An Iowa Girl - Livin' It Up Minnesota Style

2011-04-29T17:37:00.000-05:00

Check out the wedding website:
http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JoshChristenson&KristinKeeling

And.... DONE

2010-12-29T15:49:00.002-06:00

The Christmas cards were mailed today, so check your mailboxes and enjoy. If you didn't get one, it's because I didn't get yours. :-)

It's Up To You

2010-12-13T16:29:00.004-06:00

All right. All of you who claim to read this blog, and hassle me when there's nothing new to read, you not only get to hear about what's going on in my life, but now get to make a decision in it.

For years I've struggled with the Christmas card/letter thing. It's strange when you're a single adult. I love the idea of sending a Christmas greeting. I have friends and family all over the place, so it's a good way to share and catch up. Plus, let's face it, if you send a Christmas greeting, you get them sent to you. And I have a little competition with myself to cover as much of my fridge as possible with Christmas cards and pictures (Shameless solicitation: If you're reading this, that means we know each other well enough to warrant you sending me your Christmas card. Remember, if you send it to me, it goes on my fridge, and if you're on my fridge, I pray for you whenever I open it - which is often). And while I enjoy Christmas letters, I enjoy them a LOT more when they are accompanied by a picture (which can hang on my fridge. Did I mention that I pray for the people on my fridge?). So if I like it when I receive pictures, I assume that's true of other as well. But it's too weird to send a picture of just me. Ick. Weird. I don't like it. I won't do it. So, a couple years ago, I resolved to write a Christmas letter that highlighted the highlight-able events of the year that included photos from the events. These photos also had other people in them, but the accompanying letter explained who they were.
To be completely honest, I don't have the ambition to write the Christmas letter this year. Maybe last year's just took too much creativity and I haven't been able to replenish that renewable resource. Then I had this great idea. They now make so many Christmas photo cards, and many of them allow for multiple pictures, which means I could include a few pictures from different events through the year with different people. But I can't decide if it's weird to send people a card, that I assume will be hung somewhere, that will, most likely, include pictures of me and other people they do not know.

So.... this is where you come in. You decide how I do my Christmas greeting this year. Would you like a letter with assorted pictures in it (that will probably be on the less than creative side)? Would you like a photo card with multiple pictures of me (that's weird too, I think) and other unknown people.
Whatever the majority response to this post is makes the decision. Big responsibility, I know. But I have faith in you.

An update - sort of

2010-11-13T19:21:00.003-06:00

Since I have not been good at all about updating this thing, I've decided to piggy back off my friend, Candis, who is much better about it than I am.

Want to know what I did today? Check out Candis' blog.

Thanks again, Candis, for a wonderful day! I had such a blast!

Day 9 - A Photo I Took

2010-10-19T17:06:00.002-05:00

This also falls under the category of "A Photo that Makes me Happy"

Day 8 - Photo that makes me angry/sad

2010-10-15T15:52:00.001-05:00

Well, I don't really take a lot of pictures of sad things or things that make me angry. I get angry enough as it is, I don't need photos to get me even more riled up.

But I did think of this photo right away because I scrapbooked this event last weekend and was annoyed at two things.

The guy who took this picture works at Target Field. He's a waiter in the VIP section, which are the 10 rows behind home plate. So I think it's a fair assumption to say he takes a number of these kinds of pictures, and I was excited to find someone like him to do it.

As you can see he barely got our faces in the picture. I'm not sure what he thought was so great about the black sky, but whatever. And with the shadows, you can barely see my face!

When I was scrapbooking the page, my good friend, and professional photographer, Alissa, mentioned that she could edit the photo to lighten my face a little. She worked her magic, and through the magic of the internet, I uploaded the edited photo to Sam's Club, and went to pick it up an hour later. Only to discover that Sam's Club cut off half my face! You can see my face in the new picture, but only the top half of it.

So it's not that the photo itself makes me mad, but seeing it makes me think of situations that make me angry. Is that the same thing?

Day 7 - Photo that makes me happy

2010-10-14T14:33:00.001-05:00

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things

2010-10-13T16:00:00.002-05:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, brown copper kettles and warm woolen mittens......

That joke's too obvious, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm going to make an assumption that by "things", it means something tangible, which leaves out activities, people, and the other sentimental stuff. The results, in no certain order, are:

1. Ice cream
2. Beach vacations
3. High-heeled, pointy toed shoes
4. Pedicures (For the record, I don't think numbers 3 and 4 are connected)
5. Hawkeye paraphernalia
6. Completed scrapbooks
7. Fiestaware
8. Good bargain
9. DVR
10. text messages
11. Pandora
12. long naps
13. Lists
14. 'Friends' DVD collection
15. Chapstick
16. Cashmere sweaters
17. JCrew
18. my bike
19. my bed
20. Board games

Day 5 - Favorite Quote(s)

2010-10-12T08:50:00.002-05:00

"I believe in Christianity as I believe in the rising sun; not only because I see it, but because by it, I can see everything else." -C.S. Lewis

(In response to the question 'If all my sins are covered by the grace of Christ, can I do whatever pleases me?') "Yes, but as a follower of Jesus, what now pleases you?" - Martin Luther

Day 4 - Favorite Book

2010-10-11T09:59:00.001-05:00

The Bible.

And I'm not just saying that because that's what you're supposed to say. Everything else pales in comparison. The simplicity of the gospel message contained throughout every page contrasting with the depth that a lifetime of studying could never fully comprehend. What other book could you say that about?

Day 3 - Favorite Television Program

2010-10-11T08:42:00.004-05:00

Are we allowed to have ties? Or sub-categories? I think so. In that case:

Favorite Drama: "The West Wing"

Favorite Comedy: "Friends"

As many people have pointed out to me, I might like these shows a little too much.

Day 2 - Favorite Movie

2010-10-09T23:53:00.001-05:00

Easy as pie.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Butch: "How many of 'em are following us?"
Sundance: "All of 'em."
Butch: "All of em! What's the matter with those guys?!"

Sundance: "You just keep thinking, Butch. That's what you're good at."
Butch: "Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals."

Butch: "Would you make a jump like that you didn't have to?"
Sundance: "I have to, and I'm not gonna."
Butch: "All right. I'll jump first."
Sundance: "No."
Butch: "Then you jump first."
Sundance: "No, I said."
Butch: "What's the matter with you?"
Sundance: "I can't swim."
(laughter)
Butch: "Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you."

Butch: "I think they're in the trees up ahead."
Sundance: "In the bushes on the left."
Butch: "I'm telling you, they're in the trees up ahead."
Sundance: "You take the trees, I'll take the bushes."
Percy Garris: "Will you two beginners cut it out?"
Butch: "Well, we're just trying to spot an ambush, Mr. Garris."
Percy Garris: "Morons. I've got morons on my team. Nobody is going to rob us going down the mountain. We've got no money going down the mountain. When we have got the money, on the way back, then you can sweat."

Butch: "Well, the way I figure it, we can either fight or give. If we give, we go to jail."
Sundance: "I've been there already."
Butch: "We could fight. They'll stay right where they are and starve us out. Or go for position, shoot us. Might even get a rock slide started. Get us that way. What else can they do?"
Sundance: "Well, they could surrender to us, but I wouldn't count on it."

I could do this for days.....

Day 1 - Favorite Song

2010-10-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

Whoa. This is a hard one to start with. My favorite song, EVER? Let me consult my iPod........

"Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison

Alright, already

2010-10-08T14:25:00.002-05:00

After much badgering from friends and family about my blogging, or lack thereof, I've stolen an idea from one of the badgerers herself, Kim Olson, for posting ideas.
It's 30 days of blogging. So, for the next 30 days, I will supply you with my thoughts and sharings of the day.
And just so you have something to look forward to, here's the schedule:
Day 1 – your favorite song
Day 2 – your favorite movie
Day 3 – your favorite television program
Day 4 – your favorite book
Day 5 – your favorite quote
Day 6 – 20 of my favorite things
Day 7 – a photo that makes you happy
Day 8 – a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 – a photo you took
Day 10 – a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 – a photo of you recently
Day 12 – something you are OCD about
Day 13 – a fictional book
Day 14 – a non-fictional book
Day 15 – your dream house
Day 16 – a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 – an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 – your wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 – a talent of yours
Day 20 – a hobby of yours
Day 21 – a recipe
Day 22 – a website
Day 23 – a youtube video
Day 24 – where I live
Day 25 – your day, in great detail
Day 26 – your week, in great detail
Day 27 – my worst habit
Day 28 – what’s in my handbag/purse
Day 29 – hopes,dreams, plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 – a dream for the future beyond the next year

My baby's getting older

2010-09-30T19:20:00.009-05:00

My car turned over 90,000 miles yesterday. NBD, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. Until it happened. Then I found myself getting kind of sentimental.
Background: I bought this car in January of 2006. It was one year old and had 21,000 miles on it. Not brand new, but as new as a car would be for me. I left DC the following October, and when I left the car had just under 30,000 miles. (Sidenote: Why do I remember these things? I have no idea. Just the way my brain works. Genetic, I think. Grandpa was the same way).
So if you're doing the math, that means that in the nearly four years I've lived in Minnesota, I've put 60,000 miles on my car! And I can promise you that at least 58,000 of those miles were not on exciting roads or ones with any kind of scenery surrounding them. This is just one more reminder to me of how quickly life passes me by. My car still feels new to me. But at 90,000, it's no where near new (in stellar condition, though).
I've decided that this must be how parents feel about their children. I remember getting so mad when I was kid, and I'd see family I hadn't seen in a while. Inevitably, they would exclaim, "Wow! You've gotten big!" And I would think to myself, "What did you think was gonna happen?" (Okay, okay, knowing me, you know that there might have been a time or two that this thought wasn't contained to just my head, but was vocalized. I'll own up to that.) But now I realize that all those adults just didn't realize that so much time had passed that would allow for me to grow up as much as I did. That's how I feel about my good-old Corolla. I understand that it's perfectly reasonable to put 70,000 miles on a car in the span of five years. But it just doesn't feel like that could possibly be the case. I'm nostalgic for the car's younger days, when she was just a baby. If for no other reason, than because it increases her re-sale value.
I'm not too worried about approaching the 100,000 mark. It just means she's a third of the way through her life. :-)

*Also notice that the thermometer above the odometer says 74 degrees. That's right. The end of September at it's 74 degrees.

Twins Fever

2010-09-30T18:47:00.015-05:00

I work most weekends at camp, which means I have Mondays and Tuesdays off. Sometimes this is great. Sometimes it's a pain. In this particular instance, it was great.
Monday evening I got a text from my friend, Josh (who also happens to work most weekends with me at camp) that said "You off tomorrow?" I replied saying that I was and what did he have planned. He found tickets for the Twins game that Tuesday night 12 rows behind home plate. Sold!
Now, I am a tried and true Cubs fan (Go Cubs Go! Gob Cubs Go! Hey, Chicago, whadya say? The Cubs are gonna win today...... ). However, I am also a baseball fan and a sports fan. And since living in Minnesota, I have to admit I've caught Twins Fever (No worries - this will not happen with any other team. The Gophers - are you kidding me? The Vikings - No way! The Wild - who cares about hockey?). I like the way they play ball. They're not flashy, they don't have the big money players. They are sound fundamentally and play as a team. All things I enjoy. Plus, the Twins have a new ballpark, and I've been wanting to go all season.
Because it was a Tuesday night game, and every other normal person works Tuesdays, Josh and I couldn't find anyone else to go with us. So we trekked down to the Twin Cities, and got there a while before the game so I could explore the new stadium (Josh had been there before). I've been to a lot of ballparks, many of which are awesome, but this takes the cake. It's amazing (and it takes a lot for me to admit that something in Minnesota is amazing).

The seats were even better in person. The first 10 rows are the "corporate section". You virtually have to pass through a retinal scan to get in that section (I exaggerate only slightly). We were only two rows behind them. Which, combined with the zoom on my camera allowed for some excellent action shots.

The Twins fell apart on defense in the sixth inning, and we went into the bottom of the eighth down 4-2. Then it was the most exciting inning of baseball I've ever seen (in person). They just kept hitting to just the right spots, and a little bit at a time, scored 4 runs. They ended up winning the game 6-2. The White Sox lost that night, so with that win, the Twins clinched the AL Central Division. It was a huge celebration.

I made my friend Josh pose for two pictures. Neither of which he was pleased with, but obliged. Reluctantly.

It would have been the perfect evening. If not for getting rear-ended in the parking lot. Which wouldn't have even been so bad except for the fact that the guy that did it drove away, so then we had to call the cops, which delayed getting home to even later (remember, Fergus Falls is almost three hours from Minneapolis). No one is hurt and insurance companies are handling the situation, so we can be thankful for that. I arrived home at 2:30 AM, exhausted. But it was totally worth it.

I'll Never Forget.......

2010-09-30T17:37:00.006-05:00

I've been meaning to write this post for five weeks now. And holding off on subsequent posts until this one was done because I'm all about being chronological.
It never fails. At the end of each summer, when I move back to my house in Fergus and readjust to "normal" life, I am barraged with the question, "How was the summer?", and I never, never know how to answer it. It's such a loaded question, and even if I were given the same amount of time that the summer lasted, I don't know that I could explain it all (Talk that long? Yes. Explain it all in that amount of time? No.) When the summer is over, and we are, as a staff, getting ready to leave, we always have a closing time. In my six summers, it's taken many different forms, and this year's was my favorite. The night before we all left, the sixty summer staff sat around a campfire as the sun set (cliche, I know), and finished the sentence, "I'll never forget......" So many memories flooded my mind of all the things that happened on that 23-acre peninsula in those 87 days that I will never forget. All the ways I was privileged to see God move in the lives of so many people.
And in an attempt to answer the enduring question, "How was your summer?", I offer these moments..........

I'll Never Forget when we were struck by lightning, the phone system was fried, the server shut down, and the power went out the day before 400 people (the largest crowd ever amassed at camp) would arrive to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the purchase of Inspiration Point. I'll never forget driving to Fergus that night knowing that there was nothing else we could do, and trusting the Lord to work a miracle so that everything would be up and running in less than 24 hours.

I'll Never Forget the 50th anniversary celebration of the purchase of Inspiration Point. Walking across the peninsula with one of the people who explored the land a half-century ago as he remembered and passed on to me his thoughts as he saw a cow pasture and dreamed of what it would become.

I'll Never Forget listening to the story of a woman, who 50 years earlier, took an incredible step of faith, as a young widowed mother of two, and gave half of the settlement from her husband's death to purchase the land. I've known the story for years, but to meet her and listen to the conviction in her voice as she told it was (no pun intended) inspiring.

I'll Never Forget the day I walked in to my boss's office, in tears. Our scholarship fund was out of money, and we had kids who were requesting scholarships, but we had none to give them. I had to tell kids that they couldn't come to camp. Four days later, Greg got a call letting us know that we would be receiving a grant for scholarships to send kids to camp. I'll Never Forget the joy in the voices as I gave parents the good news and the squeals from the children in the background as their parents passed it on.

I'll Never Forget the first time we had to take shelter during a storm. I was listening to the NOAA radio, and watching the radar as one storm front was coming from the north and another from the west, both scheduled to meet up and combine in Clitherall, MN. The gravity of the responsibility for twenty staffers, and sixty guests was humbling. I'll Never Forget when the storm moving north to south moved slightly east, and the storm moving west to east moved slightly south, both missing us. It was like we had a protective bubble. :-)

I'll Never Forget the second time we had to take shelter during a storm. SEVEN DAYS LATER. There were two family reunions, and they were eating dinner upstairs as the rain came pouring down, the sky became green, and clouds were moving in a very creepy swirly pattern. I sat with my friend and co-worker Josh, as we once again listened to the NOAA radio and watched the radar on his phone. When the voice said it was expected to hit Urbank, and we simultaneously watched the red blob cover Clitherall, I looked at Josh, and said, "Seriously?!" as we ran upstairs and moved the guests and staff to shelter. Again.

I'll Never Forget the third time we had to take shelter during a storm. Our video guy had been editing in the office at 4 AM, and heard the NOAA radio go off. He came and got me, and after listening for a while and watching the storm patterns (I'm now an expert at this. I'm considering adding 'Professional NOAA radio operator' to my job title), it was clear the the storm wouldn't come near us. I went back to bed, and was awaken two very short hours later by my friend and co-worker Janet. She barged into our cabin and said "There's a tornado, and we have to get the boys out of Oak Point." I sleepily and frustratingly sat up and said, "Is this a joke?" Janet, in her most serious voice, said "It is not a joke. Let's go."

I'll Never Forget waking up the little 1st and 2nd grade boys at 6 AM to move them to shelter. One boy looked at me, then looked under his covers and declared "I don't have any clothes on!" Another boy slept in his super hero underwear, and after I announced to their cabin that they needed to get shoes on quickly, he pleadingly asked, "Can I put pants on too?" All boys made it safely and with clothes on to shelter.

I'll Never Forget morning walks with Janet.

I'll Never Forget the boy who ran up to his parents on the last day of camp when they came to pick him up and answered his father's question, "Tell me about all the fun things you did this week!" by saying "I learned so much about the Bible and I can't wait to read it when I get home and learn more!"

I think these memories begin to explain how the summer was. It was filled with funny moments, with life lessons, incidences of fear, times when all I had (and needed) to depend on was faith, many, many tears, instances of hopelessness, days of reassurance. And while I couldn't describe those three months if given that same amount of time, one word resounds as I think back on the summer of 2010. Indelible.

I've fallen in love

2010-05-09T22:57:00.021-05:00

I went to Bismarck to meet my (for all intents and purposes) niece this weekend. She's about three weeks old, but this is the first chance I've had to go and spend some time with her and her family (very close friends, Jeromie & Missy and three-year old big brother, Drew).
The moment I met her, I fell in love.

I'm not a big baby person, but, just like with her big brother, I fell in love the moment I saw her. I spent almost the entire weekend holding her. The only time I wasn't holding her was when she was eating. And I took those opportunities to hang out with Drew. Three-years old is my favorite age, and he had me laughing out loud so many times. Jeromie made mickey mouse pancakes for breakfast Saturday morning, and as Drew was crawling up into his chair and saw them, he says "These are adorable!" What three-year old says that?! I pushed him on his horsey swing (the kid is fearless), and we teeter totted at the park. Missy has some excellent pictures of other park activities, but she's a little pre-occupied, so I think it will be a while before I get them. :-)

We went to church this morning (where I held Paige the whole time), and the Pastor preached from Proverbs 31, and as I held her and listened to him read verse 30 (A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised), I realized that is my prayer for her. What a privilege to pray that prayer for her every day as she grows to be a woman who loves and fears the Lord.

Every time I looked at her, the only thought that crossed my mind was 'I love you,' and then my logical side kicked in, and I would sometimes think, 'Why?' Why do I love her so much? How does that work? She hasn't done anything to earn my love. By virtue of simply being, I love her. And to be honest, the whole covering my chest and face in spit-up should have knocked her down a couple rungs, but it didn't. And then I realized what a beautiful (and minute) picture that is of God's love for us. We don't and can't do anything to earn his love or acceptance, but the simply being who He made us, He loves us - no matter what we do. Unfortunately, the analogy on our side breaks down, because most of us are a lot more tolerable of babies, and we often fall into the trap and "falling out of love" with someone because they do things that cause not to like them. I am so thankful that I serve a God who will never fall out of love with me and will eternally feel about me an even more perfect form of what I felt for little Miss Paige Marie yesterday.

Alright, alright. Enough of my thoughts. Let's show some pictures of the beautiful and loved little girl.

What could be as good.....

2010-05-09T22:54:00.004-05:00

as spending last weekend with these two beautiful girls?

Spending this weekend with these two punkins.

Just What the Doctor Ordered - Vacation

2010-05-06T22:14:00.010-05:00

Last week, I flew to DC to visit some friends, and spent the weekend in Ocean City, Maryland with my friend, Amy and her family (husband, Lee, daughters Nia & Caty - you'll see them soon). It was perfect. Seriously. We drove down Friday night, and even after the sun had set, sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean, it's so soothing.
We woke up on Saturday, and Caty and I walked to Dunkin' Doughnuts for "breakfast." I started my morning the best way I know how, a good cup of tea, a barely green banana, and a good book, while listening to the waves roll in.

Occasionally, I'd look up from my book to see this

and just because it never gets old, sometimes it looked like this

Amy came in from her morning walk on the beach

Then we all put our swimsuits on, grabbed the beach chairs, and lathered on the sunscreen. It was 88 degrees and sunny - couldn't be better. The girls built sand castles and dug for shells. Caty found a crabshell, which she was super excited about, but the excitement quickly dwindled when I suggested she hold it up so I could take a picture. I held it in my hands, pinched the claws, and gave her a science lesson on shells being the dwelling for the animal, not the animal itself, and she still was incredibly leary about holding it for my picture.

After we reluctantly pulled ourselves away from the perfect beach day, we walked around the boardwalk.

There was an ice skating rink in our hotel, so Nia, Caty & I went skating on Saturday night. Nia and I first bonded five years ago when she and I did 'Mommy and Me' ice-skating lessons (Amy hates ice skating, so I filled in). We haven't skated together since then, and Caty had never ice skated, so I got to teach her too. If not for the perfect day on the beach, that would have been my favorite part.

Sunday's weather wasn't as nice, but we cruised around the boardwalk and did some outlet mall shopping. I spend Monday in the city, having lunch with an old friend, visiting my old boss, and visiting the Capitol Visitors Center, which was being built when I was there.

It was an amazing six days, and I'm so thankful that even though I've been gone from DC longer than I lived there, all those relationships continue to grow.

Being Artsy

2010-05-06T22:00:00.010-05:00

The Arts & Crafts room at camp

Now, if you're thinking that, for an arts & crafts room, it doesn't look artsy, craftsy or inspire artsy-ness or creativity, I'd agree with you. However, I never thought about it until my friend, Katie Jo, who spends most of the summer in the room, mentioned that it would be fun to paint it.

So we got the necessary materials

and went to work

I think it turned out quite nice. Even I'm inspired to be artistic - and that's quite the feat.

It was really hard work, and Katie Jo and I hardly had any fun at all.

Good times

morning laugh

2010-04-26T11:44:00.002-05:00

Me: "Kaitlyn, have you decided what you're doing after the summer?"
Kaitlyn: "Nope."
Me: "What are you waiting for?"
Kaitlyn: "God to fly a plane through the sky."
(laughter)
Aren't we all, Kait, aren't we all.

Go figure.....

2010-04-21T18:06:00.005-05:00

The first day in nearly a week that it doesn't get into the upper 70's is the day I decide to wear shorts and flip flops.

These days when it's nice enough outside to have my windows open, my windows don't have screens. I'm sure they will be installed just in time to start running the air conditioner. **Sidenote: Normally, I'd open my windows without screens, but my windows are level with the ground, and I can just envision a family of squirrels running right into my living room.**

I gave my boss such a hard time about remembering Administrative Professionals Day, but then forgot to do something for my "assistant." (That word seems degrading to me for some reason. I don't mind being referred to as my boss' assistant, but to call my friend who I, technically, oversee in the office my assistant seems condescending).

The first day in months that my contacts are bothering me is also one of the sunniest days, when I can't wear my sunglasses because they don't fit over my glasses.

The one day I'm not starving when I get home from work is the one day I have to eat early, and can't delay dinner because I have to be at youth group.

I just can't seem to catch a break. :-)

Masterpiece

2010-04-12T14:19:00.002-05:00

I had an incredible weekend. I spent the weekend with great friends. We laughed, we ate, we shared stories, we prayed - oh, and we scrapbooked! A couple times a year this group of friends gets together to scrapbook, and as a few of their husbands have pointed out, the scrapbooking is really just an excuse for us to have a girls weekend. And they're mostly right. At least once a year, we do this gathering at camp, and it's incredible. For me, it's a great opportunity to see the guest side of camp; to see (just some of) the payoff for all the work that's done as I watch other guests enjoying their time away and being blessed by the ministry of Inspiration Point. And, if I'm honest, I also like eating all the good food and not doing any of the dishes. :-)

There's a chapel service in the morning, and due to a miscommunication, I slept through it on Saturday, but am so thankful I didn't miss Sunday. My good friend and co-worker Janet talked about God's love. There were lots of little nuggets to take away (God is who he says he is, and He says He IS love), but the most convicting part was when she shared this video.

One reason I posted this was to share it with all of you who didn't have the pleasure of being at camp with me this weekend, but the other reason is so that I can easily find it, because I know I will need to be reminded of this message many, many times in the future.

Many are the plans in a (wo)man's heart...

2010-03-23T21:15:00.005-05:00

...but it's the Lord purpose that prevails.~Proverbs 19:21

I had big plans for the night. Big plans that were well thought out and carefully crafted. I'm a planner. It's what I do. This whole fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants or 'wing it' philosophy is not for me. So when I decided I was moving two months ago, I began a list of what needed to be done in the upcoming eight weeks to ensure a smooth (or at least as smooth as possible when a move is concerned) transition where everything flowed smoothly and there were no wrinkles. The week before list was even more carefully crafted and quite a bit more detailed. Each day had specific tasks, which ensured that everything was done and ready for moving day, but divided up the awfulness that is packing so that it didn't become so overwhelming. Tonight was the last night of packing (gone all day tomorrow, go out to camp on Thursday and don't back til Monday morning, move as soon as I get into town on Monday), and the kitchen is the one room left.
Things to get done tonight inlcuded: Pack kitchen, bring recycling to center, go running and eat supper. I purposely ate a light supper so that I could go running right away and not feel icky. I stopped at the recycling center on my way to the Y, and got to the Y at about 7, which would get me home at 8, which would be just enough time to pack the kitchen and get a good night's rest. And everything went according to plan right up until I walked in the door at the Y.
Three summers ago I met a girl from Fergus when she came to camp. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something very special to me about her. Over the years, I've seen her around town, and she knows that I work at camp, which automatically makes me cool in her eyes, and I always talk to her for a little bit when I see her. I've thought of and prayed for this girl almost every day for three years, and I don't think she even knows my name, and I don't care. She was at the Y one day last week when I was there and we chatted for a little bit. Tonight when I walked in the door, she came running toward me and yelled "I was hoping you'd come tonight!", and gave me a big hug. Then she informed me that she knew why I was there, to go running (she said it with a little bit of sass), and I told her she was right, but I'd like it if she walked around the track with me. We walked for quite and while and she just couldn't stop talking. There is so much going on in that little 11-year old head (and heart). After a while she got tired, so we sat in a corner and she talked some more while I stretched (I hadn't given up on my running plan yet), and then she asked if I'd play basketball with her. So we went downstairs and played a couple games of HORSE, then some one-on-one, then we played soccer and she showed me skills. Then two other boys wanted to join our little soccer clinic, so they came over and played with us. Then one of the boys wanted to show us his new game, which was some variation of handball, and we played that for a while.
Gabby's ride came to pick her up a little before 9, so I left too - without running. Now I'm at home reliving this story - kitchen completely unpacked. And I don't care. Not even a little bit. I don't know if I'll stay up late tonight to get it done or wait and do it Monday morning and postpone the moving til that part is done. I don't have a plan yet. But tonight was a beautiful reminder that even my best laid plans pale in comparison to God's plan, and I'm so thankful that tonight, God's plan for me was so much more than a run and packing some boxes.

Bad Timing

2010-03-22T21:44:00.002-05:00

I just arranged to have my cable transferred to the new house when I move next week and the timing couldn't be worse. I'm moving on Monday, and, ideally, would like the cable installed that evening so I don't have to miss 24 or Dancing with the Stars. Call me ridiculous, I don't care. I love my shows. Well, as it turns out everybody and their brother moves around the end of the month, so my only options were March 25th (when I won't yet be moved in) or Friday, April 2nd. If you do the math, that means I have no TV Monday through Friday, which means I not only miss my Monday shows, but I also have to miss Lost. Any of you who are fans of any of these shows know that now's not time to be missing any of these shows.
Just one more thing to add to my list of why I hate moving.

Operation 513 to 1012

2010-03-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

Origin: 513 2nd Avenue N.
Destination: 1012 Ridgeview Court

I've been talking about it for nine weeks, planning on it for eight weeks, packing for it for four weeks, and I'd like you to be a part of it.

I will be moving the evening of Monday, March 29th. I have rounded up at least three pick up trucks and I would love it if you would help me load and unload them. I hate moving more than anything else in the world, but with your help, I may just change my mind. And if that doesn't convince you, it's possible that you get to watch (or be a part of) dropping not one, but two couches over a balcony. Should be a good time!

Please let me know if you will be able to help. I will surely appreciate it. Thanks a ton!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Have to be all packed up one week from today. Eek!

Life's Hard Decisions

2010-03-13T15:04:00.002-06:00

Run outside on a gorgeous, sunny 50 degree day
-OR-
Go to the Y so I can watch the Big Ten tournament while I run.....

Big Life News

2010-03-03T22:07:00.002-06:00

Drumroll, please........
I'm doing the Fargo half-marathon.

I know. I can't really believe it either. But I really missed doing the triathlon last year, but that training schedule doesn't fit with my schedule, so half-marathon it is. Assuming my old knees don't give out or get the best of me.

I really have no idea if I can run 13.1 miles, but I guess this is one very good way to find out.

Delicious Discoveries

2010-02-21T21:05:00.001-06:00

Mangoes - they're a huge pain to cut and peel, but soo worth it
Double Dark Chocolate Gelato
Turkey Burgers (on homemade buns)

And that was my supper tonight.

Breaking Heart

2010-02-17T10:30:00.004-06:00

On Monday, my dear friends, Kip & Cat, lost their three month-old son. Sadness doesn't begin to describe what I've felt for them as I've thought of and prayed for them often in these past weeks. As I was driving to work this morning, I heard this song on the radio and thought of Elijah.

I Will Rise by: Chris Tomlin
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say, it is well

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise, I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise, I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing
Worthy is the Lamb
And I hear the cry of every longing heart
Worthy is the Lamb

I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagle's wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise, I will rise, I will rise

I am so thankful that in this time of deep sorrow, we know and serve a God who is good, loving, merciful, knows all things, keeps His promises, doesn't change, is all-powerful, and we rest in the truth that little Eli is rejoicing in heaven with Him now.

I'm back

2010-02-08T19:28:00.002-06:00

I tried another new recipe tonight, and it was excellent! Beef & Pineapple kabobs with a parsley sauce. Maybe I'm just not good at soups - which is fine because as much as I love soup, I love steak more, and this recipe is an easy, delicious way to have steak.

I wonder....

2010-01-25T19:14:00.003-06:00

My love of cooking has not gone undocumented on this blog (or in any of my other publications, for that matter). However, I've been beginning to wonder if I'm not that good. I've had some real duds lately, but have no way of knowing if it's my cooking or if they're not good recipes. I've been trying to make good soups, but every one I've tried has been lackluster. I tried two versions of a butternut squash soup and neither of them were good - which I attributed to the possibility that I didn't like squash as much as I thought I did. I tried a chicken noodle soup, but it was only so-so. Tonight I was so excited to try a broccoli cheddar soup that had such potential, but it was kind of pasty.
So my solution is this: I would like to give other proven cooks the same recipes and see (or more likely taste) if it's me or the ingredients. Any takers?
If it turns out that I'm not good, I think I'll just continue right on with what has become one of my favorite past times. Is that silly? To keep doing something you don't necessarily have a knack for.

2009 - The Year in Review

2010-01-06T00:12:00.008-06:00

At long last, here is my New Year's Letter (also known as the didn't-get-it-done-in-time-to-be-a-Christmas-letter).
I’m a sucker for lists. Especially ones that are countdowns or that rank things.
In that spirit, this year’s letter comes in the form of a 2009 Year in Review Highlights

#10 – Not quite 10,000 Leagues…. – For the third year in a row, I played on an intramural co-ed volleyball league on Friday nights with some friends. My biggest contribution to the team was two outstanding recruits, with which we could finally win the championship. Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, we lost in the championship round to the team that has gone undefeated for four years. The league started up again in the fall, and I’m hoping that in the 2010 Year in Review letter, the outcome will be different.
I’m also in a Fantasy Football league, and (hopefully) by the time you read this, I will be the champion. We have twelve teams, and I came into the playoffs with the #2 seed. The final game of the championship is Sunday, and my chances are looking good. Not unlike volleyball, I’ve made it to the championship round in three of my five years, but lost twice.

#9 – Movin’Out – No, I’m not moving from Fergus Falls. In March, after nearly ten years of waiting, I finally got to see the Broadway production of Movin’ Out. It’s a musical inspired by Billy Joel songs. There is no dialogue, and a band sings the songs and uses them to tell the story of the characters. It did not disappoint. The traveling production came to Minneapolis for one weekend, and I did not miss this opportunity to hear some of my all-time favorite Billy Joel tunes.

#8 – Bon Appétit – My love for cooking is still going strong, and quite possibly growing. I’m constantly looking for new recipes and making time to make delicious meals. I bought a Kitchen Aid mixer on Black Friday and took a bread-making class, so now sweet rolls are a new favorite to make. I started a Fiestaware collection last year with place settings, and it continues to grow. I love my dishes. In addition to the mixer, I also expanded my small appliance collection with a waffle iron, George Forman grill (to make kabobs!) and am hoping to get a food processor sometime soon. Any time you’re able, I’d love to have you over.

#7 – Scrappin’ – I’ve been a scrapbooker now for a number of years, but my love for this hobby continues to grow. I’m not very artistic or creative, but this pastime makes me feel like I am. More than that, it’s provided a great opportunity to spend time with friends and family this year. We have scrapbooking retreats in the spring and fall at camp, and I was able to attend a few of them in ’09. Donna Jean (my grandma) came down in March and we spent a fabulous weekend together at camp. She finally got to see where I work and Fergus Falls, and we had a great time. I also have a group of friends in the Fargo area (about 45 minutes from Fergus) that are ardent scrapbookers, and we get together every few months and have a fun weekend. I made a couple books as gifts this year, and discovered my love for the best scrapbooking tool of all time, the Cricut! (No, I don’t have one – just another reason to do this hobby in groups!)

#6 – Sing with me……
“Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town. Chicago, Chicago, I’ll show you around. I love it.”
Both of my college roommates, Lauren and Jessie, live in Chicago, and beings that I hadn’t seen them in four years, I decided I was overdue. I spent an awesome four days in the Windy City with two of my all-time favorite people. We walked around the city one day, went to a comedy improv show, shopped (they have great stores in Chicago!), and I had my first-ever Chicago-style hotdog. Way better than New York hot dogs.  Even if we hadn’t done all those things, this would still rank high on the list because any time with Lauren and Jessie is a blast.
“Hey baby, let’s go to Vegas, kiss the same old life good bye…..”
My best friend, Abbie, has been a teacher in Las Vegas for the last few years, and this year for her older brother (and my good friend), Jeromie’s 30th birthday, we all spent the weekend in Vegas. It was a surprise to Jeromie, and his younger brother and his wife, along with Jeromie’s wife, Missy’s brother and his wife all joined in the festivities. In case you lost count, that was 8 of us and it was a blast. We saw “O”, the Cirque de Soleil water show, ate at Mon ami Gabi, a French bistro across from the Bellagio and went to the Hoover Damn. My favorite part was hiking Red Rock Canyon. It was gorgeous, and I could have stayed there for days.

#5 – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) – I spend a significant amount of my time serving on the World Mission Team and leading small group of Senior High girls at my church. Both have been huge highlights from the year. As a congregation, we have been working toward the adoption of an unreached people group, the Bagirmi of Chad, Africa, for a few years, and that is what most of my work on the Mission Team has consisted of. In March, Bethel Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, MN adopted this group. It’s been incredible to be a part of this process, and to think and dream of what God will bring light to this spiritually dark place through our church.
I’ve been working with high school kids for many years now, but this past year has been one of the best. I ended the spring leading a group of 11th grade girls, and started this fall with a group of 9th graders. I absolutely love getting to know them, going to their sporting and other events, spending time each week with them studying God’s Word and talking about life stuff. We do service projects, have sleepovers, and in December, we had a gingerbread house decorating party. The best part of having 9th graders is knowing I get to do this and be with them for three more years!

#4 – The University of Iowa. Be remarkable. (For those of you who don’t know, that’s their slogan) – Remarkable is probably the best adjective to describe the 2009 Hawkeye football season, which consumed most of my weekends in the fall. Thanks to DVR (quite possibly the greatest invention ever), I didn’t miss a game this season, and for the first time in four years, I was able to go to a game in Iowa City. My dad got tickets to the Indiana game, and I got up at 3:30 AM the day of the game (that’s dedication!) to see the Hawks come from behind in what had to be one of the best fourth quarters of football in recent memory to go 9-0 for the first time in school history. I love everything about Hawkeye football and am hoping that the #1 event of the 2010 Year in Review Letter is going to Pasadena to watch them in the Rose Bowl. It could happen……

#3 – The only thing that stays the same is everything changes – For the third time in a little over three years, my job responsibilities and title have changed. I am still working at Inspiration Point, a year-round Christian Camp and Retreat Center in Clitherall, MN, and my current title is Executive Assistant and (as of August) Guest Ministries Director. For those of you who follow closely, you’ll realize that the Guest Ministries part is new. One of the facets of our ministry is offering our site and facilities to outside groups who need a place to host their own events. This includes everything from Family Reunions to Church Retreats, to Board Planning Meetings, to quilting groups. Think of an event planner for a hotel or convention center – it’s similar to that. I work with these groups to coordinate their events, and host them when they come to camp. If you’re looking for an ideal place to host your upcoming event, email rentals@ipoint.org (I’m also in charge of marketing )

#2 – Finally, a Bridesmaid! – At the age of 28, after being a personal attendant for many weddings (a fabulous job that I love!), I had the honor of being a bridesmaid for my good friend, Sara’s, wedding. Sara and I became friends when we worked together at camp in 2004, and she has become one of my closest friends. Sara moved to Fergus shortly after I did and is the Media Coordinator at camp. You know it’s a quality friendship when you can spend that much time with someone (and share a 12x12 cabin for 3 months in the summers) and not get sick of them. Sara and Tyler (also an old camp friend) were married on September 19th, and it’s was the perfect day. It was such a blessing to be a part of union that was so clearly ordained by the Lord and a relationship who’s foundation was built on their trust in Him.

#1 – Soak Up the Sun – For the fourth year in a row, I made the “pilgrimage” to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I could have never guessed on my inaugural vacation there that this would become an annual tradition, but I am so thankful that it is. It comes at the perfect time – after a summer at camp when I need a vacation like Whoa! My good friend Amy (from DC), her husband Lee, and their two daughters, Nia & Caty, met me at the airport, and we spent an amazing 8 days laying on the beach, reading books, playing card games, eating delicious seafood, playing in the pool, and relaxing. The words “Myrtle Beach” are now synonymous with the word, “Ahhh..” as even the thought of that place calms me. The best part, of course, is spending time with Amy, Lee and the girls. Amy’s like the big sister I’ve never had, and watching the girls grow up (they were just babies when I moved to DC) is so fun. Now, if only I could see them more often…… in a warm place……. with a good book in hand…..

Well, folks, that about sums it up for the year. More than you could ever want to know about my days. God’s richest blessings to each one of you as you begin the New Year. May He bless and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace.

A New Tradition (I hope)

2010-01-03T15:06:00.009-06:00

I love finding fun activities to do with my youth group girls, and the "what to do" question for the Christmas season was easy - make gingerbread houses and decorate cookies. It's one of my favorite things, so it would be of theirs too, right? I was so impressed with how creative the girls were. They did such a great job and we had a blast.

They took their decorating very seriously :-)

Emily was so proud of her final product (and rightfully so)

My quaint little house

Our village

Nice group shot

Silly group shot

What a fun day. I'm already looking forward to 2010.

What Was I Thinking??!!

2010-01-01T20:04:00.003-06:00

Well, these last few days (and weeks) have been a little bit of a whirlwind. I went home to Iowa for Christmas, and (barely) avoided the treacherous weather. I left a day earlier than planned to beat the storm, and came back a day earlier to beat the next storm. I got home late on Sunday, the 27th and spent the morning of the 28th unpacking, finding spots for new Christmas presents, and catching up reading the Christmas cards and letters that had accumulated in my mailbox. Tuesday evening began our annual Summer Staff Reunion at camp, and I spent all day Wednesday and half of Thursday out at camp catching up with everyone, playing some super-fun games (scwabble anyone?), and getting taken out while playing broomball.
Last night was New Year's Eve, and a good friend got married in Fargo. The wedding was so much fun, and as is usually the case on New Year's Eve, I stayed out too late. I got to bed at 2 this morning, and when I woke up at 9 AM, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I had a super-pounding headache, and felt nauseous. I originally had lunch plans, but had to cancel them, and went back to sleep until 11 - hoping that I could sleep it off. I still felt terrible when I woke up, but I trudged out to the living room and "watched" (aka laid on my couch, falling in and out of sleep) the Outback Bowl. I had to work at camp at 3, so at 1:30, I made myself get up, shower, and pack for the weekend. Because this was done in such a hurry, I didn't really think through everything I would need for the weekend. The first realization of this was when I walked out to my car and 18 degree below zero temperatures pierced my face. Not only did I not even think to put on my beloved cuddle duds, but I didn't pack them either. Ugh.
I got out to camp and began to set up for the group that would be arriving at 5. Walking from building to building in these cold temps was the infamous piece of straw that broke my back - that's it! I'm buying a parka. In the words of Squints Paladoris (bonus points if you know who he is), "I can't take it anymore!" Purchasing a parka is the next point in the not-letting-Minnesota-winters-make-me-miserable campaign.
My two co-workers left at 5 PM, and I sat around and waited for the group to arrive. They didn't get here until 7:30 - which is fine except that not only did I not think to bring cuddle duds, I also didn't think to bring anything to do. I have a stack of magazines on my coffee table that I've been meaning to read and have fallen behind on, Youth Group small group questions to write, I could have started working on my tax return, I have two books I'm reading, and a bunch of office work that I could have brought out. But instead of being productive, I've just been sitting and waiting. And organizing one of the closets in the office - I couldn't help myself.
And now the group is here, and is all settled, and it's 8:15, and I'm back to where I was before - with nothing to do, but knowing that there is SO much to get done. And also wondering if 8:30 is too early to go to bed.......

Insider Trading Tip:

2009-12-11T16:50:00.002-06:00

Buy stock in cuddle duds.

Okay, so I don't know much about the stock market, and I know even less about insider trading, but I know enough to know that when people buy a certain product, that product's stock goes up. So I'm here to help you all with your investments - and cuddle duds stock will be rising in the near future. How do I know this? Because I will be responsible for most of it's rise.

I have been determined not to let winter get the best of me (translation: make me miserable) this year. And I thought I was doing good through most of November - however, it was easy to do considering the high in November was in the upper 40's. With December came good old Minnesota winter, and now it's time to kick the non-misery in gear. I've decided that means taking any and all measures necessary to not let the cold bother me (or at least not bother me as much). One of the first things I did was decide to try this "long underwear" I've heard people talk about for so many years. Could it possibly be as great as everyone says it is? Isn't it just leggings or another long-sleeved shirt? I learned very quickly the answer to that questions is NOOOO! Cuddle Duds (the brand of long underwear) are a modern technological marvel. I've never been so warm (when it's this cold outside). I cannot believe the difference it makes. I wear them all day and all night. They are now my new pajamas. And with the frequency of wear comes the demand to purchase more. Thus the stock tip.

It's mutually beneficial. I will be warm and cozy and your portfolio will shoot through the roof. You're welcome.

Tis the Season

2009-11-28T17:02:00.011-06:00

Yesterday was Christmas decorations day!

One of my favorite parts is putting up all the ornaments that have stories behind them (forgive me for being nostalgic...)

I honestly can't remember if we got an ornament every year (if we did, I'm missing quite a few!), but I vividly remember getting this ornament. I loved that it had my name on it. Imagine my surprise to do the math and realize I got the ornament 20 years ago! Can I possibly be that old?!

Every year, we'd make cookies and leave them with milk for Santa. One year, in appreciation, he gave my brother, Adam, and me these engraved ornaments. It's one of my all-time faves.

Not only does this ornament go with the whole red, green, and silver color palatte, but it also funded AIDS relief in Africa. I buy a lot of the PRODUCT (RED) stuff (cards, wrapping paper, clothing, etc.) and Donna Jean knew that when she got this for me a couple years ago.

This ornament is the most sentimental. It was also a gift from Donna Jean, and it says "Every life leaves something beautiful behind." It has a 2008 charm on it and commemorates the year Grandpa passed away. I bought my Christmas tree and all the lights and ornaments two years ago, after Christmas on super clearance sale. I didn't want to store it for 11 months, only to find out I needed more lights or something, so I put it all together. As I was doing that, I was talking to Grandpa and he was laughing at me because I was spending my New Year's Day putting up a Christmas tree just to take it down and store it. He said it made sense, but just thought it was funny. Last year was the first year I put it up for the season, and I just kept thinking that the last time I did this, I was talking to Grandpa. For that reason, putting up the Christmas tree will forever be a little bittersweet, but I love that I have this ornament to remind me of Grandpa (in a good way).

Nothing sentimental about this one - just my Dallas Cowboys ornament. Excellent.

Mele Kalikimaka all!

At Long Last

2009-11-27T10:39:00.002-06:00

Chances are, if you're reading this, you know me, and if you know me, chances are you've heard me talk about a Kitchen Aid mixer. I've joked with my family for years that I don't care what else I get for wedding gifts, but the one thing I really want is the mixer. I'm not really sure why, but I always envisioned that I would register for and receive the mixer as a wedding gift, and so have just been waiting for that day to come. I never considered purchasing it for myself - I think because it seemed extravagent to me.
But it's not extravagent when you find the one you've been pining after for years for 60% off on Black Friday, right? :-) My friend, Janet, told me she found one on sale at WalMart, which caused me to start looking at other stores, and I found the exact one I wanted for an incredible price. I didn't trust the small Herberger's in Fergus Falls to have the one I wanted in the store, so I ordered it online, but now that means I have to wait for 7-10 business days for it to come. I'm taking a community ed bread-making class next week, so it looks like I will get the mixer at the same time I learn how to make bread. :-)
Come on over and enjoy some homemade bread (but not for another 7-10 business days!)

The Word is FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT for Iowa....

2009-11-13T08:38:00.019-06:00

I was talking to my dad earlier this fall and he asked me if I was going to make it home any time soon. I told him that with work and everything else going on, I wouldn't be in Iowa until Christmas. He said, "You're not coming home for any Iowa football games?" to which I again explained that it wouldn't really work with my schedule. He replied, "Oh, cuz I have four tickets to the Iowa-Indiana game on October 31st and I thought you'd want to come." Well that changes everything! My attitude changed on the spot, and then I was all about figuring out how I could make it work. And work it did (not without the help of a few wonderful friends who covered a few things for me - Thanks!).
My friends, Clayton and Angela joined me. Kick-off time in Iowa City was at 11 AM, which means we had to leave the twin cities at 3:30. 3:30!!! There are very, very few things I would ever wake up that early for, but Iowa football is one of them. We got to Iowa City, met my dad, and drove over to the game. I just love the atmosphere. I can't really explain it, you just have to be there. The roar of the people, the smell of hamburgers and every other food you can imagine cooking, a sea of black and gold as far as the eye can see, the taste of victory (oh, wait, that comes later :-)). I love everything about it.
Because the game started at 11, we decided to tailgate afterwards, but Clayton took the time we had before the game began to put together his new grill.

Me & Dad in front of historic Kinnick Stadium

Nile Kinnick, 1939 Heisman trophy winner - the only Hawkeye to ever win the Heisman. He died when his plan went down on a routine flight during World War 2 and the stadium is named after him. (Kinnick is also one of the names I throw around for my dog I will have someday.)

This pretty much sums it up

The team is warming up and the stadium begins to fill. (The crowded part is the student section. They are die hard. They stand outside the gate waiting to get in, and run down the bleachers to get the front row seats. I used to be one of those crazy kids!)

The marching band reinstituted the tigerhawk formation this year. I'm a fan.

The first three quarters were not good. Indiana scored on their first drive, and our offense looked terrible. The Iowa quarterback threw 4 interceptions in the third quarter alone (for a total of five for the game!). By the middle of the third quarter the 70,000 people+ who were in the stadium were stunned silent. We were 8-0, ranked 4th in the country, and were losing to a school that barely even plays football.
Then the 4th quarter started. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen or experienced. We were a scoring machine. I was jumping up and down, screaming, hugging strangers, singing the fight song - it was amazing.

At the end of the game, I tried to take a picture of my dad and me, but I didn't do very well. If you look closely in the corner, you can see my eye. Mostly just dad.

Then Clayton helped us out and took the picture for me. This much better.

We celebrated and tailgated after the game. Then we did a little shopping that you can only do in Iowa City. The tight end for the Hawkeyes (Tony Moaki) was shopping there too, and Clayton got his picture taken with him. They're a lot bigger standing next to you than they look on the field! :-)

It was a perfect day - and that says a lot when the day began as early as it did. My voice was scratchy for the next couple days and I was exhausted, but it was totally worth it. The Hawkeyes were 9-0 for the first time in school history. The game (well at least the last part of it) was so fun to watch in person, and I got to spend the day with dad and two of my closest friends.

Go Hawks!

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

2009-10-30T08:50:00.011-05:00

What?! You didn't know I was going to Las Vegas?! That's because it was a surprise my friend, Jeromie for his 30th birthday, so I couldn't talk about how excited I was to go.
So now that we've been there and returned, he's the low-down on the trip. My best friend, Abbie, lives in Vegas where she's a teacher. Her brother (Jeromie) turns 30 in a couple weeks and his wife (Missy) wanted to do something big to celebrate. So Missy (also a very good friend of mine) planned a surprise weekend in Vegas. She invited Jeromie & Abbie's younger brother, Clayton and his wife, Angela (also good friends - are you catching a trend here?). Missy also invited her brother, Jason, and his wife, Nicole (also good friends). If you're keeping track, that's a total of eight of us. All Jeromie knew was that he was going on a trip for his birthday. He found out the day before that he was going to Vegas, but only found out about the rest of us being a part of it when we showed up and surprised him! It was great and Missy and Abbie did such an awesome job coordinating the whole thing.
I flew from Rochester with Clayton and Angela, and Jason and Nicole had already surprised him. Saturday morning we got up and went to Red Rock Canyon. It was beautiful!! And my favorite part of the weekend. I could have stayed there all day. Did I mention it was 80 degrees and sunny? That certainly helped. :-)

This is me and Abbie at the trailhead.

The birthday boy and his incredible wife.

We couldn't help ourselves..... I..O..W..A!

Ang has mad skills. :-)

Just me....

Saturday afternoon we watched the first half of the Iowa game, but had to leave at halftime because we had dinner reservations (we watched the unbelievable ending on Sunday morning). We ate at this amazing french bistro in the Paris casino called Mon Ami Gabi, and sat on the terrace, which was right across the street from the Bellagio fountains. Talk about atmosphere. After dinner, we went to see "O" the Cirque de Soleil show at the Bellagio that incorporates water. It's pretty much two hours of watching people and thinking "how do they do that?!"

Here's all of us waiting for the show to begin

After the show, we hit up a couple casinos. I'm not a real big gambler - it makes me nervous to play for money - but I thought I'd just 'dabble'. I put $1 in a quarter video poker machine, and on my third hand, got a 4-of-a-kind. I played a little more, then hit 4-of-a-kind again. At my highest point, I had $32. I played a little longer, then cashed out at $25. When I went to redeem my winnings, the cashier sarcastically snickered "big money" under his breath as he handed me my 25 bucks. Lay off! How many other people leave Vegas with a 400% return on their money?! I call it a success.

Me and my "big money" winnings voucher

On Sunday, we drove down to the Hoover dam, which was unbelievable. I felt like I kept repeating myself, but at the same time, the only appropriate response to what you see is "Whoaaa...!" It really is something you have to see. The best part was that the three guys were the pansiest ones about height - which we did not expect. By this time, we had decided that we would all share our pictures, so I did not bother with taking any. So I don't have photographic proof, but you should go see it for yourself. It's worth it. And, if you don't, just google it. You'll get the idea.

On Sunday night, we visited Fremont street where it's "old-time" Vegas, then went to New York, New York. We flew out Monday afternoon, after a fabulous lunch at IN-n-Out burger. It was a fast trip, but it was so much fun. Now I'm just trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule. Between going to bed around 3 AM Vegas time, and the two hour time difference, it's been a rough week. But it was worth it.

Four Pairs of Shoes & a Wedding

2009-09-28T12:19:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, I was a bridesmaid in my friend, Sara (Cornell) Tysver's wedding. She picked awesome bridesmaids dresses, and told us to pick out our own shoes. The only instruction was that they had to be brown. Our dresses were a dark brown (espresso). I struggled with this because I didn't want to get shoes that matched the dress, and just couldn't find anything I liked.
Three weeks before the wedding, I was in the twin cities for one of Sara's showers, and found pair #1 at Macy's on clearance sale for $21!

I love them! I showed them to Sara and she said she wasn't sure because she thought they might be too light. Sure enough, the week before the wedding, I found out that they were, in fact, too light, and made a run to Fargo to see what I could find there. I found this pair, which I really liked the style of, but was not a fan of the small heel. And they were on clearance sale for $13.

Then I found these shoes, which I love for daily wear, but are kind of boring and corporate, and are not as elegant as the dress. But they had a higher heel and I thought Sara would like these most. Plus, they were only $17, so I thought I'd just keep them for myself if I didn't choose them for the wedding.

Ultimately, I decided to go with the not-so-boring t-strap sandal with the low heel, but wasn't super excited about it.
On the day of the wedding, one of the other bridesmaids was talking about how she had two pairs of shoes, and wasn't sure which pair she was going to wear. She showed us both of them, and she didn't like the pair I chose because she said they weren't as comfortable as the other pair. Then I just kept commenting about how jealous I was that she got to have a high heel. After I said it two or three times, she said to me, "you can have the other ones if you want." I felt like Cinderella trying on the perfectly fit shoe. I was so excited. I asked Steph how much I could buy them for, and she said she got them at Target for $8! I couldn't believe it. They were perfect! High heel, peep toe, shiny and dark brown!

So, when all was said and done, I bought four pairs of shoes for this wedding, totaling $59 - and I'm returning the middle two pairs today. I wear the first pair all the time (they got some wedding action - I wore them to the rehearsal), and the wedding ones go great with jeans.
I love that I just did an entire post about shoes.

Hawks do it again in 2009?

2009-09-25T09:40:00.006-05:00

Sidenote: If you don't want to watch 7 minutes of Iowa football highlights (who wouldn't?!), you can fast forward to 5:30 and watch the best from there on.

For the love(seat)

2009-09-10T18:30:00.007-05:00

It's Kristin story-time everybody!

When I moved to Fergus Fall almost three years ago, one of the very first things I did was buy a couch. That's a story for a different day, but suffice it say it was a perfect, match-made-in-heaven couch. And, in typical Kristin-fashion, I got a stellar deal on it, which made it even better. I decided at the time not to purchase the loveseat yet, because they weren't willing to negotiate with me on that as much.
So, for the past two years, I've gone into Slumberland, on average, once a month to see if I can talk them down on the loveseat. My theory is that since the loveseat is about 2/3 of a couch, I will not pay any more than 2/3 of what I paid for the couch. Slumberland has not viewed the sitaution the same way. I went in one day this summer to try my luck again, and the saleslady approached me and asked what she could help me with (I haven't decided if she pretends not to know or if she actually doesn't remember, which seems impossible to me). The couch and loveseat were not in their usual spot, so I asked her where they had moved to. She then proceeded to tell me that the company that makes that furniture went bankrupt and Slumberland was forced to liquidate their inventory, so I wouldn't find it anywhere! NOOOO!!! Now what was I supposed to do? I was devastated.
I decided my next best course of action was to try to find a coordinating loveseat and/or chair that had a similar make to my couch, and thought Craigslist was the best way to do that. So I began searching. Almost right away, I found a listing titled "Slumberland Living Room Set", and when I clicked on it, it was my loveseat! And the matching ottoman! I couldn't believe it. I emailed her to see if she would be willing to sell me just the loveseat and ottoman, as I already had the couch and the end tables were ugly. And she did! For a great price! I couldn't believe it. These are the kinds of things that would cause my grandpa to chuckle, shake his head back and forth and say "These things only happen to you, Kristin Nicole."
Here's a picture of the loveseat in the lady's house.

And here's what it looks like in my living room - with it's matching couch. I never even sit on the couch anymore. I just sprawl out on the the "throne" (that's what I've decided to call it), and fall asleep on it more nights than not.

This is the view from my porch/sliding glass doors into the living/dining area. It's a hard angle, so you can't really get the whole idea. Guess you'll just have to come over sometime and see for yourself!

We're Famous!

2009-09-10T18:10:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago, a show called Sunday Stays & Getaways, which airs on the Inspiration Network, featured Inspiration Point. In case you didn't catch it, and for all of you out there who've wondered what this place is that I work at or what it looks like, take a gander:

(Did you see me?)

I'm Gonna Be an Aunt (Again)!

2009-09-10T11:17:00.003-05:00

I got this picture emailed to me today:

It's a little fuzzy, but you get the point. Here's hoping the little brother or sister is just as cute and wonderful as he is! (Of course, I know they will be).

Congrats, Jeromie, Missy & Drew! Love you guys.

Bismarck or Bust

2009-07-17T19:34:00.003-05:00

It was a long weekend last weekend (camp finished on Thursday afternoon, so I had Thursday evening through Sunday morning off), and there was one clear thing to do: Headin' out ot Bismarck. I love spending time with my good friends Jeromie and Missy, and their son, Drew. While we aren't blood-related, Drew is, by all intents and purposes, my nephew. He was the ring bearer at both weddings I attended at the beginning of June, but I didn't get much time with him.

When I got there Thursday night, Jeromie and Missy were playing in their sand volleyball league, so Drew and I built sandcastles. Friday was Kristin & Drew day. Missy went to work, Jeromie went to class, and Drew and I played all morning long. I chased him around the house, we read a couple books and we went to the park. He's very verbal now, and speaks in near complete sentences. He's also learning to count to 10 and learn who everyone is. The park is about three blocks from their house, so Drew sat in the stroller and I pushed him. As we walked, he would randomly start counting or shout out every time he saw a truck, boat or dog - and there were a lot of them.

I wanted to take some cute pictures at the park, but I got wrapped up in playing with him. I decided to test the video feature on my new camera, and taped Drew while we were on a swing.

(I hope you didn't get dizzy watching that). :-) It's a good thing he's so darn cute, cuz he's a little bit of a punk. Obviously, he knows I'm not Mom, but he sure got a kick out of himself.

After we got back from the park, Missy came home to join us for lunch, and brought a surprise guest - my best friend (Missy's sister-in-law, and Drew's aunt) Abbie! Abbie spends a month in Bismarck each summer, but had told me she wasn't getting into there until after I was there. She thinks she so tricky.

We all sat on the patio for a few hours Saturday morning after some delicious french toast. The adults drank coffee, chatted and laughed, while Drew played in the yard. We did a little shopping, and then after Drew's nap, we all went out on the river. It was a gorgeous day, I got a little sun, and played a pathetic game of bocce ball.

I live for weekends like those.

Orange you glad it's Wednesday?

2009-06-24T17:40:00.006-05:00

I am, because that means I get to see this guy! LaWayne only works on Wednesdays in the summer, and I always look forward to seeing him. He's just the nicest, most helpful person. And he thinks I'm funny, which I enjoy.
I walked in the office today, and noticed right away that we were matching! Both wearing orange shirts - which is even more coincidental since LaWayne's more of a neutral kind of guy. This occassion merited a picture. It might end up in the scrapbook on the "Summer 2009" page.
Sara was wearing a red shirt, but she was jealous, so she insisted she kind of matched and jumped in the picture. You know how I hate clashing.....

S'more of this, please

2009-06-23T19:30:00.002-05:00

This came in the mail for me today. What is it, you ask? Well, that's a perfectly logical question. It's a large water bottle with s'more fixens in it. Broken up pieces of graham crackers, marshamallows (a flavored variety that we can't figure out - they have a brown swirl), and Hershey's miniatures. Super creative idea, and a yummy snack, yes - However.... getting the fixens out of the bottle is interesting. The top - that is screwed off in the picture - is a rather small opening. And, as you can also see, many of the graham crackers crumbled in transit, so you can't just turn it upside down and shake it, because my desk then becomes crumb city. So I've spent most of the afternoon working very hard for a small, but yummy, and super sweet (both taste-wise and sentimental-wise) treat.
Thanks, Amy, for the treats, but more for the creativity, thoughts and entertainment! I wish you could have seen Greg and me trying to get stuff out of there! Love you!
Sidenote: It's not a coincidence that the address label is in the picture - now you all have no excuse to send me fun care packages! :-)

Blogging is about to change drastically

2009-06-05T19:40:00.002-05:00

Why is there a random (and semi-fuzzy?) picture of a tree to start off this blog? Totally legitimate question. It's because I finally have a new camera! Ladies and gentlemen, this can only mean one thing; my blogging is about to become much more exciting. Actually, I think it means two things; the second being that I will probably update more often because having pictures adds another whole dynamic.
If I would have had a camera last weekend, I would have done a big (and exhilerating) post on my friend, Clayton's, wedding. But no camera, so just words are not as exciting - and take more time than just putting a bunch of pictures up.
Tonight I'm being super lazy and recovering from the last week and a half which has been CRAZY! Summer Staff Training wrapped up today, and I'm exhausted; not a good way to start the summer, but I'm doing everything I can tonight to get rested up. Tomorrow I'm going to another friend's wedding, and there will most likely be some good pictures that I will be able to share with you all. The rest of the summer, however, might just be pictures of me working at my desk, since that's what 95% of my summer is.

On a completely different, much more sad note, today is the one year anniversary of the day my Grandpa died. I can't believe an entire year of my life has gone on without him. This has been a very hard week and a half; today especially. Tonight I'm going to read some letters I found recently that he wrote me, and watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was his favorite movie, and now is one of my all time faves as well. I insisted for years that I didn't want to watch it because I didn't think I'd like it. Grandpa was insistent, though, and after a few years of persuasion, I watched and loved it. Now I can pretty much quote it from beginning to end. There are even a few parts that when I watch it, I can hear Grandpa's laugh. He just got such a kick out of it. I miss him so very much, but I'm thankful for little things like Butch Cassidy that bring great joy.

Julia Child...not so much

2009-05-02T22:07:00.002-05:00

I woke up at 7:45 eager to make the quiche and scones this morning - only to discover that I was missing two ingredients. I decided I'd run to the store to get them - but then the thought process moved to 'if I'm gonna go out, I might as well run all my errands at once and get them over with.' So I went to Target and bought not a single thing to get excited over (how does $50 worth of stuff fit into one bag?!), Herberger's (assorted birthday gifts), Hallmark (cards for everything from now until August and birthday gifts), grocery store, dry cleaners, and the gas station for my Saturday paper. Well, by the time I got home, it was 11 AM. Looks like quiche and scones will have to be brunch. Not quite.

I made the scones first, then moved on to the quiche. It was a process, and took far longer than I thought it would. I enjoyed it all, because, for me, the fun is in the cooking, but it took a very long time. By the time they were both done and edible, it was 1 PM. So now I'm having quiche and scones for a late lunch.

The scones were made with a cinnamon struessel muffin mix, and they were good, but disappointing in that they weren't markedly better than the muffins you make from the same mix. So why go to the extra effort of scones?

The quiche was not as good as Lauren's - didn't have as much flavor and was soggy. I hate soggy eggs, it makes me think they're not cooked.

Neither of the dishes turned out bad, but on a scale of 10, hoping that they'd at least be a 9, they were a 7.5 or 8. Good breakfast/brunch/late lunch, but nothing to write home about. It's probably a good thing none of you came over, because I would have been disappointed.

So Julia Child has two things over me: #1) She actually worked as a spy, and I got rejected by the CIA, and #2) Her dishes were always a 10, I'm sure.

Just Call Me Julia Child

2009-05-01T20:23:00.002-05:00

When I was in Chicago, Lauren made this amazingly delicious quiche with phyllo dough, spinach, shallots, mushrooms and other yummy stuff. Tonight, while I was picking up a few staples at the grocery store, I saw that they had phyllo dough! I bought some, and now I'm planning on making the same quiche tomorrow morning (assuming that Lauren calls me back with the recipe - or I find a comparable one). I also found a recipe for cinnamon oat scones.
I'm so looking forward to eating these things - and I'm looking forward to making them even more. Anyone want to join me for breakfast tomorrow?

Scrappy

2009-04-18T11:40:00.014-05:00

These postings aren't quite in order, but I was waiting for photos. That's right, the rare posting that includes pictures. I put most of these pictures on facebook, but since I can't tell the stories of the pictures, which is my favorite part, on facebook, they now make their debut on the blog.

There were two scrapbooking (and quilting and stamping) retreats at camp, and I got to enjoy them both. Donna Jean came up for the first one, and got to see camp (and Fergus Falls) for the first time. We had such a good time. Donna Jean organized three huge boxes of photos, and it was fun to see some classics as she sorted through them.

For the second weekend, my friend, Missy came out and we had a great time. I did not a single ab exercise while I was there, but my stomach muscles were sore nonetheless because of all the laughing.

Missy is a ham for the camera. Apparently, I decided giving Sara attitude about taking the picture was the appropriate response. She says she gets this look from me quite often. I find that hard to believe. (Sense the sarcasm.)

After looking at a bunch of pictures of all of us playing Rock Band at Thanksgiving, it seems that we were in a Rock-Star kind of mood during lunch. We pull it off well, I think.

Needless to say, both Missy and I had a lot of pictures of her adorable son, Drew. These are two of the pages we did of him. If your ever around, you should check out this page. Every single one of these pictures of him is absolutely priceless.

The Best Story of the Weekend

After not venturing out the Lodge the entire weekend, Missy, Sara (another friend and camp photographer) and I wanted to walk up to the chapel to see some other people's work. As is usually the case in Minnesota in mid-march, it was a mud fest at camp. The thaw made the whole peninsula one big mud bath. I, appropriately, packed my wellies (which Minnesotans call galoshes). Missy, however, was not so prepared. Not only was she not prepared, but she was wearing her nearly sparkling white tennis shoes. We got to the end of the boardwalk, and Missy just stared at the mud. I, being the good friend that I am, offered to give her a piggy back ride so as not to muck up her spiffy shoes. Sara walked ahead of us and, camera in hand, decided she would take a picture of the two of us. I prepared myself, and Missy jumped on my back, but her legs made the back up my shirt roll half way up my back. The brisk wind made that a little chilly, so she jumped down and we decided to take a second try at it. There was a miscommunication, or rather, a non-communication, and Missy just jumped on my back. I was not prepared at all, so I fell a little forward, and Missy almost went face first into the mud over my head. I think this picture was taken at a moment when we had stabilized, but I was laughing to hard to move at all and Missy seems to be saying "What are we going to do next?" The phrase "laugh-so-hard-you-pee-your-pants" ended up being true for one of us, but I won't tell you which one. Save face.

Doin' it up in the Windy City

2009-04-16T20:24:00.004-05:00

Me & the "Roomies"

These two lovely ladies were my roommates for the four years in college. We had many an adventure and I could go on for hours and hours telling all kinds of stories from those crazy times.

Lauren (the middle one - and bride in the picture) and Jessie (short hair on the left side) both grew up in suburbs of Chicago, and now live in the city. Lauren got married four years ago this summer, and other than a few hours the day of Grandpa's funeral in June, I haven't seen either of them since then. A trip to the Windy City was long overdue. I drove down on Friday, and got there just in time to enjoy dinner on Friday night. In college, we played board games until all hours of the night, so it felt only right to do that again. Lauren, Matt (Lauren's husband), Jessie, and Ben (Jessie's boyfriend), play a game called Hoopla a lot, so we played that. It was super fun.

On Friday, we walked around all the shops in Lauren and Matt's neighborhood, then went to Ben & Jessie's neighborhood and walked around there. I got a funky bracelet and a new pair of shoes - perfect "souveniers" from the city. Ben & Jessie made a delicious dinner, and I ate some of the best pie I've ever had in my life.

On Sunday, we drove out to the suburbs and had a delicious brunch with Lauren's mom and brother. The food was delicious, and it was good to see Lauren's family again. We played Scattegories, and I didn't win, so I don't have much more to say about that. On Sunday night, Lauren, Matt & I went to one of their favorite sports bars, and watched the Cubs game - which is a great experience in Chicago. We walked everywhere (except out to the suburbs, of course), and I love that. After eating a big meal, it feels good to walk.

Lauren took Monday and Tuesday off, and we had plans of going downtown, but the weather was absolutely miserable. Rainy, cold, and windy. Yuck. So we had a change of plans. I got a table runner and some cloth napkins at Crate & Barrel and stocked up on some staples at Trader Joe's. Jessie met Lauren and I for lunch at a mediterranean restaurant, and I ate a delicious falafel. Yum. We then went to the Chicago conservatory, and while it was great, the most memorable part was at the end when Lauren dropped her cell phone in the toilet. Not so funny for Lauren because her phone doesn't work, but funny for us bystanders. I'm not sure if I was feeling earthy from being at the conservatory, but we went to a plant store, and I bought a plant. The plant was actually more of a vehicle to buy a beautiful pot that I wanted. The only plant I've ever kept alive are the two peace lillies in our office, so I stuck with what I know.

By Tuesday, Lauren and I were pooped. We only decided what to do with our day at 11:30, and that was going to a movie at 1. After the movie, we came home, and sat on the couch, ate cookies and drank tea. Great day! We went to a fabulous thai restaurant, then to a comic improv show.

And yesterday, I drove home 9 hours. So there's my weekend in Chicago. Fabulous times with fabulous friends.

Entertaining the Garbage Men

2009-04-08T20:44:00.003-05:00

I am currently dog/house-sitting for my boss' family while they're on vacation. Sadie, their springer spaniel, and I get along swimmingly, so we all thought she'd enjoy my company for four of the eight days her family is away instead of being at the kennel the whole time. Along with taking care of Sadie came just a few household things as well. I was told that Monday was garbage day, but that they were going to take the garbage out to the street and LaWayne (former co-worker, good friend, and guy who lives across the street) would take care of bringing it in. I didn't understand exactly what that meant, but I didn't hear any responsibility in there for me, so I let it go. I started the housesitting on Sunday night, and while brushing my teeth at 7:05 on Monday morning my cell phone rang. It was LaWayne. Here's a transcript from the conversation:

K: (puzzled) Hello?

L: (too peppy for 7 AM) Good morning!

(pause)

L: This is your wake up call. That's what we do here on Ridgeview Court (the street they live on). We give each other wake up calls.

K: Well, it sounds to me like your wake up call came a while ago, cuz you are mighty chipper for 7 AM.

L: (getting down to business) Say (this is how LaWayne begins 90% of his sentences), Janet said she was going to put the trash out, but I just pulled out of my driveway, and saw that it's not there. So, you're going to have to take it out.

K: (begrudgingly - and wishing I had paid closer attention when the garbage situation was being explained to me the first time) Okay, what do I need to do?

L: There's a blue garbage can in the garage......(I won't bore you with details).... Wheel it out to the street. Tonight, when I come home, I'll wheel it in.

(At this time I'm thinking 'if he's willing to wheel it in empty, is there a reason he's not willing to wheel it out when it's full?' Whatever.)

K: All right. I'll take care of it. Thanks, LaWayne.

Then I went on with my normal morning routine. Well, not quite normal. I don't normally stop in the middle of putting lotion on to shoo the dog away from licking the lotion off my ankles, or play fetch while eating my cereal. I put Sadie in her kennel, and walked out the door at 7:58 (the office is about a 45 second drive from Greg & Janet's). I found the garbage can in the exact spot LaWayne said it would be and wheeled it down (literally - their driveway is a big hill) the driveway. I then walked back up the driveway, got in my car and began to back out of the garage. As I was looking in my rear view window, I saw the garbage truck drive by - on the other side of the street!!!! Greg and Janet live in a cul-de-sac on the right side. So the garbage truck would do their side first, turn around in the cul-de-sac, and then do the other side. Which means, as I was wheeling it down the driveway would have been just the time they would have been turning around. I'm sure they just thought that was hilarious.

I then called LaWayne to tell him what happened, and pass blame on to him for not telling me they come so early. He passed it right back saying that he thought I was going to do it right after I got off the phone. Did I sound like I was in any condition to be wheeling things 3/4 my height down a big hill? I still had the morning groggy voice when he called. To top it off, his response was, "Well, since they didn't get it, will take care of putting in back in the garage?" For real?! What the deal? So I did.

Disclaimer: I just realized as I typed this, that this story may not paint the most flattering picture of LaWayne. But, I wanted it noted that LaWayne is fabulous! One of my favorite people ever. This was just not one of his most shining moments. There is not enough time in a day to post on all the great things LaWayne does.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-04T21:38:00.013-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I have been fervent in my opposition to facebook since I first heard of it. At first, before it's ubiquity, I was opposed because I didn't see any benefit, and in the past year or so, my opposition has been more out of stubbornness. One of the many groups of people who strongly lobbied me to get facebook was my youth group girls. I continually stood my ground and insisted that I would never fall victim to the fad. Well, one of my girls thought she was all too clever and took it upon herself to start an account for me without my knowledge. And now I have facebook, and while I haven't deleted the account, my stubborn streak still shines through in instances such as these. A number of my "friends" have posted the "25 Random Things About Me" list on their profile, which I have enjoyed reading and have thought would be a fun thing to write myself, but don't want to succumb to doing it on facebook. In my whacked out world, I'm not giving in if I post it on my blog. Only the beginning of my craziness..........
1. I love lists - love them. I make at least 3 or 4 lists a day, and that doesn't include the constant, ongoing lists that exist and run through my brain daily.
2. I was the 3rd grade regional spelling bee champion - and I still take a great deal of pride in that.
3. I'm a TV show producer's dream - if you lure me in. I am either entirely dedicated to a show, and make sure I see every single episode, or I don't watch it at all. Nothing in the middle.
4. Attending the University of Iowa changed my life - no cliche.
5. I can't stand sappy, i-love-a-good-cry movies. However, any good sports movie where they come from behind and stand up to adversity brings a tear to my eye every time.
6. I've always liked my name. I never went through that phase where I wanted someone else's or didn't like my own. And I'm so thankful my parents decided to spell it with an -in not an -en at the end.
7. There are pens that make my handwriting look good and others that don't, and after years and years of trying to figure out what the common denominator is amongst the "good-handwriting" pens, I haven't been able to pinpoint (no pun intended) it. I just know what ones do, and I will write phone messages, for instance, twice if I don't take the message with a good one.
8. I have seen a number of movies at least 100 times, and I just learned that this is not common among many people. (Those movies include: Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Sandlot, Top Gun, A Few Good Men, Dirty Dancing, The American President, Clueless, and When Harry Met Sally)
9. I have never had the whole I-want-people-to-like-me complex, which in middle and high school boded well for me in light of peer pressure, but as I've gotten older has just made me seem harsh.
10. I vividly remember being about 6 years old, and categorizing my closet, which was a closet shared by my mother and brother, and I also categorized their clothes too.
11. Other than the two "real", post-college jobs I've had, I have no idea what job my skill set and expertise would be used for.
12. I failed driver's ed the first time I took it. And I should have. I was an atrocious driver. I did, however, get 105% in the classroom portion.
13. (Completely unrelated to the above bullet point, I think) I have been pulled over eight times, and only got a ticket three of those times. And I don't know what my trick is, but it works.
14. Few things drive me more crazy or are more useless to me than subtlety. It wastes time. It's easier when people just say what they mean. This is probably why the art of flirting is completely lost on me.
15. I feel most comfortable in business dress clothes. Dress pants, skirts, button-up shirts, and heels. I don't know why, but sometimes I wish that were still what I wore to work.
16. I'm addicted to chap stick. I have been since 6th grade when LipSmackers were really cool, and you would put it on 26 times a day just to show everyone that you had it. Now I have at least six tubes that are currently in use, all strategically placed so I never have to go more than a couple of hours without moisturized lips.
17. The scars and self-consciousness still exist from first grade when a so called friend told me I couldn't be a teacher when I grew up because my arms were too hairy and I'd grow up to be a monkey.
18. I am a terrible gift giver. I think it's because of the aforementioned subtlety thing. Unless I hear you specifically say what you want, I won't pick up on the clues.
19. I can't stand the taste of unmelted butter. I've been told my whole life that it's strange. In my early 20's my dad informed me (not knowing of my aversion), that unmelted butter was one of the most disgusting things to him. Genetics are funny.
20. I have never been beaten up. Not once. My brother is two years younger than me, so I was always bigger and stronger than him. My entire childhood I was told that a day would come when he would be bigger and stronger, but when that day came, I was smart enough to avoid physical fights. So my record remains undefeated.
21. I think, probably daily, about the day when my children are grown, and have children of their own, and my legacy will be those people.
22. I always think about things from the other person's perspective. I think it's my political background, but whenever I'm dealing with any issue, my automatic response is to consider how the opposition views it.
23. The only banana flavored thing I like is actual bananas. The fake banana flavor is disgusting.
24. Two of my favorite pastimes are eating and sleeping, yet I consider myself an active person.
25. I was told many times as a child that I was precocious, and to this day, I don't know what it means.

More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure.

A Day for the History Books

2009-01-20T22:28:00.003-06:00

Today will go down in history, and for more than just the obvious reason (Happy Inauguration Day, by the way. For a related story, see the sidebar below). As with every great story in history, it's the back story that makes you really appreciate it. I'm a champion sleeper. No kidding. If there were a competition, I'd take home the gold at every event. I'm the Michael Phelps of all the sleepers in the world. Sadly there are no drafts or million-dollar contracts for such a talent, so here I sit with no fame or fortune. On the other hand, my talent also lends itself to some unfortunate side effects, one of them being shutting my alarm off in my sleep, then sleeping past when I should. An event which happened twice in six days last week. I woke up at 8:05, and am supposed to be at work at 8:00 AM. I'm one of those people who sets my alarm an hour before I have to get up and hit the snooze every nine minutes before begrudgingly pulling my body up out of bed. Well, after the two major mishaps last week, I decided I needed a new plan. I used my cell phone alarm and put it across my room so I had to get up to turn it off. Throughout the week, I've also been setting my regular alarm closer to the time I actually have to get up. Then I realized that once my regular alarm goes off, I just lay there and think about not wanting to get up, then get up when my cell phone goes off. Last night I decided there was no need for the regular alarm because once I had to get out of bed to turn my cell phone off, I was up. I set my cell phone for 7 AM and went to bed. This morning I woke up at 6:58 WITH NO ALARM!!!!!!!! Even with the back story, I don't know if you can fully appreciate this. This is monumental. I'm not foolish enough to think this will become a lifestyle, but I'm looking forward to seeing this happen once or twice again in my life time.
_________________________________________________________________

Sidebar: Today made me realize how fast time passes. All day long, amidst all the Inauguration activities I couldn't stop thinking about the last Inauguration and every detail of the entire day. For those of you who don't know, four years ago I was working for Congressman Jim Leach and I was in charge of the distribution and allotment of the 150 Inauguration tickets and all the work that went along with that. Because of that, I was able to get a really good seat for the event, and it was something I will tell my grandchildren about. As I was reliving all the little details of that incredible day four years ago, I was continually amazed at how much has changed since then. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it really was and my world is completely different than it was then. How is that possible? Well, before I go on and begin to sound like a grandparent, I thought you would enjoy a story from my day four years ago. Aren't you glad I'm backto blogging?!

First, the Inauguration was INCREDIBLE! The Congressman's daughter decided not to come, so me and a guy I work with got them - and let me tell you, they were great seats. Just great. I was about 30 rows back from George. Can I just take this moment to say that I love him. I do. I heart George Bush. I was so proud to sit in the cold yesterday and listen to him and call him my President.
Second, words cannot describe happy I am that it's all over. Honestly, I don't know if I've ever been this tired. And then I babysat last night for some constituents who went to the Inaugural ball until 2:30 this morning. I'm like a zombie here at my desk. But it's over. No more Inauguration. YES!!!
Finally, I have to tell you all one of the funniest things that has happened to me. Okay, let me give you a little backround here. We have this constituent who is uberimportant. He donates unimaginable amounts of money to any and all Republican candidates, and we do everything we can in order to always make him happy. Well, he got stuck in the airport on his way our here for the Inauguration and it threw off all of his plans. I spent virtually all day on Wednesday on the phone with him trying to accommodate all the changes. Long story short, they were taking 2 of their kids to the Inaugural ball, but 2 were too young to go. They were staying at the Ritz-Carlton, and had pre-arranged to have the baby-sitting service watch kids. Long story short, the service fell through and Dr. Nepola (that's the guy's name) was desperate for a baby-sitter. After much discussion the only option I had for him was for me to babysit. He very graciosly agreed, and I was set to baby-sit at the Ritz Carlton the night of the Inauguration. **I think this in, and of itself is funny enough - but, no, it gets better** So in talking to him last night, I asked him where I should park when I got to the hotel. This is what he said: "Oh, just drive up to the front of the hotel and have them valet park it." Are you serious??????????!!!!!!!!!!Valet park my 1990 Toyota Corolla at the Ritz Carlton????And that's crazy enough as it is, but it was even worse because it was Inauguration night, so everyone at the Ritz was there for the Inauguration which meant they were all going to Inaugural balls.So just imagine as I pull up amongst a slough of stretch limos, and cadillacs and Lexi (I think that's the plural form of Lexus) in my dingo of a car and ask the valet man - who was dressed better than I was - to valet park the car.I felt like an idiot. An idiot out of water.But I have to say that baby-sitting at the Ritz Carlton is a good time. If you ever get a chance to do it, I suggest it

Black Friday

2008-12-05T19:54:00.002-06:00

Well, I don't have the pictures from Sara or Kaitlyn yet, and Friday's story was wrapped up today, so I'm going to skip over Thanksgiving meal for now, and move on to the aforementioned Black Friday.
It started when Angela and I woke up at 3 AM, to be at Jonas' to meet Shirley, Nicole, Sara & Kaitlyn at 3:15. When we arrived there we realized the Cornell van parked in the street had been broken in to over night and the window was shattered. We arrived at Kohl's at 3:30 and waited in line for the store to open at 4. This was the first time I'd done the whole early-morning-day-after-thanksgiving-crack-of-dawn thing, and an experience it was. A nice, orderly line had formed outside the door, but at about 3:55 some people decided to stand close to the door to be able to budge in when the doors opened. Well, Shirley Jonas would have nothing of that, and directed the entire line to shift to budge out these cheaters. That might the first time I'd laughed that hard that early in the morning. When the doors opened, the worst of humanity came out in the crowd and there was pushing and shoving, and even some pinching I would bet. I was thankful that we were able to laugh at the insanity. I got a couple things at Kohl's, then we moved on to Best Buy, which was insane, and then Starbucks opened, and we were in dire need of caffeine. I got some great doorbusters at Herberger's and then we ran to Target. It was a little past 6 by this time, and I was absolutely amazed how many people were out shopping, and how well organized the stores were. These people were pros.
While shopping with Kaitlyn, an announcement came over the load speaker: "Would the owner of a Red Toyota Corolla, license plate XVI 421, please report to the customer service desk." I told Kaitlyn that was my car, and began walking toward the desk. Sara was somewhere else in the store, but recognized that it was my car, and came running out of an aisle yelling, "Kristin! What happened to your car?!" She went with me to the desk, where a very scared teenage boy stood with two Target police officers. With a very shaky, and still apologetic voice, he explained how he hit my car in the parking lot. I felt so badly for him, and thanked him for coming in and telling me. I got the insurance information, and finished my shopping. (Insert sweet part of the story. He got up early to go get his mom's Christmas present! How cute is that?) We were home by 8:15, when we ate breakfast and then went to bed. I slept until 2 in the afternoon and felt great about it.
As is typically the case with me, each story has a back-story, and this one is no different. About a year ago, I pulled out into the street and hit a car. I've been procrastinating getting it fixed because the idea of spending so much money just so my car looks good was hard for me. But now with the kid hitting my car, I needed to get it fixed. I brought the car into the shop today and explained to the body shop manager that part of the damage was from a previous accident, and asked him to write two separate estimates - one for the boy's insurance company, and one for what I would be responsible for for last year's accident. The manager called me this afternoon and said there was $1,700 worth of damage, but that it was all due/tied to getting hit on Black Friday. What does that mean? I don't have to pay 1 cent to fix my car. I can't believe it! This would cause Grandpa to chuckle, roll his eyes, shake his head and mutter, "Kristin Nicole, these are only things that happen to you."
So I guess the moral of the story is if you hit someone and are responsible for paying for the damage, procrastinate until someone else hits you, and then their insurance company will take care of it for you. Who knew?

Thanksgiving - Part 1

2008-12-02T22:06:00.005-06:00

The Holiday weekend was so full of events and fun, that it's going to take multiple postings. Here's the first one, including a list of all the attendees, and their relations. Yoy may want to reference it later to really appreciate these stories, I'm sure.

I spent the holiday in Bismarck with families, the Taylors, Jonas' and Cornells.

Taylors:
Ron - Father
Sondy - Mom
Jeromie - Oldest son*
Abbie - Daughter (and my best friend)
Clayton - Youngest son
Angela - Clayton's fiance
This is my surrogate family, and I probably should have put this legend up earlier.

Jonas:
Rod - Father+
Shirley - Mother
Missy - Oldest daughter (and wife to Jeromie Taylor - listed above)*
Jason - Youngest son
Nicole - Jason's fiance
*Jeromie and Missy are parents to Drew, my nephew

Cornells:
Dave - Father+
Amy - Mother
Sara - Oldest daughter and my friend and co-worker
Kaitlyn - Youngest daughter
+Rod and Dave were roommates and basketball teammates in college, and the Jonas and Cornell kids grew up together.

Well, now that we all have that straight, here goes the weekend................

Sara and I took Wednesday off to start the festivities a little early - turns out we were late to the party, because we were the last ones to arrive. Wednesday evening we all played a game called "Celebrity", in which there were three separate occasions when I laughed so hard I cried. They involved Shirley not knowing Kirby Puckett was dead and being pretty broke up about it, Rod thinking that Urkel (of Steve Urkel from Family Matters) sounded like ear, and Abbie ruining the whole game by combining the "to guess" bucket with the "completed" bucket.

Thursday morning started with a carb-full breakfast along with a banana in prep for the 5K that Missy, Angela, and I ran. We were a little nervous about the cold - it was about 25 degrees - but it ended up being fine. We all had a good time, and enjoyed the run. Bonus - we didn't feel even a little guilty about the large amount of food consumed a few hours later.

Missy and Angela found these energy beans things that you were supposed to eat during the race that helped endurance. We weren't sure if they worked, but they sure tasted good.

As soon as I get the pictures from Sara, you'll see the feast, and all the fun that follows.

One of the best Weekends in Recent Memory

2008-11-23T21:08:00.002-06:00

I spent this weekend at camp for the scrapbooking retreat. I've done this the last two years, it's always a fun time, and I get a lot accomplished. This year, however it was fun to the max. Eight of us share four tables for our workstation, and we were inseperable. Seven of the eight had worked at camp before, so we were bonded before the weekend even began. Even as I'm writing this, I'm trying to think of how to describe what was so fun, and I can't, but what I do know is that my abs are sore from laughing so much. And everything else is sore from exhaustion. Friday we were up until 2 AM, and last night we didn't go to bed until 4:30!!! I am not a late night person, and cannot remember the last time I saw either of those times. And I'd like to say that because we were up so late, we got so much scrapbooking done, and while we did, I don't think the pages finished adequately corresponds to how much time was spent sitting with our stuff. I did, however, finish an album - inadvertantly. While working on my book, and after running out of pages, I realized that I had nearly 40 in my book, and that's the maximum. So I decided that was a good stopping point, and now I'm caught up to 2008. And we're all getting together in three weeks to do this again at another one of the girls' houses, so I'll get caught up then. And, hopefully, my abs will hurt just as much the next day. :-)

I was supposed to get a haircut

2008-11-18T19:27:00.002-06:00

I had a highly anticipated haircut scheduled for tonight at 5:15. My hair has been driving me crazy lately because it's all grown out, and I desperately need to get it cut. So I made an appointment.
After work, I had to run to Greg & Janet's house because they have pink princess wrapping paper that I am borrowing for a special little girl's 5th birthday. I left the car running, and ran inside. Only, what I didn't know was that I inadvertantly locked the car, which means, that the car was sitting the driveway, running, with all four doors locked. I called the salon, and moved the appointment to 5:30, but couldn't go any later. My spare key was in my apartment, but my apartment key was connected to the one in the ignition of my currently running car. I tried to call my roommate to make sure she was home, but she wouldn't answer her phone - which I later remembered was because she was at physical therapy. I couldn't remember where she said that was, so I had to call another friend to find out. After finding that out, I ran outside and waited for Greg who was coming home from work, and would take me to get the apartment and car keys. By the time Greg came, my roommate called to say she would be at home. Greg brought me to my house, I got the key from Lindsey, we drove back to Greg & Janet's, and I was back in my car. It was 5:36, and I still had to drive to the other side of town to get to the salon. I called, and it was too late because my stylist had to leave at 6.
So now, I still have the same grown-out, shapeless hair. And the next appointment I could make isn't until Monday, so it's six more days of this. Ick.

Tickets, Galore!

2008-11-13T13:20:00.004-06:00

I received two very exciting emails today - both from TicketMaster. The first was notifying me of available tickets for this Saturday's Iowa football game vs. Purdue in Iowa City. There a lot of tickets still available (VERY unusual) and they're some fairly decent seats for $35. So I have to first decide if this is spontaneous and exciting or tiring and unrealistic. Oh, and I'd have to convince at least one person to join me in the adventure. Any takers?????

Now I'm home for lunch, and found in my email an alert I've been waiting years for. No kidding. When I was in high school and heard that they were creating a Broadway show using all Billy Joel songs, I was ecstatic. But, being in high school, and then the first couple years in college, going to New York City to see the show was not realistic. When I moved the DC, the traveling production left a theatre there a week before I arrived. A couple years ago, when I visited NYC for a weekend, the show stopped playing on Broadway a month before I was there. I just keep missing it. But no longer. "Movin Out" will play at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis for one weekend - March 6-8th (just in time to celebrate my half-birthday). I'll also open this up to anyone who would also enjoy this, but if there are no takers, I have no problem going by myself. I used to do that in DC. I'd get super cheap day-of tickets, and go see shows for like $20 on a random Tuesday night. This won't be so last-minute, but I've been waiting to see this show for 8 or 9 years now, and I'm so excited the wait is over. Something tells me I'll be listening to my Billy Joel playlist a lot between now and March. :-)

2 Big Wins and some Fondue

2008-11-09T18:53:00.003-06:00

I drove from camp to Fergus after a retreat registration on Friday night in slightly suspect road conditions to get to the first volleyball game of the season. I got there a minute before it began to find only two of my teammates there. Fortunately they are my two four-star recruits from the off-season. Both played volleyball in college and are serious players. Which is a good thing because it was just the three of us against a team of seven. Eventually another player showed up, but because of co-ed rules, we couldn't have three guys and one girl, so the guys had to sub out. Of all the people to sub out, or even sit out, it should have been me, but instead me, the worst person on the team, played the entire game. It was a blast, though. There's something about only playing with three people on the court, because you go for everything. You have to. We won all three games and enjoyed doing it. It's gonna be a great season.
Now, according to statisticians and the odds-makers, that should have been the only victory I had to celebrate this weekend. My beloved Hawkeyes hosted the undefeated #3 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. According to Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, the College GameDay guys, Iowa would lose, but it would be close. They were wrong! It was a great game. A last-minute interception and field goal to win the game had me jumping up and screaming. Man, I love those Hawkeyes.
A year ago I was shopping with Elise and Kara (my boss' daughters) and we were in a kitchen store where there was a fondue pot for sale. They asked what it was, and after a lame attempt at an explanation, I decided it would be easier to explain by example. So a fondue party was set. That party was last night. I had never made fondue before and Elise and Kara didn't know what it was, so making it was an adventure. All the food turned out really good - especially the chocolate fondue - but the company and experience was even better than the food. We decided that this would be an annual event. Both Elise and Kara brought cameras to capture the event, but we were so wrapped up in making the food, that no pictures were taken. So my accounts filled with specific details will have to paint you a picture to play out in your head.

I LOVE ELECTION DAY!!!

2008-11-04T20:06:00.004-06:00

What you should do today:

and take a bite out of this election

Here's the story with these cookies. My friends and I go to the local city bakery on Thursday mornings before work for coffee and a doughnut. When I was there last week, they had blue donkey cookies and red elephant cookies, so I thought it would be fun to pick some up for our office today. I went at the end of my lunch hour, and there were no donkeys or elephants in sight. But, by this time, I had my heart set on bakery cookies, and all they had were three pumpkin-shaped cookies with the word vote, and four pumpkin-shaped jack-o-latern decorated cookies. I asked how much they were, and was told they were 79 cents a piece. This was important because I didn't have cash, and in order to use my debit card, I needed at least a $5 total. I got 7 cookies, and when she rang them up it was $3.32. Apparently the jack-o-laterns were half priced (because they were old?), and the only other cookies that looked appealing had reindeer on them.

So I wanted political themed cookies and got old halloween and christmas ones instead. At least three of them said "vote" on them.

Pigskin & World Missions

2008-10-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

What do these two things have in common, you ask? Those two activities sum up my weekend. I was exhausted on Friday so after watching (a new favorite show) Real Simple Real Life and What Not to Wear, I went to bed a little after 9. And you can roll your eyes and snicker all you want. I'm not ashamed. It felt amazing. I then woke up at 8 on Saturday, and did some house chores. It was Saturday morning, so, of course, I watched College GameDay and then I went for a run (training for the 5K). I flipped between a couple Big Ten football games, and then went to play flag football Saturday afternoon. It was one of the most fun things I've done in a very long time. We all played well and had a ton of fun. I had a TD reception or two and a couple other receptions. I played QB for one possession, and had a beautiful pass to Josh Christenson, but he dropped it. Now I know how the pros feel - okay, maybe not exactly how they feel, but close enough.
This weekend was missions weekend at church, and being on the mission committee meant I had a number of events to attend. The first one was Saturday evening, so I went home after the football game, baked some brownies for the event, and got ready. One of the high schools in town had a football game, so after my missions shin-dig, I watched the game.
I woke up Sunday morning to snow and temps in the 20's (ick!) and so began missions Sunday. The morning was excellent, and everything went just like it should, which was a relief after working so hard on all the details. I got home at 2:30, and watched a little football as I fell asleep on my couch. I woke up at 5 and was back at church for a missions dinner a half an hour later. I got home at 9, and completely forgot that Brothers & Sisters (my other new favorite show) was on, so I watched football, and then went to bed, completely exhausted and very sore, but grateful for a such an awesome weekend.
See, pigskin and world missions.

I got this idea from Kim Olson

2008-10-24T19:00:00.002-05:00

Things I unfortunately like:
Cashmere sweaters
Exorbitantly long naps
Small kitchen appliances (no cupboard space)
Manicures

Things I unfortunately dislike:
Roller coasters
Wine
Sitting down and reading a book (unless I'm on the beach)
The History Channel

Things I fortunately like:
Cooking
Th smell of cut grass
Jazz music
Learning

Things I fortunately dislike:
Hockey
Disorganization
Alfredo sauce
Gambling

Time to Start Training

2008-10-23T23:24:00.003-05:00

I know what you're thinking - she begins training for the May triathlon in October??!! And, no, I don't. But I got an email from Missy Taylor today and she and her soon-to-be sister-in-law are running a Turkey Trot 5K race on Thanksgiving morning. And now, I am too. I'm too old to sleep in on Thanksgiving anymore, so if I'm up, and I'm going to eat an obscene amount of food a few hours later, I might was well run 3 1/2 miles that morning.
I haven't run that distance since the triathlon last spring. And when I have run 2 or 3 miles, it has been at an incredibly slow pace. I have 5 weeks to build up the endurance and re-teach myself how to run that distance at a much faster pace. I haven't done a 5K since college.
As always, I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Paul Newman

2008-10-13T22:52:00.011-05:00

I was very sad to find out a couple weeks ago that Paul Newman had passed away. He was one of, if not, my favorite actors. A lot of that has to do with Grandpa. Paul Newman was Grandpa's all-time favorite. He compared every actor to him and every movie to one of his many classics. For years, Grandpa tried to convince me to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (I think it was probably his favorite), but I wanted no part of it. My junior year in high school, I finally obliged and it spiraled from there. After that, I couldn't get enough of him, and once I got netflix, I put almost every Newman movie in my queue.
Grandpa would always tell me the story about when he took all the kids in the station wagon to the drive in to see Butch Cassidy. My mom even remembers it. I've had this idea for 6 or 8 years to try to rent out the drive-in theatre about 45 minutes from Clinton, and see if I could get them to show Butch Cassidy sometime when a bunch of us were home. Sadly, it never happened, and I think I'll regret that forever. Grandpa would have loved that.
I got Grandpa to watch Inside the Actor's Studio with me when Newman and Robert Redford (the other favorite actor of his) were on. We laughed, and joked once about how Grandpa's brother, my Uncle Don, reminded us of Newman and Grandpa reminded me of Robert Redford.
And to top it all off, the man makes the best salad dressing (parmesan garlic) and spaghetti sauce there is.
In honor of one of my favorite actors, and in tribute to some of Grandpa's favorite film moments, here are a couple of his best clips:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

The Sting:

Okay, this isn't actually a Paul Newman clip, but it is one of my favorite Friends moments - probably because it's the convergence of my favorite actor and favorite TV show. The background is that it's the morning of Chandler and Monica's wedding, and Chandler is panicking and doesn't think that he can make marriage work. (Fast forward to 3:51)

Soapbox

2008-10-13T16:23:00.003-05:00

My old boss, former Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa, a republican, has publicly come out in support of Barack Obama. That is the back story for this article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette a week or two ago:

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Leach's activity on behalf of Democrat Barack Obama doesn't please state GOP officials, but they conceded there's little they can do."I don't think he should expect an invite to any of our party functions for the remainder of the election cycle," GOP Executive Director Caleb Hunter said Wednesday. Leach, who was defeated in 2006 after representing parts of Eastern Iowa for 30 years, very publicly endorsed Obama and spoke on his behalf at the Democratic National Convention.Leach is hosting Republicans for Obama events around Iowa today and Friday. In Cedar Rapids, Leach will host a coffee for Republicans supporting Obama. While Leach is free to register as a Republican, Hunter said it might be time for him to consider a party change "if he has decided the party of higher taxes and irresponsible foreign policy and massive increases in government spending is the party for him.""I'd be happy to send him a voter registration form," Hunter said. The party's board will be meeting later this month, Hunter said, and "if they want to take some action, it would be within their purview."

This fool infuriates me. As a republican and a former member of the Iowa state party, I have no problem with Jim endorsing and supporting a candidate who is not one. Being a member of a party does not mean blindly following a party platform, and for those who argue that it does, they're idiots and the reason the public becomes more and more disenfranchised with politics with each election. Jim or myself or anyone else should be free to pick any candidate they want to support and work for their election, and railing against that in the media makes you a hack. They are the reason party membership and participation is plummeting and politics is seemingly more and more polarized. It's not that those in the middle are a shrinking population; it's that those on the fringe yell louder and have more outrageous (and therefore quotable) soundbites.

And for being chairman of the state party, he's pathetically unaware of the fact that his party has spent through the roof for the last 7 years, and has been anything but the model of fiscal restraint. These are the people who give republicans a bad name.

Whew, that was therapeutic.

New Friday routine

2008-10-09T20:25:00.003-05:00

This is very much a "Kristin" story. Two Fridays ago, I came home right after work and had a few things I needed to get done that night. Instead, I laid down on my couch and fell asleep. When I woke up it was dark. I looked at my watch and it was 11 PM - I fell asleep at 5! That was one heck of a nap! But it was 11, so what was I supposed to do? I put my pajamas on, and went to bed. I fell aslep around midnight and slept until 7. It was incredible. That was 13 hours of sleep, and because I got up so early on Saturday I was super productive. By 10:30, I had done 3 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made a yummy breakfast, watched some Jon & Kate plus 8 and College GameDay, and packed for my weekend in cities. It was amazing. I felt so rested, but usually that only happens on days I sleep in, and then I feel a little guilty because so much of the day gets away from me.
I've since decided that I should do this every week - the problem being that it requires me to go to bed at 5 PM on a Friday night. I don't think that's realistic. And it won't happen tonight considering that I have registration for 140 middle schoolers from 7 to 8. Maybe next week.

It's a Party - or rather a Fiesta!

2008-10-08T17:20:00.003-05:00

Finally!!! After two years of casually looking, four months of intentionally shopping for, and one month after ordering, I am finally the proud owner of Fiestaware dishes. I found a color I liked online, but couldn't find it in a store anywhere, so I ordered one place setting on September 6th. I decided if I like it I would then order the other 7. Well, it's over a month later, and Linens n Things was still awaiting inventory. Last week, Herberger's had their 5 piece setting on sale for $21.97 (They're usually anywhere from $26 to $48 a set), and I couldn't wait any longer. So I scratched the original plan.
I now have four settings each of shamrock and ivory, and I love them.

Sometimes I forget, and I'm actually surprised when I open the cupboard door. This week, the pieces are buy one get one free, so I'll be getting some of the little fruit bowls, and possibly salad plates. I'm looking forward to expanding the collection.

Too Much to Post

2008-10-07T23:11:00.004-05:00

I think it's already been established that I'm a little bit of a dork, but in case there was any question, you should know that I have a post-it note stuck to my laptop with an (ongoing) list of things to post about. It's not that life is so uneventful that there's nothing to write about, it's that there is so much stuff going on, that I don't find the time to write about it. Bad excuse, I know, but an excuse nonetheless. (I don't know if a time will come in my life when I won't be amazed that nonetheless is all one word - interesting). I decided I'd knock off a couple of the items on the list that don't take a lot of words.

First of all, my friend, Amy (actually, Amy's husband, Lee) figured out how to put video on their blog, and when I was last talking to them about this, I told them that I'd like the girls (their two daughters who are the ones in the pictues with me to the right of the page) to do a video shout-out to me. This is what I found yesterday when checking the blog:

Aren't they just the cutest things? I don't know if I could love them more if they were my own children. I love watching the videos, but it makes me miss them even more. Oh, well, they're the perfect excuse to go visit my favorite city.

Okay, well I just looked at the list, and in typical Kristin fashion, the other posts will be of subsequent length, so they will have to wait until another day. If, for no other reason, because it's 11:18 and I have to finish Junior High youth group small group questions for tomorrow night. Eek. Haven't procrastinated like this since college. Now I remember why I didn't like it.

The Croup is here to stay, it seems

2008-09-22T23:45:00.002-05:00

Well, we're going on day #18 of the cough, and while it isn't as often or as bad, it's still there. It's just like a nagging visitor who over stays their welcome. Not that this was ever welcome, but you get the point. It is, however, getting better, so I feel like going back to the doctor would be futile because he'd just say, "well, you seem to be getting better which is a sign that your body is fighting the virus." (See, I could be a doctor) And my body isn't fighting it as fast as I'd like, but what's a girl to do?
I made pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. First time I've ever purchased or prepared pork. I'm generally not a pork fan because it is usually bland and dry. But this was a pre-marinated roast (which solves the bland problem), and being a tenderloin, I thought I could make sure when I cooked it that it didn't get dried out. Success! It was delicious. I got some fresh green beans from the farmer's stand in the Century 21 parking lot and have discovered that I love Italian Bread, so that capped off a delightful dinner. Actually a chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone from DQ capped of a delightful dinner. That roommate of mine is a bad influence.

Quilts Galore

2008-09-16T19:27:00.014-05:00

Saturday was the 18th Annual Inspiration Point Quilt Auction, and my very first auction. It was a good time. A lot of money was raised for camp, I saw a lot of familiar faces, hung out with some friends who came to help, and even learned the names of a few quilting patterns. After seeing my first auction, I feel a lot better and am a lot more excited for next year's event. My friend, Sara, who is the media coordinator at camp was there and took some great pics. Since I don't often include pictures (which is because my camera's broken, in case you're wondering), I thought I'd treat you all. Enjoy!

Waiting for the auction to begin

Tara and I took a little break from folding, unfolding, and throwing quilts on display racks to pie out for the camera.

These boys were such good sports. Whatever we gave them to display, they did, and with great big smiles. Actually, they kind of make this look work.

Auction in action. "Five, five, can I get a ten? Anybody at ten?"

Boy, I learn quick.

Greg made (his first ever) apple pie to give to someone who came, and she donated it to be auctioned. The pie raised over $1,300, and I think Greg thinks he's now quite the baker.

Me and "E". That's not blog-speak, that's actually what I call her. E is Greg and Janet's daughter, and getting to know her and hang out with her has become one of the things I love most about living in Fergus Falls.

My first auction was quite the success. I'm looking forward to my next.

It's a virus

2008-09-15T19:27:00.002-05:00

Thankfully, it's not bronchitus. Unfortunately, there's no medicine to make it better. The doctor said if it doesn't get better in a week, I have to go back. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

The Croup

2008-09-15T14:49:00.003-05:00

When I was home over labor day, I was sneezing a lot - which is usually my indicator that I'm getting sick. The day after I got home, I started coughing. My voice was mannish in the morning, but other than that, the cough was no big deal. That didn't last long. By the second day, the cough was getting more intense, but it was that really annoying kind where nothing happens when I coughed. I didn't have any other symptoms, so I was pretty certain it was just a minor cold/cough. Well, that was 14 days ago, and since then, the cough has become very deep, phlegmy, and non-stop. I have affectionately been referring to it as the whoop (short for whooping cough) or the croup. I bit the bullet, and finally made a doctor's appointment today. I'm a little nervous because it's reminiscent to me of the only other time I had bronchitus, and that medicine was awful. I see the doc in 20 minutes. I'll let you know what he decides.

Are You Ready for Some Football??!!

2008-09-08T21:56:00.002-05:00

I've spent most of the last couple days watcing football. Week two of college football proved to be a good one. Iowa won, the Big Ten went 11-0. Sunday was the first day of the NFL season, and some friends came over after church to watch some ball. I also made an absolutely delicious apple crisp. It was perfect. The Colts game was a disappointment, but the Cowboys won, and my fantasy team did well. For Monday Night Football tonight a bunch of us went over to a friend's house and watched Aaron Rodgers silence all the critcs. I'm, by no means, a Packers fan, but it was fun to see him play. He's good. Tomorrow's the first in three days with no football games, so I'm not sure what to do with all that free time. I should have a new netflix by then. :-)
I discovered that Mad About You is on TVLand at 6:30 in the morning, and my outdated TV can't pre-record with digital cable, so my new resolution is to wake up at 6:30, turn on the TV and press record, and shower while it tapes. That way I'm out of the shower by the time it's over. I watch Mad About You (without the commercials because I can fast forward) while eating my breakfast and letting my hair dry so it doesn't take so long to blow dry. Genius. I love it when plans like that fall so perfectly into place.

I'm easy to please.

Now I'm a Blogging Machine

2008-09-06T17:35:00.002-05:00

Now with having internet in my living room, I'm all over this. Two days in a row of posting - can't remember the last time that happened.
Good news, bad news on the cable front. The bad news is that the Big Ten Network didn't broadcast the Iowa game, which means I didn't get to witness the 42-0 shutout over Florida International. More importantly, I didn't get to witness the used-to-be second string quarterback start and play the whole game - apparently quite well. He threw for 162 yards and 3 touchdowns, so I'll just have to wait til next week to see him. The good news is I found TLC. I won't bore you with where it was, but I watched two episodes of Jon & Kate plus 8, and one episode of What Not to Wear. It was a good afternoon.
Now I'm making some dinner, and as it's coming together, I'm getting pretty excited about it. Donna Jean and I went to Granite City when I was home, and I had a dish that I decided I could make at home. Tonight is the test of that. If it turns out good, I'll tell you what it was, if not, I won't divulge it until I perfect it. It would probably taste better on new Fiestaware, but I won't know because I ordered it today, but it won't ship for 15 to 30 days. Guess I'll have to wait til then.
I'm not sure if tonight will be the usual Saturday night bowling and Big Chief (truck stop we go to afterwards to play rook and eat pie), as it's my first Saturday in Fergus since last May, but I guess I'll wait to see if I get a call.
Cowboys kick-off at 3 tomorrow afternoon, so that will take most of my afternoon. Bring on the football season!

Life Certainly Does Go On - Quite a Bit of It

2008-09-05T19:03:00.000-05:00

Well, there's a lot since July to update on, but the most notable thing from today is that cable and internet were installed in my apartment today. After not having either for the last 15 months, I can't get enough. The roomie and I (that's right - I have a roommate) decided to go with digital cable, and it is impressive. So many options. Plus they have a thing called Cable On Demand where they have 15 or 20 channels where they save their best shows and you can watch them any time. Although I'm frustrated because when the cable guy was here, I saw that TLC was one of the channels, and I had him show what shows were available and there at least 10 episodes of Jon & Kate plus 8 and 5 episodes of What Not to Wear. Now I can't find it. I read the manual, and it doesn't help. It does show all the channels that are supposed to be available and I only can find 2/3 of them, so I know they have to be somewhere. I'm waiting to have someone else help me, and if they can't find it, them I'm going to have to call the cable company.

Other than cable the big event of the week was that I turned the big 27. I spent the whole day at camp, then had a youth group meeting, youth group, and then went to Applebee's with some friends. It was all good, but that meant I couldn't answer my phone the whole day. All these wonderful people called me to wish me a happy birthday, and the day after my birthday (yesterday) I lost my voice, so I haven't been able to call them back. I've been sick this past week, and today I took half a sick day. Coughing is so annoying.

Tomorrow Iowa plays Florida International. My co-workers have dish, which means they get the Big Ten Network, and I've been told that I could watch it at their house. I'm also tossing around the idea of going to Fargo and trying to find my new dishes. I'll wait til I get them to tell you more about them. Stay tuned.

Life Goes On

2008-06-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

Quite a bit has happened in the last three weeks, and the upcoming weeks are packed with activity as well. The hard part about all of this is that there have been good moments, packed with smiles and laughing and a few funny stories, but I feel like just posting those would not be an accurate picture of what a day looks like for me now. But on the other side of that, I don't want to be some mopey, sad person - especially on a blog, which is not meant for airing grievances. Life does go on, and the world continues to turn, and I am back in a routine. Albeit a routine that is frequently interrupted with bouts of sadness, memories, and tears, but I get through each day.

I have planned my vacation for after the summer, and will go to DC for a day or two and then drive down with Amy and her family to Myrtle Beach. I am very excited for this. Not only is it good to just be at the beach and relax after a long, hard summer, but it will also be good to be with those people in a time that I know will be hard for me as I transition from the constant business of being at camp to going back home. I've been at camp for two full weeks now - Junior High and 5th and 6th graders, and just taking a few minutes each day to go sit on the bench in front of my office and watch and listen to the joy that occurs around me has brought me great comfort - and purpose.

Next weekend is the first family camp. I love family camp, but I'm especially excited for this one because two families who I've gotten to know very well and love very much will be coming up - the Jonas' and the Cornells. It should be a good time. (Dave, if you're reading this, I promise not to knock Catch Phrase out of your hand again :-)) The weekend after that is a long one - we're done with camp Thursday afternoon, so I'm going to Bismarck! I will drive there on Thursday afternoon and stay until (early) Sunday morning. I'm really looking forward to seeing Jeromie and Missy, Drew, and Abbie. We always have so much fun when we're together and I don't doubt that this will be any different.

I learned how to play horseshoes this week. I'm not that good yet, but I'm going to work at it until I'm at least decent. At one point, when I was throwing the shoe (is that what it's called?) I pulled my arm back, and as I brought it forward to release it, the edge of it got caught on my leg - right above my knee - and now I have a very large and very ugly bruise there. It was entertaining for my friends watching. Not so much entertaining for me.

I was really excited to make a smoothie this morning. It's hard to make food on the weekends, because I'm only home for four meals (Friday supper, and the three meals on Saturday) so I don't want to go to the store to buy food because it will inevitably go bad, but at the same time, I love cooking and don't want to eat out four times on a weekend, so it's hard. But, I had all the ingredients for a smoothie - none of which were expired - so I was pumped. I put the OJ, yogurt and frozen fruits in the blender, and pressed the "liquefy" button, only to hear the blender make a "unnnnhhhhh" sound and not do any kind of blending. In my usual "I will figure this out and fix it" way, I proceeded to press different buttons, take the pitcher off and re-snap it in multiple times. Then I took the pitcher off to see if it spun without it on there, and it did. My mind then clicked in to 5th grade scientific process mode as I began to test one variable at a time to find the weak link. I took the whole thing apart and began testing it one piece at a time. Everything worked, and the next step was putting the blade on the spinning apparatus to see if that worked. I pressed the on button only to have the (very sharp) blade go spinning off the blender into the air. Boy that was stupid. I just stood there for a second, shocked, and thought to myself, "how did I think that was going to turn out?" Then I thanked the Lord that I was not covered in cuts or without an eye.

I don't think that's a very good story to end this post with, but I feel as this has been long enough and cannot think of another story (I'm sure there are some, but because that just happened a few hours ago, it's fresh in my mind.)

The Greatest Man I Ever Knew

2008-06-09T20:27:00.001-05:00

Today was the day I have been dreading my entire life - the day we buried my beloved Grandpa. He passed away on Thursday morning, and while I always knew this day would come, it truly is harder than I could have imagined. I have never loved someone as much I love him, or been loved more than I was by him. He is so very special to me, and anything good that comes from me can be credited to this wonderful man. He taught me so much - from how to do long division, to how to fish, to what it meant to put others before yourself. Grandpa loved talking - at great length - but he was a man who first and foremost taught all "life lessons" through example and backed those up with his words. I haven't begun to process all of this yet, and what the next days, weeks, months and years will look like for me without him in them, and I could go on for days and days with wonderful stories - which I may do in subsequent postings - but today I mourn. I mourn the loss of a man who gave the world's most amazing hugs. I mourn the man who taught me what it meant to have a dream, follow it, work hard for it, and wholeheartedly thank those who made it possible (most of the time, that was him). I mourn the man who instilled in a me truth that I was a person who deserved to be honored and respected and not settle for anything less. I mourn that my children, his great-grandchildren, and my husband will never know the man who who showed their wife and mother what it means to be spouse and parent.
And in the midst of sadness that I cannot begin to articulate, I look back at today and can point out moments throughout the day where God made His presence so very apparent to me and reminded me that while I may not have my Grandpa here with me any more, he truly was a gift from God and the love that mt Grandpa poured over me for nearly 27 years pales in comparison to the love the Lord joys in showering me in. Above all, I am thankful that I had the time that I did and the relationship that Grandpa and I had. It can never be duplicated, but it will never be forgotten.
Gramps, I love you more than I know and miss you more than I could ever say.

Lifeguard

2008-05-25T21:37:00.000-05:00

As of today, I am officially a certified lifeguard. I've taken classes the last two days and passed all my tests. I am also certified in First Aid and CPR, so if any of you fall unconcious, I can help. Although I hope that never happens.

Triathlon

2008-05-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well, exactly one week ago right now I was doing some warm-ups for the triathlon. I am thankful to admit that the weather was better than last year, although that wouldn't take much. I was optimistic because it didn't seem that windy, but from watching the weather reports, I knew it was just going to get more and more windy as the morning progressed.
The 500 yard swim was the first leg of the race, and that only went okay. Normally, the first 50 or so I feel kinda stiff, but then after that, I sail and it goes pretty smoothly. But I just didn't feel right the whole time. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't feel that it went as well as it could have. After you've finished swimming, you run outside to where the bike is parked and this is part of your total time. I was kind of irritated because there were these two people walking from the pool through the the transition area (very slow, I might add) who would not move out of my way. All the time were yelling at them, but they were clueless. While it doesn't make a huge difference, it still grates on me.
When I finally got to my bike, I had to throw on all my clothes over my swimsuit, and that didn't go smoothly either. Because I was all wet, everything kept sticking. Either way I got on my bike and was determined to shatter last year's bike time. I felt great. I was sailing (once I knew the time and did the math, I realized this was the fastest I had ever ridden a bike in my life) for the first 6 miles with the wind at my back. I knew there was a little bit of a breeze, but I didn't think it was that much. I was wrong. It was like de ja vu. When I did the u-turn at the halfway point to bike back, the wall of wind nearly stopped me. I couldn't believe it. While the wind wasn't as strong as last year, it was almost harder because it was gusts. So sure enough, as soon as I would shift up to go harder a huge gust of wind would fly in my face, and there's no way to anticipate that. I had decided before the race that the bike was the most integral part of the race and the leg where I could make up the most time difference, so no matter what, I was going to push it as hard as I could on the bike. And I did, but to the detriment of my hamstring and glut muscles because they began cramping with about 2 miles left of the bike.
By the time I finished biking and began the run, my legs were already sore and my muscles were fatigued, so I ran really slow. I tried to kick it as much as I could for the last 200 yards or so, but you probably couldn't tell by watching me.
My goal time was 1:40, and I finished in 1:42. I know 2 minutes shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it is to me. I worked really hard and trained for four months with that goal in mind, so I am rather discouraged now. I'm not sure exactly what to think or if I will do it again. I'm kind of ambivalent at this point and waiting for the passage of time to erode my frustration. It's a week later, how do you think I'm doing so far?

Back Home - Whatever that means

2008-05-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if it's home or not, but I'm back in my state of residence - Minnesota. DC was incredible. It was pretty low key, which was why it was so enjoyable, I think. My flight got in on Friday night and I went to dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant with three of my friends from Bible Study. It was good just to sit and laugh and catch up. Oh, how I miss them (you will see that that will be the theme throughout this post). I went to Amy's on Friday night to the warm reception of a very excited 7 and 4 year old, and we laughed and played and I kept them up past their bedtimes, which was fun for me. Nia woke me up on Saturday morning, and we watched cartoons together in my bed (Translation: Nia crawled up into bed with me and watched cartoons while I slept with my arm around her so we were "cuddling"). The girls left for swim lessons, then my friends Jackie and Mary showed up at Amy's house and the four of us packed the car and got everything ready for the Kenny Chesney concert. We drove to Baltimore - and even if that had been the entirety of the trip, I would have been content. The four of us have such a fabulous time when we're together and laugh a lot. We picked up right where we left off and it was like nothing has changed - even though everything has. We told stories about the good-old Leach office days and got kinda nostalgic.
We got the tailgating parking lot at 12:30 - apparently, 3 1/2 hours late, because the lot was packed. We got a spot in the corner of the lot under an overpass, which wasn't as fun as being in the middle of all the pandemonium, but we made due. We tailgated for a few hours, while the sun began to come out from behind the clouds, and by the time we went in to the concert at 5:30, it was a gorgeous day. Sun shining, 70 degrees. Perfect. We saw the last 20 minutes of LeAnn Rimes (she was only okay), Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn and Kenny Chesney. It was a very entertaining show, and we had a blast. The show ended around 11:30, and we stayed at a really nice hotel in Baltimore.
The original plan for Sunday was to go to a nice brunch somewhere, but because it was Mother's Day, they were all booked, so we did the continental breakfast thing in our room. Mary and Jackie went down and gathered lots of different kinds of foods, and the four of us sat in pj's and chatted some more. That is a favorite activity of ours.
When we got back to DC on Sunday afternoon, I spent it playing with the girls. Then I went to church with my friends and was reminded of how much I miss them and that church. I love the church I go to now, but it's like comparing apples and oranges, and I miss it. Oh, and the weather was atrocious on Sunday. Pouring rain all day.
I woke up Monday morning to more rain and puddles everywhere - which was interesting when it came time to walk Nia to her bus stop. Caty had rainboots, but I did not, and my feet were soaked. Amy and I dropped Caty off at school, then went to breakfast at Panera (yummmm, cinnamon crunch bagel). We did a little shopping and a few errands that morning. I was so excited to go running on the gorgeous bike trail that I miss, but because of the icky weather, I ran on the treadmill in Amy's house. Not as cool. Amy and I went and had manicures and pedicures on Monday afternoon, and that made the entire trip worth it. That felt amazing, and my feet are very thankful.
We picked the girls up from school, did a little more shopping and then took them to dinner at another one of my favorite restaurants. Monday night involved Amy and I watching Jon and Kate plus 8, and me repacking my suitcase because an adorable 4 year old thought it would be fun to rummage through it.
Tuesday morning was hard - saying good-bye to two sad little girls. I rode into Amy's office, and it was fun to be in downtown DC again. There's just an atmosphere that no other place has. Then I metroed to the airport, and that is the end of my trip - and this story.
Now if you're thinking that you would have liked a lot less words and lot more pictures, you should leave a comment on here for Amy to read, because she has all the pictures on her camera, and refuses to send them to me. After working in DC, I know the effectivness of a lobbying campaign.

Glamorous Job

2008-05-08T17:36:00.000-05:00

Today I photocopied, folded, stuffed, and sealed 1300 confirmation letters to send to campers. I'm taking them home to put a sticker on each one. That took most of my day. Oh, and I also wrote an eNewsletter.

Now I'm off to vacation!

I've Been Waiting

2008-05-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

I wanted to wait until I had pictures before I told you about last weekend. It was April 25th-27th and it was our Women's Retreat at camp. This is what it looked like for the 2007 retreat:

Green grass, sunny and warm. And accordinlgy, my weekend was supposed to look like this: Registration on Friday night at camp, a sleepover with my high school girls, Watch the NFL draft and do laundry on Saturday, along with the usual Saturday night bowling and Big Chief (truck stop). Sunday I was off to Grand Forks to do my last church visit of the year, and I was excited because it was one of my favorites last year.

That was what is was supposed to look like, however, this is what it actually looked like:

Couldn't make this up if I tried. The last one is my favorite, just because it's such an unusal sight. Normally, when you look out the dining room window toward the lake, if snow is covering the ground, it is also covering the lake because it's frozen. But the lake has thawed, and even had white caps because the wind was blowing so hard. It was like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. When you walked outside, you could barely see in front of you because of the blowing snow, and and the snow covered the ground up to your knees, with some drifts as high as my hip, so walking was really interesting.

For those of you camp-minded people, the retreat went well. 65 of the 105 women who registered were able to make it, and considering that the interstate was shut down for two days, we called that a good turn out. I didn't end up leaving until Sunday after the retreat was over (which, by then, the roads were fine because it warmed up very quickly on Saturday night and Sunday morning), so my weekend looked nothing like I thought it would.

Now there is no sign of snow anywhere and everything is a lush green. I leave for DC on Friday, where it will be much warmer (hallelujah!) and then a week from Saturday is the triathlon. I'm pretty excited. I have moments of nervousness, but this time it's mostly excitement. Last year I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it, and now that I know I can, I'm just excited at the idea of doing it well/better this year.

Been There - Three Times

2008-04-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

I was logging in to check my hotmail, and I see a link to this article:

The World's Worst Tourist Traps
South of the Border: This cheap vision of Mexican kitsch can be found off Interstate 95 near Dillon, S.C. There’s an amusement park called Pedroland, named after its mascot who speaks heavily accented and broken English; there’s a giant sombrero on a tower; there’s a garish, psychedelically painted T-shirt shop. Unless you want to stock up on fireworks, keep driving.

The article was a list of the ten worst tourist traps in the world, and I noticed this one right away. Matter of fact, I have many pictures of me and two adorable girls on an array of concrete animals. I believe I also have a picture of Pedro and me, but I'd have to dig in the archives for that one.

It should be noted that on my first of three visits to South of the Border, I waited with 400 high school students and 40 adult chaperones in a half paved/half weeded parking lot of a very shady gas station while one of the 5 charter buses in our caravan was worked on by the group of drivers because it broke down while driving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That was the longest trip of my life, and that story is just one piece of a very eventful trek. Hard to believe that after a first experience like that one that I ever returned.

Okay, so I couldn't find any pictures of me and the girls on the animals, but I did find one of me (trying to) take a nap on a concrete dolphin. It's actually more comfortable than you would guess.

Now who wouldn't want to do that?

And the Fun Begins....

2008-04-18T16:31:00.000-05:00

Who has the best boss in the world? He just called (from the airport) to say that because it's so nice here, we should leave early.
So it's 4:30, and I'm outta here........

Injured

2008-04-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

A lot of people sustain injuries at the Y. Now you can add me to that list - but with an uncommon injury. I was walking up to the workout area, carrying my iPod, phone, keys, water bottle and magazine. I'm still not quite sure what happened, but I think I caught my toe on the step - either way, I was falling, with hands full so nothing to catch myself with except one thumb. I watched it bear all the weight and then pop/bend in an awkward manner as it gave way to the weight. I took a couple seconds to regroup, stood up, reassured the concerned children who saw the fall that I was okay, and finished walking up the stairs. I stretched, rode the bike, and then ran a little, the whole time my thumb is throbbing because of all the blood pumping. It hurt so badly when I got home. And I felt like kind of a wimp, because it's essentially a jammed thumb - until I realized that it could only be compared to a jammed thumb if a ball hit someone with the same force of my entire body weight. Today it is extremely sore and all brusied around the joint.
And because it's me, the story doesn't end there. I made an egg casserole last night - which sounded like a great idea at the time. I woke up this morning, and with eyes half closed, trudged to the kitchen, turned on the oven, and pulled the casserole out of the fridge - forgetting about the thumb. It could not sustain the weight of the glass dish, and all it's contents, so those contents flew everywhere. Pan upside down. Egg everywhere. On the floor. On the rug. Splattered all over the inside of my fridge. Disaster. I cleaned it up - and because I just cleaned my floor yesterday, was able to salvage some of it to bake - threw the rugs in the washing machine, and proceeded on with my day - with a handicap.
Before you start thinking about what a whiner I am - I suggest you try to go one day where you can't use your thumb. It's extremely difficult. Bet you can't unbutton your pants - that was a challenge.
Oh, and for all you who are visual, Kara Anderson helped me take pictures so you could see what the thumb looked like.

And in case you think I just have fat fingers, I also had Kara do a comparison picture (which, for some reason, makes my one arm look more tan than the other)

I can hear my grandpa's voice in my head: "These are things that only happen to you."

Finally!

2008-04-15T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't want all my posts to be about the weather, but I feel obligated since I was so cranky in the last one to update you on the next couple days. Today it's 60 and sunny - but don't get too excited for me because there are 40 mph winds, which takes away from it a little bit. But, this weekend, it supposed to be high of 65, and sunny both days - Yeah, baby! I think I'm going to have to find someone with a deck and a grill and begin a favorite summer activity. I have a deck, but no grill - which is fine because even if I did own a grill, we're not allowed to have them on the deck because they're made of some plastic composite stuff that is highly flammable. Or something. Anyway, I'm very happy about this new weather - and am hoping it's here to stay.
I had a fabulous - and exhausting - weekend. The HIT basketball tournament, where LBers come from miles around to play, was this weekend. I had four people staying at my (not very clean) house, and I felt really bad because I didn't clean it before they came and I didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping. I was a pretty awful host, which is kind of a bummer because I really like hosting. A ton of the camp summer staff was there, so it was good to see them, and there were some friends from back in the day that I hadn't seen in eons (does anyone actually know how long an eon is?), so that was fun to catch up. Saturday began with the first game at 8 AM, and the championship ended at 8:15. Eight games, twelve teams, and 60 miles driving from gym to gym later, I was wiped.
Sunday morning, I left my house at 6:45 AM to be to Mayville, North Dakota for a church presentation. I had lunch with a former camp board member and heard stories "from back in the day," then drove to Fargo for a youth workers training seminar. Even though all I wanted to do was get home, I decided that I needed to take advantage of being in Fargo and take the opportunity to shop at a real grocery store. **P.S. I heart Hornbacher's** I'm going to Barnesville this weekend, and thinking it would be worth it to drive the extra 20 miles west from there to go back again. By the time I got home at 9:30, it was all I could do to put the groceries away and hold my head up while I brushed my teeth. Time of sleep: 10:06 PM.
And that was my weekend.

I HATE this weather!!!

2008-04-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

April 10th, and now begins a winter storm (it's technically spring, by the way) which will bring 8-10 inches of snow. The snow is predicted to start falling at 6 PM (it's a little early), and continue until 3 PM tomorrow afternoon! There are no words to describe how absurd this is.
I was supposed to have a productive evening and day off tomorrow with a lot of errand running, but now, I'm just going to watch a movie at Sara's, possibly get snowed in at her place, and come in to work because there will be no use trying to drive around Fergus tomorrow (also because I have too much stuff to get done). Not to mention that this dumb weather is stopping a number of my favorite people from traveling up to Fergus this weekend (that would be you, Cornells). Oh, and my triathlon is in 4 weeks, and my bike is still suspended from the rafters in my garage because I haven't been able to take it down yet.

I cannot live like this any more!!!!!!!!

It's like I'm 7 all over again

2008-04-08T17:15:00.000-05:00

Imagine my excitement to check my hotmail this morning, and find this link:

http://music.msn.com/music/blockwatch?GT1=7702&silentchk=1&

Could it possibly be true??? Is New Kids on the Block (or as I referred to them as, NKOTB) reunited? I think this is what my parents generation hoped for with the Beatles. Or, more realistically, how my mom felt when we went to a David Cassidy concert in the late 80's.
Regardless of how cool or lame you may think this, it's fabulous news to me, and I'm very much looking foward to their next album. If, for no other reason, to channel childhood enthusiasm and sense of nostalgia.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2008-04-07T18:20:00.001-05:00

After being a loyal xanga-er for almost five years now, I've decided it's time to switch. I got tired of all the junk on there. Plus, it's easier to put pictures and things on this one. Not that I have all that many pictures to put up considering my camera seems to be broken beyond repair, but, you know, when that day comes that it's fixed, my new blog will be ready.

I spent the weekend in Bismarck, ND with Jeromie, Missy, and Drew Taylor and Kaitlyn Cornell. To check out what part of the weekend looked like (including a first for Drew), check out ndhawkeyes.blogspot.com.

This is looking like it will be a pretty low-key week, but we'll see. Stay tuned!