Kary Sue's wedding

So, when I'd tell people that my Aunt Kary was getting married, they'd say, "now, how is she your aunt?" Um... well... lets see, she's really my Dad's first cousin but their families were always super tight and they do everything with us and she's always just been another aunt. And lots of fun. And such a great example. Seriously, I was never EVER worried about life if I didn't get married because of Kary Sue. It would have been ok, because I saw the single life lived so well in her. Love you much Suz!

Festivities started pretty much right after we got back from Wisconsin. Literally. Scott and Ned were already in town Friday, so we unpacked and went to hang out with them. Bob brought along his crazy complicated game and they tried playing it. It takes forever.


It took over an hour before they could even do anything... check out the pages of rules and stats that they all kept referring to.

While they were busy playing, Shelly and I planned the "cousins supper" that we were in charge of Saturday. We were maybe a little bit lazy and got a bunch of family feasts from Michael's... It was a great night. All but two of my cousins were there (they showed up with the furniture around 11pm-typical *grin*) plus all the great grand kids. We laughed a lot.

Brent was entertaining us with tales from the nursing home.

After we ate, us girls went on a loooong walk. By the time we got back, Grandma and Grandpa and all the aunts and uncles that were at the rehearsal dinner had shown up to collect their children. Good times.

I think my favorite conversation of the night was when one of my cousins made a comment that he thought kids were 95% affected by genetics versus environment when it comes to their intelligence. Which was immediately countered 60-40 by one of his brothers (who has no kids), and again 50-50 by another brother... so funny.

Church was packed on Sunday. We were under strict orders to go from lunch directly to the sanctuary, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Us kids were fairly compliant... however, it took a while for all the family to get in (surprise, surprise). We tried to pass a note for Kirk to give to the bridesmaids, he lost it though. Bummer. It would have been funny.

It was such a good wedding. I maybe got a little teary eyed when they walked in (between laughing at my aunts and mom in their bridesmaid dresses... hehe).

The reception was quite nice too... good food, brownies, fabulous piano from Ned. :)


Shelly and Amor and Kayla. Kayla's hair was very pretty... the other bridesmaids didn't like the idea of getting their hair done like hers... I wonder why not. *grin*

Klopfensteins...

Staying out of the way and waiting for our shifts to start.

Lys chilling... such a great face!

Karen and Rita were at the guestbook, they were loving it because they got to talk to everybody and subsequently made the line that much slower. *grin*

Ron and Kary...

Kary and Pearline, I love it that Pearl has her shoes off! I think I got my dislike of shoes from her. They also weren't looking at me for this picture. Clearly.

Mom modeling the bridesmaid dresses... she really doesn't smile that cheesy normally... sorry I took such a bad pic Mom!

Getting ready to blow bubbles...

And they drove off into the sunset and lived happily ever after!

Coolness

Soooo... we have two window air conditioners. The one in the kitchen is great, turn it on low and the kitchen stays in the 70's even with the oven on. The one upstairs though, yeah, not much airflow, turn it on high and it barely keeps the computer room cool let alone the bathroom and bedroom. When the outside temperature dips below 75ish it freezes up, and if it's humid it freezes, so if we left it on overnight we'd occasionally wake up to ice breaking off and falling into the fan. woot.

Anyway, since we have no prior experience with such things (hooray for central air!), I looked online for how to keep a window a/c from freezing. First suggestion: clean the filter. So yesterday I pulled the cover off and discovered, surprise, surprise, an ice cube caked, filthy filter. After it thawed out enough to take it out, it got a much needed bath. And guess what!? It ran on high all night and there was no ice! And our bedroom was cold! And I needed a blanket instead of just a sheet! Much rejoicing.

Bob has had to kill two spiders for me in the last week. ickickickickick. I hate spiders.
Blessings.

Wisconsin

So, last week we drove up to Black River Falls, Wisconsin with Bob's family. We stayed in a cabin by a small lake.... it was super relaxing.



It was surrounded by tall pines... they're so clever...



On the shores of Serenity lake... the water was cold!



There were a bunch of snowmobile/atv trails on the property, but there were also a lot of ticks in the grass so we only walked them once. This is Sprout's new friend.


Bob and Matt taking a canoe fishing.

And fishing off the shore. I got a line wet a few times and was quite content to leave it at that.

Rustin fried up fish and onion rings and cheese curds... so good.

Grace and Susan being cheesy. Or ducky.

On our way back to Illinois we stopped at Circus World. It was really cool, they had live circus performers and elephants and museum exhibits and exorbitantly priced food, just like the real thing! :)

Our last morning we ate at Paul Bunyan's for breakfast...

