A Halloween-less Year

I am so sad to say that I will not be participating in Halloween this year. I have class tomorrow night, so will not get to hand out candy. This is the first year as a married adult, that I won't be able to participate. I have been so busy that I didn't even decorate my house for fall. Not a single decoration! It's a shame! Fall is my absolute favorite season!

This month went by very quickly:

The first weekend Joel rode the White Pine Trail to Cadillac and back.

The second weekend I participated in the ColorBurst Tour in Lowel. I rode 17 miles in the cold and rain!

The 3rd weekend Joel and I took a trip to the cabin in the U.P. I stayed indoors Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday working on homework and studying for a couple of tests. Joel was busy working on projects around the cabin, like building a shower house and fixing his chain saw.

This past weekend I was able to go to a friend's wedding in Stevensville. It was such a lovely wedding and a great party afterwards. I was a blast seeing my friends from Ferris again- Especially my best friend Ashley. We stayed up late talking after the reception- just like old times. I know I miss her, but when I get to see her, it reminds just how much. I am grateful for our friendship.

Here's to getting ready for a busy November as classes begin to wind down. I have a couple of big papers to write and presentations to prepare. Yikes!

My bike on the back of the truck. 

Wet and cold!

Joel finishes his ride from GR to Cadillac and back!

Drive up to the U.P.

 

The new shower house.

 

From the other side

Love this girl! Ashley is my best friend and it was great seeing her!

 

My cute niece and nephew on their first halloween!

Hitting a Rough Patch

Lately I've been in a slum. I'm so busy with work and school and life in general, but that's not the problem. I'm beginning to be very unhappy at work. I've put in three years with my employer (been there longer than anyone else, apart from the owner.) and it's the same old crap over and over and over again. It's really bringing me down. I hate that I am not happy, but I have to keep at it. Today I came home in a terrible mood. As soon as I walked in the door, Joel was there and I couldn't hold back the tears. We talked about our days a little bit and Joel asked what he could do to make it better. I said "Just hold me." and he did. Then we walked towards the living room and he had a present and card sitting on my spot. So I started crying again - happy tears this time. I didn't deserve a gift, but I was grateful that my wonderful husband was thinking of me. I read the card- and more tears. Then I unwrapped my gift and there was a brand new Pink laptop for me! I have never had my own computer before! And this was PINK!!! I can't believe how lucky I am to have Joel in my life! He noticed how frustrated I had been getting with the old laptop (his from when he first got home from his mission) and needed a good one for school. He even got me a new cute mouse and a laptop bag. It's an early birthday present and it just brightened my weekend! He's so thoughtful!

Homework Much?

This semester I have stepped it up a notch and am taking 3 classes. After this winter semester (also will be 3 classes) I will be finished with my Business Administration Associates degree. Right now I'm taking Business Marketing, Business Management, and Principles of Accounting 1. I go to school Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night after working all day. I don't get home until after 9 on those nights. So needless to say, my only free time to do my homework is on the weekends and on my breaks at work. The past three weekends have gone as follows:
1) 11 hours of homework on Saturday
2) 9 hours of homework on Saturday and another 5 on Sunday
3) 11 hours of homework on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday

This coming weekend probably won't be any better. But I have to figure something out, because October is going to be a crazy busy month for us. Joel will be traveling for work, there's the tour of the White Pine Trail (I will not be able to ride in it this year. I only got up to 50 miles this summer and haven't had time to train anymore.- maybe next year), there's the Colorburst Tour in Lowell, possibly camping one last time, and Kaitlyn & Geoff's wedding. It saddens me, but I will not be decorating for fall/ Halloween this year. It falls on a Wednesday night and I'll be in class and Joel will be out of town. There's no point in getting everything out if I can't even enjoy handing out candy. But that just means I'll have to kick it up next year! Fall is my absolutely favorite season. Yes, summer is fun with camping, kayaking, and the warm weather, but fall is amazing! You have the beautiful colors, the brisk nights, apples, caramel, soups, the crinkle of leaves, and so much more! I just LOVE it!

