Wow!

I am so far behind posting. But I have a really good reason this time...

Because we moved back home to Richmond, IN!

We now are proud homeowners - and loving most of it. Except for having to pay for anything that goes wrong!

We were able to spend a much less hectic holiday season with our families and really enjoy it this year. And although we're sad to be away from so many great friends in the Wabash Valley, we know that we'll continue to stay in touch and hopefully visit often.

And hopefully, our schedule will not be too full so that I can keep this thing updated more often!

Wishing you and yours a blessed 2010!

- Luke, Pam, & Izzy (Kitty Cat) :)

News from the Tidrow's!!!

For us, the summer of 2009 came to a close with a camping trip to Whitewater State Park, where we hiked some of the trails before heading to Richmond/Centerville to visit with family.


This fall has brought us some new adventures.

I began a new job as an Agency Intern with State Farm Insurance at the end of September, and I'm really enjoying it. There's definitely a lot of work involved though! I'm currently working on obtaining my 4 necessary licenses, the Property & Casualty, the Life & Health, the Series 6, and the Series 63. Just yesterday I passed my first exam, and tomorrow I'm off to work on number 2.

Izzy, however, doesn't like the hectic schedule. She's currently staging a sit-in on my suitcase.

Our other big news is that this new job will be bringing us home to Wayne County, so we are currently in the process of buying our first home! Here's a picture of it right now, but hopefully we can have folks over soon to check it out as we paint and decorate and make it our own.

A Day at the Fair

On August 19th, while Luke was hard at work, I went on a very special date with the other important man in my life, Dad.

We went to all of our favorite spots: the commercial building, Pioneer Village, and the farm equipment. We like to pick out my future livestock trailer. One of our favorite parts though, is the Butterfly Garden and the DNR.


We also checked out the Peking Acrobats. Those people can do some incredible stuff. Just check out the pictures!



After the show, I had someone take our picture to commemorate our special day!

We're still here!

It's been so long since we last posted, and I promise that I'm going to try and get better about posting regularly!

Let's see what's been going on in the Tidrow's lives...

• In April, we celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary. It's hard to believe that a whole year went by so fast, but it did. And to reward ourselves for making it through that first year, we bought ourselves a fabulously fluffy, sleep-on-a-cloud mattress.
  
• June marked the anniversary of the Great Flood. It's definitely been difficult to start over in some ways, but it's also a testament to God's amazing grace. This situation has tested our marriage and our friendships and has strengthened them all.
  
• On July 31st, we celebrated the 6th anniversary of our first date. It's hard to believe we've been a part of each others' lives for so long, but I can't imagine it any other way.
  
• August has been pretty exciting so far! Our nephew & niece, Peyton (4) & Haiden (1), are back home again in Indiana, so we'll be visiting them again this weekend!

I'm going to try to be more regular about posting, so check back often!

Another snowy birthday!

January 2009 ended with snow for lots of people, including us!

On Tuesday, ACS volunteers and staff from all across the state traveled to the Indianapolis State House for our annual Lobby Day. We met with legislators to discuss their support for two bills facing the State Legislature this session: HB1213, Comprehensive Smokefree Air and another bill that would eliminate the coverage barrier of for routine care costs for patients enrolled in clinical trials.

Some important points about HB1213

• It has been scientifically proven that working in an environment filled with secondhand smoke is dangerous and often leads to cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory diseases as well as death.
• The EPA has labeled secondhand smoke a Class A carcinogen. This is the same category as radon and asbestos.
• The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that the only way to eliminate the danger of secondhand smoke in the workplace is to make all workplaces smokefree. As he stated, "The debate is over. The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard that cause premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults."
• Smokefree Air laws don't hurt businesses. Only studies paid for by the tobacco industry show any economic damage. All independent, peer reviewed studies have shown that businesses operating under smokefree air laws do the same or better after a law goes into effect.
  

You can learn more at http://acscan.org/action/in.

Please take quick action to email or write your legislators
because HB1213 is going to hearing on February 4th!

On the drive home, the snow started and didn't stop. Schools and businesses were closed for the next couple of days. So, in case you were wondering...this is what a Snow Emergency looks like!



Friday, January 30th, was my birthday, and to celebrate, Luke took me to Los Tres Caminos, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. He told them it was my birthday, so I got to wear a sombrero while they sang the Mexican birthday song to me.

Saturday, we went to the John Michael Montgomery concert with Jeremy & Mandy Moore. Here are some of the pictures from our night!



Thanks for visiting, and we'll talk to you all again soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Out with 2008 and in with 2009! We rung in the New Year with our friends at a party in Marshall, IN. The Sanders hosted a great party where we played Apples to Apples and had some great music provided by Sanders Sound Machine.

This year, we've got a few resolutions:

1. Work on becoming debt free with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.
2. Find and achieve a healthy weight for all of us, including Izzy!
3. Start and finish our wedding scrapbook. (Pam)
   
4. Read 50 books in 2009! (Pam)

We want to wish all our friends and family a wonderful, blessed 2009!

Christmas comes to the Tidrow house!

Christmas is rapidly approaching, so we finally found the time to get everything ready at our house! Last Christmas, we were preparing to move to Terre Haute, so we put up our artificial tree. This year though, we were able to get our first real Christmas tree! We went to a local place called Holiday Hill Tree Farm. We were even able to cut our own tree, which is something neither of us have ever done before!


Here's Luke with the saw he used to cut down our tree!

Of course, before the tree went home, the folks there had to manhandle it a little to make it less messy and easier to transport.
After we got home, we had to put the tree in its stand. So Luke spent some time bonding with the new tree stand!

Izzy wanted to check out the tree too!

Then we started decorating. Luke put the star on top, and we both added our ornaments.


Even Izzy helped...by sitting on the tissue paper that the ornaments were wrapped in.

And now our house is completely decorated inside and out! So enjoy a few shots of our tree & home, and Happy Holidays from the Tidrow Family! - Luke, Pam, & Izzy Cat