{We, the Savers} February Question

Before I get to the actual post, I have to share a piece of exciting news! For last month's We, the Savers' post, I won $100! I can hardly believe it, but it's true!! I was one of four grand prize winners! I think that was my first paid writing gig! What blessing! I am thrilled! So here's hoping for another $100! Enjoy! :-)

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Winter's been rough. Let’s hear about your spring/summer vacay plans & how you're saving up to make them happen.

To say "winter's been rough" is an understatement for most of us around the country this year. From subzero temps for days on end, to piles and piles of snow, we've had more than our fair share of winter. But what can we do? It's not like complaining will help. Neither will posting the daily temp on Facebook - um, not that I've been guilty of that...gulp!

So what *can* we do about the rough winter? We make plans for spring, of course! Well, in Minnesota, we plan for a few weeks of summer more than spring, because, let's face it, this part of the country doesn't really get much spring. And it certainly doesn't come on March 20th! More like May 20th - ha!!

But since other parts of the country get spring, we Minnesotans still like to talk about spring and plan for Spring Break Vacations. In fact, I'm planning a vacation of my own this year.

It so happens that my brother lives near a balmy beach in North Carolina. It also so happens that mid-January I booked a flight to visit him during his Spring Break. He's a teacher so he still gets one of those, you see. And you can trust me when I say, the countdown has begun!

I'm very blessed to have been able to pay cash for my ticket due to a very nice bonus that I received at the end of 2013. However, there are more expenses for a vacation than just airfare, as you know. To pay for the extra expenses, I plan to also use funds from one of my three CapitalOne 360 Savings account, my Travel Fund.

My Travel Fund could also be labeled my "Go see Lily and Ella" fund. My two nieces are the main reason for my trip and I couldn't be happier to spend the money! I get to see them once, maybe twice a year, so I'm very excited about this upcoming trip to see them (and my brother and sister-in-law).

So how do I build my Travel Fund? Very easily: I have set up automatic transfers each month from my checking account. This is really the only way to go. If something is this easy, then it's much more likely that you'll do it!

What are you saving for this spring? What's getting you through this rough winter? For me it's Spring Break, don't-cha know?!

Bekah was born in Kansas, raised in Wisconsin, and lived three years on Guam. Her Midwest roots go deep though, since she has been a Minnesota resident for almost seven years. Bekah commits daily to serve God, to be healthy, and strives to be financially fit.

This post was originally written in order to participate in CapitalOne 360s WE the SAVERS's blog contest.

{7 Things to Know}

This week’s edition of 7 Things to Know...

1. I survived tax day. The end.
2. Jen, Jess, and I are singing with my mom at Spooner Baptist's Ladies Luncheon on Saturday, April 28th.
3. This past Thursday brought another April snow. I was grateful to get to leave work early and get a jump start on a long weekend. This snow was worse than the previous week. Everyone here is ready for winter to end.
4. I enjoyed a day off on Friday! Still shoveled my car off, but didn't have to go anywhere too early. Morgen and Ethan came over for lunch and we watched most of "Lady and the Tramp".  
5. As you know, I'm participating in the Metro Women's Center's 4th Annual Amazing Grace Home Walk on Saturday, May 4th. This is my 4th year to participate. Will you join me in supporting this great cause by donating $5, $10, $25, or even $100? Click the DONATE button to the left. T H A N K  Y O U ! If you want to follow my fundraising efforts go to http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bekah-flaming/4th-annual-amazing-grace-walkbike.
6. The big news of the week was the locating and killing/capturing of the two responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing. Since I was home on Friday I spent a good bit of time watching the news reporters speculate on the police activity of the day. It was interesting to see the events unfold before my eyes. I'm thankful that they were able to get the bad guys. Tough to hear about all the victims. Prayers continue for those families effected by this tragic event.
7. Yesterday I started and finished reading Karen Kingsbury's "The Chance". I wrote a mini-review at Good Reads.

Read and Returned! "The Chance" by Karen Kingsbury

Friday morning workout - snow shoveling.