August- Gone in a flash

Oh my!!! Time is flying away from me! I only blogged once in August. Well, there's much to say. On August 15th, my new nephew, Alexander Anthony Steffes, was born. He is a cutie and looks just like his dad!

Aunt Kara holding Alex for the first time- only a few hours old.

Uncle Joey holding Alex- 3 weeks old

Joel and I also celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on August 20th. I can't believe how fast time has flown by! I love him more and more every day. He's such a wonderful man! And he keeps his cool during times of trials. My truck starting driving funny so we took it for repairs. We dropped it off on Sunday, Aug. 19th. Monday we celebrated our anniversary with Chinese food and cheesecake. Tuesday Joel was driving me to work and we were rear-ended in our Taurus on the s-curve. Wednesday we were told that the insurance totaled it out. Thursday evening Joel picked up my truck and the bill was over $1200. Yikes! Friday Joel was running errands, getting the check from the insurance, arranging for a test drive of the new car we wanted to get, etc. Friday afternoon we were leaving town to test drive the car when my truck broke down on the highway. Problem: fuse blew. Solution: change the fuel pump and hope that that was the issue that caused the fuse to blow. There goes another $350-$400. oh brother! Joel's mom was so kind to drive over and pick us up Friday evening (after working all day). We had a nice chat and drive home with her. Saturday morning we test drove and bought our new car. We now have a 2006 Ford Five Hundred. It's a gray car and is fully loaded: moon roof, leather interior, heated seats, electric car starter, etc. It's a really nice car. We put a good amount of money down, but still financed. It feels weird not buying a car out-right, but this is a much nicer car than we're used to driving. Sunday evening we drove our new car home and picked up my truck. Just in time for school to start on Monday evening!

Joel and I also just got back from an amazing trip to the Upper Penninsula. We got to ride in the car together for 4+ hours and didn't even get bored. The first night we got to the cabin around 9 and unpacked the car. On Friday we hiked to the lake near the cabin and explored around the neighborhood. Saturday we took a trip to the Tehquamenon Falls and hiked from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls (4.8 miles from parking lot to parking lot). Then we tried some amazing smoked white fish, whitefish chowder, and fried white fish and chicken tenders at Brown's Fishery. The fish is caught fresh daily. Sunday we hung around the cabin and kayaked on the little lake near by. We got to use our new inflatable kayak for the first time! Monday we played with throwing knives and hung around the cabin. It started to rain around 6, so we turned the generator on early and watched movies. We cooked over the campfire for almost every meal and got ice cream in town three of the days. We had a great time. We came home Tuesday evening and got ready to go back to the real world. Now it's back to working 5 days a week and going to school 3 nights a week. Tuesday evenings I will have scouts, so I'm looking at a very busy semester. I don't know when I'll get my grocery shopping in- especially if we are traveling on the weekends. Well, the sooner I finish school, the better.

