Fall colors in our back yard. 

Good day for shopping...

So today I had a hair appointment. My stylist made me look so beautiful I could not resist the urge to do some shopping fo clothes to wear while in London. The only problem was that I was sooo disappointed with the fall colors they had out there I couldn't find much. But I did manage to get a few things and they'll work with some of the clothes I already have, so I guess it kinda forced me to be a little more practical. It was fun! Haven't done that in awhile. The weather is being quite predictable in it's never-ending saga of unpredictability. I really can't believe how it can be 74 degrees Farenheit one day and only 54 the next!! Brrrrrr! It's just intolerable. Oh...I know, Mary. You love it right? Well you can have it. I want summer back! Tomorrow Alright?! Don't freeze yer tomata's folks. Ya better cover them along with your toes! No more sandals for me!

I Got Nothin' To Say!

It was a really sucky day today. The weatherman predicted low 60's and it barely reached 50! So fire the weatherman!! The rain ruined my perfectly done hair. I went from glamour girl to something resembling a wet seal in a matter of 2 hours of running around town from car to store...store to car. It was ridic! We don't need the rain! Hellooo! So stop already.
On a more happy note...I got to visit with my Sis-in-law and laugh a lot (the Krispy Kremes were a much needed spot of sunshine on such a dreary day), then lunch with my Auntie who makes me laugh even more! It was a good day and I got a lot of business stuff accomplished too! Soooo....all you peeps readin' my blog should call me up to spend some time with me. I get bored easily. I need the laughter. It's the best medicine!
Gotta spread the love folks!

Lilly's summer 2005 portrait. She wishes to extend her invitation to come and visit her while we are away to London in October (20-29). She is the nicest (& most spoiled) kitty in the world! 

Directly across from the bed was the working fireplace and the bathroom had a beautiful and big jacuzzi tub (sorry, no pictures)! What luxury! 

Even with it's own canapy! I felt like a queen! 

Beautiful mahogony victorian bed from the 19th century! 

Our Anniversary Suite at the Candlelight Inn located in Red Wing. Complete with a dozen roses, champagne, and 2 flutes with our names and date engraved in them! Happy 25 Years! 

Who's been married for 25 years? 

We Have! 

And Still In Love! 

Beautiful Day! 

What a Beautiful day!

Boy! They don't make days much better than today! After all the rain and storms that have whipped through these parts it's nice to feel the warmth of the sun again. The days are starting to feel like Autumn. It's my 2nd favorite season in good ol' MN. Can you guess my favorite? C'mon...it's not hard. You know it!
On another note...for those of you who know My daughter...she's doing fine in London. Having a ball, in fact. I just hope she doesn't spend all her money the first month over there! Ha Ha! Yep! You know Megs. We have much going on around here. Rick and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on the 20th of Sept. while my Aunt & Uncle will celebrate their 50th on Oct. 8th. What blessings! Marriage is hard work but well worth it! I kinda like the fact that I have someone to grow old with. Now if he would just remember to tell me how beautiful I am (yep, even first thing in the morning) that would be awesome (hee hee). May your marriages and families be blessed as much as mine has been.

So here's a few of the crazy kids going to London for a semester. Tim, Megan, Mel, & Steph. There are a total of 18 of them. Should be good times. 

Rainy Days and Wednesdays...

It's going to rain again today. I guess that's ok. It gives me an excuse to get going on my indoor chores. You know...the ones you always put off and say you're gonna do on a rainy day. So....I have no excuse not to get them done except that my "Girl" is going to be leaving for London tomorrow and we've gotta "DO LUNCH" before she leaves. Yes-Yes...Girl Time!! It's going to be hard to put her on that plane tomorrow knowing I won't see her until the end of October and then not again until Christmas, but I know she'll be in good hands and having the time of her life, so that will help! I will not be able to visit her on her birthday like I did last year but with modern technology today...I can at least communicate in various ways to help make her day special. For all you peeps who read this and want to acknowledge her special day (which is on Oct. 16) she has requested that you are welcome to donate to the "I'm doing a semester in London" fund that we have set up for her (ie: Dad's wallet and her savings account). Since London uses pounds instead of the Euro they won't accept US cash. The exchange rate is terrible too, so anything would be welcome to help her out (she's too embarrassed to ask for help). OK...enough about that. You can drop her a message of encouragement if you like. She loves hearing from all of you! Enjoy your week y'all!

Design is my Life! www.sevnthsin.com www.jameyerickson.com 

Just So You All Have Proof...

