Hey, if you need Christmas ideas for me or Katy let us know and we can get you some ideas.
Also, can Em and Meg send us some ideas?
Also, Mom and Dad-do you want to give us a Kitchen Aid mixer? :) We got a pretty nice deal at Herbs combining some offers. I'm just wondering, shoot me an email if you'd like.
I will try and post our ideas for us soon in case you'd care to see them.
What is everyone doing for Christmas? Is everyone going to CT?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Skype
Also, we are on skype.
I think our name is JoelandKaty or something like that. Now that we have this new computer we've got a built in camera. So, if you ever want to skype, let us know. :)
I think our name is JoelandKaty or something like that. Now that we have this new computer we've got a built in camera. So, if you ever want to skype, let us know. :)
U2 Tickets!
We're going to U2!
In a pretty random occurrence of events Katy and I bought u2 concert tickets for June 27th at TCF Bank Stadium.
I went to lunch with Nick who was on the internet looking at trying to buy U2 tickets. We ate a nice lunch in the Bethel dining center and I went to Turn Style to turn over some watches and old photo coasters from our wedding. I had to register in the home part of Turn Style and while I was registering a U2 song was playing on the radio. She said that they had been playing U2 all day and there must be a concert going on or something. For some reason she explained to me that she was a Gophers season ticket holder and they got an email so they could pre-sale the tickets. I said that the tickets were hard to come by as Nick was just looking for them and the website wouldn't let him buy any yet. Then she volunteered to forward me the special email that she got to pre-sale the tickets-which she did!
Later on in the evening Katy was talking about U2 and I remembered the email which we then opened and hit the link.
We ended up checking out with 4 U2 tickets! So, we're going with Nick and Becca, and I emailed it to Paul-who ordered to and Lance will come. I also emailed it to Josh who got tickets for himself and Laura! It's going to be fun!
Katy can't wait! We figured it was a semi-once in a lifetime shot at getting tickets and for a concert, for being U2 they weren't really that outrageous. It was $55 a pop with all of the fees and extras and ticketmaster garbage.
But we're excited to go to U2!
Also on the news front. Katy sliced her finger a couple weeks ago but it's getting better, though she lost some feeling in her left pointer finger. Also, her pickup cost us a little money last week, her starter decided to stop doing its' job. So we fired it and replaced it with a new one for the fair cost of $600! Are you kidding me!
In a pretty random occurrence of events Katy and I bought u2 concert tickets for June 27th at TCF Bank Stadium.
I went to lunch with Nick who was on the internet looking at trying to buy U2 tickets. We ate a nice lunch in the Bethel dining center and I went to Turn Style to turn over some watches and old photo coasters from our wedding. I had to register in the home part of Turn Style and while I was registering a U2 song was playing on the radio. She said that they had been playing U2 all day and there must be a concert going on or something. For some reason she explained to me that she was a Gophers season ticket holder and they got an email so they could pre-sale the tickets. I said that the tickets were hard to come by as Nick was just looking for them and the website wouldn't let him buy any yet. Then she volunteered to forward me the special email that she got to pre-sale the tickets-which she did!
Later on in the evening Katy was talking about U2 and I remembered the email which we then opened and hit the link.
We ended up checking out with 4 U2 tickets! So, we're going with Nick and Becca, and I emailed it to Paul-who ordered to and Lance will come. I also emailed it to Josh who got tickets for himself and Laura! It's going to be fun!
Katy can't wait! We figured it was a semi-once in a lifetime shot at getting tickets and for a concert, for being U2 they weren't really that outrageous. It was $55 a pop with all of the fees and extras and ticketmaster garbage.
But we're excited to go to U2!
Also on the news front. Katy sliced her finger a couple weeks ago but it's getting better, though she lost some feeling in her left pointer finger. Also, her pickup cost us a little money last week, her starter decided to stop doing its' job. So we fired it and replaced it with a new one for the fair cost of $600! Are you kidding me!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Morning Matinee: Blind Side
Katy and I went to see Blind Side this morning. It is a movie about Michael Oher who now is playing for the Baltimore Ravens.
He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee with a drug addicted mom a dad he never knew and was homeless and bounced from home to home in high school. Not until Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy had him stay with him for the short term did he have somewhere to go. He then was adopted by him before his senior year of high school.
