The end of an era (okay maybe just a month)

Well gang, this is all she wrote for the month of blogging everyday. Jessica already did a pretty good wrap up post about the end of the month. I'll just quick write a few bullet points that I remember...

Lots of manhole/personhole pictures

Two forgetful nights where we didn't post. Well one forgetful "Whoops" and one intentional "I'm not blogging tonight, I'm too tired!"

The State Fair and possibly the sweetest picture taken of me ever.

A picture resurfaced.

A trip to heaven....I mean Iowa

Eating until we puked.

The 100th post.

The return of the Garden Series.

Even a very much needed public service announcement.

And I don't think this post would be a good last September post if it didn't have a random picture tacked onto the bottom of it....



Now I'm tired, I'm going to take out the trash, and head to bed. It's going to be awesome. Thanks for reading!!

Pretty darn good

Our quest to blog every day of September is just about coming to a close and I think we have done pretty darn good. We have only missed two days out of the entire month. Dave missed one earlier in the month and I missed yesterday. Rats. I find it difficult to post over the weekends because we are usually on the go and not home long enough to come up with something interesting to write about, or if we are home, I'm too busy baking things like three milk cake to worry about contributing to the tech world.
Something of note from this weekend was my favorite fall activity, something I look froward to for months and months....The APPLE ORCHARD. It was unusually warm so the bees proved to be a problem while trying to consume our apple treats from the bakery, but even they could not deter me from enjoying the much anticipated apple picking. We snagged a great peck of Cortland apples, great for baking, along with homemade caramel dip and apple cider. Now I need to get baking!

From the messed up files of Dave.

It's still Saturday to me!

I've got nothing

It's my turn. It's almost midnight. I've got nothing for you except this super sweet picture of two random people we ran into at a party warehouse. They look familiar you say?? I dont know what you are talking about. 

Two Items for this evening.

1. I FINALLY posted yet another Garden Series entry. It's been a year and a half since the last one. Oh, the Garden series was something I had started on my old blog. I had a community garden plot a few years ago, and I started writing journal entries talking about my experiences. This one is titled Garden VI: The Thieves. Hopefully it'll be sooner than 1.5 years until the next time I post. You can read it here. I have to warn you that it's a little longer than usual.

2. Does anyone think that this thing on the sidewalk looks like the joker? I see it everyday on my walk from the bus stop back to the apartment building.

So far, so bad

I don't mean to be some kind of sob story, but can I just state for the record that having a dry socket sucks? It really does. Oh, it's bad. Can I get a witness? And unfortunately I can only rely on Advil to take the edge off the pain. The problem with the prescribed Vicodin is three fold. 1) It makes me super nauseous when coming down from it. 2) It gives me nightmares. 3) that last reason counts as two. Anyone who knows me, knows that my imagination doesn't need any help from drugs to freak me out! So, it's just me and Advil. 

My Advil, my Advil...wherever I go, heeeeeeee's gonna go. My Advil, my Advil. My Advil and meeeee.

Anyone remember that 80's commercial featuring "My Buddy"? Anyone?

But my husband has been uber great through this whole thing, waiting on me hand and foot, which I could definitely get used to. Hmmm....If I'm still complaining about this in a week, you might have to start to wonder......

"I've been shot already." or "It's a Sweater!"

Since the removal of Jessica's wisdom teeth, we have had the opportunity to catch up on some of our movie watching. Tonight Jessica and I wathed A Bug's Life. (Thanks Anna and Danny for the birthday gift!) We both really liked re-watching this movie. It's funny and light hearted, BUT I did notice an eerie similarity between A Bug's Life and The Three Amigos. Warning: SPOILER ALERT. If you haven't seen these yet, I don't feel bad ruining them for you. It's been at least 10 years for a bug's life and 22 years for The Three Amigos. It's not like I'm telling you Walt Disney's mom dies while you are reading his biography or something. That would be bad. Anyways.....


The Three Amigos: A small mexican town is being bullied by a powerful mean ruler of a gang of bad guys. A few people hire the Three Amigos under the impression that they are in fact real life "gang fighters" when in reality they are movie stars that play "gang fighters" (you think I could think of a better term than "gang fighters". Get over it. I can't.) The people of the town figure out that the Three Amigos are really just movie stars, and the Three Amigos find out that they aren't being hired to perform, but really defend, hilarty ensues, and eventually the whole town gathers together to overcome "El Guapo" and his powerful gang.


A Bug's Life: A group of ants are being terriozed by a powerful grasshopper and his awful gang of notorious bugs. One bug is sent to find a savior for their predicament and ends up hiring a group of circus performers by accidently confusing them for "warriors". Circus performers find out that they aren't being hired to perform, but defend. The ants find out that the circus performers are really performers and not "warriors", hilarity ensues, and eventually the group of ants gather together to defeat "Hopper" and his powerful gang of grasshoppers.

I think tomorrow night we'll see if there is any comparisions with our other movies. Like My Fair Lady and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. If I remember correctly Arnold sings "Just you wait 'enry 'iggins" as he is being lowered into a pool of lava and giving us a thumbs up. Oh there I go again. SPOILER ALERT!!!

I did not!

A fellow blogger has started a "not me" Monday and has invited people to join her in this quest to be brutally honest about things you wouldn't otherwise readily admit to. Since I'm sitting on the couch all hopped up on pain meds, I thought this was a prefect opportunity for my own "not me" Monday.

I did not neglect to take a shower today and instead have been laying on the couch all morning with no end to that in sight. Nope, not me.

I have not gone without brushing my teeth since I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday. That would be so gross. I would never do that.

I did not end up moving out to the couch at 2am because of the pain, took pain meds which give me very creepy dreams and didn't put a dvd of Friends on continuous play while I dozed so I wouldn't be freaked out in the living room all alone. No sir. 

And I'm certainly not having very vivid dreams and then cravings for all kinds of solid foods since I'm pretty much only eating apple sauce right now. That would be ridiculous.

Oh and one more. I did not color a page out of a Barbie coloring book yesterday and totally love it. Never. I would never do that.

Whoops!

It was definitely my turn to blog last night, and I totally forgot! I got sucked into watching The Lost World and I fell asleep. Next thing I know I was in my bed and off to dreamland

This weekend Jessica has been feeling pretty crappy from the removal of her wisdom teeth, so I have kind of felt like I have been playing Mr. Mom. (except we don't have any kids, and Jessica is at home, not working) So pretty much the only thing that I feel similar about Mr. Mom is that I have a beard and I'm making Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with my iron.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I'm going to tell you about the bad and the ugly first and save the best for last.

The Bad:

I got my wisdom teeth out today.

The Ugly:

Reader beware: this may be too much information for some. 

The anesthesia didn't agree with me and I threw up in the car on the way home. The humerus part about it was Dave drove across 4 lanes of traffic to try to get off the road while rummaging through the back seat for a plastic back for me to puke in. Apparently the Advil didn't agree with me either because I ended up getting sick twice more. So not fun. Although I'm feeling a ton better tonight. 

The Good:

The highlight of the day is when my mom called me to comment on my letter to the editor that got printed in today's paper. Let me give you some background. Yesterday's paper included a front page article with the phrase, "retarded residence" in the headline. I couldn't believe it. I was so outraged that I wrote a letter to the editor and low and behold it got published as today's letter of the day in the opinion/editorial section. Check it out if you can still get a hold of today's Star tribune because it looks cooler in the actual paper, but here it is online if you are interested in reading what I had to say.

The Stash!

So here are a few more man holes that I took pictures of this morning on the way into work. This is all from one block, and one side of the street! I love Minneapolis.

Wordless Wednesday

Here's to 100!!!

Well tonight marks our 100th post on the blog. CRAZY!

Here's a random picture from the Dave and Jessica files to celebrate the event.

A public service announcement

In everyday conversation, if you are referring to this car:



Please be so kind as to pronounce it like you would this animal:


Some of you may be tempted to pronounce this word, as the company often does, as JAG-U-ARE. Please refrain from doing this as it greatly disturbs me. If you are going to have the animal jaguar as your hood ornament, then the least you can do is pronounce it the same as you would the animal. You people at Ford....you know who you are.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Back to the Klondike

Lately, I (Dave) have been really getting into old Walt Disney Uncle Scrooge comic books. The stories are unique, adventureous, and hilarious. There have been a few moments when I see a picture and I actually laugh out loud while reading it. Like someone shooting bullets at Uncle Scrooge and the bullet sailing right through his pitch black top hat, and then the same exact thing happens a couple of panels later. I just sit back and think to myself "Who is able to come up with this stuff?"

I find these stories to be inspirational because Uncle Scrooge is pretty much a cartoon icon that has been around for 50-60 years, and they are still being printed today! I commonly have to put filters on when I'm reading/watching anything that is coming at me ,these days, whether it be a movie in a theater or an ad on a bus sign as it passes me by. I am comforted to know that when I sit down with my book of Uncle Scrooge comics, I can relax, let my guard down, and enjoy a new adventure that Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and the nephews are up to. It reminds me that people are still striving to put out good wholesome material that is engaging and well done.

As a consumer, I am going to strive to support things that are good and deliver entertainment without all the brown that comes along with it. (Even if I do catch a little flack because I enjoy "kid stuff".)

Saturday = baking day

Baking. It's not one of the things I'm particularly talented at, but since I'm all for bettering oneself, I had a light bulb moment the other day. Dave decided that every Saturday morning, he would go help out his dad with his super cool coin op. and electronic business and leave little ole helpless me to fend for myself at the homestead. And then it struck me. This idea was like a bolt of lightening sent straight from sugar land. But not the band. It's that a country band? Anyone? 

I decided that I would turn my Saturday mornings into baking day! Grand idea, no? Today was the first day on my journey through ooey gooey sweet (sometimes chocolaty) treats. My baking/cooking mentor Becky was thankfully by my side every step of the way. We made the down right cutest cut out cookies known to man. Alright, so they look a little plain in this picture, but I did the best I could, ok? And I learned about meringue powder. Fascinating stuff. I liked it so much, I'm now going to use it in all of my baking and cooking for that matter. Meringue powder stir fry, meringue powder spaghetti sauce. The possibilities are endless. Ok, so that's a lie. I actually don't have any idea what else I can use it in besides royal icing. Whatever. 

Fogo De Awesome!

On Tuesday, for my birthday, we went to an all you can eat Brazillian restuarant called Fogo de Chao. It was pretty sweet. 7 of us went, and we all ate way more than we could handle. They had 15 different kinds of meat, and a gigantic salad bar. Their website explains the whole dining experience. You can check it out here. You can also see me overly enjoying myself below. All of these pictures were taken real time, and were not faked in ANY way.








(and yes those are fried bananas)

Back in the saddle

We have been married for 7 months now, and the first few months of our marriage was spent searching for a church that we could call home. Many of you may remember this post describing our excitement with finding a wonderful church to attend. Since going to First Baptist on a regular basis (although it’s been hard to keep it regular during the summer months) we have been talking, thinking and praying about how we can become more involved. Dave and I have always been very involved with church activities, whether that be youth group, Bible studies, volunteering in the nursery, participating on the missions committee or basically anything else we were asked to do. In light of this, it’s been strange and also kind of nice to be sitting on the side lines these past months, not being overly or even slightly committed. But the time is now! We attended the downtown Bible study last night that will be meeting every Wednesday night and I have to admit that I’ve not been able to think about much else since we got home. Sitting in that library with 8 other people talking about what we want out of this group, what we hope to learn and accomplish, I realized how hungry I had become to be in that kind of environment, to be studying God’s word and to have in depth, intelligent conversation about it. It has been a long time and I didn’t realize how much I had missed it. I’m so excited to be challenged in this way, to be apart of a group that wants to be challenged as much as I do, but mostly to dig in deep and really contemplate and meditate on God’s word, His promises, His character. For He has already promised, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Phew.

This is a close one. I was already in bed. I probably should have stayed in bed, but that's alright. Here goes.....

Bought a collection of Uncle Scrooge comics today.

Watched half of Nightmare Before Christmas on Blue-Ray. Sweet!

MAN! I had some sweet plans for this post today. I guess I will have to postpone it until Friday.

Can anyone tell our personalities by the way Jessica and I post?

Back to bed. It's cold in this kitchen!

Good Night!

The big 2-6!

Today my wonderful, amazing, talented, caring, goofy, tall husband turned 26. His birthday celebrations have already spanned several days and tonight a few gathered for more celebrating at a downtown establishment that left me amazed and beyond satisfied - and by that I mean full to the brim, not one morsel more could have possibly entered my body simply for lack of space. Dave will have more on that tomorrow no doubt. I will just leave you with one picture from our meal. Can anyone guess what this is?

Happy Birthday Dave! I love you!

Tiki bars, pet lions, and the Field of Dreams

Last weekend Dave and I went on a mini road trip to the wonderful little town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We got the idea from Chloe who told us the illusive tiki bar we looked for in the James J Hill house was actually in the Brucemore Manor in Cedar Rapids. Since our lives wouldn't be complete unless we saw this tiki bar with our own eyes, we packed up and headed south for the weekend. Unfortunately, because the Brucemore is a historical site, no pictures of the tiki bar could be had, but the grounds were expansive and beautiful.

Along with large, lush gardens, the Brucemore property included a pet cemetery that contained the buried remains of 15 German shepherds and 3, yes 3 lions. Dave is in love with the idea of having pet lions and has already researched the MN laws regarding the ownership of the exotic felines.

This short trip also included a stop in Dyersville to the see the famed "field of dreams" movie site. It was surprisingly crowded. I'm not sure why I was surprised by this, but in my thoughts prior to being there, I imagined us running through the corn field and circling the bases all by ourselves. None such luck. It was neat to see, but we didn't spend much time there.

Our weekend away was much needed time of togetherness, conversation, and fun.
We took along our new Flip video camera, so as soon as the footage is edited, Dave will post it for all to see! Stay tuned.

Overslept!

Well this morning Jessica and I were planning to attend church, and church does not start until 10:50, so we usually don't have to set an alarm because we just wake up with plenty of time to head over there. Next Sunday we'll be setting an alarm! All in all the Sunday turned out to be a pretty good one. We relaxed and then tonight we went over to Jessica's Aunt and Uncle's house for two birthday celebrations and an anniversary. Good times!

Mildly disappointed

Garage Sale Day

Looked for:

Shelf for the living room

Shelf for the kitchen

Art work for the kitchen

Batman Returns

A pop corn pan

Found:

First American edition of JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion

Yann Martel's The Life of Pi

Being able to see Kellie's earrings from a quarter of a mile away: PRICELESS!

Imagine a sweet video

Imagine a sweet, sweet video of Jessica and I talking about how awesome of a time we are having at my parents house. We tried to post it, but for a solid 30 minutes the computer refused to cooperate. Tomorrow is a big day of garage sale-ing and the family is gathered at my parents' house for a sleep over extravaganza!

Homemade Pizzas
Grandparents
Fire in the backyard
Pinball

We'll have more to blog about tomorrow, and we will report on all of our purchases!

Life's not (a) fair!

I recently contemplated how great life would be if instead of going to work everyday, I just spent all day every day at the State Fair. Instead of processing checks and running reports and sitting at my desk all day, my daily activities would include riding the giant slide as many times as I wanted, eating cheese curds and entire buckets of Sweet Martha's Cookies. But I'm sure that by the end of a week, when I was 800 pounds heavier and completely broke, I would be regretting my decision to quit my job and become a fair lifer. What is it about the fair that has me completely mesmerized? Is it the masses of people seemingly all there for the same reason: chocolate covered bacon? Is it that you can walk and walk and walk and never find a bathroom? Or is it the shaved Hawaiian Ice that always turns my mouth red for hours? It's disturbing but I cant be at the fair and not get the shaved ice. Whatever it is...I simply love it. I love the fair!

Personholes march on!

Here's another instalment in the manhole extravaganza. I thought this one was pretty sweet. Man! There are so many covers all over Minneapolis, this project could last for a long time. I think winter is going to take a toll on it, but that's months away ( I hope!)

Take a look at....................THIS!!!!

Feast your eyes

On this:

This is a picture of Dave and I in JUNIOR HIGH. Why did I choose to dig this picture out of the archives to put on display for all the world to see? Because I'm at home sick. Because I have been zapped of all creative juices. Because it's my day to blog and I'm useless without my creative juices. And because despite how incredibly embarrassed I am of the awkward junior high phase, I really do love this picture.

Men who think, read.

Everyone who reads this blog,

Alright so waaaaaaay back in September of 2006, I was writing on another blog that I started. The blog is here. I imagine September 1st was much like today, hot, humid, beautiful. 2 years ago was soooo much different than today. I was not married, I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 dudes (maybe 6 depending on the night), and I worked for mosquito control. Wow. Life changes a lot doesn't it? ANYWAY, back on September 1st 2006, I made a commitment to blog everyday for the entire month of September, and it was really fun. Today Jessica and I are making that commitment again. Everyday for the month of September we are going to blog (or at least try really, really hard to blog). Our plan is to switch every other day. Today is my day.

Reading over the older posts, it seemed like I took more time to blog. I think it wasn't just blogging, but I took more time to ponder, and recap life. I remember I would sit down, in a comfortable chair, with something to drink, put on some music, and write. I took more time for length, detail, and content. Now it seems that my life is more hurried, instead of soaking up little things, I get a more general view of everything. I think I'm still deciding on what I like better. Honestly, I think my goal is to achieve both. Get the large amount of things accomplished, but still take time to smell the roses and enjoy life. OH - don't get me wrong, I LOVE my married life right now. Being married is awesome, awesome, awesome! Currently it seems to be a big blur of awesomeness, and I want some moments of pure slowed down goodness. So, here I am sitting on our comfortable couch, I have the hum of the air conditioner going in my ear, and this is the first time in a long time I'm not blogging at work.

I'm listening to a mix I made for Jessica a few years ago called "Listening is the first and last step". I actually stole the line from an episode of Fraggle Rock, and it has always made me think. The current song is "California Brown and Blue" by Denison Witmer, he's good and laid back. I'm not sure if he is making music still or not, but check him out.

Alright, well I'm off to bed. As you can see on the sidebar, I have lots of Les Miserables to read. Last night it freaked me out! I think that's a whole different post......


See ya Wednesday,

Dave

P.S. for anyone that still checks my old blog, I'm still planning on finishing my Garden Series! I think I stopped on 5 entries, and I planned on writing 9 so I have a few more to do. Don't give up hope! I'm just giving other people time to catch up on the series......like a over a year.

~D