Pictures from Black Friday

Black Friday - Round 2

So, this year Andy and I participated in Black Friday for the 2nd time. However, this time Andy did most of the hard work. I dropped him off at Best Buy around 11 pm and joined him at 4:30 am...just before they opened. My poor husband waited out in the cold for 6 hours..Luckily, our friends Chris and Craig wanted to join in on the fun and met Andy at Best Buy around midnight. Also, the weather wasn't too cold...so they were okay.

The line in front of the store was REALLY long, but luckily, Andy was there early enough to get the big items he wanted...they handed out tickets for the big items. Anyway, as it got closer to 5 am, a new crowd started forming near the doors and everyone literally yelled at them to 'get in line.' Which is understandable..it wouldn't be fair for them to cut in when people have been waiting all night. Finally the doors open and the madness begins. Everyone rushes to the different areas to grab their items before they're gone. Andy and I and our 2 friends were successful in getting everything we wanted....we had some friends in Provo who had waited in line since 5 pm the day before and they still weren't able to get what they wanted...I felt like we were very lucky. I also think participating in Black Friday is a lot of fun! They definitely have good deals. Who knows, maybe it will become a tradition. :) Luckily, the employee parking ramps at work were open to everyone so we caught a quick nap at home before coming in to work... :)

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'll post pics up later.

Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving was such a GREAT day! Andy and I just stayed at home and did absolutely nothing....well, I made luo mai fahn and Turkey....other than that, we just relaxed at home. It was awesome! The turkey turned out pretty well...I was pretty proud of myself.

Around 6 ish, we had friends over for a light dinner, had a ballroom dance party, and played sequence. Fun Times! I only wish we could have had family around...I'm looking forward to seeing eveyone when my parents come back from their mission. :)

Winter Is Here!

It's official! Winter has finally hit Rochester MN. For the last few days, we have had beautiful sunny weather. It was warm and nice to not feel cold when you were outside. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The beautiful days are gone! When Andy and I woke up this morning, I looked out the window and saw SNOW! There is probably about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming down...in fact, I think it's suppose to snow ALL DAY! I'm just glad that we get to take the bus to work...less driving for us. :)

Busy Busy Busy!!

So, since Andy started school, we have been VERY busy! Granted, Andy is definitely busier, but here is a basic idea of what our life is like...

Sunday:
Andy goes to church at 7:30 am for Bishopric Meetings. A friend picks me up to go to church around 11 and we finish at 2:30. However, we usually don't get to leave church until 3. If Andy has to stay to help with tithing, a catch a ride home or take the car and he won't be home till 4 or 5. Anyway, when we get home, I start preparing dinner around 4:30 so we can eat around 6.

Monday - Friday:
We both work 8-5..but we have to catch the bus at 7:40 am so we're leaving the house by 7:25. Then we catch the 5:10 bus and get home around 5:30. I prepare dinner and we eat around 7 pm. Afterwards, we read Preach my Gospel then we start doing our own stuff...Andy usually working on the computer or homework or his church calling. Andy his currently trying to setup Linux on Dad's old computer and turn it into a TIVO so we can record shows. I have decided to scan all my pictures so we can have a digital copy of them...let's just say that it will take a while to do...it took me over an hour to scan about 80 pics and that's only a third of a stack..so we'll see how it goes.

Saturday:
Andy is in class from 9am - 3:30 pm and I am usually running errands, doing grocery shopping, or cleaning house.

Additional activities during the week are as follows:

Tuesday:
Andy tries to play basketball from 8:30-10 pm. But if he is working on his computer, he may or may not make it.

The first Tuesday of the month is Recipe group for me from 7 - 8:30ish pm...it's a ton of fun and I love getting new receipes!

Wednesday:
I have Cub Scouts from 7-8 and Andy has a bishopric meeting from 7:30-10:30 or 11 pm..depending on how much they need to discuss.

