Snow Angels

A couple of folks have emailed to ask about the Snow Angel Record breaking attempt, so I thought I'd tell you about it.

In 2002, Bismarck established the snow angel record with 1,791 people simultaneously making snow angels on the Capitol grounds. The record stuck despite a few attempts from NY residents to break it until 2006 when Houghton, MI broke it with 3,784 people. So, the goal was to have 5,000 people at the state capitol here in Bismarck to break the record.

Adam and I went since Scott was working and met up with some friends there. I foolishly thought that we'd have time to register then visit the Heritage Center before making snow angels. But when we pulled into the capitol grounds, I realized I had been crazy! We parked and hiked up the hill (yes there are hills in Bismarck) to the Heritage Center where we registered with a volunteer dressed as an angel. There was hot cocoa and cookies for sale as well as snow angel t-shirts. I wisely didn't bring my purse.

Promptly at 1pm, all 8,911 of us dropped into the powdery snow and flapped our arms and legs. The official count is supposed to be released this week by the Guinness Book of Records, but the event organizer gave the count as 8,911. Governor and Mrs. Hoeven were both there as was a lady celebrating her 99th birthday. Evidently the story made national news and even the big papers. I forgot my camera but here are some photos taken from atop the capitol building:

Notice the clever folks dressed in red forming a cross? Bismarck people are so cool! Adam and I are somewhere in the blurry whiteness towards the top of the smaller picture. The funny thing? For a few minutes, the capitol lawn was the 10th largest population center in ND!

More news

Okay, so here's my other big news: I have a calendar for sale!

Last night was exciting for me. My neighbor had invited me to attend the Republican Women's Club membership dinner. Despite my initial apprehension, I decided to go and I'm so glad I did. It was a Mardi Gras themed event and within a few minutes of arriving, I spotted my friend Amy whose husband is our Public Service Commissioner. She and I sat with my neighbor and had a great time together.

The program began with prayer and the pledge. Imagine my surprise, a former Californian Christian persecuted by the PC Police, when the prayer began. Then ND's First Lady, Mikey Hoeven, got up to speak on her involvement in the National Prayer Breakfast and with Teen Challenge. She was both inspiring and mobilizing as she spoke about Republican women being the "worker bees" of the party and how important her Christian faith is to her politics.

Something else that really struck me was when she talked about the National Prayer Breakfast and how so many of the Christian leaders attending focused so hard on being PC that they actually watered down Christianity. She even started to cry when she told us (there were about 100 women in attendance) that President Bush once said that being told "you're in my prayers" is the greatest gift we can give our leaders. And, she said she and Governor Hoeven felt the same way. She spoke a lot about her faith and then introduced the Teen Challenge choir. Teen Challenge is relatively new here to ND, but I know it very well because we used to hire guys from TC to help out at the shop and then again when we moved here. In fact, one of the guys who helped move us into our homes was there last night. The TC president spoke and told us about Teen Challenge's new women's program wherein the children of enrolled women get to attend Shiloh Christian School tuition-paid. By the end of the evening when we again closed in prayer and after I'd won a door-prize, I was pretty inspired and excited. But then, Amy introduced me to First Lady Hoeven and the Lieutenant Governor's wife as well (is she the Second Lady?) and my night was really made! Both ladies were very amicable and I had a nice chat with the First Lady.

On my way home, about a mile from our house, I hit some ice and ended up in the drainage ditch. Don't worry, I'm okay and so is my car. I was only driving 25-30 mph and didn't freak out when it happened. And of course, a nice couple pulled up in their Honda and helped me out of the ditch. He first tried to guide me out and when I just couldn't do what he directed, he asked if he could try for me. I said sure and got out of the car. His wife called out, "Are you wearing a dress?!" I answered, "Yes and high-heeled boots!" So there I stood in six inches of snow while this passerby drove my Blazer up onto the road in only seconds.

