HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!

I hope your belly is happily filled with lots of Turkey - or whatever is your bird of choice. :-)

Cheers!

It's been awhile since the last post so I thought I might do a mass picture post. Included are pics from our anniversary weekend up in Bellaire, Labor Day pictures kyaking down the Peir Marquette with Matt and Sarah, a few of us at Karl's cousin's wedding, my 24th Bday,and friendly squirrel we've had ever since he's found we supply food.
I hope you enjoy them. Hang in there - Pray - Sleep - Have fun!
Love you bunches
First: the friendly squirrel, Karl's "action-pose" and me with Bailey.


Second: A pic of us at Matt and Kristen's wedding in August.


Third: a smattering of pictures from my 24th birthday with Barb, Mom and the kitties.


Fourth: our fun kyaking Labor Day weekend with Matt and Sarah and baby Aiden


Fifth: What you've all be waiting for, our anniversary weekend up in Bellaire at the Grand Victorian B&B. A lot of fun, very relaxing and beautiful!


I hope this catches you up a bit on what's been going on around here. School is busy and all-consuming as usual. We're making it through. This weekend is peek color around the GR area meaning the leaves are going to start falling like the white stuff soon.

LOVE YOU

Our visit to 5/3 ball park to watch the Whitecaps with Mom when she visited, our new bed, the new sofa with Mom's awesome art work.

SCHOOL!

Here's a quick note before school starts - that's right, I said school. Running an extended school year schedule, otherwise known as year-long school, also means starting early. It's not so bad; by this time, I'm ready to get back into a routine and start getting paid again. :-)

School starts THIS Wednesday, Aug 5. I'm a bit nervous and will probably be more nervous as Wednesday morning rolls in but mostly I'm feeling ready. I've really spent July getting ready and I'm glad I did; I think my classroom and my curriculum is pretty well set. PRAY for me though; pray for calm nerves, clarity of mind and confidence to stick with my rules/expectations and procedures. It's really important for me to stick to my own rules; I can't be lax.

Karl and I are looking for another apartment in the NE Grand Rapids area. Hopefully that'll come to fruition before Aug is through so I don't have to travel so far each day (it takes about 45 min one way).
Karl is thankfully still employed at GD; they laid off about 10 guys below him in seniority. They came to Karl with a project for him to work on today (Monday) so that's good news. We'll see for how long this project will last but for now, he's still employed. Keep your fingers crossed all continues to go well.

Well, that's about all, not too much this time. Have a good week and don't forget to pray for me, please. I continue to pray for my loved ones and their families.
HUGS

P.S. Before I go, here's a couple pictures from Mom's visit with the kitties over my 24th birthday. Enjoy.

Boston and Morning Glories!

Here's a smattering, in summary, of our trip to Boston. While the rest of the country was stuck in HOT and, in most cases, humid weather, Boston was stuck under a stagnant low giving us tons of rain and gray-skies. So, here's a few pictures to share.




Then here are some Morning Glories and Dianthus I have. They're are so beautiful and the dianthus smells SO good!



So, for now, enjoy.

It's been awhile

I didn't realize it's been over a month since a new post has gone up. Sorry. I hope you enjoyed the Tulip Time photos; that was a lovely weekend.

As you may know, I was so very fortunate and blessed to receive a full-time teaching position!! I'll now be teaching at Ridge Park Charter Academy in Grand Rapids as their 7/8 grade Science teacher. I'm really excited about it; each time I think "I have a full-time job," I have my own classroom," I get this little explosion/welling-up feeling in my stomach. It's such a good thing. Pray for me lots, please. Mostly that God would help me stay organized with all the material, prep and establishment of the curriculum and my classroom.

So, because this job is in East Grand Rapids and is approx. 50 minutes one way to commute, Karl and I are searching for our first home around East Grand Rapids. I would be much more comfortable if Karl could shorten his trip of 40 minutes one way but he says he doesn't mind and it's all highway. The houses we've looked at on the internet just don't seem to be working out for us. We've found on near East Grand Rapids that we really like and have put an offer in on it. Hopefully our realtor will get back with us soon regarding what the sellers say.

I've been on summer break now for 11 days...it's been a good 11 days since I have been very busy with preparing for this coming school year. Ridge Park runs an extended schedule or as is commonly called a "year-round" school so they are not done with school until June 18th, this Thursday. That's just the time Karl and I are headed for our vacation in Boston. (I'll have to update again when we return with photos!) So, that means Wednesday, June 24th is the earliest I can get into my classroom and start organizing materials, becoming familiar with everything, etc. I'm so excited about that part. I just love science and now I get to teach it. PRAY FOR ME, PLEASE!! Pray that I would stick to my guns with my behavior management plan and stay clear-minded so I can teach efficiently.

Karl's birthday is coming up quick. He's going to be 24 on the 27th of June. Wow! That's cool because we met when we were 18...ohh, the good 'ol days... haha just kidding. June is going to be done and over so quick and so will July; school will be starting WAY before I know it. During July, not only is there 4th of July, and my birthday, I have to try to work as much as I can at TSC, close on a house in GR, work in my classroom as much as possible, we're taking a family trip to Cedar Point for a long weekend AND I have New Teacher Training...phew. There's not going to be enough days in July. I might petition to have 32 or 33 days. :-)

So, for now, my life is busy, I'm getting enough sleep so far, Karl is doing well at his job, we're anxiously awaiting our realtor and my mind is swimming with possibilities and ideas. PRAY for us, please.

LOVE YOU ALL. HUGS ALL AROUND.

Tulip Time!!

A bit of Dutch for those who are not... ;-) (psst, we're all Dutch at heart)

Klompen Dancers Tuesday night literally lined the block around Centennial Park; really cool!


I am fascinated with the tulips that look like they're lined in shark's teeth...yeah, they're really photogenic.
After Karl and I enjoyed the Klompen Dancers, we walked down town by Coldstone Creamery where we found the One-man Band. He had a good sense of humor and played his band well. Really fun to watch and clap along with.



Hopefully the weather will hold it's snot and we'll have the Kinderplaat's parade tomorrow (Thursday). I'm really hoping it doesn't rain. *Cross your fingers and pray*
LOVE YOU LOTS.
Jay: I'm glad to hear you got home safely. How are your chick-ys!

She's home...

At 1am, on Thursday, April 30th, Alberta Poll (our beloved Grandmother)went home to be reunited with the love of her life, Grandpa and Father God. She is painfully missed and will forever be in our hearts and thoughts.
She loved her family dearly and always prayed the best for them. All throughout college, she supported me and was always so generous when Karl and I'd come to visit. "Are you hungry?" were typically the first words she'd greet any guest with. Always the tea kettle simmering on the stove and finger cookies and treats on the table...But my clearest memory of Grandma is one sunny and warm afternoon while I pulled out of her rather steep driveway. Looking up the steep cement stairs, I saw her in her doorway sending me off. She was so warm and loving to me; Karl remembers the first time he met them. He and Grandpa had the longest chat about fishing and hunting. Grandpa remembered Karl too when we came back quite awhile after that.

I miss them both...May you (Grandma) rest in peace and know that you were loved and will be sorely missed.
...She's singing with the angels; embraced in Grandpa's arms. Love you Grandma.

A refresher

So, since late March, much has been going on around here for us. I have started a class for credit toward my Professional Certificate, we bought a beautiful (and comfy) new love seat, Spring Break has come and gone, so has Easter. But, Karl and I were able to go North to mom's for Easter where we helped her tear down the wood planks from the walls and do some redecorating. j

The kittens are getting so big! Barb was generous to take the little black and white one, but there's still the male tabby. Mom's not sure what to do with him. Karl and I are under a bit of pressure now with Murphy and Bailey because Mikie says he wants all animals that are not his and Mom's to go by the time he comes home...We can't have the kitties in our apartment. And the house hunting goes on.

I know in past post I really thought that one house was going to be ours but, in the eleventh hour, two others placed bids and unfortunately, one was just above asking price. So, naturally the bank took that one. We're still looking and actually, this time off from looking has allowed for some turn over in the house options. We've really put out heart into decorating our little apartment and it feels like home, to an extent, ya know. Like how I want my own classroom, my heart longs for our own home. I just have to trust that God will lead us to it soon enough. We hope, and pray, to be in our own home by year's end. We're actually under a bit of pressure to, not only from the cat stand-point but also that we want to take advantage of the $8000 tax incentive.

I thought I'd link to the album from Easter up at Mom's. Lots of kitty pictures but a few of us doing our redecorating job.

Karl and I filed jointly this year; it was a success.


Here's a picture of our new love seat. I love the dark chocolate leather...It's so comfy.


We've also had the strangest thing happen this Spring. We've been having two Red-Winged Black Birds feeding from our bird feeders. They've even eaten out of our tube feeder intended for our Sparrows. The sunflower is their normal roost where I put sunflower seeds. One is an immature male; he has very little red on his wings. The second is a mature male who has blazing red patches on his wings. Their fun to watch but you can't move much in the house, they see very well. Here's them together.


Then the mature male. He's very pretty and quite the talker. His chatter is quite loud when it's right outside your window.


That's all, for now. Keep checking, you never know when it'll be new.
LOVE to all.

a quick slideshow

The kittens are big! We often have a visitor to our bird feeder who's not a bird...Earlier this year, he was coming to our feeder quite a lot. I haven't seen him in awhile. What's coming to our feeder now is a pair of red-winged black birds. Unusual for that bird-type to feed from a feeder but they really enjoy the sunflower seeds and millet-mix I put in the hanging sunflower feeder. I have pictures of which I'll have to upload soon.
For now, enjoy the grown-up kittens, Murphy and some squirrel-action.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

A shout out to Jay, it's his birthday today!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I've been watching all the awesome videos on the Poll's blog. Noah and Arie are getting so big and Noah is speaking better and better. I bet Arie is crawling all over the house by now.

Don't forget to wish Jason a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Love you Jay. You're only 30 once (Unfortunately and fortunately, I guess)

An update

So, how about an update?
Karl and I placed an offer on the house you see below this past Thursday, Feb. 19th. We heard from our realtor that night that the listing agent had also put in an offer on the house. Immediately, Karl and I felt a bit combative and protective of the house. Since then, we've just had to wait. We said, in our offer, to hear back from the bank within 24 hours (Friday night 8pm) but that didn't happen as it is stated on the listing, all offers to hear back within 2-3 business days. Well, bummer, this all happened over a weekend so that means a good week wait for Karl and I. (humph!)

Karl's uncle and cousin, who live in Grand Haven, hadn't seen the house and wanted to take a look. When they drove by, they saw there was an open house going on. The listing agent wasn't there but a gentleman representing Coldwell Banker informed Karl's uncle that that day (Saturday) would be the last day they would be accepting offers. Also that the house had two offers on it (one being ours and the other unknown) and that the bank should be making a decision to accept one or the other or neither. Well, Karl and I were quite surprised by this and so was our realtor. According to our realtor, the bank normally rejects both offers, if they are below the asking price, to try to get the most money it can since the house is a foreclosure. So, back to waiting. We're just waiting...Mark, our realtor said hopefully he'll hear by midday Monday. I'm hoping so. It would be so exciting if the bank countered not too far from our offer. But, who knows. We'll see.
If this house doesn't go to us, we know then it wasn't meant for us. We've already picked out a couple houses we'd like to walk through if our offer is rejected. We really like the white house we put an offer on but we've also decided where our price limit is (which is lower than the asking price) and we're not budging.

