Time Flies

Did you know that Joel and I have been together for 8 years today. Yes, September 30, 2000 was our very first date. I realized this fact when someone recently asked how long Joel and I have been together--dating and married. 8 years seems like such a long time, but really they have gone very fast. Time really does fly when you are having fun! I can't imagine my life without Joel.

The Farmers' Market

One of my favorite things to do in Des Moines is going to the downtown Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings. We had the pleasure of taking both sets of parents downtown to experience this as well. My parent's came out in May and went with us and a few weeks ago we brought Joel's parents. Below are some pictures from the Farmers' Market. When we went with Joel's parents peaches were in season. They were sooo good! We decided to do breakfast at the Farmers' Market, so Joel's mom and I each got a breakfast burrito (yummy!) and Joel and Joel's dad got El Salvadoran Papusas. We all enjoyed are selections immensly. The downtown Farmers' market is very large 7 blocks total!

The Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge

I have now been to the wildlife refuge three times in the past 6 months. I thought I would share with you three pictures to show you how the landscape changed over those months. I kind of wish I would have gone there once each month to see it change a little more gradually. But, these pictures are good none-the-less and I had fun each time I went. (This last time, Joel and I went with his parents. His parents visited last weekend.)

April

End of MaySeptember

Wildflowers

On our way to church last Sunday, I told Joel that I thought we needed to pick some wildflowers to put in our home. So, later that afternoon we went for a walk with a specific purpose. Here are some pictures of what we found on our walk.




Joel calls the one below: Ode to Van Gogh.

Some Policital Information

So, my mother-in-law signed me up to receive a magazine called Prism. It is put out by the group called Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA). I have really enjoyed the magazine and it has lots of good info in each issue. (Thanks, Barb!!) In the latest issue, Ron Sider, the president of the group, wrote an article that lays out the beliefs of ESA on several issues (health care, immigration, sanctity of life, etc...). He then briefly describes both McCain's and Obama's stances on them and how they relate to what the ESA belief is. I really enjoyed the article. He did not endorse one candidate over the other he just started to lay out some of their beliefs on different issues and which candidate fell closer to the Biblical view for ESA. Some of the things it was Obama and others it was McCain. I decided to put the link to the article online so everyone can read it. He did not go in-depth on the candidates' policies and stances, which means that the article is a good springboard for your own more in-depth research.

Here is the link:
http://www.esa-online.org/Images/mmDocument/PRISM%20Archive/Ron%20Sider%20Column/SeptOct08RonSider.pdf

Enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend Adventures!

Below are a few pictures from our Labor Day Weekend Adventure! Joel and I ventured up to Northwest Iowa and Sioux Falls, SD for the weekend. Our friend, AM, invited us to stay at her parents' house and go to Life Light a Christian Music Festival in Sioux Falls. On our way there, we stopped at Le Mars, IA--home of Blue Bunny Ice Cream. So, of course we had to get some ice cream! It was so tasty. From there, we stopped at AM's parents. We got food together for supper and picked up her sister Hannah and headed to SoFu for the concert. Friday night we listened to Sanctus Real and Michael W. Smith. Saturday night, we got there while Matthew West was singing and then listened to Phil Joel (formerly with Newsboys), Natalie Grant, and Casting Crowns. My favorites were Natalie Grant and Casting Crowns. It was fun. The first set of pictures were from the concert. (We met up with our friends Rick and Monique at the concert.) The next set of pictures are from AM's parents' house. They live on a farm. It was fun to get away and spend time with a family! Joel had fun taking pictures around the yard. AM took our picture in the corn. He also got to climb up the silo. So, he had a ton of fun. I on the other hand got really nervous seeing him climb up the silo!

We came home to Des Moines on Monday. AM's mom let us have some of their tomatoes. So, we ended up making salsa that night. Here are some pictures from that adventure. It is quite spicy, because Joel added two habenero peppers plus the jalapeno peppers the recipe called for. I got to blanch and chop the tomatoes! I made Joel cut the spicy peppers and onions. It was fun.