Just Another Day

The weather has cooled off a bit, but it still feels like summer. Today it looks a little hazy outside, and I’m thinking that might be due to the burning in the BWCAW right now.

Gram and I started a raggedy quilt yesterday. It’ll be very cute when it’s all finished up. Fun to work on something with Grandma, anyways. She’s been pretty perky the last few days. We might even get her to take a jump in the lake one of these days!

April’s been hard at work with her tutoring job. She doesn’t work a whole lot of hours, but it seems she’s always gone at work.

Lo is out again, and Dad took today off. We got a couple of tanks of gas for the boat, so I’m hoping to get out on the lake and play!

Bill and Dad have been making a few home improvements the past few days. It started when Bill offered to change out the ceiling fan in our bathroom (that hasn’t worked in, oh – about 15 years!). I was a bit skeptical, as I don’t remember Bill making any home improvements where we’ve lived together. It took a little work and a crawl through the attic, but the fan is now in. It looks like today the much needed sink and faucet replacement is going to happen. Yippee!

Well, now that everyone’s awake, it’s time to put on a pot of coffee and start the day!

Have a great weekend everybody!

It’s been in the 90’s here for a lot of days now… I can’t even tell you how many, but I can’t remember the last time it felt cool. I love it! The swimming has been fantastic, and the computers have only been open as necessary. Hence, you’ve all been reading the same blog posts for about a month now. 🙂

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened, but not much has changed. 😉 Bill and I went over to Cass Lake and spent a night with Bill & Barb and Bill & Arlene. We went out to the Deb’s property for an afternoon, though Barb and I spent a good hour and a half in the air conditioned shops of Bemidji before heading to the hot land. It was a nice trip and a good chance to get some time with Bill’s grandparents.

Our house has been hopping… Lo and Mike have been out, Kerrisa, Tina and Jordan, and who knows who else has come out to jump off the boat or take their turn on the tube. It officially feels like summer and I am enjoying every moment that I can feel like a kid.

I did turn the big 26 a week ago. I got 3 different kinds of desserts – so you know it was a good birthday!

I also ran a 10 K on the 4th of July. Unfortunately, I haven’t done much since. So, this morning I braved the heat and hit Raps Road for a little work out. I allowed myself to walk up every hill and run the rest – since it was so hot! The real reason is that I’ve quickly gotten lazy! I’m going to try to kick it into gear until I leave next month.

I still haven’t booked a ticket to Unalakleet. Bill leaves a week from tomorrow to hit Valdez and then Talkeetna. So starts the beginning of year 2 with our hit and miss schedules. I think I’ll be up North for a couple of days mid-August and then back for Heidi’s wedding and home until I train in Anchorage at the end of August. Bill’s going to be enjoying our new place all by himself for a good part of the fall, so if anyone would like to keep him company plan to come visit!

April and I have big plans of fixing up our toes this afternoon, so I guess it’s about time to close the computer.

I hope you’ve all been well, and I look forward to being in touch!

xoxo!

Here are the latest happenings in my life… as promised!

April and I decided to be good sisters and help Laura move a bunch of her stuff down the road to the new house they will be renting. It’s a very cute little house… the landlord has just finished recovering some beautiful hardwood floors that had been hidden beneath 70’s green carpeting. It’s also got a very charming little front porch. We made about 4 or 5 trips with the truck and Lo’s car. It went quickly and wasn’t too tough. I’ll have to recruit them up to Alaska next May to move me out! 😉

Dad took off for Trout Lake this morning. I would’ve loved to take a camping trip, but time is short as it is. Maybe later this summer we’ll head up just for the day. It’s been forever since I’ve been “for-real” camping.

I was planning to meet up with Mom this evening, as she was supposed to be up in Cook for a hair appointment. Apparently Trish might have to cancel. We’ll have to see. I guess we’ll catch up next week for our traditional 4th of July events.

April and I went and visited Nicole Whitney and her little boy Keenan, yesterday. He is just precious – 2 weeks old today. It was nice to catch up with Nicole. I bumped into my friend Amy today, also. That’s the wonderful part of being home… it feels so normal.

Gramp and I sat in the hot tub for a while last night. He likes to float around… claims the water’s too high to keep him in a seat. Gram came over to visit but says she’s got to find her swimsuit yet this season. We’ll see about that. Anyway, Grandpa just swung by with the mail. He’s always sure to let me know who received what. Today I got nothing, but Dad, Ape, and Bill all have envelopes on the table.

It’s now time to post this entry and close the computer. Hope you’re all enjoying some sunshine!

Today I decided that I’m going to run the 4th of July 10 K in Tower. That gives me exactly one week to be ready. Since the rain and some household chores gave me a good excuse for not running today, I’ll have to be diligent for the remainder of the week. I guess Brennan is going to run it as well, so I’ll probably see him at the beginning and then I’ll watch him kick my butt. Still, it’ll be fun.

