I avoid this subject at all costs. However, this is ultimately a blog for my kids to look at someday. The truth is, this election is important in our home. After this weeks debate, I feel the need to put this in my personal blog so my kids will know how I feel about it.

I have been a private business owner since I was 23. Granted, it was a tiny but successful massage business! Still, I know the side of business people. Now we are running SolPowerPeople. I hope to be the 1% someday! Isn’t that the American dream after all? I have voted republican in the past. I think like a republican in my businesses.

However, my life has turned me into quite the humanitarian. My father was denied by his insurance company and was left with a medical mess that we cleaned up for two years because his “illness” of alcohol was “preexisting”.  Richard believes that his mother’s death from cancer was largely due to a complication with her coverage that caused her to lose her insurance for 6 months and she couldn’t get her treatments.  She died shortly after. Richard was laid off soon after Piper was born. We were paying huge amounts of money to COBRA “just in case” something terrible happened to any of us. Towards the end of us paying for COBRA we were completely spent. Richard was getting his new education in solar. I stayed home with Piper instead of paying for daycare. We had next to nothing coming in except for odd construction jobs that Richard was taking. One day my dreaded COBRA bill came in the mail and I learned that due to the help from President Obama’s “Stimulus Package” the insurance payments had been reduced and the amount that I had been paying was going to retroactively be lowered as well. That meant I ended up not having to make this payment for about 2 months! In addition, they extended the amount of time we could stay on COBRA. Thank goodness we didn’t need that but it was wonderful knowing we had the option.  Also, we are obviously a solar company. The idea of any politician who doesn’t understand renewable energy importance or the FACTS of climates change is beyond me.

Those are the hit my home topics. My other important to me, just because they should be, issues are women’s personal healthcare rights and birth control choice. I am pro-choice. I am against voter ID laws. I can’t believe that gay marriage is even still something to be discussed! Who cares who we love in our personal life? I feel very strongly that RAPE is RAPE. As a woman, I don’t want to risk going back in time. We need to move forward.

I am deeply saddened to see race and false religious claims as the basis for why someone doesn’t like President Obama. I understand if you don’t like his policies but my fear is that opinions based on lies are the core reason for some people’s discomfort with this president. But hey, I also see how many people are still judging homosexuals too so I guess this is the kind of world we live in. I choose to not participate in this closed minded behavior and I hope someday everyone will see clearly that everyone has a right to live the truth for their lives. Not yours.

Please, do some back research on Romney’s changing of positions on so many topics during his campaign. I know for me, this is the time during the elections that I would start watching the candidates. If you are one of them, you need to see the changes of Romney’s answers depending on whom he is talking to in the last 12 months.

I believe that in the future I will want to have a Republican as president once again. Now is not that time.

If you have gotten through this entire ramble, thank you. I know I am one of the only liberals in my family. It is the reason I am so silent about my political views. My family knows me, loves me and I know will not be surprised about my views. I have always been the black sheep of my family. So, I appreciate everyone letting me have my moment to state my case, for my blog. Please, don’t try to convert me back to a Republican! LOL

To my extended family: I LOVE YOU!!

We are now in Orlando Florida on VACATION! My body aches from all the Universal Island of Adventure rides I went on yesterday so I know I’m having a great time!

As always, so much has happened lately…Where to begin?

Piper turned 4! We were in Dubuque, IA for her birthday and had a wonderful day. We started by waking Piper up with a bed full of balloons. Then we had a Skype birthday party with my family in Austin. What fun! I have to say, I was very down about not being with the family for her birthday. It helped a lot that we were able to pick a time and see each other for gift opening via Skype. I would not survive this traveling thing without technology!

                 Later that day we went to an inflatable gym and had cake and lots of fun! Piper loved the biggest slide there. She is so brave!

I had taken Piper to the store earlier that week to pick out the cake she wanted. She pointed out 4 different cakes, cookies, cupcakes and said “I just want this one and this one and that. Only those 4. Okay?” So, the night of her birthday we had even more treats!

This is Levi and I in Fairfield, IA having some ice cream and making silly faces at each other. My little baby has turned into a little man!

