Smug

Three things that went down today which resulted in me being smug.

1. I went to the dentist and she told me I had great teeth and gums and was doing a great job. Three times. I was smug.
2. I went to the gym tonight without Andrew here to initiate the action. I was smug.
3. I sent cards to friends and family tonight. We bought a ton of forever stamps a while ago so the one penny increase did not affect me or my mailing in any way. I was smug.

Tonight, I am smug.

hey there 2012!

i have a feeling this is going to be a good year for the Schensteds. not that 2011 was a let down, but we definitely have our sights set on a wonderful new year.

my friend Ginger sent this to me in an email (yeah, it was a forward. don't judge me!) and i think it's a great way to start off the new year.

read on, and Happy New Year, my friends!

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled .
4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness .
11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
18. Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
21. Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break.– The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done .
24. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
26. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
28. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30. Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas...

we were thrilled to have the Schensted and Mulkey clan up north for Christmas.

unfortunately, we did not provide the snow that a traditional MN Christmas should have.

but no worries. we made due with board games, movies, shopping, and lots of laughter!

A very handsome pup in a very handsome Christmas sweater

Mike

Michele and David

Kayla and Julie - being silly

Best friends - Albus and Julie

Santa, Elf, and Albus


Happy New Year, friends!

we're kind of a big deal

official press release of our being the first broadband customers.

                                                         December 12, 2011

NEWS RELEASE                                        Contact: Dan Olsen, General Manager

For Immediate Release                                   507-662-7000 or dano@windomnet.com

FIRST BROADBAND CUSTOMERS IN LAKEFIELD

Pastor Andrew and Lisa Schensted First Southwest Minnesota Broadband Customers

Lakefield, MN – Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) fiber-to-home project became a reality on Thursday, December 7, 2011, with Pastor Andrew and Lisa Schensted being connected to SMBS internet and cable TV services.

Pastor Andrew and Lisa are impressed. Andrew said that their fiber-to-home connection provides, “obnoxiously fast internet.” The Schensteds moved to Lakefield from the Twin Cities and Andrew said that their SMBS internet is “at least ten times faster,” than what they had in the metropolitan area. They have been streaming video in full HD from TV streaming websites.  Lisa said that, “It’s just so great. I was feeling under the weather and all of the different channels kept me entertained!”

Dan Olsen, Windomnet Operations Manager/SMBS General Manager said that work on the fiber ring has been “fast and furious since ground breaking on July 22. We are thankful that the Schensteds have agreed to be our trial customer. They have been asked to use as much data as possible. SMBS is now analyzing the system to see if any adjustments need to be made before additional customers are connected.” Another small group of customers will be connected by the end of December with community wide installation fully underway in January. 

SMBS is also working on a wireless trial that will launch in the Bingham Lake area by the end of December. Olsen said, “The demand for higher speed internet in our rural area is daunting. People not only want faster speeds, they need it for their business operations.”  If the wireless trial is successful it could provide a better option to those not on the fiber system.

About Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services: Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) is a consortium of 8 communities including Bingham Lake, Brewster, Heron Lake, Jackson, Lakefield, Okabena, Round Lake and Wilder.  The 125-mile, $12.8 million dollar fiber ring is expected to be completed in September 2012. The fiber-optic communication network has the capacity to bring fast, competitively priced services for internet, phone and cable TV to residential subscribers as well as businesses and other community institutions. This government grant supported project is intended to provide Southwest Minnesota with the telecommunication connectivity required to remain competitive in the global marketplace. For more information on Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services, visit their website at mysmbs.com

************

an ode to fiber-optic awesomeness

when we first moved to Lakefield, we heard rumors that fiber-optic internet, phone, and cable were coming. which was great, because we were kind of spoiled from having super fast internet and sweet cable from living in St. Paul. sure, Lakefield cable had it's charm with the local access channel telling us what was to eat at the senior activity center, but we missed being able to record programs and watch sports in HD.

like i said, we were spoiled.

so we waited.
and waited.
and waited some more.

then - there was even a big event commemorating the groundbreaking of the project. obviously, it was a big deal for the entire town, not just the Schensteds.

so then we waited some more
and more.
and more.

southwest broadband logo

then - the Southwest Minnesota Broadband moved in to town and set up shop. obviously, we are not patient folks and Andrew bustled over there to introduce himself (and no doubt establish himself as the town geek) and to politely inquire to the status of the project.

we waited some more.

Andrew popped back over to the office a couple more times to inquire about packages for our home and for the church.

more waiting.

then, a Christmas miracle. they contacted us to be customer zero. basically, this means we are the first people in Lakefield to get the new internet/phone/cable with the understanding that there might be some hiccups along the way. we (aka, Andrew) shares with them the details of how everything is working and they get a guinea pig.

they could not have picked a more enthusiastic customer zero than they have in Andrew, that's for sure.

so if you don't hear from us for another six months, it's because i'm watching NBA in HD, Andrew is watching How It's Made on the Science Channel, or we're watching the DIY network together.