling season.  It finally healed in time before the season started.

October 25,  This was Ryan's homecoming game day.

Ryan with his mum, getting ready to leave for school.

October 26, The big Homecoming dance! Ryan took Es, a girl from the wrestling team.  Luther and I actually drove them around for the evening.  First, we took them to get pictures done in the pumpkin patch, then we dropped them off for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  While they were eating, Luther and I went to a different restaurant to eat and then came back to pick them up to go to the dance.  We dropped them off at the dance and went home and waited for them to call to pick them up.  After the dance, they rented a movie and Luther and I had to stay up until 3AM to take Es home after their movie.  They looked great and I thing they had a nice time!

Ryan getting ready to pick up Es.

Ryan and Es at the pumpkin patch.

This concludes the October highlights, now on to November and the start of the Holiday season and another very important season...wrestling...

September 2013 Highlights

Here goes the highlights for September 2013...

September 7, Luther, Ryan and I went to our friend's house, Mark and Laura Matus to watch the Aggie game.  We had a great time and I met 2 new friends, Marri and Sally. Oh, the Aggies won!

September 13, At work, we had visitors from the Alabama Transportation office come visit our office.  This town was buzzing from all the excitement of this game.  I believe there were more people in town for this game than any other I remember.  One visitor sent in a really nice letter about his experience on our campus.  Things like this make me proud to be an Aggie!  We lost the game, but it was hard fought.

LETTER: Texas A&M fans a breath of fresh air

Ron Box
Tuscaloosa

Published: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 9:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 9:08 p.m.

Dear Editor: Along with three grandsons, I had the pleasure of attending the Alabama-Texas A&M game in College Station, Texas. I don’t really know the words to describe how well we were treated as a visiting team. It is something you rarely experience in the SEC. We could learn from them. They welcomed us before the game with an Aggie “Howdy” and congratulated us after the game.

They were nothing but class. It is really the exception rather than the rule in the SEC. They do not boo the opposing team when they come on the field. They don’t throw things at opposing teams or hurl insults at the opposing teams or fans. They do not try to turn over the opposing team’s bus upon arrival. Hats off to Texas A&M University fans. Truly a breathe of fresh air.

September 23,  This was Luther and my 18th wedding anniversary. It was on a Tuesday evening, so no real special plans.

September 26, Fire Station #3 posted a picture of their Firetruck with the CSHS mascot added to the paint job.  Pretty cool!

September 27,  This was Ryan's 17th Birthday!  We had dinner with the O'Banion family at Genghis Grill, his choice.  Then, we all went back to the house to have some ice cream birthday cake.

Now, on to October...

August 2013 Highlights

So, because I did not post anything since last August, I will have to post the highlights month by month. I hope I don't miss anything...

August 20, I stopped to take a picture of G. Rollie White on campus because they were tearing it down to make way for the new Kyle Field.

August 21-24, We went to Plano to spend some time with my parents.  Luther had a company meeting to attend and we decided to make it a mini vacation after his meeting to see my parents and go to the Allen outlet mall to get Ryan some back to school clothes.  

August 26, This was Ryan's first day back to school and the start of his Junior year.

August 30, We went to our first MMA live fight.  Our friend, was fighting. Miguel did not win, but it was fun to go to a live fight.  Not sure if I could handle Ryan being an MMA fighter, so glad he wants to be a Firefighter!

Miguel getting ready to fight.

That's pretty much it for August, now on to September...

Pictures from OSU Wrestling Camp- Summer 2013

I have not added to my blog since last August.  I am going to spend time this week posting all that has happened since August 2013.  Here it is, the last week of Ryan's junior year in high school and I did not post anything about his junior year, which was really exciting. Shame on me!

First, here are some pictures from wrestling camp at OSU last year, which was promised in my last post:

Coach John Smith of OSU

OSU Wrestling Championship flags hanging in the Arena

Jordon Oliver and another OSU wrestler talking to the campers

Jordan Oliver-OSU wrestler-He's a big deal!

The group doing push ups and I got a great shot of Ryan

Coach Smith and OSU wrestlers giving demonstations

Ryan and his camp leader

Ryan in front of Boone Pickens Stadium off the balcony of the arena.

Last day, mini tournament.

Oklahoma!

I forgot about the biggest event in June, We went to Oklahoma for Ryan's wrestling camp.  I will post more about the trip and pictures too.  Just not right now. I know you are dying to hear about it!

Downtown Bryan-First Friday

Last Friday evening, Luther, Ryan and I went to our First Friday ever.  In Bryan, they have these celebrations downtown the first Friday evening of each month.  It has been going on sometime now, but we just have not made it there yet.  Other than being blazing hot outside, we had a nice time.  We walked up and down the streets and stopped at a few shops, we ran into friends who were also out and we ate dinner at Must Be Heaven.  I tried a French Dip sandwich for the first time and it was Heaven! 

