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One of my favorite things about the weekend is our morning trip to Starbucks.  We usually get there about the same time every Saturday and Sunday, meaning we often see the same people every weekend.  One group of people is rather different (or at least rather different from us)… lets just say they bring dolls with them to morning coffee and they do NOT bring children to play with the dolls.  I really have no idea what it is all about, but we see this group almost every weekend!

Neither Dylan or I order anything fancy so I’m not sure why we both like our Starbucks weekend run, but we both miss it during the lake season.  However, I’m guessing I miss it a little more than Dylan does. :-)

Dylan doesn’t like this picture because the Sioux hockey headline is blurry while the NDSU headline is not. :-)  I originally tried to take a picture of the Starbucks street sign as it sits just above the 12’ snow drift in the parking lot, but it just looked like a heap of dirty snow.

I’m off to edit and upload NYE pictures.  This should be fun!

And I need to organize my new iPod for the gym tomorrow night.  That won’t be as much fun.

12 days is too long

Its my Friday, its summer and I'm off to the lake for a long weekend! All is well.

Dylan has been at the lake for over a week. By Sunday evening it will be 12 days. I'm glad he had this time (shutdown week) at the lake, but I am ready for him to come home too!


I'm ready for my best friend back and the dogs are seriously depressed. Right now Meeka has a permanent sad puppy dog face and it is killing me to look at her.

I am also so grateful to soon have my husband back. Everyone knows Dylan has a somewhat flexible work schedule - what everyone doesn't know is how much he does for us, for me, for our home because of his flexible schedule. I try to tell him how much I appreciate all that he does but after this past week I have another level of appreciation!

And we (yeah, me and the dogs) miss his humor.


For example, last night while mowing the last section of the yard (the 'berm' or streetside grass) I seriously almost quit. How wonderful would that have looked? An almost mowed yard! I was so frustrated with the heavy-full-bag-mower, the uneven-snowplow-wrecked-berm, my lack of food, the list of things I still had to do, the joggers staring at my struggles, etc...


But most of all I was frustrated that Dylan wasn't there to laugh at/with me. I didn't need him to mow the yard, I just needed him there to laugh. He knows that stupid strip of grass gets me every time. :-)


It feels good to miss Dylan though. Some people don't miss their spouse when they are gone! :-) It also feels good to realize how much he cares for me by doing all that he does. Even the little stuff like the way he constantly makes me laugh even when I don't want to.

I can't wait to wrap my arms around his neck and spend a few days with him at the lake.




And next week, he is mowing the grass!

By the way, I did finish. I didn't want to be those neighbors!

Happy Thursday - almost Friday!

open season

It is officially lake season.

The lake is completely different this year. The water from this past fall, winter and spring has created an all new lake.

It feels so good to be back. I just love the feel of being at the lake.

These pictures are all from last year and really have nothing to do with it being the beginning of a new lake season! I'm not sure why I chose to show these dark, colorless pictures when I am so happy to see all the bright colors of early summer! Maybe next time. :-)

my lake

I want to be here.


But I have to wait. Hopefully just one more weekend.

you sandbagger

Please proceed, but please keep your mind out of the gutter and think happy thoughts. Remember this.

So what did you do last Friday night? I had a nice date with my husband. And the date continued on Saturday. How romantic, huh? We like to keep that loving feeling alive? Even if our ‘good old days’ are only like 3 years ago! :-)

The majority of the date I watched my husband laugh and have fun with other women. I also watched him get dirty, hot and sweaty with those other women. And, there were several other women. I watched all of this from afar and he knew I saw him.

No April Fool's joke here.

Oh, but don’t worry. I did the exact same thing with other men. I laughed, had fun, got dirty, hot and sweaty with several other men. And Dylan saw it all.

Okay enough! Just writing this is making me ill! Wow! Anyway, all of this is the honest to goodness truth BUT it was all innocent and for a good cause…

We spent our Friday night and Saturday afternoon sandbagging! If you ever need to meet a large group of the nicest people just go help sandbag. Everyone was there to help others. It was pretty awesome! Additionally, sandbagging is not an easy job nor is it necessarily the most fun thing to do, however you would have never know by looking around…

The river is set to crest on Thursday at 50’. Our town should be perfectly fine. And our outlying neighborhoods that put up sandbag levees should also be fine. Yippee!

Here is the happy couple together (at last) leaving Sandbag Central on Saturday afternoon.

PS – sandbagging is also one of the best workouts EVER!!! :-) I can still feel it days later.

its hockey night!

This little place we call home has a completely different vibe when hockey is in town. We don't live far from the hockey arena and I'm sure when I drive home for lunch there will already be cars parked for the 7:37 pm game!

Locals leave work early on Friday if its a hockey night. Restaurants are full with fans by 4:30. Hotels are booked solid months in advance for hockey weekends. Everyone dresses up for a night on the town. No joke - part of my wardrobe is "hockey clothes" and those same clothes are worn to nice dinners and special events!!

The arena is gorgeous. I mean no expense was spared with marble floors throughout and leather seats even in the student section (and seamless glass - yes I know this but that is another story!). Pro athletes describe the venue as the best in all hockey, pro or college. Its fun to watch people who have never been to a game just sit in awe taking it all in. :-)

Hockey is huge here. Its basically life. Its tradition.

Thankfully I learned to love hockey. At first I did not get it at all. It was a social event at a sporting event. I had just never experienced anything like it before! Now its fun to get dressed up and go to hockey! Its fun to watch the town and people come alive!

All in all, it makes for a great Friday!!!


This is from a couple years ago - before I was more serious about my hockey attire. :-)




There are hockey cheerleaders! Before the game and during intermissions they cheer from the ice on skates! Sometimes I watch the cheerleaders more than the game.