Post Election Thoughts

Yeah, I know. It's been FOREVER since I wrote on this blog. I should've known. I was never able to keep a diary or journal. How could I keep up a blog? Maybe I'll catch up this weekend.

I wrote a post on Facebook on my election thoughts. Here's the same post:

I'm about to ruffle some feathers. I can feel it. Hear me out. Or not. Your choice. :)

I, as much as anyone, was disappointed last night. I had a church event, and was constantly pulling up foxnews.com on my phone for updates. I rushed home at 8:30 and turned on Fox News.

At 9:00, I was thrilled to find an episode of "House Hunters" I had not seen on HGTV.

If you know me well, you know I've always been a diehard Republican. In high school, I had spirited debates with one my favorite teachers. I've been a delegate to the Iowa State Republican Convention twice. I fully supported the McCain/Palin ticket. But this morning, I was thinking as I got ready and drove to work. Surprisingly, I found myself a tad encouraged.

Why? Because I know God is sovereign. He has been for all time, and will for all time. Our President (any of them for that matter) is not completely sovereign over anything, and even so, only for a short time.

First, I would like to congratulate Obama. He and I have radically different views, but I respect him and don't envy the very tough job he has in front of him. He definitely needs our prayers and support, as I feel, especially for his safety. If there's ever been a chance for an assassination attempt, I think we could see it. I hope and pray not.

This was obviously a very historic election, and no matter how you voted, I would hope you would be proud of the progress we have made. In the history of time, it's only been a short time since African-Americans were treated to horrible conditions and slavery. It wasn't too long ago the KKK was thriving and Martin Luther King was making his "I have a dream" speech. We, as Americans, have come a long way in showing GRACE to others. We should celebrate and be proud of that, no matter what.

Stop and take a look at that past eight years. I have liked and supported President Bush from day one of his presidency and will until he returns to Texas. I am thankful we have had a President that has a very open and real faith in God. Now take a look at American society. I think we can all agree that moral decay has greatly happened in the past eight years. What does this mean?

A President with a God centered view does not equal a country with a God centered view.

Likewise, a President without a God centered view does not equal a country without a God centered view.

I don't know Obama's heart. Only God does. But I can pray that God would be near him, and that Obama would listen. I can hope and pray that God would work in such a mighty way that the citizens of our country would be overwhelmed with the testimony of our leaders turning to God.

But here's the deal: we, as citizens, make up America, not just our elected officials. My hope with these results is that believers all over our country would wake up, get out of their Christian bubbles, and realize that America is a mission field ready for the harvest. Through God, WE have the power to change the course of the American path. We do that by following God's word: witnessing, loving our neighbors, loving our enemies. If we all came together and reached out, with God on our side and faith in Him, think of the endless possibilities! It also takes believers stepping out and getting involved in public office, even if it's just a small role. I would hope that we would be so concerned about the welfare of our country we'd want to do something every day, not just every four years.

I saw it in Iowa this summer with the floods. When people had nothing, they gave. When they were discouraged, they encouraged. They didn't rely on the government to rescue them, they relied on themselves and the help of their neighbors. We can do the same now.

Believe me, I have plenty of changes to make myself, and am no way perfect in this! But my challenge to you (and myself) is to purposely look for ways to reach beyond your immediate circle of family and friends and LOVE. Volunteer, send an encouraging note, make a meal. Surprise everyone you can with love and care, and give it all to the glory of God. By becoming an enormous and strong grassroots of genuine, caring believers, we have the chance to make America even greater.

I do not agree with everything Obama believes, but I'm more than ever thankful that I live in a country where I am not scared for my life just for reading a Bible. I could be living in that country, and am grateful I live here. I was proud to be an American yesterday, I'm still very proud today, and I know I will be in four and eight years. In fact, I will for the rest of my life.

God's work is the only real change we can believe in, and His promises are our only true hope. Believe that. Don't forget it!

End of the Steph sermon! :)

Today's Events

I really didn't plan to post tonight, but today was CRAZY.

GOOD THINGS
1. Turned my lesson plans in - deemed great!
2. Turned documentation in to principal - just fine!
3. Had my first principal observation (total surprise) - all exceeds or proficients!
4. Called a "master teacher" by my team leader - woo hoo!
5. IEPs finished!
6. Having one of my students see me when they come into the room, shout, "Miss Stoller!" and run to me, giving me a huge hug.


Considering last year's disaster, having all of this come just a month into school is a huge confidence builder. I now know where the expectations are for my principal and know I'm well filling them. I'm exactly where I should be!

BAD THINGS
1. Dealing with parent custody issues of a student - whatever you do, don't have children, get divorced, and become bitter.
2. Got my first speeding ticket in Texas - not only that, in a construction zone, with workers present. Yikes. Hey, in my defense, it was a four lane road with a median and all of the worker were on the other side. :)

LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE MOMENT
1. Watching Jim propose to Pam in the season opener of "The Office." Ahh.....

Good night!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's 5:58 a.m. and I'm writing a blog post. Ridiculous. But it has to be quick because I need to be at work early. AGAIN.

It's just been one of those crazy weeks. I'm still loving my job, but I've had a mountain of paperwork to do. I have three ARD (admission, review, dismissal) meetings next week. This is where I present a new IEP for a special education student to their parents, along with some school staff. That means I've had three IEPs to write this week, and each takes awhile. When I did it at the elementary level, I could whip one out in no time. However, goal writing is very different at the prekindergarten level, and I have to look at all aspects of the student: preacademics, social skills, self-care, and fine motor skills. On top of that it's my week to turn in my lesson plans to my principal, so I spent a few hours on them to make them perfect.

I did take some time to get a MUCH-needed pedicure last night. Except, I brought my school bag in and worked while they rubbed my feet. Not nearly as enjoyable, but I do have pretty toes now!

Now that the school work is done, I may be able to rest. Oh wait - I have a three hour ESL certification study group after work, a cheesecake to bake, groceries to buy for that cheesecake, people to call, and two events to go to after school tomorrow. And "The Office" premiere is tonight, which is CAN'T MISS. Don't even try to call me between 8:00 and 9:00 tonight. I won't answer. :) Oh, and very exciting.....my friend Joy and I might be booking our fall weekend trip to Washington D.C. today or tomorrow! Can't wait to go!

And through it all, I love it. There's very, very little I would change. Except, perhaps, a couple more hours on my pillow.

See you here this weekend.

Conversations.....

I love having conversations about life. Whether they're light-hearted or deep, you get to know someone well, and in doing so, you connect with them even more. The memory of my first deep conversation happened in the Columbus High School cafeteria in February of 1995. I was a sophomore, and I found myself sitting across the table from Jennifer Carter, who I had known for years, but not that well. We were wasting time between speeches at the individual district speech. That time was definitely not wasted, as it cemented a best friendship that has strongly lasted for thirteen years. Even after different colleges, three states apart, and a marriage for her, she's still the one I go to first when something big is happening. Love ya Jen!

