Target Field

I had my first Target Field experience last Thursday. I sat way up high in left center with my sister and it was SUCH a great night! Even having a bad cold didn't hamper my excitement, especially since we beat the Yankees!!

I had read an article at the start of the season on what would be missed from the Dome. The author (can't remember where I wrote this stuff down from...oops....) said that he would miss the protection from elements, Dome-field advantage, Dome dogs, wind blowing you out the doors, needing ear plugs at postseason games, and World Series memories - but he said the new menu, the view, the wide concourses, the better bathrooms, and no 50-yard line would more than make up for those things. I definitely agree that the new stadium makes up in so many ways for the things that will be missed from the Dome, but I would add to the list that I will miss the DodgeBall game after the third inning (which I "famously" played once...) and the Hormel Row of Fame ("great for lunch, great for dinner, you could be a wiener winner in the Hormel Row of Fame!!"). Certainly I love outdoor baseball more than enough to not really care about missing those things, but those are some of my fond memories of the Dome....guess I just have to start going to more games at Target Field to make even more fond memories there!! LOVED IT!

So Long, Favorite Month

I can't let all of March go by without mentioning how it is my favorite month (although June could give it a run for it's money). I know I've mentioned it before, but I must pay proper respect to March, especially since this March has been pretty wonderful. My FB status a few weeks ago read: "Dear month of March: I love you for your snow melting powers and sunlight in the evening hours, but most of all I love you for your amazing basketball tournament!!"

• MARCH MADNESS did NOT disappoint. It is the best sporting event of the year, and this year was very dramatic. I was up late a few too many nights, but it was worth it (hello, double overtime K State/Xavier game!!!!!!!!!).
• The SUN! I. love. daylight. savings. spring. forward.
• The WARM-UP! This is the first year in history (or since records were kept) that we did not get any snow in March. It is 70 degrees out right now!! Most of the snow has been gone for weeks. I really love it.
• I didn't travel this March, but that was one of my favorite things, since I did SO much traveling at the start of this year. I really needed to do some "nesting" and "grounding", which I feel that I did, so I'm pleased.

Brain Unload

I have many very random things on my mind after a weekend where I spent much of my time in bed sick. I went through my Reader this weekend and realized that I had over 60 "starred items" that I had wanted to get back to at some point: either to read through again, comment about on my blog, etc. Don't worry, I won't share all 60 items in this post, but I will play a little catch-up with a post that has a little to do with everything on mind (from "starred items" to "Life in General").

So here, in no particular order, is my brain unload:

• Last Sunday a friend and I decided to hold each other accountable to losing 20 pounds by my birthday (we decided on that because it was 19 weeks away, so one pound/week). This Sunday I had lunch with her and I had already completely forgotten about our decision. So...apparently I wasn't thinking about it much over the last week. Oops. I needed to write it down somewhere to make it more real for myself - so there it is. Now I have to actually do it. Ugh.
• Why do I have 14 socks that have no matches? I FINALLY did laundry today (hadn't done it since I got back from my trip....) and I ended up putting ANOTHER sock in my basket of no-matches. Annoying.
• I went to the grocery store today for the first time in 2010. Not kidding. I'm also not kidding when I say that I only went because I was tagging-along to spend some time with a friend. I keep thinking that it's useless to buy groceries when I'm about to go on a trip, so I just don't buy any. Needless to say, my eating habits have been less-than-healthy. Need to change that when I get back from Lithuania.
• The Olympics started. I mentioned the last time the Olympics came around how I don't seem to get as excited about them as other people do (especially the Winter Olympics). But again, I was in bed a lot this weekend, and I happened to be watching when a Canadian won the mogul race (Canada's first ever gold medal won in an Olympics held in Canada) and then talked about his handicapped brother who motivates him to do his best. I cried (of course). I was hooked.
• I signed up for a free program at my gym where you wore a pedometer for a week, turned it in, and would receive a gift. After I sent in the pedometer, I forgot about the mystery gift that was on it's way, so imagine my surprise when I opened a box a few weeks later and found this:
A shirt, a towel, a bag, a water bottle, etc. The water bottle is AWESOME and probably worth at least $15, so I was pretty pumped I got it all for free. Too bad I already lost the water bottle. I used it at least once for both tennis and basketball, but I have no idea where it is now. Scatterbrain.

• I meant to put a picture on here of a cake I made for a friend's birthday, so here it is:
I got the idea online somewhere. It turned out pretty good!

