why I like facebook:

a) it allows me to keep in touch with old friends and classmates that i normally would have lost touch with

2) i can see what everyone is up to, who is engaged, married, etc.

c) it's a great time waster (when you have time, that is)

 

yes, i wrote 2 instead of b.

 

it's been busy. so busy that i don't even have the time to use the shift key. the non-stop training classes have taken over my life, but they are going pretty well. yesterday, i went to dinner at TGI Friday's with jennie, her mom, dad and bro. after that, jennie, her mom, chris' mom, sister, cousin and i went to the wedding chapel bridal store. jennie tried on more dresses and found one that she wanted. it'll take 6 months to come in. wow, that's a long time. we'll have to order our bridesmaids dresses sometime early next year.

 

it's almost labor day weekend. yay! we are getting really excited for our camping/road trip to mt rushmore and the black hills. i still have to pack and get everything ready. that's about it from me. cheerio.

This might have been the busiest weekend I've had all summer. Saturday morning started with meeting Jennie, Chris and Jennie's parents at the Reserve, the reception site for the wedding. It was set up for a wedding later that afternoon. After that, we headed to the liquor store to buy mass quantities of beer and ice to fil up the coolers.  Then, we went to the picnic shelter at Round Lake Park and set up for the engagement party. The weather was beautiful, in the mid-70s and sunny. We ate great food and played games at the park. After the party, Bryan and I took the express bus to the Minnesota State Fair, one of my favorite times of the year. YAY! I had such a great time and we ate cheese curds, roasted corn on the cob, Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies (the best!). We checked out lots of booths and exhibits and I can' wait to go again next year. It was such a blast that we didn't get home until about 10PM. Adam met us at the house, he just got back from working on the road out near Washington DC. Suffice it to say, we didn't get to bed until pretty late.

 

On Sunday morning, I went to Denise's baby shower in Eden Prairie. The house that it was hosted in was gorgeous, beautifully decorated and with state of the art appliances. Denise received some really nice presents and we are all excited to meet the baby when he arrives in two months (give or take). After the shower, Jennie, her mom and I went to David's Bridal and met up with Chris' family and Jennie tried on wedding dresses. We are also going to look at more wedding dresses tomorrow evening and Tuesday evening as well. Tonight, Bryan and I are going to Don Pablo's for dinner. It's been years since we've been there and there was a coupon in the Sunday Star Tribune, so we thought we'd give it a try.

 

Next weekend is Labor Day weekend, yay! A day off work is always great. We are headed to South Dakota to hang out with Corey and Carrie and to take our road trip to Mount Rushmore. I've heard great reviews about the Black Hills, Deadwood and the Mt Rushmore monument. We are really looking foward to it.

Also, congratulations to David Hanson on his new position as the Assistant County Attorney of Clearwater County!

If there was suddenly a flood, fire or other disaster at your home and you had 10 minutes, what would you take with you?

It's been raining all weekend , which is unfortunate, becuase we were hoping to go to the Renaissance Festival today. Yesterday morning, I went to Heartstrings Bridal store with Jennie to try on more wedding dresses. After that, I ran some errands, got a print framed and bought some Nutella from Cost Plus World Market. YUM. Bryan and I went to Davanni's for pizza and then spent the night watching movies and relaxing. It's been pretty cold outside as well. I hope it clears up by next weekend! Over and out.

After work today, I went to the Maple Grove Farmer's Market. I liked it better than the one in Richfield. There was a wide variety of fresh vegetables, flowers, meat, cookies, dog treats and I even got a free chair massage. It was a beautiful day outside and I enjoyed walking around and sampling my way around the market. We are planning on going to the Renaissance Festival this weekend and I'm hoping that it doesn't rain when we go. It's my 2nd favorite thing to do in the summertime, #1 would be the Minnesota State Fair, which starts in just a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the turkey legs. Yum! We finally got around to cleaning the house and now it looks pretty good. Nothing beats having a clean, nice smelling house. Well, a clean, nice smelling dog comes pretty close. It's Friday tomorrow. YEAH!!  Have a great weekend!