40 Miles- Oh Yeah!

So last week I decided that I really need to get back to training for the ride to Cadillac. I've been doing 24 mile rides, but that's still far off from 92. I thought, maybe I'll go for a ride on Monday, because I knew that Joel had a dentist appt. after work. Then I thought, maybe I should go 35-40 miles. I left my house at 4:30, which would give me plenty of time to get in the miles and not get caught out in the dark for too long. I got up past Rockford and was doing great, only 8 more miles to go until I'm half way done. I got up past Rockford and thought, "It's nice to see a new section of the trail." I kept going and didn't really know where I was until a see a little park with the sign, "Cedar Springs- Downtown- with an arrow." Now, Joel and I discovered that my computer on my bike if a bit off. When I make it to Rockford (12 miles from home) it says I'm at 13 miles. So it's about a mile or so off. I decided to keep riding until my computer told me that I was 21 miles out. Then I turned around and started heading home. Shortly after turning back, about an 1/8 of a mile or so, I see the sign "Welcome to Cedar Springs". I rode just past Cedar Springs!!! Not bad! I had to stop in Rockford on the way back to buy some more water- I already drank the 2 bottles that I brought with me. When I was about 7 miles from home, I was starting to feel the length of my ride. By time I got to 5th 3rd Ball Park, I was starting to lose steam (still 5 miles from home). I had been keeping a great average speed- 14.8-14.9 mph for most of the ride. When I started getting tired, it started to slowly drop. I finally made it home, legs shaking and all, and carried my bike up the steps and to the back of the house. Then had to walk down the steps into the basement to put my bike away. My quads were soooo sore! I finished my ride with an average speed of 14.5 mph and the ride time was 2 hours and 54 minutes. I can't believe that I rode 40 miles in less than 3 hours! I thought it would take me 4. I am very proud of myself for riding that far by myself. Next week I may attempt 43-45 miles. The ride to Cadillac is Oct. 6 & 7th. I'm not sure if I'll ride the full 184 miles (92 to Cadillac and 92 miles back to GR), or if I'll just ride on Saturday and call my mom & stepdad to pick me up. haha... I guess it just depends on how I'm feeling as the training goes on. I'm running out of time to train, so I really need to push myself and bring my A- game!

Honored to have known Jean N. Landale

I am very lucky to have known my great grandparents. Many people don't know their grand parents, let alone their great grand parents. 

Granny at her 50th Wedding Anniversary!

On July 21st, 2012, my Great Grand Mother, Jean N. Landale, passed away at the age of 88. Granny was born on Jan. 18th, 1924 in London, Ontario, Canada as Jean N. Munro. She lived an amazing life, including serving in the Canadian Navy. Granny married her sweetheart (married for 67 years), Hugh Landale, and they eventually moved to MI. Jean and Hugh had two children, Nancy and Lanny. Lanny married Mary Chittenden and they had 4 daughters: Lori, Kim, Kristy, and Heather. Lanny & Mary have since divorced. Lanny is married to Carole and Mary married Bill Gillard. Nancy married Bob Roossien and they had 1 daughter, Robyn Roossien. Lori married her high school sweet heart, Sam Smith, and they had 4 children: Amanda Jo, Alyssa Lynn, Kara Anne, and Jared Leonard. Lori & Sam divorced and Lori is now married to Rod Ackerman of Twin Lake, MI. Amanda married her high school sweetheart, Luke Steffes of Coopersville, MI, and they are expecting their first child, a son named Alexander Anthony, in Aug. 2012. Alyssa married Benjamin Thomas of Grand Rapids, MI and they just had their first child, a daughter named Grace Lynn. Kara married Joel Genaw Jr. of Burtchville, MI. Jared is enjoying life as a single man and working lots of hours. Kim married Jeff Holtrop and had two children: Holly Ray, and Ryan Henry. Kim and Jeff have since divorced. Kristy married Jose Layton and they have 3 sons: Joey, Jesse, and Johnny. Jose has 3 daughters from a previous marriage. Heather had her daughter Shelby Rae Kennedy with Jeremy Kennedy, and her two younger children with her husband Nelson Williams: Nelson Jr. and Amberly.

I know that's a lot of geneaology that you probably don't care about, but I wanted to get it down so I can later write it in my book that I bought for geneaology. Granny has a lot down for her side of the family and I can't wait to get photo copies of it! Back to Granny's life.

Jean and Hugh moved to Texas after Nancy & her family did. They still owned a trailer here in Michigan that they kept at my Grandma and Grandpa Smith's (my dad's parents') campground. They would spend the summers here. I remember going to visit them at the campground and we even traveled to Texas to visit them twice when I was in elementary school. When we visited them in Texas the first time, we drove down in our van and arrived in stormy weather. I remember sitting in their spare bedroom watching lightning and listening to the thunder. Another memory I have of Granny and Gramps is their LOVE of breakfast foods. I think we had Canadian Bacon for breakfast every morning on our visit. Over the last few years, Granny has had dementia that was caused by blockages in her carotid arteries. It has gotten worse as time passed and she spent time in and out of rehabilitation facilities, assisted living homes, and at home with Gramps taking care of her. I'm glad to think that she is no longer in pain. They even believe that she has a silent heart attack and that she went peacefully.