Yesterday I had the privilege of TWO life conversations. One was with Ashley, my accountability partner. Over pancakes and eggs, for two hours we discussed everything from boys to our devotions to job stuff. It was GOOD. I always look forward to our Saturday mornings together.

The other one happened last night, and as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that conversation may have to be a separate post. A group of us went to the Plano Balloon Festival, and a small mixed group of us ended up at Ashley's. What took place there was a long, light-hearted, but also deeper conversation about what we desire in marriage. The girls came up with a list of ten things we desire to have in marriage and then the guys did the same. It was good and encouraging.

Sometimes as singles (or at least the groups I've been a part of), we shy away from talking about marriage. But the reality is that we all want it, and most of us will end up in it. So why not talk about it? It doesn't mean we're desparate. We talk about the other dreams we have: traveling, career goals, saving for a house. Why not talk about the one big dream we all have in common as singles? Anyway, I loved the conversation and I'm going to try to remember the lists we came up with. :)

The Dallas - Green Bay football game is on tonight. I'm so lucky to have found two other girls in this insane Cowboys city who are likeminded diehard Cheeseheads. They're on their way over to my apartment and we're going to watch the game together. I don't have high hopes, but I know we CAN win if everything goes right! GO PACK GO!!!!

Thanks for reading!

SIN

Lovely topic for the first personal post, huh? But, we all deal with it on a daily basis, so we might as well talk about it, right?

I love catch phrases, or sentences that immediately hit home. They're things I keep in the back of my mind to help me in a situation later one. My pastor, Chuck Swindoll, is great at this. In every sermon, he has these little "nuggets" that make you go, "huh."

Last week in my singles' adult fellowship, the teacher, Mark, gave one that I really identified with. We were in Genesis, talking about Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. It was this:

"Doubting God is usually a precursor to sin."

I think about recent situations or those in the past and I realize how true that is for me. The reason I usually chose to sin was because I was doubting God, in doubting He would bring a really great guy along, or because I wanted to fit in, or whatever. I didn't trust God, and so I took things in my own hands, which usually led to sin.

Good stuff to think about! :)

Changes!

I made some blog changes - obviously!! :) It's no longer really summer, so "summer stories" doesn't apply. I am DEFINITELY going to be still posting news on the flood, so if you've been following along for that, keep coming! However, this is going to turn into a more personal blog of things I experience or thoughts or ideas I am mulling around. All of that to say - keep reading! I've been thinking about what I want to post and have several ideas. I even have a post brewing for this afternoon. :)

I'm off to have brunch with my fantastic accountability partner, Ashley. I love meeting with her. It's always a very deep, honest time of sharing our lives.

Stay tuned!

HELLO out there....

Hi all.

1. Yes, I realize it's been about a month since I posted.

2. Sorry about that. Life got busy again once school started.

3. Speaking of school - I LOVE IT. I can't even explain how much I love it.

4. Life is GOOD. I have complete joy - something I've never really experienced, or for long.

5. Hence, I'm making lots of changes. Woo hoo.

6. Changes means goal-setting. One goal - write at least 3 times a week on this blog, even if just a few sentences.

7. No, I didn't get hit by Ike. Just some rain. Helped serve food to the evacuees in Dallas last Saturday.

8. Still lots going on in Iowa. They got a TON of rain last week. The farm had water all over it again.

9. No, my parents have not made a decision on whether to rebuild or build elsewhere. Stay tuned - a decision is coming to a blog near you!

10. God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Goodnight!

I'm here! I'm here!

It's been awhile. Sorry! I'm starting back to school with a new job and it's taking a lot of time and energy right now. But it's good. I think it's going to be much more of a fit for me. My schedule has changed a bit. Because I'm dually certified in general education and special education, my principal has elected to split my classes. I'm going to have "typically-developing" four-year-olds in the morning, which means it will be just a regular preschool class. In the afternoons, I'll have four-year-olds with special needs. It will be a nice change in the day, and I think having the typical kids will make me a better special ed teacher because I'll be able know exactly where a four-year-old should be developmentally. So yeah! I'm excited. The rest of the week is meetings and preparations, and kids start Monday.

Funny enough, I think the hardest part for me so far is having two assistants! They're both very sweet, and I know they're going to be great to work with. Norma will be with me full-time and Shirley will be in every other day. I'm SO not used to delegating - anything. It's been difficult to adjust to allowing others to do things for me, and even having to tell them to do things, like a boss. Oddly, I've thought about how good that's going to be for me, especially in thinking about marriage preparation (someday, whenever that is!). I'm learning to be less independent, more dependent, and slowly knowing it's ok to not have to carry every responsibility. It's just fine to allow others to do things for me, and I should just say "thank you" instead of feeling like a problem.

The past few weeks of being back in Texas have been such a processing and learning time for me. God really taught me a lot and I frequently have those little "aha" moments. I recognize lessons in daily life and acknowledge things I need to work on. It's been great. I feel like I'm becoming more and more the woman I'm supposed to be - God wants me to be. That's exciting, and I feel the change. Hopefully others will see it too!

Ok - flood notes!

1. The house was gutted last week! The World Relief team from the Apostolic church came and cleared out the house and took up all of the yucky flooring. I need to write an entire post on the Apostolic church. I'll just say this for now - their love for people, love for God, and hearts for service have been greater than I have ever seen in ANYONE. The character of the members of that church have been shown greatly through this entire flood experience and there's not a bad word you can say about it. They're such a witness and should be an example to everyone. THANK YOU!!!

2. Mom and Dad still don't know what they're going to do. The neighbors aren't returning. TOUGH decisions! Pray for them!

In other exciting news, I'm going back to Iowa for Labor Day weekend! I've been looking at flights for the end of September and everything is going up (as if you didn't already know this!). Mom happened to see a fare for Labor Day weekend and emailed it to me today. It's perfect! I'm getting a direct flight from Dallas to Cedar Rapids on that Saturday morning and don't have to fly out until Monday evening. I'll be able to be there for almost three days when everyone is off work - and it's Nate's birthday! The cost was about $150 less than what it's been running, which is a STEAL. Couldn't pass it up. And what makes it sweeter?! I arrive in Cedar Rapids at 10:35 a.m., and Iowa is having their opening football game just 30 minutes away from the airport, starting at 11:15. So, Nate and Kim are picking me up and we're immediately driving to the game!! AHHH!!!!! Family and football all in one weekend!!! I'm so excited!!!!

Enough for now! :)

Happy Birthday Floyd!!

Today, August 8th, marks the 90th birthday of my step-grandpa Floyd! Happy BIG birthday!

Floyd married my Grandma Stoller on May 12, 1996. (First of all, let me personally tell you that there's nothing much more strange than having your dad sit you down to tell you your GRANDMA, at age 75, is getting married!!). However, they have such a sweet story and I've been thrilled about it since the beginning.

