home sweet home

Who knew I'd still feel like Minnesota was home after all these years?

We just returned from a visit to Minnesota for a wedding and had a blast. J and Tay drove out on Tuesday (8/14) and I flew out to join them on Thursday. We all drove back together on Monday - including Nadia who wound up in Rochester, MN - but that's another story...

We were EXTREMELY spoiled by our friends while there and had stuff going on constantly. They always make us feel like celebrities when we are there and go out of their way to make it feel like home. We stayed with Jeff, Jodi and Dakota again which was great. We were also able to hang with basically everyone I know and love in Minnesota.

Thursday was Taylor's birthday and we were running as soon as I landed. We went straight to the Mall of America for lunch and then played miniature golf (Jeff, Jodi, J, Tay, and I). We had a good time and really enjoyed 'ooohhing' at the great shots (mostly by Jeff) and laughing at the terrible ones (mostly by me). For dinner, Jeff and Jodi had an amazing surprise for Tay - they had set up a party at Chuck E Cheese for her - and everyone showed up! Bryan, Pete, Stephanie, Mason, Mason's girlfriend, Joe, Chris, Jeff, Jodi, Kevin Hoffman and Payton joined us for the event. They even had balloons and a Kim Possible birthday cake to go with the pizza and soda. We played TONS of games and the whole group worked to get as many tickets as possible. By the end of the night, we had close to 1200 tickets for Taylor to redeem - most I've ever seen - and we had a blast in the process.

On Friday, we had lunch downtown (on a side note, I miss downtown Minneapolis SOOOOO much - it was great to get down there even for a little while) and rode the light rail from Bloomington to get there. We met Bryan, Pete and Stephanie at Gameworks for lunch and bowling. Jeff, Jodi, J, Tay and I stayed after lunch (the rest had to go back to work - ha!) and played a bunch of video games together - once again having the time of our lives. We had the rehearsal for the wedding Friday night as well as dinner together with the families and wedding party.

Saturday was the wedding - raining all day, but didn't matter, it was great anyway. It was good to see so many people we hadn't seen in a while and we are so happy for Kev and Nikki.

Sunday we had lunch at Cheescake factory (I know, so many amazing events crammed into so little time) with Jeff, Jodi and Bryan. Man, talk about a TON of food. We then drove down to Rochester to visit with Ben, Becky, Bailey, Phoebe, Abbey Mae, and Micah. It was so great to see them, and also to get a tour of the house they are almost finished building. We also met up with Nadia while there.

Monday it rained the entire trip home - but the trip was uneventful - other than missing a few tolls with our new i-pass...I'm sure they will catch up and charge us even if it wasn't totally working yet.

Anyway, trip pictures below - thanks to all in MN that once again reminded us how much we miss our friends, and the place I grew up.

Taylor and Becka

Jeff and Jodi

Bryan wearing Pete's coat

Jeff wearing Payton's Power Ranger helmet
Jeff doing his runway walk

Bride and Father

Taylor and one of her bestest friends

Us and them

Pete, Stephanie, Joe and Bryan

The Groom...

movies

Who knew I'd ever have time at work to review movies? I'm assuming it's currently snowing in hades...

Since I get to work the night shift today, and am bored with no one around, I though I'd kill some time by listing the movies I have been looking forward to this year (and beyond). It has been an amazing year - I generally don't get too excited about many movies hitting the theatre, but this year, there have been a bazillion (roughly) that have actually made me get off my tail and go. Below is the list of movies I have already seen, and a list I have yet to see.

Seen It:

• Shrek the Third - It was ok, but a definite let down...first two were better - could have waited for DVD on this one.


• Spiderman 3 - Loved it - this one was a keeper and I'm looking forward to seeing it again now that it is in the dollar theatre - definitely worth my time to see this one.


• Oceans 13 - Big fan - this one could possibly take the spot of my favorite of the 3


• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Wow - I thought they did a really good job of cramming 800 plus pages into a movie that took less than 3 days to watch.


• Transformers - I thought this one was good - I know a lot of people LOVED it, but I didn't...it was good though and I'm looking forward to seeing it again - for $1, or on DVD...

Yet to be Seen, but high on the list:

• Bourne Ultimatum - been waiting years for this


• The Simpsons Movie - about time they dropped this one


• Hot Rod - this was a late add, but looks pretty funny


• Rush Hour 3 - not sure how this one will be...I'm holding my breath though...


• National Treasure: Book of Secrets - I just saw that this one is coming out - pretty pumped about that.

Still to Come:

• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - May 16, 2008


• Get Smart - June 20, 2008


• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery (this one is on for Tay, and maybe me) - July 2, 2008


• The Tale Of Despereaux (we all loved the book - thanks to Tay) - December 19, 2008 (?)


• Angels & Demons - another Dan Brown Book - Prequel to DaVinci Code - TBD release date

the day i gave up on my beloved t-wolves

Who knew one person could change your view on a sports team you love? I do now...

The date I gave up on them was 7/31/07...not because they don't win, or make terrible draft pics, but because they hosed one of the most loyal athletes in all of sports history. They traded Kevin Garnett. It still hurts just thinking about it. He was the main reason I still LOVED the t-wolves. I've always been a fan, ever since the beginning and even hung on during the Sam Mitchell years, but come on...what were they thinking?

Maybe they were thinking about the last time we blamed our teams failure on one person - Flip Saunders - it was his fault remember? Without him we've been even worse - and the team he went to has made it to the play-offs each year and had an amazing record last year - best in the league or something like that. Hmmmm, maybe it wasn't his fault after all.

Things have worked out well for Flip since leaving (other than not getting the elusive ring) so I hope things work out well for KG also - in fact, I want him to win a ring out there (I can hear Pete standing and applauding). He deserves it more than anyone I know, and watching him live through all we've done the last few years was getting harder and harder. I hope this new arrangement is the best thing that's happened to him in a long time. It's hard to watch our MN teams all go down the same road...so close and then we shoot ourselves in the foot.

I'm glad this went down, I was starting to think the T-Wolves would be different. That some how they would learn from the mistakes of the Vikings, Twins, North Stars (or Wild), and all of the other MN teams out there. The world is right now that I see I was wrong, they are just like all the others. Who wants to win anyway? I've heard it's overrated.

At least I still have Michigan Football...

Here is KG as I will always remember him - a Minnesota T-Wolf for life...







Not sure I'm on board with the new look - although #5 is my second favorite jersey number (thanks to Jason Kidd). #21 will always be my number one choice since I've watched KG sport it for so long in Minnesota. Just won't be the same without it.

guess who

Who knew kids could take great pictures?

This picture is courtesy of one of Taylor's Camp Creation classmates.

simpsons movie

Who knew I could be a Simpsons character? And all I had to do was read Garrett's blog?

So looking at the last entry from Garrett's blog, I thought I'd jump on in there and see what I'd look like as a character also. I don't think I look as cool as G does, but it's ok, I'll post my likeness for feedback...or laughter...your choice.

Just go to the Simpsons Movie Website, and click on 'Create your Simpsons Avatar.' Good times. I can't wait for the movie to drop...7/27/07...coming soon...woo hoo.

Thanks Garrett for giving me something to do during a meeting to keep myself awake and helping me appear to do work.

color test

Who knew paint colors could reveal a lot about your personality?

So I had this forwarded to me at work and thought it was pretty weak. I mean how could paint colors tell me about myself? Especially when there weren't any off the wall colors to choose from? I'm not that cut and dry. Besides, what does Glidden know about me anyway?

Apparently they know a lot...even a few things I may not be too excited to admit about myself...

Anyway, the link to the color test is below...let me know if it was right on with you or not...my results are posted below...although you should probably take the test before you read my results - don't want to subliminally influence your choices...

http://glidden.com/colorgame/gldn0120.jsp

chicago

Who knew you could spend an entire weekend in Chicago, with friends, and only have a ton of fun?

**********I've actually posted 2 entries in the same night, you have to read the second one about our fun evening. Just didn't want people to miss it...back to Chicago**************

Went to Chicago for a quick weekend trip and met Jeff and Jodi down there. We also got a chance to see Pete and meet his girlfriend which was a total bonus. We hung out, went to Navy Pier, Millenium Park, the Magnificent Mile, American Girl store, ESPN Zone and much more.

I'm such a HUGE fan of chi-town...I totally loved it. We were on the 14th floor of our hotel and had the greatest view. Some pictures below of our fun outing. Can't wait to go back. The only downside was getting totally killed by the girls playing bowling at ESPN Zone. Jeff and I thought we could handle it, but were totally rocked by them...guess we all get our chances to be humbled...sniff.

Thanks to Jeff and Jodi for meeting us there...

Taylor at the American Girl Store for our special lunch.

View from our hotel room.

Jeff being Jeff.

Millenium park.

Jeff and Pete

Buckingham Fountain

My next car.

Our favorite mailbox.

david crowder

Who knew David Crowder Band totally rocks?

Actually, we did...and that's why we all went to the concert tonight at Northridge . It was J, Tay, Nadia and I. Our seats were ok...we were in the fourth row - so close we could see everything...they were the best seats ever! Tons of fun was had by all and Taylor really loved her first concert. What a blast.

We had seen them as the cover band for Third Day (which was totally awesome to say the least - went with Amy and Phil which made it even better), but it was fun to see them as the only band. David even hung around after the concert and talked, signed autographs, and took pictures with anyone that wanted to wait around and see him. It was a very fun night and we had a great time.

On a side note, I sort of skipped White Castle small group to go to the concert...told people we had cancelled it and such...and then I ran into Garrett there also - my co-leader. Kind of funny that we both ditched to go to the concert. We also saw quite a few other Vineyard people so that was really fun...

If you look at the concert ticket, you can see his autograph...as Nadia pointed out in the car on the way home, it's kind of cool that it is a self portrait.

Proof that we actually went below...how cool is that...us and David Crowder...and he told Taylor he liked her glasses...

toast

Who knew toast could make you feel old?

Sunday morning, I got the wonderful priviledge of sleeping in (yes, I was thrilled to still be in bed at 8:15am). J let me rest while she was getting ready for work. As I was laying there, I heard some noise in the kitchen - some one was making toast. I'm thinking to myself, "What's Nadia doing up so early?" I get out of bed, stumble into the kitchen, and see Taylor at the counter putting butter on her toast. She says, "Sorry to wake you, I was getting hungry."

First she doesn't need me to make toast, then she won't need me to check her homework, then she won't need me to provide a home for her...time sure does fly...and I feel really old having a daughter that can make her own toast.

happy easter

Just wanted to take the chance to wish everyone a Happy Easter! I hope you all have an amazing day and get the chance to spend time with family and friends. Also, I hope you are able to reflect on why we have this holiday in the first place - correct, without this holiday, there would be soo many hidden eggs it would be a problem.

As we think back to the story of Jesus and his life, it's hard to believe he came back just for me (and you). Who am I that he should come to earth, go through all he did, and die? It is very humbling and also very amazing to feel the love coming from our heavenly father.

Again, hope you all have an amazing Easter...

Easter Story

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."