At Sak's for Staci

We went to Sak's in Vadnais Heights on Saturday night to send off our friend Staci. Contrary to popular belief, M does not own Sak's. Ok, so no one really thinks that. For those that are lost, M's last name is Sack. (I know, I had a hard time getting over it too--ironically so did M back in 5th grade when they learned about sex education. I'll leave it that.)

Staci is packing up her bags and moving to LaCrosse, WI. She is originally from Tomah, WI but lots of her family reside in LaCrosse. When I started dating M, he told me of a friend of his named Staci. I hadn't met her yet but after some time, I was looking at pictures and it was determined that M and I both knew the same Staci. I met Staci when I was 19 and we went camping together as she was a friend of a friend. M met Staci shortly after I did and it wasn't discovered until MANY years later that it was the same person. Good luck to you in LaCrosse, Staci. I know we'll see each other again!

Our friends Tim and Samantha

Staci and me

Staci, Jill, me, Samantha

Friday Night

M and I went out on a date for dinner to The Little Oven in St. Paul. After dinner, we stopped over at my Gramma and Grandpa's house. It was their 55th wedding anniversary and they had just gotten back from dinner at the Lake Elmo Inn. We hung out for a few hours, had a beer and played with their dog, Russell and cat, Bailey. My Gramma didn't want her picture taken so I had to settle for pictures of the animals instead.

Did you know I'm allergic to dog epithelia? That's basically everything that encompasses a dog, yet I've never had a reaction of any sort to any dog. Doctors.

A Weekend to Ourselves

It has been an extremely rare occasion when M and I had no real plans on a weekend. This has happened once since the beginning of the summer. We woke up mid-morning on the 19th, bummed around the house for a bit and took the motorcycle out for what was one of the last gorgeous September days. We went to Cici's Pizza in Eagan for lunch and then rode around the area enjoying the sun and taking some pictures. While on Hwy 13 in Eagan, we saw some wild turkeys (I love them!) on the side of the road so I took a few pictures. We drove around Fort Snelling and Minnehaha Falls before making our way back to our house around 3:30 pm where I took a super long 4 hour nap and it was great. I love to sleep but don't do it as much as I'd like to. My honey and I went out to dinner and then back to the house to watch a documentary called Secret Yosemite and then listened to music and drank wine until into the 3 am hour. We woke up on Sunday morning late enough where we didn't have much time before the Vikings game started. We cuddled up on the couch, watched the Vikings win and enjoyed football all day long. A great weekend!

The Turkeys

The Mississippi River with the Minneapolis skyline in the background. The water is very low. Look how many people are on the shore

Jake's Benefit

I went to a benefit for a baby boy named Jake on the 18th held at the VFW in Fridley. He has a genetic eye disorder called FEVR. Jake's mom, Kim, went to the same high school I went to. The benefit was a success. They had many raffles for prizes, bands and food. They had a silent auction and I won a basket that had a homemade scarf, chenille socks, cocoa and a gift certificate for a pizza. My sister won some type of spa basket. It was a good time seeing some of the people from high school I rarely see. For more info on Jake's disorder and to see some pictures of the little guy and the benefit, check out the following links:

OurVisions of Hope

Kim's Blog

Kristi's Blog with Benefit Pictures

Pictures are courtesy of the camera from the benefit and it's many picture takers from the evening

Jake

Dad (Brent), Jake and Mom (Kim)

Jenni, Jamie, Me

Friday's Fun Facts

I almost forgot to do Friday's Fun Facts. How bad of a start to your weekend would that have been?

Food facts for today:

• The average trick-or-treater collects 8,000 calories
• The "glair" is the white or clear part of an egg. The word glair comes from the Latin word clarus, meaning clear
• The peel of an orange contains more nutritional value than the fruit of the orange
• Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures

There are 2 words I leave you with for this weekend.....

SKOL Vikings!

Nick Thune

Last Thursday, M and I went to Acme Comedy Club to see Nick Thune. He's a 29 year old, 6 foot 5 that looks even taller since he's so skinny. He is currently in the movie, Extract and if you want to see him, he is on the Jay Leno Show tonight. He was very funny but has his own sense of delivery as he plays the guitar while on stage and sometimes will sing mini-songs. Here's an example of one of his jokes...

Remember, like, 20 years ago when Arby's was offering 5 roast beef sandwiches for $5 and you thought about how great of a deal that was? Now, Arby's is still offering that same deal today. So what does that mean? Either Arby's has been inflation proof for all this time or they have been high-balling us since then.

