Pics from St. Louis

Here are some pictures from our anniversary trip to St. Louis

2 more weeks!!!

I have 2 more weeks of summer school!!! And then my summer can officially start. So tired and ready to be done. After these 2 classes only 3 more to go total.

Going home next weekend for the highly anticipated Home Run Derby. So mini vacation to St. Louis and then back home to finish up finals.

Baby Birds

Here are pics from the new arrivals on our deck.

1 year down, 29 more to go!!

We have official been in our home for 1 year now. Lots has changed, but a lot has stayed the same. Water damage, roommates, renovations, painting, 2 new puppies and a kitten, new car, a wedding and honeymoon, new career paths...where will we be a year from now....

Bad Blogger!!!

I know I'm a bad blogger. But May is almost here!!! The semester is starting to wrap up with finals quickly approaching. Summer should be fun, but summer school not so much. Mayo has changed it policy on tuition reimbursement so I will be squeezing in two classes in 8 weeks. Needless to say I am looking forward to my time off in August! Still waiting to hear if Craig got the summer TA position but he does have a job at Target starting with orientation next Tuesday:)

Everything is going well

Crick and Teddy have become pretty big buddies. We are very fortunate that housing breaking is going very well and that he is sleeping through the night.

The duck was Truman's Birthday present from the vet. But Teddy enjoys it, even though it is almost three times his size.

Busy and Exciting!!!

After a fun filled weekend in DC with the girls the excitement continued at home with the addition of another pet. We know we already have 3, but Truman needed a playmate. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is 14 weeks old, and his name is Teddy. So Cute!!! And our last pet for a VERY long time.

He is already extremely cuddly and a follower, brings new light to the meaning at your feet. Everyone is already getting along well. Crick is the only one who is a little stand-offish

Where is Spring??

I am ready for some sun and warm weather!!! Now that Spring break is over it is back to the whole homework thing. I JUST WANT TO BE DONE....IT IS NEVER ENDING!!!! Plus getting ready to go to DC this weekend. At least it is a short week at work!

Sleeping puppy and kitty

See!!! I knew they would become friends. Truman and Crick sleeping next to one another.

Back to the Routine

My week is almost over, 1 more day. I'm still a little tired from my big adventure to the far East. Craig is busy with his father working on home improvement projects on his spring break...I think I would rather be a work than at home doing "man" jobs :)

The weather has turned off nice this week. Truman and I have been on 3 walks so far.

Tomorrow is Craig's big day, an interview. We are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

More videos

Video of one the way to the floating market and how busy the market was.

Day 2 and Day 3

Day 3 was filled with trade show stuff. Pretty boring, but busy and long. Helped set up the trade show booths with a little more creativity than the men.

Day 2
Well I saw 3 live elephants on the street, oh and a snake in the water!!! It was so big dad thought it was a crocodile. I don't have any pictures and believe me you wouldn't want to see them. We took a trip to the floating market. We saw how sea salt is collected, teak wood creations and the market first hand. I ended the day with a Thai foot pedicure.

Day 1

With the jet-lag not much sleep here. After 4 good hours we got up and had breakfast and booked a tour for the day. We started out at Asia's largest jewelery store. It was the largest show room I have ever seen. They had over 400 employees. (Doe and mom: you would have been on over load...way too much to look at never mind making up your mind). I made my selection of a white gold amethyst pendant after much debate.

Later in the day we went on a rice barge tour down the river and into the canal system of Bangkok. The video clip is from some of the houses right on the river canal. Different way of life here.

We are here!!!

We finally made it to our hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. It feels like it took a week, even though it was about a day of travel. I am tired and my jet-lag headache feels like a hangover. Hopefully tomorrow I begin to feel more like myself. I am just ready to go to sleep in a bed rather than in a chair.

I work best under pressure

It is 11:30PM the night before I leave for Thailand. All packed, bills paid and the husband is now in charge. But not all the homework is done :( I have 4.5 hours to write at least 1 assignment. Feels like college...oh the pressure is on! Plus I have to finish hemming a pair of pants!!! I can do this, I am my mother's child. Besides sleep is for sissy's when I can sleep on either the 2, 13 or 6 hour plane ride tomorrow. Next post from Thailand!!!!

