Funnies

Move that bus!

Set your DVRs (or VCRs for the old school). This Sunday Jan 3rd at 7:00 the St. Paul Extreme Home Makeover episode is on. Keep your eyes peeled for Justin. He was used in 2 scenes as an extra/body double. One where Gonzo is being shot out of a cannon and one with a football huddle. He could also been seen working on landscaping or who knows where else. I'll let ya know if we were able to spot any part of him.

A weekend of Xmas

I have to start by saying what a great Christmas this year was! I LOVE snow and getting lots of it. I know it affected a lot of people's travels including some of my family but there was nothing better than waking up to 6 inches of snow 2 days in a row. Maybe I can only say this since I didn't have to do a lick of the shoveling.

Conner enjoying the snow


We had a traditional year with my family. We started Christmas Eve at my Grammy's. It was supposed to be a small crew but due to the weather my aunt and uncle joined us since they couldn't make their out of town destination.



Christmas day was spent at my mom's. We started the morning off with a delicious brunch of homemade caramel rolls, cheese balls (not the bagged kind), and an egg bake. We continued to open our presents and eat our way through the day finishing it up with a delicious Paella for dinner.



Justin and I got a new camera for Christmas. We were sick of all the blurry pictures the old one was taking and thought it was time for an upgrade so we got a Nikon DSLR. This camera has so many fun features. My favorite is a toss up between the sports mode where it can take up to 4 photos in a second and the food mood where I can now get enhanced photos of all the yummy things we make/eat! We went a little overboard w/the pics but you can see all that I'm talking about and more at our online album.

Face Lift

Our kitchen chairs needed a new look. We bought the set 5 years ago when we moved into this house. I was never a big fan of the white. After 5 years of abuse from Conner & Zoey mostly they were dirty and dingy looking. It was time for new covers.

The old:




The new and improved:



We went with a green color - kinda between a dark sage and hunter. There's a light tone on tone stripe.

Xmas Outfit

Conner came home from daycare last week with a new Xmas accessory. So cute! Merry Christmas!!

Cookie Baking

Last weekend I spent the majority of it baking cookies. Saturday Cari & I went over to Moms' for our annual cookie baking day. 7 hours and 7 different types of cookies later we went home loaded with sweets. Sunday I had some girlfriends over for another afternoon of baking. This year seemed to go much more smoothly than last year. It was either the lack of alcohol or we're just that much more experienced. I'm going with the first option. :)

Kitchen Organization

When Justin was unemployed he was in a cleaning/organizing mood. The last area done was the kitchen. All the drawers and cupboards were rearranged - meaning I still go to all the wrong places to get stuff. We used to have a drawer to keep all of our spices in but it wasn't cutting it. Some items were too big and we ran out of space resulting in using an overflow area in a cupboard. When we rearranged, we pulled them all out and put them in boxes. Finally this weekend they found their home.



Our pantry spice rack!! I love it already. We had a small issue of the pantry door being to heavy to close but my handy man husband did something to fix that. Now if I could just figure out where we put the measuring spoons...

3 of 3

Finally getting to posting this - our loveseat! This one also reclines AND it's a dual rocker. so fun! and comfy.

Basket Auction

Bought this today at our work basket auction. Conner must've been a good boy this year...

FL Weekend

Justin and I spent the last week visiting his dad in the Orlando area. Unfortunately for us we brought the cold weather down there with us. I tried hard to keep it there but as you can see when you look outside it did follow us home. We still had a fun weekend hanging out with Rick & Leona, visiting a Christmas filled Disney, and of course shopping. Full pics here!

Rick & Leona at Rain Forest Cafe


Magic Kingdom castle in full Xmas lights


Justin & I on the boardwalk

2 of 3

Here's piece number 2 of our new furniture. Found it online at target.com on clearance. Such a steal!





1 more to come...

Beat this...

How's that for a real gingerbread house? I wish I could send the smell...wow!

