Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Packers vs. Vikings {2010}

Packers vs. Vikings {2010}
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Well, after the ice storm that happened that night before and Wayne spending the night at a friends house I left the house to meet him at his Mom's. It's a nice meeting place, where we can leave a vehicle. We made our way to Mall of America Field for the noon game. It was still rainy and cold out, but we were both excited to go. Neither one of us had ever been to a Viking/Packer game. This one was a big deal as we were on a losing streak and our team could just not get it together. Here were our seats in the 9th row.

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I didn't snap a whole lot of pictures, but I had to get one of #69.

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And although he hasn't done a whole lot this year (I blame it on his wife for making him cut off his mullet...you just don't mess with a Man's mojo), I still love him and his enthusiasm.

Here is a little history and a few stats on the game. Obviously we didn't win, but it's still really cool to know.

Game Preview

The Minnesota Vikings (3-6) return home this week to face the divisional rival Green Bay Packers (6-3) on Sunday, November 21. Kickoff at Mall of America Field is set for noon CST.

Sunday’s game will be the 100th matchup between the Vikings and the Packers, a heated rivalry in which Green Bay currently holds a 50-48-1 series lead. Not only do the teams share a tight overall series record, the Vikings and Packers also have been incredibly even in scoring over the years, with just a 16-point difference (Green Bay 537, Minnesota 521) in the 22 games (including the only playoff game in ‘04) since 2000. Minnesota has won three of the last four games in the series.

What To Watch For

* If the Vikings win, it will be the team’s 18th victory at Mall of America Field since 2008. The Vikings are 17-3 in the last 20 home games.

* If the Vikings win, it will be the 40th regular season victory for Head Coach Brad Childress. Childress has 40 overall wins - 39 in the regular season and one postseason victory.

* G Steve Hutchinson can block for his 10th consecutive 1,000-yard rusher (had a 1,000 yard rusher in each of his nine previous seasons) if RB Adrian Peterson rushes for 92 yards or more.

* K Ryan Longwell can move up the NFL charts for career field goals made. Longwell current ranks 16th in NFL history with 332 field goals made. He can tie George Blanda (335) for 15th place with three FGs.

* RB Adrian Peterson has 49 career combined touchdowns in 55 career games. With one TD, he can move into 7th place in Vikings history, tying Sammy White with 50 career TDs.

* Peterson needs two rushing touchdowns to move into a 7th place tie in NFL history for the most rushing TDs in the first four NFL seasons. Peterson is currently tied for 9th with 47 career rushing TDs and trails Jim Brown and Maurice Jones-Drew, who both had 49 in their first four years.

* With 92 rushing yards, Peterson will reach 1,000 yards for the fourth consecutive season.

A classic picture of this match-up.

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Since that game about a week ago, the owner has fired Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier has stepped up in the interim. There were high expectations for this new coach and team and they pulled through. We won Sunday's game against the Redskins, and didn't look half bad. I am hoping this continues. Wayne and I have tickets to the Giants game on Sunday 12/12 and to the Monday night football game against the Bears on 12/20. I had bought the tickets back in August for Wayne's birthday not knowing if Favre was coming back or not. I have been disappointed thus far (like many Vikings fans), but I have hope.

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And even though we lost miserably, we still had fun and always do! 
Stay tuned for more posts in December about our Vikings adventures (and hopefully some more wins).

Leah
Monday, November 29, 2010

Aly's 12th Birthday {2010}

Aly's 12th Birthday {2010}
Monday, November 29, 2010
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Sunday, November 14, 2010

So Aly's actual birthday is October 24th, but with all the craziness this fall, this was the first time everyone could get together. I love birthday parties at the Horton House. There is always great food, lots of chatter and definitely lots of laughs. I have to admit I was a tad disappointed with the food selection this year. One of the things I was looking forward to most ended up having onions on it. Gross.

Here is Aly opening gifts.

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This is my favorite gift she received. I want to steal them. Haha. Super cute.

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This is their dog Sunshine, helping with the gift opening.

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I try and capture this picture each year with the cousins.

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This one was after she blew out the candles. She had quite a few left.

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Look at all those boyfriends! Even though the Vikings lost that day to the Bears, it was still a great afternoon spent with family.

Happy Birthday Aly!

Leah
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary {2010}

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary {2010}
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Since it was a Thursday (work-night) and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake late enough to get dinner AND a movie in, we decided to split the two events up. We went to dinner at Benihana.  Which was fabulous. And even though it was my first time there, it was not my first time at a teppanyaki style restaurant. It's not the most romantic atmosphere, because you are sharing your table with 6 other people and the cook, but it works for us and we had a wonderful time.

