Well I am a little disheartened tonight because my Iowa State Cyclones wound up on the wrong end of a 27-13 score in the Pinstripe Bowl tonight against Rutgers. However, I'm not going to pout and talk about how they're a bunch of nappy-headed hoes... any chance that someone reading this understood that reference? Anyways, I feel a little better now that I'm watching the Hawkeyes lose at halftime to the Oklahoma Sooners. Also, I can remember all of the good things that my Cyclones were able to accomplish as underdogs this year. In their 12-game regular season, they were underdogs 10 times but still managed to go to a bowl game. Not too shabby. The upsets they completed came against Iowa, UConn, Texas Tech, and the biggest football upset in the country this year... against Oklahoma State. I'm happy for the solid season that the Cyclones put together dispite some rough spots and the loss to Rutgers. Hopefully they can continue to build on their success under the direction of Paul Rhoades. So I will just sit here, sip on my Hamms (from the land of sky blue waters), and root on the Sooners :)
Tomorrow I am looking forward to having my parents come down to Ames for a visit. We'll make it over to watch the ISU men's basketball team take on Mississippi Valley State, and celebrate the coming new year. Here's to a happy and exciting 2012!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Monday, December 26th, 2011
Today is a recovery day from the fun, long Christmas weekend. It's very nice to have a 3-day weekend! We hosted the GLEKS (Gleason, Lacina, Easley, Khyl, Salton) family Christmas at our apartment in Ames. Everyone was here except for Christian byu the time I got home from work on Friday. We opened the family secret santa gifts that night (I gave Sarah the Hunger Games book set, and Becky gave me a pair of ISU flanel pants that I asked for). It took a while to convince everyone that Christian would not in fact be sneaking in to spend Christmas with us, but at least we were able to talk with him a few times using face-time on Elizabeth's phone. That Friday for supper we made a spiral cut honey ham, green bean casserole, scalopped corn, corn-bread stuffing, and queso dip with bacon & spinach. Just foreshadowing for all of the food that we would have this weekend!
The Lacinas stayed through lunch on Saturday before they had to take off. Later that afternoon the rest of us drove over to Ledges park near Boone. Sullivan, Seth, Brian, Elizabeth, and I walked all the way down a very steep hill which was slippery and muddy (just ask Elizabeth's pants after she slipped)... the boys got very wet and messy after playing in the half-frozen stream, and we explored a nice stone bridge. After driving home and getting cleaned up, we went out for pizza and chicken wings as Pizza Pit. Of course we had to order two double XL pizzas (one taco, one sausage & onion). After our meal (we ate maybe half of it), we drove around Ames to check out the Christmas lights. The best was a large decorated tree on central campus near Beardshear Hall. That night we stayed up late, watched Miracle on 34th Street, and went to a midnight church service at the local Catholic church. Also happy birthday to Brian Gleason.
Sunday involved the boys opening all of their presents, we went to a local park to go geocaching and play frisbee, we came back for a big lunch (BBQ ribs and leftovers), hung out to play games at the apartment, they later that night we went out to Perfect Games to play lazer tag, order more pizza (we had a coupon for 4 free games of lazer tag with the purchase of a specialty pizza), and to play arcade games. I enjoyed the skee ball quite a bit.
This morning we bid farewell to the Gleasons and to Becky after breakfast, and we've been trying to recuperate since. There is still lots of cleaning to do, but it's nice to be off work this Monday and only have a short week to prepare for. We also have our refrigerator FULL of leftovers. Next weekend we'll be hosting my parents along with Elizabeth's mom Becky again for New Years and to go to an ISU men's basketball game. Lot's of family fun!
The Lacinas stayed through lunch on Saturday before they had to take off. Later that afternoon the rest of us drove over to Ledges park near Boone. Sullivan, Seth, Brian, Elizabeth, and I walked all the way down a very steep hill which was slippery and muddy (just ask Elizabeth's pants after she slipped)... the boys got very wet and messy after playing in the half-frozen stream, and we explored a nice stone bridge. After driving home and getting cleaned up, we went out for pizza and chicken wings as Pizza Pit. Of course we had to order two double XL pizzas (one taco, one sausage & onion). After our meal (we ate maybe half of it), we drove around Ames to check out the Christmas lights. The best was a large decorated tree on central campus near Beardshear Hall. That night we stayed up late, watched Miracle on 34th Street, and went to a midnight church service at the local Catholic church. Also happy birthday to Brian Gleason.
Sunday involved the boys opening all of their presents, we went to a local park to go geocaching and play frisbee, we came back for a big lunch (BBQ ribs and leftovers), hung out to play games at the apartment, they later that night we went out to Perfect Games to play lazer tag, order more pizza (we had a coupon for 4 free games of lazer tag with the purchase of a specialty pizza), and to play arcade games. I enjoyed the skee ball quite a bit.
