Author: diane

Engaged to be Married

On October 17, 2009 at Ocean Beach in San Francisco,  Aaron Traffas asked Diane Michelle Poe to be his wife. Diane is the daughter of Edgar and Debra Poe of Oakley, KS. Aaron is the son of Brian and Marilyn Traffas of Sharon, KS.

I said YES to Aaron’s proposal and we are very excited to announce our engagement to be married!

We have been together since October 2006.  We look forward to sharing our special day with you. We have not made any plans yet. For more details about our wedding please visit www.dianetraffas.com

May to September

WOW! The summer definitely went very quickly and now I find myself in the middle of September! So much has happened since I last wrote anything on here. On May 17th I graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life and Community Service. It feels so great to be finished with college! On that very same day Erica Traffas also graduated from Medicine Lodge High School. Erica has since decided to attend K-STATE, her major is kinesiology. It is nice having Erica in Manhattan and getting to know her and spend time with her. In June Megan and Andrew got married! It was an absolutely beautiful wedding for two wonderful people. I was just thrilled to be apart of it. I have posted a few pictures from the wedding in the gallery, you can also find the picture taken by the professional photographer at http://www.tmproof.com/megan/ . It was truly a beautiful wedding. Once Megan and Andrew were married off they moved to St. Louis where they will both be pursuing Doctoral degrees. Megan is attending Washington University and studying physical therapy while Andrew is attending University of Missouri at St. Louis and studying Optometry. I wish them both well in their studies. Aaron and I both greatly miss having them just across town.

In July Aaron, Megan, Andrew and myself all took a trip to Nashville, TN for the National Auctioneer Association Conference and Show. I think we all had a great time, although I must say that I did enjoy the sunshine of San Diego (host city of the 2007 NAA C &S) a little more than the honky tonks of Nashville.

With August came long days and not much else. I started my job at KVC Behavioral HealthCare in May. I am a Quality Assurance Specialist, which is a fancy way of saying that I keep our records in order. KVC is a foster care agency, so we have a lot of files which must be kept current. I don’t mind the position, but I just do not think it is the right place for me. I have been thinking about what I really would like to do for the rest of my life and QA at KVC does not rank very high. So I have been looking at master’s programs at KSU as well as just exploring other employment opportunities.

With September comes K-STATE FOOTBALL SEASON! I have always enjoyed college football. The cats are off to a good season so far with a record of 2-0, but they have a couple of tough match-up in the coming weeks. I look forward to seeing how the season will progress. I think part of the reason that I enjoy football season so much is that I get to see my family so often. Dave and Chris (my brother and his wife) as well as Craig (other brother) and my Dad have season tickets so they manage to make it to most of the games.

I have tried to convince Aaron to come to the K-State games with me before, but he doesn’t have too much interest in that as he sees Saturdays as his free day to do what he wants to do. He has been keeping himself very busy lately with the usual Purple Wave auctions and playing music across Kansas. Recently Aaron decided to add one more thing to is overflowing plate. He started a website which blend two of his passions technology and being an auctioneer. The website is auctioneertech.com. One of the best feature of this site is that Aaron has also launched a podcast that covers the stories on auctioneertech.com. The podcast can be downloaded from the website or it is also avaliable on itunes. I guess I can understand why he wouldn’t want to go to the game with me. : ) I may be a little biased but have the knowlege that I do of the auction industry I believe that Aaron is truly doing great things with his new website, he is educating and helping to connect the network of auctioneers across the country. I am proud of his website and his work.

I think that is all I have for now. I will try to keep the updates a little more frequent. Remember to check out the gallery for picture from the wedding and Nashville. Until next time…

Winding down or gearing up…

Today I realized I have 34 days until I graduate from college. Wow, it has been a long road to get to this point. So many things have changed since high school (thank goodness!). It is nice to be able to see the end. I do find it very difficult to focus on anything. Mostly I have been furiously searching for a job; I have applied for many positions and had one interview so far. I should know more about the position I interview for by the end of the week.

I am so excited to have one focus; this semester I was working three jobs and doing school. I think it will be so wonderful to only have one job to concentrate on and no school (at least for awhile). I am so excited to get to the next stage in my life. I have some apprehension about being a professional; but I believe that the only way I can get to that point is by jumping into it.

Enough about me already. Aaron is in Kansas City this week teaching an ATS (auction technology specialist) course for the NAA. I think he will do a great job. He will be there until Wednesday. Which works out nicely so that we can attend the Counting Crows concert in Lawrence. I am really excited about it; we are going to have a great time!

I have been thinking about this summer and realizing how I wonderful it is going to be; I think it is going to fly by. With Megan and Andrew getting married in June and then my roommate getting married just two weeks later. It is going to be very exciting. I can’t wait to celebrate these wonderful marriages.

Well I guess that is all for me 🙂

Diane

Spring Break 2008

It has been quite a week. Aaron is in Bloomington, IN for CAI (an auctioneer designation course) this week. He had a very busy day on Friday; he left Manhattan at 5:30am to drive to Indianapolis then boarded a plane to Dallas at 6:30pm. Purple Wave had an auction in Denton, TX. Aaron took part in the auction on Saturday and then flew pack to Indianapolis that evening. He said it was very impressive to fly into Dallas, lights as far as you can see. I think he had a good time. I am a little envious that he gets to leave Manhattan while I am stuck here. I have kept myself very busy with many little projects though. I have been coaching the Manhattan High School swim team, so this week we have morning practices; I have also been working on getting hours in a t my internship (Parents as Teachers of Manhattan) and I have been making my room more enjoyable. I did a little rearrange of the furniture then I built a bookshelf and hung some shelves. I really like all of the things that I have done to my room. In my spare time (as if there is anything left) I have been searching for a job. I will be graduating on May 17. I am very excited but that is fewer than two months away now and I am getting a little anxious about finding a job. I know that it just take time but I am feeling a little impatient. I am just sure the right thing will come along. I guess for now the search will have to continue…

Happy Valentine’s Day

We have been very busy lately; as I am sure you have. It feels like time has just flown by since Christmas. I cannot believe that it is already Valentine’s Day. A few weeks ago Aaron and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to and be a part of my brother’s wedding. It was held in Wichita and everything turned out wonderfully! I am so happy for both of them. There are pictures in the gallery, I encourage you to check them out.

Aaron has been working hard at Purple Wave; his work is never over. I guess that is good job security. I am also working at Purple Wave, I work in the office as a cashier and on occasion I clerk auctions. On Friday we will be making our second trip to Dallas for auctions. It is fun but it is really a very long ride in the car. I am just glad that Aaron enjoys driving, so that I don’t have to. I think my favorite part of work for Purple Wave is the auctions, they are exciting and fun. We do have to miss out on Gabriella’s (my niece) 1st birthday party this weekend. So that makes me a little sad; but I just figure she won’t remember that I wasn’t there so it should be okay. 🙂

I started my internship in January. I am doing it with Parents as Teachers of Manhattan. I am required to put in 20 hours per week which will equal 320 hours by the end of the semester. Unfortunately it is an unpaid internship; but I am learning a lot. I do feel like this is one of my most difficult semesters yet because I am not only going to class now but I am also working and doing the internship. It makes me feel like I have no free time.

Last week it didn’t matter whether I had free time or not, I got the flu and was out of commission for 4 days. I don’t think I have ever been sick for that long in my life. I was so drained. Luckily I have recover and I am feeling much better now.

Aaron and I have decided to stay in tomorrow for Valentine’s day; I think that is best so that we don’t have to fight the crowds. I hope that everyone has a happy Valentine’s Day! 🙂

I will try to do a better job a keep you updated with what is happening in our lives.