Snowmageddon!

If you are not in Minnesota and haven’t heard or are in Minnesota and are just getting up from a long nap allow me to be the first to tell you that it has snowed. 15+ inches of snow in St Paul! Which is the biggest snowfall since the Halloween Blizzard in 1991. It started late on Friday night and lasted nearly all of Saturday.

I left for work at about 4:30 AM and actually had no trouble getting there. As the day went on though we could not believe how much snow was coming. No matter how much we shoveled or plowed we couldn’t keep up. I wish I had called in. It was dead obviously. Anyone who did go shopping that day is an imbecile in my opinion.

After 9 hours of feeling helpless against the storm at work I got ready to go home. I dug my car out and had to drop a coworker off. The drive to near his house was rough but manageable. After I dropped him off I got stuck on my way towards a somewhat plowed road. Thankfully I had bought a small shovel at work before I headed home. I used that to shovel my way to the intersection and finally got onto Snelling.


The drive home was somewhat perilous. Drove through several red lights and nearly got stuck a few times. At last I came to my street but when I turned...I became stuck. I called Katie to come help me get unstuck. We decided that there was no way to get the car up the street so we shoveled out a spot by the curb and left the car there. Total time from work to home was more than 2 hours.

The trek home was crazy. Just over a block to the house but the snow was so deep! In some place nearly up to my waist! We got in cleaned up and I called the Tag and Tow line and told them what my situation was. They assured me I would not be ticketed as long as I promptly moved my car after the plow cleared the road.

So Katie made some homemade pizza and we ate dinner and watched Gone with the Wind. I fell asleep as I was exhausted and am not sure how I ended up in bed.

The next day I called into work because there was no way to get to work. After Katie made a hearty breakfast I geared up to go outside and shovel the sidewalks and get the car out. To go with the epic amount of snow the temp outside was now -20 wind chill.



After clearing out behind the garage and noticing the alley was not plowed I made my way to the car. It was still in the same spot...on the same unplowed road...with a ticket! So ticked off I have to deal with this.

Anyway I noticed on the walk to the car that enough snow had been packed down so that I should be able to make it to a plowed street. I did some more clearing of snow and tried to get out. After trying several times and getting stuck a passing person offered help...only it was a guy I used to work with! He helped guide me to backing out and I got on the street again. I sped down the road and made it to the plowed street. After that I walked home and cleared the sidewalk and the porch and came in.



Long day! I’m sore and tired. I am inside and warm watching football. So it’s all good now.

PS The Dome collapsed! How crazy is that?



Oh well hopefully we don’t have to deal with any more blizzards anytime soon.
We can’t wait for our cruise in January!


J/K

Catching up

Hey there every peoples! It’s been about 3 months so I figure I should probably give a quick update on what we got going on lately. When we last left you we were looking forward to our first real vacation since our honeymoon. While the family trip to the Branson, MO area was nothing spectacular it was a welcome break from the daily grind of werk and such.

Katie and I headed down the day before everyone else so we could do some hiking in MO before we went to the resort. So we left after work and headed out. We weren’t quite sure where we were going or what we were doing that night. Let’s just say we saw Omaha at night and it was cool. We tried making it to KC but decided to stop at a Motel 6 in St Joseph MO. I had fallen asleep at some point and when I awoke we were driving around somewhere in St Joe. I asked Katie where we were and she said in town looking for the motel.

After what seemed like driving through and around the entire city we finally figured out where it was. As we pulled in Katie said, “It looks like it’s closed.” I said, “That’s because it’s a Red Lobster!” The hotel was behind the restaurant and confused us at 2 AM. So I went in and got a room. We went to the room and…there were bugs crawling all over!! So needless to say we left and decided to keep going and finally we just pulled into a rest stop outside of downtown KC and slept in the car. It was a pretty cool experience actually and we even saved some money! We woke up that morning around 630 and continued to head to our destination at Ha Ha Tonka State Park to do some hiking.

After a few hours we reached the park and got out to hike. There was a cool old “castle” that we hiked to and walked around the ruins. It was neat and perched on a nice overlooking cliff. We hiked down to the lake below and back up. It was very hot and just as we got back to the car it started raining so we decided that was all the hiking we were going to do for the day. So we began our trip to the resort. All the while we had been listening to “I Am Legend” on audio book. It was a very good book! I think better than the movie in some ways.

So anyway we spent the week at this resort outside of Branson and enjoyed relaxing in the sun. Katie would swim and read by the pool. All the babies loved swimming and we spent lots of time at the pool. We also played a lot of night tennis and catch. One of the days we spent the day on a pontoon riding around a lake and even did some cliff jumping! It was a good vacation all in all!

