my buns hurt

my workout buddy (gina) and i are working our little buns off. we're working out 6 days a week for 3 weeks and then treating ourselves to a massage. we're working out in the mornings which requires waking up at 5:35AM and getting ready for work at the gym. we're lunging, squatting, lifting, running, sweating, and in general being hot and tired. today was day 3, so only 15 more to go. it's hard to walk up stairs and sit down. ouch. ooooooh, poor me. my buns hurt.

we're engaged!

Greg and I got engaged on Sept 20th at Toast Wine Bar in Minneapolis! It was where we had our first date almost 2 years ago. It's a very exciting time for us! We haven't set a date yet, so just go ahead and reserve every weekend next year until we figure it out.

Weddings and stuff

There were some great weddings this summer: Syd/Mike, Jess/Al, Traci/Steve. I was so excited to be a bridesmaid in Syd and Mike's wedding! It was such a great event, they both come from really fun families so it was nice to spend time getting to know them better. Jess/Al had a beautiful wedding in St. Paul (I love the close weddings!), and Traci/Steve were married outside with the picture-perfect Iowa farmland as a backdrop. Three great couples, three great weddings. And we have 3 more to go yet this summer!

Did I mention I cut the cake at weddings? It's weird I know, but I have cut the cake at 11 weddings so far in my life. Let me know if you're intersted in professional cake cutting, my charge is a whopping $0. It's worth every penny.

Ahhh, summer

So the summer has been so jammed packed that I haven't had time to update my blog.... until now. The first thing I remember doing this summer is going to Vegas. We went with 3 other couples and managed to stay out of too much trouble. Although I did accidently buy a $18 pina colada at the pool. I offset that by buying a $6 steak. It tasted alike a $6 steak. Very chewy. Here's a picture in case you were curious what a $6 steak looks like.

The second thing I remember doing is a duathlon, jeez was that a lot of work. Run 5K, bike 20K, run 5K or something like that. Luckily I talked my pal Jess into doing it with me. Here's us before the race, still happy. I didn't take a picture after the race because we did not look or smell pretty. Did I mention the du was the weekend after Vegas? Yeah, not my best idea.

The next thing I remember about the summer is Syd graduation from law school (whoohoo!). She's officially the smartest person I know. Nice work Syd!

Throw in a trip up to Brandon and Bayley's cabins, parents visiting, visiting parents and that brings us up to about the 4th of July. That's when a bunch of friends from Iowa and Chicago came to visit. We went to a Twins game, lawnbowling, played Rockband (which is slightly addicting) and maybe drank a few brews in there too. Fun weekend. Wish we could do that EVERY weekend. Matt and Sandra are moving to Sweden at the end of the month, so it was extra sad to say goodbye to them. Although it gives me a great reason to go to Europe!

That's my summer in a nutshell. $6 steak, smelly duathlon, Rockband. I'm a lucky girl.

Busy Weekend

This weekend Kristin and Andrius (friends from Raleigh, NC) visited for Greg's 30th birthday. It was great to have them here and the time went by too fast. Went to a Twins game Friday night, and went out for Greg's BD Saturday night. He's declared a "Birthday Quarter" so we apprently have to celebrate for a couple more months.... although he got a homemade cake from his mom last weekend and a party this weekend. He's a lucky boy!

Shout out to Gina

Yes Gina, I do in fact still blog. I just forgot how to type for a couple months. But I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Trip to Iowa

We went to Iowa this weekend for my grandparents 60th anniversary. Wow, that's a long time. If I got married today I would be 88 years old when it was my 60th anniversary. That would be in year 2068. I'm guessing pigs could fly by then. It was good to see the family, and it was nice to get out of the city for the weekend.

After all of our fun, it was time to drive home. It was raining which froze and then it started snowing. So we decided to start driving towards Cedar Rapids and a 40 minute drive turned into 1.5 hours driving through snow drifts and barely staying on the road. It was probably the worst driving conditions I've ever been in. Greg was a trooper and drove the whole way and even put up with my occasional scream and cringing. This morning we left from Cedar Rapids and 6 hours later we were in Minneapolis. Between Cedar Rapids and the Minnesota border we saw 108 cars in the ditch. I called 911 twice because we saw cars go into the ditch and couldn't stop to help them. But we made it. Barely.

I am ready for Spring!! No more snow. No more negative high temperatures. I am looking forward not to wearing a hat, scarf, mittens and ski goggles when I leave the house.

the cruise!

The cruise was great, so relaxing, so fun, so hard to leave. We visited Jamaica, Grand Caymen, Cozumel and the Bahamas. I think Cozumel and the Bahamas were the best. The weather was great it only rained a couple days that we weren't on the ship. Here's some classy pics.

The boat was ginormous, seriously it was the size of a small town. I think there were 2100 passengers and 1100 crew or something like that. Long Grove, IA only has 400 people so it's smaller than my small town. (I took this picture, be impressed.)

This is us in Jamica, Greg is reading a map and I'm nervous he's going to take us into the depths of the jungle on accident. Don't worry, we lived.

Here's us on a formal night. Notice frat boy Greg's puca shell necklace and goetee.

Here's me by a giant christmas tree in Cozumel. I just wish it would fit in my condo....

The best part about Cozumel is the $1 Corona's. Yum.

And no vacation is complete without the old man wearing a speedo! Enjoy!