Floyd and Grandma have known each since they were young. They each married their spouses, Floyd to Louise, Grandma Ione to Grandpa Earl. They lived most of their married lives just a few miles apart. They went to the same church, raised their kids in the same school. Some of their kids were even friends and in the same 4-H group group growing up! Later in life, Grandma and Floyd each lost their beloved spouses to lengthy illnesses. Both of them had been married for over fifty years. What a testament!

A couple years later, Floyd realized he needed someone to make coffee and cook good meals for him, and Grandma needed someone to enjoy all of her delicious cooking, so they got married! Ok, so it probably wasn't quite like that, but the point is, they were both in good health and alone, why not have a companion to live the rest of life with? We agreed! I'll never forget her wedding - my grandma was like a giddy teenager! They've been able to go on a few trips together, and more importantly, support each other as they grow old.

I had the really great privilege of living with Grandma and Floyd for about six weeks this summer. It's one of those things that if the flood hadn't happened, I probably would not have had this experience. Grandma and I spent a lot of time organizing old family photos, she and I stubbornly argued who was going to mow the lawn (I won once, she tricked me in winning several times), Grandma insisted on making eggs and toast for me every morning, and I asked both of them lots of questions on their lives. I learned quite a bit!

All three of us were greatly affected by the flood, and it was good to go through that with them. Grandma, of course, lost the house she built with Grandpa. Floyd still has his farm in that area. He moved into Grandma's house when they married, but kept his farm. He would go down there every day to tinker around or keep up the garden, and we would often have Stoller gatherings at his house because it was big and convenient. Floyd's farm also went underwater. Fortunately, he was on the edge of the water and a little higher, so he only got about 2.5 feet of water in his house. But that's enough to do plenty of damage. The house had to be pretty much gutted so stop mold from growing, but with the help of his church and others, he's going to be able to fully restore it.

Floyd's House....




Things I Learned While Living with Grandma and Floyd:

1. While eating breakfast at 6:30 - 7:00 a.m. seems VERY early during the summer, it's good to all sit down and eat together.
2. You don't need television. There's lots of interesting programs on the radio.
3. Family history does matter. Learning how your grandparents met, fell in love, and married is important.
4. You can get all kinds of blackmail stories on your dad. :)
5. No matter how stubborn your grandmother is, you should always win out when it comes to mowing.
6. There's plenty to talk about and similarities in life even though you're 60 years apart.
7. Grandmas do have a way of making simple food better.
8. Spending an afternoon with a group of elderly ladies should be viewed as a treat and treasure.
9. Your grandmother knows you much better than you think. After all, she's known you in your entire life.
10. NEVER, EVER play Scrabble with two people that have SIXTY more years of writing, speaking, and reading experience than you. It's just not worth it, unless you happen to get a 42 point word like "zap." Then you might have a fighting chance. :)

Love them both!

My Other Childhood Home

So far, all of the focus has been on the home my parents currently live in, and rightly so. There's a lot of history there. Grandma and Grandpa Stoller bought that farm after the flood of 1946. The land has been in the Stoller name for 62 years. There was a different house on it at the time that they lived in. In 1964, Grandpa and Grandma built the current house. It's the house my dad grew up in. They lived there until 1989, when they moved to Mediapolis and we moved in. Of the total 44 years the house has been in existence, Grandpa and Grandma lived in it for 25 years, and we've been in it for the remaining 19.

But before we moved in, we lived just a half-mile down the road from Grandma and Grandpa, in a little double-wide trailer, nonetheless. Mom and Dad set that trailer down when I was just a year old. I have tons of fond memories from it. We moved from it when I was in fifth grade, but I vividly remember the layout of it. A few of my favorite memories of growing up in the trailer:

• Dark wood paneling. Enough said.
• Rolling around on my parents' waterbed.
• Having bunk beds with Nikki in the corner bedroom.
• Waking up on my 10th birthday and seeing a sign on my door, "you're now in the double digits!"
• Constantly playing on the swingset. That thing was the best!!
• Having a slip-and-slide in the yard.
• Making paper boats only to have them immediately crumble in the pool.
• Sledding in the ditch in the front yard.
• Attempting to play the old organ in the living room.
• Using a hair dryer to put plastic sheeting over the windows in the winter. Sounds slightly redneck.... :)
• YELLOW OVEN.
• The Toaster Story - This is classic. We had a toaster that you mounted underneath the cabinet. I don't remember how old I was - 9? Nate was little and he put pop-tarts in the toaster. I still remember sitting in the living room watching "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" and starting to smell smoke. Mom was outside at the time and I went into the kitchen. Smoke was coming out of the toaster! Nate had put the pop-tarts in for too long. I remember unplugging the toaster and by then Mom came in and pour water on the toaster, getting rid of the small flames. We still talk about this story occasionally!
• Dad working on redoing a John Deere plow for Grandpa. It was a surprise, and I remember Dad trying to hide it when Grandpa and Grandma would bring me home from church. That plow was still decoratively sitting in our yard this year.
• Riding my bike down to Grandma and Grandpa's to feed the lambs, and of course, Grandma would always have a plate of homemade cookies!
• Cutting through the corn field to bike to Kandi's house (my cousin).

There's a lot more, but that's a sampling. The reality is that a lot of history was lost this summer. Memories, no. We'll always have those. But the two houses my family has ever lived in are now both gone. It's sad to see such a big part of your childhood washed away.

So what does the trailer look like now? It's completely crumbled....



Flood News:

1. You can now drive to the house! One of the roads leading to the house is now out of water. This will begin the line of sight-seeing. Of course, I can't say much, because I did enough sight-seeing of my own before I left.

2. Nearly two months later, my parents are finally getting the trailer unpacked! They now have a REAL mattress to sleep on, a couch, stove, washer/dryer, table, and several other things of theirs. Mom said it's starting to feel more like a home now!

3. Dad went into the basement of the house the other day. SCARY. It looks like a possible floor support is missing, meaning it may be harder to rebuild on that foundation, if they choose to.

4. Speaking of that, no decisions have been made on rebuilding, etc. Still some time for that!

5. Oakville is now going to pursue a FEMA buyout. Originally, officials were not going to do this. However, enough residents protested and they're going to go forward now. This means there's the possibility Oakville could cease to exist, at least as we know it. But it will be a LONG time before anything is decided.

Thanks again for checking in! The comments on the TPing post were fun! :)

Best TP Job EVER

Back in high school, I was part of the youth group at Oak Street Baptist. On one particular night, we had a youth group event at our house and Dad took us out on the river. When it was over, I thought everyone went home and I went to bed. I was wrong. Very wrong. Unknowingly to me, a group of guys - Chris Day, John Gerdes, Micah Anderson (Chris, I'm not sure who else!) - came back and toilet papered our house. I guess I had smack-talked (me, smack talk?!) about how no one would drive ALL the way to our house to TP it. They got us GOOD. I didn't know a thing until the next morning.

