It's the End of the Year, As We Know It...

New Year’s Eve/Day are always particular points for me. I hate to use the word bittersweet so maybe nostalgic or hopeful. It’s a time to reflect on the previous year’s happenings and anticipate the coming year’s.


Here are some highlights from 2012.

1. Chicago: Matt and I’s June trip to the Windy City and seeing Wrigley, the museums and the Lincoln Zoo, Willis Tower, and the culinary fun of pizza, hot dogs, and Greek food.

2. Monterey: Matt and I traveled to California to sightsee and be with some family. Kevin and Jason and Sara were amazing hosts and it was too short of a trip. We celebrated our birthdays too.

3. Bought my condo: After picking out colors, countertops, and floors, was finally able to close and move in in May.

4. Sold my condo: After loving the spacious ceilings, the walk-in closets, the multiple bathrooms, the attached garage, and the feel of new, I sold the condo in November. It was on the market for 30 days.

5. Moved to Dickinson/Moved in with Matt: We finally decided it was time. We picked out a lovely storage unit to handle our overflow and moved our belongings and our cats together. This has been a big adjustment, sometimes hard because of the house and space and the fact that we’ve both been on our own for 10 years, however, the fact that we see each other on a daily basis, we get to argue about what to put on the walls, I wake up to him (and his bed hog ways) and get to fall asleep (defending by ¼ of the bed) each night makes the past year of driving back and forth seem so worth it.

6. Changed Jobs: I put my notice in at KK and took a job at Job Service. What a change!! Private to Government sector. Industry change which meant completely different work styles, co-worker styles, and job deliverables. I went from a job where one of my co-workers had a collection of Mr. Potato heads to a position where we talk about social services projects and veteran’s preferences. I admit, I miss the creative sessions and seeing what came out but I like what I do and the diversity of what happens every day and I have a great group of co-workers.

7. Matt’s work growth: The airport has continued to grow and Matt’s days have become stressful. However I’m proud of what he’s accomplished during his time there, and I’m not the only one who noticed, I was so proud to see Matt accept his award for Airport of the Year. I remember when we started dating, when he took me on a tour of the unfinished terminal, he told me that he was going to make Airport of the Year, without a doubt in his voice.

And the big news:

8. Matt and I became engaged. These past seven items have all changed my year but I know this event will change my life. We’ve been making lists and planning the wedding and planning our life. There are days where reality settles in and I realize we are talking about forever and there are days that the wedding feels 900 light years away. All I know is that from here, we are exactly 250 days from the big day and I can’t wait to marry him. We have a hall and bridesmaids and colors and all that stuff, but most importantly, we have the support of our family, both of our families, to be exact. And this support makes me feel pretty awesome and has added another layer of fun to the planning process.

All in all, 2012 has been pretty amazing for Matt and I, I’m excited for what 2013 brings but if it had a movie trailer, I know there would be a wedding and some parties hopefully some traveling and a lot of family.

Best meals of the year: Ironically when I think back to the meals that stood out, it wasn’t so much what was served but the context that we had them. They include our surf and turf for Valentine’s Day, our Chicago dogs, our Greek town meal, our dinner at the Chop House, fondueing on Christmas Day, making ribs at the farm, homemade pizzas at the Remynse’s, and our camping cook-offs. Yes, I love food, but I love the experience that food provides including the conversation and the camaraderie.

“Some meals are worth doing your own dishes.” – ALM

Final and Final Final Christmas

The last two Christmas’s were lowkey, just like the first. We spent Christmas Day at the Farm with my parents and sister and her boyfriend Robert. We woke up; Matt went out and helped my dad with chores, again. He could have been employee of the month with the help he put in. We then had Christmas bread from Grandmas Elaine and opened presents. Matt and I had gotten our present from Mom and Dad earlier so I wasn’t expecting anything but Mom wasn’t having that she still had presents for me under the tree and much to Matt’s dismay she also got me non-electrical string lights for the camper! Can it be camping season yet?

