Lately...

This is going to be a "catch-up" blog, so it might be a bit long...so hang in there!  I'm going to try to use an outline format to make sure I hit the high-points. 

So, my honey finished his first 17 day stretch of work last Friday.  It has been amazing to have him home and free from work call and work concerns!  We enjoyed relaxing and going to church together over the weekend.  Also, on Friday, I received my temporary South Dakota nursing license in the mail...it came so much faster than anticipated...thank you God! 

Monday morning my honey and I jumped in Stella (my vehicle) and took off headed to Sioux Falls, SD, for some shopping and seeing of sites.  The drive wasn't too bad and we were able to find the big city without difficulty.  The mall was quite large and we were able to find the things we were looking for.  We took our time and walked around the mall enjoying being in a real mall and "people-watching"!  Then we went to The Falls Park, which was a park where there were multiple waterfalls...it was beautiful!  We also went to a historical downtown street that we had been told to visit that was re-vitalized and quaint.  We ate a wonderful dinner at a place called Granite City, which is a microbrewery and also a fancy restaurant...yummy filet mignon!!  We also stopped at Petco and picked up some more Pill Pockets for Winston.  For those who don't know, Pill Pockets are a lifesaver if you need to give your pet medication...they work wonderfully and make medicine time very pleasant!!

We then got back on the road and headed home...the drive seemed to be without end since we had already seen the scenery and all the scenery is the same anyway!!  It was a fun day and a neat experience to see how the people around Aberdeen view shopping.  I would never think that taking a day trip to go to the mall would be normal, but here it is.  My honey and I enjoyed our time and had a lot of fun.

Monday evening during our drive home, I became acutely nauseated and the feeling continued once we got home and I layed down...I'm not sure if it was the steak I had eaten or a virus, but it was brutal!  The whole next day I just layed around trying to feel better and my sweet husband made sure I was comfortable and taken care of.  That evening I started to feel better and we got ready to head to Minnesota the next morning.

Wednesday morning we loaded up in Stella again (at this point, she is so bug-spattered it is embarrassing) and headed east to St. Paul/Minneapolis.  We were told by a trucker that the trip would be about 4.5 hours.  Somehow, in a city called Wheaton, we got off the right highway (they all look the same) and drove for over an hour in the wrong direction.  I think we added about 2 hours to our trip!!! Arggg!  So, eventually we arrived  and met up with our friends, Becca and Tony.  We were so happy to have made it.  We stayed with Becca and Tony at Tony's parents house with them.  We saw the beautiful city of St. Paul and enjoyed yummy dinner and beer and then spent time visiting back at the house.  Thursday morning we saw the sites of Minneapolis and enjoyed such a beautiful area!  It was a lovely time and I really like the Twin Cities area.  So after lunch, we loaded back into Stella and started the ride home.  Even though we didn't get off the correct path, the journey still took 5.5 hours.  I was so ready to get out of the car and get home that I'm sure my honey would've preferred making the drive by himself:)  I got pretty cranky!  All the scenery, once again, was the same and everything was flat with never ending roads and no places to stop.  We finally made it home and the kitties were very happy to have us back.  We relaxed and slept very good last night!!

Now we have the weekend off before my honey starts back to work on Monday.  We are already working on details for the next assignment, which is very time consuming, and can be frustrating.  Also, I talked to the hospital here and will start orientation early next week!!  Yippee!  I will be a PRN float nurse for the clinics...should make for some new and interesting experiences!  So, the future, as always, is unknown and requires everyday trust in our heavenly Father. 

Love and Miss you guys,

Him + Her = Home

Tony, Becca, Amanda and Jason - the wind was blowing alot!

Tony showing his strength at a park in St. Paul

The High bridge that crosses the Mississippi

Tony and his mom

Mississippi River and downtown St. Paul

St. Paul, with its Cathedral in the background



Beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral (one of my favorite places on our trip)

A wonderful ice cream shop that is extremely popular in St. Paul...the line was all the way out the door.

Tony and his parents

The capitol building in St. Paul...There are gold plated horses up near the dome that were beautiful.

Board of flavors at the ice cream shop in St. Paul

...More pictures to come from our adventures...