crazy, busy summer (august)

August was full of vacations... we went to Canada with Aaron's family. We had some great weather and enjoyed our time up there as usual. It was really nice seeing our Kewley cousins since they live in Virginia and Oklahoma! The dogs loved being in Canada because they were allowed off leash and were able to roam where they wanted. It was awesome just seeing them be dogs and made us feel bad when we had to leash them after we left! We left Canada a few days early and headed to my parent's cottage in Tionesta, PA. We were there during the Indian Festival and got to go to the parade and of course golfing. We feel so blessed to have such incredible families and cherish our time spent with them!

kai getting a stick and logan pretending to be just like him :)

aaron getting ready to take off from the dock

boo ya

love!

marley throughly enjoying the boat :)





logan throughly enjoying marley :)





boat ride at night

the windle fam

The end of August has brought soccer season and the start of rugby for Aaron. Soccer has been fun and exhausting. I am enjoying the opportunity to coach- it reminds me how much I miss soccer and playing! We also purchased an SUV!!! We bought a Honda Pilot and are loving all of the room, as opposed to our 2 little sedans. I know, I know, it's not very earth friendly, but I figure having a hybrid balances it out ;)

our new car!

After such a crazy, busy summer I feel more tired than refreshed, but it's okay because we had so much fun in all of it! I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, life will slow down sometime soon :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

So today is Kristen's birthday, and I (Aaron) thought I would post a note here without Kristen knowing. I've never posted anything, but since Kristen's passwords are easy to remember I was able to get on here and do it!

For those of you who don't know, Kristen is 26 today. A lot has happened in a year. We now own 2 dogs instead of 1, she is a few credits short of her masters degree, she got the assistant varsity coaching job at Downingtown East High School, and she is leading a womens bible study.

Through it all Kristen has managed to keep up with doing things on a regular basis that I often times take for granted: She makes me dinner every night, she does all the grocery shopping (mostly because she doesn't trust me to do it, with good reason), she takes the dogs for an hour walk every night, even if she doesn't feel like it, and she puts up with all my crap (and still manages to laugh at me). Case in point:

Even though I am totally ruining this picture from our trip to the beach, she still laughs



So I just wanted to take a few minutes to remind her that she is appreciated, even though I don't always show it or say it, and let everyone else know what an amazing woman I am blessed to have married!

I am going to end with a few Bible verses that remind me of Kristen

Proverbs 12:4 "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown..."

Proverbs 19:14 "Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,but a prudent wife is from the LORD"

Proverbs 31:10 "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN, I LOVE YOU!!!!

5k day

RUNNING... It has never been my favorite, more of a means to an end to be in shape for soccer; however, I had a bunch of friends that ran in the Pittsburgh marathon and was inspired to start running again. About a month ago, I found a 5k race near us and decided to do it. Unfortunately, within that month, I only ran a few times, and only ran 3 miles once. ha! I dragged Aaron to the 5k with me and my friend Ashleigh too! The goal was to finish the race without walking and hopefully do it in a decent time. The course was hard (compared to my flat loop at home) with a good part of it going uphill.

At one point during the race I was feeling pretty tired- you know, when your mind starts telling you just to walk. Well, I heard a conversation going on between two runners behind me. It was a man talking about the fact that he had a heart attack the year before and wasn't allowed to get his heart rate over 160. He then went on to discuss the fact that he was running 15 5k's this summer, one of which he ran on Friday. It was at that point that I decided there was no way this man who was on the brink of death the year before was going to beat me to the finish line. I mean, come on- I'm a 25 year old, former collegiate athlete?! It ended up being the motivation that I needed, and we finished out the race at a good pace. We finished in 30:30 which wasn't great, but we were just happy to finish, considering we haven't really ran much since college. I was seriously impressed with some of these runners. The winner was a man who did it in 15 minutes! All in all, it was fun to do. I might even do another one this summer, although, I think I might run a few more times before the next one... ;)

sisters

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. ~Barbara Alpert

My sisters and I are now spread all over the country, but I love them and value their friendships more than ever. I feel bad that people don't have sisters the way I do. Love you Erika and Kels!

CONGRATS SISTA!

drumroll please...

Over spring break, Kai had blood taken and sent to wisdom panel, a company who analyzed his blood to find out what breed(s) dog he was. We did the same with Marley only to learn that he was an exotic mutt. It's fun for us to guess what kind of dogs we have and then also have the ability to find out if we were right! I thought that Kai might have some bordie collie or lab in him. WRONG. Which makes me 0/2 in the dog breed guessing game. The results came back that Kai was a little less of a mutt than Marley. The test found that Kai had minor traces of German Shephard and Golden Retriever in him (about 12.5% of each). Meaning: One of Kai's "great-grandparents" was a German Shephard and one was a golden. These make sense and we can see a little of each in him. Kai's coloring is definitely shephard and he has that guard dog mentality too. We don't really see golden in his physical features, but Kai is really sweet and happy go lucky like goldens. The other 75% of him is just mutt. So here we are again, $100 poorer with a mutt. Lucky for us he's a perfect little dog!

