Dog Days of Summer...

Happy Tuesday everyone!...We all know Tuesday isn't one of the days we usually look forward to, however, it is the first sign that Monday is out of the way! :)

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend! We were very busy but we had a lot of fun. Saturday, Dan worked all day, as usual! I went to the farmers market with my family, then had a photo session. Saturday night we grilled out for my brother's birthday. Then some of us headed out for the night. Sunday we spent the day at Adventureland with some of Dan's family. It was fun, I haven't been there forever! Sunday evening we went to my parents house for dinner with the grandparents for Father's Day/Brother's birthday. Great food, but we were so tired we went home at about 6:30, we both sat down to watch t.v. and were out by 7:00. I don't remember the last time that happened, but it felt so great! Dan said he kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking he had over slept because he actually slept for so long :)

Update on Buddie, to start there probably wont be too many more updates on him :( During the grill out Saturday night he got sick, and didn't want to eat anything, and I mean we tried human food and he would just look at it and walk away. That's how we know he's on the decline. He just lays in the same spot all day long. Sunday we noticed he was limping around, now he can't get onto the bed or in the bathtub (which is his favorite thing in the world) we have to lift him out, so we will be watching tv and hear this whining and go to the bathroom to help him out, which is cute but so sad at the same time. We don't want him to have to be in pain. I know right now I'm being selfish. I can't get used to the fact that they are going to cremate him, it just seems so wrong. That's the last thing I want to think about after already knowing we have to put him to sleep. Ahh it just sucks, and there is no easy way for any of this. Were watching him closely and I never want to leave him, and when I do I pray he will still be breathing when we get home. That's his update for today, hopefully when I get home he will have his smile on. :)

As the rest of the country we have been having some crazy rain this year. This is from one of the storms that went through on Friday morning. I took it from my office window, but the rain already this summer had just been insane! Buddie has started to get really anxious when he knows a storm is coming.

Wednesday night my sister came into town so we all went out to eat. We were getting ready to leave and I had ridden with my parents on the way to the restaurant because Dan was meeting us after he got off work and we didn't want to have two cars out there. We get ready to leave, Dan's softball bag was in the passenger seat so he went to put it in his trunk and all we hear is SNAP, whoops. Yes the hinge was so rusted it just snapped off, so one side of his trunk is now just sitting on the car not connected (safe I know). So far since the winter, it needs a new back axle, it has been backed into, it needs a new clutch, it has been side swiped, and now the trunk broke off. LOL, so no it may not be the best time to buy a car but sometimes we don't get a choice. I don't think it's going to make it too much longer, especially if Doug and Holly want it back. So we are looking at new cars, we found a great deal on this Malibu which is what Dan really wants. I want an Armada but they are actually really hard to find around here, we did test drive both of them, the Malibu is great especially since he only drives 5 blocks to work. The Armada wasn't a 4-wheel drive which is why we went against it. This car is great, it's going to be "Dan's" car so I told him he gets to choose what he wants. It's been fun actually seeing him get so excited, because he has never had a new car, I actually really enjoy going through this process with him and I can't wait for him to find one and actually get to take it home.

Finally, I get to start running again, I'm not having any pain in my knees or ankles so I think I can get back out there. I probably wont pick up where I left off but as long as I am getting some miles in I think I will be okay. I might have to cute down to three days a week instead of four which will be okay I think. All I can do is try it out and see how things go. I also had my meeting with admissions at Grand view this morning, I will be starting classes on August 30Th! I am very excited, nervous, and anxious all at the same time, but I'm ready!

Just of few updates from our weekend, hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love from the Buchholz 3 :)

Pain is Temporary...Pride is Forever...

Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope everyone is having a good week. I feel like the week is going a little slow, and I feel like today should be a Friday, probably because it's super nice out, and I'm stuck sitting in the office looking out the window....

Last Friday we went to a friends house but we had to stop and pick up stuff for a salad at the store on the way, and Dan wanted something to drink. Well I don't know if any of you watch Celebrity Apprentice but Dan and I started watching it, and we love it! Well the last challenge between Brett Michaels and Holly was to come up with a new Snapple Flavor to support their cause. Low and behold, Iowa actually has it on their shelf, well Brett's Trop*A*Rocka flavor anyway. We had to buy some, and we recommend you all do too it's very good!