After enjoying the summer and with fall approaching we decided we needed to get out and camp one more time before it got too cold. So we made plans to go camping but our place was full so we switched to St Croix state park in Hinckley. We spent the weekend there enjoying the fall colors and campfires. On Saturday we hiked for 14 miles and we didn’t even get to where we were headed! So the next day we drove to this old fire tower lookout. It was so cool being above it all and seeing the colorful trees. It was also I little scary considering there was not much for safety when climbing the tower. Katie made cool meals for us to cook over a fire. She even made muffins using hollow oranges! It was a fun weekend.

Now as the cold sets in we are looking forward to a winter vacation. We are thinking somewhere warm like a cruise or maybe taking advantage of the cheaper off season in Europe…which will still be warmer than Minnesota in the January.

We’ve now been in our house about 6 months! We can’t believe it. It seems so new to us yet totally feels like home. My dog from growing up that has lived at my parent’s house while I was in college and before we got the house has joined us. It was a little weird at first…for us and him but now it seems weird if he’s not around. He mainly lies around but is fun to play with him and have a dog around. For the most part we have loved having him in our house but one thing we don’t like is when there is a storm….he FREAKS OUT! He has always done it so it’s nothing new…just haven’t dealt with it for a few years.

Of course since he doesn’t like storms we’ve had a lot. In fact I’d say that the severity of the storms and the loudness of the thunder have been more intense than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. Its crazy how loud it has been and how much it has caused him to freak out…and keep us up all night. Oh well he is pretty easy other than that so we won’t complain too much.

As for the weather there was a pretty nasty hail storm that hit a while back and caused some damage to our siding. A few people in the neighborhood have gotten new roofs and or siding. We have had all sorts of people come up to our doors trying to sell us new roofs and such but so far we haven’t gotten anything done.

Inside the house we got a few new things going on. We are planning on putting wood floors down on the main level sometime soon. We have the flooring it’s just a matter of finding time to install it. As for our rooms we have essentially been settled in since June but our spare bedroom had been lacking a bed so finally a few weeks ago we got Katie’s old bed and put it in there and now it definitely feels like a bedroom now. In the sewing room/office we moved some stuff around and even got a new big chair so I can sit in there while Katie sews.

Katie has been sewing more lately. She has been making baby blankets for all the babies and even whipped up a couple little ball type things for them to play with. They all seem to love their presents! It’s nice for them to have stuff made and not just bought. It feels a little more special.

Speaking of kids…the babies are growing pretty quick. Baby Katie is walking and even starting to talk. Sydney and she could get into lots of trouble as they get a little older. As for the twins…Tyler is a big boy. He recently weighed in at over 17lbs! while Anna is a dainty 14 lb 12 oz. Mason on the other hand is catching up. Although he is a few months younger is almost the same weight as Anna and is practically as long as Tyler. He is a little monkey. Oh and Julie is ready to go any day now with their little baby! No name yet other than Lil Sharky. He is expected on Nov. 28th!
All the babies dressed up for Halloween. Anna was a banana and Tyler was a football. Baby Katie was a duck and Sydney was a panda bear and Mason was a monkey! We had trick-or-treaters this year for our first Halloween with a house. They seemed to start late but came on strong and we even ran out of candy!

With all those babies to take care of Travis was hoping to get a more secure job instead of just contract work. Well thankfully he did. He is a director at Best Buy! Besides being a great job that he likes to do it has great benefits and is now a secure position that he hopefully can be at for a long time!

In other news my mom recently had a pretty extensive back surgery to help fix her spine. Her spine was something resembling a crazy straw and they basically fused it to a titanium rod so that it will remain straight. She will need care for some time and has to be in a large protective cast for several months so it’s going to be a long winter for her. On the plus side her spine is straight and she totally grew like 2+ inches!

Thanksgiving will be a bit harder since she won’t be able to do a lot of cooking but everyone will be helping out! On thanksgiving Katie and I along with her family will be running a 5K that morning should be interesting. Then we will have lunch with my family and then dinner with Katie’s side of the family.

We are looking forward to putting up our own Christmas tree for the first time and having a Xmas of our own! Although we are not looking forward to the cold and darkness of winter again.

This past Monday Katie and I both took the day off of work to celebrate our 3 year anniversary of dating. It was nice to have a 3 day weekend and just to spend a day together. We went down to Mall of America and took the light rail up to downtown Minneapolis and had lunch at Fogo de Chao. I cannot say enough about this place. Beyond incredible service! I’ve never felt so taken care of by a wait staff in my life. The food was incredible too! I don’t typically like steak but I couldn’t get enough. The price is pretty high but if you go for lunch it’s a lot cheaper. After an amazingly enjoyable lunch we took the light rail back to MOA and went to Underwater Adventures. We name dropped Katie K and the guy totally let us in for free! It was a very cool place, kind of trippy but very fun. The jellyfish exhibit was awesome! After that we came home and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening at home.

