Slow and Steady Wins the Race

It was a seriously stormy night on Thursday, so we decided to stay in and carve our pumpkins. I forgot how much work that was - especially when you don't have a mom around to lay out the newspaper, cook the pumpkins seeds and clean up the mess. We miss you, Moms!

We got down to it and noticed that our pumpkins were the thickest we had ever seen. I could barely get the knife through it. Recipe for losing a finger, but I made it through safely.

Our different styles were very apparent early on in the process. Kyle is an uber-perfectionist, always focusing on high quality. (aka OCD!) He used a stencil of an elaborate picture of wolves howling at the moon and took an hour to carve a beautiful masterpiece. I, on the other hand, am what you might call a "good-enough-er." My mission is to get things done and move on to the next task so I'm generally okay with average. (Sorry, Dad.) Accordingly, my pumpkin was finished in 20 minutes and looks like something a grade-school child would do. (I've heard of "patience" before, I just don't know that we've ever met.) We're each special in our own unique way. :)

I'm the first to admit that my brothers got all the artistic talent in the family. They have more talent in their pinky fingers than I have in my entire being. I tried to do Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. You see it, right?!?!

We did finish off a successful evening with the best part about carving pumpkins anyway ...

Autumn in Arkansas

Fall came later than we're used to, being down South, and is still lingering. The longer the better for us! (Sorry to those in MN, WI and CO that have already had to deal with the dreaded S word!) Don't think that we've had a perfect Fall season, though. With as much rain as we've had, we really haven't been able to get out and enjoy it much. Literally, it rained for two weeks straight in September!

I know I'm biased being a Northerner, but I don't think the colors are a as vivid and breath-taking down here either. (I mean, it doesn't get much better after you've experienced Fall in Door County, right?!?!)

Here's the transition out our back window:

One Year Down ... FOREVER to Go!

One year ago, we were joined by family and friends in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin to officially start our new life together. It was the best day of our lives - to be in our favorite place, at our favorite time of the year, surrounded by our favorite people - it really was magical. I get to have a slumber party with my best friend every night for the rest of my life ... it doesn't get any better!

Our last year together has been full of excitement, but it has not been without its challenges. The day I returned to work after our honeymoon in Jamaica, I inquired about a new job posting for the Walmart team in Arkansas. Well, the rest is history. My amazing husband supported me and my career and packed up to move south. Thanks to the complicated relocation and the agreement with Polaris to get Kyle back to Mpls on a regular basis (with a few fishing trips and girl weekends thrown in,) we found a way to be in separate states for 94 days this past year! That's 3 whole months apart during our first year of marriage. Not the way we would have planned it, but somehow, it has brought us closer, and we cherish our time together even more.

Our anniversary celebration started on Monday when Kyle surprised me with a delicious home cooked meal and said "happy anniversary week" when I walked through the door. We took the idea and ran with it, stealing the term from our good friends ... Anniversary-Palooza was packed with some great home cooked meals, a few of our favorite movies, a performance of The Riverdance, a trip to our favorite pizzeria ... we celebrated every day! Kyle even baked me a cake and cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner!

When the special day finally arrived, Kyle surprised me with breakfast in bed ... and ... a beautiful diamond anniversary ring!!!! I was completely shocked! I had mentioned at one point that it would be pretty to get a second band to border the other side of my engagement ring -that was the symmetric/OCD left side of my brain talking. My husband remembered that discussion (and my ring size!) made his way back to Shane Co on one of his Mpls trips and truly suprised me with the perfect gift. In Kyle's words, I will have "perma-smile" for the rest of the day! If our life continues to be as amazing as this first year, I plan to have perma-smile for the rest of my life. :)

Thanks to everyone who sent us cards, gifts and kind wishes to commemorate our first year of marriage. And thanks to my husband for making my life complete.

Home Alone

While I was out gallivanting in Columbus for 4 days, Kyle flew solo in Arkansas. My solo weekends are usually full of shopping and movies, but Kyle chose to be much more productive. We have a work shop downstairs, but lately, it has been looking more like a storage closet. So, Kyle spent every waking moment building a new work bench and organizing that space to be more useful. I guess he did do some shopping as he's now on a first name basis with the guys at Lowe's!

Nice job, Kyle ... it looks great!

Autumn in Columbus

Recruiting took me back to Columbus for a second time this past week, and I was able to enjoy some downtime with friends and family for the weekend. While it felt a bit like winter, it sure did look like fall so we took advantage by soaking up some fall fun - apple picking, pumpkin picking and loading up on cider, gourds, pumpkin bread and roasted almonds. Here's me piggy backing on my friend Julie to reach the best apples. I'll be honest, it wasn't as effective as it may look!

That's why Liz took things to a new level, literally, and stood on Denyse's shoulders to get the really good fruit. Kids, don't try this at home.




