A Canadian Retreat

10 days of fabulous vacation:

Day 1: Fly to Fargo late, great to see Randy and Lisa!

Day 2: Shopping at Scheels, looking at old pictures and a BBQ with the whole family

Day 3: Pack the car and hit the road for Canada, Frank is waiting for us at the dock, pack the boat and arrive at the island, hello to Uncle Don and Aunt Patty, unpack the boat, happy hour…ahhh

Day 4: Breakfast, fish, lunch, play games (Lisa Randy and I), happy hour, dinner, fish, saw a black bear

Day 5: Breakfast, fish, lunch, fish, happy hour, dinner, fish

Day 6: Breakfast, fish, lunch, fish, happy hour, dinner, fish

Day 7: Breakfast, prepare fish (Kyle and Frank), paint the cabin, shore lunch, happy hour, fish

Day 8: Breakfast, pack the boat, fishing in Sabskong Bay, saw turtles, wiener lunch over the fire, fish, happy hour, dinner, fish

Day 9: Breakfast, the dump (no bears), shopping in town, lunch, the dump (saw 3 bears), happy hour, dinner, fish

Day 10: Breakfast, close down the cabin, pack the boat (pouring rain), leave Canada, arrive in Fargo

Day 11: Lisa, Kyle and I depart for the homeland

It was a wonderful trip, relaxing, good family time and we both wish we were still there. Next year it will be a longer trip and Kyle will catch a Muskie!

The finishing score board:

Frank – 2 Muskie, 6 Northern (2 keepers), a few Bass

Kyle – 12 Northern (5 keepers), a few Bass

Megan – 2 Northern

Lisa – 2 Bass

Caught my first Northern in Canada

Painting the cabin

Shore Lunch

Sunset fishing

Wiener lunch in Sabaskong

Frank and his 2nd Muskie

Gone Fishin'

A big turtle

One bear

Two bears, three bears

Canadia...here we come!

We leave tonight for one of the best vacations, the island in Canada. It is the most serene, peaceful, quiet and relaxing vacation. You don't need a vacation from the vacation.

It is truly wonderful, a break from tv, iphones, email and all the conveniences of the modern world. I can't wait to spend time with family, eat shore lunch, fish, read a book and hopefully see the bears. We are off to Sonnemanland...literally!

1211 Locust farewell

It was 9 years and one month ago that I purchased my first home. My mom said, “Oh honey, you’ll be here 3, maximum of 5 years and then you’ll move on”. Ha, who knew...I was very excited I had a place of my own and quickly realized I had made a very adult decision. I had never lived on my own so this was a very new experience. At the age of 21, most people are finishing up college, starting their careers, living with friends and enjoying being young with not much responsibility. I, on the other hand, had two years left of school, had a mortgage and various other bills that go along with home ownership, a full time job and managed to play a little. There were many lessons I learned in those first few years, some were harder than others, some I am still recovering from.

I feel like I grew up more in my little place from age 21-30 than I did with my parents. I had dinner parties and BBQs, bought furniture, had a few roommates (my mom, Erin and Kyle), learned that I never want all wood floors again, often held more than one job, painted bright colors, discovered how to maximize small storage spaces, started my career, changed décor constantly, lived with one kitchen drawer, purchased new windows, danced on the counter, battled with the HOA, hired people to fix and repair various things, was laid off twice , learned the importance of paying bills on time, called the police, had one battle with a mouse family…I won, did a slight remodel of the bathroom, and lastly I got married. This was the reason to sell; we wanted to get a place of our own.

Today we close a chapter in our life. It was a wonderful house, and I hope it brings the new owner as much joy as it did me. So long…

Twitter

I didn't get it at first, now I LOVE it!!!

Kelly’s new piece of jewelry…

Yep, yep…..Kelly and Dan got engaged on Saturday. I have been going nuts not being able to talk about it, but all of her people finally know, so I get to talk.

I am so excited I don’t even have words. It is so much fun to see your siblings eternally happy and I couldn’t have chose a better guy….I can’t get all gooshy here, that’s for the toast!

The big day is quickly approaching as they want a fall wedding…of this year! They are settling on a location this week and mom, Kel and I went dress shopping yesterday and found “the one” and have made the first big purchase! VERY, VERY exciting!

Happy Engagement!!!!!!

Moving Day

We have moved!!! We put it on the market Friday April 10th, and we close next week! The day to day upkeep of a house on the market was grueling, but we can't complain. We were under contract in less than 6 weeks; price √, inspection √, appraisal √ and the closing is almost a √!

We had a very busy weekend packing and moving. There are a few things left which we are cleaning out tonight. I can't believe it is done!

Safe for now

I, amazingly, have made the cuts again. I am employed, but there are more to come. It has been a hard and exhausting day. For now I put on a happy face.

Until tomorrow

The big meeting has been reschedule for tomorrow.....another day to wait....

iPhone

Thanks to my technology savy, gadget guy husband, I can finally hang with the fancy phone people! I had been a regular old cell phone chick: Phone and text capabilities, until last night.

My contract was up and we were at the Apple store and I'm now an iPhone app girl! YEAH, I finally have a phone that I can call, text, receive pictures, access the internet anywhere, among hundreds of possibilties with the "apps" feature. You name it and there is an app (application).

Now for the learning curve...