Thursday:
I have a Round Table meeting for Cub Scouts the first Thursday of each month from 7 - 8:30 pm. At these meetings, we discuss the theme for the following month and they give us ideas on what we can do at Pack meetings or during Den meetings...they're fun and helpful.

The fourth Thursday of the month is Book Club from 7 - 8:30 pm. It's fun to actually read some good books and discuss them with other people.

On top of those activities, we also have monthly activities of Gourmet Club ...(which usually is a Friday or Saturday night..just depends on when the others can meet)...home teaching...visiting teaching...and attempt to attend the temple at least once. We also like hanging out with friends during the week or weekends...

Anyway, that's our life in a nutshell...we're having tons of fun out here..but we still miss family and friends. Hopefully we'll be able to see them soon.

~Andy's Birthday Party~

So, today was Andy's birthday and I planned a surprise party for him...we had tons of fun!! Our friends 'kidnapped' Andy so I could get the house ready for the birthday bash. I told them to do whatever they wanted to him...like put make-up on him...little did I know that they would actually do it. Here's a few pictures of what he looked like when he came home...I thought it was soo funny!

For dinner we had Hawaiian Haystacks. It was yummy!! I LOVE Hawaiian Haystacks. But, while we were waiting for it to finish cooking, we played a small game to surprise Chris...his birthday was last Thursday but he had strep throat..so his wife had asked us to include him in the party...so I agreed...of course, that meant we had to do something to him as well. So we played a game called 'koochi koochi koo.' What you do is sit in a circle and pinch your neighbor's cheeks several times while you say koochi koochi koo...the goal is for that person to not laugh...but, there is one person who will put lipstick on his or her figures to get it on your face without your knowledge...so that's what we did. The outcome was awesome!! He didn't expect it at all!

Anyway, we all had a great day and I'm glad I could surprise my husband...he totally didn't expect it. :) If you want to see some more pics, Andy has posted them in his online web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/kinsio/AndySBirthday06?pli=1

Key Lime Pie!!

So, I had mentioned in my previous post that Andy and I decided to participate in the gourmet club. Anyway, here are pics of my very FIRST key lime pie...notice the nice decoration with the limes...hehe..I was pretty proud of myself. Of course I called Dorothy a few times to see if I was doing it correctly...since I wasn't sure how the texture was suppose to be. People at the dinner said it was good...then we had friends over to finish up the second pie since we didn't use it at the dinner..they said it was good too. Let's just say I was glad it turned out... :) I'm curious to see what the menu is for the following month.

Joining Special Interest Groups

Since moving here to Rochester, I've gotten to know several of the members by joining groups. When I first got here, I joined the recipe group. Each month, 3 or 4 sisters are in charge of the group. They choose a theme and they prepare the dishes for us to try-basically, it's a dinner because so much food gets prepared. Then we get a copy of the recipes. It's a great way to get recipes and to be able to try new things. This month will be a Halloween theme. I'm excited to see what types of food they will have. :)

Last month, I joined the book club and we read a book called The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I guess several people were required to read this book in high school..but I had never heard of it.

Pearl Buck offers a view of China during the reign of the last Emporer as seen through the eyes of a honest farmer namd Wang Lung. She does a really good job of taking you through the ups and downs of life that the farmer experiences. I really enjoyed this book...once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop. The book was rich in culture and in history...I also got mad at the main character too because of the choices he was making...I don't want to mention the details because I think it's a book everyone should read... :) This month, we are reading a book called Once Upon a Town. I'll give an update on that when I'm done.

I've also joined the Gourmet Club. Basically, this is the LDS version of an interest group at Mayo Clinic. Basically, you have about 4 couples (those with kids usually leave them at home with a babysitter) assigned to a group and a family will be the host. There's a set menu with the recipe and each couple chooses what they want to make. Then, you decide what day to get together and everyone brings the assigned dish. I thought it sounded like fun. Saturday night will be the first time and I'm in charge of making a Key Lime Pie and --if I dare try-- a French Silk Pie. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Chicago Trip!

