of normalcy and Omaha adventures

Today I got up and really hit into my homework before getting ready and going to work. Four hour shift. I'm moving up in the world. Haha. While I was there, Donna called me to the back saying how she really liked my work ethic. I'm fast, a quick learner, and I retain stuff, and I'm not stupid about things, and I'm energetic with the other employees and happy and polite with the customers. She wants to start giving me closing shifts, and then eventually opening shifts, and more hours over all. Sweet.

Got home, finished watching Black Hawk Down while eating lunch and then attacked homework. It took me longer than I was hoping, but it's alright. I got that done, showered, cleaned my room, and got ready to go out with peoples from church to go up to Omaha. ETA: 7:30pm. Happy hour at Blue starts at 10... or so we thought. Once we got there, at 9:30, we found out that it didn't start until 10:30, but they let us go with it anyway, which was awesome. We just had to wait about half an hour or so. It was such a hip, trendy, and urban place. Everyone was super tricked out and dressed up. Stilettos up the wall. It was intense. But I kinda liked it. It was fun. There is a place upstairs called Red (same restaurant, obviously, lol), but it's the bar and night club. We stayed down in Blue and ate outside. Needless to say, it was quite the experience - not to mention lots of fun.

It was me, Josh, Josh's mom, and Mandie, a girl from chruch. Josh was his normal skater self, his mom was sweet, and definitely his mother (lol), and Mandie is this super sweet, super bubbly and giggly girl. She kept whipping out her batman mask (it's actually for kids halloween costumes), and looking at people with it on while we were driving up to Omaha. Slightly ridiculous, but awesome none the less.

On our way to Omaha, we went through Emerson and then went over this old bridge that goes over the Missouri river to get to Omaha through the southeastern route through Bellevue. We passed by the Bellevue Masters Commission, which is an Assemblies of God school of ministry that both Josh and Mandie attended. Blue is located down in the old town area of Omaha. The streets are the original brick cobblestone, and the buildings are super old and awesome looking.

Blue had AMAZING sushi. Thinking back on it, I think I've only actually had sushi twice or something like that, but regardless, I've never had any that was this good. It was awesome. Not to mention the good company and exciting atmosphere.

After our late dinner, we walked down to Dodge Park, where we walked along the water for a bit, and Josh boarded for a bit, then we kept going over down to the Missouri River and walked along the boardwalk for quite awhile. We walked for awhile, Josh boarded for a bit but walked with us for most of the way. Then we walked up onto the pedestrian bridge and walked most of the way across it. We chilled out there for awhile. It was so awesome. Everything on the bridge was massive, and it was swaying slightly with the wind. So. Tight.

Then Josh boarded back to the car, and we walked to where we were he was to pick us up. The street we stopped at was just outside this restaurant that had a live jazz band playing on the deck. It was fun. There may or may not have been an impromptu improvisational dance session by yours truly.

Then we made the drive back to Shenandoah. Josh played some more music, and we found out that we're both ridiculous music junkies. He even likes Moby and Massive Attack. I about flipped out. It was awesome. He played a ton of popular Christian music. I was impressed. Also, he has so much drive and passion for it. It was so awesome. I know so many Christians who are so mellow or luke-warm, or even cold towards Christian music, that it was almost like a breath of fresh air to notice that about him. No, more than that: he couldn't seem to get enough of christian music. I loved it. It made me realize that it really is good music, no matter what other people think about it - and I really shouldn't let other's negativity affect my love for it. Done: listening to more good Christian music now. Looking at Josh at first glance, one would probably not think he was super intense about God or Christian music. Such is the beauty of Jesus Followers. We may not dress as the "quintessential christian" but we are who we are because God has made us that way, and it's that part of us which allows us to be open to non-believers, and share our love and passion for Christ with them.

We're hoping to hang out again before he leaves for Minnesota on Sunday after church. His Fiero needs some work before he leaves so he's going to work on that a bit tomorrow night (he's a grease monkey). The bearings on the wheels are busting off because the engine he put in it has too much torque or something. Might go over to chill and help out or something, we'll see... :P

of homework, chickens, and a bbq

Today, I didn't work as I'd already put in over 40 hours of work either actually in the garden, in homework, research, and setup for the chicks by noon on Thursday. I'm living work. It's kinda insane at times, but I manage to get away from it a bit by doing stuff with the church, going on bike rides, and studying adventures.

