It's Official!

Well...as you can see, the last few months haven't had much activity on this blog. As you can also see in the pictures, the reason why. Yes, Jason and I have taken the plunge and opened up our own business. We opened this past Monday and are open 4 days a week. I'm only there 2 days per week and for the first 2 weeks, Jason is there the rest of them. We hired an optician who starts after the 1st of the year. So far, so good for our first 2 days! Jason and I are both working full time in our other jobs and doing this "on the side". I hope to be full time soon (could be a few years, but....we'll see!) at this place and quit where I am right now. Time will tell!

My Personality

My Personality

Neuroticism	58
Extraversion	52
Openness To Experience	55
Agreeableness	44
Conscientiousness	93

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The Biggest Bloomin' Mum You'll Ever See

More Pictures of Mystery Dinner

The Butler "Tom"

Oh no! A rat in the cheese and crackers!

The Ambiance

The Guys

The Girls (If you notice, I have a "shawl" on. The reason being is that there wasn't a wedding dress to be found in Madison today at any Goodwill or St Vincent De Paul in the city, so....I borrowed Gina's (who is standing next to me) wedding dress from last Halloween and as you can see, there is a definite different in size so I couldn't zip up the back of it!)

The Group (plus Brandon the cow!)

Tom & Savanna

Halloween Mystery Dinner

Tami & Jason



Tami & Jason



Theo & Sarah



Jerry & Gina



Brent & Rachel

Well, tonight we went to a Halloween Mystery Dinner at Tom & Savanna's. It definitely was a well done event. As you walked into their "castle" with "brick" walls, fog and candles on the table, the mood was set. I went as the Bride of Dracula, Jason as Dracula, Tom as the butler, Savanna as the witch, Sarah and Theo as the Adam's, Brent as Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde and Rachel as a rich woman, Kruella. Jerry was Frankenstein and Gina was Poison Ivy. It was a fun evening. I would definitely suggest doing a mystery dinner. By the way, Dracula was the one whodunnit. (Some of the pictures got a little blurry because of the dark.)

Up, Up and Away!

I think another interesting thing to track is the number of airports one has been to. Anyone else think that? I'll try to remember all the ones I've flown to in the short number of years I've been flying (since either '98 or '99...someone else can help me out on that one since I had 2 other passengers with me on my first flight!).

1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Portland, OR
3. Sioux Falls, SD
4. Madison, WI
5. Scranton, PA
6. Atlanta, GA
7. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
8. Cincinnati, OH
9. Cancun, Mexico
10. Seattle, WA
11. Los Angelos, CA (LAX)
12. San Salvador, El Salvador
13. Detroit, MI
14. Knoxville, TN
15. Memphis, TN
16. Fargo, ND
17. Grand Forks, ND

I believe this is the entire list. How many have you been to??

Oh the Places you Go...

After taking my trip to TN, I was thinking of all the states and countries I'd been to so I thought I'd share that all with you!

The following are states I've lived in for at least 6 weeks:

1) ND
2) OR
3) WI
4) PA

These states I've visited in the past:

5) WA
6) NV
7) ID
8) CA
9) MT
10) SD
11) WY*
12) UT
13) AZ
14) NM
15) NE
16) KS
17) OK
18) TX
19) MN
20) IA
21) MO
22) AR
23) IL
24) MI
25) IN
26) OH
27) WV*
28) KY**
29) TN
30) MD
31) NY
32) NJ
33) NC
34) VA

I've also been to Washington DC.

*Drove through a corner of the state.
**Touched ground at an airport as they shuttled us across the airport so I actually touched the true ground..this one is stretching a bit as having been there! Unless I've been there some other time and couldn't remember when!

Therefore, states I need to visit yet:

1) CO
2) LA
3) MS
4) AL
5) GA
6) SC
7) DE
8) ME
9) NH
10) VT
11) CT
12) MA
13) RI
14) AK
15) HI
16) FL

I'll also mention that I've been to Canada (Manitoba and British Columbia), Mexico and El Salvador.

Where have you been to?

Find Your Spot

On recommendation from another blog I took the quiz to find the spot where I should live based on their questions. I think that I answered them a bit strange because I'm not sure I would like to live in the places it chose for me!

1. Stillwater, MN
2. New York Mills, MN
3. Scottsbluff, NE
4. Spearfish, SD
5. Mitchell, SD
6. Hancock-Houghton, MI
7. Hutchinson, MN
8. White Bear Lake, MN
9. Pierre, SD
10. Petoskey, MI

Further down on the list was Fargo-Moorhead and Bismarck. I didn't get any from Wisconsin on there. I thought it kinda strange, but then realized I hadn't put that I needed a professional sports team! It seems to be swarming with sports fans here. I like an occassional game, just not all the time! If you want to take the quiz, go to www.findyourspot.com.

Our lot is a wildlife refuge!

When we got back from TN, Jason was looking at the grass outside and was wondering why there was a dead spot by our hose box. Usually that side of the house stays nice and green since it's shaded. He was going to remove the dead grass and look at what was there!


Rabbits!

TN/NC pictures

Just a few more pictures of TN/NC trip. Blogger decided I wasn't supposed to add so many to one post I guess!





Cherokee, NC



World's Fair Park Knoxville, TN



The Appalachian Trail is at the top of the Smoky Mountains. This divides TN from NC.

I added two more states!

