Recently....

I Hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and I am hoping that you all have a very happy new year as well!

I spent some time on Christmas Eve at my moms while Tom was at work. She gave me ...well me and Tom a set of pots, pans, and kitchen utensils! I personally, really like these kinds of gifts because they are so practical! I will hopefully be able to use these in my own house within the next year or so....I HOPE! The rest of Christmas Eve this year for us was spent at Toms aunt Dianes house just outside of Clitherall! There was soo much food there even when we arrived and we were late like 930pm late! We had a good time! This year for Christmas I had to work! I worked until 3pm on Christmas day then it was rush, rush, rush, I had to get home to shower and get ready to leave! After I had gotton ready, we had to drive to Fergus to pick up my sister Samantha at our Grandma and Grandpas house in town. Of course, when you are in a hurry, people want to talk! We ended up being there for a good hour and everyone in Vining was waiting! I think I got like a million texts for my cousin Kayla wondering when I was going to be there and where I was at! My Grandparents there got for me an old Krumkaka iron (pardon my spelling) I am still super excited about it! I have always wanted one! It has the Norweigian writing on it. It is a little smaller than a normal sized one but it will still work! Believe me, I will make use out of it one day!

After visiting for a bit, we headed out east to Vining! We walked in the door and of course everyone had eaten so me and Tom ended up eating alone....oh well I guess. Everyone knew we were on our way and that it would only be about 20 minutes...too impatient I guess! I got a neat book from Grandpa about his life! Funny thing is, I have already read it! The guy who wrote it for Grandpa, is the son of a lady I work with! So I got a sneak peak! It is really interesting to be able to learn so much more about someone that you thought you already knew pretty well! Oh, I also got some money, photo albums and a couple of elephants! We played a game called "The Mexican Train Game" ...I believe that is what it is called anyway! It was fun after I got the gist of playing it! It is like dominos! I think I am going to have to invest in one because Tom even liked playing it and he is not much for games! Overall, we had a very good Christmas!

(Grandma, Kate, Dan....thanks for the look, Carrie, Kayla, Ben, and Samantha playing a round)
Myself and Tom before leaving to pick up Samantha on Christmas Day


I have put it so many hours on this blanket that I made for little Jazzmyn out of her mommys clothing! I told myelf I had to finish it before Christmas Eve because I wanted her to have it then! It turned out so nice...and heavy! It is denim and fleece! Really, really, warm! I brought it over to the house to give to her...and her daddy! He was in tears.. he loved it so much! I just got a text a few minutes ago from her older sister Jaime, saying that she loved the blanket I made for Jazz it made her cry! I am really proud that my first ever quilt turned out so nice! I think I will have to invest in my own sewing machine so I can do these things at home! I am thinking of making teddy bears out of some of Tinas t-shirts for Mike, Josh, and Jaime... and I will have one done for Jazz too! Just so they all have a little something as well!

I also got the privilage of being Ethans Godmother on December 21! I just love this kid! He is so smart! Anyhow, I don't really know what to say about the baptism, everyone has gone to one.. so I can't really go that far into it! It was very nice though!

I put inj my resignation for work at the Cottages a couple weeks ago. I will be done there on the 4th. I got a new job at a place in Fergus it is like a group home. I will be caring for 4 mentally disabled people. I think that this will be a challange for me but I think I will love it at the same time! I will be a little closer to home and if I get snowed it... I will have somewhere to stay! I have already had to stay in a hotel in Breckenridge due to snow storm not letting me drive! It seems like this is getting to be an every weekend occurance! I hope it is done now! The first big one, we were on our way back from Nebraska! We had drove my cousin down there to meet up with her boyfriend, Dan! We were going to stay in Omaha with them that evening but called home and decided that we would try to make it back before the storm really hit! Well, we hit Sioux Falls and it started to get crappy! We did make it home though at about 6:30 in the morning... Tom is a trooper...drove the whole way and didn't fall asleep all night long! It was slow driving once we got off at the Hankinson exit off of I-29! At some points, we were only going liek 5 mph because we couldn't see anything!

I think that this about sums up everything since my last post! The only other thing I can think of is that I am on Christmas break from school and hope that next semester goes by quickly!

Again, I hope that everyone has a wonderful rest of the holiday season!

