The Straub family gained another member on February 16. Little Jorja Claire came at 8:04 AM and was 7lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. Just a little peanut. We saw her again last night and she is still small and cuddly. I love that stage!
January 18th, 2010
Well, this poor blog is getting neglected. So, let’s summarize the last few months. The holidays – they were busy and fun. Here’s a recap in pictures:
Christmas Eve:
Haley at the bowling alley - too cute
Jim showing Jonah and Noah the hoop
Lil Jo
Noah and Papa
Christmas Day:
Jim making Christmas morning breakfast
Mom & I
Jason and Courtney are expecting the first grandchild in the family in June!
Dad & Uncle Rusty
Christmas Day at Mom & Dad Paxson's
So, that’s what we have been up to. Looking forward to what 2010 holds!
Posted in Uncategorized |
November 20th, 2009
Wow. It’s been a while.
What have we been up to? Well, back in October I ran in the Nike Human 10K Race. It was a miserable day and ended starting the race an hour and fifteen minutes late, but I finished and we have pictures to prove we were there:
Jim waiting patiently
Lots of people waiting in the warm tent
Stretching the hip
Here I come... oh man I was dying here
Then in November, Jim and I headed up to Traverse City for the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race. It was a beautiful weekend! Over 60 degrees the whole weekend – in November! Jim finished the 28 mile race in 2:06 and got 8th in his class. There were over 4400 racers there, so it was crazy. A really great weekend, though. We also paid a visit to the Sleeping Bear Dunes on the way home with Dad and Mom Braam. That was quite an adventure as well.
Ready to go
In line
On the trail
On the trail
It's official!
In other news, I turned 27 this week. Not sure how I feel about that. But, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.
We are very excited for the holidays! Maybe I will post again before the new year. 
September 3rd, 2009
We headed to West Virginia, Virginia and DC last week. Spent some time in the New River Gorge in West Virginia and did some rafting, hiking, biking, camping and eating. Good stuff.
Beautiful day for driving
The New Bridge - longest arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere
Us and the New Bridge
Hiking in the mountains
Later on in the week, we headed up to Virginia and Washington DC. We went into Washington DC for a whirlwind tour. I had been there when I was younger, but Jim hadn’t ever been. I forget how much stuff is there! We need to go back and see some more.
Jim hydrating after a run in with a kidney stone the day before
The Lincoln Memorial and I
Beautiful Smithsonian building
Jim at the FBI
Well, I am off to Nashville this week for a girls weekend. Very excited!!
Posted in vacation |
August 2nd, 2009
I have had this domain name for a while and didn’t update it much, so why not just make it our blog? Welcome to jim-wendy.com! It’s still everything you don’t need to know about us…
Posted in websites |
July 24th, 2009
Last Sunday, Andrea and I threw a party for Mom and Dad. They turned 60 in April and June and had their 35th wedding anniversary in February, so we figured that deserved a party! It rained all day until their party at 2 and then it turned beautiful. We may have had said a few prayers for it to clear up!
Andrea has a friend that does cakes, so we had her duplicate (a few less tiers) their wedding cake. Mom still had her cake topper!
Mom and Dad cutting the cake. They even used the same knife and server. Jim and I used those, too.
Family shot. We missed Erik, but he wasn’t feeling well.
Yesterday, Mom, Dad, Andrea, Erik, Jim and I went to the Tigers game. We had great seats – only 30 rows back! We drove through rain all the way there. There was a short rain delay, then beautiful weather during the game. As soon as we left it started to rain again. We drove through a really really bad storm on the way back. But once again, God answered our prayers for clear weather when we needed (wanted) it!
Our Tiger, Brandon Inge, up at bat. Unfortunately, he didn’t do too well.
Miguel Cabrera – he didn’t too well either!
Curtis Granderson, hit a beauty… right into the glove of a Seattle player…
Comerica Park – very nice and apparently supports our auto makers
Another field shot
The Braams at Comerica Park
July 16th, 2009
So, I hate being unprepared. Not having a plan if something happens, is not OK with me. So, one of things I had thought about was what if I got a ton of groceries, like over $150 worth, and then went to check out. My stuff is bagged, I go to get my wallet out of my purse… and my wallet isn’t there! What would I do? Would I have to put everything back? Well, you don’t actually. I found that out last night!
