Good Deals!

The other day we were looking on Craig's List as we do everyday and found a great deal on a brand new king mattress and boxspring that had been damaged on delivery so they were selling a few for $199. We were so thankful because we have been looking for a while and have been discouraged at the prices of a quality king bed.

We were looking on Craig's list again today and lo and behold a bed frame and headboard for $25! So, this was my afternoon project... The bed takes up most of our room, but it is great. We've been wanting a king since we've gotten married so we had registered for sheets, pillows and blankets and finally get to use them!





We also ran into a great deal at Reasor's on 15th and Yale. They just bought one of the Albertson's stores so they were selling a bunch of their stuff for really cheap. Some salad dressings were 25 cents! So, we stocked up as you can see...

Pizza Party

Tonight Seth started his master's program. It is one night a week for 72 weeks. So, since he will be gone that evening every week I want to make the most of it. Tonight I had Stephanie, Kaitlin, Cynthia, Anna and Helen over. We had pizza and hung out. It was a lot of fun. We had Papa John's and I have to say it is the best pizza out there (besides the pizza found in Chicago of course). We planned an Anne of Green Gables party since the Bensch's own the movies so that will be fun.

The Back Pew

These are taken from a site called thebackpew.com It's a fun site, it has a lot of Christian cartoons that you can use for examples or just to get you to laugh. Here are a couple I like. They are both good practical reminders...

Softball

Seth is on a softball league and plays every Sunday. Here are some pictures from their games tonight. They won one and the other was really close but they lost 13 to 15.

Nice catch!



A few of the team members.



Josiah putting on his moves ;)



Nice hit!



That's my man! This was a double that scored three runs.

Trying to post more...

Since April is on bedrest I will TRY to start posting everyday - or at least every other day.

Today we are getting a security system put in. The poor installer took our temperature gauge into the attic only to find out it was 123 degrees up there! Poor guy :P He has been here for three hours or so and I pray he doesn't die of heat stroke! Praise the Lord for A.C. on days like these. I hope everyone is staying cool and hydrated.



We watched in anticipation Barry Bonds to see if he would break the record - not yet...



We recently put in a new mail box. Our other one was wired to one of the posts on our house - it was pretty Ghetto!




It's a great day to put clothes on the line. Let's just hope it doesn't rain... The last few times I've put clothes out there, they end up in the dryer - wetter than they were when I took them out of the washer because of the rain!



And this was the best surprise to come home to today after my volunteer training at the Hope Pregnancy Center. My eyes are being opened to a world that I really never knew much about. Did you know that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion? We live in a sinful world. I didn't know they still had partial birth abortions in certain states either. We are dealing with a girl who is thinking of having an abortion - she's 27 weeks and is pregnant possibly as a result from rape. Please pray for her. Anyway, after such a sad morning it was so refreshing to come home to this - my sweet mother-in-law surprised us with these pretty flowers.

New Blogger

We have a new blogger to welcome. My cousin Kari Heller. You can see pictures of their little Edward on there - he's already 4 months old!

Weekend in Topeka

This past weekend we were able to go to Topeka to meet our new nephew, little Miles Alexander. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Iowa Conference

This past weekend we went to the annual 4th of July conference in Iowa. It was so good to be together with family and friends. John Heller spoke and it was very convicting and encouraging. I thought I'd give a brief summary.

The subject was bitterness. Now, initially I know many of us don't think we are bitter... just right :) but he talked about how easily it creeps into our lives and how to recognize bitterness in our own lives. Here are some ways to recognize bitterness creeping in - If you replay the situation over and over in your mind, if you avoid talking to that person, etc... He emphasized the importance of forgiveness and how when we don't truly forgive someone we are essentially minimizing the power of the blood of Christ. He said we need to do this often since bitterness is something that happens over time - with each instance we replay the situation it puts another hardened layer over our hearts. Anyway, I thought this was very challenging and thought I'd share.

If anyone wants to hear this series, the messages will be available at the countryside website in the near future and I will post a link to that site as soon as they are accessible.

Bekah's Wedding

Well, my sister's wedding went well. I didn't have my camera all day, so I only have one picture from the wedding that someone else took. I'll hopefully get a hold of a few more since this doesn't show much... I got to go up a week ahead of time which was quite hectic, but a lot of fun to be involved with the last minute details. Here are some pictures of that for now.



My mom and sister saved all these Peonies from a month ago - quite the process with dipping them in wax, wrapping them in paper towels and wet newpapers.



But they all turned out beautiful...



This was at her bachelorette party. Yummy fondue!



She hasn't got to do this in a few years.



He grew up in Egypt, so at their rehersal dinner this is what they wore.

mac photo booth

It's 1:30 AM at my parents house and we are still awake because of this fun program that apple has developed called Photo Booth. My brother just got a computer that has this program and its quite the trip. It basically distorts, twists, mirrors or does just about anything you can think of through the camera built into the laptop....enjoy!


Square Face



Magic Moment



Football Stud



Wide-eyed and Mystified



It's way too late....



Cam, if lil brother has 2 heads he may look something like this...

Before and After

Here are some pictures of the before and afters of the carpet. It is finally starting to feel like a home (aside from the clutter of course)...
Poor Seth is allergic to the capret so we haven't been able to put things in their proper place quite yet.

We made this curtain rod out of PVC pipes (Grace's idea). It is a really cheap way to make a long curtain rod. We probably spent about $20.00 on it. The brackets are the most expensive, otherwise the spray paint and PVC pipe add up to only a few dollars.

Justin put up our ceiling fan, it is so nice to have!

Living in Chaos

This is what we are living in. We were waiting for carpet in the living room and one bedroom so this is why our house looks like this right now. The carpet finally came in today, so soon it will feel like a home and less like a construction zone....

Goodbye Apartment

Well, we are no longer living in an apartment, we turned in the keys last week. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to our first place, but we're excited about our new home.

Refinishing the Floors

This was a job! After a lot of scrubbing, pulling staples, about 12 hours of sanding, a couple coats of stain, and three coats of poly, we are finally done with our floors! Here are some pictures of the process...