SRKindredSpirits

The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot (63 stories) monument in St. Louis Missouri.  The Gateway Arch weighs 43,226 tons and the foundations are about 60 feet deep.Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch (catenary means it is the shape a free-hanging chain takes when held at both ends), it is the world's tallest arch, the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere, and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and officially dedicated to "the American people," it is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and has become an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis, as well as a popular tourist destination. The Arch was designed by architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963, and was completed on October 28, 1965, for $13 million. Thanks to hundreds of workers, the Arch was completed within budget and w

"The vision of College of the Ozarks is to develop citizens of Christ-like character who are well-educated, hard-working, and patriotic." College of the Ozarks is a Christian liberal-arts college, with its campus at Point Lookout near Branson, Missouri. It is 40 miles south of Springfield on a 1,000-acre campus, overlooking Lake Taneycomo. The college has an enrollment of 1,450, over 30 academic majors, and degrees in Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. The College charges no tuition for full-time students, due to its student work program and donations. The program requires students to work 15 hours a week at an on-campus work station and two 40-hour work weeks during breaks. A summer work program is available to cover room and board costs. The college refers to itself as "Hard Work U.", and places emphasis in "character" education. Faith at the Administration Building We enjoyed a tour of the college campus, visiting the clas

My sister Marla found her man!!! Don't they make a cute couple?!?! Photo credit: Alicia Magnus I wanted to have a small intimate lingerie bridal shower for my sister. Since she lives in Montana, we don't get to see her often. The guest list was small, just mom, sisters, sister in laws, and her two oldest nieces (4 ppl could not make it). I didn't want to have the normal 'how well do you know the bride' games, so this is what I came up with instead... The theme was "In His Time".... "Take Time to Date" When guests first arrived... They could write down date ideas on wide pop cycles sticks and place them in the "Date Jar". "Take Time to Play" We started the evening by playing games. The first, involved each guest, and the bride to be making a veil out of toilet paper. They had 5 min. and we're judged at the end.  Next involved a bottle of sparkling grape juice and a garte

The best thing I've done when it comes to homeschooling is to ditch the idea that it needs to be like a real school!  We used to have a school room with charts, maps, desks, set hours and breaks, etc.  Then, after 3 years, needed the room as a bedroom (we live in a small house), so we moved the schoolroom to our enclosed back porch. We still used desks and had individual pencil cases, charts, maps, posters, and all the stuff you think you need to have for a school room. We used the back porch as our school room for a couple years, but then turned it into a office for our home business ..... But, I still needed a place for school..... turns out, the best thing I ever did regarding homeschooling was to give it all up.  I gave up the idea of having to have a class room, desks, charts and posters on the walls, set hours, and every other extra thing most people think you have to have to homeschool - including the complete encyclopedia set!!! I got rid of it all!  Instead,

Getting rid of stuff -  Round 2 - Year 3 This year, we signed up for Joshua Becker's Uncluttered Course .  And although we have read most of his books and have gotten rid of so much stuff in our first round .... we still had stuff that needed to go. Here's some of it... 5 explorer loads full to goodwill 1 trailer load of junk to the garbage dump 1 trailer load of scrap metal (I forgot to take a photo) Multiple items sold on Craigslist and online sites totaling over $4,000 And... We had over $200 of returns that we took back to Menards for in store credit Let me say again... we are not pack rat people. It amazes me that we have so much to get rid off... if we haven't used it, don't need it, don't like it, or it has no purpose; out it goes. With a family of 5 living in the country on a hobby farm with animals, splitting our own firewood, homeschooling, and, having a business from home... there is a lot of e