Mike's Update
The latest news and information on the Nolan's.
5/17/2010
A lot has transpired over the past few months
and thanks to Facebook, I've failed to keep my personal website up to date.
I need to figure out a way to get updates from facebook to automagically
post here.
According to Kyle's Accounting II teacher,
Kyle placed in the top 5% Nationally for Accounting II (in high school).
Kyle turned 18 on 3/28 and has pretty much been working and playing hard, so
we rarely see him anymore. He graduates BHS on 6/6 and we plan to have
a big party for him on 6/5. We have a lot of family flying in for the
fun and we're all looking forward to it.
Jacob finished the 2010 BJHS track season.
Jake was the only 6th grader that didn't get cut on the team. I think
it's because he's a pole vaulter and did fairly well. Jake placed
thrid at a couple varsity meets and placed 2nd at least once in pole
vaulting Jake continues to play Oboe and we attended at
least one Spring concert since my last update. Jake has another
performance coming up this Tuesday 5/18. Jake continues to serve as an
altarboy at St. Mary's and started working landscaping with Kyle and I on
the weekends. Jake also mows our lawn twice a week!
Jessica is still active in Hula Dancing and
has performed a handful of times and continues to participate in art
seminars at the McClean County Arts Center. Jess is an active
girlscout and is growing up fast. Thanks to Twilight, she's now
showing interest in boys (primarily Taylor Lautner). Jessisca
continues to perform as an altar server with her brother at St. Mary's.
Kim finsihed her job with the US Census.
Kim was team lead for collecting data from group residences (i.e. nursing
homes, college dorms, mission etc.) and worked her butt of for several
weeks. Kim is now starting training for Senior Home Care. I
believe her goal is to become a CNA and provide home care for the elderly.
Kim continues to serve on the Cougars JFL Board and has been busy with
recruiting and pre-season preparations. Kim is active in countless
service organizations (e.g. Girl Scouts, Claire House Soup Kitchen, St.
Mary's Church, etc., etc.)...
I've been busy completing market research and
developing a business plan for starting my own State Farm Agency. I'm
currently in the Agent Candidate Selection Process and it has consumed
nearly every waking hour for the past 3 months. On 5/27, I have my
final "Executive Panel Interview" which will determine my fate as a future
agent. If approved, I'll be put in the "Approved Candidate Pool".
At that point, I'll have access to all Agent openings across the nation.
If I find an opportunity we're interested in, I can compete for it via site
interview. We'll see how it goes on 5/27...
This may be my last update for a while.
I'm losing frontpage (long story) and
until I can figure out Dreamweaver, you may have to visit our facebook site
for news about me ;-))
3/6/2010
Kyle turns 18 this month and will be
graduating in June, so I think his high school athletic career is officially
over. Kyle is now focused on earning money so he can move out.
You can visit Kyle most weekends at our local Applebee's where he's the host
with the most!
Jessica performed in another hula exhibition
for her troop. The event was called "The Day of Dance" and was held at
Heartland Community College. Her troop did very well and I'm sure my
grandmother is smiling down on her from Heaven. Jessica is still
active in Girl Scouts and is currently distributing cookies. Our
family had cookie duty for the troop this year and Kim and I had to pick up
and sort through 175 cases of cookies this week. Fortunately they were
able to load a whole pallet in my truck with a forklift.
Jacob completed the 2009/10 BJHS Wrestling
season. Although Jake was invited to go to Varsity Sectional's he
missed weight by 1 pound and was disqualified. Track will begin
in the next couple weeks so we have a little down time in the Nolan House.
I've been hitting the gym 5 days a week for
the last several months. I typically run a 5K every day, alternating
between the treadmill and indoor track. I recently started mixing it
up with the stationary bikes and eliptical trainer. My only goal is to
maintain a healthy heart and increase my endurence. I have no plans to
run a marathon or participate in a triathalon, I just like to run before
work...
