Twas the night....

Well today is my Friday, yippi! I have tomorrow and Friday off so it will be a much needed long weekend. I'm packing up when I get off work, heading to my parents house and then we're headed to Iowa for Christmas. We don't leave until 10pm tonight, so we'll get there in the wee hours in the morning tomorrow. I honestly don't think Christmas would feel like Christmas to me if it didn't involve some late night traveling in one of our many family SUV's from the ugly turqouise box van we used to have to the nice new Expedition, it makes for a cozy drive. Hopefully the roads aren't too bad, as there's a big winter storm a brewin!

We just finished a big pot luck at work, and I'm stuffed. Just the beginning of a very filling weekend (I think I gain at least 10 1lbs every year)! I brought some homemade Christmas sugar cookies with frosting....my favorite this time of year!

I was thinking about Christmas on my drive into work this morning and how it's just one of those times where everything seems right in the world. Even though we hear of an economic depression and bad things going on all around us, for just a day or two everyone seems to have a smile on their faces, even if for a fleeting moment. The image of family and friends and all sorts of goodies, games, fire places, santa, hot cocoa, what's there not to smile about.

I thought I'd share one little tid bit from my childhood. Somewhere along the way, it became tradition to read "twas the night before Christmas" every Christmas Eve before we went to bed. We have this blue hard covered book that we read every year. Although it's all tattered and banged up now, and we pretty much can recite it by heart, it will still get read. Being the oldest child, I took on the adventure to read it every Christmas Eve, my brother sister and I would all pile into my bed, snuggle up and read it. It may have been the smallest of things, but it just puts a smile on my face when I think of it. I hope that one day, my children will be able to have memories like this.

I hope you all have a very safe and blessed Christmas!

"I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses." - Taylor Caldwell

Heebie Jeebies

Yesterday was a hard day to concentrate....why you ask??

Because around 11am in the morning I was in my office/cube talking to a co-worker when out scurried a mouse, which ran behind my filing cabinet and then behind my desk. We both screamed and ran out of the office. So I found one of the only 3 males that work in our office and he came to check it out. He couldn't find it (of course) and the second he walked away it ran out of it's hiding place and my heart started beating wildly. So I ran out and wouldn't go back into my office for a while. I wish Icould say they looked Just like Mickey...but unfortunately no such luck.

Side Note: This reminded me of the house I lived in in college with 4 of my girlfriends where it was mouse infested. My friend Abbey and I lived upstairs (I lived in what I'm pretty sure was a closet at one time, as it was like 4x4, no heat vent and the closet was in the hallway, not in my room. Anyways we used to hear them inthe walls scurrying around and chewing up the carpet. Then they would run into our rooms. It was literally terrifying. I used to want to tape my mouth shut just in case one came up my bed while I was asleep. Ugg gives me the shivers right now. I can't tell you how happy I was to be out of that place!

Anyhoo, fast forward to the end of the day and we had caught 4 mice, running all over the office. They just kept finding them. Of course by the time we called the exterminator he couldn't find any (probably because we'd caught them all!). They were all pretty small so we think that they have a nest and had babies in the office. We'll see, I don't know how many more days I can handle this. I would stomp every time I came into my office just to scare one away if it was there!

On the plus side, my washer/dryer got delivered and installed last night (insert applause now). No more having to take my laundry to my parents house! Yay!

Well it's a long day at the office today, I have tastings so I'll be working until about 8 or 9pm tonight all the way in Plymouth. Then its 1 more day of work and I'm off to Iowa for Christmas! Yippi! :)

Emotional by Nature

I think I've just had to accept that I am an Emotional Creature. Some would just say it's in my genes, others would say I'm just blubbering fool. But yes, I cry at just about everything, especially around this time of year.

I have cried on my drive home from work on Friday and I cried today on my way into work. They were having a St. Jude's marathon on one radion station and it was heartbreaking to hear the stories of little kids with cancer fighting for their lives and the ones that had lost their battle (which the stories are put to music, which pull even more at your heart strings....American Media, darn you, you are good). There was one story where a little boy of about 6 wasn't going to make it much longer, this will be his last Christmas, and he asked his mom if they have choloate in heaven, and she said "well I'm sure they do, lots and lots of it" and he thought for a while and looked at her and said "Well I don't think heaven will be that bad then".

Bawled, just bawled like a baby.

Then today they were giving away Christmas wishes on another radio station, and a father had stomach cancer and was given a year to live and his little son was taking care of him and people called in and gave so much more than they expected. When the radio hosts start to choke up, then I lose it. So I cried on my way into work.

Seriously, I've had my fair share of crying for a while. I can watch the same movei 15 times and know exactly what will happen and still cry every time. Extreme Home Makever-Bawlfest.

The Humaine Treatment of Animals commercial with Sarah McLaughlin singing and they show pictures of abused animals....cant' stop crying. Makes me want to adopt every animal.

Can't stop it- I'm just an Emotional Creature, guess there's nothing else to do but just embrace it.

One of those days

Well I'll start backwards, the day ended well, my sister and I baked some Christmas goodies to bring to Iowa for Christmas this week. With a little puppy getting into some flour, some yummy chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate bars, and some cookies! So much cookies tired Nic and the pup out! Pictures below:

Do you ever have one of those days where when one thing goes wrong the rest of the day follows suit and everything goes wrong? That was my day yesterday.

It started off having a vet appointment for Tucker (just a re-check to see if the Giardia was gone-it was, yay!). I'm standing at the vet waiting to check Tucker in and there are dogs all around us, and what 9 month old puppy doesn't want to go play? Well he tries running to a small beagle and his collar slips off and before you know it he's free! I am stunned and the only thing I can think to do is start yelling "Treat, Tucker want a Treat"? Apparently, he's caught onto that because he just keeps prancing away. Luckily there was a guy next to me (holding 2 other dogs), and he grabs Tucker, so I get the collar back on and everything is dandy (minus my embaressment).

I'm almost out of gas so I decide to stop by the gas station and get some gas and a car wash before I head home. There was probably about 5 different pumps open so I pull into one put my credit card in, get a car wash and continue to get some gas. In the meantime Tucker is in the back seat and keeps barking at me,and slobbering all over my window, because I'm not paying attention to him. Well I keep trying to pump, the little screen says it's fueling, but clearly no fuel is going into my car. The guy next to me sees me looking a bit frazzled as asks if I need help. He comes over and can't get it to go either, so I run into the gas station and a girl comes out and helps me. Apparently with the cold weather pump 4 and 6 (I was on 6) are finicky and don't always work right, so she has me slowly push the handle and of course it starts working. I would choose one of the 2 finicky ones when there are many open!

I get in my car and I wait in the car wash line for about a 1/2 hour before I finally get in there.

Side Note: I don't like car washes where you have to line your tire up with the track and you put your car in neutral and it pulls you through the car wash. In fact, it stresses me out and scares me because I never can get it lined up and the people behind me honk and get angry. Well maybe they've never honked, but I always think they are on the verge of it and I hate getting honked at!

So anyways, I drive until I find a car wash where you just pull in, sit there and it washes it :) Back to the story, I pull in, the was starts, Tucker gets scared and I just watch the blue and pink soap wash my pretty little car. Well it just stops, I'm wondering if it's done because the back door opens to drive out, but i'm pretty sure I didn't get rinsed off all the way, but the sign never says go, it just says stop. So I wait about 5 min, then drive out. It would break on me! I park, go back inside the gas station (in the meantime notice all the blue soap on the back of my car), and tell them it broke. They give me a free car wash and go re-set the car wash. Well the line is longer than when I first went in so I say screw it, go home, get a bucket of water and pour it on the back of my car to get the soap off (haha which I guess then iced up my parents driveway, whoops!).

It's almost like you are just waiting for the next thing to go wrong, when you have a day like that.

Happy Sunday, go Vikings!

Check this Out!!

Check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhAjo6zsLMU


It's a bride and groom doing their first dance from a wedding at the Boat Club this Summer. It wasn't my wedding, it was my co-worker Natalies, but I remember this wedding! This was the bride that got so drunk she had to be carried out and we almost had to call 911 because she was so bad. I bet she doesn't remember this dance! Too funny :)

Last One Here

I'm sitting all alone in the office, I'm the last one here! I scheduled a tour for 6:30pm tonight so I'm just waiting until I head over to St. Paul. Probably should take off now, traffic could be bad. It's oddly nice to be here all by myself :) No one looking over you shoulder all the time.....hmmm what it must feel like to work for yourself.

I've been running around crazy this week with 4 events, which all booked with in the last few weeks. Looks like everyone is deciding to do a nice holiday get together for their employees...good to know there are still some very appreciative people out there! I had dinner at a great new Italian place called Bar La Grassa last night with an old friend I haven't seen in a while. The food was AMAZING, I highly reccomend the place. It was a great way to spend a Wednesday night and catch up over good food, good wine and good conversation.

I plan to head on home after my tour and curl up by the fire with a nice cup of Chai Tea, a good new book I'm reading (or maybe I'll just watch the Grinch), and with my puppy curled up around my feet (he's a great heater)!


Happy Thursday everyone , stay warm :)

Things I like

I know, I've been boring lately. Really, my washer going bad is the most exciting news this blog has seen in a while (note to self-lead a more exciting life).

So as boring as I am today, I thought I'd write about a few of my favorite things (as I sing the sound of music "these are a few of my favorite things" song in my head as I type.

i LiKe:

Coffee. Yum.

Puppies. Cute.

Sitting by the Fireplace. Snuggly.

Massages. Yes Please.

Helping People. Gratifying.

Purple. Everything.

Being on the Lake. Heaven.

Everything about Christmas. Everything.

My Noise Maker. Seriously.

Cheking Blogs. Routine.

Cheese. Haha.

Dancing around. Crazily.

Games. I Win.

Babies. Clearly Not Mine.

Blankets. All the time.

Honesty. Most of the time.

Wine. Relaxing.

Shoes. Millions.

Snow that Sticks to the Trees. Stunning

Minnesota. Hard to Beat.

Friends & Family. My Air.

Movies. Not Scary.

Bras. Comfy Ones.

Big Sweat Shirts. Boys Shirts ;)

What are a few of your favorite things?

Washer/Dryer Debacle

I went shopping yesterday for a new washer and dryer since mine broke earlier in this week. There was a really nice front loading washer and dryer on sale so I bought it, it was a little pricey, but a nice one. Only today when we went to my place to take the old one out, we realized there was only one plug in (since my washer and dryer now are in one unit) and my new unit has 2 plug ins. So I now have to go back tomorrow and return those two and get another crappy unit like I have. The thing that sucks about the one I have now is that my dryer still works great but since it's all in one unit, you have to replace the whole thing when one breaks. Dumb, the people that designed my laundry closet (not even a room), were dumb. Just trying to get by cheap and then selling the place for a large profit. Ugg...sometimes the real world sucks!

Spotted-Dog getting into trouble

Well, Tucker decided to get into a little trouble today! After work I had to run a few errands, so instead of putting him back in his kennel (where he had been all day), I decided to just leave him in my bedroom to roam around, since I wouldn't be gone long. I was testing him....he failed.

The little snoop somehow opened my closet door and dug around and found 2 of his Christmas presents I was going to put in his stocking and took them out and started chewing on them. This is how I found him when I got home, he didn't even get up to greet me....

Apparently just 1 bone is not enough, he has to have 2...

And this is what he did when I tried to take them away...


Spoiled Puppy.

When it rains...it pours....or snows

Well I am frustrated! There are so many good things to owning a home and having a dog, but I got a good taste of the not so nice things about these things this weekend!!

-My washer went kapoot! And, to top it all off, I have a washer/dryer stackable unit so even though my dryer works perfectly fine, they don't separate and I have to buy a whole new one. booo! My roommate was doing a load of 2, yes only 2, towels last week and it didn't finish the cycle and smelled like something was burning. Alas, repair man comes out...to the tune of $75, and tells me there is some oil leaking. He wipes it up and says it should be good. Fast forward to this afternoon, same smell and cycle problem happens. Repair man, you suck. So he said if it happens again I'll have to buy a new transmition for $700 plus labor. So came to the conclusion, it's not worth it to fix it, more cost effective to just buy a new one! So the shopping commences....lowes, sears, etc. Anyone know where to get good/not too expensive appliances???? Help.

-Doggy gets sick this weekend. He's been kind of sick for a few months but I've taken him to the vet and they just say he has bacteria in his stomach. Saturday he goes out 3 times in the middle of the night, not normal. Take him to the vet, he stays with them all day, he has Giardia-even though he got the shot for it. To the tune of another $300, he gets 2 meds, and some special food.

December=I'm poor.

Let's all pray I get my bonus at the end of the year. The way my weeks have been going, I'm gonna say it's a slim chance. So if in the near future you hear me saying "Would you like to supersize your order?" just smile and nod, it's just my second job :)


Happy Holidays!

Birthday Success

Here are a few pictures from my birthday bash on Friday. I've now lived half a century...boy I feel old :( It will be interesting to see what 25 has in store for me, as you just never can tell what can happen. 24 gave me new responsabilities, success, new friends and fun times with old friends, unbelieveable happiness, a new puppy, heartache, learning to love the single life again, a twilight addiction, stress, grief, unforgetable memories, and love....lots of love :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey day! It's now Black Friday and I am sitting at my desk at work...feeling sorry for myself that I have to work! Pretty much it's just the principle to have us at work, there's not a whole lot of selling you can do when no one is at work...I've done some calls today-all voicemails...e-mails-all I get is their auto response saying they are out of the office. :( I wanted to hit up a few black friday deals, but having to work in the morning and having a birthday party tonight, it just wasn't in the cards. My dad and brother made out big though...a new tv, 2 blue ray players, GPS, Ipod dock....and hopefully I can get a lap top!

Thanksgiving was a great relaxing, stuffing day! I think my stomach was mad at me this morning for eating so much, I felt so sick!

Well I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving...back to work...blah.

New Moon

I'm seeing New Moon tonight with some girlfriends...I can hardly stand the wait. My obsession with Twilight I believe will pick up again after this movie. Edward, be mine ;)

My girlfriends are nerds, we planned a whole night of it, bought our tickets a few days ago, going to an early showing so we can go to dinner afterwards and talk about the movie, haha! Who knew a book for teens would be such a hit!

PS-Look how yummy this picture looks!

Madness I tell you!

And the hatred for T-moblie continues...

I call my sister last night on the way home from the Timberwolves game (which by the way, my brother gets put on the kiss cam-with a couple behind him and me and my roommate in front of him, and all I can think of is gross, please be aiming for the couple behind him)-anyways, I call her and a girl picks up and says hello, so I say "hello" and she says "hello, this is Mia Ping". So I think it's some of her friends being dumb and answering her phone for her, so I hang up. I then proceed to call my mom and ask her where my sister is. She says "she's in her room" (it's about 10pm) and I tell her there's no way she's in there, because her friends are playing jokes on me, meanwhile, my sister beeps in on my mom and I's conversation, and says to me "Jenni, what the heck!?!?" and I go "no, what the heck to you, why did Mia Ping answer your phone and talk chinese to me???" She says a chinese guy answered my phone and was talking chinese to her. WHAT???? Again, my dislike for T-mobile. Get your cell phone air waves right, when I call someone I want to talk to them, not Mia Ping.

Interesting to say the least, then I wake up to my roommates dog having diarrea all over my room, the dogs breaking glass downstairs, and Tucker munching on Tinsel (I don't know why that's tastey). It was a chaotic morning as I tried to rush out the door to my morning meeting....not the right way to start off a day! I hope tonight gets better! A little happy hour with a girlfriend, then home to watch grey's and private practice....and throw in there cleaning my carpet..oh joy!

Randomness

Is Randomness even a word?? I have no idea, I say a lot of things that probably aren't proper english. I swear though, how are you supposed to retain everything you learn in grade school, not possible. Well maybe not possible in just me...whoops! haha.

Anyways, this will be a random post. Last night Julie and I got our Christmas tree. I'm not a fan of fake Christmas trees, so until I can no longer handle it, I will get a real one! I just love the smell and look of a real Christmas tree, it doesn't really feel like Christmas to me unless I have one! I grew up getting real Christmas trees, so I think it stems from that. The way you are brought up really reflects how you associate things when you are older. Like when I see flocked Christmas trees or wreaths, I always think of Christmas growing up at my Grandma and Grandpa Ellsons or I had a tasting the other day for work and my co-worker was having her client try lefsa (because they wanted it for their wedding) and I thought and then proceeded to explain, how we eat it every Christmas my Grandma Johnsons.

It's funny how smells trigger memories too. While Julie and I were shopping at Menards for our tree last night, we stopped by the candels and she pulled out a lavender candle for me to smell and she said "this smells like a grandma's bathroom", and she was so right! It smelled exactly like my grandparents bathroom! If you really look around you, there are all sorts of things that can trigger certain memories...I can't imagine not having these, the memories are what make up your life story.

Back to the tree, so we picked out a fabulous tree got it to my car, and tied it on top of the roof (with no help, might I add). It was actually kind of annoying, no menards worker would help us, you would think they would see us struggling and help a little. They just kind of stood and snickered...not very good customer service! We got it decorated (with led lights might I add, saving lots of money!), and now it looks like Christmas exploded in our house. Now I'm just waiting for one of the dogs to think they are outside and pee on it...since they've both never seen a Christmas tree before, they've been very curious. I actually found Tucker behind it this morning and when I yelled at him, he came running out with his ball in his mouth (apprently the ball had rolled under the tree). He loves to roll balls with his nose and chase after them, it's so cute!

Anyways, there's my ADD post today-off to an event I have at Orchestra Hall and then it's off to the Timberwolves game, compliments of my brother!

Here's a cute quote I found-so true:

"What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow"

Christmas is in the air

Christmas is almost here....well kind of. I guess we still need to get through Thanksgiving, but it still feels close! This weekend was fun, I went to an Around the World Party, thrown by my co-worker on Saturday night. Everyone had to bring something from a different country. I went with my friend Robyn, she was in charge of the beverages and I needed to make the dish. I can pretty much only make pasta or mexican, so I chose Enchiladas. I thought there might be a lot of mexican dishes, but there really weren't. We had the best fondue (both chocolate and cheese, yummy), empanadas, cheeses from all over. There were a few things that I wasn't sure what they were so I took them and ate them...big mistake. I got the urge to throw up when I was told what they were...Ox tail soup (I thought it was just beef stew), and blood sausage. Nasty...it's made with the blood...there should have been a red flag that went up in my head when the sausage was a dark maroon color.....ick, I'm a little grossed just writing this! It was a good experince though and a good time!

I'm really excited because I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done. I made a few trips to the mall this weekend and am almost done. They were having some good sales on Christmas decorations, so I bought a few new items (yes, I am an impulsive shopper, I see something I like and I buy it-A store owner's dream)..haha. I really want to put all my Christmas stuff out now, which I might tackle tonight with some Christmas present wrapping. I helped my mom and sister put the tree up in their house, so now I'm ready for mine!

