Still not moved!!

Just updating everyone on our move! So, we are still in the "little" house, waiting. Good thing I am patient!! I just feel bad for John and Brenda--their stress level has to be through the roof!! They had been expecting to be moved in BEFORE Easter!! They took on a huge remodel project in the basement at Rose Marys'. They took out the wood paneling from the bedrooms and put up drywall, they installed a new shower/tub surround and put in ceramic tile in the bath. The hold up now lies with the carpet! They were expecting the carpet to go in last Tues. & Wed. When the installer showed up, they found out that they needed to order new carpet. SO, they are hoping to have their carpet installed this week. In the meantime, Dave and I are actively checking out paint colors and and Carpet for his "Man Cave", also known as the family room. The basement under the new part of the house is unfinished so we would like to make it usable living space. Dave is hoping to place a pool table down there along with the entertainment center for his Xbox and Xbox 360. He is very excited about being over there!! I have never seen a man excited about picking out a dishwasher! We are very excited about a much bigger house, a beautiful yard and last but not least, to be AWAY from the highway!! No more hitch-hikers, and dogs getting hit. No more traffic noise. No more trash dumped off at the end of the driveway! It will seem like heaven. I hope to have pictures of the house before and after we paint and the exterior of the house. Until then, you will all have to live in suspense!

A Sad Day at the Hanssen Ranch:,(

It is a very sad day at the Hanssen ranch. For the last 15 years, our family has loved and cared for the prettiest German Shepherd/Husky cross named Taz. She was just a puppy when Mom and Jamie brought her home in 1993. Jamie was particularily fond of our beautiful dog and had a very special bond with her. Friday, she disappeared and today, Dad and Jamie found her stumbling around in circles across the highway from their house. Dad had to put her down and they brought her home to be buried in the "family plot" with our cat Baby. She was very senile and had cateracts. Most of the time she didn't know if she was inside or out and would "potty" on the kitchen rug. She was also deaf and had arthritis, we know because of her whimper every time she laid down. I wish I had more pictures of our dog with the beauty mark!! We all loved her and will miss her very much!!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!! I hope this week of meditation and celebration has been a great blessing to you! I saw something interesting on the news today.... a group of teens from St. Andrew Lutheran in Fargo carried a HUGE wooden cross 2 miles across town today-Good Friday-in rememberance of what Jesus endured on that very first Good Friday so long ago. It was a great reminder of God's sacrifice for us. Anyway, I am spending my Easter weekend helping to move John and Brendas' things to RoseMarys' house and OUR things into Johns' house! I have been packing, cleaning, stacking, packing, cleaning and stacking some more. Yesterday, Dave came in at lunch time to find that I had loaded everything I had packed into the south part of the living room. It was piled nearly to the cieling! He took 2 pickup loads over to the house this afternoon though and made a huge dent in what needs to go over! Dave has some family home for Easter. His sister Ann and her husband Pete and their children Fonda(getting married in August and graduating from Veternarian school next May), Katie, Fred and Hannah. His sister Barb her husband Tom and their 2 little girls Rachel and Stephie. Both sisters live in the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Judy and her husband Dave and children Liz(who graduates from Chiropractic College at Christmas) Dan, Lisa, & Matt live near Fargo and are here for Easter also. Elaine and her husband Larry live near Portland, ND and will be here tomorrow for our EASTER DINNER. Also driving up for the day are Carol and Bill from Fosston, MN and we are hoping for Gerald and Chris to make it up from Fargo as well. It is always an interesting time for the family to get together. Usually SOMEONE ends up with the stomach flu or a cold and spreads it to everyone else! I could tell you stories involving an ice cream scoop and bucket that would make your stomach turn!! Needless to say, I try not to eat ice cream there anymore! It is nice however that they all make an effort to come home for the holiday. In other news, Spring Sprung back into winter!! Winter was almost a memory until this morning! the snow was flying and winter reared its head once more. So, now we will have to hope for even warmer temps to melt the snow!!

BABIES BABIES EVERYWHERE BABIES!!!!

When I was a little girl, I read this book about 3 girls who babysat like 8 babies that ended up on an island. I dunno the rest I just remember thinking that having all those babies around would be soooo fun!! Well I think I am about to witness my own version of that story! I have recently discovered that there are going to be 4 yes f-o-u-r new babies added to the Steffan side! Dave's niece Jennifer is expecting a sister for little Will, and is ecstatic about the news! Jennifers' husband Kirk Thorson is the Minister at the Association Free Lutheran Church in Larimore. Dave's brother John and his wife Brenda recently shared with us the news that they are expecting too! TWINS!! I wonder if one or both will be girls?! I am sure they would be satisfied just to have a couple of healthy babies no matter the sex!! Hmmm.... if they did have a girl, she would have to be one tough little cookie with 4 older brothers! It would be fun just to buy them PINK things for a change!! Last but not least, Dave's niece Sarah and her husband Trent are due in October! It is an exciting time for the Steffan family! It just keeps growing and growing and growing. All because two people fell in love! Pete and Rose Mary have 10 children who are married or engaged. There are 31-soon to be 33 grandchildren and 3 -soon to be 5 great grandchildren!!
On my side of the family, there is also some excitement. My cousin Charity (the lutheran hen) is expecting baby chick #5 in September! That makes 5 grandchildren for my Grandparents and 6 great grand children! Our family is considerably smaller than David's.
As for news about myself, we will be moving the week after Easter. I am making a dent in the packing that needs to be done, I work on something every day! As for the house we live in now, it will become the Steffan hotel!

