We had a nice relaxing weekend. Nicole was home most of last week as she was given the week off by her new boss. She went to report to work on Monday of last week and checked in. She went to their testing site at Fairview Riverside and received her credentials (she was also told that she couldn't park in the Doctors Parking lot until she was a licensed doctor) which we both had a chuckle about. She still gets to park free in the ramp, but not out front where the doctors park. I told her when she does get to park in that spot she should drive the Land Rover because it will leave some nice oil spills each day. :)
Her boss was very nice and said to her, when do you want to start working? Nicole said, I'm here to start today. He said when did you finish your residency? She said, last Friday. He says there is no way you are starting today, you have only had 2 days off, you take the rest of the week off and start next Monday. So, she started today at Noon and will be shadowing pretty much this whole week, maybe even into next week. She is excited to dig right in.
So last week with her having an unexpected 4 days off she really got the house in nice shape. There was a lot of clean-up to do downstairs after all the work. We had company on Friday night which was Ryan, Emily and Hattie Ritchie along with their friends Matt, Amy and Mya Boeke. We talked about taking them to this great burger spot in Hudson called Barker's. So Friday during the day they went to the State Fair and then that evening we went down to Barker's. We checked in and it was about a 40 minute wait, so we said fine, let's walk down to the river and Mya and Hattie can eat their supper. So about 30 minutes later we come back to Barker's and the POWER WENT OUT. It didn't just go out at Barker's it was the whole downtown Hudson. So we went to Bricks, our favorite pizza spot in Hudson. They don't cook with any electricity at Bricks, they have a stone fire oven that they do all their cooking in. So we had some good pizza and artichoke dip and everyone but Matt enjoyed it. Matt is a meat/potatoes type guy so pizza with asparagus and olives and peppers on it didn't appeal to him much. We felt bad about not eating at Barker's but it gives them a reason to come back and visit us.
Saturday Nicole and I played golf at Troy Burne, and we played terribly. It was good to just get back out on our favorite course.
Saturday night we had our neighbors and friends Brian and Shelly Thompson over for appetizers and drinks. Then the Wards/Wilsons/Thompson's went to Woodbury Days for an outdoor festival. It was a good time and it was chilly. Nicole was happy as she got to wear her UGGS again!
On Sunday we slept in for a change and then I had a golf outing in the afternoon and Nicole continues to work on her CRP dissertation. We are so happy to be back to our normal life in Hudson.
This coming weekend we are going to Ely, MN for Nicole's uncles wedding. 1 week back in Hudson and we are heading back to THE RANGE!!!
The Wards
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gopher Football
With all the news yesterday surrounding the Favre signing, I thought I would plug the Gophers. Season tickets came in the mail yesterday and it got me excited about the upcoming season. This Saturday is the Summer Scrimmage and season ticketholders can go and sit in their new seats and check them out. I gave mine to my brother Ryan and he is going to take the kids and let me know how the seats look.
I also had a client call yesterday who is putting together a group order for a Favre jersey. He has over 100 already on his list. He said they weren't NFL replica jerseys but look just like them with Favre on the back. They sell for $22 so if anyone is interested I will add you to the list. I personally don't really care about wearing jerseys, but I took one as my client was selling (brown noser)!
My good friend Mark Escen is flying in from Switzerland next week for 2 weeks to catch the opener. I have never seen Gopher fans this excited. Now the real question is, how long does that enthusiasm last? If the team stinks, the stadium euphoria will wear off quickly. My sister and brother in law Tom cannot make it to the 1st game as they have a good friends wedding (I told Tom if he was a good friend he would have gotten married a different day), but Tom was checking to see if any of his family members wanted the tickets, if not, I will have 2 extra so if anyone who reads this blog (so George, Mom, and Emily) let me know if I can get those tickets if you want to go to the opener!
Raining here today, quiet day in the markets. Nicole only sees 1 client today and is spending the rest of her day working on her dissertation. If you talk to her ask her how it is going. She is the Queen of Procrastination but always seems to get her important things done. Not to put any pressure on her, but she doesn't graduate if this paper is not done! Let's get her graduated! She has until October 17th for it to be signed OFF by her committee. She got a nice certificate yesterday from the consortium up here (what does consortium mean anyway) as she has officially satisfied her 2000 hours of residency!
