photojournaling the weekend

Sarah came to visit Elizabeth and I this weekend which was really fun, and I decided that with all the recent picture activity on the blog we should also add to the excitement. Breanna, Karley is so damn cute! I showed the pictures to my mom today, and you can imagine how excited she was. She loves seeing all the pictures of the friends' children.

Anyway, on Friday night, after Sarah was arrived an hour later than expected due to road delays, we drank some red wine which I found to be quite good. It was Beauzeaux {bō-zō}, in case anyone is interested; it's a blend of five different grapes I believe.

Saturday morning came quickly as Sarah S. actually woke up at 7:30 AM! We had to get ready because we decided to go to the Mall of America to see the Easter Bunny, partake in face painting, the petting zoo, and general fun. Daniel, Katie, Isaiah, Matt and Anna joined us as well. While eating lunch our group got bigger because lo and behold Steve and Casey came because they were celebrating the birthday of one of Dustin and Emily Wirths' kids.

After an afternoon of relaxation and viewal of Knotting Hill, we started to think about how we were going to 'live-up' our Saturday night. While deciding where to go, Sarah made a spinach dip which all enjoyed (Note picture of Sarah and I enjoying the dip.)

A trip to Uptown was the answer to our Saturday night destination, and I decided that three glasses of wine before dinner would be a good idea. (Tip: If you know you're going out and don't want to drive, drink enough beforehand so that you are mildly inebriated and don't have to drive. That wasn't my original intent, but it worked:)

The authentic Pancho Villa restaurant was our destination and all who attended (Katie, Elizabeth, Sarah and myself) tried our hand at some Spanish. I tried to convince the waitress that it was supposed to be 2-for-1 margaritas, but she would not oblige. Needless to say we still had a good time. (Note picture below with Elizabeth and Katie having a good time)

Herkimer Pub and Brewery was our next stop in Uptown. Had Breanna been along we definitely would have gone to the Country Bar that was a few doors down, but we decided on the microbrewery. Elizabeth drank her white Russian like she was just coming out of being in the desert for weeks. She noted that drinking quickly through a straw is a good way to become intoxicated quickly. We thanked her for the reminder. I had a medium ale that was way too bitter which resulted in me not completely finishing my beer. (I know, Breanna, that's alcohol abuse.) Nonetheless, we had fun hanging out. (Note all of us having fun hanging out)

Future Roommates?

Breanna- 

  We are all so glad that everything turned out okay.  That must have been scary!  I'm sure your milk will come in soon and everything will get on track.  Karley is soooo cute!  Wow.   We'll be thinking of you as you get used to being a mom.  Its so great, isn't it?  Yet there is also a lot of weird body stuff that nobody ever talks about... :)  Hang in there!! :) 

   I thought it was funny when I saw your pictures today because Lauren has the same brown patterned onesie and of course, the same awesome hat.  So, I thought a posting of Karley's future roommate might be in order. :)

   I hope that everyone else is doing well.  Its hard not to think about Fargo/Moorhead, isn't it?  Annie decided to head home on Thursday night; after all that hard work of sandbaging, she got sort of freaked out by everything.  Turns out they closed campus shortly after she left anyway.  I hope it all holds together up there!  

    Anyway, have a nice weekend everyone!  

Life according to Breanna

Hi again,
So, we knew we were going to be induced on Monday, but we didn't tell anyone until we were on our way to the hospital on Monday morning. By the afternoon, we thought we would have a baby. WRONG! Instead, at about 4p.m. the doctor broke my water, and only then did the actual LABOR start. I was going to tough it out and go without drugs, but when I was checked at about 8p.m. and was told that I was still only dilated to 4, I got upset and felt like this was never going to end. The doctor said it could easily go into all hours of the night and that we should rest. Well, at about 9:30 or so, I decided I would never be able to rest unless I had some drugs. And, I thought as long as I was having drugs, I may as well get the good stuff. So, I had an epidural and it was FABULOUS...within minutes, I felt a lot better. I couldn't feel anything below my waist...weird. Then, since I was more comfortable, it was easier to rest. But, after only about an hour of having the epidural in, the nurse came to check and said...SURPRISE, it is time to push! I couldn't believe it. I had gone from 4-10 in like an hour. CRAZY. After only 40 minutes of pushing, we had our pretty little girl.

But...about a half hour after she was born, I started to feel terrible and the doctor started saying things like, "Get her some oxygen," "Call the blood bank," etc. I had no idea what was going on, but Chris had to take Karley and sit in the corner while all the docs and nurses paid attention to me and not them. It turns out that I had hemorraged...lost lots and lots of blood in a short time. But, they did not have to give me any extra blood, my blood pressure came back up shortly, and things turned out to be just fine. I am sure it was much scarier for Chris than it was for me. The downside of all of this, is that it just makes recovery a little longer since I need to heal myself before I can take care of a baby. So, my milk has not come in yet, which is frustrating.