• I mentioned that I was having a funky attitude last week, mostly having to do with being single, etc. I was reminded how unpredictable and hard relationships can be when I read this article about a couple I've been "blog stalking" for....maybe two years? I'm always encouraged by the grace, wisdom, honesty, and humility I see displayed in their lives. They have an incredible story, and an incredibly hard story. Their faith is so encouraging to me.
• There was a little Super Bowl Ad that generated a lot of publicity even before it was shown. I was reminded of a moment when I was watching ESPN from a treadmill at the gym and I almost started crying. Here's a news clip about the moment that I was reminded of during all the hype over that ad:
  
  
• So. The Vikings lost. I was really bummed, but it's not the end of the world. Sports have been a big part of my life and I'm extremely thankful for that, but I always want to make sure that I don't have the wrong priorities when it comes to sports. I liked a lot of the points about sports and faith in this article, so I wanted to link to it. That's all.
• Time. I think I need to rethink how I spend my time. Two quotes that have me thinking about time: "The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence, the grass is greener where you water it." (Anonymous?) and "The primary reason we do too much is that we have never taken the time to discover the portion of what we do that makes the biggest difference." (Andy Stanley). Hmmmmm.
• This video made me cry
  

Okay. That's PLENTY. Brain unloaded. Time to focus on work for the week and get going to LITHUANIA!

Hawaiian Highlights

What a WONDERFUL vacation! I had high hopes for this vacation thanks to last year's amazing adventures, and it did not disappoint. Well, there were a few disappointments (more on that shortly), but overall, there can be no frustration when one is enjoying the sun thousands of miles away from a job of any sort. AHHHHHH.


I'll start with a list of disappointments, since I want to end on the happy notes:

• No lava. Our first weekend was spent in Hilo, near Volcanoes National Park. We were told about an AMAZING hike you can take at dusk to see flowing lava and bursting lava bubbles against the night sky. The lava flow shifted ten days before we got to the island and it is currently only visible from a helicopter. BOO.
• No SuperBowl. Some football game ruined my Sunday. If you must, look at the box score and see how one team was better than the other team in basically EVERY stat (significantly, in some cases) except TURNOVERS. Okay, moving on...........
• No manta rays. We went on the Manta Ray Night Dive, but saw no manta rays. Our originally scheduled date for the dive was cancelled due to a significant swell that came in, which also ended up effecting the dive we went on the next night. The boat was being tossed by waves and a few of us tossed our cookies. While it was pretty cool to be snorkeling at night, the experience was marred by the sea-sickness and lack of manta sightings. Maybe next time.

NOW. On to the HIGHLIGHTS:

• Not winter. I missed a little over a week of THAT season (great post, Becca). Sunny and eighty degrees everyday is SO wonderful and refreshing. My cheeks are freckled, my skin is light brown (not pasty white), and I felt a wonderful breeze that didn't give me frostbite. Loved every second of it. Every. second. The sun even seemed to heal my football wounds. A little bit.
• Cliffs. They are beautiful, and I jumped off of them. The southern most part of Hawaii is the southern most part of the United States (and is aptly named South Point). South Point has 35-40ft cliffs that locals jump off of into the most phenomenally clear water and then climb up through caves under the cliffs. I stood at the edge of the cliff and thought about it for more than five minutes, but I jumped, and I am SO glad I did (other than the enema part of it). Thanks to a local, I made the climb back up the cliff (and I couldn't have done it without him). Thanks to my sister, it's all on video.
• Filthy Chacos. We did some exploring around Volcanoes National Park, which dirtied my Chacos a bit, but the real filth came from our AMAZING hike into the Waipi'o Valley. We were told that the hike was not for the faint of heart, which was NO JOKE. There was better than a 25% grade for over 1 mile (and unless you've done the hike, I can't explain how difficult that is). In the valley was the most amazing black sand beach surrounded by outrageous cliffs that made me feel like I was in the show Lost. Being on that beach was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
• Whales. At South Point, the whales were about 25-30 yards from us - flapping their tails and spouting like crazy. It was so awesome! When we were on our way to the manta ray dive, we saw a FULL BREACH (like you see on TV shows or in pictures). Even the captain of our boat stopped to get out his camera and was VERY excited.
• Waves. Thanks to the swell, the waves were HUGE, and we had one very fun afternoon of getting owned by them while we tried to body surf. There were some pretty amazing surfers at the black sand beach, too. Very fun to watch them. I also loved sitting on the beach in the early mornings and listening to the waves while I read. So calming.
• Waterfalls. It has been pretty dry on the Big Island recently, so the waterfalls weren't as dramatic as they looked on any postcards, but that allowed us the opportunity to climb the rocks right out to the edge of some waterfalls. At one point, there were four of us sitting at the top of about a 100ft waterfall drop (don't worry, Mom. We were safe.). The view was awesome.
• Kindle. It's probably stupid to say that my new Kindle was one of my favorite things about Hawaii, but it totally was! I was able to read seven books (two that I had started some of before we left) while I was gone, and I only brought two actual books with me! The Kindle was definitely handy-dandy and convenient to travel with, so I'm totally sold. I'm also totally sold on doing nothing but laying by the pool and reading all day. So wonderful.
• Food. Our rule on vacation is to not eat anywhere you can eat while you are at home. We pretty much stuck to our rule, other than our need to grab a speedy McDonald's lunch one day (which didn't bug me at all!). We always do cheap and easy breakfast and lunch in our rooms (HI, I LOVE PB&J) and then we go out and have a nice or fun dinner. We didn't have a single meal that disappointed, and we happened upon some really fun local places. I never even had "order regret", which is practically a miracle for me!
• Laughing. Lots and lots of laughing. Of course you "had to be there" for some of the laughs, but one of my favorite sayings from the week was: Laying at the pool I turned over and said "oh MAN, I am so dizzy!!" (I was dizzy all week, maybe from my cliff jump on day one) and what my friends thought I said was "oh MAN, I am so BUSY!!" which was funny because it was 2pm and the only thing I had done so far that day was read and sit at the pool.