All cleaned off! Now melt snow, melt!

 

Don't forget to DONATE! to Metro Women's Center's Amazing Grace Home

Make it a great week!

{day off}

Afternoon Sky

This year I am enjoying a few extra vacation days in honor of my 5 years at theJob*. I am trying to take off at least one day a month. For March I chose to take off Friday of our Deo Cantamus concert weekend. I think it was a wise choice since I haven't had a Saturday at home to do domestic-type things in a few weeks. (I'm also taking a day off next week when a friend will be in town.)

So raise your hand if you want to know what I did today?!!

• 8:00 am Awake
• 8:15 am Checked Email, Read Devotional Emails, Caught up on Facebook and 200+ Google Reader posts, Finished a Book
• 11:00 am Lunch
• 11:30 am Movie/Start Laundry
• 2:30 pm Inventory Fridge, Freezer, Cupboards (This has been on my To Do list for a long time - now I can't say I don't know what to make for dinner, that's for sure!)
• 3:00 pm Vacuumed Apartment, Folded 2 Loads of Laundry
• 3:30 pm Mixed and Baked Cookies for Deo concert reception
• 5:20 pm Errands - Bank and Library
• 6:00 pm Dinner
• 6:30 pm Deo Rehearsal (I'm still humming "Nun Dankat Alle Gott"!)
• 9:45 pm Frosted/Decorated Cookies
• 10:15 pm Made Bed

I'm looking forward to some extra sleep tonight and a relaxing Saturday morning since all these chores got done today!

Today felt like a Super Saturday!

*theJob = name changed to protect the innocent

indoor plants

So this spring I received a plant from my aunt's funeral. It was a leafy green plant, very full! I did really well with it until I left for a 10-day trip to Indiana to meet Lily...I overwatered it. It's been dying a slow death ever since.

So full and green!!

Another plant that I lost this year was a beautiful flowering plant I had outside my bedroom window. I had picked it up at garden center outside of Rainbow this summer because I thought it would make me smile when I left for work in the morning and when I came home at night. However, because it did not get enough water and was in direct sunlight for most of the day, the day before I came home from my 10 days away, it blew over and out of the planter. It died a much quicker death...

This is probably when I should point out that my mom has a very green thumb and would be very disappointed in my history of plant caretaking. I remember always having plants in our house growing up and we had a garden for the years we lived on Fremont.

View Larger Map

Why I didn't pick up on the green thumb skills, I don't know. You may recall, I did try a little patio garden a couple of years ago and was fairly successful, but this year was not my year, I guess.

I went shopping recently with a friend who was looking for classroom plants. We were quite the pair...neither of us knowing anything much about what kind to get. If I remember right, she settled on a money tree and a lucky bamboo from Ikea. I'm eager to hear how they are working out for her!

So now I've done some research...

I've been contemplating getting a mum plant to replace my outside flowers but I haven't gotten around to it. With the change in weather lately, I'm not sure there's enough time to really enjoy it. If it's nice this weekend, I think I'll have to go plant shopping. Also, today I was looking around my cube decided that I needed something green to brighten it up. For my low light office cube, I found this website and this one. I think I'm convinced that a lucky bamboo plant will work best for my skills.

Did you like ALL my links?!

more miles, more smiles

This summer is turning out to have a bit of travel in it for me!

I left Minneapolis a week ago Friday evening and stopped at a friend’s in Watertown which is roughly half-way to my parents. I spent Saturday morning visiting a couple of friends and then headed East again. I detoured through Lake Geneva and took a picture or two of the lake. I love it there! but I didn't want to waste too much time since I had made this a two-day trip... :(

The first part of last week I was able to help my mom prepare the house for 14 people before my Dad had pilonidal cyst surgery on Wednesday. I didn't realize my parent's house was so big until I had to clean it! I took care of dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, ceiling fans, etc. We also went to the grocery store...hmm, fun!