In the early monring hours of Saturday, Andy and I took off for Chicago Illinois. This is a picture of the sunrise. It was beautiful!

Traffic wasn't bad until we hit the very last toll booth...We were stuck in traffic for another 45 minutes..oh the joys of city life.

There were several cool things to see in Chicago. The archetecture was amazing and they just had some neat stuff to see. In the picture, you can see a glass mirror object thing...also, there was a water area and they had an image of a lady...she would eventually 'spit' water out. The kids there loved it!

~ Wicked ~ Finally, a dream come true! After waiting for 2 years, I finally got to see the musical Wicked. It's about the Wicked Witch of the West and it was very good. If you ever have the chance to see it, you should. The music is FABULOUS! The performers were great too.

Chicago!!- View from the Planetarium

We went to several places...the Field Museum, Planetarium, Chicago Temple, China Town..which is where we ate some very yummy chinese food and had zhen zhu drinks...and the Museum of Science and Industry. We were very busy every day and spent hours looking at stuff.

This is the body of a mummified little boy...amazing huh?

Trip to Nauvoo, IL

One of our first road trips since moving out to Minnesota...good old Nauvoo!! The main reason for this trip was to see the pageant. I was glad that we could go see the Nauvoo Pageant this year. I remember seeing it for the first time when Dorothy and Mike lived in Iowa and I was impressed....that's why I wanted to see it again. So, our new friends - the Massens - came with us to catch the pageant on the last day. It's a new show about the Prophet Joseph Smith and it's in it's second year. The show was amazing and the spirit was very strong. I hope that everyone will eventually have the chance to see it.

The next day, we were able to attend the Temple. The Temple is so beautiful. Also, it's been a while since we have been able to go to the Temple since the St. Paul temple is a mini temple, you have to have your own clothing. Andy's finally came so we jumped at the chance to go. I'm grateful that we had the opportunity. I wish we would have taken advantage of the opportunity when we were in Utah....I've always heard people say to take advantage of the opportunity in Utah, but I guess it didn't really sink in till we got out here. I'm just glad we got to go...and now that Andy has his clothing, we should be able to attend the Temple more often.

I'm grateful for the Temple and for the Prophet Joseph Smith...While in Nauvoo, we also got to see a few demonstrations and visit Carthage Jail. I definitely think that everyone should experience Nauvoo at least once in their life. It's a great place to learn about Church History!

These are just some random pictures I took during the pageant...I thought it was cool. :)

Waiting for the pageant to start....

Andy, Me, Katie, and Cory in front of the Temple. We just finished a session.

Random pics we took in Nauvoo...

Andy and I in front of Carthage Jail.

Demolition Derby!

On Thursday August 3rd, we decided to go to the county fair and see the demolition derby. It was soo much fun watching these old cars bump into each other. Talk about real 'bumper cars'... :) Luckily we sat further up in the bleachers because mud was flying everywhere. Unfortunately, we only stayed a little over an hour because the cigarette smoke was getting to us. The clean air is definitely one thing I miss about Utah. Anyway, it was a little pricey but we were glad we could see it...definitely highly recommend seeing it once. :)

 

 

Tubing and BBQ

July 15:

Today we had a lot of fun! This afternoon we went tubing down the river with our new friends Chris and Ronnie Voight. We went to a place about 40 minutes away....I believe it was a small German town. Anyway, we managed to rent some tubes and floated down the river. It has been so nice lately that it felt very nice. The trip lasted about an hour. If you have never had the chance to go tubing, I highly recommend it. :)

July 21:

Tonight we had some friends over for a BBQ! Andy and I bought a Weber Baby-Q Gas grill...we had received a gift certificate to Linen's and Things and it was the only thing we wanted. Anyway, it's perfect for grilling and this was our second time using it. I'm proud to say that Andy does a very good job grilling. :) Plus, the grill is very easy to use. Anyway, we had hamburgers, polish dogs, pasta salad, chips, and fruit. Very YUMMY food! The best thing is we got to meet a few new people. We all sat around and talked...it was great!