Going to Florida! We left the RV in Iowa and hopped on a plane to Florida! We had a layover that we were unable to get to due to rain. Had to stop at another city to refuel, then sat for 45 minutes until the storm blew over. Missed our connecting flight. Cathy and Ryan ran ahead while we unloaded kids, strollers and car seats. Got us on the last flight to Orlando. Made it to Orlando hours later than planned with only breakfast and granola bars in our belly and of course, no luggage! Fun!!  But, at least we didn’t have to sleep in the airport! Other than the trip here, we are having a great time! We had to be here for a solar conference and decided to add a work/vacation on to the trip. The conference (Solar Power International) was a huge success for SolPowerPeople. Well worth the difficult trip getting here.

Here are the pictures from Universal Studios. Richard and I went with our kids and Jim and Joanne, Richards aunt and uncle from Louisiana.

Boots!

Dora!

Levi strolling with Jim around the park.

Family picture!

SolPowerPeople

They clean up well! I love this picture. I love these people!

Magic Kingdom! I went with Jim, Joanne and Ryan’s family, Shelley, Jesse and Emmy.

Princess Tiana asked Levi for a kiss.

Then she kissed him!

This is the one moment that I almost got teary eyed. Mary Poppins came by on a float during the parade. She waved at Levi and blew him a kiss. He politely blew one back at her. She caught it and pressed it to her cheek and winked at him! Oh my! I actually felt like a kid again. Remembering how beautiful I thought Mary Poppins was and here she was blowing kisses with my son. Amazing for me! Levi did not understand why I got so excited but someday maybe he will.

We found a restaurant called T-Rex and had to go. It was amazing. Dinosaurs…EVERYWHERE! At the gift shop, Jim and Joanne found this perfect vest for Levi and they just couldn’t resist getting it for him. Too cool!

Universal Island of Adventure!

I loved this park. By far our favorite so far. This park is the reason I am so sore today. The entire crew went together. Richard, me, Piper, Levi, Cathy, Sarah, Ryan, Shelley, Jesse, Emmy, Jim and Joanne. Oh my! What a day! AND it was Emmy’s 8th birthday!

The rides in Seuss Landing were so much fun. The colors just make you happy!

Emmy dressed Piper up in some fancy clothes. Piper, of course, struck a pose for the camera.

My new favorite picture of Levi. The sign, the shirt, his face…priceless!

Another pose from Piper along with Emmy in Seuss Landing.

Emmy’s birthday ice cream cake!

It has been a wonderful time here in Florida. I needed a change from the RV. It seems I always start my blog posts with an apology for not having written in a long time. This time, I wanted to start with all the good stuff because there are so many happy things going on. However, back in Iowa I was going a little crazy. My grandma always told us, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” So, I have been quiet lately. I am feeling much better. Just needed to be out of the RV. Some space from the kids. Having Jesse and Emmy here has helped me get a break from the constant “needing” of whatever it is that they need. Here is a perfect little story that happened the week before we came here to Florida that describes exactly why I needed this break.

One day the kids and I are getting ready to go somewhere and I am running late, as always. Piper goes and sits on the toilet and then says she needs my help to wipe. I ask, “Did you go poop?” She says she did not. I then tell her she can do it herself and that I only need to help her if she poops. She says “But, I just don’t feel like it and I want you to help me.” I think this is crazy and I’m trying to get Levi and myself ready to go and decide I will not help her just because she doesn’t feel like it. I tell her this and she proceeds to sit on the toilet for at least 10 minutes whining and demanding me to stop what I’m doing and help her. I finally told her I’m not her maid and I don’t have to do it for her. “Do you know what a maid is?” She does not. As I’m explaining a maids job…cleaning, doing for others, cooking, work around the house… I see on her face exactly what I’m thinking in my head. She says, “But mom you are my maid! That is what you do all the time!” I say “WELL MAIDS DON’T WIPE BUTTS!” I did not give in to her and she was very unhappy and that is why I’m so happy to have other people around me now breaking up the monotony of living in a tiny space with the kids!

