Arachnophobia

I've always been quite scared of spiders - but not until today did I realize just how much they bother me. It is normal to be afraid of a spider that is in the same space as you, but when they have no way of getting to you, it really shouldn't matter. Today was just like any other day. I got up early, got ready to go, grabbed all my stuff and headed out to the car. Mom stood on the step and said goodbye...I opened my car door and hopped in. Mom closed the door to the house as I put the car in reverse. As I turned my head to back out of the garage, a big black thing grabbed my attention. A great big black spider was sitting on the outside of my window right next to my head! I consoled myself with the fact that there is no way he can get in the car with me as long as all my doors and windows are closed (and locked!) I continued on out of the driveway and started down the road. The spider, however, was still in my peripheral vision so I could not very well forget about him. I soon had the sensation that spiders were crawling on me and I kept getting goosebumps and shivers! I turned my music up and started to sing outloud in an attempt to distract myself...it didn't work. So, I started banging on the window with my fist as I was driving down the road at 55 mph - I couldn't believe he could hang on! I contemplated taking the interstate - surely he couldn't hang on if I were going 70 mph...but according to my clock, I would be late for class if I took a detour, so I continued on the county road. At the stop sign he relaxed and started shooting his web all over my window - this guy did not want to let go. I took off on the next road. My eyes were on that spider as I accelerated, and accelerated, and accelerated....(and did some fist banging here and there)...1 leg broke free, then another, then another, etc...till he was only hanging on by strands of web and one foot. I continued to accelerate and hit the window. FINALLY he disappeared! I said a silent prayer of thanks and relaxed back into my seat until I saw that I was going 80 mph! I sat straight up, looked around my shoulder for flashing lights, and stepped on my brake....back down to 55. Sigh of relief. Well, one thing is for certain - I was not late for school today and I was definitely awake for the entire 1 1/2 hr. lecture period.

Engagement Anouncement!

Congratulations to Josh and Amy! Amy is one of my friends from my college days up at Northland. She is one of the 6 of us girls that were always together! I got a call from her last night letting me know that Josh had proposed! So exciting! Another fun thing, is that Josh is Andrew's brother, so it won't be too difficult at least for Laura and Amy to stay in touch ;) I'm so happy for you guys! :)

Kaden Videos

Here are a couple videos I took of Kaden on our way back from church.

He's just the cutest, isn't he!?

It was so hard to say goodbye on Sunday afternoon...I miss you guys and can't wait to see you soon!

Visiting JaJuKa

Julia and I headed back to Fairfax after the Ladies Retreat Sept. 13th. As we were driving toward JaJu's house, there was Jason with Kaden outside waiting for us - with Kaden sitting like such a big boy on the back of my car !I got a picture of them before we drove into the garage. Aren't they both so cute!? I love Kaden's jogging pants! Heehee! I had such a fun time with JaJu for the rest of the weekend - I always do! Thank you guys for letting me come! Here's cutie Kad on our way to Fellowship Baptist Church Sunday morning.Kaden and Daddy after churchWe went out for lunch at the Mexican restuarant in Tama. Jason was being silly when I was trying to take a picture of him and Julia. He still loves see-food. Haha!He really was cracking us up, though, actually - as always! Kaden was getting a kick out of it, too! He loves it when Mom and Dad are funny! I finally got one. :) I love you guys!I didn't get to stay very long on Sunday afternoon. But Julia and Kaden were kind enough to let me interview them for my ASQ school assignment. It was fun! Kaden is such a big boy! I am amazed at how quickly he is getting bigger and learning new things - I'm so proud to be his aunt!

Fairfax Days

A month ago I was able to make a trip down to IA to visit Jordan and Jennifer. The nice thing about my school schedule this semester is that my weekend starts on Thursday morning...so I left Thursday after class and found my way to West Des Moines driving all by myself (that is an accomplishment in and of itself :) heehee! I've never been good with directions, but Jennifer explained them so clearly! She could be the GPS lady!) I made it just in time to see The Dark Knight with Jennifer. Batman is my favorite super hero - especially Christian Bale Batman (heehee!), but I must say I was disappointed in the course of events in the second movie! I'll just stick with Batman Begins and pretend The Dark Knight never existed unless they make a third that redeems the series. (much like you have to do with the Anne of Green Gables series: the 3rd one simply does not exist...if it does - that is NOT Anne of green gables, it's just some other movie that Megan Follows is in).

Anyway, Friday morning Jennifer and I went out for breakfast at Panera. She blogged while I did some HW so I could relax and have fun the rest of the weekend.

Jordan, Jenny, Macy and I met JaJuKa and the Horaks in Fairfax for a couple softball games. This is a picture of our cheerleader section. Our team won the first game but lost the second :((small picture of Jason pitching- it was the best I could steal from I can't remember who - heehee!)I think we lost the second game because Jason - the pitcher - ended up getting his hand broken when he was hit by a line drive. Someone else had to fill in - but they just weren't as good as him :)

Saturday morning we headed into Fairfax again for the Fairfax Days Parade! JaJuKa, Mrs. Pliscofsky, and I walked in the parade for Guaranty Bank and threw out Bracelets and Beach Balls (which were the hit of the parade - people were willing to do about anything to get one! haha!) Kaden was a hit, too, in his little wagon being pulled by "Little G." He is simply the cutest little boy EVER! Two more softball games followed the parade, and our team won both - winning the tournament! Julia made the winning catch for the first game, and Jordan for the second. YAY!We had a grill out that evening at Jason and Julia's and then stayed out in their front yard to enjoy the Fairfax fireworks (their 4th of July celebration had been postponed due to the flooding this summer)Sunday morning, we went to church with the Horaks in Monticello and had a picnic at a beautiful garden park for lunch. Above is a picture of the Horak clan - Luke and Anna came, too!(Mr. Horak had to work that weekend, so we didn't really get to see him at all) :(Anna and I had a lot of fun hanging out together that weekend, especially while watching the fireworks! She was so nice to let me stay in her room! Thank you, Anna! I hope to see you again soon!We stopped by JaJu's after we left the Horaks. Julia had made a cake to celebrate her Mom's Bday. However, she had run out of cake candy alphabet letters, so she could only make the cake say "I love you, birth mom" instead of Happy Birthday, Mom! Mrs. P's response: "As opposed to your other mom? - being who?" HAHA!We stopped by a gas station on our way back to JoJe's so Macy could take a little "break" ;) Jenny and I spotted a cowboy statue on the other side of the parking lot. I asked Jordan if we could go look at it, just in case it was John Wayne (the reason for my infatuation w/Cowboys and Westerns). Jordan was nice to humor me, so we walked over. But it was soon obvious that this guy was no John Wayne - in fact he had absolutely no name or information. He was simply a tree man with no gun or horse, yet holding a saddle...hmmm...I took a picture with him anyway.Before turning in for the night, Jenny and I realized we hadn't taken any pictures together all weekend! :( So we took one right outside the apartment. We both definitely look like we've a had a day...but it's all we've got ;) I even still have my dangly black Sunday earrings on with my super casual outfit. O well. That's kind of a Sunday routine for me - I always change my earrings throughout the week, but for some reason I can never remember to change my earrings on Sunday afternoons.

Monday morning we had to say goodbye :( That's always hard to do. Thanks for letting me stay with you guys! I had SO much fun!On my way home I met Jules (who had been at home visiting Mom for the weekend) for brunch in Albert Lea. (or as Julia would say, Albert Leah - haha!) I got there first and found this cute little Lakeside cafe. We met at the mall first and did some shopping, then came here to eat. We ate outisde on their cute little shaded chairs and tables with a beautiful view of the lake! I love lakes!
We each ordered a yummy drink, but I ordered the biggest cinnamon roll I've ever seen in my entire life (it reminded me of the ones they used to serve at The Barge at the Lake of the Ozarks - us girls always ordered the cinnamon roll and they were SO delicious!) I ate the whole thing! Haha! We had such a good time together including a good sister talk and then parted ways once again. I miss you so much, Jules! Come visit SOON!

Fellowship Baptist Ladies Retreat

The 2nd weekend of September Julia, Jennifer and I were able to meet up for a Ladies Retreat sponsored by Julia's church. Julia and a couple of her friends put everything together for the retreat and it turned out to be a fabulous time! I forgot to take any pictures the first day (I know! So UN-Rabe! haha!), but I have a few from the second day. The only downfall of the weekend was the fact that it rained and poured the whole time. However, that did not hinder us ladies from getting in some good shopping time ;) Our first stop on Friday was the Tanger Outlets! We really did shop till we dropped! One of the funnest parts was putting clothes up to Kaden! He would hold his head up high and put on an adorable smile like he was modeling for you! As soon as you hung the item back up, he would go back to doing his own thing. It was so funny!

After shopping we went to the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at in the Amana Colonies. The people who ran the place were so nice! Our group was able to use the dining room for the evening! We had supper and then played some great mixer games and shared testimonies. By the end of the evening everyone had become friends :) Julia, Jennifer and I got to share a room. We ended up staying up past 2am talking! We were a bit tired the next day - but it was so fun to have that special sister time! :)Saturday morning we moved to a beautiful rustic restaurant (above) which I can't remember the name of. The upstairs room was beautiful! It had been reserved for us for the entire day! The picture I took (above) really does not capture the atmosphere, but I think I've mentioned several times before on my blog that I'm no photographer ;) heehee! Julia made the centerpieces. The theme for the weekend was "Filled to Overflowing." Mrs. Janke was the speaker for each of the sessions. The main passage she spoke from was Galatians 5:16 - 23 - The Fruit of the Spirit.In between sessions we were able to do some touring of the amana colonies. We only really had time to go through a few shops, but it was so interesting! It would be a fun place to go back to when you have more time. We girls really got a kick out of one of the women's clothing store we walked into! We discreetly took this photo of the girls' top choices ;) haha! I must say, I did find one item that I really honestly wanted - an absolutely beautiful pair of gloves! I felt very sophisticated when I put them on - there are very few everyday gloves that have that kind of power. But I didn't get them - they were 22 dollars! I will get them someday when I'm rich - after all, my name means "wealthy." Heehee!
Here is a picture of my purse - I took this picture for my mom. I like this color, but she hates it; therefore, I have refrained from getting any articles of deep yellow clothing. But, I figured it would be harmless to get a yellow bag! Not so much, she still makes fun of me. Jennifer has been my support system through this hardship. ;) Haha!Here are Jennifer's shoes! She purchased them while we were shopping and wore them the next day! Aren't they so adorable!? Especially on her little feet! I love shoes!At the end of the day, we had to say goodbye to Jennifer, (I guess Jordan wanted her back ;) and Julia and I headed back to Cedar Rapids! Such a fun and refreshing weekend!

Giant Windmills

These wind farms are becoming more popular around the midwest, especially in our area. At first they were something to look at, but as they've rapidly popped up here and there in large quantities, they simply clutter our beautiful landscape. I'm sure they serve a wonderful purpose, but I'm a girl, so I don't have to acknowledge that, right? My job is to care about what they look like ;) When I look over the flat plains I love that I can see for miles and enjoy all things natural: stretches of fields with a farm here and there, cattle grazing in a huge open pasture...occasionally a good old fashioned windmill - the kind that compliment our rural area as opposed to these new sleek, modern, giant white plastic looking things. To be honest, I don't mind them so much as long as I don't have to look at them every day and as long as they never directly interrupt any of my favorite local "views." Recently as I was passing one of these wind farms with my mom on one of our road trips we both noted that for some reason they seem to be a little on the scary side to both of us when there are SO MANY! Haha! It reminded me of a literature story that I read in high school. The story of Don Quixote. Don Quixote and his side kick Sancho come upon thirty to forty windmills that appear as giants to Don Quixote. He tells Sancho that he is going to kill them all; keeping their treasures for themselves and doing all mankind a favor by removing their evil from the earth. Sancho tries to convince his master that these are windmills, but to no avail as Don Quixote charges at them amidst Sancho's screaming. Suddenly, a windmill that had been still, is put in motion by a strong gust of wind. One if its sails breaks Don Quixote's spear, then lifts and drops both him and Rocinante to the ground. Of course Don Quixote thinks the windmill giant has done this to him on purpose and continues to fight it! Sancho runs over and says he warned him they were windmills. Don Quixote has a better theory: that Freston the magician changed the giants into windmills in order to frustrate Don Quixote.

...So they are scary after all! You never know when Freston the magician will allow all these windmills to turn back into the scary giants! ;)

Kaden Dean 9 Months Old!

I cannot believe how quickly my little nephew is growing up! God has truly blessed our family through the life of this precious little boy! He is the cutest boy I know and I am proud to be his aunt! Happy 9-month B-day, Kaden Dean! I love you!

"How-To" w/Goofy

I saw this for the first time in the theatre with Jason, Julia and Julie this spring/summer when National Treasure II came out. Thankfully we were about the only ones there so no one got annoyed by our laughing. It was fun to see one of the good old cartoon characters - goofy is a favorite. When Julie and I were little our favorite "how to" with goofy was his setting up a home gym. Haha! We watched that so many times and it was funny every time! Anyway, this particular "how to" with goofy is how to set up your own home theatre system. (complete with his tradmark "WaHoohoohoohoo!") I happened to find it on youtube and thought I'd share it with my blog readers for a laugh cause it's so true! Okay, a little exaggarated, but to the point that you can relate :)

Prayer Request

If you think of it - pray for me tomorrow (Wednesday, 17th). I have a big test in Health Assessment and I'm nervous about it! Thanks! :)

For You, Jules

Well, Jules, you wanted to see me - here I am :) This is what I look like as I am typing to you. I thought I would let you know that the skunk you warned mom and I about is making rounds around our house or something! Mom said she could smell it when she came home tonight. I couldn't smell it, so I left my window open....

....I can smell it now...

