Tragedy in Minneapolis

This is a picture I found on wcco.com of the 35W bridge in central Minneapolis, where you no doubt have heard of the catastrophe that happened there tonight. At 6:05pm the 35W bridge going over the Mississippi River collapsed, killing and injuring many people. Out of respect for the families involved, I can't bear to post a picture of the awful ordeal, so instead found a picture of what the area used to look like. This is a main bridge through downtown Minneapolis.

Our family feels very fortunate tonight that my Dad was spared as he travels that road each day to and from work. Based on some cell phone calls he made, and knowing his location when he made them, we know that he was on the bridge at 5:45pm, just 20 minutes prior to its collapse. Praise the Lord for his safe keeping!

Please pray for all the families of the victims, and for the survivors, as they endure these next days and months. Let's also pray for the rescue workers, and the investigation team, that they'll be able to complete their jobs with clear minds.

The Blessing of Friends!

I'm officially moved out of my house in Fergus, and now back in with Mom and Dad -at least temporarily!

The move on Saturday could not have gone any better. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! There were 17 people (at least) who showed up just to help in whatever way they could, plus others who came by to say good-bye. I really can hardly express my gratitude! There were people just in the truck getting that packed, making decisions on what went where. There were others doing all sorts of carrying, whether it was boxes or furniture. There was a LOT of carrying to be done! Others spent the day helping with cleaning, and still others helped with a variety of anything else that needed to be done. As last week progressed, each day I seemed to lose a little bit of brain function, so that by Saturday I felt like my brain had turned to mush! It was such a blessing to have these terrific people around who were willing to just step in and do what needed to be done! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

Here's what my house looked like all day. It was SUCH a great idea to leave the truck at the front door after getting my piano in place, as that meant less steps in carrying stuff!


I hesitate a little with showing pictures, because there were lots of other people there who didn't get in a picture. Taking pictures wasn't the priority of the day!

Here are Julie and Jane helping with all the stuff that went into the pickup truck to be taken to my parents house.


Kevin, Lee, and Wally were pretty much in the truck all day, getting it packed just right. They did an amazing job!


Laura was a great go-to-girl, and is pictured here with the plants that I just couldn't bear to get rid of. It was pretty hard to get rid of the rest, but at least I could give them to good homes!


Dad and Jared were great go-to-guys, helping out wherever was needed.


Janet and Candis were part of the cleaning team, and I need to give a huge THANK YOU to all of that team! It was SUCH a blessing to know that I was leaving the house in the best possible condition for the new owners.


Candis was kind enough to bring lunch for everyone, so near the end of packing up the truck, we took a much-needed break. Thanks, Candis, from all of us, for providing such a good lunch!


When all was said and done, Christine returned so my parents could meet her new son. I love this picture, because the two of us have a picture that was taken in almost the same spot, from when we were just becoming friends six years ago. As I saw this new picture, I was thinking about how at the time of the first picture, we had no idea that we'd end up living together for three years and that six years down the road we'd be moving me out of my house -and that she would be married, with a son, just moving back to Fergus Falls. Wow, how the time flies by! Christine was an incredible blessing to me this past week, showing up almost every day to help pack boxes or do whatever needed to be done. Thank you, again and again!


My parents and I left my house at 2:30pm and headed for the Twin Cities, after I had some time to just go from room to room, thinking of countless memories and crying a little (well, a lot!). I REALLY will miss my life in Fergus! I'll miss my home, my job, my church, and my friends. In fact, as I was driving down the road, I called my friend, Aimee, so she could remind me why I was excited about the Cities, because all I could think of was how sad I was to leave!

On Sunday, I had another great group of friends who showed up to help unload the truck. This also went way better than expected, with people loading stuff from the truck, onto some wheeled carts, and right into the storage room. I think I counted 10 of us, so you can imagine that this went pretty fast as well. It was a pretty hot day out, so they still worked hard! Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture from this part of the move (sorry, Candis!), but I did snap one picture from when I opened the truck door and realized just how packed in everything was! This picture shows that the last few feet were all the odds-and-ends, but the first big portion of the truck were all boxes or square stuff that the guys fit in nice and tight! U-Haul had given me a bigger truck than I ordered, so another great thing about the day was that I never had the worry of "will everything fit okay?". There was plenty of extra room!


Thanks to each of you who helped, and thanks also to those of you who were praying for me as I wrapped up life in Fergus!

Moving!

I know I haven't posted pictures of Montana yet, and I still plan to. It really was an amazing vacation! I got a new laptop and it was gone for a little while getting my files from my desktop, and now it's been taking me a while to figure things out -it has Windows Vista. But my real excuse has been because I've been so busy packing!

