JD Baby

So here it is...my first attempt at what some would call a "quilt." It's actually a rag quilt, but a quilt nonetheless. For the baby of course...I had to ensure that he was properly JD equipped.

I just started sewing a couple of months ago...so don't be too harsh! Thankfully I don't think he'll complain too much.


This was supposed to be a super easy quilt. If that is true I don't think I will be taking up quilting anytime soon. Although really I don't think it took me more that a couple of days to put together. One of his Grandma's is also making him a JD blanket, so I think he will be good to go now.

Fall is here!!!

Reasons to Complain:

1. The car is down and out, AGAIN. It could be the thermostat, it could be a head gasket. Either way it is estimated it will take at least 6 hours for Kev to change the thermostat to see if that solves the problem. We've been down to one car since we got back on Tuesday, so no going anywhere for me.

2. It has been awhile since I have had a good night's sleep. Carrying 25 extra lbs does not lead to comfort.

3. We are still relying on the fridge out in the garage, meaning every time we want something out of the fridge, we have to make trips out to the garage. Our other one went out a few weeks ago.

4. We now have TWO 6 x 6 ft entertainment centers in our living room because I did not get the old one listed to be sold before we got the other one from Kevin's parents. Chaos has ensued in the living room-the tractors are out of place, I can't put up my fall decorations, my sewing stuff is everywhere-it's a mess.

5. The pain of trying to recover from traveling: the house is not clean, we came back with more than we left with, adjusting back to the right time zone-not fun.

Reasons to rejoice (of course there's always more reasons to rejoice than complain):

1. Though we may have to give up our date night to work on the car, I'm willing to help if I get to spend time with my hubby, it doesn't really matter what we're doing.

2. The blessings of being a stay at home wife. I can't imagine how exhausted I would be if I couldn't sleep and had to get up to go to work in the morning. I can sneak in a nap if I need to (for the next couple months anyway-we'll see after that!)

3. Praise the Lord we have a second fridge, otherwise, we would have had to go out and buy another one immediately. This way we can look around and find a good deal before having to buy another one.

4. Kevin's mom decided to get a different entertainment center, so we got her old one, which is not only a color I like better, but much easier to move. If we are able to sell our old one, we won't have to worry about trying to move it anymore-just getting it out of here!

5. I did get all the laundry done the day after we got back, so we are recovering slowly but surely and our house wasn't robbed and there were no major appliance disasters or leaks while we were gone, so that is always a praise!

6. I'm almost done with the baby quilt I am making, it is John Deere of course. Pictures to follow!

7. IT'S FINALLY FALL! I GET TO GET MY HARVEST DECORATIONS OUT!!! (Except for that whole entertainment center problem)

8. I've got to open the windows and have the air off for the last couple of days. Love it!

9. I will be 28 weeks along this Saturday-which means I am now in my 3rd trimester!

10. City-wide garage sale this weekend! and Kev is going with me!

Of course, it will make for a much better weekend if the car gets fixed, we find a refrigerator and get an entertainment center sold. Stay tuned.

Not Ashamed

I've been thinking a lot lately about sharing my faith. Being a fairly reserved person, it's not really in my character to just come out and start telling you all about Jesus and what he means to me. I like to think I am not ashamed of my faith, but its not always easy to get into a conversation when you're not really a conversationalist to start with.

Lately I've convicted though about those around me that don't have a relationship with Christ. People are dying all around us every day, and whether we like it or not, the truth is clear: they are either now in heaven or they are in hell. It's easier to try and convince ourselves that if God is love, no one will really go to hell, or they'll at least get a second chance. But that's not what the Bible says. God is love, but God is also just. If he looks at you and sees sin, he has to look away. He cannot tolerate sin. People go to heaven not because there are some of us who have never sinned, or have done enough good that he can look past it so we can go to heaven, but because God provided a way to be cleansed of our sins-that way being through the blood of his son.

I believe Jesus was and is God's only begotten son, sent to this earth to offer himself as a sacrifice, as atonement for our sins. Not only that, but he also died the same death that we as humans are subject to. Unlike us however, he was raised from the dead, overcoming the power of death forever.

Being a "Christian" for me is not about a set of religious traditions or trying to be good enough. It's about having a relationship with the one who saved me from my sins-Jesus Christ. I don't go to church because its what is required of me-I go because I love him for what he has done for me.

But he didn't die just for me. If you are readying this, he died for you too. In fact, he died for us all.

If you are not sure you're going to heaven today-you can be. All it takes is this:

-to recognize your sin and yourself as a sinner-"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:22)

-to realize that the penalty for your sin is death-"for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)

-to believe that through the blood of Jesus the penalty has been paid-"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)

-to confess that you believe in Christ's sacrifice to save you-"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10)

-to be assured of your salvation, knowing "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)

That's it. That's all it takes. A sinner with a sincere heart is much more pleasing to God than one who is attempting to prove his own righteousness (see the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18). But it all starts with recognizing our sin. We are all sinners, no matter what we've done, and we can all be forgiven, no matter what we've done.

So don't spend another day wondering. Jesus paid the penalty for your sin, once and for all.

So call on him today.

Ask for forgiveness.

Receive him into your heart and life.

Rest assured that you have a home in heaven.

Because he lives...I can face today

Reasons to complain this week:

1. On Monday, the washer leaked. Needless to say, I didn't get the laundry done.

2. On Tuesday Kev got a migraine. He was in bed for 6 hours Tuesday night feeling like his head was going to explode. Did I mention it was his day off?

