My new job

I started my new adventure today at Materialise.  And my first day went as good as a first day can go. I'm really like I'm going to like my new company and position.  Lots of new projects and experiences lie ahead of me and a couple trips to Belgium.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time.  But I keep telling myself that God won't give me more than I can handle and am capable.

Sleep-over & End of Summer Party

A great end to the summer (well kind of the end of summer)... Karle and Kahle finally got to come over for a sleep over.   We shopped at Wal-Mart and then came home and Ryan and Kahle worked on his legos, Karle played with Miller, we had dinner on the porch and ended the night with Turtle Tales.  Then in the morning we made breakfast, more lego work and playing in the sprinklers.  I love those two!  So grateful that we only live an hour away.

Then it was time for the Ewald-Reick family end of summer party... and it was great.  Lots of food, drinks, sun, games and laughter.  Every time we are together it makes me remember all the good times we had growing up and I'm so glad we are all still in each other lives.

Also, we brought back the game KUBB that we played at Steve and Beka's rehearsal dinner.  And in good fashion, Dad, Beka and I gave everyone a good beat down.

Last day at Hino

It's a sad and happy day at Hino.  I've had a great 4 years and 2 days here and am very grateful for all the opportunities Hino has given.  I'm also very sad to be leaving some great co-workers. It's going to be a hard day but it's time to move on.

But on the happy side on Monday, I am starting a great new adventure and am very excited for what lies ahead.

I made spaghetti sauce - by myself

My first attempt at making spaghetti sauce was 95% successful.  With a great recipe from Mom, who got it from Mrs. Worshkey (okay I spelled that horribly) - the best cook ever.  I say 95% because it's a little salty, but that's okay.  It's still tasty and next time I will not add all the salt but add in little bits and taste along the way.

I picked lots of tomatoes from our garden (and there is still lots more to go) and some teeny tiny onions.

Put them in the blender... and chopped them up.  Occasionally I added one of those tiny onions or chunks of the big on.

Then added it all to the big pot and let is boil and cook down for about 2 hours.  Then added the seasonings and unfortunately too much salt and let it cook a little longer.

The into the jars it went.  8 quarts and 1 pint.  Not bad for the my first batch.

Garden Disaster

So apparently while we were on vacation and not guarding our garden... the raccoon found it and destroyed almost all of our sweet corn.  Mary and clan found it when they stopped over to check on the house while we were out.  Luckily when we got back home I was able to find a few good cobs that were edible and they were yummy.  But the rest was hard and not sweet at all.

It has since gotten worse.  And we now have traps out there and they keep digging around them... but we haven't caught anything yet.

On a positive side... we have lots and lots and lots of tomatoes.  So many I'm not sure what to do with them all. And lots of pepper - so look out salsa and tomato sauce.  Mom... when you coming down to help?

Blogs are coming

So I've totally been slacking in the blogging.  But I'm working on a few blogs... vacation recap... new job... Miller update.  They are coming soon... hopefully this weekend while I'm relaxing on the couch, maybe in between naps.

Changes Coming

Today I made a big decision... and if you know me, I'm not big on decisions.  But I will be starting a new chapter in my life soon.  I accepted a Marketing Manager position with Materialise in Plymouth.  I'm pretty excited, very nervous, and I think ready.  I'm expecting a counter from Hino, but we'll see what happened. 

And we leave tomorrow for Alaska!  So so so excited!!  Dad, Julie and Jason saw a mama bear and her 4 cubs yesterday.  Pretty exciting!