'Tis the Season

Here are some fun pics to wrap up the last week!

We finished our little project. I thought it would take a weekend. I think we started this, oh, sometime in August? HAHA. But it is done and I LOVE it : )

Happy Birthday to Stacy early!!!!



Merry Christmas to us from Pat and Janelle early!!! I CANNOT wait to use our new popcorn machine. In case you didn't know I LOVE popcorn, and now Blaine will have to learn to love it as well : )

Lots of family bonding at home.... (try not to look into the dogs eyes directly, slightly haunting!)

I had the urge to decorate for Christmas, and this is my proud creation. I put it together all by myself! It looks even better in person. Now I am just waiting for my sweetie to get back home, so we can go get a tree!!! More pictures to come I am sure : )

Back in the Bis

We are happy to back home for Thanksgiving 2008!!! We plan on spending lots of time with family and friends. It should be nothing but relaxing and fun : )

Tomorrow a few us plan to participate in the annual 5k Turkey Trot! I missed last years, so I am a little excited for the challenge this year. It will actually be nice out, which isn't always the case! Hopefully, the previous weekends' successful run will follow through tomorrow as well!

I also signed up for the Fargo Half Marathon in May - yikes!! We'll consider tomorrow's run good training.

Well back to watching Susie take on Blaine in Wii darts, the smack talk is definitely on. Too funny!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Weekend Update

Eeks...it has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged. Its not that I didn't try - there were a couple of times I started a post only to draw a complete blank on anything interesting to write, concluded I got nothing.

I still really got nothing, but here goes anyway.

The past couple of weeks involved two trips to ND (helped Stace move/paint, Sioux Hockey!!!, and more painting).

One trip to SD, very quick one day trip. Productive, none-the-less (work-related).

I had a night out in hopping Anoka with the girls, while the guys attempted to shoot a deer. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row Blaine did not get his deer. But the group all split the meat, so we do have lots of jerky to show for it!

Blaine got his Bday/Christmas gift from me. I am not usually the type to give a gift early, nor let the surprise be ruined. But I did. I proclaim thought that it is a one-time event. He loves the new lap-top btw! I was going to get him a Veteran's day card, but if you didn't know those don't exist. I was NOT happy to find that neither Target, nor, HALLMARK sold them. Not cool. I was/still am pretty upset about that.

This weekend I convinced Stace to come visit, enticing her with a 5k Turkey Trot! It SO worked ; ) We were both very impressed and happy with the results of the run. Not only did we not stop, we also completed it with personal records!!! It was definitely a personal victory, as I have been struggling with my running lately. Now hopefully the traditional Bismarck Turkey Trot will go as well, if not better!!

We also had great success shopping (I even got ahead of the game with getting one Christmas gift taken care of!)

I of course have no pictures to show for it, but I am sure if you check Stace's blog in the next couple of days she will post some lovely ones!

Tax Calculator

AWARDS!

I was given TWO awards for my blog, by a fellow blogger!!!

I am suppose to give the award back to 10 others, but really I only read a couple of blogs on a regular basis, and they have already been nominated! But I will follow the other rules: List six things you value and six things you do not.

Six Things I Value:

1. Blainer - who btw cooked a delicous dinner tonight, that was already in the oven when I got home from work AND fixed the hem of my pants this morning during my usual rush to get out the door AND is now baking several loaves of banana bread AND did all the dishes - wow! What a sweetie : )

2. My Family - I had a great time in Fargo last weekend helping Stace move in and paint. I enjoy every opportunity I get to spend with them.

3. Deja-kins - all I have to do is look at my sweet puppy, and I am just happy. Its weird how attached you can get to a pet. She is the BEST!

4. My job - I know most people don't like work, and I don't either every day. But I do value having a job that pays well, has stability during these crazy financial/economic times, challenges me on almost a daily basis, and provides me with so many opportunities to meet people and learn things I wouldn't have otherwise.

5. Friends!!! - we are SO fortunate to have some AWESOME friends - a couple of which cooked us a yummy meal last night - thank you!!

6. Sleeping - I have always like sleeping. In my tween and teen years I use to be able to sleep in past noon, and LOVED it. Now I can't quite pull that off, but I do enjoy every minute of sleep I get. mmmmm.....sleepy time is right around the corner!

