A I R P O R T

Last night, most unfortunately, Mitch and I got stuck in the airport FOREVER. Seriously forever. In fact, I was losing hope that we were never going to get home.

Here is a little timeline of our afternoon yesterday:

3:20 pm: Arrive at the airport for our 4:12 pm flight.

4:12 pm: No flight.

5:00 pm: They inform us our flight will leave at 7:00 pm. I am thinking to myself, "This is great, at least we will make our connection in Minneapolis."

6:15 pm: I have been waiting in line for 30 minutes to find our if we can get on another flight. And oh, yes we can get on another flight on Monday at 4:12 pm. Yea, right.

7:15 pm: Our flight is supposed to leave at 8:00 pm. I am losing any sort of hope for making our layover.

8:15 pm: Mitch and I enjoyed a McFlurry, Oreo of course.

9:15 pm: Still waiting. still waiting.

9:20 pm: Our flight has been changed to 10:07 pm. I can deal with this. We will just sleep over in Minneapolis.

10:05 pm: Our flight is changed to 10:47 pm.

10:45 pm: They board the plane.

10:46 pm: They un-board the plane. The crew timed out. Awesome.

10:48 pm: They inform us, that they THINK they will be able to get a crew to take us at 1:00 am.

11:00 pm: The fire alarm goes off. Most annoying sound.

11:15 pm: The fire alarm goes off again. The sound is still annoying.

12:00 am: The fire alarm goes off again. We are still waiting ever so patiently for a crew.

12:45 am: The crew arrives. There are cheers.

1:30 am: We board and leave.

3:00 am: We arrive in Minneapolis.

3:08 am: Mitch and I sleep like homeless people on the airport floor. We also find our there are no FLIGHTS to Rochester until 9:35 pm. Again, yea right.

6:0o am: Wake up. I really love waking up in the airport.

6:48 am: We take a shuttle to Rochester as the snow welcomes us.

8:30 am: Arrive at our home, sweet home.

Happy Monday.

Our Christmas Tree

Mitch and I decided to go way out and get an awesome tree the year....

Don't you love our tree?

Mitch picked it out and I decorated it.

At least it's real.

And oh, if you look close enough you can see silver sparkles all over the tree.

I decided this year to be crafty with our Christmas decorations. Let's just say that I feel like all I have been doing is crafts. (I am not a crafty person.)

1. I made these Christmas trees with Megan, she is much better at this stuff than me. We had an excellent time making these trees as we sat, talked and drank our Diet Dr. Peppers.

You can find the link to make these trees here.

2. I was way in over my head when I made this wreath. I wish that I had a better picture, the wreathe shines in the sun. Next time I will make sure to use only the hot glue gun and no wire.

3. The table runner. All I have to say, is I am so glad it's finished. Our front room has been looking like a disaster for the last three weeks. I found out how to make this table runner here.

4. Lastly, I bought these large ornaments at Ikea. I think I got 7 for $5. They look great hanging from our lights.

Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope your decorating is goes well.

Thanksgiving

(Isn't William so so so so cute?)

I have some catching up to do. First, over Thanksgiving we went to visit Sarah, Ben & Co. We were so happy to visit them, it's such a comfort to have good friends in the midwest. Sarah and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner and were so exhausted by the time we ate. It was so much fun. Thank you to Sarah and Ben for such a fun visit.

Happy One Year to Us.

Happy Anniversary to Mitch.

I love Mitch more and more every day. How lucky I am.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Guess Who Came to Visit?

If you guessed Rach and Ash, you are correct. Rach and Ash came on Monday to visit, it was a complete surprise. Mitch was in on the entire plan. I was so happy to have them here. They left tonight and I was sad the second Mitch and I dropped them off at the airport. We had a great time. We went to Chicago to see Rach's new niece, went to St. Paul/Minneapolis, went to Oxbow Zoo with Megan and co., Rachel took a billion pictures and I showed them around wonderful Rochester.

I already miss them.

Happy weekend.

