My First Blog :)

My friend Angie writes an online blog to help keep her out-of-state family and friends informed about her family’s shenanigans. Although I live in the same town as her, I always enjoy reading her updates. Now that David has deleted his Facebook, I know a lot of you miss knowing what he is up to, I’ve decided to copy Angie and begin a blog of my own. Feel free to forward this link to any friends and family you believe will enjoy hearing the “Lowe Down” on David and me.  

This post was written on March 23, 2016:

David and I have really been enjoying this year, 2016 is already flying by! In January, I began a new job for Deere Employees Credit Union. The credit union has one brick-and-mortar branch, which is located in Moline, Illinois the other 22 branches are located in offices within various John Deere facilities around the country.

My title with the credit union is “Business Development Manager” and I am a one-person credit union. I underwent six weeks of training in the Quad Cities, to prepare me to run my own branch. Training was intense, but well worth it. The branch where I work is located in the John Deere Ottumwa Works facility and it looks like a nice office (not bank-like at all). I got very lucky and I have a window! 

The Ottumwa location of DECU opened on February 22, and business is booming. My superiors tell me that this is the best-received credit union opening they’ve ever had. Due to business being busy, I’ve worked a lot of overtime which will be a fun way to save up for both home improvements (we have two bathrooms we’d like to re-do) and a nice vacation. David and I are still trying to decide where to go on our next trip, we love adventure :)

A typical day at the office is non-existent. I’m constantly doing something new and encountering different challenges. I do everything from auto loans to deposits to home equity lines of credit. The only thing I do not personally handle is mortgages. It is a very fun job and my favorite part has been saving people money. I LOVE saving money in my personal life, so it has been amazing to help others save as well. I refinanced one couple’s $63,000 worth of debt and saved them $27,500 in interest alone—their debt will be paid off quicker, too.

David is doing really well. He is now working first shift and loves it. He is sleeping better now that he isn’t working at night and sleeping during the day and I’m sleeping better now that I’m not worried about him at night.

Ottumwa has been very crazy recently. In early March, David had one week where he had three service calls that wound up involving dead individuals. One died of natural causes, the other was an accidental death and the other was a murder. During that week, David also arrested a few dangerous, wanted folks and got drugs and guns off of the street. I’m proud that he works so tirelessly to keep Ottumwa as safe.

David and I are hosting my family for Easter this year. It has been hard to get down to Bolivar (Due to driving time, I haven’t been home since last July.) and my last trip to visit my family in Jefferson City was canceled when I caught a stomach virus (we were 40 minutes into the trip before David told me he thought we should turn around, because I was a special shade of green). I also planned to go to Bolivar for a weekend in March, I was packed and ready to go but then I didn’t get off work until 7:30 p.m. instead of the scheduled 4 p.m. The late start, combined with Daylight savings time and a long drive—I decided I’d wait and let my family come to me.

Being the aunt and uncle of a newly-turned 4-year-old boy is such a blast. David and I want Kagan to always look forward to seeing us, so we gladly play the role of spoiling our little guy. This weekend Kagan will get to enjoy Easter festivities with our neighbor boys, who are around his age, and a few Easter presents David and I found at fancy stores like Dollar Tree and Walmart—we keep it classy! I got word today that Kagan no longer takes naps, so I am glad we have some activities planned :)

Easter is my second-favorite holiday—scored on food alone (4^th of July food  is my favorite!). My family will enjoy the same Easter dinner as my in-laws had last year. The big meal will feature ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, rolls and a bunny cake (of course!).

NOW FOR THE EXCITING NEWS!

David and I are getting a new brother-in-law! David’s oldest sister, Meredith, got engaged to her long-time-beau Sean Bell earlier this year. David and I have been able to get to know Sean during family gatherings—including our trip to France last spring. We absolutely love Sean and adore Sean and Meredith as a couple. They were so kind, generous and excited when David and I got hitched last fall—we’re glad to return the favor to them now! They will be getting married in September and hosting the festivities at an awesome aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. It will be a wonderful weekend and we are so excited to celebrate.