It was a blast to watch the family open presents including Alaina open up the snake skin purse that I got her, Dad open the windsock I got him and the “files” that Matt got him and Mom open up her sparkle tank and her compost bucket. And as much as I like the present opening, the next part is my favorite, the fondueing. I look forward to it every year. We started this tradition 4 or 5 Christmas’s ago and it’s continued to grow. This year’s creations included homemade corn dogs, tator tots, and premade onion rings. Not only does the food taste good but it’s so slow paced and I love how my father gets into it.

The biggest difference of this year compared to the past was the addition of the boys. Dad finally had an even playing field with Robert and it was nice to see how everyone got along and interacted and visited. We covered a wide range of discussion points from drink prices in the 80’s to cars and on and on. I do have to admit online, and have admitted vocally, that Robert has been a nice addition to the group and has been great to/with/for Alaina. I did have to laugh when he couldn’t believe that she wore his good coat out to bareback on her horses…welcome to the club. It was such a wonderful day, wish it could have been longer and wish we didn’t have to get back to Dickinson and wish the snow wouldn’t have blown over the road a bit.

On the drive home, I did reflect on the entire Christmas weekend and all the people, in all the houses, and all the food and it actually brought tears to my eyes. There have been some lows in my life but when I look at where I am at and all these people that are there to share my life and theirs with me, I can’t believe the high I’m on.
Matt and I ended the night at our house. We opened our presents and he finally got the goose blind that I’d been making him wait to get. I had him fooled, he DID not think he was getting that. I’d been keeping that one pretty close to my chest. Was glad to see the surprise and the smile. He surprised me too, I got a milk frother to make lattes and for the second year in a row, Mom copy-catted him and they both got me a pastry cloth. He did one up her and I got a French rolling pin, I’m excited to see how to use it, especially on reading the advantages to it versus the standard pins. So I drank my frothed coffee while we set up his blinds with the cats played inside it. We watched the Hunger Games and went to bed. You may have even heard my sigh of relief when I hit the sheets.

Best meal: Fondueing always wins. I think my favorite combination is still the hot dog wrapped in bread dough and dipped into the cheese!

“That was pretty good; especially considering it was a corn dog.” – Dad after putting chocolate on what he thought was a piece of plain fried dough.

2012 Christmas Lists

Amanda's List
Herb Garden
Infinity scarves
Solar powered string lights for the camper
Litter box genie
Towel heater
Etsy Breadbox from Countrymarketplace
Milk Frother
Sewing Machine
50 Shades of Gray set for my Kindle
Sterling silver hoop earrings, maybe the size of a quarter (won’t tarnish!)
Hunger Games Movie
Columbo: the complete series
Sex and the City: the complete series
Martha Stewart's Knit Weave Loom
Very small tripod for camera to screw in the bottom (maybe 6 inches)
Dress socks
Flirty Apron


Matt’s List
Fighting Sioux Clothes/Merchandise
Mad Men Season 4 or 5
Over/Under shot gun
007 Bond (Brosnan: Tomorrow Never Dies)
Good binoculars
Serious Craftsman toolbox (with locking capabilities)
Ice bucket for his bar
Tonneau Cover for the Pick-up
Askthemeatman.com beef butchering video
Askthemeatman.com beef processing video
Seal-a-meal Vacuum sealer

2 and 3:5

After Christmas with the Remynse’s, we had Christmas with the Moser’s and Dagman’s. These are the extended family Christmas’s on my side. We started off at Wade and Lynn’s house and had apps and snacks and some catching up. Lynn had some amazing shrimp cocktail and Holly had some great spun butter that I can’t wait to get the recipe for. You could tell it was the off year as a few faces were missing but they were thought of and a few stories may have even been told in their absence!

The next day, after a relaxing morning with Mom and Matt shooting a few pheasants (almost limited out!) We headed off to Grace and Rick’s for the Dagman Christmas. It was a full house, with all uncles and aunts present and only 2 cousin families missing, but it was a FULL house! And as each family grows or we become families, it becomes more full! This wasn’t Matt’s first Dagman holiday, so he didn’t have culture shock of all the people, or the organized chaos, or the temperature, or the food, or the aunts, or the wine! It so fun to see him accepted by my vocal aunts. They will tease him and flirt all in the same breath. The best part was watching the Peters family open presents. Between Kemma and Carsteyn so excited about presents and Aunt Descie getting the pic of her when she was little and Am appreciating my simple postcard, it really drove home what Christmas is all about.

