Land of Lincoln, Work Conference

 Last week I headed to Springfield, Illinois, with my work bestie Jenny to the National ESP conference. It was a nicely done conference, and connecting Extension work by to our history, including Abraham Lincoln was brilliant. I have been in Extension for 14 years, and that grounding was just what I needed. 

On top of lots of professional development sessions, we got to visit the Lincoln museum and the Lincoln family home in Springfield. Our hotel was located downtown, and I got to run by these things in the morning too. Very cool town, and on Route 66 to boot! 

Alex's last football halftime show was on Thursday, and I made it back in time to see it. Their show all season has been Route 66 themed because it is the 100th anniversary of the famous highway. I ran along the route and sent a picture to Al! He thought that was pretty cool. 

Thanks, Jenny, for being my travel buddy! 

I even got to meet the guy!

The Lincolns' home that we got to tour. 

On my morning run was the Capitol of Illinois and the historical capitol. As well as the Lincoln law office and home in Springfield. Very cool!

Last home football game of Freshman year!

It was fun to watch the halftime show get better and better!

Spooky Month

 I am really excited that I decorated for Halloween by Oct. 3rd this year. The front porch and entryway are ready for the season! I also got some mums that should take us all the way through fall. 

The weather has been beautiful and that has really helped me get out in the morning and get my exercise in! I knew I hadn't missed any runs last week because my knees started to ache, so this week I took a couple of days off. LOL 

Yesterday, was Alex's first Marching Band festival. They will get a rating from the festival at Washburn University so that will be good feedback for them! At the awards ceremony they got one trophy for their percussion (IYKYK). Fellow 501 school Topeka West swept all of the award categories. So, if my 501 school can't be the outstanding band of the night, I'm glad it was our 501 neighbor! 

Jeff was out of town for a work conference this week but made it home in time to go watch marching bands, I will be out the next two weeks for work conferences and am relieved he will be keeping the home front taken care of. October is usually a blur and this one will be no exception. Ready, set, go! 

September Goal Post, Year 75% Complete!

With a busy work month, I am pretty proud of what I did get done. I have had my goal planner for a year and last month I figured out a trick that worked for me. 

There's a page that is designed to check off every day you accomplish your daily goal. I saw the directions as "Get a sticker every day of the month". So, when I would not get a sticker (usually in the first week) I would get discouraged and stop keeping track altogether.

Last month I made one of my goals to get stickers for 18 days. That was a game changer. I could miss a day, but I was still motivated to reach 18, and it worked. So this month, I made my sticker goal 20 days, and I ended up with 24! Moral of the story is progress is the most important thing and having success keeps you motivated. 

Read 30 Books: 22/30 73% done 

I finished two books this month! I am 80 pages short of three and I really thought I get it done but alas I did not. 

The first book was the beginning of a series that I am now pretty obsessed with. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a sci fi fiction where the main character Carl is trying to complete the dungeon levels to win his freedom back. All of humanity (that survived) has been put into the Dungeon and they are getting picked off fast. Did I mention this is also a reality show for the rest of the galaxy?! Yay it's a pretty unique story and I love it! It's a 10 out of 10. I'm reading them from the library but I might have to buy them for the shelf because if it keeps going like it is, I will want them forever. 

Soooo my second book was the second in the series Carl's Doomsday Scenario. I started it the same day I finished the first book so I'm a little fuzzy where book one stopped and the second book started. Still great and now a dinosaur, what will book three bring? I don't know! But I will find out in October! 

Run 620 Miles: 500/620 80% done

I ran 66 miles in September! Yay for a running plan. I have actually ran four miles before work once a week! I'm not fast so that is pretty good for me. Usually 3 miles is as far as I will go in the morning. I've also logged some decent weekend long runs. 

Grow My Savings by 60% (Done August!) 

Finished this goal for the year! Am starting on my 2027 goal, no time like the present! 

UFOs (Unfinished Objects) to Be Completed, in No Particular Order 12% done? 