What I found out the next day, though, is that MY DAD, Steve Stoller, gave these guys PERMISSION to toilet paper the entire yard!!!! Unbelievable. On top of that, he and Mom laughed as they watched the guys do it!! My own father was a traitor to me! :) On top of that, he made ME clean it all up, and it started to rain a little the next day. Not fun! That summer we were also having a professional, aerial picture taken of the farm, and Dad was convinced that toilet paper was going to show up. I had to make sure I picked up EVERY little square of TP. As you can see, there was a TON of it to clean up.




















Good job guys! This is one of my favorite memories of the house. You'll always be known as the best TPers! :)

Shopping, Baseball, and Home!!!

I'm currently sitting in my apartment in Plano and LOVING it. While I enjoyed being in Iowa, I'm happy to be home and settling into my life here. Can't wait to see my friends!

Speaking of friends, I had the most fantastic weekend with Amanda in Kansas City! Amanda is one of my dearest friends in Texas. We met four years ago, within the first month of me moving to Plano. We were in the same singles group at church, and got to know each other better through a Bible study. We've been close friends ever since! She's my football buddy! :) She's a counselor and is counseling kids at a military base in Kansas for the summer. So it was easy to plan a random weekend in Kansas City!

We had a great time....ate lots of good food, saw Mamma Mia (fabulous!!), shopped at two different malls, went to a Royals baseball game, got pedicures, and talked and laughed like crazy! It was absolutely delightful, and the perfect weekend before heading back to Dallas.

After Amanda and I said goodbye, I drove to Joplin, MO where I spent the night and finished the drive today. I did a lot of thinking and praying during that time, trying to decide what I learned over the summer. Several things came to mind. I'm mulling them over and may share in time.

Have a great week!

Goodbye Iowa!

After nearly six weeks in Iowa, my bags are packed and I'm about to starting heading back to life in Dallas. It's just been a strange summer. I'm not sure how else to describe it! The six weeks have flown by, but at the same time, I feel like I've been here long enough that I'm living here, not just a visitor. I'm sad to leave, but very happy I got to stay as long as I could. I'm ready to move on and get back into my life. I miss my friends, church, apartment (specifically my closet!), and the routine I have there. I've realized that while Iowa will always be "home," Dallas truly has become my home. I'm not sure how I got to this place in thinking, but I can go back feeling very satisfied being planted there, and for a long time. I've always had wonderings whether or not to move back to Iowa or somewhere in the midwest. It's good to be content where I am and know I'm right where I'm supposed to be!

Not much new going on the flood front. The water has not receded any more. FEMA still has to inspect our house. A note.....Oakville and most of the area that was flooded is in Louisa County. About 25 homes, including ours, is in Des Moines County. This is significant when it come to FEMA, because counties appeal to FEMA to start the buyout process. Louisa County has said they are not going to pursue a buyout for Oakville, which is causing problems with people. Des Moines County is going to pursue a buyout for those of us. This does not guarantee a buyout, only begins the application.

What would a buyout mean for us? It would mean that FEMA would pay about the value of our house before it was flooded. Mom and Dad would get a check for it. In return, FEMA would have possession of about an acre of land and we would not be allowed to rebuilt a house on that site. Dad would still have the farm, including buildings, and be able to farm. They just could not live there. For a lot of people, especially those without flood insurance, this is a good deal. However, it could take a year or more before the process is completed.

I went and visited the Big Ditch once more yesterday. It was strange to see it for one final time. Hopefully, the next time I'm back the water will be completely gone. There's a spot on the Big Ditch where I can stand and look straight towards our house. I would go every few days, stand on a particular sandbag and see where the water was on the farm. I took that sandbag yesterday! I felt like the sandbag and I had bonded. :) It had supported me (literally!) as I viewed my home and I felt like I should have it as a little memento of the summer.

Thanks for reading this summer! Even though I am leaving, the posts will not end. I'll continually update with things happening, and I have some ideas for stories about the house. I've been encouraged to keep the blog, so I'll probably turn it into a more personal blog, too. Keep reading if you'd like!

Goodbye! I'm off to a baseball game, shopping, and pedicures in Kansas City. Will be home in Plano Monday afternoon!

Walking through the house....

Well, I got my wish today, not that it's a wish I've ever wanted. Mom, Dad, Nikki, Nate and I all went to the house this afternoon to walk through it for the first time after the flood water has receded. Actually, it hasn't fully receded quite yet. The water is gone from the house (other than the basement of course!), but the driveway and the rest of the farm still has a few inches to a couple feet of water around it. You still aren't able to drive to it with a car because there's still water over the road. Dad hooked up the tractor to the boat (on the trailer) and we rode to the house that way. Once there, we were able to get out and walk around a bit.

We already knew what the house looked like, so it wasn't a complete shock, although very surreal. The walls are gone, but the floor is still intact, so we walked around the house just like we normally would. Only this time, we had to watch where we stepped and looked at everything. It was a complete mess. The new kitchen cabinets were gone or in different places, the countertop was on the floor and sinks were in rooms other than where they're supposed to be. The old couch that was in the living room somehow made it to the kitchen, as did the piano, which is now smashed. Everything that was familiar was unfamiliar. Everything about it was my house. But everything about it was not my house.

Something that made us chuckle....we were in the garage looking around and Dad went up the back steps to open the door. It was locked!! We had to laugh because when they left the house before the levee broke, they intentionally left the garage door up to let the water in. But out of habit, someone locked the door! So Dad pulled out his keys and had to unlock it. I guess it was nice to use that key one more time!

Dad went out to look at the grain bins. All four of them are either down or leaning, which is crippling to a farming operation. He was hoping his newest and biggest bin was salvageable. He went check and it looks like it's just been moved off the foundation a few feet. He's hoping he can lift it with a crane, repair the bottom and restore it. Pray that works!!

Here's a couple of pictures, but there's 70 of them on my shutterfly site. Feel free to look through them. I'm so glad I was able to go out there today. While it's something I wish I didn't have to see, I'm glad I got the chance to before I leave. Only four and a half days left in Iowa! Crazy!

The Den:


Kitchen Sink:


Living Room:

For Christy! :)

So I have this friend, Christy, who I've known since elementary school. She was on my school bus route and one of my earliest memories of her is that she had this really cool esprit bag and I was determined to have one just like it. I got one for my next birthday! (Christy, I'm not sure you know that! Do you remember that bag?). She was a year ahead of me in school. We were also in the same 4-H group, the Huron Peppy Pals, together. It was in high school that we started becoming good friends, as we had a couple classes together, played sax in band, and were in the same youth group at church. Because she was a bit older, she was the first to get her driver's license. I remember there were several Friday nights that my dad would allow me to (illegally, I might add!) drive to Christy's house and then she and I would hop in her little white Grand Am to go to dinner or to the movies. She went off and did that whole marriage and baby thing after college, and because we lived in different places, I hadn't seen much of her. Thanks to Facebook, we've been able to reconnect and had dinner together a few weeks ago for the first time in YEARS. Yay!

