2011 in Review

I wanted to take some time as the close of 2011 is approaching and look back on the year! Though each month was full of different activities and fun, I wanted to highlight just a few here.

January- I rang in 2011 in a very memorable way, in London during my backpacking trip. Below, I am on the bank of Thames with Big Ben in the background. I thank my good friend EEH often for the great travel experience. Lastly, I made it back home safe to celebrate my mom's big 5-0!!

February- I learned I was going to be a auntie!!

March- I started the traveling for work out to the sunny West Coast. It was a huge change to my personal life, but I found things that made my time away from home more enjoyable- PILATES!

April- Marks the month I started my blog! Also, my best friend moved from the mid-west to the south and was reunited with her husband- a good month for them :)

May- My little sister graduated college and I surprised her by attending!!

June- Was a super busy month...but MDK and I were able to sneak a little vacation to San Francisco. We loved it!! Below we are in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

July- We enjoyed attending multiple weddings (3 total) and my little sister paid me a visit in sunny California. We took a short trip to Monterey, drove the 17-mile drive, and tried some delicious seafood dishes. Here we are hanging out by the coast.

August- The ball was rolling on our move to California, but I was able to still to squeeze in an already planned trip to Napa. My two pals I met in college flew out and we spent two nights in San Fran and then two nights in Napa Valley. We made it to five wineries during our tour and I have about five hundred great memories of the weekend.

September- Marks the month of our move half way across the country and I turned 25!!

October- Happy Birthday EAT! I became an auntie :) Below is me, my older sister, Ethan, and little sister. We also had our first sets of visitors (MDK's friend and my two childhood friends) to CA and we enjoyed showing them around the new area!

November- MDK and I got engaged 11/1/11, we quickly set our wedding date of 6/9/12. We were happy to have MDK's mom and friend came out in early November as well. We then spent Thanksgiving at Lake Tahoe. Here was our view-

December- Was one of the busiest months yet!! It started with college friends coming to CA and we ventured up to Lodi. MDK started a traveling job taking him out of CA, then we jetted off to PHL with a stop in MPLS for our holiday break. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to Green Bay, WI for Packer/Bears Christmas Day game with our good friends DJC and KMC.

Though I can't believe 2011 is over, I am thrilled about all that I was able to experience! This NYE will actually be our first together due to surgeries/travel in past years and after our busy December I am excited for a low key celebration. I did want to close with the start of another list...

2012 things to look forward to:

• Moving back to MPLS
• Becoming LMK
• Maybe buying our first place!
• And of course, random travel and tons of memories with friends and family...

Have a nice day!!

LML

PS- Happy New Year!

6 Months until LMK

6 months from today we will be at the above location saying our "I do's"!! Wedding plans are in full swing and we have tons of wedding meetings over Christmas break. But, with all the big stuff already in order I am feeling pretty okay with our timeline ticking away. :)

Here is a pic of the inside of the manor and the beam work. Love the different look it gives!


Above is a farther out shot of the space that will look completely different on 6/9/12! Can't wait to see it all together and enjoy the event with friends and family.

Have a nice day!

LML

Trip Home to Meet EAT

A few days after EAT entered the world, MDK and I hopped a flight back to the MPLS. We enjoyed a brief visit with family and caught up with a few friends. It was pretty interesting going back and not having our own place to be. We were lucky to have a car to take places, but it could have made the trip a lot trickier if we had to catch rides everywhere. It was change! Here are some highlights-

So tiny and sleepy...

Uncle MDK doing an excellent job holding the little guy...

The entire family posing for a pic...

Getting my aunt on...

Our gift was this onesie that said "Beary Handsome"... :)

Thanks to my sis and bro-in-law for taking the plunge and having a baby. We love him too much already! We will see him again at Christmas and we can't wait!!

Have a nice day!
LML

First Visitor to CA

I am a little delayed with this post, but wanted to share our first visitor story! MWN from Atlanta, GA came to visit in early October. MWN is MDK's childhood friend from MN so we were happy to see a familiar face. Below the boys are showing off at a wine festival we stopped at.