On Wednesday, the surgery went well and Dad made it home to recover in only a few hours. He did really great the day of and day after surgery as he still had lots of pain meds in him, but he slowed way down each day after that. Of course, there was a lot of excitement around the house as my new niece, Lily, came for a visit the same day. Anna had picked up Jake, Meg & Lily from the airport in Indy and they drove up and met us at the house.

Funny story about the waiting room...

Mom had gone back to sit with Dad before his surgery. I waited in the waiting room and when Mom returned, I headed out to get us some lunch. When I came back we left some of our things (bag of snacks, water bottles, and a book) on a chair and went to a kitchenette area to eat our lunch. We ate and chatted but didn't get a chance to go back to the sitting area before a nurse came to get Mom because the surgery was over.

I went to wait in the sitting area until she came to get me. I didn't go sit by our things because a lady was sitting next to the seat with our things and I didn't need them. I had my phone and was checking email, facebook, etc. I looked up a few times and noticed the lady had gotten interested in my book. No harm, I thought.

I didn't think much of it until I heard rustling of a bag and looked up to see her rummaging through our things and unzipping the bag with our water! Ok, I guess I should move the stuff out of her way... I walked over and very sweetly said, "I can move this out of your way."

As I had approached her, she had put her finger in the book and moved her arm across the back of a chair. She said something about wondering what it was and maybe something else, I don't really remember because I was eyeing the book. She was acting like it was hers... "I guess, I need the book, too." I said...and finished in my head, since it's a library book.

She very hesitantly said, "It was just getting good." I didn't explain that it wasn't her book because just then Mom came to get me to go back to see Dad. I just smiled and walked away. Thankfully she was gone by the time I came back out to go get the car to take Dad home.

Anyway, back at the ranch...The rest of the family trickled in each day for the next two days: Jen's arrived late on Thursday and Jess & Luke arrived late on Friday. All 14 of us were together so we were able to get a family picture on Saturday morning (I’ll be sure to post it when I get a copy! I think Jake's editing it for us).

I had to leave Sunday to make the 9 hour drive back and the rest of the family trickled out throughout the rest of the day and also today…except for Lily and her parents—they get to stay until Wednesday.

Hopefully my dad will heal quickly and then be able to have surgery for his herniated disc. He’s been in a lot of pain from that since Easter. He describe the pain that goes down his legs like a “220 volt”.

My trip home was mostly uneventful. I did stop in Watertown for a couple of hours and catch up with the Kurschner sisters. Oh, and when I arrived back in Minneapolis there was lovely construction greeting me when I was only a few miles from home! I was detoured downtown with no further signs of assistance. Now, I do work downtown, but not in the area where I was diverted from the highway...so my trip lasted a little longer than planned.

It was good to be back and sleep in my own bed!

miles of smiles & a few tears

I planned a last minute trip to visit a dear, dear friend to "get away from it all" and also to be an encouragement to my friend.

What I expected was a trip with a change of pace, a vacation from my work-eat-sleep, work-eat-sleep routine. I expected to catch up with my friend who I hadn't seen in 2 years, learn about her new life in Colorado, help with her kids, and just plain enjoy being with my friend Danna.

What I got was all that and more!

Saturday - woke up at 4:15a to get to my 7:05a flight. Arrived in Denver at 8:30 and we hit the ground running! Danna and Gang picked me up and we headed back to the "ranch". They're currently living with Danna's brother's family who happened to be on vacation for almost 2 weeks...leaving behind 1 dog, 1 cat, 12 chickens, and a huge garden that needed water!

