Many photos,little time to post. Here's a few so far.....

Side of the house of the reception gardens.

Jeff challenging Brian to a duel. Slapped him with his glove. Ha ha!!!

Entrance of the the church all dressed up. Jacket needed though. Brrr.

Rob and sara's family photo. Rob's parents next to rob, charles and jean.

Rob and Sarah's get away car.

Mr. & Mrs. O'Brien!

Reception house for rob and sarah's wedding.

Kenilworth Castle where Elizabeth 1st and Robert Dudley started their famous romance together.

St. Paul's church where Princess Diana was married.

Westminster Abby. Had to sneak a picture for brian of Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin's tomb's.

London Eye again, the walk path we were on the get to the ride. (my foot stepping on the little people below.)

London Eye farris wheel ride.

Big Ben, Parliment.

Riding the London Eye farris wheel.

View above the city on the London Eye. Buckingham Palace is pictured between a bunch of trees which is St. James park.

The London Eye we are about to go on.

Look kids, big ben, parliment....again.

Westminster Abby.

Band on guard during ceremony.

Between two bars the Queen is in Yellow, her husband is the left, and the president of India on right in blue.

Queen's event that day.

"Don't Move!" Snippers on top of Palace checking the crowd.

Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace entrance with band and gaurds.

Our friend Jeff. He thinks he's godzilla crushing the shells on the ground.

At the sea with oil rig in the far background.

At the sea. What a gorgeous day!

At rob's parents home. Notice the small parking lot. This is the only spot to park two cars!

Small shops on the narrow streets of York. So much fun but no time to shop.

Having a picnic along the river in York. North of London. Sarah and I feeding the ducks and taking some time away from the boys.

Rob's parents home. It's an old farmhouse dated from the 1700's.

Bullseye

Forgot to post this. You might have seen this on my facebook, well here's the story:

I like to play darts, but will admit I'm not great at them. Just alright. Well, Eric and our friend Neil were playing cricket and I asked Eric if I could shoot for him. He hesitated, but said, "fiiine, but just one".
Me: "whatever"
So I pick up the dart, throw it and bullseye. Impresed, Eric hands over his second dart. Bullseye. Not believing what he's seeing, he hands over the third dart. Bullseye...

I don't think I'm allowed to play darts ever again. haha. :)

Fall

Hello! Hope everyone is well! I am doing good. I appoligize for my lack of communication, but I have been working a lot. Work is going good. Wish I had more time off, but I need to make money :) I've started looking for a second job. I have looked into career jobs, and service jobs. I think I might just get a seasonal job for now, since they are hiring the most, but you never now I might land a job with some benefits, which would be great.
I've been missing home a lot. Fall in Michigan is so gorgeous and wonderful, I wish I could share it with you all. Photos never seem to do it enough justice. I also miss seeing the house all decorated with halloween stuff :) Some friends and I carved pumpkins the other night. I carved a galaxy into mine, which turned out to be pretty cool. I have also been watching terrible old horror movies. The old ones are so much cooler! I don't need to see blood gore, give me plastic skeletons! Plus, I could listen to Vincent Price forever haha.
Let's see... about a month ago, Grand Rapids had a HUGE event called Art Prize. Thousands of artist compeated to win the biggest art prize ever given out, which I think was 250K. So, all artists had their work displayed through out the entire city. It was pretty cool. I'm amazed at the talent of some individuals. There were some drawings that looked like photographs! I can not begin to think how much time was spend on them.
My birthday was good. Eric got me an hour long massage, which was so needed and great. Then we went out to eat and stopped by his parent's house for cake and ice cream :)
Eric's teacher assisting is going good. He gets stressed and frustrated sometimes, but I think that can happen with any job. I just have to remind him of that:)
Not much else going on, I'll try to stay write more... :/ Oh, I'm on the last Harry Potter book! I blame him for absorbing my time hahaha. Good books :) Love you all!













Pictures:
1) Tree in neighboring park
2) Michigan roads at their finest
3) Hampton street (taken outside my house)
4) House Eric and I saw while taking a walk :)

Metrodome pictures

I didn't think this was going to be a great picture, but it's one of my favorites. We were about midway up in the upper deck.
Joe Mauer behind the plate. I had to get the ALDS logo in one of my pictures. Yes, I got to see a post season game! Another check on the bucket list.

