Lady-cation

'Girl-cation' didn't quite sound right, and 'woman-cation' sounded almost dirty, so it was dubbed 'lady-cation', defined as a vacation where only the ladies could go :) Well, Heather, Nancy and I went on such a trip this past weekend as a shopping trip to Maple Grove.

Saturday morning, I got up early to see Mark off for his day of hunting with his Dad and Jamie, and then decided that after making some fresh oatmeal for breakfast, and putting the caramel rolls in for Heather and Nancy, I might as well whip up a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. I was just finishing them up and fresh out of the shower when the girls arrived, so I got ready to go while they had breakfast.

We took off around 10am and headed up to Mankato, where we stopped to get some of the early-bird specials at Kohl's, check out a few things at the nearby strip mall, and for lunch at Panera.

After a yummy lunch at Panera, we finished the drive up to Maple Grove, and then on to the Albertville Outlet Mall, where we shopped until around 8:30 or 9pm. We then went back to Maple Grove and checked into our hotel before heading to supper at Buca Di Beppo, home of the wild and crazy photographs on the wall lol

After Buca, we stopped by Byerly's (had heard so many things about Byerly's from my buddy Ben Stoner, but hadn't ever been there before). We putzed around there for a bit, picked up some breakfast foods and sparkling cider for the night ahead and next morning, and then went back to the hotel to give our doggies a rest!

The next morning, I got up a little earlier and went down to the fitness room to bike for 20 minutes or so, and scoped out the shopping deals in the Sunday paper. I then headed up to the room to shower and get ready for the day.

We dropped Heather off at her church - St. Joseph the Worker - and Nancy and I went and fellowshipped and read some Proverbs at Starbuck's down the street. We picked Heather back up around 11:30 and then continued our shopping extravaganza before having lunch at Potbelly's. Frigid cold day, so the hot soup and sandwiches tasted great! We shopped a bit more in Maple Grove, and then headed back to Mankato for a bit, to the mall to hit JCPenney quick, and then went home. Before Mankato, however, we stopped in at Emma Krumbee's for a quick bit to see what it was all about.

We got back home to our men around 8pm, after a long, exhausting, but FUN 2-day shopping trip. Lady-cation 2009, anyone? :)

Java - not just a programming language!

If you don't know about my love affair with coffee (and Christmas music year-round), you probably don't know me all that well. I've been hooked on coffee since I was 14 and used to go to Courthouse Coffee with my friends from PVBC when I lived in Indiana. Granted, back then, I was more hooked on the 'Judicial System' (basically a caramel mocha) :)

I'm not entirely sure how I got hooked on coffee, seeing as how no one in my whole big family of 8 drinks it, but I am definitely a coffee-addict, sad (and glad) to say :)

For my birthday two weeks ago, Mark got me this really wonderful coffee maker, and I've been really excited about it! The first couple of cups I made were fabulous - the best coffee I've ever had, to be honest! Well, after those first two cups, things got bad. I was so confused, and didn't want to say anything about it, but the coffee was downright bad! I've been kinda bummed about it, thinking maybe we got a bad deal or something, but figured I'd just continue drinking bad coffee for a while.

This new coffee maker is a 14-cup coffee maker, whereas my old coffee maker was only a 4-cup. There is a 1-4 cup option on my new coffee maker, which, of course, I HADN'T BEEN PUSHING! :) This morning, I was getting ready to brew another cup of bad coffee when I noticed this and pushed the 1-4 cup button! Now my coffee is back on top :) PRAISE THE LORD! :) My morning has been fantastic thus far :)

New Job!

Well, its been quite a while since I updated my blog - shame on me! But there has been a lot going on in my life since my last post :)


I got a new job at Toro, here in Windom as an IT Application Developer and Programmer! I can't emphasize enough how HUGE this is for me, and what a phenomenal improvement it has been for me personally. My stress level is at an all-time low. I LOVE what I do, and I love my new co-workers. I'm sure the stressful times will come (don't they always?), but for the time being, I'm reveling in my newfound time and energy due to a lack of stress and frustration. (Not to mention the additional 6+ hours each week and practically non-existant commute)


I had my day at Raven, but it was beyond time to move on. It had been tying me down and leaving me stressed for entirely way too long, and left me feeling isolated, surrounded by people who had no idea what I did, and had little (if any) appreciation for the hard work and long hours I put into my job. What a change :)

Another huge benefit of the new job is a lot of extra time to spend with my hubby :) We now have about 7 hours a night to get things caught up on, make REAL meals (not just frozen pizza and spaghetti), and relax :)

August / September / October Updates

October 15 , 2008
What a glorious day it is today - leaves changing colors, crisp air - cool autumn breeze :) Getting caught up in it all, I once again, seem to have neglected updating my website, but with everything going on these past few months, I never seem to have the time or energy!

August

The first two days of August we spent celebrating with Nancy and Curt as they were married on August 2. Mark's birthday was August 1, and for his birthday, I got him a Justin Morneau jersey and some Twins' tickets for the game on August 3rd. We had a great time at the game, and then stopped over at Sharon and Ron's to play cards and have pizza and visit for a while.
The second weekend in August, Mark and I traveled to Humboldt to celebrate the August birthdays in the Ropte bunch - Mark on August 1, and Jason on August 17. We had a really fun time and even managed to help Mom pick out some great patio furniture!


September

Mark and I started out the month of September in Virginia Beach on our Virginia and Washington, DC trip with Daniel. While we were there, we went parasailing, had a fun day at King's Dominion riding roller coasters, toured Monticello and Shenandoah National Forest - where we saw two black bears and over 20 deer! (This was all just in the first 3 days!)
We stayed in Washington, DC where we toured the next two days, staying in Crystal City at the Hyatt for the duration. On our way back down to Richmond for the NASCAR racewe had planned, we found out the race had been cancelled, and so we went to Virginia Beach for another day to ride out the tropical storm that was terrorizing the coast. We putzed around Virginia Beach the next day, and then the day after we did make it to the race. All in all - SUCH a fun and memorable trip :)

The same week we returned from our big trip, my brother, Josh, was in a serious dirt bike accident, so the next weekend I spent in Rochester at the hospital visiting with him. The week after, I had a business trip out to Ohio in which I was able to catch up over coffee with an old friend of mine from High School.

When I returned from my trip, I drove back to Rochester for the night so that I could bring Josh home the next day. He's doing great now and on his way to a speedy recovery! After dropping him off at home, I spent some nice quality time with my Mom before Amanda got off work. Amanda and I drove down to Iowa City that night for a fun Ropte girls' weekend with Sarah and Elicia! Was such a great time to relax and catch up with the sisters :) However, 9 whole days away from Mark made me more than greatful to be home with him again on Sunday evening!
The next weekend, Mark and I finally had a chance to spend some quality time together and celebrate our 2 year anniversary! Mark had surprised me with roses and a balloon on our actual anniversary on the 23rd, but we also decided to have an official date night that next weekend.
We had a great time in Sioux Falls that night - beginning with getting our pictures taken once more - it had been two years already since our wedding ones, and they were pretty outdated :) We had supper at HuHot, and then went to the movies and saw 'Hancock' with Will Smith - was a good movie :) We were home by 11 and off to bed after such an exhausting month!

October

Thus far (it's only half over) this month has been quite a whirlwind! I had applied back in April for a job as an IT Application Developer/Programmer at Toro here in town. The process had been strung out until well...September! However, I had a phone interview and two other grueling interviews (over 2 hours each), but PRAISE THE LORD - the job was offered to me on September 29. My last day at Raven was this past Monday - the 13th - and after 4 years of being there, although bittersweet, was such a relief! Nice to know that this winter when the snow starts blowing, I'll be safe and sound in Windom, and NO MORE DRIVING!! I start at Toro tomorrow!
Other than the job news, October has been a bit of a let down. Mark and I have been sick most of the past week, but I can't complain - I've been home with my husband the last THREE weekends, and if you've read my past updates, that is a GOD-SEND! :) I've finally been able to get the house back in order, make an actual home-cooked meal, and enjoy catching up with friends who must feel neglected at this point!

May the Lord richly bless you all, and keep you safe in the upcoming few months! I look forward to the upcoming holidays to be able to settle in and visit with more and more of you :) Thanksgiving can't come soon enough, but I am sure enjoying the season until then :)

Happy Autumn :)

Amy

East Coast Vacay Part VI

Sunday morning we got up early and hit the road on our way to Richmond for the big race! We got to the race a little later than we wanted to, but still in plenty of time to make good use of our pit passes! We didn't get there early enough to meet any of the drivers, though, but it was still pretty sweet! We left the pits after a little bit and headed to find some food. We enjoyed some pizza and found a few souveniors before heading to find our seats.


If there was one word to describe this race...it would have to be HOT! Most of the rest of the trip was pretty hot, but at least there were nice, air-conditioned buildings to hide in. Race day, however, left us outside to brave the heat the entire day. The race was really great, though! Jimmie pulled through once again and blasted the competition away! It was a much more enjoyable race than the one back in 2006 we went to that finished under the green and white checkered flag. However, not many wrecks to write home about.


