They Are Laying on the Tree of Life

Finally, the blanket that I toiled over since January is complete and in the hands of its owners. We brought the blanket to Andy and Shannon this weekend when we went to visit. Their wedding is less than 3 weeks away, and there is a good chance that Jared will not be able to make it out to Jersey for the big day, so we wanted to give it to them together.



They were very excited, and loved the blanket. Their reaction was good, but definatly not big enough. I am just afraid that no reaction could have been big enough for how many frustrating hours I put in on it! I am sure many of you quilters can understand that, right?



Here are the photos...

Too Far

I cam across this article today. I believe pill-mania has gone a little too far. If you have a few minutes, read through the article and let me know what you think.

FDA approves first pill meant to end periods

Who Said Hugo is Dull?

Wednesday morning I woke up and looked out the window and saw a police car parked in a driveway across the street. I looked down the street and saw two more squad cars blocking off the road. I watched the action over the course of several hours. During that time, a woman and her daughter came out of the house with bags packed, and a dog kennel in tow, and got into one of the squad cars. There was no sign of the man living there. Then two policemen clothed in white jumpsuits and masks, complete with yellow rubber galoshes, pulled container after container of liquid out of our neighbor's garage. Then they proceeded to test each container with a device that looked like a large walkie-talkie. The "antennae" part was actually like a straw that they stuck in the end of each container and then punched some buttons on the keypad. Our best guess at all this action was a drug bust. This morning our conclusions were confirmed. They busted the start of a meth lab.

KARE 11
Man arrested for making meth in Hugo
Washington County sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call about a domestic dispute but what they found was a meth lab.The deputies were called to a town home in Hugo around 6 a.m. When they arrived and entered the home they found a small meth lab. The deputies brought ether, ephedrine and trace amounts of meth out of the town home before ventilating the home and building. They arrested one man.Authorities say there was no health risk to any of the his neighbors.This is the first meth lab Washington County authorities have busted in three years.


Last Updated: 5/16/2007 4:34:39 PM


ABC NEWS
Meth lab found in Hugo

Washington County Deputies responding to a domestic call found a meth lab at a townhome in Hugo Wednesday morning. It is the first meth lab found in Washington County in at least three years, according to officials. Deputies responded to the call on Emmit Dr. and Education Dr. around 6 a.m. While inside, they found gallons of ether, ephedrine, and tubes testing positive for meth. Neighbors were notified, however, the home is ventilated well and there is no risk of an explosion, according to deputies. James Langer, 31, was taken into custody in connection with the threats and could face charges for the lab. Langer lives in the brand new complex with his girlfriend and her 12-year-old daughter.


Updated at: 05/16/2007 05:42:20
PMBy: Justin Piehowski, Web Manager

As Promised...

We had my parents over for a grill out on Saturday evening. It was a great evening, full of fun and laughter. After dinner, we sat around the living room and chatted. I commented on how trendy my mother's new style was as she sported this glittery, rainbow hat cocked dramitically to one side. It is the lastest fashion these days...

This is the moment she found out she would be famous. "You will be famous by tomorrow. This is going on my blog!"

Being the cool mom that she is, she decided that if she was destined for fame, she may as well strike a signature pose. You can look for this photo in all the lastest high fashion magazines.

eBay Angst

Have you ever felt the adrenaline rush of bidding on an auction you REALLY WANT, not knowing if the person on the other end is bidding higher than you at that exact moment? You enter your bid, and for a brief second, you feel like you are on top of the world, like you couldn't possibly contain any more pride, when that page comes up that reads "Congratulations! You are the current high bidder!" Then, only seconds later, you click refresh to make sure your success is secured. This time the page that comes up is not so reassuring. It reads, "I'm sorry. You have been outbid." Your pride is crushed. Your hope falls. Then the adrenaline rushes back and surges through your veins. You have new strength. You grit your teeth as an evil smile sneaks across your face. You enter your new bid, and shout "Outbid that!" as you slam your finger down on the Enter button. This is the point where you forget what you are bidding on, and are now just bidding to WIN. There are only 40 seconds left. There is only time for one more shot, so make it good. You wait. You are the high bidder. Refresh. 20 seconds. You are the high bidder. Refresh. You are going to win! Your heart rate is off the charts. 10 seconds. Your victory is almost secured. 3 seconds. Refresh.

"Bidding has ended for this item. You were outbid."

Tears.

Go Anna!

