2-Year Wedding Anniversary

Ray and I both worked on our anniversary this year and had agreed to go out to dinner and not get each other anything as a gift.

We went to dinner at the Red Ox (yummy!!), which is the restaurant we had our reception at two years ago. Good memories :)

While I held to our agreement and didn't get Ray anything, he came home with this:


It's a euonymus bush I've been wanting for along our fence line! I've been spending so much on plants this year that I was putting off buying the bush. I am really happy Ray got it for me. He also made another romantic card for me, like last year. My husband, the poet!

I love you, Gimpy!

What I've Been Working On

My friend Julie is having a baby in August (yay!) and her baby shower was last Saturday. I had been planning on just buying something off of her registry, but then I saw what our friend Leah had planned! Leah made Julie a really awesome baby scrapbook so that Julie can just add pictures in after the baby is born. I decided I needed to give Julie a more "personal" gift as well.

My gift isn't anywhere near as cool as Leah's, but I really liked how it turned out:



In case you can't tell, it's a bib on which I cross-stitched the little dog and saying. I did get Julie something off of her registry as well, but I was really excited about being able to include something I had made myself! I finished Friday night, in the nick of time :)

Backyard Gardening

Last fall, the neighbors that we share a back property line with put a fence up. Both us and the neighbors have large picture windows facing the back, and two of our arborvitae had died, so we were happy to have the fence put in. Now we don't have to look out our back window right into theirs!

Anyway, as soon as I saw the fence last fall, I knew I would want to plant a flower garden in front of it. I've already put some things in and have a few more items planned but not bought yet. Here is what the fence area looks like now:


I'm hoping to put another picture up next summer that has a lot more color in it (and a lot less fence). We'll see!

Also, we bought and planted a lilac bush in one corner of our backyard. I absolutely love lilacs and hope to enjoy this bush for many years to come!


Since I just cut back to working part time this week, I'm hoping to be able to spend a lot more time gardening this summer. It's something I really enjoy. Grow, flowers, grow!

Waddling By

Look what came waddling through our yard the other night!

He was chasing after his wife. (I didn't get the camera out fast enough to get a picture of her.)

So cute :)

Flying to Madison to Go Shopping

Last week, our friend Tony emailed Ray and I and asked if we wanted to fly to Madison with him to go shopping at REI (an outdoor gear store). We couldn't possibly say no!

We met Tony at MaxAir in Appleton on Friday afternoon. It was really neat to not have to go through security or arrive an hour before our flight or anything. Tony had already done his pre-flight safety check before we got there, so we pretty much got out of our car and hopped into the airplane!

On the flight down, I got to sit in the front with Tony and Ray sat in the back seat with Tony's gear (yep, that accounts for all of the seats in the entire plane!).


It was really neat. We flew over Lake Poygan and the Fox River. Plus, we flew a lot lower than commercial planes do, so we could see houses and cars and things during the entire trip. I even got to take the yoke ("steering wheel") and fly! Obviously, I did not kill us :)

Once we landed in Madison, we took a taxi to REI and had some dinner.


Ray took the front with Tony on the way back. I think I actually like the back seat better. It was very relaxing!


Oh, and we flew past the Capitol building! It was lit up and really looked gorgeous. Here's a picture, though it doesn't do it justice.


A very fun night!

Orthodontic Update, March 2009

It's been awhile since my last orthodontic update!

I went in today to get my last two "free" teeth banded. They are the last molars on my upper jaw. There's not much room up there, so things are pretty sore. There's also hooks sticking out on the inside of the band, so my tongue is really sore, as well. I can see why Dr. Olsen saved these bands for last :(

When I was in last month, I asked for a timeline update from Dr. Olsen. I was really happy when he took a couple of minutes to think about it before answering me. It wasn't just an off-the-cuff answer.

Anyway, he said I should be ready for surgery by November or December of this year. I was hoping for a little sooner, but afraid it would be even longer, so I'm ok with this!

Please say a little prayer that my tongue will "toughen up" soon and I can eat more than just ice cream... wait a minute, I love ice cream! I guess you should still pray for me since I don't think ice cream in and of itself is a balanced meal :)

Breaking News: Wedding Scrapbook Completed!

It finally happened! I finished my wedding scrapbook! It's about time, considering that Ray and I have been married for over a year and a half now :)

It was a really fun book to put together, actually. Many times, I found myself smiling, remembering.

Now it's time to get started on the honeymoon scrapbook. A scrapbooker's work is never done!