11-29-08

I can't believe that it is almost December! This year has gone by soo fast for me. Nothing has really changed around here. Still plugging away at school work. It seems like the only things I do lately are homework and work. I am ready for this semester to be over and ready for a break. I am more ready to be done all together! I mapped it out and it should take me another 5 semesters to finish--that is about a year and a half and hopefully I will be done!

Tom and I went to Fargo the otherday because I needed some jeans and the only place I will get my jeans are Old Navy because they seem to fit so well. After Old Navy, we went to Culvers for the BEST ever custard! Gosh, I love that place! Then, we went to Scheels because I really wanted a pair of UGGS and I knew that they sold them there! I just wanted to look -- I couldn't afford them right now! I tried them on and LOVED them! Then.......Tom said I could get them! I was sooooo pumped! I couldn't say no! The only thing was that I really wanted some caramel colored ones and they only had chocolate color. But, I got them anyways! They are so warm and comfy!

Here they are:

They zip up the back! I just LOVE them!
I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! We went to Toms aunt and uncles house! There was sooo much food ... ham, turkry, and even one of my favorites, Vegi pizza! (the kind on a cressent roll) I love that stuff! We took a few 'family' pictures too:

(b) Wayne, Wendy, Stu, Kyle, Tom (f) Reba, Staci, and Myself

All of the 'kids':

Stu, Kyle, Tom

Reba, Staci (and my soon so be neice or nephew), and I

Us Girls:

Me, Reba, and Staci (and Copper the dog)

The Handsome guys:

Stu, Tom, Wayne, and Kyle

Aren't they all cute?! Although, they don'tlook too happy to have their picture taken!

I guess, I don't really have too much else for anyone at this time! I am pretty boring. I basically just sit and do homework anymore! So until I can figure something else out to blog about that is interesting.........

Life

Well, I voted for the first time in my life on Tuesday! I ended up being very dissapointed in the results. But, there is nothing I can do right? Frusterating to think of what America is coming to. Maybe I should pack up and move somewhere else like Norway!

Anyhow, on a happier note, Tom is just about done in the field. He has been up for the past 2.5 days straight and just laid down a few minutes ago to catch up on some sleep. Needless to say, he has been VERY cranky! It is raining here, AGAIN! I cant believe that some places have gotten over 39 inches of snow! Unbelievable! I am just glad that it isnt us. I hope it doesnt fly our way over night as I have to get up early in the morning to be to work by 6:30 and I am not wanting to drive in that crap!

I have recently tried to take some pictures of Jazzmyn for her 1 year/Christmas pictures. I will add a few at the bottom to show you! I think that some of them turned out really well but trying to get a one year old to stay still for a short period of time is almost impossible!

Me and a friend went for a walk yesterday! It was the perfect day outside for it! I drove to her house in town and we took off. Afterwards I drove the same path with my car to see how far we had walked. It ended up being 5.7 miles and took us two hours with one pit stop to use the toilet! I really enjoyed it! It gave us some extra time to talk without having anyone else there! It was a great 'girls afternoon'!

School is going ok! I am almost ready to register for next semester classes! I sat down the other night and from my 'calculations' if I pass all of my classes, I should only have 3 semesters left after this year is over with! I HOPE! I cant wait to be done!

Christmas is coming soon! I am not very excited just for the fact that I dont have any money! I love to get people things to Christmas but I am afraid that most wont get much. I know that this isnt the main concern around the holidays but for me, I just like to give to everyone!

Our purse party was a hit! We sold quite a bit of stuff! The lady was sooo surprised! She said "I cant believe you guys got this many people to come all the way out here" I loved it! I was in purse heaven! I wouldnt mind doing purse parties as a side job one day! I think my problem would be I would want all of them and I would end up with waaaaay too many purses. If there is such a thing!

I better get going to do my homework! I have tons to do! So here are a few pictures and hopefully I will have more to say soon!

Purse #1 from our party

Purse #2
Purse #3

Purse #4

The beautiful fall colors! This is by my grandparents house in Vining!

Ok, This is my favorite of the pictures I took of Jazzmyn!

She is just soooo cute*

What a stinker! I just love this little girl to pieces!

