Top 11 of 2011!

Mike and I thought that we would count our blessings and than share them with all those who read our blog! We feel so blessed to have had such an amazing 2011 and we cannot wait for the joys that await us in 2012! We wish the best for you and your families in the new year as well!

Number 11: New Buying Job at Target
This year I became a Buyer in the School and office department at Target. While I very much enjoyed my time in the hair care department (especially product testing) I have loved my new gig in the School and Office department. I started as the Writing Instrument, Planners, and Desk Organization Buyer in June of this year, and have been crazy busy ever since. I'm currently busy planning for next Back To School Season, so go and buy your pencils at Target in 2012!

Number 10: Deck Building

I would put finishing the deck...but we're almost there! Mike, his dad Jim, and a few very good friends dedicated many weekends to getting our deck put together...and almost finishing it! Looking forward to enjoying many nights grilling out, and enjoying a glass of wine while reading a book out there!

Number 9: Meeting the Neighbors
We feel so lucky that we were able to meet so many of our amazing neighbors this year! We are so lucky that we moved into a neighborhood with couples that are near in age, and so nice! We have enjoyed many progressive dinners, a cookie exchange, and even a Christmas Bar Crawl and a "short bus" ride back south of the river with these great people!


Number 8: Renting out Mike's house in Owatonna

We put Mike's house in Owatonna on the market in January of this year, and after several months and only 4 total showings, we decided it was probably time to try a new strategy. We listed it on Owatonna Rentals, and had 3 showings and one official renter in 4 days! It has been great being landlords and being able to save some money!





Number 7: Trips to Baltimore and Philly

 We were lucky enough to be able to travel to the east coast a few times this year. First to visit Frankie while he was training in Baltimore for the Secret Service. We were also lucky to be able to travel up to Philadelphia while we were the to visit our friends Stacy and Zach who moved out there for work last year. We went out again to move Frankie home, and made it safely, although we ended up driving through the storm of the century! You may remember hearing about this super snow storm that covered almost 26 states...we drove through 10 of them! :)

Finally, we went back one more time this October for a friends wedding in downtown Baltimore, and got to see a bunch of friends from ISU! We also roped in one more trip up to Philly to see Stacy and Zach, and this time a few more of my EP high schools and their husbands/fiances joined us. It was a great time altogether!


Number 6: Bowling and Softball Champs!
This year we again were the champs of the Sunday night Mixed Bowling League at Tuttle's in Hopkins. We bowl with our friends Amy and Dave, and have been lucky enough to somehow manage to win this thing a few times...despite by 115 average! This year we also recriuted some more friends to join teams, and are loving being able to get together more often with everyone! We also joined a softball team this summer, and somehow managed to win the regular season in that as well...before we got our butts kicked in the playoffs! We're both looking forward to the season next summer!

Number 5: Piper Turned 1!
And settled down...yeah right! She is just as much a puppy as ever, but she brings unending joy to our lives...see earlier post! :)


Number 4: We celebrated our 1st married Christmas together

 We started out the season by doing some holiday baking. We made my Grandma Glasses sugar cookies in her honor. This was our first Christmas without grandma, as she passed away in February. We had some extra yellow icing, so we turned these little men into Cyclones!

 We celebrated the Harper Christmas Ugly Sweater style! We had a nice lunch and gift opening, followed by a party bus with the Farmington people to the roller derby for a few birthdays! It was a great time all around! We did the extended family with a trip to Wisconsin to visits Mike's Grandpa and Grandma Eng. We had a great time visiting with them and showing them our wedding videos!

We did the McQuillan side in a few waves. We got to do both extended sides this year, which was great since we missed both last year! We celebrated with the McQuillan side the weekend before Christmas and did the glasses on Christmas Eve! We had some great food at both places! We did the McQuillan immediate family Christmas Eve night at 10pm mass and then brunch Christmas day. Lots of games and good times all around! Mike and I love being an Aunt and Uncle SO much!


Number 3: Trip to London/Ireland
We travelled to London and Ireland in August of this year to meet my little brother Joe after his study abroad experience in Scotland. It was the most memorable trip I've ever gone on, and also ranks on the top of my list of the most beautiful places I've ever been (Galway, Ireland).

Number 2: We became Godparents!
On March 10th, 2011, our nephew Mason Francis McQuillan was born. He is the cutest, sweetest, and most well behaved baby I have ever met...we are totally in love!

Number 1: We got Married!
Best Year EVER!

Our kid...Piper

So a lot of people have called me "mom" in my life...but it wasn't until March 29th, 2010, that I officially became a "mom" for the first time! On that day, Mike and my puppy, Piper, was born! However, it wasn't until 9 weeks later, that Mike picked her up from the breeder, and I met my sweet little girl...2 hours before I got on a plane to Europe for a grad school trip. This was definitely poor timing, given I'm pretty sure Piper bonded with Mike during these weeks, and he was pretty much her "mom" and "dad" and everything in between for the first year or so of her life.

However, they say that dogs have incredible instincts, and ever since this past February, I think Piper has definitely been my little girl. Sadly, we lost my Grandma Glass right before Valentine's Day, and Mike was unfortunately away in Canada on an ice fishing trip. So I think Piper took it upon herself to take care of me, and my mom, and she has been protecting me and taking care of me ever since! :)

She is an F1B miniature golden doodle, which we thought would be about 25 pounds...but our little beast is just about 12.5 after eating! She is extremely energetic, and probably the happiest dog ever. She cuddles only when she's really tired, which is just fine, she's an independent girl like her mom! She loves running, doing laps around our yard and our house, and loves playing with other dogs at doggie daycare, where she gets to go about once per week! She is extremely smart, sometimes too smart for her own good, but she also seriously lacks the retriever side of her bloodline! She is excellent with her little cousins Kensley and Mason, which makes us very relieved about how she will be when we have kids some day!

We feel so lucky that we have Piper as a part of our family, and yes, much like this blog post, we definitely tend to treat her like our child at times...oh well! Given neither Mike, nor I, grew up with dogs, we are learning something everyday about being puppy parents, and I think it's safe to say we are both converted officially into dog people!

I thought Piper needed an ugly Christmas sweater this year, turns out it actually looks pretty cute!

She is our favorite subject for trying out settings on our new camera!

Her favorite spot in the house November through March!

Friendsgiving 2011

This past weekend we went to Inver Grove Heights, to Matt and Courtney's house for our annual "Friendsgiving" dinner. As usual the setting was fantastic, the company was great, and we had a great time!

Mike and I have been enjoying trying out our new kitchen stuff we received for the wedding, and Friendsgiving presented a great opportunity for us to test out some new gadgets! Let's be honest, when I say we, I mean Mike, but I really did enjoy assisting! We took our first pass at homemade bread, which was good, but still can't hold a candle to my Aunt Mary Kay's homemade rolls. Then Mike made Apple Crisp and homemade ice cream, which I'm told was delicious but given I don't eat warm fruit or a lot of ice cream, I'll just say it looked delicious, and even though everyone was extremely full, it went away quickly!

Our friendsgivings have also been growing, with some new friends, and some little additions. Not just our ever growing expansion of people with puppies, but even little people have been gracing our dinners. One such handsome little man, is Brian and Kyle Marie's son Ethan! He was cruising all over the place, and was quite a stud!

Overall, it was a great night, and I want to thank our awesome hosts, Matt and Courtney for another great year!! Until next year...cheers!

Our wonderful hosts!