Our Humble Abode

I realize that while I've been blogging all about the things we've been doing here in Minnesota, I've neglected to blog about our temporary home. I've mentioned before that we live in a duplex on what we lovingly refer to as "Fed Row." Federated owns the duplexes and their trainees have the option to ren them during their stay in Owatonna. There are six duplexes, 12 units. They all look roughly the same with slight differences in layout. They all have a living/dining space, small kitchen, two bedrooms, one bath, and a decent sized unfinished basement with garage. While there are a few families that grace Fed Row each training period, most of the people who come through are couples and single guys. These accomodations are pretty sweet for them. Rent is cheap and the units are nice, but for a family of four. . .

 



Let's just say, we play outside ALOT. It's going to be a long winter. But I can't complain too much. Less square feet means less cleaning and more playing. However, a new stove would be nice, a garbage disposal would be great, and a dishwasher would be flippin awesome. That's right dear friends!    ALL.  BY.  HAND.

  

Okay. Enough with the witty plug ins. While it does feel a little cramped in here some days and I'd love some appliances made in this decade, I have to admit that it's going extremely well. The closeness is kind of nice and honestly, things are perfect.

 

 

 





 

The Fine Art Gallery















Jareth's and Laney's Room



 



Closet Overflow





More Closet Overflow



Reminds me of our first apartment in college, except there were only two ppl sharing it.

Bedroom Chamber
 

 



 

Growing Babies

Someone please tell me how this.....

turned into this

in just a few short months?

Dear Jareth

Tomorrow you will be three years old. Today we woke up to a rainy, gray, Minnesota morning so I asked you if you wanted to watch a movie. You of course said yes and chose Toy Story 3, dragging Woody and Buzz out from your bedroom. Toy Story 3. You would choose a movie that makes me cry from start to end. You see, while you see Andy on the tv screen, I see you. You growing up, letting go of your toys, moving away from home. Your'e only three and I'm already emotional about you leaving. That's how much you are loved, kid. At least I have 15 more years to get used to the idea. I'll tell you one thing though when that time comes I'm going to be a wreck. And I assure you that between now and then there will be many emotional moments from your momma. When that happens just give me a hug and let me have my moment. You'll get it one day.

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead,
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said,
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You got troubles,
and I got them too
There isn't anything
I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
but none of them
will ever love you
the way I do
it's me and you, boy

And as the years go by,
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
"Whatever happens, at least we will be together. To infinity and beyond"

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

So, I've mentioned before that Jareth is completely obsessed with baseball thanks to the movie, " The Sandlot." Every day we play catch and work with him on hitting the ball. There have been many a morning in which the first words he utters is , "mommy, play baseball?" He even wants a baseball birthday party this year. Being so close to Minneapolis we decided we should go to a Twins game. We kind of waited until last minute but were able to catch the last game of the season.000+50102 (Those numbers would be Laney's contribution to this post) This game also just happened to fall on Kids Appreciation Day so Jareth got to get on the field and run the bases! The word "excited" doesn't even begin to describe his expression that day. He was pretty upset that he couldn't go play with the players and we came very close to a major meltdown. Fruit snacks helped and when the fruit snacks failed, there were mini dough nuts.

Target Field was really nice. It is a super clean stadium and it is 100% smoke free. The food was what you would expect at a ball park but I believe I found the best deal in the stadium. I found a kids meal for $5.25 which consisted of a regular hotdog, chips, and small soda. Pretty good for a baseball game if you ask me! Also, since it was the end of the season all the souviniers were on sale so I was able to scoop up a helmet for Jareth for just $12. Sweet! We had such a great time. We are officially Twins fans now but don't worry Braves, your'e still #1 in our hearts.

 

 





Our future Big Leaguer!

 

Busy, Busy!

