Hey Sugar Doll!

Wow. Pretty sure I will be doing a very dramatic version of The Happy Dance when this session of summer school is over! Sadly that is a month away, but I will be practicing my dance in the meantime, as this will be worthy of a really good Happy Dance!

I have a lot to catch up on so this might be lengthy. I will try my best to keep it real!

Emersyn and I went back to visit family in North Dakota last week. Travis couldn't come with due to work, which isn't anything new, so Emersyn and I made the 430 mile trek alone. She did wonderful! We stayed with my brother and his family near Fargo the first night, just to break up the travel a bit. Rochester to Fargo is still a 5 hour drive.

I really often wonder how people traveled with young kids before portable DVD players were around. I think I am in love!

To summarize our visit:

1. I wasn't so sure we were going to make it to Fargo without broken windshields. We were in a NASTY thunderstorm, in fact, we were on the edge of the same storm system that brought many tornadoes and leveled buildings, destroyed a whole town, and killed 3 people. We were driving along the interstate and out of nowhere were in HEAVY heavy rain, wind, darkness, and huge hail. I think I was more scared than Emersyn was. So thankful we made it safely after that!
   
   
2. My camera got knocked off the patio table at my parent's house, and is now toast. The very first morning we were there! Very sad I had just a few pictures taken before my camera met its fate.
   RIP, dear Canon PowerShot. You were a good camera!
   
   
3. We had a lot of fun visiting parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends!
   
   
4. Our trip home was delayed at the outlet malls near Minneapolis. Always good for big smiles and an empty wallet.
   

   
    

   I did manage to get a few pics before my camera kissed the concrete. Emersyn had a blast playing in my parents' awesome backyard…especially the fountain and little playhouse my dad built.
   
   
   
   
   They moved to my grandparents old house about 2 years ago, so this is not the home/yard I grew up in. My grandma was great at landscaping, but my parents have added many changes and I just love their house and yard. I need mom to come down and put her magic to work around here! J
   

   
    

   Moving on to something REALLY EXCITING!
   My friend and fellow DNP-Family Nurse Practitioner classmate, Syndal from Synfully Delicious gave me the Sugar Doll award! Yay! Thank-you Syndal! It is super cute and every time I see the title "Synfully Delicious", I smile. Love it! So, here's what up with the Sugar Doll award:
   
   

   1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
      
   2. Share 10 things about yourself
      
   3. Pass the award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
      
   4. Contact the bloggers and let them know you've picked them for the award.
      

As I said, Syndal and I are classmates at the University of Minnesota, both working to become Family Nurse Practitioners. I met her last fall. I love that I have clicked with a few of my classmates and always have someone else that totally gets the stress! Being in school fulltime, working, and having a family has definitely been challenging. Pretty sure if I ever wind up institutionalized, it will be Syndal or another fellow classmate right next to me. Just kidding Syndal!

10 things about Amber

1. I grew up near Pingree, North Dakota. Teeny tiny town in central ND. I had a graduating class of 12—and our school was 2 little towns combined!
   
2. I am 5'10" tall. I haven't always been a fan of being this tall, but after 29 nearly 30 years, I'm okay with it!
   
3. My proudest accomplishment is being a mother. Emersyn has taught me about this crazy, head-over-heels, mad love that can be so trying, but hands down the greatest feeling in the world. She is my pride and joy and there is nothing I wouldn't do for my lil' lady!
   
4. I could still do the splits when I was 9 months pregnant. I am not so sure I could do them anymore. I used to be able to put my feet behind my head. Aging sucks!
   
5. My favorite movie of all time is Ferris Bueller's Day Off, followed closely by The Hangover, Wedding Crashers, and Old School. Clearly, I have a thing for movies with really intellectual plots. HA!
   
6. I am a registered nurse at Mayo in outpatient General Internal Medicine. LOVE IT! Before nursing school, I completed a degree in Sports Medicine. Loved that too, but I realized another dream.
   
7. I love watching and being among thunderstorms, and I wish upon stars.
   
   
8. I would eat ice cream every single day if it were reasonable.
   
9. I have the ugliest feet known to mankind. I blame these lovelies on my father.
   
10. I have an obsession with theme parties.
    
    

    
     

    10 Fantastic Blogs:
    

    1. Handbags and Handguns
       
    2. Unexpected Surprises
       
    3. A Girl in Pearls and a Boy With Toys
       
    4. That's why her hair is so big
       
    5. Real Housewife in Minnesota
       
    6. SheShe Made
       
    7. Jenna's Journey
       
    8. A couple. A dog. Their blog.
       
    9. Life in the Fulmer Lane
       
    10. The Seattle Smiths
        

        
         

        I hope you can find a couple fun new blogs to check out from this list!
        

Have a fabulous rest-of-the-weekend! It's been great not having any definite plans this weekend…Travis and I spent the day rearranging/organizing the garage. A person should really do that yearly instead of waiting until you can't handle it any longer! Eeek!