We arrived at the ranch and the Dumplin' Gang scattered to their usual... Kelli, age 9, loves to read. She probably read 3 or 4 books while I was there. She also loves to swing on the tire swing that creeks with an annoying sound [kerr-erk! kerr-erk! kerr-erk!]. Karis, age 6, always heads for the chicken coup: she loves to carry "Fluffy" around like a sack of potatoes!! Ryan, age 4, just loves to bug and he's got 3 sisters, so he's good at it too! Little Selah, age 2, who acts like she's 3, she loves to sing. Whatever she's doing, she's got a song going while she's doing it. [You love me, You love me, We're a happy family...You love me, You love me, We're a happy family...] One more time, Selah-baby! :0)

That evening, after a delicious dinner of Danna's famous Calico Beans, we headed to the local fireworks to meet up with a group from church. We arrived a little late so we were lucky to find a parking spot. We found the group and were warmly welcomed! The fireworks were delightfully choreographed to patriotic and other fun music, but they were a little loud for Karis - she had her head buried under jackets and blankets. She made it through like a champ and then while we were waiting for the traffic to clear out, she enjoyed playing with a sparkler from some people we didn't know. All the kids had fun playing with their new friends.

Sunday we were all exhausted from our late night and swooped into church right as the preaching began. Kelli took the two youngest down to class and Danna headed to the cry room with Karis. There wasn't a seat for me in the cry room so I slipped into the auditorium to hopefully get a blessing.

To my surprise, I not only got a blessing, but a challenge to my thinking! The speaker was just getting into his message about work. Work?! I don't want to hear about work, I thought. Here's the outline:

Get...to Work
Proverbs 6:6

I. Work is given to us...
A. As a good gift from a loving God.
B. As an opportunity to serve others.
C. As an opportunity to partner with God.
D. As an opportunity to be like God.

(Work was hard before the fall. God cursed the ground which brought thorns & thistles.)

II. In your service of others...
A. Thorns and thistles are produced easier than wheat.
B. Thorns and thistles drive you back to dependence on God.
C. Thorns and thistles train and prepare you for future service.

Application
- Some jobs are not for Christians.
- Choose work carefully...don't choose for what it can do for you but what it can do for others.
- Retirement is not a biblical term. There's only a change of service.
- Trust God to place you in the area of service he wants you in.
- Trust God to place you in the perfect timing in your work.
- I need to change my thinking from "work is a necessary evil".

Sunday late in the afternoon we headed to downtown Denver. Neither Danna, nor I had been there before so we weren't sure what to expect. We found directions online for something called 16th Street Mall. Turns out it was a fun, outdoor mall with street vendors in the middle of the road. Also turns out there was a Jamba Juice, which Danna claims Kelli is made out of, so that was our first stop! Our second stop was a bathroom for 2 of the kids. We then started to explore the mall but were quickly distracted by Karis' interest in a horse & buggy. After a short inquiry, we all climbed aboard and had a half-hour tour of downtown Denver! Everyone enjoyed the ride so we decided to end our trip downtown on this high note. Side note: as we were heading out, Danna mentioned she hadn't started to water the garden yet (this usually takes most of the day). My serious reply was, "It's Sunday! God will provide!" Even though I meant what I said, I truly did not know I was speaking as a prophet! On our way home from downtown, it began to rain, pouring rain!! Jehovah Jirah, God will provide!

Monday was possibly going to be a trip to Garden of the Gods and Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, but a call from church friends with an invitation to hang out at a pool easily changed our plans. We were all excited to get a little extra vitamin D, especially me!! That evening Kelli had a friend over and we made a little campfire and s'mores in the cool of the evening. The ranch has several pine trees in the yard, so there were plenty of pine cones to add a little extra spark!

Tuesday was the last day of my visit, so we were all a little sad. I did have a college friend come by and take me to lunch (thank you , Jeni!!) so that brightened the day for me, but not so much for the Dumplin' Gang. They wanted to go with me, of course! :) Jeni and I had fun catching up on ol' times and what we've been doing in the 12 years since we last saw each other.

Back at the ranch it got a little crazy before heading out by 3:15 to get me to the airport: little Ry Guy got his feeling hurt and spent a while in a room...; Karis collected "berries" from a bush outside to make a smoothie, but that didn't that didn't end well; and Selah ended up in tears, but I can't remember why... Kind of made it a little stressful for the Gang's mama, but somehow we made it out the door on time! We even had time for a couple of detours: Gap & Wendy's!

