Cheers to you, 2013.

Aw…New Year’s Eve. Time to say good bye to 2013 and welcome the New Year.

It’s been a big year for me. Biggest one practically since 1983. After all, we moved, bought a house, remodeled a home, planned a wedding, had a wedding, turned 30, traveled with my inlaws, traveled to the Caribbean, and fell in love time and time again. That’s a lot to do in one year. No wonder my house is a mess and I think organization is a wonderful dream like world peace and exact change.

This year has been a humbling year for me, there have been lows but the high highs have brought tears to my eyes as I don’t know if I’m able to convey the feelings that rush through me. To those that continue to be a part of my life, thank you. Little known fact, but one of my favorite things at Christmas time are the cards that we get. I love seeing the faces and hearing what’s going on and they go up on my holder and it’s one of the last things to come down for my holiday decorations.

As I reflect on the year in the past, I’m excited to open my calendar for 2014 and the possibilities that could happen. Matt and I continue to talk about abstract plans and possible trips. We aren’t sure what our next five years, ten years, or lifetime will hold. He’s been at DIK for 7 years and continues to find new challenges (good and bad) that go along with the change that he’s had an impact to create. I find now I’m enjoying home life a bit more than work. I love pittering around our house and further organizing and planning and updating. We’ve done so much on the house and there are moments when I realize that this is our home and the center of our life. Who knows what plans we’ll get to accomplish this year on the house, what we want versus need versus find and add in the aspect of affordability and our list changes constantly.

I’m getting distracted…back to my nostalgic wondering of the 2013 year. If I were to pick a word for this year, it would be hard. Things come to mind: love, thankfulness, forever, peace, changes, happy, but the one that might best convey it all is “blessed”. We are blessed to have each other, a home, a supportive family, good jobs, and the ability/means to continue to see another part of the world.

So 2014, I’m ready. I’m ready for your spring’s hope, your summer days, your fall sweaters. I’m ready for the changes you may bring, I may eat my words later, but I’m excited for new plans. I’m excited for the possibilities that may happen to our families. I’m sure there will be wine poured, martini’s shook, and a meal that is enjoyed. There better be a few pizzas too, I’m counting on it. I’m also counting on a few trips and a few pictures taken. Here’s to the kitten cuddles, the Friday nights and the morning brunches on the patio. Here’s to camping trips and working cattle. Here’s to the feeling of a new year brimming with excitement and promise.

So in final reflection: best meals of the past year include Christmas Eve Eve Fondue, Randy’s Christmas Eve Pizza, Chicago Dogs for Wedding Rehearsal, salmon at the wedding, salmon crepes with a latte at Sarafine’s, and crabs Matt bought off a truck in the Dickinson Tire parking lot.

ALR: It’ll be our third new year’s together.
MJR: Yes, it will.
ALR: I’m going to make it to midnight this year.
MJR (looks skeptical)
ALR: I did last year, it even made the blog.
MJR: Yes, you are right.

**Fun fact: I wanted to spend the final minutes of 2010 and bring in 2011 with Matt but he couldn’t take a hint and couldn’t tell I was flirting with him in emails. **

Additional fun fact: This is the 100th blog for this year, most I've ever blogged in 1 year. I'm scared that my father in-law will become used to this as he tends to let me know when things have gone unblogged for too long.

CHRISTMAS

Here’s the thing about Christmas. I want more. I want more family. I want more fireplaces. I want more time. What a beautiful time. I saw the perfect sum it all up picture on facebook this past month….As you grow older your Christmas list gets smaller and the things you really want for the holidays can’t be bought. It was hard to come up with a list for Matt and I this year, we did and there are other things that we’d like or think we need but what I’d really like is an extra camping trip with Michele and Randy, a weekend we could get away to help my parents, a trip to Arizona to see Janice, another wedding, just to get the family in one place again…these are the things I’d like. I would like happiness and stressfree days at work for Matt. I would like us/me to have unlimited vacation days to take a trip with him. I would like new windows for the house and a driveway that shovels itself. There are this things and a few more that can’t go on a Christmas list. But all in all, I have a wonderful life filled with love and family and I’m lucky.

So back to the week of Christmas. We started it off at the Dagman Christmas at Merri’s house. It was a very full house only a handful of people weren’t able to make it. It hasn’t been that full for a bit of time. It’s amazing to see the third generation really taking off. It really is amazing to see how the family has grown so big yet makes it a priority to still come together once a year.

The next day, we had the traditional Moser Ranch Christmas. The day started with Matt and Dad doing chores, followed by opening of presents, and then we heat up the fondue pots and have the meal that lasts hours. Presents was amazing, my family spoils! I don’t know who’s worse, Alaina, my parents, or Matt’s parents. We got some of the things on our list and so many more. I liked the fondueing. We’ve really taken oil fondue to a science. My favorite is the dough with any of the meats. We also added 2 types of cheese this year; smoked gouda and cheddar, and finished it off with chocolate. What a great meal. I look forward to it every year.

On Christmas Eve, we took off for Lansford. We ate a snack when we got there of appetizers but forced ourselves to quit when we realized that Randy was making pizza that night. Matt hadn’t been home for Christmas for a few years because of his position so it was nice to see him excited to be home. He even got his dream of a real tree to come true. Randy and Michele had one waiting to decorate. It was a very pretty real tree. Looked like a Christmas card. They can keep it. I don’t miss the needles and the wet presents and it’s bad enough Nike eats the fake tree, but when she eats the real tree, the needles get all over, even more. But it was beautiful at their house.

