Vegas Baby! (Saturday)

Saturday morning we got up around 8 am, went downstairs to breakfast, then headed over the the Mirage for the morning session. It was way better than anything I had hoped for. They entertained us with BMZ bikers, trampolines, dancers, drummers, etc. There was a great video of interviews and stuff about CH. And of course, Tony Robbins was really really good. He has some good stuff to say about getting yourself psyched and ready. Then the employees left for a photo and us spouses headed to the ballroom for lunch. That was awkward. I made some friends and then the employees joined us. Here is Mike with his friend Joe from LA North. Then we had some time to explore...so we checked out the venetian (oh my is that huge!).
and it had a canal and you could take a boat ride!
the Wynn was pretty cool on the inside...starting to decorate for Christmas!

Waiting for the Sirens of TI show to start. Not really worth the wait, but nice to be a hotel guest and be right up front. We stayed at Treasure Island...very nice people, nice room...I would stay there again.



I like this picture of us. I was so tired at this pointin time, but Mike looks great!
Oh my...that desert was really good. It was chocolate mousse in a chocolate coffee cup. But the best part was the white chocolate CHRobinson logo. It was phenomenal! After we ate, we saw some amazing jugglers and then David Spade...he was hysterical. Attempting to get a good Christmas card photo...right outsided the Mirage...before and during the Volcano!

The winning spin of $1000. We were not on it, but it was really fun to watch!

Vegas Baby! (Sunday)

Sunday was the perfect day. We slept in(on a Sunday!), checked out, and booked it to breakfast. Then we had the whole afternoon to walk around and just be together. It was great! We explored a couple of hotels and casinos, gambled a little (got spin three times!), had lunch at Carneige, and then boarded the bus to the airport. Here are some of the best pics from Sunday.

ahh, Ceasar's Palace. The sprawling casino/hotel/mall that we only got lost in once! the ceiling at the Bellagio is stunning. this pic just does not do it justice.
One of our standard hold the camera at arm's length shots.
The fountains at the Bellagio were amazing. We caught the very end of one show and stuck around for half an hour to see another. It was set to the anthem from Titanic...My Heart Will Go On. It was simply breathtaking.

Paris the hotel was pretty cool. This is a shot I took while we were walking on Sunday.And this was a shot of the lobby. I found some earring there that I loved...saphires and diamonds. But we didn't win quite enough!

no such luck

nope, they were not on my camera still. I tried to delete almost everything off of the camera so we would have lots of room on it for tomorrow's trip to vegas! I am super excited to go, especially since neither one of us has ever been to vegas before. I'm sure we will be absolutely exhausted when we get home, but I'll try and get some pics up on Monday.

In the meantime, check out Isaac's site for pics from our wedding as well as tons of other cool pics.

or, look at Lauren and Jace's wedding site. I get to be a bridesmaid!

slacker

so yes, I am a huge slacker. I have some really cute pictures to put up from Mike's coworkers wedding, but alas, they are not up yet. They are actually stuck on the common at work, becuase they are wiping my laptop so everything went on the common. So truthfully, I cannot even get to them to post them, but yeah, I could have done it before I let them clean my computer.
Oh well.

Actually, I wonder if they are still on my camera.

another wedding...

another wedding, another weekend. this one was fun cause it was with mike's old branch and i don't get to see them much anymore. they are good people. and thank God for snack bars and peanut butter m&ms.

KMO and random roommates past...

Tonight we went out to Gerbs place in uptown for some party. Didn't really know anyone there, so after awhile we headed out to meet KMO for her birthday. Some random, hole in the wall bar is where we met. It was fun to see her and hang out on her birthday. I was at the bar buying a shot when out of nowhere Tori shows up! It was fun to catch up with her briefly and meet her boyfriend. And then, tomorrow night, Tracy is staying with us. It is the weekend of roommates past.

last nights concert

The concert last night was phenomenal. I really do love live music. OAR was amazing, as was the opening performer, Toby Lightman. She was really really good...I want her CD for Christmas but I might not be able to wait that long. Be sure to check her out!

