tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80677603517399067892024-02-21T05:09:01.788-06:00The Rasmussen Family BlogA place for Meghan and Trevor to share whats going on in their life and what they are learning about life. Feel free to stop by and share any thoughts you have!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-39257794600096569452012-07-19T22:55:00.000-05:002012-07-19T22:55:10.707-05:00We've come full circle as LandlordsWe spend a lot of time joking about how we own 3 homes...and wish we owned one. Being a landlord is a means to an end for us. We've been very fortunate in recent years to have great renters.<br />
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Most of our friends know about how our experience as a Landlord started. Our first renters were Meghan's best friend Beth and her husband. Less than a half year into their time renting our Rochester house, we had a catastrophe. Sewer water flooded the house and destroyed our entire lower level and tons of Beth and Karls property. In the coming months, God came through in amazing ways for both us and them though and in the end it felt like we were being blessed through the tragedy. Our faith was increased greatly through that event.<br />
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A year or so later, we decided to relocate back to Minnesota. We struggled to sell the house and thought (incorrectly) the market was bottoming out so we decided to rent out our house. It was our first time renting to strangers and we had NO clue what we were doing. We were so excited to get renters and move on that we overlooked things and made a poor decision. In the end our poor decision cost us over $5000 in lost rent and damages. After trying to amicably collect this from the ex-tenants (who moved out willingly) we gave up and sent it to collections about 4-5 years ago. We wrote it off mentally as a loss, money we'd never see again but hoped that eventually these people would want to restore their credit and their name and would pay us back the money owed. Today, amazingly, I received a check from our collection agency from this renter. I literally couldn't believe my eyes. I hope they continue to make these payments (looks like they are making 10 payments) but the fact that they even made one payment is amazing to me.<br />
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We only get half of the debt (the agency earns the other half...which I am happy to pay them for actually collecting on it) but almost $3000 is way better than NOTHING. Feeling so blessed and hopeful this continues so it can end with a happy resolve!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-87741905379030985232012-06-07T08:07:00.001-05:002012-06-07T08:07:11.231-05:00What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?There are so many things that bring me joy, its hard to narrow it down but these are clearly some of the biggest ones!<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>My wife:</b> Meghan and I have an amazing gift. We can spend entire days around each other and not drive each other crazy. I know not every couple is like this, but I consider it a gift. I am a homebody and I couldn't be if Meghan and I couldn't live around each all the time harmoniously. She is my best friend and my one true love.</li>
<li><b>My kids:</b> Its amazing how much I love these kids. Sure from time to time they make me crazy but the next moment they can completely flip it back and bring me so much joy. There is nothing like getting up in the morning and snuggling with them. I love being a part of their lives and having this extra time right now to be with them so much, I know its something I won't have for long so I am trying to cherish this time I have!</li>
<li><b>Summer: </b>I love summer. I love the warm weather, I love wearing shorts and tshirts and swimming and being outside all the time. I don't know why I live in MN since I love the warm weather so much, but MN is just home to me. </li>
<li><b>My small group at church:</b> I can't imagine a more grouping...God was clearly a part of putting this group together. I love that our kids are all right around the same ages and just love playing with each other so much. We all have unique backgrounds and goals but our friendships are amazingly deep because they have God at the center. I couldn't imagine my life without this group of people in it! </li>
<li><b>Sports:</b> Whether its playing or watching, I love sports. I will choose playing basketball, ultimate frisbee, or football over just about anything (except maybe the four things above this on the list). I wasn't blessed with the most athletic body but I love the challenge of competing with people and winning! </li>
</ol>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-83050111113600171842012-05-30T08:42:00.000-05:002012-05-30T08:42:45.481-05:00List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.Ugh of course this would make me go back to high school, the least favorite years of my life. I think a lot of mine are going to be re-affirming myself as that is the age where I really started to make some smart decisions in my life. This is the age where I really figured out what would be important in my life and who would be important in my life so here we go:<div>
<ol>
<li><b>You are making the right decision in dumping ALL your friends and investing in the kids at church. </b>These kids are going to be amazingly important in defining who you are and who you will become. Many of them will be people you keep in touch with throughout college and even as an adult through this great invention called Facebook (its on the internet which is this great tool you know very little about but will one day take up a little too much of your time).</li>
<li><b>Try to find some more challenging jobs. </b>Sure working at Mr. Cinders was an interesting experience but its not going to get you a career as a waiter, Al doesn't like male servers. Just go look for some jobs in the business world that will get you an edge in the future! </li>
<li><b>You are right, prom is WAY overrated and not worth your time.</b> I know there were a lot of factors about why you didn't go (not interested in anyone at that time, anti-prom, a little bit afraid of rejection, etc) but honestly as you suspect its not something you will ever regret missing. </li>
<li><b>Be more bold. </b>This affects a lot of areas of your life but you were kind of a chicken in high school and it extended into college. Be more bold in asking girls out, rejection isn't THAT bad and its fun getting to know people one on one like that. Share about your faith and the things that are important to you. If you don't open yourself up you are stunting your growth as a person! </li>
<li><b>Work on forming good habits now. </b>Start spending time in the Bible every day...it only gets harder when those habits aren't there. </li>
<li><b>Find a best friend.</b> I know you just dumped all your friends but you need someone that you can talk to about anything. You didn't really have one of those in high school, so find one and invest heavily! </li>
<li><b>Brush off the jerks.</b> Honestly kids in high school are so insecure they are usually picking out the things they are insecure about and projecting it onto you. Don't let their insecurities change who you are! </li>
<li><b>Do stuff to make the world a better place. </b>Take advantage of not having responsibilities and get out there and experience the world. Do missions trips with church. Help out those who need help. These are the things that mold you into a great person.</li>
<li><b>Listen to your parents.</b> Believe it or not, they are pretty smart people and only want to see you succeed in life. One day you will realize this and wish you would have shown them all the love and respect they deserved (though you were pretty good to them compared to others). </li>
<li><b>Keep pursuing music.</b> Sure you won't make a career out of it but heck Karaoke is a blast and it makes you feel good about yourself that you are great at something! </li>
</ol>
<div>
So there we go...my advice to 16 year old Trevor who was actually a pretty well adjusted kid. It was a challenge but a fun exercise to look back at what I would have changed or re-affirmed! </div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-23728076915989146912012-05-24T09:20:00.003-05:002012-05-24T09:20:35.311-05:00Describe your relationship with your parents...My relationship with my parents has always been great. I've been blessed with wonderful parents who were (and are) amazing...sure not perfect but very very good! When I was young, I never remember them not being there for me and supporting me. I tried the sports thing and realized that I wasn't going to excel as an athlete...not sure if that was disappointing to my dad but I never saw that once. They always encouraged me to pursue music as it was clear that was where I was gifted.<br />
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I am very close to my parents. I've always been very close with my mom, your typical mother/son kind of bond. She was my source of unconditional love and a person I could always count on to love me and be there for me. My dad was the provider for our family which unfortunately meant he wasn't around as much. I never once thought it was a reflection on me though. He made it a point to be very involved in my life despite being very busy. He and I got a LOT closer after I left for school though. He was a source of wisdom and advice for me as I pursued my career in business. He's the first person I call when I am struggling with something for work and the first person I call when I have something exciting happening.<br />
