Mike and Angela Pingel

9 months and counting

2010-09-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

Every day with Caitlyn lately is an adventure! At 9 months she has 5 teeth with more on the way, is crawling like a maniac and giving us a run for our money. Her newest "trick" which drives her parents crazy is turning the tv off and on. She pulls herself up and goes after that button with determination no matter how many times we talk to her, correct her or gently redirect her to another toy. It's prompted us to pursue getting a new tv and tv console a few months earlier than we were planning on simply for the sake of our sanity.

She tries to pull herself up on most things that she can get her hands on and has a great reach. We're learning how to Caitlyn proof the house! She's been standing up in her crib for a couple of weeks and we realized that we needed to lower the mattress so that she wouldn't be able to tumble out. Mike, amazing at all things, had to drill an extra set of holes for the mattress height because our crib only came with two and the lower one was just far too low. Angela could not reach over to put Caitlyn in the crib because she's too short. Mike of course being over 6' had no problem!

She's a squirly monkey lately and that plays out in very sweet ways as well. She's recently figured out how to really bop along with music and darn if the girl doesn't have rhythm! Those who are musically inclined in our families (which is really almost everyone!) will be happy to hear that she tries to sing along with music, not entirely off key and loves "drumming" on the floor with her hands. I'm sure her technique will improve with time. ;) Here's a little video to see her bopping in action!

We recently took Caitlyn on her very first street car ride. The windows were down, the wind was blowing and she was exhausted...so she laid her head on the shoulder of the person holding her and would have easily fallen asleep if we hadn't had to get off! It was pretty sweet. She definitely enjoyed it as did we.

And we've been lucky enough to have Aunt Joan in for a few visits lately. Joan is teaching Caitlyn the intricacies of her phone! They were figuring it out together I think!

She and our cat Tabitha have an interesting relationship that baffles us. Caitlyn, I think, is convinced that Tabitha is a very fun stuffed animal and gets very excited to see her. Tabitha, doesn't want to be touched by Caitlyn, but continues to plop down right near her only to have to run away seconds later when Caitlyn quickly crawls towards her. If she defends her territory and bats at Caitlyn, then Caitlyn is just delighted and thinks that it is the best game. And Tabitha hates it when Caitlyn is crying and always comes to see what is wrong and tells us to make her stop crying because she is concerned for her. (We're very good at talking to Tabitha! LOL)

All in all, we're having a great time and despite things like having her formula recalled and dealing with a grumpy baby more than we're used to and getting all our housework done (no dusting for quite a while I'm afraid!), we're enjoying life in the South and eagerly enjoying any cooler day we get.

We hope that all of you are doing well and look forward to the next time we see any or all of you!

New Adventures with an 8 month old

2010-08-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

I'm switching with Ang this month on writing the blog. Last month we had a lot of first's with Caitlyn, especially on our travels to South Bend and back in the car. Caitlyn was a great sport and did really well on our 16 hour trip to South Bend all the way up to the 15th hour and then she let us know she was finished, so very grumpy but made it through the last hour. One the way back we broke up the trip in two parts and stayed in Nashville over night. Caitlyn's first night at a hotel... next time I think we will get a suite!

We certainly enjoyed having our new Honda Odessey for the trip- a lot of room and a smooth ride. The gas gauge is a little odd...when the gas gauge says empty there are still 4-5 gallons in the tank. I guess this helps prevent people from running out of gas...but harder for someone like me who likes to stretch the tank.

We visited many family and friends. Above is a shot with Aunt Margaret. And a shot of Caitlyn with her oldest cousin Monica. That's #1 and #21 of the Pingel grandchildren!

Here's Caitlyn meeting Gloria Connolly for the first time!

Ang visited fabric stores that carry lines of fabric unavailable in New Orleans and also worked hard to buy decorations for the singles brunch back in New Orleans the next week. She found the perfect table top decoration at a great price. I was able to get together for the annual guy's weekend and really enjoyed that. We also enjoyed a day at the beach with my sister Joan. Lake Michigan is so beautiful, we really miss it! Here are pictures of Caitlyn at the beach with mama.

When we got back home we had the pleasure of having Jonathan Finke stay with us for a few days while attending the singles event. Then when things quieted down we were able to give Caitlyn her first hair cut. Mama had debated about having someone else do it, but I think it turned out just great!

Last week we went to Ron Evans wedding and debated about bringing Caitlyn, but it turns out she was super good and enjoyed by many others attending the wedding. It was super hot that day, yet everything was so fun including the brass band, food, drinks and even sno balls. Ang and I even managed to get some dancing in !

Life in June

2010-06-03T11:17:00.009-05:00

Well here we are, already to June! It's hard to believe because each day passes faster than one before it. In just a week, Caitlyn will be 6 months. 6 months! We're enjoying every second because we know how precious each little moment is at this age. She's in a constant state of discovery and wants to put everything in her mouth. And that's because we think that she's started teething. But she's being such a trooper about it! You can tell that she's uncomfortable and occasionally she'll have a hard time sleeping. But she's got some gauze blankets that are her favorite comfort object and she rubs those against her gums almost constantly. I have four luckily, so I switch them out every day for a nice fresh one! LOL.

She recently started just a few solids and boy has that been an experience. She loves her high chair because it lets her sit up, but she definitely hasn't loved everything we've given to her. She has no problem with the rice cereal and is a great eater...Mike's the one who usually feeds her and she just opens her mouth right up for the next spoonful. Let's just say that the same could not be said of the sweet potatoes, green beans, pears, or peaches. Finally we had the brilliant (it's brilliant because no one told us about it) to try a couple of other foods: bananas and avocados. And she's in love...or at least tolerant! It cracks me up because those are two of Mike's favorite foods...so thankfully she's showing some signs that she'll have his palette over mine. It's hard to be a picky eater and I hope that she's not...but if she is, she'll have my sympathy and understanding. No one has ever been able to make seafood that I enjoy...and it's not for lack of trying!

Food she enjoys...

Food she doesn't....

Mike has been ridiculously busy with work lately which is a good thing...but it makes life a bit stressful. He's got a great guy working for him part time as an onsite manager for his two other workers. Days are great when he's there, but otherwise Mike has to split his time between being onsite, writing proposals and meeting with new clients. It's a lot of work and let's just say he deserves a vacation! When he comes home, he takes Caitlyn in the Baby Bjorn, has his southern drink and generally waters his garden. We have so many wonderful tomatoes right now that he has grown that he's been giving away bags of them to the neighbors! They are all quite meaty and delicious and he's almost as proud of them as he is of Caitlyn. LOL.

And I'm busy taking care of Caitlyn during the day and sewing away...rather than talk about what I've made, if you are interested you can always check out my other blog http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com/ which has all my sewing and quilting activities. I keep up with that one much better than I do with this one! Sorry!

We did recently have Joan and Cathy Grill come visit for the weekend. It was a brief but welcome visit and we're so happy that Joan could spend time with Caitlyn. She wasn't able to make it to the baptism, so she had to make up for that. Now if only I could convince my brothers to come visit....

This weekend we're going to be getting the large tree in our backyard taken down. It's sort of sad to see it go, but it's a pretty sad tree and NEEDS to come down. All three guys who came out to estimate it said there was no way it should stay up with all the termite damage and deterioration. But it has provided shade and for that we've been grateful. Our plan is put a new tree up but we have yet to decide what that will be. I want something fast growing, tall, provides shade, doesn't attract bugs or caterpillars, and can tolerate the bit of water of that we get in the backyard still from time to time with large storms. Research in my future!

That's about it for now. Life with Caitlyn is a joy every day...not that she's not work, but she's pretty darn adorable and that is definitely in her favor. :)

Love, Mike, Angela and Caitlyn

Life is full - a baptism, a week of family and friends, some festivals and just trying to survive

2010-04-17T16:25:00.011-05:00

Hello all! We were recently able to see many of you on our trip to South Bend for Easter and Caitlyn's baptism. Our time was very full there with seeing family and friends and I'm happy to say that all of Caitlyn's cousins at least got to see her and most got to hold her and enjoy her! Mike and I were so touched by their love for their newest little Pingel cousin. Of course we expect her aunts and uncles to adore her and they met our expectations too. :)

The baptism was on Easter sunday and Kevin Ranaghan graciously agreed to baptize Caitlyn for us at Holy Cross Parish. Everything went well and Caitlyn was a peach throughout the whole ceremony. No problems with water for that one!