I'm thankful for a restful and fun week, because the week I just had at home playing catch-up was ANYTHING but restful and fun (well, I did hang out with a few different groups of friends this week, and that was fun). I can't believe I will be on another overseas flight in 14 days. FOURTEEN DAYS! Better load up my Kindle......

P.S. The dog survived his surgeries, our flight issue got figured out so that our travel went very smoothly, and I did not come home to a toilet-water-flooded home, so everything from this post turned out fine in the end. Except for that stupid football game........

A Good Way To End

I love sports. So much real drama, talent, excitement, disappointment, etc. I just saw this video and I think it is a fitting way to end my year of posting. Today on the radio they were talking about their favorite sports moments of the decade. All of the ones I thought of (though I didn't really take a ton of time to think about it) that I saw in real-time are represented in this video: Vince Young single-handedly winning the National Championship, Andre Agassi losing to James Blake in his final match ever, Tyree's catch in the craziest Super Bowl play, Phelps winning by a fingertip.



(HT: Vitamin Z)

Plus One

[sidenote: I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged......]

Apparently things got a bit out of control at Lambeau Field yesterday. 43 people were ejected from the game and 13 were arrested. And that doesn't even count the guy sitting in front of me.

I have been to MANY professional football games, most of those being Viking/Packers games, and I have never been so offended by another fan. It's one thing to cheer for your team, yell for a flag, etc. (as I was......as everyone was.....) but it is an entirely different thing to say something horrible directed at another person. There's no way I could repeat what he said to me, and had I told security, he would have been ejected in a second. But I didn't tell anyone (though many people around me also heard him), and I still kinda wonder if I should have. Oh well. It's over now, but it stinks that it sorta ruined my enjoyment of the game. So I'll just add a plus one to that total, knowing that he would absolutely have been hittin' the streets if I would have spoke up.

I expected Favre to get booed at first, but it lasted the entire game. It was kinda crazy how everyone was so worked up, more so than other games, because of Favre's return. And it didn't help that the game was moved to 3:00, so there was a lot more alcohol consumed by that time than a noon game. Overall it was fun to be there, and I am just so happy the Vikings won!

Metrodome Magic

I realize the blog has been a bit sports-heavy as of late, but I just had to post something about the greatest 54 hours in recent Metrodome history.

Sunday was the final regular season game ever for the Twins in the dome. Not only was that historic, but it also marked the end of a three-week run of the Twins coming back from seven games down to tie for the lead in the division. Pretty awesome. I wasn't there, but I heard there was a nice tribute to stars of the Twins after the game as well.

