my minnesota weekend

HELLO ALL. Holy cats, it's been so long. 
I have been busy, busy. In fact, I don't remember the last time I had a free weekend. And I don't have one coming up until the end of August. But, I just HAD to share how much I loved my weekend visit to the beautiful Twin Cities. I seriously love it there. It's like the perfect "small" big city. It's kind of like Iowa, yet city-ish.
And it's even better because my best friend lives there. With it being super close to Iowa you'd think we see each other often, but it's so hard to find time when we are both free since she's deep into grad school and I'm obviously working a lot. Not to mention having to suck up the five hour drive. :)
So in June, I decided I WILL see her this summer. And the date was set. I was going.
I got there Friday night and we went to get drinks and dinner. Nothing like two-for-one drink specials. Hollaaaa! I honestly laugh so hard when I'm with Tonya and Kyle, it's unreal. I feel like she's my sister and he's my hilarious brother-in-law that I always give shit to.

Saturday, Tonya and I had a complete GIRLS DAY. Much needed and so much appreciated. We went to the cutest little shops in St. Louis Park, ate at Toby Keith Bar and Grill, got our nails done and of course we ended the day with a stop at Caribou to get some coffee.

Then it was on to WEDDING PLANNING. Eeeeek! I can't wait to see my beautiful biffle in a wedding dress in 397 days! ...but who's counting. :)

I would share about wedding planning, but y'all will just have to wait and see when Tonya reveals the goodies!

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Leaving Sunday sucked. I could hang out with them every day. And their kitty Miya, who loved me. :) After a great weekend and 10 hours in the car, I'm already thinking about when I'll get to hang out with her again. And I can't wait until 2018 when she moves back to Iowa!

may in review

So what have I been up to lately? I feel like it hasn't been much... but you all might think differently.

I celebrated 6 months with the Girl Scouts, which has gone SUPER fast. Our office had a "spring cleaning" day and I finally got the chance to clean/re-organize my desk. You may think it looks messy, but it's all organized and it made me feel so much better! Not to mention, it boosted productivity. :)

I picked up a book to read over the summer for the times I'm at the pool. It's about the Boston Marathon bombings and was written by two Boston Globe reporters that witnessed everything first hand. So far, so good. It's very moving, but yet powerful.

Jason and I try to get out as much as we can to play some tennis. In fact, we will be playing Mixed Doubles at the Iowa Games in July.

I didn't work Thursday and Friday last week so I stopped home for a few days and got to see these baby robins! How cute are they?!

While I was home I even got to hit up the dentist office. Wahooooooo, I love the feeling fresh, clean teeth!

I walked out into the garage to get ready to start packing up and driving back to the QC when I walked out to this. I love my parents. :) I got a freshly cleaned car, inside and out.

Mom and I also got to go shopping, get pedicures and lunch. It was a much needed, and relaxing, mother-daughter day! Friday night, my family came to Davenport to celebrate my birthday. We went to the Machine Shed Friday night and then went to the Establishment Theatre in Rock Island, IL to see ComedySportz. They're pretty funny. :)

Saturday, we went to breakfast and then enjoyed yard games, beer and the beautiful weather. We then went to the River Bandits game (fun fact: they played the CR Kernels - hometown team).

Sunday, it was beautiful warm out so we hit up the apartment complex pool for the first time. I love the feeling of relaxing and laying out. Especially with some good tunes, good people and a good book. :)

 There's a few other things that have been occupying my time as well. With Jason coaching the Davenport Assumption girls' tennis team, I've been going to a lot of meets and tournaments. They're sending their #1 player back to state this year! She's the defending 1A State Champ, so let's hope she holds that title!

We also had the varsity girls over at our apartment a few weeks ago for a big team dinner before sending them off to the MAC Conference meet. We enjoyed spaghetti, lasagna, breadsticks, and of course..... a ColdStone ice cream cake.

Tank has recently come down the an Upper Respiratory Virus which is causing him to cough, sneeze and sleep a lot. He caught it at the vet... and now they won't let him go to daycare for a week to see all of his friends and we have to give him medicine twice a day for 10 days... poor little guy. :(

I think that about sums it up. My birthday was so much fun and I enjoyed my five-day Memorial Day weekend! I hope to get back on the blog train to share things more frequently. :)

tank, tank, tank

I know it's been 20 days a while since I've blogged, but I have a REAL post coming up this week. I promise. And it will outline what I've been up do as well as what my birthday shenanigans included.

But to keep you tied over for a wee bit, I decided to share some pictures of the little guy that steals all of the spotlight in this apartment! ALSO, in case you haven't seen/heard, Tank has twitter.

Give him a follow: @tankertot

Now, without further ado:

"Ruh-roh. I got busted for licking dishes....." 

"Can I read with you daddy?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Mmmmm, breakfast of champions!"

"Why did I have to come to the vet? I'm so scared!"

"I'm tired, mommy."

"Ahhh, this is better. Best car ride ever."

"So much to explore!"

"Snooooooooooooooooore"

"Mmm, summer shandy!"

"I think I drank a little too much...."

"5 hour in between meals is just too long!"

"I like when you go running because I get to eat your sweaty shirt."

Time flies.

I miss this.
I miss having my time to write and just enjoy "me" time. This was always my "quiet place."
Anyway, Tank has fully consumed Jason and I's lives. He's super duper precious but boy is he testing our limits every day.
So here's some fun facts about our little ball of energy (some of which include pictures):
1.  He can run super duper fast and usually when he runs a quick two laps around the living room, it's because he has to go to the bathroom. Or because he thinks by the time he comes back, his toys will magically turn into steak.
2. He pees at least 20 times a day and therefore we have to take him out about every 30-45 minutes.
3. When he runs too fast, he starts coughing. I'm convinced he has asthma, if that's even a real thing in dogs.
4. His favorite treats smell like poop and therefore Jason and I hate giving them to him because our hands smell like fresh cow manure. So we are weening him onto peanut butter treats. Much better!
5. His new favorite thing to do is put his front two legs on the dishwasher and try really hard to reach his little tongue to the dishes. And he also likes looking out the patio door.

6. He spent Sunday watching college softball on TV. Blahhh, but whatever makes him happy I suppose.

7. He slept through the whole night for the first time last night. HALLELUJAH! IT WAS AMAZING. But I don't think it will happen again tonight. We shall see.
8. He loves his toy box more than he loves his toys. And that includes falling asleep in it.

8. He loves giving kisses.

And that's our puppy! He gets the rest of his shots next week and then he's able to go to daycare and explore more outside. Can't wait!

puppy love (photo overload)

If you're a regular to the blog, you're probably wondering why I've gone MIA the past two weeks. Well, Jason and I made the trip to the Iowa/Missouri border to pick up our little bundle of joy and therefore he has been eating up all of our time! Between playing, training and taking him out to go potty 3 seconds after he eats, he's a ball of energy!
Meet Tank!
Our 9-week-old lovey. Below is our journey in pictures (and yes, there's a lot).

On his way to his new home (aka - our apartment)

 

Kisses for daddy :)

 

His little bowtie! He's such a fancy little guy.

 

Long day of exploring for the little fella.

My two boys.

 

Headed out on our Easter roadtrip to see our families!

 

Someone ate a big Easter dinner!

 

Tuckered out.

Stay tuned for more updates on what's been happening the past couple of weeks!