Time Out For Women

This past weekend, I got to spend two whole days with four wonderful women. Deseret Books Time Out For Women was in Minneapolis this past weekend, so the five us headed up north for a fun filled weekend. We left early Friday morning, so that we could get several hours of shopping in at the Mall of America before attending the conference. We had a great time looking at shoes, especially watching Shannon try on a pair of $500 boots. She didn't buy them, although she was sorely tempted. We shopped until we dropped, at least I felt like I was going to drop. We had lunch at Kokomos, a fun restaurant that has a tropical feel to it. Carrie wanted to go to H & M, a store she used to shop at when she lived in New York. Once we were in the store, it didn't take me too long to find the cutest dress. It is a deep wine red color and it fits perfectly. I tried it on and wasn't quite sure, I felt like it might be a little too tight, but when I asked Carrie about it, she said it was too perfect a fit to not buy it, so I immediately took it to the register and bought the dress. I wore it to church on Sunday and it was very comfortable. Thanks Carrie for convincing me to buy the dress. After many hours of shopping, it was time to leave the mall, but not before making a stop at the Lindt store. I was tempted to buy some truffles, but Carrie bought 3 bags of truffles, and she was sweet enough to share. I ate my fair share of chocolate over the weekend, but I would have eaten more if I'd bought some to bring home. Thanks Carrie for buying the chocolates and sharing, so that I didn't have to buy any. I probably would have gained 10 pounds. The conference was a lot of fun. I didn't feel that it was as good as the one two years ago, but I was uplifted and inspired. After the Friday evening session, we went out to dinner at PF Changs at 10:40 that evening. We had such a great time laughing, talking and eating. Of course we all ordered lettuce wraps for our meal, because they are the absolute best thing on the menu. We also got to celebrate Shannon's birthday. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I don't have a picture of these wonderful ladies. Thanks for such a fun weekend. I had a great time and it was fun just getting to know each of you even better. We will have to do this every year, just get away for the weekend and have fun. I highly recommend a girls weekend away for any woman that needs a break. You come home feeling rejuvinated and ready to deal with life once again.

My Sweet Sister

Nicole and Tara

Jon had a presidency meeting this evening at our house and so I thought I would read blogs while he was busy. It's been fun reading about all the fun things everyone has been up to. As I was reading my sister's blog, I thought I had read all of her posts and as I scrolled to the very end, I found this:

I want to introduce you all to my lovely sister Tara. I am so lucky to have such a great sister! Tara and I are 7 years apart however we have always been pretty close. Growing up Tara taught me a lot about life by her example. At age 15 Tara got very sick with ulcerative colitis and was in the hospital for months. At the time I was very young and didn't completely understand what she had to go through. I look back now and realize what a fighter she was. Her strength during that time still amazes me! As we got older Tara and I grew close and loved to spend time together shopping and just having fun together. One summer Tara invited my cousin and I to go to a FHE activity with her. We went and for the first time met Jon, the man who would later become the love of her life. Tara and Jon were married shortly after and have been happily married for nearly 8 years. After Tara completed school to become an x-ray technician their greatest dream was to start a family. Six years later they are still trying to fulfill that dream. A couple of months ago Jon and Tara were approved for adoption! We couldn't be happier for them and are anxiously awaiting the day that they welcome a beautiful baby into their loving arms! I know that they would be wonderful parents! Please keep them in mind if you know of anybody who is looking to place their baby for adoption. I have placed a link to their adoption profile on the sidebar of my blog.

Of course, I started to cry as I read the wonderful things my sweet sister had to say about me. I just want to thank her for thinking of Jon and I and putting a post about us and our wish to adopt. I also want to let all of you know what an amazing sister she is. I think she is the best, in fact I think she's almost perfect. Although she is 7 years younger than me, I look up to her a lot. She is such a great example to me. I miss our talks, shopping and hanging out. Happy belated Birthday, Lou!

Happy Birthday Jon!

The last piece of the German Chocolate Cake I made for him on Sunday. I didn't have the camera with me Sunday when he blew out his candles, so I had him do it again for the picture.
The birthday boy with all his birthday loot.

Yesterday was Jon's birthday. It was a pretty ordinary day because he still had to work all day. I wanted to make his day seem a little special, so I went to the store before Tanner came over, and I bought Jon some balloons and a small package of Reese's Peanutbutter Cups which are his favorite. I dropped them off at his office that morning, so he could enjoy the balloons and treat all day. We have been out to eat so much lately, so Jon requested his favorite dinner for me to make, meatballs and mashed potatoes (his mom's recipe). I made a nice dinner, and then of course he had to open his presents. He got lots of cards money, which is perfect because he can order a bunch of new games. Yay! After presents we had a few errands to run so we stopped at the mall and filled his popcorn bucket with Karmel Korn's cheese corn. This has become a tradition since we've lived here. My parent's bought him the bucket filled with cheese corn two years ago, when they were here for Jon's birthday, so I've tried to keep up the tradition. I would have surprised him with it that morning, but the mall wasn't open at 9:00 am. Happy Birthday Jon! I hope you had a wonderful day.

More fun with Tanner

Tanner's new creation. Thanks Rita, he sure likes playing with this toy. He loves to build all kinds of things even if you can't quite figure out what it is.

