Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

Happy Easter everyone! Mrs. Kraus and I sure enjoyed seeing the family we saw today, and miss the rest of you all very much.

On Friday evening, we went to Good Friday service. I read the part of Jesus in readers theater. I’ve never done anything very theater-like before so I was a little nervous. Truth be told, I think I… blacked out. I don’t really remember it at all. After all my lines were done, I tried to think back on how it went and I couldn’t. After the message, we took communion and nailed pieces of paper with our sins written on them to one of three full-sized crosses up front. It was very powerful to witness people going up and nailing these to the cross, with the loud banging echoing through the sanctuary.

Saturday I plowed through the rest of book 2 of the Harry Potter series and halfway through book 3. Mrs. Kraus got me reading them. I told her it would never happen, but she showed me I guess. It started out as a deal we made. I said, “I will read a Harry Potter book if you read a Left Behind book.” She agreed and so I started in on book 1. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it and think they are a lot of fun to read. She hasn’t started a Left Behind book yet, and instead decided to re-read some of the Harry Potter books. Unbelievable….

This morning we went to Easter Sunday service, which was very nice, and then went to Grandma J’s for lunch. The food was awesome and it was nice to see everyone there. Soon we’ll be headed to my mom’s for supper. Grandma’s had ham AND turkey, and mother will have pot roast I believe. Mmmm.

We are looking forward to seeing more family next weekend at the shower. See some of you then!

Chad Kraus holidays, Mrs. Kraus

Ouch! Broken Toe

Let’s see, what’s new? Let’s start with the broken toe. One afternoon Mrs. Kraus and I were goofing around at the kitchen table. She was sitting across the table from me, kitty-corner. I was using the chair directly in front of me as a foot stool, and she was attempting to do the same with the chair in front of her. However, she couldn’t quite reach the chair with her foot because it was pulled out a ways from the table.

She said, “Could you please push the chair in so I can use it as a foot rest like you are doing with the chair in front of you?”

“I dunno. I’m kinda busy right now,” I teased with a smirk.

Well, it ended up with her yanking my foot rest out from the table and taking off down the hall shortly after, running and laughing. I decided to chase, and before we knew it she had stubbed her poor toe on the corner of a wall and was on the ground with a very unpleasant look on her face. She broke her poor toe. This was a very unfortunate thing to do the day before her Spring break, when she just got ice skates last month for her birthday, and we were going skiing the following Saturday.

She managed to wrap it up with tape and take good care of it for a week though, and we did make it to the ski hill the next weekend. We had a really fun time. I hadn’t been skiing for many years, probably not since Luther Ski Club (WOW!).  I decided to get daring once and go off a large ski jump.  It was the kind of jump that had a short ramp at the top, and then a flat area that gradually raised up to a larger ramp.  The point I am told is to get enough speed on the short jump to completely clear the top of the second jump and come down on the downward slope of the second jump.  I however, did no such thing.  I hit the first jump at half speed, went straight up, spin sideways in the air, and landed hard on my right shoulder on the flat area at the top of the second jump.  Ouch!

Inspired by a stream in Minnesota

Next we’ll talk about my step-dad, Alan. He has been painting up a storm lately, really enjoying getting oil paint all over the floor. But he’s also doing a nice job of getting it on the canvas. He’s got a really nice style of outdoor paintings he has been doing, and has been selling them to folks around town. I made him a website to display his paintings, AlWaggie.com. I’ve shown an example here as well. This is one of my favorite paintings he’s done.  I just really like the way he painted the stream, with all those colors.  It makes me want to get my fly rod out and try to outsmart those blasted trout again.  They sure got the better of me last year.  Maybe I’ll have a fly fishing victory or two this summer.  But if not fly fishing, I’m really looking forward to other fishing with my dad out at the lake.

Art Show

Al had an art show on March 15th at the house, so we went over to check it out. Him and Mom had hung up all Al’s paintings in the living room, which was pretty cool. Probably about 25 people or so came over, and he sold a couple paintings, so it was a good time. Mom and Emily set out snacks and made some punch. Mrs. Kraus took a lot of pictures for the website. She’s been doing a really good job there, taking the pictures and cropping them for the site.

Minneopa Falls melting

A couple days after the art show, everyone was feeling like it was a good day to be inspired by God and nature, so we all went to Minneopa Falls. It was really cool because the ice was just melting, so some of the falls were frozen and hanging over the edge of the the falls. Large chunks of ice would break off and fall down into the water below. I had my iPod and was in a very contemplative mood that day, thinking about how beautiful creation is, and how lucky I am. My wife and I had just watched “Fireproof” a couple days before, so I was also thinking about how fortunate I am to have her in my life. Our 2 year wedding anniversary was just around the corner. I just couldn’t believe how fast it had gone. They say the first 2 years of marriage are by far the toughest, but for us it was a breeze. Generally, I don’t know if I buy that line anyway. How can being newly married, with no responsibility of children yet, be anything but fantastic? All that freedom you have to just enjoy each other and be together. Yeah, good stuff.