Six Things I don't Value So Much:

1) The war - I don't want to go into much detail here, but not a fan.

2) Campaign ads - aaaaahhhh - 5 more days!!

3) Loud noises - I swear my hearing is not that great, but I hate LOUD noises. Including Deja's barking, Blaine's random outbursts (done I'm pretty sure to ag me on), and any repititive type noise (banging, tapping, snapping, etc...)

4) Ironing - oh it sucks. Especially for girls, with all the pleats and small areas...grrr...

5) Clients who think they can treat me like crap, because I am young and an AUDITOR (such a scary word to some)

6) TRAFFIC - my drive out to St.Paul (the opposite side of my world) is definitely my least favorite. I especially dislike it when I just want to get home and I am hungry, which then leads to carsick, which then leads to very crabby me.

Wow, I think I should have wrote what I valued last. Now I am all fired up over what I don't value - hehe.

Back to laundry now (another thing I don't value so much, well I value the clean, nice smelling clothes, but not the folding and hanging, etc...) TTFN

A Little Fall FUN

We made the most of the 60 degree weather on Sunday, with a visit to a local farm that sold pumpkins! It is literally like 3 blocks away - that's Chan for ya, farms in the middle of a suburb!

The next two weekends we won't be around, so we had to enjoy Fall before its over (it is my favorite season afterall). We had fun bowling on Friday with friends. Saturday was spent shopping, I actually had luck finding stuff. The evening was spent helping friends put in a new water heater and sump pump. That is, the guys did the work, the girls watched movies! We are SO glad to have such awesome friends so close by, that we spend pretty much all of our time with. It wasn't a big deal helping them, because we know they would do the same no questions asked. They have basically become a second family. We are lucky!

Here is the end result of Blaine's artistic work:

No One Has Swagga Like Us

The weather this weekend was perfect for our bike ride and our grilling party - 70ish degrees, no rain, slight breeze!

The Ride for Awareness went really well. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it, but when they said it would be a casual ride, they were not kidding. Some of the people showed up all decked out in their crazy biking gear, then there was a guy wearing jeans - yeah jeans, and then there was us, somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. We rode in a group, making numerous (too many) stops to make sure everyone was there, and to figure out where to go next. I am guessing because it was their first time hosting this ride, they weren't as prepared as they could be. But the paths we took we're gorgeous. I wish I would have thought to bring my camera. However, the leaf-covered paths proved to be a little dangerous for some, as one girl wiped out only a few miles in, needing to get stiches on her lip. Yikes. We opted to change the route to more of an urban trail ride, which meant lots of stop signs, and more waiting for everyone. In the end we averaged about 11mph, and both Blaine and I came out winners. He won a t-shirt and I won a new helmet!

Post ride pic - sexy kinda!

Even though the ride was not that challenging, it still made me very tired, sleepy tired. But we invited people over for grilling, and there was no time for a nap. The grilling turned out great, and some people even liked the duck Matt and Blaine cooked up. (I wasn't one of them, sorry). We even got a lessson on how to make yummy egg rolls! I may need to get myself one of those handy deep-fryers!

Unfortunately, all the fun of yesterday left us bums for today. Couch Potatoes - but hey the Vikings won! No one has swagga like us! (Jay-z and T.I.)

Book Club!

Tonight I hosted our 3rd book club meeting to discuss A Long Way Gone. It was hard to choose a place to meet, since even though we all work for the same employer, our clients are all over the cities, not to mention our homes. I found a quaint little coffee shop in SLP, that turned out to be perfect! It had THE best ice cream - best surprise of the week!!! I had the Pumpkin Pie flavor, delicioso : ) I am sure their coffee would be great too, but we all know I can't have any of that after say 10AM. The discussion went well also; it was definitely a thought provoking book that I recommend to all.

I am now excited to go out and buy our next book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I haven't gotten all the details on it, but it sounds like its a long one, so we are going to break it up into two meetings. I am so glad that we started this - I am pretty sure I wouldn't get any reading in without it.

On a related note - I was invited by my neighbor to a monthly Bunko meeting with the ladies on the block!! HAHA. I have no idea what Bunko is, but I figured why not? I need to get to know who lives around us anyway, great opportunity!

Now, it is time to watch the "town-hall style" presidential debate. Should be interesting and exciting! Ok, maybe just a little intersting, and not so exciting at all. I already know who I am voting for, but we'll give the other guy a fair shot at winning me over ; )

OUT!

