FM Missionary Good-bye Lunch

Our last Friday in the mission was celebrated with the FM missionaries in a Good-bye potluck lunch in the break room.

Since some of our sisters are working in paint and conservation, but their husbands are teamsters, we had a few of them join us.  

Everyone made delicious food and I tried not to eat too much.  

After everyone had their fill, my husband got up to say a few words.  They wanted me to say some things as well, but I knew I would not get through it without tears so I just didn't.

These truly are some of the best people in the loveliest place.

Elder Elia didn't disappoint with making wontons.  

Since I chose not to say anything, Jared stood up to say a few things about me.  He expressed his appreciation for me and my hard work.  He like that I was a fast worker.  Best of all, he loved that I could find his lost things.  I will miss working with him. 

 

Paint Clothes

Over my time as a painter, I went through four t-shirts and four pairs of pants.  I only brought one pair of pants home as I knew I'd use them and they were still in good shape.  

There was a day when I first began working in the paint department that Elder Fred Mensel told me that I was finally officially part of the crew as my name tag had paint on it.  I had cleaned it and rubbed some of the words off.  After that I just left it.

When it got cold, I knew I had a coat at home that could be used for winter.  

I wore it for many years and recently just used it when I was shoveling snow.  Now it has found it's way to the dumpster.  A lot of years in that coat.  It served me well. 

 

The Paint Shop Chair

Sometime in 2019, this recliner was brought into the paint shop.  It got a lot of use as we took breaks or waited for instruction.  When we had our first inspection, it was suggested that we remove the chairs.  That didn't go over very well with some of the painters.

After the paint shop was cleaned and organized, it hadn't moved.  But one day Jared was trying to retrieve something behind it and tripped over it three times.  He decided it needed a new home.  Good bye chair.  It has been a pleasure for us to sit down and rest on occasion.  
 

Eagles

As we go out for a walk down Parley Street and back up Water Street, there is an eagle's nest.

It's been fun to watch this pair of eagles.

Sometimes they are both in the nest, sometimes we see just one.

Then there are times when one is in and one out.  

One day we watched one of them come back from fishing and brought something back to the nest for both to share.  Then both beaks are down and all that was visible was tail feathers.

There are a lot of eagles in the area since the dam at Keokuk keeps the water open all year round.  We see more in the winter than the summer for that very reason.  I still love to see and watch these majestic birds that symbolize our country.

 

Village Inn #9

We moved from the Condos to Village Inn #9 last March.  I did some painting and Pat did a lot of upgrading before/during the time we moved in.  The Mensels had lived here and we moved over when they left due to the pandemic.  This home has an upstairs where we could put Tom when he came to stay.  Let's be totally honest, it has all that space upstairs for our family to camp out when they come to visit.  We both loved having that extra space.  Bonus!  There is another bathroom up there.

               

Our bathroom is quite small and the door opened into the room which was a real pain since you had to get in past the door in order to close it to use the toilet.  So, my smart companion took the door off and made it swing out into the hallway instead.  Another honest moment, we rarely closed the door.

Behind the door in our bedroom was this wonderful light bar and mirror.  I picked out the table to put my cosmetics and hair "things" on.  Then I had shelves for linens and other stuff that didn't have a specific place.  I LOVE this space!

                      

The rest of our bedroom is nothing too special.

Our desk is in the bedroom as well but the little alcove made a place for it that wasn't useful for anything else.  It is the perfect set up.

The living room was bright and cheerful!  Although the windows faced the north, the scenery was that of the state park so it was actually very nice.  I painted the west wall Quicksilver which we both really liked.  When we had very cold weather, we brought in a portable heater as the ceramic floor in that space radiated the cold.

I really liked the kitchen as it had actually drawers unlike the Condo.  The fridge in the corner was tough if we were both trying to navigate that space at the same time.  Mostly, I loved this space.

I also loved the view out of the south facing window.  I put up a bird feeder and even put seed on the window sill.  Birds loved to come sit there and eat off of that space.

We had a much larger table and we could even put an extra leaf in to expand it.  

I also picked out that book shelf and filled it with family pictures.  I liked that a lot.

When entering the back door from the garage, there was this pantry/laundry/mud/music room.    It was messy as we were in the midst of packing when I took this photo.

It is a great room to remove shoes and coats.

I absolutely LOVED living in this space.  It was the perfect size for us except when family visited.  Then it was quite small.  Still, I'm very thankful that Trischa allowed us to make the move.  

Without the garage I don't know where my husband would have gone with all his treasures.

Socializing Again

We really wanted to have one final dinner and game night with those we are closest to before we leave.  I told the Carlsons, Binghams and Ballards that we were having a "Help the Plesheks pack their things" party at the Carlson home.

I felt really bad putting President Ballard in that position knowing that we didn't have official permission to do it.  He texted a few days later and said that they would not be attending but that we should enjoy ourselves.

He always "pushed" the idea of letting the seniors get together with President Rizley.  He finally said that if the YSMs were able to do it then why not the seniors?  Most of us have either had Covid or been vaccinated.  He agreed and the Ballard let us know they were in.  We had a great time together dining, visiting and gaming.  How I will miss these three couples!
 

The Carter House

Sister Chestnut was given the Carter house as her own project for painting.  She started with the Main apartment and soon Sister Cochran and Koop and I helped.  Everything was painted the same color and she decided that the woodwork should be a pale yellow.

I think it looks fantastic!

Once the lower was finished, Jared asked us to start the upper one.  This time Sister Cochran and I started the project and Sisters Chestnut and Koop finished it.  Both places look really great.  Once the new flooring is installed upstairs it will be ready for new occupants.