Ok...so my eldest Son,(alright- MY ONLY), has just sent me even more proof that he is quite an amazing designer. Too bad Target didn't realize what they had in their little nest before they let him leave for other, more rewarding, employment. Let the good times roll Jamey. You've got a brilliant future ahead of you...check out his websites to see a sampling of some of his work. www.jameyerickson.com and www.sevnthsin.com , www.ceerius.com/Homepage.

Mom and Dad,
So this is an email from Keith of Ceerius Records in regards to a shirt i designed
for them You may remember it, it was just their name (ceerius) in pink
with little swirlies on the black shirt just off center... i wear it all
the time, i know you've seen it. Anyway, i just thought this was cool.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jamey -- I just received this e-mail from a friend. She goes to James
Madison University and is a graphic design major. This is further proof
you are the most gifted son of a bitch on the planet. Love you kid.

(Everyone else has been copied on this because they need to see this.)


okay, so i just got out of typography class like, 10 minutes ago. we had
to present our idea sketches for our first project, and when i was done
talking about mine, our teacher was like, "yeah good, think about that one
part and playing with blah blah blah.... but now i want to talk about the
shirt you are wearing. the lettering and lines are interesting and well
designed - why couldn't you use something like that for the text? think of
something you could do like that to play with the lettering and design."

i'm wearing the swirlie shirt today.

it made me smile the entire rest of the class time because you guys rule.
proof from a graphic design professor. thought you'd like to know :)




Keith Stoeckeler
CEO - CEER!US Apparel
:: www.ceerius.com :: keith@ceerius.com ::

Summer's End

It's funny how you can feel the energy return to those who are getting ready to go back to school. It's almost a frenzy to reconnect with friends, final goodbyes to those they'll be leaving, and, of course, last minute school shopping. Brianna has returned to college. Brice is heading off to college (his first year) with new challenges and adventures. Megan will be gone to London in about a week. Gavin will be attending High School (Jeez...where'd the time go?)! All my neices and nephews will be returning to school (and preschool of course) and families will be back into a routine. Things will quiet down a bit around here with my Megan gone. However, I know she'll be really good at keeping us updated until we visit in October. Jamey and his girlfriend, Allana, are coming down on Thursday for dinner and to just hang out and say goodbye to Megan before she goes. We haven't spent any real time with him since the 4th of July. It will be fun! Maybe a good ol'campfire is in order (weather permitting, of course)! Good luck to everyone! I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers! Until we meet again.....

The British have invaded My Hometown!!

So last night I got to dance all night to the Amazing tunes of the "Beatles" performed by the band "British Export"! It was girl's night out and I had soooo much fun! Good food, great friends, and AWESOME music!! What more could you ask for?! The band imitates concerts performed by the Beatles. They are soooo good. You can go to their website and check it out. Just put on your dancin' shoes first OK? Click here:
www.britishexport.com

British Export is Amazing! If you ever get a chance to see them...Just Do It!! 

Killer Storms!

So last night as I was returning home from the big city (St. Paul), I ran into the worst thunderstorm I've had to drive in years! I literally felt as though I was driving through a waterfall for about 20 miles!! It was sooooo nerve wracking! I was "white knuckling" the steering wheel and yelling at the 2 Semi Trucks who decided that they just HAD to drive around me to increase my blindness and inhibit my forward progress! Only other thing worse than that drive would have been a winter storm with freezing rain and blowing snow (we also get that a lot around here)!! Oh Minnesota! Why do I put up with you? "Sigh"

I'm overfed and underappreciated! But Ooooh how I looooove my chips and salsa!! 

If I eat one more chip I think I'll Burst!!  

Two Heads Are Better Than One! 

Lights In the Sky

Late last night, as I was riding my bike home from the neighbor's house, I happened to look up into the sky and was AMAZED to see every star in our galaxy shining brightly down on me! What a glorious sight! There was no moon and it was so dark we had to use Rick's cell phone to ride down our driveway. It is summer nights like this that I summon in my memory, so vividly and with longing, in the freezing grips of winter. How Awesome! How Beautiful! The crickets and frogs sing their songs and lull me to sleep every night. Yes people, summer is here and I beg for it to remain.

Naps are a definite necessity in the summertime heat. Won't you come join me? 

Beautiful Butterflies who love my water fountain and garden flowers. I love Summer! 

Summertime together with Family. Jamey and Megan on the 4th of July family picnic. 

Diana and Megan. Congratulations Diana! We love you! 

What an Amazing Weekend! And it's only Saturday!