Here We Are

September has come and gone before I had a chance to blink.

I managed to work-out 17 of 30 days, which I guess is not too bad for me. The work-outs included a variety of running/walking, Tennis, and Wii Fit! Unfortunately there was little to nil biking done.

I have registered Blaine and I to participate in the Ride for Awareness - a 25 mile bike ride done in cities across the nation on the same day to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. I got the idea from Stace, who is doing it in Fargo. It is next weekend, so it will be interesting to see how bad 25 miles hurts. I think the furthest I have ever gone is 12 miles - yikes!

The cool weather has definitely set in. I hate to turn the heat on already, but last night my nose was freezing! With winter fast approaching, I am hoping to spruce up the "work-out" room so I can stay/get in-shape indoors without an expensive membership. We have the treadmill, but now I would like to get a bike trainer (you put your own bike on it to cycle indoors!) and some DVD workout vids.

I am quite sure this month will go by just as fast, but hopefully I will maintain the blog a little better. We will be out-of-town for 3 out of the next 5 weekends - should be interesting!!

In the last couple of weeks we managed to take in the BEST Twins game EVER (swept the CWS in OT)! I got free work tickets to the Wild Exhibition game (Club Level!) - also a win in overtime! Participated in some volunteering, Sisters Weekend at a cabin with all my aunts and female cousins, got a promotion and raise, and other things I am sure just as exciting!

Here are some pics to keep you coming back for more - ha!

Back on the Wagon

Well it appears some of my motivation has returned. I have manged to hit the treadmill several times while out-of-town this week and last, as well as, hit up my own treadmill, play some tennis, do a little biking, and a little walking around Chicago. Not too shabby, especially compared to the lack there of the past few months. Unfortunately the workout facility at my hotel in Chicago is complete junk - in the basement, small, and suffocatingly hot. So after my run today, I noticed that I now have some sort of rash along my jawline/neck/face. YUCK. Luckily you can't notice it that much, but I can feel it and its not cool. I thought it was a heat rash, but I'm not sure anymore. Hopefully it goes away soon.

My trip to Chicago has been pretty good. I traveled alone and knew no one upon arrival, but I have managed to latch onto some Milwaukee co-workers. They have been kind enough to invite me to dinner with them each night, so I don't have be a total loner. We experienced House of Blues - bad service, limited menu, and just ok food. Night 2 was a definite improvement - Signature Room. It is a restaurant on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. Awesome steak, service, and VIEW. Gorgeous. My camera couldn't capture the view through the window, but I recommend it to all. Tonight was a seafood place - Catch 35, also good, no view though! I also got to enjoy Michigan Ave. - more shopping than one can imagine. It is pretty crazy the difference between downtown Mpls and downtown Chicago.


Tomorrow I go home! Yay!

Oh, the Places you will Go

Tonight another staff and I walked around the SDSU campus after dinner. It was great to actually get out of the hotel room, and enjoy the beautful evening. I was surprised to find how nice the campus was, with cute buildings and lots of paths. Also, since this is an ag school I got to visit the horses. Who knew! Walking through the campus brought back all the memories of college - the dorms, the frats, the people just walking around.... It made me realize that I actually miss that time, and wish I would have enjoyed it a little more while I was there. I think that is always the battle I have - to enjoy the moment more. I think that will be a goal of mine. Unfortunately I didn't even think to bring my camera to share the sights. Next time - I promise!

We have also discovered a Starbucks! This town is full of surprises!

Tomorrow is Friday, which means only a half day of work and a few hours in my car until the weekend!

Now I will watch McCain (right now it looks like a history channel special). Then I will hit the hay!

Night!

I am back in Sodak this week, so I figured why not blog a little.

I just realized it is September already - where has this summer gone??



We have been really busy, but it has been a great summer and I am sad to see it end so quickly.



Some of the highlights of this summer include: 3 camping trips, 4 weddings, 1 bachelorette party, 1 trip to the MN state fair, 1 wedding shower, 1 book club meeting, 2 graduations, 1 boat cruise, 2 comedy club shows, 1 Canterbury Park horse racing experience, a couple of Twins games, lots of grilling, some house projects, OLYMPICS, endless hours in the car, many miles on my bike....



