Just us....

I used this accomplishment as an excuse to.....

....have an overnight get-away with my favorite guy!

Ready to go  :)

  

Last week I reached my 100th Spinal tap, this marks the completion

 of my "Orientation".  I am now free to preform my skill without an observer. 

I decided this calls for a celebration....right!

So Friday night we were sitting in the family room and I asked Rick if we could 

do something fun this weekend, he was agreeable (as always). 

One of the million reasons I love this guy!

I got on Priceline and got us a room for Saturday night, $42.00...not bad  :)

First stop Saturday morning was IKEA. 

We are in the process of finishing a 3rd bathroom so thought it would be

 fun to checkout IKEA for some idea's.

We left with and oven mitt, and a shower curtain & rug for one of our other bathrooms.

 Since we were in "the neighborhood",

we also planned to watch our Niece play Volleyball.

Defense, back row....way to go Jensen! 

 Dinner was at my favorite place in the Twin Cities.... Granite City

BBQ Chicken flatbread pizza.... to die for!!!

 Bonus photo....Landing on the bridge  :)

  

Sunday morning we relaxed in the hotel and had us some Bible trivia  :)

Next adventure, the new outlet mall in Eagan, MN 

It was nice, (much like all the other outlets) 

I had fun browsing and only ended up with one purchase. 

*Please forgive the poor quality cell phone photo's

Very modern and fancy!

It was only noon and too soon to go home, so I suggested the Mall of America. 

My sweet husband (and his unselfish-self) didn't miss a beat and said, "lets go". 

This is from a guy who isn't a big shopper, so I was feeling quite loved and spoiled.

Doing something for your spouse with a happy heart 

(even if it's not YOUR favorite thing to do)

 is the best gift you can give the one you love!  

He found something to do... the king of massage chairs!

We both enjoyed relaxing in these amazing chairs in one of our favorite stores in the MOA.

We spent about 45 minutes trying out the different chairs. 

Now that we were all massaged & relaxed we decided to "power walk" the mall,

which equals out to be about 1.7 miles.

We stopped a few times to take some picture and to

 indulge in a Cinnabon and some cheese curd samples :)

 The Barbie mobile

Coolest light fixture ever! 

We arrived back home about dinner time,  I whipped up some sloppy Joe's 

and we watched The Hunger Games on network TV...

a perfect ending to a wonderful weekend with my favorite guy!

To the "big city" I went

Every December I travel  up to my sister's home in Champlin, MN 

 We have a sister's shopping day.

We always have a great time but the time always goes too fast

first stop...

The "round barn" 

A gifty kind of place,

 a little spendy but fun to look anyway

I told my sister I wanted to go somewhere I had never been for lunch

 Potbelly's is a yummy sandwich and soup place...I'd go again

We spent all after noon shopping then later in the evening we went to 

"The Angel of Hope" candle light healing ceremony

More on that later...

I got to hang out with my niece and nephew Sam & Jensen as well, 

they are growing up to fast, but still have time for aunt Jackie  :)

Next day.....

I felt like such a big girl as I ventured into downtown Minneapolis

 to have lunch with my oldest son Brice.  

He works somewhere in this gigantic building

I had a bit of time to roam the Nicolette mall 

 Bought some Christmas ornaments here.... loved this store.

Downtown is beautiful with all the tall buildings 

 After lunch Brice walked me down a few streets to the big Target store

then he had a meeting to get back for, so we said our good byes

See ya later Brice

 Two story Target

Macy's window display 

I had a great 2 day adventure, now I'm back in safe little old Rochester. 

I like it here, but the cities is still a nice place to visit.

Twins game

On Saturday, Rick & I ventured up to Minneapolis to see

 The Twins play in their new stadium (our first time). 

The Twins lost but we had a great time!

The stadium was very cool

The view from our seats

Go Twins 

 

After the 4th inning we got up and walked around the stadium. 

It was fun watching the game from different vantage points 

and it felt good to stretch.

*

Since we were already in the minneapolis we decided 

to eat at one of my favorite restraunts up there.

Granite City 

My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Shopping day

Yesterday...

...was my annual December shopping trip with my sister.

~

My favorite place to shop in all of Minnesota

Maple Grove, just 20 minutes from my sis's house.

It's a fun place to go especially around Christmas time

It's an outdoor mall, with lots of cool shops and yummy places to eat

You walk from shop to shop, Christmas music playing on outside speakers

It's very festive.

Time goes by way to fast, but we have fun with the time we share.

The next morning, my sis and her husband were off to work

so I got to spend some time with these two

My nephew Sam, and niece Jensen

I drove the kids to school then spent a few hours shopping by myself....

Back to Rochester I went....

to my quiet little town where I can appreciate how easy it is to get around.

I love the twin cities ( it's a nice place to visit) but I wouldn't want to live there.

Liver & onions

Saturday Rick and I along with my dad & mom, traveled to the cities. We went to watch my niece & nephew play Basketball then hung out at my sister's house for a while after the games.

Later on we went over to Brice & Jenny's. My mom & dad hadn't seen their apartment yet so we thought we'd met them there and then go out to dinner.

We went to a new favorite of ours called

KEYS CAFE' & BAKERY

If you have never been to one of these chains you are missing out on some good old home-cooked meals. Food you remember eating at home...

you know, the ones mom made from scratch.

This was my yummy vegetable omelette, oh my goodness it was amazing. Came with a huge portion of Hash browns which I gave to Rick. That's raspberry jam on the toast.

My dad's Liver & onions (one of his favorites). This was one of the meals my mom used to make when we were kids. We had to eat our liver. I douced it with ketchup and plugged my nose while I chewed.

Note the "SIDE" of mashed potato's and gravy.

Little did Brice know that a "SIDE" = a large platter.

The fresh fruit was to die for...absolutely lovely. Note the half a plate full of fruit to go along with his turkey burger.

So are you all hungry now. The twins cities has several of these restraunts, so next time your looking for a yummy place to eat...it's a no-brainer!

Did I mention the homemade desserts...oh I'm not even gonna go there :)