           

 The next morning we were pestered awake by the parents who couldn’t stand it even more. Michele even cheated and opened a present before we came down the stairs. We had to tell her she couldn’t shake her presents either. Which did stall her back a bit, she only lifted it then, weight check. After presents, we enjoyed a great egg/fruit breakfast bake that Michele made, it was very good. I actually had to force myself to quit eating because I remembered we were to enjoy Matt’s smoked brisket with gouda mac n’cheese, coleslaw, and squash soup. I ate too much. I thought I was going to explode.

The drive home was long but we rewarded ourselves with our final presents to ourselves when we finally got settled in. It was a beautiful first Christmas together.

Best meal: seriously. Don’t make me. Between the fondue, Randy’s pizza, the brisket, the breakfast egg/fruit/cheese thing…it was a week of amazing meals, the type you do wait all year for.

MJR: What was your favorite present?
ALR: The smoker.
MJR: No, what was your favorite present that you got?
ALR: Oh. That’s a tough one.
MJR: Why did you say the smoker?
ALR: Because even though it’s yours, it’s really me that benefits. You are already planning ribs and salmon and all my favorite things. Are you sure it’s not for me?
MJR: I see your point. 

Christmas Lists

Matthew’s list
Smoker
Soda streamer soda (Ginger ale, lemonade, grape)
Items for his yard remodel
Chop saw
Gun cabinet
Under Armor brush pants 38x36
Dale Brown, Patrick McLanahan Series (Hardcover)
Extra long hockey stick
Bond's Quantum or Solace or Skyfall
Black Hawk stuff - sweatshirts, t-shirts

Amanda’s list
Pulls and hinges for the kitchen
Trenchcoat
a couch for the living room
Pot protectors for my kitchen pots
Flower pots of all sizes for the garden
Salmon
Snorkel gear (mouth piece, flippers, eyes)
Herb garden
Patricia Cornwell, Kay Scarpetta Series, Book 3 and on (kindle)
Gone Girl (kindle)
Paint for the small guest bedroom
Scanner
Hair Wand (It's like a curling iron)
Garden gargoyle
Despicable Me 2
Snapfish Gift Certificates
Knuckle Ring
Laundry hanging bags
Charger Plate Set

Happy Holidays From the Remynses!

First Christmas Card…First Christmas Letter.

Here’s a brief rundown of things that are happening with us this year…a Top 5 of sorts.

1. WE GOT MARRIED!!! Best day ever…will live in my memories for the rest of my life. My favorite moment of the day was the first moment that we saw each. That moment where I realized that he was my future and how happy I was…it was amazing.

2. We bought a house together. I could follow this up with, we made it through our first remodel together…wallpaper (which is a curse word in our house), texture, lights, paint, sanding…it all has been coming together.

3. Traveling…we usually get a few trips in but there were 2 that stuck out in my mind. Both were in October. We took a trip to Michigan to attend Bob Remynse, Matt’s grandfather’s funeral. We drove. And drove back. With Michele and Randy. A week after we got back and found ourselves recovered, we took our honeymoon to St. Maarten, an island in the Caribbean. What a beautiful week of beaches, sun, and just us!

4. Work life. I just honored my first year at Job Service, where I have an amazing group of coworkers (which is my favorite part of my job). Matt watched a dream come true at the airport. In June, he watched the jets come in to acknowledge the start of jet service in Dickinson. Was great to see how his hard work and stress finally had a pay off.

5. We really got married…I say this because not only was the wedding day and the day after and the day before amazing but the planning and time that went into the details of the day was such a major part of our year. We wanted to make sure that our day was about us and that people got to know us and our relationship a bit better.

Other honorable mentions:
-we got old (both of us turned 30)
-after a year of living together…the cats still do not get along. Sometimes I think they think they are playing but aren’t sure but for the most part all three; TonyDanza, Nike, and Lola, do not all mix well.
-we took 2 camping trips this year, pathetic.
-we visited the farm, but not as much as we would have liked. We did buy a heifer to bulk our herd numbers up a bit, and Matt did take over for Dad a time or two, but we had higher hopes for being a bigger help.

Goals for next year:
Matt wants to do a bit of landscaping to our small yard.
Amanda wants to revise the guest bedrooms
Matt wants to hunt more.
We want to travel more, golf more, camp more…

So in closing, I’ll leave you with a conversation from Matt and I…but we are so glad to have so many people in our lives that continue to check on us and think of us. We are blessed to have the family that we were given and the friends that continue to chose us. Can’t wait to see your families and hear your stories.

ALR: We’ve been married a couple months.
MJR: yea.
ALR: Does it feel weird?
MJR: no.
ALR: Is it how you thought it was going to be?
MJR: yea.
ALR: Really?
MJR: yea, just like I was expecting.
ALR: oh. Well, I think it’s different. I think we’ve got a pretty good thing happening here.
MJR: I know, it’s what I was expecting.

