So you don't have to stare at Shyla's face any more...

Here's a new post, but not really much of one since I have about two seconds to enter it. I know that I have not been posting much, and that I could use the excuse that I moved and then started a new job and then there was Christmas, but I also know that all of you won't think those are good excuses since everyone is busy right now. So, I humbly ask for your forgiveness for not posting... it is the Christmas season after all... :) I promise to post some pictures of Gus, the house, the fam, and my beautiful pies soon. Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Shyla!

Have a great day, Shy!

P.S. I will update more soon - our internet has been set up at home now!

Done with class!

This was me before finishing class tonight:
Now I'm done! Woohoo! I turned in my last assignment this afternoon and my class met for the last time this evening. *Hugh sigh o' relief*

Joel and I rocked out some more packing tonight and everything that is left will have to go in the "I don't give a crap any more, just find a freaking place for it" box on Thursday or Friday. Friday we get the keys to the house and then Saturday is moving day! Here's me thinking about moving in the freezing cold weather we have here:

We've already got a bottle of the finest champagne that was leftover from my brother's wedding this summer to crack open and celebrate our first night in our new home! We're also planning to let Gus have some of his favorite treat - popcorn - to celebrate as well. Here's what I'll look like when everything is finally unpacked and we are all settled:

We'll be without internet until Monday, so if we don't post, don't be alarmed (cause I've NEVER gone more than five days without posting before, ever...). Wish us luck!
And finally, a HUGE thank you in advance to our friends and family who are coming over literally before the crack of dawn in the absolute freezing cold to help us move. We love and appreciate you all!

I hate packing...

Seriously, hate packing. Happy to be moving into our new house, but hate packing...
You never realize quite how much STUFF you have until you have to pack it all up. Granted, it has given us a great excuse to get rid of some stuff we didn't need any more. Since we are on the topic, if anyone is in need of some extra dishes, a small dog/cat carrier, or some cheezy romance novels, give us a call! :)
I have been really busy this past week. I am close to finishing up with my class - I turned in the major paper on Friday and just have a few smaller assignments to finish. I am working hard to wrap up everything in my current position and make sure the new person coming in has an easy adjustment (as easy as it can be coming in mid-year to an HD position). And of course, I have been packing... The walls are pretty bare in here and we are no longer allowed to use the stove for anything except boiling water since I cleaned the under-burner thingies today (I have NO idea what those things are actually called).
Now on a very positive note - I attended an orientation director's drive-in conference this past week and LOVED it. It was an opportunity for orientation professionals from around the area to all get together and share ideas about what is working with their programs and what new things are coming up. It was an awesome glimpse into some of the things I will be working on in my new position. I also had the opportunity to meet a lot of the tutors that I will be working with at NDSU when I attended their end-of-semester wrap up meeting/celebration. This week really helped me get excited about starting my new job!!!
Tonight also helped me bring a little closure to my current position. We had the hall Christmas party tonight (we can call it a Christmas party since the college is ELCA affiliated) and I got a chance to chat with some residents that I probably won't see again. Kind of bittersweet since I've grown pretty fond of many of them... I also had a gathering with my staff members and we had a white elephant gift exchange - I got a bunch of cookies. They also gave me a very nice card that they had all written in - things so nice that I'm pretty sure that I don't deserve them all. :) They also gave Joel and I a BEAUTIFUL snow globe for our first house! What a thoughtful bunch...
So, now that I've pretty much written everything I can think of, I'm going to get to work on my remaining homework. Goodnight everybody!

P.S. Congratulations to my friend, Jenny Thompson, on her engagement!!!! I'm thrilled for you!

P.P.S. Since this post was pretty boring and lacked pictures, I'm taking a page out of Shyla's book (see my favorite blogs at the bottom of the page - Dandelion Soup) and posting some pictures from when Joel and I were kids. These pics got a great reaction at our wedding when we showed them side by side in the slideshow... Notice the front teeth :) Pretty sure we were both in first or second grade when these were taken. I LOVE the teal and neon matching outfit I've got on - it goes really well with my skinned knee and my mullet.

And here is one of my favorite pictures of us ever. It was taken after Robbi & Friedo's wedding.

Pretty Accurate...

My Elf's Name is:

Your Elf Name Is...

Ditzy Sugar Butt

What's Your Elf Name?

Which of Santa's reindeer am I?

You Are Donner

The most loveable and sweet reindeer, you're also a total dork! Why You're Naughty: You keep (accidentally) tripping the other reindeer while flying. Why You're Nice: You're always smiling, even if you've fallen flat on your horns.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Thanks to Robbi for sharing the links for these. :)

Our house... in the middle of our street!