Matt and Carrie Urbanski are Caitlyn's godparents and did a wonderful job hosting a beautiful gathering for everyone after the event.

We spent time with Pingels and just a few Finkes that week and tried to see as many friends as possible. It's always so hard to see everyone that we would like to! Caitlyn was certainly happy with both of her grandfathers!

Caitlyn did quite well with the airplane rides...better than her mother in fact who got quite air sick on the way home. But nausea is no stranger unfortunately, so I just added the Cincinnati airport to my growing list of places I've tossed my cookies. Oh well. Gotta keep life unpredictable.

We've been equally busy since we've been home it seems with Mike's work picking up and New Orleans spring time. Thankfully Mike is blessed with work right now and works hard all week long. But last weekend we packed it full with some yard work, a Hornets game, a crawfish boil, the botanical garden show and the French Quarter festival! We wore out Caitlyn that's for sure!

We even got to dance in the streets at the French Quarter fest to our wedding song being sung live by a woman with a great voice. We were the only ones dancing but we didn't care! And Caitlyn was in the Baby Bjorn the whole time. LOL.

Mike picked up some heirloom tomatoes at the garden shoe so hopefully later in the summer we can show you those. The orange and lime trees are in bloom right now and smell heavenly and the wisteria is climbing away! I'm busy quilting away during Caitlyn's naps and generally just trying to rest and stay healthy. We adore our little girl more and more each day and I still can't believe that we really have her. We are blessed with this one!

Spring is in the Air!

2010-03-16T11:22:00.004-05:00

Well after a colder than normal winter, we're finally seeing some warm days that you might expect from New Orleans. Due to the cold, we (and everyone in the city) lost a lot of plants in the freezing weather. Since we all like to pretend that we're living in a tropical area, we plant tropical plants...well...they're all gone and with little hope of returning. Sunday we finally had a nice enough day that Mike and I could get out and cut down all the dead plants :( and clear the way for new, yet to be purchased ones. We lost our bougenvia (no idea how to spell that!), our hibiscus tree, the palm trees suffered, our climbing mandevilles, and others. So that leaves some big gaps in the yard. Strangely enough, the weeds seem to thrive! So there were plenty of them!

But now much of it is cleared away and ready to be replanted. We planted a flat of pretty yellow marigolds to brighten things up in the meantime and believe it or not Mike has already got his tomato garden going. It was a lot of work and we made our neighbors jealous by actually tackling the work (everyone needs to do this). There's still much to do. As Mike told me, we made a dent in the yard. But it definitely looks more tidy by the front door and that's what we see the most!

Here's some pictures to enjoy of Mike checking out his garden a few days later with Caitlyn.

Caitlyn is 3 months!

2010-03-11T12:37:00.003-06:00

Here's a few shots that she let me take of her today. Yesterday was her 3 month birthday already! She's babbling and sleeping pretty well through the night. I think that we are getting a little more adjusted to our little family and what it takes to make it through the day! Enjoy!

my dishtowel on Paula Deen's website!

2010-02-05T10:01:00.001-06:00

So I've finally gotten some feedback on the dishtowels that I've sent to the Paula Deen show. One of them can currently be seen in one of the articles on her website.

It's a pretty picture and shows off the towel well.

I've also been told that my dishtowels were used throughout the taping of season 7. Currently they are showing season 6 on the Food Network and I need to find out when they start showing season 7. They were very sweet and invited me to send anything more any time. They loved my towels. What a nice compliment!

Video of Caitlyn Noelle

2009-12-15T11:16:00.001-06:00

Getting the Baby's Room Ready!

2009-09-13T21:14:00.008-05:00

We've been moving furniture around the house for the last couple of weeks trying to clear out the room that will become the baby's room. Angela is making a great sacrifice (that she's happy to make) of giving up her former sewing room for the baby. We decided to combine the sewing room with the current guest room. That was stage 1. The guest room has turned out well and we actually find ourselves spending a great deal of time in there now.

We didn't want to repaint the entire nursery because we had a lovely shade of green throughout the room and some fun wall decals already in there. But Angela can't leave well enough alone and decided that we needed to have a focal wall with a new design treatment. In her great love of all things geometric, she decided to cover the wall in a grid of squares. Her gracious husband Michael agreed to professionally help her out in her grand endeavors. :) After painting the wall white, he quickly taped off the grid of squares and the fun began!

Not content with just one color in the room, Angela decided that we needed to have 6! So Michael purchased all the paint and gamely went along with her plan. We planned out how large the squares should be for maximum impact and minimum chaos. Yes, math was used! Then we got to work painting each of the squares in a predetermined random pattern.

Two shades of green, two shades of blue and a shade of grey and white later....here's what we ended up with!

After letting the paint dry for a day, we wanted to see the room as complete as possible. So Mike waded through our current lake of a backyard (got to love LA rain and flooding) to get the crib. And we moved the changing table and the dresser into the room as well. All three pieces Mike had painted beautifully earlier in the summer and we've been waiting to put them in the room!

Everything is starting to come together and now Angela just needs to get cracking on all of the fabric additions to the room. Here's some of the fabrics that might be used for the nursery.

Mardi Gras and Disney World...what a fun way to spend the last week!

2009-03-04T13:00:00.006-06:00

Hello everyone! We're back again with more antics from the Pingel population in New Orleans. Winter took it's sweet time, but Spring is on the way and the weather is warming up again. We recently got to celebrate Mardi Gras here in New Orleans...well at least we got to go to some Mardi Gras parades. Life was busy for us, so Mike and I only made it to one night of parades. But we had fun! It was great to be there especially with the Ronaynes and Paul Rose who were celebrating their very first parades. I distinctly remember my own first parade just a few years ago and it was fun to act like I'd been doing it forever. Another unexpected treat was having Hannah, Kathleen and Jen in town as well. I believe that it was Jen Torma's first parade as well.

We didn't celebrate the rest of Mardi Gras in town because Mike and I had to head to Florida to spend some quality Disney time with my family. We kept extending our stay to hang out longer and experience more Disney goodness. It was fun that everyone from my family was there and hopefully we'll have some good pictures to prove it. Jeremy and Amy scoffed at our Mardi Gras beads, but Mike and I dutifully brought some and wore them at Disney on Mardi Gras day. There were many many LSU fans around, so we were in good company. Highlights of our trip there include dinner with Jon, mom and dad at Rainforest Cafe, sushi with Jeremy, Amy and Josh, the fillet mignon at Jiko with mom, dad, Jeremy and Amy, and drinking around the Epcot worlds. Oh and of course, my favorite ride Splash Mountain. Good times.

We're back home now getting back into the groove of real life again. Mike is working hard to find more jobs and making his wife happy by helping her organize the house. I'm working hard at my sewing machine again. I've been creating lots of items lately and have opened a shop on Etsy.com. This is a site devoted entirely to artists creating and selling handmade items. If you haven't checked it out before, please do. There is all kinds of stuff there, and you know you'll be helping the little guy! Always a good thing. My particular shop is called Tweedledee Designs and can be found here.

Most of my creations are baby gifts at this point, but I'm also looking to add quilted wall hangings, eye glass cases and perhaps some makeup cases. If there's anything you're interested in, let me know! I'm a fabric-aholic and I have so much waiting for me to create. :)

For all those stuck with cold weather, feel free to come visit and we'll try to arrange some warm weather for you! This is a great time to visit when we don't have any humidity!

Back in the Saddle again

2009-01-15T11:49:00.007-06:00

Well we're back in the South after a couple of CHILLY weeks in South Bend. The last month has just flown by with Christmas and out of town trips!