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My parents are amazing. I can't imagine having anyone else in my life. Seeing them interact with my kids is something I get so much joy from! I wish we didn't have so much distance between us so they could see even more of each other. I am very blessed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-16636677655383035932012-05-22T23:07:00.002-05:002012-05-22T23:07:57.346-05:00Describe 3 legitimate fears...Okay so I forgot about the blog thing so we'll try this again. haha Day two a week or so later is about describing three legitimate fears you have and how they became your fears.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Losing Job/Being Unemployed</b> - This is a tough one because I am living through one of my biggest fears. Back in February I got a tough call from my boss that they were letting me go as part of a reduction in workforce. My world began to close in on me. See as a man, the leader of the house, and the primary money maker of the house, I get a lot of my pride and joy out of knowing that I am providing for my family. Right now, my income has taken a dramatic hit, that is hard to adjust to. Its also a pride issue. Being out of a job, even if its of no fault of your own, makes you feel like somewhat of a failure... failure to myself, my family, everything. God has something great in store though and I still have full faith that something great is coming down the line but this has been a tough, learning experience. </li>
<li><b>Something Happening to Meghan </b>- This one is kind of obvious. There isn't a more important person in my life. She is my best friend, the person I spend the most time with, and the last person I talk to every night before bed. I can't imagine how my life would change if she got really sick, hurt or died. Not only would it change how I lived but it would affect me emotionally like nothing else.</li>
<li><b>Something Happening to the Kids</b> - I was watching a preview for a new movie and they said "You haven't truly loved someone until you've wiped someone's butt" and while its funny, its so true! I can't even put into words the depth of love I have for these two kids. If someone harmed them, I would go absolutely crazy on that person. I can't imagine getting up in the morning and not getting hugs from them. I can't imagine not hearing "I love you daddy" from one of them. </li>
</ol>
<div>
So these were somewhat obvious but I don't have a ton of fears. I worked through my fear of speaking in front of people and now actually enjoy it and seek out jobs that will allow me to be in front of people. I do have a legitimate fear of heights too...it doesn't stop me from things like roller coasters or tall buildings BUT bungee jumping or skydiving are OUT of the question. What are your fears!?!?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-12095754933053100052012-05-07T11:45:00.001-05:002012-05-07T11:45:15.067-05:00List 20 random facts about yourself.Day one is to list 20 random facts about yourself. I think the hardest thing about this is figuring things that people wouldn't already know about me!<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I've lived in four different states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Illinois</li>
<li>My first car was a Ford Tempo, maroon interior and maroon exterior...hot stuff! </li>
<li>When I was a bachelor my roommates and I wouldn't rent an apartment if it didn't have a nice sized hot tub there that we could use! We were down there all the time, it was great.</li>
<li>I can't gain weight. I know ladies hate away but I could eat all day and never gain weight (or so it seems). </li>
<li>I enjoy painting...my wife hates it. I like seeing things get transformed into something new and exciting.</li>
<li>I lead a small group at my church. Its challenging at times (especially finding child care for all our kids) but I love our group, its my favorite part of the week.</li>
<li>We own THREE homes. I wish I owned only one...so if anyone wants to buy one of them, make me an offer and I'll probably take it! :-)</li>
<li>I make spreadsheets for everything. I am very organized and need to have order for me to get everything accomplished, in fact I used to keep a to do list in my pocket at all times when I was in college.</li>
<li>My first job was at McDonalds.</li>
<li>I hate Old Country Buffet...and really buffets in general.</li>
<li>I am a San Antonio Spurs fan...sounds strange but it dates back to the David Robinson days.</li>
<li>I love Karaoke. I don't get out to do it very often anymore but its something I love to do!</li>
<li>I was a HUGE baseball fan as a child but gave up on the sport in 1994 during the strike and literally didn't watch a game for over decade until I met my wife and she convinced me to give it another shot.</li>
<li>I've only told one woman (that I am not related to) that I love her...and I later married her! </li>
<li>I hate clutter. I am constantly cleaning things up...that doesn't mean my desk or dresser don't get messy at times but it drives me NUTS!</li>
<li>I love comedies...I'll choose a comedy over any other genre of movie. </li>
<li>I am President of my home owners association...impressed yet?</li>
<li>I had a cat poop on my bed once! </li>
<li>I lived with the same person for 8 years and the person wasn't related or married to me.</li>
<li>I never went to prom. I intentionally took on work shifts each year I could have because I had no interest in going...and I don't regret it at all. I never even asked anyone to go with me. :-)</li>
</ol>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-29706176379720021122012-05-07T08:12:00.000-05:002012-05-07T08:12:31.640-05:0030 days and 30 postsRecently a friend of mine started doing this and I thought it was a pretty interesting way to get back into blogging and have some interesting things to write about. I don't know if I'll get around to doing one of these every day, but I'll try! The list is down below, the more comments I get, the more fun and motivated I'll have with it!<br />
<br />
We've had a lot going on in life lately but I am sure I'll cover a lot of it in the next 30 or so days with all of these posts.:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>List 20 random facts about yourself. </li>
<li>Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears. </li>
<li>Describe your relationship with your parents. </li>
<li>List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could. </li>
<li>What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now? </li>
<li>What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced? </li>
<li>What is your dream job, and why? </li>
<li>What are 5 passions you have? </li>
<li>List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how. </li>
<li>Describe your most embarrassing moment. </li>
<li>Describe 10 pet peeves you have. </li>
<li>Describe a typical day in your current life. </li>
<li>Describe 5 weaknesses you have. </li>
<li>Describe 5 strengths you have. </li>
<li>If you were an animal, what would you be and why? </li>
<li>What are your 5 greatest accomplishments? </li>
<li>What is the thing you most wish you were great at? </li>
<li>What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive? </li>
<li>If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why? </li>
<li>Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood. </li>
<li>If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first? </li>
<li>Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? </li>
<li>List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.</li>
<li>Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.</li>
<li>If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?</li>
<li>What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?</li>
<li>What is your favorite part of your body and why?</li>
<li>What is your love language?</li>
<li>What do you think people misunderstand most about you?</li>
<li>List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.</li>
</ol>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-18367617249999935502012-02-01T11:52:00.000-06:002012-02-01T11:52:34.827-06:00We are so fortunateWe have two wonderful amazing kids...at times they stress us out, but in the end of the day, we are so very blessed by them. Meghan and I can pretty much have a baby at will...or it feels that way. Sometimes we feel like its a curse, but really its a blessing. Today, I think of my friends who haven't been so fortunate. We have a few friends who try and try to have a baby and can't. Some of them finally did after a year of trying and others, well I guess it wasn't in God's plan for them right now. We've also had some friends who have gotten pregnant only to have soul crushing news delivered to them.<br />
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We are SO fortunate to not have had to go through these things. I never want to forget that or take it for granted.<br />
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Everyone has their trials and tribulations that they go through, they are necessary for growth and refinement of our character. Most recently a college friend of mine, Kris Heller, blogged about their latest trip to the OB, they were so excited to find out the sex of their new (first) baby. Here is an excerpt...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">We told the ultrasound tech that we wanted to have the baby's health & measurements done first before finding out what the sex of the baby was. We wanted to save the best for last...</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Within two minutes, our whole world crashed.</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The ultrasound tech paused, saying that there was a problem. All I remember was my heart beating so fast & loud that I thought it was on the overhead sound system. I thought I was going to pass out as she focused on the baby's head. She measured the baby's head... there was more fluid than usual in her head. That wasn't the only thing. There was a small fluid cyst on the back of her head, too.</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">My husband was on the verge of passing out. He was seeing black spots, feeling dizzy.</em> </blockquote>I've gotten some bad news in my life (the call from Beth and Karl about our rental house being filled with sewer water would be right up there) but this would be at a whole new level. I imagine my life if either of our two amazing kids hadn't made it through to be with us. My life would be so different. My outlook on life might be so different. The doctor sent them to a specialist...40 minutes away. What an awful car ride that must have been.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">We had to drive 40 mins to the specialist... so many tears. I think our hearts cracked right in half that day.