Thanksgiving, Decorations, Potlucks, Birthdays, Live Nativity and a Bird Attack

I know it has been a very long time since I have updated the blog, sorry about that. It has been quite the month here in Cape Girardeau.

First let's start with Thanksgiving. Nate's family drove all the way from Connecticut to visit us here in the Cape. We had the Thanksgiving dinner here for the Cox Family and the Wollenberg Family. We turned our garage into a dining room by putting a big table and a space heater out there. We hardly needed the space heater though because between the oven and the stove the windows were open, the door to the garage was open, the heat was off and it was still hot in the house. Thanksgiving went really well. I had two turkey crises averted. First, the roasting pan didn't fit in the oven. Luckily I had a second one that I use to roast chickens in otherwise I would have been going to church to make it in a big oven. The second one was that I thought I overcooked the turkey. I had a 17 pound turkey, so I'm thinking 5 hours right? At four hours I take the temperature and it's 200 degrees as opposed to the 165 degrees that it's supposed to be. So I yanked it out really fast and by I yanked it out I mean I called for someone stronger than me to lift it out of the oven. When I realized it might be dry my mind quickly flashed to the scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase cuts open the turkey and it is so dry it like implodes. Luckily, it was nice and moist and turned out very tasty. Nate's mom helped with the gravy and stuffing and my mom helped with the veggies. It was a very nice Thanksgiving.

Right after Thanksgiving we started the Christmas decorating. Nate and I accidentally won our Christmas tree through a radio contest. We showed up to a lot and they said that we were the first couple during a certain time so we got a free tree and a free wreath! We named our tree Douglas and here he is.



I got an over sized stocking for Nate and I that has pockets until I can make us personalized ones. This one was also very cool.



Here are the kitchen decorations:





Here are some of the Christmas cards that we have gotten so far:



We also decorated the outside. Nate did most of the work. If you are wondering why he didn't do the peak of the house it is my fault. I wouldn't let him get on the roof.



The week after Thanksgiving Nate and I had a great many potlucks to attend. I think we had 3 potlucks and 3 parties in one week. It was quite the busy time.

If you don't already know Nate and I both have birthdays in the month of December. I am the 2nd and he is the 17th. For my birthday my parents came down to Cape and took they with Nate took me out to a wonderful lunch. Nate took me out to see a movie that night, Morning Glory. It was very cute. He ended up getting me two Rachel Ray cookbooks which have given us a couple of tasty meals since then and an apron because when I cook and bake I get food all over me. He also got me Rachael Ray's Lazy Spoon and Ladle set which is amazing. For Nate's birthday, I got up and made him breakfast because that is something that is not common in our house. If you know me very well you know that I am not a morning person. Then Nate opened his gifts. I got him some golf shoes which he is very eager to use and a couple of other things.

Last night, at church, was the Live Nativity. Every year Hanover does a live nativity with a donkey, sheep and camels. Guess who was Mary and Joseph? Yep, that's right, Nate and I. I rode a donkey and I didn't fall off. Here is a picture of me on the donkey and Nate pulling it.



Here is a picture of the whole Nativity together.



Last but not least, the bird attack. So, this evening I came home after making dinner at church for the Nate, me, the pastor and his family. I took care of some things then thought to myself, Nate's mom mentioned that some packages were coming in the mail, I should check on the doorstep. I open the door and look out. Next, thing I know something hits me in the face and I turn around. Two birds had viciously attacked me and flew into the house. They had been living in the wreath on our door. I realized that I needed to get my phone to call Nate. So I ran back in the house grabbed my phone while getting scared by the birds and ran back outside. I get outside and realized that I had locked myself out of the house. At this point I look like a crazy person creeping around my house. I called Nate and explained my situation and he came home. After about an hour Nate coaxed the birds into the garage and they flew out from there. Surviving with only bird poop on one of my festive kitchen towels.

That's all for now. God is Good! Merry Christmas!

Fall Festivities

The past few weeks of life in Cape have been busy but fun. Nate's supervisor was in Israel for two weeks and so he was holding down the fort for the past couple of weeks. He did a great job.

I have been subbing 2-3 days a week at Jackson Jr. High still. Great school. Tomorrow I have been called to sub for the first time at Trinity Lutheran in Cape. I am very excited. I am going to have a few kids from the congregation in class tomorrow too.

