Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Jason and I are in between Christmas celebrations. We headed to Minnesota and celebrated with the Van Hal and Winter clans. We had an estimated 20 inches of snow and were literally snowed in on Christmas day. Sounds kind of drab and boring, but we ate like kings, played games, and if that wasn't enough, Dad and Jason helped dig the REA truck (electric company) out of the ditch while I gave mom and play by play from the indoor "sky-box".

Mom, being the super mom she is, juggled schedules and we got to celebrate Christmas on Sunday. We dropped gifts off at Grandpa and Grandma Van Hal's and then headed to Grandma Winter's. It was great to see everyone and we had a wonderful celebration.

We get a couple days at home to relax and maybe do some stuff around the house...maybe, I've been on the couch for the last 3 hours, I'm sure motivation will hit me soon.... Then it is off to SW Iowa to celebrate with the McIlravy's. If the weather holds out everyone should be home.

Jason has been working hard and putting in some overtime. He was a trooper and sat with me while I deer hunted. Unfortunately bambi still has managed to evade me. Oh well, Jason provided plenty of venison to get us through the winter. For those of you keeping tabs, that's Jason 3, Marisa 0. When he is not working he fills the rest of his time with projects around the house and a little Mario Kart.

I finished up my last class. Grades were finally posted today. I didn't do so hot on my last paper but still managed to pass the class at an acceptable level. I'm just glad to have this class over with. I've been staying busy with work and worked on Christmas goodies and shopping after my class was finished.

There's some pix posted. The blond cutie that keeps showing up is our niece Lily. I also updated Jason's hunting pix. There are some great scenery shots he took while out goose hunting. I also posted some of the snow and the frosted trees (under the Christmas pix). If you want to know what 20 inches on top of 15 inches (from the previous snow) looks like check those out.

I'll post more pix after the McIlravy Christmas.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thanksgiving is here and gone again

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jason and I spent it in Creston with Jason's parent's. We had a great time.

As you can probably guess we did a little hunting over the Thanksgiving holiday. We pheasant hunted on Thursday. Only saw 2 birds. Both we were not even able to take a shot at. Friday we went deer hunting in the morning and the late afternoon. I got a chance to shot but missed, Jason shot right after me and we had a victory! For those of you keeping score that is

• Jason - 2
• Marisa - 0

So we got that taken care of in the morning. Then decided to head back out Friday afternoon to see if I could get one. Of course, it was pretty light out at 4:00 PM so I was reading my book. Next thing I know, KABOOM! Jason shoots another one! I wasn't sitting by him so I didn't even get a chance to fire this time out. Yes, that makes the score:

• Jason - 3
• Marisa- 0

Needless to say we have a little deer meat to eat over the next year. Sorry, I failed and did not get any pix this time.

Saturday we got to "help" harvest. This translates into everyone else helping and me riding along. It was fun and a good way to spend a beautiful Saturday.

Jason is keeping busy with various house projects and work. It sounds like there is overtime is his very near future.

I'm staying busy as usual with my class. I already signed up for Spring semester. Managerial Accounting....I'm not feeling too good about this class. Hopefully it will all go well.

If we don't get to see or talk to you soon, Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Food Supply for Winter...

I got word that Jason is once again taking care of our food supply for the winter. He shot a deer yesterday and is in the processing of packaging it as I type. I am so excited. I LOVE venison jerky, stew, kabobs, stronganoff....the list goes on and on! For those of you that just see them as cute little animals...remember this is one less to jump in front of you while driving! For those of you that like to hunt I posted some pix (the cartoon deer is for those with sensitive eyes - do not click on the image if you do not want to look at the other pix).

Fall is here!

I know, most of you will think I am crazy but I am excited for fall and cool temperatures! There is nothing better then snuggling on the couch in front of the fire place.

With fall comes harvest...no we don't farm, but we had a great garden. We pickled several jars of okra and jalepenos, tried our hand at salsa making, and had these gianormous green beans. The freezer is stocked with apples, apple sauce, rhubarb and shredded zucchini. I think we might be set for winter.