Obviously I have not been doing a great job keeping my blog up to date. I can't believe it's been two months since I've written! We have been so busy here in Andersonland and to catch you up completely would take more time than I have to type and more time than you have to read. So, here is the condensed version of what's been going on around here.
In August we got to go home to Tennessee for a week. Jon had his first "field trip" back to Knoxville and  at first we talked about sending just Jareth with him but thanks to a man we all know as "papaw" we all got to go for a visit. It was really nice to have help with the kids for a week and of course it was wonderful to spend time with family and friends. The week after we got back we got to experience the Steele County Free Fair. "The Biggest Reunion in the State of the Union!" (Like I need a reminder that I'm in a Union state...) It's kind of a big deal around here. It seemed like everyone we met when we first moved up here mentioned that the fair was coming up. We had a blast and Jareth absolutely love it. He got to ride his first fair rides and pet his first llama while Jon and I were busy consuming way too much fried food! They had fried everything; snickers, cheese curds, pb and js, pickels, etc. And I love, love, love fried pickels! No shame here. The fair was pretty great.
Also, we decided to make a day trip to Duluth. It's about four hours north of Owatonna on Lake Superior. The lake was beautiful and it was freezing! There were people swimming in the water and it was some of the coldest I have ever felt. Jareth got in it a little too but I couldn't stand it. We also visited the Aerial bridgs, Enger Tower, and the Light house. After we had lunch the kids fell asleep in the car so Jon stayed with them while I went walking around. While I was doing a little shopping he texted me that he got us a room for the night. It was super sweet. We ate at a couple of really good places. Grandma's Saloon and Grill had awesome sandwhiches and Vitta's pizza was delicious. Duluth is really nice. I recommend going there for a long weekend.
September has been really fruitfull as well. Jeremy came to vist for a long weekend. We went to the park and showed him around Owatonna a little bit. Then on Saturday we went to Minneapolis. We walked around Lyn-Lake and had lunch at a little Greek place and we watched the UT game at the Marriot where we stayed the night. We had an amazing brunch at Hell's Kitchen. Seriously, it was amazing! Go there! Eat the peanut butter and try the lemon ricotta pancakes. I wish I had brought a jar of pb home with me. It was really nice to have some family up here with us for a weekend. We miss our family and friends back home.
So, the condensed version is getting a little long but I did want to mention that I'm meeting more and more people here. We've made friends with another Fed couple who have two little girls that are Jareth and Laney's ages. They are super sweet and we get along great with them. Also, I joined MOPS and put Jareth in an ECFE class on Wednesday mornings. But I will have to write more on that later....the kids are waking up!

Milestones

My sweet babies are growing like weeds! Jareth will be three in just three short months and Laney is now four months old. They are getting bigger, stronger, and smarter everyday.
Jareth is finally speaking (mostly) in complete sentences and on a good day can count to 15. Recently, Jon introduced him to the movie, Sandlot, and now he has a little obsession with baseball. Yesterday I got him a real baseball and that's all he has been talking about today. I need to find him a glove but gloves for two and a half year olds aren't easy to find. He has also hit a couple of developmental milestones. He can put 35 piece puzzles together easily, he has been caught playing make-believe with batman and spiderman, and he understands the concept of counting. Another concept he has learned is that daddy comes home from work for lunch and then has to go back. He's not a big fan of that. Jon has to wear a badge to work on a lanyard and as soon as he puts that on, Jareth has a mini meltdown. But we are working through it.
Laney is getting so big! She now weighs 13lbs and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is in the 37% for her weight and 83% for her height. She loves being in the excersaucer along with the bouncer. She can stand really well with a little support and prefers standing to sitting or lying down. She also likes to reach out and grab our noses, or in my case, my hair. Also, she is loving rice cereal and sweet potatoes!
Jon and I are doing great also. He is doing an amazing job in class and we are still enjoying our time here. Family time is plentiful and fruitful and we are blessed.

Oh yeah, I had a Birthday!

