1156-Dakota

Family Heritage

2011-07-21T11:34:00.001-04:00

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2010-04-21T15:39:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

Back for more!

2007-06-17T06:32:00.000-04:00

Here it is again--another father's day. Time passes quickly and we have one "child" left at home but we will always be their parents no matter their ages. I am blessed with a wonderful husband who is also a wonderful father. My own father died when I was 10 years old so I appreciate the importance of a father but especially a good one.

Bruce has always loved his children more than himself. When he was worn out with work he would still come home and get down on the floor to play with them and tell them stories at bedtime and encourage them in their hopes and dreams. He still involves himself in their lives and keeps the relationships strong. He has gone to many a game, concert, or any event that our children were involved in always cheering them on.

Know this day, Bruce, that you are well loved and we appreciate you. You have been a good partner in life for me and I still choose you over all others.

2007-06-05T12:59:00.001-04:00

Colorado Springs Forth
Here we are getting ready for our trip by filling up iPods and posing for Photo Booth pictures. I have dyed new fabrics and will quilt up a storm upon return.

It will be great to see loved ones and cherish the wedding of our niece and her groom!

We'll be staying at the same place we did before and also where Cheryl and Jim will be. They are driving. We are flying. Yea!

The Great Gazebo

2007-05-21T06:58:00.001-04:00

The Great Gazebo
Originally uploaded by aslandad00.

On an almost Sunny day in Cuyahoga Falls, son and dad ventured out into the Gazebo of Fame to have their portrait done by an automatic camera lens.

There are more photos from this trip available at the Aslandad Flickr" site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aslandad00

2007-05-18T19:43:00.001-04:00

DSCF2140.jpg
Originally uploaded by aslandad00.

Here am I, a day and evening into sales and clothes for celebrating and playing in Denver, Colorado Springs, Defiance, and even Bowling Green! Get your cameras ready!

2007-05-01T20:48:00.000-04:00

More than we asked...

A few weeks ago I helped serve lunch to the Impact World Tour people who were in town for a mission outreach. After lunch they prayed for the people who served them. I was asked what I needed prayer for and I said I needed to sell a house. The couple praying for me asked God to sell our house for more than we asked. In my heart I scoffed because we had been getting offers 10-15 thousand under our asking price. Well, today we entertained three offers at once at or above our asking price!!! We accepted the best offer. I am ashamed that I am still holding back on celebrating because a deal isn't done until it's done. However, things are certainly looking up. Keep praying that everything will work out.

We had crazy weather tonight all around with funnel clouds, hail, and drenching rain. The night is settling down now and there is a lot of standing water. The old and new houses seemed to have weathered the weather okay. We hurriedly fixed supper and ran down to the basement carrying our dinner when the siren went off AGAIN. So we enjoyed the safety of the basement to eat our grilled chicken, stuffed portabella mushrooms and fried potatoes.

2007-03-22T23:31:00.000-04:00

BLUE NO MORE

The smaller bedroom upstairs at 1040 is blue no more. I painted it a nice neutral color by the name of SESAME. My goal tomorrow is to make the orange bedroom the same nice neutral color of SESAME.

Wairimu and I tore out the paneled wall in the smaller basement room along the outside walls so that the contractor could inspect the damage. We found an ugly red painted wall underneath the panelling that had lots of cracks, mildew and faded shades of red from the water seepage. There were plenty of spiders too.

I am so sore tonight. Wairimu said that I was in good shape. I guess she thought I could tear out a wall with gusto. Wairimu has been staying at 1156 the last few nights after spending the days in Detroit at a conference. She didn't need to be there until later today and thus was able to help me with the work for an hour or so.

2007-03-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

We met with our new realtor and he wants us to fix the basement wall and to clean up more inside and repaint some rooms. I came home and promptly got a migraine. "His grace is sufficient." Pray that I will rest in His strength and get through this time.

Also, Pseudo had his little operation yesterday. He seems fine but woozy and a little sore. This morning he is more active but still untrusting so doesn't want me to pet him. He probably thinks I am taking him away again to that awful place.

Wairimu is here for a short visit while she attends a conference in Detroit. It is good to catch up with her again.

