Valentines Dinner

We spent Valentines Day at Luke and Dayna's this year. We had a lovely little dinner with the two couples. Here are some pictures of the evening. I didn't take any of us because we all looked like bums this year. :)

Picture of the Day: ...no grapes on the vine...

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17 & 18

Seseme Chicken..sort of..

Last week I received a cookbook in the mail from my mother. It was a how-to-cook chinese cookbook. In fact it promised better chinese then take out! I had to try it.

Well I decided to make the "Seseme Chicken" recipe the other evening. Well, luck would have it that I didn't have the book with me...we had left it in a backpack at Paul's sister house. So I called my 1-800-help number (aka "mama") and she gave me the recipe which I quickly copied down on a piece of paper.

The end result was pretty good. I served it over rice. Paul liked it but I wasn't so sure that it was "better then take out". I may need to try it again.

I took some pictures during the process:

Wordy Wednesday: Alaska Trivia

I have never been to Alaska. Really want to, but haven't made it there yet. From pictures it looks like an amazing state.


I looked up some facts on the state today. Very interesting.

Alaska Trivia

Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.


Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island established the first settlement in Alaska in 1784.

In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska.

On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States. Many Americans called the purchase "Seward's Folly."

Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.

In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War,
the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War.

Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

Alaska's most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry.

The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.

Dog mushing is the official state sport. The Alaska Legislature adopted it in 1972.

The state's coastline extends over 6,600 miles.

At 20,320 feet above sea level, Mt. McKinley, located in Alaska's interior, is the highest point in North America.

In 1915 the record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon; the record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.

For more cool facts on different states check out: http://www.50states.com/

Addie + Balloon = Cuteness

After the annual Rogers Valentines dinner I found Addie in the kitchen with a balloon. She was having a great time chasing that thing all over the place. Had to take some pictures. She is so adorable!

Luke, Dayna, and Baby Carson's Bump

Last week while still in KC we went out one day to take some "preggy" pictures of Dayna. It was a nice day with lots of cloud cover. We drove all over the city and found some cool spots for pictures. Here are some of my favorites!

Picture of the Day: Back When

When I met my husband Paul Rogers he was working and living in Santa Barbara, California. He had the life to be envied. He told me that he went swimming every day and ate sushi on the pier. But his pride and joy was his dirt bike. He talked about it all the time like it was his girl. He drove that thing up and down the coast and through out the mountains. They were hardly ever separated.

He ended up selling it to chase some girl....but talks about it all the time. When we make our millions I will buy you one Paul! :)

Surprise from my Papa

Yesterday we finally pulled back into our house after a week and a half absence. The mailbox was piled full of newspapers, bills, and such. While sifting through everything a purple envelope fell out. It was addressed to Mary Rogers....I opened it to find this beautiful Valentines card from my very own Papa!! It made my night. :)

I love you too Papa! Miss you very much!

Wordy Wednesday: Christ Alone

(photo credit: Joe Segreti)

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Geocaching and Such

Sunday was a beautiful day. We had a "heat wave" here in Kansas City. It was in the 50's and sunny. I sat outside and soaked up the sun rays. I believe my face got a tad bit of color! :)

Paul and I met up with a bunch of his family and some friends in the afternoon. We all went geocaching. To learn what that is go to this link....http://www.geocaching.com/ They can explain it WAY better then I can! Anyway, we trekked through the underbrush for a couple hours. Although we all got wet and muddy it was worth it.

Here is one of the geocaches that we found.....

The other Mary Rogers.....

What a beaut...

Us with our dear Foofee....

Caleb doing some cool moves....

And some not so cool....

The gang with Josiah's awesome truck.....

Valentines Day

Paul headed off this morning to grab some "coffee". He came back with a lovely bouquet of flowers. Gerber Daises were the first flowers he ever gave me. And the red Roses are for love. Such a sweet guy. I love you Paul Rogers. But we didn't need Valentines Day to know that!

Picture of the Day: Open

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Bad Management, Good Management

We are in Kansas City. Paul is speaking at a workshop for photographers this weekend. We are staying with his brother Luke and his wife Dayna. They are expecting a little boy in about 4 weeks. We are all super excited. This is their first baby and they are SO ready to meet the tiny little man!




We stay with L & D quite often when we are down in the city. Its become a home away from home. We always have great times playing Scrabble, cards, and making amazing food. Luke is a manager at a local store so we always joke about the "management" of the place. Our air mattress deflated one time and I got pneumonia while at their house. Of course we blamed it on the "bad management". Its all good natured fun and we have a great time with it.

This morning we had quite the management problems. At about 5am we were awakened to the sound of a phone alarm. It went on and on and on. After a few minutes Paul raced downstairs and shut off the phone. As we drifted off to sleep we were jolted back to consciousness by loud screams and cries. Our first thought was labor but then we could distinguish Dayna yelling something about her legs. Poor thing had cramps and spasms in both legs. Luke helped her stand up and rubbed her legs until the cramps subsided. Exhausted we all fell back asleep only to be awoken by a second phone alarm. BAD MANAGEMENT!!

Dayna had a doctor appointment this afternoon and upon their return gave us a huge strawberry limeade from Sonic.

Good Management restored. :)

Wordy Wednesday: Stay off the Yard

Many mail customers get mad when the mailman walks across their yard. Sometimes, the trail of the mailman can easily be seen. The Postal Service understands this, and allows people to request that the mailman stay off their yard.

As a mail carrier, I have no problem if someone is trying to win "Yard of the Month." Mail routes are timed to take into account the amount of walking done on a route. If we have to stay off a yard, it is accounted for in our route rating. Besides, yardwork is sometimes a person's main hobby. For those who make it a hobby, I will gladly stay off their lawn.

However, besides the grass looking neat, there are monetary factors to consider. A mailman who has to walk around a yard, on average, incurs a delay of between 15 and 30 seconds, with an average of about 20 seconds. Over the course of the year (303 delivery days), that adds up to an average of 101 minutes added to the mailman's route per yard. At an average pay of $22.00 per hour, staying off your one yard has cost the US Postal Service $37.03 per year.

It gets worse. In our city of 70,000, we have entire neighborhoods where we cannot walk on the yards. The routes that have these neighborhoods have many less houses than a normal route. It all adds up to having to employ an additional mail carrier, to work an extra route, just so these neighborhoods can have good looking lawns. As a postal worker, I'm happy that this extra person has a job just because we cannot walk on some lawns. However, this extra employee cost the Postal Service over $100,000 per year. (It's not just the salary. An extra route means maintaining another truck, and the computerized sorting system must divide the mail for an extra route, requiring workers to load trays of mail for another route, etc.) And that's just a small city of 70,000. If you count the rest of the United States, not being able to walk on some lawns cost the USPS millions of dollars a year. Who pays for these increased costs? We all do, with increasing postal rates. Ninety-nine percent of the cost is borne by people who do not benefit from this "stay of the yard" service.

As a mail carrier, I'm happy to stay off your lawn. As a private citizen who buys stamps, you are getting a premium service from the Postal Service, but you are not paying for it. I'm proposing an idea to help solve the increase in postage costs. People who want us to stay off yards should have to pay for it, so that the rest of us don't have to. A $75 annual fee should be charged to homeowners who want us to stay off their grass. That would cover the $37.03 they are costing the Postal Service, and provide some money to oversee the program. This program could easily be administered on a local basis, and would ensure that the cost of staying off a yard would be paid by those benefitting from this service.

For more interesting tips on the mailman and how he does his job look at mailmantips.com

James & Mary

This is what happens when my brother and I get together.....