Well folks, we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of me getting my driver's license last week. For some reason I think that sounds better than saying, "I turned twenty-seven last week". Twenty-seven sounds soooo old to me. So, happy anniversary to me. And yes, that means I was seventeen when I got my license. You see, I had a boyfriend with a Jeep so I wasn't really in a hurry to start driving myself around quite yet. I mean, check this stud muffin out. Can you blame me? And please ignore the hair-do....

Can you believe we have celebrated 12 years of birthdays?! That's nuts. Anyhoo, the day of was a Tuesday so we celebrated at home with some Tacos, since it was Taco Tuesday of course, and a big slice of chocolate cake from the Hy Vee. Jon brought me flowers and a card and he even put trick candles in the cake. I don't think he realized they were trick candles when he bought them. But it was fun and Jareth got a kick out of it. And let me tell you, Hy Vee chocolate cake is the bomb.

On Friday we had the neighbors watch the kids so we could go out to eat. We drove to Rochester and ate at Newt's. Jon was excited that I chose burgers at a pub as my birthday dinner. He should know by now that I love a good burger just as much as the next guy. I picked Newt's because we had seen it on the Travel Channel. I had the Jucy Lucy and he had the Mike D's. Mine was a burger with cheese in the middle and his was a burger with onion straws and bacon pitted between two grilled cheese sandwiches. They were awesome. This picture just doesn't do it justice.

After our amazing burgers we walked across the street to yet another pub and sat outside and had a cocktail. It was the first time in over a month that we had been out by ourselves. It was pretty great. Happy 10 year anniversary of getting my driver's license to me!

Just a Day in the Life..

Here are a few photos to see what most of our days look like. Yes, there's cleaning and cooking along with errands and naps but you don't want to see photos of that. We are having a great time. : )

<---Check out Jareth jamming! That face is priceless!

Never a Boring Moment!

We have really enjoyed our first three weeks in Owatonna! There has been so much to keep us busy that time is already flying by. The area has a lot going on and great things for families to enjoy. There are several public parks and playgrounds to go to, many of which are within walking distance from "fed row" where we live. The kids and I have been walking a lot since we got here. Even the Hy-Vee grocery store is just a short walk away.
Our weekends so far have been full and fun. Last weekend we had "Breakfast on the Farm." We walked to the fairgrounds and were shuttled to Clover Glen Farm for a $3 breakfast which was held to promote National Dairy Month. It was really fun and the breakfast was delicious. (I am in love with fresh butter now!) Other than the pancake and sausage breakfast that was served, there were a ton of fun activities to do. Jareth had his picture taken with a cow and put on a button and he got to go on a lawn-tractor train ride. He loved it! There was also a bounce house and a petting zoo. He had a great time. The farm was beautiful and it was neat to see Jareth excited over all the cows.

 

This past weekend we decided to venture further north to Minneapolis to visit the Mall of America. We decided to take Jareth to the Aquarium and found discounted tickets online. He was facinated by the jelly fish and the sea horses but his favorite part was the underwater tunnel experience. We saw several different types of sharks, fish, and sea turtles. We ended up buying a membership by the end of our tour. It will be something fun to do when it gets cold and it was only an extra $10 per person for the membership and Jareth and Laney were free! Pretty good deal, if you ask me! The Mall of America is huge. Huge and overwhelming. Huge and overwhelming and time consuming. Huge and overwhelming and time consuming and pretty neat. We were there for about 7 hours and didn't even see the whole place. Suprisingly the kids did really well with the trip. We found a nice bench area outside one of the restrooms at Macy's to take break at and after that they both fell asleep in the stroller. My advice to anyone going to Mall of America is to get there when they open. It was really nice early in the morning but by lunch time it was crazy! Oh, and try the fish tacos at Kokomo's. They are yummy.

Our week days while dad is at work have been filled by trips to the park and playing in the backyard. The neighbors on either side of us are fantastic and Jareth plays well with their kids. He is having ball here. Jon is doing great at work. I guess I should call it school. He is in class from 7am-3pm and then does homework until 4 or 4:30 each day. Most days he comes home, plays with the kids, eats dinner, and goes back to the ATA building to study for about an hour or so. He comes home for lunch everyday and I keep busy while he is gone. I actually feel like I'm going to see him much more now than I ever did at his old job. All in all it is going well and I'm looking forward to the next several months.

Our Northern Adventure

Wer'e here! Actually we have been her for about a week and a half but we've been so busy, I haven't had a chance to sit down and write. The 15 hour drive went well. The first day we stopped for lunch in Cinci, OH for some of their famous chili. We decided to forgo Skyline and went to Camp Washington Chili instead. It's been around for over 70 years serving 5-ways, chili cheese fries, coneys, and even chili sandwiches. Aparently the 5-way is the way to do it. First you take cooked spaghetti noodles, yes noodles, and cover it with their famous chili. Then you add a layer of beans and a layer of onions. Finally you top the whole thing off with cheese. This is much different than the way we do chili in the south. First of all your beans are already in the chilli and you dump your chili onto your favorite chips or saltines, then goes the cheese, and if it's on hand, sour cream. I admit I still like the South's way better, but I have to say the chili at Camp Washington was pretty darn good.


Our trip was 15 hours so we decided we had better break it up with an over night stay. Since neither of us had been to Chicago we thought we would take advantage of this opportunity and go there for the night. Jareth and Laney did fantastic the whole day. Thank the Lord for portable dvd players and Disney. We stayed at a Hilton right outside of Chicago since we couldn't find a room for under $300 per night that wasn't in a, well, formidable part of town. After dropping of our luggage and freshening up a bit we headed to downtown Chicago for some deep dish pizza. After a little online research we decided on Gino's East. The place was huge with a loud, fun atmosphere. Jareth had quite a fit when we got there. Never tell a two year old he or she can have chocolate milk at a restaraunt until you know FOR SURE that the restaraunt serves chocolate milk. Not even a gooey chocolate chip cookie could simmer that meltdown. He finally stopped crying when we started ignoring him. Anyway, we decided to get two pizzas, a thin crust bbq chicken and a 1/2 Chicago Fire, half Supreme deep dish. The thin crust was to die for. The bbq was sweet and the chicken smokey. It had one of my personal favorite toppings on it as well, cilantro. It was SOOO GOOD! The deep dish was good but it wasn't exactly what we thought it would be. The cheese was on the bottom and then the toppings and the marinara. Everything kept sliding off the pizza slices. We thought it would be more like a pie. The ingredients were really good. Everything tasted very fresh. But I think we just may be more New York Style pizza people than Chicago Deep Dish pizza people. It was a fun experience though.

                                  

The next morning we got up early and got on our way. We were in a hurry to get to our new home so we didn't plan to make any really exciting stops. Somewhere along the way we decided that since we were going through Wisconsin that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try some cheese. Finding it was not a difficult task. I'm pretty sure there was a cheese store at every exit. We stopped at Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet in Deforest, WI. Jon stayed in the car with the kids while I went in for the goodies. There were so many cheeses in there I didn't know where to start. I asked the girl behind the counter which cheeses were the most popular and after asking me where my accent was from she pointed out a list of local and visitor favorites. The top visitor favorite was 7 year old cheddar and the top local favorite was, wait for it....... chocolate fudge cheese. You know I had to try that out so I asked for a sample of each plus a jalapeno havarti that sounded like something Jon would like. The cheddar was really good and very sharpe. It just crumbled in my hand. The jalapeno havarti was delicious. It was very creamy with just the right amount of jalepeno in it. Then there was the chocolate fudge cheese. O.M.G! It tasted just like chocolate fudge, walnuts and all. Talk about amazing. I got a half lb of each. Plus a bottle of strawberry wine. : )

 

Our trip was really great. We saw about a gazillion windmills in Iowa followed by a bajillion acres of farmland. And before we new it we were in Owatonna, Minnesota. We love our little house and the town is growing on us very quickly. Soon, I will post all about the things we are doing to fill our time and share some photos of our new home. Now, it's time for some chocolate cheese!!!