The Bergs

Last weekend we went to Omaha. It was really nice. The drive went well, and Becca and I had a great time with Duane and his mom. Judy seemed happy to see us and meet Becca.

We left on Friday morning and drove down through Des Moines. The city name made us wonder what the history was so I looked it up.

“The history of Des Moines can be traced to 1834, when John Dougherty, an Indian Agent at Fort Leavenworth, Ks, recommended that a military post be established at the point where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers merge. Nine years later, May 1843, Captain James Allen and a company of dragoons from Fort Sanford arrived on the site. Captain Allen proposed to name the
garrison Fort Raccoon but was directed by the War Department to use the name Fort Des Moines. The origin of the name is uncertain, but most historians agree that the name probably initially referred to the river. Some people feel that ‘Des Moines’ is derived from the Indian word ‘moingona’ meaning
river of the mounds which referred to the burial mounds that were located near the banks of the river. Others are of the opinion that name applies to the Trappist Monks (Moines de la Trappe) who lived in huts at the mouth of the Des Moines river. French voyagers referred to the river as La Riviere des Moines.”

Anyway, we made it into Council Bluffs Iowa and East Omaha right around sundown, so it was interesting driving. I have to plug my GPS again though. It saved us quite a lot of time and it was fun being able to look down at it and see the amount of driving left. When I first got it, it was interesting to note that the time estimation wasn’t always right, but it seems as though it is getting better. Perhaps it is alive?

While in Omaha we went to a place called the “Texas Roadhouse”. It was very cool. They had a huge barrel of peanuts in the entryway to snack on while waiting to be seated. We had 40 minutes or so. The food is like an American Steak and Seafood place. The gimmick is that the wait-staff come to your table if it a special day and do a sort of line dance while you sit on a mounted saddle. We were going to get Becca on the saddle, but by the time we had the chance, we were too full and had to be rolled out!

We also went to the dog track and watched some greyhound races. Becca bet a couple dollars and was very close to winning $55. She bet on the top three coming in at 4 – 1 – 3, when it was really 1 – 3 – 4. It was pretty cool. After that we went to the casino and watched people put money in machines. I decided to play a $.50 poker machine and put in $2 and pulled out $5. So I basically made up for our losses and some. It was pretty cool.

We left on Sunday, even though we didn’t want to. I had to play hockey at 8pm and we needed a day to do laundry and the stuff that we normally do on the weekends. The drive home was uneventful.

Hockey went well. The team we played had come very close to beating some of the teams that we have lost to in the past so we were up for a tough game. They didn’t score on me until the 3rd period when I started to tire. We ended up winning 5 to 2. The first goal they scored was a three-way pass and I had no defense on the the last two players. The second was totally my fault. I lifted my stick as the guy stuffed it from behind the net…

That’s about it for now. I have to head off to work, dropping Becca off on the way.

It is amazing how fast things happen the way you want them to when you just let God take control. After the wedding I had been looking for a job at a clinic so I could get the same hours as Jonn and to also get different experience. I had applied to 10 or 15 other places but after about a month and a half later with no calls for an interview I started to worry. So I thought of other clinics I could go and bring my resume to. As I started to think Maplewood Cancer Center came into my head so I gave them a call to see if they had any openings. They said that they had just opened up a new LPN position so I hurried and turned my application in the next day. A day or two later I received a phone call for an interview so of course I accepted and was so nervous that I was nauseous and during the interview couldn’t think of the correct answers. I felt like I failed miserably and told my husband I doubt I’d get the job. The next day I received a phone call from aspen clinic offering me a job at their clinic so at least I had a job no matter what. That same day Maplewood Cancer Center called me back to see if I would like to come in for a shadowing with another nurse, which I accepted! I spent the morning following a nurse around while she gave chemo and did blood draws and a variety of different things. I had such a blast. About two or three hours after the shadowing I received a call from Maplewood Cancer Center and they offered me the job.  I started on October 8th.

So far I have been at the job for two weeks and I have learned to so much and still have so much to learn, at times I feel inadequate because I am so inexperienced but at other times I feel like I can relate to the patient. It has been over six years since my cancer diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease and working in the clinic where I had gotten treatment has brought a lot of memories back that I had forgotten it is overwhelming at times. I know God had a hand in me getting this job and he wants me to work there because I couldn’t have called at a better time, if I would have called any sooner or later the job would not have been open or it would have been taken.

Thank You God

In 17 hours there will be a wedding of my friend Anne Gilles and Dan Markus, after about three years of dating they are finally tying the knot in Stillwater MN. It will be a day full of fun and NO RAIN Congratulations you guys!! I can’t wait until you get a cat!

Eh hem Correction! Anne said it is four years they have been dating instead of three.

Jonn and I recently celebrated our one month anniversary on the 18^th of September on yet again, another rainy day.   He bought me flowers and we reminisced about that day that was so blurry for us. Looking at the pictures it still seems so surreal  that we sometimes can’t believe it actually happened.   Even living together now it is still sometimes a shock.    I am still trying to get rid of a lot of Jonn’s bachelor stuff and the house is slowly starting to feel more feminine… I mean more like home.   We are also feeling an overwhelming sense of humility from all of the gifts that were given to us over the past few months. We are so blessed to have such great people in our lives that are able to open there hearts and pocketbooks to some crazy newlyweds.   This weekend we will be celebrating my 24^th birthday on Saturday by going to an Arabian Fall Festival at the state fair grounds, then we will be heading to celebrate another friends surprise birthday and then heading to church and possibly back home for a bon fire. Then Sunday we will be going to my parents for a yummy spaghetti dinner along with Jonn’s parents and his sister’s family.  Life is actually starting to simmer down a lot and once I get my Thank You’s done from the wedding (by the way there are about 250 cards) I will feel unburdened and so much more at peace.  I am sure my mother will also!