3 down, 198 to go...

As soon as I hit the "publish post" button, I'll be done with another item on my 101 in 1,001 list. I have successfully completed iten #4 - blog every day for a month. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it'd be...on some days I actually blogged more than once. Although tomorrow it might be nice to take a break from posting.

Here's some updates on some other things on my list...

• I'm ready Eat, Pray, Love. I love this book so far! Between reading for school and everything else, it's tough to find time to read...but the chapters are short, so you can easily just pick it up for a minute or two. In a way it's nice to savor reading a book and make it last a long time...cuz I tend to read fast once I'm into a book.
• I'm past the half-way point on losing 20 pounds. As of this morning, I've lost 11. Out of all the things I'm doing, this one definitely takes a lot of dedication. I haven't given in to the temptation at eating any doughnuts at our weekly meetings since the beginning of the year. And I can hardly ever not give into temptation as far as food is concerned. So building that ability is awesome! :)
• As long as we're on the food subject, I think I've broken my Caribou habit. I've only had it three times this year. One time was because it was bought for me. Only once did I have a mocha. Maybe if I can make it all the way through March, I'll mark this item complete.
• Cooper is doing really good on housebreaking. I keep thinking we're done and then some random accident happens. The most recent being the night after we got back from the kennel and he had diarrhea all over our bedroom floor.
• Lastly, I just won company tickets to Sunday's MN Wild game against the LA Kings. This was totally unexpected, because I didn't even think my company had season tickets anymore. The best part -- they are on the glass!! So I'll be able to mark that one done too. I'm definitely bringing my camera, so I will post photos.

One Long Day = One Short Post

Thursdays are my longest day of the week. I wake up at 5:15 a.m. because I see my personal training at 6 a.m. After my appointment, I go home and get ready for work. I have my usual day at work -- today was busier than usual because I had 3 hours of training and one of my co-workers was out, so I had extra stuff to do to cover for him. After work I have school, and it was snowing so it took extra long to get there today. That meant I never got to eat dinner. Three hours of class go by really slow when you don't get dinner. Class gets done at 9 p.m. and then I can go home. Tonight Dave's already in bed, but my dogs are excited to see me. I'll write my blog, check out and see if anyone else updated their blogs, grab a snack, let the dogs out and go to bed. Finally, I'll have a chance to breath!

Sweet dreams!

Vote for Otis!

My friend Erin entered her adorable dog in a pet photo contest. And since, my dogs are just as adorable, I had to enter mine too. There's a different voting period each week, and you can only enter one photo per week. So I'm entering Cooper into the contest for the next voting period.

Here's the link to vote for Incrediboy!
http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47101&Pet=4021.jpg

Here's the info about the voting period...

Voting Period #8
Open February 26 - March 4, 2008
One vote per person, per period, please. Duplicate votes will be disqualified.

Cooper Joe -- the "it" dog...

Cooper Joe survived his surgery. Dave dropped him off, and said Cooper went in like a brave boy. I was at home this morning with Otis for a little bit, and he was moping cuz Cooper was gone. When I brought Otis inside from his last trip outside, he went straight into his kennel. I guess it's apparent how much the two dogs have bonded over the last couple of months.

I picked up Cooper at the vet after work. The receptionist loved Cooper and told me she was hoping his owners would leave him, so she could take him home. Of course, we would never abandon our little guy.

Then the nurse brought him into the lobby, and the little boy that was in the waiting room said to his mom pointing to Cooper, "Mommy, I want a dog like that one."

The mom said, "Maybe someday."

We brought him home and he's doing okay. He's pretty sore. Poor little guy is getting used to the cone. He accidentally bumped a door, and it closed behind him, locking him inside the bathroom.

Otis is smart though. We've spotted him a couple times tonight sitting next to Cooper and chewing the cone. He's trying to free his brother from that cone. Silly dog.

We just relaxed at home tonight with the dogs (after I went to a sculpt class at Gold's)...and we watched the Biggest Loser and got Cam Ranh Xpress for dinner. Yumm! Here's some photos...

Otis pouting with his back to us because his brother couldn't play tonight.

This tag was around Cooper's neck for his surgery. I thought it was cute.

Daddy and his "little it"

Otis is protecting his little brother...

Dave got me flowers today...."Cuz it's Tuesday," he said. Sweet!!!

Another week begins...

Another long week began today for me. Nothing exciting at work...not even lunch. After work, I went to a mentorship open house for the girl that I'm mentoring. She's a senior in high school and wants to have a career in public relations. Hopefully, she still does after the mentorship. She's been coming to my office twice a week for the last 2 1/2 months. It's been great to have some extra help...really great. I'll be sad when she's done...which will be soon....I'll have all the media clips to process by myself.

