Erin

Some of you have been asking about Erin, the mysterious commenter who likes to hang around here. Well good news! Today an undated photograph of Erin as a child has turned up. Enjoy!

Wii

Oh yes, if you haven't heard, we caved and bought a video game system - the Nintendo Wii! Right now we only have one game for it, Wii Sports, but we're having so much fun with it we don't feel the need to diversify. It has tennis, bowling, boxing, baseball, and golf games on it, so it has plenty of ways to entertain us. We play the tennis and bowling games most often - we're both pros at tennis now!

It's so much fun I even created a new label for it. If you haven't tried it out yet, give us a call or come over, it's a lot of fun! :)

Who's the Julie?

(Not to offend any person named Julie; this Julie refers to a Wii-tennis player controlled by the computer.)

It's Friday night and the mood is right. Gonna have some fun, show you how it's done. TGIF!! (Steph, hope you appreciate that ditty). Tonight was a night in four parts. First, Nick invited Bob over to share a supper of delicious Take'n'Bake pizza with us, followed by a few games of Wii-tennis.

Next, the boys left to help Ed move and I played some more Wii on my own, achieving pro-status in Wii-tennis and getting a 91-pin strike. Yay! Soon enough, Andrea arrived to have a mini-girls' night. We looked at wedding photos and I taught her how to play Trains - she did very well and beat me the second game, something Nick has yet to achieve. After that, we went downstairs and played a few games of Wii-tennis ourselves. Andrea was pretty good; we destroyed all the computer teams we played against, especially a poor 400-level player named Julie. We moved onto Wii-baseball and played a very poor first game, going three innings without a single hit. We were halfway through our second game and it was going much better (Andrea got the bases loaded once and I had three home runs) when I got a call from Nick - he had a flat and was stranded. So, being the good people we are, Andrea and I turned off the Wii, eliminating our good game, and went to rescue him and Bob. Luckily they were only about 5 miles away so it didn't take too long.

Then it was time for the third part of the evening. Andrea and I had a Wii-baseball rematch and tied, 1-1, then we tried 4-way tennis. It was crazy but fun. We followed that up with two games of Wii-bowling. Bob impressed us all with getting 5 strikes to start the second game, then slowed down to finish at 215.

After that it was pretty late, so our company went home. Nick and I saw them out and headed upstairs, only to be distracted by the Trains game still sitting on the dining room table. So of course we had to play a game. We were both very East Coast and I managed to squeak out a victory courtesy of my longest train (34 to Nick's 33) - yes, I won by a single point.

So, happy Friday to all of you. Hope yours was as fun as mine was!!

Winners

Nick and I each won a game today - I was the first spoof winner and Nick was the big poker winner. I guess poker is more impressive, but a win is a win. Go Nick!!

Pudgy Pies!!

The brilliant spring weather is continuing and seeing as March is almost over I'm hoping that it's here to stay! Yesterday was a typical Saturday - Nick played racquetball in the morning and I slept in, then cleaned while he worked on the bathroom (yes, the bathroom work is on again!). In the evening, we went over to Rob and Katie's for a "garage" party - Rob grilled burgers and we all ate in the garage and played Trivial Pursuit (also in the garage). We went back to elementary school and "counted off" for teams - it worked pretty well because it split up all the couples since they were all originally sitting next to each other. We had 4 teams of 3; one all male, one all female, and two that were two male, one female. The male team managed to pull out the victory, but it was pretty close all around.

Today we went out for a bike ride - we rode over to Subway and the scrapbooking store, then took the extended route down around by the lake and up to Home Depot before making it home just as it started to sprinkle. After that, I took some time to work on my scrapbook while Nick worked a little more on the bathroom. When we started to get hungry Nick mentioned pulling the new fire pit (thanks Adam!) for the first time. So Nick got to work chainsawing up a tree log that's been in the yard for a while and I ran to the store to get the makings for pudgy pies (thanks Jill for the makers!)!! Yum, yum, yum. We had such a nice time sitting in the backyard and cooking our food over the open flame. It went pretty well too, except for two overcooked pudgies and a small grass fire under the pit (that burned out after about 10 seconds but it was still scary when we first saw it. Good thing there was water on hand!).

