Visiting Rochester

Yeah! Our first visitors! Since we don't live in a big city, it's not likely that we'll actually have people come visit us. So, it was great when we had friends visit. German, Kitna, Baby, and Kitna's Mom came and visited us as they were making their way to New York. It was fun. They arrived Friday late afternoon so we showed them around Mayo, ate dinner, and then played some tennis. On Saturday, we spent the day in the cities at the Science Museum. It was nice...their baby is soo cute too. She was a very good baby. Also, the weather was BEAUTIFUL! Perfect for getting a nice tan. :) Anyway, here's a picture of all of us in in front of the Mississippi River. We're glad we had visitors and I'm excited for Andy's sister and my parents to come...they'll be visiting next month. :)

Transformer - The Movie!

On the 3rd, we went to watch Transformer with Craig and Jaclyn. It was an AWESOME movie! We all really liked it. The movie was fast paced and the animation was really good. On the way home from the movie, I couldn't help it but make the 'transformer' sound effect when the robots transformed. Okay, that may be a little extreme, but it was just fun making the noise. :) Anyway, I highly recommend seeing this movie.

Fourth of July

So, I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted...I usually am pretty good about updating my blog, but for some reason, I got out of the habit. Anyway, I am no longer MIA. :)

Anyway, Andy and I had an AWESOME 4th of July....we helped out at the ward party by filling up water balloons and helping the activity coordinator set up. We had a great time talking with friends and other ward members. Then, we worked on the flowerbed in front of our house. We added a retaining wall, potting soil, and some red mulch. It looks pretty cool..especially with the one flower that is blooming. We had planted other flowers but they didn't bloom; however, they didn't. I'm assuming they will bloom next year. All in all, I felt proud of our little flower bed.... :) Then, in the afternoon, we went fishing with our friends Craig and Jaclyn. We went to a place called Willow Creek Reservoir. It was beautiful! We spent a few hours there and caught a few little fish. We then went and grabbed dinner and then met up with other friends to watch the fireworks. It was great! The weather was fairly warm but I'm glad we got to be outside and spend time with friends.

Anyway, that's about it for the Fourth. I hope you all had as much fun as I did!

Easter Time!

I LOVE Easter! Andy didn't have class on Saturday so we were able to sleep in.. yipee!! It was really nice to spend the day with my husband. :) Anyway, we didn't really do too much. We were able to provide some service for a family in our ward. We went over to their place to help the kids color eggs and then have an Easter egg hunt. Her husband won't be home for another week or two and needed some help. Then we went over to our friends house to watch the final movie of Infernal Affairs. It was fun.

Friday was really nice to. We stayed up really late. My parents came home around midnight pacific time...so I was up until 2 am wanting to say hi to them. I'm glad my parents are home safe. :)

Andy and our friend Craig were up to 4 am playing 'Age of Empire III'. He had a lot of fun and was glad to finally be able to put his new computer to the test.

Well, that's just a quick recap of our weekend. Nothing too exciting but at least you all know we're still alive. :)

Kansas City

This week I will be in Kansas City Missouri for training on the Cerner Health System. For my job, we will be implementing a new electronic medical record (EMR) for the Mayo Health Systems. Right now, all the Mayo Health system sites uses different programs for their medical records. Some still use paper and some are partly electronic. Mayo has decided to standardize their medical record system and they chose Cerner. So, to help us all better understand their software, we are in Kansas City for a week long training. It has been a lot of fun so far..however, the days have been long...listening to lectures all day is not easy. Plus, I miss being with Andy. I can't wait to go back to Rochester and see him. :)

Taiwan Pictures

My Dad just sent us the files for the pages in our wedding book...we really really liked them. :) If you want to see them, Andy put them on his blog:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kinsio/WeddingPics

I hope you like them as much as we do!

~Reason's why I LOVE my husband~

Happy Valentine's Day!! I just want everyone to know that I LOVE my husband! Isn't he HANDSOME?! Here is a list of 10 things that I love about him:

1. He is a hard worker.
2. He is ambitious and crazy.
3. He makes me laugh.
4. He takes care of me.
5. He is supportive and helps me be the best that I can be.
6. He is very responsible.
7. He watches out for his family and makes sure his siblings do well.
8. He gets excited about almost anything!
9. He is very easy to talk to.
10. He LOVES me!

So there are my ten things. Of course, there are many many more reasons... :) I'm really am grateful for my husband and I love doing things with him...from fixing up our house to traveling around the world! He always says he doesn't know what to get me for Valentine's or for my birthday, but the truth is just spending time with him is enough for me. He's the best!

