Graduation Weekend / Mother's Day

What a weekend I just had! Thursday, Dave and I made the LONG TREK from Pipestone to Bemidji to start graduation weekend.

We finally made it to the hotel just in time to sneak into the DLiTE program celebration. Actually, we were 30 minutes late, but we weren't the last to show up! We shared pizza and laughs and tears with the other graduates and their families. I was a little sad that Tricia and Ryleigh were not there, but we had fun anyway. After getting the kids settled into their respective rooms, the graduates and their spouses moved over to the Green Mill for some adult beverages and conversation.

In this picture is: me, Heather B, Dr. Boyle, TC, Julie, Dr. Bridges, Melinda, and Dr. Anderson. This was after the pizza and before the drinking!


Friday morning we awoke to SNOW! Yep, May 7 and snow on the ground in Bemidji. The rest of the crew got to Bemidji just before I had to be at the track to line up. While they sat in the bleachers and killed time, my classmates and I hung out in eager anticipation. Finally it was time to head into the auditorium for the ceremony. Cohorts K and L were well-represented at graduation and we decided to shake things up and did a bit of a conga line as we marched in. After hearing the same speech (essentially) by too many people, it was finally time to take those steps across stage. I had not yet found the crew in the seats but I knew they were there.



After an entirely too long ceremony, we made our way back to the hotel where the kids got to swim in the pool for a while. Dave finally took Ry back up to the room and I let Tricia stay with me. I was there until midnight, sharing a bottle of champagne with some of my classmates.

In this picture: Karen, Jamie, Julie, Heather B., Melinda, me



Finally, Saturday morning came. The sun was shining, although it was still a little chilly. We had some breakfast down in the hotel lobby, saw many of my classmates and wished them safe travels. The four of us went back to campus to take a few pictures, then stopped to pose with Paul and Babe before heading out of town.





Thankfully, we took a wrong turn and ended up stopping at Itasca State Park so we pulled in to the Visitor's Center. As luck would have it, Jamie and her family were there at the same time and we were both so excited to have someone there to take family pictures at the headwaters of the Mississippi. And as we were watching Jamie's family cross the river, Heather's family showed up! It was so great to share that cool experience with two of the lovely women I have traveled with on this school journey. We all managed to take family pictures for each other and finally Ryleigh was running out of patience so we headed out.






We took the scenic route around the state of Minnesota and finally made our way back to Nisswa - we promised the girls we'd stop there at the little shops so that they could pick out a gift for being so patient during the long weekend. We had not had anything to eat, so we had "lupper" - lunch and supper together - at the A&W. The girls each picked out one special item, some candy at the candy store, and a couple books from the book store and we were on our way. We had one final stop to make at Aunt Diane's to pick up Reno. We finally rolled back into town at about 10:30, quickly unloaded the car, got the girls in jammies, and collapsed into bed.


Today we celebrated Mother's Day with yummy stuffed French Toast for brunch and then a trip to Dar's with Mom, Dad, and Grandma.






It was a LONG and SHORT and BORING and EXCITING weekend, all rolled together. But I don't think I'd change any of it.

Project Life Tuesday

Here we are again ... Tuesday!

Classes are done for the semester and I am waiting for graduation on Friday! So even though I won't be doing homework, I'll still be super busy trying to get everyone packed and ready for the trek up to Bemidji! Hopefully next week I will get some cleaning time in.

So if you don't know, I am taking one picture a day for the entire year as a way to tell the story of the Nissen Family. The kit was purchased from Becky Higgins and Project Life Tuesday is the brainchild of Jessica from The Mom Creative.




The other Project Life posts are being posted to Gitz Bits this week since Jessica is in the DR for a World Vision trip. Head over there to take a look!

Here is what our week looked like ...

Monday, April 26

I found this ancient planner at the office. It is from June, 2005. Dave and I had a wonderful trip to Grand View Lodge. It was a wonderful trip because it ended several years of infertility. It was a wonderful trip because several months later, Ryleigh came into the world.