Last night was the much-anticipated Vikings/Packers game with Favre facing his old team for the first time ever. Plus it was Monday Night Football, which is always exciting. I was lucky enough to be there and the DOME WAS SO LOUD. My dad and I figured that we've gone to the Vikes/Pack game at the dome for the last twenty years, and last night was by far the best one yet. We had tickets in the lower deck and we stood for the entire game. I'm not kidding. Everyone in the lower deck stood the whole time! There was so much energy and excitement! Favre managed to become the first quarterback in NFL history to get a win against all 32 teams in the NFL. Pretty amazing.

And today will be the Twins/Tigers play-in/playoff/tie-breaker game. There have only been nine of these kinds of games in baseball history (and the Twins have had one in back-to-back seasons now). I'm really hoping the Metrodome Magic will hold out for a few more hours to help our boys of summer pull off a big October win!

A topic on a radio show yesterday got me thinking about my own favorite Metrodome moment. Since it's just the Twins that are leaving the Metrodome, we'll stick with baseball. I was very-much-so NOT a baseball fan for the years following the strike (mostly because my dad talked so poorly of baseball because of the strike - though he follows the scores again now), but in recent years I have definitely picked up on my fan-ship, especially with the Twins. I enjoy going to the games and many of my friends are fans, so it is fun to follow the team with them. Most importantly, though, I don't think my Grandpa has EVER missed a Twins game, so it is the best reason for me to follow the team closely: I love talking baseball with my Grandpa.

Anyway, back to the Metrodome moment. My dad and sister were at Game 6 when Puckett hit that famous HR, and I distinctly remember watching that game out at Camp Lebanon. Such a great memory, and, even though I wasn't there in person, it is a great Metrodome moment. I think my favorite moments in person were the following:

• Sept 25th, 2008: The Twins complete a sweep of the Sox to take the lead in the division with only three games left. The dome went crazy and it definitely felt like playoff baseball. (The Twins then went on to self-destruct vs. KC and lose in a play-in/playoff/tie-breaker game vs. the Sox. Boo.)
• The day I played the Dodgeball game. I was SO excited to have a chance to win a truck, and that translated into me COMPLETELY over-throwing the truck as everyone in the Metrodome watched (my depth perception from the upper deck to right field was terribly flawed). I will say that my next two throws were much closer to winning, but the group of us couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the game. Such a good memory.

I realize that I don't have a TON of readers, but if you'd like to share your favorite (Twins) Metrodome memory, please do so!

Undefeated

My basketball team is undefeated so far this season (.....we've only played two games so far......) and a girl from my team sent out this video to us today. Maybe we can pull off some miracle season.

One More Sports Thought...

While I'm thinking sports, I thought I would link to this excellent article about Micheal Jordan and David Robinson's recent inductions to the Hall of Fame. I listen to a lot of sports radio and I guess I never realized this induction happened recently, but I was very glad to run across this article about it. Baucham makes great points about humility, legacy, and self-centeredness (and more). If you are a sports fan and have a few minutes, it is worth your time.

I Heart Tennis

I REALLY REALLY REALLY love the US Open. I know it happened a few weeks ago now, but I had to post this shot by Federer because it was AMAZING. When he was asked about the shot after the match, he said he even shocked himself.



Federer was playing Novak Djokovic in that match - who I think is the funniest guy in professional tennis. I seriously wish I could go to one of his matches at the US Open just to see the impressions he does afterword.



My favorite moment of the Open this year had to be when Djokovic called McEnroe down from the announcing booth to hit some balls after a match. First he does an impression of McEnroe (@ about the 4 min mark of this video) and then they play some points (from about 5:30 on in this video). Love it.

Picture This

This picture makes me a little EXCITED for next season!!

(I wish the TWINS on the left was a little more clear, but you get the idea - it's AWESOME)

And I wish I was here right now:

I've never made a list of "things to do before I die", but I would like to go to the U.S. Open so badly that I think I need to make one of those lists just to put that on it.

But mostly, at this moment, I am excited for this:

End zone celebration, baby! BRING ON FOOTBALL!!

Got My Tickets

Well, I'm glad that I already had my tickets to the three Vikings games I will be attending this year before today happened. Now EVERYONE wants to go to Vikings games, apparently. I guess the site for tickets crashed today after the news......

So. Favre is a Viking. That's all I will say about it, cause I'm not even really sure how I feel about it.

But I do know that, Favre or not, I am SO EXCITED to go to the first game of the season in Cleveland (I was fortunate enough to get a free ticket to the game from Dad and a free flight thanks to NWA points, so it was like the perfect-football-storm)!!!!!!! Dad and big sis and I will go, and though we will miss little sis, we will have AN AWESOME TIME!!!!


