Our First Guests!

My Mom and Dad came to visit us for a week a few weeks ago--- the weather was a little chilly and the leaves were beginning to turn ... which means FALL! :) A true fall, for my Southern California parents. We drove all over to see the colors changing and also made it to an Apple Orchard and pumpkin patch!

















I loved having them here with us and showing them around to my favorite Minnesota spots. They were a huge help in getting us settled into our new home and especially at finding great estate sales! We bought our first pieces of furniture that weekend with Mom and Dad. Getting both of them home was a challenge... and made for a fun trip! (see picture below).
















Our Finds:





Dad did a little research on hot pizza spots so he took us out to Punch (our new favorite Neapolitan Pizza Joint) and Black Sheep for some great American Pizza. We also took them to our favorite restaurant in Minneapolis, Broders Pasta Bar, for an awesome awesome Pasta experience.





All in all we LOVED having Mom and Dad here and can't wait for our next visitors... which I'm 99% sure won't come until after ALL the snow melts in the spring. So, I'll have plenty of time to get ready for you, whomever you are!

The fruits of my labors:

I decided to share the love of my pumpkin ... so for FHE Ryan and I went out to meet our neighbors and take them chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Ryan likes to call it "Reverse Trick or Treating" :) So far most of our neighbors are quite established in the neighborhood. We have:

Ernie and Jinx - 39 years on Sweet Briar
Bev and Dick - (we didn't get to ask Bev this question, we were too interested in her burn story)
Peggy and Pit - been here since '62
David and Sari - 8 years on Sweet Briar

Everyone was super excited about meeting us (I mean, who wouldn't be) and also very excited to receive some of my bread. They were all so welcoming and sweet, I can't wait to get to know them better. Our favorite story of the night was from Bev, though. The sweet little woman opened the door with her hair pinned back and a bandage across her forehead! She kept repeating our names over and over again to make sure she didn't forget them, which she did by the end of the conversation, but it was so endearing. She kept saying "Oh its so fabulous you came by and brought us bread". She explained to us she recently had a severe burn accident and she was still recovering (profusely apologizing for not looking presentable--although she looked great, poor thing!) After talking with her some more, she explained to us that the accident took place while she was on vacation--- in UTAH! (Of all places, right?) She went to a Hibachi-style Japanese restaurant in Ogden where she got burned by the flames!! Her eyebrows and hair and forehead were attacked! We made sure that she still had a good perception of Utah, and then Ryan then told her that he was from Utah ... and she figured out that we are Mormon. "Don't worry" she said, "We are Lutheran, but we love everyone!" Good thing Bev! We love you too!

Its great to meet your neighbors. This is going to be a fun neighborhood.

We have a CRISIS on our hands!!

So, who KNEW we had a national pumpkin crop shortage last year??

Who KNEW that would result in a scarcity in canned pumpkin THIS year??

NOT ME!!

Needless to say, I was quite upset when I found out about the pumpkin shortage. Lucky for me, my mom came through and before I found my canned pumpkin, she got me a couple big cans and sent them to me via USPS! Best mom Ever!!

Now for my long term solution...I don't know about you people, but here in Minnesota I had to look high and low until I found myself a few cans of pumpkin!
Who would have thought I would find it at my local oriental market? Thank you, all you big grocery chains who didn't go out and buy in bulk for me, you made things pretty difficult, but don't you worry, I found it and I am going to make all the pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin rolls and pumpkin cookies I can!!

Fall, you are now welcome to arrive. I have canned pumpkin.

Wedding pictures.

I created a picasa album of wedding photos I have collected so far. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kiley.hunt/WeddingPhotos?feat=directlink

First Snow Fall

So, normally the first snow fall is a very exciting event. I love seeing the snow on the trees and especially the morning after a good snowfall. There's something magical about it... but not in Minnesota.

You see, in Utah, the first snowfall would be at the END of October, or maybe even really in November. BUT in MINNESOTA, the first snowfall apparently happens on October 12.

Ryan and I woke up to snow on Wednesday -- but not only did we wake up to the snow, we woke up to the snow falling, and falling and falling. It snowed ALL day on Wednesday, and didn't stop until 3:00pm. Normally, I would take a picture of this, but I was so depressed that it wouldn't stop snowing that I couldn't bring myself to do that. 3 INCHES later, we had our first official snow fall. I am still praying for the weather to warm up just a little (like maybe 50 degrees) so we can have a real FALL before we have winter. The winters here are so long anyway, do we really need to start it in October? Sigh.