All that to say, the house my parents are moving into is where Christy's grandparents lived. Christy grew up right down the road from the house so she knows what it looks like. Christy doesn't live in the area, so she's been asking me to show her pictures of the house since I've (we've) done some painting. So, Christy, here's a few! It's all the same color - a basic cream. Hope it's ok! :)









Funny story about painting. I've been painting everyday since Monday. Mom was also helping on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Thursday, Mom and I were painting one of the bedrooms. I was painting the ceiling using an extension rod. As I was painting, the rod snapped, sending the paint roller down. The end of it hit me squarely on the head. Later that evening, I noticed I had a PERFECT round circle of cream paint on my scalp! That spot is still a little tender... :)

One Month Later...

This past Monday was the one month mark of when the levee broke. I have now been in Iowa for a month. Hard to believe!! One month later most of the area is out of water, Oakville is cleaning up, we still can't get to our house, and my parents are slowly moving into another house.

On Tuesday, I took a drive through the bottoms and on up to Oakville. It was the first time I have been to Oakville since it flooded. It's so strange to see. The homes look like they've been abandoned for a long time with windows out and water marks on the siding. Every house has a huge pile of trash in front of it - wallboard, cabinets, insulation, and any other destroyed item. There's not a blade of grass to be seen. Every thing is dry, brown, barren, desolate, and dusty. But it was BUSY!! There were people working on almost every house, and lots of traffic. I saw church trailers from Mississippi, the Red Cross disaster recovery truck, and several dump trucks bringing rock in to repair highway 99.

I took every possible road to our house to just see how close we could get. The closest I could get was a mile from the house, which is good, but not good enough (in my opinion!!). I leave in about a week and am really, really hoping to get to the house before I do. I asked Dad last night and he wasn't sure, but hopeful. The river had gone up a bit, enough that the bottoms weren't draining into the Mississippi. The river has gone down now, so it's draining again. Hopefully it will drain enough to go. If not, Dad said he may try to find a way to get there. :)

STRANGE sighting - I was on top of the Big Ditch yesterday. As I was standing on the bridge, I looked on one side of it and saw fields still covered with water. I stood in the same spot and looked on the other side and saw lush, green cornfields - with an irrigator going! (for you non-farm people, that would be a large contraption that sprays water on the fields - think enormous sprinkler! :) It was weird to see too much water and not enough water within a quarter mile of each other. Couldn't we have balanced this out a bit?!

This week I've been working in the new house most of the week. We've been cleaning and I've been painting a couple rooms. Mom is off today and I'm about to go out there and the two of us are going to work there all day again.

I took several pictures of Oakville and the surrounding area. I don't have a lot of Oakville right now. I felt a little guilty driving around taking pictures without helping! You can find them on my Shutterfly site.

Some fun, non-flood related news...I'm about to start my fifth year of teaching in Plano, which I can hardly believe. Time goes so fast! The first three years I taught elementary special education, and last year I taught regular third grade. I enjoyed it, but realized special ed is more of my niche. I took a job at an early childhood school in the Plano school district as a PPCD teacher, which stands for "Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities." In other words, preschool special ed. I'll have a morning class and an afternoon class. I thought I was going to have all four-year-olds. I emailed with the speech therapist that I'll work with this week and found out my morning class will be THREE-year-olds and my afternoon will be fours, all with special needs. woo hoo!!! I'm really excited to have the three-year-olds and the fours will be a nice change in the day. I'll have about 10-12 in each class, and yes, I'll have a full-time aide with me all day! It's going to be so much fun!!!

The week!

Sorry for going so long without an update! Time is just FLYING by. I can't believe we're almost to the middle of July! It's been almost a month now since the levee broke.!

Going back just a bit.....as I had previously mentioned, I went to Cedar Rapids on Monday to volunteer with the Salvation Army. Cedar Rapids was one of the hardest hit areas. The Cedar River came up so quickly people didn't have time to get their belongings out. Plus, it flooded a bigger area than what was expected. 24,000 people were displaced and ten city blocks of homes were destroyed.

The Salvation Army took over an empty grocery store and filled it with all kinds of donations. Those registered with FEMA can come in, fill out a short form, and receive lots of items - for free. We loaded up shopping carts (buggies for you silly Southerners!) with a variety of items - a mop, broom, gloves, masks, bleach, scrub brushes, sponges, pine-sol, toiletries, and a box of food items. I would meet someone, grab a cart, and we would walk through these three long rows of other items. Each person was able to take any ten items from the tables. The tables were filled with any kind of cleaning item you could imagine, plus flashlights, batteries, toiletries, baby items, paper products. It was incredible how many things there were! We also gave them a 24-pack of bottled water and they were on their way with a very full cart of free items!

One thing that I noticed right away was the attitude of these people. Most of them only got out with their car and a change of clothes. They lost everything. Makes you feel just a tad lucky that at least we got all of our household items out. But they were simply grateful. Some teared up at what was being given, others were speechless. They didn't expect anything, they didn't try to cheat the system and get more. They took what they needed. Some didn't even take ten items. Others took out items from the pre-filled cart that they didn't need, "for someone else to have." There was not the slightest bit of selfishness. Only gratefulness and humility. I loved it. In the seven hours I was there, over 60 people came through, all with hearts of gold. These are Iowans!

Here's a couple pictures from the day - the pre-filled cart and the rows of donated items:





As for us, we're still hanging in there! Mom and Dad have a house they can start moving into and we're going to start cleaning and slowly move things in. We're thankful for that and it help restore some sense of normalcy.

I can't believe how quickly the water is being drained from the flooded bottoms. Mom and I drove down there yesterday to take a look and we're able to travel quite a ways on the gravel road. The houses are a mess. I had a full memory card, but am going to go back today and take some pictures. We still can't get to the house. We stood on top of a levee across from our house and could see the gravel road in front of it starting to poke out. There's probably a couple feet of water still around. It will still take quite awhile for ALL of the water to be out of the bottoms, but Dad thinks we may be able to get to the house within the next couple of weeks. I'm personally glad about that because I really want to be able to get to it before I go back to Texas, partly just to be able to see it for myself and some sense of closure, I suppose. I didn't get to see the house one more time before it was flooded and I'd like to see it once again before it's torn down.

Speaking of going back to Texas, I will be back in Plano on July 28! I have a dear Texas friend, Amanda, who is counseling at a military base in Kansas this summer, and we're going to meet up in Kansas City the weekend of the 26th for a little girl time! This will be a great tiny vacation before getting back into life in Texas. Can't wait Amanda!!! :)

Thanks again for keeping up with me. There's so, so many stories and I just need to take the time to get them all down. Hopefully soon!

stephanie

The Weekend!

