Thursday, January 20, 2011

We're not in Kansas anymore..

Apparently we had record-breaking snowfall in December, which figures, as it is our first Minnesotan winter. We've had significant snow on the ground for over 2 months now, and I've heard it won't be gone until April! It's sunny though, which definitely makes it feel warmer and less miserable, even though it hasn't gotten above freezing in weeks!


Home For Christmas


My family at our cousin Tina's wedding in November.


Dad and little Evelie at Christmas


Opening presents.. And I know, the beanie I got for Evelie looks more like a yamaka on her head (as Matt pointed out). Ha!

Catching up... Thanksgiving!


Stephanie flew out here to visit over Thanksgiving. It was so good to see her and we had a great weekend!


Just warming up the rotisserie chicken...


The rest of our improvised dinner.. mashed potatoes, green beans, and Stove Top!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

a weekend in the city

Downtown Minneapolis. Matt and I went downtown to eat (at the Dancing Ganisha.. a good Indian restaurant) on Friday night to celebrate our 4 year anniversary :) It was really nice out, so there were a lot of people out and things going on.


The next day we went to Starbucks, of course, and went on a little hike. Note: This is me SANS nosering.. I do kind of miss it, but I decided it was time to be a professional.

Yay for fall leaves! It's hard to believe this trail is in the middle of a developed area, right between a state highway and an interstate.. One of the great things about Minneapolis.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Official MN Address

This is my current residence. It's about 10 minutes south of downtown Minneapolis. There are 3 grocery stores, 2 malls, a Caribou and a Starbucks, several restaurants, AND the Pier 1 I work at, all within a mile! The airport is only 4 miles away, as is the Mall of America (too bad I don't have much of an income).

My roommates, Jennifer and Megan. We got a 4th roommate, Laurie, last week as well.

My bedroom. It's in the basement. The other 3 bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. (We made several trips to Ikea when I moved in.. basically everything you see is from that store.) There is quite a bit of extra sleeping space, for anyone who wants to come visit! Well, maybe not anyone..

The other side of my room.

The living room, with the kitchen to the left. Our landlords are a middle-aged couple, and the husband actually grew up here, but they remodeled pretty much the entire house before they started renting it out a few years ago.

The kitchen (obviously). Kayla, Steph, and Tam, I will make some chicken enchiladas and maybe even tiramisu cheesecake for you when you come visit :) Not to bribe or anything.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Connelly & Evelie

I haven't done anything with this blog since the day Steph and I got back from Guatemala, but there have been a lot of changes and blog-worthy events since then, so here we go. These are a few pictures of my nieces that I got to spend some time with while I was in Kansas for a couple weeks :)

Evelie

Don't you love Connelly's outfit? I think she even picked it out. It almost looks like something I'd wear, minus the baby doll in hand.


We went to Melvern Lake one Sunday afternoon. She was super excited and full of energy the whole time, as usual.


She found this blue dragonfly, but I think she was a bit scared of it.


Monday, August 9, 2010

Back in the USA!

We arrived safely back to Dulles last night at 11pm. Kayla, Tam, and Megan picked us up. We have great friends! It was fun telling them our stories and catching up on their lives.
I have been looking forward to being home with friends, family, and familiar things, but I do have mixed feelings. I already miss our family in Guatemala, and I know I will miss some of the food and craziness of the city. Hearing English everywhere is weird. And doing laundry this morning in the machine was so boring compared to the pila on the roof! And driving in my quiet car (Well, Kayla's actually. Mine is in Ohio.), compared to the Guatemalan buses?! The water pressure in the shower? Good grief. Although, that is actually really nice, AND it didn't turn cold in the middle. Anyway, it will take a little while to get used to the things that used to be "normal".

Now it's time to get busy looking for apartments, applying to jobs, and driving back to Kansas (via Ohio and Minneapolis) this week. I'm planning on moving to Minneapolis the first of September. I'm looking at a couple houses with roommates when I'm there this week, so I'm praying that things will fall into place.

Thanks for reading the blog:) Hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures in Guatemala. I plan to keep it going after I move to Minneapolis, so feel free to check back later.
Have a good week!