We are also going to the Vikings/Packer game in the dome (like we have every year since like third grade) and the Vikings/Packer game at Lambeau. Should be interesting......as long as Favre helps us WIN!

I LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!

Baseball Season, Football Fever

I’ve been very excited about football season lately. I know, baseball has just started and it is months and months until football starts, but there are many reasons for me to be more excited about football than baseball right now.

1. The Twins have been kinda disappointing so far this season. They were projected by many to be the best team in the division (and they might still end up as the best), but they currently are third (out of four). I understand everything about how long the season is and it has barely started, and how our best player (Mauer) hasn’t played yet, but still. It just hasn’t been good. I feel like we’ve already missed a lot of opportunities, and thanks to last year’s tie-breaking game vs. the Sox, we all know how important every game can be. I’d rather not be in that position again.

2. The NFL draft was this weekend. I always like to see who we acquire and speculate on how they will fit into the team.

3. The NFL schedule came out last week. I already know that I will be going to the Vikings/Packers game both at the Dome and at Lambeau. The game in the Dome is a Monday night game. Should be good. I also might be going to the game in Cleveland (or possibly St. Louis). Details aren’t set for that yet, but it would be fun to see if one of those might work out.

4. I’m already hopeful for the Vikings season. Coming off a season where we won the division, I have high hopes that we can do it again – especially after seeing our schedule. I do think our division will be pretty competitive, though. None of the schedules are very tough, especially considering the Vikings, Packers, and Bears all get to play the Lions twice (basically two guaranteed wins there). We start out our schedule with the Browns, the Lions, and the 49ers, so we should be able to go into the Packers game 3-0. One game that could set up to be very interesting is the Bears game on Dec 28th (Monday night). It’s the second to last game of the season and we will have just played them four games earlier. Depending on how things shake out, we both could have very good records at that point and it’s possible we would be playing to clinch the division. At least that’s how things would go in my purple-and-gold-colored world. I guess I’ll have this blog to refer back to in seven months to see if I’m right….or more likely (especially now that I’ve documented my optimism) not right.

Even though I already have football fever, I am anxious to get to a Twins game sooner rather than later. Especially when Mauer gets back in the line up. And especially to have a DOME DOG.

A Week Late

I had an AWESOME trip to Maryland. I did get back a week ago, but I was playing catch up with the house, the job, the friends, and the dog. So here are some highlights of my trip last week:

• Friends and BABIES.
• RITA'S. Mango. I LOVE IT.
• Taking a break from dieting to have McDONALD'S BREAKFAST.
• A half marathon, although we finished 14 from last - out of 4500 people. Which is simply hilarious. I very much wish we would have actually finished in last place. I've done it in a triathlon before, and it makes for a great story.
• Got to watch the start of the NCAA tourney. LOVE IT.
• Took a bump on the way home. FREE FLIGHT!

Really I just LOVED talking, talking, talking and playing with the babies. I got the boys matching shirts that said "Monkey" with a little Monkey face on it. They were SO CUTE! We spent a day relaxing, a day being tourists in DC, and a day doing the race. What an EXCELLENT vacation.

Final Four!

No, I'm not writing a few weeks too early. I realize that the actual Final Four isn't here yet, but my basketball team made the Final Four in our league! I'm headed there in a few minutes to play in the semi-finals, and then hopefully for the Championship later tonight. I hope we win - I want the t-shirt!

Also, I filled out my brackets for the Big Dance. My Final Four are: UConn, UNC, Villanova, and Louisville. We'll see how I do.

It's All Good

Everything this week is GOOD.

• Drove with the windows down today. It is over 60 DEGREES. Bliss.
• Tennis this morning, Bible study tonight, and basketball tomorrow night. Fun.
• Sister sleeping here tonight. Like it.
• Only working for two days this week. Wonderful.
• FLYING TO THE EAST COAST TO BE WITH MY FAVORITES! AWESOME!
• Thursday = Gophers in the Big Dance! I'm sensing a win there.
• I'll probably see my cousin sometime this week out east.
• Feeling not-freaked-out about the half marathon on Saturday. Thankful for that.

The Best Month

Let's take a moment and turn our (my) attention away from the first break-in, the speeding ticket, the broken phone, the second break-in, and the constant crying, (...is it too soon to say that 2009 is "not my year"?....I hope so....) and focus on why MARCH IS THE GREATEST MONTH EVER.

