Try this again!!

OK, this is really bad, but I am really going to try to keep this up to date as we have some many friends and family that live away from us. Dan and I are doing well. We have been spending more time in Dickinson and enjoys the friends that we have made here. That doesn't mean that we would move back to Bismarck in a heart beat, but that time will come someday!! We have both been busy with work, but we have enjoyed our down time too. Dan did his annual fishing tournament this summer in Devils Lake and had a blast, as always.
We had a rough start to our summer finding out that we were expecting, but 2 weeks later we had a miscarriage at 7 weeks. We have become closer through this loss and are finding the strength in each other to make it through. We are super excited for all of out friends and family that are having babies, but it is a bitter sweet time for us. We will make it through and are stronger for it.
We look forward to going to Minnesota for a Twins Baseball game and to see Dan's brother, Jim. We always enjoy ourselves when we get away and really look forward to some time together. Not much else new here, but I promise this time to keep this thing updated!!

Time is just flying by

Well it has been another very long time since my last update. We are still doing well here. After all the cool thing that my aunt made me while she was here, i decided to take a quilting class and the local quilt shop. I have always loved to have homemade things from family and friends, and now I can start making them!! t has been a really great experience and my good friend, Steph is there with me, so we are learning together!! Dan had been hunting for the last few weeks. He and Steve Best spent a weekend at the farm in October and did some pheasant hunting and a lot of beer drinking. Then opening day of deer season, Dan went with dad. Needless to say, an hour after deer season opened, they both had their deer. We are enjoying the jerky, sausage and slim jims!!

That's all for now!!

It has been awhile!!

OK, well I have fallen behind and stopped updating this. I am going to try to get better. We have had a busy summer and I can't believe that we experienced our first snow this morning. This summer was full, but we also were able to spends some time away. In August, Dan and I went to Minnesota to visit Jim, Dan's brother. We took in a couple of Twins games and spent time with Jim, his girlfriend Lisa and her daughter Allie. We had a great time and enjoyed our time away. Part of August and most of September, my aunt and uncle from Oregon came to visit. We had a BLAST, like we always do!! It was so fun to have them around and we miss them when they leave. They are off to continue their new adventure of full time travelers. We can't wait till they move to ND!! Neil seemed to really find his true calling as a farmer!! He just has to ride the steer on the farm yet and then we will call him a true cowboy!!!

In September, we made the trip to Indiana for Dan's brother Charles' wedding!! We had a blast and the wedding was beautiful!! We spent the first night in Indianapolis, just the two of us!! We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe and played in an arcade for 3 hours. We had the best time together. Then is was off to Bloomington for rehersal and the wedding. The day turned out to be great and we had such a great time. On Sunday we went back to Indianapolis for the night and decided we needed to visit the zoo. We got there just in time to see a dolphin show, which was amazing. I think they are the most amazing creatures on earth. We really had a great time.

Dan is doing well with his job. He was promoted to E6 in July and has been working hard. I made a change in jobs in August. I am still at Stark County Social Services, but I am working with the elderly and disabled. it was a hard transition, but I am enjoying it and I am finally relaxing!! We have officially been living in Dickinson together for a year now and we are enjoying every minute together!! I will try to update more often!!

Planting the garden...

So, I decided that since we have a garden spot at the house here, I will try my hand at a garden. I have grown up watching my mom & dad plant gardens, but never really took a huge interest in it. My grandma Klein also planted gardens, but her style was a little different that my mom and dad's!! So last Thursday, Dan borrowed a tiller and did the garden spot. The dogs loved it and decided that it was their new play area. Dan and I talked about needing to get something to go across so the dogs could not come in. Dan decided to go and find something before we planted. I love Dan dearly and when it comed to hunting, fishing, hockey or Twins Baseball, he has the knowledge. When it comes to around the house things, he is sometimes clueless!! I should have know that this may be a difficult task for him after it took his 3 hours, and 3 doorknobs, to change the locks on 2 of the doors at the house!! So Dan came home very proud of himself the he only paid $14 to get a fence to go across the garden. I walked out to the back yard and find that he got this wire landscaping fence that is about a foot high. Now lets take a look at the two types of dogs that we have, Trigger is a 96 LB Lab and Mattie is a schnauzer that has the attitude of " I do what I want". needless to say it took about 2 minutes for them to get over the fence!! Oh well, he tried!! We will be putting something a Little better in this week!!
So I ended up planting the garden on Saturday morning. I combined a little of how my mom and dad do it and a little how Grandma did it!! Mom and dad measure everything out and do everything according to the package. Grandma had better things to do and would just throw all the seed in the garden and let it all co-habitat!!! Well I made the rows, but then just threw the seed in the rows and covered it up!! I had other things to do also!! The tanning bed was calling my name and I could hear in the distance that Maurice's was having a big sale, so the priorities were set!! We we will see how things go, I will keep you posted on how the garden works!!

