Valerie Update

Good Evening,
We wanted to inform you all of Valerie’s friend and family filled weekend. This weekend was a weekend that Valerie had been anticipating for quite some time. First off, Valerie’s brother Jamie and his wife Cheryl drove up from Colorado and along the way they pick up Valerie’s father, Jim, in Iowa. Valerie’s mother Harriet wasn’t able to make this trip due to health reasons, but sent all her love and delicious cookies! Jennifer, Valerie’s daughter, also came up with her children Mykah and Madilyn as well as Nickolas and I.
It was an i​n​d​e​s​c​r​i​b​a​b​l​e moment when Valerie saw her family walk in the door. There were tears, there were hugs, and there was joy. Valerie was in very good spirits and seemed to enjoy every little bit of c​o​n​v​e​r​s​a​t​i​o​n​.
She also had many friends from Neenah come in and out throughout the weekend. And once again, we must emphasize that Valerie truly has some of the greatest friends in the world! Their diligent visits, love, and consistency are a true testament to their friendship. As you can tell, her room was constantly filled with shared stories, reminiscing, laughter, and holding hands.

Thank you for all you continued prayers, cards, flowers, and comments. We all appreciate them more than words can describe.

Valerie and her Father, Jim

 Valerie and her Brother, Jamie

Presenting

This entire semester I have been working on my senior design project for Akkerman. You know the one project that is supposed to sum up the skills that you have gained throughout your entire college career. For my project I was designing a 100 ton swivel.Think of it as that little piece in your chair that allows you to spin. This one is 5 inches in diameter almost four feet in length and will still spin if you stack 75 Volkswagen Beetles on top of it. I wish I could say that I did it all on my own. The truth is I was working with and amazing team. We worked quickly and concisely, day and night to complete our task. The best part is that we are all still friends now that we are done. For our presentation we described and showed our project to the faculty, professional advisors, and students. Overall we think they were very impressed. Akkerman even said it was the best project that they have ever seen come out of MSU! 

Cheers to hard work, dedication, and being done!

That sound as it turns out was a problem. The shaft that was machined to fit perfectly inside of the bearings that were sent to Austria to be perfectly machined was not so perfect. As it turns out it was out of round, non concentric and in places the wrong diameter. For every rotation the shaft was causing our bearings to click in to and out of place. Luckily we figured it out before our bearings were destroyed. And new shaft was made!

Adding to our Family!

Last weekend we got Lilyan! She is quite the ball of fun! She is so lovely and sweet right now! I have never been much of a "dog" person, so I am amazed at how quickly I have attached myself to her! Nickolas has been looking for the right dog for a year now, and when we found this breeder, we couldn't resist!

So far we have had quite a few restless nights filled with all night howling and scratching from the crate, but I am sure they will be worth it in the long run! Here's to preparing ourselves for the future! 

Epic Man's Weekend

Well I spent my weekend in Clark County and needless to say, it was a success! We shot a lot of pheasants.

Marathon...Check

Well...I finally did it! I actually ran my first full marathon. It was my birthday on the Friday, the 22nd, so I didn't get to much celebrating since the marathon was on the 23rd. Going into the race I knew Ashley and her mother would be there to cheer me on, but little did I know, they had much more support than that arranged for me that day!! 

The race started with it cold and drizzling out, but I wasn't about to complain because I knew it was supposed to warm up rather soon! But after I hit my 5 mile mark, I saw something unexpected. My good buddies Tyler, Stephen and Doug were there to cheer me on along the trails with big signs and obnoxious noise makers! My adrenaline was pumping with excitement, and I quickly began to pick up my pace. It couldn't have even been another mile when I saw my Reid and  Katie with different signs to encourage me and yell at me along the way. When I hit mile 8 I saw Ashley and her mother Laurie again, but this time, they were standing with another great surprise. It was my sister Jenni, Madilyn and Mykah! 

Throughout the race they continued to follow me, give me encouragement, gu, water, support and love. I even had the opportunity to talk to my mother through  the phone for a short bit during the race. I know she would have loved to see me do it, but it was enough just to hear her say she was proud of me. 

I am happy to say I finished the race with a time of  3:54:04. It definitely wasn't an easy feat, but I knew that I soon as I finished I would get to celebrate with everyone that was there! I just didn't know how much celebrating was actually in store for us that night!

Shortly thereafter, I discovered that Ashley planned a Halloween party at my friend's place out in the country! We all got dressed up and ended up partying until 5a.m.! Needless to say I had a pretty rough Sunday - including very sore muscles and one massive headache! It was all worth it and I couldn't be more grateful for all the friends and family that came out to support me and encourage me that day. I know that they are a big reason why I completed this goal. Love you guys and enjoy the slideshow!

Gobble, Gobble

This was the weekend I shot my first turkey. One of my favorite things in the whole world is to be outside. Hiking, camping, snowboarding you name it. So you can imagine how giddy I become when Ashley's father asks me to go with him on his hunting trips. As you can see from the picture these are not your run of the mill hunting trips. No sir, where he takes me there is no sitting in a tree stand freezing your toes off hoping for the big one to come strutting by. Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed my considerable amount of time spent in ground blinds, cat tails and tree stands. I guess I am just more partial to going after my game. Its like your on a mission that is going to require every skill that you possess. The goal find, track and harvest that trophy that is bigger than all of the rest. We spent three days hunting along the banks of the Missouri river. Every time I think back on this trip all I can do is smile.

Great River Ragnar Relay 2010 - Team R.I.T.Z

This is a video I created of the Ragnar Relay that began in Winona to Minneapolis, MN. It was 193 miles total and it took team Running in the Zone (Team RITZ) 25 hours and 43 minutes to complete! Overall we placed 24th out of 291 teams and in our division we placed 7th out of 192 teams. Nickolas and I both trained for this, but due to doctor's orders I was told that I could not compete. Luckily we found Mandy to join our team and she did a fabulous job. I was saddened not to be able to compete at this, but I loved being in the excitement, capturing all the excitement, and driving our smelly teammates around! I hope you enjoy the video!! Hope we see you there next year!

Nick's Intership

Nickolas has been working at Akkerman for an intership this summer and I finally had the opportunity to go see where he works. Needless to say, I was very impressed! He seems to really enjoy the people he works with and what he is doing there. This summer he has worked on some very impressive projects! He began the summer by researching some 3D animation software, then he designed and created a 5000 pound shipping container that Akkerman will continue to use for future projects and he designed built a geothermal testing unit! So you can see he has been very busy!
For this internship he has been working with five other guys from MSU and living with them. So yes, we are newlyweds, and not living together yet! Well, during the week that is! 
Luckily, we only have to do this for about 2 more weeks. Since, my car was broken into at our home about a month ago, I have been a nervous nelly about being home alone. So Nick has been good about frequently coming back during the week. But Akkerman is about 2 hours away, he just got a summer apartment with some of the guys for the summer. Needless to say, we are ready for our life, in our home to finally begin! Until then, I'll continue to organize all our gifts and thank yous, while Nick finishes up his summer work! Here is to hoping the next two weeks pass by quickly!

Our Honeymoon - Day 3

Our Honeymoon - Day 2