We Have A Winner

Indiana got its first Miss America on Saturday! Katie Stam won Miss Indiana hands down in June and we all knew she would be a great representative at Miss America. After watching the TLC reality show leading up to the pageant, it became even more clear that she was a big favorite. She took the preliminary swimsuit title in her first appearance on stage Tuesday but then was really sick with a throat infection most of the week... not a good idea if singing is your talent. Indiana sent a big support crew to Vegas for the pageant and all of the reports coming back were great. On Saturday night, we went to the Roast and Toast of Coach Tiller so I set the DRV to record the show in case we didn't get back in time. Good thing I did, the roast went over four hours and I didn't get home until after 11. I was careful to turn off my phones so I would get any spoiler calls or messages. Apparently not careful enough because as we were rushing out of the event I turned on my phone and up popped the message from the Indiana crew that we had won! I was so excited but so disappointed at the same time... I hate knowing who wins before I get to watch! I rushed home and watched the pageant, fast forwarding through the boring talking and commercials. Katie looked amazing and really was the most consistent competitor. Im not crazy about the new format of the pageant, especially the 90 second talents but it is what it is and we have to deal with it. The top 7 were a really tough group so had I not already known who won, I probably would have been really nervous. Katie's reaction was classic, so surprised and excited. I can only imagine what the Miss Indiana directors were doing at that same moment. Since Ive been involved with Miss Indiana, we have continued to grow and improve the program. First runner up last year and now a Miss America is really exciting! Everyone is busy making plans for a big welcome home party in a few weeks and it will be fun to hear about her experiences as Miss America when she comes back to crown the next Miss Indiana in June. Katie is very deserving of this title and I am happy to say that I know her! Now to find new entertainment for Miss Purdue... as Miss America she doesn't get to travel around Indiana and visit all of the locals so I need to find a plan B fast.

Our New Toy

We purchase a new TV! It all started last Saturday when Karl was getting ready to head out of town to the Detroit Auto Show. We attempted to turn on the TV while eating breakfast in the morning but nothing happened. Karl presses more buttons on more remotes and we have sound but no picture. Karl continues to plug-unplug, turn things on and off and still no picture an no video game systems that work. Anyone that knows Karl can probably guess how he reacted to this, especially only an hour away from leaving town for the weekend. Finally he unplugged all of the fancy stuff and got a picture using just the basic cable- now that would be exciting to most people but that just wont cut it for us. A decision had to be made... figure out how to fix the TV inputs or buy a nice new one and not have to deal with it? We both have been talking about the possibility of a new TV for a while now so the idea of sabotage may have crossed my mind for a second at first. It really was only a second because Karl would not have been as irate if he didn't really care that his 3 year old TV was not working correctly. We quickly did some more research through Best Buy (Karl's favorite store) and consumer reports and saw a few good deals but without the time to go right away, we put off the decision until Karl came back from Detroit. By 7:30 on Tuesday night we had gone to Best Buy and purchased a new TV and stand for decent price. Actually, much less then I initially expected knowing my technophile husband. It was too big to fit in my CRV so we had to wait until Saturday to pick it up. Saturday was like Christmas! After a couple hours of building the stand and organizing the toys, its up and running. I had to take the before and after photos to give the full effect. And what was the first thing we watched on it.... you guessed it, MISS AMERICA! Still a few things left to clean up but overall we are very pleased with the new addition to the family.