So, for now, that's all. I'll update again as soon as I know more. Keep checking.
P.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Arabell (belated) and Heather!

Hopefully our NEW HOME!

Watch the slideshow to see a walk through of, what could be, our new home.

(YIPPEE!)

A few houses

Hi all.
Not too much happening these dog-days of Winter. Karl and I are busy working, like most folks. But only 8 weeks of winter left! That's good news. (Then we'll all be talking about the dog-days of summer...) :-)
I thought I might post a few pictures of some houses Karl and I have been looking at. We've been having fun looking and dreaming for quite some time but now that we've talked with a bank, we've finally settled on a loan amount. Likewise, a price range.


This one's cute and on a nice street in Grand Haven.


So cute! A bit small but very nice inside. Again, on a nice street but it's on the corner of a busy street. So...


This one has all hardwood floors throughout, a nice, open kitchen and original wood trim throughout. (I like this one.)


A cute one Karl and I haven't looked through yet.

Karl and I are going house-touring this Saturday. We'll see what we like.
For now, that's about all.

A new post

Every so often you come to the site hoping for a tid bit of new information and how disappointing it is when there hasn't been a new post. So, for those out there...here ya go.

After a VERY frigid cold streak, I think the worst is now over. Today's "balmy" 20 degrees was a relief compared to last week's single digits and below zero wind chills. It'll be nice this week with temps in the 20s and 30s to have the kids go outside for recess. Last week, with four days of indoor recess was near crazy. The kids just don't burn their energy inside like they do outside. Other teachers and I would gather in the lounge and comment on our "escape."

This weekend was a fun time. Karl and I needed to go up to his parents in Ludington and since they have much more snow than Holland, we thought it'd be fun to bring our snowshoes, just in case we had the chance to venture out. Thankfully, Karl and his dad fixed the car Friday night leaving all day Saturday for whatever we wanted to do. Karl's mom wanted to come so we all layered on the clothing, packed up the van and headed to Riverside Park in Scottville for our snowshoe outing. The snow had been falling all night and was continuing to fall throughout the day Saturday. I believe that area received about 1 foot of new snow. Big puffy flakes, too. Very pretty. About two hours later, Kathy, Karl and I made our way back to the van, which was fully covered in snow, with great relief because we were pooped. As the layers fell off, Kathy and I couldn't help but giggle as Karl steamed...literally. His temperature was so hot, steam was rolling off of him. :-)
We had our membership class at Church the next morning so we couldn't stay another night. The weather wasn't getting any better as the day rolled on so we decided to head out while it was still daylight. Good thing, too. It took us an additional 30 minutes to drive home; 2 hours total. The roads weren't great but they weren't awful either. *sigh* Ho hum, so is winter in Michigan. :-)
We did have a bit of sunshine today, though. That was a nice break.

Karl and I are intensifying our endeavor in the house searching process. We've been gingerly looking at houses, mostly just for the fun of looking. Now we're in the midst of talks with a broker. The biggest fact for us, and one that is on our side is that we're in no rush to purchase a house. What a burden to carry, on top of student loan payments. We're taking it slow and I believe that's only going to benefit us in the long run. We have a very sweet and knowledgeable realtor with years of experience. He's not pushy, he's interested in our best interest while offering advice when we seek for it.
We're looking in the Grand Haven area, perhaps even up to Spring Lake but not much further north or south. The choices South become expensive and few while Muskegon isn't the greatest place to live (to say the least). Besides, it would be 50/50 drive for Karl and I. As more develops, more will be shared.

We're heading into the "dog days of Winter" when it becomes frustrating to wear the bulky coats, hats, mittens and gloves. Whip out the board games, we only have about 2.5 months of coldness left (of course, considering we're in Holland).

So for now, have a good week at work.
Hugs.