Ok, so jokes are all in the delivery and timing, and they are not as funny when you read them but you get the idea. M and I have been successful in seeing a comic once a month. This was our 3rd month and I'm sure you'll hear about another next month!

Here's a little Nick Thune for ya:

Friday's Fun Facts

Have a wonderful weekend!

• The world's largest library is the private collection of Fidel Castro. It contains 13 percent more volumes than the Library of Congress
• A watch is more likely to run fast than it is to run slow
• One in eight Russians say they practice falling asleep
• The Onion, a popular satire newspaper, has been cited by legitimate newspapers as a source more than 50 times

North Shore Weekend

M and I were invited to join part of his family at a cabin for the weekend. We headed up to the North Shore of Lake Superior, Castle Danger, MN to be exact, late Friday morning. We stopped for breakfast in Wyoming, MN before stopping in Duluth to meet M's sister Kim and husband Greg and brother Ray at Little Angie's in the Canal Park area. We bummed around Canal Park for a little bit and headed up the remaining 40 miles or so to Castle Haven Cabins. The cabin was great. It was right on Lake Superior, with a deck that hung over the cliff and overlooked Lake Superior. On Friday, we walked around the shoreline exploring. It was windy and the lake had some nice waves. We made pizzas on the grill for dinner, which Kim made and were delicious. We wound down the night talking and listening to music on the deck. We watched the stars and the bright planet in the sky, which I believe to be Jupiter. We also saw a BRIGHT light "shine" right at us while moving that we originally thought to be a satellite but really isn't sure what it was.

On Saturday morning, we ate the breakfast that I made, an egg, sausage and cheese bake that everyone seemed to like. We got ready and headed up to Gooseberry Falls, about a mile away to do a little hiking. We took the lakeshore trail that brings you to Agate Beach on Lake Superior. While on the trail, we spotted two deer and one of them walked right across the trail, about 20 feet ahead of us, unfazed by the people. It was extremely and unseasonably warm up there with a visible haze of the humidity causing us to be sweaty by the time we ended our hike. We then went up to Silver Bay to visit their aunt Carol who lives there. We spend about an hour or so there before heading further up the North Shore to Tofte where we turned around as we were looking for a good place to eat and decided to turn back towards the cabin but stopped at the Temperance River to walk around and take in the scenery. We stopped in Beaver Bay at the Green Door, a bar, for a quick drink. The five of us each put in $5 for pull tabs and disbursed them. The very first one I opened was a $100 winner. Cha-Ching! We each got $20 and walked out richer than we came. We got back to the cabin and it still being very warm, M took a walk to the shore down below the cliff we were on. He was wading in the water and decided it was warm enough that he wanted to go swimming. (P.S. Lake Superior's average annual water temperature is 40 degrees) He played around in the water a little bit, being careful not to slip on the slimy rocks below him. The water was extremely calm and very clear so it was fun to watch him from the deck from above. M and I went for a walk on the shoreline after dinner, going as far as we could go geologically, without going into the water, which took us about a mile away. We finished the night with a fire on the cliff overlooking the dark, calm lake. It was so warm that I had a t-shirt on the whole night. Those who have been up there know that is not normal at night or this time of year.

We woke up early, packed up and headed home for the almost three hour drive just in time for us to get home, settle in on the couch and spend a relaxing Sunday watching the Vikings get their first win. We watched football until it was time to go to bed. It was a great weekend!

See the big ship out the horizon?

Our cabin

Some orange moss on the rocks (or at least I think it's moss)

Even though they are grown men, they still need to climb in this cave area just like little boys. Ray is way back in there.

Use of my macro setting on the new camera

Bros

Buenos Dias!

We were feeding the seagulls cheese balls and bread. Once you throw something, they call all their friends and they are surrounding you

Gooseberry Falls-Nothing too impressive as far as the water levels. This was the lowest/smallest I've seen it in person. Because of this, we were able to walk around in many places that aren't accessible when the water is high.

Look at our little friend!

Agate Beach

Split Rock Lighthouse from the rest stop on the side of the road

The Temperance River- The rushing water was so loud underneath the bridge where this picture was taken

Back at the lake in front of our cabin

Do you see Ray in the picture below?

The lake was so calm that you could not distinguish the difference between the lake and the horizon

Sunday morning before we left. Click on the picture to see the ship on the horizon

Here's a better look

The remnants of the fire the night before