I Am Smiling

It is March 27th and our landlord has not yet cashed our rent check from March 1st. This is not the first time over the past 2 years that this has happened.

Annoying? Yes. Yet why am I smiling? Because tomorrow we close on our new home. I only have one more rent check to write. :)

I'm sure I will have plenty to blog about in the next few weeks.

If He Had to Go Somewhere...

"Hey, ah, just thought you'd like to know, or be the first to know, that the Twins just traded Santana to the Mets...for like, 3 to 4 pitching prospects from the Mets...but ah, anyway, good news for us. OK bye."

3:31PM today, voicemail from my brother. It made my day on many levels. Thanks bro.

Counting Blessings

The blogs have been a little light lately, I know...not a whole lot going on. I did just return from a brief trip to Washington D.C. for work. This was my first big company event, so it was nice to meet some new people and learn more about the company. We have an olympic theme going into 2008, and our keynote speaker on Friday afternoon was Devon Harris, a member of the infamous Jamaican bobsled team (inspiration for the movie Cool Runnings). He gave a very inspiring speech and it was a great cap to the day and half we had there.

Additionally, between the end of my meetings and my return flight home, I had some time to get together with my cousins Jeremy, Lorena and Mackenzie. We don't get to see each other too often, so it was so great to catch up. Mackenzie is a year and a half old, and such a bundle of energy! She didn't quite know what to think of me at first, but by the end of our time I got a "cinco" and a hug and kiss. I also enjoyed talking with Jeremy and Lorena, and discovered that Jeremy has his own mortgage company. He offered to let us bounce ideas off of him as we look for a house. A happy coincidence!

While at the airport I also had a nice chat with my dad, and learned that my grandma is able to return home from the hospital today! Such a blessing! She has had to spend a lot of time away from home over the past couple of weeks. We are glad the doctors found a way to treat the problem, if not entirely diagnose the cause. We are hopeful that everything stays in check and she is on her way to a full recovery.

I'll leave you with a backyard visitor we have had lately. There have been up to three at a time, snacking on the seed the landlord leaves for the little rodents. Kind of fun to see.

Am I On Vacation Yet?

Technically, I think so. But I'm too tired to be excited yet!

It's been a long week, to say the least. Lots of work and not enough getting ready for the trip. Luckily Husband packed most of the camping gear today.

I did get to do something fun on Tuesday night, I went out to dinner with friends and saw "Sicko." I know Michael Moore is one-sided...but it's a very intriguing side. You should see it.

We leave in the morning...it's time for bed. Have a great weekend!

WE ARE OK

In reference to the I-35w bridge collapse in downtown Minneapolis - we luckily rarely use that stretch of interstate. We are all fine; I haven't been able to reach Josh but they live on the east side of St. Paul, so I doubt they'd have any occasion to be in the area. It's a horrible situation; thanks to all for the calls of concern.

Update - talked to Josh - he and Abbey are fine and glued to the TV like the rest of us.

Big Weekend

We had another busy weekend...on Friday, our friends Kristy and Hiram came up from Des Moines to visit. We had dinner with them and sat around chatting, and playing some Wii. This was Kristy's first time, and I think she had the most fun creating Miis (game characters) representative of her and Hiram. I've never seen her laugh so hard! It was great to see them again.

Saturday we saw our guests off, and Husband headed to his company picnic with Brandon. I got a free pass from this event because I was attending a bridal shower for Stephanie, who is marrying one of Brett's cousins in September. It was a nice afternoon with family. Can't wait for the wedding!

While I was at the shower, Husband also did some car shopping and purchased a new vehicle! His GMC Jimmy was in need of some repairs that were going to cost more than it was worth...so we made the decision to look now. Although I was bummed at first (I just paid off my car a few months ago and he just paid off another loan last month), we knew this was coming eventually, and I guess I'd rather adjust to the payment now than have everything hit when we buy a house in the spring. We test drove some vehicles last week and agreed on the make and model, then talked about our financial limits...the rest was up to him.

Turns out he is a brilliant negotiator (I had an inkling) and we got a great deal on a 2004 GMC Envoy. I know this is an SUV, not my favorite choice, but we had 3 essential criteria that drove us in this direction:

1) It must fit Husband comfortably.

Let's face it - I married a big, tall man. You should see him try to fit in my Honda; it's not pretty.

2) It must be able to tow the boat.

Our trips up north are essential to our sanity.

3) It must conveniently accommodate a carseat, for any potential future family expansion.

No news here, just planning ahead.

We got all three in a non-gargantuan SUV that gets better gas mileage than what we had. We're quite happy with how it all turned out. Next up, new house!