Molly Impostor

While looking at doggy coats online, Jon and I found a Molly impostor. Quite similar, wouldn't you say? We always speculate what her life was like before we found her, maybe she was a doggy model...

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Coat-Black-Houndstooth-Medium/dp/B0030N45LE/ref=sr_1_223?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1291092030&sr=1-223

Doggy Date

Sunday marked a special day for our Molly Pocket: her first official doggy date. My coworker, Kelly, who is also Molly's babysitter when we're out of town, asked to have a doggy date with her dog. Both our dogs need a little socialization, so it was a great idea for a beautiful Sunday afternoon! The other dog, Mindy, was not as excited to socialize as Molly. Molly tried and tried to get Mindy to play and run, but to no avail. At least they both were able to walk next to each other without any fights or anything.

The picture below shows one of the hilarious moments of the afternoon. We took the dogs to an enclosed tennis court and while the dogs were running with Kelly, Molly got a little left behind when Kelly turned to go around the net. I don't know if Molly just couldn't figure out how to go around, but I think she may have had a flashback to her kennel days in Korea. She just stood there and looked at us from the other side of the net. She moved over a few feet, but still, kept watching us until we saved her and went around the net. Boy, just when I thought my dog was so smart she gets stuck in a daze and can't figure out what to do!

Here's a little video of her trying to play and run, but eventually
realizes her mama's not following her!

Hopefully we will have another play date sometime.
Molly loved being with another dog her size!

My Princess and the Pea Girl

There are two "Prince[ss] and the Pea" people in this house; here's one of them!

For the record, I am not the other one!

Date Day

I had taken today off a month or so ago, but what we had originally planned for this long weekend had changed. Since I still decided to keep this day off from work, Jon and I thought it would be good for us to have a special getaway/date day! And still, as of last night, we still were unsure of what we were going to do. But, the last 20 or so hours have been great! When I got home last night, we just watched a little TV and talked while eating dinner. Then around 9:15, we decided we'd make a Target run like old college times. We went there intending to buy a new game that we could play as a pair and wound up bringing Scrabble home with us. My family does have a very old version of Scrabble (which still happens to be in my old room), but we thought it'd be good to have our own. Jon said he remembers playing it with his grandma and really wanted to play it, so it was a good, relatively cheap buy. While we were there, I got a really random idea to have an old-fashioned sleepover together-sleeping bags and all. So, when we got home, we got out the air mattress (for my princess and the pea boy) and set it up downstairs with blankets and pillows. After setting it up, I made homemade hot chocolate on the stove and we started our late night game of Scrabble. I also remember playing Scrabble with my family and also getting frustrated by it, so I'm surprised I made it through the game! To rest our nerves after such an intense game, I put in an Italian-style chick flick (and Jon laughed and semi-liked I think), but I quickly fell asleep. I guess I'll have to finish the movie later. Molly Pocket-face was enjoying our sleepover as well because she was either curled up on top of the pile of blankets or under the covers keeping warm! I'd say the sleepover was one of our best ideas yet; it was like "little kid fun" with my husband! We definitely had all the ingredient for a great sleepover, puffy blankets, snacks, a game, and a movie to fall asleep to!

Today, continued our Date Day and we had decided to go to a historical landmark and wildlife preserve about twenty minutes from here. Before leaving, Jon suggested we have coffee, devotions, and prayer time together; it was a great start to the day! Once we got to the preserve, I was pretty excited because it felt like we stepped into a far away place from Chicago! We were in the middle of a forest and there were old buildings around including a life animal exhibit including various turtles, snakes, and fish. They also had some cool animal skins and skeletons that you could observe as well. While we were there, I quizzed Jon a bit about the wildlife and told him facts about trees while identifying leaves and nuts on the ground-I loved it! There were other exhibits outside such as tepees, long houses, and cabins. There was also a trail on the back 50 acres that Jon and I took to look around at the trees and scenery and just enjoy the 'country'. While we entered the forest, Jon asked if I felt like I was back in Wisconsin and felt at home, I answered "Yes!" with a great big smile and a squeeze to his hand. While walking, my city boy spotted a little buck running away from us, but 50 yards after, he spotted an 8 pointer looking right at us! We were only about 50 feet away from it and it just watched us while Jon took some pictures. After that, we only saw a bunch of gray squirrels, so it wasn't quite as exciting, but still pretty! Oh, on top of it all, this was all free! One thing I like about living here is that they have a lot of forest preserves that are a nice break from the crazy life here.