My mom started her new job Monday at the Advanced Press in Springfield. I was so happy that she found something so close to home and won't have to be commuting to New Ulm or Sleepy Eye everyday, especially in the winter. They are going to work her a little harder than she wanted, 4 days/week, she was hoping for 3, but she get 3-day weekends every week as she has Friday's off. I talked to her on Monday night after her 1st day and she was a tired girl, yawning all the way through our conversation. I think that is because I am boring to talk to, but it probably was because she spent the previous 3 days working her tail off for the Senn Family reunion. 65 people came to my Aunt Jeanie's farm in Mapleton, MN. Senn is my maternal grandmother's (Grandma Connie) maiden name. Ryan and I were the only two dopes who didn't show up. We had our PGA tickets bought a year in advance before the reunion was even scheduled, but still were bummed we didn't make it. Grandma was bummed too. My great Grandpa Senn, his name was Harold, but he went by H.F. I always thought that was cool to go by your initials. He owned a garage in Easton, MN, he was a mechanic. I never met him that I remember, he died when I was 3 or so, but mom showed me a picture of me sitting on his lap I believe.
Have a great day and Go Gophers!
I also had a client call yesterday who is putting together a group order for a Favre jersey. He has over 100 already on his list. He said they weren't NFL replica jerseys but look just like them with Favre on the back. They sell for $22 so if anyone is interested I will add you to the list. I personally don't really care about wearing jerseys, but I took one as my client was selling (brown noser)!
My good friend Mark Escen is flying in from Switzerland next week for 2 weeks to catch the opener. I have never seen Gopher fans this excited. Now the real question is, how long does that enthusiasm last? If the team stinks, the stadium euphoria will wear off quickly. My sister and brother in law Tom cannot make it to the 1st game as they have a good friends wedding (I told Tom if he was a good friend he would have gotten married a different day), but Tom was checking to see if any of his family members wanted the tickets, if not, I will have 2 extra so if anyone who reads this blog (so George, Mom, and Emily) let me know if I can get those tickets if you want to go to the opener!
Raining here today, quiet day in the markets. Nicole only sees 1 client today and is spending the rest of her day working on her dissertation. If you talk to her ask her how it is going. She is the Queen of Procrastination but always seems to get her important things done. Not to put any pressure on her, but she doesn't graduate if this paper is not done! Let's get her graduated! She has until October 17th for it to be signed OFF by her committee. She got a nice certificate yesterday from the consortium up here (what does consortium mean anyway) as she has officially satisfied her 2000 hours of residency!
My mom started her new job Monday at the Advanced Press in Springfield. I was so happy that she found something so close to home and won't have to be commuting to New Ulm or Sleepy Eye everyday, especially in the winter. They are going to work her a little harder than she wanted, 4 days/week, she was hoping for 3, but she get 3-day weekends every week as she has Friday's off. I talked to her on Monday night after her 1st day and she was a tired girl, yawning all the way through our conversation. I think that is because I am boring to talk to, but it probably was because she spent the previous 3 days working her tail off for the Senn Family reunion. 65 people came to my Aunt Jeanie's farm in Mapleton, MN. Senn is my maternal grandmother's (Grandma Connie) maiden name. Ryan and I were the only two dopes who didn't show up. We had our PGA tickets bought a year in advance before the reunion was even scheduled, but still were bummed we didn't make it. Grandma was bummed too. My great Grandpa Senn, his name was Harold, but he went by H.F. I always thought that was cool to go by your initials. He owned a garage in Easton, MN, he was a mechanic. I never met him that I remember, he died when I was 3 or so, but mom showed me a picture of me sitting on his lap I believe.
Have a great day and Go Gophers!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Home Stretch
Nicole and I got back up north last night. This is our final week on The Range! Nicole sees patients all day today (8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.), then has one patient tomorrow and one on Thursday. Friday they are having a pot luck for her and we clean out her office. I'm sure she'll shed a few tears as it has been a great year for us, mostly for her. Our friends Jeb and Kaylan are coming up Friday for one last weekend of fun on the Range. We leave Sunday August 23rd for HOME! I'll let Nicole write the "thoughts of this past year", I'll just bring you up to speed on what we have been doing at home while we have been up here.
In February we decided that while we are living up here we should have our basement finished. It avoids us living through the mess full-time, and boy was it a mess. Well anyway, our project was completed yesterday, we just have a few touches to finish up, nothing too major.
