Bathroom Remodels

Here are some pictures (before/after) of the remodeling that we did in our bathrooms.

This was our guest shower before...

 And after...

 This was our master bathroom before...

 And after…

It was unbelievably dusty, stressful and crazy during the time it was being done, but we are SO glad we did it! 

2013

We have been incredibly busy lately, and I have neglected this blog. Whether or not I continue to post on it remains to be seen, but I thought I would at least make an attempt to update what has happened in 2013.

2013 began with a bang…we all three had the flu! Despite getting flu shots, we all were sick.

The next week, I had to begin a January short course, and my crazy and very long semester began. After the January short course, I had a regular semester along with clinicals, a Maymester course, and then spent the entire month of June helping run speech camps for my clinical placement.

Zach played baseball in the spring, and finished up a busy 5th grade year. He went to camp in New Mexico and loved it.

Gary continued to work, and was happy to see the addition of a few more doctors to his group to help ease the load.

In July, we took a trip to Washington, D.C. My grandfather joined us, and we had a great week there!

As soon as we got back, we began our crazy bathroom remodel projects. We had never planned to remodel anything, but after the jets on our bathtub in the master broke and flooded our bathroom, it became a domino-effect project. We hired a contractor, but I had to choose everything for it.

In the midst of this remodeling beginning, Gary got a staph infection in his elbow and had to be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics. He stayed two and a half days, and had to be a patient instead of a doctor!

The project took longer than expected, and school began without it being finished. Zach began 6th grade at the newly-built middle school, Gary was still busy at work, and I began a full semester of classes and a placement at a local inpatient rehabilitation center.

By October, the remodel was finally wrapping up. We were so glad we did it, regardless of the headaches and the dust. Oh, the dust!!!

It was around this time that I started experiencing stomach pain that intensified when I ate, came on through the night, and was generalized throughout the day. After medications, diet changes, and a lovely scope procedure of my stomach, it resolved just before Thanksgiving. Just in time for me to enjoy the yummy foods!

I recently wrapped up my next to last semester, and took my last final EVER! Next semester, I have two classes to prepare for the credentialing exam, and a final clinical rotation that goes from March to graduation. Graduation! Can you believe it? It is really near now!

Zach is enjoying middle school. He is especially enjoying being a part of the youth group at church. He is taking baseball lessons once a week to improve his hitting, and we have seen some great improvements. He is growing so fast, and we can't believe it.

Gary continues to be busy with work, but we still appreciate the schedule that he has. When he is off, he can spend time at home with us and we really like that!

We are looking forward to 2014. We are looking forward to my graduation, we are anticipating Zach turning 13, and we are thankful for the many undeserved blessings that we have. Despite the stresses of 2013, we know that we are blessed and fortunate!

It's Been Way Too Long

It has been way too long since my last post.

If I am allowed to have an excuse, may I offer a really simple one: graduate school. It really ate my lunch this semester. It was the most time-consuming, stressful thing I think that I have ever bitten off, and it was non-stop from August until just now.

Here is a picture of Zach and I on the first day of school. He started fifth grade. I started my first year of grad school for speech pathology.

 Zach said that he did not want to dress up for Halloween this year. That sounded great to me, and so we bought him a Halloween shirt and planned for him to pass out candy. But when I picked him up from school on Halloween day, he had changed his mind. I told him we could get a costume, but he would be stuck with whatever was left at Target. He lucked out on this Darth Vader costume. And then we decided Gary and I would dress up too. Gary threw on this Mitt Romney mask...it seemed timely with the election around the corner. I added a bunny tail and some ears.

Zach had a project to create a poster about the Titanic this year. They followed this up by taking a field trip to a museum almost three hours away that had a Titanic exhibit.

A friend sent me this blast from the past, so I thought I would share. This managed to make me smile in the midst of my stressful semester. Look at this care-free Jennifer!

 Zach decided he would make a kind-of Santa costume out of a pipe cleaner and piece of paper that he cut into a "beard."

Finally, we are at the end of the semester, and ready for the holidays! We are really looking forward to seeing family and enjoying some relaxing time together. I am looking forward to reading something that is fiction and of my choosing!

I'd like to say I'll do better with my blogging, but I really don't know what next semester holds. I'll do the best I can!!!! 

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!!!

Summer

Okay, it has been far too long since my last post. Here are the highlights:

1. I graduated! I start grad school in the fall. How did I spend graduation day? Doing laundry and hanging out with my family. Gary did give me a really nice watch to celebrate. I decided I will wait to walk when I finish grad school.