Hope you all had a good weekend....Go VIKES :)

Head Spinning

I had a mildly crazy moment this weekend. I was taking care of 3 dogs this weekend in my little condo. There was a point when all 3 dogs were running around the house, seriously going crazy, barking at each other and I think in doggy terms, playing, but it looked like a mad house. I have a feeling I looked like I had a zoo in my place this weekend. When I'd take the dogs out I'd have to do it seperately. So I'd go in, get one and come out, then go back in get the next and go out and so on. My neighbors across the street kept seeing me come out with a different dog...haha, I'm sure it as a bit hilarious! I used to think I wanted to be the dog lady and have many dogs, but after this weekend I think I'll just stick with the one. Wow, I have a whole new respect for people with children...how to you manage that many at one time! Good luck to John and Kate + 8...whew!

The weekend was fun....gorgeous weather! In Minnesota you never know what you are gonna get. I think it was almost 60 degrees...a heat wave! I was actaully taking the dogs out in shorts and a tank top....turned into one of those crazy seasonal Minnesotans. Friday night a few friends got together to hang out, it was a lot of fun, since I really hadn't seen anyone in a long time. Saturday my mom came over and helped me deep clean my house. It was in such need of it! It was such a relief when it was all done...now I need to work on maintaining that!

Sunday Mon and I went to the Chocolate Extravaganza. I had extra tickets from work, so I knew she would love to go. She loves chocolate and wine just about as much as me! We grabbed some dinner afterwards, it was a fun day!

I'm trying not to go crazy this year and put all my Christmas decorations up too early, but I'm so excited......just wait, just wait, just wait.....Hopefully I'll hold out to Thanksgiving....time to start christmas shopping :)

A Glitch in the System

I've always had a few issues with T-Moblie, but nothing too serious. Until they had a MAJOR glitch in their system last night.Let me give you the setting to where this story begins. I'm about to get off work (I was at a meeting in a far away land (Edina), and I'm trying to get home so that my family and I can go to dinner for my brother's 21st birthday and it's raining so traffic is awful. Well, in true Matthew fashion, he didn't decide where to go to dinner until he's in the car and on the way.

So the story goes.....

I'm in the car trying to get home and call my sister to see where we are going to dinner, maybe I can just meet them there, since I'm running late. As I'm talking to her my dad starts talking in the background saying he wants me to call his phone (this is a key point in the story, because had I stayed on the line with my sister, the whole debacle of dinner would not have happened).

Side Note: my mind was a little crazy at the time as well because I was in the car with my friend, Robyn, sitting in not moving traffic, and I had to go to the bathroom so bad, I was going crazy, so some details could be a bit hazy.

Anyways, I hang up with my sister and immediately try calling my dad, it is at this time that the glitch in T-Moblie's system occurs. It rings 4 times and then there is just a busy signal. So I call my mom, same thing, call my sister, same thing and my brother...you get the picture, having us all on the same plan does no good. Texting doesn't work either. So I don't know what to do because I don't know where we are going, I drive to my brothers place, thinking they'll be there, then to my house, and my family is not there, I think maybe I missed them in transit, so I go back to my brothers. Finally after 30 min of continuous calling, and driving, I decide just to go home and hope my family is smart enough to just go to my place and wait. I make it back and they were sitting in their car right outside my door!

Apparently, my dad being the very, very patient man that he is, was just going to leave and go to dinner because everyone but me was there and no one could get ahold of me. Cool, thanks Dad.

Anyways, we finally make our way to the Wild Onion, where we have a grand old time. A few appetizers, entrees and drinks (I put a few shots on my dad's tab to welcome Matt to 21 year old life), and life was Grand.

Priceless

Pictorial of my Halloween night in Reverse Order:

And this is how the story goes.....

Let me just say I had somewhat of an eventful Halloween. I went to a Halloween party that my friend Robyn and her boyfriend were having, which was a little bit of a drive from my house. So I got dressed in my fire fighter costume (pictured above), got all dolled up and and headed over to my friend Natalie's house. I left my car there and headed over to the party with them. It was a blast, they had a DJ, a Martini Ice Luge, Appetizers, Kegs, Wine, and lot's of scary decorations. Anyways, we leave around 12:30am and head back. By the time we get back to Natalie's house, my feet are killing from my, rather high boots, so I take them off and decide to drive home in just my fish net stockings.