Best meal: Both were good meals but Mom’s stuffing and the turkey is what made Grace’s meal take the cake!

“I’m going to wait to buy my dress for your wedding just in case you ask me to be the 6th bridesmaid.” – Aunt Merri

1:5

We started our Christmas season off in an amazing way with Randy and Michele. They came up on Friday night with a fully loaded pickup! We opened presents that night after having a great meal that Matt prepared of walleye, caught by Randy and Michele. Wow did we get spoiled! I don’t know what was my favorite, Matt’s tool box, my sewing machine, our Keurig, or my fancy flamingo lights, I’m not sure. It was all pretty wonderful. I need to grab my sewing stuff out of storage and I’m going to be good to go.

The next day, the boys went out hunting and us girls went and did some shopping after breakfast. They did more walking than shooting but that’s the risk you run this late in the season, all the birds are a little too skitterish. Michele and I had much better luck on our hunt! We finished the night right with a spread of food while we prepped for pizza and dessert. Randy’s pizza was amazing, he should give lessons!! He did his traditional style but then he took out the deep dish pan that we got him for Christmas. I stuffed myself way past uncomfortable! AND then to top it off, Michele played a bit with her Christmas presents and made crème brulee. Even writing this in retrospect, I’m getting hungry at the memory. She was worried that it wouldn’t taste very good but I could have had a gallon of what she made.

 

After sitting down, completely stuffed past the point of uncomfortable, I realized how lucky I am. Not only did I find this amazing man that I plan to marry but he came with an amazing family that makes me laugh and seems to like me! I couldn't have planned a better way to start the holiday season.

Best meal: yes, the fish was pretty good, but when you take that amazing, awe-inspiring pizza and combine it with Michele’s sinful crème brulee, it’s no longer a competition between the meals.

“mmmmmmm, don't let them take the leftovers” – ALM to MJR after the first bite of the beautiful pizza

Christmas is in the air!

So…Christmas got into full swing with the Christmas tree shopping. I will remind everyone that Matt and I are old. Not old like dirt, but in terms of couples, we are old. We have each been on our own for 10 years before taking the plunge and moving in. And being on our own, we have our own ways of thinking, ways of cleaning, ways of cooking, and ways of celebrating holidays. For instance we’ve stuck a compromise; we will put up my artificial tree every other year and get a real tree in the off years. So because Matt always wins, we started with a real tree. We headed up to the mall and we learned a valuable lesson, we don’t wait until the 12th of December as the yard appeared pretty picked over. We had two tree options that we narrowed the lot down to. We did have one come home with us!

The cats didn’t know what to think about it. We have had all of them under it at different times, Lola has even been seen curled up between the tree and the baseboard snoozing. I was very impressed that there wasn’t a huge issue with them and the tree. We did get Matt’s tree skirt under the tree and he put his angel on top. We’ll either need to drop his and mine, or go and get our own skirt and topper, so it’s ours versus his and mine.

We also got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done on a trip to Bismarck. We did most of it online for the ease and sale but finished up locally, at the mall, with the crowds. Ugh. That place will sure take the Christmas spirit out of you. One of the highlights of the trip was spending some time with Tiffany. She made a trip back to spend some time with her family and I got her for a morning! We caught up, heard about the travel adventures and talked wedding flowers and what we wanted for awhile. Wedding list update of what we have: bridesmaids, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, venues, DJ, decorator, colors, card box, 1 host couple, 2 personnel attendants, 3 program attendants, officiate, hairdresser, and reception hall. There are other things in the plans but nothing fully confirmed. Tiff says she has enough to go off of for the flowers and I’m excited to see what she comes up with.

Best meal: Brazilian grill, we went with Greg and Stacy for a great night out. That place has such great food. The shortribs, the sirloin, the top steak, the pineapple, the buns, the parmesan pork…and it’s all on a stick!!! Mmmmmm

“You’ve never gone Christmas Shopping with me. This is when my size is a benefit. Most people can’t handle my hip thrust.” - MJR

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It’s official, winter is here. Snow has come down and had to be shoveled. Everything is white. If you’ve read the blog before, you know how I have felt about snow. And to be honest I thought I’d have minimal dealings with snow this year since the condo had a maintenance team on hand. Well, I’m back in Dickinson and I have the cutest maintenance team ever, it’s a one-man operation and he did a great job after the weekend.


