Halloween Party 2007

Thomas & I host the annual Halloween party for our group of friends each year. This year, many of our friends could not be here. :( Those that did make it had a great time. We laughed so much all evening long. It was a good time. Of course there was much food to eat, drinks to drink, and fun to be had. People started rolling in around 7pm and the last guests left the following morning. We ate, talked, watched Thomas' shooting competition videos, and then moved downstairs to play cards -- and of course eyeball volleyball. Around midnight to 1am , most people were leaving but Dennis and Kara stayed over. The four of us stayed up until after 2:30 playing more cards. It was a great time!

Here are some pictures of the costumes.
Kara, in her dazzling Geisha costume.

Dennis, as V.

Gerry, being politically correct as always as "Afro Boy"

Andy, as the dreaded construction worker. We've been under relentless road construction here since late summer - I about threw him out just on principle. ;)

Todd -- the "Good Friend" (the arrow does go all the way thru)

Chris and Michelle - the Zoo Keepers for their little Tiger -Kevin.

Thomas as an eerie black presence. And me, a slave.

Our front porch was decorated with Pumpkins. We like the skull & skeletal hand!

Cool morning drive

As I was driving to work the other morning, I got to the end of our short lane and saw really cool fog over the cornfield. (yes, there is a cornfield in the middle of town.) So, I had to stop and take a picture of the fog...much to the chagrin of the cars behind me.

Sometimes you just have to slow down and appreciate nature. This is a picture of the fog taken through my windshield, thus the glare.

Happy Caturday!

I decided I needed to post some caturday pics. :)

Here's Thomas and Bengal. As Dartos is definitely MY cat, Bengal is definitely HIS cat!

Close up of the happy kitty's face. Bengal is such a sweet kitty. She is a little brain damaged. She is about 5 years old now, but still acts like a 6-month old kitten. She is the best lesson in "just be yourself and be happy right now." Some days when I'm down, I just sit and watch her and realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful reminder that life is okay, no matter what.



Not to be left out, Dartos wanted his picture taken today also! He stood up by my chair and "posed" for me. I like how the flash looks like flames in his eye! He's also a happy and cuddly kitty. He is NOT brain damaged, and is a very intelligent and graceful cat.

Laundry Day

I tend to do laundry on Saturdays. (exciting, I know) Its my day to tidy up the house, catch up on laundry, and such house-work as is needed. Last weekend, as I was sorting laundry, I noticed that I missed something in the laundry basket. :) I get so much help in my house.

This is Dartos, my male kitty who is definitely MY cat. He's pretty much around me whenever I'm at home.

Here's the view from the top. I was wondering how he was going to get out of the basket since the "floor" is a mesh floor about 2-3 inches from the regular floor. Dartos has a pretty good vertical jump, but I was thinking it would be difficult for him to get out. He, on the other hand, had no difficulty getting out and coming with me to the washer. Now, we find him in the bag or on the bottom floor "shelf" of this laundry separator all the time.

Vacation 2007 - Castle Rock, Colorado

After being in practice for a year and a half, I decided it was "safe" for me to leave my patients for a week and go on vacation. (Actually, many of my patients were telling me that I deserved a vacation, so I knew it was time to go.) There is an annual meeting of many martial arts enthusiasts that meet in Castle Rock each year, so we decided to check it out. There are a lot of wonderful and amazing people that get together in the small town and enjoy hanging out together, showing some different arts and skills, and simply having a good time. I met some wonderful people in Castle Rock this past summer.

While there is much fun and hilarity at the annual BBQ, there are also classes. One opportunity that Thomas participated in was that of fighting the "bullet man." The bullet man is based on the Model Mugging from years ago. The gentleman that donned the suit for us was amazing. He is a gentle soul who can be really scary when needed. :) Thomas did an amazing job of neutralizing the bullet man. Its a great demonstration of what Hapkido can do! :)


We also climbed Castle Rock while we were there. I'm happy to say that I'm in much better shape than I was for our honeymoon, so I didn't feel like I was going to die by the time I got to the top. (It is much closer to sea level than Estes Cone, however).

Here is Thomas doing his "king of the mountain" impression!


Here's me taking a bit of a break on a ledge in the rock. I decided that if I lived there, that would be the perfect place to take a book, some water, a healthy snack, and hide for an afternoon. The view is amazing, the air is clear, and the peace is blissful.

