blogging mistake #1

I've already made a rookie mistake of blogging.  Have mercy- I'm a baby in the blogosphere, give me time to grow :)

My mistake was that I missed a major holiday without posting or documenting it.

Yep, I missed blogging my birthday!!

I turned 23 on the 19th.  (The week before I honestly couldn't remember for about 10 seconds if I was going to be 23 or 24.)
April 19, 2011 be remembered as "the day it snowed in mid-April."  It was cold, rainy, windy, and there was even a hint of snow at one point!

BUT I did unexpectedly get the day off of work.  The student I work with didn't show up to school (which he'd been making a recent habit of)-- so it was probably a not-so-good thing. However, it was nice to come back to bed and hibernate all day!!

We went out to dinner with my mom/brother and Ben's parents that evening.  Ben got me a great flower bouquet which I've split up and now have 3 mini-bouquets in 3 different rooms :)  He keeps asking where I got the flowers.  I keep telling him that I got them from him, duh.

I've got a gift certificate to buy some TOMS coming in the mail... and I'm thinking about buying a sewing machine this summer. Or I know that I'm moving to a city where I know a friend has had a sewing machine for a few months and hasn't taken it out of the box yet :)

And (this one is my favorite...... ) then Ben gave me permission to get a kitten this summer!!!  This subject deserves a whole post of it's own.  Basically, I've always loved cats and the man I married has always not loved cats.  See the problem? So this was a big thing for Ben to promise!

Another reason I'm writing this is so that Ben is now virtually accountable to his birthday promise to me :)


NEXT on my list.... sharing about a REAL major holiday that I missed blogging.  EASTER!

Pin the tail on the... picture??

Our Wednesday nights this semester were spent in class.  

Ben was in MIS 537-Project Management... and I was at our church working in D6 with the older two year olds!  Quite opposite class experiences-- Ben's class was about 2 1/2 hours longer than my class, and my class has a little more fun :)

Here's what happened in my class this week...

 The one that is actually in the correct tail placement was my example.  Clearly, I need to work on "leading by example."

The point of this was about Jesus riding a donkey into the city before his crucifixion.  The donkey is not exactly the point of the story-- but you've gotta go with what will stick with them!

 This ministry will be something I will really miss when we move... which is very soon!

 D6 stands for Deuteronomy 6, which has some lessons for all of us-- not just two year olds!

^{Deuteronomy 6:4-7}

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Excited for an Easter weekend! 

TWO years ago.... yesterday

To carry on with the theme of "on this day"...  Two years ago yesterday, I got a ring on my finger!  Yep, Ben gave me an early birthday present of a diamond engagement ring!


(This is about "yesterday" because I just didn't get this finished yesterday!  It happened late at night-- so it's pretty much today too!)


The night began with grilling supper on an Iowa "beach," stargazing in the countryside, and a walk to VEISHEA.  On the way to campus, we took a detour.  Ben led me to an old abandoned rail road bridge.  I knew it then that it would happen. He had some friends set up a candlelit dessert picnic.  Then blah, blah, blah.... and he popped the question!


I didn't know it was going to happen that night... but I hoped it would!

The prepared surprise table!

Finally being able to tell Ben .... "I knew it was coming!" 

Ben's crazy eye is from getting a friend's knee to the face.... my crazy eyes are from 2 full minutes of sobbing!

3 years ago today... (part 3)

Three years ago today I went on a motorcycle ride.


It was a nice day and Ben called texted me to see if I wanted to go on a ride.  I was working as a children's ministry intern at our church at the time.  Actually (little known fact) Ben and I both worked as interns there the previous summer!


He picked me up for a motorcycle ride and then dropped me back off there at my car.


It was then that I knew it was going to happen.

Ben was going to tell me that he was actually the one that I was set up with to go out on a blind date.  

But he didn't know that I already knew that.  He didn't know that I knew he was going to tell me right then.  (Oh man, this was going to be fun!)

The convo went something like this...

Ben: "So I hear you have a big blind date coming up..."

Jera: "Yeah-- do you know who it is?? Do you approve??"  
[somewhere in our friendship we had a deal where we had to "approve" who the other person liked or dated]  [I think we also had a deal where if we were both single at 35 we would get married... and I remember changing it to 40, haha!]

"...uh.... well I don't know if I approve...  Um, well I'll tell you a secret.  I know who it is."

"Oh really, well are you going to tell me?" [teehee, I was so sneaky!!]

"Yeah, I'll tell you but...

"It's OK, I already know."

"Wh-wha?? um, uh, wait. What?"

"I know who it is."

 "Wait...So you,  uh, know it's me??"

"Yep."

"Well huh. Yeah, what do you think about that?"

"I don't know. What do you think about it?"

"Yeah. Well, um, uh, I'm not sure." 

[insert nervous laughter]

"Well, I thought about it a lot.  And well I think you deserve a great guy.  And I'd like to take you out on a date and treat it like a real date. So, Jera, what are you doing next Saturday?"

"Um, nothing."  

"Do you wanna go out with me?"