We always have plenty of social events to go to down here. The night before Halloween we went to a Halloween party at the Frank's. I had been stressing because I didn't know what kind of snack to take. I'm good at main courses and desserts but appetizers aren't my specialty yet. Luckily I remembered something that my good friend Ashley (Wilterdink) Holzer made for a Christmas party in college. Beer bread! The people at the Halloween party loved it. It was not only awesome because the people loved it but also because it was so easy and inexpensive to make. I did a little bit of olive oil dipping sauce with it as well. Here is the recipe for the bread.



I took two different dipping oils one of them was a more itailian dipping oil that I got from the food network website.



The other dipping oil recipe I got from Ashley and that was:
1/4 Cup Olive Oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1/8 tsp Onion Powder
1/8 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Basil
1/8 tsp Pepper
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
Mix and serve

Of course the next day was Reformation Day or Halloween. Whatever you prefer to call it. Since it was a fifth Sunday we had a potluck that day. I made dessert and wanted to make it festive. So I made a Reformation cake pictured below. My parents came down that day to hear Nate preach and for my dad to watch football with Nate. They spent the rest of the day and the night down here with us. I made dinner for everyone which was great the men had ham steaks and the ladies had ribs. I also made some bacon wrapped asparagus which was great and I don't even like asparagus. We had a great evening.



Yesterday I got the pleasure of going to a bridal shower for my dear friend Wesly. I went to Evansville, IN for this. While I was there I got to see a few camp friends, Sarah Schultz and John and Karen Dobrinski. It was amazing. I did have a scary adventure through southern Illinois on my way home when my GPS went kinda crazy but I made it home.

So last but certainly not least is today was the Sausage supper at the church. Now when I was growing up in Arnold, MO (Suburb of St. Louis) we had these suppers every year as well. Hanover served 800-1000 people with their Sausage supper and growing up St. John's served 1500-1600 people. These dinners were some of the greatest church memories I have. The adults have fun and the kids got to hang out and have fun too. Well, Hanover like my home church does these dinners like I mentioned. They are very proud of these meals which have twice a year once in November and once in March. They should be proud of them because they are great. They are a great way to share the love of Christ with others and to have great fellowship among the members working the event.

In preparation for this supper the church buys the whole hogs. They skin the hogs, cut up the meat, grind it up and pack it into links which is a very involved process. The men of the church do this job on Friday and Saturday. This was a very new experience for Nate who had never really done a big church dinner and had definitely not skinned or cut up a hog before. He was a little nervous about it before going into it but ended up having a great time.







Today we had the supper. We peeled and cut up the potatoes and then got to serving. Nate greeted people as they came in. I got the so called "cushy" job in the kitchen making sure the buffet with the food was full, buttering the potatoes, and tending to the cooks needs. It was a great job. I had a great time hanging out with the people in there. Here are some pictures from the day. If you want to see me go to this link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039540&id=146300032&l=0aaa171ae6


Peeling and Cutting Potatoes


Sausage before it was fried (Sorry if this picture grosses anyone out)


This is apple butter. When I was growing up they had apple butter at my church too. The ladies of the church get together and slow cook this. It is like a richer darker apple sauce that you spread on biscuits.


Full House in the Activity Center which serves as the dining room.

Like I said, there are far more pictures at the link above.

Well, that's all for now. God is good! :)

Bunko!, Pastor's Conference, Furniture, Hobby Lobby, New Resturants and more

Life is busy!

From Monday of last week until today we have had 2 funerals. One was for a friend in the congregation's father. He was catholic so we attended the funeral mass. It took both Nate and I back to our Catholic High School days. The second funeral was for a member of the congregation. There have been 4 funerals for members of the congregation and 2 for staff/friends since we have arrived in July. Crazy.

