Seattle... and still more change

Growing up, I often got "perfect attendance" at the end of the school year. And the years that it wasn't perfect, it was close. I rarely missed school for being sick. I only skipped class in college once or twice. And, prior to this year, I only missed work for being sick once a year- twice at the most. But since last fall, I've been getting sick a lot. It's ridiculous! I don't like it. I was sick last week with a runny nose and the sniffles, and now this week I got sick with a sore throat/flu or something. I've been a sorry mess, and have been out of commission the past couple of days. Yuck.

My roommate Cammi told me that I'm grounded. She says I'm sick because I've been too busy. And this is probably a sound theory. I went to Seattle a couple of weeks ago for a conference for work, and I'm sure the traveling and the crazy hours (my flight home was delayed and I didn't get back until 3 in the morning) had something to do with it. And since then, there has been plenty to keep me running. BUT, sickness aside, I had a great trip to the Pacific Northwest. I loved the weather and loved the city. Here are some highlights:

On my first day, I walked down to the Waterfront and did some exploring. I ended up taking a water taxi on Elliot Bay and ended up at a place called Alki Beach. I enjoyed just walking around and taking in the skyline.

On Thursday, the sky was clear, so I had to take advantage of it and visit the Space Needle. While in line to the monorail, I started talking to some people with Iowa shirts on. It turns out they were from Oxford. One girl knew Nancy, and the other woman was the mother-in-law of one of Natalie's good friends. Small world! Here I am at the top of the Needle:

On Sunday, I had some time before my flight to make it down to Pike's Place Market. I loved it! It was so fun to wander amongst the vendors. I bought some fruit, some snap peas, some beef jerky for Matthew, and had lunch at a seafood joint with a waterfront view.

It was a great trip, but I was glad to get back home.

In other news, I'm taking a new job at work. My good work friend Elaine is having Baby Number 3 in just a few weeks and will not be coming back. I've been offered her job. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. I'm kind of in denial, actually. Both she and my other work friend, Lindsey, will be leaving within a week of each other and the mere thought of it makes me want to cry. So I've been pretending that it's not happening. But it is. I had to give an answer this week. My new job will be as Grants Manager.

I think the couch is calling my name. I really hope I'm better by tomorrow so I can enjoy some of this 4th of July weekend. I hope you all enjoy your holiday as well!

Of Windmills and Wooden Shoes

Last weekend, Matthew and I visited his hometown of Pella, the second most fun ethnic, touristy community in Iowa (sorry, but I think I'll forever be biased towards Amana!). I've visited Pella with Matt several times in the last eight months, but last weekend was the first time we were there with decent weather. Thus, we decided to see some of the sites:

Our first stop was the Vermeer Windmill, the tallest windmill in the United States.

We then toured the Historical Village.

And then we went to Lake Red Rock, where we climbed the observation tower, took the trail out to the cliffs, and even spotted a fawn.




We also enjoyed time with Matthew's family, including his newest niece, Rachel Johanna, who was born to Dave and Kristine a couple of weeks ago. He now has five nieces!

It was a fun weekend... and now I'm off on another adventure- I'm headed to Seattle tomorrow for a conference for work.

As the Dutch would say, "vaarwel"! (I actually don't know if that's how the Pella Dutch would say it- I googled "goodbye in Dutch" and it came up with several different options). So, maybe I should stay on the safe side, and stick to my German: Aufwiedersehen!

The Last Five Years

This past weekend marked five years of living in Omaha. I remember that I went to Josh and Katie's wedding that Saturday, and then moved to O-town on Sunday. Josh and Katie now have three kids, and I still live here. If you had told me then that I'd not only be here five years later, but love it here, I wouldn't have believed it.

The first few days/weeks/months I spent here were brutal. I will never forget how alone I felt in my empty apartment, watching my parents drive away that first Monday night. I was so scared. Earlier in the day, as I was freaking out about the choice I had made, I remember being silly and making a list of all of the people I was going to miss at home and in Cedar Rapids, and then I made a list of the people I knew in Omaha, and the contrast was terrifying. I was practically counting down the weeks until my one-year lease would be up and I could move back to CR where I belonged. But God had other plans.

A few weeks into living here, I decided to visit a church that caught my eye in the phonebook. And that (gradually) changed everything.

