CA + ALM = :)

Okay, so day 2, wake up, shower, head into town.

For breakfast: Bagels loaded with Lox, tomatoes, and capers. So good! We get this “treat” so rarely in ND….this was the best breakfast for the month of September!

Matt had brought his clubs and with the help of Sara, who supplied her clubs as well as a fashionable golfing outfit for me, we took in a great little par 3 course on pebble beach. The longest hole was 104 yards. I basically only used 4 clubs: 7,8, pitching, and putter. I didn’t do too bad. I was happy and for the first time ever, I played a full 18. Matt had a bit rougher luck. He lost 3 balls, an impossible possible feat when playing a par-3 course and hit a parked car on a drive. We did play through a herd of deer, which both of us found amazingly distracting. The best part of the game for me was having a hot caddy haul my clubs around for me. Thanks, Sweetheart!

From there we decided to check out Pebble Beach’s Golf Course, where the US Open is played. We had drinks at the bar and went and watched a few groups come in on the 18th. It’s right on the ocean and Matt’s goal is to someday play that course. Beautiful place but it does come with a hefty price tag.

We had a bugger of a time finding a parking spot in Carmel, but finally did and made our way down the beach. We did get a bit too close but it was beautiful. Jason even showed us a sunset there the first night.

From there, we had a snack at the “Hog’s Breath Inn”, which is owned by Clint Eastwood, former mayor of Carmel.  Awesome food, Matt had an artichoke soup with a pulled pork sandwich and I had a Monterey Chicken sandwich, complete with avocados! After strolling around town a bit, we headed back to Sara and Jason’s and then took off to Rio Vista to stay with Matt’s uncle Kevin.

Although the ride had heavy traffic, we did laugh a ton as we took Jason and Sara’s dog, Cyrus, with us. Cyrus is not your average dog. I’ve seen horses smaller than him and to top it off he’s learned how to lean into the turns. Oh my gosh, it was hilarious to have him between Matt and I while we drove through the country side and over the mountain. I was by-far the smallest person in the truck. It definitely made for an eventful ride and then Matt and I were trying to figure out the crops growing in the fields (strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, oranges, etc….the only one we knew for sure was corn!).

We got to Rio Vista after a few hours and it was great to see Kevin’s house, which Matt loves. We started a fire and enjoyed visiting while we waited for our Pizza Factory pizza to show up.

Best Meal: breakfast…mmmmm I love some salmon.

“You look so tiny next to Cyrus and Matt. It should be a book called “Riding with Giants”!”- Sara Remynse

The better CA....California NOT Canada

So I’m crabby.
I was fine on Tuesday, but I’m crabby. The difference is on Tuesday, we were in California, today, we are not. Boo.

What a great trip. First, I got to spend time with Matt, bonus. Second, I got to see California, a place I’ve never been to before. Third, I got to meet some of Matt’s amazing family. I’ve thought before I’ve hit a jackpot entering into his family, but it was confirmed again to me.

We arrived about 12ish on Thursday. Jason picked us up from San Jose’s airport. We climbed in and I was whisked away to “In-n-Out Burger”. I love “local” things so it was great to try something that I hadn’t before. We all ordered double-doubles, animal style, and split an order of fries. I know I disappointed Matt because we typically exercise a 75%/25% policy with my meals. I eat 75%, he finishes off 25%. This time it wasn’t the case, it was a 100%/0%. Mmmmmmm!

From there, we headed to Cannery Row and took in the aquarium. It was fun to see tuna, sharks, jelly fish, sea turtles, and more. My favorite was probably the sea horses. They were so delicate and different. We also touched a sting ray. It was a great facility and it was easy to see why Jason and Sara (Matt’s cousin and wife) went there with their son (Jason) all the time!

We next went and had supper, where I got to meet Sara at the restaurant she works at (A.W. Shucks). It was a great dinner. My martini was great, my fish and chips were so good, and I enjoyed the oysters too, which I knew was Matt’s favorite.

The best part of the day involved a little wedding twist. I told Jason that I wanted to hit up some of the antique places as I’d like to find a cake topper for the wedding. Here I’ve got to give it to Jason and his tenacity in accomplishing a goal. We looked for cake toppers and he came up with suggestions like crazy. I think my favorites included the kissing kittens, the colonial couples (in various outfits), the masks, the foot tall Dutch people, the native American candles, and the rollerskating trophy topper. I laughed so much at so many of the options. Jason took it to a new level that night as we sat and visited and he found toppers online and screened them by Matt and I to see what we liked. Sure, anyone can pick out a topper, but who knew I’d have so much fun picking ours out!
We ended the night just visiting and getting to know each other! Perfect start to our holiday stay!

Best meal of the day: tough call….fish and chips or in-n-out burger! I can’t decide, don’t make me.