Christmas Preparation

Twas the week before Christmas….and it’s one of those years where I’m feeling Christmas’y and potentially ready. We have the tree up, the stockings hung, decorations around the house, some baking done, and finally some presents wrapped. I made bags for my co-workers and Matt's employees at the airport, they included some pumpkin cookies, banana bread, caramel corn, and a bit of jerky. Was so nice to hear the nice things they said about the gifts. Present wrapping may be the hardest thing I’ve had to do as a husband/wife. Matt agreed to help me since I was getting behind and while it was very sweet that he offered, I should have realized that it’s the thought that counts and thanked him and went on my merry way. See, here’s what most people don’t realize. After a few years of working on wrapping presents myself, I have developed a system and I’m also particular about my wrapping. I think a beautifully wrapped present says something. Now here is the disclaimer, Matt wrapped a good portion of the presents and to those that open them, do not judge us. And I’m sorry. There I sat, watching one of the most capable, intelligent men/people I know, argue with a sheet of snowman paper with tape on his nose and tape all around his hand because within 5 minute of getting the wrapping tape, he had broken the dispenser. After the first present, we had to have tutorial on how best to wrap a present. Eventually, we worked out a better system. I cut the paper and handed it to him with the present ready. Yes, we got it all finished. And yes, I love him. And no, I didn’t kill him off with the scissors. But yes, I did think about a slight maiming.

ALR: Stop!

ALR: AHHH, when I said, Stop, do you think I really said, keep going and add as much tape as possible in the shortest amount of time?

MJR: I was almost done.

ALR: Almost done with what? Wrapping to the point of no return where I can’t fix it?

MJR: It needed reinforcement.

ALR: It did not need reinforcement, I gave you the proper amount of paper to wrap that box.

MJR: You’d think for a novice like me, you’d provide more paper so I can better do the job.

ALR: I don’t think the amount of paper is our issue.

Lola doesn't seem impressed

Other things that went on this past week, Matt had another great win and game for his hockey team. He has been working on his skating and stopping. We found an outdoor rink close by our house. He finally got his jersey! Looking forward to seeing him play in it. They are gunning for the championship, that’s for sure.

Matt’s had a stressful week at work. Winter is his hardest season and this one has been unique because of the airline situation that was reported by the press. I’ve heard comments that he articulated the problem well, but it’s still a problem that he’s been dealing with on both ends. Then to add to the week, a plane aborted their take off and crashed on the airfield. No one was injured and it was learning experience that won’t be forgotten. The hard part was that the crash forced the airport closed until they could move the private jet into the safe space for other airlines to begin using the runway again, which meant cancelled flights. Matt came home at 4:30 on Friday night/Saturday morning after a long night on the airfield. It was one of those weeks where I wish I could shoulder some of the stress that he acquired.

We did weigh the cats this weekend; Lola came out at 14 pounds, which is consistent. TonyDanza was also at 14 pounds, which meant that he has lost a bit. Nike was a whooping 18, which means she’s fat or as Matt would say, she’s solid.

Best meal: We had our first set of steaks from our new beef. Matt was excited when we opened them and with the weather breaking for a bit for the grill to come out, it turned out great.

Things yelled by ALR since Dec 8 (the day we put the tree up):

Quit eating the tree! Quit it right now!

Why is there an ornament here?

Quit! Quit playing with that!

Take one more bite, I dare you!

Stop that, you are ruining the Christmas spirit!

That is a Christmas tree not an ambush hold!

No fighting under the tree!

Nike! You quit that!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Here is a picture of the new bed that I bought Nike, in an attempt to 1. Make her a bit happier about the Christmas tree 2. Make her feel cozier on the bed 3. Have her quit shedding all over the bed. I don't consider this purchase a great success.

Christmas Cards then Parties then Trees!

 We are hardly two weeks out from Christmas. I think we’ve got things pretty well on schedule. Tree is now up. Assembled, decorated, lights, ribbon, star and all. Matt is not a happy camper, because it a fake tree. I love it. The only thing that I would love more is if we could put tinsel on it. We can’t, TonyDanza tries to eat it. What a dummy. So that’s done. We are almost done with presents. A few left, but so far so good. I’ve started baking a few things but not too seriously. Will have to get that in gear. Also, with the true spirit of Christmas, we had my work holiday gathering last Friday. What a great little night. Was fun to get together and see spouses and enjoy some great food. We also have been getting some nice compliments on our first Christmas card. I really do like the way they turned out!

This week has been cold. Not just a little chilly but now we are at holycrapcanwegetcolder cold? I’ve been plugging my car in each night, Matt’s been letting his run extra, and we even turned up the heat again. This cold stinks. It’s cost Matt a flooded office because of frozen pipes. I’ve dug out my long underwear. We even have been trying to maintain the fireplace. I know it’s December, but we’ve got to catch a break, or a high above zero.

This weekend we got a lot of things done. I went to Pride of Dakota with a friend in Bismarck as well as did some errands and shopping. On Sunday, we went to the grocery store and I stocked up on food and made bagged crock pot meals. I’ve seen it on pinterest and have been wanting to try it. The tipping point to do it this week was the lack of imagination that I’ve had with meals this week. I did make a squash soup that was very impressive in my mind. Matt didn’t even try it. What a disappointment! I miss the summer when weather was warm and Matt was cooking!

Best Meal: Was at Hawk’s Point, where the Christmas Party was. I had a chicken stuffed with cheese and bacon wrapped asparagus on the side. Matt had a NY strip with squash and horseradish mashed potatoes.