Munny from Kidrobot

So next came our 2 year wedding anniversary on March 24th. Mrs. Kraus got me a copy of “Fireproof” on DVD, and I got her something you’ve probably never heard of before: Munny. Not money. Munny. They are little 4 inch tall white figures that you draw on, paint on, or add clay and accessories to. Take a look on Google sometime for “Munny pictures” and you’ll see some of the things people have done with them. I’ve seen the Joker, Master Chief, Michaelanglo the Ninja Turtle, Davey Jones, and crazy designs by artists that sell on eBay for around $200 - $300. Rosie O’Donnell also loves these things, and sells the ones she does online for charity. This kind of arts and crafts project is right up my wife’s alley! She can’t wait to start on one, but has a few tough exams in Physics and Chemistry to get through first. Physics and Chemistry in the same semester… yikes, that’s brutal!

Mrs. Kraus and I are also in the process of buying a house. Our lease ends at the end of May, and so we have been shopping for homes in town. We found a good REALTOR name Russ, and he’s taken us out a few times. We actually have an offer in now on a home in short sale status. We’ll have more details about that soon I hope, but it’s probably not safe to use the word soon when referring to a short sale. Here’s hoping we are pleasantly surprised.

2009 Twins Opener vs. Seatle

Last but not least, yesterday I was very fortunate to go to the Minnesota Twins 2009 home opener with my cousins Jacob and Andrew. It was so much fun, it didn’t even bother me much that the Twins lost 1-6. It stayed close most of the game, and it was just fun to be at the Dome that evening, eating peanuts, drinking Coca-Cola, and joking about what our entrance songs would be if we were in pro baseball. We even got to see Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a home run.  He still has a pretty swing.  Getting out of there after the game was a bit crazy. A 9 mile stretch of I-35W S was bumper-to-bumper for about 50 minutes. As I sat in the slow-moving traffic, I thought of Aaron and his Garmin GPS. Perhaps it would have something brilliant to share with me, such as a extra secret route home that the other 45,000 Twins fans wouldn’t know about.

All-in-all, we’re off to a fantastic Spring. We’re looking forward to seeing family really soon during Easter weekend and the following week.

Chad Kraus Aaron, holidays, Mrs. Kraus, Twins Baseball, Waggie Art

Last week was Mrs. Kraus’ 25th birthday, so I threw her a surprise party. She had a test that evening and was due home about 7:30pm, so I had the perfect opportunity to load the apartment with friends and family after dinner. People started showing up around 6:45. We had fun playing Wii Fit and Mario Kart and chatting until about 7:15 when Mrs. Kraus called to let me know she was on her way home. I went down to the parking lot and hid so I could see when her car drove into the lot. When it did, I bolted back inside and upstairs. I shouted, “She’s here! She’s here!” and we turned all the lights off and hid in the dark living room.

We heard her key in the door and she came in without turning the lights on (perfect!), hung her coat up, and started to come down the hall. One of the guests hit the lights, and we all jumped out from different areas of the room, and shouted “SURPRISE!”. She let out a very high-pitched scream, and then shortly after a big smile lit up on her face as she saw some of her friends. We ate cake and snacks, played more Wii Fit, and chatted until about 9:30pm. Mrs. Kraus and I had a great time. Thank you SO much to everyone who came over! Pics of the party are up on Facebook.

For her birthday, I got her a pair of figure skates- her first pair ever in fact. She was really surprised about that too. She had mentioned she wished she had skates a couple months earlier, but had no idea she’d get them because it’s not something she specifically asked for when her birthday was getting closer.

After she opened them, Mrs. decided that it would be more fun for her to go skating if I could go with her. Well, of course I wasn’t going to buy dude’s figure skates so the next day I got hockey skates (so my birthday present is covered now too). Also my first pair of ice skates. We’ve been to the pond in the park a couple times now, and have been having a lot of fun. Poor Mrs. though- apparantly figure skates are more painful to break in than hockey skates. But they’ll be great after 5 to 10 skates!

Tonight we went to the pond and there were a couple guys there just shooting around at the nets. One of them was a middle-aged man who asked me if I had a stick. With a grin, I told him I just finally got my first pair of skates last week and haven’t gotten that far yet. He said he’d go grab me an extra stick and puck from his truck. It was really fun, I had a blast! The Mrs. skated around me, weaving in and out next to the puck saying, “It’s mine! It’s mine!”. I practiced my puck-handling and shooting. I really liked skating as fast as I could from one end of the ice to the other, keeping the puck moving and then shooting it into the net.