We made it back to Virginia Beach in record time, thanks to Mark's great maneuvering skills at finding a great parking spot! We got back so early that we even had time to check out the aftermath of the big storm a two days earlier, and we made our way down to Virginia Beach once again, for somemore wave action in the ocean!


We were able to rebook our flight from Sunday for Monday at 3pm, so the next morning, Mark and I bummed around the house, then headed to meet Daniel for lunch at a mexican restaurant over near the Naval Base. After lunch, we drove around a bit looking for the nearest Target, and then wasted some time before needing to head to the airport for our flight.

Unfortunately, after waiting at the airport for a couple hours, we found out that our flight had been delayed an hour, which would make us miss our connecting flight in Chicago, so we called Daniel to let him know, and he picked us back up at the airport and we spent another night in Virginia Beach. Fortunately, our now early-morning flight and layover in Chicago went off without a hitch, and we made it home even in time for Amy to work a half-day!

We had such an enjoyable trip out to the East Coast, and would love to go back sometime!

East Coast Vacay Part V

On our third morning waking up at the Crystal City Hyatt, we checked out, had some breakfast at McDonald's, and then headed down the road a little ways to the Iwo Jima Memorial. We were all pretty shocked to see how HUGE the statue was.

After Iwo Jima, we enjoyed a nice lunch at IHop before making our way to Mount Vernon for the day. At Mount Vernon, we began with a short video before exploring the grounds. We made our way to Washington's tomb for the wreath-laying ceremony. They asked for volunteers, and Daniel had a one-up since he was in the military. All three of us were able to take part in the ceremony, and recorded our names in the history books! Amy led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance, while Daniel and Mark layed the wreath in Washington's tomb. Since we participated in the ceremony, we were able to take pictures inside the tomb, which was pretty neat!

After the wreath-laying ceremony, we explored a bit before heading inside to check out the museum, and headed down to the riverfront, to the dock. Luckily, on such a hot day, we were able to catch the shuttle back up to the visitor's center.

We spent a LONG time inside the museum - also a very very interesting exhibit! There were all sorts of videos and displays that led through Washington's life. Spending the time exploring in the museum gave me an entirely new appreciation for Washington, and it made that era become more real to me. I had no idea how much he did for his country, and what a phenomenal and selfless leader he was.

After touring the museum, we headed outside quickly to get a tour of the mansion, which was beautiful! Unfortunately, yet again, we were not allowed to take any pictures on the inside. After the tour, we headed outside to take in a beautiful view of the Potomac River. The day went by so fast that it felt good to relax and take a breather.

We left Mount Vernon around 5pm, and headed to Richmond to our hotel for the night, in spite of all the horrible weather reports of the Tropical Storm headed to the coast! By the time we reached Richmond, we found out that the race had been postponed until Sunday. Luckily enough, we were able to get our money back for the room, and we headed through the storm back to Daniel's house for the night.

The next day, we bummed around town while the storm passed through. Amy spent much of the day shopping, and relaxing at Barnes & Noble while the boys played video games at the house.

Later on, Mark and Daniel headed to Lowe's and Home Depot, while Amy read her book, and then they headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch some baseball. A much-needed day of relaxation after all the walking and sweating the whole week so far!

East Coast Vacay Part IV

On our second day in DC, I got up early and decided to enjoy breakfast at the Corner Bakery before another big day of walking, leaving the boys to join me later on by the White House. On my walk down to the subway, I couldn't help but grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Caribou before catching the train into DC.

The boys joined me in front of the White House, but we found out we needed to have gotten approval from our Senator in order to tour it, so we instead walked down to the White House Visitor's Center and explored all sorts of things that were once in the White House.

After the Visitor's Center, we continued walking toward the Lincoln Memorial, and saw the Vietnam Memorial on the way. We made it to the Lincoln Memorial and picked up some cool postcards from there before we continued making the loop towards the Washington Monument. On the way to the Washington Monument, we stopped for a while at the Korean War Memorial, which was one of the coolest memorials in DC, I thought. It was a sober reminder of the sacrifices these men made, especially with the reminder that "Freedom is not Free" on the wall nearby.

After the Korean War Memorial, we saw the World War I Memorial, which was much more understated than the World War II Memorial just a few steps further. The World War II Memorial was really awesome! I'm sure it's not quite so cool in the winter, considering so much of it is water fountains, but it was gorgeous on the blistering hot day we were there :)

We toured the Washington Monument, going all the way up through the center and were able to see the beautiful views from its top. However, it was kind of junky, since the grass was all dead (apparently they were doing some sort of treatment to it?), and there was a big AARP tent up near the Lincoln Memorial. It was neat to see the Capitol Building from up there, though!

By the time we got back down from the Washington Monument, we were all ready for a break, so we made our way to the Holocaust Memorial Museum and had lunch in the cafe there. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the museum sure was!

We thought we might spend a good hour in the Holocaust Museum, but three hours later, we finally left, and I think all of us could have stayed even longer! It was incredible!! The hours upon hours upon hours spent to put this museum together blows my mind! There was so much history, so many stories, and so many artifacts from this time period. While we were unable to take any pictures inside, there are so many images that will be forever etched in my mind - one of which was the railroad car that so many rode in, headed to concentration camps. The mounds of shoes and other things were so sobering.

By the time we finished up at the Holocaust Museum, we barely had time left to go anywhere else, but we managed to find a half hour at the Smithsonian, and even a little more time in the beautiful gardens just outside it.

We were more than ready to make our way back to the Metro by the day's end. The entire trip was so fantastic, but it was a LOT of walking, and with temps in the mid-to-upper 90's, we were pretty exhausted.

For supper, Mark and I ventured out to Chili's down the street, and then called it a night!

East Coast Vacay Part III

Well, Day 1 in Washington, DC was really really awesome! We started out around 8am, had breakfast at McDonald's, and then walked down to the metro and took it to Arlington National Cemetery. We got off and walked to find the Tourmobile loading area and our first day in DC, we took the Tourmobile bus tour.

We enjoyed the nice ride around the nation's capitol, mapping out a plan of what we wanted to see the rest of that day and the next. We got off at the Capitol building, where we took a guided tour of the building. It was really awesome to see where decisions are made in our nation, and all the beautiful and ornate decorations there. The dome was breathtaking!

Towards the middle of our tour, a congressman (can't recall which one), approached the group and let us know that we had the unique opportunity to sit in on an energy presentation made by many republican members of the senate after the tour! It was really neat to be able to sit in the seats there as well, and to listen to some of the presentations. Now when I see that room on CNN and the like, it's neat to think, "I was there! And I sat right there!" :)

After the Capitol Building tour, we walked across the street to the Library of Congress. What a BEAUTIFUL building! It kept us busy for the next couple hours, after which we hopped back on the Tourmobile, and stopped off at Union Station for lunch at Pizzaria Uno.

I almost got left behind at Union Station when I went to go shop quickly at Express and lost track of time, but did make it back, and we then went over to the Jefferson Memorial for a bit. It was so awesome!! We had to hop back on the Tourmobile about 20 minutes after so we could make it back to Arlington Cemetery before it closed for the night.

Arlington Cemetery was SO cool! It was such an honor to be there and see the gravesites of all the men and women who gave their lives for this country. We were able to be there for the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - VERY cool!

After a long day of walking (and considering how seriously hot it was), we were glad to get back to the hotel!!

East Coast Vacay Part II

Well, in continuation from my first three days of the trip...

We grabbed some Papa John's after arriving at the hotel in Charlottesville, and went to bed soon after. (Well, I did - the boys stayed up watching the Twins' game)

We slept in a bit the next day, and then headed to nearby Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) around 10. We took a tour, and then wandered around the grounds for a while. What an absolutely beautiful home and estate! We spent about 2 hours there before we hit the road for Michie's Tavern, where we had some really yummy homecooked fried chicken, bbq sandwiches, harvard beets, mashed potatoes/gravy, and lots more food! It was delicious, and we ate way too much! After looking around in the gift shop, we hit the road again, but decided that instead of going to Ash Lawn Highland or Montpelier, that we'd head west to drive through the Shenandoah National Park instead.

It was about a 3 hour drive through the mountains, with about a 90 minute hiatus in which we hiked this trail to find an 81-foot waterfall. The hike proved to be grueling and the waterfall pretty disappointing, but that made up for all the pizza last night, right? :) We saw a couple bear caves while on the hike but no bears...just then!

I headed up a bit earlier than the boys while they explored a bit more, and after a grueling climb back up the hill, finally made it back to civilization. As I was walking to the restroom, I came face-to-face with a deer, and then as I was walking back to the car, I saw the boys had come back to the car, and were just taking a drink break. A few seconds later, we heard some people shouting something about a bear, and that we had to drive over by them to see it! Sure enough, there was a medium-sized black bear that had climbed up in the tree! The folks who were standing there said that it came out of the woods about 2 minutes before I had (FREAKY!). In fact, if I hadn't stopped twice for a minute or two, I may have been face to face with the bear as well!! The people said those bears are about 3 times as fast as humans, and that at the first sign of it moving down the tree, we should sprint for our cars and get in right away! Luckily for us, the bear didn't come down, but it was cool to see!

