Things that Begin in the Fall...

Although January is the official start of a new year in our culture, and spring is usually representative of new beginnings - for many, the REAL start to a new year is fall. Many things begin in the fall. School, for one, starts over in the fall (as you can read in the blog below), but there are other things that start over with the change of the leaves that affect us here in Sluiter Nation. One of those is the new bowling season - that's right -

IT'S TIME FOR BOWLING TO START!

This season marks Cortney's seventh year in league bowling. He started off bowling at Zeeland Lanes with a bunch of friends just for fun. Over the years he has bowled in leagues at both Zeeland Lanes and Century Lanes. He's participated in many tournaments including state and - a few times - nationals. What started out "just for fun" became quite competive for Cort. Every year he sets new goals for himself. In fact, in the past 3 years, he has gotten rings for rolling a 300, 299, and a 298 respectively!

He has also gotten awards for highest average AND having over a 700 series!

This year his goal is to get an 800 or better series! He's met all of his goals that he has set for himself so far - and he's off to a pretty good start this year already! This year, after our friend Jeremy moved to Chicago leaving a spot on the team open, Cort recruited my brother, Chris. This past week they had their first night of bowling. Chris rolled a 502 series - his self-proclaimed best series ever! Cortney started the season strong by rolling a 259, a 279, and 232 for a 770 series. 30 more pins and his has his goal for the year already!

Another thing that starts over in the fall is the NFL football season, and for the second year in a row, Cortney is managing a Sluiter Family League made up of Cortney and myself, my dad, both of my brothers (Chris and Mike), both of Cort's siblings and their significant others (Cody and Liz and MacKenzie and Dave) and our friend Ken - who is just like family :)

Fantasy football is fun because it makes a lazy Sunday a bit more interesting. It can even distract me from doing my homework or grading papers!

Last week was the first week. I was matched up against Cortney - and I am not going to lie - he left a size 10 footprint on my behind. It was ugly. But this week I am paired against Kenzie - and so far, so good!

Lastly, fall is a time to start new projects. When the temperatures began to cool off, Cortney picked up a shovel and went to work behind our house. The goal? To put in a patio under our deck for our walk-out basement. Cort has put a lot of work into his hole - and I think it looks pretty darned good!

Fall is busy for us here in Sluiter Nation. Besides bowling, Fantasy Football, and Cortney's hole out back, I have started my graduate class at Western Michigan University for the semester (Research and Scholarship in Teaching), and I have taken on the positions of senior class co-adviser AND the MEAP/MME/ACT testing coordinator for Wyoming Park High School. Cortney is entering his 3rd month as a non-smoker and doing GREAT - he has not cheated even once!

We appreciate these opportunities that we have been blessed with and look forward to excelling as we do our best! Thank you to all our family and friends for being so supportive as we overwork ourselves as usual!