Have I mentioned that Ben got a scooter in January? He loves to ride it! It's a great second vehicle just for short trips and to work. Doesn't go very fast, but it's fine for city streets and gets about 100 miles to the gallon. He says it's a blast to ride. :) 

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!

Today is Ben's birthday! I gave him the complete Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, so it's been on all day. :) I've never seen any of them, so it's been an education for me.

We were going to go to Lincoln this morning to see Ben's family, but the weather here was supposed to be horrible (it wasn't), but it was pretty bad in Lincoln. His mom, dad, and brother all called yesterday to try to talk us out of going! Anyway, it worked; we stayed here. He's going to have some guys over to play RISK tonight. I'm making butterscotch brownies (that's what he wanted instead of birthday cake) and I got caramel swirl ice cream. And that will be his wonderful birthday celebration. :)

My first student!!!!

I have my first piano student! I'm so excited!

My First Day Post Full-time job

Well, I'm done. I'm officially NOT an employee of Nazarene Headquarters. I don't have anything really philosophical to say. Just that I'm happy. and Ben's happy. We spent the morning together. I went shopping this afternoon. Now I have to clean the house. It's been a good day.

So I told you all earlier that I had turned in a resignation letter at headquarters and my last full-time day would be March 2. Well, I guess that will be my last day all together. I had intended to work part-time after that, but I guess they think it will be okay for me to quit altogether. I'm a little worried about the finances since I had intended to have a cushion of time with part-time pay to allow me to get piano students. But I guess I won't have that. So pray that piano students will just flock to me! Ben's just excited that they're not trying to get me to stay full-time longer. He's as ready as I am for me to get out of here!
On a lighter note, I'm getting my hair cut in a little bit and am very excited. :)

Have I mentioned that my brother is going to college at Africa Nazarene University in Kenya near Nairobi where my sister is assigned as a missionary? So this is a picture of them both at ANU. My parents are there for two weeks visiting them, so I'm sure I'll have a lot more pictures soon! 

www.pandora.com. It could be the most amazing website anyone's created. You type in the name of a band or singer you like and it will play songs that it thinks you'll like. Very cool! You have to try it!

Playing chess

So my boss Dan has a beautiful chess board from Switzerland in his office. It was just decoration until about two weeks ago. One day when Dan was gone, another guy in my office walked by and said, "I've always wanted to go in and move a piece. Just to see if Dan would play with me." He decided to do it, and they've been playing ever since. Dan doesn't even know with whom he's playing. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Now if only I played chess....

Well, my boss told me the end of last week that I had to officially
resign before they could hire a replacement. So I turned in my letter
today. Told them that my last full working day will be March 2, which
is two days after the end of General Board. But I'll continue part time
after that for a while. Anyway, it's official. We'll see what happens!

Let me first say that I’m very embarrassed that I haven’t written since before Christmas. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And here’s a catch up since then:

Ben and I had a great time at Ben’s parents house for Christmas. We saw all the brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews.

Then we came home and my parents came for the days before New Years. We went to Union Station – the model trains were sooo amazing! And to the Truman Presidential Library. I was very impressed with it. Lots of stuff about WWII, of course. Entries from his diaries to read about various decisions he made. I’m glad we went.

Then our 5 year anniversary was Jan 6. Went to see Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Great movie! We meant to see it as soon as it came out, but were just busy with holiday things and his school finals and such. So that was our first chance to go. We really enjoyed it. Both of us had read the book, but years ago, so we didn’t really remember all that much.

I spent last week finishing the curtains for my living and dining room. I started them back in September, so it’s not really something to be proud of :), but I am very happy. I found a great sale at JoAnn’s on curtain rods, so Ben and I are going to put them up tomorrow night.

I found a new dining room table last Saturday. I’d been looking for one, but hadn’t found one that I liked in my price range. Well, this one is perfect. Rectangular. Drop leaves. Plus three leaves to put in the middle. With everything in, it would fit probably 10-12 people around. And it came with 6 chairs. I have to change the fabric bottoms, since it’s a yucky pink and blue floral, but besides that, it’s perfect. I’m very excited.

I think that’s all the major things. Really, I promise to try to write more often. Maybe I’ll post some pictures of the holidays soon. :)