Monday, May 31, 2010

New Family Pictures!!

We have not had family pictures taken since November... we had planned a day to take them with Emily a month ago, but Kara got a black eye 2 days before the photo shoot... so we had to postpone it!  We met up with Emily in Downtown St. Paul, right along the Mississippi river on Saturday after noon to take some pics, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites!










































Ok, so there are more than a few of my favorites, but when you have 149 awesome pictures, its hard to just pick a few!  Thanks again to Emily for taking such great pictures for us!!  You can see more of Emily's photos or contact her about your own session here.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Move On Over Damien.. There Is A New Boy(s) In Town.

As you all know, or should know, Damien Rice has been a long time love of mine.  Unfortunately, he has left a hole in my heart.  He has not been on tour in the US in almost 3 years, hasn't released a new album in almost 6 years, and he has left me feeling empty.  I still love him, but if this relationship is going to continue, he really needs to put out.

Thank God for Mumford & Sons.  Ever since I first heard "Little Lion Man" on the radio I knew I needed to know who sung it, and have the album.  I got the album and fell in love.  They are folky, british(you know how I love me a good accent), bluegrassy, amazingness.  Their album came out in the US in February of 2010, tickets went on sale for their Minneapolis show on March 5th and it sold out in minutes... pretty amazing stuff right there!  I was one of the lucky few that actually got tickets to the concert!!  AND I also won tickets to their in-studio performance at The Current... I got to see them twice in one day, and there were people dying to just see them once... I am pretty sure I am the luckiest girl alive!!  They have the passion that Damien has, awesome lyrics, and you can't help but stomp your feet or clap your hands along to the beat of every song.

So, Tuesday, March 25th was probably one of the most amazing days of my life. I left work at 12:15 to go to the in-studio performance @ The Current.  I brought a girlfriend from work, Annie, who loves music almost as much as I do :)  We were so freakin excited about this that people were looking at us funny... not that that is anything unusual to have people looking at us funny... but whatever.  Annie was not lucky enough to get tickets to the show, so she was super pumped that I invited her along to the in-studio.  I was ready to cry/puke/scream/explode I was so excited!  The in-studio performance was amazing.  Everything was stripped down and acoustic, the band was awesome.  They played 3 songs and did a little interview(they will be airing it on The Current on Friday at 7:30 am if you want to check it out).  I was kinda bummed that the band members didn't stick around to meet Annie and I... but whatever.



Later that night Joe and I headed down to the Varsity Theater to see Mumford & Sons.  We stood in the rain for an hour waiting for the door to open.. lame, but SO worth it!  The opening band was kinda sucky.. they had a couple songs that I enjoyed, but for the most part I just wanted them to be done so I could see my loves.  Between sets it seems like we waited FOREVER.  There was probably 9 million people in the Varsity, which probably should really only hold 1,200... we were hot, sweaty messes.  From the second Mumford & Sons took the stage the entire audience was mesmerized.  It was THE.MOST.AMAZING.SHOW.EVER.  I think a big part of the amazingness was the crowd.  You could tell that ever single person in the crowd truly loved Mumford & Sons.  The applause/cheering/clapping during and in between songs was just incredible.  I think even the band was taken by surprise at the love that was coming from the crowd.  I love Minneapolis for how much everyone in the city appreciates good music.  There is such a great music scene here, and I am proud to be a part of it.



There is a great review of the show that you can find here 

Truly one of the most amazing, unforgettable days of my life.  There are just no words to describe how absolutely unreal the show was.  Freakin amazing!  I love the fact that Joe and I were able to see Mumford & Sons at the Varsity... it will probably be the only time they play a venue that small in the Twin Cities ever again.  In between songs, Marcus Mumford - the lead singer, said "This is the most loved we've been, so far away from home"... I hope that means they loved Minneapolis as much as we loved them and they will be coming back soon!! :)

Friday, May 21, 2010

And The Winner Is.....

... ME!   Thats right, I am at it again.  I won 2 sets of tickets this week.  The first set is for Dessa and No Bird Sing on Saturday night - they are two local hip-hop artists, and I think it will be a pretty cool show!

The second set of tickets I won(well, Kimmy really won them for me, but I made her do it!) is for an in studio performance that Mumford & Sons will be doing at The Current on Tuesday afternoon... which I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this!!  We have 2 tickets to their concert in Minneapolis on Tuesday night(which sold out in less than 2 hours), but I will get to see them twice in one day!!  I am so super excited it is not even funny!  If you haven't heard them you should really give them a listen.. I just love them!  Joe won't be able to go to the in studio performance with me, so I am bringing a friend from work who appreciates good music just as much as I do!  We are going to be like two teenage girls going to see Twilight for the first time..... p.s.  we both love Edward.

