Christmas is over.....

First off sorry that we still have our Merry Christmas header up. One of these days (when I am back in Iowa), I will get around to changing it.  For now you'll just have to be continuously wished a Merry Christmas from us. 
Other than that.... I must say that the last week and a half have been most fabulous. I have absolutely no Complaints about any of it. (well maybe the snow-- but I guess Christmas, December, and Snow co-exist so I can't complaing too much.)  I'm just grateful that we weren't in Iowa during their big snow storm. I am praying that it all melts magically in the next two days before I get back there on Sat. 
I was lucky enough to enjoy some snowless days in St. George.  Those days were awesome. Christmas was awesome. Hanging with family was even more awesome. And being able to spend a few weeks with Adam while he was not having to worry about school was the most awesome.  We have mostly just relaxed and more importantly we have realized even more how amazing both our families are.  We hope you all had a Merry Christmas.... and Have a Happy New Year.

Parties. Snowboarding. Family. Friends.

Utah has been fabulous. Pictures to come later.  I get lazy when I get home, so instead you get a quick blurp about what we have been up to.
SLC with Adam's family for the first couple days was our first stop. Had an awesome pre-Christmas party.... tons and tons of fabulous food and more importantly Adam recieved a little piece of history thanks to the White Elephant gift exchange, a President Obama Collectors Decorative Plate. It's good to know that no more than $2.00 was paid for such a prized possesion.(thanks to the price tag still in tact)  Thanks Jeremy and Laura for making all of Adam's dreams come true.

I also got to hang out with a couple of my college friends; Melissa, Jenni, and Sabrina. Melissa congrats on getting engaged. So excited for you.

We next made it to St. George and have spent the last couple days with my family.  Adam decided that he missed being a working man so he volunteered his time one day to go in and work for Sunroc.  It was worth it cause he ended up getting a free ticket to the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas..... Adam was pretty pumped and couldn't stop talking about the Big BYU football win. Go Cougars!  I stayed home and hung with my family.  Everyone(with the exception of Elder Wittwer- who's in Portugal) is home in Santa Clara for the holidays. I get to hang with my 2 nephews and 2 nieces that I have rarely seen. so entertaining. I love just hanging out, laughing, relaxing, and eating. Yesterday Adam and I went to Brainhead and had a great time snowboarding.  Two things I learned. 1.I'm just not as young as I used to be and 2. I am a wuss when it comes to the cold.  Even having freezing fingers we had a great time!

Now here we are today.... MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you ALL.

winter is here. here to stay.

Today I woke up to white, lots of white.  Although I look outside and I want to complain and I have to tell myself that Iowa has been good to me.  It is December 7th and as of yet this year we have not had anything white that has stuck around..... but I am pretty sure that this stuff is going to stick around seeing that the forecast for the next few days is 90% chance of snow and on Wed. we get to 1 degree. Wahoo. cant wait.  So although I hate, yes hate the cold I need to be grateful for making it clear til December with pretty warm winter weather.  Bring it winter.  I am really going to try to love you a bit more this year.   and if your would.... please pray that Iowa winters aren't as bad as everyone claims they are.  

On another note.... my little nephew Henry had his birthday this weekend.  He is now the cutest 2 year old ever. (well he was til he got his recent haircut. jk)  Here he is in his Mexican Wrestler Halloween Costume.  My little sis did an awesome job of making it.  Pretty sweet huh?  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY

Perks. of this week.

Holidays are great.... and even greater when you are a student, or in my case the employee of a professor.  With these circumstances Adam and I were both able to have the whole week off from both work and school. Awesome. So this is what we did.

-my holiday week started a bit early and I flew off to Santa Clara last Thursday to spend a few quick, but great days in Santa Clara.  Cafe Rio, a bit of shopping with Whit and my Mom, admiring how cute and hilarious my niece and nephew are.... with the bulk of my time spend sitting in an office chair at meetings.  Def. worth the trip, every bit of it.
-my Dad hit the ripe age of 55. He's old isn't he?  Hope you had a great Birthday Dad... so glad I was there to party with you.

-made the 3 1/2 hour trip to Chicago and walked the streets for a good many miles. we had all intentions of doing a bit more but with the fog it seemed useless to go on an architectural cruise, or go to the top of the Willis tower(formally known as the Sears Tower) because our view was pretty much a blur of white fog(those will have to be for our next trip come spring or summer time)......