Fighting Sioux Nickname--GET RID OF IT

I had taken the stance that as alumni, we needed to keep the the Fighting Sioux nickname. Recently I have changed my way of thinking.

After hearing certain Sioux dignitary's speak on the issue, I began to feel sad. After all, the University is paying "bribes" to the Sioux to attend their college. If by the word "bribes" he meant scholarships as I suspect, I would like to know how many of the Sioux families are turning down the money? UND has a vast array of Indian programs designated to help Native Americans overcome the stigma that has plagued their nations for years. InMed, Indians in Medicine is a wonderful opportunity for Native Americans to become Doctors! What do you think would happen if the nickname changed and all of the alumni support disappears? Budget cuts will become necessary. Hmmm.... Which programs should go first? If the University is just "bribing" them with funding to attend an institution of higher learning, why should that University continue to support the Indian Studies programs?! Another concern of mine is why are we working so hard to defend their culture and heritage? Someone at some point obviously thought that the Sioux tribe was worth honoring! Why? I grew up near a reservation and while not all Native Americans are bad it seems that the bad is all I remember. When I was a Freshman in high school, I had a teacher kidnapped by 3 Sioux tribe members over A QUART OF OIL!! Growing up we lived near a major highway and we constantly had them in our yard asking "have you gotta rim and tire we can have?" or "if you could give us gas to get home, you can have this watch" which by the way was on clearance for $2 at walmart, I had seen it that very same day. Just recently a woman stopped by our neighbors at 1am and asked to use the phone. He let her and turned his back to afford her some privacy. He heard keys jingle and the door close. Then he heard his pickup drive off. Why not follow her? He was wearing a robe in the "crisp" ND winter air. They finally threw down road spikes to stop her west of Devils Lake. These are reasons for NOT keeping the nickname. What kind of honor is there in a nation of people who aren't interested in preserving their OWN honor? We do everything else for them why not keep their heritage alive too?

Here is another thing, while attending class I was approached by my Prof. and asked to remove my UND Fighting Sioux sweatshirt because it was offending someone in the class. Well, now that is a problem! Someone CHOSE to attend UND knowing full well what the mascot was and has been since ????? Maybe somebody should have done a little research? It wasn't as if this student chose UND, and 2 days later they changed the nickname and mascot. I bought that shirt on campus and I was going to wear it on campus.

I say change the name to something that really means honor for something! I mean since UND is so technologically savvy, why not be the University of North Dakota Techies! or the UND Northern Lights! How about the UND Liberals!! UND Bobcats--the list goes on and on.

Our new furniture!!!!!!

"You know, we live like we are just out of college!" He said looking around the room. "We have my grandmas old couch, my parents' old loveseat, Randy and Connies' pink rocker and table, the $1 thrift store chair and a rummage sale dining table!!

He was so right. Dave graduated from NDSU in 1992 with a degree in Business Management and a Minor in Economics. I graduated from the tech in 1998 with a diploma in Chiropractic Technology. And here we are, 16 and 10 years later, harboring moldy couch cushions and a few dead bugs we are certain lived during the Nixon scandal! Not that we aren't thankful that everyone helped us out, but right now, moving to a nice house, we decided to buy some new furniture!

So I broke out the internet and with a few clicks, had found some great pieces at Ashley Furniture. When David and I went to the store a couple of weeks ago, we agreed immediately on which set of furniture we both wanted!! When all was said and done, we had our living room completely put together!

This is our sofa and loveseat!! It is made of microfiber--looks like velvet almost! It is so soft and the cushions are something like 42" deep. In addition to them we got the chair and ottoman as well:

We didn't like the occasional tables so we chose this one. The top lifts up to raise your workspace.

The square tables are the end tables we chose. Entertainment Wall.

Our lamps that David picked out!! (Good eye Dave!)

The Table and chairs that will go in the living room as well!This is the bed I have ALWAYS wanted!! IT IS PERFECT!

I do not have a picture of the rug--it is coming from Menards. It is going to be so much fun to see how our grown up home turns out! Eventually, when we get the "formal dining room" finished this is the trestle table and china cabinet we would like to purchase.