And then we came home. I'm ready for a vacation again already.
Blessings.

random picture

Because I haven't gotten all of my pictures from vacation and Kary's wedding on my lappy yet... this is from last summer when mom and Shelly and I went antiquing. It's a mink muff thing, with mink heads and tails and feel still intact. ick. ick. ick. It's been trapped on my cell phone (hence, the poor quality) for a very long time and I just got it off because my brother has a blackberry and could email it to me. woot!

Blessings.

Feels like summer...

There's nothing like a warm afternoon in the berry patch. :) And two gallons of strawberries in your freezer.

I picked some strawberries at Greg and Mary's yesterday afternoon. It's always slightly frigid at work, so it felt really good to be out in the sunshine, on my hands and knees in the grass getting up close and personal with the berries and a few slugs. And eating strawberries warm off the vine is pure heaven.

This is my attempt at an "artsy" picture...

And then I went home and grilled supper. Steak, sweet corn, and potatoes (in the foil). This is the second time I've tried grilling sweet corn and I think probably the last. Last time I put them straight on the grill, this time I tried soaking them in the husk in water first. They taste ok, but the 'grilled' flavor is just weird with sweet corn. Plus, this time the husks dried out and burnt to a crisp from the grease flare ups from the steak, so there were little bits of ash all over everything and it was a big mess. I suppose I could put tin foil down, but then, what's the point of grilling? Next time I'm just going to boil it. It did look cool on the grill...

I made strawberry shortcake too of course. :)

Blessings.

Memorial Day Weekend

So... busy weekend. I'm tired this morning... :)

We spent lots of time with Bob's family since Rustin and Sharon and Grace were here for Sprout's baptism. They came to our house for supper Saturday before testimonies. And then we were up late at the singing afterwards... so good to see U of I people again! And amusing to get to say "sista sprout" now. :)

Yesterday, I slept in. I was going to get up early and be productive, but it looked like it was going to rain and nothing was that pressing so I went back to bed for a while. :) We went to G and G's for supper and much animated and opinionated conversation and wedding planning. Good times. Shelly and Kendra and I got to play with Kayla's hair to figure out how they are going to do it for the wedding. She looked quite cute. I'm excited for the wedding!

And then we went to Pinky's, which was amazing as always. :D

We didn't visit any cemeteries... or go to any parades... I don't think T-town even has a service at the cemetery! Which is kind of incredible... and disappointing, since there are lots of veterans in town and people that are currently serving. I did hum "In Flanders Fields" to myself all day. :)

Maybe next year. I do need to introduce Bob to the family tradition of spending the day in cemeteries. Haha... ok, not really, but when I was little we would go to the parade in Gridley and then out to the cemetery. Or we would take flowers to the Congerville- Goodfield Church cemetery. One year we went from Morton to C-G to Gridley... And in High School the band went to the cemetery every year to play the National Anthem or Battle Hymn of the Republic and the trumpets got to play taps.

I guess I kind of miss the quiet morning in the cemetery and the rows of flags flapping in the breeze and then, the 21 gun salute and taps...

Blessings.

Flowers

I finally got all my flowers planted! This is how they looked before they got pelted with rain. They've looked a little waterlogged the last few days.


And my vegetables are growing.


Yay for backyards. :) And for privacy fences. :)

I hosted sewing club on Tuesday... it was a good time. We had chocolate lava cake... it was yummy... next time I'll make a double batch for thirds.... :)

Tomorrow is transplant day...

Blessings.

I'm a Big Sister!

*grin* So, a few months ago we had a speaker at work for MLK JR month. (We have speakers every month in honor of "national whatever month," it's fun, they're usually interesting and they always have cookies. Anyway.) He talked about different ways that we, as well educated scientists, could get involved in our communities and talked about the different mentoring programs they have available... a lot of kids in the city schools don't even know that science is more than a subject in school, it can be a career. And I remember way back when, one of my cousins was a Big Brother... but... it's a big time commitment and I don't exactly live very close.... and then I saw on the BBBS website that they have a lunch program. You get to meet with your Little during their lunch at school at least twice a month and eat with them, help with homework, and be their friend. Which is perfect.

I filled out all the paper work and they did another background check... I'm starting to get a little worried that all these checks are going to send up a red flag someplace. Seriously, twice for work in the last two years and now a DCFS check. And I, of course, forgot to give my 'non-family references' the heads up so they've been telling me how confused they were that somebody was asking about "Jennifer K" and not connecting it with me. Oops.

Today was the first time I got to meet with her, and it might be the last time before school starts again in the fall. (I'm not allowed to have contact outside of school) She's 9, in 3rd grade, talkative, and has a completely different life than me. I told her I was married and she said, "so where's your ring?" *SIGH* She would pick up on that right away. I just said I didn't have one, and it was ok, I'm still married without one. Pretty sure it didn't click, because the next thing she said was "that boy should propose!" Haha... um... cue Beyonce..... it made me laugh.

