Small world

Holy cow Carrie, I can't believe you would ask that about NE Iowa. People from Iowa generally don't know much about NE Iowa. There's no interstates up here which keeps most people away. Which is also what helps make this such a wonderful place to live. Tell your friend that I am very familiar with the Pizza Well - its the place we order pizza when its someone's birthday here at the office. And camping at Osborne, well I've never done that because I live so close by but I've been there on many occasions and checked out the buffalo, elk and different plants.

I can't believe someone that you know in Scotland knows where I live... its a small world afterall!

Do you ever feel bad for leaving work and going home even when you have piles of things to get through? I feel like a rat in one of those little spinning deals – working my butt off and going no where. We’ve been in our new office for about a month now and I still have one box to unpack. There are days when I know that I could use a few hours of uninterrupted time at the office. But when 5pm roles around, I usually head out the door. Then Saturday morning comes and I know that I could get a few things accomplished at the office. Its tempting, really, it is but I manage to keep my butt home and do things around the house. It seems like this past Saturday was the first weekend I wasn’t out and about doing something.

The morning started with the phone ringing at 5am. Within 15 minutes Dr. Ryan was out pulling a calf and treating the cow. So, I practiced being a good wife and had breakfast made when he walked in the door at 630am. Yeah, a little early for a Saturday morning but it was fun to have breakfast together – even if I couldn’t find the syrup without Ryan’s help. Ryan went back to work after eating and I spent the rest of the morning balancing checking accounts and laundering clothes. That afternoon I cleaned the house and received a pleasantly surprising phone call from Barb and Rolly (who I lived with the 3 weeks before the wedding). We ended up at their house that night for supper and played Quiddler which is the card game of short words. It was a new game to Ryan and I but we caught and quickly. I was quite proud of myself when I came up with words like “keg” (when I was helping Rolly) and “queer”. Yup, I even won but we played with pretty loose rules.

Sunday I had a hard time focusing on the sermon. Pastor Lee started relating it to flying model airplanes and my mind started wondering off to other things. There were lots of prayer requests prior to the sermon and those people were on my mind. Two guys in our church are facing cancer treatments and one caught it just early enough to not deal with it. Kenton lost his wife 2 weeks ago and my heart still aches for him. Lots of needs in our community but I’m thankful that we have a community who knows the value of communicating with God.

After church, we ate frito boats and then I went upstairs to take a nap and try to get rid of a headache. Ryan headed out on more calls. Sometime around 4pm, our friends Ryan & Renessa came over to hang out. They are lovely people and dear friends. Their 8 month old Caleb is a doll too. Anyway, she brought over this awesome apple crisp that I couldn’t wait to eat. Ryan grilled steaks for supper and I fixed my favorite potatos and a green salad. It was such a good time hanging out with them. They’re currently raising support to go into the mission field with Athletes in Action. Renessa was working up at the college when she decided to be a stay-at-home mom and wife. Ryan was teaching at the middle school and didn’t renew his contract because he couldn’t commit to a full year of teaching. So, they’re trusting God for their finances as they meet with people in hopes of raising 100% of their support to go on board with AIA. Join me in praying that God will provide the money as well as the patience they need to go where God leads them.

Today was another long day. I did finally get my new lenses for my eye glasses. That’s been a royal pain and the optometrist’s office is not my favorite right now. My eye exam took 2 hours, they told me that dialating my eyes might make them too blurry to be driving or working AS they dialated them. I went to get my lenses and they wouldn’t fit. I went back today to get them and they were closed for lunch even though they had previously said they don’t close for lunch. I had to go back later and then the lady at the desk couldn’t tell me what I owe. Each irritation isn’t so bad but when you put them all together, it’s so annoying that I just need to whine about it.

Fortunately while I was in town I picked up tickets for us and the Royers to go to the Wizard of Oz production by our local actor peoples who are wonderful. AND, I picked up a book from the salon to look at different haircuts. I’m so ready to chop my hair off. Any suggestions on what I could/should do?

Check out my lovely picture I called LEAP OF FAITH It was my farewell hoorah - a bunch of us when floating down the river. And me, somewhat scared of heights, jumped out of a tree into the river.

I’ve been kinda bummed in this whole blogging thing. I think it’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. Everyone can read the details of my exciting and not-so-exciting adventures. But I don’t feel like that is happening. I would think that after a few weeks of not posting you would start letting me know that you want an update. Only one person has done that. Maybe my rural life isn’t all that entertaining. Maybe you don’t ever read what I have to share. Or maybe you’re too busy or too lazy to make comments. Most of you who know me also know that I don’t like to be the one to make all the effort. After a making several attempts at contacting someone or inviting them over or whatever the case may be, I quit when I feel like it’s a one sided effort. There are a few (my folks, Weenie, the Az B’s) that I keep in touch with regularly enough that they usually know what’s going on in my life. Are we all SO busy that we can’t contact each other or even keep up by internet?

What I’ve been up to… lots of course but we’ll see what I can recall to write down. Work has been super duper busy. Ryan’s been off doing the guy thing each weekend lately which has been really good for us. He gets some guy time and I piddle around here and there. One Friday night when Ryan was gone, I went to mom's for a movie. Kinda erie so DJ (my dalmation) and I ended up crashing at her house. Saturday I refereed soccer for 3 hours and even got a slight bit of a tan. So good to see some tan lines since I have only been out a few times this "summer". Had a couple friends over that afternoon and watched the Iowa v. ISU football game. That was fun, we ate lots of food and yelled plenty. Then Sunday after church we went fishing. Not exactly my idea of fishing but I had a good time. Richie and his 2 daughters joined us. Good thing b/c Ryan was out running calls and only fished for about 10 minutes max. It was a hoot helping the girls put a worm on their hook and take fish off for them. Sunday night the folks came over for supper, Monday Ryan stacked wood and I cleaned. Tuesday we had the Osmundson clan over. One of their sons is the guy who trained my wild horse. It was fun - they have 4 kids and I played some with the youngest who wouldn't even talk to me when I first moved here. Tuesday night she wouldn't leave me alone. My folks came over that night too b/c I know that Mom really likes Becky (the wife/mom). Wednesday we taught the JHi youth like usual and then last night we had over some other friends. We ate a sweet meal (that I made) of pork tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes and salad. After dinner the guys when outside and smoked a cigar and drank a beer while Leanne and I chatted in the house. She was so cute - their older son is Ryan's age and they forget that we're the age of their kids.

Its been a busy week but I've loved all the entertaining. Friday morning Ryan headed to Des Moines for Promise Keepers. A must do for all men. I was looking forward to some time alone to pick up some old sewing habits. Friday afternoon though I decided that it would be a great opportunity to meet with some of the HS girls from church that I’m hoping to be a positive influence on. Erin and I went to the Freshman football game to watch her brother Matt (who was our favorite JV kid last year). After the game we picked up pizza and watched a chick flick at my house. Erin utilized our guest bedroom for some shut eye. Saturday morning mom didn’t feel good so we didn’t go to the craft show. I was going to pot some plants and play outside in the sun when the phone rang. Some friends needed help with their kettle corn booth so I spent my day there instead. Came home with some cute décor things. Potted the plants and then headed to Sabor Latino for supper with the folks. After that we watched one of Ralph’s new movies. My honey came home, the folks left a little bit later and we visited for a while. Sunday was a good service. After church, I played around the house, took a short nap and starting mowing in the pasture. Good times. That’s about it. I gotta get home now so that I can plant some iris’ and some day lilies that were given to me.

another week is gone
Do the math and it comes to 168 hours. If you sleep 8 hours a night, it still leaves 112 hours. If you work full time, it still leaves you 72 hours. So, what did you do with your time? Was it worth it? I value my time and often complain that there’s not enough hours in the day but is that really true? What did I do with my time?

Friday – stayed home “sick”. Piddled around the house cleaning and stuff. Picked up a few groceries. Jesse came over for dinner and hung out with us. He and Ryan played video games.
Saturday – canned tomatoes in the morning with my mom. Went to lunch with Ryan and the folks and then went home and piddled around the house with decorations and some cleaning.
Sunday – went to church in the AM. Went home and read for a while and napped till about 4pm. Then got up, made some cornbread cake and went to a church potluck in the evening.
Monday through Friday – worked full days
Monday PM – Began cleaning the basement.
Tuesday – Finished cleaning the basement. Watched the gold medal game for Women’s soccer (Ryan taped it for me cause he’s sweet like that and knows I like soccer)
Wednesday – First night back at teaching AWANA junior high youth group. Went to a planning meeting for the junior high retreat.
Thursday – Ran to have some work done for a Christmas present. Visited with some friends I hadn’t seen since I got married. Multi-tasked driving to another friends house (I was super late) and chatting with Baker on the phone. Had dinner and watched a movie with the Zurbriggen’s.

Now, we’re back to today. A whole week has gone by. Did I use my time wisely? Perhaps. It was good fellowship time that’s for sure. But it was difficult and a failing attempt to find some quiet time. Did I “serve” God as He would desire of me? Hmm, hard question to answer. What about you. Have you given it all to God, walked with Him, talked and listened too? Let me challenge you to do so – experience God. We all need a little encouragement to do so.

I found a cool acrostic to share:
M—Maximize His Needs; Minimize His Faults
A—Admit Your Need for His
R—Rule Over Your Tongue
R—Resist the Tendency to Control Him
I—Invest in His Natural Gifts and Talents
A—Admit Your Mistakes
G—Go Often to the Lord in Prayer with Him
E—Engage the Gears of Sex in the Right Order

and another cool quote:
“How can two walk together unless they be in agreement.” (In Amos somewhere).