WII anyone?

Before the PS3 system came out, we were debating on whether or not we wanted one. Then Andy read some stuff about the WII system and thought that it would be better. However, we decided quickly to wait since we didn't really want to spend the money on it. Anyway, Andy's boss got a WII system and told Andy how much fun it was...so, he really wanted to get one. I still didn't want to spend the money, but then I got a job interview at Mayo. So, Andy asked if we could get one if I got the job. I agreed. I figured it would be a good way to celebrate.

So..when we got back from Asia, Andy started on his quest to find a system. He finally got one yesterday at Target. We had a friend that worked there and he was able to get us one during his lunch break. Also, Andy decided to go there after a meeting to make sure he would get one. Talk about a man on a mission. :) Anyway, he was sooo happy that he got one. Last night, we play 3 tennis matches and one game of bowling. It was a lot of fun! Definitely a unique way to play games...I'm glad we got one. So, if you want to come join us in the fun, you should come out and visit us.

I Got Tagged!!!

Ahh!! So my sister-in-law Allison tagged me. I guess I need to list 6 weird things about me... which wouldn't be any fun...but then I get to tag 6 other people! Which is the fun part...so BEWARE! Anyway, here it goes....

1. I love eating pretzels with yogurt...it may sound gross, but it helps to take away some of the sweetness.

2. I have to make myself be outgoing...I am naturally a very very shy person so I force myself to talk to people. Sometimes I still feel like a social retard. :)

3. I would LOVE to travel around the world...but I don't like to fly....

4. I can't run outside...my throat dries up and it taste like there's blood in it.... :(

5. I'm not someone who wants a lot of stuff...so even if I wanted to spend a lot of money, I don't know if I could.

6. Sometimes, I would rather cook and eat at home then go out to a restaurant.

Phew! I made it. Hopefully that works. Now the fun part!! Pauline, Juli, Winnie, Julia, Melissa, and Crystal -- You're IT! Good luck!

Is installing a Storm Door Easy??

So...the weather here in the Mid-West has been very very VERY COLD! So, in order to better insulate our home and to save on energy costs, we decided to install a storm door. We went and checked out Home Depot and Mernards. Luckily, Mernards was having a sale so the cost of the door wasn't too bad...

We also didn't think a door would be hard to install so instead of paying someone to do it, we decided to do it ourself. Boy was it a challenge!!! Okay..maybe not too bad..but it was a lot harder then we thought. Everything was fine until we started screwing the door to the door frame. All of a sudden, it wasn't fitting as nicely. Since I am a perfectionist and can be stubborn, I think I was causing Andy to be a bit more frustrated. :) It wasn't that everything had to be perfect...I just wanted to make sure it looked nice. About 1 1/2 days later, we finished installing the door. HOOORRRAAYYY!! It actually turned out pretty good..let's just see how it looks in the Spring and Summer...hopefully it'll be okay. Andy's dad would probably be mocking us for how long it took..but, what can I say...we were rookies.

Anyway, installing a Storm Door is definitely NOT EASY. But, if we had to do it all over again, I would still want to install it ourselves. It felt so good when we finally finished installing it... :) It's definitely an accomplishment. I LOVE working on projects with my husband.

New Job

So, mid-December I had an interview for the MHS Process Analyst position at Mayo Clinic. After I was done with the interview, I was almost positive that I wouldn't get the job because I felt like the interview didn't go well. Anyway, a week after the interview, I sent a follow up email and I was told that I did very well and that they would let me know as soon as they could about a decision. Finally, about 1 1/2 months later, I received a job offer!! (I actually would have found out earlier but I was on vacation and unreachable by phone). Anyway, the position and dept are very new and the job will be challenging. It will definitely be a great learning experience. I am very excited! I especially want to take advantage of education benefit and get my masters. YIPPEE!!

Last week in Macao

So, I decided to just sum up what we've done the past week. We really haven't done much. Basically, we just went shopping and met with Andy's friends and family. Also, I caught a cold so I've been resting at home. For me, the first day of the cold is always the worst! Today is the second day, so it's not too bad. But, I had to go see the Chinese doctor to take some Chinese medicine so Andy's parents would stop telling me to go see a doctor. They kept saying it over and over for the past few days. So, to make them happy, we went. Anyway, tomorrow we spend the day in Hong Kong and then we go to the airport the next day. I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks. Time went fast! I've had a lot of fun in Asia and I'm really glad that I got to meet Andy's family. They have all been really nice. However, I am still looking forward to getting home. :)

China

The day after we came back from Taiwan, we headed of to China to visit the rest of Andy's relatives. Let's just say it was quite the adventure...just makes me even more grateful that we live in America. It also makes me LOVE my house even more!! I don't mind the fact that China is a little bit dirtier or the squatter toilets. However, I don't think I could ever get use to taking a shower standing above the toilet. It just gives me the chills. Other then that, it was great meeting everybody. Also, everyone was very nice. We had our own room to stay in and they had even bought a new bed for Andy and I to sleep in. I thought that was very generous of them.

