Don't try this at home

Well, I'm sure most of you have heard about Dan's car accident. For those of you that haven't, here is a recap:

Dan was driving on a county road on his way to work. He fell asleep (he had been working a second job which was third shift), crossed over to the left side, went into the ditch, drove what we estimate about 100 feet, then ran head on into a retaining wall for someone's driveway made out of railroad ties. He only woke up right before the wall and never had time to react. A couple guys stopped to help and at that time Dan's nose was hurting and bleeding all over the place. At first they thought he should stay in the car and not move but then smoke started coming into the car so they got him out. Soon after the car went up in flames. This was Dan's Pontiac...not our Toyota.

An ambulance came and took him to the hospital which is where I met up with him. He had blood all over his face and his nose wasn't looking so good (his nose/eyebrow area hit his steering wheel). They took x-rays of his nose and the jury is still out as of this moment whether it's broken or not. His nose and right eyelid were swollen and he has some other cuts and abrasions but that's the worst of it. We are so thankful he was wearing his seatbelt. If he hadn't been he for sure would've flown right into/through the windshield. I just can't thank God enough for all the things that "could've happened" but didn't. We are so fortunate.

Everyone we had to deal with (ER, police, auto insurance, the people whose retaining wall he busted into, etc...) were so nice, helpful, and understanding.

It was an exhausting day but we were surrounded by God's protection and love all day. Dan even went back to work the next day. Oh, and he quit his second job. =)

He is meeting with a nose doctor today to see what's actually wrong with his nose.

Believe it or not, other things have been going on as well! This past weekend was our Christmas production at church. It was awesome. I can't even describe it. Dan did a fabulous job as one of the rich men. I'm looking forward to buying the DVD. They held 8 performances and last I heard 5 were sold out.

Anyone done with their Christmas shopping yet? If you are that's just sick and wrong. You should learn to procrastinate. Call me for lessons. I did get three packages out today (hint hint Kelly and mom).

And now what everyone has been looking foward to. The pictures of the accident:

The retaining wall he hit. It was for someone's driveway. It is about 5 feet high.





























His tracks are the ones on the left coming from the bottom of the picture. The tracks on the right are from the tow truck.















I drew in a black arrow at the top to show where Dan's tracks start (not to be confused with the tow trucks on the left side).















And now the car...











































The inside of the front of the car
















And finally the picture that really shows the damage from the fire

17 people for dinner? sure we can do it!

Last night was the Thanksgiving dinner with the international people. We ended up with 17 people total. It was a tight fit in the kitchen but it worked. We assembled a buffet line and we had tons of food. We had turkey, veggies with dip, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, greenbean casserole, stuffing, two pumpkin pies, and one apple pie. Plus, the couple from Russia brought Russian chocolates which I couldn't eat but they looked good! The cleanup wasn't too bad at then end of the night either. Thank goodness for the dishwasher!

Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Rochester for Thanksgiving. We're coming back on Friday evening. I'm looking forward to seeing my niece and nephews and getting a lot of pictures of them to post for everyone. =) I'm also looking forward to stuffing myself silly with yummy food.

Some sad news. I have 8 bosses at work and this morning one of them passed away. He developed some health problems a couple months ago and hadn't been in to work since. A couple Fridays ago our department went to his house to rake up his leaves. He came out to thank us and even though he was much thinner he seemed well. We got word on Monday that he was being moved into a Hospice so even though he wasn't doing well I really didn't expect him to pass away so soon. I worked with him a lot on projects and even though he smelled of strong coffee I did enjoy his humor. =) My thoughts are with his family and the upcoming holidays. He leaves a wife, children, and grandchildren. I am hoping to make it to his funeral on Saturday.

Sorry to end on such a sad note. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Witches are scary!

Anyone else looking forward to Thanksgiving a.k.a eat-a-lot-of-food-until-you-pass-out-day? I am! Our bible study is cooking a Thanksgiving meal for some international students on campus. I'm looking forward to sharing our holiday with them and telling them about Thanksgiving. It's nice to finally have a home that we can open up to other people.

