Hello from Jacksonville....

Yes, we are here indeed. Seeing lots of other folks in red with smiling faces and warm smiles. I have found my people :)

Today, we spent some time at Jacksonville Beach. I totally forgot how much I love the Ocean until I see it again. It totally takes my blues away :) Here is Ron and I....and trust me when I tell you that we were NOT the only ones on this beach with Huskers clothes on.




Following our little visit to the bach we then headed to St. Augustine (the oldest town in the United States). It is a beautiful city and I certainly enjoyed my time there. We visted the site were Ponce De Leon first came ashore and watched our frist real cannon be fired (that was cool). We went to eat at a Fantastic restaraunt in the Marina. It was sooooo cool. I had the most wonderful Caribean Chicken. YUM. The coolest thing was that you could feed the birds through a little door below the window. That was so fun. Those birds went NUTS when they saw a piece of bread come out the little doors. Those were certainly NOT hungry birds. (There is a photo below of me feeding my new Floridian friends)








Now, we have returned back to our luxury accomodations on the intersection of John and Mark streets. YES.....that is correct. Ron went to have a muffler put on the van and even though Rainbow Muffler is a few miles down the Road, he is BAD with directions so I am hoping he gets back in time to ring in the New Year.

It is 6:00 Eastern Standard time. I think tonight will bring us finding our way to the Jacksonville version of the Riverwalk to check out the sites and see if we can find some more of those folks in red.........

Take care to our friends back home...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to our family and friends!! Heres is a big cyber hug to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Round 3...

.....leaving Louisiana in the Broad Day light (quoting the famous Alabama song)



This was taken this morning after we ate breakfast in the Saint Louis Hotel. Following breakfast we packed up and headed for the Superdome. Cindy Soresen is a major New Orleans Saints fan and he promised she could go to the Superdome. We tried to get her in for a tour, but no go, probably with the Sugar Bowl....not a chance, but it was fun to see how excited my friend was to see the Louisiana Superdome.

As we left New Orleans you can still certainly see many of the remains of Hurricane Katrina. It was heartwrenching to see that nearly three years later New Orleans is still healing from the devastation. It has always been a dream of mine to take I-10 along the coast and that is where we are. I bridge over I-10 East of New Orleans was severely damaged during the hurricane and we had the opportunity to travel over it while it is still being repaired.



We arrived safe and sound in Jacksonville tonight around 7:30 p.m. We found out hotel with a minimal of difficulties except Ron cutting off some woman and totally ticking her off...other than that, we settled in and we re greated by several other Husker guests at our hotel. We decided that we would save up for tomorrow and get some rest, so after some Dominos pizza, we watched the OSU and Oregon Ducks game then went to sleepy time in Super 8.

Gatorbowl Bound Round #2....

Well.......adios Oklahoma!! We are safely on our way down the road and are almost entering Lousiana, until Ron almost piled us up in Road Construction (that is the quickest and most recent update...like it just happend) OK...back to my blogging.

Our travels continue. Very pretty country we are traveling through. It is actually green where we are......I'll keep you all updated as we make our progress to Florida.

We made Ron's day by Stopping at a Waffle House in Shreveport for Dinner. Ron will drive 50 miles out of his way to eat at a Waffle House. Now it is on to Lafayatte.....

Standby for more on the road with Kristin.....

The road into Baton Rouge....







When we got to Baton Rouge we got to see the Stadium that LSU plays in and the former home of our Bo Pelini.

Tonight we spent the night in New Orleans. We splurged and reserved a room just a 1/2 block off Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. IT was awesome. We went to eat at the Oceona Restaraunt which was just off Bourbon street (remember those Chesse sticks I so wanted????)

GATORBOWL BOUND...