This week is going to be extra long for Cooper Joe. He gets fixed tomorrow. Poor little man. He'll be at the vet all day, then will have to wear a cone for several days. The worst part -- he won't be able to play with Otis. We don't want the stitches to get damaged. I'm not sure how we're going to keep the boys apart all the time. There will be a lot more kennel time for both dogs this week, I guess.

Miller's Annual Oscar Party

Tonight we went to my sister's house for their annual Oscar party. Yes, they are still on...but we were both tired and decided to come home and finish watching them here. When you're at a party where most of the adults of little kids, it clears out shortly after nine. LOL. Here's some pics from the night...

Stevn tallying the votes...

Oscar, himself...

Me and Rachel...

The kids dressed up Nels (he's spending the week at Becky's while my parents are in Mexico)...

The kids played dress-up while we watched the show...

Emily thinks Uncle Dave's head feels funny...

Update on Grandpa...

Seems like everyone's in the hospital today! My grandpa is still at the hospital recovering. I guess he's been in the ICU since the surgery. But they're planning on taking him out of there tomorrow, and send him to the cardio wing....so that's good, I guess. He's having some problems with his kidneys. The heart medicine he's taking is pretty tough on this kidneys. Please continue to keep him in your prayers!

Thanks!!!

Another Saturday just me and my boys

Another Saturday just me and my boys. Nothing exciting at all going on today. I went to the gym this morning for my yoga class, only to find out it was cancelled. Booo. I had to run instead. It was in the 30's today, so after working out I got my car washed. Then I went to Kohl's and found some good stuff to buy. Jeans and a shirt for Dave, and a couple of pairs of pants, a jacket and some shirts for me. I love the jacket I bought! After that I got Subway for lunch and took the boys for a walk. The rest of the afternoon I've been cleaning up around the house and I took these photos of the dogs. I need to feed them dinner and then I'm going to my parents' house for my own dinner. They're going to Cabo San Lucas tomorrow. Lucky them! That's all for now!

Update on Tonya!

It's been a long while since I've provided any update to you guys on my friend Tonya, who was diagnosed with lymphoma last summer. (Tonya -- If you're reading this, I've reached out to my friends and family to pray for you throughout your treatment).

Anyway, she's been a trooper and completed her chemo and now she's completed her radiation.

She got the results from the last PET and CT scan yesterday afternoon.

Her doctor says she is in "complete remission."

I think that's the best news you can get, and definitely what we've been waiting to hear for a long time now. I guess the doctors never say that you're completely cured -- complete remission is the closest thing.

She comes back to work on March 14.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Grandpa's surgery

My grandpa had his surgery today for his blocked-up arteries. It took longer than expected, I guess it was more blocked than they thought (which probably means it's better that he did the procedure)...But he made it through. Let's hope that he has a speedy recovery. That's all I know for now.

I'm tired tonight b/c I had work all day, then school for 3.5 hours...so it's a short post.

Idiot!!!!

So I was just checking my email, and had a "Welcome to Grandma's" email. I opened it, thinking, "That's weird, I thought this was a lottery." Then I read the email and it says, "Welcome to the 32nd Annual Grandma's Marathon."

OMG. I just signed myself up for the wrong race!

After a moment of panicking and calling Dave, I called the office for Grandma's. They're going to call the company that does the transactions and cancel my registration for me....hopefully.

Time for Grandma's

I just signed up for Grandma's 1/2 marathon. It's a lottery, so I won't know if I'm officially in for a couple of weeks. But it makes me excited for June 21, 2007 just knowing I'm closer to running the race again. This year, my goal is to set a personal best time, which I honestly don't think will be too hard if I train well.

Speaking of Grandma's and running. My husband decided to start of his own about his journey of completing his first full marathon at Grandma's this year. Since he's doing the full marathon, he's already completed the registration and has officially started the training schedule. My training officially begins March 3.

It's going to be a lot of hard work to find the time and energy to train, but it's going to be worth it to complete the race with my best time ever!

A New 'Do

After 8 long weeks, my hair stylist finally came back from maternity leave. Today was her first day back. I made my appointment for today weeks and weeks ago. I was so happy to get a new cut. Here it is!!


And I'm going back in a couple of weeks for some color. Oh, what a girl must do to clear those wintertime blues. Yipee!

Home Sweet Home

We made it home. Back to the frigid weather. But boy were our dogs excited to see us, and that makes coming home worthwhile. Cooper peed and Otis jumped all over us. The kennel people told us that they loved Otis and Cooper. Cooper was a little scared at first, but got over his shyness and enjoyed his time. Otis loved every minunte of playing with all the dogs. None of this was any surprise to us. The dogs now seem content to be home and that makes us all happy.