Dan's schedule for the Christmas program is really picking up. I'm looking forward to seeing it this year. Cornerstone just goes all out for their productions. I'm sure we'll be buying it on DVD if anyone wants to borrow it. =)

Last Saturday two bible study groups got together and played a friendly game of football. On Monday, when I saw a few people who played, we all complained about how sore we still were. Either it's a sign of aging, a sign we're not in shape, or both! I'm proud to say the team I was on won 2-1. I did have to sit out towards the end because my toenail ripped and started bleeding. ewww. Who knew that could happen during a football game?

Dan and I hit the clearance aisle at Target for some Halloween decorations. Lucky us, we found a costume for a small dog and decided it would be perfect for Lisle. Below is a picture of Lisle and you can tell from his expression that he just loves the costume. The next picture is me, my friend Amanda, and my other friend's son Carter. We're watching the football game from the sidelines. =)

Swings are fun!

In looking back over my posts I realized that I use a lot of exclamation points in the titles. Is it bad that I'm excited and I want to emphasize that excitement? I don't think so. I'll keep doing it then.

I think the biggest thing that has happened in the past two weeks is that my friend Kelly (see post below about trip to Georgia) had her baby boy! His name is Brad (short for Bradford) and so far he is eating, going to the bathroom, sleeping, and crying just for the fun of it. Sounds like a healthy baby to me! They're home now and enjoying some peace and quiet I'm sure.

Dan is going to be in the Christmas production at church and the practices for that are pretty time consuming. Our productions are large and very professionaly done so I'm looking forward to it. I will have a lot of alone time as Dan has his practices. Someone joked that all the spouses should form some kind of support group so we can all get together while they practice. =)

We have been enjoying the gorgeous weather lately. The temperatures have been awesome. We walked down a trail near our house and played on the swings (pics of that at the end). Of course the really nice playground is at the other end in the bigger houses neighborhood while on our end in the old ranch houses neighborhood is the cheap version of a playground. Oh well...at least there's one in walking distance.

























































I'll throw one in of Lisle too. My friend said he looks like he's on his throne looking down on all the commoners.

Oh baby!

We survived our weekend with the triplets! I took 103 pictures over the weekend so I will post some at the end. The triplets are growing and they are so cute! They are just all smiles and love to babble and smile at you. They can also get quite a grip on your hair. =) Owen is such a great big brother and enjoys his roll of making the babies happy.

We also had a lot of fun at the Alison Krauss concert. When we walked up to the arena there was a long line of people but we got to go in a separate entrance just for VIP tickets. Then in our clubs seats (second row up) we had an envelope at our seats if we wanted to order any food. We just mark it on the envelope, put our money in, and then wave it at our server who would come down and get it. We also had our own concession stand with some tables and chairs in a glass enclosed area. It was really nice! The concert was great too. =) There's nothing like hearing blue grass in person.

Tuesday evening I was down in the basement getting pop to bring up to the fridge. When heading up the steps I noticed a large black insect. I started yelling for Dan to come and kill the big black insect (Dan is the insect killer). While Dan tried to catch it it jumped which freaked me out and a Pepsi with lime fell onto the floor and burst open spraying Pepsi onto the carpet. I stood there watching it because, really, what could I do? If I moved it, it would just spray other things. So I watched it spray until it finished. It was a pain to clean. At least it smelled like lime though. Dan just laughed at me. Which is why I'll add that his grover (character from Sesame Street) stuffed animal survived because it was in a plastic bag. =)

Pics!

Ariana:














































Brandon:


































Evan:





























Owen saying, "CHEEEEESE!!"

I love Pioneer!

Dan won tickets to see Alison Krauss through his company! (sorry Carrie!!) Earlier we had decided to not spend the money on the concert even though we both wanted to see her. Not only will we get better seats than we could typically afford but we also get to enter through the V.I.P. entrance! I don't know what exactly that means but it sounds good!

The past two days the temperature was up to 90 (I put that in for Kelly) and now we're back down to 55 again. The Midwest is crazy!

The garage sale season is winding so I'm sure anything I buy from now until next season will seem expensive. Speaking of buying...the financial class at church is going really well. We'll see how well we stick to our budget this month. It's easier to stick to it when you go to class every week and are accountable to other people.

I took my two licensing exams Monday and Tuesday. They were really hard and I'm pretty sure I'll be taking them again. Now, at least, I have a better idea of how to study.

This weekend we're visiting Owen and the triplets (oh, and David and Marisa)! I'm excited to get some new pictures of me and Dan with all the kids using my new camera. Then, of course, I'll post them here for you to see!

