Sweetheart Supper

The Sweetheart Supper went off wonderfully this year. I thought it would be fun to give you a run down of the the activity involved:

Saturday while Michelle and I grocery shopped, Kara began baking desserts and Jessica watched Kara's son and my kids. Saturday night Diane and JB joined me at the church to wash the stem ware and the china while Ryan was at home marinating pork loins and making raspberry vinaigrette.

Sunday after church we dropped our kids off at my parents for a movie and popcorn party and began the rush to get things done. Tracy and Ali peeled 15 pounds of potatoes before I got back to the church. We then were joined by Diane, JB and Jessica for set up. Between the six of us, we got the tables set up, covered, and set for each guest. M&M's were an added touch which seemed to be a great snack for those of us settting up.

Meanwhile Ryan peeled the rest of the potatoes and moved outside to cook potatoes and pork loin. By this point I'd made multiple trips to the store: grab lunch, back to get batteries for the grill starter and something else. Kristen showed up and some time in there they began candying the pecans for the salad and did LOTS of stirring. It all kind of blurs together but I think JB and I were setting up the lighting while Michelle was doing dishes. The church was out of dish soap and I made trip #3 to the store while Jessica ran home to get her slicer. Ryan came in with the finished potatoes and I heard him say he didn't think he had enough. Seriously, it was 20 pounds of potatoes. Apparently cooking them in the turkey fryer (it was clean people) got nice and warm and they disintegrated into the water. His potatoes looked like potato soup and were reduced to about 5 pounds of potatoes. To the store again and this time I drove. More potatoes were peeled, Ryan was grilling, Michelle was doing dishes and we were right on track.

I went to the bathroom to change out of my grubby clothes but had forgotten a camisole to go underneath. Great. Asking Ryan if the shirt was too low cut, all of us ladies got a realistic lesson in how guys think. Kendra ran home and got me a camisole and I headed back to the bathroom to get ready. Back in the kitchen Spenser and Kendra were there to get the salad ready. It looked super yummy and I realized much later when I sat down to eat that I forgot to have them put the crumbled goat cheese on! Oops.

Shortly after that, our drivers (Kendra, Pastor Lee and Spenser) headed out to get a few of the ladies. I headed outside to greet the ladies as they arrived at the church.

We had 25 women join us for supper. They were thrilled to be there. Down the steps they were again greeted by some friends who took their coats. As they removed their coats, in front of them was a table full of roses donated in secret - one for each lady that came.

They sat at the tables and began chatting away with their neighbors, friends, and those who were there to serve them. I welcome the ladies and prayed before we served them. Salad was served first. Organic greens from the local food co-op topped with crumbled bacon, purple onion, candied pecans (they will stick to wax paper if you bake them - we found out), and home-made raspberry vinaigrette.

While they were enjoying the wonderful flavors of the salad, we were preparing the main dish. While some cleared the salad plates, others refilled drinks and served the main dish. We enjoyed Pork Loin grilled by Ryan, green beans prepared with bacon, garlic and spices by my folks, and mashed potatoes prepared by Ryan.

While ladies were enjoying their food, and servers were clearing plates and chatting, Shane and John were providing background music. Considering my lack of communication with Shane, this was perfect. Shane and John were amazing as they played guitar, mandolin and even the harmonica. It was lovely.

After supper dishes were cleared, the guys took a break to eat and the ladies each had a chance to share their favorite thing of the year. This sounds really corny to me and I wish I could come up with something better. But honestly, I think they love sharing so it works out well.

By time we were done with sharing, dessert began coming out of the kitchen. Kara is wonderful at baking. She prepared two kinds of truffles, "X", "O", and heart sugar cookies that were amazing. Nothing simple from Kara. By time dessert was served, I think us volunteers had the extra desserts polished off!

After dessert, we did some more visiting before the ladies picked their rose and got ready to go home.

It was a lovely evening. I'm so incredibly thankful that I could serve in such a small way in my community. I'm blessed beyond measure for my friends who helped out. Many hands make light work! For those who helped out financially, those who shopped, watched kids, set up, cooked, baked, served, photographed, cleaned-up and whatever else people did. I can't wait for next year!!!

Weekend Report

I spent Friday night and Saturday morning at Beulahland Bible Camp hanging out with the Mexico City team. It was great to bond with old and new friends while we did some cultural presentations, shared what God's doing in our lives, prayed with our partners and studied God's Word. It was exciting to hear two of our team mates express a desire to be baptized. Both of them had been baptized at a young age but want to be baptized now as a public statement regarding their faith. What a cool end to our time together.