3. Also on Tuesday I started working on my Dad's birthday present. I expected it to take a couple of days. It took five, including a final coat at about 9 o'clock on Saturday night before giving it to him Sunday.

4. On Wednesday, Kev stayed home as he usually has a residual headache after a migraine and doesn't feel great. We went to the chiropractor, ran some errands, ate lunch, and he laid down to take a nap. When he woke up he could hardly move because his back was in such bad shape. His back was in terrible shape for the next 4 days, and is still not back to normal, which meant spending his second day off this week (Friday) as well as Saturday basically not being able to do much of anything.

5. As soon as we pulled into the garage on Sunday night, mom called to let us know one of our cows decided to go out the gate. Since we had just got home from Iowa City we obviously weren't there to help, so my mom, dad, and brother got to chase him around for awhile. He finally decided it was time to go back in.

Reasons to rejoice:

1. With his back in bad shape, Kev had to go for several walks to help keep things loose. I got to enjoy several walks with my husband this week!

2. Despite having to change my plans with all of the aforementioned things, I really did get a lot done!

3. Time spent with family to celebrate Easter.

4. Despite his ailment, Kev made me a dirty snow cake-its delicious!

5. And of course, I can rejoice knowing that because Jesus died, satisfying the punishment God required for our sins (death), and rose again (overcoming death), I also will one day rise to spend eternity with him in heaven. Now that's a reason to rejoice!

Taking one of our "walks" (after church obviously)

Dad's birthday present

Springtime Thoughts

I'm so glad that we are finally seeing evidence of spring approaching. The green grass, the budding flowers-tulips & daffodils, the wonderful springtime breeze-all are quite refreshing in light of the buckets and buckets of snow that we're dumped upon us these last few months.

I don't know if this is an old thought, but something occurred to me recently, especially as we approach the Easter holiday. All this newness of life, the coming back to life of things that have died, the beauty of creation-it all points ultimately to the one who created life, and the one that sustains it. And it points to the life that was given, over 2,000 years ago. Though he was buried, Christ rose again-the dead came back to life.

Its pretty coincidental that Easter falls right at the time of year when spring is upon us. Of course I don't really think its a coincidence. For me to know God and to look upon all he has created and see the beauty and newness of life all around me can only point me back to him. And ultimately to his ultimate act of love, which was sending his son to die in my place, to pay the punishment for all I had ever done to break God's perfect law.

As I've been studying the book of John this year, I've come to realize just how grieved the disciples were by his death. They were heart broken. Those Jesus had explained to them that he had to leave so he could go back to the Father, they had a hard time understanding. But Jesus assured them that their grief would turn to joy.

And so will ours. Though we may be tempted and tried in this world, we can have hope, because our hope lies not in this world but in a heavenly one, where there will be no more grief, no more sorrow, no more tears. We can rejoice because we know, by his wounds, we are healed and we can rest assured, that if he overcame death, we also will be more than conquerors.

So rejoice this weekend-he has risen.

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:20-22

FAIL!

I don't know if you have ever had one of these weeks, but last week I had one of those weeks where I seemed to get absolutely nothing of value done. It wasn't that I had so many things to do that I just didn't have time for everything-no, instead it was me wasting the precious time I had.

Here's an example. Rather than staying at home Friday afternoon to bake a birthday cake for my mom, I went over to Moline to have lunch with my husband and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. So on Saturday when we went to visit mom and dad, we had to stop in Muscatine and I had to make a run to Wal-Mart (who had no cakes to my liking) and then to HyVee after dropping my husband off at Menards. And let me tell you, Wal-Mart and HyVee are not the places you want to be on a Saturday.

One of the things I try to pray about daily is to be a good steward of my time each day. Well, I felt like I had a major FAIL by the end of the week. I cleaned my house, but not very well. I did the laundry, but not as much as I should have. I went shopping, but I spent too much $.

My Bible study lesson this morning was on the difference between repentance and remorse (comparing Peter and Judas and their respective betrayals). When answering the question on the difference between repentance and remorse, one of the things that I saw was that with remorse (particularly in Judas' case), there was no change that followed. Judas was sorry for what he did, but rather than confessing his sin and turning back to God, he went out and killed himself. He didn't change. He just gave up. He continued to walk away from God and took things into his own hands.

Peter, on the other hand, went out and wept bitterly. Although we don't see it right away, we know Peter will turn back to the Lord and become a powerful influence in spreading the gospel. There's a verse in Luke where Jesus even prays for Peter knowing of his impending denial, that his "faith would not fail," but that after he has turned back, that he would "strengthen (his) brothers."

I may be sorry about the way I spend my time, but am I really sorry enough to change? To bring it to God in confession and prayer? Sorry enough to ask him to help me change my ways?

In light of that, here is my attempt (after confession and prayer) to make the necessary changes to help me be a better steward of my time this week. Since I can be what I like to call a "ditzbrain" at times, it is a big help for me to make lists to help me remember all the things I need to get done. And its great to be able to check things off as finished. At work I used to make lists of things I needed to complete each week and check them off as I got them done-so why not do that at home?

You probably could care less about what's on my list this week, but I'm going to put it here anyway, if nothing else, to help hold me accountable. And for all of you that wonder what a housewife does with her time...:)

Monday:
-Run to Wal-Mart, get milk and cookie cutter to make Easter cookies!
-Do laundry
-Make cookies
-Supper: Sirloin steak and Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday:
-Kev off!
-Get Groceries, Walgreens, CVS
-Put together & send cousins Easter care packages
-Find gift for baby shower
-Work on Dad's Birthday Present (involves lots of spray painting!)
-Supper:
-Baby Shower

Wednesday:
-Finish painting brick in basement
-Supper: leftovers
-Church

Thursday:
-Clean house
-Dust
-Laundry
-Supper: Probably something on the grill

Friday:
-Kev off
-Date Night!

