yikes...where has time gone?

so, it's been a while since my last post! time has gotten away but lots has happened since august 8. we went to minneapolis and enjoyed a great weekend there with jill and jay. shopping, eating, shopping, and then a little more shopping--the guys loved every minute of it and so did jill and i! i have posted some of the pictures of the bridge collapse. we couldn't get too close but it was still a sight to see and a little eery. after that, we spent some time in sd relaxing with our families. we got some expert tips on how to make dumplings from Na. oh, yum, they are soo good. i find myself craving them now. too bad they're so much work. maybe one of these days i'll tackle that. when joe and i returned, i started painting again. this time, the bathroom got a small makeover. i'm thinking that i'll never wallpaper because i'm a little sick of ripping it off! anyway, i also included some pictures of that. we also got our new table and chairs that we had ordered. i really like it! joe also got our grill put together...you wouldn't think a grill could have so many pieces! thankfully, joe put the grill together in the correct order and we only had a small scare when he turned it on for the first time. lol. i had to laugh when i saw him jump back. he has already made some tastey burgers and chicken. we are hosting joe's brother and friend for a couple days. that's exciting. joe has created quite the basement so i think that's where they will be spending most of the time! i guess that's all for now. i promise it won't be this long between posts again! oh, and congrats to jill and jay on selling their house! whew hoo!

i almost forgot about the bird feeder...

so, maybe joe and i have turned into old people but we like to watch the little creatures that live in and around our yard now. we have just been used to looking out to cement because that was our view in our last apartment. anywho (as granny would say), my mom bought us a bird feeder and we finally put it up. we were about to give up on it because it seemed the feeder never had any visitors but finally, i think the creatures have figured it out. it's not just a "bird" feeder anymore. this squirrel must have been hungry because he hung upside down for a long time! there was also a cardinal that came to visit later!

Check out my Slide Show!

well, joe and i are mostly settled here in davenport thanks to lots of help from our wonderful families! we are so excited about living in a house--no more apartments! we've been busy unpacking and also buying new things to furnish it! how fun it is! my mom came down for five days and helped me paint the living room and kitchen. it looks so much better. today was an exciting day for joe and i. my project desk from pier one arrived (as seen here--just got it put together so i still need to unpack my desk accessories) and joe bought a new weight station. sorry, no picture of that because it wouldn't fit in the blazer so the store has to take it apart and we will pick it up in a couple weeks. we also purchased a grill today. we are looking forward to lots of good food and cold beverages on our deck. we are off to jill and jay's tomorrow as we are taking a trip together to the twin cities this weekend...mall of america, IKEA, joe's crab shack...we can't wait!

i am very new to this blogging experience so i will try to post more pictures in the future.