fun times

i was able to get away after a conference for work in des moines and go home to sd. yay! i got to spend time with my favorite people! here is a picture of our pumpkin carving on saturday...the kids' interest really didn't last that long but the adults had fun carving away!

trip to sd

over labor day weekend, i went back to sd for brock and na's wedding reception. it was a lot of fun but of course, the time went way too fast! it was great seeing my extended family! congratulations brock and na! i am so happy to have na in our family!

summer summary

so, surprise surprise, it's taken me over a month to post more pictures! i know some people get frustrated with no recent posts (sorry, na!) :)

i thought i would include pictures from the highlight of my nyc trip and summarize the rest of our summer! i still can't believe it's coming to an end...:(

so, the highlight of my new york trip was...

meeting giada de laurentiis at the today show! i am a huge fan of the food network and very much enjoy giada's shows. it just happened to be her first day back from maternity leave! what are the chances? so, i thought i was lucky enough just to see her but i decided to be loud and keep yelling her name. at first she made eye contact with me and said she didn't have time to talk right now but she would return after the next segment. so, as soon as she was done, i started yelling for her again (i'm so persistent!) and she started coming my way! i got to shake her hand and she signed her name on the script that the anchors used earlier in the show. i was completely starstruck! of course, all of this happened so fast and joe was held responsible for taking a picture. let's just say it's still a sore subject here in the stolp home. so, here's a picture of giada and here's a picture of me with the autograph!

the week after we got back from nyc, i went to chicago with a friend from work for a shopping trip. i had never been in the actual city, just the suburbs. besides the rain, i enjoyed my time downtown. i actually really liked the city. and of course, the shopping was good too. here is a picture of us at the grand lux cafe (yummy!!) right off of michigan avenue.






july 8th was our 2nd anniversary so we had a nice dinner out at a local restaurant that we love. here is our anniversary dinner picture.





joe also recently found out that he passed the exam that he took in philadelphia. we are very excited! step two written exams are next in september. joe is busy studying for those and hopefully all goes well.

i also had a chance to visit sd for a while. i had lots of fun with family and friends. joe's mom and dad had a mini-stay here in august as well. it was fun to catch up with them. we always realize just how much we love our families when we spend time with them and we realize how much we miss them when we part. hopefully, we'll be closer to friends and family in a few short years!

summer time...

i can't believe it's been almost two months since i have posted anything. this summer has been busy with lots of fun stuff! joe recently took an exam in philly and so we decided that was a great excuse to go to new york city and celebrate our anniversary. it was a full three days in new york but we managed to see everything that was on our list. i posted some pictures and will post more later because i think blogger isn't able to handle them all at one time.

this picture is of george washington's house at valley forge near philadelphia. valley forge was the site of the camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.

this is shea stadium, home of the mets. this game was part of the subway series (yankees vs. mets) and the rivalry was evident! this proved to be a LONG game with a 53 minute rain delay.

the empire state building

a random fountain in nyc...so many parks!

joe and i ate at big wong in chinatown...others recommended this little place. yummy!

this is ground zero...an eery place to visit.

tiffany and co., where joe bought me two anniversary charms for my bracelet. :) i heart tiffany and co.

joe and i at central park. t - 2 minutes before it downpoured (i had my umbrella ready as you can see).

times square at night...a pretty impressive and crazy place!

top of the rock (rockefeller center)

i will post more pictures and stories soon...including my highlight of the trip!

random

joe and i wanted to make the area in front of our house look a little nicer. there are several shrubs out there and some have just gotten out of hand and are totally overgrown. as i was "pruning," joe asked if i wanted to get rid of one of the rediculously large shrubs. i said sure and was amazed at what i saw happen next...joe pulled up the ENTIRE thing with his hands...all in one big pull! so, here's a picture of joe and his handywork!

friends

so, this afternoon as i was cleaning around the house, i could hear a weird noise coming from the living room. i figured chloe had gotten into something. i came out and found chloe sitting in front of the door "talking." i looked out and saw a rabbit all sprawled out in our front lawn close to the door. both chloe and "thumper" just kept looking at each other--thumper kept sniffing and staring...chloe kept talking and staring. i just had to take a picture of the two friends.

live from the quad cities...it's saturday night...

on saturday night, joe and i and another couple went to see seth meyers who is one of the weekend update hosts on saturday night live. he is hilarious! it was only a little over an hour long but it was great fun. the guy sitting next to me was a writer for the college paper so he wanted to interview me about the event. i asked if he wanted a student's response and he said yes. i informed him that i worked there and was not a student. i guess he didn't care and asked me questions anyway.