Some of you may already know, but for those that don't- FBL Financial Group, Inc. let go of 76 people today. Nick and I both work for the company, and were extremely lucky to not be part of that number. Unfortunately, Nick's former department is now being outsourced, as well as another department. We are glad he found a new position in the company when he did (about 2 years ago), but are thinking of all of his old co-workers, and others let go from the company, as they go through the changes ahead of them. If we can be of assistance to any of you/them in any way, please let us know. We will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

These economic times we are in are, in one word, "crazy" and hard on all of us. We only hope the turnaround comes soon and things start looking up. It is days and times like this that make us so greatful for what we have and remember that everything happens for a reason, even if we don't see what that is right now.

Welcome to the Family Rosario!

No, we did not add another pet to the mix- we got something to help with them instead!

Rosario, our new Roomba, was added to the family on Saturday in order to help with inbetween floor cleanings. With Kara studying and Nick gearing up for biking season, we decided we needed a little help around the house in order to keep Kara sane. Thus far Rosario has been used almost once a day and she does a great job! She isn't as good as Kara's weekly deep clean, but it works for during the week and is sure to come in handy come spring when the animals start shedding more. The best thing is we can schedule her and she does it all on her own while we are gone, then goes back and recharges herself! Now if we could get her to empty out the dirt container (we can dream).

On a different note- a shout out to a fun Saturday night at the 'German Bar.' And a late Happy Birthday to Megan- way to take part in the boot game.

Same Old, Same Old

We realize we haven’t written much lately, but there really isn’t much going on in our lives right now. It is the same old, same old.

Kara was sick starting New Year’s Day and lasting a week or so. First the flu, then a cold, and then an ear infection. We figure the year can only go up from there. Luckily, Nick managed to avoid all of it- allowing him to wait on Kara while she was under the weather.

Kara started studying for the Level II CFA exam in December, taking up about 15-20 hours each week. Thus far it is going good and she is a week ahead of her study schedule- knock on wood.

Nick is pretty excited about his new cyclocross bike that he put together last week, which is probably about the highlight of 2009 thus far. Kara is glad he has something to do besides snow-blow the driveway. Now that the weather is getting nicer, he is sure to be off on more outside bike rides.

That is about it for us. No current home improvement projects, no trips planned, nothing too exciting. Just hanging in there.