Yummy Venison!

Look carefully, you'll see the buck behind me somewhere!


After walking around the preserve for two hours or so, we were pretty hungry. We ended up going to a Korean market called H-Mart, but how we came to that idea is kind of funny. While we were walking on the trails, we saw a lot of beech nuts and it reminded us of roasted chestnuts from Korea that we would buy on the street. Because of our craving, we realized it had been a long time since we had Korean food and decided that would be another great addition to our Date Day. My dad had forwarded me H-Mart's site a long time ago, but we had never visited there. It was just like stepping back in time to Korea, but with less Koreans yelling and running into us with their carts. Before shopping, we ate at their food court, Jon had kimchi jigae and I had dol sat bibimbap; both favorites of ours in Korea, but much more expensive here. I was not affected much by the heat of the food, but Jon forgot how spicy kimchi jigae is and it definitely cleared his sinus', ha! After eating, we walked around this huge store and picked up a few of our favorites: slip-skin grapes, raw chestnuts, aloe water, kimchi, and melon bars! We are pretty excited to slowly eat these coveted Korea items!
"History of Korea. Taste of Korea. Kimchi."

Yummy Kimchi Jigae!

So, that is our day so far. I have a feeling we'll be playing Scrabble again since Jon has been bugging me the whole time I've been writing this post. Maybe we'll have some more talk time and then throw another movie in before the night is done; who knows?

Cheese Basher

At my school, we have several enhancement programs throughout the week, one of them being the Kohl's Science museum. Every Friday, we have a few teachers from the museum come and set up an activity that focuses on a topic that my co-teacher and I have chosen. This last week's topic was on nutrition. Now, I'm all about raising kids healthy and to learn to make good choices, but this lady must've known I was from Wisconsin and was on a mission! Seriously. She kept talking about how unhealthy cheese is and would have the kids choose between cheese and brocoli for a snack. I replied to myself, "I would like a three cheese platter, please." Now, I know that cheese, really, is not wonderfully healthy in that it is fatty and shouldn't be eating strictly as a main meal. But, I was honestly a little offended. In an aside, my dad sent me a shirt two weeks ago that was a "cheese curd" shirt and had an animated cheese curd on the front advertising for Wisconsin cheese curds ("Enjoy, deep fried or fresh & squeaky!"). On the back, there were several facts about Wisconsin cheese including the amount eaten every year by the average American; 32 pounds! If there was ever a time to wear this shirt, it would have been today. If only to show my "cheesy" heritage and for her to read the rest of my cheese facts! But sadly, I did not wear that shirt, maybe I will save it for next Friday to show to the Cheese Basher!

All the time that this lady was presenting the food pyramid and making good choice, my co-teacher was laughing at me. She knows I am pretty healthy, but love my cheese. I have even incorporated a new saying for our room when the not-always-wonderful school lunch is delivered; "Everything's made better with cheese".

I am a proud cheese-lover. So there.

Cooking: "The Norwegian Way"

As all of you know, I AM NOT NORWEGIAN. I'M SWEDISH! But, since I've pushed my Italian and Swedish sides on Jon long enough, I figured I had to give into his heritage a little to be fair. After all, I do talk about how Italians are such good cooks and that Swedes are the 'real' Scandinavians. What a nice and encouraging wife I am...Because of this, I decided to cave in and get a Norwegian cooking book at the library and make Jon some things from his heritage. I haven't tried anything yet, but they don't look too terrible and look somewhat familiar, since our two Scandinavian countries are very close to one another. You can take a look at the book and just by reading the title, you might laugh a little. I mean, I am Italian and I am from Wisconsin so the phrases 'low-fat' and 'vegetarian', aren't used very often. Good thing my family is pretty healthy and we do eat more than just meat, cheese, and pasta (although some nights, it's debatable).

