As we make steady progress through August, I thought I'd catch you up on a few happenings. Work has been going well for Laurel and I. Laurel has been learning some new things and looks forward to some possible job advancement in the future. With a corporate buyout of our company last fall, I have been working through some of the integration and migration issues that arise on the IT-side of the house during those transitions.

Last year we had some solar panels installed on the house, and this year we recently added a battery to the mix. It passed inspection yesterday, so we should be up and running quite soon. (I should probably check e-mail to see if there are any other documents to e-sign!). We are looking forward to the cleaner power coming into the house and the option for running for a while should the power go out for any length of time.

At church I have been working my way through a study of 1 Corinthians in the adult Sunday School class. We are still in the first chapter, but it has been a very enjoyable study for me so far, as I've had the reason and opportunity to take a deeper dive into the book. Verses 4 through 9 have actually become a personal favorite this year! Laurel has been teaching the younger kids in Sunday School as well.

This past Tuesday, we had a new couch delivered! There is a fun backstory to it that I will relate here. After Laurel and I were married, we used to take a Saturday here and there to spend time going through the antique stores, shops, and local eateries in downtown Logan. (We still do...but we can't walk there from our house now!) During one of those early months, after we had both discovered our shared love of MCM (mid-century modern) furniture and accessories, Laurel spied a really good looking couch in the window of a locally-owned furniture store called Curate. We had never been inside before, so one day we took the opportunity of doing just that. We thoroughly enjoyed our time, going through the store and seeing everything on display. In particular, we fell in love with the blue couch in the window. Months passed, and eventually the blue couch disappeared from the front window, replaced by another piece of furniture. After moving to Lewiston, we began talking a little more seriously about getting a replacement couch. We toured several of the local establishments and even did some looking online. We saw a lot of great looking couches, but whether we realized it or not, we were always comparing them to that first blue couch. Well, to try to wrap this up, we went into Curate recently and talked with one of the sales people about couches. In passing, we mentioned the blue one that had been in the front window some years ago. Not only was she able to find it, but was able to give us a quote on it as well! We went home and measured, planned, and prayed. The next day we went in and ordered the couch...and as I mentioned, it was delivered on Tuesday. It isn't the most expensive couch in the world, nor the largest, nor likely the highest quality, but it is a couch that has a really fun backstory, a backstory of us!

Summer continues on its busy pace, bringing with it the requisite hot dogs, hamburgers and other "grilling-out" foods. One of Laurel's friends from college was recently in Salt Lake for a conference, so we had Heather and her mom Bev up to the house for a couple of days. It was fun getting to know them and for Laurel to get to catch up "in-person" which hasn't happened for a good number of years.

I've continued reading, including the The Tripods-series by John Christopher and several horse stories by Marguerite Henry including Misty of Chincoteague and Stormy, Misty's Foal. I had read several of Henry's books in my childhood, and it has been fun to become reacquainted with them. I also re-read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Laurel has been reading through some books herself, including several by Dee Henderson.

Being a bit of a "sucker" for computers of the 90's and 00's, I recently picked up two Gateway 2000 computers off of eBay. These join a third example that I had purchased just before moving to our current house. The goal is to eventually put one together that is like the one I spec'd-out for our family computer back in early 1998. The additional computers will potentially be a source for spare parts.

If you haven't noticed, I am the nostalgic sort, and really enjoy digging up things from my past. I have so many good memories of my growing up years, and it has been fun refreshing those memories in different ways. One thing I started last year was creating audio recordings of memories, whether in recent history or far back in the past. I was able to sit down with my Dad on a couple of occassions and record him telling some stories and memories. I've also done this with my Mom as well, and we've been able to remember some things together that I didn't know or didn't remember on my own.

Well, that gives you a quick update of a of our summer activities so far. As always, we'd love to hear from you. Fire up your e-mail program and send us a line! Just to give you an idea of something to send, for any of you that know me personally I'd love to hear any stories you have about me...who knows...maybe I haven't thought about that particular event for a long time!