Minnie-sotah

Heading north and leaving the south behind, reminded me how much I love Minnesotan accents.

I had a great weekend with family, food, history, fun, love, laughter, and did I mention food. Our weekend celebration included two anniversaries. My grandparents were celebrating their 50th and my parents were celebrating their 28th. It was beautiful to see these 4 amazing individuals, the families they have raised, and the memories they have shared. How blessed am I to have these amazing role-models.

Our family celebration began by boarding a bus...16 of us, dressed in green...

there was champagne toasts, laughter, and memories of the past shared...

Our bus stops included opportunities to step foot in the church my grandparents married in half a century ago...

Farms they grew up on...

and obviously, opportunities to eat.




It was a fantastic weekend. I enjoyed the weather, the food & drink, the sights, the sounds, but more importantly the comfort and love that comes from spending time with family...

Hermann

After a week, I think I am finally coming to grips with the "water works" situation and the travel trauma it caused me (am I being overly dramatic.....naaahhhhh) 
One thing that has helped with my recovery process is gearing up for another weekend full of beautiful faces and travel and I truly think this one will happen (knock on wood. literally just did.) I am heading to "The Land of 10,000 Lakes". Thats right folks, this southern girl is heading north. My final destination:  New Ulm, Minnesota. Home of Hermann the German (the 3rd largest copper statue in the United States, Thank you very much!), but more importantly the home of Joe & Barb McGuire, my lovely grandparents, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. It will be a weekend of family and celebration and I'm so excited I just can't hide it!

Hermann in all his glory...

I will miss these two darlings, but I am sure they can hold down the fort without me.


Please excuse my random subject change.

Remember this post. No, we haven't found any Texas artwork. But I did find that someone has some skills to help me hide things I don't want you to see...
Our Pirate's Alley recreation and that darn fire hydrant. Check this out.

What fire hydrant? 
Thanks Scotty! You're the best! (I'll be in touch for more re-touch work...)

Water Works

67 hours has come and gone and I did not get to see any of those beautiful people I was so looking forward to seeing (except my handsome husband).  Instead this is what I saw...

Okay, let me start from the beginning. This saga began Thursday morning when Matt and I attempted to get ready for work and realized that we had no water. A few months ago, the same situation occurred, we called the city, and the problem was fixed, therefore we didn't think too much about it, except for the inconvenience factor. The story continues as I return home from work prepared to pack and paint my nails, when I was greeted by an elderly man and his dog at my house. He explained to me that as he was on his walk, he noticed some water, and took it upon himself to figure out where the water source was. It happened to be under my house. 
Now is where the story gets dramatic. 
We called our home-owners insurance to send out a plumbing company. No one came Thursday night, which caused a dilemma. We had a flight to catch in Houston and would need to leave by noon.  After checking the later flight, which was booked, we realized we would have to make a decision; leave our home with the water situation unresolved and pray that everything was okay when we returned (ie we would have the capability to bathe and flush a toilet)  OR  forgo the fabulous weekend we had planned with friends and family and miss the wedding vows of Old Man & his Old Lady. Unfortunately, we took the "mature homeowner" stance on this one and decided not to leave our home in a crisis situation.
But wait.... thats not it!
So we finally get a plumber out to the house, he locates the problem and explains the fix. However we still have one pretty big problem... he can't fit through the crawl space. After Matt asked for all the "skinny plumbers" numbers, the oversized plumber informed us that the earliest anyone could come out would be Tuesday. But, oversized plumber felt confident that Matt could repair this situation solo. He provided Matt with detailed instructions and materials necessary and after a quick trip to Lowes, my husband ventured into new territory. 
Skinny plumber engineered the necessary parts.



This is the next step... fitting into this area. (you can empathize with oversized plumber now, huh?)

Then skinny plumber went to work.


Skinny plumber was successful! Matt was able to fix the problem and as of now we have running water. 

I felt pretty bummed out this weekend, this has to be the longest I have gone without seeing my friends (last reunion: Holiday Season 2009), but with their phone calls, messages, and kind words, I realized that it is times like these that serve as a reminder of why I call them my best friends.
“Maybe mistakes are what make our fate... without them what would shape our lives? Maybe if we had never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, have babies, or be who we are. After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away” - Carrie Bradshaw






All in all, we learned a big lesson this weekend: Next time the water doesn't work... DO NOT assume that it is the city's problem. 





CONGRATULATIONS ADAM & CARRIE!

67 hours

That is the approximate amount of time before Matt and I land at the Des Moines International Airport where we begin a weekend filled with family and friends. Here's a peek at some of the beautiful faces we get to surround ourselves with....

(the bride...)

(the groom...)

Good Night! And if you are one of the lucky ones... we will see you in approximately 66 hours and 45 minutes.

A Texas Dilemma

Matt and I began a sort of "tradition". For each place/area/city/region we live in, we collect a piece of art that represents (to us) that time in our life.