Back to Iowa on the 24th! I’m going to soak up the Florida sun and good times!

I am in a new town! It has been a long time since we have parked somewhere that we have not been to before. I am in the northeastern part of Iowa in a beautiful small town, Decorah. It is only the four of us here. We are hiring an Iowa temp to help us with some administration work for the next several weeks of classes. Cathy is teaming up with our friend Dannie and Ryan to teach all across the mid and west parts of Iowa. Richard will teach several cities along the eastern Iowa border. It is an amazing seminar schedule. I hope Cathy and Richard can talk for that many hours! It is a very good thing they love what they teach!

While I have been away we have had several changes! Richard went to Colorado to be a STUDENT for a week! He had a great time and learned a lot of valuable information. Cathy and Dannie came up to teach while he was away. It was a nice change to have new people in the RV. Mixing it up a bit for the kids and I. But I was ready for Richard to be home. It was a tough week because I put Levi through a major life change. The morning after Richard left, I decided it was time to give up the pacifier, cold turkey! I researched best techniques and felt strength in reading over and over again that after a couple of days they will move on. Well, THAT IS NOT TRUE!  Going to sleep was the hardest because that was the only time I always allowed the pacifier. The first night he had the worst tantrum EVER! He kicked and screamed and attacked me. I almost gave in. In fact I was standing up to go get them (no, I wasn’t brave enough to throw them away) when he flung himself to his pillow and passed out! Oh thank goodness, he had almost won that battle. This win gave me courage to fight the many mini-battles that laid ahead of me all week. It has now been 8 days and he still asks me for it at least 3 times a day. Google researched LIED!! But, he has done it. I will win this war. I’m proud of him (and myself) for sticking to it. My story to him is that the baby dinosaurs needed the pacifiers. Actually, I tried telling him that younger BABIES needed them but he told me it was the baby dinosaurs. Okay, whatever makes him more agreeable? I was hoping this would also make him less in love with dinosaurs, you know since they stole his pacifiers and all. But, no, that is not what happened. He is still completely obsessed with all things dinosaur.

Because of the love of dinosaurs in my house, I found a traveling Dinosaur Exhibit in Davenport, IA and took the kids one day. It was really great! The sounds matched the motion of these huge creatures perfectly. I was secretly hoping it would scare Levi a little so that his obsession would begin to fade. That plan did not work in my favor. He really enjoyed it and so did Piper. I was concerned for her because she doesn’t like anything “scary”. Not even the villain in a Dora cartoon! She had no problem with the huge dinosaurs roaring at her. What is with kids and loving these things so much!

Dinosaurs!

I met a friend on the playground! I sit at MANY playgrounds all over Iowa and have never met a new friend at one until this week. We had lovely conversations while our kids played at the RV park playground all weekend. It was sad to see them leave but life on the road is full of passing happy moments.

Richard picked many pounds of peaches while in Colorado so I am going to be making a couple peach desserts this week. I may only get 1 dessert in because Levi will eat about 4 or 5 peaches for one snack! He LOVES them!

We went to the Iowa State Fair last week. What a huge event! We had a great time seeing all the many things there was to see. At the end of the day, I got to hear a few songs from Boyz II Men! Memories!!

First prize Pumpkin! 933 lbs

Tons of livestock to see!

Here in Decorah, we were invited to check out the local clay art studio. The lady we are working with here in this town volunteers at the studio and showed us a great time! The kids loved doing this kind of art. I will be searching these studios out more in the future. I know we have one in Austin. I’m happy to know my kids are finally old enough to go to places like this. They each painted an already made piece. Piper painted a unicorn and Levi painted a dinosaur, of course! Then they were given a pound of clay to mold as they wish. With Daddy’s help, they made so many great things! An ice cream bouquet, little bowls, a sandwich and a soccer ball! What fun!

Now we have to wait for the kiln to complete the project!

I am so happy to say that right now Richard is teaching a new course here in Iowa. It is a Fire Safety course! SolPowerPeople will be teaching to firemen everywhere about what actions to take when they encounter solar modules while facing a fire. This is so dear to my heart as my Grandpa and many of my uncles have been a part of volunteer firehouses for as long as I can remember. I’m happy this course is out there and I am proud that it was written by my loved ones!

