Changes in 2010

It has been a long time since I posted anything. It takes a New Years at home to get me active on here again. Kind of like a resolution...

Derek is working and will be home soon so we can enjoy the official New Year together. So while I wait, here is a list of the things that happened in 2009.

January: Started my last semester of grad school.

February: My birthday! I turned 27.

March: Business trip to TX.

April: So busy with work!

May: I graduated with my MBA!

June: We took a fabulous trip to Jamaica.

July: We celebrated 4 years of marriage and 3 years of home ownership.

August: Lot's of time camping and at the lake.

September: Life picked up again and I started teaching Intro to Business.

October: We found out we were expecting a Baby!

November: Hunting, Thanksgiving, and told our parents and siblings about the first grandchild/niece/nephew.

December: Derek's birthday - 28! I finished a semester of teaching and enjoyed a brief work trip to Chicago.

We are looking forward to a lot of exciting things in 2010 but a few highlights include:

• A trip to Mexico in January



• My brother staying with us in March while my parents travel in Italy



• Hosting a Retreat for work in April



• Preparing, preparing, preparing to be parents



• June 18, 2010 - BabyH!



• ???? Who knows ????

What a year! And we are so excited for what's coming in 2010. And yes, I do resolve to be a better blogger so stay tuned!

4th Anniversary

Derek sent me flowers at work and took me to Richards for dinner. I got him a subscription to the Free Press - kinda lame but it was something he wanted that he wouldn't buy himself. :) Our food was so good and we talked for hours. It was a perfect anniversary and awesome to spend time toghether.

Hail in July

We came home to hail on July 21. Derek had been out running and got pelted. I was 2 miles away at the gym and it barely rained. Crazy crazy weather.

Steam as it evaporated off the lawn.

Ouch. Derek got hit by this stuff!

Sad remains of a garden.

So many pictures but we were just amazed.

These pictures were taken about an hour after it hailed. The next morning, we still had hail on the deck and in the shadows around the house.

Random Summer Stuff

Just a few pictures from summer. They loaded wrong but I am not going to do it again. Sorry.



Derek cooking at the lake.

Watching the fireworks at the lake with the family after Derek went home to work.

I went for a boat ride with J before the fireworks - he messed up our hair.

Our mom is proud.

My attempts at gardening. Coincidentally, this failed - see the next post.

Father's Day at Chanhassen with the whole family.

Miss Aleaha home to visit means pedicures and Pagliai's with Joni.

Just a random after dinner at Crave, my brother-in-law's restaurant - I think he was talking to co-workers at this point.

Playing Catch Up

Instead of trying to write about it all, here are a series of pictures. First the Jamaica vacation.

Perfect Pools

Doing the "white people" dance.
The huts we spent most of our time under. There were bars in the pool and on the beach.

Dinner at the Italian Restuarant and a long evening with our new bartender friend who told us all about the real Jamaica.

Snorkeled almost every day.

The buffet dining area. Delicious and all open air.
Derek zip-lining through the jungle.

I had no chance for control so the workers caught me on every platform. Thanks little Jamaicans!

Relaxing in the pool with a drink before dinner.
The resort was named Sunset Beach.

Dinner at the Jamaican restuarant at the resort.

Enjoying the grounds.

Things that don't include homework from this week...

Terrible picture of me but it's the real PGA Wanamaker Trophy so I don't really care. It's like holding hands with Tiger - I hope he doesn't have swine flu.

Derek's first church league softball. :) They won with 20 some runs.


Outside my office building. I love these trees/bushes but they lose the white flowers after about 3 weeks so I caught a picture this year.

Prom 2009. With my cousin Slade.

Prom 2009. With the little brother.

The Final Two...

I hate that my last post was so negative so feel compelled to write something here. Had a busy weekend. Jason went to his first prom - he was asked by a friend from town - so I got to see the latest in prom stylings '09. We went out for Mom's birthday which was a lot of fun and totally low key. I worked, had homework group and did many hours of homework and a little laundry. (Bad writing but I am tired and heading to bed so not editing. )Also in a better mood because I booked a vacation and can't wait to hit the beach! Only two more weeks of homework! Will post a few pictures if I get a chance tomorrow.

Why it's tough..

Just so you understand why I am so on edge about school - it's 10:45 p.m. I am just leaving MSU after submitting a "group" paper. I worked a full week this week and have been doing these hours or early mornings every day (for the month actually). My neck, back, and eyes ache and I haven't had time to eat supper yet which isn't unusual this month. I work Saturday and have 2 group meetings scheduled because we have another 3 papers and a presentation to give next week. That's just one class.

I will be glad when this is done....And I will stop complaining. :)

Frustrated with school

I know there is only 3 weeks left and I wish I were enjoying them more but the Strategy class is driving me crazy! Cannot wait to complete it. :( Will miss the friends and the conversations and the directed learning but not the time commitment, the teammate hassle, and the professors' egos.

