As we turn the page on another year, the staff at EDJE would like to thank everyone for their support in 2008 and wish you a Happy New Year!
 
This past year has welcomed several new endeavors here at EDJE, as well as some fresh faces. We continue to introduce new EDJE products and provide our customers with the latest and greatest in web and print design. And we look forward to a successful 2009!
 
Visit www.edjedesigns.com/2008 to take a look back at some of the fun we've had here at EDJE in 2008. Enjoy!

Happy New Year From The EDJE Crew

StylEyes, located at West Glen Town Center in West Des Moines, promises you "exams with care, frames with flair."  We are central Iowa's unique go-to source for
fashionable sunglasses, prescription eyeware and state-of-the-art eyecare. Our focus is on YOU - we want you to leave StylEyes statisfied that you've had the most comprehensive eye exam available, excited about the product you've purchased and wowed by our service to you.

Check out www.styleyesdm.com often as updates will coming soon for our philosophy, our story, our products and our services pages!

Tiffany Nickelson • Business Team
business@edje.com • tiffany@edje.com
http://www.edjetechnologies.com/
515-961-9799 • 1-866-839-3353

Today the employees here at EDJE celebrated the holidays with a food day, and exchange of Secret Santa gifts.  I think everyone got enough to eat with the huge amount of food that always turns up on our food days.  In fact, I believe we could probably feed a large crowd or the whole office for about a week with all the savory and sweet treats that are in the break room right now.  But what would the holidays be without good food? 

At my house Christmas food has always been my favorite.  I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, but there is just something about all the things my mom cooks at Christmas that just make it the absolute best time of year to eat!  A spread on Christmas day at my house includes ALL of the following items… a turkey, spiral cut honey ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade stuffing, green bean casserole, corn casserole, fresh baked rolls with real butter and homemade jam… and that is just dinner.  Then we have the desserts… fresh baked from scratch cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, custard pie, gingersnaps, kringlas, peanut butter blossoms, peanut brittle, red cinnamon candy, chocolate dipped caramels, peanut butter popcorn and OH well I could just go on forever!  With all of this good food, I inevitably end up eating WAAAAY too much and by the time we are ready to open gifts I’m usually ready for a nice nap, and I’ll tell you the best place to nap is my dad’s recliner.  It sits right by our fireplace, and you can feel the warmth and hear the wood crackle.  Well now that my mouth is watering, I’ll get on to the next point, and yes, I did have a point.

I am actually writing this blog to share the photos that we took today at EDJE!  The top photo is some of us gathered around the Christmas tree with our Secret Santa gifts.  I think it is safe to say that everyone received a great gift this year and there were no “duds.”  However, a few of the gifts were jokes, such as the lovely fruitcake log that I gave to Jay.  I think he actually thought that was his only present, but really he got a DVD and an “Office” calendar too.  That brings me to the next photo.  The one on the bottom is a photo of the cattle team after we decided it would be funny to try a bite of the $1.97 fruitcake that looked (and smelled) terrible!  We all took a tiny piece and we all did actually eat it, but it certainly was not enjoyable.  And that brings me to my final point…

No matter if the food is wonderful, or terrible, it really doesn’t matter.  It’s the time spent with the ones you love, the memories made at gatherings with family and good friends, the peace, hope and joy that accompanies the Christmas season.  I know it is a little cheesy, but if we could all hold the spirit of this time of the year in our hearts all year long, I think we’d all be a little happier.  The real gift is not really a gift at all, but the great love that is shared and realizing how good we have it – how lucky we are to live in this great country.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you all!
Amber Martin

Today Tiffany and I had the pleasure of delivering gifts to a young family here in Indianola. A few weeks ago, we started collecting toys and the such for two boys in a family that needed a little help this holiday season. By the looks of it, they are going to have a pretty good Christmas. We only hope they can make it to Christmas before opening their presents!

Going to deliver these presents put things into perspective for Tiffany and I. We both own homes that we wish were a little bigger, but seeing that family of four living in a one bedroom apartment, no bigger than probably 500 square feet made us realize how good we really have it. To have good jobs here at EDJE, and our own roofs over our heads is really a blessing.