Anyway, here we are at the concert. Actually it's Lauren and Jace and then us.

go wayzata go

here I am chillin last night in my new wayzata trojans sweatshirt. I really love my husband.

not ready

So one of my very best friends dads passed away this week. You would think in my line of work I would know exactly what to say and how to respond. I didn't. I was speechless and I just hurt for my friend. I can't even begin to imagine what he is going through. I can't even begin to imagine how one things about putting together a service for your father, about calling family members to tell them that their father, brother, son, friend has died. I feel hurt for him. I wish I could help him grieve, help him heal. I wish I knew what he needed and knew what I could provide.
I feel kind of guilty that I am thinking this...but I am just not ready for my friends parents to start dieing. I'm not even close to ready for my grandparents to pass on, so how can I be ready for my friends parents to pass? I know there will be a time in our lives when we will go to a lot of funerals of our friends parents, but I am not there yet. I'm only 26.
It is All Saint's weekend at church. As part of the prayers they read each person's name in the congregation that had passed away this past year. After each name, a bell tolled. It was a good thing I went to church tonight and not tomorrow morning, because I was crying by the end of it.
Here is my buddy Dane. Please pray for Dane, his brother Chad, and him mom Linda.
We love you Dane!

30 minute meals

I love that Rachael Ray is on with 30 minute meal everyday from 5-6 pm. I just wish it inspired me to actually cook, instead of just being a bum and watching. Here's her website...Rachael Ray. I didn't know she had a magazine...add that to my christmas list!
I have to go get ready now for the Wayzata vs Maple Grove football game. This is the biggest game of the year for us! I have to say it...Go Trojans! I will be proudly (?) sporting my new Wayzata sweatshirt. I'll try and get a pic up later tonight.

and the big news of the day....

LAUREN AND JACE GOT ENGAGED

that gets a big woohoo!

Halloween 2005!

and I had to work. I guess I brought it on myself, and it was fun, but still. Hopefully it won't be on a Monday again for a long time! So here's my kiddos that came to church for the costume party.
and me with Grace. I went as a hockey player...she was little bo peep.

Al's Wedding

Pics from our friend Alison's wedding. We had a great time hanging out in St Peter with Barb and Denny!

Bob the builder...

Lori, Sam and Nathan came over for dinner while Todd was in Biloxi. They helped us with the basement.

Can we build it? Yes we can!

shopping at target

and we shopped at walmart (but walmart is the devil). shopping for a good cause though...for Mary's Place. The kiddos had fun, but I so despise walmart.

one year...

hard to believe that it has been a full year. we went out to dinner last night at Muffaletta's in the Park in St Paul. Excellent food and a great atmosphere. It was a really nice night out.
today we are bumming around. Mike made a great breakfast and now he's napping/watching football. I have to work tonight from 5-10ish, so Lauren is coming over to hang out. A very nice first anniversary.
Here we were one year ago...

basement again

we have walls!

random night out

tonight I went out with Dave and Deb to see Matt's band play. it was fun...nice to be out on a friday night. i have never been to zimmerman before and the bar was dull, but it was still fun. i didn't know that matt was such a great drummer. here are some shots from the night...sorry about the darkness!

Chillin with Grace....

Today I got to go to the high school for a bit. They have a class on child development and, as part of the class, they run a weekly one hour daycare for some kids. Grace goes every week and she enjoys it. I got to tag along today because we to listen to Tony Campolo and had to go straight from the high school to make it on time. He was interesting, but the topic was not what I had expected.
Here's a photo of Grace and I.

catching up....

here's some pics to catch up for the week.
me, bored out of my mind waiting for mike to pick me up after the retreat. taking pictures of the grass, the sky, whatever.


mikey with a halo, working on the basement.

the boys, in the bathroom all together.

i love fall in Minnesota. This is the entrance to our development. I wish that I had a really nice camera to take some pictures this fall and winter. I miss zoom and the nice camera we used to have, but I want a digital one and those are way expensive. I love the one I have now cause I can keep it in my purse, but I'll for sure want something nicer eventually.

Retreat!

So I'm leading a sr high retreat this weekend for just over 200 people. No pressure or anything. I'm talking at the next large group session in 10 minutes. I think I'm ready, I'm less nervous than normal.
Here's my band...