Mike and I had our annual Christmas party here in New Orleans right before Christmas. We were delighted by all our guests, but were especially pleased to see friends and family from out of town. Mike and I have worked hard in recent years to perfect (I know you're all shocked by this!) all workings of the party. As part of this, we've taken to creating many of our signature drinks in bulk before the party so that we can pour them quickly. It really helps free us to be better hosts (we hope!). This year we had some great drinks including self titled Father Christmas Fizz, Little Drummer Boy, and Snowflake. They were all super yummy concoctions and were topped with our handmade garnishes out of gum drops. If it looks like something Martha Stewart would do, you're right. It's straight out of her magazine! Mike got really good at this (better than me in fact) and started making fun variations himself.

After much work for both our Christmas party and the community Christmas party, we set out with Joan up to South Bend. A long but thankfully uneventful trip later, we finally arrived in the icy cold north. The next two weeks were filled with probably more conversation than I have the whole rest of the year!

We celebrated Christmas Pingel style with lots of laughter and singing. Pat and Beth and family had recently purchased "Rock Band" and there was much fun to be had watching and participating in this game. Others sat around the piano, pulled out the guitars, and sang in harmony to all sorts of Christmas songs. It was great because it was the first time that all of the Pingels have been together since Mike and I moved almost 3 years ago! And I don't think any of us will ever forget Beth's questions about the nature of life at IU. :)

We were also able to visit with a number of friends in town including checking out Matt and Carrie's lovely new home. And we were excited to catch up with many people from my high school class at the annual Stowebash party! We also took off to Chicago for a couple of days to visit with James and Jenni and their sweet girls as well. And despite Mike getting the stomach flu while we were there (sorry James and Jenni!), Mike and I were able to attend the musical "Wicked". We've been playing the soundtrack non-stop in our car ever since thanks to Jim and Colleen gifting us with the music!

The Finke Christmas celebration proved to have it's own set of hi jinks as well. Unfortunately we've all been sworn to secrecy, so I can't share them with you. But Mike claims that he has never laughed so hard in his whole life. Rest assured, the famous Finke eggrolls made a grand appearance, mainly due to the hard work of Mike!

The weeks ended out with Sean and Gretchen's wedding. The wedding was full of beautiful music and it was so fun to be able to catch up with so many out of town guests. There were people there that I easily haven't seen in 5 years, probably more. But boy was I done talking after that!

Since arriving back home, we've celebrated Mike's birthday with any number of great meals and were blessed by some great new work that came to Mike's company. Life is good in '09 so far. Let's keep it that way!

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

2008-12-11T10:56:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving and such

2008-12-11T09:08:00.005-06:00

Oh my goodness! It's been far too long since our last blog update. I think about it often, but haven't been able to garner the mental energy needed to update it. However today I'm feeling slightly more inspired. Blame it on the Christmas music in the background making me feel sentimental or the kitty snuggling with me under a pile of blankets, but most of all blame it on the fact that it is SNOWING IN NEW ORLEANS!

We've had a few visitors to the great South over the last couple of months and it so exciting to have them. Back in October we had great fun when Matt Sgroi came into town from Sweden for Ben Jerhing's wedding here in town. Jim and Gerry Sgroi also made it down from South Bend for the event and we were able to see everyone a fair amount. The five of us took a day and went to one of the local Plantations, Houmas House. It was beautifully maintained with stunning gardens. There was a giant oak tree that is over 500 years old. We even saw in the kitchen on the tour that their Stove was made in South Bend, IN maybe a 100 years ago. Quite the coincidence!

We a had few more trick or treaters for Halloween this year. We're never quite sure what to expect since Katrina wiped out so many people. Our neighborhood changes daily. Mike was feeling inspired and got our fog machine. He blasted the kids with fog as they came up to the door for candy. And then we got out some green glowing ice cubes for our adult beverages. It was pretty entertaining!

Thanksgiving seemed to follow quickly and we had even more visitors thanks to the Brewer/Reinhardt crew. Carolyn's Uncle Mike stayed with us later followed by Liz Brewer and eventually Sarah Engles. How fun to see everyone! The Reinhardts, Brewers, Pingels, and Ronaynes plus a few all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at the Ronaynes. But I think our favorite part of the day was hanging out in the warm (slightly rainy) weather on the Reinhardts back porch. Mike grilled some fantastic shrimp and I brought some cheese and crackers. We all sat around relaxing and enjoying one another's company. Mike and I were laughing that this year Thanksgiving seemed very relaxed when we realized that for the last 6 years we've done at least 2 full meals. :)

We're onto to Christmas plans now. The house is officially finished being decorated. That always takes me a couple of days. And our Christmas party plans are in full swing. Mike and I have enjoyed our research on what should be our feature drinks of the party this year. We've done more trials with guests and gotten their opinions too! (Although no one's opinion means too much after a couple of drinks!)

Soon after the party we will be on our to South Bend where we will be for Christmas this year. We're excited to have a good two weeks to try to see people and catch up. And we can't wait of course for Sean and Gretchen's wedding. But I can't say that we're looking forward to two weeks of cold weather. We're spoiled by the South this time of year. Yes, it is snowing now, but it will 75 in a couple of days!

Waiting for Gustav (and now Ike)

2008-09-06T10:10:00.006-05:00

Well it's been one exciting last week and a half. Ever since Gustav came on the scene our lives have been a bit hectic. Friends started evacuating the Friday before the storm and the city was looking quite cleared out.

There was a lemonade stand sale at the Rose's on the Friday before. Grace Marie ordered a super cute stand from Sunkist and we had lots of people stop by. Many of them were people evacuating!

Nora Byrne came to visit us Friday as well. She flew all the way to New Orleans from San Diego only to find a city already half empty from evacuations. Mike and I picked her up from the airport at 1:00 am and took her straight to the French Quarter! We did some sight seeing on Saturday at any place we could still find open. And then Nora got the illustrious honor of packing up with us and evacuating. We had to make fun decisions like what we couldn't live without if we lost our house. And then we traveled to Shreveport leaving at 1:30 am on Sunday, with the contraflow and with our cat Tabitha.

In Shreveport, we got to stay with Joan and her household. They graciously hosted us for almost a week while we waited for Gustav to pass and NOLA to reopen! The Reinhardts also ended up there, so Carolyn, Nora and I got to hang out. I doubt we've done that since college. I had about 10 hours of sleep in 4 days, so I was utterly exhausted. But I was happy to be out of the way of the storm.

Mike and I also took the opportunity to jet off to Dallas/Fort Worth for a day to visit some of Mike's family who lives there. We stayed with Uncle Phil and Aunt Laura. We went to dinner with Mike's cousin Scott and his wife Christine along with Phil and Laura. It was fantastic Mexican food and I'm very sad that restaurant is now 9 hours away! Mike indulged me by taking me to a fantastic fabric store and then we were able to go to the Fort Worth zoo.

We finally made it back home yesterday evening. Thankfully the power had come on right about 2 hours before we came home. We traveled back with a priest who was the brother of a friend and of course our cat. We're happily recovering back home with minimal damage and just waiting to see what Ike will do!

2008-08-24T23:55:00.005-05:00

Hello to everyone! Summer has sped along this year, although the heat has kept us going slow. :) For some reason we're noticing the heat a bit more this year. I can't wait for fall and winter when it is so wonderful to be living here without snow.

Mike and I were so happy to once again be able to briefly join the Coney clan on vacation this year. Lucky for us, they were vacationing fairly close by, so we could drive in for the weekend. It was the first time that we had been to the Gulf and it was an eye opening experience. And it was definitely wild kingdom! There were tons of jellyfish making it very difficult to swim in the water. And yes, we did get stung and yes, it REALLY hurts. And we saw dolphins swimming off the coast and stingrays and tons of fish. We even got to hunt for sandcrabs in the dark. And of course we had great meals, cocktails and conversation with the Coney family.

We also TRIED to go to a Sound of Music sing a long at the WWII musuem downtown with Reinhardts and the Roses. Unfortunately we found out when we got there that we were some of the many people being turned away because it was completely sold out. This was so sad and particularly because we had all gotten dressed up to go. It's more fun if you look like an Austrian! So we decided to defy convention and instead went bowling in our costumes. The workers there thought that we were Menanites, but when they saw we were drinking decided to ask us what we were about. I happily informed them that I had worked hard on my costume and gosh darn it, I was going to wear it. They were highly amused.