When Ashley came back from Australia and was going to live with us we partially finished 2 bedrooms and our bathroom down there, so there wasn't much left to do in that area, just trim and a closet door in one of the bedrooms. The major work was done in the living room. That area was plumbed with the build of the house to have a bar and a living room and a recreation area. We also chose to put a wine cellar in where otherwise another closet for storage would have been. I will post some pictures that Nicole took yesterday. We hope to have more people over now that our basement is finished and that we are home full-time.
The Ward Bar!
The Wine Cellar! This is located next to our bathroom, just down the hall from the bar!
In February we decided that while we are living up here we should have our basement finished. It avoids us living through the mess full-time, and boy was it a mess. Well anyway, our project was completed yesterday, we just have a few touches to finish up, nothing too major.
When Ashley came back from Australia and was going to live with us we partially finished 2 bedrooms and our bathroom down there, so there wasn't much left to do in that area, just trim and a closet door in one of the bedrooms. The major work was done in the living room. That area was plumbed with the build of the house to have a bar and a living room and a recreation area. We also chose to put a wine cellar in where otherwise another closet for storage would have been. I will post some pictures that Nicole took yesterday. We hope to have more people over now that our basement is finished and that we are home full-time.
This is our living room. The wall on the right will be filled with pictures!
Another picture of the living room, we used a gray slate on the fireplace
One sectional for furniture. We need an ottoman or coffee table yet!
The Ward Bar!
The Wine Cellar! This is located next to our bathroom, just down the hall from the bar!
The Wine Cellar is temperature controlled with its own seperate unit. It keeps temp and humidity at preferred levels.
The floor in the bar area and down the hallway and into the cellar is a stained concrete. We had many problems with this part of the project and still are not completely satisfied with its color in all spots. We will be doing some adjustments to it in the coming weeks, trying out new stains in certain areas, and if ALL FAILS (which we certainly hope doesn't happen because we like the look) we can tile/carpet over it. I think we'll find a "happy medium", but with concrete you never know what you are going to get. We chose concrete as our top of choice in the basement. It is part of every countertop we have downstairs, except for my desk which is just to the right of the bar. We like the uniqueness of concrete and found that staining concrete was no more expensive than carpeting the floors, and it was no more expensive than granite countertops like we have upstairs.
Overall we are very happy with the turnout of the basement project. We just need some time for Nicole to put her magic touches on it to make it our home. It feels a little cold and empty right now, but soon will be warm like the colors she chose down there.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Birthday Weekend
This weekend we celebrated my mom's 60th b-day, even though her birthday is not until Tuesday August 11th. My brother Ryan and his fiancee Kari brought mom up to Giants Ridge for the weekend. We had a great time.
We started out Saturday morning with 18 holes at The Legend, mom rode along on the cart and took pictures and enjoyed the relaxing scenery.
Nicole and I shot our best rounds of the year at The Legend, and Nicole her best round ever. She shot 83 and I shot 78. My brother Ryan shot 82 and survived getting beat by Nicole by 1 shot.
After our round of golf we drove north to Fortune Bay, which is a Casino and they have a golf course called The Wilderness. Their patio at the Wilderness is very nice, especially on a nice afternoon/evening. We enjoyed appetizers and a few glasses of wine and had a great afternoon.
From there we moved onto Ely, MN, a northern gem (if there is such a thing). There were a lot of people in Ely, something that is hard to find on the Range. We walked the streets and looked at shops and drank some coffee. Then we went back to Biwabik for pizza at Vi's, which is always a good place.
On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Quarry and then celebrated mom's 60th before they headed home.
On Sunday Nicole and I played golf again at the Quarry. This time I made Nicole play from the white tees, 6200 yards. She struggled a bit and shot 100, but she will get better from the further back tees. I tell her it will help her with her mid-irons. I shot 79 and was very pleased. When the driver goes well, the rest of the game seems easy.
I had to do a little landscaping before my shot so I didn't break my club on the boulder.
This is one of my favorite holes at The Quarry.
I am heading home tomorrow (Tuesday) for a client meeting in Rushford, MN on Wednesday, and then Nicole is coming home Thursday. This weekend we have a big client weekend planned with golf at Troy Burne on Saturday followed by drinks at the Ward Bar (haven't decided if we have a better name yet) and then we are heading downtown Mpls to stay at the W Hotel, Manny's dinner and then to the PGA Championship for the final round on Sunday (go Tiger)
Our basement is supposed to be finished by this Friday, contractor says anyway. The floor is being re-stained today, sealed tomorrow, baseboard in the living room finished Wednesday. TV's go in Thursday and hardware finished on cabinets/desk and wine racks hung Friday. Furniture arrives Saturday between 8:00 a.m.- Noon! Clients arrive at 4:00 p.m. How's that for snug! Fingers crossed!
