Naturally Optimistic

I forgot to mention in my weekend recap that we booked our honeymoon tickets on Saturday. Happily we were able to use some frequent flyer miles that Steve had saved up and we used our escrow refund from this year for my ticket and we are all set! We're even flying in and out of Duluth which is such a treat - something I've never done before - and will save 2 1/2 hours of drive time (if we were flying in/out of Minneapolis). Yay! The coolest and weirdest thing about the whole deal is....they emailed me my itinerary and it had my NEW name on it! Mrs. Carrie B- ack!!!!!! I will have to admit...it gave me a little thrill.

Another weekend has come and gone so quickly. How in the hell does that happen? Friday night....let's see...what DID I do Friday night? Ah yes, I worked on some cards that I'm making and kept chasing the cats in from impending storms (big ones) that were blowing through. Steve magically appeared with a pizza when he got home which THANK GOD because it was nine billion degrees in the kitchen and we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet ANYWAY. After the pizza was consumed (and the skies cleared) we headed (via bike) to this week's installment of "movies-in-the-park." It was The Breakfast Club this week and was a lot of fun to watch. I had forgotten how totally obsessesed my particular clique in high school was with this film and how I could pretty much recite it verbatim (much to the annoyance of Steve, I'm sure). There was also a fantastic lightening display across the lake happening in Wisconsin that we could watch. It was amazing. Sideways lightening, big ol...

Um, yeah, hi....This is Minnesota ...this HEAT? We don't understand it. We don't like it and we're confused by it's constantness. I am right next to the biggest fresh water lake in the world. Also probably the biggest + coldest....it freezes over people...and it "feels like" 106 RIGHT NEXT TO IT. Usually it's considered our "air conditioner" for the summer, but apparently we need to get the a/c charged or something because this is not working. Ugh. I'm thinking my near future includes: ice cream, beach-time, shade, margaritas, movie theater and grocery shopping. ack!

Hey lookey here . My book reviews from earlier this summer are up over at ClarkSchpiell . Go check out that site!!!! Go! Now!

If it wasn't so hot right now I would have to bake me some cupcakes after visiting this site . How delicious and pretty and cute and lovely are they?!? I am so hungry right now.

I received 3 RSVP's today for the wedding. Now, it's been clearly noted how much of a dork I am but DAMN I'm excited! My Knot list has already been updated.

intriguing...

We have skunks. Lots of them. For a while this spring they were making their home underneath our front porch. We knew because sometimes our house would smell like a cross between skunk & dirty diaper. I don't know why but it did. Mostly down in the basement which is near an opening which goes into the area under our front porch. There was also considerable digging on each side of the front steps and Steve saw a skunk out there one night. We (well, Steve) plugged up the holes in front with a combo of dirt, sand and boards and the skunks, being the wanderers that they are moved on. Last year Iko, one of our cats, was sprayed by a skunk during a bbq that we were having (boy was that fun). Needless to say we've become a bit wary of skunks. Well, they returned in full force last week. There is a mama and a baby that like to hang out in our yard. They also like to hang out in our neighbors yard who like to leave garbage near their garage. I think they like our yard because we lef...

Meme-ology Via Megan This was just too fun - I had to play along (and boy am I bored at work today...sheesh!) GRUB-OLOGY What is your salad dressing of choice? caesar What is your favorite fast food restaurant? In-n-Out (but they don't have any here in Minnesota What is your favorite sit down restaurant? I don't actually think I have one! On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? about 15% - depends on the service and my cash flow What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? baked lays, macaroni & cheese and edamame Name three foods you detest above all others. green peppers, fishy-fish, pickles What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? ham fried rice What are your pizza toppings of choice? sausage & canadian bacon What do you like to put on your toast? butter or peanut butter What is your favorite type of gum? Big Red TECH-OLOGY Number of contacts in your cell phone? no idea...not that many Number of contacts i...