After our little hike and bear sighting, we continued on through Shenandoah, and after seeing yet another bear and a LOT more deer, we finally made it to the end of the park, and headed on our way to our hotel in Crystal City for the night.

The hotel (the Hyatt) was really very very nice, and we were glad to be there after such a long, exhausting day on our feet! The next three days were to be filled with lots and lots of walking around DC, and we needed our rest :)

East Coast Vacay Part I

Well, I'm sitting here at the Chesapeake Public Library killing some time before we go meet Daniel for lunch, so I thought I'd get a start on my review of our trip to the east coast from August 29-September 8 :)

Well, Mark and I flew into Norfolk at midnight on Friday night, Aug 29. Daniel picked us up, and we headed to his place in Chesapeake, about 20 minutes away. We spent a little time hanging out, and then went to bed.

Saturday morning, we got up and went for a run around the area - all 3 of us - and then came home, ate a 3-course breakfast (compliments of Daniel), and showered up. We decided to be crazy and try Parasailing! We scheduled a time for 2pm, and then headed over to Daniel's buddy Jim's place for a little while. Jim came with us, and after lunch at Rudee's down on the ocean, we boarded the boat and took off.

Parasailing was amazing, although I was scared half to death when we started hearing the straps adjusting while we were 1200 feet in the air!! Mark and I went up first, followed by Daniel and Jim. Besides the adjusting straps, it was incredibly peaceful up there, overlooking Virginia Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, while on the boat, our camera fell on the deck and was ruined.

After parasailing, we hung out down by the beach for a while, then took in a car show, then back to Jim's for a few minutes before heading back to Daniel's place to get ready for supper with Dan and Kristin.

For supper, we went to Lynn Haven Fishhouse, which was yummy! But before we ate (there was a 30 minute wait), we went for a walk down by the beach and came across a private fireworks show - VERY cool :) We wandered back over to eat some yummy seafood, and then went down by the beach again to hang out. We went for a walk along the walkway off the beach, and then did a little shopping and ate some ice cream at Hagen Daas. After that, we called it a night :)

Well, on the second day, Sunday, we got all dressed up and tried to go to church, but apparently the church wasn't meeting that Sunday - they didn't have their 11am service. So instead, we spent much of the day putzing around looking for a new camera - successfully :) But before we found it, Daniel showed us around the Naval base, which was VERY cool, and we even got to tour a submarine (me in my church clothes, including heels - very fun lol)

After we finished at the Naval base, we got the new camera, and then headed to Daniel's to relax a bit. We were planning on going to this concert at the park that Kristin was playing in, but we were too wiped out to move barely, so we stayed in, ate spaghetti, and watched a movie before heading to bed nice and early. We had an even bigger day ahead of us the next day, and we needed our beauty sleep :)

Monday morning, we got up early, and were on the road by 8am headed for King's Dominion! It was such an awesome day!! We rode roller coasters all morning and hung out at the water park riding all those rides and slides all afternoon. We finished the day with a ride on the Volcano - most awesome roller coaster yet :) After King's Dominion, we drove down to Charlottesville and checked into our hotel.

Well, this thing is about to kick me off, so I'd better post and be done :) More to come!!

Amy

Struggling to Contain my Excitement!

Well, we leave tomorrow at 6:35 pm for our East Coast trip! I've been really excited about this trip for quite some time, but an email from my hubby just made my day! We've been really struggling to find a hotel in DC that we want to stay at. Most of the hotels are about $200 a night - even for sub-par ones, so I've been pretty down about it, thinking we wanted to stay less than $150. I figured we'd end up with a dump. Well, we prayed about it last night, and I posted on a forum about it, and got some great suggestions. Mark went on Hotwire and found us a 4-star hotel (The Hyatt in Crystal City) for only $129/night!! It is normally $225/night! I am STOKED! This finishes up all our hotel reservations for the trip, which leaves me all night tonight to just get excited about all we have on our itinerary :) Here's what we're tentatively planning:

Saturday and Sunday: hanging out at Daniel's place / tour of the naval base / seeing the beach (although weather forecast says rain and storms...junk...may have to shop instead...) :)

Monday: King's Dominion all day long (they have 14 roller coasters and they all look awesome!)
Tuesday: Charlottesville (touring Monticello, Ash Lawn Highland, Michie's Tavern, and up north a bit to Montpelier)
Wednesday through Friday: Washington, DC - staying in the stinkin awesome hotel I alluded to earlier

Saturday: NASCAR's Chevy Rock 'n Roll race in Richmond

I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself!!!! :)

On a sad note, though, I just found out that one of my co-workers' wives passed away on Tuesday of a brain aneurysm at 47 years old. Please keep this family in your prayers. Cal has 3 young children, and while he just lost his wife, he is also, I'm sure, struggling with how to raise these kids on his own. :( Having lost my dad just a little over a year ago, I know it's such a gut-wrenching time. At least I had Mark to lean on - I don't know how I could go through what he's going through.

I'll have to definitely post lots of pics from the trip, though :) I've cleared my memory card and brought my battery charger. I think this may end up setting a record for most pictures taken during a vacation :)

God Bless!!

Amy

Drained

Well, it's Monday morning again, and I am feeling completely wiped out today. This morning I woke up and went for an hour-long walk, which is probably partly to blame. Generally when I exercise in the morning, I feel better, but today I just feel completely drained. Hopefully I'll be able to take a nap over my lunch break, 'cause I need one!

The weekend was a lot of fun - we had everyone who could come over for grilling out Saturday afternoon. Mark and I got to the farm around 10:30am, had a bit of lunch, and then Mom, Amanda and I took off for Dodge to find a patio set for the new deck. We found a really great one, and went home to set it up. Sunday after lunch, we went back to Dodge with the truck to pick up the porch swing we'd been eying the day before, and also a new TV, since Mom's old one bit the dust the other day. After we got things set up at home, Mark and I headed back to Windom. Mark had a very restful weekend, as he had a nice nap during both of our trips to Dodge. Perhaps that's part of the reason I'm so tired and he's so wide awake today? :)

We're looking forward to the weekend! Mark's uncle emailed this morning to invite us up for the weekend Friday night and all day Saturday to Mankato. He has some landscaping to get done, and they also have a pool to take a nice dip in :) Sunday Mark and I are headed to Valley Fair for the day, which will be a nice chance to relax before another week.

Well, I'd better get something more accomplished today :)

Amy

Thoughts on a Friday morning

Well, it's finally Friday again, and I'm excited for a nice, relaxing weekend in Humboldt with the family. Mark's birthday was back on August 1, and my little brother, Jason's birthday is this Sunday, the 17th. One of the things I love the most about where we are right now is that we're only a short 2 hour drive home to the farm. It's so nice to have our own space, and yet be home for a weekend often enough. Granted, I get sick of the drive - it's pretty boring, and I have gotten lost twice now on the trek back home.

I was home back on July 26 and had coffee with my Mom in the morning, then went out to the farm and relaxed a bit before lunch at Sadie's Tea Room with Mom. We shopped a bit afterwards, and then Josh, Michelle, the girls, Michael, Amanda and da Buddy were all over to grill out that evening. It's really so much fun to have family so close - I just wish Dave, Elicia, Dan, Sarah and the kids were closer too :(

We're not sure what's going on tonight, though. We've been so busy this summer that suddenly these weekends just pop up on us and we forget to think ahead anymore. Next weekend, we're going to use up some Valley Fair tickets Mark bought off a lady from work, so we're excited about that! We're both adrenaline junkies, so we're excited for a fun day on all the rides - and this year we may even get to the water park - it was closed last year!

Speaking of theme parks, we just settled on one of the 3 parks we'd been looking at during our trip to the east coast! I think we're gonna head to King's Dominion while we're there - the day or two after we get in to Norfolk. I've heard it's a great park with lots of great coasters, so we're getting excited about that! It'll be so nice this year to have a whole entire week off! Last year, if you recall, we went to Vegas for a week, but while I was there, I had to work 3 days, which made the trip less fun than it could've been. Working on vacation is not fun - especially when everyone else is hanging out and having a good time at the pool. I believe the last time I used so much vacation time in a row was for our honeymoon!