Iowa

We didn't actually begin this "tradition" in Iowa, but we have plenty of artwork that represents Iowa to us.... it was our beginning. Each photo in our home of family, friends, and loved ones reminds us of where we come from and all the amazing people we have in our lives. The most important art in our home that represents Iowa is this. It is the beginning of our story. It's a reminder of where we fell in love and where this wild journey together began

Now our next move was to the Chicago area, but technically this "tradition" didn't begin until our move to La La La La La La La Louisiana.

Louisiana

This move was our first culture shock. We were in a region of the country both of us were very unfamiliar with. We had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in a different culture... the food, the language, the s l o w pace. Although we didn't technically live in New Orleans (we were Lake Charles residents) we chose to purchase our Louisiana artwork in New Orleans. While we were living in Lake Charles we didn't really get to experience a whole lot of what they had to offer. Matt worked 70 days straight and the area was still recuperating from Hurricane Rita. However, during one of Matt's free weekends, we traveled to N'awlins and we got a heavy helping of Louisiana culture. The food, the people, the music, the entertainment, and the art. The French Quarter showcases some amazing architecture and can be such a beautiful place (if you can get past the smell and the intoxicated tourists). Therefore we chose to buy a piece that represented that first visit to us.

Pirate's Alley is located in the French Quarter next to Saint Louis Cathedral, which is the oldest cathedral in the United States (and absolutely gorgeous). When Matt's parents traveled to New Orleans with us this spring, we created our own Pirate's Alley piece of art...

Okay, the fire hydrant didn't make it into the painting, but you get the point... After our southern adventure we returned back to the mid-west to Aurora, Illinois.

Illinois

Living in the Chicago 'burbs was amazing. Some of our closest, dearest friends just a hop, skip, & a jump away in the city where there was always something fabulous going on... amazing. We found this modern painting which reminded us of this time in our lives. Then when we saw the title, we knew it was meant to be. "Moving Right Along" Thats how we roll.

Pretty eclectic artwork so far right. This brings me to my dilemma. I am beginning to brainstorm a piece that represents our Texan lifestyle... and I am at a loss. I mean obviously I have seen plenty of this kind of stuff:
.

Yeah, that's not gonna fly. So my search for inspiration continues.

Although I think this may sum up my inspiration for the weekend...

3-day weekend

If Memorial Day Weekend, the start to summer, is any indication of the summer that lies ahead, ours if full of work and free-time is focused on house projects.

Our weekend started out with my fabulous husband escorting me to the movie of the season. That's right, Matt saw Sex and the City 2, opening weekend. Unfortunately, Matt had to work bright and early Saturday morning. Bella and I took care of our weekend errands awaiting his return, so our holiday weekend could truly begin.

Upon his return, we enjoyed a rare "cool" (a relative term) evening. We ate dinner outside, listened to some music, enjoyed some wine and spirits, and relaxed, with no where to be but right here.

A perfect relaxing summer evening is made up of the components above. A great read, a nice glass of wine, and bug spray so one can tolerate being outdoors. Matt and I recognized our Southeast Texas status, when we realized the smell of bug spray reminds of us summer, not sun tan lotion. (By the way, I am currently reading "The Art of Racing in the Rain". I am not finished, but it is already a must, especially if you are a dog owner or have a child of the dog species. By page 6, I was already becoming slightly emotional.... Matt quickly responded with, "Take a sip!", Sex and the City anyone?)

Recently Bella has taken up a new pastime. She has finally learned how to catch a frisbee and return it. (Okay, we are still working on the return, but you get the point) Matt and I are quite entertained by her "skillz"... each time she makes a catch, you would think it was the first by the cheers and round of applause she receives.

I will not bore you with all the details, but the rest of our weekend revolved around our house, preparing it for strangers to come look at it, and hopefully want to purchase it. We did some yard work and spent the majority of the weekend painting the trim. So that made for several trips to Home Depot, sweat, bug bites, sunburn, approximately 3 showers a day, getting a quote from professional painters to complete our project, and opening a well deserved bottle of vino...

(Isn't this bottle adorable? Texas Wine Country purchase, although this particular beauty was bottled in Cali at a sister winery)

As we continued working on our "to-do list" one member of a family found time for a little cool down. As a child I thoroughly enjoyed our crazy daisy (sprinkler + flower = childrens or dogs water toy). As we slaved away covered in paint, sweat, bug spray, and sun tan lotion, Bella cooled down.

Hope your three-day weekend was a beautiful beginning to the summer!

Summer Musts

(1) A prequel to Carrie's Manhattan Lifestyle... a perfect way to prepare for the big premiere (2) J Crew Minnies, a must have pant, trust me (3) Sex and the City II: the movie of the season... the only thing that would make me more excited to see this film would be meeting my girlfriends for cosmos before (4) Spin Pin, can be found at your local Target and the individual who engineered this piece of work deserves serious props... spin pin = 20 bobby pins. (5) Author of Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and other fabulous titles... I haven't read it yet, but I think it's safe to say its a go ahead and assume it will make a great summer read (6) Wedding Season is here! yay! (7) Mad Men. I don't know how many of you have had the opportunity to meet Don Draper, but he is pretty dreamy. Don will be back in my life July 25, so those of you who haven't met him, still have time to get to know him. I highly recommend it.