The Little Engine That Just Couldn't...

Farewell my friend...

It's a sad day in Springfield as news broke earlier that UA will be closing its doors indefinitely at the end of this school year. This was an event that we had heard might happen, but never imagined that it would occur so soon.

I'll keep my theories/opinions to myself at this time, allowing for all UA students and faculty, past and present, to post their fondest memories and best wishes for the UA community.

More Wedding Bells!!

I'm happy to announce that Courtney Kinsel and Lisa Dougherty both got engaged recently! Congratulations!

More News!

Thanks to everyone who checked out the blog! Since I updated it, I've received some more news that classmates want to share. Here goes...

- Carrie Cowden (Rooney) and her husband, David, who will be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary this year, welcomed Taylor to the family on April 14. She's the third child for the Rooney's. They are also the proud parents of Bryce (age 8) and Nolan (age 5). Carrie is currently working on her Master's degree in child and family therapy.

- Rachel Mann (Tohme) and Terry, her husband, also gave birth to a baby girl, Allison Maria, on March 5. She weighed in at 8lbs 7oz. Rachel says that with three little girls, she's learning how to juggle things, but is having a great time doing it!

Baby Allie

Rachel's Crew

From left: Lilliana (3), Terry, Allie, Sarah (6)

More Reunion Pics!!

Better late then never...I finally am posting some of my pics from the reunion. Enjoy!

Joe actually painted this chair senior year and it was still in art room!

Dr. Hagen-Stapleton-Cloud?

Amanda Hagen-Stapleton-Cloud will graduate May 19 with a DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy.) She'll be working in St. Louis at St. John's Hospital rotating through acute (anything in the hospital: burns, ICU, cardiac, general medicine, oncology, etc) and rehabilitation (stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury).

She and her husband, Kevin, are also planning on purchasing a house this summer.

CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK on passing the boards! Let us know when you hear the good news!

Stuff...

Well, I have almost all of the glitches taken care of so on with the posts!

- Keep Joe Lokaitis in your prayers as he is being deployed to Iraq on May 12.

- Lindsey Stuenkel and her husband, Jeremy, are expecting a baby on September 12! They'll find out the sex of the baby tomorrow. Keep us posted!

- My boyfriend and I (Jodi) have settled into a new place. If you want to update my address in your directory, just send me an e-mail and I can get it to you. In the meantime, here are some pics which chronical our moving day. As if that wasn't transition enough, I was also promoted at work. I'm officially the Prevention, Education and Development Coordinator for Sojourn Shelter and Services, Inc. This means that I get to use my master's degree, work with the media, and make more money! Hoorah!

For those of you with pictures of babies that you've sent me, I'm working with Blogger to get them posted ASAP. They should be up sometime this week. I have lots of 'em!

If you have any news/pictures that you want to share with the group, feel free to e-mail me at beatls8@hotmail.com

Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

Since the reunion last May, we've been able to welcome some new future Sonics into the UA world. Congratulations to all!

Katie and her husband, Brandon, welcomed Oliver Steven on September 26. He was born 6 weeks early, weighing in at 4 lbs, 4 1/2 oz. Katie assures me that he's doing great! She sent some pics of Oliver, but we're still working out the kinks on trying to post them. I'll get them up as soon as I can, I promise!

Megan Hardy (Hayes) and her husband, Joe, had a baby boy on September 8. Connor Joseph weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 18 inches long. Megan says that life as a parent is great! (see pic below)

Dianne and her husband, John, gave birth to a daughter on August 6. Her name is Olivia. Olivia is living happily with mom, dad, sister Maria (age 11), and big brother Kovin (age 10). Dianne also wanted me to note that her husband is a licensed plumber with Illini Water Systems where he installs water filters and softeners. He's also running his own business doing much of the same. If you need any of his services, call him at JP Plumbing (217-220-0640). Dianne is selling Arbonne products. You can see what it's all about on her website here.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Lindsay Adams (Steunkel) and her husband, Jeremy, are expecting and were waiting to learn the sex of their baby. They are having a girl! Hooray!

Congratulations to all new Class of '95 parents!

I know for a fact that we've had some other new class of '95 babies. Feel free to introduce them to everyone here! Just e-mail me the news at beatls8@hotmail.com.