No more broken dreams!!! We have finally come to an agreement, signed the papers, had an appraisal and we are good to go for getting our house! Move-in day = December 15th!

WOOHOO!

Because we know you haven't seen enough of it - Here is the front of our house!

And the back of it!

And the garage!

And here's Gus! He's really excited about his new yard!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday today to our nephew, Raleigh, and our sister-in-law, Lisa!!

Happy First Birthday, little man!

Happy ?? Birthday, Lisa!

Broken dreams?

Okay, it is not as serious as the title seems to say, but house-buying can be a little frustrating and disheartening. We've been trying to do everything right all along the way - playing the offer/counter-offer "game" - getting a house inspection done - requesting that the sellers have a professional assessment and brace one of the basement walls - then WE hit a brickwall with the sellers on the last part... So, it might be back to the drawing board for us. Don't worry! We're not going to give up! Just wanted to give you an update. Happy faces are back on...

Busy week & Big news!

What a week!!!

I was out of town at a conference starting on Tuesday afternoon, and it was a busy trip! It was a three day college and university housing conference. I had a chance to co-present on making adjustments as a first year professional with one of my coworkers, and that went pretty well. Apparently we were funny and entertaining. I also got to attend several sessions while I was there, brought back some great information to share with my department and staff, and got lots o' free stuff from all of the vendors. We stayed in a hotel that had a LOT of character (smoked, gold-foil mirrors anyone??), and I had the opportunity to show everyone just how good the karaoke version of Damn Yankees' High Enough can sound. What can I say - I love power ballads.

During the time I was gone, Joel stayed busy too! We kept in very close contact over the phone as he went through the process with our realtor and home mortgage consultant of putting in an offer on the house we wanted, getting a counter-offer, putting in another offer, getting another counter offer, and FINALLY we came to an agreement!!!!!

So, here's the big news: WE GOT THE HOUSE!! We signed the papers this morning that we officially accept the counter-offer, we're having a home inspection next Wednesday and then the SOLD sign should be going up. We'll be moving in mid-December (renting the property briefly) and then closing in February! It feels really good to not have to search any more!

I do want to take an opportunity to say a special thank you to one of my new supervisors for going out of his way to help us out, and a HUGE thank you to our mortgage consultant and realtor for helping out a couple naive first-time home buyers. Hopefully the inspection goes well! We'll update you soon. In the meantime, here are a couple more pictures of the beautiful house:

The big, beautiful master bedroom. With Joel in it.

The lovely bathroom. With Joel in it.

The backyard (the swingset is going away) and the HUGE three-stall garage. With Joel in it.

Two can play at that game...

So, Robin decided to retaliate against my posting of her (very flattering) giraffe neck picture (see previous post). She did this by posting a very UNflattering picture of me in a particularly ugly hat (see Robin's blog at www.rfriedr.blogspot.com or follow the link on the side of my page). My competitive nature leads me to post this pic of Robin that was taken while we were traveling in Scotland:


Isn't she pretty? :)

The Official Offer

Hey folks. So, I may have "spoken" too soon on my last post. I actually received the OFFICIAL offer from NDSU yesterday. :) The previous offer was the unofficial offer, but now it looks like the things that need to be signed are signed, the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, and I have now officially accepted, so I'm going to celebrate again!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!

So now that the offer is official, I figured I could take a moment and let you all know what I will be doing. I am going to be the Learning Services/Orientation Coordinator at NDSU, and I will be working in two different areas within the Office of Orientation & Student Success. I will be spending part of my time working with the tutoring center at NDSU (I learned that about 1000 students come through the tutoring center each week, so it is a very busy place!), and I will be spending part of my time helping to coordinate new and transfer student orientation sessions, as well as campus events like Weeks of Welcome. I'm looking forward to learning more about these programs. I will be starting December 18th!

In the meantime I will be working hard at Concordia to make sure the transition goes smoothly for the incoming hall director and the students and student staff in the building. I am going to miss everyone a lot! I have had the pleasure to work with an amazing group of professional and student staff members during my time here. It will be nice to stay in the same area and keep in contact with them.

Joel and I will be going house shopping again tomorrow evening. We will see four new houses and then revisit house #5 (see previous post). We would REALLY like to put an offer in on a house (probably #5) early this week before I take off for an out-of-town conference. Time is going very quickly! Wish us luck as we go through the new process of house buying... we'll need it. :)

I'll leave you with a picture I recently ran across of Robin doing her giraffe impression (also known as "giraffe neck"). She will love me for this...

WOW...

Last Friday I was offerred (and accepted) a position as NDSU's Learning Services/Orientation Coordinator. I am thrilled! I am very excited to be working in this area and with that office. I will be starting in mid-December after the end of the semester at Concordia. Learning a new position is always challenging, but I'm looking forward to the transition.