</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">At the specialist, I don't remember walking up the stairs or if we took the elevator. We waited while the ultrasound tech there took a million ultrasound pictures and they were too hard to look at. I could see exactly what was wrong... </em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The tech there asked if we wanted to know if it was a girl or boy.. I looked at my husband not knowing if I even wanted to know at this point. He said yes, and she said it was a little girl..</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">My little girl. </em><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The one I'd been hoping for... the one I dreamed about.. and she has unbelievable problems.</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The Specialist came in and was very matter-of-fact. He spoke as he went over the pics and did an ultrasound at the same time, yet again, pointing out the horrific problems... the problems didn't stop there. He highlighted her kidneys saying they were enlarged, not really functioning... barely any amniotic fluid being produced. The prognosis: lethal. "Not viable to sustain life."</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Imagine hearing that..</em> </blockquote>I want to ask everyone that reads this...which might not be many since I don't blog anymore (I really enjoy it though and need to just remember to do it)...to say a prayer for Mike and Kris. Say a prayer for all your friends that are pregnant or who want to be pregnant. Lord willing I will never have to see another one of my friends have their dreams come crashing down on them like this again!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-89962362132134826662011-04-01T11:29:00.000-05:002011-04-01T11:29:19.824-05:00Hope for a new monthMarch was a horrible month in the Rasmussen home. It started out innocently enough. We celebrated Meghan's birthday...a few times. I had a trip to California for work which went smoothly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_eJ1EJYVGQkHyviWJx5g6WsJ34VodPq-1S5nczRo2gnJHCnP2bQyrbZxe0SCKArkbutAeI44s_3IbKZA9xvFWghRqynhPhq6_dxLX2YWm9szn0gge75EtSmSp4aQCXJRgJdA7juvLNA/s1600/Grandma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_eJ1EJYVGQkHyviWJx5g6WsJ34VodPq-1S5nczRo2gnJHCnP2bQyrbZxe0SCKArkbutAeI44s_3IbKZA9xvFWghRqynhPhq6_dxLX2YWm9szn0gge75EtSmSp4aQCXJRgJdA7juvLNA/s1600/Grandma.jpg" /></a></div>But then mid-month came the news that my Grandma was in the hospital. Initially we weren't sure what was wrong but hospitals and my Grandma have been together for a while so nothing new. As the weekend approached it started to seem a little more serious though and we were concerned. We actually got to the point of packing to leave not knowing if it would be a quick two day trip or an extended trip so we packed for about 5+ days just in case. Then it seemed like things were going to be okay (it was Saturday we were going to head out on) so we stayed home.<br />
<br />
On Tuesday night, we were out getting pizza while our Saturn was getting fixed and I got a troubling call from my older sister. Grandma wasn't doing well. The finally figured out what she had: Herpes Encephalitis. Basically its herpes inflammation in her brain...not a good thing to contract by any mean and very very rare (about 1 in 500,000 will contract it). Its caused by the same Herpes Simplex 1 that causes cold sores and fever blisters. I later found out that Grandma had herpes that had affected her eyes which gave her much grief. <br />
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So hearing that news changed our entire week. The outlook was grim and there was little they could do for her in her condition. Her time was going to be limited. We got home and planned to leave the next day after work, which we did. We got in late on Wednesday night and went to bed at my parents only to be awoken at 5 am with the awful news of her passing. I was so sad that we didn't make it over there to see her and say goodbye. The family spent the rest of the week and weekend grieving and remembering a great woman. I learned a lot about Grandma looking through old pictures and asking about stories. Stuff I wish I had done more with her...though she often didn't remember these details now because of the stroke she had suffered.<br />
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The funeral (on Monday) was very nice, sad but nice. I put together a video slide show that we had on display showing her happy times in life. She was a wonderful woman. The girls put together picture collages that were put up around the funeral home. My Aunt Debbie did an amazing tribute to her mom during the funeral that didn't leave a dry eye in the house...God must have been with her to allow her to get through it without breaking down. We miss a wonderful mom, grandma and great-gran, but she's living without pain now.<br />
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Here is her obituary:<br />
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110320/APC010301/103200670/Rasmussen-Norma<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm0OuWWmyXjDfX953QsTLwBDlNHzFh3mPHg0FmGpBNWyCmYSHNI3Mo70xjALakkBhb4Csnm88ZKl0EXGA5KZeYrj0WY4nvQqb0HsHjZwty6ryuGfkWxpWwl3I4BjpIG4UhzOW3xopb7c/s1600/micah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm0OuWWmyXjDfX953QsTLwBDlNHzFh3mPHg0FmGpBNWyCmYSHNI3Mo70xjALakkBhb4Csnm88ZKl0EXGA5KZeYrj0WY4nvQqb0HsHjZwty6ryuGfkWxpWwl3I4BjpIG4UhzOW3xopb7c/s1600/micah.jpg" /></a></div>The next week was sad but we were trying to move on when suddenly I had multiple missed calls from one of my closest friends Jason...odd I thought. Then Meghan called and told me to call Jason right away...something had happened. I called a crying Jason who informed me that his 12 year old nephew was killed in a car accident that morning on the way to school. Jason and I have been friends for 14+ years and were roommates for 7 of those years...to say we are close is an understatement. I know his family very well and this news hit me like a ton of bricks. I was there to rejoice with Jason when Micah was born...I never thought I'd have to see him mourn his death and especially not so soon.<br />
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Here is the story about the even from WCCO:<br />
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/24/12-year-old-dies-in-rollover-crash/<br />
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A sad event took a turn when his family chose to not just mourn in his death during the funeral but turn the focus to a God whom Micah loved dearly. It was a truly memorable service that was filled with sadness but also joy in knowing that they would see him once again in heaven. See Micah had a DEEP passion for God. He knew more scripture than most of us ever will and he's 12. He was a caring and compassionate young boy who reached out to those in need and always had a smile on his face. I think, honestly, that God missed him up there and wanted him back. He'll be missed here but he's in a better place now and there is peace in that.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaD14lCKoHnSCNGXMm2879fIU4YU9I0A49Jx5NYIseiU2ByKRS4na03zB6kUXF0CiW8JItLVysdHkIKV613fJAljZJ2OPKTLDvlQGQpg18y7MvySNFYxTSq1CenTTMNLKdoX2jjkOZElE/s1600/Eden.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaD14lCKoHnSCNGXMm2879fIU4YU9I0A49Jx5NYIseiU2ByKRS4na03zB6kUXF0CiW8JItLVysdHkIKV613fJAljZJ2OPKTLDvlQGQpg18y7MvySNFYxTSq1CenTTMNLKdoX2jjkOZElE/s200/Eden.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>After that funeral (the following Monday) came and went I was out of tears. Then while on another business trip I saw a very sad sounding post from a friend and former small group member from my church. I went to their blog to learn that one of their almost 8 month old twins had just lost her battle for life. These two girls were born at 26 weeks and had struggled through every month of their life just to breath and live.<br />
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Reagan and Eden and their parents Scott and Amanda have been an inspiration to Meghan and I. They have been through more in those 8 months than I hope to ever have to endure. We had been praying for them since we met them shortly after the girls were born. We rejoiced when Reagan came home to be with them and now we mourn that one of the girls has lost her battle. It makes me so sad to think that Reagan will never really know the girl that was her twin...but as her parents said in their blog, "Jesus welcomed her into heaven today where there are no ventilators, trachs or medications. Instead she is perfectly healthy with pink blankets, green rings and soft socks". I don't have many tears left in me, but my heart is filled with sorrow for so many people that I know and love.<br />
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Here is a link to their blog where you can learn about their journey:<br />
http://hedingrowingfamily.blogspot.com/<br />
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They say that death comes in threes, I can only pray that this is the end of it for me for a long time. Please pray for my friends, The Roelofs' (Micah's family) and the Hedin's (Eden's family). Pray that April allows them a fresh start and God is there to comfort them in their sadness.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-63901781029152882302010-11-29T10:27:00.000-06:002010-11-29T10:27:24.361-06:00Remember to be thankfulThanksgiving is always a great time to keep me focused on the important things. Its so easy to take things for granted. We are SO blessed. We've got an amazing family, two healthy kids (although one that doesn't know how to sleep at night), wonderful family and friends around us, two good jobs, cars that work, a nice house (alright three...but one we live in), etc. Its amazing how good we have it and how easily I forget that!<br />
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I am reminded when reading the blog of my friends, <a href="http://hedingrowingfamily.blogspot.com/">the Hedin's</a>, about some of the trials you can go through. I can't imagine my little girl and boy stuck in the hospital 24 hours like that. Yet even the Hedin's have tons to be thankful for and I am sure they realize it. No matter how bleak things seem we still have an amazing amount of things to be thankful for. One of the lowest points of the past 5 years for me was when our Rochester house was destroyed by a sewer backup. It was devastating, not only for us, but for our friends who were renting the house from us. Yet even during all of that, God blessed us so much. He used that low point to show us that he always provides. He used it to show our friends that his community is amazing and that complete strangers will go out of their way to help people in need.<br />
