Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009

We started off the year with Austin working full time for US Steel as a project manager in the engineering department. Unfortunately he was laid off in May and we had to rethink our future plans. He is now in the Army National Guard and finished up Basic Training on the 17^th of December. By joining the Guard he is now eligible to get all of his Law school paid for. He is interested in pursuing Patent Law (AKA: Intellectual Property). He has applied to five schools and we are waiting to hear back to see where he is accepted.

While Austin has been gone for Basic Training, Kim has moved back in with her parents in Arizona. She is working full time for White Mountain Physical Therapy as well as making purses on her down time. She is getting quite good at it too.

We just recently received an offer on our house and will be going through the closing process around the end of January.

We are looking forward to the holidays and we can’t help but ponder how each year has it’s own trials and triumphs. We hope your past year has treated you well and that the next will treat you even better. We love you all and are grateful to be a part of your lives!

Love,

Austin and Kimberly Gwynn

3rd Year Anniversary

For our 3rd Year Anniversary we went to see Pinhook Bog, which is a 12,000 year old natural bowl of water that will never drain.  They say it gets pretty deep out in the middle, and preserves dead bodies very well.  I guess they pulled a body out of a bog in England once that was deposited in the middle ages.  It was pretty well preserved, such that the rope around his neck that he was hung with was in perfect condition.   Supposedly they also found a 4,000 year old block of cured cheese in a bog, and it was still good, although no one had the huevos to try it in an omelet or something.

We also went to Mt. Baldy, it is the tallest in the region, but it is shrinking every year due to sand erosion.  It was nice.

For those of you who don't already know, I, Austin Gwynn, have joined the National Guard.  I will be reporting to Basic Training on the 6th of October, and I will be completing training in March or April of next year.  Kim will be living in AZ with her folks for a while and working at her brother's PT Clinic.  We just put our house on the market, and we should be all packed up and ready to drive out to AZ in a couple of weeks or so.  LSAT is scheduled for the 26th of Sept. @ Notre Dame, and hopefully by March when I get out of training we will know what schools I have been accepted to, and where we will be going for Law School.

That's all for now.

Ma & Pa Cox Visit Indiana

So its been a while since we posted anything and we decided to stop being lazy with the posting and get something on here.  Kim's parents came up to visit us in Indiana back in May.  Marshal and Angie also came for the weekend trip to Chicago.  Enjoy the slides and goofy video clip.

Check this out AND Don't miss out!

Hey everyone! Check out my friends blog... she is hosting a giveaway of various products for the next few weeks. One of my homemade bags is on the list to give away! Just go to this websitehttp://joncasfamily.blogspot.com/ and follow the rules listed in the right hand column.

Trip to AZ/ Mom's 60th/ Front Yard renovation

A few weeks ago I was able to go to Az to visit the fam for my mom's 60th birthday party.  The party was SOOO much fun!  I am so glad I was able to attend.  Since my sister and my mom documented it well check out their blogs to get all the details... (yes, I am pulling a Becky, she just has such great methods) http://leighandjoyce.blogspot.com/ and  http://seguritan.blogspot.com/  I posted pictures that I took above (which are different than those on their blogs).  I laughed so hard at the party and think that we should have a cover charge at her 70th (since the entertainment was so good).  My brother wrote a song that basically gives you an idea of how the whole night went.  check out this link on You Tube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YT02oaxdQ

Seriously... Check it out... you will enjoy it.  Love you Mom!!

Since I have been home the weather has been fairly nice.  Austin and I have been working out in the yard.  We borrowed a tiller from some friends at church and went to town last Saturday.  Austin man handled that thing.... well once he got the hang of it (it was still a beast).  Boy was he sore the next couple of days (especially since he is not that BIG of a guy)!  I have to say I am grateful he is willing to do most everything around the house himself, he is quite the well rounded man.  :)

 

Surprise Visit!

So my Dad and Uncle Randy decided to drive through Chicago on their trip across the country. It was so nice to see them and we enjoyed their company!  Feel free to come again!  :)  Love you guys!

Lamps...