The recipes in the book are really simple and so I don't know how authentic they will actually taste, but I'll give them a whirl. When I do try some recipes, I'll let you know and will add Jon's Norwegian review of them!

...After reading my mom's comment, I did realize I have two Norwegian cookbooks already. One is from Norske Nook, my favorite place for pancakes. Although it is called Norske, it does have many Swedish things on the menu as well, so that's why I can justify walking into the place. Jon and I also have a lefse board, stick, and special chef's hat for Jon. So, now I don't feel so bad by giving Jon and identity crisis for the last three+ years....love you!

Fall Baking

I love fall! It is by far my favorite season for many reasons. But, one part I especially like is the tastes and smells of fall baking. Unfortunately, I haven't done much baking fall items, but I hope to do some before time slips by. I did try a new recipe of Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled Muffins that turned out all right. I used half whole wheat flour and less sugar, so it was a little healthier (well, considering cream cheese was in it.

..). They were pretty good, but they could've used more pumpkin spice flavor. The streusel topping has a really nice flavor as I did add more spices to to enhance the pumpkin flavor underneath.

Harvest Crusade

Last weekend, I fulfilled one of my dreams that I've had since I was eh, about 14: to see Greg Laurie preach. Greg Laurie is a well-known pastor who preaches at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. When I was younger, I loved listening to him on the radio as my parents and I were driving to and from Rice Lake. I remember while listening how 'real' he is and I could hear his passion for Christ and it encouraged and excited me in my faith as well. I told my mom that I thought we should make a trip out to California, just to go to his church. Well, that has not happened yet, but instead Greg Laurie came to me! At Jon and my church, we had been preparing for a few months for the Harvest Crusade to come to Chicago by praying, going to evangelism classes and asking friends to come to the event. The crusade was three nights long and featured not only Greg Laurie, but other major Christian bands. I went on Saturday night and brought a friend and met up with some other people from work. You can actually watch all three nights if you wish, but I just linked Saturday night. For Saturday night, the bands were The Katinas, Kirk Franklin, and Skillet. Afterwards, Greg Laurie spoke and so you can skip ahead to the second half to listen to what he has to say; it's so good! I also learned more about Greg Laurie's background and testimony and I had no idea the life he had growing up. It's amazing how we (or maybe just I) get into thinking that many pastors were just born into the pastor roll and they haven't had struggles. But, I was really moved by his testimony and knew that Jon would also enjoy it, so I ordered his autobiography Lost Boy: My Story online and just got it yesterday. Once I finish the book I'm reading now (Don't Waste Your Life), I will quickly move onto Greg's book.

I wanted to go to Sunday night, but I was coming on with a cold and didn't make it. Sunday night's focus was "An Evening of Hope" featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, and Greg Laurie sharing about their family loss' and how with God there is still hope even in great sorrow. Since I wasn't able to make it, I'm going to listen to it online. So there, I linked two out of the three nights if you want to listen or share it with someone else. Apparently, there was 47,600 people in attendance the three nights and 4,758 decisions for Christ! I had never been to a Crusade before, but it was amazing to hear how God uses people and their circumstances to reach others and then to see so many people walk down to the first level of the arena to accept Christ. Greg Laurie asked that rather than talking to your friends, that you pray for the people coming down and those still in their seats and I thought that was so important! I really wish I could have gone all three nights, but glad I was at least able to go to one of the nights.
I hope you get a chance to look at a link or two that I posted, I know you will be blessed.

What did you do tonight?