Our fire pit in the dark. It was perfect sitting outside - the right temperature to sit up next to the fire in a sweatshirt and be comfortable, plus no bugs yet! What more can you ask for?


The pudgy pies cooking away.

Next, some evidence that the bathroom has not been abandoned. Most of the work Nick's been doing on it is structural, like reinforcing the wall to hold the new wall-mounted sink from the basement side, so not too interesting for pictures. However I did take a few today just to prove that he's doing something!

Our new light fixture. Nick works on the bathroom in the evenings sometimes and not having a light in there was getting annoying since the portable one heats up the room too much, so he put this in last week.


The "wall" that will go between the tub and the wall (the tub is about 4 inches shorter than the width of the bathroom so this will fill in the gaps). Until Nick stood it up against the wall it was hard for me to visualize how much less floor space we'll have in the bathroom once the project is finished. But that's actually a good thing - it'll look more like a bathroom and less like a closet that someone randomly threw a toilet into. :)

Finally, according to SI.com, it looks like Joe Theismann finally got the boot!! That'll make MNF more enjoyable to watch. Can't wait to find out who his replacement is. Actually, I can't wait for football to start period, but I'm sure you all knew that! The draft is coming up in a month, then it's only 3 months or so until the preseason starts.

What a great weekend!

Nick and I are So Nice!

It's spring in Minnesota (at least for the next couple of days)! While taking a nice walk after work, Nick and I decided that we wanted to invite some friends over tonight. Rob, Katie, Seth, and Bob came over to visit us and play board games. We ended up playing three, of which Nick won two (Monopoly and Trains) and I won one (Scattergories). So much for being gracious hosts, but I think everyone had fun. :)

Rob's in the bathroom! Yay!

Volleyball Recap

We ended our indoor volleyball regular season tonight, going 2-1 and then winning the bonus extra game as well. Several notable plays prevent a single "All Heart" player:

1. Bob hit two balls really well off the net and we were able to save them for points.
2. Rob's serving in the second game, plus his overall good play.
3. Nick's "laying on the floor" dig that actually got the ball over.

It's not quite a "positive" but I had my first ever volleyball carry tonight. And let me tell you - I knew as soon as it happened that I had carried! It was sort of a weird feeling. My serves were pretty good too; I only missed one in about ten attempts.

Next week: Playoffs. After that: sand volleyball at Alleygators!

Hungry?

We're having a bake sale tomorrow at work and I made two forms of chocolate cake to bring in and sell. Hopefully people like them:

I'm a little concerned because the lids hide the yummy cake inside, but I'm planning on posting the above picture and all the little containers are labeled with what sort of frosting they have. I thought these were my best option for packing frosted cake individually. I think people will figure it out! :)

I did it!

No, I didn't beat Nick and Dave at Trains...but I gave them the option of picking the game we played tonight and we ended up playing Scrabble. I was able to beat them both quite decisively - 241 to 120 to 157. So I can still win at games!!

Having said that, I did have a great time in Wisconsin over the weekend. I taught my grandma, aunt, and two cousins how to play Trains and they all seemed to like it. I did win the game but I have the advantage of having played many, many times before (more times that I've posted on this blog). I also had one of my best finishes ever, ending the game with 84 points in tickets. More on the trip later when I'm ready to post some pictures.

Brilliant Luck?

I had two lucky streaks today: I was the last person to "win" at spoofing and I won the first poker game :) Nick's streak is gone, but maybe one of my own is starting! For all those wondering: spoofing is a game we play every Thursday at work. The losers have to buy the winners a drink from Caribou.