Tuesday, April 27

Today was Tricia's spring concert for school! Hard to believe that the school year is almost over (well not really since there were so many snow days, they will be in school until June 9!). It was a great concert. Not many dry eyes in the house because it was Cynthia's very last school concert. She will be retiring at the end of the year after 30+ years of teaching elementary music. Her son surprised her by showing up to give her flowers. It was a very nice moment.




Wednesday, April 28

At the last minute, I was able to go to the farm with Ryleigh and her preschool class. The kids had a great time seeing baby lambs, baby cows, and a couple horses. However, for most of them, the best part of the trip to the farm was the 8 billion farm cats that they chased around and carried for the hour they were there.



Thursday, April 29

Packing for my trip to the cities this weekend. This was not even all of the stuff that I had to bring with for finals. I ended up with my school bag, a grocery bag, my computer bag, a duffel bag for clothes, and my dress clothes! The notebook on top is my list of all the assignments I needed to bring with.



Friday, April 30

No picture for today. Tonia and I had a fun ride together up to the cities. She gets to enjoy some relaxing time (and time in the hospital with Carrie's mom) while I spend the next two days in a classroom.

Saturday, May 1

Happy Anniversary to us! Even though we celebrate 11 years as man and wife, today we are 4 hours apart as I finish up my last semester of classes. We were in class from 8 am until 8 pm. Ug, what a day! We ended up at Spectator's for Science Saturday 2.0, the abbreviated version. What a great bunch of people!



Sunday, May 2

I cannot believe that we all got our student teaching placements today and that in August, we will begin our teaching careers! I also cannot believe that we will all be together as Cohort L just one more time in August. I will miss all of my classmates so much when we are finally done.



And my bonus picture for the week ... TC and all his girlfriends! I love you all!



See you all next week!

Better Late than Never!

Since we had a low-key Easter this year, I never got pictures of the girls in their dresses. So, since Tricia had her concert last night, I snapped some pictures of both girls in their pretty dresses.

Better late than never I guess!

Project Life Tuesday

It's Tuesday! You all (all three of you who read this blog) know what that means ... Project Life time again.



Monday, April 19, 2010
Remember I said I was going to do a green theme? Well how's this for green? I'm sick once again! This is my tea collection that I keep at work. I know, the sweet dreams one might seem inappropriate, but I love chamomile tea!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
More green! This is the tree that we got when Tricia was born in 2000. It started it's life as what appeared to be a twig. Now it is a pretty good sized tree! It is just starting to get buds on it now that the weather has finally warmed up! (PS - Yes, Ryleigh got a tree too, but I think it got run over by the lawn mower ... bad mom and dad!)

Wednesday, April 23, 2010
I somehow missed uploading this picture. I'll add it later! This is a picture of my (green) cake pan. Inside is a lovely earthquake cake! Everyone at the office enjoyed a little treat this week. The cake was so yummy, I could ALMOST taste it even through my stuffy nose!

Thursday, April 22, 2010
Oops, that was the end of my green theme. Oh well, I tried! This is a typical morning for Ryleigh. Her daddy carries her out to the couch from her bed, complete with whatever pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals she can hold. She slowly wakes up and watches cartoons while enjoying a lovely cup of chocolate milk and a granola bar. But darn, this kid is even cute first thing in the morning!

Friday, April 23, 2010
I apologize in advance to Ryleigh ... this weekend was kinda all about Tricia. The two of us stopped at the KFC/A&W restaurant in Marshall on the way to Willmar tonight. Tricia ordered a kid's meal and one of the sides was corn on the cob! One of her absolute favorites!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

No green again today! Can I help it that their dance costumes are pink, blue and black? This is part of the team that competed today at the Midwest Starz dance competition in Monticello. This was their first time doing a competition. They got a Gold rating and 2nd out of two teams in their division. But just look at those smiles! They were so proud of themselves and their trophy! I see big things for these girls in the future.

Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tricia ... sacked out in the car on the way home from Willmar. I have no idea how kids can sleep like this for extended periods of time!

So there goes another week in our lives! Always busy! Remember to head over to Jessica's blog to see some more Project Life posts!

Show Us Your Life - How We Met

Kelly is doing Show Us Your Life again today. And guess what ... I can participate again! This week she is doing "How you met your husband". Well, I can talk about that!

It was the summer before my senior year at USD, so that would be like May 1997. I had decided to break up with Greg but kind of had taken him back. Let's just say that we were at strage point in our relationship. I was back to working at Gannon's for the summer as the opening waitress. Opening waitress as in, I got to work every morning by about 5:00 and was done by 1:30. I loved the hours! I wish I could work that kind of hours now. Anyway, Dave was working there as manager. He basically worked wherever they needed him: cook, bartender, wait staff, a pretty face to greet customers, etc. One day, shortly after my 21st birthday, my friend Samantha and I celebrated my "legalness" by having lunch and then hanging out in the bar for the afternoon. Dave joined us after his shift was done.

I don't remember how or why, but at some point during the afternoon, Dave leaned over and kissed me. A perfect first kiss that still gives me goosebumps when I think about it. Shortly after that first kiss, with Dave holding my hand under the table, Greg walked into the bar. I think he knew just by looking, that we were now off-again. (there is quite a bit more to this story, but I know that grandma likes to read this blog ...)

The rest, as they say, is history. I think we both knew almost instantly. We were inseparable the rest of the summer. I don't remember when we went looking for rings. But I remember it was October 13, 1997, a Monday morning, when I was wearing that ring. Not one person in my family was happy about it. It was difficult for many people to understand what a 38-year-old would see in a 21-year-old. But for some reason, we just clicked.

We had a very long engagement and finally got married May 1, 1999 so we'll have our 11-year anniversary next week. And even through some difficult times, here we are still together, still loving each other, and still (on most days) happy as clams.

So, when they say to look at your workplace for the love of your life, we are proof positive that it does work ... even the ever-so-naughty dating your boss can turn out okay sometimes!

Project Life Tuesday

Another week of pictures down! Here are my pictures for this week.



Monday, April 12, 2010

Today's picture is actually going to be a series of pictures, documenting the diminishing snow pile at the swimming pool parking lot. You honestly cannot imagine how big this mountain of snow was! And now, completely gone. Tricia loved posing with the shrinking pile! Here are a couple of pictures.




















Tuesday, April 13, 2010

WINDY! Look close at this picture of the kids playing on the swing set. Windblown hair!

















Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tricia auditioned for the Calumet Players production of The Music Man. She was feeling pretty cruddy, her throat hurt so singing wasn't high on her list of priorities. Everyone gets a part, of course, so she was cast as a townsperson, part of the band, and a dancer. We are not certain she will be able to continue though since she is going to miss several rehearsals due to prior commitments. There will be other plays so she is not too concerned.


















Thursday, April 15, 2010

We got rain last night. That mean all the "crud" came off the trees and all over the house, the sidewalk, the decks, etc. I thought I should document the mundane parts of life too!


















Friday, April 16, 2010

Tricia was home from school today - her allergies were acting up again. Because of MCA testing this week and next week, she had to go to school all week, even though she wasn't feeling great. There were no tests today, so she spent the day crafting this pretty box filled with supplies to give to Mrs. Staatz.

















Saturday, April 17, 2010

The contents of my purse! Ack! The sad part is, most of this went right back in there! Oh well, I organized it just a bit.



















Sunday, April 18, 2010

For the week I am going to take a picture of something green every day. Spring = green so I think, since spring has finally arrived here in Minnesota, I should do something to honor that. Today's picture didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, but I love the way the trees look when they begin to bud and new leaves grow. I do not, however, enjoy what this time of year does to my allergies. Losing my voice once again!

















So there you have another week in our lives! Head over to check out the other Project Life pictures on Jessica's blog.

Until next week ...

Meal Plan Monday

So, I missed last week. What can I say, it was a busy week. Here are my plans for this week. Hopefully it will all go as planned.

Monday - Pizza Ranch (crazy night ... Tricia dance practice, Ryleigh dance practice, Tricia play practice ... definitely a night to hit the buffet!)

Tuesday - Hamburgers on the grill

Wednesday - Beef stew in the crock pot

Thursday - Pasta dish

Friday, Saturday, Sunday - going to be a strange weekend for sure! No meals have been planned at this point since we will be going in 8000 directions. We'll just hope that we don't eat out for EVERY meal!