Iowa Endings

These past two weeks things have calmed down a bit at the store. We had more employees these last two weeks than we have had the entire time we were here. That helped tremendously! We, as well as all the teammates were able to put in few less overtime hours. Justin was sick and running a fever for about three days. He dealt with it like a champ. Since he wasn't able to take any time off away from the store, he spent his time working on paper work and all of those office details that he needed to get done. We were able to meet the new owner and his wife as well. They seem amazing! I am sure that the kids are going to love working for them, and serving with them.

On our last Sunday in town, we went to visit the Herbert Hoover Historical Museum and birthplace. It was very fun! We always enjoy learning about the presidents and what they accomplished or in his case, did not accomplish. It was sad to read about how well he did as a man, but how rough of a time that he had with his presidency. We learned that after his presidency he tried to warn Roosevelt not to go into WWII, but due to his failures during his presidency, no one heeded his warnings nor listened to his ideas anymore.

 

 

 

His father's Blacksmith Shop. This is a reconstruction of the original.
The original building burned down.

 

 

 

The statue of Isis, the goddess of life. It was given to Herbert Hoover from
 the country of Belgium, as a gift for saving their children from starving to death.
He fed them with "Hoover Rolls" and hot chocolate.

 

Herbert and his wife, Lou's, grave site.

 

After leaving the museum, Justin and I went up to CFA to do some more cleaning in the store. He worked on removing all the dust and build up from the top of the walls and the high shelves, while I had a little too much fun pressure washing the lower walls. It blows my mind just how much grime and build up can be removed solely with pressurized water. We ended our day at our favorite place, the movie theater. We watch Triple 9. It was extremely intense.

Our time here an Iowa has come to an end. Though we have enjoyed it, and met some fantastic people, it is time to move on to our next location. Here we come Houston!

Iowa the Ice Land

This week continued a trifecta of thirteen hour work days. This week things were supposed to be back to normal, but some of the team members stayed out of town longer than we were expecting, for an opening out of state. Though we are slightly exhausted and overwhelmed by the immensity of stress and obstacles, we are so thankful for our team who also put in extra hours and worked extra days with us to keep things running.

Saturday night, there were enough workers that Justin and I did not have to stay until close. We had such a nice relaxing night. We found a place in town where you can get a message for only $30. So we both got a message, which was literally amazing! Afterwards, we walked to the movie theater to catch a new movie.

Justin and I went skiing on Sunday at Sundown Mountain in Dubuque, Iowa. It was only and hour and half drive away. The weather could not have been more perfect for snow skiing. It snowed the entire time that we were skiing. The snowflakes were enormous and breathtakingly beautiful.

 

 



On the way home, we tried to go see the movie site for "The Field of  Dreams." The site was only a few miles away from where we went skiing, but it was closed for the season. (I guess that only makes sense. I am not sure what I thought I was going to be able to see with all of the snow on the ground.) Instead, we headed back through the ice land to Coralville, sipping hot chocolate, and dreaming about where Justin's job will take us next.