We still had a great time exploring the city. Our hotel was right downtown so we were still able to *hangout at Navy Pier.

That is Navy Pier in the background.

*and Millenium Park - - the famous bean - - sorry the pics are so dark.

*ate way too many calories at Giordano's Famous Chicago Stuffed Pizza. Pretty sure my 2 slices were a good 3,000+++ calories. It's a good thing we walked for a good many miles around the city to compensate for a few hundred of those calories.  Def. delicious, Def. cheesy.

*Walked the Magnificent Mile... admired some of the cool architecture of the city while enjoying the holiday lights and shops along the way.

*found the RedBox that was .25 miles from our hotel after walking for a good 45 minutes trying to find the place.  

*attended the Chicago Temple.

*and it happened that our hotel was right across from this.

The 50th Anniversary McDonalds. 24,000 sq. feet, 23 plasma TVs, Designer furniture, double drive-thru, life size beatles statue, a 1959 Chevy convertible, 2 escalators, 1 elevator, and 1 grand staircase. I could go on and on about the features so instead Click here to read how extensive and high class this place really was.

we had a great time in Chicago.... and will no doubt make a return trip soon.  

-Had my first Iowa Thanksgiving.  Thanks to Adam's great Aunt and Uncle (plus a handful of cousins).... we were able to have a great thanksgiving feast.... and yes my homemade rolls were a success.
I'd say the week spent holidaying it up was well worth it.  Next on my list.....  Christmas decorations, and more importantly I better get writing my talk for Church tomorrow.  Once a procrastinator always a procrastinator.

Hope all your Thanksgivings were just as great as ours and wish you an early start of the Merry Christmas season! 

Parents. IC. Tourists.

Parents came to town. We saw and conquered Iowa. They being our first visitors, got the honor of visiting all the BIG tourist sites Iowa has to offer.I am pretty sure that they loved Iowa so much that they are considering moving out here to start a new life. :) Iowa really is that cool people.

So here's a peek of what our few days consisted of.

They arrived Thursday evening.... we pretty much just hung out at our little apartment. It was so good to show someone our new life.  I love just chillin with the parents.

Because Iowa City only has so many "touristy" things to offer.... Friday we decided to head up North to see what that side of the state has to offer.  We made our first stop at the Amana Colonies.....

Basically they are radical German pietists....(sorta like Amish). We didn't see much of them but did go through a few of their little shops.  We only stayed there a few hours cause we had an important appointment in Waterloo, Iowa. . . I need to preface this that my Dad really loves his John Deer anything.... so when I found out there was a John Deere Factory Tour less than two hours away I had to reserve a time.... so I did, 1 p.m. on Friday. It was the last tour that was going on for the rest of the day and weekend. So we pretty much had to make it there. Thanks to technology and our little GPS, (and maybe me not putting the exact address in correct).... we were still cruising around in the middle of nowhere at 1 o'clock.  We made a little phone call to the people over at John Deere and they were kind enough to not start the tour without us.... We finally arrived around 1:15 and true to form they had held up the tour (sorry to all those that were on time for the tour and had to wait around for us).  Well the tour was pretty cool. So neat to see how the huge tractors were all out together. I think my Dad enjoyed it more than me.

We then headed west to "The Field of Dreams" movie site.  Pros- The field, the house, and the bleachers. The all depicted the movie.  Cons- there was no corn in the outfield.  It just wasn't the same without it. I am now going to have to make a trip back up there in the Spring or Summer when the corn stalks are up and growing.

We then headed to Hale, Iowa to meet up with Adam(he had school all day), His Grandpa, and Betty.  His Grandpa Willy has a fave place to eat at so we thought we'd try it out.  It didn't let us down....  Everything we had hoped for to show my parents what true Iowans eat like.  Now my mom believes me when I tell her about some of the restaurants back here.  My Dad loved it all and especially loved visiting with the table full of elderly people he was surrounded by. He was best friends with the 80 year old lady sitting next to him by the time we left the Supper Club.  He also loved chatting it up with Willy and Betty.  It was so fun to be able to have my parents meet some of Adam's family that lives here.

Sat. morning we went to 'Herbert Hoovers Presidential Library and Museum.' Pres. Hoover was born here near Iowa City..... I can honestly say that I knew nothing about this President before going to the museum and now I could probably tell you anything you want to know about the guy. Good times.  