However, he was extremely gifted on the football field in terms of size-height and weight. He had good footwork and strength. So, he played football in high school was recruited by many schools and decided to go to Mississippi. Just this last season he was drafted in the first round in the 20's by the Baltimore Ravens.
It's a great story. Google Michael Oher, read the book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game and watch the movie The Blind Side, released on November 20, 2009.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
New Extreme Tasty Deliciousness!
Wowzers! Guess what? We've been eating sweet new things this whole week and I love it!
So, as you know Katy and I take a little bit of time and choose things to eat and create a menu for the week. Now, you might think that is great, which it is but what you might not know is it doesn't always go very smoothly between us. :) "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know, what do you want to eat?" "I don't know!" "Can you just sit down and pick out what you want to eat?" "No, can you just choose because you're pickier than I am?" We both end up annoyed.
However, we've had some extreme tasty deliciousness this week-credit one to me and two to Katy.
Monday night we ate beef stuffed croissants with cream cheese and green chilies melted in there. They were good, nice comfort food but they didn't make great left overs.
Tuesday night we ate spiced beef empanadas with black beans and yellow rice. It also had a lime sour cream to dip the empanada in. It was delicious!
And now, tonight we ate peanut chicken with a chili mayonnaise as well as sesame-orange asparagus. Can you believe it? The flavor that was in the peanut chicken? So you chopped up the peanuts and added a little bit of bread crumbing before splatting it on the frying pan. But also, it had cilantro cut up and on the chicken too. Then you get to dip that in some mayo that's been mixed with chili garlic sauce. But then we added a side of asparagus with sesame seeds and orange juice and sugar that had been reduced a little bit and poured over the asparagus.
It was so good! Sorry, no pictures this time, I ate it too fast. :)
So, that's the adventures in eating today! Let me know if you want the recipes.
So, as you know Katy and I take a little bit of time and choose things to eat and create a menu for the week. Now, you might think that is great, which it is but what you might not know is it doesn't always go very smoothly between us. :) "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know, what do you want to eat?" "I don't know!" "Can you just sit down and pick out what you want to eat?" "No, can you just choose because you're pickier than I am?" We both end up annoyed.
However, we've had some extreme tasty deliciousness this week-credit one to me and two to Katy.
Monday night we ate beef stuffed croissants with cream cheese and green chilies melted in there. They were good, nice comfort food but they didn't make great left overs.
Tuesday night we ate spiced beef empanadas with black beans and yellow rice. It also had a lime sour cream to dip the empanada in. It was delicious!
And now, tonight we ate peanut chicken with a chili mayonnaise as well as sesame-orange asparagus. Can you believe it? The flavor that was in the peanut chicken? So you chopped up the peanuts and added a little bit of bread crumbing before splatting it on the frying pan. But also, it had cilantro cut up and on the chicken too. Then you get to dip that in some mayo that's been mixed with chili garlic sauce. But then we added a side of asparagus with sesame seeds and orange juice and sugar that had been reduced a little bit and poured over the asparagus.
It was so good! Sorry, no pictures this time, I ate it too fast. :)
So, that's the adventures in eating today! Let me know if you want the recipes.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
NFL Power Rankings
To the teams in question from Week 1.
As it stands at the halfway point of the NFL season.
1. New England Patriots.
They still have a solid preparer in Bill Belichick. They have Tom Brady clicking again. The passing game is very solid spreading it around to Wes Welker, Randy Moss and others. The running game is satisfactory but they pass first. They have the #2 ranked D in terms of points allowed (PA's ol' "bend but don't break excuse."). Also, they have the 7th ranked D in terms of yards allowed a game.
2. Minnesota Vikings
They're always liable to lose a game with uber-conservative play caller Brad Childress at the helm. Statistically, they're not very good-anywhere! Shocking, I know. The Packers are ranked in front of right next to the Vikings in numerous categories that I looked at.
However, they've gotten spectacular play from Packers legendary quarterback Brett Favre. With the current stats this team has and someone other than Favre at QB this team would be 5-3 at the halfway point. Favre and the Vikes lead the league in team passing/passer rating. However, with their beast Adrian Peterson running the ball they're only 12th in the league in rushing yards per game. Not great, considering AP's goal was to surpass 2,000 yards rushing this year! Haha, that's where I will always stress realistic and maybe slightly more conservative goals for the rest of my life. Though he is still on pace for 1,568 yards and a great year it's been proven he can be slowed or neutralized as a result of two Packer games. In fact, this stud has only rushed for 100 yards twice this year.