....It's official, Dan and I have talked...sorta...and I am headed back to school, Grand View University here in Des Moines. I will be going back for education, I am looking at preschool/Kindergarten with a Special Ed. endorsement. I'm very excited! Now to look for a part time job that I can do while taking classes...not the fun part...but we know God will provide everything we need. We might have to budget a little more, but we both know in the end that it's going to be worth it! I meet with my advisor next Tuesday to look over fall classes, I'm still sort of in shock that 1. I got accepted and 2. That I am actually doing it!

Things at our house are going pretty well, we have enjoyed grilling a lot so far this summer...(Thank you to Dan's brothers and their families, they got us the grill for a wedding gift). Dan and I decided he does all the cooking in the summer and I do all the cooking in the winter. It seems to be a great arrangement so far :) I don't know about some of you out of state but lately Iowa has been pounded with rain. Lucky for us we don't have a basement, so no water there for us, however, we woke up to a waterfall in our bedroom on Sunday morning...I didn't take a picture but I now wish I would have. I was freaking out, out carpet got a little wet, but I think I heard it in time to get towels down. Turns out our gutter had stuff stuck in it, thanks to our neighbors tree. I still think she should have to pay for them to be cleaned out every year considering it's her branch that hangs over our house, or just let us cut if off. Such as life though, Dan got out in the rain (not happily as you can imagine) and cleaned them out. I do have photos of that though, check it below...

Now as for the running, a little background first. In college my junior year during soccer season I started having really bad pain in my Achilles. I had to sleep in casts at night (it was pretty sexy, if I do say so myself) Either way they thought it was because of the heels I would wear all day, as that tends to shorten your Achilles, and then I would workout for two hours at night for soccer, so I was going from having them bunched all day to making them stretch like crazy at night. Well, I'm starting to have it again. Pretty sure its Achilles Tendinitis, which is fine, I can take a break I still have plenty of time to train, I'm up to 7 miles now so that means, I only have...19 more to go. I have until January remember to get ready. 1 week off wont hurt me. This is brought on from what I read anyway, running to far/fast all of a sudden which if you think about it, only three weeks ago I wasn't running at all and now I'm up to 7 miles, so I may have pushed it a little too hard to start with. Also, running on hard surfaces aka the sidewalk..but the grass is way to uneven I would probably twist a knee or something so there isn't much I can change about that. Another thing could be having very tight muscles, which since I hate to stretch doesn't help, however I have gotten a lot better about it. I run my first mile and then I stretch, however I don't think I am getting all the leg muscles stretched like they should. So for this week, I ran last night and did a short 3 mile, but my foot fell asleep and my knees were killing, I think the best choice is for me to take this week off and then pick up again on Monday. I don't want to push over the limit now and and risk further injuring it, and not have the option of recovery, I would rather take a break heal and then get back at it and still have time to train. That's the running update, not what I want or like especially now that I am really starting to enjoy running and pushing myself...I will still do other training just not running this week :)

Buddie is doing well...or so we think...we can't tell if he is in pain or if he just really wants to hang out with us. The other night he insisted on sleeping under the bed instead of in the bed...whatever he wants I guess. He's not as excited about food as he used to be, he hasn't even been eating his ice cream...(like really who does that), but when Dan was eating his ice cream cone Buddie tried to get it. I think sometimes he is just trying to trick us and usually it works with me! He's getting pretty lazy, I don't know if it's because he finally is starting to calm down or if it's that he doesn't feel well, either way we do a lot of cuddling, which I wont complain about. Dan and I find ourselves checking his breathing in the middle of the night though, he usually snores so if we don't hear him snoring we wake up an check on him. Either way, sick or not he always finds a way to make us laugh every night :)

That's all the news from our house!
Love the Buchholz 3

Bubblebee Soccer.....It's the Best

Yesterday wasn't all that eventful, work as usual, Dan took the day off to relax, it is his birthday week, and he only has a half day today. Last night I went for my run abnormally early because we wanted to go watch the twins play soccer. It was my 4 mile night, and it was still 90 degrees at 5:00 when I went to run, needless to say, it took me way longer than usual. Even Dan wondered where I was. Yeah, it was really hot, and it was rush hour so I had to run in place at every corner just to cross the street...I wont be running at 5:00 again. Either way I made it home in time to get to the girls soccer game. The game was so cute, the days of when it was fun, and you didn't have to worry about being the best on the team, or the parents yelling at the refs. those were the days. The girls were so funny, Ashley is defiantly the care taker, while Annie just jumps right in. They were hugging each other, and making sure when one of them fell that the other was okay. There was a little boy that was so upset they were losing that every time the other team scored he would start to cry, at one point the teams were tied, well then his team got scored on and he said with tears, "now were losing." They were all very entertaining to say the least.

Buddie was great yesterday, it helped Dan was home all day with him. He loves when someone is home with him all day, in the morning when I get ready to leave sometimes he gets a little upset, for instance if he is sitting on the floor and I go to give him a kiss and say good-bye he starts to growl at me, oh the little things I love about having a dog aka kid with four legs.

Dan and I have some good important business to talk about in the next few days... I got accepted into Grand View University for their education program in the fall, so we have a lot to talk about and look over before I can say I am going back full time or not. Praying that this is what God has planned for us and that it will be possible. I really hope so, everyday I get up for work and I just say to myself I wish I would have got my teaching degree, and now that I have been excepted it just seems right, so again I pray this is what God has planned.

I will be sure to get back to you all on that, as soon as Dan and I have talked everything over and looked at our expenses and everything else. Ahhh life is good, we couldn't be happier or more blessed with where ourlives our right now!

Love from the Buchholz 3

Little on the busy side...

Sorry I have been a terrible blogger these last few days, I keep telling myself I need to really work on it. To get everyone all caught up...again...


Friday, I took a vacation day so I could relax before my interview, which wasn't relaxing at all I might add. The interview went great. I don't think I even told you want the interview was so here's a quick list. It was with the RTC (Regional Toning Center) which is owned by Gannett, the same company that owns most of the papers you read around the US, and some magazines. Basically what I was interviewing for was to be an Imaging Specialist, I would edit all of the photos to get them ready for print. Which is what I love to do. It was great pay, benefits, and work atmosphere, the kicker, and you all knew there would be one...the hours. Basically, the paper/magazine business is 24 hours a day 365 days a year, news is happening when the rest of the world sleeps. So, obviously being that I would be the newbie at least for 3 months, I would have the 11:30pm-5:30am shift, which I am going to say this and then probably not say any more...I love my family and being able to spend holidays and nights and weekends with them, and when Dan and I decide to have kids I want to spend as much time with them as possible. Even though I really want that high paying job, I will never want it enough to give up what is most important in life to me. So I told them to give it to someone else, I will say, I was top 10 of 220 applicants so I at least know what my skills are and that I do have a talent (yes there was an actual test on the computer for editing that I had to do). So that's how the day went, I left with my head held high, and a smile on my face!

Dan went to see an old college roommate Friday afternoon to play some golf and hang out, then Saturday they went to Davenport for a golf outing (bachelor party) and got home about 10:30 or so Saturday night. It was really good for him to get some time with the college buddies, he was really tired when he got home, I spent the day with my mom and dad. Mom and I ran some errands, I got some new running shoes, and we got started painting their house. They are redecorating the whole house, starting with the main level. I'm pretty excited because growing up we never really did too much after we moved in. So I'm excited for it to be a whole new house! Sunday, Dan and I relaxed pretty much all day, I did my 5 miles, which was actually a very good run, Dan actually said to me, "you ran 5 miles, you weren't gone very long," and I replied, "ha, I felt like I was gone forever." Training is going awesome, Dan worries constantly, which is what I love about him, he's worried that something will happen and I wont be able to get a hold of him or anything like that. If he didn't worry a little I think it would bother me more. I found the map of the park and where all we run for the marathon, I am so excited 210 days to go, I should put a countdown on the side...I'll do that later...but for now here is the map, and I will attach some more photos later, for the past post too!



Now for Buddie, he's a day to day puppy. Some days he seems great other days we worry and I cry. For the most part he does wonderful and still is the fun puppy, other days, he doesn't feel well, doesn't want to eat, and gets sick. The getting sick part is usually when we are gone over night, or if one of us is gone over night, strange but true, I think he just worries were not coming back for him and he just gets anxious. So we just deal with it, and he is such a lover. I have a lot of photos I will post later tonight, I promise.

