House Update, May 2009

It's been busy, busy, busy around the Swanger abode lately! While the weather continues to be nice, we have been focusing on outside projects but there have also been some pretty drastic changes to the house on the inside as well. For instance check out the before and after pictures of the great room in the back of the house:

Here are some "Before" pictures:

And here are some "After" pictures:

This is our new light fixture by the back door

This was what our house looked like in 2007 when you came down the street:

This is what our house looks like now when you drive down the street (some of the plants have exploded over the past 2-3 years):

Babies....again!

I was outside taking some pictures of our lanscaping in the front yard, and this is what I found.....

I actually think we have already met...the other day on the sidewalk, but as long as he/she stays out of the back yard, everything will be okay!

Delayed Easter Pictures

I had to share some of these pictures of my niece, Josie! She is 4 years old (as of Mother's Day) and ready to take on the world. She has started to become quite the "fashionista" and likes to dress up!

For her birthday she got lots of fun clothes (some from her fun Aunt Blythe and Aunt Melissa) and she got mad when someone tried to put them away for her to open the next gift.

She is a lot of fun and can talk your ear of these days!

Josie was caught enjoying one of Grandma's yummy homemade rolls! She even managed to help her Mom and Aunt Blythe make them earlier in the day and made some "Jojo rolls"!

Here she is showing of her wonderful spunk and smile!

Seeds of Hope Community Garden Blessing of the Seeds

Last Saturday about 20 people gathered at the Seeds of Hope Community Garden for a Blessing of the Seeds. It was a nice way for the gardeners to meet each other and have a time of prayer and fellowship. Most of the plots have been planted and lots of things are starting to sprout and grow.

There are several beginners and several experienced gardeners in the mix. It has also been neat as one of the other local churches has a youth Sunday School class that would like to work on the Hot Meals plot. Everything grown in the plot will go towards serving people in the community. Having the help of these students will be great and my hope is that they learn a lot as well and it sparks their interest in gardening.

Scott and I have a plot as well and we put in a wide variety of fruits and veggies and most everything seems to be doing well! Here are some pictures!

Paul and his dog Kinsey working in their plot with help from Little Jay

Roxie & Chris's plot starting to bloom and grow!

Gotta love the Smokies!

Not much new to report here at the homestead. Scott is still working on our great room getting it ready for primer. He hit a few hiccups with the first coat of primer so it has of course taken longer than originally planned.

I was supposed to be a garden group today but it was cancelled due to the weather so I decided instead to update my blog and add a picture that makes me happy any time I see it! I love this picture from our trip last year to the Smokies. Isn't it beautiful??

Hail, Hail to Old Purdue!

Yesterday I spent April Fools Day driving to Purdue to attend a meeting for the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association. I didn't realize that most of the schools have their own alumni association in addition to the Purdue Alumni Association.

Anyway, the drive there and back was uneventful and the meeting was great. The Veterinary Alumni Association want to ensure that Technicians graduating from Purdue feel like part of the Veterinary Alumni--not just for Veterinarians. They asked myself and several other Technician Alumni to sit on the board and help promote the association to Technicians.

The meeting was held in the Dauch Alumni building and I had never seen the building so that was neat too. It always amazes me how much the campus changes each time I visit!

Here is the inside of the Spurgeon Hall of Spirit. The Boilermaker Special is a complete replica of the engine that goes around campus on game day...right down to the rivets...those engineers!!

By the way, have you joined your Purdue Alumni Association lately??? See, on the job already!

Babies are cute in any species!

When I came into work today I found out one of the surgeries today was a Labrador that needed a cesarean section. She was expecting 9-10 puppies and the breeder didn't want her to deliver without assistance. Surgery went really well and she delivered 10 healthy puppies (with some help from the BRAC crew). Mom and all of her babies went home as soon as mom could get up and move around. No rest for the weary huh? And we think it's rough to breast feed one baby and take care of it....imagine 9-10 mouths wanting food all the time! One of the boys weighed in at 1 pound, that is HUGE for a puppy.

Here are some pictures from today!