Tonight, I had much planned, but my plans changed... After talking to Jon about getting Molly one last haircut for the year, he told me they would charge extra because of her hair mats. We really do groom Molly at least once a week, but she hates it so much and gives us the "shark face". So, we don't always get everything perfectly fluffy and smooth. Being the money-savers that we are, we decided we may as well try to cut her hair ourselves, at least her hair mats if nothing else. This, is where our night changed.

As I sat on the bathroom floor while Jon prepared the buzzer and shears, I thought to myself, 'This cannot turn out well.' I remembered back to Korea when our friend Sarah "trimmed" Mike's hair and when we saw him next, he was completely shaven. oops. Quickly, Jon and I went at her like a Barber Shop Duet (sorry, I'm even embarrassed by my poor humor). I felt very unsure about using the buzzer, as her ears quickly flew back and her eyes widened as it buzzed. So instead, Jon decided to go at her tummy mats with the shears. Pocket Face did not like this. She made her shark face while I held her on her two back feet, hands in the air. (I really wish someone could have filmed this, it was really quite comical). It took quite awhile with turns on both our parts, but we got most of them out. After that, we decided to get out two mats on each side of her cheeks. Well, one turned out to be bigger than the other and when they were out, it looked like one side of Molly's face fur had been blown away and the other was as fluffy as ever. She looked pitiful. So, we couldn't stop there, we had to press on and even out her cheeks. This is the part I really got to see Jon's handy-work. I had no idea he was talented in the area of cheek grooming. But, then again, he is a pretty hairy guy and grooms his cheeks several times a week.
After a few more mats were cut out, we let her go free. She really did pretty well and who knew speaking in a high, positive tone would do so much (no matter what you're actually saying). Molly was rewarded many hugs and treats from us and she gave us licks and excited leaps back. I think she's happy to be done with this...at least for now.

So, this is what she looks like now...
Just kidding, we messed up her hair.


Here's what she really looks like!
We love her even if she is a little lopsided and needs hair repair!

We caught Molly with a Shark-face, she does this with no noise, just the face.
Then, we yell at her for Shark-facing.

But after the Shark-face, this is what she did...
Sad-face as Jon pet her. What a mug!

Bacon Cheddar Baby

A little while ago, Jon and I decided to give Molly a more quality food than what we have been giving her. So, we went to a pet supply store down the road, conveniently located next to Seoul Market! While we were there, we of course had to pick up some treats for her! Jon found her some Snackin' Slices, which was a good pick since she goes crazy over them. We've been using these to bribe her while we brush her- double team style. We also wanted to get a bone to chew on because whenever we go to my parent's house, she takes Chipper's bone and chews on it and guards it with her life. So, we found what we thought would be the perfect bone for her: a bacon cheese filled bone. These are two of Molly's favorite things in life, if there was a banana smeared on top, it would be perfect! When we gave the bone to her, she loved it and couldn't wait to eat the inside. But being the princess Pocket that she is, she wanted Jon told hold the bone for her, so she could put her energy into getting the inside out. All was good until suddenly, she became bored with it. I think what it really was, was that the outside was too hard for her and she was no longer interested. Well, we were a bit sad that she didn't want the bone, but decided we'd give it to her cousin, Chipper. I went up to Wisconsin a week later and dropped the bone off at Chipper's Doggy Camp before we went on vacation. Apparently she liked it because when she returned home after a week, there was no bone left over! While in Wisconsin, I made a stop at Fleet Farm and picked up two rib bones for Molly. She loves this bone and it's the right size and everything for her, so I know what I'll be getting her next time! Although I don't have a picture of her chewing on this bone, she looks cute in a fierce way while holding it between her paws and gnawing on a rib.

Fierce Baby.

Molly looking at her bone at the top of the bookshelf
and waiting for it to come down again.

The Riley's Visit!

