My sisters, Cassi and Robyn, and their significant others, Nic and Dejan, came to visit July 22 – 26. It was so great to see them all again!! We went to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit (well worth the time and money to see…amazingly powerful). We went to the Mall of America and bowling and had a bon fire at the Como Park fire rings. We also tried a new restaurant or two along the way. Thanks to Robyn and Dejan for all of the housewarming gifts (the flowers, part of the router, the rug, domacica (sp?), and more!) and to Cassi and Nic for their housewarming gifts as well as helping to unpack and set up the router. We’re already planning next year’s gathering, so hopefully this will become a yearly thing.
Monday the 27th was our 2nd anniversary! We were both exhausted and spent most of the day lounging around the house ignoring all the stuff we had to do! We ended up going to Bascali’s for dinner. A place neither of had been, but which had gotten great reviews. Kristin thought it was okay, I didn’t like it at all. We headed to a movie, The Proposal, and then headed home to open gifts (the 2nd wedding anniversary gift is cotton – Kristin gave me a skirt and a customizable stepping stone for the garden. I gave her a hammock chair to hang either on the porch, in the living room, or in our bedroom upstairs once that is finished).
Monday Heather and Santiago came for a visit. It was so good to see them and we had a lot of fun. I introduced Santi to the miracle of the laundry chute and taught him how to use the camera. He seemed to enjoy both activiites :). He also read me a bedtime story which put me right to sleep!
Consider yourselves caught up. :) The end.
Recently Kristin and I celebrated our 5th anniversary by heading back to our favorite camping/cabin spot – Wilderness Way. It didn’t actually start as an anniversary celebration trip, it was just a ‘one last trip before the snow falls’ with Michele, Heather, and Jehn. So, we headed to Wisconsin the weekend of MEA (which also happened to be our anniversary weekend) for some fall relaxation.
Kristin, Jehn, and I left Friday around noon. The drive took much longer than usual as we seemed to stop in every town and at every store for something. I was happy when we finally arrived. This time we got a bigger cabin closer to the lake, and I loved it! It was so beautiful and the cabin was a little nicer than the last one we were in. We settled in, unpacked our $130 worth of groceries (stopped at a VERY overpriced grocery store along the way) and enjoyed the scenery. We started a fire that evening and were excited when Michele and Heather finally arrived.
The next day was fairly low key. We were going to go to a meat raffle at the Golden Chipmunk, but missed it after some misunderstandings. Oh well. There’s always next time, right? :) We basically just relaxed all day and then headed over to the Golden Chipmunk for dinner.
We ended the night by joining some other lesbians at the fire pit – Michele especially seemed excited to meet and converse with them. The weather was beautiful, so Kristin and I decided to go for a walk. We went down by the lake, and I was struck by the number of stars in the sky! I remember sleeping outside when I was little and trying to count the stars. My parents live out in the middle of nowhere, so I could always see millions of stars at night. I had kind of forgotten what that was like – but there they were – all still there!
We had lots of fun adventures with animals there as well – a flying squirrel (yes, they do exist), chipmunks (unfortunately ours didn’t sing, Alvin….Alvin….ALVIN!), spiders, loons, and more.
The next morning Michele cooked us all a great breakfast and we packed to leave. Last time we stayed for one night and I found myself wishing we could have stayed longer. This trip we stayed for 2 nights and once again I was wishing we could stay for another night or two. It is so peaceful there!!
I’m thinking of ringing in my 30th year there in December. Not sure how it would be if it’s really cold and possibly snowy, but I really can’t think of any place I’d rather spend my birthday!
The beginning of October we had a bonfire at Como Park fire rings! Kristin and I showed up a few hours before the event was going to start thinking that would be plenty early. But when we arrived all of the rings were taken. We then spent the next 2 hours on the phone with Heather and driving all over Saint Paul trying to find other available rings.
After about 1 ½ hours we realized that all of the rings had been removed – seems the Parks Department removes all of the fire pits in September. Which makes no sense to me. October typically is the perfect month for bonfires – so why they remove the pits in September is beyond me.