So this weekend I just might have to pickup a pair of sticks and a puck, if they aren’t too spendy. Then the Mrs. and I can pass the puck back and forth and shoot around. She thinks that sounds fun- she’ll be that girl who plays hockey in figure skates.

Hey you guys who live nearby and read this blog, you should consider getting some skates and a stick too! We could really have a lot of fun in the winter.

Speaking of hockey, Mrs. and I went to our first Minnesota Wild game last Sunday with our friend Aaron and his wife. Wow, that is a great time! I’d put a Wild game right up there with any pro sporting event I’ve been to. What a great game too. The Wild won 3-2. The game was tied 2-2 after the 3rd period, then it was a scoreless OT, followed by a shootout! Backstrom stopped all 4 attempts, and Mikko Koivu scored the winning goal. I put pics and a little video on Facebook.

Chad Kraus Aaron, Minnesota Wild, Mrs. Kraus

The wife and I have been in Minnesota now for over 2 weeks. Things are going great here! First, it’s just really good to be back in the Midwest. Immediately after my arrival, I fell in love again with the state of Minnesota and life among it’s inhabitants. I love the attitudes of the people, the things they talk about, and the hard Midwest work ethic ingrained in them.

I love my new job! The first two weeks went great. Everyone there is really nice and gets along with one another. Another great thing is that everyone really likes the boss. Those two things are such a blessing. I’ve heard stories of when fellow employees don’t like each other in the workplace, and it doesn’t sound like a good environment to work in. Furthermore, when the employees get along, but have a common dislike for the boss, I would think that could get really old too. I’ve been lucky and had good bosses and fellow employees, so I’m not speaking from experience. My point is, this place does not suffer from either of those two problems, and I really love that.

Then there is what I do all day at work, my job responsibilities. I love what I do! It’s exactly what I have always wanted in a job. I enjoy it so much in fact, then after I begin work in the morning, before I know it, the clock is saying noon and it’s lunch time already. Same thing after lunch. Before I know it, it’s time to go home for the day. There is plenty of work to be done there at all times, and it fun, fulfilling work. I’m doing pretty much all programming so far, but am really enjoying it. I’m excited to do the sales part of my job description when they are ready for me to do that too. When I was on my own, I really enjoyed that part of the business too, so I am certain this new job is only going to get better as I take on more responsibilities.

The wife is doing well too. She applied for the college in town and is awaiting an acceptance letter. They told her it would be 3-4 weeks before she hears back. I am so proud of her for getting on that right away. I know she’s going to do great!

We are really enjoying our family and friends in town. One of my best friends and his wife live just a minute away from our apartment and we love spending time with them. We also enjoy going over to my mom’s place and chatting with them. I am developing a great relationship with my sister too. She is really growing up to be a great young woman! Sometimes we even get together with her on Friday nights. Other family we have gotten to see in town since we got here have been my Grandma J and my aunt and uncle that live next door to her. We went over there last Monday evening for rice and beans, and homemade apple pie. Grandma, you are such a wonderful cook! We ate the leftovers for 3 straight days! Please come over to our apartment sometime and let us cook for you in return. I also got to see my other best friend/cousin this weekend. It was great hanging out with both of the buds! Oh, and I can’t forget those family members that helped us unload the moving truck! It was great seeing all of you and thanks for the help!

I’ve been keeping in touch with my brother in Florida too. It sounds like he is doing really good there. He got moved to a different store and is really liking it. He doesn’t have as far a drive, and he really enjoys the customers at that particular location. I was proud to hear too that my sister-in-law was awarded “Teacher of the Week” recently as well! How long have you been there? About a month? Good job! Well, we miss seeing the Florida family, and hope they are all doing well.

Lastly, the wife and I are extremely excited about the church we are joining here! We love it! Today was our third service. We are going to get involved there too. Today after the service they had a little fair in the community hall were everyone could sign up to help depending on their talents. I am hoping to get involved in the music ministry, whether it’s playing guitar or doing sound board, and helping out with the direction of the church website. The wife wants to get involved in youth group and sports ministry, and might sing in the worship band. We both signed our names on a bunch of lists, and we’ll see what the needs of the church turn out to be.

We joined a Sunday night Bible study. There are 5 couples total, including us. Our good friends from down the street are in it too. Everyone is so nice, and I think we will develop friendships with all of them. Currently, we are doing the 40 Days of Community. It’s something we did at our old church in Florida, and it is highly recommended.

That’s it for now. Any family or friends in the area that want to get together, don’t hesitate to call or stop by!

Chad Kraus church, Minnesota, Mrs. Kraus