Softie

I know the big thing right now is the mockery of the Snuggie but I happen to think they are a great idea. I probably would own one if they were actually made of a decent material and not just a sheet of fleece. You can only imagine my excitement when I saw this in the Bed, Bath & Beyond Ad.

Introducing the Softie 3 in 1 blanket. Now how warm and comfie does that look!


It's even in fashionable prints. :)


Make fun if you want but I think they are great!!

1 of 3

Here's piece number 1 of our fun purchase from the weekend. 2 more to come soon...



Different lighting and all the cool features.


I'm testing it out right now as I type. So far it's great!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

The weekend has come and gone. Sad that it's over but it was all a lot of fun. Thanksgiving was at my aunt and uncles and co hosted by my Grammy. Friday's shopping was so successful. Cari and I went out and found great deals! Justin and I also made a fun purchase for the house which I will blog as soon as it all arrives (teaser..) The rest of the weekend was spent putting up the Xmas decorations while dancing to Xmas music. Here's some picture highlights. Also, I'm in the process of redoing my website but don't quite know what I'm doing to do with it yet. For now I'm trying Picasa for my online albums so here's the full weekend pics.

My cuz Cassie and I


Our hosts


We decided to rearrange the Xmas decorations this year and put the Nutcrackers in the family room instead of on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Oh Zoey...

Less than 5 minutes after the tree is up Zoey finds her perfect spot. And I just finished cleaning all the cat hair off of it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My favorite holiday and also fav weekend of the year. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We all have much to be thankful for!



And also happy shopping to all the other crazies like me going out Friday! Wooo Hooo!!

Cooking Club I

A few month ago Brent made a comment that he wanted to learn how to cook gourmet foods. Little did he know that his comment would spawn a new adventure for all of us! We took the idea and ran with it. Justin and I offered to host first. We planned the meal, found coordinating wines, bought all the ingredients and assigned each person 2 things to make. Our goal was to find items no one had made before that were a little challenging. I have to say I think we all did quite well! Only a few minor issues and a bit of a time delay but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Guess we better try harder items next time! Take a look at our wonderful dishes.

Hard at work


First Course: Beef Wellington & Brie with Kahlua and pecans


Second Course: Peanut Soup


Third Course: Cornish Game Hens stuff with fruit stuffing, polenta with peppers, and vegetables ribbons.


Fourth Course: Lemon Ice cream in lemon boats

Can't get enough...

...of this song, especially since there's a SYTYCD routine to it!! Not my favorite couple but I still enjoyed it.

Cari's Park

my sis has her name on our GPS!

Fall Treats

Justin's new boss' birthday was today so we decided to suck up a little make him a treat. Justin was really craving something pumpkin so I found this great recipe for gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes with a maple cream cheese frosting. They are SOO delicious! The maple in the frosting adds a great hint of sweetness. I substituted my own flour mix for the Bob's Red Mill but otherwise made no substitutions. I didn't add the pecans or raisins just because I like my baked goods plain. I'd recommend to even those who aren't gluten-free. I'm sure they would be just as good with regular flour.

5 Things

Abbie posted this game on her blog and I decided to play along even though I wasn't officially tagged. :)

1. What were you doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was 19 and in my sophomore year of college starting one of my most fun years. Such a carefree time with new freedoms and not too many responsibilities. Highlights that I can remember were Poms squad, track parties, joining Gamma Sigs, tongue piercing, hanging with the boys in Laux, I'm sure doing some studying, and many more that I can't mention because my mom occasionally reads this. ;)

2. What five things are on your to-do list for today?

We'll go with tomorrow because today is almost over.

-Long to do list at work to complete

-Try and catch up on some of my tv shows. So many to watch!

-Put together menu for upcoming dinner party

-Finish open bottle of wine

-Play with my pups

3. Snacks you enjoy.

Right now I can't get enough of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and cheeseballs.

4. Places you have lived.

Minneapolis, Woodbury, La Crosse, Edina & Shakopee.

5. What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

-Quit my job and find a fun place to volunteer

-Buy my parents their dream house in AZ

-Travel to Italy, Australia, Hawaii, and wine country, CA - just to start

-Shop Shop Shop and Shop until my feet fall off.