I start driving and am about 10 min into my drive when I hear a rather large noise, which I think is the car next to me back firing, when I smell burning rubber...Yep, my front driver side tire blew, not only just went flat, but blew in 2 places. I quick pull over to the side of the road, get out of my car to check the damage out and realize it's 1am and I'm standing on the side of a major highway in a, let's just say rather revealing fire fighter costume..looking like I'm selling myself. Not a good night to get a flat tire. So I get in and call my dad, who's half out of it from taking a sleeping pill, and Natalie, who says she's going to come out with her boyfriend Michael and rescue me. So I make the executive decision to take the nearest exit and park in the Home Depot parking lot and wait (I figured I was a sitting duck on the side of the road to have a cop come get me, especially what I was wearing). So I had only had a few drinks that night, I was definitly fine to drive home, but you never know!

Michael and Natalie get there and we get out and start the process of getting my spare tire on, in the mean time I'm FREEZING, standing in the costume, so I find a bag of clothes in my trunk I was taking to the Salvation Army and put on some pants and flip flops over my fish net tights (yea forget the sexy firefighter, now I looked homeless). We get the spare on and realize that the spare tire is flat. Awesome. It's now about 2am and I have 2 flat tires. So we decide to take the tire off, bring it to a gas station and see if we can fill it up enough to get home. As we drive to find one, we realize we're in a not so nice area, the gas stations have bars over the doors and windows.....only in the story of my Halloween night would something like this happen.

Finally we get the tire on my car, and I start my venture home. A drive that would normally have taken me 30 min took me about 50 because I can only drive 45mph on my spare. So not only am I in a fire fighter costume turned homeless person, I'm now getting dirty looks by people speeding by me because I'm going to slow. Honestly, I must have looked like a complete drunk fool, as a normal drunk driver would over compensate their drunkness by trying to drive so in the speed limit that they were driving slow. Nope, just me with a flat, no big deal cops, please look past the costume and realize I just want to get home!

I finally made it home, in one piece, spare tire, costume, spare clothes and all and got it fixed the next morning! Quite an adventure though. So if you ever see a stranded scantily clad fire fighter standing on the side of the road, don't automatically thing-hooker, please think of it as maybe a very regular, nice girl, having a bout of bad luck, just trying to get home from a fun Halloween night, just in need of a little help from the testosterone ones!

All in all, it was a great weekend...one for the memory books! Bring it on world!

Picture Updates

Just a few snap shots of the last couple weeks....

My sister and I carving some pumpkins...a witch and a spider

I stayed the week at my parents with my sister while my mom and dad stayed down in Iowa so we took care of the dogs....they love each other :)

The Knot Event at the Five Event Center

(Whitney, Abbey, Me, Natalie)

Simple Woman's Daybook

A few of my friends have been doing this on their blogs, so I thought I would give it a try....that's the follower in me :)

Simple Woman's Daybook
Simple Woman's Daybook:Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Outside my window...there is no window, I'm in my cube at work, but when I stepped out for lunch it was a beautiful sunny day.

I am thinking...of my Gramps.

I am thankful for...my wedding season to be mostly over, yippi!

From the kitchen...frozen items...I haven't had time to cook anything lately, and cooking for 1 person is no fun.

I am wearing...it's an ugly day, a hippie sweater with leggings and tall black boots...I just got my monthly friend and had no desire to take time to get ready today

I am going...to a tour at the boat club, I can't remember booking this tour so hopefully the guy shows up....come on Eric (last name not known), don't stand me up!

I am reading...well I was reading a book and lost it, so I started another one, I'm only on page 2 and I don't remember the name of it.

I am hoping...to start having a life again now that I have my weekends.
I am learning...that growing up is very difficult

I am hearing...a clicking noise at my desk that I can't figure out where it's coming from..so annoying.

Around the house...dust, it really needs a deep cleaning...anyone have a carpet cleaner I can borrow??

One of my favorite things...my puppy Tucker :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...Tours, meetings, dinner with Natalie to discuss our community ed classes, hanging out with some friends, Bou Bash Halloween party on Saturday, and Packers/Vikes game..nice little week planned!

A picture I am sharing....A little Halloween creativity (not carved by anyone I know)

Soaring with the Angels

On Sunday around 6:51pm my Grandpa finally was healed of all the ailments that wracked his body for so many years and soar off to heaven. It's such a sad time for all of us down here that selfishly always want him with us (even though we all know he will be), but it's such a relief that he's now in no pain. He can run and see clearly and dance! He was a man that everyone should strive to be like. He had the kindest heart that could warm up any room, and the knowledge of a text book. He knew the answer to EVERYTHING! I will still never understand how he knew so many facts and details. He was always my resource during school when I didn't know the answer to something, he was my secret weapon. He was a generous man, he never let us leave with out making sure he'd given us a full tank of gas down at the old Co-Op and always tried to slip a $20 into our hands as we left. He was a solid foundation for a family, a family that has now learned to attempt in following in his foot steps.

-Gramps, I will miss you, more than you know, but just like you danced your way into my life 24 years ago, I know one day, I'll see you again along the Santa Fe Trail :)

Random Thoughts

So I was on my way to drop off a wine basket for a client and I got completely lost today on the drive. It was about a half hour away and as I was looking for the address I began to look out the window and I saw all the beautiful fall colors. It was breathtaking. I honestly don't know when Fall hit, but it was beautiful. I love the outdoors and I'm lucky enough to live in a state where we have the seasons. I need to take more time to just enjoy the things that are around me. I'm just constantly on the go, I never have time to just stop. breathe. relax.

I saw this quote on my friend Abbey's blog today and loved it. I'm feeling very inspiriational today :)

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can somehow become great." -Mark Twain

Minnesota Magic

Holy Crap. Twins just won the Division in the 12th inning. Vikings beat the Packers. There must be some magic floating around Minnesota right now!!! Woohoo :)

Snap Shots

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The Pups

Twins Game :)

Good Friends

Game Time Baby

I don't know who schedules the games, but someone made this weekend, one of the best sports weekends ever for Minnesota Fans! Today is the Gopher/Badger game in our new Stadium....come on Minnesota! Today is also one of the Twins games, and though when scheduling the games they never knew that they would be having such a great comeback at this time, I think we are only 1 game behind now, so today is going to be a great game, and I get to go!!!! Woohoo! They had extra tickets at work and I snagged a few so Nic and I will be going. The game was moved from 6pm to 3pm so I'm trying to figure out how I can be at my wedding and at the Twins game at the same time! haha.

And on Monday it's the Packer/Vikings Game, so excited for that. Especially now with Brett Favre on our team, it should make for quite an interesting game. Well now that I sound like a man having rambled on for sports for a whole paragraph, I'll move on and say something girly, wedding.

I do have a wedding today, it's pretty chilly out so we'll see what happens since the ceremony is supposed to be outside. Last night I had a great night with a few of my friends, we made some appetizers, had some drinks and played battle of the sexes. We tied, so I guess we don't know who the superior sex is (but we all know it's women, right!)

On a side note: my good friends Emily and Colin who live in Colorado, who I just saw a few weeks ago when I visited Colorado, just had their baby boy, Jay. She was induced on Wednesday and had him via C-Section on Thursday night (more than 24 hours later, ugh, poor girl). He weighed 9 lbs 10 oz and was 22.25 inches long, he is a big boy! I am hoping I can get out there sometime to see them, but I can't wait to see pictures :) CONGRATS!!!

Have a good Saturday! I'll post pictures later.

"It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up." -- JK Rowling