Sorry it's a rant. Back to homework.

Texas Sun

Working in Texas this week. It has been drizzly but this afternoon some sun peeked out for a gorgeous late afternoon. This weather makes me long for summer at home. I heard it is cloudy and rainy and possibly snow coming. I fly home Thursday and am guessing that is when it will hit, especially since I have no warm coat.

I ate at a wonderful authentic Mexican cafe today. It was so good. I had un pequeno de todo which made me laugh because I had literally just commented that I wished I could try a little of everything. It felt like I had stepped into Mexican with the smells of tortillas and peppers, the stone porch and blue tiled cermic metal tables. It was called La Fogata and I am surprised to find they have a website. It's a pretty good website. If you look, we ate in El Pozo.

I just got done with my work and tonight I will try to keep up with homework. I have to do a simulation for strategy class and I don't really love it. I had to do one for undergrad and am not a fan. Also need to read, take a 30 minute quiz (on my honor), and then submit reports from playing 8 quarters of the simulation since I miss class tomorrow night. Blah. Not exciting but at least I don't have a lot of things distracting me here. Also need to self-reflect again for hours so I don't get behind in that one. Today's burning question: "The greatest crucible of my life is:" Oh my. At least with this gorgeous weather I can write about my crucible on a patio. I wonder what the Professor would say if I put that these questions were a big crucible in my life...

Blog by number

1. I got the highest score on my bracket for round 1! Anyone who knows me knows this is completely by chance. Hopefully this continues and I can win my dollar back.

2. I am in a leadership class and have not done so much self-reflecting before in my life. I am kinda sick of me!

3. Derek installed new ceiling fans (plural) with the help of some friends. Complete surprise and they look great but all I could see was the mess and greasy fan motor on my counter. So, I admit I complained instead of being grateful. I am trying to apologize while asking that future projects include greater care for the rest of the space.

4. I leave for a TX business trip tomorrow. Should be interesting and although I am looking forward to the meetings, I am looking forward to coming home!

5. April is pretty much booked for the weekends and May isn't looking any slower. Hoping for a vacation!!!

Back to reflecting.... here is an example question - What people, events, and experiences have had the greatest impact on my life?

Weekend Retreat

I love long weekends. And I really needed this one. I probably should have done some work today but I did some on Saturday so did absolutely nothing for work today (except think about it a little). Instead, it was great to put a small dent in the laundry room piles, sleep in (!!!), make cookies, put away baskets full of clothes so that I could see the floor so that I could vacuum, worked out three days in a row, cook supper (!!), read... It was just great. (I just reread that sentence - you can tell my house was a disaster.) So it's never enough time but I hope that this energy carries me easily through the week because I really have some work and homework to tackle. And maybe I will give myself a three day weekend more often. :)

Fancy dinners and snowbunnies

At the last minute, I got reservations for Valentines Day dinner at Richards in St. Peter. It was amazing. If you haven't done a special evening there yet, I highly recommend it. We had a 5 course dinner with wine pairings. The chef went to the same school as my brother in law so in his honor, here are the dishes. When we had a choice, we picked opposite dishes so we could try it all.

Gorgonzola in Phyllo with plums and honey, over spinach
Broiled Diver Sea Scallop with artichoke hearts and marcona almonds OR
Four Cheese and prosciutto ravioli in wild mushroom and truffle cream
Blood Orange and ginger punch
Espresso Rubbed Beef Tenderloin OR
Meyer Lemon grilled Artic Char
Strawberry Trifle or Chocolate Mousse

Delicious. Amazing. We loved it.

This afternoon, we went skiing again. It was so busy today with groups and kids everywhere. I was glad that Joni and Matt could come along this time! We were good skiers and cute snowbunnies. (Ok, so that might not be true but it's my blog so back off.) I did do better than the last time and again was surprised to enjoy myself. Derek is such a good skier and so considerate of me when we are out there. He is always encouraging and if the hill is a bit much for me, he ski's halfway down and turns to watch me and then once I get to him, joins me for the end.

The one dark spot on the day occured after the third run when I got a back spasm behind my shoulder blade. I have never had a muscle spasm like that before so the feeling was a little shocking. It was one of those moments where you are crying because it hurts so bad you can't breath but laughing at how absurd the situation is. I probably was a little panicked because I had to go down a hill, up a hill, and back down to get to the chalet for gatorade and a stretch. We just laughed at how bad it hurt and how I could ski and then cry and then laugh and then repeat. On the bright side, I conquered the hill that conquered me last time. :) So all in all, I will go back.

Our First Remodel

Here is my birthday bathroom remodel pictures. We aren't totally done but I couldn't wait anymore. :) I love it.