I was definitely sad to end my visit. I miss them all already!! I hope it's not 2 years before I see them again!! MSP to DEN seems to have decent ticket prices, so we'll see...!!

dead sea scrolls, singing, and sweet rides

Two weekends ago Anna was here for a long weekend. She drove up in her sweet new ride: Nissan Maxima. It was an especially big deal since she's only been driving department issued vehicles for almost a year.

It was a busy weekend for me since I had 5ish hours of practice for Deo Cantamus and a 2 hour concert to fit in on Friday night and Saturday. I've included a video clip below.

In between my practices, we enjoyed several meals at Jen & Eric's as well as a many rounds of Wii that Anna brought with her. I'm thinking I want to add a Wii to my wish list. We had a lot of fun, and Ethan even got into the action!

I took a half day off work on Monday and after lunch at Brit's, Anna & I visited the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Science Museum of MN. After the exhibit we strolled the area near the museum in downtown St. Paul. Enjoyed hanging out with my lil-cop sis!

TO DO List

My "oh, so exciting 100th post" was a TO DO list. Want to see the progress I've made?

What's in the works/done:

• Take a day off of work. Yah, I was sick so I had to take a day off...boo :( Our vacation/sick days are combined so it really stinks when I actually use a sick day.
• Finish my taxes. I've done what I can and have asked my dad to help me review them. Hopefully, I did it right!
• Go to doctor for routine checkup. Scheduled for next Tuesday!
• Sign up for individual health insurance. Application is completed!
• Prepare for PartyLite show. Gotta get on this! Party is Thursday!!

What's left:

• Order Internet cable
• Join a gym
• Go tanning
• Send out my "New Years" letter
• Start planning vacation time
• Buy new phone
• Install showerhead

More for the list

• Schedule eye exam

And of course, to stay focused:

• Debt Elimination: Destination 2011.

All I can say is I love crossing off items on a list!

december events & happenings

escape to wisconsin - WTTN trip

Recently I mentioned that I took a trip to Watertown to do a PartyLite Show. Here are a few pics from the trip (note the captions):



I enjoyed visiting with many friends during my weekend away. My friend Sue even took some time off from the Pie Shop to go to Milwaukee to the Domes with me. Here are a few pics:



**You can click on a picture to view the entire album in a larger size in Google Photos**

family bowling fun

More Pics

my day off

...went in for a bang trim and highlight...walked out with a little cut off the back and high & low lights...pics are from my cell phone...haven't "fixed" it yet...

2 0 0 9 travel WISH list

Did you know I had a travel WISH list? (Emphasis obviously on WISH.) The following is where I'd like to go in the next two-three years (listed alphabetically by location; the dates are mostly just preferences; the people hopefully want to see me):

California
October 2009 Visit my Guam friend/roomie, Cristin and her husband Steve in LA.

Europe
May 2009 Go to Kim's (college friend) wedding in Romania and stop by Paris or London on the way. Travelling with former college roommate Tricia.

Florida
February 2010 Visit Madrigal friend Beth and catch some rays @ the beach.

Georgia
September 2010 Visit Danna and the troops in Atlanta.

Illinois
November 2008 Visit former Guam roommate, Christa, and her family in Pekin.

Indiana
November 2008 Visit mom & dad for Thanksgiving
March 2009 Visit mom & dad for Easter (not sure what day this is though).
November 2009 Visit mom & dad for Thanksgiving
March 2010 Visit mom & dad for Easter (again, not sure what month this is though).
November 2010 Visit mom & dad for Thanksgiving

Kansas
July 2010 I think we're due for a family reunion in 2009, but not sure if anyone is planning this yet. So I decree that 2010 would be a good year for it. :)

North Carolina
December 2009 Yikes! I haven't seen Jake & Meg's beach yet!

Washington DC
June 2010 Visit former Guam roommate Missy. Catch up on some historical sites.

Wisconsin
April & July 2009 Visit Watertown family.
April & July 2010 Visit Watertown family.