Now that I'm home, I can cross off another item on my 101 in 1,001 list -- #45: Visit my grandparents in NJ. It's always hard to say goodbye to them, but I enjoyed my visit, and I think we had a good time hanging out with each other for a couple of days.

Oh, and an update on my grandpa. He's still at home, but will be going back to the hospital a couple of times this week. On Wednesday, he'll get the CT scan needed for his surgery. On Thursday, he's going in for the operation to clean out his arteries in his neck, to help decrease the chance of a stroke. Keep him in your prayers this week.

Day 3 in Jersey

Today we didn't do too much. My grandpa came home from the hospital, so we mostly hung out here. Dave and I took a walk to Starbucks in downtown Ramsey. While I was sitting in Starbucks, I noticed that there was an Italian bakery across the street. We went over there, and the bakery had cannolis. That made me excited, because for as long as I remember, my grandparents always got cannolis for me and Stevie when we visited. My grandparents thought that there weren't any Italian bakeries nearby anymore, and it turns out there was one all along. We bought some cannolis and my grandma was so excited. She couldn't remember the last time she got to eat a cannoli. And she thought they were really good too.

Oh, yesterday we drove by the property where my grandparents' house used to be in Saddle River. They lived there for more than 50 years and sold the house a couple of years ago. Well, their modest 2-bedroom rambler was torn down and a monster mansion was built in its place. My uncle says he heard Mary J. Blige lives there now. Dave took a couple of photos. I might post them later when we get home.

Today's the last day of our trip. Tomorrow we fly home. I hope our flight is on time.

Day 2 in Jersey

It's the end of our second day in New Jersey. One of the things we did was visit my Great Aunt Catherine and her daughter, Sissy. There are a lot of things that Aunt Catherine doesn't like, but Dave was one thing that she did like. When he stood up, she said, "Boy, you're tall." When he smiled, she said, "Boy, you have white teeth." When Dave sat across the room, she said, "Boy, I like your beard." It was cute all the compliments she was giving Dave.

Dave and I have been looking up the web cam at Camp Bow Wow. It looks like our boys are hanging in there. They're going to be so excited when we pick them up on Monday. And then they're going to sleep for a long time!!

Coming to you from New Jersey...

My blog post tonight is from my grandparents' home in New Jersey, home of the NJ Devils. ;)

We made it here safe, although our flight was late coming in. The trip isn't quite like they normally are... My grandpa went into the hospital earlier this week. They thought he was having a slight stroke, so they brought him there. I guess he's still at a high risk for one, because they've kept him the rest of the week for observation and to do lots of tests. He'll probably be there throughout our entire visit. We went to visit him twice today, and he seems to be doing pretty well. He's talking normal and is in good spirits. But we're still in New Jersey and we still get to see him and my grandma, and that's why we came here! I guess we'll just have to come back again soon, when he's back home!

Happy V-day!

Here's a little Valentine's Day quiz that my cousin Oanh emailed me. In honor of V-day, I took the time to fill it out....

Age of first romantic kiss? 15

Chocolates or Flowers? Flowers -- most of the time, unless it's a particular time of the month and I've been on a diet for two months. (Chocolate would be good today.) Is that TMI???

White Wedding or Secretive Elopement? White wedding

I had to delete a couple, because they were a little to personal to post on my blog... ;)

Hot Tub or Body Massage? Massage

Phone Call or Love Letter? Both

Music or Poetry? Music

Your Favorite on Screen Kiss? Hmm...that's a tough one. I had to look through my DVDs. I think the end of Never Been Kissed when Drew Barrymore is waiting at the baseball field for the teacher to come, and everyone is watching, and she gets her first kiss.

Your Favorite Romantic Couple? Justin Timberlake and whoever he's dating (Jessica Biel, right now.)

Your Favorite Romance Movie? When Harry Met Sally

Your Favorite Love Story? The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

Your Favorite Love Song? Fly Me to The Moon (Frank Sinatra)

Slow Dance or Moonlight Stroll? slow dance

Tropical Paradise or Winter Wonderland? Tropical paradise

Most romantic place to have a 1st or 2nd honeymoon? Cabo San Lucas for my first. Tahiti or some private tropical island with cabins that are built on stilts over the water for my second (right after Dave and I win the lottery:))

Off to New Jersey!

Tomorrow, Dave and I are flying to New Jersey to visit my grandparents. We're both looking forward to seeing them and my uncle and other family out there. There are two boys here though that I'm going to miss. I'm posting a couple of photos of them from today and Monday.