I checked up on the chicks and watched them for a bit. They're super, super cute. I'm having a really hard time not getting attached to them. I know that a percentage of them will die before they reach full maturity, but still... they're so cute and so full of personality.

I then drove to Pioneer Park, a location I'd spotted on our way to Clarinda last night. Upon further investigation, it's a small campground, surrounded by farmland, with a small lake. All in all, it was a very good break from everything and I was able to get in some serious reading for my class. I witnessed a guy catch and release a small fish. It was cool. Lol... I'm easily amused.

Then I drove back to Shenandoah and kinda filmed my driving back. Not super exciting, and I have yet to post it. Might soonish...

On my drive, I was just craving an all American burger, so I got one, or the best I could get, once back in Shenandoah before heading over to the library for homework. Sadly, I didn't get much done in the time I was there. I really need to figure out studying habits... that are well, ...better.

Then I went back home to work on more homework, but got interrupted by a potential tour to Jason's farm. Jason is the guy who came to plow our garden. Nancy was going to come give us a ride, I wasn't sure why at first, but then later found out it's because none of the houses out where he lives have any sort of identifying feature or road signs or numbers at them, so it's kinda like: you have to live there or really know where you're going. But when I got downstairs when Nancy pulled up, Jim wasn't home and the Buick was gone... weird, so we decided to go over there anyway, then Jim showed up and just followed us. *shrug* anyway...

Jason has a really nice chicken coop. Complete with lots of perches, feeders, waterers, lots of nest boxes and the like. The chickens were running around the yard, along with this really, really annoying black duck that had iridescent black/emerald feathers on its head. There were also two cats, one orange tom cat and another smaller tabby kitten. Both were adorable, sweet and loving, but also very much independent farm cats. They also had a rabbit who looked like Benny, only smaller, and four homing pigeons in another pen. The garden was a bit smaller than the one we're working in out at our farmhouse, but it was definitely well developed so far, well, especially because they have had their plants in the ground for several months now.

The main idea of going there was to scope out the chicken coop, as we have to build one ourselves in the very near future. But some forgot to notice it, so I managed to look at is as much as I could to memorize it's features. Then we went to HyVee to pick up some items for a BBQ to have at our house. Then we went back to the house and Nancy + kids came over and we hung out and talked for awhile. Actually, Nancy and I talked for a long while and started getting eaten by mosquitos, so we moved into the house, but it was really good to talk with her.

Then when they left I realized I still had homework to complete. Drat. So I managed to get it turned in, but not til super late, and my last paper, the 4-pager, I threw together in 20 minutes. Not good, peoples. This is just no bueno. I will have to say that I was surprised how amazingly it came together, but definitely not my best work, and not something I should do again. A God thing, for certain, but still... never, never, never, never ever again. Bad, very bad.

of morning busyness

I'm behind. I realize this. I'll go back and edit those posts, I promise. Just.... not now. I'm really tired.

For some ridiculous reason, I decided that I need to be getting up at dark thirty in the morning - literally. I set my alarm for, well, lets just say I was out the door and on my run by 6am. The sun wasn't up just yet, and the morning was almost, almost, almost crisp. But no, still soggy. Because it's Iowa. Lame (lol). Then I went on my run. Wasn't expecting to go far or long because it's been so long since I last went on a run, but surprisingly, I did quite well and was back from going 2 miles in a faster time than I had anticipated. All in all, it was a good run. Then I showered, had some breakfast, read a chapter in one of my books for my class, and headed out to the garden to work around 7:30am.

I had to replant two rows of tomatoes (about 23-25 plants per row), and the row of eggplants (however many we have) because they weren't planted well. Then I proceeded to plant another three rows of tomatoes. All the while, I listened to podcasts from Solid Rock. Now, when I say that, I don't mean, I'm listening to the most recent ones. I'm catching up from where I'm behind this year. So, this means that today, I listened to Easter Sunday. All in all, it was good to listen to them, and I'm ever thankful that I have awesome friends who thought to get me a stereo system for graduation. :)

Then, at around 12:30pm, after planting, getting fully immersed in dirt, clay, tomatoes, bugs, worms, and goodness knows what else (beside ants, ant eggs, and fly larvae of sorts... ew), I showered, had some lunch and took a short nap before heading to the library to work on my grad school application - something I should have done long ago, but oh well, there it is, needing to be done. Before I went to the library, I went over to McComb park and talked with Kara for over an hour. It was really awesome to talk with her. :)

Then I worked on my application before heading back to the house after picking up yet another book I had on hold (love it). Got home, starving around 5:30, only to find out that dinner wouldn't be for at least another 2 hours. So, I had some cereal and watched the next Harry Potter movie on the list: The Order of the Phoenix. Fun stuff.

