Bad Week

This week I got a $132 traffic citation and I accidentally saved over my 22 page Marketing Plan, less than 24 hours before it was due. Things are looking up though. Next week are finals and then I'm done with school for a month and a half and the new, long awaited, highway 212 is open to Chaska (supposedly, I haven't actually driven on it).

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to ND. I'm happy to report we made Thanksgiving dinner all by ourselves (with only approx 10 calls to our mom) and as Mike put it, "we didn't screw one single thing up!"

Boo!

Here are some pictures from Halloween:

Here is our favorite trick-or-treater















Our pumpkins





















Finley in his costume


































Halloween in Grand Forks




















This one isn't from Halloween, but it's pretty funny

Mono

I think anyone who has had mono will appreciate this article from Minnesota Monthly. Even if you haven't had mono, it's still pretty funny.

Skiing Pictures continued . . .

Here is my brother in law in an ad for Whitefish Mountain Resort. It's running in the October issues of Skiing and Powder. Pretty cool.

Wednesday Night

I should be doing homework, but instead, I will share with you how I've been procrastinating for an hour. After checking my 5 email addresses (I really have to work on some consolidation in this area) and then scouring Facebook for "new" friends, I have been perusing the most beautiful photos in the world. Here are some of my sister and brother in law from the same site, being models (i.e. getting free ski passes to mess around and get their pictures taken, not a bad gig):

http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=100&id=14070

http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=100&id=15486

http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=100&id=15479

http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=100&id=14070

Um Ya Ya

So my little sister is a freshman in college. If that's not weird enough, her dorm room is next door to my freshman dorm room.



I couldn't find any pictures from the beginning of my freshman year, but here's a picture from the last night of freshman year, celebrating with some sparkling cider. I'm serious, it's cider. Ellie brought it.

Rick Astley

This appeared yesterday in the Startribune:

Rick Rolling (www.yougotrickrolled.com)

Could '80s pop singer Rick Astley really be that popular? Video clips of his No.1 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" have received nearly 4.5 million views on YouTube -- and nearly every one of them was the result of a prank called Rick Rolling. It originates in online forums where threads discuss, say, some hot video game, a buxom babe or a naughty website. "Anyone have a link?" someone invariably posts. "Here's one," a jokester replies. An unsuspecting click then leads to the video of Astley, he of the burly voice and the girly dance moves. A-ha, Rick Rolled again!

I think it's too funny. I used to love Rick Astley. I had one of his tapes and used to listen to it in my Walkman. I'm probably responsible for at least 20 hits of the millions they are talking about. At some point I discovered that You Tube has lots of "old" videos you can watch. If you don't know who Rick Astley is, you have to check out the link above. Here are of my other favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHaI4uZ4oeg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lht_tdJQFbs

Cautionary Tales

#1
So in an effort to help save the environment, I try to do little things, like buying biodegradable dog bags. I didn't think too much of it and didn't even consider the fact that they might be different from other dog bags until Jon and I were taking a walk with my family (some might think they live here, Becca :), since I talk about them being here all the time, but they don't they just visit a lot, love it) and I smelled poop. I asked Jon what smelled like poop and we both looked down to the dog bag he was holding, which had disintegrated, partly onto his shorts. I think that biodegradable dog bags should carry the following warning: WARNING: Bag may disintegrate before poop. Handle with care.

#2
This past Friday night Jon and I worked concessions at the Chaska/Eden Prairie football game. (Just a side note, I guess neither of us have much Chaska pride, we bet a Blizzard on how much Chaska would lose by. I guessed 10 points, Jon guessed 17. The real spread was somewhere in the 20s, so I owe Jon a Blizzard) We've worked concessions before, but I've never witnessed anything like what we saw this time. All of these parents drop their middle school children off at the game. They do not watch the game, instead they congregate by the far concession stand where we are working, with their $20 bills and buy Mountain Dew and Skittles, one at a time until their $20 is gone. We've worked at this particular concession stand before, but this time was pure insanity because they were playing EP. When we ran out of Mountain Dew, I was sort of scared for my life. They only thing between us and the hordes of middle schoolers was a flimsy card table. Other highlights from the night, include selling skittles to Fred Hoiberg and seeing the Mr. Sather fan club out in full force. All night, we heard choruses of middle school girls yelling, "Oh, my gosh, it's Mr. Sather" In case you don't know Sam, he's one of Jon's friends from high school, fellow lacrosse coach and, "like the cutest elementary music teacher EVER."

