Moving on...

Another round of good news!!! Andrew passed his polygraph examination today and is moving on to phase 6 and 7, the psychological and medical exam which will take place next Friday (Jan. 30th). If he passes these two phases and is selected by the department, he'll move on to phase 8 which is an intensive background check. This will consist of the department interviewing all of the references he listed on his application as well as neighbors, school teachers, you name it... oh, and me. Unfortunately, he won't get a final offer until May (we're hoping this date isn't pushed back)... so we still have lots of waiting to do. One piece of good news, apparently due to the state budget, the academy was pushed back a month, so instead of starting June 1st it will start July 1st. This means that I would get to spend one more month of summer with my wonderful husband before he would have to go to the academy AND there would only be ~4 weeks between when he would graduate from the academy and when I would finish my semester of classes. I'm not looking forward to being apart from my husband 5 days a week for 20 weeks... but at least our estimated time apart keeps getting shorter. Continue praying he makes it through this process if that's where God wants him. We're both excited to see what happens. Oh and next time you see Andrew, you should make him tell you about his polygraph exam... it's a pretty interesting process. I'm glad it wasn't me! They even read him his Miranda rights before they started! How bizarre is that? Good thing he's not a crook or he might be sitting in jail tonight! Thanks everyone for your prayers through this process, we'll keep you posted!

The Littlest Daisy

I'm very excited... my sister-in-law Kristen paints these super cute cards and just started selling them on Etsy. Here is the website: The Littlest Daisy. Her philosophy is that even the littlest daisy can brighten someones day. If you need a cute card to make someone smile, you should check them out :)

Holidays and more!

Well, it is time for our once a month blog post...

Andrew and I spent LOTS of time with family over the holidays. We got to see EVERYONE which was wonderful! We ate lots of food, shot Andrew's gun, watched lots of movies, and I even learned how to play the drums! (I'll have to be honest though and tell you it was on a drum set for the Wii, but still... it kind of counts, doesn't it?) Below is a picture of me rocking out on the guitar :)

I started a new semester of school yesterday. It seems like I will have a unique combination of classes this semester. I'm taking a course on world food sssues which will focus on hunger and poverty in the developing world. Then I go to a class on nutrition throughout the life span where I will learn all about the nutritional needs of individuals during infancy, adolescents, pregnancy and lactation, all the way up to the needs of the elderly. Next, I go to a food law class where I will learn all about food laws and regulations and why they have been put in place. Bright and early the next day, I will go to a class about food service organizations (a hotel and restaurant management class) followed by a lab for the same class. From what I understand about lab, each person will move through all the positions found in a restaurant. There is a "teaching restaurant" in one our buildings that is used and the students actually provide meals for paying customers. I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, but I think it will be a great learning experience. My final class is on human and family life development. I'm so used to taking science or nutrition courses, it will be a big change to take a class that focuses more on families and social development. So, in a brief nutshell, that's what I'll be learning about all semester.

Our newest, most exciting news is that Andrew passed another phase in the application process for DPS. He had his interview last week and is now on to phase 5, the much anticipated polygraph examination. He does this next week, so if you think about it, say a prayer for him! There is a packet of information they gave each applicant to fill out before the polygraph. They dig into about any and every area of unlawful activity you can imagine. I'm guessing he'll get drilled pretty hard by the examiner to make sure he's not lying about his lack of trouble making. Fortunately, he hasn't gotten into much, if any, trouble in his lifetime so it should make it pretty easy for him to tell the truth and pass the exam.

Beyond work and school, I've been reading some cookbooks I got for Christmas. If any of you want some good reading, check out any book by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I often tell Andrew that I want to be just like her :) She has a wonderful way of explaining recipes including how to modify the recipe and pointers for success. Maybe some of you will even get to taste my attempts at making some of these newfound recipes :)

Almost there....

Guess what everyone.... only three days of class and one day of tests before I am officially done with the semester! Although I should be studying right now, I thought I would take the time to pass on this exciting news.

I can't believe Christmas is a little over two weeks away. Andrew and I have a cute little Christmas tree with a growing stack of presents beneath. Some of you reading this blog may be excited to know that a present or two might be coming your way in just a few short weeks! I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Can you pick out which one(s) will be yours?

5 Things

Danielle tagged me to complete the following.....

(FYI: I did this over Thanksgiving break but am a total amateur when it comes to blogging and I wasn't sure how to tag people... hence why it is being posted in December.)

The "5 THINGS GAME" The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago...
1. I was in sixth grade
2. Going to school in Central City
3. Probably listening to Spice Girls or Natalie Imbruglia
4. I had a pair of JNCO jeans (they had WIDE legs and looked ridiculous, but for some reason I thought they were cool)
5. I started playing the saxophone in band

5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List
1. Make crepes with my grandma
2. Do some Christmas shopping
3. Play cards with my dad
4. Make enchiladas for supper
5. Talk to Andrew before bed
(rough day huh? Praise the Lord for Thanksgiving break!)

