Labor Day 2009

We returned home from Mason, OH (or "Cincy" if you will) yesterday afternoon. Tom's brother and sister-in-law are amazing hosts (think bed & breakfast) and treated us to lots of yummy meals, desserts and a comfortable and relaxing stay. We make the trip out two or three times a year and treasure the time with our nephew Grant, niece Brooke and the rest of Tom's family. It amazes me how parents keep up with young children - they never stop! *smile.

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We enjoyed some time with these two kiddos...Pretty in pink.
Birthday presents are the best!
Brooke turned 1, July 16th
And Grant turned 4, August 29th
Totally pumped for the American Idol concert in Indianapolis...(mother-in-law, Pam; me; sis-in-law, Natalie; sis-in-law, Trisha)
We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner before the concert and our waiter, Philip, who was adorable and so sweet to put up with our crazy antics.

Following the concert, we waited for an over an hour (in a very packed crowd) to see the Idols up close and personal...




We had a two hour drive home ahead of us and were just exhausted from lack of water and being on our feet for so long...
But it was all worth it for THIS MOMENT!
Our fabulous seats made the night even that much better.
Cannot wait for the season 9 premiere in January!

8 years

What a week of celebration - birthdays and anniversaries galore! Today is a also a special day in that my brother Scott and sis-in-law Nikki are celebrating 8 adventurous (they know what the word "adventurous" means more than anyone I know) years of marriage.

Happy Anniversary, you crazy kids!

With this ring I thee wed

Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom & Dad! 40 YEARS - that just absolutely amazes and impresses me. I think about approaching my own 2 year wedding anniversary and how that seems so long (in a good way) and I am beyond excited to see what God has in store for us in the next 38 years. I feel so blessed to have you as my parents to learn from, be encouraged by and most importantly - loved unconditionally. And I know the conditions haven't always been easy. *smile. I think about all you two have been through in your years as husband and wife, and it's evident that God has both blessed and strengthened you as individuals and a couple. You have always taught us kids to keep Him at the center of our lives and you have led by example.

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An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow. ~Author Unknown

In addition to celebrating a majorly memorable anniversary, dad is basking in the blissfulness of turning 62! (I'm guessing he may not agree with me on that one.) What a day! Happy birthday to my favorite dad!

Love you both!

$0 and milestones

No garage sales today as my husband reminded me that I haven't even used some of the things I've recently bought. I think his exact words were, "where is my sweater?" referencing this post.

Patience, Tom. Patience.

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Guess who turns 4 today?! THIS GUY! Happy birthday from Uncle Tom and Aunt Sarah, Grant! We love your hilarious and outgoing personality and can't wait to see you in 5 days. Sending you biiiig hugs from MN!

Also, Happy 1st Anniversary to my brother Brent and his wife, Sara! I can't believe it's already been one year since your wedding below. You guys bring out the best in one another and have MUCH to celebrate today. Congratulations! Love you both!

1:43:36

Upon arriving at Lake Phalen on Sunday, August 23rd, my nerves were calmed by the peacefulness of the 6:30 am sun and still water. To a participate, the buoys out in the distance mean you've made it half way and can head for "home" now. Calmed temporarily.

Until I saw this...the massive line for the "bathrooms" and hundreds of people all there for the same reason - either b/c they're faithful supporters of a family member or friend or just b/c they're plain ca-razy.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning....

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Erin and I had been "following" an 8 week training program that we found online here. And by "following" I mean basically looking at for inspiration but kind of doing our own thing. I did strength training on the days it said "strength" and most definitely rested on the days it said "rest." I attempted to fit in the number of swim, bike and run times it suggested per week, but they didn't always fall in the exact order in which was recommended. And I think it's safe to say that I avoided all training that took more than 60 minutes so that basically excluded all of the Sunday workouts. (Who wants to work out that much on the Sabbath?!) I did almost all of my prep work at Gold's Gym except for a few beautiful runs around Colby Lake in Woodbury (a few 5:15 am runs if we're being real "into details" here.) Despite having trained less than last year, I felt stronger/in better shape and my mile time had improved thanks to interval training on the treadmill (6 rounds of 40 second sprint, 2 minute easy pace - it works!) I was nervous for Sunday and still felt somewhat unprepared when comparing the very strict training schedule we stuck to the previous summer as shown here to what we did this summer, but ready or not...off we went.

