Two Years Gone By

Jason and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Aug. 19th. We spent the weekend prior to in Minneapolis (Sat.-Sun.) We got a super good deal on a really nice downtown hotel and we had MN Twins tickets that one of my friends gave to us. She got them from her employer and they were great seats! We also did a little downtown shopping, which was fun. We strolled along Nicolett Mall and Hennepin Avenue. I'd never been downtown Mpls. for any amount of time. In the past it was just to drive through to get from point A to point B. We're going to try to make the little trip an anniversary tradition. We really enjoyed the time together, just hanging out and going with the flow.

Cait's Birthday Party

Sometime at the end of July we had a birthday party for Cait at The Plaza hotel here in town. I think in total there were 12 or 13 girls there. At first I doubted my decision to have all those girls. I envisioned them running all over the hotel and complaining of being bored, etc., but it turned out really well. Everyone was very well behaved and they had a lot of fun. That was probably the last "big" party that she'll have...at least until she's 16. :-) Here's a picture of Cait with her best frend Lydia.

This Goofball is 12!

Cait turned 12 on 7/3. Hard to believe...almost a teenager! This picture was taken a few weeks ago at her ballclub's Fever Fest. The rally caps worked--they ended up coming from behind to win the game (but the girls looked pretty silly out there on the field with upside down visors).

Her birthday was a nice day. After her tennis lesson that a.m. I picked her up and took her back to the office with me for a little while. Then we went to lunch at Noodles & Company. She had mac & cheese and I had buttered noodles. What else are you supposed to get at Noodles & Company? After that we went to finish her birthday present shopping--I didn't have time to squeeze it in beforehand so we finished together. We went to Scheel's to get another pair of athletic shorts (red). Then we went to Borders to get a book or 2. I forget the name of the book that she found, but it's excerpts from several children's diaries during the Holocaust. For the last couple of years she's taken some interest in the subject, and she thought this book would be especially neat because the writings are of children ages 10-18. She has already read Anne Frank's diary and really enjoyed that. Anyways, after Borders we picked up her friend Lydia and they came back to the house for a little while until I was done with work. Then I took them to the pool until 8 and we came home and had tacos (at Cait's request) and DQ cake for dessert.

It was a good day. :o)

Happy Father's Day!

I called my dad this a.m. to wish him a Happy Father's Day...I love him dearly and miss him a LOT! Sometimes I wish he didn't live so far away, but I know he's very happy in good ol' Louisiana. Hopefully soon we'll be able to go visit them!

And Father's Day wishes go out to all the other dads that I know--Jason, for one, who's been a great step-dad to Cait; my Gramps in Waupaca; my brother, who is an awesome dad to my niece and nephew; all of my uncles who at many times treated me like one of their own; and everyone else out there who has taken on the role of dad in one way or another.

Ready, Set, GO!!

I think our shoes will be moving a little faster than this! Here's what we've got cooking over the next few weeks...

May 3: Wedding in Tilden/Bloomer
May 4: Flower/shower shopping
May 6: Cait softball game
May 9: Cait softball game
May 10: "Mudder's" Day ride
May 11: Mother's Day
May 12: Cait softball game
May 13: Cait softball game
May 17: Work concession stand/bridal shower/bachelorette party
May 20: Cait softball game
May 22: Cait softball game
May 23-26: Memorial Day weekend/Thrift Sale
May 30: Peggy's rehearsal/dinner
May 31: Peggy's wedding

And THAT is just the month of May! In June there will be more softball, a short trip to Milwaukee/Chicago (Twins v. Brewers in Milwaukee and Six Flags in Gurnee) and the Stine family reunion in Waupaca. I don't remember being this busy...ever. :o) Somewhere I'll also find the time to do the day-to-day stuff...cleaning, laundry, yardwork, etc., etc.

I guess I better get some rest tonight! Have a fantastic weekend...

Happy, happy, happy...

BIRTHDAY! Today's the day. The big 2-9. My boss told me today that this is the first of many 29th birthdays. :o) I don't feel older, I guess that's good. It was a pretty mello day...it started with the cat tipping over the flowers that Cait got me...at 5:00 a.m. That was not cool. Then I was off to work, where shortly after I arrived one of my co-workers whisked in with a cake. I love cake. Cake is my vice. It's bad. But I ate it anyways...it's my birthday! After that I went about my day, enjoying many "Happy Birthday!"s throughout the day. And guess what I found waiting for me when I got home? CAKE. Cake. My dear little Cait made me a cake after school today. She went to the grocery store to buy the mix, frosting and decorations. She even went to the neighbor's to "borrow" 3 eggs because we don't have any! (The neighbors are one of her friend's grandparents--no worries!) She also paid $2.00 for the eggs! HA! That was funny. Now Cait and Jas are at basketball practice and will be home shortly after 8:00 with my dinner...Wendy's. I know, try to contain yourselves. It was too much to try to get out for dinner tonight. Jason and I went out to eat on Friday after work (to TGIFriday's, mind you) to celebrate my birthday. All I knew was I wasn't cooking tonight! Wendy's has that salad, I forget exactly what its called...southwest-rancho-taco-something salad. It's YUMMAY. So, that'll be my dinner. 'Til next time...

Me and my cake:

My pretty flowers:

Let me take you back...

Phew! It's been a long time since I've posted. Here's what we've been up to:

December 11: Jason's cousin, Leah (25), passed away unexpectedly of a brain anyeurism. It was a very, very sad time for everyone who knew Leah. She's was a bright young lady, a wife, mother of 2 little guys, and a good friend to many, many people. Her funeral was on the 18th at the Hayward Wesleyan Church. What a showing of love and support! Anyone who knew Leah doesn't have anything but beautiful memories of her. She'll be missed!! Here's a picture of Leah and I from our wedding, and one of Leah and her two boys.

December 21: On Friday we headed south to the Chicago area to spend a weekend with Jason's family on his dad's side. We stayed with his Uncle Pat and and his wife Sandy. They were gracious enough to give up their home for the weekend to several who decided to bunk there. I'm not sure how many were around total. Some came and went; some stayed the whole weekend. It was nice being able to visit in such a casual environment without a real timeline. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights and headed home Sunday morning.

December 23: We left Lake Zurich, IL at about 9:00 a.m. The sun was shining, but it was windy. (Some may recall watching the Packers/Bears game. THAT was the day we were traveling.) Things seemed okay until just south of Madison...then it was really windy. No snow actually falling, but blowing like mad. It was okay though...we were doing good. We talked about getting off the interstate in Madison to see if it would pass, then hit the trail back home. We decided to push on. Until Wisconsin Dells. When you're going 10 mph on the interstate, there's a problem. There were cars, trucks, and semis in the ditches all over the place-left and right. A little less than 5 hr. trip from IL to home turned into 4 and we weren't even half way. We decided to get a hotel and spend the night and hit it early Monday (Christmas Eve) morning. that kind of threw a wrench in things, and I had a lot of tasks to complete that Sunday afternoon. Now pushed to Monday, I was not a happy camper!

December 24: We got home at about 9:30 a.m. We didn't even unload the car and I was off to work. I worked until noon then went to the mall, Wal-Mart, and TJ Maxx to finish my shopping. I came home and finished wrapping, unpacked, washed a couple of loads of laundry, packed again and we were off to Hayward! We spent Christmas Eve at Jason's mom's house. Christmas Day we lounged around in the a.m., then we went to Jason's brother's/grandma's for Christmas dinner.

December 25: 7:00 p.m. WE'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if I was ever so happy to be back home. Although I had a million and one things to do, I told myself I was going to unload the car and hop in the tub! And that's just what I did. I didn't unpack, I didn't put things away, I didn't do any laundry. NOTHING. And it felt good. :o)

December 26: Back to normal, somewhat. Jason and I were both back to work. And, for me anyways, it was quite welcome!

December 29/30: This past weekend I took our Christmas tree down. For whatever reason, I felt the need to clean up all of the Christmas decorations pretty early. I think I had just had enough of this year's festivities! Our tree was pretty, though. We went to a tree farm and tromped around in the snow, picked it out, cut it down, and drug (dragged? Karen, what is the proper word here?) it out of the woods oursevles.

We thought we were smart when we were loading the tree on top of the car. Cait was inside so she could feed the twine through...but, oops! The car doors were shut and she had rolled the windows down to string the twine through. We didn't realize until we got home that she was roped in the car! She couldn't open door until we snipped the twine. Here she's trying to chew her way out. Shoulda let her sit in there for a while...hee hee...just kidding!

December 31: Jason and I both worked all day on New Year's Eve. After work I threw some meatballs in the crockpot and boiled some eggs, then I took Cait to her friend's house for a sleepover. Jason got home and we finished the deviled eggs and headed over to Wiegel's for some snacks and visiting. We managed to make it until midnight, but barely! New Year's Day we just hung out at home. I took the day after off as well, just for fun. Cait was back to school on the 2nd, and Jason and I back to work on the 3rd.

January 6: Today! This weekend was pretty uneventful. Yesterday we did some housework in the a.m., then we had a basketball game at 4 (pictures at 3:00 though). Cait's/Jason's team won again! YAY! I think their record is now 4 and 1. Next week they play the toughest team in the league. The "yellow team" happened to be playing while our team was getting pictures taken, so Jason did some scouting...we're on to them! They better watch out! That would be a great victory...but given Cait's last 2 seasons of basketball, this season is already the better of the three, and it's not even halfway through. Today we planned on working in our "scary room" in the basement. There's some old, icky carpet in there, and some junk that the seller said "came with the house". We plan to get it all cleaned up and use it for storage. "Plan" is the key word...that means in the future-good for us since it's 4:30 p.m. and we haven't lifted a finger. :o)

One more time!

Tuesday night I went for "coffee" with my friends Nikki and Peggy. Peggy arranged the meeting and I had a sneaking suspicion what it was all about. Sure enough...Peggy asked Nikki and I to be in her wedding. How exciting! She even gave us a little card and a gift-this handy canvas bag.

I'm glad she asked me...it will be a lot of fun. The three of us get together quite often (I work with Peggy so we get together almost every day), and we've all been good friends for a while. We all met while working at American Title. Nikki has since moved on to be a dental hygienist, but of course we keep in touch. Nikki was in my wedding in August. Peggy wasn't, but looking back I wish I would have had her be a bigger part of it. She was there for everything anyways, but I should have honored her with being a bridesmaid. Oh well. And then both Peggy and I were in Nikki's wedding last October (Me, Nikki, Peggy).

Our Anniversary

Sunday, August 19, was our one year wedding anniversary. The past year sure flew by! I'm looking forward to many, many more anniversaries. We had planned on going to dinner, just the two of us, Sunday evening. By late afternoon I just didn't feel like getting all dolled up to go out to eat and come home miserable because I ate too much. (We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse--it's easy to eat too much there!) So instead we ordered in--we had Famous Dave's. We still ate too much, but at least we could flop on the couch immediately after. After dinner Cait said she was riding her bike to get "something" at the store. After she got home she decided to make brownies. No big surprise--she likes to bake. Soon after the brownies were done she called me into the kitchen (I heard a little commotion with her and Jason in there). Here she had made the brownies, put candles in them, and wrote "Happy Anniversary" on them. She had gone to the store to get the candles and the gel to write on the brownies. What a sweet kid!! :o) Well I didn't think to take a picture, so I pulled the candles out and started cutting away. Then I remembered the camera...so I put the candles back in and lit them again for the full effect. All in all we had a nice, quiet 1st anniversary.