Tungseths in Motion

I maybe should have titled this "Tungseths out of motion" since we've spent a lot of the last month dealing with car issues (AGAIN!), but despite that fact, we seem to have kept busy in March since the month flew by crazy fast.  I am shocked that it is April already, but even more shocked that I am sitting in shorts on our deck writing this and actually feel hot.  I wish that I could be thrilled that we moved south to where winters are short and spring hits early, but it sounds like the beautiful weather has been an entire midwest phenomenon this spring.  Oh well, I'll still let myself believe that moving south was a great choice, weather wise.  In any case, Baxter's loving it and can't get enough fresh air.  I don't know if I've even seen such a big grin on his face as he has now, lying in the sun with a stick to chew on.  I'm pretty sure he's in puppy paradise right now.

Anyway, if you're interested in hearing about the aforementioned car woes... at the beginning of the month, I had the privilege of needing a new set of rear brakes.  We brought both of our cars in to the mechanic on the same day because Scott's Escape has been stalling too.  When we got the call that I needed new brakes, we groaned at the cost, but figured that would be our biggest expense of the day.  We were very wrong.  A few hours later, the mechanic called again and said that Scott needs three new catalytic converters and a new set of valves at a cost of about $5000-$7000 total.  Yuck!  We're still mulling over what to do about that vehicle, since we've only had it a couple of months and didn't pay much more than that for it in the first place.  So for now since the weather's been nice, Scott's been riding his motorcycle, which only needed a new battery and new front tire.   Oh the joys of vehicle ownership!
In spite of our less than reliable vehicles, we really have been keeping busy.  We're down to the home stretch on this semester's classes at Xavier.  Scott's been very diligent on keeping up with his reading homework, which I'm always impressed by.  I'm not sure how he has the energy to work a full day, go to class twice a week, do his homework, and still have time to spend with me and his fantasy basketball/golf games.  He's quite the man!  A few weeks ago, he ditched me to attend a conference in Texas with US Bank.  Looks like it wasn't all work, though:

As for me, for no reason in particular, I've made it my goal to get the best grade in the class for the anatomy class I'm taking.  There's probably not much honor in beating a bunch of college freshman at a class I've taken before, but it gives me something to work toward anyway.  So far so good!  In other school-related news, I finally decided to drop the dream of becoming an occupational therapist and just got accepted in the master's of nursing program at Xavier for the fall.  I know... what in the world, right???  Even up to 6 months ago, I was adamant that I did not want to ever be a nurse, but God has a funny sense of humor and here I am and am actually very excited to start the program.  It scares me a little bit that this isn't a choice I have spent years analyzing, like I tend to do with most big decisions, but I'm confident that this is where I need to be at this point in my life.  I had an interview with the Children's Hospital last week to learn about their clinical research positions and I was very encouraged by the interviewer's remarks about the big need for clinical research nurses, which is ultimately what I'd like to do.  As scary as it is to be setting out on a rather unknown path, I'm very excited to actually have a plan for the rest of the year.  What a great feeling to have a concrete goal in place, finally!

To wrap up this posting, here are a few pictures from some of the fun stuff we've been able to do the last few weeks:

We got all dolled up and went to a delicious Italian restaurant in Newport on the Levee (see previous post from one of our first Cincinnati date nights).  We also had tickets to go back to the comedy club, but had an hour or so to kill before the show, so we hit up Game Works.  We made a haul!  They are very generous with their prize pricing there:

Last weekend, Esper and Dave invited us over to join in an Easter cookie decorating party (Esper works with Scott at the bank).  It was a lot of fun and the cookies were delicious!  Although, our decorating skills could probably use a little work.

Scott's design:

Our joint-effort landscape masterpiece cookie:

Last night, we enjoyed our first spring meal on the deck.  We grilled hot dogs and asparagus and lounged on our amazing Christmas present chairs from the Fjestads.  The perfect evening!

We have a fun weekend to look forward to starting tomorrow with a neighborhood party at the house on stilts down the road.  We always speculate at what the house must look like on the inside and are really excited to have the chance to take a peek and meet some of our neighbors.  And then we get to celebrate Jesus on Sunday!  What more can you ask for in a weekend?!  Wishing you all blessings this Easter - wish we could be there to celebrate with you!