Other than that, things are great around here, Dan had the big 25 yesterday, and go a lot of yummy cookies at work. It was softball night last night so I went to watch (first time) and then went to the bar for a drink but he stayed with Doug and I went home. Were going to have out date this weekend, get all dressed up and have a nice dinner together. I will hopefully post before that though haha. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!

Love,
The Buchholz 3

Very busy Holiday weekend...

I'm going to do a short cap of our very busy Memorial Day Weekend, starting with Friday, and bring you all up to date as of today!


Friday-

We went out to celebrate with Dan's co-workers. Their manager got promoted so he will no longer be at their building, so it was more of a send off for him. We had a fun night. I got to know some of them better, and then later my brother and some of his friends met up with us! Check out some of these photos of Dan dancing, they are a little hard to see but still a little funny.

Saturday-

I spent the day with my parents, grandma, and sister. My grandma and grandpa every year went to the graves of all of their family members here in Iowa and put flowers on them. Being that is was 1 year ago this past weekend of my grandpas passing (I can't believe he has been gone that long) we took the job on with my grandma. It was a great day! We drove a little over 400 miles on Saturday. All the while Dan is at work. We stopped at a little hole in the wall, small town restaurant to eat lunch. Okay, this is a super small town, the 5 of us ate a full lunch, two appetizers, drinks, and two desserts for $40. It cost Dan and I that much a lone for just dinner. Crazy!! So we went to all the towns, then we went to go visit my great aunt and uncle on their farm...it's been a loooong time since we have been on a farm, so we played with the pigs and walked around and I took some shots, it was great to see them, and the farm! Then we hit the final graves in Oskaloosa before heading home. Saturday night we had a cook out with some of my friends from high school then headed to a bar here in town that is closing. It's the Urbandale hang out, which I try to avoid at all costs I must admit, but we went because that's what everyone wanted to do. It got better as the night went on I will admit, even though I was super tired from the night before of not getting to bed until around 1:00 and having a little to much to drink and then getting up and running at 6:30 before a full day in the car starting at 8:00. So I'm sure some of you can sympathize with how I was feeling right?!? haha, so either way, my brother and his friends, and sister, and cousins met up with us. All in all a pretty good night!


Sunday-

wow, writing this all out makes me tired all over again-- Sunday It was super hot out so we went to my grandmas pool for a bit, before going to the store to make a new salad recipe that I found, to take to Doug and Holly's BBQ. Which was a lot of fun, met some new people, and just hung out. Which I have to add, I have so many mosquito bites, I don't remember the last time I had them, they itch like crazy!! I went home pretty early like 11:00ish. My parents were watching Buddie for us, he had been home a lot by himself since we were so busy the last few days that I didn't want him being alone again, so he went to grandpas and grandmas, which they spoil him like crazy so he loves it. Dan got home about 3:00am or so. Needless, to say I'm not even going to write about Monday because we were so beat that we just watched T.V. and napped all day long!
So now for this week so far, running is going great, I'm up to 4 miles, and then Saturday I will run my first 5 miles. I can do it all without stopping so I feel amazing and my body is getting back to college hotness that Dan fell in love with, haha! Non of my clothes fit but I'm not going to complain about that, summer sales will be starting soon! :)


Buddie has been doing pretty good, he started the whole not eating thing, however we found out he just thinks he gets to pick what he wants to eat. He was eating green beans just fine, then the other night he would just pick them out of his bowl and put them on the floor. Come to find out he wanted his regular good again. Then the other morning I gave him his regular food and he went to the fridge and started whining...he wanted his ice cream...yes for breakfast, where does he learn these things?? We love him so much and he makes us laugh all the time with the new things he learns out of no where! He's still doing pretty well, his left eye is starting to bother him, we do have some stuff we can put in it which is really helping a lot so thank God for that. I think we are caught up to today now... Oh yeah, I have an interview tomorrow with the Gannett Company, for an Imaging Specialist position. I'm excited, even if I don't get the job I am looking at it as great experience, it's been a long time since I have had an interview. I will be sure to update you all on how things go! Hope everyone is having a great SHORT week!


Love from the Buchholz 3