Well that’s about it for us for now. Hope to keep this more updated in the future.

J/K

So....whats new with us?

Well you last heard of the joy of finally getting a house. We closed on May 21st and it’s almost August so...allow me to fill you in on the mad busy happenings of the last 2 months or so.

House
Like I mentioned before we closed on our wonderful new home on May 21st. It was quite a crazy day and it almost didn't go through but somehow it all managed to come together and we had the keys in hand that evening. In the week that followed we spent mad amounts of time preparing the house for our soon to come moving in.

The house is located in the North End of St Paul close to the Maplewood border and 35E. While the neighborhood it's located in is comprised of mostly older homes, 50+ years or older, our house is just a baby at a mere four years old. Despite its newness it has an old style to it that doesn’t make it look too out of place. The front porch in particular gives it a classic feel.

With the house being essentially brand new there was not a lot that needed to be addressed prior to moving in. In anticipation of us getting the house Katie had selected a variety of paints with which to cover the walls. So each evening and on our days off of werk we would paint and clean the house. Also Katie's dad Tim came over and helped with painting and several little fixes here and there.

By the 27th we (mainly Katie) had the entire house painted and everything cleaned and ready for move-in. So that day after Jon got off werk his Dad brought the cube van over to the apartment and together they loaded up the apartment and headed over to the house to move-in. When Katie got home from werk she finished cleaning the apartment and grabbed the last load of stuff to be brought over.

It was exhausting hauling everything in on one day and we pretty much just got everything inside and called it a night....or so it seemed. Jon stayed up late putting all the furniture in the living room in their places and setting up the entertainment center along with the TV and wireless internet.

In the first few weeks after we moved in we painted a few of the remaining white walls and made the place feel more like home. The upstairs has three bedrooms and a full bathroom. The master bedroom has some nice windows and a walk-in closet with a little window of its own. The two bedrooms across the hall are a guest bedroom and an office/Katie’s sewing room. The sewing room is packed to the gills with desks and shelves which themselves are loaded with papers and books and stuff. That room also has a walk-in closet which is nice for a spare bedroom. The guest room is finished but is missing a bed until we get it from Katie’s Dad’s house.

New additions to our new home or things we’ve had to buy now that we own a home.
Apartment living is requires less things than home ownership. Since moving in we’ve had to buy a few necessities based on our new situation.

Lawn mower – Having a yard, albeit a small one, requires some type of lawn cutting device. Based on the size of our yard and wanting the easiest to use piece of equipment we decided on a reel mower. It’s the kind that doesn’t have an engine or anything. It’s just a handle and some spinning blades powered by you pushing it. We picked it up from Menards for about half the price of a gas powered mower. On top of that it never needs fuel, takes up almost no space in the garage and has so few parts it’s easy to fix if it breaks down.

Washer/Dryer – During our time at the apartment we pretty much just brought our laundry to one of our parent’s houses on the weekend and did it there on the cheap…or free I suppose. Now faced with owning a home and the prospect of having our own major appliances we set off to get a washer and dryer. We checked out a few places and did some research. We really wanted Maytag and didn’t want to spend too much but didn’t want to skimp either. We ended up getting some pretty amazing high-end Maytag ones for a reasonable price because people didn’t like the color!? I thought they were black but they are a dark green that we think looks cool. With that major purchase out of the way we thought we were done until…

Furniture – We didn’t have a table and kind of thought we could get by without one but in the end decided it would be a good idea for when people come over and the extra seating couldn’t hurt. While browsing and the nearby Slumberland Clearance outlet we happened upon a nice high-top table that could transform into a bigger table when needed. Also Katie felt that the old broken down couch in the living room needed to be retired so we perused the selection for a new couch. We tried out several and made our cases for some and at last settled on a nice Italian leather couch with a chaise lounge on one end. Both fit very nicely in our home and the old couch fits in nicely with the drums in the unfinished basement.

Patio chairs – So we have this awesome front porch that is just begging to be occupied on those perfect summer nights, and some of those nice stormy ones too! But alas we had no outdoor furniture that we could relax on. So we got two swivel rocking chairs to go on the front porch and they are great for sitting back and relaxing or reading or updating your blog…like I’m doing right now.

So that pretty much sums it up for the house. We have been living here for two months now and it definitely feels like home. We’ve already had several of our friends over for fun nights of food and games.

