The Ryan Newman Foundation

April 30, 2012

Hello everyone!!!

Things have been going well since my last post. It’s been busy, but that’s a good thing.

The Foundation has really grown and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. That means we’re doing our best to make an impact in the animal world.

I give it my best shot to be in the office as much as possible during the week, but our schedule doesn’t allow it much, not to mention Brooklyn keeps me quite busy.

She and I are enjoying the spring weather. She got herself a little sandbox and she likes digging around in it and taking walks outside to see the ducks is fascinating to her. We took a trip to Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC a few weeks ago and she had a great time. She is so in love with horses – more so than the other animals, I think. I can see riding lessons in her future.

A lot of time is being spent on Tony’s (Stewart) house, which is approaching the final stage before he can move in. I’ve had a lot of fun with the project. It will have been three and a half years in the making from the initial groundbreaking to the day I hand him the keys, but for now there’s a lot to do.

Right now, I’m in the process of picking out the bedding and kitchen items. I went to market for odds and ends and a few pieces of furniture to fill up nooks around the house. All the furniture has been ordered and the warehouse at the office is filling up fast, so I’ve got to get all that up Indiana.

The plan is to take a few girls from the office up to help me when it’s time to move everything in. I see it being anywhere from a two day to a four day project, so I’ll need the help unpacking and putting everything in the cabinets, washing the bedding, making the beds and setting up the rooms.

As long as we don’t run into major issues, the move it date should be somewhere around the middle of May, but with Tony’s schedule as busy as it is, I don’t see him actually staying in the house until June. I just hope he loves it and enjoys it as much as Ryan and I enjoyed ours once when we finally moved in after building.

The fans tweet and post asking if Tony will every show what the house looks like, but I really don’t know what his plans are. It’s a beautiful house, and I’m sure one day it will be on a television show like “Cribs” or he’ll post some pictures. I will leave that up to him and won’t post anything unless he tells me I can.

This isn’t something Ryan wants to hear, but Tony’s house has inspired me to make changes to ours. As you can imagine, Ryan was absolutely thrilled (haha). Seriously though, people have asked if I’d do another house project. I’m not sure, but if I did, I would have to really like the person and think long and hard about it. It will depend on where I’m at in my life. For now, I want to concentrate on having our second daughter in July and spending time with my girls.

Oh yeah, I’m pregnant too – I’m always running around it’s hard to believe, but things are going well. I have 81 days until my due date and it’s really exciting, but scary because it’s approaching so fast. The first pregnancy didn’t feel so fast because I was excited and spent a lot of time getting everything ready. It felt like it took forever to meet Brooklyn.

With the second, I’m so busy chasing Brooklyn around that time is flying by and the next thing you know it’s your due date. Ryan and I are trying to make Brooklyn aware of what’s going on and help her understand that mommy has a baby in her belly. It will be an adjustment for her when she meets her little sister because she’s so used to being the center of attention. It should all make for an interesting summer, but there won’t be any time for rest.

I’ve been asked to speak at the ACES “Business of Saving Lives” Conference in San Diego, CA. the last weekend of September. I guess I forgot I'm having a baby when I accepted, but I’m looking forward to it.

I’m excited and nervous about ACES. It’s one of the biggest conferences that I’ve ever spoke at, so I’m trying to get myself mentally prepared for it because I am not a fan of speaking in front of large groups. I’ve been given the topics they’d like me to hit on, so I’m working on my research in order for me to present the best possible presentation to everyone attending. The last thing I would want is to get up there and sound stupid. Embarrassing myself isn’t hard, so I need to work on my notes.

Like I said earlier, we’re busy. We have some cool things we’re working on at the Foundation. Hopefully we will be able to announce some of them later in the year.

Rescue Ranch is moving forward since our groundbreaking. Not as fast as I may have wanted, but it’s probably a good thing to make sure all our ducks are in a row when it comes to permitting/zoning issues and keeping the community up to speed on what our intentions are for the Ranch. We did receive our 501c status just last week, so that helps with launching capital campaigns and grant writing.

I can’t wait to get the education building up and running. I have talked to many schools in the area and it’s something they could really benefit from. There’s not a lot of local places to take kids on field trips anymore because a lot of the non-profits in and around our county have shut down due to economy. The schools were excited to hear our plans, so hopefully they can bring their programs to us and support us while we teach kids about animals and the environment. We just signed Brooklyn up for a toddler program a few days a week, so the education portion is close to my heart. I want Brooklyn and her friends to have resources in the future where they can go and learn.

 

 

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