Seriously. I. Love. It. Every time.

Here are some reasons why:

• I've mentioned before that I strongly believe February is the ugliest month (due to the pale skin and all), so naturally coming away from that month is great in its own right.
• MARCH MADNESS. I seriously LOVE MARCH MADNESS. There is no better athletic drama and excitement. Every year. Sometimes I call it March Magic because I don't know how they keep making it better and better.
• I also love the conference tournaments leading up to the Big Dance, especially when the Gophers can win a game (as they did today).
• More SUN in the evenings. I love it!
• March also means that we must ALMOST be SOMEWHAT CLOSE to warmer weather - and that makes me UBER happy.
• This March I am excited for my trip (with friends) to see friends in Maryland....have I mentioned it here yet??!!!
• Sometimes (when the weather cooperates) I go BACK TO THE CABIN in March. Oh, man. I've got CABIN FEVER!

Others also might be excited about Pi day or Mustache March (which is an entirely made-up thing, and somewhat (completely) creepy....), but the list above pretty much covers my favorites.

Hope you are enjoying the month! Can't believe it's nearly halfway gone!

Can't Decide What's More Annoying

How I totally procrastinated EVERYTHING and I have a TON to do in the next two days before I get out of town.....

OR

How I have to cheer for the Packers tonight because the Vikings absolutely REFUSE to win the division when it is totally in their control.....

Weekend Review

I had a great weekend!

Friday and Saturday were spent at Quilt Retreat. My sisters and I go every fall on the opening weekend of deer hunting. It is very fun to catch up with all kinds of friends and eat tons of treats. Oh, and quilt some, too.

This was my fourth year. I had little things that I needed to finish on each of the quilts I had made the previous years, so I just took them all and worked on finishing them up.

This is the first quilt I ever made. I didn't really do much to it this weekend other than add the binding that now needs to be finished.

I finished the binding on this next quilt that I made for my sister who is a doctor. You can't see it well, but there are band-aids and stuff on it.

I also finished the binding on a quilt I made for my other sister who is a nurse. Again, it is hard to see, but the panels on this one are of sassy nurses.

The next quilt is my all-time-favorite-that-I've-ever-made. I started to work on the binding this weekend.

This last quilt I barely started last year, but really hadn't gotten that far. I did quite a bit on it this weekend, but I was being really sloppy. It still needs all the "b"s: borders, batting, backing, and binding.

You can't tell from the picture, but that is definitely what I call a "quilt with character". There are a ton of mistakes (it for sure would never win a ribbon at the Fair)! But I still think it looks pretty good from a distance, so I'm okay with it. I really got a lot done this weekend amidst all my chatting.

So.....would it be odd to write about quilting and football in the same post? Because I'm about to.

I have diverse interests, to say the least.

We finished off our weekend by going to the Vikings/Packers game at the dome. And the Vikes WON! In thrilling fashion, nonetheless. The Packers could have won the game with a field goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game, but they missed! The dome was SO LOUD! It was a very fun game to watch - you hardly ever see a safety in a game, and there were two yesterday. Crazy. We hadn't beaten the Packers in the last five meetings, so it was definitely time to do so. Mom, Dad, my sisters, my aunt and I all went, and we really had a great time.

I am exhausted, but the weekend was more than worth it!

I Was Right

Can't believe I haven't posted since last Thursday. The weekend got busy. But I was right...Thursday was AWESOME! The Twins game I went to ended up being probably the best game of the season! Totally amazing comeback from being down 1-6, it went into extra innings, and we beat the hated White Sox! So great. The fans were going crazy and it totally made me want playoffs! Too bad that dream has now been squashed. And by the White Sox, nonetheless. Rawr.

I came home from the game and I still hadn't heard the final baby news, so I stuck in The Office and watched the season premiere while I waited for a call. Very funny. I have some new favorite lines.

Just as I was finishing The Office, I got baby news! It was so awesome to hear about him. Now I will spend everyday until Christmas break wishing I could see him in person. Until then, I am very thankful for cameras and email!

The rest of the weekend was also great - my sister was in town and we went to the Desiring God Conference. We learned and also laughed. I love being around her because she really appreciates my humor. I think she is the only person who could and would laugh at comments I make while listening to Sinclair Ferguson.

Sunday was great with baptisms at church, a picnic, a baby shower, and finally some relaxation. The only bummer was the Vikings loss.

And now it is October. Can't believe it. Things are definitely more busy around here, and that has made the time fly!