Saturday:
-Make Salsa for Sun

Sunday:
-Easter Breakfast
-Church
-Get together with family

Whew! Now if I can only manage to get all of those things done...

Faux sho!

Drywall, spackle, sanding, primer coat, 2 paints coats, new shelves, floor primer coat, floor paint coat, floor sponge painting, Drylocked wall, paint, and sponge painted wall later-it is finally finished!

Just for effect, here is a before picture (from when Kev moved in):


And here is the after (with the bathroom which was finished last year):

Weekends in Married Life

I don't know what happened, but when I got married, weekends no longer became those long relaxing days for me to do whatever.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I married a man with rental property, cows, tractors and a house.

Sunday is usually a day we try to set aside to rest and relax. But this last Sunday was different.

One of our precious cows up and decided that she wanted to have a calf in February, and not only did she have it in February, but she decided to have it on one of the few days in February where it dropped down to zero. Thankfully, my Dad was able to take the calf and put it in the basement for a few days and it was fine.

For those of you that don't know, there are certain things that you usually do to a calf shortly after it is born. Some put tags in there ears, some give them shots, but Kev does this thing that I had never heard of in my life even though I grew up on a farm around plenty of newborn calves.

Now, I'm not going to go into detail, but let's just say its something that only needs to be done to the male calves and involves rubber bands. I'm sure you can put two and two together.

To do this so-called thing to the calf, first we have to catch it. That doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but when the cow and calf have well over 100 acres to run away from you on, it becomes a bit of a challenge.

So we suit up, throwing on our appropriate calf wrangling wear, and head out to hopefully catch ourselves a calf.

Thankfully, mom and calf happened to be not far from the feeding trough. Trying to be helpful, I told Kev he should let me drive while he runs around trying to catch it. :)

As we're driving and running around like a couple of crazy people (there were people nearby cutting some wood to watch us), finally he is able to catch it. As he's picking it up trying to get in into the back of the truck, its my job to climb in the back of the truck and sit on it so he can put it down. While he's back there, I sit on its front end and hold its leg so it can't flail about like a fish and pet its head and tell it its all going to be okay. We both know its not going to be okay.

Finally, Kev was able to get things taken care of and put him back down on the ground. At which point he realized the calf had had a couple of accidents. On him. I like being on the front end. :)

We actually lost the last calf we had, but not without a healthy level of "excitement" before we decided to give up. Let me correct that, before Kev decided to give up.

The calf was not nursing, so he thought it would be good if we could get the mom in and try to get it to nurse. As his dad says, "hook it up to the supper table."

So, after we got the cow in, he tried to get it to nurse. It was so weak it could hardly hold its head up, let alone nurse.

So what does Kev decide to do? He decides to try and milk the cow. Yes, that's right, I said milk the cow.

Now, usually this particular cow is pretty tame and will put up with a lot, but she was not about to put up with that. And I can't say I blame her.

After a few attempts, she decided to kick. And then she kicked more. And harder. And then Kev got mad. And gave her a good smack. And guess what? That for some reason didn't make her stop.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I thought at any minute he was really going to get nailed, probably have internal bleeding, a concussion, a fracture, you know, all of those really bad things that are going to happen at any second.

So I started to respectfully-notice I said "respectfully"- voice my concern:

"Honey, I really wish you would stop trying to do that."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"I REALLY REALLY DON'T THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!!!"

At some point he decided that it would be a good idea to try and lasso the cows foot so he could tie her back feet together. You get the logic-if you tie her feet together, she can't kick you anymore, right?

Let's just say he got one foot "lassoed". And then decided it wasn't such a good idea. Have you ever heard that men should always listen to their wives?

Finally after a fairly violent kicking fit, he was able to get it off. I'm pretty sure he ended up with a couple of bruises, but for what he was doing, that was minor. As far as I was concerned, that was a blessing considering that it could have been a collapsed lung from a direct blow to the chest.

Needless to say, this weekend hopefully won't be filled with quite as much excitement. We're supposed to go shopping for a new mattress. I have this fear that we are going to end up being one of "those" people that I keep seeing driving around with a mattress tied to the top of their car...

2010 Midwinter Couples Retreat

Since I never got around to blogging about the Couples Retreat that we went to, I figured better late than never.

On Valentine's Day weekend, we headed up to Johnston, IA for our 3rd annual Couples Retreat. It's put on by a church up there and usually have nearly 100 couples in attendance, including my parents, who have been going on and off for a number of years. We first started going after being married only 6 weeks or so back in 2007.

As always, it was good just to be able to get away. The retreat is only actually Friday night through Saturday morning, but we always stay an extra night, so we were there Friday through Sunday.

The topic for this year was "5 Facts for Fantastic Marriages," and the speaker was Jim Vogel along with his wife Jeannie. Here is a rundown of the "5 facts":

Fact #1 was that "Marriage is God's Idea." I thought this was a great reminder, though obvious, marriage was God's idea, as we can see clear back in Genesis when he created Eve to be a helper/companion for Adam. It was not something created by society, or something that just happened. It was God's invention.

