Fun pictures!

My friend Stefanie's sister, Melanie has started doing photography and she took some pictures of the 3 of us back in May at the park near our house. We got some great shots, take a look!

Her website is: http://www.wix.com/motwins18/MelanieSwansonPhotography Check her out!

Our new favorite thing!

I signed up for Netflix back in August when Ryan was living with us so we could get a bunch of movies to watch on the weekends between the two subscriptions. Well, not too long after I got a disc that I could use to stream any of the "Watch Instantly" shows/movies through our Wii. However, we had to know our wireless password, which we haven't been able to remember since I used it initially when we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. I've been going back to the Wii several times to try different things, nothing works. Well, we got into "Dexter" and finished season 1, knowing that we could stream season 2 through our Wii if we could just get the password. I searched high and low for that post-it note with the password I wrote down back in 07. I found one, but didn't think it was right.... but it was! I was running around the house screaming with joy that we can finally stream movies and TV shows on our Wii!! Not to mention people can bring their laptops over and use our wireless network now!

So our new favorite thing/obsession is the Netflix Watch Instantly streaming through our Wii! It has been around for a while but we were just finally able to use it!! It's especially great through the summer when there's really nothing new on TV except sporting events.

If you don't have Netflix and have been considering it, I highly recommend it! You can get the cheapest subscription where you only get 2 movies a month by mail but you can stream Watch Instantly stuff through your computer or capable gaming systems as much as you want! The downfall that I've heard about is that you can't use closed caption on the Watch Instantly application. That stinks, and I may even send in a comment to Netflix about that. You can't even use the CC on the TV for it, which I think is silly!

We love it and have been able to catch up on a lot of shows that we didn't have time to sit down and watch during the school year. It's not as good as DVR just because the most current episodes aren't available, but if you have patience and can wait for the whole season to come out, it's well worth it!

Lazy puppy....

Lazy pup and lazy dad watching "Dexter"

Taking a break from his nap to see what's up

Easy and Yummy Dog Treats

Sweet Potato Chips:

-Either peel a sweet potato (if you're making fries) or save the peel if you bake the potato.

-Put leftover peel on a baking sheet, brush them with a little bit of olive oil.

-Cook peel in the oven at 400* for 12-15 minutes or until slightly burned (like in the picture above)

-Let cooked peel cool and break it into pieces suitable for your dog.

Nemo LOVES these (as you can see) and they're super easy to make!

We're back!

Ok, I just realized that I completely abandoned my blogging duties and need to get back into it! I think I just assume it has to be updates only on the blog when it can really be about anything. So I'm going to post a dog recipe in just a minute because it's too good not to share!

Updates:

Bobby has been out of a job since January, it is a very tough market out there. Luckily his unemployment was extended until November so that buys us time but the last 6 months has gone by quickly, it's just a matter of time before November is here. I was working in a school district and I ADORED my job at the school I was at. I fell in love with the staff and had an amazing student. Originally in May, I was told I had a position in the fall and would be back at the same school. A week later, I was pulled into a meeting and was told that 2 students had dropped interpreting services for the fall and because I was the last person hired, I was being laid off. I was devastated. The last week of school I was a wreck and I barely got through the last day of school because I had to keep going back to my desk to compose myself. It broke my heart that I wasn't going to be returning to these amazing co-workers and this student that I had developed a great rapport with. But, it is what it is and there's nothing I can do short of encouraging Deaf K-12 students to attend a school in the district so I can be rehired.

I took on a summer position through the district that is just through August 5, and I just have to keep my eyes open for available positions for the fall and try my best to get an interview and get back into the district. It's a crappy situation but it's totally out of my control.

We've been through a lot of tough life situations in the past 7 months but we're strong and we're going to get through it all.

It's October.....what?!?!?!

Ok, so it's been over a month since I've posted anything. Whoops!

Updates....

1). Things are going really well with Ryan. We've enjoyed having her here! She's enjoying student teaching and starting to feel more like a teacher.

2). Nemo is still a hoot. He got himself into a little accident last week. He was at the groomer's and managed to smack his head on the grooming table when they were taking him off of it. He had a "doggie black eye" and needed to use a cone for a couple of days. He's doing much better now, but his eye is still red.

3). Bobby hit a deer! Yes, on the way back from the vet after Nemo's fight with the grooming table, he hit a deer. Luckily, it was close to our house so I could come get Nemo while Bobby dealt with the police report and stuff. We're currently borrowing one of Pat's cars while the RAV4 gets fixed (Thank you Pat!!).