Today Tanner connected two of the pieces together to make a ring and when he realized that it fit around his waist, he decided to use it as a hoola-hoop. I wanted to get a video of him trying to hoola-hoop and then have him say the word. The video is so cute, and sorry it's sideways, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

A view of the Gonda building.

There are statues everywhere. These statues are on the outside face of one of the buildings, next to the Gonda building.

The Mathews Heritage Dome in the courtyard outside the Gonda building.

You can look down on to the lower level through the dome.

One of the beautiful gardens.

There were gardens everywhere on the Mayo campus. I couldn't check in to our hotel, which was across the street, until 3 pm and we arrived at 8 am, so I walked around the shops and then spent much of the afternoon sitting on one of these wooden benches reading my book and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The sun was shinning and there was a light breeze, it was pure bliss! I love it when I have a wonderful excuse to read, because there is nothing else for me to do.

Another statue, this one looks like a bunch of birds.

I really liked this statue, it is in the childrens garden.

The statue is a child riding on a dolphin.

The statue on the left is W. W. Mayo, the father of the two brothers (see next picture). He and this nun started the first Mayo hospital together. He provided the money and the doctors and she provided the nurses and facility.

The two brothers/doctors who started the Mayo Clinic.

William Mayo and Charlie Mayo

Last Monday was our 8th anniversary. We had a very busy week, so we just went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. Thursday and Friday, Jon had a conference in Rochester, MN so I decided to join him for a little getaway. It was wonderful! As I said above, we arrived at 8 am and I couldn't check in until 3 pm, so I wandered around the Mayo campus and the many shops nearby. I wandered around some of the buildings on the Mayo Campus taking pictures, and I spent almost an hour wandering through the Mayo Clinic Museum. It was so neat to learn about the history of the Mayo Clinic and how it was started. I loved the feeling I felt, just being on campus. I would love to work for Mayo, but I don't know that that will ever happen. What a great place the Mayo Clinic is.

The shops were all so expensive, which was probably fortunate, because I didn't end up spending any money. However, I did spend some money on food. I had breakfast at Brueggers Bagels, which I love and then I had lunch at this salad and soup shop. I had the yummiest salad, it was spring greens with strawberries and sliced almonds with a strawberry dressing. I loved it so much, I had the same thing for lunch the next day. I also had a cup of their wild rice soup the first day and a cup of clam chowder the second day. While I was wandering around, I discovered a European Chocolate shop that sold all sorts of fine chocolates as well as Gelatto. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to indulge, so I took Jon back to the shop when his conference was over and each of us picked out three yummy chocolates. Each one cost $1.50 unless you bought five or more, then you paid by the weight. Obviously that is a better deal, so we bought six and shared. What a wonderful treat to have before dinner. We ate at John Hardy's which is a local BBQ joint, recommended to us by Corey Johnson. The food was good, and we left stuffed. We spent the evening walking around at the mall and then relaxing in the hotel. The next day was rainy, so I stayed in our hotel room while Jon was at his conference. Luckily he was finished by 1:00, so we spent the afternoon just having fun. We went to a movie, did a little shopping and then went to dinner at Outback. Later that evening, after our food had settled, we walked back over to the Chocolate shop and had some delicious Gellato. We had a wonderful time in Rochester. I loved downtown Rochester. It's always fun to have a getaway and we sure enjoyed ours.

Fruits of our Labors

Salsa on the left, Spaghetti Sauce on the right

We have really enjoyed all the vegetables from our garden this summer. We got a lot of zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, but especially tomatoes. I planted one beef tomato plant, one Roma tomato and nine regular tomato plants for canning. Our tomatoes went crazy, and we had a lot. I made 10 pints of salsa with the Roma tomatoes and 19 pints of spaghetti sauce with regular tomatoes. We are still getting plenty of tomatoes, but I am now sharing the wealth. After two days of canning, I don't want to do anymore. I think we will be set on salsa and spaghetti sauce for a while. I just had to share, because this is the first time I've ever made anything like this, and I was quite pleased with how they turned out.

Anniversary

Monday September 21st was our 8th anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for eight years. Time has just flown by. It doesn't seem that long ago that these pictures were taken, but if you look closely you can tell it really has been a few years, we look a little older and have less hair. We have had our ups and downs, mostly ups and we have traveled, played, worked and enjoyed being married these past eight years. If you had asked us eight years ago, where we thought we would be today, living in Mankato with no kids isn't what I would have said. We long to have children, but we have truly enjoyed the journey that has brought us where we are today. We have had many fun adventures and we have made many wonderful friends along the way. We couldn't make it without our friends, they have become our family since we aren't able to live close to our families. Now we are waiting and hoping that someday soon we will be blessed with a beautiful baby to join our family.




I wanted to say a few things about my wonderful husband. First I wanted to tell him how much I love him. I have the best husband in the world. I know many of you think the same thing for yourselves, and that is how it should be. Jon is my best friend, my confidant, my companion, the love of my life, my shoulder to cry on and he is a great support to me. I'm sure that I'm not the easiest person to live with, but that doesn't stop Jon from loving me. He is patient and kind and he does his best to try and understand me. I appreciate all of his hard work and I am so grateful that he works so hard, so that even now while I don't have kids, I don't have to work. It will be wonderful someday, when I can be home with my own kids. Thanks for eight wonderful years. I look forward to spending the next eight years and eternity with you. I love you lots!

My sweetheart!