Fact #2-because marriage was God's idea, its important to realize that he meant it to be built on a spiritual foundation. When you try to approach marriage without a spiritual foundation, things usually don't go to well. The idea with this fact was that a "spiritual foundation" starts with a personal salvation for both the husband and wife, which leads to individual growth, which eventually leads to mutual spiritual fellowship for both partners. Some practical suggestions for developing this growth?: 1. Be sure of your own salvation AND walk with God. 2. Allow personal quiet times to fuel spiritual fellowship/activities (Note: I think its important to have achieved both 1 and 2 individually even before you enter into marriage) 3. Worship and serve together as much as possible 4. Take responsibility for encouraging your partners spiritual growth.

Why are thinking of marriage as God's idea and building your marriage so important?
1. It reduces conflict (If Christ has forgiven you, how can you not forgive your spouse?) 2. It impacts your children. 3. It builds commitment (Gods plan does not include divorce) 4. It enhances our ministry (there are people watching you) 5. It deepens intimacy in other areas (intellectual, emotional, physical).

Fact #3-Marriage is about companionship. Friendship is the foundation of marriage, even before a couple is married. What is a good friendship marked by?
-Good friends make time for one another
-Good friends talk openly-they are honest with each other, they know how to listen, and they realize the value of compassionate, encouraging words.
-Good friends overlook little offenses. They practice forgiveness.
-Good friends unconditionally accept and respect each other.
-Good friends deal with conflict and disagreements proactively.
-Good friends laugh together.

Fact #4-Marriage roles are complementary: Husbands are to be loving leaders, wives are to be respectful followers. A husbands basic need is significance, whereas a wife's basic need is security.

Fact #5-Marriage commitment is for life. When thinking of commitment, they encouraged us to think about 2 things: There's a difference between intentions and actions (willingness to act on your commitment, for better OR for worse), and its better to work out marriage problems than to walk away from them. Really, there are only 2 options if we want to follow God's plan for marriage in the "for worse" times-to stay in a bad marriage (taken out the option for a broken marriage) or to work toward a better marriage. If you take out the option of walking away, what do you have left? WORKING IT OUT!

So that's the basics of what we learned at the conference. There was also a session where the men and women split up-of course I can't speak for what the men talked about, but as for the women, we talked about "How to grow love." The basic thing that I took away from that session was this: As long as you rely on God, you can pour out love to your spouse without ever being empty.

I love the Couples Retreats because they are not only an opportunity to get away from the everyday concerns of life to enjoy some time together, but they are also an opportunity to continue to better your marriage. As they said the first day, "most marriage have challenges, some marriage have more challenges than others, but ALL marriages need improvement."

Since its the anniversary of our first date...

...I thought I would share the story.

If you read the previous post, you know the story of how we met, but I mentioned that our first date is a story in itself.

Although I received 15 roses on Valentine's Day and was officially "asked out" in the parking lot after church, we didn't actually go out on our first date until several days later. I had planned on going home that following weekend to my parents, as my mom was going to be gone for the weekend so I was going to go home and see my dad. I had planned on coming back Saturday night so I could go to church in LeClaire Sunday, so I told Kev that we might be able to get together that Saturday night, depending on what time I happened to be driving through Davenport on my way home to Clinton.

Little did I know that he was going to be showered and ready, sitting by the phone waiting in eager anticipation of my call.

I never called.

So, we ended up going out Monday night. Kev had suggested Culver's and then maybe some bowling. I however, being the person that I am, wanted to get out of Clinton where I had a 95% chance of running into people I knew, so I suggested a nice "unique" restaurant in a small town known as Sabula, IA, about a 1/2 hours drive from my place in Clinton.

For those of you that don't know, Sabula is an actual "island" town. It is one of those places where not only does everyone know everyone else, but they are probably related to everyone else as well.

I had done some research and found out they had a little restaurant there known as the "island cafe." Sounds like a nice little cafe type thing, right?

By the time Kev came and picked me up that evening, we had been emailing back and forth and decided (or I had decided) that we should give the ole Island Cafe in Sabula a try. After all, I wanted to do something more unique than bowling and Culvers for our first date.

It was unique alright. By cafe they must have meant that they served coffee, because it was one of those places where all the locals come to have their morning, afternoon, and evening coffee with their friends which are also their family. And they're not afraid to stare.

As we pulled up to the restaurant, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "uh oh," but of course I didn't say anything to Kev nor look at him for that matter. I couldn't imagine what he was thinking, after I had insisted on coming here rather than Culvers. After we walked in and sat down in the booth, our waitress came to take our order, she and her 50 tatoos. I actually didn't notice the tatoos at first, but Kev did, giving me this sort of, "oh my" look. There were only like 2 other people in the restaurant at the time.

The food was actually really good. I thought I would impress Kev by putting away a big juicy bacon cheeseburger and cleaning my plate. Man was I full.

Kev apparently thought it was quite a long drive up there. But let me tell you, the drive back was like an eternity! It started out nice as we chatted about our dining experience, but it didn't take long for him to get straight to the point (Those of you that know him understand what I mean).

As we were talking, he decided to bring up the fact that he didn't date around, as in when he dated he had the intention of getting married.

I told him he better lock the doors before I decided to jump out of the truck.

And then he preceded to say that since he was a Deacon at church, people would be watching us.

Because of the above stated fact, rather than going back to my place, we kept driving, first around the block, then downtown, then around downtown again, then out around town, then back around downtown, and again...I think you get the point.

And then, my parents called.

And for some reason unbeknown to me, I answered. In the middle of our date. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hello? giggle giggle
Mom: Hello? What are you doing?
Me: Nothing...giggle giggle
Mom: Are you alone?
Me: Ummmm....giggle giggle
Mom: Where are you?
Me: Driving around...giggle giggle
Mom: Are you on a date!?
Me: No! giggle giggle

Obviously, I hadn't told my parents about Kev yet, but Mom knew something was up, and if she didn't know before, she definitely knew now! After the date of course, I had to call them back and confess that I was indeed on a date. After I told her his name, she proceeded to google him.