The Vikings are relying too much on Brett Favre. At the half way point, his 106 passer rating will only digress, if not a ton, slightly. Meaning, that will result in L's in the standings.
What happened to the Vikings defense? Overall: 17th in yards allowed. 18th in yards allowed per game. 16th in points allowed and tied for 17th in points allowed per game. None of those stats are very impressive. They're 9th in 3rd down percentage allowing a first down 35% of the time. They're only +5 in the turnover ratio.
What say you about these facts?
Might I say the Vikings will slip a bit this second half of the year. Their schedule isn't considerably tough however.
Was it the Vikings plan to throw considerably more with Favre in the first half of the year and rely on a "fresh" Adrian Peterson to carry them down the stretch?
3. Green Bay Packers
Head coach is decent with Mike McCarthy. He needs to step up his game though. Offensively they're fine. Rodgers gets the ball to his guys. I would like a better running game, though they average more rushing yards per game than the Vikings. I would like Rodgers to stop taking so many sacks! They have a sieve for an offensive line. It does nothing to stop the likes of Antwan Odom or Jared Allen.
Their defense is having some troubles adjusting to the 3-4 defense. I would have liked to keep the 4-3 to have Aaron Kampman more effective. However, they're adjusting. Their secondary thinks they're better than they are. Harris and Woodson might be good but Bigbie and Collins aren't great. (Though Collins is fast and tracked down Percy Harvin on a kick return in the second game versus the Vikings)
Clearly the Packers problems don't come from production or stats. They're good. They just have a horrible offensive line and their defense isn't meshing into the new system as well as they could. Also, it might result in some coaching mistakes.
This was going to be very short. But I kept writing.
Mark it down though. Count on a couple brutal losses for the Vikings though. Maybe even in the post season.
As it stands at the halfway point of the NFL season.
1. New England Patriots.
They still have a solid preparer in Bill Belichick. They have Tom Brady clicking again. The passing game is very solid spreading it around to Wes Welker, Randy Moss and others. The running game is satisfactory but they pass first. They have the #2 ranked D in terms of points allowed (PA's ol' "bend but don't break excuse."). Also, they have the 7th ranked D in terms of yards allowed a game.
2. Minnesota Vikings
They're always liable to lose a game with uber-conservative play caller Brad Childress at the helm. Statistically, they're not very good-anywhere! Shocking, I know. The Packers are ranked in front of right next to the Vikings in numerous categories that I looked at.
However, they've gotten spectacular play from Packers legendary quarterback Brett Favre. With the current stats this team has and someone other than Favre at QB this team would be 5-3 at the halfway point. Favre and the Vikes lead the league in team passing/passer rating. However, with their beast Adrian Peterson running the ball they're only 12th in the league in rushing yards per game. Not great, considering AP's goal was to surpass 2,000 yards rushing this year! Haha, that's where I will always stress realistic and maybe slightly more conservative goals for the rest of my life. Though he is still on pace for 1,568 yards and a great year it's been proven he can be slowed or neutralized as a result of two Packer games. In fact, this stud has only rushed for 100 yards twice this year.
The Vikings are relying too much on Brett Favre. At the half way point, his 106 passer rating will only digress, if not a ton, slightly. Meaning, that will result in L's in the standings.
What happened to the Vikings defense? Overall: 17th in yards allowed. 18th in yards allowed per game. 16th in points allowed and tied for 17th in points allowed per game. None of those stats are very impressive. They're 9th in 3rd down percentage allowing a first down 35% of the time. They're only +5 in the turnover ratio.
What say you about these facts?
Might I say the Vikings will slip a bit this second half of the year. Their schedule isn't considerably tough however.
Was it the Vikings plan to throw considerably more with Favre in the first half of the year and rely on a "fresh" Adrian Peterson to carry them down the stretch?
3. Green Bay Packers
Head coach is decent with Mike McCarthy. He needs to step up his game though. Offensively they're fine. Rodgers gets the ball to his guys. I would like a better running game, though they average more rushing yards per game than the Vikings. I would like Rodgers to stop taking so many sacks! They have a sieve for an offensive line. It does nothing to stop the likes of Antwan Odom or Jared Allen.
