Sunday, November 30, 2008

Photo Programs

Veronica has been goofing around with a photo computer program lately. I think that her pictures are amazing!! She took them all of them except for the ones of English, Hunter and Cole.



Monday, November 24, 2008

Web sites

I am always wondering where to go on the Internet. Where are the cute things? What can I look up? There is a world of information out there. What do I look up?

Well I thought that I would list some of the sites that I like to go to so others can check them out. If you have some favorites, please leave me a note so that I can look at those.

www.sierratradingpost.com (discount…everything)
www.cccrochester.org (my church)
www.etsy.com (handmade items from jewelry, or knitted items, to paintings)
www.originalgood.com
www.sevensmooches.com (adorable stuff)
www.mayoclinic.com (I am a hypochondriac)
www.readmywalls.com (I love these signs)
www.allrecipes.com (even though I don’t like to cook)
www.copykat.com (this is where I got my cheese potato soup recipe from)
www.knitpicks.com (I love yarn)
www.knitty.com (I want to be a great knitter one day)

So there are some of my favorite web sites. Let me know what yours are.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Note to Self: Remember others before self!!

I have been thinking about a friend of mine a lot lately. I don’t really know why, but I have. I do know that I miss her a lot. I miss the special place she had in my life. Always praying for me…even when I didn’t ask her to…some how she just KNEW!

My friend is Kelly. She is the wife of my husband’s cousin (Scott). Unfortunately she passed away almost 5 years ago. The story of her passing is a long one, and I really don’t feel like rehashing it. The one thing I will write about is that the funeral home said that there were more people at her visitation than any other they had ever had (at least that is what one of the workers told me). That was how special she was to so many people.

The weekend that she passed away I rushed to Smith’s Grove, Kentucky from Rochester, MN in record time. They told me to get to the hospital in Nashville, and that there were already a few people there. I made it in time to say good-bye. They took her off of life support the next morning…Good Friday. Her funeral was on Easter Sunday.

My family arrived the day after I did, and we stayed a couple of days after the funeral. Sometime between my arrival and my departure I lost all sense of what is right and what is wrong. One of those days (I really can’t remember which one) I became so stinking self-centered, and started doing things that I shouldn’t have. See I was actually supposed to be visiting Kelly and her family the weekend after she died. I was going to go help her go through her children’s clothes and organize a little. We were going to have a “girls” weekend and just visit, laugh, organize, watch movies, and hang out. It was going to be the first time we were able to spend some time together since we had moved to Minnesota.

Anyway, I went upstairs and started going through the girl’s clothes (Kelly and her husband have 6 children), and putting aside things that they were no longer able to wear. After bagging things up I went on the hunt of what else I could do. Laundry…check…dishes…check…straightening up around all the people in the living room…check!! So so selfish!! Not once did I stop and think about the pain that her husband and children were going through. I was only thinking about myself. That I got there too late. I didn’t get to talk to her or visit with her. That I wasn’t going to ever see her again. Who was going to pray for ME?

Not once did I stop and think that these 6 children had just lost their mother. That Scott had just lost the best wife ever! I didn’t think that they may feel like I was “getting rid of Kelly”. I didn’t stop and think that I could have learned something from Kelly and pray for her 6 family members. Pray that the Lord would hold them tightly and take away some of their pain. Nope! I just thought about ME ME ME!!

I am sorry about how self-centered I was during that time…I really am. What I am most sorry about is that I was so selfish that I didn’t stop and pray. I am going to try and finally learn something from my good friend and pray for people before I get so into myself.

Even though the time was short I am so blessed to have had Kelly in my life. I think that I will pray right now that I never ever forget that!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Poor Veronica!

I will set the scene for you...

Veronica and I laying in my bed watching TV last night. We weren't feeling all that good. Ronnie came down stairs to sit with us for a little bit. As we were talking the phone rang. Unfortunately for Veronica, Ronnie got the phone. After picking up the phone he looked at the caller ID. He then said:

"Special Olympics??"
"Oh, here Veronica. It's for you."


**This is in no way making fun of the Special Olympics ... just our 16 year old daughter.**

Monday, November 10, 2008

Random photos
















Good Friends

Last Sunday afternoon our friends Wayne and Jennifer, Brandon and Heidi, and their children all came over to our house for dinner. While we were eating the subject of a Girls Night Out (GNO) came up. We decided that we were going to some how get together this past Friday night. Well it worked out that we were all able to get away from our husbands, children and responsibilities for 2 hours.

