Happy Valentine's Day

I have to admit that I'm pretty darn proud of myself with this year's valentines. I got the idea on a whim (if you know anyone else who's done this-don't tell me). I found the kids sunglasses at WalMart in the party favors: 8 pairs for two bucks! The rest was stuff I had on hand, colored cardstock paper, heart stickers, and metallic pen for glitz :) Anyway, the message says, "Shine on Valentine", and I attached the sunglasses by making two vertical slits with a box cutter about 3 inches apart and inserting the arms through the slits to fold in the back. I'm so excited to give these to my students- bonus points because it's NOT candy!

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Almost Official!

Over the weekend we checked out a house in State Center for a second time, this round with my parents in tow. Call me a daddy's girl- I have to get his opinion on most things :) Well, my parents love the house's structure and potential as much as we do, so we ended up making an offer on the house just an hour later. We heard back from the seller this afternoon and decided to accept their counter offer- which means by March 26, 2010 we will officially be homeowners! (And by we I mean Jerod- his credit is impeccable, I knew I married him for some reason...) But we are so excited and while the closing date is a ways off yet, have begun researching and examining different types of carpet, backsplashes, color schemes, appliances and then some. Now, let's pray for a great inspection and not too many surprises! Jamie, remember how I said I wanted to get in on the dinner exchange? Call your friend, it's on for this summer :)

P.S. This will also start a new chapter in our blog of before/after stories on our home renovations- it should be interesting.

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A Salute to My Little Sister

I don't have pictures yet, but we haven't posted in forever so I thought I should let everyone know what's up with us lately. Well, my little sister, Amanda, has been soul searching for a while. She started at Iowa State and decided that was too big, so she moved back home to Sioux City and has been attending a local community college there and working at Texas Roadhouse. Recently, she decided to enlist with the Army National Guard and the past couple of weeks has been going through physicals and tests to make sure she is smart enough and healthy enough to join. Tomorrow afternoon she will be sworn in at Camp Dodge and while I don't understand her choice entirely, I am so incredibly proud of her. I think maybe part of it, is that I wish I was brave enough to do things like she does. Amanda has never been afraid to be herself, I've always been a little jealous of that. When you're the oldest kid, you don't really have that luxury all the time, you turn into the person that other people need you to be, it's your responsibility (a privilege for me, I love helping people). Yet, there was always a part of me that wished I could be as carefree and off-the-cuff as her. Not afraid to say what she thinks and full of spontaneity, she's just....awesome. I'm going to miss her when she has to be gone for basic training and tech school, and I'll worry like a mother if she gets deployed somewhere, but for now, I'll just be happy that she has found something she feels so passionately about, and that she is offering her service to this Great Nation. I love you little sister!

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