Round #1 - Left Duncan Nebraska this morning headed for Jacksonville Florida. For those who think I only travel for NASCAR.....I will for my Huskers too :) Had to throw in a couple of extra things including my swimsuit which I only feel the need to keep at the lake and Ron's sandals, again a lake only necessity :)

We just took a pit stop in Wichita to eat at Braums. I have never ate at Braums before and after eating there it will certainly NOT be the last. YUMMY! The Ice cream was a very nice added bonus.

(Here we learn how to effectively hold your ice cream cone while buckling your seat belt)

We are now headed to Oklahoma City so John and CIndy can deliver Chiristmas gifts to their Grandchildren. So we will be spending the night in Oklahoma City.

After spending what seemed like an eternity on the Kansas turnpike we finally paid our toll and have moved into Oklahoma, just passing by the big Christmas store on I-35. So our frist leg for today has about an hour to go and we shall be resting comfortably in the Super 8 in OK City.....

The Husker caravan continues.....Greetings on the road to the Gator Bowl.......

We arrived in Edmond Oklahoma where we spent some time with John and Cindy's daughter, son-in-law and Grandchildren opening Christmas presents and playing Wii. Reminiscient of our trip to Cancun was a great meal prepared on a grill in front of us. The Shogun Restaraunt was a great place to eat and the little cooking show was a great added bonus.





...and it appears that I found myself a Sooner....

Things I can't get out of my head today....

1. CHEESE BALLS or CHEESE STICKS - yes, that is right. Those cheesey wonders that I love so much. NOW, if I didn't live in Central Nebraska in almost the middle of nowwhere I could find me some yummy good cheese balls, but I think I might have to wait for them when I am on vacation next week. Mission #1....find Kristin some Cheese sticks:



2. An IPOD Touch - Just LOOK at this little gem. Look how cute it would look with my MacBook Pro.....BUT how would I part with my Nano??????? WOW....A touch, a little tiny piece of heaven.



3. CLINT BOWYER in the #33 car: I CAN NOT get Clint out of my head today. I have alot of anticipation for 2009 but a ton of worry. Worry about Clint making the Chase in 2009 and how I am going to handle more yellow in my life:

4. Missing my cats all week: YEAH I am going on vacation and I am going to miss my cats. They have been sleeping on our laps, sleeping on our bed (Well McCook anyway) and generally following me everywhere I have gone the last couple of days....what am I going to do without my girls. I am use to being without them, but they seem so genuinely happy that I am home!!

5. OREOS!!! I need some Oreos. Rons hates Oreo's but me...I love them and I need some DOUBLE STUFF ones really bad......Mission #2 on Vacation...buy Kristin some Oreo's :)


There you have it....the five things I can not seem to get out of my head......

Boschen Christmas

What a nice Christmas Eve we had. Ron and I stopped at Mom's to look at Christmas Cards, then took Grandma Boschen some pretty flowers for CHristmas and headed to Larry and Barbs for supper, snacks, church and presents. Here are a few photos from Christmas Eve with my family in Newman Grove. I will be adding some more.......


The always giftingly pleased Cassidy:

Brother George, the Earnhardt fan:

Sweet Jessica......

Seth...from Toys to Cookware:


Sheldon easy to please with one filled up I Tunes gift card:

Brother Larry the Happy Kansas City Chiefs fan:

Alicia...the happiest little Christmas lady around :

Breaking poor Andrew in right....with gifts:

Sister-in-law Barb.....another satisfied Christmas customer and our gracious host and cook:


Mom likes opening Christmas presents too:

My....

little favorite man....my nephew Nicholas.....

More photos from the Stock...

Eric and his Cows and trucks.....Aunt Kristin scored BIG time!!

Our new Godson Jack Landauer....I love JACK!! He is soooo awesome...


Christmas....

Curtis....the happiest Christmas recipient ever! :)

Sweet Nicholas???????? in big trouble with Dad....
this is what happens when you misbehave in church :)

Uncle Ron teaching Eric the ins and outs of battery insertion in your toys....


Klayton...another excited kid!!

Some photos....

from the stock family Christmas...

