ALASKA!!!!!

Erik, Mom and I took a cruise to Alaska from July 31-August 7th. It was an amazing trip that began on July 30th with a day in Seattle. I took 1,655 pictures and am beginning our scrapbook now. Of course, I didn't print all of the picture but I did print a lot!!! Here is our cruise ship in Tracy Arm Fjord.

Golden Princess

Fun in Farmington

For the 4th of July weekend my Mom, Erik and I went to visit Erik's family in Farmington, WI. They used to live in Milwaukee but have since moved West and out into the country. We really enjoy ourselves and spent a lot of time just hanging out and playing games. Mom, Charleen and I did go shopping in Cedarburg on Friday and found some great buys. Plus we went to the most amazing scrapbooking store. I just love it!!!! On Saturday, Erik and I went golfing with his brothers outside of the town of Jefferson. We had a blast and were glad to have golfed early because it did get very HOT that afternoon. On Sunday some of the extended family came over to celebrate the 4th. We grilled out, played lawn games and enjoyed chatting in the the wonderfully air-conditioned house!


Rockin' out to Beatles Rock Band


Andracek boys ready to golf!


Mr. and Mrs. Andracek are ready too! Glad we got out before it was too hot!


Aaron hitting a beautiful drive shot.


Playing Kubb!


Erik and Jimmy won...they are excited :)


The "adults" playing Apples to Apples while the "kids" played Mario on the Wii.

The best part of the visit, besides spending time with family, was the addition of the new puppy, Leia! She is 7 weeks old and adorable!!!! We enjoyed playing with her and relaxing with her.


Leia is SOOOO cute!


She loved sleeping and relaxing anywhere. Tim is pretty relaxed too :)

Summer Flowers

Here are a variety of my summer flowers :)


Astilbe


Tiger Lilies


Another type of Lily


Primrose


Hostas by patio


Hen and Chicks


Frog friend that I found in my lounge chair. I got him out safely and returned him to the garden. He hopped away happy!

Target Field

On Monday Erik and I met Shawna, Mitch, Anthony and their friend, Andy at the Twins game. I was so excited to see Target Field for the first time. It was a bit of an adventure deciding where to park but we found a great lot for $8. A short walk later down 1st Ave. and we were at the Field. Not really knowing where things were we walked the opposite way of the plaza.......but did get to see the light rail station :)



We met the Felton's and Andy at Gate 6 and walked around the main level for a while.
Then it was up to our seats, section 327, to check out the view!!!!!





The game began and we were excited to see the Twins play. It was a rough first inning when Detroit scored 4 runs :( Boo! We were still having fun though taking in all the sites and checking out the views from our seats...which were awesome! Anthony had a lot of fun looking and watching airplanes fly over!!!









Go Twins!!!!!!! Joe Mauer was up to bat and the place erupted with cheers and applause. It was amazing!!!




One thing I did love about the Metrodome was the Dome Dogs. They were SOOOOO good and yummy! So, I was a bit nervous about the new Big Dog at Target Field. The verdict...it is delicious!!!! I loved it and really enjoyed eating it, probably because I was outside and because I had a Summer Shandy! Can't get much better than that!

Kitchen Face-lift!

Erik and I decided we wanted to give our kitchen a face-lift. It was in need of some major cleaning and freshening up. Erik started the project by scrapping off the old ceiling and added new texture and paint. While he did that, I took off the cabinet doors and removed all the hardware. Then I sanded and washed the doors and prepped for painting. Erik used his handy spray gun to paint all the doors. We also painted the door frames and shelves. The range hood got a thorough cleaning and the windows were scrubbed and scrubbed. We painted the window frames, walls and trim. We also added 3 new light fixtures and cleaned all the switch plates. The new hardware for the cabinets is a bronze metal and looks really sharp with the brown and green accents in the kitchen.

The project is about 85% completed. We still need to do the back splash...which will be a Cyprus green tile.....make doors for under the sink (so we can remove the curtains there)....and put up frames on the garage wall. We have the frame bought (they match the hardware on the cabinets!) and just need to print our garden pictures and then hang.

Here are some pictures of the progress thus far:

The Kitchen Before


Another before shot


Removing cabinet hardware


Scrapping the ceiling....what a mess!





Erik spraying the doors


Newly painted doors






The "new" kitchen

Spring has sprung

Last fall I planned some bulbs by the front of the garage off to the side. I had gotten various tulip/spring blooming flowers during the spring time and saved in the bulbs for planting. I also added some other varieties from Menards when they were on sale in the fall. I was anxious to see how they would bloom this spring.

Since the weather has been so warm I started noticing a tulip that was pushing through the ground at the end of March!!!!! Here is a shot of the bulb garden the first week in April:


The first flower to open was a reddish/orange tulip. So pretty and bright!


Since the first tulip opened there have been many other blooming flowers. My favorite so far is the yellow tulip but there is more to come!



Grape Hyacinth

The Andracek Boys

Aaron and Tim came to visit River Falls the last weekend in February. They arrived late on Friday night but that didn't stop us from partying it up a bit with some cocktails and Rock Band. On Saturday the boys played video games and we watched some Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We tried to go bowling but it was league night here and in Hudson so we settled from some Lugi's pizza and games at home. Sunday was a lazy day with a viewing of Star Trek and more Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It was a wonderful weekend and VERY fun!

Updated Bathroom

In November and the beginning of December Erik and I decided it was time to update the bathroom. We were unhappy with the flooring that had been in the bathroom since we had moved in. The wall color also needed an update. Erik also really dislikes the popcorn ceiling in each room and is slowing working on re-doing the ceiling. He started with the bathroom and has now done the bedroom too. The bathroom was finished by my graduation and our parents were the first to check it out!
Here is before:


And after:



New shower curtain and interior door


New floor!!!! I love it :)