Here's me and my good friend, Julie. We make a pretty good pair! I was lucky to be an honorary roommate at her new pad for the weekend. Thanks for taking me in, Julie, Ebony and Denyse!

I also got to see my old high school friend, Lesia, as she recently moved to Columbus. SO nice to spend some time with her and her husband, Aaron. Sorry, Lesia - didn't get any pictures of us in Columbus. Readers - please refer to OH-IO blog to get a peak of my adorable friend Lesia. :)

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Caught breakfast with old college roomies and new babies. Here's my old college roommate, Jess, and her new son, Graham (aka deer in headlights!)

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The Pierce family was also able to join us for breakfast. While a meal at a restaurant is hectic with children, Alayna and Ty find a way to make it beautiful chaos, with nothing but smiles.



My Aunt Hedy happened to be in Columbus the same weekend, so I was able to meet her for lunch with my brother, Jason.



I was also able to visit the farm that my brother lives on with friends. Here he is with one of his new roommates.

Enjoyed my time in Ohio and seeing good friends and family, but it felt good to make my way back home to Arkansas, where my husband picked me up at the airport. We've lived down here for almost 8 months and this was the first time that it actually felt like home!

The Great Pumpkin

Kyle knows my love for cheesy fall activities. In the past, I've dragged him horseback riding in the apple orchards, apple picking, hay rides and forced him to make homemade applesauce and pies with me. It's not as bad as it sounds, he really loves this stuff as much as I do, I know it! This year, since we're down south, we settled for a trip to the pumpkin patch, which we actually haven't done in a few years. Kyle was sweet enough to suggest we make the trek and found us a place to go, about 30 min away in Missouri.

Here's Kyle inspecting the goods ...

Here's me with the winners! Only $4 each!

Somehow, Kyle always gets the brunt of the work when I drag us on holiday/seasonal activities. He does all the work when we go cut down a Christmas tree ... and here he is hauling our pumpkins to the car. Thanks, honey!

You'll have to stay tuned for the results of our pumpking carving contest!! I'm sure I'll end up making Kyle do all the work for that too. :)

Give Me a W!

So, as most of you know, we're down in Arkansas so that I can work on our General Mills team that supports Walmart, our biggest customer. However, you have yet to hear me blog about it because, quite frankly, it's not the most exciting part of our lives. Here's your first, and probably only, posting about the retail giant.

Many of you have heard about it before - the Walmart Saturday Morning Meeting. Back in the day, they were held every Saturday, attendance was required by all Home Office associates and they ruthlessly drilled into sales numbers and performance metrics. Hard core.

Gradually they have eased off of that approach and the Saturday Morning Meeting is now held once a month, Home Office associates are strongly encouraged to attend (and can bring family and friends) and they are basically a Walmart Pep Rally. Literally, they do the Walmart Cheer, bring in celebrities, and generally celebrate what they do for their customer around the globe.

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I felt I needed to "check the box" at some point during my time in this role, so I met a friend at 7am to experience the 2-hour love fest.

Here are the guests from this week - Captian Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (gave me chills to see him and hear his story ... he got a ginormous standing ovation) and Faith Hill (launching a fragrance line that seems a little too high class for the typical Walmart shopper.)

Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the show, but it did feel slightly cult-ish. There were a lot of references made to "Mr. Sam" ... the founder ... and impressive attendance for a Saturday morning. I do have a new appreciation for their loyalty and true belief in everything the company stands for.

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If you're interested in hearing the cheer, here's a youtube clip. And, I've given you the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z48kJTYSl8s

Give me a W - A - L - squiggly - M - A - R - T!

What's that spell? Walmart!

Who's Walmart is it? MY Walmart!

Who's #1? The Customer!

Let's just say, I highly doubt I'll jump at the chance to get up at 6:30am on Saturday to attend again in the future. Walmart Saturday Morning Meeting - check!

O-H .... I-O!

Kyle and I finally coordinated our schedules to travel at the same time! Unfortunately, we were traveling to different cities - Kyle to Minneapolis for work, and me to Columbus for recruiting.

My friend, Julie, picked me up from the airport and we spent the evening with Alayna and her beautiful family.

Liam is part "mini=me" of his dad, Ty and part monkey - he literally climbs on everything and everyone!

And, I had to get a branded shot of Nora and her Cheerios!! Is that adorable or what?!?!

I used a couple vacation days to head to Cleveland to hang out with family and high school friends. My brother and sister-in-law were also in town so we had most of the family in the same city for once! But of course, no picture of all 5 of us, that would make too much sense. You aren't too excited about Ohio while you are growing up there, but boy is it nice to come back after living so far away for so long.

Hung out with my girls at Crocker Park.

I was also able to attend a benefit for a friend from high school that is battling Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was great to see Mike and the nearly 450 family and friends that came out to support him.

Looking forward to another recruiting trip to Columbus in a couple weeks (Go Buckeyes!) and then a week of relaxing in Cleveland with my hubby over Thanksgiving. I love me some Buckeye Country!