Fabulous!

Wow, I am glad that we all had great summers and were able to see each other at the beginning of it before we all got busy (yeah, apparently some people got busy...Lindsey....congrats!). Sarah B., you are not the only one without a little one. There is Sarah A. (Oh yeah, and me too). However, it turns out that when boys get sick, they turn into GIANT babies. Funny.
Oh my, where did the summer go? I went to Duluth, went to New York, went to Walker twice and have spent a lot of time hanging out and painting, decorating, putting wedding gifts away, etc. Also, one week this summer Laryssa came to stay with us and it was great. I was a little nervous because she is sort of high maintenance, but we had a fabulous time. She was sad to leave and told us that she wanted to live with us. Chris's response: "You will need to start doing some chores. But, that would be OK." Funny guy. Laryssa does not like chores or working in general, so that maybe made leaving easier. She was so funny, she kept saying: "You have a dog, you cook, and you have a house? This is SO weird."
I started school on Monday and I am not moving too quickly.
It is GREAT to hear from you all.
Love you!!

I can't take credit for the pirate joke-its from the show I just did! That means it came from my Dad's sick-o brain.

These Prairie Dogs are from the Red River Valley Zoo where Micaela and I went with Daniel, Katie and Isaiah last week. I thought of you all and had to put up this pic.

Julia looks so GROWN UP! She has really changed in the last couple of months. Micaela hasn't gotten out of her crib, but tried to swing a leg over a couple of times. I'm looking into toddler beds for the very near future!

GREAT to hear from everyone!
e

Am I the only one LEFT?!

HaHaHaHaHa!! Ok, so SERIOUSLY, ladies..am I the ONLY ONE LEFT without any beautiful children?!?! Yes, yes, I know I am not the only one...but WHOA! How Exciting! Besides which, all of your children are FAR more beautiful than mine will EVER be...which also brings me to ONE more detail...Amanda Shulstad/Backstrom had her baby TODAY!!!! Let's all take the time to guess....Yep, that's right.....ANOTHER GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOO!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I can't even begin to tell you how much time I've spent giggling about this in the last few hours since I found out...WAY TOO MUCH!!!!! :):):):) Her name is Grace Esther..she was born at about 2pm this afternoon..weighed 8lbs1oz (if you'll remember, Amanda's due date wasn't actually until Sept. 9th, but her doctor recommended she be induced early because of the size of her last baby -- Marie was 10lbs2oz -- and so she was induced this morning and here we are!!!)...and was 21" long. I, on the other hand, still have no children and have no plans to have children any time soon!!

My summer has been very busy as well...Grease was one of the most amazing and fun things I've ever been a part of...it was SO MUCH FUN and I wouldn't trade the experiences I had for anything in the world. I made some new friends and realized how much I had truly missed being involved in music/theatre since I've been done with college. It was the BEST!!! (Yes, maybe the BESTEST part was kissing the 17-year old playing Danny Zuko...OR, it could have just been the show itself..!! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!! :))

Anyway, other than that...not a whole lot new here..I must say, though, that I am truly grateful to be able to keep up with all of you on this wonderful blog..it is great to hear everything going on in everyone's lives!

Love you all!
SB

Hi ladies!
So good to see some more postings. I miss all of you! :)
Today I had my first "official" day of work. We were thrown a plethora of information that I will never remember; from 403b plans to what to do if you're sick. Fun times!! I did meet a few nice people, though, so that was fun. :)
Things here are fine otherwise. Julia is still keeping us busy. She figured out one day (in a fit of rage) that she could get out of her crib. Hmmm.. Fun times for us! So far she hasn't succeeded again, but I am constantly listening for her now when I'm sleeping. I'm fairly certain I woke up about 6 times last night. Nice. What if she falls on her head? It makes me too nervous. I need to relax. I know.
David is at his first day of school today too. I am hoping that he meets some fun, nice people. He's been driving me a little nuts. He's worried and doesn't know exactly how to get started, all of which I'm sure is normal, but its a little annoying after a few days. I think he just needs to get going to he can actually do something instead of just thinking about it. He is probably driving me nuts because I fear I'm exactly the same. Hard to admit, but true. :)
I wish I had some funny jokes like the other funny pre/current Lutherites. That pirate joke was a serious hit with me. Ha ha ha ha ha
So, I've nothing of interest to say. I miss you all terribly. If you're ever in the neighborhood (its only a quick 5 hours from the cities--I'd say that's in the neighborhood, right?:) we'd love to see you. Otherwise, I am thankful for this blog. I am so blog addicted that I set one up for our families about Julia. My Mom is especially sad about not being able to see Julia, so I try... I set it up at: severtsons@blogspot.com Lots of cute pics, and too much information about Julia, but that's what the grandparents want.
Okay, I'm blabbling. I would love to hear from more of you--Becca? Amy? Breanna?? (are you hooked up yet? Come on newlywed--we miss you!!) Anyone? Bueller?

Love
MJ

ha ha ha ha ha....

A pirate comes walking a bar with a steering wheel stuffed down his pants. Bartender looks at him and says,

"Excuse me mister pirate sir, why do you have a steering wheel stuffed down the front of your pants??"

The pirate says, “Aargh! It’s driven me nuts!!”

Welcome baby Laux! YAY! Any news on Manda's baby?

one more guest for the F'ing festival

Hi, ladies! I've really enjoyed the jokes and the recent pictures! Keep em coming!

Also, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm brining an extra guest to the F'ing festival next year. Ryan and I are having a baby! We are due March 10 (I think, I haven't been to the doctor yet). We're super excited (and nervous, anxious, scared and feeling a little crazy all at the same time!).

Take care, everyone!
Lindsey

Laugh with me

I've been doing a little bit of cleaning today and came across a few good jokes that I wanted to share with you.