30 days til I go to Vegas for my Birthday-Bachelorette Party Extravaganza! (okay, maybe it's not "technically" an extravaganza but I'm looking forward to it!) 87 degrees here + at least 80% humidity and 0 breeze - ugh 64 oz of water consumed so far... 60 days til our wedding

Newton's Disease is about to have its very own WORLD PREMIERE! I've just agreed to send a guy at a theater more money than I have right now to give us the evening to show the film on a BIG BIG BIG screen in full 70's splendor (the theater, not the movie). I'm excited but I need HELP! If you know ANYONE IN MINNEAPOLIS (or surrounding metro area)...please tell them about our little film and direct them here or here so I can pimp the movie and pack the house. We get any box office proceeds from this screening so I'm REALLY hoping that we can make back my recent...uh...investment. Anyone interested can email me at carrie [at] newtonsdisease [dot] com Wheeeeee!

The wedding invitations were mailed on my lunchhour. It's officially offical now that we're having a wedding in September. Eeeeeek! (I'm so excited)

Another good (but way too short) of a weekend. Friday night we hosted a super-duper impromptu bbq at our house. Only a handful of people, all guys (I seriously need some girflriends that are local...) and very mellow. We just grilled up some hot dogs & brats, had beans, potato salad and beer. Simple. I went to the movies-in-the-park (Shrek) and Steve was going to bike down and meet me there and whoever else wanted to come. Well, apparently no one wanted to come as the last of our guests never left - ha! Steve came after there was a mass exodus from the park due to a very very slight and light rain and watched about the last 20 mins of the movie or so. Yes, I felt like a bit of a big ol' loser being there by myself but oh well. We just came home after a slow walk back to the truck and called it a night. Well, I called it a night. Steve ended up meeting up with his brorther and friends later. I went to bed. Yesterday morning we SLEPT IN. Super late which was just fantastic. I lov...

Wheeeee! Our first wedding gift which we opened tonight under your very wise advice! SWEET! The backpacking tent that we've been eyeing from Steve's Aunt & cousins. I am so excited. What a fantastically FUN gift to receive!!! The REI Half-Dome 2-person tent. I cannot wait to use it!

congratulations to Stacy over at Daymented who had their baby yesterday - whohooow!

I just received my new writing assignment for the magazine I started writing for in June. It's a FEATURE (yay!) article about independent film making in Minnesota - sweet! I can even write it 1st person if I so desire AND I can plug my own movie. That rocks and the timing is fairly perfect for our upcoming screenings/premieres in Minneapolis and Duluth in October. yay! Now I just have to write the thing. doh! *adds to to-do list*

Okay....we just received a package from REI!!!! We're thinking this must be from our registry as we haven't ordered anything from there lately.... The question is....do we wait to open it? Remember, I am the kind of person who likes presents on Christmas Day not Christmas Eve but I'm so excited and this feels a little different. Dear internets, your opinion please. eeeeek!

I noticed something rather disturbing when I was at Target last night... SCHOOL SUPPLIES!!!!! The summer items have been moved to clearance and the school supplies are out in full force. ACK!!!!!!!!! Summer can't be waning yet can it?!?

Taken on Monday, July 17, 2006

I got my new battery for Mac. Unfortunately after one night of cord-free lap top use and proper calibration of the new battery, I'm getting the evil "x" again in the battery icon. I'm so sad & frustrated by this! I'm thinking it's definitely my computer and trying to find time when I can send it off for repairs is going to be tough. I have a wedding to finish editing and then I have another one to do, plus compiling our wedding dance music and also pics for a slideshow. Argh! This is not really good timing. I've emailed my contact at Apple and hopefully he'll have some advice. Argh! I also cannot get pics to post any more from Mac via blogger. It's getting frustrating! What's up with that? Last week it was working just slick. Last night Miss M & I went to the theatre. You can read about it & see pics here . It's clouding up so we might actually get some rain. It is LOOOOOOONG overdue and everything is crunchy & dry & bro...

Moose! Originally uploaded by carrster . This was a very cool moment for me indeed.