I have not posted anything about food in a very long time, so here are some of my new favorite dishes!

Tomato & Tamarind soup – This soup is so yummy! We top it with avocado and nutritional yeast. My kids call nutritional yeast “popcorn cheese”. Because they think it is cheese, they request it on everything! I highly recommend getting some of this yummy topping.

Broccoli and Cheeze soup – I have been on a soup craze because the kids and I have been fighting some kind of sinus yuck. So, more soup! I love this one!

Cashew Veggie sauce – Put this over any grain. The cashew is my favorite nut. Having it in a sauce? Who knew it could be so good!

Fideo – We omit the chicken and it still taste delicious. Kids would eat this for days! Topped with “popcorn cheese” of course!

Sauteed Pineapple with Honey – Great dessert. Omit the rum for the kids!

And my favorite made up dessert:

Sarah is in town with us and she has been doing a lot of cooking. I am LOVING the break. I love to cook, but I love even more to learn and watch someone else cook. She has taught me an amazing Pad Thai! Also, yesterday she made us Migas and I could have eaten that for every meal. I will need to write down everything she did so I don’t forget and then I will share with all of you. Sarah is a meat eater but told us last night that we could host someone going into a vegetarian diet and make it so easy for them. She says she has not missed meat at all!

Picture Time!!

We were teaching in Dubuque and met some great new friends and really enjoyed the town. Here is a picture of a Barge coming into a Lock and Dam. Richard was a Tankerman for several years and worked on these barges. I loved hearing his narrative about the process of getting through the Dam.

Eagle Point Park

The kids LOVE Sarah!

Expo work day with Solar Planet. We have good friends in Dubuque, IA!

Solar Planet and SolPowerPeople

Piper can write the entire Alphabet now!

Piper husking corn.

She was so serious about this job!

Levi may be getting bigger but I still want to pinch those cheeks!

Last week held many first times for us. After many years of driving though Sioux City on my way to South Dakota, I finally went to the top of the hill right off the highway to discover what that damn obelisk was! If you are heading north through Sioux City this tower looks down upon you from the east. It is beautiful and I have always wanted to see it up close. Finally, I have. It is a memorial site for Sgt. Floyd. He traveled with Lewis and Clark until appendicitis ended his life in the now Sioux City area.  The picture below is now my new all time favorite. I know it is hard to see, but this is Piper “reading” to Levi at the memorial site. Levi looked so interested with his head tilted to the side, really soaking up the information his sister was reciting for him. Man, I love those kids!

Piper and Levi

The obelisk was just as wonderful up close as it had been all those years from the highway.

The next big new first for me was the YMCA. We joined the gym after finding out that most of the locations in the nation have an “Away Program”. That means we paid for our membership in Bastrop, TX but can visit any location a select number of times during each month or year depending on the gym’s rules. So, 3 times last week, I got on actual work out equipment and worked out!! I know! CRAZY! I won’t say I liked it. But, I do feel better about at least trying to be healthier. What I really like is the 2 hours a day daycare the Y has. All three days, Richard and I dropped the kids off at the “playroom” and the kids loved it! Even better, Richard and I worked out together and then went into steam rooms, saunas and hot tubes together, alone…like completely by ourselves, free of children! How wonderful! I love that the kids are enjoying the time there. It makes me able to relax and be without them. It is also good for my first daycare experience to be in the same building as I am. I will not admit to you how many times I walked over to the big window to spy on them! Guess what? They NEVER missed me!

The YMCA also had an indoor kid pool that we took the kids to everyday after our workout. Levi is doing so well in the water. He puts his head all the way under and looks up at us, from under the water and smiles! He is such a fish. Piper, still not so much. We will keep working on it. Levi is a very good example of water bravery. She will catch on eventually.

Today, Sarah is coming in to join us from Texas! I am very excited to see her. She will be staying with us in the RV for several weeks! I get to cook for someone other then Richard again!! I have some yummy recipes to post but for now, I must get ready for my house guest. Stay tuned, the recipe I’m going to share is a tomato soup that Piper has requested several times!