On the professional front, I just entered the
State Farm Agency Candidate Selection Process. The first step is to
pass the Sales and Leadership Career Profile exam. It's kind of like a
personality test that you really can't study for. It's a pass/fail
test with only a 42% pass ratio. If you fail, you can't take it again
for 12 months so to get pumped up, I went to the gym yesterday morning, ran
a 5K, came home, showered, and logged onto the test website. I
hammered through the questions in about 25 minutes and didn't second guess a
single answer. I submitted the exam and about 40 minutes later I
received a call from my Agency Recruitor telling me I passed!. WOOHOO!
I celebrated at CJ's with a veggie omelette! If I make it to the end
of the 90 day program, I'll be eligible to start my own State Farm Agency as
soon as June 1st (there are many other hurdles involving interviews,
creating a business plan, licensing, etc.). There's a ton of risk
involved and I would be forced to quit a career that pays very well, is very
secure, and I love but the rewards of owning my own Agency are pretty huge
too if I can succeed in sales...
Kim recently joined the Board of the McClean
County Cougars because I think she had one free hour left in the week ;-).
She's also the cookie coordinator for our Girl Scout Troop which has kept
her very busy this past week (I helped a little with the cookies). Kim
continues to teach CCD on Wednesday night's, serves as Eucharistic minister
on Sunday's (Jake and Jess are alter servers too), and volunteers at the
Soup Kitchen on Thursday's. There's a bunch of other stuff she does
but you get the point. I need Kim to be my office manager and CFO when
we open our Agency in Hawaii ;-))
We decided to have Kyle's graduation party at
our house in June. In lieu of hiring a cater and spending a ton of
money for a one-time party, I talked Kim into letting me cater the party and
use the money that would have been spent on catering services to buy a
new smoker. I recently ordered a
6 rack Bradley Digital Smoker. It should arrive sometime next
week, so I plan to do some q the next few weekends to prepare for the party.
Alder smoked salmon, apple smoked ribs, oak smoked brisket, I can hardley
wait... I'll post pics of my trial runs!
2/20/2010
We've been pretty busy over the past month.
Jake was invited to compete on the varsity wrestling team at BJHS. He
placed 1st in all meets for the 75 lb weight class. Jake also
performed oboe in the Winter concert at BJHS and made a scuplture in art
class that was selected to be displayed at Fine Arts Night. Jessica
attends a weekly advanced drawing class in the evenings and is becoming a
great artist. Jessica also take hula lessons weekly and recently
performed at a multicultural festival at Oakland Ave School. Kyle is a
Senior in high school and working as the host at Applebees. All three
are consistently making the honor roll (I hope I didn't jinx them).
Kim and I are very proud of them!
Kim is busy as always volunteering weekly at
the soup kitchen, teaching CCD on Wednesday nights, and serving on the board
for the McClean County Cougars football team. I've been busy at work
but made time to take up a new hobby, snowmobiling (or sledding as the guys
call it). It's a lot like riding a dirt bike or wave runner. One
day we departed at 9:30AM and rode until 11:30 PM. That same night the
weather turned on us, with 30 mph winds, driving snow, and sub zero temps.
Surprisingly we didn't get that cold, in fact I sweated all night.
Riding sleds is a lot of work. I run a 5K every morning at the gym
(M-F) and I was so sore after sledding, it hurt to walk. Who knew you
could have so much fun while performing a killer quad workout!
Well, I need to get back to watching the
Winter games. Go USA!
     
1/10/2010
Gallery of Kim's awesome paint jobs and our new floors and counters.
Things are finally getting back to normal in
the Nolan house. We arrived home on 1/2/2010 after spending 2 weeks on
vacation in Florida and we had to immediately start preparing for a home
remodel project. By 1/4, Kim had to pack away all the Christmas
decorations, pack up the curio and china cabinets, and I had to remove the
existing kitchen coutner tops, kitchen sink, disposal and disconnect all
appliances (fridge, dishwasher, and stove).
1/4 - 600 sq feet of hardwood flooring was
delivered (Bruce
Waltham Plank Gunstock) so the wood could adjust to the temperature and
humidity in our home prior to install.
