What a week, what a day, and now we are fiance and fiancee :D
As most of you know, Monday was our 3rd anniversary, and what an anniversary it turned out to be! We chose to celebrate in our usual way...a delicious meal at our local Indian restaurant. Just like every other anniversary Indian meal, we walked in very overdressed, but enjoyed our meal all the same.
We got home, and within 5 minutes Jenni had already changed from her fancy dinner outfit to her pajamas. For those who know Jenni well probably wouldn't expect anything different. After the necessary outfit change, Jenni excitedly gave Brad the awesome anniversary card she had picked out for him. An ugly little dog card that says "Thanks for loving me just the way I am, even if it's not always what you had in mind." There's just nothing like ugly little dog cards to tell the ones we love how much we love them :) After Brad enjoyed the ugly little dog's message he went to grab his gift for Jenni. He came into the living room with a shoe box, to which Jenni asked..."did you get me Henry Beagle!?!" There was definitely no Beagle inside this box of happiness, but instead 22 and a half baby carrots.
Literally, 22.5 baby carrots!!!
When Jenni opened the box, at first she was a little confused, these carrots were most definitely not a Beagle puppy, it was then that she noticed the note...it read "22 1/2 carrots + ......." At which point the lightbulb finally turned on in Jenni's somewhat slow to catch on mind...PING!!
Complete with the note!
After the realization of what was happening set in, so did the hysteria. As soon as Jenni had read the note, she looked up to see Brad getting down on one knee. He started trying to talk, but was most definitely interrupted by squeaks and cries of, "what...oh my gosh...is this happening...and finally with a declaration of but, but, I'm in my pajamas!!!!! At which point, Brad said, YES! This is actually happening, he took Jenni's hand and made a perfect speech (which Jenni tried her best to listen to between pulling her shirt over face and giggling/crying out of sheer joy).
sidenote: I keep getting distracted by my sparkling left hand as I type this :)
After he was sure that he had said everything he wanted to, and asking Jenni to please let him speak, he knelt to the ground and pulled out the ring and said Will You MARRY ME!? At which point, the hysteria peaked and Jenni said of course and stared down at her dream 1/2 carrot round cut solitaire ring in the box and said..."OF COURSE, but, I don't know what to do now!" So Brad took charge and pulled the precious out of it's little box and slipped it onto Jenni's finger. (another side note, as many of you may know, Jenni LOVES the number 23, and so had always joked that Brad needed to get her a 23 carat diamond ring....so that is what she got!)
The whole romantic shebang!
The precious!
My hands are still not used to the dry cold, and my finger is all red from playing with the ring all day, I don't have leprosy... :)
The next day, Jenni went back to work as usual grinning ear to ear to the point of cheek burn, but that's OK because we're ENGAGED! :D Jenni's kids got distracted by the sparkles almost as much as she did and one kid even said, "JENNI! Did your boyfriend give you that ring!?" At which point she giggled to herself, and said "Yes he did, and he asked me to marry him" in response, Jenni's little buddy D said "ooo I know Brad, he came to roller derby with us!"(This will be explained in the next blog, we promise!)
It all started with a frozen turkey from Cash Wise Foods...
We figured, since there was just the 2 of us that we would need the smallest turkey we could find so as to avoid being stuck eating turkey for the rest of our lives. Upon inspection of said small turkeys, Jenni proclaimed that even these "young turkeys" would be too much turk for us, and we would, in fact, need a fetal turkey! Unfortunately, Cash Wise Foods does not carry fetal turkeys, so we bought us a 9lb-er...the smallest we could find. And so we have our turkey...bastardo :)
The night before the big day, we decided it would be wise to have a game plan. So Brad created a small spreadsheet on our whiteboard with cooking times for each part of our turkey day feast. We then came up with a schedule planning out the cooking and preparing for the mass food consumption that was about to ensue! We also practiced placing bastardo in the oven, so that he could prepare for the big day too! After the practice run, we created our festive table decor...HAND TURKEYS!!
He fits!
Checking our recipes!
Gotta make room for those leftovers!
Yup, we are THAT organized :D
The BIG DAY!...
We woke up at around 8:00 so that we could get ready to start making our delicious feast. First on the list....fondle the turkey. This was Brad's job, as Jenni elected him to be the official turkey gut remover. So remove those guts he did, complete with gloves...gotta be safe!
Making sure he got it all!
While Brad was having his moment with Bastardo, Jenni was getting the seasoning ready...he has to taste delicious now! Using her mum's delicious turkey/chicken magic roasting powder, Jenni created a delicious seasoning that even Bastardo would enjoy during his trip in the ov... err... I mean sauna :)
Bastardo all dressed and ready for his sauna!
