A "Wild" Weekend

Pun intended! Last weekend, our good friends Aaron and Laura Wild drove down for a visit. They arrived Thursday night to some of Kyle’s good home cookin’. Friday was a gorgeous day, so Kyle took our guests out on the boat for the morning and early afternoon. Aaron finally broke the dry spell and caught one! Of course, no picture because the camera nazi (me) was at work.

After taking in some NCAA basketball games and a quick cornhole tourney, we hit up the famous Catfish Hole – a must see for any visitor – previously pictured in the “Two of a Kind” posting. We swung by Dickson Street and took in some good people watching and a tasty beverage at The 21st Amendment bar.

Now, “wild” weekend has another meaning in terms of the weather. We went from nearly 70 degrees on Friday to SNOW on Saturday! Literally, Minneapolis was getting better weather than we were – what are the odds?!?! We made a quick visit to the Walmart museum before the storm hit then hunkered down for a day of basketball, beer and pizza.

... with a side of Rock Band thrown in for good measure!

Our guests hit the snowy road early Sunday morning and made it home safely. We are so happy Aaron and Laura made the trek to visit us … only wish we could have welcomed you with better weather!

To all prospective visitors – if you haven’t noticed the trend already, you get your picture posted for free in our blog after your visit! That’s right … all the fame and fortune that comes along with publication in The Petersen Press. Offer only available thru 2010.

Seeing Double

Congratulations to Aunt Jodi and Uncle Patrick. Today, they brought healthy twin daughters into the world.

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Welcome to the family, Ciana Marie and Hallie Nicole!

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I only had one cousin growing up, so thank you to Kyle's side of the family for blessing me with lots more!!

Princess Tracie

I've been telling Kyle for years that I'm a princess, but now it's finally official ... and I even have the medal to prove it! Please note the words "Princess Tracie" on my race bib. :)

Last weekend, I flew to Orlando to spend a couple days in Disney World with some friends and run a half marathon through the parks ... our twisted idea of a good time. This is the same friend I ran my first half marathon with in Columbus, Ohio back in 2007. You'd think I would have learned not to listen to her by now.

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Here's my princess pose in front of my ... I mean Cinderella's ... castle when I'm a little more cleaned up the day before the race.

Here we are playing in the parks ... just like the good old days! Kyle doesn't understand my Disney infatuation ... but, as I've told him, you can't fully appreciate Disney World unless you have the nostalgic connection from visits as a kid. And I was lucky enough to go several times growing up, thanks to a big ol' family road trip in the conversion van and a well-traveled Aunt that also shares an affinity for Disney.

Here are Beth and I posing in "fake Italy" at Epcot Center. We will be recreating the real thing on our Europe trip next month ... stay tuned.

Sorry, Beth ... I just have to post this one ... because I don't think I ever laughed so hard. Walking through the Magic Kingdom, our dear friend Beth was pooped on by a bird! What are the odds?!?! Her sweet cousin Becky ran for napkins while her evil friend Tracie laughed her ass off and took pictures. Hey - I'm fully committed to my blog readers and had to document the event, right?!?!

As I mentioned before ... Beth, Becky and I sort of have a twisted idea of fun. We actually paid good money to wake up at 3am, stand for over 2 hours in the cold and run 13.1 miles through Disney World with 11,000 of our closest friends. If you called me insane, I wouldn't argue.

We do look pretty good for 4am, don't we? With the cute little princess t-shirts Beth made for us to run in. Much tamer costumes than most runners with tiara's and tutu's.

Poor Becky trying to stay warm in her shorts!

Running with the mobs into Magic Kingdom ... the sun finally came up!

I've never been good at taking my own picture, but here I am about to run through the castle.

I made a quick stop to pose with Cap'n Jack Sparrow ... they had characters all along the course. Can't say he was my number one choice, but he didn't have a line when I was running by.

Success! Here we are with our fellow Princess, Ariel.