Last night was the annual performance by the Mini-Saints at Faith. This is Anna's last year in the choir. Jared and I, along with the family including two of my uncles from out of town, my aunt Wendy, my grandma Edie, and my parents, all gathered last night for the Saturday evening performance. This year, the story of Joseph was told through dancing and singing. All of the kiddos did an amazing job, and I just wanted to devote this post to congratulating them!

Here are some photos of the kids in action...



Jesse and Anna fighting over a scroll



Anna rockin out with her two best friends, Jesse and Steph



Jessi, Anna, Steph



Uncle Tom, Grandma Edie, Aunt Wendy, The Star: Anna Norquist, Uncle Dan, Papar, Marma

Apparently I Love Baseball!

I went to the Twins game yesterday with some relatives and I LOVED IT! If any of you saw the score or heard anything about the game, it was apparently a pretty lame one. Neither team scored throughout the entire 9 innings, or in the 10th. Then finally in the bottom of the 11th inning, with two bases full, Redmond hit a good one and the Twins won 1-0! And even though the game was not all that dynamic, I had a blast!



Uncle Tom, Jim, Grandma Edie, Aunt Wendy, Me sitting in our Diamond View seats!

Joe Mauer, who coincidentally was born the same year I was. There is my claim to fame.... lame?

Papar and Foofy at the game!

Money and Baseball

Good news!! We sold the motorcycle! This is such a blessing, and has put into motion a series of events affecting our future in preparation for the baby (Whew! That was mouthful!).
In simpler terms, we are able to pay off the remainder of the bike loan, with a considerable amount left over. With the extra money we are going to pay off some other debts we have, and thus lower our monthly payments. This will in turn allow us to save up enough $$ for a down payment on a cross-over vehicle for me and baby. (Need I even hint that the cars we have now would not be considered "reliable"?) Anyways, I feel like God is taking good care of us here and laying out a future for our growing family.

In other news, I am going to a Twins game on Thursday! I have not been to one since I was about 6ish. I am pretty excited. I am going to with my grandma, aunt, papar, and uncle from out of town and am very excited to spend the afternoon with all of them. Plus, I actually know the rules of baseball, which will make the game even more enjoyable. There is one thing that has been bothering me though... what am I supposed to wear to the game? I don't own one thing that has any kind of sport emblem on it, much less any Twins items. I guess I will just pick from the few items of clothing that still fit me. Shouldn't be too hard as there aren't many, and we haven't had the chance to go out shopping for my new wardrobe yet.

Sunshine Brings It Out

I have decided that the sun has a more powerful effect on people then we realize. The awareness of this effect is in the back of our minds constantly-- that when the sun comes out, we are put into a state of happiness and itch to get outside and bask in this mysterious medicine.

I know that in my case, my mood for the day is largely based on the weather. When the sun is shining bright, my mood is always more cheerful, and it shapes my whole day. When Spring rolls around every year, and the sun starts to shine on a daily basis, inevitably the greenhouses are on the way, people of all ages dot the sidewalks, and the beautiful smell of smoke from the BBQ fills the air. I love this time of year. Hope and happiness is the oxygen I breath during these Spring days.

This theory was proved further this week when we received four calls of interest about coming to test drive Jared's motorcycle (which is for sale). The reason I say that the sun has any effect on this is because the bike has been for sale since January, and we have not had a single bite... until this week.

Yay for the sunshine!!

The sun has come out,
People want to buy the bike,
Please keep shining bright!

Pregnancy Blog

I created a new blog specifically devoted to keeping you all informed on my pregnancy. Check it periodically to find out how things are going for baby and me!

http://babyblab.blogspot.com/

(I will try to post my first update this week sometime.)

Stuck in the Middle

Right now I am at that akward stage in every pregnancy, where my normal clothing no longer flatters my growing belly, and yet, maternity clothing looks like a giant potato sack draped over my body.
I found this especially true as I sorted through my closet today. I packed away much of my normal clothes, and replaced it with the few maternity pieces I have aquired. As I packed away my clothes, I could not help but wonder whether or not that was the last time I would every be able to wear some of those outfits. Would I have to start all over after the baby is born and my body is changed forever? Then I began to wonder if I would even like the style of these clothes after I became a mother. I don't feel like a dress very "motherly" now. Will I end up being one of those matronly dressers, at the young age of 24? Or will I be able to maintain that hip, young mother style? These thoughts got me so flustered and bittersweetly sad, that I played loud rocker music, and rocked out while completing my task. It made me feel a little more my age I guess.
After calming my worries, I realized I know a lot of really awesome moms, some hip, some not, but awesome just the same. I guess it does not really matter what someone wears. Heck, if none of these clothes fit me, then I guess I will be forced into a shopping trip, and who can be upset about that?