ETA: It was actually a brilliant poker night for the women. We started off with 11 players, 8 men and 3 ladies. We got down to 6 and it was equally divided - 3 vs 3. It came down to me vs. Janelle for the victory after we pushed all of them out! The second game was a little more fair - 6 men and 2 ladies and I went out before the money, but Janelle hung in there and managed to take down all the guys by herself!! So it was the best kind of poker night: LADIES NIGHT!! Here's to another week of the same :)

Not much to report in other news. We were competitive at volleyball last night, but couldn't win. Our All-Heart player was Rob - he had some truely awesome plays! We're also all signed up for sand volleyball, so the Bacos stories will continue until at least September. Go Bacos!

Spring Must Be Here

I was dodging geese and hockey nets in the streets as I drove to the library and shoe store. Krista, I must be finally over the "fat ankles" comment because I bought a pair of boots. Well, ankle boots anyway. To wear under pants. For $10.

In other news, I dropped 3 more games of Trains to Dave and Nick tonight. I had a chance to win the third game but Dave made his move one turn too early. At least I'm determined. :) I'm going to win...and then we'll never play again (or at least for six months)! Just like Puerto Rico.

Wii!

Bob invited Nick and myself over today to try out the Wii gaming system. I have to say, it was quite fun :) I managed to get a strike on a 36-pin bowling alley and win a boxing match by a decision against Nick. When else would that happen in real life? There was also tennis, baseball, and golf, all of which were fun to try out too. So if one of your friends invites you over to try it out, I would definately say go and have a good time, just be ready to sweat a little!

The Last Day Before The Prematurely Lost Hour

Today I got up early and cleaned the house!!! Yay!! That sounds like fun, right? Nope. But I am happy to have a clean house so the result is worth the work. I had a good reason to do it too: my mother-in-law was due to come over around lunch and I didn't want her to see the post-flu mess that was our house.

Nancy actually showed up about an hour later than I expected her, so everything was spotless and Nick and I were hard at work on the puzzle I got him for Christmas by the time she arrived. It was only a short visit, but the best part besides seeing her was that she brought our finished wedding quilt along and we got to keep it (she's brought it over before when it wasn't finished yet):

It matches perfectly!
Erin, it may not *technically* be done (no label on the back), but we're using it already so I consider that finished before yours!
Rob, can you see the Reader's Digest on the nightstand?

The three of us went out for lunch at Granite City, then killed some time at IKEA before we dropped Nancy off for her flight to Georgia (she's going to play nurse for Erin after she gets her gallbladder out on Tuesday). Nick found a very nice half-round wooden table top for only $5 in the bargain bin area so I guess it was a successful trip. When we got home, Nick and I finished the devil puzzle that I got him for Christmas:

It looks pretty innocent, but the pieces are fairly indistinguishable from each other. We didn't work on it very consistently either - it took over two months for us to finish it.

We finished up the evening by visiting our friend Dave. He made stir fry for us, then we played five games of trains, of which I won zero. Here's a summary of my luck on the evening:

I'm the green piece. :(

Volleyball and Fitness

We only won one volleyball game tonight - we were playing the top-ranked team. We matched them point-for-point in the first game (actually were ahead for most of it) before losing at the end, then had our normal second-game slide, then won the third game after squandering a large lead. Nick is the Bacos All-Heart Player of the Game, with a fantastic block in the second game - first block we had all season!

As for fitness, Nick was checking on fitness centers in the area and one of the francises he brought up had my old telephone number! What a weird coincidence - I've never seen one of my old numbers turn up again like that :)

Snow!

After two days, the snow finally stopped. Nick and I took some pictures yesterday afternoon (I think it only snowed about an inch after the pictures were taken):

Our house from across the street - you can see Nick's pickup in the driveway.


Nick next to the snowmound at the end of our driveway.

The official measurement is about 14" of snow on top of the 12" we got earlier this week. Most notable for me is that my work closed early on Thursday and then was closed on Friday - that's my first snowday since sometime early in high school!

We're Featured!

Check out our photographer's homepage! Not my favorite picture of myself, but Nick says we're the best looking couple there - what do you think?