I finished without walking (my main goal) and my time was even slightly faster than my half marathon in 2007. Just under 2 hours and 15 minutes. You're jealous. :)

There was a time when I set a goal to run a marathon by the time I turned 30. After the pain of the last few miles ... I've decided that two half marathons equal a whole, right?!?

We're Open for Business

You've already read about our visit with our friends, The Erspamer's, last week. Well, we kicked them out after breakfast last Monday, and by dinner ... we were greeted by Kyle's Great Aunt Berni and Uncle Jerry! Can you believe the amount of attention we're getting down here in Arkansas?!?!? Either Kyle and I are popular, or people are so intrigued by the fact that we live in the forgotten-backwoods-state of Arkansas that they can't resist. I vote the latter.

I came home on my lunch hour to change the sheets, clean the bathroom and prep for our new guests. Kyle reminded me that it's good practice for the B&B I'd like to run someday. Impressive, I know. Not to worry ... the hubby did the dishes and straightened up the rest of the house - not to toot our own horns, but we do make a darn good team. :)

It was GREAT to see Aunt Berni and Uncle Jerry! They are on a cross-country roadtrip to visit family in Arizona and were nice enough to take a short detour to visit. We enjoyed some great local BBQ at the supper club down the road and spent the evening playing cards.

It doesn't happen often, so I had to photograph the event ... but I was the big winner of the night! Beginner's luck, I think.

Thanks to Aunt Berni and Uncle Jerry for spending some time with us, taking us out for dinner, and teaching us a new card game.

To any and all ... the door is always open at the Petersen Palace ... there's a guest room with your name on it. Clearly, we are professionals at this gig!

Two of a Kind

Kyle spent last week methodically organizing his fishing gear (no joke, for hours and hours) and praying for warm weather, in preparation for our weekend visitors. Brent Erspamer (one of Kyle's groomsmen) and his wife Christine made the 10 hour drive to get the grand Arkansas tour. Late afternoon on Friday, Kyle was literally pacing by the window, waiting for our guests to roll in. Can you blame the poor guy? Stuck in the house all day ... I think he has every reason to get giddy about one of his best friends coming over to play.


We kicked the weekend off at our favorite pizzeria where Brent added a pin to their map of visitors. Roseau, Minnesota ... home of one of Polaris' plants ... the company that employs these two best friends.

We took advantage of the decent weather ... the boys went fishing, and we played some cornhole in the front yard. Now, "decent" weather means 50 degrees ... so, I rocked jeans and a sweatshirt, and Kyle sported a t-shirt and sandals. Typical.



Saturday evening was a highlight as we dined with the locals at The Catfish Hole in Fayetteville. The restaurant is light on the decor but heavy on the flavor (of the taste and cultural varieties.) We basically dined in what felt like a church basement with wood paneling, quilts draped from the ceiling and fold-out tables. You literally choose your meal from one of the menu's major categories: fried or non-fried. Gourmet at its finest.

We continued on to one of the most versatile bar crawls we've ever experienced. I'll fess up, Kyle and I don't get out much. So, even after a year of living in Arkansas, we're still exploring all that Fayetteville and Dickson Street (the city's main drag) have to offer. We bellied up to the bar in saddles at Doe's, smashed ice shot glasses on the floor at Shotz and settled in for some rockin live tunes at George's. Quite the night to remember.

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(Check out Kyle's fu manchu ... he wanted to fit in with the locals ... this is why I don't let him out very often.)

Here we are, posing with "Mr. Sam" at the Walmart Visitor's Center on Sunday afternoon ... a must see for all our visitors (just kidding, we won't make you go ... although, it is interesting.)

We celebrated a great weekend with a delicious home cooked steak dinner before quickly signing Brent up for photography lessons. :)

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The weekend was a blast, and we can't thank Brent and Christine enough for making the drive down to see us! We are simply blessed with some great friends and look forward to moving back to Minneapolis to re-join our "family."