So here I blogged about how it stinks to work Memorial Day yesterday, and then I get home and Floyd brightens my day.  For a few weeks, I’d been talking about how I wanted to get one of those “topsy turvy” tomato planters.  I came home from work and he’d purchased two of them for me along with all the goodies I needed to get started!  I’m no green thumb, but this looks pretty simple.  We put it together last night, and now I’m looking forward to seeing how many tomatos it grows.  (I love fresh, garden style tomatos in the summer!  I’ll eat them sliced up with salt and pepper all by themselves– that’s how much I like them!) 

And it sounds like I might be filing a “Does it Really Work?” report on how well this thing does for the station!  So you’ll have to stay tuned for that!

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One of the downfalls of being in the news business is that news never stops.  That means that a lot of times, you get stuck working holidays.  Memorial Day isn’t one holiday that I typically mind working.  Christmas and Thanksgiving are much tougher to spend at the station.  But on an absolutely gorgeous day, I can’t help but be a little bit jealous of those of you who are spending this day at a barbecue, boating, or catching some rays by the pool. 

On the upside, the kinds of Memorial Day stories we usually cover give you cause for pause.  Today, I had the privilege to be at a surprise medal ceremony. 

Mary Runyan receiving her brother's medals

An 84-year-old Cedar Falls woman named Mary Runyan was awarded her brother’s service medals today.  Her brother, Anthony Soteros, died from an infection he came down with a few months after coming home from World War II.  (And he’d spent two years on the front lines with the Army in the war)  Her son had been in contact with an Army colonel who was able to track down enough information to get her Anthony’s three service medals.  It was such a moving tribute.  Mary thought she’d never see the day when those medals would end up with her. 

It’s a reminder to all of us to take a second and think about all those who have served our country, and those who are currently serving.  Regardless of whether or not we like war, it’s a fact of life.  And we

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Our Wedding Reception: May 27, 2006

Friday will mark five years since I walked down the aisle to marry my best friend.  It’s so hard to believe how quickly five years have flown by.  (And even harder to believe that this fall will mark 10 years since we met!) 

We’ve had some not-so-exciting anniversary celebrations over the past four years.  Year one, my mom planned a big family reunion for Memorial Day weekend.  Years two and three we spent chasing tornados in central Kansas. Year four we spent moving to Iowa.  This year, my parents will be in town for part of the holiday weekend.  We plan to have a nice dinner out.  It should be a great weekend, and hopefully much less hectic than the past four anniversaries! 

This go around, rather than being super mushy about how much I love and adore Floyd (which I tend to do a lot), I thought I’d reflect on just a few of the things we’ve accomplished in our lives during the time we’ve been married.

-We both graduated college!  For Floyd, especially, this was a major milestone.  He was the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. 

- I got my first TV job!  It was so tough at first, because I moved to Illinois and left Floyd in Missouri to finish his undergraduate classes.  He would come up to visit on weekends, and I would cry my eyes out every time he left to go back to St. Louis.  We did that for about three months.  Good things that came of it:  appreciation for the time we had together and our dog, Aleah.  She entered our lives in October 2006 and was my companion on lonely nights.

-We moved… again!  The second TV move took us to Kansas.  Floyd got his first full-time teaching job.  We grew so close to each other during our time there, primarily because we were so much further away from our family and friends.  We had to start fresh.  We made some of the best friends we’ll probably ever have when we were in Kansas, and our time there with those great friends helped us grow much closer to God.  In fact, a few months before we moved, Floyd surprised me by getting baptized.  It was an incredibly touching and emotional experience.

-We moved again.. times two!  TV job three brought us here to Iowa.  Floyd was lucky enough to fall into teaching positions here that he really enjoys, and I’ve loved nearly every minute of my time here at KWWL so far.  Good friends from Kansas helped us move to our first Cedar Valley home in Cedar Falls, and family helped us move again when we purchased a townhome in Waterloo. 

-I finished my master’s!  After 2.5 years of working full time and going to school part time, I completed my Master of Arts degree.  Floyd helped me de-stress every step of the way, and I credit his support for helping me to accomplish this fete.

