Happy Birthday Amy!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday!  Seventeen, it's hard to imagine.  I definitely remember seeing you for the first time in the hospital, Ames Nickle!  Goodness, how you have grown since then.  

Pals...

When I first came home, Annie lay down with me on the floor and cried in my arms.  She was so happy I was home!  Since then she has been following me around like, well, a puppy dog!  We have always been pals.  Unfortunately she has not been feeling well recently, so she has been following anyone who is willing to hold her for a while.  However, not feeling well has not prevented Annie from coming to the kitchen where I am writing this and Mom is peeling chicken off the bone.  Funny how that works!  

Summer Plans...

On June 14 I will be heading back to CSM to take two summer classes.  Rather than take a really bad load (at least for me) next semester, I have decided to get Calculus 3 and Physics 2 out of the way now.  I am incredibly excited to head back to CSM, my work in the ASPPRC and especially my church.  Now I just have to get ready to go!

Race Day...

Once a year there comes an event so revered it stops my whole family in their tracks.  They prepare for days for the coming event - cooking, cleaning, deciding who has the best TV and seating arrangements, etc.  Finally Memorial Day weekend comes, bringing with it Race Day, the day of the Indianapolis 500.  The Indy 500 is no ordinary race.  It is watched all over the world by anyone with the most remote connection to Indiana.  With half of my family from Indiana, the race is a big deal around here.  Grandma, Mom, Dad, Amy, Bethany and TJ are all glued to the TV, watching avidly to see what will happen next.  There are only three sane beings around the house on Race Day - Grandpa, myself and the dog. Grandpa and Annie eventually get sucked into watching from boredom.  I know it is inevitable, eventually I too will cave in from sheer boredom and wanting to hang out with my family.  Currently I can hear the shouts of "Rookie mistake!" and "Oh no!" coming from the downstairs.  The nice part about Race Day?  The food.  Those of us not watching the race greatly benefit from the food.  

Baby Hats...

After knots, struggles and numerous restarts, I have finally finished croqueting my first baby hat.  Amy, Mom and I have taken to making these baby hats for the hospital.  The hospital sends each newborn home with one of the hats on its head to keep it warm.  For the most part, we make pink and blue hats, but some such as this one are also different colors.  We are making the baby's first item of clothing by hand with love.  Amy and I both croquet, but I think we both agree that Mom's cleverly knitted hats are the cutest.  Amy is starting to make them Mom's way now.  As for me, I plan to continue making these during dorm floor meetings at school!

Home At Last

It's been wonderful to be home with my family thus far.  It's only been a couple of weeks, but those weeks have made all the difference.  I have been thoroughly cleaning my room,  hanging out with my family and visiting friends.  For church I go with my grandparents to Village Seven.  I really enjoy the people there and the awesome preaching!  What's weird about being home is several of my Bible study friends from last year are graduating from high school.  Everyone is growing up!  Amy will be  a senior next year and Bet is graduating from middle school this year.  One of my favourite high school teachers is considering retirement!  Wow, so much happening in a school year!

Welcome Back!

Hey Everyone! It's good to be back with all the my readers, both new and experienced. Let's go through some preliminary stuff before we get started, shall we? First off, I apologize for any misspellings or grammar mistakes ahead of time. Most of my posts will be written late at night when I have time, so there are bound to be some mistakes. Second, I'll try to blog every few days or tell you if I'll be unavailable. Third, comments are greatly appreciated and often the highlight of my day, so keep them coming! Fourth, I'm going to try to make this blog more visually oriented, so there will hopefully be more pictures and perhaps less words. I hope it works.  I'm definitely ready to get started! Let's g0!