Welcome to Arlington

Grandma Henry's house at the edge of town.

One of the three grain elevators in our town.  This one is the biggest.

More grain storage.  Down the street from my house.

I used to live here until I was 5.  Hard to recognize the house with all the "stuff" hindering your view.

This is not technically in Arlington.  I have a lot of field pictures from outside of Arlington as well as our trip to Flandreau and the surrounding country.  This might located near Trent, SD.

Mainstreet on a Saturday afternoon.

Every town has a watertower with its name on it.  Our tower has the school mascot - the cardinal.

The city park.  In the distance is the swimming pool, tennis court, and sand volleyball pit.

This is a section of town that is being developed.  The mass of trees in the distance is the cemetary.  In South Dakota, if you see a group of trees - they are serving a purpose.

This is probably my favorite picture of the day.  The parking lot for the Lutheran Church.

This is the shed where we keep the bikes.  Mine is currently at the camp so we've restored my mom's bike and I've been using that.  I actually like it a lot better than my own bike.

My dad sells and services fire extinguishers.  We have a few.

Last picture of the day - our house from the back.  

For those of you never fortunate enough to visit Arlington, I hope this gives you a little glimpse into prairie life.

For those of you who have been fortunate to either visit or live in Arlington, I hope this allows you to see your town in a new light.  

the map in my mind

Today is Natalie's birthday.  Happy Birthday!

Today Jen left for Uruguay.  Safe travels my friend!

Today Machelle learned the due date for her baby - her birthday.  Congrats!

It has been a pretty quiet day for me, despite the previous list. 

Sometimes I imagine a map of the United States in my mind.  It would be something akin to the map on the movie Men in Black.  Don't mock me for my movie references, please.  :)  On my map there are pins that mark all of the people I know or have known.  I imagine what they are doing right now as I sit in my room in South Dakota.  Sometimes the map is larger - to include all of my international friends.  Lately, it has included Africa when I think and pray for Jana.  It includes Germany when I think and pray for Fabian and Anke.  

If you are reading this, more than likely you have a pin in my map.  I am thinking of you and praying for you.  I have a lot of time to do that as I wait to hear about a job.

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Yesterday was Memorial Day.  I was going to write and post a beautiful picture of our Avenue of Flags.  However, it was very windy and they took down the flags 3 hours before they said they were going to, so I wasn't able to get a picture.  Without the picture, the post didn't happen.  That isn't to say I didn't celebrate.  I have always loved Memorial day and now that both of my grandpas have passed away - it is even more important for me to celebrate and remember.

oh what a beautiful day!

Today we had people over to our house for lunch in honor of my seminary graduation.  It was a very informal thing, but I was really glad my parents suggested doing it.  There were little kids running around, I saw friends and cousins and aunts and one uncle :)  that I haven't seen since Christmas - which was great.

I also dug out my mom's bicycle from the back corner of an old shed we have.  My bike is currently at the camp and will stay there until I get serious about getting it.  Until then I will ride my mom's awesome bike.  This bike has been through a lot.  When I was a little girl, we were on our way camping and were pulling a camper and our boat.  All of our bikes were in the boat and something happened that caused the boat to tip over while going down the highway (I don't remember what caused it).  Anyway, my mom's bike took the worst beating (the seat is held together with electrical tape.)  Other than that, it is in great condition and I'm excited to ride it around.

For those of you who were admiring my pies - they went over well.  The strawberry pie was gone right away and I got raves on the strawberry rhubarb pie as well.  The rhubarb custard was pretty good, too.  It was sure fun to make them and would be glad to have an excuse to make a pie again!

Finally, I think I fixed the issues with leaving comments on this blog.  If you have tried and didn't succeed - try and try again.  If it still doesn't work - email me at kjrowen@gmail.com

Until next time...

I dreamed of days like this...

I used to sit in my room at seminary and ponder all of the things I could do once I returned to South Dakota.  Today was a day filled with those small wonders and I actually documented most of it with a camera (not typical for me!)  Enjoy some snapshots into my life...literally.

Mom bought a motorcycle in the fall.  Today was the first time she rode it.  For all of you who find it difficult to imagine my mother on a motorcycle - this is for you.

This is Elizabeth (Lizzy).  It should be illegal to be this cute.

As my mother says, it's nearly impossible to take a bad photo of Randi.

I baked three pies today.  Starting at the top and moving clockwise:

1.  Strawberry Pie

2.  Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble Pie (this was the inaugural pie in my "pi" plate)

3.  Rhubarb Custard Pie (Randi asked me if that was celery pie.  haha.)

Waiting and Hopefully Not Wasting

Welcome to my new blog.  Since I am no longer a seminarian - I didn't feel it was appropriate to write on my seminary adventure blog.  One could argue that life after seminary is part of the adventure that is seminary - but when I enter a new phase of my life - I start a new blog.  

A little snapshot into my day:

Today I helped my mother who was filling in at my sister-in-law's daycare for part of the day.  Lunchtime over there is chaotic with six children - two of them infants.  I was feeding babies, cutting pizza into smaller and smaller pieces, laying kids down for naps, picking kids up because they were crying, on and on and on.  Let's just say I have a whole new level of respect for Machelle.  

My niece Lizzie sat on my lap, though.  We sat and watched tv.  I take joy in these little moments as I wait to see where life takes me next.