Well, it finally happened. I fell on my basement stairs Tuesday morning. It could have been worse. I tripped on the second or third stair going up. And I was holding on to the rail, so I just strained the muscles on my right side and have stair marks up my left side from where I hit the stairs. They bruised pretty fast! :) The one on my hip is really ugly! But I think it’s already getting better! All the better for the 3 hr car ride tomorrow!

Have I mentioned that our pastor is leaving? It's sad for the church, but his new job is so perfect for him, we can't help but be excited for him. Tomorrow we're doing a sending service for him. Endings are always hard for me, so I fully expect to cry. (Ben knows me well enough to expect that!)

and it's snowing again! Twice in two weeks! It started this morning.

So you may or may not know that I prefer to finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. But this year I'm still not done! The Plaza was packed! The Discovery Channel Store was shoulder to shoulder!

And I've started working on an anniversary present for Ben. It will be five years in January! Amazing...

So here's a picture of my mom's parents when they came to my house for Thanksgiving.

Snow pictures

The snow was so pretty. And I got a day off from work in the bargain! :) I cleaned the house, and made cake for Ben, and then made cut-out gingerbread/molasses cookies and decorated them. It was so relaxing. (And it reminded Ben very fast that he needs gloves! - we got them on Saturday)

Here's my back deck early Thursday morning. It had just finished snowing. 

And here's the view from my front porch.

Snow!

It’s the first big snow of the season! I’m not a huge fan of the cold, but snow is pretty!

Thanksgiving

I feel like I should compose an amazing essay on all my blessings. But since I spent my time with my mom, brother, and grandparents, I'll just share the end of "A Thanksgiving Poem" by Paul Laurence Dunbar:

Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from Thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.

Then lift we up our songs of praise
To Thee, O Father, good and kind;
To Thee we consecrate our days;
Be Thine the temple of each mind.

With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before Thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank Thee for them all.

Thanksgiving guests

I found out my mom's parents are coming for Thanksgiving with my mom and brother. Won't that be fun? I love cooking for a crowd on holidays. I'm really looking forward to it!

Well, I've got my first cold of the season. Yech. But Thanksgiving is only one week away. And my mom and brother are coming. I'm excited.

Hospitality

Our house was full of people last weekend. We love it like that! Steph's boyfriend came on Friday night and was with us till Sunday afternoon. Sunday we had a couple over for lunch after church. Then my aunt and uncle came on Monday night to stay with us. They left on Tuesday morning. They were on their way through from Michigan to Oklahoma, so it was a short visit. And now it's time for the Hub (Wednesday night community meal at church), so I've got to go. Just wanted to write a little something.

Fall planting

I've never done any fall planting before! I've never had a yard or flower bed to plant in. So it's kind of exciting! Anyway, church work day was this morning. And this afternoon, Megan and I dug up the back, just underneath the stairs. It was full of mint. TONS of mint! We're talking 6 sqare feet of mint! And now it's all gone. Both of us kept a planter full. However, after it was done, I think we kept chocolate mint, instead of regular mint. Oh well. So that's all gone and I planted bulbs---naked ladies, tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. I'm so excited for spring! Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points for one post. :)

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

So generally, I don't mind meetings. And I love dealing with insurance and related things. However, I'm reaching the end. I've been in a meeting all day. I'm tired. And ready for lunch. Hurrah! I ordered lunch from Cupini's. It's this really cute local owned Italian market in Westport. I'm really excited. I figure if I'm going to have to plan the meeting stuff, I should be able to order what I want. I'm really excited! Okay, signing off. Gotta get ready for lunch.

The indoor jungle is another really cool spot. Seth, Kristine, and myself are on the right. 

This is Kristine, Seth, and Ben. Such a cool picture, eh? The aquarium was the best part of the zoo to me. 

It's nice husbands who will pose as a flower and a bee for their wives! This is another part of the zoo 

This is another part of the aquarium. It was so cool! 

Omaha Zoo

We went to Omaha's Henry Dorley Zoo in September with Seth and Kristine. It was fun. I'm going to post some pictures now. This is us in the huge aquarium. It's so cool! It's one of those that surrounds you as you walk through the tunnel.

Church retreat

Our church retreat was the first weekend in October. It was a great time of relaxing and getting to know people in the church. I thought this was a cute picture of Kristine and me. Ben had the camera most of the time, so I don't have a picture of him!

Steph's in Love!

My friend Steph is in love. She met this guy just 6 weeks ago in her parent's hometown, but they talk all the time and she's been up there 3 times! They're cute together, aren't they?! He's coming to visit her in 2 weeks and will stay in Ben and my spare room. I'm so excited for her!

What Peanuts Character are You?

I'm glad I'm Schroeder! He's my favorite character.
You are Schroeder!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
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We got a kitten!

She's only about six weeks old they think. Her name is Maggie.

She showed up at Megan's school. So it was unexpected. But I'd been thinking for a little bit that we should get a cat. Cause we don't have time for a dog right now. And cats are easier to care for than dogs.

She's very playful. The vet says she's healthy. We'll see what happens!

And here's the back of the house.

Here's the master bedroom.

Here's the view of the dining room and living room as seen from the kitchen doorway.

Here is the view from my front door. I'm standing in my living room looking to the dining room. The doorway leads to the kitchen.

The new house!

Here's the view from the road of the front of our house. I hear the rose bush has been there for 75 years.

You're a Speak & Spell!! You nerd, you. Just
because you were disguised as a toy doesn't
mean you weren't educational, you sneaky
bastard.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
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The new house

I'll put on pictures soon, I promise!