Their defense is having some troubles adjusting to the 3-4 defense. I would have liked to keep the 4-3 to have Aaron Kampman more effective. However, they're adjusting. Their secondary thinks they're better than they are. Harris and Woodson might be good but Bigbie and Collins aren't great. (Though Collins is fast and tracked down Percy Harvin on a kick return in the second game versus the Vikings)
Clearly the Packers problems don't come from production or stats. They're good. They just have a horrible offensive line and their defense isn't meshing into the new system as well as they could. Also, it might result in some coaching mistakes.
This was going to be very short. But I kept writing.
Mark it down though. Count on a couple brutal losses for the Vikings though. Maybe even in the post season.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
NYC Marathon Observations
The women started before the men.
Paula Radcliffe is tall and as known to many already, she has a gait that has alot of upper body movement.
Sometimes I really don't like NYC. Maybe because of the yankees, maybe because of the stress of driving through the city. But just watching Mayor Michael Bloomberg sharing the culture and the extremely diverse people of NYC really attracts me to the city.
I think it would be fun to run the NYC Marathon.
Not a real quick pace for the men's leaders. Ten miles in at 54:44 and Ryan Hall has taken his hat off.
Mile 11 55:10-Meb, Hall and many others.
Josh Moen is at the half way point at 1:06:46, putting him very close to the 2:14:30 that the Fantasy Games at Down the Backstretch predicted.
A bunch of relevant runners from around here. I ran against Matt Hooley and Josh Moen in college. Chris Lundstrom is a cross country coach around here-at Como Park Sr. High School.
Mile 17 and 18 were 4:33 and 4:37-significantly different from the 5:33 at mile 1 and 5:00 range in many of the first half dozen to dozen miles.
Mile 18-American's dropping out of the lead pack. Not what I wanted to see.
Paula Radcliffe at mile 22 still has a head bob. What a running style. Always seems gritty.
Meb is back up in the lead pack with 5-6 others.
Last mile the woman's winner went was the fastest. Wow.
Mile 24-4 American's in the top 10. Wow.
All I've got. Not going to polish this up. Great race to watch with Meb winning! First American win since what, 1982? Yeah, 27 years! Ryan Hall in 4th, Jorge Torres in 7th, Nick Arciniaga in 8th, Abdi Abdirahman in 9th, Jason Lehmkuhle in 10th.
Paula Radcliffe is tall and as known to many already, she has a gait that has alot of upper body movement.
Sometimes I really don't like NYC. Maybe because of the yankees, maybe because of the stress of driving through the city. But just watching Mayor Michael Bloomberg sharing the culture and the extremely diverse people of NYC really attracts me to the city.
I think it would be fun to run the NYC Marathon.
Not a real quick pace for the men's leaders. Ten miles in at 54:44 and Ryan Hall has taken his hat off.
Mile 11 55:10-Meb, Hall and many others.
Josh Moen is at the half way point at 1:06:46, putting him very close to the 2:14:30 that the Fantasy Games at Down the Backstretch predicted.
A bunch of relevant runners from around here. I ran against Matt Hooley and Josh Moen in college. Chris Lundstrom is a cross country coach around here-at Como Park Sr. High School.
Mile 17 and 18 were 4:33 and 4:37-significantly different from the 5:33 at mile 1 and 5:00 range in many of the first half dozen to dozen miles.
Mile 18-American's dropping out of the lead pack. Not what I wanted to see.
Paula Radcliffe at mile 22 still has a head bob. What a running style. Always seems gritty.
Meb is back up in the lead pack with 5-6 others.
Last mile the woman's winner went was the fastest. Wow.
Mile 24-4 American's in the top 10. Wow.
All I've got. Not going to polish this up. Great race to watch with Meb winning! First American win since what, 1982? Yeah, 27 years! Ryan Hall in 4th, Jorge Torres in 7th, Nick Arciniaga in 8th, Abdi Abdirahman in 9th, Jason Lehmkuhle in 10th.
What A Day!
Yesterday was a very enjoyable day as I did many very enjoyable activities.