We got a little bite to eat in downtown Iowa City for lunch.... then headed home to watch some college football.  The Hawkeyes and the Cougars were playing so we rushed home.  After a sad Iowa OT loss, we had to mourn, so we really just hung out at home the rest of the night.

Sunday we went to church.... and then went for a little walk at the 'Mormon Handcart Park.' The early pioneers never fail to amaze me with their Faith, Strength, and Determination. So many Thanks to all them!

My parents plane flew out monday afternoon so on the way to the Airport we made one last stop at Kalona-- an Amish community.  There wasn't a lot to see there but we did see our share or horses and buggies. From there I headed off to work and they headed off to the airport.

I LOVED having them here. So fun to share our new life with others.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING MOM AND DAD.  

You guys rock.

 I can't wait for the Christmas holiday to spend time with both Adam's and my family.

Who wore it better?

For halloween we headed over to a friends house for a Halloween party.... so a 1/2 hour before it is supposed to start we are going through our limited costume supply to see what we can come up with for our costumes. Luckily I was the one that somehow ended up with this nasty wig from White Trash Road Trip (thanks to whomevers it was), so Adam consented in sporting it in W.T. Fashion.  I resorted to common wear with my Red Sox Jersey and Hat (so creative I know).

 Good times all around.  

On another note..... I thought we could take a little vote on who thinks who wore the wig best?

ADAM.... looking HOT or Marci... looking NASTY

Yes people that is actually me.... in character of Lorraine.  

Mickey Mice and Fall Hike

Last Sat. we had our ward's Halloween Party and Trunk'or'Treat.  Thanks to my Mom and Dad we didn't have to try and throw together a last minute Halloween costume.  They sent us these Mickey Mouse Halloween ears (with CandyCorn) from their recent trip to Disneyworld.  The ears were one-size-fits-all (kids size) so although a bit small, we wore the ears proud.  We look pretty fabulous don't you think??  Winners of best costume for sure.   haha Not.

Adam really wanted to show off our sweet  costumes.  Here he is doing his thing...  and here he is at our trunk... we spent a lot of time decorating it... cant you tell? haha.

Since it was a sunny day (these days have been hard to come by here in Iowa) I was going to take advantage of it.  Adam had to run off to school and do a bunch of homework so instead of going home and chillin' by myself all cooped up I went out exploring and found a hike!  wahoo... Even though most of the leaves had fallen it was still very pretty and nice to get out and hang with nature a bit.  I know I probably looked like a loser out hiking by myself but I had a good time. As you can tell by the pics I have an array of different faces. ....  and even with the sunshine I had to sport a beany and gloves part of the time.  I figure solo pics are better than no pics, so enjoy all the self-portraits.

raNdOmoCitY

Random thoughts....

*I made homemade Rootbeer last night for a ward activity and now have the joys of eating Rootbeer slush all day long. Heavenly. Reminds me of the 4th of July in Pine Valley.

*II live in the Ghetto... yes the straight up ghetto. (who knew there was even a ghetto in Iowa City?) Although I'm all good with where we live, we get some pretty strange looks and comments from people when we tell them what street we live on.

*I listen to country music on a daily basis.. weird I know..... and I am becoming a fan. The only other time this happened was when I was in Logan, Utah.... must be the middle of no-where, small country town feel I get.

*I cruise around Iowa City in a Mini-van... I wasn't expecting this for quite a few years to come. Still enjoying my new motherhood of being a nanny.
*Adam has started watching MLB on a regular basis.  Before he would just watch the Red Sox.... basically cause I would be watching them. Now suddenly, this post-season he has put a real interest into it.  He chooses to watch the games and cares who wins.. It's awesome. I guess with me starting to watch college football for X amount of hours on Saturdays he feels the needs to reciprocate it with MLB.... and Yes I am more knowledgeable about who's who and who's good in college football.    

*I forgot how much I enjoy going to the gym.  Just joined a gym for the first time since living in Boston.  I love it. (most days). :)

That's it... today we are off to the ward halloween party. Thanks Mom for the Candy Corn Mickey Mouse ears. Now we don't have to try to pull a costume together in a hour.  

Stuff i've learned Lately....

It's been brought to my attention that.......