-We’re making new friends and starting new chapters in Iowa!  We’ve become active in a church here and in some civic organizations.  And the biggest new chapter we’re publishing in year 5 of our marriage:  becoming parents!  Floyd has wanted to be a daddy for so long.  I wanted to make sure the time was just right.  And we couldn’t be happier to be in a place in our lives to be able to welcome a child.  We just pray God leads us to raise up a child who will learn to love Him as much as we do!

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Last night, I got home from work around 10:15 p.m.  Floyd had just popped in a few minutes before me after attending a high school baseball game.  He looked at me and said, “We have a problem.”  And then I looked up and saw that the ceiling of our living room/kitchen area was wet.  UH OH.  He’d discovered when he came home that water was dripping from the ceiling onto the kitchen counter. 

Bathroom outline on our kitchen ceiling-- YIKES!

I began wiping up the counter, and placed some pans on the counter to catch dripping water.  Upstairs, the guest bathroom floor was soaked.  Water had seeped onto the carpet in the bedroom.  He hauled the shop vac upstairs to get the water up.  And then he wiped up what was left with a couple of beach towels.

The bathroom aftermath

He also brought up the steam vac in an effort to make the stale-smelling carpet a bit fresher.  He figured the toilet was the culprit, so he shut the water off to it and tightened up one piece that looked loose to cut off the water flow.

Our supplies

I called the plumber’s emergency line and left a message.  We flipped on the ceiling fan downstairs and turned fans on upstairs hoping to dry things out a bit.  At 5 a.m., the plumber finally called and said they could probably have someone at our house between 9:30 and 10 a.m.  At 10 this morning, the technician finally called to say he was on his way and would arrive around 11.  Luckily by this point, the water had stopped dripping, but not until after filling an entire cake pan on the kitchen counter.

When the plumber arrived, he checked out the stool and decided to replace every movable part on it.  He was finished fairly quickly, and we’ve stayed dry so far since then.  I called in a half sick day to attend to this mess.  My contractor has also been notified of the issue, and hopefully they’ll get someone out to repair the mess that was left behind on our ceiling soon.

Even in momentary disaster, it’s amazing to see how quickly Floyd & I sprung into action to do whatever was necessary to address the problem.  It’s a small part of the “for better or worse” kind of thing.  For now, we’re glad to be drying out and crossing our fingers that the problem will be completely resolved SOON!

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Our own Ron Steele shared an exciting announcement Thursday.  He became a new grandpa, as his son and daughter-in-law welcomed a little girl, Harper Katherine Steele, into the world.  He called in during our noon news to share in the excitement, and you could tell by his voice that he was grinning ear to ear.

Ron's granddaughter, Harper

That level of excitement reminds me SO MUCH of my dad.  He’s been beaming ever since Floyd & I told him he was going to be a grandpa.  I talked to him last night, and even though he was sick, he asked how I was feeling.  And every time we talk, he always just says “Oh!  I’m so EXCITED!”  It’s fun and almost comical how silly, happy he is over all this.  But I guess I won’t know *that feeling until I’m his age and have grandkids of my own.  I’m certainly looking forward to becoming a mommy, but I don’t think even on my best days I am nearly as ecstatic as my dad.  I’m just glad that I get to “deliver” this excitement to him.  It’s pretty neat.

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I LOVE good barbecue!  We had an amazing, in fact world champion, barbecue restaurant in the city where we lived in Kansas.  I miss being able to go there.  But even without world champion “que”, I’ll take backyard burgers, brats, pork steaks– you name it– any day!  It’s one of the best things about summer.  I’m lucky enough to have my very own household grill master:  Floyd.  He’s got that innate guy thing of grilling down.  Last night, he “qued up” some ribs and asparagus– it was awesome!  My favorite, somewhat selfish thing, about grilling is that I get a night off from the kitchen.  He takes the reigns, and everything he’s ever grilled for me has been pretty awesome and delicious. 

