immediately before Caryn and Dan moved in. “There was literally no insulation, so we had some installed, and there was no water system, the previous owner had been hauling water in,” she said. The Chappelars journey to their home began with a vacation to Ponca, Neb., to visit family. “My husband grew up in this area, and we were visiting my in-laws in Ponca,” she said. “We had been thinking about where we were going to move when my husband retired. I told him I thought I could retire here, and he about dropped his drawers because he never thought I’d want to live in cold weather. “We hinted to the in-laws all weekend about buying a double wide and moving it onto their 15 acres, but they never got the hint. They just blew it off as a joke. Finally, the night before we were suppose to leave, I flat out asked them what they would do if we moved here. They were all for it, so we called our niece who is a realtor, and we had one day to look at houses.” Their niece wanted to show this specific house to them, but they refused at first because they thought the price was out of their range. “My husband was looking to retire, and we didn’t want to get carried away,” she said. “Then she told us it used to be a Methodist church, and we’re both Methodists, so we decided we would at least like to see it. There was no heat in it and it was so cold, we literally just ran through it because we were sure we weren’t going to buy it, but Dan fell in love with it. We decided we could at least make an offer. As it turns out, the owner was willing to work with us.” Caryn said the biggest adjustment has been lawn care. “I most recently lived in the desert. We had a postage stamp size lot, and most of our yard was taken up by a pool. We didn’t need lawn care supplies,” she said. “We moved in smack dab between two snow storms, and we didn’t have a snow shovel. When it came time to mow, we had to buy a mower. It’s very strange that no one ever really drives down our road. We have no neighbors.” Caryn spent last summer cultivating her green thumb. “I’d never had a garden before, and here we were with lettuce, potatoes, carrots, peppers, two kinds of tomatoes, corn, butternut squash and fruit trees. It was definitely a change,” she said. The Chappelars plan to decorate big for Christmas this winter and invite people to visit the house. “We’ve had so many people asking about the house and wanting to see what it looks like inside,” she said. “We figured Christmas would be a good time to welcome everyone in.” n By Tera Schmidt Willcockson Eye Associates, P . .C 415 W. 3rd.,Yankton, South Dakota The physicians of Willcockson Eye Associates, P.C. are dedicated to providing the best possible medical and surgical eye care for you and your entire family. In addition to comprehensive eye exams and contact lens fittings, our physicians perform state of the art small-incision cataract and implant surgery. Our physicians are the regional experts in the diagnosis and management of sight threatening conditions such as glaucoma, diabetes, and macular degeneration. Paula Hicks, MD For all your eyewear needs visit the Spectacle Shop next door. They offer an extensive selection of frames from traditional styles to the latest fashion design with frames to meet every family’s budget. The Spectacle Shop, L.L.C. New patients welcome! Call 605-665-9638 Karen Dickes, DO Greg Kouri, OD HERVOICE MARCH/APRIL 2014 v 13