This morning we bid farewell to the Gleasons and to Becky after breakfast, and we've been trying to recuperate since. There is still lots of cleaning to do, but it's nice to be off work this Monday and only have a short week to prepare for. We also have our refrigerator FULL of leftovers. Next weekend we'll be hosting my parents along with Elizabeth's mom Becky again for New Years and to go to an ISU men's basketball game. Lot's of family fun!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 19th, 2011
A week ago today I'm very sad to report that my Grandpa Sandy passed away at his nursing home in Ruthven, IA. We drove up to be with family on Friday, the funeral was Saturday morning, and we came back to Ames Sunday afternoon. Here is his obituary:
Orven Sandy Salton was born August 3, 1922, the second of six children born to William Aaron and Ida Marie (Johnson) Salton on the family farm in Clay County, Iowa. He attended Logan Country School and graduated from Gillett Grove High School in 1938 as valedictorian at the age of 15.
On April 24, 1949, Sandy was united in marriage to Natalie Lindgren at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albert City, Iowa. To this union seven children were born. The couple enjoyed living on the same farm almost fifty years. Sandy took great pride in being an Iowa farmer, raising crops, livestock and kids!
Sandy was an active and devoted member of Zion Lutheran Church in Ruthven, serving as a trustee, Sunday School teacher, Bible Study leader and usher. He also worked to promote and support 4-H. For 18 years, Sandy was a 4-H leader of the Logan Leading Lads. During this time, it became the largest 4-H club in Iowa. Sandy served as the County Assessor in Gillett Grove and Greenville and as a trustee for Logan Township.
Being around family, neighbors and friends brought Sandy great joy. He found pleasure in working along side his kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids and whomever else was willing to work. Relaxation included work, playing baseball on the town team, going fishing and playing cards. At family gatherings Sandy and his brother Kenny delighted everyone by reciting classic poetry from memory at rapid fire speed!
Sandy passed away December 12, 2011. He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter Amanda Ann (November 26, 1953); grandson Horatio B. Salton (August 2, 1986); siblings John Salton, Helen (Salton) Anderson; William Salton; in-laws, Jane Lindgren, Lois Salton, Shirley and Dick Beadle, Doris Salton; Al Lindgren, Virgil Treimer, and Reuben Anderson; nieces, Neva (Lindgren) Heuton, Janet (Lindgren) Grimm; and great nephew, Taylor Lindgren.
Survivors include his loving wife of nearly 63 years, Natalie; their children and spouses, Eben and Lynn Salton of Webb, IA, Marilyn and Rick Hawkins of Mount Ayr, IA, LaVonne and Gary Anderson of Des Moines, IA, Aaron and Dianne Salton of Gladewater, TX, Susan and Chris Irwin of Sac City, IA, and Marcia and Chris Langner of Ayrshire, IA; grandchildren and spouses, Forrest and Marla Hawkins, Lyndon Hawkins, Brian and Elizabeth Salton, Amy (Salton) and Brandon Shostak, Sierra Salton, David Langner, Mark Langner, and Kent Irwin; siblings Kenneth Salton and Doris (Salton) Treimer; in-laws, Darlene and Jim Embry, Paul and Donna Lindgren, Floyd and Rosemary Lindgren, and Gene Lindgren; nieces, nephews, cousins, as well as many other relatives and friends.
Sandy will be remembered for his honesty, humor, intelligence, and strong work ethic. He always put God first and led his family by Christian example. Sandy found the best in every person he met. He was truly a faithful and devoted man. Blessed be the memory of Sandy Salton.
On a happier note, my cousin Lyndon became engaged to Missy Roberts today!
Orven Sandy Salton was born August 3, 1922, the second of six children born to William Aaron and Ida Marie (Johnson) Salton on the family farm in Clay County, Iowa. He attended Logan Country School and graduated from Gillett Grove High School in 1938 as valedictorian at the age of 15.
On April 24, 1949, Sandy was united in marriage to Natalie Lindgren at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albert City, Iowa. To this union seven children were born. The couple enjoyed living on the same farm almost fifty years. Sandy took great pride in being an Iowa farmer, raising crops, livestock and kids!
Sandy was an active and devoted member of Zion Lutheran Church in Ruthven, serving as a trustee, Sunday School teacher, Bible Study leader and usher. He also worked to promote and support 4-H. For 18 years, Sandy was a 4-H leader of the Logan Leading Lads. During this time, it became the largest 4-H club in Iowa. Sandy served as the County Assessor in Gillett Grove and Greenville and as a trustee for Logan Township.
Being around family, neighbors and friends brought Sandy great joy. He found pleasure in working along side his kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids and whomever else was willing to work. Relaxation included work, playing baseball on the town team, going fishing and playing cards. At family gatherings Sandy and his brother Kenny delighted everyone by reciting classic poetry from memory at rapid fire speed!