We took this funny picture with my pilates pal SA to show how tall the boys really are...yikes!

Thanks for visiting MWN, we can't wait to return the favor and see you in the ATL.

Have a Nice Day,

LML

Apartment Pics

I almost forgot to show our new apartment and the lovely bed is all put together as you can see above. Also, the spare room is all warmed up for our next guest as we have already enjoyed a few visitors...those posts coming soon! :)

Have a Nice Day!

LML

Official Announcement

We're engaged!!! LMK...coming soon!!

Have a Nice Day!!

LML

Welcome to the World- EAT!

WHOOOWHOO!!

I am an aunt!!! Many congrats to my wonderful big sister and her husband.

EAT was born on 10/12/2011

7 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches


Can't wait to meet him!
Have a Nice Day!

LML

I Heart Technology

Ya ya ya for Skype!! MDK and I were able to give my parents a tour of our new apartment last night and it was so fun! We got there help to figure out what else we wanted to put up in the spare room. It was so comforting to see their faces and let them see our new digs. Now I just have to convince them to actually fly out...

And I realized when I was looking for pictures to add with me and my parents....I don't have any!!! So they better come visit me soon!!

Have a Nice Day!

LML

The Bed that Brought Me to Tears

Because this situation is resolved I can finally fully explain the worst part of our move...our new bed. Upon deciding to move whether across the country or to a new zip code back in MPLS, MDK and I always like furniture shopping. We decided to visit the same store we bought some other pieces from and we were looking specifically at upgrading our bed. After a few laps around the store we located a piece that was on "clearance" due to missing bolts. We made a thorough review of the pieces and decided we could just purchase the supposed missing bolts. The store kept the bed until we needed to grab it for the big move. The day we went to pick it up the warehouse worked wheeled it over to us and the back legs split into two pieces....GREAT!! I walked back into the store to show them the pieces and request replacements. That is when we realized we were missing even more pieces then just having broken legs! They said they would order us the right parts, but I just did not enjoy the way the store manager treated us. None the less, I didn't want to hassle and just wanted the parts we needed. MDK picked up the parts, packed the bed, and it made the journey in the U-Haul.

After moving all our possessions up 3 flights of stairs, setting up the new bed was MDK's first project. And then the appeal of a deal was no longer reality...

Above is the difference in color between the platform piece and the side rails.

When we put it together in the holes that matched above is the side view. Not exactly matching up...

That is when we realized that they had covered the holes and drilled new ones.

Again, this shows the covered hole and the new hole which is what created the whole mismatch issue.

So basically, we couldn't put the bed together. Such a disappointment...finally in our new apartment after such a big move and we couldn't even use our NEW bed. Then we had to face reality, we had made the purchase 2,000 miles away and the CA locations of this store were 90 miles away. I decided to call the store we purchased it at and they kindly asked me if I had read the directions. UM!!! Yes, this bed is junk so I was sure to email them the same pictures that I have included in this post. With those they realized that they sold us a faulty product and credited our account.

Okay so now what...all we had were huge pieces to a bed, no truck, and no idea what to do next. So I cried in disappointment and we had to sleep in our spare room. Just before our two weeks in CA we had found a furniture store here that could help us get the parts we needed. It was nice to finally get some help and put an end to this disaster.

I am not shopping clearance for awhile...

Have a Nice Day!

LML

It is Official...

I had to check the "other" box....

Happy Wednesday!

Have a nice day!

LML

Turning 25...

Today is my birthday and our first weekend together in CA since our move! I have waited a long time to have a birthday on a Friday night and it is finally here. I typically enjoy a birthday with friends and family usually spanning the celebration over multiple nights and annoying all my friends with constantly wanting attention. Though my feelings about wanting attention have not changed, this year I will not have my friends and family to drag into the celebrating. And yes...it feels weird, but I think this is expected when you move across the country and when you start realizing that you are actually a grown up.