I am sure we will go to other First Fridays, but hopefully when it is a bit cooler.  I really want to go in December when they are celebrating the holiday season.  I hear they have horse buggy rides. I'm up for that! I will also love to see the Christmas lights and decorations.

Oops! Skipped a month!

So, I completely missed the month of July.  Let's see if I can remember the highlights...

The 4th of July we spent at Luther's parents' house. We went home, but Ryan went with Lindsay and Brandon to watch fireworks in Kurten.

The next weekend, we went to Dallas to visit my parents, but had a mishap with my Dad having to spend most of the weekend in the hospital.  He is fine and we are going for another visit in August.  In fact, Ryan will be spending some time up in Dallas with my parents and then Luther and I have a long weekend planned to go visit my parents again when we pick him up.  I know my brother is planning on taking Ryan and his cousins to Six Flags, so that will be fun.  I love Six Flags, so kind of sad I will miss it this time.

Ryan finished his summer camp and open mat in the middle of July and has been hanging out at the house.  He is a good kid and stays out of trouble. 

Our pool got a hole in the liner, so we have drained it and bought a repair kit, but we made the decision to wait until it is cooler to repair it because we also want to level the ground.  I'm really bummed it broke because I was having a wonderful time working out in the pool and one of my favorite things to do is relax in the pool.  Oh well, we will take care of it and I will have it next summer!  

We went out to dinner and Northgate to celebrate Lindsay and Brandon's engagement.  That was a fun night! Ryan went to dinner with us and then we dropped him off at the house before returning to Northgate.

I finished reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  I am now working on Mockingjay.  They are excellent reads!

I think those are the major highlights of July. I really need to do a better job on my blog! Oh well, I guess you could say, sometimes life gets in the way and I am living life.

Wedding Bells!

This past weekend, Luther and I decided it was time to get serious about working out and eating right, so we are beginning our, as he calls it, 100 pound quest to May.  He might loose 100 pounds, but realistically, I think I will only be able to loose 50 in that time frame. Why the May time frame? Well...

Yes, I will be a bridesmaid and Luther a groomsman!

June is here!

Friday night, Ryan, Luther and I went to celebrate our friend's graduation from Rudder High.  Congratulations Kallie!  It was at the La Salle Hotel in Bryan.  The party was so cute, it was all deserts and there was a smores bar. Very very cute and we had a fun time.

The cookie Table!

Saturday night, Luther and I had our first swim in the pool.  It was perfect!  The water felt great and it was 93 degrees outside.  I will be spending quite a bit of time in there this summer.  I have even been looking for some things to do to workout while in the pool.  I love summertime!

I had one of these before I got in the pool!

Car Wash!

This past Saturday, we had the first of two car wash fundraisers for the CSHS Wrestling Team at Pilger's Tire/Carquest Auto Parts on University Drive in College Station.  They are raising funds to go to the OSU wrestling camp this June.  It was a perfect day for a car wash and I was pleased with the turnout especially since this is the first time I have ever headed up something like this.  We are doing another one next Saturday, so wish us luck!

Mother's Day 2013

This past Sunday was Mother's day.  I unfortunately was sick with a stomach virus all weekend long.  I spent almost the entire weekend in bed.  Sunday afternoon I got out of bed around 2:00 in the afternoon and watched a little TV with Luther. Ryan and Luther gave me a card and a gift certificate to Starbucks.  That's awesome!  I took a shower because we were invited to go to Clay and Colleen's for dinner with the family.  I really didn't want to go because I was just starting to feel better, but I didn't want to disappoint the rest of the family. Basically, I sucked it up! I did get to see Lindsay's engagement ring for the first time and had girl wedding talk, lol.  Also, Mary Anne gave me some beautiful yellow roses. That was awesome too!

Later that evening, I called my Mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day and she was taking my Dad to the hospital.  It turned out he had a bad stomach virus and they kept him in the hospital for 2 nights.  Weird we both had one on the same weekend, I'm glad I didn't end up in the hospital.  I got to talk to him the next day and he was feeling much better!

Biopsy

The last week in April, I went to my doctor with some issues I was having.  While I was there she unexpectedly decided to do a biopsy.  She didn't act too worried about it, it was more of a precaution.  I wasn't too freaked out, but you still never know.  I posted on my Facebook page requesting payers for good results.  I think that freaked more people out than me.  In the future, I might re-think that.  I wanted the prayers, but I did not want to freak all my friends and family out.  Maybe next time, I will just ask for prayers for a personal issue... anyway, the results turned out all good and the issue I went to see her about is all healed up as well.