 These past few days have felt like a week! It's been very busy at work, we just had a new hire class of 32 start on Monday (usually, our average classes sizes are 12). They are a great bunch of people, very diverse and with lots of experience. It's been fun getting to know them and to make my training classes more interactive with the Bob Pike Train the Trainer tips that I picked up a few weeks ago. Guess it was well worth it for me to attend! I hope to go to more of those in the future, they are definitely helping me to develop into a better trainer. Yesterday evening after work, Becki and I went with Jennie to try on wedding dresses at the Wedding Chapel Bridal shop in Crystal. Today, I went to happy hour with some co-workers and then we went to Let's Dish to prep some deeeee-licious looking meals. I'm already planning to sign up for September's Let's Dish because the menu offerings look fantastic. I'm already looking forward to the weekend and it's only Tuesday! We are planning on going to the Renaissance Festival, always a fun time with turkey legs and soup bread bowls.

Had a fantastic weekend by the lake and now my body hurts! We drove up to Bemidji on Friday evening after work, sitting through traffic along with the other folks going up north for the weekend. Bryan went golfing on Saturday morning and I got a haircut at First Impressions SalonSpa. Met up with Rich and Brett after that and I rode on the jet ski while they went wakeskating (like wakeboarding, but without the bindings). They are both really good! It was a beautiful day outside, hot and sunny, even though the weather forecast called for rain. Then, with much help from Rich and Brett, I was able to go kneeboarding. Fun! After that, I headed to Derek's with Steve and Kyrsten and we sat in the hot tub for a while before heading back to the cabin for Steph's birthday BBQ. I played Guitar Hero for the first time and had a blast! We drove back home today after having brunch. Of course, we also hit traffic coming back. Annoying! The weekend flew by too quickly and it's back to work tomorrow. It's going to be super busy for the next month or so, we have a very large new hire class coming in. Tomorrow, I'm going with Jennie as she tries on more wedding dresses. Hope she finds one that she likes. Lots of things going on this week and all the upcoming weekends in August and September. Next thing we know it, it'll be winter.

Almost another weekend gone. Corey and Carrie stayed with us from Thursday until Saturday and on Friday evening, we went out on Eric and Denise's boat on Lake Minnetonka. Eric grilled burgers and we ate on the boat, very fun! We cruised around for a couple of hours and their boat is awesome! My favorite part about the boat is the on-board bathroom. Nice. Yesterday, I woke up bright and early and donated blood before heading to the Richfield Farmer's Market, where I bought fresh meat and veggies. At the same park, Jennie was finishing her half marathon and I watched as she crossed the finish line. Later that afternoon, Rich came over and we cooked lots of food. We made salsa, homemade tortilla chips (I didn't even know you could do this!) and we also made chicken with potatoes and carrots which we ate for dinner. Bryan went golfing with some co-workers and when he got back, we met Tyler at Shout House in downtown Minneapolis and watched the dueling pianos. It was a fantastic show and they are such talented musicians. They all could play piano, sing and play other instruments like the bass guitar, drums, harmonica, trumpet. It was very entertaining. Today, Zoe and I met up with Pat at the Loring Park art festival and walked around. We picked up some Vietnamese food from Lotus before heading back home. It was delicious and very budget friendly. Right now, I'm cleaning the house before Kim and her mom arrive on Tuesday.

As many of you have heard, there was a great tragedy here in Minneapolis last night. The 35W interstate bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed. I don't personally know anyone who was on the bridge at the time of the accident and I am thankful that my friends are all safe. I do know others who have friends that were killed or seriously injured in the collapse. The incident has taken over TV, radio airwaves and the Internet. Thank you to everyone who has contacted me to make sure that we are safe, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and concern.