Name that State

Look familiar? It sorta should. . . it's a soybean field. You might be asking yourself: 'Where did he get a picture of a soybean field in the middle of March?' A good question, the answer is: Brazil.

I just got back on Sunday after a short 5 day trip to the south american continent. Driving around the Brazilian coutry side and seeing the sights was not too different from that of Iowa. Crazy, I know. (There was a picked cornfield on the other side of the road too) 

distractions

-a gold star to the first to figure it out.

-why is it that when cleaning you have to make a huge mess?

-can anyone, with the exception of martha stewart fold a bloody fitted sheet?

-be sure to do a test before cleaning mini blinds.

-i need good road trip tunes. any suggestions?

an update on rebecca's life

hey guys....

i thought i might go ahead and post the recent updates in my life, each of which has come up in the last 2 weeks (it's been a VERY busy/stressful time)!

1. i'll start with the bad....my grandma perdue is going through some health issues. i'm not sure how much she wants me to share with people, but there is cancer involved, and she's probably having surgery next week in iowa city. prayers would be appreicated. she should come through ok, but it's always hard to go through it.

2. I GOT ACCEPTED TO GRAD SCHOOL!!! as of august, i will officially be an iowa hawkeye. hmmm. i still have to ponder my betrayal to the dark side from time to time. anyway, i was accepted into the master's in library science program. the plan for right now is that i'm going to move there over the summer, start classes in the fall (and hopefully get at least a part-time job somewhere), finish as soon as i can, and work in a university library somewhere for a while.

3. as would of course happen right when i decide to finally cut my losses and leave the little town of winterset, i have found myself a bit attached to the place. i'm now dating a youth pastor here in town. his name is jay and he's a great guy (the obvious downfall being the living in winterset part, since i'll soon be moving). no word yet on how "serious" this is or will become, but i do love the irony of me deciding to leave the town partly because there's no one here my age and then starting to date someone here within a week of getting my acceptance letter to grad school 2 hours away.

4. this week is final exams at school, so i currently am serving my inservice time (yeah, workday!). my grades are in, so i have to plan for class the monday after spring break (we're off all next week), but i'm basically off the hook for a little while. i guess the reason i bring this up is because i'm now 7/8 of the way done with my teaching career! the joke going around here is that i'm "retiring" from teaching at the tender age of 25, which i guess is partially true. i will miss it in some ways, but for the most part it's a big ole "GOOD RIDDANCE!" i don't regret doing it for 2 years because it's been a great experience, but i'm definitely ready to move on and do something i love as opposed to something i don't look forward to at all.

so i guess that's it...i just wanted to fill everyone in. it's funny to think of how we all were in high school and how we all are now...new houses, new babies, still finishing school, going back to school, starting new careers....i guess it shouldn't seem crazy, but it does somehow. ok, that's it for my moment of nostalgia. hope everyone has a great weekend!

Finally!!

A week from today, we're packing up and moving out. Chicago-bound baby.

Well, at least I will be. There's a chance Brent may be holing up in a hotel and working out of his car for a bit longer, cleaning up other people's messes. That's what you get for being the responcible one, I suppose.

But we're actually, factually, and FINALLY moving! No more false alarms. No more pseudo 60 day notices for vacating our apartment that turn into 120 day notices (thankfully, we have a very understanding apartment manager, otherwise we'd be homeless three times over by now!). There had been rumors starting around this time last year that we'd be moving late summer, early fall...2005. Then it became "by the end of the year." And since Christmas, it's been "by the end of the month" each month since. But now, now the moving company has been called, the utilities scheduled to be cut off at this end, and started at our new place, not to mention we actually have a new place. It's for real this time.

And the new place is perfect for us -- something we'd consider buying if not for the fact we'll be moving again in two years. We're renting the lower level of old farmhouse that now sits on a corner lot in a far western suburb, two blocks from the Fox River. Three bedrooms with brand-new carpet, fireplace, HUGE kitchen, massive screened-in porch, two car garage (detached, but hey, you can't have everything). The town seems to have that small town charm with the downtown businesses, parks and trails along the river, yet has all the amenities you could need.

So I'm excited. We're excited. One week.

Skype?

Since I suck at keeping in touch through email, maybe I'd be better at this. Anybody else want in?

Cranium

We were playing Pictionary at youth group tonight using cards from Cranium. When I flipped through the cards I saw Mark Sandor's favorite category-- "Sculptadores"-- otherwise known as Sculpturades.

Ah...Sculptadores... it made me laugh :)

Whether you like cats or not...

...Stuffonmycat.com is pretty darn funny. Some of these people must be drunk when they submit the pictures, but there are a couple really good ones--especially with the cats' expression of pure hatred for their owners! Make sure you click on the Food on my Cat category to see the Orange Cat Army!