We did it.....

Ben has been up since 4:45am and myself since 7am. 


Ben worked at the farm this morning before heading over to the apartment..


After many, many, MANY trips up and down stairs straining to carry all of our belongings to our beloved apartment... we are done.....


We are finally back at Ben's parents home and settling in for the night.


Our hands hurt, backs hurt, knees hurt, heads hurts, feet hurt, muscles hurt, yet we couldn't be happier. 


I am so proud of us we did everything by ourselves (with help from Eric with the couch, futon and bookshelf). 


Now for a well deserved night of sleep before another crazy day tomorrow. Ben works all day so I will be unpacking my little heart out!


I am far too tired to post the pictures I took today.. maybe tomorrow.... until then.... 


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.................

This Week!

This past week has been a fun one, busy like usual, but fun!


In between preparing for the big move, working on applications for both teaching positions and other positions, and the normal every day activities, I have found time to really enjoy life!


This week started off great.


Raena and I spent some time on Sunday playing with one of my toys from Christmas, a RipStick! 


It is like a skateboard but it twists and turns and your feet stay on the board the entire time. You move your hips and legs in a way that the board moves forward!


We learned a lot during this fun experience...


Lesson 1: Get super excited and show your excitement by giving the thumbs up sign!

 Lesson 2: Get the proper footwear. We tried wearing our TOMS but they slid right off so we switched into our sneakers. (We happen to having matching footwear!)

Lesson 3: It is okay to FAIL! (Plus they make for some really funny pictures!)

Lesson 4: Get serious, show the road and RipStick who is boss! 

Lesson 5: Keep practicing! 

We had so much fun!

Then as Monday rolled around the days got pretty rocky. I had a few "bad" days where things just didn't go my way. Everything took longer than I had planned, the weather was terrible, and things kept breaking when I needed them (printer, scanner, computer....). 


As the week continued things got better! 


The computer was fixed (thanks google for helping me find out how to fix it!)!
We acquired a *new* printer thanks to friends who didn't need it anymore. They saved us $100!
We got the news that we were moving into our apartment!
I had an interview that went really well, not a teaching job but it is still working with kids!


And my best memory of the week included these little girls..

Getting ready to go on a walk with Uncle Ben

This is Addison!

Addie made me smile big time this week when she called me by my name for the first time, "Ca" or "CaCa".

She also made Ben's day the same day by calling him "Ben!"

This is Addison's sister, Erin!

Erin made my week by meeting a milestone, crawling!

It is so fun to watch her crawl to me to get some hugs and kisses! 

Thanks girls and Raena for making my week so fun! <3

Moving!

It is official..

We get the keys Thursday evening and move in Friday!! 

Fourth of July

Our first 4th of July in Grand Rapids was a fun one!


We spent the weekend with family and friends and got some work done too.


I'm still getting back into taking pictures. I didn't take too many pictures in South Dakota so I find myself forgetting my camera occasionally. But I did remember to take pictures a couple times during the fun weekend!


Here we go!


Sunday evening we went to Holland to visit Grandpa and Grandma Bosch. We surprised Grandma and brought dinner. It was nice catching up with that side of the family and celebrating the holiday in our own way.


Monday morning we had breakfast with the Hannink side of the family. This is done for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. It is a fun way to reconnect with everyone throughout the summer.


Ben had worked on the 4th (his choice) but he made it home in time to join the family for fireworks. 

Ben and I waiting for the rest of the family so we could head to our fireworks spot.

(This is my new favorite picture of us!)

Ben wasn't feeling too well so while the rest of us went for a walk Ben and Casey held down the fort. 

Mom, Dad, Raena and I went for a walk by Reeds Lake. 

It was beautiful! 

Mom and Dad headed back by the boys and Raena and I continued our walk.

After our walk we headed back to the rest of the family.

Then we munched on some treats Mom brought.

Ben's favorite was the Pretzel M&Ms, mine of course was Reese's!

Proof Raena and I are sisters! haha

This picture was not planned.. we both made the same face!

Fireworks!! 

On Tuesday Ben and I went to Lydia's baseball game. 

We hung out with Josiah and Jeremiah and got to see Coach Aunty Ju in action!

Go Lydia Go!