This week was exciting because Mike injured his knee on Monday falling about 3 feet through a floor. I had to pick him up from across town and he was in intense pain. We decided not to go to the emergency room right away and then remembered that we could see Dave Edwards instead. Dave got us in within a couple of hours that Mike was able to spend at home resting on the couch. Mike had a few people come over to pray with him and by the time he went to see Dave, they were able to tell that his knee was not broken. Mike and I had been having visions of surgery and deductibles. :) His knee is still really stiff a week later, but he was really spared a worse diagnosis.

We're happily in the midst of some interesting weather. A tropical depression perhaps? Whatever it is, it's the first of "bad" weather we've had since we moved here. So far, so good. It has been pretty mild, but we're prepared for worse if it happens. At the very least, we're going to have a lot of rain for the next week.

Summer Times

2008-07-07T19:52:00.004-05:00

Well once again time has gotten away from me and it's been far too long since we've updated the blog. We've been super busy and we're ready for some boring times. :) At least for a few days.

Mike and I took a much needed vacation to the Smokey Mountains in early June. We had a great time hiking in the mountains and seeing the local sights. We were able to visit a couple of caves and saw a bunch of waterfalls. We even made it to Dollywood! We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast with great views of the mountains and yummy dinners and breakfasts. It was fun to see the local artisans and check out their quilting, pottery and carvings.

We've also had a slew of visitors staying with us lately. It's made the house hopping! The Ronaynes recently moved to the NOLA branch and we've been hosting their family in various capacities for the last couple months. It's been great to get to know them all. We've been watching lots of episodes of "The Office" with Mark and Mike is working hard at perfecting imitations of the characters.

In June we also had the special treat of my parents visiting. They were here for about a week and a half and stayed with us for part of the time and downtown for the rest. We were able to go to a great Plantation, the zoo and even some festivals in the quarter. They particularly enjoyed going to the insectitarium, but anyone who knows me knows that I did NOT go with them. :) Dad and I also worked hard on a number of puzzles. Each one was harder than the one before it. But we did eventually finish them all.

We recently had a big 4th of July party. Mike set off a great show of big beautiful (and probably illegal!) fireworks. It was great fun. We had lots of fun guests including a bunch of people newly in NOLA including Paul and Grace Marie Rose and family, Mark and Heather Ronayne and family and the very new Peter Reinhardt.

Life has been very full and wonderful!

Here comes the rain and the bride

2008-05-25T00:12:00.007-05:00

Well spring is in full swing here in New Orleans. It's been a lovely cool spring that's just starting to develop into summer heat. And time has flown as quickly as our cool weather has.

After our trip to South Bend, Mike and I found ourselves very busy with fun times. We were able to host Mark and Heather Ronayne from the Portland/Vancouver branch at our home. They recently decided to move their family down to NOLA and we're super excited. Mark has been staying with us these couple of months while he starts his new job and waits for his family to join him in the summer. We're watching lots of Office reruns and having a great time in general.

We were also really excited to have Joan and her household from Shreveport come join us for Jazz Fest. Billy Joel was playing and we were all looking forward to it. We did get to see him but it was under the cover of inches of rain. It poured rain the entire day we were there. But Joan and the girls ran to the stage and danced in the rain anyway. It was definitely a memorable day!

And most recently we've been very busy with all of the details for Andy Shaw and Elyse Pappenfort's wedding. I hosted a shower for Elyse and we just hosted a craw fish boil rehearsal dinner as well.

And just today they had their beautiful wedding here in New Orleans. It was pretty hot, but that didn't deter anyone from having a great time. Elyse looked beautiful and Andy was beaming from ear to ear. We were all happy that it didn't rain today b/c it's been raining buckets the last couple of days and we have plenty of water.

Mike and I are looking forward to a little vacation to the Smokey mountains in a week and I'm sure that I'll have lots of beautiful pictures to share from that. We hope everyone is doing well and isn't too busy with the end of the school year!

I leave you with a darling picture of Tess Meehan and Daniel and Jane Reinhardt playing in the water in our yard after all the rain.

Musings from March and April

2008-04-25T13:15:00.008-05:00

Hello All!

This year Mike and I were able to host our first Seder meal. We had a great group of people and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Mike made some excellent lamb and everyone LOVED his matza. Everyone said that they wanted to be there again next year.

March

Recently Mike and I got to take a trip to South Bend. We were able to surprise my mom for her birthday. You should have seen her face! She was shocked to see us there. :) It was fun to see my family and have a great dinner with the Zwernemans to celebrate my mom's birthday.

I was also able to attend a baby shower for Jenni Busk. She's expecting identical twin girls! It was very exciting to be able to finally give her the quilts that I'd been working on for the girls. Mike and I were also able to go to Chicago and spend some time with James and Jenni. Their hands are going to be very full soon!

Here's Jenni with the quilts for the nursery.

We also got to catch up with many friends and Pingel family. We apologize for anyone we didn't get to see, but it was a super quick visit.

Mike and I have also been busy in the yard a lot lately. Here in New Orleans we're almost into summer weather, but we've had a lovely spring. Mike and I spent a lot of time working in the back yard planting and building raised beds and steps. Everything is looking great and we've made even more progress than these pictures show.

Our spring continues to busy with visitors and parties. There are many fun activities coming up including Jazz fest, wedding showers and rehearsal dinners for friends.

March is already here!

2008-03-07T15:16:00.007-06:00

I know it's been a shamefully long time since we have updated the blog. But I promise, I am planning on being better about it. I know...promises, promises.

Life has been pretty full this winter. I mentioned last time that we got to go to South Bend for Thanksgiving. It was a busy time with between the Finkes and the Pingels. We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas there.

When we got home, we started planning for our Christmas party right away. This year we had a fun addition of LED flashing light cubes in our drinks. The green glow worried some, but they were quickly reassured when we told them that we hadn't added anything radioactive to their drinks.
It was fun once again to have a mix of New Orleans and South Bend friends at the party.

Right after Christmas we received news that sadly Mike's Uncle Ted had passed away. Mike and I drove the 10 hours to St Louis to join the rest of the Kastner family in celebrating Ted's life. It turned out to be a wonderful time of honoring and good fun among the family.
We were pleased to see all Mike's immediate family and quite a bit of the extended family. It was great to get to know everyone better.

Ted's funeral

Mike turned 35 this year and I managed to throw him a little surprise party. He wasn't expecting it all, so it was especially fun. Dave and Megan Edward's graciously hosted it and all had a good time.

Mardi Gras came especially early this year with Easter being so early. So we quickly jumped into those celebrations. This year we had a better idea of what to expect . It was fun to go to different parades in different parts of town.
For those in the know, we saw Endymion, Rex, Toth and the end of one of the parades in Metairie. We also made it through about 60 of the truck parades! This was my first Mardi Gras day (I was sick last year) and it was so fun to see all the costumes that people dress up in. I'm determined to wear costumes next year!

Most recently we made a trip to Shreveport for Joan's graduation. Joan received her Masters of Science in Education. She did amazingly well in school and graduated with VERY high honors (I told her that I was going to brag about her ;) ). We were expected guests, but she also had a whole group of surprise guests from Minnesota, South Bend, and Indianapolis. Many have lived with Joan in the past. We were equally surprised and delighted to see these friends! It turned into a great weekend of fun and fellowship.

Life in New Orleans continues to go well. We're certainly enjoying the weather at this time of year (especially when we hear how cold and snowy it's been this year in South Bend). We just bought a few trees for our yard, a river birch and a couple of palm trees. We're slowly making this house a home!

Love you all and miss you!!

A Busy Fall

2007-12-13T22:34:00.000-06:00

Hello All!
I know that it has been far too long since we've put up a new post. We've had a busy fall with a cruise to Mexico with my brother Jeremy and his wife Amy, a quick trip to Disney World with our friends James and Jenni, and a couple of trips to South Bend. We were able to spend Thanksgiving and celebrate a bit of Christmas while we were up North. We even got to see snow for the first time in a couple of years. We're currently planning our Christmas Party and looking forward to that in another week. We'll be spending Christmas in New Orleans and hanging out with the Coney's. It should be a lot of fun!
Here's some pictures from some of the trips that we've taken this fall! I hope you enjoy.

cruise 2007

Disney 2007

Greetings in the summer heat

2007-08-22T13:59:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!
Well once again, time has gotten away from me and I've been a bit lax in posting a new update on the blog.

