Ladies Titan Tire Challenge

After moving back to Iowa, I joined Junior League of Cedar Rapids last fall. JLCR is a women's philanthropy group here in the area. I was hoping to meet fun women and get involved in the community. One of our biggest fundraisers is an annual golf tournament...The Ladies Titan Tire Challenge (LTTC). Our fundraising goes towards funding our project called Bridging the GAP...which helps local children aging out of the foster care system in Linn County. 

Many hours are spent planning for LTTC and I helped serve on the committee. LTTC was held at Hunters Ridge Golf Course (2 minutes from our house). It's a qualifying tournament for the LPGA tour and we welcomed 150 young women to the area for a week to compete in the tournament. 

Part of the tournament process is trying to find housing for these girls, so they don't have to stay in hotels while they are competing. We housed four young women and they were a lot of fun to have around! They all played college golf and had only been on the tour 1-2 years...and they are all vying for a spot on the LPGA tour one day. 

We housed Nina (California), Stacey (Illinois), Brittany (Michigan), and Brittany (Indiana). We made a bon fire one night and took them to Marion in the Park another night. We did our best to show them a good time and the dogs really enjoyed having the extra company. Nathan and I both volunteered at the actual tournament and had a really good time. 

Nina teeing off.....and incidentally, one of the other girls in her group was from The Woodlands, TX!

They play two rounds of 18 holes and then the top 70 go onto the final round on Sunday. 

None of our girls were the overall winner....but we were proud just the same. We hope they come again next year! 

Designer Belts

As long as I've known my Dad, he's only had one 'hobby'.....cows. It seems to be a generational trend around these parts. Growing up we always had Angus cows (all black). Dad would literally read journals on Angus cattle and study the bulls you were able to buy semen from....weird, I know!

When I started college I attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. One time on our long drive south we passed a pasture of Buelingo cattle....or belted cattle. My mother was smitten....they do look pretty cool...like Oreo cookies. They come in red and black. So Dad....being the nice guy that he is....started to sell off his Angus cattle and purchase Buelingos instead. Just like Angus, Buelingos are beef cattle as well. 

He runs a small cow/calf herd....the calves are just about two months old and are pretty cute. 

My Mom has them all named....Dad still refers to them by their numbers....

He told me this is his 'best cow' in the herd....meaning she's given him very little problems healthwise and has produced a heifer (female) calf every year (apparently except this one).

The do make for a pretty picture spread out across the pasture...

If you want one...just contact T&J Designer Belts :)

SoCal

Last week Nathan and I had the pleasure of traveling to sunny Southern California. Nathan has done so well here in his clinic...Pfizer treated him to a conference to make him an official Convenia representative....which was even better news for me...cause I got to tag along while he was in class all day :) 

I hightailed it to the beach the second we got to the resort....I was lucky to spot two whale spouts (they look like puffs of smoke coming off the water...the couple that pointed them out to me said they were Gray whales)....and I saw multiple dolphins. 

My attempt at being creative....

We stayed at the beautiful St. Regis Resort in Dana Point....

The view off the main deck of hotel...

While Nathan was in training, I occupied myself at the spa and took a couple of yoga classes....and tried to stuff myself with as much seafood as possible....

We have a classmate who practices in the area and she joined me for breakfast one morning. 

The weather was a bit chilly...not exactly what I was expecting for SoCal. 

Our second night there Pfizer shuttled us up to Laguna Beach. It was the cutest little resort community with tons of great restaurants and shops...and the views were amazing!!

Once Nathan was out of class, he was counting on a few days to lay on the beach and soak up the rays...however, the weather had other plans. The marine layer was pretty thick Friday and Saturday and never burned off....we were none too pleased. But we still tried to enjoyed ourselves...we went down to the beach and watched the surfers....

And explored the resort grounds....The tram driver told me that the annual membership fee for the beach and golf club is $13,000...and the annual membership fee for the hotel/beach/golf privileges is $19,000. 

Nathan didn't let his triathlon training lapse....watching him swim laps at the fitness center....

Heading down to the restaurant on the beach for dinner on our last night....can't wait until next year! 

The Bee's Knees

Last Wednesday Mom had knee replacement surgery on her right knee. Typical...she wasn't really looking forward to it, but walking had become so painful she really didn't have any other choice. She's had both knees scoped and her meniscus (cartilage) removed from each side. She was pretty much walking with bone on bone contact. Theoretically, both of her knees need to be replaced but her surgeon will only do one at a time. She was pretty upbeat before surgery and listening to Meatloaf on her ipod Touch pre-op. 

Showing off which knee they are supposed to be cutting. 

The surgeon's initials indicating which knee is to be operated on. 

Dad in the waiting room...reading Goin' Rogue by Sarah Palin. The surgery took about 1.5 hours. Dr. Lash said she had a lot of pathology in the knee and he said it's always amazing to see what people are actually able to walk on once he gets into the joint. She's allergic to Penicillin and Cephalosporins so she was given antibiotic impregnated cement to hold the implant in place. 

