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 (4th 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.
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