1/5 - The
LG
Hi-Macs kitchen counters (Volcanics Collection - Basil) were installed
by Maxwell
Counters. Maxwell Counters is a 3rd party contractor for
Lowes and did a fantastic job. They had all counters and sink
installed within three hours.
1/6 - "Joe" the floor installer (3rd party
contractor for
Bloomington Carpets) came back and started tearing out the kitchen
linoleum, sub flooring, and carpet/pads from the living room and dining
room. They also had to remove all funrinture and appliances from those
areas. They started installing the hardwood as well.
1/7 - "Joe" and his helper compelted the
floor installation for the breakfast nook, kitchen, pantry, and dining room.
Only the living room to go...
1/8 - "Joe" and his helper completed the
floor installation (stair caps, rolling and kicking carpet to wood, moving
all furniture and appliances back, etc.) by noon. Kim and I spent the
rest of the day dusting and cleaning the house. Around 12:45 PM, Mike
Holtz our plumber came over to install the
new disposal, kitchen flange, and reconnect our plumbing. Long
story but a DIY job required a plumber due to the fancy integrated sink and
pre-drilled holes for faucet. We also had to replace the shut off
valves for the fridge and dishwasher. Mike is awesome!
1/9 - Kim and I purchased a new area rug from
Lowes and ordered bar stools from
Altman's Billards & Barstools. The folks at Altman's were very
helpful.
1/10 - After church I held the couch down
most the day and updated the website. Happy New Year Every One!
12/22/2009 - 1/2/2010
Vacation and Holiday Gallery.
We spent Christmas at my mom's home this year
and we welcomed the warmer weather! We departed Bloomington around
noon on 12/22 (due to BHS Finals) and Kim and I took turns driving all
night. We arrived at my mom's house in Ormond Beach, FL on 12/23 at 6
AM EST. After much needed rest, the holiday season officially began.
12/24 - My sister and her family came down to
spend Christmas Eve with us at my mom's. We celebrated with 22 lbs of
King Crab Legs!
12/25 - We started out the morning at St.
Brendan's Catholic Church in Ormond By The Sea. Later, my cousin
brought his family down (he has 8 kids) to my mom's and we celebrated with
Honey Baked Ham amongst many other dishes.
12/26 - Kim's sister Julie and her husband
Ryan met us in Ormond Beach and we all headed down to Kim's dad's condo in
Daytona Beach. The kids spent the day in the pool while the grown ups
sat in the heated bar and watched football.
12/27 - My dad and sister Anna came down to
Ormond Beach and visited with us for a couple days.
12/28 to 12/29 - We picked up Kyle's
girlfriend Tori at the Daytona Airport on 12/28 and we spent a few days
enjoying the beach and warm weather.
12/30 - We loaded up the Saturn and
headed to Kim's dad's townhouse in Jacksonville. We spent an evening
with Kim's Aunt Charlene visiting and eating seafood.
12/31 - Julie came down to Bill's house and
we all headed to Jacksonville Beach to spend the day at Adventure Landing
(water park, video games, mini-golf, etc.). For $10 per kid, they had
unlimited access to mini golf, go carts, laser tag, and outdoor rides.
It was a great deal and the kids had a blast. Later we went to dinner
at our favorite Mongolian BBQ - Chun King on Monument Road in Jacksonville.
Later Kim and Julie took the kids to the Jacksonville Landing for New Years
Eve. I decided to stay home with Rex. Apparantly the Landing was
packed since the BCS Gatorbowl Game was the following day (FSU vs WVU).
1/1 - The weather turned bad causing us to
change our plans. Originally we planned to head to Glenn St. Mary, FL and
spend the day with my sister Sarah and family but due to the storms we
decided to press on towards Illinois. We departed Jacksoville around
10 AM and drove straight back home. We arrived home on 1/2 at 2 AM.
It was -6 degrees F when we stopped for fuel in Leroy, IL. Welcome
Home!
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