“Matt, I don’t care if you are sleeping on this table, I’m going to sit and talk to you because I finally get to have an adult conversation!”- Sara Remynse

To Old Amanda.....

As I sit on the eve of my first 29th birthday, I want to write a letter to myself, for when I get old.

Dear Old Amanda,

In case you’ve forgotten, you’ve had some pretty great times.
You’ve had some awesome experiences that many people will never get to see. You’ve traveled to various parts of the US, it’s okay to keep traveling, you are really good at it, just pack lighter and smarter. You’ve traveled to various countries, don’t stop. Who are you kidding if you think you don’t love to see and do. Fill your passport up with stamps and your entertainment center with photo albums.

Here’s some more advice to remind you of where you came from:

• Drink a Wonder Woman every once in a while as tribute to the wild summer.
• Jam out to Elton John and remember you are an old soul.
• Remember your passions, you say you want to work on your writing, so write. You say you want to read some of the best books, so read. You think you want to start art again, work on that. Remember the things that you love to pour your heart into and don’t let those go as they are a part of you. Remember your elders, they have shaped who you are.
• Try to do a cartwheel once a year and it’s okay to admit that it’s gotten harder.
• Keep in touch with friends, life gets busy but it’s the relationships that you love.
• Remember the crapholes that you lived in, like Chad’s basement, or the duplex without air conditioning.
• Remember how wonderful your brand new condo was the first night you stayed in it.
• Remember how you appreciated a baler with autotwine. Your kids won’t appreciate the story, but they will be in a unique pool of children where they had a mother that baled hay, shoveled grain, and hitched a ground feed trailer (in the wind) to feed a bunch of cows that appreciated this action with their mouth.
• Remember that the first thing that you really remember buying was “Spud” the sheep. You paid $15 (mostly in change) and he was beautiful.
• Remember your first vehicle was a 85 chevy s-10 that was covered in dirt.

You’ve come a long way, old lady. And as you look back on your years, no matter where you are. Know you’ve been loved like crazy by many people in your life and that’s hard to beat. It's okay to be eccentric (spit and wear purple), but let's not get too carried away.

Love,
Young Amanda

Love is an orange tabby.

So I’ve spent of time lately with my laptop, for one reason or another, a ton of tulle has been involved too let’s say. TonyDanza loves it. He’ll sit on my lap just in front of the keyboard. I’ve felt so bad lately as we’ve been going a bunch and haven’t really had any down days, winter may change that but I know he’s such a cuddle bug and needs attention. Both of my cats definitely ask for laps and attention. It’s hard to go to Matt’s as Nike could care less about my lap and cuddling. I don’t realize how much I look for my cats until I don’t have them around. It’s easy to write this now as he’s purring in my lap versus breaking the head off my scarecrow, which sits on the entertainment system.

This past weekend I was in Dickinson and we spent time with friends. Brendan and Claudia were there for National Guard Duty, so Claudia was great to take to the Pride of Dakota showcase as she is actually interested in going and doesn’t drag her feet and just wait to leave, like someone else I know. We also went out Saturday night to hang out with some of the firehall guys who did a rib cook, and what girl in her right mind turns away ribs.

Mom and I got a little dress shopping in. It was exciting and fun. I did tell Matt that I wasn’t going to go traditional in the dress, maybe a deep scarlet color, haha, that’s when I got the “look”. No, he should expect to see some shade of white, some dress with some design with maybe some lace or some beading or some chiffon or some train or some frill or some pretty, but for sure some white.

We are prepping for California this coming weekend. I’m excited. Life has been such a whirlwind with work and things since the engagement. It will be awesome to meet Sara and Jason and their son, see Kevin, and see California. I love our trips and I also love the non-stop time that we have together.

Best meal: ribs with a side of ribs and ribs for dessert, and they let me take ribs home for leftovers.

“There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.”-Dan Greenberg

Getting too Old to Deal with a Cat’s New Tricks

So TonyDanza has really been showing his personality lately.
He is still snuggling under the covers any chance he gets.
He now eats his food like potato chips. He will scoop 3 or 4 pieces onto the ground, eat them and then scoop some more.
But his biggest thing is that he desperately wants to stay in the room at night instead of getting kicked out when I go to sleep. He figures that he’ll hide under the bed and be very quiet. 

Now last night, Matt came to stay as he had a Bismarck meeting this morning. We went out and pre-celebrated his birthday. Had dinner and then came home. I went to bed early, being on central time, he came later. He had prevented TonyDanza from coming in the room to avoid the “cat luring out” session. He laid down and commented about the window open in the living room and that it was cold. I asked him to please shut that. He got up, and didn’t shut the door when he left.

Now, for those of you that don’t know TonyDanza, he’s a cat of opportunity. Unlike Lola, he didn’t feel the need to watch Matt close the window. He instead saw that Matt opened a door and hustled himself right in and under the bed, despite my snickering.