I am looking forward to all my fall favorites though (Caribou has out its pumpkin latte - yum!) And I am excited to get back into a workout routine (which should help with the purchase of our new treadmill). Who knows, maybe Stacy will be able to convince me to try a tri... PS - if anyone finds a Wii Fit, let me know - I really really want one : )



I also have gotten back into reading, which after doing a little browsing, I have realized there are endless books that I want/need to read thanks to my book club of fellow staff! I have already read The Memory Keepers Daughter, which I highly recommend, as well as, The Pilot's Wife. I am now reading A Long Way Gone, a memoir about a boy who is forced to join the rebel forces in Sierra Leone. I am welcome to any other suggestions people have.



Unfortunately, I hardly have any pictures to show for the entire month of August. But here a few highlights from July's trip to Itasca:

Trying to look as cool as Susie : )

Some hard-core kayaking/canoeing (not sure what you call this plastic banana)...

I just love this sign.

Unfortunately I did not take enough pictures over our 4th of July vacation in Bismarck to document ALL the phone we had : ( We did have a wonderful looong weekend though! We got to see lots of family, and many we rarely get to see, golf, play slapnuts, jet ski, eat, eat, eat....good stuff!

This weekend I am looking forward to hanging out with the Kautzman cousins in the city for Brittany's Bachelorette party!!!! We will have to party hardy, b/c Britt and Chris fly in Saturday night and leave Sunday morning! I will try my best to get some good pics!

Here's a pic of our new shutters - exciting I know!

Camping, Round 2

Minneopa State Park

A couple of weekends ago, we went camping about an hour south of our home with a couple of our good friends. Besides the constant rain/drizzle, we had a pretty good time. The best part was the little bit of hiking we were able to do, near a waterfall. I'm pretty sure it is the first waterfall I have ever seen. We managed to squeeze in small Brats grilling, s'more toasting, and a little slap nuts between rainfalls.

We are pretty busy the next couple of months, so who knows if we will get another camping trip in or not. If we do hopefully we will have some better weather!

Another GREAT movie I recommend: The Other Boleyn Girl. I found out at the end that it was based on a true story. A interesting piece of history!

New favorite pizza: Papa Murphy's Herb Medittarean Delite - YUM!

Other random updates: the new sliding patio door is officially in and complete! New digital thermostat is installed and working efficiently (its flush with the wall so it looks sweet) Shutters are painted, looks much better than before. I mowed the lawn for the first time. It was a good thing Blaine was around, b/c it stopped like 6 times, and I can't get it to restart. The neighbor chick who was mowing her lawn at the same time and totally kicked my butt - dang. We bought a new mower, much needed. Now I can take her anyday! Today is the first day of July - crazy. Today is also like Friday, b/c we have the rest of the week off and heading to the Biz for some fourth of July fun!

Stay tuned for pics of our lovely (rainy) camping trip last weekend!!!!

Across the Universe

I highly recommend the movie Across the Universe for any Beatles fan. The singers (all Beatles songs!) are just unbelievably awesome. The movie is a little "trippy" at parts, but each song fits into the story so well. Watch it! See some of my favorite clips below!

Let it Be

Blackbird

I Want You

Strawberry Fields

All You Need is Love

Ok, so I pretty much posted the whole movie!

Getting in touch with nature...

Camping: Afton State Park


The unique aspect of this camping experience is that the campground is about a mile hike from where you can park. This was more work than we expected, and left us hot, thirsty, and eventually very sore (at least I am).

Deja's first time camping. We think she loved it. She was such a good girl the entire time.

Interesting.

Sweet view of the St.Croix river.


Down by the beach. Deja had a blast trying to chase waves.

We ended the night with a bonfire - hotdogs and s'mores. YUM. Well actually the night ended when we heard an siren telling us a sever thunderstorm was on its way. Less than a minute later it was downpouring and the wind was gusting over 60mph. No time to walk a mile back to the car, but our tent held its own and we survived. We were too exhausted to do more hiking in the morning so we packed up and headed home. We hope to return again soon!

Blaine and I enjoyed a nice weekend with family.

Friday:

Sylvia's big debut - we love the pretty little peanut!

Crazy Kautzman's

(sadly had to climb through the window to access the deck - new door should be here anyday I hope)

Saturday:

BBQ and Blues Fest - downtown

(Nice weather and good music!)

