service awards dinner

last night, tom and I attended the hy-vee service awards dinner. this yearly dinner honors regular and full time employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service to hy-vee. also, all employees over 20 years can attend yearly (although they don't get an award, just recognition), so tom and I have attended for the last five years. this year, tom received his 25 year award.

we always look forward to this event-great to hear our CEO ric juergens speak, see the growth of the company, and GREAT FOOD!! oh my gosh. the dinner is always pretty much the same, but the dessert always changes and last night didn't disappoint. the meal was salad, chicken breast and beef tenderloin, grilled veggies (zucchini, onions, peppers), sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, and a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate filled center and topped with a ton of whipped cream for dessert! almost too rich to eat...but no one had a problem at our table! :)

five for friday....

this is some sort of record, I'm telling you! three days in a row of blogging! a few fun friday facts....

1-tate is feeling much better today, thankfully. he has his eyes all the way open most of the time and has some spunk back.

2-tom and I walked in the 'gotta start somewhere' walk today with a group from hy-vee. it was fun, except for the horrific winds...

3-I am wanting a new look for my etsy store and business card....I still love what I have, just wanting a fresh, new look. thinking red, aqua, mustard yellow and gray...thoughts/opinions?

4-in the past month I have read of two Iowa teens being killed when their atv rolled over on them. this causes me to be anxious again and thankful at the same time. john was SO incredibly lucky. thank you, doug!

5-happy that ashton figured up her RAI score and it is high enough (by alot!) to apply at the u of iowa. I just wish the college wasn't five long hours away....

happy friday, everyone! leave me a comment with your five for friday!

poor tatey.....

isn't this just pathetic? really.



last night, we noticed that tate's eyes were all red and he didn't want to open them up all the way. then the green goop started flowing. poor thing.

bright and early this morning, we headed to the vet's office to find out what was going on. turns out he has an eye infection that was triggered by bean dust. the treatment? drops 3-4 times a day. who wants to come put these in for us? :)

do you pin?

I love the website pinterest! such really cool things to love and lust over!

these are some things that I repinned this morning. I really wish I had more time to look at everyone's awesome boards, but I just can't seem to carve out the extra minutes to do so.


so tell me...do you pin? I'd love to follow you!

it is FINALLY starting to look like homecoming!

our school administrators are very anti-tping....claiming it is vandalism and littering, to the point of having police officers patrol the school during homecoming week. well thank goodness one group of kids were able to get the school's trees tped. it just isn't homecoming until someone tps the trees!

it's homecoming week!

today is 'duct tape day' here at ELC. ashton's outfit is pretty darn creative and cute, if you ask me! :)

here is the front view:



the back:



and we can't forget the necklace:



or the hair bow:




it was so funny to watch her walk since her legs kept sticking together!! hope she survived all day in this cute ensemble.

hello and welcome!

I have always been a HORRIBLE blogger. I always felt like my life was so boring in comparison to other cool bloggers (I live in Iowa, for pete's sake....what is exciting about Iowa?). Most of my favorite bloggers have young, cute kids. My kids are cute, but they are teenagers (and one about ready to go off to college next year...).

I promised myself that when I had a blog redesign (that I still am not totally thrilled about....) I would be way better about blogging. well, that hasn't panned out so well, either. so, let's pretend this is my first blog post and go from there! :)

let's start with a pic of my lovely family....



my husband, tom, and I have been married for 21 years. he works as an inventory manager at my former work place. tom loves to garden (ours is HUGE) and do most anything outside.

my daughter, ashton, is 17 and a senior in high school this year. (gasp!) how did that happen?? she is hoping to be accepted to the university of iowa next year and wants to be a pediatric pulmonologist. ashton LOVES softball thanks to cat osterman and jenny finch. right now ashton is a cheerleader for football and loves her job at our local wellness center.

my son, john, is 15 and a sophomore in high school this year. john loves all things outdoors-fishing (regular and ice), hunting (ducks, geese, deer, pheasants), trapping and trap shooting. john also played tennis for the first time last year in high school and loved it.

tate, our cockapoo.....tate is six and full of anxiety, has been since the first day we brought him home. tate loves to play soccer in our yard and his duck plush toy that sounds so real it's scary.

me! I am so happy to say I quit my day job, after 22 years with the company, on may 20th of this year to focus on oak hill designs full time. definitely a hard decision to make, but I am loving the no stress of working at home doing what I love. the color pink, flamingos, reading, and attending my kids' activities are my favorite things!

now you know about me and my family.....leave me a comment with your blog or twitter address so I can get to know you!