Speaking of transitions... we are also house shopping now. Since my current position is live-in, we are looking for a new housing option. Having Gus makes renting a challenge, and we are hoping to begin "investing in our future" by buying a house. So, we went house-shopping tonight and took a look at seven different homes. Here's the breakdown:

#1 - not too bad, but the basement would need to be finished (half completed) and there had been some pretty serious water damage... pretty much a "No"
#2 - bright orange siding, very cat-smelling, and overall very run-down... another "No"
#3 - adorable little cottage home with beautiful molding, a huge yard, right by a big park, but a little small (only two bedrooms and one bath)... fun to look at, but probably not feasible...
#4 - huge character home with amazing updates, but a basement that would definitely need to be finished (half completed)... this house would be a money-sucker with all of the other updates that would need to happen... beautiful though!
#5 - beautiful updated 1890 home, two stories, beautiful open kitchen, deck, fenced backyard, updated bedrooms and bathrooms... LOVED IT
#6 - cute stucco two-story, brand new kitchen (kind of small though), small bedrooms, but overall a definite prospect
#7 - great 50's home, cozy finished basement and tons of room, HUGE fenced backyard, but it is within sight of the interstate and there is a constant background noise of the cars speeding by that would drive us crazy... unfortunately this one is a no-go

Overall we really enjoyed the time we spent looking. It is a little overwhelming, but we have a great realtor and we're maintaining our enthusiasm right now. Hopefully we will get more info on #5 and see where that one goes. Otherwise we will be looking at a few other homes on Sunday, and we'll keep you updated. We'll leave you with a few pics of #5:

Happy Halloween!

Love,

Gus the Lobster

The Month of Love, Continued...

Joel and I just returned from our last wedding of the "season" and the foreseeable future. We have no more close friends or family that are currently engaged, so we will probably have a bit of a break before the next one.
Hachee's wedding was absolutely beautiful! She looked lovely (of course!) and you could just tell how very in love she and Tim are. Here are Mr. & Mrs. Esser, the new happy couple:

It was also wonderful to get a chance to see everyone from back home again so soon! I had a chance to catch up with many of them at Xavie's wedding at the beginning of the month, and we all had a blast at this wedding as well. Meeks actually figured out that there was about 6% of our graduating class (of 256) at the wedding. You do the math and figure out how many that is. :) Here's the group pic (including many significant others):

You may be wondering why Gus isn't in the picture... We left him here with Lacey and Rich and his friend, Ally for the weekend. But before we brought him over there, we gave him a much-needed bath. He looked so cute in the bathtub that I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. I will leave you with those. Have a great week!

Go Bison!

Today we watched the bison defeat the "big ten" gophers in a tense, but exciting game in the metrodome. Post game activities included a well needed nap (all that yelling makes a person a bit drowsy) and a trip to the town hall brew pub for some tasty eats and savory brews in good company. The night has not yet come to a close, so who knows what may come....

Look at all those beautiful Bison fans! 30,000 strong in the Metrodome. No big deal... Except it was a huge deal! I'm so proud of this team... and I'm proud to be a Bison!

Some QT with Adam John

Joel and I got to spend some quality time with Adam John on Monday evening while his Mommy and Daddy were at a meeting and a good time was had by all. Here's what we did:

Adam got his diaper changed - My first diaper change ever!! Joel only had to offer guidance once (they don't exactly come with instructions...)



We did some walking around and bouncing. Pacifiers are a gift from God. :)


Finally, we got some puppy cuddling time in and did some napping.


Then Adam took his first steps, said his first word (incredibly his first word was "Rikki"... weird, huh?), and made a beautiful watercolor to hang on the refrigerator. It was amazing! He must've been inspired by his time here... :)

October - The New Month of Love

October has been a little bit crazy so far... Joel and I have attended a total of three weddings so far and we have one more to go before the month is over. Last weekend Joel attended our friends, Lacey and Rich's wedding in Minnesota, while I attended our friends, Xav and Amy's wedding back home and went to another wedding with my Mom the next day for one of her neighbors.

Joel said that Lacey and Rich's wedding was a blast! They served breakfast for dinner at the reception and had the ceremony and reception at a camp that Rich used to work at that had a beautiful view. We had the pleasure of watching their pup, Ally, while they were getting married and enjoying some well-deserved downtime together after the wedding. Ally and Gus had LOTS of fun together - there was romping day and night. Literally... we finally had to separate them so they could get some sleep.

Here are Gus and Ally in an unusual peaceful moment.

While I was back home, I got a chance to catch up with a bunch of my friends and it was GREAT to see everyone! I'm excited to see them again at Hachee's wedding at the end of the month. We usually only get a chance to catch up around Christmas time at our annual party or at weddings, so this is a treat. I also had a chance to go to Hachee's bachelorette party and hang out with the ladies. There are some incriminating photos and video clips involving several women, nylons, cucumbers and tennis balls... pictures coming soon. :)

Here's a portion of "the group" from back home. We all clean up pretty nice.


Xav & Amy... and their cake with a fountain in it!

Congratulations to the newlyweds - Xav & Amy and Lacey & Rich!! Be Happy!!!

Baby Gus

If you use the cell phone for perspective, you can see how little he was!!

P.S. The Bison won that game... and the next one... I love that team!!

It's GAME day!!

I am SO excited. Today is the home opener for Bison Football!! Many of you may know that I am a huge Bison Football fan - I didn't miss a single home game for four years when I was an undergrad. I was a member of the Gold Star Band, which was a lot of fun - there is a ton of enthusiasm that comes from the band during the games. Anyway, lets hope the Bison can pull it off today - I'll update soon! In the meantime, here are some pics of those fabulous (and flattering) wool uniforms that we wore:

This is my friend, Jenny, and I at the Bison-Sioux game in 2002 (?). This picture was actually posted in the local newspaper. We lost, and as you can see, both Jenny and I were unhappy about it. :(

This pic is from my senior year GSB concert.

Isn't it nice when you marry someone who gets along with your family? :)

GO BISON!!

Pile O' Gus

Pile O' Gus

Snuggly Gus (please ignore how awful I look in this picture and focus on the Gus)

Gus is tuckered out.
He had a long, tiring weekend of playing with his "aunts", Nellie and Sophie (golden retrievers) and the kitties at Joel's parents' home. He was so tired that he was practically non-responsive when we got home on Monday night.
We had a great time with everyone at the house - the whole family headed down to the cities to celebrate Deb and Steve's 30th anniversary (wow!!) and Jenna's 20th birthday. We went down on Saturday and came home yesterday about 10 pounds heavier. While we were in the cities, we had the chance to check out the Walker Art Museum's Picasso exhibit, which Joel LOVED and go shopping at Banana Republic, which I LOVED. We also had lunch with Meeks and got to catch up on what is happening in her world. Her pup, Jasper, is HUGE. I can't believe how big he's gotten already. And, of course, we got to spend lots of quality time with the fam, which is always great.

What we've been up to...

So, it has been pretty busy around here the last few days, as Joel has been working quite a bit and getting some good practicing in, and I have been busy training my new student staff for the school year. Training is winding down now, though, and the residents will be moving in on Sunday for the most part, so the end (and the beginning) is in sight. I am getting pretty exhausted by the long days, and I am utterly sick of the sound of my own voice. However, some things have been really fun during this training week, such as Theme Bowling. My staff and I went as a Cereal Killer and victims (different cereals that were killed). Check it out:

Here's me as "Count Chocula" - maybe a little too scary for cereal. I did actually dye my hair black with that spray in stuff. I had to shampoo three times!

Here's the whole crew: Honey Nut Cheerios, Trix, Fruit Loops, Count Chocula, The Cereal Killer, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, The Hero (the cow), Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms & Cookie Crisp

Congratulations, Robbi & Friedo!!!!

Things are a little crazy right now with RA training for the next ten days or so, but I wanted to take a moment to say congratulations to two of my favorite people in the whole world - Robbi & Friedo. Their son, Adam John, was born on Tuesday, August 14th at 5:15pm at a healthy 7lb 10oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful! Joel and I went and visited the new little family on Tuesday evening and got to meet Adam and see Robbi. What a trooper! She looked beautiful (even though she will deny that), and motherhood suits her perfectly. Friedo was a proud daddy, though his choice of clothing for his son is a little pathetic (down with Green Bay!). I will post the pictures I have as soon as possible, but until then you can check them out at their blog, www.rfriedr.blogspot.com.
Best of luck to Robbi & Friedo with baby at home as of today. You are going to be wonderful parents, and I look forward to watching little Adam grow over the years!

Happy Birthday Joel!!

It is Joel's 29th birthday today, and he got to start out the year with a fresh, hot cup of coffee and a scavenger hunt!! See if you can follow the clues and figure out where his present was hidden. (Hint: all of these clues lead to somewhere in the hall we live in, but none of them were in our apartment).

Clue #1

Clue #2

Clue #3

Clue #4

Clue #5

Clue #6

and the final clue...

Finally, after all that hard work, the fruits of Joel's labor paid off and he got himself a brand new IPOD! It took him approximately two seconds to get to the computer after opening the box and here's the proof of that:

So, Happy Birthday honey, and we will see everyone at Yuki Hana tonight for dinner!