After the interruption, as we continued our drive throughout Clinton County, sometime during the conversation he referred to me as his girlfriend. And then he called me "honey."

Let's just say, this did not go over well. I don't think my defense walls have ever gone up so fast. I informed him that it would take at least 3 dates before he was allowed to call me his "girlfriend," and the whole petname thing, well, let's just say that would take a little longer. I think we talked about that for awhile.

After 2+ hours of driving around and using nearly 1/2 a tank of gas or more, he finally took me home. After walking me to my door, saying goodbye and SHAKING MY HAND, he left, and that was the end of our first date.

That Wednesday, (our date was Monday) he left for Chicago for TWO days. And in that time, I realized, I missed him.

Our 2nd date was quite the experience as well. I will say that part of this involved him driving to Clinton to bring me back to Davenport in the middle of an ice/snow storm. It was so bad he had to stop and clean the ice off the windshield wipers so he could see. He was bound and determined to get to 3 dates ASAP so he could officially call me his girlfriend.

Every year so far we have ventured back up to our favorite cafe. The food really is good. At least the bacon cheeseburger and the breaded tenderloin-we've never had anything else.

And the people still stare.

15 flowers, 10 months, 5 cows and a diamond ring

It was the first week of Jan. 2007 when I first saw my husband. I had been looking for a church and had finally decided to check one out in LeClaire. Being the shy person that I am, I really didn't want to walk into a new church all alone, but somehow I mustered up the gumption to go.

That first Sunday, as I sat in the sanctuary, it came to that part of the service where they pass around the offering plate, and as the ushers began to pass the plates, suddenly I noticed a guy, one of the ushers that I had not noticed before. He had been back in the fellowship hall preparing for a meeting, so I didn't see him until he handed me the plate.

I didn't actually get to meet him until the next week. This time I noticed him sitting over to the side, and that he was actually one of the sound guys and was sitting in the sound booth. When the time came for "shaking hands," he came over and introduced himself. If I really remember correctly, I was all in a fret that day because it was snowing outside and I was worried about driving home. My car handled terribly in the snow. I don't really remember much other than that. If you ask him, however, he claims that he took my distraction as being "blown off," and that he was mildly heartbroken. Apparently I was not quite as friendly as he had hoped I would be.

By the 3rd Sunday I went to lunch with a family that took several of us "college/career" age kids out to lunch, including this guy. Of course, I sat by him. After some awkwardness, we started talking. I found out that he owned cows, he had a farm, he had tractors, and to top it all off he worked for John Deere! Being raised an International girl, this raised some potential concerns, however, I decided for now I would let this go. I thought it was kind of coincidental that I had just started thinking to myself how I might like to marry a farmer. I claim to have actually known after talking with him this day at lunch that he was the man I was supposed to marry. I wasn't completely convinced of course, but I had a hunch.

It wasn't long before we started emailing back and forth. Somehow he got my email. Later I found out that he got my email by going and finding the visitor card that I had filled out the 1st Sunday I was there. I guess being a deacon had its advantages. He invited me to come to church on Wednesday nights and said he would save a seat for me, which of course he did. He also asked if I wanted to pray with him (this is what they do on Wed nights), and was the first person I ever really prayed with one on one like that.

Shortly after we started emailing, he invited me to a get together that he was having for the college/career age class. I went of course. I found out that not only could he cook, but he had a nice house and even a John Deere tractor in his garage. This event was on a Sunday, so most of us hung out there that afternoon until it was time for evening church. Back at church that night, a couple of our friends that Kev usually sat with decided to invite me to sit with them so that he could sit by me. But do you know what he did? He sat somewhere else that night! I couldn't believe it! I guess he wasn't interested after all. (Later on I found out that our friends informed him that they were trying to "help a brother out," so the next time I sat with them, he was sure to join us).

But then, there was the Super Bowl party. This was at the house of the same people who took us all out to lunch. As we were sitting eating, he mentioned that he would be up in my area for a wedding and asked if I would like to grab some lunch. I of course agreed. We went to an Italian restaurant up in Clinton called Rastrelli's. I sometimes joke with him that this was actually our first date, but really it was meant to be more of a casual lunch. Again, conveniently, he was a deacon so he could always say he was just taking me out to lunch as a courtesy rather than to see if there might be something more there if it didn't go well.

Now here's my favorite part. We had went out to Rastrelli's on a Saturday, February 10th, 2007 to be exact. The coming Wednesday was of course Valentine's Day. As I was sitting at work that day, I suddenly heard someone come in the front door that had a delivery. Several people in the office were getting deliveries that day, I just didn't think I would be one of them. As the receptionist called me up, I went, picked up my 3 pink roses, and brought them back to my desk. I was pretty sure I knew who they were from, but had to make sure. It wasn't long before the receptionist came wandering back to my office, wondering who the roses were from. My parents? No...(Seriously, my parents?) A friend?....Uh....A guy? Uh.....well....

That evening it was back to church. As I walked in the door, the were several people in the foyer bustling about how they had heard Kev on the radio. I didn't really catch why he was on the radio, nor did I happen to see the dozen roses sitting on a table with my name on it that he had won on the radio. After we got done praying, somehow or other the radio came up. As we were talking about it, he finally brought it to my attention that there were another dozen roses sitting for me on the table in the foyer. They were beautiful orange/red/yellow roses. Come to find out he had been listening to the radio on his way to work that morning and heard that they were giving away a dozen roses to the next person that got to the place on time. So what does he do? He floors it, flies into the parking lot, takes out an old lady, and gets the dozen roses.