So will you come back home now and be the brave soul that will go out to Josie's barn to make sure she has enough of everything to survive until the skunk leaves for hibernation? That's not too much to ask, is it?

THANK YOU!

New Template

Much Thanks to Julia for the new look of my blog! I did my routine blog checking today and found the background of "Our Life" was new and super cute! (you should check it out: www.jajurabe.blogspot.com) So I clicked on the link by her navigation bar and found a new look of my own! I kept the same general color scheme, but thought it was high time my blog got a makeover! (it's been almost 3 years already that it's been in existence!) If you are a fellow-blogger and would like to update your blog as well, just go to www.pyzam.com! There is a smorgasbord of personalized looks to choose from. Thankfully, if you already have a certain color scheme in mind, it is possible to narrow your search which allows the process to go much more quickly. I admit I didn't immediately realize that I had that option and ended up spending a lot of time searching...I was about to give up when I spotted the options all along the side! Haha! O well, it was a nice little reprieve from doing my homework for awhile. I also added a songplayer - I only had time to add one song, but I doubt many people would stay long enough to listen to more than one song anyway! I'm still working to keep it on autoplay so you don't have to turn it on yourself in order to enjoy the extra page element. However, I am much like the technically challenged 40 and abovers when it comes to such things. So I may eventually figure it out, or I may never.

All that to say...ENJOY! (for my sake - hahaha!)

What is This?

Well, for some reason I could not get this to post for the longest time and now that it finally has, the quality is not so good.

But Josie is so cute in this video! When I come back to her and praise her for keeping the rodent up there all night she looks like she's smiling :) haha! and there's also a time when she's barking you can catch her looking at me out of the corner of her eye like, "are you watching me be vicious?"

Anyways, I was home alone and studying up in my room with my windows open a couple days back...pacing back and forth (memorizing) when I noticed from my window that Josie kept jumping up on her hind legs! Then she started barking! I saw some kind of blob in the little tree next to her barn and decided to go check it out. What I saw was a creature I've never seen before (that I know of!) He looks like a beaver, prairie dog, gopher, and squirrel mix - very weird. I was nervous to get too close, so I waited to get some second opinions. A friend came over to study - she had also never seen something quite like it. Mom missed it, so I took some pictures for her. We are both stumped and want to know if anyone else knows what it is? This mysterious creature is on the creepy side simply because we don't know what it is (and b/c it has beady little eyes, and claws, and buck teeth, and monkey-ish hands and feet, and he is extremely up tight. Never once did he move or even blink in all the times I ever went out to observe him until that last time when I was taking the video, he not only blinked but turned his head and looked right at me! AGH!)

Happy Birthday, Sara!

Sara is one of my dear friends. She turned 20 on August 30th! Sara, I know your birthday is already past, but I wanted you to know you were on my mind even though I was away in IA! Thank you for your friendship - you're so thoughtful and you always know how to make me laugh ;) We'll have to get together one of these days soon and have a little celebration! After all, you are no longer a teen! That is something to celebrate, right? Hee,hee! I love you!

Back to School

Add 3 more books to that pile of fat books and it will equal my stack for the semester. I cannot believe how quickly the summer has passed!Classes started at Presentation last week and already the HW seems quite demanding. (Even at this moment it is looming over my head - but I have decided to take a short break in order to blog about it...to get it out of my system ;) Haha!) It amazes me that I am already entering my second year of nursing! After each class description on our first day, the nerves of each member of my sophomore class were heightened. It takes only a low C in two classes for one of us to be eliminated from the program. We are all nervous and excited at the same time. We have a long way to go in the process of overcoming those nerves in order that we may be that calming presence we must one day be for our future patients. The long road ahead is a comfort in that way - we have time to overcome these fears and to learn all that is necessary to be the best nurse we can be both in practice and compassion. I am thankful to have already befriended so many in my class. We have all made a pact to help each other along when the going gets tough. Above all, however, I am thankful I have the help of my Heavenly Father. He is here to help me along at all times and has never failed me when the going gets tough. It is He Who has led me down this path, and it is He Who will lead me through to the end and beyond. My prayer is that I will rely on Him through it all - even before 'the going gets tough'. (Like the song: "Lord I need You when the sea of life is calm, O Lord I need You when the wind is blowing strong. Whether hard times come or cease, keep me always on my knees...") I also pray that I will have boldness to share Christ with my classmates. He has placed me here for reasons beyond a nursing degree and I do not want to miss out on those lessons, blessings, and opportunities simply because my priorities were out of line. John 15:4 - 5, 7 -8, 12, 16 - "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit...This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit..." Most of you who read my blog know me quite well, and I ask that if you already pray for me - please add these requests to your list. There is no way I can do any of this on my own! Thank you! :)