5 minutes into the sauna adventure, Jenni realized she forgot to put water in the bottom of the roasting pan. How could Bastardo enjoy his sauna without steam!? So she grabbed Brad's giant yellow cup and filled it with water and quickly went to the rescue. Then, disaster struck. Jenni, in her rush to add the water didn't think properly and pulled the shelf out a bit, just enough to start to topple when the water was added. With the adrenaline that comes with saving the life of a beloved turkey, she forgot she had no oven mitts on and grabbed the 350 degree roasting pan with her bare middle finger...talk about giving someone the birdie eh!? And that was how our first Thanksgiving injury occurred. Luckily Brad is a certified first responder, so he came to Jenni's aid and wrapped up the finger for safe keepings. :)
OUCH!
After the drama of the injured middle finger, we relaxed on the couch for a bit enjoying the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, punctuated by the NCIS Thanksgiving marathon on USA during the commercials. Yeah, we really can't get enough of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his crew :) Before we knew it, it was time to check on Bastardo's sauna adventure. We pulled him out of the oven and found Brad's beloved turkey baster and got to basting that sucker!
Feeling hot, hot, hot!
Bastardo needed some refreshments!
Then it was time for the veggies to join the party...
Brad was excited to try out his Grandma Kumimoto's famous yam recipe, and try he did. Neither of us knew anything about the best ways to prepare a yam, so Brad just went with the flow. This sneaky bugger of a yam put us a bit behind schedule though, as it wanted to stay and bubble in the hot tub longer than we had planned for. But that was OK, at this day spa we give the guests what they need. While the yam was a bubbling, Jenni got to peeling her potatoes and parsnips ready to get them roasted. Brad successfully got the yam soft enough to slice and put into the dish before dousing it in delicious brown sugary goodness :) Then in the oven they all went. Meanwhile, Bastardo was done in the sauna and was chilling on the table waiting for his big moment! After lots of sugar basting and potato turning, our delicious meal was complete. One thing left to do... EAT!
YUMMMMY!
Brad looking excitedly at the deliciousness about to ensue
Our festive table :)
After filling ourselves up to the brim on delicious food, it was time to do something we have only done twice before since moving here....WE LOADED THE DISHWASHER! Once it was all done and washing away, we started to get ready for our fancy dessert. In trying to decide what dessert would be good (this decision was on Brad mostly, as he's the one with the actual Thanksgiving knowledge). We decided to make "jello surprise"...but this was not any jello surprise, this was jello surprise, J-rad style! Here is our amazing sweet creation...
That's right...Jello cups with whipped cream! What was the surprise you ask? Well that was a mini marshmallow hidden in the whipped cream! :)
After the excitement of the jello surprises we retired to the couch for the inevitable turkey coma. This involved Jenni passing out on Brad and eventually drooling over his shirt while he enjoyed an episode of you guessed it...NCIS! After a much needed rest, Jenni returned to the kitchen to make some PIE! After hearing a concerning sizzling coming from the oven, we realized the pie had exploded a tad...good thing Jenni put it on a baking sheet! Well, it came out not looking like the prettiest pie in the bakery, but it didn't taste all that bad in the end! :)
Don't judge a pie by it's crust...OK!?
The completed checklist...WE DID IT! :D
And that was how Jenni, Brad, and Bastardo of course, enjoyed their first and fabulous Thanksgiving Day :) We are thankful that we got away with only one minor injury :D
Since Brad is working with the Concordia College football team, he gets the opportunity to travel with them too. Once Jenni heard that they would be playing at a school near Minneapolis, she decided to tag along too! After successfully securing the day off of work, we book the hotel (Days Inn of course!) and got ready to head out East!
After a few weeks of excited anticipation the day of our departure finally arrived. We stopped for lunch at Subway, then hit the road. We drove past Barnesville, at which point Jenni got maybe a bit too excited at the fact that this was the farthest into Minnesota she had ever ventured! Next came the blasting of the Kia Soul hamster commercial song, which seems to be have become one of the theme songs to our trip...here's the commercial so you know what we are talking about:
After dancing our way through the next few miles, Jenni started to notice the scenery and proclaimed (multiple times) WOW! Now that's a big lake! The license plates of Minnesota sure don't lie...the land of 10,000 lakes...this is definitely true. The views were amazing the farther we got into the state. Picture open land punctuated with huge lakes surrounded by fall colored trees...magical! Here are some examples of what you should be imagining right now...
Sadly, Jenni is not the best moving car photographer
So these are the best you get...
A couple of hours, and a snooze for Jenni, later, we were greeted by this glorious sight...A REAL CITY SKYLINE!!!
It was this amazing sight that made both of us realize that we are, in fact, city mice. We both came to the conclusion that the country life is really not so much for us...we need this kind of environment to be happy mice!
We easily found our hotel, thanks to Google Maps and Jenni's amazing (sometimes) navigation skills. After resting and taking a quick power nap, we got ready for a night on the town. First stop, Panera! Jenni got inspired to look for a Panera in Minneapolis after seeing the cast of NCIS enjoy some delicious goodies from this happy place. Turns out there were so many to choose from! We picked the one right downtown, walking distance to the British pub that Jenni wanted to visit.
