11/365 – 17/365

Wow.  This little take a picture a day project is really making me aware of how fast each day goes by and how fast each day becomes a week or two!

School is back on and I am not at all in my groove yet.  I’m taking a break right now from writing my first review paper of the semester– which is due by midnight… :-)  I really have no clue what I am writing about in my review.  I’m hoping it will come to me asap!

11/365

Last Monday I flew to Minneapolis for a few days of training.  Flying out of our little airport is usually pretty interesting.  This day it was uneventful but the runway view from the boarding area made me laugh.  I think the flat land of the north commonly looks like the end of the earth.  :-) 

12/365

Tuesday I was in training all day and then it was off to Mall of America in the evening.  (actually I was at the mall within hours of landing in Minneapolis the day before!)  The training coordinators chose a great hotel very close to the MOA with a direct shuttle bus.  I was very appreciative of this hotel and shuttle!  The shuttle bus driver said that MOA attracts more people than Orlando every year!  This picture is of the carousel at the amusement park in the middle of the mall.  

13/365

Wednesday was the final day of training and Dylan arrived Wednesday afternoon.  After the training I had to take a short nap because my brain was fried from the training.  I also had to take a nap because I was cranky – I know I’m such a wonderful wife.  HA!!  My loving husband just drove 5+ hours to be welcomed by a cranky wife. :-)  In my defense, I was stressed because I hadn’t had the time to search the internet for the #1 sushi place in Minneapolis.  Searching the internet for cool restaurants and off-the-beaten path type places in kinda my travel OCD. :-)

In the end, I didn’t need to be so stressed about finding us the best sushi.  We found a pretty good place and had a great time in a neat little neighborhood.

14/365

Thursday was a full on shopping day.  We hit up IKEA right away.  I was so excited to show Dylan all the fun things I had found a few days earlier.  We spent 4+ hours in IKEA!  We also hit up the mall and REI.  The mall was okay, but REI was awesome.

Thursday night we enjoyed a few (free) cocktails at the hotel bar/reception and then hopped on the lightrail toward downtown Minneapolis.  This time we found a neat (and very tasty) Irish pub.  Downtown Minneapolis was a lot of fun late into Thursday night/Friday morning. 

At the end of the night I could not stop laughing at the timestamp on our lightrail tickets.  I felt so young and hip seeing 3:42 AM!  :-)  Such a fun, fun night!

15/365

Friday was a more educational day.  We toured the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  It was a great museum with a rather impressive collection.  We wondered around for quite awhile.  I love doing stuff like this with Dylan!

I was not sure if I was allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but I really wish I would have tried to sneak a few.

 

Friday night was a bit more mellow than Thursday night, but it was also an awesome time.  We returned to the neat little neighborhood we found on sushi night.  This time we returned for Indian food.  It was tasty.

Funny note about Friday night:  we missed the lightrail by seconds just like you would see in the movies (bells ringing alerting riders of the approaching train and us sprinting toward the train station).  The next train wasn’t for 25 minutes (I think).  It was one of the moments in life when you realize you are with the person that God made for you…  Dylan and I just laughed and laughed and laughed while we stood outside in the cold with no gloves (we both managed to lose our gloves the night before) and waited for the next train.

16/365

Saturday we packed up for home.  We stopped along the way at an outlet mall people rave about.  I was skeptical because we did just visit the largest freaking mall in America!!!  Basically, we never need to return to the MOA because we now know of one of the best outlet malls in America.  Go figure!

17/365

Sunday we stayed around the house.  Both of us were spent from all the walking and running from the past few days.  The pups were happy to be home and back on their blankets.

Alright I have to get back to my paper so I am done for tonight.  I also want some extra time to edit the hoarfrost pictures I took late this afternoon.  Hoarfrost is our little gift for living with the cold temps and I just love it on the trees!!