Another rejection from yet another festival. This one was free to submit to, is "local" and they show films in a barn. We're not even good enough to screen in a barn ? *sigh* I don't even know what to do any more... :-(

I'm having a bit of a problem getting photos to upload today so I'll just have to tell you what I did and then send you over to Flickr to check out the pics. Friday morning we packed everything up. Always a big job. We didn't hit the road until 2pm! A little later than anticipated but oh well. We had no schedule in mind. We got up towards where were were going at about 4pm....we saw a campground that looked intriguing so we pulled in to check it out. We discovered a beautiful campgrond at Baker Lake. Baker Lake is in the Superior National Forest and is also the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Unbelieveable. The campground was small and rustic. There were only 4 sites, no services (other than a pit toilet and a water pump). It was quiet, it was beautiful, it was peaceful. The site we chose (since we were 'early' for a Friday) was filled with red & white pines that towered over the site. The fire pit had a couple of nice big rocks around it (p...

It was a hot night..... And he was oh so tired....

okay - so I get home from work after going shopping for this weekend's camping trip and I'm pooped. I unload the groceries, eat dinner with Steve outside (under the shade of a big tree because it's WAY too hot to eat inside...) and am starting to pack up the goods when my Mom calls. "Did you get my email?" "No, I haven't checked my email yet" "well...I just stopped in to Younkers...." And it goes on. Apparently she was a little appalled by the prices at JC Pennys for the FiestaWare and also discovered that the items online are "factory ship" only so you can't go to the store and buy them...WTF? I guess if I would've paid more attention I would've realized that. Anyway - she went to Younkers and talked to some nice 'registry' people and learned all about coupons, promotions, etc etc and had to call (and email) me right away. So, because I'm leaving (hopefully) bright & early tomorrow morning the only tim...

In honor of having my new camera, I will be posting pics of my beloved city from time to time. I have been walking at work on my breaks and seeing so many things I'd like to share...now I am going to! I'm not a great photographer or anything I just want to show the world how much I love Duluth. And I'm a big dork... The Lift Bridge The Lift Bridge. A look down the pier. A family on vacation having their picture taken. This lighthouse is at the end of the pier. The big lake lies beyond. A view of the Aerial Lift Bridge from the end of the pier The end of the south pier and a ship in the distance. A look towards the city. I love those big clouds. I wish they'd bring rain!! George Washington decorates the corner of my work building. 90 degrees outside, 90 degrees inside.

As "the big day" approaches I'm sure I'll be posting more and more wedding-related topics. Hopefully they will be light hearted, maybe even funny or touching. If I post pictures of myself pulling my hair out, you know I've gone too far. So, what's a girl to do? I'm in mid-registry season for my upcoming nuptials. We probably should've started doing this a month ago, but we didn't. We're slow like that. We've talked about doing it, I've tried to convince Steve it's a necessary thing to do or we're going to end up with a million silver picture frames and crystal bowls and we're just now getting to the nitty gritty. The only reason we even started last week was because I have a couple of showers coming up and the invitations went out last week saying WHERE we're registered at - and we weren't! Crap. At any rate...we've made a start. I feel better. So the FiestaWare. I LOVE dishes. I love love love love love dishes....

A picture of me, IMing my friend Sarah, both of us on the video chat. My new laptop, my new camera. heh.... I'm a 21st Century Girl BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE AN iPOD! What's wrong with me... maybe that'll be my next extraneous purchase...heh

I took the plunge. I used some of that money from my HUGE pile of money laying around (it's enormous really, do you want some?) and bought myself a digital camera today! I got a Canon PowerShot something-or-other (it's in the other room and I'm too lazy to go get it) and I think it will suit me just fine. Steve has a previous version and it works great so I'm sort of copying him. Plus I wanted our cameras/computers to be interchangeable if need be so now they will be. We were getting by "okay" without 2 cameras but the thing is - I want to have a camera with me all the time! I don't take great pictures but I love the idea of documenting things...so I plan on starting more of a photoblog once I get rolling...maybe not, I don't know. I need tofigure out how to link this to that and some other things first. Every day when I take my walks at work I see so many things I would capture and put up here to show the world how beautiful Duluth is. I also want to ...

I saw a 20-something walking a ferret yesterday. Or maybe the ferret was walking her as she followed it's whim everywhere. The ferret was wearing a lovely green harness. The the 20-something was eating an ice cream cone. ah summer....

Check out my new blog Me and Miss M I will chronicle my adventures in Mentoring over there! Check it out.