Mike's business continues to thrive and he just got a new job that is just a couple of blocks away. It's great because he's able to come home for lunch, so I get to see him just a bit more often. He's busy doing estimates for other jobs and learning the ropes of what's required in the cities here.

We did manage to pull off hosting the POP baby shower for Eileen Timler at our house the other week. It was full of fun including a great game with melted chocolate bars in diapers...just imagine it! Here's some pictures if you would like to see them!

Eileen's Baby Shower

We hope that everyone is doing well and will hopefully keep you more updated on our lives in the future. We have a few trips planned for the next couple of months and we'll share all of that with you!

Love, Ang and Mike

Visit to South Bend

2007-07-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

Well, the craziness of the 4th of July has passed and I finally have a moment to sit down and update the blog.

Recently Mike and I took a trip to South Bend to visit with friends and family. Once again we stayed with the very hospitable Matt and Carrie Urbanski. Thanks again guys! The first day and a half that we were there we spent some time looking over a couple of properties that Mike is trying to sell and ending up doing a bunch of yard work to increase their curb appeal. The weather was actually very cool (by our new standards!) and we didn't suffer in the heat doing all that work.

Mike then took off for a few days to hang with some guy friends of his and I continued to visit with people. Highlights include going to the Spa at Colfax with my mom, spending the day with my mom and later the rest of my family, shopping with Carrie in Michigan city (which I really miss!) and Lord's day with some friends. I was also able to attend the community meeting on Friday night and it was really interesting to go back to such a big meeting after only attending our small branch meetings for the last year and a half. It was great to see everyone there and get a quick chance to catch up with people.

On Sunday the guys came back and Mike and I again visited my parents (they claimed that they wanted to see him!) and then we took off for Pingel world. We had a great afternoon and evening visiting with all (well most) of our neices and nephews, brothers and sisters and parents. That's when I actually broke out the camera, so here's a collection of pics with lots of Pingels (and some JT). Beware, there are alot of pics...but they're great ones, so try to make it through them!

pingels 2007

For those of you we didn't see, we'll catch you next time! It was just a few days that we were there and we packed every minute in. Hopefully we'll see people in the fall!

Love, Mike and Ang

Summer Heat

2007-06-11T15:19:00.000-05:00

Well it's officially summer here in New Orleans. The heat has finally made it here and it's coming down hard. Thankfully we had a really lovely spring and got to be outside alot and enjoy the great weather. But now reality is setting in and I think that we might be spending a bit less time out doors. At least in the middle of the day!
Life has continued to fly by. Mike's business is continuing to be successful. He's been working on the same job for a couple of months now and they are very pleased with his work. It looks like they may be a good couple for passing out recommendations too. So more work could be coming in because of this job. I'm pretty sure that he's got the next couple of jobs lined up after this one although they're a bit smaller.
Our major changes lately have been vehicles. Mike made the decision to sell his dump trailer because given the work that he is doing down here and the great trash service, it really hasn't been necessary to hold on to it. Another big reason is that there just isn't a lot of land to store a piece of equipment like that. Then, given that he sold his heavy trailer, he's decided to downsize his truck (it's big! and bulky) to something smaller. So I'm pretty sure that he's just selling that today...after just putting it up for sale yesterday. So praise God for that. Although Mike might have to scramble to find a new car now! Haha! We've also been looking at new cars for us (me!) to use everyday. The lease on our pilot is coming up and we are looking at other vehicles to buy or lease. We've been very happy with the pilot, but I've been pressuring him to downsize that car too. It's just a tad to big for me (I don't think that I could ever drive a 15 passenger van!) and I want something smaller. So we've been looking at cars like the Honda CRV and Hyundai Tuscon...we'll see what kind of deals we can find!
We come into South Bend on the 20th and hopefully we'll be able to see some of you then. I'll be able to compare summer heat and reassure everyone here that it does indeed get hot in South Bend! We're looking forward to that trip and some others towards the end of the summer. Finally we get to take a vacation! We're also getting ready to celebrate our 5th anniversary in July. Hard to believe!
It's great to hear from everyone and we always appreciate any news...keep in touch!

-Mike and Angela Pingel

Greetings for May!

2007-05-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Well life is pretty much back to normal around here. I had surgery about 3 weeks ago and we've both been recovering from that :) But therefore there have been no new updates from our life...I've spent much of that time glued to my couch and I'm just happy not to be there anymore. Mike has been busily working away on a fire damaged home of some friends of people we know down here. It sounds like they are making good progress there.
We've had a little drama around here the last couple of days because we made the big decision ( :) ) to keep our tree in our backyard and just get it trimmed. Both are expensive decisions, but the termites down here have made it a necessity. Apparently our tree has a death sentence, but with treatment and trimming we should be able to keep it for a good 10 more years. I have some fun pictures of the tree trimmers that I will post when I get them on the computer. It's been a pretty amazing thing to watch...they have to go really high and drop pieces of lumber within inches of the house and other plants. We've been really impressed with them and the tree looks so much better already.

Tree trimming May 2007

May will be an exciting month for us because my brother is in town for a few days and then many Coney's will be in town for a wedding. We're excited to get to see all of those people. And the Reinhardt's will be moving 2 doors down on Memorial Day. That will increase our life activity!
We're planning on coming to South Bend around the 20th of June. Mike will be around part of that time (he's off with friends) and I will be around the whole time. I decided to come with him this time because last time I realized how many people I would be able to see then. Sadly air fare has really gone up! It's very prohibiting to visit :( But we miss everyone and want to see people. So look us up when we're in town if you will be there!

Okay, well that's all for now. Obviously nothing earth shattering is happening in our lives, but that's okay. If the earth shattered all the time then I would wonder what we were doing wrong! :)

We miss you all and love you!
Mike and Angela

Visit to Shreveport

2007-04-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

Hello Again Everyone,
Mike and I got to take a trip to Shreveport this weekend for Jack Lynch and Teresa O'Connor's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and very moving, but we were most excited to get to see Joan and all the people in Allendale. We've both been there before, but not in quite a while. In fact, I hadn't been there since the women even started living there. It was wonderful to see their life and enjoy the southern hospitality. They definitely have a great thing going.
Of course I thought that I was taking lots of pictures there all weekend, but as is often the case I was wrong. It's not too shoddy an amount, but I have more pictures in my head! We were excited to see all the other people in town for the wedding including Chris Vieck, Debbie Mixell, and Sean Connolly...and of course there was a good turnout from the New Orleans branch because we always like a party! Hopefully now that we've made the trip once it won't be so overwhelming to do it again. It's a 5 hour drive which is do-able, but not necessarily all that enjoyable...plus the roads are a bit bouncy which makes for some upset stomachs :( But we prevail! It just makes us all that more appreciative when someone makes the trip for us. My new goal is to find a halfway point so that we could each travel a couple of hours and spend the day with each other.

Shreveport Visit

We've also been doing lots of work on our garden. I've told a number of you that and have had requests for pictures of our work...hence the somewhat boring group of pictures of plants. But they make us very excited. I always find that when I plant something I feel like our house becomes more of a home. There's more permanence about it when you take the time to plant something new. Plus Mike and I just like to make everything look more beautiful. Regardless, we're just getting started...so don't laugh (or do!) at the size of our fruit trees. One days we will be able to make great gin and tonics with the limes from our back yard! The plants that we moved with us from South Bend continue to thrive here (kind of like us!) and it makes us want to go get more from our old house...haha! But we're also trying to explore all the different kinds of plants that you can grow down here that you can't up north. If nothing else, it's been amazing to have flowers in our yard all year round.

Garden April 2007

Hopefully most of you are no longer experiencing any snow...but if you are, you should just come visit. It's 80 degrees here!

Love, Mike and Angela

Happy Easter

2007-04-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

Easter

I just wanted to post some pictures on the blog of some of the people that we spent Easter sunday with.

As usual the Coney's graciously hosted us at their house for a grand meal. Thank you! We also got to attend the same Sunday mass as Tom and Diane, which was very beautiful...worthy of an Easter Celebration.