Anyway, we were in China from Friday night until Monday noon time. Here's a brief overview of our trip:

Friday: We go to the border around 3:30 pm and walk from Macao to China. We then take the bus to Lat Lau and arrive there around 8 or 8:30 pm. We eat dinner, talk and then go to bed.

Saturday: We went to go Yam Cha in the morning and then just hung out at the house. Around 5 or 6 pm we did the Tea Ceremony then went to eat dinner. It was fun because I got to meet several of Andy's cousins. The 2 girl cousins spoke Mandarin so I was able to talk to them. It was also interesting to watch everybody. They aren't members so drinking wine and tea at the table was common. Luckily, nobody drunk too much. :)

Sunday: Went to visit Andy's other relatives in Shui Cheng. We went there to specifically to visit his grandpa in the hospital. He seems to be doing pretty well. I think they said that he would be home for Chinese New Year. That night, we went to eat dinner to celebrate. This time it was only 1 table, but it was still interesting to watch everyone. I guess in China, drinking wine and smoking is the only way to do business.

Monday: Hang out with family and then took the bus back to the Macao border. We then went shopping in the underground mall to buy stuff. Everything was sooo cheap and there was soo much to see! Too bad my visa only let me go to China once or we could have gone again on another day.

Anyway, that's basically it. I'm glad to be back in Macao and to be able to use a clean bathroom. :)

Taiwan

Andy, Andy's mom, and I were able to visit my parents in Taiwan for 4 days. I'm really glad we went because we had tons of fun! It was Andy's mom first trip to Taiwan so she was really excited to go. Plus, we were able to take wedding pictures there...I have always wanted to be able to take those pics since I saw them on my mission. They're really really pretty! Here's a basic break down of our stay in Taiwan:

Monday: Arrive in Taiwan at 3:05 pm. Mom and Dad meet us at the airport and we arrive in Taipei around 4:30/5:00 pm. We then look at all the wedding picture places and make an appointment. We then eat dinner and then choose the outfits for the next day.

Tuesday: 9:00 am we go to the picture place. They do my make-up and hair and we take tons of pictures until 4:30 pm. It was a long day! I had 5 different outfits and with each outfit they touched up my make-up and changed my hairstyle. It was a lot of fun but we were definitely tired by the end of the day. 5:30 pm we go and look at the pictures on the computer. We then ate dinner with my mission trainer and her fiance. It was fun talking to her and catching up. I'm excited for her wedding...she's getting married on Feb 3rd..so I would have just barely missed it. After dinner, we go back to the wedding place to finish choosing pictures. It was hard cutting pictures out because we liked a lot of them. We also had to re-negotiate the price and package since there was some miscommunication at the beginning. I think it all worked out in the end though. I'm excited to see the finished products!

Wednesday: We went to the morning market with Mom and Dad. Then Andy and I were able to be the witness couple for the missionary endowment session. We didn't know what to do but it worked out. I'm glad we were able to attend the temple. We were going to attend the Hong Kong temple but it doesn't look like we would have been able to make it. While we were in the temple, mom took Andy's mom around to buy stuff. I'm glad she had fun. After the temple, we went to the 101 building and then to the night market. It was fun! I wish we had night markets in America.

Thursday: In the morning, we went out to a place called Dan Shui. It was really pretty. We didn't get to stay long because we had to catch the 12 o'clock bus to the airport. It was nice to just stroll around the ocean/river...I don't remember exactly what it was.

Anyway, that's basically our trip. We all enjoyed ourselves and we were able to stay in the patron housing..which was nice because we had our own room and bathroom..plus, it was really big...well, just bigger then the room we have now. :) Anyway, we were just happy to spend time with mom and dad!

