Upcoming Events

We had a good 4th of July weekend, not too exciting but that's ok. Pics can be seen on Facebook. I had to work Friday, Justin had it off and got some stuff done. Saturday was a washout for the first half of the day. I walked Bear, then Justin and I decided to go to Kohl's. It downpoured while we were there and Justin ended up getting a call, so we had to leave. I came home and made dessert - caramel apple pie - and then it cleared up and the sun came out. We got our kabobs going, but since it had rained, it was too wet to sit outside and eat. But it was delish! That night we sat on the deck for a bit to see if we could see some fireworks, but no luck. Plus Bear was a little on edge with all the noise. So we went in and played some Wii. I managed to finish off a bottle of champagne, and Justin did a number on the gin. Fun night.

Today I sunbathed and started to get things together for 10klf. Justin washed and waxed my Accord and washed his Element. I helped a little. ;) We've got some steak stroganoff cookin' up in the crockpot - can't wait for that to be in my belly. It's been just a beautiful day. I'm on the deck right now, drinking a beer and Bear is laying next to me, loving this warm weather.

We've got a busy July coming up. This Thursday is the ProStep (company I work for) picnic at Como Zoo in St. Paul. Should be a good time. Saturday we have a housewarming party to go to at Sam and Ben's in Blaine. The following week we leave Thursday for ND for the Price Family reunion at Lake Sakakawea. We'll head to B-town Thursday night and stay with Erin and Steven (hopefully Justin can get outta work a little early!). Friday we'll head up to the lake; it'll be my first time there this summer, what a shame. Can't wait to get on one of those waverunners! We'll head back to the cities on Sunday. The following Monday night I start volleyball - 4-on-4 coed sand - with Jenny Brummer. I'm super pumped about that. Then my birfday is that next Wednesday!! Which is also the start of 10klf, so Bri and I will be spending my b-day and the next 3 days camping out listening to some great live music. All these things will be good times and this is looking like a pretty super July '09.

I'll get lots of pics and fill you guys in on my good times! Happy July to you!

Phish!!

Hello! It's been awhile. We've been busy as usual. Our biggest event so far this summer is by far our trip to Alpine Valley to see Phish. It was June 20th-21st - our anniversary present to ourselves. We had an amazing time and they were awesome! We heard so many great tunes and it was a wonderful experience for my first time seeing Phish. Here are some pics and video:

This has always been one of my fave songs, so it was amazing to hear!

We also heard "Waste", which was fitting considering that was the first song we danced to at our wedding and we were here celebrating our anniversary. That is all for this post, folks. Check out Justin's facebook page for more vids and pics (a lot of the same) of the Phish shows.

Hope everyone is having a great summer! I've got a lot more going on, so hopefully I'll get better about updating my blog :)

Peace out.

May Updates

Hello, folks! I know it's been awhile - it's been a busy May. The first weekend in May we painted our bedroom. We also decided that's the last time we try to paint anything by ourselves. We suck at it. But it's done and it looks better than it used to. What we need now is some artwork to tie it all together. Here are some pics:

Before

After

The weekend after that we had dinner with our friends Sam and Ben. They just moved into a house in Blaine, which is about 9000 miles from here. Ok, it just seems like so far away - takes us a good 45 mins to get there. That sucks, cuz we have a good time together, so it would be nice to live closer. But they made us country fried venison, cheesy potatoes, and asparagus. I was a little concerned about the venison, but it was really good! It all was. Sam made some crazy cucumber gin that Justin tried but I didn't. I made banana cream pie with homemade whip cream for dessert. Good times with good friends.

The next weekend was Mel's wedding! It was an awesome time, minus the losing my keys part. But the wedding went off without a hitch. I didn't get many pics (I was the maid of honor!), but here are a few. Now Josh and Melissa are in Jamaica, probably laying on the beach drinking a Miami Vice. Oh, I am jealous. Justin, I think we are in need of a tropical vacation!

Mel and I at the Rehearsal Dinner

Mel, Josh, and Dawn pre-wedding

Josh trying to laugh away his fears ;)

Sunday the fam went to Golden Corral for Mom and Dad's anniversary. It was good to get everyone together and hang for a little bit before I came back to MN. And it was good to stuff my face too. That's what Americans do best, right?

Then it was back to work this week. And so far it's been a busy one. My brain is pretty much fried from the wedding weekend and this week of work. I can't tell you how excited I am to sleep in this weekend! I think a BBQ should also be in the plans, supposed to be 80 on Sunday! We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen, so I will post some pics of that soon. It's lookin really good so far! And I suppose I should put up some pics of our bathroom that's finally done.
I'll leave you with a few pics of Jack and Kaya I got when I stopped over at Steven and Erin's on my way outta town. Good pups - Jack is a monster!




Peace out.

Last Night

So, last night I had a dream/nightmare. I say that because it was awful, but turned out ok in the end. Here it is. Oh, and btw, I've always had super detailed dreams, so if you think I'm making this up, I'm not.