Believe it or not, there are more people and places I'd like to go to but these are the most realistic possibilities...I hope!! :)

I've been perusing www.kayak.com and am signed up to get weekly price-alert emails for some of the places I won't be able to drive to.

Where do you WISHto go?

i know busy

Events of Jake & Meg's Wedding Week:

Saturday, July 19th
Jake arrived sometime after midnight, so technically he got here on Saturday :) Anna's plane was supposed to arrive at 10:45 am so Morgen spent the night at me & Jess's house. Anna's delayed flight caused us to have to entertain Morgen for most of the day, but we had a good time (especially whenever Anna would call and we'd have to make sure Morgen was quiet--Anna didn't know she was coming with us to get her).

On the ride to the airport Morgen was quiet in the back and told me she was "just chillin'" -- that made me smile. Then because of her quiet, I asked her what she was thinking about and she said, "Anna." Ahhh...

The plan was then to go to a Twins game with my siblings & Tuttles. We enjoyed the Twins win. Carsten especially loved watching the "bae-ball game".


Sunday, July 20th
A great day in church and a delicious ham dinner at our house, minus Jake & Meg. Meg's last single Sunday was spent enjoying her mom's homecooked dinner and hanging with her family. (I forgot to mention that Emily, Meg's sister, also arrived on Saturday).

My parents and Stetsen (a.k.a. Dog) arrived at Jen & Erics late Sunday night. They made the 9, 10-hour drive after their church's afternoon service.

Monday, July 21st
I had to work, but my parents enjoyed the day with the Markgrafs. The had a picnic downtown and then mom got to come see where I worked! Mom was the last one to see me at "the Box"!

Monday evening the Flamings & Tuttles joined the Markgrafs for grilled chicken, corn on the cob and all the fixin's. We also had delicious Oreo cookie dessert or strawberry rhubarb jello pie...yum, yum!



Tuesday, July 22nd
My last day of work for the week. Jess, Jen, Anna, & Mom went to get pedicures AND at the last minute talked Jake into getting one too! Dad went golfing. We hung out at Jen's and had pizza for the evening.

Wednesday, July 23rd
I'm off today! Jen, Anna & I did a little shopping in Albertville. We had tacos for dinner at The Condo. We also went to church and then "helped" Meg set up the decorations for the auditorium. The Tuttles invited everyone over for ice cream after we were done.

Thursday, July 25th
I'm off today, too! Thursday began slowly for me. I enjoyed getting ready at a leisurely pace and then ended up giving the Dog a bath for reasons I won't mention. Then I proceeded to the church where the decorating had already commenced.



Thursday evening Sue arrived with the food for the rehearsal dinner. Sue's my good friend and former catering boss from Upper Krust in Watertown, WI. After getting the food situated, we headed back to The Condo to catch up and hang out with my parents and Jess.

Friday, July 25th
Friday started early after chatting late in the night with Sue. She headed out by 7am to drive up to Bimiji, MN where her youngest brother lives.

Everyone met at the Tuttles for Brunch. It was supposed to be a ladies Bridal Brunch, but somehow the men got invited too. We were also going to enjoy egg bake, fruit, and Meg-baked scones on the patio, but the weather didn't cooperate. We did get a chance to meet many of the the Tuttle's extened family and a couple of Jake's groomsmen and their wives were there too.

I was able to get the bridesmaids (a.k.a. sisters) together for a photo op:



More events & pictures to come...

i know a seamstress

My soon to be sister-in-law, Meg, was working hard this Fourth of July weekend on a few wedding projects. This should cause great excitement for my mom because she's finally going to have a daughter that likes to sew! One would think that one out of four would have caught the sewing bug from her, but alas, we have not. Sorry, mom!

We hung out this weekend at "Lindsay's Mansion"; hence the spacious dining room Meg adopted as her sewing room. While Meg was sewing I was reading 3 books and I think Lindsay was taking care of Eclipse, er something top secret, that I can't tell you about until later...stay tuned!

Meg posted more pics here, but I took these pictures before I knew she had blogged about it.

