More to add!

A photo shoot

I just love these pictures of the girls. I had to share/brag! ; )

Dilemma

I have a dilemma. I really think it would be amazingly fun to own/operate a quilt store, but I am not completely sure if I should go forward with all guns blazing to actually make this happen! I know I am letting fear of the unknown get the best of me, but this is my financial future as well. Any suggestions anyone??? I am very afraid I don't know enough about quilting or business management to actually do this. Number 2, I like my job at the bank and hate to think I'd give that up sometime if my business goes well. Number 3, the security of a paycheck is really nice! Number 4, where do my girls go while I am supposed to be running a store? My list can go on and on, but in the end I still come back to...but should I try???? : )

HELP!!! (Especially financially if you can. : ))

I have taken a first step in moving toward this goal, by the way. Larry and I went to look at a building for sale on Harvey's main street. The building would be really quite cute if painted, etc. The overhead costs seems quite reasonable for the property, and I have talked to a loan officer/friend at the bank for advice. I even made a phone call today to a lady in another town (I don't know her at all...just a random call.) to ask questions about starting a business. SEE! I am quite serious but not sure enough of myself serious!!! Ugh!!!

Fun!

I just loved this picture of the girls playing a game with cousin Amy. The laughing girl, Sierra, is now 3! I'll have to get my pictures of her party on here too if I get time later.

I am freshly returned from my trip to Wichita to visit college friends. We had a great time wandering Hillsboro checking out the new things at the school. They've added some new buildings that are incredibly nice. Way better than when we were there! It'd be fun to be in college again and living in the nice girls' dorm they've put up, a very nice condo style building.

Jenni and I also visited Yoder, KS to take in the shops they have there. Yoder is a very small Amish community, but it has tremendous businesses! I'd recommend a visit to this town to anyone who likes the simple pleasures of life. There is a quilt shop (what more could you want to see?), a couple of gift shops and variety stores, a photographer's gallery, a bakery, a meat shop, a bulk food store, a furniture store, and others! You can top off your visit by eating at Carriage Crossing Restaurant. They serve food up family style if you wish. The whole community is just really neat to see. It completely amazes me that a town with probably fewer than 100 people (if that...it's not even listed on the map!) can have this great a business community. They are really making the most of the heritage and history in their people and land. So cool! They do have a website I guess. It's yoderkansas.com. Check them out!

The highlight of my weekend was, of course, the gathering of the girls (and some guys too) for a night of conversation and reminiscing. I so miss my friends! I sure wish I lived closer and could hang out with them more often. We all have scattered somewhat, but most of the girls live in the Kansas/Oklahoma area. Too bad I can't convince Larry to move to Kansas. : ( But...we did have a super time, and I have been so blessed to have wonderful friends that share the same faith and heritage with me. Even though we lead different lives now, some things are so much the same for us. We all struggle with similar issues, and it is a huge comfort to be able to talk and laugh about all those things collectively. Thank you, God, for my Tabor friends!

Possible Christmas picture?

Here's the latest of Larry's crazes...vintage snowmobiles. It is a good thing, I know, that he has a hobby and a passion...other than that he doesn't seem to be able to pull away from his passions to spend time with the family once in a while. I do try to be somewhat encouraging and share his excitement for the old sleds, but they really do just seem like crappy old junk to me. (Sorry, Lar)

Anyway, his latest goal has been to turn our grain elevator office into his own office/workshop since it is heated, and he could work out there through the winter. So...in order to make his workship feel like home, he ordered pictures to be taken of the girls and us to decorate his walls. Awww, how cute! : ) Here is one of those pictures taken by Amy, our niece.

So fun!

I had a fun idea come to me at work today...Larry and I need to have another theme party this fall. Last year we had a vintage themed birthday party for Larry. That was so fun that I've decided a really cool one would be a Roaring 20's party! How cool would that be???? The ladies would wear their flapper dresses, headgear, and drink flask on their legs. The guys would wear their gangster gear of hats, zoot suits, and a machine gun. I can just picture it. The problem always comes with getting the idea to match the reality. I will, of course, use the assistance of my sister-in-law to help with the decorations so that this can turn out really cool.

By the way, if you're reading this...you're invited! Keep an eye out for the mail, my friends. You should see an invitation coming. We'll have a great time!

Begin thinking speakeasies, silent movies, ragtime...Hee hee!

....

