Homecoming, etc

Hey everybody!

Just wanted to let you in on some news that happened over the weekend.

I, along with Lexy and about 50 others, participated in the Homecoming 5K Run on Saturday and............I won it! I started out ahead and basically led the whole way, ha. My time was 19:41. It was pretty fun. The link to the Jamestown Sun article is below so you can have proof!

http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/146509/group/Sports/

It was a fun weekend with Lexy, Jeff & Marissa, friends, and some awesome Scrabble time with Grandma at her sweet, spiffy, new-look condo! The 4 of us (Lexy & I, Jeff & Marissa) had a blast throughout the weekend with our own splash of activities as well. Check the Frontier Village and pumpkin pictures on Facebook for more visuals!

Love, Austin

New Job. New Apartment

1. Anders and I moved at the beginning of July into our own apartment, wahoo! I keep meaning to take some pictures to show everyone but that would mean I would have to clean up a bit... I decided to just take some quick pictures, threw the dirty underwear in the corner so you can get an idea. You will get a "lived in" feel. We brought some things home from Jamestown that are now working perfectly for us: desk from grandma's sewing room, "chester drawers", Grandma Ruby paintings in bedroom, turquoise tulip chair. I'm going to paint the desk and another sewing table not pictured, any paint color suggestions would be appreciated. We are loving our new place, we have good friends living next door and 3 other families from our church on our block.








2. I started a new job working as a para in a classroom for K-2nd graders with Emotional Behavior Disorders. It has been CHALLENGING! We only have 7 kids, but many of them have highly aggressive behaviors. They are absolutely darling children, but they also bite, kick, hit and swear like sailors! It's been a learning experience, and I daresay it is getting better as the kids are settling in, but after this year I will have the behavior management skills to work just about anywhere. I really like the team of teachers I am working with and feel very supported. I am also SOOO thankful to have a full time job with benefits!

Moving Day!

After 43 years in one place, Mom's made the big move! Many things had been moved already, such as dishes, clothes, books, and many boxes. Mom had already been filling all those great closets and storage areas with her things. Saturday was the day for the furniture and the final move. We rented a 17' UHaul. Friends came along at just the right time, some to load and some to unload.

Glad we weren't packing for a cross-country move! The truck made three trips back and forth.
The view from Mom's balcony. A nice ramp down to her garage. Some things came up the elevator, some up the nearby (and faster) steps.
We drove out to the lake Friday night to get the trailer and four-wheeler for moving the piano down the hill. Carolyn had come up with the great idea of taking it out through the kitchen rather than down the stairs. Tom took lid, pedals, and legs off the piano, and then strapped it to a skid borrowed from Dave Morlock. The guys rolled it through the kitchen out onto the deck, then loaded it onto the trailer, and Tom SLOWLY drove down the till with four guys bracing the piano. It worked! Then onto the truck, across town, off the truck . . .
The careful measurements and calculations worked out. The piano fit onto the elevator!
Most of Mom's stuff was in the condo by 12:30. Time for a first meal in her new place! Tom, Lexy, Austin, Dan and Andrew Hornung, and the happy new condo resident! A couple of condo neighbors brought goodies.
Deb Hornung insisted on this posed shot. Looks like I'm having so much fun! I didn't have anything to do with moving the dryer, but it was made easy with the use of a great appliance dolly borrowed from Bismarck friends. Tom hooked up the washer with new hoses, and refitted the dryer (undoing Keith's adaptation of venting the dryer out the side through the wall).

It was a lot of work, but all went smoothly. So thankful for all those who helped. We're looking forward to many happy memories in Mom's new home.

A World Without Birds

I was sitting on my parent's back deck and realized how much I love hearing birds chirp. So, I wrote a poem:

A WORLD WITHOUT BIRDS by Joel Land:

A world without birds would be such a drag.
A world without bird turds and baby bird slag.
A fresh fertilizer for all of the world.
A soil that intrigues boys and disgusts the girls.
Imagine the sadness in one earthworms life,
If he didn't have a dirt home to offer his wife.
Consequently, the worm becomes foods
For hungry infant beaks to which the mother bird broods.
If animals were aware of this dreary cycle,
They'd all be depressed.
The way of the world is just order and mess.
I must confess, I applaud the birds ways.
They do what we don't, and have yet to complain.
To live and provide, to love and then die.
Ah, to see through the sparrow's eye.


ps. maybe this is the way to spruce up the fam blog? everyone who reads this must pen a poem and post it.

pps. Grandma, this one is for you.

Jamestown College Choir in concert

They were so good that I had to hear the concert twice! The choir came through Bismarck on Monday, March 14th, at the end of their California tour. Michael and I went to the concert that evening at First Presbyterian. Tom was in Dallas so he missed it. Their home concert was scheduled for Sunday, March 20th, at the Basilica in Jamestown. Tom wanted to drive over for it, so I decided to go with him. The concert was even better this time, and I loved hearing all the music again. Above: Austin is in the middle of back row, Jeff is holding down the Tenor I section, with the red candle just above his head.The cousins posing with their biggest fan. Jeff's hair is a lot shorter than when I saw him on Monday. I hear that campus stylists-in-training were vying for the chance to cut his locks. Such handsome men in their tuxedos. Wish you all could have been there!

Backyard Nature with Joel

Well, I'm now done dog-sitting and I'm back at my house on Highland Avenue. It's been rainy and cloudy all Spring Break. But, this morning I got up and was looking out the window and saw all these creatures in about 5 mins. I would've taken pictures (they were only about 5-10 feet away through the window) but I believe my camera was stolen by the airlines coming back from Miami. So, you'll have to take my word for it.