This is us at dinner.

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We exchanged gifts. I got Wayne a DVD that he had been wanting.

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And he surprised me with a pair of shoes that I've been wanting for months. My Raspberry colored Chuck Taylor's.

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Needless to say I was super excited and thankful! He had tricked me a few days beforehand and asked me what my shoe size was because his Mom wanted to know. I told him and didn't even put 2 and 2 together. He also wanted to take me to go see a movie that I had been wanting to see, but we agreed to go that Sunday after a family birthday party (post to follow on that soon).

Sunday, November 14, 2010

After the family birthday party we headed to our little Buffalo Cinema to see this movie.

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I have a not-so secret crush on Zach. It was a very funny movie and we both enjoyed it!

Happy Anniversary honey! Here is to a million more! I love you!

Leah
Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pups 4th Birthday

Pups 4th Birthday
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

We celebrated as we do every year. We get 3 cheeseburgers from McDonalds and put 1 candle in each.

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Sing happy birthday.

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Cut them up and each pup gets a piece.

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Bella waiting patiently for her piece from Daddy.

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Nothing huge and really not a big deal, but it is to us. It's also a happy time as the next day is our wedding anniversary!

Happy Birthday Babies!

Leah
Friday, November 19, 2010

Christmas in November {2010}

Christmas in November {2010}
Friday, November 19, 2010
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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Every year, on my Dad's side of the family we actually celebrate Christmas in November. We have done this for many years. Whenever someone hears "Christmas in November", they are like what? Well, my Grandma Sharon Stager (Dad's Mom) goes down to Harlingen, TX for the winter and likes to be gone before the snow actually hits and the cold gets unbearable. We usually try and celebrate the first weekend in November and she usually takes off that following Monday. We do a name exchange...a separate one for the kids and then an adult one. We used to do "naughty" gifts, but after a couple of years after that, it gets old. So now we spend about $20 each and we email out family lists so that at least everyone gets a little something that they actually want or can use, whether it's a book or a movie or just a giftcard to somewhere. We all arrive mid-morning, bring something(s) to share, eat lunch, open presents mid-afternoon, eat dinner and then play games and snack. I've been wanting to share more pictures, but I know that sometimes it can be burdensome, so I've started creating collages to consolidate.

This is all the "kids" opening their presents. My cousin, Sam, is cut off of the right side of the picture, but they are all pretty much there. Not too many kids left. Most of us cousins are all grown and are adults. Soon enough though there will be a second wave of youngsters with all of us having significant others, living together, getting married and procreating.  

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Every year we try and do individual family pictures as well as different groupings. Here is all the cousins, with the newest addition of Anya. Anya was born 12-20-2009, so she is coming up on her 1st birthday! She is Aron's little girl and we all just love her. The only one missing in this photo is my brother, Ross. He was working for most of the day. ;(

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Speaking of loving little miss Anya...here are a few pictures of her opening her gift and a few with us.

She received her first Barbie Doll...it was the Little Mermaid.

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Love those cheeks!

Top Left: Anya & Wayne
Top Right: Ross & Anya

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Bottom Left: Me & Anya (Taken Sunday, 11/7/2010)
Bottom Right: Amie (my sister) & Me

Later in the early evening, Wayne was caught helping Brittney with her homework. Too funny.

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At about 8:15pm, a few of us started a game of train dominoes. We completed the whole game (from 12-0) and played until 12:15AM...yes, we played for 4 hours.

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Sunday, November 7, 2010
Some of usually try to make a weekend out of it. I went to church with Amie in the morning and the Vikings played at noon. We all ate lunch and had some snacks while watching the Vikings game. Viking football is major in our family. My cousin's girlfriend, Kayla and I ended up taking a cat nap on the couch. Overall it was a great weekend with the Vikings squeaking out a win.

Of course I have to end my posts with the love of my life.

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Happy Holidays!!

Leah
Thursday, November 18, 2010

SYTYCD {Seasons 6 & 7}

SYTYCD {Seasons 6 & 7}
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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Saturday, October 30, 2010

So once again we wrap another season of SYTYCD. Season 7's winner is...Lauren! She was my favorite from the very beginning. See that blog post here.

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Lemonhead and I went to see them again this year! This is Lauren during her solo.

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The treat was that not only were Season 7's top dancers there, some of the all-stars were also on tour as well as the Season 6 winner...Russell.

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Here is Lauren & Russell after the first performance of the night. Lauren had originally done this dance with Twitch, but Twitch was not on tour, so they replaced him with Russell.

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My other favorite from Season 7 is Kent. Here he is after his solo.

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This is Kent and Ade during one of their performances.