So on another note, I think I've officially lost it! I got up this morning, went for a nice run to the Wellness Center to lift a bit, ran back, showered up, and now I'm going crazy thinking about how badly I want to put up our Christmas tree! You don't know me well if you don't know about my crazy obsession with Christmas. I generally feel the need to celebrate Christmas by mid-July each year, and I'm currently listening to "Jingle Bells" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra with a spiced cider candle burning and drinking my spiced coffee. I love Christmas and everything it stands for - the birth of our Lord! Not to mention how exciting it is to see my two favorite little people - Jacob and Hannah :) Everything surrounding Christmas just makes me glow. I love the decorations, Christmas Eve service, helping others, cozying up by a fire (wait...we don't have a fireplace...), family, friends, baking cookies, the smells, the colors...such a fun time of year :) This year, the Ropte Family Christmas is at our house up in Windom, and we're excited to host - if I could start baking cookies and other goodies right now, you know I would! (Don't I need to test the recipes out first?) :)

*sigh* Soon enough :) But for now, I'll just settle for my VERY favorite time of year, which is, as I mentioned in my last blog post, Autumn :) I'm excited this year to make it up to some of the orchards around the area - something I didn't get much opportunity to last year - and make lots of yummy apple desserts and treats :) Pumpkin ones too! I think I may need to start decorating soon... :)

Well, I suppose that's about all my thoughts for the day.

March / April / May / June / July Update

August 11, 2008

Okay, this is pretty sad - its been since February since I did any sort of an update - an indication of how insanely busy Mark and I have been in the past six months! Time for some highlights!

March
March began with a return trip from my Grandma's funeral in Holland, Michigan, and some much-needed rest! While on the trip, however, there were MAJOR developments with the Eleanor house - we accepted an offer and closed on March 12 - a HUGE relief for us after sitting on the house almost 9 months! That weekend, we drove up to the cities for Ben and Mary Stoner's wedding at Northwestern. Mark's cousin, Greg, was an usher, and it was fun to visit with him a bit at the wedding, and also to see some old HHS alumni! We spent Easter Sunday down in Worthington with the gang, and were lucky to have the Mankato Johnsons join us!


April

April was a very busy month for me, gearing up for Amanda and Michael's wedding in June. On the 5th, I went home to Humboldt for Amanda's first bridal shower and spent some fun time visiting with the family. On the 19th, I went to Waterloo for Amanda's bachelorette party and had a great time painting pottery, eating at the Brown Bottle, and seeing my lil sis get embarassed by all the crazy stuff.

Unfortunately, the night before the party, one of our friends' brothers from back home took his life, so I made a very early morning trip back to Worthington to support Mark and get things ready for Daniel's trip home to be pallbearer. It was a sober reminder of how precious life is, and how we need to be watching out for our friends and let them know they are loved :(

With Daniel being in town, we enjoyed spending time together, and were able to spend a day up in Wisconsin celebrating Grandma Edith's birthday, which was nice. We made it back Sunday in the early afternoon after dropping Daniel off at the airport, and barely made it to Curt's surprise 30th birthday party that Nancy threw for him.


May

In May, we had a bunch of Worthingtonians up to our house in Windom for the evening where we played games and visiteduntil pretty late that night. Everyone got really into Guitar Hero, and we also celebrated Nancy, Curt, and Kristina's birthdays with a fabulous cake!

The second weekend in May, Mark and I went home to Humboldt for the day, and went to Amanda and Jason's ICCC graduation, and then went to Applebee's for lunch, and did alittle shopping.

The weekend after, we finally got a break and were able to have a couple of our our favorite movie and pizza nights in :) Sunday afternoon, we went down to Nancy's place and hung out with Nancy and Curt at the park for a while, and then headed back to their place for popcorn and a movie.

The weekend after, Mark and I had a fun date day in Sioux Falls, completewith shopping, HuHot for lunch, and mini-golf at Thunder Road. Jamie and Heather met up with us there, and we did batting cages before heading to Huset's for a race.

For Memorial Day, we joined the Johnson clan - Dean and Barb even made it out from Arizona! - in Worthington to celebrate. We had a wonderful lunch, and then took a walk down to the Veteran's Memorial park down by Lake Okabena.

June

June started out with a bang with Amanda and Michael's wedding on June 7! This was the culmination of seven years of dating, and now they're finally husband and wife :) Mark and I drove down early to help get all the painting done at the farm so that the house could begin to get put back together before Dan, Sarah and the kids arrived. I stayed through Tuesday and helped clean up, and then visit with the family - especially those Indiana Roptes :)

The next Saturday was Nancy's bridal shower down in Worthington, so I went down to that in the morning and gave the devotional, after which Rachel followed me up to Windom for lunch, but then had to head back down to Nancy's in Brewster. Mark and I spent the rest of the day Saturday out at Clear Lake on the waverunners, and grilled out with friends.

The weekend after, the Buchholz's invited us out for a FBC Worthington get together/grill-out, so we spent the day playing catch-up, and the evening there.

The month ended with Gretchen's bachelorette party down in Kansas City. I rode down with Gretchen's mom Friday evening, and the big day was all day Saturday. We had a lot of fun, even with it being a long day :) Started with a bridal shower brunch, and then a spa party that afternoon. We had dinner at Jack Stack BBQ, and then went to a comedy club to finish off the evening. It was a really fun weekend!

July

July started off with a softball game after which we met up with Karen and Del at Ground Round to visit before our trip to Duluth. They just so happened to be in town, and we were headed out of town, so we thought we'd play catch up for a bit :)

We took another trip up to Duluth, which was a great relaxing trip, although we truly wished we'd planned to stay elsewhere for our camping experience the last 2 days. We enjoyed supper at Bellicio's, Little Angie's, and Pizza Luce, but also toured Glensheen Mansion and went for a bike ride on a double surrey. It was so nice to have a break from all the wedding preparations from the summer.

The second weekend in July was Gretchen and Ryan's wedding in Primghar. We had a really great time down there getting to know her family better, and Mark had fun playing video games with Brittany's boyfriend :)

The third weekend in July I had Nancy and Heather up for a fun girls' night in - complete with homemade pizzas, chocolate dipped goodies and a couple of good chick-flicks :) It was nice to get a chance to relax at home for a change :)

With Mark gone to the second Bachelor party for Curt, I took a day trip down to Humboldt to visit and shop with Mom, and then grilled out with the rest of the family later on that night. It was a nice escape, although getting turned around late at night on the way back wasn't so great.

Well, I'd better get going - God bless you all!

Amy

Autumn / East Coast Trip

I've found myself steadily looking forward to Autumn already - I have been since mid-July, and it makes me wonder what my deal is :) For those of you who don't know already, Autumn is by far my favorite time of year. Hot apple cider, apple butter, apple pie, pumpkin pie spices, the colors, the leaves, the cool, crisp air, bonfires - how could it get any better? :) The only thing I have come to loathe about Autumn is that it's the time of year when I'm alone a lot - especially those days I work from home. Mark works from 7am-3:30pm at Toro, is home for a short turn-around, and then helps his Dad on the farm all night. On those days, I truly crave interaction with human beings. I generally sit at home alone all day working from home, and then sit alone all evening, excepting for a sometimes lengthy walk, or a shopping trip.

On another note, before Autumn rolls around, Mark and I will be off on our trip to visit Mark's brother, Daniel, in Virginia Beach! It'll be out first trip to the east coast, and we're really excited! We plan to spend a couple days in DC, a couple days on the beach, a day at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, and taking in a NASCAR race in Richmond. After the insanely busy summer we've had, we're looking forward to a lot of down time and a chance to catch up on some reading and sleeping :) I'm really excited for the rest of this year :)

Exhausted and Ready for a Nap!

This is officially the first weekend of the summer where I've been home for a whole Saturday! It has been a VERY busy summer for Mark and I - even busier than we initially thought, and it has left me exhausted and ready for a nap!

For beginners, I spent much of April and May attending showers and bachelorette parties for the two weddings I was in. My little sister got married June 7 to her boyfriend of 7 years, and at the same time, the Ropte Farm in Humboldt was undergoing major construction projects. They all wrapped up right around the same time - the weekend of Amanda and Michael's wedding. We had a couple free weekends in the middle of June, which we spent with friends, whether out at the lake, or at their homes. The last weekend in June, I was down in Kansas City for Gretchen's bachelorette party, which was so much fun, but way too short a weekend!

July is only half over, but we've been so busy we haven't had much time to think just yet. We started off the month with a much-needed getaway to Duluth again. We had a wonderful time, although we really had a pretty junky camping experience the last two nights we were there. Less than a week after we got back from Duluth, Mark and I were down to Primghar, IA for my old roommate Gretchen's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid. It was so good to see her so happy :)

Well, less than a week after Gretchen's wedding, I was traveling to work in Sioux Falls when I hit a pretty decent-sized rock in the middle of the road that I didn't see because there was a slow-moving truck in front of me. It caused a lot of damage, and so my car is now in the shop until the 25th (at the earliest). Needless to say, the rest of the week was pretty junky, and I was grateful for the extra sleep last night.