4). School is going really well for Bobby. He doesn't like one of his classes, but he'll survive! He is in his third semester, so I'm thinking he'll be done maybe fall of 2011? We'll see!

5). I just got a new job. In fact, I start tomorrow! I will be a full time interpreter with NE Metro District 916. I have been subbing with them for a while but am now taking on a full time position.

6). In September, we had 2 weddings, both in the same weekend. They were both a blast! We went to Winona the first weekend in October for Homecoming. Bobby went the whole weekend, Ryan and I just went down Saturday for the day. Got to see lots of old friends, but I'm glad we just went for the day!

That's the last month of our life in a nutshell! I'm experimenting with a new site through Shutterfly.com. If I like it, find it easy to use, I'll switch over to that one!

Hope you're all enjoying fall!!

Birthday, California, and all kinds of other updates...

Well, I'm officially 27! I had a great birthday weekend! Burger Jones on West Lake St is fabulous! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun burger place!

California was also a blast! We had a little stress getting there....we had to wait for 2 or 3 flights before we finally got on (we were flying standby). We flew into LAX, and hopped on a Super Shuttle to get us to Anaheim. We got all checked into our respective rooms at the Crowne Plaza Resort and went on a mission for dinner. It was only 3 PM but we were STARVING! We ended up at the Red Robin next to the hotel just because we were so hungry. I managed to get a migraine through the traveling so Anna and I made our way across the street to Target for Excedrin and Tums (dinner gave me heartburn). The boys were looking for a bar and had no success. They went to a liquor store and crashed in their room.

Friday was really when the vacation began. Anna and I started our morning with a shuttle ride to Disneyland. We decided not to pay the $72 per person for the park and just went to Downtown Disney. Had breakfast at a little cafe, did some shopping, got a Wetzels Pretzel and went back to the hotel to sit by the pool. We stopped into the Fossil store so I could get my watch battery replaced finally. I had it in my purse becuase I was going to do it back home but I just ended up doing it in CA! While we were waiting, one of the salespeople was asking us about MN. "So do you guys have all 4 seasons?" When he asked Anna if we'd been to CA before, she said, "We've been to DisneyWORLD a few times..." He said "Yeah, I suppose people on the East coast do go to Florida more..." Ummm, we're not really from the East coast.

When we finally got out to the pool, it was cloudy and cool! We still got some reading/studying (Anna's) done. It was actually cool enough to sit in the outdoor hot tub, so I did that. We went back to downtown Disney for dinner, had a $5 margarita (VERY strong!) and stopped by this outdoor bar that was there for a few drinks. Needless to say, we were feeling it by the time we got back to the hotel! We each got to see our husbands for a few minutes before we crashed.

For whatever reason, we both woke up at 7 AM both days....I think our bodies thought it was 9 AM. So Saturday we decided to check out Garden Walk mall, it was this fun outdoor mall....except it opened at 11 on a Saturday! We took the Disney shuttle (it was a short walk from there) and got to the mall like 10:30...so we walked around to see what was there. At 11:02 we went to Bar Louie for lunch. We had yummy zucchini chips, I had a burger and she had a chicken sandwich. After being completely stuffed, we said, it's warm out, let's get some sun! Went back to the pool and actually got to enjoy the nice weather! We went back to Garden Walk and had dinner at McCormick and Schmick's, which was fabulous! They actually had a Blizzard Family themed menu. So on the specially prepared side of the menu they change the titles to be WOW and Starcraft items. We just couldn't pass it up!

Josh came back early so the 3 of us went to this place called Tutti Frutti. You just fill up a cup with frozen yogurt and toppings, then they weigh it and that's how much you pay. It was really good and really cheap! We got to hear a little about the weekend from Josh....then he and Travis went out and Bobby came back, drunk.... he ran into some of his buddies and already went drinking. Travis and Bobby went to the Ozzy Osbourne concert at the end of Blizzcon, so he was exhausted. I got to hang out with him a little bit at the end of the night.

Sunday we were up EARLY (3 AM to be exact) to get on a shuttle back to LAX. We got in to MSP at noon and came back home to our puppy!

We had a great time and I think Bobby and I would both do it again next year. Anna and I had just a great time on our own relaxing and doing whatever we wanted to do. Very worthwhile trip!

We went to the State Fair on Thursday night and ate until we could eat no more! We might go back again so Ryan can come with us! Tonight, Millie and I are celebrating our birthdays together with our friends! Should be a fabulous time!