Friend Visits

In addition to an update on our renovations I thought I'd give an update on what Mark and I have been up to over the past 6 weeks.  The first is that we had our first guests up to the cabin!  We have awesome friends and on two separate occasions a few of them made the trek North for some fun in the snow.

First the Gilmans came up to visit us!  Nate and Nicole came up for a night in January and we had a blast with them as usual.

We went snowmobiling (N&N on one and M&M on the other) which was quite an experience.  This was the first time I had ridden on the back of a snowmobile with Mark driving.  Luckily this wasn't as painful as the same experience I had on a jet ski with him in Cabo but it was equally frightening.  I think the best part is when Mark shouted behind us to Nate to, "Floor it!!!!" because it looked like we were on open water...good times.  Pretty sure we scarred Nicole for life but hopefully they'll come to see us again anyway :)

Next, the Rabbitt family (yes, Rabbitt is really their last name!) and Tim and Nicole came to see us!  Everyone arrived on Friday night so we had the whole day on Saturday to go snowmobiling.  Tim was able to stop at his cabin in Alexandria on the way up and pick up his family's two snowmobiles so we had 4 total which was awesome.  Saturday we took turns, boys first and then the girls.  The guys went out and tore it up for a bit while us ladies ate breakfast and chatted and then it was our turn!

Nicole &  Tim!

This is me falling on my way to the snowmobile...obviously.

The Ladies and Tim's fancy snowmobile

As usual, we all had a blast...at first.  We took a tour of the lake and I pointed out my favorite houses (there are some amazing houses on this lake!) but were careful not to go too fast.  Well, Angela and Nicole were careful not to go too fast, pretty sure I thought I was trying out for the X Games.  We ended up back in front of the cabin and were just playing around on some of the flatter surfaces.  Angela sped off and I was bringing up the rear of our pack.  I swear I blinked and the next thing I saw was Nicole on her back on the ground and her snowmobile tipped over!  It was the craziest thing because she was going really slow but I think her sled hit the edge of the 'ice road' just right and she flipped.  Luckily Nicole was smart and was wearing a helmet because she hit her head really hard as well as her hip and her knee.

Also luckily we were still in front of the cabin and the boys happened to be watching this whole scene so they jumped on the other sled and came down to help Nicole off the ice.  We iced her knee, gave her ibuprofen, and offered her lots of booze (she refused ;) and thank goodness she was ok, relatively speaking.  I'm normally pretty good about wearing a helmet but I actually wasn't that day so I think it was a good reminder to everyone that even if you're super careful crazy things can happen - WEAR A HELMET ALWAYS!

Needless to say Tim and Nicole headed home later that afternoon which was a bummer but we were just glad everyone was ok!  The Rabbitts, Mark and I just relaxed, ate a bunch of food and watched movies for the rest of the day - it was perfect.

Angela on my snowmobile...she's a pro!

Jason and Weston coming back from a lake walk.

Honestly I could have sat and watched Weston and Bijoux interacting for the whole day, it was hilarious.  Weston kept going after Bijoux's food bowl because it was shiny and he heard her making noises with it.  There were a couple of stand-offs but luckily Weston is smart and when Bijoux would give him the stink eye he would stop and we'd pull him back a bit.  And even though she gave him the evil eye, Bij didn't snip or bark at Weston at all which I considered a win. 

Cutie Pie!!!

Bij actually handled the baby situation surprisingly well considering she's a dick to pretty much anyone smaller than an adult (human or animal...she's an equal-opportunity hater!)  Dog toys and baby toys are remarkably similar so it was funny to see Weston go after Bijoux's toys and vice versa.  As clearly evidenced by the sharing of toys that ensued on Sunday the littlest Rabbit and the Bij became the best of friends ;)

All together now, "Awwww!"

Everything Else

Alright, so this is the last one for today....just wanted to make up for my 6-week hiatus from the blogsphere!

Mark has been traveling quite a bit for work and I have made a few trips back to the Cities for various things.  Earlier this month I went home for my friend Tanya's baby shower which was actually really amazing.  I don't think I have ever seen a shower that big nor that organized so kudos to Emily and the other girls that helped with the event!

Last weekend I went home for an early birthday weekend.  Shaina let me stay at her house which we have deemed The Nest.  I love staying at the Nest because it always feels like a home away from home and also because Shaina has the best hair/makeup products and tools of anybody I know...seriously...anybody.  I got to use her super fancy bedazzled hairdryer and I now understand the difference between the cheap Conair kind I use and the nice, expensive ones....it really makes a difference!

Anywho, I got to Shaina's on Thursday night (St. Patrick's Day) and we avoided the pub crowd by going out for Mexican at Rojo's.  I'm not sure what the reviews have been like for that joint but I've been there 3 times now and I'm a fan.  The rice that comes with most of their dishes is DELISH and I think their tortilla soup (while not really traditional) might just be my favorite Stateside.


On Friday Shaina, Erin, and I all had the day off and we used our time wisely...to shop and eat!  We hit the MOA and IKEA and shopped from 10am until 6pm...it was bananas.  I had never had gelato from Paciuga at the MOA before so I got to try that and it didn't disappoint.  My fav flavors were definitely wedding cake and salted caramel...yum!  Erin definitely won the prize for most interesting flavor with her Guiness Chocolate.  It seemed appropriate since it was the day after St. Patty's Day but as Erin put it, "it really tastes like beer ice cream!"  Hilare. 

That night we had dinner at Roat Osha in Uptown which was tasty as usual.  I think Shaina and I pushed Erin over her limit of eating for the month though ;)  Even though I told everyone I didn't want any birthday gifts Shaina couldn't resist this and I have to say....it is perfect!  As most people know I am pro-cosmetic surgery/enhancements (well, a lot of them anyway...) and hope to one day have the funds to "upgrade" myself!