I'm excited for tonight, though! I'm having a couple girlfriends up for the night for a girls' nite in party, complete with chocolate-dipped goodies and chick flicks :) However, after a long past couple days of prep work for the party, I'm completely exhausted, and again - ready for a nap! So instead of sitting here writing any more, guess what I'm gonna go do :)

House Hunting

Mark and I are going to look at another house tonight - pretty excited about this one! It's not that we don't like our current house (at ALL - we love it!) It's just that we dislike the small garage and next to no back yard. The house we're going to look at is less than a half mile away, but it's got a nice, big back yard, side yard, and 2-stall garage. Hopefully it's a great deal, and we can put in an offer, but we'll see what plans the Lord has in store for us :)

We looked at a few others earlier in the week, and it just wet our whistle, so lo-and-behold, we're looking again. One of the ones we looked at Monday evening was a $212K house (doesn't sound like much for some of you, but in Windom, that gets you a 3600sq. foot house!), and WHOA was it ever gorgeous! If we were to buy it, though, we'd end up having to spend another $30K just to furnish the place! (It's so huge we could lose each other in it!) Mark's big determining factor in not going for it: "I don't like the curtains in the main room - the shade of blue is just too dark" :)

Wish us luck!

73 Degrees and rising!

I never thought I'd see the 70s again after last week's snow - at least not until a few weeks from now! I finally broke down and used the A/C on the way back to work from lunch today - HALLELUJAH!

I had a great lunch today - picked up a few things at White Barn, and then looked around a bit at the mall. I finally used up the rest of my favorite candle yesterday (White Barn Spiced Cider), so I (of course) had to get another :)

I had quite the scare yesterday afternoon when around 2 o'clock, a police officer showed up at my front door. I guess one of our neighbors called and complained that Mark's snowmobile trailer had been sitting out on the street for too long, so they came to ticket it. Left me pretty shaken up for sure! I'm just not a trouble maker, so I get a little flustered when I get in trouble like that. (Heck, I never even got a detention all through school!)

Beyond that, not a whole lot going on lately. Mark and I are just beginning to plan a much-needed trip up to the North Shore again over the 4th of July weekend. We had such a fantastic time last year that we decided to go again :) My little sister is getting married in a little over a month, too! AND...I just found out that my oldest brother Dave is going to be a new daddy in November! (Congrats Dave & Elicia!) Seems like so many changes, but we're excited about a new year :)

I'm headed down to Humboldt this weekend (with or without Mark...not sure quite yet) to help make some headway on some of the home renovations my mom has been going through at the old farm house. They've completely re-done the kitchen, one upstairs room and the hallway, the upstairs bathroom (a long-coming work in progress), and are building on another bathroom downstairs, a laundry room, breezeway, garage, and bathroom downstairs - MAJOR renovation :) I'm VERY excited to see all the changes :) It'll be the first time I've seen all the kitchen cabinets in, although the floor won't be done for at least another week. Really neat to see the place come back alive!

Well, I suppose that's pretty much all! Now if only I could find a way to work outside today...

My New Ottoman!

The past week has been quite the crazy one, but there's one thing that has peaked my interest in the past few days...tracking the shipment of my new ottoman! I've been lusting after an ottoman for a few years now, but I hadn't ever found just the right one at the right price. Well, I decided to start seriously looking for one, and low and behold - my friend and ex-coworker Holly steered me in just the right direction: Bed, Bath & Beyond.com. I've been thinking about it a lot the past few days, and the anticipation has been eating me alive!

I just checked online, and guess what!?! It has FINALLY arrived! I had to leave a note on the door saying "Please leave it inside the door" and they DID! I'm so excited!! I'm not quite so sure I can wait until 6:30 to get it...stupid work in Sioux Falls today :(

Part of the excitement for me comes from the mess of blankets strewn about our house that need a place to be stored (a.k.a a Storage Ottoman extraordinaire!). A great part of the excitement stems from the part where I get 2 MORE small square ottomans along with the big one! And an even greater excitement has to do with the fact that this storage ottoman has a flippable top that serves as a coffee table too! I mean, of all the coolest things :)

Perhaps if you're lucky, you'll soon get to experience the ambience that is my new ottoman.

U-Haul Stakeout

So last night around 9 we had just finished watching 'Rendition', and Mark got up to make some popcorn. He noticed that there was a big U-Haul truck parked out across the street by some apartments across the street from our house, and that the neighbors were backing the truck up to the door. My first thought was, "What a mess - don't they know that it's going to be all muddy, considering it was in the mid-40s today and everything is melting?"

Well, a few minutes later, Mark tells me, "Well - looks like they got stuck out there trying to get the U-Haul out of the yard", and boy were they ever stuck! By that time, the popcorn was ready, so we pulled the guest bed over to the windo out and watched with anticipation. It was kinda like a stakeout - we were peeking through the blinds, munching on popcorn, and wondering what these people were gonna do. Mark's first suggestion: "Well, I suppose we'll have to haul it out with the Tahoe", after which I reminded him that the U-Haul is at least twice the size of the Tahoe and that we had no chains anyways.

Eventually, the neighbors called the tow truck in, and we watched as the tow truck unsuccessfully tried to get the thing out. After about 5 minutes of watching this crazy stint, Mark finally went out there and told them that it might actually help to put the U-Haul in gear and give it some gas while the tow truck was doing it's thing. Apparently they had left the thing in park while the tow truck was trying to tow lol So proud of my hubby for being so smart - it worked like a charm.

Lesson of the Day: When moving, don't drive a U-Haul onto a muddy yard, fill it full of all your crap, and then think you're gonna get it out without calling in the reinforcements.

Impact Statement

Yesterday, I faced the woman who hit and killed my Dad last June. It sure was a rough morning. She will be in a women's prison for 10 months and then have a chance for reconsideration. Her sentence is 10 years. Please be praying for our family as we continue to mourn the loss of such a wonderful man. Please also be praying for Georgia's family, and for strength for her. Perhaps through all this, she will come to know the Lord.



How My Father’s Death (Lance Ropte) has Impacted Me
by: Amy Johnson

It has been almost a year since Dad died, and I still find myself in disbelief each and every day. I still find myself saying, “I have to call Dad and tell him about this!” and then coming to the sad realization that I can’t. In fact, at first, there were times when I’d dial his phone number only to reach the “This number is no longer in service” message.

Working in the agriculture industry, the more I become acquainted with the new equipment and technology, the first person I think of is my Dad, and how much I want to call and tell him about how cool our newest system works, and to feel him out on it. I can now appreciate his fascination with the farm and the land, and now he’s not here to share it with me.

I know I still have my memories of my Dad, but they’re so much more bittersweet now that he’s not here to reinforce them. He was always there to make me laugh, to share in my successes, and to encourage me when I failed. He’d always remind me to “hold your horses”, and not jump to conclusions. My Dad was my steady voice, constantly reminding me to just take the next step. He is such a large part of who I am today, and now I find myself so lost without him.

Going “home” to the farm is just not the same anymore. He's not going to come bursting through the door at 8 o'clock to give me a big hug and kiss and to tell me all about his little sheep, or to talk about married life, and how things are going for us – and all our plans for the future.

I think perhaps the hardest thing for me right now is to think about how a year and a half ago, Dad walked me down the aisle at my wedding. And now, a year and a half later, my little sister doesn’t get the same honor. She doesn’t get her Daddy to walk her down the aisle, or to dance with her during the Father/Daughter dance. He and Mom raised six phenomenal children, and the fact that he won’t be able to see four of his six children marry and start families of their own makes me just sick.

He only got to see his first grandson three times, and was just a few weeks away from seeing his first granddaughter. They will have no memories of their Grandpa, and they will never know just exactly what a wonderful man he was. He also won’t be there when any of the rest of his grandchildren are born. My future children won’t have the same wacky, fun, spontaneous Grandpa I always knew as my Dad. He won’t be there to hold them in his arms. He won’t be there to show them around the farm and tell them crazy old stories about when he was a kid. They won’t have the honor of knowing him the way we all did. He won’t be there to teach them how to ride a bike or fish.

Dad also won’t be there to take care of Mom, to be there with her to support her as she battles Parkinson’s. It has been so hard over the past few years to watch my Mom slowly decline in health, but knowing my Dad would be there to help her through it made things seem somehow better. He was so good with her – always so patient, kind, loving, understanding, and encouraging. His death has left all us kids now thinking of the future, and how we can prepare for a future in which we’ll be forced to deal with how to best care for Mom when we all know the one who could care for her best was Dad.

Georgia, I fully realize that you had no intentions of killing my Dad on June 14. Yet I struggle between feeling the desire to forgive you and being overcome with frustration and anger. I realize that while we were all sleeping soundly that night, you were experiencing something so appalling that we can’t even imagine. I realize that you are scarred for life after what you went through that night. I know you have been through an incredible amount of pain and suffering through this whole experience. I know you didn’t intend for this to happen, and I know if you could take it all back, you would.


I don’t consider you a cold, callus person: You just made a horrible error in judgment that night. You decided to get behind the wheel after drinking, and due to your error in judgment we now have a huge emotional, physical, and financial burden to bear throughout many more years.