Sooo... should be interesting. And good for me. It's already clear that I need to brush up on my knowledge of Disney and Nickelodeon.... *grin*

Blessings.

asparagus tips

So once I again, I have very little to blog about. *sigh* Haha... actually, I like it that life isn't crazy right now. And I like asparagus. Bob's not a big fan.

Last weekend we had potluck on Friday, which was great fun as always. And Sunday we went to Blake and Kristin's wedding. It was sooo good to see people, especially Joanna, since I haven't seen her since her wedding. Three years ago. Eesh. :) I must confess... I love being married to one of the Shaker Brethren. They had a 'shaker bench' and it just makes me feel all special to get to sit there. I mean, I got to sit on the same bench as BDY and J-Nell, and Matt, and Nic and Amanda... haha. Anyway... yes, I know I'm a little ridiculous. :P The dresses were pretty, the flowers were gorgeous (yay for Amber), the cake was good; definitely a successful wedding.

This week has been quiet... I'm just hoping that it will stay dry enough and be dry enough this weekend to plant the rest of my flowers. And next week I can stress about hosting sewing club. woot.

Blessings.

Concerning cook books

So sometimes when people ask me how married life is, they ask about how I manage working full time and cooking and cleaning and all that good stuff. Honestly, I have no idea. I'm semi organized? I like cooking and I like it when the house is clean so that's fairly motivating... :) I plan meals for the week... I dunno? But anyway. Yeah, I'm not sure how/where I learned to cook and bake. Mom says I just have "the touch," whatever that means. I helped Mom some growing up, but it was never a formal, "and today we are going to make meatloaf" kind of thing. Speaking of meatloaf. Shelly and I are bad at meatloaf. I've gotten much better at it.

I don't really use recipes much since we usually just have meat, potato, vegetable, and occasionally fruit. Bob and I both like stuff fairly plain and simple. It's probably healthier that way, and recipes usually take way more time and more ingredients than I have. This is the one cookbook that I look at regularly:



It's the best. My Grandma had a copy that is held together with masking tape. My mom has a copy. My M-I-L gave me a copy (mine's spiral bound on glossy paper- woot!). I love it because it's not full of fancy recipes with tons of obscure ingredients, it's just basic cooking with lots of instructions on techniques. The section on meat has diagrams of all the cuts, and then the best way to cook each type with a few simple recipes. It has a section on sauces, which I love, because I cannot for the life of me remember the proportions for white sauce. There are pages and pages of different kinds of frosting and glazes. I love the quick breads. And the cookies. Where else can you find old fashioned gingerbread and spritz? Definitely the most comprehensive and useful cookbook that I own. :)

And then there is the most amazing pie cookbook ever. Everyone should have one of these, and use it often. :)

This one has a pie recipe for every kind of fruit and nut you can think of, plus meat pies. And custards and cremes and chocolate pies. Seriously, it's wonderful.

I do like this cook book. She makes yummy, simple food too.

Otherwise, I have a cupboard full of unopened cook books... maybe some rainy day...

Does it make me a heathen if I rarely use the church cook books? There are a few specific recipes... but I just don't use them much. Please don't faint in shock. *grin*

What's your favorite?

Blessings.

Busy busy

Lets see, this weekend I:

• cleaned the house
• got lost in Pekin
• bought some more annuals
• went to Hannah's testimony in Champaign
• stopped at the Shake to see our siblings
• spent Sunday in Washington
• baked two pies and cooked supper for the fam with Shelly
• wandered around the farm with Bob

... although, to clarify, I knew exactly where I was in Pekin, I just didn't know where the place I was trying to find was.

Blessings.

How does your garden grow?

Mine is coming up! Yay. Now I just need to find time to plant some flowers... :)

There hasn't been much going on lately, which is nice. I finished Anna Karenina and absolutely loved it. Not sure why... Tolstoy just has such a great way with words and with describing life and subtly putting truth into his stories...

I also finished part one of book twelve of the Wheel of Time. It was really good, and so much faster moving than the last three books.

Today I met Heidi at One World for lunch, which was great fun and the food was great too. I ordered tortilla soup and a chicken sandwich on foccacia with pesto... two totally different types of food... it was a strange combination but really good!

Kary's church shower was tonight so I went to that. Shelly almost spilled her water on me, oh, about 10 times. :) It's good to see Suze so happy... and excited about dishes and things. Hehe.

Blessings.

anniversary weekend

I can't quite fathom that it's been a year already...

Bob's Grandpa asked me if I'd marry him again... totally, but I'm not sure I'd want to do all of last year over again. :P Change is stressful for me. I'd be up for hitting the highlights though! Haha. Anyway...

Friday we went to Greg and Mary's for potluck/going away party for Brett and Laura. It was a good time. They had some KC trivia for us and had us taste BBQ sauces and decide what flavor they were (I didn't do so well).