We love that the house is close to major roads and shopping but is also within walking distance of some cool little businesses, particularly a neighborhood ice cream shop that has one of the nicest owners you’ll ever meet. Things we don’t like…well it’s a long drive for Katie to werk and some of the neighbors can be loud later in the evening that we would like but it’s really hasn’t bother us. Otherwise it’s really turned out to be a lot nicer area than we had thought.

So other than houses there have also been some other crazy/fun things that have happened in the last few months.

We went hiking at Taylors Falls one Sunday afternoon and also camped at Tettegooche State park for a weekend. We hiked 7 straight hours that Saturday. It was the first time we went camping together and we hope to go a few more times before it gets too cold.

Katie’s dad recently returned from a trip to Argentina that he went on for a wedding. He got to see and do many cool things but probably the most amazing was his visit to Iguazu Falls. It’s like Niagara Falls on steroids and then some. Also currently Katie’s brother Chris and his wife Laura are spending the better part of a month in and around Spain.

We have a family vacation to a resort just outside of Branson, MO planned for this August and we are working a planning a trip overseas for this coming winter/early spring. Top spots on our list? Europe, Thailand and Easter Island.

Speaking of family….let’s just say it is growing at a rapid pace. This year’s family Christmas photo will include a whopping FIVE new family members and if Holly gets serious with her boyfriend it could even be six! Whoa. So how’d we get to this point?
Well Julie and Travis have been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby for a few years and have turned to adoption in search of starting a family. They became parents on May 14th when TWINS Tyler and Anna were born. Julie and Travis adopted the Twins and are in the process of adopting their older sister Katie.

Meanwhile…..Julie is pregnant! Not sure how but God werks in amazing and sometimes confusing ways. Julie is due end of November with a boy yet to be named. On the topic of pregnancy Holly once again stole center stage when she announced on Valentine’s Day this year that she was pregnant! The situation is a bit foggy and we’ll leave it at that.

Fast-forward to last night…Holly went into the hospital on July 27th with minor labor pains and after a few tests it was determined that the baby was in trouble and an emergency C-section would need to be done immediately. We got the news at 1 am on the 28th and raced up to Mercy hospital in Coon Rapids. By time we arrived the baby was already born and being tended to while Holly spent a miserable night recovering from emergency stomach ripping apartness. The baby was not due until August 7th but this strange turn of events gave him the 28th of July as a birthday and kept him in line with the family male tradition of being born on the 28th. As of today Holly is doing much better and her baby boy Mason Riley Brown is doing good too. He is 20 inches long and weighs 6 lbs 9 oz.

Oh and in other news Jake McLellan became a married man on July 24th at an awesome wedding! It was full of cool outfits and dances. It was also a time to catch up with some old friends. Specifically our long lost friends Micah and Lauren whom we discovered are pregnant! (SO EXCITING!!!)

We have been hangin out with our awesome friends Charles and Lydia a lot this summer and can usually be found on Wednesday nights at Bakers Square partaking in "pie night." They are looking for houses now and we think they should totally move in somewhere near us!

Overall it has been a crazy busy summer and we have enjoyed it immensely! Looking forward to our upcoming vacation and just basking in the last month or so of warm weather. Until next time….

J/K

At last!

We got a house!

Super busy moving and painting and all that but more complete details to come!

J/K

Busy weekends

So the last two weekends have been pretty busy for us. We went double dating with Jake Vetter and Sarah Ooms in Rochester last Friday. We were going to eat at Applebees but decided to try the mongolian BBQ HuHot that was right next to Applebees. It was good and interesting. Maybe not exactly what we were craving but still good. We then went bowling. It was a fun night and it was great to meet Sarah for the first time. On Saturday night we had our last young marrieds group meeting. It was sort of a wrap up hang out time that never got around to the bonfire. Although some sorta German sounding drinking game was talked about it turned out to be something about hitting a hammer on something....we didn't play it. Then Sunday was Sydney's 3rd birthday! She was all cute in her birthday dress and got HAIR as one of her presents that she really really liked. Combined with some sunglasses and a ridiculous looking tutu she was hilariously cute. Julie made three Disney princess cakes that looked so cool and tasted just as amazing! It was a fun night that capped off a busy weekend. Then this last weekend Jon had to work but we still stayed busy. After work on Saturday we went to Mall of America and Katie signed her and her brother Chris up for the 5k walk for breast cancer for Mothers day. We then went home where Katie made some yummy tasting burgers. Then we headed to Chris and Laura's place for an end of the 1st year of law school party for Laura. It was fun to play around the fire and see friends. On Sunday while Jon was werking Katie Chris and her Dad did the walk at MOA and later Katie and her Dad joined Julie and Travis and Jon's parents at Rosedale AMC for a free showing of Letters to Juliet. When Jon got home from work and they were done with the movie we all went up to Andover for Volleyball and family time. All in all it has been a busy set of weekends lately and with Pam coming this weekend it should be another busy weekend followed by back to back birthdays and the Lost series finale in the coming weekends! WOW...May is such a busy month.
Oh and in house news....the window is fixed and our file is being reviewed for underwriting...so things are coming together on that front and we are still hopeful for a May move-in.
Oh and Katie has started her new job and so far has been enjoying it! So glad that it has been a positive change.
OK Until next time
J/K