We started out Saturday morning with 18 holes at The Legend, mom rode along on the cart and took pictures and enjoyed the relaxing scenery.
Nicole and I shot our best rounds of the year at The Legend, and Nicole her best round ever. She shot 83 and I shot 78. My brother Ryan shot 82 and survived getting beat by Nicole by 1 shot.
After our round of golf we drove north to Fortune Bay, which is a Casino and they have a golf course called The Wilderness. Their patio at the Wilderness is very nice, especially on a nice afternoon/evening. We enjoyed appetizers and a few glasses of wine and had a great afternoon.
From there we moved onto Ely, MN, a northern gem (if there is such a thing). There were a lot of people in Ely, something that is hard to find on the Range. We walked the streets and looked at shops and drank some coffee. Then we went back to Biwabik for pizza at Vi's, which is always a good place.
On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Quarry and then celebrated mom's 60th before they headed home.
On Sunday Nicole and I played golf again at the Quarry. This time I made Nicole play from the white tees, 6200 yards. She struggled a bit and shot 100, but she will get better from the further back tees. I tell her it will help her with her mid-irons. I shot 79 and was very pleased. When the driver goes well, the rest of the game seems easy.
I had to do a little landscaping before my shot so I didn't break my club on the boulder. 
This is one of my favorite holes at The Quarry.I am heading home tomorrow (Tuesday) for a client meeting in Rushford, MN on Wednesday, and then Nicole is coming home Thursday. This weekend we have a big client weekend planned with golf at Troy Burne on Saturday followed by drinks at the Ward Bar (haven't decided if we have a better name yet) and then we are heading downtown Mpls to stay at the W Hotel, Manny's dinner and then to the PGA Championship for the final round on Sunday (go Tiger)
Our basement is supposed to be finished by this Friday, contractor says anyway. The floor is being re-stained today, sealed tomorrow, baseboard in the living room finished Wednesday. TV's go in Thursday and hardware finished on cabinets/desk and wine racks hung Friday. Furniture arrives Saturday between 8:00 a.m.- Noon! Clients arrive at 4:00 p.m. How's that for snug! Fingers crossed!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Wedding Weekend!
Us Girls with Miss Hattie....
Hattie loves Uncle Jason! Zander and his mommie...he was so excited to DANCE, talking about it since 5Am and then when the dance started, he wanted to go home and watch cartoons.
This past weekend we went to Springfield for another wedding. This one was for Mike and Jen Altermatt (Amsden). She is Nicole's cousin. It was a very nice wedding and nice to see the Tauer family as usual.
We made the trek home Friday night after Nicole met me in Hudson from up north. She took a quick look at the basement (only a couple weeks left, fingers crossed) and then we met our neighbors Brian and Dina Gagne in Woodbury for some sushi before heading to Springfield. We rolled into Springfield at about 1:00 a.m.
On Saturday morning, my mother, brothers Andrew and Chad and sister Shelly went to New Ulm, MN to pick out a headstone for Hap. We found a beautiful stone and we think it is going to be a great memorial of our dad/husband.
We danced the night away on Saturday (pictures to follow) and then on Sunday we got up at 5:30 a.m. to head back to Hudson. I was in another golf tournament today, this time only 14 players (Seven 2-man teams). My partner and I (Chad Greenquist, friend and neighbor) took 2nd out of 7 teams. We played great, Chad more so than me as I was a tad tired after such a late night on Saturday. It was another great weekend and great to see Nicole's family again. Hattie and Zander are growing up each day and it sure makes this uncle feel good when I see both of them and get big hugs. I'm sure Auntie Coco feels the same way!
This week I'm going to FarmFest on Wednesday for a seminar and then heading up north for a few days. My mom, brother Ryan and his fiance Kari are coming up this coming weekend to play the golf courses!
Have a great week!
The Newlyweds... Mike and JenSisterwich (sister sandwich)...we had just a great time together dancing and taking a lot of pictures, posing for photographer Jason. Can you believe we took 250 pictures!
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