Saturday, March 31, 2012

Gymnastics

The girls had their first gymnastics class for the session this week. Sophia has done a few classes before at the little kids gym but this was her first class at the big kids. Suri Jean had a great time. Josh was chasing her all over the place.








YouTube Video


Until next time.....
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cheetah race

Surs is fast!

YouTube Video

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Zoo

Hi everyone. Long time no blog. I've been super busy with my new job and chasing children around that I have neglected my favorite place on the Internet. Welp, things are good in the Sabol house. I think Sophia has gone through or is still going through a growth spurt. Suri Jean is still loving school and is as mouthy as ever.
We have signed both of them up for swimming and gymnastics, which start this week. Not sure how suri will do but we thought we would try. Sophs, on the other hand, will love it. She finished up her basketball season and was so proud of her trophy.
I am finished reading the hunger games. I was a huge fan and I cannot wait to see the movie! Josh too btw. Yep, secret is out babe!
I have decided that since i am working five days a week I need to hire someone to clean my house. I just can't do it. Makes me want to cuss. Don't get me started on my laundry situation. Makes me want to cuss louder.
This weekend my sis and her family came up. We went to the zoo today. Suri wanted to see the tigers and sophs wanted to ride the coaster. See pics of the day below.











My sister and her family.



Until next time.....
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Monday, March 12, 2012

Suri

She looks like a kid now. Until next time.




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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sunday happenings

Josh was away today with another middle school basketball tournament, which they won!




The weather was perfect. A warm 63 degrees. Just perfect! The girls and I spent a couple hours outside just enjoying it.





I'm not sure if it was the time change or the fresh air that wore Suri out. This was at 5:30 pm.





Until next time....
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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Shopping

I flew solo with the girls all day because Josh had a middle school basketball tourney. I knew I needed to pick up a few things at the store for dinner and some meds for this crazy sinus congestion I woke up with. All you mothers know that taking more than one child with you to the grocery is just crazy. I knew this but I didn't have a choice. Solution: cram all the blond hair you can into one car cart and tell them they are driving. We only ran into one display. More importantly I kept my sanity.





Until next time....

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Crystal and Jules

The following is a newspaper article from the Madison courier in Madison, IN. I wasn't able to link it directly from this blog but I wanted to share. The article is about my step brother who opened a restaurant in downtown Madison, IN last year. By the way, the food is delish!

Website:
Www.madisoncourier.com.

DREAM MAKERS
3/10/2012
Article written by Staff writer Peggy Vlerebome.





Andy Richmer, head chef and owner of Crystal & Jules in Madison, prepares orders while Chad Scudder works at the stove and grill. Richmer opened the restaurant with guidance from the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie)


Home Care Home owner and director Libby Large with two of her clients, Jane and Harold Duke. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie)
Peggy Vlerebome
Courier Staff Writer

People get ideas for businesses, buy businesses, inherit businesses and expand or rejuvenate businesses. Last year, four new businesses in Jefferson County got started with free or reduced-cost help from the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center.

With the New Albany-based center's help, there were four investment projects in Jefferson County last year that had $259,769 from loans and infusion of capital.

Eighty-two Jefferson County clients were counseled last year - that's 1.5 percent of the clients the regional office counseled - and 273 hours were spent with clients in Jefferson County, which was 7.7 percent of the hours regionwide.

• • •

Andy Richmer went into business knowing about his field. He had wanted to own a restaurant since he started cooking, and got his first food job at McDonald's when he was a student at Madison Consolidated High School.

While at MCHS, he took a culinary arts class at the Southeastern Career Center, where his teacher, Shirley Rogers Herrick, encouraged him to pursue a cooking career.

Richmer graduated with two degrees from Sullivan University in Kentucky, which is known for its culinary program. He honed his skills at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y., and at the end of the program received a certificate as a chef de cuisine.

Before opening Crystal & Jules restaurant in Madison in December 2011, he was a chef at Belterra Casino Resort and Spa and at Embassy Suites in Louisville.

At Sullivan and at the institute, his studies included the business side of the culinary arts.

He, his father and step mother tossed around ideas for a restaurant when he visited them in Lafayette, where she owns a retirement community. His step mother, Pam Holt Richmer, has "a lot of business savvy," Richmer said, and suggested that he visit Venture Out Business Center for help with the specific details of owning his own business.

At Venture Out, he was connected with Eric Kranz, a business adviser at the Small Business Development Center who primarily works with clients in Jefferson, Jennings, Bartholomew and Decatur counties.

