Together in the Tundra

Let's see ... we have officially lived in Arkansas for 11 months now (and officially 13 of 24 months completed on my project, not that I'm counting) and last week was the first time we coordinated our business trips back to Minneapolis! It was nice to actually spend some time together in Minnesota ... just like the good ol' days.

Between sharing a rental car, doctor's appointments and long days at work, we did find some time to spend with good friends. And hear me now, good friends, I WILL be that annoying guy that demands more pictures next time I'm back! I was able to see lots of people and don't have much to show for it in the way of blogging material ... so I'm back on my horse of interrupting every fun gathering to annoyingly capture kodak moments. :)

We caught up with Adrian & Josh ... with precious little Austin, and Lindsay and Trevor ... with precious little Lillia for dinner one night.

And I was lucky enough to catch Claire and her beautiful baby boy, Reid, at work the next day.

Baby fever is definitely upon our friends in Minneapolis. Please Note: We have one more year in Arkansas, which is a looong way from "the fever" up North, in case it is contagious. We did take advantage of the time to work on our baby skills ...

I'm not sure who is more afraid, Kyle or Austin ... Seriously, I think this is the closest Kyle got to one of the babies all night!


And, I look like I'm having fun with little Austin, but I'm really just praying that someone takes him before he starts to cry ...

I caught up with my lovely "Yoplait Ladies" on Weds evening at Mrs. Pradhan's beautiful new house. (It's really gorgeous, Lauren!) We all met while working in the Yoplait division a good 5 years ago and have kept a decent schedule of mini reunions since then. Pictured with me below are Shelly, Kristen and Lauren ... Allison, Danielle and Katie were unable to attend, but we'll get the entire crew together next time.

Thursday, Kyle and I spent some time with his Polaris work crowd ... catching a great dinner at Chino Latino and watching a hilarious show by the improv group at the Brave New Workshop. If you live in Minneapolis and have never been there before, I highly recommend you check it out. Even Kyle said he'd go back! (that's saying a lot for a live show) www.bravenewworkshop.org

Turns out, while we were enjoying the single digit weather in Minneapolis, our new home down south was getting pummeled with snow and ice. I moved my flight to avoid the chaos and flew back with Kyle on Saturday. We had left both of our cars in the uncovered parking lot at the airport, so we were welcomed by a good inch of ice covering each vehicle and a layer of 5 inches of heavy snow blanketing the ice.

From one frozen tundra to the next, I guess.

I'm Goin' Graceland

Ok, so I didn't actually visit Graceland (not an Elvis fan,) but I did road trip to Memphis, Tennessee with a group of friends from work this weekend. My good friend, Chaney, and I tore through a box of Cheez-It's, chatted a mile a minute and checked into the prestigious Peabody Hotel after 5 hours on the road.

After corraling our group of about 12+ in the lobby, we headed out to experience Beale Street. Now, as most of you know, I'm a bit of a morning person and prefer to go to bed early and literally bounce out of bed by 8am. Seriously, Kyle likes to call me "Grandma" since I fall asleep anytime we decide to watch a DVD at home. Well, it was after 11pm when we left for the bars, and I'm proud to say I hung with the group the whole night!

We started off at a piano bar to experience "The Diver." Basically, a plastic pail of alcohol, flavored with juice. [Please Note: the Diver is pictured without any actual drinkers. I'm trying to honor my parents wishes to eliminate potentially incriminating photos. Yes, Mom and Dad, I'm 29 and still listen to what I'm told ... most of the time!] Please read on to learn why there is a little white duck figurine on the edge of the pail. :)

The piano players sang to Chaney as the clock struck midnight and she turned 24. Happy Birthday, Old Lady! We even got them to salute Ohio with a little Hang on Sloopy. Thankfully, I have a coworker who is also a Buckeye and her friend lives in Memphis, so there were at least three of us that knew the O-H-I-O drill.

Luckily, the diver's weren't too strong so we were able to jump to another bar later in the night (or should I say early in the morning.) We decided to shake our groove-thang's at Club 152. On the way home, we stopped by a popular restaurant for tamales and chili and a sausage and cheese plate. I know, you're thinking heartburn city, but somehow, I slept like a baby when we got back to the hotel.