E L E C T I O N D A Y!

Oh, how I love ELECTION DAY!

Are we all not dying to know if the Republicans will take back the House?

Or if the Republicans will also take back the Senate?

Or if the write-in Republican incumbent current Governor will win in Alaska?

What about Florida?

What about Senator Harry Reid's race?

We all know what will happen in Utah. The Republicans will win and we will have a Tea Party Senator.

What about who will be the next Governor in Minnesota? (My new home.)

It brings me such great joy to know that I can get out and vote and hopefully make a difference. I hope you all do the same.

Happy Elections Eve.

Happy Halloween!

We had a little Halloween party last night with some friends. We carved pumpkins, Mitch and I carved a Jazz pumpkin for the third year in a row, and ate delicious treats. It was great. Here are the costumes:

Mitch was email (the letter E + he is a male) & I was a clock.

Nate & Briana

Mike & Andrea

Cute cute Ava. We are so glad that the Kunz are back.

Shad & Audrey

Happy Halloween! I hope that your Halloween is very scary.

Utah Jazz

Dear Utah Jazz,

Please have a good season, not for me but for my husband and all the Crookston cousins. When you lose, my husband's heart breaks into a million pieces. He gets anxiety and can't focus/talk/think about anything else.

I love you.

Love,

The wife of your biggest fan.

Sulli

Meet Sulli. We hang out Monday-Friday in the mornings. He is my partner is crime. He is so cute. He loves to share my cereal with me and make sure all the doors are shut. He goes on long walks with me and doesn't even complain, he usually ends up taking a short nap. Sulli is the greatest.

Love this song.

I choreographed a dance to this song tonight. I love this song. I found the song/video here. It makes me happy and makes me want to stay young always.

Loves,

sj

C H A S E

This weekend my brother Chase was here. We picked him up Monday in Chicago on our way home and he drove back to Rochester with us. We had lots of fun with Chase and we were very sad to see him leave yesterday, we already miss him.

While Chase was here we went to Wabasha and had a picnic, went on a hike, went to Oxbow Zoo, explored Mayo, went to the Plummer House, went to Punch (I love punch), went to Brasa, went to the Mall of America and played miniature golf. We had loads of fun.

Chase and I went to the city of Wabasha and found this pumpkin that weighed over 1,000 pounds.

Here is Chase standing in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. The Cathedral is amazing and beautiful.

This is the only picture we took the entire time with the three of us. Can you tell Mitch is holding the camera?

Thanks for coming Chase, we loved having you here!

Mitch + Sarah + Chicago = Chicago Marathon

(Jonny, Matt, Mitch, me, Braden & Kimball)

10.10.10

Mitch and I ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday with Jonny, Matt, Braden and Kimball. Everyone finished and did an amazing job. Mitch was awesome, he kept me going until the end. 38,000 people ran the marathon and there were 1.7 million spectators, the spectators were on every single block. It was awesome. I am so HAPPY it's over.

Here's a little break down of the marathon, my thought process:

Mile 1-6: "Marathons are awesome. I love running. I want to complete my goal to run 50 marathons in my life."

Mile 8: "I hate running, I never want to run again. I am soooo thirsty."

Mile 13.1: "Half way, we are making great time. I am loving every second of this. There are billions of people everywhere."

Mile 14: "I feel like a million bucks. I am still thirsty."

Mile 15: "There are 11 miles left!! What!"

Mile 19: *I was trying to pass someone and I feel flat on my knees and hands. My left knee started to bleed and I was trying so hard to hold back tears, a few came. Pathetic, I know. Then I started hyperventilating. I had to calm myself down. It was awesome.*

Mile 20: "Six more miles. I can run six miles any day. No problem."

Mile 20.1: "My legs and knees hurt. Still thirsty and it's hot."

Mile 20.5: "Only half a mile since 20, geez."

Mile 21: "I can totally do this."

Mile 22: "Four miles left, this will all be over in 40 minutes."

Mile 23: "Almost there."

Mile 24: "Two more, this is easy. I feel like my right knee might actually fall right off."

Mile 25: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Mile 25.2: "I only have run .2 miles?"

Mile 25.4: "Where the heck is the finish line?"

Mile 25.8: "Are we not to the finish line yet?"

Mile 26.2: "Done, done and done!"

Mitch and I finished the race holding hands. Cheesy, I know. It was awesome. A day later, Mitch can hardly walk and I still feel like my knees might fall off. But I swore that I wasn't going to run a marathon again and I am already thinking to myself, "Which one is next?"

Happy running.

Loves,

Sj

P.S. My brother Chase is here! We are so excited to have him here.

The Wicked Witch of the Midwest

Oh, how I wish that I was posting about seeing Wicked, but I am not. Instead I am letting all of you know that I have turned into the Wicked Witch of the Midwest. On Monday night in dance class I had to tell my girls to be quiet about a million times and let them know that there is no talking in my dance classes. It was awesome.

Happy Wednesday.

Sunbeams.

This is the conversation I had with my sunbeams(4 year-olds) today in church.

Sunbeam - Josh: Why don't you have kids Sarah?

Me: I just don't.

Sunbeam - Maddie: Did they die?

Me: No.

Sunbeam - Maddie: Are you married?

Me: Yes, you know Mitch.

Sunbeam- Maddie: Then where are your kids?

Me: I just don't have them yet.

Sunbeam - Josh: Maybe you should pray to Heavenly Father and you will get kids.

Me: That's a great idea, thanks Josh.

Sunbeam - Josh: You should pray really hard and then kids will come.

Me: Yes. Yes. (I was trying really hard not to laugh.)

Happy Sabbath. I love my Sunbeams.

d a n c e.

Dance.

I have been thinking about dance a lot lately, mostly because I have been racking my brain to come up with dances for toddles and 13 year-olds. I am teaching dance in Rochester. I really enjoy it. I have forgotten how much I love dance and how much it still means to me. I owe a huge thank you to my parents for paying month after month and driving me year after year to my dance classes.

I think that once you start dancing and learn to love it, dance becomes a part of you. I was never the best dancer and usually not the worst, I was always some where in the middle.

When I was younger, to be more specific in high school, dance was how I learned to express all of my feelings whether is was joy or sadness.

I remember after I stopped dancing in college, I felt a huge void in my life. The void was not dancing every day. Eventually I started dancing again weekly and have been dancing on and off ever since. I still love dance and hopefully always will.

Loves,

Sj

(Image found here)

Beets, beets and more beets.

Folks, I made chocolate beet bunt cake tonight and it was oh so amazing. I have loved beets ever since living in Lithuania. A good friend of mine from Rochester gave me the recipe.

I am mostly proud of the fact that the cake came out of the bunt pan without any of the cake sticking to the pan. I posted the recipe on Just Cook Already. My friend Jenna has done a great job putting this blog together. I can always find delicious recipes on here. Go and check it out.

Happy cooking and happy Sunday.

Mom

My mom came to visit last weekend, it was fabulous. She was on a mission to go to every single antique store in the southeast corner of the state and I think we pretty much accomplished it. We went to Stillwater, Lake City, Red Wing and of course the Cities.

We took my mom to Brasa, my favorite restaurant in the cities, and to St. Paul's Cathedral which is beautiful. She loved the entire trip. We can't wait for my Mom to come back, we miss her already. We sure do love you.

H E B G E N

While on our trip out west, I was able to go to Hebgen with Rach and Ash. It was basically amazing. We went on bike rides, avoided bears, went waterskiing on glass and ate, of course. Thank you to Rachel for letting me experience the beauty of Hebgen once again.

Me, Rach and Ash

Can you see the glass?

Mitch = 27th Birthday

Happy Birthday.

You make me happy every day.

I love you.

The Beach.

We went to California two weeks ago with Mitch's family. It was fabulous. I have great in-laws. I already miss all of them terribly.

Thanks to Molly Jones for taking our picture.

Primary Election Day.

It was primary election day today.

We are in a whole new ball game here in Minnesota.

No longer amongst all Republicans.

There is an open Governor's race.

The last Governor was Republican in a Democratic state.

E X C I T I N G I tell you. EXCITING.

I was an election judge today and loved every minute of it.

But I will be honest, I miss Utah politics. I felt so much more involved and educated in Utah politics.

Happy election day.

T O M A T O

Our tomato plants are growing.
I think it must be the weather because I had HORRIBLE luck last year in Salt Lake.

Happy weekend.

Brasa.

Last weekend we went to Stillwater, Minnesota with our friends James, Megan and Ava. There was a little lumberjack festival, but Mitch and I missed the festivities because Mitch was lucky enough to play in a golf tournament on Saturday morning. But we did get to hang out with Ava, I am slightly obsessed with her. Megan and James also took us to this restaurant Brasa in the cities. BEST FOOD ever.

We had a fabulous weekend and wish so much that James Megan and Ava lived closer.

Ava. She is sooooo cute.

This is not the greatest picture. But the food is just so incredible.

Nauvoo

We went to Nauvoo last weekend with our good friends Audrey and Shad. It really was amazing. It was incredible to be in a place where the church had so much growth and to be where Joseph Smith had been.

Nauvoo Temple

Standing in front of Joseph Smith's house and over to the right is his grave.

While in Nauvoo we also celebrated my 26th birthday. I feel older, I think I am going to have a horrible time turning 50. We ate Dairy Queen, a midwest favorite, chocolate ice cream to celebrate. All in all it was a wonderful trip and birthday.

U T A H !

Oh, how I love Utah! We went to Utah this last weekend to celebrate my Grandma Bev's 85th birthday! We were also able to celebrate the 4th of July as well! We do love Minnesota, but miss Utah like crazy.

My cute Grandma Bev and Aunt Tracy at my Grandma's party.

Some Crookston cousins at my Grandma's party.

Meeting at Laird Park with some friends.

Hiking with my Mom at Lake Mary.

We went to the Rodeo with Mitch's Family.
I didn't get a picture of the whole family, but a got a great one of Mitch's sister's family.

My great Aunt Becky, Grandma Mary and Chase at dinner on the 4th.

We also went waterskiing! Mitch loves to drive the boat.

Duluth.

After the marathon, Mitch was a great support!

Mitch next to Lake Superior

If you look in the distance, you can see the lighthouse

We went to Duluth this weekend. It's in northern Minnesota next to Lake Superior. I ran Grandma's Marathon. The marathon was beautiful, all along Lake Superior. We also went to Split Rock Lighthouse, about 40 miles north of Duluth, and on a boat cruise on a small section of Lake Superior.

All in all we had a wonderful weekend.

Happy Father's Day!

Dad,

Thank you for everything.

Happy Father's Day!

Love you.

Sj

The Farmer's Market in Rochester

We went to the farmer's market on Saturday in the RAIN! It's been raining all weekend. I came across these delicious strawberries and couldn't resist. They were oh so delicious.

Happy Summer.

Marsala.

Folks, I cooked CHICKEN MARSALA all by myself, well with a little help from Mitch. It was my first experience cooking with wine and I was so excited when the meal turned out well.

The recipe came from this cookbook, Mitch gave it to me for Mother's Day. We have cooked a few recipes from the book and have been satisfied with every single one.

I wish all of you happy cooking.

Happy summer.

W E E K E N D . . .

Last weekend we went to a Honkers, Rochester's local baseball team, game with Audrey, Shad, Breanna and Nate. We had an excellent time and the Honkers even won.
We are loving Rochester summers.

Madison

We went to Madison, Wisconsin with Jonny, Jenny and Kimball on Saturday and Sunday. The city is half way in-between Chicago and Rochester. Madison is one of the greatest cities I have been to. There are great restaurants and shops. The city is also between two lakes. We loved the city. Jonny ran a marathon and did a great job.

We hope to go back soon.