RISSA!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RISSA!!

Today's post is dedicated to my BFF forever! Rissa and I met in Kindergarten and have been friends ever since! Nate and I were able to take her with us to Mason's wedding over the weekend which lended lots of quality car time!

We asked Nate to take a photo of us. He did.

 

And then we got a real one. :) In addition to turning 25 today, she and her fiance' are getting the keys to their new house! They're getting married October 3rd. Tony will move in now and she'll join him in a few months. We're pumped for them! She's a GEM and he's one lucky man to have snagged her!!!

Love you, Rissa! Happy birthday!

New addition!

We've added someone new to the family! On Sunday morning, Nate and I drove down to pick up Charlie at HUA. You can visit his blog for photos, stories, etc. He's a sweet little guy and loves EVERYONE! If you're in town, stop by to meet the little fellow! He's as sweet as they come!

June-bug

I thought I'd be better about blogging this summer!

Things are going really well here at the Eigsti house...we're getting more and more comfortable with the idea of this being our home. It feels like home. We love it. :)

Last weekend we went to Auburn to a rescue shelter for dogs. There were SO MANY there! :( HUA is a no-kill shelter and they bring in dogs from puppy mills, auctions, and sides of the highway, among other places, I'm sure.

The dog hunt has been an interesting one. Initially, Nate and I disagreed very much on what our family dog would look like. I grew up with a dog in our house since I was 3 years old. Nate grew up with zero dogs in the house. There was an occasional farm dog to help chase out tom cats, but no canines sleeping in his bed! Needless to say, the hunt for a happy medium was interesting, to say the least.

We both compromised and came up with a pretty good solution: a smaller-non-shedding-easy-to-be-around-kind-of-dog. (A dog in the house!) We went to HUA on Saturday after looking online at pups for weeks. A few times, we'd thought that we'd found the perfect little puppy in the classified ads, on craigslist or online- but then we'd realize they were heavy shedders or something else would fall through. So, off to HUA!

While we were there, we saw hundreds of dogs- young, old, fierce, timid, sad, shy, yippy, yappy, and beaten. We looked and looked. We walked through multiple complexes full of dogs waiting for their forever home. We'd found a few dogs that we thought might work, a few that were a little older, but who deserved a soft bed for the last remaining years. Then, there was one last stop. And that is where we found him.

The young man we were with walked up to the fenced in yard and hollered for "Dunston". He walked into the complex and came out with a happy little blond and white cocker spaniel on a blue leash with a big old smile on his face, tongue hanging and feet hopping out to meet us. Nate and I squatted down to greet him. He walked right up to Nate, stepped his big fat paws gently up Nate's lap and gave him a friendly sniff and, I'm pretty sure, a smile.

We've got a HUA volunteer coming today to talk with us about the breed and to do a home inspection. If everything goes as planned, we should be able to pick up our little guy on Sunday. I'm beyond excited. We did some "new pet" shopping last night, and I'll show you pictures as soon as I know it's a for-sure thing. I don't want to get TOO excited before we have the go-ahead.

We will be changing his name to Charles Widmore. For those of you who know who that is, congratulations! For the rest of you, Charlie will be what we call him. I hope that very soon I get to show you pictures of our new little prince. He might even have his own blog. And it may or may not already be created. :)

Happy Birthday, my love!

Today is Nate's 29th birthday. It's appropriate for me to recap the last few years with my sweetheart. Here are a few photos I found from our journey.

 

Our first camping trip together- Beaver Creek, Colorado with some amazing friends.

I left to do my student teaching in Milwaukee in 2007. Those 5 months apart brought us a lot closer and gave us a little push to make things work.

This photo was taken with our first purchase together: a digital camera.

Nate has been an incredible example, encourager, and friend. His God-given patience surpasses my human mind. I am continually inspired and challenged by him. He encourages me to BLOOM and create. He pushes me to do the things I love, and never judges or berates. I have learned to love myself, my heart, and have seen, by his example, how to love others unconditionally with intention.

One of the first things I loved about him was how intentional he is. He seeks people. He pushes after them and strives to encourage in the midst of adversary. Together we've grown closer to the Lord, we've purchased our first house, and have definitely built a home in which we feel an immeasurable peace that can only be of the Lord. I look forward to the road ahead. I expect trials and hardships. I hope for joys and abundant blessings. I know that standing side by side, keeping our eyes focused on the Father, our future will be a beautifully written story; one to share, encourage, and inspire.

 

Nate, thank you for loving me. You are a blessing! There could never be a more beautiful you!

Here's to the next 70 years, my sweet. I love you!

By Your Side

Here's another one. Our church's youth worship team played this on Sunday. This one also hits home. Enjoy!

I will Rise- Chris Tomlin

In a cloud

It's foggy. Our house is sitting in a cloud. ....

It's a rainy Sunday morning and we're doing what any normal home-owning couple would do. We went to church last night, slept in this morning, made a pot of coffee, sat down and read the paper together. Now Nate's working on switching out an ugly cannon light above the shower for a more modern $10 upgrade we found at Menard's. I'm still in my PJ's waiting for my turn in the bathroom, dreaming of the pancakes and coffee we'll have in an hour or so. I hope it rains all day. My garden could use it, and my father-in-law is a farmer. I have a new-found appreciation for rain since being introduced to the agriculture world.

Here are some things I love about being a homeowner: (in no particular order)

* turning the music up as LOUD as I want- which creates an excellent ambiance for my culinary adventures, sewing projects, and cleaning extravaganzas.

* hearing my doorbell ring

* wearing my garden clogs out to OUR garden to check on the progress of our produce

* talking through the fence at the neighbor's elderly beagle. He sticks his long nose as far as he can through the posts and just looks at me.

* sitting on the front porch with a glass of sun tea freshly brewed that afternoon

* knowing that when we hang photos or art, it'll stay there for a long time!

* talking about a good day to "bug-bomb" our house. Not because of the bugs, but because having to figure out the day to do it means that WE own the house and it's our responsibility. :)


Oh yeah, I'm officially done with school for this year. Additionally, I'll be teaching 1st grade next year at the same school. I'm excited- and just maybe I'll get a few of the same little friends that I had this year. We'll see. I will tell you that I've had dreams about the size of my new classroom. No joke, it's about 1/4 the size of my current room. Eek! I'll just have to be really creative with my space!