Man, what a trip the last few weeks have been for me! To start, this picture describes our wonderful 4th of July trip to Estelline the best:

Tired Kids!

We parked at the City Park in Estelline. It was awesome! Playground, pool and so close to my Grandma’s house. We went to the Jongeling reunion at my cousin Todd Jongeling’s house. I didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked to. My kids needed a nap and the plan was for Richard to stay with them while sleeping so I could get some packing done at my Grandmas house. Richard was so wonderful! He hung out with the kids and my cousins daughter all day long and my family knocked out so much of the packing that day. Not much of a holiday but it was so much fun to be with my 2 uncles and aunt that came up from Oklahoma and Texas to help.

I did get my much needed firework celebration that night too! Richard, my brother Jeff, the kids and I met up with my old friend Jared at Pelican Lake right at dusk. His friend took us out on his boat and we watched fireworks all around us! I was so blissfully happy….until my “darling” daughter decided she was tired, hungry and didn’t like the noise of the fireworks. Her whining put quite the damper on my good spirits! Levi was great about the fireworks. He had so much fun. I hadn’t seen Jared in about 6 years. We were long time family friends and it has been great to reconnect with him. The joys of Facebook!

Another high-five to Facebook – I was able to meet up with my life long friend and old South Dakota neighbor Naomi too! She and her family came over to our RV spot the day we were heading out. Our girls are only a few months apart in age and they were simply adorable to watch running around the playground together. I enjoyed my visit with them so very much. If Naomi and I lived close to each other, I get the feeling we would be the best of friends. She and I just “get” each other. I wish things were different for us but alas…there is always Facebook!!

We got back to work in Sioux City Iowa right after our mini vacation. Conveniently, we decided to pass out flyers at a music event called Saturday in the Park. When we saw the line up, I was happily surprised to see Gary Clark Jr on the bill! He is an Austin local favorite that I have seen many times. I felt close to Austin that day, I miss my home city a lot.

Saturday at the Park

Richard was going to go market in Council Bluffs for several days so I decided to head back up to South Dakota and help finish out the move. The drive from Sioux City to Estelline is only 2hr and 45min. I just can’t pass up these last few chances of seeing my family there while I am this close! My aunt Linda took off of work one day and brought Grandma over and we really got a good hold on the last of the packing. I spent 2 whole days at the house, by myself with the kids getting it ready for my brother to move his stuff in. My brother works long hours this time of year but we were able to see each other every evening. I picked up his daughter Emma on Thursday and she stayed with us until Saturday. I slept in a room with all 3 kids and we played and laughed for days! I will cherish these moments forever. I wish Emma could live closer to Texas but I do feel I have made the best efforts possible to form solid memories for the kids to look back upon fondly.

Emma, Piper and Levi

My last day in town was quite a big day! It was Saturday and Jeff was off work so we did more work around the house. Then I went to my friend Jared’s house to show my kids his goats! They had a great time there. He had a garden and that inspired me to put my garden back in Texas on my priority list when we get home. After that visit, I met Naomi in Brookings at a playground. She didn’t have her daughter with her but my children played and we talked like time stood still. I had planned on a fairly short visit but the weather was great and our words were flowing and I had no idea how much time flew by! I could have still spent several hours there at the park but Levi’s need for a nap snapped me out of my amazing conversation trance. Next, we stopped at Grandmas new apartment to drop off one of the last loads of stuff. When the Levi climbed into her lap to give her a hug, this is what happened:

Happy Great Grandma!

He never moved! He just curled up on to her and CRASHED! Great Grandma was one happy lady!

Now, home sweet home. That is too long for me to be away from Richard. I really love my life, family, friends and husband!