Matt lying on the ground looking under the Christmas Tree

MJR: Yep, Sorry Nike. There’s no water this year.

ALR: sigh
MJR: I know, Nike, you’ll have to get used to this every other year.
ALR: sigh
ALR crouching down to look: Seriously? Is she doing what I think she’s doing?
MJR: She’ll figure out it isn’t real.
ALR: She’s eating the tree! Aren’t you going to get after her?
MJR: She doesn’t understand the words I say.
ALR: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

White Weekends and White Closets

The weather is changing. We both are hating it. Matt’s stressing out over it because of work and I’m hating it because of the cold. We actually turned up the heat this past week…I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it on Friday when the good temps are actually zero. Matt has spent some long days at the airport….in a piece of equipment. Felt bad when he came home for 6 hours last night, just enough time to eat a sandwich, have a bowl of cereal, and take a nap. We didn’t get a ton of snow, just enough to be an inconvenience and totally cover the ground.

This past weekend we did get some stuff accomplished! Got some things put online to sell, house cleaned up a bit, pumpkin cooked with more seeds roasted, and even got the pillows washed in the house. I don’t think someone was impressed. The biggest time suck/accomplishment was the closet in the guest bedroom finally got painted. FINALLY. Seriously who paints a closet AND THE CEILING a brown/purple color. They even painted the dowel and the shelf and the brackets…but not well. They painted them but didn’t move them.

Matt had another good game of hockey. He scored another goal and his team was sitting in first place on Monday. I’m glad he’s enjoying it. He hasn’t gotten his jersey yet but is enjoying the guys he’s playing with.

We also got our Christmas Card out this week. We didn’t send a letter but instead put a blog link up. Hope people enjoy both! 

Best Meal of the week: We had a date night on Friday, Matt smoked salmon (compliments of Kevin!) and after a great meal we sat down with the DVD of wedding photos that we got from Ken. Very bittersweet, the pics were beautiful and it reminded us of the day in so many ways but now there is nothing else to look forward to. Randy says that he wants to get the pics perfect so we should have another wedding, how can I disagree with this brilliant man?

Painting the closet

MJR: How many coats is this?

ALR: Let’s see, this is one coat of primer, two coats of white, and I think we’ll need one more for sure and probably 2 more on the seams?

MJR: This is taking forever.

ALR: I know.

ALR: What color is this?

MJR: Mauve?

ALR (AGHAST): NO!!! Our wedding color for the rosewood was mauve, this horrible abomination is nothing similar to the wonderfulness of our wedding!

MJR: Oh, well maybe we’ll stick with purple-brown.

ALR: I should say SO!

More than Just Turkey.

The other morning as I got ready for work I began to think about the idea behind Thanksgiving as I’d been feeling a real sense of peace with the upcoming holiday as well as a sense of excitement for the Christmas holiday to follow. I admit, I’ve had a great life. I grew up with a set of loving (but crazy) parents who taught me values that I’m hoping to pass on someday. I learned the benefits of hard work. I did not want for anything and even when my mother recalls times of financial hardship, I can’t remember them because I always had what I needed. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished personally and now when I look back at how my life has changed in the past 5 years, it’s a little overwhelming. I’m thankful for so many things; it’s actually pretty amazing that I don’t even know where to start. I’m thankful for Matt. I’m thankful for Matt and I and even when we disagree, I know it’s not something that will change what we have. I’m thankful for our health and our beautiful home. I’m thankful for our pets with the personalities that continue to show through (TonyDanza chasing his tail, Lola burrowing under blankets, or Nike smothering Matt). I’m thankful for the family I have and the love and support that they continue to give me and now show my husband. I’m thankful for the family that I’ve acquired and the more that I get to know them, the more that I keep falling in love with who they are (Kevin…this is where I hear a Carly Simon song…:P and Sara, you are so humble that you may not realize this includes you!). I’m thankful for my job and for Matt’s continued challenges in his job. I’m thankful for the great friends that I have. I’m thankful that it doesn’t matter how many miles are between some of my friendships, they are only a thought and a call away. I’m thankful for some of my experiences with these friends, I can’t describe the feelings I have when I think back to my wedding and the wave of emotion, love, and just plain ol’thankfulness that rushes through me. I could go on and on….and that morning while standing in the bathroom with a straightner in my hand, I did. No matter where I turned and what I looked at, the feeling continued to hit me.

I have a facebook friend that has a word of the year, it’s a feeling that she uses to describe the entire year and this year’s for me is Thankful. I’ve actually had more time to be introspective on my thoughts of how my life has settled as of late. Sure, there are some slight changes but they are shattering and bold as they have been in the past. I know there will be changes in the future too, maybe a move, maybe a family, different pets, but it’s a year like this that reminds me that no matter what shaking out may happen there is a calming of the seas at some point, you just have to wait for it.

Thanksgiving was spent at my mother’s house. Matt got to throw on a little orange and go out with one of his groomsmen, Jayme. He even managed to bag a couple birds. It was a wonderful meal. As I grow older, I appreciate certain things more and more. I like the turkey dinner, with cranberries, with stuffing, with mashed potatoes, with gravy and then to end in a pumpkin pie…..wonderful. Yes, the prep time is enormous and I’m not quite sure if some people realize that or the amount of dishes that are created, but it’s wonderful to make the plate and sit down to enjoy it. There were 23 people at the house. And we had three tables. I did something right this go around…I handed Denise my camera, and off she went to capture the day. Loved some of the pics that she captured.