Sandy passed away December 12, 2011. He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter Amanda Ann (November 26, 1953); grandson Horatio B. Salton (August 2, 1986); siblings John Salton, Helen (Salton) Anderson; William Salton; in-laws, Jane Lindgren, Lois Salton, Shirley and Dick Beadle, Doris Salton; Al Lindgren, Virgil Treimer, and Reuben Anderson; nieces, Neva (Lindgren) Heuton, Janet (Lindgren) Grimm; and great nephew, Taylor Lindgren.
Survivors include his loving wife of nearly 63 years, Natalie; their children and spouses, Eben and Lynn Salton of Webb, IA, Marilyn and Rick Hawkins of Mount Ayr, IA, LaVonne and Gary Anderson of Des Moines, IA, Aaron and Dianne Salton of Gladewater, TX, Susan and Chris Irwin of Sac City, IA, and Marcia and Chris Langner of Ayrshire, IA; grandchildren and spouses, Forrest and Marla Hawkins, Lyndon Hawkins, Brian and Elizabeth Salton, Amy (Salton) and Brandon Shostak, Sierra Salton, David Langner, Mark Langner, and Kent Irwin; siblings Kenneth Salton and Doris (Salton) Treimer; in-laws, Darlene and Jim Embry, Paul and Donna Lindgren, Floyd and Rosemary Lindgren, and Gene Lindgren; nieces, nephews, cousins, as well as many other relatives and friends.
Sandy will be remembered for his honesty, humor, intelligence, and strong work ethic. He always put God first and led his family by Christian example. Sandy found the best in every person he met. He was truly a faithful and devoted man. Blessed be the memory of Sandy Salton.
On a happier note, my cousin Lyndon became engaged to Missy Roberts today!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
So this morning I started work at 8:30... had a busy day with 3 new patients... but the fun part of the day was after work when I was able to come back to Ames, and Elizabeth and Eben were waiting for me at Hilton Coliseum! Elizabeth had gotten free tickets from her work to watch the ISU men play Prairie View A&M! Dad was down to stay with us for the night because he has a meeting in Ankeny tomorrow. Free Cyclone tickets are always fun :)
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| Elizabeth and myself after the game. |
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| The band was lots of fun to sit beside. |
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| Dad & me after the game. Cyclones win big! |
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 27th, 2011
This weekend Elizabeth and I enjoyed yet another fun family Thanksgiving... we met with Becky in Coralville, then drove together down to the Gleason residence in O'Fallon, MO. We got in fairly late on Friday night... but it was nice to not have to get up early on Saturday to drive down there. Elizabeth went with Sarah to a Zumba class Saturday morning, and I stayed and entertained the kids (Frisbee, basketball, shooting nerf guns, and getting random objects dislodged from their tree in the back yard). Then Brian deep-fried a turkey for lunch on Saturday... delicious!! We spent the rest of Saturday assembling a puzzle, watching sports on TV (ISU basketball against Rice, and football against Oklahoma), we rented Christmas Vacation, Elizabeth and the boys made a video, Becky made some apple pies, and they kids shot a lot of nerf guns. Then this morning we all played Apples to Apples before making the long trip back home. On the way back we stopped by the Lacina household in Iowa City for a little bit. It's not very often that we are at Brian & Sarah's house and James & Rachael's house in the same day! A very fun weekend in deed. Here is the design for the puzzle that we put together:
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! It's Elizabeth and my first Thanksgiving day together as a married couple :) Of course we already had one Thanksgiving get-together in Omaha a couple of weeks ago... and this weekend we'll be driving down to St. Louis for another Thanksgiving meal at the Gleason's residence!
Anyways, to remember our first official Thanksgiving day lunch as husband and wife, here is what we ate...
1) Guacamole & tortilla chips... homemade of course!
2) Green Bean Casserole... made in accordance with Amy's recipe.
...and that's it. Quite the spread. Actually, Elizabeth only enjoyed the guacamole. That could be a good trivia question for us someday.
The last thing on my mind today... really all week, is Iowa State football!!
Anyways, to remember our first official Thanksgiving day lunch as husband and wife, here is what we ate...
1) Guacamole & tortilla chips... homemade of course!
2) Green Bean Casserole... made in accordance with Amy's recipe.
...and that's it. Quite the spread. Actually, Elizabeth only enjoyed the guacamole. That could be a good trivia question for us someday.