Alexis' Open House

More Kautzman fun!

Sunday:
No pictures, but it was a successful day of Ikea, Dick's, grilling, and National Treasure 2.

We hope to have more visitors again soon - always a good time!!

Breaking Stuff..

Ok so today I am working from home/taking a half day of vacation.


So the lawn desperately needs to be mowed. I attempted on Wednesday (Blaine was at the Twins game) to try it out myself. After struggling to get it out from the shed under the deck, I couldn't even get it to start. So I gave up. Well, then Thursday we got a nice storm, giving no chance to mow again. I might try to tackle it again today, but its kinda raining off and on.


Also, by the way things have gone so far today, I am a little scared to do anything else. First of all, part of our fence in the back yard fell down. Nice.




Secondly, while vacuuming a rug (I should have just shook it) the vacuum just quit. Great. At least I was able to get the upstairs completely vacuumed. Our poor guests.

I also sucked up part of my shirt ribbon and totally ruined it. hahaha.

Hopefully, the rest of the cleaning will be more successful!


Here are some pics of our recent updates:

The Upstairs Bathroom - We painted a taupe color (huge improvement over the spotted pee yellow)





Blaine took out the old nasty plastic light cover and put in a new one. It surprisingly looks really good, and adds a little modern flair. It will work until we can afford to put in new flooring and get rid of the mauve counter tops and tiling in the tub!



We painted the front door purple (eggplantish)!!! I am also surprised at how much I LOVE it! Blaine also painted the storm door trimming silver (the gold wasn't going with our nice door handle)
We ran out of time to finish everything we planned. But as soon as we get another free weekend we plan on painting the shutters. Right now they are the same color as the house, which makes no sense. Why even have shutter then? There are lots of little projects to do around the house this summer - can't wait!!

Have a great weekend!

Oh Monday...

Monday was......interesting.

I am still not feeling all that well, but when to work anyway. So here's the fun part: after blowing my nose, I all of sudden felt it running. I thought to myself "wow, where did that come from". So I look down, blood everywhere - GROSS. On my new shirt, on my workpapers, on the table. YIKES. Fortunately, the bathroom wasn't too far, and I only passed by one person on the way. I was able to get it to stop, and get it out of my shirt. However, my workpaper doesn't look so pretty. Whoever has to review that is going to know how much blood, sweat and tears I put into it - literally. hahaha. I just felt bad for the girl I was working with in the conference room - she witnessed it all. FUN.

So I made it through the workday. When I got home Blaine was frantically cleaning the house. Also interesting. Turns out he found out through Matt, a guy at work who is looking for a temporary place to live. So we thought we'd let him check out, meet the guy, scope out the situation.

Well, I had to run Deja to her vet appointment. What a GOOD little girl. I was very impressed. So many other dogs, it was super busy, and she was quiet and good. She said hi to everyone sitting in the waiting area, sniffed everything, and then hung out quietly by me as we waited forever. She was good with the vet too. They had the darndest time finding her butt to take her temp. Had to call in reinforcements - too much hair. She didn't like that so much, and I felt bad as I witnessed the whole debacle. They took her out of the room to take her blood, but I still heard the big squeal. Poor thing. She did not want to be away from me at all after that. Everything looks good though! Just need to bring in a stool sample. They offered to pull it out of her, but gave Deja a break, and said we would wait for it to naturally come out. I hope Blaine will handle that part. haha. They suggested teeth cleaning, which we knew she needed. I just didn't know how much it would cost - YIKES again.

When I got home S. was checking the place out. Seemed like a decent guy. Apparently he spends most of his weekends at his cabin, and is active in softball and volleyball. Clean, doesn't party, looking for a house, check, check, check.

I was not really apt to the idea of letting a stranger move in below us and share the comfort of our home, which we have enjoyed by ourselves for quite a few months. But who can resist the extra income? I guess not us.

So that was our Monday in a nutshell!

This is my attempt at using my new camera to record. Only Deja wouldn't do her trick. oh well, watch it anyway.

The end of May

Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes (via emails, texts, facebook, phone-calls..)!



Blaine and I had a great long memorial weekend in Bismarck and Jamestown. It was great just spending time with family. (and much needed after a crazy busy, stressful week of work in SD). I am so glad to be back home and back to working in the office!