The Mockingbird. A very common TN bird. Very playful and fun to watch (much like a Kingbird.)

The Squirrel is the obvious frequenter of our yard. They are all over the place here in Cleveland, TN.
Next is the Carolina Wren. Our neighbors own a few birdhouses and these wrens occupy one of them.
Blue Jay. These birds are very aggressive but incredibly skidish. A brilliant example flew down and landed right by the window. What incredible blue! I think there's some Prentice blue in there somewhere.
I saw the female Cardinal first. She hopped around the corner with her brilliant red beak.
Not far behind was the male Cardinal. What a pair.
This was the new species I have never seen before, much less in our yard. At first I thought it was an oriole but after some research, I found it is the Spotted Towhee. A very pretty bird. You might call it a Luxury Robin.
The Spotted Towhee, pair of Cardinals and the Carolina Wren all appeared at the same time

Dogs and Luxury

Bridget and BB like to cuddle in the morning on the king size bed.



Well, it's spring break. I am currently dog-sitting for the Holsingers. Dr. Holsinger is the Lee U Wind Ensemble director and well-known concert band composer. They have two pups and are out of town for the American Bandmasters Association Convention in Norfolk, VA. They've been gone since Wed. morning and won't be back until Tuesday night. So, I've been staying here at their lovely home... making myself at home! It's awesome to get away from my messy roommates and that wreck of a house (don't even get me started). Hope everyone is doing well.

Feel free to post a pic or paragraph of your recent or past life.

ps. How about that Darren Phelps?!?!?

STATE MEET

ON TO THE STATE SWIM MEET!

After the prelim meet this past Wednesday, Darren qualified for section finals in four events. From sections finals, advancing to the state meet is achieved by either meeting a state qualifying time or by placing first or second in the championship heat. Darren will be advancing to State in the 500 Free.

Finals Reults:
200 Yard Medley Relay - Darren swam the breaststroke and their relay team placed 3rd
200 Freestyle - Darren knocked 2 seconds off his best time and placed 4th
500 Freestyle - After swimming the best time of the night on Weds, Darren came back and beat his previous best time by 7.33 seconds, beating out the two guys he lost to at this meet a year ago, set a meet record time and CRUSHED the state cut off by 7 1/2 seconds!
200 Freestyle Relay - 4th place in this meet, but the relay team set a new Kennedy team record at this distance.

The state meet is at the UofM late next week.

Denver wildlife

After missing a photo of the backyard raccoon, here's a couple shots I took in the last week. the fox picture taken at the church, which is in our neighborhood...and we saw a pair of coyotes sniffing around a prairie dog field last Sunday. Pretty cool that they're both within city limits.

Jazz at The Walrus

Here's a picture from Michael and my gig on Monday night at a local restaurant/bar called the Walrus. Grandma was here and she accompanied my parents and Austin to listen. We played from 8:15pm-12:15am with a few breaks and had a great time.

Our band is called Nodak Summit (since we're all from ND but we aren't always here) Zach is an incredible drummer now living/gigging in the St. Paul area, and Darrin is a bass player living in Georgia. John Krueger is still in ND teaching music at Cathedral Private Elementary.

From L to R: Zach Schmidt (drums), John Krueger (alto sax), Darrin King (6-string electric bass) Michael (piano), Joel (tenor)


*note that I am wearing an old tie that Dave made for Grandpa a while back.

Lunar eclipse

we got up to see the eclipse this morning between midnight and 1:30am. Used a 10x zoom with tripod. So the whole time, I'm watching and taking pictures, I can hear something rustling and, and sniffing coming from the alley...eventually, a racoon popped it's head over our fence! Didn't get the camera off the tripod in time to snap a pic. bummer.

Midwest Customs (not really)

Here are a few pics of my 2006 Toyota Corolla LE (5 speed). I'm very pleased with this car and plan to update the shift knob to something custom. I'm hoping I will be able to carve something from a nice piece of wood and then use a wood burner to inscribe the shifting map.

As you can tell, the rear and back side windows are heavily tinted which gives the car a nice secure feeling. It also changes the driving experience slightly, making you feel like you are in a cockpit rather than a glass box.

The 6-disc CD changer is another sweet feature. Speakers aren't bad either. There are even little speakers at the bottom of the A-pillars (at the top of the front door hinges).

106K miles, one owner (drove mostly highway), and the car looks like it's brand new IN and OUT.


I decided to name my car: "Rambi" after Rambi the Rhinoceros from the Donkey Kong Country video game for Super Nintendo. I'd say the resemblances are stunning. They both say, "Don't mess with me."

this is just a tribute

Austin.

Competitor.

Flowing.

Out with the old. In with the new.

Here is a photo of our new car with a similar shot of the dear departed Subaru. The new car is smoother, quieter and I'm enjoying it. The Legacy was a bit more fun to drive and handled more like a sports sedan, so I'm missing it a bit. but not the nagging "what's next?" in car repairs. There were 395,636 Accords sold in '07 alone.





Check out the tires. Brand/Model: Fierce/Instinct. Complete with flame graphics on the sidewalls. Fast and Furious III, here I come.

Menacing Mantis

Saw this guy hanging out on the grape arbor. He looks like something out of a si fi movie. Pesky bugs beware. (note clothes pin for scale)