We've moved!

We are back in MN. After a short 10 months in SD, we've just decided MN is a better fit for this Hall duo. I've started work back at Thomson, some things have changed but it almost feels as if I never left. In a matter of 4 days we managed to find someone to sublease our townhouse in Sioux Falls, find a place in Burnsville, load up a moving truck, drive from SD to MN, unload the moving truck and nearly complete unpacking. Needless to say, we're exhausted! Hopefully we'll manage to get the last few boxes unpacked in the next few days and get to the grocery store! Unless you consider ranch dressing and ketchup a meal, we're in desperate need of goodies to line the fridge shelves with!

We decided before our move to MN to forego anything fancy, in hopes of saving up a nice lump of cash so we can buy our first home in the next year! So we've moved into a cozy little 1 bedroom + den apartment in Burnsville (pictures coming later).


We'll be settled in in no time! The last task on our big "to-do" list is to find Dan a job that he'll enjoy. He's been hard at work sending out his resume and attending interviews, so we're confident it'll all work out soon!

Let the packing begin!

Yesterday my mom came to town and we started the packing!  We got the whole kitchen packed, along with a closet and some other odds and ends.  This move has to have a little more strategy than those of the past, because we'll only be unpacking certain things.  The great thing about moving is sorting through everything and throwing out or donating the clutter and unused things we own.  We're crossing our fingers that one of the interested parties follows through and sub-leases from us.  That's another challenge, as we pack, we are trying to keep things tidy for the people taking a peek at our place.  It's going to be a busy week, filled with "what-ifs", but I pray every night it will all work out!

New Painting

My good friends bought their first house back in November and shortly after gave me 3 canvases to work some magic on.  Those 3 canvases sat, with a can of paint, in my hallway for months on end.  I FINALLY got the painting finished - not sure I'd call it magic, but I like the way it turned out.  I had a few panic attacks along the way, but the beauty of paint is that you can just paint over your mistakes.  Here's the finished product:

I envision it in their dining room, sitting on a floating black shelf with some vases or candlesticks along side!

Date Day

With all our pending excitement about to happen in the next few weeks, Dan and I needed a day to relax and not think about finding Dan a job, who's going to rent our place in SF, where we will live in MN, when we will move, how we will go about the move and all the other minor details. Our house really needed to be cleaned as well, but instead we had a fun filled Date Day to relax ourselves!  First we started with a delicious breakfast: strawberry smoothies and blueberry muffins! 

After breakfast, we went out for a bike ride around the neighborhood.  But first we stopped to do our "sexiest" pose on our bikes (:

And there is always time to stop and pick a pretty flower!

Then it was off to the golf course!  For our birthdays we got a golf punch card from my parents, but with a dwindling summer and what seems to be crazy busy weekends, we haven't had a chance to get much golfing in. Much to our surprise, we both played fairly well!  I got my first ever par 5 and Dan got 2 birdies! 

It was hot!  But we certainly didn't complain because the warm weather seems to be sparse this summer!  After golf

 we came home to have a fun little "candle light" dinner...Dan's favorite, French Dip!

And to finish off our date day, we took a little road trip to the Drive-in.  The Sturgis Rally is going on right now, so we saw a fair share of motorcycles,

 this guy was my favorite. 

It was a crowded night at the drive-in but we managed to find a good spot and enjoy 2 movies: The Proposal and Hangover.  The best part was that it only cost us $5 a person to get in and enjoy both shows!

We got home about 1:45 in the morning, but it was a day well spent!  Exciting times in life generally cause a little stress and being stressed is never easy, but it's always great to be able to forget about life's stresses for one day and just enjoy the company of your best friend!