One of My Favorite Christmas Movie Scenes

Hey, Prairie Bride, Let's Go to Vegas

My job sent me to a conference in Las Vegas.

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The conference kept us busy (some days we'd start at 6 am and not be done until 8 pm).

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But we did take a couple of evenings off to see the city. And we went to see Mamma Mia, which was great.

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Below are the ornate ceilings at the Venetian, where our conference was held..

And here are the canals at the Venetian..

Here's the strip at night:.

And the famous dancing fountains at the Bellagio..

This is the hotel Paris..

The pictures below are actually inside. It's a painted sky. They must do that to keep you from realizing what time it is, so you'll keep on gambling.

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Again, this is inside. It's very convincing in person, too.

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Oh, and I met Whoopie Goldberg. As you can see, we're, like, BFFs forever.

Okay, I didn't really meet Whoopie. That's a wax statue outside Madame Tussaud's.

Prairie Bride Gets a New Ride

That's right!

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I've finally gotten my first NEW car!!

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Here I am, saying goodbye to my old car, Betty.

Goodbye, Betty. You were a good car to me. I'll miss you.

I know you're going to a good home.

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Hellooooooooooooooo, beautiful.

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What does six years of near-poverty while going to school do to a girl?

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This.

State Softball 2007

Every year, hubby's softball team goes to the state tournament.

Hubby usually plays 3rd base.


He always manages to end up in the dirt.

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Thank goodness one of us has some athletic talent. At least our children have a chance of being coordinated. They're not going to get it from me!

Visitors

We had some visitors this summer--my aunt L and her husband J.

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It was so nice to have family come and visit!!

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Dad's Horses

My dad has two horses, Sven and Bonnie.

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Here comes Bonnie, after I called for her at the fence.

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She may look like a regular horse, but the only thing full-sized about Bonnie is her attitude.

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See, here she is next to Sven. She's a mini!

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Sven is a Norwegian fjord horse. Here he is, sizing me up. Do I pass?

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These two are buddies.

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And, not to be left out, there's Maggie, their dog.

I love when dogs reach middle age. Maggie's finally past the manic stage of puppyhood. She's a sweetheart now. She loves to be petted, and she gets full-on hugs from my nieces and nephew.

Why I Love My Garden, By Prairie Bride, Age 30

Despite our lack of rain and HOT weather, my flowers are surviving. Tough little buggers. I can't take any credit for them. I usually forget to go water them in the evenings,

and it's been weeks since it rained.

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This is why I love my garden:
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1.) All of the plants are perennials, except for the

climbing vine, God bless 'em.

Perennials rule.

They come up every year, with very little maintenance once they're established.

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2.) The previous owner, who planted the garden, had the foresight to plant flowers that bloom at different times.
I almost always have something in bloom, all summer long.

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These magenta and yellow ones are my favorites.

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I even tried to get an artsy shot with a bee hovering near one of the plants.
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But then the bee started hovering around me and my brightly colored shirt,

which is when I spastically waved my hands in the air

and said to the bee (out loud, not realizing I was within earshot of the neighbors),

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I am not a flower!!

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I'm so cool.

Sissy's house

My big sis and her hubby are building a house outside of our hometown.

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This is the back of the house, and the walkout basement.

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Kuchen

I have discovered this dessert, kuchen (pronounced "koo-gen") since living here.

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I first had it at our niece's baptism a few months ago. It was made by one of the relatives.

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Oh, what is that? I asked. That's kuchen. Duh. they replied.

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Okay, they didn't really say Duh. They're much nicer than that.

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I tried it, and it was good. It's shaped like a pie, and has a cakey crust, and a custard middle. And it sometimes has fruit in it, like the apricot version above.

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Apparently it's German.

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As I was walking through the grocery store this week, there it was:

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Grandma's Kuchen. In the freezer section.

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This is one tradition I may have to adopt as my own.

Oh, Canada

Hubby and I went to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a little mini-vacation.

It was a good trip!

The locals were really, really nice.

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We went to the Assiniboine Zoo, which was much bigger than we expected.

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We saw elk...

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...and cheetahs...

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...and camels...

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...and prairie dogs...

...and many other animals, too.

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We saw a sculpture garden...

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...and the Esplanade Riel, which is a walkway across the river, with a restaurant in the middle.

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But there was one thing we really couldn't get used to.

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Apparently, in Winnipeg, you can drive in the parking lane, unless there's a car parked there.

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We'd be driving, and then, we'd have to move over because there was a car parked there. Or the people in that lane would suddenly need to pull over.It was so strange!

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Other than that, we had a really nice time in Winnipeg.

Prairie Bride Takes on Guest Bathroom...and Loses

Today I took my law test. And then afterwards, I was all revved up because--sweet!--I don't have to study anymore! I decided I needed to do some home improvement projects.

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I installed a toilet paper holder in the guest bathroom. Hubby has lived here for three years, and I've lived here for a year, and we still hadn't put in a toilet paper holder.

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Yeah. We're overachievers.

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So I got out the drill, and I installed the holder, no problem.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. So I decide I need to install a towel bar in the guest bathroom too, since this is another item that this bathroom is lacking.
Look, I've got all my tools and I'm raring to go.

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I follow the directions, and I make a hole with the drill, and then pound in the plastic anchors. But when I try to screw in the screws, the entire plastic anchor goes into the wall.

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I decide my drilled hole must have been too big, so I drill smaller holes, and pound the plastic anchors in. When I try to screw in the screws, the anchors just fall out of the wall.

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Then I throw all caution to the wind, and try to skip the plastic anchor step. I screw the screws directly into the wall, no anchors.

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The towel bar immediately falls out of the wall.

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And that, my friends, is how I ended up with six holes in my bathroom wall.

THAT'S not the look I was going for.

More gardening

My daylilies are finally blooming!

















And check out the Sweet Williams now!

Have a heart

Hubby came in from working outside with this on his shirt.

He's wearing his heart on his...stomach?

Aunt J.

My Aunt J. has passed away. She fought with cancer for a long time. She was my mom's oldest sister; she was almost 20 years old when my mom was born. She was a nurse. She made beautiful cross-stitch. She and my Uncle T. often welcomed us to their lake cabin.

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She came to my wedding, even though she was going through chemo at the time and there was a winter storm coming in.

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I'm going to miss her dearly.

Softball

Hubby plays softball every Tuesday night.

Tonight his team won both games.

Wives, girlfriends, kids, and dogs come out to watch the guys play.

Even the littlest fans come to the game. She looks like she's about to swear. But she's not.

Hubby took a softball to the eye when it bounced off his glove. Ouch!