From that church, I have made some of my best friends and met my Matthew. The dynamics of my life here have changed a lot over the last five years, with many ups and downs. I spent a lot of time wanting to leave and go anywhere else. But now I am so, so glad I stayed.

The fact that I'm basically working at the same place surprises me, too. Who knew that one internship at the Nebraska Arts Council six years ago would lead to this?

Five years later, I have five roommates now. Yep, five. Our friends Julie, Cammi, and Meghan moved in about a month or so ago to join me, Charlotte and Aleeta, and it's made life here all sorts of fun. In fact, right now they are all being rambuctious and giggly in the kitchen, so I will blame this dis-jointed blog post on them. I'm a bit distracted as I write, but it's fun. I'm enjoying having so many people around all the time. It's almost like being back in B5 again.

Speaking of B5, Emily got married last month (yeah, I know I still need to work on updating this more regularly!). That makes over half of us married now also in the last five years:

I asked my roommates how I should end this post. It's a toss up between "Good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" and "I am done writing now." The end.

What I Like About You

Over the past seven months, Matthew has planned some great dates. It started out great- our very first date back in October was to a Shakespeare on the Green performance and picnic at Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs. Since then, we've had all sorts of adventures mixed in with nice low-key nights as well.

Here are some of the things we've been up to lately: Two weeks ago, I had the day off for Arbor Day. Yes, I know- you're jealous. It's one of the perks of working for the State of Nebraska- we get several state holidays throughout the year, including Arbor Day, which originated in Nebraska. Matthew took the day off, too, and it was pretty much the best day ever. I made us some chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, and then we went out on our first quest to find a letterbox.

Here is how letterboxing works. There are websites (http://www.letterboxing.org/ and http://www.letterboxing.info/) where you can find clues. The treasure at the end of the clues is a book in a box and a stamp. So, the person finding the book stamps it with his or her own stamp and leaves a note in it, and then uses the stamp that's found in the box to stamp his or her own journal. For example...

On Friday, we set out for Standing Bear Lake. The clues were a bit tricky, but we eventually found the hidden spot:

The box we found had unfortunately been damaged by the elements, but we made it work anyway.

Here we are with our journal, stamped with the stamps we found in the tree:

And here is our stamp in the book we put back in the tree:

It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more treasure hunts around Omaha, Amana and Pella.

Oh, and after our walk at the lake, we headed to Lincoln to a Jars of Clay concert. Yep, best day ever.

Last week, Matthew planned a surprise date for me. He picked me up at my house and we went and rented a movie, picked up a pizza at Hy-Vee, and then the rest was a surprise. He had wanted to take me to a drive-in movie, but then realized there isn't one of those around here anywhere. So, he improvised. He borrowed his roommate Emmanuel's laptop and we went to the park behind the Whitneys' and set up our own movie theater in his car. We watched Marley and Me with the windows down, eating pizza and chocolate covered raisins (my favorite movie candy). I loved it.

I just love that nothing is off-limits for a date. This past Wednesday, he had to have his car repaired and in so doing stumbled upon a fun activity- we went to the Chevy dealer that night to watch them unveil the new Camaro. They had free hamburgers and hot dogs, and we watched them uncover the car under a dramatic haze of fog, dimmed lights, and rock music.

And then we went to Menards. Which leads me to the other kind of "dates" we've had lately- basement demolition. I can't accurately explain quite what happened, but about two weeks ago Matt got water in his basement which has necessitated a basement remodel (the basement is also the living room). He was going to redo this room eventually (note pink walls from previous owner)- he just wasn't expecting to have to do this so soon, especially with his kitchen also under construction. So, I've spent a few nights since then over at his place helping him clean up. Considering the circumstances, it actually has been fun being able to tear stuff up!

All the pink is gone now, the carpet is gone, and he's getting ready to start making it livable again. Hence Wednesday night's trip to Menards (and Saturday night's, too, for that matter).

Matthew is also making me into a gardener. A novice gardener, but a gardener all the same. We sowed some seeds back in March and they've slowly but surely been growing bigger and bigger. We planted some eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers. Most of them are still in the house in the makeshift greenhouse Matt made, but Wednesday night we planted some of the tomatoes outside in the planters (which Matt also made- he's a man of many talents). I haven't previously done too much gardening in my day, but I'm actually really enjoying getting my hands dirty and watching them all grow. Tabitha says gardening is like magic. I tend to agree.

In fact, I better get to bed so I can head to Bellevue tomorrow morning and do some more planting!

Three Baby Boys and Another Engagement

I need to update my blog more often, I know. I go just a couple of weeks without doing so, and find that there is too much to talk about by the time I'm able to write again.

Last Saturday (as in a week ago) was kind of weird. Jonelle invited me to go shopping with her, so I met her at Westroads and we spent a couple of hours wandering around. She was very pregnant last Saturday. As in due-any-day-pregnant. From the mall, I went directly over to Jenn's to hang out for awhile before church. Jenn, too, was very pregnant last Saturday. As in due-any-day-pregnant. Spending time with these ladies back to back was just kind of bizarre.

One week later, yesterday Charlotte and I went to the hospital and first met little Michael, Tim and Jonelle's son, who was born on Thursday. He has her nose, which is pretty adorable.

We then went up one level and saw little Tommy, Tom and Jenn's little guy, who was born last Sunday. He's still in the NICU because he has a heart condition and will be having surgery tomorrow morning. We all have high hopes because the surgery has a high success rate, but it's still a bit unnerving and if you're the praying the type, I know Tom and Jenn would appreciate your prayers that all goes well tomorrow morning.

It's been the year for baby boys. Two weeks ago, Matthew and I went to Amana for Easter, and that Saturday we went up to Cedar Rapids to spend time with Leslie and Matt and their kids Nolan (3) and Reese (1) and also with Josh and Katie and their kids Sophie (3), Abby (almost 2), and little Charlie, who was born back in February. It was fun to spend the afternoon with all of them, and also mind-boggling to see how their families have grown in the last five years since college. This is Charlie:

Anyway, if this week wasn't exciting enough with the news of these two new little boys, this also happened yesterday:

Yep, Justin and Morgan got engaged.

You miss a day around here and you miss a lot! I'll try to post more often to keep up! :-)

(not quite) 27 Dresses

After my trip home at the end of March, Nancy posted these pictures of her, our cousin Hillary, Natalie's friend Jeanna and me trying on potential bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal in Cedar Rapids on Facebook. My friend Teresa commented on my wall, "Are you a professional bridesmaid?" Lately it has been seeming that way. There was Staci's wedding in September, Beth's in March, and now I'm gearing up to be Maid of Honor in Natalie's this August.

It's been fun being in these weddings. Prior to Staci's, the last time I had been a bridesmaid was at Aroea's and Kevin's wedding back in 2002. It had been awhile. It's been an honor to be a part of all of these ladies' special days. And, unlike poor Katherine Heigl's character in the movie 27 Dresses, I've liked all the dresses I've had to wear so far. I probably won't shorten them to wear them again, but they've been good picks all the same. :-)

Two weeks ago, Hillary flew into Omaha from Pittsburgh, where she goes to college, in order to take part in the dress shopping fun. It was great having her here in O-town, and fun having her along on our road trip to Amana to meet up with my sisters. We tried on many dresses over the course of the weekend, and it paid off when we found one that all five bridesmaids could agree on (we actually don't have a good picture of any of us in the winning dress, so you'll just have to wait until August, I suppose).

One of the most fun and unexpected moments of the weekend came while in the dressing room at Hope's Bridal with Natalie's good friend (and Aroea's sister) Rohana. First, some backstory: The first time Aroea was pregnant (with Cainen), the surprise was ruined for me by Natalie. Nat and I were talking on the phone one day and, out of nowhere, she says to me, "Have you talked to Aroea lately?" "No, why?" "No reason..." That made me very, very suspicious, so I tried to call Aroea and when I finally got a hold of her, sure enough, my suspicions were correct. She was pregnant.

THEN... two years ago, Katie had just given birth to Abby, her second daughter. I happened to be talking on the phone to Nancy later that night and said something to her about how it was so weird to have friends with not one, but two kids already! And then Nancy (who is friends with Aroea and Rohana's younger sister Katrina) goes and says, without missing a beat, "Have you talked to Aroea yet?" Oh no, I thought, not again! I called Aroea and left her a voicemail: "Are you pregnant again? Our sisters have big mouths!" and sure enough she was pregnant with Jonas.