I speak tonight on campus about Amani. Such a busy time but fulfilling (except for that 1040).

2007-03-14T08:32:00.000-04:00

It took a birthday to get me to blog.

I wish Justin a wonderful, fun-filled birthday. I wish we could be with you to celebrate. I'm sorry you're Edwardsless there for the day but we are with you in spirit. Pseudo wishes you a happy birthday too (he would if he could).

I have a meeting at 1040 today to talk about getting the basement fixed. Wished we had done it a year ago but it would have been hard to do before we moved. I have been stressed about this and just want the house to be sold and be done with it. Do you think I will get spammed from basement remodelers? I never notice the pop up ads so it won't do them any good.

2007-01-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

New Joan Amani Blog

Check out this new one for Joan's Amani Blog.

2007-01-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

Birthday greetings to Matt on this day when he was born 31 years ago. Wow! That day started out with a stomach ache (I thought) which turned out to be labor pains. I had never had a baby before so I called the doctor and said I had pains so bad that I couldn't stand up. They told me to come to the hospital. It's a good thing we did because he was born about 30 minutes after we arrived. This quickness of Matt's arrival caused his dad to miss it because he had gone back home to get our insurance papers. After waiting two weeks past his due date he was ready to come into the world. His grandparents and great grandparents from Akron had come for Christmas, hoping he would be born while they were there but alas had to go home because Matt was tarrying. They eventually made it back to welcome their first grandbaby with love and kisses.

Matt, I'm so glad to have you as my son and I'm proud of you. Have a happy birthday. MOM

2007-01-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

MISSION ORGANIZATION. First, it is mission disorganization because you have to first sort through all the stuff and have piles all over the place before you can put away, discard or otherwise do something with all the STUFF! It's the week after new year's day and I am trying to sort through all the stuff we had left in the garage from our move. This week is big trash pickup so I am motivated to get it done and also put away the Christmas stuff. I still in the midst so there are piles of organized stuff that still have to find a place to live. I made a trip to goodwill so some of it found a home away from home. Yahoo!

We had a great Christmas break with Matt and Tracey here a few days and a one-day trip to see Grandpa and Matt and Tracey one more time before they head back to San Diego. New Year's Eve we had a get-together with about 20 people and enjoyed WII and SceneIt games.

2006-11-25T15:29:00.000-05:00

November Memories

2006-11-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Days of cleaning, shopping and cooking. I did the first really thorough cleaning of 1156 on Monday and then went to Krogers at 10 PM in order to evade the crowds. Tuesday and Wednesday was filled with cooking in my beautiful new kitchen where everything has a convenient place and I have plenty of counter space.

Grandpa came on Wednesday and we had Swensons for lunch and a ham for dinner. Today I have a turkey in the oven and will have the usual trimmings. I'm trying a new recipe for the sweet potatoes that has apples in it. We'll see how it turns out.

We're enjoying beautiful sunny days and peace in our hearts.

Pseudo says "Happy Thanksgiving!"

2006-11-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

A Shining Home Set on a Hill: Ready for Thanksgiving

Photo by Justin Edwards

04 November 2006

Yes, it's me finally blogging. It's somehow wrong to enjoy everyone's posts when I'm not putting in my two cents worth.

Bruce and I have been enjoying rainy Portland. I've walked everywhere and learned to nagivate the free transportation available in the "free zone." I come back to the hotel every day with sore legs (from walking so much) and frizzy hair (from the rainy weather). I found a nice quilt shop but it wasn't open even though the door listed it as supposed to be open. So, the next day I traversed the miles again to find that it was open on the next day. I looked around but in my irritation about having to come twice I decided to punish the shop and NOT buy anything.

We're heading out today to go home but with the time difference we are up about 6 hours earlier than we need to so decided to get Starbucks. Well, the Starbucks isn't open on Saturday so we're taking advantage of the internet offered to the conference attendees and checking up on mail and blogs.

I am ready for some extended time at home getting more stuff put away and enjoying cooking in my new kitchen.

2006-10-08T09:38:00.000-04:00

North Carolina On Our Mind

And here's Joan with her friend, Jesus.