I must write once again...I'm sure you've noticed there is no picture to match the cute spiderweb cupcakes Hannah took to school. As I am not known for my patience, I gave up trying to figure out why my camera just plain stopped downloading the pictures to my computer. Maybe I'll get up the energy to try that again someday soon. The cupcakes really were cute! It may well be worth my time to sit at this blasted computer for yet another hour of my life just to show you.

Speaking of whiche, have you noticed how utterly addicted so many people are to their technology???? It's almost sad how many people cannot go a full 15-minute stretch without checking if someone sent them a text. What could possibly be SO important???? We would have all out panic and mania if cell companies would shut down. I mean, please, who is so incredibly important as to need their phone every minute of the day?! There are also people who must check Facebook every 15 minutes in between their cell fixes. Gone are the days of simply being...and not "worrying" if someone has tried to reach us. It used to be that people did not want to be reached. They go on little get aways, sans phones! I'm probably one of the most irritating people to my family because I actually do leave my phone in the car almost always. The way I see it, I've gone to Minot, Bismarck, etc. to get away and do something. I don't want to be bothered some more. I know...people might need something important. Right. When was the last real emergency on your phone???? : )

OK, enough ranting and raving. I'm off to dreamland I hope. I am pretty sure I could just get fired from my MT job. I only did an hour of work tonight. I'm just too worn out. (OK...then why are you up typing on a blog site?) Enough said. Good night all!

The first "official" snack

Today is the first time Hannah had to take snacks for her kindergarten class milk break. We saw a picture of spiderweb cupcakes in Country Living magazine, and she just had to have those for her class. It was actually pretty easy once I figured out what equipment worked best for making the webs. The cupcakes were just plain old cake mix, so you can't get much easier there. Ta da!

(My camera was not cooperating when I wrote this...picture to follow!)

Beth Moore event

I got to go to a Beth Moore simulcast last weekend on Friday night and Saturday morning, and she was once again a wonderful breath of fresh air and lots of learning! So many times I wish I could broadcast her messages to my family, friends...everyone! There is so much to learn from God's word, and she makes it all so much fun and lively. (We do cry a bit too...)

The weekend's theme was about understanding and getting our heart's desires. Her 7 main points were as follows:

1. Nothing dictates our lives like our desires.
- A legitimate heart's desire is a sustained longing that is unaffected by our mood or our
surroundings/circumstances.

2. Beneath the desires of our heart is the heart of our desires.

3. Delighting in God adapts our desires into inevitabilities.
- Pray God grants me a heart that delights in Him!

4. Nothing external can steal our right to delight.
- There are 3 things that we certainly do allow to steal our joy/delight, however. The acronym
she used was JAW. When things start to chewing on you, look at your own JAW -- the why
behind why you are not "delighted."

J: Jealousy - comes from a heart of insecurity
- It is desire tinged with resentment.

A: Anger - Really a fear of no control -- brings out resentment and distance in relationships
- Polar opposite of delight/pleasure
- The problem is NOT about them (the other person); it's about YOU!!!!

W: Worry

5. To make room for delight we have to commit (to change, to seeking God, etc.)

6. Nothing is passive about patiently waiting for desire to turn into delight.
- God has a reason He has not given you your heart's desire....YET.

7. Until faith becomes sight, trust God and do GOOD.
- Not "right" but GOOD.

I could go on and on, but these are the main points. So powerful.

Fall and stuff...

Boy, does it feel like fall is in the air! It is about 9:00 p.m. and already darkness has set in. I sure like the longer days of summer and wish they would last longer than they do. I do need to remind myself that we are very lucky in the north that we get these longer days since the southern states do not have this period of time where the days are this long. BUT...(notice the BIG one...) we lose all of the advantages of our long days when the winter hits us so long and hard. I'd trade shorter days for a longer summer for sure!

One nice thing about the end of summer is the easier time of getting kids to bed though. It's sure easier to convince a 5-year-old that she should hit the sheets when it is dark out than when the sun is still blazing. Can you tell I'm trying to find the benefits of losing summer yet???? : )

A goal I have this fall/early winter is to begin spending more regular or scheduled time with God and in exercise. You'd think I'd have had so much more time in the summer to do so, but NO! Maybe with the setting in of a routine during the school year, I'll actually make time more easily to do some of the things I'd like to do. My plan is to join the intramural volleyball team and then also set a time each day for just reading the Word. Keep me accountable folks! I'm going to give it a good try!