Let it be known that I didn't get back to my hotel room until 4am! Yes, amazing, I know. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that hour of the day in several years.

We woke up surprisingly early and hit up The Blue Plate Cafe for ... as my father would say ... the best breakfast I've ever had. No joke. Huge portions, amazing pancakes of all flavors (we're talking banana chocolate chip with peanut butter syrup) and homemade biscuits to die for. Check out the pure excitement on the faces of my friends Greg and Amber, about to dive into their pancakes.

We spent the day Saturday taking in the sights of Memphis. We toured the Sun Studios - famous for discovering Elvis and recording stars like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others.

Greg and I, standing by the very mic that Elvis used in the studio. Pretty cool. The tour guide had to ask people to refrain from kissing or licking it ... are you serious?!?! Who are these crazy Elvis fans?!?!

... visited the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Very eerie how it was frozen in time on the edge of downtown Memphis. Sort of takes your breath away.

After some blues at BB King's, we took in the tradition of the Duck Walk at our hotel. The Peabody has been around forever and has a ton of charm. The lobby is even known as the living room of Memphis. Well, since 1933, they have been orchestrating the Duck Walk ... 5 little ducks are ushered down from their palace on the roof, walk a red carpet and jump into a gorgeous fountain in the lobby. They swim there all afternoon, entertaining the guests until 5pm, when the show starts again to usher them across the red carpet and back upstairs to their palace. Crazy, but an interesting experience, and a must see if you're ever in Memphis.

As seen earlier in the blog, the hotel takes the duck theme very seriously and even gives you soap in the shape of a duck. We thought it would be funny to take him with us for the weekend and take his picture in front of everything, like the gnome. The stars even aligned at Sun Studio when Sammy the Duck met his inspiration.

We ended the night with some amazing BBQ at The Rendezvous. You can tell by the big smiles and the bibs! (that's me in the middle in the green)

Thanks to Greg, a Memphis local that works in our office, who orchestrated the whole trip. I had a blast hanging out with the gang and Memphis did not disappoint!!

You may be asking why I was flying solo in TN ... Kyle left on Saturday for his week of work in Minneapolis and ... get ready for it ... I'm meeting him there tomorrow night! We are actually in Minneapolis for work at the same time for once. So, we'll get to share a rental car and hotel room for the rest of the week. Looking forward to more excitement up North!

Loving Our New Target

I know what you're thinking ... Tracie is working at Walmart and Kyle hated working at the "other retail giant" in Minneapolis ... so how are they so in love with Target?

Don't be fooled ... I'm talking about the new dartboard that Kyle hung up in the man cave downstairs!

That's right ... it's dart time, ladies and gentlemen! Somehow, I always thought this would be a southern activity, but I have not seen it at any bars down here. (Maybe it's too dangerous with all the alcohol they consume?) Apparently, it's just a midwest thing. (Guess we can hold our liquor better!)

Kyle has been practicing since he was a youngin' in his best friend's garage until the wee hours of the morning ... not quite sure when I picked it up, but I was definitely born with some talent. Maybe all the pitching practice in fast pitch softball really was worth it afterall - we all know I rode the pine in softball, but at least I have a strong flick of the wrist to launch my darts!

Here's Kyle kicking off our best of three competition.

Here's me with my final bullseye of game three to win our inaugural tournament. (In all fairness, Kyle wiped the floor with me at our second tournament.)

Our friend's Angie and Brian were over for dinner a couple weekends ago and dear Angie became the first to throw a dart into the wall. Somebody had to do it ... and I can guarantee she won't be the last.

Just one more enticement to add to the growing list of reasons everyone needs to come visit! But if you show up at the front door, and we don't answer ... check the man cave downstairs ... we're probably throwing darts ...

Old Man Winter Followed Us Home

Our drive back to Arkansas after the holidays was very uneventful. Sun a shinin', clear roads, low wind. All in all, a nice drive. We got home in plenty of time to unpack and begin to get the house back in order. Kyle even went out to run some errands and surprised me with a dip cone from DQ! I had seen a billboard somewhere back in Iowa and wanted one ever since ... perfect welcome home gift. (Do you remember me getting these as a kid, Mom? I'd always get a cherry dip cone and drip all over the place ...)