Later on in the day, the POP had their Easter celebration filled with songs, sharings and lots of food. There was even an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Many of the pictures are from this event.

We missed seeing all of our family for Easter, but had a special treat this year because Jim and Colleen Pingel and family came into town for Easter. That's the first time they have all been here since we moved here! What fun!

We hope you all had a blessed and wonderful day...even if it was snowing where you were!!

Love, Mike and Angela

Late Pictures of Joseph Edward's Arrival

2007-04-08T23:01:00.001-05:00

Sorry that these pictures have take a while to get posted.

Mike and I had the honor to be at the airport when Megan Edwards brought home her newly adopted son Joseph from Guatamala along with her mother Linda Coney. I know I was moved to tears by the site of Dave getting to see his son for the first time. (and I wasn't the only one)

Joseph seems to be adjusting beautifully these days to his new family. We got to go to a birthday party for his 1st birthday just a couple of days ago. Let me tell you that kid is not hurting for toys! :)

I hope you enjoy the pictures.
-Angela

click for more pictures

Our 1 Year New Orleans Anniversary!

2007-04-02T10:28:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe, but Mike and I moved to New Orleans exactly one year ago today! Life has definitely changed alot for us in the last year...we have lived with Tom and Diane Evans for 5 of those months, worked on fixing up our own house, and finally moved into it at the end of August. We've enjoyed all the new friendships that we've developed over the last 12 months and all the great times we've had with people.

Some highlights of the year include Andy and Elyse moving down here too so Andy could work with Mike. Getting to live with Tom and Diane. Crashing the Coney family vacation. Going to Portland for David Shaw's ordination and South Bend for Susan Ranaghan's wedding. Throwing our first Christmas Party in New Orleans. Both our parents visiting and James and Jenni Busk visiting. Bill and Carolyn Reinhardt deciding to move in just two doors down! And of course most recently (if you haven't already heard) was little Jane Reinhardt being born just a week and a half ago.

We're both a year older and hopefully a little wiser! HaHa! We definitely want to invite anyone down who wants to come see us or New Orleans. We have a guest room that ya'll are welcome to.

Sadly I still don't like seafood, but happily Mike loves it. We had a great little cookout the other night with Dan and Anne Brewer and Bill and Carolyn Reinhardt and Tom Mulhearn (who was visiting law schools)...it was on a Friday during Lent, so they all made shrimp and I had cheese pizza! Maybe someday it will grow on me, but don't hold your breath.

We're looking forward in the next couple of months to Jim and Colleen and Family visiting (they'll see Colleen's family too), Amanda Coney's wedding, and a trip to Shreveport for a wedding and a chance to see Joan, Gretchen and all the Allendale folk. Hopefully we'll have some good pictures to add for all that!

Oh and today's my mom's birthday, so I wanted to wish her "Happy Birthday!" Yep..that's right, we moved on my mom's birthday. That's how I remember the day. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Love, Mike and Ang

Mardi Gras Pictures!

2007-03-08T10:52:00.000-06:00

As Promised here are the pictures that we took from the Mardi Gras celebrations. Keep in mind that these pictures are from at least 5 different parades. Every one has their own flavor. Hope you enjoy them! Maybe some of you will be inspired to come down next year for Mardi Gras too!

Mardi Gras 2007

Mardi Gras Time in New Orleans!!

2007-02-20T18:40:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone
Here we are with an update again. Life has been pretty busy for Mike and I here in New Orleans. We had my parents come in January (which I think I mentioned last time), then James and Jenni Busk in February, followed immediately by Mike's parents. I don't have any pictures right now, but I'll get them up soon. We got a new digital camera and we haven't uploaded the new software yet...
Unfortunately James and Jenni were here for some really cold weather. Although it was even colder back in Chicago. But we're sad that they weren't able to see NO for all it's worth! Regardless, we were still able to do some fun things including a night out at Pat O'Brian's, a trip to Oak Alley Plantation, and a couple great puzzles. Plus we introduced them to Blokus!

Mike's parents followed right after them, having visited Joan right before us. We were able to take them around the city a bit and finally managed to make it to the D Day musuem. They had an Anne Frank exhibit which I'm sure many of you would love. I personally had to sit out most of the musuem after I saw it...but I've always been that way. I'm suprised I made it that far.
After all of our visitors, we finally took the opportunity to get a couple of finishing house projects done. Mike added molding below and above our bar and installed some under cabinet lighting there as well. We also finally got a start on the tile around the fire place. We had never tackled that kind of project...but that just meant that Mike was able to rent a new tool! He had to use a wet saw that about 5 feet long! The tile looks great, but we still have to finish grouting. One step at a time!
After that we found ourselves wrapped up in the craziness that is Mardi Gras/Carnival. Mike was here last year for Mardi Gras day, but I wasn't. So this was all very new and exciting for me. The Coney's were out in full force to help support us through our first Mardi Gras :) Megan taught me how to call out for beads (no, not THAT way!) and I have some cute things now! We managed to make it to about 6 0r 7 parades I think. Maybe more...they all blur together after a while. Unfortunately I managed to get really sick right here at the end, so I wasn't able to go out on Lundi Gras or Mardi Gras. I'll have to save that fun for next year.
In general we're doing well, although I don't think that we will mind a little boringness. These past couple of months have been GREAT fun, but now we're kind of worn out. Well at least I am, but maybe that's the sickness talking :) We hope that you are all doing well and we always love to get updates on you all!
Love , Mike and Ang

O when the Saints...go marching in....

2007-01-28T10:38:00.000-06:00

(click for more pictures)

So, for the first time in history the Saints made it to a playoff game just one away from the superbowl. Let me tell you, hopes were very high in this city. Our priest at mass prayed for the Saints in his intentions and as a special prayer at the end of mass...so you know everyone had Saints fever! So Mike and I hosted a small gathering of friends (whom you can see in the pictures) for this great event. And I can honostly say that we enjoyed the first half of the game. After that....well, probably not as much. If you haven't heard anything about the superbowl, let me be the one to break it to you. It will be the Chicago Bears, not the New Orleans Saints who will be representing. Of course, this is probably good news for many of you Northerners up there who have been long fans of the Bears. Of course now you have the Colts to worry about....
But we did all manage to have a great time watching the two games that day and I think that I am a convert to Professional Football. I like it alot better than College football. Don't get me wrong, we'll always root for ND here, but I really enjoy having a professional team in my town to root for too!
So are fingers are crossed for next year. Maybe the Saints will make it all the way then!
Love, Mike and Ang

Update from the Pingels

2007-01-12T12:00:00.000-06:00

(click for more pictures)