Now re-enter Matt who has realized what has happened, which brings forward more snickering from me. Now we have a few tactics to try to get TonyDanza out.
1. Open the catfood closet
2. Open the fridge
3. With fridge open, shake a bag of cheese
4. Grab a treat container, but to avoid rewarding him, we don’t give him treats.
Now Matt tries each of these, but alas, the orange tabby doesn’t come out from the bed.
More snickering.
Matt figures out a new tactic, he puts cat food on the floor (simulating the sound of treats hitting the floor). TD bolts out and all I hear is “Sucker, that was cat food!” 

Best meal: Spicy Chicken Tortellini at Bistro

“Hard to admit you’ve almost been outsmarted by a plump orange tabby.” - ALM

Measure a Year?

This past weekend we celebrated our pre-anniversary. We are sitting at about a year out from our big day. We checked the location for temp, view, and location of sun. We’ve paid for our chairs, we’ve started looking at budget things, we put a few more deposits down, and we’ve started price checking and shopping.

This past week we looked at DJ’s and tux shops. We think we have our DJ and we have some ideas of tux shops. We will be matching rosewood and wine to the charcoal suits.

In the mean time, we have life happening, like it’s someone’s 29th birthday this coming week. I had picked up a new golf bag and modified it a bit and had every intention of presenting to him when he became older than me, but while running errands around town, the damn stinker opened the trunk (where I thought it would be hiding safely) to put some things in there and saw it! Damn it! Was glad to give him something that he loved and brought a big smile to his face.

He even got to use it already. He went out to Riverwood while mom and I went to a friend/relative baby shower for Kayla and baby Reagan. Mom and I were the big winners. I won the price is right game (was only off by $.44) and Mom won the Guessthecheeriosinthebottle game (was only off by 5). Aside from seeing Kayla’s happy face, the best part was to see Grandma and Aunt Jo “studying” the rubber ducky spout protector, which is so babies don’t bash their heads. They didn’t understand the purpose of this “toy” because once the baby bashes his/her head, he/she won’t do it again! Kids these days have it so much easier!

I was able to show my place to Grandma too. I still don’t have things on the wall, but who knows if I will. I dressed TonyDanza up for her visit but Matt was not impressed and took off his bandana. Some people just don’t understand dressing to impress.

We finished the weekend ripping up the most memorable carpet I’ve had in my life. My mother is replacing 90% of her carpet. We started work on the office, then moved to her guest bedroom (which only took 6 cans of paint to finish) and now we are working our way to the living room! It was pretty shocking to see Dad grab a corner and rip, reminded me when we decided to take off the wallpaper and Gary just reached over and ripped. I’ll go out tonight and put back her furniture and it will look so nice. I’m so excited to see these updates, just like seeing “our” fancy new TV set up and HD coming though.

Best Meal: Pre-anniversary dinner of walleye and “rice in the weeds” at the Walrus.

“You sure have a lot planned already.” – Grandma Elaine

All you need is Love.

So sometimes, those Beatles know what they are talking about.

I gotta admit that Matt and I have always been in a good place, he’s been a great partner for me but this past week (or two) has reminded me multiple times why I said yes to him. Wedding planning is not for the faint at heart. We are planning a wedding simultaneously with another couple and it’s fun to share stories, we both do talking points and ask questions and compare notes but my favorite is being able to share with the other bride how Matt and I are working through the plans, together.

So, date – check, venues – check, preliminary lists- check, colors – check, officiate – check, families notified – check, photographer – check, and this past week, two more checks, friends and decorator. We finally were able to proclaim to the world what was going on and I love the reactions and support for the two of us, I fully expected some ribbing from the firehalls guys, and we weren’t disappointed. They also offered to help with the theme of the wedding: firefighter complete with bunker gear for the tuxs. But it was also nice to hear the congratulations and excitement from others.

We also went to the decorator this weekend, together. I had to laugh when she said that she rarely gets to meet the groom and here my groom has a distinct personality with distinct opinions, and I love that he has them and brings them to the table. We worked through a few ideas and came up with the preliminary design and I’m excited to see it set up and it come to life next year. Also gave me an idea of where we are going and things we will need as we keep going and planning. I loved that our decorator had excitement and was earnestly invested in what we were doing and I think about the headache and hassle she’s going to take off our plates and I’m relieved already. AND THEN I think about how BEAUTIFUL it’s going to be.

We went camping this past weekend, probably the last camping weekend of the season, at Beulah Bay. It was great to spend a few uninterrupted days together and then add a boat and a fire with some great people, talk about a success. We were a bit unorganized, and that drove me crazy but I guess we have a few things on our mind.

Best Meal: smoked salmon with citrus and dill and steamed green beans. AND the best part, there was leftover salmon that Matt let me take. That’s how I know he loves me.

“I’m so excited to work with you, I can see that you are made for each other.” – Lynell of “I Do” Balloons, Weddings, and Events