"The first time I met him, it was just kind of like to get to know him and let him know what I'm thinking," Richmer said. "It was that day he told me to start getting some things together and concentrating on the numbers."

Kranz provided a computer program that Richmer could log into from his cell phone that was the framework for starting his business.

"Every detail was in it," Richmer said. "There was a place for your executive summary. Your whole business plan is on one page." Richmer filled in the information called for, section by section. "It would walk you through step by step," Richmer said.

The Small Business Development Center's help included information Richmer would need for his business plan such as data about the location Richmer had chosen, all the restaurants in the area, the traffic volumes that pass his location, the average cost of meals at other restaurants and the average income levels for the area.

"Who opening a restaurant would even know this stuff?" Richmer said. "And it was all free."

Kranz told him to make his restaurant upscale. "He was right," Richmer said.

"He was a tremendous help. He's a great aide, an awesome guy."

One purpose of a business plan is to provide information that lenders want to see before they decide whether to approve a loan.

"He (Kranz) was there to prepare me for getting a loan. He helped me with my business plan."

Richmer and Kranz met about every other week. "He'd tell me what I needed to get done," Richmer said. "He gave me encouragement."

Kranz also proofread Richmer's paperwork and told him what he needed to know as an employer and business owner.

"He went through and told me all the tax forms I had to fill out. ... He knew what sales tax form and he knew what employee tax forms I needed."

They still exchange emails, and Kranz has called Richmer a couple of times since the business opened. "He'll ask me how things are going."

Richmer finished his business plan, but didn't have to use it to persuade a banker to lend him the money to buy a building on West Main Street. His father, Dale, and step mother lent him the money, and they did it formally with a written document prepared by an attorney.

Richmer named his restaurant Crystal & Jules for his fiancee, Crystal, and his late mother, whose nickname was Jules.

He opened the restaurant Dec. 10 last year, and with the help of his father, a carpenter, is building what he said is Madison's first outdoor kitchen restaurant, where food will be cooked for the outdoor seating area, which they are expanding. He has 10 employees.

"The second month open, and we're in the black," he said as February ended.

•••

In the 13 counties the southeast region covers, 466 businesses have been bought or created with help from the Small Business Development Center, and 1,884 net jobs have been created since 2000, according to data the center compiled. The same data shows that last year the center exceeded its goals for bought or started businesses, clients counseled and training provided.

The center is financed with a cooperative agreement between the federal Small Business Administration and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The SBDC has a hosting relationship with Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College and Purdue University.

It also has local sponsoring partners that include city and county governments, chambers of commerce, a visitors bureau, economic development agencies, a Main Street program, a business and banks.

None of the sponsoring partners is in Jefferson County. The city of Madison stopped giving $5,000 a year to the Small Business Development Center after state SBDC officials moved the regional office from Madison to New Albany in the summer of 2009. There is an in-kind contribution of office space for the SBDC at Venture Out Business Center.

Not everyone who gets help from the SBDC will be given access to all of the center's resources. A note at the bottom of documents from the SBDC reads: "We require many of our clients in business for less than a year to attend an ISBDC business overview workshop before tapping into ISBDC market research, financial diagnostic, and business consultation resources. Because most of our funding comes through tax revenues, we have the responsibility to maximize every dollar. By having a 'first-step' requirement, we demonstrate to taxpayers that the business owners we work with have a commitment to education and growing their business."

••••


Related Links:
• PHOTOS: Dream Makers




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Sunday, March 04, 2012

Date night

Josh told me early last week to not make any plans for Saturday night. This always makes me a little nervous because I never know if I'm gonna end up at some sci-fi movie or at a wing place or someplace else manly. I asked the appropriate questions. "can I wear my fancy heels or should I go with sneakers?"-meaning am I going to be walking 3 miles (this actually happened when we were dating, just ask josh's brother Zack. I also asked "should I wear glasses or contacts?"-maybe I was headed to a ballgame...

Saturday night.
After our baby sitter showed up we got in the car and headed toward downtown. As we got closer to the city I started noticing lots of men, lots of carharts, lots of John deer, and lots of camo. Was Josh taking me to some monster truck show? Surly he knows me better than that. Nope. We kept driving till we got to Mass Ave. We had dinner reservations at a place called Mesh. It was delicious! After dinner Josh started talking about where we were ten years ago. It was the day we met. He told me how much he loved our children and our life and how on that day everything changed. Then he gave me these beautiful diamond earrings.