My birthday was great. I told Blaine I did not want to go out to eat. Shocking I know. But spend a couple of weeks out of town, and you will understand the feeling. Instead I requested some yummy steaks from the grill, and Blaine definitely provided. I think they were the best he has ever grilled before. Rachel and Matt joined us, and afterwards we all went to ColdStone for a little dessert.



I volunteered to be a mentor for my firm's Summer Leadership Program. This program is for college students who are too young to intern, but want to get a feel for the choices out three. All the big four do a similar program. Its a pretty sweet deal. The students interview to get into the program, and once in, at the end usually they all get offers for a full time position when they are done with school or an internship. So the event for SLP on Friday was a high ropes course at a camp out west of the cities. It was awesome!! We were challenge to encourage each other to push our selves to do something we normally wouldn't. I made it to the top of the 40 foot rock climbing wall and rang the bell! What an exhilarating feeling. The second part of the day for our group was spent up 30 feet in the year, walking across ropes and beams from tree to tree - crazy!! At the end we all got to zip-line down - so much fun!



Today I am sore from my Friday experience. I also seem to have caught a cold at about 8pm last night. Weird. I don't know where it came from, but it sucks. I had a lot I wanted to get done around the house today, but I just feel like total crap. Blaine had something similar earlier in the week, so I guess that is where it came from.



Tonight the plan is to head downtown to watch the Twins kick some Yankee butt!! Right now I would much rather stay home, but I don't want to be the party pooper. I do feel a little better so that's good.



Keep your eyes open for some pics to come - Blaine got me a new camera!!!!!!!

Stuck in SD

Not much to say this week - I am in SD for a year-end audit. We work, go out for lunch, work, go out for dinner, go back to our hotel rooms, and get do it all over again. FUN! We have even been so lame, that both last night and tonight we just went to Applebees since it is across from our hotel. Not that there is anything much more appealing than that, sadly. I managed to run 5k this morning, but I squashed the benefits by getting an oreo shake at dinner tonight...boooo...

Blaine is back home keeping track of the dog and the house. Apparently we need a new deck door, the baseboard was rotting out pretty badly. He found one for a good deal on Craigslist, but I'm not sure if I will like the way it looks. We'll see. His excitement for the night, as unfortunately he shared the details with me, was watching birds mating in our backyard. SICK. I guess it looked like the guy stole the girl from another guy, what drama! hahaha

We had a great weekend! Pat and Janelle joined us for a nice relaxing weekend, with a good ol' Twins' game in the mix! Go Twins!

3 more days : )

Night!

Updates about nothing...

Friday: Dinner and Drinks at "the Office" (Matt and Blaine's name for their favorite local American Legion). That place is hopping every night of the week, so I had to finally check it out. I give it a 3 out 5. The guys find it humorous to call Rachel and I the secretaries. FUNNY. Afterwards more drinks and a movie - 27 Dresses. Pretty much a big disappointment. I give it a 2 out of 5. Thank goodness for all the drinks! I am pretty sure Blaine talked through 75% of the movie, but that's nothing new : )

Saturday: Blaine had drill. I went for a run and organized the house up. I also did a little shopping. In the evening we hit up the Twins game with some of my coworkers. Awesome weather, so it was very fun hanging out in the plaza for a pregrame drink and corndog! Twins Win - makes for a great night! We played old married couple and went home after the game, while everyone else went out....

Sunday: More drill for Blaine. I continued to clean the house, took the dog for a walk, ran a few errands....Another gorgeous day! We attempted to give Deja her "shocking" lesson. She is too smart. She just will not go across the flags, which is good because she is not suppose to, but she doesn't know yet that if she does she will get shocked. I just don't trust that a beep will stop her if she says a bunny run across the yard.

Yesterday: Work, bleh. Another nice weather day! Blaine and I took the bikes out for a near 10 mile ride. We biked to the EP community center to see if I should switch from Lifetime. It was nice, but I am just going to keep my Lifetime membership for now. Every day I am more aware of the fact that I am my mother's daughter. Mom, this is not a bad thing, but its true. Last night I cut my pinky slicing a banana. Such a mom move (you know what I'm talking about!).

Today: Work, still bleh (and its only 9:30am). I am not a fan of being unassigned, which I am all week. So I signed up for Employee Benefit Plan training tomorrow and volunteered for Junior Achievement Biz Town on Friday. Better than doing nothing....