It all begins Friday with the wedding of our dearest and closest friend, Diana. She married a young man from Iowa. They now live in Riceville. We're so happy for them!! Saturday morning was the STI Roch. Civic Theatre Youth show that Megan has been working on for the last 2 weeks. The kids were amazing and Megan's choreography was nothing less than spectacular! Yeah for Megan!! Then it was lunch with Megan before she went off to work at the ol' Barnes and Noble and we headed up to Jodi and Darin's for the Luehr's birthday celebration for Sam and Jensen. Jensen was every bit as sassy as we've grown accumstomed to and Sam was VERY excited to open his gifts. We all had fun and it was good to share family time. Then it was off to meet up with Jamey who just flew in from L.A. Friday evening at midnight. We had dinner with him and caught up on his life. It's all soooo amazing! The kids just grow up into adults WAAAaayyyy toooo quickly! Treasure this time with your little ones now Jodi and Darin....before you can blink your eyes they're grown. It's still fun to be proud parents, however, even after they're grown. AND WE ARE!!

Summer Storms and Root Canals!

There are similarities here. The lightening bolts and thunder are very similar to the drilling and shrilling winces of pain while the dentist clears the root canal. I can barely stand to recall the experience. A person's first root canal should not occur until their mind is thoroughly numb enough to handle such an extreme experience. I for one do not care for dentistry. I fully understand the need for it, mind you, I simply abhorr the process of maintaining my genuinely perfect smile. Hee hee. Oh I know...you all think I've gone insane. Maybe all that novacaine went to my head. And "NO" I refuse to post a picture of the horrific event (like some people I know)! Maybe I should have allowed the tooth to float away just as we may all eventually do in the thunderstorms and downpours we're receiving. Rain Rain go Away!

Soooooo relaxing.... 

Just Hangin'

It feels good to just hang out at home. Summertime is a time of outdoor fun. We worked all spring to ready the outdoors for our enjoyment and now we're taking advantage of all our hard work. It's so relaxing to sit on the patio and listen to the water fountain or enjoy a campfire in the evening or hop into the hot tub for a relaxing spa treatment. Mom and Dad are here from Arizona and they are enjoying it also. It's nice to share and spend time with family. I hope you're all enjoying the summer as much as we are. It will be gone too soon. Stop in anytime and visit. We love company!

Mom and Dad being served breakfast on their anniversary. Yum Yum...Waffles! 

Lilly and Mom taking it easy on a hot summer day! 

It's Even Hot for ME!!!

As I look back on previous blogs and recall the whining about the cold and wet weather it reminds me not to complain about the heat. It's been hot for so long I told my Mom, who is visiting from Arizona, that she wasn't kidding about bringing the heat up with her. I hope it cools off. Both my parents are thinking about going back to Arizona because at least in Arizona it's a "DRY HEAT". I keep telling myself it's not the heat that's buggin' me but the humidity. I think most people would agree. I've been working at the Dodge County Fair all week with no air conditioning. It has been NO PICNIC, let me tell ya! Uuuuggghhh! By 5:00pm in the afternoon I have begun the melting process and become one with my chair in front of the fan. If someone wants to buy something from me they better be ready to help themselves cause I can no longer accommodate them. Seriously! Attendance is down so low at the fair I don't even know if they'll be able to afford to have another one next year. Oh well....they're boring anyway. This girl will not be working it again. It's just not worth the agony. On the upside, however, for those of you who know I love jewelry I found the coolest jewelry retailer in the world! I think I nearly bought her out before the 2nd day was over! We are now acquainted on a first name basis and I'll be having a jewelry party sometime in the near future. Sooooo...you can be looking for your invitation and you must come and see it all to believe it! It's all priced awesomely inexpensive too (which works for me)! Anyhooooo.....hope you are all surviving cause I'm not! Pray for me....I'll need it to make it through tomorrow's record high temps. Uffda!

A weekend to remember...

Ok...sooooo....I went up to Minneapolis on Friday night to go to the Basilica Block Party. For those of you who don't know, it's a 2 evening outdoor concert at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. I met my sister-in-law, Michelle, and her friend Sherry for a 2 day girls weekend! Yeah for girls weekends! We had a blast listening to the awesome music with the city lights behind the stage and the warm summer breezes blowing in our hair. Then it's out dancing until the break of dawn. I tell ya...I don't ever wanna get too old to do this but I know my days are numbered. It'll take me a week to recover. All this after the 4th of July festivities too! Shees! Busy, Busy. I'll be selling crystals at the Dodge County Fair this week. My booth will be in the Hockey arena. If you get a chance, stop in to see me. Oh and Check out the pics below. I couldn't resist. Hee hee.

Megan and cousin Brianna. Two tree huggers just getting together on the 4th of July. Peek-A-Boo! 

Just goofing around on the 4th of July. Aren't they silly? 

I Got Nothin'

Ok...so here is my update. I got nothin to say right now. But just you wait until after the weekend! Yessiree...I'll have plenty! (Girls weekend. Yes!!) Hee hee!