The times they are a changin

Just thought I would give a quick update on whats new in the werld of us.
Katie starts her new job tomorrow at Supervalu corporate HQ. We hope that the new environment is more relaxed challenging and fun! The pay raise is a definite plus but enjoyable work atmosphere will help with the daily grind.
On the housing front - We got the house inspected and nothing majorly bad was reported. There is a broken window in the basement that is holding up the process. Now the bank(sellers) said they would get it fixed so we could get it appraised and move on with the process but just our luck they flipped on us and said no way. So we are trying to figure out this mess and in a hurry so we can close on time. Which by the way would be in about 3 weeks!!!
Micah was up for the weekend to run a half Marathon and Jon got to spend some time with him and his family on Saturday at Dave and Busters. It was a blast!

Katie's dad joined us for dinner on Monday since he was in the neighborhood. It was fun to have company over and Katie made a wonderful dinner!

Last night we went to see Clash of the Titans. It was a fun movie full of visually impressive battles and landscapes. All in all an enjoyable relaxing night at the movies.

Hope to have more concrete news on the house in the next week or two! Also excited for LOST again next week and warmer weather.

J/K

Lets try this again....

So once again we are living at City Gables in Lauderdale and the new home buyer tax credit deadline is approaching and we have a house we like and an offer accepted on it. Oh yeah and once again the day after we accept another offer the short sale we've been waiting on finally responds. So we are trying to buy a house and found this one in the north end of St Paul. The neighborhood is not Lauderdale by any means but the house is nearly brand new and has a layout we really like. So we are going to try and get it. Now the offer has been accepted so its "ours" but we've been in this situation before and we're still living in an apartment. So we are hoping everything goes through but trusting that whatever happens is Gods will.

Hope to report back with good news soon!

J/K

New Place Familar Space

With unsureness in our future plans abounding we decided to look at short term housing options. Most corporate/short term housing places wanted like $2,500 a month! For that price we could buy a really nice house or sign a year long lease. So we called a lot of apartment places to see what their shortest lease options were only to find that most wouldnt touch anything less than 6 months and if they would do month to month it was going to cost us big time. With all this negative news we thought for the fun of it we would call our old apartment place and see if the lady could help us out.

Jodi the landlady was so excited and to have us back she did everything she could to help us. So she said we can do month to month no problem or extra cost. They only had 2 bedrooms left but she gave us a discount because she knows we dont want the extra room.

Oh and she gave us the rest of this month free and we moved in the next day (Sat the 6th).

So we have a place we love at a reasonable price and have moved and settled in in less than 3 days....wow that was fast but it feels great.

J/K

Go west young man...

So Katie has never been one to want to stay put...we are seriously considering a move. If we dont soon have a house we may up and leave. Possible locations? Casper WY and the Phoenix area. Thats all for now...

J/K

This and that...

So the final season of LOST was on last night. We watched in Andover at my parents house. It was pretty crazy. Excited to see how it will all end. Still waiting to hear back on our house. In the mean time we have been checking out hi-rise condos in downtown Minneapolis and St Paul. As well as townhomes out in Ramsey. Not sure what we'll end up in but just ready to be somewhere.
Oh we had tacos for dinner tonight which was great because I had been craving them. Not sure what we are doing the rest of the night but I (jon) have to be up tomorrow at 4 am for werk so who knows.

Anyway hope you are doing well.

J/K

ps cant wait for spring

Hard to buy things

Still homeless....

finished watching lost last night...crazy! We cant wait for the new season.

Whats up with you?

Waiting...

So we still have not heard back about the house we are trying to get. We hope and pray we can get a place soon. If not...maybe back to an apartment or try something new entirly...we'll see.

In other news we spent New Years playing settlers of catan (Katie got me the travel edition for Christmas).

The giant snowman from xmas day is still chillin....

And the temp has finally flirted with above freezing.

Ps. Sherlock Holmes was pretty good. Not amazing as I had hoped but fun to watch. Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor.