Prairie Storms

Moving out here I was really nervous about Tornado's, they have had them in the past (although not severe and only 1 person recorded ever died) but it is one of the things I am most afraid of. I. Hate. Wind. June is typically the worst month for summer storms, and so far it has lived up to the hype. Below are pictures of storms here this month. We get intense wind gusts (60-80 mph), and the lightning has been right over us so bright it looks like a strobe light is going off in the clouds. It is a really bad time to be living on the 3rd floor.

June 11th. Taken from the AFB. About where those clouds are swirling is right above where our house is. It was so dark there that you couldn't see the clouds, but looking at the storm from a distance you can see that they were swirling.

June 18th. Insane lighting storm right on top of us. I was so scared it was going to strike our apartment. The flashing was blinding and the thunder shook our house.

Michael caught these pictures on his way to a job about an hour from home. This was a funnel, but not too much more powerful than a dirt devil. Crazy though

This was June 11th also. That is lightning, not the moon.

We also have video of some of these storms on our YouTube Channel, you can find all our of videos by clicking the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdpdXiiDe_E8RL52mPqeM0Q

A day for a ride

Today we went and got Bikes and went for a ride. The weather was perfect and we needed the exercise. We can both also ride our bikes to work from our house, so this will help us save money and miles. 

This is a picture of us at Oak Park. It is about 2 miles downhill from our house. Siri isnt very good at directions if she thinks you are walking and you are going biking speed, so we got 'lost' and rerouted several times, making it over a 3 mile ride to get there. Then, as we were riding through the park, the chain on Michaels bike broke! Luckily we could phone a friend or that would have been one sad 3 mile hike uphill to get back home.

After returning the bike and exchanging it for a new one, Michael wanted to go on another ride. (He was pretty excited) So we biked back down to Oak Park (we found the shorter way this time) and then around through town. About the time we got to town the bike seats and lack of exercise was starting to wear on us, so we headed home. Unfortunately it was all Uphill to get home. Being already 7+ miles in to our adventure I was very tired and sore and had to take many, many breaks on the way back. Who knew I was so out of shape. It took almost an hour to finish that last mile home, and at one point I told Michael he would have to leave me behind and I was just going to stay there for awhile. lol. He motivated me to push through by talking about all the food options we could have for dinner f I could get my butt home before 10pm. Haha We finally did make it. And we settled on Mexican Food. All in all it was a great little adventure, and it is nice to have something to do besides just sit at home all day on our days off. Also, you learn a lot about your spouse by working out together. He learned I hate to work out and my inner fat kid gets kind of mean when Im hungry. 

Our New Car

We started the year off with our 2014 Nissan Titan. Which was an awesome truck- with shitty payments. $800 per month was killing us. 

Michael got that truck in April of 2014, just before I met him. 

We had that truck for about 2 years, and then luckily we got the opportunity to get a different vehicle. With a much better payment.

Having a Truck was nice, because of the 4-wheel drive. And being jacked up certainly made people get out of your way when you were driving.

We just signed the papers for our new car. A 2005 Cadillac CTS with just over 60,000 miles. 

Its a really nice car. An old guy had it as his 'around town' car and took incredible care of it. I am SO excited to have a Cadillac! And even more excited about the payments, which are 1/4 of what we were paying. 

I can't wait to pay it off and get s second vehicle. Having one car between the two of us is a pain. But we're moving up in life so fingers crossed we will eventually get there haha

Scandinavian Heritage Park

Today we went to visit the Scandinavian Heritage Park. The buildings were all brought over from Norway, and are original historical pieces not replicas. All of the buildings are very cute, and a lot of time and effort was put into every hand carved detail. The Scandinavian people took a lot of pride in the things that they made.

 This is a storage house. They kept all of their food storage and grains inside.

 This is an iron board. They used to paddle to apply pressure on the rolling board and removed wrinkles from their clothes this way. The paddle was used in engagement rituals in which the man would make it as beautiful and elaborate as possible and leave it on the porch of the woman he wished to marry. If she picked it up and took it inside she was accepting the proposal. They would keep the board and use it in their future home. It was very important for men to be good wood carvers, because most of the work there required you to be good working with wood.

This donkey is a National Symbol. Michael looks very small compared to it.

 The entire inside of their church is elaborately hand carved. It is very beautiful.

This is the outside of the church. 

Michael turns 25

Its hard for me to wrap my head around him being halfway to thirty now. I feel like we are both so young, and I forget he is actually a bit older than I am.
I would like to say we did something exciting and celebrated together, but it was actually a very busy day for us both. He got a new promotion at work and has been moving into his new office and getting everything organized. I took the day off to hang out with him, and just helped him get everything together.
We got him a new pair of work boots for his birthday gift, since his old ones are literally on their last threads. But all in all it was a good day and we got to spend it together.

"Happy Birthday to the most amazing man I know. You work so hard to take care of us, and put up with my craziness. My life is so much better now that I have you, and I look forward to spending every day for the rest of forever with you."

My Best Friends Wedding

Today my best friend of over 13 years got married to the love of her life. 

 

It was heartbreaking to be a thousand miles away on such a momentous day in her life. But I am very happy for her. There are couples who think they are in love, and then there are those that Know what love really means. These two know what love really is and they have found it in each other.

I wrote Kesley this morning:

"To my unbiological sister. Today she's getting married to the love of her life and I can't be more happy for her! From little girls in art class, to old married woman you have always been my BFF and always will be. It breaks my heart that I can't be there with you today, but know that I am there in spirit and will be wishing you well from afar. You are simply beautiful and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you both. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Cheers to love that will last an eternity!"

The Sunniest Sunday

 Today was the most beautiful day we've had out here since we moved 6 months ago. It was 72 degrees, sunny, and perfect. The whole city was out enjoying the amazing weather. Kids on bikes and roller skates. Motorcyclists. Everyone smiling and enjoying themselves. There was over 100 people at the dog park today.

Since we got Radar back in January, he has not been allowed to leave the house because he was so young and wan't up to date on vaccines. But last Wednesday he got the last of his puppy shots and so we took him out on his first adventure today. I think he had the time of his life.

He wasn't quite ready to go in with all the dogs in the park yet, but we walked around the trail and played in the field for a bit. It didn't take long for him to get worn out. There is a video HERE on our channel of him in the car learning to Howl. 

After the dogs had their fun, Mike and I went down to the gun range to do a little shooting and end our day in the last hour of warm day light. It was pretty much the perfect Sunday. We really needed some good weather and quality time.