Kristin's personal shower was Saturday morning, so I got up early and drove to Forrest... woot. It was farmer themed so I wore my only slightly flannel looking shirt. I don't own any seed corn caps, shocking, I know, so that was the extent of my dressing up. It was good to see the Champaign girls and some of the Fairbury girls that I don't see anymore. Rhonda's house is really cute, and they had all kinds of great decorations for the shower. Fun times. I maybe stopped at DQ on my way home for a blizzard; it was necessary. :)

We went grill shopping the middle of the thunderstorm Saturday. Hooray for getting all wet. We found one that I like and it's supposed to be ready to pick up today. I'm excited.

Sunday after church we went with some couples to sing for a sister who isn't doing very well. Always a little bit sobering... and a blessing. And then we went to The Fish House for supper. Such good food. We ordered fried alligator as an appetizer; it has an interesting flavor and texture... I was excited that they had lobster bisque. :) They also have lava cake. We split one with ice cream and raspberries. :D Heaven.

Yesterday we both worked. woot. And didn't really do anything special. We did eat what was left of our wedding cake... with the frosting scraped off and smothered in strawberry sauce... hooray for pointless traditions!

I'm just glad he's put up with me this long...

Blessings.

One Year

And no major cooking disasters.

I'd call it a success.

*grin*

my new chair came...

I'm so excited... *grin*

Delightful

It's really the only way to describe the weekend. :)

Saturday I went to quilt club and then I went shopping for wedding and shower gifts... hooray. I maybe shopped for me a little bit too. :)

It was so nice out Sunday afternoon! We went for a drive in the country. *grin* And yes, my sister already told me I'm turning into an old lady. But, I've never really been out in the country around t-town so it was fun to explore.

Wendi's orchestra concert with the ballet was Sunday evening. It was great. I absolutely loved it. Live music is just so much better than listening to a recording, and they played such wonderful stuff. Copland, Saint-Saens, Holst, plus some Debussy and the Sleeping Beauty Waltz; so amazing.

They had several professional guests that performed with the kids from the ballet school so there was a different skill level for each part of the program. The little kids that danced to Rodeo were great... and the two instructors that did the Bacchanale were fabulous. Good times.

This is a picture of Wendi, her violin, and her fan club. :) We went to DQ with her and her family afterwards. Such fun.

Blessings.

happy things

Tulips! And Daffodils! And Muscari! O my!

Yay for spring, and death to rabbits! :)

This is my garden box... all ready to be planted. It also needs some rabbit fence.

Tuesday we went to Bloomington and met up with Nic and Amanda. We ate supper at Moe's, which I really liked, and then we got a tour of their house and went for a walk around the neighborhood. They have a blog now; www.normalrassis.blogspot.com. You should check it out because they are cool. :)

We went to nursing home singing tonight. I was excited, because I love going there and it seems like we're always busy and have to miss it.

I'm in the middle of reading Anna Karenina and I like it a lot. Tolstoy is just great.

Blessings.

How high's the water mama?

So, I've discovered that even though I'm decent at wii bowling.... I'm terrible at bowling in real life. :) We went Friday night with Greg and Mary (and Max and Nora). It was lots of fun, but I definitely haven't improved... since I bowl sooo often... and I can't remember the last time I went. :P I threw a lot of gutter balls. O well, it was a very enjoyable evening, and at least the rest of them could feel good about their bowling abilities. And Max and Nora were fun to watch. I forgot my camera so I have no pictures of us in funny shoes, sad news.

I spent a lot of Saturday outside, which I love. It was great. I'm a little bit sore from weeding my flower beds and the spaces between our patio pavers... there are lots of tulips and daffodils and muscari blooming; it makes me smile just to look out the window. We went to Menards and stocked up on Sevin and wasp killer and dirt to fill my garden box. I planted some vegetables last night- hooray!

Remember how we had a leaking pipe last month? And that the city has been estimating our water bills all winter because of "frigid temperatures"? And that we aren't sure how long it was leaking? Yeah.... we got a bill for 82,000 gallons of water. ooops. Last month's National Geographic magazine was all about water and how most people in the world don't have enough of it.... we just waste 82,000 gallons at a time. Go us. Haha. Ok, it probably will find it's way back into circulation, but it did make me feel a little bit guilty. I do wonder what they thought at the city office. We were laughing about trying to swim in our crawlspace or start a laundromat.

Blessings.

Easter

In pictures. Because I've been too lazy to write about it. It was a good weekend, and it's been kind of a long week.

We colored eggs one night... we didn't do very many creative ones because, well, I didn't hardboil that many. I like deviled eggs, but I can't eat that many of them. :)

So pretty

This is my christmas cactus... I thought it was dead, but it's blooming now... at easter...and there's only one blossom. I'm so confused.

Crocus that the rabbits didn't eat.


Jakey came over and they had a game playing party.

And this is an old picture of my flowers from potluck... aren't they so fresh and pretty?

He is Risen indeed!
Blessings.