Mayor's Run 2007

Sometime in the early part of 2007, I got a little bug to run. I have an elliptical trainer at home and I enjoy running on that, but I decided to try running outside. Boy is it different than on the elliptical machine! However, with perseverance and dedication, I was able to run a couple of miles without dying. As a health care professional in our town, I have been advocating health and wellness. Along with this type of lifestyle, I encourage people to eat healthy foods and exercise. I decided to model this thinking by entering the annual Mayor's Run. There is a 2-mile run and a 5-mile run. I signed up for the 2 mile this year. Next year I'm hoping to be able to do the 5 mile. :) I'll admit I'm a little addicted to running. IT'S SO FUN!

The beginning of the race. There were over 70 people running and the weather was amazing!

The home stretch! I'm laughing because not only did I run the 2-mile race, I ran a little more than .75 miles too long! One of local policemen knows us and was pacing me on his bike. I asked him where the turn around was and he told me the wrong information! Instead of turning for the 2 mile race, I did the turn for the 5 mile! I ended up doing a little more than 2.75 miles that morning! Needless to say, I came in last for the 2-mile runners!

Prom 2007

Since Thomas teaches at the high school, we were asked to chaperone prom this past year. We had a great time! I bought a new dress, we went and found new jewelry, and Thomas bought be a beautiful garnet ring to match. We were quite dashing at the prom! Oh, and prom is much more fun now than it ever was in high school!
Here's me in my new dress.


Here's Thomas looking amazing as ever!

My Office

In January 2006, I opened my chiropractic office: LifeArts - Howard Chiropractic. As a student at Palmer, I doodled during a philosophy class (shocking, I know) and designed a rough draft of my logo. I shared it with Thomas and he refined it for me. It is a great illustrative comment on what my practice is all about.

(the logo looks better on a white background - click on the picture to get a better look)

My practice website is: http://lifearts.8k.com Feel free to check it out!

New Home, New Jobs

During our first year of marriage, Thomas taught high school in Plattsmouth. We lived a little over an hour away, so once we knew that his contract was going to be renewed, we looked for a new home. We found one in a little town called Cedar Creek. We have a wonderful home on 3 lots in a lake area. We have beautiful trees all around us, and our neighbors are not right out our window. We love it here. Its quiet (except for the trains that go through frequently). It is about 15 minutes from Plattsmouth, and it works out great for the both of us.

After we moved, I started planning to open my practice. Business space was sparse in Plattsmouth at that time, so it was about 6 months later that I finally opened my office. (I'll post about my office later).

Graduation

After the wedding and honeymoon, I returned to Davenport, Iowa to graduate from Palmer College of Chiropractic. I graduated in October 2004 with my Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. It was quite an accomplishment, and I was thrilled to be finished with the grueling program. My parents, in-laws, and brothers came to see me graduate. Thomas could not attend my graduation due to school commitments. :(

Here is my brother and I. Alan is also a chiropractor. He has a practice in Arkansas. At Palmer, if you have relatives that are chiropractors, they can participate in the graduation ceremony and hand you your diploma. Alan made the trip from Arkansas to give me my diploma.
(yep, my eyes are closed. I didn't get a pic of Alan and I with my eyes open.)

My parents also attended my graduation. This was their third time attending graduation at Palmer. All three of us children have graduated from Palmer.

Honeymoon

During the wedding planning, Thomas was planning the honeymoon. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but promised I'd love it. He was right! He took me to Estes Park, Colorado. I had never been to Colorado before, and fell in love with it immediately. I was seriously like a little kid while we were driving in the mountains. I had the window rolled down with my head out the window looking up at the beautiful scenery. We stayed in an amazing Bed & Breakfast. We had our own cabin with a private bathroom and hot tub! We did lots of hiking and trail walking. Here are a couple of pics of us in the mountains.

This is me on the top of Estes Cone. I thought I was going to die from being out of shape and the fact that there is NO AIR up there. But once I was there, the view was amazing and I'd gladly do it again. :)

This is a picture of Thomas climbing a rock face. He had lived in Colorado during his undergraduate years and had done much more climbing that I had.

Our Wedding

I'll do a bit of "catching up" since I've deleted my previous attempt at a blog and am starting over. :)

On July 31, 2004, Thomas and I vowed to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives. The wedding was beautiful, as we had planned the entire ceremony together. We wrote our own vows, and I'm guessing there wasn't a dry eye in the church. Our reception was held that evening in a rented facility. We had a light dinner and a dance. Our wedding cake was unique as we had friends and family make the red velvet sheet cake that Thomas loves. The cake that we cut was simply a topper from a bakery. :) The photographer was a friend of mine from Iowa, and he did an excellent job of photographing everything. He gave us several CD's of the photos, so I have them forever.

So...here we are: