Wait! I never posted this? Oops...

So I was scrolling through the dashboard on my blogger account and found that *SURPRISE!* I wrote this post at the end of July and never actually posted it. I had paused before I put in the pictures and apparently never came back. So it's out of order and lacking pictures, but it will make me feel better to not have a perfectly fine blog post go to waste and maybe someone will be interested so here it is. Enjoy! Or skip over. Whatever strikes your fancy.

July 27, 2016

These last 2 months have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. Starting June 1st all the way until today, life has been on the go and there just has been no time for writing and I can feel it. But I'm back and it's time to fill you all in. Yay!

June 1st was the beginning of my first ever, real, live college class. I went waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone and took an oral comm class. Almost masochistic, really. I was, and still am, definitely not comfortable in front of people. But since I am considering a career in communications (writing. not talking.) and it's a gen. ed. no matter where you go, I signed up. Also, I knew the teacher and he was nice so that helped make it a *little* better.

The class was 3 weeks, 3 credits, 3 speeches. I literally did nothing other than that class for all 3 weeks. But at the end I was happy. I had given 3 successful speeches, 1 of which I even thought was *easy*  (insert a shocked face here) and I mostly earned an A- in the class. (A painful and stupid mistake on my part meant that my teacher didn't see the last assignment that I turned in and I got a 0 and actually got a B+ in the class. Note to self: Check the @*#& emails before checking out and switching gears to the next life event.)   **update: I talked to the professor a few weeks later and it turns out that "final grades" are not actually final. He reviewed the last assignment, updated my grade, and I got an A! Yay!**

Which was a trip to Mt. Rushmore! The family all plotted and planned for a year and a half to put together a family reunion at Mt. Rushmore. Four whole days after class ended, we hopped in the car and went. It ended up being a little bit of a sad turnout out of the 9 families since life took plenty of unexpected turns for all of us, but for those of us that made it it was a blast! We did a bit of quasi-camping, sightseeing, and just hanging out with the family. On the way out, our carload stopped in De Smet, SD to check out the Laura Ingalls homestead since Chelsea is still a big fan. I wished we had more time there. We only had about 2 hours, which we stretched out to about 3, and then we had to keep going. And it's a good thing that we got going when we did because just a couple hours later the wheel on the trailer blew! Chunks of rubber everywhere.

We ended up doing a lot of running around trying to find someone that could help us replace the tire, and in the end 2 very nice young men from the construction zone we were in stopped and took the whole trailer away to the dump after we strapped all our stuff to the roof. Since we got rid of it and got back on our way we miraculously made it to the campsite only a few hours late.
Lots of hanging out with the family, lots of sightseeing, and lots of pretending to camp (The kids and I were on a tent site... right next to the cabin everyone else was in so we had a kitchen, running water, electricity, flushing toilets, the whole she-bang. Fun for sure, but definitely not camping.) Dave even drove from Utah to spend 2 days with us. Honestly, the whole thing is a bit fuzzy. That feels like a year ago.

We made it back home with no further car trouble or other unnecessary excitement, and 2 weeks later we went on ANOTHER long road trip! This time to the Francis Family Reunion in Bear Lake, UT and Rexburg, ID. Sue, Tom, and Jocelyn all walked in the graduation ceremony and we all had a great big party. Paddle boarding (way harder than it looks), kayaking (also harder than I remember. We'll blame it on the wicked current/opposite wind combination.), family pictures (Forget the smiles! Let's just get all the faces.), and lots of ice cream. Bear Lake has the most amazing raspberry and peach shakes. Then off to Rexburg for the graduation. We skipped most of the ceremonies since we knew the kids just couldn't sit for that long, but we made it to the convocation. I have decided that I like going to graduation ceremonies for the arts colleges. They did have several speeches, but they also had performances from the dance and music departments. It made it so much more interesting! I really enjoyed the marimba performance. I can't say that I have ever been moved by a percussion performance before. Usually they are just fun. Or just noise. But the song and the emotion behind it were both amazing! I teared up for a marimba. I'm still confused about that.

While we were out in Idaho, Dave was supposed to have a phone interview for a job in Iowa, but there was a communication breakdown and long story short, we got home from Idaho on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon we drove to Iowa for an in-person interview! We drove around the town and out in the country around it and absolutely fell in love. I am wishing/hoping/praying that Dave gets the job so we can move to such a beautiful place. The scenery is great, the people are friendly, and the food was delicious. What more could you ask for? Seriously. Dirt roads, tall corn, a lightning storm rolling in at sunset, and fireflies dancing on the edges of the fields and the top of the corn. Everyone smiles at you. I wasn't quite sure what to do when I happened to look over at the car next to me at the light and instead of looking away she smiled and waved! And I had my first taste of lobster. Oh. my. goodness. Lobster stuffed ravioli swimming in pink cream sauce topped with mushrooms and shrimp. So good. I could live in that place for.e.ver.    **update: We didn't take the job offer that he got from this interview since it wasn't a good fit for Dave, but he interviewed again early in the fall and got the job offer for his current job. So we are living there and have a contract to stay for at least 2 years. Given our track record, that is basically the same as forever.**

Not exaggerating at all, I can say that I have traveled almost 6,000 miles in the last month. I have seen some amazing people, been in some beautiful places, eaten some breathtaking food, AND I got to do it all with family. It's been a whirlwind, but it has been fabulous.

Welcome to Burlington!

Alrighty. I'm trying something new tonight since I can't get my phone to play nice with my computer and upload pictures. I'm writing a blog post on my cell phone! Please excuse my awkward thumbs and any typos they may cause. Acidental or otherwiz.

So I have pretty much decided that I love our new town. We moved to a small Iowa town a little over a month ago and have been getting settled in and visiting family that was previously way too far away and generally falling in love with the goodness that is Burlington, Iowa.

There are many similarities to the area I grew up in, but there are some new and interesting features as well. Burlington is smashed up against the Mississippi River with its own little port where the riverboats coming through from St. Louis stop off and take a peak at the cute little town before moseying up the river on their way to Minneapolis. There is a very nice library with tons of free activities and events for the entire community. This afternoon Chelsea and I attended a Christmas Carol concert put on by the community choir while enjoying free hot chocolate, good books, and snow falling.

A side note: I talked to the director and am currently in the process of setting up an audition to join said choir.  *Sqeeeeeeeee! I'm going to be in a community choir again and they are performing with a nearby university symphony in February! I can't wait!*

Burlington also boasts dozens of Mom and Pop shops, a delicious Italian restaurant, and some very subtle, but amusing, finds.

That there is a pink yield sign. They were even kind enough to put a bright red fire hydrant next to it for comparison. Nope. My camera is not messed up nor am I color challenged. That there is a pink yield sign.

That says "Deery Collision Center". I guess we know their speciality.

Ok, so this isn't so funny, but it's cool. That's an angel ice sculpture cut-out. Chelsea actually found this one today. She makes a pretty cute little angel, if I may say so.

And this one is my favorite. They're not beating about the bush on this one. Don't. Just don't.

Well, that's a peek at Burlington. Come visit sometime! It's pretty fabulous.