Cooper was so wore out after his first day at camp, he fell asleep on the couch snuggling with his Dad's blanket.

This is what what happens every morning. The boys take my spot as soon as I get out of bed.

Aren't those two cute dogs?!

Pay it backwards...

I've been making great strides at breaking my expensive Caribou habit. In fact, I've only been there once this whole year (I used to go nearly every day). Anyway, yesterday it was so cold and there was a Caribou with a drive-thru on my way to work. I gave in to the temptation by ordering something a little healthier -- a skim chai tea latte.

I pull up to pay, and the worker tells me that the person in front of me paid for my drink. I said, "You're kidding. Is this a joke?"

I've seen this "pay it backwards" concept on the news, when the lines goes on for hours with the customers buying the guy behind him's drink. The cashier said some radio station was doing this promotion.

I said, "Ok, I guess I'll get the drink for the person behind me."

The cashier takes my card, pays the tab for the next customer and hands me back my card.

So I ask, "By the way, how much was it?"

The cashier laughs at me and said, "Twelve dollars."

LOL. My $3 drink just cost me $12.

I think some higher power is telling me I better break my Caribou habit.

First day at camp...

Otis and Cooper are busy at their first day at Camp Bow Wow today. Camp Bow Wow is the kennel that the boys are staying at when we go to New Jersey later this week. At camp, all the dogs get to play with each other all day long. Before your first overnight stay at camp, you're required to get an "interview," so the kennel can make sure your dog isn't aggressive towards the other dogs. It's also good for the dogs, so that they can get used to the place before you leave them there overnight.

Dave dropped them off this morning. He said Cooper was scared until he found out he can go outside anytime he wants. He loves playing in the snow! Otis loves playing with other dogs, so I'm sure he loves camp. I'll pick them up on my way home.

I think the boys are having fun. One of the cool things about this place is that they have webcams, and you can check up on your dogs. I found Otis and Cooper in Indoor Play Area 1, and you can find them too!

Feb. 10

Not much new today...just getting in my daily blog post. It's super, super cold outside, so I haven't gone anywhere. In fact, I'm still in my pajamas. It's been fairly productive. I've done some cleaning -- dusting, laundry, dishes, organizing. I'm putting together one of the presents Dave gave me -- a photo frame collage set that has ten frames. I got all the photos in, and I'm just waiting for him to come home to help me hang it. Maybe I'll post of photo of the collage after it's all hung up. The boys are lazy today too, they're sleeping next to me. Otis is on the floor by my feet, and Cooper is laying on the couch behind me. They're so cute!

That's all for now!

A day with my boys...

Today Otis, Cooper and I went to visit my sister and her family in Minneapolis. Becky, Rachel and I went to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant that I've been craving for months and months, Quang's. It was so good! Emily and Amanda babysat Otis and Cooper while me and my sisters ate lunch. They said the boys did good. LOL.

After lunch, Emily, Amanda, Becky, Steven, the dogs and I went ice skating at the park right by their house. I can't find my ice skates, but I walked around on the ice. Otis and Cooper walked around on the ice too. Otis was acting kind of crazy, he kept barking, but we still had fun. I have teaching the girls how to ice skate on my list of things to do, but they were doing pretty well. Although I can teach them how to go backwards and stop and other skating skills. I think Emily had fun, even though she didn't want to go and try skating. I'm glad the girls had fun, because I want to go again once I find my ice skates.

Then Otis had to go to the vet to get an update on one of his vaccines, so he can go to the kennel this week. (Dave and I are going to visit my grandparents in NJ). He was a brave boy. Cooper was happy that finally he wasn't the one getting shots. All the people at the vet thought the boys were so cute. Actually, our vet was looking at getting one of the adult dogs that is available through our breeder, so that was cool he was familiar with the farm my boys came from.

Since the boys were good today, I had to get them Otis' favorite treat -- Busy Bones. I think it was the first time Cooper got to eat his without Otis steeling it. It was so cute -- for the first twenty minutes, Cooper just held the bone in his mouth, keeping it safe. Finally he hid in the corner and ate it. Otis of course just snarfed his down.


Unfortunately, I forgot the camera when we went skating, but I took some pics tonight of the boys eating their treats.

What would you do with $1,200?

The economic stimilus package was passed. Woo woo. That means up to $1,200 is coming our way this spring. Note key words: up to.

Anyway, Dave and I were talking about what we'll want to do with our money. He claims that we have to spend it, because that's the whole point of the government passing out free money -- so people spend it and stimulate the economy. And as good citizens, we must do our part and spend the money the gov't gives us to spend.