People always say I am so lucky, and I win everything... but really, you aren't ever going to win anything if you don't try.  And for the amount of stuff that I try to win, I really don't win that often.  But - I am so freaking pumped that I won these 2 sets of tickets!!

Expect lots of pictures next week :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Tale of The Missing Blanky..

One day last week Kara's blanky mysteriously disappeared.  We tore apart the house looking for it, but never found it.  Last night I was sitting at the computer and Kara was playing in the computer room, she came and sat on my lap, a few minutes later I looked down and realized she was holding her blanky!  I was so excited, and I asked her where she found it, she said "blanky hiding"... haha, I still don't know where she found it!  The greatest part though was after we put her to bed.  Joe layed her down around 8 o'clock, and at 9 she was still making noise, so I went up to her room.  I got in her room and she says "Where blanky go?"... so I started picking up all the blankets in her crib, but couldn't find it, so I pulled Kara out of her crib and turned on her little light.  I looked all over in her crib and couldn't find it.  I started to pull her crib away from the wall(cause she likes to shove things between her crib and the wall) and she starts laughing and says "Blanky hiding, you found it".. it was hilarious!  That girl is so silly!

She is so dang smart, she just blows us away sometimes.  She talks so well, and really knows what she is saying. She has started using the potty chair a little more often, usually once or twice a day, she can count to ten, sing the whole alphabet, she loves to dance... and has more dance moves than Joe and I combined!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Generosity Goes A Long Way.

We all know that times are tough right now.  But I would like to believe that if I were in a situation where I needed to depend on the generosity of others that my family and friends would help pull me through.

I have always loved being generous, and doing things to help others... I love the feeling I get when I know I have done something that will help someone, or affect someones life in a positive way.

A high school friend of mine posted on facebook that they were having a benefit for her husband's parents.  When I read the story I knew that I needed to donate something for the silent auction, I knew that I wanted to help them raise some money...You can find their story here.  When I contacted my friend she was so excited and in shock of all of the people who were coming forward and donating money, or items, or whatever they could to help.

It wasn't my own personal generosity that made me feel so good though, it was the generosity of a co-worker.  I was talking crafts with this co-worker and I had mentioned that I made a new bag that I was donating for a silent auction - I told her a little about the story of my friend's in-laws - I also mentioned that I had planned on filling the bag with stuff from Bath and Body works, but then balanced my check book and realized I was broke, so I was only going to be able to donate the bag.  After a few more minutes of chit-chat I headed back to my desk... a few minutes after that my co-worker stopped by my desk, handed me some cash, and told me to fill the bag.  I was in shock!!  I could not believe that she was coming forward to help out someone that she had never even met, heck, she doesn't even know their names.

 It just goes to show that people do care, and people do listen, and people are affected by the stories we tell. Always remember that people are listening, and people will be there when you need them.  Don't be afraid to ask for help, or offer help to others!  We all need a little more love in our lives, and the positive affect of helping others is just too great to ignore!  

I hope the benefit is very successful and raises lots of money for my friends in-laws!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommas out there!  I hope you got spoiled by your children/grandchildren/baby daddy...or all of the above.

My day went something like this:
Woke up at 7:30 with Kara(Joe was at work), made the two of us some pancakes and sausages, watched Elmo with Kara, made us our second breakfast of over easy eggs and toast(per Kara's request), watched some more Elmo, did the dishes/cleaned the kitchen, gave Kara a bath, put Kara down for a nap, did 2 loads of laundry, spent 1.5 hours sewing my Mom's mother's day gift while Kara was napping, got Kara up from her nap.. I got myself ready, and then got Kara ready.  Went to my mom's house for hamburgers and hung out with everyone for awhile while the kids played, Joe met us there after work.  Drove home, where Joe ,  Kara gave me a beautiful potted orchid, hung out with Joe and Kara some, put Kara to bed, went on facebook, did more laundry, updated my blog... whew.  I thought Mother's day was supposed to be a day where the Mom gets pampered and gets to relax!

Kara made me a beautiful jewelry set out of colored noodles with Grandma Julie last weekend that she gave me today.. here are some pics of me opening/modeling my gift.



And a picture of my lovely Mother with the beautiful bag that I made her for Mother's Day. 



and a picture of sistafriend and I, two of the bestest Mothers that I know :) 



Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!!