Otherwise, Chris has been amazing. He hardly left my side while we were at the hospital. I had to make him go get food...he did not want to leave us...cute. He has also been SUPER helpful since he has to help me supplement feedings and stuff he has had to be up each time I get up. Plus, yesterday, he gave me lots of nap time because I needed it!

Overall...life is good. This is a crazy transition, but it is well worth it!
Here are a few new pictures...

Love,
Breanna

It's a GIRL!

Hello friends!
I will just share our exciting news quickly...we had a beautiful baby girl with a ton of hair at 12:31 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24th! Her name is Karley LouAnn (mixture of Glenda and my mom's middle names). We love her a lot and are having fun getting to know her. We just got home today, but I will put up some pictures later. I actually don't have many pictures yet. She was 8 lbs. 2 ounces and 21 inches long. There were some complications after delivery with me, but I am ok now. Fill you in more later.
Love you all!
Breanna

Bummer

I was already to post on one of our member's exciting news until I read Elizabeth's post and said it's not our news to share. Bummer! I guess I can wait until the member is able to share and I won't spill the beans. I guess it gives me all the more time to come up with something good in response to her post.

Unlike Elizabeth, I don't have such exciting news to report. School, school, school. Although in a couple weeks I will find out where my internship will be next year. The group is deciding this week and I've been really antsy to find out. I simply hope I get one of my top three selections in which case I will welcome visitors to either NH, CO, or AZ.

In other news, my mom was awarded a study seminar to Cambridge, England this summer to study the American Civil Rights Movement. I'm really proud of her as it was a competitive program and to be awarded is highly admirable. She thinks I should come over either before or after her seminar to travel with her, so I am heavily considering that.

Alright, I've got to be to work shortly and I'm not even ready. I'm looking forward to Sarah Schreier going to visit this weekend! Yippee!!

stupid red river...

Hello bloggers! Well, I'm frequently checking the EGF newspaper site and the river levels...all I need is incredibly sore muscles and I feel like its 1997 (or 2001) all over again! I can't help but worry about my Dad's house and my beautiful piano that is sitting in it. 1997 flood took the grand piano (Steinway 1924) that my mom left me, and my dad replaced it with the piano that is in his house now. It would be tragic to have that damn river destroy 2 pianos. We'll see! The Grand cities are in much better shape than our beloved F-M area...but this blizzard is not helping things!

On a positive note--MICAELA IS POTTY TRAINING! It started Sunday night with great success, yesterday and today she's been accident free!!!! She was a little late blooming on this development and I started to think it would never happen! But, our recent trip up north and a few too many leaky diapers made us both ready to really commit to it. And I'm glad I didn't push it (too much!) before because its really been no big deal. She even said tonight, "I'm going to go by myself and close the door...because its a private thing" she may have heard that from me :) Micaela also got a hair cut tonight (see picture)

2 other pieces of news--1) April 8th I will become a Damico again! Assuming the judge is nice and grants this...so remember us in your prayers that day! 2) I've decided to attempt to add the Master of Sacred Music onto my studies here! I've been thinking about it all year, and there is a window of opportunity so I'm going to jump through it. I still have to audition and they could turn me down...so its no for sure thing, but it makes me pretty damn excited about next year. Just in case you're wondering-it means being on Luther's campus for the next 2 years, and then I would go to internship.

I'm so thrilled about the newest addition to our clan...however, its not my news to share, so I won't, but I can't not mention it because I'm REALLY EXCITED :)

Ok-I have a 10 minute oral report to prepare for...which is due in 13 hours, which I haven't started. I'm such a good student! Hugs to you all! :)

Awesome video!

I love the video! It made me smile. And, holy cow, does Lauren look like her big sister! It's so hard to believe she's that big already!

I also just wanted to say that even though I don't "blog" very often, I love catching up on what's going on in everyone's lives. It really makes me smile to read what everyone posts, and thank you, everyone for that!

Those of you who are on facebook, I just posted pictures of Addyson's 1st birthday. It's so hard to believe that she's 1 already. It's been the most tiring, exciting, and amazing year of my life!

Have a good night, everyone!

look at this!

beward the ides of March...

Who can name the source of that quote? (Breanna should probably be disqualified from this question). Mid-March--how did THAT happen? We're doing well here, just sticking to the routine and surviving the semester is the goal...so far, so good. I'm heading to Grand Forks next weekend to preach at Calvary, I'm excited to get away and to see my friends up there. We'll also spend a night w/ Daniel and gang in Fargo--I haven't seen Isaiah since December! So, I'll be sure to posts new pics of the kiddos. Micaela is excited because she says "I won't be sad anymore if we go to Isaiah's house and then I won't dream" apparently Isaiah has been in Micaela's dreams a lot. Micaela is also experimenting with funny sayings, these 2 are just from this morning

#1:(as I help her down from a snow bank): Thanks for saving my life Mom. You really saved my life.
#2: (I took her hand as we crossed an icy patch): I really appreciate that Mom, since I've been slipping on the ice all day. I really appreciate that.

