Kirsten and Scott's LaBlog

We're Dry

No need to worry...although some parts of Des Moines are starting to flood we are quite a ways from the river.  Everyone seems pretty calm, apparently everyone learned a lot from the flood in 1993.  Not much else to report at this point, we'll do our best to keep the blog updated if things start to happen.

p.s.
Frankly the biggest disappointment for the weekend is the fact that the Des Moines Brewfest got canceled, oh the humanity!

Farmer's Market

We made it to the Farmer's Market for the first time this spring.  We should have known it was going to be busy, it was already 70 degrees at 9:00 in the morning!

Regency Homes Trouble

Not sure how much everyone has heard about Regency Homes (the people that built our house).  It's fairly big news here, but I doubt much has been covered outside of Iowa.  I've been in contact with some of the news agencies out here to try and spread the word.  Here's an article that appeared in a the Des Moines Register today that outlines some of the issues.  If you look closely you'll see a cute couple photographed for the article.  And if you read closely you'll see of the two quoted...

Here's the story

Update

We are fine.  We are waiting to see if we are getting sod & a mailbox.  Kirsten started full time at her job last week.  I'm sure we'll have lots of things to share soon so, keep checking in. 

Another week...

Its hard to believe its almost the weekend!   

Gradually Getting Settled

We are happy to report we are getting our lives back.  After a very stressful week, we spent most of the day unpacking and setting up my kitchen.  We did have a little excitement when I sliced my thumb while washing a mandolin style veggie- meat slicer.  I couldn't possibly continue right away so I managed to get a little xbox time.  Our home is very cozy and quiet.   I actually went grocery shopping last night without worrying about storing food in a basement.  On that note, I was at the meat counter when a man came up after me and ordered 1 slice of bacon.  I don't believe I've ever heard someone order 1 slice of bacon.  After some uncomfortable silence, he explained he needed a slice to flavor his baked beans. 

The Final Countdown

Its 11:00 am and we close on the house in exactly 113 hours - but who's counting?  I am.  Now the fun begins.  Scott and I are getting ready to start 4 days of packing.  we saw the house yesterday and boy are we excited!  We have our walk through on Tuesday, close on Friday & the movers are scheduled for Saturday.  I hope we can get everything done this week.  I guess our landlords will let us back if we forget something. :)

The Long Awaited Caucus Update

I know I promised an update on my 1st ever caucus.  With the upcoming Colorado caucus, I thought that this would be a good time to do so.  I am a Democrat. Republicans in Iowa do something much more simple and very different.  Our Democratic and Republican caucuses were held at a nearby grade school.  We arrived at 6:30 pm and we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to sign in.  In Iowa, caucus goers can register on caucus night before the caucus.  This may not be true for Colorado.  We were both already registered so, we continued on to the gymnasium.  After we arrived, we listened to instructions from the head guy and voted for different local positions for the local democratic precinct.  We also had the opportunity to donate to the state democrats and local democrats to cover election and caucus costs.

Finally, we could caucus for our presidential candidates.  Before caucusing, the man in charge, counted us one by one.  This was incredibly tedious.  I think there has to be a better way to do this.  I think a person at the door with a clicker would have been more efficient.  Afterwords, we all gathered by candidate in different corners of the gym.  The precinct captains for each candidate counted each group. If the candidate had at least 15% of the people, he or she was considered viable.  If not, the supporters of the candidate could go and join a different group.  After a couple more counts and some very complicated mathematical calculating, delegates were announced.  These delegates will go to the state primary in June.  Scott's dad will be one of our delegates for Barrack Obama.

After the presidential caucus, we also could bring up issues for the democratic party to consider.

Good luck to everyone caucusing the next few weeks!  Support whoever you feel addresses your issues the best and please caucus.  After my caucus experience, I feel that  we can each make a difference and
we can have a hand in creating the nation we want.  I do feel that we can change this country for the better by looking at the issues and by making sure our voices are heard.

Botanical Center Trip

This past weekend we headed out to the Des Moines Botanical Center.  We had a high of about 4 degrees, so it seemed the thing to do.  It's in a huge dome that feels like a spring day inside, so it turned out to be a nice surprise.  Here are are few of the photos from our little trip.

 

We're out and about

 

shopping at antique stores and ran across this item...it really does give you something to think about