My Mom Necklace!

Wow! I am really behind.  I have not posted anything since the middle of April, so sorry!  well, here is a picture of the cute Wrestling Mom necklace I got, I just love it!

What a Week!

This has been a crazy week in America! On Monday, there was a bombing at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring over 100.  The bombs were set off by 2 brothers.  One is dead, but not after killing an MIT police officer in the process.  The other is on the run and there is a massive manhunt in Boston and outlying areas today as I write this.  This has been classified as a terrorist act.

Wednesday night a fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas and 14 people are dead so far.  They are still searching the area for survivors and recovery as I write this.  West is a small town north of Waco.  It has been a horrific accident. Many people displaced and the town is devastated. 

Today also marks a terrible day in history, It is the anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma City. Let's hope next week is just calm and peaceful for this nation. 

Hurdles Over-MMA Beginning Again

Last week, Ryan finished up with his track season at school.  He gets bored with off season, so Monday night he started going back to his MMA gym, Team Unleashed.  He will continue working out there trough July and then when school starts in August, he will get back to wrestling.

This June, he will be going to a wrestling camp at Oklahoma State University. He has done one fund raiser with his school and hopefully will have another one in May.  He is pretty excited about going, this is the first away camp he has ever been to and the first wrestling camp.

We plan on taking him over to Oklahoma University to tour the campus.  After viewing out of state tuition rates, he better hope he finds a full ride scholarship if he wants to be a sooner!

2013 Cougar Wrestling Banquet

Last night was the first ever Cougar wrestling banquet.  We had a really nice night. Honey and Papa joined us and Rebecca Burns sat with us at our table. It was a wonderful night of good food, conversation and fun!  We had a great season and I can't wait for next year to start!

Easter 2013

This was a fun Easter weekend. Friday, Luther and Ryan hung out together while I was at work.  They did some errands during the day and got to see a guy get arrested in Bryan. When I got home, we watched Walk the Line. Ryan had never seen it and he likes Johnny Cash.  

Saturday morning, we all got up and went to eat breakfast at Coco Loco.  After breakfast, we went to The Farm Patch and got some fresh fruits and veggies and then to the grocery store.  We were invited to go to our friends Mark and Laura's house Saturday evening so we were getting some things to make a salad and cheese/veggie tray.  We had a blast at Mark and Laura's.  We had BBQ that Mark made, which was outstanding.  We also played chicken foot, which is a dominoes game and it was really fun too.

Sunday, we went to Luther's parent's house.  We had lunch and then the little kids had the annual Easter Egg hunt.  Ryan stayed and rode home with Lindsay. Luther and I left and stopped at the grocery store for lunch supplies, since he is trying to be good and take his lunches to work.  We got home and watched Rock of Ages, which was kind of a goofy movie, but the 80's music was awesome.  I had no clue Tom Cruise could sing as well as he does.  When Ryan got home, we watch The Walking Dead with him and then Luther and I watched Game of Thrones.  Then it was bedtime and time to get the start on a new week.

New Old Job

Well, Luther started his new old job as store manager back at Carquest today.  The new job he took last week was not really what he was expecting it to be. His supervisor at Carquest did not want him to leave, so they met last week and talked about the situation.  His supervisor promised to make some changes that would allow Luther to be able to do Manager work, instead of trying to be the manager and fill in on all the other things that need to be done.  They are going to try to correct the staffing issues in his store which will really help improve things tremendously.  I hope this all works out for him and his stress level diminishes.  Ryan and I want the real fun loving Luther back home with us when he is off the clock!

New Job

Luther starts his new job today at Superior Automotive.  He will be working in the office and service writing. He used to do this at Batson Tire when we were first married and he loved it.  He will have much better hours, Monday-Friday 7:30-5:30 and off on the weekends.  It will be nice having him on a set schedule and home with us on the weekends.  This is a small family business and he has been trying to get back to that type of situation ever since Batson Tire closed down.  I think he will really enjoy this job because he will definitely be in his element as they say.

Caldwell Track Meet

Saturday, Ryan had a track meet in Caldwell, which was nice because it was close.  Papa met us there around 9:00.  It was a bit chilly, but it got warmer after lunch.  Ryan finished second in his trial run of the 300 hurdles and finished 5th overall.  He finished fourth in the 110 hurdles.  He didn't fall in any of his runs, yay!
On the way home, we stopped at our friend's house in Caldwell and dropped off some Butter Braids.  We had a nice visit with Dianne and the little weenie dogs.  Then, it was home to meet Ryan at the school and watch a movie.