Empty seats after the game. My standard joke now is that the Metrodome is no longer home to any world champions. (The Vikings still play there).

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning. And it was still falling until we took off about noon. I got to drive through the city in the snow. Lots of fun. And no, nobody slows down for the weather. Thankfully, it turned to light rain shortly after getting out the sub burbs. After St. Cloud, there wasn't any rain and all the snow everyone got that morning had melted.

We had lots of fun at the game, although it would have been nice if the Twins had won. I will miss that ugly old dome. After the game they dug up home plate and then started on the pitcher's mound. They also took all the bases. And we got to see someone run onto the field in the 9th inning. I don't think I have ever seen that at the dome. We took the transit to the game again, which is the best way to get there and back. It's so nice not having to drive downtown. We stayed in Bloomington, close to the Mall of America. We went to the mall for a short time on Monday. We did a little shopping and had lunch before leaving. Fred had to work Monday night and we missed our brats. I think Grandpa and Grandma had fun with them, but wore them out!

And leaving for the last time...

The last wave in the dome

Hot wing pizza

This is my new favorite kind of pizza. I thought it was going to be very hot, but it wasn't bad. Once everything mixed together it was really good. I used blue cheese dressing, but the recipe said you could also use ranch instead of blue cheese. From Taste of Home magazine.

3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5oz each)
1 Tbsp steak seasoning
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce
1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce
1 prebaked Italian bread shell crust (14 oz)
1/3 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3 green onions thinly sliced

Sprinkle chicken with steak seasoning on both sides, grill covered over medium heat for 4-7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Cool slightly, cut into strips.

In a small saucepan, bring the tomato sauce, butter, hot sauce, and pepper sauce to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add chicken, heat through.

Place crust on a 12 inch pizza pan, spread with salad dressing. Top with chicken mixture, cheese and green onions. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Finally Moved in!

"Hi, I love to show off my Tigger!"

Heidi likes to reach for her new toy, Roly Poly Penguin that makes music. I think it helps with her tummy time otherwise she hates to be on her tummy if the penguin isn't playing. (something to watch and reach for).

Picture is at a Round a' bout turn on our street.

Heidi absolutly loves her Tigger. She loves to chew on it and play with it. I happened to have the comera in my hand and saw her staring at me like this with the Tigger in her mouth. I tried to grab it and she wouldn't let go. She sounded like a puppy with his rope and making the grrrrr sounds. It was so adorable.

Brian chopping the weeds in our yard. These weeds were maybe the tallest ones we had or some were just a little taller and really thick. Poor brian was so tired.

Daddy and Heidi taking it easy Sunday morning and watching Sword in the Stone. Mommy put this movie in on purpose because she knew it was daddy's favorite movie so, they both were quiet and content. Ha ha! Mommy got some laundry and cleaning done then.

I can't believe how time has already flown by! We are already into the second week of September and in almost in a month we will be in Europe! So we are un-packing the house and then packing again before we know it.

Well we are finally all moved in! Brian and Rob went to the townhome on saturday to do a big cleaning job. They finished cleaning it and now all we have left is some small paint touch ups. Brian and I agree that we really owe Rob with nice gift or need to do something for him because he has helped us so much with moving while I helped as much as I could with Heidi. I'm still a little stressed from all the moving and getting back into being settled into a new home. At least the cats are no longer fighting and they are getting along great! Victoria actually loves to sit on the couch that is by the staircase and sit on top of the couch like a gargoyle to watch gingham come up the stairs and then "attack!" She's so silly. I think they like the new place.

Heidi is doing well. Last night was a very long day and night. I'm pretty sure she is starting to get her teeth in and they are bothering her. She didn't take much of a nap yesturday and then she was up past midnight. Poor baby. I have given her some tylenol once in awhile to help. She doesn't like to take a cold nuke at all. It just makes her more upset. Once in awhile she likes the teethers but only if she wants it or not. She was doing well on saturday so I could do some grocery shopping but then all of a sudden threw her teether at the canned peas and screamed! I guess she doesn't like peas.

Well I better get some organizing done before Heidi wakes up from her nap and then I have to get ready for work tonight. Another late shift. Ugh.