Macao: Day 7

It's official!! I have been in Macao for a whole week! Time sure does fly. Anyway, since today is Sunday, we really didn't do much. Church was fun. Several people spoke Mandarin so I was able to talk to them. I feel like my Mandarin has tui bu...or gotten worse...but, they could still understand me so I guess that was good. Then we just stayed at home...Andy helped his family clean up the house and throw away a lot of the junk...his parents don't like to throw stuff away. Very much like my parents. :) But Dorothy definitely took care of that. Hehehe. For dinner, we went over to Andy's other aunt's house and had hot pot. Afterwards, we came back and packed for our excursion trip to Taiwan to visit my parents and to take wedding pics. I am soo excited to see them and to take the pics. I just hope they turn out.

Macao: Day 6

Today was a pretty relaxing day. For the past few days, we haven't been able to sleep past 7 am. We actually slept in till about 7:30 am. :) Then we out to the basketball court. Andy was playing basketball with his friends. Afterwards, we went and watched a Chinese movie...I forgot what it was called but it was pretty good. I believe it was the same people who did Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Anyway, it was about the Emporer and what he did to get the thrown and then showed what he did to keep it. Then we just stayed at home. Andy was fixing the computers at home..as usual. :) For dinner, we met with Andy's family that was here in Macao...we ate some Portuguese food at a nice restaurant. The Before we went to dinner, we were able to walk around the Macao Tower. It was very pretty. I'm glad that we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. :)

Macao: Day 5

In general, today will be known as Andy's day...we basically spent the whole day meeting his friends. Of course, since I can't really speak Cantonese, I just sat there and listened to everyone else. You're probably all thinking, "Poor Tanya, she must have been sooo bored." It wasn't all too bad, but it was weird to not really talk the whole day. Andy had a lot of fun though! He hadn't seen his friends for 3 years so they had a lot of catching up to do. It was fun seeing him interact with them. We did do a little bit of shopping in between visits with his friends, but that's about it. We also ate a lot of food today...we ate potstickers, mango drinks, chong you beng, some milk dessert, Japanese food..and probably some other stuff..Andy is determined to gain wait, me on the other hand, would like to lose weight...so I'll probably have to go on a diet when I get home. I will probably try the one that my sister in law is doing...sounds like she has had some success..even though I don't think she needs to lose anything.... :)

Macao: Day 4

Today the weather was much much better. Still overcast but at least it wasn't raining. So, Andy showed me around little Macao. We went around on his Moped. It is soooo scary to drive in the traffic here. It's TERRIBLE! The mopeds just squeeze in and out of cars and they don't really follow the traffic rules. Needless to say, my eyes were closed almost the whole time! I really enjoyed seeing the landmarks of Macao. It is really pretty. Then, went shopping and found some cool stuff. :) In the afternoon, Andy's parents took us site seeing. He drove us around Taipa and we ate the famous Portuguese dan tat. It was pretty good. That night we stayed the night at Andy's aunts home and ate dinner there. Her house is sooo nice. I have never seen such a fancy house in Asia.

Macao: Day 3

Today it rained ALL DAY! It was sooo gloomy that we wanted to just stay home. But, luckily we didn't. We decided to go out and walk around and go shopping. We didn't have too much luck since we weren't in the mood to shop but it was still fun looking at everything. That afternoon we took a long nap and then we took Andy's family to eat Korean food. It was pretty good, but we still like Sam Hawk in Provo Utah. We haven't found a place that is better than it. Anyway, that night we went and visited Andy's aunt. Her place was really really nice..you can tell that she works very hard!

Macao: Day 2

Yeah! Success with the travelers checks. We found 2 banks that would accept them with out a fee. However, I need to have my passport. Which I won't get back until Thursday. So we'll have to wait till then. Anyway, today we basically finished our 'to do list'. It feels good to cross things off. We finished the stuff at the bank, got my new glasses ordered, and found out about wedding pics and tickets to Taiwan to visit Mom and Dad. The tickets weren't too bad so I'm excited to go. ;)

Anyway, the weather the last few days has been very nice. The perfect spring weather. I hope it lasts. We've also had very good Chinese food....we went to yam cha and other stuff. Yummy. :) I'll hopefully be able to post pics later.

Macao: Day 1

Today was basically errand day. We got a lot done! We got my China Visa application submitted, Andy's ID card changed to the current one, and got his bank information all settled. It was a very busy day and we walked everywhere! Macao is definitely not a very big place. We basically walked from one end to the other in like 30 minutes....okay, maybe not that fast, but we it sure seemed like it. The traffic here is also very crazy...it's just like China and Taiwan. Pretty scary and no one follows traffic rules. Definitely gotta watch out for the mopeds and cars.

We also tried to cash in the traveler's checks that we brought...definitely not as easy as we thought it would be. It appears that the place that was suppose to accept them for free didn't accept them any more. Luckily, we have our credit cards, and some extra cash. We'll have to search around. :)

In Macao!!

