Hippity Hoppity

We spent this morning coloring eggs and making sugar cookies. My camera battery was dead, so I didn't get a picture of the eggs. I'll try to get one tomorrow before we eat them because they turned out really cool! Mom and I discovered a rubber band trick in Real Simple and it was awesome! I did manage to snap this picture of the cookies when I got home and charged the battery (I'm still kind of shocked that Dustin hadn't eaten them all within 5 minutes of me getting home!).

Yummy!

Home Improvements

Part of an on-going lighting project, Dustin and my dad installed a new fan/fixture for us in the kitchen. I love it! Now we just need Dustin's electrician friend to come over and install the lighting in two of our bedrooms.

Good Times

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Dustin and I went out for supper at Cubby's Friday night where we ran into my parents and a bunch of people my mom works with. We went to Sioux Falls Saturday afternoon and wandered around the mall for a couple hours. Pretty pointless ... I was looking for something specific, but I can never find what I'm looking for. I need to just go sometime with nothing in mind. After the mall, Dustin wanted to go to the Last Stop CD Shop. And we found Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt!!

When Dustin's parents moved, we did the cleaning out of Dustin's things and brought home his Nintendo and Super Nintendo. We don't have many games for either, but we do have Mario World and Mario Kart for Super Nintendo. Anyway, my sister was equally stoked about our find, so I went over to her house last night and we played Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 all night! It was awesome!

Don't worry, we both realize that we're kind of lame. But I know you are all jealous, you can admit it.

Bathroom Art

As promised, my mom found something for me to hang in the bathroom. I love it!! With the exception of the doors on the vanity (that stupid wallpaper stuff just doesn't want to come off and the doors need a fresh coat of paint), this room is complete!

We have the next room to be updated figured out ... I'll let you know what we're planning soon!

My Mantra

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
~Maya Angelou~

I shouldn't say that this is my mantra. This WILL be my mantra. Things haven't been real great at work lately. It's been very busy and, at times, very frustrating. It doesn't look like things will change anytime soon and I've noticed that I've been complaining a lot lately. I don't like it. There is nothing that I can do that will change the way things have been going, but I can control how I react to it.

What's Up?

I haven't really posted much lately, other than pictures of my beautiful niece (who can blame me?). So, I figured I would post a little update on what Dustin and I have been up to lately. And the report is, not much. We finally booked our flights for a trip out to D.C. to see Dustin's parents, Jeff and Cindy. We are stoked for this trip!! We are going to head out the end of April. It's just a quick weekend trip (Thursday - Monday) but we can't wait to get out there and see them. They have been very busy finding fun places to take us to ... I'm so excited, you have no idea!

We are hosting a Super Bowl party on Sunday too. We enjoy entertaining and it makes it even better that Jeff and Cindy have let us borrow their bar while they are living it up in the big city! Thanks again!! Here's the menu for the party ...

Chislic (of the deer variety)
Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts
Southwest dip
Fruit salsa with cinnamon chips

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?! We're really looking forward to it. Football is kind of a big deal in our house, so this is another Christmas for us ... or something like that!

I'm traveling for work in February (mostly meetings, but I do get to catch a couple basketball games). I'm heading to Oklahoma the 18-20th and then Minneapolis the 21-22nd. We're going to the OU/Baylor game on the 19th ... which reminds me that I need to get in touch with Dustin's uncle to see if he'll be at that game ... and the U of M/Michigan game on the 21st. It should be fun.

And I think that about covers it!

Allie's First Haircut!

Allie got her first haircut last night. She is too cute for words!!

Bathroom Revamped!

Okay, so they're not the greatest pictures. Taking pictures of your bathroom is kind of difficult! Anyway, mom and I painted my bathroom this weekend and I love it!! I'm not quite done with this room, I hope to get something for the wall. But at least we got that border down now. :-) I've had this curtain for a while and thought about getting something new when we moved in. But I liked the idea of a fun color in the bathroom and this works great! Thanks for all your help mom!!

Scattered Friends

My friends Jon and Emily are home from Shanghai for a quick visit. I can't believe it's already been seven months since they've moved there. Anyway, I had a chance to catch up with both of them, albeit very briefly, and some of their stories are just amazing. They are planning on living there for two years, but they both hinted that they'll probably stay over there. Who could blame them ... it sounds like they are having an incredible experience! I recently started sending Emily some reading material since she has such a hard time finding English books in Shanghai, and when she does find them they are quite expensive. When she stopped by today, she returned a few of the books that I sent her and brought me a gift!

Thank you so much Emily! This scarf is so beautiful and I love it! My first instinct is to do some custom framing and hang it on the wall ... maybe in my library/piano room.

She even had the scarf translated for me. We're pretty sure this is what is says:

长亭外，古道边，芳草碧连天，晚风拂柳笛声残，夕阳山外山。天之涯，海之角，知交半零落。一斛浊酒尽余欢，今霄别梦寒。长亭外，古道边，芳草碧连天，晚风拂柳笛声残，夕阳山外山。 －－民国·李叔同·《送别》

A Valediction--by Li Shutong

Beyond the distant pavilion

Beside the ancient road

Jade green and fragrant, high grass joins the sky

Evening breeze sways dripping willows

Dying flute notes linger still

On the hill behind the hill, the sun sets

To the ends of the earth and corners of the seas

Half our friends are scattered

With a scoop of thick wine

Let's enjoy what joy remains

Tonight's cold dreams shall be held at bay

Beyond the distant pavilion

Beside the ancient road

Jade green and fragrant, high grass joins the sky

Evening breeze sways dripping willows

Dying flute notes linger still

On the hill behind hill, the sun sets

The Shelf

I've been wanting a shelf like this for quite some time, especially after we took the Christmas tree down and rearranged the living room. After searching online and not quite finding what I wanted (or the price I wanted), my sister and I went to Sioux Falls today. We went to three different stores before I found one that I liked. I got quite the bargain on it, spending about $50 less than what I thought I would have to. Since I got such a bargain, Nichole and I decided to go downtown and see if we could find anything to put on my shelf. We ended up at Ten Thousand Villages (I love this store!) and I found the star and elephant you see on the top shelf. The star is actually a puzzle box from India and the elephant is carved out of some type of translucent stone from Pakistan. I intended to buy only one thing but I loved these both so much that I just couldn't choose!