My day began getting up lazily out of bed at 9 am before heading out on a run. I didn't know how long it was going to go but I wanted a decent day of running. I went down Hamline to Como Park, where I ran around the lake. However, I just happened to be running around the lake at the same time as a 5K heading in the same direction. So, I just cruised along all the way around the lake, making the 1.6 mile loop a little better effort with all of the 5kers around. I got to the pavilion and decided to stop and see who was going to win the race and in what time. Now, who do I see before the leaders come through? Dave Borner! His wife, Nikki, was running and we watched her finish 4th overall. It was fun chatting with him for a while. I then ran the opposite way around the lake for another 1.6 miles, getting myself up to six or seven miles. It was fun to run a couple miles with Nikki too, she's been running about 60 miles a week, working as a nurse and running very well.
It's always fun to run into Dave and Nikki and I just wish we got the chance to hang out more.
I then continued on my run home, but I ran the back loop of the MIAC CC championship course checking out the ground before the big races went off. I made it home and ended up gathering in 9.25 miles for my day, in 1:04 and change.
I showered, relaxed and then headed out to the MIAC Championships. Bethel's women finished 2nd and Marie Borner won by about 30 seconds. The guys finished with some disappointment, 7th overall. But Dan Greeno destroyed the guys race winning by more than 30 seconds as well.
All that time I got to run around with some good friends: Adam Erickson, Dave and Nikki Borner, Josh Tschetter, Peter Caldwell, Josh Otto, Hannah Carlson and so many more. Quite a fun time running around the course with Bethel running alumni.
After the race, Adam and I went to Caribou to get something warm in our hands and down our throats. It was fun to enjoy a coffee with Adam before getting to work and writing the articles for Bethel's athletics website.
Here's the men's article.
Here's the women's article.
So I went home and wrote the articles and enjoyed some of a quesadilla burger and watched the Phillies-yankees World Series with Katy and Paul while flipping back and forth to the USC-Oregon football game too.
All of that...and I still got an extra hour in the day with day light savings!
And now, I'm up at 7:30 am, writing a blog, waiting for Universalsports.com to air the NYC Marathon. I'm looking forward to watching Ryan Hall run, as well as some local runners from Team Minnesota USA.
What a day!
With more to come today!
My day began getting up lazily out of bed at 9 am before heading out on a run. I didn't know how long it was going to go but I wanted a decent day of running. I went down Hamline to Como Park, where I ran around the lake. However, I just happened to be running around the lake at the same time as a 5K heading in the same direction. So, I just cruised along all the way around the lake, making the 1.6 mile loop a little better effort with all of the 5kers around. I got to the pavilion and decided to stop and see who was going to win the race and in what time. Now, who do I see before the leaders come through? Dave Borner! His wife, Nikki, was running and we watched her finish 4th overall. It was fun chatting with him for a while. I then ran the opposite way around the lake for another 1.6 miles, getting myself up to six or seven miles. It was fun to run a couple miles with Nikki too, she's been running about 60 miles a week, working as a nurse and running very well.
It's always fun to run into Dave and Nikki and I just wish we got the chance to hang out more.
I then continued on my run home, but I ran the back loop of the MIAC CC championship course checking out the ground before the big races went off. I made it home and ended up gathering in 9.25 miles for my day, in 1:04 and change.
I showered, relaxed and then headed out to the MIAC Championships. Bethel's women finished 2nd and Marie Borner won by about 30 seconds. The guys finished with some disappointment, 7th overall. But Dan Greeno destroyed the guys race winning by more than 30 seconds as well.
All that time I got to run around with some good friends: Adam Erickson, Dave and Nikki Borner, Josh Tschetter, Peter Caldwell, Josh Otto, Hannah Carlson and so many more. Quite a fun time running around the course with Bethel running alumni.
After the race, Adam and I went to Caribou to get something warm in our hands and down our throats. It was fun to enjoy a coffee with Adam before getting to work and writing the articles for Bethel's athletics website.
Here's the men's article.
Here's the women's article.
So I went home and wrote the articles and enjoyed some of a quesadilla burger and watched the Phillies-yankees World Series with Katy and Paul while flipping back and forth to the USC-Oregon football game too.
All of that...and I still got an extra hour in the day with day light savings!
And now, I'm up at 7:30 am, writing a blog, waiting for Universalsports.com to air the NYC Marathon. I'm looking forward to watching Ryan Hall run, as well as some local runners from Team Minnesota USA.
What a day!
With more to come today!
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