And you have to spend it too. What are you thinking of spending your money on? Post comments with your ideas!

It's fun to think of some ideas. I thought of my 101 in 1,001 days list to come up with some ideas for me and Dave. Renovating our master bathroom is our first choice. Not only would we do our part in stimulating the economy, we'd also be increasing the value of our home. Here's my wish list:

• Renovate master bathroom
• new blinds for the loft
• eat dinner at one of those fancy restaurants on my list
• go on a vacation, visit family
• take a class of sorts -- either photography, pottery or dance
• some combination of the above

Mr. Rude and Stinkbomb

Those are our nicknames for our boys. Every morning, after I get out of bed, they always jump in to my spot and lay down next to their Dad. I think their mocking the fact that I have to get up to go to work. Actually this morning, I don't have to go to work. I have the day off for the funeral, and the boys are pretty hyper, so they're definitely not sleeping in my spot right now. Here's the boys in bed!

Go Minnesota!!

Barack won Minnesota!

We did it! We did it!

Hurray!

Virginia Louise (Hultgren) Kohl -- 1914 - 2008

My Great Aunt Ginny passed away this weekend. She had a great life, one that should (and will) be celebrated.

My Aunt was an amazing lady, always upbeat and optimistic. She loved everyone. And she was so kind and accepting to everyone. I mean everyone...not just our family and friends, but she helped those less fortunate.

Stevie and I had a couple of great times with her over Christmas. We went to her apartment and brought old family photos to share so we could figure out who was who, and we videotaped her. She loved looking at the old family photos, and she'd often say things like, "Oh, mom, you looked so good."

Dave came with us the last time we went. She told the three of us that she felt so blessed and lucky to be part of such a great family...a family with so much love. She specifically mentioned our last family 4th of July get-together, and she was looking around and saw my parents and was so happy to see how happy and in love they are, and the she saw me and Dave and thought the same thing about us.

She had a really strong faith, so I know she's in a good place now watching over us. And I know she's happy to be with her sisters and her husband too.


Here's the official obituary from the Star Tribune, if you're interested in reading it. I love that her last request was noted -- to let everyone know how much she loved them. That's the Aunt Ginny I know and love!!

Super Tuesday!

If your state has its Democratic caucus or primary, be sure to attend!! It's your civic duty. And it's especially crucial for whichever candidate you're supporting.

If you live in Minnesota, and you're unsure of your caucus site, you can look it up here:

http://my.barackobama.com/MNfindyourcaucus

Here are a few details to note:

• You can cast a ballot starting at 6:30 p.m. and anytime until 8:00 p.m. The balloting will close at 8:00 p.m. unless people are still registering at that time.
• You do not have to be registered to vote to cast your ballot.
• You do not have to show ID of any kind to vote.
• If you'll be at least 18 years old by Nov. 4, 2008, you can vote.

Super Bowl

Hope everybody had a fun time watching the Super Bowl with family and friends yesterday. Andee and Bryan came over to our house and watched the game on our brand new 42' 1080p LCD HD TV. Yep, I'm crossing off another to-do item on my 101 in 1,001 days!

Obama, Obama

Can you see us in this photo? This photo is from Barack's website.

Hint: Look for Dave first.

Here's a video clip from the rally. Watch it!

Change you can believe in...

Today, my family and I all went to see Barack Obama speak in Minneapolis. It was amazing! The Target Center was just about filled to capacity. I have never seen such long lines in my life. We were part of a line that zig-zaged through the skyway. I took a photo of another line outside, which wrapped around the entire Target Center, and then went along the road and across a long bridge.

We stood in line for more than an hour before we able to go inside the Target Center. Luckily, we got in before the lower level was filled. We were able to sit there, and snuck past the volunteers to get into the VIP section, and we sat there. Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybek was shaking hands with people, and wanted them to call people on their cell phones. I handed him mine, and my sister Rachel got to talk to him. He told her to vote for Barack Obama. Rachel and Becky were at the rally, but came separately than me, Dave and my parents, so they were sitting in the nose bleed seats.

As fun as it was to have the mayor talking on my cell phone and sneaking into the VIP section, the best part was definitely seeing and listening to Barack, waving our signs and cheering for him. There was so much energy in the Target Center -- much more than for any Timberwolves game..LOL. I am so inspired by him that our country can be a better place for all people. For the first time ever, I'm excited to part of the political process. Here's some pics of Barack from today.

Blogging every day for a month...

Here I go...the start of another item on my 101 in 1,001 days list. This month I'm going to attempt to blog every day for a month. I strategically chose February, because it's the shortest month of the year. :)

So check out my blog often, because there's bound to be at least one new post every day for the next 29 days!!