Smoky Mountain National Park











Pigeon Forge--Home of "Dollywood"



Gaitlinburg

Just this past week, Jason was in Oak Ridge, TN for the whole week. He has spent many weeks out there for training and I've never been there. Finally, we decided I would go this time. I spent from Wednesday until Friday there. Thursday was my day to sight see while he was in training. I drove from Oak Ridge to Pigeon Forge, through Gaitlinburg and into the Smoky Mountains. This crossed over into North Carolina and I went through Cherokee before taking I-40 back around to Knoxville. I stopped by World's Fair Park and saw the University of Tennessee. Actually, I saw more of it than I expected because I was looking at the map the wrong way and drove all the way through it and then some! Pretty much all the pictures here were taken from my car (first time I personally rented one!). One of the reasons why I didn't stop much was because I had gotten a cold on Wednesday and so I wanted to see things, but didn't want to do much else! Also, it's a lot nicer visiting places with someone else I found out!

Sculptures

Two weeks ago, Jason had some inspections up in Marshfield. I went with him and did some shopping and then we checked out this sculpture garden. It was very neat. I wanted to buy the flower or some cattails, but they weren't priced quite right for me.

Welcome Brandon John!

Here's Brandon, son of Jerry and Gina, who was born on July 30th. He's just over 5 pounds!

Health Care

I'm sitting here at work, manning the desk while the technicians look for new glasses. You probably think it's a slow day today, but it's been far from that. We had 8 people in the first 2.5 hours. So...my thought for today is....what does anyone reading this think about walk in appointments for health care? That could be dentists, optometrists, general physicians, chiropractors, etc. I'm not talking urgent care appointments...just that you decided you wanted something done (ie a new pair of glasses, a cleaning, etc) and walked into a facility. Is this something that will continue to become dominant in the US health care because people value their time more than their care? As you can probably read into this..I'm not a fan of walk ins. We do take them where I work, but we fit them in around our appointments. Because of that...our appointments can often get behind if the person that walked in was more of a challenge than we could fit in at the time. I love it when people that are over 75 com in and are wheelchair bound and expect to have the undivided attention of the doctor for at least 30-45 minutes (can't rush most older people) and expect to not have to wait at all. I have to admit that if we have a lot of appointments and a lot of walk ins that my care and time I take with the patients decreases...how much depends on how far behind I get and the type of patients there. I really wish people would have realistic expectations when they ask for a walk in appointment. What do you all think? Do you walk in for health care appointments? If a place said they took walk ins would you think that you couldn't schedule an appointment? Let me know what you think.

Meme--New word for me!

I've been instructed by my little sister to put this meme (had to look up the definition) on my blog and like the good older sister I am, I'm doing that!
I've bolded the ones that pertain to me and added one onto the end. Feel free to copy to your blog and do the same!


I've run away from home.
I watch the news.
I own an ipod.
I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
I don't kill bugs.
I've slipped out an "lol" in a real conversation. [Just to be silly.]
I love Spam.
I bake well.
I own something from Abercrombie.
I have a job.
I am in love with someone.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
I am self-conscious. [At times.]
I like to laugh.
I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
I can't swallow pills.
I've been out of this country.
I believe in ghosts.
I am really ticklish.
I love chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I've seen a shooting star.
I have had a serious surgical procedures.
I've laughed and had milk/soda come out of my nose.
I've pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
I've been skydiving.
I've been bungee jumping.
I've broken a bone.
I've gotten stitches.
I've been to Niagara Falls.
I've gotten the chicken pox.
I've been to Asia.
I've ridden in a taxi.
I've gone on a blind date.
I've been to Europe.
I am/have been married.
I've seen someone dying.
I've driven over 1000 miles in one day.
I've been to Canada.
I've been on a plane.
I've eaten sushi.
I've been snowboarding.
I've been skiing.
I've been ice skating.
I've been to a car show.
I'm going to or have gone to college. [Go Vikings! Go Boxers!]
I hate surprises.
I've been to the World Trade Center. [former site]
I love filling out forms/surveys.
I've started my own business. [Almost!]

A Techie at One and a Half

I've heard of getting your kids a cell phone when they start school, but at 1.5 years old???? And unable to talk yet??

10 year HS Reunion

Can you believe it's been so long? Here are some friends from my HS that were able to make it to the reunion. Nola--wish you could have been there!




Scott & Heather




Nicole & Darren




Aaron & Dawn

Happy 4th of July!

Here's Jazmine (3) and Jonathan (1.5) all decked out for the 4th of July.

Sun Protection

My niece, Jazmine, understands the importance of UV protection at the age of 3! Hmmm...maybe I should have checked to see if they are 100% UV protective!

Jonathan "Quacking"

Ella's Deli

The Raggedy Ann and Andy at Ella's Deli. It fed 4 adults and 2 kids just fine!

Gina's Baby Shower

Watermelon Baby Carriage



This is the "Shower" Cake Sarah and I made.



Sarah, Rachel, Gina, Tami, Savanna


Last night was Gina's Baby Shower. We had a grand ole time. Here are some of the highlights!

Fear Factor

This lovely concoction was called Pancake Flight: Fear Factor. Here is what it is starting on the upper left and going clockwise.

Maggots: Rice flavored "maggot" pudding topped with pineapple and kiwi infused "bug juice"

Cat Jewels: Apricot flavored feline dried "testicles" served with orange infused cat "urine" and cotton candy flavored "hair ball"

Worms: Sweet spaghetti flavored "worms" served on top of chocolate infused "mud"

Eyeballs: Lychee flavored "eye balls" served with strawberry flavored goats blood and eye ball syrup

Orange

We had a contemporary brunch at Orange. Pictured are Green Eggs and Ham and French Toast Kabobs. Jason even got orange coffee!

The Windy City

Well....we just got back from a trip to the Windy City. Had a grand time riding public transportation and also eating at neat places. Took in the free Contemporary Art Museum also. I'm glad it was free...it was interesting, but nothing I'd want to pay for. Sorry if I offended any artsy people out there. I do like contemporary art better than any other though. I'll put some pics on the next post.

Hanging Garden

Soon to have cucumbers and tomatoes! (If this process works like it should!)