I hope everyone takes time this holiday season to think of those that may not get to enjoy the season as good as they should. I encourage anyone that has the opportunity to help their fellow man kind to do what they can to make the season bright.

We'd like to wish everyone the best this Holiday Season!

SACMI USA is a subsidiary of the SACMI Group headquartered in Imola, Italy. SACMI is an international Group founded in 1919 and a recognized world leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of machines and systems for the Ceramics, Plastics, Beverage & Packaging, and Food Processing industries. The Group consists of a network of over 60 companies worldwide with a turnover of over $1.5 billion.

The SACMI Group has acquired a position of leadership on an international scale in the design, manufacture, and marketing of machinery and systems for the ceramics, plastics, Beverage & Packaging, and Food Processing industries. This has been achieved through the company’s commitment to research and the application of innovative technology as well as extremely high standards of quality both in terms of the products and the service offered to the customer.

Its strong position on world markets, together with a coherent diversification strategy, the discovery and application of innovative technology and firm commitment to continuously improving the high standards of its products and services are the crucial factors which have enabled the Sacmi Group to become an important point of reference in all the markets it operates in.

SACMI USA Ltd. was founded in 1994, and is centrally located in Des Moines, Iowa, in order to directly serve the needs of the ceramic and packaging industries. SACMI USA carries a full line of spare parts and is also the service center for technical assistance in North America.

The original facility was expanded in 2003 to over 80,000 square feet and contains over $5 million in spare parts servicing all customers in the United States. It presently houses all the operations of SACMI USA as well as its affiliates Molds & Dies LLC and Hayes Machinery Company.

Visit www.sacmiusa.com to learn more!

 Here at EDJE all the departments are split into teams. I have the pleasure of being on the Print Team with four other fabulous gals. Web is pretty much foreign to us and we prefer to keep it that way! Three of us are here in the office (Erin, Jonina, and me!), one is in Kansas City (Connie-our fearless leader), and the other is in Oklahoma (Shari- with an "ari"). This week we decided to have everyone come to Iowa for a Print Team Workshop. It involved all of us teaching each other our cool tricks for the programs we use to create all the amazing catalogs, ads, and magazines you see with the EDJE logo! Honestly if you had been a fly on the wall, you would have thought we were finding out how make a million with the click of a button! We get very excited to learn new things that will make our job easier or more fun! I know there were quite a few “woo-hoo’s” from me, when I discovered a way to make “Showboxin” quicker and easier!! I’m getting excited right now just thinking about it!!!  

On the first night, Jen (the new roommate- she is on the Cattle Team at EDJE) and I decided to have the whole Print Team over for supper. I love to host parties but I hate/don’t know how to cook. Yes, I am perhaps the only Southern girl on the face of the earth who does not know how to cook. I’m totally at peace with this fact, but Craig (the fiancé) and my Momma consider this a tragic flaw…They will survive (well I hope Craig does - stay tuned!!). So Jen settles on Spaghetti as the main course (aka the only course). I prepared the bread. This entailed me opening the box of frozen garlic bread putting it on a cookie sheet and placing it in the “bottom of the kitchen” to bake. Jen was using the “top of the kitchen” to cook her spaghetti so we could do these tasks simultaneously! I was impressed, I’m sure the kitchen was too, since it had never been used up to this point! Jen even did all the dishes, mainly because she knew I wouldn’t do them! I just have to take this time to say that Jen has to be the best roommate ever! She cooks, washes dishes, vacuums, cleans the bathroom, and washes towels. If she didn’t already have a boyfriend, I would be pimping her out for sure! But in my defense, I do add something to the roommate relationship…I always make sure she looks fashionable and request that she run through regular dress rehearsals before she goes anywhere, I even occasionally do her hair ! I’m positive my Momma is proud I picked up these Southern skills…it’s better than nothing!!!

Last night was a typical Thursday night for me. I went to aerobics, got home, made dinner and sat down to watch one of my favorite TV shows as well as many of my fellow co-workers here at EDJE, ‘The Office’ on NBC. Every Friday morning when we get to work we quote some of our favorite sayings and happenings that occurred on ‘The Office’ the night before. In the opening scene of ‘The Office’ last night, Jim wrapped Dwight’s entire desk and all of his belongings in wrapping paper as a practical joke, which I found to be extremely hilarious!! When Dwight saw his desk and asked Jim how he did this so fast before the work day, Jim said, “I’m a black belt in gift wrapping.” Dwight replied, “They don’t give out black belts for things that are stupid.” Jim is a jokester on the show and quite a smartalec towards Dwight, and Dwight is in his own world, a know it all, making a good target for Jim.

I knew one of my fellow cattle team members, Jay, would think it was just as funny as I did. Since Jay and I are always pranking each other and joking back and forth, I decided it would be so much funnier instead of talking about this scene the next morning, to actually wrap his desk in wrapping paper to see his reaction when he walked in the door, as well as provide a little entertainment for the office here at EDJE. I’m one of the early birds here at EDJE, so after Jimmy got here in the morning, I asked him if he had watched ‘The Office’ the night before. He said, “Yeah” and chuckled. I told him I thought it would be so funny to see Jay’s reaction if I wrapped his desk in wrapping paper as Jim did to Dwight. He agreed. So off to Wal-Mart I went to get some wrapping paper. I got back to the office and Jimmy and I started wrapping Jay’s desk. Most of my co-workers knew exactly where the idea came. We’re all still anxiously awaiting Jay’s arrival!!! I know it will be priceless!! Happy Holidays from all of us office lovers here at EDJE!!

Fred Dowie Jr., President of Autumn Ridge Development L.C., has been building homes in the central Iowa area for more than 10 years and currently has two active developments in Indianola. Autumn Ridge, at West Iowa and “O” Street, has beautiful single family homes on large treed lots in the low $200s. The Meadows, at South 8th Court and Hwy. 92, has spacious town homes in a private wooded area priced in the $170,000 range. Each development has its own unique beauty and appeal as well as the same high quality construction and attention to detail.

Fred takes pride in building a quality home, providing a source of outstanding value and security for the homeowner. Autumn Ridge Development uses the best construction materials available, including...

• High quality plumbing and lighting fixtures
• Oversized energy star windows
• Stainless steel appliances
• A central Iowa first, a Radon mitigation system, standard with all new homes, to remove any underground Radon gas.

When you buy an Autumn Ridge Development home, you can take pride in knowing that you are getting one of the best built homes anywhere. Fred strongly believes, "it’s not only what we do, but how we do it, that makes the difference."

Kent Habeger had a huge impact on the cattle industry and more importantly he was a great guy outside of the industry! Kent tragically died on his rural farm in Burt, IA on December 8, 2008, when a cornstalk bale rolled and crushed him in his tractor. I got the chance to know Kent personally, he was a great friend, husband and father! He also judged shows on every level, jackpot, county fairs, state fairs, and national shows! He has a great eye and love for cattle and was truly a sport with the kids in the ring as well!

Kent lived about 30 minutes from my hometown. His son Ryan and I went to college together at Iowa State (he is now at Iowa and finishing up his pharmacy degree), and showed cattle against each other, Ryan is Kent's livestock son! Mitchell is the farmer of the family, whenever you asked Kent about Mitchell he was always working on a tractor or at a tractor auction! Marti, his wife (a.k.a. Blondie) as Kent called her tries to keep them all in-line and going there own way, she to loves the livestock industry. You could always count on Kent and Marti being at a show, and know matter who you were they would always talk to you! 

One of my best memories with Kent was when we were all boating at Okoboji and the Habegers had just got a new pontoon, well Kent anchored it or thought he did, so we were all swimming in the lake and all the sudden the pontoon kept getting farther and farther away by the time Kent got back to the pontoon it was litterally inches away from taking out a dock of 5 boats!! I have never seen Kent so nervous, I think he was more nervous than he gets at the grand drive at the Iowa State Fair. He still hasn't forgotten about it, everytime we are on the lake he brings it up!

Obviously, God needed someone to go to heaven to sort out all of the great showsteers up there, and also needed someone with such a postive attitude to help him in this time of need that our nation is experiencing! Kent you will be greatly missed by everyone who got the chance to meet you! I know you are watching over all of us, so we will try to watch over your Dr. Whos'!

Please everyone keep Marti, Ryan and Mitchell in your prayers this holiday season, along with the rest of their family!