Mega Super Duper Update!

it may be a crazy life, but its our life (just had to throw in a Kate Gosselin reference)

Life has been pretty crazy busy in the Birk household this month.

Here is the 411....

• Our house is rented!!!! YAY! Our renters moved in the beginning of August and we are so happy to have them (and their checkbook) in our little home. The neighbor boy (who was a pain when we lived there) has been causing a lot of problems for our renters including ripping our screen door off, demolishing our bushes, walking in the house uninvited, and trying to kick in our doors. It is extremely frustrating and makes us very angry, especially since his mother doesn't seem to care at all. We drafted an official "do not trespass" letter to send to his mother and we will be talking with city officials tomorrow. we hope it doesn't get out of hand, but we plan to take legal action if he continues to vandalize and trespass on the property.
  
• My 10 year high school reunion was AWESOME! I had such a great time seeing all my old classmates and catching up with friends. It was also just nice to take a quick trip back to Kansas.


• Not long after my reunion, I headed to Dallas for work and was there for 3 days. It was a great conference and I even got to see my former co -worker Lisa from Greenbush. It was so nice to come home after all the traveling and get back to normal again, although I still do not think I am caught up on sleep. :)


• The organization I work for is going through some very drastic changes after losing a huge pot of money that was used for tobacco prevention. Several people (about 5-6) lost their jobs. Thankfully, I am not one of them. But it has caused a major shift in power and authority and I am hopeful that it will be for the best. It will be a long and stressful transition though.


• Summer is almost over and I soooooo sad. This summer was really mild up here, which was nice most of the time, but I kinda missed having some smoldering hot days. I really hope old man winter decides to hold off on the lake effect snow for a while. I am NOT ready for that at all.


• This was a great weekend of fun for Jared, Hicks and I. Saturday we decided to have a full day of fun and we went to Hackers (an entertainment center in South Bend) and played arcade games, batting cages and even the driving range. I had never really swung a golf club in my life, but I really enjoyed the driving range. I think I could actually learn to love and play golf, haha. We will see. We also went bowling and rode the indoor go-karts at the bowling alley. Let me just say I came up from behind and passed Hicks on the curve (put his car in the wall) and finished 2nd behind Jared. :) YAY for me! Bowling.... well, I wasn't quite as lucky there. Hicks beat BOTH our butts in bowling.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:

Sherry and I at our 10 year high school reunion. Go Wildcats!

Me and my sister Alicia in Wichita.
Jared and I at the bowling alley

WOW how 10 years flew right by me....

Well, folks.... I am off to my 10 year high school reunion in good ole El Dorado, KS this weekend.

I am super excited and also a little nervous. There are only a handful of people that I have REALLY kept in contact with over the years (I can thank Facebook for bringing me closer to others in my class), so I am a little nervous to see everyone else. I assume these feelings are pretty normal for anyone approaching their 10, 20 or 30 year high school reunion. I think if I had continued to live in El Dorado and kept in touch with everyone, it would be different. But I left El Dorado in 2001 and have never really looked back. My parents moved from there in 2006 and my sister has been gone for many years as well. Really, I have no reason to ever go back to that town. So, I almost feel like a complete visitor in the town I once called home. Pair that with the fact that high school wasn't really the BEST experience for me. You know those people who LIVE for high school and that was the best part of their lives? Well, that was not me. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't horrible at all. It just isn't something I look back on as the "best time in my life". I would say college was probably one of the best times for me so far. I loved college :)

I guess what I am trying to get at is that I feel like a completely different person than I was in high school. I look back at myself and it doesn't even seem like the same person. I have, and probably always will, struggle with confidence. But, I was really self conscious in high school, I cared a little too much what people thought about me and I strived to fit in with the "so called" popular crowd so much that I often got my feelings hurt. Now I look back and laugh at all this. I really don't care at all what anyone thinks of me anymore, I am more confident than I used to be and a popular crowd doesn't really exist in adulthood.

When I graduated I told myself I never wanted to see anyone again and I wanted to get away. Well, 10 years later, I am eager to see everyone again, catch up and just have fun with all my friends, acquaintances and even those people I didn't necessarily like 10 years ago. Forgive and forget right? Let's all have a blast, CLASS OF 1999!!!!

Here are some photos from my high school years: