Growing forever

Last night, the family headed to one of our local Barnes & Nobles stores to see my dad at his first book signing and discussion for his book, Victory Principles. It's about World War II's Normandy Invasion and takes an indepth look at the mililary's leadership and how their leadership techniques can be applied to people in leadership roles today. Great for anyone who's interested in WWII history or leadership development!



Thanks for listening to that little sales pitch. Now back to our program. :)



In the car on our way home, Amanda was talking about how she loves getting birdies from Uncle Dave. A birdy is when she runs up to Uncle Dave and flaps her wings (er, arms). He throws her up into the air and catches her.

A: I miss when Uncle Dave worked at Home Depot.
Me: Why?
A: He gave me birdies every time I saw him.
Me: He gives you birdies every time he sees you anyway.
Rachel: Soon you're going to be too big to get birdies.
A: No, I'm not. Dave's going to keep growing, and I'm going to keep growing; so he'll always be big enough to give me birdies.

I'm back

Yes, I know I've been MIA lately.

The truth is....that's it's just been a busy and boring summer (yes, at the same time), so I just haven't felt compelled to blog.

I've been blogging for two years now (yes, I celebrated my 2-year blogging anniversary on Sunday), and there are just so many times you can blog about taking the dogs to the dog park and running and weekly thankful posts until all blogging motivation runs dry.

And honestly, my mind has been consumed with things that I don't want to blog about. Things that are difficult enough to talk with best friends and parents and sisters about...and while I've thought of blogging about some of it...it makes me anxious exposing myself, so I've just stuck with my own private journal so that stuff can stay, well, private.

But summer has actually been very enjoyable. We had a great fourth of July weekend.

I took Dave kayaking for his first time. After he got over his fear of flipping over, he did really good.

We went down to St Peter for the Dobosenski annual party....and got our fill of brisket and yard games. But actually, now that it's been a week since the 4th, I could go for more of that brisket.

We also got back home in time to make it to Minneapolis for fireworks with my nieces. They were so excited when we surprised them at the park (Emily actually cried when I told her we weren't going to make it....although she apparently was just trying to make me feel bad. It worked).

And this last weekend we went to a Twins game with my nieces, brother-in-law and cousin. My nieces hung out with a friend of theirs for a while. Their friend loves the Twins so much -- she even set on marrying TC Bear when she grows up. For the upcoming All-Star game, their friend made goody bags for all the Twins players playing in the game, so that they'd have snacks to eat on their trip. My nieces and their friend took the goody bags to TC Bear towards the end of the game. The goody bags were well received, because the next thing I know...we all see my nieces and their friend with TC Bear on the jumbo tron! It was my first Twins game with my nieces and the Twins won...so it was a great day.

The next couple of weeks are filled with work and training for some 5k's I'm racing at the end of the month. My mother-in-law is coming to Minnesota in the beginning of August, so we might have a visitor for a night or two...or more....I haven't heard her trip plans yet.

That's all I got for now. If I still have any blog readers, you're now up-to-date on what's been going on with me and my family. Hopefully I'll get over my blogging rut now and it'll be less than two weeks until I post again. :)

It's gonna be a great week...

Monday: Someone FINALLY picked up the chair that I've been trying to sell on Craigslist! I've been stood up two previous times. (The only bad part was that they didn't want the loveseat, so we still have that in our garage).

Tuesday: Payday!

Wednesday: Finding out if I'm a getting a niece or nephew!!!!!

Thursday: It's that last work day for the week!

Friday: No work and no plans! Will be poolside!

Saturday: Fourth of July!! Looking forward to some great brisket and fun with friends!

Sunday: Dave's off, so we get to hang out two days in a row!

Three years. We're still running.

Dave and I celebrated our third anniversary yesterday!!! I must say that my husband did a great job making this anniversary so memorable. He had Lou Malnatti's pizza delivered to our house! ALL the way from CHICAGO! It's where we had the best ever pizza during our trip last summer to visit Erin and John in Chicago. And it was just as yummy as I remembered!

The other thing Dave did was order the same cake we had at our wedding (a smaller version). Since that cake was the best ever, we didn't have any left over from the wedding. Consequently, we weren't able to save any and eat it on our first anniversary...as you're supposed to do according to some (weird) tradition. I was really surprised to see that too!

All of this was extra awesome because Dave had school and work all day on our anniversary and we hadn't discussed anything we were going to do. I just thought we'd get take out like we did the year before. But this was the best surprise! He obviously put some time and effort into ordering all this deliciousness and it meant so much to me.

I should also add that he got me the Crocs that I've been wanting. (Not your typical Crocs...much cooler!) He bought himself a similar pair a couple of weeks ago, and I was jealous because he bought the men's version of the pair that I wanted. So I was very happy that he listened to me and bought a pair for me too!

On to more sentimental stuff....

I can't believe Dave and I have already been married for three years. For more than 1,000 days. That means we've been married for almost half the time we've been together. I love celebrating my anniversary because each year is an accomplishment. This last year has been one of the best for us yet.

This year...
We survived new jobs and jobs losses.
We celebrated holidays and birthdays.
We survived the death of a grandma.
We celebrated the election of a new President.
We survived through another school year.
We celebrated friends' weddings and births of children.
We survived a car crash.
We enjoyed our time at home and away.

Each struggle, each accomplishment; we've done it together, hand in hand.
We've grown closer together.
Fallen more in love.
There's no one else that I'd rather have on my journey through life.
I'm so blessed to have Dave and to be his wife.

Here's a slideshow of some of our highlights together from year three. I should also give credit to Katie Mathews Photography for some of the pics and the collage. Having a photographer in the family has its benefits. ;)

Like a vacation...

This past weekend was so beautiful and blissful that I felt like I was on a vacation.

Saturday morning, after eating the scrambled eggs that Dave made us, we headed down to the Prior Lake Farmers' Market. We took Otis and Cooper with us, and they both did so well (we don't take them into public places with lots of people very often...so this was a good test). Cooper didn't growl or bark at anyone like he does at home or around the neighborhood. It was Dave's first experience at the market, and it definitely exceeded his expectations. It definitely helped that there was a vendor selling home-made root beer. This summer, I'm trying to buy more local produce...so I stalked up on tomatoes (grown in a local greenhouse), green onions and potatoes. As summer progresses, it'll be fun to get a larger variety of produce.

We followed the farmers' market with a trip to the dog park. The weather was so beautiful that we did two laps -- walking about 3 miles. That wore the dogs out for the rest of the day!

In the afternoon I went to our pool with my sister, Rachel. Becky and my nieces ended up joining us, so I ended up spending all afternoon by the pool. I got a little too much sun. But really, it was a picture perfect summer day and I loved every minute of it! No clouds. Low humidity. Lots of sun. Upper 70's. Just a light breeze. The weather doesn't get any better than that!!!

Sunday after church, Dave and I went on a bike ride down to Shakopee. We went about 7-8 miles. My bike isn't the best for long distances, so transitioning to sitting down has been really sore for me last night and today. Of course, our bike ride ended with a stop at Dairy Queen. I always say, "the best part about a bike ride is the reward at the end."

Then we headed over to Becky's house for her birthday dinner. Amanda helped make a lot of it! She was a busy girl -- she helped make the BBQ ribs and the rhubarb crisp.

Are you still with me??

This weekend is Grandma's Marathon. I retired last year. But Dave is running the full marathon again with Bryan. Just wanted to mention that, because you can sign up for text message or email alerts again. Thought some of the family who can't make it to Duluth might be interested in signing up, so they know right away when Dave sets his personal best.

Catch up...

All of a sudden things went crazy around here...so I haven't blogged at all. But I think we're back to normal now, so that's good for me. And you guys -- cuz I'm back!!

Here's what's been going on with us...

• The day after Dave's grandma passed away, Dave's parents and sisters flew in to town from North Carolina. We picked them up and the airport and caravanned down to Rochester (Dave and his sisters were in one car and I was in the other car with my in-laws and Otis and Cooper). We stayed in Rochester until the wake, funeral and burial were all done. It was amazing to see all the love and support from all of Louise's friends and family. She had more than 150 people at her funeral -- not bad for an 87-year-old. I'd be happy with half that many at my funeral. We also went to go see Dave's Great-Aunt Hazel while we were down in Rochester. She's living in a nursery home and has dementia, and it was the first time I've visited her since she had forgotten a lot of her memory. It was bittersweet when I said good-bye and she told me, "Say hi to the little ones." One thing that I really witnessed was how a family grow closer together while experiencing hard times. Not only could you see it happen between Dave's aunts and uncles, but I too felt like I bonded so much with all of Dave's family over the days we spent together. And I know that puts a smile on Grandma Louise's face.
• Otis turned 3! Our little puppy is no more. My little boy is growing up. *tear*. Actually, I was looking forward to taking Otis to the dog park on his birthday and giving him a special rawhide present, but the day came and went and I totally forgot it was his birthday. I'm a terrible mom! Good thing he's a dog and probably didn't know that it was his special day anyway.
• I got the flu! Not the swine flu though. But it zapped my energy for a couple of days, so I'm glad I got over it quickly.
  
• On the same day, it was my sister's birthday (I won't say how old she turned) and we went to a graduation party for Dave's cousin, Ellen. It happened to be super cold and rainy. Later that night we went to see Angels and Demons. After the movie, we were walking through the dark parking lot and it was still misty/raining some. Guess what I proceeded to do? As we were walking from the parking lot and onto a curb, I walked straight in to a sprinkler. Yes, one that was on. My pants got wet. Very wet. Dave laughed. I laughed.
• I bought tickets to visit my sister in LA in September!! I'm really excited to visit. She's lived there for almost two years now and it's only my first time going to see her. I'm hoping to take in a tour of her studio (lol....like she owns it...actually she just works there) and also to visit the beach and see some famous people. Maybe I'll get to see a taping of a show or something like that (Stevie and my dad went to Leno and sat in the 2nd row a couple of months ago).
  

That's pretty much it, I guess. It doesn't seem like it's been so busy when I write it down, but between the funeral and the flu, I either been not at home or exhausted.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. The sun is back today!!! Hooray!

Thankful Thursday...

This week I'm so thankful that my husband is back home!!! He has been gone the last two weekends, and now he's home. It's so good to be reunited. The house is just a lot lonelier without him. Otis and Cooper get sad too. Thankfully, neither one of us have any plans to travel without each other in the foreseeable future, so it'll be a while until I'm home alone again. I'm really grateful that neither one of us has jobs that require a lot of travel. I guess that could change at some point.

In sad news though, Dave's grandma passed away today. We'll always remember her. I know that she's in a good place now watching over us. She's not in pain anymore, so that's a blessing.