The Kohlmans

A few weeks ago, I posted about our carpet removal. Since then, we've slowly worked on that project, putting the carpet out with the trash, prying up the tack boards, sweeping over and over again. Now we're taking the plunge. We are ready to order the new flooring. This week we looked at Lowe's, Village Decorative here in town, and Lumber Liquidators. We knew in advance that we want either bamboo or engineered hardwood (more environmentally friendly and a bit less expensive), preferably the snap-together kind. Village Decorative - other than learning that bamboo will fade in direct sunlight - was a bust, and Lowe's didn't have the combination of the type of flooring and the installation method. But today we hit the jackpot with our online glances at Lumber Liquidators. Honestly, when we pulled into the parking spot I was a little nervous - I mean, there was a man standing by the door, glancing out, longing for customers. But it was so easy. We knew what we wanted, t...

We like to go on evening walks through the neighborhoods around ours (and ours in the process, of course). For Brad the walks are social time, to see how many people we know who will stop us to talk. (Note: I have discovered that if I want to walk for exercise, I should go on one in the morning by myself.) One evening we stopped at the house of some friends, talked for about an hour, then ended up going to get pizza with them - from the gas station they own - and getting a ride home. Such is "small town" life, though I still contend that Augusta is not that small of a town. Here are some images of a recent walk... The corner down the street: A yard sign we transplants happen to love. :) Mr. Popularity Anyone need an appliance? (I was a little scared to take this picture because there was someone in the garage working.) Hoping no one comes after me for my paparazzi-like photography. We want a tree like this. But, we don't know the actual name, so we just call it the "...

Flowers at the farm... Yes, it is summertime. Hooray! That's such a wonderful word in the house of two teachers - and very welcome at the end of last week. My "To-do" list seems miles long, but I'm already checking things off: touch up paint, tie quilt, price flooring, get lots of summer snow (a.k.a. shaved ice)... I do love a good list. The only problem is that I cannot figure out where my camera memory card is. I uploaded pictures this morning, put the card back into my camera, deleted all images, and now??? And so finding that goes on my list.

Freaking frustrating. Those two words describe the relationship between DISH Network and myself (Brad). Even though something as trivial as television service is, I expect the service that I pay for. A novel concept! Through the last few years of having DISH, I have made at least a dozen calls to complain about losing our signal. Today was the last straw, we had not had any service for the last 24 hrs (no storms have passed through in that time period) and they offered to send someone out to fix it for free. - Flashback to before we moved - Me: How much longer are we under contract for our DISH? DISH Lady: it looks like you only have 5 months remaining. Me: Great, thanks! - Back to the future - Today I asked the customer service rep how much longer we had, because we are unhappy with the amount of times we lose signal, and how it is dangerous for us in Kansas when we lose signal during thunder storms, and I am told that we are under contract for another YEAR! I was upset and asked how ...

First, my warning: there are some really disgusting pictures in this post. Well, we knew when we bought this house that it would need a lot of TLC. The pictures make the house more impressive than it really is, and we have always planned on this place being a real labor of love. But, I can honestly say that I never thought I would spend my Friday nights like this one. The last couple of weekends we, with the help of parents and brothers, have worked hard, painting the kitchen/dining room/living room/hallway and landscaping in the front, along with various other little projects. For the most part, we had decided to let things stay as they were for a while. It was nice to clean up and live like a normal person for a while. That lasted about four weekdays. We start with some super-smelly carpet in the living room/dining room (it continues through the hallway and bedrooms, but is not so smelly there and thus is not involved in this story). The previous owners had four dogs, and it seem...

Since we moved to Augusta, we have been going to church in Wichita. To be more exact, on the west side of Wichita. Lots of people have asked why Hope - because it would make more sense to find a church home in Augusta, or even a Mennonite church that's a little closer. We made this decision for many reasons, and since we've been attending Hope there have been many to add to the list. One of those new reasons is the drive. It may seem crazy, but it is one time a week when we know we will have time to connect, no matter how busy life has been. Another perk of the drive is listening to NPR on the way. One of the Sunday morning segments is called "This I Believe." You can read more about it and listen to some essays at http://thisibelieve.org , but basically it is a radio program from the 1950's that has been resurrected. People write essays about what they believe (and why, of course) and read them on the air. Recent highlights have been Muhammad Ali and a kindergart...

...is a little creativity. So for a long time I've wanted to set up a blog. And a few weeks ago I did. For school. "Mrs. Kohlman's Blog" on edublogs. In the beginning things were complicated, and I am thankful to be working in a district where we have instructional technology positions to help me out! It's been a fun little adventure for the kiddos and me. After that was done, I debated about setting up a personal one. I've thought about how nice it would be to, at the very least, comment on the posts of my friends. But I always resisted - not because of the public-ness of the venue (though I had my concerns), not because I thought I might not write posts that are articulate enough (though after reading my sister's blog, it's a valid thought). I didn't start a blog until now because I couldn't think of a creative title. Really. It's true. I mean, I'm an English teacher. I make a living with words (albeit those at the sixth grade level),...