Golf has come to an END!

Hello Readers.


I have not written on here myself in quite some time so I thought I would let you all know what we have been up to. Both of us are very busy with work, which we are thankful for every day. Jason had his last competitive golf event of the year on Sunday. He didn't do as well as he wanted, but I think they had fun. Hopefully now the two of us will get to play together one of these days, maybe next Sunday. I am kind of "golfed out" for the season, but would like to play another time or two.


Before heading to the gopher football game on Saturday, Jason and I wanted to take some pictures near the Stone Arch Bridge, so my sister Allison graciously helped us out. She did a wonderful job and we had a great time. Thanks Ally!


Saturday we made it to our first Gopher game of the year. It is so much fun tailgating and see our friends and family (Emily, Ryan and Allison) who joined us. It is a great feeling sitting in the stadium, only to be disappointed in the results of the game. I just hate it when they chant "Fire Brewster." I never understood why it is always the coaches fault. I realize that he may be somewhat to blame, especially for poor plays, recruitment, lack of motivating the players, etc. I know certain "big name" coaches may help recruitment. However, I think some of the responsibility needs to be on the players. Maybe these guys just are not that talented. My point is, we Minnesotans never seem to be satisfied with the coaches. I just think there is so much more to life than getting so worked up about firing a coach because the team is terrible.


Sunday, Jason and I woke up and headed to the St. Paul Farmer's Market. This was Jason's first experience and I think he enjoyed it. It is such a fun place to get fresh vegetables and even people watch.  The produce and goods change with the seasons and we had a great time picking out different squash/pumpkins to decorate our front steps with. I like take a picture tonight and post. While Jason was playing golf yesterday, I decided to trim the bushes. I gave myself a B. They look better than they did, but they are not perfectly shaped. Thanks Wilson's for letting us use your hedger. 


We are looking forward to a nice non-rainy week. Jason may be heading to his first WILD game on Thursday and I am going to take another photography class that night as well. We will probably head to the Homecoming Parade on Friday night and gopher game Saturday morning.

Have a great week!

Club Championship

This past weekend was a big golf weekend at Troy Burne. It was our annual Club Championship. We had 20 golfers participate in the tournament and I finished in 6th place. While not what I was hoping for, it was a good weekend. My friend Brian Thompson repeated as champion shooting 78, 74 for a 2-day total of 152. I shot a 168. It was not my weekend so I have to keep practicing.

We had a great night on Saturday night after the golf was over. We watched Gopher football which wasn't too bad and then we went to Dock D with our neighbors to go out on their new boat. We had 5 couples aboard "Knot On Call". We had appetizers and drinks and took a nice cruise down the St. Croix River. After a couple hours we went back to the dock and walked to Pier 500 for dinner. It was a great evening spent with friends.

On Sunday I teed off early at 8:30 a.m. and Nicole was on call and headed to the hospital. I finished golf around 2:00 p.m. and watched the Vikings crumble yet again with the guys at the club. Nicole got home from work around 3:30 and we headed to Stillwater to look for cameras. Nicole is into antique cameras now and found a cool one on Sunday.
After Stillwater we came home as Nicole had dictating to do. After that we went to the Troy Burne Park for our annual Ice Cream Social. We had the Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream cart and Caribou Coffee there. We had over 100 homeowners show up and it was a beautiful sunset over the river.

Weekend With Mom

This past weekend Nicole and I spent the weekend with my mom. We were celebrating her 30th birthday. She's still a beauty.
She came into town on Friday evening and we planned on dinner at a new restaurant in Stillwater called REVE 324. It just opened on Main St in Stillwater so we wanted to check it out. So, we went over there and they were closed. Friday night at 7:30, and closed. Hmmm. So we went back to Hudson to our old staple Barker's, mom has never been there.

On Saturday we had a big day planned. We were going to go to the Farmer's Market in the morning, watch the Gopher Football game, and then head downtown Mpls for dinner and a show.
Instead of the Farmer's Market, we went to Rosemount to my brother's to take care of my mom's car, which had broken down. She got a new one and is very excited about it. She is rolling around now in a Nissan Murano and the Chevy Impala is getting fixed and will be for sale after that. We got the Impala towed to a dealership for repair and then headed home for the Gopher game. Nicole went to the Farmer's market while we took care of the car.
The Gopher game needs no explanation here.
After the game, we got some therapy from Nicole for our broken hearts and then headed downtown for an evening on the town. We started with a walk on the Stone Arch Bridge on a beautiful afternoon. Then we went to Seven for a glass of wine and some sushi on their rooftop, a great setting overlooking Hennepin Ave and the city. After that we had dinner at D'Amico Kitchen, which is in the Chambers Hotel. Dinner was great and we had some very good wines (never can pronounce the Italian wines though). After dinner we went across the street to the Orpheum Theatre for the show Wicked. It was very long with lots of singing and dancing. Nicole and mom enjoyed it very much (or so they said). I was hot and had to go to the bathroom for most of it, but I got through it. I like plays better than musicals but I do notice the talent and the singers were unbelievably talented. It was a great day!

R&R in DL

Nicole and I spent last weekend in Detroit Lakes. We left work around 3:30 on Friday to get there by 7:30 or so. We ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant Miguels' on our way. They have the best Tator Tots with cheese in the world and really healthy for you.
We got to meet Sara this weekend and she is very nice. We went to her soccer game on Saturday against Alexandria. They won 2-1.
After soccer we went out on the water for the afternoon. It was very relaxing and beautiful weather. The surprising thing was how cold the water was. I forgot that I was in Northern, MN. The Ritchies have a very nice pontoon, it's huge and it was a lot of fun being out there all afternoon with Hattie and their friends.
The best part of the day was taking a shower and then going to Fireside, our favorite restaurant in DL. They have just a great spot on the water, but I was a little disappointed in my food choice this time. I normally don't even eat there, maybe an appetizer or two. We just go there for their wine. It's always good to bounce wine ideas off their bartender Setty. He is always searching for the best bang for the buck and they have a very good wine list at Fireside. So good in fact this year they won an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator, which recognizes restaurants with one of the best wine lists in the WORLD!

On Sunday we went to a flea market and didn't find too much. We headed home after that. Always good to see the Ritchie's. Miss Hattie is getting so big and is very fun to be around. It was also great to meet Sara and we know her time spent with the Ritchie's will be very fun. They have a big Labor Day weekend planned as they are taking her to a Twins game, to the Mall of America and maybe come and visit us and go to Stillwater.