Piles, Cans, and Candles

Another week and it’s becoming fall. Plus we created a pile this past week. We didn't. Matt, Mom and Dad did. A huge heaping stinking pile. Of corn confetti. Worst punishment ever. Matt handled it better than I may have. So glad to be done with that craptastic fun.

Wanted to share that my canning which has ranged more diverse this year than most with various jellys, jams, sauces, and even a soup has become noticed. I took 1st place in my work competition in the “other” category with my Beet Syrup, which actually was supposed to be Beet Jelly but it didn’t set up. It’s my story and it’s my secret, so shhhh, lemons, lemonaid and all that good stuff. But I also achieved Best in Show for a tie with Peach Rosemary jelly. I think my win may have been bigger because she didn’t even win her individual category.

Other things that have been happening. Hmmm….yeah, we haven’t been selling our house. Sigh. It’s completely heartbreaking and disappointing. I feel like I’m pushing sand up a hill. We just want the houses to get their stuff in order and it keeps compiling and building and it’s yucky and then people ask how it’s going and I feel like imploding because telling them won’t change anything. At. All. 

We celebrated my 31st birthday. Now I’m old like Matt.

I actually spent it in Dickinson. I had the nicest morning….woke up and Shantelle and Rick made me breakfast and lattes and we had the nicest conversation. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. From there I went in to help my scentsy director with a vendor show she organized. It was SUPER busy but it was fun to see individuals and help them get set up. I thought we worked well together and may do it again in the future! I headed home and had supper with my family. The next day, Matt and I spent the day together. It was very nice, we went through the Parade of Homes in Bismarck, which was a fun new thing for us experience and talk about things we liked and didn’t. We also went out for dinner and took in dinner. It was nice to forget about our frustration with real estate and title companies and buyers and sellers and banks and Williston and Dickinson. 

Best meal: This is hard...my birthday breakfast with R&P or my birthday steak and salad with my family or MacKenzie River pizza with Matt who encouraged me to get a S'mores martini. 

MJR: Do you think we'll have a house like this someday?
ALR: No!
MJR: Are you doubting my earning abilities?
ALR: No, I'm doubting we're ever going to want to get involved in real estate transactions again after this mess.

Dear my BFF-Matt,

It happened again. They took away my fun. I brought home a beautiful gift for them, since you told me that my time is coming to a close with grandma and grandpa. Since they didn’t like the rabbit that I showed them, I thought I’d try the absolute opposite, a snake. Now the rule, “I can do whatever I want at Grandma’s” is out the window, like they forgot that they ever said it. 

And to think I’ve been called ungrateful. 

Love your bestie, Nike

p.s. tell the orange one and that other one to eat dirt.

A shot from our anniversary shoot.

31.

This past weekend it was a celebration of Matt.

He had decided awhile back that he wanted to go home for his birthday weekend. He’s not a big birthday celebrator (one of the controversial rubs between the two of us) so when he said he wanted to actually do something, I listened up. We headed back to Lansford so he would be with not only his parents and his grandmother, but also his cat.

They attempted to fish a bit, him and his dad, but came up short. It was nice to catch up with them. Nice to see the two besties reunited. 

We also saw Lee and how things were going only after a couple days. Michele just got back from Michigan on Thursday to bring Lee permanently back to North Dakota. We had some serious talks about her future, their future, and even our future. I wish we could help more. I’m glad that we are 2 hours closer (and a time change).

We also are going to request camera access so in the spring we can baby calf watch and grandma watch.

TonyDanza had to go into the vet again too. Sigh. He had another UTI and they told me had some social anxiety. I wasn't surprised. He feels like me....I want to be in a home, with beautiful windows and not move anymore! 

Best meal: Randy’s pizza. I didn’t have a slice of the thin crust…I had the pan…and it was so good….but I’m guessing the thin was pretty amazing, I didn’t even get any of that for breakfast the next day!

MJR: Yeah, I told her I wanted a stuffer and she got pissed and threw the magazine at me.
Michele: (stricken face)
MJR: A MEAT STUFFER, MOM….get your head out of the gutter! 
Michele: I’d never known you to talk like that.
Laughter ensued.
That’s when ALR walked into the room.

4 Seasons, 52 weeks, 1 love

You know those days that cause you to remember…cause you to reflect on who you are and where you’ve come from and have you relive a day and celebrate yourself a little. I like those. The best day of my life has been my wedding day and I’m actually concerned that it’s going to take a lot to compete with the caliber of that day. The highs couldn’t get any higher and the lows were bumps in the road but didn’t blemish the outcome of what was there. 

There’s something to be said about 365 days. A lot can happen. You can get married, renovate a bathroom, change your place of employment, become semi-homeless and plan a new life. You can have the highs and the lows, the laughter and the tears, the screams and sighs. We celebrated our anniversary the best way we knew how…with each other. 

We took off into Bismarck, our new town and just spent some time. From taking one-year anniversary pics with a photographer that works well with Matt by the river, to rummaging around town, to dinner at restaurant that was meant to be our special occasion to golfing the site of our wedding, to breakfast downtown, to a walk around Fort Lincoln. We talked, laughed, reviewed the last year and planned parts of the next 40 or 50. We drove by the house that we will come to know as home and tried more year old cake.  

It would have been pretty amazing…..but we got sick off champagne and old angel food. What a disappointment. At least we did it together. 

Best meal: Hawaiian Opa, avocado corn soup, ny strip, with smoked walleye.

On rummaging….

MJR: 50% off…WHO ARE THEY KIDDING…..They are setting their own price….50% off of a made up price…how do we know that this is something great…it’s not the recommended MSRP….it’s 50% off a subjective guestimate of value! And the next BIG SALE sign we see, I’m going to go ask them how they qualified that it was a BIG SALE…..I’ve seen these proclaimed Big Sales…they aren’t.

Those Vows

I surprised Matt by asking Shantelle, a bridesmaid of mine, to renew our vows exactly one year from the day we got married in the exact same spot.

I appreciate what she came up with:

Love is about building your life together. The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.
It is having mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is being each other’s best friend. It is having fun together. It is sharing and shouldering sorrows and struggles. It is standing together and facing the world, because together you are better and stronger than anything you could be apart. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the while family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
Amanda asked me to give you my thoughts on love. I guess I could say I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on love, but until now I never really took the time to really sit down and think about it. In my mind, there are two different types of love. “Love” and “true love”. Love means loving those around you that you care about; your parents, siblings, family, and close friends. “True love” is the love within a relationship and/or marriage between two individuals that are equally committed to each other.

Throughout my life, I have heard some people say that “love doesn’t last forever” or “love fades” or “love isn’t perfect” or “love doesn’t exist”. If it is indeed “true love”, it will last a lifetime. “True love” cannot and will not fade. If love fades within time, it wasn’t meant to be or it wasn’t true love to begin with. As we all know, relationships and marriages aren’t always perfect. That is because humans are not perfect. True love should never be questioned, because true love is what holds your bonding relationship together. Love is the foundation of your marriage.

Matt and Amanda, I truly believe that the love you share is true love and will always be true no matter what may come in your path, now or in the future. Life will always be full of winding path, but once you get through it together, you will know what kind of love exists in your relationship.

9.7.14 Love Letter for One

A note to my husband on our one year anniversary,

We’ve done it. A year. Married. Husband and Wife. We’ve experienced a move and the changes with that and new jobs. We’ve fought, we’ve laughed, and we’ve watched me cry for one reason or another. I love you. I love you for the man you are and the woman that I am because of you. I love us. I love that on many issues you are my first thought and my final thought. I love that you’ll give me your best answer, even when I don’t want to hear it. I love that you are my continual rock who occasionally needs a reminder or advice but a rock still. I love what we do together, the food, the trips, the talks. You have the ability to frustrate me like no one else and I think some days you like to revel in that and test that skill to its full potential. I know this year is supposed to be considered an easy year being newlyweds and that we still have struggles down the road. I know our marriage is not perfect and neither am I and neither are you. But no matter what…I know that the most important thing hasn’t changed for me. I still chose you.  

Wifey

Labor Day: Primitive Style

Those weeks where you get behind and can’t catch up…yeah think I’m there. It was a beautiful labor day weekend. While the company was great, the good was wonderful, the fish were in the boat, and the camper stayed dry…I guess those are the things that count!

Matt caught the first couple fish…..but the next day the slayers caught up with him. We caught at Audubon. I should say “they” because I just sat in the boat or slept in the truck. The first day was slow but Michele and Randy connected with a guide for Sunday and they didn’t have a problem limiting out.

We stayed at Cross Ranch State Park, which we didn’t know until getting there that it’s the “Primitive Camping Park” …glad we didn’t need the air conditioner! We even put the heater on at night and the rain came down and made a messy camp ground. Good thing for the fire, was almost too big for s’mores but I prevailed. I had to get a final in for the season.

We also brought our rehearsal cake, made by one of my bridemaids, Shantelle. After 1 year…it was still good and we were all surprised by how moist it was. The frosting didn’t look as pristine but the flavor made up for it.

We are also starting to benefit from the garden season. We thought we’d have a hard time since we are squatters but we actually are nice benefits as we’ve had a few take pity on us! The peppers are both from my mother’s garden and Matt’s mother’s garden. These are both jalapeno’s but I think it’s safe to say Michele raises peppers with more tenacity than my mother. We’ve canned a few things including jams (peach basil, peach jalapeno, strawberry basil, and jalapeno) and tomatoes, salsa, pickled beets, borsch soup, and beet syrup.  

Best meal: Matt’s porkchops…….he does them so well!

ALR: Have you talked to your parents this week yet?

MJR: (thinking)

ALR: I’ve talked to mine.

MJR: (eyes roll)