After that I made her promise that the next time she's pregnant, she needs to tell me immediately after she tells Rohana and Katrina so that the surprise will not be ruined by my not-so-subtle sisters!

You can probably guess where this story is going. We get to Hope's Bridal and it's time to start trying on the dresses that we've pulled off the racks. So I go into a dressing room, and Rohana comes in after me. "Oh good," she says, "I was hoping I'd have a chance to talk to you alone..." She proceeds to tell me that she now is pregnant, and she wanted to be sure that I knew before Natalie did. Ha! I thought that was so fun of her to think of me! So we each put on a dress and go out to model and she pulls her dress away from her belly and points out that she thinks it will be good for growing. Growing? Natalie looked confused. "Yeah, growing," Rohana says, motioning to her belly while I'm standing behind her jumping up and down and clapping. Finally Natalie gets the hint and screams and all that good stuff. And then Rohana adds, "And Nicole knew first!" That's right I did!

From Hope's Bridal, Rohana and I actually headed up to Hiawatha to get ready for a sort-of surprise party for Aroea's golden birthday (she turned 27 on the 27th). Aroea knew she was getting a party- the surprise was that she didn't know the activities planned, nor did she know who all would be there. She was very surprised to see me, that's for sure, especially since I'd called her the day before (her actual birthday) and left her a voicemail about how I missed her and wanted to talk soon and hoped she had a good birthday and all of that... I'm sneaky.

The premise of the party was an Amazing Race-type scavenger hunt at Lindale Mall that her husband Kevin put together. It was great. There were three teams and the goal was to complete as many of the 27 tasks and get the most points as possible. It was great fun. Here are some examples from some of the photo challenges:

The first task was to get a picture of all the team members coming down the escalator. Another task was to get a photo with the whole team in mid-air. We got a bonus for getting a stranger (in the center) to pose with us. Technically, I'm not in the air in this picture, but it still won for best photo of the night thanks to the fact that Chris' head isn't even in the frame! Another challenge told us to buy bubble gum and have the bubbles touch. The photo here is of Aroea and her brother-in-law (Rohana's husband Derrick) doing just that. And we also had to pose on the merry-go-round. And a kid came up and posed with us! The most daring feat completed by our team was by Aroea. For one of the challenges, she stood by the fountain in the middle of the mall and started singing "The Star Spangled Banner" in full force. The goal was to draw a crowd of at least nine people, and she did just that- even the Easter Bunny came over to check it out. I was pretty impressed. That Aroea, she's my hero- my Napoleon, if you will (there's a story behind that nickname from high school, but I'll save that for another time).

And for gifts, the invitation recommended gifts that either had to do with golden things, or the number 27. So I brought her a box of Golden Grahams and the movie... you guessed it... 27 Dresses.

Six Months

Yesterday was a great day. Like, the great kind of day when not even tense work situations or crabby constituents can get you down (I had a few of those moments yesterday, and frankly didn't care a bit).

I got up more or less on time in the morning, which is no small feat for me. I was able to spend some time with God- I just started going through this study on Philippians and am quickly realizing that it's probably my favorite book- so many of my favorite verses are in there. So, I drove to work feeling encouraged and refreshed, listening to Jon Foreman. When I got to work, I was enjoying a really yummy bowl of my new favorite cereal (Just Bunches), and a very sweet email popped into my inbox from Jenn. I love her- she's good stuff.

It all just started on a sweet note- nothing major, but blessings all the same. Elaine and I went to Jimmy John's for lunch, which is always a good time, and when I got back, I checked my email to find that Matthew had sent me a song on imeem. That alone made my day right there. But then, an hour or two later, my co-worker called me to the front desk because there was a flower delivery for me. Matthew had sent me a beautiful red Gerber daisy. From that point on, I didn't stop smiling the rest of the day. Oh- and then I checked my bank account and saw that I got my tax return! It just kept getting better and better.

At 6:00, Matt was at my door with more flowers- six white daisies to celebrate six months together. We enjoyed a lovely evening of dinner at Bianco, Coldstone ice cream, and great music and conversation. Half a year already... I am such a blessed girl!