Our Home

I know I have been promising photos for a while, and I put these together last week, but then I looked at them again and realized how dark these photos were :( Also, I took some time to include little Call-Outs to tell you little stories about things in our house...make sure you click on the photo so a bigger one will come up in a new window. Hopefully you get the picture. I'll be posting pictures of our new bedroom set in our room soon!

It's like an Early Christmas Eve!!

Tomorrow we are going to be the proud owners of this beautiful bedroom set (Well, technically we bought it 4 weeks ago, but they are bringing it tomorrow)!! I am so so so excited. There is a company that is coming to set it up and everything for us. I can't wait to have a dresser to put my clothes in, and have our room feel more homey and beautiful with this new collection!! YAYYY

I used to Babysit this Kid.
Meet Issac Russell

My best friend Malcolm Jackson is the backup vocals and keyboard. So proud of these guys!! Currently on tour with Pete Yorn and then John Mayer in March!! Sign up for his email list HERE and get a free download of his new single House of Cards.

LION'S TAP


One of the things Ryan learned about me real quick when we first started dating is that I am a fan of little restaurant dives. He knew he would impress me more with a local hamburger stand in PG than a P.F. Changs, or the like. So, when Ryan took me on a date to The Lion's Tap on Friday night, I was loving it! They even serve 1919 Root Beer on tap. The menu is short (think In N Out) and the food is great, and the atmosphere is even better. Next time one of y'all come to visit, you can bet we'll take you there!

Leaf Update

Just when you thought I couldn't say anything else about leaves...

One of the great things about where we live is free leaf pick up day. It happens a few times in the fall, and all other days you just have to bag your leaves and pay $2/bag to get rid of them. Since we would end up with at least 50 bags, this would be expensive, so naturally we waited until leaf pick up day for the City to take care of our leaves.

Leaf pick up day was Thursday this week. We found out on Wednesday that they will only pick up leaves on the front street that borders our house; not the other side. So, what did we have to do? At 9:30 last night when Ryan got home from work, we raked leaves all the way over to the front side of our house. Resulting in a huge leaf pile. It was at least 30 feet wide and 3 1/2 feet tall all the way across. Crazy.

LEAVES!!

Lot Size = .23 acres
+ Trees (Large) = 5
+ Trees (Small) = 3
_______________________

= ONE HUNDRED MILLION LEAVES!

On Saturday, Ryan and I decided it was time to attack the leaves piling up in our yard. In some spots, the leaves were 6 inches thick, just layer after layer after layer of leaves on our grass. I have honestly never seen so many leave before in my life. It was overwhelming, but luckily together Ryan and I pulled it off. We're a great leaf team! :) So, 7 hours later, we finally got our grass cleared of all the leaves and Ryan even borrowed Ernie's Lawn Mower (our neighbor next door) to mow the lawn. Our yard never looked so good! (Well, at least since we've been the owners-- I need to develop a green thumb). See pictures below:

Side Yard:






Those piles may not look tall in this picture ... but they're up to my knees!




Ryan hard at work.



Front Yard:

Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night's decay
Ushers in a drearier day.
- Emily Jane Bronte

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.