Saturday Shaina and I got our butts up and worked out which was rough since I was sore from walking around all day Friday.  That's right, I was sore from walking...I realize how ridiculous this sounds!  I had lunch with a friend and later Shaina and I went to the Eye of Horus for a Tarot card reading!  We were ill-prepared but both found it interesting nonetheless.  The best was when Corinne (our Reader) explained one of my cards to me that had 3 torches.  She told me that the 3 torches represented children and that she saw that in my future...say WHAT!?!?!

Later in the evening we had dinner at Il Gato (super tasty!) and finished up our humoungous dinner with some Michael Jackson Experience on the Wii!  Turns out Shaina is an MJ phenom and as one might expect my dancing "abilities" left quite a bit to be desired!  It was a blast though and I have to re-post this photo from my FB page because I thought it was hilarious. A jeweled MJ glove comes with your game but they stick this warning in the package:

I wrapped up my girls bday weekend with the 5-course brunch at the Nicollet Island Inn.  I had never been there before and had always wanted to try it and since I LOVE breakfast it seemed like the perfect choice.  The food was good and the company even better, I love getting together with these ladies!  A suggestion for anyone attempting this brunch - starve yourself the day before...it was a LOT of food, even for me!

Mrs. Rabbitt and I

Ladies that Brunch!

The weather up here has been pretty crazy but no worse than it's been in the Cities.  Lately we've been getting a lot of really cool sunsets so I've taken a few photos of those as well as some of the Snowpocalypse :)

View from our lower-level patio

Unfortunately the ice fisherpeople were always in my shot!

Otherwise Mark and I have both just been putting our noses to the grindstone.  I'm trying to figure out what I want to do after my current contract is up and Mark has been kicking some butt at work.  He is currently in the lead for Rookie BSM (Branch Manager) of the Year!  He's kind of a big deal ;)

Bijoux has been working really hard lately as well...here is the proof:

It's a wonder why we call her Princess!

This is Bijoux's new position while I work each day.  Under a blanket with a

 leg sticking out!

 

 

Getting a new toy is exhausting!

Kitchen/Dining Room Reno

Hi Friends, it's been awhile...as per usual!  I have many updates so I'm actually going to split this into three posts.  The first, an update on our renovations.

Mark and I are lucky to have very talented friends and Chris K. is no exception!  Chris is an Actuary by trade (am I supposed to capitalize that?) but has done a lot of contracting work in his past.  Lucky for us Chris has some availability in his schedule right now and we've been able to snag him for some work at the cabin...yay!

March is one of Mark's busiest months at work so he has been devoting himself to the office and hasn't been able to get as much done around the cabin as he would like.  I have also been pretty busy with work this month but regardless I should not use power tools without adult supervision.  So Chris has been able to come up twice now for a few days each time to help move along our upstairs renovations.  Here's what we've done so far:

• Finally, finally, finally tore out the remaining parts of that weird octagon island in the kitchen.  Mark was able to get rid of the upper cabinets early on but the base was still there as well as some weird metal rods and electrical sticking out of the ceiling....it was really cute. 

Kitchen when we moved in. 

Messy kitchen after we moved in.

Kitchen/Entryway after we moved in.

• Got rid of the vinyl flooring in the kitchen and the carpet in the dining room.  Once again we were in for another surprise under the carpet - more ugly linoleum flooring!  The cabin is like an onion....there's just one ugly layer after another!

Kitchen mid-reno.  That's Chris!

• Put down plywood to make the kitchen and dining room level.  Mark and I are pretty sure I have an inner-ear infection at all times so making sure the floor is level is key for my safety.

Bijoux is not a fan of the plywood nor the new floor.  She's sticking to the plastic!

• Started installing the crown molding!  Yes, this gets an exclamation point because that's how much I love crown molding....one might say I'm obsessed with it :)  I specifically bought our fancy miter saw just because I knew I wanted molding anywhere I could fit it.  We ended up going with pine crown molding that Chris will eventually paint white.  I didn't think I would be able to envision the finished product until it was painted but I'm already loving it!

Turns out this is a professional-grade saw....this is what happens when I buy power tools!

• Bought the cabinets for our new peninsula.  Since we got rid of the octagon we decided to build-out some cabinets on the the dining-room side of the kitchen.  This will give us more counter space, more storage space, and also create a small seating area because we're going to install a ledge on the counter to make a breakfast bar.

• Started to install the new flooring.  We went with a dark-stained, wider-plank bamboo that we're going to lay in both the kitchen and dining room.  So far it looks great but we've been rather displeased with how it's held up to moving furniture and appliances.  It's possible that we're being too hard on it so we're going to be more careful but I seriously hope that's all it is because like my grandparents always said, "that girl is like a bull in a china shop!".

Chris has really been able to move us along during this busy time but there is still a ton left to do.  The biggest project is actually going to be painting.  I'm a psycho when it comes to trim as you may have gleaned from my thoughts on crown molding.  Since all of our molding will be white I have to have all of the trim white as well.  Yes, it's a bit obsessive but it has to be done.  So that means that every doorway, window casing, door, baseboard, etc. needs to be sanded and painted and that amount of work is not lost on me since I HATE painting.  Chris has decided that the best option is to get all of the renovations done upstairs (including the bathroom, guest bedroom, and master bedroom) and move everything downstairs so he can spray everything at once.  The logistics of this task are frightening but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself.  I think the new paint is really what is going to transform the space so I'm psyched for that.

Next up is to finish installing the floor and crown molding, install the base molding, and then I'm going to tile the master bath's floor - wish us luck!!!  I'll post more photos after we paint!