Happy Valentine's Day

I made reservations at The Roasted Pear in Burnsville for Valentine's Day and Sarah joined us.  We have eaten there in the past.  The food and atmosphere are wonderful.  Sarah had trout and Bill and I had the salmon.  We all had salads.  We were so happy to have Sarah join us.

I hope you had a good evening too.

Finding our Christmas Present

We received an 'Omaha Steaks' gift card for Christmas from family.  There is a store here in the Twin City area so a couple weekends ago Bill and I set off to find it.

We had the address in St Louis Park, MN.  We had our GPS.  We were in the right spot according to directions but couldn't see it.
So we stopped at Noodles and Company (which we were able to see) and had lunch. Yummy.  My favorite!

Then we were back on the trail again.  We decided to try finding it on foot.  It was raining; it was sleeting; it was snowing.  Visibility was NOT good.
Round and round we walked while trying not to slide.  We had to stop and ask for directions twice and here it was - tucked around a corner in the middle of the outside mall.

They had a very appropriate sign at the front register.  We bought some lovely sea bass, chicken paddies and steak burgers.  We received a set of 4 single serve frozen cheese cake desserts for our efforts.
There is also a Charming Charlie store in the same mall.  I hope to get back soon to check that out too.
It was a very successful trip after all.

Handmade Happy Birthday Cards

I couldn't share these recently created cards until after the birthdays.  I wanted them to be a surprise for the birthday people in Little Rock so I didn't place them on Facebook until a couple days after the gifts and cards were opened there.

For Megan on her 7th birthday.

For our son, Will

Inside the card too

Happy Birthday to Will and Megan

My son and granddaughter share their birthday.  They were both born on Ground Hogs day.  Will is our first child and Megan is our first grandchild.  Happy Birthday to you both.

 We shared a very special time together at the end of last year.  Will graduated from the University of Arkansas with his MBA in Finance.  Here we all are celebrating his achievement together in Little Rock.

Will, the graduate, with his lovely family.

Bill and I - proud parents with our latest graduate.

Back to the birthday people:

Megan is in first grade this year.  She loves to read.  She has been reading chapter books since Kindergarten.  She started dance classes this fall and loves ballet and tap dance.  She also loves doing crafts.  She has a younger sister, Lucy who loves following in her big sister's foot steps.

 Will is a great Dad.  He loves sharing time with his family.  He works for Geico as a car appraiser.  I couldn't find a photo of the green Geico car - I'll have to share that later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BOTH.  HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Friday Afternoon in the Audience

Our women's group participated in the audience of Twin Cities Live this past Friday - January 18th.

The agenda for the show:  

Tim Mahoney from The Voice

Medium Psychic, Jodi Livon

 Popcorn recipes for National Popcorn Day

Scrapbooking with Aleis

and

A surprise visit to a Hero here in the Twin Cities

Our stage director and me

Our stage director (aka audience director) was great.  He made sure we were actively involved.  We learned to clap, hoot and howler on cue and stop as directed too.  The audience laugh was genuine and enthusiastic.  Did he makes us work?  You bet!  Did we have fun?  Yes, definitely! And I would love to do it again someday.

The show was from 3 pm - 4 pm.  We arrived at the studio at 2:15 pm for check-in and show information.  We were ushered to our seats early to be ready when the show began.  We were kept busy participating throughout the live show.  During commercial breaks there were audience gifts and our audience director shared wonderful information about the studio and show.  I received the 'Boxes in a Box', a creative game with boxes during the gift drawings.  Our group was able to take photos of the stage with the hosts after the event.

A New Car

Our 2008 Camry had almost 100,000 miles and needed new tires again.  After a couple trips to Denver and several trips to Little Rock we have been able to put on the miles.

We took a test drive in a 2012 Camry and then purchased the car.  Now we have a new car in the new year.

 Congratulations, you have a new car!

New car January 6, 2012

Storage Unit Revised

Our daughters have a storage unit for the furniture they brought back from Florida in 2011.  Sarah move into an apartment in early December 2012 with lots of the furniture.  We only needed half the space so we moved the remaining items in a smaller unit before the January payment.

It's organized, consolidated and just plain looks better.

Happy New Year and Welcome 2013

I welcomed in the New Year with friends at a craft store.  

We brought food to share and cropped into the night.

 Checking out other handiwork together

 'I Take Life with a Grain of Salt'

We are busy having lots of fun

This store in Bloomington was recently closed but will be opening in January under the same name.

Here's a peak at the new decor for that store:

There will be a grand opening on Sunday, January 6th.  Stuff to fill the shelves is promised.

I was able to complete my first project for 2013 during the evening.

These are Thank you cards for 'Card Club' - 12 cards ready to share with others.

Catching Up

We have had a fun and exciting December with the Holmans here and in Little Rock.
Here are some of the events this month:

We had our annual fondue party the evening before the snow came down.

 Our first big snow storm on December 16, We had 10" in Savage, MN

Bill and I drove to Little Rock, Arkansas for Will's graduation from the University of Arkansas with his Masters in Finance.  

Congratulations, Will.  We are very proud.

 Lucy makes sure Daddy gets to the graduation on time.

Bill and I were there for the ceremony.

Will and his family - we're all here for you, Will.

Lucy, Megan and I had fun with crafts.

We had an early Christmas celebration in Arkansas and drove home on December 23 to spend Christmas at home with Sarah.  It's a good thing we headed out early.  They had 6 inches of snow on Christmas day and we had none here in Minnesota.

BACK HOME

Christmas in Minnesota - December 25, 2012

 The tree is decorated and the presents are there too.

Messy kitchen but yummy turkey dinner.

The year is almost over.  I still have some gifts and Christmas cards to get out before January 1 but I have a four day weekend coming up.  I may actually get done.

How has your December been?

Where Have I Been?

I seem to be missing in action or at least missing from the blog world.  Did anyone miss me?

Where has the time gone?  I meant to blog; I started to blog; but I haven't been blogging.  Truthfully I haven't even been taking very many photos lately.

I slide right through November and now here we are in December.  So what's my excuse?  Is my computer broken? No.  Do I need a new camera? No. Do I have time to blog now?  No, not really.

Now that it's December we have lots of snow here in Minnesota.  We were buried in 12 " last weekend and couldn't get out until Tuesday.  I'll post photos soon.

Bill and I head out of town and back before Christmas so I hope to have some new family photos to post later this month.

How about you, Becca - ready to blog now that your PC is fixed?

To all my family and friends who continue to blog, I love it.  Keep it up and I'll join you soon.