Andy, Maxwell, and Spike (in his ugly Christmas sweater)
Aubrei, Dan, and Maxwell
That pile of snow is a result of the storm that came the Thursday before we left. NONE of that snow was there on Thursday afternoon!
The wonderful RA staff I work with!
Crowe Christmas in Iowa

1st Christmas as "The Crowes"...

Christmas and New Years was great! We made our great escape from Iowa on December 20 and didn't come back until January 3. We spent time at Dad's, Mom's, and Andy's family! We got more gifts than we know what to do with and got to see lots of family and friends! 

Andy and I are BOTH looking forward to the spring semester. Each semester I settle in a little bit more and each semester Andy gets closer to graduation! This semester will be very busy for the both of us, but we know it will be full of fun and blessings!

I'm not sure how many photos I have from our vacation, but I'll try to upload some in a few minutes. 

Happy 2009!

Spike's graduation. I love that his tongue is sticking out!

Merry Christmas!
Andy is excited about our super cool hotel room in Minneapolis
During our trip to see Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson in Minneapolis!

Picture updates

Our first snow
Our trip to Michigan
During our trip to Minneapolis/St. Cloud

December 2008

Well I'm not sure where November went. Or really, where the semester has gone, but we are oh so excited to see it ending! We're anxious to see family and friends while we're home during Winter Break and we're MORE than ready to get out of Iowa for a bit! It's going to be so nice to disconnect from work and school.

October eventually ended, thanksfully! Weekend trips, Homecoming, staff retreat, and a regional conference consumed all of my time that month. The weekend trips were great. We got to see family and visit Minneapolis for a concert. Homecoming came and went. The staff retreat was a great opportunity for our student staff to come back together and welcome a new member, and the conference was great. We were in a car accident on the way back from the conference that ended in us totaling the car but thankfully all four women in the car walked away without any injuries. I think that will put a hold on my conference attendance, at least for a bit! 

November went quickly, as well! It felt like we spent the majority of the month celebrating our birthdays but hey, I'm not complaining! It was also great to host another Thanksgiving and it was SO good to have Andy's mom, sister, and stepdad here for a few days. It's always so wonderful to have visitors! It gets a little isolating up here in Iowa!

The first weeks of December have flown by and we are now preparing to come back for the holidays! It will be so nice to be back but we wish we had more time! There are too many people to see in such a short amount of time. 

Despite being a BUSY year, the Lord has blessed us in so many ways! The first six months of marriage have been amazing and we are looking forward to what 2009 brings! We're thankful to have found a wonderful church family and great friends here in Cedar Falls.  Having been blessed with those elements has been our saving grace as we adjust to life so far away from home. 

I'll try to post some pictures of what's been going on. If no more updates are made before 2009, the Crowes wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the new year bring you many blessings!

Ashleigh and Andy

Wow...

Yipes! I can't believe how fast the year is going! How is it already the middle of October?! Things are great for us but it seems like every week is just flying by! I guess that's great, actually, because we're anxious to see family at Thanksgiving and go home for Christmas, but nonetheless, I feel like life is passing us by!

Andy's doing well in school. He's ready to be out, that's for sure! If all goes well, he'll be out in August. Otherwise, he may have to hang on until December to graduate. We'll wait and see...

Work if fine, although October is proving to be very busy! Lots of activities on the weekends and a conference at the end of the month. Oh...November...please please come!

Spike is in obedience school at PetSmart and we've discovered that he's a quick learner! Teesha, our trainer, says every week that Spike is a smart, sweet dog. We tell her to take him home for a week and she'll learn otherwise. She hasn't taken us up on our offer yet...

Overall, life is good in the Crowe household! We're just holding on, anxiously awaiting November and December! We can't WAIT to see everyone!

Here's to the New Year...

So I can't believe another school year has started! I thought I would miss school and class but I have to tell you, I sure don't yet. I miss challenging my brain, in intellectual, book kind of ways, but I don't miss going to class, doing assignments, blah blah blah. Maybe in a few more years. I figure, get some experience and then peruse Ph.D programs. I'll give myself some time :-).

Andy is (cross your fingers) hopefully in his last year with classes. If all goes well, he'll be done with class work in May and will finish up in August after a summer-long internship. I think he's ready to be out of school for a while...

Things here are going very well. It's a totally different feeling, starting my second year. I spent so much time my first year wanting to a.) crawl under my desk and come back out the following summer or b.) just quick and find a job that was more 8a-5p no weekends. But this year, we have a new staff, loads of new students, and I've got a different/better attitude. Oh, and I've been through the system once, which certainly helps. 

Spike is still a holy terror, so we've decided to put him into obedience classes. Those start next Saturday evening, and I'm anxious for good results. I think the classes are going to help BOTH us and Spike out. 

Dad and Debbie are coming up to visit at the end of September and I'm oh so excited! Dad hasn't seen the apartment since I moved in, so I'm pumped that they'll be up here for a few days. Hopefully we can get Mom and Trent up here in November and maybe a friend or two up in the spring. And if Aubrei and Dan would ever travel up, that would be stellar as well. 

Today I ran my first 5k in about 2 and 1/2 years and it was great! Rough...but great! Actually, the organizers of the race apparently started the race at the wrong place, so instead of doing 3.1 miles, they think we did more like 3.5 or 3.6 miles. Now, to the average reader, that probably doesn't sound like much of a difference, but believe me, I'll soak up every bit of the glory of running farther than expected! haha. I've already told the gals that I ran with this morning that we're running the 1/2 marathon next year, so here's to a year, yes a YEAR of training for that (don't judge!)!

Andy and I are going to enjoy some tailgating this afternoon, so I better end the blog here. 

With love,

Ashleigh