I know, I know...

I have a hard time posting when it is beautiful outside. Well, truth be told, I have a hard time posting pretty much any time, but that is particularly true when the weather is nice. Joel and I have been enjoying the sunshine, the fairly dry weather, and our budding garden and flower beds. Life is good. There have been lots of little events that past few weeks that should probably have been shared as they happened. Quick synopsis:

*Being a home-owner is great, but not all fun and games (of course). In early June, Joel came home from work to find our basement covered in about an inch of water. It had been raining constantly for about five days and the water table had risen and risen, until the water underneath our house had nowhere to go but through the cracks in our basement floor. Six hours of wet-vaccing later, and many, many, many sweeps of a squeegee, Joel and I decided we would just have to wait until the water went down. Our basement dried out completely about three days later. We were actually pretty lucky. We caught it early enough that we didn't lose very much. Joel's old twin bed was on the floor, so that was a little bit soggy to say the least, and my decorations were in cardboard boxes, so I had to unpack them all and let them dry off. It was Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, and Easter all at once in my house for a day or so. Robbi came over to help me pack up, for which I am very grateful. The basement has stayed dry since then, but we are still looking at ways to keep the water out...

*When it rains it pours. Our fridge went out shortly after the basement flooded. However, there is a positive side to this one - now we have a spankin' new one that actually keeps food cold and is EnergyStar rated. We like to think of it as saving money in the long run (on electricity AND on all of the food that isn't spoiling like it did in our old fridge).

*At work, Summer Orientation is well underway at work. I LOVE seeing the new students come to campus and get registered. They are so excited and anxious when they get here. It is fun to see them start to get to know one another and to help relieve some of those nerves that they have about where to go and what to do and whether or not they look good while doing it. It doesn't seem that long ago to me that I was in their place or that I was an orientation leader helping to shepherd them around campus. Of course, I was never as "young" as they are. Fun fact: about half of the incoming freshman students at NDSU were born in 1990. That's right folks, 1990...

*We are currently puppy-sitting for our friends, Kaarin and Nate, who recently tied the knot and are off on their honeymoon. Bandon, a three-month old Australian cattle dog has been staying with us since this past Sunday and has been keeping Gus and Howie very entertained with her antics. She is adorable. We will try to get a shot of the three of them together, but no promises - they don't stay still long enough to take a picture!

Okay, those are some of the highlights. I will take some pictures of our garden here soon so you can see that I am actually managing to grow things (I've only killed a couple beets and a pepper plant or two).

Happy and safe Fourth of July to everyone!