I spent the first night in the hospital with her. Overall she was in the hospital for four days. She did not handle the narcotic medications well at all and spent a lot of the first night vomiting. She's since been weaned off and is only taking Tylenol. She had a crush on one of her nurses who supposedly was the spitting image of Tim Tebow. Both the doctor and the physical therapist said not being on the high powered pain meds is in her favor and she will most likely heal much faster than people that stay on the pain medications longer. She said she feels pretty good and spends most of the day icing her incision to help keep the swelling down and it also helps to control the pain. Overall healing time is approximately 3 months...and then we may talk about replacing the left side....although she's already said she's not going to do it :). 

She Googled 'knee replacement' yesterday and watched the surgery on her laptop. 

Here she is one week post op...in pretty good spirits!! Happy to be home! 

We hope she'll be running marathons in no time! :)

San Antonio

I was fortunate to visit my dear friend Tracy last week in San Antonio. Tracy and I first met in Houston when I took my first job. In all honesty, I signed up for my first job because of her! She seemed really friendly, was my age, and I was hoping to make a friend...which I did....and a life long friend at that! She has a new baby boy (who I failed to get a pic of...) but her daughter, Ryan, was a ham for the camera! 

My visit was short, but fun filled...we spent the first day at Sea World. 

Both kids were really well behaved and Ryan was certainly amazed at the jumping whales!

I'm always so conflicted when visiting animal parks...I hate the fact they have these beautiful animals in little pools....but I absolutely LOVE seeing them up close. I hate paying the money and supporting the parks but the whales are truly amazing. 

The dolphin pool was probably my favorite area. They feel like wet leather...and they all seem to just be having a blast. 

My second day we shopped most of the day and ran errands. We had fun catching up and I enjoyed sitting in the sun. 

Mike and Tracy have a elderly pet population and in just the last few years have lost their two beloved labs. Unfortunately, right before my visit she got test results back that showed Indigo had developed lymphoma. Tracy first met Indigo in college...he was a test cat in the lab she worked in. After his study was over she adopted him...and he's the sweetest little guy. He loves to sit on your lap and kneads his front paws on your stomach. His favorite spot is on a chair in front of the window and was a good little 'poser' for the camera. 

The youngest member of their 'zoo'..Gris Gris....she's also quite the ham...she's a bit skittish when you arrive but soon warms up. She was quite taken with the clicking noises of my camera. 

I had a fabulous time with the Gati's....I hope to visit again soon!

We are alive!

Yes, we are indeed alive. All I can say is hallelujah, January and February are OVER!! The annual Hein Fam-damily ski trip did not take place this year due to an ankle surgery on Nick's part...so the months seemed EXTRA long. Thankfully, winter never really showed up...which I am SUPER thankful for! Hooray for global warming!

Nevertheless...we've been busy. I started a new job out at the Emergency and Specialty Center. I was getting pretty bored with day practice so I decided to shake things up a bit. I'm working a little bit of everything..days, nights, weekends, holidays....happy, happy, joy, joy! Actually, things have been going pretty well and I'm learning a ton (my neurons needed a little dusting off and some new challenges...anything to ward of Alzheimer's!!). Emergency work always keeps you on your toes. I've enjoyed the work so far...the shifts are really long but I'm powering through. I've enjoyed getting to know the staff and I hope things continue to go well. I've stopped commuting to my dad's practice..but still continue to work at our practice to help give Nathan somewhat of a break. 

I've reached a new level of domesticity (is that a word?)...thanks to Pinterest. I wouldn't say I'm addicted...but it has definitely helped my house-wifery skills. I've made quite a few recipes that Nathan has deemed 'keepers'...and I'm currently working on a wall photo collage. 

March Madness is upon us...actually, I'm currently watching ISU beat the daylights out of UConn...hopefully we'll keep things up in the second half. 

Nathan's obsession with ISU hasn't slowed any and we made a trip to Kansas City last week for the annual Big 12 Tournament. All of the men's games were located in the Sprint Center. 

My mom and friend Kathy accompanied us. 

My good dance team friend, Jen P, lives in KC and is also still a rabid ISU fan. We met Jen and her husband Adam before the game at the Power and Light District. It's a super fun atmosphere! 

Nathan, of course, makes friends with everyone and found a new BFF in this Mizzou fan...a dentist.  He ended up buying us tequila shots and beer the entire night before our session. 

We saw many a Mizzou fan donning Tiger tails. 

Aren't we gangsta?...during the ISU pep rally...maybe a few too many tequila shots?

Unfortunately, ISU was eliminated during our first game to Texas. We still stayed through the weekend while I got my shop on at the Plaza...we had beautiful weather and had a good time regardless. Mizzou ended up winning the tourney...and we say good riddance as they leave the conference to join the SEC. 

Nathan has started training for another triathlon back in the 'Promised Land'...aka The Woodlands. I'm definitely looking forward to visiting again. My spirits are up as it was 80 degrees today...I actually laid out for a while and had the top down on my car...vitamin D does a body good! Happy st patty's day...and happy spring!!