"Uh, sure."  [I'm thinking 'Oh NO! Now this is like a real-deal date-- oh great... now I have butterflies in my stomach. I thought we were both going to laugh this off and not do anything about it!!  Ohmygosh this is sooo awkward!!']

And thus begins the saga of Ben and Jera...

I love this day for a few reasons.  I love it because it was the day that Ben Jensen was at a loss for words.  He told me he had a whole speech prepared in his mind... and then the second I said, "I know it's you," it all went out the window!  It's a rare moment to see Ben Jensen extremely flustered-- but this was flustered at it's finest!! 

This day also began an interesting 10 day intense talking time with God to figure out what in the world is going on with my heart.  It was one period in my life where I felt what God was doing very clearly.  But I fought it-- but as with all fights with God, you never win. 

I told myself that day that if the date goes well.... then we're going to get married.   

Well huh. Funny how things work sometimes :)

3 years ago today... (part 2)

Three years ago today I was talking to a friend who had set me up on a blind date.


He said I should really like this guy.  He said that he really liked this guy.


And then he said, "Ok Jera... don't be mad... but I set you up with Ben Jensen."


I was immediately disappointed because I knew it wasn't actually a real blind date.  This would be more like hanging out with my friend Ben.


And then I laughed-- because the idea of this was hilarious.

3 years ago today... (part 1)

Three years ago today I was set up on a blind date.  A friend had said he would set me up-- and somehow it came up that night that he hadn't followed through yet.


Well, I got a phone call later from him saying I have a date for not this Saturday night...  but the next Saturday night.


I said OK. And I didn't really think much about it and I don't think I even asked him any questions.


All I thought was, "great, it's only Monday I've got a long time from now until the blind date to dwell unnecessarily on this."


Little did I know that this blind date would change my life forever.

Creeper in the window

This is what greeted me this morning as I was getting dressed. 

Seriously, the one spot where the blinds were open he was peeping in.  He then proceeded to fly-hop up to the window by our bed and peck the window with his beak.  Turkey season is next weekend so this guy is just living it up and seeing all he can see today! 

Eaglets

I've been nearly obsessed with watching tiny, white, and fuzzy baby eagles this weekend! Seriously, you should see this ---->  Decorah Eagle Cam


I first read about the live web-cam of an eagle's nest in Decorah, Iowa from the Des Moines Register.  There has been live video streaming of this eagle's nest for a week in the anticipation of baby eagles hatching!  


Well, 2 out of 3 have hatched and it's fun to watch!  Thanks to the somewhat recent addition of our newer and faster computer.... I keep this page up on a tab at all times and periodically go check on the eaglets.  Most of the time I just see the wind in the parent's feathers.  But sometimes I'll get to catch a glimpse of the babies, or even watch the parent feed them bits of dead animals that they've drug up to their nest.


It's fascinating to me to think about how it's literally happening right now!  It's also fascinating to me how the eagle cam people can predict that the 3rd egg will hatch in a couple days.  
And I'm still trying to figure out why the hatched eaglets are still being sat on.  I just saw both of them move and eat a few minutes ago-- so I guess they're alive.  That's good.  That'd be quite the PR nightmare so accidentally smother your baby eagle on live streaming video.  


In spirit of our future "nest" -- here's some interesting facts about the eagles' home:

- the nest is 80 feet high
- 5-6 feet across and deep

This is from eagles.org. Not the Decorah eagles,
but a baby eagle is a baby eagle.  

- weighs 1 1/2 tons (whoa!)
- the eagles built this nest in 2007


Talk about a well established home! 
Read more info on the Ustream site.

Welcome to Crosby Lane!

Things have a way of "just happening" for us.

Since we've been married, we've had many things simply fall into our lap... scholarships, jobs, living situations...etc. I can think of at least 6 stories of that happening in the last year! We know we're extremely blessed....because that's really the only explanation! We are very grateful and it's a great reminder to remain humble and generous.

So here's the story of how Crosby Lane fell into our laps...

Thursday: House first posted online. Liked it a lot and wondered what the catch was.

Friday: Talked to family briefly about it.

Saturday: Found out there were several showings for the house already scheduled for the weekend! Also found out the "situation" of the seller. (Pretty handy having a realtor in the family :)

Sunday, 10:30am: We were scheduled as the 6th showing that day at 1:45.

11:30: Left for IA City

1:45: Saw the house

following hours: talked, thought about it lots, and weighed options

8:30ish: Put in an offer

Monday, 3:00 pm: Offer accepted!

Whew! And with that.... welcome to Crosby Lane! White picket fence and all!

There is an over sized detached garage/workshop in the back.

I've always been partial to white kitchens!

We found out that the previous owner started a company for professional organizing and home staging. In fact, I used the "Google machine" and found the website where the owner explained how she renovated and staged this house! So needless to say, the pictures portray a slightly better version of reality :)

We'll live on Crosby Lane staring in June..... because in May we'll be living in CHINA!!! Yep, that also fell into our laps. We are leading a team of 10 freshmen from C-stone and we're very excited! It's a great team! And it's a great time to do something like this. Right between graduation and job for Ben.

Ben will starting working at HON in June. And then I guess we'll be, like, grown ups or something :)

Here's to "real life!"