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Don't waste this opportunity to remember all the things you can be thankful for!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-36130738147033750032010-11-12T09:31:00.001-06:002010-11-12T09:43:42.443-06:00Things are starting to slow down a littleWell with how infrequently we put stuff up here, I can't imagine we have a ton of people checking our blog...if you are still checking, leave us a comment so we know that its worth continuing to do these!<br />
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We've had a LOT going on lately.<br />
The addition of <b>AARON </b>to the family has made us much busier than we ever thought we would be. You quickly forget how much work a newborn can be, but when you add a toddler into the equation, yikes...its tiring. Aaron has been teething lately (kinda early for that) so sleep has been at a premium in our house. Earlier in the week, Meg and I were basically sharing one person's night of sleep. Not going to complain though, he's an amazing gift. Some highlights of what Aaron is up to include being able to sit in a bumbo and play in his bouncy toy, he can smile and giggle, he rolls over from tummy to back and rolls onto his side. He's pretty cute and if I had some pictures on this computer I would post them!<br />
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<b>ADDISON </b>just turned two! I can't believe she's two already. We kept it low key this year though and just had family over and took them out for pizza to celebrate. Addison loves her new toys. The new kitchen is the one that stands out the most in basement but she loves her baby stroller and recycling truck, and everything else too! It was a good birthday for her, she needed some fresh new toys in her life! She never ceases to amaze me with how intelligent she is. She even knows that when we spell out b a t h that it means bath! haha She really thrives on playing with friends and has become quite the social girl. Her new sitter, Nicole, has a 2 year old (almost) daughter that she brings along and they play together all day.<br />
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We started leading a<b> SMALL GROUP </b>recently. Its gone really well, we really like everyone that joined the group and everyone is quickly becoming good friends. Everyone has such interesting and unique backgrounds and we love learning about what makes them all tick. Next week is our first social/volunteer activity. We are doing OCC boxes together and doing a potluck style dinner...using our friend Becky Cochran's potato soup recipe (YUM). Should be a memorable night. Every couple has kids and they really seem to get along well. There is one 3 year old, 2 two year olds, and one that is about 20 some months old. Great ages for playing together in the basement while their parents build friendships and learn about God! One of the couples has been struggling with having their two little newborn girls in the NICU at Children's. Its been a real trial for them, check out their situation in my last blog before this one. Feel free to check their blog to learn more about what they've been through and keep them in your prayers!<br />
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So that is what we've been up to lately. I'll try to get better with blogging now that Aaron is getting a little older. We are finally able to start having some free time at night again!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-89612429528230739912010-10-22T09:39:00.000-05:002010-10-22T09:39:58.437-05:00Please pray for our friends...We just got an email from our friends, the Hedins, they have twin girls born at (I believe) 28 weeks. They were both VERY tiny and way behind in development. They've been at the NICU at Childrens since they were born and are now ALMOST full term (39 weeks). Amanda emailed me this morning with some sad news, the littlest one, Eden, was put back on a ventilator this morning. This is apparently a huge setback in her development.<br />
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Here is an exerpt from their blog:<br />
<blockquote><b>"Today was the toughest day thus far, our hearts are aching with how difficult it has been. Eden was having trouble breathing all day, she was almost exclusively needing 100% oxygen when her MD decided that she needed to be reintubated (put back on the ventilator). He said she was so close to falling off the cliff, and he hated to have her struggling for every breath. Her reintubation was not easy because she has an anterior airway and her energy reserves were low to begin. She spent 4 weeks off the ventilator doing so well with her nasal cannula and her O2 needs were low, so we just don't know why this is happening. She is doing better now that she is on the ventilator. We however have been pushed to the breaking point. I seriously don't know how much more we can handle. I personally feel like my heart is crumbling into a thousand pieces, this setback is so huge we just don't know when she will be coming home"</b></blockquote>I know I haven't updated in a while but I felt like this was very important and I wanted to make sure our new friends were doused in prayer during this tough time. I'll be posting on here more often again though...just stay tuned! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-30198082660080636442010-06-30T10:31:00.000-05:002010-06-30T10:31:22.089-05:00The birth of our son<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdIhyphenhyphenuZnx9ZN3qIgztgz1DNAOZfkD89nya7sKy3EHpfpDpd9VtbIHeCAoCUMzjCveg7Zn0-8BznoKxw6v9JxaEqEkXu33iIdzDXmadvi_YGsa3eZsNTj5xwzKizW4LwQuD8ffzDZpjcs/s1600/100_4774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>We decided to schedule an induction with our child this time. There were a few reasons for it, but Meghan wasn't going to argue...she wanted to meet our son and be done with pregnancy! We originally planned for a July 1 induction date but when it came time to schedule a room, we found out the entire week was booked solid...except Tuesday, June 29. It was a combination of busy time of year and the impending nurses strike which starts next week. Tough news cause we were really hoping for the July 1 date (for insurance reasons) but not much you can do when there are no rooms at the inn!<br />
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The morning came, we stayed at Doug and Jeannie's cause they were watching Addison for us. We got to the hospital at about 7:15 am and they started their checks and getting Meghan checked in. About an hour later, the pitocin started and so did the contractions. By about 10 the contractions were really getting strong. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaY5g0ZhtJcIZEGXQnDZ-wgEkBV-S6-qmi02pI9wAa1SL9qqz1gojGk2fQvkO5lcALvr5qIlqETsu-3s_yoDK0IGrc2tyEi-Z4-VIhzRGOgcSToOvBG7rPq3W6LoJSxWnj5dfij5RxRk/s1600/100_4754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaY5g0ZhtJcIZEGXQnDZ-wgEkBV-S6-qmi02pI9wAa1SL9qqz1gojGk2fQvkO5lcALvr5qIlqETsu-3s_yoDK0IGrc2tyEi-Z4-VIhzRGOgcSToOvBG7rPq3W6LoJSxWnj5dfij5RxRk/s200/100_4754.JPG" width="200" /></a>Meg was a total trooper through it all. About 12:30 she finally gave in and succumbed to an epidural! Relief! At this point she was still only a 5/6 so we figured we had a long way to go. About 2:15 the nurse came back to help Meghan switch to the other side and she was still a 5/6...it was starting to seem like this was going to be a long labor like it was with Addison.<br />
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About 20 minutes later, Meghan was starting to feel the contractions again...odd. She said they felt like the kind when she had to start pushing with Addison so I flipped the nurse switch. She came running in (I guess the one I hit is more of an emergency button haha). After we told her how Meghan was doing she did a check and in 20 minutes she went from a 5/6 to fully dialated with the baby at a +2 which means it was GO time. She immediately paged Meghan's doctor and we prepared the room. By the time her Dr was here, the baby was at a +3 without any pushing. Everything was going according to plan. <br />
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Once her doctor got ready to go, it was about 3 good pushes before <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdIhyphenhyphenuZnx9ZN3qIgztgz1DNAOZfkD89nya7sKy3EHpfpDpd9VtbIHeCAoCUMzjCveg7Zn0-8BznoKxw6v9JxaEqEkXu33iIdzDXmadvi_YGsa3eZsNTj5xwzKizW4LwQuD8ffzDZpjcs/s1600/100_4774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdIhyphenhyphenuZnx9ZN3qIgztgz1DNAOZfkD89nya7sKy3EHpfpDpd9VtbIHeCAoCUMzjCveg7Zn0-8BznoKxw6v9JxaEqEkXu33iIdzDXmadvi_YGsa3eZsNTj5xwzKizW4LwQuD8ffzDZpjcs/s200/100_4774.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>our son was finally here! Amazing delivery...nothing like our first. Praise God for that!! Our little son was here...he was perfect. Beautiful skin. Totally healthy. We were elated! He measured in at 20 inches and 7 lbs 9 ounces. Very healthy size...but not too big. He is a great latcher and eater and is still very healthy and beautiful this morning. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on the pictures and in the guest book. I am sure we'll be talking to all of you plenty in the future!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRqELLh1VXSAQ0onVzLoK7YtWpqf-D1kCdmDAAHuFQhhwQmIS7w2t7zHHFkVO_VUlXLrIaIf-QK5Lap1k9XzzXnYq15vmaZK1G5-p-Uvlmp9W_7rxm4QhQdTZG3Sq0IiCyVMM80RbY3w/s1600/IMGP6832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRqELLh1VXSAQ0onVzLoK7YtWpqf-D1kCdmDAAHuFQhhwQmIS7w2t7zHHFkVO_VUlXLrIaIf-QK5Lap1k9XzzXnYq15vmaZK1G5-p-Uvlmp9W_7rxm4QhQdTZG3Sq0IiCyVMM80RbY3w/s320/IMGP6832.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDa0Dnwd3LskPcK99gB34tfcnCCUk1bm13Bqk9rJrQWwtTrMxvAaT9eoT989ahsiZ3DKxnUIU2jUkDKfXXq-3rz3Vmmtjn6HzdyLv5a2H2DYuV6UnC3BdinExiFEduhU3lqxmUxOyJn0/s1600/IMGP6837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDa0Dnwd3LskPcK99gB34tfcnCCUk1bm13Bqk9rJrQWwtTrMxvAaT9eoT989ahsiZ3DKxnUIU2jUkDKfXXq-3rz3Vmmtjn6HzdyLv5a2H2DYuV6UnC3BdinExiFEduhU3lqxmUxOyJn0/s320/IMGP6837.