Monday, October 26, 2009

Photography Challenge

Hello Everyone,

This week entailed much of the same as the previous. Work is still crazy busy at Crocs and Cencorp. I worked ahead in my writing class and think I am doing well. I got an A on my short story and am now working on a one act play. We are getting excited about our trip; however, I am so busy that I know the time will go by quickly. We leave in less than two weeks now.

I collected more things from my house in Mead, and sold a few more things on Craigslist.

Jimi joined an ongoing online photography competition. He's worked hard taking photographs and submitting them. I have attached a few for you: "I Fell in to a Burning Ring of Fire" is a camera in motion challenge taken with a single exposure for 30 seconds. The picture of me being blown away, was taken for the three techniques challenge, being high key, portrait, and stop actions. And the picture of the church with the mountains in the background and reflection on the water was for an open challenge. I think he's having fun with it!





Matt and Tracy came over for a quick BBQ after work on Thursday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to enjoy their company for long, as I had a lot of work to do.

Friday, October 23rd was mom and dad's 45th wedding anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!!

That's all for now - it's back to hitting the books!
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

Monday, October 19, 2009

Another Busy Week

Family and Friends,
 
Another busy week for us.
I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday working for Cencorp, Crocs, and school.
Thursday was Jimi's birthday; Jennifer and I took him to one of his favorite restaurants for supper. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMI!!!
Friday we stayed home so I could continue to work on things.
Saturday morning Jimi and I went to Mead to remove the pile of wood, weeds, etc. we collected a couple of weeks ago. We took five pickup loads to the Mead dump days before calling it a day. I then went to an event for my old Sorority group and afterwards we went to Matt and Tracy's for a BBQ, which was a blast.
Sunday I went back out to Mead to finish raking the yard. I took two pickup loads of branches, grass, and weeds to the brush pile. Afterwards, Jimi and I took Miller for a walk, I went to Crocs for a while, and then it was back home for the evening.
My tenant told me on Sunday that she is moving out the end of the month. I will be relieved to have her out. I can go in there and really clean the place up, etc. It won't take much; mostly elbow grease and it will be much easier to show the house to perspective buyers without the pets. The listing was placed on the MLS this weekend. Here are a couple of the ads with the pictures Jimi took.
My ad on Coloproperty.com
My ad on Realtor.com
Movies we watched this week were "The Death of a Salesman", "A Street Car Named Desire", and "Public Enemy".
 
I am sorry that we do not have more fun things to report; this week's schedule will be very much of the same.
That's all for now.
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Special Day for Dad!!

Hello Friends and Family,



My week had a good balance of all I do and I was able to get a few things off my plate.

Monday and Tuesday evenings I diligently worked for Cencorp catching up on a few things. Jimi and I managed to watch the movie "W", about George W Bush. It was pretty interesting.

Wednesday I left Crocs at 1pm and went to Mead to knock off more from the list of fixer-upper-to-dos. Jimi came out to lend a hand and take pictures for the MLS listing. I filled all the paperwork out and hopefully it will be listed in a few days. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thursday and Friday evenings I hit the books hard finishing my 40 page short story and turning it in. Jimi entered an on line photo contest for fun.

Saturday morning Jimi, Jennifer, Miller, and I got in the car for Nebraska. On the way, we stopped in Beaver City to see my Aunt Mildred and Uncle Jim and then continued on to my parent's house. We surprised Dad for his 70th Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Sunday while Mom and Dad were at church, Jimi and Miller went exploring the area with Jimi's camera and I finished up ALL my homework for the week. That afternoon we celebrated Dad's birthday with cake and ice cream.

It was an awesome visit and great to see everyone. Here are a few pictures.



We began our trip home Monday morning to start a new week all over again.

Hope all is well with you.

Love everybody,

Lorie & Jimi

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

All Work and No Play

Dear Friends and Family,
 
A lot has happened this week, at least for me. I have made some decisions and major changes regarding my house. Jimi and I feel the deal I am offering to sell my house is quite generous; however, I'm not getting the response I had hoped for. We are convinced it is simply a lack of advertising. To weigh my options, we met with a realtor to discuss the option of listing the property with him and we also met with another to gather information on her 'sell by owner program'. After listening to both realtors and weighing the options, I decided to continue to sell the home on my own; however, pay for professional advertising. Jimi will need to take pictures of all aspects of the house, but before doing so, we did a walk through and listed various minor repairs that needed to be done; the list ended up being nearly two pages long. I ordered 15 ton of dirt, which Jimi and Matt shoveled, moved, and leveled. I also ordered 8 ton of rock, which Jimi and Matt shoveled and hauled, while Tracy and I leveled in three different areas on the property. Some of the additional repairs were mounting gutteers, spot painting, power washing, painting bedrooms, raking, tearing down Daniel's fort, and the list goes on. The repairs are almost complete and the house is shaping up nicely. It's a work in progress.
 
I am still increasingly busy at Crocs. I find myself working longer and longer hours each day. My work load for Cencorp has also increased and my school work is suffering. I have not worked on any of it in over a week. I will be glad when the repairs on my house are finished - actually I'll be glad when it finally sells.
 
That was seriously my week!
 
Matt, Tracy, Jimi and I went for Thai and Sushi Saturday night. Yum Yum Good food there.
 
Jimi and I ordered new Crocs and they came in - love them! They are like the mammoths, only the lining is checkered. Jimi ordered black ones with red and black checkered lining. He wears them as house slippers. I ordered pink ones with pink and grey checkered lining. I wear them everywhere. You shoud think about getting some. They are the most comfortable shoes ever and so very warm. www.crocs.com.
 
We are planning to visit my parents this coming weekend; however, if I don't get my house repairs done, pictures taken, and my homework caught up, we will not be able to go. I am working hard though to get everything done.
 
That's it for now. Love everybody!
Lorie & Jimi