NANA IS 100!

On Sunday April 11th the whole family gathered together to celebrate my Great-Grandma's 100th Birthday!

The party was an open house at the Masonic Home. That's the nursing home where Nana lives. Lots of cousins that I haven't seen in about 20 years came and we all just hung out and caught up with each others lives.

Nana is a spunky little old lady and for the most part knows what's going on. It's nice to hear her crack jokes once in a while and laugh so hard she can't finish what she's trying to tell you.

It was nice to see that at 100 years old she still has lots of family and friends that are around and were able to come celebrate her birthday with her.


So here's to you Nana....you spunky only lady! I Love You! Happy Birthday!

Easter Weekend

Saturday April 3rd I had an orientation at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. I will be volunteering there every Friday from 8am till noon, starting in May. The place is a lot smaller than I was thinking it was going to be.
I got there at 10:00am, signed in and then with a group of other volunteers got a tour of the place. It's cool how they have it set up..the place looks like it's a mess but they have a good system down and everyone knows what they should be doing and what areas you are not allowed in.
I will be working in the mammal nursery syringe feeding baby squirrels and possibly bunnies. I plan on wearing clothes I don't care about because I'm thinking I'll be getting pooped and peed on a lot by these wild little creatures. Sorry that in future blogs there will be no pictures of these cute creatures. In order for them to stay wild and be able to be released back into the wild, there is no talking while around them, and no use of any kind of electronic device. They don't want the animals getting use to people they want them to be scared of them...which is understandable because when you release them back into the wild it would be nice for the animals to survive. Even though it's an hour drive up to Roseville I'm still super excited to be volunteering for them!

Sunday April 4th - Easter....It was a rather uneventful day. Got up and ready for the day, and drove up to Burnsville to have lunch with Dad, Rachel and Ryan at panera. I was home by 1 and just hung out with the dogs and played outside a bit before I had to head into work. Working wasn't so bad because I got paid double time!!! That will make up for the trip to NY and missing work then. I was home tonight by 8 and got to relax with Tony before he headed to bed. Now it's my turn to go to bed...I have to get up and start classes tomorrow!

I've mastered the New York subway system

On March 28th Rachel and I headed off to New York for a quick weekend getaway! I arrived at Dad and Rachel's house around 1:30 and Dad drove us to the airport at 3:00. We landed at the LaGuardia airport right around 10:30pm New York time. A lincoln town car picked us up and swept us away to the Millennium Hotel right in Time Square. From our room window we could see the ball that drops on New Years Eve. We stayed on the 32nd floor out of 52; room 3209! I would like to add in here that it rained the entire time. We were soaking wet and soggy the whole time but Rachel and I made the most of everything and still had a great time. I would so go back again!



Since we were so excited to be there we decided to walk around Time Square a bit...then we headed to bed around midnight.

March 29 we got up around 7:30 to get ready for the busy day we had ahead of us. It was starbucks for breakfast which was very tasty. After that we got picked up by a guy that Rachel knows there and the 3 of us took the subway to Soho to the Room and Board store that is there. Rachel had to meet with some people there. That took up most of the morning and then we went and toured some hotels that Rachel frequently books for clients, but has never personally seen. This was a first time for both of us being in New York and this is probably a good spot to slip in the fact that yes we did get lost, but only once while we were walking from one hotel to the next. We somehow ended up in China Town and walked about 10 blocks out of our way. It was fine though because it was easy to retrace our steps. There were 3 hotels that we checked out and the best one was the last one...It's called the Affinia and it's the official hotel that is used for everyone in the Westminster Dog Show! I thought that was very cool being a dog lover and all. :)





This hotel is GORGEOUS inside and right across the street is Madison Square Garden, which is where the dog show is held every year. We sat down for a while and chatted with Rachel's contact person that is located at this hotel. She told us about 9/11 and how one of the ballrooms of the Affinia Hotel were opened up to the public and people could come take refuge there and look for family members or others they knew. It gave me chills to hear her talk about how horrific it all was. Now the Affinia Hotel is quite a ways away from where the attack happened, but many of their guests who were in town for business were affected but it.

The Hampton hotel is another one we toured and from there you could see New Jersey across the bay, and also the Trump Hotel that is up and going to be opened sometime in April.

After all the hotels we walked to Macy's. They had a HUGE flower display going on and it was very pretty. We were at that point only 10 blocks from the hotel so we decided to walk back and go to dinner at Planet Hollywood.



Some more shopping then occurred around Time Square, we got a giant cookie which seriously was the size of my head, and then headed back to the hotel around 9:30 so that Rachel could do some work and I watched TV. By the end of the day we had become masters of using the subway to get around. I like it and think it's great!

March 30th we got very early, and walked to the Rockefeller building to check out the Today Show. It was raining out horribly and there were 30 mph winds so we just sat inside the coffee shop that's across from the show. We then took the subway down the the Statue of Liberty. I am so so glad we got to see this. I don't even care that it rained and that I was soaked from head to toe. At one point when Rachel and I walked outside to the front of the statue it was raining so hard and the wind was blowing so strongly that my umbrella bend the wrong way and broke. I also got hailed on at one point of our visit there. It was worth it though because I got some great pictures.



We then took the subway back up to Time Square to change into dry clothes, go out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then we got to see a play. It was Mary Poppins on Broadway and it was awesome!!!



March 31 we got picked up by a lincoln town car at 5:30am and headed back to the LaGuardia airport. Our flight took off at 8:15 and we were back in sunny warm 75 degree Minnesota by 10:30am.

It was an awesome trip and I had tons of fun. The only thing I would change is the weather but I can always go back someday :)