White Coats

This weekend Suzie and I traveled to Grand Forks to see Beth and Mike's new place and see Beth get her white coat. Here are some pictures.

Giving Blood

Did you know that only 37% of the U.S. population is eligible to give blood? That doesn't seem like a lot, but what is even more surprising is that only 5-7% of the total population gives blood. I first heard these statistics on NPR and then today there is an article in the Startribune about it. This information came at a very opportune time for me. As I was leaving Memorial Blood Centers on Wednesday, feeling terrible from my near passing out episode, and vowing silently never to go back, I heard about the bridge accident on the radio. The article, coupled with the news of the bridge tragedy, reinforced and renewed my belief in the importance of giving blood, if you are able. Feeling like shit for a day is nothing compared to the suffering of people effected by the accident and those who are in need of blood everyday of the year. We are all reminded during times like these to give blood, but it is also important to give blood regularly, because people need it everyday.

Testicle Festival

So yesterday I was perusing the online version of the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, the city of my birth, for news on the fire near Glacier Park and this was the lead article that greeted me. Whew, I'm glad that the fires are not deterring the Rocky Mountain Oysters eaters from their festival!

Boundary Waters

Here are some pictures from our recent adventure in the BWCA. We had a great time with our friends Nicole and Nathan. Jon did great on his very first real camping trip. We traveled around 35 or 40 miles (not quite sure, due to a last minute detour) from Clearwater Lake, through the Pike Lakes, John Lakes, MacFarlane Lake, Pine Lake, Caribou Lake and a detour to Deer, Moon and Flour Lakes when we couldn't find a campsite on our last night.

Here is Jon with our fully loaded canoe getting ready to take off from Clearwater.

Here are Nicole and Nathan next to us in their kayaks, which we soon learned were not fun to portage. Especially after you learn that your possibly (the rules weren't totally clear) illegal portage wheels don't work very well.

Unloading at the first portage.


A self of Jon and I in our paddling hats.

Jon fishing from our campsite on West Pike Lake. This was definitely our best campsite. I caught a smallmouth bass in the canoe, which was interesting.

Nicole and Nathan eating Mountain House. Yum.

Nathan and Jon trying to get the food up in the tree to keep it away from the bears. It was quite the process each night, especially because there weren't many strong low branches to choose from.
Jon forging the river.


Nathan and Jon swimming in Johnson Falls.



Jon and I by Johnson Falls.


Jon in the back of the canoe.

Jon carrying the beast of a canoe.


More Mountain House. The last day.

The Hagen Farm

This weekend we visited Jon's uncle Paul's farm. I'd never been there before, which is kind of crazy since it's not that far. It's just two hours west of Chaska, near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. The farm has been in the family for about 150 years and now Jon's mom's brother, Paul and his wife Elaine live there. Here are some of the highlights of our visit.

Maxed Out

Wow. This is a great movie. It kind of makes me wonder what I'm doing in banking. I don't work for one of THOSE banks, but I see a lot of this stuff every day. Most people I know, don't even know that this is going on, because it's happening to the people who can least afford it. Anyway, check it out. It's one of those documentaries that doesn't feel like a documentary. If you have Netflix you can watch it online using their new Watch Now feature, which by the way, I love.

Misc Pictures

These are just some random pictures from the weekend. We've been doing a lot of bike riding with Suzie since she's been here. There are also some pictures from Jon's parent's party this weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many.

5.51 % and no minimum balance!

Check this out, it's really kind of cool. Nobody else has anything quite like this. I know, I know, a shameless promotion for my work, but I wouldn't share it unless it really was a good deal:

http://www.beaconbank.com/ASP/home.asp

Graduation and Ohio

Katie and Jon with Suzie at graduation













Dad and Mom with Suzie at graduation




















The family at the biergarten at the Hofbrau Haus in Newport, Kentucky.













Katie and Beth at the biergarten.
















Jon and Katie overlooking the Ohio River on our stroll from Ohio to Kentucky.