A few of the ways I spend my time lately...

...no need to say that life is very VERY busy and full at present!

These are some of the reasons why:

Michael comes and visits every 1 1/2 weeks or so and is a huge distraction to me. ;)

(Here we were up at Mid Dakota, looking at the hopper bins I bought.)

Of course, he's always very helpful too. Yesterday morning, I went out to do chores and found him expanding the turkey pen so they can have more grass and weeds to peck around in. I love that guy so much!

 I still babysit for parts of 3 days every week (and this little one keeps me hopping!)

 I went and had a "Wedding-hair-trial day" with Lauretta and her sisters...

 ....making pickles and sauerkraut....

 ...trying to keep up with the tomatoes.  Today, my mom, Andrew and I picked all of the tomatoes and peppers (I pulled the onions up a few days ago), as there is a chance of a frost the next 2 nights.

 ...and going to special events!   This year, Michael was able to go with me and most of my family to the Alfred church's annual Harvest of Thanks celebration.

Then yesterday, my mom and Michael and I went to a GoDesana essential oils class in Jamestown (we were there for 6 hours). We learned a lot, and yet, I'm sure there is still a vast amount of knowledge to be had on this topic.  

This morning, Michael and Andrew worked on some projects around the house here. They assembled the little red wagon that we'll use at the wedding. Michael and I worked on our wedding programs and are almost satisfied with the wording there. :)  We've also been working through our last 2 lessons in the Pre-marriage counseling book, "Preparing For Marriage".  We're talking about Money, Money, Money now.... 

We've been getting a lot of RSVP replies recently for our wedding, so that's been very helpful. I'm getting more and more excited for THE BIG DAY to arrive!!!  

God is so GOOD!  

He's keeping us sane through all the busyness and I'm finding this planning time mostly enjoyable too. :)  I was working on a wood-burning project this evening...but I can't tell about that until after the wedding, as it's a surprise.

Hair-styling...

This afternoon, after I was done babysitting, I drove over to Lauretta's house to get in on the fun of trying out different hairstyles for her wedding. Some of her sisters were there too, so the table was full of hair clips and curling irons and bobby pins... I also tried on the dress (again) I'll be wearing as one of Lauretta's bridesmaids. Now they can finish sewing the zipper in and hemming it up.

This evening, my mom came over and we turned several heads of cabbage into 11 quarts of sauerkraut. Yummy!

The guys came yesterday to dig her telephone line in, so soon she'll have a landline at their new house.

My dad and Andrew have been very busy getting and keeping Mid Dakota Grain up and running at Steele. One or the other of them have also been doing jobs with their portable rigs. Jacob has been down with a cold (everyone else but I have had that too), so he's been helping Mom with projects over there.

And the big news:

It is ONE MONTH TODAY until I become Mrs. Michael Dalquist. :)  I can hardly wait!!!

Tables and chairs!

Praise be to God----we have tables and chairs reserved for our wedding at last! :)  We can get them from the Christine Community Center, so that will be very handy to have them so near the church.

Ohhhh, there is so very much to tell...about James and Jenny's wedding and the craft fair that Michael took me to and the bridal shower...... And I have pictures too, but don't have the needed ambition to get them over to my computer from my phone tonight, so that will have to wait a while yet.

Lauretta came over last night, just to visit and talk about wedding plans, and we watched a movie (to take a break from all things wedding related). We're both very much looking forward to our wedding days (and are practicing walking in our wedding shoes to get them broke in a bit, both the shoes for our own weddings, and the shoes for each others').

The guys now have the bins and conveyor moved to Steele. They had to get them from Woodworth, ND and ended up renting  a trailer and also Andrew bought a low-boy trailer at the ORR auction last Friday.  While they were loading a bin, a chain dropped and smashed Andrew's telehandler windshield in, so that wasn't helpful, but at least everyone was kept safe. PTL!

Michael is coming tomorrow evening. We are hosting a Project Appleseed shoot at the farm here on Saturday and Sunday, so it will be a blessing to have him here to help prepare on Friday!!  Plus, it will just be nice to have him here. :)   He's bringing the freezer he bought for us, and it's full of the beef he had butchered for our wedding and our future lives together.  There was a mixup at the butcher-shop, so our menu is changing slightly, as we need to figure out what to do with hamburger, rather than the roasts we were planning on using for pulled beef.  Hmmmm

I babysat yesterday and today, and will again tomorrow.   In mid-October, Paula's mom will come and stay for a while and babysit, so I can prepare for the wedding; get married; and go on a lovely honeymoon with my beloved. I can hardly wait!