Hello Everyone!!
I'm so sorry that time has gotten away from me and I haven't updated this in a couple months. I wasn't sure that many people were looking at it, but then I got a number of questions asking about it and decided I needed to act. Thanks so much to all who sent comments...I'm sorry that I was so lame in my response time :( Since my last update the holidays have been in full swing. Mike and I took a road trip up to South Bend with John and Eileen Timler for Thanksgiving week. Having the two of them along certainly helped break up a long (16 hours!) car ride.
When we were in South Bend we had the opportunity to see LOTS of people. Which was really great, but as you can imagine, also really exhausting. We were able to see all the Pingels who live in South Bend as well as all the Finkes. Matt and Carrie Urbanski graciously hosted us there which is always fun. We managed to squeeze in seeing the Barretts, the Sgrois, the Kollers (Steve and Elizabeth), the Barteks, the Kottkamps, the Zwernemans, the Stowes and many more... It was great to be there and catch up with everyone. Mike and I found it really comforting that the city had continued to grow, but also remained basically the same. Life had not changed too much in 6 months or so!
When we got back to New Orleans, we began preparing for Christmas in a new city. Mike and I decided before we even moved here that we were going to continue our annual Christmas party (which I must give a disclaimer for myself as not being part of the original group to start it...but you can't let a good thing go to waste!) So I made invitations and we sent them out. We were lucky enough to have some people stay in town just for the party (thanks Bill and Care!) and have other people get there just in time (yeah Coney family!). We even got to have Joan, Gretchen and David drive 5 hours from Shreveport to come stay with us for the party....see the picture above! That was such a special treat. The party seemed to be a success and the drinks abounded. I had fun playing Bartender, making new and interesting drinks particularly for the women. As always, the party is alot of work, but we enjoyed being able to open up our house for our first big party. We enjoyed discovering what works and what can be improved on for good party flow.
Mike and I decided to stay in New Orleans for our first Christmas. We enjoyed being low key, but it was a bit harder than I thought it would be. Lucky for us the Coney family has adopted us and invited us to all their celebrations. We were able to spend Christmas eve with them (thanks to all the cooks!) and even had a shrimp boil. I hear rumors that there are even some pictures of me out there peeling shrimp. I did eat one, but I absolutely drew the line with the crab! Peeling the shrimp was excitement enough thank you.
Just as the South Bend contingent of the Coney family returned home, my parents came into town to visit. We took them to the French quarter and market, magazine street, the zoo, down St Charles Ave, and Whole Foods. On Friday night we took them to the French Quarter and got to listen to some great jazz at Preservation Hall and have Hurricanes and Bloody Marys at Pat O'Briens. That was definitely a highlight. People here were really generous and we had meals at the Slatterys, the Coneys, the Evans and with the Reinhardts. Thanks everyone!
Life is getting back to normal just for a couple weeks. We're excited to have James and Jenni Busk coming in February probably to be followed by Mike's parents. Mike and I are trying to think of more fun things to do with all of them. Any suggestions??
Happily, with all the entertaining, I think that we are getting better at getting around the city. Things are starting to make a bit more sense and I'm starting to know the major street names....of course that only comes after getting lost a couple of times. Oh well, that's the best way to learn!
Mike is continuing to work on his company and just last night we were both working on our resumes. So pray that we can continue to follow God's path for us. Sometimes it's a little hard to find :)
We miss you and hope you miss us!
Love, Mike and Ang

Life Continues

2006-10-27T11:39:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to give you all another update in the days and lives of Mike and Angela. We have been having some fun down here...entertaining and being entertained! Recently, a number of young ladies from Saint Mary's (my Alma Mater!) came down to NO for the week to see the city and do some service. Mike and I were fortunate to get to spend a fair amount of time with them. One night we had a girls' night out and went to "Rock n' Bowl", a local bowling alley that always has live bands. We had a GREAT time...although I won't embarrass any of us by revealing our bowling scores! No need to get into the details :) Regardless, I would definitely go back. Bowling, a bar, live music...what could be better. You could even dance if you wanted to. I just tapped my feet on the lanes!
On Saturday we hosted a really fun dinner with about 10 people. Mike and I decided to make it interactive (a great trick for your guests...get them to make their own dinner!) Hah! Seriously though...we all made eggrolls and sushi. I have been making eggrolls my whole life since my family always makes them for Christmas, but none of had ever made sushi before. I think that they turned out pretty well. Ahhh...I love the internet...you can find anything there...even multiple recipes and instructions for making sushi. Here are a few pictures of the event.

click to see more!

On Monday, the branch here had their annual community celebration dinner. One of the nice things about being in a small branch is that when the whole group wants to celebrate we can all fit in one room. The dinner was quite nice...although once again in the spirit of New Orleans it was full of seafood. Hey! Just for the record, when we made sushi I did try one with raw tuna in it...and how many of you can say that! Unfortunately despite Matt Urbanski's prayers for me as we left South Bend, I do not yet enjoy seafood. Well...it's been less than a year. Perhaps in time.
Anyway, back to the celebration. I was filled with fun conversations, good toasts and by most standards...good food. Mike and I had the good fortune to be at a table with Mike and Linda Coney and Mike Coney finished off most of my chicken (he had to taste everything!) so he must be feeling better! Here's some pictures of the people there. Everyone's in the branch...so you all can get to know them through pictures if you don't already know them.

click for more pictures!

Mike and I also had the time to put up some Halloween decorations. Now that we have a large attic, it is actually quite easy to find decorations. So we took the opportunity to put up some lights...and a few other things. The people in New Orleans really like to decorate their houses, so fit right in. Here's some pictures!

click for a few more

And finally for all of those who know and miss our cat Tabitha, I just want you to know that she is doing quite well. She has finally settled in and knows that this is her house...I mean "our" house. This house has great windowsills for a cat and she knows them all. Mike and I still get a kick out of seeing her on them every time. It is just so cat-like. Here she is...completely tuckered out.

Well...that's all for now. Send Mike an email if you would like to see him be a contributer to this site. I have tried to get him to add a few words, but he might need more than my encouragement. We miss you all!

October Update

2006-10-09T19:52:00.000-05:00

Well here's another update in the life of Mike and Angela. We've had a few fun times here in the grand city of new orleans lately.
On Friday, Carolyn and I (and baby Daniel) took the streetcar (not the trolley!) down to the French Quarter. I had not taken the streetcar since I moved here...in years really. It was so fun! Well, the streetcar was fun, but not waiting for it. We walked around the french quarter and had lunch at a cafe that serves "authentic New Orleans cuisine". Which of course means that I had a chicken sandwich. I took the camera to take pictures of our day and all the pictures basically became a tribute to Daniel. Well someone had to hold him! Here they are:

(Click for more pictures)

Our area had an Oktoberfest party this past Sunday. It was a lot of fun. Mike and I brought the braughts. Others brought Sauerkraut, Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Potato Salad, and all those other picnic fixings. We even had shots of goldshlagger (sp?)! and of course German Chocolate Cake. Not to mention the chicken dance and the makeraina (sp?). It was quite a party. Someone even made pretty flower headbands for all the women to wear. Enjoy the pics!

(click for more pictures!)

Finally, it was a great week because Carrie Urbanski was in town after her dad's surgery. Mike's surgery went great, so visiting with Carrie was pure pleasure. She was finally able to join our knitting group, aptly named by Tom Evans as the "close knit group". It was great to see her. She was able to see our new house and take me to the local seafood shops. They turned out to be around the corner. Too bad I don't eat seafood...but Mike does! Here's a picture of Carrie knitting with us! So sad the see her go :(

click for more!

Life in New Orleans

2006-09-30T16:55:00.000-05:00

Just a little update for the past couple of weeks. We have been getting more and more settled into our house. We are discovering what we like best about the house (huge kitchen!) and what we don't (no ice machine near the bar...huge oversite!). But like any experience, this house has taught us a lot.
Mike continues to work on a renovation project with Andy. Every day they seem to have more work. I have been busy working away on different projects. My new hobby is knitting and it certainly keeps me busy. Plus I have some new quilt books that are calling my name.
The P.O.P. had a square dance last week that was suprisingly quite a lot of fun. It sounds a little hokey, but it is actually great to learn different dance steps. We had a caller who taught the whole group..roughly 75 people..to do the different steps. Don't get me wrong, we're all still beginners, but we have talent :) Maybe someday we'll do more, but I moved to New Orleans, not Texas!

click on picture for more!

We're In Our House!!! Finally!!