Great River Bluffs Camping Trip!!

This weekend Andy and I went camping at Great River Bluffs State Park - it was about 45 minutes away. We were very excited to go camping with our new camping gear we bought 2 weeks ago. :) It was a lot of fun and the campground was beautiful...on top of that, the weather was PERFECT!

Our little tent. We bought our tent at Sports Authority ...it was on sale. It's the perfect size for 2 people... later that night we decided to put the rainfly on because we thought it might rain..but it didn't. The weather was perfect!

Tin foil dinners...YUMMY!! It's one of my favorite meals to have when camping..:)

View from the bluffs...one of which includes the Mississippi River!

We had a ton of fun camping! Hopefully we'll be able to have a camping trip with the whole family.

Pictures of the house!!!

So...here are a few pictures of the inside of our house. Hopefully they'll give you a good idea of what it looks like. :)

Picture of the living room..

Picture of the living room...leading to the eating area.

Dining Table 

Piano and Computer Room

Picture of the bedroom

Adventure of the week!

Friday was a very interesting day...I was driving to the gym when I heard this 'POP' noise. I wasn't sure it was from my car but next thing I knew, my car was very load. It was like sitting next to the engine in an airplane. I assumed my muffler had gone bad but since I don't know a whole lot about cars, I wasn't sure. Anyway, I was nervous about driving my car. I thought maybe it would blow up or something.

Anyway, after working out, I spoke with Andy and my brothers. They confirmed that it was probably my muffler. So, I called around to a few shops. Estimated fixing cost was around $200. After speaking with Ted, I called Midas. They were about the same but the offered to do a free inspection to make sure the muffler was the problem. So, I made an appointment for later in the day...I also found a $10 discount coupon. :)

While I was driving to Midas, the car seemed to get louder and louder. I was 'embarrassed' and didn't want people looking at me. As I drove, I was constantly glancing at people to see if they were staring at me. I felt soo bad. In fact, there was one lady that was walking along the road that stared at me. But there wasn't anything I could do about it. Finally, I arrived at Midas. They put my car up and sure enough, the problem was the muffler. However, it was an odd problem. It looked like there was a backfire...instead of being flat, the muffler was bulging. No cracks or holes. The mechanics were baffled and had no idea what would have caused it. I guess it's not something you see in newer cars. But, at least we got it fixed and the car is now nice and quiet again. :) That's all that I could ask for.

Anyway, that's it for now.

Life in Minnesota

Wow! Time sure does fly!! I can't believe that we've lived in Minnesota for 1 1/2 months now. Andy finally started working about a month ago and I'm still looking for a job. Job hunting is sure not easy..but I know something will come up. :) In the meantime, I've been decorating our house. I finally got the the rooms organized and decorated. Granted, the walls are still a bit bare, but I figure that they will be decorated over time. We didn't want to rush into buying pictures. I've also been going to the gym everyday.

Andy and I have also been studying the Preach My Gospel...the stake president challeneged everyone to study it have have it read by October. We've only studied it a few times but its been really good. I highly recommend everyone to read and study it. We both also received callings -- Andy was called to be the Assistant Ward Clerk and I was called to be a Den Leader for the Bears. I've never been a Den Leader before so it should be fun and a good learning experience. Andy's calling definitely keeps him very busy.

Other than that, we are enjoying ourselves. Still adjusting to the changes and not having family close by, but we are slowly making friends here. :)

Memorial Weekend!!

So, I hope everyone had a fabulous memorial holiday!! Andy and I went to visit James and Winnie in Wisconsin. Winnie and James were about 4 hours away. The drive wasn't bad at all and the scenery was beautiful...however, on the way there and back, we saw about 15-17 dead deer. It was soo sad.