I just sealed off box #48, and have a few others in progress. I still have lots to go! I decided that since I've asked people for help on Saturday, it wouldn't be a good idea to have done a great job blogging all week but a poor job packing...

Speaking of moving, I'm going to throw out a request for help from my Minneapolis friends. I'll be unloading my truck on Sunday afternoon, starting at 1:30pm. It seems easier to me than Saturday's work, because it will just be unloading from the truck into storage, and it won't need to be packed in tight. The more people can come, the less we each will need to carry!

The storage unit is the U-Haul place on Hiway 13 in Burnsville, just one intersection west/south of 35W. You'll see it on the NE corner of Hiway 13 and Cty Rd 5. I'd love any and all help I can get, so thanks for considering coming!

Work update:
Still no job. I now tell people I'm unemployed and homeless! I love the laughs I get for that! Today my recruiter told me that jobs in the Cities are just opening up for August, but so far they're in specialty areas that I'm not qualified for. I'm real hopeful that it will happen soon since this seems to be the right timing. The Lord is sure helping me learn lessons in patience and trusting Him! The amazing thing is that it's not something I've been stressed about since He's had His hand in the whole process so far. He's been faithful and He'll continue to be faithful. It's also nice to know that my parents will let me live with them until my company gets an apartment for me, and that I was able to cash in enough vacation days from Lake Region to still get a salary for the next month or so. Thanks, Lord, for providing!

I'm Home!

Hi everyone! I'm home again after being gone for almost two weeks. What a trip! We finally arrived at my house around 11pm tonight, after a long day of driving. All my pictures are still on my mom's computer, but I can hardly wait to post some more, so I'll be sure to do that soon.

I thought I'd just give the quick update that I'm back. I move in two weeks (July 21st) so the next two weeks will be busy with six more shifts at Lake Region and LOTS of packing! If anyone is just itching to pack a box or two, give me a call!

Regarding my move, I'm going to be putting all my stuff in storage in Minneapolis and then just using what I need for three months at a time at the apartment that my company provides. Like I said, I'll be moving on July 21st, and I really would appreciate any help on that day. I've promised my dad that he and I won't have to load the truck alone! Here's an excerpt from an email I sent out before I left for Montana: "I'd love to have people show up at 9:00am. The piano mover will be there to load the piano into the truck, and the rest of us can start bringing everything else onto the lawn to get it loaded up. Then we'll just load stuff until it's done!

A few specific things I'm hoping for is someone with great packing skills to stay in the truck and pack it tight, and for a few of the ladies to help with the last minute cleaning as each room is emptied out. In fact, I sold my vacuum cleaner at my garage sale so if anyone is able to bring theirs with, that would be great! Candis Berge has agreed to help provide lunch, and I'm hoping that someone from church might be able to borrow the big orange water coolers from church so we can keep everyone hydrated!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your help! It sure is getting hard thinking about leaving Fergus and the incredible support system around here! You have been a blessing
to me!"

Thanks to a lot of you who have responded already to my plea for help!

Montana!!!!

As many of you know, I LOVE MONTANA!!!! I have had the blessing of being here for the last week and a half, and have been LOVING it! It really is one of the best states, with wide open plains and prairies to incredible mountains, valleys, and rivers. My parents and I have been camping at Flathead Lake, which is 28 miles long, and just south of Glacier National Park. Glacier is called the Crown of the Continent, and I've heard it's majesty compared to Norway, but never having been to Norway, you'll have to take someone else's word on that. All I know is, IT'S INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!

We left Fergus after my work shift on Sunday, the 24th of June. We camped that night in Bismarck, ND and I don't have a single picture from that experience...

We left early the next morning and finished driving across ND (running into the Foldens at a gas station in the middle of nowhere!). We then drove across eastern MT, stopped in Billings to see my mom's aunts (The Girls), and went on to stay in Butte, MT that night. It was so wonderful when we could finally see the mountains rising above the plains!



The next morning, we slept in a little, and then made our way to Flathead Lake. This has been a favorite of mine, so it was so fun to finally see the lake come into view!



After getting the camper all settled that night, we were blessed to have my cousins, Kristen and Heather Hagen, join us from Idaho, with their parents arriving a little later. It was so great to see them! I was able to spend less than 24 hours at their house last summer on my drive home from Seattle, but otherwise it had been since 2003. We were so thrilled that they were able to vacation with us, and had really been looking forward to our time together. Here's a picture from when they arrived, and we ended up with quite a few pictures of the three of us over the next few days!