1. Why do men like BMWs? They can spell it
2. What do you say to a hitchhiker with one leg? Hop in
3. Why was the tomato red? Because it saw the salad dressing.
4. Aardvark – Aardvark a million miles for one of your smiles (I tried that pick-up line the other night…it didn’t go so well ;)
5. Diploma – Diploma is here to fix the sink
6. Omelet – Omelet smarter than I look!

7. Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Isabel
Isabel not working

8. Knock knock
Who’s there?
Amos
Amos behavin’ – saving all my love for you

9. Dewey – Dewey have to do these jokes all night?

Which one is your favorite? Or, if you think you have anything better, please post.

One day left

Tomorrow is our last day of Greek. Right now I'm trying to finish the rest of our final, but am running out of steam. Perhaps if the sun decided to show itself that would make things a little easier. Don't get me wrong, the moisture is needed and I'm thankful it's not detrimental in my area, but if could wish, I would wish to have the rainy days a little more spread out and not concentrated into one week of summer.

There was a sense of giddyness and accomplishment at class today when our professor reminded us of the end being right around the corner and when a classmate handed out t-shirts that read: Behold, it's no longer Greek to me. Of course, it's written in Greek so that's extra sassy.

I spoke with Mandy and Julia (yes, she said Hi Sarah and bye which was pretty darn cute) and that was quite fun. It made me wish that I would have been able to visit you while you were in Maine...sounded like you had a good time.

Okay, I suppose I shouldn't put it off any longer. Afterall, if I want to enjoy happy hour at 9 pm tonight, it would be a lot happier with my final ready to turn in.

Leaks, Spills and Drainage

Hello everyone-I echo Mandy's sentiments. We've had a nice summer off, but its time to get blogging people!

I am very sad summer is coming to an end-I know its not totally gone, but still! What am I going to do with a very active child when winter comes? She is currently OBSESSED with Finding Nemo, so if we're in the house I hear "wanna watch? wanna watch" 800 times until I give in or we leave the house.

July was all consumed by the dinner theater production I did. I loved being on stage again and the cast and pit was so talented, it was very fun! However, paying for nightly babysitters was less than fun. I'll have to weigh my circumstances better next time.

August has been pretty chill-yay! We go for bike rides a lot, go to the park, or mall playland if its raining. Like I said, being at our house in not an option-so we've gotten creative. I'm going camping Labor Day weekend with some High School friends, and really looking forward to that.

I've finished by Luther online class-whew! And, I've decided to attend Luther Seminary full time next fall! I'm SO EXCITED about this! I'm going to do through their Sacred Music program and live on campus-which means we'll be with Scanders for a whole year! I'm sad to leave my church-but that's about it. Being in GF has been healing, and easy...now I feel strong enough for another adventure! So, here we go. In order to save some serious $$ for our seminary years, I will live in my Dad's basement for 10 months before we move down to the cities. He is so gracious to offer, I'm a littler nervous, but I'm sure we'll all survive.

Here is a list of the spills, leaks or drainage that have happened today-after reading you'll all be jealous of my glamorous lifestyle-I know it.
1. Juice on love seat
2. Micaela's nose
3. Q-tips all over the bathroom.
4. Micaela was at work with me for a few hours and colored marker all over a table cloth in the choir room...yet to be cleaned.
5. I deliver groceries for an organization in town to people that need that service-I had a leaky carton of milk all over my car...down the apt. hallway...into this lady's kitchen!
6. Micaela's nose
7. Leaky diaper on love seat (even though I had JUST changed her)
8. As I'm changing her leaky diaper Micaela puked all over herself and my bed.
9. Micaela's nose (this was really an all week occurance).

come on peeps

Just got hooked up--have moved, unpacked more, done LOTS of stuff...no posts yet!! Where is everyone??

I'm baaaacckkk!

Hi dudes-
How is everyone doing? What a slow summer on the blog, my goodness!! I thought I'd really be missing out and here there wasn't much to read. Well, we better get back to business now, okay? So, seriously, HOW IS EVERYONE? :)

Jules and I flew back from Maine on Monday. After a holy mess of a plane trip out there, we had a wonderfully uneventful trip home. Julia did puke one time, but it wasn't so bad. :) David is driving home with our friend, Micah, and will be here around Sat. or Sun. And then, finally, we can figure out our new place!

Right now, we are still in Granite Falls with the 'rents. We're going to make the trip to Green Bay tomorrow, though. I hope that it goes okay... 7 hours in a car might be a little much for Julia. Maybe I should buy some ear plugs. Ha.

While getting ready to land in Minneapolis, we flew over the collapsed bridge. Man, what a mess. It was hard being away from tv and Internet when that happened. I'm glad to hear that you are okay, Sarah. What a freak accident! I hope that they find those missing people soon. What a sad thing to have to wait for!

Maine was so beautiful. You would all love it. If you ever get the chance, I would highly recommend a trip to Acadia National Park. It is incredible. For those camping enthusiasts among you, a week or so hiking and camping there would be like chocolate for your soul. It is soooo beautiful. The coast is great, too. We got to visit a few really nice beaches, saw some great lighthouses, and also saw some cute towns. All in all, it was a fun place to be.

I think Julia is going to be a little mixed up for awhile about where her home is. Poor thing; she's been jostled around to three different homes this summer! Hopefully she'll be okay--I'm sure that we'll go through some adjustment tantrums... fun times. :)

I'm not sure when we'll be getting hooked up to the internet in DePere, but as soon as we have it I'll check back and I EXPECT to see lots of entries from you all!! Seriously!!! :)

Miss you all lots!

Mandy

I'm okay

I was working tonight when the bridge collapsed so I am thankful that I'm okay. Also, all of my family is accounted for. It's pretty surreal...I drive that road a couple times a week at least.