Maybe you don't know

It occurred to me today during an email from an old friend that maybe you don't know the BIG PICTURE what is going on with the Cole Family right now. This could get rather complicated so I'll try to keep it 'reader's digest' version:

• We decided to move back to Round Rock, Texas. Scott has conducted research for the past 2-1/2 years & put together a profitable strategy to move his business (or create new) from Iowa to Texas. The market will definitely support this move. Now can we?! We'll move in August or sooner if we can get this house sold!
• Scott had majory back surgery in Dec. '06. He recovered great BUT re-injured his back in a freak accident in April. His recovery is slow & painful. We all deal with the disability everyday. Poor Scott. :(
• I sold my Real Estate Abstracting company called 'InfoQUEST' on April 1. I like to think of myself as a 'consultant' in the industry now (a.k.a. unemployed). I needed to sell the business to expedite the move to Texas.
• We took some of the proceeds from my InfoQUEST sale to finish projects on our house & make it more marketable. If any of you watch HGTV 'Designed-to-Sell' (http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdts) you know exactly what we did: new floorcoverings, paint, light fixtures, etc. We had the basement completely finished and we moved alot of furniture into storage. The house looks AWESOME! We listed the house FOR SALE May 1.
• Scott & Jared went to Texas as a marketing trip and ended up buying a new-construction house! It will be finished in mid-September. We will live in a 2-story home in Round Rock, TX. Madison, Dillon & I made a quick road trip to pick out colors, carpet, tile, bricks... it was so exciting! ps... the big tree in our new yard was unable to be saved. It was too big, bummer.
• To maximize the market in Texas Scott & I have been looking at alternatives in the 'Trenchless Technology' -or- 'Cured-in-Place-pipe-lining' (http://www.trenchlessonline.com/) industry. We have made a trip to Chicago to inquire about franchising a 'lateral lining' business (http://www.performanceliner.com/). Next week we will go to Houston to look into buying an existing business which specializes in cleaning & televising of water/sewer lines.
• The kids: JARED just turned 16, has very serious girlfriend, works at UPS Store, plays softball on MW nights, wishy-washy about the move to TX; sorta depends on the day. DILLON is 14, has created a new hysteria-fad in our neighborhood known as HALO tournaments on the X-Box, will be in FLORIDA to a christian youth conference called BigStuf (see this video! http://plcstudents.com/mc_bigstuf_2006.asp) all next week, plays softball (pitcher) on MW nights, is anxious to get to TX where he can play football EVERYDAY! MADISON is 12, she will get her braces off next month! She spends almost everyday with her friends at the water park, we just upped her minutes for cell phone text messages so she is frequently seen 'texting', she plays softball (1st base) on TTH nights, anxiously awaiting our move to Texas so she can have a bigger bedroom. :)

Whew! That's about it... besides the daily struggles of what to have for supper and what ball diamond are we playing on tonight (we're at the diamonds 4 nights a week). Scott is back to work with his company in north-western Iowa this week (he's down an employee which forces Scott back to work - back pain or not, Ouch!)

Thanks for reading about our lives. I hope we didn't surprise you with any new facts, or at least it wasn't too much of a surprise. Basically this is a re-cap of where we are...