2006-10-03T03:02:00.000-04:00

Alaskan Vista

Mare, Mom, and Dad, close to Mt. McKinley (well, 500 mi. away).

2006-09-25T08:25:00.000-04:00

I see in the previous post I mentioned the peacefulness of the new house. And it is much quieter here with much less traffic noise. I hear the wind rustling the leaves of our "forest" and because we are the only house at the end of a cul-de-sac there's not much traffic. We practically have everything out of the old house but a garage full of stuff here still to sort and put away. Most of the things we need for living though are away and the rest will need deciding about whether to keep or not. That work will wait until we return from our trips.

I put together Ikea bookshelves the last two days and now Bruce can get his office in order. I must say that it looks very nice.

The old house will have an open house while we're gone and hopefully will sell soon. It looks much more worn out empty so if we have no interest while we're gone I plan to spruce it up with paint. I need to get an electrician in soon because there's a live wire where we took out a basement wall heater that is dangerous.

I look forward to days of working in my studio and having classes here. We had a great get together for Harmon and Teri and I greatly enjoyed using my new kitchen.

2006-09-09T12:18:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting in the new house just enjoying the peacefulness of it. We had our washer and dryer delivered yesterday and I am doing some laundry so I brought a camp chair and am knitting while the cycles go on the laundry.

Dad got the internet going here so I'm just trying out the blogger site. Have a good day.

2006-09-06T17:10:00.000-04:00

See the Greenery of our Backyard Meadow

2006-09-05T14:11:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday, Bruce. 54 years ago, a few months before I was born, there was a cute little boy born in Akron, Ohio. Little did he know that our paths would meet and we would spend a wonderful life together and have a wonderful family. I am so thankful that God brought us together. Hope your day is fun and stress-free. See you soon for our celebration!

2006-09-01T19:14:00.000-04:00

The Pictures Don't Do Them Justice

2006-08-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

Still Praying

We have an offer on the house but we countered and they accepted with an addendum that we felt was too open-ended so we are still negotiating. Hopefully we can work it out or perhaps get another offer from someone else. We have another open house this Saturday.

I hope to post some new pictures. I'm waiting for the mantel to be put up on the fireplace. The rock part looks amazing and I love it. They have to stain the mantel but that shouldn't take long.

The builder thinks we may get in September 15. I told him to hurry up, the sooner the better because of our offer. He knows we're still negotiating but the buyers would like to move Oct. 1 so if we close on the new house by Sept. 15 we will have time to move before then. Also, we have plans to travel the end of September so we NEED to get moved in before that!!!

Pseudo went to the vet today. We haven't heard anything so that means no problems with the surgery. We can get him tomorrow after 1 PM. Last night he went to sleep on my lap with much purring. He is so sweet.

2006-08-23T20:37:00.000-04:00

Closer to Home

2006-08-17T23:08:00.000-04:00

The Next Stages

2006-08-07T08:39:00.000-04:00

Doors-arama

They are painting our doors and getting stuff ready. Here are some monotonous photos of the same.

2006-08-01T08:55:00.000-04:00

Not much change in the way the house looks because they are painting trim so no new pictures yet. I hear that carpeting is next. The garage door openers were installed yesterday.

I spent most of the day on the road. Mike and I decided to go to Toledo to check out a lighting store and explore getting new mobile phones. The lighting store was very expensive and we found we needed Bruce to get new phones because he is the account holder. On the way home we discovered a new verizon store at Levis Commons so much more convenient to bring Bruce back that evening and phone shop. We ended up with both Mike and I getting new phones because my phone was free and Mike's was discounted. We ate dinner at Max and Erma's and I bought a light fixture and desk at Bombay.

I also made another trip to pick up a student at the Toledo airport. He is from Lebanon and it took him 50 hours to get here. His flight was routed all over the map to avoid the bombing going on over there. He said he was from northern Lebanon where there isn't bombing but couldn't leave from Beirut as originally planned. I have another trip to the airport today. I heard it was hard to get volunteers who could make airport pickups during the day so I'm getting to go.

I give my dyeing and quilting talk at the fair on Thursday. It's supposed to be record heat so pray for relief on that day. That building builds up the heat like a sauna.

