The Crew is on the Move!

 After saying in my last two homes, "this is it, I'm not moving again." I'm not making any declarations this time.

Jeff and I gave it the good college try, living in my house with five kids. Ultimately, it was the bathrooms that got us. We started looking for something larger, but still in 501 district, in December. Not the time people are selling their houses, but in January we got lucky! 

We are moving from one side of Topeka to the other, from Potwin adjacent to Briarwood. We are going to be closer to my gym, but farther from everything else including my Jaime. Really hoping the arguments over bathrooms and space make it worth it. 

In an hour the moving truck is coming and it will be a welcome relief. We have been tripping over boxes for two weeks now and I'm ready to be done. Leaving the house I bought seven years ago for me and my boys is giving me all the feelings; excited, sad, frustrated and anxious. I guess that's a part of it too. 

Checking Another State off of the List

 Work took me to my 38th state on my quest to visit all 50. I attended the Extension Leadership Conference in Savannah, Georgia. It is a quick conference, only two days long but it had some great sessions. It was a little chilly in Georgia, but nothing compared to the negative temperatures this week in Kansas! 

Conference days were 7:30am to 5:15pm so there was not a lot of sightseeing going on. I did make it out after lunch one day and walked to Forsyth Park. It was very close to our conference and had a beautiful fountain, gardens and Spanish moss-covered trees. After that I felt like I saw something unique to Savannah. 

Jeff came along to handle the Uber responsibilities; he received five stars! The company with the other Kansas Agents was also top notch. You were lovely Georgia, maybe next time I come back it will be warmer.

Big move coming up for the Bergles family. Stay tuned! 

Book store cat, just for him I bought a couple of souvenirs here!

Leaving this picture in to remind myself we almost didn't get there. 
Flight was delayed in KC for over an hour then we had to run 
through the Chicago airport to make our connection. We did it, coming back home was 
smooth sailing! 

A Fun Night in Lawrence!

 Thanks to Jeff, five of us had some pretty great seats to the KU vs Iowa State men's basketball game on Monday night. The three lucky children that got to go this time was Daryl, Alex and Anna. We will do something later with Joseph and Lucas. 

I came down with a cold last week and was really worried I wouldn't be able to go but with the help of lots of medicine I went and had a good time! I didn't yell but thankfully the team played great without my encouragement ;-)

I think the late night hurt me more today than my cold but it was still worth it. We got home at 11pm but the car ride home was full of game recap and no fighting. I even got a sweet text message from Daryl thanking me for taking him. <3 

Needless to say, I will be in bed by 8:30pm tonight. Don't call me. LOL 

I told Daryl, price of admission is pictures, he did ok with it. LOL 

The players come and go but Jay and Baby Jay are staples!

I've never been in the 4th row at a KU game, it was AMAZING!

My boys are getting bigger....
Fun fact, the sweater Daryl is wearing is the sweater I
bought on my KU campus visit in 2003.

Dad and Daughter night, Lucas went last year so it was Anna's turn!

I'll take that for a final score!

Hello Scottsdale and Goodbye Scottsdale

Got to escape the freezing temps of Kansas for almost 72 hours! Everyone in Scottsdale was complaining about the 50° temp and I was just happy it wasn't negative 10.

Jeff had a work trip and I knew I could keep myself busy for a couple of days, so I tagged along. I made good use of the resort gym and even had a treatment at the spa 😮! Took more pictures of food than anything else. 

Airport blogging now and should be home in time for dinner. Thanks to Grandma Rosie for keeping the kiddos! 

On my walk to the gym!

The cutest Tabasco I've ever seen!

Trying to figure out how to get a couple of these lights home.... This picture does not do them justice!

Bye Scottsdale! I very much enjoyed all your cactus and rocks!

Snow, Snow and more Snow

 There hasn't been a post this year because for the most part we have been stuck inside! This blog's function is to be a scrapbook for my family so while there wasn't a lot of activity the Blizzard of 2025 is worth posting about. 

On Sunday, January 5th, Topeka got 14 inches of snow, the 3rd largest snow fall in the city's history! Needless to say that amount of snow was an issue. The kids got not only a day or two snow days, because of another inch of snow on Thursday, they got the entire week off! Since they had been on Christmas break that means our kiddos were out of school for THREE WEEKS! 

They were actually happy to get out and go to school on January 13th. And they were tired after school that day. I got home from work at 5pm and they were all asleep! This has been a long week and we are all looking forward to the weekend. 

Leave it to the guy from Michigan to let the dogs out in his shorts! 
Jeff said this is when cats are better than dogs...whatever!

This is pretty much what we have been doing in 2025. 

Lola doesn't mind....

 

2024 Goals Wrapped!

Happy New Year's Eve. I won't be awake to see the clock strike midnight, but I hope those that are have a grand time! I started today with two last miles for 2024 and then taking care of various errands. Things I have been putting off for weeks or months and were all rather easy. When will I learn? LOL 

Yesterday, Alex had a one year remission scope. He handled it like a champ and all the pictures look good. We will get biopsy results back next week. His doctor was looking for what the inflammation of his Crohns has done to his gut that may be permanent. So far it looks like almost everything is healed. Of all the good things that have happened to me this year having two growing, reasonably happy boys is the best.(they are teenagers...)  Let's keep that going in 2025! 

I don't do resolutions but I do set goals. I am very pleased with how I did in 2024 and I am going to challenge myself a little bit more for 2025. I'm only interested in being better than the person I was the year before.   

Read 18 Books 21/18  DONE! 

In December I read a FANTASTIC book, All the Light We Cannot See. It is a Netflix show now, I haven't seen it and I probably won't but the book was gripping. Not a romance, not a mystery, just a great story set in France during WWII.  I highly recommend this one. 

2025 Goal: Read 24 books 

Run 600 Miles 608/600

I got 30 miles in December. I planned for 40 but once I hit my yearly goal I lost all motivation. So I will just set the yearly goal higher next year! 

2025 Goal Run 650 miles

Monthly Healthy Habit ???  

Rethinking this one for 2025. 

2025 Goal hit my steps and water goal for the day (I'm going to try to get over half the days of the month, every month) 

2024 Money Goals:   

• Replace Windows Done August 
• Down payment on New Car (Done July) 
• Pay Mortg. Principle down 4K (Done November) 
• Hit my Savings Goals for the year Made a Savings deposit in December
• Replace Garage Door-(Done December) Happy to say my car now lives inside!

2025 Money Goals:

Rebuild my 3-6 month ER Fund I'm 65% of the way there! Not bad after the down payment for my car and the windows. 

Pay off my Car 

The boys spent a little of their Christmas break playing basketball!

Lola hugs!

I forgot to post about Potwin Christmas, it was so great! 
I loved sharing it with Lucas, Anna and Joseph!

Time for a haircut? Not according to Alex!

We love seeing Catrick when we see our Hays family!

My car has a house again! This is what Jeff worked on during Christmas break. LOL