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend! We did! Mom, Dad, Nikki, Adrian, and myself ended up staying in a motel for the entire weekend, starting Thursday and ending today. We had a couple of rooms and while it wasn't a lot of room, it was great for them to feel like they had their own space and just relax. We stayed right in Burlington, so we didn't travel, but it felt like a getaway, and was a much needed refresher!

On the 4th, we took the boat out on Mississippi. It was still technically closed for recreational boating (oops!), but we went to check out our cabin. (More on the cabin later!). On a typical 4th of July, we'd probably go out on a boat ride and either take the boat to Oquawka, IL to eat, or else we'd dock at the cabin and cookout. This year, we took the boat to see the damage. We went up several miles on the river, and it was really an odd feeling. Here we were doing something we all loved and enjoyed, yet it was the exact thing that destroyed our farm. Weird.

The water is still continuing to go down. In fact, it's quite amazing how much it's gone down. We went to the area where the Mississippi levee had been cut to drain the flooded part. The water is still roaring out and into the Mississippi. We stopped the boat on one part of the levee to get out and explore just a bit. It was interesting to see the farm from that angle. On our farm, we have a dirt lane that runs from the house to the Mississippi levee. We have a landing, and we were able to cross over the levee and put the boat in there. A lot of that levee has now washed away, but there was still sand to walk around on.

When we were kids, we would do all kinds things on the levee. Walk up and down on it, ride the four-wheelers all over it, sit in the back of the truck and ride down. A couple of winters we even sledded down it. Now when you stand on top of what is left of it, all you see is water, and trash. There was lots of stuff that had floated there and stopped. Even the roof to something. We saw probably 10 - 15 propane tanks that had floated and gotten caught in the trees. But the weirdest find of the day.....

Our deck. Yep. Somehow, it come loose from the ground and house, floated a mile (pretty much intact) and rested here:


A few feet away - the steps to the deck (our farm is behind the steps in the distance):


More pictures on my Shutterfly account.

Tomorrow (Monday), I am going to Cedar Rapids to volunteer. Cedar Rapids is about an hour and a half's drive north from where we are. If you remember, it was one of the hardest hit areas, with about 25,000 displaced from their homes. The Salvation Army has opened a warehouse in an old grocery store. Flood victims come and can get groceries and other household items they need, free of charge. I'm going to spend the day helping those people pick out items. I'm looking forward to it. It should be a good opportunity to help out and just hear people's stories from that part of the state. I'll blog about the day tomorrow night!

Have a great week!!

Waiting...

There's really not much new to report at this point. We're kind of in this in-between stage of the destruction and recovery. We can safely say the Big Ditch held now and those that evacuated south of the Big Ditch are moving back in. The river levels on the Iowa River and Mississippi have been falling fairly quickly. As of this morning in Wapello and Burlington, the river was within a foot of flood stage and is predicted to fall below flood stage by this weekend. That's obviously great news on many levels. The Iowa River is no longer flowing into the flooded area by our house, and since the Mississippi is down, the flooded area can drain even more.

The town of Oakville itself is pretty much dry. The problem is getting to Oakville! Highway 99 is the only main way to get to the town. A big section of 99 south of Oakville has been washed out. A section just outside of Wapello (north of Oakville) also needs repairs before it is drivable. Officials were shuttling in residents earlier this week, and yesterday, the residents were able to return on their own, with a 8:30 p.m. curfew set. There's plenty of talk going on right now as to whether FEMA will try to buyout part of Oakville. We won't know that for quite awhile.

It's still very possible the water will not be gone from our farm until August. We are in the low-lying area of the flooded area and right next to where the levee was intentionally broken to let the water drain. So, all of that water has to come by our house on its way out. At some point, the water that is left will have to be pumped out by the drainage district, which is who Dad works for.

For us personally, that means we're just playing the waiting game. Essentially, all the major damage is done, although as we saw last week, a good wind or storm can change that. But for instance, the barn is still standing, and will probably stay standing. There's not much physically that can be done until the water is gone. It's different for Oakville and some others who are out of water, and recovery efforts are being organized and started now. It's going to take a LONG time.

That's it for now! It's still busy around here and plenty to do! Thanks for reading!

Des Moines Register Article

There's a really great article from the Des Moines Register about Oakville and its current state. It's written by columnist John Carlson, who grew up in Iowa. It's a fantastic description of what it's like here, including the spirit of the people.

Read the article HERE.

Another Trip to the House

So what exactly does wind and waves do to a flooded house? It does this.....



And this...



And this.



All you could do was say, "oh my goodness. oh my goodness." There are no words.

But here's something a little more fun - my brother Nate and I on the boat!



More pictures of house and farm from today HERE.

stephaniestoller.shutterfly.com

Weekend Update

It's been a couple of days since I've written anything! The weekend just kind of flew by, although every day feels like the weekend when you're a teacher on summer break! :)

Things are switching now to more of a recovery mode. The Big Ditch is holding and it's becoming more safe to say it held. woo hoo! People that live on the dry side of the Big Ditch are slowly starting to move back to their homes. What a relief for them! I only wish I was helping my parents move back in this week!

We had quite a bit of rain the past few days, as much as three inches in some areas. However, the water is continuing to go down in the flooded area, which is obviously great! The terrible part has been the wind. High wind has been causing havoc for structures that are weak or have seemingly made it so far. There were supposedly 6-8 foot waves in the water. Imagine those crashing on a weak house. Seems like the water should've been enough. Why the wind now, too?

Mom, Dad, Nikki, and I went to the Big Ditch today to look. You can obviously tell the water is down. We looked through some binoculars towards our house. It's hard to completely tell, but it looks like some siding is off the front of the house, underneath the bay window. sigh. Dad is hoping to get out on the boat tomorrow and I'm going to try to tag along.

I went to church this morning and ended up in a small group of ten people, a few that had been affected by the flood. One woman and her husband had lost their entire crop, a machine shed, and their brand-new grain bin. She was obviously very upset by this, but her faith was strikingly strong. She mentioned Job and how he had lost everything, but God had rewarded him with even more because of his faith. That's what this woman was holding to. She had faith that in the midst of losing their income for this year, God would provide and would bless them with more. Wow! It was a great reminder of what God is all about and His faithfulness to us.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised." ~Job 1:21

Flood Pictures

I'm in the process of putting pictures on a website called Shutterfly. Between myself and Mom's camera, I now have over 700 pictures of the flood, with more to come no doubt. Not all 700 will make the site, but I plan to add more as I go.

I'll put the link below. Right now there are about 140 pictures, organized into albums such as "Oakville Aerials", "Stoller Farm," etc. I intend to caption each picture, but haven't had the time to do so yet. Hopefully this weekend.

I know the aerial pictures I have on Facebook have been passed around to many, many people here in Iowa. That's great! Please feel free to pass along this Shutterfly link, also. The same aerial pictures that were on Facebook are also on this, along with a few more. They're better quality on Shutterfly. Also, you can right-click on any picture and save it to your computer. You also have the option to order prints. Please feel free to take a few if you want. That's why they're there.