2006-07-23T09:21:00.000-04:00

On the Way to Landscapes, Kitchen and Patio

2006-07-19T19:54:00.000-04:00

"Stare-way" to Heaven

2006-07-14T14:02:00.000-04:00

Views from the 2nd Floor (July 12, 2006)

2006-07-06T11:09:00.000-04:00

More house pictures via Justin: July 5, 2006

2006-06-26T15:46:00.000-04:00

I sewed Bruce a shirt today that says Robot Man and has pictures of toy robots.

The house is coming along. They're painting the walls and putting in the subfloor for the tile areas. Should start laying tile tomorrow. After that will be cabinets, toilets, sinks, lights, carpets, all the jewelry of the house like trim and doorknobs, and finishing the fireplace. Outside of the house is done except sidewalks, driveway and landscaping. It's starting to look closer to being done so I'm getting excited.

Bruce and Justin are off to a baseball game tonight. I'm not sure what I will do. Mike has another meeting.

2006-06-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

Justin is home now and is sleeping away his long trip from Colorado. Thanks to Kelly for the quarter and fun candy. We'll enjoy the candy. It's my favorite kind.

I'm off to Genoa to look at furniture. I've scouted out what I want and may put in a order today. It takes 6-8 weeks so that will time it about right for our move.

We had energetic storms last night but no damage to our homes. I always get worked up when I see a storm building. I think it's from growing up in the panhandle of Texas and the excitement of the tornado watches. My dad used to stand out in the yard and watch the sky. In Texas, then, most people didn't have basements but a storm cellar out in the yard. We had dug a three foot deep hole in the ground and covered it with a roof for our chickens to live in. I don't think it would have been very safe if a tornado came but probably safer than the house. The roof would have probably blown off. There is big sky in Texas--you can see for miles. I still look at the sky and enjoy the changes of the skyscape. God is an artist.

2006-06-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

Here's a photo harvest from Saturday, June 17. The driveway, sidewalk, and other landscaping will begin soon.

2006-06-15T16:27:00.000-04:00

Bruce, where are you reading about Hodad's and the Padres? Did they blog somewhere I don't know about or did they send you emails and not send them to me? I'm jealous. I got a phone call from Justin this morning and we talked to Mary and Mike yesterday.

Today I dyed fabrics with Wendy which took about four hours. The fabrics are soaking in the dyes now and we will see the final results tomorrow after 24 hours of "curing." Bruce is gone to Akron as you can read on his blog. Now I think I will take a short nap before Bruce gets home and we check out the progress on the new house this evening.

2006-06-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

They're making our walls have a texture like orange peel. It's a random bumpiness that they will then paint over with our colors of choice. How funny: orange peel walls. The gutters are now installed also but this week has been a slow one on the house because of the bank having to do an inspection at this stage for the next payment.

We dropped Mike off at the Detroit airport today and then drove 10 more miles to the new Ikea. We spent several hours there and had lunch. In the meantime I decided on what storage system I wanted to get for my sewing room and we went ahead and bought it. I got three units and the boxes fit in our Land Rover so we were able to take them home today. I won't build them until after we move and I can put them together in my new sewing loft.

2006-06-05T08:33:00.000-04:00

We're having picture-perfect days and I'm about to head out for a walk. We've only had two lookers for 1040 and no further word so I guess they aren't interested. I'm really being stretched here on trusting God for a buyer. I take on so much stress for myself in getting the house in perfect shape so that someone will want to buy it. All the work in planning for the new house has been a breeze.

We cleaned gutters yesterday and I spruced up the inside today. The garage is still full of stuff and the basement is a tornado. Would I want to buy this house?

I'm working on a baby quilt with the hand-dyed fabrics I have. Wendy and I speak at the fair this year about hand dyeing fabrics and need sample quilts for the various techniques. The quilt I'm working on is made of 12 colors of the rainbow. The dye technique uses three primary colors that are mixed in various proportions and results in all the colors of the spectrum. Pretty neat. I think I will call the quilt Cotton Candy Rainbow because the colors are pastels and remind me of cotton candy.

2006-05-26T15:25:00.000-04:00

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