Oh Panera, it had just been too long!
After enjoying our delightful soups, sandwich and salad, we took a stroll down the Nicollet Mall (an outdoor AND indoor area downtown) to the Brit's pub! Brad had a nice glass of Guinness, while Jenni enjoyed a Strongbow with blackcurrant. YES they had Ribena...this pretty much made Jenni's year :) We enjoyed our adult beverages while watching the Wales v. Australia rugby match having intelligent conversation about the huge size of #4 on the Australian team. Seriously, this guy was a beast!
Cheers!
SO happy! :D
The next day, Brad had to work the football game, remember the ACTUAL reason we went to Minneapolis. So Jenni dropped him off, then used her Sat Nav to get her safely to Starbucks for a much needed coffee delight. While Brad worked, Jenni decided to take this time to wander around the Lake of the Isles in Uptown Minneapolis. This place was ahhhh-mazing! Jenni took 2 hours to slowly stroll around the 2.6 mile loop around the lake, admiring the dogs, the houses, the geese, and the views of downtown. It was the perfect day for admiring so many things. Blue skies, sunshine and crisp cool air. HEAVEN! The lake was surrounded by colorful trees (the show probably would have been better if we had made it out there a few weeks ago), which meant many chances for photo opps!
LOVE IT!
Over the years, Jenni has become a self-picture taking pro!
A Loch monster in Minneapolis!?
Artsy goose shot!
After a nice morning at the lake, Jenni then went back to pick up Brad from his victorious football game. After pissing off the Sat Nav, "GO BACK TO SNELLING AVENUE, GO BACK TO SNELLING AVENUE" the woman bellowed at me, as I tried to veer off course to avoid traffic, Jenni made it to Hamline University to Brad and a much needed loo break! We went straight from the university to downtown Minneapolis to spend some time admiring the view of the Stone Arch Bridge. Thanks to Jenni's navigation skills, or lack thereof, we stumbled upon the most amazing spot to look at the bridge and the skyline of the city.
From our perfect viewpoint, we spied a nice grassy mound across the Mississippi river, and said..."we must go there". So we busted out the smartphone, and found our way back across the river into downtown to the Gold Medal Park (named after the flour!). We walked up the sprial path to the top of the mound and got some more shots of the bridge (see the last few photos above). On our way back down, Jenni declared, "This is a perfect hill rolling hill, I'm going to roll!" and roll she did, giggling the whole way down! Here are some action shots...
And she's off!
Roly-poly!
Ending with a giggling fit!
After the excitement of the hill roll, we headed back to our hotel to rest and watch some much needed NCIS (yes, we are quite addicted to this amazing show) before heading into St. Paul for a delicious Italian (pronounced "eye-talian" by some out here) dinner. We ate a restaurant called Cosetta, which was recommended to Brad by the freshman kicker, who Jenni misheard his name as "Vader" on their Concordia team. All we can say is thanks to "Vader" for a great eye-talian meal! After dinner we strolled down the block to the Xcel Energy Center, where the Minnesota Wild hockey team plays. This is where 2 of our beloved Sharks, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi, now play so of course we had to photograph our visit to their new home ice!
The next day, we got up, had breakfast, Brad enjoyed the complimentary Days Inn waffle bar of course, before heading back into the city! We started out at Lake of the Isles. Jenni wanted to share the gloriousness of this place with Brad, including the mansions surrounding the lake. He was of course impressed by Jenni's wonderous discovery.
After admiring the lake once again we headed to Starbucks for a mid-morning delight, then made our way to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Brad had heard about this amazingly random sculpture...you know how we LOVE random sculptures, so we decided we MUST visit this random sight. Here it is...
Yup, that is a giant spoon complete with giant cherry!
After the glory of the random spoon and cherry sculpture, we made our way over to the Mall of America! This mall is HUGE. It is one of the biggest in North America, second behind a mall in Edmonton...yup that's right, Jenni researched! Inside the mall is a theme park...in fact as we walked in, we were greeted by the sight of roller coaster tracks...which, yes we RODE! After wandering around the mall, we decided that a nice spin on the orange coaster was needed. So we bought our 10 tickets, enough for us each to ride, and walked right onto the roller coaster. Laughing our way around the track, we both posed with cheesy grins for the coaster camera, in true theme park style, then pirated said picture instead of paying the extortionate amount of money the park charges for proof of riding these rides! Enjoy!
Our pirated proof that we rode the orange coaster!
Jenni is apparently important enough to appear in TWO pictures!
WOOO!!!! One thing off that bucket list!
So that, in a very large nutshell was our Twin Cities adventure. But do not fret, Twin Cities, for you have not seen the last of us! :)
