The Rest of 2011

Seems like life slowed down a bit in the Fall of 2011.

September

Sarah attended the national conference for the Financial Planning Association in San Diego.

We took a trip to Kansas to visit Mom and Susie, Grandma, and Uncle Jim



October

Rick and Dan took a motorcycle trip through the Magruder Corridor into Montana.

We scouted around Orofino for Rick's white tail.

December

Remember that FPA conference I attended in San Diego in September?  Well that's when it all started...when I met Caleb.  Caleb recruits for financial planning firms all around the country.  Turns out, real financial planning jobs really do exist, if one is willing to move away from Boise.  Caleb was recruiting for a position with Rick Kahler in Rapid City, South Dakota.  South Dakota?  NO WAY, we thought.  But after some research into the position and Rapid City, we realized what a great opportunity this was.  Just before Christmas, we flew to Rapid for the interview and did a little sightseeing in the Black Hills as well.

After five days in Rapid, we flew on to Kansas for Christmas.

Fall Catch-Up

Let's see...this fall Sarah...

~o~ Attended the Boise State - Oregon State game and then watched it twice on ABC.



~o~ Put her Wrangler on the market.



~o~ Stayed home while Rick went moose hunting in Alberta, CA, and had a great time...fishing.





~o~ Attended the Financial Planning Association Residency Program in Lake Arrowhead, CA.



~o~ Neglected her Jade tree long enough that weird fungus started growing in it.



~o~ Stayed home while Rick went to Japan. What a place!









~o~ Flew to Kansas for a whirlwind trip that included another Oklahoma State football game,





...a trip to Lake of the Ozarks (Sarah's first in about 10 years, and Rick's first ever.)







...a few days to enjoy the gorgeous fall color in Ark City,



...and a 20-hour road trip to get her new Jeep back to Boise.



~o~ Stayed home while Rick hunted White Tail in northern Idaho.



~o~ Met her sisters in Kansas for Ed & Karen's 15th annual family Christmas party.





~o~ And finished out the fall season in Boise with a little Holiday spirit.

Party in Reno!

Last weekend I went to Reno for a combo SWE (Society of Women Engineers) conference and visit with my sister, Linda, and her family. The conference was good, actually kind of fun. The party at Linda's was fantastic.

First of all, we played golf on Friday afternoon. This was the first time playing with my nephew Sean, ever, and my first time playing with my other nephew, Brian, since I was about 8 or 9 years old. What a blast!



That night, we had some fun with Halloween costumes.



Saturday morning, I had to get up early for the conference. Linda actually delivered breakfast to my room!!!



Saturday night, I tagged along to a dinner party with a bunch of commercial airline pilots. No photos to post though.

Sunday, the sports marathon continued when the whole family came over for a BBQ. We played badminton and ping pong. And we got a great group photo.



I got to see both of my GREAT nephews, Gavin and Ty.





And I got to spend a little extra time with Sean.



A fantastic weekend went way too fast.

Appliances...

We got a new washer and dryer last week. Awesome.

New Truck

Rick decided it was time to trade in the old Chevy, so we did it. After several days of agonizing over the decision (another Silverado or the Toyota Tundra), we decided to go with the Tundra. Check it out!

Go Jayhawks!

Even though I didn't go to school there, my favorite college team is the University of Kansas. Rick and I temporarily turned my 2008 Orange Bowl champions T-shirt into a NCAA basketball championship T-shirt to wear on Monday as I root for the Jayhawks.

Snow Jeep

It snows nearly every day in Boise. Each morning Rick drags himself out of bed to go shovel the driveway. We have about a 3ft mound of snow in our front yard. At work, the snow pile is a lot taller, and it is placed right in our normal parking spot. No problem though - we have the snow jeep.

Puzzles

Rick's brother Dale came to visit us - for deer hunting season. But Rick and I were sick and the weather was nasty, so we stayed home and did jigsaw puzzles! I know, hard to believe. But it turns out the three of us are puzzle maniacs. I was thoroughly surprised by our dedication.

The first puzzle we did, the only one in the house, turned out to be a Christmas gift from Dale some years back. It was terribly hard. Just look at the pieces!

We worked long and hard on this one. Do they look like brothers?

Rick's glasses didn't work at all for me, but I thought they were pretty cute.

We finished the puzzle in one day.

So I immediately went to the store and bought another one. This puzzle was better suited to Rick's glasses.

We made great progress the first day, but Rick felt better and the weather cleared. There was hunting to be done (but that's another story for Rick to tell.) So we didn't finish this one so quickly. But we did finish it!