And away we go!

Well, we are remiss in updating our blog… Here’s a brief monthly update of the rest of 2009 and what’s on tap for 2010.

July 2009:  We enjoyed a nice long weekend camping at  Lac Qui Parle State Park .

August 2009: My parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary with a wonderful party and weekend. 

September 2009: Matt, Mike and I spent a long weekend up north in Clarissa fishing.  We had a great time!

  

 

October 2009:  Mike and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on the North Shore in Hovland, Minnesota.  We enjoyed a great week of hiking and exploring, including some of the beautiful provincial parks in Ontario: Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park .

    

November 2009:  We hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at our home in St. Peter with a brined turkey, a deep fried buffalo turkey and many other goodies.  We enjoyed seeing my family from the Twin Cities and introducing our friend Brian to the madness of a Romstad/Anderson holiday. 

December 2009:  This year we enjoyed a destination holiday-Two Harbors, MN.  Matt, Mike and I managed to get out of town before the blizzard arrived and spent one night in Duluth at the Inn on Lake Superior.  The rooftop hot tub on a cold winter night was amazing!   The rest of the Christmas holiday was spent together right on the lake watching the waves crash on the shore. 

 

January 2010:  Mike and I spent a week in Tulum, Mexico at Dreams Tulum .  What an amazing week we had exploring the area.  Mike had never been to Mexico, and I had never been to the Caribbean side of the country.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Our first few days we simply soaked up the sun on the beautiful beach and explore the Tulum ruins.  Toward the middle of the week, we spent a day snorkeling at Xel Ha, which is a nature preserve with an inlet off of the ocean.  It was a beautiful area with a wide variety of fish to observe.  The next day we took an excursion with Alltournative Coba Mayan Village.  This tour included a tour of the Coba ruins and then several hours in a Mayan village, including swimming in a cenote.  We also rappelled down a wall, ziplined and had a traditional Mayan meal prepared for us by women in the village. We truly enjoyed every part of this vacation, especially the wonderful people we met at the resort.  I had the opportunity to practice my Spanish language skills that I haven’t been using for more years than I care to admit.  I’ve provided a link to our Photos from our trip. 

So what else is in store for the Swansons in 2010?  We’re in the process of finally addressing the unfinished basement, and will be moving Mike’s office to the area formerly know as our storage room.  Matthew may not actually have to sleep in the basement any longer when he comes to visit!  Mike is planning on running in Grandma’s Marathon in June again, hopefully without the sweltering heat.  Not the overachiever that Mike is, I may try to battle a 5k yet this spring or summer.  Why rush into anything?  The Twins will be back in action soon and we’d like to hit an away game, perhaps in KC.  Other than that, the possibilities are endless.

Clear, Sunny, 80ish...for Grandma's Marathon?

In my 33 years of existence on this earth, I have made at a minimum an annual pilgrimage to Duluth, Minnesota during the summer months. Many of those trips have been made early in the month of June, which in my experience have began with foggy/damp mornings, followed by lovely afternoons with highs in the 70s if you are lucky. This is how the two days preceding Grandma's Marathon began.

Then came June 20, 2009. The day of many firsts for Mike, Megan and the other SS (Slow & Sober) members, who were to experience their first marathon. It began at 5:15 a.m. to an actual sunrise. Crystal clear blue sky. Sadly now, there can be but one outcome. It was a beautiful day for anything on the North Shore-except a marathon. The high on Saturday was 85 degrees.


The day started out with my parents and I dropping Mike at the Super One Foods in Two Harbors to take a shuttle to the start of the race. We drove to Duluth to eat breakfast and participate in the festivities at Canal Park to greet our racers as the finish line.

Nothing could have prepared us for Saturday's conditions. Mike said that the black flag was raised for much of the race, signifying extreme heat and difficult racing conditions. I observed many folks who were extraordinarily fit vomiting at the finish line or being carted off in wheel chairs, unable to move on their own volition any longer in the sweltering heat.

Well, thanks to excellent training, camaraderie, prayers and sheer determination, the race ended well for my loved ones and team SS. Everyone completed the marathon unharmed, with Megan and Kathy kicking butt and finishing under 5 hours.


Mike successfully completed the marathon, which was described by a new friend from Iowa, Jim, as simply "Today is about survival." Never has such a statement been more true. I have seen how diligently Mike has trained for this race since January, including many long runs in excess of 20 miles in the upper 70s.


In all of the time I have spent on the North Shore during my life, I remember once approximately 25 years ago when it was in the 80s in Duluth. I think that was in August. Despite a greyish pallor upon completion of the race, Mike continued to persevere, and I am happy to report is already eager to register for next year. This is the first time I've been in Duluth for Grandma's. What an experience! It was a great atmosphere and I'm looking forward to next year and hopefully cooler temperatures.


I am so proud of the entire crew, including our cheering section, for making it through the day. It was also wonderful to meet Megan's dear friends: Brian, Chris, Jim, Kathy and Ben. What a great group of folks! Team SS rocks!

Only six more weeks of winter? Thanks, Punxsutawney Phil. That's awesome.

Well if Phil is right, winter in Minnesota should be over in mid-March.  I'm not holding my breath.  I have a feeling that I'll still be able to see it well into April.  This is why rodentia are not used to predict the weather in Minnesota.

Punxsutawney Phil

But I digress.  Winter has been fun here in lovely St. Peter.  We are in the midst of lovely Winterfest, our annual mid-winter celebration in St. Peter.  Three years ago, Mike and I found the medallion and earned ourselves $1,000 in St. Peter Chamber Bucks, which is why we have a dishwasher:)  Gracie and I searched the park behind the house this afternoon, but found nothing.  The search will continue.

A few weeks ago, we were introduced to the joy of Twins Fest by my co-worker Jim.  It was truly awesome.  Not only do you get to eat Dome Dogs during the dead of winter, but you get to tour the clubhouse, meet current and past players, and audition to sing the national anthem (maybe next year).  We had a great time.  We met Bert Blyleven and I was finally circled.  Now if only we could get him into the Hall of Fame where he belongs!

Bert Belongs in Cooperstown!

We also met Kevin Slowely and Scott Baker and got their autographs.  Even better, all proceeds go to the Twins community fund.

In more exciting news, Mike is officially runner #2837 in Grandma's Marathon this coming June.   Mike has been diligently training for said marathon.  I continue to be amazed by this dedication and definition of "going for a run".  Ten miles later and he is unphased.  Ten miles later and I'd need a crash cart.  Though truth be told, I've joined the running cult, but the best I'll ever do is a 10k.

Wherever you may be, enjoy the last few weeks of Winter.  May hearts and homes remain warm even during the coldest and snowiest of days.

 

Our Blog

Mike made this with Wordle.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Happy Holidays from the Swansons.  It seems as though the New Year is upon us again in the blink of an eye.  As time moves on, we give thanks for the friends and family near and far who are such an important part of our lives.  We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and had the opportunity to connect with loved ones, as well as reflect upon the magic and hope this season brings.

Fall went by far to quickly.  We enjoyed a long weekend at Gunflint Lodge for our third wedding anniversary.

We spent time hiking, boating and taking pictures of the new greenery that had emerged since our last visit in June of 2007, shortly after the Ham Lake Fire.

It was amazing to see how mother nature heals the scorched earth.

Thanksgiving brought us to Clarissa to enjoy a long weekend with the Romstads in Clarissa.  As usual, we cooked way too much food.  A good time was had by all.  Christmas Eve, everyone gathered at our home in St. Peter for dinner and church.  We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed spending time together.

Rest assured, Axel and Gracie have enjoyed the holidays-particularly the fact that it was a white one. 

No formal plans as of yet for the New Year for the Swansons.  More home improvement projects are definitely on the horizon, including hopefully beginning the renovation of the basement.   Mike would like to run a marathon this spring or fall, and will spend much of the winter training.   We hope to do some more travelling, with trips to Florida for Twins spring training or perhaps to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. 

May 2009 be a year of hope, prosperity and blessings for you and those you hold dear.  We hope that 2009 brings our paths together as well.

Finally, the search is over. And the winner is...

 

 

Dolphin Fin, a lovely shade of gray paint by Behr Paint.  At long last, the hallway and foyer (ha ha) have a color all their own.

 

Now we just have the guest room left to paint and the painting on the main floor will be done.  Next on the list will be Mike finishing up his desk for the office and perhaps a dining room table and chairs that match.  Then on to the basement.

The dogs were a great help painting.

