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!

Our life in a nutshell…

I know, I know… it’s been WAY too long since we’ve posted. Andrew and I have been busy riding our bikes around Ames, reading books, hanging out with family, and working. So far, the summer has been wonderful. Andrew and I have taken advantage of the beautiful weather and we’ve been outside a LOT.

The garden is growing beautifully. A few weeks back we had a slight problem with the evil little bunnies eating through my plastic fence and mowing down over half of everything I planted from seed. They even decided to bite off some of my pepper plants (even my jalapeño plant!). That’s not the worst of it though, they didn’t even eat them, just bit the poor little guys’ heads off. But we’ve recovered. I put up chicken wire, which has kept them at bay so far. I replanted everything they ate and we’re hoping to get a little something out of those crops. Our corn was indeed knee high by the fourth of July… which made me a very proud amateur gardener. We will have to take some more pictures of the garden and post them soon.

Andrew and I got to spend a weekend seeing all of my family a few weeks back. We got to see our niece and nephew together for the first time, which was priceless. I think I’m going to like this aunt thing. I get my fill of cuddles and then Andrew and I get to go home and have absolute silence if we so desire!

We’ve gotten to spend lots of time with Andrew’s family too. They have been busy planning a wedding for his sister, Anna. The first bridal shower is this weekend, which begins the final shower marathon for the Ternes siblings. It will be a blast… I can’t wait!

Andrew is still enamored with his gun. I’ve gotten over my jealousy and have accepted that he has another love in his life besides me. At least I can cook; it keeps me from getting completely replaced! No, actually, it’s been a great hobby for him. I’ve gotten to shoot it a few times and have really enjoyed it.

I feel like I’m writing a Christmas card with all the family updates! We’ll try not to wait so long for the next blog posts… we’ve got to keep you all coming back :)

Ames Mess

It normally takes me 35 minutes to get home from work (Des Moines to Ames), give or take a minute or two, depending on the road conditions, the flow of traffic, the mood I am in, the number of idiots on the road, and the speed that I am driving. The other day, Friday to be exact, it took me 80 minutes! That’s enough time for me to drive to Des Moines and back and have a piña colada in between, if I drank that is. But really, those record setting times are expected in the dead of winter when snow and ice demand longer driving times. The odd thing about it was that it was a sunny, nearly cloudless, 80° day in May, which was a nice surprise after a week or so of clouds and rain.

Due to all the rain we have had and the amount of rain that has fallen north of Ames, I was not completely surprised to see a digital orange sign above I-35 read that Hwy. 30 was closed west of I-35 due to flooding.

For the Ames natives or those familiar with Ames, you should be able to follow, for others, bear with me for the time being or follow by way of Google Maps.

Actually, after reading this to Shantel, she told me that people wouldn’t care and I needed to shorten my description. Needless to say, it took me 40 minutes to get from 13^th St. to Wessex, due to the result of closed roads, car-packed streets, and a flooded town. (If you would like the long, drown-out description, let me know and I will post it. Beware that it is pretty long and dry)

After eating supper that Shantel had ready, I suggested that we go for a walk/bike ride/run to check out the flooding.

The top picture is taken from S 4th St. looking towards the Intramural softball and footfall fields. The middle pictures is Target on Duff Ave. Can anyone guess where the last one is taken?

The day has finally come!

We are all familiar with the joy that Shantel has shown through the growth of her “little ones”! Although my face hasn’t been as sparkly or glowing with praise as Shantel’s, I too am amazed at God’s life through plants. I, however, beam with excitement about different blessings from God.

Shantel posted earlier how I like to enlighten her on the newest model of gun put out by Springfield and she is correct, but my enlightening days are over. No longer do I have to show pictures or try to explain how something works. A dream came true when I purchased a Springfield Armory XD. I will admit that I like guns and believe strongly in the 2^nd Amendment. Some people (I won’t mention any names…Thaddeus) go as far to say that I am a “militia man”, but such words are harsh and unnecessary! Despite what others may say, guns will be a part of my house, and yes, the wife approves!

Some of you may be asking yourselves how I managed to pull off this purchase when Shantel and I fit the “poor college student” mold. You see, the answer is quite simple. I have a very understanding wife!

Nah, not really. Well, sort of. Shantel is very understanding, but I…..I am a nerd. I spend my spare time “building” spreadsheets about financial information/projections. One of the spreadsheets masks our savings account. The amount of money in the account is allocated between different savings categories and one of them just happens to be “Andrew’s Stash.” And before all you women start jumping on my back, Shantel has a stash fund as well. My fund has been built up mainly from selling textbooks, donating plasma, and receiving gifts from people. Some funds have been donated by an anonymous donor….Shantel’s Stash. Since I run the show, I get the dough!

For all you people who think that I am unruly tyrant, the last sentence is a joke!

Little Goslings

Yet another reason why I love our apartment complex! The little goslings are so fluffy and cute! I would have liked to get some closer pictures, but Mom started hissing at me and I thought I better not push my luck! I didn't feel like getting attacked by a Canadian goose today :)

The Garden

Finals are over, which means Andrew and I actually have a little free time! We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Monday. Who would have thought it has been a year already!

The time off means that I could finally plant the garden. Andrew and I spent all afternoon Tuesday pulling weeds and planting seeds. It was so refreshing being outside in the dirt. Andrew and his big muscles were quite helpful in hoeing out trenches for the seeds :-) Today was the big day for all of my indoor plants to move out to their new home. They have been hankering to get out in the sun and stay there. I'm sure Andrew will miss watching me move them in and out of our bedroom each day to get their fill of time on the balcony and then me worrying that they'll get blown over in their little yogurt cups.

Our garden is complete with cucumbers, onions, potatoes, broccoli, beets, kohlrabi, spinach, tomatoes, all sorts of peppers, sugar peas, and sweet corn. Andrew thinks we'll have food coming out our ears, whereas I have a hard time believing anything will grow. It will be so exciting to harvest food from our own garden... I can hardly wait!

My strawberry roots never grew...I don't know if I did something wrong or if they were just bad roots. Andrew was wonderful, however, and bought me some strawberry plants and a strawberry jar! Hopefully we'll have bunches of strawberries in the fall :)

An update on my herbs... I think they are confused. They were growing like mad and then I decided they needed to be thinned out. I didn't want to kill the plants, however, so I transplanted them. The disturbance caused all of them to fall over, so now they're growing in odd directions, but they are still alive. It will be interesting to see how they turn out!

That's all the garden updates for now... I'll post more pictures when things start to come to life!