Bye Bye House

Here are some final pics of the house before we said goodbye for good... we will miss our first house!

So much to say...

Summer is gone and Christmas will be here shortly, and of course I have been lazy about updating everyone about all the happenings in the Brunner household. First, we are very sad to report that we lost Jason's grandmother, Edna Brunner, in August. We will miss her dearly, but rejoice knowing she had a full and long life full of love and happiness.

Many people already are aware that this summer we moved from Manhattan to Kansas City because Jason is now working full time in Leavenworth, Kansas. I am currently still working for Kansas State University, I drive to Manhattan once a week, then work the rest of my week from home. So far things are working out well, however I am still keeping my eyes open for something in the KC area. At the moment, especially in this economic climate, I am happy I have a good job, with a boss who is willing to be flexible!

Thankfully, we were able to sell our house in Manhattan quickly... and although there were a few bumps in the road to closing, we still made money! It is a little sad to say goodbye to your first home, especially since we put a lot of sweat into that house, but we are currently enjoying the apartment life with no yard work or house projects. Even the dogs enjoy the apartment because they get to go on lots of walks! We are finally settling in and having fun learning a new area, playing soccer, and meeting new people.

I am also happy to report that after MONTHS AND MONTHS of training I successfully completed my first marathon on Sunday, October 18th. Jason and my parents came with me to San Francisco to be my cheerleaders! I am already signed up to run another marathon in May and even convinced Jason and some of our friends from Colorado to run too! I have lots of pictures, and will be sure to share them soon.

It has been a whirlwind couple of months, but things are starting to settle down and I hope to be better about blogging and keeping everyone informed about what is going on with us!

Lonely

Well, Jason started his job in Kansas City on Monday, and we are lucky enough to have great friends who he is staying with until we can move him into the apartment we rented on the 1st. So, it is just me and the dogs for the week! It is pretty lonely and quiet around the house without Jason, and I have trouble falling asleep... but I know I am safe with my two guard dogs by my side. Hopefully, we won't have to do this for long, but it could be a difficult transition to working from home, and I will need to be here to train another person in our office to help me with a few things. But, of course Jason will be home on Friday evening and we can catch up on his first week at work!

In other news...

Since Dani's last blog a lot has happened, and thus the reason for a lack of blogs. First, I passed prelims with flying colors. After passing, I was offered a position at the Army Research Institute Leadership Development Research Unit at Fort Leavenworth, KS. This means that we will be moving to Kansas City. I start my job on 22 June and am really excited. Here I will work on finishing my dissertation.

Dani looked for a job and was offered a position, but turned it down because she was told she can keep her job at K-State and work from home. She has to travel back to Manhattan once a week, but is excited to keep a job she likes. She's training for her marathon and is running double-digit milage already. 

We also finished renovating our house and are trying to sell it. Hopefully, this doesn't take too long so that we can just start our life in KC! 

Mexico

We just got back from a week long vacation in Mexico. Despite drug wars and swine flu we all decided to make the trip to paradise for a very special occasion. Brain and Jenny decided to have a destination wedding. 

They decided to have their ceremony right on the beach. It was really pretty and the weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony. 

Here's a picture of the college group. Most of Brian's roommates from the soccer house made the voyage. 

Dani and her second husband, Matt Lay.

Terrance Daredevil Injuries

Here are the pictures of his minimal wounds. 

Look at his chin. 

Road rash on the belly. The purple bandage is for the IV, not a wound. 

SuPeR DoGGy!

For all those people who think small dogs are sissy, little, lap dogs Terrance went a long way to prove you wrong. Dani, I and the dogs were driving in the Jeep to a bbq. We always put the dogs in the back of the Jeep, but Terrance has figured out how to move into the back-seat so he can hang out of the window. He has done this for years with no problems. Well this time he decided to jump out of the window, on the highway, at 65mph. He ran across the highway before I was able to stop and get to him. When I got over to him he was shaking and bleeding, but he hadn't been hit and seemed to be moving fine. One of the great things about living in KS is how kind the people here are. No less than two people stopped on the highway to help us get the dog. One of these people was a vetmed student who did a rough check on him and said he looked fine but we needed to take him to the hospital to make sure he was okay internally. We took him to the hospital and they did a full exam and said nothing seemed to be wrong and were amazed that he was ready to play and be Terrance. Three different vets saw Terrance and all just had this look of awe that the dog survived jumping out of a car traveling at 65mph on a highway. 

What did I do?!

Oh no... It appears I was selected in the random drawing for the 2009 Nike Women's Marathon! I was so excited about the idea, but now that I know I have to run, I am nervious and anxious! Well, at least I have a long time to train...

Jason Prelims-Day 1

Jason completed his first day of his Preliminary Exams today... He seemed confident with this first day of testing, only 2 more test days! Yea!

Update on the boys

I haven't posted pictures of Terrance and Palmer lately, so I thought I should share a few recent photos. They really are good boys, and I am lucky to have such loyal, loving, and fun dogs! We usually try and take pictures of them after they get new toys, because they get SO excited.

Palmer got a new rope...

And Terrance got a stuffed cheetah...

I think the stuffed animal lasted about 3 days before Palmer ripped it into pieces, RIP stuffed cheetah.

First Marathon

Well, I took the plunge and registered for the lottery to run the Nike Women's Marathon!

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/category/events/nike-womens-marathon/

Runners are selected by a random drawing, so I am hoping I get in and can run my first marathon, in what looks to be a really fun race geared for women. I registered with a group of ladies from the Little Apple Road Runners (a running club here in Manhattan which I have become a part of in the last year) so we will all get in and be able to go to San Francisco and run together! If I don't get in, I will probably try to find another marathon around the same time-frame (early fall). I should find out by the end of the month, so I will keep everyone posted!

In the meantime, I have been checking out half-marathons in the area and working on training. Right now I haven't signed up for one yet, but I am looking at the Lincoln Nebraska race the first weekend in May.

Blogging Slacker

I have been told quite a bit lately that I am slacking on my blogging duties (ahem... Kristen). But, in my defense, it has been a pretty busy semester for me, and I know everyone is busy and life gets crazy, so I am not trying to make excuses! That said, it has been difficult to find free time since school started up again in January. This semester I have classes Monday evening until 8:00pm and Tuesday/Thursday until 7:00pm, so it makes for very long days working 8:00am-5:00pm then going to class afterwards! But so far, classes are going ok and at the moment I am doing alright in both of them. My Finance class isn't exactly enjoyable, but all I need to do is get a B, so that is what I am hoping for.

Jason has been diligently studying for his Comprehensive Exam which is scheduled for the week of March 23rd-27th, I think he is a little nervous, but I am confident he will do great! I am sure we will be celebrating when he hears he has passed with flying colors, but keep him in your thoughts that week.

In past news, Jason and I went to Columbus Ohio to watch the US Men's National Soccer team play Mexico in a World Cup Qualifying game. It was a lot of fun and our seats were great, and the US came away with another big win against Mexico! Thanks to my mom and dad for using their Hotel Points to get us a free hotel room, we certainly appreciated it. Here we are pre-game at a local Soccer bar in Columbus, we were able to walk from there to the stadium.



It torrentially downpoured and was super windy for about 15min. prior to game time, but after they kicked off luckily it stopped.

Celebrating after one of the US goals!

New Link

I found this great site about a young girl who found a way to help feed dogs and cats in shelters across the country. Please click on the banner!