One of the things that my Dad instilled in me since I was a child was that actions have consequences, and that if we made the conscious choice to do the wrong thing, we would need to live with those consequences. The decision you made cost my siblings and I our Dad; my Mom the love of her life; our future children their Grandpa. Your decision also took the life of a man who served his country proudly for over twenty-five years.

While there is nothing I can do or say to lessen the loss we all have felt through this tragedy, I do know that one day I will see my Dad again: For that day, I have nothing but anticipation. One of the greatest things my Dad taught me was to have a reverence and awe of our Lord. While I can sit here and try to blame you for taking my father’s life, I am reminded that while you may have been instrumental in ending his life here on earth, he is now rejoicing with the Lord.

I want you to know that I pray for you, that the Lord would show himself to you and comfort you. If it weren’t for the Lord, I would have no comfort right now. But because of his grace and mercy, please know that the same can be true for you as well. Because Christ died on the cross for me and saved me from all condemnation, I am in absolutely no position to condemn you, Georgia. I know that you still have a long, grueling journey ahead of you, but I want you to know that I forgive you.

Horrible Customer Service

The past 2 days have most certainly been trying my patience! I seldom (if ever) get so angry that I shake, but the past 2 days this has happened twice!

Yesterday over my lunch break, I headed over for a quick lunch at Spicy Pickle and then a short shopping trip to TJ Maxx. I found this really cute dress at TJ Maxx, so I tried it on and then headed up to the checkout. There was a pretty long line (3 medium to large sized carts) in front of me, but the checker had called up 2 other checkers to speed up the process. The second checker came up and took the next person in line, and the first checker had finished checking out the first person in line, so there was just one person in front of me now. Behind me, quite a line had formed (about 4 other largish carts and a girl right behind me who, like myself, had only one item). Well, the checker called up another 2 people to help check, so I was a bit relieved, as I'd already been standing in line for 10 minutes! However, those other two checkers grabbed customers at the END of the line - people who had barely even been standing there 30 seconds! I waited 23 minutes in line to purchase ONE dress! I was so irate by the time I got to the checker that I had to refrain myself from screaming at the top of my lungs at her! I did give her a very stern talking to..."Excuse me, ma'am - I don't mean to be rude, but I've been standing in line for over 20 minutes along with this other girl, and it was incredibly inconsiderate of you to grab that lady with a whole cart full of things who had been standing there such a short amount of time. I understand that it's busy, but that doesn't mean that everyone else should be helped before those of us who were first in line." It took me 45 seconds to check out. I was shaking for almost an hour afterwards!!

Then tonight, we went to eat at one of our favorite places in town, and they just so happened to have a large party in their back room. Of course, no one told us that until we'd been sitting there about a half hour. It took them 15 minutes to even acknowledge that we were there, and then another 10 minutes after that to take our orders. It took 50 minutes after we placed our order to even get our salads, and another 10 minutes after that to get our food! Then, after waiting another 10 minutes to get our bill, we had had enough after 10 minutes of waiting for the waitress to come and pick up our credit card, so I wrote a check for the exact amount, wrote "VERY disappointed with the service" at the bottom, and circled the items on our bill and wrote "It took almost 2 hours for us to get bar food". Again - I was so furious I was shaking!

I think what bugs me the most about these types of situations is that while I am the one who is getting such horrible service, I get so angry that I turn into a monster! And I absolutely HATE being that way - I hate being rude! I hate it when my patience is tried so much that I feel like being violent!

Sorry for the vent - just HAD to get that all out before I burst! :)

Wednesday Monotony

I guess I shouldn't really title this "Wednesday Monotony", since a lot of exciting things are happening this week! For one thing, last night I got my new cookware set, and it is so freaking sweet! I don't think Mark has seen me so giddy! lol (And so excited to clean my new pots and pans!) It's a sort of be-lated Christmas present for me - we just now found a good deal on them. And within an hour of opening up all the pots and pans, I promptly ruined my first meal in them lol Well...it wasn't SO bad, but I couldn't remember whether or not I was supposed to put mustard in my homemade bbq recipe, so I just put it in, and while it wasn't really that bad, it wasn't my best. I suppose that while I seldom cook with an actual recipe, I really ought to actually write the recipe down so I don't make these mistakes regularly.

Today at 4:30 we close on the Eleanor house! I stopped by there on my way home from work to pick up the dehumidifier and a few other odds and ends, and man was that weird. It'll be the last time to be in the house we put so much blood, sweat and tears into, and it's such a huge accomplishment for us. We're like proud parents watching our baby ride a bike for the first time or something lol

This weekend, we're headed up to the cities for a HS buddy of mine's wedding, and we're both super excited about that! After reading through the wedding party on their RSVP site, I realized I actually know more than half of them from HS, which is cool! I went to get their gift earlier this week, and once again had that "I want one of those too!" moments, where I find the perfect gift, it's the last one they've got (can't get anymore in), and I want it too! lol

In other news, I'm still just so grateful to have my new car to drive! We had been taking the MMC (Mark's car) everywhere for the past few days, and then I drove to Sioux Falls yesterday and had another wave of excitement come - especially with all the fabulous weather (it's in the 40s here!). I felt like a teenager again - blasting music with my shades on and windows down lol Of course, that was short-lived when I got on I-90 to head home :)

Well, I'd better focus a bit here - hope all is well!

Amy

Writing the Impact Statement

I'm struggling today, to find the words to write. Mom said the impact statements for the judge are due on Monday. Kinda a rough day, when I have to try to rehash last June all over again in order to compose something that slightly resembles an impact statement.

I've always been good with words, but I find myself stonewalling on this; Trying to put it off. How exactly do they expect me to write in words what this woman has done to our lives? How can I sit here and write something that may impact just exactly how long she is in prison? I struggle back and forth with forgiveness, and that makes it even harder to know what to say or do.

I think it would be a lot easier if there wasn't someone to blame for killing my Dad. It makes it all too easy to stay angry at her, and then shell up and try to forget about it. I honestly don't know how I feel about her.

I keep to myself a lot more, and it's difficult to explain to anyone how exactly it feels to lose a parent. It's even more difficult to know how to deal with people who take everything for granted. Sometimes I just want to slap people upside the head for thinking life is all about themselves, and how petty their problems are in the big scheme of things. But since that isn't my tendency, I just continue to keep quiet.

I guess I've got it better than a lot of other people - at least I know without a doubt that I'll see my Dad again in Heaven. I can't even fathom what it would feel like if I didn't have that assurance.

So I guess I'm asking for prayer - to know how to best put into words the impact that this woman's mistake has had on my life. And also to have enough compassion to one day forgive her for this.

You Are My Friend (from cousin Megan)

Are you tired of those sissy 'friendship' poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. You will see no cutesy little smiley faces here -
just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.

1. When you are sad -- I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey.

2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile -- I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.

4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.

7. When you are sick -- Stay away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsiness.

9. This is my oath.... I pledge it to the end. 'Why?' you may ask; 'because you are my friend'.

Love and Respect

Recently at our church, we've been doing a study on Love and Respect, which truly has revolutionized how I look at my husband. There are so many things I hadn't thought about before this study. It has opened my eyes SO much as to the things I fail to do as a wife (and for that matter, a person), and how I many times, unknowingly, burst Mark's bubble.

The basic gist of the study: Women need love; Men need respect. This is based off Ephesians 5:33 - "However, each one of you must also love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Some highlights of the study for me:

1) I need to unconditionally respect my husband, regardless of what he does. Mark needs to know that I value him, whether he is right or wrong. I need to support him and his decisions, even when they might be the wrong ones. He needs to know that no matter what, I will be there for him, and that I'm not going to walk away when he says or does the wrong thing. When everyone else is kicking him while he's down, I need to be there to build him back up.

2) I cannot blame my husband (or others) for the way I react. It is my responsibility to determine how I will react, and that is the ONLY thing I will be judged for. My response is my responsibility. And adding on to that, I have to constantly remember that I will not be held responsible for the way that someone else responds to the things I do or say, and that I can't beat myself up about it. I have to take responsibility for the things I've done or said and own up to them - whether they be 20% my fault, or 80% my fault. My husband does not cause me to be the way I am, he reveals the way I am.

3) The key to motivating another person is by meeting their deepest need.

4) It is okay for my husband to have a need that I don't have and I need to respect that. In the same way, it is okay for me to have a need that my husband does not have.

5) The one who is most mature moves 1st. This is in regard to arguments - isn't it so easy to "stonewall" and give the other person the silent treatment? It's so important to deal with the issues and not put them off. Of course, sometimes you do need time to cool off so you don't say things you regret.

6) The Devil does everything to get us together before marriage, and everything to seprate us after marriage. We need to realize that the Devil is trying to constantly attack our marriage, and that we need to be prepared!

7) We don't lack ability, we lack incentive. We all have the ability to have a good attitude, but we choose not to.

8) My husband is not out to get me - he loves me and wants only the best for me. This is SO easy to forget sometimes! When I feel hurt or offended, I have to keep in mind that Mark is not being malicious - even when sometimes I may feel otherwise. It's so easy for me to get emotional and let those emotions drive me, and I have to stop and think first.

