Pretty sure winter came too early!

It snowed for the first time on Oct. 10th. That is entirely too early in my eyes. We haven't had a chance to go to the orchard, or carve pumpkins, or even prep our yard for winter.

So instead we hopped in the car and went straight to Walmart to purchase fall and Halloween decorations.

Here's a picture of the first snowfall of the season.

My dream car came sooner than expected

Well, my stupid piece of *#&$& car decided it was done. The transmission went out last Monday and is not worth fixing so Alan and I went car shopping! I've known for a couple of years what kind of car I wanted next so we checked online and found one in South St. Paul. It was in great shape and had everything I wanted and even more important, it fit our budget!

New baseboards

Some of my friends are probably laughing at me right now. I know that new baseboards do not seem super exciting, but when you've been looking at broken plaster pieces for 3 months it gets kind of old. My dad and Uncle Jerry spent the better part of their Saturday installing the baseboards that I carefully stained. And our living room looks great! Check out the before and after pictures.

Le Gourmet Chef

During the summer, when I actually have time to breathe, I enjoy cooking. Alan loves Vietnamese food and received a few cookbooks for Christmas a couple of years ago. I finally opened them this summer and have been practicing my culinary skills. Mahlia also LOVES to bake and decorate cakes so she has been teaching me.

Picture #1: My first cake! Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting

Picture #2: My second cake- almond cake with strawberry filling and chocolate buttercream frosting

Picture #3: egg rolls

Cutest Kid in the World

My best friend Kristen and her husband Eric moved to Tulsa, OK, a few years ago where Eric took a job as a pastor at a local church- they have since added baby (almost big boy) Tate to their family. I miss then like crazy. Alan and I were blessed with being able to spend time with them on Monday while they were in town for a wedding. (Congratulations Kendra and Brett!)

After a fun dinner at Champps watching Tate try to stick crayons in Eric's drink, they came over to check out our new house. Aside from Bentley trying to lick Tate to death, I think they liked it! Tate was showing off some of his newly learned skills- see video.

Happy 4th of July

I think the only reason men like the 4th of July is because they have an excuse to blow things up. Our 4th of July was plagued by last minute plan changes. We were originally planning on tubing down the Cannon River in Welch, MN. However, it was freezing and raining so we decided to head to the parade in Apply Valley. Then it began pouring. So we ended up spending too much time and money at Mall of America shopping and eating lunch at Ruby Tuesdays.

Later in the evening Jason and Alan set off fireworks in our driveway and made a gigantic mess. We capped off the night with fireworks at the Eagan community center. (sorry the video is sideways; I couldn't figure out how to flip it. )

Roommates

Our friends Mahlia, Jason, and their collie Leo have come to live with Alan and I for a couple of months while they look to purchase a home of their own in the area. The first week if their extended visit was filled with some very exciting times; most notably, Alan received his one-year anniversary present early- a new TV, stand, and blu-ray player.

Mahlia is an excellent baker and has been learning how to decorate cakes. This week she made a strawberry cake and white frosting which she colored and made into cute little flowers.

Congratulations Kelly and Steve

We are in the midst of a summer full of weddings. Thus far, we have said "Congratulations" to my childhood friend Katrina and her new husband Jake, and my cousin Kelly and her new husband Steve.

This picture was taken last weekend at Kelly and Steve's wedding at Weddings of Wayzata in Orono, MN.

Last Day of School

I think the video pretty much says it all! We had a new principal this year, and he had been waiting 10 years to play "School's Out for the Summer" on the intercom.

Just another day at the farm

Summer had finally decided to make it's way to Minnesota, so we (Alan, Bentley, and I) headed out to our friend's farm in Hastings again. We spent the day 4-wheeling, planting a vegetable garden, and roasting hot dogs and s'mores. The best thing about the farm? The dogs sleep for days afterwards. Watch the video posted below and you'll understand.... (The black dog is Bentley, the yellow lab is Princess).

Our House Now Looks Like A Home

Here are some updated pictures of our house! The upstairs has a fresh coat of paint, which makes a HUGE difference. The new appliances are in and the carpets are clean. We are still lacking a decent TV, kitchen table, and baseboards in the living room... but at least it's clean and livable. Our plan is to host a house-warming party once school is out- we'll keep you posted!