At noon Ryan, the kids, and our friend Elaine met me at the camp for a picnic and fishing. It was cold and rainy but we were prepared for lunch and Scott was determined to fish. It was a light rain so we managed that but were cold. Scott caught a big fish right away but after that Elaine was the only one who caught fish. As an international student from Malaysia, this was her first fishing experience and she loved it. I also paddled around the big pond with the kids and they loved it but my quads didn't!

Saturday night we did a quick run to Ryan's folks and grabbed some pizza in town before getting to their house. We ate our "diet" pizza [I think thin crust pizza is like being on a diet cause I love bread] had a quick tour of the remodel project, helped them move some things, showed them the waiting child list for adoption and picked a little girl that I want to get some more information about, stopped at WallyWorld on our way home and got in bed late.

Sunday was a full day at the church. I was home at 3pm and had a lazy afternoon with the family. Ryan left to work on the train that he and a few guys are building for vacation bible school, and eventually I got the wild indians in bed. [I seriously wonder how differently they would act if they didn't have sugar in their diet.] I popped two tylen0l pm's and headed to bed!

He amazes me!

Yesterday Ryan asked me if I still listen to my ipod and then proceeded to tell me that he wanted to put a book on it for me to listen to. This morning my neglected ipod was sitting by the front door. I threw it in my purse, went to work and forgot about it.

During a quick break to read my email this morning I read a blog post from a person reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I immediately emailed my friend Michelle asking if she was reading the book and listening to podcasts by Francis Chan or just listening to podcasts. She replied that she was doing both. I've been very curious about this book and wondered if the library had it or if another friend would have it so I could borrow it. Shortly after I thought about that, I went back to my work day.

Now at the end of my day when the office is quiet but I'm still here working to clean off my desk, I noticed my speakers and thought about my neglected ipod. I dug it out of my messy purse and plugged it in when I remembered that Ryan put a book on it for me. As I scrolled through to the book and clicked on it, I thought I caught a glimpse of the title. So, I clicked again to get the title to show up and was quite amazed at what I saw. Sure enough, it was the book that I've been wanting to read, a book that I've not told Ryan I've wanted to read.

He amazes me! Ryan amazes me with his thoughtfulness and the way he takes care of my needs and wants even when I fail to notice. But more so, my God amazes. It amazes me that he cares enough to be involved in the small details of my everyday life!

New Job???

Last night Ryan talked to his buddy Mike who happens to be referred to as Captain Hansen even though in the civilian work environment he would be called Dr. Hansen. Mike is a veterinarian with the US Army and during their phone conversation Mike offerred Ryan a job. The pay would be 1.5 times his current pay, the schedule would be 40 hours per week with no on-call times. It would be a contracted position through the military (I think) and would have full federal government benefits (which are pretty nice I must say). That would potentially allow me to stay home and homeschool our kids. Sounds pretty nice doesn't it?

I asked Ryan if he was at all interested and he said no. The position is located in North Dakota. I don't like the 6 month long winters here, I doubt it would be warmer in ND. We also like living near family and like the community to live in.

I told my coworker about it and she suggested we hi-tail it outta here and send her a postcard. Poor thing, she's having a rough Monday. Although I'd love for Ryan to be better appreciated for the work he does, I doubt he'll move to ND to get that appreciation.

Happy Birthday Ryan

To my sweet love, you are my sunshine every morning.

You are so much to me: best friend, partner, encourager. I love your big hugs, thoughtful kisses, hard work, devotion, commitment. I appreciate your desire to know God and make him known to others. You are a wonderful husband, father and teacher. You are mine!

Happy Birthday honey, I love you!

$1500 "Moment"

In case you were wondering, that $1500 moment between Ryan and I... he backed into my new van with his vet truck. Wasn't a good start to our New Year. Since then we've had other drama and the van issue is what it is... life goes on.

Our "Moment"

I just found out that our little "moment" that Ryan and I had yesterday will cost us almost $1500 to fix. At least we got a good deal on the van to begin with

Sorry Honey

Yesterday Ryan and I had one of those moments where we didn't agree at all. I wanted an apology for his dumb mistake and for him to acknowledge that he needed to pay more attention to the small details. He knew he made a dumb mistake and didn't need a reminder. Of course I reacted and even raised my voice quite a bit (maybe even to a yell which I don't think I've ever done to him before). We were both a little on edge at first and he went right downstairs to either let off steam or avoid me! By evening, we were just fine and made sure to discuss it again before we hit the sack. Sorry honey that I reacted. Would it be better for me to just tell you what I wanted?