Frozen Ella-cicle

This morning was quite the adventure for our little puggle... she experienced her first below zero day. Winters in Indiana are usually not very cold and not nearly as snowy as Wisconsin winters. Today was an exception and I think the first time it has ever been this cold since I've been here. Ella was also new to this and was not very happy about it. During the night she wanted to go out so I got all bundled up to take her out quick at 2 a.m. She took two steps out the front door and came right back in and climbed in bed. Then this morning, she did the same thing-whined to go out but once she got out she wanted nothing to do with it. I finally got her to get around to the side of the house where it was sunny and not so windy. She managed to squat down but when she went to get back up to run in, her little hind legs were stuck. She was starting to freeze! She couldn't move in the snow so I had to pick her up to get her inside. I felt so bad for her but it really was kind of funny to see her try and move her little legs. Apparently puggles cannot survive when its -7 outside. Maybe she should have asked Santa for a sweater and booties for Christmas! Something tells me that only my grandpa will appreciate this post... he thinks its funny to threaten family pets with cooking them, freezing them, or tossing them into rivers!

Lazy New Year

So I said that I was going to make an effort to be more consistent in my blogging efforts in the new year, but that has proven to be difficult. We are boring! So far the new year really hasn't brought us any new and fun experiences or things to share. Basketball season is very busy and now with three new sports starting, I wont have many days off. Karl is staying with his job at St. Elizabeth. We were really hopeful about an opportunity he had with a hospital in Bloomington, IL but it just didn't work out. It would have been a great job with more responsibility, freedom and money but in the end it went to someone with more experience. Disappointing yes but Karl was really happy with the way he interviewed (it was quite the process) and enjoyed the experience of being recruited instead of having to apply. For now we are just hanging around West Lafayette and enjoying some quiet time at home when we get the chance. Karl loves his PS3, Ella loves her new toys and I love wearing sweats and relaxing on the couch.

Holiday Travels

We had a nice Christmas, complete with trips to Wisconsin and California. We were able to beat the blizzard and leave early on Tuesday to get to my parents. The drive was pretty smooth, slow but we made it before the roads got too icy and before the snow really started to come down. Ella stayed behind with Karl's parents so it was just the two of us making the trip. We did some last minute shopping and were lazy most of the time we were there. My dad made his famous Christmas Eve ham on Wednesday night and we spent Christmas day with both sides of my family. In the morning we did presents with dad then we headed over to mom's for lunch and presents with my mom, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We got a lot of great gifts and even though Ella wasn't there, we brought a few back for her. After the presents were all opened at mom's we helped grandma and grandpa set up their wii and showed them some of the wii fit and wii sports games. Friday morning we had to get up really early to make it to Chicago for our flight to San Diego. It started to snow pretty hard on Christmas so we allowed extra time to get there for our 11am flight. We planned to meet Karl's parents at Midway to take the direct flight but with the weather, things got a little crazy. The ice in northern Indiana made getting to the airport difficult for them and what normally takes 2 hours took 4. We made it just fine but we had to watch the boards in the airport to find out when and where our flight was leaving from. It ended up being delayed 3 hours which was pretty lucky considering Henry and Sharon probably would not have made the flight if it went as scheduled.

San Diego was a fun place to visit. I have only been to California one time and that was for the Rose Bowl in 2000 so I barely remember it. We stayed at a really nice Hilton resort and were close to a lot of the things we wanted to do. We didn't have any set plans other than visiting the San Diego Zoo and going to the Chargers game. The Kraebber family has a close relationship with Nick Hardwick, former Purdue player and center for the Chargers so he provided us with tickets to the game. Karl and I have gotten to know Nick as well so it was great to see him. The game was really the highlight of the trip, not only did the Chargers win and make it into the play-offs but the tickets we got were in the 4th row! The seats were amazing and I didn't need to use the zoom on my camera at all. I usually don't enjoy pro games as mush as I enjoy college games but its certainly more fun when you know people out on the field. Some of the other highlights of our trip included visiting the Wild Animal Park, Torrey Pines Golf Course (home to Tiger Woods), San Diego Zoo and downtown San Diego. The weather wasn't as warm as I was hoping for but it was sunny and beautiful every day. We were able to see the beaches but it was really not swimsuit weather! It wasn't a very long trip but the few days was still relaxing and fun. We made it back with no delays and were back at work on new year's eve.

Click the image below to see some of the photos from our trip: