Thank You My-Eye!

I came home from work today to see this huge box on the steps. I was more than a little confused since, as far as I knew, no one had ordered anything. Then I looked at the label and got a little excited! Nordstrom's! My first thought was that Bryan had gone a little overboard with some Easter goodies for the girls.

And then I opened the box and saw box after box inside the big box ... SHOE BOXES! Oh happy day! An early graduation gift from someone who has always been one of my very favorite people in the world. I can't thank you enough, Bryan! I am so thankful and truly honored to call you my uncle!

Check out my goodies!




























Tricia has already claimed a couple for herself ... good luck with that! Now I just have to keep them away from the little shoe-chewer! All but one pair fit beautifully!

Thanks again, Bryan!

Oh, and I also found out today that my hard work has succeeded! I will graduate Suma Cum Laude when I graduate in May! Go me!

Project Life Tuesday

Tuesday again! Time for another jaunt through the monotony that is daily life in the Nissen household!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Daycare started sending home this form every day with an update on Ryleigh's day. As you can see, she has stopped napping almost completely at daycare ... well at home too. It makes for short nights at home sometimes since she falls asleep so early.



Tuesday, March 16, 2010

SO DISGUSTING! I know! This is the joy of having the big new dog in the house! We love you Holly ... but you should really learn how to vacuum! This is the lovely mess that we find behind her kennel on a daily basis. I am searching for a new smaller vacuum (we have a Rainbow vacuum, but it is so big and clunky). Got one tonight so we'll see how that works.





Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A cold is coming on. Maybe it is allergies (see yesterday's picture). I have gone through a ton of Kleenix and cold medicine and still not getting much better. I can feel my voice disappearing by the second. I think I smell a sick day tomorrow.



Thursday, March 18, 2010

TAXES ARE DONE! Thank goodness!




Friday, March 19, 2010

Tricia had an early out today for the girl's basketball game up in the cities. She took the taxi to the office and when work was done, we went to investigate the big snow pile in the swimming pool parking lot. There was a puddle that was partially frozen and Tricia had a blast walking through it cracking the ice. Unfortunately, her boots are a little less than 100% so I think her feet got pretty wet!



Saturday, March 20, 2010


It was a VERY busy weekend for our house. Tricia's play was Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. When we got back from the play on Saturday Tricia insisted on crafting something. A quick internet search yielded this fun project with popsicle sticks. Thank goodness for the internet and a pretty good craft supply!




Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tricia got her customary flowers for her last performance. It was pretty funny watching all the parents run over to Coborn's across from the Performing Arts Center to get flowers. Most of the kids got these exact same flowers! The kids all did such a great job! I am so proud that Tricia is brave enough to get out there on stage and really play her part ... even when that part is a "stupid jackal". I got a few pictures at the show on Saturday, but they weren't great. I used the little camera, which does not do very well with no flash. So here is a picture of her flowers and one of her and the other third grade stars backstage.








Head on over to Jessica's blog to check out some other Project Life Tuesday posts.

Project Life

It is Tuesday again! Project Life update time! Head on over to Jessica's blog to check out some other examples of great pictures!




Monday, March 8, 2010

We officially decided that it is time to start looking for a new car for Dave. He printed out a couple prospects from the Prostrollo website. Hopefully this week one of these beauties will be in our driveway!




Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Oh, Miss Ryleigh! Sometimes I think that you should not pay so much attention to your big sister. Yesterday in dance, Miss Cindy asked the class to strike a pose ... this is the pose you chose. And you continue to strike the same pose over and over again!





Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Shopping day! Well, at least a quick trip to the store. I even used coupons this time ... I always forget to use all the coupons I clip from the Sunday paper.




Thursday, March 11, 2010

A picture of some of the gargoyles in downtown Pipestone. I don't pay attention to them enough. But today as I drove up to pick Tricia up from play practice, I saw this guy hanging out on the museum wall. I need to do some more research to figure out why they are there in the first place.




Friday, March 12, 2010

The girl's basketball team played today in Marshall for a trip to the state tournament. The girls got dressed up in the finest green and black. We went to the game with Grandma Peg. The girls rocked the game - handily beat Lac qui Parle to earn another trip to the state tournament. They will play their first game next Wednesday! Go green!




Saturday, March 13, 2010

What a busy day! First, I had a date with some No. 2 pencils to take the first of three PRAXIS tests for my teaching certification. Mom drove to Brookings (SDSU) with me and cruised town while I spent 2 hours doing the test. Good times!

Then we hopped in the car and headed over to Madison, where we met Dave and the girls to pick up Dave's new (to him) 2007 Ford Taurus. The salesman snapped this family picture of us. The girls had everyone at Prostrollo's completely in love with them!




Sunday, March 14, 2010

Today, Tricia finally finished painting her doll bunk beds! She has been slowly painting them since she got them (a set of 5 beds) for Christmas. Her five American Girl dolls are now happily sleeping in their beds, complete with blankets made by Great Grandma Darlene.




And there is another week in the life of the Nissen family. Thanks for checking it out!

Beautiful Necklace ... beautiful girl

Angie from Bring The Rain posted about this beautiful necklace that Lisa Leonard is giving away. The two of them created the necklace together to remember Angie's daughter Audrey. Angie's story is beautiful and I can hardly wait to read her book.

The necklace was designed for moms who have lost children. I would love to own one of these for myself to remember Tricia. Even more, I would love to get one for mom. Maybe I'll get lucky and my name will be drawn to win!

Project Life Tuesday

It is Tuesday again! That means it is time to update my pictures. I am going to repeat a couple pictures here because I need to get on a Monday - Sunday schedule for the blog like I have in my album. Head on over to Jessica's blog to check out more Project Life samples!




Monday, March 1, 2010
Oops! Today I didn't get a picture taken!


Tuesday, March 2, 2010



I have a picture like this of Tricia at this age too. Ryleigh is practicing making her feet look like bananas - which means in dance talk pointed toes!


Wednesday, March 3, 2010



This morning Tricia made her bed and then lined up all of her favorite stuffed animals from tallest to shortest in the middle of her bed.


Thursday, March 4, 2010



Today was an awesome huge day for me! I had the honor of interviewing for a high school English teacher job at Southwest Christian in Edgerton. I am not really qualified to teach high school, but I do have a degree in English and am almost done with my elementary education degree too. I was so excited to be offered an interview, but so nervous too! I bought a fun new outfit, which I modeled with Ryleigh before the interview.

PS - I did not get the job, but I did not anticipate I would. I was so excited just to get an interview and have the experience interviewing for a teaching position. I am so glad that I put myself out there and tried my hardest.


Friday, March 5, 2010



Today we listened to the girl's basketball game on the radio. The game was at 8:00 in Redwood Falls so it was too late and too far to go watch in person. They won! So next up is a game this Friday in Marshall. We'll hopefully be able to go see that one. If they win it is on to state again!


Saturday, March 6, 2010



Today both girls got to dance at a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser - Dancing with the Habitat Stars. It was a lot of fun to watch both the Spotlight dance teams and the couples competing. Two couples ended up in a tie: one a father-daughter team that was hilarious (dad rigged up a special costume so that he could carry his 2nd grade daughter while he danced around the stage) and the other was a husband-wife couple (the wife was actually on Good Morning America last year when they did the Dancing with the Moms competition). We all had a great time, even though it got a little long!


Sunday, March 7, 2010




Today, the girls and I went shopping so that they could spend their Christmas gift cards. Trust me, that money was burning a hole in Tricia's pocket. We had a quick lunch at KFC (by the way, they have cool kids meals that come in a laptop looking box - the girls loved it!) and then headed over to Wal-Mart to spend the majority of the gift cards. Then we went to the mall so we could find Easter dresses and spend the rest of Tricia's Visa card at Justice and Claire's. Seriously, that girl can really shop! Finally, we had a little treat at Panera before heading back home again. It was great to have a bit of a girl's day - daddy loved having some time to himself too.



Another week down! I am so proud of myself for doing this little project! I have a ton of beautiful scrapbooks made for the girls. I am currently still a year behind in those albums, so it is so nice to have these little snippets of our life already scrapbooked and ready to share! And doing this lovely little blog so that I always have my journaling done in advance of getting my pictures!

Have a great week, everyone!

A Day in My Life

Kelly at Kelly's Korner asked about a typical day for her readers. Not too exciting here in MN, but it is what it is!

My life is a pretty boring, typical, full-time working mom's life.

I am always the first to wake up, usually between 5:45-6:00. Quick shower and get myself ready for the day. Then I wake up the girls at about 6:30 and make sure the older one is moving and get the younger one ready for the day.

We are out the door by 7:45 to get Tricia to school and me to work by 8:00. 8:00-4:30 is just work - photocopy, type, you know, typical office stuff. Boring!

Then it is time to get Ry from daycare and head home for the craziness that is evenings! Supper is usually sometime between 6:00-7:00. If it is bath night, Ry has her bath after supper. Then it is story time. Dave typically reads with Ryleigh - 2 books are a must! Tricia usually reads with me to get in her 30 minutes of reading each night. Miss Ry falls asleep on the couch, Tricia heads to her room.

And then my true fun starts ... homework and catching up on the DVR! Depending on how tired I am and how much I have to do, I stay up studying until anywhere between midnight and 3:00. Not a whole lot of sleep, but this is my last semester of classes before student teaching so hopefully soon I'll be able to get more sleep :)

Project Life Tuesday .... er Wednesday

Ummm, life happened and I did not get my stuff done for this week on time. But anyway ... here are my Project Life pictures for the week! If you are still interested, head on over to Jessica's blog to check out some others!



Oh, and I realize that these pictures are in the wrong order, but hey, I am only human, I do not have enough time to go back and switch them around!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010



I have a very similar picture of Dave and Tricia when she first started dance. Dave loves to flip his girls upside down and play with them. They are so lucky to have a daddy who will play with them!


Monday, March 1
No picture ... oops!

Sunday, February 28


Photo courtesy Breezy Meadow Retreat

Here is another shot from Breezy Meadow! This is part of the work area where I spent many hours this weekend! You can't see the table where I actually worked, but you get the idea. The product in the background of the picture is product that is for sale during your stay. For the first time since I started back to school in January 2008, I did not turn on my computer or open a book over the weekend! I know I'll pay for this dearly next week, but it was a grand time!

Saturday, February 27


Photo courtesy Breezy Meadow Retreat

I took a weekend off from my life and went with Tonia and Anneke to Breezy Meadow Retreat. This place rocks! Seriously, if you are in SW Minnesota and like to scrapbook, look it up! They have an old farm house redone to have six rooms with two beds each. Each room has its own theme (I stayed in the Liberty room). They provide an awesome work space, meals, and product for sale and use of all the tools you could ever want! I know I'll go back soon!

Friday, February 26



Miss Holly is still wearing her hood after having her dew claws removed. This morning she was playing with her squeak toy and decided to take a break and use the toy as a pillow. I promise, Holly, the hood will come off soon!

Thursday, February 25



Tricia has begun doing yoga in the morning before school. This is one of her favorite poses. No idea what it is called, but if it were me, it would be called "Old Fart Falls on Head"!

Wednesday, February 23

I ordered Tricia a copy of Oregon Trail for the computer. Many days I get home from work to see her sprawled out on the floor playing away. The concept is the same as the good old days, but the graphics have certainly improved!



Tuesday, February 22



Today was a Pizza Hut day for the Nissens. Neither Dave nor I wanted to cook. Thank goodness there are a few eating out options in town for times like these!