It’s officially 15 days from Christmas and things have been a bit crazy. We haven’t bought the tree but we did write our lists, have been buying presents, and I’ve been doing some light baking. Christmas to me has always been about lists: who I’m getting gifts for and what they are getting, what I’d like, groceries, what I’m bringing to all the Christmases, and on and on. Last year I felt so robbed of Christmas but this year it’s actually feeling a bit more seasonal. I don’t know if it’s because of Matt and that we are together or what, it just feels like that time of year.

We also took in a holiday charity event this year. Because of a good friend, we got tickets to do to DSU’s Yuletime, which raises money for scholarships. It’s a more formal event, which always makes me nervous. Matt wore his black suit and got to bust out his gray peacoat, he looked so good. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized we only had the even picture taken, here’s hoping that turns out. The way the event works is you start off all together with a silent auction. Winners are announced and then people all go off to separate host homes in the community where you eat supper. After supper, the bus comes back to get you and you go back for the live auction and the dance. We got to partake in some red chili cupcakes, which had amazing frosting because of a couple that shared with us. I also thought Matt was going to strangle me when I bid on a Yankee baseball package. I figured if we could get the cubs/yanks tickets in New York, that would be two birds with one stone! We didn’t get it, and that’s okay. Made Matt’s heart rate raise a little. We did have a really good time and couldn’t believe the clock when we got home, 1:30! Don’t ask what we accomplished the day after tho! So much for being able to handle the party crowd!

TonyDanza has been making me laugh, he’s still trying to sneak under the bed on a daily basis. I think we are his buzz kill. I watched Matt crawl on the floor parallel to him and the bed so he couldn’t dive under. He had such a sad face of disappointment, almost want to let him scoot under just so he doesn’t look so disheartened!

Best meal: Yuletime meal of steak and buttered chicken, dirty rice, pitas, peas and asparagus. We went to Joe and Carlene’s house and they were amazing hosts completing the meal with Rum drinks and chocolate martinis.

“We make one good looking couple, if I do say so myself.” - MJR

Sorting Out, Sleeping In

We had a big weekend. It may not be to everyone else, but to Matt and I, it was a world of difference!

We unpacked, sorted, organized, shifted, and settled. We don’t have 9 million boxes in the living room, I think we are down to 3 boxes…and one is very scary and Matt’s using it as a foot stool, so I hate to take that away from him. We also put up some shelving, to help organize a bit. I unpacked my china cabinet. Matt made jerky. I seasoned pretzels. We slept in. We made breakfast, read the paper, made keurig’s. We made a trip to the camper and to the second hand store. It felt good to see things settle at bit.

We also had Brendan stay with us while he was in Dickinson for Guard Training. We took him down to “Ladies Night Out” in Downtown Dickinson. When I was at the college, I started the event from a blog idea that I found. It was a great event and one that I really took pride in while I was in that position. They are in their 4th year and have had quite a few shoppers each year, really bringing life back to the downtown area. We had supper at Bogey’s and then headed over to the Brickhouse for martini’s. I think the boys had a bit too much fun as Matt enjoys playing bartender when we got back home. I headed off to bed and those two stayed up to talk about boy things (guns, guns, and animals). I think 6am came a bit early for our house but at least everyone was moving and in good spirits, for the most part.

We did end the weekend with baths for all the cats. They all looked so sad and felt so sorry for themselves that they didn’t hiss or fight. They are getting better with each other. At different times they’ll try to play with each other, especially the girls, but it’s like they don’t know how to play or they are afraid that it’s not play and just delayed hissing. TonyDanza is still trying to hide under the bed, he’s getting pretty sneaky and Matt has to be on the top of his game, otherwise he’ll get under. I do laugh at his attempts each night. Sometimes he’s pretty relentless.

Big event of the week was that the condo sold on Nov 30. It’ll be great to save money now for the wedding and our future but I’ll miss that place.

Best Meal of the week: Ribeyes with cooked carrots and rice.

2 Broke Girls
Caroline: “Who’s the Boss?”
Max: “Tony Danza.”