New pictures of house

Here are pictures of the main level. The upstairs still has a lot of work to do. I'm going to try to finish the guest room today.

I also included a picture of the flowers Shawn got me because I was having a bad week last week.

The Shack

I finished reading "The Shack" last night. My mom read it, and then Marty read it and gave me his copy to read. I was very confused on whether it was a real story. I just went to the author's website and read that it is not a true story, and thus fiction, as stated on the book. But he does a great job of making you think that it's real. It is very well written, with the exception of a few corny parts. But the detail he gives helped me paint a vivid picture with my mind's eye. Alot of the time I was analyzing more than enjoying. I was wishing there were scriptural references inserted. :) If you're looking for a good read, I would recommend it. But not if you're looking for something to base your theology/doctrine on. Kristin and Britt, I'd love for you guys to read it and tell me what you think!

Real Quick

We closed on our house on Friday. The stove and the refrigerator haven't come in yet, so we're waiting for that. And the contractor still has a couple of small things to finish up on. We're getting the sod and fence installed and getting a small shed in the next couple of days. We're hoping to be all moved in by the end of this weekend. Yeah! I'm so excited. God is good! I'll update once we're all moved in and upload some pictures.

My New Venture

I signed up this week to become a consultant with Arbonne, an all natural skin care and beauty line. Our roommate Marty was my first sale last night! It was so fun going over the products with him. I'm excited to receive my order in the next couple of days, and then begin to see the results. I'm going to do before and after pictures... I may just have to post them!
We're headed to Dickinson on Saturday for a long weekend. I'm looking forward to it! I haven't seen Cory's family since February, and Natashia is showing now, so it will be fun to see her and feel the baby boy! She said the first time AJ felt the baby kick he face lit up like the sun! How fun.
https://www.arbonne.com/shop_online/shopOnline.asp

House Hunting and a Miracle

We decided to look at buying a house. We're looking in Belgrade, since that's where the church is that we're getting involved in. We had a realtor show us a few places today, and we're looking at more on Saturday. We're getting excited to have our own place and be home owners again, and to get off the gravel road. :)
A catastrophe team came in to Bozeman the end of last week so Shawn was relieved of all the claims on Sunday. He is back to his normal schedule again.
We're praising the Lord for a good report from the Tauer's!! Megan had started to go through rejection, "but it looks like the rejection is resolving! Her liver functions as of Tuesday morning were ALL normal!! WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!" It's awesome to see God's hand on our little girl! (Although, she isn't too little any more...I believe she starts 5th grade this month!)

The Storm

We had a fun storm last night, but now there will be some lonely days ahead. It rolled in about 5:30. The power went out about 6:00 and it didn't come back on until around 11:00. We got some quarter-size hail and strong winds with it. I thought for sure these clouds were going to form into a tornado, but they didn't. My coworker that lives north of town had 5 trees down. So needless to say, the claims came rolling in to Shawn today. Last I heard from him, he was sure there would be over 300. Over 500 is considered a catastrophe and they call in help from around the country. He did get 10 adjusters sent this way to help him. But he is going to have some late nights the next couple of weeks. Marty got called back to the rig and Justin only comes home to sleep and shower. So it's just me and the dogs. We have another small storm going right now. We're getting rain again, so that's nice.

Good times

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Mom and Dad brought Rylin over the week of the 4th. Then Thurs night we drove to Cody. Shawn had his 10 year reunion on the 4th. Like mine, not too many showed up, but it was a good time. We got to see our friends, Brad and April that moved to Michigan, and light off fireworks with Kayla and Mackenzie. Rocky had his 1st birthday on the 4th! He still has his puppy moments, but he is getting to be a good dog. On Wed. Christy, Ryan and Rylin came through and stayed the night. Wish it could have been longer, but it was good to see them.

Pictures

Here are the pictures of our new place. We finally had a beautiful day to take them! The Golden Retriever puppy is our neighbor's in the duplex. She loves to play with Rocky. There is a rainbow almost every day with all the rain we've been getting. I can't help but get out my camera every time!

Quick update

Last weekend we went to Cody and moved everything out of the house and up to a storage space in Bozeman. Friday we signed the papers to close on the house, so it's suppose to close this Friday. We looked at houses this weekend. We decided to get a big house and share it with Shawn's friends' Marty and Justin. Marty works in the oil fields in WY and Justin has applied to work with him. So they won't be around very much. We narrowed it down to about 4 places so we'll be calling on them tomorrow. I'm so excited to have our own place again! We are hoping to be moving into somewhere this coming weekend.
I got news this week that Megan has been sick and it could possibly be rejection of her new liver. However, it could just be a bad virus. We are praying for another touch from Jesus!