It is important to note that when I say "we" had a garden. That means Jason did 99.99% of the work. I wonder through, pick a bean or okra here and there and pull some weeds. Jason has the green thumb in the family.

I started my next class, Organizational Behavior. It is exciting as it sounds. It is a "must take". So far it is going well. I have to write another dreaded paper which I am not excited about.

We just got back from Decatur, Texas where Matt and Ashley (Matt is Jason's brother), were just married. The slideshow should be running on the right. The cutie in the Car's jammies is our nephew Jayden.

Until next time...snuggle up!

..and the beat goes on...

Jason has been harvesting many veggies from our little garden. I took the last of the rhubarb today. I am flirting with the idea of making a jar or two of pickled okra. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Otherwise we had asparagus beans (they get like a foot long - no joke!), yellow squash, zucchini, okra, peas, tomoatoes (not ripe yet) and several types of peppers.

WE passed Marisa's class. Lets just say she squeaked by with an acceptable grade. If it weren't for Jason catching all of my mistakes, I am not confident what the outcome would have been. Next class (#4 for those keeping count) starts on September 1st. I'm excited to get started....I guess.

Joel (the Cookie Monster) Cook made his inagural voyage to Des Moines. His first visit ever to the McIlravy home. Joel claims there will be more visits in the future. Now only if we could convince him to move here....

Steve and Twilla (Marisa's parents) were here for the weekend. The four of us jumped into the car and headed for the dry run of John Deere's product introduction. It is place where dealers gather once a year to learn more about the Ag and Turf products that are becoming available this year. Since it was so close this year, employess from the Des Moines area were invited to a dry run of the opening evening. Joel joined us and was amazed at the level of effort and quality of the show. I told him we were John Deere and he should expect nothing but the best! We had a great time. Joel was blown away by the size and power of the equipment. Check out a picture of him UNDER his favorite (of course it helps that Jason helped design it).

What happened to June?

I was trying to post an update once a month...guess I blew that plan. I lost track of June and now we are most of the way through July. We have been busy with household projects. We started painting the basement floor. We'll finish it...one of these days.

Jason has been busy with work and other various projects. He painted and put up the gutters and downspouts on the shed. The garage has been put to order and we have new storage in the basement thanks to him.

Jason had Lasik surgery today! He slept this afternoon like the doc recommended. Jason promises that his vision is clearing and would be perfect if it wasn't for those silly plastic things the doc and nurse made him were over his eyes. Not having to wear glasses is going to be a change but Jason is very excited about not having to battle frozen eye glasses during hunting season!

Farmer Jason is doing well with our garden. He currently has rhubarb, peas, funny long beans, a variety of peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, okra, a tomato plant and lettuce. We also have several herbs growing in planters on our deck (no, not that kind).

I have been busy with homework and creating projects for Jason. My scary class is going ok. We are getting a respectable grade so far. Yes, I said WE. I write all of my assignments and Jason reviews them. I have a mini celebration every time we get a good grade.

On that note, guess I better get back to my homework...

Back from vacation

We are fresh back from our vacation to Dog Lake, Canada. We had a great time helping Marisa's parents and other open up the camp for the summer. Jason got to play lumberjack while Marisa helped with the thrilling taste of raking the paths. I posted some pictures of Jason, Twilla, Steve and of course, Moose, because no set of pictures is complete without him. Don't let that list of work fool you, there was still plenty of time to fish and one trip to time for some fabulous ribs.

Marisa's grade was posted when we got back. She passed her class with flying colors and has moved onto her next class of Business Communication. Marisa is a little nervous because there are some stringent grading policies around grammar and punctuation. If you keep reading this blog you will quickly realize it is not her strong point.

Our new blog

So we have never had a blog before....and who know's how often it will actually get updated....

The siding on the house and shed finally got done. Jason just needs to finish up a couple things yet on the shed and we should be set. Marisa has finished her 2nd class and has hopefully passed with flying colors...we will know as soon as grades are posted.