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRCzKNDsSgsd-sMN8StMzkLWacIk_AKgvwuUEb0_r4cVxtJ0M6NrNRBpZfHhevy90uG1EG1xek0s3vQLUkB1pUUDdGn-81etvKSpkZT05iy1aOPkJ4Pc4NoBvV-tTDDzpUPz0H8zy1ew/s1600/100_4772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRCzKNDsSgsd-sMN8StMzkLWacIk_AKgvwuUEb0_r4cVxtJ0M6NrNRBpZfHhevy90uG1EG1xek0s3vQLUkB1pUUDdGn-81etvKSpkZT05iy1aOPkJ4Pc4NoBvV-tTDDzpUPz0H8zy1ew/s320/100_4772.JPG" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-84946477279607408822010-06-29T10:17:00.000-05:002010-06-29T10:17:22.208-05:00Its Baby TimeWell our time has finally come. We are sitting in the hospital getting ready to have our second child. No pictures or anything but an update will be coming soon. We can't wait to introduce the world to our new son later today. We appreciate prayers for a quick and painless delivery and a healthy little boy (and mommy). Thanks everyone!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-88808164133105684222010-06-18T09:37:00.006-05:002010-06-18T10:22:51.299-05:00Benihana for $12??Last night, we decided to have our "last" nice dinner out for a while. The baby could be here any day and we KNOW that is going to change things drastically for us. Money is pretty tight so our options were limited, but Meghan knew EXACTLY what she wanted. Earlier this year, I cashed in some of my points from my company credit card for some gift <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDEo_ZZMpZx7RPmmTqcWEO8X0YFKBGlEK7ozxjWttEbMFdiRgjkTCkX9hKKZ4EEMOdA0CWzqDqqbyfcKs1UU1lwHIoc2OejU4YmNKB3WlXGWdl0gjs9pCu62zQYfm_2ODu3lWbcO_Egw/s1600/maplegrove.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 127px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDEo_ZZMpZx7RPmmTqcWEO8X0YFKBGlEK7ozxjWttEbMFdiRgjkTCkX9hKKZ4EEMOdA0CWzqDqqbyfcKs1UU1lwHIoc2OejU4YmNKB3WlXGWdl0gjs9pCu62zQYfm_2ODu3lWbcO_Egw/s200/maplegrove.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484131586085168210" border="0" /></a>cards to a few of our favorite restaurants (Chilis, etc) but I surprised Meghan by getting a $50 gift card to Benihana. We both LOVE teppanyaki and the Japanese style cuisine but its a little pricey so its a rare occasion that we can go.<br /><br />We decided to bring Addison along...for one, babysitters are expensive and for two, we thought she'd really like it. We were right! She loved the chef and he totally tried to make her smile while doing his thing. I wish I had pictures! They had a Filet Mignon and Hibachi Chicken for two deal for $39 so we went for that and got Addison an order of the fried rice (she LOVES rice). Not only do you get the entertainment but great food already cut up into bite size pieces! What service!!<br /><br />Addison had a blast and was continually asking for "more". More rice, more chicken, more birthday singing, more smoke, you name it she wanted more of it! haha In the end, after dinner for two, a cherry coke, and two orders of fried rice, the bill came to $51.89...so our total cost was $1.89 plus tip!! Not bad for a top notch dinner. I guess my job and traveling has its perks.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:</span><br />Those of you with a Benihana nearby may want to sign up for their Birthday Club. They apparently send you a "$30 birthday certificate" which the couple next to us was using. You can use it during the month of your birthday! I can't think of a restaurant with a better deal than that!!<br />http://assets.fbmta.com/clt/bnhn/lp/join/join.asp?q=thechefstableAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-89562638706955414312010-06-16T07:51:00.006-05:002010-06-16T08:11:31.755-05:00Another first for our little girlLast Saturday, Meghan decided she couldn't take our daughter having a "mullet" any longer so it was time for Addison to get her first haircut. A half a year ago she barely had hair, now it was about down to her shoulders!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBamJs8G6N3iSAJU6EkLKZPj7pASB0VTKHApSxbVawiVAXnSIbQZKCR-kVrT5Rc_IZoGpOH6ZbRUesoIRt1xvZ7YrxnZBV4yZKKQlGdAXk8nycOqchj4DAutn2cYLvXK9kS-ocl80OlIs/s1600/100_4651.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBamJs8G6N3iSAJU6EkLKZPj7pASB0VTKHApSxbVawiVAXnSIbQZKCR-kVrT5Rc_IZoGpOH6ZbRUesoIRt1xvZ7YrxnZBV4yZKKQlGdAXk8nycOqchj4DAutn2cYLvXK9kS-ocl80OlIs/s200/100_4651.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483354534899709330" border="0" /></a>Obviously, she didn't know what to expect and I think she is too young to really try to explain it so instead we found a place that is geared toward kids. We found a few places, but ended up choosing <a href="http://www.kidskutsmn.com/index.html">Kids Kuts Family Hair Care</a> which is conveniently about 3 minutes from our house. They have some coupons on the website too so at least it felt like we were saving some money too! :-)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief0aKZjVJ52s0DRh1fQWklqdJWxCJv1GDK1thA46zdXJiYu-tT1JQdixsTUHTI8lsrenIKILds1BYPdNhiwCjObK1yoWnj57w8_0HQErdtIU065mdYx5Lz7nHhzU07WqnnidtBu17_Lo/s1600/100_4652.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief0aKZjVJ52s0DRh1fQWklqdJWxCJv1GDK1thA46zdXJiYu-tT1JQdixsTUHTI8lsrenIKILds1BYPdNhiwCjObK1yoWnj57w8_0HQErdtIU065mdYx5Lz7nHhzU07WqnnidtBu17_Lo/s200/100_4652.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483355773716250882" border="0" /></a>The appointment was scheduled for 1 pm and when we got there we found a cute little hair salon with playground toys for the kids to sit on while they are getting their hair cut. This was a nice distraction for Addison. She picked out the horsey and held on tight the entire time. Our stylist was great with her, though Addison had her usual stone face on when a new person is talking to her or touching her. Even with some coaching from mom, she wouldn't even crack a smile though she didn't cry or protest at all.<br /><br />Mommy is really happy with the result as Addison's hair is now nice and even and can start growing in consistently into some long pretty blonde hair! I think we found our stylist at least for a while...anyone up in the north suburbs should consider looking up Kids Kuts...plus they do adults too!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Funny story of the week:</span> Meghan, Addison, and I were at Target getting a few odds and ends. We were at the checkout and Addison was in the shopping cart. There was a young girl taking care of us and Addison looked up at her, looked down about midway and then pointed and said "booboos" which you might be able to guess what that means. I looked at Meghan and started laughing...I couldn't contain it as this was a word her mom taught her recently. Thankfully, I don't think the girl caught on but I laughed almost the entire way home.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-69991357824607613492010-06-09T13:10:00.004-05:002010-06-10T09:48:12.881-05:00Preparing to grow our family!Well summer is here. We've been keeping busy getting ready for the newest addition to our family. Our little boy should be here sometime in June or at the latest, July 1 (our set induction date). Meg has been having lots of contractions and was put on bedrest (kind of). The baby is doing well, the doctors just want to keep the baby in there as long as possible so that its full term. Meghan is very much ready for our little boy to come out, yet we need to hang on to July 1 if possible (for insurance reasons). In the end, I think he'll be out sooner and we'll just make due with the expensive delivery.<br /><br />We are very much excited to meet our little boy though!! We still don't have his name picked out...we are close but just can't get past the final two, maybe we'll just wait until he comes out and see which one he looks like! :-) Addison is transitioning to being a "big girl" very well. She has her new big girl bed which she loves. We had it in her room for a week or two to let her get used to it but now she's been sleeping in it for about a week and is doing SO well. There have been a few occasions where we've moved her to her crib but each day is better and better!<br /><br />I've been busy working on our basement. I have a goal of finishing it before our little boy gets here. Last weekend I had a few friends over to put up drywall on our walls. It was a long day but its done and I even have the bedroom taped and mudded (with the first coat). I think I'll finish the rest tonight and then start sanding Thursday or Friday night to get ready for coat #2. I think I am still on track with the project unless the little guy comes early! I can't wait to have the basement finished though. I feel like I can never find anything down there cause its all crammed in two little storage rooms. I am also really excited to have a 4th bedroom in the house. I'll get some pictures to post soon!<br /><br />With all of this going on, its keeping us pretty busy. We've found time to see a couple Twins games at the new stadium though...it was a real treat! What a great place...baseball should ALWAYS be outdoors!! Two of our friends, the Roelofs and Normans, have had their second kids...both boys. That means all four couples (Roelofs, Normans, Hidlebaughs and Rasmussens) will have their first child in the same year, their second child in the same year and each will have 1 boy and 1 girl...you couldn't plan it any better! haha Our kids should be really close I think.<br /><br />I wish I was better about blogging consistently but I'll try to do better. I love the comments though, it helps to know that people are actually reading the blogs!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-43361248969512221772010-04-04T07:59:00.013-05:002010-04-04T09:13:13.346-05:00Vacations lead to busynessMarch was a BUSY month. It was FILLED with travel, some for fun, some for work. Early in the month, Meghan took Addison on a trip to see her best friend Beth down in Missouri. They had their first Southwest Airlines experience which wasn't too bad I hear. Before they could get back, I had to leave for a conference in California. All in all it was an entire week before I saw my wife and daughter again. It was lonely...but I kept busy at home by building some MUCH needed storage shelves in the storage room. Its amazing how productive I can be when I have no other responsibilities around the house! :-)<br /><br />The conference was very interesting, I go to it every year to <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kMNcanwcqL5M4d0Y8e2HkQ9MAeqxtL83hxFxVh8EHu7xsB1ehGrXkQLse0lV0hpk_m1HlYIHN6vS-z9-19l045K-y0F8ThyphenhyphenZ-gTGgGQdlJzuXHFRzDzcxDRP0n0lDMWCsYaobjBvsr0/s1600/beverly+wilshire.