Note: the chairs were set up to keep the dog out :=)

days off

What does a day off mean to you? For me a day off is sleeping late, doing laundry, facebooking, food prepping for Sunday dinner, and hanging out with the fam in "Canada": my parents arrived Saturday afternoon to meet Ethan; Dad grilled up a delicious Texas seasoned flank steak; the girls chopped rhubarb; and Mom made a yummy strawberry rhubarb crunch.

Today was a great Sunday. After church everyone came to my house for country style BBQ ribs--with JD's original recipe ;=), party pototoes, salad, pickles, watermelon, and chocolate, vanilla or mint drumsticks!

Morgen & Carsten played until nap time and then we all layed down for naps, except Jen and Eric who took off for home with Ethan. After our naps Jen called saying they lost power and it was stormy. Jen and Eric had the car seats so Dad and I went to church without Mom, Morgen & Carsten. We met up with everyone after church when the skies had cleared (and the power was back on) to go to the Tuttles (Jake's future parents-in-law) for hot dogs on the grill. Carsten entertained us by wearing his cool glasses (sunglasses without the lenses) all night. Meg also tried on her wedding dress...sorry Jake no pics! :0)

I'm thoroughly enjoying my days off and am looking forward to tomorrow, another day off!

Edit Monday, May 26th: Yes, another great day off and successful to boot! I enjoyed a relaxing morning at home and then I met Meg, Jen, and Mom for a little dress shopping at Ridgedale Mall. Jen, Mom and I were the last three left to get dresses for Jake and Meg's wedding (only 2 months away!). I was ready to have a dress made for me if this shopping trip didn't produce anything, and I admit that I did not have much faith. I spent the last 5ish months shopping online and at stores so I was not expecting to find anything.

Jen found her dress first and plans to have it altered slightly to be the perfect fit. I found my dress next at Macy's. I couldn't believe it! And I got a great deal. I just need to find satin ribbon to make belt. The belt on the dress is a little to "earthy" for me. Mom still needed to find a dress so we tried a couple of stores at another shopping center. Still not finding the perfect dress we regrouped and made a new plan. I left Jen, Meg, and Mom to head north to another shopping area and I ran to the grocery store and then went home to make dinner. Mom came back with two outfits! Success all the way around!! We ended our day with a spaghetti dinner at my house and then strawberry ice cream dessert at Meg's house.

Here's a sneak peak at my dress:

I think the following poem (which was written by my brother Jake in elementary school and who we really did all this dress shopping for anyway) is appropriate for today:

In the fall
We go to the mall
Doesn't everybody?

life on the lakes

Edit: A few email updates from last summer that I found...

6/19/07
A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks. Hopefully this will help catch you up...

After five years working at Maranatha for two different offices, yesterday I said "goodbye" to my coworkers and began a new chapter in my life. Saying goodbye was not too difficult, but it was different (I'm sure the tears will come later). Some thoughtful friends threw me a surprise party for me (after all of my belongings were finally packed and loaded and ready to go on Sunday) and then Monday we had a farewell lunch with about 19 of my coworkers. These two events meant a lot to me. I'm going to miss the many friends that have become like family.

I am excited to start a new position in Minneapolis and be near two of my sisters, a brother-in-law, a niece and a nephew. Monday, June 25th is my first day at theJob* as a client service associate. The position is totally new for me and should be quite a challenge, but I think I'm ready.

My housing situation is temporary, so I'll give you send you my permanent address at later date. My phone number will stay the same for now: 920-248-1841. My email is bekahflaming@gmail.com.

I'll be in Watertown Thursday-Saturday and hope to say goodbye in person to a few more people. Do keep in touch!