-Put in a swimming pool and hire a pool boy


I'm going to tag Cran because she's a devoted blogger but anyone else is welcome to do it as well!

Hunting Weekend

Hunting is always one of my favorite weekends of the year. Not that I don't love my husband dearly but it's always nice to have a weekend full of girl time. All I can say is thank god Justin got a job because lots of money was spent including but not limited to: Stampin Up products, clothes, Bath & Body soaps/lotions, X-mas presents (an early start!), purse, and of course meals! Yesterday Cari, Mom and started the day off at The Original Pancake House (our fav for breakfast) and we continued onto Albertville. Lots of great sales but my best purchase of the day was a pair of Lucky Jeans. I have been in love with this brand since college and the whole store was price at $50 a pair. Such a steal!



Sunday the 3 of us added Grammy into the mix and went to The Affair at the convention center. If you remember last year I had a post about the Chocolate Extravaganza. I learned that this event was bought buy a woman who turned it into The Affair. Not as much chocolate this year but still many sweet and savory items to sample. Plus I found my favorite buy of the weekend:



This woman out of Iowa started the company, Bagolitas, after she had bought a fabric to recover some chairs but her husband ended up hating it. Since she couldn't return it she made it into a bag. She got so many compliments she started selling them and it took off from there. Anyways lots of cute stuff. Big thanks to Anne for giving me a free ticket to the event. I'm not sure it would've been worth the $30 to get in but for free it sure was!

Squeaky

My new favorite commercial. I'm not sure whether it's my memory of Conner running away every time we called him or my soft spot for shorthairs but either way it hits close to home.

Halloween Party

Last weekend we co-hosted a Halloween party with Lori & Rocky for a bunch of neighbors. The house was decorated with cobwebs and spiders and lite by candles. Spooky music was playing in the background. The foods were all labeled as Witch's Snot, Vampire Arms, etc...

Forgot to take a pic of the full display but here are the Krispy Eyeballs.


Of course no party is complete without Witch's Brew.


Justin and I wanted to find a unique costume so we saw this mummy idea online. You take white sheets, dye them in tea, rip them up and then hot glue them to your bottoms and tops. It was a lot more work than we though but they turned our pretty well. The downside was you had to be cut out of them at the end of the night so there's no future use for them.


Rocky & Lori the witch and Dracula.

Yippeee!

Good news finally came to our house last week. Justin was offered a job. Wooo hoo!! It pretty much came out of nowhere. One of his old bosses called him up and said there was a new position working with him and wanted to know if Justin was interested. They set up a meeting and before we knew it he was starting on Monday. The company is called Hyrda-Flex. They are very small and located in Burnsville. Bonus for him! The position is a 3 month contract to hire and doesn't really have a title yet. Sounds like he'll be doing a bit of everything but mostly Operations Management type of stuff. I'm excited to hear how today goes and what he'll actually be doing. Congrats babe!!

Weekend Away

Wanted to quick post some pics from the weekend. We headed down to Cambria for the Jovle Thanksgiving and got to see my adorable niece! She's become such a little girl since we last saw her. Running all over the place and showing off her animal noises.





On the way back home we stopped at La Crosse for a few hours. We visited a couple of our old favorite spots and walked around campus a bit. So fun to revisit all of our memories.

My favorite site on campus; the clock tower


Outside the union where I used to spend the major of my time.


Laux - best dorm ever!!

Another Move

Yesterday was my last day of having a window at work. The new addition on our building got to the point where they needed to put the "temporary" wall up where my cube was and forever block our view of the outside. I'm actually quite happy with my new cube for the most part. I'm still by my friends and can see out the window on the other wall. If you remember the last time I moved it was quite the switch to have all low walls and views of our neighbors. This new cube is back to the high walls and I already miss the low ones. Funny how once you get used to something you really adapt to it. Here's the views!

Looking in. (I need some posters!)




Looking Out


My old space. No more furniture!!