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kMNcanwcqL5M4d0Y8e2HkQ9MAeqxtL83hxFxVh8EHu7xsB1ehGrXkQLse0lV0hpk_m1HlYIHN6vS-z9-19l045K-y0F8ThyphenhyphenZ-gTGgGQdlJzuXHFRzDzcxDRP0n0lDMWCsYaobjBvsr0/s200/beverly+wilshire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456268649031337906" border="0" /></a>catch up on what is happening in the aerospace industry. Most years its at the Beverly Wilshire (on Rodeo Drive and via Rodeo...shopping mecca for my high end readers), where Pretty Woman took place. I actually usually stay elsewhere though to save the company a little money...its a Four Seasons hotel, its NOT cheap. I had yet to see any celebrities there in all three years I had been there. I came close this year, Sarah Palin came through the lobby of the hotel about 2 minutes after me. The guys at my table for Lunch saw her and said hi. I guess she was very nice and friendly...she does have a new book and TV show to sell though so being friendly is in her best interests!<br /><br />Shortly after we both got back, we had a vacation to Puerto Vallarta planned. It was a VERY unique vacation in many ways. It was our first vacation with a toddler which made it quite unique and extremely tiring. The first half the trip was rough, the 24 hour flu swept through the family. I got it the night before we left so I was basically worthless on the trip <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-MBHdTDqVENo21S63WgBN_2wSTt08JC_tcLiBSM0YAgoRN1LphlSuFtIInW9RsMMFgQT2b4Jc_xIfaAC32bQd75ZFvAbQyvKv17lU-W6jqJgiy3ZZ4TKK11RJUK9jNMySD9ZkvOR2s0/s1600/101_4445.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-MBHdTDqVENo21S63WgBN_2wSTt08JC_tcLiBSM0YAgoRN1LphlSuFtIInW9RsMMFgQT2b4Jc_xIfaAC32bQd75ZFvAbQyvKv17lU-W6jqJgiy3ZZ4TKK11RJUK9jNMySD9ZkvOR2s0/s200/101_4445.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456273393191048562" border="0" /></a>there. A couple nights later it was Addison's turn, which is something I wouldn't wish on ANY parent. Last was Meghan who got it the night after Addison after sacrificing herself all night with Addison. Luckily, Doug and Jeannie (Meghan's parents) were with us or I don't know how we would have managed!<br /><br />We did manage to spend some time on the beach though. Addison loves playing in the water...she HATES the sand though. She hates it so much she won't even let us set her down in it, we have a great video but its not on this computer. It worked out to our advantage though cause she wouldn't leave the beach mats we put down.<br /><br />Addison's top 5 favorite things about Puerto Vallarta were:<br /><ol><li>The tigers and birdies which we visited many times a day to ROAR at.</li><li>The waterslide that she would go down with her dad...over and over and over</li><li>The slide at the mall nearby (see video below)<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy1M6cDm42pU-oeTPkdTZNk7DtNdYXaGUBwENq6Nxm_08Tj3fJNsbCpmzDMP605MaTu-KJ4wEyFTOrwf1hzyQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></li><li>Playing in the ocean and pool</li><li>The water fountain in the hotel lobby (see video below)<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxsi_DbQhA-RNxeW31G1fRUqBHP6r0y3BC8TBTedmS_q2xkGrIERxESNwsCHDBPXVENBfL6HGxnAx38tlqHsA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></li></ol>While the vacation was tiring and not nearly long enough, it was SO memorable. I can't help but to think how fortunate we've been with vacations during Addison's life. It won't always be like this but we are taking advantage of the opportunities that God blesses us with. I am sure we'll be back in Puerto Vallarta again one day though, its a wonderful place and Paradise Village is a great resort.<br /><br />The worst part of vacations, beside them ending, is coming home to a pile of work. At my job, I am a one man team so when I go on vacation, everything just waits for me...it makes vacation into both a blessing and a curse at times. I am just now, weeks later, finally getting caught back up again. I would take this vacation again in a heartbeat though...seeing the joy on Addison's face as she <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW5VlZJ6zaQ">experienced the ocean</a> was priceless!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-90161703253483009832010-02-28T22:16:00.005-06:002010-02-28T22:50:13.082-06:00Changes...to our homeGod's been so generous with us. While we aren't quite to the point where Meghan can stay home (hopefully once we sell our rentals we should be able to do it though) God's blessed us so much. Recently we found out that not only are we getting a nice tax rebate but I also got a bonus which I TOTALLY didn't expect. Honestly, with layoffs and stuff, I just didn't think they'd be giving out bonuses this year. I was besides myself with joy when I my boss called me with the news though. One nice thing with both of those is that we always tithe off of each of them and we usually do something different and find some new charities (besides church) to donate. This is kind of fun cause I like the idea of helping people out and using that money we've been blessed with. Now its time for us to figure out where we want to give the money too...there are so many good organizations out there that need money!<br /><br />The other fun thing is that we decided to take a big chunk of that money to finish our basement. We aren't going to put in the bathroom (yet) but we are going to have a finished bedroom and an additional den area down there. Luckily, the old owners did a LOT of the dirty work leaving us with a few smaller things to do to finish. Basically, we need to put down some carpet (the expensive part) and then paint, install a closet, and do some finishing touches. It will be nice to have the extra den so we can move the Wii and the other game systems we have down there so that if someone wants to play, they can at any time! :-) We rarely play though so we'll see if that changes very much.<br /><br />A big step for us in this process (and probably the most fun step) <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmaGMDpfnfrRwvTvkhsz0zHi6de_faXby165AVrZhAr928bE4HQvxLDzllquy8To5zO7LHPkYFlXfArSFBG_rZbs_GzBOeUoXDh29U4bvbWbS9GFqBJ5R_eSJuyjEQb8H3olXmBwzm_8/s1600-h/living+room+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmaGMDpfnfrRwvTvkhsz0zHi6de_faXby165AVrZhAr928bE4HQvxLDzllquy8To5zO7LHPkYFlXfArSFBG_rZbs_GzBOeUoXDh29U4bvbWbS9GFqBJ5R_eSJuyjEQb8H3olXmBwzm_8/s200/living+room+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443520673270192562" border="0" /></a>was getting new furniture. We decided to move our current stuff downstairs and get some new stuff for the main room. This is really the first furniture that we've bought together. Almost everything else in the house was either one of ours from before our wedding or a gift at our wedding. I picked up the furniture on Saturday night and got it all set up, it looks SO nice. We decided to go with leather so our furniture is more "kid-friendly". It was tough to make a decision but we ended up settling on a couch and two recliners. The recliners are amazingly comfy, I think the couch is going to be jealous cause I don't see us using it too often! haha<br /><br />I also started working on some new shelves in our storage <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLDI1pVpnWtSRy4cZuKAqIL5fHkctXLIvnZpmnduPua7jmMCI_j0g8TaufNDGK5jVeSZE4W2LaXdZ3zpkjkpxRb3dnZNAAnPFhLL31EENANudoFlcGB4h35Ar3kkIBj0xR_W3AF8gocA/s1600-h/living+room3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLDI1pVpnWtSRy4cZuKAqIL5fHkctXLIvnZpmnduPua7jmMCI_j0g8TaufNDGK5jVeSZE4W2LaXdZ3zpkjkpxRb3dnZNAAnPFhLL31EENANudoFlcGB4h35Ar3kkIBj0xR_W3AF8gocA/s200/living+room3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443520835239905154" border="0" /></a>room in the basement so we'll have a place for all our stuff in there! The first one turned out nice...now I just need to move it into the room, and secure it to the wall. Not something you can do alone! Since Meghan is visiting Beth in Missouri this weekend I had a lot of extra time so I spent most of the weekend organizing, cleaning, and building. It was quite productive but I sure do miss my girls. I am off to California in the morning for three days so I won't see them again until Thursday morning. Its going to be a rough 6-day stretch.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-78236072311856618602010-02-22T23:05:00.006-06:002010-02-23T00:11:51.333-06:00Changes...to our hearts (The Micah Project)Eagle Brook has a pretty amazing series, <a href="http://needs.eaglebrookchurch.com/february/the68project.php">The Micah Project</a>, going on that I think might have the power to really change the hearts and minds of the people of this church...and hopefully throughout the community. The staff has done an amazing job of giving us opportunities to open our hearts to those that are less fortunate than we are. Tonight our small group girls had the opportunity to volunteer with <a href="http://www.fmsc.org/Page.aspx?pid=398">Feed My Starving Children</a>, a group that <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUddCqMBqHOkYjhkX2xmickX3ejUS6SyVB-cngqWdUj5PxonBci6iWw9Ady5nOBO1LImykQ-Ca3YKxMKFwFv8Ki57O-evp6sHPHp3W1yACGPRzXpO0Skh1ILJNBDAJbky9I645mxqtgM/s1600-h/homefinal.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUddCqMBqHOkYjhkX2xmickX3ejUS6SyVB-cngqWdUj5PxonBci6iWw9Ady5nOBO1LImykQ-Ca3YKxMKFwFv8Ki57O-evp6sHPHp3W1yACGPRzXpO0Skh1ILJNBDAJbky9I645mxqtgM/s200/homefinal.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441317135171269426" border="0" /></a>puts together meals for starving children in poor countries around the world. Tomorrow (Tuesday), the guys get their turn (everyone in our group has kids so this allowed us to avoid babysitters)...I am really excited. The girls (along with the others that were at the Spring Lake Park campus put together enough meals to keep something 94 children fed for an entire year. What an amazing thought...one night of work can make such an impact! This really excites me for my chance to help.