We are leaving tomorrow morning for Estelline, SD! I am happy to be seeing my family over the 4th of July. I must admit, if I don’t do something fun for the 4th, I get depressed. More depressed than an uneventful Christmas or New Years. Any holiday but the 4th can be boring. I have a lifetime of family good time memories wrapped up into this month. My moms birthday is July 4th. As a child I thought everyone put on the BEST birthday party all for my mom! I was amazed at how cool she was. I’m still amazed at how cool she is. I don’t need to whole nation to celebrate her birthday to know that I have the best mom EVER! Even though I will not be spending moms birthday with her, I will still be with my South Dakota family and I am so thankful for that.

After the holiday, we are doing another round of teaching all across Iowa. We are now booked solid with classes until the first week of September. That feels like such success as a company. I am so proud of what we are creating!

Richards birthday was this Saturday. We had a great day. Working from home with many kid play breaks. I made my first Vegan Dessert. A chocolate torte and it was delightful!

Lots of packing and prepping to do! I hope everyone enjoys this week. It is my favorite time of year! Happy 4th to you all!!!!

My how time flies! My latest reason for not writing is again another internet problem. This time, a story to go along with it. There was a thunderstorm here in Newton, IA last Wednesday night. At around 11pm, I thought our RV was struck by lightening. We were almost asleep and Richard and I both jumped awake. I can’t believe the kids slept through this! We both felt like we had been hit in the chest. Our electricity was still on, so we knew we hadn’t actually been hit. I looked outside to see if anyone’s RV was on fire or something. The next day, Ryan said he was awake and on the internet at the time of the strike. He walked outside to see if there was a fire or damage anywhere near. There wasn’t any but when he went back into his RV, the internet didn’t work. The park owner has been working hard to get everything up and running again. Also, this past weekend, the KOA Kampground we are staying at was sold out because of a race at the Iowa Speedway that is right across the highway from us. So I was trying to help Wayne, the park owner, letting him know when the wifi was working and when it wasn’t. But with everyone in the park running off the wifi we couldn’t tell if it was bad signal or just being used by everyone. In the end, the park cleared out and all is well in cyber world again. We could hear the race all weekend. It was very cool. And on Saturday night we watched the firework display from our front window! The fireworks were at 11:30 at night so the kids missed it. I wanted to wake them so badly but of course, my golden rule: NEVER wake a sleeping child!! We figured that after the fireworks, the race was over. NO, they finished just after 12:30am! That was…not very cool. So needless to say, things have been very entertaining here lately!

Richard worked on Father’s Day so we went to Adventureland TOGETHER on Monday! Oh my, it was so much fun to have Daddy there! The water section was open so we were able to enjoy that this time instead of just the rides.

Adventureland!

We are working very hard on Piper’s fear of water. She loves to be in water. She just hates to be splashed by water. I can’t blame her, I’m the same way! There is a pool here at the KOA and we are trying to get her into the water everyday even if for only a short time. It is working too. Last night I had her putting part of her face in the water and blowing bubbles! Levi frankly freaks me out around water. He has no fear. In fact, he was on the edge of the pool and Richard was less than 10 feet away when Levi decided to just jump in! Richard got to him, pulled him up and he was all smiles while coughing up water. It is wonderful that he was fine and was not scared by the incident but that means he will do it again because he enjoyed it!

Ryan and Cathy left us to head back to Austin Sunday night. The Stovalls are now lone rangers out here! I’m so happy they get to go home to their families. I will miss them. The kids will miss them. But this too we shall survive! I am researching drop in day cares around the Iowa area. I think the Council Bluffs day care experience was really great for them and me!

We will be traveling all over Iowa again a good part of July. I don’t know the schedule yet but when we have something concrete, I have bookmarked several summer camp ideas for Piper in the Des Moines area. She has now informed me that she needs to be in a ballet class and maybe gymnastics and yoga too. But for sure, ballet. She doesn’t really walk around the RV anymore, she dances everywhere!

We are still doing the vegetarian thing too. I am doing fine with it and loving the food and recipe research this is allowing me to do. The only hard part of eating healthy is that we are fast food candidates. We are busy, on the road and trying to eat cheap. It is hard to order anything healthy at a fast food joint. The convenience of drive thru food really is a killer to the average American. Such a drag but oh so true!

Hope everyone is loving the summer! The summer temperatures in Iowa are awesome compared to Texas!