I should probably clean my room some and finish up that grad school application... bleh.

...I wonder when the sink is going to be put in the bathroom upstairs...

Of storms, mooching internet, black gumbo, and Benadryl-comas

Last night I got home super, super late from Nancy’s from doing homework for my class. Got it all turned in on time, but I wish I could have worked on it sooner. But it’s alright.  At least I was able to get it done and turned in.

On my drive back, the sky was clear and the moon was full and out, it was awesome. In the distance, there was a huge storm system coming closer in the distance.  When I got to the house, it was really ominous, but still not over us yet. There was still some stuff left over from the moving on the deck, and I looked at it some more and it was a lot of open boxes with books and other such things that really shouldn’t be getting wet… so I went about to start moving stuff into the house. When I was about half way done it started raining. When I got back inside after getting everything out of the rain and going upstairs (with my handy LED flashlight that I got for xmas a few years back) there was this huge flash, giant thunder crash, and a torrent of rain hit the house. It freaked me out so much. Between the new house, the spiders, the emptiness, the darkness, and then the storm. Yeah. Talk about freaky. And I’m not usually scared of stuff like that.  Then I decided to not be scared of it, so I pulled out my camera and took a few videos of them.

This morning I slept through church, which was a bummer, but it’s ok, I’m sure I needed the sleep, and I was kinda in a Benadryl-coma. But, thankfully, when I did get up, my mosquito bites were dramatically improved. Made my day. Hopefully I’ll get in some Solid Rock podcasts this week in addition to my Bible readings and studies, and maybe even go to a Wednesday night service here in town. They don’t have Sunday evening services because it’s too small and enough people are able to go to the morning services.

Got up, ate some cold pizza, because it was the only edible thing in the fridge. Showered, vacuumed my room, and went to Mondo’s diner with Jan to get lunch… which, we actually got breakfast, but it was still good. Later, I did some more stuff in my room and then went back into town. Got some iced coffee (!!!!!) at McDonald’s (because it’s basically one of the only places in town that has some on the weekend), and parked at the library to see if I could mooch of the free wifi from the lot even though they were closed for the day. It totally worked. I felt fantastic about my idea.

There was an incredible amount of patriotism going on in town and people out on the street seeming to wait for a parade. I was starting to wonder if there was some holiday that I forgot about… no, it was still June, couldn’t be 4^th of July just yet. Looked it up online and found that it was this parade thing:

Date:	June 27
Event:	Sea to Shining Sea Veterans Bike Ride Across America Sea to Shining Sea Disabled Veterans Bicycle Ride will stop in Shenandoah. They should arrive between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. State Farm is sponsoring the ride. Fareway will help sponsor a cookout at the Shenandoah Inn and Suites parking lot. Public is invited to the cookout meal with a donation. The donation will go to the veterans expenses for the ride.
Location:	Corner of Sheridan Ave. and Elm St.
Time:	Arrive 4-6pm and cookout follows

Made me really excited for the 4^th of July because of how excited every one was for this event.

After doing a little bit of internet surfing, I went back to the Shenandoah house to see how things were going (and mostly to use the bathroom). Mooched off the internet from the neighbors again when Jim asked me to come help move the chicken wire from over the garden and into the u-haul truck. Jim later chastised me for wearing my nice clothes, but I’d told them I wasn’t planning on doing any work today. Just taking it easy for the day and such… kinda frustrating, but anyway, I’m glad I was able to help.

Took some pictures of the dirt when we’d pulled off the chicken wire and the plastic underneath. It was beautiful. So, yes, I might be a nerd, but who cares! It was awesome. The dirt here is so black and high in clay content. It’s absolutely fascinating.

Called Lydia on the phone and we talked for around an hour. I walked back and forth along Airport road with the dogs, which was nice.