How sweet is that?
I thought the night was over but It wasn't. Next Josh took me here.




Questionable, right? But, this place was so fun. It is actually an improv comedy studio. What a great night.

Who would have thought that a chance meeting in a club in Clearwater, Florida and a really terrible pick up line would lead to marriage. I love you babe.





Until next time....
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Saturday, March 03, 2012

Tornado

Yesterday was a devastating day for many people in southern Indiana. It is hard to believe how quickly life can change. My brother-in-law is in the picture below. This is actually the home of one of his swat team co-workers. Thoughts and prayers to everyone back home.

Until next time.




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Monday, February 27, 2012

February

This month has been very busy. Josh finished up his basketball season, sophs and surs had valentines parties to prepare for. Of course we had Sophs birthday party. I am still working on my knee.... My high school girls basketball team made it to semi-state so we had to go to their ballgame. And, I started my new job this week. Shew! Thank goodness for the sunshine.

Until next time.













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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Birthday round-up

Wow, my baby is six years old. Six. Geez. As cliche as it sounds, time really does fly by. This year I am anticipating some loose teeth (which totally grosses me out). I am hoping that sophs will officially be a swimmer. I want to implement a chore chart or a couple things sophs is responsible for all by herself. Sophs is looking forward to vacation at the beach house, soccer and swimming in the spring, hanging out at her grandparents houses, and basketball camp with daddy.






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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Happy birthday

We celebrated Sophia's birthday today with a gymnastics party. She had so much fun. I looked at one point and sophs had put chalk all over her face. I don't know..........






























This is when Suri had about all she could handle. Losing her mind...





And this was 20 minutes later.






Happy 6th birthday Sophia Kay!
Until next time......

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Birthday dinner

Last evening we went out for dinner with Papi and Boo. Papi told the waitress that it was Sophia's birthday (on Monday). And they of course gave her a "yee haw" and a treat.


YouTube Video

Until next time....

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Randomness

Knee update: I knew I was in trouble when I went in for my followup appointment to remove stitches. Ya see, my knee was super swollen because I didn't rest like I should have. Well, doc didn't scold me. He just stuck a big ol needle in my knee and drained a ton of fluid off. Good times.

Suri update: surs had her first haircut today. She really wasn't happy about it. I ended up having to hold her during the whole process.






Sophia update: sophs is student of the week this week. We worked hard yesterday and today making her poster perfect. Bling and all. The pictures of Josh and I were from 8 years ago. Nobody needs to know that though. Her teacher will just think "man, her mom's skin is so young and her dad has so much hair".





Josh update: basketball season is officially over. Now I can give him that "honey-do" list.

This weekend: Sophia's 6th birthday. Where has the time gone?

Until next time.....


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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Fresh beat band

I love this child!

YouTube Video


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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Gee Gee

Rest in peace grandma.





Until next time.

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Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Spoiled

Josh and I are soooooooo spoiled by our parents. Papi and Boo are always ready to drop everything and come down and help us if we need it. They came down last week to help me with the girls since I had knee surgery. And my mom and Dale came up this week. My mom and I have been carpooling to work but Dale has been painting my house. Yes, painting my house! We are so spoiled. I have tried talking both papi and Boo and Pamela and Dale into moving in with us but no takers.

Tonight was a super busy night. After my mom and I got home from work we all went to watch josh's sectional game. And.............WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!!! So now they play Friday.

Other news, Suri Jean went pee pee in the potty all day at school. Go girl!

That's it for now.
Until next time.








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Saturday, February 04, 2012

Basketball Practice

Sophs had her first basketball practice today. I was a little worried because she has been saying that she doesn't want to play basketball (yeah right child, that's not an option). She also told me before practice that she didn't like to sweat because it is gross. Thankfully, she had a blast. The goals are set to 8 feet which allows the kids to have some success. Suri had fun as well, just running around and being silly.


YouTube Video











Until next time.....


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Saturday, January 28, 2012

First knitting project

After 6 months of on again off again work I finally finished my first knitting project. I know there are plenty of mistakes but I am so happy to have it completed. Next on my list is a rotini scarf. Until next time.







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Friday, January 27, 2012

Cowboy boots and pullups

Suri was home with me today. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to handle her with this bum knee, but I woke up feeling pretty good. She was a good spirit lifter. She kept me busy and made me laugh. I tried all day to get britches on her but she refused saying "cowboy boots and pullup". No harm done.





Here is her "serious" face.


And of course her "surprised" face.





Until next time.......
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