We did manage to get one camping trip in with Matt and Donna.  We stayed at Brennans' Campground in Sheildsville.  It was a great campground run by a great group of folks.  We had a great campsite, and even though Matt didn't catch any fish that day, he made up for it later.  More on that to come.  After our night of camping, Matt and Donna joined us in St. Peter for a crazy weekend, including Matt's attempt to slay yet another Chuck Norris Burger.  The third time will be a charm, I'm sure of it.  Matt enjoyed some time in our pool with the hounds.

 

The next day, we went to Daly Park south of Mapleton.  Matt caught one helluva bass.  Donna and I stayed on the shore and enjoyed a lovely August afternoon.

Now that the summer is officially over, Mike and I look forward to a lovely fall, full of Twins playoff games, a Brett Favre free NFC North, and our third wedding anniversary.  This year, we will spend our anniversary on the Gunflint Trail at Gunflint Lodge.  We're looking forward to some time away to enjoy the peace and quiet of the north woods.

In more Twins news, check out our AWESOME "Circle Me Bert" sign.  Can you believe we didn't get circled with this beauty?  Seriously, what more does the man want out of a sign?

Mike would like you all to watch this video.  He says it's awesome.

Dancing Matt-Gum Commercial

Paul Bunyan, where are you?

Or perhaps several lodges of beavers,  If either of the above were unemployed or simply looking for a hobby, St. Peter would be the place for them.  Thursday another doozy of a storm came through town, snapping and uprooting trees, flooding the streets and pulled one of the awnings from the office.  I was fearful that I would have yet another vehicle lost to water.  Towns on either side of St. Peter lost electricity and downed power lines dot the sides of local roads.

One of the storm's victims was our boxelder tree, which snapped and landed on the roof of our house.  We were very fortunate that no windows were broken and the roof remains in tact.  The gutter was pulled off the back of the house and the air conditioner roughed up a bit, but it does not appear that there will be any lasting effects from the tree's landing.

Some folks think that St. Peter must be cursed for getting all of these storms.  I consider how fortunate Mike and I are to have a home that wasn't impacted by the 98 tornado, the 2006 tornado, or the storm this week.  Living here may not be for everyone (no chipotle, starbucks or caribou), but we sure love it and are grateful for our friends and neighbors who have made this home for us.  Neighbors were helping neighbors remove debris.  In fact, a tree fell on another home down the street, and the homeowners were on vacation.  When they returned, the only proof that a tree had even fallen on the home was a bent gutter, and a stack of logs.

Here are some photos of the debris.  By the time I got home from work, Mike had already removed the tree from the roof, which apparently went to the peak of the roof.  I guess he got up on the roof and started cutting the tree segments from the top of the roof and moved down the roof until it was freed.  He's pretty sore today as you can imagine.

 

In other news, the Twins continue their post-All Star Break tear through their opponents.  The White Sox series was tremendous, with my personal highlights including AJ being booed constantly and Gardy getting tossed.  Of course, some great clutch hitting (lots of doubles this series) by Punto, Harris, Kubel and of course Mauer and Morneau didn't hurt.  Right now Mike and I are planning on spending our third wedding anniversary at a remote lodge on the Gunflint Trail, which is great, unless the Twins are in the World Series.  I think there's cable in the bar...

Enjoy your weekends one and all.

F is For: Fun, Family, Friends, Fireworks, Freedom and Frankfurters (Dome Dogs)

The past two months have been busy ones for the St. Peter Swansons.  We've logged several Twins games:

 

celebrated Matt's 30th birthday and Mother's Day;

went to Tim and Lindsay's wedding in Rice Lake, WI; celebrated Kristen and Dad's birthdays (which apparently was too much excitement for Matt to handle, but since he's 30 now, he gets tired easy);

Celebrated Clarissa Days, Father's Day, Mike's and Mom's Birthdays;

and enjoyed another pleasant 4th of July in St. Peter with friends and family:

We've also managed to fell some trees:

visit Matt & Donna in Rochester,  meet the newest member of the St. George family and catch up with dear friends:

Meet up with Paul, the Bean & Chad for a Twins/Brewers battle; Oh, and get Pat Neshek's autograph!!  Hope you're healing up Pat.

 

Kristen's softball playing days are nearing an end, which is a benefit to her kind co-workers who have tolerated her rookie season gracefully.Before the end of the month, we'll travel to Illinois to visit Mike's Dad and cousins for a long weekend.  After that, hopefully we'll get in a camping trip or two before the frost returns. 

Until then, "Everything is better when summer comes..."

-Great Big Sea  (coming to the State Theater September 12, 2008)