Anyways - those are just some thoughts, and the things I've taken away from this study. I feel so lucky and so blessed to know that we have these types of resources! Hopefully some of these encourage you!

Amy

February 2008 Newsletter

March 3, 2008

Well, I feel like I was just writing about January, and here February is over and done with too! What a whirlwind month this was, but not without some major events!

Starting February off right, we went to Mark's cousin, Brian's hockey game in Fairmont, MN. Beforehand, we met up with Uncle Roger and Aunt Cathy for dinner at Perkins and visited a while. After Perkins, we enjoyed the game - and they won!

The next day, we had decided we were going to go up around the New Ulm area to check out a newer model Monte Carlo for Mark. On the way to the dealership, we stopped at Jensen Motors in New Ulm and test drove a 2007 Grand Prix. We made our way to the other dealership, only to find out that the Monte Carlo was actually a bluish-purple color, so Mark decided to pass on it. Instead, we decided to buy the Grand Prix for me! I finally was able to pick it up that next Wednesday - and what a difference!

Mark and I had a pretty eventful day on that next Saturday (the 9th) as an early celebration of Valentine's Day :) I got to go to the scrapbook superstore, after which we ate lunch at HuHot. After lunch, we went to see Into the Wild. After the movie, we went and checked into our hotel in downtown Sioux Falls and sat in the hot tub for a little while. We met up with Mark's Aunt and Uncle for dinner at Minerva's, and then went to the Symphony with tickets I got for free from work.

After the Symphony, we went back to the hotel and sat in front of the fire for a while before heading up to bed. There was a bug in the fire alarm system at the hotel that night, though, which made for a pretty junky night of sleep. We got woken up 3 times! But overall, we had such a wonderful time :)

We heard that my Grandma wasn't doing very well, and that she wouldn't be with us much longer, so Mark and I drove my mom out to Michigan the next weekend for a quick trip to see her. Dan and Sarah joined us (as did little Jacob and Hannah) :) and we celebrated Dan and Mom's birthdays on Friday night at Red Robin.

Saturday in the late morning, we went to visit Grandma, which was a pretty tough time, as she looked so emaciated and run down, not to mention bruised and battered after a nasty fall she took a few weeks before. After visiting Grandma, we joined my cousins Cheryl and cute little preggo Katy, Cheryl's daughter, Sarah, and my other cousin Christy's daughter, Maggie, for lunch at Broadway Cafe. Mark and I went with Katy to pick up a few things at Meijer, and then went to see Katy and Jake's house. Shortly after that, I went shopping with Sarah and little Hannah Joy at Target, and then back to the hotel to pick up Dan and Jacob. We all went back to Katy and Jake's for pizza and visiting. My cousin Bryan and his friend Ted also stopped over for a while.

After pizza at Jake and Katy's, we headed back to the hotel for swimming and then facials. it was a super late night, but I think we definitely had a good time :)

Sunday morning, we got up early to take off and try to beat the bad weather to get home, and got all the way through Illinois before deciding we didn't want to chance the blizzard ahead, and we pulled over to get a hotel in Moline, IL. After about 3 hours in the hotel, we didn't think things looked too bad out, so we got half the cost of our room back, and started back on the road. It is 100% of the Lord that we made it home that night! Since we stayed in Moline for 3 hours, we avoided the majority of the horrible blizzard, and while the roads were still beyond horrendous, we made it home! We counted 193 cars in the ditch (7 of them being semis)!! And had we not stopped in Moline, we would've been car 194!

It was a pretty crazy weekend, but it was good to see everyone, and nice to be able to celebrate Dan's birthday with him this year! The Lord continues to blow me away with how faithful he is, and how he watches over us!

Unfortunately (and fortunately), Grandma didn't make it much longer, so we made the 12-hour return trip less than 2 weeks later for Grandma's funeral. For the first time in probably 10 years all my mom's side of extended family all came together in Michigan to say goodbye to Grandma. After being in and out of hospice care for the past few years, she's finally gone home to be with Jesus, Grandpa, and Dad :)

Mark and I drove out Thursday morning and arrived after a long, grueling drive with about an hour left of the visitation. After the visitation, we all went over to Christy & John's house in Zeeland for dinner and visiting with the extended family. After that, Mark and I went back over to Katy & Jake's for the night. We were up the next morning and visited with Katy over breakfast, and then headed to the church a little early for Grandma's funeral.

After the funeral, we had a luncheon at the church, and then everyone headed their separate ways for a while. Mark and I went to make a return at the mall, after which we got caught up there for a good couple hours. After the mall, we headed back to the hotel to hang out with the family. Shortly afterwards, my old college roommate, Missy, called me up and came to pick me up for coffee in downtown Holland at JPs. Was SO fun to meet up with her and catch up!

A little while later, we met up with the family back at the hotel, and then (after a few wrong turns) made our way to dinner at Crazy Horse which, by the way, has fantastic ribs! Afterwards, we headed back to Katy & Jake's house for bed.

The next morning, I met MIssy at Perkin's for breakfast so we could hang out a little more after our coffee time got cut a little short. I went back to Katy and Jake's to finish packing the car and pick up Mark, and then we headed over to Christy's for Katy (and soon-to-be-little-Berrit)'s baby shower. Mark and I had to cut out a little early, though, to get started on our LONG drive home.

Well, it's finally Friday, and is DEFINITELY time to get off the computer and make some plans! :)

Amy

Update: Eleanor House

Well, we accepted an offer on the Eleanor House!! We're finally selling it, and none too soon :) We're so excited how the Lord has worked in our lives the past 9 months with this house, and we're excited to see the new things he will do! It's sorta bittersweet, really, as I really loved that house, and kept going back and forth in my mind, wondering if we should've made it our home and sold the house in Windom. BUT...I know the buyer will love it just as much (if not more), and that's exciting :) We should be closing on it in a couple weeks, although the buyer has expressed that the sooner the better, so maybe even before then!

Please be praying that everything goes fine, and that there aren't any complications!

Grandma Cole's Obituary via HollandSentinel.com

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Ida Mae Cole, 89

Ida Mae Cole, age 89, a long time resident of the Holland/Zeeland area, went to be with Jesus on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at Heritage Nursing Home in Zeeland following a lengthy illness. She was born October 8, 1918, in Millbrook Township, Mecosta County, Michigan, to Richard and Daisy Fountain. On December 2, 1939, she married Roger Foster Cole. They made their home in Lansing, Michigan until they moved their family to Holland in 1957.
Ida was a member of Immanuel Church where she served for a number of years on the Missionary Committee, as a Sunday school teacher, and as a leader and treasurer for the Pioneer Girls program. For several years, Mrs. Cole held Good New Clubs meetings in her home during the summer months for the children in her neighborhood, as well as hosting a Bible Study group for women. Ida will be remembered by many as a woman of prayer who deeply loved Jesus and shared His love with anyone willing to listen.

Ida is survived by three daughters and one son, Nancy Snyder of Holland, MI, Ruth Ropte of Humboldt, IA, Gayle & Eric Johnson of Nashville, TN, and Ken & Victoria Cole currently living in Kuwait. She is also survived by two sisters and one brother, Virginia Hutson of Blanchard, MI, Betty May of Folsom, CA, and Arnold (Ike) Fountain of Welston, OH.

Ida leaves behind 15 grandchildren, Christy & John McGeehan, Cheryl & Paul Saxton, Bryan Snyder, Wesley Snyder, Katy & Jake Woodbury; David Ropte, Dan & Sarah Ropte, Amy & Mark Johnson, Joshua Ropte, Amanda Ropte and fiancee Michael, Jason Ropte, Ben, Rachel & Asher Johnson, and Jordan Cole; 11 great-grandchildren, Travis, Graham, Maggie & Branch McGeehan; Curt, Greg, Kellie & Sarah Saxton; Jacob & Hannah Ropte, and baby Woodbury due in April; sisters & brother in-law, and several nieces and nephews.

Ida is preceded in death by her husband, Roger Foster Cole in 1997; a son, Douglas Leroy in 1943; a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth in 1960; a son-in-law, Lance Ropte in 2007; her parents, Richard Fountain in 1947 and Daisy Fountain in 1984; two sisters, Marie Stephenson in 1980, and Rose French in 1992; and three brothers, George Fountain in 1939, James Fountain in 1959, and Harold Fountain in 1964.

Services for Mrs. Cole will be Friday, February 29, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Immanuel Church, 97 West 22nd Street in Holland, with Rev. Robert Terpstra officiating. Burial will be in Pilgrim Home Cemetery. Visitation with her family will be Thursday, February 28 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at Notier-Ver Lee-Langeland Funeral Home, 315 East 16th Street in Holland. Memorials may be made to Immanuel Church Missionary or Expansion funds or toHospice of Holland. An online registry is available at www.notierverleelangeland.com.

