Random Favorites

A couple of random pictures from my new camera.

I finally ran across my dream version of my dream car, in a HyVee parking lot no less. Thanks to my trusty camera being right there in my purse, I can now post a picture of in on my blog so all my readers can see it too. I love technology!

This is my current favorite fortune. It came in my Chinese food I got at the aforementioned HyVee... So much more interesting than, "Kindness is a virtue" or "Your lucky numbers this week are 4 and 7.5" On another note, Leah and I canned peaches today, so stay tuned for a complete pictoral guide to making massive amounts of peach jam!

Really in Business

I have been thoroughly enjoying my mini vacation in the lovely state of Washington. What with great company, awesome food, frigid waters of the Puget Sound, Emerald City Smoothies, rollerskating, and a whole day at the water park to touch up my tan, it has been an amazingly fun few days. And, I am bringing home one of the best souvenirs I have ever brought home from a vacation, something I have been wanting for quite some time. They say a picture paints a thousand words, so pretty much, you all should be getting less text and more "painted words" in blogposts from now on! Thank you so much to Mom and Richard for my new toy!!

The lovely mess I made, getting it out of the original packaging. Here is everyone's chance to cast your votes on a name. So far I was entertaining the idea of naming it Dilbert, but somehow it just does not feel right...

Good company

Yesterday I spent the day with Hillary and Solomon. He has only gotten cuter since I saw him in May! What a cutie!!

An awesome way to start off a quick trip to Washington! :D

Visiting Naomi

I had a lovely time with my long-time friend Naomi last week. Naomi works two part-time jobs, cleaning houses and as an assistant librarian. I did not think to take any pictures of the house cleaning part, which is a real shame since I am sure the sight of yours truly scrubbing tile in knee-pads all jazzed up from an early morning stop at Scooters would have been a sensation on the blog, but I guess you all will have to just imagine it instead. :D Naomi's family faithfully gets up early every morning to study Proverbs together, and by the time we had finished Bible study and eaten some quick breakfast it was out the door to clean for a few hours. After lunch it was off the the library until 7 where Naomi worked and I, well, I spent the majority of my time doing school. I will admit to having frittered away time on a few other things (swagbucks, People magazine, the first and last chapters of a few books), but for the most part we worked hard!

Naomi, solving computer problems. Doesn't that cheerful smile just make you want to go to the library? It makes me want to...

Me, hard at work. I set up camp behind the main desk which gave me opportunity to answer questions from unsuspecting patrons who did not realize I was not really working at the library. I do know the hours, and how to sign up to use the computers, but I had to refer questions about the history of the library and people wanting to check out books to Naomi. Maybe next time... When work at the library was done we headed home for some fellowship, relaxation and continuing on the quest to show Emily all the good episodes from the first 4 seasons of Psych. We are making progress! :D

Thank you, Naomi for a wonderful week!! I can't wait for next time!

Not Posting...

There will be a lack of posting for a few days due to me being in one of my favorite "home away from home's" meaning I am visiting Naomi! Currently I am sitting in the Madison County Library, where one of the world's best assistant librarians works. In addition to cleaning houses, I am also getting a lot of school done during Naomi's library shifts.
The last few days I have seen God working and answering prayers over and over, even in the smallest things. Just to list a few of my blessings since Tuesday...
1. Getting my Praxis I scores and not only passing but being either above average or the very top of average on all three tests!
2. My financial aid finally going through. School is paid for for the next year.
3. Finding 24 hour anti-histamine at Wal-Mart for less then $3. It seems to be helping my sudden allergy attack/germ attack...
4. Being able to upload the papers I have been working on for the last month. Nail biting starts now, to be concluded when the grades come back...
5. Finding a sandwhich at Subway which actually is big enough to feed me for two meals. Amazing!
6. My computer plays DVD's again! And all I did was pray, clean it with compressed air and drop it on the floor once...
7. Getting to see the smiling faces of my brother and sister-in-law now that they are reunited after 6.5 months apart (correct me if I am wrong there, Katie). Even if their smiling faces were just on my computer, it totally made my day!
Praise the Lord for all His goodness! This morning I read a verse which really sums up counting my blessings.
Psalm 34:10 "The lions may go weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack not good thing."

Nebraskans are creative!!

I normally don't applaud graffiti, but this was just too clever. On our way to church on Thursday night we saw this first road sign and were very amused. We decided that on Sunday we would try to get a picture. On the way home Thursday night, we saw more than just one sign had been, um, decorated. This one makes me think of Elizabeth, because she suggested just such a meaning for the sign back in October...

Sunday morning we came armed with the phone camera and advance notice, ready to get pictures of the new and improved signs. It took a few u-turns and a great deal of collaboration (Leah, you snap the picture, Benjamin, you hold the eggs so I don't break them on this turn, and I will get us close...), but we eventually got what we were after. And even made it to church on time. I think I am going to be chuckling on the way to church for a while now. :D

Pickles

This year Leah took over my job as official pickler. Last year she was my trainee (admittedly, a trainee who did most of the work, but a trainee all the same), but this year she does it all. After cutting herself, as described in the previous post, Leah kept on pickling, singlehandedly. Here she puts dill seed, mustard seed and dill heads into the clean jars. Note the injured left hand keeping out of the way...

Leah did not actually do this batch all by herself, I just like using the term singlehandedly because I think it is such a clever pun. She was supposed to keep the cut dry, so I washed the jars and the cucumbers. I thought about Hillary as I made arrangements with the cucumbers on the counter. It turned out to be a good idea, as it made packing the jars very easy with everything separated by size.

This is an overhead view of the jars before we packed them. Leah peeled the garlic cloves singlehandedly as well.

Here Leah demonstrates how to pack a jar of pickles, that the little cucumbers go on the top, and the current state of her injury. It is on its way to recovery I see...

The finished product. They really do look a lot nicer in the right lighting... Six weeks from now they will be ready to eat as pickles! Good work, Leah!