Happy Good Friday!

I get to work... woot... :)

I get a lot of grief about how gov't employees get tons of time off and never do any work- but I don't get Good Friday off. And I don't get Christmas eve or the week between Christmas and New Years off.

There have been a few fun things going on this week- the wind was right for the annual prairie burn, they tilled up the research plots, the picnic tables are back outside, and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture stopped by today. So I can now say I was in the same room as a sitting cabinet member. *grin*

I had fun celebrating Bob's birthday yesterday... we went to his parents' for supper and got to meet the new puppy across the road. His name is Fred. For some reason, that just totally cracks me up.

Hallelujah for the Blood!

a tale of two potato dishes

Monday was the first day of passover, so we had lamb just for fun. It has a very different taste. The little lamb chops are super cute though. :) Yes, I'm aware that I'm weird. Apparently Kroger doesn't have a large Jewish clientele because they don't carry matzo bread; we had kosher crackers instead. (I thought they were ok tasting, Bob thought they were gross) I also bought some leeks because I remember the Israelites always complaining about not having melons and leeks and figs and fleshpots and things like they did in Egypt, and Bob's allergic to melon and I have no idea what a fleshpot is. So I found a recipe for potato leek casserole that involved butter and cooking wine and milk and it turned out mostly just strange. It didn't taste bad, it just didn't set up and was really milky and not very casserole like. At least it all smelled really good while it was cooking.... different though it all was.

So then I had to figure out what to do with the rest of the leeks... and I was supposed to take potatoes to rotating potluck... hm.... I found another casserole recipe. It turned out much better, maybe because it had heavy cream and cheddar cheese in it and no wine. :) Potluck was a great time. It's so fun to just sit and listen.

Halfway through I got a bad headache, which I hate. So yeah, the rest of my night was not so much fun... but I feel much better today. Stinking Schlipf genes that are all of the sudden manifesting themselves. This makes two migraines in the last year- eesh. Ok, I know I shouldn't complain, I am very thankful that I don't get them much at all...

Bob's birthday is tomorrow. Woot!

das Wochenende

Have I mentioned that I love weekends?

• Sleeping in is fabulous.
• My house is clean. :)
• We got pictures taken so I can get a new passport... we don't have any trips planned, but just in case the need should arise... haha. Plus it still has my old name on it. And the cost for renewing goes up on the first.
• I changed my headlight all by myself! I got the new bulb, dismantled the "headlight assembly", put the new one in, and reassembled everything with no extra pieces. Yay. I feel so... so... accomplished. :P or something
• We tried a new pizza at Firehouse Pizza. It was good, as always. :)
• We spent Sunday in W-ton. Good times. Matt has a very large new potato gun that we got to try out. We were shooting it over the road into the field and a few people drove past.... dootdado, we're just hanging out in the front yard...
• Shelly and I played Barbies and American Girl dolls with my cousins on Sunday. So funny. We didn't get the car out so Christina decided a stuffed hippo would work just as well. Ken may or may not have said "Barbie, I can't carry any more stuff, let's load up the hippo and go home!"

These, I, Singing in Spring

THESE, I, singing in spring, collect for lovers,

(For who but I should understand lovers, and all their sorrow and joy?

And who but I should be the poet of comrades?)

Collecting, I traverse the garden, the world—but soon I pass the gates,

Now along the pond-side—now wading in a little, fearing not the wet,

Now by the post-and-rail fences, where the old stones thrown there, pick’d from the fields,

have accumulated,

(Wild-flowers and vines and weeds come up through the stones, and partly cover them—

Beyond these I pass,)

Far, far in the forest, before I think where I go,

Solitary, smelling the earthy smell, stopping now and then in the silence,

-Walt Whitman

I love spring. I have a bunch of bulbs peeking up through the dirt... and then the rabbits eat the leaves. Hopefully at least a few of them will bloom!

I love wandering around town (now that it's warmer) and trying to classify all the different houses by architectural style. I'm not very good at it, but it's fun to try.

My Dad dropped off a 3x5 box for me to grow things in. Hooray! I'm quite excited, although I will definitely have to invest in some chicken wire (or a shotgun) to protect my plants from rabbits.

Dang came for supper last night. Otherwise it's been pretty quiet, which I love. Next week is going to be busy again; hooray for holidays.

Blessings.

is it spring yet?

So I spent the rest of last week getting ready for potluck. Hooray for working full time. But, I got everything done and cleaned and ready for people by Friday night. And then it was all done for Saturday. :) It was a good night. I didn't burn the meat. And it was fun to have them at our house, even though it is kind of a tight fit around our table.

Saturday morning I went to 3rd Saturday quilt club and barely made it on time. But I did make it. When that was over I went to Mom and Dad's to pick up some beef. Woot woot. I love having meat in my freezer.

