After 9 years something new!

Starting today:
after nine years or working nights & weekends as a server, I am switching my hours to Monday to Friday 11-4 (still at hickory park) ! No more nights, no more weekends!!!!!! I am very excited about this change. The Lord is blessing Ryan's business so I am able to cut back. We realized that we've been together for 6 and half years and have never had a "normal" work week with one another! We are very excited about this change. YEAH!!! The Lord is faithful to his children!

silver dollar city

this is at the front of silver dollar city, we had a great time, saw alot of shows and went on a few rides!

leaning house

this house makes you feel all funny--as you can see from the pictures!

riley & ryan talking "smack" on which one is stronger!

bridge

dad trying to "rock the bridge" in Branson -- it really worked too!

Branson

mom & dad waiting for a waterride in branson!

moped!

with the rising price of gas, for the last few months we joked about getting a moped to ride around town with. We'd joke about it and thats about as far as it went. Then, about two weeks ago we both said, why DON'T we get a moped? well... the rest is history! WE got one. its a blast, we're having a good time with it! here are some pictures of us with our first rides once we got it home! all i got to say is 100 miles per gallon baby!

St. Patrick's day!

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Since we were in Kansas City we thought we'd take part in some of the big city St. Patrick's Day festivities. However, the rain and wind prevented much of the outdoor activities. Here is us freezing waiting for the parade to start. We ended up leaving the parade early, and went shopping; out to a movie, then hit the casinos later on. Overall it was a good trip!

visit with the G & J's!

Over the weekend we were able to hang out with the some good friends! We headed to Lawrence Kansas where we all met up at the Goertzen’s. We arrived Sunday afternoon, and us girls left & went shopping while the boys watched some b-ball. Later that night we played cards, laughed and played balloon volleyball! (This got really competitive!) :-) it was a good day!

something riley wrote

(he's alot bigger than this picture now , but "the sisters"(aka me, carly & haley)- as riley calls us--but in "the sisters" minds he's still this size!)

my little brother is on a basketball team called iowa attack. in december they had to write something that has been hard over the past year. this is what he wrote...

What has been the most difficult for me the last two months is that my middle sister, Carly, has been gone. She has been gone for more then a year now and she won’t be back until December of this year (2008), which will be almost two years before I see her again. I especially missed her last month during Christmas as I didn’t have anybody to play with (during school break) and she always had music on in her bedroom. I still have to wait for another year till I get to see her. The only good thing is that I do not have to listen to music all the time, but yet I still miss her a lot. On top of this, my youngest sister, Haley, will be studying abroad where Carly is and no one will be home except my mom and dad. I miss my sister a lot for her personality, and the way she lifted everybody’s spirits and she never stopped doing that. I got some shirts for Christmas from her that made me wish she was here and that made me even sadder.

Plus, on New Year’s Eve, she would spend the whole night with me doing what I wanted to do and she wasn’t here to do that either.

I am trusting in God to get me through the next year. I know He is always with me even when I think I’m by myself, so during the holidays was the most difficult part for me during the past two months.

valentine's day 2008

its kinda funny, the longer you've been together the less important Valentine's day becomes. (at least thats what we've found) Showing love now is taking out the trash, cooking dinner, or doing the dishes. We did have a good evening together though. Since we had just tiled our floor our stove wasn't hooked back up yet, so i used the crockpot and made dinner, and watched a "chick flick." overall a good Valentine's.

its official!

this pictures was when ryan found out he PASSED the State of Iowa Appraising Boards (a 2.5 year process along with three separate tests and evaluations!) I am sooooooo proud of him!!

i stole this idea from rachel! :-)

I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items.
You can only pick one thing from the following departments. What is it?

1. Produce: apples
2. Bakery: rolls
3. Meat: chicken
4. Frozen: birthday cake ice cream
5. Dry goods: Popcorn

Let's say we're heading out for a weekend getaway. You're only allowed to bring 3 articles of CLOTHING with you. So, what's in your bag?

1. sweatshirt
2. jeans
3. Ryan's Socks

One task you wish you were better at doing?

1. serving others


If I were to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 5 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?

1. "White, wheat of onion bun?"
2. "Ryan, I've got a great idea!"
3. "Hi sweetiepop"
4. "count your blessings!"
5. "i hate that boone phone!"

What 3 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn't get to do, you probably wouldn't be in the best mood?

1. kissing ryan
2. check my e-mail
3. quiet time

What 5 places do you visit roughly every week?

1. lowes
2. Church
3. the farm
4. hickory park
5. bank

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You just scored tickets to the taping of any show that comes on t.v. of your choice. You can pick between 4, so what are you deciding between?

1. Dr. Phil
2. Oprah
3. Brothers & Sisters
4. anything on HDTV


Somebody stole your purse… in order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it. So, what's in there?

1. cell phone
2. chapstick
3. wallet
4. a little red cross holder my grandma made me
5. asprin

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a "small project"

this week we started to put ceramic tile in our hallway, kitchen & breakfast nook. Boppa came by & helped us, we couldn't of done it without him!

the two loves of my life!