Last weekend, our friends Mike and Sarah came for their second visit to our home. If you don't already know, we met Mike and Sarah at our church. They came to Korea a little after Christmas and came to G3 in January and soon after we became good friends. We even took our summer vacation together to Sokcho (see blog link). We really missed them when we left Korea and are really thankful that we have seen them twice since they got back in December. And even better, this weekend was a long one, so we had an extra day to spend with them. All four of us were pretty tired and we ended up hanging around home and relaxing. But, we did get out to play some Frisbee and go to Buffalo Grove Days, a local festival. Below, are some pictures of our fun weekend! We miss them already and hope to visit them in Ohio before too long.

Jon's pretty good at playing Frisbee; I am horrible at it. My throws never go straight or horizontal, but rather vertical and veer to the right at a 45 degree angle. oops. Being a good husband (and not acting embarrassed by me), he gave me some tips and I began to improve...slightly.
We brought the Pocket with us to the field and she had a fun time running around and chasing after the Frisbee, but then she got tired. I made her a makeshift bowl using a large leaf, what a good mother I am.

I love my baby Molly and she loves having the freedom to run around in the grassy field!

I love Sarah!

This was at Buffalo Grove Days, it was quite uninteresting (as Sarah's face shows), especially Randy's Magic Show. I'm still wondering, where are the greasy cheese curds? Do they not know that there is no festival unless there is some sort of grease covered cheese? Oh, Illinois.

I had made a double batch of Nona's zucchini muffins before Mike and Sarah came and they all got devoured (mostly by Mike). So, I decided I better teach Sarah how to make them for her hubby and we made another double batch, woo-hoo! That morning, I also made blackberry muffins for breakfast, they were very yummy as well.

Jon and I had a great weekend with the Riley's and miss
them a lot! But, we look forward to seeing them again soon!

Seven of Nine

Jon and I have had a fun and relaxing day of hanging out, talking, and a little shopping. We've been having some pretty interesting chats, but one of them was on Star Trek. I was telling Jon that a friend teased me today about being from Star Trek because of my name, Anika Borg. I had to explain that it really was a family name and my parents didn't spend all their time watching Star Trek. After telling Jon about this, he told me that he used to stay up late while he was in high school to watch old Star Trek. And....Anika Hansen of the Borgs was his favorite character. I thought that this was hilarious. I don't remember if he told me this before, but I thought it was pretty funny. Well, now he has his own Anika of the Borgs and doesn't need to watch Star Trek!
I am his very own, Seven of Nine.

Nona's Zucchini Muffins

I saw my parents almost two weeks ago and they brought many things, some of which being two blocks of aged cheddar and two zucchinis from their garden. I grew up loving tasty food because my family are wonderful Italian cooks and bakers. One of my favorite things to eat are zucchini muffins, but not just any zucchini muffins, Nona's zucchini muffins. I even tried to look up decent muffin recipes online and I could tell that they were not close at all, I mean, who wants to put carrots, walnuts, or raisins in their zucchini muffins? Really.

So, I finally grated the zucchinis last night and prepped to bake the next day after work. I started baking and remembering when I would stand by Nona or my mother's side while we made muffins. I was the one always sneaking a finger in the bowl to "test" it. Nona would always reply in a loud, Italian way, "You'll get salmonellae!" (Well, with all the recent egg recalls, she could surely say that now and be sure of it!) But, I never did get salmonellae and didn't risk it this time either. I also remember my mom teaching what the right consistency should be and once you have it, don't stir it too much (but I had to stir it just right so a big plop would fall on my finger while my mom looked away). I am so glad I have my mom to learn things from, but greatly miss my Nona especially at these times when I'm baking or have something I'd like to tell her. I've been missing her a lot lately and I'm glad I can at least use her recipes, remember her, and feel close to her in that way.



Jon loved the muffins and after eating two, he said, "I could eat two dozen of those, I need to be stopped!" So, I guess they were a success!
p.s. Mom, thanks for the extra muffin tins, I was very happy to
find another container in the cupboard!

Meatloaf Man

Jon was pretty proud of himself tonight and so we thought we'd put it on the blog to share.

