My Condo is Up for Sale!

I LOVE my current condo but I'm tired of the stairs.  Keep your fingers crossed that it sells quickly so I can move into the one floor condo I've made an offer on!!!  Photos of the new one tomorrow :)

Joplin Tornado Follow-up

On Wednesday, May 25th we stopped at the post office and left a note for Dad that we had been in town searching for him.  Then we found that we could park and walk into the decimated area to find Dad's house.  We walked miles!!!!  Found his home.  His home still had 2 walls standing whereas next door had only a part of one wall standing.  Most homes were just razed to the ground...gone.

We spoke with Dad's next door neighbor and learned that he had just finished digging a crawl space 2 weeks before beneath his home.  Dad and his wife weren't in it but a few minutes before the tornado hit.  A stranger a couple of streets over took Dad and Lou in for the night and then drove them to one of their relatives homes in Kansas to stay.  Two complete strangers offering up such amazing kindness.  From there Lou's daughter came and picked them up.  I don't think that they'll be returning to Joplin.  They made it out with only the clothes that they had on and only a few dollars.  Again...they are so lucky to be alive!!!  The folks in Joplin and here at home that helped us try to track Dad were absolutely God sent!!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and also for the chance to have a renewed relationship with an estranged father!

The 1st photo below is from the Jasper County Assessors office-Dad's home BEFORE the tornado.  The following are his home AFTER and additional shots of his neighborhood.  You can click on them to make them larger :)

I read just today that only a handful of people are still unaccounted for.  I pray that they turn up alive somewhere!

Joplin Tornado

05/24 I work for Edward Jones as my day job in Davenport, IA. My boss contacted his counterparts in Joplin Monday to help with my search. It's been quite a challenge here. We were told to make our first stop the makeshift morgue. A stranger to town from Texas volunteered to escort us to the morgue from the police station. When we got there we weren't allowed in. Our escort got us back to the college campus here where we were told by Sheriffs that we would need to have DNA testing. We got to the college and that was not the case. We filed our missing persons report and were told at that time that my dad was not one of the 50 out of 116 (at that time) confirmed dead. We were given a list of hospitals in several states to begin calling after we ate and slept. We went 30 hours without sleep. As we were leaving the college my boss called from Davenport to let me know that a financial advisor from a local Joplin Edward Jones branch had just found that my dad and his wife are "safe". We have not been in contact with them yet. We've been very busy with our search here but unsuccessful in locating dad. I just read that the post office will be holding mail for those with destroyed homes. I will be leaving a letter for him before I leave tomorrow sometime. Dads home was in the very middle of the decimated area. How he survived I don't know. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all so much for caring!

iPad2

Well, March 11th I went to BestBuy right after work.  I wanted to compare my 1st Gen iPad with the new to be released at 5pm iPad2.  There were probably 75 people in line.  I just strolled right inside.  All I wanted was to see the difference in weight and size.  Bummer...they weren't even on display until 5pm.  I went home...heck, I already the 1st Gen.  But...I went back the next day.  The iPad 2 is SO much thinner it's amazing (see shot below).  That alone did it for me.  I LOVE to read on my Ipad.  The thinner iPad2 is much easier to hold for long periods of time.  I use the Kindle app because the pages turn much better than the iBooks app.  I had purchased the new Kindle3 a few weeks ago because it is so much lighter than my iPad.  I returned it because I couldn't see the screen.  That e-ink is not all it's cracked up to be.  The Kindle is VERY light which was awesome...but if you can't see the screen it's worthless.  Now, the backlighting on the iPad is the way to go for me.  I've never had eyestrain from the backlighting.  Anyway, back to the iPad2.  It is easier to hold, a bit lighter and much faster.  There was absolutely no problem with the speed of my 1st Gen but I can definitely notice the difference in the upgrade.  I will be adding my 1st Gen to Craigslist in a bit.  I have to wait for my new German felt cover from Byrd and Belle to arrive.  I LOVE this cover/case.  I won't go anywhere without it.  I tried the new SmartCase by Apple.  As a screen cover it is great.  As a stand it is horrible.  I use a Griffin A Frame stand...awesome.  Anyway, I'm a rambling....point here is that I LOVE my new iPad2 :)

Heaven Is For Real

Heaven is for real!  What a catchy title!  What an amazing, uplifting book.  This is a true story of a 4 year old boy and his account of meeting God.  Yes, I'm sure that there will be many skeptics.  This book left me with a much needed renewed faith. Bless you little Colton Burpo.  This book is a must read...check out the reviews yourself.

Serious Addiction

Below are shots of my new serious addiction!  I just cannot get enough of these little beauties.  These gorgeous necklaces are made by Urban Legend.  So far, I've purchased these four.  All are made with vintage Lucite beads....LOVE them!  Head over and take a peek yourself!

Urban Legend

Urban Legend

Urban Legend

Urban Legend

Score!

Wow!  I was lucky enough to have found more of this trim yarn also!!!!  This cotton candy pink set was my popular set in 2009!!  You can find it here.

Happy Tuesday!

Just a little test for me to see how this works ;)  Isn't little Owen just a doll?  A very special thank you to Andrea at Marmalade Skies Photography for her precious photo!!

www.marmaladeskiesphotography.com