Used Car Salesmen Will Say Anything

Yesterday after work, Jared and Nathan met me in Maplewood to see if the key we received in the mail would win us a new Nissan. We walked through the door of the dealship at 3:15. We did not walk out until 6:05. Well actually, Nathan and I walked out three times, but were called back in again. Here is the story:

In my niave little mind, I thought we would be able to waltz in, try out our key, and leave. Obviously the point of these keys is to get people into the dealship, so they can pound you into the ground trying to sell you a car. After answering a few simple questions, the salesman jumped up, and as he scurried away, he shouted back over his shoulder that he was going to pull up the "perfect" car for us. I believe they learn this technique at their Shady Salesmen of America meetings. This way, we had no time to protest.

So he pulled up a navy blue Acura MDX. At this point we had already been at the dealership for 30 minutes. Nathan and I were going to walk out to the car to leave, but when I saw the Acura, I decided I could go with on the test drive. We took it out and immediatly noticed a very violent vibrating originating at one of the wheels. After the test drive, we drove it to the onsite service center to be fixed. Meanwhile, we were ushered back into the dealship, asked how much per month we would be able to pay for this car, and then before we knew it, Mr. Shady was shaking our hands and Congratulating us on the purchase of our new car. WHAT? Jared and I looked at eachother confused, and then proceeded to wait around for about 45 minutes while everyone ignored us.

At this point, Nate and I headed out the car to leave, and Jared stayed behind to tell them we had to go. I was called back in, because coincidentally right when we had to leave, they were suddenly ready to talk to us about financing options. They presented us with numbers well above what we gave them as our MAX payments, to which we said no. We excused ourselves to talk things over, and after reaffirming the conclusion that the payments were indeed too high, I walked again out to the car, and Jared went back in to decline their offer. He told them that we did indeed like the car, but that his wife was not okay with the payments and we would not be able to buy it.

So, they sent the Acura home with us for a day to convince me we actually did need it. Obviously they do not understand that liking a car enough to want to buy it, does not mean that suddenly we can afford it. Jared picked it up from the service center, where the mechanic explained to him what they had done to fix it and that it should be in pristine running order.
Anyways, after driving the car off the lot, the vibrations were even stronger than before and were now accompanied by a groaning sound at every turn. When they called later that evening to find out how I liked it, Jared told them of the terrible vibrations, and they quickly replied that they had not serviced it yet, and that it would get taken care of.

BULLCRAP.

We are returning the car this afternoon with an empty tank of gas.

Heart of Gold

I heard my baby's heartbeat today. Best day of my life.

Quilting Retreat '07

The Stack and Whack Quilt I made for BB!


A faux chenille baby blanket for BB

(It looks much differently after it is washed and all the edges fray)


Naomi, Erin, Sarah, Ariel (the lamb) at the "Walking in God's Garden" Dinner

Oh Baby

I realized today that I have not once blogged about how my pregnancy is going since I broke the news. It seems like that is all I would be interested in blogging about since it is constantly on my mind, but somehow it slipped through the cracks.

So today my entry is devoted to my baby.

I will be 12 weeks tomorrow, which means I am now entering the second trimester (which I have heard is the "golden trimester.")

So far, baby has been VERY gracious to me. I have not experienced a moment of naseau or vomiting, which in my case is the best possible present I could ever receive. I am the person that waits for two days to throw up when I have the flu because I detest the sensation so strongly. The "symptoms" I have experienced are food aversions to heavy/greasy foods and overly seasoned foods. I am also pretty sensitive to smells, and have been more tired than usual. My belly is just starting to grow now, and is at the size that hints to the outside world that I have been putting on a few pounds, rather then brewing a little one. ;)

My first prenatal visit is scheduled on Mom's birthday, April 3rd. We are VERY EXCITED to hear the heartbeat for the first time!

While I am on this subject, I think it would be fun to share with you the names that people have taken to calling the little one.

