Monday Monday

Just means another week is gone. It was a busy one!

Monday was a girls' night out. We went to Old Chicago and then went to see Valentine's Day--it was a great movie! And it was great to catch up with the girls and meet some new friends as well.

Tuesday was spent at home. It was nice to relax a bit.

Wednesday my work department held a party at the Des Moines Botanical Center. If you haven't been to the gardens, you should check it out. It was nice to escape the cold! My coworkers are pretty nice people and it was nice to get to know them better. The party was catered with delicious food and there was a prize drawing at the end of the night--I won a Pioneer fleece. Very warm and very comfortable!

Thursday was volleyball night in Ames. I didn't know that we were going to find a house so quickly, so I signed up for another season. I love playing with the girls I play with, even if now it requires me to carpool with my sister and spend the night in Ames. We didn't win, but we played pretty well.

Friday, after spending a ridiculous amount of time standing in line at Target, we spent a nice evening home.

Saturday was a fun day with friends. My friend Anne's birthday was this past week and we (the three of us plus friends Lauren and Matt) decided to go enjoy the winter by tubing at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park in Des Moines. Tubing alone was the same price as tubing plus zipfy, so we gave it a try. If you're wondering to yourself what in the heck a zipfy is, you're not alone. The guy at the rental counter described it like sitting on a shovel, but I disagree. I have never gone that fast on a shovel! It is supposed to be really safe, but it was really fast and I didn't know how to steer--the best I could do is put my feet down to slow myself, but that sprayed snow up into my face... The course was slalom, but after 2 runs out of control and almost side-swiping children, we decided to head over to the tubing course. Tubing was awesome and really fast and fun--we even went down holding on to each other. After tubing we headed to Cici's for food, and then back here for birthday cake. The plan was to also include games and drinks, but the birthday girl has a nasty cold and we were all pooped.

Lauren and Matt spent the night and after breakfast and after some winter sports on the Wii (I think next year we'll have the Wii-nter Olympics), they headed out and we had a relatively lazy Sunday. It was a nice way to wind down at the end of a very busy week!

This week should be much calmer. A welcomed change of pace. I like being busy, but I like it in moderation!

I have been promising more pictures of the home improvements:

Curtains in the guest room. I wanted to set them back in the window instead of losing that window sill by putting them in front of the window. I like the color but not sure about the length of the valence. I have been thinking about hemming them to allow more light to come through when the bottoms are closed. You can also see how they're coming along with the construction across the road.

Same curtains closed. I just think I would like them better if the valence was shortened maybe 6 inches. I think the valence is 14 inches and the curtain is 23 inches, so they're not that different. Making that difference greater might be more eye appealing. Thoughts?

Shelving in the laundry room. Rick and his dad put that up while his dad was visiting. I only wanted it halfway across the room--I don't have that much to put on it-- and it is a necessity! Also note on the right the new dryer.

And lastly, another view of the kitchen. A little cleaner than last time and the table in the right place (not shoved up against the patio door). Note that we still don't have any kitchen chairs--Rick got a call from Homemaker's today, so the chairs are in and going to be delivered soon! Then we can have company and eat dinner at the table instead of at the island!

Other news: a heifer my dad sold at the Beef Expo won the Junior show! He said he wished that we could have won the show when my sister and I were showing, but still quite an honor. Also, pictures and text from our wedding and my Hawaii roommate's photos on my friend (and photographer) Erin's blog. Check them out!