New Eats

The new house is located less than a block from seven top-notch restaurants. They are all amazing, and it's difficult to choose one over another. This is the Italian deli.

The house is a block from Lake Harriet - it's really cool to see the city skyline and the band shell. S likes the walking.

Whirlwind House Hunting

On  2/18/20, I was in Colorado for a work trip. On the 19th, this house popped on the market and we went to see it - just a drive by. 

It looked decent, so we came back for a showing the next day. The inside was immaculate and everything has been fixed up with an eye for keeping the old house charm intact.

We had looked at so many homes over the past few months, we knew exactly what we wanted and in which neighborhoods. This house met all of our criteria. Later that night we put in an offer in and the next day, we had ourselves a new home. Only a month until closing...

Snowdog

S LOVES the snow!!!! He burrows his head in it searching for mice.

We checked out the dog park on the Mississippi River. There's no way we could let him off his leash - there are miles of woods - he would chase after a rabbit and never come back.

House Hunting

Now that the Lincoln house had officially sold and the holidays were past, it was time to find a new home. The problem is that there's nothing on the market!! While JP was in AZ, I spent the entire weekend driving all over south Minneapolis looking at houses.

By the end of the day, my left foot was sore from working the clutch pedal.

This pretty much sums up the housing market in Minneapolis. Lots of small houses that have been flipped. All of the old-school charm get ripped out and replaced with trendy (for today) grey and charcoal colored walls and tiles and the price goes up. We are just looking for something reasonable that's in good shape with the original features intact.

Fun in the Sun

It's amazing when you think of how many places we've had lunch with these two.

The timeshare in PHX is perfect for any occasion. After the G's and I left, JP stayed for a few more days and all of her ASU college roommates (and MN from Woodstock) came in for the weekend. From the sound of it, they had a good time.

Superstition Mt.

We sent the boys home and spent a few days with the C & BG from NE. They had never been to the AZ desert, so we took them to Superstition Mt. for a nice hike.

The Superstition Mountains are the ones that are visible from downtown Phoenix directly to the east. From a distance they look like a solid birthday cake. Up close they are rugged with vertical rock everywhere.

Old Town Scottsdale

The day after the wedding, we spent the day in Old Town Scottsdale. JP & I had never really spent much time there as students. It was fun to visit as an adult.

If anyone doesn't know it, JP is CRAZY for cactus & succulents.

PK's Wedding

PK & EK tied the knot after a long engagement. It was a beautiful ceremony in an amazing venue in Gilbert.

M&S were looking great, as usual.

Lunch @ Frank & Albert's

Last summer, CP spent a week at the Biltmore in Scottsdale for his fraternity's annual convention. He was so excited to tell us about it when he got back, and even more excited to take us there for lunch.

Naturally, it was beyond beautiful. I wish I could have experienced when it was first built. Phoenix was a small frontier town back then and this place was out by itself in the desert.

We had lunch with Nana and K & D from California. Not sure why we don't have a picture of all of us - I'm sure there's one on someone's camera somewhere...

ASU

We stayed at G&G's timeshare at South Mountain in PHX. It was absolutely gorgeous. We woke up every morning to a sunrise over the desert right outside our patio.

We took the boys to our alma mater: ASU. JP lived in the high-rise dorm in the background.

Tempe was nearly unrecognizable to us. When we were there, it was a sleepy little town on the edge of Phoenix. Now it's its won city with high-rises and fancy buildings all over. There's even water in the Salt River!!

SPAM

One of the local delicacies that you won't find in other airports is a SPAM sandwich.

JP drove to NE to drop off the animals and pick up the boys. I met them at MSP and we headed to AZ for PK's wedding.

Ski Jump

Somehow we learned that the ski jump was having an Olympic tryout event on Sunday night. It was a mile from the apartment, so we drove, but ended up parking half a mile away.

Most of the competitors were kids. It was amazing to watch them fly off the jump.

It was 10°. We learned our first Minnesota cold weather hack: bring a 12" x 12" piece of pink foam insulation to stand on and your feet won't get so cold. We stayed for about an hour before our fingers and toes were feeling it.

We hit REI later in the week and grabbed some snow boots.

Boys visit MN

We flew the boys up after the new year for a week to see the city. GP has gone from gagging at the sight of sushi to actually enjoying it. We totally sank the sushi boat at Crave.

There's a bocce ball place not far from us. None of us had ever played - it was a blast!! Incredible food, too.

Welcome to Your New Home

I had been living in Minneapolis for a month and had started to know my way around. For JP, it was all new. She had only seen pictures of our apartment. She was very happy when I took her to the local wine supermarket.

The cat had more than enough new places to check out once she felt safe and left her kitty carrier.

Move to MN

JP & I left the sunny open space of NE for the snow covered northland. Every time I have driven to MN this year, it's been through a snowstorm. This time was no different.

Our new playground awaits us!!

S LOVES the snow! This is his kind of place to live.

Last Night in Lincoln

It was weird leaving the big house in Lincoln. 

We spent the night at our home away from home in the country. S was loving the snow and blowing wind.

Moving Day

The movers showed up on time on the 27th with a HUGE semi trailer. 

It took them 2 days to load all our junk. Note to self: next time you move, just pack a suitcase and leave all that other stuff behind; you don't need it!!

X-Mas Day 2019

Christmas Day 2019 was pretty low key. No snow. The house was all packed. No x-mas tree, no decorations. 

That being said, we still had good friends to hang with.