SUMMER IS HERE!

the smell of grass, a cold glass of wine on the patio, frizzy hair, fresh flowers, tan lines, catching fish, farmers markets, dairy queen runs, twins games, jogs.. being outside!

Our summer is super busy but I am so excited for some of the plans we have; weddings, celebrations, weekends at the cabin, travels, amazing concerts. 

It's worth being busy when there are so many crazy amazing things on the docket. 

Also, since I'm a typical two months removed from a post - here's our life.. in bullet points:

• Charlie graduated from her Beginning Obedience Class. She placed second in her class (and was the youngest by a long shot). We're clearly super proud! 

• The puppy and I have started an amazing Saturday morning routine; wake up - cuddle - walk/run around Cleary Lake - browse the farmers market - grab some Starbucks - head home to relax. 

• Little brother is traveling in Spain! Check out his travel blog here. He's having a blast but it will be great to have him back in MN soon. 

until next time...

iphone pic roundup

I know you're sitting there thinking to yourself; 'man, i wonder what crappy iphone photos Amanda has been taking lately'. Don't worry, I'm here to oblige. 

This puppy gets soo tuckered at daycare that she can't even be bothered to put her tongue in her mouth when she passes out. 

The struggle is real.

During our stretch of warm weather, the puppy learned the joys of passing out in the sun.

So sorry for the food posts but Phil and I discovered something new at Von Hansons. For as much as we frequent that joint, it shouldn't be possible to find something new - but we did! 

Peppercorn rubbed beef skewers & Chipolte Chicken skewers (with zucchini, of course). We grilled it up, sat on the deck and enjoyed the weather!

The little lady celebrated her first 1/2 birthday. 

Pretty typical cuddle sesh. 

NEW MUMFORD. 

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Believe. One radio station compared it to Coldplay and then that's all. i could. hear! The Wolf is much better and (in my opinion) much more true to them. 

Guacamole + Cucumber Infused Vodka = All the makings for a bitchin' Friday night on the patio. 

There you have it. I'm glad I could grace you with my mediocre photos.

Until next time, folks.

world's worst blogger

A lot has happened since my half-assed, iphone pic only, blog. Sorry about the length but I've got to get caught up here!

1 - GRADUATION! 

Charlie graduated from Puppy School. Graduation day was filled with games, races and competitions. After each game, the winning puppy was given a small bone and the puppy with the most bones was the winner of the Graduation Ceremonies. Charlie won. Not to brag because it probably was her parents' competitive nature that catapulted her into the winners circle. 

shaking hands to accept her diploma

diploma!

"give me that kong"

2 - ENGAGEMENT!

Tyler and Courtney are engaged!! It has been a couple months since Tyler told me that he was planning on popping the question. After that, the planning and scheming came into play. I wish I could say that all went exactly according to plan, but it didn't.. but who cares? They're getting hitched!! 

A couple days after the big question - family gathered at bonfire for 30 mimosas a congratulatory toast. It was so wonderful! I can't wait for the wedding!!

celebrating!

3- VALENTINES DAY.

You may or may not know that Phil and I really don't celebrate valentine's day, per se. What we do do is eat a heaping pot of mac & cheese with cut up hot dogs and dip into a nice bottle of wine (or two!). It's fun and it's us. And really something that I look forward to every year!

I mean.. just look at that amazing-ness. 

 4 - CHARLIE

This little puppy is testing us! She's starting to push the boundaries and test our limits. Even when we want to scream - she licks our face and looks like this. Can't get enough!

5 - CABIN WKND

We made our annual winter trek to the cabin and brought along a few buddies! I didn't get stuck (first time in 2 years) and we had an amazing time - per the usual. 

deer in the clearing

saddle up buddies

ride it.

ice fishing buddy

I had a crappie on my line and wasn't so sure about it. Phil and Corey were yelling at me; "Do you have a fish?". Then I pulled this beaut out of the lake. Boom!

cribbage & coffee

the best

That's all, folks!

Until next time - which hopefully won't be months and months away.

iphone snaps

please ignore the poor quality but here's what we've been up to:

walking

bloody drinking

more walking - a tired puppy is a good puppy, right?

being adorable

puppy selfies