The last thing on my mind today... really all week, is Iowa State football!!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
AHHH. What a great weekend to be a Cyclone. I AM SO PROUD! First, I am proud of my wife for accepting a new job to work AT IOWA STATE!! That's right, she's now working for the university and will have great benefits :)
Of course our historic college football win on Friday makes it a great weekend to be a Cyclone as well. It's really hard to explain how much Iowa State's 37-31 victory over Oklahoma State means to our football program. To start with, Oklahoma State's #2 ranking in the country marked by far the highest ranked team Iowa State has ever beaten. Previously, Iowa State had 0 wins, 56 losses, and 2 ties against teams ranked sixth or higher by the Associated Press. Just amazing. Before the game, it appeared as if Oklahoma State was ready to punch their tickets to the BCS national championship game. All they had to do was win their last 2 games of the regular season. Whoops. It's too bad the Cyclones had other ideas about that. Now it opens the door for another team to reach the championship game instead of OSU.
Besides the whole #2 ranking thing, the game was played on a Friday so that it could be nationally televised on ESPN. It was basically the only good football game on TV at the time, and so the whole country was watching. Very good press for Iowa State. Then of course we can't forget that with the win Iowa State now has 6 for the season and is bowl eligible! That's twice in coach Paul Rhoads's first three years at ISU that he will take us to a bowl game. It's no question that this win was Iowa State's biggest in the program's history.
The game even had big-time implications for the Heisman trophy as OSU's quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon both had legitimate cases to win. Not anymore.
It's too bad that we weren't able to be at the game... I didn't get back from work until right around kickoff anyways. So we watched it in the comfort of our apartment, and we were joined by Elizabeth's mom, Becky, as she was down in Des Moines selling some of her silk scarfs. We couldn't believe what we were watching, and by the game's end (in double overtime), Elizabeth & myself decided that we needed to make an appearance out to the bars.
It was a very fun night out at the bars. There was electricity in the air as everyone was so enthusiastic after the big win. We saw a crowd of people chanting "We Just Beat... O-S-U" outside of Paddy's. Strangers were giving me high-fives on the street. LOTS of people were out & about. We ended up running into my cousin David, also Tim Nevins, Kaitlin (as seen above), and a handful of other friends. Later on after the bars closed we stopped into Jeff's Pizza. As we were leaving the whole place started to cheer loudly... one of the ISU football players had arrived.
Fun, fun. Then our fun sports weekend continued today as we were able to watch the Cyclone men's basketball team defeat the Western Carolina Catamounts, 92-60. Elizabeth was pictured on the big screen at Hilton Coliseum which was pretty cool. Then I was able to get a high-five from Cy the mascot. Here are some pictures:
Of course our historic college football win on Friday makes it a great weekend to be a Cyclone as well. It's really hard to explain how much Iowa State's 37-31 victory over Oklahoma State means to our football program. To start with, Oklahoma State's #2 ranking in the country marked by far the highest ranked team Iowa State has ever beaten. Previously, Iowa State had 0 wins, 56 losses, and 2 ties against teams ranked sixth or higher by the Associated Press. Just amazing. Before the game, it appeared as if Oklahoma State was ready to punch their tickets to the BCS national championship game. All they had to do was win their last 2 games of the regular season. Whoops. It's too bad the Cyclones had other ideas about that. Now it opens the door for another team to reach the championship game instead of OSU.
Besides the whole #2 ranking thing, the game was played on a Friday so that it could be nationally televised on ESPN. It was basically the only good football game on TV at the time, and so the whole country was watching. Very good press for Iowa State. Then of course we can't forget that with the win Iowa State now has 6 for the season and is bowl eligible! That's twice in coach Paul Rhoads's first three years at ISU that he will take us to a bowl game. It's no question that this win was Iowa State's biggest in the program's history.
The game even had big-time implications for the Heisman trophy as OSU's quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon both had legitimate cases to win. Not anymore.
It's too bad that we weren't able to be at the game... I didn't get back from work until right around kickoff anyways. So we watched it in the comfort of our apartment, and we were joined by Elizabeth's mom, Becky, as she was down in Des Moines selling some of her silk scarfs. We couldn't believe what we were watching, and by the game's end (in double overtime), Elizabeth & myself decided that we needed to make an appearance out to the bars.
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| At Welch Ave Station with Kaitlin. |
Fun, fun. Then our fun sports weekend continued today as we were able to watch the Cyclone men's basketball team defeat the Western Carolina Catamounts, 92-60. Elizabeth was pictured on the big screen at Hilton Coliseum which was pretty cool. Then I was able to get a high-five from Cy the mascot. Here are some pictures:
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| Myself outside of Hilton Coliseum. |
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| A good view of the Cyclone cheerleaders. We had great seats for the game as were were two rows up from the court right in the southeast corner. |
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| Cy posing for a photo. He later gave me a big high-five! |
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| Coach Hoiberg shaking hands with the other team's coach before the game. |
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| Tip-off. |
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| Elizabeth's smile was on that big screen! |
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| A look at the action from our seats. |
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| We win!! |
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| In case you're wondering, a Catamount is like a bobcat... just with a funny name. |
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