Anyway, so after 2 hours of driving to all sorts of different parks (I was frustrated by the end, but the drive was so beautiful, I didn’t mind too much!) we decided to head back to Como and hope that a fire ring opened up. We were able to get a grill near the rings, so we cooked up our hot dogs and waited. Eventually we basically built a fire in the grill (totally illegal) so we could make s’ mores. Then someone noticed that some people were packing up to leave.
Heather and Michele, being the brave souls that they are, headed over to ask if we could have their ring. They said yes, and we pounced!
It was great because the fire was already going and we were able to just sit and enjoy. At some point we commenced the annual meeting of the LSC. I agreed to induct all bonfire attendees (Heather, Michele, Emily, Lara, Kristin, and Jehn ), and we agreed that the annual meeting should be held around a bonfire.
That was about it. Oh, there were lots of s’ mores and a slight confrontation with some guys (which Kristin handled like a super star) but otherwise it was just a nice, relaxing evening under the stars! I keep thinking maybe we could squeeze one more in before it gets too cold, but not sure that will happen! Oh well, I guess there’s always next year!
quickly. We found our way to Wascott but then had no idea how to find Wilderness Way. We tried calling Michele and Heather and Wilderness Way but only got voicemails.
iver Resort to ask directions. Kristin went inside to ask only to find that it was a bar. There were five fairly intoxicated people inside who, between, them, were able to give her somewhat decent directions once they figured out it was the "girl scout camp" she was trying to find (yeah, whatever, as long as it got us there, who
cares what they think!).
me! It was beautiful - I think I could have just stayed out all day.
it was funny to have it in there. :)
We got ready and headed to the Golden Chipmunck for dinner. It's a little local dive restaraunt/bar that has really great food. Yum.
k there was a minor emergency when Michele got a bug in her eye. Thank goodness Heather was there to help out.
everyone was equipped with a bib to prevent messes). We also made some new friends - a couple of women from the cities stopped by to admire the fire and ended up sitting with us for quite awhile. It was fun to talk and get to know them better.
night but were so tired we decided against it and ended up heading to bed. This morning Michele cooked a fabulous breakfast of bacon and eggs (we were so spoiled!).
he next couple of months - can't wait!!
Kristin and I decided to spend our first anniversary in Duluth. She researched hotels and made a reservation at The Inn on Lake Superior. 
We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after taking in some of the sights...
We got ready and headed for dinner. Along the way we discovered that Duluth was a Christian town proudly displaying the 10 commandments.
Kristin also met a new friend.
We finally made it to Bellisio's - a little Italian restaurant we chose in honor of our favorite restaurant in Carmel (where we spent our honeymoon) La Dolce Vita.
After eating (the food was fantastic!) we had the waiter take a photo of us to put in our anniversary book (fantastic wedding gift we received from the Klombies'). Unfortunately it turned out blurry, but I'll post it anyway.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to make s'mores (I think it's a perk all hotels should offer). 
Then we headed out to a bench by the lake to look at photos from the wedding we hadn't seen yet, reread our wedding wishes that people wrote for us, and Kristin gave me what may be the best gift ever. Since the first anniversary gift is paper she filled a jar with quotes and thoughts for me to read every day for the next year. It looks awesome and I'm excited to read a new thought each day. She spent a ton of time making this, and I love it!
On Monday we spent the day relaxing, shopping, and eating more yummy food! We ended the day once again with s'mores and a dip in the heated pool on the roof of the hotel.
(Anyone know why they are selling
Tuesday we slept in before getting ready to head home. We headed down to the the lake one last time. This time we took the wedding bouquet we had from our wedding (it's been riding in the back window of my car for the past year) and threw it into the lake.
We finally said goodbye to Duluth and headed home only to discover we had left a gift bag with our pictures, wedding wishes, and Kristin's gift to me at the hotel! Thankfully we realized it was missing only 10 miles down the road. I would have cried if we had lost all of those things!!
And now, excuse me while I get a little mushy. I love this woman. With everything in me, I love her! She makes me laugh every single day and reminds me that life isn't always supposed to be as serious as I tend to make it. Although this year has had its ups and downs, she has stood by my side and supported me through it all. Here's to many more spectacular years together.