God Bless Ben Stein

Shawn and I went to "Expelled" today. It was an intriguing documentary to say the least. It is basically about the persecution scientists receive when they present Intelligent Design as an option for the earth's origin. And these are not even necessarily Christian scientists, but just scientists who see the flaws in the theory of evolution as Darwin saw it, and who want to look at the possibility of a designer for the obvious intricate design of our world.
He also interviewed Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion. Ben was able to get him to acknowledge that he could not be 100% sure there was no God. I must say it was somewhat depressing, however, the question continues to run through your head, at least, my head..."What can I do?" And Ben Stein eventually asked that question to one of the scientists. And the answer was basically to work to get the word out of the persecution that is taking place. Thank God Ben Stein has the platform to do so. And I encourage everyone to see this movie, if you can handle being called an idiot, as one of the scientists does for our belief in God and the Bible. So what CAN I do? To start, I can pray. I will even pray for Richard Dawkins; that he would have a "Road to Damascus" experience.

Good advice

Proverbs 3: 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you, Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.
I read this verse the other night and found it interesting in the NKJV that it read "mercy and truth" because I had memorized it in the NIV as "love and faithfulness." I went to the concordance to try to get to the bottom of it, but my lack of training in Hebrew hinders me. :) What I came up with is both words there refer to some sort of faithfulness. Don't get me wrong...all four traits are beneficial! :) I love reading through Proverbs. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but if there is any advice needed...it's in there! Just think: Solomon was told he could have anything in the world and he asked for wisdom and God gave it to him... and then he wrote it down to give to us! If you haven't read "The Riches Man Who Ever Lived", you should.
I love all of Proverbs chapter 3, but I'll sign off with just a portion of the rest of it.
v5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.

Weekend in Cody

We're in Cody for the weekend to check on things and pick up some stuff for spring. Although I'm beginning to wonder if they have a spring in Bozeman! :) There is still snow on the ground. We are having a beautiful spring day here in Cody, but it sounds like there will be snow for our drive back to Bozeman tomorrow. It's a nice break to be in "our house." We do have a showing tomorrow afternoon. Pray with us! :) I know you all are and we appreciate it. His timing is perfect.
I had a good meeting with the pastor's wife from the large AG church this week. Also pray for direction for us for ministry there. There is a new church plant we will also be looking into. We are excited and asking the Lord for His vision for Bozeman and how we can be apart of it! What a privelege!

Where I am

Here is a video of where I'm staying. I'm standing in the middle of the driveway. Allison has a Catahoula named Teka. She is the sweetest thing. She has a weiner dog too named Nellie, but I couldn't find her to take her picture. It's pretty funny... Nellie and Teka have the same color coat. And Sadie actually let me take her picture!

My crazy weekend

Anybody want to buy a couple of dogs? Friday night I let them out one last time to go to the bathroom...when I called them to come in only Rocky came. I called and called to Sadie but she didn't come. So about 10:30 I bundled up and got a flashlight and went strolling through the pastures with Rocky telling him to take me to her. I sometimes like to think he is as smart as Lassie. There was a dog barking a little ways off so I started in that direction thinking Sadie may be making it bark. The closer I got the more it sounded like Sadie barking, and sure enough it was. She was trapped in a chain link fence. So I found the gate and let her out. Boy was she excited to see me! So I got the dogs home just before 11. We went to bed and Rocky was restless all night. Finally at 5:40 he was whining like crazy so I got up and let him out and he only made it up to the kitchen and pooped in the middle of the floor. So I cleaned it up and let them out and he took off. I let him go and went back to bed. So at 7:30 he jumped on the door so I got up and let him in. I went back to bed and got up later and started laundry. Then around 11 am I let them out and a few minutes later I went to check on them and they were nowhere to be found. I kept checking for them and by 2 pm I started to get worried. I was suppose to go into town to meet Shawn so I called him to let him know I couldn't find the dogs. I went trekking through the pastures again and didn't see them. By 3 pm he came out to help me and we drove the near-by neighborhoods and didn't see any sign of them. And by the way, it was a blizzard outside. So visibility was not good at all. I thought there was no way those dogs are out there in that weather. So I called the Humane Society and Animal Control and they hadn't heard anything but took down my info in case they did. So at 4 pm I got back in the car and went door-to-door to the row of houses next to us. Everyone was so nice, but noone had seen them. I left my name and number with them in case they did. When I got done with the last house I went around the block and there they were running across the street right in front of me!!! I honked my horn at them and they stopped and looked. I opened the door and hollered at them and they came running to me. They were a mess! They were soaking wet and downtrodden. The direction they were going was back towards the house, but who knows if that's what they were doing. I like to think so because they didn't seem too happy. I started bawling and called Shawn. When I told him I found them he asked me if they were dead because I was crying so hard. I don't know why...stupid dogs. So we locked them up in the kennel and went to our bbq with Shawn's friends and watched the game. The Tarheels looked about as lost as my dogs on the court those first few minutes! Ha!
We had the biggest flakes I'd seen in a long time falling last night. We got almost a foot of the heavy, wet stuff. Today turned into a nice day, but I think we're suppose to get more snow tonight. Yeah.