Will blogging ever be "Back to normal"?

Paula and I were talking about my blog yesterday and were commenting how it might never again be on a daily basis that I post about our lives. Life is just getting fuller and busier than it has ever been before! 

BUT, I do not plan to completely abandon this little spot on the Web, so I hope some of you will check in from time to time still. :)

God answered our prayers favorably and we were able to sell our calf to a lady west of Jamestown. Michael & I delivered the heifer to her new owners on Friday morning, before going to our next pre-marriage counseling session with the Kyners and then going from there to the Crystal Springs Baptist camp for the Labor Day Family Camp work day. Andrew met us there later and brought over the camper. 

 While the guys helped with putting sheetrock up in a building on the campgrounds, I was busy picking rocks (yes, picking rocks!) and scrubbing decks and tables and chairs off.

Mr. Israel Wayne and his wife, Brook were the speakers at camp this time. It was really neat to meet Brook finally, as I feel like I've known her for a long time from reading about her and Israel's betrothal when I was a young teenager. She's very sweet and gentle, just the way I'd imagined her to be. 

Before I post the few pictures I have from camp, here are a couple of the ever-growing-and-changing boy, Vonn Gunner. :)  I babysat yesterday and today and will have this little guy here tomorrow. 

 He still enjoys his bottle from time to time. :)

OH, and Jacob and I got a pen set up and let the turkeys outside. They're really enjoying their new freedom.

I've been busy with trying to keep up with the garden, although I'm feeling quite behind. I've made a lot of pickles and tomato sauce, and yesterday made peach jam and chokecherry jelly. Today I started dehydrating zucchini. Tomorrow I need to turn my attention to tomatoes again. AND cabbage that Michael's mom sent me...

~~~ 

Back to camp:

Saturday and Sunday were both cloudy and cool days, not very ideal for playing in the water, but that didn't stop everybody.

 Water-skiing was popular, as usual.

 ...And guess who learned how it's done??

 Yep, my guy!

Doesn't he look like a pro already? :)

This was right before we decided to go change and go swimming (and went down the water slide a few times too). That didn't last long though, before it was time to warm up again. 

 One of our camp friends captured this moment on her camera.  Michael and I were on separate teams in the "Amazing race", and we had just received our instructions and were just getting up from the tables to get started, when I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see who it might be.... :)  

I sure do love my Michael!!

 My mom came over on Sunday for the day. We all went home Sunday night.

Monday (Labor Day), we got to work. My dad, Michael, my brothers and I cleaned up the mess of old stinky grain on the pavement behind our new business in Steele, (Mid Dakota Grain Processing), and Michael also mowed the lawn up there and I took the big weed-whacker around the building and under a bin, but then ran out of string and had to stop. 

 Andrew was knocking down old dusty stuff...

 ...as was Michael...

 Jacob and I swept it together and Dad loaded it up...

 I should have taken a "Before" picture, but believe me when I say that this is a huge improvement.

This last picture is, well, just because. :)

Michael and I got a little more wedding planning done before he had to leave Tuesday morning.

AND we have some big news!!!  

Michael and I purchased our first vehicle together!! :) We want something reliable and fuel efficient for our honeymoon (and for other times too, but especially for that). Our car is currently at Michael's place, as Michael's Pastor, Dan rode with Michael to Fargo and drove it home for us. I'll share pictures at another time. I have to see it first...

This weekend, I/we'll be heading for Minnesota for Michael's brother, James' wedding!  SO much love and joy is in the air these days. 

THANK YOU, LORD.

First clean grain!

Mid Dakota Grain Processing, LLC did it's very first grain cleaning job today!! :)  Hooray!  The guys are still working on some improvements, and have lots of plans for the future, but at least it's up and operating now.

My mom went to Bismarck today and also picked up our Azure order in Dawson. I had placed a good sized order and bought a bunch of spices to fill my cupboards with, so now my food can have flavor again! NICE.

After babysitting today, I went over to our neighbor's (Duane & Shirley) house, as they had a ring-bearer pillow that they donated to our wedding (and some cake pans too). :)  We had a really nice visit and I got to see pictures of some of the places they've traveled too (honeymoon ideas).

This evening, I've been making phone calls, trying to get our one and only bottle calf sold (the ad is on Bismanonline) and attempting to find tables and chairs that we can use for our wedding, as we need a bunch more.  Anybody have suggestions??

And now it's time for sleep. Awwwww

God is so good.