Matt and Payton

             

Me and the reason behind why the meal was so wonderful

Best Part of the Meal: The stuffing...it was my favorite. Even the left overs were amazing, was so glad mom sent them home with me.

Scene: Carsteyn (Ambour's oldest, who was a program attendent in our wedding) cruises down the hallway with Barbie car.
Tyler (Wes's oldest) cruises after with a Barbie doll in hand! Frantic.
Carsteyn comes back heading east with Barbie car.
Tyler in hot pursuit with Barbie doll, aggitated.
Carsteyn back west again, still with car.
Tyler bring up the rear, still with doll.
We finally got Carsteyn to stop the car and Tyler plunked Barbie in the seat, and all is right with the world.
MJR to Kristy, Tyler's mom: "We've got a rule follower! See all he wanted to do was ensure that the car had a driver, order is restored! He'll be a police man when he grows up!

Our first Thanksgiving, sadly, this is the only pic of the two of us.

Pheasants and Pharming

Another weekend come and gone, but this one was a bit different. We finally made it back to the farm. We hadn’t been there since before the wedding and the time during the wedding really didn’t count. I’ve known that Mom and Dad have been working their tails off, with the combining and the cattle, and the place. It doesn’t help that the corn this year is still up and they are going crazy to get it off, the only consolation, they are not the only ones with it still on the stalk.



Blue jays are considered lucky, unless
you are my mom, who doesn't like
them eating her dog food.

We arrived Friday night and stayed until early evening on Sunday. It was great to catch up and while Matt enjoyed the outdoors, I stayed inside to warm and cleaned house for mom. Ironically that’s always been my favorite deal, if she goes outside and works with Dad and I get to stay inside, I’ll clean or cook or anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve put my hours in wearing coveralls but I will take preference points in the warm. I’m a fair-weather farmer.

Matt enjoyed the farm and was finally able to get out and get some birds down. He loved it even more when Bruce, a family friend, showed up with Gunner, his dog. Matt was able to take out his grandfather’s 16 gauge double barrel shotgun, which had been given to us as a wedding present. He was able to grab 4 birds over the weekend, not quite a limit out but a nice showing still. He would have limited out if he’d have had Gunner the next day too to follow the down birds. Was glad to see him enjoy himself in orange again.

He worked with Dad on a few projects including the chains on the truck tires, unloading grain, moving the portable corrals, chainsawing wood, and working to unfrost the drinker. I had a pivotal role in last one, I was the official water boiler. Overall it was a great time to finally sit and visit with my parents. Mom and I even got a time away from them as we snuck off to town. Her and Alaina are really world travelers lately! Alaina’s in DC and Mom will be in Vegas for a conference next week.

Now if Matt can just get over being sick in time for Thanksgiving, that would be WONDERFUL! We are at my parents house so we’ll arrive Wednesday night and enjoy the festivities in time to head back so we can work on Friday. Next year, I’ll plan better and get BlackFriday off! *Note to self, make sure you take this off in advance.

Best meal: I love potato soup. It’s sad that for as much as I love it, Matt doesn’t but it’s still one of my top 5 meals.

Mom on the phone talking about a deceased grandchild of a friend.

MJR: “We really need to get our will together”

Mom gets off the phone

ALR: “I know, I know, where do you want your ashes spread?”

MJR: “I don’t! I want to be buried!”

ALR: “I know! I was talking to my Mother!!”

Mom: “Oh in the front yard, there’s a bucket there by the fireplace you can just leave them in for now.”

ALR (To herself): I have a feeling that she’s not thinking the same thing that I am.

Odds, Ends, and Head shots

You know…I’m feeling like blog hangover. For weeks and weeks, there was great things to post and big things that are happening, and suddenly it’s all over. The wedding, done. The honeymoon, done. The hype that was all there, over. We were on cloud 9 talking about snorkeling and beaches and sun and suddenly, I’m talking about baking a pumpkin. Serious? What happened here?

This week wasn’t too different than the last. Matt had a good chuckle at me on Monday night. New recipe night. Now, this is a “tradition” that I’ve taken from his mom, that his dad doesn’t like. For those that have been in our house, it’s always been, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll just order pizza. Monday was the most nervous I’d gotten and actually was debating what toppings I’d want. In an attempt to cut back some on my carbs, I made a lasagna with eggplant. I can just about hear the horror in my father’s voice at that idea. So I basically made it the same as the lasagna that I typically make with a few changes and modifications for the eggplant. When I took it out, I was concerned. Matt thought my nervousness was hilarious. I was not amused. I even waited to dish it up until he wasn’t around, who knew how it’d come out of the pan! Verdict: it wasn’t terrible, we didn’t have pizza, glad I only made a 8x8 pan, and I need to quit adding water to things thinking that will make it better. Will it make best meal of the week, no. Will I make it again anytime soon, probably not. However I haven’t given up on eggplant yet.

I did make a pumpkin bread with the cooked pumpkin that I prepared last week. Both of us really enjoyed that. It was so soft and wasn’t too pumpkin-y, we will be making that again. I really do like my bread machine. What a wonderful wedding gift!