I remember points in my life when I needed to act grown up, take care of things on my own, and behave differently. This birthday is one of those moments where I feel different not only because of the move, but the place in my life I find myself. Most people would likely reflect on their accomplishments on their years alive so far, I like to think of the things I haven't done and why I haven't done them. I have not followed a traditional path as a young adult as many of you know, because I am scared of conformity and being regular.

So here is to another year of being LML as my spontaneous, fun, and thoughtful self!!

Have a nice day!!

LML

Reunited!

Just wanted to provide a quick update to the world that MDK and Valentina arrived last Tuesday and we are reunited! MDK made the trip in 3 days and 2 nights stopping in Spearfish, SD and Salt Lake City, UT to sleep. Here is what he saw most of the way-

Valentina was a great sport on the road and I am happy they arrived in good spirits!! We then spent a few nights "homeless" staying at a hotel and living out of whatever we could find that wasn't packed. This past Saturday we got the keys to our new apartment and could start settling in out here. Because we were going up 3 flights of stairs we decided to hire some help with the big items. We were able to unload our 14 foot trailer and a car load in an hour and a half! Here is the U-Haul and the apartment after we had the boxes piled up-

After unpacking all 31 boxes and setting up one of our beds....more on that in another post...we decided to relax and enjoy our new view-


Happy Labor Day!
Have a Nice Day!

LML

Closing a Chapter

As I said earlier, MDK and I are moving to CA and wanted to share a quote I liked-

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have mastered, you will never grow."

-- C.R. Lawton

I am leaving tonight on the red eye flight home and will spend my last weekend as a MN resident with lots of family, friends, and fun. Tomorrow, I will be attending another wedding (number 5 this summer) and Saturday, MDK and I are going to gather with some friends at Legends for drinks. I am also, looking forward to celebrating my big sister's baby shower on Sunday. I have planned a Milkaholic themed shower and hope to surprise her with all the little details.

I am back in CA on Monday and then have a weekend in San Fran and Napa planned with my girlfriends. MDK will be moving our favorite things with a U-Haul and bring out Valentina with a target reconnect date of 9/3/11. So...here is to hoping the next 2 to 3 weeks are full of good memories, easy travel, and a quick move if possible?!

Have a nice day!

LML

Wanted: Crystal Ball

Just wanted to throw out a want ad for a crystal ball to make my life easier!! Maybe I could dust off my old Magic 8 ball from childhood.


I remember learning in elementary school how to make good decisions started with a list of the pro's and con's. And though at times it would be clear what path you should take...how do you navigate the waters when the path is less clear?

Ugh.

Try to have a nice day-

LML

A Million Miles an Hour

My life just does not slow down! I am happy to say I survived the 3 weddings we had in July and even got a chance to sneak in some cabin time. Also, I had the chance to show my sister the ropes out in California for a week. This July was for sure busier than last years and I am just assuming that this will likely continue as I get older.

The problem is August just does not seem to be looking any less busy either. Another wedding, a weekend in San Francisco/Napa, and a MOVE...yes...MDK, Valentina, and I are taking the winter off for some California sun. More details and things to iron out, but its exciting!


Have a nice day!!

LML

Summer Weddings 3 out of 6

I was trying to do some fancy foot work with Shutterfly and posting pictures...but, I didn't like how it was turning out. So here goes a recap of the weddings we have attended so far this summer. We have 6 summer weddings and have been to 3 so far!

First one, White Bear Lake for MDK's family-

Second one, Northfield for MDK's friend-


Third one, Brooklyn Park for our friends (RTS and SBP)-



Between traveling every week for work and weddings on the weekends MDK and I have been keeping pretty busy. All the weddings were a lot of fun, but also very hot. We wish the couples all the best!!

Have a nice day!

LML

Thought for Tuesday

"My friends have made the story of my life." — Helen Keller

Have a nice day!

LML