Last Monday, Nate attended the Missouri Pastor's Conference. It was in St. Louis. He bought me back a very stylish(note the sarcasm) KFUO reusable shopping bag. I was kind of excited though because I do like those reusable bags. Way to go green KFUO! I subbed that day which was pretty good and I ended up getting two more days to sub that week which was great. It is nice that the kids are starting to say high to me in the hallways and I am starting to build relationships. :)

On Friday night Nate and I learned the game Bunko. Now, before I share with you this interesting dice game I must tell you about a funny conversation Nate and I had before the Bunko party. We had been asked to bring a snack to the party and because of the funeral and subbing on Friday I was trying to come up with a snack 2 hours before the party. Nate says to me, "I know. Why don't we buy sugar cubes and color black dots on them with sharpie." (He was kidding of course.) At least he was trying to help with ideas. haha. Bunko is a game that you play with dice, in which you have several rounds rolling for a certain number. It involves switching tables througout the game too. It is a very simple game that seems boring when first hearing the game rules but it is a great game to socialize with. We had fun at the Bunko party!

On Saturday we visited the Saxon Lutheran Memorial for the wedding reception of LeAnne (Lorenz) Gaydos. My dad met Nate and I there and we had a great night catching up with the Lorenz family which are old friends of the Cox family. It was very nice to see them and of course to see Walther.



I'm sure Nate and I will visit the Saxon Lutheran Memorial in the future and I will explain and post more pictures then.



Sunday Pastor Kobak and Lisa (his wife) left for a two week trip to Israel. This means that Nate will be on his own for two weeks. He will be preaching this coming Sunday.

While reading the paper this week Nate found this comic. I found this very interesting.


Since I shared some recipes in my last post, I am going to share one again. I love banana bread for two reasons. The first is that it is delicious and the second is that I can use up the bananas that I didn't eat fast enough. I got this recipe from marthastewart.com.



I have recently fallen in love with new stores because I am doing more shopping. One of my new favorite stores is Sam's. Their prices are incredible. The other store is Hobby Lobby. There are several reasons why I love Hobby Lobby. The first reason is that they are closed on Sundays and their reason for this is posted on their door.


They also play instrumental versions of hymns over the speakers in their stores.

The second reason I love this place is because they provide the tools and fabric I need to use my new sewing machine. I have finished another project but it is going to be a gift and I can't reveal gifts until after Christmas. The third reason I love this place is because of their decor. Nate and I have added to the walls with the great decor I have purchased at Hobby Lobby.







I am working on finishing up my sewing corner in the laundry room. Pictures to come!

Today Nate and I enjoyed lunch at Buckner Brewing Company which is a micro-brewery in Historic Downtown Cape Girardeau. It is a very nice little place and we are glad that we went for lunch. Nothing like lunch over looking the breathtaking Mississippi River. (Note the sarcasm) It really is a nice location.

That is all for now. God is good!

Youth Retreat, More Subbing, More Sewing, New Windows and New Recipes

More and more is happening here in Cape Girardeau. This past weekend our church had a youth retreat. We had 40ish youth attend which was great. We had great food, fellowship and most importantly praise to the Lord. On the drive there, Nate and I had three middle school girls riding with us and they informed us what music is cool these days and of all of the current Youtube "sensations". They cracked me up. Nate cracked them up with his dancing. At the retreat there were Bible studies, there was swimming, canoe tug of wars, crazy kickball, glow sticks, s'mores and a ridiculously hot fire.

A couple hours after we got back from the retreat Nate got a call that there was a great opportunity to go fishing. A member of the church's uncle was draining a pond on his land and in this process realized it was full of fish. Nate and the pastor and some other members of the church went over there and started catching fish, lots of fish. These fish were huge. To catch them, the guys waded in the water, mostly mud, that was up to their waste. They got filthy. Nate caught a fish that was around 50lbs! Then I joined them and they cleaned the fish. Nate and I had never seen fish cleaning before. It was definitely a new experience. After they finished, the fillets of the fish were about 150lbs total. That is a lot of fish!

Before we went on the retreat we went to a Barbecue cook of that a couple of the members in our congregation entered in. They cook mostly pork ribs and brisket. They cook in these huge wood burning smokers that they build themselves. It is really quite impressive. One of the members came in first place overall with his pork ribs. The ribs really were delicious.

The vicarage house got new windows! These windows are wonderful for a few reasons. We can actually keep our windows open because they have screens. They also have sealant around the windows which decreases the draft and creepy crawlers. We can now open and close the windows without breaking a sweat, they didn't slide very well. We are very grateful for these new windows.

