Dining Room Table

Nels and I bought this cute dining room set. It seats 8! The leaf is inside the table. The best part was that we didn't have to build it! We are really enjoying it. Now we need to invite six people over and see how it does!

Random News:

The past couple of days I have been reading Breaking Dawn and I finally finished it. Wow. I really liked it. I like how just when you thought things were going to be fine there was a plot twist. Of course, I loved that it was a happy ending. So, it's been a very relaxing couple of days.

My friend just had her baby this morning around 8:00 a.m. So she was born 08-08-08 at 8 a.m.! Congratulations Lorilee!

Also, it is my sweet niece Abby's Birthday. Happy Birthday Abby!! She is six years old!

Living Room in Progress

We painted our living room...twice. The first time we chose a deep brown and only painted one wall. It was okay, but really bold. We decided we wanted a calmer feel. So we found a lighter brown and painted all three walls. I like it a lot better. We also purchased curtains. First time we have ever bought curtains and we've been married 5 years!!! I think they add a lot to the room. The next thing I'm working on is putting things on the wall. I'm still thinking of what to do. So if you have any ideas or if you know of a good website to search for good ideas, let me know. Meanwhile here's before and after pictures.

This is with the one dark brown wall. It probably would have been okay, but I just didn't know what to do with it...I'm not that creative.

This is after we painted all of the walls. I think it looks a lot more welcoming. I think it will look even better with some decorations!

Cards

I made a new friend at church and she loves to card too. So she came over and we made cards all day long! It was so fun. She had this dragon fly stamp that I looooved. I am going to go buy it as soon as possible. So here are the cards I made. She made about 6 cards too. Not bad for one day.

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.