Mystery Trip!

The girls over at Dating Divas are always coming up with some super creative, super awesome dates. PS, they have an amazing new website, so be sure to check it out!

So I decided to craft my own fabulous date, which I (surprisingly!) kept a total secret from Mr. Tote. It started out early Saturday morning when he woke up up to go to a separate event we had planned to attend. I told him “change of plans,” to which he looked quite puzzled. He was frustrated in an incredibly adorable way and kept huffing and puffing and grunting for me to tell him where we were going. I told him to dress warm and that was it.

Once we were in the car, I whipped out a crossword puzzle that I had created for free with clues to our mystery destination.

A few of the clues were:

• These are good for your heart. The more you eat them, the more you fart.
• Nickname of Robert Van Winkle.
• We met Mike and Jilly here (two river otters)
• We go to this event to see the lighting of the Christmas tree
• John Wayne stars in this type of movie

Even though he successfully completed the crossword puzzle with my help on only one clue, he was still totally confused. I told him to think outside the box. I could see his wheels spinning and I wish I could have taken a picture of his puzzled look (I chose to be safe, keeping my eyes on the road and hands on the wheel).

“A chili cook off?” he finally said.

Yep! We were headed to Kalamazoo for their chili cook-off. We’ve been to this event once before, while we were dating. So when I saw my friend from Discover Kalamazoo earlier in the week, she reminded me that the cook-off was taking place this past weekend. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend, since we had such a blast the last time we went.

We arrived in downtown Kalamazoo right as the two-hour tasting window started. With our spoons and score cards in hand, we made our way from location to location in single digit temperatures. There were three categories (Office, Retail and Restaurant) with 38 local shops showcasing chili.

Chili was served indoors, so we were only outside briefly as we shuffled around, enjoying the heated sidewalks of the Kalamazoo Mall, the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States.

We managed to visit over 20 locations before tapping out, our bellies full of chili. We strategically planned our last stop at Olde Peninsula Brewpub and Restaurant because, let’s face it, you can never be too full to taste some hand crafted beer. I ordered us an eight-glass sampler to share and we got to work filling out our voting cards. Did I mention that one of the voting boxes was conveniently located right outside Olde Peninsula? I could hug the genius that thought of that one.

After the sampler and a pint of Stout Chocula, neither of us were fit to drive home.

Mr. Tote suggested napping in the back of the Jeep. I suggested the nearby Radisson Hotel. His puzzled look from that morning returned for an encore appearance! I could tell he thought I meant napping on the couches in the hotel lobby. Little did he know that I booked us a room for the night… and a romantic dinner at Epic Bistro. I had spent the past few days sneaking around our house packing his clothes, deodorant, toothbrush, etc. And I had recruited his mom, who stopped by our house to pick Ozzy up for the night.

So after a nice afternoon nap, we bundled up and walked the block and a half to dinner, admiring the ice sculptures that were created earlier in the day. Obvs, our ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ were brief. Remember… SINGLE DIGIT TEMPS, PEOPLE!

For dinner I had Wood Grilled Duck Breast (yum-O!) and Mr. Tote had a ribeye topped with gorgonzola. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other’s company, watching our dear Spartans lose yet another basketball game and pondering how on earth I managed to pull such a fast one on him.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to surprise him like this again!

Love-ly Christmas Countdown

I wanted to do something special for Mr. Tote for Christmas this year. When I saw this Spouse Christmas Countdown on Dating Divas, I knew it would be perfect! What I didn’t anticipate is how long it would take me to actually construct a countdown telling him all of the things I loved about him. Coming up with the reasons was the easy part. Assembly was a different story.I texted him to say I was working on something special and for him to call me half an hour before he was due home from work. When he called, I was right in the middle of making it!So I told him to find something to do for an hour and then to call me. An hour later he called… the kitchen table was littered with scraps of paper, the Cricut machine, glue and scissors. “Give me 45 more minutes,” I said. He called again, 45 minutes later.Blast! Still not done. So I told him to come home but to wait in the garage. So he bought some eggnog and spiced rum and sat in the car in the garage for a good half an hour before I was finally ready to reveal my surprise.I love the way this turned out and I think he does, too. Each day, he gets to turn over the appropriate number and find a special note from me, describing one of countless reasons I love him.I love the Christmas season! This is going to be so much fun!

*edit: The font I used was Pea Krystyne from kevinandamanda.com*

I am linking to the following party:

Another One Month Hiatus

So, if you've been following my blog for awhile, you'll remember that I unpurposely took a one month hiatus last year, due to the climation of my professional efforts all year... the Annual Conference that I plan. Well, like a bad cold, that sucker came around again. Ahh, who am I kidding. I love my job and it's great to see all the hard work pay off. More on that later...

................................ OK, I'm not quite sure how to say this. I guess I'll just spit it out. On April 6, I lost my father-in-law to cancer. After a five-year battle with Leukemia, his body decided it was time to stop fighting. He received a bone marrow transplant in 2006, but faced various complications that weakened his body (but certainly not his spirit). He passed away peacefully in his own bed, surrounded by all of his family, after coming home on hospice care for about five hours. We held a wonderful memorial service at Riverview Church, celebrating his life. We are holding together strong as a close-knit family. In fact, last night, we took family pictures with Amy Carroll. We had scheduled them awhile back, intending for Dave to be in the pictures, but we know he is all smiles up in heaven. Here's a few pics from our wedding back in June 2008.