All I have completed is two photo books. At this point I'm going to change the list I only have three months left, so what can I really do? I think the list below is challenging but doable! 

• Alpaca Quilt
• placemats 
• 2 photo books for Daryl and Alex (1 book done for each) 
• 1 stitched project from stash

Things that happened in September I didn't blog, we saw the Violent Femmes in KC. They started a half hour late, they didn't win me over after that. LOL 

We painted the dining room yellow!

Daryl ready for the football game

It's nice when the high schooler comes over to say Hi to Grandma!

My adult sticker chart, it still works! 

HOCO 2026

It has been a busy week and I'm pulling the underclassman play into Homecoming activities. LOL! 

Last Friday and Saturday, Aaron had his Topeka High debut in 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse. He played Zombie number two and it was a funny and great play. I hope this is the first of many roles I get to watch him in. 

We rolled into spirit week for Homecoming and the kids participated in some days and ignored others as we prepped for the big game on Friday! Unfortunately due to rain, the homecoming parade was cancelled, but my friend Emily sent me a great video of the "running of the halls" and Daryl got to carry a sign for two of the HOCO candidates. So both Alex and Daryl were in the "parade"! 

Fortunately, the rain held off for the game and the band got to perform both pre game and with Alumni during halftime. Their show just keeps getting better and better. I accidently left my phone at home, so I didn't get any of Daryl's game outfit that turned out to be body paint instead of a shirt, as he gets the student crowd pumped up even in the face of a game defeat. :-(

On Saturday, Daryl, Alex and Aaron all attended the dance. But Aaron had Drivers Ed all day Saturday, so he got ready after Daryl and Alex. So with three kids going to the same place, they all had different timelines. Yay for Jeff and I, eyeroll. 

Alex met friends at the capitol for pictures and then had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, a brave choice for dress clothes! The dance was over at 11, so Jeff drew the short straw to pick them all up. It was a busy week but a fun one! So glad these kids are taking full advantage of their high school years. 

Looking sharp guys! 

Ready for their first high school dance!

The reason I love these kids, they did this on their own. 

Looking sharp even after spending all day prepping and taking his drivers ed test!

Aaron, crushing it in his first High School production!

3 Year Anniversary!

Three years ago, on Sept. 15th, I showed up at Brew Bank to meet IRL with a guy who I had chatted with on Bumble. (Not an Ad!) I wasn't so sure we were going to be compatible. He was newly single, and I had been divorced for seven years at that point. 

I discovered he was charming, kind, and funny all at that first date. So, we went on many more dates, and last year we moved into a house we bought together. When Jeff and I met, I wasn't sure if I would share a home with a partner again. I had gotten kind of used to not having to share my closet or fridge. Turns out, he is my perfect puzzle piece, and I haven't given up a thing by sharing my life with him, I've only gained so much! He is my Chief problem solver and my stability when my world is getting shaky. 

Looking forward to the next three years, and the three years after that!  

Jeff is such a great gift giver, on top of beautiful earrings, he got me the traditional gift of leather! 

Our anniversary is the 15th but we had to wait till the 16th for our date at White Linen. The best place in Topeka to celebrate a special occasion! 

Did I eat too much, yes. Was I miserable the rest of the night because of how full I was, yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely! 

I wrapped his gifts in the only paper I could find. LOL 

From last weekend, me and my best date for a community event! 

Weekend of Birthdays

 It was a holiday weekend and we celebrated two birthdays! On Sunday we went to Hays to celebrate Christopher's first birthday. It was so fun to spend the day with the Stiles family. We took Grandma Rosie with us and we had so much fun just playing games and with toys and being with our family. 

Christopher woke up from his nap all smiles. I can't believe he is already a year old! 

Today we celebrated Joseph's 12th birthday with the dinner of his choice, presents and pickleball. He picked fried rice and shrimp for dinner. He also requested a yellow cake with white frosting. Everyone agreed that he picked a good dinner! 

We waited until seven to go play pickleball, it was still warm but it wasn't blazing hot. It was nice to have a three day weekend and I think we made the most of it!