2. Zach had a setback with baseball. He hurt his arm on the playground and had to sit out for a big part of the season. Luckily, he was healed by the last game. And in the last inning, two outs, down by one, one runner on first, Zach hit a homerun and his team won! They got second place for the season. It was definitely a great night for him!

3. Zach won the Academic Excellence award at school for having a 95 or above average in all classes for the year. He also got an award for the A Honor Roll.

4. Zach went to camp for a week and had a great time.

5. We just recently got back from vacation. We rented a house outside of San Antonio and had a great time!

We have had a great summer so far, and there is much more to come. Zach is doing baseball camp and two weeks of summer baseball. And I am sure will we also have more mini-trips over the course of the next few months.

We are loving our summer and trying to enjoy every moment. Especially me, as grad school looms in the not so far distance!!!

Baseball and Baltimore

I am getting a mini-break for Easter at school, and so I actually have a few moments to post a few pics and a video!

Here is Zach all geared up for his first game, a few weeks ago. He has the best coach and a great team! They all cheer each other on during the games and keep it positive!

Here is Zach hitting his first home run in a game. I could not be more proud...of the hit or the fact that I actually managed to catch it on video!

Finally, here is a group shot from my Baltimore trip, minus one of the students who wasn't with us at the time. We had a fun trip! Unfortunately on this day it was raining, but the rest of the time it was sunny and beautiful. Lucky for me there was incredible shopping across from our hotel, and I certainly had fun doing that during our free time.

March-ing Along

Yeah, yeah...I am being "punny".

We have had a super busy March. I really just the other day realized it is almost over...and here I thought it had just started. Let's see if I can give you a brief run-down....

March started out pretty innocently. Baseball began for Zach, and then shortly thereafter we got to leave for an early spring break so that I could attend a speech pathology conference in San Antonio. We got home just in time to begin our spring break.

It was busy, but not very eventful. I spent the majority of it working on decorations for my church's ladies retreat (that I would not get to attend...more on that later) and arranging for Zach to hang out with friends.

So after I had already volunteered to help with the decorations for the retreat, I received an email from one of my professors asking if I would be willing to attend an Alpha Chi conference and present a project I had worked on last semester. I was flattered and excited, and so with some work, I was able to make it where I could go. My dad agreed to come help with Zach, and I had a sweet friend who agreed to set up the decorations that we would prepare ahead of time.

So last Thursday at 5:50 am, I was in an airplane to Baltimore, MD with three other college girls (who actually are appropriate college-age) and a professor. My dad was here helping to run Zach to school and baseball. It was a really great trip, and I actually was awarded a regional scholarship, which I did not expect at all! While I was gone, my dad, Gary and Zach did a little outdoor project that I had been begging for over the past few months.

In the midst of all this travel, I also learned that I was officially accepted to the graduate school program here!

So, it's been a very good, very busy March that has really just gone by so fast, I don't know where it went. I am sure the rest of our spring will be the same. (If I get time, I will try to post some pictures.)

February...the Month of Love

Well, we are officially into the second month of 2012. I am actually finding myself writing 2012 on my papers and checks without having to concentrate quite as much.

I have been in school for a few weeks now, and while I certainly have a challenging load, I feel like I can handle it. Really, if I want that piece of paper, I will have to handle it!

Zach is having another great semester, and it seems like every week he becomes more and more in love with reading, which simply warms my heart. I am an avid reader, and for a while I wasn't sure if I would be able to get him to actually enjoy reading. Now I find him devouring books much like his mama, and it makes me so proud! We signed him up for another season of baseball, and so that will be starting up before too long. For now, I am enjoying the peace of no practices and games, because those always tend to wear me down a bit.

Gary is busy as always, but has had some weekdays off recently, which have been nice. He and Zach are able to do things together like run out to the ranch or practice baseball after school, and that is pretty neat.

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February is "the month of love". Here is what the Binkley family is loving right now:

1. Fruit! We have become big fruit eaters lately. We love to keep a variety of frozen fruit and then have it as an evening snack. This way, it doesn't feel like a ticking time bomb in the fridge that we must consume within a very rapid amount of time.

2. Spring-like weather! We have had some beautiful somewhat not windy, warm days. They are so great. We have tried to take advantage of them. This time last year, we were iced in!

3. Asparagus. I never grew up eating it, but we have become big asparagus eaters lately. I fix it in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

4. Family time...wherever we can find it. Whether its dinner in the doctor's lounge, a quick visit in the parking lot or a meal at the dinner table, we truly value our family time. With Gary's schedule this can be a challenge, but since it is a priority, we make it work. And we absolutely love it, no matter how we have to make it happen.