That night after church, he walked me to my car and asked if I would go out on a date with him. Apparently, my "sure" response was not exactly what he was hoping for, but it was close enough. By that time he was so cold you couldn't tell whether he was shaking from nervousness or freezing, and I was so cold I just wanted him to hurry up and ask already!

Our first date is a whole different story that I will have to share later. Let's just say it involved a very interesting restaurant and a very pointed discussion where I told him he better lock the doors before I tried to jump out.

In March I was going back to meet his parents. By then he had already met mine.

In June we were engaged. My first response was "give me a minute" as I was hyperventilating. Finally I caught my breath enough to say "you know I will." He responded with, "Is that a yes?"

And December 29th, 2007 we were married.

And that's our story.

What I've been up to...

Every time I get the itch to start doing home improvement projects I think its because we're going to move. I have this fear that we're going to get all these projects done only to sell it. Which ultimately is the point I guess, but it's so much work!!! I want to be able to at least enjoy it for a little while...

Anyway, here is our latest project. Kev decided that he wanted to "finish off" the utility room, which for him means finishing off the drywall. But of course, being the creative type that I am, I just can't be content with some off white paint.

I decided to go ahead and finish off the brick in the utility room the same way I've finished it in the other places in the basement, as well as finishing off the walls and eventually the floor.

Here's what we've accomplished so far:


Try to ignore the mess that has accrued as we work through this process. You can see the new color on the wall as compared to the bare drywall that we haven't got to yet. The brick has 2 coats of Drylock under the color. The wall has a coat of primer and 2 coats of topcoat. That's 3 coats for each half! Do you know how long that takes?

I haven't even thought about the floor yet, but I am eager to get that done. That's going to be a lot of fun to move a washer, dryer and freezer so I can paint under them.

Here's the brick right outside this room-its almost done, just needs paint in between the bricks:


And here is what the floor will look like:


Ugh. No more pictures until its done. Its such a mess right now!

10 Tips for Budget Friendly Living

I don't know about you, but when I used to think about couponing and saving $, I thought it was something for those cheap crazy people who had a lot of extra time on their hands. C'mon now, .$25, why bother?

First, I went into Americorp. Try living at the poverty level for a year and see how frugal you become.

Second, get married. It was amazing to me how different it was to manage your finances when there were two of you than when its just you. It's not just your money to do whatever you want with. Being the one doing most of the shopping, I suddenly felt a greater responsibility to be smart with our money.

If you're at all like me, the idea of coupons and deal shopping can be overwhelming and somewhat out of reach. But you know what I've found? Its really not that hard. And its well worth your time.

So here you go. Here's 10 of my money saving secrets-some simple and easy ways that I've learned to live on a budget:

1. Coupons: I do cut coupons, but rather than saving all of the inserts, I just go through them each week and cut out the ones I need. I keep these in a coupon organizer in my purse. I also go online to coupons.com, redplum.com, and smartsource.com about once a month (preferably the beginning, they do run out after so many people print them) and print off coupons. These change each month. Be sure to keep printing until you reach the limit on items that you would buy more than 1 of. I also subscribe to All You magazine which contains several coupons each month. Some stores also have coupon books from month to month-you can combine manufacturer coupons (the ones you cut or print) with store coupons (the ones offered by the store) and really save a lot.

2. Walgreens & CVS: One of the biggest ways I've learned to save money is by taking advantage of these 2 stores. I buy the majority of my milk, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, cereal, coffee, makeup and many other supplies from these 2 stores. And guess what? I pay less than I would at Wal-Mart! The key is watching their sales and combining coupons with the sales to get the best deal. Both of these stores also have their own reward program where you can earn money back at the register in the form of store coupons that can be used like $.

Here's an example: This week CVS had a 2 days sale on Pepsi products. The sale was 6 12 packs for $20. Not that great, right? If you spent the $20, however, you earned $10 back in "ExtraCareBucks" (a $10 coupon that prints at the register to use on your next visit), meaning you got 6 12 packs for $10. I rarely see anything for less than $2 a pack.

It's best if you can reuse your register bucks to buy more things that will give you register bucks so that you're never really spending much out of pocket, but I usually end up paying some out of pocket.

I hardly ever buy milk anywhere besides Walgreens. They almost always have the best price, unless a grocery store has some kind of special going on.

Every week I read both of these stores ads and make a list, but I also refer to a couponing website called www.frugalcouponliving.com to help me out. They post a list every week of sale items along with places you can get coupons, whether they're using coupons from the Sunday paper or something they've found on the Internet. This has been the biggest help for me.

3. Read your ads!!! My grocery list for the week is comprised mainly of sale items that are found in the ad. Whenever there is a really good sale, I stock up. I also usually look at the online ad, as it has some additional items that are not found in the print ad (HyVee is my grocery store of choice). I also always do my grocery shopping on Tuesdsays b/c every Tuesday my HyVee offers 2 free items with a $10 purchase. Last week I got a free roll of pork sausage that I used to make supper.

4. Meal Planning: Personally, I do better planning my meals based on what I have on hand rather than planning meals and then buying the supplies I need. When you do that you're usually going to end up buying things that aren't on sale. Instead, I stock up on things that I know I use regularly and find different meals based on the ingredients I have. Bettycrocker.com and kraft.com allow you to put in the ingredients you have and come back with a recipe that includes those ingredients.