We were busy on work levels too this week. Matt worked on efficiencies and goal setting and it was a week of training for me. I went to Bismarck on Wednesday for some Unemployment Insurance training and then had a Labor Market Information training on Thursday in Dickinson. This was my first BIG training session in Dickinson, I had an employer session last month but not as widespread as this option.

We had a bit of a scramble on Thursday night. Matt called me at 2.
MJR: I’ve been interviewed by a magazine, I need a head shot.
ALR: OK. Makes sense.
MJR: By tomorrow.

ALR: WHAT?

MJR: So can you take care of that?
ALR: WHAT?
So I did. Here I found myself on Thursday, helping him pic out his outfit, pulling lint rollers and the iron, and then talking with the photographer who I was able to line up at the last moment. For around our house as a last minute thing, I was very happy with how they turned out. We went with the local photographer that did our firefighter engagement shots, so they were familiar with the “creative process” that Matt has.
AND for those that thought the mustache was good, this pic and this look is SO much better. You can't deny that and those that will are LIARS!

The weather is changing still…colder at nights, a bit of snow on the ground. I’m not wild about it. I know the precip is needed for this coming year, but I hate to see Matt stress over it. I hate to think about it myself. We do have the association to shovel our driveways and I do get to park in the garage, so it does take some of the cold out. I’m not looking forward to the blizzards and dumps that are bound to happen. I keep thinking of Janice’s comment, “It never snows in Dickinson”. What a liar.

Best meal: BLT’s…there’s something wonderfully simple about a good BLT. I added avocado to mine and left out the dressing, and Matt made a SUPER BLT (double lettuce, double tomato, and triple bacon).

ALR (reading in bed): Hey, can you look at this? Would you recognize French?
MJR (rolls over): Yeah.
ALR hands book over
MJR: Yes that’s French.
ALR: I know it’s French, I want to know what was said!!
MJR: Oh I don’t know that.

Weekend At Home.

We are heading into winter. Cold days, watching the radar, checking the sky, and hoping that the plows don’t have to run. Matt had his first on-call weekend, which forced us to stay put and stay home this weekend. Despite being unable to get back to the farm, we did make the best of the situation and filled our time.

Saturday morning, we headed to the last DSU tailgating event. Matt had wanted to go to a game this year, but it never worked out. We did manage to make 2 tailgating events this year. Each one has a theme to give people inspiration for the grill. This week was wild game…we had a pheasant sandwich, elk chili, bison burger, and elk poppers. From there we went to the holiday craft show, there wasn’t much that I saw that I wanted, a few items, but nothing too badly. Matt wanted to get a rubber band gun rifle. I didn’t think it was necessary. We headed home to clean the basement. This has been on my mind for a couple months now and it’s been slow going. We actually made HUGE process. We had a constant audience to supervise our work, I suppose since they think it’s their domain. But it looked so nice when we had to quit for the day. There’s some work that still needs to be done, but it’s significantly better.

We had to quit because it was the spouse appreciation dinner at the fire hall. What a nice thing, the guys did a great job with the meat, as usual, and the wives all contributed sides. It was fun to socialize a bit but we had to cut it short because Matt had a hockey game. He looked so good out there with new equipment and sharpened skates. And after a few attempts at a goal, I was happy to see him get one in. He’ll get his jersey soon but he managed to get game MVP without it. I was pretty happy for him.

Sunday was a bit slower. Matt headed off to dive training and I played domestic goddess. I wrestled canning jars earlier this year…now it was time to take on the pumpkin. After discovering that one of the two was rotted, I opened up (with Matt’s assistance), the white pumpkin and cooked it and then later roasted the seeds. Matt was pretty happy with how they turned out.

The best part of the weekend….no snow, no plowing…and a clean basement. Oh…and the kitties got new cubes. Their old ones were demolished! But the best part of the week: Matt’s been mustache free for 7 days now.

Best meal of the week: The smoked brisket at the firehall with the great sides!

Because we left the fire hall and all noticed, they made a few comments about showing up to watch. And we shouldn't have been surprised when they were at the game!
Lindsay: “100% of the fan base is for Matt…oh shoot, that guy with those kids showed up….maybe we can convert them?”

ALR: (setting down the dish from the bedroom scentsy) “So I’m going to put this here on the counter to take up to the bedroom later, it has scentsy in it, don’t eat…”
MJR: “Shut it”

OH Deer!

Yes, it was that time again. Opening deer was this past weekend and with that was chilly “nature” walks, scanning the horizon, caring a firearm, and bullshitting each other at the 4th annual Remynse deer cull. This year there was less culling than normal as we struggled with the population numbers and the weather conditions a bit. So on Thursday, we headed up to Lansford just in time for Randy’s pizza…made especially for us, I won’t lie…that’s a helluva way to start the weekend out. Matt’s been itching to get home for a bit so it was good to see him relax a bit just by walking in the door. And with Kevin and his friend there…that’s just added bonus to seeing Randy, Michele, and Randy’s deep dish.

Friday started with modesty out the window and reputations on the line. See last year, Matt managed to get his deer within 4 hours and with one shot. And in true Remynse fashion, we can’t let people forget our attributes….ha! Much to our dismay, the first day didn’t go as planned. I was proud that at the end of our first walk, I was the one to spot the buck scampering into the tree row and I wish we could have taken him down. We didn’t get him or anything else on the first day.