Here is something you can all be jealous about! Miss Lindsey is flying into the Twin Cities tonight, so I get to pick her up and then we'll come home to Micaela and Scanders! :) I love a good mini-festival whenever we can make one happen.

So today I was able to share with my Dad about CSAs--Community Supported Agriculture. You probably all know all about this, but I heard about it for the first time while in Mexico. Its a great way to get seasonal produce from LOCAL farmers and support your community. You then also take yourself out of the business for shipping produce all around the world for a lot of $$ and supporting mega-producers that treat employees and the LAND poorly. Here is a great website to check out for more info--no, its not cheap, but everyone I know that is a part of one HIGHLY recommends it, apparently the quality of the produce is hard to compare with what we get at the grocery store. www.localharvest.org

Ok, I'm trying to fight off a little sore throat...so I'm going to crash before the girl wakes up. Breanna-I hope you go into labor soon! :) Hang in there! Eat spicy food and have lots of sex...it didn't actually make Micaela come any sooner, but makes the time go by faster :)

I did it at the right time

So, today I began teaching "Dancing Queen" to my 7th grade choir.  Yes.  They bug me every day about doing music from Mama Mia.  I found Dancing Queen in our files of music, and began teaching it today.    I admit that I really only skimmed through this music before handing it out to the kids, due to lack of time and feeling pretty comfortable with the song.  Lo and behold, as we are jamming this morning, the much loved piano part came up, and UNLIKE in our blog video, I played the "cool" part JUST RIGHT!  :)  I wanted to shout for joy and dance, but my students already think I'm a pretty big dork, so I refrained.  It was fun, though! :)

   

So....the 13th.  Would be super fun!  If I could maybe fit something in on that Sunday??  David and I have already committed to doing the music for Eric, my good friend from camp's wedding, which is on that Saturday.  (I realize the grammar in that sentence is horrid...I don't care) The good news is that it is at camp, so I will be in MN, and possibly able to make it somewhere on Sunday.  Otherwise, I may have to miss the Festival this year! :(  I knew when I told Eric we could play that this was probably going to infringe on the sacred weekend, but he really is one of my best friends from camp--we were PD's together that summer after we graduated, and I couldn't say no.  I'm sorry.  :(   I'm hopeful something will work out!  

Breanna, I have been thinking about you lots!  I hope that you're hanging in there.  It is so weird to know what is coming, isn't it?  I thought that the waiting at the end was the worst!  Although, I must say that it was a little worse the second time because I knew what I was getting into.  The first time you're blissfully unaware and everything is new and exciting, even if it hurts. The epidural saved me this time. :)  It will all be worth it though!! :)  You'll see.  And you'll be a great mom! 

Everyone else, I hope you are well!!  We are surviving here in Green Bay.  We've been trying not to get wrapped up in the drama at our work--both of us.   Long story that I hope will be wrapped up in the next few weeks.  Lauren is growing so fast...you'll have to check our severtsons blog to see her.  She is HUGE.  Tonight at Julia's pre-school-screening appointment, someone (who is around kids a lot!) guessed she was 5 or 6 months old.  Or 3 months.  Close.  :) She is a little chunky, just like her sister was.   :)  Other than being exhausted and wishing I had more time to myself, things are a lot easier now that we have Lauren figured out a little more.  She is a very happy baby when she is fed, which makes life pretty easy.  I still hate going to the grocery store with them both, but I suppose I'll live. :)

Here's to WARMER WEATHER!! :)

Love you guys,

  M.

Good question

Is this when people are going to come to Mankato/Lake Crystal to frolick with some of their friends? There would be beverages offered (both alcoholic and non...), we could grill out on the deck, take a walk around the farms, or check out Minneopa State Park. It sounds like fun to me.

I can't promise anything yet. Between Chris and I we are in two weddings, so depending on when bachelor/bachelorette parties are, we may not be available. But, hopefully we will find these things out soon!

Hope all is good. Hey, I will have a baby by June 13. I will probably have a baby within the next two weeks. CRAZY!

June 13,2009

Can anyone guess why I entitled this post with a specific date? Put your thinking caps on and take a stab at reading my mind! Don't forget to post your guesses. (Sorry Elizabeth, you can't answer because you already know the answer, but creative entries are encouraged.)

aren't you jealous?

Elizabeth and I are sitting next to one another at the library being very studious. Aren't the rest of you jealous? I'm reading about the feminist critique of Genesis 34 (the rape of Dinah) and she's reading about the hymn, "What Wondrous Love is This."

How are the rest of you keeping your brains engaged so they do not turn to mush?

Speechless

I've got nothing for a caption for that picture, and I have looked at it a few times trying to think of something clever. What really was happening? Did you find out some terrible news? Was there something really gross on tv that you couldn't keep your eyes away from?

How is everyone doing? I am doing fine. I just had another shower yesterday in St. James. It was fun. We got a lot more stuff! I still don't feel ready. Looking at some of the stuff made me even more nervous because I don't know what to do with some of the items... I guess I have a few weeks to figure that out.

That is about all around here....how about where you are?