2010 looks like a great year for us. We are planning a summer trip to Europe and possibly a fall trip to Mexico. We planned to sell our condo and buy a house this year, but I think we might stay where we are. There are some great home deals out there, and we’ve scrimped and saved to get the down payment. However, we’re not sure we can get what we need to get out of our condo due to the market and the status of our association. It’s a little disappointing, but ok. Instead, we’ll keep saving, keeping paying off debt, and maybe spend a little extra in Europe.

We spent our New Year’s in LaCrosse with our good friends, Andy, Matt & Jamie, and Gus. Once back in Madison, we spent the weekend cleaning up, decluttering, and budgeting for our trips. New Year’s always feels like a good time to plan things and clean out the closets. We snuck in some reading/game playing time too. Overall, good way to start the new year.

We got back from CA a few weeks ago (you can see pictures using the link on the right) and it was a great trip. I was a little worried that the nine of us might not get a long, considering we all have different life styles and travel preferences, but it really was a lot of fun.

September is super busy for us. Right now, Boone’s parents are in town and then head to Necedah for their annual bow shoot weekend. Then we head to Milwaukee for a weekend, then my ten-year reunion, and then to La Crosse for Oktoberfest. We are really excited to spend the month spending time with people who we haven’t seen in a long time.

It’s almost time for lunch and a trip to the Henry Vilas Zoo, so I better run. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Me making a funny face & posing with the tragically defeated cow puzzle.

Starting a puzzle is like starting a harmless game of Jamunji. You must just keep playing until you’ve finished.

And, this wasn’t just any ordinary puzzle. This is an “Impossible,” borderless, Holstien puzzle with 5 EXTRA pieces. Jess and re-stumbled upon it while doing a little house clean up last weekend.

About 2 years ago, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of being the best man in the wedding of two of my greatest friends, Caleb and Amanda Olson. Their wedding was absolutely great, a morning wedding with a brunch reception. To keep with the fun, they wanted to have a pluthera of board games available for kids and guests after cake.

Caleb and I had gone to the Good Will store in Eau Claire and quite litterally bought every board game and puzzle they had. I have to say, there is nothing like the look on a cashier’s face when you haul a convoy of shoping carts full of board games up to the checkout.

..Putting This Cow Puzzle Out to Pasture.

Have a great weekend and good luck puzzleing …you’ll need it.

Boone is doing really well with his side business. A new projects here and there are helping with our house/sabbatical fund, and work has been keeping me pretty busy too. I finish the next release this week, which means a little less stress and a little more reading time. I am just finishing Michael Perry’s Truck and have a shelf full of other things to read. (darn those Border’s coupons!)

August and September look a little less quiet; a trip to California with friends, trip to Milwaukee to see old friends, possible camping trip with Jon & Mel, my ten-year high school reunion, Boone’s annual bow shoot, and some time on the porch with my family. I’m glad we got in all that rest time.

• Typing takes a lot longer than it usually does.
• When I steer, I hit my pinky finger on the signal lever.
• Putting on my seat belt takes more consideration than it usually does.
• Try holding a bottle without your pinky, then open it with your other hand.
• Washing my hair is not as simple as it once was.
• Yoga is out of the question, and weights at the gym are a little hard to grip.

I have a few more weeks with it on. Arg!

Heavily caffeinated and ready to rock, Jess and I decided to clean out the garage. We have slowly been replacing all the bland flat honey oak interior doors with nice six-panel white doors (to match the baseboard). The place is really starting to look nice. (See before and after pictures below)

Whenever possible we try to donate our old/original home improvement items to a place called ReStore, run by the Habitat for Humanity people. They use donated household fixtures, flooring, tile, switches, cabinets, etc. to build houses for their cause. Items they can’t use in building projects, are sold at a reduced rate at their store location. Its a great program and a worthy cause. And with all the work we have done to our place, we are certainly keeping them busy with materials.

However, this trip they were already overstocked in the hollow core oak door department. As not to be wasteful in throwing them away or burning them, we brought the 7 doors down to the city recycling plant to be shredded and used for mulch around the city of Madison.

From a tree they began…’around’ a tree they shall remain.

Have a fabulous week!

We are both still employed at the same places, which is awesome for today’s economy. Boone went through a round or two of layoffs, but is still there and in a little bit of a different position. He enjoys it most days though. He is also working on a few side projects for some extra money and experience in web design, which is really cool. It’s a difficult balance of work and play for both of us right now, and work seems to be in the lead.

We only have two weddings this summer, and they are both fairly early. Don’t get me wrong – I love weddings, but they just take a lot of time, energy, and money. After that, we are off to San Fran and Napa with a group of friends to enjoy the city, the wine, and the weather. I think we’d like to do another trip this year, but we don’t know if the budget will allow for it. Until then, trips up north to Osseo and downtown to the Farmer’s Market will have to do.

We are still in our condo on the West side of Madison. We had thought about selling this spring, but with the market the way it is, we aren’t sure we’ll get what we need for a down payment on a house. So, we’ll tough it out for another year. It might allow us to do some of that traveling we want, and additional condo projects and plans. Stay tuned for updates.

Our Christmas tree tradition happened as always: cutting the tree with Jon & Mel and putting the holiday squirrel is near the trunk by a pinecone. Jon & Mel’s tree and squirrel won’t be up this year because they just purchased their first home (hooray!) and we are really excited for them. Our cards are in the mail (mostly) and the place is decorated as well as we were willing. We’ve gotten out and done most of our holiday shopping, but boy, is it no fun! Traffic, noisy and rude people, presents to wrap- it’s a lot of stuff that makes me think maybe shopping online is the best way to go.

The best part about the holidays is getting to see lots of family and friends, and we’ve been traveling up north a bit lately. There was Thanskgiving, then the Julson family had a Christmas reunion a few weekends ago. It was really nice to see everyone, some of who I hadn’t seen since our wedding. The Myhre side won’t be gathering like they have in the past but there will still be a few people at our Christmas Eve dinner. It seems to get a little harder ever year to get everyone together. Boone and I will be at Sesvold’s Christmas Day like always, and we hope to see some of our up-north friends while we are home Friday and Saturday. Then my lovely little sister turns the big 2-1 after New Year’s, so we’ll all be there to help her celebrate/keep an eye on her.

Back to work and condo stuff- oh, I’m president of the board and website manager now so that means a little more work (and a lot more hatred of 6-10 inch snow falls). Happy holidays!

We chose a really nice 1″ gold-tan glass tile (and a few charcol gray) topped off with gray grout to match the countertops. The project itself was pretty easy to do and turned out great. However, it was a major mess involving schmearing about 1900 square inches of individual grout lines.

GROUT is just one of those unpleasant words like “Schlitz,” “Blatz,” and “Winter.” And, as inrony would have it, grouting your kitchen is about a 2 beer project.

Check out a few before and after pictures: (The grout is still a little wet)

Before:

After:

I was also Boone birthday this past weekend and my birthday next weekend. It feels a little odd to be turning 28 (Boone says 27 isn’t a big deal for him), looking back to all that I’ve done and planning for ALL the stuff ahead. I’m a big planner but somethings you just can’t plan for. But Boone says those thoughts are just too deep for one’s birthday, so I’ll just have to focus on having fun with our awesome friends and a nice bottle of wine. Maybe a manicure too.