Tonight, I came home from another busy day at work to find Jon having made dinner and it finishing in the cooking. To top it off, while he waited he washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen! What a good guy I have! He wanted to keep the dinner a surprise, so he made me go away and not help at all. I usually come home at 6:30 and cook dinner soon after that, so it was a nice change to not have to rush and cook over a hot stove on a hot and muggy day. Anyways, Jon made something that is his favorite without knowing I also really enjoy it: meatloaf and mashed potatoes! I don't think I've made meatloaf since we've been married, which is just silly. Jon used potatoes that his dad gave us last weekend, from his garden. He mashed them with a serving fork and he probably felt like we were back in Korea, there I mashed potatoes with a very unstable spatula. We decided that I might need a potato masher and that we no longer need to live like we are in a country that doesn't mash potatoes like 'real' Americans. After setting the table himself, we were able to enjoy a meal together which was very rare during his Greek class. Now that he's in his regular semester with 5 classes, I feel spoiled to get quality time with him almost whenever I want!

I'm thankful that my boy can cook, likes to try out new things, and is willing to give me a break. Thanks baby boy, I'm proud of your cooking and helping me out!

Trinity Wives Fellowship

Today was a crazy day for me. My previous class of kids moved on to Kindergarten on Friday and Monday, I started a whole new class (with no prep time to get ready, mind you). But, we managed to get things together and the first day went better than I thought it would with a bunch of new 4 year olds! Then, after my full and crazy day at work, I had my first Bible study at Trinity. I have a great co-leader that I have been getting to know better and we seem to be a great fit! We met our group of 8 women, but were missing a few, so it'll be nice to meet them in two weeks. We have a nice group of women that are international, national, newly married, those with more married years under their belt with kids, as well as those new to trinity and returning wives. The three small groups will meet as a large group in one room on campus for worship (which was led by Kate and I), treats, and announcements. Then, we break into our small groups and have our Bible study and prayer time. Tonight I planned an ice breaker called Shared & Unique and it helped us to see our similarities and unique traits within the group. After the ice breaker, Kate led an Ephesians overview and we closed with prayer requests and prayer for one another. A Trinity professor's wife will be going back and forth between our group and another, so it's nice to have an experienced wife in the group and she said that things went really well tonight, which was wonderful to hear! Anyways, I will keep you updated on the Bible study and what I've been learning from these women as we go through this crazy time as Trinity Wives!

Pocket Pictures

Here are some cute Molly Pocket pictures from Jon to tide you all over.

Working on my Bible study with me!

Friday night relaxation. Ahhhh...

Molly's life with Jon while I'm at school.

And...this is her life while Jon's studying.

In her heart, she's really a Honda kind of girl.

My adorable, cuddly Pocket!

We're Free!

This post is probably the most important post because, Jon (we) are done with Greek! Yay! Today was Jon's last day of Greek, where he took his final exam. He feels pretty good about it and how he finished up the class, so let's hope he will get placed in the proper class for next semester. When Jon called me on the phone to tell me how the test went, I think I was almost more excited than he was to be done. He didn't display too much excitement, but maybe he will when we go out for a celebratory dinner tonight! This has been a long five and a half weeks, for sure and we're both glad to have it done with. I know Jon is looking forward to going to sleep before 3 am and not waking up before 7:30am. And I know I am looking forward to getting more than ten minutes of quality time together each day-what a luxury!
So, thank you for your prayers during this time for Jon as a faithful student and me as a Greek widow.

Anika

"Street Fightin' Dawg"

I have taken a little summer break from the world of blogging, but will hopefully be jumping back into writing! I will soon have to update some of our summer activities over the last month and a half since I last wrote.