On a side note, in the Sunday paper a couple of weekends ago, there was a featured article on a former MN couple. The young couple had their first baby, and less than 27 hours later, the wife died from an unknown blood clot on her way to hold her daughter for the first time. It is an unbelievably sad story. The husband maintains a blog of his own to share his daily struggle with the world and to help him cope with the situation. I highly recommend you check out the blog and read for yourself. He also has awesome pictures of his baby girl. The writing and pictures make you appreciate the small miracles in life.

Happy Tuesday!

Sunny AZ

Stace and I had THE best time in Arizona. We did so much, and time flew by way too fast. I am already ready to go back!

The trip started a little shaky. Of course the day we were suppose to leave for sunny AZ, MN/ND had a nice winter weather advisory – aka a blizzard. FUN. Stace made it to the cities, against a nasty wind and a little rain on Thursday night. We went to check into our flight, only to find out it had been cancelled. I quickly called the airline, and thank God we were able to get on the next flight leaving at 11am (ours was supposed to leave at 8am). However, the 11am flight was already delayed to 12pm. I was hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Luckily, the flight was not delayed further or cancelled, and we made it to AZ with time to spare!

Our first night there consisted of experiencing Pam’s crazy driving – mostly gas station incidents that involved doing a few loops around : ) But we stopped in Tempe, where ASU is located and strolled down Mill Ave, similar to Uptown in the cities. After that we headed to Pam’s crib – very nice apartment by the way, and got ready for a night out. We joined some of Pam’s fellow dental students for dinner at place called Cadalac Ranch. Afterwords we drifted over to a bar across the way. The area we were in was all open to the outdoors and even had a band playing outside – pretty sweet.

Mill Ave.

Cadallac Ranch

Saturday we enjoyed some quality time by Pam’s ice-cold pool, eventually forcing ourselves to jump in once we couldn’t stand the heat. It took us awhile to figure out where we wanted to go for dinner, but Pam is lucky to have a patient bf. We drove to Old Town and walked around a bit before dinner. It is in Scottsdale and has all these little western/Mexican shops. Pretty fun. Dinner was at the Roaring Fork, and was yummy : ) I love being able to enjoy dinner outside, and they even had a fireplace out there.

Poolside

Old Town

Roaring Fork



Afterwards we headed to the Scottsdale mall, which has unbelievable shopping. Every store you can imagine pretty much. To end the night we went to a club called Suede and had the BEST drink ever – Strawberry Cheesecake martini. I will have to try to recreate that one sometime. The club had great music, and it was a good time, but we didn’t get too crazy since we were heading to the mountains the next morning.

Suede

Sunday we hiked Superstition Mountain – well at least half of it. It was AWESOME, my favorite of the entire weekend. It was not easy, but the sights were amazing. I guess we came at a good time b/c everything was in bloom. Next time I will come back in climb to the top!

Hiking wiped us out pretty good. That night we enjoyed dinner at BJ’s brewery in Mesa. It was yummy, and the dessert was the best part – oreo cookie pazookie!!!!! Later we checked out Dana Park in Mesa, its basically a shopping strip mall with lots of fun stores. We had to stop at the Ra for an after dinner drink, and ended up having some sushi as well. We were so full it wasn’t funny, but it was still SO good!!
RA

Monday Stace and I were on our own while Pam had class. We ventured back to Dana Park for some coffee and some more shopping. After meeting Pam and Scott for lunch at Paradise Bakery, we drove ourselves back to Tempe for some more Mill Ave shopping! We were sooo proud of ourselves for our navigating skills (of course it helps that they are on a nice grid system). We relaxed a little by the pool, until Pam got done with class. Then we did a little TJ Maxx shopping - Pam somehow managed to by 5 purses – yikes! To end the night we did a late but OH SO delicious dinner at Kona, and Asian Fusion restaurant. We also headed back to Ra to get the dessert we wanted the other night, but were to full for – fried cinnamon tempura ice cream. YUM. We almost went back to BJ’s for another Pazookie, but just couldn’t do it!

RA, again

On Tuesday before we left, Stace and I got a quick game (volley) of tennis in! We made it back to the cities no problem. Only now its back to reality. At least it is gorgeous outside today in the cities!!