I didn't know that my friends had gotten together and decided to surprise me with our destination. We ended up going to a new sushi place here in town called Sushiitto. It was so good! Better than the food was the company. I hadn't realized how much I needed to get out and have a GNO. Not only did we eat good food, but we laughed so hard that Heidi was worried that we were bothering the other diners or we were going to be asked to leave. Jennifer and I didn't care so we kept laughing (by the way so did Heidi).

Thank you ladies...I needed that. Below are the three of us at Sushiitto.

me, Heidi and Jennifer
Jennifer and Heidi
Now I probably shouldn't include this, but I can't help myself. Here is Jennifer with her new Blackberry. I WANT ONE!!
I had such a great time, and can't wait until we can do it again. Knowing that we were moving back here to you and your families help us make our decision to come back to Rochester. Thank you for blessing me with your friendship.
By the way...I have been meaning to ask Heidi if Brandon got fed Friday night? Just curious!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Cool Things...(by RR)

I told you guys I would write again soon. Thankfully, I am on vacation so I have a little time to communicate. Not doing anything or going anywhere special. Just enjoying some relaxation and down time here in Roch.

I also have time to mess around with the video editting program on our computer. I took some video of Hunter playing drums for the main services at our church last weekend. I finally got it editted. So here it is:



Needless to say, we are very proud of Hunter. He did a great job. Lots of people stopped me in the hallways afterward and commented on his talent. I think that if he puts in the time and effort to practice, he'll be better than me pretty soon. No kidding.

Ebby Made Jerky

That's right! My wife made jerky. She got some meat, borrowed the dehydrator, etc, from some friends and turned it all into delicious jerky. I love jerky! Is she amazing or what!? WHAT A WOMAN! She will be making a bunch more in the coming days. It makes our garage smell like hickory/mesquite and...deliciousness.

Vikings Game

Last Sunday Cole and I got invited by Wayne and Alex Jensen to go to the Vikings game. It was a really fun day. It was literally a swarm of purple and yellow jerseys, hats, faces, hair, just to name a few. Professional sports teams really make it into an experience these days, not just a game. There was all kinds of stuff happening outside the stadium before the game; it seemed like there was always something to occupy your attention during the slow parts of the game. The Vikings even have a drumline, which of course won me over. It was a blast.

Well, I suppose that's enough cool things for now. Have a great day.

RR

Monday, November 3, 2008

17 years and we are both still alive

What a quick and busy weekend!

We started out Friday by dropping all the kids at different places so that they could actually go trick or treating with friends, and then Ronnie and I headed over to some friends house for games. We love getting together with Jessica and Raf. They introduced us to one of our favorite games Settlers as well as another new favorite Ticket to Ride.

We hung out with them for a couple of hours and Jessica made us all popcorn. Oh my gosh this was some of the best popcorn I have ever had!! She also fed Ronnie dinner for some reason. Eventually we made it home after we picked up a couple of sugared filled kids.

On Saturday Ronnie spent most of the day outside bagging leaves from our yard and mowing. He was getting ready for a bonfire at our house that night. I had to work from 5:30-10:45 pm, but I did make it home in time to see some of the people that came over.

Sunday morning Ronnie took Veronica to work at 6:00 am. I made a deal with him that since he got to go to a Vikings game on our 17th wedding anniversary he got to get up and take Veronica since I had to be at work at 9:00 am. When he returned home he gave me roses, a card, a zebra hot chocolate, and a cream cheese Danish twist. It was so sweet, but so unfair. Ronnie does the bills now so I don’t have any money. I had nothing to buy him a gift with.

I had to have Hunter to the church by 8:00, which gave me some time to sit and listen to the youth group worship band practice. They were playing in the main sanctuary this weekend, but due to my work schedule I wasn’t going to be able to be at one of the services. I got the next best thing…watching practice. Ronnie and Cole left for the Vikings game at 9:30 and got back around 5:00. They had a great time. The Vikings won!!!

After I got off work at 2:30 I ran home and got Veronica and Hunter and took them different places and then ran home to make dinner. We had friends over (Jensen and Ganz families) for dinner and visiting. It was a great night and so glad that we invited them over to share our anniversary.

Such a busy weekend and it really went by WAY to fast. Thankfully it was beautiful and in the 60’s. No winter gear for trick or treating this year.

Happy 17th Wedding Anniversary to Ronnie and Ebby!!!!