6/27/07
First day went well! 2nd day was good. 3rd day was great! I'm already envisioning ways I can contribute to make the office run more efficient :) Of course that won't be for a while, since I don't know very much of the big picture.
New things I'm doing: catching the bus at Walmart and then walking 3 blocks to my office, racing 6 blocks to catch the bus at the end of the day, reading, sleeping, and people watching on the bus for 30-25 min each way, walking the skywalk from our building to the Hyatt for lunch at a cafe, learning my way around the 2 floors of the building and meeting some of the people we process business with, greeting and chatting with client$, getting client$ coffee, scanning documents to file (and sending the paper away for shredding), and the list goes on! :) So far it's been fun. Over all the work seems like it will be challenging, but attainable. Nothing too scary...yet.

I've managed to meet quite a few of the church's young people's group already. (Normally I'd say singles group, but several in the group are young and married). I had "coffee" with the gang after church tonight and went to someone's house last Sunday night for a birthday party. Also a group is gathering at Jess's on Saturday night after Fourth's special patriotic music concert.
Babysitting plans are set for Friday night. I'm looking forward to a little down time with the kiddos.
My first week was a success. I conquored the bus...that was what I was most nervous about. As far as my job, I learned much each day and went home with a headache. My coworkers are nice and I've met many others in the building who we interact with on a regular basis.

6/29/07
Hey, I made it through my first week! I even did some "real work" today! :)

Yesterday Mr. Lingle sent a text msg to me about the toner...that made me laugh! :)

I found out this week that during the summer I can take one 1/2 day off on a Friday each month, so now I'm for sure planning to come down for Alumni Weekend. If you aren't too worn out from the days activities and don't have too much company, maybe I could stop by and chat with you and Gayle that evening.

I did find out that the bus that I will take after I move to New Hope actually picks me up at my condo AND drops me off at the same block as my building downtown...so much for cold walks to the bus in the winter! :) I'm excited that next week is only a 2 day week...Flaming Family reunion in Nebraska is Thursday-Saturday.

7/2/2007
I'm really enjoying the kids, but I'll be glad to get into our place at the end of July. I'm starting to lose track of how many baths I've given. I have so many more Morgen and Carsten stories, I could start a book! :) We are having a good time. In fact, when I'm not here at the house, Morgen will call me and ask where I am and when I'm coming back to her house (not during work, but other times when she knows I'm at Jess's house or somewhere else). Carsten and I are starting to bond. He's really a nut job though...he's got this mischievous look you can't miss! :) He is so much boy...he likes to bang things, jabber really loud, make truck noises, take things a part...things Morgen never did. It's amazingly cool to see him at this age.

Work is going well. I've been able to "wow" them with a few tricks. They gave me a brand new computer with MS Office 2007. Thankfully I was able to take the training classes at MBBC before I left. I'll probably have to teach the others how to use it when they decide to switch everyone over. Hopefully I'll catch on quickly to all of the financial lingo, forms, and other things that I have no clue about.

The bus took a little getting used to, but it's good now. I've gotten into a little routine now. I get up at 5:45 and leave the house by 6:35. I catch the bus at Walmart at 7:00 and get down town by 7:30-7:35. I walk a few blocks to work and am ready to work by 7:45. I take a 1/2 hour lunch break with two of my coworkers. I end my day at 4:15. Catch a bus about 7 blocks away at 4:36. Get to Walmart by 5:15 at the latest and get home by 5:45 or so if I'm lucky. It seems kind of long when you add the hours up, but the bus ride is calming once you get used to it. Jess gave me an MP3 player so I have some music to listen to. I also borrowed a couple of books from Sue before I left so I'm stalked up for a week or so ;-)

Of course this week I'm only working 2 days. Wednesday we're heading to Omaha to have a pre-Flaming family reunion. My parents and Jake are traveling via KS where my mom had a family reunion on Saturday. The week was sounding a little long to wait until Thursday to meet, so we upped it a day for the Flaming 7 +3. Jess and I will ride together and Jen and her gang will ride at their own pace in their yellow bus (Ford Escape) :)

I hope Omaha has good fire works :)The rest of the Flaming clan will meet on Thursday as originally planned. We'll all head out Saturday. It will be good to have a day at "home" before the work week starts again

*theJob = Company name change to protect the innocent