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Well first we test road our rented (for free!) Trek bikes from Penn Cycle on a 10 mile ride along the beautiful (albeit a tad busy) scenic roads of Woodbury, MN. Trisha (middle) borrowed my sister-in-law, Nikki's, bike for the race and this one practice round. Let's just say it's much easier to ride a road bike up a large hill than a cruiser. Being a good sport though, Trisha rode with a smile (*ahem) on her face the entire way.

With our best tough faces. You should be scared - very scared - of Erin.

The alarm went off at 5:25 am on Sunday and after hitting snooze a few times, getting ready, drinking some coffee and loading the bikes - we were off! Tom and Trisha just can not contain their excitement as they anticipate participating in their first triathlon as a team (my brother swimming; Trisha biking; and Tom running.)I wish you could see just how burned I was after laying out on Saturday - not one of my wisest decisions! Thankfully it didn't bother me too much during the race.My older brother, Scott, and I super excited before the race. He is the reason I wanted to do a triathlon in the first place. I remember cheering him on during races when he was in high school and thinking they were soooooo cool. Such an adrenaline rush! I think we had the largest support group there this year. *smile. My in-laws, Pam & Greg, made the 6 hr drive from Council Bluffs, IA to come and cheer us all on. (Can you tell I'm not blood related?)

And of course my own parents wouldn't have missed it for the world. I think it brings back some fond memories for them of chasing us around the cross country course in high school. It's the same but different b/c there is water and bikes involved but still involves lots of running, loud cheering and picture taking.

Group shot of the athletes before the race started.

Scott (removing his cream colored swim cap) as he exits the lake.

Congratulations to myself for having put my face in the water this year! *smile. What a difference it makes! I thought I would improve my swim time even more just for having done that but I was still happy with my 25:17 swim time for the 1/2-mile and didn't leave the water absolutely drained like I did last year.

Erin dominated the swim, of course.

Scott either taking off or returning from the 12-mile bike ride.

Trisha so relieved to be done and pass the chip on to Tom.

Me almost finished with the 45:35 ride.

Tom did an amazing job on the run for his team, finishing in just over 23 minutes. So proud of him!

Scott approaching the finish line and last few seconds of the race.

Erin sprinting to the end!So close! I finished the 5k in 27:59 (and I will have you know I passed several people on my way in...*smile.)

We had absolutely perfect weather on Sunday and everyone did such an amazing job. What a great time!

Triathlon #2 - check.

Dry Clean Only

And they weren't kidding....*sad faceGood-bye Banana Republic Extra Fine Italian Merino dry clean only sweater.

You have been good to me over the last 5 years.

$37

My brother, Scott, called me at 8:45 am on Saturday morning and said, "you have to get in the car and drive to Hastings. We just found the mother of all garage sales." So instead of him picking out a few things for me, I decided to drive the 20 minutes each way to check things out. And I'm very thankful I did.
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Can you pick out my two new pairs of shoes?

There they are! $3 and $2.

I wasn't even sure what the pretty metal thing was when I bought it but for $3, I figured we could find a place for it somewhere. Tom thinks it goes in front of a fireplace or door? I honestly thought you hung it above a door on the wall...anyone know? It's very heavy so I'm guessing I'm wrong (gasp!).

They had all of my favorite brands of clothes. I would have hit the jackpot if I were a different size in pants but I still love my three new sweaters for $9 total (and all three either Limited or Banana.)

We have been on the lookout for a new table lamp in our formal living room. I had several options to pick from at this sale but decided on the one with the leaf patterns on it to match what has become a "nature" theme (as Tom calls it) in this room. $7.

Guess who is excited for fall?! These were $2 each and I figured they would be pretty with tea lights on the mantel or shelf.

Both of our parents generously gave us floor lamps when we first moved in to our house two years ago. I bought this lamp shade for $2 to spruce this bronze/brown stand up. It may not be the perfect size, but I think it looks better than the original (see below.)

And I am very happy to report that this gray/gold stand (and original shade to stand above) are by the door on their way to the garage to eventually be picked up by the Lupos Foundation of MN as a donation. Yay!

And my steal of the day....this gorgeous Limited suit. The jacket fits perfect while the pants are just a taaaad too small. *smile. She had $10 on it but when I explained that only one piece fit (for now) she said, "how does $5 sound?" Um, for a never been worn, Limited suit? I think I'll take it! I'm picturing the jacket with dark jeans and heels for a date with my hubby and I now have another pair of "goal pants" to add to my "maybe someday" section of the closet in the guest bedroom. All girls have "goal pants" right? *smile.There were a few other odds and ends as well, including an almost full container of Swifer wet jet cleaner for our Swifer for $.50. What a sale!