5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. Ice cream
2. Oreos
3. Popcorn (freshly popped)
4. Cookie dough
5. Blue cheese and crackers

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire!
1. Buy a cozy house out in the country
2. Adopt a couple boys from Africa
3. Save for retirement/college for the kids we will hopefully have
4. Buy Andrew a few guns ;)
5. Give a lot away

5 Places I Have Lived...
1. Central City
2. Mount Vernon
3. Ames
4. Huxley
5. Ames
(I've lived three different places in Ames, so I feel justified using it twice)

5 Jobs I've had/Still have...
1. Babysitting
2. GNC
3. The Cafe - bakery
4. Quality Attributes Software - administrative assistant
5. ISU - research assistant

5 People I'm tagging...
I don't know five people that blog so we'll have to go with three (really, I didn't just copy you Danielle, I only know 3 other people who blog too!)
1. Caitlin
2. Stephanie
3. Heather

Weddings, holidays, and guns

So, Andrew and I will be the first to admit that we've been terrible about updating our blog lately. Life has been busy... and I didn't figure anyone would want to read updates about what I've been learning in school. Andrew's sister, Anna, got married in October so that was a big event. I'll have to post a few pictures when we get some. She was a beautiful bride and the weather was AMAZING!

I don't know about everyone else, but this cold weather has made me quite excited about the holidays. Although I despise the cold weather, I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years... all the great holidays that come with this time of year. Andrew and I started Christmas shopping a few weeks ago and have even listened to some Christmas music here and there. What could be better than seeing family, giving gifts, and have NO homework or tests!!

And of course, a blog post on our blog wouldn't be complete without some reference to guns or plants... so I'll give you a little of both. Everything in the garden is dead. We pulled up all the fencing around it a few weekends ago and packed it in the garage. It was sad to see all the plants brown and lifeless, but I guess it makes me cherish springtime when everything comes back to life. Unfortunately, the garden was a bit of a flop this year, but I did manage to get some jars of salsa out of the deal. I still haven't figured out if I did something wrong or if it was just bad, wet weather. For now, I think I'll choose to believe it was the latter of the two! I'm hoping to try again next year.

Now, on to guns... my husband has had quite an impact on me. For a long while I would get really annoyed when Andrew would sit at home reading posts on gun sites all night or when he would sit watching video after video on youtube of people shooting guns... I just didn't get it. But, I decided to start asking questions and let Andrew teach me about this hobby of his. To my surprise, it has been very fascinating. We spent over an hour this weekend talking about shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers and their differences. I'm learning about gauges and calibers and which guns should be used in different circumstances. For instance, what gun would be used to go rabbit hunting? Well, you would use a rifle because it can shoot accurately at a distance, yet it wouldn't leave a big hole so the meat wouldn't be damaged as much. Pretty impressive, huh? Andrew will be proud! I've even become interested in getting my own little handgun... that way Andrew and I can go target shooting together and I can have a gun to lay claim to! What has he done to me? It's amazing how marriage can change a person :)

The mind of a woman

There was a semi-serious conversation that I wanted to have with Shantel this evening (being the wonderful husband that I am and meeting the emotional needs of a woman), but Shantel had other plans. Have a listen:

Andrew: So there is something that I want to talk about that begins with a "d", ends with an "s", and has a "p" in the middle.
Shantel: Diapers?

While Shantel was correct that diapers does begin with a "d", end in an "s", and have a "p" so perfectly placed in the middle, diapers was not what I had in mind. My intention was to talk about DPS, the Department of Public Safety, but I guess that will have to wait for another evening when the mind of a woman isn't focused on kids, poo, and diapers.

Mulberry Jam anyone?

Let me begin this by saying that I have the BEST husband! This past Sunday, we had our first canning experience together. We canned mulberry jam! A few weeks ago, to my heart’s delight, I discovered the apartment complex we live in has numerous mulberry trees on the edge of their property. After getting the okay from the property manager, I excitedly went out to pick as many as I could. I used that first batch to make Mulberry Buckle Cake, which I’ve been craving since the last time I made it back in my middle school days. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of all the delicious things I could make with such luscious little fruits… and then the idea of making jam occurred to me. What a perfect way to be able to enjoy the pleasure of mulberries all year round! Plus, it would give me excuse to experiment for the first time with canning :) I made up my mind that Sunday was the day for the big adventure. I assumed Andrew would do his own thing while I made a mess in the kitchen, but my to my delight he jumped right in to help! We had so much fun and we’re proud to say, the jam not only turned out beautifully but it tastes pretty yummy too! My next experiment… jam filled cookies!