View the pictures here:

http://stephaniestoller.shutterfly.com

Scroll down a little further on this page and you can see some house pictures I posted here.

P.S. Grandma (Stoller) and I spent the morning going through old pictures. One of our projects this summer is to sort through her pictures and organize them. I found some old ones of when the house was first built and when Grandpa and Grandma lived there. I'll skip the kid pictures of me and try to scan some of the farm. :)

The House and Farm

Here's a few pictures of the house and farm we took from the boat Wednesday night. Painful.

On the road to the house:



Front Bay Window:



Sliding door to kitchen/deck:



Kitchen window and back door:



Mom and Dad's bedroom - auughh!!!!



Inside Nate's old room - built-in cabinets down:



The grain bins:

First Visit to the House

Nate and I watched as Dad backed the jon boat into the water by the Big Ditch, the very spot we should be driving on. We slowly took off, over fields of what was flourishing corn and soybeans. Two weeks ago the crop was green and gorgeous. Now, even though it can't be seen, we know it is brown and limp, suffocated by the rushing water. Dad watches the depth finder and notes when we have gone over a drainage ditch, as the water depth jumps a few feet.

We turn down the road that leads to our house - 250th Street. We go by electric posts, which only look like twigs sticking out of the water. We slow down as we approach our neighbor's house. The line of trees in their yard tells the story of the water simply from the water line distinguishing live, green branches from dead, brown ones. We gasp as we see their house, several feet in water, crippled from being off the foundation. We know they will not be our neighbors again.

Continuing down the road, we pass the sign alerting us there is a left turn in the road ahead. The only way you can tell there is a turn is by following the electric lines - and by seeing our house straight ahead. I remark that the house doesn't seem as blue as it was, like the water had stolen the paint, too. We made a right turn into the south driveway, the driveway I was always ecstatic to pull into after a long twelve hour day of driving from Texas. As we turn, it is obvious the huge, front bay window is gone. Inside, we catch glimpses of insulation and ceiling hanging down. Where a picture of my siblings and I was is now just a smear of ugly, brown mud.

We coast by the apple tree, a tree we have gleaned fruit from for as long as I can remember. Years of Grandma's applesauce has been lovingly been made from those apples since I was a little girl. A few green apples survive in the top branches, but the expected bumper crop this year will not be. The lilac bush, my favorite, is unseen in the muddy waters.

Slowly, we approach the house closer. We stop right above the deck, a place we should be spending our summer evenings. The sliding glass door is in jagged pieces; the vertical blinds are permanently stained brown. Nate looks closer and views a caved-in kitchen ceiling. The doors of Mom's dream cabinets - barely two years old - are missing. Dad picks something floating out of water. It's a cabinet door, in shreds.

Floating around the house, it is obvious all of the glass windows have been broken, freely allowing the water and other creatures to pass through. Built-in cabinets, standing tall since the house was built, are now helplessly crumpled. The back door, the one we always used, is barely on the hinges, appearing uninviting. Thirteen days ago that little blue rancher was a sturdy, cozy house for so many that called it home. Now it sits, wood rotting, walls sogging, unfixable, never to be lived in again.

We turn down "the lane," creeping through farm buildings. Amazingly, the barn looks decent, although it would need repairs. Three of the four bins have fallen or are tilting. The other, the newest and biggest, appears to be slightly tilting, but water has the opportunity to play tricks on the eyes. We pray it isn't, as that will cripple the farming operation.

Continuing down the road, we grieve for our neighbors. A garage is torn off. Windows shattered. Walls missing. On one house, the only thing standing on the front wall is the studs. Propane tanks float around like a water bottle in the pool. Hogs, legs raised to the heavens, attract flies and let off a pungent smell.

Utter devastation. Life altering affects. The very thing that so many in this area enjoy recreationally in the summer has now cost homes and livelihoods for those very people. Nature is cruel, but God is faithful.

"I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm."

~"Praise You in the Storm", Casting Crowns

Levee Run

Earlier today Dad took me out on the levees to see all the sandbagging. It is unbelievably enormous. There's a TEN MILE stretch of sand, tarps, and sandbags on top of the levee, which prevented the water from going over. Ten miles!! Dad talked about what an incredible operation it was bringing in the sand, sandbags, and getting it all done. We rode all the way from the pumping station where Dad works to the Big Ditch. Here's some pictures from the ride:

The Pumping Station!



Our ride!



Miles of sandbags:



All the trash that floated up with the water:



This is what a boil looks like. Water goes underneath the levee and pops up on the other side. It boils like a pot of boiling water. They place sandbags around it to try to contain it.



You can tell how high the water got by the looking at the brown mud left on the tarp. It was literally inches from the top of the sandbags!



The never ending sandbags:



I also drove up Highway 99 a bit to see the water. Here's a picture of the bottoms. You can see the waterline (between the green crops and brown), and how much the water has receded:



I'm about to leave now and go on the boat with Dad and Nate to see the house. This will be my first time up close. The water has gone down enough that we might be able to see what sort of damage has been done. Yikes.

A Quick Update...

Not a ton new to report today! The biggest praise is that both rivers are continuing to go down and the Big Ditch is continuing to hold!! Everyone relaxed on the Big Ditch yesterday. The water is still high, but everyone is feeling much better about it. In fact, Des Moines County lifted the mandatory evacuation for everyone south of the Big Ditch yesterday, which says a lot! We're not completely past the danger zone, but it's definitely looking better. I would say it's much more likely to hold rather than break at this point. That's great, because there was one day last week everyone was expecting it to break in a matter of hours!! God has strong hands!

Dad said that the Iowa River is expected to stop flowing into the flooded bottoms by the weekend. woo hoo!! Now they can concentrate more on getting the water out! You can already see in some places where the water has receded, but there's SO much more to go. Once the Mississippi goes down more, it will drain quicker. At some point, the rest of the water will have to pumped out, which will be Dad's job!

Sometime in the next few days, Dad is going to take me on a tour of the levees to see all of the work that's been done with sandbagging and everything. I'm looking forward to that and will be sure to have my camera! He's also going to take all of us on the boat to the house, most likely tomorrow. The water is getting low enough that we might not be able to do this anymore soon. (Now, keep in mind that it's not necessarily because the water itself is low - it's still a good 12-15 feet or so. The reason is that you don't know what's underneath the water, especially what may have floated with the water, and therefore you don't want to run into anything with the boat!). The water has always been up to the roof of the house, so it will be interesting to see what the house looks like now that we may be able to see some windows.

Mom and Dad also have a place to stay, which is another huge answer to prayer! Thanks to some good friends, they're going to stay in a house not too far from our farm, just on the dry side of the Big Ditch. It will be convenient for Dad since it will be between his work and the farm. They'll move in sometime in the coming weeks. (Thanks Christy and the Bell family! :)

I've been hearing that my aerial pictures on Facebook are being passed around quite a bit, which is great! I would like to post them and some more somewhere where people can download or order prints easily. Anyone have any good ideas? I know there's Shutterfly and Flickr, but have never personally used either. I want it to be as easy as just clicking on a link to get to the pictures to make it easy for others to get to. Several people have said they're the best flood pictures they've seen! That's great! I'm glad I was in the spot to be able to document this tragedy.