Anyway, the most challenging part of our trip was not having out stuff....we had packed everything, but for some reason, neither one of us double checked and the bag got left behind. Definitely a big mistake that won't happen again. But, despite that, we had tons of fun!! We did a variety of things..went to Michigan Lake, Farmers market in Madison, played DDR and karaoke, saw a parade, and had a BBQ.

Well, that was our exciting trip...i've posted some pics...I hope you enjoy them. :)

Here we are at Michigan Lake. It was actually pretty cool in the area...which was a nice break from the heat.

There was a kite festival at the Lake. I thought it was pretty cool. There were lots of people out enjoying the weather and having a good time.

Finally in Rochester!!

So...I finally found time to update my blog! Here's a quick update...

April 28th - Andy graduates from BYU!! Graduation was fun! The best part was being able to see everyone in my family...minus my parents and Ted's family...They weren't able to make it because Stacey was very close to having her baby. I was especially excited to meet Tanner...at that time, he was the newest addition to the family- Son of Aaron and Alison. He was sooo cute!

May 1st - Arrived in Rochester, MN and moved into our new house. It was so good to have a place to move into right away. We started painting right away and actually finished the day before the moving truck delivered our stuff. It was quite interesting...we had no furniture and nothing to cook with! We slept on the floor for the first few days and ate out quite a bit. Luckily, we got a few gift certificates from our realter and mortgage broker. I thought that was really nice of them.

May 12th - After 2 weeks of hard work, we finally got our house finished...furniture and everything! It felt soo good. Now, the only thing we need is just a few more decorating items. But, we figured we could wait on that. :)

May 16th - Today, the weather was sooo nice! It was actually SUNNY! It had been raining the last few days. So, we went out and got my car fixed and then walked around to explore the area. It was nice to finally spend time outside. In fact, we finally got to explore the Douglas trail...which is just right by our home. It was beautiful!! Everything is soo green! I love it!

Anyway, that's basically all the updates now. I will try to get pics up later. We hope everyone else is doing well...and we hope you guys can come visit sometime. Visitors are definitely welcomed!

Update! Moving to Minnesota - Buying a house

Wow! I can't believe how fast time flies!! I've been married for a little over 3 months now. CRAZY! Anyway, things have been awesome. Definitely some adjusting..but we really enjoy being together.

Recently, we went to Rochester, Minnesota to go house hunting. The best part was all of our expenses were paid!! Hotel, Car, and Food. Talk about a great vacation. Andy has a job at Mayo Clinic and the relocation benefits is awesome.

House hunting was quite the experience. We contacted a realter a few months back and he has been sending us the new listings that come up. His name was Rick Witt and he works for Envarian. Great guy and very helpful! While we were in Minnesota, he took us around to look at the houses. At first, we didn't have a whole lot of options. We were too conservative with our requirements. So, after that first day, we re-evaluated our requirements and made a few changes. Andy had also created a spreadsheet that would estimate what our monthly payments would be. By doing this, we were able to see what we could affor - we wanted to make sure we were living within our means and still be able to save money for retirement and for MBA school. This spreadsheet was very helpful in deciding what we could afford.

After changing our requirements, Rick took us house looking again..and we found a house! It's a 2 story townhome. It has 2 baths and 2 bedrooms! It was perfect! We made an offer on the house and they buyer accepted. Waiting was the worst part! In fact, we were at the Mall of America when Rick called and gave us the good news.

Now, we are waiting for the final approval on our mortgage loan and we will be moving to Minnesota around the 1st of May. I'm excited but nervous at the same time. Now, the only thing I need to do is find a job. Hopefully, it won't take me too long.

Anyway, for those of you who are looking at buying a home, we will be putting up the mortgage calculation we used on Andy's website. His site address is www.zerostudio.info. I hope you guys find it helpful!