Summer Time

I can hardly believe that summer is officailly over and school has begun! I havent been on here in quite some time! I started school about 5 weeks ago now and I am liking this semester so far. It is going pretty well. I changed my major from Health Information Technician to Medical Administrative Assistant! I like this much better as I wont be doing any of the medical coding that I came to find...I HATED! Suprisingly, nothing major exciting has happened this summer! The shuttle launch was probably the only real exciting thing!

My wonderful picture taking abilities...caught him licking his nose (Eddie)

My aunt Coco came up to Vining for Watermelon Day to be the Grand Marshall in the parade. She signed autographs and basically hung around the house all day. We all went to my Grandma and Grandpas house to suprise them for their 50th wedding anniversary! They had no idea that my aunt, uncle, and cousins were coming from Washington! My Grandmothers jaw dropped and Grandpa shed a few tears! It was fun had by all! It was nice for all of us to be together again (twice in one summer is doing really good)!

I think that taking pictures like this is going to be a new tradition for all of us cousins whenever we are all home!


Coco and her boyfriend Doug (also a NASA astronaut)

Tom was a groomsman in his friend Jons wedding this summer. It was a pretty good time.

We recently just enrolled our Chesapeakes in dog obedience classes. Me and Wendy take Brandi and Eddie to town every Thursday evening. It is actaully really fun!

A week ago I got a phone call to go to the Emergency Room in Fergus. My good friend (who was like a second mother to me) was unresponsive and barely breathing with out help. By the time I got there they were getting her ready to fly her out via Helicopter to Fargo. I was thinking positive that the whole thing would be ok. She has three kids: an 18year old, a 16 year old and a little girl who will be one next month.

We got to Fargo and they said she wasnt going to make it. They said she had an aneurysm that had burst in her brain. Thirty-seven years old! That is way to young to go to God. I just keep telling myself that he wanted her from some reason! I miss her terribly. She helped me through some very hard times and also was there for my during the good! Her husband called and asked my to be an active casketbearer. I said yes without hesitation. Friday was the funeral service. I did ok during the service until I hd to go out and carry the casket. IT WAS SOOOO HARD FOR ME but what an honor!
R.I.P. Tina ~ I love you and I will see you soon one day in Heaven!

I have been all mixed up the past week. I am trying to do all of my homework today and tomorrow since I was so busy with that stuff I havent gotten around to it! I hope my teachers understand!

This is all I got right now so I will hopefully be updating sooner this time than I did before! Please pray for Tinas family! Thanks!

Florida...to see the launch of "DISCOVERY"

Well, here I am now in Florida! Waiting to leave for our bus to the launch! I cant believe that it is going to really happen! Last night we had a reception for my aunt as well as we got to go see the shuttle all lit up at night! It was gorgeous! When we got there, the astronauts came too! It was a surprise since no one thought this would happen! It was so nice! I am kind of crammed for time so I just put a few pics up! Bigger update soon!

This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

Me, my aunt coco, and the shuttle Discovery

We are a goofy bunch! (cousins)

Here are all of us neices and nephews with our "aunt coco"

Here is the one we are so proud of!

Just a little bit of an update

I am so glad that school is done for the summer! Now, my biggest excitement is that approximately 2 weeks I get to go to Florida for the shuttle launch of my aunt! Oh, I just cant wait! I am so excited! I hope I dont get homesick tho. I know that I will be with my family but no one that I live with will be there and I am leaving Tom, and my two pups at home.
I hope it will all go well!
Rachel came to town a few days ago and brought little Ethan out to the farm! He had such a blast! It was nice to see him and see Rachel since I havent seen them since Christmas time. I miss them a lot! They are all the way in Grand Forks! Well, I guess it isnt too far but it is far enough when gas is over $3.50 a gallon!
Here are a few pictures!

We found a new little helper!

He loves anything that runs!

He LOVED running in with the calves!
He even has ticklish feet! He wanted the calf to suck on them!

Such a lover!

He even loves Maxwell! Yupp, Ethan is a pretty cute kid!

Ok, one night we decided we were going to have a bonfire...Well this is what it ended up being! A few beers later and we have a fire with a car in the middle of it! No, it wasnt someones actual car, it was a junk car ready for the crusher! It was a fun night!

Snowmobiling at the end of April? Who thought?

