Take me out to the Ball Game

We finally did something fun. :) We went with some new friends to a minor league baseball game in Indianapolis. We watched the Indianapolis Indians and the Syracuse Chiefs play. The Syracuse Chiefs beat the Indians by a ton. When we left, the score was 13 to 1! Luckily, we were there when the Indians scored the one point. The little kids that were there were more entertaining than the game! But we had a great time, especially when Nels bought me a giant chocolate ice cream cone.

Disney World and Florida

Welcome to the Happiest Place on EarthJune 30 through July 8 we spent in Florida, joining Nels' family for a fun vacation. We spent 3 days at Disney World and visted 4 different parks-Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. We loved it and had the best time. After Disney World we went to another Disney resort at Vero Beach. We saw and did so much, but I'm just going to sum it up with the Top 5...in no particular order.

1. Meeting Mickey Mouse

We met Mickey in the Animal Kingdom and that's why he's all dressed up in Safari clothes.2. The rides and seeing the pictures of us after the rides was way fun. We went on tons of rides. Since we stayed at the Disney Resort we got extra hours which meant we spent almost no time waiting in lines! My top favorite rides were Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (you go 0-60 mph in 3 seconds!), Soarin' (at Epcot, it's not scary but just an awesome ride) and Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom. The pictures after the ride were so fun to look at. We didn't buy any though and I didn't learn about the Photopass until the last ride we went on which was the Test Track at Epcot. So here it is...3. Everything we did there, even if it wasn't a ride, was well...Magical. The presentations, shows shops and just walking around was fun and happy. We had fun in some of the gift shops.

Rrrrr Matie (Nels makes a good Jack Sparrows. :)

Rockin' out after the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.Epcot in front of the Spaceship Earth We bought these shirts--mine says "I'm with Goofy." :)4. Guess who called me on my Birthday?! Goofy! It was so cool. I was at Epcot and we were going into the American Adventure which is part of the World showcase. The greeter stopped me and said "You look familiar. Where are you from?" I said "Indiana." Then he said, "We've been trying to get a hold of you. Go over to that box and open it. Inside is a phone and dial 2144. There's a message for you." So I did that, and surprise it was Goofy singing Happy Birthday to me! Amazing, and yes, Magical.

5. Walking along the beach, picking up seashells and watching the sunrise as we sat on the beach early in the morning. It was beautiful, quiet and calm. Very peaceful memory.

The last day of our trip we went stopped at Gainesville to visit my cousin Del and his wife Rachel. Del and I were really good friends growing up so I was excited to see him and catch up. I was really excited to meet Rachel too. They've been married for almost 3 years and I hadn't met her yet. It was so good to talk and hang out with them. Of course we ended the night with a big bowl of ice cream. Here's a picture of us....we left bright and early the next morning. They were sweet and got up to see us off. So that's why they're in their pj's. :) The picture is taken in their backyard which is pretty cool with palm trees.

Last 2 random things. Down south they have this extremely yummy ice cream called Blue Bell. Really good flavors and Nels' family and I love it. When the trip was over we calculated that we ate a total of 6 and 1/2 gallons. There were 6 of us, so if we all ate the same amount we each had a little more than a gallon of ice cream within a very short period of time. What can I say, it's that good!

Also, on our way back from Florida our car hit 100,000 miles...here's a picture of that grand milestone. :)

Now we are back. We are all moved in to our new place in Indianapolis. Nels started work yesterday. So we are starting to get back into a routine. We loved our vacation and all the fun memories we created there. Well, as they say at Disney World, I wish all of you a Magical Day!

Happy Anniversary!

As of June 21, 2008 Nels and I have been married for 5 years. Wow! Time has flown by and it truly has been wonderful. To celebrate this happy occasion we decided to splurge and go to the Melting Pot restaurant. It's a fondue restaurant. We got there at 5 pm and didn't finish until 7 pm! The meal begins with a cheese fondue that you dip vegetables, apples, bread and chips in. Then the salad comes. Then you pick an "Entree cooking style" that you cook your vegetables and a platter of meat in. The platter of meat has Filet Mignon, Sirloin, Chicken, Marinated Pork Tenderloin, and Shrimp. Last, but definitely not least, comes the chocolate dessert fondue that you dip strawberries, bananas, marshmellows, cheesecake, rice crispy treats and brownies in. The first time we ate at the Melting Pot was when we got engaged. I remember we ordered all of the "safe" stuff. But this year we were adventurous and it tasted even better.