The Countdown Begins

You can always tell when the school year is wrapping up because things become crazy busy! I recently finished my second year as coordinator for M.W. Savage's Science Expo which is put on in combination with Explore Night. I had amazing results- we doubled in student participation and increased by 25% in the number of projects submitted. Check out the pictures!

Only 9 more days of school left and all is hectic! The annual talent show was today and went off (almost) without a hitch. I'm glad I have an awesome co-worker to run the school's sound system with!

I also found out today that I will once again be teaching first grade summer school at nearby Hidden Valley Elementary. I know- you're thinking summer school is boring, but it's actually a ton of fun because first graders think summer school is cool! And who wouldn't want a class size of 10 kids?!?

If I manage to survive the next two crazy weeks of field day, field trips, and the awards ceremony, I plan to spend the summer gardening and camping.... I could also work

We bought a house!

After four months of furiously house hunting we have a place to call home. Our new house is located in Burnsville, MN, just minutes from Sara's work and parents' house. Our closing date is tentatively set for April 17 and we are super excited to finally have a place to call our own!

The house has 3 bedrooms (Sara finally gets her own office!) 2 bathrooms, and a wonderful large backyard that Bentley is super excited about.

Anybody interested in a moving party?

Fun with Four-Wheelers!

Since the weather has been so nice lately we spent an evening at Mahlia and Jason's family's hobby farm in Hastings. We brought Bentley with so she could play with Leo, their collie. The dogs had a blast chasing us on the 4-wheelers, and thought that mud wrestling was equally as enjoyable. After playing around on the ATV's for a while- and almost losing the men in the woods- we settled down to a huge bonfire and some hot dogs!

We are WAAAAAAAY Behind!

Obviously it has been too long since we've added a post to our blog. To quickly catch up, here is a quick recap of our winter season:

November: Overall, November was fairly uneventful, which I suppose is a good thing. We spent Thanksgiving doing the tradition house-hopping. We spent early afternoon at my uncle's house in Rosemount with my gazillion cousins and aunts and uncles. After eating way too much food we headed over to Alan's parents' house in Eagan to have a more formal, sit-down meal with his parents and sisters.

December: We had a wonderful time decorating for our first Christmas as husband and wife. This is Sara's favorite season and we spent many evenings at the mall shopping for gifts. We also saw our first big snowfall and realized how much we hate this townhouse in winter. We also had a great weekend with Alan's sisters and their boyfriends- you should ask Alan about this weekend. :) Winter break from school was greatly needed although we were insanely busy.

Alan decided that he no longer wanted to be employed by Wolf Securities, and began job searching once again. In a short amount of time he was able to find a job with a security company in Bloomington, which is a little closer to home.

Once again, we house-hopped on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and managed to celebrate with my parents/Candice/Evan, Alan's parents and siblings, and my uncles/aunts/cousins. Two days after Christmas we went up to Duluth for a belated honeymoon. We spent three beautiful but freezing days at a bed and breakfast and had a wonderful time.

January: We had a New Year's party at our townhouse with a small group of close friends- complete with the dog spraying champagne all over because she's afraid of noisemakers. January 3rd we headed out of town to Black River Falls, WI, for Saras cousin's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and we had a blast dancing with my cousins all night- until the ice storm hit mid-wedding! It was a slow drive home the next day but after 6 hours we made it home safely. School picked up as if we never had a break, and was a little hectic as the end of first semester was two weeks into the month.

Alan changed his mind once again and decided that his true calling is car mechanics. Let's face it- nobody was surprised to hear this. He switched jobs again and is currently working for Valvoline in south Minneapolis. This fall he is going to start a GMC mechanics program at Dakota County Technical College. YAY!

February: We have feverishly been house hunting all over the southern Twin Cities with our agent, AKA Sara's friend Jon. We've learned that there are many ups and downs in this business and it sucks to get attached to a house when it isn't actually yours.

Valentine's Day was pretty low key- Sara ended up babysitting and Alan spent the night home along (which he probably enjoyed). We decided that we should be putting all of our resources towards the house, which we would enjoy more than Valentine's Day gifts.

Well, we are now up-to-date! At this moment we are still house hunting, and Sara is entering the busiest three weeks of the school year. However, spring break is three long weeks away and we are very much looking forward to it!