New adventures in the future!

I will be changing positions at Stark County Social Services. I am currently working 20 hours in 2 of the elementary schools, which I will keep. The other part of my job is called Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) which is through a contract with the Village Family Services in Bismarck. That is the part that I will be happy to be done with. Since it was funded through a Bush Grant, our funding would run out in October. They did work with the Department of Human Services and the legislature this year, but they did not pass the bill with FGDM in it. That in turn means that they are cutting my program, the end of June. I am excited to be moving on. I know that it is a good program, but it is a hard sell in a community where people don't want others to know their business. Dickinson has that small town feel, with some big town amenities. My contract will end on June 30th.
My new adventure will be Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) or sometimes referred to elder care. I am very excited to be taking this on. I truly think I will enjoy working with the elderly and those who can remain in their homes with assistance. I think it will be a rewarding job and will keep me busy. I am very excited to broaden my horizons, there is so much a person can do with a Social work degree and I am fortunate to have done a lot of it. There are so many different funding sources for the elderly and it will be great to learn all of them, since we will someday have elderly parents!! I will try to keep this updated to let you know how the transition is going!!
Oh and 1 more thing, I got a new to me car. We decided that we had enough with the Rendevous. It spent way too much time in the shop and was not dependable for me. We bought a 2008 silver Grand Prix. It is a sporty little thing and something that I have wanted for years. Thanks to my wonderful husband, I now have one!! We were so glad to be done with the Rendevous, it was a piece of shit!!!
Ta Ta for now!!

A long time...

OK, so I am getting really bad at this, but I will try to keep it more up to date.

We have had a lot happen as always. We finally sold our house in Lincoln. It was such a relief for us. We are finally feeling like Dickinson is home. We still really enjoy it down here and are very thankful for all of our great friends that we have met. Dan has been working hard with recruiting and is doing a great job. He is on track right now and continues to work more kids. My position at Stark County will be going through some changes. I am currently working 20 hours a week for the Village Family Services in Bismarck, but that contract will be ending on June 30th and will not be renewed. The legislature cut the funding for the program, so that eliminates my position. Right now, my boss is looking at restructuring things in order for me to pick up another 20 hours in a different program. It is looking like it will possibly be in HCBS(elder care). I am excited for a new adventure, I am needing something a little more challenging than what I am doing. I will continue with the school piece, which will be great. I will keep you posted at to what is going on.
We have a few projects that we will be doing this summer. I want to take the wall paper down in our kitchen and I would like to paint the outside of the house. I know everyone will miss the fruit and flower wall paper, but I will keep a little piece to remind us of how lovely the kitchen was!!
We brought Trigger down last weekend and he is doing great! He is adjusting very well and has found his spot to lay in the backyard. It has rained a couple of days so he has been stuck in the garage, but Mattie keeps him company and loves to be with him. It has been an adjustment for me though. Mattie was always inside with me in the evenings and now she spends her time out with Trigger. Oh well, I just spend more time outside now!!
That is about it for now. I will really try to keep this updated more!!

Update on us!

Sorry it has been awhile since I updated this thing. Work has been super busy for Dan and myself. Dan has been working really hard to get kids in and it is paying off. He went to Fargo last week and enlisted 2 and this week he is working on another prior services guy. Dan has been putting in long hours at the office, so we value the little time that we get together.
Work for me has been picking up very steadily. I guess the long winter is getting to everyone!! I am still enjoying my job, even though it can be very trying at times. I was asked to look at moving up into a Child Protection position here at Stark County, but I am not sure if that is really what I would want to do. It is better pay, but more stress too!!
Two weekends ago, I went back to Lincoln and, with the help of mom & dad, cleaned the house. We did the carpets and wiped out everything. We are still waiting for a possible offer on the house, but we are hoping with spring coming, it will go!!
Last weekend we just went back Friday afternoon and came home Saturday. It was mom's birthday, so we took her out to eat and then to the Bobcat's hockey game. I am sure it was just what she wanted to do on her day!! Oh well, it was a good time!!
Saturday night we went out with Friends from here. We had a blast. After we went out to supper, we went to our house and played games and had more to drink!! Unfortunately, I had a little too much and a few of the girls took very good care of me!! A person doesn't realize that once you get older, it takes 2 days to recover from all the drinking!! I think I learned my lesson, but I am sure it will probably happen again in this lifetime!! It is the damn Morgan Diets that get me every time. I guess I shouldn't poor too much in my glass and then take a few drinks of it before I pour in the Diet Coke!! I think I learned that from my aunt, Sissy!! Or maybe she learned that from me?? Not sure on that one!!
Everything else is going good. Dan is going to Grand Forks this weekend for Sioux hockey playoffs with his good friend Steve. I am excited for him to go and have a good time, he deserves it!! I am still pondering what I am going to do, I will probably just go and visit mom & dad. That is it for us now, we hope everyone is staying warm!!