The first time we were there we ordered plain chedder cheese fondue, a vegetable broth and milk chocolate for the fondues. This year we ordered the spinach artichoke cheese fondue, a
Caribbean-seasoned bouillon, and the flaming turtle for the chocolate fondue. It was called the flaming turtle because they make it with milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans. Then they flambé the fondue right at your table. It's pretty cool. You can kind of see the flame in this picture.

We had a great time cooking the food, eating it and just hanging out together.

Here's a couple of things that I love and appreciate about Nels and why I am so happy that we are married.

I love how Nels still opens the car door, front door, any door for me, no matter where we are or where we are going. He's still a gentleman.

Nels is always telling me how beautiful I am and how much he loves me. I think he's told me at least one or both of those things every day.

For the past two years, Nels has made me pancakes every Sunday and every time I ask nicely for them. : )

He's kept his promise of keeping the freezer stocked with ice cream.

Nels writes little love notes to me and puts them in my lunch sack. I have a big stack of them that I have collected over the years.

Well, these are little things, but they sure do mean a lot to me. I'm looking forward to the next five years and I hope we can make them as memorable as the last five.

Oh Happy Day!

My happy day started on May 30. It was my last day of work. When I got to work my boss Mary and the person that I was training-Myra, took me out to eat breakfast. Then at 10:30 a.m. Krannert had a reception for me. We ate cake and lots of people came and said good bye to me. Pretty cake huh?Then Cindy and Jen took me out to eat lunch. I ate a lot of sweets that day. The best news came after lunch when Nels gave me a call and said that he was given a job offer from International Paper and the position is in Indianapolis. Yippee! So that's our big news. We're moving really soon and we're both way excited. That's why I haven't updated in a while. We decided to rent an apartment instead of buying a house because we may be moved to a different location after two years. (Nels' position is part of a leadership development program.) So we found a cute apartment that is 12-15 minutes from Nels' work. I'll take pictures once we get all moved in.

So the next couple of weeks are going to be a whirlwind, but I'll update again as soon as possible.

Pomp and Circumstance

"Quite a bit of pomp for this circumstance." (quote from The Bee movie.)

Well, Nels did it! He accomplished one of his lifelong goals. Nels' parents and sister Anna-Lisa came down for the ceremony and celebrations. We were all so proud of Nels. I think the pictures sum it all up.

Happy as can be!

Don't drop me! :)

"I did it!!!"

We just wanted to thank everyone for your love and support these past two years. We couldn't have done it without you!

The Stache

After graduation Nels shaved his goatee, but he left a little surprise for me.

Oh, dear. I don't like it much. Do the words "Vote for Pedro," come to mind? Of course, Nels' mustache is much better than Pedro's. :) I won't even ask for you to vote what you like best this time.

Tag, You're It

My friend Lora tagged me, so here it goes:
Here's how it works:
A ~ Each person has to list 6 facts / habits about them
B ~ After part A go to 6 people's blogs and leave a comment letting them know to read your blog and that they have been tagged. List at the end of your posting who you have tagged.
All righty:
1. My first one is a habit. I am a two time snooze pusher person with a ten minute faster than normal time clock setting. That's a mouth full. When I set my alarm I take into account my habit and the additional ten minute "cushion." It's very complex. :)
2. Another habit is that I say "just kidding" after almost everything. This is a habit I'm trying to break, so it is getting better.
3. Another thing I say is "Do you want to...?" Nels really dislikes this, because I'll say "Do you want to do the dishes?" or "Do you want to help me cook?" Nels thinks in his head, "No, I don't want to do the dishes, but I will." So I'm trying to phrase my questions as "Will you please...?"
Very hard habit to break.
4. Now I'm going to do three about Nels.
Nels is a terrific speller. He can spell anything and he can spell backwards...which is especially useful when playing the game Cranium.
5. Nels loves Othello and Checkers. I think he could play them all day long, fortunately he doesn't.
6. Pretty much everyone knows this about Nels, but, oh well, I'll state it for the record. Nels loooooves cars. He researches them, collects brochures about cars and test drives cars.
Quick story:
Earlier in April Nels had a 15-page research paper that he needed to work on. He kept complaining about it until I got tired of hearing about it. So, I bribed him. (a technique I learned from my parents:) I told him that if he didn't complain about this paper anymore then I would go test driving with him for 60 minutes. But every time he complained then I would subtract 5 minutes from the time. He stopped complaining about it and went to work on the paper. Worked like a charm, and he only complained one time so we went test driving for 55 minutes last Saturday. We test drove the Nissan Altima.
Anyway, I tag Rachel, Katrina, Kayli, Stephanie, both Heather's and Dalee
Have fun and I look forward to reading them! :)