April and I headed to Virginia this morning. I made her take me to Target… mainly because I just love Target. I seriously think I could spend a few hours walking around that store and not even buy anything. Maybe they pump something into the air.

One thing I forgot to look for today was Tazo passion ice tea. I became addicted to Starbucks shaken iced tea lemonade with passion tea while I was in Baltimore last week. Now I’m thinking I can learn to make them myself. ☺

Laura’s back to work, so there’s far less Nintendo being played. Well, not really, I just get to play more. 😉 Really, Mario has been a big part of our lives this summer.

Dad is heading into Trout Lake on Thursday. I considered going, but it just wasn’t the right time. I’m sure it’ll be a good trip.

Bill is down in Alden at his grandparents. The whole Bryson crew is in the state now. They’ll be heading up to the cabin tomorrow. In fact, most of Barb’s family will be up. We’re all going to celebrate with Mary Janet in honor of her 90th birthday.

Time continues to move quickly. We have been fortunate enough to get some time with good friends we don’t often get to see. This past weekend we spent a day celebrating Mike Svir’s birthday (which just happens to be today). His wife, Amanda, threw him a surprise party, and we felt so lucky to have a chance to participate. It was so great to catch up with them both. We did some preliminary planning for our move to their basement next year. ☺

My uncle Bill was up last week. I was in Baltimore most of the time he was here, but we did get out fishing one night. It’s always so nice to have family around! April and I would like to head out to Sturgeon Bay to see the Wisconsin crew before the summer ends.

I’ve pretty much been avoiding the internet lately. First of all, it’s incredibly slow. We tried to get a high speed connection out here, but the internet company wasn’t able to get a signal through all the trees (or whatever). I guess maybe it’s a sign that we should be enjoying the outdoors. The second reason I avoid the internet is because I have to get on it for work. I’m usually distracted and ready to do something else after I check my work e-mail and replay as necessary. So, here’s my wide apology to those of you I’ve been out of touch with. I am, however, planning to update the blog a little more frequently now that I’m done with travel.

Well, I guess it’s time to be done with the blog. Mario is calling my name.

I’m now in the Hibbing airport awaiting the beginning of my second trip to Baltimore. The last one went well… I learned a lot and left feeling like my brain couldn’t hold any more. A vacation to the Wisconsin Dells helped clear a bit of that up, and I’m now ready to cram just a bit more in.

I spent a few days at home before we headed out to the Dells on Wednesday. It was Timber Days in Cook last weekend, so I headed to the parade and ate more vendor food than any one person needs to. 🙂

Wednesday April, Trisha, Bill, and I jumped in the car to meet Amy and Steve Stepec at the Polynesian Resort in the Dells. We enjoyed an indoor and outdoor water park at our hotel, as well as a waterski show, mini-golf and lots of tasty meals throughout our long weekend. It was lots of fun. Bill’s posted some pictures in the gallery.

Yesterday was a gloomy day, and I didn’t do much more than lay on the couch and watch the Nintendo being played. I’m hoping this week will get me back on track and on a treadmill for some added energy. Time off last week has made me sluggish.

This will ****HOPEFULLY**** be the end of my travels before I have to head back up to Alaska. I’m beyond ready to plant my feet in the soil at 3084 Black Bay Road!

Hope you’ve all been well!

It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve had to fly anywhere… I was getting used to having my feet on the ground! That’s changed now, though, as I’m on my way to Baltimore. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the week goes quickly and smoothly. I can’t wait to get back out on the tube.

Bill and  I had our first anniversary yesterday. I’d have said celebrated, but we really didn’t do much out of the ordinary aside from eating some year old cake. It was tasty! We just hung around the house, went tubing a couple of times, and got packed up for our trips today. It’s very hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since we got married. What a fast year.

April is officially done with the school year. She’ll tutor a few hours each week through the summer, but otherwise she’ll pretty much be free to do whatever. Part of that whatever includes going to Wisconsin Dells next week. It’s going to be a fun trip.

Apparently Lo had an exciting night at work. I have no idea what the circumstances were… more to come, I guess!

I’m looking forward to the end of June when I have no more travel commitments. (Work wise, anyway.) I fully intent to plant myself on the shores of Lake Vermilion through July!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for today!

It was a hot, hot weekend. Mark, Cathy, and the kids were all up. I think they brought the beautiful weather with them!

Saturday we headed to Tawnya’s Grad party for a bit before meeting up with Amy S. at the Tanger Outlet. Old Navy had some great sales on for Memorial Day weekend, so I decided to take advantage of them! 🙂 Needless to say, it was great to see Amy, and even greater to have her up in the area for a few days.

We went out pontooning with Amy, Steve, and Nels on Sunday and then up to Bay View for dinner. I’d never eaten there. It’s got a beautiful view, but we were on the “bar level” outside and there were some rowdy folks. It gave us some entertainment, anyway.

