Wendi Graduates

Last Thursday Mom and I traveled to Florida to celebrate Wendi’s graduation from college!! We got in late Thursday night! We stopped at a 7-11 to get something to drink and I tried my first slurpee! It was great!!! 

Wendi had graduation practice Friday morning so Mom and I did a little shopping and then we met up for lunch at Abuelos. A delicious Mexican restaurant. They had an AWESOME queso dip!! Afterwards we did a little more shopping. This was the Christmas tree in the middle of the area we were shopping at…it was HUGE!! I love the palm trees in the background! 

That night we went to downtown Lakeland (the town where Wendi lives and went to college). We stopped at Pizza Palace for supper, a favorite of Wendi and her friends!

Wendi and her roommate!   

There was a little festival going on, so we walked around as long as we could stand the “cold” 50 degree windy night! ;) I shouldn’t be complaning ‘cause it was WAY warmer than Iowa!

The swan is kind of like the “symbol” of Lakeland. They are all over the place in all forms!

 

Saturday was the big day!!  

Wendi and her bff, Becky, since 1st grade! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for not letting me be the youngest Grettenberg Girl!! Don’t know what I would do without my little sister!!!  

So proud of you Suzie!!!   

Pomp and Circumstance! Grandma - “That song makes me tear up every time!” 

The church was huge where the graduation ceremony was held and was decorated VERY beautiful for the season!         

Wendi got her degree!! (or at least holder for it!)        

When Wendi was walking out she knew I was going too miss her so she popped her head back to get in the picture! Kind of a cool picture!  

Grandma, Uncle Kenny, and Aunt Patty made a little vacation out of Wendi’s gradation being in Florida and stayed and their timeshare in Orlando for the week! 

Wendi and friends!       

After the ceremony and lunch, Wendi gave us a tour of the campus. Mom and I had both seen it before, but the rest of the family hadn’t. It is a gorgeous campus! This is one of the newest buildings on campus, it’s their cafeteria!! 

Wendi had to work at a basketball game Saturday night so I went along! It was fun to meet Wendi’s friends. Afterwards we went to Coldstone for some ice cream!!

Sunday we got up and headed to Orlando to meet up with Grandma, Dad, Uncle Kenny, and Aunt Patty for brunch. And then we did a little shopping and flew out around 4pm. We enjoyed our time in Florida celebrating Wendi’s accomplishments and enjoying the warm weather, but it’s always good to come home!!

Christmas at the Bangert’s

The weekend before Thanksgiving I decided to get our Christmas decor out. Yes, I know it’s early, but there is just so much and I wanted to be able to enjoy it longer! And I also knew our Thanksgiving weekend was jam packed! So without further ado, here is our humble abode all cheery for Christmas!

Welcome to our home…please come on in!

These are a few of the things you’ll see when you first come in the door!

 Here is a sneak peak (reflection) of our tree!

And this is what you’ll see upon entering the living room!

My favorite nativity set!

And here is our tree!! 

I decided to go “green” for Christmas this year!

          

I updated our curtains to match the “pops” of green in the living room! Only problem is that to the left  of the bay window there is a single window that I forgot to get a panel for and they are all out! :(

I even added a few little things to the guest room!

      

This is our “light-less” Christmas tree in the office. For some reason this was the year that all our strands of Christmas lights decided to die! So you all know what I’ll be doing after Christmas (clearance Christmas light shopping)! ;)

I added some greenery and beading around the office windows! The office is also where I display my snowman collection!

Abby got something new for Christmas this year…a cute little shirt and some new food and water bowls!!

 

Another tree in the office! Right now we have 6 trees up…including little ones like this! And I still haven’t got our 3rd big tree up yet. Kyle says I have to though because it’s usually decked out with Hawkeye ornaments in the basement!      

And that concludes the Christmas tour of the Bangert home! Hope you enjoyed it and come back soon!

Sunday

So this will be my last post from Thanksgiving weekend! Since we were out late with friends Saturday night Kyle let me sleep in. Little did I know though….HE’S CRAZY!!!

I was woke up by this picture message on my phone!!! He wasn’t kiddening when he said he wanted to run to Badger!! It is over 7 miles there…and then you gotta come back too!! So I bundled up and hopped on my bike and met up with him. I think he was around mile 11 or so by the time I got to him. It was SO cold & windy…I don’t know how he did it!! He’s a trooper that’s for sure!! I brought him all kinds of things…kleenex, chap stick, water, and ME (for encouragement)!! I cheered him on the rest of the way  home!! He did it, ran almost 15 miles – his longest!! Way to go Babe!! 

We got home and Kyle needed warmth RIGHT away! So he cleaned up a bit and cuddled up on the couch and took a nap! I decided to get our Black Friday purchases put away. They had been piled up in the living room since Friday night when I dropped them there! A few of things were new cookware and a bunch of bulk items from Sam’s Club. And I found out my cupboards were full and didn’t really have space for these new things. So what did I do….

Emptied them ALL out and started from scratch!! I threw out expired food (canned & boxed items…I found some from 2005!), organized food by type and how often we use it, and then put everything back!! I wish I would have got a picture of my kitchen with all my empty cupboards and food everywhere…but I didn’t! So here is the after shots!!

I stored extra things in this lower cupboard…it’s pretty much like our pantry. Along with my cookware and other pots & pans!

This is an old wall oven that we use for storage. I put drink items in here along with baggies, saran wrap, and tin foil!

These are both upper cupboards that are quite high. I decided to use one for our vitamins and protein powder…it all fit perfect! I designated the other one as the snack cupboard putting pretzels, crackers, popcorn, bars, beef jerky, etc up there! Worked out great!!

And this is our main cupboard. It’s in the corner above our sink. So I put things in here we use most liked canned goods, baking items, peanut butter, spices, jello, pasta, etc! The only food cupboard I didn’t photograph is our cereal cupboard. It’s pretty self organizing because you really can’t mess up boxes!! I didn’t have to do some re-arranging though because I bought 2 HUGE boxes at Sam’s Club and had to get them to fit!  

And after all that organizing I was wore out, so I decided to join Kyle on the couch for a nap as well!! We finished off our Sunday with a trip to the grocery store and then called it a night. My Thanksgiving break was defiantly fun, but went too quick! Now it’s on to Christmas!!

Saturday Night

After breakfast at Mindi’s on Saturday I headed back to Fort Dodge to meet up with Sara, Vahn, and Emma. They had an appointment at Sears to get family Christmas pictures taken. I think each time I see Emma she is doing something new and I love her more each time. She is just so cute & squeezable!!! :) I mean come on, you can’t deny those cute little cheeks! Oh and check it out, she has a tooth…see it???

After pictures at Sears we took Emma to see Santa. When we walked up to him she was latched on to me tight, but ended up being ok with sitting on his lap! So cute!!!

After hanging out with the Schumacher’s I headed home and when Kyle got off work we headed to Mom & Dad B’s house for Thanksgiving pizza!! Mom B’s homemade pizza is super yummy!! After supper we played a couple rounds ‘Up the River’…always fun times around the table with the Bangerts! I left my camera in the car though so I didn’t get any pictures. :(

When we got back to town our friends Mel & Robbeye invited us out for a margarita at Tres Amigos so we decided to stop by! We always have a good time with them! Wendi and her friend from high school, Kelsey, stopped by too!

 

Kyle and Robbeye! 

I love these beautiful girls!!

Neighbors & Friends!!! 

Jake stopped by too! It is always good to see him! (I don’t think either one of them were ready for the picture!)