Our niece and Goddaughter Kenzie. I am mainly the only one in the family that is muscial and I am sooooooooooo excited that my nieces are following the musical way....

Some photos....

from the stock family Christmas...

Our niece and Goddaughter Kenzie. I am mainly the only one in the family that is muscial and I am sooooooooooo excited that my nieces are following the musical way....



Our beautiful niece Erica


I dont have a photo of Alexis and her Violin, but I am so excited that she wants to learn and Andrea the piano!!

It's a wrap...

Pretty much.......I think I have finally gotten all my Christmas stuff done. Pretty good considering I was gone all last week. I am still waiting for a gift for my Nephew, so I am hoping that comes tomorrow or Tuesday..I do however, have a backup plan for that.......I guess Christmas is coming whether I am prepared or not, all I can do now is still back and wait.

I am just so glad to be home. I am not a big fan of being gone so close to Christmas, but you have to go where the work is and the work was in Kansas and Colorado. It was nice to see my cats, wash my clothes and actually eat food that I Cooked. Home cooking is certainly a nice treat.

Well, it is time for me to hit the sack and get some rest. Take care one and all and I'll post again as soon as I can........

Kauer Auction...

Red hat photo. What a nice family. IT is hard to tell in this photo that we had done an auction in the snow the day before. IT was a nice day....and Bill Kauer thinks the girls deserve a toilet in the truck. Not much help to me, but still a private privey would be lovely :) Hard to tell by this photo that following auction we would have a five hour drive across Kansas to Burlington Colorado, but we did!!! They Kauer family was awesome!

Baby....

IT"S FREEZING outside. 3 degrees with one NASTY wind. YUCK! I just put a pot of Chicken Noodle soup on and am looking forward to it not only warming us up but helping cure my nasty cold. I swear this thing is NEVER going away. It is getting old.

This upcoming week is going to be a week from Hatties. I personally am not too fond of being away from home and entire week right before Christmas, but I have no choice.

If I manage to get myself and Ron packed today, my Christmas cards and letters ready to mail and the last of my presents wrapped I will feel ALOT better.

That's it for me for now...I have some updating posts to do later........

My butt hurts...

Seriously, it really really does. I am quite certain that there is something in those wooden bleachers in a high school gymnasium that reacts with my rear. What started off as a "Let's go watch Sheldon wrestle a couple of matches" Ended up in an all day affair and one the I thought would surely end up in an all next day affair, but it was quite the spectactular day.

My Nephew SHeldon wrestled at the Osceola Invitational today and because we had spent the night in Duncan with is a short 18 miles away we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get to a meet this year....and I was pretty much itching for some wrestling.



I have got some more pictures that I would like to upload when I get some......


Not only did my Nephew have a wonderful day and ended up 2nd in his weight class, but the Team won the MEET TITLE!! Congratulations to the Newman Grove Bluejays Wrestling Team on a job well done.

A special note to my nephew.....Your my Champ!!

A Belated Happy Birthday....

To my friend Brian. We have known each other for 40 years. We went to pre-school, Grade School, Junior High School and High School together and somehow we ended up lakeside Neighbors.....strange!



It sure was fun helping you celebrate your birthday tonight. I am grateful that I have this opportunity to spend time with You, Michele and Alex.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brian!!! and here's to many many more!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

My very favorite Christmas Tree....is this Silver Tree filled with antique ornaments that I have at the lake......It is truly one of my favorite trees!!

My Christmas Tree at home....

Seems to be missing half of it's stuff...I FINALLY found the lost ribbons that are suppose to be on my tree. However, it was too late to put them on...so here is our home tree.

I am seriously

One cog short of blowing my lid......my Christmas festivities/stuff to do lid. I swear I try every year to get my stuff done early enough so that I can have at least a couple of days to enjoy the holiday...YEAH RIGHT. This list I have keeps getting longer and longer, even though I cross stuff off of it everyday. I think at night a gremlin sneaks in my office and writes in stuff for me to do.