Saturday finally delivered a few results…the boys headed out early while us girls kept warm and toasty as long as we could. When we headed out, we heard the big announcement. “One-Shot Matt and now we have Two-Shot Kevin”….Kevin obtained the first deer down. Kevin’s deer did bring a little attention from the Game and Fish Department. Two wardens showed up on site to check licenses, see the deer, and visit a bit. There was some concern about Kevin’s shooting abilities, obviously his reputation precedes him! But I like calling him Two-shot Kevin versus FillTheGroundWithLead Kevin!

By the end of the day, things hadn’t changed much from the morning. Kevin’s doe was awful lonely hanging.

On Sunday, things changed a bit. Brendan got his second doe. But we kept missing the bucks, which is what the 4 ND Remynses had. So that night, at dusk, I dropped Matt off and he went to go sit and watch the deer move across the field. He wasn’t able to get the 5x5 he locked eyes with, but he did drop a deer, a 2x2.

That left us, on Monday morning, with a Kevin knocking on the bedroom door at 6:30am…”Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy.” I’m all for wake up calls, except on days off when I don’t want to go in the cold. But I got up. Put on layers and then more layers and Matt and I headed out, despite the fact that he reminded me that he had already gotten his deer. So there I was sitting, on the frost covered ground, watching my breath, and because I’d lost a contact, fogging up my own glasses, scanning for deer. I saw Matt’s beast go across the field but I knew the idea of me shooting 270 yards was a bit more optimism than I could handle. And that was the only buck I saw that morning, I’ve determined I’m not a good hunter. I didn’t even get a decent shot off at anything.

There are some pretty solid examples of my inability to hunt but I was not alone. You’d think I would have learned when I was 12 or 13 with my father (maybe it’s because of this experience that he laughed when I asked if I could borrow a gun). Yes, I did see the first deer, which gave me hope. So when I saw the second deer, a doe in the trees, I got hopeful. I told Michele to stop as she was right in front of us. At this particular moment, I’m going to question Michele’s scanning abilities as it took a long time to point out the deer to her. Once she saw them, we got a hunter over to us but we were concerned about spooking her. This was impossible as it was pointed out to us that the deer are concrete fakes. That’s a humbling feeling. We attempted to disguise our faux paus by saying that they ran off. Now, I will admit it’s bad that I was scared to spook a concrete deer and that I didn’t really see that it was concrete on my own. But there are others that may have been worse than me. Bill continued to stalk these deer even after we tried to throw them off. He was worried to take a shot at the doe as the two deer were too close and didn’t seem to be moving. AND later that day as we were prepping to walk another field, Brendan came up and asked why Matt didn’t take a shot of the deer on the road. Matt responded that he didn’t see the deer. Brendan suddenly had doubts in Matt’s abilities until the “deer” showed its face just a few feet off, it was a big dog. So thank you to Bill and Brendan, between the three of us, I’m not sure which person got the “hunter of the weekend” demotion!

I guess you could say that my favorite part of the weekend was the family and the food. It was good to see the BS sling throughout the weekend and the loving ribbing. Was good to catch up a bit on what’s happening with each and then enjoy some great meals like wings (bbq, jerk, and buffalo), pulled pork, Kevin’s Stromboli for breakfast and snacks, Michele’s spinach dip, and then the chili night. Matt’s batch of pheasant chili was the best that he’s made for the past couple years.

And now to the subject that brings me heartache/burn…..the bane of my existence, Matt had decided to grow a moustache. He is the most handsome and commanding man I’ve ever met in my life and suddenly you put some fluff on his face, and he is still good looking but he’s more park ranger than senator. He’s more school principal than savvy business leader. He’s more 70’s porn star than I can handle. My co-worker’s husband pegged it correctly…it doesn’t look bad if you don’t know Matt but if you know him or have met him before it’s not as complimentary as not having one. I don’t like it. One bit. He started growing it on our honeymoon…but only because he wasn’t shaving at all and suddenly when he did start shaving he took advantage of razor creativity and current growth. I told him a beard would have been more welcomed. His family loves it, but I know his true friends, the firehall guys are being honest and are concerned! He has informed me that it will be coming off and I’m counting the moments but the damage is done…it always seems that he does something dumb with his looks (shaved head, grows a beard, grows a moustache) and the news crew shows up on his front door with their cameras to capture all the glory so it lives on forever. Sigh.

 

Aside from Matt’s family, we also had a visit from a little of my family, my aunt, Merri, came for supper this past week. She was in town for a conference and we spent a bit of time with her catching up on her family and life in general.

Best meal: Randy’s pizza. Was hot, fresh, and so good….it’s probably a good thing that we don’t live closer because I didn’t have any guilt having two bit deep dish slices.

3 months ago: at my mother’s house

MJR: (Proudly displaying his newly printed off general wildlife license) I’m going to have the prettiest license around! (the license was printed on paper that was in the printer that had flowers all around the borders, beautiful daisies)

November 11: at our house

ALR: So, did you haftah show your game warden your tag?

MJR: yes.

ALR: (Giggling) ANNNNDDDD your license?

MJR: yes.

ALR: And what did he say?

MJR: Nice paper.

ALR: (Giggling)

It’s Sad How Fast a Tan Fades

So we are back and clothes are washed and mostly put away. We put the suit cases away. The cats no longer feel abandoned but ironically still stick pretty close. We have gone through pics and relived stories and feel a sadness for the finality of the event.

