Nicer weather

Well, the nicer weather is getting closer.....I hope. We have had a few nice days and been able to get out and work in the yard and Beth and I have been bitten by the outside bug. It is so nice to have a wife that likes to work outside. Last year she did so much outside while I was at work. All those who come by the house will see how much she has done! I look forward to yard work now. On my birthday last year we purchased an Everride Hornet mower which has reduced my mowing time went from over 6hrs a week to less than 2. Now, I can do it in one afternoon (even after work) instead of several afternoons. During the winter we have been using the wood burning stove a lot more. It is amazing how much less the furnace runs. After our recent ice storm we discovered how much we needed a new chain saw, so we upgraded mine. These tools and others along with Beth make working outside so much nicer. I hope our mosquito trap keeps working. :) Anyway, it is amazing how looking at our place and how the thought of making it really nice is so much closer to happening. The kids really enjoy playing on their swing set and sand box (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa) which helps to be able to be outside and work while the kids play. There is a lot of work to do but with Beth's help and our arsenal of yard tools the yard, from the grass to the trees, better watch out.........because it's on! :)

Life after the Ice Storm

I can now say that I am caught up from the ice storm finally. I guess I really was last week, but it sure felt like a long time. Chris and I have been working hard outside to clean up our trees from the storm. Talk about having tons of branches to burn. Of course I was just about done cleaning up the branches from all the tree trimming we had done last year. We have a burn pile about the size of half a football field!
I had a nice birthday and was grateful to have the electricity back on for that! Valentine's day was nice too! I love February!
Today it is sunny outside and I am looking forward to getting our strawberry bed ready to plant our plants in! I can't wait to have a strawberry patch. The kids are excited too. I have caught spring cleaning fever as much as I ever do and cleaned a little. I really look forward to being outside next month! I love living here where spring is so much longer than I am used to!
Julia lost her first tooth last week! She is only 5! It was fun for her to "grow" up and be a big girl who lost a tooth.
Ethan is getting taller and taller. He is such a sweet fun boy with an amazing zest for life!
Chris is doing well, he works hard and continues to succeed at work. I am trying to figure out what I am doing between housework, yardwork, glasswork, wifework and kidwork. :)

We are grateful to God because He is so good to us!

Rant and Rave

I just have to say that I feel like I am going stark raving mad! I really shouldn't say that, it is just so hard to wait for our electricity to come back on. We now know why we don't have power, there are two poles and a whole bunch of power lines on the road about 2 miles west of us, which is why we are guessing we don't have power. The problem is that no one is even working on them yet. It is obvious that it will take a long time to get the new poles in and the new wires up, so even when they start working on it it will still be awhile. The latest that we have heard is that there are 3000 poles down with 7000 miles of cable that need to be replaced! They are saying that they should have 5% of the remaining 10% of people that are without power back up by Wednesday, we are praying that we are in the first 5%, but I am skeptical! I have nothing to complain about, we have heat, hot water, food, and now a generator, I know we are better off than a lot of other people, it is just so hard to not feel like we can just get back to our lives yet. All we have at night is candle light, which is really fun and pretty for two nights, after that it is just frustrating to try and read by, plus it gets dark by 5:30 so I have to cook dinner before dark, and try to get the dishes done, or otherwise just wait until the morning to do them, I hate waking up to a full sink of dirty dishes. I hate not being able to really see what I am cooking and whether it is still raw or burnt. Cooking by candle light isn't what it is cracked up to be, not that I have ever heard it cracked up, but you get my point. Baking is a therapeutic event for me and since we don't have our oven working because of the safety feature I can't bake and that is driving me crazy too. I also want to cook with my crockpot and can't do that either. Anyway, I just have to say that going for 8 nights without power is really really hard and there is no soon end in sight. It would help to know how long we will have to wait, but the power company isn't saying anything to anyone. As far as I know there are still full towns without power and we are just one street. Chris and I take turns being frustrated with all of this. The hardest part is seeing how the kids hate this. They love watching TV and while I don't let them watch tons, they have their favorite shows that they miss, plus there isn't light to play with their toys after dinner so they are bored. I am really really trying to be patient, it is just plain hard! Chris has been able to use the generator to power our washing machine, so we are running that to wash the load I started when the power went out. I hope that the clothes are okay, not mildewy or bleached by the soap sitting in them for days on end.
Okay, I guess I am done ranting! I hate this and look very much forward to this being over soon!

Ice Storm 2009

We are in the middle of an ice storm. I went out in the rain that is freezing on the ice and took a few pictures. You can hear a branch breaking every 3 minutes. We have lost one of my favorite trees right off the back door. That is the second picture. God has blessed us significantly that when the branches went down they went on either side of our boat and grill, we haven't suffered any damage and are so grateful for His protection! We are starting to have our yard flood in the usual flooding places as well. We are doing fine and have stocked up on everything so we are prepared to wait out the storm. Any prayers are always appreciated!


Front yard!


Back yard

January 23, 2009

It has been a busy week. I have loved working in my studio. I am working on several suncatcher projects which are quick and easy. I am also watching my business cards and fliers come together and that is fun. I have been blessed with friends that have helped me get discounts and free help. The weather has been nicer too and we were able to play outside yesterday and I was able to clean up some more of my yard. That felt great! I still have so much work to do out there. I am grateful for what I have gotten done. I am excited for spring to watch things come up and start growing and blooming. Because things were so overgrown I have done some severe pruning and I am very curious to see if I have killed things or if they will come back even better than before.
Chris and I are so very excited to see what things will come in our future. We have so many dreams and it is fun to talk and share with each other. We are patiently waiting to see what and which dreams will come true and which won't and what God has in store for us. We know His plan is the best and we will take the blessings we get gladly!

A fun day

I had such a fun day, I decided to take Julia and Ethan to go up to Springfield, where my parents live, 3 hour drive one way to see one of my best friends and my family for a few hours and then turned around and drove home. It was long of course, but for some reason I don't mind the drive, I enjoy the countryside and feel very much at home the whole time I drive it. We got there and I dropped Ethan off at my parents and let him play with his cousin, Julie, they have so much fun together. I took Julia over to Roxanne's house with me, she got to play dress up with her daughter and had a great time. I loved chatting and hanging out with Roxanne and got all my girl talk done for a little while! ;) Then I got to go back to my parents and visit with everyone there plus get to see my newest niece and hold her for a little bit. It was fun to hold a little tiny baby again. Then we piled back in the suburban, my favorite car, and go home. We met Chris for dinner at Chick-fila which has a playplace and the kids had fun playing after being in the car forever and Chris and I had a nice time just being together and feeling grateful for the safe drive I had. It was a wonderful day and I am so grateful to be able to go and do things like that!

Company Logo!!!

This is the logo for my new business! My cousin Brenda did an awesome job and I am so excited.