There was a nice funeral to celebrate Granny's life yesterday and a luncheon afterwards. We took the opportunity of having the family together to take pictures. We are very lucky to have 5 generations living at this time. I don't know when we'll all be together again, and it's sad to think that this was probably the last time I'll see my gramps.

Granny's Obituary can be seen here: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=JEAN-LANDALE&lc=4030&pid=158759548&mid=5183665&locale=en-US

 Gramps, myself, and Joel

Three generations: Gramps with his children and grand children.

 Four generations: Gramps with his children, grand children and great grandchildren.

Five generations: Gramps with his children, grand children, great grand children, and great great grand children.

 I made cupcakes for the luncheon. Topped with Chocolate garnish.

Yummy!

Thoughts of a Cyclist- Or maybe it's just me!

As you know, Joel and I are into biking. I normally ride about 24-24.5 miles while he rides 25. We've discussed and decided that it's not the best choice to listen to music while riding. If you have ear phones in, you won't hear what's going on around you- which can be a problem. So what do I do for 1.5-2 hours on a ride???? I THINK! Rambling thoughts cross through my mind. I thought I would share some of things that go through my mind during a ride- particularly last night's ride:

" Alright, I'm keeping up with Joel. -  Oh, Joel's leaving me in the dust again. - I'm keeping a pretty good pace. - Crap, here comes a hill. - BUNNY! - I'm getting tired - I could ride for 45 minutes, then turn around and ride 45 minutes home. - It's a nice day out, not too hot. - Only 3 more minutes to go and I can start heading home. - Well, I'm this close to Rockford, I might as well ride all the way. - Wow, that girl is toned (At this point I start comparing myself to this girl, not "checking her out". She was blonde, tan, and toned. I wish I was as toned as her! Her stomach was so FLAT! I weigh just under 115 lbs- less than I did when I graduated high school- but I carry my fat right in my mid section. Most of my family has a little pouch in front. My new goal is to flatten my stomach- by next summer!) - Finally, Rockford! There goes Joel on his was back, time for me to turn around. - Stupid geese, don't hiss at me. - We really should enjoy the River Walk one of these days. - Wow, I'm at a great pace! 16-17 mph. I must be going slightly downhill. - Another Bunny! - I can't wait to blog about this. - Firefly! - I'm getting tired. - Only 10 miles to go ( I do a lot of math while riding to figure out how many miles or how much ride time I have left). - Wow! 18 mph! - Rogue River Park, only 9 miles left to go. - I hate when cars slow down in front of the bike trail. I'm already stopped, so keep at your speed and drive by already. - Oh great, I hope these people all move to the side when I get near. "On your left". Awesome, they moved. "Thanks!" - How can you roller blade with 2 dogs and stay untangled? That takes skills. - Here's a slight hill. I covered it with a speed of 15 mph. I kicked that hills butt! - I'm really tired. Can't wait to get home! - No cars, woohoo! - Here comes the bigger hill. I crossed that at 12 mph. That's better than the 9 mph on my way out. - We should try the Toucan Irish Pub, it sounds interesting. - Almost to 5th 3rd ballpark. - Darn it, I forgot there was a game tonight. Weaving through traffic is NOT fun. - At the bill board. Almost back to River Side Park. - Turn my flashlight on to get through the woods. - At the park! There are so many interesting things that go on here. Frisbee golf, band groups, fencing, even Hula dancing in grass skirts! - Only a couple of miles left to go! - I gotta push myself so I can increase my average speed! - Only 1 mile left to go! - Home!!!! Finally! Average speed = 14.7 mph, personal best! Way to go me! - I have to write a blog about my random thoughts."

Can you blame a girl? It gets pretty boring out there! Welcome to the thoughts of Kara!