-I am not a very compassionate or sympathetic person. I need to learn how to judge less and be willing to give and serve no matter what.
-I can look at a situation and see what needs to be done... then do it.
-It gets really cold in Iowa.... in fact it snowed....  it is not supposed to snow in October. No matter where you are.  Snow should be designated for Christmas... and Christmas only. (this is out our window-just a little but more than I wanted).

-The Lord will bless you if you put your faith in him and do your part. (ex: I got a job.... not what you'd expect though) *see below.
-You no longer take very many pics when there are just two of you. (hence the lack of pics lately) It's just no fun taking solo pics.
-University of Iowa Hawkeye Football fans are more dedicated, hardcore, and true to their team than anyone I have ever seen before. (We wanted to go to at least one football game this season but I don't see it happening. For yesterday's game the lowest price on stubhub is $274 for one ticket.) Apparently it was the most demanded college football game ticket in the nation.  Who knew?
-I am not a very detailed or fast sewer.  I started this quilt when Adam and I first got married. He had so many T-shirts(from high school, the mission, and college) that he didn't want to get rid of.... and they were taking up way too much drawer space. So this is how I managed to get rid of them .  Well it took me many months later but I finally got around to finishing it.

-My Grandma Vanola is amazing... in so many ways.
-the Red Sox had a rough series.... sad day. next year maybe.
-Being close to the Nauvoo Temple is awesome. This is us by the Mississippi River a few weeks ago.

*I have been looking for a job pretty much since we got here in Mid-August.  Being a Dietitian and moving to a city with 3 hospitals and one of them being HUGE, I thought I would easily find something that would work for me. But that was not the case.  The big University Hospital just happened to be on a Hiring Freeze... just my luck.  So I looked else where... called clinics, the community health center, checked with the grocery stores.... there just wasn't anybody hiring. Middle of September I was finally able to find a part time position in Cedar Rapids(which is 1/2 hour way) at a hospital there.  I interviewed, things went well, but the job duties consisted of my least favorite types of clinical work. So I was in a bind.... do I take this Part time job with the commute, that I wouldn't even enjoy and get paid much lower than I was making at my previous job?  It was a job, and I needed a job.  I had to call them back on a Monday to let them know my decision. That Sunday before, my bishop contacted me saying he knew a lady that was in need a of a nanny during the week and was wondering if I was interested. I said sure... the lady called me that night and we planned to meet the next day. She is a single mom, whose husband died a bit ago, is LDS, an accounting professor at the University, and has 3 kids that need watching over til she gets off work.  We met and I started the next day.  Although this nanny job is far from glamorous, pays less, and I am not using my degrees; for the time being it is a job and is the perfect fit. It gives me the flexibility that I need... (weekends off, holidays off, etc), very little stress, and I am able to develop skills for the future... right?  So pathetic yes, but awesome as well. I know it was a blessing from our Heavenly Father and am grateful to have a job.

That's that.

something in the wAteR?

This may sound like some sort of announcement.... but its not, so don't get excited. 

Moving out to Iowa you would expect to be in a family ward with a wide variety of elderly, families, young couples etc..... you know the typical ward when living outside of Utah.  Instead we attend a Married University Ward.  I never went to BYU but I imagine that this ward equally compares to their typical wards.  Here is one bit of information to prove my point. (I'm not trying to dog on our ward because I can honestly say it is one fabulous ward with so many amazing and great people.)

So the Relief Society has something they call the "Stork Report."  (this may not be something new, but seeing that I have been single for the majority of my adult life I have failed to ever see one of these 'reports' before, although I highly doubt it is an official church approved report. :)  This report is passed around with other announcements in Relief Society each week and goes out in a weekly email to all Relief Society sisters.  In short, it is basically a way of announcing to the rest of the ward that you are expecting a little bundle of joy.


This is what the today's email version of the 'stork report' looked like:

Stork Report: (all names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals...)
Jenni Silvester, October 8, girl
Danica Oliander, October 14, girl
Meesha Dastrup, October 21, boy
Mikelle Hainsworth, October 23, boy
Tina Goodspell, October 24, girl
JoAnna Jacobsen, October 26, girl
Katrina Kinsworth, November 22, girl
Melanie Peabody, January 4, girl
Melissa Thomas, January 17, boy
SaraJane Jensen, January 24, boy
Tiffany Raymond, February 5, boy
Sabrina Talbot, February 8, girl
Mindy Ford, March 3 
Whitney Carrigan, March 12