My brother Ben gave the babe the first name: Baby Sue (since he is postive it will be a girl)

Erin- Tootsie, NFP (Tootsie was the original name, but we realized that should it be a boy, that would not be a very flattering name. So at about 1am sometime during the quilting retreat, she renamed it NFP. This originated from the method of "birth control*" we were using called Natural Family Planning. *Let me make it clear that this baby is not an oopsy)

I have taken to calling him/her: BB, Little Babe (BB stands for Baby ______. Both the girl's name and the boy's name we picked out starts with B ;)

Please feel free to come up with your own nicknames! These are the fun things that will go in his/her scrapbook someday and will be fun to look back on!

In closing, we have been beginning to prepare the nursery. We cleaned out Jared's office recently to make room for BB. Last week we bought paint, and have plans to start preparing the walls tonight. Hopefully we will be able to paint this weekend! Things are starting to happen, and it is getting very exciting!

We Have a Nursery! Strange!

Yesterday I picked up several paint color samples from Menards for the nursery! Then I spent about a half an hour mixing and matching colors until I came up with two different combinations that I just loved. One is a six color slide from aqua blue, to purple. The other is a combo of pastels: orange, yellow, green and blue. I showed both of them to Jared and, of course, he liked both of them instantly. After arriving home last night, we taped both of the color combinations up on the wall, and we simultaneously turned to eachother and agreed instantly on one over the other. The hues of aqua/blue/purple just didn't look right. The orange and yellow in the other combo just looked so bright and cheerful, and very gender nuetral! When we realized we had decided for sure on the color scheme for our baby's room, we just looked at each other, smiled and then hugged.

I checked today in the Menards ad, and it is just our luck that they are having a $5 off sale on all of their Dutch Boy paint this week! We are picking up the paint for OUR BABY'S ROOM in about 2 hours! Yay! This is becoming a little more real...

Vagabonds

This week Jared and I have been aimless wanderers. We have floated from home to home using our hosts for food and lodging. And we loved it. Since returning home from our cruise on Monday, we slept at our own house one time (Monday night). From there, we started on our journey of drifting from place to place. We did not return to our house until last night when we realized that Monday was bringing cold, hard reality with it. This week was Jared's vacation, and we really enjoyed it. I still had Emma with me, but it really was a fun week and went by pretty fast.

On Tuesday the weather was gorgeous, with 60 degree weather and the sun shining bright. I believe this was the day that inspired the vagabonds within us. We went to Abby and Ben's, grilled some brats and drank pink lemonade. We ate their food and then slept in their bed that night. I think that by Wednesday morning Abby and Ben guessed our game, and kicked us out. Did this dampen our wandering spirits? No! We had plenty of other places to hit up!

It was off to Gary's. This was an especially good spot to land for awhile. We were able to trick him into taking us out to eat several times, offer us unlimited lodging, and never want us to leave. We really had him in our clutches. We even charmed him into bringing us all (including Emma) to the car show on Saturday. Mwaaa haaa haaa haaa! On Friday night, Jared weasled his way into the Moritz home, and lived like a king. By Saturday, Abby and Ben decided they had not had enough of us and invited us to go dancing for St. Patty's day. We ate at a bar and grill (YUM-O), and of course, tricked them into paying for all the food (Ha ha ha!) And then followed them back to their house, where, of course, we were offered a warm bed and promise of hot breakfast in the morning.

Yeah, it was a good week.

Bermuda, Bahama, Come on Pretty Mama!

Well we are back from our glorious Bahamas cruise! It was WONDERFUL! The sun was shining everyday and the temperatures hung between 80-100 degrees! We ate until our pants were too tight and relaxed until we needed to move again! And the best part? I GAINED ONLY 1.5 POUNDS! Not too bad if you ask me! Plus I have an amazing excuse for those lbs, since a baby is growing inside of me rapidly!



I started out on the first two days with a very nice pinkish tan after laying out in the sun. However, on the third day, I went back to my room to admire myself in the mirror and gaze at the new layer of tan I was positive I has just aquired, but my eyes were met by red blotches of heat rash scattered all over my body! This trend continued for the remainder of the cruise, so by the last few days I just stopped trying to tan altogether and did not worry about tan lines. This was actually very liberating. Now I was COMPLETELY worry-free... what a true vacation should be like!

We stopped in Freeport, Bahamas, and went snorkling and sailing there. The colors of the fish were amazing and soooo beautiful! Then two days later, we stopped in Nassau, Bahamas, and shopped the day away! Every night for dinner we went to the formal dining room and ate 4 course meals that were better than the most expensive restaurants we have been to here! We watched two amazing broadway-type dance shows, one of my favorite parts.