After several "tribulations," Andy and I have finally arrived in Macao. First of all, the night before we were scheduled to leave, we found out that our flight from Rochester to Minneapolis was cancelled. Luckily, our friends were headed up to the city to attend the temple. So, they were able to give us a ride to catch our flight there. After 12 hours on the plane, we arrived in Japan. It wasn't too bad...we watched 2 movies and I slept most of the way. Then, after an hour lay over, it was another 5 hours to Hong Kong. When we landed, Andy opened the luggage area and next thing I knew, I was hit in the arm with a pretty heavy plastic bag. Luckily I had moved over or else I would have been hit in the head. :) Then from there, it was an hour bus ride to the ferry and another hour on the ferry to Macao. As we were boarding the ferry, the handle on our larger suitcase broke. Then, after we got off the ferry and going to catch a taxi, the front right wheel on the same larger luggage broke. We finally arrived safely at Andy's home at about 2 or 3 in the morning. We were glad to have made it safely and have a good nights rest!

In the airport

On the ferry to Macao

Recent Adventures...

We took a trip up to the Twin Cities Saturday and stayed the night. It was a lot of fun! We went to an art musuem and a zoo. The art musuem had some really cool asian collections and some nice conservatories. The best part was that they were both free!! All in all, it was an awesome trip! I love exploring places with my husband. :)



Christmas day we explored the southern part of Rochester. We ended up driving by the Mayowood Mansion and they had this beautiful lake by their house.

Donating Blood

I've never ever donated blood before but I decided it was time to do it to help others. Also, here at Mayo, if you or your spouse is employed by Mayo and you donate blood, you won't be charged for blood if you or your immediate family ever need it. So, I decided to donate blood yesterday. I was nervous at first because I wasn't sure if they could get enough out of me...my veins are small so sometimes I have a hard time filling up a small test tube. Luckily, we didn't have a problem and it really wasn't that bad. Plus, they said you can save 3 people by donating once. It feels good to know that I have helped 3 people and possibly save their lives. Anyway, maybe I will donate again sometime in the future.

**Christmas**

It was so nice to be able to sleep in..granted, we went to bed pretty early so we were still up by 8:30am...but, in general, it was nice to not have to rush off to work. We actually got to eat breakfast together too. Andy woke up and cooked hashbrown and scrambled eggs for me. It was one of the BEST breakfasts ever. :) Then, we opened up gifts. I got Andy and new ergonomic wireless keyboard and he bought me a Greg Olson painting of Christ. The painting is so beautiful and is perfect! Afterwards, we just started working on our many projects that we have. We really haven't had time to do them so we've fallen behind. Hopefully, with another 3 day weekend coming up, we can get some more things done. Later that day, we went and explored the southern part of Rochester. It was a lot of fun. :) I'll be sure to post some pics later.

Christmas Card

So, I decided to put our Christmas card up on our blog because I know I wasn't able to send or email one out to everyone. If anyone would like an actual card or email next year, please let me know what your address and email are. :)

First Anniversary!

Wow, I can't believe I've been married for a year! Time sure does fly. Since our anniversary fell on a Wednesday, we weren't able to do too much, but we still had a lot of fun! Andy took the night off from his Bishopric Meeting and I took the night off from scouts. We went to eat dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Jepanchi..it's a tepanyaki place where they cook in front of you...it was a lot of fun! Then, we went and watched the new James Bond movie-Casino Royale. It was actually pretty good.

Anyway, it was nice to be able to have a free night during the week were we could spend time together. We are also planning on staying up in the city one night...we love exploring so I'm looking forward to that. :)

**Camping in November**

So, since the weather during Thanksgiving was really nice, we had decided to follow through with our camping plans. Friday night, we went camping at Whitewater State Park with Craig and Jaclyn Whetten. We had a lot of fun! Plus, we got to eat tin foil dinners..YUMMY! Unfortunately, we were all really tired from our Black Friday adventure and it was really dark, so we went to bed pretty early. Anyway, that night it got really cold. So cold that I don't think any of us slept really well. The next morning, there was frost on EVERYTHING! Luckily, we still had some wood left to start a fire.

Another GREAT Book

Eve's Daughters by Lynn N. Austin is another book I HIGHLY recommend! It's a story about four generations of women and the effects their choices have had on their lives. The four generations of women include the great grandma, grandma, mother, and daughter. It definitely made me look at how my own parent's choices have influenced my own life. It's definitely a MUST READ book. If you do choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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. :)