Here’s a barbecue grill tip from the grill master, if you use a charcoal grill.  For a fabulous side dish with awesome flavor, try this out.  Put your favorite veggie into a sheet of aluminum foil.  Add butter and any seasonings you like.  Fold up the foil around the veggies to make a pouch.  When you’re done grilling your meat, put the foil veggie pouch *directly onto the coals.  Cook it for 5-10 minutes.  When you remove it and

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Community service, the act of giving back, has just about always been very important to me.  I just enjoy the feeling of being able to give something of myself to help others.  From the time I was in junior high, I began involvement in my town’s civic organization for young people called the “Junior Elsberry Community Betterment Association.”  We took on a lot of great projects, including bringing the movable version of the Vietnam Wall to our community when I was a sophomore in high school. 

So in college, I naturally continued service and was involved in tons of extra curriculars, including the leadership program. 

As a working professional, it’s admittedly harder to find time to give back.  But for me, it’s an important commitment to make.  I felt a little lost in a way when I took my first TV job and found myself not volunteering anywhere. 

When Floyd and I moved for my next TV job, I was determined not to fall into that pattern again.  Early on, we got involved in several ministries with our church and I began my love affair with Habitat for Humanity, serving on the board of directors for the local chapter.  Floyd and I spent a few Saturdays working on a Habitat build in the community, too.  And I began to realize how important and valuable not just my service was for me, but for “us”.  Too often, we get caught up in the small details of life and take for granted how incredibly lucky and blessed we are.  It’s amazing to be able to support an organization financially and physically through community service, together. 

I will admit that we started our journey in Iowa with a little feet dragging.  But again, I knew I needed to dive in.  I’ve had the chance to volunteer on a few Habitat projects here, and still offer support when I can to my Habitat chapter back in Kansas, too.  And Floyd and I have also recently joined the Jaycees.  We look forward to seeing what adventures and challenges God will lay before us as we work to fulfil His desire in both of us to be servants for Him.

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Typically, my weekends go by really fast.  I normally work Sunday-Thursday.  So Fridays I am usually home alone getting caught up with the world, and Floyd and I are usually too worn out to do much of anything.  Saturdays, we usually spend the morning together and sometimes go to lunch or something.  And then Saturday nights, we go to church.  So before you know it, the weekend is gone.  This week, however, since I was able to take off Sunday to travel home from graduation in St. Louis, I had to work today.  But that means I will get my first “real weekend” in a year.  I told Floyd last night that we need to plan a date night tomorrow, and do church on Sunday to take advantage of this!  I’m not sure where we’ll go, or what we’ll do just yet, but I’m looking forward to it immensely!  I think every couple needs “date night” once in a while just to reconnect and really enjoy each other’s company beyond the grind of everyday life.

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Hello 3 a.m.!  When the alarm goes off that early, it’s hard not to think “Really?  It’s time to get up already?  But I just want to stay in bed!”  So when I slowly rolled out of bed, I went in the closet to ponder what to wear.  I shut the closet door completely so I could flip on the light without blinding Floyd and waking him up.  I then grabbed my makeup bag, flat iron and hair goodies and headed downstairs to get ready in the half bath, again as not to disturb Floyd.  It was wonderful to go back upstairs and see him still sleeping peacefully.  I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and went on my way.

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Floyd is a HUGE sports nut!  He loves watching the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, and Blues anytime their games are on TV, and he loves to play sports.  Even though he is currently teaching business, Floyd actually majored in physical education in college.  It just so happens that PE jobs are hard to come by.  So in his 4 years of teaching, he’s only been able to spend one full  year as a phys-ed teacher.  Nonetheless, you can’t hold him back.  He’s always up for a game of golf, tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball, you name it!  But I think by far, softball is his favorite sport to play. 

For this summer, he found a team with some co-workers and friends.  So far, they’ve won all their games.  What’s the biggest bummer for me– is I haven’t been able to watch him play yet this year and probably won’t be able to until next month.  His team happens to play on Wednesday nights, and for the month of May, I’m working the morning shift– coming in at 4 a.m. on Thursdays.  So I have to be in bed fairly early.  I look forward to being done with those early shifts for more than one reason– including this one.  I love watching him play because of how much HE loves it.  They might even get rained out tonight, but if they do play:  Good luck babe!  Hit one out for me!

Next on tap:  he starts sand volleyball league next week, too!

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