Here are some of my favorite photos!




Soft Serve! Ben's running TOTAL: 52 cones


Dancing the night away to 80's music

Welcome to the Bahamas!

Bahama Babes!


Puttin' on the Ritz!

Week in Review

SUNDAY
3:45 am- Ford serpentine belt shreds to pieces
10:20 am- Mazda throws serpentine belt
2:30pm- Jared gets a ride home from work with co-worker, Ford rots in NWA parking ramp
4:45 pm- Dad fixes Mazda

MONDAY
8:30 am- Jared replaces Ford serpentine belt at work
2:45pm- Ford has severe troubles accelerating and has general loss of power
4:00pm- Ford is misdiagnosed at CarCare

TUESDAY
All day- Jared and Richard replace mass airflow pump (or something like that)
Evening- Ford still rotting

WEDNESDAY
All day- Jared and Richard replace fuel pump, fuel gauge, test exhaust line and catalytic converter
11:15pm- Ford still broken, but Jared drives it home, check engine light appears

THURSDAY
All day- Ford rots in our driveway

FRIDAY
3:45am- Ford dies by 35E
3:50am- Jared calls AAA to tow it to the shop
4:10am- Gary arrives to drive Jared home to pick up Mazda
4:35am- Jared drives back to where he left the Ford, it is gone
4:37am- Jared calls AAA, they don't have it
4:39am- Jared calls police, they impounded it (yes in the 45 minutes he was gone)
6:00am- Jared arrives at work 2 hours late
5:30pm- Arrive at impound lot and pay $160 to get our car back
6:00pm- AAA tows Ford to Ford dealership to get fixed
7:00pm- we go home

SATURDAY
3:30am- Mazda throws a pully, Jared barely makes it back into the driveway
3:35am- Naomi runs downstairs after hearing the garage door open, Jared breaks the news
3:35- 3:42am- TEARS
4:15am- Gary picks us both up, we drive Jared to work
2:30pm- Jared gets a ride home from co-worker (who can't believe his story at this point)
Present- both cars out of commission, Gary offers his RELIABLE minivan for the next few days until we leave to go on our much needed CRUISE VACATION.

"My Sunday Afternoon"

Yesterday I awoke to a beautiful, snow-covered world. White, fluffy snow glistened in the morning sunlight. I attended a beautiful wedding on Saturday night, where the theme was so appropriate... snowflakes! All the bridesmaids lined up in their various-shades-of-blue dresses, holding a single white rose sprayed with blue glitter. The bride donned clear, shiny nails, topped with blue glitter and a little snowflake in the corner of her ring finger. Since the snow came so quickly, I spent the night at a friend's house.

At some point over the weekend I had lost my socks in all the chaos, and thus trudged outside to brush off by car with my barefeet shoved inside my shoes. The snow was THICK and it took quite a while to remove it all from my car. Task completed, I hopped in my car to go spend a few hours with precious Emma. I attempted to plow through the huge drift of snow at the end of the driveway, and on my fourth attempt, I made it to the road. As soon as I started driving, I noticed the bright red battery light staring me in the face. Oh no. This happened last weekend and it meant the serpentine belt broke. I was running on battery power and knew I would not make it very far. After finding out that Jared's serpentine belt had broken that morning as well, and thus was stranded at work, I lost all control and cried until my eyes were red and puffy. I slowly made my way to the church parking lot, about 1 mile away.

Luckily, my handy dandy mechanic father was at church, and was able to determine that the belt had, in fact, not broken, but merely popped off due to a copious amount of snow packed around the pullies. Again, I cried, but this time because I was glad the problem was not as serious as I originally thought. I drove it to my parents house, with the family behind me, ready to rescue me if necessary. Upon arrival, dad turned down the bed for me, mom made me some lunch, and then they sent me off to bed (crying, of course, because I was so tired and stressed out). Meanwhile, dad spent his Sunday afternoon out in the garage fixing my car. After replacing the belt, he realized something was out of alignment, and fixed that problem as well. Yay for daddies! After my much needed two-hour nap, I awoke to a brand new car, and a hug from my dad. As I was leaving, he whispered in my ear,

"There is nothing else I would rather do with my Sunday afternoon than help my little girl."


Yeah, I cried.