Silver Lake Sand Dunes

Camping went well. The campsite was a little crowded, but still fun. Weather could have been hotter, but oh well. The Silver Lake sand dunes were awesome though! I have never seen anythign like this before haha. It's seriously huge sand dunes next to a thick forest. Really cool. You climb through the forest and then on top of a hill you come up to these huge dunes. We hiked all over them. It was really difficult! It was cool though because once you got to the top of one dune, you could run down the other side or jump into the sand. You could also see really far on top of some of them. On one side you could see Silver Lake and on the other Lake Michigan. We ended up hiking to Lake Michigan, which was really neat because once we got there we went swimming. It was kind of windy, but it made for some fun waves. After a good swim we hiked back through the dunes. It was so much fun! I'm kind of glad the weather wasn't too hot because it made the dunes less crowded and enjoyable. At times we were the only footprints in the sand. I forgot my camera, but here is a picture my friend Kristen took. I think we might go back again before the summer is over. I'll for sure remember my camera this time!

Photowalk

Today was the second annual worldwide photowalk. I had heard about this a couple of weeks ago and someone got a photowalk organized for Bismarck. It sounded like fun so I signed up for it. Basically, it was a group of about 15 people and we had a couple of hours to wander around snapping pictures. We met downtown which is a great location for photos. I didn't think I would need two hours to cover downtown, but really I ended up feeling bummed that I didn't have more time. I will have to find some time to do it again. I ended up walking with a lady from North Carolina. She was here visiting family and knew she wouldn't be home to do the one there so she signed up for the Bismarck one. We were the only two with plain Jane digital cameras, everyone else had high tech professional gear, but we ended up with some nice shots. I have to also post these to the photowalk site. There is a chance for prizes, but really I'm just excited to see what everyone took pictures of.Every time we heard the train we were at least three blocks away from the tracks. I still took a picture of the tracks.

This is one of my favorite shots. I got snap happy here and was probably the reason I ended up with a full memory card before time was up.

This is my "don't do anything" picture. Don't walk, don't rollerblade and don't skateboard.

This is my most favorite picture of all. I thought it was neat, but when I saw the picture I was so excited about how cool it looked. I found it in an alley, kind of to the side. So glad I wanted to take some closer pictures of the alley or I would have never walked by this.

This picture is for Fred's mom. Apparently this is where the Norma Apartments are. There were so many things I saw downtown that I had never noticed before. I drive by these places all the time, but when you are busy driving you just don't pay attention to them.

My new cruiser!

I am so excited to show you all my new bike!!! I looked up the serial number and found out it's a 1974 Schwinn Breeze ladies bike. It's also banana yellow!! haha. It has three gears. I'm really stoked about my new find! My roommate Nicola actually hooked me up with it (she's really into biking). How nice of her!
I really want to restore it. I kind of wish I was at home so dad could help me! What a fun project! Right now, I have to get its rear brake fixed. That seems to be the only major problem with it. I'm also looking for a basket because I'm pretty sure it had a wicker one in the front. I'd also like to get a a new chain and gears. It definitely has some rust on it... oh well :)
Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!






Bike registration that expired in '78

4th of July weekend

Here are some pictures of me from the 4th. It was hard work, but I had a lot of fun. I didn't get to ride in a hot air balloon this time, but oh well. The weather was alright. Kind of overcast the whole weekend until Sunday, which was really hot. I hope everyone else had a great 4th!

The Crew!

Me and Sugar Bear! (Battle Creek is the home of Kelloggs. There's also a Tony the Tiger balloon)

Spotting the Thunder Birds in the sky for the camera operator.

After three hours of sleep... coffee is in order! the sun hasn't even come up yet...

Me shooting aerobatic. planes

Random hot air balloon pictures...

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!

Happy 4th of July! Brian and I are still trying to figure out what we want to do for tommorow. I have to work during the day only so I have the evening off to watch fireworks. We may stay at the hotel in the evening to watch the fireworks show along the falls. I'm not sure yet. I think Heidi will sleep through them but they do get really loud even when we were far away last year. We'll see. I have a cute outfit for her and I'll take some pictures to share. Hope everyone has a fun time tommorow. Oh and brian and I booked our flight to europe today!! yay! Laurie-we will have a 1 1/2 hour lay over in Detroit when we come back to the states. Hope you can make it for a little bit to say hi. Miss ya!

Onsie grandpa & grandma gross bought Heidi.

She's starting to kick and hit the seasame street gang.