We had communion that night. I did not get the giggles, which is good. Probably because Shelly wasn't there.

I want it to be warm again for good. I'm tired of being cold and I'm tired of long underwear and I'm tired of my winter coat. I want to see green again. And I wish I had some means of permanently disposing of the rabbits in my yard that are nibbling on my crocus. I'll stop complaining now.

Blessings.

Beware the Ides of March

Yeah, so yesterday we had a minor flood in our crawlspace. Some valve was leaking (it must have been for a while because we'd occasionally hear random water running) and it was leaking enough yesterday to drop our water pressure and create a nice waterfall under the house. Thankfully it drains really well; because it never got above 3 or 4 inches. So Kerry and Sam came over after supper and fixed it (the bliss of renting...). Well, Sam and I colored pictures and Kerry crawled around in the mud and worked. I need to get more boy coloring books... Disney Heroes was a little to girly for Sam. :) I'm just glad it was an easy fix and they don't have to tear out any walls or keep the water turned off or something (I was maybe freaking out because we're hosting potluck on Friday!).

Otherwise it's been pretty quiet. Amber and Sarah came over for some quality Emma time.... such fun. We spent Saturday evening with my family and checked out the new paint and watched old slides. I was a little bored this weekend... which I love.... so I tried some new recipes. Bob and I made Dr. Pepper chocolate cake which was super yummy, and I attempted homemade tortillas. I could use more practice on those.

Blessings.

How to...

...get a weeks worth of pork loin, various slices of pie, and a bouquet of fresh flowers:

Be on the committee for adult church potluck!

It was fun. Especially since I really didn't do anything. :) There were four ladies on the committee; two did the meat, one did the paper goods, and I stopped and got flowers for the tables. Which I love. I guess we did help set up and stuff. Still, I think we came out ahead.

I like hiding in the kitchen.

Blessings.

ski bums

So I'm exhausted. We had a very full weekend, fun, but full. :)

Saturday morning Bob and I got up early (for Saturday anyway!) and drove to Chestnut Mountain to go skiing. I was very excited. And a little trepidatious. Bob had never been skiing before, and so I was little afraid that I wouldn't be a good teacher and that he'd end up falling a lot and hating it and never want to go again and it'd be all my fault. But he did awesome! I was quite proud, although it definitely wasn't my teaching abilities. :) He's just naturally good at stuff like that. Handsome too. :)

And this is the only picture of me... I forgot to ask somebody to take one of us on the slopes. O well.

It was such a beautiful day for it too! Almost too warm out, but the sun felt great and the snow was nice and soft and not at all icy. We ran into Justin S. on the slopes; he had a group of IEI students up learning to ski/snowboard. I love riding the ski lifts and watching all the people going down... and wiping out. There were a lot of really good boarders and so many cute little kids with no fear on the really hard slopes.

My phone rang while we were waiting in line for the ski lift....

My aunt Kary's getting married!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited! and we love you much, Suz!

So yeah, I'm not that sore from skiing, which is great! But I do have a lovely sunburn and raccoon eyes from my sunglasses. Bob was using my ski goggles and he doesn't have funny lines... so not fair. :P

Then, Sunday morning we got up early and went to Champaign with Uncle Howard, Aunt Janice, and Carol. It was really great to be in C-U again. We've been too busy to make it there for church in a looong time. :) It was good to see everybody again, and we got to hear Mark and Neal and some other people sing after church. And got to go to church potluck, and see Sprout's apartment. Hopefully, the next time we go Jakey and Amber and Sarah will be there... :P

Good times.

Blessings.

crazy busy weekend

I'm hoping that this week isn't too busy so I can relax a little... :)

Rustin and Sharon and Grace were here for the weekend, so we spent Friday evening with them. I taught them how to play Rook, which was fun.

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 because somebody forgot to turn their alarm off... and apparently he can hit the snooze in a sound sleep because it went off every 10 minutes for an hour. I finally turned it off. He doesn't remember any of it. :P

We went to testimonies that night and then we went back out to Bob's parent's for a while. After we left, we turned behind a truck that was going reeeallly really slow... and then he started drifting into the other lane, and back and forth, and I was freaking out. So we called 911 and while I was talking to the lady he drove into the ditch and came very close to rolling it into a telephone pole; somehow he managed to not crash and drove back up on the road. Rather scary. We turned in opposite directions then, so I don't know what happened or what his deal was.

Denver's wedding was on Sunday, so we went to that. It was so good to see U of I people again! Good times. We drove over with Susan and when we left the reception her car hood was full of snow... it got some weird looks from people that we passed on the road... And then as soon as we got home and ate supper it was time to turn around and go back to church for the Ordination. Which was good, but I was very tired of sitting in church and lines and being dressed up at that point.