Jan made teriyaki steak and chicken tonight. It was more just meat boiled with teriyaki sauce (of sorts), and long grain rice, but it was still good. I miss veggies!!! After dinner, and eating a lot, Jim pulled out popcorn and chips and dip. I just had to leave. Not only was I already very full, I just didn’t want to overstuff myself because I’m just not doing well right now in that regard. I’ve been eating waay too much all the time.

I’m now up in my room, listening to this new album called Long Distance by Onra that Zach sent me today. I’m a definite fan. I think “Mechanical” is my favorite track so far.

Camp started today for real. The kids are all there. They’re probably in one of those group sessions right now. I’m going to guess, because it’s after 10 here, that they’re in their respective dorms, learning the camp song and doing all the camp guideline skits. So fun.

Without realizing it, I wore my old camp staff shirt today. Just pulled it out of my suitcase and threw it on. Apparently I subconsciously knew that it was the shirt to wear today… even if I am super far away.

Mom and Dad called, and I talked to them for a while. It was really good to talk to them.

I might be getting some Bowery family heirloom furniture for my room. I’m really hoping that I will get it tomorrow. I’ve been living mostly on the floor and sleeping on an air mattress since I’ve been here.

of breakfast and improvisational pies

This morning I got up somewhat decently early (think it was around 8:30 or something), got ready for the day and walked down to Mondo’s Family Restaurant. I got so ridiculously many weird looks for walking, but it seriously wasn’t very far, and I didn’t care. I felt kinda like an idiot when I got there though because there wasn’t anyone else there and I just stood there, not really knowing what to do with myself. Then this waiter walked up to me and asked if he could help. I just mentioned how I just moved to the area and wanted to check everything out. He said I could sit wherever and he’d be right over with a menu.

When he brought over a menu he asked me if I wanted coffee. Now, usually I say no, but I haven’t had coffee in forever, so I went for it. Heck, why not, right? He brought me a pot of coffee and I ordered. A few minutes later a bunch of retired folks walked in and sat in a booth across from me. Their conversation ranged from their relatives, what their kids are up to, when they went on a morning walk (6am), and when they had breakfast (before that walk), and when that one guy got hit by that gravel truck about eight years back. It was amusing, but I felt kinda awkward for listening in.

After I was almost done with my food, I leaned over towards their table and mentioned how I didn’t want to be rude, but that I was new in town and wondered how they liked the area and what they enjoyed about it all the most. They were all more than happy to talk to me. One even tried to suggest that they should set me up with Brandon, our waiter, lol. One of the ladies mentioned how she felt bad for me because I don’t have any friends in the area and don’t really know anyone my age, saying how it had to be hard and she really hoped that I would be able to connect with some people soon.

I had to head out because I knew Jim wanted me to help him with… something. Can’t remember what, but when I was on my way back home he called me from Walmart, saying another thing had gone wrong with his bike and that the wanted me to come pick on out because I’d likely be riding it more than him anymore anyway. So I crossed Hwy 59 and headed over there, picking out a mountain bike that was about the same price as the one he originally got. I filled the tires with more air when we got back to the house and took it for a test run. It freaked me out at first, but its got pretty good shocks on the front. It’s awesome. So much fun to get air with that bike. The downside is that the bike seat is beyond-this-world uncomfortable.

Then I went over to Nancy’s to pick up my textbooks that had arrived so I could start into my homework, thinking I would just drop by to get them and head out again to work on it. But I ended up staying around helping Rose, Jim’s mom, who was now in town, edit a lease for renting the house to Jim and Jan because it was in PDF form and she didn’t know what to do, or how to work computers as well as I did. I was happy to help her in that way.

Then Rose and Rachel made a Mulberry pie from scratch. Rachel said she wanted to make it and that her mom was going to make it a  few days before, but hadn’t, Rose set right to it. They didn’t have a rolling pin, or a pie pan, so we improvised and used a jam jar to flatten the pie crust, and then baked it in a square pyrex pan, but it was still really good.

Rachel was all too excited to have me there and got me into playing her Zoo Tycoon 2 computer game where you build a zoo and then have to manage the upkeep of the grounds and animals. She said I was horrible, so I went with it (and I kinda was) and let her finish building my zoo for me (it’s saved as Hannah’s Habitats, in case you were wondering).

I finally had to head out, and helped Jan pack up a bit more of the house and packed up my stuff so that it would be more organized and together for the big move. Jim BBQ’d some steak and chicken for us and I created my choice combination of both into a salad. It was good.

