Let it snow! Let it snow!

Good morning! After days of predicting a "nasty" winter storm, it arrived here yesterday afternoon. We let our students out just 10 minutes early, and shortly after, all the teachers rushed out as well. My homebound commute usually takes about 45 minutes, while yesterday I averaged a speed of 40 miles an hour, it took me nearly twice that long, but I was glad to make it home without incident.

Last night I got the call that I could enjoy the day off today, because school was cancelled. Although, I'm disappointed, yes, disappointed I can't work today because I have a lot I need to do, I am also very thankful that I didn't have to get up and drive the 35 miles of icy roads.

In watching the forecast where they are still anticipating some snow on top of the icy roads, I came across these beautiful pictures which reminded me of the awesome powers our Lord has. He controls all things; days ago there were fruits budding on trees in 70 degree weather, while today it is 18 degrees with a beautiful glassy coat of ice.

For all of you within the path of this storm and the one going to follow, please be careful on the roads.

Back to the real world...

We had a wonderful break and were able to see numerous family and friends. Wednesday evening we headed out from Overland Park and made the nearly six hour trip to George's parents. We arrived late so his parents were in bed, and we called it a night shortly after arriving as well.

Thursday morning his parents, sister (Joann), George, and I crunched into his dad's Civic and made the three hour journey to George's Aunt Marge's home where she and his cousin, Cathy, had prepared quite the feast. We stayed there and visited with various aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. until later afternoon, then returned to the Civic for the ride home. Thursday evening we spent just visiting with is parents about various things and watched a little bit of tv.

Friday morning I woke up early out of habit, George woke up a little later, then we helped his dad relocate his office to George's former office. A bit before noon it was time to venture towards my parent's home. Friday evening we ate dinner with my sister, Sarah, and her family, and decided to do a little bit of "Black Friday" Christmas shopping.

As always, there was a lot going on at my parent's house as they were planning to head out for a trip. Saturday morning we ran to Columbia and ran some errands for my parents, then I came home and did a little bit of stuff around the house, played with the kids, etc. while George headed over to the church to help my brother-in-law, Mike, work on the church renovations.

The church looks wonderful! There is still a lot of work to do of course, but most of the major renovation is completed and they are addressing the asthetics now. We are very excited and thankful that the church is allowing us to have the wedding there.

Lastly, Sunday we went to Pleasant Grove for church. It was a wonderful service. Elder Bill Pollard was back from being isolated after having his kidney transplant almost two months ago. At this point we still weren't able to shake his hand or hug him, but we really wanted to. He shared his testimony of the surgery and seemed in very good spirits. We continue to thank the Lord for being merciful thus far to him and his sister, Lisa, after their sugeries.

This week is full as usual. My cousin, his wife, and their two children are headed here to spend a few days. I'm looking forward to being able to visit with them.

A time for Thanksgiving

During this time of the year we, as so many others are, are quite busy. I received an e-mail the other day encouraging everyone to think of 1000 things we are thankful for. It has really made me think over the last few days of how much we are blessed with. I can't even begin to list it all... food, shelter, work, transportation, a countless number of friends and family, etc. I just wanted to take a moment to write each of you to thank you for your love and support. So often we forget to say thank you for the little things, so...THANK YOU! We hope each of you are richly blessed over this coming holiday and are able to spend time with loved ones and granted safe travels. Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!!

I O, I O so it's off to work I go!

Finally after a month of sitting around (feeling like a bum) and waiting for my new job to start at Farmers, it began on Monday of this week. All in all the week went by fairly fast, although if you asked me at any point during the week, I'd have told you it was going by so slowly. If you've ever worked insurance before you would completely understand why it would feel as if the day was 30 hours long. We began the week talking about the basics of insurance and then went right into policy and the Oklahoma Adjusters Licensing exam. If you don't think this stuff is boring or better than an instant cure for insomniacs, get a copy of your home or auto insurance policy and read it in it's entirety. You'll be asleep before you make it through it, but if for some reason you can make it through the whole thing, you might just have a future in insurance. Despite the excitement of the first week, which was to be expected, I feel good about my job and I am excited to be back at work. I am so thankful to have found this job as quickly after the move as I did and despite grumbling a few times about waiting a month to actually start, it gave me the opportunity to get settled here in KC before starting work.

Wedding, wedding, and more wedding

Thankfully my wonderful fiance has figured all this blogging stuff out so we can keep friends and family up to date with our life now that we are in Kansas City.

George already wrote about the proposal, I can't really add much to it. It was wonderful, sweet, and romantic. We had a wonderful night that evening just laughing and spending time together. It was the first "fun" thing we had had time to do since we moved to Kansas City.

We have been engaged for 2 1/2 weeks now. So far the planning is well under way. The wedding will Lord willing be on March 3, 2007, so we only have 4 months for planning which is going to be a challenge since we are both at new jobs. Thus far it has been fun and I've enjoyed every minute, or at least close to every minute of it. Already checked off the list are the wedding dress, bridemaid's dresses, church, reception site, photographer, and cake. I don't want to bore everyone with details of it all, just wanted to share a little of what we've done so far.

We sincerely desire your prayers as we prepare for the wedding and begin our lives together.

It's official!

We are engaged! On a beautiful, crisp Autumn evening at the Plaza, Liz made me the happiest man on the planet by saying yes. I will cherish each and every moment of the night, from the outstanding dinner, waiter (Tim) at The Capital Grille to the exact spot and all of the sights, sounds and of course the reaction & beauty of my bride-to-be. I pray that the Lord will continue to bless our love for each other to grow stronger with each passing day.

New Blog

In an effort to move into the happening world of Blogging, Liz and I have bitten the bullet and jumped into the fray. Hopefully we'll be able to make this Blog fun and informational about what is going on in our lives.