#TBW Kirkus

September 11th is a day that no one will ever forget...I'm sure that everyone can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when the Twin Towers were hit...I know I sure do. However, what everyone might not know is that September 11th is also one of my best friend's birthdays.

Kirk and I have been friends forever and to say that we've been through a lot together, would be an understatement. 

He's the guy who I know will always have my back and be by my side when I need him, the guy who I've spent countless night cruising Main Street and all the country roads with, and the guy I think of every time I hear "Smooth Criminal!"

Kirk's laugh is infectious and his smile can light up a room. The guy can always make me smile, no matter how bad of a mood I may be in. 

Happy Birthday Kirk!

Thank you for always being by my side!

#TBW Love Birds

My parents hit a milestone earlier this week... a milestone that is becoming less and less common in today's society. 

On Monday, September 2nd, they celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary.

To celebrate, they headed back to the city in which they met, but opted to head to the casino instead of the student union. It was there a long-haired hippie with an army jacket and "stupid hat" approached the studious, naive girl from the farm. After much persistence she finally agreed and the rest is history!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! 

May there be 35 more years of love, laughter, and joy!

#TBW School Crush

This past weekend was Southwest Country Fest in Ashland, KS and if you've never heard of it, you should definitely check it out. It is two nights jam-packed with some of the best red dirt country music! 

I was able to go both nights, but for Friday night's concert, I scored me a hot date with the new PE teacher in town!  

By Monday afternoon, his students knew all about his "new girlfriend" and my volleyball girls gave me quite a bit of grief and seemed a bit jealous that I had a date with the dreamy Mr. Stegman!

What they don't know is Joe and I go WAAAYY back! I vividly remember playing at his house with him and his cousins when we were young and in our high school days, he was like my little brother!  

Truth is, I had a great time on Friday night with a great friend of mine. I'm so proud of Joe in all he has accomplished and am glad to have him back home and teaching in the Bucklin school system. 

I can't wait to have many more "hot dates" with Mr. Stegman!

#TBW 'Tis the Season

Guess what started on Monday? 

VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE!
Can you tell I'm excited? I mean I've only waited 10 or so months for this week to be here...it's one of my most favorite times of the year! This is my third year being one of the assistant coaches for the BHS volleyball team and quite frankly, I love every minute of it! Doubt me? Read  For the Love of the Game!

Nonetheless, since I am more than excited to be in the gym again with a great group of girls, I thought it'd be fitting to post a picture of a great group of girls who I was blessed to call my teammates.



Here's to another great volleyball season! 

#TBW Rainy Days

I know I’m a day late for thus post to be considered it a #TBW, but that is why this post is not based on a picture from the past. It’s going to be based on a fun-filled memory spurred by a present day rain.

 
Rattlesnake Creek on 8/8/13

It rained almost every day while I was in Detroit and at the time it sickened me a little bit knowing how much we needed moisture back here at home. I just wanted to bottle it up and send it home. Well, there’s no need now – we went from severe drought to flash flood warning. The amount of water standing around is absolutely amazing and it makes me think back to my younger days.
 

Whenever we had a significant amount of rain in the summertime while I was growing up, you could guarantee one thing – my best friend Tamren was coming over…we were getting our inner tubes…and we were headed to the draw(a drainage ditch that simply runs north to south through town).

 We would start at one end of the block and float downstream to the other end, always daring each other to go through the concrete culverts under the street. I don’t actually remember going through with any of the “double dog dares” - those culverts were always a bit too dark, scary, and smelly for me!

Although I don’t remember going through the culvert, I do remember losing one of my favorite and totally awesome clear jelly sandals during one of our float trips. Do you remember those sweet shoes? They were the best and I was completely devastated. I looked for days for that sandal, but it somehow slipped into the water and made its way down the Rattlesnake Creek.

It’s supposed to rain again tonight…too bad Tamren lives four and a half hours away because tomorrow would be a great float day!

(Photo by Scott Tilley)

#TBW The Bells

As you all know I consider Detroit to be my little home away from home for numerous reasons, but one that you may not know about is family. 

My cousin's wife, Emily, grew up in the surrounding area of Detroit and her parents continue to live in Milford...so at least once every summer, Chris, Emily, and the kids make the trip from Ohio to the Detroit area. While visiting her family, they have always taken the time to come see us or invite Mom and I out to their family celebration. 



We don't get to see Chris, Emily, and their kids on a regular basis so it is always great to see them and it is a guaranteed good time! We have celebrated the 4th of July with them on Milford Lake, made a trip to Frankenmuth and Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store, and so much more.



This year we decided to switch it up. Instead of them making the trip to come see us, we are going to them! We are heading out tomorrow and I can't wait to see them. 



This is exactly why I chose them to be the topic for my #TBW post.
 Check out some of our adventures!

Dragging My Feet

“But I don’t want to go!” That phrase is often heard in our household when Jason & Heather come to pick up their kiddos after a day of playing and I can’t help myself, but I want to yell the same thing now as I head into my last four days of therapy…my last four days in Detroit. I’m just not ready to go home.

Once again we had a great week - therapy was good as always and as we head into the home stretch, I need to not only continue to focus on the tasks at hand, but also how to incorporate some of what I have been doing here into what I do at home. If only I could kidnap one of my trainers and take them with me! Just kidding...kind of.

This past week Mom and I actually ventured out of our normal area and headed north a little bit. On Wednesday, we made a trip to Warren to visit my Great Aunt Ruth and on Thursday, we went to the Holocaust Museum in Farmington Hills.

 

Aunt Ruth is my Grandma Bea’s younger sister and boy, can you tell it! We spent about two hours sitting around her kitchen table talking. When Aunt Ruth pulled out the cookie dough to make chocolate chip cookies and put them in the oven, I was immediately reminded of sitting around Grandma Bea’s table. Grandma and I always had our discussions over hot tea and chocolate chip cookies and it just made me feel at home with Aunt Ruth. It was a great afternoon trip and the only thing that would have made it better was if Grandma Bea would have been there as well.

 

Thursday’s trip was to the Holocaust Museum was a little bit more somber. I have studied the Holocaust quite a bit and although this may be somewhat morbid, I am fascinated by it. I think my fascination lies in the fact that I don’t understand it – I don’t understand that level of hatred and how one person can have so much power to cause such hurt and devastation. The museum was extremely interesting as it covered Jewish culture, WWII, the reign of Hitler, and the mistreatment of the Jews. They had numerous videos of Holocaust survivors telling not only their personal stories, but what life was like in a concentration camp and on the death marches. I don’t know how to describe it other than sad…and sickening. It is something I will never fully grasp.

 

It was Mom’s birthday on Friday so after therapy we walked down to the Hudson Café, ate a late lunch, then continued onto Campus Martius where a bunch of vendors has set up shop for the weekend. We browsed quite a bit, but nothing caught our eye enough to buy!

 

Also in celebration of Mom’s birthday, we went to the Tigers game on Saturday evening! After a one hour rain delay, the game began and the Tigers took no mercy on the Phillies. At the end of the 1^st inning, we were up 5-0. Tigers ended the game 10-0 and despite the colder weather and burning my tongue on my hot chocolate, I would say the evening was a success!

This week will be a short one here in the D as I have moved my Friday therapy session to Thursday and as soon as I am dismissed, we are hitting the highway. In the meantime though, they’re moving right along with the Transformers 4 set and will start to film this week…maybe I can become an extra and will have to stay!
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