I'm a little overwhelmed with the hundreds of pictures we have from our other days together (between mine, my mom's, Kristen's, and Heather's!) so once I figure out how I'll post a few of those, you'll get to see our amazing views!!

Inspiration Point Bible Camp

Finally, an update! I've been in Montana for over a week and have had so much fun there was no time to blog. As you can guess, that means there are a LOT of pictures to catch up on! I figured I'll start with IPBC, since that had been my most recent post, and then I'll just fill you in on each day.

Well, as you'd expect, I had a GREAT time at camp! The nursing job was steady but completely manageable, as nothing major came up. Thanks for praying! The junior high kids attending needed help with everything from just delivering their medications, to helping with bug bites, stomach aches, headaches, bumps and bruises, and one case of poison ivy.

It's such a beautiful spot so there are lots of great pictures, but it was especially fun to just be a part of what God is doing there in so many lives. He is reaching lots of people!


A great campfire.



I have a fascination with benches, and the views from them, and this is one of the best ever!



A beautiful sunset to end the day.



Thanks, Greg and Janet and the rest of the staff, for including me for those three days! I'm so glad I was able to be there!

Camp Nurse!

Hey everyone! Just a quick post to say I'm off to be camp nurse for a few days! Inspiration Point Bible Camp is one of my favorite places on earth, and I get to spend the next few days as their camp nurse! I'll be leaving after work tonight around 11:30 so I can be there first thing in the morning (as a late-owl I'd rather drive tonight!) then will come back on Thursday in time for the 3-11:30 shift at work again. Their nurse needed a few days off, so they asked if I'd fill in, and I was thrilled to say yes!

Please pray for safety for everyone, and that I'll quickly figure out just what I need to do when I need to do it. I'm happy to fill in this way, and I'm really looking foward to my time there!

Here are some pictures I took there last fall at a Scrap and Stamp retreat.



I'll tell you how the week goes!

June 1-3

As promised, here's a post about the weekend before last. I drove to Mom and Dad's and arrived Thursday late in the evening. On Friday, I went to Julie's preschool where she teaches and also where David is while she's at work (in a different room). I picked him up early so that I could just spend some time with him! The two of us went to the Burnsville Mall and met Carrie and her boys there, and we walked around and played in a kiddie area. It was so great to spend some time with her! The boys have sure gotten bigger, as you can tell from their link on the right side under "links". David took a nap much of the time, but Carrie did get to see him smile and he also had a bottle once he woke up. In such a short time he'll be the one playing on all the fun kid stuff! Rumor has it he's rolled over twice now! Here are some pictures of Carrie's boys:





I really look forward to lots more times getting to take David all around the Cities, hanging out with my friends down there! He and I can go to the park, the zoo, a lake, even just the grocery store or a mall might be fun! Thanks, Carrie, for meeting us!

Then, on Saturday my friend Jim and I went to the Minneapolis Arboretum, which is just west of the Cities a short ways. It's incredibly beautiful!! It ended up raining later in the day, but while we were there is was great weather. The Arboretum was recognized by USA Today as one of the best public gardens in the country, and it has 1000 acres of formal gardens, meadows, outdoor terraces, and just amazing stuff to look at. Can you tell I looked at their website?! We walked all around, taking in the amazing flowers, plants and trees. We wanted to take a few snips of many different plants, but decided that was probably against the rules so opted not to. I realized when I uploaded my pictures that I didn't really take very many (coming from my picture-loving family!) so the pictures you'll see are really from just a few different areas. Jim's been thinking of adding a water feature to the garden at his house so that's what a lot of pictures are from. You'll see one waterfall that cascaded over a few things, including some brick pavers that you can walk on and the water runs between the stones. It was really clever! That waterfall ended into the bigger pond we sat by for a while. For those of you near the Cities, I highly recommend a trip to the Arboretum. There was stuff for kids to do and I'm sure all throughout the year the scenery changes. I hope to go back again!

After the Arboretum we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Savage, got COLDSTONE ice cream (Mmmmm!!), and looked for a tent for when Jim and some of his family make their annual trip to the Boundary Waters. It was a full and very fun day!

On Sunday, I got to go to Oak Hill, and was reminded again about how much I'm looking forward to worshipping there! This last Sunday at Bethel I thought again about how much I'll miss it, so I sure am glad that I can look forward to my next church! After church I went with Aimee and her family to Panera Bread and sure enjoyed the laughter and their company! Thanks for always making me feel part of the family! You can see some updated pictures on Kyle and Lissa's link on the right side.