Michigan twice in three weeks!

Well, life for Mark and I has been pretty crazy the past few weeks, as we've taken two trips to Michigan in the past three weeks. Once, to see my Grandma Cole before she passed, and once again just this past weekend for her funeral. We praise the Lord he has kept us safe both there and back two times!

We are so grateful to the Lord that he has taken Grandma home! We're so excited that she is no longer in pain, and that she is finally able to walk, and to talk, and to hear, and to see again! While it's always a hard thing to say goodbye, we know we will see her again one day, and we look forward to that day!

It was a lot of fun catching up with all the extended family, some of whom we haven't seen in probably 12 years! Hopefully we'll see many of them at Amanda and Michael's wedding in June in Iowa!!

Before we left for Michigan, Mark and I had dinner with Gretchen and Ryan in Worthington at Ground Round, and had a good time catching up! I also got my bridesmaid dress for their wedding in July, which was exciting!!

While in Michigan, I was also able to play catch up with my old college roommate, Missy! We had coffee at JP's Friday afternoon, and then breakfast at Perkin's Saturday morning. We had a blast catching up and reminiscing about old college days and all the fun and crazy things we did lol

Well, company will be here shortly, so I'd better get going! God bless!

Amy

Lazy February Saturday :)

Well, after a long week, Mark and I called it an early night last night (couldn't even get through 30 minutes of "Smoking Aces"), and got up at the butt-crack of 8:30 this morning :) After working on loading the dishwasher, eating breakfast, and getting the laundry started, we headed off to the gym. After the gym, we took advantage of the above 30 temps, and took our cars to the car wash to give them a nice bath :)

I met my old college roommate, Amanda, in Worthington for lunch at Ground Round, and then we did a little shopping before parting ways. Mark and I met up in Bergen for supper with some Eleanor House neighbors, Justin and April, and after a 50 minute wait, enjoyed some yummy steaks.

Mark and I came home afterwards, and then watched "Michael Klayton", and well...now I'm just blogging :)

In other news, Mark and I are VERY excited about the beginnings of planning a trip out to the East Coast this fall! We're hoping to be able to take in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 in Richmond, Busch Gardens in Willmington, and a couple days in Washington DC.

Last Weekend's Trip to Michigan!

We heard that my Grandma wasn't doing very well, and that she won't be with us much longer, so Mark and I drove my mom out to Michigan for a quick weekend trip to see her. Dan and Sarah joined us (as did little Jacob and Hannah) :) and we celebrated Dan and Mom's birthdays on Friday night at Red Robin.

Saturday in the late morning, we went to visit Grandma, which was a pretty tough time. She'll be rejoicing with the Lord soon enough, and what a wonderous time that will be! But it's tough to watch her in such rough shape :(


After visiting Grandma, we joined my cousins Cheryl and cute little preggo Katy, Cheryl's daughter, Sarah, and my other cousin Christy's daughter, Maggie, for lunch at Broadway Cafe. Mark and I went to pick up a few things at Meijer, and then went to see Katy and Jake's house. Shortly after that, I went shopping with Sarah and little Hannah Joy at Target, and then back to the hotel to pick up Dan and Jacob. We all went back to Katy and Jake's for pizza and visiting. My cousin Bryan and his friend Ted also stopped over for a while.


After pizza at Jake and Katy's, we headed back to the hotel for swimming and then facials. it was a super late night, but I think we definitely had a good time :)

Sunday morning, we got up early to take off and try to beat the bad weather to get home, and got all the way through Illinois before deciding we didn't want to chance the blizzard ahead, and we pulled over to get a hotel in Moline, IL. After about 3 hours in the hotel, we didn't think things looked too bad out, so we got half the cost of our room back, and started back on the road. It is 100% of the Lord that we made it home that night! Since we stayed in Moline for 3 hours, we avoided the majority of the horrible blizzard, and while the roads were still beyond horrendous, we made it home! We counted 193 cars in the ditch (7 of them being semis)!! And had we not stopped in Moline, we would've been car 194!

It was a pretty crazy weekend, but it was good to see everyone, and nice to be able to celebrate Dan's birthday with him this year! The Lord continues to blow me away with how faithful he is, and how he watches over us!

Exciting things to come!

Mark and I have been really busy the past couple months, but have had such a wonderful time celebrating the holidays with our families. In a bit of great news, my little sister got engaged on New Years' Eve! I was able to go with her, my mom, Aunt Joyce, her fiance's mom and sister to a bridal show last weekend, and Michael's sister and I have gotten pretty excited planning her bachelorette party :)

We also helped Mark's Aunt and Uncle in Mankato tear up their flooring and Mark helped sand the floors down in preparation for their wood floors being laid last week! It has been fun keeping in touch with family the past couple months, and we're excited for the year to come, where we'll get to spend a lot more time with our families! In particular, we're planning our first trip out to the East Coast to visit Mark's brother, Daniel, and to do some fun sightseeing in DC, Philly, and wherever else we find ourselves :) (Maybe even NYC?)

We're also excited to use up our SD Symphony tickets I won at work back in November! It'll be Mark's first trip to the symphony, so I hope he likes it :) I've been to the Fort Wayne symphony twice before, but am excited to see how SD does it differently :) We're making a fun, romantic weekend out of it, planning a dinner at Minerva's, and we're staying downtown. I'm definitely looking forward to spending the day shopping and being lazy bums during the day, and then getting all dressed up for the evening and going out :) I sure do love being able to date my hubby :)

In June, we're pumped to be a part of Amanda and Michael's wedding, and I'm all excited about the festivities leading up to it! But what's more, we also have 4 other weddings to attend this summer - consisting of friends from HS, and friends from college. I'm a bridesmaid in my friend, Gretchen's wedding as well, and am really excited for her and Ryan's wedding in July! It's so fun getting dressed up and getting to celebrate with them!

I'm excited about all 2008 has to bring!

January 2008 Newsletter

January 7, 2008

Well, January was quite a busy month with us! We rang in the new years with friends at Jed's house, but called it an early night. Although, we did stay up long enough to see the ball drop :) New Years' Day, we spent the whole day bumming around the house and enjoying the day off work :)

The first weekend in January, an older couple in the church invited Mark and I over to visit and play Apples to Apples along with our friends, Brian and Diane. We had a lot of fun getting to know everyone a little bit better, and ate WAY too much :)

On January 7, my new boss started! After spending the past 4 months without any real direction at work, it was so great to finally have someone to answer to, and to put a little more structure into my work world.

The second weekend in January, we drove up to Mankato to help Mark’s Aunt Kathi and Uncle Dan with some demolition. The men got started Friday night and then stopped for some pizza and conversation. Then the women pitched in Saturday morning. We finally finished tearing up the floors and getting everything sanded down Saturday afternoon, after which Mark and I headed down to Humboldt.

Saturday night, we all went out to eat at Lomita’s – Josh, Jason, Amanda, Mom, Mark and I – and then relaxed and hung out. Sunday morning after church, we had lunch at Subway, and then the boys parted ways while the girls went to pick up Aunt Joyce and headed to Fort Dodge for a bridal show.

We invited the Worthington and Westbrook Johnsons up for a get-together at our place in Windom on the third weekend in January, and we had such a great time visiting, watching the "old folk" try their hands at Ty's Nintendo Wii, and playing a fun game of "Blurt". it was a nice change of pace from the crazy holidays, and we were able to have Dave and Chris with us (who spent Christmas down in Arizona this year!)

The next Friday night, we met some of our friends down in Worthington for dinner, and had a good time catching up. We spent some time playing video games afterwards, and then called it an early night.

Saturday afternoon, Mark headed to Adrian to help his mom with a few things on her house there while I packed up and headed down to Humboldt for the night, and spent the evening with mom, Jason, Josh, and Amanda. After church Sunday morning, we went out for pizza at Pizza Hut, and then visited for a while that afternoon. Later in the evening, I headed to DSM to Dave and Elicia's. We ordered some pizza, watched TV, and visited for a while.

Part of the reason I went to Des Moines for the weekend was for work. However, I decided to take advantage of the location, and I took one day off to catch up on some much-needed shopping! I woke up early to drop off a few products and literature off at the hotel for the tradeshow, and then took off for a long day of shopping. I got all sorts of great deals, and even got to have lunch with my Steff :) After lunch, I shopped a bit more, and then went to the hotel to check in. After checking in, I relaxed a bit, and then headed over to Jordan Creek to shop a bit more, and then met up with Steff for dinner and a movie. I'd been looking forward to seeing "27 Dresses" for months, and it was such a great movie! After the movie, Steff came back to the hotel with me, and we FINALLY got to exchange our Christmas gifts (thanks for all the goodies, hun!!) We talked into the wee hours of the morning, and then dozed off.

The next 2 days were a little crazy, as I attended the tradeshow in DSM. It was an alright time, just very draining, and my feet were pretty sore by the time it was all over.

Well, I suppose that's pretty much all :) I pray all is well with you all!

Amy Jo