Samantha Rider, March 15

Trudy Samuels, March 30

Trisha Jarods, April 20

New Arrivals:
-Congratulations to the Thomas family!  Their new baby boy, Joshua, was born on September 3, and weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Xavier family!  Their new baby boy, Michael, was born on September 6th, and weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Daniels family!  Their new baby boy, Georgie, was born on September 19th, and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Stevenson family!  Their new baby boy, Henry, was born on September 22nd.  He weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Yes you counted it... that was 17 announced pregnancies and 4 new babies since the first of September.  For those out there that have been in married student wards before... is this normal?? I am pretty sure more of our RS sisters are pregnant than are not. I am starting to get a little worried that the Bishop is putting something in the water at our church...  Or maybe it is peer pressure coming from the other sisters in the ward to keep up with them.  All I know is that I won't be drinking out of the drinking fountains anytime soon. 

Anyway I am not quite sure how i just wrote a whole blog post on that.... but I did and you read it. Lucky you. 

my LIST.

It isn't a fair comparison to compare my life over the past few years with my new life in Iowa.  You see, they are just too different. You can't compare an apple with ice cream. It just doesn't work. Both are great in their own way. So being in Boston, I was always on the go.... seeing new places, traveling to random destinations, checking out the city life... constantly with a list of things to do, to see, and places to eat..... In St. George I had my family around and Adam had more free time :) .... now here we are in Iowa trying to make the most of our surroundings.  It's not that this place is bad..... just different. I am having to train myself to come up with activities around these parts. So today I came up with a small TO DO list of activities I'm going to accomplish.  
1. Head to Dyersville, IA to go to 'The Field of Dreams' movie site.  "If you build it, they will come"  Right?  Awesome movie.   

2. Visit the 'Amana Colonies .'  These colonies are a group of settlements of radical German Pietists (or I guess something similar to the Amish settlements?)  I don't really know what exactly there is to see here but I'll find out. I imagine just a lot of little shops and places to eat good home cookin' food.

3. Kalona Historical Village - and cheese factory. More Mennonite and Amish stuff.   
4. John Deere Factory Tour- this is for my Dad when he comes back to visit. I had to have something to draw him out here. 

5. Herbert Hoover Museum: --- this one really isn't on the top of my list, or really the bottom either. More of just something to do.    
6. Pella Tulip Time Festival  I have to wait to May to do this one..... but when the time does it should be a good time.

7. Chicago. Since it isn't too far away I am hoping to make multiple trips..... and I have lots on my to-do list once I get there. (any one have favorite things to do in chicago?)  
8. Also since Nauvoo is so close, hoping to make many more trips down there. Especially to go to the temple.  

I've really been putting off these things because I know when someone actually comes to visit they are going to want something to do.....  so these are your choices! 

Also here's a little of what we have been up to the last few weeks.  We celebrated Adam's birthday by going on a "Hike."  Not our typical Utah hiking...  I would call it more going for a walk around a lake and up hills.  It was very beautiful and it was good to get out and see more of the green rolling hills of Iowa. We then went up to Mechanicsville to visit Adam's Grandpa and some other relatives.  We finished up the day by having some birthday cheesecake.  I figured if I made a whole cake, it would only be the two of us, and I would eat way too much. you make less, you eat less. I think his Birthday was a success.

Last weekend I was able to go back to St. George for a quick trip to do Family stuff.  I left Adam here to get smarter, while I enjoyed time with my family. I got to meet my new little niece, Claire for the first time! She is adorable.  I had a great time just hanging with the fam.  Always good times and good weather. Love and miss ya family.    

As for here in Iowa, I think we are all settled in.  Adam stays pretty busy with school-learning all kinds of useful and some not so useful stuff, doing homework, group projects, MBA activities, and trying to keep up with college football and politics. I love Sundays cause its the one day I get him to myself...  As for me I can't say that I have grown a deep love for Iowa... yet... I would consider it more in the Like category-- improving every day. :) The people out here are great and we have already enjoyed getting go know lots of new people in our ward. We're looking forward to making many more good friends.  


So thats that.  

hapPy birThdaY to my MAN

Adam turned the big 30 years old today... more than anything, I think He is just excited that he doesn't have to spend this big day as a single man. Well babe I am so glad that we get to spend it together....

So in honor of YOU on your BIG day, here are REASONS why I love you more and more every day.