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Here is Lauren & Kent after their fabulous performace.

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This is a shot of everyone:

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And of course, here is one of Lemonhead & I.

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Until Season 8!

Leah
Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Exotic Erotic {2010}

Exotic Erotic {2010}
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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Friday, October 29, 2010

Every year KDWB puts on a Halloween party called the EXOTIC EROTIC BALL. There is always at least one guest artist that makes an appearance and performs. Wayne and I had never been before, but I really wanted to go this year because THE FAR EAST MOVEMENT was performing. See a blog post about them here. Also HWood was performing as well. Here is his popular song called "Could It Be You."


Overall it was a fun night. I rarely stay out super late anymore, so I was definitely tired the next day.

Top Left: Obviously Wayne was Hulk. This is him before the mustache.
He also wore this costume the next night at Babe's in Lakeville. I was a cop. 
Top Right: My friend Mandy came out with her brothers and all their significant others.
She was Mother Nature.

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Bottom Left: Wayne with Mandy's brothers who were Gary Spivey and a hunter.
Bottom Right: Wayne found another Hulk there that night.

Top Row: Wayne & Lucas

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Bottom Row: Wayne found another fellow wrestler, John Cena.

Hope your Halloween was a good one.

Leah
Monday, November 8, 2010

Bragging Rights {2010}

Bragging Rights {2010}
Monday, November 8, 2010
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Sunday, October 24, 2010

WWE's Bragging Rights (payperview) at Target Center

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So my Husband is a die-hard WWE fan and has been ever since he was a little boy. Him and his friends would put on their own wrestling shows and practice their moves.They each had their own names for each other. My Husband's name was BDT a/k/a Big Daddy Thunder. I make fun of him for it often. He grew up idolizing some of the characters and still does to this day. There are other wrestling company's, for example TNA wrestling, but they are not as popular as the WWE.

A lot of people criticize the WWE and think it's horrible. That's fine, you are entitled to your opinion. I also think a lot of people don't know a whole lot about the WWE and I think there are a lot of worse things in this world that my Husband, or any man/woman for that matter, could be interested obsessed with in. I said man/woman on purpose because it's not just a man thing. There are several woman who watch it and actually like it.

WWE has two different shows on per week. Monday nights is RAW and Friday nights is SMACKDOWN. Wayne DVR's them both and lately I've been watching them with him. Some weeks it feels like that's the only time we get to spend together because of our hectic schedules. Even if I'm not wholeheartedly paying attention, it's still nice to sit on the couch together and spend some time together (even if it's not quality). Isn't that what a marriage is all about anyways? Compromise? I might be editing pictures on the laptop or scrapbooking while the show is on, but nevertheless we are still spending some time together and get to chat or cuddle.

While watching them I know it's a soap opera with different storylines and maybe a little more fighting than usual. You have your good guys and your bad guys. Sometimes Wayne makes comments about getting his future son or daughter into it when they are old enough. What age IS old enough? I don't know...I guess I will find out when that time comes and we will make that decision together. I don't believe in sheltering your kids from everything (obviously it has to be age appropriate) and I will strive not to be that type of parent. I believe in having conversations with children about right/wrong and what is real/fake and explaining to them the differences in each.

Well, that's the end of my rant for this blog. We met up with our friend Adam and his brother and at dinner at Red Lobster. The four of us then met up with the brother's best friend and his girlfriend. We headed to the Target Center. Here are some pictures of our night.

Adam & Wayne playing the new WWE game.

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My favorite...John Cena...U Can't See Me!

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We had great seats...first row in the stands. One of the cool things that we were hoping for happened. During the "Buried Alive" match between Undertaker and Kane, they came out into the crowd.

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  The name of the paperview is "Bragging Rights." It's where the two teams SMACKDOWN vs. RAW fight for a championship trophy. This is a picture of both teams in the ring before the fight started.

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SMACKDOWN (blue team) won again this year (2nd year in a row).

I had so much fun with my Husband that night. We don't like the same guys so it makes it interesting to cheer on some of the fights. All's fair in LOVE and WAR!

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Love you, Wayne!

Leah
Thursday, November 4, 2010

Amanda & Greg {Engagement}

Amanda & Greg {Engagement}
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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Saturday, October 9, 2010

I met Amanda & Greg at Lagoon Park down in Jordan. One of my best friends was married there in May and I thought it would be fun for pictures, because it has so much to offer. Here are some of the pictures from that day.

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As you can see I've been doing some experimenting lately.

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And even though this one doesn't show their faces at all, I really like it a lot.

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As you can see, they are getting married June 4, 2011. Can't wait to be a part of their special day!

Leah
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