What wasn't a perfect welcome home gift was the next morning, when we woke up to this ...

Can you believe it?!?!? We woke up to 2 inches of snow ... and had another 1-2 inches fall throughout the day.

Kyle never thought he'd have any shoveling to do during our 2 year Arkansas adventure. But, that's what husbands are for, right? Gosh, I love being married. :)

The week started out with dangerous icy roads and never really crawled much out of the single digits. The local area children enjoyed a full week off from school as we were hit with a couple more flurries. It really only takes a couple inches to shut down the city. Quite dangerous since NO ONE down here knows how to drive in that kind of weather. Can't blame them, I guess.

To be completely honest, it actually feels even more like home now that we have snow covered trees out our window. A little slice of good old Hopkins, MN to warm the northerners' souls.

We'd Like You To Meet ...

Our little nephew,

Vaughn Brandt Mulhausen!

***

He arrived on January 5th, 2010 at 1:35pm Central time.

7lbs 13.5oz and 22 inches long.
Perfect in every way.

Congratulations to the proud parents, Jeff and Kathleen ...

and to my parents, who became grandparents for the first time on Tuesday.

Our family is so blessed.

We are SUPER excited to be Aunt Tracie and Uncle Kyle!

Stay tuned for more pics ...

Here's to Twenty Ten!

New Year's Eve and Dick Clark - go together like milk and cookies! (Poor guy is in bad shape, breaks my heart.)

Kyle and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in our old hometown of Minneapolis. Kyle worked while I took care of some important business ...


... bonded with my sister-in-law, Emily, at the Coach Outlet! (we look good with our loot, huh?)

... visited with girlfriends over some wine! (sorry, forgot to take a picture ... must have been the wine.)

... got to spend some QT with new babies in our circle of friends! (and this isn't even all of them!)

Danielle and little Helena

Adi and little Addison

Mark and little Reid

Yes, rough life, I know. But I did wake up early to take Kyle to work each day and picked him up in the evening. Made his week of work a little more bearable having a heated shuttle ready for him.


We enjoyed a quiet New Year's Eve with dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, Macaroni Grill. It's our tradition to go there for Valentine's Day every year, so we figured we'd celebrate a different holiday since there are no Mac Grill's in Arkansas. (The picture is before the 5 lbs we both gained!)



We spent the evening with Dick Clark and the Thurbush family, playing Family Feud. Guys vs. Girls. I'll give you one guess on who won ...

New Year's Day was a good start for us. The Buckeye's actually played to their potential and won the Rose Bowl game! Here we are watching the game at a bar in St. Paul with our friends Brent and Christine. Take a close look at the old lady knitting in the background - awesome!

And here is my good friend, Drew, and his new fiancee, Kasie. Congrats, you love birds! See you at the festivities in August!

Cheers to a wonderful, healthy and happy year ahead for all of our family and friends. We will be enjoying our last year in Arkansas in 2010 and welcome any and all visitors!

Go Pack Go!

In keeping with our annual tradition, Kyle and I bundled up for our 4th Packers game together on Sunday, December 28th. We had to hit the road by 5:30am to arrive in time for tailgating before the noon game. Thanks again to my husband for doing the drive. (I'm kinda spoiled, huh?)

Our good friends, Rebekah and Jim, met us at the game. Jim - a fellow Packers fan, and Rebekah - a Bear's fan who promised to behave. Thanks for joining us, Archer's!


Side Note - I credit the Packers for the beautiful backdrop of our wedding. When Kyle planned a special surprise weekend back in 2006 for our first Packers game and a weekend in Door County, I fell in love (with Door County, not Kyle, that had already happened by then!) ... fast forward to 2008 and after 3 years of Packers/Door County weekends, we celebrated our wedding in our special place!

Here we are getting into our full gear and cooking up our tailgate goodies. It was a challenge to start drinking by 10am, but I muscled through it. Gotta keep warm somehow, right?







We had a blast and the Packers killed Seattle. Sure, I couldn't feel my toes halfway through the game, but I can't wait to do it again next year!