Truman Gets a Treat

Truman demonstrates his ability to catch a training treat and jump to grab a Beggin' Strip as the cats look on.

Eyes on a new machine

Now that I have really gotten into quilting and beginning to feel confident in my skills I am starting to think about upgrading my starter machine to a more advanced model with more bells and whistles. I am thinking about buying from a dealer south of Rochester at Pine Needles Quilt Shop in Racine, Minnesota. They have a beautiful store front, with lots of models on the floor and a whole quilt shop. Plus if you buy your machine from them then you get 20% off for life on fabric, quilt kits and additional Bernina accessories!!! You also get unlimited mastery classes. It is a little farther of a drive from Pine Island to Racine compared to into Rochester but I think it would be worth the drive.

The dream of owning a long-arm is too far off if ever in the distance. So I am looking at a machine that I can do better quality quilting on besides just piecing quilt tops. Plus a more powerful motor to handle all the denim.

I am thinking about going with the Aurora 440 Quilter's Edition one of 2 Bernina's equipped with the stitch regulator (for free-motion quilting)...so I guess you could say I am going from a Sunfire to a Cadillac.

http://www.berninausa.com/product_detail-n2-i4-sUS.html

Guess I better start saving my pennies. I will cross my fingers for January 2010 :)

A Busy Week

It's going to be a busy week for Callie. 1 midterm, 2 papers, 40 hours of work and packing for her big adventure to Thailand. She leaves early on Saturday out of Minneapolis to meet up with her father in Chicago.

A Big Snow

We had a huge snow storm today. We have never seen a storm that included: snow, thunder and lightening. Crazy!!!

Sleepy puppy

Couldn't decide if he wanted to sleep inside or outside his house.

March is almost here

Hopefully spring will be here by the time I get back from Thailand. I'm busy with work, packing for my trip and midterms. So much to do and so little time.

The Wonder Machine

Here are pictures of me quilting my first quilt on a long-arm. I am offically certified on the dream machine made by Gammill-Statler Stitcher.

The best part of my day

So on my way to my quilting certification class this morning, I found a SONIC. In Minnesota!!! So crazy and I know Craig was so jealous that I enjoyed happy hour without him. A great find after a great class. I am quilting the t-shirt quilt tomorrow. I learned so much today and can't wait to go back to apply my skills. I have truly found my love in quilting.

Piecing is done!!!

I have finally finished piecing the t-shirt quilt that I have been working on for Elizabeth. I think my skills have gotten nothing but better. I am impressed with how nicely all of my seams line up too. It was a good project to start with even though it is a queen size. It was nice to work with cotton quilting fabric, rather than the denim and flannel I have been working with so much lately. Now onto the quilting part and binding. Long-arm certification on Tuesday and quilting on Wednesday. Binding on Thursday in car on the way to St. Louis.

The Weekend

We shared a great "couple" weekend. We went to the gym on Friday evening and I had more miles to run. After a 3 mile run for me we went out to sushi in Rochester for an early Valentine's Day date. Saturday was the boring cleaning and errands day plus homework. Sunday we went to the cities in search of batting for my current quilt project. We went to Ikea in search of a cart for my Accuquilt. We found the perfect one, even with wheels so it is portable. Craig had a couple of helpers putting it together as well.

Friday the 13th!!!

Everyone normally feels a little weirded out by Friday the 13, but not us. It is our 7 month anniversary. Plus tomorrow will be our first Valentine's Day together in over 5 years. Hope it is a good one even though Craig caught my cold. I am hoping to finish up the piecing on the t-shirt quilt I am currently working on. So I can quilt it next week.

The Beginning...

Here it is... a start. We are starting a blog to keep our family and friends up to date on our everyday lives way up here in Minnesota. Now that the wedding planning is long over and our house has gotten back to "normal".

Don't expect too much we live a pretty boring life minus work, grad school, quilting, ESPN, 3 pets, working out and a bunch of snow in a land that doesn't know what hot means in the summer time.