Needless to say my Minnesota Honeymoon is over.

I have so much to blog about -- but TODAY I want to blog about how I, err WE are now *homeowners*!! This morning Ryan and I closed escrow on our new house!! I love everything about this new house, including our new address:

Sweet Briar Lane

It's in this great little neighborhood, called Hobby Acres, in this cute little suburb of Minneapolis. The house is complete with a picket fence in the front, attached 2 car garage (with mudroom!), awesome deck and a huge park across the street!!

I am avoiding my packing right now by blogging about this, but soon I will be knee deep in packing paper and waiting for Ryan to get off work so we can officially MOVE IN! I can't tell you how exciting it is to walk into your very first home. What a sensational feeling... I love my life!! (note a few pictures below).


We even have a picket fence!


I love our fireplace. And the cove ceilings.


Isn't that chandelier fabulous?


The wallpaper is a really cute yellow toile.


The deck is Ryan's favorite part of the house.

San Francisco Treat!

With Dad working in the City for the last few years, I've been able to enjoy many many amazing San Francisco trips. So naturally, when my flight had a lay-over in San Francisco, I just hopped out of the airport and met Dad and Ashley downtown :)

Ash and I had a great day shopping, and then when Dad got off work we went to his favorite restaurant, Scomas, and then enjoyed a long tourist-y drive on the other side of the bay. I love this city!

30 Days!!!

Eeeek!! This summer has FLOWN by! Which is great for a couple engaged to be married! We are so excited to be getting married in 30 days. Yayyy.

Our Engagement Pictures:

Because I know you all will appreciate seeing these...

Reality Check: I'm a Midwestern Gal now.

After 12 official months of long-distance, Ryan and I decided that just maybe we would want to live in the same city before we get married. Imagine that!!

As a result, I am living in Ryans' apartment in Minnetonka, he is living in his friends' house in .... the country somewhere, and after 5 days, we are thinking this is a pretty great set-up. Well ok, so when we buy a house that situation will be a LOT better, but at least in the mean time we can look for houses together, I can hone in on my cooking skills and go for amazing runs every morning. Running here is an adventure every day, its so exciting and so fun to explore and realize that this is my new home!

I do have to admit that I have lots of down time since I am not working yet, but I suppose that gives me time to work on my Minnesota accent ;)

4th of July Celebration

I haven't been home for the 4th in a really long time---- I think at least 4 years! So I was looking forward to a relaxing day at home, with the babies, the pool, a good 'ol BBQ, and some fireworks. Well, I got what I asked for:





Nicolas got this really cool inflatable pirate ship for his Birthday--we couldn't get him out of it!



Nic eating his corn on the cob.


My little brother.



Haggin Oaks Neighborhood Block Party-- Classic


Matthew hated me for all these pics. But secretly he loves it.

My Current Occupation

I can't wait for the day when I use my wedding as a PAR story in an interview. I mean, with all this work on budgets, negotiations, and conflict resolution, one would think that I would have plenty to talk about when I am asked: "Tell me about a time this summer that you ... "

I created a wedding website. See the details regarding the Ryan Merrill and Kiley Hunt wedding at: http://www.ewedding.com/sites/ryanandkiley/

Enjoy!

Matthew's Farewell

My little brother is growing up! He gave his mission farewell talk last Sunday, and it was so good. He even brought me to tears--which is tricky to do!! He reports to the MTC July 8, and will be serving in SLC for 2 years. I am so proud of him to make this decision to serve a mission and to be preparing to give 2 years of his life in service. He will be a wonderful missionary. Here are some pictures from after the farewell, and at the going-away party.

I (insert white glove) Michael Jackson.

So yesterday I was driving to LA to pick up Ryan from the Airport, when I get a text from Miss Anna Montoya telling me "Michael Jackson just died". I turned on CNN, and sure enough, he died at the UCLA medical center. Don't worry, at that point, I hit traffic and I was 2 miles from UCLA med center. LA was crazy all day, and served as a representation for the chaos the world was feeling with the loss of a legend.

I know we're all sick of hearing about this, but I am just writing to say being in LA when it all went down, and I felt closer to the situation because of it.

I'm just glad that traffic wasn't as bad as I anticipated. But I'm pretty sure the accidents on the 405 were because of the stricken state of grief everyone was in. Or maybe it was because they lost their vision due to all the RIP Michael Jackson signs people were flashing outside their car windows.