It is NOT helping matters that the entire WEEK before Christmas I am going to be in Kansas and top my week off with a Two Ring Auction in Colorado....really puts me in the holiday spirit.

i am thinking about wearing my Reindeer Antlers to that Auction.....

On another note.....Tonight is the first night of Wrestling season in my life. My BF's son is Wrestling tonight in his first meet and my Nephew Sheldon will have his first meet this Saturday. I am sure they will both do fine. Good luck boys. At first we thought they were going to end up in the SAME weight class, which meant they would potentially have to wrestle each other, but it ended up being Jacob at 112 and Shel at 119. WHEW....that was too close.

I am going to sign off for tonight because my snoring cat is distracting me....and I want to find my slip to go under a dress I am wearing to a wedding next weekend.

Ola amigos.....

Red Hat Pictures....

From the Kumm auction yesterday at Plainview. It wasn't as cold as I first thought it was going to be and the auction flew by!!!! I swear I look like I just had a root canel in this photo. Must have been the fact that the sun was blazing in my eyes......

Stealing from PH....

I stole this
who stole it from Stacy who stole it from Lesle.

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. CRAP why does my name have to start with a K!!

They have to be real places, names, things . . . nothing made up. And you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name questions.


WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Kristin
Four Letter Word: Kiss
Boy Name: Kendal
Girl Name: Kristine
Occupation: King
Color: Khaki
Something You Wear: Knee Highs
Beverage: Kahula
Food: Ketchup
Something Found in a Bathroom: Kaopectate
Place: Kansas
Reasons for Being Late: Kissing
Something You Shout: Kick some butt

Thanks for the fun!! LOL

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY......

to my Nephew SHELDON BOSCHEN!! WOW 16.....can NOT believe that you are 16 Shel!!


ATTENTION get off the highways my friends SHELDON is driving. HEHEHE....no seriously, he is fine :)

I am proud of you! You my buddy are a great kid. It is fun being your Aunt. I love you. I always have and I always will. Your generous and kind personality will get you far...not to mention you sense of humor. You are one of a kind. Thanks for letting me text you, give you lots of pre and post match and game hugs, and bothering you on your facebook.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!!!! Love ya to pieces!!

Today...

has been...one of THOSE day. First, Ron had a touch of the flu. Poor man. He had all kinds of bad stuff going on, but McCook made sure she sat on his lap all afternoon while he was napping. I let him watch Gunsmoke and Bonanza all day....even though I slept through Gunsmoke and he slept through Bonanza. Ron is NEVER sick...so I knew he was NOT feeling well.

I can't believe how fast our four day weekend went!! Where did it go????? I can't believe Ron is going to be gone this week, but I have so much to do that I'll live through it :)

This month is CRAZY!! I mean insane nuts and plain wild........there are only 6 days....YES 6 days that we don't have NOTHING going one.....WAIT it's 5!!

How do I cram in a months worth of stuff in 5 days?????

Well I can't believe this is it for November. The very last day...WOW what a month. At least I got to watch the replay on the Nationwide Series Banquet today!!! CONGRATS to my driver again for being the Nationwide Champ!!!

How can a couple game...

of cards take ALL day......and half the night.

I am serious...you put a deck of cards in front of my family and all Jacks breaks lose. I seriously don't mind, it just gives me the giggles. I can't believe how loud one group of people can be playing cards. Everything was fine when the family was in Mom's basement, but when they decided to play on the dining room table....well.......









It was a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and I have no complaints. We had a great day......especially me eating half a pan of potatoes :) I don't eat potatoes much anymore...so I made sure I had those potatoes....AND Ham :)

Of course I was a little surprised that we actually watched the Big Joe Polka Show :) and the CMA awards and PBS.......Thank goodness we caught he Kansas vs Missouri Football game...WOW that was a great game. I was happy for the JHawks!

All in all Saturday ROCKED!!

What a lovely day.......I miss my family. I am lucky we get to spend our holidays together...I love them all very much!