To start off my make-up work, I'll tell you about a crazy even that happened today with Molly and Jon. Late this afternoon, Jon took Molly on a walk around our neighborhood. As they were walking past a bigger dog going potty, the dog suddenly bolted at Molly, breaking its leash and jumping on Molly. Jon was so caught off guard, but somehow lifted Molly up by her leash so she would be safe while he held off the other dog. The owner ran up apologizing and said that her dog was attacked by a small dog when it was a puppy, so that's maybe why it did it...Jon called to tell me this at work as I was going into a meeting, so I was pretty worried both about my Boy and my baby Pocket. I felt like a momma bear. I wanted to know who this woman and her dog was and where to find them! Jon has never seen them before and unfortunately didn't get any information. Molly was not injured that we can see, just a small scratch on her tummy. I guess it's a good thing we didn't get her hair cut last week like we were thinking! Also, very thankful that my Boy is so nice and tall and could protect the baby-what a man! I told him he really should never get in between two dogs because he could get hurt, but he said he would do anything to protect her and he did a great job! (Can you just imagine how he'll be with our kids someday? What a good Papa!) I guess Molly was not too fazed by the whole thing because after the dog was gone, Jon put her down and she went on her merry little way going potty as she went. It's kind of funny because my mom and I joke about Molly being a "street dog" in Korea and we sometimes call her a "Street Fightin' Dawg" and make up our own versions of her past life. But today, Molly was the victim in the street fight and showed that maybe street fighting was a normal part of her life and therefore, didn't faze her.

But, my poor baby! I'm so thankful that she's okay and that dumb dog didn't hurt or scare her anymore than he did. But if I ever see that dog, I'll give it a "what for" and roar my momma bear roar!

p.s. Oh, Molly told me (with sad puppy eyes) to tell you that any treats such as Milkbones, bacon, cheese, or bananas, can be sent to her home address to speed up her "recovery".

A Minnesota Wedding Weekend!

This weekend, Jon and I drove to Minnesota for a wedding of a friend, Jessica, from college band. I was in the wedding as a bridesmaid and was very excited about being able to support her and Chris. Friday night, we made it to Rochester, then Saturday morning, I drove up to Stillwater to stay with my friend Betsy from Korea! We haven't seen each other since we left Korea and it was wonderful to finally see each other in the U.S. Betsy and I have kept up by talking on the phone every other week or so. It was nice to visit her and her family even though it was a quick visit with me running to the cities for wedding reasons. Jon then came up on Sunday for the wedding and we again had to say good-bye as he was going to stay in Rochester until Thursday. Good-byes are always so tough! He also kept Molly Pocket in Rochester from Friday night til' this Thursday, so I am missing her as well. On Sunday night, I drove to Eau Claire to get a start on my long drive and stayed with Anders and Emily at their new house. Even though it was a fast trip, it was nice to see them and see what they've done with their new home! Monday, I drove the rest of the way to Chicago and made good time with no problems! I am really looking forward to seeing Jon on Thursday and our home being more normal. I am really not used to the quiet, but at least I have the pigs to talk to! Last night, I also realized I have no one to cook for, which is sad to me, so I've begun to plan my next week's meals to get ahead. I have also been investigating more about making homemade pasta and might try my hand at that sometime soon since I have Nona's original Italian pasta dough roller. Look for an update on that later!

Below, I wanted to share some pictures from the wedding, unfortunately, we just had my point and shoot camera, but it gives you an idea at least.

The beautiful Jessica and her dad!


After they lit the unity candle, they had the wedding
part pray over them, I really loved that idea!

Mac n' Cheese Pocket

We really try to only give Molly her food or healthy people food that will give her extra fiber. But every once in awhile, she gets a little treat. Molly prefers that her special treat either be bacon (specifically maple) or cheese, she also enjoys eating the ends of my banana as I have never eaten the end. These three foods are probably her favorite and would eat them all the time if she could! Here's an example of her being so obedient to get a bit of "cheese".

Mummit Visits!