Stacy and Dylan came out and spent quite a bit of time at the lake this weekend. It’s so fun to have them around, too! I can’t believe how big that little guy has gotten. He talks non-stop! Very cute. We even got him in for his first swim in Lake Vermilion on Monday. It was pretty nice weather, and the water was decent, but he didn’t dare get too far from his mom.

I went and picked Bill up from the Duluth Airport yesterday. It’s nice to finally have him back in the state with me… before rushing off next Monday! We went out for lunch and swung by the mall, Super One, and Target. He was exhausted and went to bed by 8:00 last night. (Of course not before first jumping in the lake up in Black Bay!) Anyway, it’s now 10:00, and I can’t get him out of bed. I know he got very little sleep the past 2 weeks while he was working, moving the house, and trying to get packed for down here. Top that off with an overnight flight through Chicago, and I guess I understand why he’s still snuggled up under the covers!

We’re going to have a low-key rest of the week… possibly spend one night camping up in Black Bay.

Hope you’re all enjoying the start of summer!

Mom and I took a nice shopping trip to Virginia yesterday. She got all kinds of cute little outfits… I might add, I helped pick many of them out! 🙂 It was a lot of fun. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

I picked April up in town to conserve gas, and Laura was here at the house when we got home. How nice to have us all under one roof. Our 4th sister, Kerissa, came out too. April made us some of her delicious enchiladas. I think we tie on that one. Dad took us out for a nice boat ride. You can’t beat a day like that! (Well, maybe add on a game of pinnochle at Grandma’s to sweeten the deal. I’ll try that next time!)

Anyway, it’s officially summer in my book because I took my first jump into Lake Vermilion yesterday. Granted I was warm from having gone for a jog, but the lake looked especially inviting yesterday morning. So, I hopped in. I actually swam, too. None of this jumping in and jumping right back out. I think it’s time to blow up the tube!

I don’t know what exciting events Lo has planned for us today. 😉 Looking forward to whatever!

Bill and I found out that we’ll be moving from our apartment to a house next year. It’s pretty exciting… a 2 bedroom house that’s right on the beach. We’ll have beautiful views of the ocean out our living room and bedroom windows. Bill sent pictures… maybe I’ll ask him to post them in the gallery for you to see. At any rate, this is the year to visit, folks! 🙂 Anyway… what this means is that Bill is stuck to do all the moving by himself. He’s busy working through the weekend until the very day he flies out (Monday), so I’m hoping he’ll be able to recruit a few friends just to get our stuff to the new place. He’s kind of an expert last minute packer, though… always procrastinated getting out of campus during college. Somehow he gets it done, though!

So, that’s life right now. It continues to go well, and I continue to have things to look forward to. For instance, tomorrow Amy is coming home. I just can’t wait to see her and just hang out. After all, we spent many Memorial Day weekends doing just that up in the BWCA!

Happy Friday!

How can I slow the days down? If they keep passing by at this rapid speed, I’ll be back in Unalakleet in no time. That’s a fear of mine right now. I love being home so much!

Dad and I put the pontoon in last night. Well, really Dad did all the work, but I got to drive the super stellar trailor home. 🙂 Anyway, the pontoon (better known as the “party barge” 😉 ) got it’s first use of the season last night. Dad and Grandpa went out and caught 5 walleyes. I had to decline the invitation last night, as it was the series finale (is that how you spell it?) of ALIAS. It was a decent ending.

Sunday was pretty low key. Dad and I went to church. It was a nice service, but a little long – due to the fact that it was confirmation Sunday. Anyway, we spent the rest of the day just being lazy. Trish made her way out, and we decided it was time to take the first trip of the season to Moosebirds for some tasty ice cream. It’s feeling more and more like summer all the time.

Those of you who were not at the house last night missed out on a tasty batch of chicken enchiladas. April has not tasted my secret recipe but she claims that her beef enchiladas are tastier. Dad says we’ll have to have a cook-off and find out. 🙂

All for now. Time to shut the computer and enjoy life!

What a nice Saturday!

I woke up at 6:00 this morning and was on my way to Bemidji by quarter to 7:00. The drive was uneventful. Nice to have my shuffle along so I could listen to some good music!

I got to go help celebrate Mary Janet’s (Bill’s Granma Dunlap) 90th birthday. She looks great and seems to be doing really well! It was nice to see her as well as Marilyn, Zac & Bunny, and Jodi & Mark.

After visiting at Mary Janet’s Laura Bjerk and I took a nice walk and went out to lunch. I’m not sure we solved all of the world’s problems, but we got a good start. 😉

At 3:30 it was off to The Cabin coffeehouse for Heidi’s bridal shower. It was so nice to see her, and I got to visit with Missy – a friend of Heidi’s from hygiene school – so that was fun. After that it was a quick stop off at Cold Stone and back home. It was a very fast day!

I’m planning on church in the morning and we’ll see where the day goes from there.

Happy Weekend, Everyone!