So, I took a week off of work to be with my husband's family and returned to work four days before my big conference. Nothing like hitting the ground running! I worked long hours but it all paid off when I arrived in Grand Rapids and saw 700+ participants enjoying the three-day event that we had been planning for the last year.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I had a birthday, too. I turned 28 on April 18. With all of life's craziness, it came and went just like any other day, which is fine by me. Matt let me pick out a new Coach purse, so I got a cute green sling and watermelon coin purse. Also, I did get a delicious cake during the conference. :-)

I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to a more normal routine. I have lots of blog updates that need to be written and shared! Nice to "see" you all again!!!

New Year's Eve 2010: A Series of Pictures

Four days in to 2010 and I’m still seeing blog posts about what happened last year and what’s going to happen this coming year. So I figured I’d join in on the action with a post about our New Year’s Eve festivities, since I think they were pretty darn cool.

Traverse City is one of Mr. Tote’s and my favorite places. With a trendy downtown, a plethora of diverse dining options and vineyards that stretch for miles, it’s a DINK’s (dual income no kids) paradise. So when we found out that a close friend just took a job as the new township planner for Old Mission Peninsula, we couldn’t believe it. That lucky S.O.B. Then… THEN… having no place to live yet, he somehow wiggled his way into living at the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse. Yes, a friggin’ LIGHTHOUSE!!!!! But wait, it gets better… he decided to have a New Year’s Eve party there. Ummm… yes please!!

I have been dying for a new camera, so we bit the bullet and walked into Best Buy once we got to Traverse City. "Nikon D3000, please." I had my mind made up. But an hour and a half later, Brian, who worked at Ritz Camera for four years, convinced me to get the Sony Alpha A330 DSLR. Finally feeling informed about my decision, he tells me he's all out of them. You've.Got.To.Be.Kidding.Me. He suggested I purchase the A230 just for New Year's Eve and then purchase the A330 when I returned home. So that's what I did.

The following pictures were taken with a Sony Alpha A230 DSLR, with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.

On our way to the lighthouse, we stopped at the Old Mission Tavern for a burger and fries. Makes sense, right? Tavern equates to a burger and fries type menu. Not so much. To our surprise, this place was serving up some quite delectable entrees. And because our group was 10 people deep, we had the privilege of eating dinner in the adjacent art gallery. The food was absolutely fantastic. Mr. Tote’s prime rib was some of the best I’ve ever had. I had almond encrusted whitefish with a cherry drizzle and a butter sauce. It was sooooo good. I was really surprised at how good it was. I don’t think I’ve ever had fish served so piping hot. Usually it arrives at the table warm-hot in temperature, but this fish was hot, crisp and flaky.

In true Real World fashion, Mr. Tote raced into the lighthouse with our gear in tow to claim a good sleeping spot. He dropped our stuff in the Lighthouse Keeper’s room. Unfortunately at the time, he didn't realize that this part of the lighthouse wasn't heated.

New Year's Eve wouldn't be complete without some Coors Lite.

We went to bed around 4:30 a.m. and woke up at 10 a.m., face frostbitten (OK, I exaggerate), toes numb (NOT exaggerating!). We were too cold to sleep.

In the quiet, while everyone was still sleeping (aka passed out), we made our way to the top of the lighthouse for some pictures.

Looking down from top dome.

It was so cold that the glass was completely frosted over. And let's not forget about the wind. When you're at the tip of a peninsula that faces open Great Lakes water, it's bound to be windy... and freezing. Anyway, Mr. Tote did a wonderful job warming a patch of visibility in the frosted glass.

When we couldn't take the cold any longer and the cleared off glass was beginning to frost over again, we headed back down. Leave it to Mr. Tote to rock the Lions sweater he got from his grandpa.

I couldn't resist taking some additional pictures of the lighthouse. This time, from the outside where it was much colder... and much windier.

On New Year's Day, we headed back down to the peninsula for an extra night in Traverse City. I can't explain how ecstatic I was when we arrived at our hotel and they had our room ready early. After getting only six hours of freezing cold sleep the previous night, we were both looking forward to a long nap, which is exactly what we did.

Leave it to us to forget something at the lighthouse. Something important. We left my CDs, including the precious Power Hour CD, at the lighthouse. *sigh* So, we headed baaaaaack up the peninsula. Had I known that we would have seen a bald eagle flying along the peninsula coast, I would have been much more enthused about going.

Below are some pictures I was able to capture. The first one is my lens zoomed in as far as it goes. The other three are close ups that I cropped. Hence, the blurriness. Still... so majestic.

We also stopped at Chateau Grand Traverse, one of Old Mission Peninsula's many vineyards. I am in love with these pictures.

And there you have it. I loved that camera. And I can't wait to get my new A330 (p.s. it's on backorder). Happy New Year! Many good things to come this year!