P.S. Thank you to Mom and Dad, Jeff and Cindy, and Grandma and Grandpa Beringer ... I used some of my Christmas money to get the shelf and trinkets!

Happy New Year!

"For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." - T.S. Eliot

"Be at war with your vices; at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

Cheers to 2008!

Random pictures

The Bjerke gals at Christmas


My apple tree still has apples!

"It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you ... Yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand."

Mother Teresa

Christmas Baking

Busy, busy

Allie attempting to help

Allie was really interested in the divinity-making process (I believe this was round two for the divinity and Shelly jumped in to help)!

Mom, Aunt Jan (left) and Aunt Louise (right) putting the finishing touches on the goodies

Christmas baking has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. I started tagging along to help a few years ago. I think it might have been shortly after Mike and Louise moved to England. I'm not much help, I only made one thing this year and it simply required that I melt some white chocolate chips and add cheerios and fruit. After that, I chased Allie around and entertained with some Christmas music on the piano. But it's still fun. We'll bring all the goodies to our Christmas gathering in Sioux Falls tomorrow and we shipped a box to Grandma and Grandpa in Texas. They should get it Christmas Eve, so they'll have goodies to enjoy on Christmas as well.

A visit from an old friend ...

Heather was back in town, so Steve and I met her downtown for a couple drinks. It was great seeing her again. My old student, Lindsie, was out and about as well.

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas tree

With just over 1,000 lights!

Cutest Christmas Toddler Ever!

The Larson kid's holiday party was last Friday night and I tagged along. Nichole came over to get me so I could do Allie's hair (or at least attempt to do her hair). She doesn't have much, but I managed to get those pigtails in. She was so adorable. She seemed to have a good time, but as you can see in the picture above she doesn't quite know what to make of Santa. But she loves her suckers! Her mother took one away from her and she was not pleased with that. Grandma ended up getting her another one, which ended up in my hair. Of course. All the kids that attended got Christmas presents and they were also able to make some crafts and decorate some cookies. Allie was totally digging her rockin' Elmo guitar!

The Richest Man in Town

I had the opportunity to read this book shortly after it came out. Anyone and everyone who has read this book knows Marty as the "Wal-Mart guy". Well, I knew him long before he was ever the "Wal-Mart guy".

My mom started working for the Volga Tribune shortly after I was born. Marty worked for Reynold's Printing, which shared a building with the newspaper. I think I first met Marty when I was two. He was always grandpa Marty (and continued to be grandpa Marty to so many kids that went through his cashier line). I found out last night that Marty was an influence in my mother's decision to pursue her art. He convinced her that if she entered a contest for a logo design that she would win. He even bet a steak dinner on it! Well, she did enter ... and she won. I believe that foundation is still using her logo to this day. The book talks about how Marty believes in people and my mom is the proof that that wasn't something that just came about in his old age. He always believed in people.

V.J. Smith (author of the book and good friend of Marty's) was speaking last night at the Old Sanctuary. It seems that a publishing company has picked up this little book and is bringing it to the masses. My mom knows V.J. and I remember when he spoke at my college graduation. He is an excellent speaker and, quite honestly, an exceptional person. He takes little credit for bringing Marty's life lessons to everyone. So, mom and I stopped down. She had a copy of the book, but has since lost track of it. I'm sure someone, somewhere is enjoying it right now. Well, we had to get her another copy and V.J. was signing the books too. We missed the majority of his speech but the tail end was pretty good! Mom bought me a copy too. When I got home last night, I sat down intending only to read the forward by the founder of the publishing company. I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to put it down. I read the whole thing .... again. I read it straight through the first time I read it too. And both times I cried my eyes out.

This is truly an exceptional book about the most wonderful man. The world certainly needs a lot more people like Marty in it.

If you have not read this book, you need to. While not everyone has had the opportunity to meet Marty or someone like him, this book gives you the best insight to how great he was.

'Tis the Season!

My company holiday party was held Friday and Saturday night (Nov. 30 and Dec. 1). I've been filling the position of Employee Committee president this year and though I wasn't on the planning committee for the party, I did create all the marketing elements for it.

Friday night was packed, we had approximately 900 people in attendance. (After maxing out the Swiftel Center last year, we had to hold the party over two nights this year.)

I awoke Saturday morning to snow ... lots and lots of snow. There were times throughout the day that we wondered if we would even have the party that evening. But 7" of snow won't keep us crazy South Dakotans from a good party. While we were expecting 800 people Saturday night, we ended up with approximately 425. It was still a great time and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Both nights featured music from the SDSU String Ensemble. They were fantastic! And guests enjoyed games of Texas Hold'Em, Black Jack, Roulette and Craps. Guests were also able to enter into drawings for various prizes and we held a live drawing at the end of each night. Employees still received door prizes and we still had our grand prize drawings. Two lucky employees (one from each night) went home with a Wii. I was really hoping that we wouldn't draw names of people that were in attendance and that I might be able to take it home! No such luck.

Hats off to the committee that planned the event and to the rest of my Employee Committee members for helping to pull it all off.

"Lucky You" was the theme for this year's company holiday party

Amanda, Dawn and myself enjoying the activities