1. I admire your desire to return to get your MBA after all those years....  you work harder at school than anyone I know.... and I know you will be successful.
2. I love cooking with you side by side in the kitchen. May be one of my fave activities. I love our kitchen creations.
3. You are still so young at heart... and think you can compete (and you probably can) with the 20 year old college students at wrestling.
4. You love your family.... both in Utah and now here in Iowa.
5. You honor your priesthood and are a true inspiration to so many.
6. You would do ANYTHING I asked you to do, if it was what would make me happy...
7. You LOVE college football.... and even tolerate my love for the Red Sox.
8. You love little babies and kids.... Sometimes I wonder if you love your nieces and nephews and kids sitting by us in church more than me. :)   jk
9. You made an awesome decision in choosing your wife... she is the hottest and coolest it will get.
10. You continue to make me laugh everyday...
11. You are cute when you are mad, and even cuter when you are happy :)
12. You love me and I love you.

Happy BirthdaY! I hope your day and your 30th year is the best ever. I am so blessed to be married to you. 

Love You More!

New Additions....

Last month we got a new nephew and a new niece! They are both so adorable. We are just bummed that we moved away just before they were both born.
Congrats to Brian and Julie for our new little nephew.
Welcome Christian Butterfield born on Aug. 14th weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long.


and to Tim and Heidi for my new little niece.
Welcome Claire Amelia Thorley born on Aug. 20th weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long.

We can't wait to see the little ones.

Congrats guys! We are so excited for you all.

Iowa or Bust.

If you would have asked me a year ago where I would be living..... Iowa would have probably been one of the last places I would have said. But life comes at ya with all kinds of twists and turns, so here I am living in Iowa City, IA. I guess those are things that come with getting married.... So Adam has always wanted to get his MBA and had been thinking about it for a few years. This just happened to be the year that it all came to past. So why Iowa City? First of all Adam was born the small town of Anamosa, IA, which is located about a hour from where we are living. He lived there til he was five years old...... Adam still has lots of family in this area so he was always interested in coming back here to get to know all of them a bit better. Second the University of Iowa has a really great MBA program. Just when I thought that I was done with the student life.... here we are back to living the life of poor college students. Oh the Joys. :) It is very exciting to be in a new place, full of new adventures though. I am super excited for Adam and actually a bit jealous that he is going back to school! He is especially excited for Big Ten football and the great Wrestling Program. He thinks he is going to get me to a wrestling match or two... I'm not sure about that. Go Hawkeyes.

Now onto our first week in Iowa--

Adam's mom, Penny met us in Nebraska(she was awesome help with moving in and being a tour guide of the area) We next went off exploring the cities where Adam was born and where he spent the first five years of his life. It was fun to explore and see the hospital where he was born, one of the houses he lived in, and where he grew up playing. We also made sure to stop at the Family Restaurant there in Anamosa, and as much as Iowa has so many good fruits and vegetables..... the hometown restaurants def. don't take advantage of all the fresh produce. I have yet to see a salad bar that has more than Iceberg lettuce, Cottage Cheese, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, and Jello. mmmmmm... oh ya and lots of butter on everything. I also think it is hilarious that on every menu you have the choice of cottage cheese instead of fries etc. They also love their Brown Gravy and White Bread. Example-- I ordered a hot beef sandwich thinking it would be like a typical roast beef sandwich and this is pretty much what I got.

I am sure that some people love this.... but its not my style. :)

I plan on taking advantage of all the good produce though.... especially the SWEET CORN! There is corn everywhere and anywhere you look. Miles and miles and miles f it. Thanks to Adam's relatives we were hooked up with all the corn we wanted for Free. So we went picking, then husking, of course eating, then with the surplus of corn we went about freezing a bunch so we can have corn all year long. I am getting so domestic.


We next took a trip down to Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois which is just a couple hours south of us. I hadn't toured Nauvoo for a good 15 years or so... and I had never seen the temple. We did some touring, and did a session at the temple. It was beautiful and neat to learn more about the saints that suffered so much for their beliefs.





At Carthage Jail.



Other than that we have been doing lots of unpacking, organizing, and trying to decorate our little apartment to make it feel like home.
Adam started Orientation this week at school so he is busy with that. Most days he is gone from 8-5 and even has an overnighter at a Scout Camp. I am just hoping to see him once in awhile.

Now onto the Next Task--- Find Marci a Job.