Thanks for reading! :)

P.S. I just looked at my post and it's fairly long!! Here I said it was going to be a quick update with not much new and I wrote a ton!! Oh well! :)

Aerial Video

Here is an aerial video I took last week. It starts with Oakville on the left, pans all of the flooding to the Big Ditch, and then back to Oakville. Excuse my silly hand at one point! It looks like a lake with a few things sticking out. Absolutely incredible to see it from that view point.

Sunday Odds and Ends

Here's a random list of items! :)

1. The rivers (Iowa and Mississippi) are continuing to go down! The Iowa is predicted to be close to flood stage this coming weekend. It will take awhile for the Mississippi to go down, but it looks like it will go down at a fairly steady pace.

2. It hasn't rained in a week!!!!!! TOTAL praise!!!! This has greatly aided in the river going down and most likely paid a big part in the Big Ditch continuing to hold. We need it to stay dry for a little longer!

3. I was able to go to the Big Ditch today myself. I had tried a couple of other times, but the Guardsmen were patrolling and I wasn't able to get to it. Even though I've seen all of the pictures and saw it by air, it's a completely different thing to be at the water's edge, where there should be a road. There were all kinds of waves and white caps in the water. There's a pretty good current going through there, which is only further damaging everything. It's still not likely the water will be completely gone until August.

4. Mom and Dad took a boat to the house yesterday. I have pictures, which I will post soon. The water is still to the edge of the roof, so it's nearly impossible to see how much damage has been done. One of Dad's grain bins is leaning quite a bit. The water has gone down a couple of feet as you can see the water line. The neighbors' homes are not good. One house is off the foundation. Another's garage was torn off. Many are missing siding, shingles, and the glass is broken out of the windows. Sad.

5. I've been learning a lot about the history of the area and in my family. Lots of great blog ideas!

6. Thanks to those of you who have emailed and/or commented here or on Facebook. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to most of you yet! Tomorrow I have no plans and no nephew-sitting commitments! Everyone will be at work, so I'm hoping to have some down time and get caught up on a few things, mainly communicating with friends!

7. Time to sleep - in a bed, in my own bedroom, without setting an alarm, and with the only thing on the morning agenda is getting coffee at the shop uptown!!! WOO HOO!! Never again will I take my simple one bedroom apartment for granted!

Good night! Have a great week!
steph

Meet Aunt Kate!

This is my great-aunt Kate. Her husband, Clem, was my Grandma Stoller's brother. Sadly, Clem passed away a year ago at the age of 92. Clem and Kate had been married for 65 years! Kate still lived in the house they had for years, until last week.

Not too long after Clem and Kate were married in 1941, they purchased some land and settled into a house in Huron Township. In the 1960s, they built the house Kate was still living in. It's where they raised their kids and had their grandkids over. Their daughter, Nancy, built a small house right next to them, and was still living there, helping her mom next door.

Clem and Kate lived just a mile down the road from us. I remember as a little girl stopping by their house and Clem would alway pinch my dimples or "steal" my nose. He was always known as the clown, and everyone loved his sense of humor, clear until he died. They had built up a beautiful yard with all kinds of flowers. When I rode my bike past their house, I would usually see Clem or Kate working in the yard. Oftentimes, I would see Clem riding around on the 4-wheeler. Even now, when Kate sees me, she says, "Well, there's Stephie!" and gives me the biggest squeeze ever. They were a delightful couple, and their love for each other was evident to all.

Sadly, now Clem and Kate's beloved home and yard is underwater. Kate, with the help of her family, was able to move all of her belongings out before it flooded. Kate lived most of her married life on that one plot of land. She and Clem were the only people that ever owned that house, for the past 40+ years. I saw Kate Friday at the womens' meeting, and I showed her pictures of her house. What amazed me is the comment she made:

One of the ladies - "Oh Kate, it's just so sad about your home. I'm so sorry."

Kate - "Sorry? Don't be sorry! It's ok because my real home is in heaven!!"

If only we could all have Kate's attitude towards our belongings. This is a woman who had every right to be devastated about her situation. Instead, she chose to look vertical and realize the things on earth are temporary. I learned a huge lesson that day. As she kissed me good-bye on my cheek, I could only hope and pray my attitude would be the same, now and when I'm 86, just like Aunt Kate.

A DELIGHTFUL AFTERNOON

I had an unexpected wonderful afternoon yesterday! I went to up to Mediapolis to visit Grandma Stoller and she took me to her Friendly Circle meeting, which is where a few women from her church get together for a social. It was myself and seven other ladies, including my grandma and my great aunt Kate (more on Kate later today!). Mind you, most of them were a good 50-60 years older than me!! But they've all known me since I was a baby, so it was fun to see them, and they delighted to see me.

We sat in the living room and caught up about family members, trips, and of course, the flood was the main topic of conversation. Everyone had been affected in some way, and even their church is cancelled this week because of the flooding. I brought my laptop and was able to show them all the aerial pictures of the flooding. They appreciated that, and we looked at the homes and talked about who had lived there.

They also talked about Oakville during the "good ol' days." I learned a lot!! Before the highway came, the railroad actually went through there. It was a booming town for the area and even had an operahouse! Who knew?!? Grandma talked about Grandpa playing in baseball games there, and they all talked about the little restaurants Oakville had. How sad that now it's basically gone and very well may never come back.

We then went in to the dining room and had coffee and dessert. But what I loved is that Ada, the hostess, had put a tablecloth on, and used crystal plates and water glasses, and cloth napkins. She even had china cups and saucers for the coffee! It was absolutely lovely! I think entertaining like that is an art we are losing, and I wish I saw it more! It was really special to be able to sit and listen to the ladies. You can learn so much!

Flood Notes

1. Big Ditch - had a bit of a scare yesterday as the boil is pretty good size. The levees are saturated. It's still holding, and at least I'm confident it will! It will still be a few days before it's safe, so keep praying!

2. Iowa River - it's going down fairly quickly and is predicted to be at or below flood stage by next Thursday. This will help because not as much water will drain into the flooded area.

3. Mighty Mississippi - This is not going down as quickly, but is going down. We need teh Mississippi to go down because then the water in our area will be able to drain.

4. FEMA - Mom and Dad are meeting with a FEMA rep this morning. Yay! They were impressed with how quickly that happened.

5. House - Mom and Dad have some good home offers. Totally been a God thing! They're hoping to go through a a house this weekend and really start making a plan in this direction.

Going to breakfast with Gramma, my great aunt Margie, Nate, and my two nephews! I'm going to start staying at my Grandma Stoller's tonight. I get to start sleeping in a bed! woo hoo!!