We are getting back into the swing of things. We spent some serious time on the house this past weekend. Matt’s guiding was cancelled and I suddenly had a helper to work on some house projects! Here’s a list of things that were accomplished:

• Leaves picked up on the patio (Much to TonyDanza’s dismay, who loved watching them through the sliding glass door)
• Yard cleaned up including flower beds, and some basic pruning. We started talking plans for Matt’s landscape renovation for next year but then he found out that they put 3” of gravel down. He was pretty disappointed.
• My car worked on….because of my battery “situation” Matt put a maintainer on and also repaired my headlight, which had gone out. We may start shopping for cars later this fall, but who really wants a payment!
• The guest bedroom painted. When we did the big renovation…we finally stopped when we got our heads above water and got the primer up in the room. It’s finally painted. It looks so nice. We did two tone it and we officially took the painters tape off the walls on Sunday.
• Hung pics in the guest room. I’m not in love with 1 wall but the others look so nice. It’s actually looking like a real room. We do have to paint the closet and it can get finalized even more…but we’ll take what we can get, maybe that will happen later this month.
• Laundry…boring…but this necessary evil.
• Brushed the cats. Only Lola was the non-naughty one.
• Made jerky. With the big deer hunt coming up…we decided to make some snacks to share at the event and also prep our freezer for the next one.

We were feeling pretty accomplished with all that had happened! But a highlight of the weekend was what Matt bought before coming home. Crabs. From the back of a truck. In the Dickinson Tire Parking lot. From a guy! When he showed me them, they were still moving. So we took them home (in a Menard’s bucket) and cleaned them up with a sink brush.One of them grabbed on and wouldn’t let go. Nike was scared of them...wouldn't go near the bucket. We then let them take a slight nap in the freezer, prepped our love pot (which was a wedding gift) and when we had a good boil on, slipped them in for a good steam. They came out looking so good. We sat down, with a cutting board and our cracker set and gorged ourselves on crab.

That wasn’t our only good meal of the weekend, we had our first batch of the tomato soup that I made. I was so happy with it. I will do something a bit different next year but for the most part they turned out better than I planned. Both Matt and I enjoyed it. We also had the last of our steaks for this beef. We still have other odds and ends that will need to be used before we can have the next beef but the steaks were huge and so good.

ALR: (sleeves rolled up) Here I thought I had the best meal of the week for the blog before tonight.
MJR: (whole crab in his hand): What?
ALR: I love the fish from earlier with the spices that we bought in the market.
MJR: (half a crab in his hand): Yeah, that was a good meal.
ALR: (sucking the meat out of the leg): But 8 pounds of crab is WAY better.
an hour later
ALR: 8 Pounds is TOO much crab…too much…I don’t want to move!
MJR: I want Pie.
ALR: serious?

HM: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Now I didn’t continue with Saturday’s trip. We got into Atlanta as it was dark and in time to check out of customs, reenter security, recheck our bags, and have priority as we went past a ton of others to get through to our area in time to make the Minneapolis flight. This was not a meal flight, but only offered snacks. What a bummer. We got into Minneapolis and upon previous experience; we decided to get a room for the night.

We stayed at the Marriot for the night. Actually a pretty nice place. They shuttled us there and back the next day. We were running behind schedule according to Matt so we didn’t arrive at the airport as quick as he was hoping. Thanks to being priority, we got in quick but waited a bit for TSA. From there we did have an awesome breakfast despite the fact that service was about as slow as they come. Juice and Coffee from Dunn Brothers and Lox bagels from Einstein’s Bagels.

We got on our flight and got to listen to the special announcements from the flight attendant and then the pilot came out.
Pilot: Folks, has anyone been to Dickinson in the past 2 or 3 weeks?
(Heads nod)
Pilot: well, we have a real treat for you today, we’ve heard the ramp is open and we will get to use it finally…no more bus!
Passenger (who Matt knows as Terry): Be careful, the airport manager is on this flight!
Pilot (looks at where Terry is pointing): Really?
(Matt nods)
Pilot: nice.

So there we rode..wondering how we ever flew like this before…not first class. The seats were small, the leg room was cramped, the drinks weren’t free! How do people live like this?

We got back, got home and began the clean up and unpacking. We looked through our purchases, looked through handouts and stuff that we had taken. It was very bittersweet to be home and in the cold. We went from 80+ to 40 with a storm coming. Ugh.

But the trip wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Kevin. And it wouldn’t have been as luxurious if it weren’t for the first class upgrade from Randy and Michele. And the money that we got from family for the honeymoon definitely made it possible to have the amazing meals and memorable activities that we did.

And a special shout out to Aimee and Landry….they babysat the kitties. They really only saw 2 of the three…but who is really shocked by that.

Best Meal: It was a dang good breakfast with the salted caramel latte and the lox bagels (they wanted to put cucumbers on it…EWWWW)…probably the second best breakfast of the week (right after Sarafine’s) and the best thing before heading back to the reality of life.

So there I sat at the MSP carousel waiting so we could go to the hotel….

MJR: So my bag came through?

ALR: Yes.
MJR: But yours hasn’t come?

ALR: Right.

watching the carousel

MJR: So, which one did you put the sand in?

ALR: Mine.

watching the carousel

ALR: I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.

MJR: If you get arrested for bringing sand, I’m disowning you, Moser.