Ryan is Headed to Jail

I just talked to Ryan and he said that he's headed to "jail". A few weeks ago, he was called by the muscular dystrophy organization because he's a business owner in the community. He agreed to go to help them out by going to jail. From what Ryan said on the phone today, he agreed to post bail ($1600) or spend an hour of his time calling people and asking them to donate. Since we don't have $1600 sitting around, he was donating his time. This is not at all Ryan's personality, not something he want to volunteer doing. I'm so proud of my husband for stepping out of his comfort zone and volunteering his time.

If you happen to get a call from Dr. Ryan the veterinarian, please consider donating today :)

Life Changing

We've been reading a book with our small group called "love and respect". It has really opened our eyes on how we treat our marriages. An email from one of the wives this morning, got me thinking. It really has been life changing for us. I'm learning how to respect Ryan in ways that he spells respect. And Ryan is learning to love me in ways that I speak love. It's great. Ryan has been taking out the trash on a regular basis without my asking. To me, this is one of those things that he should automatically do. Recently I'm excited to say that he's doing it. Hmm, I hope there are ways that I'm showing him some/more respect.

Funny Conversation

Ryan and I had a funny email conversation the other day that I want to share but I must preface it first: with each child that we've had, a few weeks prior to the birth of our baby, we've gotten a new puppy. Crazy, I know, but that's how it happened.

me: Ryan, I really want to raise a puppy for a guide dog. Here's a link:
ryan: no comment

That night I asked him if he read the email. He hadn't.

The next morning:
me: Ryan, my salary has increased to X amount. Do you think the difference is enough to pay for an adoption? [this email was sent full of sarcasm as my salary had increased by about $1,000 at the most and it costs about $40,000 to adopt]
ryan several hours later: if we adopt a puppy does that mean we need to adopt a child?

Okay, you might not find the humor in it but I did. I want to do both things and his reply perfectly fit both emails and how things seemingly work for us: puppy = a baby at our house.

Happy Friday!

My Dutch Love

I have lots to post about from last weekend but this is a fun post that I wanted to write:

On a Sunday afternoon while getting ready to leave church, my friend Joe had a cow to check out at the dairy. She'd basically had a c-section and he was doing a post surgery check on her. I went with Joe to the dairy and to this day, I remember the conversation. He told me (and continued to tell me for months) about this Dutch dairy boy that would be perfect for me. He was a Christian, hard worker, good looking and seeking a relationship. Insecure about not being good enough, I grinned and let Joe tell me about this "perfect" guy. I wanted that guy that Joe described but never gave it serious thought. Little did I know that years before while I was in high school, I would see that very guy on occasion at the local restaraunt where I worked. He'd come in with his brother who happened to be dating another employee. I drooled over him and his brother from a distance.

As best I can remember, a few months later I met this "perfect" guy, Mike. He was a good looking Dutch dairy boy. I think we met at an ag ambassador conference where he was presenting on listening skills. I definitely listened in that session and gave him my full attention. Throughout the weekend, we chatted a bit and found out that we lived a few miles from each other and were attending the same university. He asked me if I would ride share and I think I about fainted at the opportunity. [cori, do you remember this story, am I getting the details right?] Throughout the next semester I took advantage of his offers to help me with my dairy science classes (even though I don't think I really needed the help), make small talk and day dream. I even wrote a paper about how to marry him.
[okay, let me clarify that I wasn't stalking him... I had to write a paper on a goal in my life and how to accomplish it. I didn't feel like sharing my dreams and goals with a TA, so I got a little creative and wrote something fun. I love to write. Apparently, it was so well written that the TA decided to read it in front of the entire class. People seriously thought I was in love with this guy when in fact I just had a little crush on him. What 18 year old doesn't have a crush on some boy?]
... Throughout college we crossed paths several times at agricultural functions, Bulldog athletic events, etc. I remember seeing him with his girlfriend, now wife, and thinking that Joe was totally wrong about this "perfect" Dutch guy. And not in a sad or envious way but in a fun and humorous way. Joe was father-like friend and wanted me happy. He also knew Mike and wanted him happy and thought we'd be good together I guess.

Fast forward a few years and I did find my Dutch Love. Only he wasn't the one Joe pictured when he talked about hard working Christian Dutch dairy guy. It was Ryan, my wonderful husband who happens to be all of the above: Dutch, follower of Christ, hard working, handsome and even a dairy guy (dairy in the sense that he's a vet and works on dairy cattle). Oh Joe, if you only knew back then that you were talking about my future in a prophetic kind of way. Not that I would have believed you anyway. But I do get a kick of how God works out the details in our life. I do firmly believe that the God who created the world and everything in it, also has a sense of humor. I bet he laughs at this story too.

To my Dutch Love, I'm so thankful that you are the one I married. That those days of day dreaming and drooling are over. That you love me for who I am, regardless of my insecurities! That you are the father to our little Dutch Burritos! I love you honey!

oh... that must have been a dream

A conversation last night with Ryan:
me: Can you go put sheets on Bethany's bed?
Ryan: [gives me a weird look]
me: Did you already put sheets on there?
Ryan: yes, I did that last night before I put her to bed.
me: oh, that must have been a dream.

I promise, I remember picking her up out of her crib and there not being a sheet on her bed. It had to have been a dream because the all-star dad in my house had put a sheet on her bed the night before.

Happy Daddy

Happy Birthday Daddy. Sorry I was crying for the picture. If you would have let me keep your cell phone, I would have smiled for the picture. I adore you Dad!

love, your little girl

PS

Happy early Birthday my dear Ryan.

love,
me

ps: I love you

________
Yes, I finished the book and was surprised by the ending. Definitely a good read! Thanks girls for sharing with me. Now, I'm waiting for her to write a sequel.

Thank you God

I wish I had enough time to write the details of this story but not today.

Last night, after almost 4 hours of being gone on a (in my mind) 2 hour emergency call, Ryan still wasn't home. I would have been asleep and not really noticed (yes, I'm a good wife like that) except SCott woke and came in the room asking for his daddy who didn't put him to bed and hadn't kissed him goodnight. Fear came over me. I called and called. And in between calls I begged God to bring Ryan home safely. Watching the clock and knowing that Ryan would have usually called, I prayed some more and decided to call one more time before calling the other doctor and asking him to find Ryan. Needless to say, Ryan answered the phone and was safe. I didn't know to be glad he was safe or mad that he didn't call. But at that point, my prayers changed from begging to thanking God that he was safe and I continued to ask God to bring him home safely.

Oh thank you God... I really do like my husband, even if he doesn't take out the trash when I think he should!

Happy Birthday to Me

Last night I saw a box on the coffee table but forgot to ask hubby what it was. While eating supper I mentioned that I forgot to pick up the mail on my way in. He was okay with that since the mail man brought it up to the door. Oh yeah, that's right, a box on the cofee table. So, I asked what it was. It was my Valentine's/Birthday present. He asked if I wanted it early. Now, I was curious so of course, I answered yes even though I really, really want a gift on my birthday. So, I asked him if he would re-wrap it so I could open it on my birthday. He said yes. Reason #239 that I love him.

He's a wonderful listener and heard me say at one point that I wanted a magnifying mirror. So, that's what a got - reason #240. Very cute and dainty looking. So cute, I think I'll put next to the antique mirror on my dresser that has perfume bottles on it.

It was a very thoughtful and wonderful gift. I'm thankful that he listens and gets me what I want. However, next time, I would love to have one gift for Valentine's Day (like a hand written love note like you wrote before we were married) and a seperate gift for my birthday. Thanks for listening!

I love you Ryan

You may frustrate me with the little things but I love you for a million reasons. Thank you for being my husband and best friend.

reason #236 that I love you: you stayed home with the sick babies yesterday and played Mr. Mom.

reason #237 that I love you: you were home with Scott who is quite the whiner and most definitely a mama's boy when he's sick.

reason #238 that I love you: I had a nice meal when I did finally get home.

Ah, how sweet

yes, my husband is a stud muffin! Today at 4pm, the bell at the front desk rang as our secretary was gone already. Okay, farmers never hit the bell so that was odd in itself. Knowing it was a guy I'd just talked to at the counter, I jumped right up. Only, to my surprise it was Ryan with a pleasant surprise on his face. I jokingly asked him if he was here to bring me lunch as he unzipped his jacket and pulled out a red rose. Yup, a red rose, for no particular reason. It was so sweet. He was a few miles down the road on a call and went out of his way to come to town, buy a rose and bring it to me. It was perfect. And so sweet. I took a picture of it on my desk. I wish I would have taken a picture of him getting it out of his jacket or one of him giving it to me.

Every Hour

I so desperately want to be the creative, thoughtful and appreciative wife. And yesterday I had the perfect way of doing so. Ryan has an important appointment today and I want to make a point to pray for him every hour throughout the day and then the entire time of his appointment. But, what I thought would be fun was to make him little note cards, one for each hour to let him know what I would specifically be praying about. Yeah, I was going to stay up late and get that done. That didn't happen. Got home last night as youth kids were arriving. When that was over, I started laundry to wash Ryan's new shirt. Fed Bethany. Put away milk. Did dishes... it was 9pm, I stopped to eat supper. Pressed Ryan's shirt. Went to bed. I so wasn't motivated to do anything last night. Sorry honey, I still plan to pray for you though!