tamara b

FRIDAY the 18th
Ryan was gone for 2 days in Galena, Illinois at the Eagle Ridge Resort for work. We then joined up in Des Moines Friday night. Ryan was already relaxing at the hotel when I met up with him. It was so good to see my honey! He presented a gift to me and it has a wonderful story behind it. It's a lap harp. I don’t remember all the details of the story but I have to share it with you. It just creates a picture of how sweet and wonderful my husband truly is. Praise the Lord.

Several months back I joined Mom, Ralph and Dad on a trip to Galena when Dad was out visiting. While there, I saw this lap harp in a store. It was the neatest thing. You might have to check out the website to understand but you slide this card under the strings and the notes are placed right under the strings to pluck. It was the perfect cheat sheet for someone like me who has no musical talent. I thought it would be a great addition to our music room but didn’t want to spend the money on it. So instead I bought one for mom as a Mothers Day gift. Anyway, when Ryan was done with the conference on Friday, he went into town to find the lap harp for me. The only thing Ryan knew was that it was in a store in downtown Galena. When Ryan arrived just one store was open. So he walked around for an hour waiting. Then at 10am, he began his hunt. It was very much like a wild goose chase! One store sent him to another place who sent him to another place and on and on. Sick of getting the run around, Ryan tried calling my mom to find out where the store was but he didn’t have cell phone reception. Galena sits in a little valley area along the river with a very steep hillside on the other edge of town. So, he climbed up these long stairs to try to get reception. I’m not at all exaggerating; they must have taken him forever to walk up. The picture isn’t clear or I’d show you the proof. I’m way too lazy to ever walk up those stairs! He hiked up and still no reception so he headed back down to search some more. Finally he found the right place – it was the one that had been open at 9am. Ryan had taken cash so that he could buy the lap harp without me knowing and then give it to me for Christmas. Little did he know that it cost a pretty penny. So, he ended up having to use the credit card. And since I pay the bills and would see the purchase and question him on it, he decided to just give it to me early. There was lots of effort involved in his thoughtfulness! He’s so wonderful!!!!!!

Back to my travels, after relaxing for about ½ an hour in the hotel, we met Ryan’s folks, Eric (his brother) and Shelly (Eric’s wife) for dinner at Okoboji Grill. I had yet to meet Shelly and was both excited and apprehensive. Things went great, I think :) All six of us had a good time even though my salmon was not cooked! Its too bad that Eric and Shelly live in Bemidji, MN. It would be fun to get together with them on a regular basis. After supper we went our separate ways. Ryan and I stopped and had a shaved ice together after making a few purchases at Dollar General. Then we headed back to the hotel and I fell asleep as we watched Princess Diaries on TV.