5. Eating out: Where we eat usually depends on what coupons we have. B1G1 Free coupons are usually the best deal, but there are many other things you can do without spending a lot of $. One of our favorite types of food is Mexican. There are several authentic Mexican restaurants in our area, and most of them have what is called an "al a carte" sp? menu. Whereas most entrees come with sides like rice and beans which I rarely eat, this menu allows you to pick and choose what you want for a much lower price. They also usually offer complimentary chips and salsa which my husband loves. Another favorite of ours is Little Caesars, which offers ready made pizza's for only $5. We usually also go online and get a coupon which allows us to get Crazy Bread for 1/2 price. Instead of going out every weekend, we also sometimes stay home with a Redbox movie and a Tombstone Pizza which I generally get at WalMart for less than $3.

Another thing you can do is buy an Entertainment Book for your city. If you go out a lot, it is well worth the $. As the year goes on, they become cheaper.

B-Day Clubs: Many restaurants have special birthday offers when you sign up online. Kev had a birthday recently and got a bunch of freebies. Restaurants I know of include Steak and Shake, Culvers, Coldstone, Ruby Tuesdays, Carlos O Kelly's, BWW's, Starbucks, TGI Fridays, and many more!

6. Retail Coupons: Before I go shopping, I usually jump online to make sure and print off any store coupons that might be out there. I hardly ever go to JCPenney's, Gordmon's, Bath & Body Works, Old Navy, Payless or Younkers without a store coupon. Every time you shop at Penny's, look on your store receipt to see how you can fill out a survey for a 15% coupon on your next visit. From my experience, Penny's will combine these survey coupons with other store coupons, so you can really save some money that way. Gordman's sends me a 20% off coupon every month for signing up for the email list, which also lets me know when they're having things like an extra 33%-50% off their clearance. Old Navy has a website called oldnavyweekly.com where you can search for store coupons by clicking around. Although I usually think of Younkers as a more expensive store, they almost weekly send out coupons in their ad which can help you get some good deals. Today I got new bath towels there for under $3 and got Kev two new dress shirts for about $8 a piece. With places like Bath and Body Works and Payless, I am also signed up for their emails which have coupons, or you can go to a website like www.wow-coupons.com which has a whole list of printable retail coupons. Bath and Body Work has a Semi Annual sale in December-January and June-July where they offer many items 75% off. I've done a lot of Christmas shopping at these sales.

Last Sunday/Monday Old Navy had an additional 50% off their clearance items. I think I got at least 10 items for $40, which is usually more than I would spend but I had a $37 gift card and a $20 credit.

Right now, Payless has a 15% coupon out there and is having a B1G1 50% off sale. I got two pairs of shoes today for $12.

7. Thrift Shopping: Even though I am able to find some good deals at retail stores, by far the best deals are found at local thrift stores like Goodwill and also at yard sales. Every Monday, the local Davenport Goodwill has a $.25 day where items with a certain color of tag are only $.25, and every Tuesday its the same thing in Bettendorf. I have found some really good deals on these days. I've also had some really good finds at yard sales.

8. Household Deals: I'm sure all of you have heard of Craig's List, which we have here in the QC, but we also have another website known as QC Online where you can get good deals on used furniture, appliances and many other household items by buying directly from the seller. We'got our couches, our refridgerator, our stove, our headboard, our dishwasher, our kitchen table, our washer, our entertainment center, our patio door and many other things all from QC Online/Craigslist for a fraction of the cost of a new one. You can also post and sell things on this website for free.

9. Home Updates and Repairs: We are blessed with Kev being able to do many of the repairs around our house. When it comes to updating our house, however, one of our favorite places to go is the local Habitat for Humanity Store. This store offers many items that can be used in your home at a very low cost. For example, we found a vinyl window to replace our existing original windows for $20. If you're looking to do any home repairs, be sure to check here.

10. Menards Rebate Program: Menards has several items on rebate each month/week which make them free to much less than they would normally be. If you buy a rebate item (these are advertised in the ads and a list can also be found on websites like frugalcouponliving), the rebate "slip" will print out at checkout. All you have to do is include this slip with a small form that you get from the store and send it in to receive a check back for the rebate amount. This month we got some paint for $4.99 or so a gallon after rebate that we're going to use to paint our utility room. They have anything from paint brushes to tools to caulk often times for free.

Now, that's a pretty long list but these are simple and easy ways for you to save money. It might take a little extra effort, but the savings will make it well worth you while. Just think, if you were able to save only a $5 a week, that $250 a year! And believe me, you will be saving much more than that if you are committed to finding the best deals. You'll learn to be more careful with how much you spend when you know how much you could be saving.

Isabelle & Jazzie

If any of you know me, you know that I hate geese. With a passion. My Dad has geese and I hate them. Every time I'm there they chase me and I throw things at them. When Dad asks why there is a football or basketball near them I tell him that they wanted to play with it so I tossed it to them.

In light of this information, the two geese on my front step present a slight irony. If I hate geese so much, why do I have some those horrible statue type "lawn" geese on my front step?

If you know my Grandmother, you know that when she gets an idea in her mind, you might as well go along with it because any attempt to argue will be completely in vain. One day Grandma up and decided that it was time for the geese to move to my house, and next thing I know here she is at my house with my new "friends."

Not only did she personally deliver them to my house, but she also brought along their "laundry," which is what it says on the outside of their clothes box: Isabelle & Jazzie's laundry. And if you hadn't guessed by now, they even came with names.

