Service Opportunities.....

These past 2 weeks have been pretty fun and eventful. This week Steve and I had several opportunities to provide service. It was fun working together and helping others.

On Monday, we went out to dinner w/ a couple in our branch. She is from Korea, he served his mission there, and Steve learned to like Korean food on his mission, so we figured we'd go out of Korean food for dinner. It was my first time to try it but it was really good. We had meat that we cooked right at our table, then put it on lettuce leaves w/ rice and veggies. Afterwards Steve and I got an ice cream cone at Macey's. It was a fun night.

Tuesday I had class. We've got 2 more weeks then our project is done and we'll be presenting it to potential investors. Steve of course is done w/ school till the 22nd, so he's been helping do some yard work at his grandma's and mow the lawn for his parents.

Wednesday after work I went w/ my secretary and visited sisters in the branch. At the same time I had my 2 counselors try and track down some of the "unknown" sisters on our branch list. We got a lot accomplished which was good. Since we had a lot of sisters move out last month, naturally we're having more move in this month, which is good. While I was doing visits Steve and some elders in the branch went and helped a brother in the ward move. He's moving back east for schooling.

On Thursday after work, Steve and I hurried over to an assisted living center to help remove sandbags. They were placed their in the spring to help prevent flooding, particularly since it flooded a lot last year. We helped at that spot for a while, then gathered those from our branch and went further up the creek to help a member in another ward. There was about 8 of us, including our Branch President, working to remove the bags and load it up into a loader to be moved elsewhere. The bags weighed between 30-60 lbs depending on how much was put in the bag and how much water had soaked into the sand as well. Needless to say after 3 hours of lifting, loading and unloading the sandbags we were all pretty sore. My biceps and forearms were, and still are, sore from it, but it felt good to help out and provide service. Steve and I jumped into the swimming pool when we got back to cool off.

On Friday we took it easy. I made some teriyaki chicken w/ rice for dinner. Steve wanted something w/ rice since he got real Japanese chop sticks and just had to try them. We then went over to Macey's and got an ice cream cone while we shopped for some food storage items. I got some bread making items in particular so I could make homemade whole wheat bread, from our Relief Society activity. As we were going into Macey's we met a couple in our branch and invited them over to swim w/ us. So, after we got back they came over along w/ Rob. We all swam for a bit, then went to the hot tub for bit (they just opened it up again). It was fun to relax!

Teriyaki Chicken

Saturday morning we got up early at 8 (for a Saturday that is) and went downtown to help w/ another service project. This one was through my work. We went to Bryant Middle School where we were divided up into teams to complete different projects. Steve and I were assigned to help paint a mural in the cafeteria which said, "Get Healthy." The mural seemed easy enough, but there were 11 different colors on it. Luckily someone had outlined our picture the day before, so we went through and put numbers on which area was what color. It was like a GIANT paint by number per say. We got started around 9:30am and actually didn't get done until about 2:30pm. We took a 15 minute break for lunch but that was about it. Due to all the colors it took a little more time to paint, but when we were done it was totally worth it. Up close you could see our "blemishes" but as you backed up it looked amazing! I'm glad we took the time to get the details. Hopefully the middle school will enjoy it and appreciate our work.

Yeah finally done!


Our completed work


When we got done there, we headed up to clean up and get lunch. I also made 3 loaves of wheat bread. It turned out really well. The lady that taught us the recipe used 1/2 molasses and 1/2 honey, so next time I want to try using it to see if it makes a difference. It was still really good though. Steve REALLY likes it and has eaten almost 2 loaves already. I think I'll have to make it for him more often :)

Homemade wheat bread


That night we went up to Centerville to see the play "7 Brides for 7 Brothers." All of Steve's brothers and sisters came. It was a lot of fun very entertaining. Rob ended up coming w/ us also and really liked it. He had never seen it before but now wants to watch the movie. Afterwards we all stopped at Dairy Queen for an ice cream, then went home.

Sunday I had my early morning meetings. In church we had several releases and new callings. We'll be making a lot of changes in the Relief Society also in the next couple weeks, so we're working on that. After church I made dinner for us, then made brownies (100% homemade, not from a mix) and went over to a couple in the branch to play games and eat the brownies. The brownies actually turned out really good. Steve said he'd be ok if I make them more often. It was fun playing games w/ them. We played Rumikub, Pig Pile, and Ticket to Ride.

This past few weeks at work has been pretty crazy, as I'm sure you can imagine. Monday was particularly crazy since the Dow dropped 630 points. I've been putting in a little over time due to the volatility and increased volume of calls. I've been having to go in at 7 and work through 1/2 my lunch some days. Hopefully it "settles" down here soon. When I got home Monday Steve had got me some cute flowers, which made my day :)

Pretty flowers!


Last Friday Steve went up w/ his parents to the cabin to work on some things and fish of course. I decided to stay home and get some things done and get some sleep also. Steve got home Saturday afternoon, then we went swimming and renting "Source Code" for our date night.

On Sunday we made ribs for dinner. I had 2 coupons for pork ribs so we went over to LuDeans and invited Dave, Joann, Kim and Jeff and kids. They were yummy! We then played games.

We'll we're off to Yellowstone on Wednesday. We're so excited; see ya all then!