I'm wearing a sweater today!

It's fun wearing my first sweater of the season. Especially since I got it at a garage sale. My computer says it's 55 degrees outside. I love it! Anyone else watching The Amazing Race? I didn't think I'd like the family version but the first episode was pretty good!

Tonight Dan and I are going out to the "M-Shop" which is on Iowa State's campus and has lesser known musicians. We're going to see someone who Dan describes as R&B/Jazz. Should be fun! It's a fun atmosphere because you're right there with the musician and you can sit at tables and have some popcorn and a drink.

Next Monday and Tuesday I am taking two multiple choice exams for my Landscape Architecture license. There are three multiple choice and five designs exams in all. Hardly anyone passes all the first time. Whenever I pass all of them I'll be eligible for my license...and then they can pay me more! Then when people ask me what I do I can say I'm a Landscape Architect and it won't be "illegal"!

Here are a couple pics of Lisle enjoying himself outside.

Good news

Found out today that Evan, one of the triplets, is finally home from the hospital. He went in like a month ago (longer?) for his second of three heart surgeries. The heart part went fine but they tore a lymph node and it kept leaking and wouldn't heal (I hope I got all of that right). They ended up doing another surgery to fix it and apparently they did! I'm so glad he's home now. Poor little guy.

Saturday Dan and I start our financial planning class at church. I'm looking forward to it. I think it will help us handle our money better. It's part of the young marrieds class so we're also meeting couples our age and at the same stage of life.

I think this weekend I will be getting the fall decorations out. Today is the official first day of fall even though it's been 90 here all week. I've heard a rumor that it will be getting cooler though. I'm looking forward to cooler weather.

Can't wait for fall

I'm ready for summer to be over and for fall to arrive. Here's a list of the things I'm looking forward to: leaves changing color, wearing all the sweaters I got at garage sales over the summer, warming up apple cider on the stove, cooler weather, getting new jeans and cords, putting up all my fall decorations, and the crisp air that fall brings. I'm sure there are plenty more...what are you looking forward to?

A friend of ours had twins last week. There was an article in the paper about it because the hospital delivered three sets of twins that day. I guess it was a first for the hospital. It was also the day that we had a huge storm blow through. Our friend just happened to have hers delivered right around the time a tornado touched down on Iowa State's campus. All three sets are doing fine according to the article. I'm sure it made for a crazy day at the hospital.

For all you cat lovers out there, check out www.stuffonmycat.com It's hilarious! I will have to do something fun to Lisle and submit a picture. =)

More pictures!

Another weekend gone by and we are back at work. Friday night we watched the Green Mile. I bought it at a garage sale but had never seen it. I assumed since Tom Hanks was in it that I would like it. I was right! It was such a good movie. I love it when 3 hour movies feel like 2 hours.

Saturday morning I went to garage sales and Dan went to his men's group. Afterwards I cleaned like a mad woman around the house. It was getting messy. Dan slept. Poor thing is suffering from really bad allergies. Then we watched Iowa State stomp on Iowa. What a great game! Go Cyclones!

I don't think we did anything on Sunday. Isn't that what Sunday's are for? I did make a yummy dessert for my women's bible study which starts tonight. We decided we needed to test it to make sure it was indeed yummy. It was. =)

Time for pictures!

Here are some new ones of Lisle. I got him sleeping on his back all sprawled out. What a funny cat. I'm still getting used to the new camera so I'm sorry if they're blurry.




Here is a before of the living room after we ripped up the carpet:



Then with new hardwood floor, new furniture, and green walls:



Front and back of the house:

Okay, okay. I'll start our blog!

One of my friends, Carrie Palasinski, got on my case about having a blog site and never using it. So here I am, using it for the first time. I just feel like in order to have a blog you should really have something interesting to say, which I rarely do, so I think it will just have to be a boring meaningless blog that I force all my friends and family to read! Just out of spite, here is a picture of Carrie who made me do this.

Speaking of Carrie....I just got back from a long weekend in Savannah, Georgia for my annual college girlfriend get together with Carrie and Kelly. Downtown Savannah is gorgeous! We had a lot of fun. Here is me and Kelly getting our pedicure and then Carrie and me waiting at the airport to leave Savannah.

Tomorrow I hope to get my act together and post pics of our kitty and our new house!