Then I rode my bike around town and out and over to the farmhouse. I can’t wait to get out there!! And I cant believe it’s actually happening!!!

I got back to the house, watched Alice in Wonderland, couldn’t stop thinking of Lydia and Kim and Jeni for some reason, missing them all of course, can’t wait to put up my poster now either (!), and bed.

of driving, Times Square, and almost-full moons

After sleeping in some, I cleaned my room because a ridiculous amount of dog hair blows in here at night. It’s insane. I took a nice long shower and then called just about as many businesses in town as I could. Pretty much all of the ones listed in the business section of the Shenandoah website.

Then, after finally giving up with a lack of more places to call, Jim and I went out in the ’93 Saturn and he showed me some of the ins and outs to driving manual. The first thing he said to me when I got in the car was: “alright, well, the first thing you have to do is adjust your seat” I blinked. Seriously? As if I haven’t been driving for the last 5 years without a single ticket or accident, and I don’t know that I need to adjust my seat? Ridiculous. I just brushed it off with some sarcasm and we took off. I drove over to a small parking lot to practice more on starting and stopping, and then we took off to a country road. It was super cute. I was more interested in the countryside than driving. It was these shallow rolling knolls. I loved it. Nothing at all like mountains or anything in Oregon or the Pacific Northwest, of course, but still. It was also amusing to me how the road just continued on straight over these small hills. Up and down, gently each time. The car, of course, letting off this disgusting amount of bluish gray smoke the entire time. But trying to ignore my current carbon footprint, I enjoyed it and didn't do too bad with the shifting and such. It was fun. 

Afterwards, Jan and I walked into the downtown area for "Thursday Night at the FlatIron" where Jara Johnson, a local of Page county sang and we all had free hotdogs and root beer floats sponsored by Bank Iowa and served by The Depot. 

I swear, there are NO cute guys who are my age and not married with kids. It's depressing. Oh well... I mean, I'm not here for that by any means, but still... lol. It's also kinda weird to think about how many people get married at so young of an age out here and just settle down. It makes me feel weird for still being in school and... yeah. anyway...

When we got back, I did some homework and then got too antsy, so I went on a run. It was nice, but I was just super stressed. I stopped about half way at this little park, did some pull-ups on the monkey bars and then sat on the swing. Let me tell you, I was dizzy after awhile, but it was really good for me to just be doing nothing. I started crying and just not knowing what to do. I have been super frustrated about the move and all the unknowns regarding whether or not we're actually going to be able to move this week, or goodness knows what. Then I got up and started my run again, going a bit farther than normal. Once I got back to the house, I just couldn't bring myself to go inside. I just didn't want to go in there again. Everything in me wanted to stay away. So I kept walking. I walked over across Hwy 59, which is ridiculously never busy normally, and mostly dead at night. I walked along Airport road for awhile. I didn't get much farther than Eaton, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be away from city lights, and do something - myself. To just get alone with me and God. Away from the house, the stress of the move, everything. I was so sick of being by myself all the time, but the least I could do was get a bit closer with God.

I sat down on the road. No one was driving this late, and even if they were, I would know far in advance because the road was so straight and flat. I lied down on the road. It reminded me of The Notebook, minus, of course, a cute guy... or even just a friend. The moon was out and almost full. It was beautiful. There were hardly any streetlights to get in its way. I loved it. I stared at the stars, noting how they looked from the different angle that Iowa is at. After awhile, I decided I had probably head back to the house so they wouldn't think I'd disappeared on them. As I was walking back towards the house, this younger guy in a truck stopped and reversed until he came up to me and asked if I wanted a ride (no one walks here, especially at night, even though that's the only time it's cool here). I said I was fine and not far from home, and that I was just out for a walk. He wasn't sure, and made sure I was completely fine before driving off.

When I got home, Cory had called, so I called him back and we talked for awhile. I went back outside and just walked around the neighborhood while talking.

aaaand bedtime for me.

of downtown, lunch, and other such things

Today, my alarm went off at 6:30am. I actually did pull myself out of bed and looked outside. It wasn't raining. So I went and stood outside the back door for a bit to see if I really did want to go for a run. I did. So I put on my shoes and went off. I didn't go quite as far as last time, but I didn't expect to. It was really awesome, the sun was rising, and even though it was super humid, it wasn't quite as hot out. People continued to give me insane looks, it was kinda amusing.