It sure was a fun weekend! That weekend I thought "wow, I can hardly wait to live in the Cities!" and this past weekend I thought "it sure is going to be hard to leave Fergus!" I guess that's a good situation to be in?!

Great day!

Yesterday was such a great day! The garage sale was a huge hit, and I was able to sell off most of my stuff! All the big items went, lots of the smaller stuff as well, and we ended by dropping off the rest at Goodwill so it's out of the house. Very successful! My parents had come up to help me, and I sure couldn't have done it without them. We made four or five trips to the parking lot with my dad's truck full of stuff. I figured they'd go back to bed after we set everything up since it was such an early morning, but they were both troopers and stuck around for the day. All the stuff from the couch to the tall bookshelf was mine.



There were tons of people selling stuff, and lots of people buying as well. I had gotten nervous that no one would show up to buy, and that wasn't the case at all. The parking lot was a blaze of activity! (Also a blaze with the heat -I have a terrible sunburn!)


We were right next to two of my youth group girls, and had a blast chatting with them. Amy even fit right into my laundry bag!


After the sale was done and we got cleaned up, my mom and I took Aunt Frances shopping, then we picked up my dad and Uncle Leif and went to the Fergus Falls Summerfest Parade. What a fun event! After last weekend's fun in the Cities (more on that in my next post) I was thinking how I can hardly wait to move, and after last night's parade I was thinking how much I want to stay! The parade was the ultimate showing of a great small town life. It was perfect weather, thousands of people lining up along the street, everyone standing and putting their hands over their hearts when the flag went by, and clapping for the firemen, military, and police. The parade included those people along with local businesses and churches, high school marching bands, and people throwing candy to the kids lining the streets. It was laid back and carefree. Sitting there made us all feel as though there isn't a care in the world. It wasn't perfect and rehearsed, it was great small-town fun. It was wonderful!


We got a good spot right in the middle of the closed-off street, and arrived early enough to be right in front.


Uncle Leif had asked 4-5 times earlier in the week if we could go to the parade, so I'm really thankful it worked out.










So many more pictures that I could've posted!

Then, after dinner with Leif and Frances and dropping them off at their place, we decided to drive by the High School parking lot where there had been helicopter rides going all day long. Well, since going in a helicopter is one of the many things I want to do before I die, I decided to hop out of the car and find out how much it cost and if they'd be back tomorrow (they looked like they were packing up). The guy said that it was $35 per person and they were not coming back tomorrow, but they'd be willing to take us up for their last ride! I ran back to Mom and Dad, told them they were coming with me, and I WENT FOR MY FIRST HELICOPTER RIDE! My parents had both done it before, but this was a first for me! It was so fun! The guy was a great pilot, and while a helicopter is by nature a little bumpy, it was really a smooth ride! I got to sit in front, and he asked where I wanted to see. I said the hospital, Hillcrest, and my house, and we got to see those things plus the rest of Fergus as we rode all around. My stomach would drop a little with each turn, but really it was pretty thrilling as seen by the huge grin on my face!
Now, please forgive these blurry pictures, as I said it was a little bumpy, but you'll be able to see downtown, the river, Lake Region Healthcare Corp, Hillcrest, the CLBA offices, my house, and our fun helicopter. Mom and Dad are in the back seat but it's a little dark. They had a good time, too! I'm SO glad we did this! Thanks for being spontaneous with me!














After all those pictures, I think I better learn how to use slide.com for a slideshow! Thanks for sticking with this long post!

Garage Sale!

It's been a busy week! I have pictures from last weekend that I want to get posted, but I haven't been online much. I was able to go to the Cities, hang out with Carrie and her boys, spend time with family, go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum with my friend Jim, and hang out with Aimee and her family on Sunday. Full weekend! Lots of fun and it sure made me excited for my move!!

Anyway, those pictures will have to wait for now. This is a quick post that I meant to upload earlier in the week, but time has slipped away. We have the big garage sale at church tomorrow morning, from 8am-1pm, and I wanted to remind all of you Fergus Fallsians (is that how the word would look?) to come! There will be many families all gathered in Bethel's parking lot to sell off our stuff. I've been hoping to get rid of 50% of my belongings, and while I don't really know what that would look like, I think I must be close.

For all of you reading this who don't live in Fergus, will you pray for a good turnout? No matter how much work I've done to get ready, it won't matter if people don't show up. It's supposed to be a beautiful day so I'm planning on arriving early (for all those die-hard garage salers we have in town) and spending the day in the sun.

I better get back to pricing stuff. I'll let you know how it goes!