Kai baby

























Our handsome mutts

objects in mirror are closer than they appear

fair weather fans...

Aaron's company is always getting us great tickets to Philadelphia sports, and Wednesday was no exception. Aaron got us tickets to the Phillies game behind home plate. They were in the first level right behind the diamond club. We were both excited to go and got there a little early to beat traffic. We were also a little nervous because the forecast had been calling for rain and we weren't under an awning. And, turned out we had a good reason to be nervous. We got into our seats in time for the national anthem and it started to pour. At that point we were already soaked so we just sat through it. It stopped raining in about the 3rd inning and we ended up just being cold and wet the rest of the game. haha BUT we just couldn't give up our great seats. They ended up losing 3-1, but at least they rallied toward the end. Jayson Werth hit a home run in the 9th to make it a little exciting! Either way, they were great seats and Phillies games are always fun. Hopefully we'll get those seats again... but next time without the rain!

Spring Break!

As a teacher in Eastern PA, every spring we get a week off of work. No complaints here. Last Friday, (our last day before break) I asked my students what they were doing over break and if they were going anywhere. I had lots of kids going to incredible places... Puerto Rico, Cali, Wales, Scotland, and the list goes on. One class asked, What are you doing Mrs. Windle? Much to my chagrin I said... Oh you know... getting my dog neutered. haha So yes, sadly, as my students will come back to school next week tan with lots of great stories, I will come back with a neutered dog. fun, fun. So since that's the only thing I have to report on ... here goes. Things went well with Kai's surgery. We just got him back home this afternoon and he's doing well. We also got a blood test on him as well (we did the same with Marley, only to find out he was an exotic mutt) So in a few weeks, we'll know what breeds our little guy is. Any guesses???

Prestigious Blog Award...

A friend from Pittsburgh nominated our blog for this (thanks Sarah!) and while our blog is just the randomness of our life, I thought it was fun! When you accept the award, you are supposed to list 5 things that you are addicted to. When I asked Aaron what he thought my #1 was he said, "football? sportscenter? sex? " haha. Here are my REAL answers...

1. My husband. Aaron is the best thing about my life, second only to Jesus. We are constantly laughing... which I love. He is funny and crazy and the most handsome man ever. I am so lucky!

2. My dogs. Marley and Kai currently run my life. haha No, I really love them. I'm constantly taking them on walks, teaching them new tricks, or reading Cesar Milan's books to try to figure them out more. My favorite time of day is right before bed when Aaron and I read in bed and Marley and Kai lay there with us.

3. My family. Aaron and I both have amazing families. We have incredible parents who loved us and taught us to love Jesus. I love having 2 brothers (Sethie and Luke) and there's nothing like sisters. Seriously- Erika and Kelsey are awesome and I love them dearly. And, one of the best things in the world is to be an aunt! I couldn't love my nephews more :)

4. My friends. I have the most amazing friends. My bests from high school are still my best friends now. Alysa, Amy, and Lauren have been with me through high school, college, been in my wedding, and watched me grow up. They are the kind of friends that everyone should be lucky enough to have. I have my college friends and roommates that loved me and taught me so much. Sara, Al, Nat, Becca, and Cait helped me grow, encouraged me to date Aaron "as Nat said.. because he's such a nicey" and often times knew me better than myself. My friends today are from church, my bible study, and work. They are women who truly seek Christ and his kingdom and their love for Him is contagious. They befriended me and have given me the ability to call Philadelphia home. Bef, Jess, Lucarella, Smagee, Ashleigh, Julie, Lisa and so many more... My friendships are what makes life fun and exciting, and bearable when it's unbearable.

***I realized that these are all relationships,which could technically be just 1, so here are a few other things that I'm addicted to...

5. The Office. This is seriously one of the funniest shows... ever! Aaron and I only started watching it after we got sick of Grey's Anatomy (so we missed the first 4 seasons). Aaron got me season 1 for Christmas and when that finished we promptly went out and bought season 2. and then season 3. and season 4. I'm pretty positive we spent the entire month of January in our basement watching that show. If you don't watch it... you should!

6. Pilates. It's my new obsession thanks to Ashleigh. Best workout EVER.

7. Bargain shopping. As my mom always says, "if there's a good deal, Kristen will find it" and I have to agree. I am addicted to good deals. Latest bargain- yellow mary janes at Goodwill, but actually brand new Target shoes.. $4. Seriously, call me next time you go shopping...

8. Chocolate and cherry coke. Not necessarily together. In fact, I am so addicted I had to give them up for lent. Seriously. My thighs will thank me later ;)

So there you go. More than you ever needed to know about me!