She did really well and made two runs!

The boys relaxing after enjoying their root beer floats from the concession booth.

Aunty Ju pumping up the team!

Us and Lydia!

And as for moving....

The bathroom floor is being fixed this week and the plan is to move in this weekend! *fingers crossed*

Being Patient....

I feel that I am a very patient person...
in saying that... here is our latest apartment news... and ladies and gentleman, it is not the news we were expecting.

We knew that there was a problem with the bathroom floor and the floor would be fixed by a professional.

We knew the man fixing the floor would be checking on it today.

We knew it would take some time.

What we DIDN'T KNOW until tonight is...

He won't be able to fix the floor until NEXT week instead of THIS week!

I am a patient person but I am getting extremely antsy. I REALLY wanted to move this week because Ben's family will be leaving for California on Wednesday and will be gone for a week. Ben and I will be spending the week at his parents to house-sit and dog-sit. I was hoping to be all settled into our new place before we spent a week away.

Our friends Lauren and Eric have offered to help in whatever way they can but this whole moving thing is going to be a little more complicated than I thought. Looks like I'll have to start weight lifting soon so I have the muscles to move all our belongings up the long flight of stairs to our apartment while Ben slaves away at the farm.

Wish us luck! 

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!!

A special THANK YOU to all of those who are serving and have served for our great country!

I hope your weekend has been relaxing and filled with time spent with family and friends!!

My weekend has! I am looking forward to my first Grand Rapids firework show this evening!

DIY: Gift Card

For a long time I've wanted to include some Do-It-Yourself projects or in other words.. craft projects that I do that are simple and fun for YOU to try! 

Ben and I are currently working on some fun projects, some for our new apartment and another for a special 2nd birthday party coming up. I've been taking pictures of these projects and can't wait to share them with you as we finish them up! 

We'll start today with a crafty project that I did for our anniversary. A gift card is a card that holds gifts!! 

Here is a look at the finished project and then I will go into the steps on how I made this fun card.

Take a look at the front of the card in the picture below. 

The card folds up like an accordian.

The best part of this project is that you are likely to have everything you need at home RIGHT NOW!

This project is made using a super secret supply..

ENVELOPES!!

Here is another look..

This is the front of the card. 

I opened the envelopes and taped down the flap to the envelope directly on top of it.

By doing this you create pockets. 

This is what the back will look like. It doesn't matter that you can see the flaps because you can cover it up with paper later. 

I then began cutting out decorative paper and taping it to the card. 

Some parts were tricky, I needed to create a template to help cut the paper for the inside and outside of the pockets. 

I used an envelope and cut it up. 

The top part was used as a template on paper that was put at the entrance of the pocket and the lower part was used for the bottom of the envelope. 

 I traced the template on decorative paper, cut it out and glued it on.

Then comes the fun part, use ribbons, paper, stickers, etc. to create an interactive card.

You can make this card as long as you'd like by just adding or subtracting envelopes. 

Then fill the pockets with whatever you'd like; a gift card, note, homemade coupons, etc.

In the spirit of our first wedding anniversary I did a Mad Libs like the ones we had at our reception.

I wish I could take the credit for this idea but I found the idea on the internet.

Click here to see where my inspiration was found!

WE ARE MOVING!

It is official.
We signed the lease yesterday and put down the deposit for our new place.

It is BEAUTIFUL!

There are two bedrooms, a dishwasher, a dining room, attic and basement space, a big back yard, non-coin operated washer and dryer in the basement, bay window, and a tiny 1/4 size bedroom/craft room!!


I finally get some use of my HGTV education.While in Sioux Falls if the TV was on (except for Grey's Anatomy and Glee) it was ALMOST always on Home and Garden Television. I learned a lot and am super excited to see some of my ideas materialize. I have never decorated my apartments beyond color coding towels with counter tops so this is a big step! 


There is some minor repairs (patching holes, etc) that will be done after the current tenants move out and then the owners will clean the apartment. After that we will be able to move in. They approximate date is July 5th. We will know more as the date gets a little closer and how much they want to do in the apartment.


Most of our belongings are in two storage units this size...

It is a little longer than a normal size couch so it fit our belongings nicely. 

I am excited to have all of our things in the same location again.