<br /><br />We are quite fortunate. I think we often forget about this. God takes such good care of us...we do so little for others. I am a little ashamed of that. My heart yearns for this at times and I ignore it. Hopefully God will continue to stir my heart. I do now understand what the Bible was talking about in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%207:32-35&version=NIV">1 Corinthians 7:32-34</a>. Being married can be a real challenge to being able to freely give of yourself to God. Your priorities change...they have to as you have people depending on you which is something that is rarely the case when you are single. I wish now that I had realized how much more I could have done when I was single. I have to be careful though to not use family as a crutch to not do the things I feel God is calling me to...its a fine line!<br /><br />Did I mention that I am really excited for tomorrow? We haven't been able to participate in everything the church has set up to work on our hearts. Last week they challenged us all to live for a week on a typical diet of the majority of the world (which entailed rice, beans, lentils, water, etc). Unfortunately, I was traveling most of the week and Meghan, being pregnant, really needs to watch her diet some. We, at least I, do hope to give it a try for at least a day though. I've heard it was quite challeng<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJcj3fpT970NhDHlHe9DaBLZMQO9m-mJZmhEdHVhmCV5ZvDU6Y2J3BR0Qsj5ZzwDBristHSfcp3uPIWAsir_MSWla8gjrmLuQVFzw-tPOu8x83Aszuo-KRaLToTX7p_zcVqd3-1W0lPQ/s1600-h/default_image.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJcj3fpT970NhDHlHe9DaBLZMQO9m-mJZmhEdHVhmCV5ZvDU6Y2J3BR0Qsj5ZzwDBristHSfcp3uPIWAsir_MSWla8gjrmLuQVFzw-tPOu8x83Aszuo-KRaLToTX7p_zcVqd3-1W0lPQ/s200/default_image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441317577829332530" border="0" /></a>ing! Another thing that was set up for last week was the <a href="http://www.worldvisionexperience.com/minisite/minisite.aspx?id=207">Step Into Africa</a> experience from World Vision where you walk through a simulated AIDS ridden village in Africa. While we weren't able to participate in many of the activities this time around, it wasn't in vain as I think we can still make changes to how we do life. I hope we can raise our daughter to have a good world view and compassion toward those less fortunate. Its our job as parents to instill these kinds of values in our children...Lord willing I won't let my daughter down in this area!<br /><br />Thank you EBC staff for creating an avenue for God to change our hearts!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-78954490789509090122010-02-11T23:28:00.007-06:002010-02-23T08:20:52.557-06:00What's going on with the Rasmussen'sWell we are a little overdue on an update with what we are up to these days. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Addison is now 15 months old. </span>I remember a short time ago bringing her home from the hospital wondering what in the world we are going to do with this little tiny pooping machine. Its amazing how much changes in just 1 year and 3 months. She's walking, talking, winking, roaring, laughing, running, playing, and smiling now. She's burrowed into our hearts in a way I can't even put into words. Honestly, its hard sometimes for me to even enjoy being away from home because I might miss something funny or amusing. I remember the first time she "winked" at us. I put it in quotes because we call it winking but really its blinking. We were at the mall in Coon Rapids and we let her down from the table we were eating at. She wandered over to a table with a couple kids and one of the girls was smiling at her and winked. Addison laughed and blinked at her. It was such a precious little moment that I cherish so much. You can see some videos of our little girl here:<br />http://www.youtube.com/user/trevorrasmussen<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvChbXr2nKaEYDw0Tv7w07GTopOR-DH_YNPk1tNQ0ohTq75Q0hhkE-DZbbt78IPJ9QrrPq05i4LbwUkdOmwX8o5Cvtk8ZcwuAaJlYk8OLsvuaXlM7Jr9vn5rh8sZFLl6dqLE48maFfDKo/s1600-h/airplane_l.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvChbXr2nKaEYDw0Tv7w07GTopOR-DH_YNPk1tNQ0ohTq75Q0hhkE-DZbbt78IPJ9QrrPq05i4LbwUkdOmwX8o5Cvtk8ZcwuAaJlYk8OLsvuaXlM7Jr9vn5rh8sZFLl6dqLE48maFfDKo/s320/airplane_l.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437230442980813378" border="0" /></a>She's getting ready to visit her <span style="font-weight: bold;">FOURTH country</span> (not counting the one she lives in) in less than a month and it makes me think what a charmed life she's been able to have so far. I never left the country until I was old enough to vote and she's seen France, Grand Cayman, Britain, and now soon Mexico before she can even go to the bathroom on her own!! I can't help but be thankful for how fortunate we've been with all the traveling we've done in the past year...it won't always be like this so we are enjoying it while it lasts (and while Addison can fly for basically free). God has blessed us amazingly...I can't lie there...we live a charmed life. Sure others have more, do more, its easy to focus on what we DON'T have...but what we DO have is pretty amazing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Valentines Day</span> is coming up, this year we are <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HwKbPuPGtbs8jMVi4Abija5RNNbqiZ5zXKjcIX3iX4P8h3PvszXCIjdTXVyMarg7IJNpcILvjswZPKsoOn3h_bxnC3lpQ1QEwIt6O8B8BKZ137dK2XMPwjGy0FrizhTeDKSit4db9II/s1600-h/heart-shaped20pizza20shot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HwKbPuPGtbs8jMVi4Abija5RNNbqiZ5zXKjcIX3iX4P8h3PvszXCIjdTXVyMarg7IJNpcILvjswZPKsoOn3h_bxnC3lpQ1QEwIt6O8B8BKZ137dK2XMPwjGy0FrizhTeDKSit4db9II/s320/heart-shaped20pizza20shot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437229766323963554" border="0" /></a>keeping it low-key again...following our past traditions. While its a fun day to remember how much we love each other, we try to not get too caught up in the whole thing. I usually buy Meghan a little something and we'll have dinner and then maybe relax by watching a movie together or something. This year, the Roelofs are coming by and we're having pizza (heart shaped of course) and renting a movie. Honestly I look forward to that as much as I do some extravagant dinner. I've learned to really enjoy the little things like that.<br /><br />Our <a href="http://shop.ebay.com/wiiskins/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686">eBay business</a> has expanded. We are no longer just a place to buy covers for your Wii Remotes. Our focus has moved more into selling clothes, books, movies, collectibles, etc. Anything around the house that we no longer use. Amazon and Craigslist have also been great places for us to unload stuff we no longer need! It started with our garage sale last summer. Our friend <a href="http://livesimpleforlife.blogspot.com/">Rachel </a>had a TON of nice stuff that just wasn't selling so we made an arrangement to sell it for them for a fee. Its worked out so well and we've both made a lot of money in the process. Then we moved onto our own stuff and even stuff from both of our parents. I actually enjoy it more than the our Wii Remote covers because every item that sells means a little more room in our basement and garage! We are finally getting close to fitting both cars in the garage which has truly been my goal. Once this is done, we hope to use some of this money to finish our basement and add some more value to our house. While eBay takes some time, its proven to be a great venture for us and we are thankful to our God for providing the extra revenue stream!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-51542649848921419822010-01-22T12:38:00.003-06:002010-01-22T12:51:12.388-06:00Marketing gone wrong?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPfVsgqa7Mx68QPhCczdhogHfbZRTGoWiTSuC8py2ZLovi2BuaflcXLpWr0rfUpeAXx9dM0cLFaTE61zCPcWTUzujOkFjohAILAMTrvZcrwhSYuGA2dASE1fCe_Sl3bu18URoqHLMOJw/s1600-h/15528848.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPfVsgqa7Mx68QPhCczdhogHfbZRTGoWiTSuC8py2ZLovi2BuaflcXLpWr0rfUpeAXx9dM0cLFaTE61zCPcWTUzujOkFjohAILAMTrvZcrwhSYuGA2dASE1fCe_Sl3bu18URoqHLMOJw/s320/15528848.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429638199592038466" border="0" /></a><br />Most of you know that I am in marketing. I am always looking to hear about new creative ways people are marketing their products and services to try to reach their customers. I've come up with a few unique ones myself with my company. I was reading some news articles when this headline popped out: "<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583659,00.html?test=latestnews"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Holiday Inn Offers 'Human Bed-Warming Service' to Combat Icy Sheets</span></a>". After reading the headline I thought to myself, this CANT be what its implying, can it? Little old Holiday Inn wouldn't try anything crazy like that now would they?<br /><br />Sure enough the article goes on to state,<br /><blockquote>"If requested, a willing member of hotel staff will jump in your bed, dressed head to foot in an all-in-one sleeper suit, until your nightly chamber warms up. Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall described the plan as something like having a "giant hot water bottle in your bed."</blockquote>Now I am sure on paper this sounded like a GREAT idea to some marketer who just KNEW this would get some press time. But what about the people who are hired to do this? What happens the first time they get some pervy guy (or Tiger Woods maybe) who wants them to stick around just a little longer. What happens when the wife finds out some young gal was in your bed "just to warm it up"? This sounds like a future PR nightmare to me. On top of that, how do you hire someone for this job? What are the qualifications to be a bed warmer. This was just too absurd of a story to not share. Anyone else hear and crazy marketing ideas lately that you just couldn't believe were real?