Blessings.

spring cleaning

The lab got a big grant to renovate the center wing.... which means that everyone who works there has to move to one of the other wings. So, lots of groups are going to be doubling up on lab space while it's under construction. No one is moving into my lab, but some of our other lab space is going to be shared in a few weeks, and we've been cleaning out like mad this week. Which is good. Scientists are pack rats. I've been dumping old samples by the gallons; some of the stuff has labels with handwriting that no one recognizes because it's so old.

It's a great chance for me to clean... haha.... scientists are also not real concerned with dirt and dust and grime. Or at least the "boys" in our group aren't. Seriously, I've been wiping out drawers and cupboards and cleaning sinks that they would have just been filled up again without a thought. Ick. 409 industrial degreaser has become my best friend...

My siblings came over for some real food last night... I made lasagna. It was yummy. I love Italian. :) And we had Frieda-buns, which are amazing and I need to have her over to teach me how to make them.

I finished my second 'third-saturday' quilt block. Woot. And I've been working on one I started a few years ago... the pattern was/is too hard for me and so it isn't going to turn out that great, but I guess I'd rather have it all put together and not be perfect than have a bunch of cut fabric laying around. :)

Otherwise, nothing new. I'm excited for the weekend! It's going to be a busy one...
Blessings.

flowers and frustrations and fun

These are my valentine roses... they're so very pretty. I love roses. :)


This is my amaryllis bulb that finally decided to bloom... I got it before Christmas. I like it, but it clashes with the A & W sign...

So I talked to 3 banks and my mutual fund company this week... and got very frustrated and confused and close to tears. I now officially hate finance and all things that have to do with money and investing. O wait, this is not a new sentiment. :) At this point I think I'm back to square one. They still haven't even changed my name and address on the account, and Dad and I have been corresponding with them since last September. Sooooo.... I wrote another letter of instruction... woot woot, I'm getting so good at them... and they're getting copies of pretty much all of my identifying documents in the mail. I guess it's good some random person couldn't get in and mess with my account... but then, you never know, it might be easier for somebody to steal the vast amounts I've got invested (HA! Seriously, it's not like I've got a massive account or anything, it shouldn't be this hard to just change my name!) than it is for me to change my personal info.

We had a student researcher day at the lab this week... I'm the "material girl." Yes, the pop culture reference is intended... My coworkers think it's funny; I'm not sure how I feel about that. Definitely a study in contrasts.... :D Basically I just make sure there are enough lab coats, gloves, safety glasses, and put together their lab notebooks. I wish they would have done SR days when I was in High School; they're lots of fun. There were two AC kids this time, which I loved. And one of the researchers that was presenting started telling stories about his grad days, back when you could still dump solvents down sink drains and smoke in the lab, and what happens when you try to put out your cigarette in a sink full of solvent. Hilarious. They were wide eyed.

Blessings.

I'm a slacker

O well.

We had a pretty quiet week last week, it was nice. I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't get a snow day...

Dang came over for supper and there were no leftovers. :D

My amaryllis bulb finally bloomed... I've had it since before Christmas. There's a dozen roses on my kitchen table... I love having a house full of flowers. :)

Friday we got together with our potluck for a V-day party which was lots of fun. I discovered that I don't know any valentine's day trivia.

We're still trying to get my mutual fund in our names. Saturday morning we went to three different banks because they need ANOTHER signature guarantee from us... yeah, none of them do that "anymore". But, in case you need a notary, they have plenty of people who can do that. I was so frustrated, because Dad and I walked into the bank in w-ton and it took all of 5 minutes for the lady to check and stamp our signatures. *sigh* Should have just cashed it out and started fresh.

The rest of the day I delivered dad's annual flower order and helped my mom paint. :)

We really didn't do much Sunday... went to church, R and S's wedding reception... I don't like eating out with the entire world, so I just made chicken parmesan (it's red and therefore valentiney! or something) for supper.

I didn't have to work yesterday because it was President's day. Woot. It was amazing. I went shopping, and then Bob and I met for supper at Red Lobster. Yum. I haven't been there in years. When I was little it seemed so much more upscale, maybe because we usually 'ate out' at fast food places... still, I was a little surprised at all the sweatpants I saw, and the redneck vibe we were getting from the table next to us. :)

Blessings.

various and sundry

This week was experiment with ground beef week.... I attempted meatloaf for the first time in, oh, 2.5 years. The last time I made it was with Shelly while grandma was in the hospital and we wanted comfort food... total flop. And I tried a skillet meat ball recipe, it was good but next time I'm going to just bake the meat balls. I'm not overly fond of ground beef; next week there is none on the menu. :)

Wednesday night some w-ton girls came to visit us. It was great fun, and I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me for dragging them up to the front and then having to sit through a member meeting. They came over after church- good times.


I planted four flats of flower seeds yesterday. Our porch is just a little too cold for them right now so they're on the floor in the kitchen. Someday, when we're rich and famous, I'm going to have a green house attached to our palatial mansion.