What can I say?  I love blue and needed to spice up our somewhat boring front room.  I got a little crazy with some spray paint and... vuala! I also made the lamp shade (or at least decorated it, Austin was anti fringe of any sort so I used straight lines).

Life...

Austin's job at the steel mill has been going good.  Everyone around here asks us about it since they laid off quite a few people in the last few months.  Luckily his boss seems to like him (who wouldn't?) and there are a lot of engineers that are on the opposite end of the spectrum (meaning retirement).  The mill offered quite a few of them early retirement plans so that they can get off the books.  It has been interesting but we are very grateful that his job is somewhat stable (especially since we just bought a house).  I have to say that I love living on a normal income!  It's been great to finally be on our own.  I have learned how to use Quicken and find a sense of peace when I think about our budget.  It is also nice to have some organization and consistency in the financial aspect of our lives.  

I found a job at a small business as an interim secretary.  One of my friends hooked me up with it.  It will be temporary but at this point is better than nothing.  I feel some satisfaction knowing that I am contributing to the income.  I realized that going from a bread winner to the opposite can make one go through many emotions (guilt being one of them, for me).  

I also started my pre-req class for the PTA (Physical Therapy Assisting, not Parent Teacher Association) and have enjoyed exercising my brain.  It is interesting going from a University to a Community College, it seems the mind set is a little different but I am loving the class anyway.  My goal is not just squeaking by into the program but to get in with flying colors.  I still have an entrance exam and then just sending in the application... wish me luck!

Anyways, here are some other things that have kept me busy (at least that I have pictures of).   

I have had some time lately to make more handbags.  I made myself a big tote (far left) for all my primary stuff (since I am now the secretary), it's been working great!  This picture basically shows the difference in sizes between them.
This bag has KT written all over it.  As soon as I finished I knew I had to send it to her!  (She loves olive green).
The tote, again.
Cute little purse.  Turned out great!  I am going to make some more the same size because it turned out so good!  My goal with the purse making business has been to enter into a craft show this spring/summer.  They are suppose to be really big around here according to some fellow crafters in the ward so I am excited to get ready!
Some chair covers for primary.  I made 12 of these total (I think) to mark the chairs for the children in primary.  It has worked out great so far... much better than having taped on signs be ripped down!


Welcome to life of snow!  We had nine straight days of it!  It was amazing!  This is actually not as bad as it was but the pile on the side of the driveway (where we shoveled all the snow to) got to 4 feet high!  It has now melted some... but not that much!  I always thought I knew cold but the cold out here is quite different... especially when it gets -20 with the wind chill!  It has definitely been an adjustment but besides the weather we are managing just fine.  :)

Chairs, School, and Other Randomness

Well I hope everyone had a great holiday season.  Ours has been filled with household chores, registering vehicles, updating addresses with various organizations, and just hanging out.  

We bought a beautiful cherry wood dining table set through Craigslist.  I spent a few days reupholstering the chairs.  Here are a couple of pictures.  The cream fabric is the old and the paisley is the new.  I think they turned out pretty good.  It was a good first time reupholstering experience for me (even it took me twice as long on the first couple).  

Austin did not get many vacation days for the holidays since he just started in October so we did not travel which is ok because we have come to love Valpo.  Some of our favorite things around here are: 

The people: everyone is very friendly

The Bistro: Best restaurant in town

The library: Free movie rentals

The downtown area of Valpo

and our Home, of course (its nice to know we will be here for a while).

I will be starting a class next week at the local college for Physical Therapy Assisting.  It is the only pre-req class that I need (along with a test) to apply to the program.  Hopefully it will all go smoothly and I can start in the fall in the program.

I guess that is all, I haven't taken many pictures lately so all you get are the chairs.  I have been keeping an eye on Ding fares through Southwest (which are usually pretty cheap).  If any of you are interested in flying out let me know.  We would love to have you.  (side note: Austin's brother (Warren) and his wife (Erin) had a flight get canceled while they were at the Chicago O'hare airport and so we were able to see them and have our first overnight guests during the Christmas break.)  Anyways, that is all, I will stop rambling.