It's been a while since I've posted an entry.  Not a whole lot has been going on.  I guess I just wanted to have something to actually post about. 

I did want to give all of you an update about my last post about Oprah’s show on child predators.  Within days of her show hundreds of thousands emailed their senators and as a result bill 1738 The Protect Our Children Act passed with flying colors!  Oprah said that she has never gotten so much hate mail from child predators who were mad at her for bringing the bill to America’s attention! 

Nathan and I are doing well.  We are in the middle of a 13-week long financial class called Financial Peace University; taught by Dave Ramsey.  We’re loving it!  If you know anyone in financial trouble, or if you just want to learn how to invest and save for your future you should really consider taking this class!  Here’s a link to an intro video with Dave talking about the class…
http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/index.cfm?fuseAction=dspFpuGettingStarted

Nathan bought me Sleeping Beauty about a month ago.  It was finally released on DVD!  It just didn't seem right watching it without Jody and Kelly and then playing dress-up afterwards.  Bossing them around, insisting that I could only be the one to play Aurora, because I had blonde hair.  Making them play the fairies.  Instead, I got stuck with my husband taking out his imaginary machine gun and shooting all the little animals as they were dancing with Aurora.  After giving him a "look" all he said was, "With the way you yell at the birds when they wake you up at 5:00am, you'd think you would be glad that I am knocking off a few of them for you!"  That's what I get for watching Sleeping Beauty with my husband.

On Thursday nights we are babysitting the McNeil twins.  Eli and Jayden are 9 months old and are crawling all over the place.  A few weeks ago Michelle had me take some family photos and the boy’s 9 month pictures.  We had a ball! 

I had Michelle snap one of me and the boys.

                     
We had a bonfire night with Zach and Michelle a few weeks ago which was a lot of fun.

This past Thursday was Nathan’s 28^th birthday.  We hadn’t taken any time off to spend some time alone together since our cruise in March of 2007.  He decided to take Wed, Thus and Fri off.  On Wednesday we drove up to Duluth for the day.  The weather was actually really nice and with it not being tourist season it wasn’t as busy.

                


                    
This is what happens when I give Nathan the camera... and me trying to get the camera away from him. 

We did some antique shopping and I found some damaged photos to restore and add to my portfolio.  This one didn't have a lot of damage, but I thought it was pretty funny.  It would be great framed in a beach house or bathroom.

On Thursday we celebrated by sleeping in and going to see a matinee, Eagle Eye.  We ate dinner at Chili's, our favorite restaurant.  On Friday we went to the Minneapolis Art Institute with Chris and Linda, it was a lot of fun.  

Linda, Chris and Nathan trying to figure out where we are in the museum.  It was really big and designed like confusing maze.  Personally I think they make those places complicated so you can't run away from the "guides" that follow you everywhere.   



Linda and Nathan

Two hot people kissin'.

Two hot people playing with their reflection in a very expensive vase.. lol!

You have to look at the painting to understand what these two were up to. 
I have to confess, the shot was my idea, he he he.

Minneapolis Skyline view from the museum.

                    
On the way home we drove over the newly constructed and open 35W bridge.  In the summer of 2007 it had collapsed in the middle of rush-hour traffic.  A lot of people were injured and 11 were killed.  It was kind of a bitter-sweet day when the bridge opened this past September. 


Later on we had dinner at Chris and Linda's.  She made ham and cheesy potatoes!  Yum!

In addition to this DQ ice creme cake she also made a pumpkin AND cherry pie!

                        
We had to improvise with the candles.  We spent the rest of the night watching Chris hand out candy to kids and cuddling next to the fireplace.  Happy Birthday baby!

The past month has gone by really fast and it seemed like we’ve been busy.  Not much has happened, but time goes by so much faster the older I get.  I think that’s why we seem busier.

Time for another update!

Right now we are having beautiful weather.  The sun has almost set and it’s in the mid 70’s.  Someone in the neighborhood has a bonfire going, so it smells great.   The kids across the street started lighting some fireworks.  Nathan is jealous, so summer is defiantly here.

My (Jacq’s) 27^th birthday passed with out much fan-fare.  I haven’t decided if I feel like I’m 27 yet.  In 3 years I’ll be 30.  Yikes!  I would hope that by then we’ll be close to owning our own home with a munchkin or two keeping us on our toes.

Mom was here last week for a visit!   We haven’t seen her since October of 2006.  Defiantly way too long to go without seeing mom.  If the Johnson clan wasn’t going to be together for Thanksgiving, we would have planned a trip to MI sometime in the fall.  

Mom flew in Thursday morning and brought warm weather with her.  L  Halfway to the airport we remembered that the 35W bridge was still out.  We haven’t needed to use the bridge since it collapsed, so we thought we knew where the detours were.  We didn’t.  We saw areas of Minneapolis that we had never seen before…. the new Gopher stadium under construction...   We found our way pretty quickly and picked mom up at the curb instead of the baggage claim.  I was great to see her!

                     We went for a few walks.  Feed some ducks... 

On Friday we met Chris and Linda at the Olive Garden for dinner.  We went back to their house and met up with Scott and Kirsten to play board games.   If you’ve never played ‘Loaded Question’ or ‘Apples to Apples’ check them out sometime.  They’re a ball to play!  ‘Loaded Question’ is a great game to play with people you know.  If I can fit it in our suitcase for Thanksgiving, I’ll bring it.

Our apartment has a balcony off of our bedroom.  Chris and Linda buy us a hanging plant every year.  Other than a wooden swing-bench, that’s all that’s out there.  Nathan and I wanted to get some flower boxes to hang off the railing, but we had no idea what to buy.  On Saturday, mom helped us find a good flower box, dirt and some flowers.  

 Plants and I have a love-hate relationship.  In four years of marriage I have managed to kill several house plants and at least 2 cactuses.  It has been 5 days since mom and I planted the flowers and I am proud to say that my “garden” is still alive! 

Mom noticed that the bench we had, had a bad case of 'sun fading.'  After church on Sunday, we went to Lowe’s and bought some stain/sealer and re-stained the bench.  It looks great!

On Monday we went to the Science Museum and saw the new Star Wars exhibit!

Minnesota is the last stop in its tour, so it was fun to see.  I admit that I am a huge nerd when it comes to loving Star Wars… so it was exciting to see all the models, costumes and weapons!  Nathan was bummed when found out he couldn’t play with the light sabers though.  He also wanted me to ask if I could try on Leia’s bikini outfit.  Just kidding, that costume wasn’t even in the exhibit.

There was a hand’s on interactive game that let you create your own Jawa Camp, Moisture Farm or Spaceport.  You can design the food and water sources and habitat design.  After a few minutes it tells you how successful you were.

Mom found a little friend to play with…

            Her visit went by way too fast…  miss you already mom!