Forgive me for my lack of writing. I’m reminded of a comment a friend of mine would say when you came into her house. “Excuse the mess, I live here.” I can not write as much as I would like because I’m too busy living the life I want to write about!

First, my Piper story. We were in Burlington, IA parked in a casino parking lot for the day. The casino had an indoor/outdoor water park attached to it. I took the kids in to the toddler section. They were so excited to jump into the knee deep water, I could hardly get their shoes off. In the center of the shallow water, there was a huge playground area. I was planning on getting hardly wet in this little pool but I did take my sundress off and escort them into the water. We were holding hands and walking up to the very first tiny water fountain. As we were all reaching out to touch our first bit of water for the day, a HUGE bucket of water from up above had reached its tipping point. It poured all over us! We were in the front and center target for this bucket. We were completely drenched and almost knocked over. Levi was loving it. Piper was so mad and startled, it ruined the rest of her day. She sat on the sidewall watching the bucket fill and dump with fear. The poor thing! My children change personalities in the water. Levi puts his whole face directly onto the shooting fountains. While Piper freaks out about every drop that falls past her forehead. This happened almost 2 weeks ago and she still randomly declares her dislike for water buckets.

Fairfield, Ia – I love Fairfield but sometimes being in such a healthy location has its drawbacks. We are traveling all across Iowa doing these seminars. I have found that ordering sandwiches from HyVee is the easiest way to cater lunch. Well, in Fairfield we knew we would run into some vegetarians so along with my sandwiches, I cleaned out my fridge of all our fruit and served whole fruit and a huge mixed berries bowl. We always serve single bags of chips and cookies too. Everyone seemed happy with the food laid out before them except for one guy in particular. This is Ryan’s story, I was not there. This guy points to the tray of almost gone sandwiches, to the roast beef sandwich in particular and says “What is that?” Ryan says “Looks like beef.” The guy says “Why would you bring THAT here?” Ryan replies “To feed all the other people that ate the other ones, I guess!” Gotta love that! If someone were to put me on the spot like that, I would have stuttered an “I don’t know…” or something. I love the energy of this kind of town. I wish that with all the healthy, love life euphoria that happens in places like these, we didn’t also have to endure the judgments of others. I find this often while traveling. Why not allow everyone to be on a their own journey? Why judge who is next to you? I just don’t get it… Doesn’t stop me from wanting to go back to Fairfield! Love that place!

To make things even more interesting of late, we watched a movie called Forks over Knives. It is a very depressing, scary and informative movie about our American diet and is trying to show the benefits of a “plant based diet.” That means vegan but they don’t want to scare anyone with such words. Richard and Ryan are convinced they want to be at least vegetarian now, leaning heavily towards vegan. That changes my cooking plans! I have found some very yummy dishes this past week. If you wanted to make any of these as a side to your slab of meat, I think that would work just fine!

Recipe for Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Red Bell Pepper, and Cilantro

Sweet Potato with Tomatoey Beans

Ethiopian Cabbage Dish

Also, I have found a love for bean tacos.

The guys have quit eating cheese too. I’m not that brave yet so I still put a little Monterrey Jack cheese on my taco. You can serve this warm, room temperature or cold.

I must get back to work now. Here are some pictures of the kids, just because!

Sweet Levi

First time bowling

Posing by the Mississippi River

SolPowerPeople workers!

I have to say, I’m so proud of my kids. We have moved to new places everyday for weeks now. With the dolly being ditched in New Mexico, I now drive the van with the kids and Richard drives the RV by himself. All of the trips between towns are under 2 hours. But still, day after day in the car seat every morning, they are being really great about the whole thing. Tonight we are in a small town in between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. We get to stay here for 4 nights! SolPowerPeople will be presenting at the Iowa i-Renew Expo this weekend.

I am not at my best because most of Iowa is not AT&T friendly. I don’t have good internet or cell phone service most of the time. It has been very hard to stay on top of all the bookkeeping and personal affairs without constant technology! I have a funny water/Piper story for next time. I just wanted to check in and let everyone know, I’m still here or there…or everywhere!