Justin and I are the park with Bear. For some reason, we separate and I end up by the road. All of the sudden, Justin comes running up to me telling me that Bear's hurt. He says call 911. So I do. Next thing I know, they are telling me he's in 'fair' condition. I'm crying my eyes out worried about my pup. Some time passes, and I wind up in a computer lab (? don't know why). This lady walks up to me and says, "If someone knew something about the situation, would you want to know?". I said yes! Then she told me, "It doesn't look like he's going to make it." Again with the crying, hard. They (and I say that not really knowing who 'they' are, you know how dreams go) proceed to tell me that I can go see him. At this point I've pretty much been bawling all dream long. So here I am thinking I'm going to say my last goodbyes to my sweet pup. I walk in the room and he's up on what looks like an operating table. The moment I enter the room, his tail starts wagging. The doctor walks over to me and tells me he's fine, ready to go home! What?!?!? Turns out he made a full recovery! The lady then comes up to me and tells me that she told me that cuz she didn't want me to get my hopes up. Wow.

Then I jolt awake. It's 6:56am. About 26 minutes later than I'm supposed to get up. I look over, and I tell you, it was the best feeling ever to see the dog snoozing on his bed. What a relief! But I was late. I hop in the shower and when I get out, the dog is ready to get up. He comes into the office where I was and I give him a big ol' hug. He just leans into it and starts wagging his tail. I tell you, I have a deeper love for this dog now. It's crazy how dreams can do that to you. So I leave you with this pic of my handsome guy (Mr. Fat Neck/Sighsy McGrumbles/MB/Mr. Caramel Rolls, etc.).

Note: I forgot to hit the button that allows you to choose multiple answers for the poll, so I guess you can only vote for one!

Bear and Scout

So here is Bear and his good buddy Scout playing together in our backyard. For those of you who are also on Facebook, I just posted a video of the two playing together today. I also want to draw your attention to the lack of snow we have here. Our yard has looked like that for about 3 weeks now. I'm sorry for all of you who haven't seen grass in several months.

Fast puppahs
Bear looks so vicious but he's so harmless.

They play like big brother/lil brother.

"See, it's over yonder."

I am so handsome. Oh, and I love the sun too.

Old News

Hi all! Was looking through some older pics that I hadn't posted yet, so I thought I'd share them with you!

For the Superbowl we made beer cheese soup, guacamole, and homemade pretzels. We followed a recipe from Alton Brown for the pretzels. I used my sweet stand mixer and they turned out great. They were a little bit of work, but nothing too bad! Justin helped so that made things easier. Here's a pic:

We had a nice Valentine's day at home together. We always just stay in and make dinner. Neither of us want to deal with the crazy crowds. Plus, we can make just as good a dinner at home and it's a lot cheaper! Justin also bought me some beautiful roses and delicious truffles (seriously delicious). We made, well, you can see what we made!

Here are just some random pics of Bear and his backyard buddy, Scout.

When is this silly bathroom business going to be done?

Speaking of our bathroom remodel, here is a pic of all the crap that was in our yard during the process. It's all gone now, hallelujah! Did I spell that right?

When we were in Fargo at the beginning of March, Justin stayed with some friends. Here are a few pics of Shea's dog, Ragnar, jumping for the frisbee. He's got some mad hops ;)

So it looks like cheese was the popular option on the poll! I apologize to everyone who wanted to pick onions - I forgot to put it on the list! I'm looking forward to the day I can enjoy a juicy lucy.

Stay tuned for a new post with some pics of Bear and Scout in action. They played together today for about an hour and I got some good shots.

Have a great Friday everyone and enjoy March Madness! You know I will!

My 51st Post!

I know I've been slacking; that's why I had to remind everyone that I have done 50 posts already, so I have a right to slack.

So I'm sure most of you are aware of our big bathroom remodel that's in the works. If you haven't already, check out Justin's blog for some pics of the progress so far. The tile is amazing and since it's a small bathroom, it wasn't too expensive. We will have brushed nickel hardware and a granite vanity top. Our walls will be a burnt almond color. Tomorrow and Friday they should be able to wrap everything up. They still have to paint, seal the tile, put in the vanity and cabinets, and finish the custom-made closet. I'm so excited! But it's been crazy - we have crap everywhere in our house and there is a fine layer of dust over everything! Never before in my life have I been anxious to clean until now. It will be so nice when everything is back in order. Bear doesn't really know what to think of it all. Yesterday he sat in the dining room and barked at the debris. We will post some more pics when it's done!

Saturday I'm going on a Summit Brewery tour with some girls from St. Mary's. It'll be Amanda Simone (Fricke), Patti Snustad, Jenny Brummer, and me. I've never been on the tour before, but it should be a good time. We invited a couple others, but they couldn't make it.

Melissa and I enjoyed a very nice weekend together in Fargo. We didn't do much; we just hung out, but that's what we like to do best together! The weekend went too fast as usual. Mel's wedding is in 2 months! I can't believe it's so soon. I'm working on planning the bridal shower now, which is in less than a month. Everything should be a good time!

So our weather here has been cold the last 2 days, but I really can't complain to you Bismarckians. We had about 2 inches of snow on Tuesday on top of some freezing rain. We had 50 mph winds last night and below zero temps. Today it was about 5 degrees, but it's gonna warm up soon. By the weekend, it will be in the 40s and they say near 50 next week. Hopefully this is the start of Spring with no looking back!

Oh, I am super pumped for the ACC tourney this weekend! I'm DVRing the UNC game on Friday morning. I have to say, though, that the ACC is a good conference and I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of those teams put up a good fight. I relished in the sweep of Duke this year, which worries me slightly because a 3peat is tough if it comes down to those two in the tourney. Anyway, GO 'HEELS!

Alright, there's your update bitches. Have a great rest of your week everyone!