A Weekend of Celebration!

Saturday Oct 9th, 2010: We had a lot to celebrate this weekend. Nicole's graduation ceremony and also George's 51st birthday. It was a beautiful fall day but it almost felt like summer. Skies were clear and we topped out at 84 degrees. We started the morning out like the procrastinators that we are. First we had to put the mower back together as I took it apart to sharpen the blades on Thursday and couldn't get it back together. My "smarter than me" wife helped me figure it out in the morning so we could get the lawn mowed before company arrived that afternoon. I mowed the grass and Nicole went for a run and then we hurried to get ready. She had to be at the ceremony an hour early so we hit the road at 10:00 a.m. Joining us for the graduation ceremony were Nicole's parents, grandparents---Edward and MaryAnn Tauer and Karen Coners. My mother, Maryann Ouverson also joined us. After the ceremony, we headed to our home in Hudson to enjoy some food and cake. We all had a great time visiting and catching up on our lives. Nicole's sister, Allison also was able to join us. 

After the celebration was over my mom, Nicole and I went to one of the Troy Burne lookouts and drank wine and watched the sunset over this beautiful State Park overlooking the St. Croix River. The wine was good too!

Homecoming Weekend

We had a great evening on Friday with the Homecoming Parade and the Pep Fest. We met Ally, Zander, Ashley and Danny for the parade. It was a good parade, nearly 1 hour long and Z did very well in the candy, footballs, and beads department. Before the parade Nicole and I ate at Big 10 which is always good. We ran into one of Joe's friends (Ray) who works at Big 10. He recognized Nicole (unfortunately) and sat down with us. He said he could only remember Ashley when she was 21 or 22 years old. It was pretty funny.
After the parade we went to the Pep Fest which was outside McNamara and it was pretty boring, definitely geared more toward students. They did announce that AGR (my college fraternity) won the Homecoming Float competition. It's nice to get that trophy after spending nearly $15k on the float each and every year, plus hundreds of hours of time. To their credit, it looked great.
After all the festivities on campus Nicole and I met some of our college friends Aaron and Emily Peter and Mark and Amanda Escen. It was good to catch up with them, but Nicole says that I do all the talking so I have to work on that. I felt that we would all just sit and stare at each other if I didn't ask questions, so that is what I was doing. Mark and Amanda had just returned from a vacation in Brazil so we discussed that and Aaron and Emily are expecting their first baby in December (it's going to be a boy) and they are very excited about that. Our other college friends Adam and Eve Adamson are also expecting a baby girl this November, right around their and our anniversary.

Saturday
We met Ally and went tailgating around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The game started at 11 and was pretty good. We were ahead at half time and looked ok. The defense got weaker in the 4th quarter and we weren't able to hang on for the victory losing 29-28. It was a beautiful afternoon to be outside at a football game, but I did notice that the student section was less than half full so it looks as if the students are losing faith in the team. Not a good situation.

After the game we had planned to test drive cars. We went to our favorite spot in Golden Valley where we have bought 2 Saab's in the past. We have a salesman there that we like, we don't feel pressure from him and he is very fair. I always told him we wanted to have one car and one SUV and probably a Land Rover as we have had good luck with ours. Well, they sell Cadillacs as well as Saab's and someone traded in a nice used Land Rover on a Cadillac Escalade so we went to check it out. It turned out to be very nice and we traded our old Land Rover. Nicole actually cried when we said goodbye to the ol' girl. (Actually, I didn't cry. I did say "goodbye" to her and told her that she was very good to us and we enjoyed driving her around. Okay so those of you that know me well know that I do get very emotional, so maybe there was a tear!) We were just short of 170,000 miles on it and they gave us $1100 for her. So we bought a 2006 Land Rover and hope for the same luck with this one. We upgraded 9 years. So no more rust and loud noises when it turns.

Sunday was a day of catch up as we were gone all day Saturday. We played golf and watched a lot of golf (Ryder Cup). I mowed the grass and we spent some time cleaning up the house.

Next weekend is Nicole's graduation so we have some getting ready to do. Her ceremony is around Noon on Saturday and then we are having family over afterward for some food and the Gopher football game at Wisconsin. As of now, the weather looks perfect for the next 10 days.

Big Gopher Weekend

It's Homecoming! Now, I am going to tell you, no one seems excited about Homecoming this year because of the poor play of the football team. Nicole and I were discussing this last night. Why would you let the football team get you down about the University of Minnesota. We both owe a lot to that school and will still support it regardless of how good or bad the football team is.

So, this weekend is going to be festive. Tonight at 7:00 p.m. is the Homecoming Parade. Nicole and I are going to head over and have dinner on campus before the parade, and then after the parade there is a big Pep Fest on the Alumni Center Plaza. We are meeting some college friends for drinks after and I'm sure we'll all discuss how we are too old to be "Back on Campus" for Homecoming. Oh well, it's a great campus and if the weather is good what better place to be.

We are hoping to meet Zander, Ally, and Ashley for the parade as well.

Go Gophers!

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.