Heidi and daddy having fun together.

During our outing this weekend we walked along the falls.

We had a wicked storm roll through quickly with hail and flooding. My roses on ice.

Brian checking out the side street flooded. It's two houses down from us.

Pineapple Strawberry Punch:

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed

1 can (46 ounce) pineapple juice, chilled

4 cups lemon-lime soda, chilled

*In a food processor or blender, puree the strawberries. Pour into a large punch bowl. Stir in the pineapple juice and soda. Serve Immediately. (I had so much of this left over so I stored it in the fridge. It still was really good after sitting in the fridge for awhile. I used a 2gallon container from walmart ($4.00) that had a pour spout. It worked out great to get some from the fridge quickly.)

Banana Cream Cheesecake:

1 3/4 Cup Graham Cracker crumbs

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup butter,melted

FILLING:
1 package (8ounces) Cream Cheese,softened

1/2 sugar

1 carton (8 ounces)frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

3 to 4 medium firm bananas, sliced

1 3/4 cups cold milk

1 package (3.4 ounces) instant banana cream pudding mix

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar: stir in butter. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan. Or a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 9-7 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in 2 cups of whipped topping. Arrange half of the banana slices in crust; top with half of the cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers. (I just mixed the banana slices into the cream cheese mixture to make it easier. Who needs layers?)

(For this next part, I accidentally bought the "Cook & Serve" pudding mix instead of the instant. I still was able to use it. I just let the pudding cool for a little bit so I could pour it on top but didn't let it cool too much so it set in the pan. Then I topped it off with the remaining whipped topping. Still turned out great if you mistakenly buy the wrong pudding mix also.) In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in remaining whipped topping. Pour over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until set.

Here's two recipes I tried for a BBQ with friends. They are so easy to make and taste so refreshing on those hot days. A Good summer dessert and drink. The Punch tastes like a melted strawberry margarita but of course no liquor. I got both of these recipes from Taste of Home Magazine.

Brian and I haven't been up to much lately. I finally organized everything in the house to get some things ready for a garage sale. I can't wait to get rid of some things. I found some clothes from my first year of high school! Yikes.

Heidi is doing great. We went for a nice walk the other day along the falls and there were some bands playing and a bunch of people out feeding the ducks and geese. It was a perfect afternoon and Heidi got some fresh air. By the time we came home from our outing, Heidi was ready for a bottle and then a bath. What a evening for her. She was so tired by time she was done with her bath at 10pm. I think I will have to go for a walk with her every night and keep that routine going so she sleeps. She didn't wake up until 6:30am the next morning. :) She's doing really well with her nights now. She knows when it's late and when it's time to sleep.

In between Heidi's naps this weekend, Brian and I have been planning our trip to Europe. I guess it's going to really happen this time. We have our hotel booked in Germany right now for the first week of November. We will be staying in Schliersee Germany, it's right in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. We are still looking into hotels for the U.K because everything is so expensive there. We are going to ask our friend of where he would recomend to stay near thier wedding location. I can't wait to go. I'm excited but not sure if it quite has sunk-in yet.

Thrift store shopping

Today mom and I went thrift store shopping. I found so many good treasures. The best one being the bench in the picture. It is in the back entryway. I then found the picnic basket which will be used as a storage bin under the bench. This gave me some much needed motivation to finally clean up the back entryway. Things just get dumped back there, but now it's looking good. I also found some other neat stuff including an old bathroom scale, homecoming pins, souvenir glasses, and some other odds and ends. It was so much fun and a much needed break.

Light and fresh potato salad

Fred didn't like this, but I didn't expect him to. I loved it! It is a really good salad for summer. I had some red potatoes I had to use up and this was perfect with our grilled sandwiches tonight. I just left out the orange bell pepper because they're too stinkin expensive. I'm taking leftovers to work tomorrow and probably the next day. Real good alternative to traditional potato salad. Once again from Cooking Light.
Ingredients
Dressing:
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
5 cups cubed red potato (about 2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
3/4 cup sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped orange bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 (2 1/4-ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained
Preparation
1. To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.
2. To prepare salad, place potato and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above potato; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until tender; drain.
3. Add potato to dressing in bowl, tossing gently to coat; let stand 15 minutes. Stir in cucumber and remaining ingredients; toss well. Cover and chill.