Fishing and Folly

Betty and Veronica…Steve

Jarod, Bridget, Joseph, Jesus (hay-zeus), and Ruby

Not possible baby names, but the names of the fish that the Remynses caught this past weekend. What a great weekend. We got on the road a bit later than Matt had hoped but when we got there, we had a surprise birthday party waiting for us! Balloons, Banner, and smiling faces!! They even let us open our presents – Golf attire for me that I can’t wait to get some use out of, I’d been eyeing it for a couple months and Oakley sunglasses for Matt, which he’d been drooling over for FOR-E-VER! After dinner, we even got birthday cake with lemon frosting and 30 candles…THIRTY…yikes.

The next day, we had a big breakfast and headed out on the water. I worked on a book and not getting too bad of tanlines while they drowned worms looking for the right spots. Randy was the first fish slayer but Matt didn’t get skunked either. I could say that you have to remember Matt’s size in order to appreciate the size of the fish…but either way it brought smiles to our face.

After appetizers, we went back out and luck improved. Michele caught one before hardly even leaving the shore and then brought in a HUGE (ugly) northern that Matt has plans to pickle. They filleted them that night while the mosquitoes attacked, we sat up with the fire a bit but went to bed much earlier the second night than the first!

The second morning, we had English muffin sandwiches. We tend to have things that Matt has been craving for when he camped when he was younger, like fajitas, was in seventh heaven with them and was even happier that we got those left overs. We went back on the water again and they had a much more successful day with 5 fish, 2 walleyes and 3 bass. There were some other things caught including sticks and snags, but those were thrown back for the most part.

It was a great weekend and it was so nice to see Matt so relaxed. It’s been the first stressfree, no responsibilities weekend of the summer. No working on the house, working on the wedding, or trying to get stuff started, moved, or accomplished. We both stayed up late and slept in. He even got a lesson in filleting from his dad. Was nice to have a little downtime before things get crazy.

In regards to the wedding….we are in the final hours. I’m working on lists, last minute thoughts, and making sure that everything is going in the same direction. Easier said than done. I’ll make a trip home this weekend for a little party and organization just in time for the final week. Every once in awhile I have these moments of urgency hit me, like I’m really getting married. Like for real. No jokes. Holy Crap.

Best Meal: Our first meal camping was the perfect kick off for the weekend…we had steaks and caprese salad with birthday cake. Was so nice especially after a week of eating by myself since Matt’s been out for work issues (painting the runway).

Randy: (Puzzled face)
Michele: (working up a snarly face)
ALM: (watching)
MJR: (Completely oblivious of the puzzled and snarly faces)
Randy: (hitting buttons on the remote, working on his own snarly face)
Randy: Matt, are you sitting on the remote?
Matt: (own puzzled face as he reaches into his back pocket and suddenly it lights up.)
Matt: (sheepishly) Yea
Michele: I wondered why you were taking us so deep!
Randy: You can’t get mad at me!

Editor’s Note: There were so many quotes this past weekend….so I’m adding this one in for posterity.
On the drive back home
ALM: I ensured that we stole the rest of the spinach dip.
MJR: Good. I put in our fridge for a reason. Did you at least put it in a new bowl?
ALM: No, then it looked like I was stealing it intentionally, by not giving back the bowl, it looked "accidental". I’ll bring back her bowl at the wedding!

ELEVEN Days

Keep Growing Old...

It hit me the other day – I’m getting married. When I told Matt these he didn’t seem to understand my concern/shock. He said, you knew this was coming. I tried to explain…this is the big time, this is serious, this is no going back. His response was a little alarming as he said, there’s always a go back, it’s just expensive. I said, that that didn’t help my alarming feelings of the severity of what’s happening in our nearer future. He said that it was serious when I said yes to his question, he said it was serious when I decided to move back to Dickinson and move in with him, and it got even more real when we bought our house together. He informed me that we are already practically married and that very little will change. And they say romance is dead. I have been assessing the situation in my mind. Maybe it’s a bigger deal to me right now because of the changes that will happen. We will continue to intermingle finances. I will change my last name and therefore my identity to the public as I know it. Finally, we will begin to think about serious future plans including dogs, children, and IRA’s. We will officially become old and married and boring. We will talk about good school districts and financial advisors. We will look at coupons and watch the news to ensure property and other taxes are not affecting us. We will officially realize that we are adults.

This has been happening for some time, I’m ashamed to admit. Here are some hard core examples…Matt and I talked a bit about our registry and the items we were going to put on there. I think of what that would have looked like 10 or 15 years ago and the kid me would roll their eyes about some of the kitchen and organization items. I also have come to enjoy my bi-weekly bountiful basket that I get on Saturdays. Enjoy is an understatement as I like the surprise and find myself excited to order the basket and add-ons as well as see what’s arriving! To top it off, Matt also enjoys the surprise as he asks me right away what we got. This week’s is a bit more user friendly as there are not mustard greens in the inclusion, I’m excited about the avocados!

Aside from picking up my basket, the weekend was slow for me. I worked on some wedding details and am finalizing some things out as I build my organization lists and start to flesh things out in my head. Matt, however, had a much busier weekend. His bachelor party was this past weekend. It started on the golf course, included a “special” bus ride to the brewery, and ended with a “night cap” at a friend’s house. Based off some of the phone calls I got as well as the pictures that were sent to me, he had a good time or at least he served as the entertainment for the others. I’m glad he came home, all in one piece, alive, and 85% functional! He appeared a bit wore down, a lot of stink, and a tad sore but happy.

Best meal: Stuffed Zuchinni with sausage, marinara, and cheese with a Caesar salad and cucumbers. The other highlighting meal was the lunch I shared with Jerry and Janice...they stopped by on their way through town to catch up and grab a bite. I wish there was more time but I loved their company and it was very reminiscent of old Dickinson days.

Evening text from Groomsmen to Amanda:
7:19 and the groom is down.

                               19 Days...NINETEEN!

Fittings and Farming.

I had my final dress fitting, we got the decorations mostly done, my wedding band is in, cakes ordered, we got quite a few RSVP’s back, the bach and bachelorette parties are planned and the nerves are a little high…we are getting closer. These next couple weekends are going to seem a bit scattered, I need to organize my lists and get down to the nitty gritty. My mother and I with the reinforcement of Alaina and Matt took on the binding of the programs. I keep thinking of these little details and I’m happy to announce that sooo far I really haven’t had any wedding dreams. I probably should shut my mouth about that one… Now I’ll have 26 nights straight of illfitting dresses, missing groomsmen, missing grooms, and other scary things that my mind has yet to cook up.

I really have not planned on becoming crazy; that was never my intention. I do know that I’m a bit particular but I’d like to think I’m self-reliant and laid back….I’ve also determined that this wedding makes me want to pull my hair out. There are so many cogs that are all going at once and we’ve had a year to plan, but really you can’t do constant planning. You have this rush of planning after month 1 and then you have 8 months of sitting around and reading blogs and thinking (which is the dangerous part) and then you have 2 months of crazy, especially as the last month you can’t order anything online as you can’t trust that it will be here in time…and then issues pop up and pretty soon I remind myself that Matt convinced me that this wedding was a great opportunity to be surrounded by those that we love and support us and that this will be one of the few times we can show the world our relationship and love. I think Scotland would have been okay. We would have been surrounded by sheep and moors and highland cows but I would have missed so much wonderful family by eloping. In the long run I know I’ll be glad we didn’t elope, but there are days when I know it would have been easier. I’m not sure who’s counting the days down more…Matt or I…and what’s the number one reason for the countdown, ha. Not funny. Okay kinda funny.

Best meal of the week: I made chicken bruschetta. Matt grilled the chicken and I made the toppings for him to add on and then I also made a homemade Caesar salad. Such a good meal.

ALM: How was your day?
MJR: Good. We prepped the combine.
Prepped the header
Moved the combine
Combined
Drove the truck
Filled the truck.
Unloaded the truck
Pulled out a starter in a truck.
Rebuilt and put in a new starter in the truck.
Drove the truck again.
Combined again.
Quit combining and now I’m drinking a beer. It was a good day.

Big news in a small town (in case you missed it):

Dickinson Press

Bismarck Tribune

26 Days

Patio Life...Gone Crazy.

It seems that summer is slipping through my hands. I’ve enjoyed sandals, no jackets, grilling, and the patio. I love the patio. I love sitting on it with a drink and watching Matt cook. I love eating the food that Matt cooks. I tend to enjoy our Fridays as that’s our tradition…sitting in our chairs, eating, drinking, and talking about life. We have covered all sorts of topics from the wedding, to friends, to family, to future, to the house, to work, it seems that nothing is really off limits. We wait until it’s too dark to sit out there and I get cold and then we go in and probably go to bed. Who wouldn’t want that tradition?

Patio life got shaken up this week. There’s a big mess on my patio, from the mouth squirrel that’s decided that we put the bird feeder up just for him. We came home one day at lunch to this…

  And he gets the seeds and feed everywhere. The cats aren’t too sure. They keep an eye on his bushy tail business as he sits and chatters and digs around in the feeder.

We had a less than productive weekend. So many plans that kept getting in the way. First Matt had to take an unplanned trip to Montana to help a friend, but that didn’t stop me from getting my first bountiful basket with a friend. It was actually pretty exciting to see what you get and the quality of the items. We got the bread add-on and the tortilla add-on…I was super excited about the English muffin loaf! So good. It won’t last a week in our house, especially after having Egg Muffin Sandwiches. I’ll do another basket in 2 weeks to see what else I can get!

Other highlights of the week include using the finished master bathroom. The shower is a bit tight, but it's so beautiful to see the mirror, the trim, the vanity, the hardware. It's absolutely wonderful to have a room that we really made an impression on. I also received a beautiful package in the mail from my Maid of Honor, Tiffany. She sent the flowers for the wedding. When we had talked about them, I wasn't worried until she started telling me how worried she was about me liking them. I hung up the phone that night and told Matt, "What if I don't like them?" He didn't seem too worried and it's obvious he was aware of what Tiffany would/could do...they were better than I could have imagined. They were absolutely wonderful and made me a bit more excited for the wedding to come quicker!
Matt did take me out to the new Japanense restaurant in Dickinson, Sakura. It was very good. Prices were higher than we were hoping but product was great, service was spot on, and I found a new roll I really liked called river tuna. It had tuna and salmon and avocado. I could tell we hadn’t had Chinese/sushi for awhile as I was a little rusty with the chopsticks. We ended the night with martini’s and a walk home in the rain, under the star!

Best meal: Walleye that we had been gifted by Michele and Randy that Matt grilled camping style, with steamed carrots and rice served with a white merlot that I had gotten from a winery that we sampled when we were in California.

MJR: I'm hungry
ALM: Go look in the kitchen.
MJR: Oh...what is this.....UGH ..ACK....PYUCK....it's Scentsy.
ALM: You shouldn't eat Scentsy.
MJR: Why would you keep the Scentsy in a little dish right beside the fruit bowl!
ALM: I assumed you had seen enough Scentsy in the past to know what it looks like when it's not melted.
MJR: (spitting)
ALM: I also assumed you'd recognized the dish from the Scentsy warmer that's been in the bedroom for 3 years.
MJR: (spitting)
MJR: Tastes like Business Casual?
ALM: Wrong...Serene Green.

                                32 Days