About two weeks ago, my mom came to visit us for several days. It was good timing for her to come and distract me, since Jon was busy with his class and I was trying not to distract him from all of his work. I was happy to have some mom-time, though since it had been a few months since she had come to visit. She stayed at home while Jon was at school and I went to work, because of this, I didn't have to use my break to run home and let Molly outside, which gave me more planning time. While at home, mom helped out with some cleaning as well as cooking bread and meals for us to have that week and freeze for later; what a great help! For some of the nights, mom and I got to make dinner together. One of the dinners was homemade Fettuccine Alfredo, yum yum garlic! On the weekend, we did a little grocery shopping as well as a stop by Puppy Palace! Puppy Palace seems to be a regular stop of ours whenever she is in town, it is always fun to see all the cute pups and wish they were our own. Sunday morning we went to Harvest for church and enjoyed a nice brunch before mom had to take the train back home. :( But, it was wonderful having her here for a visit and have someone to hang out and talk to while Jon was busy with his studies. Below are some pictures of mom and I on a walk on the grounds of our complex. The Pocket came along for the walk as well. She had fun running freely in the field, but got scared by the vines of the Willow trees...weird dog.

We have a little creek running through the back property!

Scary Willow trees!

First Game of the Season!

Two weekends ago, Jon and I went to our first Brewer's game of the season! Two of Jon's cousins, Michael and Brian, also came with. It was good timing for a carefree and fun family outing since that week we had a rough week, learning about a college and band friend passing away. It was very shocking and Jon and I spent many hours discussing it. (On a side note, I am so thankful to have a husband that is always there for me and seems to have some sort of an answer for anything I ask. He was wonderful in answering questions about heaven and God's will.) But, again, it was a good change in that week to go to a wonderful Brewer's baseball game! I have been attending Brewer's games with my family since before I could remember. But, I do remember sitting outside of our old Volvo in the County Stadium parking lot with my parents, brother, and grandpa tailgating and growing in excitement for the upcoming game. Although I have never remembered any stats or many names of players, I love baseball! I have always loved being with family and going to games and yelling out the players names (those that I remembered, that is) and eating Twizzlers and Starburst. After County Stadium was torn down and Miller Park was built, I was sad that those early life memories were gone, but there has been so many wonderful new memories made at Miller Park!

I was really excited to show Brian and Michael, who are Twins fans...Miller Park and show off the Brewers. Even though the Brewer's had such a horrible home record, I was hoping they would pull off a win against the Mets while we were there. Well, not only did they pull off a win, but we saw a grand slam as well as a double home run. Before the game, we tailgated as usual grilling ballpark franks and Johnsonville Cheddarwursts with Ruffles chips, grapes and soda. Soon after, we went inside the stadium and walked around it exploring and watching warm-ups. Then, we took our seats a level up from the Mets dugout. From the beginning of the game, we were in the hot seat because we had about 5 foul balls come whizzing at us. I jumped for just about all of them to no avail. Apparently I've become braver as the years have gone on because Anders or my dad would always save me from those crazy balls in County Stadium. But we were lucky, Jon had been eating peanuts like it was going out style and he had a substantial peanut shell pile between his feet. Well, wouldn't you know, a ball came flying at us, I jumped, Jon ducked, and when he sat back up, he had the ball in his hand! The ball had bounced off the guys behind us and somehow landed in his peanut pile! I did not know this but was rather scrambling on the ground trying to find the ball that I knew was nearby. Jon was so cool, he just lifted his hand and said, "Oh, don't worry, I've got it," in the smoothest and calmest voice you could imagine as if it was no big deal. I love it! I excitedly hugged him and kissed his cheek, so maybe we kissed on TV...we'll never know. But, Jon now has his own Brewer's ball that he has by his desk with his ticket.
The Brewer's ended up winning the game and it was a great night! But, it wasn't all over yet. On our way home, we stopped at a favorite restaurant/custard place of my family's and Jon's called Kopp's Frozen Custard. I shared some custard Tiramisu custard with my Boy. He really enjoyed it and so did Michael and Brian. I have to turn these Norwegians into Italians anyway I can, you know...
Jon and I look forward to going to two games in mid-July with my parents and Anders and Emily! So excited to have some more family and Brewer time together!