I subbed again at Jackson Jr. High. This has been going very well. The students usually are good for me. I really enjoy it there. I have been doing a lot of reading there because I am mostly supervising while students work on an assignment. I have a couple more dates lined up there this month still. :)

I have been trying some new recipes because I don't know a lot of things to make as a newly married lady. I am also working on portion control as well. I tend to make too much. Last night I made Rosemary Chicken from Rachel Ray's recipes. It was really good. I overdid the rosemary a little bit because I didn't use as much meat as the recipe called for but it was still really good. The chicken was incredibly moist. I used low sodium chicken broth instead of wine to make it healthier too. Here is the link.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlic-roast-chicken-with-rosemary-and-lemon-recipe/index.html


If you click on this picture it blows up the recipe and you can read it. Same with the recipe below.

Tonight I tried a new pork chop recipe. It is a smothered pork chop recipe that turned out well. I have always found pork chops hard to cook because they tend to be a very dry meat but these turned out pretty good. Here is the recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/smothered-pork-chops-recipe/index.html



Not only did these two recipes work out but I have been on a mission to make vegetables bareable to eat. Tonight I succeeded with broccoli. Nate was sleptical at first but then he was like "This isn't bad!" He was right. It wasn't bad. I sauteed the broccoli in olive oil with garlic and then sprinkled it with salt and peper but only cooked it for about a mintue. I was very happy with the results and I will continue to try to find more ways to make veggies taste good.

Today I finished my second project on my sewing machine which was very exciting. I made quilted coasters. I found this idea on marthastewart.com. Here they are!



I have started my decoration collection for the fall with some kitchen towels from the dollar section at target. More to come I'm sure.



That's all for now! Good is good.

Dumplings, Rummy, Mules, Sewing, Subbing

From Thursday of Last week until tonight Nate and I have been very busy people. On Thursday afternoon I went to Tom and Sharron's house. Tom and Sharron are awesome people of God. They have a wonderful family and great faith. Sharon invited me to their house to teach me how to make chicken and dumplings using her secret recipe. Of course, I cannot reveal this secret but we had a very good time and I learned how to make chicken and dumplings. We also made 2 apple pies. Nate and Tom joined us later for dinner which was delicious and then we all played some Apples to Apples with their grandson. It was a great time!

Friday during the day I started working on my first project on my sewing machine. I made a bag from an old sheet to put our recycling in before we take it out to the big can outside every week. Before we were just throwing everything on the ground next to the trash can trying to make it as neat as possible but it just wasn't working. So, I made a plain white bag with a drawstring. It looks like a pillowcase on a string but I'm pretty proud of my first accomplishment with my machine.


It's a little plain so I might iron on some letters to spice it up a little.

Friday night we went to Pat and Gib's to have dinner with them and the Kobaks (the pastor and his wife). Pat and Gib love to play games. They especially love to play variations of rummy. The last time Nate and I spent time with them we played 2 different variations of rummy. We played 3 and 13 well into the night. Nate and I are wondering how many forms of rummy there might be and we are ready to take on learning as many as possible.

Saturday we went to the East Perry County Fair (the Altenburg Fair). This fair is considered, "the best little fair in the land". If you don't know, Altenburg, MO is the home of the first LCMS seminary. In good German tradition, this fair holds a record concerning beer consumption. I am pretty sure it is the most beer consumed over the course of two days. It is also famous for its fried fish and cheese sandwiches. Nate stood in line for 30 minutes to collect cheese sandwiches for the group we were there with. The biggest thing to see at this fair though is the mule jumping. The mules compete to see which mule can jump the highest over a pole. Apparently this started as a bar bet and turned into the talk of the fair. It is VERY entertaining. I am not kidding either. It was great! I want to go again next year.

Picture from semissourian.com

Sunday we had church of course which my dad joined us for. He came down to hear Nate preach and to go to Nate's Bible study. Then there was a chicken and dumplings dinner at the church as a fundraiser. We also had chicken and dumplings again at a birthday party that night. I think that Nate and I are experts on what makes good chicken and dumplings now. :)

Today and yesterday I subbed at Jackson Junior High. I really enjoyed both days. I haven't really done much but the kids are great. I have had time to read which is very nice and I am doing something which is also good.

That's all for now! God is good!

Exciting Week

This past week was the week of the SEMO (Southeast Missouri) District Fair. In Cape Girardeau the SEMO Fair is a BIG deal. The kids from the congregation showed animals and other various 4-H projects. This is the first time that Nate and I have experienced the livestock showing and a horse show. We also got to see two concerts at the fair. We saw Bryan White which is famous for his song he sang with Shania Twain in the 90's, "From this Moment". We also saw the John D. Hale Band which is a local band. We had the chance to experience a deep fried Snickers bar. It was delicious and like all good foods, horribly bad for you. It's okay though because the fair is only once a year. All in all, the SEMO District Fair was a success with the Wollenbergs, fun and fellowship with a lot of great people.

The biggest part of my week was that, Sara, a wonderful woman from our congregation took me with her to the Cardinals game on Monday night. She works for Drury Hotels so we got to sit in the corporate seats, five rows behind home plate. It was awesome! When the ump and Yadier Molina (Cardinals catcher)were arguing I could read their lips. Fredbird also ended up coming to our section, sitting down next to people and messing with them. It was amazing! Sara and I had a great time!





Other exciting things that happened this week include me getting my first substitute job! I subbed at Jackson High School for a para-professional in the Special Ed department. I was very happy to get some work. I also ordered a sewing machine!!! I got a brother CS 6000i. Isn't it pretty?



I'm so excited to get it! I have used sewing machines a few times before but never on my own. We'll see how I do!

Nate is excited that football has started. He is keeping up with his and my fantasy teams. I don't pay as much to my teams as I should. He, of course, has not forgotten about baseball and his first place Yankees.

Anyway, all is good in Cape. God is good!

Goodbye Summer

Over the past month things have been good in Cape and elsewhere. It has cooled down significantly in the past couple of weeks and we are experiencing some very nice weather along with some rain which was greatly needed. Nate and I attended the wedding of our dear friends Shayla and Andrew. It was a wonderful wedding that we both got the pleasure of standing up in. We could not be happier for two of our best friends.





Before the wedding our friend Rachel McCall came to visit in Cape. We had a great time spending time with her. We gave her the grand tour of Cape Girardeau! We introduced her to stuffed jalapenos, which are delicious, they aren't spicy.

I am still looking for a job. Until I find one, I am thinking about taking up sewing as a hobby. I think it would be an excellent hobby to have and it would be fun. The only obstacle now is finding an inexpensive machine. I have been looking at some projects on Marthastewart.com and think it is definitely doable. I still like to bake as a hobby but I don't need extra sweets around the house. I did make an Oreo pudding pie which turned out nicely for the Rally Day Picnic at church. I will keep up the baking when there are events to take the goods to. :)

Things have been pretty normal up at church. Nate experienced his third funeral since we have been here. That might be kind of morbid for a blog but he is training to be a pastor and funerals are part of the biz. He has been preaching on a regular basis. If you would like to hear his sermons you can access them buy going to the iTunes store and typing in "Hanover Lutheran Church". If you go to the churches page you can watch the sermons.

God is good! That's all for now.:)

Life in God's Country

The past three weeks starting out in Cape have been great! One of the great things is that I have been able to bake and use my beautiful red Kitchen-Aid Mixer. I'm trying to think about what to name it. As most people know, my car's name is Mona and Nate's truck's name is Black Magic. I'll have to think about that one. So far I have made chocolate chip cream cheese bars which were a big hit on the 4th of July when we went to Lanny's. I made camp coffee cake. :) And today I made apple crisp. I'm not done yet either. I'm trying to think of what the next thing that I bake might be.



Last week on Monday morning, I was surprised by a most repulsive smell in our house. Knowing that the sewage had backed up in the basement of this house before, I really didn't want to check the basement and have that be the case. I looked in a bunch of places and then finally checked the basement. Sure enough...sewage. The pastor and his family generously took us into their house for a few nights while the plumbing was getting fixed. Turns out that there was a 5 gallon buckets worth of 1-inch gravel in the plumbing line in the backyard. They even had to tear up the street behind the house. It was kind of a bummer but it built character when we had to clean up the basement. We learned something new! Haha.

The congregation here has really been taking care of us. They have given us lots and lots of veggies. Today we were given a great deal of meat and some freshly smoked ribs. AMAZING! We are so blessed!

Last Sunday was the first week that Nate preached at Hanover. He did great. It starts with the readings. You can watch it by going to http://www.facebook.com/HanoverLutheran?ref=ts. It is not actually 20 minutes long, it starts with the readings. You can also go to Hanover Lutheran Church on itunes and download the podcast.

That is all for now. :) God is good!

We've Moved!

Almost two weeks ago Nate and I moved to Cape Girardeau, MO for his vicarage. We were welcomed with a counter full of food, a wonderful house and wonderful people. It took us a few days to get settled but we have definitely made this place our home for a year. We have been so excited to finally get to use our wedding gifts. Everything is new and works great. I will be posting pictures of the church and our home on this site and you can also go to them by going to facebook.



Our House



The sign at the church welcoming Nate!
God is good!

Nate and Kate in the "Badger" State

It is the season of weddings! Nate and I spent a week in Wisconsin going to the weddings of Becky and Clay Buie and Chris and Rachel Davis. Nate DJ'd the Hillenbrand-Buie wedding and he was in the Davis-Kirk Wedding. We had a great time celebrating the weddings of both couples. These marked weddings 2 and 3 of 4 weddings in a row. We were invited to 13 weddings this spring/summer; we will not be attending them all. We wish all of the couple best wishes though. We have been so blessed to share these great times with our close friends.



We had a great time hanging out with many people that we hadn't seen in a while in Wisconsin. There are things that I won't miss about Wisconsin like scraping the ice off the inside of my window and driving in the snow. Nate would have snow everyday if it were possible. He loves it. I like to look at it for a couple days and then it can melt. The brown snow that sticks around for 3 months just isn't my thing. We do miss all of the people that live in Wisconsin and that we went to school with at Concordia. We had a great time hanging out with the Kelm family, who was nice enough to put us up for the week. We visited Pizza Shuttle, which is where we "met" and where we spent many good times. The best part was seeing all of the people though.

We will be heading to Indiana, Connecticut and Canada next! Stay tuned!

Cape Girardeau

Turns out we are going to Cape Girardeau, MO! Looks like our blog is going to be called Nate and Kate in the "Show Me" State for a while now. We are very excited about going to "The Cape". It is going to be a very good fit for us. There is a possible job opportunity for me as well which is a very good thing. Nate will begin on July 1. He will get installed on July 4 and the pastor said he had fireworks around the nation planned for him. We're feeling like kind of a big deal. Haha. We are excited to be in a church that is older than the LCMS. There is a lot of very cool history in the church that we are going to. The church is just south of the birthplace of the LCMS, Perry county. I am looking forward to the small town feel of Cape even though it is a bigger town. I also am excited for the southern "boot-heel" feel of Cape. It will be a great time.


This is a picture of the bridge over the Mississippi in Cape.

In other news, we bought a truck. It is a black Chevy S-10. We said good-bye to the Blazer aka the White Low Rider last weekend. We felt like we were betraying the White Low Rider as we drove it to Ohio to switch it out with the new truck aka Black Magic. If you are wondering why the Blazer was called the White Low Rider and the truck is called Black Magic, it is because my dad likes to give pretty much everything nicknames. It makes things interesting. So now we have a Black Magic Pickup.



That's all for now!

Countdown to Call Day

Hello Everyone!

This week is a big week for us. We are finding out this week where we will be spending all of next year on vicarage. We are very excited and can't wait to find out where we will be going. Nate is as usual very busy with seminary life. This is week seven of ten, things are slowly winding down. If you would like to view the vicarage service this Tuesday, it is at 3 p.m. and you can follow this link:

http://cslmedia.org/callday/watch.php

As for me (Katie), things at school are going at full speed too. About a month ago I started teaching 6-8 Language Arts, 6th Religion and 6th Literature at an inner city Lutheran school. I am filling in for a maternity leave for the rest of the school year. It has been a very good learning experience full of joys and challenges.

That is pretty much all for now. Feel free to comment and share with others. :)

P.S. Our wedding pictures are also up!

New Blog

Hello Everyone!

Since we have gotten married we decided that it would be cool to have a blog to follow us on our journey through seminary, vicarage and eventually to our call. Right now we are in St. Louis at the seminary. Since we will be moving so much we named our blog Nate and Kate in the "Show Me" State. This will change as we move. We hope you enjoy our blog!