So this is a great Rudyard Kipling quote from "Just So Stories":

Of course, the Man was wild too. He was dreadfully wild. He didn't even begin to be tame until he met the Woman, and she told him she did not like living in his wild ways. She picked out a nice dry Cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves, to lie down in; and she strewed clean sand on the floor; and she lit a nice fire of wood at the back of the Cave; and she hung a dried wild horse skin, tail down, across the opening of the Cave; and she said, 'Wipe you feet, dear, when you come in, and now we'll keep house.'

Blessings.

I voted

Did you?

potluck

I survived. Bob survived me being nervous. And I think people had at least on ok time. :) Thankfully, I didn't burn anything (although my broiler was setting off the smoke detector- but that's to be expected), and everybody else brought wonderful food. We don't really have a lot of room around our table when it has all the leaves in it, but it worked. I used my china... and left the goblets at the back of the closet because I didn't feel like getting them out...

Yay for fresh flowers, spider mums and daisies.


And then on Sunday we went low key and spent some time playing games with Caleb and Bethany and little Alea. We went to Cracker Barrel for supper and did not eat off china. :) It was a good time.

Blessings.

stuff and nonsense

So when people ask how work is going I usually say, "Good, it's fun." And it is... but, yeah, there is sometimes more excitement and danger that I don't randomly share... it's been crazy around here... last week, somebody had an accident with sodium (they're ok) and spent the day in the ER. Yesterday when I got to work and the lab across the hall from mine was all taped off... apparently one of my coworkers accidentally synthesized a very unstable explosive... it was after I left so I missed the bomb squad and the haz-mat team. :) It's all taken care of though, no worries. :)

I've been to sewing club, church, the eye doctor, and a wedding shower this week. It's been busy. Poor Bob had to make supper one night since the eye dr. took so long. I'm ready for the weekend. But still nervous about potluck.

Blessings.

randomness

hm... I haven't blogged in a while... I still don't really have anything to blog about. :)

We have been slightly busy I guess. MLK weekend was great. We finally got the desk that we ordered put together (Merry Christmas to us); after it came with several broken pieces, and after several emails to customer service.

K and K had a singing in their barn, I met some new people.

I called my Grandma to get her taffy recipe... I already had it, but I just love hearing the commentary that goes along with getting any recipe from Grandma or Pearline... I didn't end up making any taffy. hm... maybe if it gets cold again, o wait, it's January.

Dale and Meg had potluck, which was a great time as always.

I miss green growing things... my seed catalogues are getting very dog-eared.

We're hosting rotating potluck this weekend and I'm trying not to be nervous.

Blessings.

Quilts and Cars

It's been kind of a busy week so far, full of things that make me smile. I got to go to quilting Monday night... they're making a quilt for the menno relief sale and this week was quilting week... I was pretty excited, when they say everybody is welcome to help, they really mean everyone. And they said they wouldn't pull my stitches out, even though they aren't as pretty as some of the other ladies'. :)

My car needed some looking at, so instead of going all the way to the dealership in W-ton it went to a guy here in town. It's all better now. I love knowing my mechanic. Although, I prefer that they forget who I am because they haven't seen my car in a such a looong time.... haha. Unlike that summer that the guys at Service Auto knew our entire family by first names... and what car you were talking about when you called them. *sigh*

Last night I got to hang out with K and Ambo and Sarah.... good times. We did not name the last slice of pizza, played some subjective Guess Who ("does your person look like they would enjoy playing the accordion?" is so much more fun than "does your person have blue eyes?"), and got "That thing you do" stuck in my head. So much fun to hang out with them again!

We get Monday off. Woot! Hooray for MLK jr.

Blessings.

one year ago today I found out that one of my friends wanted to marry me....

it's been a good year.

Blessings.

Happy New Year

So we made it through Christmas. It was good, and I was very thankful that everything we had to go to was on different days. Bob didn't have to work the week after Christmas... so not fair. :D Haha... but then I wound up home most of the week with a low fever, so I guess I can't complain.

We didn't do anything for New Years... And barely made it to midnight... *sigh* I'm getting to be so old and tired. :P Or something. I think it was more that I was half sick.

I didn't make any resolutions. Last year I came up with some and then I got engaged, yeah... they didn't happen. The one about using my passport REALLY didn't happen.

Sunday my siblings and Bob and I all piled into Shelly's car and drove to Iowa for our second cousins visitation. It was probably the saddest one I've ever been at... just makes my heart hurt for them. And then we got to drive two hours back home...

Jakey has introduced me to great Russian literature. I finished "Crime and Punishment" by Dosteovsky before Christmas, and he just loaned me "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin. They're different. I think I like it. We'll see if I'm up to reading "War and Peace" which I'm told is "like being bludgeoned repeatedly about the head with awesomeness." *grin*

I'm ready for spring now.
Blessings.