OK, Last night I was at work and it started to snow! I couldnt believe that it was snowing on Apirl 26th! Gosh! It was crazy! All together it seems like we have about 2 feet! It is just crazy! Tom got up this morning and just HAD to get the snowmobile out to play! I am still in disbelief! We are packed in our house! As of now, we cant get out of the driveway!
Tom had to come get me from work last night and a drive that typically takes 20-25 minutes took us well over an hour to do! It was nuts! I took lots of pictures! Well I suppose I should be outside trying to shovel a little bit so I will come on again later and update more of what has been happening.... there are a few pictures to show our "WINTER WONDERLAND" (at the end of April)




He tipped it over!

He was having WAY too much fun!

!

EDDIE GAUGE

We have a new addition to our "family" he is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. I got him the day before Easter. I saw an add in the star tribune online and just had to call! I got him pretty cheap! $225 for a chesapeake it a heck of a deal! So we packed up and went for a trip down to Faribault. We drove all the way down there got the dog and came right back! It was a long day in the car! Tom had a chesapeake when he was younger named Gauge, so we decided to register him under the name Eddie Gauge! He was born December 31, 2007! He is such a doll and deffinately a cuddler! He loves to play! Needless to say, we have two kennels in the bedroom! Brandi was a little jeleous at first but she is adapting well! She has had to learn that she isnt the baby anymore! She would play with him when she didnt think we were looking but when she knew we were, she would try and ignore him! It is kinda funny to watch! He follows her around everywhere! They will be long time buddies!

It has been almost a month since I last blogged! How times flies! Goodness! Not a whole lot has been happening either! I just got news that my aunts shuttle launch is being set back even farther AGAIN! First it was set for April 25th, then May 25th and now it is most likely going to be May 31st! I wish it would stay the same date for good! It is so hard to plan for something like this when it keeps changing on us! I need to take work off soon but there is no way of doing it when it is constantly changing!

My residents at work are finally getting over the broncitis/pneumonia viruses going around the place. And thankfully, we only lost one soldier to the battle! The sad thing is....he was my favorite one! I missed the funeral and I totally regret it! He was such a sweet guy but I know that he is most deffinately in a better place now with no pain! He had quite a few medical problems besides the pneumonia he was fighting! He will be greatly missed by all of us at work!

I just wish that school was over with! I want to be done! I would love to have a Monday through Friday job! NO WEEKENDS AND NO HOLIDAYS! Dont get me wrong, I love my job! But, the weekend thing is getting old! The holiday thing is getting even older! I get nothing for working holidays since I am a full time employee! It is stupid! No time and a half no nothing! Part time gets it but not us faithful full timers :)

What else has been happening? Hmm....! I guess, I cant think of anything else to say! So,until next time,
Ali

I added a few new pictures for your viewing pleasure :)

He has got one long tongue (Eddie)

The Biggest baby of them all, Miss Brandi and her papa!

Eddie and Brandi

Eddie Gauge

Spring Break ? ? ? ? ?

Oh, it sure has been a while since I have updated this! Well, nothing too exciting has really happened I guess. It was Rachels little boy, Ethans birthday yesterday! He is three already! I cant believe he is that old! It seems like not too long ago I was visiting her in the hospital becuase she had a little baby boy! I cant believe it is March already! March! Where did February and January go? gosh!

I got my new glasses yesterday and I like them but it is going to take a lot to get used to. When I am walking, I feel like I am 8 feet tall. I have bifocals. Deffinately going to take some getting used to. I was supposed to work this past weekend. I worked Saturday and the roads were terrible! I drive on highway 210 all the way to work and I dont know why. I think tonight, I am going to try another route. Saturday night, Tom called and said they were going bowling. So, after work I drove to town and met them at the bowling alley. I drove the whole way to town at about 35 mph. It took me over an hour to get to town. The road was soooo slippery! Then I seen two owls on the side of the road just watching me! They would have been approximately where the white line on the road is(I couldnt seen lines on the road, I could only see snow and ice). Needless to say, I called someone to come in for me Sunday. So I have to work next Saturday morning at 6:30.

Well, on a happier note, it is spring break! Although, there is NOTHING spring about it! The weather has been terrible. I am getting so sick of this crap! I wish the snow would go away and the sun would shine! The wind could go away also! I would love for it to be 80 degrees! That would be wonderful!

