MHA Fishing Trip 09

This was our second year at the annual MHA fishing trip. We had a blast as always! The weekend was full of beach volleyball, lawn games, cheese curds at the "Wagon Wheel", bonfires, smores, socializing, people being wasted, entertainment from said wasted ones, golfing, eating, card games, watching football, mosquito bites, major humidity, frizzy hair thanks to said humidity, water kickball, and lots of laughing! We can't wait to go back next year!

Our Cabin

Awesome game of water kickball

with an awesome kick by Rob

P.S

Today is my brother Jordan's 26th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jord!

A road trip, a Fair, and First day.

So here is the promised post! I am going to try and catch up on some of the stuff we have been up to since moving back to Minnesota. I am going to try and do this in chronological order.

The Drive Back

On the dive back from Utah this summer we stopped again at Mt. Rushmore. I really love Mt. Rushmore and even though some people think it is smaller in person, I still find it so impressive!

One of my favorite parts of our road trip home was catching an amazing double palindrome on the odometer! I was so excited! I kinda have a thing for palindromes, it's a weird obsession of mine.

Another highlight was when we stopped at the Mitchell Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. I am such a sucker for off the highway tourist traps, and Justin is such a sport and takes me to them! I mean when you are driving across South Dakota you HAVE to stop at the "World's ONLY Corn Palace" right?

And here is our packed little car. It was stuffed to the brim, with a bike on the roof. Justin is such a champ to drive across the midwest not being able to see a dang thing out the back window. We are again so thankful for free podcasts. "Stuff you should know", and "The Onion radio news" saved our sanity.

The Minnesota State Fair

The fair is a big deal here. Everyone goes....seriously. And when the fair is going on, everyone talks about it. So once again we HAD to go. I will let the pictures tell our "Fair"y tale.

Deep Fried Oreo's

First Day Of School

Justin started his second year of school out here, only one more to go after this. This year he is pretty much a full time MBA student. This is his second to last first day of school picture EVER, so of course I had to document. Thanks for posing for yet another picture honey. You are a great sport and I love you! I am so proud of what a good student you are!

That is it for tonight!

I still have a lot more to post so check back!

Much to blog about

I have a lot to blog about! We have been so busy doing all sorts of things, and I have lots of pictures to prove it! I have just been to busy and too tired to blog about it. But don't worry, it is coming. Soon. Perhaps even tonight if I can muster up the energy. So stay tuned and I might actually try to get caught up!

One Year Ago...

One year ago, this was my post.

September 17, 2008 was the day that our niece Victoria was born. It was also the day that we became an aunt and an uncle. I can't believe a year has already gone by, and we just love having this little girl as part of our family. We wish that we lived closer to Shawn and Krystal so that we could see all three of them more!

Happy Birthday Victoria!

We love you!

Us saying good bye to Victoria last month in Utah.

Wednesday's Read

Today I will talk about a few of my summer reads. I read a little over 20 books this summer, some of them noteworthy, some of them not, and some of them awful. As I was searching for books to pass the time on those lazy summer days, I turned to a children's series that I was hearing excellent things about, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians", by Rick Riordan.

There are 5 books in the series and I read 2 this summer and I finally got my hands on the third(there are MAJOR waiting times at the library for these books!) So far, I really enjoy this series, it vaguely reminds me of the beloved Harry Potter.

We have a boy named Percy who discovers in his pre-teens that he is "special". Percy has certain special powers being that he is part God(in the Greek mythological sense). He doesn't end up at Hogwarts, but he does end up at a special camp for half-bloods. As a potential "chosen one" Percy faces treacherous tasks to keep peace among the Gods, but of course he is not alone in all of this, for what is a chosen one without his posse? In Percy's case he has Grover and Annabeth by his side, to battle the enemies.

In all reality, although there are similarities between this series and Harry Potter, I think that it is more of a compliment then anything. Who doesn't love HP? These are fun books that are an obvious easy read seeing as they are in the Children's genre. I also feel that they are quite educational when it comes to Greek Mythology. There are many myths and creatures that I new virtually nothing of until I read about them in these books.

So far the "Percy Jackson" series has been exciting, scary, funny and even educational. I know that there are times when I just want to read an entertaining and easy book that purely entertains, and these are that kind of book for me, a great summer read.

So if you ever find yourself going through Harry Potter withdrawls and need a book about a chosen boy with special powers and his two sidekicks, warding off evil while heeding advice from a wise old confidant, give the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series a try.

*The fourth and fifth books are both out-the fifth just barely came out. I have yet to read them yet.

Friday's Read??

I have never before done this, strayed from my beloved Wednesday's read and created a whole new edition, behold... Friday's read. This will only happen once and it is a special occasion because I can't wait until Wednesday to blog my thoughts about the book I just read.

"Catching Fire", by Suzanne Collins is book two in the Hunger Games series. I LOVED this book! It was just as great as the first, and maybe even better because you know the characters, and you have invested your feelings in their lives.

Of course before I started this book I had to hurry and re-read "The Hunger Games". It was a good thing that I did, seeing as this book picks right up from where we left off. I am not one for spoilers so I wont give anything important away.

"Catching Fire" seems to run at a quicker pace, which is true of a lot of sequels since all of the character and time period description are taken care of in the first book. There was also a little more romance in this book which (I can't deny), I was totally okay with.

There is also something unique for me with these books. In most novels when the heroine is torn between two love interests (which is basically all the time, in every book ever written), I have a pretty clear idea of which male suitor I prefer and I find myself getting frustrated with the heroine when she can't make up her mind. But in these books, I am on the fence about which guy she should choose. I like them both, for very different reasons, and I can see her happiness with both of them. I am very interested to see what will happen in the end.

This book was captivating from the beginning and kept me entranced until the very last page when I read the cursed last for words of the book,

End of Book Two.

I officially hate those words. The feeling that I felt when I read them was despair, knowing that I have to wait an ENTIRE YEAR for the story to continue. I have had that "I have to know what happens next feeling" ever since I put the book down.

I can't stop thinking about this book. It was so fascinating and the characters truly came to life for me. I have so many questions and it is driving me crazy that I have to wait so long to find out the answers. It is torture that Suzanne Collins decided to end her book right at the climax of the trilogy, but I will admit that even thought it sucks right now, it is going to be so sweet once the third installment comes out. I already can't wait.

If you have not already read, "The Hunger Games" (shame shame), do so now, and then go get "Catching Fire."

Just do it okay.

Finally!

I have waited a whole long year for this book and it came out today! It's a good thing that I have the day off tomorrow, because I doubt I will be getting much sleep tonight!