Nov 6th- Ron and Linda

Nov. 6th - Ron and Linda

Today I'm very grateful for Nathan's aunt and uncle who live here in Springfield. I swear I didn't marry Nathan for his family, but they sure are some fantastic perks! Ron and Linda have opened their home to us on many occasions. Nathan stayed with them several times during college. Over the summers, before he got his apartment and even during the great Ice Storm of 2007. Actually he, myself, and another friend all stayed there during the ice storm and it was great because they had power, heat, and even cable. Because of them, I actually really enjoyed the ice storm. It was like a mini vacation! Their house is a home away from home when we are on the south side of town and in need of somewhere to hang out for a few hours (or last year if I needed to get away from the hospital to take a nap), and they have hosted my family several times, because our tiny apartment doesn't exactly have a guest room. Beyond that, they even loaned us a recliner this weekend so that Nathan can sleep better. Laying down is really hard on his back and he had been only getting 3 hours or so a night. Last night, because of the recliner, he got six!

Linda is very thoughtful. She always remembers to send out cards for special occasions (or just cause), even though I can never seem to remember to reciprocate. She keeps her house in nearly spotless condition, and has gotten the perfect Thanksgiving turkey down to a science. She is also (apparently) a fantastic Words with Friends (aka Scrabble on the iPhone) player, though I only know this from Paula, who holds her two victories against Linda as great accomplishments (even though one was an accidental resignation). She is incredibly nice and always willing to help out in any way she can. (Though she does have a secret competitive streak... She is the reason I know that one of Paula's victories was an accidental resignation... and that it was Ron on her phone who accidentally resigned.) Linda is also the picture taking impetus at all family functions and it's very rare to have 3 or more family sets gathered together without getting at least one group shot.

Thanksgiving- last year

I love Ron's sense of humor. He and Paula are hilarious to watch together because they both tease each other mercilessly. Ron has the family reputation of cheating at cards... though I can't say that I've ever witnessed him actually cheating... just playing with good strategy. The rest of the family would probably say the reason why I've never seen him is just he's that good at it... but let's just say that Paula is not the only person who likes to tease Ron... or vice versa. Ron loves Arkansas football, band(s), and people, and he has a wonderful talent at drawing people in and making them feel comfortable. Ron asked me all about where I was from and my family on that first Thanksgiving that I crashed, and even remembered the information a year later when I came back.

Actually, in a very indirect way, Ron and Linda are the reason that Nathan and I met in the first place. Without them, Nathan probably wouldn't have applied to SMS and he definitely wouldn't have made the presidential scholarship application deadline (which he subsequently got). They are just constantly looking out for us, and I know that we could ask them for anything in their power and they would make it happen... right down to letting us take the furniture from their house! Basically Ron and Linda are some of the kindest people I know and I'm so grateful to have married into such an incredible family.