Yesterday, Tom and I went to help Donny Stock at his new house. They bought a house and added on a two stall garage and a nice chunk of 'house'! ha! It is sooo nice in there! I should be taking pictures for future reference! There is alot of tiling in the house! It looks so professional and nice!

Ok, now I am having a total brain block! I cant think of anything else I have been doing! I guess I will have to sign off for now and if I can think of anything good to say, I will log back on and blog! I added a few pictures below!

Until next time,

Alison

Tom and Brandi takin a nap!

In the midst of the crappy weather, I seemed to snap a couple of really pretty pictures of the sunsetting! It was really bright!

The old airport

On highway 210 west heading home!


Just heading out of town



These are wild turkeys that we seen after we came over the hill on our way to Joshs house.

WOW!

IT IS REAL! MY VERY OWN LOUIS VUITTON PURSE!

ISNT IT JUST CUTE?!?! I LOVE IT!
SO yes, I got a Louis Vuitton purse and I absolutely love it! My dearest friend Rachel got it. She actually saw it at a thrift store in Grand Forks and bought it for $25 i think. Well I have always wanted one so she made the mistake of telling me that she got one so I had to talk her into this! haha! but I got it and I traded her a camera that I got not too long ago but didnt want anymore. So it all worked out! I CANT GET OVER THE FACT THAT I HAVE A REAL LOUIS VUITTON!

So yesterday was mine and Toms three year 'anniversary'. It just doesnt seem that long already! We didnt do much. We went to town and went out for lunch to Applebees and we just kinda spent the day to gether. We went shopping a little bit. Nothing to big! The wind was blowing pretty hard and honestly I didnt want to do too much anyways in case the weather were to get ishy!

Hmmm... What else is new? Not too much actaully! Just trying to get cuaght up in the one class for school. Lately I have been feeling so overwhelmed with work its just nuts. I feel like I am kind of getting burned out! I dont hate my job by any means but I am just getting to the point where I cant wait for my vacation! I need a break! There is the one lady that I work with, shes mad at me because we got hired on the same time but I got the full time position and she didnt. Well she has been a real 'you know what' to me because of it. And she has said that she is mad that I got full time and she didnt. Gosh, it makes me so frusterated! She treats me like crap becuase of something I didnt control! She wants benefits and shes gets mad at me for that! It is really childish actually! Enough about me whining about that! I think I am going to go clean now so unitl next time!

Ali

February 7, 2008

Brandi in her fleece PJs

The daschunds (L-R) Maxwell, Ugga Bugga, and Cassie!
Brandis new coat from Old Navy! I think that it is super cute!

Well here I am wanting to write a post but trying to think of something smart or interesting to say! Gosh! I have been sitting here trying to help Tom save his paper to his "SanDisk" thing. It is a removeable disk for the USB drive on the computer. It wasn't working on the desktop computer. So I finallay got it to work on my laptop. I dont know if I am just really frusterated or what because it is 2:40 AM but the computers seem to be horrible right now. I know that the desk top needs to be taken in and cleaned out but my laptop is brand new and better not have something wrong with it. Anyways, it is working fine now and enough of my whining about this issue!
I went out and bought my REAL first pair of heels! They are really cute actually! I bought some brown ones and seen that they had black ones and just had to get them too! Ya know, somethings you can wear brown with others you cant and for that you may need a black pair just like the brown pair! (if that makes any sense).It was at Maurices in Whapeton right before I had to be to work. Hopefully I will wear them sometime! Hehe!
I have been really frustrated lately. I have this one class for school that I am just having a hell of a time with. It is so confusing. The software wasnt installing and then the intructor set up a remote access from the computers at NDSCS but that wasnt up for a while so I (and a few others) got behind. Well now I am trying to catch up but am not understanding how to use this software! I JUST WANT TO SCREAM! It really makes me mad how sometimes you can email your instructors and it takes them forever and a day to get back to you. On a lighter note: I am doing good in all of my other classes!
I have been slacking lately! I have been 'sneaking' Arbys! Plus, having a hard time getting to the gym as much as I really should. I would like to loose a few inches on my waist before I head for Florida! That is coming up really soon! I better kick it into high gear!
I suppose, this post was kind of random but honestly I cant really sleep! But I am getting tired now so until next time,
Al