I am a little worried to see if everything survived the big adventure.

Here is a look at our current "apartment"

Looking in from the door.

The bump in the blanket is Ben's anniversary gift. 

The blanket provided a good covering! 

We brought in some of our belongings to store in the room with us.

A lot of paper/super special things like our wedding stuff, keepsakes, paperwork and art pieces.

We brought some other pieces in to make things a bit more like home.

This is Ben's favorite chair! 

Oh and notice, my fish, Bullwinkle on the desk. He is three years old this month!

Hospital Stays, Apartment Winner and The Farm!

Two weeks has gone by since our 1 year anniversary. I had planned on keeping up the blog steam I created after publishing a post every day for over a week. Our Anniversary Weekend was a blast but things turned quickly at the start of the week. Monday went off without a hitch and life was normal but Tuesday morning altered the course of normalcy. 


I was woken up by Mom H early in the morning quickly explaining that I needed to get up because she was taking Raena to the hospital for stomach pains. 


Raena and Mom went to the hospital early Tuesday morning and by Tuesday afternoon surgery was scheduled. Casey and I got to the hospital before the surgery to spend some time with Raena. Ben was a work and Dad H was at a conference in Florida. LONG story short, during surgery they found that Raena had an infection in her belly. She spent Tuesday through Friday in the hospital and we were there every moment we could. After a tough few days (and some not so tasty hospital meals), Raena was discharged Friday evening. Pain didn't subside much and in addition to other issues.. Raena was back in the ER the following Monday. After spending the day there and some new medication, she was back home! 


Not all of this was bad though... Raena was at the new Children's Hospital and was given lots of slushies to keep her hydrated and was in a bright and cheerful room. There were many activities for the patients to enjoy and we spent an afternoon up on the 11th floor to visit Buddy from Dinosaur Train. 

We had to find a few ways to entertain Raena and ourselves.

Ben got creative with the whiteboard and replicated the farm he works on. 

A few more of the drawings added throughout the hospital stay.

Here is our good friend Buddy!!

There was a 10 year old boy inside the costume.

He was awesome and danced for us!

In apartment news...


WE FOUND OUR APARTMENT!!!!!!! 
We are moving in about a week. Woohoo!!
The apartment is bigger than we had planned on getting, in a great neighborhood, close to downtown and to the Farmer's Market, includes free use of a washer and dryer and IN OUR BUDGET!! It is huge and we can't wait!!! Pictures to follow! 


And now... a few pictures from Ben's farm. We went to a Dairy Class where we learned how to make ice cream, butter, cream cheese, yogurt and other fun things. Then Ben and I played around at the farm!

Our first stop was to check out where the cows are milked.

Ben demonstrated how this contraption worked but I missed the photo op... 

Raw cow milk! Yum!

My favorite part of the farm (minus the cat named Hillary!)...

THE PIGS!!

The two big brown pigs were hogs and wouldn't let the little ones eat.

The two tiniest piggies only got to eat when everyone else had their fill.

EW!

One pig was extra messy and slurped some goodness on my foot...

Thankfully Ben's pants provided me with a good way to clean off my foot.

My favorite pig!!

The littlest red ones were my favorite!

Ben has worked hard to create nice homes for these guys.

Then we were off to visit the chickens and their coop.

One of the roosters who were especially beautiful!

The bakery on the farm is named after this rooster, Little Rooster Baking Company

Ben showing me all the chickens that were in the coolest place they could find.

SO MANY CHICKENS!

While we were there two chickens got loose. All the other chickens followed the one along the fence like they were egging him on! It was hilarious to watch!

Ben looking proud after returning the runaway chickens to their home.

We made a visit to our garden before heading home.

We spent some time picking strawberries to freeze.

And finally...

another reason why I haven't been blogging in the last two weeks...

Just when we thought our hospital days were over..

We found out Wednesday early morning that Ben's Grandpa was in the hospital for stomach pains. After a surgery to remove the aneurysm and a some minor blood issues which turned out to be no issues at all... and Grandpa is back home and recovering well.

SO that is enough of the hospital for us for awhile... We'd be happy to not set foot in the hospital for quite some time now. 

There is a "short" update of our lives in the last two weeks!