2006-09-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!
I'm so sorry that it has taken so long to put a new update on this site. My excuse (and I'm sticking to it!) is that when we finally moved into our house (!) we didn't have internet, telephone or cable for over three weeks. Crazy I know...we felt very disconnected. But we're finally available in all ways. We even have a phone number, which I won't give out because who knows what crazy people might read this, but let me know if you need/want it.
So we're finally in our house. I know that most of you have seen tons of pictures of the house, but I have included our latest group of pictures which actually includes...drumroll please...Furniture! I know, what a concept. But since we live here now, we thought that it would be appropriate. There are also some pictures of our cat Tabitha in our new house. She didn't adjust too well at first to the new house, but a few weeks later she is finally more comfortable. She finally decided that we had moved her one too many times. She's becoming a cat that hides under the bed when she has finally had it.
Mike is in the process of starting a new company down here and has recently begun working with Andy Shaw. Andy just moved down here with his girlfriend Elise to work with Mike. They are currently working on someone's flood damaged home and are doing estimates for other jobs as well. Ultimately they think that they would like to work on homes that they themselves own, but in the meantime this certainly helps pay the bills.
I am currently evaluating my circumstances. I haven't decided what I want to do down here myself. I do not want to work full time, but I also haven't branched out to find new work. I am feeling the pressure of being an unknown in a city. I love interior design, but I find that I'm very picky about where and when I want to work. I figure since I have the luxury of being picky I might as well enjoy it. In the meantime, I am occupying my time with various house projects like reupholstering dining room chairs, making curtains, quilts, and learning to knit...my new love.
We are really starting to enjoy the weather down here. The heat is starting to die down a bit, and thanks to some friends we have actually gotten outside to enjoy the weather. We have even "discovered" the benefit of living where we do (right by the lake). It is soooo nice to go down by the lake and have to great there. We are looking forward to more times there.
We are planning on going to South Bend for Thanksgiving and at this point are planning on driving there. We will probably be there about a week, so we would love to see anyone who'll be in town then. If you are a Pingel, I can guarantee that we will be seeing you. But special invites are always great! Christmas will be here in New Orleans and the Finkes are planning on coming for New Years. We are planning on having our annual Christmas party here in New Orleans and are looking forward to doing that New Orleans style.
We don't have any vacation plans, but we might take a weekend and try to make it to the Southern Coast. I be more specific if I could, but I still am not all that great with the geography of our Southern States. Regardless, we would love to take advantage of the warm weather and the lack of tourists at this time of year. Hopefully we'll be able to do something.
Well, once I again, I promise that I will be diligent and keep updating our site. Keep checking back because we definitely want to remain in touch with all of you! This is just my cheap way of contacting everyone at once :) We miss you all!

(click for more pictures)

More Progress on the House

2006-08-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

Click on the picture to see more progress!

Mike and I have been working hard on the house! Here are just a few pictures to give you an update on what we have accomplished. The painting is all done (except for a few touch-ups of course) and the crown molding is up in the rooms we have chosen. We have been working all this week on the hardwood floors that are going in the family room, the kitchen, and the den. It has been exhausting work, but it looks beautiful! We also have all the kitchen and bar cabinets installed, as well as the countertops and sinks.

We are looking to be in the house by the end of August, but maybe the beginning of September. We aren't really in a rush because Tom and Diane have been so great. We could stay here for years and I don't think they would complain. Some of the things we have left to do on the house are bathroom and bedroom floors, bathroom vanities, accent tile, and of course move in all of the furniture and unpack boxes. I don't even think that we know what we own anymore! We're looking forward to all the new progress...

Happy Anniversary!

2006-07-30T21:21:00.000-05:00

Mike and I just celebrated our 4th anniversary this week. We took some time to reflect on what we had done since we got married and in particular this past year. This year has obviously been pretty important. We realized that since our last anniversary we had been to Disney World, New Orleans (4 times!), Mexico, Portland, and South Bend. All of this ending in the fact that we moved to NO. What a year! There has definitely been some traveling. For the moment, we are not planning any trips, but we definitely dream alot. Our next vacation will be in our new home!
We took advantage of our anniversary to try one of the fabulous restraunts that NO is so famous for. We wanted to try Commander's, but it's not open yet (for those of you who know what that is). We ended up going to Emeril's which is downtown. We had a great time and really enjoyed the very classy and discrete service that we had from our waiters. Mike is definitely enjoying all the seafood that he gets to try here and is quickly discovering the kinds of fish that he enjoys. I continue to be a completely picky eater and always struggle to eat something more exciting than the chicken dish on everyone's menus. We are looking forward to the next restraunt that we will get to try...we just need another special occasion!

Trip to Oregon

2006-07-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

Mike and I were recently able to take a trip to Portland, Oregon for the Ordination of Mike's good friend, David Shaw. I had never been to the Pacific northwest coast, so I was very excited to be able to see it! We were there at a perfect time. The roses were all in bloom (Portland is known as the "City of Roses") and the rain was very minimal. Coming from the New Orleans heat, Portland and its 70ish degree weather seemed almost chilly!
It was great to see all of our old friends that have moved to Portland and to meet new ones. We both loved the ordination itself and were very honored to be there for David's special day. Mike especially loved being able to attend David's first mass. They have come a long way since Holy Cross grade school!
We also had a great time on our last day touring the countryside with some of the brotherhood and the Kabele family. This picture is just one of the amazing sites that we saw that day. We would definitely visit this part of the country again, and it is now on our evergrowing list of people and places to see.

Our New House - 1320 Huron Ave

2006-07-03T10:50:00.000-05:00

Before

After: In Progress - Not Completed!

One of the first things that Mike and I did was rip out all of the overgrown bushes and cut down the lawn. We had tons of work to do both in the back and in the front. You can see from these pictures that we also have a large willow oak in the backyard. It will be a great tree to add some shade, but it needed a bit of triming. So Mike climbed up into the tree with his chainsaw and carefully cut down some of the lower branches that needed to be cut up. Then we had to haul all of the debris from both yards to the curb where the city picked it up. It took a little while for the trash people to come, but it is really a great service that the city has right now.

Most of the plants that we put in the front yard were transplanted from our home in South Bend. The 2nd picture is probably about a month old at this point and I am happy to report that all the plants that we moved are still living. We have been so excited to see the plants really thrive here. I will finally have the large hydrangea bushes that I long for, and Mike's roses are just loving the heat down here. We also excited to see how big our giant dalia's get. Last year in South Bend they were taller than me! We'll see what the heat does to them here!

We have grand plans for the front of the house. It is one of the last priorities so we will see when it actually all happens. We want to reroute the front path along side of the driveway. We have a lamp post that will be put in at the edge of the path and the sidewalk. Also we are planning on bringing plants along the side of our neighbor's driveway since they have informed us that they are expanding their driveway all the way to the edge of our property. They are nice, but we don't want to look at their concrete! Mike is determined to have a palm tree and I want to make sure that we put in some southern plants with bright flowers. We also are talking about adding a porch railing to dress the whole thing up. We're really excited about everything there is that we can do!

Mike & Ang update with Pictures

2006-06-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Mike & Ang in the Rose Garden
(click our picture to see more photos)

Dear Friends,

Ang and I have been in New Orleans for just about 2 1/2 months and I wanted to share a little bit of the fun we have been having. Attached you will find pictures of the progress on our house in New Orleans, and pictures of our recent trip to Portland Oregon for David Shaw's Ordination.

Our house is going well. We transplanted a lot of plants from South Bend and they all are very healthy and happy. It is great to have a yard to plant and water and make look homey. We sped up progress on our drywall and finishing in the kitchen so that we could install the kitchen when it arrived. So in the picture you see it installed and painted and then the rest of the house still needs final finishing. The counter tops should be coming in any time this week. We have the whole front of the house drywalled and one coat of mud and the back family room, master bed and bath still need drywall. It is easier to break up the mudding in a couple of stages. Wayne Camet has been helping out as well as Michael and Vivian Coney. It's great to get a helping hand when we can.

Friday Angela was really getting into the job of cutting drywall and she sliced her finger. She is doing well and had 10 stitches put in and it seems to be healing well. Our emergency visit went very well and the doctor and nurse were wonderful. We were in and out of Tulane Lakeside Hospital within two hours which were a real suprise! The pain is lessening when she moves her finger, but no more work for the next week.

Our trip to Portland was wonderful. We spent 5 days visiting and touring the area. We stayed with Dan and Beth Kabele and their 4 sons, who live next door to Pat and Jo Clark with three daughters. Also Hilary and Eric Shreives just moved down three weeks ago so we saw them and their 4 kids. We loved visiting and had the chance to even inspect the home Hilary and Eric are putting an offer on. The real estate market in Portland is crazy hot and very pricey ( $350 K and up for a modest home) We visited the Rose garden, Japanese Garden, Downtown, and hiked around as well as took a fun tour with Joel Kibler and some of the brotherhood. The ordination was a wonderful service and the branch was great to meet and stay with.

We also took a four day trip to Georgia with the Coney Family vacation off the coast of Georgia on Jekle Island during memorial day. That was a fun trip and a lot of driving through Florida. We are still aiming to be moved in some time in August.
We also took a four day trip to Georgia with the Coney Family vacation off the coast of Georgia on Jekyll Island during memorial day. That was a fun trip and a lot of driving through Florida.

We are still aiming to be moved in some time in August.