I was getting ready to pull my wallet out after shopping and, it wasn’t there and I knew exactly where it was. At home in the bag I took to the beach. Argh. So, I tell the cashier this and he’s like, “Do you live close?” “Yes,” I said. “Just a mile down the road.” “OK, I will finishing ringing this up and you can go home. Just pay for it at the service counter.”
There you go, folks. Not as embarrassing as I thought it would be – although I hope to never do that again. I didn’t get escorted out and they didn’t accuse me of trying to steal groceries.
So, if you ever forget your wallet, hopefully you can avoid any further embarrassment as well.
July 4th, 2009
Happy Independence Day! Hope you are able to enjoy the day, even though the weather isn’t that great.
What have we been up to?
Well, a couple of weeks ago our friends Mark and Jenn got married. Awesome wedding, awesome food, just awesome. 
The wedding was in Holland the reception was in Saugatuck at a beautiful golf course where they served all local foods and beverages. Wine from the Leelanau Peninsuala, local vegetables and fruits and other deliciousness.
The next weekend, our friends Jason and Sarah got married. We were able to be the master and mistress of ceremonies. This was also an awesome wedding. The reception was at the Grand Rapids Museum and the exhibits and carousel were ours for the evening. Amazing!
There’s Sarah getting ready to walk down the aisle
Also that same weekend, Jim played in the Ludington Macker. How is that possible? Well, we made it work. We drove up early on Saturday and he played and won one game. Then we came back and mastered and mistressed the wedding. Then back up for a full day in Ludington on Sunday. Needless to say, we were exhausted. But, Jim and his team did get 2nd place!
Then last weekend was the Reeds Lake Run. I did the 10K again, but hadn’t trained very well this year. I have only been running a few times a week since the Riverbank. I was able to finish, but did it a little slower than I wanted.
Then later that day it was Julie’s open house! It was a beautiful and hot day. Lots of food, friends and family. I think I OD’d on those blasted butter mints. MMMM so tasty.
Jim’s helping to set up
Julie with her Costco cakes!
We’ve got some more basketball tournaments and runs coming up, so it should continue to be fun summer. We are hoping to fit in a vacation soon, too!
May 26th, 2009
Time for another bi-monthly update. I would like to do them more, but these days are getting away from me! So, I will now resort to my favorite method of updating: BULLETS!
- Jim and I both finished the Riverbank. Jim got a better time in his 10K than he was going for. Yay Jim! I got a worse time than I was going for, but I was able to run the whole thing – no stopping. Given the hills and rain: Yay me!
- We celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss on May 12. We used a gift card to Carraba’s (I had never been there) and went mini-golfing at Craig’s Cruisers. Our waiter found out it was our anniversary and gave us free champagne! It was a good time, but no trip to Mexico… He also got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers!
- I headed to Dallas Texas from May 13-May 15 for a database conference. Fabulous time! *sarcasm* Well, I did go with some people from work I enjoy and we stayed in a really nice hotel, but I got horribly sick the day we left. Full on snot attack to the head, chest and nose. I am actually still getting over that.
- On Memorial Day, we ran in the Jenison 5K. It was a really small race and we just had to go down the road. Jim and I both got our best times ever. After that we headed home and watched the huge parade with Audrey and the kids. Then it was a bike ride to Byron Center and back and then ended the day with a fire. Good day!
- I got a new road bike! Now I can almost keep up with Jim.
- I have been doing a few websites lately. I am still really enjoying it. Check out www.rooksarchitecture.com and www.autobodyxperts.com – especially if you want to build a house or get your car fixed!
- This weekend, Jim and I are headed to Petoskey from some camping, bike riding and other fun things. We’ll also be able to visit Aunt Marla and Uncle Norm. I am really looking forward to getting away.
As you can see we are staying busy and enjoying spring so far!
May 7th, 2009
Well, I didn’t post once in April. Oops!
A lot happened in April some good, some bad. The short of it is, I still have my job and a lot of people don’t. It’s a tiring and stressful time for everyone right now, so I am praying that God continues to do his work. I know he will.
The Riverbank is in two days! They had to change the course this year because of the river flooding. Translation: more hills. Other translation: not Wendy-friendly.
Oh well. I will try my best. Stay tuned for the results.
Happy birthday to my “little” sister who turns 23 today… oh man.