After my run, I took a shower, had some cereal and did my Bible reading outside. It was really nice weather. I've decided it's probably the best part of the day here.

Oh dear. Power's dipping. There must be a thunderstorm not far away! ... yup, I can hear it now.

I can't tell you how much lack of motivation I have to write this right now. Staying away since 5pm (today) has been the biggest struggle of my life, it's ridiculous. How I've managed to still be awke now is amazing to me.

After awhile, I walked into the downtown area, stopping first in the library to get a library card. Ha, the librarian was kinda intense about giving me the library card:
Librarian: you live here? you got proof?
Me: uhh, I just moved in with my relatives.
Librarian: oh, ok, well, we'll have to send you your library card then.
Me: um, ok?
Librarian: oh, and this phone number is long distance, so is it alright if we email you when you have a reserve or when an item is over due?
Me: yeah, that's totally fine.
....so funny.

Then I walked around downtown, taking lots of pictures. They have this thing called the Iowa Walk of Fame, which is where they have bricks on the sidewalk of a map of Iowa with a famous person's name and a star with the town they're from.

I went into a few shops. Some are cutsie little boutiques. One was a clothing store full of old ladies trying to pick out colors that they should wear to some relative's wedding up near the city by a pond.

Shenandoah wants to be a tourist town, but it soooo isn't. I almost got hit by grandma on more than one occasion. They were at stop signs! I was at the cross walk, one would think (especially coming from tourist-central [aka Hood River]) that people would stop when you want to cross. But no. They don't. I mean, really. In a town of 6,000, I'm probably the one tourist, so why should they care?

Also, I went into a few shops

-------NEWSFLASH-------

I FOUND THE [one] COFFEE PLACE!!!!

*ahem*... I went into a few shops and actually got to talking to some of the people who worked in them. Mostly because I was their only customer and they were more than interested in assisting me. I talked to them and said I just moved here (people don't understand the concept of "just visiting for the summer" so it's either: "I'm just visiting" or "I just moved here") and we got to talking about life in Shenandoah, they're all very welcoming and want to know what I'm doing out here and such. It was cool. Then I went into a more trendy boutique and got to talking to the girl in there. Her name is Amber, she's 23 and lives in a town not far from here. We got to talking (more of the same, but also about meeting people and hanging out with ppl our age), and she gave me her number and said she'd love to hang out, and mentioned some other people around our age in the area. Super exciting. I was going to call her tonight, but I'm just too tired to care at the moment. Perhaps tomorrow. She also said that I'm more than welcome to come by the store she works at any time because she works every day and often gets bored (I just want to say, that this reminded me of Jill b/c I used to visit her at Anana's a lot, although this store wasn't quite so intense as Ananas, just mainly trendy).

I went into the Donut Stop and the gal said "All we got is day'olz" cool, no problem. I don't really care. So I got myself a chocolate glazed bar (called a longjohn apparently) for 35 cents. Very good.

Then I went into the Nishnabotna Cafe (Nishnabotna is the river that flows just north of town (and just north of the farmhouse... there's also a really cool bridge that goes over it on part of the Wabash Trace bike trail). I thought it was the coffee place I'd seen online, but it was really just a diner. It reminded me of The Ranch. Walking in, there was an entry way full of business cards and local announcements. Then I walked into the place proper. It was filled - filled - with retired and working farmers from the area. They all looked up when I walked in. Yup, I'm a sore thumb, but I don't mind. I walked over to the counter and sat down, struck up a conversation with the waitress as she handed me the two-sided, plastic-sleeve covered paper menu (love small diners in small towns). I got distracted by the place instead of looking at my menu. There were so many cute sayings on the wall, so many old things like a super old fridge (still in use), calendars and football schedules from the 50s, in addition to the people. Everyone was talking to everyone. Not just people knowing about the happenings of town, but actively talking about everything with each other from across tables and across the restaurant. I hastily ordered a bacon cheeseburger when she came back (only $4) and got some fries with it.

The waitress and I talked about how I liked the place because it reminded me of a place I used to work at (anything that reminds me of HR is awesome).
Waitress: so you just moved here?
Me: Yeah, I'm from Oregon
Waitress: Oregon... ok, that's not too far, Oregon, Missouri and all
Me: Oh, no, Oregon, the state of
Waitress: Oh! Really? Wow!!! What brings you out to Shenandoah?
...and our conversation went on from there ;)
this is actually common... just like when you say Washington, you have to specify that it's the state, and not DC.

