A Big Series = Time at Home

A big what? Yes, a big Series, as in baseball series. You knew that! I was trying to figure out if there was something I could or should blog about this evening. I asked Brett, "Have we done anything this week?" His response, "Well, there's been a big series." Very true. The Minnesota Twins have had a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox this week (all in Minnesota). As a good wife would, I Tivo'd every game and we sat down each night to watch them. But here's how it works: If the Twins are winning or if it is close, we watch. Sometimes Brett likes to fast forward through the opposing team's at-bats though. But if, for example, the Twins are losing by a lot (like they did last night in game three) the game all of the sudden gets turned off. There are often high fives, yelling, cheering, at talking to the tv. In fact, I tried to participate in the telecast a couple of days ago by texting in a question to Dick and Bert. They haven't shown it on tv yet, so I may need to try again! Now we're in the last game of the series and it looks like it will end in the Twins' favor. Consequently, Brett will be in a good mood and we all WIN! P.S. The Twins are now a half game out of first place. Did you know...During the 2006 baseball season we were Circled by Bert (the Twins broadcaster) when the Twins played in Seattle. This is one of the best things you can have happen as a Twins fan. We held up a poster board saying, "Future season ticket holders 2010." Family in Minnesota and some friends in North Dakota were nice enough to call and tell us we were on TV!

Reusable Bags

Back in December, Suzanne (Brett's sister) said she wanted some resusable bags for Christmas. I immediately asked, "What kind of Christmas present is that?" Little did we know, Suzanne was waaaaayyyyy ahead of us! The latest edition of my Self magazine showed a picture of a resusable bag and gave some links to others. I'm obsessed with these Seabags, but they're so costly! Check it out! Basically, the company has taken old sails and made them into bags. Very cute, though I can't see Brett toting one of these babies around at the grocery store. :o)

The last weekend in July?

Our weekend consisted of a couple of "changes of plans." Friday evening we were to meet some of Brett's co-workers at a restaurant downtown. Somehow or another we missed each other in two different locations. Needless to say, we ended up eating by our lonesome in West Boise (our neck of the woods). I had a great idea to check out a new soup and salad place which, of course, was not open yet. We ended up at Fuddruckers, yes Fuddruckers, eating burgers and sippin' on some soda pop. Saturday I had another great idea (you can imagine how this will turn out) to go to the 5pm mass and then attend the Fiesta dinner put on by the young adult ministry group. Call me crazy, but there was no one there but the organizers so we left. That night ended by us going to Chicago Connection for pizza (would not recommend the one on Fairview Ave.). And then there's Sunday. Things were looking up! I found a group, via the Internet, to play tennis with. I was a little nervous about these new people, but it was a blast. There were only four of us, but we played a good 2 1/2 hours of tennis. Watch out Serena! The good news is that Brett made some delicious ribs for dinner tonight! So, there you have it. I don't know that we accomplished a whole lot this weekend, but we were surely on the move in Boise. One way or another we'll figure out this town...and our lives! In the meantime, we're simply enjoying ourselves and each other...I think. :o)

So many backgrounds!

Sorry, I changed the background yet again. I realized that the date I posted things was not listed which really bothered me. I think I'll stop playing with it and just let the background be.

Twilight Criterium Bike Race

Saturday, Brett volunteered to cover the Twilight Criterium bike race that is held in downtown Boise. Since I didn't have anything on my agenda, I figured I'd tag along. We got there at 3pm and it did not wrap up until around 10:15pm. What a long day! We were lucky enough to have decent weather (mid 90s) and a team of racers let us bum some of their shade all day! So, we sat in our chairs, ice chest within arm's reach, all day on corner #2 watching the racers whiz by. There were five races in total. The last race was 90 minutes. Get this - they averaged 37 mph! That's pretty typical of how we ride our bikes, too. We didn't see any wrecks, which I suppose is a good thing, but I was secretly hoping for some. Have you ever seen the part in Big Daddy where Adam Sandler and the little boy try to throw sticks in the path of bikers and rollerbladers to make them fall? I didn't quite go to that extreme, but I did throw in a quiet, "Wreck!" now and then. **You'll notice the weird picture of the girl on the bike. If you look closely, and zoom in, you'll see that she is actually wearing a red tube top, white skirt, and (no joke) white high heels. Call me crazy, but that's not your typical bike riding apparel...even in Boise.

How do you spend your Friday nights?

I know, another picture of our dog. What can I say? We don't have any kids yet. First of all, this a picture of Puckett a couple weeks after we brought him home. So cute and very manageable! Second, Boise has an awesome dog park. It's about an acre of land that is fully fenced in. It has trees, fire hydrants (funny!), benches, dog-sized drinking fountains, etc. We took Puckett tonight and he just loves it! It's quite entertaining to watch the 8-12 random dogs run around together. Some are cuter than others, but of course I am a little biased toward labs anyway. Just thought we'd let you know how we spent our Friday evening (about 1/2 hour of it). Hope you all have a great one!

June Carter vs. June Cleaver

You may have looked at the title of this post and wondered what in the world we are talking about. Funny thing happened tonight. Brett and I were talking about Halloween. The eighth grade class at Sacred Heart is in charge of the chili feed at the annual Halloween carnival. It just makes sense that I would need to dress up. Here was part of our conversation that I'm almost embarrassed to tell everyone about:

B - How about June Carter?
N - What, am I just going to dress up as a 1950s house wife?
B - No, I think it was like the 60s or 70s.
N - I don't even think the kids will know who that is anyway.
B - The old people will though (the parents).
N - Wait, who is June Carter?
B - JOHNNY CASH'S WIFE.
N - OOHHHHHHHH! I was thinking of June CLEAVER!

Yes, I am going to be a teacher this year.

Bark Busters to the rescue

Many of our friends and family have had the wonderful opportunity to meet Puckett, our two-year-old chocolate lab. While Puckett is such a great part of our family, he needs help. We need help! After moving to Boise, we thought it would be a great time to call in some backup. Kevin, from Bark Busters, spent nearly three hours at our house yesterday. We gave him a long list of nuances and he helped show us things to do in order to prevent this terrible behavior of Puckett's. Of course, Puckett was on his very, very best behavior while Kevin was here. Anyway, we have our work cut out for us! Over the next two weeks we are supposed to practice with Puckett at least 15 min. per day on different things. With any luck, Puckett will be a little more well-mannered and the two of us will figure out how to control him. Wish us luck!

I scream for ice cream!

Saturday evening we were lucky enough to enjoy the company of long time friends of the Seaver family, Jim and Pam Ross. They seem to find us everywhere! Jim and Pam where on their way through Boise going back to Driggs, Idaho. They were able to stop and squeeze us in for dinner at TGI Fridays. Throughout dinner, our waitress kept coming back to the table to ask us if we were ready. Unforunately, we hadn't even looked at the menus! After dinner we took a short trip to Hyde Park to check out the historic district, grabbed some ice cream at a cute candy shop, then showed Jim and Pam around the Boise State University campus. They needed to see the smurf turf before they left! We are so very thankful to have Jim and Pam in our lives. Thanks for stopping and thanks for dinner!

Where's the snow when you want it?

The warm summer days in Boise had me thinking of winter. Funny, how it works out that way! So I dug up some pictures that were sitting on our computer to remind me of our winter days in Washington! We truly did have so much fun snowshoeing, crosscountry skiing, and skiing/snowboarding. Or course, Puckett loves the snow also! I can already feel the air becoming cooler around me!

Noah's Here! (Well, not here.)

I was reminded that we need to give a "shout out" to Noah (a nephew on Brett's side). He was born March 27, in Knoxville, Tennessee! We're very, very, very excited to go to Seattle next month to meet him! Mostly, we can't wait until we can run around with him and take him to Twins games. Is he ready yet? We're also very happy that Suzanne is always posting such fun and cute pictures of our nephew so we can see him everyday! Here's a picture of the little guy who was actually a nine-pounder when he was born. (Ouch!)

Getting around without a car

One of the best things about Boise is that it's FLAT! Really. In Wenatchee we were limited in our bike riding because it sits on a slope. Basically you can ride anywhere, but it will be downhill one way and uphill the other. That's a lot of work! Thankfully, Boise is pretty bike-friendly. There is also a Green Belt which is a paved path along the river. We enjoy taking rides from our house to downtown Boise which is anywhere from 12-14 miles roundtrip. Last night we biked from our house to Ann Morrison Park so Brett could scout out the ultimate frisbee players! (Don't worry, we wear our helmets. Safety first!)

Jobs

If I sent you the link to this blog, you probably already know that Brett and I moved out here for Brett's job. He took a sports residency with St. Lukes-Idaho Elks Rehab Services (SLIERS) which begins in August. He will spend about 60% in the clinic still, but will have the opportunity to do some observations, work with physicians, do some research at Boise State, and work with different athletic teams in the area. Of course, that's right up his alley and it should be a lot of fun for him.

After we decided on Boise, I had to try like crazy to get a job here. I had already sent in my resume and application to many schools here. I ended up being hired by Sacred Heart School to teach 7th and 8th grade language arts and theology (it's a Catholic school). It's all very exciting, but overwhelming at the same time! On top of that, I'm going to be coaching 7th grade volleyball in the fall as well. Though I love the game, I've never coached it. I'm sure it will be fun though. I'll definitely get some more exercise!

Hiking at Bogus Basin

Last post for the night...

Sunday I had a great idea to go hiking up at Bogus Basin, our local ski hill. After a 45 minute drive up the windy road we finally got there. It was really pretty, but we didn't know where to go. As it turns out, we only walked for about 45 minutes with Puckett and then headed back into town. It's the thought that counts, right?

4th of July Cookies

Okay, Laurel, we gave it a try! At Brett's request, we whipped up some of Laurel's SPECIAL sugar cookies and took them to the Fourth of July bbq. I was hoping for a chocolate recipe or even a no-bake recipe since it was so warm out. But I couldn't resist giving these a whirl since they are Brett's favorite! He waits patiently each Christmas (as long as we were in Wenatchee) for Laurel to come over with her specialty cookies. I think they were a hit! Brett said he was going to take them to work too, but they never quite made it out of the kitchen! That's a good sign! If only all of my food had that effect on him...

Wedding in Kalispell, MT

At the end of June we were lucky enough to travel a whole 9 hours (one way) to Kalispell, MT for Brett's cousins's wedding. We were so very excited to see Kelli and TJ tie the knot and visit with the Ruffatto family at the same time!

I have to say that I was a little skeptical about our sleeping arrangements. We were told that Brett's aunts and uncle had rented a MONASTERY for the weekend. I was thinking dormroom style everything, including showers! I have to admit that I even bought Old Navy flip flops as shower shoes! Needless to say , the monastery turned out to be a gigantic house with about ten bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and a chapel. It was perfect for all 30 of us staying there and it was the bargain price of $100 per night...total. That's my kind of place!

We finally moved!

After much debate, we finally made the big move out of Wenatchee. Our choices were Minnesota (of course), Wisconsin was in the running for a bit, North Carolina got a nod, Ohio thankfully didn't win, and we landed here in SW Idaho.

We had the wonderful help of Brett's mom and sister, Megan. What would we have done without them? Of course, Brett's coworkers helped us load up the 26' UHaul too. How did we even accumulate that much stuff? We made the trip in four vehicles and it took about seven hours door-to-door. Unfortunately, we have yet to sell the Wenatchee house. Let us know if you know of any takers!

We have lived here in Boise for about four weeks now. We even met two friends and were invited to a Fourth of July bbq. We had lots of fun visiting with our new friends, eating bison burgers, and watching the fireworks across the city skyline!

So far we've driven around a lot, mountain biked, ran, biked into downtown Boise, went to the batting cages, and even hit the driving range. More of that to come!

In the beginning

After months and months of reading the blogs of many friends, I decided that it was about time I got one of my own. Such an easier way to share pictures with family and friends! So here's the first picture, it's old I know (2.5 years). Give me a couple days though, and I'll have much more to show you!