Moved, finally!

Well, we're moved. Officially residents of Kansas now. God gave us amazing weather for the move - only about 70 degrees. and no rain. He answers prayers! We love the new house. It has lots of windows and they've been open every day since we've been there. I think my mother and I will hang pictures tonight. It hardly feels like home till your stuff is on the walls. Soon it shall be clean! Right now I'm just tired. That's how moving goes.

Moving, augh!!!!

So moving has it's difficulties. And, like my mother, I tend to think moving across town is more difficult than across the country. Any, because our current apartment is so small, every time we pack 6 or 7 boxes, we have to take them over to the new house just to have room to walk! I will love being at the new house, but getting over there is going to test me, I think! Thank goodness it cooled down a little.

We're moving!

We're moving! Just across town. We're moving to one of our church's parsonage. I'll begin to serve part time as the Director of Adminstrative Arts (in other words, the office manager). The house is beautiful and there is lots more room than we have at the mission. We're in the throes of packing right now, so everything's a mess. But it's going to happen. This means that I'll have room to begin to teach private piano lessons. and refinish furniture. and entertain. and cook...and it has lots of windows! I'm excited about everything!

Diabetes

Well, my brother was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday.  His sugar is really high.  The doctor told him to totally cut our starches until he gets it down.  And he put him on medicine.  He seems pretty positive about it now, but being so young (only 19) he has to be good to keep his sugar down so that it doesn't cause all those other health problems that diabetics are known for.

This little girl hardly knew what to do about it. Apparently, the bird's claws hurt her head. She was a good sport, though! 

We got to feed the Lorakeets, too. They come and land all over you! Amazing! 

Isn't he adorable! When we saw him, Ben said, "Look, the llama's laughing at you!" 

We got to the sheep section while they were feeding them, so we got to hand feed them. They were pushy, but so soft! 

This is the famed white tiger. It's pretty, but didn't seem that special to me (gasp!). 

This was at the entrance to the Asia section. 

Melodie's birthday!

I love birthdays!  Mine was Monday.  Ben made me breakfast and I got to eat on my special red dishes.  Then we went to the Kansas City Zoo.  I wasn't very photogenic that day, so you won't see many pictures of me, but it was great fun.

Medicine, always medicine

So Ben's psychiatrist has reduced his medicine. Took him off the Prozac. She thinks he's doing really well. So it was just a confirmation of what we were feeling. This is great!

Ben's digestive difficulties

So Ben had his six-month checkup with his gastroenterologist today.  He's been having a more frequent problems lately, and has lost 11 pounds since January 20 (according to the doctor's office).  Anyway, the doctor was worried about it.  So he has to have a CAT scan of his abdomen and swallow a camera-pill so they can examine the rest of his intestines.  (The doctor said they've looked at the top and the bottom of his intestines, but there are still about 20 feet that they haven't seen. 20 feet! Amazing!)  The CAT scan will be this week; we're not sure about the camera-pill thing.  The doctor said what they're trying to rule out is Crohn's.  To us, he doesn't seem bad enough to have Crohn's, but that the doctor mentioned it as a possibility is very scary.  Very scary...

Springtime in KC. These ducks were on the river by the Plaza. 

This is the Stargazer Original Lily. Again - Lilies are just beautiful! 

Another view of the Plaza buildings. 

We also went the the Kauffman Memorial gardens. This is a Kiss Me Kate L. A. Lily. I've decided I love lilies! 

We took a walk on the Plaza today. It was beautiful! 

Our church's new website

So our church's new website just went public today!  We're very excited.  It's set up for chat, volunteer or sign up for events, online giving.  It's going to be great!  It's still under construction, but at least it's out there now.  You can see it at www.kctrinity.org

I'm going to be famous....or not

Headquarters is producing a short video for their GA exhibit that showcases the offices of HQ.  At the end of this video, there will be 4-6  brief employee interviews.  I've been asked to be one of the employees interviewed.  Cool, eh?  Okay, I'm easily amused.  It will be taped next week.

New Linoleum

So we got new linoleum put in our kitchen this morning. It looks nice. I got to pick it out: brownish mottled color, small blocks. I'm hoping it shows dirt less! But I have to wax it tonight. Then we can put the furniture back in the kitchen tomorrow. There's not a flat surface free in the living room, so that will be nice!

No surgery!

Ben found out yesterday from his orthodontist that he doesn't have to have surgery on his jaw! That is a miracle!

Job Interview

I have a love/hate relationship with change. I love little change (you do know how often I change my hairstyle, right?) but big change (like changing jobs) scares me to death.

Well, I have an interview on Friday afternoon for a new job. It's at a Christian counseling office on the Plaza. It would only be part-time, though, so I'd have to get another part-time job for a while. I would be doing insurance and a little billing (how little is what I wonder!). At first glance seems to be perfect for me, but the timing is a little off. Could you help us pray about it?

Jane Austen

Jane Austen is simply amazing. I love reading her. I've recently been reading Northanger Abbey, which is one of the last of her books that I haven't read. The main girls love to read novels. I feel a kinship with them, not surprisingly! Here's a couple of quotes from the book:
"Provided that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they were all story and no reflection, she had never any objection to books at all."
"Miss Morland, no one can think more highly of the understanding of women than I do. In my opinion, nature has given them so much, that they never find it necessary to use more than half."
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good book, must be intolerably stupid."

She's so witty. She was not afraid to poke fun at her society. I just love it!

Okay, enough talking about books. On to real life...

This is a guy playing basketball. Isn't it a cool picture?

Then we play. Ben loves foosball! He's pretty good at it. :)