A Smattering of Family Members

We hope you enjoy these slide shows and pictures of various parties we've gone to and the people we celebrated with. Plus a few miscellaneous. Nothing like a good smattering to update you of our Holiday adventures.
:-)

First, our winter blizzard where we got dumped on...10+ inches of fresh snow fell in one day, trapping us inside until we finally had to venture out.

Yes, that's up to Karl's knees and my poor car hidden in the snow in the background. I wasn't able to get my car out until the next day and even then, my bottom carriage was dragging on the snow.


Our pretty Poinsettia from Kathy.



Then Karl and I had our Cmas Christmas morning. (Pardon the "I just woke up 10 minutes ago" look.)


Later Christmas day, we hosted the Gessner party. Everyone arrived around 12pm, we mingled, ATE, opened presents, mingled, ATE SOME MORE, and around 830pm, people began to leave. I love hosting and it was too much fun to have everyone over. Uncle Dick and Aunt Linda came up, for the second time, from Arizona. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your travels. Grandma Gessner and Barb came. So did our kitty, Murphy and her baby, Cricket (whom mom has adopted).


Then, that Saturday, the 27th, Karl and I had his mother's side, the Breukers, Christmas party. Lots of fun and so much food! The babies are sure growing fast; Logan, Hunter, Baby Darling and Baby Johnston. We have two new babies to lavish with love this year, one due in April and the other late May-early June.


Finally, Karl and I were fortunate to travel safely to Mike and Sandy's for our belated Christmas and New Year's celebration New Year's Eve. Sandy has a new puppy! A Shi Tzu named Lilly. She's only 4 months and a cutie. Kodi didn't quite get into the festivities but managed to pose for a few pictures. :-) Thank you Mike and Sandy for hosting and the presents.


From Mike and Sandy's, Karl and I traveled Northward to Karl's parents in Scottville. Quite a trek as we had dinner with his family and continued home, back to Holland that night. Whew! We're home now, though and looking forward to Brian's side, the Buters, family Christmas party tomorrow. I'm excited because we get to visit with everyone but I also get to play with Aiden and Lara, Karl's second cousins who are the cutest.

So, for now, that's all.
Keep checking. You never know when we'll post next.
LOVE and HAPPY 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy 2009! Today is the first day of 2009, January 1st, and it's hard to believe it's almost done as the clock rounds to 6pm.

Karl and I were fortunate enough to travel safely to Mike and Sandy's for New Year's Eve; watched the ball drop for the first time in quite a few years. For past years I've just gone to bed, unable to stay away that late. We had a wonderful dinner, plenty of *spirits* and games. Scrabble kind of wore my alcohol level down though as it went long. We played Scrabble and Pokeno, which I've never played but was a fun twist between Bingo and Poker.

I'm not home so I can't post holiday party pictures yet but I'll do that soon. Karl and I have traveled from Mike and Sandy's up to Karl's parents in Scottville. I've not experienced it before tonight but Karl's family always celebrates the New Year with a Fondue party. Oh boy! Pizza rolls, Mozzarella sticks, breaded mushrooms, chicken nuggets...all stabbed and then cooked in hot oil. YUMMO! I was a bit hesitant at first but man, it was good. (Thank goodness it's only once a year. I couldn't handle that much grease often.)

Three more days left of vacation...pros and cons. Pros: We'll be back to work soon to earn back holiday spending and back to the routines we've steadily set in place. Cons: We have to go back to work. :-) Where we've spent so many day-light hours together finding new things to do to pass the time now we'll have to find time in the evening (on nights I'm not working at TSC). A two week break is enjoyable, relaxing and refreshing but, in all honesty, it'll be nice to get back to work.

Karl and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break/season. We hope God blessed you and kept you safe if you did much/any traveling. The weather was a bit hairy at times, not to mention icy roads but was also a bit relieving as it melted back a bit.
Keep coming back to the blog for soon-coming pictures.
~HUGS~