As I drove across town this morning, I realized again how different my new home is from my old. Last night really boggled my mind and at times, I felt I was at a Women of Faith conference not the Republican Women's Club. And then being able to meet the Governor's wife! Really, would I ever have had the chance to meet Maria Shriver? Both my sister and I have been stuck on the side of the road while living in California, and did anyone ever stop to help us? When I got to my appointment this afternoon, I noticed my brand new Mickey Mouse hitch cover was missing and immediately thought of the ditch incident. So, Grammy and I drove over there this afternoon and there it was, untouched. I'm not saying ND is better than CA. There are things we go without here. But, it is different and I know with all my heart that this is where I was meant to live.

30's not any different

Before you ask, I'll just tell you: 30 doesn't feel any different from 29 or any other age. Well, except that I finally am not embarrassed to say my age. 30 sounds older than 29 and since I've always felt older than I am, I'm happy to be 30. But, now I feel 35. I'm again the "baby" of my friends, but at least I'm in the same decade as them whereas I used to be at least a decade or two behind. I'm catching up!

Next you want to know how I celebrated my birthday. Well, it started with a party at my friend Heidi's house on the 7th. I thought it would be just the three of us (me, Heidi and our friend Amy) but lo and behold, Mia and Brenda were there too. We all have munchkins around 3-years-old so it was a hopping gathering. On the 8th, I went and had my hair cut and highlighted. Sierra cut off about four inches! I will NEVER try and grow my hair long again!

On my birthday the 9th, Grammy & Pops took me to lunch at Qdoba Grill, our newest Mexican restaurant. Think Subway meets Baja Fresh and you get an idea. Yummy food! We did a little shopping then a little nap before dinner at G & P's place. Pops cooked yummy to my tummy pasta with Italian sausage. It was a fun night, especially because Scott wouldn't SHUT UP about his new job. Don't let his lackluster "It's okay" fool you, the guy really likes it.

Now here's where it gets good. Scott had blurted out at dinner one night that our dinner reservations were at 7pm on Saturday. I couldn't figure out why in the world we'd need reservations, but okay. So after I changed outfits eight times, we dropped Adam off at my parents and ended up at the East 40 Chophouse. When we walked in, I saw Scott peek into the bar and thought that was a little odd, but okay. And when the host walked us to our seats but didn't bring menus, I thought that was odd, but okay. Surprise! There's Amy and Heidi and their husbands! We had a fun evening together. Our husbands hadn't yet met each other but when they discovered they'd all been Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts, well it was over for us ladies.

Oh, you want to know about Scott's job? Well, he went for an interview on January 18 and they offered him the job on the spot. After coming home to tell me about it, he decided to accept and they gave him a start date of February 6. Here's where the cool part comes in. Scott applied for this job before Thanksgiving and we prayed, "Okay God, this isn't really a job we'd considered before, but if it's what You have for us, then let it be." He went on a few different interviews since then, having never heard from them, and we figured it was still out there. He even went to Texas to interview for a job up here just two days before this interview. Anyhow, he got the job so we felt God wanted him to have it PLUS the start date allowed us to go away for our 5th anniversary without taking any time off AND finish some projects around our house and G & P's. Eide is only 3 miles from home so he comes home for lunch or meets us somewhere. This is the first time since before our wedding that we haven't worked together, so we're adjusting to the change. Adam thought it was weird at first, but now he gets it. When we drive past Eide, Adam says, "Let's stop and see what Daddy is doing."

Okay, okay. Now I'll tell you about our anniversary. Since we didn't know what was going on job-wise for Scott, we hadn't planned a fancy trip. But we wanted to get away. So we took off a couple days before our anniversary and did a driving tour of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. As we chose cities and hotels, we decided to try cuisine not available to us in Bismarck. So, in Aberdeen we had the BEST Mexican food since leaving California. In Sioux Falls, we had the BEST Indian food ever and we've both lived in England so we know GOOD Indian food. And in Fargo, we had Japanese. It wasn't quite as good as our favorite place in San Leandro, but it was still delicious! The rest was shopping, sightseeing and just relaxing.

Though I have more news, I have to end here for now. Look for another update towards the end of the week. And no, I'm not pregnant.