Well, I can't get any more pictures to post for some reason. The rest of my weekend included: hiking the new trail w/Steve and watching the moonrise from the hilltop; Sitting on the patio at Sir Ben's and listening to live music; Hanging out with my new mentee "Miss M." We did some sidewalk chalk art, blew bubbles & played in the yard, drank lemonade, made funny pictures on PhotoBooth and ate ice cream bars. Steve & I also registered at Target. Ay yi yi - who know it would be so much work?!?! It took over 2 hours and we still have a few more things to add. Yikes. I was exhausted. Sunday night we picked out a backpacking tent & light weight sleeping bags and added them to our REI registry. Fun stuff! Now I REALLY want to go camping...

I can't seem to get to doing this on Monday...so here's my belated update in pictures: It was a very hot day and I just didn't feel like doing anything after my looong work week (3 days) other than sit in the yard and read. And drink a margarita. We went to "Movies in the Park" at Leif Ericksson Park on the shores of Lake Superior. Our neighbors Dustin & Anna joined us (hi Anna!) and all my pictures are blurry. We watched Back to the Future . It was a lot of fun! On Saturday we went to the Duluth Air Show. It was UNGODLY HOT. After the Air Show we ate Pizza at my favorite pizza place. SAMMY's! Yum. Then Steve took me up to Hartley Nature Center and showed me the section of trail that he 'blazed'. VERY cool.

Partly Cloudy 91°F Feels Like 98°F Gotta love Summer.

And I'm not just talking about myself...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ah, can you tell it's Friday? It's hot here in the northland. It's been hot all week. I'm "warming up my core" as Steve says, as the winters here are long and cold and dark and I could really use one of these July days in January. I'm enjoying laying in the grass in the backyard (not currently but just before) and sitting outside til after 9 o'clock with light still in the sky and me just not wanting to go in and do "inside stuff" (ie: cleaning and wedding invitations). We're going to an outdoor movie tonight (movies in the park - yay!) and I feel an ice cream cone or a cold beer on an outside patio coming on. *sigh* Summer. I don't even care if I'm all hot and sweaty because it's SUMMER. Sadly, no windows on the first floor of our house open (!?!?!?!). I think the previous owners (who had lived here since 1939) were paranoid and put in all picture windows ...

Salmon Originally uploaded by carrster . Photos from the garden....more if you click the pic

Because my boss is pure evil, I was sent on yet another Blizzard Run . *sigh* How is a girl who is supposed to be DIETING for an upcoming BIG EVENT OF A LIFETIME supposed to keep the calorie count low if I'm being FORCED to do things like go and get Blizzards? ARGH. I have no will power. None at all. And so now I feel fat (although I get a SMALL even though I get him and another co-worker [we sort of have a "Blizzard Club" - we're all geeks] get mediums) and while I was there I saw that it's the Blizzard's 20TH ANNIVERSARY this year. How can that be? I remember when they came out and how odd this new menu item seemed. Not that I ever had them then. We were only allowed to get "novelty items" or a simple cone or crunch cone (still my favorite, actually). Anyway - OF COURSE I remember when they came out because I was TWELVE FOR CRYING. OUT LOUD. Seriously? Now I'm dealing with evil, my own fatness and my ancient self. Ay yi yi Is it Friday yet?!?...

I finally returned to a Twins' game after an embarrassing absence of 10 years! I love baseball and I love the Twins. I am a hometown girl, through and through and so enjoy a good game. I have extremely fond memories from my childhood of being "Daddy's Girl" and listening to the games on a crackly WCCO during summer storms and watching him lay on his back and throw his ball point pen (the clicky kind) up into the air over and over again as he concentrated on each play-by-play. We went to many games when I was a kid - well, not as many as we would've if we had LIVED in Minneapolis, but still it was a yearly thing for sure. I remember going to the old Met. I remember the first time I went to the Metrodome and that smell . It's not a bad smell just the Metrodome smell! I remember the Dazzle-Man's Grand Slam during the '87 World Series (Peder - do you remember we were doing the Nature Center's haunted walk that night?); I remember the homer hankies, I r...