Then this really sweet older guy sat down a few chairs over from me. He asked me why I wasn't in the pool on a hot day like this. I said I was going there soon. Then after we started talking a bit, he moved over to sit closer to me, and we just had a really sweet conversation the whole time we were there. He is a local meter-reader in the area. Said he gets plenty of exercise and fresh air in his job. We talked about how nice and peaceful and safe small towns like Shenandoah are, and how busy Oregon is, and how the weather is like out there, and of course, we talked about the humidity and fireflies. It was like talking to a grandpa. I loved it. I asked him what his favorite thing about living in the area was. His response? "You gotta get married and have your kids here. It's a really good place. Good schools and not a lot of crime. There are still cooks out there, so you can't be too careful, but it's so much better than those big cities." We then talked about coffee and how people in the Northwest are obsessed with coffee and specialty drinks and espresso. He had to know if Starbucks was all that it was cracked up to be. I told him that regular coffee is often burnt because they leave it on the burner all day. He was shocked... and at such an expense! He had to know the most expensive drink, I told him I didn't know, but that I had seen some that were over $6. He just couldn't believe spending so much on one drink. We finished our lunches and he insisted on paying for my lunch because "the good company was worth getting a lunch for, and you have such beautiful dimples." As we were eating lunch, I just had to thank God for letting me be open to meeting new people and being outgoing today, even though it's hot and scary being in a new town in the middle of corn-city, Iowa. Then I went on my way, and after I'd walked a few blocks, he passed me in his truck and waved as he drove by. It really made my day.

Then I walked home. It. Was. So. Hot.

After I got home, I uploaded my pictures to my computer and called Lydia. She called later and we talked for over an hour. It was really good to catch up with her. I miss her soooo much! I love hearing familiar voices on the phone. IMing, skyping, texting, emailing, and facebooking are awesome, but it doesn't compare to live voices!

After talking with Lydia, I went down to the pool. Jan was already there (she got too over heated, and I don't blame her! With temperatures in the 90s plus humidity made the heat index in the 100s! The pool was kinda a mad house. Packed with kids and parents. But it was worth it! Jan and I went between getting in the water and lying out under the spraying mist of the fountains at the pool. Probably should have continuously applied the sunscreen because I got a little sunburnt, but it's not bad and I applied aloe as soon as we got home.

After swimming, I was sooo beat. I just wanted to go to bed, but it was only 5pm! I just couldn't justify going to bed so early. So I ate my leftovers (yum!), and watched a detective movie with Jan on Hulu called "The Good Guys" it was kinda dumb, but funny, and it kept me awake for another hour. Afterwards Jan mentioned cleaning the rest of the house today. I said I think we should just take a break for the day because I was just super exhausted, probably from the run, the walking around town, and the swimming. I managed to stay up late enough to go on a walk with Jan around 9ish. It was still really hot and really humid, but it was a good walk and I really enjoy our late-evening walks together.

I just want to say that I've figured out the two big universities here. Iowa State University is a lot like Oregon State University. It has Ag, Animal Sciences, and other science-oriented majors. The University of Iowa has more of the liberal arts degrees that University of Oregon has. ha! and would you look at that! The titles of the universities are even the same. I will have to say though, I am partial to the orange and black. Although UofI is the Hawkeyes, and their colors are black and gold, and then ISU is the Cyclones, but their mascot is a red cardinal and their colors are red and gold, which isn't quite as awesome, but still cool. Yeah ag!!!

It's kinda a bummer, for some reason, Jim's mom might not be able to be there for the signing of the house this week for some reason or another. It's still pending, so it might work out, but if not, we won't be moving til next week. This is really, really starting to wear on both Jan and Jim. They're itching to move. Everything is ready to go. They can't wait to get the garden started and the painting done and the moving over with. Especially so they can have their normal lives back. They've been living in boxes for at least two weeks already. Hopefully, we won't have to be this way for another week!

Bed is really calling my name. I might get up early tomorrow, might not. Who knows. Not super worried about it. Depends on how I feel when I wake up.

Pictures posted to my facebook album and my flickr photostream. :)