Fantastic Friday

Yesterday proved to be a day of days!  I had such a nice experience that I had to blog it.  First, I had my first NPU student come to my desk for Financial Aid help because my boss says that I'm officially trained. The gal's situation was easy enough for me to solve, and it was such fun to interact with a student.  Then after work, I traveled about 5 miles south to meet a gal about a television that I spotted on Craigslist.  I've been "shopping" on Craigslist for about 18 months now, but this was my first actual in-person pursuit.  I talked the gal down a bit so I saved $10 and she threw in a DVD player, and now we have ourselves a big, but working television!  The kids think that it's Christmas.  Next I changed our room around just a bit by moving a bulky night stand out and letting the girls take it to their room.  It's amazing how even the little rearranging of a room can give me a greater spring in my step!  Try it!  This next endeavor is my favorite.  I am no longer a "recipe off of the bag" chocolate chip cookie maker!  I haven't been happy with how my cookies have been turning out lately, so yesterday I tried a new recipe from my trusty First Covenant Cookbook.  I am now a Mike Buer chocolate chip cookie recipe follower!  Thanks Mike!  Everyone agrees that they are yummy!  As if the day wasn't successful enough - I ended it with a Settlers win against Dave and our friends, Oscar and Lina!  Goodnight!

Posted by: Anita

Winona

Sorry, I have not posted for a while, and now I give you a couple at once.  I'll try to spread them out next time.  

Last weekend we were able to go to Winona, Minnesota where Bryan and Becky Rice live.  Their son Adam came (not pictured - not sure why he isn't pictured - he is a real good looking guy so its not like it would have ruined the picture or anything - plus he is available!  My bad Adam, this blog is so popular you probably just missed out on at least 3 or 4 dating opportunities.  Okay, time to end the longest paranthesis break ever in a sentence - sorry English teachers!)  

Josh, Holly, and Seth Carlson were there.  It was very fun to see people we know and it made us even more excited for our (Dave and Anita only) trip to the Twin Cities and to Willmar in October.  We are very anxious to see all our family & friends in Cardinal country!

Enjoy some pics from the hot tub and apple orchard!

Twins!

Wow!  What a week for the Twins.  Now that they are in first, Emily made a Twins magic number count down.  Hopefully it will be down to three after Friday night!  We are able to follow them on the internet, the radio, and on the TV some.  The only bad thing is that this exciting finish is hard on the study habits.  Oh well...

If the Twins and the White Sox tie, then they play a one game playoff in Chicago on Tuesday!  I think I might have to find a way to cheer my Twins on in person if that happens.  Oh, I better go...  I need to call my professor and give him a heads up about the really bad cold  that is going to hit me about 9pm Monday night.

Go Twins - more posts to come soon!

Floods

On Saturday, September 13, we had almost 6.7 inches of rain.  The total for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was over ten inches in some places in Chicago.  The 6.7 inches in one day was the most ever recorded in Chicago, and we were here for it!  Isn't that special?  I have never used an umbrella as much as I have here!  The umbrella, by the way, is an excellent invention. 

For all you FCC youth group members and leaders, this video is taken from the bridge over the little river that we had to walk over to get to North Park's campus during our summer trips.  It is not the bridge that we walked over to get to the showers, but this is the same river.   This little river has flooded many Chicago neighborhoods over the last few days.

Luke ran up to the river when we made this video and then immediately turned around and said, "All this water makes me really have to go to the bathroom!"  Ha-ha.  

Curious Natalie!

Yeah, I know I had a perfect opportunity to use alliteration in the title of this post, but Anita and I have committed not to make that her nickname.


My kids like to watch the cartoon Curious George. And, growing up I used to love Curious George as well as the Man with the yellow hat. It was my favorite book. However, as I have grown up (I use that term loosely), I have become increasingly frustrated with the yellow man and the monkey. Everyone, but aparently not the yellow man, knows that George's curiosity is going to get him in piping hot water at some point in the half hour show. I feel like the yellow man should be able to anticipate George's trouble as those of us transfixed to the screen can easily tell when something mischievous is about to happen. But, maybe in real cartoon life it isn't that easy. The show would be a lot less fun to watch if the yellow man excelled at anticipation. The reality is that to really control George there would need to be someone constantly watching him every minute of every day. I suppose he could be put in a cage. A cage would be appropiate for a monkey, but I think that if we used it, we would quickly get locked up by the Chicago PD, whom by the way, we are working hard at not meeting again. :)


So the other day Natalie had some time on her hands, which is rarely a good thing. Quick side story here - Natalie was hungry tonight and she came up to me wanting me to feel her stomach while commenting, "My tummy is begging for food." Quite an interesting and very cute way for a three year old to say that she's hungry! - So back to the afternoon, you know the one when she had some time on her hands. She must have been thinking the same thing about her stomach. So being the problem solver that she is, she found a tortilla, put some american cheese on it, and put it in the microwave. Natalie was working on making a quesadilla just like she has seen her mom do many times.


Unfortunately, Natalie seems to be not very good with numbers. Soon our noses began to tell us that something was wrong. The smell led us to the kitchen where we found a quesadilla in the microwave with 58 minutes left to cook! Believe me, the apartment had an interesting aroma for the next 12 hours or so!


I wonder if the cage we ordered is really, really nice...

A Word (or two) From Anita

The time has come for me to get a word in!  :)  We were so happy to have my parents come for a visit last week.  We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday with a cake, Chicago pizza, and a trip to Lake Michigan.  Grandpa G. is a big fan of the Great Lakes because they have the best beaches.  He showed the kids how to bury each other in the sand and they had such fun!  

We are staying busy and enjoying the sites of Chicago.  God has definitely gone before us, and we feel safe in His care! Having Dave's brother and his wife only two miles away has been really special.  I am also really blessed by my new job.  I have completed three weeks of work in the Financial Aid office at North Park.  My job has offered some variety, much brain challenges, and a sense of community. All of these aspects are super for me.  Dave is able to stay with Natalie while I am at the office and our tag teaming has even worked out great.  Thank you for your prayers!  We can feel your love all the way over here in the big Windy City!

Trusting in Him,   Anita

School In Chicago!

The kids were served their traditional "last meal" before their freedom ended and the daily grind of school began.  Emily was the most excited for school as the other kids had found friends in the building to hang out with.  Emily, however had no luck meeting someone her age so she was bored and couldn't wait to get to school.  Of course a bored Emily isn't great for in-house relations so let me tell you, everyone was excited for school!

The kids were excited but also nervous as they bravely marched into their new surroundings on Tuesday morning.  Each of them had a positive experience which is an answer to prayer!

This neighborhood is proving to be a most interesting one.  It is comprised of many nationalities.  The town of Willmar was a good primer for us with its population of Latin Americans, Somalians, and Northern Europeans.  This neighborhood seems to be filled with countless nationalities.  One of my professors who lives near me told us that he has six neighbors from six different parts of the world!

Being at the school, I could not honestly tell you which nationality is in the majority.  There seems to be a population from the Asian countries, people from India and Pakistan, Middle Eastern people, African Americans, Southern Europeans, Northern Europeans, and Latin Americans.  People almost literally from all around the world!  What an opportunity for our children, I hope they become friends with some children from a cool place in our world.  With my luck, they'll all be friends with Iowans!  Guess you can't get much cooler than that!

Oh by the way, today Emily came home with an assignment.  She needed to go to a library and check out a biography.  We walked two blocks to the nearest library, got a library card, and checked out a biography on Michael Jordan!

Blessings,

Dave