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-42741141074759987642010-01-04T22:54:00.005-06:002010-01-05T00:06:24.938-06:002010 is here...whats going to change?2009 was a great year for the Rasmussen family. Addison got to experience a year full of firsts, 2010 will likely have much of the same as she still have so many firsts to achieve. I can't wait to be there for every one of them. Her biggest first will be that she gets to be a big sister for the first time. I realized that that we hadn't announced that to our readers on here so let it be known that Meghan and I are expecting the arrival of our next child sometime in early July. While we are really excited for our new addition, it brings a little apprehension too. Adding Addison to the mix was a big change but having two children in the house under 2 could prove to be really crazy. Luckily we'll get to go through a similar experience with three of our closest friends, the Roelofs, the Hidlebaughs, and the Normans. We are all expecting our second children within about 3-4 months of each other! Clearly Addison is too young to know how this will impact her life but we hope she'll take it all in stride!<br /><br />2010 will bring stability to our lives. There was a lot of change in 2009...new home, new church home, etc. It seems like every year since we've met has brought a lot of change, but I think 2010 will be a stabilizing year for us and I am really excited for that. We have a great home that is affordable along with good stable jobs (and hopefully a recovering economy). We feel like we have really solid renters at both of our rental homes which provides a HUGE amount of relief for us after the craziness of last year. While the new baby will bring some craziness and sleepless nights, the rest of our lives have finally stabilized which is something I thank God for!!<br /><br />With stable lives, its time to start focusing on ourselves a little bit too. For me, that means its time to really start to make sure that both Meghan and I are taking care of the important things in our lives. At Eagle Brook, I've heard Bob talk a few times now about defining your values. Its something I've never officially done, but its time for me to really do that.<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">God </span>(while its always important to me, I don't always make it a priority...its time to really change that. I need to make God ACTUALLY first, instead of on paper).</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Family </span>(Meghan and Addison are vitally important to me...this has never been a question...same with my extended family. I also need to find more time to push my relationship with Meghan as husband and wife...rather than Addison's parents)</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Work </span>(I like to think of myself as a hard worker, but I've developed some bad work habits that I need to clean up to be a harder, more efficient worker. With the football season winding down, its a good time to develop NEW better habits!)</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friends/Self </span>(I need to find more time to cultivate my friendships away from my family. While I LOVE my time with my family, Meghan and I both need to find time to spend with others to cultivate our individual sides of ourselves as well)</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hobbies/Sports</span> (I have no problem spending time watching sports, but playing them has always been something I enjoyed. I've put that on the side burner to be there for my daughter for her first year. I miss being in good shape...this might mean going out running or joining some kind of rec league.)</li></ol>I haven't figured out how this is going to look yet. My life feels busy but I think there is way too much time spend watching TV and on the computer. This can clearly be reduced to free up some time for my other values. TV and computer are NOT core values of my life. They serve an entertainment purpose but I feel like they are causing me to become lazy at times...I hate feeling lazy. I figure a new year is a great time to work on this...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-56189234168521300272009-12-26T22:59:00.008-06:002009-12-26T23:56:13.602-06:00Getting back into the groove!<span style="font-family:verdana;">Wow...so sorry for the past couple months. Life got a little crazy on us and the blog suffered as a result. I guess to get us back in the groove again, I (Trevor) thought I would just update you on what we've been up to lately for those who haven't been keeping up via other methods! </span> <ul style="font-family:verdana;"><li style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Addison celebrated her first birthday.The party was a blast, though I think we crammed about 4 hours worth of party into about 2 hours. </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzw5bsrNKSeD1PCb_XkBhDtycX64spVU-mqYHm-d3om97dUmilBV2dNAw9s1TmrB-yS1CY4pBUlfvIxfZDJ8bOXF8geLJ6YWr4cXpRyil4Onzkqb8yCMx6gvLUhnRyN5RQTdP9TaDsr_4/s1600-h/101_3862.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzw5bsrNKSeD1PCb_XkBhDtycX64spVU-mqYHm-d3om97dUmilBV2dNAw9s1TmrB-yS1CY4pBUlfvIxfZDJ8bOXF8geLJ6YWr4cXpRyil4Onzkqb8yCMx6gvLUhnRyN5RQTdP9TaDsr_4/s320/101_3862.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419777991335598034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">We had a costume party for the kids, it was adorable as the ages ranged from under 6 months to about 9 years all in costume! Addison LOVED her first bite of cake. She got TONS of new toys which she really needed as she was really bored with what she had. After the party, Addison went trick or treating with some of her cousins which was a lot of fun, the kids costumes were a hit with the neighbors.</span><br /></li></ul> <ul style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family: verdana;"><li>Addison has a great new babysitter, Bethany, who watches her on Wednesdays and Fridays (her Grandma Jeannie still does Mondays). She loves all the extra attention.</li></ul><ul style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(255, 204, 0);"><li>We learned that last December was no fluke for our <a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/wiiskins">eBay business</a> as it spiked again in mid-November. The increase in business means a boost in income for us which is SO helpful. We plan to pay off the 0% interest loans we used to get our new house up and going in 2010 with that money. We are so thankful for God providing for us.</li></ul><ul style="font-family:verdana;"><li><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0); font-family: verdana;">Things are going very well with our rentals. We are thrilled with both of the couples we selected which is a HUGE blessing. It was a rocky year as landlords, but we've learned a lot in the process and hopefully we'll make some good money back when we sell the homes. </span><br /></li></ul><ul style="font-family: verdana;"><li><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Now that we are settled in our house and at our church (<a href="http://www.eaglebrookchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=39287">Eagle Brook Church, SLP campus</a>), we realized it was time to get back involved again. We joined a small group in the fall. Our friends Matt and Rachel wanted to find a group as well so we went to <a href="http://216.150.3.22/pages/page.asp?page_id=36932">GroupLink </a>at EBC on a mission to find a group that we could join together. We found a great group that meets less than 10 minutes from our house and all the couples have kids so we are all in the same boat. Its really nice. Initially Addison did NOT like that we were leaving her in a strange basement with some strange kids watching her. We think it was a combination of separation anxiety and being in a strange place. She's adjusted now though and is playing downstairs with the kids really well! We are enjoying having some adult time and making some new friends and deepening our faith!</span><br /></li></ul><ul style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><li>The holidays were a flurry <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqbr2KrUYTz-2l07t03NsX623jmCOmLJQyBQIbm4MHHmeybCTrxVD6vVX34g1JI5ZX0dGW_QGf_gpW77wwmrhiVPhuwUCGkrYUDmZv5iF4s_UDMzI4px9uK296Uy-FJedxuo2WDkqji8/s1600-h/101_4077.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqbr2KrUYTz-2l07t03NsX623jmCOmLJQyBQIbm4MHHmeybCTrxVD6vVX34g1JI5ZX0dGW_QGf_gpW77wwmrhiVPhuwUCGkrYUDmZv5iF4s_UDMzI4px9uK296Uy-FJedxuo2WDkqji8/s320/101_4077.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419782597791420530" border="0" /></a>as always for us. We spent Thanksgiving with my family. It was filled with lots of fun times as always! Then we went back to Appleton again in mid-December to celebrate Christmas with my family. Its rare we get to see that much of my family so its always a treat when the holidays come around. Addison loved all the new, unique foods she got to try for the first time! We just returned from a long weekend of Christmas celebrations with Meghan's family. We were thankful <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivV9Vi79PWk67DSyZOxryqWfA6UnOUBsoZmFGmc5nueRlFpXVZ32LMv29mLsHEMbHLiBRoenVhVr2L5cAkzC_abfs_03bv8d0kkycUDWraTC8Q5gbMznGJO_egByc4_D5Gq7k2k7q8PyI/s1600-h/101_4073.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivV9Vi79PWk67DSyZOxryqWfA6UnOUBsoZmFGmc5nueRlFpXVZ32LMv29mLsHEMbHLiBRoenVhVr2L5cAkzC_abfs_03bv8d0kkycUDWraTC8Q5gbMznGJO_egByc4_D5Gq7k2k7q8PyI/s320/101_4073.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419788220293230658" border="0" /></a>we didn't have to drive four hours in this crazy storm so it was a good thing that it was time for Meghan's family to have Christmas this year! Addison LOVES presents. Not so much what is in them though...she loves playing with them and ripping them open. Once they are open, she's less interested! haha After we show her what it does though, she loves all the new gifts.</li></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067760351739906789.post-16603807532526729092009-09-15T15:47:00.000-05:002009-09-15T15:50:07.950-05:00The final push...There isn't much time left in the Twins season. With the football season kicking in Meg and I thought we should take a final opportunity (only our second time of the year) to catch our favorite baseball team live in action. <br /><br />Keep an eye open for us if you watch the game tonight...we'll be cheering loudly for our favorite team that is just barely hanging in there for the division. We are excited for the game, this will be Addison's second game and she's MUCH older this time so hopefully she'll enjoy it! Its going to be late night though...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05080548057202346646noreply@blogger.com3