In Bozeman

Well here we are in Bozeman. Both of our jobs are going well. There is still alot of organization that I'm working on for our new press. It's going to be a challenge, but the new and different challenge is nice. Shawn is traveling alot. But everything is going well and he is enjoying it. It seems like it is snowing every day. I'm having a hard time with it because I'm SO ready for SUMMER. This winter has seemed so long. The dogs are adjusting. They are staying in an outdoor kennel during the day. Rocky loves to run around the property. And Sadie seems to enjoy it too, but she isn't as adventurous. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Update

My boss in Bozeman called yesterday and asked when I could be up there because one of the csr's gave their resignation so I could have his position if I wanted it. Since I'm bored to death in the Cody office now I told them I could be there Monday. So Shawn will come home on Friday, we'll pack up on Saturday, celebrate the Resurrection on Sunday at church and have lunch with the Cortez family and drive up to Bozeman late afternoon. My friend, Allison, in Bozeman said we could stay with her. What a blessing!!!
We also have another showing on the house tomorrow. Lord, let it be the buyer!
Everyone have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Just in case

Just in case anybody still reads this blog... :)
We got the house on the market last week. We had a showing on Saturday and we have another tomorrow afternoon. We got heat installed in the two bedrooms yesterday and the guy that did it grew up in Bowman, actually Amidon! So we were sharing good ol' North Dakota stories. :)
Shawn started his training in Billings this week. He'll be home tomorrow evening and then heads to Bozeman on Sunday. He will be staying with a high school buddy until we sell the house. I've been staying at my in-law's house this week because Rhonda went to stay the week with her best friend in Cheyenne and Gary is still in California. So I'm watching Odie along with my two. Rocky is loving the big backyard, although I have a few holes to fill in before we leave! Grrr! We have our 2nd annual missions banquet on Sunday at church. We're looking forward to having two missionaries with us! Last year our little church of 20 members gave over $15,000 to missions! Praise the Lord! (Although, that does include our internet church...but still!) We're excited to get to check out the churches in Bozeman and see what the Lord has in store for us there.
Well that should do it for now. If anybody reads this, let me know. :)

Roudy doggies

This is pretty much routine now every day when I get home from work. Rocky gets excited and starts harrassing Sadie and it turns into a little brawl. They are having fun though.

Shawn has interviews tomorrow with State Farm in Billings. Home claims in Billings and Auto claims in Glendive are both interested. Then Saturday we'll drive to Dickinson. He meets with the guy at the ICA office there on Tuesday, then we'll drive home on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to the trip!

Happy New Year...Finally!

Now that things have finally settled down a little...Here are some pictures of the last month. The Christmas program went very well. The kids did an outstanding job and it was a lot of fun. But it was nice when it was over too! :) We stayed in Cody for Christmas and spent it with Shawn's family. It was a nice relaxing time. Shawn came down sick Christmas morning, then I got it while we were in Rapid last weekend for New Years. I usually never get sick from Shawn's illnesses, so I'm wondering if my August illness weakened my immune system. I'm having a hard time kicking it too. I stayed home from work this afternoon and slept. As I mentioned, we went to Rapid and had a blast with our friends, John and Kristin and their cat Pigeon. We took Sadie with us. She wanted to be Pigeon's friend so bad, but Pigeon wasn't so sure about the friendship and let Sadie know it. It was pretty funny because that is how Sadie feels about Rocky! We went up to Deadwood one night and had all-you-can-eat crab and prime rib. It was so yummy! Kristin and I went to P.S. I Love You... oh my goodness ... I have never cried so much at a movie. We were holding back sobs! Harry Connick Jr. does an outstanding job even though it is a small roll.
Well that's the last month in a nut shell.