Their original outfits were special "Purdue" dresses, and the big one-I assume this is Isabelle, even had a Purdue helmet. For Christmas they got brand new John Deere colored winter outfits. They even have little stocking caps to match. These were specially crouched by Grandma's 80 year old friend Earline.

Aren't they lovely?

Unplanned Saturdays

Since I am behind this is actually from last Saturday, so bear with me while I catch up.

Last Saturday Kev had many things to do on his to do list as usual. Before he got to any of those things however, he thought he should further investigate the mysterious piece of metal that showed up in the driveway one morning after he backed his truck out as he was leaving for work.

If you've ever seen a brake pad, this little piece looks a lot like what half of one would look like. Since he had recently plowed the driveway with the lawn mower, he thought maybe it had come from there but wondered how it didn't get buried when he pushed the snow around.

After some investigation, he found that not only was it indeed a piece of a brake pad, and not only were his brake pads totally shot, but that his rotors were also damaged from the brakes being so bad. If he were to have ever to have slammed on his brakes, there would be a major problem.


Interestingly enough, the day before he was very close to having to do that. As he was crossing the I-74 bridge, he felt his truck start to "dance." Fortunately he was able to get things slowed down and under control, but if he would've had to hit those brakes, there probably would've been a major problem. On top of that, he happened to look over towards the median and saw an SUV that had apparently did the exact same thing and ended up over there. Had Kev not have felt that and been able to slow down, he probably would've ended up much closer to that SUV than he would've liked.

It's amazing how God's protection is on us when we don't even know it. Had he not found that piece of brake in the driveway it probably would've been awhile before he noticed. Nonetheless, 3 trips to OReilley's, $300 poorer and 9 hours later, he hadn't exactly spent his Saturday as he had hoped to:

2009 in Review

I got this idea from others that have done it, but thought it was a good idea to start the new year out about reflecting on the previous one. So here goes: the Hendress 2009 year in Review...

January: It seems like we always start the year off with changes. In Jan 2007 I started going to LeClaire and met Kev. In 2008, we were on our honeymoon. By Jan 2009, we were starting out in our "new" church. May not seem like a big deal, but it was a pretty big deal to us. We loved our church in LeClaire, but after much praying and a "coincidental" lunch with some friends, we felt God very clearly leading us to a new and different one.

At that same lunch with friends that went to what would be our new church, we also happened to run in to another friend that invited me to a Bible Study that was just down the road from us, so I also started attending that in January.

Oh, and let us not forget, Kev turned the big 3-0 on the 11th!

March: We are finally able to finish off our 2nd bathroom! Kev started building this back in 2007 when he bought the house. His plan was to finish it off with a drop ceiling, which he did in March, my plan was to finish it off with some much needed paint and some decorative flair, which I did in the next couple of months. I also painted our upstairs bathroom.

April: Kev decided that it was time to start his garden. Rather than doing the gardening in pots this year, we decided to go ahead and dig up a piece of our yard. I think he got a little carried away-we ended up with 18 tomato plants.

June: Having been in our new church a few months by this point, I was involved in getting the VBS program up and running, which took place in June. We had 30 kids that came and went throughout the week with 5 salvation decisions!

We also replaced our deck in June into July. It was basically rotting at the seams, so it was good to get done.

July: I had strep on the 4th of July, so we got to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our truck on some back road outside of Grand Mound. Shortly after my strep began what became a long drawn out health issue for me lasting all the way up to, well, now. Thankfully I was able to see a specialist that finally helped me to determine the cause, but not until October, which made for a long next few months.

My aunt Pam also got married in July! I was her personal attendant and also did her invitations and programs for her.

And how could I forget, Kev's annual "Tractor Pull" at Walcott Days. For July, it was amazingly chilly as you can tell by coats and sweatshirts!



August: In an interesting turn of events, we actually ended up leaving the church we had felt "called" to as we were never able to feel at peace with joining and felt it was finally time for us to look elsewhere. We are still without a church "home."

We also made our annual State Fair trip with my family. This year we got to see Steven Curtis Chapman along with Jeremy Camp. My Mom also rented a car this year so we could all drive up in one vehicle, which made things a little more interesting than usual.

Kevin's parents also came over for a visit and helped us replace our patio door. It was also rotting and once we took it out the glass started to fall out of the door.

September: I guess I forgot to mention that sometime in the spring of 09 I was asked to be a discussion leader in my Bible Study, so I began that in September. We also made another annual trip to the Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleastant.

October: I was finally able to get in to see the specialist and get relief from the health issue I had been struggling with for several months. We also took a trip to Dubuque to look at the leaves and enjoy the colors of fall.

November: Since Kev's parents had just made a trip over in August, they opted not to come in November when they usually do so Kev and his Dad can go to the Dyersville National Toy Tractor show. So guess who got to go instead?

December: Kev applied for a new job (within Deere), but a much anticipated change as it allowed him to move up a pay grade. Although it involves being on call for a month at a time, its said that they are lucky to get one call after hours in that month, if any. Having just got off call where he got 5 calls in one day on a weekend, he's really looking forward to that.

Doesn't sound like much when you write it all out, but we did a lot of growing this year, and I'm sure we'll continue to do so in the upcoming year. Things didn't always turn out how we expected, in fact, they usually don't, but we know that God is good and he will see us through whatever he brings our way. I'm sure next year will have its ups and downs as well, but every year is another year to see his goodness as he continues to work in and through our lives.

Have a blessed 2010!

New and Improved!

As you can see I've made some changes...my hope is to become a more frequent blogger-so far I'm struggling, but I'm working on it. So here it is: new and improved. Hope you enjoy!